Isaac Gage

~ ValarieC

As mentioned in Sumner Gage’s post, he was the son of Isaac Gage (2nd) who was the son of Isaac Gage (1st) and Olive Abbott.  Records transcribed by the Pelham County, New Hampshire Clerk in 1905 record Isaac’s birth as 8 October 1792.

Transcribed records of birth from Pelham, New Hampshire. Included is the birth record for Eben Gage who married Ruth’s sister, Sally.  Ancestry.com. New Hampshire, Birth Index, 1659-1900 [database on-line]

Isaac Gage of Oxford or Orford, New Hampshire married Ruth Stone of Leicester, Massachusetts on 1 January 1815 in Leicester, after filing for an intent to marry on 24 December 1814 in Leicester.   These records did not record either of their parents, just their names, residence, and dates of events.  In the 1918 publication Gregory Stone Genealogy: Ancestry and Descendants of Dea Gregory Stone of Cambridge, Massachusetts, J. Gardner Bartlett records Ruth Stone as a wife of Isaac and further identified him as a brother of Col. Eber (sic) Gage who married Ruth’s sister, Sally.

Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 [database on-line]
Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 [database on-line]

Isaac was about 58 years old by the time the first census came out that captured household member’s names in 1850.  In this census record, Isaac and Ruth are living in Orford, Grafton County, New Hampshire.  Living in their household are Summer (sic) Gage aged 25, Richard Gage aged 23, and Henry Gage aged 18.  All are presumed to be his children.

1850 household of Isaac and Ruth Gage in Orford, New Hampshire. Living next door is Hannah Gage, likely a relative, though I am not sure what her connection is. Many of Isaac’s cousin’s married women named Hannah, and several named daughter’s, Hannah. Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]

A daughter, Louisa, has been identified through her death record which names her mother as Ruth.  In 1850 she is living in Brookfield, LaSalle County, Illinois with another Isaac Gage and his wife, Lucy.  This Isaac (3rd) may be another child of Isaac (2nd) and Ruth, though nothing has been found to identify his parents yet.  The fact that Louisa lives with him and that he moved to LaSalle County, Illinois before Sumner implies a probable relation.

Death record for Louisa Barnes nee Gage. Records her place of birth as New Hampshire and mother as Ruth Stone. Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Death Records, 1841-1915 [database on-line]

Living in the same 1850 household with Louisa and Isaac (3rd) is Aaron Gage who is possibly another son of Isaac (2nd).  Isaac (2nd) also had a brother named Aaron.

Large gaps in the ages of his children (both possible and established) suggest other children who may not have survived to adulthood, or they just haven’t been connected to this specific family.

I had previously estimated that Isaac (2nd) died sometime between 1850 and 1860 based on his absence in the 1860 Census where we find Ruth still living in Orford, New Hampshire with Sumner.  At the time of this blog writing, I found a newspaper article to support this which reports that Isaac Gage of Orford died on 10 April 1853.  This article says he was aged 61 at death making his year of birth about 1792, matching that of our Isaac Gage.

Clipped from Bradford Inquirer (Bradford, VT), 16 Apr 1853, Sat, Page 3

Find-a-grave has a profile for an Isaac Gage who is buried in the Orford Village Cemetery (no headstone photo) with a death date that matches the newspaper article.  I don’t generally like to accept Find-a-grave information without a headstone picture because this usually indicates the profile was created from an index and the profile creator rarely cites their source, but it’s a good lead.  On my to-do list is to validate the burial location and see if those records lead to other names and relationships.

Genealogical Summary:

Isaac Gage (2nd) was born in Pelham, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire to Isaac Gage (1st) and Olive Abbott.

He married Ruth Stone on 1 January 1815 in Leicester, Massachusetts.

He likely died 10 April 1853 at the age of 61 in Orford, Grafton County, New Hampshire.

Isaac and Ruth had the following children:

  1. Isaac Gage (possible son) was born 7 November 1815 in New Hampshire.  By 1850 he was living in Brookfield, LaSalle County, Illinois and was married to Lucy Little.  He died 11 February 1886 in Illinois.
  2. Aaron Gage (possible son) was born abt. 1821 in New Hampshire.  He married Hannah Loring on 16 June 1851 in LaSalle County, Illinois and died 19 November 1879 in Illinois.
  3. Louisa Gage was born 20 or 23 January 1823 in New Hampshire.  She married Josiah Barnes and died 19 March 1897 in Worcester County, Massachusetts.
  4. Sumner Gage was born about 1826 in Lyme, Grafton County, New Hampshire. He married Caroline (Carrie) Emery on 1 July 1861 in Topsham, Orange County, Vermont and he died on 3 December 1895 in LaSalle County, Illinois. He was the last Gage son to move to Illinois after he experienced a house fire in 1875.
  5. Richard Gage was born abt. 1827 in New Hampshire.  He married Mary E. Jennings 3 May 1857 in LaSalle County, Illinois and he died 2 October 1889 in Illinois.
  6. Henry Gage was born abt. 1832 in New Hampshire.

Published by ValarieC