The Fay Family: Genealogies: John Fay (1777 - 1829)
   
THE FAY FAMILY PAGE

GENEALOGIES
   
John Fay (2/26/1777 - 5/1829)
And his Descendants
  
   
John of Marlborough

David (OPF #2)(4/23/1679 - 4/10/1738), son of John and Susannah Shattuck

John (OPF #6)(12/16/1710 - 5/22/1789), son of David and Sarah Larkin

Jonas (OPF #26)(3/30/1749 - 5/23/1826), son of John and Thankful Taylor

John (OPF page 231)(2/26/1777 - 5/1829), son of Jonas and Molly Amsden
Orlin lists no marriages or children for John son of Jonas and Molly Amsden; for John, born 10/18/1785, son of John and Lovinah Brigham, the cousin of John son of Jonas, Orlin lists marriages to Phebe Locke and to Betsey Clark, and seven children. What follows here is an examination and correction of these two entries in Orlin. John born 1777 married Phebe Locke; John born 1785 married Betsey Clark.
Detail from the southern part of VT and NH, Rand McNally, 1879
image copyright � 2004 by Cartography Associates
used with permission
   
Descendants of John Fay
(Fifth Generation)
Contributed by Pat Friese
   
The marriage of John Fay and Phebe Locke and the names of their seven children are recorded in Orlin, page 232:
   
.
   
The same information about John and Phebe is also contained in
Locke, John Goodwin, Book of the Lockes : a genealogical and historical record of
the descendants of William Locke, of Woburn...
; Cambridge: J. Monroe, 1853.
Phebe was a widow when she and John were married. Phebe's son John G. Whiting was raised with the Fay family.
   
.
   
When I was first researching the line of John Fay, born 10/18/1785, I wrote the following:
   
Orlin starts his reporting on this group on page 231, where he says that John, (4th generation), born 1756, "res[ided] Marlboro & Fitzwilliam, N.Y." On the next page, under daughter Lydia, Orlin says, "Fitzwilliam, rem. to Sullivan, N.Y." This SHOULD be "Fitzwilliam, N.H." and "Sullivan, N.H." The short biography on page 285 gives the correct state: "His first two children were born in Marlboro, from which place he went to Fitzwilliam, N.H., where the rest of his children were born and where he died aged 83 years." This would mean that he would be present in N.H. for the first census in 1790, and would be found there through the census of 1830. And this is exactly what we find; in 1830, he has moved in with his son Benjamin, and it is Benjamin who is "head of house."
   
Orlin's data for John (5th generation), born 1785, is both incomplete and inaccurate. While John was indeed married to Betsey Clark and Phebe Locke, he married Phebe FIRST, then later Betsey. The approximate date for his marriage to Phebe is 1810; the date of his marriage to Betsey is established indirectly by the birth of their first child Eliza in 1823. We do not yet know the place of John's marriage to Betsey, or the birth place of their daughter Eliza. [This is the part that had to be revised as I worked through the material; what is in this paragraph is still wrong]

Phebe Locke was a widow. She had been married before in 1808 to John Whiting. John died in 1809, leaving Phebe with an infant son, John G. Whiting, born March 27, 1809. John G. appears in an 1850 census with his second wife Crissana, his 19 year old daughter Harriet by his first wife, and children Lucy F. 6, Phebe A. 4, and Mary A. 2.

All of the children mentioned by Orlin are children of John and Phebe. John and Betsey had two children who are not mentioned by Orlin, namely, Eliza and, in 1830, William Clark Fay, born in Harvard.
   
This now turns out to be partly correct and partly incorrect. This John, born 1785, the son of John and Lovinah Brigham, WAS married to Betsey Clark and did have two children, Eliza and William. However, this is NOT the John who married Phebe. In working with this, I did not have the dates of birth for the children of John and Phebe; I did have dates for John and Betsey. Betsey's daughter Eliza was born in 1823, her son William in 1830. In theory, there would have been enough time for Phebe to bear seven children and then die, and for John to have married a second time. However, John and Phebe's son Lucius was actually born in 1823, a fact I learned later. This makes the earlier assumption impossible, and it makes it clear that Orlin has mixed up two families.
   
