Ancestors of Nancy Ann Denton
my Great-Grandmother
Names with two stars ** are decendents on my side of the family.
Text in red are clickable links
** Sir RICHARD DENTON
Sir Richard DENTON - Richard of Worley was born in 1557 at
Warley, Halifax, Yorkshire, England.
He was christened on September 17, 1557 in Halifax, Yorkshire, England.
He died on December 9, 1619 in
Hertfordshire, England.
Was married to Susan SIBELLA in 1581 in Warley, Halifax, Yorkshire, England.
Susan SIBELLA was born in 1563 at
St. Albans Abbey, St. Albans, Hertfordshire, England.
____ Sir Richard Denton and Susan Sibella children were:
__ (1) Susan DENTON born 12/21/1600
** (2) REV. RICHARD DENTON ll
1603 - 1663
REV. RICHARD DENTON ll born at Yorkshire Co. England
on April 5, 1603
He emigrated to America between 1630 and 1635 but returned to England
leaving his children behind, and died in Essex, England in 1663.
married Helen Windebank born in 1597 Died in England.
This info. was taken from his College records at Cambridge. The only baptism date of a Richard at Halifax
in
that year was on April 10, 1603, the parent being listed as Richard Denton of Warley.
There was also a baptism on Dec. 21, 1600 of Susan, a daughter of this same Richard of Warley.
Rev. Richard received his B.A. from St. Catherine's College (or Catherine Hall), Cambridge University,
England in 1622/3, was created a Deacon at Peterborough
on March. 9, 1622/3, and made a priest on
June 3, 1623.
As this information was probably taken from College records, it should be authentic.
(according to Long Island History) He was married in 1625 at Hempstead, N.Y.
Many believe his wife to have been Helen Windlbank?. Some say they were married in 1621 in Marden Parish,
Wiltshire.
She is believed to have been the daughter of the King's Privy Council Master Secretary Windlbank,
suggesting that Rev. Denton may have had influence in the court of Charles I.
In 1636 there is a Doctor William Denton (1605-1691) who was appointed personal physician to the king, Charles I.
After the restoration he assumed the same position for Charles II.
Whether the two men were
brothers or cousins has not been ascertained.
In 1699 Edmond Denton was created a baronet.
Rev. Richard's marriage does not appear among those of the Dentons at Halifax, nor is it recorded at Bolton,
Lancashire where two of his children were baptized. Probably he was married not long before he became minister at
Turton,
a small place about four miles north of Bolton. This would put the probable date of his marriage as
between 1624 and 1626. The baptismal dates for five of his children are known,
two at Bolton, Lancashire and three at Coley, Halifax, from 1627 to 1634.
It is know that three of his children, Nathaniel, Samuel, and Daniel, came to the U.S.,
probably with their parents in 1635. There is no known record of the name of Rev. Richard's wife in this country,
though he himself is frequently mentioned, so perhaps he was a widower by the time he came to America.
The history of the Town of Hempstead really begins prior to its official inception in 1644.
In 1636 settlers from the Plymouth, Massachusetts Colony established the towns of Hartford, Windsor and
Wethersfield (called Watertown) in Connecticut. From Wethersfield a handful of people journeyed along
the Long Island Sound and established Stamford, Connecticut.
This group included the Reverend Richard Denton and his four sons.
In 1643, two emissaries (Robert Fordham and John Carman [Fordham's son-in-law]) were sent across the Long Island Sound
to the Dutch-held westerly part of Long Island to obtain town rights from William Kieft (Director General) and to purchase
title from the Indians.
In December of 1643, Carman and Fordham met with tribal representation of the Reuckowacky,
the Merockes, Matinecock, and Massapequas and a land deed was negotiated on December 13, 1643.
The deed failed to specify boundaries of the vast land tract that was to become Hempstead.
Nor did it mention any form of compensation for the tribes.
The Deed that Fordham and Carman had concluded with the Indians in 1643 was not confirmed until July 4, 1657.
Although colonists began to come over to what is present day Hempstead [The name Hempstead seems to derive from
Hemel-Hempstead, in Great Britain, which means (town spot).], it was not until November of 1644
that Dutch Director General William Kieft issued the patent granting the settlers rights and title [Kieft Patent].
During the early years, the decisions that came out of the Town of Hempstead Annual and Special Meetings formed the basis
for local government and community living. Primarily these decisions, often termed as
"orders" dealt with the community land and the enforcement of local laws.
