Founding Families
Ebenezer West | Waite Carr West | Increase Jones | Hannah Bowen Jones | William Hill | Elizabeth Hill
Edward Talbot | Sarah "Sally" Martin Talbot | Absalom P Morse | Lydia Tallman Morse
Alfred P White | Huldah Symonds White | Robert Shaw | Jane Talbot Stiles Shaw
Ebenezer West | Waite Carr West | Increase Jones | Hannah Bowen Jones | William Hill | Elizabeth Hill
Edward Talbot | Sarah "Sally" Martin Talbot | Absalom P Morse | Lydia Tallman Morse
Alfred P White | Huldah Symonds White | Robert Shaw | Jane Talbot Stiles Shaw
Increase Jones: 1752 - ?
 No portrait of Increase Jones survives. This image represents the choice to settle and remain in Minerva during its earliest years, when families built lives and communities where little yet existed.
Early Life and Marriage
Increase Jones spent the first twenty-four years of his life in Dighton, Massachusetts. He was born on May 8, 1752, to Cornelius Jones and Mercy Corey Jones. In 1776 he traveled to Rehoboth, Massachusetts, where he met his wife, Hannah Bowen. They were married on April 14, 1776, a few weeks before America claimed independence from Britain. A Young Family in a Time of Change The newly married couple were not facing the probability of Increase going to war. It was a time of uncertainty, but also of opportunity. Increase’s parents both passed away in 1777, and around that time he and Hannah moved to Vermont, where their first daughter, Deborah, was born in 1781. Years of Movement and Growing Family Shortly after Deborah’s birth, the family moved to Granville, New York, where Deborah’s sister Patty was born in 1792. By 1784, the family was living in Putney, Vermont, where sons Increase, born in 1784, and Charles, born in 1786, were born. By 1789, the family was back in Granville, where Elijah arrived in 1789, followed by Elias in 1790, Hannah in 1794, Daniel in 1795, James in 1798, and Levi in 1800. Settlement in Minerva Increase was forty-eight years old and Hannah forty-one when their last child was born. In 1804, siblings Elijah, Elias, Hannah, Daniel, James, and Levi moved with their parents to Schroon, later known as Minerva. The 1810 census shows six children in the household. The remaining children, all adults by this time, remained in Granville. Deborah had married in 1802, Patty’s marriage date is unknown, Increase Jr. married in 1840, and Charles married two years after the move, in 1806. Elias eventually moved west to Ohio. James moved in 1832 with Elder Ravlin and Alfred White to Chautauqua County, New York, and Increase Jr. later settled in Cayuga County, western New York. Land, Neighbors, and Place Increase Jones Sr. purchased two hundred acres on the west side of Lot 39, located on Route 28N, halfway between A. P. Morse Memorial Highway and Ridge Road. Ebenezer West, who had arrived four years earlier, and his family were not far away, and neither was A. P. Morse. Alfred White was a bit farther down the road, but not by much. A Community Takes Shape Minerva was in the early stages of settlement, not yet a thriving community but full of opportunity. Increase settled his family close to what would become the center of the town of Minerva. The intersection of Route 28N, 14th Road, and Town Shed Road was called the Four Corners. The main route into North Creek followed 14th Road, where travelers had to ford the Hudson River. There was a school, a distillery, and a fulling mill nearby. A Lasting Presence Increase Jones arrived in Minerva at a time when the town was still taking shape. He chose land, brought his family, and stayed. Though the record is quiet about his personal activities, the presence of his children and grandchildren in the church and community speaks to the lasting impact of that choice. |
Timeline of Increase Jones (1752–?)May 8, 1752 Born in Dighton, Massachusetts to Cornelius Jones and Mercy Corey Jones. April 14, 1776 Married Hannah Bowen in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, just weeks before the American colonies declared independence. 1777 Both of Increase’s parents died. Around this time, Increase and Hannah relocated to Vermont. 1781 First child, Deborah Jones, born. 1784 Family living in Putney, Vermont. Son Increase Jones Jr. born. 1786 Son Charles Jones born. 1789 Family returned to Granville, New York. Son Elijah Jones born. 1790 Son Elias Jones born. 1792 Daughter Patty Jones born. 1794 Daughter Hannah Jones born. 1795 Son Daniel Jones born. 1798 Son James Jones born. 1800 Youngest child, Levi Jones, born. 1804 Increase and Hannah moved with several of their children to Schroon (later Minerva), New York. c. 1804 Purchased 200 acres on the west side of Lot 39, along what is now Route 28N. 1810 Federal census shows six children still living in the household in Minerva. Early 1800s–1830s Children gradually moved west:
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