Captain Elnathan Tobey (Toby) 

First recorded climb of Mt. Toby in Franklin County, MA

By Sandra Hildreth Ball[1]

 

 ( This is my 6th Great grandfather)

    Mt. Toby is located near Leverett and Sunderland, Massachusetts. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Toby ) It rises 1,269 feet and includes diverse types of plants, including rare orchids and many species of ferns. On the east side are a series of waterfalls, pools, potholes, chutes, and cascades.  Mt. Toby is a favorite place for biking, hiking and studying various plant species. The University of Amherst conducts a state demonstration forest on the mountain.

    My project over the last 25 years has been the study of descendants of Thomas Tobey (sometimes spelled Toby) who arrived in Sandwich about 1640.

    Eventually this research led to Mt. Toby, a low mountain near Conway, Massachusetts. Various statements and articles claimed Mt. Toby was named for a man named Elnathan Toby, who was the first settler to climb the mountain. The description varied slightly in different sources, such as Equitreking.com, Masslive.com, Wikipedia, gorp.com, etc., but most of the references simply repeated from each other. Almost all of them included one or more of the following three commonalities:

 ·        “Col. Elnathan Toby of Leverett, Mass, a haughty warrior of the French and Indian and Revolutionary Wars”[2]

·        “Captain Elnathan Toby, first Caucasian man to climb the mountain.”[3]

·        “Captain Elnathan Toby, a settler from Colonial Springfield.”[4]

However, until now, an original source has not been available that would explain who he was. I have found strong evidence that Elnathan Tobey (Toby) who was born January 11, 1727/28 in Dartmouth, MA and died June 11, 1803 in Conway, MA is the Elnathan described:

 1.     No other Elnathan Tobey (Toby) is listed in thousands of available New England records for 1640-1770.

2.     Elnathan Tobey was an Ensign in the French and Indian War, becoming a Captain in 1771.

3.     He purchased land in Conway and most likely explored the area before moving his family there.

    Elnathan was born January 11, 1727/28 in Dartmouth, MA to Zacheus Tobey and Sarah Pope.[5] He married Deborah Taber September 3, 1749, daughter of John Taber and Phebe Spooner.[6] Some of his major activities can be summarized in a short timeline:

1762 Ensign Elnathan Tobey, 2^nd Reg of Militia in the county of Bristol[7]

1771 Captain Elnathan Tobey 1^st Dartmouth 2^nd Regt[8]

·       1777 sold 100 acres in Dartmouth[9]

·        1777 purchased 100 acres in Conway[10]

·        Loaned money to the government for the Revolution Serial set (no. 4001-4500)[11]

    I have not yet located the actions of the 2^nd Regiment of Militia in 1762. It may be possible Elnathan’s regiment operated north of Dartmouth in either of his assignments. Certainly, he became aware of the new lands opening up after the French and Indian War, an area that was set off from Deerfield, surveyed and divided into 141 lots, averaging 150 acres each.[12] Lots were sold and settled rapidly, and in 1767 the land was separated from Deerfield and incorporated as the Town of Conway.  Elnathan purchased 100 acres there December 31, 1777 and another 55 acres October 3, 1778.[13] 

    As Conway is only 11 walking miles[14] distant from Mt. Toby, it is reasonable to expect Elnathan Tobey is the man who decided to climb that mountain and let the neighbors know what he saw.

 [1] Sandra Hildreth Ball is a genealogy researcher with focus on the Tobey (Toby) name. She has written three books on Tobey’s and an article on Zaccheus Tobey (Elnathan’s son) for the NEHGR https://www.americanancestors.org/DB202/i/11710/231/23516914

[2] https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/wm12RXC_The_Legend_of_Metawampe_Amherst_MA

[3] Amherst Journal Record, Thursday, 14 Nov. 1963

[4] “Mt. Toby Cabin,” Lost UMass, accessed February 1, 2021, https://lostumass.omeka.net/items/show/31

[5] Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2010). Dartmouth Vol 1 p 277

[6] “Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988” Ancestry.com; Dartmouth Vital Records

[7] Colonial Soldiers and Officers in New England, 1620-1775. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2013). https://www.americanancestors.org/DB494/i/236077607; Massachusetts Archives Collection Vol. 99 p53; French and Indian War.

[8] Zephaniah W. Pease, History of New Bedford, 3 volumes (Lewis Historical Publishing, 1918) Volume 3: p 11.  Massachusetts Archives Collection Vol. 99 p 53; List of officers commanded for the 2^nd Regiment of the militia 1st company of Dartmouth in the county of Bristol, July 1771, Captain Elnathan Toby, 1st Lieutenant Samuel Pope, 2nd Lieutenant Elnathan Sampson, Ensign Chillingworth Foster; This Regiment probably was raised because of the Boston Massacre and growing unrest in the colonies.

[9] Dartmouth Land records, Vol 59, p 434,435

[10] ibid

[11] Report of Daughters of the American Revolution; Unpublished list of Massachusetts citizens who loaned money to the Government during the Revolution, p 342

[12] Conway 1767-1917, ed. Deanne Lee, (Town of Conway 1967), p 6

[13] Hampshire Indian Lands, Bk 3 p 172 (index film 1769542)

[14] Googlemaps.com; Conway to Mt. Toby tower.