The following excerpts provide a flavor of these early Town Meetings:
May 2, 1654 - It is ordered by all the inhabitants that hath any right in the work shall sufficiently make up
either his or their proportion of fence at or before the 15th day of May next ensuing the date hereof stilo nova
and every person or persons that is found negligent in so doing, shall pay for every rod defective two
shillings and sixpence.1 May 2, 1658 - At a town meeting this present day, it is ordered that every
inhabitant within this town of Hempstead shall within five days, after the date hereof, give in to be enlisted by
the Town Clerk, all lands that was ploughed, and reaped and gathered viz. hollows, uplands, homelots, excepting
one hollands acre by patent allowed, for each inhabitant, allowance whereby our tithe may be paid
unto the Governor according to our agreement, being one hundred shocks of wheat.2 July 10, 1658
It is ordered and agreede by general vote ye Mr. Richard Gildersleve, according to appointment is to go to
Mannatens to agree with ye Governor concerning the tytles and therein is ordered not to exceede one hundred
scheepels [sic] of wheate (and if required) it is to be delivered at the towne habour and the charge of his
journey is to be defrayed by the towne. During the twenty years under Dutch rule the Town of Hempstead
had a good measure of self-rule. Elections were allowed for magistrates,
a clerk, five townsmen, a pounder, cattle keepers, hay warden, and other local officials.
Following the British taking of New York from the Dutch, the Duke's Law Convention was held in Hempstead in
February, 1665. The purpose of the Convention was to adopt basic principles of law, local government,
and approve a constitution. The following towns sent delegates: Southampton, Seatalcott (Brookhaven), Huntington,
Oyster Bay, Hempstead, Jamaica, Gravesend, Newtown, Flushing, Brooklyn, Bushwick, Flatbush, New Utrecht,
and from the mainland, Westchester. Hempstead sent John Hicks and Robert Jackson.
In 1683, the New York Colony divided into twelve counties, and Hempstead became part of Queens County.
At the April 1, 1684 Town Meeting it is agreed upon by majority vote that all and every person that have had grants
of home lots are obliged, either to fence, build upon or improve them within three years and one day's time,
or if they do not improve the same Lotts according to ye above written agreement in the time specified,
then the said home lotts belonging to the persons they were given to, are to return to the towne again.
With the British back in charge, and Hempstead under British rule, the Town patent was again revised [Dongan Patent] in 1686.
Rev. Richard Denton was acknowledged by many as the founder of Presbyterianism in America. He came to New England in 1635.
Before coming to New England he was a preacher in Halifax England.
From England, the Cambridge University listing for Richard Denton says:
"Sizar of St. Catherine's Easter, 1621, b. 1603 in Yorks, B. A. 1622-3, priest 8 June 1623.
Deacon at Peterborough 9 March 1622-3. Curate of Coleys Chapel, Halifax, for some years."
("Sizar" is defined as an undergraduate student.)
From New England Genealogical Reg. 11/241: Rev. Richard Denton came to American from the Parish of
Owram, North England on the ship "James." He lived in Wetheresfield and Stamford, Connecticut.
The J.S. Denton papers show baptismal records of Nathaniel and Timothy sons of Rev. Richard Denton
"in Parish Church of Bolton, England." Rev. Richard worked first with the famous preacher,
Cotton Mather.
Rev. Mather speaks of Rev. Denton in his early memoirs: "Rev. Denton was a highly religious man with strong
Presbyterian beliefs. He was a small man with only one eye, but in the pulpit
he could sway a congregation
like he was nine feet tall."
Rev. Richard was a minister at Turton, later at Coley Chapel, Halifax. He seems to have first preached in
the U.S.
at Watertown, Mass., about 1635, then at Weathersfield, Conn.
at the early settlement of that place.
From there he went to Stamford, Conn. in 1641.
According to Utah records, the New England Register states as early as 1644, Rev. Richard Denton
and those who agreed with him decided to try their fortune under the Dutch government, and accordingly, removed and settled
at Hempstead, Long Island, New York, where they could be under their own laws
and where they allowed all
the inhabitants to vote, and made it their duty to do so.
Although he is referred to as the first minister at Hempstead, N.Y. in a deed at Stamford in 1650,
in which he
disposed of his property there, he refers to himself as of "Mashpeag" on Long Island.
There are two documents
at Albany, signed by him, dated from Mashpeag and Middleborough in l650-l.
He is said to have preached to the English soldiers at the Fort in New Amsterdam, probably about the time
of the Indian troubles in 1643-5.
According no Thompson's Long Island History,
by 1650 the orders to attend church could not be enforced,
and his wages had not been paid.
Rev. Richard was engaged to act as minister at Hempstead in 1658, from a contract on the Town records.
About 1659, he is said to have returned to England, taking a church in Essex, at which place he died in 1662.
Most authorities agree with this date and place. Thompson on says
"On the tomb erected to his memory bears the following inscription in Latin: "Here lies the dust of Richard Denton.
O'er his low peaceful grave bends the perennial cypress, fit emblem of his unfading fame.
On earth his bright example, religious light, shown forth o'er multitudes.
In heaven his pure rob'd spirit shines like an effulgent star."
Venn's Cambridge Alumni also agrees, saying he died in 1662 at Hempstead, Essex. Yet, inquiry at that place
shows no such tomb there, and it appears that Rev. Richard was not a rector or curate there in 1660 to 1663.
However, Hempstead, Essex was strongly Puritan. In the hope that Rev. Richard had left a Will in England,
a search was made for the period between 1660 and 1680. It was thought that perhaps the reason for
Daniel Denton's trip to England in 1670 was to settle his father's estate, but the records apparently do not show it.
