This
afternoon I pulled out the research I did many years ago – when I was a baby
genealogist – on my Agard family line. The document I had started was 43 pages
of family history starting with the founding couple, John and Esther Agard who
arrived on the Massachusetts shore in 1683.
The
plan is to read through a few pages at a time, run them off, and then perform a
“genealogy do-over” checking names, dates, and all other facts. I am so glad I
did this original research when we lived in New England, as that was where I had
access to the records.
When
I came to Samuel Agard, I got that small world feeling again, as genealogists are
wont to do. When I write up monographs, I like to explain the geographic areas
in which my ancestors lived. In this case, the Agards settled in the Town of
Catherine, NY. And if you read the write-up I found, one of the land purchasers
was from Newtown, CT, where I was living when I did this original research. And
then my Agard ancestors went on to establish the first library in Catherine.
You go guys!
And
so, with that introduction, meet Samuel Agard.
Samuel Agard (b: 6 Sept 1782) was the second child of Noah and Lucina (Jones) Agard. In
1807 Samuel married Sally Stone
(1785-1813), daughter of John and Lowly Stone of Branford, Connecticut. The
promise of available western lands was tempting for folks trying to farm the
rocky Connecticut soil. Samuel traveled to Catherine Township, NY with his
father Noah in 1809 and took title to land in 1814. He then found property in the Town of Dix that had a
sawmill.
The town of
Catherine was originally called Johnson’s Settlement, named for Robert C.
Johnson of New York City who purchased 10,725 acres in this area of Upstate New
York. In the center of the
crossroads stood a post, not unlike the liberty pole that stands in the middle
of State Route 25 and Route 6 in Newtown, Connecticut. The town was divided
into northeast, northwest, southeast and southwest sections. Interestingly, the
lot in the southeast corner of the town was purchased by Job Lattin, Jr. of
Newtown, Connecticut. In fact,
many early settlers arrived from Connecticut as this area of Upstate New York
was known for its fertile land and abundant orchards.
The Town of
Catherine was organized by act of legislature on 9 March 1798. John Mitchell is
listed as the first bona fide settler;
Eaton Agard is listed as one of the early settlers. The Methodist Episcopal
Church in Catherine was organized in 1805; one of the first trustees is Samuel
Agard. The Catherine Library Association was organized 1 April 1817 and Samuel
Agard again listed as a first trustee. The first post office was established in
1816.
Samuel
Agard, son of Noah, was also a circuit preacher in 1825. Eaton Agard was Town
of Catherine Supervisor in 1847, 1867-68.
The Agard farm was located at Lawrence 75A, Northwest Section Township
3, Johnson Settlement to Cayuta Lake.
Sally
died in 1813 and is buried in the Agard Cemetery on Route 414 between Alpine
and Odessa, New York.
In
1819 Samuel married Lydia Hibbard, the
fourth daughter of Daniel and Anna (Ripley) Hibbard, of Dummerston,
Vermont. Lydia (Hibbard) Agard was born 1 August 1792. Samuel and Lydia’s
children were all born in Catherine, NY. Lydia died 25 August 1846 in Havana
(Montour Falls, NY);[1] Samuel died
27 October 1861. Samuel and Lydia are buried in the Montour Cemetery, Montour,
New York. See later pages for further information on Samuel and Lydia.
On
22 May 1817 Samuel and Eaton Agard, along with others “…did by writing under
their hands signify their consent and desire to associate themselves together
for the procuring and creating a public library…” Samuel was First Trustee of
the Catherine Library Association
[1] Jarvis,
Louise Huntington Bailey, Some ancestors
and descendants of Samuel Agard and Florence Williams (Huntington) Bailey, Grand
Rapids, MI, 1947. P. 4.
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