William HENSHAW, Lt.

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• FamilySearch ID: LHWQ-2DG
• _UID: 216C50F551DB49488646B85170E490B5FD0C
• MilitaryService: 1 Sep 1778, United States; Military Service

Notes:

William grew up at the same time that changes were sweeping
Massachusetts and rebellion was in the air. He moved fro
m Boston to
Hartford, where he married.
When open hostilities broke out, he was commissioned an ensign Jan. 1.
1777, and served under Capt. Jos. A. Wright's County Connecticut Regimentof
Foot commanded by Philip B. Bradley. On Jan. 4, 1778, he was promoted to
2nd Lt.. He is listed, on June 1, 1779, as an officer in the 5th
Connecticut Battalion, under Capt. Thaddeus Weed; promoted lieutenant,
1780. He was at Germantown, Valley Forge, Monmouth and Stony Point.
General George Washington granted him leave in July, 1779. At this time
William was serving as paymaster for his unit. In July, 1780, he received
a promotion to 1st Lt. After war's end, he and his family settled in
New York state.
He is buried in Milton Cemetery, Onandaga County, New York

Note:
The following information was extracted from his Military Record.

Commission Ensign January 1, 1777, Served in Capt. Joseph A. WrightCounty, in a Connecticut Reg't of Foot Commanded by Col. Phillip B.Bradley.

Promoted to 2nd Lt. January 4, 1778, Served in Capt Solomon Strong'sCounty, in a Connecticut Reg't of Foot Commanded by Col. Phillip B.Bradley


Listed as Lt. June 1, 1779 Served in Capt. Thaddeus Weed's County, 5thConnecticut Batt'n, Commanded by Phillip B. Bradley.

In the roll dated July 1779 was absent by leave of his Excellancy GeneralGeaorge Washington.

Listed as Paymaster July 1779

Promoted to 1st Lt. July 1780

The family chart states that the Fifth Regiment was raised in 1777 andwas in Battles of Germantown, Monmouth, Stoney Point and wintered atValley Forge 1777-78.

copies of William Henshaw military records are from the original held byTrescott Henshaw who got them from his son in law who got them from thenational archive during World War 2.

His two oldest sons served in the Revolutionary War as boys. Nathainelwas a prisoner in Bermuda for 14 month

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The following was excerpted from the book "Millard Fillmore Biography ofa President by By Robert J. Rayback"

Only a few years before his birth, his father and mother, Nathaniel andPhoebe Fillmore, had been in the vanguard of a great westward migration.They had been only two among the hopeful-thousands who had crossed theAppalachian Mountains, east of which the nation had huddled for nearlytwo centuries. They had added their day-to-day activities to those ofothers to make the great central plateau and valley of the continentburgeon with homemaking, lumbering, farming, road and canal building,cotton growing, and moral and political reform.

Later generations were to look with awe and wonder at their ancestors'tremendous re-creation of civilization. Yet the Fiflmores, like otherpioneers, had not sought heroism. Rather a combination of slicksalesmanship and personal frustration had tricked them into abandoningtheir native New England for a fresh start in a region only recentlyfreed of bloody Indian wars. The Fillmores were more prone to curse thancelebrate the events that had pushed them into this wilderness.

During the Revolution, New York had set aside nearly one and one-halfmillion acres of land in central New York to pay bonuses promised its warveterans. Few qualified veterans ever settled in the reserved area. Likethe remainder of New York's vast twelve-million-acre public domain, thisMilitary Tract, too, had passed quickly into the hands of real estatepromoters. The process was common throughout the nation, and the salesmenof these land promoters traveled the globe for customers. FarmerNathaniel Fillmore, whose stone-strewn lands near Bennington, Vermont,gave little hope for the future, fell easy prey to a land agent's glowingpicture of the fertility of central New York's Military Tract. In 1799 heand his brother Calvin purchased sight unseen, a farm in Locke township,Cayuga County.

Expectations of a better life had warmed them to the back-breaking tasksof clearing fields and raising a cabin while their wives filled thechinks between the logs. Yet their anticipations were ill-founded.Instead of fertile loam, the Fillmore brothers found unyielding clay.Instead of prosperity, they found poverty.

For Nathaniel the birth of Millard was a brief distraction from mountingmisfortunes. To his woes of poor crops, poor weather, and a crowded cabinwas added a defective land title a common frontier ailment that waspeculiarly vicious in the Military Tract. Faulty surveys, claim-jumping,ignorance, and downright chicanery had so confused the region's legaltitles that the state sent a team of commissioners to review and settleall land titles in the area. The Fillmore brothers, unable to defendtheir ownership against the commissioners' findings, packed theirfamilies and few belongings on the farm wagon and moved a few miliesnorth to Sempronius.