It seems strange that historians have been so mistaken about the burial place of Rev. Richard Denton,
but there is no stone memorial to him at Hempstead, Essex, England.
Rev. Richard is said to have been Presbyterian, but his services at the earlier churches in New England
were of markedly "Independent" or "Congregational" opinion.
Rev. Richard had known Increase Mather, father of the famous preacher, Cotton Mather.
A comment on Rev. Richard is found in Cotton Mather's "Magnalia Christi" vol. 1, p. 398 "....
Among these clouds was our pious and learned Mr. Richard Denton of Yorkshire, who, having watered Halifax
in England with his fruitful ministry, was then by a tempest tossed into New England, where first at Weathersfield
and then at Stamford, his doctrine dropped as the rain, his speech distilled as the dew, as the small
rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass.
Though he were a little man, yet he had a great soul; his well-accomplished mind, in his lesser body,
was as an
Iliad in a nutshell. I think he was blind of an eye, yet he was not the least
among the seers of Israel;
he saw a very considerable portion or those things which eye hath not seen.
He was far from cloudy in his conceptions and principles of divinity.
In his book, "The History of the Clergy in the Middle Colonies" author Weiss makes reference to the religious
conflict of early Connecticut which resulted in Rev. Richard Denton moving on to Hempstead, Long Island, NY
in 1644.
He settled there in the midst of a large Dutch colony.
However, there were also many English settlers
living in the area without benefit of religious guidance.
With these scattered members for a beginning.
Rev. Denton established the first Presbyterian Church in America.
This church was so successful that soon the Dutch neighbors were attending services there.
History shows some
controversy developed when Rev. Denton began to baptize some of the younger children
of the Dutch who did
not agree with all the Presbyterian beliefs.
The history of Hempstead, Long Island makes many references to the Dentons and their marriages and
big families.
The men were active in the local militias fighting the Indians and they developed excellent
military experience that prepared them for officer commissions when they moved on to the Virginia frontier.
From "Narratives of New Netherland, 1609-1664"
a letter to the Classis of Amsterdam from
Johannes Megapolensis
and Samuel Drisius dated August 5, 1657: "At Hempstead, about seven leagues
from here,there live some Independents.There are also many of our own church, and some Presbyterians.
They have a Presbyterian preacher, Richard Denton, a pious, godly and learned man, who is in agreement
with
our church in everything. The Independents of the place listen attentively to his sermons;
but when he began to
baptize the children of parents who are not members of the church, they rushed out of the church.
" From another letter dated Oct. 22, 1659 the same writers continue: Mr. Richard Denton, who is sound in faith,
of a friendly disposition, and beloved by all, cannot be induced by us to remain, although we have
earnestly
tried to do this in various ways.
He first went to Virginia to seek a situation,
complaining of lack of salary, and that he was getting in debt,
but he has returned thence.
He is now fully resolved to go to old England, because of his wife who is sickly
will not go without him,
and there is need of their going there on account of a legacy of four hundred pounds
sterling lately left by a deceased friend, and which they cannot obtain except by their personal presence.
It was thought that perhaps the reason for Daniel Denton, son of Rev. Richard Denton II
trip to England
in 1670 was to settle his father's estate.
The plantation of Wethersfield, of which Mr. Denton was the leader, as well as the minister of the Church,
was prosperous, and its numbers greatly increased. But, in 1641, another conflict for democratic rule caused
some twenty-five families, led by Mr. Denton, to make another move.
This brought them to Stamford, within the boundaries of the Colony of New Haven. Of the twenty-five families
who came with Denton to Stamford, the names of eighteen are found later in the Hempstead list of 1647.
Again at Stamford, Mr. Denton's uncompromising democracy, or Presbyterianism, came in conflict with the
New Haven rules that none but church members should vote in town meetings.' In 1643, representatives were
sent out to investigate the land and the conditions across the Sound, on Nassau Island, as it was then known
within the jurisdiction of the more liberal Dutch government.
This resulted in their obtaining in the following year, from Governor Kieft, the patent for the town of Hempstead.
The settlers promptly formed a central community, which was called the "Town Spot," and which developed into what
is now the village of Hempstead. There they constructed a "Fort," and the meeting house was built within it.
As was the custom in New England, this meeting house was built upon the town's "common land," at the public
expense, and as authorized by vote in the town meeting. It was used not merely as a place of worship on Sundays,
but was also the place for holding town meetings, and for conducting the business of the magistrates.
The minister was chosen by the town vote, and his salary was fixed and raised by a rate assessed upon all the
inhabitants. It was, doubtless, in this little first meeting house that the first legislative Assembly of the
Province of New York was held in 1665, called together by Col. Nickol, after Charles II had granted this
territory to his brother, the Duke of York.
This Assembly was composed of delegates from New York, from Westchester and the towns of Long Island.
The celebrated code, known as the "Duke's Laws," was enacted here.
