Susan Langdon Dickinson was born in Kensington on November 20, 1809. She was the daughter of Jesse and Chloe (Allen) Dickinson and was named after her grandmother, Susannah (Langdon) Hooker Dickinson.

Susan’s roots in Kensington ran very deep and she is seemingly related to everyone in the area either by blood or marriage, including Sheldon’s brother in law, Charles C. Langdon, the husband of Sheldon’s sister, Eliza. Susan and Charles Langdon were distant cousins who had a mutual 3rd great grandfather, John Langdon. Susan also shared a mutual uncle and aunt with the poet, James G. Percival. Percival’s uncle being Matthew Hart, Jr. and Susan’s aunt being Urania (Hooker) Hart.

Susan’s grandfather, Moses Dickinson was born in Wethersfield but had come to Kensington before 1760. That being the year he married Lydia Cole. He owned land along, what is today, High Road and Four Rod Road. It is said that he donated the land for West Lane Cemetery and that he was the first person buried there. He died in Kensington on November 18, 1812.

Moses fought in the French and Indian War from 1759-1760 and was enlisted in General Phineas Lyman’s 1st Connecticut Regiment, Captain Whittlesey’s Company. Also serving in this regiment and company was Kensington native, Ashbel Hooker. Hooker had enlisted as a clerk in 1758 and was later promoted to a sergeant and then to ensign. He married Susannah Langdon in Berlin on January 31, 1760 and then returned to duty. Their daughter Urania was born May 11, 1760 (these dates probably mean that Susannah was already with child before they married). Ashbel Hooker died September 6, 1760 in Canada two days before the French surrendered Montreal to British forces. It is very likely he never met his daughter.

Moses and Lydia’s first and only child, Seth was born February 7, 1762 and it’s possible that Lydia died during childbirth (no death record found). Two years later on March 8, 1764, Moses married his fallen comrade’s widow, Susannah Hooker. Their first child, Jesse (Susan’s father) was born August 12, 1764 (again the dates don’t add up). Their next two children, Ashbel and Lydia were named in honor of their spouses. Then came Susannah, Moses, Azel and Lucy. These seven children plus Seth and Urania gave them quite a large family.

But a large family didn’t stop Moses from enlisting again after the Revolution started. In 1776 he joined Bradley’s Battalion, Wadworth’s Brigade and eventually reached the rank of ensign. Also in this brigade was another Kensington resident, Susan’s maternal grandfather, John Allyn who rose to the rank of captain later serving under, still another Kensington resident, General Selah Hart.

So to reiterate, Susan’s family had a rich and colorful history in Kensington.

Sheldon Moore and Susan Dickinson probably met at a young age, the Dickinson land being so close to Roswell Moore’s mills in Kensington. They were engaged in 1831 (no intention found) but no date had been set. In late June of that year Susan took a trip to Alden, New York to visit her older sister, Sophia, the wife of Horace Stanley, and her nieces Virginia and Harriet. Susan’s father had died the previous summer and her mother and fiancee were home in Connecticut, and 21 year old, unescorted Susan was probably feeling a sense of independence she had never known.

On the day she arrived in Alden, her cousin Sophronia Dickinson arrived from Attica, New York. And after two weeks, Susan, Sophronia and the Stanley’s made the twenty mile trip to Attica to visit Susan’s aunt and uncle, Moses and Rebecca (Hart) Dickinson.

In a letter to Sheldon dated August 1, 1831, Susan wrote that her Uncle Moses looked very much like her father. So much so in fact that her niece Harriet kept calling him Grandpa. Susan, an avid churchgoer, was also attending a lot of church sermons, both Methodist and Presbyterian, she preferred the latter.

Susan also dropped a bombshell, telling Sheldon that she may not be returning in the fall as previously planned. Her sister really wanted her to stay through the winter. She knew her mother would not consent so she was asking for Sheldon’s consent instead.

Sheldon’s response arrived from Southington thirteen days later. He jokingly told Susan that if she didn’t return in the fall, then he would be forced to go to Alden to be with her, and he was sure that Horace Stanley didn’t want that. He was serious though when he told her that he felt her staying through the winter was unnecessary and he would not give his consent. He was also sure her mother wouldn’t either. He then gave her a couple of options on how to return by the fall. One being to return with Alpheus Woodruff, who would be in Attica visiting relatives and would be returning by September 1st. The other option was to return a little later with Sheldon’s brother, Roswell and his wife Lucy who would be in Utica. Sheldon told Susan he really wanted to see her and asked that she not give any more thought about staying past fall.

How Susan returned isn’t known, but she didn’t stay in Alden through the winter as she had hoped. Susan and Sheldon were married in Kensington on November 1, 1831.

Sources:

Ancestry.com

Fold3.com

Wikipedia.org

Rolls of Connecticut Men in the French and Indian War, 1755-1762, Vol. 2

Sheldon Moore Incoming Correspondence Connecticut Historical Society Manuscript (55335)

Sheldon Moore Papers Yale University Manuscript (MS 992)

Information that Moses Dickinson donated the land for West Lane Cemetery was provided by Sallie Caliandri from the Berlin Historical Society. She cites her source was the Kensington Congregational Church Records found in the Local History Room at the Berlin-Peck Library.