After the revolution the family of Denise was found in the town of Florida, Montgomery county, New York. The family previously was of the colony of New Jersey, where they had been located for many years. The emigrant ancestor is not of record. The name may have been written or spelled so differently from its present form that his identity was lost in that way.
(I) Tunis Denise, the first of the family in Montgomery county, was born in New Jersey, July 2, 1778, died in Montgomery county, New York, December 23, 1853. Early in life he left his native state and settled in the town of Florida, Montgomery county, New York, near Schoharie Creek. Here he located on a good farm and cultivated it the remainder of his days. He married Elizabeth Dibble, born in New Jersey, February 15, 1776, died in Montgomery county, New York, March 23, 1870. Her family had previously settled in Montgomery county, where the young couple met and were married. Children:
- Joseph, see forward;
- Ruliff Conover, born in March, 1804, died in California, married Elizabeth Ryder;
- John, married Sanche Pettengill, daughter of one of the early pioneer families in Schoharie Creek;
- Peter, married Catherine Davis.
(II) Joseph, son of Tunis and Elizabeth (Dibble) Denise, was born February 25, 1802, died March 3, 1879. He followed in the footsteps of his father in the choice of an occupation and all his life was a farmer. He married Magdalene Britton, born June 5, 1803, died August 15, 1883, daughter of Abraham, born July 10, 1764, died May 5, 1824, and Magdalene Britton, born June 11, 1760, died July 30, 1840. Children:
- Charlotte, born January 7, 1822, died in April, 1904;
- Ruliff, March 12, 1824, now a resident of California;
- Tunis, see forward;
- William H., May 23, 1829, died March 13, 1906, in California;
- Clinton, February 27, 1836, died May 10, 1904;
- David J., May 27, 1837, died October 25, 1885;
- Charles Sloan, October 27, 1843, now a resident of California;
- Elizabeth A., September 7, 1845, died October 10, 1874.
(III) Tunis (2), son of Joseph and Magdalene (Britton) Denise, was born in Montgomery county, New York, February 20, 1825, died January 1, 1907. When a young man he was caught in the mad rush for gold and joined a party of prospectors bound for the golden shores of California. They went by sailing vessel to Panama, thence across the Isthmus, then by vessel to San Francisco. The voyage or journey consumed many weeks, but he finally reached his destination where for fourteen years he struggled with fortune and won. While in California he invested in a ranch of six hundred and forty acres, which he improved and stocked. This farm is yet known as one of the most interesting portions of Sutter county, California, and one of the very oldest homes in the county. Before leaving California Mr. Denise sold the property at a substantial advance. On his return to Montgomery county he married, and for a time resided in Glen, but in 1883 he selected and purchased a good farm in one of the best districts of the town of Florida, where he ended his eventful life. His widow survives him and lives with the children on the farm homestead.
His wife, whom he married March 18, 1874, was Jennie L. Clute, born November 13, 1849, in Glen, daughter of John Clute, born in Glen, April 28, 1801, died March 31, 1884, and a granddaughter of Nicholas Clute. Nicholas Clute was a son of the immigrant ancestor of all the Mohawk Valley Clutes, an old, respectable and numerous family. They were pioneer farmers of the town of Glen and a great many of the name have been born, lived and died within the town limits. The mother of Mrs. Jennie L. (Clute) Denise, was Mary A. Schuyler Abel, born February 18, 1810, in Glen, where she died April 12, 1873. John and Mary A. Clute had children: Jennie L., (wife of Tunis Denise), Frances V., J. Leslie, Margaret, Mary E., Apshiba, Nicholas, Louisa M., John and William. Jennie L. was educated in Glen and resided on the farm where she lived until her marriage in 1874. They continued to reside in Glen until the removal to Florida town in 1883, when her present farm and home was purchased. She bore her husband three children:
- Louisa A., born March 24, 1875, died November 19, 1906; married Lovell G. Holmes, now a resident of Charleston.
- Frank T., only son, born July 29, 1876, in the town of Glen; was educated in the public schools, and is a graduate of the School of Agriculture, one of the most useful and modern departments of Cornell University. He is a skilled agriculturist, and since his father's death has succeeded to the ownership of the homestead farm which he manages and cultivates with abundant success, using all the aids that modern science furnishes the farmer with energy and enterprise to use them. He is unmarried.
- Edna J., born August 6, 1884; was educated in the public schools, and is a graduate of the Amsterdam high school. She resides at the homestead with her mother and brother.
The family are members of the Dutch Reformed church. The voters of the family, both present and past, have usually acted with the Republican party.