Holbrook line: Rev. Samuel Winsor 1677-1758

 Our family is blessed to have many pastors in our heritage, on both the Allen and the Holbrook sides (and yes, there are a few in the Harshbarger and the Beeks lines, too, for that matter).  But the Winsor family may have some sort of record as far as this line goes, for the number of pastors in the family.  Samuel Winsor (actually he was the second Samuel Winsor) is in a fairly large group of Winsor family members who were pastors.  I believe they were all Baptist pastors, which may indicate that immigrant Joshua Winsor was highly influential in the family, having two sons, at least two grandsons (one of which is this Samuel) and two great grandsons of his who were all Baptist pastors in Rhode Island, and I wouldn't be surprised to find more through additional generations.  

This Samuel was born November 18, 1677 in Providence, the son of Rev. Samuel and Mercy Williams Winsor.  (Mercy was the daughter of Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island, so here is another part of the pattern of pastors).  As far as I have been able to learn, he never left Rhode Island.  I'm not aware that he had any college training; Baptist pastors were not necessarily as educated as those of the Puritans or Church of England.  They of course knew how to read and write, and learned their reasoning and orating skills elsewhere.  Our Samuel is called a "great preacher" so he learned well, somewhere.

Samuel was one of at least four children, growing up in Providence, close to the ocean, and close to farmland but also close to swamps and forests.  One wonders what kind of childhood he had.  Did he spend a lot of time in nature, a lot of time at chores, a lot of time in schooling?  As a pastor's child, he probably had to behave himself, but maybe there was a bit of mischief to him, too.  We just don't know.  

Samuel was 25 when he married Mary or Mercy Harding on January 7, 1703.  She was the daughter of Abraham and (probably) Deborah Gardiner Harding.  As far as I know, there were no pastors in the Harding or Gardiner lines, but it's likely that the Harding family also had Baptist leanings.  Samuel and Mary were the parents of at least nine children, which was enough to keep Mary busy, and probably Samuel, too.  He was an active layman in the church for the first 20 years of their marriage, and was probably a farmer, or at least farmed enough to feed his family.  I've found no information regarding any other occupation.

Samuel was ordained at the First Baptist Church in Providence in 1733, and preached there until his death in 1758.  By the time he became pastor, his children were either grown or almost grown, so this was very much a second career for him.  It says much for the life he had lived that his neighbors approved of his ordination and of his serving his home church.  He must have been well respected, liked, and trusted.  I would certainly like to hear one or his sermons, to get a better idea of the man.  The one thing I learned is that he may have had a bit of a stubborn or determined streak, as the church had a quarrel over whether it was necessary to have the "laying on of hands" in order to become a member of the church.  Samuel said it was necessary, and that's the view that prevailed.  

Samuel died November 17, 1758, the day before his 81st birthday.  Mary outlived him by about 13 years, dying in 1771.  I know that Samuel left a will but I have not yet been able to locate a copy of it.  That, and an inventory, would tell us more about this interesting ancestor.  

The line of descent is:

Samuel Winsor-Mary Harding

Joseph Winsor-Deborah Mathewson 

Lillis Winsor-Nathan Paine

Deborah Paine-Enos Eddy

Joseph Eddy-Susan Lamphire

Susan Eddy-Hiram Stanard

Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick

Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants

 

Allen line: Deacon John Hitchcock 1642-1712

 It's either feast or famine in the genealogy world.  Many times I struggle to find enough information to even write five paragraphs about an ancestor.  Other times, there is more information that I can use, even if I write a longer post.  John Hitchcock, Deacon and Lieutenant, belongs in the second group of people.  That makes me happy.  

John was born on September 27, 1642 in what was then the colony of New Haven but now is New Haven, Connecticut.  He was the son of Luke and Elizabeth Gibbons Hitchcock, and was their first child.  He had two or possibly four siblings, but at any rate, this was a relatively small family for the time.  This was of economic benefit to him as his father was not a poor man, and John not only inherited part of his estate, but he also learned to read and write, and, based on what his later life shows, he also learned many practical skills.  I like to think his father had something to do with that, too.  

I don't know how it happened, but John ended up in Springfield, Massachusetts, home to so many of our Allen ancestral families.  There he married Hannah Chapin, who was the daughter of Deacon Samuel and Cicely Penny Chapin on September 27, 1666.  John and Hannah had at least nine children together, but at least one didn't survive infancy. 

John had a rather low profile for a few years.  He apparently was friends with several other young men who were high spirited, because three years after his marriage, he was accused of and fined for "fast riding" (the equivalent of speeding) through town.  The only time that was permitted was when the cavalry was out on a training run, and this apparently was not one of those times.  This is one of the few things I found about John that didn't reflect well on him, and I imagine Deacon Samuel may have had a word or two with him about that.  At about the same time as this incident, he was paid a bounty for having killed a wolf, so we can guess that he spent some time farming and helping to tame the wilderness.

We know that in 1678 he and Japeht Chapin and Nathaniel Foot were granted to use town lumber (from trees the town owned, likely on the commons) to build a sawmill, as long as it was located beyond the boundary the town gave them, and as long as they held the cost of lumber milled there to a certain price.  It would be interesting to know whether this was a profitable business for the men.  

