Reser Family History Summary

GEORGE WILLIAM (BILL) GILLETT FAMILY HISTORY

SUMMARY of the HISTORY
of the RESER FAMILY

The Beginning

The Reser family has been a difficult family to trace caused mainly by the spelling or misspelling of the name. Since 1800 the name has normally been listed as "Reser" but between 1730 and 1800 it was also known and recorded as "Rieser", "Reeser", "Racer". Before 1750 the family name was also "DeCoursey", "Corsa" and "Corsi" with variations. Part of the changes in spelling were caused by coming from a foreign country and part by conditions of the country. Note: Most of my early information is based on Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) records and genealogy records from the internet. But let's start at the beginning in Belgium.

The Thirteenth Generation 牋-牋 The Peter De Course Family

Peter De Course was born about 1575 in Lille, Belgium. He and his wife (name unknown) were the parents of at least one son: Jan Corssen. Peter died about 1648 when he was about 73 years old.

The Twelfth Generation 牋-牋 The Jan Corssen Family 牋牋牋牋 BACK to the SHEDDEN FAMILY

Jan Corssen was born about 1600 in Belgium, the son of Peter De Course. He married Tryntje Van Campen in 1619 at Amsterdam, Holland. They were the parents of at least one son: Hendrick Corssen

The Eleventh Generation 牋-牋 The Hendrick Corssen Family 牋牋牋牋 BACK to the SHEDDEN FAMILY

Hendrick Corssen was born about 1622 at Hassalt, Limburg, Belgium, the son of Jan Corssen. He and his wife (name unknown) were the parents of at least one son: Jan Corszen.

This family must have begun the Reser travels as their son, Jan, was reported being born in Brazil or New Amsterdam, New York or in one case, Cape of Good Hope, South Africa on August 8, 1649.

The Tenth Generation 牋-牋 The Jan Corszen Family 牋牋牋牋 BACK to the SHEDDEN FAMILY

There are considerable differences on where Jan Corszen was born. Some sources indicated he was born August 8, 1649 in New Amsterdam, New York, and was christened there August 28, 1650, while a number of others indicated he was born August 8, 1649 in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. One source even indicated he was born in Cape of Good Hope, South Africa.

He married Metje Theunis Cray October 25, 1673 at New Amsterdam, New York. Metje was christened June 12, 1650 in New Amsterdam, New York, the daughter of Theunis Cray and Tryntje Van Campen. They were the parents of eight children; four sons and four daughters. All were born in New York City, New York and probably all christened in New Amsterdam, New York:

Margriete Corszen - Christened July 15, 1676
Kors Corszen - Born May 10, 1676
Theunis Corszen (Corsi) - Christened April 14, 1680 to about 1704 - (Bill Gillett's ancestor)
Geertr Jannaken uyd Corszen - Christened August 12, 1682
? Corszen - Christened May 22, 1687
Jacob Corszen - Christened April 6, 1690; died 1756
Benjamin Corszen - Born September 2, 1692
Elizabeth Corszen - Born July 14, 1695

It appears they spent all their life in the New Amsterdam area of New York City. Jan Corzen died there in 1703 about 54 years old.

The Ninth Generation 牋-牋 The Theunis Corsi Family 牋牋牋牋 BACK to the SHEDDEN FAMILY

Theunis Corsi was christened April 14, 1680, at New Amsterdam, New York. He married Josyntje Van Oblinis May 29, 1702. A published account gave the information as Theunis Korsse, son of Jan and Metje (Cray) Corszen married May 29, 1702 Josyntje Oblinis. She was baptized February 19, 1685 in New Amsterdam, New York, the daughter of Joost Van Oblinis and Mayken Simons.

They were the parents of one son

Teunis Corsa -- born about 1703, the year his grandfather, Jan Corszen, died and the year before his father died.

Theunis Corsi died at sea about 1704 only about 24 years old and one year after his son was born. His wife, Josyntje, then married Isaac Vermilyea in Kingsbridge, New York, January 16, 1707. He was the son of Johannes Vermilyea. They were the parents of eight children.

