| Notes |
- Note on Find a Grave:
Unfortunately for William Halsey, Sr's descendants, very little is known about him; to date no one has been able to unravel the mysteries surrounding his elusive life. We do know that William Halsey, Sr. was the son of Recompense Halsey and Hannah Jagger and that baptism records, as will be noted below, exist which connect him with two of his three known children.
There are a host of inconsistencies among those who have an interest in William Sr regarding his date of his birth, the proposed names of his wife, where he was after 1770 and the date of his death. Authors such as David Halsey give 1723 in Morris County, New Jersey as William's birth date and place. Many amateur genealogists have his death as occurring exactly on 21 Feb 1832 in Morris County, New Jersey. However, the full date is doubtful, and since it is identical to the death date of his son William Jr., they are likely confusing William Sr. with William Jr.
The Halsey Genealogy by Rufus Clinton Halsey has no dates for William Sr. and states "Wife Not known."(*1) Of William's wife, the Halsey Genealogy Since 1395 A.D., Book Two by David Halsey gives the estimated date of 1743 as their marriage and also says the wife's name is unknown.(*2) The current author would suggest a marriage date closer to 1752 when their first known child, John Halsey, was baptized, say 1750-1752.(*3) Hypothetically this could give a birth date for William closer to 1730-1732 instead of the more common date of 1723. If William, Sr. was born in 1723 he would have been born in Long Island and not in New Jersey which is universally claimed as his birthplace. However, if the 1895 Halsey Genealogy is correct with their 1830 time frame for Recompense's move to New Jersey, the proposed later birth date for William, Sr. would indicate a birth in New Jersey.(*4)
We do know William Sr. shows up in the records of the First Church at Hanover, Morris County, New Jersey identified as father in the baptism of two of his three known children - John (bapt. 15 Oct 1752) and Phebe (bapt. 10 Jan 1756). But the name of the mother is never mentioned.(*3)
Morris County, New Jersey took a census of real estate owners, a.k.a. "freeholders," in the year 1752. It was published in the True Democrat Banner in 1887.(*5) The preface to the list states, "A list of several freeholders...taken by virtue of a rule of the supreme court by John Ford, Sheriff of the County of Morris, this thirtieth first day of August, A. D. 1752." The list for Hanover Township contains the name of "Wm. Halsey."(*5) One half month later on 15 Oct 1752, William's son John was baptized in the first church at Hanover.(*3)
The old 1895 Halsey Genealogy contains the following information on William, Sr:
His name appears in list of voters of Morris County in 1753, and in 1752-1756; had children baptized by Dr. Green in Hanover. Sept. 25, 1770, he mortgages to Daniel Wick 53 acres of land at Parsippany (or Troy)…. (Book B, pg. 12, Morris Co. Mortgages). His name frequently occurs on the Court minutes of Morris County until just before the Rev. War when it disappears. He probably removed about this time to North Carolina.(*4)
The hypothesis that William, Sr. removed to North Carolina before the war, as his son William, Jr. would also do after the Revolution, has no evidence to support it. Rachel (Cobb) Halsey, the wife of William Halsey, Jr, stated in her application for her husband's Revolutionary War pension, "...near the close of the War, on about the year Seventeen hundred and Eighty two, he returned to his Father's house." Rachel's statement is worded in such a manner that it appears to presuppose that William Sr was still living in about 1783 when the war ended. Otherwise, why state that William Jr returned to his father's house after the war?(*6) There is also said to be evidence that William Sr was still in Morris County, NJ after the war. In an old Genealogy.com post an Allen Niles states, "Tax records for Morris Co NJ show him (or son) still there as of 1788…"(*7) The current author as of yet has never had opportunity to view any of these documents. Various court records and land Deeds also need to be examined.
