12. MARY, b. April, 1755, in Bedminster twsp.; d. May 22, 1786; m. (1) late in Sept., 1772, Rev. Jeremiah Halsey, who was b. 1733, and d. Oct. 2, 1780, and by whom there were no ch.; and (2), about 1782, Col. John Cleves Symmes, by whom also there were no ch.

Rev. Jeremiah Halsey was b. in Morristown, the son of Silas Halsey and Abigail Howell, of that place. He graduated at Princeton in 1752, and was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of New Brunswick, Oct. 26, 1757. The same year he became a tutor in the college at Princeton, serving about ten years, and was thereafter a college trustee. In 1769 he was appointed Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in the same college, but declined. He was called as pastor of the Lamington church Apr. 17, 1770, succeeding Rev. James McCrea.

His marriage in a little more than two years thereafter, to Mary Henry, of his congregation, is interestingly referred to in some early letters of Gov. William Paterson, as published in Mills' "Glimpses of Colonial Society in Princeton." The first of these references is under date of "Princeton, Oct. 12, 1772," at the time when the Governor, as a young lawyer, was about to settle in Somerset. He then wrote to a close friend: "The Rev. Jeremiah Halsey married two weeks ago a certain Polly Henry, one of his parishioners, a young lady of sixteen" (she was really seventeen); "one of the sprightliest, most gay and showy girls in his congregation. He is forty. It is January wed to July." Mr Halsey was pastor at Lamington for ten and one-half years, his death occurring when he was forty-seven. He was a man of much learning as well as piety. His tombstone is in the Lamington churchyard.

Col. John C. Symmes was the son of Rev. Timothy Symmes and Mary Cleves, of Southold, N. Y., and was b. July 21, 1742. In 1770 he removed from Long Island to Walpack twsp., Sussex co., N. J., on a farm of 600 acres, calling his home "Solitiude." He was an active patriot, served with distinction in the Revolution, and was also a Justice of the N. J. Supreme Court from 1777 to 1783, besides holding other offices. In 1788 he settled at North Bend, 15 miles from Cincinnati, having a contract to purchase from the U. S. Government, 1,000,000 acres of land. This was the "Miami Purchase," of which we often hear, and about which so much has been written.

Col. Symmes had three wives. He m. (1), Oct. 30, 1760, Anna Tuttle, of Southold, L. I., who d. July 25, 1776; (2), about 1782, Mary (Henry) Halsey above named, who d. May 22, 1786; (3), before May, 1796, Susanna (dau. of Gov. William Livingston), the "pretty Susan" of Andre's "Cow Chase" poem, and a contributor to the "New Jersey Gazette" during the Revolutionary War. By his first wife, Anna, there were two daughters, Maria and Anna Symmes. Maria m. Major Peyton Short, of Kentucky, and after her death, Major Short married Jane Henry (see Jane, 19). Anna Symmes was b. July 25, 1775, and m., Nov. 22, 1795, William Henry Harrison, afterward President of the United States. Col. Symmes died at Cincinnati Feb. 26, 1814.

While Mary was the wife of Rev. Jeremiah Halsey they resided on a parsonage farm purchased by the congregation in 1768. When she became Mrs. Symmes she and Col. Symmes resided in Walpack twsp., Sussex co., N. J. It was the year after her death when Col. Symmes first went West, as stated above.