Elizabeth Crossman (née Hewett, c.1774 – 1853-12-17) was my 5th-great-grandmother as the third wife of Elijah Crossman and mother of Irena Fleming. Although no birth record of her is found, circumstantial evidence points to her parents being Timothy Hewett and Elizabeth Holloway. She was almost certainly from Sutton, Massachusetts (either born there or from a young age), and, once married, moved with her husband, who died in Crown Point, New York. She is last recorded as a widow in Ticonderoga, NY, and likely died there.
Her birth year is estimated from her husband’s pension file and census records; see his entry for details. Her death date is also recorded in the pension file.⟮1⟯
Elizabeth signed a document herself in 1847 so was presumably literate.
The surname has many variant spellings: Hewitt, Huit, Huett, and so on. It traces back to Thomas Huet, who immigrated to America in probably the 1630s. His origins are unknown.
Elizabeth’s parents are frequently claimed to be Timothy and Elizabeth, who married in Rochester, MA on 1774-08-18 and moved to Sutton in 1780. The evidence for this appears to be circumstantial. Noting that she married in Sutton in 1794 at probably the age of 19 (see below), I looked for Hewett families in the 1790 and 1800 Federal census in Sutton, and also checked surrounding towns:
| Year | Head | Place | Counts | Inferred births |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1790⟮2⟯ | Timothy Hewet | Sutton | 2 ♂ <16, 1 ♂ 16+, 5 ♀ | –1774 ♂ –1790 ♀♀♀♀♀ 1774–1790 ♂♂ |
| 1790⟮2⟯ | Aaron Hewet | Sutton | 2 ♂ <16, 1 ♂ 16+, 2 ♀ | –1774 ♂ –1790 ♀♀ 1774–1790 ♂♂ |
| 1790⟮3⟯ | William Hewett | Sutton | 3 ♂ <16, 1 ♂ 16+, 4 ♀ | –1774 ♂ –1790 ♀♀♀♀ 1774–1790 ♂♂♂ |
| 1790⟮4⟯ | Henry Hewet | Uxbridge | 2 ♂ 16+, 1 ♀ | –1774 ♂♂ –1790 ♀ |
| 1800⟮5⟯ | Timothy Huit | Sutton | 1 ♂ <10, 1 ♂ 16–25, 1 ♂ 45+, 1 ♀ <10, 1 ♀ 10–15, 1 ♀ 16–25, 1 ♀ 45+ | –1755 ♂♀ 1774–1784 ♂♀ 1784–1790 ♀ 1790–1800 ♂♀ |
| 1800⟮6⟯ | Timothy Huit Jr. | Oxford | 2 ♂ <10, 1 ♂ 16–25, 1 ♀ 16–25 | 1774–1784 ♂♀ 1790–1800 ♂♂ |
| 1800⟮7⟯ | William Hewit | Oxford | 3 ♂ <10, 2 ♂ 10–15, 1 ♂ 16–25, 2 ♂ 45+, 1 ♀ <10, 2 ♀ 16–25, 1 ♀ 45+ | –1755 ♂♂♀ 1774–1784 ♂♀♀ 1784–1790 ♂♂ 1790–1800 ♂♂♂♀ |
| 1800⟮7⟯ | Daniel Hewit | Oxford | 1 ♂ <10, 1 ♂ 26–44, 1 ♀ <10, 1 ♀ 16–25 | 1755–1774 ♂ 1774–1784 ♀ 1790–1800 ♂♀ |
William (
In 1790, that only leaves Aaron and Timothy. I have been unable to identify Aaron, and he does not seem to be around in 1800 (so roughly even odds his family was in Sutton in 1794), and there is one apparent daughter not accounted for, who cannot be ruled out as Elizabeth. Nevertheless, Timothy looks like the best fit.
Timothy is found in Sutton in both 1790 and 1800, suggesting the family lived there the whole decade. The 1790 census indicates he had four daughters. Everett Pendleton’s Holloway genealogy traces his children as counted in this census⟮10⟯, and identifies Timothy Jr. (married 1796), Nathan (married 1805), Rhoda (marriage intention 1803), and Dolly (married 1809). This leaves two daughters that Pendleton could not place. Two or three of the 1790 daughters appear to still be living with him in 1800, suggesting at least one had been married off. This is all consistent with Elizabeth being of this family.
Timothy Hewitt/Hewet was a co-signatory on 1796-12-06 of a guardianship-bond with a bond of $10,000 for Elijah’s guardianship of his son John and his inheritance, along with Elijah himself and Elijah’s brother Samuel.⟮11⟯ Such an agreement would not be undertaken lightly, and thus Timothy was likely close to this family, which tracks with the theory that he is Elijah’s father-in-law.
Timothy died intestate and insolvent in 1833.⟮12⟯ No heirs are mentioned by name, only that he had a widow.
In sum, it looks very likely that Timothy was Elizabeth’s father, although there is not absolute proof.
Elijah was her only husband. They married on 1794-02-20 in Sutton, MA⟮13⟯ and had nine identified children together. See his article for details.
This assumes the parents suggested above. Thomas Huet is the above-mentioned immigrant.