Some of The Descendants of
Robert Stetson
and his wife Honour Tucker of Scituate, Plymouth Colony by 1642
Sixth Generation


CHARLES6 STETSON (Charles5, Anthony4, Robert3, Joseph2, Robert1) was born at Rochester, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, on 24 May 1755 a son of Charles Stetson and his wife Bathshena (Hatch) Nye, and died at New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts, on 13 March 1817. He married at Dartmouth on 23 December 1783 JANE JENNEY. She was born at Dartmouth, Bristol County, about 25 June 1765, a daughter of Jethro Jenney and his wife Desire Mitchell. She died at Dartmouth on 25 April 1841.[1]

Charles Stetson grew up in the Mattapoisett section of Rochester. As a young man from Rochester he enlisted twice in the Revolutionary War.[2]

Stetson, Charles, Rochester, Private, Capt. Earl Clap's co., Col. Theophilus Colton's regt,; company return dated Oct 7, 1775.
Stetson, Charles, Sergeant, Capt. George Claghorn's co., Col. Abiel Mitchell's regt.; engaged July 31, 1780; discharged Oct. 31, 1780; service 3 mo., 2 days; regiment raised in Bristol Co. to reinforce Continental army for 3 months.

Jane Jenney grew up in the New Bedford section of Dartmouth. Jane and Charles were both the children of shipbuilders. When Jane was eighteen years old, and Charles was twenty-eight, they married at the First Congregational Church of Dartmouth[3] (now Lunds Corner Congregational Church, New Bedford).

Charles Stetson became one of the major shipbuilders of New Bedford, at a time when it was the center of the whaling industry. Daniel Ricketson, in New Bedford of the Past recalled:[4]

On the opposite side of the river, at Oxford Point, was the shipyard of Peleg Huttlestone, and below the bridge that of Abner Pease. . . . Between the bridge and the Head-of-the-River were no less than four shipyards, that of Charles Stetson the most important. He built fifty-three vessels, large and small, many of them ships, and among them, the Hunter and Walker, for Seth Russell & Sons, the Augustus, 400 tons, Lagoda, Brig Hepsabeth, etc. . . .

A half-scale model of the Lagoda constitutes the central exhibit of the New Bedford Whaling Museum.


Picture of Lagoda from New Bedford Whaling Museum

Charles Stetson participatd in numerous land transactions in New Bedford. He acquired land in the vicinity of his shipyard, and later became a partner in land development:

The 1790 Cenus reported the Charles Stetson family at New Bedford consisting of two men over 16, three boys under 16, and two females.[21] Charles was one of the men over 16; the three boys were probably Smith, about 4, William, about 2, and Charles, about 1; wife Jane, 25, was probably one of the women; I cannot identify the other adult male and the other female.

The 1800 Census also found the Charles Stetson family at New Bedford. The reported age and sex categories, with the possible identity, follow:[22]

age/sex possible identity
male 45+ Charles, 45
female 26-44 Jane, 35
female 16-25 unidentified
male 10-15 Smith, 14
male 10-15 William, 12
male 10-15 Charles, 11
male 0-9 Samuel, 10
male 0-9 Silas, 8
male 0-9 Peleg, 3
female 0-9 unidentified, perhaps Betsey?
female 0-9 unidentified, perhaps Sukey?

On 19 June 1806 tragedy struck, when two Stetson boys, William, age 19, and Charles, age 18, drowned at the mouth of the Acushnet River.[23]

According to the Stetson genealogies, Charles and Jane had thirteen children; however only eight lived to adulthood. Son Smith Stetson married in 1806 and died in Virginia in 1815. son Samuel married a woman from Virginia and died at sea in 1816.

When Charles Stetson was sixty years old, he was loosing control of his life. The Selectmen of New Bedford presented the following petition to the court, which was granted:[24]

Complain Manasseh Kempton and Joseph Ricketson the main part of the Selectmen of the Town of New Bedford . . . That in their judgment Charles Stetson of said New Bedford does by excessive drinking, so spend, waste and lessen his Estate, as thereby to expose himself and his family to want and suffering circumstances, and does also thereby endanger and expose the town of New Bedford to a charge or expense for his and their maintenance and support. They therefore solicit that thou wouldst appoint some person or persons as guardian or guardians to the said Charles Stetson agreeably to the law of the Commonwealth in such cases made and provided.
New Bedford, July 1, 1815
N.B. Humphrey Hathaway is a suitable person for his guardian and has consented to the trust.

Charles Stetson was officially desigfnated a spendthrift and given a guardian to control his finances.

