John Sly
1763 - 1868 (105 years)Set As Default Person
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Name John Sly [1] Birth 23 Jan 1763 Oblong,Dutchess,New York,United States [1, 2] Gender Male Death 30 Jan 1868 Seeley's Bay,Leeds,Ontario,Canada [1] Headstones Submit Headstone Photo Notes - NOTES ON THE
SLY FAMILY
IN
LEEDS COUNTY, ONTARIO
Not long after the District of Johnstown (the present-day counties of Leeds and Grenville) was established in the province of Upper Canada (Ontario) members of the Sly family arrived and were enumerated in the early census records. Mills Sly appeared in the Augusta Township census from 1796 to 1802 with his wife and two females under 16 years; he is last mentioned in 1807 when he appeared alone. William Sly was also listed in 1796 with a wife, two sons and three daughters; in the same year Widow Sly was listed.
To date the connection between these families has not been established and no doubt there are many other listings which can be added to this record. Various Sly families had lived in the New England colonies since the seventeenth century and branches of these families migrated to New Hampshire, Vermont and New York and eventually into the wilderness north of the St. Lawrence River. The majority saw little to attract them and followed the tide of migration west and south into the Ohio country and beyond.
JOHN SLY (1763 - 1868)
One who chose stay in what later became Leeds County was John Sly, a native of New York State. The little that we know about John Sly's life prior to 1799 is family lore. We are told he was born June 23, 1763 at Oblong Square, Dutchess County, New York. No such place existed, but he may have been born in the Oblong Tract, an area along the New York/Connecticut border claimed by both states; the Oblong Tract included a portion of Dutchess County. Prior to the American Revolution this area of New York state and neighbouring Vermont were the subject of bitter land disputes which pitted many small holders against wealthy landowners who claimed large tracts. Like many others, the Sly family did not remain in New York, but moved to Vermont. According to his grand-daughter, Mariah Millenbah, John Sly lived at the foot of the Green Mountains in Vermont and was away from home five years fighting during the Revolutionary War.
John Sly may have been the son or close relative of Mill Sly whose name appears in records of Dutchess County, NY and later Bennington County VT. This may be the same man who was enumerated in the 1796 census of Augusta Township, Leeds County. Some time prior to 1792 John Sly married Hannah Tibbits (1763-1836) who already had a son, Jonathan Pope. Hannah Tibbits may have been the daughter of Jonathan Tibbits who was living in Bennington Twp., VT at the same time as Mill Sly.
Following the 1792 proclamation of Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe offering free land in Upper Canada to anyone swearing allegiance to the British crown many Vermont families migrated to Leeds County. Some were associated with Abel Stevens who was responsible for the first settlement in Bastard Township in Leeds County but most came as family groups drawn by a new frontier and the offer of free land.
In the census of 1842 John Sly was enumerated in the Rear of Leeds Township and declared that he had been living in the Province since 1799. His daughter Naomi Farnam had been in the province since 1802. We might assume from this that John Sly came to Upper Canada on his own at first and brought his family later.
The journey from Vermont was long and slow. They began in winter; once the ground and lakes were frozen goods could be moved by sleighs drawn by oxen. John Sly and his family made their way up the Hudson River valley to Plattsburg, NY at the northern end of Lake Champlain. From there they traveled overland to the St. Lawrence River and crossed to Johnstown where there was a Loyalist settlement. John had secured work at the iron works in Lansdowne Township; the family appeared in the 1803 census of the Rear of Leeds and Lansdowne Township:
John Sly
Hannah
Jonathan
Naomi do
Desire do
Emma do
John do
Runa do
The listing for the Sly family continued through the first decade of the century. A daughter, Mariam, and two sons Miron and Barzereal were born, but only Barzereal survived to manhood. It is likely that Mariam and Miron died in childhood and are buried near the Berryton corner; in the 1970s the late Bill Green showed me a clearing on property he owned in Lot 11, Concession VII, Leeds Township, where he understood from his father that two children of the Sly family were buried. There is a story that one of these children was burned and there are indications that the field was used for burning charcoal; the gruesome conclusion is that the child may have climbed onto the charcoal-kiln, broke through and was burned.
