Abbott Family History
William Abbott arrives in Point Pelee, Canada
Our research has led us backwards in time to a William Abbott from Vermont. William was born circa 1790-1805. We still do not have a definite date and place of birth. We simply know he was from Vermont (as recorded on his son Aaron Abbott’s death certificate, Muskegon County, Michigan).
I would like to say we have a detailed history of his life, but we do not. The story of the Abbotts picks up with William Abbott arriving in the southern Ontario, Canada area. Specifically, William is living in the area known as Point Pelee, Ontario Canada, circa 1820-1840.
Why William Abbott left Vermont, we do not know. During that era, Great Britain was giving land grants out to encourage populating the region. Some land grants were given to those who were, politically, “Tories.” Tories, to keep our definition short, were those who were sympathetic to the crown of Great Britain and did not wish to participate in the American Revolution.
In my local family history, one of my dad’s brothers, Lewis Abbott, or “Uncle Lewie” as we knew him, once commented that the Abbotts were Tories. We simply don’t have enough evidence to strongly support that statement. However, it may well be accurate. It is also in our family history that William Abbott’s son, Joseph, was a United Empire Loyalist (U.E.L.), similar as “Tories,” and thereby waiting for the title or deed of property to be granted by Great Britain. On the other hand, the Abbotts since Point Pelee followed the lumber business, and William Abbott may have done the very same.
Regardless, Great Britain continued to offer land grants to supporters of the crown. In 1790 Great Britain had purchased over two million acres of what is now southern Ontario from the chiefs of Ojibwa, Ottawa, Huron and Pottawatomi nations. Following the war of 1812, the British government would not recognize a group by the name of “Caldwell’s First Nations” and their request for land under treaty, but since some of them were war veterans, they would be offered land grants. (“In Search of a Heart”, Henrietta O’Neill, page 12).
There would be years of back and forth negotiations between Caldwell’s band and the Crown. Meanwhile, other settlers arrived on the Point and were claiming squatters’ rights until they received their land grants from the Crown.
Documented in a pamphlet entitled “The History of the Caldwell First Nation, 1992” is a paragraph that brings our family onto the Point Pelee scene. It states,
In an 1845 letter, George Ironsides writes to the Civil Secretary of the Indian Department after a visit by Chief Caldwell. In the letter Ironsides relates what Chief Caldwell told him and complains that an American named Abbott has moved in among those Caldwells who lived at Point Pelee. After fifteen years of benevolence shown Abbott by the Caldwells while he remained among them, Abbott ordered the Caldwells from the Point, saying that he had been put in possession of the point by the government, and they could no longer stay there. To remedy this situation, the Caldwells were compelled to extend their clearings at the Point to accommodate Abbott if what he was telling them was true.”
The Caldwells would continue to negotiate back and forth for another 165 years. As recent as January 2010, the Canadian Government and Caldwell First Nation have reached a settlement of $105 million dollars and provides for the establishment of an urban reserve in Leamington, Ontario (see fact sheet with this link: http://www.turtleisland.org/discussion/viewtopic.php?p=10916#p10916).
Point Pelee, Ontario, Canada is the southernmost tip of Canada, jutting into Lake Erie. Today it is famous for its diverse bird migration; however at the time of William Abbott’s arrival (circa 1820) it was known for hunting, fishing and trapping. Author Henrietta O’Neill, whom I’ve referenced earlier, has given a very good description and history of Point Pelee in her book, “In Search of A Heart.” I won’t duplicate her work and I leave the history and geography of Point Pelee to her and other authors.
As far as the Abbotts go, William Abbott lived at Point Pelee and raised his very large family (one Abbott researcher documents 18 children with the possibility of three different wives). As I said earlier, we know very little of William Abbott before Point Pelee and we know very little about him after the Caldwell incident.
While we don’t know for certain of William having multiple wives, we do know that one of his wives was an Abigail Griesham from New Hampshire. The children of William Abbott are as follows: Elizabeth Abbott, Isaac Abbott, Joseph Abbott, David Abbott, Esther Abbott, Aaron Abbott, Amos Abbott, and Samantha Abbott. That’s 8 names we have on record. As I said, other researchers have inferred additional children. As of this writing, we do not have much documentation on this.
Family folklore indicates that one brother had drowned in a river during a fishing trip. The name George Abbott circulates as the name of the brother who had drowned; however, that may have very well been Isaac Abbott, who died at the age of 34.
For William’s remaining children, I will have short chapter sections sharing some of their lives, as we have it recorded. For example, we know that Dave, Aaron, Joseph and Amos moved from the Point into Michigan and raised their respective families.
Isaac Abbott remained in the area and his family is still there today (again it maybe that Isaac was the brother who drowned and that is why his family remained in the area). Isaac’s sister, Esther Abbott (pronounced “Easter”), married Oliver deLaurier. They lived on the Point. In fact, their cabin still stands as part of Point Pelee (now one of Canada’s National Parks). I first visited this place in June of 2003 with my wife, Michelle, sister Holly and brother in law, Ray Bauer.
We don’t know if William Abbott is connected to George Abbot from Andover, Massachussets but we do know this: William Abbott (circa 1820-1840) came from Vermont to Point Pelee, Ontario, Canada as a land squatter, waiting for his deed or title of property. He raised his family on the Point. From there, many of his children came over into Michigan with just a few remaining in the same general area.
The chapters in the book will be a combination of some historical narrative about William’s children as well as an up-to-date family register from their lives to our current generation.
As a caveat, I have tried to have these registers be as complete as possible; however, I am sure there are people we have not listed who deserve recognition into our family. My hope is that this book is the first of later revisions in which others might pick up the mantle and keep our history moving forward.