Samuel Church

	Date	Location	Notes	Sources
Birth
Marriage			Elizabeth Stickny
Death	10 Oct 1844	Greenfield, Hancock Co., IN
Burial

Immediate family in my direct ancestry

 Generation 6       Generation 7            Generation 8

                                     +-- (unknown)
                                     |   (????-????)
                 +-- Samuel Church --+
                 |   (1766-1844)     |
Erastus Church --+                   +-- (unknown)
(1808-1877)      |                       (????-????)
                 +-- Elizabeth Stickny
                     (~1770-1860)

Sources:

Children

(children with Elizabeth Stickney)

Name	Gender	Date of Birth	Birthplace	Spouse	Notes	Sources
Uzziel H. Church	M	25 Dec 1797		1. Mary Ann Bennett, 2. Mary Ann Hager
Rebecca Church	F	~1801		1. George Dawson, 2. John Vanmeter
Orinda H. Church	F	1804	Orange Co., VT	never married
Erastus Church	M	9 Jan 1808	Orange Co., VT	Lucy H. Whitten	direct line
Livinia S. Church	F	~1816	VT	Osea Gephart
	F				birth order unknown
	F				birth order unknown
	M				birth order unknown
	M				birth order unknown

Places of Residence

Location	Dates	Notes	Sources
Orange Co., VT	? - 1827
Brooksville, Franklin Co., IN	1827 - 1835
Greenfield, Hancock Co., IN	1835 - 10 Oct 1844

Sources

Ref. Num.	Description	Image of original
1	1830 United States Federal Census, Wayne Twp., Wayne Co., Indiana, page 37. Census is not dated. Entry #11 from top: Family headed by Samuel Church: 1 male 60-69, 1 female 15-19, 2 females 20-29, 1 female 50-59. Samuel is ~64 and Elizabeth ~60 in 1830. Erastus is still in VT with his wife. This is likely Samuel, Elizabeth, and three of their female children.
2	1840 United States Federal Census, Centre Twp., Hancock Co., Indiana, page 5. Census is not dated. Entry #18 from top: Family headed by Samuel Church: 3 males <5, 1 male 5-10, 2 males 30-40, 1 male 70-80, 1 female 5-10, 2 females 20-30, 1 female 70-80. Samuel is 74 and Elizabeth 70 in 1840. This is Samuel Church living with his wife and two families of his children and grandchildren. Erastus Church is 32 and Caroline Church 8 and the four oldest sons of Erastus and Lucy are 7, 5, 3, and 1 in 1840. These all agree with persons in the above list. Lucy Whitten should be 32 also and this is not in agreement.
3	1850 United States Federal Census, Centre Twp., Hancock Co., Indiana, page 5 and 6. Census dated 9 Sept 1850. Lines 32-42 (page 5) and 1-2 (page 6): Erastus Church, 42, farmer, $1500 real property; Lucy, 42; Warren, 17, farmer, Caroline, 19; Langdon, 15; Uzziel, 13; Oscar, 11; Melville, 9; Arminta, 7; Chester, 5; George, 3; Lucy Ann, 2; Elizabeth Church, 76. All children attended school. Erastus, Lucy,Warren and Caroline b. Vermont, Elizabeth b. New Hampshire, all others b. Indiana.
4	Church family history written by Chester R. Church on 10 Mar 1924 contains details on the families of Samuel Church, his son Erastus Church, and assorted relatives. Relevant to this page: Samuel Church was married to Elizabeth Stickny. They had 9 children, 5 daughters, 4 sons. They moved from Orange Co., VT, to Brooksville, Franklin Co., IN, in 1827. They moved again to Greenfield, Hancock Co., IN, in 1835. Samuel Church died in Aug 1844. Elizabeth moved in with her son Erastus Church until her death on 1 Jan 1860. She was buried in Bethesda Cemetery, Vigo Co., IN. Erastus and his wife Lucy Whitten moved from Orange Co., VT, to Greenfield, Hancock Co., IN, in 1834 with their two children [at the time], Caroline and Erastus Warren (age two months). In discussions with fellow researcher Tom Pearson (pearsontw@sbcglobal.net), he suggests that Chester has the month of Elizabeth's birth incorrect. Also he suspects that the move to Vigo County happened in 1854, not 1834. This is backed up by the 1850 census, Uzziel's obit, and the fact that Erastus shows up as a Justice of the Peace in Center Twp. in 1848.	full text / analysis
5	Church family bible records contain birth, marriage, and death dates and locations for numerous members of the Church family. Relevant to this page, Erastus Church was born in Orange Co., VT, on 9 Jan 1808 and died 3? Sept 1877 at the age of 71. Lucy H. Whitten was born in Sullivan Co., NH, on 6 Oct 1807. They were married at Rochester, VT, on 4 May 1828. Samuel Church died at Greenfield, IN, on 10 Oct 1844. Elizabeth Church died at Terre Haute, IN on 30 Dec 1860.
6	Gravestone for Erastus Church, Lucy H. Whitten, and Elizabeth Stickney at Bethesda Cemetery, West Terre Haute, IN. This is a four-sided monument with engravings for Erastus, Lucy, and Elizabeth on three of the sides. The engraving for Erastus Church indicates that he died on 3 Sep 1877 at the age of 71 years, 7 months, 24 days. This implies a calculated birth date of 10 Jan 1806. The engraving for Elizabeth Stickney indicates that she died on 30 Dec 1860 at the age of 90 years, 1 month, and 3 days. This implies a calculated birth date of 27 Nov 1770. The engraving for Lucy H. Whitten has not yet been seen by this researcher.

