Part Four: He Is Alive in Upstate New York!

So I'm on Footnote trying to sort this all out ... and if you're lost and haven't read this saga from the get-go, maybe slide on down to Part One:) It'll just be a tad easier on your own self.

So what the heck happened to Nehemiah Newan(s) after the Revolutionary War? Looks like he slipped the wife and kid and just high tailed it out of Pennsylvania to claim his land grant up in New York state.

I read just yesterday on Ancestry that some of the land grants for Pennsylvania were mistakenly for lands that turned out to be in New York and when they got it all sorted out they offered the veterans a swap of sorts. Some took other land also in New York.

The records (and which records I'd have to go dig out of the file but you can find them on the DAR web site and I think I remember that it's from the Pennsylvania Archive) show that he was awarded 250 acres for service. That jives with the table I just found on Ancestry that says a sergeant was given 250 acres. Note that it does not line up with the claim made in the "Ancestors of Thomas F. Myer" book that claims "previous to his death he was promoted to major." Majors were a bigger deal and got 600 acres. Sweet.

Now I don't know if Nehemiah Newan(s) was one of the men who traded land in New York but bottom line is that he ended up in Canandaigua, Ontario County, New York. From the descriptions of the place circa 1796 when he arrived, it sure sounds nice. Hard and frontier-like but nice and peaceful. I wish to believe that he was happy there:) But that's just me. Here's a link to the old town history:
http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ny/county/ontario/Canantownhist.htm

He appears there on the 1810 and 1820 census then falls off the radar screen.

His main appearance in records between 1810 and 1820 is a pension request filed on his behalf by Moses Atwater Esq. in 1818. Found it in Mom's files and also on Footnote. It's lengthy and difficult to read but worth the effort of transcription to get his history.

Next episode: the history of Nehemiah Newan(s) as best I can fit it all together. Remember I'm a newbie at this genealogy stuff so take that into consideration of all that I write:) I'm trying... but.