F-5-2

Deacon Ingalls

A short biography of Solomon can be found on page 93 of the pamphlet “Celebration by the town of Nelson” written and published for the town’s 150th anniversary.

Solomon and Mercy (Mary) Ingalls moved here from Andover, Massachusetts in 1783. Solomon had served several years with George Washington around New York. They brought three children here with them; Abigail Carleton Ingalls, Solomon Ingalls Jr., and Sarah Ingalls, and nine more children were born here in Nelson; Sarah Ingalls, Hannah Ingalls, Henry Ingalls, John Ingalls, Putnam Ingalls, James Ingalls, Sophia Ingalls, Betsey Ingalls, and Putnam Ingalls.

Solomon was a cousin of Tabitha Sawyer.  The homestead was located at (F-5-3). In 1784, Solomon was chosen as the first deacon of the church which had been organized in 1781.

In 1816 the Ingalls family moved to Rodman, New York selling the place to Joel Sawyer, the son of Benjamin and Tabitha.  Joel and his wife Susannah (Suke Davis of Stoddard) moved in with their three children. The elder Sawyers (Benjamin and Tabitha) soon joined them abandoning their original farmhouse at (F-5-3). Solomon would die near Cape Vincent, New York on September 22, 1840.

Joel died in 1832; his parents followed in 1845 and 1847.  Susannah died in 1856 and the place was inherited by their son, Benjamin. Soon he moved to Mason, NH. The road to their home place was discontinued in 1860.