Excerpt from: History of The Town of New Windsor, Orange County, N.Y., by Edward M. Ruttenber, Newburgh, N.Y., printed for The Historical Society of Newburgh Bay and the Highlands, 1911:
DENNISTON
The Denniston family of New Windsor, now widely dispersed, are the descendants of Alexander Denniston, the brother-in-law of Charles Clinton and one of the company of immigrants who settled in Little Britain in 1730. Alexander Denniston, the father of this immigrant, was an officer under St. Ruth, in 1691, at Athlone, and aided in the defence of that place against the English. In this contest the Irish troops defended their works with undaunted bravery. In the final charge, in which the English were repulsed, the Irish troops set fire to the enemy's breastwork, destroying all their defences and pontoons and producing great consternation in the English camp. After the reduction of Athlone, he accompanied St. Ruth to Kilcommeden in Roscommon, where the latter was killed and his forces dispersed. After this battle followed the period in which it is said that "Ireland had no history," a period in which was developed nothing by tyranny on the part of the government and bitter suffering on the part of the people. This induced Denniston to remove to Scotland to avoid threatened persecution. In 1701, he returned to Ireland, where he remained quiet and secluded in the Town of Grenard, until the accession of George I, in 1714, when the Whigs obtained the ascendancy and all adhering to them were taken into favor. In 1727, on the accession of George II, by bills which passed Parliament, five-sixths of the population of Ireland were disfranchised; stringent additions were also made to the penal code, and other legislative action taken which convinced many that Ireland was to be treated as a conquered province, and induced them to emigrate to America. "This," says the author of the foregoing brief sketch, Hon. Goldsmith Denniston, "was the cause of the emigration of what is known as the Clinton company in 1729, among whom was Alexander Denniston, son of the officer under St. Ruth, already described."
Alexander Denniston(1), married first Elizabeth Beatty, who died childless, probably on Cape Cod in 1730, second Frances Little, a fellow passenger on the "George and Anne," daughter of George Little and sister of James and Archibald Little, by whom he had 1, James who married first Jane Crawford (marriage license Oct. 11th, 1760), and second Rachel Falls (said to have been widow of George Falls and daughter of Peter Mulliner) (marriage license dated Oct. 13, 1773; 2, George married first Isabella Craig, daughter of David Craig, marriage license dated Dec. 10, 1769), second Mary McClaughry, daughter of James McClaughry (marriage license dated aug. 12, 1772), and died in 1804; 3, Alexander married first Nancy Gray, second Margaret J., third Martha Sears, (the widow Ellison), and died in 1817 aged 77 years; 4, William, married Fanny little, and died in 1825 aged 86 years; *5, John, married Anna Moffat, and died in 1836 aged 85 years; 6, Charles, married the widow Milligan, (Mary Blake), and died in 1808; 7, Esther married first Alexander Falls, second Phineas Helme; 8, Elizabeth married henry Douw; 9, Mary, married, first William Mulliner, second Matthew DuBois; 10, Catherine married, first Edward Falls, second Samuel Wood.
* John Denniston died Jan. 7, 1836, aged 85 years and 23 days. His wife, Ann Moffat, died Feb. 13, 1835, aged 84 years. She was the daughter of Saml. Moffat, (born in Ballehag, county Antrim, Ireland, 1704, died at Blagg's Clove, Orange County, 1787), and his wife Jane, (born at Slush Hall, county of Fermanaugh, Ireland, 1716, O.S., died at Blaggs Clove, 1794, aged 78 years). John Denniston, jr., son, born Dec. 14, 1778, graduated at Yale college 1807, died Jan. 13, 1810. Ann, daughter of John and Ann Denniston, married Jacob Schultz; she was born Jan. 22, 1780, and died Sept. 22, 1849; their daughter, Mary Ann, married Thomas J. Fulton. Samuel M., son of John and Ann Denniston, died July 23, 1862 aged 87 years.
James (2), son of James (1), married Prudence Morrison, daughter of John Morrison and his wife Elizabeth Scott, of what is now the town of Montgomery, and was the father of the late Hon. Robert Denniston. He died July 9, 1825, aged 55 years.
Abraham, son of James (1), married Bathsheba Goldsmith and was the father of the late Goldsmith Denniston, and the late Mrs. Aaron P. Johnes of Newburgh. He died sept. 10, 1825, aged 55 years.
George (2) was the father of Colonel James Denniston, who was the father of George A. Denniston, for one term Sheriff of Orange County. The sons of William (4) were Issac, Andrew and Archibald. This branch of the family settled in Cornwall and gave to its local history a long list of honored names. Archibald, the youngest son of William, removed to Sullivan County and settled in the present Town of Tremont.
"Another branch of the descendants of Alexander, son of a brother of Alexander (1) of Little Britain. He was a native of the county Longford, Ireland, from whence he came to Little Britain in 1798, and soon after opened a store in Newburgh. His wife, Sarah, died in Little Britain Dec. 11, 1813, in her 44th year, and was buried in the Clinton burying ground. He took an active part in the War of 1812 and attained the rank of Colonel of the 27th Regiment, U.S. Infantry. One authority states that he removed to the west, and another, that he settled in Sullivan county, in 1815, in company with Archibald Denniston, referred to in the text. The latter located at a place now known as Denniston's Ford, where he died in 1863." (From Quinlan's Sullivan County.)
