Generation One

1.  William¹ Day; b. circa 1743 (age at death);^[1] m. Abigail Woodward, age 19, daughter of Samuel Woodward and Abigail Lamson, 14 Nov 1771 in the First Congregational Church, East Haven, CT;^[2],[3],[4] d. 20 Oct 1783 in East Haven, CT, at age 40, of bilious fever (typhoid, malaria, hepatitis).^[5],[6]
  
  Abigail Woodward was born on 11 Jul 1752 in New Haven, CT.^[7] She died on 3 Mar 1839 in Granby, CT, at age 86.^[8] She was buried in Granby Baptist Cemetery (stone).
   
     Land Records:
    
     New Haven:
     33:326, 13 November, 1773
     William and Abigail Day, of New Haven, for £16, ½ of a piece of land in East Haven at Longpoint, being about 6 acres to Dan and Azariah Bradley.  The land was bordered: N - Jacob and Dan Goodhull and Stephen Pardee: S - Stephen Morris: E - James Denison, Stephen Thompson, and Dan, Isaac, and Simeon Bradley: W - William Robinson, Jacob Goodhull and James Denison.  This was the other half of a parcel which was deeded to Dan and Azariah Bradley the previous year by Abigail's mother, Abigail (Lamson) Woodward for £26 (32:527, 21 April, 1772).
    
     East Haven:
     2:238, 29 May, 1798
     Abigail Day, for Love and goodwill to Mary Landcraft (daughter), 9 acres & 9 rods bounded on the East by Capt. Woodwards land.  Signed by Josiah Bradley and William Day (son).
    
     3:318 29 May, 1798
     The same day, George and Mary Landcraft deed the rights to the same property for 1 shilling per year back to Abigail for her natural life.
    
     In the above deed, Abigail is said to be of East Haven, however, her mother, Abigail (Lamson) Woodward, had died the previous year in Granby and it is likely that Abigail was spending most of her time in Granby.
    
     The East Haven Register shows:
     William Day, Oct 20,1783 at 40, bilious fever (b. abt. 1743)

     worth a shot:
     Families of Early Hartford by Lucius Barber, (1977),p. 210
     William Day, bap 24 Apr 1692, (1st Ch),d. Nov 25 (1st ch), 1768, bur Center Ch., m. Elizabeth Andrews d/o Samuel Andrews and Elizabeth Spencer
     children;
     *William Day Jr. bp Mch 30, 1718 (1st Ch), d. Oct 21, 1758 in Army (1st Ch), bur Center Ch
     Samuel Day, bp Mch 13, 1719/20 (1st Ch), d. Dec 6 1778 bur Center Ch, m. Hannah Ashley
     Elizabeth Day bp May 12, 1723 (1st Ch) d. Dec 7, 1778, bur Center Ch
     Will of Elizabeth dated 1772 (not probated??) gives to Samuel, Joseph, Jerusha (ch. of Samuel).

          * William Jr. would fit for time place and family names, his brother Samuels family is shown with no son named William.

     Children of William¹ Day and Abigail Woodward were as follows:
                2.                i.           Samuel W.² Day, b. 20 May 1773 in New Haven, CT; m. Dorothy Dewey.
                3.               ii.           Mary Day, b. 25 Jul 1775; m. George Landcraft.
                4.              iii.           Joseph L. Day, b. 29 Dec 1777 in New Haven, CT; m. Lovina Dewey.
                                 iv.          William Thomas Day; b. 27 Mar 1780 in New Haven, CT; m. Abigail Dewey,
                                                daughter of Isaac Dewey and Dorothy (_____), 1807; d. 30 Dec 1863 at age 83.
                                  v.          Abigail Day; b. 1782.


 

Generation Two

2.  Samuel W.² Day (William¹); b. 20 May 1773 in New Haven, CT;^[9],[10] m., at age 22, Dorothy Dewey, daughter of Isaac Dewey and Dorothy (_____), 16 Jun 1795 in Granby, CT;^[11] d. 2 Apr 1818 in Granby, CT, at age 44; bur. in Granby Center Cemetery (stone).

Dorothy Dewey was born circa 1776 (age at death).^[12] She died on 30 Aug 1861 in Granby, CT, at age 85.^[13] She was buried in Granby Center Cemetery (stone).    

Samuel Day was born in New Haven and, as a young man, moved to Granby with his mother, grandmother, and brothers at some point between 1790 and 1795.  They took up residence on what would later be called Day Street and  Samuel and his brother William married sisters Dorothy and Abigail Dewey, daughters of their neighbor Isaac Dewey.
     On the 19'th of June, 1795, Samuel entered his cattle markings as "Ear mark is atop Cut in the off Ear & Slit in the Same & a hapney the under Side of the Same".  He was made a freeman at a meeting on the 20'th of September, 1802.
     Samuel stayed put and lived next to his brothers and in-laws until his death in 1818 at the age of 44.  He died in debt and the job of administrator to the estate was declined by his widow and was taken by his brothers Joseph and William.  Samuel's mother, Abigail Day, purchased enough land from the estate to pay off the debts.
     Life must have been difficult for the widow, Dorothy.  Seven of her eight children were still alive and ranged in age from young adult to infant.  She continued to live among her relatives and probably received help from them but times were hard for everyone in the early 1800's.  Dorothy would outlive her husband by over forty years and died in 1861 at the age of 85.


