I have not been able to read all the documentaion yet but hereis what I have read. My father just past away Lawrence Alebert
Giles. At his funeral I got to meet my cousin which is the family historian for the
Giles family. here is one of the articals of many that he had past on to me.
Written by
Levi Auten, Chili, N.Y., and Read at the Second Annual Reunion of the
Giles Family Held
June 27, 1896.
Mr. Chairman and Cousins: We, today have met for the second reunion of the
Giles Family, which is a most worthy and noble custom. And I am glad there are so many able to so enthusiastically celebrate this great and good cause - a cause that we are hardly able to properly appreciate.
For the benefit of the younger portion of those assembled here, I have prepared a short history, going back to the early pioneer days of the
Giles family, but being unable to give the date of their emigration to this country, I will start in previous to 1765, for that was about the time that we read of the taxation troubles which brought about the Revolutionary War; and this is the first that any of us are able to tell about the coming of the
Giles family to this country.
Now, to begin, I must tell you that the oppression and tyranny of
England was such that a great many of the poor were obliged to emigrate to prevent starvation, and among them was our great grandfather with his large family, who after a long and tedious journey, landed on the
New Jersey shore, where he thought to make a home for himself and family in a land of the free. But, to his surprise, he was not yet out of reach of oppression; for Old
England held this country as hers and first forbade the manufacture of implements to till the soil, and then the making of clothing, following this with the Stamp Act, which was refused, and then came an act to collect from the small income of the colonists a portion to support the Church of
England, which was also opposed. This so enraged King George that he sent armed troops with his agents to enforce payment. But this did not meet with the submission expected from the undaunted and fearless few who declared they never would pay such an unjust and unlawful tax. Not to exhaust your patience by spinning too long a yarn, I will return to the original story and say that a war was inaugurated between this country and Great
Britain in which our great grandfather and seven sons enlisted as volunteers and marched to the front to protect their country or die in the cause. They went where assigned to duty, and a separation was made that proved a lasting one, for none of them returned except our grandfather, of whom I am about to write, although long years afterwards, two of the brothers, John and Jacob, were heard from in Nova Scotia. They, hearing of grandfather’s home, sent him a letter saying that if he would visit them they would make him well to do the rest of his life. That friendly and brotherly visit was never made, for the reason that these two brothers deserted the American Army and took up arms in the British service, which wounded the feelings of the loyal brother to an extent that no balm could heal it.
The cause of this desertion was chiefly owing to the hard fare that our soldiers received and the offer
England made to all who would desert that revolutionary cause and take up arms for her. This offer was 160 acres of land and $1,000 in money, which was readily accepted by those who thought the war was a failure.
Levi
Giles, a mere boy who had passed but 14 summers, is the one of whom I am about to write. For love of liberty, or bravery, he enlisted in this long, struggling warfare called the revolution, and after seven and one-half years of hardship and privation, he returned to his desolate
New Jersey home, a wearied and jaded soldier, crowned with a free country and an honorable discharge. I may say here, that he was a hero and a true patriot who fought that liberty might be established and Old Glory hoisted to the breeze.
And now I wish to say to these, the younger members of the company assembled here, that
Levi Giles, the boy spoken of, was your great grandfather and the great-great grandfather of many of you. And, will you please place it in some receptacle of your memory when you look upon the portrait of our loved and honored George
Washington, the Father of his Country, that this boy’s picture should be placed by its side; for while in the army, he, times without number, placed Washington’s foot in the stirrup, at a compensation of four dollars a month, with an army blanket and a snowdrift for a bed.
I must add a few more words about the war and our grandfather. At the time of his enlistment, owing to his youthfulness and small size, General
Washington, commander in chief of the army and navy, deemed him unfit for field service and placed him on his staff as hostler and waiter, a position he held for several years, but later on, he shouldered his musket - a relic which is now in my possession - and marched into the army with the regulars, taking part in several hot battles. Of these engagements I can now recall but three - one at Baltimore, where the women and children threw stones and other missiles from the house tops at the passing soldiers; one at Trenton, N.J., and one at Bunker Hill, where that famous monument has been erected to the memory of the fallen patriots.
Had I, when young and living with my grandparents, expected to write an historical sketch for this occasion, I might have placed more facts in memory, but grandfather died when I was young - November 27, 1843, aged 87 years, and grandmother died May 18, 1856, at the age of 88.
Before taking up the family record I will relate one or two incidents of the war, which grandfather used to tell and laugh heartily over. The fare of the soldiers got so slim that a detachment was sent to General
Washington with a complaint, grandfather being one of them. They seriously related their trouble and the general listened to it and then said: “Boys, I am sorry for you and if you will wait a short time, I will share my supper with you.” In a few minutes he took a stick and poked from the ashes a few potatoes, and taking from his pocket a package of salt, he told the boys to help themselves. They returned contented to relate their success to their comrades.
While marching through a British stronghold one day, the soldiers smelled the sweet aroma emanating from an out-door oven. They ventured to take there-from a fresh loaf of bread, which enraged the maker thereof, and she called after them to put it back or they would pay for it on Judgement day; to which they answered: “If you trust us so long we will take the rest of it.” And they acted in accordance and relieved the oven of its contents. Grandfather also spoke of his gunpowder and whiskey rations before going into an engagement.