William Henshaw and his family took up land in Milton Township, Cayuga Cojust a few miles from the Fillmore's prior to 1796. James and Joshuamarried in that area in 1801 and moved to Aurora Township, Erie County afew years later. The Fillmore Family also moved to Aurora Township, ErieCounty about 1822.

William married Elizabeth GILBERT on 14 May 1767 in Hartford County, Connecticut. Elizabeth was born on 13 Dec 1746 in Middletown, Middlesex County, Connecticut; died on 7 Mar 1826 in Aurora, Erie County, New York; was buried in Griffins Mills Cemetery. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. William , Jr. HENSHAW was born on 10 Sep 1767 in Middletown, Middlesex County, Connecticut; died on 5 Aug 1822 in Townsend, Upper Canada.
2. Nathaniel HENSHAW was born on 19 Jun 1769 in Middletown, Middlesex County, Connecticut; died on 22 Aug 1838 in Prob. Aurora Twp., Erie County, New York..
3. Elizabeth HENSHAW was born on 24 Aug 1771 in Middletown, Middlesex County, Connecticut; and died.
4. Polly HENSHAW was born in 1774; and died.
5. Joshua HENSHAW was born on 7 May 1775 in Middletown, Middlesex County, Connecticut; died on 12 Aug 1847 in Eckford Twp., Calhoun County, Michigan; was buried in Aug 1847 in E Eckford Cem, Eckford Twp, Calhoun, Michigan.
6. James Steuben HENSHAW was born on 20 Aug 1778 in Middlebury, Vermont.; died on 25 Jan 1872 in Aurora, Erie County, New York; was buried in Jan 1872 in Griffins Mills Cemetery.
7. Samuel HENSHAW was born on 18 Aug 1780 in Middletown, Middlesex County, Connecticut; died on 23 Aug 1819 in Aurora Twp., Erie County, (Then Niagara County) New York...
8. John HENSHAW was born in 1781; and died.
9. Andrew HENSHAW was born before 14 Sep 1783; and died.
10. Benjamin HENSHAW was born before 2 Oct 1785 in New Hartford, Litchfield, Connecticut; died on 2 Feb 1854 in Aurora, Erie County, New York; was buried in Griffins Mills Cemetery.

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• _UID: 3437B55DB2BD447ABA3E57DE219B7F1C2ED2

Notes:

[mtunnell.ged]

He was born in the house owned by his parents in Boston o
n the corner of
Hayward's Place and Washington (then Newberry) St.
He and Elizabeth were joined in marriage by the Rev. Benjamin Colman,
pastor of Brattle Street Church, Boston. A few years afterwards, on Jan.
16, 1742, her father gave them a house and property on Sudbury Street.
Joshua rose in prominence and wealth.
On March 2, 1764, he was chosen first on the list of Selectmen, then the
chief elective office in Boston. As war clouds gathered, he caught the
eye of John Hancock who asked him to sit with him on several committes to
discuss unfolding events such as the Boston Massacre. Joshua had
sufficiently read the law to act as counsel at these functions, and was
assisted in that endeavor by John Adams. He was also a member of the
(pre-Revolutionary) House of Representatives.
When the British occupied Boston, Joshua was compelled to move to
Leicester, in Worcester County, Massachusetts. where he brother Daniellived. He then
moved to Dedham, where he spent his last few years as an invalid. He died
there August 5, 1777 at the house of Hon. Sam. Dexter.

Joshua married Elizabeth BILL on 27 Dec 1733 in Brattle St. Ch., Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts.. Elizabeth (daughter of Richard BILL and Sarah DAVIS) was born in 1712; died on 28 Sep 1782 in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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• FamilySearch ID: KLVQ-JZS
• _UID: EF37262ED49A48D18CC9DFD7D0748D8966D5

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• AFN: 94QD-GW
• FamilySearch ID: L7GH-C6F
• Name: Richard Bell
• Name: Richard Bills
• Occupation: Merchant
• _UID: 42DEFE02AE0F435297B87F6675380D91F14C
• Residence: 1685, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts

Notes:

[hatherly.ged]

owner of Spectacle Island

Richard married Sarah DAVIS on 30 Jun 1709 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts Colony. Sarah (daughter of Benjamin DAVIS and Sarah RICHARDS) was born on 16 Aug 1683 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America; was christened on 19 Aug 1683 in Old South Church, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America; died on 24 Apr 1727 in British Colonial America. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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• AFN: 94QD-H3
• FamilySearch ID: 9D38-SZD
• _UID: 6F922B9DF8324680B563BE52E85E719E3678
• Residence: 1683, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts

