1. Thomas Henshaw (c1650-1700) m Hannah Cleveland (1653-1737)
2.. Thomas Henshaw (1680-1726) m Mary Brooks (1688-?)
3... William Henshaw (1715-1801) m Priscilla Reed (1715-1748)
4.... William Henshaw (1742-1817) m Mehitable Moffet (1746-1839)
5..... William Henshaw (1780-1868)
+Lucretia Granger (1786-1849)
6...... (daughter) Hincher (c1803-1819) 1
6...... Jemima Hincher (1805-1877) 2,3,4
6...... William Henshaw (1807-1868) 3
6...... Harvey Hincher (1809-1880) 3
6...... Clarissa Henshaw (1811-1870) 3,5,6
6...... John Granger Hincher (1815-1878) 3
6...... Abel R. Henshaw (1818-1819) 1,3
6...... Electa Henshaw (1820-1864) 3
6...... Horace H. Henshaw (1823-1861) 3
6...... Abel Roe Henshaw (1825-1900) 3,7,8
| William Henshaw [ID 02983] | Click here to switch to Ancestror Tree view:  |
William Henshaw9 [William Hincher1,2,3,5,6,10,11,12, William Hencher13].
Born Apr 17 1780, Brookfield, Worcester County, Massachusetts.3,5,6,12,13,14,15,16
He married Lucretia Granger.2,3,5,6,7,9 Lucretia, daughter of Eli Granger & Jemima Leavitt, was born Nov 21 1786, Suffield, Connecticut.2,3,5,6,7
William and Lucretia lived at North Greece, New York.3 William was a farmer.3
William and family were shown in the 1830 census, Greece Township, Monroe County, New York:10
William and family were again shown in the 1840 census, Gates Township, Monroe County, New York:11
Lucretia died Sep 22 1849, North Greece, New York; age 62Y 11M 7D.1,3,5,6,7
In spite of Lucretia's reported 1849 death date (which is also shown on her gravestone, although the gravestone might have been erected many years later), Lucretia was shown in the 1850 census (Nov 11 1850) living in Gates Township, Monroe County, New York with two of her sons, but William was not enumerated:17
William was shown in the 1860 census (Jun 23 1860), living in the household of son Harvey in Andover, Allegeny County, New York:12
William Henshaw died May 8 1868, Andover, Alleghany County, New York.3,5,6,7
In 1851 a history of Monroe County, New York was written which included personal reminiscences from 71 year old William Hencher, Jr.:18
For two years after we came to the mouth of the Genesee river, many of the Indians were ugly, threatening and quarrelsome. Pending the victory of Wayne, my father had made up his mind to leave the country, if the result had been adverse; but his courage was renewed when the Senecas came back from the fight, tame and spiritless, complaining of the conduct of their British allies in shutting themselves up in a fort, and not coming to their rescue, as they had been made to believe they would. We all expected that if Wayne was defeated, the western Indians would come down and aid the Senecas in a war upon the whites in this region. The mouth of the Genesee River, Braddock's Bay, and Irondequoit Bay, were hunting, trapping, and fishing grounds of the Senecas, and at times, the Mississaguas from Canada would be encamped about then in large numbers. Some of the first hogs that my father brought in became wild; a boar, especially, became almost the lord of the forrest. Huddling his flock together, he would alone fight and conquer bears who attempted to attack them; and he was more than a match, with his long tusks, for all the dogs of the country. On one occasion, he treed an Indian, and kept him up until he was relieved by others.
Indian Allen came down and staid with us for several days, when he moved to Canada, awaiting the arrival of a boat from Niagara, which he had chartered. He had a boat load of effects, one Squaw and two white wives.
When the British held Fort Niagara and Oswego, a mail used to be carried between them by water in summer, and by a runner in winter, travelling on snow shoes. Elisha Scudder, who lived at Irondequoit, was crossing the Bay in a canoe -- saw a bear swimming -- struck at him -- missed, the axe going out of his hands into the water. The bear, tired of swimming, mounted into the canoe, and remained in it til it reached the shore; stepping out, and marching off deliberately, without even thanking the ferryman. John Parks, the hunter, made my father's house his head quarters. Near Irondequoit Bay, wounding a bear, the animal turned and attacked him; bear and hunter clenched, and a desperate fight ensued. Parks conquered, killing the bear with his knife, but was dreadfully bitten and lacerated. He crawled to our house, several miles, on his hands and knees. Dr. Hosmer came down and dressed his wounds.
