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Note: ecome Onondaga Co., New York. Bruce's 1896 Onondaga Centennial, under History of the Town of Onondaga, states that Amanda Danforth was born 14 Oct. 1789, as does Clark's 1849 Onondaga, Onondaga, or, Reminiscence of Earlier and Later Times, and other historical accounts of Onondaga County.
Danforth Genealogy, compiled by John Joseph May (1902) also states that Amanda Danforth was born 14 October 1789.
However, the records of Oakwood Cemetery in Syracuse give her birth date as 24 Jan. 1790.
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The Manlius Repository, 8 November 1831:
"Died. In the village of Syracuse, on the 1st inst., Mrs. Amanda, wife of Col. Elijah Phillips, in the 42d year of her age. Mrs. Phillips was the grand daughter of the late General Danforth, of this county, and was the first white child born in it. Of mild and amiable manners, and possessing in an eminent degree, all those virtues that adorn the female character; and surrounded by an extensive circle of family connextions, and numerous friends and acquaintance, Mrs. P. had ever enjoyed the esteem and friendship of them all.
"Inheriting from her grand sire, a benevolent disposition, which was fostered by his example, it was in this respect--in the dispensing of charities, and in the giving of alms, that she shone most conspicuous. Not satisfied with relieving the wants of those who solicited charity at her door, she sought out the poor and afflicted in their lonely retreats, and there, with a bountiful hand, administered to their wants.
"After suffering from a severe and lingering disease, which she sustained with Christian fortitude and resignation, for nearly two years, she died, universally lamented; leaving as a consolation to her bereaved friends, a pure and spotless character, and the Christian's hope.--Com."
Onondaga Register & Syracuse Gazette, 9 November, 1831, p. 3, col. 3 (from card file at OHA):
"Death--In the Village of Syracuse, on the 1st, Mrs. Amanda, wife of Col. Elijah Phillips, in the 42nd year of her age. She was the granddaughter of the late gen. Danforth of this county and was the first white child born in it."
Daily Albany [NY] Argus, 14 Nov. 1831 (reprinted in 10,000 Eastern New York Records, p. 197):
"Phillips, Amanda, age 41, wife of Col. Elijah [Phillips], died 11/1/31 in Syracuse. Mrs. Phillips was the granddaughter of the late Gen. Danforth of this [Onondaga] County, and was the first white child born in it."
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"Before the close of the year [1788 or 1789] Comfort Tyler and Asa Danforth, Jr., returned east, married, and soon afterward brought their brides to this wild and almost unbroken region. On October 14, 1789, a daughter was born to the latter and named Amanda, being the first white birth in Onondaga County. She married Col. Elijah Phillips, the popular stage agent, became the mother of Mrs. Peter Outwater, of Syracuse." (from History of the Town of Onondaga in Dwight H. Bruce's Onondaga's Centennial. Boston History Co.: 1896, Vol. I, pp. 836-866)
An account of the hardships endured by Major Danforth and other early pioneers may be found in Joshua V.H. Clark's Onondaga, or, Reminiscence of Earlier and Later Times (Syracuse, 1849).
Madison Observer (Morrisville, Madison Co., NY), 18 Dec. 1849, p. 1:
“[From the Albany Evening Journal.]
“History of Onondaga County.
“This is a work in two large octavo volumes, written by Joshua V. H. Clark …
“The first white family that settled in Onondaga, was that of Asa Danforth. It happened this wise. Major Danforth, who was born in Worcester Co., Mass., and had served through the revolutionary War, had removed to Mayfield, Montgomery county. One night in February, 1788, a white man and an Indian who were hunting asked for leave to sleep in Maj. Danforth’s barn, in place of which they were invited to his house, where they were hospitably entertained. That white man was Ezekiel Webster—his companion and Onondaga Indian. In the course of the evening, Webster informed Maj. Danforth that he lived in a much more fertile and fruitful part of the country, and it was agreed that, if the Indians gave their consent, of which he was informed by an Indian Runner, Maj. Danforth was to remove to Onondaga.
“In due time the “Runner” arrived, and in May the Danforths embarked their furniture, farming implements, &c. in two boats and proceeded up the Mohawk, through Wood creek, the Oneida lake and river, and the Onondaga lake, to what is now Syracuse, and there disembarked, penetrating the woods about three miles south, to the hollow, where he lived, greatly respected, until his death, in 1818. Major Danforth was for several years a Judge of the County Court, a State Senator, and Superintendent of the Salt Springs.
“The first white child born in Onondaga county was Amanda Danforth, whom we remember, first as an accomplished young lady, and subsequently as an estimable matron, the wife of the late Col. Elijah Phillips. Mrs. Outwater, of Syracuse, a daughter of Mr. Phillips, is, we believe, the only surviving descendant of the Danforths.”
Note: Amanda (Danforth) Phillips was the first white child born in what would b
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