Mar 29 2022

FOUND: Another Old Genealogy of John Pettit (1608) Hand Written by Elnora Pettit (1808-1886), Daughter of Dr. James Pettit (1777-1849) and Lucy Felt (1777-1859)

By Brandon

Contents hide

1 Preface by Pettit Research Project

2 Family Reminiscence by Elnora Pettit c 1864

3 “First draft of my family reminiscence” by Elnora Pettit (b1808)

Preface by Pettit Research Project

What follows is a transcribed account of some of the John Pettit (1608-1662) family history as written by Elnora Pettit DELVIN (1808-1886) who was the daughter of Dr. James Pettit and Lucy Felt. This history appears to have been written for Elnora’s granddaughter, a daughter of Lucy Delvin BAILY. It was compiled from personal experience, recollections of stories passed down, as well as from ancient letters and records in the possession of her sister, Harriet Pettit, which stretched back into the late 1700s. Elnora’s account starts by retelling an 1825 record taken down by her brother William Pettit from his interview of their grandfather, Captain Johnathan Pettit (1753-1835). Elnora began this family history project in 1864 and concluded it on July 20, 1878. The primary focus of her writing was her mother, Lucy Felt Pettit, who she affectionately called “Golden Hair”. However, a good number of other family members and other figures are discussed.

Excerpt from Elnora Pettit letter summarizing the 1825 account of the Pettit genealogy given by Captain Jonathan Pettit.

Following her self-described conclusion in July of 1878, in November of that same year, her sister Harriet died, and Elnora inherited the family records which had been in her sister’s possession. She described these records as “voluminous”. It would seem she also came to possess 38 letters written between her brother William Harrison Pettit and his wife Hannah BARLOW. William worked as a clerk in Washington DC in the war years from 1863 up until the time of his accidental death in 1865. The sum of all these records eventually found their way into the hands of one Mr. Paul Durrie. Mr. Durrie’s wife, Marion Lucille Waldron, was the daughter of Edward Moorhouse and Lucy Orinda Pettit. Lucy Orinda Pettit was William Harrison Pettit’s daughter and a niece to the author of this account.

Elnora Pettit and William Harrison Pettit’s father, Dr. James Pettit is known for inventing the Pettit Eye Salve later sold by the Howard Brothers, as well as his family’s involvement in the underground railroad prior to Lincoln’s War. Many of his children were involved in the abolition movement. Perhaps the most prominent was Eber M. Pettit whose memoirs were published in Sketches in the History of the Underground Railroad in 1879. (A full PDF version of this book is available for download in the Documents section of this website.)

This branch of Pettits was well educated and careful to preserve their lineage to the 1600s. Aside from the account which is the subject of this article, there are at least two other accounts, both of which are senior to this one. These early accounts traced their lineage to the Pettits of Sharon, CT and a John Pettit born around 1608. It is said that the Pettits came to New Rochelle, NY from France at the time of the revocation of the Edit of Nantes which doesn’t easily square with the historical timeline presented. Nevertheless, this tradition is firmly cemented in the written and oral history of this Pettit clan and should not be dismissed without considering the root of the legend .

From other records, Elnora Pettit’s lineage appears to be as follows:

Elnora Pettit (1808-1886)
Dr. James Pettit (1777-1849) + Lucy Felt (1777-1859)
Captain Jonathan Pettit (1752-1835) +Agnes Riddell (1752-1833)
John Pettit (1720-1754) + Hannah Dunham (1721-1805)
Jonathan Pettit (1693-1772) +Hannah Holly (1694-1739)
John Pettit (1668-1715) +Mary Bates (1671-1702)
John Pettit (1638-1676) +Sarah Scofield (1645-)
John Pettit (1608-1662) +Debrow (-1654)

Dr. James Pettit and his wife Lucy Felt (“Golden Hair”) had the following children:

Samantha Pettit (1798-1871)
Sophronia Pettit (1800-1855)
Dr. Eber Moffat Pettit (1802-1885)
James Jacob Pettit (1804-1877)
Lucy Maria Pettit (1806-1812)
Elnora M. Pettit (1808-1886)
Harriet Pettit (1810-1878)
Samuel Felt Pettit (1812-1812)
William Harrison Pettit (1813-1865)
Charles Pettit (1815-1868)
Melancton Smith Pettit (1818-1878)
Lucy Marie Pettit (1821-1821)

With the background given above, the family history produced by Elnora Pettit can be understood in its original context. The account is full of details which can easily be verified and other private information which simply cannot. Be that as it may, the reader is advised to weigh this source carefully and respectfully. The transcription has been produced as near to the original form as possible with minimal comments, edits, or corrections.

The pages that focus on the history of the Sharon. CT, descendants of John Pettit (1608-1662) will be presented below. They represent just the 6 pages that focus on the Pettit family out of the entire 18-page document. The full transcription will be included in another article which will be published soon.

Family Reminiscence by Elnora Pettit c 1864

Transcribed by B. W. Pettit at Pettit Research, March 29, 2022

Note: Researchers may freely copy this transcription but are asked to please cite the source similar to what is exemplified below.

