From a reader - letter dated August or September, 2009)
Dear Ms. Farone:
I read with interest the transcription of the Watertown Daily Times, Saturday afternoon, June 10, 1905, The County Pioneers (written for 1905 publication): Some of the Early Settlers Who Founded Homes in Old Jefferson. [
I worried several months over the fact that John Wilkie (c.1769-before 1850) had enough money to become involved with any sizable land purchase during the latter part of the 1790s or the beginning of the 1800s. At that time, John, Jr., was with his father John, Sr., and living in Buckland, Massachusetts. (See Judith Swan's article on John Wilkie and Elizabeth Standish in the Mayflower Quarterly, September 2008.)
So, I did some cursory research into any John Wilkes and found a more likely candidate: John Wilkes of Herkimer County, New York. I have included some information I gleaned off Ancestry.com. I think that John Wilkes, born 1765 and died about 1819/1820, (see 2 FGSes of John Wilkes and his family) is a more fitting candidate for the petulant John Wilkes of Hough's narrative on p. 210 of his book.
The County's Pioneers, was written for 1905 publication - Watertown Daily Times, Saturday afternoon, June 10, 1905.
Orleans and Its First Settlers.
Of the several proprietors of Penet's square, which induced the whole of the present town of Orleans, was John Wilkie, who owned 12,000 acres purchased from Nicholas Olive. He came to the tract in 1802, but not relishing life in the wilderness, abandoned the idea of settling there.
and
Franklin B. Hough, History of Jefferson County, N.Y., (Watertown, NY: Sterling & Riddell, 1854) reprint (Boise, ID: The Family Tree, 2005) pp. 43-4, 210.
p. 210 [Orleans] "in 1807, John Wilkes, one of the proprietors, visited the tract, and is believed to have been the first of the owners who traversed it. Being unaccustomed to the fatigue of traveling in the forest, he returned home disgusted with it, . . . ."
Further, John Wilkie, Jr., had a goodly number of relatives already in the area and there would be no need for him to "go home." (Spinning, Standish, Barrows, brother Matthew) And, if he had traveled from Hampshire County, Massachusetts, he probably would have been used to the fatigue of traveling.
I just bring this up because of the lack of harmony between the stories of the two men, and I thought you might want to note on your website the difference in the two accounts. I include my reasoning in an effort to begin to persuade you. I am also including what little can be found in the General Society for Mayflower Descendants 5 Generation Project, Volume 14, Myles Standish, pp. 167-168, on the Wilkie family.
Thank you for listening to me.
Katherine Cullen King
8502 W. Boulevard Drive
Alexandria, VA 22308-1917
[email protected]