Person:Moses Hicks (2)

Origins

That the spouse of Lavina Doolittle was named Moses Hix is supported by the following:

• We know that Lavina Doolittle, daughter of Amzi Doolittle, married a HIX/HICKS from these sources:

1. Genealogy of the Doolittle Family, p. 159: [Amzi's daughter Lavina] "m. --- Hicks and removed to New York where she died, leaving family."

2. History of the Town of Warwick, MA, p. 60: "[Elder Hix] absconded from the town with a young girl... The name of the girl was ____ Doolittle... Mr. Amos Marsh cleared out with Mrs. Doolittle, the girl's mother; and Mr. Amzi Doolittle, the father of the girl, went off with Mr. Thomas Barber's wife." [Other histories written later more or less repeat this; see marriage notes for Thomas Barber and Hannah Miller for more details.]

3. E.E. Brownell Collection, LDS Film #0333573, 6th Generation of Brownells, first names A-K, p. 5. "Jonathan Brownell... m. Azubah, daughter of Moses and Lavina (Doolittle) Hix."

As far as I've been able to determine, the sole source of HIX/HICK's FIRST name is this third item, the EE Brownell Collection. The family page for Jonathan Brownell, b. 1792 Hoosick, NY, indicates that Jonathan Brownell married (in Hoosick) Azubah Hicks on September 11, 1811, "daughter of Moses and Lavina (Doolittle) Hicks." While a specific source for the names of Azubah's parents is not included, the EE Brownell Collection is considered well enough researched that the DAR accepts it as an original source material for those seeking entrance into its fine halls (per http://brownellfamily.rootsweb.com/Brownell_Collection.html).

• According to Charles Filkins of the Hoosick Historical Society, one Moses Hix owned/lived on property near William Brownell in Hoosick, NY.

Given these clues, then which Moses Hicks was he?

1. The History of Warwick described him as "Elder Hix, itinerant Baptist minister" who preached the acceptability of multiple partners ("spiritual spouses") in Warwick MA as late as 1778 when he ran off with 16-year-old Lavina Doolittle.

2. Warwick had several people from Baptist-friendly Rehoboth, MA. Rehoboth was also home to many HIX/HICKS families. Hodge (p. 17) indicates that most if not all HIXes of Rehoboth were Baptists. This matches up with the Warwick history that refers to him as "Elder Hix, an itinerant Baptist minister." In addition, Thomas and Hannah (Miller) Barber, also caught up in the Warwick controversy, were also from Rehoboth.

3. There was a Moses Hix, b. 1734 (probably in Rehoboth and probably son of baptist Deacon Ephraim Hix, Jr.) who was married to Mary Goff by whom he had several children, the last born in Richmond, NH in 1775. They were:

   a. Simeon Hix, b. 22 Aug 1755 Rehoboth

   b. Asa Hix, b. abt. 1757 Rehoboth

   c. Lydia Hix b. 29 Jul 1759 Rehoboth

   d. Sibel Hix, b. abt. 1761 Rehoboth

   e. James Hix, b. 8 Jul 1763 Rehoboth; d. 1 Jan 1782 "at the southward"

   f. Olive Hix, b. abt. 1765 Dighton, MA

   g. Moses Hix, Jr., b. abt. 1770 Dighton, MA

   h. Polly Hix, b abt 1772 Dighton, MA

   i. Martin Hix, b. abt. 1774 Dighton, MA

   j. Hannah Hix, b. 1775 Dighton, MA (or Richmond, NH?)

This Moses Hix and his wife and children were warned out of Richmond, NH in 1777. Towns "warned out" residents who could not prove sufficient income or funds to support themselves and hence might become dependent upon the town for support.

4. There was a Moses Hix in Hoosick, NY in the 1790 census with males and females to include Lavina two sons and three daughters. Living very near by was one Amos Marsh. (Lavina's mother Jerusha ran off with Amos Marsh the same time "Elder Hix" ran off with Lavina.) (See 1790 census for Hoosick, NY; Marsh and Hix are two lines apart.)