Sample Citation: Pettit, B.W., “FOUND: Another Old Genealogy of John Pettit (1608) Hand Written by Elnora Pettit (1808-1886), Daughter of Dr. James Pettit (1777-1849) and Lucy Felt (1777-1859)”, The Pettit Research Project, March 29, 2022. https://pettitresearch.com/familyhistory/2022/03/29/found-another-old-genealogy-of-john-pettit-1608-hand-written-by-elnora-pettit-1808-1886-daughter-of-dr-james-pettit-1777-1849-and-lucy-felt-1777-1859/

[Written on the front and back of old ledger pages with two columns per page. Pages 12-17 transcribed below. They are numbered page 6-9 in the original. The complete transcription and paper including the source will be published in a separate article.]

“First draft of my family reminiscence” by Elnora Pettit (b1808)

Page 1, Column 1

March 12 1864 I began to write out
the following notes. the few scanty
incidents my memory still retained
of my mother’s history in a series
of letters to my little granddaughter
afterwards at one time when I
was in Utica I thought to copy
them but as some of the letters
had been mislaid I could
only get a few of the first
and then, thinking the record
worth preserving in the family
I copy these here, and continue
the history as I remember it
from my mother’s lips at
different intervals and circum-
stances called it out
[pencilled in by different hand] M Delvin Elnora b Mar 12-1808 d 1886 Sister Wm H Dunkirk
written to Lucy Delvin Baily’s daughter
[original writing] Dunkirk March, 12 64
My Dear little Sunbeam
This you
see is my birthday, it is like
wise your grandmother Baily’s
sister Disney’s birthday.
Ninety nine years ago today
the child was introduced into the household, into the affections
of the family, who lived just
eighty years. That seems long
a very long time to you my dear,
you may ask why I write
these things to you, I answer
that since the day of her death
the day I was forty years
old, she has been associated
in my mind with the day,
she being just forty years older
than myself, I asked your
mother some time since
why you did not write me,
and if you would do so

Page 1, Column 2

I would give you an incident of the
revolution. And here it is, as I had
it from one who now sleeps —
In the bright month of June 1777
the bells of the plain old wooden
in the town of Somers Con
rang cheerily calling together,
on that still sabbath morning
a little band of the descendants
of the puritans, Mr Backus[1] the
reverend pastor and as always
the case in those days, was a
father of his flock. venerable
in appearance, affectionate and
mild in demeanour. The women
and children who comprised the
congregation, with the exception
of a few aged men, for all the
middle aged, and youth had
gone to the war, were surprized
by the entrance, during divine
service, of a tall powerfully built
man, dressed in the uniform of
the American party, in the
war of the revolution. He
venerably doffed his military
cap as he entered the sanctuary
walked up the aisle, as one familiar
with the people, and seated himself
by the side of a woman whose
countenance betakened fi****
and decision of character , a true
woman, such as the times
A little boy XXXXX
about three years of age nestled
close to her side, while other
children ranging from that age
up to others in their teens, made
room for the stranger. The
dark eyed woman’s husband

Page 2, Column 1

had been gone to the war many
She had borne with
patience and fortitude, the burdens
of the household, attending to the
farming interests, manufactured
from wool and flax, without the
aide of machinery, all the
garments worn by the family,
as well as all the bed and table
linens, cared for the aged parents
of her husband, whose years
numbered four score.
She had passed through mothers
X a little fair, brown
eyed, golden haired baby of
three months old, she left in the
cradle, in the care of an elder
sister, while she went to worship
God in his sanctuary.
Perchance this stranger could
tell her something of her
husband, she could not sit
meekly till the close of the
services, she turns a look
of inquiring, when Lo! she
discovers that this seeming
stranger is her husband
under that disguise of a military
uniform, that captain’s hat
and continental coat
is it strange that she did not
recognize him? During his
months of absence, he had been
promoted, and the transformation
of the stalwart famer in his
suit of homespun, to an officer
in the army of his country
was so perfect; no wonder the
devoted wife did no at once
recognize him, her husband
those loving children, their father

Page 2, Column 2

after the benediction, what hearty
welcomes did the veteran soldier
receive from his kinsfolk and
townspeople, from the silver
haired God fearing aged man
and woman, to the blushing
maiden who gives her hand,
hoping to get tidings of an absent
father, brother, perchance lover/
April 24, 1867
My Darline Sunbeam I
have delayed answering your affectionate
letters, longer than I intended, Have just
read over your last, and see that it is
dated nearly a month ago. You did
not say, how you liked my little
incident of the revolution, whether
you were interested in the little golden
haired baby or not, but I tale it
for granted that you were, and
will proceed to give a little more of
her history, for I came to know her
very intimately- Though I know but
little of the first seventeen years of
her life. Her father was a farmer
both before and after the eight years
war, in which he took a vert
active part during the entire period
as well as the two previous wars,
one call by the people the old
French War, the other the old Indian
war, though perhaps I have reversed
the order. There was a very large
family, and little golden hair, as
she grew up was instructed by
her mother in all domestic duties
and assisted in her labours, attending
the district school winters, thus
acquiring the rudiments of education
for in that day, all advantages for
the acquirement of knowledge, was

