James Heaton of Swanzey, New Hampshire

[Uncle Buddy]

Two James Heatons lived around the same time and place. They are commonly combined into one person.

James Heaton b. May 30 1752 was married to Freedom Rider.

James Heaton b. ?Nov ?20, ?1748 (source: Dean Heaton's book, which itself gives no source) was married to Susannah Grimes. James 1748 is now the lesser known of the two, only because his birth place and parents are unknown. But he has some well-known descendants who are being given to the wrong James since no one knows that this one exists.

I'll be posting more in this thread when someone asks for the details.

[Uncle Buddy]

I got another bizarre edit request for one of the James Heatons.

For a summary of the best research on this problem that I've ever seen (mine), here are links to memorials for both of them. These two are routinely combined and then the resulting fictional person is copied from tree to tree and then I get bizarre requests from genealogists who want me to recombine them or create yet another fictional James Heaton.

www.findagrave.com/memorial/55671938/james-heaton

www.findagrave.com/memorial/59618946/james-heaton

The first James is the one I'm more interested in. He was married to Susanna Grimes and is buried in Vermont. After his death his family moved to New York. The two James Heatons were close in age, probably born and raised close to the same place, probably closely related, probably had similar military careers and maybe even the same rank. ("Ensign" James Heaton is not necessarily a clue to differentiate them.) They both had large, well-known families that ended up settling not far from each other in New York.

The second James was married to Freedom Rider. "He" is more well known but would somebody please get a grip on reality and separate him from the other James Heaton?

For more details, please visit the memorials above which are the only reliable genealogical compilations on these two fellas that I know about, though I haven't researched them in years. Please post any clarification in this thread, along with sources. There are so many versions of this story (two stories, actually) that I can't drag out my notes for anyone who doesn't list sources for their factoids. This is actually the most unbelievable mish-mash I've ever seen in genealogical "research".

I would love to more know about the first James linked above, the one who was married to Susanna Grimes and buried in Vermont in 1811.

Thanks for your interest.

[Uncle Buddy]

The only strong assertion I've found about this James Heatons' ancestry (the one who married Susanna Grimes) is that he was "born in New Hampshire Nov. 20, 1748, son of Nathaniel son of Nathaniel son of Nathaniel". By "strong assertion" I mean it sets him apart from the James who married Freedom Rider. This was in Dean Heaton's 2 volume book. He was unable to remember where he got the information. It's on pages 81 & 101 of volume 1 of his book "Heaton Families II". There were plenty of Nathaniel Heatons in those days, but I wasn't able to find a lineage like that, with three Nathaniels in a row. This should be posted in the brick walls thread but I'm so busy writing Treebad GPS, UNIGEDS, etc. that I have no time for genealogy itself.

I have lots of information about James' descendants in New York, some of them were well known. I even have James' burial and a photo of his headstone in Addison County, Vermont. The family moved to New York after he died and lived not far from the other James' descendants in New York, which adds to the confusion. But no idea who his parents were or what town he was born in. He and the other James were likely to be cousins of some sort.

There's nothing like a good mystery, that's why I care.