Scales of Justice

The Circumstantial Case for Identifying the Father of Mrs. Bathsheba Mabie Lockwood


with corrections suggested by Steve Mabie 9/29/2000

The PRIME Candidate is: Abraham4 Mabee (Jeremias3, Caspar Pieterszen2, Pieter Gaspard (or Caspar) Mabie1 Van Naerden) born 1732. Baptism: 10/17/1732. Residence: Cortlandt Manor. He married Mercy ___. (First name of wife is based on 1949 letter found in Westchester Archives.)  For this study he is referred to as "PRIME."

Circumstantial Evidence and Hypotheses
.
Item
 Evidence
Comment
# 1 The Couch Files identified the father of Bethsheba Mabie Lockwood as 
Abraham Mabie of Yorktown, NY. 		 "John Lockwood, farmer Putnam Valley 
s.  Sylvenus and Deborah (Sellick) Lockwood. 
b. Darien (CT) born 1771 Oct.
d. Yorktown (NY) 1842 March 30.
m. Bethsheba dau Abraham Mabie, Yorktown"
 (See on-line photo of Couch file document.)		 These are the files of Franklin Couch, Lawyer & genealogist of Peekskill, NY.
# 2 The Holden book  identified the father of Bethsheba Maibee Lockwood as Maibee.  "John Lockwood, born in Darien, CT and removed from the state of New York; he died aged 74 years, son of Henry and Deborah (Sellick) Lockwood; m. Bethsheba Maibee of Canada; she died aged 88 years.  "Her father was born in France, fought in the American Revolution, married at Yorktown, New York; died leaving landed estates." (Communicated.)"
(See on-line photo of page 404 of this book.) 		 The Descendants of Robert Lockwood, by F. Holden and E.Dunbar Lockwood, PA.   (For data on the "atrocious" lack of verification by these authors, see http://genforum.genealogy.com/ lockwood/ messages/385.html )
# 3 Our Bathsheba Mabie lived and raised her Lockwood children in Peekskill in the Manor of Cortlandt, NY.  The same children are listed in the Couch file and the Lockwood book. The family described in both the Couch file and the Holden's Lockwood book is the family of  Our Bathsheba Mabie.
# 4 There has been variation in the spelling of first and surnames.  The name of PRIME Abraham's father, Jeremias Mabie, is spelled in the records of the DRC using many different variations ie: Jeremiah/ Jeremyas  Mebee/ Maby/ Meebi/ Mebie.

Mrs. Lockwood's  first name spelled as  Bethsheba or Bathsheba and her maiden  name is spelled as Maibee or Mabie. 

She is listed in the 1850 New York  in Cortlandt, Westchester County as Bashuba Lockwood, 72 (b. 1778)