Charles Stetson of New Bedford, shipwright, wrote a will on 24 July 1815, in which he remembered his wife Jane and children Peleg, Betsey, Susan, Charles and Ebenezer, indicating that he had already provided for his oldest surviving sons, Smith, Samuel and Peleg. However no one received anything from the will, as his estate was found to be insolvent. He had property of $4500, one third of which was set aside as the widow's dower. The total remaining assets of his estate totalled $3507.10½ and his liabilities totalled $4713.44; as a result his creditors received 74 cents on a dollar. However, ten years after his death, on 6 February 1826, creditors were still complaining to the court that the administrator of Charles Stetson's estates had recovered more money.[25]

Widow Jane (Jenney) Stetson lived for 25 years after her husband's death. In 1830 the Census reported her in New Bedford, female 60-69, with two males ages 20-29.[26] The two males were probably her two remaining unmarried sons, Ebenezer, 25, and Charles, 23.

Charles Stetson and his wife Jane Jenney had the following children:

  1. SMITH7 STETSON b. about 1786.
  2. WILLIAM7 STETSON b. on 1788; d. at New Bedford on 19 June 1806.[27]
  3. CHARLES7 STETSON b. about 1789; d. at New Bedford on 19 July 1806.[28]
  4. SAMUEL7 STETSON b. about 1790; d. at sea on 1816; m. MARY THRIFT of Norfolk, Virginia.[29]
  5. SILAS7 STETSON b. at New Bedford on 24 February 1792; d. at Acushnet, Bristol County, on 29 March 1878; m. at Fairhven on 12 October 1817 MARY MENDELL, b. at Plymouth, Plymouth County, on 28 January 1793, d. at New Bedford on 9 June 1878, child of Ellis and Lucy Mendell.[30]
  6. PELEG H.7 STETSON b. at New Bedford on 10 July 1797; d. at Lakeville, Plymouth County, on 23 January 1865; m(1). at Fairhaven, Bristol County, on 31 October 1824 HANNAH MENDELL, b. at New Bedford on 18 August 1802, d. at Dartmouth on 1 July 1834; Peleg m(2). at Middleboro, Plymouth County, on 21 March 1835 PRISCILLA WARD, b. at Middleboro about 1807-8, d. at Lakeville on 17 October 1871, child of Ephraim and Priscilla (Hammond) Ward.[31] [NOTE: The town of Lakeville was incorporated in 1853; before that it was part of Middleboro].
  7. BETSY7 STETSON.[32]
  8. BETSY7 STETSON b. at Massachusetts about 1801-2; d. on 21 March 1877; m. at Fairhaven on 4 June 1822 THOMAS SEVERANCE, b. at Massachusetts about 1797-8, d. at Nevada County, California, on 3 June 1859.[33]
  9. SUSANNA7 STETSON d. at Dartmouth on May 1803.[34]
  10. SUSAN7 STETSON b. at Massachusetts about 1802-3; m(1). at New Bedford on 16 July 1827 WILLIAM RITCHIE, b. about 1797-8, d. at Fairhaven on 28 April 1844; Susan m(2). at Fairhaven on 23 April 1845 JOSEPH W. PIERCE b. about 1821-2, d. at California on 6 November 1850.[35]
  11. EBENEZER7 STETSON b. on 1805; m. (intentions published at New Bedford on 20 November 1830) HANNAH H. BENNETT.[36]
  12. CHARLES7 STETSON b. at New Bedford on 1807; d. at Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, on 21 April 1849; m. at Boston on 13 July 1844 HENRIETTA HOOPER.[37]
  13. SUKEY7 STETSON.[38]


