PrenticeNet

Perley Prentiss of MA and NY
Alias: Parley or Purley Prentice
Summer 1999 and Revised 2 May 2001

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Update of 2 May 2001: This article has been superceded and replaced by our article on Edwin A. Prentice of NY, NE and NM in our Summer 2001 issue.

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Parley A. (or P.) Prentiss, b. c. 1805 in MA and a farmer, appears in the 1840 of Canaan, Columbia, NY (Called Parley P. Prentiss) and 1850 census of New Lebanon, Columbia, NY (called Parley A. Prentiss) with his wife, Lodema (or Ann), b. c. 1815 in NY. He would then have been about 45. No children were listed in the census. However, it appears he did have a daughter:

• Mary Anna Prentiss, b. c. 1833 in Canaan, Columbia, NY. She married Ephraim Smith on 28 Jul 1883 at Williamstown, Berkshire, MA. He was the son of John and Catherine Smith. Her marriage record identifies her father as "Purley Prentiss" and her mother as "Ann." The record also seems to indicate she was previously married to a Mr. "Pasons."

Parley may have had another daughter, Marian Prentice, not yet identified, who also appears in the 1850 census of New Lebanon, Columbia, NY. She was b. c. 1833 in NY.

The 1850 Columbia Co. census also shows a Charles Prentice, b. about 1824 or 1829 (the date is unclear in the census record) in NY who has not yet been identified and who might be a son of Parley.

Parley Prentiss might be the Perley Prentice shown in the MA IGI as marrying Susan E. Ballou on 1 Jun 1835 in Mendon, Worcester, MA.

The MA IGI shows a Parley Prentiss, b. c. 1807 in Salem, Essex, MA who is the son of Samuel Prentice and Marion Southwick. Binney's 1883 book, however, shows that Parley as born c. 1812 and marrying Emily Blue and that they had two children: Georgianna born in 1841 and Samual born at an unspecified date. Since no children are shown in the Columbia Co., NY census, that Parley is probably a different person.

If you have any information which can help us identify the ancestry and descendants of any of the folks mentioned above, please contact us at dewald@prenticenet.com..

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