 Our Bathsheba's  Lockwood grandchildren spelled her name Bathsheba.
Bethsheba Maibee in the Lockwood book and Bethsheba Mabie the Couch file is the same person as Our Bathsheba Mabie. 
* * *
It is resonable to assume that a grandaughter of  Jeremiah/ Jeremyas  Mebee/ Maby/ Meebi/ Mebie might have her name spelled using many different variations ie: Barsheba/ Bathsheba/ Bethsheba/Bashaba  Maibee/ Mabie/ Mabee. 
# 5a Chancery Court  Petitions of 
   April 22,1793
   Feb. 26, 1798 and 
   Mar 9 1798		 Steve Mabie  of the Maybee Society located the Chancery Court Province and State of New York Guardianships 1691-1815 abstracted by Dr. Kenneth Scott Pub.  © 1971 by the Historical Society of New York which provided this information: 
p.98 Petition dated 9 Mar 1798 of Abraham Requa of Yorktown, Westchester Co., farmer, setting forth that Abraham Mabee is a lunatic. His nearest relations are the following:
Charlotte Mabee age about 21 (b. ca 1777), Abigail Mabee, age about 19 (b. ca 1779), Barsheba Mabee age about 16 (b. ca 1782), his daughters. Abraham Requa is appointed guardian of the lunatic. St. John Constant of York Town, farmer, is surety. The lunatic's wife is deceased.		 If we assume PRIME Abraham, born in 1732, is the same person mentioned in the  Chancery Court Petition, he would have been about 66 years old when the guardianship papers were issued.  His "lunacy" might have been demenshia or Altzheimers.
On Oct. 1, 1838 Abraham Lockwood, son of  John Lockwood and Bathsheba Mabie, sold land to St. John Constant.  St. John Constant was known  to both Barsheba, daughter of Abraham Mabee, the Lunatic, and  toAbraham Lockwood, son of  John Lockwood and Bathsheba Mabie. 
I believe Barsheba and Bathsheba are the same person.
 #5b  On 8 March 1798 a  Petition that Abraham Mabee is a lunatic was approved by the Chancery Court.  Mary Friedlander sent me a transcription of the actual petition:
"...the oaths of Micajah Wright (S), Sam, Azariah Meed, William Teed (S), James Bailey, Abraham Brown (S), Abraham Maynard, Benjamin Haight, Abraham Lyon, Isaac Brown(S), Nathan  Brown, Abraham Golding, Samuel Green, Caleb Underhill, Jacob Rix, William Powell, Stephen Brown, Jacob Parent, Nathaniel Wright, Isaac Candy, John Teed, Increase Thorpe, William Adee (s), Abel Underhill(S), and David Beagle...honest and lawful men of West Chester, who being sworn and charged upon their oaths or affirmations say that the said Abraham Mabie is at the time of taking this inquisition a lunatic and doth not enjoy lucid intervals so that he is not capable of the government and management of himself, his lands, tenements, goods or chattles and that he hath been in the said state of lunacy for the space of four months last past and upwards ..."

 

