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| Granddad Gage and some of his siblings - Left to Right Alice, Phebe, Pete, Ora (Granddad) Nellie & Burt. |
The first New York Gage was Joseph Gage. He was born on 3 May 1734 in Freetown,
Bristol Co., MA to William Montgomery Gage and Hannah Davis. Joseph married Mary Jane Huddleston on 13 Sep
1756 in Dartmouth, Bristol Co., MA. I
would love to say that I have a lot more generations preceding Joseph Gage…but
that is not the case. His father,
William Montgomery Gage, is the first Gage that we are sure is a direct
ancestor. William Montgomery Gage is
thought to have been born around 1696 based on some land documents that he
signed. He served in a militia from
Maine for six months in 1722 which I assume involved some war between the
Colonists and the Native Americans. His
line of work has been recorded as schoolmaster and any Gages that believe they
are descended from the William Gage of Freetown, MA – this is the Gage that
they are descended from. Joseph Gage
married a few years after his father’s death in 1756 and within a few years
moved to New York State. According to
his second son’s birthplace, he was in Otsego Co., NY in 1759, in Dutchess Co.,
NY in 1762, and in Duanesburg, Schenectady Co., NY by 1764 which is where he
lived the rest of his life.
Joseph and Mary had at least 10 children, nine of whom were
sons. Some of those sons spelled their
names Gage and some spelled it Gaige…but they were from the same family. Joseph died on 23 May 1811 in Duanesburg, NY
and Mary died a few years later on 27 Jan 1814.
Their fourth youngest son was William Gage b. 20 Aug 1770 in Duanesburg,
NY and d. 18 Jan 1865 in Knox, Albany Co., NY.
He married Ruth Macomber in 1790.
Four Gage siblings married four Macomber siblings which leads me to
believe that the families probably lived near each other. William Gage and Ruth Macomber's fourth son,
Potter Gage was born 25 Dec 1798 in Knox, Albany Co., NY. Potter Gage was my great grandfather’s great grandfather.
To finish up the line…Potter Gage m. Cynthia Swan – their son,
Gilbert Gage m. Phoebe Allen, and their grandson, Orlando m. Charity Hotaling
and Edith Gallup. So from about 1759 to
1908 – Granddad Gage’s paternal line had lived in New York State. His mother’s family (Gallup) had come from
Connecticut in 1796. The Swan’s were in
New York by 1800 (they also came from Connecticut), the Allen line had actually
been there probably since the early 1700’s (See Palantine Families) At some point, I expected to find an immigrant
who arrived after 1800…but I never found one in Granddad Gage’s family. His family lines had actually been some of
the early settlers of Connecticut and moved westward to New York State. The family line that I originally had the
most information on (Gage) actually turned out to be one of the more difficult
lines to locate the immigrant ancestor.
I don’t know if we will ever find the documentary evidence…but I believe
that science does offer some hope.
By the time Granddad had left New York in 1908 – his family
had been living in the same area (give or take a few miles) for almost 150
years. I don’t know how many descendants
of Orlando Gage are still in the New York area.
I know that there are a few that I am communicated with that still bear
the last name of Gage. I wonder how many
of them know that their family has been there since the mid 1700’s. That seems quite unique for me as I live in a
town that has only been in existence since 1861 and I live in a state that has
been a state only since 1890. (I live in
Lewiston, Idaho) My family has only been
in Idaho since the 1920’s (maternal side) and 1930’s (paternal side). I suppose that it is one of the exciting
things about genealogy – it is a lot of fun to try and figure out where your
family came from…and how your family ended up where they are. In my Granddad Gage’s life time – he traveled
from New York to Nebraska to Iowa to South Dakota to Idaho and then to Oregon –
that is quite a journey for a 98 year lifetime!
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