Descendants of Capt. Arthur Fenner
Reuben Fenner
[b 8 Sept. 1769 at Hopkinton, RI; d 23 Feb. 1834 at Voluntown, CT] Reuben Fenner m Anstis Tanner [b 19 April 1776 at Hopkinton, RI; d 12 Feb. 1802 at Milton, NY], daughter of William Tanner and Ruth C. Brown, on 17 Jan. 1793 at Hopkinton, RI. In 1800, the family moved to Milton, Cayuga, NY, and Anstis died there in 1802. The children remained there. Reuben died of alcohol-related causes and was used by abolitionists as an example for their concerns.
DIED—At Voluntown, suddenly, Mr Reuben Fenner, aged about 60 years. The circumstances attending his departure were lamentably horrid. On the evening of Sunday the 23d ult. being at the Tavern in company with one of his comrades the latter purchased a quart of Cider Brandy and they proceeded homeward together, occasionally sipping a little of the “good creatures” to drown their cares and exhilarate their drooping spirits. Arrived within sixty rods of the House to which they were going, regaled themselves from the bottle till its contents were exhausted & their cares being sufficiently drowned, the subject of this notice was there left by his friend to take care of himself, where on the following morning he was found dead “lying partly on his face,” having died without a struggle, and presenting a striking example of the careless and easy man(ner) in which the votaries of intemperance are translated from one world to another! A jury of inquest, after due examination and enquiry, pronounced the following verdict that, “The deceased came to his death by an intemperate use of ardent spirits.”
This catastrophe and others of a like kind, which seem to be multiplying around us, manifest in a strong light the righteous indignation of Heaven at the vices of this age, and present to the maker, the vender and the drinker of distilled spirits, a subject for solemn and serious reflection. Let the distiller remember that he is opening a fountain, the streams from which will render barren the most fruitful field, and sweep away much that is valuable and lovely from the earth. Let the vender reflect that, for a paltry consideration, he is sporting with the lives and future well being of his fellow men, and is calling down upon his own head the unmitigated wrath of Jehovah for thus “holding the cup to his neighbor’s mouth.” And let the drinker of distilled spirits, if yet the power of resistance is not broken down, beware of the suicidal cup: let him flee to the ark of total abstinence where there alone is safety, ere he is fast bound by the chains which the subtle enemy of his peace has forged for him, let him escape as for his life, let him made good his retreat while he can and resolve in the majesty of his strength, the grace of God enabling him, to act in accordance with that resolution, that he will “touch not, taste not, handle not the unclean thing.” Whosoever will be free, let him be free indeed. —The Unionist, 31 March 1834
Reuben Jr. [b 8 Nov. 1793 at Hopkinton, RI; d aft. 1869] m —.
Jeremiah [b 18 July 1795 at Hopkinton, RI; d 9 Jan. 1875] m 1st Catherine Bartle [b 1799; d 1828], daughter of Phillip Bartle and Elizabeth Loomis; m 2nd Amanda M. Wells [b ca. 1807 in MA; d 11 May 1877].
Roswell Borden [b 9 Apr. 1798 at Hopkinton, RI; d at Cayuga Co., NY] m Mary Brown on 28 Aug. 1832 in Schuyler Co., IL.
Lucy Brown [b 5 Nov. 1799 at Hopkinton, RI; d in Milton (Locke), Cayuga Co., NY].