 Not one of the witnesses was listed on the census of Yorktown.  I found the following people (mentioned in the1798 Chancery Court paper ) on the 1790 NY Census living in these towns: 
in Mt Pleasant Town 
         -  Abraham Brown (S),   1,0,2,0,0
          - Isaac Brown(S), MT. 2,2,4,0,0
(Note: Isaac Brown's name was listed near Abraham Requa.)
in Stephen Town (Somers)
       - Smith, Richard,   1,2,3,0,0
        - Wright, Macijah,  2,0,3,0,0
        - Teed, John,   2,2,4,0,0
        - Teed, William jr, 1,2,5,0,0
        - Teed, William sr,  2,1,3,0,0
        - Bailey, James,    4,5,4,0,2
        - Haight, Benjamin,  6,1,5,0,1
        - Brown, Nathan,     2,3,2,0,6
        - Golding, Abraham,  3,1,5,0,0
        - Green, Samuel,    2,4,4,0,0
        - Brown, Stephen,    1,0,2,0,0
        - Parent, Jacob,     2,1,2,0,0
        - Wright, Nathaniel, 4,2,3,0,0
        - Adee, William,    4,1,3,0,0
        - Underhill, Abel,   1,1,1,0,0
in North Castle
        - Underhill, Caleb,   3,0,8,0,0
 # 6 The Lockwood book claimed Bethsheba's  father, Abraham Maibee died leaving landed estates."  The 1798 Chancery Court  Petition stated further "...the said Abraham Mabie at the time of taking this Inquisition is seized of or entitled unto lands situate lying and being in Philipstown in the county of Dutchess to the amount of seventy two acres and three quarters, to the value of seventy pounds ... also entitled to the following goods and chattels viz: in obligations from sundry Persons to the amount of two hundred and sixty one pounds equal to six hundred and fifty two dollars and fifty centers exclusive of the interest due thereon which amount to about one hundred and nine dollars and fifty cents.
  And the same jurors find that the said lands and tenements of which is so seized are held by him in fee simple..." 		 I have not located any property  documents.
* * *
Yorktown was  part of the Manor of Cortlandt.  Mt. Pleasant, NY was legally part of Philiptown until its own incoporation in 1839. Was Mt. Pleasant ever part of Philipstown. Was Mt. Pleasant ever a part of Yorktown, NY?  Would men possibly born in Yorktown still be referred to as "of Yorktown" even after they lived in Mt. Pleasant, NY?  I assume the courthouse for the area serving Mt. Pleasant was located at Yorktown, NY, since it was the location of this legal action. 
Since I am not a New Yorker,  I get confused by the different levels of changing political divisions that incorporate different hamlets and villages.  Is there any way Abraham Mabee could have lived in Mt. Pleasant, owned a farm in Philipstown, but been politically or legally considered a resident of Yorktown? 
 # 7 1790 Census The 1790 Census for Mt. Pleasant Town, Westchester, NY listed an Abraham Mabee as head of a household of one adult male, one male child under age 16, and three females. 
* * *
Abraham Requa appears on the 1790 Census of Mt. Pleasant, NY.
* * *
See #5.		 It is interesting that none of the witnesses of the Chancery Court  Petition was from Yorktown.  In fact,  both Abraham and Isaac Brown lived in Mt. Pleasant in 1790.  Since there were less than 400 families in that town on the Census, I believe this implies these witnesses may have known the Abraham Mabee on the 1790 Census for Mt. Pleasant Town.
* * *
Extract from Feb 2, 2000 Correspondance from Steve Mabie regarding the male under age 16:
"I have also found a POSSIBLE brother for them.  There is a John Mabie who married Betsy Avery in the Hanover Presbyterian Church in Yorktown on 11/23/1797.  This John became a Quaker, and I have found remarkable records that give extrodinary details on his family (records from both Westchester County and Ohio).  According to those records, he was born 4/15/1778, making him 12 for the 1790 census.  His marriage in 1797 would explain the absence of his name from the guardianship papers."
* * *
This appears to be the same family described in the 1798 petition.
# 8 Our Abraham and Bathsheba may have lived in Mt. Pleasant, NY, a town near Yorktown and Peekskill, NY.  Abraham (Jeremias3, Caspar Pieterszen2, Pieter Gaspard (or Caspar) Mabie1 Van Naerden) widowed sister, Eve Syffer (1745-1825), lived in Mt. Pleasant, NY. 
* * *
 Eve's late husband, Peter Syffer of Phillipse Manor, NY, who had fought with the Captain Del Conklings Co., NY Militia died in 1787.		 If we assume Jeremias's son, Abraham, is father of Charlotte, John, Abigail, and Barsheba, and if Abraham's wife, Mercy, died before the 1790 Census, it is reasonable that a widower might choose to raise his motherless children near his widowed sister.  They could help each other. I believe the Abraham living in Mt. Pleasant in 1790 is the widower Abraham Mabee (Jeremias3, Caspar Pieterszen2, Pieter Gaspard (or Caspar) Mabie1 Van Naerden). 
# 9 The Lockwood book claimed Bethsheba Maibee was  "of Canada".  PRIME Abraham's Uncle Simon Mabe was a Loyalist who, in 1732, had moved to Yorktown, NY and, in 1784, had moved to St. Steven, New Brunswick, Canada with most of his surviving descendants. I believe the careless authors claimed Bethsheba was "from Canada " because some of her relatives moved there.
#10 Unrelated Guardian appointed by
Chancery Court.		 By 1798, PRIME Abraham's parents were dead. His father, Jeremias Mebee, died before 3/27/1789 when his will was probated.  I assume his mother, Annatje Van Amburgh, died before his father's third marriage on 7/25/1760.  His brother Henry had moved to Ulster Co by 1790. His brother Peter had apparently emmigrated to Canada with their Uncle Simon, cousins,  and the other Loyalists.  There is no further record of his brother Johannes. 
* * *
Abraham Requa appeared on the 1790 Census of Mt. Pleasant, NY.
* * *
Abraham Requa, a farmer of York Town, NY,  was appointed the guardian in 1798.		 The newlywed Quaker, John Mabie, was only 20 years old and presumably underaged to take this responsibility. I have found no record of Abraham's older half-brother Deliverance Mabey after the 1790 census. It is probable Deliverance had died before 1798. 
* * *
PRIME Abraham had no near male relatives to assume reponsibility for a lunatic in 1798.
* * *
Abraham does not appear to be a common name in the Requa family.  This is probably the same person - possibly a neighbor or friend of the Abraham Mabie who lived in Mt. Pleasant, NY at the time of the 1790 Census. 
June 18, 1836 June 20, 1836  liber 67 page 69
Grantor:  Abraham Lockwood and Maria his wife 
To Fredrick Requa  for $30;  property on  Highland Turnpike Road in the village of Peekskill 