This being said, what evidence is there as to the ancestry of the John who married Phebe? We know that John and Phebe lived in Rockingham, VT; and we know that John or his family came from Mason, NH. Orlin has John and Phebe RESIDING in Mason, but they actually lived in Rockingham; the Locke genealogy has it right: John came from Mason, and married Phebe in Rockingham, where she was living. John was also living there by that time, as evidenced both by the census and by the records of Rockingham. In the records of Rockingham, John's first two marriages and his first child are recorded also.
   
From a compilation, by Peck, of Rockingham Records to 1845.
p. 32 Samuel Whiting m. Mary Goldsbury May 24, 1774; John G. Whiting born August 3, 1785.
p. 95 May 26, 1805, John Fay married Abigail Lovell of Rockingham at Rockingham.
p. 104 April 13, 1807 Religious Record: * John Fay, Oliver Mears
p. 115 Almira Fay, daughter of John Fay and Hannah, b. 12 October 1802 at Chester; Mary Augusta b. 11 March 1812; Albert Locke b. 1813 (Daughter and son of John Fay and Phebe Fay)
p. 114 April 3, 1808 John G. Whiting and Phebe Locke of Rockingham married by Abraham Byington, J.P.
p. 124 January 14, 1811,, John Fay and Phebe Whiting married by David Campbell, J.P.
p. 143 April 15, 1815, Josiah Fay family (Orlin, page 71) warned out of town*
p. 150 April 15, 1815, Josiah C., son of Josiah and Nancy Fay born.
p. 9 NOTE: The inhospitable custom of warning out of town..... was in conformity with state law..... intended to prevent newcomers from obtaining a settlement and becoming charges upon the town. [Good for determining the date a family arrived in town; also listed the names of all the children]
   
   
What we need, therefore, is a John Fay who came from Mason, NH, was living in Rockingham from about 1800 on, and was of an age to have married for the first time about 1801; if he married at 21, that would put his birth around 1780. We don't have to look far to find him, and finding him, we have a good explanation of Orlin's confusion. The John who married Phebe was the son of Jonas, who "res. Mason, N.H." He had a son John mentioned by Orlin:
   
It seems clear that this is the John Fay who married Phebe Locke Whiting. He was a first cousin of the John who married Betsey Clark; both families resided in New Hampshire, although in different towns; and both moved and married, John son of Jonas to Rockingham; and John son of John to Harvard, MA.
   
The descendants of John and Betsey Clark are followed on William Clark Fay's page.
   
   
Children of John and Hannah Phebe Locke Whiting
based on Orlin with additions and comments:
   
6.1   Mary Augusta Fay, b. 3/11/1812, d. 1834.
Mentioned by Orlin and Locke, confirmed by Rockingham records.
   
6.2   Albert, b...m. Miss Diamon, Springfield, Vt.
Albert's birth in 1813 is confirmed by the Rockingham records. He married Orilla Damon (the more usual spelling), daughter of Simeon Damon, probably about 1838. Orilla was born in 1815. Albert is recorded in the census of 1840. There he is shown with a woman of 20-30 (Orilla, born in 1815, would be 25), and a daughter under five (Mary A. was born about 1839; she is 11 in 1850 and 21 in 1860). In addition, there are two older males with Albert, one 15-20, and one 20-30 (one of the men 20-30 is Albert, of course). It seems likely that Albert's two younger brothers, Lucius and Norman, stayed with him after John died in 1829. Norman would be 19 or 20; Lucius about 17.

By 1850, Albert is gone. Orilla is living with Gates Perry, and Mary A. has gone to live with her grandfather Simeon. By 1860, both Orilla and Mary A. are with Simeon.
   