The major activity in the township in the first decade of the nineteenth century was the construction and operation of the Iron Furnace on the Gananoque River at what is now Lyndhurst. Wallis Sunderlin, an iron founder from Vermont, had been granted the right to exploit the iron deposit in the area. Sly and Pope no doubt were employed in some capacity related to the Iron Works along with many other early settlers. Unfortunately, the iron works was heavily damaged by fire in 1811; war with the United States was imminent and the Sunderlin family was suspected of plotting with the Americans. Perhaps the stress was too much for Wallis Sunderlin; he died in that same year ending any possibility of reopening the iron works.
The War of 1812
Shortly after the commencement of hostilities in the War of 1812 Joel Stone, a Loyalist from Connecticut, who had mills and property at the mouth of the Gananoque River became concerned that his property would be attacked by American troops stationed in New York state; in his capacity as colonel he called out the 2nd Regiment of the Leeds Militia on July 21, 1812. The men from the surrounding countryside reported to Gananoque leaving their wives and children to manage through the busy summer as best they could. The Gananoque garrison, consisting of approximately 180 militiamen under the command of Captains Schofield and Wiltse, passed the summer uneventfully improving roads to the back country.
For the Americans such a force inflated the importance of Col. Stone's little settlement and presented a challenge that could not go unanswered. On the night of September 20, 1812, Captain Benjamin Forsyth (no doubt, with the latest intelligence from Gananoque) crossed over from Cape Vincent with about 100 men, landed west of Gananoque and attacked the garrison the following morning. Two senior officers were absent in Kingston with a small party of militia, but the remaining men put up a spirited fight before retiring across the ford to the east side of the river. Four men were wounded including John Sly and his future son-in-law, Archelaus Farnam; all four were later listed as having deserted.
Following this incident John Sly and his family moved to Barriefield, a small settlement next to Fort Henry situated at the mouth of the Cataraqui River. There he found work for duration of the war. After the war, the Sly family established themselves in the Rear of Leeds. The family is listed in the 1816 census for that township and John Sly is listed in the militia return June 5, 1820, but his son, John, and Jonathan Pope were absent in Montreal. Lumbering was the major activity in the area and able bodied young men could always find work through the winter and spring. It is likely that the two young men had hired on to a gang engaged to take a raft of lumber downriver.
In 1821 John Sly Sr. and Jonathan Pope bought Lot 13, Concession VII, Leeds Twp. from Zadock Knapp. At this time the household consisted of John and Hannah and children, John, Runa, Barzereal and Jonathan Pope. Later when Jonathan Pope married, they divided the 200 acre lot, Jonathan taking the rear half where he built a log house on a rocky knoll just south of the present Ellisville Road.
In March 1824, Runa Sly, was engaged by John Bennett Marks, a prosperous farmer in Barriefield (near Kingston), as a farm labourer for eight dollars a month. Marks kept a diary which is now in the possession of the Pittsburgh Township Historical Society; Runa Sly's work is recorded this diary. By 1825, Runa had saved enough to buy the front half of Lot 12 (100 acres), Concession VII, Leeds Township; this property was adjacent to the lot owned by his father and step-brother.
In 1836, Hannah Sly died at the age of 73 years; it is unfortunate that we know very little about this woman who was the progenitor of so many. John Sly lived another 32 years. In 1864, on his 100th birthday a celebration was held in the pine grove at the north end of Runa's farm; John recited the 23rd Psalm and mowed hay with the younger men. He died January 30, 1868 aged 104 years, 7 months and 7 days. The Sly family belonged to the Baptist congregation in the Rear of Leeds and it is in the Baptist Burying Ground at the junction of Highway 15 and County Road 33 that John and Hannah are buried.
