Abigail Cartwright
1816-1915
Born: Berlin, Rensselaer, New York
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1816-1915
Born: Berlin, Rensselaer, New York
<p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: small; color: #000000;"> </span><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: small;"> </span></p> <p><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: small; color: #000000;"><span>David was born in Berlin New York in 1814. His life was hard from the beginning as his father suffered from consumption and they were not close to other family members. His mother, Abigail, would would take him and his sister Abigail to a neighbor's to be a washerwoman just to have some food and clothes. At age 2 his father died and eventually the lease of the farm had to be abandoned and all their stock and improvements on it were sold to meet obligations incured in their distress. When David was 6, his mother moved to Williamsport Mass., 5 miles from her old home with the view of bettering her condition and keeping the family consisting of 4 children together. The oldest was Rachael, 10 yrs old, the Almyra 8, David 6 and another little Abigail just 4 years old. But in the Spring, they returned to Berlin and stayed in a house near the lease house the family had originally called home. In the next 3 years she was married again and moved with her new husband to a high slope of Macumer mountain in 1823. Here the work was very severe and moving supplies could be done by team up the steep mountain or by walking with a pack on one's back. David worked hard but ran away from home at only 10 years old. When he was 15, he was bound to a farmer who operated a blacksmith shop and there he attempted to learn that trade. In his autobiography, he states that the farmer kept him almost constantly employed at farm labor, with little opportunity to work in the blacksmith shop. After enduring this treatment for two years and being very poorly clothed, he became desperate and ran away. A year later, however, he returned to the same man and was employed at wages as a farm laborer for three years, receiving the kindest of treatment.</span> </span></p> <div><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: small; color: #000000;">Later, he visited his uncle Bryant Cartwright III, then living in Allegany Co., New York, near Amity. He liked it there and decided to stay. He make a study of hunting and trapping and through these pursuits , he accumulated enough to purchase some land and engage in farming himself. This is where he met and married Elsie Mapes. They resided in Allegany Co, at or near Scio until 1842. In 1841, he and his wife had, by industry and frugality, accumulated the sum of $500 in cash. This he loaned, but was unable to recover.</span></div> <div><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: small; color: #000000;"> </span></div> <div><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: small; color: #000000;">(to be continued) </span></div>