JOHN ANTHONY – Born 13 Nov 1780 in Taunton, Mass. and died at Buffalo, near Polo, Ogle County, Ill. on 31 Jan 1857. He married 12 Nov 1801 at Blenheim, Schoharie County, New York, Abigail Soule1. Abigail was born in Tiverton, Rhode Island on 4 Jul 1782 and died 12 Jul 1859 in Jackson Township, Linn County, Iowa. Abigail was the daughter of Jacob and Meribah (Lewis) Soule and a descendent of George Soule, a Mayflower passenger2. We are descended from John Anthony.
Family genealogist Mildred C. Mathews, spent much of her later life documenting the Anthony family history. She published the John Anthony family connection to George Soule of the mayflower in the Soule Kindred Newsletter in 1973.3. The Mathews newsletter article states that Seth Anthony and Charity Haskins were the parents of John Anthony. This, and a subsequent Soule Kindred Newsletter article by Mildred Mathews in 1977,4 has been accepted as evidence for General Society of Mayflower Descendants (GSMD) membership5.
A September 9, 1974 letter to her cousins Nellie [Burns], Alice [Davis], and Lena [Davis], Mildred Mathews stating the following in paragraph three6: “I knew that Job Anthony lived at Taunton [Mass.] for many years; his son, Seth, grew up there, and married Charity Haskins, and their children, including our John Anthony, were born there. Seth and Charity moved their family to Delaware County, New York, 1786/88 (according to the tax records), which was shortly after the Revolutionary War.” And in paragraph four she wrote: “In the meantime, the Soules, Jacob & Maribah [Abigail Soule’s parents] and their family had moved to Blenheim, Schoharie County, New York, and so John Anthony and Abigail Soule got together. Years later, about 1832, John and Abigail, moved to Broome County, the little town of Sanford—“
Bible pages from the bible for John and Abigail Soules Anthony family confirm the birth, death and marriage dates of John and Abigail as well as their children7.
A tax assessment record for John Anthony in Kortright, Delaware County, New York dated 2 Jun 1803 shows John as a land owner/lessor with land value of $65 and personal property of $308.
In the 1810 US census9 for Kortright, John Anthony is listed two lines below Seth Anthony as a free white male 26-44. Abigail (26-44) and five children are indicated, all under age 10. In the 1820 US census 10 for Kortright, John Anthony is listed as a free white male 26-44 in the town of Meredith, just a few miles west of Kortright. Abigail (26-44) and all eleven children of John and Abigail are indicated. In the 1830 US census11 for Kortright, John Anthony is listed as a free white male 50-59. Abigail (40-49) and four children of John and Abigail are indicated. In the 1840 US census12 for Sanford, John Anthony is listed one name from his oldest son, Lewis R. Anthony, as a free white male 50-59. Abigail (50-60) and two children are indicated. This confirms his move to Sanford in the 1830s. In the 1850 US Census13 for Sanford, John is listed age 71 as a farmer, born in Massachusetts with Real estate appraised at $1400. Abigail is listed age 69, born in Massachusetts. Their youngest son, John A. Anthony, is listed as a carpenter, age 29, born in New York. They are also boarding John and Abigail’s grandson, Wm. R. Freeman, age 14. In the 1850 U.S Census Non-Population Schedule14, John is listed one line from his youngest son, John A. Anthony, as a farmer, owning 40 acres of improved land, raising livestock and growing produce. In the 1855 NY census15 for Sanford, John is listed one line from his youngest son, John A. Anthony, as a farmer, age 75, born in Mass. Abigail is listed as his wife, age 73, born in Rhode Island. Both John and Abigail are listed as 23 year residents of Sanford, indicating they moved to Sanford in 1832.
John and Abigail Anthony moved from Sanford, New York to Buffalo, Ogle County, Ill. in December 1856. John died there on 31 Jan 185716. Abigail died of “Fits” in Linn County, Iowa, 12 July 185917.
John and Abigail Anthony had eleven children all born in Kortright, NY as follows18:
- Charlotte Anthony, born 15 Mar 1802, died Sanford, Broome County, New York, 27 Aug 1884, buried in the North Sanford Cemetery, married Simeon Crane, Jr.
- Lewis R. Anthony, born 7 Apr 1804, died Hammonton, Atlantic County, New Jersey, 9 Apr 1884, married Sarah Dibble.
- Betsey B. Anthony, born 9 Oct 1805, died probably at Erie, Whiteside County, Ill.11 Jul 1884, married James (or Johnson E.) Coburn.
- Abigail Anthony, born 26 May 1807, died 2 Jul 1875, married Asa C. Melendy.
