Basically before 1900 there were
two kinds of May lineages. Many May families emmigrated from Germany
after 1800. These groups were not believed to be related to each
other. They came from various parts of the German States. The
other group were English deriving from John May, of Mayfield, Sussex, England,
who first brought the May surname to America. On 19 November 1656
in Roxbury, MA John married Sarah Brewer. All the English May families
appear to have been descended from John Mayfield.
While a book on May genealogy has
been published, the confusion in the family tree remains. The trouble
has stemmed from the colonial naming pattern used by Congregational New
Englanders. The same names were repeated over and over in every generation.
Now the sorting out of the various Johns, Ephraims, Eleasers, Nehemiahs,
Ezras, Samuels, etc. makes an accurate line of descent difficult.
The same names crowd the census schedules of Massachusetts, Connecticut
and New York.
At best what follows can be labelled
a tentative or preliminary examination of a possible line of descent from
Mayfield, England to New Haven, NY. Actually all the English May
families of the 19th century in Northern New York were related, but the
various Ezra Mays have different fathers and grandfathers. Some center
on descent via Holland, MA and some came directly from Woodstock, CT.
The major Oswego County, NY historians were Crisfield Johnson and John
Churchill. Each one included some material on the May family particularly
in regard to Ezra and his great-great-grand nephew Charles A. May.
Churchill was very specific. The May family at New Haven was of English
origin. Johnson pinpointed Ezra May’s date of arrival in New Haven
as 1807/8 which helped to eliminate the confusion over all the other Ezra
May names found in the various census.
In the second generation of the American
May group, the oldest surviving son was Deacon John May, born 19 May 1663
at Roxbury, MA. He married Prudence Bridge, born 11 June 1664.
This couple had twelve children with 11 surviving.
Their son Nehemiah May, born 28 June
1701 also at Roxbury, wed Mehetabel Holbrook on 30 November 1726.
They had seven children. After ca. 1727 they removed to Woodstock,
CT.
Nehemiah and Mehetabel’s oldest son
also called Nehemiah was born on 31 January 1729/30. On 18 March
1752 at Woodstock he married a local girl, Hannah Anna Lyon who later became
the mother of seven children. This family removed to Holland, MA
in 1752 where the first of their children were born. Their children
were William, Nehemiah, Zuriel, Hannah, Rufus, Eli, Chester, Ezra, Mary,
Olive and Rinda. Most of these persons were later found in New York
census records scattered across the state.
However, these siblings were not
the only May members entering New York counties. Another set of siblings
went from Woodstock, CT to Otsego Co., NY. This group descended from
Eliakim May and Martha Lyon. One of the Otsego settlers was an Erza
May, born 1780, making him 19 years younger than Ezra, son of Nehemiah.
The Otsego Ezra married Chloe Plumb. To add even more difficulties
descendants of these two branches in the next 50 years sometimes resided
in the same towns along with Mays from Germany.
At Holland, MA the family lived on
a land holding said to be one square mile in size called Land Mine Farm.
Anna (Lyon) May died in Holland after 1769.
During the Revolutionary War Nehemiah
served as a captain in Leonard’s Regiment of the Massachusetts Militia
in 1777. His son Ezra served as a private for 5 months 6 days at
Rhode Island under Captain Joshua L. Woodbridge. He was also allowed
a further credit of 1 month 6 days for more service in Rhode Island during
December 1779. His residence was listed as Brimfield, MA.
By 1790 the family lived at South Brimfield, MA. Yet Nehemiah may
have died at Holland on 27 December 1793. He was buried in the Old
Graveyard at Holland.
At first the trail of Nehemiah’s
sons Ezra and Chester only led to Oneida County, NY where they both arrived
about 1794 at Vernon, NY. Both men were among the first settlers
of the Sargent Patent. Both brothers were listed in the 1800 Whitestown
census which covered Vernon. Chester was still recorded as a land owner
in 1814, but Ezra wasn’t. Later Chester left Vernon and settled in
Fredonia, NY.
Ezra, born 10 September 1761, was
placed in Jefferson County, NY by the compilers of the May genealogy book.
He married Bathsheba Armstrong, born 23 October 1753 in Woodstock, CT.
They became parents of seven sons and one daughter. Ezra died on
10 September 1811 at Black River, NY. Jefferson County records seem
devoid of further mention of the Black River Mays. Here the May genealogy
stopped expounding on this branch.
