From: Keith Parent BEGIN Date: Mon, 10 May 2010 09:04:00 -0400 (EDT) John Everitt of Bethlehem Twp., Hunterdon Co., wrote a will in 1756 (pr.1761), in which he names his children, including daughters Sarah, Elizabeth, Mary, and Hannah. Another section of the will lists legatees John Mitchell, John Lake, and Cornelius Hoff, followed by the names of John's sons. Presumably, Mitchell, Lake, and Hoff married John's daughters. Some researchers say Hoff married daughter Elizabeth, which leaves Sarah, Mary, or Hannah as wife of Mitchell or of Lake. Would you have any information on the John Lake of this will? My research has found several John Lakes in the area, but none seems to have married an Everitt? (Another John Lake married Mary Everitt, daughter of Daniel and Rachel Everitt.) Date: Mon, 10 May 2010 19:15:46 -0400 (EDT) One of the two John Lakes you mention might be the one I'm after. The Lake who had a son Zenas intrigues me, since this Everitt clan had several Zenas Everitts. And some of the Everitts were in Tinicum Twp. as well. Date: Tue, 11 May 2010 08:53:23 -0400 (EDT) Your notes state a John Lake m. Mary Hall, dau/o Theodore Hall and Gertrude Gordon. And that the Kingwood John Lake b.~1723 in Kings Co., NY might be a son/o John and Mary Lake. The mention of the Hall surname rang a bell for me and I checked my Everitt files. I have some notes that Theodore and Gertrude (Gordon) Hall also had a son, Samuel Hall, who m. Ruhamah Everitt. She has been a mystery for me, and I cannot place her in any known Everitt family. Also, after Theodore's death, Gertrude m. Joseph Howell of Kingwood, and after Joseph's death m. Luther Opdycke. The will of Joseph Howell of Kingwood Twp., wr. 11 May 1779 and pr. Aug 1779, names, among others, daughter Rachel Everitt. Howell's wife was Gertrude ("Calendar of Wills: 1771-1780," p.258). Although not certain, I suspect this Rachel Everitt was the wife of Daniel Everitt, who d.1807, and whose daughter, Mary, m. John Lake. A Richard Opdycke was one of Daniel's executors. In 1766, Joseph Everitt, another son/o John and Hannah Everitt, sold his Kingwood property to, among others, Thomas Herbert. And when, in 1770, Thomas Herbert sold the same property, the deeds describe Herbert's property as bounded by land of Daniel Everitt and Richard Opdike (Bk.1, p .116). Although I haven't reviewed all the deeds for this message, I vaguely recall a Luther Opdycke mentioned in some Everitt deeds. (I would add that I have suspected Ruhamah Everitt may have been a dau/o Joseph Everitt.) And the additional details you've sent for Zenas includes surnames also linked to Everitts: Hartpence, Barcroft, and Kitchen. The Northampton Co., PA branch of the Hunterdon Everitts were obsessed with the name Zenas, and there were some Zenas Everitts who moved to Warren Co. Another Zenas Everitt, son/o Epenetus Everitt, settled in Miami Co., OH. As for IN Everitts, the one who immediately comes to mind is Ezekiel Everitt (b.1798), son/o Jacob Everitt of Middletown Twp., Bucks Co., PA. Ezekiel settled in Montgomery Co., IN. Jacob's father was Ezekiel Everitt, grandson of John and Hannah Everitt, and this Ezekiel lived in Kingwood Twp., moved to Tinicum Twp., then Middletown Twp., and then back to Kingwood, where he died. Zenas Lake's father, John, according to your notes, d.~1808, which sounds a little late to have been the John Lake who m. one of John and Hannah's daus. John and Hannah were m. 1711, and the daughter who m. Lake was probably b. in the late 1720s. She would have been rather old to have a child in 1770. But, then, I'm just guessing when she was born. Date: Tue, 11 May 2010 19:53:51 -0400 (EDT) The only documents I have establishing the marriage of Mary Everitt to John Lake are: 1)the 1807 will of Daniel Everitt, who writes of his children, one of whom was "my daughter Mary, the wife of John Lake"; and, 2) the 1818 will of Daniel Everitt's son, Daniel, who writes of "the surviving children of each of my four sisters," one of whom was Mary Lake (the children are not named). The Daniel who d.1818 married Sarah L. Hartpence on 11 Jun 1795. And in his 1818 will, Daniel mentions Daniel Everitt Hartpence, son/o James Hartpence; and, nephew John Hartpence, son/o Thomas Hartpence. After Daniel's 1818 death, widow Sarah remarried Thomas Lequear. I would add that the Daniel Everitt who d.1807 may be the same Daniel Everitt recorded in Hopewell Twp. in 1760. He moved to Kingwood before 1766, at which time a deed places him neighboring Joseph Everitt, a son/o John and Hannah Everitt. John and Hannah were also in Hopewell, and they moved to Bethlehem / Kingwood between 1756 and 1761. Whether Daniel m. Rachel in Hopewell or Kingwood is unknown, though I suspect the former. When and where daughter Mary m. John Lake are unknown. Date: Wed, 12 May 2010 14:57:44 -0400 (EDT) 1) John Lake d. intestate and on 14 Apr 1808 administration of his estate was granted to Luther Opdycke, Esq. Sureties: John Talor and Zenas Lake. (L.Adm. 1.49). 