This is an abridged version of a published and copyrighted document. This Newsletter appears in abridged form for purposes of brevity and elimination of duplicative information appearing in conjunction with this Newsletter elsewhere on the Internet. James Raywalt
I regret having to inform Newsletter readers that, due to continued health problems, I am forced to cease production of the Newsletter. Some Newsletter subscribers are aware of my recent health difficulties, and to those who have expressed concern, I wish to publicly extend a heartfelt thanks. Your comments and prayers are certainly appreciated.
Editing the family newsletter has been a challenging and rewarding project. At present, there are no plans to continue with this Newsletter beyond this issue. After careful consideration, I find it appropriate to conclude that, in the event someone else wishes to publish a work concerning this family, their project should be entirely their own and need not be tied specifically to this newsletter. I hope that this will allow others maximum flexibility for creativity. I hope that in the future someone will take the opportunity to produce a writing such as a newsletter so that we may continue to further our knowledge of our family.
To state the obvious, this issue of the Newsletter is horrendously late. Still, I have endeavored to remain faithful to my commitment and to complete my project as well as possible. That having been said, this issue of the Newsletter brings forth our present understanding of the lives of David4 and Benjamin4 Enyart, sons of John3 Enyard (Carel1 Jellis2) and his second wife, Mrs. Mary Darlin. As with the last issue, this issue will doubtlessly generate questions. Hopefully, however, more questions will be answered than raised.
James RaywaltWe turn our attention to David4 and Benjamin4 Enyart, the two youngest sons of John3 Enyard of New Jersey. The Editor is grateful to Roberta Pierson for her contributions of material for this article.
Both David4 and Benjamin4 are mentioned in their father's will. Interestingly, first mention of them in that document occurs after their father mentions his second wife, Mary. In addition, the language of the will makes it clear that both David and Benjamin had not yet attained the age of majority at the will's writing. These two facts lead to the reasonable conclusion that both David and Benjamin probably were born of their father's second marriage.
As stated in the Newsletter (Vol. 1, No. 2, p. 25), David4 Enyart (Carel1, Jellis2, John3) was born by the year 1739, but, as discussed in Volume 2, No. 2 of the Newsletter (which see at pp. 63-64), it is possible that his birth occurred earlier, perhaps as early as 1728. David was born in New Jersey, probably at Woodbridge. The name of his wife has not been learned.[n1] In addition, there continues to be much debate with regard to the number and identities of his children. He did not leave a will, or if he did, it appears not to have survived. It therefore seems impossible to identify his children with certainty.
The connection of David to any of his offspring seems to be through a process of elimination rather than via any factual means. It is known that David was resident in Butler County, Ohio until his death in or near the year 1815. David's brother Benjamin, who also resided in western Ohio, left a will naming his [Benjamin's] offspring. As David and Benjamin lived near one another and the identities of Benjamin's children are known, it is surmised that those Enyarts of the same generation as Benjamin's children who resided in the same area are believed to be children of David. However, absent any records of land transfer or other useful documents, there is no clear evidence showing the number or identities of David's children. Nevertheless, it is believed he fathered at least the following two sons:
Some family historians have assigned additional children to David4 Enyart, but again, there appears to be no concrete evidence to provide a link. The individuals in question are William, Abraham and John. A brief genealogical account of each follows:
The inclusion of this William as a possible child of David4 has only minimal merit. He seems to be of the right generation to be David's son. This, however, presumes that David was born earlier than many family historians previously have asserted. Consider, too, that William located for a time in Butler County, Ohio -- the place in which David4 resided. His relocation to the same area of the country suggests at least a near relationship between the two men. Finally, William's younger children appear to have been born contemporarily with the children of David5 and Silas5. Then again, even if David4 was, in fact, born earlier, it does not necessarily follow that William must be his son, for he could just as easily be a nephew or a cousin.
Although some historians have assigned the above Abraham as a son of David4 of the instant sketch, such a connection is almost certainly erroneous, for he appears to be a son of David's elder brother Silas4. See Newsletter, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 51, et seq.
The two individuals named John above are discussed at length in the Newsletter, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 51, et seq. The records pertaining to these two individuals are limited and it is difficult to draw accurate conclusions as to their precise identities. However, the elder John is likely a son of David's elder brother Silas4
According to Middlesex County, New Jersey tax records, David4 occupied himself at farming. In 1778 he owned 60 acres of land, having a value of $420. However, by 1779 he appears to have sold that land, and by 1780, he is shown merely as the head of household, owning one horse and two cattle.
David removed his family to Ohio in about the year 1802, when he settled in Hamilton County in the village of Princeton (near Cincinnati).[n6] The first Petit Jury was formed in Princeton in 1802 and included the name David Enyart. By 1815 David had removed to Middletown, Ohio, a town presently located about mid-way between Cincinnati and Dayton.
The precise time and place of David's death are not known, but it is believed that he died in what is now Butler County in or very near the year 1815, shortly after removing to Middletown, and was buried in the Princeton, Ohio cemetery. The cemetery no longer exists and no cemetery records remain extant to support this assertion.
With records pertaining to David4 being so scarce, there remain many unanswered questions concerning his life and family.
Benjamin4 Enyart (Carel1, Jellis2, John3) served as a corporal in Captain Jacob TenEyck's Company, Colonel Frelinghuysen's Regiment of the Somerset County, New Jersey Militia in the American Revolution. According to application papers found in the files of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Benjamin Inyard was born May 28, 1741 in New Jersey.[n7] He was likely born at Woodbridge. Benjamin is mentioned in his father's will after his brother David, and for reasons stated earlier, there are grounds for concluding that Benjamin is a child born of his father's second marriage, and that he probably was the youngest of his family.
