Abel Brace
Militia captain in the Revolution and founder of Winfield, Herkimer County, New York. Baptized at Hartford in 1740, probably a son of Capt. Henry Brace, he married Keziah Woodruff in 1761, represented Hartland in the Connecticut Assembly, and in 1793 took his wife and fourteen of their children to the New York frontier, where he died in 1832. Probably the father of Charles Brace and grandfather of Sarah (Sally) Brace.
Life
- 1740Bornbp. 28 Sep 1740, Hartford, Connecticut
- 1761Married Keziah Woodruff2 Apr 1761
"His marriage to Keziah Woodruff, of Farmington, Connecticut, was published March 22, 1761."
compiledprobable - 1832DiedWinfield, Herkimer County, New York
The DAR line has "died in Herkimer Co., N. Y."
Family
- Father
- Henry Brace
Capt. Henry Brace of Hartford (1713-1787), whose will of 28 Dec 1781, printed in full in the Brace Lineage, leaves "to my son Abel Brace five shillings." Not researched further.
documentedprobable - Mother
- Elizabeth Cadwell
Henry Brace's first wife, daughter of Samuel Cadwell, married 15 July 1740, ten weeks before Abel's baptism; she died 25 Feb 1766, aged 53. The Brace Lineage does not name Abel's mother.
inferredpossible - Spouse
1 child
Pedigree
Notes
Grandfather of Sarah (Sally) Brace, and the founder of Winfield, New York. The son of Capt. Henry Brace of Hartford, he married Keziah Woodruff of Farmington in 1761 and “Later he removed from Hartford to Hartland, Connecticut. Here he took an active part in public affairs, being repeatedly sent as Representative to the General Assembly. When the Revolution broke out he was made a Captain in the 18th Regiment of the Connecticut Militia and served with honor and distinction in the war” (source). His descendant Ella (Chapin) Browne joined the DAR on his service: “Abel Brace, (1740-1832), commanded an independent company when Tryon invaded the colony” (source).
Winfield. “In 1793 he removed with his wife, nine sons and five daughters to New York State, being one of the earliest settlers in what is now Winfield. At that time, in this locality, there were no roads leading south from the Mohawk and travelers were guided by marked trees. A home was built in the wilderness and most of his children settled near” (source). The county history adds that he brought “his wife’s aged mother” too, that “Mr. Brace was a man of standing, had been a captain in the Revolutionary War and a member of the State Legislature. He built a log house not far from the present residence of his youngest great-grandson, Seward H. Brace,” and that all his sons but one settled near him (source, p. 369). His son James went with him but, “not liking the country returned to Connecticut and settled at Litchfield”; James’s grandson was Charles Loring Brace, founder of the Children’s Aid Society of New York. At the first town meeting of Litchfield, which then took in the Brace farms, on 5 Apr 1796, “Abel Brace” was chosen supervisor and a school commissioner, and “Abel Brace, jr.” constable and collector (p. 384); the supervisor was presumably the captain. He died in 1832, and his son Capt. Asahel Brace kept the homestead at West Winfield.
His children with Keziah were Abel (1761-1816), Keziah, Charles (1764-1823), Orange, James, Marvin, Jeduthan, Almira, Lydia, Rhoda, Asenath, Asahel, two named Erastus and Thadeus.
Research: research/hatten/Browne_Chapin_Cumins.md.
Open questions
- His terms in the Connecticut Assembly for Hartland, and his militia commission, need the Connecticut records (Roll of State Officers, 1881; Connecticut Men in the Revolution).