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The
Gesner
(Gisner)
Family
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[This section is a work in progress.
There may be genealogical errors.
It is not meant to be a complete Gesner Family Tree, rather portions relevant
to the History of Rockleigh Borough.
Corrections or clarifications are welcome: ewa1@columbia.edu] |
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Links to Houses |
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Gesner
Index
Abraham Gesner
Abraham H Gesner
Abraham Pineo Gesner
Amelia Helen Gesner
Anthon Temple Gesner
Cornelius Gesner
Elizabeth Gesner
Femmetje
Gesner
Hendrick
Gesner
Isaac Gesner
Jacob Gesner
John Henry Gesner
John Henry
Gesner Jr
Matilda Gesner
Nicholas Gesner
Sally Gesner
William Herbert Gesner
Wm Nicholas Gesner
Links
John Gesner
Homestead Site
Nicholas Gesner
House
Nicholas Gesner Genealogy
Gesner-Conklin Burying Ground
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1.
Johan Hendrick Gesner
(1681 in Trarbach,
Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany - 1745/8, Tappan,
NY), carpenter and the son
of Johann Matthias, married on 7 Feb 1707/08 in Kallstadt,
Germany, Anna Elizabeth Smith/Schmidt (c.1680:
Kallstadt, Germany - ? in Tappan, NY). It is plausible that Johan
Hendrick was
related to the notable theologian Andrew Gesner (c.1520-?).
Children of Johan Hendrick Gesner and Anna Schmidt include:
i. Margaret
"Gerittye" (<1710-?),
ii. John
Henry Gesner (1724-1811).
About 1705, Johan immigrated with his wife from the Reinish Palatinate first to
London, England,
where his daughter
Margaret
"Gerittye" (<1710, England) was born. At
about 1810, Johan left for to Holland and then embarked for America with
his wife and infant daughter on the English ship
Lyon, arriving in New York in on 10-12 June 1710. He
took the oath of allegiance on
10 Jan 1715/16.
The War of
the Palatinate, in which Britain led a coalition of powers to
oppose the French hegemony of Louis XIV, whose forces ravaged the
German Rhineland, led to political unrest and persecution of German Protestants
by French Catholics. The result was large scale emigration to Holland,
England, and America from 1689 to 1697. Subsequently, a major freeze in
the winter of 1708/09 drove many Palatines down the Rhine to Rotterdam
with additional emigration to England and America.
Swiss-German in
origin from the Palatinate of the Rhine, the Gesner family resided for a
time in Yonkers, NY, before settling across the Hudson River in the vicinity of Tappan
Town, Province of New York.
Johan Hendrick Gesner was a miller by profession and operated a mill on
the Hackensack River.*
The birth of a son, John
Henry Gesner, was recorded on 24 May 1724 at Tappan, NY.* In the
next year, Johan Gesner purchased land in the Tappan area. It is not
clear whether or not Johan lived here. However, his will suggests that
this was the same property devised to his wife that subsequently fell to
his son, John. The precise location of this land is not known, but was
unlikely the same tract in Rockleigh purchased by his son John in 1749.
He lived a pious life and adhered to the Lutheran
faith. In his will drawn on October 30,
1745, he devised all his
property, except one Negro woman, to his wife Anna Elizabeth and provided that
at her death the property should go to his son John Henry Gesner. The Negro
woman was left to his daughter Margaret, wife of Jacob Valentine of
Yonkers, New York Province. The will was proved on July 16, 1748.*
*
Anthon Temple Gesner: "The Gesner Family of New York and Nova
Scotia",
Pelton & King, printers and bookbinders, 1912.
2i.
Margaret
"Grietye" Gesner
(c.1708-?), daughter of Johan &
Anna Elizabeth, m. Jacob Valentine (1705 - 9 Jan 1772, Orange Co,
NY) of Yonkers, NY, son of John Valentine (1691 in East Chester, NY, -
?), settled in New Jersey.
Children of Margaret Gesner & Jacob
Valentine included :
i. Hendrick Valentine
(25 Aug 1735, NJ - ?, Fort Edwards, NY) m. Nancy -?- (?-?) and resided
initially in Orangetown, Orange Co., NY, then Fort Edwards, NY, [Sons:
Jacob (1757-?); John (1759-?); Alexander (1760, Orangetown, NY-1826) m1
Sarah Woods, m2 Hannah Scherp; Peter m Maria Mabie; Margaret];
ii. Jacob Valentine (1738-?);
iii.
Johannes "John" Matthys Valentine (14 July 1741-?);
iv. Elizabeth Valentine (c.1744-?).*
*
Anthon Temple Gesner: "The Gesner Family of New York and Nova
Scotia",
Pelton & King, printers and bookbinders, 1912.
2ii.
Jan
"John" Henry Gesner
(25
May 1724,
Tappan, NY - 6 Jul 1811, Rockland, Harrington Twp., Bergen Co., NJ), son
of Johan & Anna Elizabeth, learned his father's profession, becoming
a miller. Like his father, he was a man of comfortable means. In 1744 he
married in the Lutheran Church in New York Famitcha Brower (bapt. 17 Dec 1723, Hackensack, NJ - 10 Feb 1788, Rockland, NJ), daughter of Adolphus Brower
(son of Jacobus Brower & Annekje Bogardus who was a granddau. of
Dominie Bogardus & Aneke Jans
of New Amsterdam) & Jannette "Jannetje" Ferdon (dau. of
Jacob Ferdon, friend and neighbor of J. Hendrick Gesner). *
* Nicholas
Gesner: The Genealogy of Nicholas Gesner
(ms, undated, in possession of Marylou Stansbury)
On
1 Jun 1749*, John Henry Gesner purchased property from Henry Ludlow a mile and one-half
southeast of Tappan Village and close to the disputed New York-New
Jersey line in what is present-day Rockleigh, New Jersey. John and Famitcha
began and ended their married life in a house built to the west of
Sneden Landing Road, [The site of
the house is shown on Robert Erskine's Revolutionary War Map, Number 110,
1788-80.] The house was
located to the west of the brook to the west of the DuBois House and
about 200 hundred yards southeast from the present James Gowdy House
on Piermont Road. (Mary Gowdy, wife of James, was related to the Gesner
family through her father, John Gisner Conklin who was a grandson of
Elizabeth Gesner-Conklin [3i] and Jacob Concklin.)
They would
have ten children:
i. Elizabeth (1745-1825) m. Jacob Conklin Jr.,
ii. John Henry Jr (1749-~1846),
iii. Jacob (23 Dec 1751-?),
iv. Isaac (1754-?),
v. Hendrick (1756-?) and his twin
vi. Abraham (1756 - 1851),
vii. Cornelius (1761-1790),
viii. Nicholas (1765-c.1850),
ix. Femmetje (Famiche)
(1768-1821).*
*
Nicholas
Gesner: "The Genealogies of the respective families or
Descendents from Anneke Jahn and Domaine Bogardus
may be traced down in marriages from Nicholas Gesner."
