Person Page - 648

     Dorothy Holcombe was the daughter of Artie Holcombe and Mary M. (?)

     Geneva M. Roblee was born circa 1915 at NY.¹ She was the daughter of Louis Hiram Roblee and Harriet W. Holcombe.¹

     Myrtle M. Roblee was born circa 1906 at Johnsburg, Warren Co., NY.¹ She was the daughter of Louis Hiram Roblee and Harriet W. Holcombe.¹

     Oliver Phelps was born on 21 October 1749 at Poquonock, Windsor, Hartford Co., CT.¹ He was the son of Thomas Phelps and Ann Brown.¹ Oliver Phelps married Mary Seymour.¹ Oliver Phelps died on 21 February 1809 at Canandaigua, Ontario Co., NY, at age 59.¹


Mr. Phelps' father died when he was about three months old, and his mother when he was about sixteen, so young Oliver came to Suffield, Connecticut, apprenticed to a local merchant and later became a tavern keeper in Granville, Mass. As Deputy Commissary of the Colonial army during the Revolution, he supplied troops and was commended by General Washington. The connections he thus established aided his efforts in forming a syndicate with Nathanial Gorham for the purpose of buying large tracts of land on speculation

At the end of the American Revolution, New York and Massachusetts compromised on their competing land claims for the frontier to their east in December 1786 by the Treaty of Hartford. The compromise was that, while New York would have sovereignty over this "Western Reserve," Massachusetts would have the "pre-emptive" right to obtain title from the Indians.

On April 1, 1788, the Massachusetts Legislature granted Phelps and Nathaniel Gorham the right to purchase pre-emptive rights to 6,144,000 acres east and west of the Genesee River. The price of the pre-emptive rights was $1 million, roughly equivalent to $20 billion in 2005. Phelps journeyed west to supervise land surveys and to arrange acceptable terms with the Senecas for the purchase of the eastern half of their lands.

A first attempt to convene a council at Geneva failed, and Phelps paid a visit to Indian Allan on the Genesee before proceeding to Buffalo Creek where a large council was convened on July 4th. A goodly number of chiefs gathered there to hear Phelps explain the nature of his claim to their lands. It was not at all clear just what he had bought from Massachusetts since the Indians considered themselves to be the rightful owners of that land. But it was somehow made evident to the chieftains that, since they had been the allies of the defeated British, and since their lands had been surrendered in the peace treaty of 1783, the tribes could only expect to retain their lands on the sufferance of the United States."

For nearly 2,600,000 acres of rich land lying between Lake Seneca and the Genesee River, Oliver Phelps offered the niggardly sum of £2,100 in New York currency! The price paid to the Indians for Manhattan Island was extravagant compared to this!"

Before he returned to New England that fall, Oliver Phelps engaged a group of surveyors to lay out townships on a rectangular pattern over all the broad estate. A site at the outlet of Canandaigua Lake was chosen for the land office and the chief town, and an order was given for the erection there of a log-house during the winter.

While Phelps and Gorham had negotiated the pre-emptive rights from Massachusetts, they still had to negotiate with the Indians who had rights to the land. They met with the Five Indian Nations (Mohawks, Oneidas, Onandagas, Cayugas, and Senecas) on July 4-8, 1788, at Buffalo Creek. They ended up a deed or treaty extinguishing the Indian claim to 2,250,000 acres

The included approximately the eastern one-third of the territory ceded to Massachusetts by the Treaty of Hartford, and begins at a point 'in the north boundary line of the State of Pennsylvania in the parallel of forty-two degrees north latitude at a point distant eighty-two miles west from the northeast corner of Pennsylvania on Delaware River.' (the Preemption Line).

This land ownership briefly made Oliver one of the largest land owners in the United States. At the time of the Western Reserve purchase, Phelps was also negotiating for land in Georgia, West Virginia and Maine.

In 1789 Phelps returned to Suffield and bought the Hatheway House where he opened one of the first land offices in America (and another in Canandaigua, N.Y.) Unfortunately, land sales did not keep pace with payments due Massachusetts for the pre-emption rights, and Gorham and Phelps could not make the first payment due in 1790. Two-thirds of the land, that portion west of the Genesee River, comprising some 3,750,000 acres, reverted to the Commonwealth.

In August 1790, the land east of the Genesee River that had not been sold—some 1,200,000 acres—was sold to Robert Morris, who had previously bought the western portion. Morris was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and financier of the American Revolution, and at the time the richest man in America.

Phelps retained extensive holdings in the infant Ontario County. He maintained an interest in its affairs — and in further land speculations. He was elected First Judge of Ontario county (1789-1793). After additional entanglements in western real estate ventures which resulted in "personal embarrassment" and, for a time, the prospect of debtor's prison, Phelps settled down to permanent residence in Canandaigua in 1802.

