Wednesday, January 1, 2014

~ AZARIAH AND CHRISTINA (SHEPHARD) HOLCOMB ~

© Kathy Duncan, 2014

Azariah Holcomb, the Revolutionary War Soldier, was born in Simsbury, Connecticut.

He was married to Christina Shephard on 21 May 1789 in Greenbush, New York.

In his 1832 application for a pension, he stated that he enlisted in April 1777 at Granville, Hampshire County, Massachusetts. After the Revolutionary War, he lived for three years in Vermont, and then he moved to Sand Lake, Rensselaer County, New York where he had lived for 40 years. That would have placed him continuously in Rensselaer County until 1820.  His statement does not provide any indication that he ever resided in Missouri. He would have had to have been in the Missouri or Louisiana Territories around 1800 in order for Azariah Holcomb of McDonald County, Missouri to have been born there along with the births of Azariah's several Missouri born siblings. This would have required an extended period of time in Missouri.

Azariah Holcomb and Christina Shepperd's family bible is part of his pension application and is readily available on HeritageQuest. Their bible provides the following information about their children:

Melita Holcomb b. 13 May 1793
Lunia Holcomb b. 13 April 195
Michal Holcomb b. 5 Sept 1796
Lunia Holcomb b. Mar 1800
Azariah Holcomb b. 8 May 1802
Marianne Holcomb b. 17 Aug 1805
Aretus Lyman Holcomb b, 16 Mar 1807
Christina Holcomb b. 25 April 1809
Gilson Holcomb b. 2Sept 1811
John S. Holcomb b. Jan 1814
Lamira Holcomb b. July 1816

Azariah and Christina (Shephard) Holcomb did have a son named Azariah, who was close to the same age as Azariah Holcomb of McDonald County Missouri. The difference in their ages is two years.

It should be noted that Azariah Holcomb of McDonald County, Missouri did not use any of the names of Azariah and Christina (Shepherd) Holcomb's children in naming his children. Instead, he used the names Nathaniel, Hannah, and Phebe, which can be found among the siblings of Enoch Holcomb.

Azariah Holcomb of Warren County, Pennsylvania is a better candidate for son of Azariah and Christina (Shephard) Holcomb than is Azariah Holcomb of McDonald County, Missouri.

Azariah Holcomb of Warren County, Pennsylvania is approximately the same age as Azariah and Christina (Shephard) Holcomb's son. Like their son, he was born in New York. On the 1880 census, he reported that his father was born in Connecticut and his mother in New York, thus, strengthening the possibility that he was their son.

Warren Co., PA, 31 July 1850:
Azariah Holcomb  50 NY
Marian ----- 38 NY
Sylvester ------ 18 PA
Philander ------ 16 PA
Sherman ------ 14 PA
Almira ------ 10 F PA

Russelburgh, Warren Co., PA, 20 July 1860:
Ezeriah Holcomb  64 NY
Mary ----- 54 NY
Sherman ----- 25 PA
Norman ------ 3 PA

Warren Co., PA 25 July 1870:
Holcomb, Azariah  68 NY
-----, Mary 58 NY
-----, Norman 14 PA

Warren Co., PA 16&17 June 1880:
Holcomb, Azariah 78 NY fb. CT mb. NY
-----Mary A. 68 NY fb. NY mb. NY

The Two Azariah Holcombs