Members of the family have had part in all the principal wars of the country. Alexander Denniston (1), the founder of the family, was member of Capt. Ellison's New Windsor militia in 1738, and on frontier service in the war of 1755; Daniel, was Lieutenant in the 2d N.Y. Continental, 1776, served to the end of the war, was half-pay officer for life, and a member of the Cincinnati; George L., son of Alexander was Adjutant in Col. James Clinton's Southern Ulster militia, (his five brothers were privates in the same regiment), member of the committee of Safety of New Windsor, 1775, Ensign, 3d N.Y. Continental, 1776, promoted Lieut., served during the war, half-pay officer for life and member of the Cincinnati, and William, was Lieut. in Col. Clinton's Southern Ulster militia, 1776, and Captain of 11th Co., Wallkill Precinct, 1775. The name of another George stands on the rolls as Lieut. in 4th N.Y. Continental, but we fail to place him except as son of George L. The name of the latter, by the way, was George L., and not George I. as entered in several lists.
A complete genealogy of the family has not been preserved, and the details which have been obtained are fragmentary. It is perhaps sufficient to say that the descendants of Alexander Denniston are still numerous in New Windsor, Cornwall and Blooming Grove, and that he has representatives in other towns, in other parts of the state, and in the west. Taken as a whole there have been few families in the state that have been the peers of the soldier under St. Ruth.
David Denniston was, it is believed, the first printer in Newburgh, for, although it is of record that the Newburgh Packet was printed by Lucius Cary in 1795, a book printed the same year by David Denniston is in existence, and his name is associated with the publication of The Mirror and The Rights of Man, of Newburgh, and the American Citizen and Watch Tower, of New York. His occupation was that of a printer and book-binder; his association with newspapers is presumed to have grown out of his interest in the religious discussions of the era in which he lived. The New York Evening Post has the following record of his death: "At Newburgh, Dec. 13, 1803, of an inflammation of the lungs, Mr. David Denniston, late proprietor of the American Citizen." In another announcement his death is recorded as having been from "malignant fever." His proper place in the genealogy of the family has not been ascertained. He was a man of decided strength of character.
Robert Denniston, son of James Denniston and his wife, Prudence Morrison, daughter of John Morrison, and his wife Elizabeth Scott, of the town of Montgomery, was born in what is now the town of Blooming Grove, October 15, 1800. He married first, Julianna Howell, September 24, 1823, who died without issue Feb. 21, 1825. His second wife was Mary Scott, only daughter of William Scott, of Northumberland, England, who settled near Elizabethtown, N.J., in 1795, and subsequently removed to Newburgh. By this marriage he had five sons and six daughters. He served as an officer of militia and as justice of the peace in his native town; was appointed by Governor Marcy judge of the court of common pleas of Orange County; was elected member of the assembly in 1835, and again in 1839 and 1840, and in the fall of the latter year was elected senator in the second senate district, in which position he remained for seven years, during the whole of which time he was chairman of the committee on canals, then a very important committee; by virtue of his office he was also a member of the "court for the trial of impeachments and the correction of errors." In 1859 he was elected comptroller of the State, and at the close of his term retired to his farm in Blooming Grove, where he resided until his death, Dec. 2, 1867. His five sons were in the service of the United States during the Civil War, viz.:
William S., as volunteer surgeon died in the service; Robert, Jr., as paymaster's clerk, died in the service; Henry M. was paymaster in the Navy and has subsequently attained the rank of Rear Admiral, he married Emma J. Dusenberry, they have one son, Robert; James O. was lieutenant in Co. G., 124th Regt., N.Y.S. Volunteers, after the war he entered the ministry and is a Presbyterian minister, he married Margaret Crosby, they have one daughter, Mary; Augustus was quartermaster of the same regiment, and has since served two terms as member of Assembly for the first district of Orange County, has been president of the Orange County Agricultural Society since 1878, and director, vice-president and president of the Highland National Bank of Newburgh and has filled many other positions of honor and trust.
The six daughters of Robert Denniston and his wife Mary Scott were Juliana H., who married Edward Stevens of Buffalo, and died leaving a son who died young, and a daughter Catherine C., who married Frank B. Phillips; Mary S., who married Willard C. Reid; Caroline M., unmarried; Jane c., who married R. Emmet Deyo of New York and has four daughters, Cornelia, Juliana, Margaret and Eveline; Abbey L., unmarried, and Agnes, who died in 1868.
Goldsmith Denniston, son of Abraham and grandson of James and Prudence Denniston, was born in the town of New Windsor, where he resided until 1838, when he removed to Newburgh and engaged in mercantile business, from whence he removed to Steuben county. He was elected member of assembly in 1838, and from Steuben county in 1858. He was also judge of the court of common pleas of Orange county from April, 1841, to the expiration of the court under the constitution of 1847. By his wife, Fanny, he had Abraham, Harvey G., and Aaron J. Abraham was born in New Windsor in 1827, enlisted as a volunteer in the 107th Regiment, August, 1862; died in hospital at Washington, Feb. 5th, 1863. Harvey G., born August 23, 1829; enlisted in Co. G, 107th Regiment, August, 1862; promoted second lieutenant' resigned in 1864; subsequently captain of Co. C, 188th Regiment; mustered out July 1, 1865. Aaron J., commissioned second lieutenant Co. D, 188th Regiment, in 1864, but was compelled to resign soon after entering the service.
Transcribed by Charles Henry Burrow, July, 1998.
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