Page 3, Column 1

extremely limited. As I said before,
there was a very large family, and the
taxes after the war very high, In
consequence, her father sold his farm [pencilled in not in margin] * In the year 1794
on the banks of the Connecticut river, and
came into the state of New York, which
at that period, was almost an unbroken
forest, west of the city and county of
Albany, He located himself on the
fertile banks of the Chenango River in
Madison County, (at that period
however names were not given
to counties of town, but they were
numbered, well it Is not necessary
to my story to tell how, even if I
knew) His farm extended along its
banks a mile in length and of suitable
width which farm is still in the
possession of his descendants, Before
moving the family on, the father and
oldest brother, came and cleared a
small patch of land, built a large
double substantial log house, and
raised a crop of corn and potates
for the substinance of the family, when
they should arrive the ensuing winter
and till another crop could be raised
In due time they bade adieu to home
and its associations, to a large circle of
relatives and kind neighbors, to the old house
that had sheltered two or three generations
of the family (built substantially after the
fashion of the time, a hall running through
the center, and spare rooms, two
each side) where sons and daughters
had been born, where the aged parents
had been carried out, and buried beside
other pioneers of that fair valley;
together with the infant and the middle
aged, Thus they set forth, with only
a few household utensils, and

Page 3, Column 2

comforts for the warm months, in a
sleigh drawn by a pair of oxen
on a journey which occupied three weeks,
(In these days of railroads the
same journey could almost be
accomplished in as many hours)
through almost unbroken forests.
Utica was a small settlement with
one little red store and a very
few log houses, at that time
Between that place, and their from
in the Chenango, there was no
roads, but they picked their
way along by blazed trees,
The streams had not been
bridged, and a recent thaw
and consequent freshet made
them all the more difficult
to ford. When they were within
about five miles of their new
home, they came to a small new
log house and stopped to enquire
the way and where and how they
could cross the Chenango only a
husband and wife lived there
pioneers like themselves. The
wife was very pretty and in
delicate health and the sympathies
of both golden hair and her
mother were excited for her
after resting there a short time
making mutual and friendly inquiries
they proceeded on their journey the
last five miles of that long tedious
Just one week afterward, the
husband of this same delicate woman
came to ask goldenhair to go home
with him to nurse his wife, who
in giving birth to a dead infant,
was herself nearing the dark
valley, Golden hair turned to

Page 4, Column 1

her mother for instructions how to act
who declined to decide for her, After
deliberating in her own mind, remembering
that pale woman’s looks her sympathy
for her away from home of her
childhood and friend, she told the stranger she would go, The mother gave
her words of approbation that she was
obeying in act, the precepts of the
golden rule.
April 12, 1868
Thanks my child for the crows send
in momma’s letter, a delicate offering
on the altar of filial affection
your letter of the thirteenth of March
brought some very pleasing scraps
of your pleasure of mind, as well as
some very painful intelligence
you mention your mother so lovingly
little Downie’s improving health,
news from papa in Rome, and
a kind little message from Jimmie
with many other things all pleasant
to remember. The decease of your
two little cousins was a very sad
Did you ever think my
child whit if it had happened in
your own family? What if the
agent of death had called home
two of your mama’s little ones?
How could she have borne it?
How would your papa have
felt to have returned and found
two empty chairs as the table
two little heads from their pillows
two bright eager faces shut
from his sight forever? oh no!
think of it darling——–
I think golden hair was just starting
with the stranger to nurse his
wife, She was actuated by

Page 4, Column 2

the true womanly instincts of her nature
left to do so by XX her kind mother
Golden hair shrank not, tho her path lay
through the solemn leafless woods. The
spring perfect being at its height
she knew the unbridged streams would
have to be forded, yet she hesitated
In after years she remarked that
she sometimes wondered how she
dared start out with an entire stran-
ger, but her confidence was not
misplaced, and she never regretted
the act, she said likewise that
notwithstanding the privations and toil
and waitings of pioneer life, she
never enjoyed herself as well at
any period of her life, the
settlers were all so kind to each
other, and ready to help in every
emergency They were obligated to
trust and depend on each other
They were a brotherhood
as before mentioned, the home
of this man was five miles distant
driving at the stream of water
She sat down on a fallen tree
and drew off her shoes and stock
ings waded through and on
the opposite bank drew them in again
She was absent from her home only
a week during that brief space
she had stood by a death bed
she and the husband only witnessing
the last gasp, the final adieu
A new grave was made in the
wilderness ^far from the scenes of
Jan 12 1869
My Darling Sunbeam I promised in
my last to continue the history of Goldenhair
I think it had been brought down to the time
of their arrival at this new home in the

Page 5, Column 1

wilderness in the rich valley of Chenango
It is so long since my last letter was written
I may be guilty of repetition and I may make
mention of something I may have omitted
in previous letters In either case you will
excuse me my little Sunbeam. Have I mentioned that the previous years her father
and brother had made a little clearing and
build a large double log house The floors
of which were split from solid tree
with axe and butt, doors likewise and
rude shelves and dressers and a table
settle also, stools and benches, against
the time of need, The doors were hung
on wooden hinges, wooden latches with
a string, as in the days of Red Riding
IN the centre of the house to accom
odate both rooms there was constructed
a huge chimney of stone that would
stand fire, laid up and cemented with
a mortar which they knew hot to
improvise as do all pioneers, topped out
with both[?] like sticks and covered one
with the same mortar to secure the
tenement against fire, One can
hardly imagine the sensation the first
sight of that new home erected in the
breasts of that weary travel worn family.
Three long weeks that had journeyed, through
snow and rain and mud, covering
streams of water that had never been
The mother worn by much
toil, and great hardship dragged
slowly along by the patient oxen,
the younger ones nestling close to her
the elder carrying the monotony
of each ^now passing day by a brisk walk as
when the snow became soft and
the laden sleigh ploughed the
ground pciked their way on
foot through slopes and mud