Source Notes

• [3] Elizabeth is seen here living with her son's family, suggesting that she is now a widow.

Research

The Samuel and Elizabeth Church family that were the progenitors for our known Church line have been a true source of mystery and confusion. There seems to be a wealth of conflicting and internally-inconsistent data available for people with these names living at about the right time and place. Below, I will outline my current thought process for validating the data I can find.

First, starting with what I know: The Samuel and Elizabeth Church that I am interested in are the ones described in the Church family bible records, source [5] above, and the Church Family History written by Chester R. Church in 1924, source [4] above. I know for certain that these sources pertain to my line of Church ancestors. Given the family structure outlined in [4] and [5] for Samuel's son, Erastus, and his children, I know that the 1850 census, [3], is correct as well. The 1840 census, [2], is somewhat conjecture as all we have to go on there is the name Samuel Church and a rough count of family members which seems to fit our understanding of the family at that time but there one or two outlying points that have not been accounted for. The gravestone for Elizabeth Church in Bethesda Cemetery, [6], is also known to be relevant because its death date matches exactly with the death date given in the bible records. The death date given for Elizabeth in [4] is off by almost a year, but it was written nearly 30 years later by a man who was over 70. [4] does specify the cemetery where Elizabeth is buried, and there is only one Elizabeth Church buried in Bethesda Cemetery.

At the time of this writing, that's all the source information that I am willing to stand behind fully. This means that the sum total of the information that I am confident about with regards to Samuel and Elizabeth is as follows:

• Samuel Church died at Greenfield, Hancock Co., IN on 10 Oct 1844 [5] (or, less likely, Aug 1844 [4]).
• Elizabeth Stickny was born on ~27 Nov ~1770 and died near West Terre Haute, Vigo Co., IN on 30 Dec 1860. She was born in NH.
• Samuel and Elizabeth and most/all of their children moved from Orange Co., VT, to Brooksville, Franklin Co., IN, in 1827.
• They all moved again to Greenfield, Hancock Co., IN, in 1835.
• Erastus Church was born in Orange Co., VT, on 9 Jan 1808, and was married in Rochester, VT, on 4 May 1828. As such, he presumably did not participate in the 1827 exodus from Vermont to Indiana. He and his wife, Lucy H. Whitten, did move from Orange Co., VT, to Greenfield, Hancock Co., IN, in 1834 with the two children they had at the time. The following year, Samuel and Elizabeth moved to Greenfield as well.
• Elizabeth moved in with her son Erastus after Samuel died in late 1844, she stayed with Erastus until her death in 1860.

