To Coll And Burr. Jude of Probate. for ye District of Fairfield. — Sir these are to enform you that ye widow Sarah Resseguie & Relict and ye heirs of ye late dec'd Alexander Resseguie, declared before us the subscribers that ye Cloathing & Saddle of ye sd Dec'd were divided to ye four Heirs of the sd dec'd to their acceptance before ye above sd Inventory was taken, as witness our Hands ye date above sd.

EZRA HICKOK
BENJA HOYT
MATTHEW BENEDICT

At a Court of Probate held in Fairfield. Aug't 16. A. D. 1754. Personally appeared Alexander Resseguie, one of ye Exec's of ye Last Will & Testament of Alexander Resseguie, late of Ridgefield dec'd, & Exhibited ye foregoing Inventory to sd Court & made oath yt ye same is a true & perfect Inventory of all ye Estate of sd Dec'd yt he knows of, and if anything further shall appear belonging to sd Estate he will cause it to be added: sd Inventory being proved, is by sd Court approved. & ordered to be recorded.

It would be interesting to note the distribution of this large estate to the heirs, but no record of such distribution can be found. After the death of the mother, her personal estate, conconsisting chiefly of wearing apparel and household belongings,

amounting in value to £182 6s. 6d., was divided among the four sons.*

*"At a Court of Probate held in Fairfield, Feby 15th 1758. Alex' Resseguie Adm on ye Estate of Sarah Russegui late of Norwalk dec", having made application to this Court and prayed yt ye time assigned him for rendering an Acct of his Admins" on sd Estate may be lengthened out & having offered sufficient reason therefor, this Court allows to sd Administ' further Time (viz) untill ye first Tuesday in June next."

“At a Court of Probate held in Fairfield, June 15. A. D. 1758, Whereas, an Inventory of the Estate of Sarah Resseguie late deca hath been exhibited, amounting with ye Credits to the sum of £290.. 19s.. 013, Lawful money, and an amount of Debts hath been rendred amounting to £107.. 12s. 6d.. like money, which being deducted from sd Inventory, and Credits, leaves the sum of £182.. 6s. 65, Lawfull money, Clear Estate, which this Court orders to be divided to and among the Children of sd deca in the following manner, viz:

To Alexander Ressiguie being ye Eldest Son, Two shares, or a double Portion, and to Abraham, Isaac & Jacob Ressiguie, Each a Single Shareand this Court doth appoint and Impower Mess Sam" Olmstead of Ridgfield and David Lambert and Ezra Heacock of Norwalk, being Freeholders and disinterested to make Division thereof accordingly.

Test. DAVID ROWLAND, Clerk.

to warrant the necessary expenditure, it was soon abandoned by its projectors.

Undoubtedly the large property formerly held by the senior Alexander, and bequeathed by him to his children, became largely reduced by the events connected with the Revolutionary war, which depreciated property everywhere and proved the financial ruin of so many people. The family became scattered and the closing years of the eighteenth century found them located widely apart. No stone marks the burial place of Alexander and his wife, but probably the old cemetery in Ridgefield received their remains. The will of Alexander Resseguie is dated July 27, 1793. It was written in a beautiful script upon two pages of a sheet, the lower half of which has been burned away. It is a relic of the hair trunk noted on page 10. The legible portion of the will is here given. No record of its probate has been found.

"In the name of Almighty God; Amen:- this 27th day of July A. D. 1793: —I Alexander Resseguie of Ridgefield, in the District of Danbury, being advanced in Age, but thro' the goodness of God of a Sound mind and Memory; being desirous to set my house in Order, Do for that purpose make and Ordain this my last Will & Testament; - that is to say; First of all I give and Recommend my Immortal Spirit into the hands of God who gave it, hoping for Acceptance with him, and the Eternal Life in the World to come, through the Merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior; - & my Body to the Dust from whence it was taken, (believing in the Resurrection from the Dead) to be Buried in a Decent Christian like manner;-(after my Decease) at the Discretion of my Executors herein named; —& as to what Worldly Goods and Estates it hath pleased God to Bless me with; I hereby Give, Bequeath, and Dispose thereof in the following form and manner. (Bottom of page missing.)

ITEM,- I hereby declare that what I have already given to my son William to be his full part, and portion of my Estate.