THE FAMILY OF JOHH SLY AND HANNAH TIBBITS
John Sly and Hannah Tibbits had nine children that were recorded:
NAOMI SLY (1792/4/9 - 1880/1/28) was born in Vermont and came with her parents to Leeds County where she met and married Archelaus Kenny Farnam (1779/11/24 - 1833/1/24), son of John Farnam and Huldah Kenny. The Farnam family moved from New Hampshire to Vermont and eventually to Leeds County where they settled on the west side of Lower Beverly Lake in Bastard Twp. There Archelaus Kenny Farnam and his wife, Naomi, raised a family of seven or eight children:
Eli ( ) m Abigail Landers
Mary Ann ( ) m Stephen Chipman?
David K. (1816 - 1896) m ?? three times
Eunice (1818 - ) m Samuel Titus
John ( ) m ??
Archelaus K. (1826-1883) m Henrietta Phippenney
Jonathan (1828-1872) m Louisa Wiltse
Thaddeus (1829- ) m Cynthia Halladay
The wounds Archelaus Farnam received at the attack on Gananoque were serious enough that he was awarded a disability pension by the government; he died in 1833 and is buried in the Ripley Cemetery south of Elgin, Ontario. After his death his wife and family continued to live on Lot 29, Concession VIII, Bastard Township where Naomi made her living as a weaver. As the Farnam children reached maturity they left home and emigrated to the United States, settling finally in Nemaha County, Nebraska. Jonathan Farnam and his wife, Louisa Wiltse remained on the homestead with his mother, Naomi, until 1867 when they sold the property and homesteaded in Nebraska where the rest of the family was living. Naomi and Jonathan each bought 80 acres of land, but three years later all the Farnams left Nebraska and resettled in Osborne County, Kansas. Sadly, Jonathan died the following year probably as a result of injuries suffered in an accident with a grain separator in 1869. His wife, Louisa, raised their family on their farm and Naomi lived with her various children until her death in 1880; she is buried in Pleasant Valley Cemetery near Alton, Kansas.
Naomi Farnam's great-grand daughter, Augusta Leona Farnam took an interest in family history and with her husband, Clarence Rice Owens, spent considerable time researching the Farnam family along with many others in their ancestry. In January 1967 Mr. and Mrs. Owens died as a result of a traffic accident; they had wisely provided in their wills for the publication of the material that they had collected. In 1975 The Family Search of Clarence Rice Owens was published by the California Genealogical Society; it gives detailed information about the descendants of Archelaus Farnam and Naomi Sly.
DESIRE SLY was born September 28, 1793 in Vermont and moved with her family to Leeds County when she was 7 or 8 years old; there she met and married Allen Sweet, son of John and Alpha Sweet; the Sweets, natives of Oswego County, New York arrived in Leeds Rear about 1806. Allen Sweet (b. 1790) was a farmer, speculator and entrepreneur; prominent in local politics, he represented the area at the Gourlay meeting in 1818. In later years he was appointed a justice of the peace; he was also an active Methodist and served as a lay preacher for many years.
It appears that Allen Sweet had married in 1810 to Rachel Knapp who subsequently died. Sweet remarried to Desire Sly and they settled at Sweet's Corners on lot 19, Concession X, Leeds Twp.; here they raised a family of five:
Ira m Sibel Merrill
Amos T. m Phoebe Dewolf
Electa m Asa Wing
Hester Ann m Joseph Mainse
Parthena m Skyler(Schuyler) Lake
Allen Sweet died January 3, 1864 and Desire died October 10, 1868; they are buried at the Baptist Burying Ground in the Rear of Leeds.
