The Family of Darius Jacques and Elizabeth Hanna Jacques

The Parents of Darius Jacques

Aaron Jacques and Rebecca House

The Parents of Elizabeth Hanna

Isaac Hanna and Martha Bell Hanna

Jacques Family Tree

House Family Tree

Hanna Family Tree

Bell Family Tree

Marriages of Darius Jacques

1st Marriage to Mary Rossiter circa 1798

2nd Marriage to Elizabeth Hanna in 1815

Marriages of Elizabeth Hanna

1st Marriage to Levi VanFossen in 1787

2rd Marriage to Darius Jacques in 1815

A Genealogy of the Hanna Family

From the Leroy Gazette, 9 August 1933

Compiled by Mrs. A. B. Johnson of Caledonia NY

Isaac Hanna, the son was born in 1743. On April 15, 1766 he married Martha Bell and they resided for a time in Dry Valley, Union County, Pa. Isaac served in the War of the American Revolution as first lieutenant in Captain Ambrose Crain’s Company, Sixth Battalion of Lancaster County, Pa., and in 1777 as a Colonel in John Rogers’ Militia. It is related that he was gunsmith by trade and that he and his son, Isaac, Jr. manufactured arms for use in the Revolution.

About 1807 Isaac Hanna and his wife and family made the long journey through the wilderness into the Genesee Country and locate in the vicinity of East Avon. Whether any of the Hanna family or the Bell family had preceded them in not known by the descendants. Martha Bell Hanna had two brothers, Thomas and Walter Bell, and two sisters, Lucy who married a Mr. Wilson and Anna who married a Mr. Dickson.

The children of Isaac and Martha Bell Hanna were Andrew, Samuel, Elizabeth, John, Matthew, Thomas, Anna, Martha and Isaac, Jr. Andrew married Margaret Coe. Samuel married Elizabeth McPherson. Elizabeth married Levi VanFossen who met a tragic death at the age of 29 years when he fell into a tub of hot mash in a still house in the town of Livonia, November 11, 1811. Elizabeth later married Thomas J. VanFossen. (* see Editor’s Note)

Editor’s Note: Thomas J. VanFossen was the son of Levi and Elizabeth VanFossen, not Elizabeth’s second husband.

The Obituary of Darius Jacques

1769 - 3 August 1853

Obituary compiled by Joy Lewis, Richmond Town Historian.

At the time of his son’s birth in 1807, Darius lived in Vermont. His wife, Mary Rossiter, died in his son’s infancy and he entrusted the care of his children to their aunt (Mrs. Williams) in Chenango County, New York. Levi came to Richmond with the children in 1813. He owned about 110 acres, purchasing 65 acres from Asa Bushnell (on Route 20A West, in the district of the Purcell School).

In 1815 Darius married Elizabeth, the widow of Levi VanFossen; they had no children together. He is recorded on the 1817 Richmond tax roll. In 1824 he bought property on the shore of Hemlock Lake. “John Hanna was an early settler on the lands ... sold to Darius Jacques in 1824” (D. B. Waite). John Hanna was Elizabeth’s brother, so, Darius’ brother-in-law.

In 1824 Darius purchased from John Hanna the farm later known as the Jacques place and at his death it passed into the hands of his son, Russell, who in 1851 built a new farm house on it, which in a few years was to become the Jacques Hotel. Jacques was called upon to care for so many visitors that in 1872 he enlarged his farmhouse, making the main part into a three-story affair and adding an eighty-foot two-story wing. After this was done about 100 boarders, as they were called then, could be cared for.

This hotel was conducted until about 1900, when it was sold to the city and torn down.

On the 1850 Livonia Census, it was noted that Darius was blind.

The Obituary of Elizabeth Hanna VanFossen Jacques

15 May 1771 - 19 January 1855

From the Northern Christian Advocate, January 1855

Elizabeth Jacques died at Hemlock Lake, Livingston county, New York, Jan. 19, 1855, aged 84 years and 8 months. Sister Jacques had been a living member of the Methodist Episcopal Church for many years. Her home, blessed with much of the divine presence, was indeed an oasis to the wayworn ambassador of Christ. Her closing scene was peaceful, tranquil and clear, as the setting of the summer’s sun. She has left her pleasant associations on earth for a home in heaven. God made up the loss to the Church and relatives.

Written by Rev. William M. Haskell

...

From the Livingston Republican, circa 1855

At Livonia, Livingston County, NY, January 19th, Mrs. Elizabeth, relict of the late Darius Jacques, aged 83 years and eight months.

The deceased was one of the first settlers in this county, having emigrated here from Pennsylvania with her first husband, Levi Van Fossen about the year 1788, enduring the hardships and privations of the early frontier. For sixty eight years she maintained a christian character, and was indeed a pattern of filial, conjugal, maternal and social virtue. Possessed of a highly cultivated mind and an amiable disposition, she was beloved by all who had the pleasure of her acquaintance. She was a warm friend, and her purse was ever open to the wants of the needy.

She was the mother of eight children, three of whom, Gen. John VanFossen of Ypsilanti, Mich., I. VanFossen, Esq. of Indiana, and Dr. Thomas VanFossen of St. Louis, Mo., still survive her. Of these, and a large circle of grandchildren, but one, Mrs. N. W. Mather was permitted to pay the last sad tribute to the departed. She has gone to her rest like a “shock of corn fully ripe, her body sleeps in the grave and her spirit is in the land of our father. Peace, peace to her ashes.”

The Burial of Darius Jacques

Village Cemetery in Hemlock NY

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Gravestone of Darius Jacques (1769 - 1853).

Located in the Village Cemetery in Hemlock NY.

The Burial of Elizabeth Hanna VanFossen Jacques

Village Cemetery in Hemlock NY

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Gravestone “back” of Elizabeth Hanna VanFossen (1771 - 1855).

Located in the Village Cemetery in Hemlock NY.

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