The Eighth Generation 牋-牋 The Teunis Corsa Family 牋牋牋牋 BACK to the SHEDDEN FAMILY

Teunis Corsa was born about 1703 in New Amsterdam, New York, the son Theunis Corsi and Josyntje Van Oblinis. He first married Elizabeth Namburgh on November 10, 1726 in New York City, New York. She was born about 1710, the daughter of Abraham Van Amburgh and Antje Kenniff. Teunis and Elizabeth were the parents of at least one son:

Philip Reser - born about 1746, probably at Phillipsburg, Westchester County, New York (Bill Gillett's ancestor).

Sometime after 1726 the family was living in Tarrytown "Sleepy Hollow", New York, as some of their children were baptized there in the Dutch Reformed Church. But before 1750 the family had moved to Pennsylvania, settling in Smithfield, Northampton County, Pennsylvania. The town of Smithfield was established in 1748 near the present site of Stroudsburg, just across the Delaware River from Walpack, New Jersey. Most of the inhabitants had come from the vicinity of Kingston, Marbletown and the Minisink area, all of which had strong Dutch ties.

Now the name change - Because of the hostilities of the Indians and the French leading up to the colonial wars of 1753-1763, it was not advisable in the Colonies to have French sounding names. Therefore Teunis Corsa, also known as Dennis DeCoursey, often used the anglicized version of the name "Reeser". The French "Coursier" pronounced "Coursay" is translated to "Racer" in English. All three names show up in the records.

His wife, Elizabeth (Namburgh) Corsa, died about 1750 only about 40 years old. Teunis then married Rachel (Van Garden) Schoonmaker February 2, 1752 at Smithfield, Northampton County, Pennsylvania. She was the widow of Jochem Schoonmaker who died in 1751. Rachel was baptized May 19, 1717 in Kingston, New York, the daughter of Peter Van Garden and Margaret Decker. The Schoonmaker children took the "DeCoursey" name of their stepfather.

Teunis and his second wife, Rachel, were parents of five children -- notice the surnames they took or were given:

Benjamin DeCoursey Racer (1752) (a twin)
Hanna Corsa (1752) (a twin)
William DeCoursey (1756)
Anna Corsa Reeser
Abraham Corsa (1762).

It was believed that Rachel (Van Garden) Corsa died giving birth to Abraham.

Inhabitants of Danbury, Lower Smithfield Township, Pennsylvania, in 1750 to 1755 included Dennis Reser (also known as Dennis Racer, Dennis DeCoursey and Teunis Corsa).

For several years the settlements at the fork of the Delaware River were under repeated attacks by the Indians, who were allies of the French. In November 1755, the town of Danbury, Pennsylvania, was destroyed by the Indians. A paper in the Historical Society at Philadelphia lists the names of the settlers that had their homes burnt in the raid of 1755. It includes the name of Dennis Racer. Eighty-nine inhabitants lost their lives in the fight with forty homes burnt to the ground.

It was felt that the Reser (Corsa) family escaped the Indian attack by rafting down the Susquehanna River to Maryland as their third child, William, was born at Fort Cumberland, Allegany County, Maryland on May 24, 1756. Rachel had to be pregnant during the raids. She also may have stayed at the Moravian Missions that housed refugees from the Indian raids.

Teunis was also a sailor and may have been the Teunis Corsa that was commissioned as Lieutenant in Captain Peter Harris' Company of Dutchess County, New York, Volunteers in the 2nd New York Regiment in the Cuba Campaign of 1762 against Spain. A number of other men from the Minisink area served in the Campaign.

Before 1762 the family was back in the Minisink Valley at the intersection of New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

The Seventh Generation 牋-牋 The Philip Reser Family 牋牋牋牋 BACK to the SHEDDEN FAMILY

Sources disagreed on dates of births and marriage for both members of this family. Some say Philip was born about 1746, probably in Phillipsburg, Westchester County, New York. Westchester County is just north of New York City. While others say he was born in Northampton County, Pennsylvania.

Philip married Margaret Koenig probably about 1777 in Hecktown, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, although one source indicated it could have been as early as 1770. Margaret was born about 1761 in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Jacob Koenig and Anna Illick. Again one source indicated she was born about 1748 in Westchester County, New York, and another source indicated 1769 in Pennsylvania.

In 1785 Philip Reser was taxed on a 118-acre farm with two horses and one cow in Bethlehem Township of Northampton County. In 1788 he was taxed on a 150-acre farm with four horses and two cattle.