- Roseann Anthony, born 30 Dec 1808, died probably Erie, Whiteside County, Ill. before 1860, married Austin Bisbee.
- Charity Anthony, born 25 Sep 1810, died probably Erie, Whiteside County, Ill., married James Swartout.
- Henrietta Ann Anthony, born 15 Feb 1812, died c. 1900, married (1) _____ Fink, married (2) _____ Brandon.
- Sarah Jane Anthony, born 1 Oct 1814, died Norton County Kan. 30 Dec 1884, married 16 May 1833, Sanford, Broome County, NY, James Aplington.
- Polly Margaret Anthony, born 25 Apr 1816, died Ruthven, Palo Alto County, Iowa, 17 Sep 1885, married Hiram Freeman.
- John Arvin Anthony, born 13 Aug 1818, died Ruthven, Palo Alto County, Iowa 22 Jul 1895, married Sallie Ann Stannard.
- Aseneth Anthony, born c. 1822, died after 1862, married Samuel P. Hatch.
The most compelling evidence found tying John Anthony to his father Seth, is a handwritten letter by his son, John A. Anthony to his niece, Helen (Aplington) Burns in March 9, 1894 from Ruthven, Iowa19. In this letter John A. Anthony states “I am nearly Seventy Six years old” and “You Enquire the name of my grandfather I think his name was Seth. He was from Taunton Massachusetts. He and all the Anthony’s there were Quakers, and were natives of new England States.” He adds a post script, “Why did you want to know the name of my grandfather. Is there one by the name of Anthony in your place.”
- Membership application, Russell D. Francis, no. 87885, General Society of Mayflower Descendants, Office of the Historian General, Plymouth, MA. ↵
- Ibid. ↵
- Mildred Mathews, Soule Kindred Newsletter, vol. 7 (1), 1973: 20-22. ↵
- Mildred Mathews, Soule Kindred Newsletter, vol. 11 (1), 1977: 11. ↵
- Membership certificate, Russell D. Francis, General Certificate No. 87885, 11 Mar 2015, General Society of Mayflower Descendants. ↵
- Mildred C. Mathews, (Hurst, Texas) to “Dear Cousins Nellie, Alice, and Lena”, copied letter, 9 Sep 1974. Note: Alice is Alice (Davis) Grey, the great grandmother of the Russell D. Francis. ↵
- Anthony Family Bible, pages photocopied from original. Note: When scarlet fever invaded the home of the Helen Burns Delimont, the great-granddaughter of John and Abigail Anthony, it was advised to sterilize everything to prevent its further spread. The bible was heated in the oven until its pages charred. Bothered by its smell and condition, the bible is believed to have been destroyed after her death in 1979. ↵
- New York, “Tax Assessment Rolls of Real and Personal Estates, 1799-1804”, assessment year 1803. ↵
- 1810 U.S. Census, Kortright, Delaware County, New York, p. 608-609 (handwritten), John Anthony; digital image, Ancestry.com citing NARA microfilm publication, roll 26. ↵
- 1820 U.S. Census, Meredith, Delaware County, New York, p. 342(stamped), John Anthony; digital image, Ancestry.com citing NARA microfilm publication M33_65, roll 83. ↵
- 1830 U.S. Census, Kortright, Delaware County, New York, p. 108 (handwritten), John Anthony; digital image, Ancestry.com citing NARA microfilm publication M19, roll 89. ↵
- 1840 U.S. Census, Sandford, Broom County, New York, p. 559 (handwritten), John Anthony; digital image 786, Ancestry.com citing FHL film 0017179, roll 266. ↵
- 1850 U.S. Census, Sandford, Broom County, New York, p. 559 (handwritten), John Anthony; digital image 172, Ancestry.com citing NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 477. ↵
- 1850 U.S. Census Non-Population Schedule, Sandford, Broom County, New York, John Anthony; digital image 172, Ancestry.com. ↵
- 1855 N.Y. Census, Sandford, Broom County, New York, John Anthony; digital image 172, Ancestry.com. ↵
- Notes on the Aplington Family, compiled by Mildred C. Mathews, Norton Kansas; privately held by Russell D. Francis. ↵
- 1859 U.S. Census Mortality Schedule, Buffalo Township, Linn County, Iowa, Abigail Anthony, p. 3, line 32. ↵
- Family data sheet submitted to the Soule Kindred lineage Society, compiled by Mildred C. Mathews, Norton Kansas, Jan 20, 1971. ↵
- John A. Anthony, (Ruthven, Iowa) to “Helen”, obtained copy of letter from Dian Nash, Kalmath Falls, 10 June 2016; privately held by Russell D. Francis. ↵