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Stephen Phelps, Sr.
b.26 Oct 1744 Westfield, Hampden, Massachusetts, United States
d.Aft 1820 Pennsylvania? Ohio?
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m. 28 May 1735
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m. 25 May 1771
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m. Abt Jan 1777
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m. 1788
Facts and Events
The association of Stephen Phelps of Pittsfield with my known GGG Grandfather, Stephen, is an educated guess. It is based on a large collection of circumstantial evidence that fits the known information about the younger Stephen. However, the records for Pittsfield are sufficiently and obviously incomplete to leave in doubt the final determination of the connection. Phelps and Servin clearly missed his second marriage, and erred in setting the ages at death for one or more children. This, plus the possible wartime association of the elder Stephen PHELPS with Thomas TORRANCE, Jr. in the Montreal Campaign, makes an interesting case for the connection. The relocation of Stephen Sr. and his brother Israel to New York may allow for a connection to the Torrance family in Vermont, under the right assumptions. Finally, the names that show up in P&S for Stephen, Edward, and Lucinda, and their relocation to Brownsville, PA, add to the circumstantial case for this connection. I am not certain that I will ever find hard evidence for this relationship, but will continue to carry it in the tree as one likely option. Finding Ruth PHELPS in Pittstown, NY in 1810 opens up the connection between Stephen and Pittstown. A book on Washington County land grants lists a Nathaniel PHELPS as a grantee in the Cambridge Patent of 1761, which included large tracts in Pittstown. We know that Stephen’s father, Nathaniel, migrated to Pittsfield ca 1760, at the time of its creation. It is highly likely that he would have been part of a general land allotment in that region, to include the area west of the current NY state line. The name of Pittstown also suggests a connection to the founders of Pittsfield, as the two towns were named for the same English lord. If this was the case, then Stephen may have inherited some of this land, and moved his family there between 1800 and 1810. He was certainly moving in that general direction over the years (Freehold, to Bethlehem, to Pittstown). This placement also establishes a strong possible link with the Torrance family across the Vermont state line. Pittsfield vital records also show a death of a Phelps child in 1782, but no indication of the parents is given, nor is there a name or sex indicated., References
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