6.3   Lucia, b...m. Mr. Irvin Pepperel of Vt.
It wouldn't surprise me if Orlin copied information from the same source as the author of the Locke book; but in this case, the Locke book is more accurate in writing "Irvin, of Pepperell" VT. I have not been able to find other evidence, but this seems good. A daughter, Lucia, was born of this marriage about 1835. After the death of Irvin, Lucia married again, this time a William Greenwood from England. She eventually moved to Illinois to join the rest of her family. There is an interesting letter written by her to Lucius shortly after her arrival.
   
6.4   Phebe, b...m. William Tuttle of Westminster, Vt.
Phebe L[ocke] Fay was married on September 7, 1835 in Rockingham, VT, to William Frederick Tuthill [also spelled Tuttle]. He was born 9/7/1811 in Westminster, VT. After Phebe's death on February 4, 1838, William married Clarissa Emeline Crumb. Phebe and William had no children.
   
6.5   Harriet, b...d. 1848, m. Norman Norris of Chester, Vt.
According to a list of marriages from Chester, Harriet married Norman MORRIS as recorded by the Locke genealogist; Orlin is mistaken. Harriet died April 7, 1847, age 27, according to the records in the Saxton's River cemetery. Norman Morris is found in the census of 1850. He has a wife Sarah, who is 31, and a son, Norman A. Morris, who is 6. If Harriet died in 1848, Norman A. has to be HER son, not Sarah's.
   
6.6   Norman, b...m. Bellows of W., Vt. [Orlin; but see below]
Norman, born 9/22/1821, went to Knox County, Illinois, in 1850. By 1855, he had bought and sold land and bought again. He married Susan O. Chapman in Knox County on 12/15/1853. Their son Oscar Locke was born 10/25/1855, and their daughter Sarah Jane in March 1857. There was a third baby who probably died in infancy. Norman is present in census records in Illinois for every census from 1860 through 1910 (age 88). Sarah Jane seems to have died unmarried.
Oscar Locke, born 10/25/1855, married Nellie B. Main on 3/18/1891. They seem to have had no children.
   
6.7   Lucius, b...a carriage maker.
Lucius came to Illinois with his brother Norman. Both had lost their first wives and infant children shortly before. Norman's wife and two sons are buried in Saxton's river, as is his sister Harriet Morris.

Lucius Fay married Emeline H. Cone on February 28, 1855, in Cambridge, Henry County. She was born on September 16, 1833, in Saxtons River, Windham County, as were Norman and Lucius. Emeline came with her parents to Illinois after 1850. She was a poet and was enrolled in Lombard College, but her father Theodore Cone died of Cholera and she had to cancel her plans. Of their children, Frank remained unmarried and lived on the homestead. He was a successful inventor and a violin maker. Mary died of consumption at about 18. George was a "horse doctor" and lived in Woodhull, Illinois, three miles from the farm. Ida and her husband Charlie Bell ran the farm and raised, along with their three sons, the three daughters of her brother Charles after the early death of their mother Lillian Keesler. Charles A Fay was married a second time in 1910 to May Shafer.
   
Lucius' obituary is below.
   
   
   