(ms, undated, in possession of Marylou Stansbury)
Just prior to the Revolutionary War John Henry Gesner was regarded as a
citizen of Orangetown, NY—a result of the border dispute—but
by the time war broke out, the new boundary ran through their farm with
the house lying within New Jersey. Several of his sons belonged to a Tory militia company
known as The Kings Orange Rangers that had been raised mainly in Orange County,
New York, in 1776 by loyalist Lieutenant John Bayard of Greenwich
Village, NY. John Henry, a quiet and religious man, tried to avoid
the political controversies associated with the Revolutionary War.
He and his wife Famitcha
chose to remain neutral at this time. They, like the Snedens refused to
sign the Association Articles, suffering the same consequences of being
named Tories. In 1777 the family suffered verbal abuse from patriotic
neighbors.
"It
may not be improper to note here that our Father and Mother, John Henry
Gesner and Famitcha Bower, wished to remain neural in the War of the Revolution.
He refused to sign the Association Articles, dreading the Consequences;
was called a Tory, but truly he was a peaceable man in every
respect. Threatenments were made, and his sons grown up were all
menaced to e taken to New England, and confined in dungeons (or
mines). Violence was used in many places, and with many.
Father
Gesner, now about 52 or 53 years old, admonished his sons, Jacob, Isaac, and the twins Henry and
Abraham, to take opportunity & go to New York now in possession of
the English. With some others, after Father admonished them to be
good boys, they went off in an open Small
Pettiauger belonging to Denis Sneden who went also from Snedens &c."*
*
Nicholas Gesner Diaries. July 1834. m/s Palisades Free Library. Palisades,
NY
New York gave them safe harbor, but they would never return to the old
farm again. Isaac found work as a Taylor. Twins Hendrick and Abraham
with Jacob went to Staten Island where they cut wood. As members of the
Kings Orange Rangers commanded by Colonel Bayard, they served as guards
at Powles Point and Hoboken.*
*Alice
Munro Haagensen: The Nicholas Gesner Diary.
in South of the Mountains, Vol. 34, No. 2, (April-June, 1990), p3.
The Revolution ended and the family was irrevocably separated. The twins
Hendrick and Abraham were evacuated to and settled in Nova Scotia in 1779 where they
started new and illustrious branches of the family name. Jacob was
lost at sea. Isaac settled in New York. John Henry Jr. returned to
Nyack and continued the Gesner family in the area. On Feb 10th
in the winter of 1788 Famitcha died and was buried on a knoll a short
distance from the Gesner farm house. From a few remaining letters of John Henry Gesner, his remaining
years were long days of sadness. In 1796 he began subdividing his lands.
His son Nicholas purchased his lands on the New York side of the
boundary. He sold for £875 his house, burying ground and considerable
land to the south of the state boundary to to his daughter,
Elizabeth, and son-in-law, Jacob
Conklin, Jr, for his grandson, Jacob Conklin 3rd.
3 August 1796 (recorded 30
December 1805, Bergen Co. X:30) John Gesner of Harington Township,
yeoman, conveyed to Nicholas Gesner of Orange Township, County of
Orange, State of New York, for £100, 1 rod, 6 perches, at a place
commonly called Rockland, part of which [is] in Harrington Township in
the County of Bergen, and part in Orange Township in the County of
Orange, State of New York. Signed by John Gesner. [ No witnesses listed.]
30 August 1796
(recorded 30 December 1805, Bergen Co. X:22) John Gesner of Harrington
Township, yeoman, conveyed to Nicholas Gesner of Orange Township, County
of Orange, State of New York, for £300 and other good considerations,
31 acres, 1 rod, 6 perches at the place commonly called Rockland in
Harington Township, beginning at corner lot no. 1 adjoining land of
Jacob Conklin. Signed by John Gesner. Witnessed by Peter Maba, Petrus
Haring.
Also in 1796, John Henry Gesner
deeded to his son-in-law, Jacob Conklin,
described as resident of Rockland,
Harrington Twp, Bergen Co, NJ,
a large tract of land in the above
stated location for £875.*
* [Record of Deeds, Hackensack,
NJ]
John
Henry Gesner was laid to rest in 1811 beside Famitcha in
the Gesner-Conklin Burying Ground
just north of the old Gesner house which apparently
was in a state of severe deterioration. Some of the Gesner land was purchased by
Joseph DuBois, including the site of the homestead from which
materials were salvaged for the construction of his
home. John Gisner Concklin and Herbert Gisner came into tracks of
Gesner farmlands within New Jersey.* All of
that remains of the life there is the Gesner-Conklin Burying Ground, c.
1788.
*
Reginald
McMahon: Carterette Road as "Laid Out", October 4, 1858
from Two Haring Houses at Rockleigh, NJ. mms Bergen County Historical Society,
1973
3i.
Elizabeth Gesner
(6 Dec 1745 - 8
Aug 1825, Rockland [Old Closter], NJ),
daughter of John Henry Gesner & Famitcha
Brower, married Jacob Conklin Jr.
The children of Jacob Jr and Elizabeth Gesner were:
i. the 3rd Jacob
Conklin, (15 Jul 1766 - 22 Jun 1811);
ii. Femmitje (Phebe) Conklin (18
Feb 1773 - 1845/6) ; and
iii. Elizabeth Conklin (13 Jan 1778-?).*[see Conklin Family]
Nicholas
Gesner: The Genealogy of Nicholas Gesner
(ms, undated, in possession of Marylou Stansbury)
3ii.
John Henry (Holland) Gesner, Jr.
(24 Sep 1749 -
10 Jun 1833, Oak Hill Cem, Nyack, NY), son of John Henry Gesner & Famitcha
Brower, on 18 Sep 1771 married on 18 Sep 1771 Anna (Antje) Onderdonk
(c. 1752 -9 Jul 1828 at 76 yr 7 m 10 d, Oak Hill Cem., Nyack, NY) dau. of Andros Onderdonk (a signer of the Orangetown Resolutions
of 1775) & Sarah Remsen.