However, Ezra’s Revolutionary War
service meant his female descendants could join the DAR. On 20 September
1924 Cora Shell Lash, Ezra’s great-great-granddaughter was accepted in
the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Washington,
DC. As member #194,105 she submitted her lineage papers with useful information
which tied the Black River Mays and the New Haven Mays together.
The DAR accepted that Bathsheba May, born 1 September 1803, was a daughter
of Ezra and Bathsheba (Armstrong) May.
New Haven, Oswego Co., NY was only
about 60 or so miles from Black River. New Haven’s historical records
included many references to the May family. It was possible to speculate
regarding some of the children of Ezra and Bathsheba (Armstrong) May.
They were likely to have been the following: Elias, born ca. 1785;
Ezra born ca, 1789/90; Dexter, born ca. 1792; Alanson, born
ca. 1793; Bathsheba, born 1 September 1803; and Nehemiah, born ca. 1810.
Elias and Dexter’s birth dates were taken from census records.
Ezra May settled in New Haven before
1808/09 according to Historian Johnson. In 1810 he opened the town’s
first tavern, suggesting he was then at least 21.
In the War of 1812 Ezra was a pilot
in Commodore Chauncey’s Lake Ontario fleet. Due to an error the boat
sank, Ezra was taken prisoner by the British who transported hium and others
to Kingston, Ontario. There he bribed a sentry and escaped.
He reached Sackett’s Harbor a few miles north of New Haven where he received
a hero’s welcome. He was given $50 for his bravery. Historians
Churchill and Johnson both printed this story but the National Archives
Compiled Index of the War of 1812 Service Records lacked Ezra’s name.
His presummed brother Dexter also
served in 1812. Documents of his service exist. He received
$21 from a claim of loss he submitted to the State of New York. In
1883 his widow was included as a pensioner from the War of 1812 by the
U.S. Government.
Supposed brother Alanson also participated
in the War of 1812 according to Historian Churchill. However, his
name was not found in the National Archives’ Index.
When Ezra opened his tavern in 1810
it quickly became the towns first hotel. In 1824 Ezra built a new
brick hotel to better serve his guests. May descendants ran a New
Haven hotel for years.
Very little was known of Ezra’s wife,
except her name was Anna. There was an Anna May and Bathsheba May,
her presumed daughter, in the 1834 records of the Congregational Church
of New Haven. There were several Oswego County deeds recorded mentioning
Anna as the wife of Ezra May.
Elias settled in New Haven before
1813. At the first town meeting he was made a pathmaster which meant
leading a crew of his neighbors in keeping the roads (then barely footpaths)
open and free from fallen trees, potholes, dead animals, and filling in
muddy sections. Closed or poor roads meant no crops to the markets
and land buyers could not see the open land on sale, so would move elsewhere.
Records at John Grattan’s store in
New Haven in the late 1820's show purchasing by Ezra. In the 1830
New Haven census Ezra and his family of one son and 6 daughters still resided
at New Haven.
Ezra next appeared to own a store
in nearby Mexico, NY. The store had a post office in it, assuring
that people would stop in. Ezra had some involvement with the Mexico
Presbyterian Church. Ezra was called “of Mexico” in a newspaper mention
of his daughter Malinda May’s marriage to Ira A. Johnson on 20 November
1834.
Elias May, age 65 in the 1850 New
Haven census, worked as a millwright. He wed Cythnia, age 61, from
Rhode Island. None of their children remained in the home.
In 1820 he had three daughters in his household. Possibly one of
them wed a David for an 11-year old Mary Ann David, born in New York, was
part of the 1850 household.
Elias died before 1860. In
the 1860 New Haven census there was an Elias enumerated, but he was age
34, a laborer, with wife Elis, age 28, and two children: C.A., age 7, and
H.M., age 5. This Elias could have been the son of any of the brothers.
Dexter May wed in 1820, according
to the LDS Ancestral File, Amanda who was born ca. 1799 at New Haven.
Only partial records remain oin their children. On 1 September 1821
Mary Malvina May was born. Dexter worked as a carpenter like much
of the family. In 1850 he was 56 with a worth of $600. Amanda
was age 50. Anna Eliza May, age 15, resided in the home.
Before 1859 Ann Eliza became Anna
and married Alexander Glass. In the 1860 New Haven census Alexander
Glass, age 34, a farmer, headed a household consisting of his wife, A.E.,
age 25; his son, age 4 months, F.I. plus Dexter May, age 63, a farm hand,
and his wife, Amanda, age 60.