Page 5, Column 2

What we may mainly try to conceive were
their impressions as for the first time
crossed that threshold methinks I see the
elder brother, who had a little family of his
own, hurry on ahead, open the door and
hasten to light a fire, by means of his
tender box, (for matches had not then
been invented) and faggots and wood care-
fully in the store for this very time of need
and by the time parent, wife, children,
brothers, and sisters fifteen in all
arrived, a roaring fire was lighting
up the rough log tenement, imparting
warmth and cheerfulness. The settle
which careful hands and loving harts
had constructed , was drawn into the
corners, stools and benches occupying
places continuous to the fire ready to
accommodate the expectant family. The
younger embers of the family group
might have been eager to explore
the new tenement, the elder ones, more
mature in their feelings, waited on the
mother now so broken in health, by
the hardships of a life amidst wars and
revolutions arranging for her
comfort unpacking and brining in
the few things they had brought along
on their ox sled, on a journey more
real hardships and provisions than a
trip around the United States in
across the continent, would be more
a new life now begins, a new history
to be inscribed on there rough
unhewed walls. And now a repast
is improvised, potatoes raised in the
little clearing by the labour of father and
brothers the summer before, was brought
from the cellar, a jonny cake made
and baked after the primitive fashion

Page 6, Column 1

was soon smoking on the table
furnished by those same loving hands
primitive as were all the preparations
course and rough the surroundings – a
hearty thanks giving went up to the ***
Father from bowed heads and grateful
hearts who and sustained them to this
journey’s end. A blessing was ****
and that first meal in the wilderness
was eaten with joy and gratitude.
Indian corn like the potatoes, the
growth of a previous year, was
stored away in the chambers, and
notwithstanding ^the mill was by their
crooked paths forty miles distant
at Utica and they were obliged
to carry their grain on horse-back
by **** trees yet this family
never went hungry and when the
weather was bad and paths impassable
they hulled this wheat and corn
after the Indian method
The homestead was seated near to a
singing brooklet, that sparkled along through
the garden plot and down yard ***
the very canes and wound gaily along till
lost in the waters of the Chenango
The veteran soldier, with his fine stalwart
sons, now gone battle to the ground and
forest trees. Disturbing the haunts of
the beast of prey that made night hideous
with their howlings scaring the younger
children with their screams so like a
human voice in distress, sot that by said
times their clearing was considerably
enlarged – In this work of producing a new
home n a new country, there was no
time for homesickness, their hands were
too constantly employed, to be any room
for regrets for home and friends left
in the smiling valley of the Connecticut

Page 6, Column 2

The change however was not favourable to the
health of the mother, She was one pleasant day
walking with golden hair through the cleared
fields now nodding with the springing corn about
which they were talking, when she remarked that
she should not live to see it harvested, About
this time, the father was obliged to take a journey
back to the old homeplace, to settle up his business
and receive payment on the old farm which
would take about six weeks to accomplish in
those slow days of horseback travel.
The mother was as comfortable as she had
been since their removal, so that he felt
no misgivings about leaving home, but he
had not been absent only a few days when
she was attacked with apoplexy, and died
in the third fit. Poor golden hair! Their
nearest neighbor were four miles distant
and so she had to help lay out her
own mother, A beautiful spot in the
bend of the river was selected under
the leafy branches of the grand old trees
and there they made the first grave
They bore her there, the mother, whose
life of hardships had, as we look at things
XXX shortened her days, which numbered only
forty eight years. What a home to return
to, surely that death in the wilderness
must have strengthened the bonds of
family affection. Golden hair with her
heart surely stricken had now to assume
the responsibilities of housekeeper of
Mother to the younger ones, How they
all yearned for the return of the father
widowed during his absence, But the
news had reached him before he got
home . Ah, did he not miss her, whom
in her careless girlhood he had won
from others, her who in all the trails
of their united lives had proved herself
worthy of his love—

Page 7, Column 1

It was now that the real hardships of life
began with goldenhair the grief for the
mother’s loss, the labours required at her
hands to keep in order the household
the manufacture from the raw material
of flax and wool, for the necessary
garments of such a numerous
family, with only the assistance of
two young sisters, of the ages of
thirteen and ten, were burdens which
she bore faithfully and without a murmur.
She was small, with small hands
and feet but a head and brain
rounded and even in its ************
indicative of her native force
of character and practical good
common sense. She sprang from
a plain, honest, brake loyal stock, of
Welch origin, that were clanish enough
to keep pure the Welch blood. She
was of the fifth generation of Landy
long lived people. Her great great
grandfather with two brothers made
a settlement at casco bay not many
years after landing at Plymouth
He was killed in his own house
while defending his house from an
attack of the Indians. His son golden hairs
great grandfather was also killed
by the Indians in battle, some
of the family had naturally made
their way down the coast towards
the first settlements and her own
grandfather either by purchase or
inheritance, I do not know which
owned a third of the then town
of Lynn. He was born in the
year 1698 in consequence it must
have been early in the next
century that he immigrated