Initially,
John and Annie lived at the northern edge of
Nyack where he ran a pettiauger on the Hudson. His boat was captured by
British frigate Brune and he was taken to New York City with the boat
where he was forced to run a ferry service. This gave rise to the rumor
that he was a Tory sympathizer, resulting in an investigation by the Committee of
Safety. Being compromised, John Henry and Annie sought refuge in
Shelburne, NS, where Henry (1785), David, Elizabeth, and Mary (1791) were born.***
Upon returning to Rockland
County after the cessation of hostilities (by 1797), the family
re-established a home in Nyack, began a boat-building business, and raised
ten children:
i. John Henry (25 Sep 1772, Nyack -?) married (DRC, Tappan) 4 Feb 1796
Rachel Palmer of Clarkstown;
ii. Ann "Antje" (12 Aug
1774, Nyack- 17 Apr 1859)
wed 15 Dec 1827 at
Tappan RDC John G. Perry (24 Mar 1799 - 24 Jun 1893), son of John
Perry (c.1778 -? Oak Hill Cem, Nyack, NY) and Mary -?- (c.1781 - 23 Nov
1845 at 65 y 10 m 5d, Oak Hill Cem., Nyack, NY), who eventually took over John Henry's boat-building
business [Daughter: Amanda (11
Oct 1828 - 2 Oct 1905, Nyack, NY) m on 9 Jul 1851 Hagaman Onderdonk (1818,
Piermont, NY - 1892, Nyack, NY)].
iii. Andries (1776, Nyack -?).
iv. Famitje
"Phebe" (15 Mar 1779 - 14 Jul 1857) m. 28 Feb 1796
John Sneden, Jr. and lived in Piermont
where John ran a boatyard. In 1820, they moved to Snedens Landing where
John ran the ferry.
v. Sarah (?-?) m. 21 Aug 1808 Jacobus
Lent [Children included: i.
Adolf Lent, ii. Peter Lent, iii. Maria Lent, iv. Ann Lent-Graham];
vi. Henry (2
Feb 1785, Shelburne, NS - 6 May 1851, Oak Hill Cem, Nyack, NY)
married (DRC, Tappan) 16 Jan 1806 Rachel "Saukky" Townsend*
(c.1787, Tappan - 18 May 1878, Oak Hill Cem, Nyack, NY). In 1811 Henry was commissioned Lieutenant in the 83rd N.Y.
Regiment.** [Children: i. Philip
Debay, ii. Ann (6 Dec 1818), iii. Pheobe, iv. Sylvester, v. Jane, vi. John, vii. Sarah, viii.
Elmira, and ix. Henry (1824-1890) m. Christina Clark];
vii. David
(19 Jun 1787, Shelburne, NS - 9 Sep 1832, Nyack, NY) m. 1809 Elizabeth Coren
(1790-1872) with 10 children;
viii. Elizabeth (1790,
Shelburne, NS - 6 Oct 1868) m. 14 Dec 1814 Sylvester
Hayford of Tappan,
ix. Mary (Oct 1791, Shelburne, NS - 16 Apr 1828) m. on 21 May 1815 Elijah
Appleby;
x. Abraham (26 Jan 1797, Nyack - 4 Aug, Ramapo, NY) m. Wilmina/Wilhemina Onderdonk; and
xi. Jane
(29 Jan 1800, Nyack - 13 Apr 1849) m. 17 Apr 1823
Evert G. Wendell of Troy, NY.***
Nicholas
Gesner: The Genealogy
of Nicholas Gesner
(ms, undated, in possession of Marylou Stansbury)
Nicholas
Gesner: "The Genealogies of the respective families or
Descendents from Anneke Jahn and Domaine Bogardus
may be traced down in marriages from Nicholas Gesner."
(ms, undated, in possession of Marylou Stansbury)
* Record of Marriages, DRC, Tappan, NY.
www.dutchdoorgenealogy.com
**
Military Records (1784-1821), Vol II. Council of Appointment, State of New
***
Anthon Temple Gesner: "The Gesner Family of New York and Nova
Scotia",
Pelton & King, printers and bookbinders, 1912.
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The
Gesner Shipyard, at the foot of Clinton Avenue, South Nyack, was busiest between
1815 through 1828 when thirteen "Hudson River" sloops were
launched: the "Conveyance", "Mary Pamela, Valiant",
"Elmira Ann", "Fair Play", "Parthina", "Advocate",
"Return", "Ann", "Henry Gesner", "Virginia",
"Lady Gesner", and "Carver".
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Typical
Hudson River Sloop |
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In 1827,
John Henry, Jr. was running the Gesner shipyard when the "Orange" (nee "Nyack")
was launched for the Nyack
Steamboat Association in which Gesner was a principal. This was the first
steamship to provide regular service on a two-day round-trip schedule between Nyack and
Manhattan, carrying passengers, cargo, and animals. The shipyard business continued under John G.
Perry, the son-in-law of John Henry Gesner, Sr.*
*
Old
Nyack, Nyack National Bank, 1928
3iii.
Jacob Gesner
(23 Dec 1751-~1780),
son of of
John Henry Gesner & Famitcha Brower,
a Captain in British militia King's Orange Rangers, married Ann Briggs.* He was lost at
sea on passage to Nova Scotia.
3iv.
Isaac Gesner
(15 May 1753-?), son
of John Henry Gesner & Famitcha
Brower, settled in New York City with his wife,
Johanna La Farge (Lavidsjer). Their children include:
i. William
[Son:
Charles],
ii.
Hanen (?sp),
iii. Phebe, iv. Thomas,
v. Isaac
[Son: Jacob],
vi. Nicholas [Daughter: Debora],
vii. Jacob
m. poss.
Anna Domaine [Sons: Isaac, Cornelius, and
Henry (?-1783).]*
"In 1791 [Jacob]
was living in N.Y. City in
the West ward carrying on his trade as tailor."**
*
Anthon Temple Gesner: "The Gesner Family of New York and Nova
Scotia",
Pelton & King, printers and bookbinders, 1912.
**
Nicholas Gesner Diaries. July 1834. m/s Palisades Free Library. Palisades,
NY
3v. Col.
Hendrick (Henry) Gesner (10 Nov 1756,
Tappan RDC - 13 Oct 1850, Cornwallis, NS),
son of
John Henry Gesner & Famitcha Brower, joined at sixteen the King's Orange
Rangers commanded by Samuel V. Bayard and advanced in rank to Cornel. The
KOR saw action in the battles
of Kingsbridge Heights and Harlem Heights. After being evacuated from New
York City, he settled in Cornwallis, Nova
Scotia, on a 400 acre tract granted by the English crown for his loyalist service.*
*
Anthon Temple Gesner: "The Gesner Family of New York and Nova
Scotia",
Pelton & King, printers and bookbinders, 1912.
About 1796 Henry married 1st on 4 May 1786 Sarah Pineo/Pineau (3
Sep 1768 - 23 Apr 1842), daughter of David Pineo & Rebecca West. The Pineos were French Huguenots who came to Nova Scotia
from Lebanon, Connecticut, before the Revolution. The West family was
also from Connecticut.
The children of
Henry Gesner & Sarah were:
i. Rebecca (27 May 1787-) m in 1810 Elkanah Terry;
ii.
John
Henry (20 Mar 1789-) m. in 1818 Mary Lydia Chase;
iii. Elizabeth
(11 Mar 1791-) m. in 1815
Samuel Chipman;
iv. David Henry (7 Mar 1793-), his sons moved to
Michigan,
v. Famicha (27 Mar 1795-) m. in 1821
Benjamin Cossett,
vi. Abraham
(1797-1864),
vii.
