For Posterity's Sake Genealogy 

Bishop Research Update

The Search for Leverett Bishop

January 13, 2009 

In August 2007, I was able to go to Digby, NS and conduct some further research on the Bishop family. As a result I was able to confirm a few assumptions previously made and discover some new facts on our elusive ancestors. The discoveries made were these:

After searching through ALL the land grants and transfers in Digby County from 1783 to 1832 concerning the Surnames Arnold, Bishop and Fitzgerald, I copied and transcribed these documents.

The results are summarized in the table below.

Note that where there is a double asterisk ** after the name of William Fitzgerald his wife was a co-signer and her name was …… Susanah.

From the table we can confirm for the first time by documentary evidence that Leverett Bishop was in the Digby Area as of Oct. 1790 (age about 25). He was witness to the sale of land in Gulliver’s Hole by his future father-in-law. Remember Leverett married Sarah on Dec. 22, 1793. It appears that Leverett knew Sarah for at least 3 years before marrying.

There are a few more surprises in this table.

The facts shown by the land transactions and Census of December 1785 (explained later in this report) changes a lot about what we thought concerning the Fitzgerald family. Firstly, in the census it clearly shows both William Sr. and William Jr. voting for Thomas Millidge for parliament. Therefore both father and son moved to Digby from Annapolis. Secondly, a William Fitzgerald sold lands in 1802, 1813 and finally 1818. It was presumed by Isaiah Wilson on Page 321 of his book that the William Fitzgerald who died Dec. 7, 1801 was William Fitzgerald Junior. It is almost certain that William Senior died that year. His son William Junior and wife Susanah had Sarah about 1768 (died in 1830 age 62), so he was married before that date. William Junior was likely born at least 20 years earlier or about 1748 or before. His father must have been born at least 20 years earlier or about 1728 or before.

 It is recorded that William Sr. came to Annapolis from Ireland in 1761. He then would have been about 30 years old, a reasonable age for this immigration. If it was he who died in 1801 he would have been about 70 years old. It now seems that William Junior died sometime after 1818. He would also have been about 70 years old at that time. The dates deduced above are approximate but best fit the facts as they are now known.  By 1790 William Fitzgerald and family were living at Gulliver’s Hole near Digby having sold all his land in Town.

As for Leverett Bishop, he purchased the Digby Town Lot 1 Block W on Montague Row in 1801. This was the same year that he was granted 292 Acres by the Hatfield Grant. In 1805 he purchased the 1/2 Ac Digby Town Lot 32, Block J and 1827 he sold 3/4 Ac Digby Town Lots 25, 26 and 27 Block B. I could not find any record of him purchasing the lots in Block B. All the Town lots owned by the families of Arnold, Bishop and Fitzgerald are shown on the Plan illustrated below.

A digression is necessary here:

A Short History of the 5^th Battalion of the New Jersey Volunteers

In the fall of 1776 Joseph BARTON of Newton, Sussex County, New Jersey stood forth and received a warrant from Brigadier General SKINNER to raise a battalion from amongst the Loyalists of Sussex, bringing drafts from the militia if need be. About 250 officers and men were raised and officially designated the 5th Battalion, New Jersey Volunteers in November of 1776.

Among these were such notables as Major Thomas MILLIDGE, one of the chief surveyors for New Jersey, and Ensign James MOODY, who would lead in scores of Loyalists to the British lines, intercept Rebel post riders, capture militia officers, free jail-bound Loyalists and eventually try to break into the Continental Congress itself.

 Col. BARTON personally led raids as far as Paramus and English Neighbourhood in early 1777 before the battalion settled down to garrison duty on Staten Island. In that situation they were surprised by Sullivan's invasion of the island on 22 August 1777, losing about 30 men captured, plus one officer - BARTON.

Significantly weakened, the corps fell into chaos.

The battalion contributed little more in the way of offense. Some members took part in the September, 1777 incursion into Bergen County under Sir Henry CLINTON, but that was all. They lost men in two actions in November on Staten Island, on the 9th and 27th, the latter being Philemon DICKINSON's excursion with about 1,500 New Jersey Militia. In this debilitated condition, the battalion was set to cease its independent existence on 25 April 1778. James MOODY would end the war a lieutenant (with captain’s pay) and publish a narrative of his “exertions and sufferings” in England.

Now to continue:

While I was at the Admiral Digby Museum, I came across The Millidge Papers. They contain a treasure of unpublished documents relating to the early years of Digby. Surveyor Major Thomas Milledge was engaged to lay out the Town Plat of Digby in 1783. His papers record his involvement in the early settlement of the Town of Digby NS.

