Abigail Pettit
ID # 2947, (1764-)
| Father | Nathaniel Pettit (1724-1803) |
| Mother | Margaret McFarlane |
| Birth | Abigail Pettit was born in 1764. |
| Marriage | She married Thomas Wilson. |
| Burial | She was buried at Lundy's Lane Methodist Cemetery. |
| Note | The information for the baptism of Abigail Pettit comes from an index-only provided by Familysearch: New Jersey Births & Christenings,1660-1980. Natl. Pettit is shown as the father, Abigail is shown as his daughter, and the date for the Christening is given as 19 November, 1769. The location is shown as St. John Episcopal Church, Elizabeth, Union, New Jersey. Abigail Pettit's marriage to Thomas Willson/Wilson is attested to by a petition made at Niagara in 1795 to Peter Russell, administrator of the government of Upper Canada. This is found on microfilm C-2950, Vol. 522, W bundle 2, petition 85. It states that he came into the province in 1788 with his wife and four children and that his wife is the daughter of a Loyalist and that a certificate is annexed to attest to the fact. The certificate, signed by Robert Kerr, J.P., isn't a great help, only stating that Thomas' wife is the daughter of Nathaniel Pettit. The cover of the peitition, however, shows that it was favorably received to the extent that Thomas and his wife were granted 250 acres as family lands and that Abigail, so named, is granted 200 acres as the daughter of a Loyalist. The entry for this is stated to be Land Book B, page 228. For this, see heritage.canadiana.ca, Upper Canada Land Books, C-101, image 226. These entries are not usually very informative. They do not typically provide any information as to the location of the grant. Abigail is not even named. The grant is shown, however, as 'recommended'. This in turn would be passed along to the Surveyor General's office for assignment of the grant. In the 1920s, a Dr. W. G. Reive, a man interested in the genealogy of the Niagara Falls, Ontario, area, did some transcribing of stones. (See Dr. W. G. Reive Collection, Cemeteries and Graves in Niagara, 1991, Douglas A. Robbins, St. Catharines, Ontario) He transcribed what was then Lundy's Lane Methodist Cemetery on 5th August, 1928. At that time, apparently with stones of the Lemon family, was the following: Willson: Thomas 1768-1845 Abigail 1764-1854 The 1990 transcription of the cemetery (see OGS publication nbr. 4650) is entitled Lundy's Lane United Church Cemetery, also known as Lemon Cemetery. As of 1990, the stones for Thomas and Abigail do not appear to have survived. Abigail's year of birth in the Reive transcription, 1764, appears to be correct. The readability of Abigail's year of death, as of 1928, is (ahem) highly questionable. Considering that Thomas in his petition as shown above claimed to have come to Upper Canada in 1788 with his wife and four children, it seems reasonable to disregard 1768 as a year of birth for Thomas. Apparently, the City of Niagara Falls Cemeteries has management of this cemetery. They list this cemetery on their genealogical information web page. They do list the names of Abigail and Thomas, providing only the information that they are in Section 01 (with a number of others) and plot 0001. Also shown is a repaired and badly worn and unreadable stone. Niagara Falls Cemeteries do not seem to be able to provide more information than appears on their web pages. |
| Christening | She was christened on 19 November 1769 at St. john Episcopal Church, Elizabeth, Union, New Jersey. |
| Last Edited | 27 Apr 2020 |