Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

I
Millspaugh family were early settled in
Montgomery, Orange county, New York,
having left their home in Holland because
of religious persecution. There were four
families who came together in 1730,
namely, Sinsbough, Miltzpach, Bookstaver
and Youngblood. Their first win-
ter was spent in a dugout, and the fol-
lowing spring they built a log church,
where they worshipped for many years.
These families purchased over a thousand
acres of land in the town, and part of this
same land is now in the possession of
their descendants.
SKEEL, Adalbert Arthur,
Iiairyer, Veteran of Spanish-American War.
The Skeel family has a long and honored
ancestry in Connecticut, whence
branches have spread to neighboring
States and throughout the country. This
outline begins with John Skeel, who married
Hannah Terrill, daughter of Roger
Terrill, and removed from South Britain,
Connecticut, to Woodbury, in this State.
John Skeel died October 5, 1721 ; his wife
died November 11, 1730. They were the
parents of John, of whom further; Hannah,
Thomas, Elizabeth, Abigail, and
Ephraim.
John (2) Skeel, son of John and Hannah
(Terrill) Skeel, was born in November,
1679, ^nd died May 25, 1727. He was
of Woodbury in 1702. He and his wife,
Sarah, were the parents of: Thomas;
Miriam ; John, who, with his sons, Eliab,
Gideon, Adoniram, and Benjamin, and a
daughter Mabel, settled in Durham, Albany
county, New York ; Ephraim ; Abigail
; Jonathan ; Samuel, of whom further
Sarah ; and Hannah.
Samuel Skeel, son of John (2) and
Sarah Skeel, married Lydia Belden, and
they had children : Belden ; Truman, of
;
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
445
whom further ; Samuel, Anna, and
Simeon.
Truman Skeel, son of Samuel and Lydia
(Belden) Skeel, was a soldier in the
American army in the Revolutionary
War, serving as a corporal in the 5th
Company, 7th Regiment, from South
Britain, Connecticut (Lineage Book of
the Daughters of the American Revolu-
tion, No. 9455). He married, June 2,
1779, Chloe Hill, and among their children
were Arad, and Sarah, who married
Abijah Bradley. Arad Skeel, son of Truman
Skeel, married Sarah Lake, and had
a son, Orrin (also spelled Oren). Abiram
Skeel, of whom an account follows, had
a son Truman and also a son Oren. Many
of the two families settled in New York,
and all of the circumstances lead to the
conclusion that Abiram was a brother of
Arad and son of Truman.
Rev. Abiram Skeel was born in New
Canaan, Connecticut, and became a
preacher of the Methodist Episcopal
church. Sterling, Cayuga county, New
York, became his home, and there, where
his death occurred, he and his wife are
buried. Rev. Abiram Skeel married Dr.
Lydia Prentice, a woman of strong per-
sonality and mentality, who practiced
medicine and who was so prominent in
church affairs as to gain the title of "the
petticoat bishop." She was of the family
of General Prentice, of Revolutionary
War fame, and a cousin of George D.
Prentice. Among their sons were Oren,
of whom further ; Truman, Alanson ; and
Rev. Harlow, a minister of the Methodist
Episcopal church.
Oren Skeel, son of Rev. Abiram and
Lydia (Prentice) Skeel, was born in New
York State, and became an early settler
in Illinois, locating in the town of Dixon
about 1838 and engaging in farming operations.
He married Caroline Maria