Gibbs Henry (12 Jul 1799-) m. Mary Eliza Hill,
viii. Sarah C. (21 Feb
1802-), m. Dr Carr;
ix.
Henry, Jr (17 Apr 1804-) m. in 1828 Catherine Kidston;
x. Anna Maria
(28 Sep 1806-) m.
Edward Hamilton of Horton,
xi. Lavina Caroline (22 May
1809-26 May 1890), poet, m. Mr Kerr;
xii. Charlotte Amelia
(8 Sep 1813 - 4 May 1882, Cornwallis) m. Samuel Barnaby.*
*
Anthon Temple Gesner: "The Gesner Family of New York and Nova
Scotia",
Pelton & King, printers and bookbinders, 1912.
Henry
married 2nd to Elizabeth Sampson, apparently
with no children.
4vi. Dr. Abraham
Pineo Gesner
(2 May 1797, Cornwallis, NS - 29 Apr 1864, Halifax, NS), son of
Henry
& Sarah Pineo, married on 31 Jan 1822 Harriet Webster (24 Jul 1801, Tarrytown, NY - 23 Feb
1868, NS), dau of Dr Isaac Webster of Kentville, NS. At the age of 28, Abraham
studied Medicine at St. Bartholomew's hospital under Dr. Abernethy and, subsequently, surgery at Guy's
hospital in London under Sir Astley Cooper before returning to Nova Scotia
in 1824. He settled in Parrsboro to practice medicine and there developed
an avid interest in geology.

Dr
Abraham Pineo Gesner: Physician, Surgeon, Geologist, Inventor
His love for Geology resulted in a career shift. He was appointed
Provincial Geologist of the Province of New Brunswick and moved to St.
John. By 1852, he had moved into the Gesner Homestead in Cornwallis and
resumed the practice of medicine. About 1855, he discovered kerosene
as a whale oil replacement for illumination. He emigrated to
Williamsburg, NY, where he started a company on Newtown Creek to produce kerosene. Dr Gesner
patented the kerosene production process as well as the kerosene lamp.
In 1863, he returned to Halifax where he died before assuming a
professorship in Geology at Dalhousie University.
Children include:
i. Henry (26 May 1823, Cornwallis- ?,
Philadelphia);
ii. Isaac (4 Jun 1825, Cornwallis-13 Jul 1826);
iii. William
(26 May 1827, Cornwallis - ?) became a
physician and geologist. M.1st Annie Herty at Milledgeville, GA. [Children:
William Henry (1852-?), Francis James (1854-1879), Harriet Luana (1857-)
m 1st Chas F. Miller, 2nd Dr Alton G. North.]
M 2nd on 21 Jun 1886 Mary Virginia Jones (?-?) dau. of Samuel G. Jones.
During the Civil War, he was an explosives agent for the
Confederacy.
iv. George Weldon
(13 Oct 1829, Parrsboro - 11 Nov 1904, Bay Ridge, NY( mineralogist and
geologist, m Miss Corbett [Daughter:
Harleston].
v. Abraham Herbert
(1832-1895);
vi. Brower
(1834-1874);
vii. Harriet Luana (10 Mar 1837, Parrsboro - 8 Sep
1938, St. John, NB);
viii. John Frederick (24 July 1839, St.
John, NB - 3 Feb 1899, NYC), graduate of Columbia College, geologist,
chemist, and inventor, and author; resided in New York City; never
married.
ix. Conrad (26 Aug 1841, La
Paz, Mex) businessman, geologist. Drowned in a boating accident in the
Gulf of California, Mexico.
x. Robert Parker (27 Mar 1844,
Cornwallis - 26 Mar 1851, Halifax).
xi. Elizabeth Cochran (10
Dec 1850, Sackville, NS - 23 Jul 1850, Halifax).*
*
Anthon Temple Gesner: "The Gesner Family of New York and Nova
Scotia",
Pelton & King, printers and bookbinders, 1912. 5v.
Rev.
Abraham Herbert Gesner (25 Jun 1832,
Parrsboro, NS - 30 Apr 1895, NY), son of
Abraham Pineo Gesner & Harriet Webster, studied
for the clergy and was ordained from New York General Theological
Seminary in 1859. Subsequently, he held several posts Episcopal posts in the Hudson Valley, upstate
New York, and Pennsylvania.
He married
1st on 29 Dec 1859 Helen Catlin Dickenson (c.1834, Litchfield,
CT - 5 Mar 1868, West Farms, NY).
Children included:
i. Landon (1861, Briar Cliff - dy),
ii. Raymond
Herbert (1862 at Rondout - ?),
iii. Anthon
Temple (1865, Le Roy, NY - ?)
Abraham Herbert married 2nd on 12 Jun 1873 Sarah Adeline Barretto
(?-?), dau. of Dr Francis Barretto of NY. There were no children.
6iii.
Rev. Anthon Temple Gesner
(20 Jul 1865, Le Roy, NY - c. 1935, CT),
son of Abraham Herbert Gesner &
Helen Dickenson,
"was educated at Dr. Holbrook's School, Briar Cliff, St.
Stephen's College, Trinity College of which he is graduate B.A. 1890,
M.A. 1894, and Berkeley Divinity School, graduate 1893; ordained Deacon
1893 and Priest 1894; Missionary in Minnesota, North Dakota and Montana
1893-1902; Vice-Rector of Shattuck [MN] Military School 1902-1907;
Instructor and Professor of Ethics and Evidence 1902-1907 in Seabury
Divinity School, Fairbault, Minnesota, and now holding a similar
professorship in the Berkeley Divinity School, Middletown, Connecticut;
an occasional writer on religious and scientific subjects; author of
genealogies of the GESNER* and DICKINSON families."**
*
Anthon Temple Gesner: "The Gesner Family of New York and Nova
Scotia",
Pelton & King, printers and bookbinders, 1912.
** Colonial Families in the U.S.
Volume 5 Lineage page 245.
Anthon
married 14 Jun 1893 Blanche Louise Pinninger (16 Sep 1872,
Chippenham, Wiltshire, England - ?). Children included:
i. Helen
Sargent,
ii. Dorothy Dickenson,
iii. Rev. Conrad Herbert
who became a bishop in the Episcopalian Church, m. Elizabeth Merrill [Three
daughters: i. Joan Merrill m. Bruce M. Bailey], and
iv. Harriet
Davis.*
*
Anthon Temple Gesner: "The Gesner Family of New York and Nova
Scotia",
Pelton & King, printers and bookbinders, 1912.
5v.
Brower Gesner (13
Nov 1834, Parrsboro - Nov 1874, NYC),
son of Abraham Pineo Gesner &
Harriet Webster, m. Frances A. Field, of NYC.
