Individual Details

Elihu was the son of Benjamin Gifford and Abigail Wing.

The Warde book states his birth as 1761 - an online list of Quaker Births from the Oblong Monthly Meeting, Dutchess Co, NY, lists his birth as the 4th of the 7th month, 1762.

Was too young for service during the Revolutionary War, but he carried supplies [wood] to Washington's camp at White Plains and is considered a Patriot by DAR.

1800 Census. Cambridge, Washington Co NY
Elihu Gifford. 2m under 10 [Allen & Jediah]. 2m 10-16 [Ira & Nathaniel]. 1m 26-45 [Elihu].
2f under 10 [Hannah and ?Abigail]. 1f 16-26 [Elizabeth]. 1f 26-45. [Deborah, age 35]

1810. Easton, Washington Co NY
Elisha Gifford: 1m under 10 [Elihu Jr], 2m 10-16 [Jediah & Allen?], 2m 16-26 [Nathaniel & Ira], 1m over 45 [Elihu]
1f under 10 [Sarah], 2f 10-16 Abigail & Hannah], 1f 26-45 [Deborah]

1820. Easton, Washington Co NY
Elihus Gifford: 2m under 10, 1m 10-16, 1m 16-18 [Elihu Jr would have been age 17 & been counted as both 16-18 and 16-26], 1m 16-26, 1m 26-45, 1m +45 [Elihu]
1f 10-16 [Sarah], 1f 16-26 [Abigail], 1f over 45 [Deborah].
Ira Gifford was enumerated next. There does appear to perhaps be a son and grandsons living with Elihu.

1830 Census. Easton, Washington Co NY
Elihu Gifford: 1m 5-10, 1m 10-15, 1m 60-70 [Elihu]. 1f 20-30 and 1f 60-70 [Deborah]
Elihu Jr and then Ira followed Elihu's entry. There must have been grandchildren living with Elihu and Deborah.

1840 Census. Easton, Washington Co NY
Elihu Gifford: 1m age 70-80. 1f 40-50 and 1f 70-80.
Elihu Gifford Jr. was listed next.

Find A Grave Memorial# 29466615
Buried N & E Gifford Family Burial Ground, Easton, Washington Co, NY
Elihu Gifford was born at Quaker Hill, Dutchess County, NY, the son of Benjamin Gifford 1720-1761 and Abigail Wing 1735-1820. His father Benjamin was killed a few months before Elihu's birth.
"Benjamin Gifford, though a Quaker, had a liking for the good things of life, and was fond of fine horses; but they proved his undoing, for he was killed by being thrown from his sleigh when they became unmanageable. This was in February, before his son Elihu was born. The subject of our sketch, Elihu Gifford, grew up in the town of Dover, NY, and when a lad, carried supplies to Washington's camp at White Plains. He must have had patriotic tendencies, or he would not have done so, even though young, for he was of a very positive nature, as was shown by his subsequent career. Not liking the work to which he had been apprenticed, according to the custom of the times, he ran away to the coast, and enlisted on a privateer, during the Revolutionary War. This vessel was captured by a British ship of war, and he was taken to the West Indies. When anchored about three miles from shore, Gifford decided he would not serve King George any longer, and as he was a large, powerful man, he assisted a companion and they escaped, swam to shore, and succeeded in getting a ship to the States. He then came back to Dover and married tall, fair, blue-eyed Deborah Allen, and came up into Washington County to make home… Elihu Gifford was a man of sterling worth, and much thought of in the community."
From the book, "Andrew Warde and His Descendants" 1910

They Were Here Too: Genealogies of the Owners of the Inn at Easton Corners and Related Families of Southern Washington County, page 426.
The Giffords were stout members of the Society of Friends and devout persuasion one hundred years before Elihu (1761-1846) and Deborah Allen (1765-1841) came up from Dover, Old Dutchess to take up their tract of land (1789) in the Hoosac-Cambridge Patent, "Scatecook District." His parents were Benjamin Gifford and Abigail Wing. These Gifford-Allen-Wings were all Friends and much inter-married for several generations and on this fact hangs much chance for confusion in spite of the clarity and authenticity of Quaker records. Their history is a fascinating page in the settlement of our country and gives much light on the violent agitations, conflict of interests and protests which eventuated in the final revolt of the Revolutionary War. It has been exciting to me to trace the gradual, though often startling, changes of attitude which caused them and others to develop such basic principles of ours as separation of church and state through they came here with the firmly grounded belief the two were one and the same.

Birth	4 Jul 1761	Dutchess County, New York
Military	1776	Carried supplies to Washington's camp at White Plains., Revolutionary War
Marriage	25 Jan 1785	Dover, Dutchess County, New York - Deborah Allen
Death	10 Sep 1846	Cambridge, Washington County, New York

Spouse	Deborah Allen (1765 - 1841)
Child	Elizabeth Gifford (1785 - 1850)
Child	Ira Gifford (1788 - 1867)
Child	Nathan Gifford (1790 - 1881)
Child	Allen Gifford (1792 - 1890)
Child	Jediah Gifford (1795 - 1842)
Child	Hannah Gifford (1797 - 1879)
Child	Abigail Gifford (1800 - 1836)
Child	Elihu Gifford (1803 - 1891)
Child	Sarah Gifford (1806 - 1842)

Father	Benjamin Gifford (1722 - 1761)
Mother	Abigail Wing (1735 - 1820)
Sibling	Justice Gifford (1753 - )
Sibling	Robert Gifford (1755 - )
Sibling	Benjamin Gifford (1758 - )
Sibling	Elizabeth Gifford (1760 - )