During the sixty years which constituted the first period of the history of Hempstead's Church, there were three
ministers duly chosen and resident in the town.
The first of these, the Rev. Richard Denton, who brought the people here, and exercised a large influence in
the formative years of the settlement, remained with them until 1658, when he resigned.
The last mention of Mr. Denton's name upon the Town books is on March 4, 1658, when a rate was made for the
payment of his salary, at the rate of f174os. per quarter.
Shortly afterwards he returned to England where he died in the year 1662.
History of Christ's First Presbyterian Church of Hempstead, Long Island, New York
As no mention is made of his wife in his Connecticut years it is not clear when she died or where.
From another source: While at Cambridge, Rev. Denton became interested in Cartwright's debates on
church policy, and following the passage of the intolerant Univormity Act he decided to leave the
Church of England. In 1629 the Puritans had obtained a grant from the king to settle New England.
From the Parish of Owram he saied with his family, friends and followers.
John Rock SMITH was born in 1615 in England. He died in 1706 in Hempstead, LI, NY. John came to America
prior to 1640. John "Rock" Smith moved to Stamford, CT 1644 then to Hempstead L.I. NY. He was an
Inn keeper and a judge. From the Hempstead Town Records, p. 162, dated april 18th anno 1665:
"What as i John smith:R; of hamsteede have bargened and bouaitte of ambros sutten the seller and seller loote
that was his and sum times Edmon wodesand all his writt and tittal of landes one the planes I the fors'd
John Smith have sold on to my suninlaw Samuel Denton the afore saide seller and seller loote and the thurd
partte of the land thatt i bouett of the a fore said ambros notte with standen I the a fore said John Smith Doo
give and beecueffe to the fore Samuel his aiers and suckcesers for Ever From me my aires and
suckcesers for
Ever as wittness my hand the daye and datte a bove wretten. John smith (his X mark)"
From an old publication on Long Island Antiquities, we find this interesting story of how the "Rock"
became part
of the Smith name: "Upon this island and especially in the central portions of it are very
many families of the
name of Smith. So numerous did they become that it was necessary to distinguish the
various original
members by some particular name. Thus we have the
Rock Smiths, the Blue Smiths, the Weight Smiths,
and the Tangier Smiths.
Of the Rock Smiths, there are two distinct families, one who originally settled between
Rockaway and Hempstead
some ten or fifteen years before the settlement of the first white inhabitant
in Setauket, who derived
their name from their contiguity to Rockaway; and the other located
themselves in Brookhaven and obtained their appellation from their ancestor erecting his
dwelling against a
large rock which still remains on the
highway of that town.
These different appellations of the families of the Smiths became as firmly settled as
if they were regular family
names; so that when any inquiry was made of any person on the road, man woman or
child, for any particular
Smith, they would at once ask whether he was of the Rock breed, the Bull breed, etc.
If the person desiring the information could say which breed, he at once was told of his residence.
According to George D.A. Combes, from the notes or William A.D. Eardeley, the following is a list of
____ children OF REV. RICHARD DENTON ll:
__ (1) Sarah DENTON 1623 in Wiltshire, England. Married William THORNE in 1639.
____ children were:
______ A 1. William THORNE born in 1624 married Winnifred Livingston
________children were:
_______B 1. Richard THORNE born in 1675. Flushing L.I. Ny. married Phebe Denton
_______B 2 Martha THORNE born 1679 In 1699, she married her second cousin Abraham Denton I
______ A 2. Denton Thorne --Sarah Denton Thorne's tenth child
__ (2) Daniel DENTON 1626 - 1705 married Elizabeth Gildersleeve in 1640
_____Daughter of Richard Gildersleeve. Elizabeth Gildersleeve was born in 1624.
(more info.)
__ (3) Tymothie Timothy DENTON b. July 25, 1627 at Parish Church, Bolton, Lancashir England
__ (4) Nathaniel DENTON Sr. 1629 in Bolton, Lancashir England
_____
d. 1690 in Jamaica Queens Co., New York married Sarah __
(more info.)
__ (5) Richard III DENTON 1630 - 1658 married at Dorchester, Mass. on Dec. 11, 1657 to
_____Ruth Tileston daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Tileston.
_____
Richard died Dec. 28, 1658 at Dorchester, evidently leaving no issue.
_____The widow Ruth married second 1663 to Timothy Foster.
__ (6) John DENTON 1636 in Hempstead, Long Island, Queens, Nassau County, New York
_____married about 1664. It is stated "family data claims he went to Virginia."
__ (7) Phebe DENTON 1634 in Stringston, Somersetshire, England
** (8) SAMUEL DENTON Sr. Born 29 May 1631 - Died 14 Mar 1713
____ Samuel Denton Sr. son of Rev. RICHARD DENTON ll was born in Halifax, Yorkshire, England.
Christened on 29 May 1631 in Coley Chapel, Halifax, England. Died on 20 Mar 1713 in Hempstead,
Long Island, NY.
