Henry Jenkins, son of Jonathan or not?

I had a good deal of information about lawyer Jonathan Jenkins of Rensselaerville NY.  He was the son of Samuel Jenkins and Mercy Squire and the sister of Sarah who married Thomas Watson of my RI line.  In 1809 Jonathan married “Betsey” Mulford and I knew they had son Charles in 1810 and daughter (Julia) Harriet in 1816.  I thought that was it. Then I came across a listing of beneficiaries from the 1842 will of Eli Hutchinson of Catskill. Named were Charles, Henry and Harriet Jenkins, children of Jonathan. Really? I had not heard of Henry.

It is difficult to identify children who were born in those decades before the census named everyone in the household. I went back to check Jonathan’s records in 1810, 1820, 1830 – there was more than one assumed son. I did not find Henry living in Rensselaerville in 1850 … but thought perhaps I had found him, with wife Jane and daughter Mary in Albany.

I searched around for more information on Henry and thought he seemed to be the one referenced as living in Albany and Hudson, NY, at times a banker, legislator and later referred to as a lawyer (somewhat of the “family business” for Jenkins). I stumbled upon death notices published both in Arizona and in New York (both Albany and Hudson) for a Henry who died suddenly in Tucson in Nov 1868 – saying he was from NY, had arrived in 1859 and “left family in Albany”. Was that him?

The sons of Thomas Watson of Rensselearville

Until a few weeks ago I knew only that Thomas Watson was born in Newport, RI about 1770 and died in Rensselaerville, Albany County, NY in 1813.  I had found him in the NY census in 1800 and 1810 with an assumed wife and 3 sons.  Exploring a bit more I learned that he was a lawyer (as many in that family line were), he was a land owner and was survived by wife “Sally and heirs”.  I had suspicions that Rufus W. Wheeler (1806-1876), a Catskill New York lawyer, might be one of his sons.

I had a great breakthrough earlier this month when I received copies of pages from the records of Rev Samuel Fuller, a Presbyterian minister in Rensselaerville. [ Thanks to the NYSHA in Cooperstown, NY for their assistance]. Those pages unveiled the family as follows:

-       His wife was Sarah “Sally” Jenkins, daughter of Samuel who built the first house in the village

-       Three sons were named without ages, all baptized on the same date the year their father died

o   Rufus Wheeler

o   Samuel Squires

o   John Jenkins

-       She remarried in 1818 – a second marriage also for her husband Roger Metcalf of Otsego County (where Thomas’ oldest sister Desire and her husband Peleg Peckham lived after leaving Rensselaerville)

Rufus W. Watson is a common name in this family line, so at first I as not sure the baptized son was the Catskill lawyer.  But I found a reference to Rufus W. Watson of Catskill lawyer that mentioned his father Thomas was one of the earliest lawyers in Rensselaerville. Rufus is buried in the Catskill Village Cemetery with his wife Elizabth Botsford. He apparently spent his entire adult life in Greene County, NY.

So, now the question is what happened to Samuel and John?  Were they older or younger than Rufus?  The search continues.