Individual Details

Notes from Freeman researcher, Robert R. Freeman;
"Judith Bowen was the subject of an excellent article by William B. Saxbe, Jr. Starting from the information provided in Juliette Freeman Lafferty's book, Saxbe cites many contemporary sources, such as land deeds, probate records, census records, and newspaper articles. The result is a convincing case that Judith Bowen was for some years apparently married to both Warren Freeman and Comfort Arnold.
She married Comfort Arnold, a man in his 70's, in 1819 in Aurelius, Cayuga County, New York, no more than a year after she and Warren had sold property there. Warren was thereafter living first in Richmond, Ontario County, and later in Canadice in the same county. Females of the age category 26-44 years were recorded in both Freeman's and Arnold's households in the 1820 U.S. census.
Warren Freeman's two youngest children were born near Canadice in 1820 and 1822, yet Judith Arnold bought land in Brutus, Cayuga County, in 1821, not being identified as married. (The borders of Brutus and Aurelius towns were revised several times, making it likely that a family could appear in both towns without moving.)
In 1822 Comfort Arnold sold property to his son-in-law and the latter immediately re-sold some of the land to Judith Arnold, again not identified as married.
Comfort Arnold's will of 1825, proved 17 May 1827 bequeathed $15 to "my beloved wife Judith [Arnold]." In 1828 Judith Arnold (not described as a widow or as single), now living in Richmond, Ontario County, sold her land in Cayuga County, with her son Warren, Jr., as witness.
A female in the age bracket of 50-59 years was recorded in Warren Freeman's household in the 1830 U.S. census.
In 1837 Judith Arnold, "widow of Comfort Arnold and formerly wife of Warren Freeman, late of Canadice ..., deceased" and her four sons, sold property in Ontario County. Despite the statement that Warren Freeman was deceased, he was living in 1840 in Goshen Twp., Champaign County, Ohio. A female in the 60-69 age bracket was in his household and his sons Ira and Warren, Jr., lived nearby. In 1845, Warren, Sr., sold property to Judith Arnold. No relationship was stated, but both lived in Champaign County.
Warren, Sr., died on 11 July 1845. In 1850 Judith Arnold sold property to her son Warren, Jr., in whose house she was living at the time of the 1850 U.S. census. She made her will on 24 July 1853, signing it as Judith Arnold, and died at the home of her son Ira on 1 August. Her will, produced in court by Warren Freeman, Jr., was proved on 23 September. She was buried at Treacles Creek Cemetery, where her gravestone reads "Judith, wife of Warren Freeman, Sr., Aug. 1, 1853, aged 74Y, 5M, 4D."
Saxbe ends his article by providing two hypotheses that could explain the strange sequence of events. One is that there was a case of bigamy (or polyandry), while the other is that Warren and Judith were divorced, Warren married or lived as a common law husband with another woman, but that they reunited after Comfort Arnold's death and and the death or disappearance of Warren's second spouse. Neither of the hypotheses explain Judith's 1837 statement on a legal document that Warren was deceased. However, Saxbe ends by summarizing the legal and cultural environment of frontier settlements that could have underlay the path followed by Warren Freeman and Judith Bowen Freeman Arnold."

Birth	22 Feb 1779	Cheshire, Berkshire, Massachusetts
Marriage	24 Dec 1801	Camillus, Onondaga County, New York - Warren George Sr. FREEMAN
Marriage	19 Dec 1819	Cayuga County, New York - Comfort ARNOLD
Death	1 Aug 1853	Mechanicsburg, Champaign County, Ohio
Burial	Aug 1853	Treacles Creek Church Cemetery, Mechanicsburg, Champaign, Ohio

Spouse	Warren George Sr. FREEMAN (1777 - 1845)
Child	Francena FREEMAN (1802 - )
Child	Letcy FREEMAN (1804 - 1828)
Child	Russell FREEMAN (1806 - 1825)
Child	Warren George Jr. FREEMAN (1808 - 1879)
Child	Ira FREEMAN (1810 - 1879)
Child	John Bowen FREEMAN (1813 - 1839)
Child	Noah Beaman FREEMAN (1816 - 1837)
Child	George FREEMAN (1820 - 1851)
Child	Sarepta FREEMAN (1822 - 1841)

Spouse

Comfort ARNOLD (1743 - )

Father	John BOWEN (1756 - 1831)
Mother	Sarah BRIGGS (1758 - 1827)
Sibling	John, Jr. BOWEN (1789 - 1876)