GENERATION 7

GENERATION 6

Biography

DAVID WAKEMAN was born in Fairfield, Fairfield, CT, on Apr. 5, 1776. CLARISSA MOREHOUSE was born there also, on May 26, 1773. They married Apr. 9, 1794, in Fairfield.

They were living in Dutchess county by 1800, as RUTH was born that year, in Lafayette, Dutchess, NY. CLARISSA died Nov. 16, 1821 and is buried at Bangall in Stanford township. DAVID died Feb. 4, 1830, and is buried at Milan.

There is much recorded history of Stanford. In the earliest days the pioneers found themselves in a religious tug-a-war, striving for religious liberty, while denying the right to a neighbor of a different creed. There was a lot of bitter jealousy, when all should have joined shoulder to shoulder in the labor of settling this new area. Yet they were true in their faith to God.

In the year 1755, so the record reads, a few brethern of the Baptist faith, residing in the wilderness, agreed to meet for prayer, which they continued to do for four years. Others joined them and in 1759, they were constituted into a branch church by the Baptist church of Swanzey, Massachusetts Colony.

Thus, the Bangall Baptist Church was founded in October, 1759. The first church building was located on the west side of the main road leading north from the village of Bangall. It was used until 1814. A second building was built that same year, across the road and a little to the south. This building was used until 1867, at which time a third, and present, building was erected.

CLARISSA is buried in the churchyard of the second building. Her son, Morehouse, is also buried there. The cemetery is on Route 82 (east side of the road) north of Bangall, in the town of Stanford, in northern Dutchess County. The cemetery was described as "overgrown and unsightly" as of the early 1900's. Many headstones are now lying prone, or are missing. The headstone of CLARISSA MOREHOUSE could not be found in the year 2000.

The Christian Church was organized in 1820 in Milan. DAVID is buried there, as well as his son, William, and grandson, Albert. Albert, the son of William, died at age 6. The cemetery is located next to the site of the original church, razed in 1967. The cemetery is located on CR 15, three miles south of Route 199 in Milan.

The Reformed (Dutch) Church, of Upper Red Hook, has been in existence since 1787, when the first church buiding was erected. In 1871, a new building was built, and the ground around the original building began to be used for burial purposes. David Jr,. son of DAVID and CLARISSA, is buried here, as is his, daughter, Clarissa, who died at the age of one.