Page 7, Column 2

to the town of Sommers in Connecticut
The journey at that early date was so
long and perilous, that people bade
their friends a solemn adieu never
expecting to see them again. In his
case it proved true, and he never
returned to dispose of his lands
and for many years quit claim
deeds were given of these lands
if not still. He lived to see ninety
90 years. Boston became an important
city and Lynn likewise. From after
his death, his heirs which were
not many numerous got together
to take measures to recover the
property [Here appears three asterisks which corresponds to this note written in the margin] They hired a man to go on and investigate, but before he got through he died and they thought it was a sign that God did not approve the plans and [end of note] they being very
conscientious made up their minds
that it would not be just, the
property had increased so much
in value and it had been so
long since their ancestor had
left it at such loose[?] ends
War in his day was a part of the
business of every man. He was made
Captain in the war with the French
or Indians, and that was his title as
long as he lived, as was that of golden
hair’s father. We cannot bring our
minds to appreciate the difference
between this time and that, Then
all journeys were undertaken on
horse-back ^Nor can we appreciate the
spirit of enterprise of our ancestors
that enabled them to push their way
through the unknown forests among
many savage beats, and more savage
It was a long tedious weary
some journey at that time from
Boston to the Connecticut river
and when the grandfathers drew
**** in front of an Inn, There

Page 8, Column 1

stood in the door was a young girl, [note in blue ink]Name McKlbre They had left off the Mc[end note] and
under the excitement of seeing a stranger
with golden locks, clad in yellow
brown homespun as was the tule
invariably at that period, and riding
a sorel mare, she turned to her
mother and said yellow man
yellow mare, yellow coat and
yellow hair, she afterwards became
his wife, and the mother of his
three children one son, golden
hair’s father, and two daughters
one of them married a Mr. Griswold
and settled at Warehouser Point, the
other a Mr. Colton and I think settled
at Enfield and it was through her
that the slight relationship
exists between goldenhair and
Roots whose maiden name
was Elizabeth Ke***. The wife having
died many years before her husband
and he married the second wife
a high tempered woman of Scotch
lineage, a widow I think with
children by the first husband but
none by the second, Golden hairs
father lived in the same house
with his father ^ by whom it was built who, I have heard
her say was one who communed
daily with his God, who possessed
great evenness of mind, the
aged couple cooked their own
meals and sat at their own table
until the death of the wife, which
occurred not many years previous
to that of the grandfather, which
happened in 1788 he being
in his ninety first year.
Golden hair was one of thirteen children
one of whom died in infancy
The elder of the family was

Page 8, Column 2

accidentally shot in the thigh while out
hunting wild turkeys with a friend the
friend mistaking him for his game
through the bushes. He was obliged to
have it amputated the mother attend
ing by him and holding volatile salts
to his nose. During the operation
poor mother, the leg healed but he
died in three months of consumption
The amputated leg was put into a box
to be buried but was too small
and it had to be crowded in. After
a few hours he began to complain
of pain in that limb, and it became
so bad that, the box was exhumed
and the leg turned over, some person
being curious to know if there was
anything in it, and time p**** ****
to satisfy them. The sick man himself
not knowing anything of what was
going on, when the leg was turned
over, that very instant he exclaimed
“now it feels better: Golden hair’s
solution of the question was that
“sensation was not cut off with
the leg and I thin it is as good
a one as can be given. That brother’s
name was Elijah. The next eldest
brother Jehiel, was apprenticed to a
blacksmith in Hartford, he was
sixteen years old when the war
of the revolution broke out, being
not of suitable age to enlist where
he was from, he ran away
and enlisted at Hartford and was
all through the war and in the war
of 1812 he distinguished himself
was wounded at the battle of
Trenton and received captain’s
pension as long as he lived.
was one of the earliest settlers

Page 9, Column 1

of the city of Rochester, died at
that place in the fall of 1843 and was buried
with military honors and occupied
the first grave ^made in Mount Hope
cemetery in that city
There is an incident connected with the
early line of the parents, worthy of record.
The mother whose maiden name was
Mahettable Buell, was engaged to be
married to a young man of the place
This young man being acquainted with
the father invited him to call with
him in his ladie-love, when as
is not unusual now, he soon
instituted a suit for himself and
was successful of course these
young men were sworn enemies
after that. They were both in NY
at the time our troops were
obliged to execute in such
mad haste I n the Revolutionary
The father was a tall frame
man, built for strength, the other
weighed three hundred pounds
As they were each running their
own way, the father overtook the
man whom he had so cruelly
***** in the long *** being
exhausted on the ground The
father and looked at him, when
the man said “leave me to die
take care of yourself.” He passed
on a few steps, when a sense
if the wrong he had done him
made him pause and return
to the exhausted man whom
he lifted to his shoulder, and
ran thus three miles, for which
act of humanity the old fued
was forgotten. The old friendship
renewed, which was not again broken

Page 9, Column 2

Notwithstanding, the untimely loss of her
mother, and the consequent increase
of cares and responsibilities, Goldenhair
after remarked in after years, that
Those spent in the early settlement
were among the most pleasant of
her life, It would have been otherwise
had she been unfaithful to her
trusts, of course she met with
perplexities each day, as what
women living does not who has
the management of a household
but she only remembered that
which had given her enjoyment
The many people of the settlement
would after meet a her father’s
house of an evening, which they
XXX spent in amusements
of their own improvising, Often
the parties would dance to
her music which in those
days was quite famous, she
had a voice which in those
times would have been a ****
to her, She stood in the door
one day and sand a song which
was heard distinctly three quarters
of a mile and the song and singer
recognized by persons at that
distance, At onetime she walked
four miles to return a visit of a
neighbor, During the afternoon the
mother and her daughter enter
tained her with neigh hood
gossip showing up in the
light of her mischievous disposition
When she went about getting tell
she says now Lucy what do
you think of our neighbors
she answered without stopping
to think that when she