ITEM,- I hereby Give & Bequeath unto my sons Timothy, and Daniel, & to their Heirs and Assigns, the whole of my Real Estate to be equally Divided (after my own and Wife's Decease), between them and their respective Heirs. LASTLY,― I hereby Constitute, Appoint, Ordain and fully Impower my Well beloved & faithfull Son Timothy, and my well beloved Wife, Thankfull, to be the Executors of this my last Will & Testament, and I hereby order them to cause the same to be fulfilled in every part and particular thereof; & I hereby revoke and Disannul all former Wills & Testaments by me made; hereby declaring this, & this only, to be my last Will & Testament;

Signed, Sealed, Pronounced, and declared, by the Testator to be his last Will and Testament; In the presence of" (Bottom of page missing.)

James Resseguie, born Nov. 6, 1713. A thorough search of records and diligent inquiry, fails to gain much information concerning him. The only scrap attainable besides the record of his birth, relates to the fact that he died in the French and Indian War. That he married and had a family is beyond question, for circumstantial evidence points to him as the progenitor of a goodly line of descendants. In the absence of documentary evidence this may be considered amply sufficient to justify the place given him by the compiler.

Abraham Resseguie, born July 27, 1715; married Jane who died July 31, 1797, aged 81. He was one of the heirs to his father's estate. His death occurred previously to that of his wife.

*20.

*21.

*22.

*23.

*24.

*25.

CHILDREN. (Third Generation.)

I. ABIGAIL, b. ; m. Jesse Nichols.
II. JANE, b. 1750; m. Nathan Smith.

III. RACHEL, b. April 11, 1752; m. John Peck.
IV. PHEBE, b. March 31, 1754; m. Asa Prime.

V. HANNAH, b May 9, 1757; m. Samuel Nichols.
VI. JOHN, b. April 2, 1758.

6.

Isaac Resseguie, born May 24, 1717.

We know but little

about him. He lived first at Ridgefield, and was one of the

heirs under his father's will, and received also his portion of his mother's estate. He removed over the border into New York, and evidently settled upon land owned by Colonel Roger Morris, holding as a tenant, for June 4, 1782, he purchased of the commissioners of forfeiture, * for the sum of £58 10s. this land, which is described as follows:

"Situate in Fredericksburgh Precinct,† Dutchess county, in possession of Isaac Russegue. Beginning at a stake and stones by the road in the line of Duke Foster's land, then in the line of said Foster's land north seventy degrees west, thirteen chains, eighty links, to a stake twenty-five links west from a white oak sapling marked: then in the line of Isaac Perce's land, south fifteen degrees west fifty chains seventy-five links, to a black oak stump with stones on it in the line of John Ganung's land: thence in the line of said Ganung's land south forty-two degrees east twenty-nine chains to a stake at said Ganung's northeast corner in the line of Yeoman's land on the westerly bank of Croton River, then north eighteen degrees east thirty chains, eighty links, to a large black oak tree marked, at the southwest corner of said Foster's land, then north three degrees west thirty-three chains seventy-five links to the beginning, containing one hundred and thirty acres more or less."

We do not know that Isaac Resseguie married, unless the following extract from the Redding (Conn.) Church records, refers to him: "Dec. 28, 1766, Simon, son of Isaaih (Isaack?) and Sarah Russica." (Baptized.) If this is intended for our Isaac, and he had a son Simon, no further evidence has been found of his existence.

*"A strip 580 rods wide along the east border of the county constitutes a part of the 'oblong tract' and was patented by Thomas Hawley and his associates June 8, 1731. The remaining part of the county (Putnam) and a small part of Dutchess, are included in the great Highland Patent of Adolph Philipse. At the time of the Revolution this Patent was owned by Philip Philipse, and Mary and Susannah, wives of Colonel Roger Morris and Beverly Robinson, of the British army. Morris and Robinson, together with their wives, were attainted, and their property was confiscated and sold by the Commissioners of Forfeiture, chiefly to their former tenants." — French's Gazeteer of New York, page 540-1.

† Frederickstown Precinct was formed March 24, 1772, and was named for Frederick Philipse. It included the present towns of Carmel and Kent. Kent was formed as Frederickstown March 7, 1788: its name was changed to Frederick, March 17, 1795, and to Kent, April 15, 1817. The town received its present name from the Kent family who were early settlers. Carmel and a part of Patterson were taken off in 1795.