Elisha Dunham

   FamilySearch ID: KLL6-64N.

  General Notes:

The details of Elisha's life remain unclear, as it appears he was often confused with other Dunhams that lived in the same time and place. Many sources* provide his wife's name as Mary Ferguson, however that's unlikely - unless Mary was an earlier first wife that died young. Many records also indicate that he was a captain in the American Revolution - but that was a different Elisha Dunham who had a son named John.

Elisha appears to have spent his entire life in Woodbridge, New Jersey. He was married to Elizabeth Freeman and remained married to her until his death. Elisha had "patriotic service" in the Revolutionary War because he sustained material losses in 1777. Elisha wrote his will in 1771, which was proven on March 6, 1783; which means he probably died in late 1782 or early 1783. His will mentions his wife Elizabeth; children Josiah, Freeman, David, Enuas [Eunice], and Henry; and brother-in-law Isaac Freeman.

Various online family trees list a son named Amos or Enos, who married to either Mary Ellison or Ferguson. The identity of this supposed son probably comes from his 1771 will in which he described one of his children as Enuas. At some point, someone must have interpreted this name as Enos, which later morphed into Amos. In reality, that child was most likely his daughter Eunice.

*page 62 of Dunham genealogy. Deacon John Dunham of Plymouth, Massachusetts. 1589-1669. And his descendants. by Dunham, Isaac Watson, 1827- is one of those. ⁹³⁸

  Events

• DAR Ancestor ID: A034511. Rank(s): PATRIOTIC SERVICE
Birth: CIRCA 1732 WOODBRIDGE TWP MIDDLESEX CO NEW JERSEY
Death: ANTE 3-6-1783 WOODBRIDGE TWP MIDDLESEX CO NEW JERSEY Service Source: NY REV WAR DAMAGE CLAIMS, 1776-1782, FHL #888669 Service Description: 1) SUFFERED DEPREDATION BY THE BRITISH, 1777

• Named in Father's will, 20 Oct 1759, Woodbridge, Middlesex Co., New Jersey. ¹²⁰¹

• Military: American Revolution losses, 1777, Middlesex Co., NJ. ¹²⁰² D.A.R. has him not serving but also sustaining damages caused by the British in 1777.

• Witness: to the will of his brother Elisha, 1771.

• Military: Captain in the 1st Reg. Essex Co. NJ Militia. Per http://www.dunham-singletary.org/mw/index.php/S-D-20-Joseph-4

See reference to the pension app of John Conklin:
https://www.fold3.com/image/13940678
and https://www.fold3.com/image/13940684

See also pension app of Gilbert Hedges at page 9:
https://www.fold3.com/image/23088327

Elisha married Elizabeth Freeman, daughter of John Henry Freeman and Martha Moore, 20 Jun 1752 in Woodbridge, Middlesex Co., New Jersey ¹¹⁹⁹.^,1200 (Elizabeth Freeman was born about 1729 in Woodbridge, Middlesex Co., New Jersey ⁸⁵⁰ and died after 1784 in Woodbridge, Middlesex Co., New Jersey ⁸⁵⁰.)