EMMA ANN SLY was born April 9, 1796 in Vermont. When she was a small child her family moved to Leeds County; about 1817 she married Eli T. Sweet, son of John and Alpha Sweet. They had seven children:
Lydia m Robert Nuttle (Nuttall)
Elijah m Jane Chapman
Arnold Lewis m Eliza Pierson
Hannah m Myron Ripley
Miron m Kate Thorngate
Permilla m George Powers
Hiram m Aramantha Powers
In 1844 Eli T. Sweet and all his family with the exception of his daughter, Lydia and her husband, Robert Nuttall, emigrated from Leeds County to Wisconsin in the United States. Emma Ann Sweet died at Portland, Wisconsin on November 11, 1861; no date is given for the death of Eli T. Sweet. Descendants of the family of Robert Nuttall and Lydia Sweet still live in the Lyndhurst/Sweets Corners area.
JOHN SLY JR (1798 - 1886) was the fourth child of John Sly and Hannah Tibbits; he was born in Addison County, Vermont and came to Upper Canada as a baby with is parents. He married Hannah Churchill, daughter of Joseph and Abigail Churchill; the Churchill family had migrated from New York and settled in the Rear of Leeds about 1806. John Jr. and Hannah Sly had eight children:
James (1829/8/25 – 186?) m Sabra Solomon
Sara Ann b. 1831/2/22
Hiram S. (1832/08/16 - ) m Sarah Ann Emmons
Maria b. 1833/2/15 m William Millenbah
John R. (1835 – 1915) m Electa Hutchinson
Joseph C. b. 1838/1/1 m Eliz. M. Coyle
Henry (1840 – 1864), Fair Oaks, VA
Nancy 1843/04/10
Ithamer b. 1845/6/11 m Julia Hoyt
Naomi (1847/11/1 – 1877) m William Edwin French
John Jr. and Hannah lived on a farm on lot 10, Concession VII, Leeds Twp. until 1849 when they moved to Wisconsin, settling in Plainsville, Dell Prairie Twp., Adams Co. In 1875 the family moved to Dunn Co. in northern Wisconsin where they received land grants. John and Hannah died there and are buried there along with their son John and his wife Electa. Joseph and Ithamer Sly moved to Washington State about 1890. (See separate history of this family)
RUNA SLY (1803/2/26 - 1887/6/26) was the fifth child of John Sly and Hannah Tibbits. Runa Sly married Brittann Lawrence(1810/4/19 - 1875/3/1), daughter of Robert Lawrence and Ruth Farnam (sister of Archelaus K. Farnam). In 1825 Runa bought the front half of Lot 12, Concession VII, Leeds(100 acres) where he built a log house and in this house Runa and Brittann raised their family. In later years Runa's father, John, lived with them until his death in 1868. Some time prior to 1860 Runa built a new timber frame house some distance north of the log house; this house had one and a half stories with a large porch with turned posts and fancy verge boards. John Chapman Sly remembered a Christmas dinner in this house at which oysters were served. After Runa's death in 1887 his son, Runa Jr, and his family continued to live in the house. Runa and Brittann Sly had nine children:
Lorenzo Dow (1830 - 1916) married Mary Ann Day
William Healy (1833 - ) married Adelaide Pearson
Mary Lovina (1835 - 1913) married 1) William F. McSweeney 2) Sidney Haskins
Myron Tiberias (1836 - 1928) married Ann Eliza Elliott
Hester Ann (1840 - 1878) married Joshua Hill
Benjamin Thomas (1842 - 1930) married Mary Elizabeth Chapman
Runa (1845 - 1851)
Emily Jane (1847 - 1933) married George Pearson
Runa John (1853 - 1895) married Adelaide Ralph
For additional information on this family see separate history.
MIRIAM SLY was born in 1805; her name appears in the census records of the Rear of Leeds Twp. for 1806 only.
MIRON SLY was probably born in 1805 or early 1806; his name appears in the census records of the Rear of Leeds Twp. for 1806, 1807 and 1816. He was likely one of the five boys enumerated in John Sly's household in the next surviving census record in 1820. He is presumed to have some time in the 1820s.