In the First Presbyterian Church, Morristown, NJ, Part II, From 1742-1885: The Combined Registers it is recorded that William Halsey Sr. is still living in 1770 (p. 97). The Combined Registers had been published in 1885. It indicates William had married but no marriage date or name of spouse is given. It also names two of his children, John & Phebe, along with their birth dates. While these genealogy records appear to have been added to the original church records, it is interesting to note no new information was added to William Sr and his progeny except to note he had been alive 15 years prior to publishing the registers.
William Sr's only other known child is William, Jr. who was born 23 Mar 1760. His name does not appear in the Hanover Church records. His exact birth date is established by the Bible record contained in William Halsey, Jr's Revolutionary War Pension File.(*6)
Two names are commonly given among amateur genealogists for William Halsey, Sr's wife, Jemima Sanford/Stanford and Mary Pierce. Both names have been repeated ad nauseum for years, but always without any documented evidence.
A comment on the Genealogy.com forum states, "In the Allegheny County NC Heritage Book William Halsey's wife's name is given as Jemima Sanford. The entry was written by Alice Marie Halsey Sturgill and Ava Ruth Halsey Busic, daughters of John Reed Halsey and Flossye Robbins Halsey of Piney Creek. Of course these books are only as accurate as the submissions, but are usually give you a good place to start."(*8) It appears that entry in the Allegheny County Heritage Book was a miss-remembering or a confounding of two separate individuals - a father and a son. David Halsey in his Halsey Genealogy, states that the son of William Halsey, Sr, John Halsey, "married Sanford, Jemima (Stanford?)."(*2)
With the name of Mary Pierce, again no evidence has ever been presented. The current author himself has never been able to find any documented evidence of either Jemima Sanford or Mary Pierce being the wife of William Halsey, Sr, and no one has ever provided him with any such documentation even though he has requested it in the past.
(*1). Halsey, Rufus Clinton, Halsey Genealogy: Wm. Halsey of Columbia, N.J. and Piney Creek, N.c. 1760-1832 and his Descendants to twelfth and thirteenth generations, #1, who came from England (Self-published by Rufus Clinton Halsey, Sparta, N.C., 1980), pp. 3 & 4.
(*2). Halsey, David. Halsey Genealogy Since 1395 A.D., Book Two (Westminster, MD: Heritage books, Inc, 2000), p. 97.
(*3). Wheeler, W. Ogden & Halsey, Edmund D. Church members, marriages & baptisms, at Hanover, Morris Co., N.J. during the pastorate of Rev. Jacob Green, and the settlement of Rev. Aaron Condit, 1746-1796 ( Morristown, N.J.: "The Jerseyman" Office, abt. 1893). p. 21 (See Ancestry.com. Church members, marriages & baptisms, at Hanover, Morris Co., N.J. during the pastorate of Rev. Jacob Green [database on-line]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005).
(*4). Halsey, Jacob Lafayette & Halsey, Edmund Drake. Thomas Halsey of Hertfordshire, England, and Southampton, Long Island, 1591-1679, with His American Descendants to the Eighth and Nineth Generations (Printed at "The Jerseyman" Office, Morristown, N.J., 1895), pp. 47-48 (Recompense) & 65 William, Sr.).
(*5). "List of Freeholders of Morris County," True Democrat Banner: Morristown 1847-1917, published 27 Jan 1887.
(*6). Halsey, William. Ancestry.com. U.S., Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files (NARA microfilm publication M804, 2,670 rolls). Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
(*7). Found on the Genealogy.com forum "Re: Halseys from Piney Creek NC," posted 10 Nov, 2002 by Allen Niles in reply to Gary Paisley's post dated 9 Nov 2002 (This post can be currently found at https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/halsey/544/)
(*8). Found on the Genealogy.com forum "Re: Halseys from Piney Creek NC," posted 170 Nov, 2004 by Kelly Brown in reply to Allen Niles's post dated 10 Nov 2002 (This post can be currently found at http://genforum.genealogy.com/halsey/messages/626.html).
Bio by David Burns, M. Div.
5th Great-Grandson
Find A Grave Member #4739474
Updated 3/21/2024 [1]
|
Abt 1723 - 
[1]