Perhaps someone in the New York area, from New York City northward to Orange and Dutchess counties, can help me with this knotty problem. My chief source is Perrine, Howard Delano, "The Wright Family of Oyster Bay, L. I., 1423-1923," self-publ., New York, 1923. On page 162, Perrine cites a marriage date of 30 Nov 1778, but does not support it with any references. Jotham Wright entered the Continental Army as a Lieutenant in Nov 1779 and his wife, Elizabeth Dusenbury, delivered their first child 14 Dec 1779. Over the course of their marriage they had six children. All of them were dutifully baptized in the First Presbyterian Church of New York City, although the first child and the second one as well were the first baptisms for the family on the same day, 19 Dec 1784. I have collected their baptismal records from the LDS/FHL Microfilms # 1017608 and 1017609. It occurred to me that perhaps they had also been married there. However, when one goes into the marriage records of the First Presbyterian Church, around the presumed date of marriage, one finds an interesting historical note by the pastor, "N.B. - I quit the City on the approach of the British Army the 14th inst [Sep 1776]." Marriage records were not recorded again until May 1781. My questions are as follows: Where might this pastor have gone to for this hiatus? Did his congregation follow him? Was the congregation advised where they might seek a place to worship, be baptized and get married, etc., in relative safety? On the other hand, the couple probably did not live close enough to NYC at the time they were married to use the First Presbyterian, and used a church further north. Is it possible to construct a list of churches where the couple might have logically sought out a clergyman during this period? As additional background, Elizabeth Dusenbury is said by Perrine to have been from Peekskill. Jotham Wright was born in Rye, NY and when he became of age (21?) he settled at a place about 12 miles from Peekskill, near West Point. Any clues or ideas for locating this marriage record would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Richard, I can tell you only from my own experience with this sort of thing.....yours may turn out differently. My 4th great grandparents, Hannah and Samuel Brower, were staunch Patriots who had to flee New Amsterdam during the Rev War during the Brithish invasion. Along with many others, they and their children became refugees. They escaped to Fishkill, Dutchess County to stay with relatives. My 3rd great grandmother, Hester Brouwer, was born during this time. She was not baptized until two years later when the family was able to return to their home church downstate......Dutch Reformed. As for a marriage, the Northerners to my knowledge did not live in common law as did those who went West with the wagon trains later in the history of our country. The traveling preachers would marry a bunch of couples as he passed thru a town and perform baptisms in bunches too on children born to the common law couples. Maureen ----- Original Message ----- From: "Richard C. Randt" <rcrandt@comcast.net> To: <ROOTS@rootsweb.com>; <WRIGHT@rootsweb.com>; <NYWESTCH@rootsweb.com>; <NYORANGE@rootsweb.com>; <NYNEWYOR@rootsweb.com>; <NY-SOUTHERN@rootsweb.com>; <NY-HUDSONRV@rootsweb.com>; <NEWYORK@rootsweb.com>; <NY-LONGISLAND@rootsweb.com>; <GEN-NYS@rootsweb.com>; <NYC-ROOTS@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 6:05 PM Subject: [NYWESTCH] Seeking a Marriage Record for Jotham Wright & Elizabeth Dusenbury, ca. 30 Nov 1778 > Perhaps someone in the New York area, from New York City northward to > Orange and Dutchess counties, can help me with this knotty problem. > > My chief source is Perrine, Howard Delano, "The Wright Family of Oyster > Bay, L. I., 1423-1923," self-publ., New York, 1923. On page 162, > Perrine cites a marriage date of 30 Nov 1778, but does not support it > with any references. Jotham Wright entered the Continental Army as a > Lieutenant in Nov 1779 and his wife, Elizabeth Dusenbury, delivered > their first child 14 Dec 1779. Over the course of their marriage they > had six children. All of them were dutifully baptized in the First > Presbyterian Church of New York City, although the first child and the > second one as well were the first baptisms for the family on the same > day, 19 Dec 1784. I have collected their baptismal records from the > LDS/FHL Microfilms # 1017608 and 1017609. It occurred to me that > perhaps they had also been married there. However, when one goes into > the marriage records of the First Presbyterian Church, around the > presumed date of marriage, one finds an interesting historical note by > the pastor, "N.B. - I quit the City on the approach of the British Army > the 14th inst [Sep 1776]." Marriage records were not recorded again > until May 1781. > > My questions are as follows: > > Where might this pastor have gone to for this hiatus? Did his > congregation follow him? Was the congregation advised where they might > seek a place to worship, be baptized and get married, etc., in relative > safety? On the other hand, the couple probably did not live close > enough to NYC at the time they were married to use the First > Presbyterian, and used a church further north. Is it possible to > construct a list of churches where the couple might have logically > sought out a clergyman during this period? > > As additional background, Elizabeth Dusenbury is said by Perrine to have > been from Peekskill. Jotham Wright was born in Rye, NY and when he > became of age (21?) he settled at a place about 12 miles from Peekskill, > near West Point. > > Any clues or ideas for locating this marriage record would be greatly > appreciated. > *************************************** > Have you checked out the Westchester County GenWeb site yet? > http://www.rootsweb.com/~nywestch/ > *************************************** > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > NYWESTCH-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message