Gilliam In-Laws: The Hildreths, Part 2
Gilliam In-Laws: The Hildreths, Part 2 In the immediately preceding blog post, we reviewed the first three generations of Hildreth ancestors (and the families they married into) in North America. After short stays in Massachusetts and Connecticut, three generations of Hildreth ancestors helped settle the eastern tip of Long Island, New York, in and surrounding the town of Southampton. We pick up the Hildreths’ story in this post with the next Hildreth in our direct line, Joseph. My generation’s 5th great-grandfather, Joseph Hildreth (1720-1792), was the eldest son of John Hildreth and Phebe Squire. He was born in Orange County, New York in about 1720, shortly after his parents moved there from Southampton. Located on the west bank of the Hudson River, Orange County was on the edge of the frontier. In his adulthood in the years leading up to the Revolution, Joseph became a prominent citizen in Orange County. He was named to some local colonial commissions and was a signee to a ple...