Appointment of Levi S. Tryon and Isaac S. Suydam as Appraisers of the Jacob Post Estate - 1839

Jacob Post, Sr. (1773-1838)

Jacob Post, Sr. was born 16 September 1773 in or near Neshanic, Hillsborough, Somerset Co., New Jersey, the son of Christopher Willemsz. Post and Margaret Jorisse Bergen. Jacob married Mary Stout, daughter of Samuel and Eunice Stout, ca. 1795 while still in New Jersey. When Christopher and Margaret removed with some of their children from New Jersey to the western shore of Owasco Lake in 1796, Jacob and Mary accompanied them. The Post family took up land in Lot 91 of what later became the Town of Fleming, Cayuga Co., New York, south of present-day Stone School Road. The related Peterson family came in at the same time, settling on adjacent Lot 83 to the north.

"In 1796, Wm. Post, at the request of his father, who was then in New Jersey, came, in company with Abram Van Ness, his brother-in-law, with whom he had removed to Ovid, Seneca county, from New Jersey, in 1794, to examine lot 91, for which his father was then negotiating. Wm. Post, having sent a satisfactory description of the lot to his father, settled where David B. Post now lives, and Van Ness, who married Post's sister Lena, where Horace Post now lives. This same year his father, Christopher Post, came in from New Jersey with his wife, Margaret, his youngest son, Jacob, and his wife, Mary, his daughter, Mary, and her husband, Cornelius Peterson, and his youngest daughter, Ida, who was then unmarried, but subsequently became the wife of John Brokaw, in company with Cornelius Peterson, father of his son-in-law Cornelius, and his family, which was large. Christopher took up 472 acres on lot 91, and settled in the south-east corner, where Ebenezer Gilbert now lives [NOTE:  Should be the northeast corner because that is where the Post farms were located and where Ebenezer Gilbert lived - R. A. Post]. They came with wagons, over the mountains, fording streams which were bridgeless. Peterson settled on lot 83, where George Peterson, his grandson, now lives. Christopher Post died on the homestead March 17th, 1816."

-- Elliot G. Storke, History of Cayuga County, New York 1789 - 1879 (Syracuse, Onondaga Co., NY, D. Mason & Co., 1879), Internet Archive http://archive.org/, p. 377

Jacob and Mary had a daughter, Margaret (aka Margret) Post, born 10 January 1797 at Owasco Lake. Mary died some time after the birth of Margaret. Jacob subsequently married Jannetie (later anglicized to Jane) Nevius, daughter of Martynes Nevius and Ida Hoagland, ca. 1801. By then, Cayuga County had been formed, and Lot 91 was part of the Town of Aurelius of that county. Jacob and Jannetie had 12 children between 1803 and 1824. Some of the children would later settle in western New York State and in Ohio.

Jacob Post, Sr. constructed a log house on the south side of present-day Stone School Road sometime between 1801 and 1810, after having lived with his parents during their initial settlement along Owasco Lake. He operated a horse- or oxen-powered feed mill and a tannery for many years before he died intestate in October 1838. Jannetie, his widow, survived until December 1858.

Appointment of Appraisers in Surrogate's Court for Jacob Post, Jr.'s Estate

On 23 February 1839, Jacob Post, Jr. petitioned the Surrogate's Court at Auburn, Cayuga Co., New York for Letters of Administration on the estate of his father. At the same time, the Court appointed two Appraisers to value the personal estate of Jacob Post, Sr., deceased.

Appointment of Appraisers Levi S. Tryon and Isaac S. Suydam for the estate of Jacob Post, Sr., late of the Town of Fleming, Cayuga Co., New York

Reverse side of Appointment of Appraisers Levi S. Tryon and Isaac S. Suydam for the estate of Jacob Post, Sr., late of the Town of Fleming, Cayuga Co., New York

The Appraisers appointed by Surrogate Thomas Y. How, Jr. were Levi S. Tryon and Isaac S. Suydam. Some biographical information on Levi S. Tryon appeared in a previous blog post. Suffice it to say that Levi was a prominent former mill owner who owned a farm on present-day Silver Street less than 2.5 miles by road from the Post residence in the Town of Fleming.

Isaac S. Suydam

Isaac S. Suydam, son of David Suydam and Abigail Grover, lived on his father's farm on present-day Silver Street Road near the corner of Stone School Road. This placed Isaac even closer than Levi Tryon to the farm of Jacob Post, Sr., about 1.6 miles by road. The familiarity of the Post and Suydam families is evidenced by the fact that Jacob Post, Jr., Administrator of his father's estate, was censused adjacent to David Suydam's household in 1840 although Jacob may have been in his father's household near Owasco Lake the prior year. Isaac would have been 30 years old at the time he was appointed as an Appraiser of Jacob Sr.'s estate in 1839. Isaac S. Suydam apparently never married and died 1 May 1875.

There was another, older Isaac Suydam, possibly an uncle of Isaac S. Suydam, who appears with Jacob Post, Sr. in an 1807 list of subscribers to fund construction of the "Meeting House of the United Congregation of the Reformed Low Dutch church at the Owasco Outlet" (Sand Beach Church). The Post and Suydam families therefore belonged to same congregation. The elder Isaac Suydam was censused adjacent to David Suydam at Fleming in 1830 but does not appear there in 1840. Probate records show that an Isaac Suydam died intestate at Scio, Washtenaw Co., Michigan prior to 23 March 1853, leaving goods, chattels, or credits within Cayuga Co., New York. These facts render it somewhat unlikely that the elder Isaac Suydam was the one appointed as an Appraiser of Jacob Post, Sr.'s estate.