5. Living nearby in Hoosick was also William Brownell, whose son Jonathan Brownell would later marry Azubah Hix.

6. In May 1796, one Moses Hix purchased land in Arlington, VT, not far from Hoosick, NY.

7. In 1800, a Moses Hix with males and females so enumerated as to include Lavina and children were in Hebron, NY.

8. In 1810, a Moses Hix was in Stratford, NY, also so enumerated.

This Moses Hix's father, the Deacon Ephraim Hix [Jr.] settled in Richmond, NH by 1765 with his 4th wife and several of his sons, where he helped establish a Baptist church. Ephraim Hix died and was buried there about 1778 [notice the year: same as the culmination of the Warwick controversy].

Shortly after Moses Hix bought 12 acres in Dighton, MA Jan 18, 1771 and sold the same 12 acres August 5, 1773, he evidently moved to Richmond, NH. He was warned out of Richmond on March 12, 1777. (Towns would "warn out" a person or family if there was concern that they did not have the resources to support themselves.) The warning also lists his wife (Mary) and children (Asa, Lydia, Sibel, Moses Jr., Polly, Martin and Hannah.) This appears to be the last record of Mary Goff Hix.

Mary Goff Hix's last child was born in 1775 (Hannah); this child was still alive at the time Moses Hix was warned out of Richmond, NH in 1777 (see below). There is no death information for Mary Goff. An obituary of Moses and Mary's son, Simeon, indicates that Simeon's father (i.e., Moses) had two wives and 22 children. Hix descendants believe that the second wife was Mary Bradford, but documentation of both the marriage to Bradford and subsequent children remains elusive. I (Jillaine 18:16, 2 November 2008 (EST)) can't help but wonder if Mary Goff, after having been abandoned by Moses, went on to marry a Bradford, thus generating the "Mary Bradford" theory.

It should be noted that Veldon Hix, descendant and researcher of Moses Hix, denies that their ancestor was the Moses Hix caught up in the Warwick "spiritual spouse" controversy of 1778.

Richmond, NH is just north of Warwick, MA where the Doolittles and Barbers lived, and where the controversy concerning "Elder Hix" and the young daughter of Amzi Doolittle culminated about 1778.

See Family Page for Moses Hix and Lavina Doolittle for examination of census records that further supports this theory.

Two pieces of circumstantial evidence include:

• Jane LeMunyan Campbell (a descendant of Azubah Hicks and Jonathan Brownell) wrote to Jillaine Smith on 26 Feb 2007: "My Mother and the women in her family had kept written records that go as far back as Azubah and Jonathan Brownell. The only thing she said about (Azubah's) father was that he was a traveling minister and that he was a 'ladies man'."

• Azubah Hicks and Jonathan Brownell named two of their children Lavina Brownell and Moses Hicks Brownell.

• Charles Filkins of the Hoosick Historical Society communicated to Jillaine Smith: (12 March 2007): "The Baptists were in Hoosick early, but the records of the earliest years were burned in house and church fires." And (13 March 2007): "From the William Brownell Farm today you drive past the Joseph Herrington place enroute to the area where Moses Hicks lived. About a mile north of the Brownell farm, a right turn takes you in less than a mile to the Anson Baldwin mill site. 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. The Hills have almost died out, but their farms were not far from the Felshaws... Moses Hicks lived on or near land owned by the Shepherd family. Israel Shepherd sold it in 1814 to Nathaniel Bosworth. The deed mentioned an acre of land which was not sold that was a family cemetery and a lane to get to it. I have not seen a Moses Hicks tombstone and wonder if he was buried in this cemetery near where he lived. The stones have all been turned under in the field where it was located, and I do not know where in the field it was located."

1. ↑ 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)
   Page 5.

   Azubah Hicks, daughter of Moses and Lavina (Doolittle) Hicks