Stephen Szabados

Silas Howard and Betsey Carpenter Stephen Szabados

Family lore believes Silas was a horse trader. Records indicate that he was born in 1823 in New York but his birth record and the names of his parents have not been found. He married Betsey Carpenter in 1849 in Tioga County, Pennsylvania and they had thirteen children as they moved westward with stops in Minnesota and Iowa before they settled for the final time in Antelope County, Nebraska. Betsey's ancestors have been traced back to the Mayflower. Seven of the Howland, Tilley and Billington ancestors made the voyage with the Puritans. Betsey's Carpenter ancestors arrived in 1638 when William Carpenter settled in Rehoboth, Massachusetts. William is considered the father of "The Family of Heroes." It is estimated that over 300 of his male lineal descendants (230 proven as of August 1996) served America in the Revolutionary War. The pages in this book cover the information that I have found for Silas, Betsey, their ancestors and their children.