NOTES

1Vital Records of Rochester, Massachusetts: to the Year 1850 (Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1914), v. 1, p. 288. Vital Records of New Bedford, Massachusetts: to the year 1850 (Boston: New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 1932. 1932, 1941), v. 3 p. 161. Vital Records of Dartmouth, Massachusetts: to the Year 1850 (Boston: New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 1929, 1929, 1930), v. 2, p. 478. Acushnet Cemetery, Acushnet, Bristol County, Massachusetts, database, Find a Grave (findagrave.com : database 22 April 2018), Jane Jenney Stetson; Created by: Carmella Adams.
2Commonwealth of Massachusetts Office of the Secretary, Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the Revolutionary War (Boston: Wright L. Potter, 1902), v. 14, p. 939.
3Vital Records of Dartmouth, Massachusetts, v. 2, p. 478.
4Daniel Ricketson, New Bedford of the Past (Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton, Mifflin, 1903), 114.
5Bristol County, Massachusetts, Deeds, v. 63, pp. 66-7, Spooner to Stetson, 1784; Bristol County Court House, Taunton, Mass. (familysearch.org).
6Bristol County, Massachusetts, Deeds, v. 67, p. 58.
7Bristol County, Massachusetts, Deeds, v. 67, p. 60.
8Bristol County, Massachusetts, Deeds, v. 77, p. 194.
9Bristol County, Massachusetts, Deeds, v. 73, p. 27; v. 77, p. 194-5.
10Bristol County, Massachusetts, Deeds, v. 77, p. 195-6.
11Bristol County, Massachusetts, Deeds, v. 77, p. 196-7.
12Bristol County, Massachusetts, Deeds, v. 87, p. 488-9.
13Bristol County, Massachusetts, Deeds, v. 87, p. 490.
14Bristol County, Massachusetts, Deeds, v. 84, pp. 110-1.
15Bristol County, Massachusetts, Deeds, v. 84, pp. 115-6; v. 84, pp. 116-8.
16Bristol County, Massachusetts, Deeds, v. 86, pp. 405-6; v. 87, p. 487
17Bristol County, Massachusetts, Deeds, v. 87, p. 508-9; v. 89, pp. 42-3.
18Bristol County, Massachusetts, Deeds, v. 85, pp. 407-8; v. 85, pp. 408-9.
19Bristol County, Massachusetts, Deeds, v. 87, p. 489-90.
20Bristol County, Massachusetts, Deeds, v. 87, p. 488; v. 87, p. 511.
21First Census of the United States: 1790, population, New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts, roll 4, p. 442, Charles Stetson; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 22 February 2015); NARA microfilm publication M637; Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
22Second Census of the United States: 1800, population, New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts, roll 19, p. 826, Charles Stetson; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 22 February 2015); NARA microfilm publication M32; Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
23Vital Records of Dartmouth, Massachusetts, v. 3, p. 70; gravemarker record, Acushnet Cemetery. Oscar Frank Stetson, The Descendants of Cornet Robert Stetson: of Scituate, Massachusetts, sixteen hundred and thirty-four (N.p.: Stetson Kindred of America, Inc., 1933–56), v. 3, p. 29.
24Bristol County, Massachusetts, Probate Court, file 24546, Charles Stetson; Bristol County Court House, Taunton, Massachusetts.
25Ibid.
26Fifth Census of the United States: 1830, population, New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts, roll 59, p. 291, Jane Stetson; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 19 November 2020); NARA microfilm publication M19; Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
27Vital Records of Dartmouth, Massachusetts, v. 3, p. 70; gravemarker record, Acushnet Cemetery.
28Ibid.
29Bertha W. Clark and Susan C. Tufts and ed. Judith Jenney Gurney, The Jenney Book: John Jenney of Plymouth, and His Descendants (Baltimore, Maryland: Gateway Press, 1988), 82. John Stetson Barry, A Genealogical and Biographical Sketch of the Name and Family of Stetson (Boston, Massachusetts: William A. Hall & Co., 1847), p. 32.
30Clark and Gurney, The Jenney Book, 82. Barry, A Genealogical and Biographical Sketch of the Name and Family of Stetson, p. 32. Stetson, The Descendants of Cornet Robert Stetson, v. 3, p. 140. Leonard H. Smith Jr., and Dorothy Marvelle Boyer, eds., Vital Records of the Town of Fairhaven, Massachusetts, to 1850 (Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1986, reprint 1993), marriages by Benja. R. Hoyt, 27. Massachusetts Archives, "Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," digital images, American Ancestors (americanancestors.org : accessed 17 September 2017), vol. 301, p. 118, e. 83, New Bedford Deaths, 1878, Mary Stetson. Mary Porter Smith, Mendell Family Genealogy: an account of the ancestors and descendants of Isaac Mendell and Patience Harlow : also some descendants of John Mendall, Marshfield, Massachusetts (Mason City, Iowa: Klipto Loose Leaf Co., 1943), 17.
31"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," vol. 184, p. 289, e. 18, Lakeville Deaths, 1865, Peleg H. Stetson; vol. 239, p. 343, e. 18, Lakeville Deaths, 1871, Priscilla W. Stetson. Smith, Vital Records of the Town of Fairhaven, Massachusetts, marriages by Erastus Otis, 68. Acushnet Cemetery, database; Hannah Mendell Stetson; Created by: Carmella Adams. George Ernest Bowman, transcriber, Middleborough, Mass.: Births, Marriages and Deaths. Originally published in the Mayflower Descendant, v. 1-39 (1899-1937). Reproduced at American Ancestors. in Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2016)., p. 288.
32Barry, A Genealogical and Biographical Sketch of the Name and Family of Stetson, p. 32.
33Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, population, New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts, roll 309, p. 366B, household 2527, Betsey Severence family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 18 November 2020); NARA Microfilm Publication M432; Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C. Acushnet Cemetery, database Betsey Stetson Severance; Created by: Carmella Adams. Smith, Vital Records of the Town of Fairhaven, Massachusetts, marriages by John Hawes, j.p., 65. "Died," New Bedford (Massachusetts) Evening Standard, 15 July 1859; Genealogy Bank (genealogybank.com : accessed 18 November 2020). p. 3.
34Vital Records of Dartmouth, Massachusetts, v. 3, p. 70; gravemarker record, Acushnet Cemetery.
35"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," digital images, American Ancestors, vol. 12, p. 45, Fairhaven Marriages, 1844-5, Pierce-Ritchie; vol. 8, p. 45, Fairhaven Deaths, 1843-4, William Richie. Vital Records of New Bedford, Massachusetts, v. 2 p. 517. Long Plain Cemetery, Acushnet, Bristol County, Massachusetts,, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : accessed 18 November 2020), Joseph W. Pierce; Created by: J.Bosworth.
36Barry, A Genealogical and Biographical Sketch of the Name and Family of Stetson, p. 32. Vital Records of New Bedford, Massachusetts, v. 2 p. 516.
37"Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910," vol. 41, p. 151, e. 1457, Boston Deaths, 1848-9, Charles Stetson. Stetson, The Descendants of Cornet Robert Stetson, v. 3, p. 141.
38Barry, A Genealogical and Biographical Sketch of the Name and Family of Stetson, p. 32.