BARZEREAL SLY, the youngest child of John Sly and Hannah Tibbits, was born in 1809. By the 1830s he was living in Bastard probably at Beverly(Delta) where he learned the blacksmith trade; he was a witness to several legal documents for his sister Naomi Farnam. On May 20, 1838 Barzereal Sly and Elizabeth Shook of Leeds Township were married by Thomas Sheffield; witnesses were Ira Haskins and R. M. Struthers. In the 1839 they moved to Redwood near Alexandria Bay, Jefferson County, New York; they returned often to visit their families and their son Eli was born at Runa Sly's house in Leeds. The family appeared in the 1851 census at Antwerp, Jefferson County:
Beziral Sly
Elizabeth Sly
Eli Sly
Uri Sly
A daughter Caroline was born about 1852. After Elizabeth (Betsy) Sly died in 1853 the family returned to Leeds County and lived on the Sly property for a number of years. About 1858 Barzereal and his two sons Eli and Uri returned to Jefferson County, N.Y. leaving his daughter Caroline to stay with his sister Naomi Farnam in Bastard Township. Barzereal worked for a time in a blacksmith shop owned by Benjamin Weaver but by 1860 he was unable to work due to illness and was supported by his son Eli. In 1861 he was reported to be "infirm and unable to move but very little …only able to get out of his house by the help of crutches." In 1861 Eli enlisted in the United States Army; he continued to support his father while in the Army. Unfortunately, Eli Sly was killed at the Battle of Seven Pines in Virginia on May 31, 1862.
Barzereal was unable to work at a steady job but tried to support himself by "picking blackberries or travelling around the country tinkering." In 1880 it was reported that "the said Sly and his present wife have either been assisted by the County or town where they resided … since 1870." Barzereal Sly was able to obtain a small pension as the dependent of a Civil War soldier; this sustained him until his death in the summer of 1900 at the age of ninety years.
JONATHAN POPE (1789/ - 1849/5/17) was the son of Hannah Tibbits from an earlier marriage; he was born in the United States and at the age of ten he migrated to Canada with his mother and step-father, John Sly. In 1821 Jonathan Pope and John Sly bought Lot 13, Concession VII, Leeds; Pope took the north half and Sly the south. On January 12, 1829, Jonathan Pope married Jerusha Lawrence (1809 - 1865), daughter of Robert Lawrence and Ruth Farnam, and sister of Brittann who married Runa Sly. Two half-brothers married two sisters. Jonathan Pope built a log house on a rocky knoll near the present Ellisville Road where he and Jerusha raised nine children:
George Jonathan b. 1830 m Isabel Gillespie
Lucinda b. 1831 m John Snider
Miron b. 1832 m Minerva Sherwood
Ruth b. 1833
Jediah b. 1839
Hannah Tibbits b. 1840 m 1 ?? Cadwell
2 James Erwin
Amy b. 1841 m Henry Chase
Robert James b. 1843 m Olive Pratt
Eanos Orin b. 1846 m Rebecca Halliday
Jonathan Pope died in 1849 and is buried in Leeds Baptist Burying Ground; Jerusha died in 1865 and is buried next to him, but no stone marks her grave. Some of the family stayed in Leeds County and their descendants live in the area today.