Descendants of John Fay
(Fifth Generation)
Contributed by Pat Friese
   
+(1)Hannah  m: Bef. 1802	  d: Bef. 1805
.....	6  Almira Fay  b: 10/12/1802

+(2)Abigail Lovell m: 5/26/1805 d: before 1811

+(3)Phebe Locke b: about 1787 m: 1/14/1811
.....	6  Mary Augusta Fay  b: 3/11/1812  d: 1834
.....	6  Albert Locke Fay  b: 1813
.........  +Orilla Damon b: 12/31/1815 
............	7  Mary A. Fay b:  1839
.....	6  Lucia A. Fay b: 1816
.........  +(1)unknown Irwin
............	7  Lucia b: 1835
................  +Fredrick Watts b: 1829
.........  +(2)William Greenwood b: 1813
............	7  William H. Greenwood b: 1854
............	7  Paul F. Greenwood b: 1857
.....	6  Phebe Fay  b: about 1814 d: 2/4/1838
.........  +William Frederick Tuthill [Tuttle] b: 9/7/1811
.....	6  Harriet Fay  b: about 1820  d: 4/7/1847
.........  +Norman Morris
............	7  Norman A. Morris b: 1844	
.....	6  Norman Fay  b: 9/22/1821
.........  +(1)Sarah Jane Bellows  b: about 1824  d: 3/12/1849
............	7  Lucius Fay  b: 1847  d: 8/16/1848
............	7  Adelo Fay  b: 1849  d: 9/6/1849
.........  +(2)Susan O. Chapman  m: 12/15/1853  b: 11/29/1831
............	7  Norman Fay , Jr. b: 9/20/1854 d: 2/6/1855
............	7  Oscar Locke Fay  b: 10/25/1855 d: 9/13/1913
................  +Nellie B. Main  m: 3/18/1891
............	7  Sarah Jane Fay  b: 3/15/1857 d: 4/25/1929
.....	6  Lucius Fay  b: 10/5/1823  d: 1/5/1900
.........  +(1)Sarah A. Thompson  d: 1852
.........  +(2)Emeline H. Cone  m: 2/28/1855  b: 9/16/1833
............	7  Frank T. Fay  b: 10/1856
............	7  Mary A. Fay  b: 1861  d: about 1879
............	7  George W. Fay  b: 1/1863
................  +May E. Callaghan  b: 11/1865  m: 10/25/1887
....................	8  Harry E. Fay  b: 1888
....................	8  Harvy Leslie Fay  b: 10/1889
....................	8  Mable E. Fay  b: 9/1891
....................	8  Everett D. Fay  b: 7/1/1896
..........................  +Helen  b: 1895
.............................	9  Robert Fay  b: 1926
............	7  Ida Fay  b: 1866
................  +Charlie Bell  m: 1892	b: 1866
....................	8  Nile D. Bell  b: 1899
....................	8  Lewis F. Bell  b: 1904
....................	8  Fay C. Bell  b: 1906
............	7  Charles A. Fay  b: 6/1869
................  +(1)Lillian Keesler  m: about 1891  b: 6/1871
....................	8  Ruth Fay  b: 2/1892
....................	8  Edna Fay  b: 3/1893
....................	8  Belle Fay  b: 12/1894
................  +(2)May Shafer  m: 1910
....................	8  Verna Fay  b: about 1911
.............................	9  Pat Friese
....................	8  Donald Fay  b: about 1904
....................	8  Norman Fay  b: about 1906

   
February 2004
   
   
Obituary of Lucius Fay
Lucius Fay was born near Saxton's River Village in the town of Rockingham, county of Windham, state of Vermont, Oct 5th, 1823, and was married in early life to Sarah A. Thompson who, with an infant daughter, died in 1852. He came to Knox County, Ill., in Dec 1853 and was married to Emeline Cone on Feb. 28 1855, in Cambridge, Ill., and on April 16, 1957 settled on the place where he died Jan. 5, 1900. He was the son of John and Phebe (Locke) Fay, 5 sisters and 2 brothers having preceded him to the world beyond. His wife and one brother, Norman Fay of Oneida, survive him. One daughter of the last marriage died in 1835 and one daughter and three sons with eight grandchildren are left to mourn his loss. One little grandson has also preceded him to the great beyond.

Funeral services were conducted at the late residence three miles east of Woodhull on Sunday, Jan. 7, 1900, at 2 o'clock p.m. in the presence of a large concourse of friends and relatives. Interment took place at the Woodhull cemetery, Rev. Grant Stroh, pastor of the Presbyterian church officiating.
[The little grandson who preceded Lucius to the great beyond was Seth, son of Charles and Lillian Fay. He died at the age of 2 after falling from his high chair. His mother, Lillian, died shortly afterward.]