Birth: about 1792, CT
Death: 28 May 1861
Burial: Ufford Corners Cemetery, Pitcher, Chenango Co, NY
Partner: Calvin Wheelock
Spouse: Richard Ambrose Wheelock
Marriage: 16 Sep 1961
Father: Jimmy Leonard Wheelock
Mother: Janie Pike
Birth: about 1778, probably Douglas, Worcester Co, MA
Death: after 1860
Father: Thomas McKnight
Mother: Abigail Gould
Spouse: Salem Wheelock
Marriage: estimated 1798
Notes:
Abigail was born circa 1778 in probably Douglas or Oxford, Worcester County, Massachusetts, the daughter of Thomas McKnight and Abigail Gould. Judging by the witnesses on land records, her family had close ties with the family of Edward Davis and Abigail Learned of Oxford, whose son, Jacob, was the principle founder of the towns of Calais and Montpelier, Vermont.[1]
Several of Abigail's siblings went to Calais and Montpelier. Her sister, Sarah, was in Calais by 23 Dec 1799, when she gave birth to her first child there.[2] Her brother Lemuel was in Montpelier by Mar 1795 when both he and Parley Davis (nephew of Jacob) were voted haywards.[3] Abigail's uncle, John Gould, also went to Montpelier. He is buried in the Gould Cemetery in East Montpelier. (Src: FindaGrave memorial 137001757).
The date of Abigails arrival in Vermont is uncertain, but must have been before 4 Apr 1799, when she gave birth to her first child there.[4] Whether she married Salem Wheelock before or after moving to Calais is uncertain.
She and Salem moved to Granville, Washington County, New York before 1820, when Salem is enumerated in the census there. They moved to Auburn probably before 1 July 1826, when an uncollected letter was awaiting Salem there at the post office.[5]
On 2 Dec 1831, Eleazer Hunter of Auburn sold property in Sennet, Cayuga County, New York to Abigail Wheelock and Elvira Wheelock, both of Sennet.[6] This same property later became subject to a land dispute in a 1955 legal case "Hutson v. Wheelock." See notes for Elvira Wheelock. [Src: Cayuga County, New York, Court File 7730, Edwin L. Hutson and Helen F. Hutson, Sennett, New York vs. Abigail Wheelock and Elvira Wheelock, land dispute, 23 Aug 1955, City Clerks Office, Auburn, New York.]
Abigail remained in Sennet until at least 1860, when she is enumerated in the census there living with her son, Salem D. Wheelock. On the census she is listed as eighty years old, born in Connecticut (see notes below). She is also enumerated in the 1860 census living with her daughter, Fanny (Wheelock) Burrows, in Verona, Oneida County, NY, age eighty-two, born in Massachusetts.
There is no record of Abigail beyond that date.
Parentage:
According to Waite, Abigail McKnight was the daughter of Thomas and Abigail. They were very likely Thomas McKnight and Abigail Gould who were married in Sutton, Worcester County, Massachusetts on 1 Mar 1764. At the time of his marriage, Thomas was a resident of Oxford, Worcester County. The couple lived in Oxford for awhile after their marriage. The births of three children were recorded there: Sarah, b. 22 May 1764, James, b. 11 Mar 1766, and John, b. 13 Mar 1768. Later the family lived in Douglas, where Thomases' father had owned land. The 1790 census indicates the family had more children than were recorded. They lived in Douglas with two males 16 and over (one of whom was Thomas), four males under 16, and four females (one of whom was Abigail).
Thomas McKnight and family had associations with the family of Edward Davis and Abigail Learned, whose son, Jacob Davis, was a founder of Calais and Montpelier, Vermont. Jacob also had close ties to the Wheelock family of Charlton.
Many of Thomas McKnight's children moved to Calais or Montpelier, including their daughter, Sarah (Abigail's sister) who married Jonathan Pray and moved to Calais. Lemuel McKnight was an early settler of Montpelier. Alvin, who according to a newspaper article was the younger brother of Lemuel, and whose death record identifies his father as Thomas McKnight, was also an early settler of Montpelier. Other likely children of Thomas and Abigail McKnight who ended up in Calais or Montpelier include Thomas, Jr. who died in Calais in in 1836, and Elijah McKnight, who died in Montpelier in 1864.