The Civil War broke out while he was a student surgeon at the College of
Physicians & Surgeons of Columbia University. He served the Union
2nd Artillery Corps as a military surgeon. After the war he was awarded
the rank Lieut. Colonel. He made his home in Bay Ridge, NY.*
*
Anthon Temple Gesner: "The Gesner Family of New York and Nova
Scotia",
Pelton & King, printers and bookbinders, 1912.
3vi Maj. Abraham Gesner
(10 Nov 1756, Tappan RDC - 29 Apr 1824),
Henrick's twin brother), son
of John Henry Gesner & Famitcha
Brower,
joined at sixteen the
King's Orange
Rangers commanded by Samuel V. Bayard. The KOR saw action in the battles
of Kingsbridge Heights and Harlem Heights. He was with Sir Henry
Clinton in his northern expedition, and present at the storming and taking
of Fort Montgomery. After purchasing his commission from a Captain
Bethel, he rose to Major. He sought refuge with the British army in 1776 and was evacuated
to Nova Scotia with the King's Orange Rangers in 1779. Attached to the
Halifax garrison, the KOR mission was to deter rebel privateer
raids.
Upon disbandment of
the KOR in 1783, after the Revolutionary War, he settled in Belle Isle, Nova
Scotia where he received from the English
government a land grant of approximately 400 acres. There he married Elizabeth Steadman (20
Dec 1767 - 1848) of Cornwallis, NS.
(The Stedman's were from Kingston, RI, who settled in Annapolis Royal
before the revolutionary war.) Later he accepted appointment to the
bench of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas.*
*
Anthon Temple Gesner: "The Gesner Family of New York and Nova
Scotia",
Pelton & King, printers and bookbinders, 1912.
Abraham and Elizabeth were to have eleven children while living at Belle
Isle:
i. Hannah (28 September 1787-?), m. John Troop;
ii. Famicha (1788-1879), m. Andrew Walker;
iii. Jacob (1791-?), m. in 1818 Elizabeth Trites of Albert Co, New
Brunswick;
iv. Elizabeth (1793-1883), unmarried;
v. Maria Bartlett (1795-1886), unmarried;
vi. Henry (1797-1869) m. in 1810 Mary Bent
[Children included: Robert Parker (1840)];
vii. Horatia Nelson (1799-?) m. John H. Ditmars;
viii. Caroline (1802-?), m. Moses Shaw;
ix. Isaac (1804-1924), unmarried;
x. Abraham, Jr. (1806-?), m. Christina Young (1811-1887).
[Children: Isaac Steadman
(1851-1947) m. Frances Hazelwood ];
xi. Delancey Moody, (1809-?), m. 1st Lucy A. Longley, m. 2nd Jane Eagleson;
xii. George Provost, (1812-?, Greenville, NC), m. Phoebe Young.*
*
Anthon Temple Gesner: "The Gesner Family of New York and Nova
Scotia",
Pelton & King, printers and bookbinders, 1912.
3vii.
Cornelius Gesner
(1 Feb 1761 - 7 Sep 1790),
son of John Henry Gesner & Famitcha
Brower, married 15 May 1786 (DRC, Tappan)*, Catrina "Jenny" Concklin and had two children:
i. Maria Gesner who married 1st
one Mr. Perry, m. poss. 2nd
Elijah Appleby of Nyack on 15 Apr 1815 in Tappan DRC, and
ii. Elizabeth Gesner (Bp 9 Nov 1796-?) married in 1808 Garret Volk in
NYC and moved with him to Massachusetts. Cornelius died at age 29 and is interred in the
Gesner-Conklin Burying Ground.
*Record of Marriages, DRC, Tappan, NY.
www.dutchdoorgenealogy.com
3viii. Col.
Nicholas Gesner
(10 Dec 1765 - 20 May 1858, Palisades, NY, Cem.), the 8th child
of John Henry Gesner & Famitcha
Brower, grew up on the Gesner farm and was too
young to be actively involved in the Revolutionary War. He grew up in an
exciting place at a turbulent time. On 14 April 1789 married Gracey Post
(3 Oct 1764 - 1 Feb 1848, Palisades, NY, Cem.), daughter of Abraham Post & Rebecca Gracey
of Tappan, New York.
Then in 1793,
Nicholas built a
farmhouse (the Nicholas Gesner
House) on his father's land (now 95 Closter Road, Palisades,
NY), practically straddling the New York-New
Jersey Border.* Gracey planted an oak tree in the front yard that
stands magnificently in 2008.
* Michel Rebic and Alice
Gerard: Historic Houses of Palisades, New York.
Published by the Palisades Free Library and the Palisades Historical
Committee,
Palisades, NY, 2001
During August 1796, John Gesner sold to his son,
Nicholas, two parcels of approximately 31 acres where Nicholas had built
his house. A
deed of 3 August 1796 describes the sale from John Gesner to
Nicholas Gesner of about an acre in Harrington Twp, NJ, [now Rockleigh]
- the land where Nicholas had built his house. A second
deed dated 30 August 1796 describes about 31acres in the "Rockland
area" of Orangetown, NY, [now Palisades, NY], contiguous with the
first parcel.
A steep lane connected his
father John Henry's farm in the valley [now Rockleigh] and his farm on the
Palisades plateau. Parts of this old lane exist, misspelled as Gerson
Lane, in Rockleigh and Indian Hill Lane in Palisades, New York. [A
scrawled
Gesner
could have
been seen as
Gerson.]
The
children of Nicholas Gesner & Gracey Post included:*
i. William Herbert Gesner (1790-1866),
ii. Nicholas Gesner, Jr (6 Feb 1794 - 14 Jul 1829),
iii. Sarah "Sally" Gesner (1796-1854), and
iv. Jacob Gesner (1806-?).
*
Nicholas Gesner: "The Genealogies of the respective families or
Descendents from Anneke Jahn and Domaine Bogardus
may be traced down in marriages
from Nicholas Gesner."
(ms, undated, in possession of Marylou Stansbury) Nicholas was
an avid diarist who chronicled life daily life in Palisades and Rockland between 1829 and 1850.
Author Carl Nordstrom, who studied the Gesner Diaries, characterized Nicholas:
"Nicholas Gesner was primarily a farmer. He devoted parts of his efforts to
subsistence production.
"In
addition to his farming, Gesner served as surveyor, schoolteacher,
sometime lawyer for his neighbors, and diarist of the events of the
neighborhood. In his youth he had been a boatbuilder...."*
*
Carl Nordstrom: Frontier Elements in a Hudson River Village.
Kennikat Press, 1973
As
early as 1798, he appears on the lists of the Rockland Co. Militia as
ensign. By 1811 he appears in Rockland County Regiment under Lieut. Col.
Blauvelt, and by 1816 had been appointed colonel of the 160th N.Y.
Regiment. During this period, Nicholas was also a machinist, inventing
an innovative loom for weaving double-faced Dutch blankets.*
*
Anthon Temple Gesner: "The Gesner Family of New York and Nova
Scotia",
Pelton & King, printers and bookbinders, 1912.
