AMY PETTIS
Amy Pettis, daughter of Stephen Pettis and Amy Button was born in 1788, "within
two miles of Hartford, Connecticut", according to what she told her son,
Joseph Smith Wing. Amy died, December 22, 1864 at Newburgh, Pike County,
Illinois.
On June 24, 1804 at the age of sixteen, Amy Pettis married Joseph Wing in
Vermont. Joseph Wing was the son of Giles Wing and Mary Jane Cornell. It
wasn't long after their marriage that the young couple moved to Locke, Cayuga
County, New York, some fifteen miles from the Cayuga Bridge. Their son, Joseph
Smith Wing reported to the Owl that they had lived at Alburgh, New York prior
to moving to Locke and that they moved from Alburgh during the "cold season".
Alice Wing Kurfman tells us that where Joseph and Amy Wing settled soon became
the main battlefield of the War of 1812; "The British had a number of
ships on both Lake Erie and Lake Champlain. Two of the chief battles of the
war were fought on these two lakes. In the Land Campaign of 1812 the third
United States Army, stationed at Lake Champlain, marched from Plattsburg,
New York to the Canadian border. The untrained militia refused to leave United
States territory and returned to Plattsburg. By 1814, the army of the New
York frontier were well trained and disciplined."
It was during this terrible time that Catherine Wing Pettis, the wife of
Colonel Stephen Pettis and the sister of Joseph Wing, died as a result of
childbirth in Alburgh, New York. In fact, this time in the Wing's personal
history and in the country's national history must have been repeated frequently
to their children. Matthias Wing, the fourth child and second son of Joseph
Wing and Amy Pettis Wing, would name his firstborn son, born in 1839, Commodore
Perry Wing, after the hero, Commodore Perry, who won a great victory on Lake
Erie.
By the time that Amy Pettis Wing pulled up stakes and accompanied her husband
to Trumbull County, Ohio in 1826, she had bore six children, two of which
had died in New York, young Giles and Amy. The family settled in Ohio and
enjoyed the company of family. It appears that Colonel Stephen Pettis and
his family migrated to Ohio at the same time as Joseph Wing and Amy
Pettis.
Finally, in 1836, the Wings, accompanied by several families, including
the Colonel Stephen Pettis family, moved and settled permanently in Pike
County, Illinois. The family prospered in Pike County and in the winter of
1843/44, Joseph and Amy returned to Trumbull County, Ohio to visit their
son Stephen Wing. Joseph Wing died there during their visit and that was
where he was buried.
Amy Pettis Wing never remarried. She returned to Pike County, Illinois and
with the help of her sons, maintained the 120 acres left to her by her husband,
which included the house and the furnishings and all of the livestock.
Stephen Wing, the oldest son of Joseph Wing and Amy Pettis Wing, moved
his family to Pike County shortly after his father's death, perhaps even
accompanying his Mother home. Stephen, probably more than any of her sons,
remained close to his Mother and helped her for the rest of her life.
In 1852, Amy Wing won a settlement against Thomas Dickson but the decision
was reversed and the suit was dropped. (The entire proceedings are published
on the Pike County Ancestors page).
On August 11, 1858, at the age of seventy years, Amy Pettis Wing became the
legal guardian of her young granddaughter, Adelia Wing. Adelia was the daughter
of Joseph Smith Wing and Rebecca Davis Wing and like her brother, Byron,
was a casualty in the war between her parents. In 1859 Amy Amy Pettis Wing
had moved to Adams County, Illinois where she relinquished the custody of
her granddaughter to her son, Joseph Smith Wing;
Newburgh April the 6th 1859
To the Judge of Pike Co. Ills..
Dear Sirs
I wish to resign my Guar-
dianship of Adelia Wing the infant
daughter of Joseph & Rebecca Wing.
I have moved to Adams Co.,
and consequently it will not
Be convienent for me to attend
to it. Besides I am getting to
Be Old and farther her father
has come to claim her and to
take care of her. he is the Bearer
of this. if it is consistent with
the usage of Business I wish you
to send me my Bond By the
Bearer and you will very much
Oblige yours & Amy Wing
N. B. All of the income of her
Property has bin used for her personly
Benefit or for repairs of the said
property Besides some Seventy dollars
Paid By her father for her
Board & schooling years etc.
Amy Wing
Amy remained in Adams County, probably living with her son, Stephen Wing
and his family at the Wingdale Farm in Clayton, Adams County, Illinois. In
1862, Amy Pettis wrote a letter to her son, Joseph Smith Wing, which survived
long enough to be reprinted in the "Owl";
Clayton, Illinois
Dear Child,
I received your letter the last day of Dec. and was very glad to hear
from you and that you and your family are well contented. "A contented mind
is a continual fortune." I also received at the same time a letter from Betsy
and Charles, they are well. Phebe has lost her oldest child. We had a letter
from Benjamin a few days ago, he is well and talks of coming down next summer.
We had a letter from Minnesota recently and they are well.
You have heard, no doubt, of the great massacre of the people in Minn.
by the Indians. They killed some 800 whites and there has been hung some
37 of them at one time.
There has been several deaths in Pike Co., this fall, among them granny
Davis, old Billy Johnson, Tom Smith and his wife, Tom Wiggins and George
Taylor also. You request me to send you a list of your dead friends, I have
sent you the whole pedigree at your request.
My great grand mother married a Warner. Their children were Anna who
married Thomas Brown and had 6 children: Thomas Jr., Cyrus, John, Mary, Martha
and Anna. Mary Brown married Matthias Button and they had 11 children: John,
Matthias, Benjamin, Peter, Nathan, Molly, Anna, Martha, Eliza, Thankful and
Amy.
My grandfather William Pettis married Mary Kinion. Their children were:
Stephen (married Amy Button), Joseph (married Mary Chapman), then there were
Sarah, Elsa, Mercy, Hannah, Mary and Lucy.
Your great grandfather Wing was Matthew. His children were Giles, Matthew,
Ruth and Molly. Giles married Mary Cornell. His children were Samuel, John,
Elizabeth, Katherine, Joseph and Giles Jr.
Stephen Pettis and Amy Button's children were Amy, Sally, Stephen,
William and Nathan. Joseph Wing married Amy Pettis, you know the
rest.
We are well as common, Byron has the whooping cough. Sarah is at home
with us: William is in the army. Her child has the cough.
I sent you a tract, the title "The Christian's Only Hope". I want you
should read and consider it well. I think if you knew all the doctrine of
our faith you would respect it more than you do now. It is trouble some times
now, and I think the winding up of the dispensation is close at hand.
We have had a very open winter only about 3 inches of snow at any one
time and weather mild. Wheat looks bad, but not dead. The letter I wrote
last fall I presume you have not received. I should have written sooner,
but I meant to send my likeness and the roads have been so bad I could not
go to have it taken. I will send it when I get it.
Tell Sam and John they must write to me. Norman wrote me a letter a
few days ago; they are all well. You must write oftener.
From your affectionate mother,
Amy (Pettis) Wing
On December 22, 1864, Amy Pettis Wing died, at the age of seventy-six. The
woman who had devoted her life to her husband, children and grandchildren
was laid to rest in the Pettis Cemetery, Newburgh, Pike County, Illinois.
Amy Pettis Wing and Joseph Wing had the following children;
1. Phebe Wing, born April 16, 1805, date of death unknown.
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