Parks and the mulatto Dunbar, who lived at Irondequoit, were out after coons upon the Lake shore. Their dogs treed one, as they supposed. It was dark; Dunbar climbed the tree, until he discovered a pair of eyes larger than coons usually have, and backed down. They built up fires, remained until morning, when they found their game a large panther, which they shot.
The dens of the rattle snakes were all along in the banks of the river below the Falls. In the first warm days in the spring, they would come out, roll and entwine themselves in large coils, with their heads sticking out; so torpid, you could kill them easily. This would continue until the weather was settled; then they would go out upon their summer rambles, not returning to their dens until cold weather came again. I have killed forty in a day. On one occasion, in the spring of the year, we got together all we could raise, went up the river in canoes, and killed 300 in one day. I have no doubt of the snake's power of charming his victim. I have killed rattle snakes that had swallowed chipmucks and birds, and have often seen birds fluttering over black snakes, with apparently no power to get away until I had disturbed the snake, when they would quickly take the wing.
The next summer after we came in, John Love, who had married a daughter of Dr. Adams of Geneva, came and lived with us. Dr. Adams had purchased land upon the Lake shore, of Mr. Williamson. My father and Love went up to Esq. Shaeffers and bought some corn, took it down to the Allen mill in a canoe, ground it themselves, backed it over the portage down to a point a little above Handford's Landing, where they made ropes of bark and let it down in a canoe.
Deer were abundant. I have killed six in one hour. Braddock's Bay was a famous place for trapping otters, muskrats and minks. Geese and ducks bred in the Bay, in the pond, in Irondequoit Bay. We could procure their eggs in any desired quantity.
Our early route up the river was an old Indian trail that bore off from the river to avoid Deep Hollow, and came upon it again at Scottsville; and it was many years before we had any thing but a wood's road through the present city of Rochester.
A very likely Indian -- Tuscarora Charles -- and his Squaw, were almost constantly encamped at the mouth of the river and Braddock's Bay. When Walker went to Canada in '93, Charles went with me to drive his cattle. On our return, arriving at a camping ground, where the village of Caryville, Genesee county, now is, we found Joseph Brant, with a white waiter, on his was to Canada. He was well dressed, after the fashion of white men; but before we parted, he changed his dress entirely, putting on an Indian dress, and getting Charles to paint him like an Indian warrior. This was before reaching Tonawanda, and I fancied that he preferred appearing among his own people like one of them.
There was a great change when the British gave up Oswego and Niagara: navigation of the Lake was brisk; surveyors and emigrants on their way to New Connecticut, often put into the mouth of the river.
We had but little sickness in our family; called Dr. Hosmer on one or two occasions. He used but little medicine; he recommended to my mother the use of the extract of butternut root, as an ordinary cathartic, and she was well convinced of its effiacy.
During the Revolution, Butler's Rangers that did not go to Canada, were scattered along among the Indians, on the Susquehannah and Tioga rivers, Seneca Lake, and Genesee river. To arrest the march of Sullivan, Butler and Brant came from Canada, Butler to head the Rangers, and Brant to head the Indians. When they were defeated and driven before Sullivan's army, Brant with his Indian allies, took the Niagara trail for Canada; and Butler and his Rangers went down to the mouth of the Genesee river, after sending Walker as a runner to Niagara to have boats sent down. They encamped, made no fires for fear the smoke would betray them, fired no guns, kept as quiet as possible, fearing that Sullivan's scouts would discover their retreat. There were several days delay of the boats, and when Walker arrived with them, Butler and his men were nearly famished for the want of food.
Mr. -- Hunt, the Pioneer at Johnson's Creek, Niagara county, was a prisoner at Fort Niagara during the Border Wars. Walker was then on the other side, and one day was sent by Col. Butler over to enquire of the commanding officer of the Fort if he had any news! "Tell Col. Butler," said the British commandant, "that there is bad news; the d--d rebels have carried the day, and there will be no place left for us but Nova Scotia, where it is colder than --- is hot".
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