Watson siblings in Rensselaerville early 1800s

I knew that RI native Wheeler Watson and his wife Sarah Taylor Peckham moved to this village in Albany County, NY soon after their 1799 marriage and that Wheeler’s brother Rufus was there with wife Mercy Stanton and their sister Desire lived there with husband Peleg Peckham.

However, during a recent review of the 1800, 1810, 1820 census records I was surprised to find 6 or more Watson families listed in Rensselaerville (and more in nearby hamlets like Berne). I reviewed all the names and then did some additional research learning that Thomas was another brother and there may have been additional married sisters in the village. This time period is intriguing, but frustrating, as records are not easily available.

The Watson households in 1800 Rensselaerville:

            Wheeler         4         

            Josiah              3

            Benjamin        8

            Thomas          9         

            Hezekiah        8

            Stephen          5

And Peleg Peckham 8

Rufus Watson  was not listed until 1810

Children of John Watson (1737-1796) and Desire Wheeler (1748-1784) were:

            Desire b 1767 m Peleg Peckham

            John b 1768 m Mary A Watson      

            Thomas b 1770 m Sally MNU

            Wheeler b 1772 m S.T. Peckham

            Rufus b 1774 m Mercy Stanton

            Bridget b 1775  m Josiah Watson

            Mercy b 1776 likely m Ezra Lester

            George b 1783 m Susannah Watson

Josiah Watson (1762-1844), son of Stephen Watson and Abigail Arnold of RI, seems to have first married Mary Beach (one son, Arnold Beach Watson b 1798) and after her death, married Bridget Watson with whom he had several children.

Published genealogy compilations for the Gardiner Family and George C Davis’ John Watson family had Josiah married to Mercy, but I believe they mixed her up with Mary Beach. The Robinson book also lists Mercy’s death as 1826 AFTER which time it states that Josiah married Bridget. That is false in that Rev Samuel Fuller recorded the marriage of Josiah and Bridget in 1803. 

The publication of Rev Samuel Fuller's records  is very difficult to find but was cited in a 2008 message board post that got me started trying to untangle the Watson confusion ... it reported from page 147:

 

1803 Jan 7, Married Josiah Watson to Bridget Watson (sister of
Wheeler & Rufus W.) both of Rensselaerville.

This aligns with the Otsego County NY biography of Arnold Beach Watson which stated that his mother, Mary Beach, died a few years after his birth and his father soon remarried.

Bridget was again mentioned as a sister to Wheeler, Rufus and Desire (wife of Peleg Peckham) in Rev Fuller's records as reported in the same message board post:

Death recorded on page 73:
1807 - Nov 22, Rufus Peckham, son of Peleg Peckham, aged
16, (lived near Ezra Lester, Mrs. Peckham & Mrs. Lester were
sisters. Their brothers were Rufus & Wheeler Watson. Bridget, 2nd
wife of Josiah Watson, was their sister.

So, it seems that another Watson sister was in Rensselaerville and married to Ezra Lester. If I have identifed all the children of John and Desire, Mrs Lester must have been their youngest daughter, Mercy, born in 1776.

I have found no documentation of Mercy’s marriage to Ezra, though I’ll continue to search for it. Nor have I found a death notice or burial reference.  To be continued ….