Abigail (King) Chovin (abt. 1794)

Born about 1794 in New York, United States [uncertain]

Ancestors

Wife of Francois (Chauvin) Chovin — married about 1812 in Michigan, United States [uncertain]

Descendants

Biography

Abigail King may have been born about 1794 in New York, USA.

Abigail married Francois Chovin and they lived in Detroit. They had five known children. There are baptismal records in the Drouin Collection for Jean Baptiste [aka John] and Elizabeth. Jane's birth is in Denissen's Genealogy of the French families of the Detroit River region, Francis and Charles appear in the probate records of Francois.

Research Notes

THE QUEST FOR ABIGAIL KING'S ROOTS

Abigail and Francois Chovin's son Charles is the key to Abigail's birth family.

• No birth/baptism record for Charles has been found.
• Charles appears in his father Francois' probate records, in a petition for land division made by his brother John. In addition to John and Charles, the petition names Elizabeth and Francis as other children of Francois Chovin.
• Census records reveal a Charles the right age and born in Michigan, living in St Charles, Kane, Illinois in 1860, 1870, and 1880. The 1880 census shows Charles' aunt and uncle Narcissa Cooley and Nathaniel King, both born in New York, living with his family.
• A Find a Grave memorial for Charles Chovin, with a photo of his gravestone in St Charles, provides birth and death dates for Charles. However, if a death record exists for Charles, it is not easy to access.

More records for Narcissa and Nathaniel King:

• Narcissa Cooley and family appear in 1850 and 1855 census records in New Windsor, Orange, New York. Living with them is her mother, Elizabeth King, birth year 1765.
• Narcissa Cooley and Nathaniel King appear together in the 1870 and 1875 census in Brooklyn, New York.
• One of Narcissa's children was named Tuthill Cooley.
• The 1894 death certificate for Nathaniel King in St Charles, Illinois states his birth as having occurred 8 August 1806 in New York. Mother: Elizabeth Tuttle, Father: John King (unfortunately the latter is a misleading clue).

Meanwhile back in Michigan...

• Abigail King's son and grandson, both Francis Chovin, have the middle name Tuthill. This does not show up on records, although records do say Francis T Chovin for the grandson. Descendants of William Ames of Braintree, Massachusetts by Ann Theopold Chaplin, 2004, citing a letter dated October 12, 1856 in the possession of Azel Ames, is the source for the full name of Francis Tuthill Chovin the elder.
• A census record showing John Chovin's son Andrew living with Francis Chovin's family in 1860, confirms that Francis (Tuthill) Chovin was indeed John's brother and the son of Francois.

Elizabeth Tuthill and Joseph King

• Searching Tuttle-Tuthill Lines in America reveals an Elizabeth Tuthill born in Hashamomuck, Long Island in August 1764 who married a Joseph King born 23 September 1764.
• Elizabeth's entry in Tuttle-Tuthill Lines in America includes a son Tuthill, born 1804.
• Joseph King with the matching birth date appears in The King family of Southold, Suffolk County, New York. This source provides his parentage.

Further records clarify family ties.

• Joseph King's brother Gilbert's will names his niece Narcissa Cooley and her husband David. The probate papers from 1835 state that Gilbert's brother Joseph was living in Ohio at that time.
• A Tuthill King of the correct age, born in New York, is found in multiple census records in Chicago.
• The 1850 census shows Charles Chovin living with Tuthill King and family in Chicago.
• Chicago directory entries reveal that both Charles Chovin and Nathaniel King worked as clerks for Tuthill King in 1843. Nathaniel was working for Tuthill as early as 1839.
• In his 1886 will, Tuthill King (who was a millionaire) left "To my only surviving brother Nathaniel King five hundred dollars per annum during his life."
• A biography of Tuthill King in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register spells out his entire King lineage back to William Kinge, who settled in Salem, Massachusetts in 1635. It confirms that Joseph King of Southold, New York married Elizabeth Tuthill and it says that they moved to Genesee County, where Tuthill was born.

In retrospect, the big picture looks fairly clear, although at first it seemed doubtful as to whether or not Abigail King's birth family could be identified at all.

A further question remains: how did Abigail King end up in Detroit marrying a much older man of French heritage? Tuthill King's biography claims he was born in Genesee County, New York, which is much closer to Detroit than Southold, Long Island is. Perhaps Abigail proceeded from there to Detroit, which would have been considered a frontier of opportunity.

Still unknown are Abigail's birth and death dates and places.

Dunlay-35 22:18, 3 May 2024 (UTC)

Sources

• Abigail King in Christian Denissen. Genealogy of the French families of the Detroit River region, revision, 1701-1936, Volume 1. Detroit, Mich. : Detroit Society for Genealogical Research, 1987. Page 267. https://archive.org/details/genealogyoffrenc01deni/page/267/mode/1up.
• Abigail King [mother], Jean Baptiste Chauvin in the U.S., French Catholic Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1695-1954, 1814. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/30355:1111.
• Elizabeth King [mother], Elizabeth Chovin in the U.S., French Catholic Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1695-1954. Détroit, Ste-Anne 1801-1842, 1820. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/30934:1111.
• Abigail Chovin, administratrix. Francois Chovin in the Michigan, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1784-1980. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8793/images/005565233_00433.