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James Noxon Account BookPioneers of the Bay of Quinte

Pioneering Families of the Bay of Quinte
Records of The Bay of Quinte

                                                James Noxon 1765 - 1842

Why I am interested in this Family. Much is known about the Noxon family and the account book of James Noxon is the main focus of his inclusion here. This account book dates from 1800 to the 1850’s and details his business life. Pam and Court Noxon are thanked for permitting the transcription and the material below.

1. James Noxon's family

James Noxon came from Dutchess County and first settled in Adolphustown and later moved to Sophiasburgh. 

 

JAMES NOXON was born 8 April 1765 in Dutchess County, NY, and died 31 August 1842 in Bloomfield.  He married (1) LANOR DELONG 17 December 1787.  She was born 1 January 1771, and died 3 August 1792.  He married (2) ELIZABETH DORLAND 6 August 1794.  She was born 18 July 1774.

       

Child of JAMES NOXON and LANOR DELONG is:

                   i.    MARIA² NOXON, b. 12 January 1791; d. 21 October 1824; m. JOHN D HAIGHT, 1818.

 

Children of JAMES NOXON and ELIZABETH DORLAND are:

                  ii.    GILBERT² NOXON, b. 25 February 1796; d. 4 July 1805.

                 iii.    JAMES NOXON, b. 1 August 1797; m. CATHERINE MORDEN.

                 iv.    JOHNATHAN NOXON, b. 9 May 1799; m. JEMIMA WAY.

                  v.    SAMUEL NOXON, b. 13 March 1801, Canada West; m. RHODA WHITE, 9 February 1826; b. 5 April 1806, Canada West; d. 1876.

                 vi.    LANOR NOXON, b. 19 January 1803.

                vii.    LYDIA NOXON, b. 5 February 1805.

               viii.    DORLAND NOXON, b. 8 April 1807.

                  ix.    ISSAC NOXON, b. 11 March 1809.

                   x.    SARAH NOXON, b. 28 January 1811; m. CALEB STICKNEY, 1838.                 

  

             

2. The story behind the Account Book

© Copyright: Pam & Court Noxon, 16 Oct 2006

Provenance of James Noxon's journal

As seen in the later pages, the journal passed from James Noxon to his son Isaac D. Noxon who took over the family farm at Bethesda. Isaac D. later moved to New York to aid his son Isaac James, buying an adjacent farm. Two years later Isaac James was killed by lightning.  In 1887 Isaac D. moved to Avoca nearby. George Relyea Noxon, another son of Isaac D. and a brother to Isaac James also moved to Avoca. He was involved in the Noxon Broom Factory in Avoca and later grew grapefruit in Florida. He died in 1925. His son James Isaac, was born in 1894 and died 100 years later. His daughter Jean (Noxon) Ellis was born in 1931, married Rev. Frank P. Ellis, and died in 1998. We met Jean at a Noxon Family Reunion shortly before her death.

She had the journal with her and wondered if any one would be interested in it . We convinced her that it would be a valuable resource at the Prince Edward County Archives and so it came to us.

 

The ledger part of the journal contains a wide range of items in the trading. One that impressed us was the reference to substantial yardages of fabric. We had assumed that James bought this elsewhere, possibly in Kingston. An interesting sidelight to the journal is a paper given recently by Anne Adams in which she notes the tradition of Quaker schooling in a number of trades including her special interest, weaving and working with textiles. Elizabeth Dorland, who married James Noxon in Adolphustown, was raised in a Quaker family and it was undoubtedly she who wove the fabric that appears in his journal. James became a Quaker upon his marriage to Elizabeth and they carried on the Quaker tradition of teaching their children the diverse skills of blacksmithing, lumber sawing, milling, butchering and tailoring as well as the production of often noted agricultural products. This tradition of Noxon descendants acquiring facility in a number of skills has persisted through each generation since.

 

 Pam & Court Noxon

The following is a  note included with the ledger when we received it:

 

"TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

        The aged account book to which I attach this statement  of explanation---as I understand it---is far more than it may seem to be to the casual reader on first unreflected reading.  Factually it is the ledger-like business accounts ---beyond and independent of the day-to-day "cash over the counter" dealings of my great grandfather James Noxon (1765-1842) and the insertions of rather dull and intermittent diary-like notations of my grandfather, Isaac D. Noxon (1809 - 1896). It covers a period of time -1803 to 1849.

 

       It contains very little ---if any-- of concrete family history. The reconstruction and romantic story has to be read "between the lines" and by projected reflection. But that does not indicate that the substance of the notations are anything but true and factual life experiences.

 

      These business dealings and personal relationships took place in pioneering times in a locale of only the early stages of the development of virgin lands.  These accounts are a "sort of" artifact of a period of localized civilization and the portrait of a man. I believe James Noxon (1765-1842) was a man of perceptive vision and dynamic energy; he was constructively motivated, industrious and successful.

 

      With the help of men that he hired, as merchant he furnished the stalwart men and women of the district with the tools and materials, in great diversity, that they needed to hew out their developments and to sustain them in their rugged and simple life style.  He furnished the community with the services of many crafts and products - black-smithing; shoe cobbling; flour and feed milling; cider pressing --and he owned some rental properties.

 

     If this is a prejudicial translation, I don't apologize for it --I choose to be very proud of my heritage. You read it your way.

 

James I. Noxon  Columbus, Ohio  January 18, 1982."

 

On his death James Noxon left 1400 acres of land distributed among his children, male and female, plus a house and a lot in Demorestville . (This is even more remarkable in the light of his activity in the Quaker church not only in the County but in frequent trips to Newmarket, Ontario and New York in the USA.). While it reflects the considerable skills and hard work of Elizabeth and James, it indicates the explosive commercial growth of the times. It speaks as well of the industry of a cohesive family. All the children earned and shared in the family success. As they married they were set up on farms, several along Christian Street, bought in James Noxon's name and subsequently deeded to them.