Though no direct documentary evidence has been found to prove Abigail, wife of Salem, was a member of this family, the evidence points strongly in that direction. (1) It matches the assertion by Waite that her parents were named Thomas and Abigail. (2) Her date of birth (about 1778) fits into the sequence of births for the family. (3) The ties between the McKnight family and the family of Jacob Davis (who founded Montpelier and Calais) are documented in the land records. (4) Many of her siblings went to the Calais/Montpelier area. (5) Her uncle, John Gould, went to Montpelier, and is buried there. Further research would likely yield many more relatives of Abigail (McKnight) Wheelock who settled in Montpelier/Calais.
Birth Date:
The census records conflict on the birth place of Abigail McKnight. The 1850 census says she was born in Vermont, the 1855 NY census says Massachusetts, and the 1860 census, where she is listed twice, says Connecticut and Massachusetts. Waite says she was the daughter of Thomas and Abigail McKnight of Montpelier, though no direct evidence has been found that Thomas and Abigail (Gould) McKnight ever lived in Montpelier. They might have, since many of their children and relatives were there.
Second Marriage?
Abigail (McKnight) Wheelock is sometimes confused with the wife of John Lansdown, who lived in Sennett in 1865. Her name was also Abby. But according to the 1865 NY state census, Abby Lansdown was 55 years old in 1865, and had only been married once. According to her gravestone, which approximately agrees with the census records, she died in 1866, aged 60, which would place her birthdate well after Abigail (McKnight) Wheelock had her first child.
Sources:
[1] Deeds witnessed by Edward Davis, father of Jacob: Worc deeds 72:53, 45:420; and by Jonathan Davis, Jacob's brother: Worc deeds 147:13.
[2] "Vermont State Vital Records, 1760-1954," at FamilySearch.org, birth of Thomas Pray in Calais, son of Sarah and Jonathan Pray.
[3] Daniel Pierce Thompson, History of the Town of Montpelier From the Time it was First Chartered in 1781 to the Year 1860 (Montpelier: E. F. Walton, 1860), p. 68.
[4] "Vermont State Vital Records, 1760-1954," at FamilySearch.org, birth of Lucy Wheelock in Calais, daughter of Abigail and Salem Wheelock.
[5] Cayuga Patriot (Auburn, NY), 12 July 1826, p. 3, col. 2, at GenealogyBank.com.
[6] Cayuga County, New York, Deeds, 59:196.
HOME INDEXSpouse: Mary M. Wheelock
Marriage: 3 Mar 1866, Chicopee, MA
Birth: 8 Apr 1828
Death: 22 Sep 1893
Burial: Green Mount Cemetery, Montpelier, VT
Spouse: Joseph Wilson Wheelock
Marriage: DATE UNKNOWN
Birth: 18 Sep 1824
Father: John Hancock Pray
Mother: Eleanor Allen Wheelock
Spouse: Donald Lawrence Ashline
Marriage: 25 Feb 1975, Fayette County, OH
Spouse: William Warren Wheelock
Marriage: 9 Apr 1906, Battle Creek, MI
Birth: 7 May 1834
Father: Moses Wetherbee
Mother: Mary Wheelock
Birth: 5 Oct 1852, NY
Death: 27 Sep 1919
Father: Charles Augustus Wheelock
Mother: Fanny Dodge
Spouse: William Wallace Blackwell
Marriage: 24 Dec 1881
Birth: 23 Aug 1904, Brighton, MA
Death: 9 May 1948, Wakefield, MA
Burial: Lakeside Cemetery, Wakefield, MA
Father: Merton Hayes Wheelock
Mother: Mattie Evalyn Marshall
Spouse: Earline Elizabeth Weigel
Marriage: Cleveland, OH
Notes:
Merton graduated from Boston University, Boston, MA. In 1948 he resided on 22 Sweetser St., Wakefield, MA. (Source: Andrew Hayes Wheelock, Sr., a descendant of Merton Hayes Wheelock, 1999.)
HOME INDEXBirth: 5 Oct 1775, Mendon, Worcester Co, MA
Father: Caleb Wheelock
Mother: Rachel Green
Spouse: Ephraim Wheelock
Marriage: 11 Nov 1790, Townshend, Windham Co, VT