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Nicholas also was instrumental is constructing a Reformed Methodist Church (Gesner Hall) in
Palisades at the south east corner of Closter and Oak Tree Roads, where
the new Post Office stands. After Nicholas Gesner died, in 1858, the
Reformed Methodist movement lost interest in the area and Gesner Hall
became initially the parsonage for the ME Church and later a private
home before burning down in 1885. The location was known as Gesner
Corners.*
*Alice Munro
Haagensen:
Palisades and Snedens Landing, page 68.
|
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Patriarch, Nicholas
Gesner (1765-1858)
Photo
courtesy of Palisades Free Library, Palisades, NY |
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1850 US
Census: NY > Rockland Co > Orange Town > p.403 [Image 35]
Nicholas Gesner, 84, Farmer, b. New Jersey <c.1766>
Jonathan Lawrence, 54, Ship Carpenter, b. New York <c.1796>
Sarah
" , 53, b. New York <c.1797>
Sarah
" , 22, b. New York <c.1828>
Cornelia "
, 18, b. New York <c.1832>
Mary Jane Lawrence-Sparks, 31, b. New York <c.1819>
Jonathan Sparks, 2, b. New York <c.1848>
Mary A. " ,10/12,
b. New York <c.1849>
Jennette Lawrence, 53, b. New York <c.1797> [sister, never married]
Jenett Hunter, 11, b. Scotland <c.1839>
Ellen "
, 8, Canada <c.1942>
4i
William Herbert Gesner
(10
July 1790 - 4 Feb 1866), shoemaker, son of
Nicholas
Gesner & Gracey Post, was to come into a tract of former
John Henry Gesner lands on both sides of Carterette (Piermont) Road
between the properties of John Gesner Conklin on the north and Joseph
Dubois to the south.* In 1812 he was listed as Lieutenant in the 83rd
N.Y. Rgt.
*
Reginald
McMahon: Carterette Road as "Laid Out", October 4, 1858
from "Two Haring Houses at Rockleigh, NJ."
mms Bergen County Historical Society,
1973)
He married (DRC, Tappan) on 30 May 1814 Mary Ann (Marian) Mann (1
Dec 1798 - 22 Nov 1883),
daughter of George Mann Jr & Helen Allvord.
W.
Herbert and MaryAnn had ten children, including:
i.
Amelia Helen
(1815-1901),
ii.
Wm Nicholas (1817
-c.1910),
iii. George Mann
(25 Feb 1919-?),
iv. Charles Alvord (5 Dec 1820 - 5 Oct 1863),
v. David Sidney (21 Aug 1825-?), carpenter,
vi. Margaret Ann (28 Mar 1827 - 10 Oct 1846),
vii. John Edwin (26 Nov 1828- 1 Jul 1855),
viii. Eugene
(9 Oct 1830-?),
ix. Matilda Gesner (1831-?),
x. Herbert (14 Dec 1832- 16 Nov 1860), blacksmith.
Nicholas
Gesner: "The Genealogies of the respective families or
Descendents from Anneke Jahn and Domaine Bogardus
may be traced down in marriages from Nicholas Gesner."
(ms, undated, in possession of Marylou Stansbury)
Nicholas
Gesner: Gesner Diaries .
m/s, Palisades Free Library, Palisades, NY
In 1832 W. Herbert bought from
George Mann the house on the southwest corner of Oak Tree and
Closter roads in Palisades, NY. From 1832 they resided in the Herbert Gesner House
(now the Palisades Free Library, c.1874) where he operated a cobbler
shop.*
"At
Herbert's one half sole and apiece for a welt. 1 shilling. (It's
too much) unpaid—
" ** Nicholas Gesner
"I
mended my shoe—
"*** Nicholas Gesner
*
"Historic
Houses of Palisades, New York." Michel Rebic and Alice
Gerard,
Published by the Palisades Free Library and the Palisades Historical
Committee,
Palisades, NY, 2001
**
Nicholas Gesner Diaries. 18 April 1842. m/s Palisades Free Library, Palisades,
NY.
***
Nicholas Gesner Diaries. 19 April 1842 m/s Palisades Free Library, Palisades,
NY.
Earlier,
Herbert had suffered an accident that resulted in the loss of his leg.
In 1832, his father penned:
"Some
years ago by a bank and large Rock falling on him near Snedens
Landing, and mortification, first the loss of his foot. Then the ankle
off, and perhaps a year after by reason of not healing and intolerable
misery increasing again, he was obliged to go down to New York in the
first of the winter and had his leg taken off just below the knee, I
Nichs Gesr his father, was present. Dr. [Valentine] Mott,
surgeon with 8 or 9 young students present.—"
* Nicholas Gesner
*
Nicholas Gesner Diaries. 19 June 1832.
The 1850
census lists in Palisades William H. Gesner (60, Pedler),
Mary Ann (51), David S. (23). Matilda (18), Herbert (17).*
The
1860 census lists Wm
Herbert Gesner (69, Shoemaker),
Mary Ann (61, at home), and David (30, son, Carpenter).**
*1850
Census, Orangetown, Rockland Co., NY. p 403 (202).
**1860
Census, Orangetown, Rockland Co., NY. p 125.
5i.
Amelia Helen Gesner
(11 Apr 1815 -12 Apr
1901), daughter of
William Herbert
Gesner & Marianne Mann, wed on 15 Jan 1831* David A. Haring (1810-?), eldest son of
Abraham D. & Letitia Haring, in 1831. They lived in Tappan across from
the Tappan Dutch Reformed Church. They had four children:
i. Elizabeth Haring,
ii. Mary Ann Haring,
iii. William Haring, and
iv. George Haring.
*Record of Marriages, DRC, Tappan, NY.
www.dutchdoorgenealogy.com
5ii.
William Nicholas Gesner
(19 February 1817-c.1910, Whitneyville, CT), son of
William Herbert Gesner & Marianne
Mann, m. Margaret Taylor Paton
(?-?, Maine), dau of George Paton
& Mary McLean. They had seven children:
i. Mary Jane m. H.K.
Parkin;
ii. Margaret Taylor, died at 21;
iii. Helen Louise,
m. Prof. Fred. W. Mar of Brooklyn, last recorded holder of Wm N.
Gesner's genealogy notes of the Gesner Family;
iv. Matilda Ann, m Horace
Lines;
v. Myra, m. William H. Mar; vi. Salina S., died age
4;
vii. E.H. Gesner of Stratford, CT;
viii. Alice Frances
m. J.W. Payne,
ix. George Paton (1863-?) m. Salina "Lena" Lyman
[Children: Raymond, Gertrude,
Grace, Margaret & Mary]
.*
*
Anthon Temple Gesner: "The Gesner Family of New York and Nova
Scotia",
Pelton & King, printers and bookbinders, 1912.
