Leroy A. Relph

Notes:

In 1870 this child is L. N. Ralph, a female age 15.

Some information on Leroy and Catherine was obtained from the Macon County, IL message board at ancestry.com, posting of text of obituaries 15 Oct 2012 by "kelticgal_1".

Leroy married Catherine Dowling 1881, Decatur, IL. Catherine was born 5 Jul 1856, Bethany, IL; died 30 May 1932. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

In the Federal Census of 1850, the family is living in Holyoke, Hampden Co., MA. Nathan is a carpenter.

The family name is sometimes spelled Ralph.

Nathan married Margaret Matilda Battey 26 Jun 1843, Coventry, Kent Co., RI. Margaret (daughter of James Battey and Maplet REMINGTON) was born 27 Dec 1817, RI; died 5 Jan 1887, Tuscola, Douglas Co., IL. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Her name in the family Bible is Matilda.

In the Federal Census of 1860, Margaret and her five children are living in Champaign, IL. Margaret is age 43, a seamstress.

In 1870 she is M. M. Ralph, age 53 RI, living in Tuscola, Douglas Co., IL. With her is L. N. Ralph age 15 (female?).

In the Federal Census of 1880, Margaret M. Relph is age 64 RI, widowed, still living in Tuscola, Douglas Co., IL. The census says her parents were born in RI/MA. she is living with Charles & Minnie Boarmarter (sp?) and their infant son John.

Notes:

The death record in West Greenwich says he died 18 April 1853, at 80 yrs, 2 mos., and 25 days (the family Bible says 15 days). His occupation is given as "farmer." The Pine Grove Cemetery is western-most one of the two across from the Knotty Oak Baptist Church.

James married Maplet REMINGTON 27 Aug 1814, RI. Maplet (daughter of Jonathan REMINGTON and Phebe UNKNOWN) was born 2 Mar 1782, RI or MA; died 20 Dec 1861, West Greenwich, RI; was buried , Pine Grove Cemetery, Washington St., Coventry, RI. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

The RI Cemetery Database gives the name of Charles's wife as Marcy Remington. Probably this was a transcription error. Maplet Battey's grave is in the Pine Grove Cemetery in Coventry, but the gravestone is missing. The West Greenwich death record says she died 20 Dec 1861 at 79 yrs., 9 mos., and 18 days. It identifies her birthplace as Warwick, but does not name her parents. However, the 1850 WG census gives her birthplace as Massachusetts.

In the 1860 Census at West Greenwich, Maplet was age 78, living with Charles and Ann Battey, her son and daughter-in-law.

Nicholas married Margaret Congdon 10 Dec 1769, Cranston, RI. Margaret (daughter of Benjamin Congdon and Barbara Williams) was born 25 Feb 1745/46, Cranston, RI; died 24 Mar 1830, Cranston, RI; was buried , Pine Grove Cemetery, Coventry, RI. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

They were married by William Burton, Justice.

Notes:

(If you use any portion of these notes, please give credit to me, Lois Sorensen, Remington researcher, and to other sources as noted herein.)

Jonathan served during the American Revolution from 1777 to 1779 as a Sergeant in Captain Thomas Carlisle's and Captain Garzia's companies, and in Colonel Robert Elliott's artillery regiment. The Revolutionary War Pension file for Jonathan Remington can be viewed at the National Archives and Records Administration (microfilm #W7559). His widow, Sarah (Rhodes) (Potter) (Remington) Greene, was age 86 in 1850 when application for the pension was made. Because Jonathan had died many years previously, in 1808, she told what she knew about Jonathan's Revolutionary War service. A statement was also made by Sarah's brother, William Nehemiah Rhodes, in which he said that Jonathan had served in the artillery with his brother John Remington.

These statements were attested to by Seth Burke, who was "well acquainted with John and Jonathan formerly of Warwick. They were brothers, and neighbors to me." Reportedly, John was a Lieutenant and Jonathan a Sergeant. Jonathan's military service was also attested to by Mary Aborn of Pawtuxet, age 82 at the time of the pension hearing in 1850. Born around 1767/68, she would have been approximately age 9 in 1776. She stated that John and Jonathan (probably stationed at Pawtuxet, Warwick, RI) "were in the habit of visiting at the house of my grandmother where I used to often see them, and they used to talk to me. I was a child of 9 or 10. My grandmother and husband was their uncle." (She was probably Mary/Marcy/Mercy Rhodes, d/o Malachi Rhodes & Waite Fenner. This makes sense, because her grandmother would have been Mercy Fenner, who married Stephen Remington as her second husband.)

Note:
Remington, Jonathan, private, Col. Elliott's regiment, 1776; pay due L 39 8 11 (Arnold's "Vital Record of RI" Vol. 12, Revolutionary Rolls & Newspapers, p. 240; also "Colwell's Spirit of '76")

Sometime before 1780 Jonathan relocated to Berkshire County, MA. Town histories give evidence that he also served in the military there.