In the 1870 New Haven census Dexter,
age 78, listed with no occupation and Amanda, age 70, were shown living
in a separate household. Dexter died before 1880.
Amanda May returned to the household
of her son-in-law Alexander Glass. The 1880 New Haven census enumerated
the Glass family thusly:
Glass, Alexander -58-farmer-NY
Glass, Anna, 42-wife-NY
Glass, Fred -19-son-NY
Glass, Frank -14-son-NY
Glass, Nellie -12-daughter-NY
Glass, Bertha -8-daughter-NY
Glass, Jennie -3-daughter-NY
May, Amanda -89-mother-in-law-NY
It was at this time that Amanda was
receiving her husband’s War of 1812 pension.
Sister Bathsheba May wed on 28 December
1823 Hiram Bracy of New Haven, born 27 December 1801. They had four
known children. They were Sarah Ann Bracy, born 20 November 1824;
Henrietta
Amelia Bracy, born ca. 12 January 1828; Walston Bracy, born 1830; and Dorliska,
born 1832; Hiram died 5 March 1839. At some point before
1849 Bathsheba and family went west to Scipio, Allen Co., IN.
At Scipio Bathsheba met Philip J.
Shell, a farmer with 6 children. His wife died ca. 1848. On
21 December 1849 Bathsheba became his second wife. In the 1850 census her
son Walston, age 20, worked as a hired hand for Mr. Shell. Bathsheba
died 5 November 1878.
Dorliska Bracy married on 19 June
1849 William A. Moore from Genesee, NY. She had ten children, dying
17 May 1914. Henrietta Amelia Bracy wed during 1844 at Scipio,
IN William Palmer. They had six children of whom five survived: (from
the 1860 census in Wayne, IN) Florence, Clarence, Anna, Minnie plus Earl
born in 1863. Earl died 19 January 1945. Minniehaha [sic] Palmer
married, had children and now living grandchildren. She died 22 November
1931. Sarah Bracy wed James Ireland 7 August 1842. Her daughter
Lugenia Ireland, born 18 May 1843, wed George Shell, born 17 February 1840,
a stepson of Bathsheba (May) (Bracy) Shell’s. It was their daughter Cora
Shell, born in Scipio, IN, who applied to the National Society of the Daughters
of the American Revolution.
Alanson May married on 12 September
1825 Nancy Mack, daughter of Joshua and Charlotte (Boise) Mack. They
had four children, one of whom Alvin died young. Their daughter Henrietta
M. died in 1849, age 6. In the 1850 New Haven census Alanson, a millwright,
worth $2500, age 57, was enumerated with his wife Nancy, age 46, and children:
Erastus, age 24; and Charles, age 22. Both sons worked as coopers.
Erastus married Elizabeth Hoban from
New Haven. Besides his work as a cooper, Erastus manufactured staves.
In 1869 he died. The 1870 New haven census showed the household led
by Elizabeth, age 37, with children: Hellen [sic], age 15; Herbert, age
9; and Juliette, age 4.
In the 1870 census Alanson, age 72,
a farmer, lived with wife Nancy, age 65, and three apparent grandchildren.
The oldest child, Charlie, age 17, was the son of Erastus, but the other
two (Herbert, age 7, and Henrietta, age 4) may have been double listings
for Erastus’ younger children shown as living with their mother. Alanson’s
son Charles, born on 20 February 1829, left New Haven. He married
and resided in Castleton, ND.
In the 1880 New Haven census Elizabeth
and the younger children were not enumerated. Son Charles, age 27,
a farmer, lived with his grandmother, Nancy May, a widow, age 76.
It was this Charles who in later life was called Charles A. May.
In 1913 he was a Justice of the Peace at New Haven. He worked as
a mason by 1895. In 1889 he married Emma Hubbell. He apparently
knew Historian John Churchill contributing to Churchill’s work about New
Haven. Grandmother Nancy died on 3 January 1889.
Other grandchildren of Erza and Bathsheba
resided in New Haven by 1850. They were trained to be carpenters.
The oldest was Orris H. May, age 32, with wife Atlanta, age 33, and sons,
Wm. H., age 6, and Hiram L., age 4.
Another descendant Martinus (?) May,
age 25, was enumerated with two females, Mita Mack, age 30 , and Calista,
age 23. One of these women was the mother of Florence M., age 3.
There also was Elonson M., age 23, with hhis wife Adelia, age 22.