Keith Sly
July 2006 [3]
Person ID I21411 Rgstrong Family genes. Last Modified 15 Mar 2012
Family Hannah Tibbitts, b. 23 Jul 1763, ,,Vermont,United States d. 23 Dec 1836, Seeley's Bay,Leeds,Ontario,Canada (Age 73 years) Marriage Bef 1792 ,,Vermont,United States Immigration 1799 ,Leeds,,Upper Canada from New York Children + 1. Cynthia Sly, b. 1787, ,,New York,United States bur. Elgin,Leeds,Ontario,Canada [Father: challenged] [Mother: challenged] + 2. Naomi Sly, b. 9 Apr 1792, ,,Vermont,United States d. 28 Jan 1880, ,Osborne,Kansas,United States (Age 87 years) + 3. Desire Sly, b. 28 Sep 1793, ,,Vermont,United States d. 10 Oct 1868, Sweets Corners,Leeds,Ontario,Canada (Age 75 years) + 4. Emma Ann Sly, b. 9 Apr 1796, ,,Vermont,United States d. 11 Nov 1861, Portland,Jefferson,Wisconsin,United States (Age 65 years) + 5. John Sly, Jr., b. 1798, ,Addison,Vermont,United States d. 1886, ,Dunn,Wisconsin,United States (Age 88 years) + 6. Runa Sly, b. 26 Feb 1803, ,Leeds,,Upper Canada d. 26 Jun 1887, ,Leeds,Ontario,Canada (Age 84 years) 7. Miriam Sly, b. 1805, ,Leeds,,Upper Canada 8. Miron Sly, b. Between 1805 and 1806, ,Leeds,,Upper Canada + 9. Barzereal Sly, b. Abt 1809, ,Leeds,,Upper Canada d. 1900, ,Jefferson,New York,United States (Age 91 years) Family ID F7479 Group Sheet | Family Chart Last Modified 15 Mar 2012
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Event Map Click to display = Link to Google Earth Pin Legend
Sources - [S517] Joseph Peck, Pedigree Chart for Cynthia Alena Halladay, (27 Dec 2007 Rochester, NY), 14 Mar 2008, #10, C:\Roots\pedcharts\Halladay\Halladay 1.jpg. (Reliability: 3).
- [S724] Keith Sly, "Notes on the Sly Family in Leeds County, Ontario"; decendant report to Russell Strong, [STREET ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Vicksburg, MI, July 2006; word document held by Keith Sly, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE], Seeleys Bay, ON, Canada., 24 Feb 2012, p. 1, AAN0002. (Reliability: 3).
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JOHN SLY (1763 - 1868)
One who chose stay in what later became Leeds County was John Sly, a native of New York State. The little that we know about John Sly's life prior to 1799 is family lore. We are told he was born June 23, 1763 at Oblong Square, Dutchess County, New York. No such place existed, but he may have been born in the Oblong Tract, an area along the New York/Connecticut border claimed by both states; the Oblong Tract included a portion of Dutchess County. Prior to the American Revolution this area of New York state and neighbouring Vermont were the subject of bitter land disputes which pitted many small holders against wealthy landowners who claimed large tracts. Like many others, the Sly family did not remain in New York, but moved to Vermont. According to his grand-daughter, Mariah Millenbah, John Sly lived at the foot of the Green Mountains in Vermont and was away from home five years fighting during the Revolutionary War.
... - [S724] Keith Sly, "Notes on the Sly Family in Leeds County, Ontario"; decendant report to Russell Strong, [STREET ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Vicksburg, MI, July 2006; word document held by Keith Sly, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE], Seeleys Bay, ON, Canada., 24 Feb 2012, p. 1-8, AAN0002. (Reliability: 3).
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JOHN SLY (1763 - 1868)
One who chose stay in what later became Leeds County was John Sly, a native of New York State. The little that we know about John Sly's life prior to 1799 is family lore. We are told he was born June 23, 1763 at Oblong Square, Dutchess County, New York. No such place existed, but he may have been born in the Oblong Tract, an area along the New York/Connecticut border claimed by both states; the Oblong Tract included a portion of Dutchess County. Prior to the American Revolution this area of New York state and neighbouring Vermont were the subject of bitter land disputes which pitted many small holders against wealthy landowners who claimed large tracts. Like many others, the Sly family did not remain in New York, but moved to Vermont. According to his grand-daughter, Mariah Millenbah, John Sly lived at the foot of the Green Mountains in Vermont and was away from home five years fighting during the Revolutionary War.
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