He married Mary Rock SMITH daughter of John 'Rock' and June Smith about 1656 in Hempstead, Long Island, NY.
Mary Rock SMITH was born Jul 20 1640 in Dorchester, Suffolk, MA. Died 15 Mar 1713 in Hempstead, Queens, NY.
Samuel was listed on the 1673 Dutch Census at Hempstead, NY, and owned property
in Hempstead from 1662 and lived in the area most of his life. Transactions in 1703 show that he owned slaves.
In 1685, he was reported to be owning 240 acres of land. The 1698 Census at Hempstead, NY lists six of his nine children.
"New York Surrogate 8-305: Adm. Samuel Denton, late of Hempstead, intestate March 20, 1713 to his sons
Samuel and Jonas." Papers filed with the clerk in Court of Appeals, Albany, NY
named a daughter, "Hannah, wife of Thomas Treadwell," also spelled Tredwell.
From the "Tennessee Valley Historical Review:" Hempstead town records show that Samuel Denton and others took up
land, 50 acres each, on the same terms as the first proprietors. In 1663, jointly with Thomas Rushmour,
Samuel Denton obtained all rights and privileges upon Matthew Garrison's Neck and at Mattinacock,
from Jeremy Wood of Hempstead. On April 18, 1665, John Smith of Hempstead sold to "my son-in-law Samuel Denton"
certain lands. In 1698 he was called Samuel Denton, Senior. A deed of gifts from Samuel Denton
of Hempstead, Yeoman, in consideration of "paternal love and affection I have and do
bear toward my well-beloved son James Denton of Hempstead, Yeoman"
to land within the township of Hempstead. December 16, 1710.
The date of Samuel's inventory was March 15, 1713 and was taken by Obediah Volintine and James Serion. "March 10,
1713, Hempstead. Mary Denton ye widdow and Relict of Samuel Denton, late of Hempstead in Queens County,
doth for divers good causes and consideration hereunto moving, refuses to administer upon the estate of her
deceased husband, Samuel Denton." So the administration was granted to Samuel and Jonas Denton, sons of
said deceased. The records pertaining to the administration of the estate clearly show receipts from the
children calling each by name. Therefore we have a definite list of the children of Samuel and Mary Smith Denton.
From Genelogical Data from Inventories of NY Estates 1666-1825 by Kenneth Scott and James Owne. "Samuel Denton,
of Hempstead, Queens CO., yeoman - Renunciation (20 March 1713/4) of Mary Denton of her right to administer the
estate of her dec'd husband in favor of his sons, Samuel and Jonas Denton. Her renunciation was
witnessed by Jacob Smith and John Sprague. Inventory (15 March 1713/4) taken and appraised by
Obadiah Volentine and James Searing, by order of Col. John. Jackson, J.P. The chief item was a
negro boy and girl (90 Pounds) and a Negro man listed as 'worth nothing.'
Account of Samuel and Jonas Denton, administrators, records the following payments to heirs of the dec'd
to Mary Denton (Widow of the dec'd.) to Peter Smith (Son of Mary Ellison, dec'd
who was a daughter of the intestate), to Joseph Robinson and Jane his wife (who was a daughter of the dec'd.
to Jonathan Seaman and Elizabeth his wife (a daughter of the intestate), to Abraham DENTON Sr
(son of the intestate, to James Denton (son of the intestate), to Thomas Beadwell and Hannah his wife
(a daughter of the intestate), to Robert Mitchell and Phoebe his wife (a daughter of the intestate),
to Ezekiel Smith and Martha his wife
(a daughter of the intestate) and to Jonas Denton (a son of the intestate).
________ children were:
__ (1) Jane Denton born about 1659
__ (2) Dinah Denton born about 1661
__ (3) Benjamin Denton born about 1663
__ (4) Samuel Denton Jr. born about 1655 - 1719 (more info.)
__ (5) Mary Ellison Denton born about 1668 lived at Hempstead, married first about
_____ 1683-4 to Peter Smith, married second 1689-91 to Jonathan Nostrand.
__ (6) James Denton born about 1670 - 1723 married about 1695 to Jeane/Jane Titus,
_____ born 1670, the daughter of Edmond and Martha Washburne Titus. Evidently James was a Quaker.
__ (7) Hannah Denton born about 1673 - died Aug. 17. 1748, lived at Hempstead, married 1695 to Capt.
_____ Thomas Tredwell, born about 1670, the son of John Tredwell and first wife Elizabeth Starr.
__ (8) Jonas Denton born about 1677 lived at Hempstead, N. Y. married 1695 in Hempstead,
_____ Nassau Co., NY. to Jane Seaman, born about 1679, the daughter of Jonathan Seaman.
_______ Children were: Robert DENTON.
__ (9) Phebe Denton born about 1679 - 1728 married first Aug. 29, 1699 to Richard Thorne, son of
_____ William, Jr. and Winifred Linington Thorne,married second about 1708 to
_____ Robert Mitchell, born 1670, son of Robert and Hester Mitchell.
__ (10) Martha Denton born about 1681 single in 1698
__ (11) Elizabeth Denton born about 1684 married about 1709 to Jonathan Seaman, the son of
_____ Jonathan and Jane Seaman. They went to Kikai in 1712,
_____ later to New Hempstead, Orange Co., N.Y.
**(12) ABRAHAM DENTON I. Born 1675 - Died 1729
Abraham Denton I was born 1675 in Hempstead, LI, NY. He died in 1729 in Orange CO, NY. He was buried
in Orange CO, NY.