BIBLIOGRAPHY

Acushnet Cemetery, Acushnet, Bristol County, Massachusetts. Database. Find a Grave. findagrave.com : 2018.

Barry, John Stetson. A Genealogical and Biographical Sketch of the Name and Family of Stetson. Boston, Massachusetts: William A. Hall & Co., 1847.

Bowman, George Ernest, transcriber. Middleborough, Mass.: Births, Marriages and Deaths. Originally published in the Mayflower Descendant, v. 1-39 (1899-1937). Reproduced at American Ancestors. in Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2016).

Bristol County, Massachusetts, Probate Court. Probate Records. Bristol County Court House, Taunton, Massachusetts. Some of these materials have been viewed at the courthouse in Taunton; others from volumes have been observed through ancestry.com, case files have been observed through americanancestors.org.

Clark, Bertha W. and Susan C. Tufts and ed. Judith Jenney Gurney. The Jenney Book: John Jenney of Plymouth, and His Descendants. Baltimore, Maryland: Gateway Press, 1988.

Long Plain Cemetery, Acushnet, Bristol County, Massachusetts. Find a Grave. Digital images. findagrave.com : 2020.

Massachusetts, Commonwealth of, Office of the Secretary. Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the Revolutionary War. Boston: Wright L. Potter, 1902.

Massachusetts Archives. "Vital Records of Massachusetts, 1841-1910." Digital images. American Ancestors. americanancestors.org : 2017.

New Bedford Evening Standard, New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts. 15 July 1859.

Ricketson, Daniel. New Bedford of the Past. Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton, Mifflin, 1903.

Smith, Leonard H. Jr., and Dorothy Marvelle Boyer, eds. Vital Records of the Town of Fairhaven, Massachusetts, to 1850. Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1986, reprint 1993.

Smith, Mary Porter. Mendell Family Genealogy: an account of the ancestors and descendants of Isaac Mendell and Patience Harlow : also some descendants of John Mendall, Marshfield, Massachusetts. Mason City, Iowa: Klipto Loose Leaf Co., 1943.

Stetson, Oscar Frank. The Descendants of Cornet Robert Stetson: of Scituate, Massachusetts, sixteen hundred and thirty-four. N.p.: Stetson Kindred of America, Inc., 1933–56.

United States, Department of the Census. First Census of the United States: 1790, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2015.

________. Second Census of the United States: 1800, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2015.

________. Fifth Census of the United States: 1830, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2020.

________. Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2020.

Vital Records of Dartmouth, Massachusetts: to the Year 1850. Boston: New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 1929, 1929, 1930.

Vital Records of New Bedford, Massachusetts: to the year 1850. Boston: New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 1932. 1932, 1941.

Vital Records of Rochester, Massachusetts: to the Year 1850. Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1914.


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