That's not a heck of a lot to go with. Now I will start accumulating sources that deal with people that could be or relate to Samuel and Elizabeth Church and see if anything starts to link back to the information given above.

Ref. Num.	Description	Image of original
R1	Personal Research of Laurence Seitz. Mr. Seitz has prepared an in-depth document describing the descendants of Samuel Church and Elizabeth Stickney. While most data in this document are thoroughly sourced, a few items--particularly those relating to Samuel and Elizabeth--are referenced to public trees found on Ancestry.com. We do not consider Ancestry.com trees to be a reliable source of good data, so anything found here that is only referenced to this source should be considered conjectural at best. Because Mr. Seitz has done such a good job of referencing his sources, we have been able to duplicate many of those sources above.	N/A
R2	Acts and Laws Passed by the Legislature of the State of Vermont on 27 Oct 1809, chapter 19, pgs. 16-17, lists a successful petition by three men of Orange, Orange Co., VT, to have their names changed from Alexander Hogg, John Hogg, and Samuel Hogg, to Alexander Church, John Church, and Samuel Church. The date of Oct 1809 is a time at which our Samuel Church was in Orange, Orange Co., VT, so it could be that our Samuel changed his name at the age of 43. Of the two family trees I can find on ancestry.com that have a similar Samuel Church with a wife Elizabeth and a son Erastus and also list parents' names, one suggests the parents are "Timothy Church" and "Abigail Church," the other indicates "Alexander Hogg" and "Abigail Atwood." Not surprisingly, there is clearly confusion amongst the ranks at ancestry.com, but at least one person believes the name change argument...
R3	Membership application for Sons of the American Revolution for applicant Fred Albert Dawson. Mr. Dawson indicates that he is a descendant of Revolutionary War veteran Timothy Church and lays out a path of descendancy to himself. According to the path given, Timothy Church was born 12 May 1736 and died 13 Nov 1823. His son was Samuel Church, born ~1765 and died after 1845. Samuel was married to Elizabeth (maiden name unknown) prior to 1821. Their daughter was Rebecca Church, born ~1801, died ~1866, married to George Dawson in 1831. The applicant follows the Dawson line down from there to himself. Timothy Church served as a Lieutenant Colonel from Brattleboro, VT, in the war. He is buried in Brattleboro, VT, and his tombstone designates him as a Colonel and that he died 13 Nov 1833 at the age of 86. The applicant indicates that other records regarding Timothy Church give a death year of 1823 and that the tombstone may be in error. In support of the claims of this application, the applicant gives the following sources as proof: Vermont Rev. Rolls., Pages 822,823,826. New York in the Revolution Vol 15, page 277. Annals of Brattleboro, Vol 1., pages 67, 68. Analysis of Vermont Rev. Rolls. and Annals of Brattleboro (both available on Google Books) revealed that they only contained data regarding Timothy Church's revolutionary war experience and not any information about descendancy. It is not clear that this is the correct Samuel Church; based on the 1820 census there are at least 4 Samuel Churches in Vermont at the right time, and it looks like there might be at least two who married Elizabeths... more work to figure out who is who is necessary here. Another application to the Sons of the American Revolution is made by Fred Alfred Dawson's nephew, Irvin Herrick Dawson, a year later containing identical information.
R3	New Hampshire Marriage Records 1637-1947, has an entry for a Samuel Hogg marrying a Betsey Stickney on 4 Jul 1791 in Jaffrey, NH.
R4	U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900, has an entry for Samuel Church, born 1767 in VT, marrying Elisebeth Stickney, born 1769. The marriage took place in Indiana. This record matches well on the names and the ages, however this source is compiled from assorted records including family group sheets of unknown pedigree. We do not consider this source authoritative at all.