In 1699, he married his second cousin, Martha THORNE
Abraham was a private in Captain Cornelius Haring's company from Orange CO, NY
during 1715. He had purchased land from Richard Volentine of Hempstead on March 3, 1700.
The Orange CO, NY records show, "Abraham Denton, Sr. of the Precinct of Haverstraw to son Abraham Denton,
land. Delivered in the presence of Jonas Denton and John Denton, and
attested by Cornelius Herring, January 10, 1729-30."
From the Hempstead Town records: On 16 Dec. 1710
his father deeded him land, 'in consideration of parental love and affection.' On 16 May 1713,
he sold land to John Searing.
In the year 1713 several Hempstead families migrated to Orange CO, NY,
including Abraham, the Seamans, Serings and O'dells in the Kakait/Cocuat patent. They established New Hempstead 25 Oct. 1715.
He was married to Martha THORNE in 1699 in Orange CO, NY.
Martha THORNE was born in 1679 in Woodstock, VA.
the daughter of William and Winifred Linington THORNE.
She died in 1730 in Orange CO, NY.
___ children were:
__ (1) Martha DENTON born 1701 in Hempstead, LI, NY
** (2) Capt. ABRAHAM JOHN DENTON II Born 1700 - Died 1774
Abraham John Denton II II was born in 1700 in Hempstead, NY. He died in August 1774 in Shenandoah CO, VA.
His will was presented August 12, 1774. He died at the Tom's Brook Plantation in Shenandoah CO, VA.
He married Mary O'DELL in 1725 in Orange CO, NY.
Mary O'DELL was born in (1702 in Woodstock, Va)
died in 1774 in Shenandoah CO, VA.
During the French and Indian War, Abraham served in the Provincial Army of 1766 with the rank of Captain.
It is believed that Abraham, who was called "Captain" was a part of the militia used in defense of the settlers.
He was also referred to as Doctor when living on his plantation in the Shenandoah Valley.
Abraham, according to sources in Orange CO, NY, had some problems with local law and soon after
left the county for a new home in the Shenandoah County of Virginia. This was in 1729 or 1730.
Thus started the move westward, for his sons each moved in different directions into the frontier."
Abraham's will was written August 20, 1774 and probated September 27, 1774 in Shenandoah CO, VA.
"in the County of Dunmore, Colony of Virginia, being very sick and weak in body but perfect mind and memory.
First leaving my loving kind and true wife Mary Denton and William Reno Executors.
I therefore will and bequesth my loving kind and true wife Mary Denton the lower part of my land and plantation
during her lifetime also the legal thirds of the moveable estate. Also I give my well beloved son Abraham Denton
my wearing clothes: two pr. boots, two coats, two vestcoats and one pr of breatches and as
he has received his part of the land, I give unto him five pounds current money of Virginia to be paid to him out of
my two daughters, Phebee Plumley and Martha Moore their parts of the moveable estate and
the land after my wife Mary Decrees the tract of land to be equally divided
between them both that is to say Phebe Plumley and Martha Moore." Signed
Abraham Denton. Witnesses: Mary Little, Dorothy (X) Clock, Elizabeth Smith, Mary Peerceson.
From The Tennessee Valley Historical Review: "Abraham Denton II became involved with the law in New York
in about 1729-30. He, along with some close relatives, left that state and headed for Virginia,
crossing the eastern part of Pennsylvania and the Northwestern part of Maryland.
In the Valley of Virginia, then Orange County (later Augusta County) and the upper Virginia Valley,
(Frederick, later Dunmore, and still later Shenandoah County) we find Abraham and his family.
Also about the same time, Jonas Denton and others had reached the Virginia country.
Samuel, Robert, James and John Denton begin to appear in the same general locality. The deeds in Frederick County
clearly prove that the Dentons were there as early as 1755 and became prominent citizens."
Abraham's will was written August 12, 1774 and probated September 27, 1774 in Shenandoah CO, VA.
Abraham left a deed dated August 12, 1774 which was signed by Mary Denton
Little. Dorothy Clock (Clark) Elizabeth Smith and Mary Pareson (Pearson) made their marks.
By this information, Mary Little was still living in 1774 and had enough education to sign her name.
As the older generation died off, the younger ones became less rooted
in the old lands and soon started departing for the southwest.
Mary O'DELL died in 1774 in Shenandoah, VA. Will book A, page 200, Woodstock Shenandoah CO, VA
pgs. 228-229. Administration and inventory of estate and apportionment.
