The Sterling genealogy

378 THE STERLING GENEALOGY
Shortly after his marriage James, in company with his
brother-in-law Christopher Lee, migrated to Lima, Livingston
James Sterling
Co., N. Y., where Samuel Ster-
ling had settled.
The following is written by
James' son, Lord Sterling, in his
100th year:
" My father was one of the
pioneers of Lima, at that time
a part of Ontario County, Canandagua
being the county seat
but afterwards, somewhere near
1820 it was transferred to Livingston,
a new county, with
Geneseo its county seat."
" He located in the eastern
part of Lima, bought a farm
with a small improvement consisting
of a few cultivated acres
and the inevitable log cabin.
With this exception my father's
farm like most of his neighbors'
was a ' vast wilderness with a
boundless contiguity of shade.' :
" Hard labor and perseverance,
which are usually the only
industrial forces of the original farmer, soon transformed these
rugged beginnings into a cultivated farm of 200 acres, with the
of New London, now Montville, where he was a farmer and large landholder. His
residence was on what is now called "Raymond Hill." (History of Montville, Conn.,
Henry A. Baker, 1896.)
Joseph Chester was b. Mar. 17, 1731; d. Aug. 4, 1803; m. 1st, Apr. 4, 1753,
Rachel Hillhouse, dau. of Rev. James and Mary (Fitch) Hillhouse, who d. Apr. 8,
1754, leaving one child, Mary Chester, b. Jan. 17, 1754, who d. June 11, 1765. Joseph
m. 2d, Apr. 21, 1757, Elizabeth Otis, b. Oct. 11, 1740, dau. of Dea. Joseph and Elizabeth
(Little) Otis, who d. Nov. 2, 1798. Children by Elizabeth were: Joseph Chester,
Jr., b. Jan. 27, 1758, m. Elizabeth Lee (see No. 213) ; Rachel Chester, b. June 12,
1759, m. Jared Comstock; Elizabeth Chester, b. May 23, 1761, m. 1st, Ezekiel Fox,
2d, Adgate; Levi Chester, b. Feb. 13, 1763, d. June 2, 1811; Mercy, b. Oct. 5,
1764, m. 1st, Jonathan Whaley, 2d, Elisha Lord; Otis Chester, b. Aug. 24, 1766, d.
Feb. 28, 1816 ; David Chester, b. Apr. 23, 1768, m. Prudy Fox ; Molly (or Mary) Ches-
ter, b. Feb. 27, 1770, m. Asahel Otis; Mabel Chester, b. Nov. 11, 1771, m. James Ster-
ling; Caroline Chester, b. Aug. 27, 1773, m. Oct. 1, 1795, John Smith; John Chester,
b. Oct. 7, 1775, d. Oct. 3, 1796 ; Olive Chester, b. Mar. 12, 1777, m. Nov. 23, 1796, Wm.
Hanghton; Lucinda Chester, b. Feb. 8, 1779, d. Feb. 19, 1801, at James Sterling's;