By 1860 Orris H., age 43, had become
a master carpenter. He lived with Atlanta, age 44, and children:
Wm., age 16, and Frank, age 14. The same family in 1870 included
Orris, Atlanta and son Hiram, age 24. Hiram was called Hiram F.,
so he was the person called Frank in the 1860 census. In 1880 Orris
was spelled Oasis [sic] and Atlanta was Attalanta [sic]. They both
lived with Hiram, age 33.
In the 1870 census Elonson M. became
Mortimer, age 44, with his wife Adelia, age 42, son Eugene, age 18, and
daughter Varula, age 12.
By the 1920 New Haven census Hiram
F., age 73, son or Orris was located. He was a widower who by the
1930 census still was alive living as a boarder in an apparent stranger’s
home.
Erastus’ son Herbert L. lived in
Scriba by 1910. A farmer, he had married Minnie E. Hallack, daughert
of Nathan and Maria Hallack of Scriba. In 1910 her unmarried brother
Richard Hallack, age 38, lived with Minnie and Hiram who had been married
for 12 years. Minnie stated in the 1910 Scriba census that she had
never given birth. This couple of Herbert and Minnie also appeared
in Scriba’s 1920 and 1930 census.
There were also various other May
families in New Haven, but their relationship to Erza and Bathsheba seemed
less clear.
SOURCES:
Ancestral File. Available [online]
http://familysearch.org
[1 March 2004].
Bowen, Clarence Winthrop.
History of Woodstock, Connecticut. v.7. Norwood: Plimpton, 1943.
(LDS microfilm #0940068).
Bracy Family Genealogy Forum.
Available [online] http://genforum.genealogy.com
[4 July 2004].
Churchill, John C. Landmarks
of Oswego County, New York. Syracuse: Mason, 1895.
Indiana Marriages, 1845-1920.
Available [online] http://ancestry.com
[4 July 2004].
John Grattan’s Ledger Books.
Available {online] http://www.rootsweb.com/~nyoswego/treasures/nhgrattledger.html
[1
March 2004].
Johnson, Crisfield. History
of Oswego County, New York. Philadelphia: Evert, 1877.
List of Pensioners on the Roll,
1 Jan. 1883 for Oswego Co., N.Y. Available [online] http://www/rootsweb.com/~nyoswego/military/war1812pensioners.html
[1 March 2004].
Marriages and Death Notices, Oswego
Co., N.Y. 1833-1835. Available [online] http://www/rootsweb.com/~nyoswego/misc/miscmardeath3.html
[3 March 2004].
May, Samuel. [et al.] Descendants
of John May of Roxbury, Massachusetts 1640. Baltimore: Gateway, 1998.
National Society of the Daughters
of the American Revolution, Washington, D.C. Application for Membership
by Cora Shell Lash. National number #194,105 Dated 20 September 1924.
N.Y. Adjutant General’s Office.
Index of Claims of Soldiers of the War of 1812. Albany: 1860.
N.Y. Oswego Co. Deeds, v.
A, p. 78 (LDS microfilm #1012256).
N.Y. Oswego Co. Deeds, v.
J, p. 168-169 (LSD microfilm #1012260).
N.Y. Oswego Co. Deeds, v.
O, p. 208 (LDS microfilm #1011763).
N.Y. Oswego Co. Deeds, v.60,
p. 498-400 (LDS microfilm #10117495).
N.Y. State Census for New Haven,
Oswego County, N.Y., 1905. (LDS microfilm #1017602).
Records of the Congregational Church,
Town of New Haven, N.Y. Available [online] http://www.rootsweb.com/~nyoswego
[4 March 2004].
Simpson, Elizabeth. Mexico:
Mother of Towns. Buffalo: Clement, 1949.
Treman, Ebenezer Mack. History
of Treman, Tremaine, Truman family in America. Ithaca: Ithaca Democrat,
1901.
U.S. Census Scipio, Allen Co., IN
1850.
U.S. Census Wayne, Allen Co., IN
1860.
U.S. Cenus, South Brimfield, MA
1790.
U.S. Census Whitestown, Oneida Co.,
NY 1800.
U.S. Census New Haven, Oswego Co.,
NY 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1910, 1920 & 1930.
U.S. Census Scriba, Oswego Co.,
NY 1880, 1920 & 1930.
Wager, Daniel E. Our County and
Its People. Boston: Boston History, 1896.
WorldConnect Project. Available
[online] http://worldonnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com
[5 March 2004].