Page 10, Column 1

people talk about their neighbors
she though they would talk
about her as soon as her
back was turned. Her face
tingled after she had thus
reprimanded the woman for
she was young, nevertheless
it was true, goldenhair’s figure
was small but well developed.
She was not beautiful only so far
as beauty of character goes,
though she had a fresh and
very smooth fair complexion
golden locks and oft brown eyes
and she attracted many a suiter
none of whom met her views
of came up to the standard
of her ideal until at a large
party or wedding, she noticed
a strange young genetlman
she noticed that he was very
riveting in his manner
and of his name when she
came to hear it she made a
great deal of fun, finally as
wine was served she out of pure
mischief went to him and drank
his ***** the beginning of an
acquaintance which grew in interest
in all their future years.

Page 10, Column 2

[Note this poem appears on loose paper in different writing attached to second column of this page]

And parted thus, they rest, who played
Beneath the same green tree,
Whose voices mingled, as they prayed
Around one parent knee.
They that with smiles lit up the hall,
And cheered with song the nearth
Alas! for love, if thou wer’t all,
And nought beyond, Oh; death!

Page 11, Column 1

“In the year 1695 Lewis fourteenth of France
Revoked the edict of Nantez granted by Henry
fourth for the toleration of the protestant
While their worship was supressed
their churches demolished, and their minis-
ters banished, the protestant layety were
forbidden under the most rigorous penalties
to quit the kingdom. France however by
this measure, lost above 500,000 of the
most industrious and useful subjects,
and the name of Lewis fourteenth is
execrated to this day” Among the [Note #1: This quotation appears to be copied from a book titled Elements of General History: Ancient and Modern by By Lord Alexander Fraser Tytler Woodhouselee and published in 1831]
many who found a welcome in the new
world, were three young men, Hugonuts
who being pursued, escaped in a small
boat in the harbor of Rochelle, and em-
barked in a vessel which lay at anchor
in the bay. When but a little way from
the shore, they saw the baffled troops
of their royal murderers, it is not for
a certainty known where they landed
at all events it is ^a certainty that they selec-
ted a place for a home, and named it
New Rochelle, after their home in France
Which still bears that name. It is situated
on the coast of Long Island Sound not far
distant from NY City. The year is
not known in which they made their
escape nor whether they were brothers one
two, or three, Pettitt was the name of one at
least and from him is descended all of
that name, now very numerous.
In my possession is a record given by
my grandfather Johnathan Pettit, taken from
his lips by my brother William, about
the year 1825, of which the above is a
copy also that his ancestry were farmers,
persons of information, and respectability [sic]
men of influence and nominated and
second in public offices of the places in
which they lived also that his great

Page 11, Column 2

grandfather’s name was John and it
is probable that he was the refugee
as the revocation occurred in 1695.
His grandfather’s name was Jonathan
Born 1703, died aged 90 in 1773
In the gazettes of the state of Connecticut
it is mentioned that Johnathan Pettit was
one of the first settlers of the town of
Sharron, which is ^in the north west
corner of that state, He was the grand
father mentioned of our grandfathers of
the same name. His father’s name
was John named after the Hugono
ancestor, and his mother’s name was
Hannah Dunham, daughter of
Samuel Dunham also one of the first
settlers of Sharon, and of Welsh origin
John Pettit died young leaving a family
of six children. Four sons and two
daughters after the death of his father
Born July 25, 1752 only 69 years after the revocation
our grandfather ^ Johnathan Pettit was
apprenticed, bound to learn the trade
of a tanner and shoemaker, the two
trades being one in those early days
at the age of seventeen. I have heard
him say often that he never went to
school but one day and a half
in that early day it did not in this
new world, require a capitol to set
one’s self up in the trades. A man
possessed of that was the artist of his
own fortunes. So when our grand
father came to his majority he
settled himself, sunk his vats
and prepared himself to commit
into leather the skins of animals
killed for the sustenance of the new
settlers, in the wild of saratoga.
here he set up housekeeping hired
a scotch woman to do the work
boarded his journeyman and apprentice

Page 12, Column 1

boys this was in the year 1773
meantime among the many who were
attracted to the now celebrated town of
Saratoga was a man named ^George Riddel
from Freehold Monmouth Co N Jersey
pure scotch Irish of the genuine John
Knox type of Presbyterians of keen
quick intellect. A weaver by trade
and occupation. emigrated to America
from country uncertain[?] his native
place at the age of twenty years
his wife Margaret Melegan was
brought to America when a child
of eight years by her uncle
David Rae and bound to a Dutch
family name forgotten by whom
she was brought up in the habits
of industry, economy and thrift
peculiar to that nation of people.
The family consisted of four daughters
and one son ^born November 2, 1755 the oldest to whom
our grandfather Johnathan Pettit
married ^in 1775 after an acquaintance of
six weeks. Polly or Mary who
married twice, first husbands name
Dunham probably a cousin of our
ancestor the second Daniels Margaret
married a very pious man an
Irishman tailor by trade who after
many years of respectability proved
to be a thief and in his shame
ran away leaving a large family
He never was heard from
but his children were all very
respectable people and highly intellect-
ual if James Finn is an exception
on account of his infidelity
made one by the investigations
of doctrines of the Calvinistic
creed as I have heard him
[last line under fold of page]

