Abi BLAKESLEE

  General Notes:

ABI HUMASTON

ABI BLAKESLEE HUMASTON, for whom the Thomaston Daughters of the American Revolution have the honor of naming their chapter, was a native of Northbury, now Thomaston. She was the oldest of the ten children of Jude Blakeslee and of Experience his wife. Her parents were cousins, Jude Blakeslee being the son of Abram Blakeslee, and Experience being the daughter of Abram's brother, Thomas. Jude Blakeslee, Abi's father, was known as Ensign Blakeslee, a title which indicates that he had a share in the local military proceedings of the time, but there is little actual record concerning him to be found.

Thomas Blakeslee, the grandfather of Abi, was born in 1700, in North Haven, Conn., and from there moved to Sunderland, Mass., where he married Mary Scott, a daughter of Richard Scott of Sunderland. In 1731 they removed to Northbury, Conn., and were the third family to settle there. The signature of Thomas Blakeslee appears upon the earliest documents of Northbury, and the town records are replete with his name and show him to have been a man of considerable prominence in town affairs. He was the first captain of the " Northbury Train Band," regarded in that dav as an office second in importance to that of the minister. To this office he was appointed at the May session of the General Assembly of 1740, the Colonial Records of Connecticut of that date having the following entry: "This Assembly do establish and confirm Mr. Thomas Blakeslee to be Captain of the Third Company of the Train Band in the town of Waterbury, and order that he be conditioned accordingly." His name also heads the list of petitioners of the "Up River" inhabitants of the town of Northbury, who in September, 1736, craved "the privilege of hiring a minister for the three winter months." The husband of Abi Blakeslee, Jesse Humaston, was the youngest of the ten children of Caleb Humaston and of his wife. Susannah Todd. Their home was in Plymouth, and so far as known. North Haven was the home of Jesse Humaston's grandparents.

According to the record in "Connecticut Men of the Revolution," Jesse Humaston responded to the first call for troops made by the Legislature in April and May of 1775, tne ca" which followed close upon the Lexington Alarm. He was a private in the Eighth Company of the First Regiment under the command of General Wooster. This regiment was encamped during the summer at Harlem, and in September, 1775, under orders from Congress, was marched under General Schuyler to the Northern Department and took active part in the operations along Lakes George and Champlain. The regiment assisted in the capture of St. John and was afterwards stationed in Montreal. Much sickness prevailed in this command and many soldiers were furloughed or discharged in the following October and November. Jesse Humaston received his discharge November 25, 1775.

The tradition of the hardships endured by these soldiers is still preserved in the families of Abi Humaston's descendants, and the incidents of her life as given in this sketch are contributed by her grandchildren and great grandchildren, but the narrative is very incomplete and made up of disconnected reminiscences.

Abi married Jesse HUMASTON, son of Caleb HUMASTON and Susannah TODD, on 2 Oct 1785. (Jesse HUMASTON was born on 4 Dec 1749, died on 23 Feb 1837 in Thomaston, Litchfield, Connecticut, USA and was buried in Hillside Cem., Thomaston, Litchfield, Connecticut, USA.)