Hi There, If I've got the right Alanson, he is not one of my direct ancestors, but his line of Sherwoods and mine are one and the same for the first three generations in America, then diverge. I know next to nothing about Alanson, other than where he fits in the Sherwood scheme of things. See if this jibes with what you know: Alanson was one of 13 kids born to John Sherwood and Rosanna MILLER: Cyrus, Alanson, John, Harriett, Lewis Halsey, Burnett, Burnham, Josephine Berilla, Parker, Lucina, Stephen L., Lucinda Maria, Frederick W. and Maria Angelina. Burnham lived in Union City, Erie Co, PA. Alanson's father John was b. 31 JAN 1780, Ridgefield, Fairfield Co, CT.; d. 28 FEB 1843, Union City, Erie Co., PA. John's wife Rosanna (dau. of Stephen MILLER and Jemima WINSTON) was b. 1785, d. 1871. They married 12 APR 1801. John was a son of John SHERWOOOD (b. 4 DEC 1749, Ridgefield, CT; d. 1790) and Ann ROCKWELL (b. 28 OCT 1752; d. 3 AUG 1813). They m. 17 APR 1776, 2nd Congregational Church at Ridgebury, CT. They later moved to Covert, Seneca Co, NY. (My Sherwoods are pretty closely related to yours at this point. My G4gdfather, Zadock Sherwood (1761-1859), was a cousin of John's. Zadock's father, Nathan, was a younger brother of your John's father, Daniel. And they all grew up in the same neighborhood - the Ridgebury section of Ridgefield, CT). John was a son of Daniel SHERWOOD (b. 21 NOV 1714; d. 17 MAY 1766, Ridgefield, CT) and Jerusha L. WHITNEY (b. 18 DEC 1714, Ridgefield, CT), dau. of Henry WHITNEY and Elizabeth OLMSTEAD. Daniel and Jerusha m. 29 APR 1736. Daniel was a son of Daniel, Sr. (b. 1686, Fairfield, CT; d. 28 AUG 1749) and Ruth BRADLEY (b. 1690; d. 11 DEC 1748, Ridgefield, CT), dau. of John BRADLEY and Hannah SHERWOOD (Ruth was Daniel's first cousin twice removed). Daniel was the 29th and last of the original proprietors of Ridgefield, and its first miller. He built a mill in Ridgefield in 1716, and the residents of Ridgefield and Daniel entered into a "Mill Covenant" at that time. The Covenant between the Sherwoods and Ridgefield remained in effect until 1779, a possible indication that these Sherwoods, like so many others in Ridgebury (probably including my own), were Loyalist. The William Lounsbury Sherwood papers in the New York Public Library go into more detail: "His will is dated 19 AUG 1749, and was offered for probate on 2 OCT 1749, at Danbury, CT. (the will is on p. 34, Vol. 1, Danbury Probate Records). He moved from Fairfield to Ridgefield c1716: The Mill Covenant of 30 JAN 1716/17 had him build a mill at the outlet of Mamanasco Lake (in his will he refers to it as "Mamphrenasque mill pond"), Ridgefield, CT. After the mill was built, he was appropriated a home lot immediately north of Benjamin Burt's. This completed the number of original 29 proprietors of the town." Daniel was a son of Isaac SHERWOOD (b. 1645, Fairfield, CT; d. after 1733) and Elizabeth JACKSON, dau. of John JACKSON and Elizabeth SMITH. Isaac was an itinerant carpenter who worked the shoreline between Fairfield, CT, and Rye, NY. From Jacobus' "History and Genealogy of The Families of Old Fairfield", Vol. 1, p. 552: Isaac received a grant of land from the town of Eastchester, NY, in 1676. In 1687 he bought land at Compo (now Westport), CT, where he was living in 1733. He was "of Rye", NY, in 1678. He conveyed to his son, Isaac, Jr., 21 AUG 1727, mentioning other sons, David and John, and reserving life use for himself and his wife, Elizabeth. Children: Elizabeth, Daniel, Isaac, John, David, Abigail. Isaac was given a house and land next to Stephen in Fairfield, 2 SEP 1676. Isaac was referred to as the son-in-law of John JACKSON in the town minutes of Eastchester, NY. Other sources: ("....Grennwich, Conn.", by Meade, 1911; "History of Fairfield" p. 408-09). Isaac was a son of Thomas SHERWOOD (b. 1585, England; d. 1655, Fairfield, CT) and second wife, Mary. Thomas and first wife, Alice, together with several of their children, emigrated to America in 1634. They embarked from Ipswich, England, on the "Francis", and landed at Massachusetts two months later. Thomas soon thereafter moved to Wethersfield, CT, and thence to Fairfield. He represented Fairfield in the Colonial Government at Hartford for a number of years. The English home and ancestry of Thomas are, so far, unknown. Kind Regards, Geoff Geoffrey Sherwood demidave@juno.com Towaco, NJ, USA On 18 Jul 2001 17:35:45 -0600 winslowrk@yahoo.com writes: > > My wife is a Sherwood descendant. Great Grandfather was Alanson > Sherwood. Lived in New York around 1810-at least that's what census > says. 1850's and 1860's census put him in Erie, Pennsylvania. > Looking for anyone else with Alanson in their family tree. ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.