"...went
to Tappantown at age 18 to work at the carpenter's trade. He helped tear
down the old church and build the new one.... He then went to New York
to work in the [Sneden & Lawrence] Ship Yard and helped to build
Steamboat Warren. He worked in all principal ship yards in and about New
York until 1844. He married in New York on 9 December 1840 Miss Margaret
T. Paton (1824-?), daughter of George Paton and Mary McLean...."— G.P. Gesner, 3 Jun 1909*
*G.P.
Gesner letter of 3 Jun 1909 to
Winthrop S. Gilman: "Local History", ms #16A,.
Palisades Free Library.
"Wm
N. Gesner's wife Margaret confined. Gave birth to a female at 7 AM."—
Aug 1
1841*
* Diaries
of Nicholas Gesner. m/s, Palisades Free Library, Palisades, NY
"Wm
Gesner takes tool chest to N.Y. intending to work in Herbert Lawrence's
yard."—
Jan 6
1843*
* Diaries
of Nicholas Gesner. m/s, Palisades Free Library, Palisades, NY
"William
N.
moved
from New York to Fair Haven, Conn., October 28, 1844 and there commenced
Ship Building under firm name of Gesner & Baldwin. He built about
140 vessels of various sizes and classes Sail, Steam and Motor from 1 to
2,500 tons...."— G.P. Gesner, 3 Jun 1909*
*George
Paton
Gesner letter of 3 Jun 1909 to
Winthrop S. Gilman: "Local History", ms #16A,.
Palisades Free Library.
5iii.
George Mann
Gesner
(25 Feb 1819->1900), son of
William
Herbert Gesner & Marianne Mann, m. on 5 Jul 1842 Mary Paton, daughter of George Paton
& Mary McLean-Paton. Children include:
i. George H. (~1843-?),
ii.
Charles W. (~1845-?),
iii. Robert M. (~1847-?),
iv. Francis F. (1849-?)...
The 1850
census lists in Palisades George M. Gesner (32, Baker), Mary (28),
George H (7), Charles W. (5), Robert M. (3), Francis (1), all residing
with parents, William H. & Mary Ann Gesner.* The 1900 census
lists George M as living with his son, Francis in New Haven, CT.
*1850
Census, Orangetown, Rockland Co., NY. p 403 (202).
5viii.
Eugene
Gesner
(9 Oct 1830-?), son of
William Herbert
Gesner & Marianne Mann, ship carpenter, m. Martha -?- (?, NJ -
?). They moved into the Herbert Gesner house after his father died. The
1870 census lists Eugene (39, shipbuilder), Martha J. (30,
keeping house), Ida E. (13), David H. (10), Winona (8),
Eugenia
(5), Henry (4), Jonas (1).
5ix.
Matilda Gesner
(26 Oct 1831-?),
daughter of
William Herbert Gesner
& Marianne Mann, married on 23 Jul 1854* at the Palisades M.E. Church Abraham/Abram Van Wart,
(c.1832-?) watchmaker and jeweler of Tappan, NY.
[ This marriage in the
Palisades M.E. must have grated on her grandfather, Nicholas, who
consistently railed against the M.E. church and even established his own
Methodist church in Palisades.] They lived in the
Matilda Gesner House that was
built at 679 Oak Tree Road, in Palisades, in 1870 on the lands of
Herbert Gesner.** Upon the death of her father, Herbert, in 1866 she
opened a jewelry store in the former cobbler shop of the Herbert
Gesner House.** They had children:
i. Ella S. Van Wart (c.1857-?),
ii. John W. Van
Wart (Apr 1860-?),
iii. Ellis Van Wart,
iv. William Van Wart,
v.
Sylvester Gesner Van Wart
* B y Rev. W.
Chamberlin, Records
of the Palisades M. E. Church.
ms in Collection of the Palisades Free Library, Palisades, NY
** Michel Rebic and Alice
Gerard: Historic Houses of Palisades, New York.
Published by the Palisades Free Library and
the Palisades Historical Committee, Palisades, NY, 2001.
6v.
Sylvester Gesner Van Wart (?-?)
married 31 December 1890 Maria Durie Demarest (?-?), daughter of
Jacob J. Demarest & Margaret Durie (Daughter of Nicholas Durie).
Sylvester built a house for the family at the corner of Legion Road & Demarest Avenue, in Closter, NJ.
[Children: a daughter,
Madeline D. Van Wart (?-1974), who graduated Cooper Union Art Institute and never married, but lived her life in the house in
Closter in which she was born.]
4ii. Nicholas Gesner, Jr.
(6 Feb 1794 -
1820), son of
Nicholas Gesner
& Gracey
Post, was a ship builder. He had no descendents.*
*
Nicholas
Gesner: "The Genealogies of the respective families or
Descendents from Anneke Jahn and Domaine Bogardus
may be traced down in marriages
from Nicholas Gesner."
(ms, undated, in possession of Marylou Stansbury)
4iii.
Sarah "Sally" Gesner
(27 Jun 1796 - 1854),
daughter of
Nicholas Gesner
& Gracey
Post, on 28 May 1817 m. neighbor
4th Jonathan Lawrence (10 Sep 1795 - 26 Oct 1883), son of 3rd Jonathan
Lawrence & Mary Mann of
Palisades, who would join with Samuel Sneden to form the renowned Lawrence
& Sneden Shipyard in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
"21
May 1836 - Jonathan Lawrence building a steam boat
[Warren] at New
York..." *
"Sep 1836 - drawing
ship-timber for Jonathan Lawrence..."
*
* Diaries
of Nicholas Gesner. m/s, Palisades Free Library, Palisades, NY
Jonathan Lawrence & Sally Gesner had five
children:
i. Mary Jane Lawrence (20 Sep 1818-?) who married in
1836
William Sparks (1816, England -?), a machinist, and were living
with Nicholas in the
Nicholas Gesner House in 1850 [1850
census] and continued to live there after the death of Nicholas in 1866.
[Mary Jane supposedly burned several of the Nicholas Gesner
Diaries.]***;
ii. William Herbert Lawrence (28 Jun 1820-?) m Mary Jane
Brooks with no children;
iii. Charles Lawrence (7 Feb 1822 - 1
Mar 1825);
iv. Sarah G. Lawrence (31 Dec 1825 - 1899);
v. Cornelia
Lawrence (10 Jan 1831 - 7 Sep 1856) m Albert Snook.
**Nicholas
Gesner: Gesner Diaries .
m/s, Palisades Free Library, Palisades, NY
Nicholas
Gesner: "The Genealogies of the respective families or
Descendents from Anneke Jahn and Domaine Bogardus
may be traced down in marriages from Nicholas Gesner."
(ms, undated, in possession of Marylou Stansbury)
*** Alice Munro
Haagensen: "Palisades and Snedens Landing,", page 175, 212.
Pilgrimage Publishing, Tarrytown, NY, 1986.
4iv.