Benjamin removed to Hamilton County, Ohio in 1800 or 1801, as evidenced by property transfers. On August 11, 1777 he signed a bond at Somerset County, New Jersey, along with his nephew John5 Conger (Carel1, Jellis2, John3, Anna4) and Ebenezer Ford, so that Ford could serve as guardian of Jonathan Bloomfield. On October 9, 1786, he and two others conveyed a small plot of ground to the trustees of the Mount Bethel Baptist Church (Warren Township, Somerset County) for a cemetery and meeting house, and in 1795 his name appears among those named as church trustees. Benjamin conveyed land at Somerset County, New Jersey on December 17, 1800. On March 9, 1801, along with his son Samuel5, Benjamin conveyed property in Bernards Township, Somerset County, New Jersey. He purchased land in Hamilton County, Ohio on December 22, 1800. He was probably already in Ohio by December 22, 1800 and the property transfer that occurred in New Jersey the following March may have been facilitated by his son in his absence.
Benjamin was a party to numerous land transactions in Butler County, Ohio in the year 1804, and his name appears on the 1807 tax duplicate for Hamilton County, when he was taxed 34.4 cents for ownership of 53 acres.
Benjamin married first, in or very near the year 1763 in New Jersey, to Johanna Tombs. She was born February 29, 1747/8 in New Jersey, and she died in the year 1808, soon before May 5, probably in Warren County, Ohio. Benjamin made record of his wife's death when he wrote a letter to his son Rufus in September 1808 telling him of his poor mother's demise.[n8]
Benjamin married secondly on May 5, 1808 at Warren County, Ohio to Mary Cowan.[n9] No children appear to have been born of the second marriage.
Benjamin's children, all born of his first wife, are as follows, and unless otherwise noted, their genealogical information originates with various descendants:
Benjamin died at Warren County, Ohio between January 1, 1814, the day he wrote his will, and December 26, 1817, when his will was probated at Warren County.[n11] The will may be found in Warren County Will Records, Vol. 1, p. 116. His final resting place has not been learned for certain but some family historians assert that he was buried at Pottstown in Butler County, Ohio.
1Some family researchers will have seen the suggestion that the name of David's wife may have been Sarah, but presently there is no bona fide evidence to support this allegation, and it should therefore be regarded only as theory.
2His date of birth appears to have been culled originally from Powell's History of Cass County, Indiana (1913), and is reiterated in a document written by a son of Samuel R.7 Enyart (Carel1, Jellis2, John3, David4, Silas5, David6). The Editor is in possession of a copy of this paper, entitled "Record of Silas Enyart." The document is undated and the precise identity of the document's compiler is unclear to the Editor.
3There appears to be no surviving civil record of the marriage of Silas5 Enyart and Mary Stinson. This date, as well as the names and birth dates of all of their children, comes from a family Bible that was extant in the 1940s but apparently was destroyed in a house fire. The Bible evidently was in the possession, albeit temporarily, of Olive Irene Enyart Carey, who in 1947 became a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution through her ancestor, Elijah Buck. See, e.g., the official records of the DAR for application number 372136; cf. "Record of Silas Enyart," referenced in note 2 above, which provides identical dates to those found in the DAR applications.
4Her maiden name has been found spelt both ways, and her parentage has not been proven. The 1807 tax list of Hamilton County, Ohio (for the tax year 1806) contains the names Thomas Stinson and Gaddock Stephenson living next to one another, and either or both of these men may be close relatives of Mary. In addition, papers prepared by Otto Irvin9, Enyart (Carel1, Jellis2, John3, David4, Silas5, David6, Samuel Reed7, Walter Raleigh8) (1893-1978) indicate she was the daughter of Thomas and Mary (McLain) Stephenson. Although no source is stated for this assertion, and it therefore should be treated as unproved, it nevertheless is a lead worth researching.
5A family record, prepared in conjunction with the Enyart Fortune Scam, which is the subject of a separate discussion found in the Newsletter at Vol. 1, pp. 17-20, asserts that a child named Orange also appears among the children of Silas5 Enyart. The Editor can find no documentary evidence to support this assertion, and it is almost certainly erroneous; however, there was an Orange8 Enyart, grandson of David6 in this line.
6Princeton is now located in Butler County, Ohio, which was created in 1803 from part of Hamilton County when Ohio gained official statehood. Hamilton County was divided to make up all or part of nine counties, including Butler County.
7There are eight applications through four of Benjamin's children: Rufus, David, Hannah and Samuel, as follows:
171471, 171472, 171473 (all in 1921) through son Rufus
196757 through son David
446657 and 498686 through daughter Hannah
652320 and 652321 (both in 1981) through son Samuel
8The Editor has not seen a copy of the referenced letter but understands there are copies extant among Benjamin's descendants.
9Her maiden name is per the transcript of their marriage record, which calls him "Benjaman Enard." Ohio Marriages Recorded in County Courts Through 1820: An Index, Jean Nathan, The Ohio Genealogical Society (1996), p. 326. Some family historians call her Mrs. Mary Runyon, Mrs. Mary Runion or Mrs. Mary Ryan, but there seems to be no bona fide evidence of her previously being married, and the Editor wonders whether this may have been a subsequent marriage for her. Charles McIntire of Colonial Virginia at p. 175 notes she was Mrs. Mary Ryan, citing for its source the DAR Patriot Index (1966 ed.), p. 362. The DAR application papers indicate he was married twice: (1st) Joanna Tombs, (2nd) Mrs. Mary Runyan, and these papers appear to be the source of the misidentity of his second wife.
10A History and Biographical Cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio, Western Biographical Publishing Co. (1882), p. 491.
11DAR application papers show his death as having occurred "before January 7, 1818" at Warren County, Ohio.
ENYART-ENYEART & variants Family Homepage |