According to Pike County, Pennsylvania records, the Philip Reser family moved from the Mount Bethel, Northampton County area of Pennsylvania to Delaware Township of Pike County, Pennsylvania, between 1800 and 1814. In Pike county, Philip farmed. They were also members of the Dutch Reformed Church there. Mount Bethel is located in the extreme northeast part of the county, about three miles from the Delaware River and about 10 miles southeast of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.

The Delaware Township is located about 25 to 30 miles north of there, around Dingman's Ferry, Pennsylvania, still on the Delaware River. This is just south of the intersection of the states of New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

The dates and location of their children's births are more accurate as most are recorded either in the Reformed and Lutheran Congregations in Lower Nazareth Township (also known as the Dryland Church) or the Mount Bethel Lutheran and Reformed Congregation in Upper Mt. Bethel Township of Northampton County, Pennsylvania, although in some cases the family records differ. I went with the family records.

Philip and Margaret Reser were the parents of eight children, five sons and three daughters.

Peter Reser
Catherine Reser
John Reser - Bill Gillett's ancestor
Philip Joseph Reser
Jacob Reser
Susannah Reser
Anthony Reser
Elizabeth Reser

Philip died in Wayne County, Pennsylvania. Wayne County is located in the northeastern part of the state, just north of Pike County. His wife, Margaret (Koenig) Reser, died June 16, 1829, at the age of 60. Margaret was buried in the Delaware Cemetery in Dingmans Ferry, Pennsylvania.

The Sixth Generation 牋-牋 The John Reser Family 牋牋牋牋 BACK to the SHEDDEN FAMILY

John Reser was born October 10, 1784, in Mt. Bethel, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, the son of Philip Reser and Margaret Koenig. The church records indicated his date of birth as October 8, 1782. He married Margaret Ennis July 4, 1810, at Sussex County, New Jersey. Margaret was born October 16, 1794, in New Jersey, the daughter of Joseph Ennis and Grietje Van Etten. Joseph Ennis operated the ferry across the Delaware River at Dingsman Ferry. Sussex County, New Jersey, is located across the Delaware River from Pike and Northampton Counties, Pennsylvania.

John and Margaret were married by Simon Cortwright, the Justice of the Peace for Sandyston Township of Sussex County, New Jersey. At the time John was 25 years old and Margaret was 15 years old. After marrying in 1810, the young family may have lived a few years in New Jersey but by the tax rolls of 1814 they were living in the Delaware Township of Pike County, Pennsylvania.

Their first child was christened in the Reformed Dutch Church located at Montague, Sussex County, New Jersey, called the Minisink Church. The next five children were probably born in Pike County, Pennsylvania, but were baptized in the Walpack Church which is located across the river from Dingman's Ferry, Pennsylvania. There were three Dutch Reformed Churches in the area with the Walpack Church, the southern most church, and the Montague Church, the northern most.

No records could be found for their final two children in the Minisink area of New Jersey or Pike County, Pennsylvania. This probably means that they left the area for Big Flats, Chemung County, New York, sometime between 1825 and 1830 as the John Resers show up in the 1830 census for Big Flats, Chemung County, New York.

Big Flats, Chemung County is located in the western part of the county about 12 miles west of Elmira, New York, and about 15 miles north of the Pennsylvania line. This would have been about a 160-mile trip from Delaware Township of Pike County, Pennsylvania. One of the reasons they may have come to this area of New York was that a large number of Ennises had come to the area previously. John's wife was Margaret Ennis. John Reser would have been between 41 and 46 years old when they came to the area.

The John Resers were also recorded in the 1840 census of Chemung County. It is known that their son, Anthony Reser, left the area between May 1842 and March 1844 for Aurora, Illinois. There was also a land transaction involving John Reser in 1846 in which he sold his land in the area. In any case, the John Resers made their final home in Kane County, Illinois before 1850.

The 1860 Kane County census listed John and Margaret (Ennis) Reser living in the town of Plato, Illiniois, as a farmer. At the time John was 76 years old while Margaret was 66 years old. They were living next to Anthony and Phylecta (Soule) Reser, their son and his family. Living down the street were James and Elmira (Reser) Shedden, their granddaughter.