Levi
Giles was twice married. His first wife was Miss Sarah Alexander, and of his union two children were born - Samuel and Sarah, the latter being better known as Sally Booram. This wife died of cancer of the breast. The son Samuel died in Chili, of consumption, May 27, 1832, aged 48 years. His wife soon followed, leaving no children. Levi’s daughter Sally married Henry Booram, and five children were born to them, namely; Amanda Sebring,
Harriet Eaton, Wayne Booram, Margaret Disbrow and Samuel Booram. Of these there is but one left - Margaret, who is with us today, accompanied by her only daughter and her grandson. Wayne died on his farm adjoining this, leaving two sons, Chauncey and Albert. Chauncey now resides in Rochester, but Albert died 12 years ago, leaving a wife and two small children.
Amanda died near here,
Harriet died in Ohio, and Samuel died on his farm in Altay.
The second wife of
Levi Giles was Miss Sarah Walker, and of this marriage there were eight children. Margaret, the eldest, was born in
New Jersey in 1791, and married Nicholas
Huff, of
Seneca County, where her first son, Elizur, was born. They then moved to Chili,
Monroe County, where 10 more children came to them. Mr. Huff died August 23, 1864, aged 83 years, and Margaret, his wife, passed away September 27, 1884, at the age of 93. Mr. Huff was also a soldier in the War of 1812, and fought in the battles of Black Rock and Buffalo.
It was in the year 1789 that
Levi Giles and his family emigrated from
New Jersey to Ovid,
Seneca County, settling on the so-called “Gospel Lands” in that town. It was a long and tiresome journey of seven weeks through the state of
Pennsylvania in a Jersey wagon with their household goods stored inside, and scant sleeping room for the family. They started out with two horses, one cow, 10 sheep and some hogs. On the road one of the horses gave out and then the cow came into requisition as part of the team to draw the load. While in the beech woods on their way they fell in with two other families - those of Jacob
Cole and David
Smith, who were also in search of new homes. The three families traveled on together until they reached Ovid, where they settled and lived for a time. Their journey was fraught with peril as well as suffering and privation. Nights they had to build bonfires and keep out guards to protect themselves and animals from the ravenous bears and wolves, while a long portion of their journey was infested with robbers and highwaymen; so an almost constant watch had to be kept up. The most hazardous part of the journey was in the beech woods of
Pennsylvania, where all sorts of wild animals existed, keeping up such a continual growling and screeching that the travelers were unable to sleep at night.
While they lived in
Seneca County, six more children were born to
Levi Giles and wife. They were: William (the father of our hostess today), Mattie, Phebe,
Levi, Betsy and John. John was two years old when his parents again (in 1811) started in quest of a new house, after reaching which, one more child was born, George, who died in
Michigan, leaving three sons, a daughter having previously died.
We now leave Ovid and follow the family westward on what was then a long journey. It was less than 100 miles, but it took eight days. Most of the way they followed Indian trails and chopped underbrush out of the way. The families then consisted of Grandfather
Levi Giles, his son Samuel, and his wife Sarah, and David
Smith and Jacob
Cole. Levi
Giles and Samuel bought farms adjoining, and William soon bought on a tier of lots north, while Mr. Huff followed and purchased on the west of
Levi Giles. All this was on unbroken wilderness, heavily timbered with beech and maple, with a sprinkling of oak and basswood bordered with cedar and black ash swamp. There were numerous cool springs sending forth little streamlets, which perhaps had something to do with causing these pioneers to select these places for their homes. Times were very hard and not an inch of their land was cleared, but a rude log cabin was soon erected, besides log hovels to protect their animals from the wolves and bears that abounded without number. The attention of the settlers was soon turned towards raising something to live on. Their meat was fish and wild game. They lived near Black Creek, which contained the finny tribe in abundance. They soon grew corn, which they pounded in a mortar, for their nearest mill was at Canandaigua, which is now 28 miles away - what the distance was then I dare not say.
Now I must tell you of grandfather’s political life. He cast his first vote for George
Washington, a Federal, and always hated the name of
Tory, or Locofoco, as they called themselves afterwards. His last vote was for William Henry Barrison, a Whig. It was cast in a carriage at the steps of the old Checkered Tavern - the polling place of that day - in the presence of a large crowd of cheering people, all cheering alike. Esquire Isaac
Lacey and William
Pixley, with a driver, went with a large carriage to bring him to the polls, which very much pleased the old man, and the election officers acceded to the request of the people gathered and allowed the ballot box to be taken to the carriage.
Mr. Giles’ life was filled with trouble and disaster - first the hard army life, then the long journey through the woods to
Seneca County, and the subsequent journey to Riga, now Chile. These, coupled with pioneer privations, made him a cripple before he got ready to live. I can see him in memory now - a little crooked-back man walking with two canes.
I will conclude this sketch by saying that four of his grandsons were soldiers in the War of the Rebellion - George W. Giles, of Brooklyn; George G. Huff, of Pontiac, Michigan; James and William
Giles, of Fentonville,
Michigan. George
Huff was captured by the Rebels after a race of seven miles, being knocked from his saddle with a carbine - a blow from which he never fully recovered. He was in the prison pens at
Belle Isle,
Libby and Andersonville, six months.
I have not yet mentioned that in the year of 1824, William
Giles, Sr., sold his farm in Chili and moved to Tyrone, then Stuben County, settling on the farm where you held your first reunion, and living there until his death.
And now I leave this subject to you, and hope you have something to say or read concerning the history of the family in this county. Thanking you for your patience and attention, I hope that you will continue to keep up these reunions, bearing in mind that each year some of us may pass out.
I have other family stories that my cousin had past on along with the family tree. I hope this story helps.
Michael R
Giles gilesm@middlesex.mass.edu