Page 12, Column 2

Elizabeth married an Irishman a tailor
named Laverty also very pious but was
subject to sprees when he abused his
wife as drunken brutes are apt to do
between times he was a thorough goin[?]
Methodist the son David by name
also married and raised a very respectable
family After the marriage of our grandfather
to Agnes Riddel in 1774 they lived in
Saratoga until two years previous to the
commencement of the revolutionary war
they remained in Saratoga until after
the town of Schenectady was burned
by Tories and Indians as was not uncommon
in those times of trial. “brother was against
brother the father against the daughters. As
there were strong partisan feelings in both
families but great grandfather Riddle being
a born subject of the British Crown continued[?]
loyal to that party also a part of the
Pettit family were what was called Tories
grandfather and his brother James and one
sister were of the Revolutionary party
The brother Dunham Pettit was one of the number
of whom General Washington said he hoped
they would go to Ne**** but they went
go by the way of *** **** [Nova Scotia?] and this same
Dunham Pettit was father of John Pettit the
Democratic member of Congress from
Indiana, Seemingly inheriting the strong
Democratic principles of his tory father
one of the sisters was married to a tory
named Bissell also emigrated after the
war to Canada. This Bissel was put
into jail at Saratoga for some offense
of his party. and the morning of the
day in which he was to be tried
it was discovered that he had escaped and
our great grandmother Pettit’s blanket
made into a rope

Page 13, Column 1

The notorious Jones, who sent for
his sweet heart and betrothed
Jeannie McCrea[?] by in****
and by whom she was murdered
was a cousin on the mother’s side
Jones is a Welch name and he held
a commission in the royal army, but
his name is only mentioned in con-
nection with a deed of honor.
The brother James Pettit died during
the war, and his great grandparents always
spoke of him with much affection
He was engaged to Margaret Riddel
the same who married the thief Finn.
After the burning of the town Schenee
ltady our grandparents moved to Albany
for greater security. They both took a
very active part in the stirring times and
grandfather was made captain of the
city guards and held office till the
close of the war was an intimate
personal friend of General Schuler
and at one time being at fort Schuler
at Utica he experienced religion and
after in the account of his religious
experience would maintain many
circumstances connected with the times
He was baptised also grandmother in
the Hudson River at Albany and ***
from the first Baptist church in that city
grandmother being the first woman
baptised by immersion at that place
The ceremony was performed by elder
Jacon Statton an English Baptist When
grandfather was coming up out of the
baptismal waters, an old Dutch
gentleman was heard to exclaim
friend Pettit is right, for just as I
read it in my old Duitch Bible

Page 13, Column 2

In the statement before mentioned
We learn that our grandfather and Peter
*** Yates a lawyer set up the first
^Latin Grammar school in the city of Albany
and ^was taught by George Merchant
our father James Pettit was born in
the city of Albany April 13 1777
at the age of seven years he was sent
to NYork to attend a grammar school
and was at that school taught by
Elder Holmes[?] the elements of latin
also writing the peculiar hand we all
so well know, At the age of eight
years he attended the latin school at
Albany and made great proficiency
Our grandfather we would infer
possessed an enterprising business
capacity for remembering as I do
the many conversations and
reminiscence held between my
grandparents of journeys to NYork
of frequent occurrence and he owned
in company with another man a
sloop which they named after their
wives Mary Agnes. Besides this
regular business, he engaged in the
lumber trade and at one time have
invested largely in the construction
of an immense raft and had it
^*** as he thought anchored in NYork harbor. There
occurred a terrible gale in the
night, the raft brock up and was
carried out to sea and as grand
mother always remarked he was
two proud to remain in Albany
a poor man. A circumstance
she never forgave him for and
when our father was ten years
of age he moved into the wilder
ness in the town of Mayfield

Page 14, Column 1

with a family of small children
There he built a church, established
a school was always very active and
engaged heart in hand the
promotion of any improvements for
the general good. By reference to
dates in my possession they
must have lived in Mayfield
six or seven years when the spirit
of unrest or a desire to improve
his fortunes he again moved
into a new community with a
family this time consisting of
children from twenty years
down to infants in arms
There also he built up churches
helped form them into associations
Preached in layman however
and was justice of the peace for
thirteen consecutive years.
There on the banks of the Chenango
River it was that golden-hair
Met in a spirit of mischief
drank the health of a **** young
stranger to whom she was married
after great opposition bashful every
member of her family. She was
their housekeeper and they meant
to keep her in that capacity as the
mother had gone to her rest.
Another reason for their opposition
Was the superior cultivation
and intellectual attainment of the
family into which she would
be introduced. So after serving
three as housekeeper and
maid of all work, she went out
from a house where she had
received the blessings of that
large household perfectly

Page 14, Column 2

empty handed. She was not allowed a
scrap of the scores of linen she had manufac
tured with her own hands. She went
with her young husband at her marriage
5 day of November 1797 to his father’s
home were scenes new and strange
were opened up to her craving heart
she had early determined to marry a man
if she ever should to whom she could look
up, her superior in advantages of education
There she found her ideal her quick sense
Taught her how in the home of her young
husband opportunities appeared and she was glad
to improve and educate herself up to his
Standards she had said she would never
mary a man of whom she would be ash
ashamed and she determined to so improve
that he should not be ashamed of her
it was something new to her to
see the large dining table left standing
in the middle of the floor, candles lighted
and set around while the member of
the household each with his favourite
book drew up to enjoy in his own way
the evening hour after there would be discussions
in different subjects the favourite ones being
politics and religion the doctrines and creeds
also the histories of nations their political
and religions poetry also Shakespeare and
all the old poets were their common
reading our great grandparents were educated
far beyond their times as also their children
both their faces and manners indicated
their moral and intellectual standing.
our grandmother was naturally beyond
the littleness of ignorant ***** women
of her time. she enjoyed the society of
cultivated men. she enjoyed arguing
with ministers and politicians and
she was a match for any of them.

