Bridget FITZ-GERALD

1777 - 1812  (35 years)

• Name	Bridget FITZ-GERALD  [1, 2]
  	Bridget's father had engaged a young man who described himself as a discharged British soldier named John Cooney, as a teacher for his children, schools at that time being few. the young girl, then scarcely more than a child, became attached to Cooney by constant association, and was finally induced to elope with him. They were married, and Cooney took her to Canada, where he was recognized and arrested as a deserter from the British Army. Left alone and destitute in a strange country, hundreds of miles from home, the poor child started to walk back to her father's house, but was followed, seized, and forced to go back and give evidence against her husband. It is not known whether there was a law at that time, as there is now, that excuses a wife from testifying against her husband; at all events the story goes that Bridget did appear against him, and whether or not as a result of her testimony, e was found guilty and executed as a deserter. Again the poor girl began her awful journey, made yet more difficult by the experience through which she had passed, and eventually reached her destination. In due time she gave birth to a son whom she named John Cooney after his father. The boy told his half-sister, Mrs. Margaret (Belcher) Jennings, that he was a "wanderer;" that it was his poor mother's legacy to him, that he could not stay long in any one place, and when the impulse to "walk" came over him, he had to leave everything and go. The young mother must have been more than usually attractive (tradition says she was known as the "handsome widow" or the "pretty widow"), for it was not long before she was wooed and won by Richard Yeomans, who in turn left her a widow in a comparatively short time, and a second child was born, named Richard Yeomans, a name which custom shortened to "Dick." It is thought that this marriage took place in 1795 and that Richard Yeoman's Jr., was born in the following year. [1]
  Birth	1777	Dutch Hollow, Orange Co., New York   [1]
  Gender	Female
  Death	1812  [1]
  Person ID	I456	Main Tree
  Last Modified	13 Jun 2023

  
  

  Father	William FITZ-GERALD,   b. 1729, Ireland d. 1813, Orange Co., New York (Age 84 years)
  Relationship	Birth
  Mother	Hannah DRISCOLL
  Relationship	Birth
  Family ID	F149	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	John COONEY   d. Abt 1793
  Marriage	Abt 1792  [1]
  Children	1. John COONEY,   b. Abt 1793  [Birth]
  Family ID	F488	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	28 May 2023

  
  

  Family 2	John Adam BELCHER,   b. 30 Jul 1781, Eagle Valley, Orange Co., New York d. 22 Nov 1855, Belcher Homestead (Age 74 years)
  Marriage	Y  [1]
  Family ID	F493	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	28 May 2023

  
  

  Family 3	Richard YEOMANS   d. Abt 1798
  Marriage	Y  [1]
  Children	1. Richard YEOMANS,   b. 1796   d. 1864 (Age 68 years)  [Birth]
  Family ID	F492	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	28 May 2023

  
  

• Sources

  [S84] William Henry Belcher and Joseph Warren Belcher, The BELCHER Family in England and America. [S82] Francis Bazley Lee, Genealogical and Memorial History of the State of New Jersey Vol. IV.