"Following the last French War, Asa Douglass, great grandson of Wiliam and great grandfather of Stephen A. Douglas, moved north and west in 1766 to the cheaper lands along the Massachusetts-New York boundry. clearing some thirty acres of land, he built a large farmhouse near what later became Stephentown. In 1766 he removed with his family to what was at the time called Jericho Hollow, Massachusetts, but which was subsequently included in Stephentown, New York. His son, Captain William had preceded him the year before. The nearest neighbor was four miles away, and they were obliged to go fourteen miles to the sawmill. Mrs. Douglas, who was very lonely, lived there six months before she saw a white woman. The garret of the house, which was still standing in 1977 was used during the Revolutionary War as a jail, there being at that early day none in the country. Some of Asa's neighbors were held here, which caused hard feelings long after the war was over. No Tories were tolerated in the town even though they had formerly been friends. It is not known whether religious considerations provided an additional impetus for the move, but with their removal to the north, the Douglas' seem to have lost their previous orthodox religious associations. Eleven years later, sixty-one year old Asa Douglas struck his blow for freedom when he led a company of thirty men at the Battle of Bennington. Asa participated in the war, and led a company of thirty "Silver Grays" at the Battle of Bennington, on the 16th of August, 1777, when the force of British and Indians sent to seize the stores collected at that place were defeated by the Americans under Col. John Stark. Disguised as an old farmer looking for his lost cows, Douglas acted as a spy at the siege of Ticonderoga. He left his horse outside the lines and proceeded boldly into the enemy lines. When he mounted his horse to go home, someone called, "The old farmer is a spy!" Then, as the shooting began, Asa said to his horse, "Old Ti, Ride for your life and if you get me home safely, you will never be saddled again." It is said that he kept his word and "Old Ti" lived happily in the pasture for the rest of his life. Asa continued to reside in Stephentown until the time of his death, which occurred November 12, 1792. His widow survived him some fourteen years and died June 12, 1809.
Of Plainfield, Windham, CT
died unmarried
Zachariah Fairchild was the First Leading Elder of The Presbyterian Church In Morristown after it split off from the Hanover Presbyterian Church in 1737. Cam Cavenaugh, Op. Cit., at Page 89, talks about the Vails of Speedwell and states, "The Whippany River narrowed and deepened in its flow from Speedwell Lake into Pocohontas Lake, creating a natural source of water power that had been harnessed there since colonial days. Zachariah Fairchild operated a sawmill there in 1767 and John Johnson, Jr., had a forge "adjoining Zachariah Fairchild's pond" which appears on Revolutionary War maps." I haven't come across the maps or maps she refers to, but it may be part of the Erskine series which hasn't had the circulation that the more famous one referred to above which depicts the center of Morristown. There is every reason to believe that much of the land that makes up what is now known as the Fairchild Section of Morris Township was part of the original Fairchild spread.
Of Morris Plains, Morris, NJ
Of Morris Plains, Morris, NJ
Of Morris Plains, Morris, NJ
Of Morris Plains, Morris, NJ
Of Morris Plains, Morris, NJ
Of Morris Plains, Morris, NJ
Of Morris Plains, Morris, NJ
Of Morris Plains, Morris, NJ
Of Morris Plains, Morris, NJ
Of Morris Plains, Morris, NJ
BIOGRAPHY: From 1870 Nebraska census
DEATH: Birth and death date taken from the records ot the WashingtonCounty Historical Association, locate in their museum in Fort Calhoun.
BURIAL: At the Fort Calhoun Cemetery