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257. Amos Leach: (Married: Mercy Martin (#258) of Dover, New Hampshire on May 16, 1728 ). (The source of information about Amos is The Settlers of the Beekman Patent, Dutchess County, New York by Frank J. Doherty, Pleasant Valley, New York 12569, 2003) p 912-914.) (The source of this information is the Windham County Connecticut CT Genweb Project, Barbour Collection of CT Vital Records-Births, Marriages, Deaths 1692 - 1850.)

 

Born: ? Probably in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. of James Leach (#513) & Mary ___ (#514).

Died: 20 Jan 1762 at New Fairfield, Connecticut.

 

[ His siblings included:

a) Nathaniel Leach: Born: ?; Died: ?

b) James Leach : Born: ?; Died: ?

c) Zachariah Leach: Born: ?;Died: ?

d) Ebenezer Leach: Born: ?; Died: ?

e) Mehitable Leach: Born: ?; Died: ?

f) Sarah Leach: Born: ?; Died: ?

g) Mary Leach: Born:9 May 1709 (9 May 1719) at Windham; Died: ?

h) Joanna Leach: Born: ?; Died: ?

i) Joseph Leach: Born: 29 Oct 1720 ( two dates listed: 27 Oct 1719 and 29 Oct 1720) at Windham; Died: ?; Miscellaneous: A Joseph Leach was awarded Land Bounty Rights for service in the 3rd Regiment of DC Militia.] (Source of added orange information is from Windham, Connecticut Vital Records.)

 

Miscellaneous:

Amos lived from at least 1730 through 1746 in Windham, Windham Co., CT where his children's births were recorded. He later moved to Leach Hollow (town of Sherman today) in New Fairfield, CT. This area is just east of the Oblong and its residents attended the Oblong Friend's meeting. (Source of green additions: Commemorative Biographical Record of Dutchess County, New York, Chicago, J. H. Beers & Co., 1897.) Below, in this historic 1766 map of Connecticut, the webmaster has labeled #1 (in the top right quadrant of the map) to indicate Windham, Windham County and #2 to indicate the New Fairfield, in Fairfield County on the western edge of Connecticut. [Note: Sherman was not incorporated until October 1802]. [Note: The "Oblong" is the southwestern appendage or "Connecticut panhandle"].

Amos was the first of the family in New Fairfield and was of English extraction. (Source: "History of the Wanzer family in America: from the settlement in New Amsterdam, New York, 1642 to 1920.")

Below, a modern (2016) Google Map shows the counties today. As it was from its beginning, Sherman is in Fairfield County. [Note: The borders of many counties have changed since 1766.]

Below is shown the actual location of Sherman (indicated by the black arrow) as it appears on a 2016 Goggle map. [Note: there is a large lake, named Candlewood Lake, running along the eastern edge of Fairfield County, with the town of Sherman at its northern end. That lake was not there when the 1766 map above was drawn.]

 

In an e-mail to this webmaster dated September 6, 2016, a distant cousin (Jeffrey Keifling) wrote "A few months ago for my summer vacation I drove from Cincinnati, Ohio to New Fairfield and pretty much all over the eastern half of Connecticut touring courthouses, libraries, cemeteries, and town halls. At New Fairfield, I got the old tale that the courthouse burnt down (go figure), so I didn't find any records. But I did survey what I could of some property that was once in the hands of the Leach family. From several publications found at the libraries, It is said that the Leach property is now underneath man-made Lake Candlewood, the biggest lake in the state of Connecticut. I drove halfway down Leach Hollow Road opposite the lake at a T-intersection and got some photos of the gorgeous scenery, but without land records I was unable to verify exactly where I was supposed to be positioned. It is right about where they were located that in later years the town would be divided in two, the northern half being given the name of Sherman." [Note: Below is a Google map of the area where Jeffrey was searching. Sherman, Leach Hollow Road, and Candlewood Lake are all in this image.]

Research by this webmaster documents construction for Candlewood Lake began in 1926 and was completed in 1928. During construction of the lake, a small cemetery was relocated. The lake was created by damming the junction point of two rivers, Rocky River and Housatonic River.

Amos' children with Mercy numbered 13, including: James, Amos, Mercy (Mary), John, Sarah, Johanna, Ebenezer, Jemima, Ephraim (#129), Simeon, James, Ichabod, and Miriam.

His children with Mercy according to the "History of the Wanzer family in America: from the settlement in new Amsterdam, New York, 1642 to 1920" were: Mercy, Amos, Sarah, Joanna, John, Ebenezer, Ephram, Jemima, Simeon, James, Miriam, and Icabod. Two of his children married into the Wanzer family: Amos to Deborah Wanzer in 1752 and John to Martha Wanzer in 1760.

 

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Contact person for this website is Susan Snyder: susanleachsnyder@gmail.com