Although he was a founder and large stock holder in the Hartford National Bank and Trust Co., about 1800 his financial troubles became acute because of the effect of changing money values on mortgages held on the tracts of land sold, along with a depressed land market. Forced to sell his Suffield home, Phelps moved to Canandaigua, N.Y., where he built a grist mill and endowed the Canandaigua Academy with a liberal grant of 6,000 acres. Between 1803 and 1805 he served in Congress. A popular figure in the country he had opened for settlement, he was appointed the first judge of Ontario County and elected as a Democrat (i.e., a Jeffersonian Republican) with a single term in congress. He returned to Canandaigua afterwards to live out his years.

Although a man of great ability and broad vision, Oliver Phelps was ahead of his time. He tried to help settlers who could not fulfill their contracts, but he was doomed to poverty and died in 1809 in debtor’s prison.
His memory is honored in Canandaigua, where the inscription on his tombstone reads: “Enterprise, Industry, and Temperance cannot always ensure success but the first of these will be felt by Society.”.

     Ethel Wood was born circa 1897 at NY.¹ She married Arthur F. Holcombe, son of Charles Frederick Holcombe and Mary Ellen Mattison.¹ Ethel Wood died on 12 January 1925.

     William Truman was born on 4 October 1838 at Wirt, Allegany Co., NY.¹ He was the son of John Truman and Maria Holcombe.¹ William Truman died on 29 November 1840 at Wirt, Allegany Co., NY, at age 2.¹

     Elizabeth E. Holcombe was born circa 1914 at Johnsburg, Warren Co., NY.¹ She was the daughter of Arthur F. Holcombe and Ethel Wood.¹

     Orson Truman was born on 21 June 1840 at Wirt, Allegany Co., NY.¹ He was the son of John Truman and Maria Holcombe.¹ Orson Truman married Adeline Demarius Child, daughter of Mark Child and Lydia Robinson, on 14 February 1862 at Lima, Rock Co., WI.¹ Orson Truman died on 4 May 1909 at Lima, Rock Co., WI, at age 68.¹

     Muriel L. Roblee was born circa 1915 at Johnsburg, Warren Co., NY.¹ She was the daughter of Louis Hiram Roblee and Harriet W. Holcombe.¹

     William Truman was born on 1 February 1845 at Wirt, Allegany Co., NY.¹ He was the son of John Truman and Maria Holcombe.¹ William Truman married Martha Jane Child, daughter of Mark Child and Lydia Robinson, on 31 December 1865 at Lima, Rock Co., WI.¹ William Truman married Netlie Irene Barker on 14 December 1909.¹ William Truman died on 26 March 1924 at Lima Center, Rock Co., WI, at age 79.¹

     John Alonzo Truman was born on 1 January 1827 at Scott, Cortland Co., NY.^1,2 He was the son of John Truman and Cynthia Truman.¹ John Alonzo Truman married Abigail (?) John Alonzo Truman died on 17 June 1882 at Lima, Rock Co., WI, at age 55.¹

     Albert Henry Truman was born on 5 October 1828 at Scott, Cortland Co., NY.¹ He was the son of John Truman and Cynthia Truman.¹ Albert Henry Truman died on 16 February 1849 at Lima Center, Rock Co., WI, at age 20.¹

     Joseph Truman was born on 2 August 1830 at Scott, Cortland Co., NY. He was the son of John Truman and Cynthia Truman. Joseph Truman died on 31 August 1831 at Scott, Cortland Co., NY, at age 1.¹

     Horatio Philetus Truman was born on 1 August 1835 at DeRuyter, Madison Co., NY.¹ He was the son of John Truman and Cynthia Truman.¹ Horatio Philetus Truman died on 16 October 1835 at DeRuyter, Madison Co., NY.¹

     Martha Jane Child was born on 28 August 1845 at Hammond, St. Lawrence Co., NY.¹ She was the daughter of Mark Child and Lydia Robinson. Martha Jane Child married William Truman, son of John Truman and Maria Holcombe, on 31 December 1865 at Lima, Rock Co., WI.² Martha Jane Child died on 27 January 1908 at Lima, Rock Co., WI, at age 62.²

     Fred Burton Truman was born on 10 September 1875.¹ He was the son of William Truman and Martha Jane Child.¹ Fred Burton Truman married Eliza Hadley.¹ Fred Burton Truman died on 29 January 1924 at Lima Center, Rock Co., WI, at age 48.¹

     Mary Seymour was born on 16 November 1752 at Hartford or Harwinton, CT.¹ She married Oliver Phelps, son of Thomas Phelps and Ann Brown.¹ Mary Seymour died on 13 September 1826 at Canandaigua, Ontario Co., NY, at age 73.¹

     (?) Walton married Mary Elizabeth Holcombe, daughter of William Horace Holcombe and Hannah Hickley.¹

