William Fairbanks

Notes:

William Fairbanks served in the Revolutionary War in 1777 as a Private in Capt. Samuel Weber's Company.

William & Priscilla and their family moved from RI to Montgomery Co., NY in the early 1800s (info from Arlene Fairbanks Dutton at Rootsweb).

I assume that William was from the Fairbanks family on Prudence Island. The 1760 Town Tax listed Benjamin & Nathaniel Fairbanks, one of whom may have been the father of William. According to a family tree at Rootsweb's Worldconnect, William was a son of Benjamin & Rebecca Fairbanks, and Nathaniel was a brother of Benjamin, thus William's uncle; they were both sons of Jeremiah Fairbanks. This needs more research to confirm.

The publication "The Fairbanks Family in America" by Lorenzo Sayles Fairbanks (Boston: 1897) says that William was possibly a grandson of Jeremiah Fairbanks of Bristol, RI. (this source at Old Colony Historical Society in Taunton, MA)

Prudence Island was raided by British troops several times in 1775 and 1776. The families and their livestock were evacuated to Warwick or Bristol. Most of the houses and other structures were burned; few of the families returned.

William married Priscilla Remington 5 Sep 1766, Portsmouth, RI. Priscilla was born 23 Apr 1741, Newport Co., RI; died 14 Dec 1832, Perth, Fulton Co., NY. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

William & "Prescilla" were married by Thomas Sherman, Justice.

1. Mary Fairbanks was born 24 Oct 1767, Portsmouth, Newport Co., RI; died 1840, Fulton Co., NY.
2. Jeremiah Fairbanks was born 9 Dec 1769, RI; died 5 Mar 1811, Perth, Fulton Co., NY.
3. Remington Fairbanks was born 16 Apr 1773, Newport Co., RI; died , Friendship, Allegany Co., NY.
4. Ruth Fairbanks was born 10 May 1774, RI.
5. Sarah "Sally" Fairbanks was born 25 Apr 1776, RI; died Aft 1 Jun 1860, Brownville, Jefferson Co., NY.
6. Jonathan Fairbanks was born 22 May 1778, RI; died 7 Jun 1854, Perth, Fulton Co., NY.
7. Elizabeth Fairbanks was born 24 Feb 1781, RI; died 24 Dec 1784, RI.