Ebenezer Betts
A second ward household under the name of Ebenezer Betts was configured on the Albany census in 1800. He was a visible city resident for at least a few years surrounding that date. We seek defining information on his origins and path to Albany. A number of same-named contemporaries are at risk in the region.
At this point, we might guess that the Albany resident was born in November 1766. If so, he would have been the son of Benjamin and Abigail Lockwood Betts of Wilton, Connecticut.
In August 1784, one Ebenezer Betts witnessed a will filed by a resident of Huntington, New York.
In December 1795, Ebenezer Betts married Sally Gregory in Wilton (Fairfield County) Connecticut. However, their names have not been encountered in the available records of early Albany's churches.
In March 1798, his name appeared on a list of prospective jurors for the Albany Mayor's Court and he was identified as a "nailer" (maker of nails). In 1799, his house and lot on "Lyon" Street in the second ward and also his personal property were assessed modestly. In 1800 and afterwards, he was listed among the members of the Albany Mechanics Society and again was identified as a nailer.
The census entry for 1800 enumerated two young men (16-26), a man over 45, and a couple aged 26 to 45 as present within this lone Albany Betts household.
Beyond that, the name of Ebenezer Betts has not been encountered in the community-based record.
This sketch only offers a glimpse of his life during the 1790s and early 1800s. Like many Yankee newcomers, he probably left Albany and migrated west. Perhaps, he moved on to Pennsylvania and then to Ohio where an Ebenezer Betts died in 1842. With important elements of his life still unverified, we move on for now from the life of one-time Albany resident Ebenezer Betts.
Sources: The life of Ebenezer Betts is CAP biography number 7336. This sketch is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources.
During the 1790s and 1800s, others with the surname "Betts" received service at the Albany Dutch church.