May 25,1842      liber 97  page 508
Grantor:   Abraham Lockwood and Maria his wife to Fredrick Requa;  property

 Abraham Requa, guardian of Abraham Mabee, was known to Mabee's daughter Barsheba. 

Fredrick Requa, the brother of Abraham Requa, was known to Abraham Lockwood, son of  John Lockwood and Bathsheba Mabie

Barsheba knew one Requa brother. Bathsheba knew the other.
Circumstantial evidence implies one woman known as Barsheba Mabee or as Bathsheba Mabie knew both brothers.
In 1815 the NY Court of Common Pleas summoned Abraham's half-brother Jeremiah to answer a claim by St. John Constant. St. John Constant was surety in the Chancery Court Petition. The court summons proves St. John knew Abraham's brother.
#11 Could our Bathsheba/ Bethsheba  be the same age as the Barsheba in the Chancery Court  Petition? The birth and death dates of our Bethsheba/Bathsheba are not documented.  She was a grandmother in 1833. Birth dates are known for three of her children by John Lockwood: 
  John Ashley Lockwood was born 1823 in Peekskill, NY. 
  Elijah Lee Lockwood was born 5/01/1825. 
  Annabelle Lockwood was born in 1831.		 Calculating the earliest age she could be a grandmother with the latest age she could give birth, I assume our Bathsheba/ Bethsheba was born between 1770  and 1800.  Her grandson reported that she died at age 88 years.  This appears consistant with a birth of ca. 1782.  Our Bathsheba/ Bethsheba could be the same age as  the Barsheba in the Chancery Court  Petition!
#12 Dutch naming custom Children of Bathsheba and John Lockwood (son of DeborahSellick and either Henry Lockwood [per Holden] or SylvenusLockwood [per Couch] ) are:
 1. Hannah  Lockwood
 2.  Abraham Lockwood b. ca 1814
 3. Hester Ann  Lockwood 
 4. Mary Lockwood 
 5. Amanda Lavinia Lockwood 
 6. John Ashley  Lockwood, B. 1823  Peekskill, NY; 
 7. Elizabeth  Lockwood
 8. Jane Lockwood
 9. Sarah  Lockwood b. ca 1831
10. Elijah Lee  Lockwood, B. 5/01/1825
11. Annabelle Lockwood b. 1831		 The Lockwood family originated in England.  They do not follow the Dutch naming conventions.  None of Bathsheba and John Lockwood's children are named either Deborah,  Henry or Sylvenus after John's parents. None of their daughters are named Mercy. Their oldest son is named Abraham, after the father of Bathsheba.  Their second son is named John after his father. 

Our Bathsheba Mabie Lockwood's oldest son, Abraham Lockwood named his oldest daughter Charlotte, possibly after his maternal aunt and grandmother figure.  Charlotte Mabee probably "mothered" her younger siblings after the death of Abraham's Mabee's wife (probably d. between 1782 and 1790). 