R5	BLM Land Grant Certificate for Samuel Church of Wayne Co., IN, indicating that he now owns 70.53 acres in the "East half of the North West quarter of section seven in Township Fifteen North of Range Seven, East in the District of Lands subject to sale at Indianapolis Indiana." [NB: This is immediately SW of Greenfield, IN.] The certificate is dated 15 Oct 1835.
R6	Transcribed letter dated 13 Jul 1845 from Rebecca B. Dawson to her brother (unnamed) and sister Livinia Church regarding the death of Rebecca's husband, George. There is someone named Orinda present at the time of George's death, but it is not explicitly stated that she is Rebecca and Livinia's sister. The letter was used as part of the justification for the descendancy chain in the SAR application for Fred Dawson. Questions have been raised about the validity of that source, and the original of this letter has not been found yet, so there are lingering doubts about this letter as well.	click for full transcript and analysis
R7	Post on genealogy.com from cheryl smith regarding her Church lineage. The email address listed for Ms. Smith is no longer valid. "I am a direct descendent of Richard and Ann Marsh Church as follows. Samuel church born 1629. died April 13,1684.Samuel Church Jr. (do not have dates} married Abigail Harrison.Nathaniel Church Born Feb 7,1704 died May 9,1780.married Rachel McCranney 1727.William Harrison Church born March 3 1730.Died 1783. in 1750 married Jane Wood. Son Amos born {do not have dates}. married in 1797, son Uziel born in 1798 in New Hampshire. Married Mary Stickney. They moved to Maywood, Missouri in 1850. There twin boys were born in 1852, Layfette and Daniel Webster(my maternal great-grandfather}.their birth dates are Sept.7,1852. Married Ann E. Stanley of Indiana, later came to Greenfield, Iowa as County Attorney. Had a son Stanley (my grandfather} born 1889, died 1970. Married Pluma May Brown. Had a daughter Carol Lucielle born May 4 1922. Carol married AK Reynolds in 1943, and I was born in 1944.This is how we trace our Church lineage...please email me if any dates or details need upgrading,,,thank you.... "	[1]
R8	Personal research of Thomas Pearson who believes that Livinia and Orinda are sisters of Erastus Church and that there is a brother named Uzziel H. Church. Uzziel is buried in Knightstown in the same family plot as Orinda.
R9	Obituary for Orinda H. Church, born in Orange Co., VT, in 1804, to father Samuel Church and mother Elizabeth Church. Moved to IN in 1825 to become a school teacher in Liberty, Union Co., IN. Moved to West Liberty, Henry Co., IN, in 1835. Moved to Knightstown, IN, in ~1836, and lived there until her death. Also lived in Greenfield and Cumberland, IN, at some point, where she worked in the mercantile business. Died 30 Aug 1884, funeral was at the M.E. Church, Knightstown, IN, 1 Sep 1884. The assertion is that Orinda was a sibling of Erastus Church. The connections are the parents names, the birth location, and the timing of moving to IN from VT. Samuel, Elizabeth, and children are said in [3] to have moved from Orange Co., VT, to Brooksville [sic, there is no Brooksville. Probably Brookville], IN, in 1827. Orinda is said to have moved to IN in 1825 to begin teaching in Liberty, IN, which is about 15 miles away from Brooksville. These two moves from VT to IN are likely one and the same. The Church Family History by Chester R. Church mentions that the daughters of Samuel Church, when they came to IN, took up their father's profession of teaching, so Orinda's life as a schoolteacher fits this as well. Based on this text, the link between Orinda and Samuel Church seems very strong. Some researchers have raised questions about the validity of this text, however, as this version was typed by a man using it as justification for his Sons of the American Revolution application. The original obituary is being sought. If this transcription proves to be accurate, the case for Orinda being a sibling of Erastus Church is good.	Click for full transcript.