Jacob Gesner
(17 Apr 1806 - Aug 1884*), son of
Nicholas
Gesner
& Gracey Post, lived for a time in the Joshua Martin House
at 75 Washington Spring Road in Snedens Landing.** He married 1st on 15 Oct 1831 Elizabeth
"Bets" Cooper (15 May 1807 - 25 Nov 1864*), daughter of Lucas &
Cathlyntje "Tyne"
Cooper and sister of Albert "Obb" Cooper [see
Cooper Family], then
married 2nd on 20 May 1867 at Newark Henrietta Clark (7 Dec 1839-?), dau of
James H. Clark.
*
Tombstone, Maple Grove Cem., New Hempstead, Rockland Co., NY
** Historic
Houses of Palisades New York, Michael Rebic and Alice Gerard, 2nd
edition, 2002
(Palisades Free Library and Palisades Historical Committee)
Nicholas
and Jacob appear not to have got along. Nicholas did not attend his
son's wedding and Jacob was occasionally critical of his father,
Nicholas, for his treatment of Gracy - this inferred from an entry in the
diary:
"Jacob
Gesner w[en]t to Get Married abt 2 clk P.M. with Bets Cooper and was
Married. Started from Old Coopers (at John Willse's) I think or expect
that the Revd Cole Tappan married them. from thence to Slote had
supper at Abraham Sarvents, had 3 Waggons besides his, namely David
Mann (of Geo Mann) and Peggy Riker (of Jacob Riker) the Groomsman and
Bridesmaid—
and
Geo Lawrence & Eliza Wilsse— and Abraham Post (son of Jacob
Post) and Naut Cooper. The Married couple Returned to Old Coopers in
Night. N.B. they had each Couple a one horse waggon— A beautiful
Day.
" Nicholas Gesner*
*
Nicholas Gesner Diaries: 15 October 1831. m/s Palisades Free Library, Palisades,
NY.
"Ja[cob]
Ges[ne]r Abused me very much about the fowls, the destroyed Corn
because I found fault with his Mother not being ambitious in trying to
help get the fowl. Stayd out late last nt instead of coming home
soon to help catch them. I told him I had not Abused his mother...I
asked and seriously requested him to tell me what I had done, that if
I had done anything wrong I was willing to acknowledge it & that I
wished to know. He ans[were]d that I was not worth talking to further."—
Nicholas Gesner, 6 June 1832.*
*
Nicholas Gesner Diaries: 6 June 1832. m/s Palisades Free Library, Palisades,
NY.
Jacob was father of
seven children with Bets Cooper:
i. Elizabeth (6 Nov 1836 - Dec 1836*), m. unknown
Gesner.
ii. Emaline (15 Feb 1838-?) m. Sidney W. Darling
[Child:
Sidney A. m. Ella A. Saxton];
iii/iv. twins (25 Jul 1841-dy),
v. Sarah Ann (30 Sep 1842 - 13 Oct 1896*) unmarried,
vi. Amanda (27 Feb 1846-?) m. 30 Dec 1866 John D. Conklin
[Children:
i. Edmond Ernest Conklin (19 Oct 1867), m. Hattie Wiedenbach; ii.
Elsie Conklin (22 Jun
1869- 7 Apr 1890), iii. William Conklin (6 Dec 1871-?) m. Willie Ruth
Stevens.]
vii. Nicholas (30 Dec 1847-?) m.1st Mary Perry and, m. 2nd Margaret J.
Ganley.**
* Gravestone,
Maple Grove Cem., Hempstead, Rockland Co., NY
**
Anthon Temple Gesner: "The Gesner Family of New York and Nova
Scotia",
Pelton & King, printers and bookbinders, 1912.
** Nicholas
Gesner: "The Genealogies of the respective families or
Descendents from Anneke Jahn and Domaine Bogardus
may be traced down in marriages
from Nicholas Gesner."
(ms, undated, in possession of Marylou Stansbury)
In 1838, Jacob went to
Williamsburg, NY, engaged in shipbuilding. However, he was back in
Palisades by 1842 where upon he reinforced his father's ire by joining the
M.E.
Methodist Church. Later, Jacob became a Baptist minister.*
*
Nicholas
Gesner: Gesner Diaries .
m/s, Palisades Free Library, Palisades, NY
Jacob
was father of three children with Henrietta Clark (?-?):
i. Annie
(1868 - dy),
ii: Elmer
(13 Jan 1870, Jersey City, NJ-?),
iii. Marietta (1873-1877).*
*
Anthon Temple Gesner: "The Gesner Family of New York and Nova
Scotia",
Pelton & King, printers and bookbinders, 1912.
Winthrop
S. Gilm,an: "Local History" ms #129A. Palisades Free
Library
3ix.
Femmetje (Phebe) Gesner
(31 Mar 1768- 9 Feb
1821), daughter of John Henry Gesner & Famitcha
Brower, wed on 1 Jun 1789 Peter Willsey/Wilsee (1767-?). It
appears likely that they built what is termed the "Old" Woolsey/Willsey House
and later called the Willsey-Bolting House, close by the New York-New Jersey border in what is now Palisades,
NY.
[It is likely that the approximately
20-acre Willsey property had been a portion of the vast c.1725
John Henry Gesner Farmstead that he gave in 1789 to Phebe, his daughter, upon
her marriage to Peter Willsey - the same year that Nicholas
Gesner, her brother, received his adjacent share of the homestead and
built the Nicholas Gesner House. There is some evidence that the "New" Willsey House or
"Willsey Tenant House" at 83 Closter Road dates to c.1740, making
it older than the "Old" (c. 1789) Willsey-Bolting House which
was first noted on the 1874 Serviss map of Palisades and the 1891 Beers
map of Orangetown. The "New"
designation may date to the time that a slightly smaller house was moved
to the site and adjoined to the original. This c.1740 structure is
shown and labeled "Woolsey" at the identifiably sharp bend in Closter
Road on Erskene's Revolutionary War Map #110. I is possible that it was
built by Peter Willsey's grandfather, Jan of Phillipsburgh. The "Willsey-Bolting
House" was razed in 1952 for the Palisades Interstate Parkway.]
Their eight children were:
i. Abigail Willsey (1790-dy);
ii.
(Captain) John Willsey (1792-1855) who lived in the "New" Willsey House
(c.1740);
iii. Elizabeth Willsey
(1795-dy);
iv. Fameche Willsey married -?- Concklin;
v. Peter
Willsey Jr.
(1800-?);
vi. Jacob Willsley (1802-?);
vii. Isaac
Willsey (1805-?);
viii. Henry Willsey (1808-?). *
*
Anthon Temple Gesner: "The Gesner Family of New York and Nova
Scotia",
Pelton & King, printers and bookbinders, 1912.
Nicholas
Gesner: The Genealogy
of Nicholas Gesner
(ms, undated, in possession of Marylou Stansbury)
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Written and compiled by E.
W. April, 2002
Updated, 2006 |
Written and compiled by E.
W. April, 2002 |