     Children of Samuel W.² Day and Dorothy Dewey were as follows:
                5.                i.           Betsey³ Day, b. circa 1796; m. Josephus Messenger.
                6.               ii.           Anna Day, b. circa 1799; m. (_____) Cadwell.
                                 iii.           Samuel Day; b. 1801; d. 20 Oct 1804 in Granby, CT, at age 3 years , of croup (rattles);
                                                bur. in Granby Center Cemetery.
                                  iv.          Ransley Day; b. 1805; d. 26 Nov 1824 in Granby, CT, at age 19 years; bur. in Granby Center Cemetery.
                                   v.          Willis Day; b. 1806; m. Clarissa Barnes (_____) 12 Mar 1862; d. 23 Apr 1863 in
                                                Granby, CT, at age 57 years , of lung fever.
                                  vi.          Richard Day; b. circa 1809.
                                 vii.          Denman Day; b. circa 1814; m. Elizabeth R. Gillett, daughter of Thomas
                                                Gillett and Elizabeth Segar, 30 Oct 1834.
                                viii.          Julia Day; b. circa 1818.

3.  Mary² Day (William¹); b. 25 Jul 1775; m. George Landcraft, son of George Landcraft and Sarah Jocelyn, 1794 in East Haven, CT; d. 10 May 1858 at age 82.

     George Landcraft was born in 1771 in East Haven, CT. He died on 16 Dec 1840 , at age 69.

     Children of Mary² Day and George Landcraft were as follows:
                                   i.           Sarah³ Landcraft; b. 1796; m. Joseph Shepard, son of Joseph Shepard, 11 Dec 1825.
                                  ii.           Nathaniel Landcraft; b. 1798; m. Mary A. (_____); d. 15 Jan 1870.
                                 iii.           William T. Landcraft; b. 1800; m. Amanda Frost, daughter of Samuel Frost and
                                                Ruth Merriman; d. 9 Feb 1876.
                                  iv.          Mary Maria Landcraft; b. 1803; m. Lyman Potter of Hamden CT 25 Jun 1823.
                                   v.          Almira Landcraft; b. 10 Oct 1806; m., at age 26, Al Russell, son of John Russell,
                                                12 May 1833; d. 9 Apr 1860 at age 53.
                                  vi.          Abigail Landcraft; b. 30 Nov 1808; m., at age 23, Russell Lanfair, son of Russell Lanfair, 15 Feb 1832.

4.  Joseph L.² Day (William¹); b. 29 Dec 1777 in New Haven, CT; m. Lovina Dewey, daughter of David Dewey and Lovina Holcomb; d. 3 Feb 1840 at age 62.

     Lovina Dewey was born in 1782 in Granby, CT. She died on 20 Jan 1813 in Granby, CT, shortly after the death of her infant.
    
Children of Joseph L.² Day and Lovina Dewey were:
                                   i.           infant³ Day; b. 9 Jan 1813.


 

Generation Three

5.  Betsey³ Day (Samuel², William¹); b. circa 1796;^[14],[15] m. Josephus Messenger, son of Lemuel Messenger and Abigail Lamson, circa 1817; d. after 1850.

     Josephus Messenger was born circa 1794 in West Granby, CT. He died in Feb 1834 in West Granby, CT, at age 40 years of Consumption. He was buried in West Granby Cemetery (no stone). He also went by the name of Cephas.

     Children of Betsey³ Day and Josephus Messenger were as follows:
                                   i.           Samuel Wilson⁴ Messenger; b. 2 Jul 1818 in Granby, CT; m., at age 36,
                                                Hannah Brown 22 Aug 1854 in Granby, CT.
                                  ii.           Lyman M. Messenger; b. circa 1821 in Granby (?), CT; m. Emily Russell 11 Nov 1846 in Simsbury, CT.
                                 iii.           Rensselaer F. Messenger; b. circa 1825 in Granby, CT;^[16],[17]
                                               m. (1) (_____) (_____); m. (2) Sarah Ann Winchell, age 21, daughter of
                                               Eli Winchell Jr. and Wealthy Permelia Gillett, 30 Apr 1855 in Southwick, MA;^[18],[19]
                                               d. 12 Aug 1889 in Granby, CT, of Phthisis Catarrha (tuberculosis);^[20] bur. in
                                               West Granby Cemetery (no stone) Buried by the town, no stone.

Rensselaer F. was more commonly known as Frank Messenger.^[21]
He was made a freeman on 4 Apr 1846.^[22]
     Marries Sarah Ann Winchell April 30, 1855. He shows up on the 1860 Southwick MA. census along with Sarah, his four year old son, Willis Irving, and his father-in-law and mother-in-law. Twelve years later, Sarah, her son Willis Irving, and her widowed mother Wealthy (Gillett) Winchell come to Utica, NY apparently without Rensselaer Frank. Rensselaer Messenger, s/o Josephus, dies at the age of Abt 66 in 1889, apparently poor as he is buried by the town. He is listed as single at his death. Research in Hartford CT might show whether he and Sarah were officially divorced.

                                  iv.          Lucy Ann Messenger; b. between 1825 and 1830; m. Lewis P. Meyers.
                                   v.          Joseph Messenger; b. circa 1830.
                                  vi.          infant Messenger; b. Dec 1832; d. 5 Mar 1833 in West Granby, CT, age 4 months.

6.  Anna³ Day (Samuel², William¹); b. circa 1799; m. (_____) Cadwell.

     Children of Anna³ Day and (_____) Cadwell were:
                                   i.           Mary Ann⁴ Cadwell; m. Bernard Steel.
 

Endnotes