John and Margaret (Ennis) Reser were the parents of eight children:

Joseph Ennis Reser - Born April 23, 1811
Philip Reser - Born August 9, 1813
Anthony Reser - Born April 7, 1816 - Married Phylecta Soule - 9 children - Died May 25, 1910
Elizabeth Reser - Born October 31, 1818 - Married _____ Biddle - 1 daughter
Sarah Reser - Born July 18, 1821 - Married ______ Tuttle
Catherine Reser - Born August 20, 1824
John Reser -
Mary Reser - Married _______ Sumner

John Reser died in Kane County, Illinois, February 20, 1861, at the age of 76. He was buried in the Plato Center Cemetery, Kane County, Illinois. The 1867 Kane County directory listed Margaret Reser, widow of John Reser and land owner in Plato Center, Illinois. Margaret (Ennis) Reser died there September 14, 1870, at the age of 75. She was buried next to her husband in the Plato Center, Kane County, Illinois cemetery.

The Fifth Generation 牋-牋 The Anthony Reser Family 牋牋牋牋 BACK to the SHEDDEN FAMILY

Anthony Reser was born April 7, 1816 in Pike County, Pennsylvania, the son of John and Margaret (Ennis) Reser. He was christened in the Walpack Dutch Reformed Church in Sussex County, New Jersey, on May 5, 1816.

Anthony moved with his parents to the Big Flats area of Chemung County, New York, in the late 1820's. He must have met his future wife, Phylecta Soule, there as he traveled to Ohio to marry her in Brooklyn, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, on May 16, 1837. They were married at the home of her parents, Alanson and Lois (Bragg) Soule by Justice of the Peace for Cuyahoga County, H.D. Brace. She was born April 8, 1817, in Madison County, New York. At the time of their marriage Anthony was 21 years old and Phylecta was 20 years old.

They made their first home in Brooklyn, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, where their first child, Elmira Jane Reser, was born February 23, 1838. Shortly thereafter the young family moved back to Big Flats, Chemung County, New York where his parents were living.

They lived in Chemung County for the birth of their next two children (May 25, 1840 and May 2, 1842). Sometime before March 25, 1844, the family moved to Aurora, Kane County, Illinois, where their fourth child was born. Shortly thereafter, the family moved west a few miles to Plato Center, Kane County, Illinois. Their remaining six children were born there.

The 1850 census for Kane County indicated that Phylecta (Soule) Reser's father, Alanson Soule, was living with them. He died the following year on May 14, 1851, at the age of 67.

The Resers stayed on their Plato Center, Kane County, Illinois farm until October 1670 when Anthony led a group of Resers and Sheddens west to Kansas. For this part of the story, go to:

Movement to Kansas

At the time of their trip west, Anthony Reser was 54 years old while his wife, Phylecta, was 53 years old.

The Anthony Resers returned to Illinois from Kansas about 1888 or 1889. They lived in Dundee, Kane County, Illinois. While living in Dundee they were members of the Congregational Church there.

Phylecta (Soule) Reser died April 24, 1895 in Dundee, Illinois, at the age of 78. Of her eight living children, five were at her bedside when she died. Anthony Reser passed away May 25, 1910, at the home of his daughter, Florence (Reser) Smith. He was 94 years old at the time but still his obituary listed a living sister, Mary (Reser) Sumner.

Anthony and Phylecta (Soule) Reser were the parents of nine children:

Elmira Jane Reser - Bill Gillett's great-great-grandmother
Armina Elizabeth Reser
Morilla L. Reser
Charles Wesley Reser
John B. Reser
Alanson S. Reser
Mary Diadema Reser
Ellen Amila Reser
Florence Isadore Reser

The Fourth Generation 牋-牋 Elmira Jane Reser 牋牋牋牋 BACK to the SHEDDEN FAMILY

Elmira Jane Reser was born February 23, 1838, in Brooklyn, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. She was the daughter of Anthony and Phylecta (Soule) Reser.

Elmira moved with her parents to Big Flats, Chemung County, New York and finally to Kane County, Illinois, before 1844.

Elmira married James Elmer Shedden October 17, 1856, in Kane County, Ohio. James was born April 7, 1836, in Scotland, the son of Robert and Margaret (Young) Shedden. At the time of their marriage, James was 20 years old and Elmira was 18 years old.

For more information on the James Shedden family, go to:

Great-Great-Grandparents on my Father's Side
Children of my Great-Great-Grandparents on my Father's Side

Special Stories of the Shedden Family:

Movement to Kansas
Death and Funeral of Elmira (Reser) Shedden

Sheddens in Major Wars:

Participation in the Civil War