This is of course the same Millidge of the 5^th Battalion of the New Jersey Volunteers mentioned above. You will also notice that the same Col. Joseph Barton purchased two parcels of land from our William Fitzgerald in 1786.

The papers contain certain records listed below:

1)   Letter recording the intent by Amos Botsford as agent for the newly arrived Loyalists to lay out the Town of Digby on lands occupied by William Fitzgerald, William McDormand and Archibald Hamilton. They were granted permission to settle in Conway Township by Michael Franklin, Governor of Nova Scotia in an obligation dated September 15, 1775. ( 1 IMAGE )

2)   Purchase of Land from Fitzgerald, McDormand and Hamilton for the Town Plat of Digby, dated May 14^th, 1783 by Amos Botsford agent for the settlers. ( 2 IMAGES )

3)   Poll List taken Dec. 19^th and 20^th, 1785 at Digby for election of Provincial representative. (Effectively a census of adult males in Digby in 1785) (Thomas Milledge was elected as first M.P.P. for the Township) ( 2 IMAGES )

4)   Return of Men, Women and Children dated March 12, 1787 in Digby County by order of Governor Parr. (A Census and a listing of persons with a right to bear arms)( 2 IMAGES )

5)  List of persons having Town Lots in Digby as of Dec. 1788. ( 3 IMAGES )

Copies of the documents (10 IMAGES) are available from me if desired.

Partial images are inserted into this document illustrate the significant data and reduce file size.

Item 3:

Here we discover that Stephen Arnold, Phineas Arnold, William Fitzgerald Sr. and William Fitzgerald Jr. all voted for Thomas Millidge as MPP. Nowhere is there any mention of any Bishop. 

It appears that Leverett (age 20) was not in the area at this time. Note that we now know that both Fizgerald’s (father and son) were living in Digby in 1785.

Item 4 

Here we have a census in which Stephen Arnold is married with 3 children. William Fitzgerald is married and has 8 children. Again there is no mention of any Bishop. Leverett appears to be elsewhere in 1787.

Here there is no mention of Phineas Arnold or William Fitzgerald (most likely the father).

Item 5 

Here we have a listing of persons owning a lot or lots in the Town of Digby as of December 1788.

We have Phineas Arnold an American on Lot 5 Block C, Stephen Arnold an American on Lot 14 Block C, a Jonathan Bishop an American on Lot 13 Block U but listed as gone. William Fitzgerald an Irishman is on Lots 10 and 15 Block V. Again Leverett Bishop is not mentioned as owning property in Digby in 1788.

To summarize, it appears that Leverett Bishop was not in the Digby area before 1788. If he came there shortly after the Loyalist evacuation as his petition claims, then he maintained a very low profile during the years 1783-1790. As an adult he would be expected to vote for a member of parliament and should have been in the 1787 census. I can not account for this gap except to conclude that he went elsewhere to practice his profession. Upon reviewing his petition for land on Feb. 22^nd, 1800 we read that “Your Petitioner came to this province soon after the evacuation of New York by the British Troops ….. and by the King’s most gracious bounty was entitled to 350 acres of land”. In 1784, the Botsford Grant gave land to 302 people but did not include Leverett Bishop, yet someone thought he deserved 350 acres for services to the Crown. Until now I assumed that he had gone to the Digby area. Is it possible he went to another part of the province in the years from 1783-1788?

While it is curious that Leverett was not the typical Loyalist who fought for the British and as a result was obliged to resettle in Canada, he seems to have relocated in Nova Scotia at least in part because of support for the loyalist cause. It would be interesting to know where he was for those five years but our ultimate goal however is to trace his origins and genealogy. The most significant clues to his identity are in his uncommon first name, his profession as Ship’s Carpenter, his loyalty to the Crown and his chronological place in history.

Being a ships carpenter or Shipwright in that age was not a rare profession but was a specialized one in which a person usually pursued because of family tradition or influence. This person had to be educated at least to a degree where he was literate and able to produce and interpret plans in the building of ships. An understanding of ship handling dynamics was central to the profession. This knowledge was gained by a long apprenticeship and for this reason was a highly skilled trade. It was highly regarded in the same way that a blacksmith or cabinetmaker was valued in the community. The most common profession at that time was of course being a farmer and in the seaports that of a fisherman or sailor. The point here is that Leverett was a person in the minority of the population. The name Leverett or Leveret is a very uncommon one, now and even in the 18^th century. I had never heard of it before and have only come across it a couple of times since.