See "History of the Town of Cheshire, Berkshire County, Mass.," by Raynor & Petitclerc, Clark W. Bryan & Co, 1885:
An abstract of the pay due to the company under Captain Daniel Brown, in Colonel Benj. Simond's regiment on the alarm at Berkshire on the 13th of October 1780 . . . Hezekiah Pierce, Levi Green, Daniel Wood, George Shearman, John Tibbits, Jonathan Remington . . . (etc.)

See also "Knurow Collection," Vol. 38, p. 120, 128, 129, 130, 132, 133, 134:
Jonathan Remington - 6th Regiment in Division & 3rd in Brigade
Jonathan Remington - 2nd Regiment in Division & 2nd in Brigade

Jonathan Remington is in the 1790 census at Adams, MA: 2 free white males 16+, 1 free white male <16, and 7 free white females. I suspect his brother John and family may have been living with them, and they aren't listed separately in this census.
Since the 1790 Census at Hancock, MA, lists another Jonathan Remington (possibly s/o Jonathan & Lorana), it may be that some of the above military records for Berkshire County, MA, could refer to him. However, the names listed for Col. Simond's regiment are names known to be of the community established by Rhode Islanders at Cheshire. It is also known that Jonathan and his brother John came to the Adams/Cheshire area and established families. John stayed in this area, but Jonathan relocated to Lansingburgh/Troy, NY around 1796, after his first wife died.

He was known in Adams and Cheshire as Colonel Jonathan Remington, and is referred to as such in the town records. He is also named as Jonathan Remington, Esq. Jonathan was owner of a tavern and store located on the southwest corner of the crossroads at the summit of the hill in Cheshire; this also may have included a hotel. At various times he served as the Town Moderator (chosen 1 Apr 1793), Justice of the Peace, Representative to the General Court at Boston, and sealer of brick molds. He is listed as a charter member of the Franklin Lodge of Masons. The names of "Jonathan and Phebe Rementon" appear in the early membership records of the First Baptist Church in Cheshire.

On 7 Aug 1792, Jonathan Remington Esq. was appointed one of a committee of nine to meet at Col. Remington's on the first Monday of September. On 5 Nov 1792, Col. Remington was nominated to issue a warrant to call the town together.

In 1793, subscribers to incorporating Cheshire as a town included Jonathan Remington (18s pd) and John Remington (4s pd).

Jonathan is mentioned in the book "The Life and Times of Samuel Gorton," by Adelos Gorton, p. 191. It states his birth date and that he married (unknown wife); settled in Berkshire Cty., MA; served in the Rev. War; and frequently represented the district of Cheshire in the Legislature previous to 1793.

While in Lansingburgh, Col. Jonathan Remington was a subscriber to "The Gleaner" by Judith Sargent Murray.

Note from Lois Remington Smith dated 9/2004: "Land Records of Adams, MA" Bks #1 thru #10, deeds signed in:
Jonathan and Phoebe Remington 1788
Thomas and Sarah Remington 1789
Jonathan and Phoebe Remington 1793
Jonathan and Mercy Remington 1797
"I found these somewhere in the past years and made a brief note of them. It may have been in 'The Berkshire Quarterly.' Thought you might be interested if you don't already have them."

For a history of Lansingburgh, NY, see the following: http://history.rays-place.com/ny/ren-lansingburgh.htm

An "inventory of visible effects late the property of Col. Jonathan Remington deceased appraised by us the subscribers appointed by the Honourable Town Council of the Town of Providence -- July 14th 1808" -- total $357.15; Administrator of the estate was William Blodget Jr. (docmuents are viewable at ancestry.com).

Jonathan married Phebe UNKNOWN Abt 1780. Phebe was born Abt 1758; died 8 Jun 1795, Cheshire, MA; was buried , Stafford's Hill, Cheshire, MA. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

The names of "Jonathan and Phebe Rementon" appear in the early membership records of the First Baptist Church in Cheshire.

Gravestone inscription from the old burying ground, Cheshire, MA:
Sacred to the memory of Mrs. Phebe Remington, wife of Col. Jonathan Remington, who departed this life June 8th, 1795, in the 37th year of her age. (source: Berkshire Book, by its Historical and Scientific Society, Vol. 1, Part 2, p. 88 at The Athenaeum, Pittsfield, MA)

I was unsuccessful in my one attempt to locate the little cemetery where Phebe is buried. However, according to Eileen Nuttall, spokesperson for the Cheshire Historical Commission, and herself a descendant of one of the early settlers, a survey of the cemetery in 1913 recorded the gravestone as still standing and still legible: "Mrs. Phebe Remington, wife of Col. Jonathan, d. 8 June 1795, age 36."

The early vital records were destroyed in a fire, so if there were marriage and death records for my ancestors there, they no longer exist. All I have is the record in the old family Bible, which lists the children of Jonathan and Phebe, but no maiden name for Phebe.

I have wondered if she might be Phebe Tibbetts -- just a guess. But Phebe was a popular and fairly common name at that time, so she could have been from any number of families in RI or western MA.

Notes:

It is possible that Jonathan & Phebe were married in RI, or in Cheshire or Adams, MA. The vital records of Cheshire were destroyed in a fire, and there are no early records of Adams, except the Cooke Collection at the Pittsfield Athenaeum.