Jesse died while living in Alpine Township, Kent County, Michigan in 1861. The 1860 census does not list him but lists his spouse as living with their son, John L. Tuxbury. He may have been in a medical facility at the time that the census was taken, or possibly his gravestone inscription is erroneous.

The 1850 census lists him as living in Alpine Township, Kent County, Michigan. In the 1840 census he was living in Troy, Oakland County, Michigan. The 1830 census lists him as residing in Pike, Bradford County, Pennsylvania. In 1820 town records show that Jesse was working as a doctor in Ovid, New York. The 1820 census lists him living in Ovid, Seneca County, New York. The records of Dartmouth Medical College of New Hampshire show that Jesse of Hartland, Vermont, was a student there in 1813 but also notes that he did not graduate. He may have continued his studies elsewhere but no records have been found to show that to be a fact. Efforts were made to find a record of some type to tell us who Jesse’s parents were. The census record of 1790, 1800 and 1810 were searched to try to identify his parents.

In the 1790 enumeration for Hartland, Windsor County, Vermont, the author found a record for an Ephraim and a Jacob Teuxbury. The censuses were taken every decade beginning in 1790, but only named the head of the household with statistics on number of others living in the household. Listings of all family members didn’t begin until 1850. Ephraim had no sons of the correct age listed in his household, however, Jacob had a son that could be Jesse. The census record for 1790 gives the year, the enumerator recorded his information, but no the day or month. It is probably but not certain, that this was Jesse. The next step was to check the 1800 census records for Hartland to see if there were other Tewksburys who may have moved there between 1790 and 1800.

The 1800 census showed that Ephraim and a Jacob were still in Hartland as well as an Isaac Tewksbury. Isaac was younger than the others, which lead me to believe that he could be a son of the other two. Of the three head of households, Jacob again appeared having a son of the proper age. Ephraim had four children of the proper age. The record shows that his sons were: Thomas, born 1793; Ephraim born 1794; Isaac born 1795; and Asa born 1798. This again leaves only Jacob, born 10 November 1748 as the person most likely to be the father of Jesse.

This Jacob Tewksbury married Hannah Norton on 28 Sep 1769 at South Hampton, Rockingham Co., New Hampshire.

Jesse’s spouse’s surname of Meroh doesn’t exist in any census records of the United States during the era of her childhood. It is possible that the spelling of her surname in the census records is in error, or she may be from Canada. There was a head of a family in Hartland, Vermont by the name of Peleg Moor with a daughter of Jerusha’s age and this may be her family but is a rather dangerous assumption. Later census records report that she was born in New Jersey but another researcher says London, Ontario. On her death record it states she was born in Vermont and died 12 Aug 1873. She died in Grand Rapids, Michigan and was seventy-seven years, nine months old at the time of her death.

With all these assumptions and preponderance of the evidence, it appears that Jesse’s ancestry is as follows:

Jacob born 10 Nov 1748
Jacob born 15 Dec 1723

Isaac born 17 Aug 1698

John born 27 Jul 1674

Henry born 1626

The assumption may be erroneous.

Jesse’s home still stands at 2946 Six Mile Rd., Comstock Park, Kent County, Michigan.