Heirs: Elizabeth Smith,
Hannah Smith and Daridea Clock (Clark). These were probably Mary's sisters who
took care of her in her
old age as her children had already moved on by the time her husband died.
Capt. Abraham DENTON II is buried at Tom's Brook Plantation in Shenandoah CO, VA.
children were:
__ (1)Isaac DENTON1733 - 1795 in Shenandoah Co.,Virginia
__ (2) Samuel DENTON 1734 in Orange County,New York Died in 1811 in Pendleton Dictrict, SC. (more info.)
__ (3) James DENTON 1735 - 1855 in Shenandoah County,Virginia. married Elizabeth Harper
______ children were:
_________C.1 Mary "Polly" DENTON 1769 - 1843 married Col. John Tipton Hunt
_________C.2 Abraham DENTON married Sarah Hunt
__ (4)Martha Mary DENTON 22 Jul 1736 - 1794 born in Shenandoah County,Virginia (more info.)
__ (5)Phoebe DENTON b. 1737 in Shenandoah Page County,Virginia d. 1797 Burke County North Carolina
_____
married William Plumlee 1728 - 1826
______ PLUMLEE Cemetery in Clay County Tennessee U.S.A.
______ children were:
________D.1 Abraham Plumlee b: 1762 in Dunmore Co, VA
________D.2 Denton Plumlee b: 1763
________D.3 John Brown Plumlee b: 1766 in Dunmore Co, VA d. 1820 Clay County Tennessee married Elizabeth Neill
________D.4 Stephen Plumlee Sr b: 1769
________D.5 Isaac Plumlee b: 1773 in Dunmore Co, VA d. 1835 White County Tennessee married Margaret Bradshaw
________D.6 Martha Patsy Plumlee b: 1782 in NC
__ (6)Abraham DENTON III born 1738 in Orange County,New York d.1827 (more info.)
** (7) JOSEPH DENTON Born 1729 - Died 1800
__ Joseph Denton was born on February 14, 1729 in Orange CO, NY. He died in 1800 in Stockton Valley, KY.
From "The Denton Family" by David H. Templin: "It seems that Joseph Denton moved about a great deal.
Joseph was a member of a militia company which was commanded by Captain John Tipton during 1775.
Joseph appears briefly in Washington County, NC and after a brief pause in the Cumberland settlements.
Joseph then moved north into Kentucky and appears in the Stockton Valley of Kentucky.
Apparently Joseph deserted from Col. John Tipton's company in the Revolutionary War and probably
moved at that time to North Carolina. This was noted in a manuscript called the
"Romney and Winchester Pay Roll," which included a list of Col. John Tipton's company.
Joseph set up a Station north of the Cumberland River opposite what is now Nashville, TN in 1779.
He endured Indian skirmishes until about 1783. His name is on the Cumberland Compact of May 13, 1780.
At that time he was further west than any other Denton. Later he would move northeast up the Cumberland
into Kentucky. He received a grant for 200 acres in 1806
on the Alligator Fork Creek of the Wolf River in Stockton's Valley, KY.
Joseph and Ann simply faded away with no documented final chapter.
However, their children left their mark along the Kentucky and Tennessee Border.
Joseph was married first to a Patience who was killed by Indians along with his son.
This may have been the reason for his desertion from Col. Tipton's company.
He was married to Ann HOGG in 1765 in NC. Ann HOGG was born in 1745.
Died in Cumberland River section of TN/KY 1800 or before.
__ children were:
___ (1) Martha DENTON
___ (2) Agnes DENTON
___ (3) Elizabeth DENTON
___ (4) Susanna DENTON
___ (5) Rev. Isaac D. DENTON Sr.
1774 - 1870 (more info.)
_____ married 1st wife :Rebecca Etheridge
_____ married 2nd wife :Martha "Patsy" CROUCH 1772 - 1848
Rev. Isaac D. DENTON Sr. is buried at
Eads-Denton-Moore Cemetery in Clay County Tennessee.
____ Rev. Isaac D. DENTON Sr. had the following children:
_______E.1 Anna DENTON
_______E.2 Noah DENTON (1811 - 1883) married Sarah Welch (1814 - 1862)
_________ children:
____________F.1 John H. Denton (1839 - 1918) married Penina Jane Miller (1842 - 1923)
______________ children:
________________G.1 James M. Denton (1871 - 1941)
_________________1st married Annie Mae York. 2nd married Frances Elizabeth Sweet
___________________ children:
____________________1 Wilson Lee Denton (1928 - 2005)
________________G.2 Ozias Denton (1879 - 1944) married Sarah A. Denton (1888 - 1952)
________________G.3 Laura J. Denton Silliman (1881 - 1971)
________________G.4 Virginia Denton
________________G.5 William Thomas Denton
________________G.6 Eva Denton
________________G.7 Noah Denton
________________G.8 Permillia Denton
________________G.9 Elizabeth Denton
____________F.2 James C. Denton (1840 - 1925) married Nancy Eads Denton (1855 - 1891)
______________ children:
________________H.1 Ferdinan Denton (1871 - 1951)
________________H.2 Mount Vernon Denton (1879 - 1951)
____________F.3 Sarah Miranda Denton (1849 - 1926) married William Alexander Guffey (1849 - 1920)
_______E.3 Tabitha (? Telitha) DENTON 1805 married John Cherry
_______E.4 Joseph Crouch DENTON
_______E.5 Pheobe (Patsey) DENTON
_______E.6 ? Hiram DENTON
_______E.7 ? Elijah DENTON
_______E.8 ? Jeremiah "Big Jerry" DENTON
_______E.9 Rev. Isaac DENTON Jr.
b. 1806 d. 1889 (more info.)