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• FamilySearch ID: LHDW-NWB
• _UID: C6CFED9F3F224BA0BAF42FEFD50B2FA9F13F

Notes:

BEF. 1705 owned Spectacle Island-Boston Harbor

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SPECTACLE ISLAND lies in Boston harbor 3 1/2 miles from the wharf,
between Castle and Long Islands. It was, for the most part, in the
possession of the Bill family for about three quarters of century. The
first record of sale or transfer to this family of which there is any
positive knowledge, is a deed of three lots granted by James Bill, of
Pulling Point, to Thomas Bill, of Boston, bearing date Dec. 13, 1666.The
above Thomas Bill and his wife Abigail Bill, by deed in 1680, conveyed
all their interest in Spectacle Island (about 35 acres) to their son
Samuel Bill. He subsequently became possessed of the entire Island,and
it was known for many years after by the name of "Samuel Bill's Island."
He continued in the ownership up to the time of his decease, August 18,
1705, when two thirds of it passed by will into the hands of his son,
Samuel Bill, Jr.
At a later date, this son acquired absolute title and held it up to
1729-30, when it passed into the possession of his brother, Richard Bill,
of Boston. It was during the ownership of Samuel Bill, Sr., in theyear
1684, when the titles by which the Colonists held their lands werelikely
to be put in jeopardy, in consequence of the insidious counsel of some of
the resident authorities of the home government, that the following deed
from an Indian Chief called Josiah or Wamputuck, and several of his
counsellors, was thought useful.
Note:
"To all Christian People to whom these presents shall come. JOSIAH,son
and Heyer, of Josiah otherwise called Wamputuck, late Sachem of the
Massachusetts Country in New England, Sendeth Greeting:--Know ye thatI
the said Josiah, son of Josiah, for diverse causes and good
considerations me thereunto moving, and in particular for and in
consideration of a valuable consideration of money to me in hand payd
before the ensealing of this deed by Samuel Bill of Boston, Butcher, HAVE
with knowledge and consent of my wise men and Councellors, WillamAhaton,
Sen., William Ahaton., Jun., and Robert Mamentaug, Given, granted,sold,
enfeoffed, and confirmed, and by these presents Do fully, freely and
absolutely give, grant, sell, enfeoffe, convey and cofirme unto thesayed
Samuel Bill his heyeres and Assignes forever one certain Island,Scituate
in the Massachusetts Bay, commonly known and called by- the name of
Spectacle Island in the present possession of the same Bill, with all
rights, priveledges and appurtenances thereunto in any wise appertaining
and belonging. To have and to Hold the same and every part and parcel
thereof unto Him the same Samuel Bill his Heyeres and Assigns to his andtheir sole
Use and benefit, in firm and indefeasible estate of inheritance in fee
Simple forever. And the said Josiah for himself his heyeres,Executors,
Administrators and successors, doth hereby covenant and promise to
The said Samuel Bill his heyers and Assigns, that at the time of the
ensealing and delivery of these presents that (according to Indianright
and title) he is sole owner and proprietor of the said Island, andhatch
fill power and authority to sell and convey the same as above sayd,and
that the sayd bargained Island with all its priveledges, rights and
appurtenances belonging, will and doth unto the sayd Samuel Bill, his
heyers and Assigns forever sufficiently warrant and defend against
himself his heyers and successors, and against all and every otherperson
whomsoever having, claiming or pretending to have or claim and Indian
right, title or interest in or to the same or any part or parcelthereof.
In witnesse whereof the said Josiah and his counsellors above sayd
have hereunto put their hands and seals this thirtieth day of April,in
the year one thousand six hundred eighty-four.
Note:
Signed, sealed and delivered JOSIAH his mark ===o
(L.S.)
in the presence of WILLIAM
HAHATON (L.S.)
George Merriott OLD WILLIAM his
A mark AHATON (L.S.)
Experience Fisher * ROBERT
MAMENTAUG his Z mark (L.S.)
Note:
Josiah, Indian Sachem, and his Counsellors acknowledged this to betheir
Act and Deed, May 1st, 1684, before me,
William Stoughton

Samuel married Elizabeth WEBSTEAD in 1682 in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts. Elizabeth was born on 21 Feb 1657 in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts; died on 25 Nov 1730 in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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• FamilySearch ID: LWSB-D9K
• _UID: C8B6E9E580AA4603B83678BDF84CDB97987A

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• FamilySearch ID: 2Z38-7KY

Benjamin married Sarah RICHARDS. Sarah was born on 23 Feb 1661 in Warwickshire, England; died on 28 Aug 1690. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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• FamilySearch ID: 2Z38-7VF