One of John Ashley's daughters is named Inez Bethsheba Lockwood. 
#13 The Lockwood book claimed Bethsheba's  father, Abraham Maibee ,  was "born in France," . I know the oral tradition of a French origin of the Mabie Family has not been documented.  I believe the careless authors incorrectly presented the popular theory towards the family origin as fact with regard to an individual family member. 
#14 The Lockwood book claimed Bethsheba's  father, Abraham Maibee, 
fought in the American  Revolution. 		 The book New York in the Revolution by James A. Roberts, 1898 identified the following soldier:
On  the apendix "Lists and Indexes", an Abraham Maibee is mentioned as a person "whose service is evidenced by Manuscripts on file in the Comptroller's Office" but whose unit unknown. 		 Since PRIME Abraham (Jeremias3, Caspar Pieterszen2, Pieter Gaspard (or Caspar) Mabie1 Van Naerden) remained in NY when the Loyalist members of his family moved to Canada, I assume he  was not a Loyalist. 
* * *
The spelling of Abraham Maibee in the Roberts book matches the spelling of Abraham Maibee's name in the Holden Book. 
* * *
Although I have found no documentary proof , I believe that Holden may have assumed Bathsheba's father, Abraham Maibee, may be the soldier of the same spelling whose unit is unknown but who is listed in the above mentioned Manuscripts. 
#15 The Lockwood book claimed Bethsheba's  father, Abraham Maibee married at Yorktown I have not located any birth, marriage or death documents on Abraham or 
Barsheba/ Bethsheba/ Bathsheba  Maibee/ Mabee/ Mabie.		 No documentary proof has been found. 
#16 Family lore Charlotte's (# 5a) grandaughter, Elizabeth Martin Kelly, told her sons that she had an ancestor named Jeremiah who lived during the American Revolution.  Jeremias3 (Caspar Pieterszen2, Pieter Gaspard (or Caspar) Mabie1 Van Naerden) aka Jeremiah/ Jeremyas  Mebee/ Maby/ Meebi/ Mebie lived during the Amrican Revolution. He may be ancestor to Barsheba/ Bethsheba/ Bathsheba  Maibee/ Mabee/ Mabie, her grandaughter Charlotte, and her gr-grgrandaughter, Elizabeth.
Hypotheses 1:

1.) The Abraham Maibee mentioned in the Roberts book and the Abraham Maibee mentioned in the Holden book may be our PRIME candadite Abraham4(Jeremias3, Caspar Pieterszen2,  Pieter Gaspard (or Caspar) Mabie1 Van Naerden) Mabee.
2.) The Petition dated 9 Mar 1798 probably refers to Abraham4  (Jeremias3, Caspar Pieterszen2, Pieter Gaspard (or Caspar) Mabie1 Van Naerden) Mabee.
3.) Based on all the above circumstantial evidence, the children of  Abraham4  (Jeremias3,  Caspar Pieterszen2, Pieter Gaspard (or Caspar) Mabie1 Van Naerden) Mabee and Mercy are *presumed to be:

          i.  Charlotte Mabee b. ca 1777
          ii. John Mabie          b. 4/15/1778
         iii. Abigail Mabee,    b. ca 1779
         iv. Barsheba/Bethsheba/Bathsheba  Maibee/Mabee/Mabie b. ca 1782 married John Lockwood.
               She died about 88 years of age (ca 1870).


* * * *
 Hypotheses 2:

  • Abraham5 Mabie  (Abraham4 Abraham3, Caspar Pieterszen2, Pieter Gaspard (or Caspar) Mabie1 Van Naerden) , born 4/27/1763 in Carmel, NY; died 1850. Burial: Cem back of fire house, Carmel, Putnam Co NY. REV.: a private in Capt. Johannis Bell'scompany, Col. Abraham Lent's regiment DAR ID Number: 63411

    • + Content Ellis.
    Child of Abraham Mabie and Content Ellis is:
         . daughter Mabie, born ca 1790-1800. This daughter might be Bathsheba, Bethsheba, Barsheba

    * * * *
    Other possible Candidates:

    Abram6 Mabie (John F.5,  Pieter4 Pieter3, Caspar Pieterszen Mabie2,  Pieter Gaspard (or Caspar) Mabie1 Van Naerden)  born 1772.
      Abraham5 Casparus Mabie, (Caspar4, Pieter3, Caspar Pieterszen Mabie2,  Pieter Gaspard (or Caspar) Mabie1 Van Naerden) born 4/10/1768 in Haarlem (YC) Kings, NY; died 7/01/1836 in Tappan, NY.
     

     Abraham5 Mabie  (Johannes Mabie4, Pieter3, Caspar Pieterszen Mabie2,  Pieter Gaspard (or Caspar) Mabie1 Van Naerden), born 6/18/1750.

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