Possible Children

Various sources have stipulated that there are children of Samuel and Elizabeth named Livinia/Lovina/Livina, Orinda, and Rebecca. These would be siblings of Erastus Church, and we know from family record that there were numerous siblings, both male and female, of Erastus. We've been trying to demonstrate a link between these people and our Samuel/Elizabeth (or the clear lack thereof) but as of yet have been unsuccessful. Here are pages made for each with the source data we can find:

• Livinia S. Church
• Orinda H. Church
• Rebecca Church -- only reference is the SAR application which has numerous sourcing problems.
• Uzziel H. Church

The ages in the 1830 census for Samuel Church support the existence of the three ladies plus Samuel and Elizabeth.

Census Trolling

Vermont Census 1781:

• Samuel Church, Granville Twp., Charlotte Co., VT
• Samuel Church, Petitioner Twp., Greenfield Co., VT

Vermont Census 1788:

• Samuel Church, Milton Twp., Chittenden Co., VT

1820 Federal Census:

• Samuel Church, Jr., Fletcher, Franklin, VT. Males: 2x <10, 1x 10-15, 1x 26-44, 1x 45+. Females: 1x <10, 2x 16-25, 1x 26-44. Middle-aged couple with seven children, 4 boys, 3 girls. This Samuel Church appears in ancestry.com's revolutionary war pension paperwork: [2] starting on page 320. He is the same Samuel Church that appears in the 1830 census, see below, by the time our Samuel Church had already left. Thus, we don't believe it is our guy.
• Samuel Church, Orange, Orange, VT. Males: 1x <10, 1x 16-25. Females: 1x <10, 1x 16-25. Young couple with two children, one boy one girl.
• Samuel Church, Brattleboro, Windham, VT. Males: 1x <10, 1x 16-25, 2x 45+. Females: 1x <10, 1x 10-15, 2x 16-25.
• Samuel Church, Woodstock, Windsor, VT. Males: 1x 10-15, 1x 45+. Females: 1x <10, 1x 45+. Middle aged couple with two young children, one boy and one girl.
• Samuel Church, Dorset, Bennington, VT. Males: 1x <10, 1x 16-18, 1x 16-25, 1x 45+. Females: 1x <10, 1x 10-15, 1x 26-44, 1x 45+. This is likely to be the Samuel C. Church whose pension paperwork indicates he was living in Dorset, VT, from at least 1818 until at least 1835.

[This is where we think our Samuel Church moves from VT to IN]

1830 Federal Census:

• Samuel Church, Danby, Rutland, VT. Males: 1x 20-29. Females: 1x 15-19. This is probably Samuel and Emily P. Church, see 1850.
• Samuel Church, Waterford, Caledonia, VT. Males: 1x 10-14, 1x 20-29. Females: 1x <5, 1x 20-29. This is the unknown male child who moves away by 1850, Samuel, Lovina as a newborn, and Lucinda, see 1850.
• Samuel Church, Jr., Fletcher, Franklin, VT. Males: 1x 15-19, 1x 50-59, 1x 80-89. Females: 1x 10-14, 1x 15-19, 1x 30-39.
• Samuel Church, Vershire, Orange, VT. Males: 1x <5, 2x 15-19, 1x 40-49, 1x 70-79. Females: 1x 5-9, 1x 15-19, 1x 40-49, 1x 60-69.

1840 Federal Census:

• Samuel Church, Waterford, Caledonia, VT. Males: 2x <5, 1x 5-9, 1x 15-19, 1x 30-39, 1x 70-79. Females: 1x 5-9, 1x 30-39. This is Lyman, Allen, Curtiss, an unknown son who has moved away by 1850, Samuel, Parley, Lovina, and Lucinda, see 1850.
• Samuel Church, Pawlet, Rutland, VT. Males: 1x 30-39. Females: 1x 5-9, 1x 30-39. This is Samuel and Emily P. Church with their daughter Maria, see 1850.

1850 Federal Census:

• Samuel Church, Wells, Rutland, VT. Samuel, 46, Emily P., 42, Maria, 17, Sally Foster (mother in law maybe?), 65.
• Samuel Church, Waterford, Caledonia, VT. Samuel, 45, Lucinda, 41, Lovina M., 20, Curtiss S., 17, Lyman B., 12, Allen J., 10, Celia A., 5., Parley, 86.