It is assumed that he was an American from the New England States. We have previously determined that there were a high number of Bishop families in Connecticut, so statistically this was a prime area to focus our attention. If we could find a Leverett Bishop from Connecticut who was a ship’s carpenter and of the right age (ie: born about 1765, about age 20 in 1785 and died in 1832 at age 67) would this be a unique circumstance? I thought that it would be nearly so. To that end I re-visited the data previously gathered and searched for any new information available online.

As it turns out Google has a program to make books “out of copyright” available online to the public for free.

From the Google Books Web Site “The Library Project's aim is simple: make it easier for people to find relevant books – specifically, books they wouldn't find any other way such as those that are out of print – while carefully respecting authors' and publishers' copyrights. Our ultimate goal is to work with publishers and libraries to create a comprehensive, searchable, virtual card catalog of all books in all languages that helps users discover new books and publishers discover new readers. If the book is out of copyright, you’ll be able to view and download the entire book.”

Imagine my surprise when I discovered a book through Google Books, titled “Memorials of Elder John White, one of the First Settlers of Hartford Conn. and his descendants”.

The Title Page is shown below.

Sibbil, eldest child of Elias and Prudence White married on Nov. 28, 1782, Leveret Bishop of Guildford, Conn, a SHIP-CARPENTER! This marriage was previously known to me through the LDS Site, but there was no indication of this Leveret’s origin or occupation. I thought it a curious co-incidence but assumed that if he married in 1782, he could not be the one we sought. But now with this person being a ship-carpenter, it demanded further look. Could this be our Leverett Bishop of Digby who married Sarah Fitzgerald eleven years later?

I decided to get ALL the Connecticut genealogical research available from online sources. I purchased a collection of Connecticut Family Histories on 3 CD’s from the Genealogical Publishing Company of Baltimore, MD via their website www.genealogical.com . These histories contain the largest genealogical collection available. They name 450,000 people throughout the state from the 1600’s to the 1800’s. The sources contained on the CD’s are listed below.

CD 7515 Connecticut Local and Family Histories, 1600s-1800s

Families of Early Milford, Connecticut, by Susan Woodruff Abbott.
This monumental compilation contains genealogies of about 300 families, ranging from a single paragraph to a dozen pages or more. It covers the "Free Planters" who settled Milford in 1639, as well as those who arrived afterwards, called "After Planters."

Families of Early Hartford, Connecticut, by Lucius Barnes Barbour.
Based on records available for the period 1645 to 1825, this remarkable collection contains genealogies of more than 950 families. Information on births, marriages, and deaths is augmented by a rich body of biographical and historical detail.

Families of Early Guilford, Connecticut, by Alvan Talcott and Jacquelyn Ricker.
This work contains genealogies of all families resident in Guilford from 1639 to 1890. The record of each family is complete in itself, giving the residence and the birth, marriage, and death of each member. As far as is practicable each line is traced from the settlement of the town onward.

History and Genealogy of the Families of Old Fairfield, by Donald Lines Jacobus. 3 vols.
The ultimate authority on the ancestry and relationships of 50,000 residents of Fairfield County, this compendium was meticulously developed from original sources by the dean of American genealogy. Each family history commences with the original 17th-century settler and is brought forward to the early decades of the 19th century.

History of Ancient Woodbury, Connecticut, by William Cothren.
This is an exhaustive chronicle of the persons, places, and events that shaped Woodbury's history until the mid-19th century. The genealogies published here represent the families most intimately linked to the rise and progress of the town.

Families of Ancient Wethersfield, Connecticut, by Henry R. Stiles.
The hundreds of genealogies collected here trace the pioneer families of Wethersfield forward over many generations from the time of the town's founding in the 17th century. The genealogies are excerpted from Dr. Stiles' two-volume history of Wethersfield.

Families of Ancient Windsor, Connecticut, by Henry R. Stiles.
Like the work above, Ancient Windsor contains hundreds of genealogies and sketches of pioneer families. The genealogies are excerpted and compiled from Dr. Stiles' two-volume history of Windsor.

Genealogical and Family History of the State of Connecticut, by William R. Cutter, et al.
This four-volume compendium contains genealogical and biographical sketches of approximately 1,000 Connecticut families. Each essay commences with a sketch of the earliest known ancestor and traces the family in a direct line up to the last decades of the 19th century. Also includes collateral lines.

Genealogical Notes, or Contributions to the Family History of Some of the First Settlers of Connecticut and Massachusetts, by Nathaniel Goodwin.
A cornerstone of New England genealogy, this work contains family histories of early Connecticut and Massachusetts settlers. Each family sketch includes names of family members, death dates, and lines of descent.

