Gage & Gaige

There are five Gage lines that have been recorded.  I don’t know if we will ever know is they are connected or if it will always be a mystery.  The first Gage in my line is that of William Montgomery Gage of Freetown, MA.   William married Hannah Davis in about 1823 and they were the parents of 10 children.  They had nice Quaker names like Remembrance, Sylvester and Joseph.   There has always been a curiosity about the descendants of Joseph Gage, my 6^th great grandfather and William Montgomery Gage’s 4^th son. 

Joseph Gage was born 3 May 1734 in Freetown, Bristol Co., MA and died 23 May 1811 in Duanesburg, Schenectady Co., NY.  He married Mary Jane Huddleston on 13 Sep 1756 in Tiverton, Newport Co., RI.  Mary Jane Huddleston was born on 14 May 1738 in Dartmouth, Bristol Co., MA and d. 27 Jan 1814 in Duanesburg, Schenectady Co., NY.  She was the daughter of Isaac Huddleston and Elinor Mortimer.  (She had two sisters who also married Gage brothers.  Mercy married William Montgomery Gage, Jr. and Cloe married Thomas Gage) Joseph and Mary Jane must have left Massachusetts fairly soon after their marriage because their second child is born in Burlington, Otsego Co., NY and they are living in Duanesburg by 1764 when their fourth child was born, which is where they spent the rest of their lives.  Joseph and Mary Jane’s children were:

• Mortimer M. Gaige b. 9 Sep 1757 Dartmouth, Bristol Co., MA d. 18 Dec 1804 Duanesburg, Schenectady Co., NY m1. 9 Sep 1782 Catherine Vail
• Philip Gaige b. 14 Nov 1759 Burlington, Otsego Co., Ny d. 1818 Otsego Co., NY m. Elizabeth
• Benjamin Gaige b. 19 Apr 1762 Nine Partners, Dutchess Co., NY d. 1 Dec 1831  Duanesburg, Schenectady Co., NY m. abt 1780 Deliverance “Dilla” Hoag
• Moses Gaige b. 11 Jun 1764 Duanesburg, Schenectady Co., NY d. 23 Sep 1830 m1. 24 Feb 1786 Hannah Macomber m2. 4 Dec 1817 Sybil Hoag
• Simeon Gage b. 17 Jan 1767 Duanesburg, Schenectady Co., NY d. 1804 Duanesburg, Schenectady Co., NY m. Feb 1786 Mary Macomber
• Isaag Gaige b. 12 Aug 1769 Duanesburg, Schenectady Co., NY d. 2 Aug 1864 Duanesburg, Schenectady Co., NY m1. 13 Nov 1788 Lydia Soule m2. Abt 1797 Amelia Adams m3. 25 Nov 1818 Anna Bradbury
• William Gage b. 20 Aug 1770 Duanesburg, Schenectady Co., NY d. 18 Jan 1865 Knox, Albany Co., NY m. abt 1790 Ruth Macomber
• David Gage b. 26 Aug 1774 Duanesburg, Schenectady Co., NY d. 16 Jan 1868 Farmington, Ontario Co., NY m. abt 1795 Cornelia Scott
• Joseph Gage b. 3 Mar 1777 Duanesburg, Schenectady Co., NY d. 26 Mar 1858 Silver Lake, Susquehanna Co., PA m1. abt 1795 Elizabeth Briggs m2. Abt 1802 Lydia Thompson
• Mercy Gage b. 19 Aug 1779 Duanesburg, Schenectady Co., NY m. Benjamin Macomber

(All four Macombers were the children of John Macomber and Mary Brownell Davol)

The curiosity for me is this….of these sons of Joseph and Mary Jane – some of them have changed the spelling of their name from Gage to Gaige.  I got most of my Gage information from a man named Rev. Walker Miller Gage who wrote a Gage genealogy that my great grandparents got in the late 1960’s.  He had the theory that these older sons of Joseph Gage were loyalists who changed the name in protest.  The earliest birth date for these Gage sons was 1757 which would have put them fairly young when the Revolutionary War started.  They were a Quaker family which makes me wonder if that might have been a reason they disagreed with the war.  Unfortunately, I have nothing to verify the theory of Rev. Gage…although he probably came the closest to talking to those who knew.  I haven’t seen any of the other Gage lines show this unique spelling either.  So….if you are looking at the Gage surname, try checking out if your relative can be found with the Gaige spelling.