Page 15, Column 1

After a few weeks in the home of
her husband golden hair felt that it
would be better to go to house
Her husband was teaching
the school in the neighborhood
and would be at home nights.
But where could they find a
house, a room even. The aged
grandmother Pettit was living with
her son and grandfather besides
there were children of every age
from eighteen down to the baby, a
daughter who was the child of their
old age. Grandfather still carried on
the business of tanning leather. So
goldenhair asked the one of the
Curry shop for the winter to set up
her housekeeping, and they took
their little belongings, a bed with an
improvised[?] bedstead, a little chest, which
was her own, her mothers gift and
had been brought from Connecticut
which for the time being, served as
a table. not a chair, not a stool
only as her husband made it, a few
dishes where brought, and three golden
spun flax to make her linen and
their own clothing sitting on that
same little chest which still is
in existence in sister Harriet’s
Lumber chamber, and there in due
course of time her eldest child
was born. Her father gave her
a cow in the spring, and her
husband made trays of bass
wood to set the milk in, which
tray she always kept. But they
did not long live in the easy state
nor did their homemade furniture
long consist of a chest and a bed,

Page 15, Column 2

Grandfather Pettit gave his son eight
acres of land, and there grew a log home, and
the husband taught the schools in winter
and could make shoes if he had any to
make as he with all the sons were learned
the trade of their fathers. It was after the
birth of their second daughter that
the young husband caught a cold which
laid him up for a year, and it was feared
that he would die of consumption but
after regaining somewhat of health
again, he found that his constitution
was imperial unfitted him for labour
and then it happened that he studied
the profession of medicine, with Dr.
Greenby[?] of Hamilton village, moved
his little family there, built a neat
little house, and golden hair, boarded
General King and others, their supporting
them while her husband studied. He
after would get discouraged, and so
she intimated herself in his studies
and became as versed and as thoroughly
as he did, and then by her very force
of character he obtained his diploma
and was even a very successful pract-
It was a struggle for the first
few years. But after a time he settled
in the town of Fabius in Onondago Co
Grandfather went there with a baptist
minister to organize a new church and
form an association of churches. The
place was new and no one[?] in many
miles, and he then and there made
arrangements for our father to move
Brother James was an infant in
arms at that time. He prospered in
every way there, bought land built a
nice home, and it was the place where
as one see things, he should have lived
and died

Page 16, Column 1

In the course of time several merges[?]
were made, and also it fell to their lot
to have the care of our grandparents in
their old age, fourteen years. They
sleep in the cemetery in Cazenovia
side by side. They having died within
two months of each other, grandfather
aged eighty one, grandmother 78
After those happenings my parents moved
to Fredonia Chautauqua Co in 1835
Grandfather died May 24, 1849
aged 72 years
Our mother the golden hair of my
story died 1859 Feb 16, aged 81
years 11 months 13 days
And now in this 20 day of July 1878
I bring my narrative to a close began
eleven years ago. It was commissioned[?]
as stated in the beginning, but as I
proceeded I felt more and more inter-
ist in the work until I here brought
it down to the decease of our parents
It is not without a just degree of
pride of ancestry that I have jotted
down some of the most prominent
features of the lines of my forefathers,
Still I cannot give full appreciation
of the general characteristics of our
mother, her strong good common sense,
her warm****, her dignity
her truthfulness, her virtue, her
Neither of the courteousness
the gentlemanliness of my father, his
intellect, his highly cultivated mind
his sense of justice and prosperity
His benevolence of heart, which made
him one of the earliest abolitionists, who
bore the stigma of the party, also his
religion without hypocracy[?], Let me
sum it all up, a true man, and of
my mother, a true woman

Page 16, Column 2

[blank]
[blank]
November 19, 1878,
After the decease of my sister Harriet
which occurred the 13 September 1878, and
who came to that old home with our
parents, and who helped to make it the
pleasant place it was, the duty of look
ing over the papers, letters & of the family
the date of some extending back to the year
1783, has ****** on me, Voluminous
as it was, I have opened with very few
exceptions every letter or paper, many
of which I read through looked all over
so as to know their contents, and what
most forcibly impressed me was the
strong religious vein of pure and
uncorrupted religion that pervaded
every one without exception,
irrespective of the subject in
hand, also the high sense of
honor, honor between man and
man, in all business relations
also the respectful manners each
addressed the other, especially
between husband and wife,
also between children and
parents, and the strong affection
and duty of parents to their
children

Notes

[1] Rev, Charles Backus

[2] This quotation appears to be copied from a book titled Elements of General History: Ancient and Modern by By Lord Alexander Fraser Tytler Woodhouselee and published in 1831.

NOTE: This transcription is imperfect and will be revised and corrected as time permits. All revisions will be tracked in a change log at the bottom of the page. If you would like to comment on something, want clarification on something or would like to try to decipher a missing word, please leave a comment below.

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