Chauncey Nash

GEDCOM Note

He remained in North Adams until about the time of his marriage to Anna Young in 1824. Shortly after their marriage he and Anna moved to Pendleton Township, Niagara County, New York. Here he purchased land from the Holland Land Company of New Amsterdam, Netherlands. the family made their home here. The original Holland Land Purchase included most of the land in the eight counties of western New York. This land was owned by one Robert Morris ( four million acres). he had purchased this from Massachusetts in 1791. In 1793 he sold 3 1/2 million acres to Dutch investors. This land was surveyed and in 1798 divided into plats and purchased by individual deeds. Though the group was never a corporation, they were always referred to as the "Holland Land Company" or "Holland company". This vast area was all of New York state west of the east transit line along the Niagara River. Initial price of the land was $2.75 per acre of which 1/10th was to be paid down. To attract settlers to this area, the Holland Land company often waived all down payments by the settlers.

Surveyors moved in and widened the only route-ways at that time - Indian Trails. these were widened from the Genesee River to Buffalo Creek to allow passage of wagons. About 1798 the New York Legislature passed an act which provided for and set up a state road from Canewagus on the Genesee River to Buffalo Creek on Lake Erie, and to Lewiston on the Niagara river. the Holland Land company subscribed $15,000 to pay expense of the roads. Two important westerly routes fed New Englanders into the western New York territory. One was along the Mohawk Trail going up the Hudson valley from new York city to Albany. At this point it turned due west and crossed new York state touching the northern tip of lake Erie. It is very likely this route that was taken by Chauncy Nash, picking up the Mohawk Trail at Albany afer crossing into New York state from Massachusetts at Warm Springs. the second westerly route paralleled the Mohawk trail, south, through Ithaca, Saunders, New York to Lake Erie. The opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 opened the doors for westward travel.

In 1801 there were 40 settlers in this area. In 1809 there were some 1160. Settlers were mostly from new England and being religious folks they quickly built churches. They had an intense respect and need for education. Prior to 1776 emigrants tended to move in small groups of relatives or friends. This was true in the earliest settlements of the mid-west, too.

Chauncey Nash's parcel of land was the lot numbered 97. It was in the westernmost portion of Pendleton Township, where it abutts Wheatfield Township. This land was originally in Genesee county, new York. Here the family is noted int he Wyoming County History published in 1880. Chauncy's first wife died in 1830. He married a second time to Dorothy or Dorotha Patterson in 1830. She bore him eight children, three died in infancy. After Dorothy's death in 1845, he married a third time to Sarah M. Board, some time after 1846 they moved to near Perry, New Yrok, which is in Wyoming County. Here they were members of the Free Will Baptist Church. Two children were born here and both lived for a time in the Wyoming County area. His obituary describes him as "quiet, even, everyday, practical kind, too modest to be otherwise, too unassuming to be presumptuous, too retiring to be demonstrative. Ever kind and obliging as a neigbor, he won the esteem and confidence of the community in which he lived; genial and sincere as a friend, he ever drew closer to him the hearts of those whose love he enjoyed. ...many years of invalid weakness had given warning of the final disolution."

- - From Wyoming County History published 1880 Chauncy Nash, son of Shubel and Sybyl Nash, was born in North Adams, Mass, July 17, 1798. In 1824 he removed to Pendleton, Niagara County, and in 1846 to Perry, locating two miles west of West Perry. In 1824 he married Ann Young, who died November 1, 1830, at the age of thirty-five. June 20, 1831 he married Dorotha Patterson, who bore him eight children, four of whom are living, and died January 6, 1845, aged forty-two. June 23rd, 1845 he married Sarah M. Board, who bore him two children. Mr. Nash died February 21st, 1878, aged seventy-eight. He was a member of the Free Will Baptist church.

GEDCOM Source

Ancestry.com New York, State Census, 1875 New York, State Census, 1875 Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2013; @R1@ Y Y

GEDCOM Source

Ancestry.com New York, Wills and Probate Records, 1659-1999 New York, Wills and Probate Records, 1659-1999 Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2015; @R2@ Y Y Record of Wills, 1841-1918; Author: New York. Surrogate's Court (Wyoming County); Probate Place: Wyoming, New York