Isaac Bedient

My son-in-law’s grandmother descends from Thomas Bedient, who came to this country sometime before 1695. He settled in Fairfield County, CT.  The family stays in Fairfield for about a century, when great-grandson Mordecai moves to Butternuts, Otsego County, NY before the 1810 census. His brother Isaac follows sometime after the 1810 census, he is there in 1820. He is listed as over 45 yo. In 1830 he is listed as being between 50 and 60, and between 60 and 70 in 1840. So far no surprises, and everything seems to fit  with a reported birth date of 1772, which is confirmed in the 1850 federal census (77), and the 1855 state census (83).

However, in 1840 there is another Isaac Bedient in Butternuts, who is between 70 and 80 (with a female age 70-80 also listed), and who is listed as a war veteran. This Isaac dies in 1847 in Butternuts at age 83, and is buried at Prentiss Cemetery there. This would make his birth date around 1764.

Isaac Bedient marries Hannah Bennett in Fairfield, CT on 6 or 16 Jan 1799. Hannah Bennett dies in Butternuts on 3 Oct 1820 at age 43, and is buried in Prentiss Cemetery. She is most likely the female age 26-44 enumerated with Isaac in the 1820 census. She is identified as the wife of Isaac Bedient.

A Sally Bedient, also identified as the wife of Isaac Bedient, dies in 1842 at age 67 in Butternuts, and is also buried in Prentiss Cemetery. This would make her birth date around 1775. She then is most likely the female 50-60 in Isaac’s household in 1830, and the female 60-70 in 1840.

The Isaac Bedient of 1772 dies in 1857 in Cooperstown. He is not buried in Prentiss Cemetery (at least his stone is not there), and as of now I have not been able to identify his burial place, or confirm his death date.

Land records do not make things clearer. An Isaac Bedient buys land from Jacob Morris in 1812; from John Frome in 1838; from Isaac and Mary Benedict in 1840. Isaac and his wife Sally sell land in 1837, and Isaac and his wife Margaret sell land to Hyram and Solom. P. Hubbell in 1845. Is Margaret a third wife, or is this the other Isaac?

One thing seems clear: There are two Isaac Bedients, one about 10 yrs older than the other. The older one is the Revolutionary Veteran, the younger one is married to Hannah and Sally, and the identification of the Rev. War veteran as the Isaac married to Hannah and Sally is wrong. But who is the war veteran married to? And where is the younger Isaac buried? More research will need to be done.

Most of the data (except the census data, which came from archives.com, and the deed data from FamilySearch.org) came from two Bedient websites, one of which no longer exists. The other’s URL is http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~bedient/