Author: Watson, Cyprian
Biography:
WATSON, Cyprian (1737-1807: ancestry.com)
Cyprian Watson was born on 1 June 1737 in New Hartford CT and baptised in West Hartford on 19 June, the son of Cyprian and Abigail (Galpin) Watson. On 17 Oct. 1762 he married Dorothy Benton (1729-1819) at New Hartford, and they went on to have seven children, four of whom grew to maturity. Watson was a farmer. He moved his young family to Stillwater, Saratoga County NY, where they cleared 110 acres of land near the river. In 1777 he fought in the Revolutionary army and was present at the decisive battle of Saratoga, where the British General Burgoyne surrendered on 17 Oct. Watson served as a deacon in the First Congregational Church of Stillwater. Though rebuked by the church council in 1793, at that time he acknowledged his faults and was permitted to return to the congregation. In 1795, however, accused of fraud in the matter of a debt, he was tried again and excommunicated. The Impartial Account gives his version of those events. But money troubles must have continued, for in 1800 Watson was obliged to sell his property, with two houses, two barns, and an orchard. He stayed on nevertheless in Stillwater, where he died in 1807 and was buried in the Yellow Meeting House cemetery: the death date on his tombstone is 11 Sept. 1807 but he is referred to as “deceased” in a newspaper notice of 21 July, so the exact date is open to question. (ancestry.com 24 Apr. 2024; findmypast.com 24 Apr. 2024; “Stillwater Congregational Church Records” online, sites.rootsweb.com 25 Apr. 2024; Albany Register 21 Mar. 1800; Lansingburgh Gazette 21 Jul. 1807) HJ