2) John Lake d. intestate and on 6 Mar 1809 administration of his estate was granted to Cornelius Lake and Henry Trimmer [?]. Sureties: Jacob Fulper and Peter Prall. (L.Adm. 1.66) 3) John Lake: Last Will and Testament, wr.1 Jun 1851 and pr.30 Jan 1855. Names wife Abigail and six children: John C., Joseph L. P., Jesse J., Elizabeth, Margaret, and Catharine (wife/o John Fritts) (Will Bk.9, p.360) 4) 9 Jan 1760: Daniel Lake of Amwell Twp. sold a plantation in Bethlehem Twp. to John Tindall of Trenton. Plantation (357 acres) near property of Benjamin Woods and Samuel Johnson. (Mortgage Deeds Bk.1, p.68) 5) 14 May 1803: John Lake of Bethlehem Twp. sold 81 1/2 acres to Stephen Yard of Amwell Twp. Land near Samuel Johnston, Jacob Derimer [?], Aaron Vanetta, Richard Lacy, and Joseph Lake. Land that by the Last Will and Testament of Abraham Lake, dec'd, was bequeathed to John Lake 13 Mar 1796. Joseph Lake, a legatee to dec'd Abraham Lake, signed a quit claim to John Lake dated 7 Nov 1790 [1796?]. Witnesses: William Runkle, Jr. and Nath. Saxton. (Deeds Bk.7, p.150) 6) 8 Feb 1810: Isaac Lake and wife Elizabeth of Amwell Twp. conveyed 100 acres to Mary Lake of Amwell Twp. Since John Lake, late of Amwell Twp., dec'd, owned a plantation in Amwell, where he lived at the time of his death, that was bounded by lands of the heirs of John Rake, dec'd, Samuel Holcomb Sr., John H_?_, Israel Paulson, and by the Great Road from Howell's ferry to Flemington, to a road from George Holcomb's Mills to Col. Nathan Price's Taverns [?], and since John Lake died having made no will, Isaac Lake, one of the lawful heirs of John Lake, was rightfully possessed a 2/13 part of shares in the plantation, except for the right of Anna Lake, widow of John Lake. Isaac and wife Elizabeth signed a quit claim to Mary Lake. (Deeds Bk.16, p.417) There were other John Lake deeds dating from 1811 to 1822 which I did not have time to examine, and I'll abstract them for you after a future Hall of Records trip. I also tried to find info on legatee John Mitchell. The problem with Lake is that there were so many John Lakes; the trouble with Mitchell is that I can't find any. He probably moved to another state. Date: Thu, 07 Feb 2013 06:06:08 -0600 (CST) Since last communicating with you, I turned from the Everitts to other branches of my family. I submitted my Everitt research to the Hunterdon County Historical Society and to the NJ State Archives, thinking my research might make others' research a little easier. (Which reminds me, I need to tell the Hunt. Co. Hist. Society to delete "Claire" in paragraph 2 of the Intro.) As for John and Hannah, I am convinced they lived in Hopewell Twp. (the Pennington area) and moved to Bethlehem Twp. As you know, John Everitt's Last Will and Testament, written 29 May 1756 and proved 12 Jul 1761, names his wife, Hannah, and children Moses, Joseph, Benjamin, John, Sarah, Elizabeth, Mary, and Hannah. Also named is Abel Everitt. Cornelius Polhemus, Gershom Palmer, and Reuben Armitage were witnesses. The Accounts section lists, among others, legatees John Mitchell, John Lake, and Cornelius Hoff (NJ State Archives, 527J). The three witnesses to the will were Hopewell area residents. Moses Baldwin's Day Book contains an 8 Jun 1757 entry for a Comelious Polhamus. The 1780 list of taxpayers in Maidenhead Twp. includes a Gershom Palmer. Reuben Armitage was one of the people, along with John Everitt, to whom John Smith sold his schoolhouse lot. It seems, therefore, that in 1756, when John Everitt wrote his will, he was in Hopewell and anticipating a move to Bethlehem. Cornelius Hoff apparently married John's daughter Elizabeth, and evidence suggests he remained in Hopewell Twp. That leaves Sarah, Mary, or Hannah as wives of Lake and Mitchell. I've had no luck finding John Lake and John Mitchell. Every approach to them resulted in dead ends. Lake may have married and lived in Hopewell Twp. or moved to Bethlehem / Kingwood with John Everitt. Or, like some other members of the Everitt family, moved to PA. More data are available online since my last Lake search, so I should return to him and see if he surfaces. If I find anything, I'll let you know. END