** (6) JEREMIAH "little jerry" DENTON Born 1770 - Died 1835
Jeremiah "little jerry" Denton was born 1770 in Caswell CO, NC.
died on October 17, 1835 in White CO, TN.
grandsons of Jeremiah "Little Jerry" Denton
Jerry settled in White CO, TN about one mile from "Big Jerry" Denton.
This was about 1806 and he remained there until his death.
married Sarah Carr in 1790.
Sarah CARR was born on October 14, 1772 in SC.
She died in 1852 in Lawrence CO, AR.
___ children were:
** (1) OZIAS DENTON 1799 - 1852
Rev. Ozias Denton born 1799 in Cumberland CO, KY.
died October 4, 1852 in Lawrence County, Arkansas
He married Susannah "Susan" Walling
born. January 1807
died Sep. 20, 1858 in Sharp County, Arkansas
__ Rev. Ozias along with this family came to Lawrence CO, AR in 1850.
They farmed, ran a blacksmith, built a church
and as the community grew, Denton Post office was established.
There is a will for Ozias, Willas and Aminstrations of Lawrence CO, AR 1845-1855 WC 392.
the will is dated 16 Sept. 1852 and was proved 4 Oct. 1852.
He was married to SUSANNAH WALLING in 1822 in White CO, TN.
She was born in 1807 in VA. She died on September 20, 1858 in Sharpe CO, AR.
Susan and Ozias moved to Arkansas before the Civil War.
Baptist minister, Rev. (Elder) Ozias Denton frequently represented the Caney Fork Association
at Stockton Valley Association meetings, from 1825-1839 During the 1840s,
this same man officiated at least six weddings for people in Van Buren County, several of whom are known
to have lived in the "south of the Caney Fork" - Cane Creek area, near Big Fork Baptist Church.
David Haston's daughter, Nancy Jane Haston (see below), was one of those for whom Ozias Denton performed a wedding.
This might possibly indicate that he served as a minister at Big Fork Baptist Church, during that era, and perhaps earlier.
April 11, 1841: Reuben W.P. Mooney to Nancy A. Johnson
June 24, 1841: Isaac Whittenburg to Marite Walling
November 2, 1843: McGreger Earls to Nancy J. Haston
September 15, 1844: Joseph W. Lane to Roseanna Dodson
August 28, 1845: Alfred Mulden to Sarah Couch
September 25, 1845: David Couch to Clarinda Moulden (by Rev. Isaac Denton)
January 31, 1849: William Anderson to Elizabeth Smallman
Source: WPA transcriptions of 1840-1861 Van Buren County, TN Marriage Records.
In 1849, (presumably "Ozias") and Isaac Denton Jr were elders in the Sinking Creek Baptist Church
at the eastern foot of Gum Spring Mountain, in White County, TN, which was north of the
Caney Fork River and approximately ten miles away (north west) from Big Fork Baptist Church.
Source: Page 521 of Pioneer Baptist Church Records of South-Central Kentucky and the
Upper Cumberland of Tennessee, 1799-1899.
children were:
__(1) Phoebe Ruth DENTON born Apr. 2, 1832 in Nashville Davidson County Tennessee
____died Nov. 26, 1872 in Smithville Lawrence County, Arkansas
____? married John Campbell Bilbrey
____married James Reed Sparkman, Sr 1827 - 1889
____buried at McElroy Cemetery
Van Buren County Tennessee, U.S.A.
____Gravesite of
Phoebe Ruth DENTON Sparkman 1832 - 26 Nov 1872
** (2) NANCY ANN DENTON NANCY ANN DENTON Born 1826 - Died 1881
____b. Febuary 03 1826 in White Co. Tenn.
d. 1881 in Monroe Co. Ky.
____? married Jacob SHIPMAN
____married William Carol Bowman __ ( ? Benjamin Bowman father of William Carol Bowman )
____ born 11/02/1817 Van Buren Co. Tenn.
____ died 05/21/1890 in Monroe Co. Ky.
_Both Nancy Ann Denton and William Carol Bowman are buried at Old Bowman Cemetery
____Gravesite of
William Carol Bowman
Map location of cemetery
They had 9 children
Nancy Ann Denton .... my Great-Grandmother
Was part Cherokee Indian. Her uncle fought at the Alamo,
and Denton Texas is named after one of her Uncles.
More info. on the Denton history ...
