Caleb Huntington (1721-12-09 – after 1796) and Zerviah Case (1720-09-24 – after 1760) were my 5th-great-grandparents, being the parents of Caleb Huntington who married Jane Turner. Caleb was the son of Caleb Huntington and Lydia Griswold, and in early years was called Caleb Jr. Zerviah was the daughter of Jonathan Case (sometimes Cass) and Bathsheba Williams.

Caleb and Zerviah were born in Lebanon, Connecticut, where they married on 1747-02-06⁠^{⟮1⟯Lebanon vital records.}⁠^{⟮2⟯The record shows the year as (1747), so parenthesized. Given Zebulon’s birth, it is presumably not 1747/8.}, and later moved to Ashford, CT. In 1760, the family migrated to Kings County, Nova Scotia, as part of a wave of settlers known as the New England Planters.

Background

During the French and Indian War, starting in 1755, the British, distrustful of the Acadians who had settled in the northeast of North America, adopted a policy of mass expulsion, in what would today be called ethnic cleansing. This resulted in the depopulation of many parts of Canada and Maine, including Cape Breton. Britain then enticed settlers, dubbed the New England Planters, to reoccupy the land.

Caleb was such an early settler, who migrated in 1760 with his wife and children.⁠^⟮3⟯ They settled in an area then known as Cornwallis.

Children

Five children are listed in the Huntington book.⁠^⟮4⟯ The births of the first four were recorded in Lebanon, CT⁠^{⟮1⟯Lebanon vital records.}; the fifth, Caleb, would have been born in Ashford. The third through fifth were baptized in the First Congregational Church in Lebanon, providing corroborative overlap between these sources. There may be a sixth:

• Zebulon Huntington (1747-12-09 – 1748-04)
• Ezra Huntington (1749-03-24 – 1827), married Hannah Fitch
• Bathsheba Huntington (* 1750-12-12; β 1750-12-16⁠^{⟮5⟯FamilySearch}), married Simon Fitch, brother of Hannah
• Lydia Huntington (* 1753-09-09; β 1753-11-04⁠^{⟮6⟯FamilySearch}), married Hezekiah Cogswell.
• Caleb Huntington (1757 – 1837; β 1757-07-10⁠^{⟮7⟯FamilySearch}), my ancestor
• (?) Ezekiel Huntington (* maybe c.1759), existence uncertain. A son Ezekiel of Caleb is transcribed in a migration record⁠^⟮3⟯, but I cannot find an original for this. It may be an error. Caleb did have a brother named Ezekiel. If this child did exist, he may have died young and left no other record.

There is no indication of further children born after their arrival in Nova Scotia.

Deaths

No death record has been found for either. Zerviah was alive in 1760 for the migration, but I have found no record naming her in Canada, perhaps because records are scarce.

Caleb was alive in 1796 when he sold land in Cornwallis.⁠^{⟮8⟯FamilySearch} In this record and others around this time, he is consistently referred to as Caleb Huntington the Elder, or Senior, whereas his son is nearly always called the Younger or Junior. However, in deeds dated as early as 1802⁠^{⟮9⟯FamilySearch} and with many more in following years, especially 1804, the son is named only Caleb Huntington of Cornwallis, with no qualifier. In many 1804 sales, his wife Jane is named, leaving no doubt about which Caleb it is. So, it is likely that Caleb had died by this time.

Ancestry

… of Caleb

Caleb’s parents were second cousins through common descent from Simon and Margaret Huntington.

… of Zerviah

Footnotes

1. ↑ ↑ Lebanon vital records. 
2. ↑ The record shows the year as (1747), so parenthesized. Given Zebulon’s birth, it is presumably not 1747/8.
3. ↑ ↑ https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/sources/viewedit/7NYF-FGK?context
4. ↑ https://archive.org/details/huntingtonfamily00hunt/page/748
5. ↑ FamilySearch
6. ↑ FamilySearch
7. ↑ FamilySearch
8. ↑ FamilySearch
9. ↑ FamilySearch