     Elizabeth Truman was born on 18 May 1837 at Wirt, Allegany Co., NY.¹ She was the daughter of John Truman and Maria Holcombe.¹ Elizabeth Truman died on 24 November 1840 at Wirt, Allegany Co., NY, at age 3.¹

     George Holcombe was born circa 1863 at OH.¹ He was the son of Ebenezer L. Holcombe and Agnes Askins.¹

     Emma Amanda Truman was born on 1 August 1832 at Scott, Cortland Co., NY.¹ She was the daughter of John Truman and Cynthia Truman.¹ Emma Amanda Truman died on 23 December 1865 at Hartford, Butler Co., IA, at age 33.¹

     Isabell E. Holcombe was born circa 1864 at OH.¹ She was the daughter of Ebenezer L. Holcombe and Agnes Askins.¹

     Eunice Amma Truman was born on 19 March 1842 at Wirt, Allegany Co., NY.¹ She was the daughter of John Truman and Maria Holcombe.¹ Eunice Amma Truman married Philetus Clark Truman on 6 May 1863 at Magnolia, Harrison Co., IA.¹ Eunice Amma Truman died on 10 March 1877 at Harlan, Shelby Co., IA, at age 34.

     Otho Holcombe was born circa 1868 at Huntington Twp., Gallia Co., OH.¹ He was the son of Ebenezer L. Holcombe and Agnes Askins.¹ Otho Holcombe was also known as Otto C. He married Rose N. Castor on 23 December 1893 at Meigs Co., OH. Otho Holcombe died on 25 April 1897 at Columbia Twp., Meigs Co., OH. He was buried at Mount Olive Cemetery, Point Rock, Meigs Co., OH.²

     Laura Truman was born on 7 July 1850 at Lima Twp., Rock Co., WI.¹ She was the daughter of John Truman and Maria Holcombe.¹ Laura Truman died on 9 November 1852 at Lima Center, Rock Co., WI, at age 2.

     Chauncy M. Holcombe was born on 14 September 1849 at OH.¹ He was the son of Edward Tupper Holcombe and Elizabeth Mitchell.¹ Chauncy M. Holcombe died on 24 July 1895 at Gallipolis, OH, at age 45. He was buried at Old Holcomb Cemetery, Huntington Twp., Gallia Co., OH.²

     Anna Marie Truman was born on 1 June 1848 at Lima Twp., Rock Co., WI.¹ She was the daughter of John Truman and Maria Holcombe.¹ Anna Marie Truman died on 16 February 1849 at Lima, Rock Co., WI.¹

     Walter Holcombe was born on 20 March 1856 at OH. He was the son of Edward Tupper Holcombe and Elizabeth Mitchell. Walter Holcombe married Cora Wells on 6 May 1877 at Gallia Co., OH. Walter Holcombe died in 1935 at Gallia Co., OH. He was buried at Old Holcomb Cemetery, Huntington Twp., Gallia Co., OH.¹

     Eliza Hadley was born circa 1884 at WI.¹ She married Fred Burton Truman, son of William Truman and Martha Jane Child.¹

     (?) Robinson married Victoria Holcombe, daughter of Edward Tupper Holcombe and Elizabeth Mitchell.

     Harriet Louise Truman was born on 15 August 1853 at Lima Twp., Rock Co., WI.¹ She was the daughter of John Truman and Maria Holcombe.¹ Harriet Louise Truman married John Case Cox on 1 January 1870 at Harlan, Shelby Co., IA.¹ Harriet Louise Truman died on 4 February 1922 at Paradise, Butte Co., CA, at age 68.¹

     T. G. Trembly married Elizabeth Holcombe, daughter of Edward Tupper Holcombe and Elizabeth Mitchell.

     Lane (?) was born circa 1775 at CT.¹ She married (?) Case.¹

     Reuben H. Dickerson was born on 17 November 1841. He was the son of Enoch Russell Dickerson and Mehitable Holcombe. Reuben H. Dickerson died in 1864.

     Maggie Holcombe was born circa 1863 at OH.¹ She was the daughter of Ebenezer L. Holcombe and Agnes Askins.¹

     John W. Dickerson was born on 14 February 1844. He was the son of Enoch Russell Dickerson and Mehitable Holcombe.

     Abigail (?) was born circa 1831. She married John Alonzo Truman, son of John Truman and Cynthia Truman.

     Thomas Alexander Dickerson was born on 31 May 1849. He was the son of Enoch Russell Dickerson and Mehitable Holcombe.

     Myrtle B Holcombe was born in April 1881 at OH.¹ She was the daughter of Ebenezer L. Holcombe and Annie E. Calvin.¹

     Niles N. Dickerson was born on 22 April 1851. He was the son of Enoch Russell Dickerson and Mehitable Holcombe.