CD 7179 Genealogies of Connecticut Families 1600s-1800s

This Family Archive CD contains images of the pages of a collection of articles that were originally published in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register and reprinted by GPC under the title Genealogies of Connecticut Families, as well as images of the pages of Families of Ancient New Haven, a work that was compiled by America"s foremost genealogist, Donald Lines Jacobus, and comprised the first eight volumes of what became one of America"s premier periodicals, The American Genealogist. This combination CD includes genealogies of almost every founding family of Connecticut as well as the complete ancestry and relationships of 35,000 residents of 18th-century New Haven. Referencing over 127,00 individuals, this collection is indispensable to anyone researching Connecticut ancestry. The records cover the entire state and even include information on some families whose ancestry is associated with other areas, notably Massachusetts, New York, Vermont, and the Mid-West. The articles vary in content but generally include documented genealogies as well as birth, marriage, death, probate, land, and court records.

There was only one Leveret Bishop living in Connecticut in the 1790 census. In fact this was the only Leveret Bishop in all the New England States at this time according to the sources consulted. This Leveret lived in Middleton, Middlesex County about 26 miles up the Connecticut River. During the 1700s, Middletown became the largest and most prosperous settlement in Connecticut. By the time of the American Revolution Middletown was a thriving port, comparable to Boston or New York in importance, with one-third of its citizens involved in merchant and maritime activities. For this reason it is understandable that a ships carpenter could have worked and lived there.

He was living with his wife Sibbil in Middletown with 2 sons under 16 and 2 daughters in 1790. In the 1820 Census Sibbil Bishop was head of the family with 2 daughters at home, one of which was under 10 years old. Leveret must have died after 1810. It is remarkable that despite this Leveret being a ship’s carpenter and the only Leveret Bishop in New England he is NOT the one from Nova Scotia. His genealogy is shown below.

Ancestry of Leveret Bishop of Guildford Conn, and husband of Sibbil White of Middletown, Conn.  Taken from “Families of Early Guilford, CT: Vol. 1 by Alvan Talcott and Jacquelin Ricker

Still believing that our Leverett Bishop came from the New England States, I decided next to search the records in New Jersey. Because many New Jersey Loyalists settled in Nova Scotia and this State had a large number of Loyalist families, I purchased two more CD’s concerning early New Jersey genealogical records. The contents are listed below.

CD GPC 7518 Colonial New Jersey Source Records 1600s – 1800s

This Family Archive CD includes the records of approximately 330,000 individuals in a unique collection of church, court, marriage, land, military, and probate records. Made up of images of the pages of nine New Jersey reference works published by the Genealogical Publishing Company, and accessed by a single electronic index, this CD is the entry point for genealogical research in colonial New Jersey. Moreover, in light of the missing New Jersey census schedules for 1790-1820, it is probably the most important finding-aid available in this or in any other format.

Among the many valuable reference works included on this CD you will find one work in particular that is perhaps the most frequently consulted book in New Jersey genealogy, William Nelson's New Jersey Marriage Records, 1665-1800; and you will also find Nelson's invaluable Patents and Deeds and Other Early Records of New Jersey, 1664-1703, both published originally as part of the official Archives of the State of New Jersey. Another official collection included on this CD--absolutely seminal in genealogical research--is the three-volume New Jersey Index of Wills, Inventories, etc., in the Office of the Secretary of State, which features 185,000 entries arranged under the twenty-one present-day counties of New Jersey. And the other books on the CD, complete with dates and places of residence and death, names of brides and grooms, names of grantors, patentees of land, testators and intestates, military figures, militiamen, Quakers, and others, make this a totally unique reference tool. The following is a brief list of the books included:

*New Jersey Marriage Records, 1665-1800
*Patents and Deeds and Other Early Records of New Jersey, 1664-1703
*New Jersey Index of Wills, Inventories, etc., in the Office of the Secretary of State, 1663-1900
*Official Register of the Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Revolutionary War
*Index to Stryker's Register of New Jersey in the Revolution
*Records of Officers and Men of New Jersey in Wars 1791-1815
*General Index to the Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey
*The Burlington Court Book: A Record of Quaker Jurisprudence in West New Jersey, 1680-1709
*Bergen Records: Records of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Bergen, 1666-1788

CD GPC 7182 Genealogies of New Jersey Families 1600s-1800s

This Family Archive CD contains images of the pages of the two-volume set Genealogies of New Jersey Families. Published by the Genealogical Publishing Company, these books are comprised of articles that originally appeared in the Genealogical Society of New Jersey’s journal, the Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey. Begun in 1925 to promote scholarly interest in New Jersey families, the Magazine continues to be the primary vehicle for New Jersey source material and genealogical monographs. Referencing over 70,000 individuals who lived between the 1600s and 1800s, this collection is essential to anyone interested in New Jersey ancestry. The articles cover the entire state of New Jersey and include all compiled genealogies and Bible records published in the Magazine from its first issue through the end of Volume 65 (1990).

