Embree
Remembered

The extraordinary Lives and Times of
Robert and Effingham Embree

By Mary Ellen Embree LeBien
with the assistance of Harry Alfred LeBien

This is the title of the wonderful small book that presents the history of two key figures in the Embree family. A copy was given me by my friend David Grace and I found it a very interesting read.

The book starts with a speculative history of Robert Emery (Embree) derived from small excerpts of the records of the Puritan colonies of what eventually became Connecticut. It provides some delightful insights into the lives of ordinary people in the early colonial days.

The second half concerns the life of Effingham Embree with a focus on his career as a clock and watch maker and later activity in the manumission of slaves in New York. It is possible that one of Effingham's own slaves was a watchmaker in his shop in New York.  His name was William Bailey "also known as John" and he was freed in Effingham's will.

Effingham retired from the watch and clock business in New York at the ripe old age of 37 and returned to his birthplace of Flushing New York. His business interests at that time were primarily financial and land speculation.

A piece of information that had escaped my learning during high school studies of the American Revolution was that the British occupied New York City during the entire period of the Revolutionary War. They did not leave until the Treaty of Paris in 1783. Thus the loyalists of New York were able to continue in their business pursuits as well as the war time conditions would allow.

It is likely that Effingham was apprenticed to Thomas Pearsall at the age of 14 in 1773. He is known to have served for a period in the company of Capt. Benjamin Egbert of the New York Militia. However, when the British fleet came to New York, Effingham apparently stayed behind when Egbert's company joined Washington in leaving the city. His normal 7 years of apprenticeship would have been from 1773 to 1780. A very interesting time in the history of the United States. In 1781 Effingham joined Thomas Pearsall in the business and the advertised as Pearsall and Embree. In 1789 Effingham was either in business on his own or possibly in a brief partnership with a man named Cole and it is likely that Pearsall was retired.

Thomas Pearsall's sister Sarah was married to Effingham's oldest brother Lawrence. Effingham married his first cousin Mary on December 26th, 1780. Mary was 17 and Effingham 21 at the time. Mary was the daughter of Effingham's uncle on his mother's side.

The Quaker community in New York was very close. In addition to the above relationships, it is likely that the cases for Effingham's clocks were made in the shop of his first cousin Thomas Burling.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to acquire insights into the lives of these fascinating people.