1834 Cemetery Lot Deed in the Town of Fleming, Cayuga Co., New York

Deed for Subdivision No. 29 of a cemetery in the Town of Fleming, Cayuga Co., New York issued by John Fries to George Peterson and Mores Goolde and witnessed by L. S. Tryon on 25 February 1834

The Cemetery Deed

This document came into my possession by purchase from an an internet seller. I was kindly notified of its availability by an e-mail from a person who noticed that I maintain Find A Grave memorials for some of the Peterson family. As shown above, the Cemetery Deed for Subdivision No. 29 was received by George Peterson and Mores Goolde from John Fries as Trustee for the owners of an unidentified burying ground near "Asel P. Bennets" residence in the Town of Fleming, Cayuga Co., New York. The Deed was executed at Auburn, Cayuga Co., New York and is dated 25 February 1834. The transaction was witnessed by Levi S. Tryon, a prominent manufacturer in Owasco and, later, farmer in the Town of Fleming.

George Peterson

George Peterson, who appears in some early New Jersey records as Joris Peitersen, was the son of Cornelius Peterson and Hannah (Annatie) Parsell. He was born in 1768 and baptized at Neshanic, Somerset Co., New Jersey. George married Mary (Maria) Parcells. The Peterson family removed from New Jersey to the western shore of Owasco Lake in 1796 and settled a large tract of land in what was later the Town of Fleming, Cayuga Co., New York. An 1853 map of Fleming shows the residences of George Peterson and a son, Isaac, south of present-day Mobbs Road near Vannest Brook (now spelled Veness Brook) in Lot 75 (not labeled on map), south of Lot 66. George Peterson was 66 years old at the time the deed was executed.

Mores Goolde

This name may be a phonetic spelling for Morris Gould, if such a person resided in Fleming. I found no record for a Morris Gould in Fleming at this time. There was a Peterson-Gould marriage, however. George Peterson's sister, Anna, married John Gould. They are buried in Sand Beach Cemetery in the Town of Fleming. Little else about this couple is readily found. It may be that Morris Gould was a son or brother of John Gould.

Levi S. Tryon

Levi S. Tryon was born at Sunderland, Franklin Co., Massachusetts in 1779. He is said to have come in from Connecticut ca. 1800 and settled in Owasco.

"On the east side of the outlet near Swift's dam, Levi S. Tryon in 1805 erected a clothing works that included machinery for fulling, carding, dyeing and dressing cloth. At that time it was considered 'the most complete works of the kind west of Albany' and Tryon continued the operation until the winter of 1835 when the buildings were destroyed by fire. . . ."
 -- Sheila Tucker, Thomas Tryniski (scan), Roger Post (transcriber), Legends in the Dust - Phase Two of the Dream (Auburn, Cayuga Co., NY, The Citizen, Sunday, 9 February 1975), Old Fulton New York Post Cards http://www.fultonhistory.com

Levi sold his property to the Owasco Canal Company and purchased a farm in the Town of Fleming, probably relatively soon after his mill burned. His farm appears on the 1853 map of Fleming on Lots 82 and 83, quite near the farm of George Peterson; however, at the time the Cemetery Deed was signed, it is possible that Levi had not yet removed from Owasco. One of Levi's grandchildren, Howard Tryon, would later marry Jennie Peterson, a great-grandniece of George Peterson.

John Fries

John Fries was the son of Adam and Elizabeth Fries. Adam was an early settler of Auburn in 1796. He eventually took up more than 640 acres of land in Owasco, along the east side of the Owasco Outlet (now called the Owasco River). Adam Fries must have been well acquainted with George Peterson because in 1811 they jointly subscribed to purchase one $20 share in the building fund for an Academy to be built at Auburn. In addition, Adam and George had been among the original subscribers to the Building Fund for construction of the Sand Beach Church in 1807. George Peterson likely knew Adam's son John, as well.

Asel P. Bennet (Asahel P. Bennett)

The Cemetery Deed references a burying ground near "Asel P. Bennets" residence. Asahel P. Bennett owned a tract of land along the Owasco Outlet in the Town of Fleming. The land included property between present-day Lake Avenue and the Outlet. Asahel's Will directed setting off 40 acres of his property between the road (presumably Lake Avenue from the description) and the outlet from the north line of Lot 67 southward as far as needed. Lot 67 lies mainly in Owasco but includes an area on the west (Fleming) side of the Outlet, too. A further directive required setting off 10 acres of lowlands between Asahel's house and the lake shore. Finding the location of Asahel's house would require further research, but the Will directive seems to place the house near the present-day traffic circle on State Route 38. An 1853 map of Fleming does identify the residence of an F. Bennett on Lake Avenue in the area occupied by present-day St. Joseph's Cemetery.

Sand Beach Cemetery

Identification of the burying ground referenced in the Cemetery Deed of George Peterson and Mores Goolde isn't certain. The closest cemetery to Asahel Bennett's property was Sand Beach, near the present-day intersection of Lake Avenue and State Route 38 in the Town of Fleming. The first increment of Sand Beach Cemetery, which has burials dating to 1812, was managed by the Protestant Dutch Church at the Owasco Outlet (Sand Beach Reformed Church) and had been in operation for several decades by 1834. This portion of the Cemetery is directly behind the former Sand Beach Church. Deeds for this area probably would have been handled through the Church rather than by John Fries. Galpin Hill Cemetery also was not far from Asahel Bennett's land, but it had burials dating to 1801. In either case, the cemetery name would presumably appear on the Cemetery Deed if additional lots were being sold. 

The absence of a well-recognized cemetery name on the Deed may indicate that the burying ground was relatively new in 1834. George Peterson was buried within the present-day limits of Sand Beach Cemetery in 1858. George's burial location suggests that his Deed was for the second increment added to Sand Beach Cemetery. The second increment originally was managed by the Owasco Cemetery Association and may well have been needed by 1834 as the small strip behind the Church became full.