Family:Moses Hicks and Lavina Doolittle (1)

Theory

About 1778 in Warwick, MA, Moses Hix, identified as the "Elder Hix," itinerant Baptist preacher, preaching the acceptability of spiritual spouses as well as temporal, ran off with 16-year-old Lavina Doolittle, daughter of Amzi and Jerusha (Smith) Doolittle, and settled initially in Hoosick, NY (by 1790), then Hebron, NY (by 1800).

Proofs

(See notes under individual Moses Hix.)

That Moses Hix and Lavina Doolittle were the parents of Azubah Hicks who married Jonathan Brownell is supported by the following:

1. E.E. Brownell Collection, Sixth generation, A-K, p. 5, indicates that the parents of Azubah Hicks who married Jonathan Brownell in 1811 were Moses Hicks and Lavina Doolittle. On this sheet for Jonathan Brownell, it says "Married: Azubah Hicks, of New York City; Sep 15-1811, (Handwritten at end: "in Hoosick, New York"). Daughter of Moses and Lavina (Doolittle) Hicks. Born March 2 - 1796 in Hoosick, New York. Died April 6 - 1881, in Kelloggsville, Ohio. Buried In Monroe Cemetery, Kelloggsville, Ohio." It is this work upon which all claims of the parents of Azubah Hicks rest. Note the "of New York City" reference for Azubah Hicks. That makes it sound as though she lived prior to her marriage in NYC.

2. From Charles Filkins, Hoosick Historical Society, 13 March 2007: "I live on about one acre of the farm purchased in 1788 by William and Judith (Nichols) Brownell." [parents of the Jonathan that married Azubah Hicks].

That Moses Hix/Hicks and Lavina Doolittle were the parents of Sarah, Zerviah and Lavina -- as well as Azubah -- is supported by the following:

1. From Charles Filkins, Hoosick Historical Society, 13 March 2007: "I have three others whom I assume are daughters of Moses Hicks. They were all recorded locally as Hix.... The other three [besides Azubah] had families some of whom are still remain in West Hoosick. From the William Brownell Farm today you drive past the Joseph Herrington place enroute to the area where Moses Hicks lived. [Joseph Herrington married Zerviah Hix.] About a mile north of the Brownell farm, a right turn takes you in less than a mile to the Anson Baldwin mill site. [Anson Baldwin was the son of Lavina Hix and Aaron Baldwin.] Turn left for the Moses Hicks area. At the Moses Hicks area (around an intersection), turn right for about one mile and you are in the area where the Felshaw family lived." [Sarah Hix married Lemuel Felshaw.]

Examination of census records 1790, 1800 and 1810

The following supports the theory that Moses Hix, initially married to Mary Goff, could have then been married to Lavina Doolittle by whom he had at least ten children. Let's assume just for the sake of exploration that Moses Hix (b. 1734) *did* marry (or otherwise make family with) Lavina Doolittle (b. 1761) about 1778. Let's also assume that the four Hix females (Sarah b. 1778, Zerviah b. 1780, Lavina b. 1790 and Azubah b. 1796) found in Hoosick by Charles Filkins (Hoosick Historical Society) were the daughters of Moses and Lavina. Then let's try to match that up with the census data.

Hoosick, NY 1790: 1 Male over 45 [this would be Moses] 2 males under 16 [two sons] 4 females under 45 [one Lavina Doolittle age 29, three daughters-- Sarah, Zerviah, Lavina #2].

Hebron, NY 1800: 2 males under 10 [two more sons] 1 male 10-16 [one of the two sons from 1790 census; therefore one of those two died? or perhaps one was old enough to be off on his own by now?] 1 male over 45 [Moses] 2 females under 10 [one of them Azubah b. 1796] 1 female 10-16 [dau Lavina Hix] 1 female 26-45 [wife Lavina Doolittle Hix] [the other two daughters, Sarah and Zerviah, married before 1800]

Stratford, NY 1810: 1 male over 45 [Moses Hix] 1 female under 10 [new daughter] 1 female over 45 [Lavina Doolittle Hix] next door: James Hicks [Moses may have named another son James because his first son by that name died in 1782.] 1 male 10-14 [more likely a brother of James, not a son; therefore, one of the 2 youngest males in Hebron in 1800] 1 male 16-25 [James Hicks, b. after 1784] 1 female under 10 [daughter of James] 1 female 16-25 [wife of James]

Pulling all of this together identifies at least 10 children of Moses and (supposedly) Lavina:

1. Sarah Hix, b. abt. 1778 married ­1793 [therefore not in 1800 census with parents in Hebron] to Lemuel Felshaw [would have had to have been about 15 at marriage-- following in her mother's and grandmother's footsteps?]
2. Zervia Hix, b. abt. 1780 [married abt. 1799 to Joseph Herrington; therefore not in 1800 census with parents]
3. Lavina Hix, b. early 1790 [before the 1790 census; still with parents in 1800 census]
4. Male Hix, b. 1781-1789 [guessing was not born before 1781 given births of two known daughters 1778 and 1780]
5. Male Hix, b. 1781-1789 [ditto; died by 1800 as there aren't enough males right age living with them in 1800 census]
6. Male Hix, b. 1790-1799 [one died by 1810? Or is this James Hicks lilving next door in 1810 census?]
7. Male Hix, b. 1790-1799 [possibly living with brother James in 1810 census]
8. Azubah Hix, b. 1796 [she is not with her parents in 1810-- the year before she married Brownell; another case of a 15-year-old getting married-- but this one we actually have documentation of!]
9. Female Hix, b. 1790-1799
10. Female Hix, b. 1800-1809

That's ten children. Adding the ten children he had with Mary Goff, that's 20 children-- 2 shy of what Simeon's obit said.

1. ↑ Doolittle, William F.; Louise Smylie Brown; and Mary Malissa Raison Doolittle. The Doolittle Family in America. (Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland: National Printing (1901), 1901-1967)
   p. 159.

   Lavina [dau of Amzi Doolittle] m. ___ Hicks, removed to New York, where she died leaving family.

2.   Brownell, E.E. Genealogical records of Brownell and allied families: with alphabetical lists of names appearing in the tax lists for various localities in Dutchess County, New York, 1748, 1753, 1760, 1765, 1770-1779. (Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1963).

   "Married: Azubah Hicks, of New York City; Sep 15-1811, (Handwritten at end: "in Hoosick, New York").