Unfortunately, there were no references to any Leverett Bishop in the records of New Jersey as mentioned above. Instead of making things clearer, the results shown above have solved little except to eliminate the only possible match.

According to the 1790 census, the states having the most Bishop families in descending order were: CT 104, NY 59, SC 30, PA 27, NC 24, MD 24, VT 19, RI 14, ME 11 and NH 7. Note that NJ records were lost. The next state to investigate is New York because of the number of families and the presumption that Leveret may have gone to Nova Scotia from New York as did the Loyalist soldiers.

In a final attempt to discover the origins of Leverett Bishop, I decided to read about the main events which occurred during the American Revolutionary War. One revelation was that New York and surrounding area was the scene for many of the war’s engagements. I thought that if Leverett came from this area there might be some record of him being a resident at the outbreak of the conflict. The Genealogical Publishing Company of Baltimore, MD (as mentioned above) via their website www.genealogical.com had a book for sale entitled “Inhabitants of New York 1774-1776” by Thomas B. Wilson. I ordered this book and the contents unfortunately did not have any Leverett Bishop, although there were 16 people with that surname. (see table below)

Census Code: males 50+ * males 16+ * males 16- * females 16+ * females 16-

Daniell was 50+ with wife and a son 16-, a daughter 16+ and a daughter 16-

Enes was 50- with wife and 3 sons 16-

James(1) was 50- with wife and 3 sons 16-, a daughter 16+ and 2 daughters 16-

James(2) was 50- with wife and a son 16+ and 2 sons 16-

John(1) was 50- with wife and a son 16- and 2 daughters 16-

John(2) was 50+ with wife and a son 16+ and a son 16-

John Jr. was 50- with wife and a son 16- and 2 daughters 16-

Samuel was 50+ with wife and no children

Timothy was 50- with wife an a son 16-

We believe that Leverett Bishop was born about 1765, which would make him only 10 years old in 1775 so therefore he could be one of the sons of the above named men. However he would not have been named in any of the sources listed above because after all he was only 18 at the end of the war in 1783. Church records are the only possible source to identify him as a member of one of these families.

The Bishops in the New York area came mostly from Suffolk County on Long Island with 7 families coming from Southampton and 4 from Brookhaven. No doubt these families were related. Both Towns are on the south side of the Island near the east end. They are only about 30 miles apart and Ship building was an active occupation in this region. There were many loyalists who came from Long Island and it may be possible that Leverett Bishop came from this area but no direct connection has yet been made.

For the record the 1790 Census records their being 5 persons named Bishop from Southampton namely David, Nathaniel, Stephen, James and Samuel and 3 persons from Brookhaven namely Samuel, John and James.

Summary:

There are further sources to consult in Connecticut that might reveal our Leveret as coming from that State but these records are massive and would require a long and expensive search. These records can be obtained on microfilm from the LDS Library Collection in Utah. To get an idea of what records are available, go to the familysearch.org website and under “Family History Library Catalog” and using “keyword search” type “Connecticut land records”. Among the many records available are things like:

Connecticut Loyalists : an analysis of Loyalist land confiscations in Greenwich, Stamford and Norwalk  by Tyler, John W and  Land records, 1645-1903; general index, 1645-1864  Guilford (Connecticut).

or use “Connecticut Bishop Family records” and get records like:

Record of the descendants of John Bishop : one of the founders of Guilford, Connecticut in 1639  Cone, William Whitney and The Bishops of North Madison, Connecticut  Snow, Helen F.

Note: Madison was first settled in 1641. Throughout the 18th century, Madison was known as East Guilford until it was incorporated as a town in the mid-19th century.

Possible New York records worth investigation are:

Records of the First Church of Southold, 1749-1823  by Overton, Albert G

Church records of Long Island, 1775-1848

Records of the town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, N.Y., 1655-1885 : copied from the original records, in their order, under the direction of the supervisor and justices of the peace, and pub. by the authority of the town

To order a microfilm and view it at my local LSD Family History Centre has cost me $7:50 each in Canada. I presume the charge in the US would be similar.

If any Bishop researcher thinks further attempts at locating our Leveret Bishop is warranted, then I invite anyone interested to consult with me to focus on the most promising records.

Through access to all records at ancestry.com I have not come across anyone named Leveret Bishop anywhere at that time period, either in North America or in England other than those already mentioned.

This concludes my attempts to discover the origins of Leverett Bishop the shipwright. I still feel that he was an American from the New England States. Good luck to anyone who wishes to carry this research forward.