John apparently began his public service in 1672, when he was chosen constable for the town.  He had some position of authority for most of the rest of his life, either as a selectman (12 years), as a deputy to the General Court (five terms) a hayward, a surveyor, a "commissioner for public assessment", or a clerk of the market.  

We don't know when he was selected church deacon, but he was called such when he died, and he had been involved in various negotiations with the church pastors, and with the building of the meeting house, down through the years.

Many times I have to speculate about what someone was doing or where they were during King Philip's War.  With John, we at least know that he was injured at the fight at Turner's Falls.  Mostly untrained militia attacked a native American encampment and were then ambushed.  Indian raids had been a constant threat so a battle like this was probably inevitable.  Most of the people of Springfield were either in garrisons or had left the area until the situation stabilized, but there were quite a few men from Springfield who were involved in this battle.  One source says that one arm was shot through and the other one broken, so John probably had to return home to recover.  Ensign John was promoted to lieutenant because of his gallantry on the field.  Because of his participation in this battle, his son John was awarded land in what became Bernardstown in 1736, along with surviving soldiers or their descendants.  

So we can say that John was relatively well off, because those were the people who were chosen selectmen.  We know he was active in the church because he was a deacon.  We know he got along with people and was respected, or he would not have been chosen for so many positions requiring tact and skill.  He was educated, because he was on committees to set and collect rates (taxes).  He was hard working, and he had frontier skills that allowed him to protect his family and guard his town.  

John left a will and an inventory when he died on February 9, 1712.  His estate was valued at over 700 pounds.  He left houses or/and land to each of his sons, provided for his wife, gave smaller bequests to his daughters, and gave his weapons to his grandsons.  Later, the court approved a request to give more to his widow, until her death.  

His inventory, besides about nine different parcels of land, includes several weapons (mentioned above), a great Bible and small books, and household items and farm implements and animals.  Among his other attributes, he was a financial success, if not a wealthy man.  

The line of descent is:

John Hitchcock-Hannah Chapin

John Hitchcock-Mary Ball

Samuel Hitchcock-Ruth Stebbins

Margaret Hitchcock-Richard Falley

Samuel Falley-Ruth Root

Clarissa Falley-John H Starr

Harriet Starr-John Wilson Knott

Edith Knott-Edward Allen

Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook

Their descendants

 

Beeks line: Simon Moon 1700-1749

 I've written about Simon's father, James Moon, and I've written about Simon's grandson, Thomas Moon.  Both of those families were Quakers, so it's no surprise that Simon and his family were Quakers, also.  Except, maybe they weren't.  I'll get to the evidence for that in a bit.  

Simon was born to James and Mary Wilsford Moon at Fallsington, Bucks County, Pennsylvania on April 11, 1700.  Except, that date seems to come from Quaker records and they had a different dating system then the rest of the Western world, and he was actually born on the eleventh day of the fourth month, which would be June 11, not April, if I understand the Quaker system correctly.  Both dates are reported on line, so take your pick.

Simon was one of at least six children born to James and Mary.  Living in Bucks County, the family would have farmed and by definition, worked hard.  Simon must have been industrious because by the time he was 21 he was ready and able to marry.  His bride was Louretha (Lowry seems to be a nick name) Humphrey, daughter of Hugh and Elizabeth Lowry Humphrey.  The mystery to me is that the couple were married in Christ Church in Philadelphia.  Was she not a Quaker?  If so, did Simon face any repercussions for marrying outside the faith?  I haven't found church records yet that would help me understand this.  The couple settled in Fallsington, Bucks County, where they built a small home that is still standing (it's on the National Registry of Historic Places) for their growing family.  The family may have grown to include as many as eleven children.

Eventually, the Moons left their home in Pennsylvania and traveled to Frederick County, Virginia which is now Berkeley County, West Virginia.  There they were members of the Hopewell Meeting, which shows that if Simon had trouble regarding his marriage, he was not disowned but rather brought back into, or kept, in the fellowship.  Unfortunately, records that might show us more about this were lost in a fire.  The move seems to have taken place about 1738, when the settlement was in its early days.   

The Moons were living here, in the Shenandoah Valley, when native Americans were sometimes friendly but more often not.  By the time Simon died, most of the original tribes had gone further west, but they still considered the valley theirs and a few years later there were numerous raids.  There is a slight possibility that the Moons may have seen George Washington as a 16 year old surveying Berkeley County, as he was there in 1748.  It took courage and determination to live in this wilderness area at such an early time.  

We don't have an exact date of death for Simon because those records were among those that were burned.  However, Lowry was not mentioned in his will, which was probated in February of 1749.  Simon left bequests to three sons and two daughters, mentioning his "plantation" and various farm animals.  I haven't located an inventory yet.  The couple is probably buried at Hopewell Meeting House, but we don't know because at that time Quakers used only field stones to mark graves.  

Simon didn't live a long life but he saw much.  The trip from eastern Pennsylvania to Berkeley County, probably on the Great Wagon Road, would have been an adventure for not only the children, but for Simon and Lowry.  I honor both of them for their courage, and I hope to learn more about them.  

The line of descent is:

Simon Moon-Louretha Humphrey

Jacob Moon-Jane Rees

Thomas Moon-Jean Gray

Margaret Moon-Owen Reese

Eliza Matilda Reese-Samuel G Dunham

Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge

Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks

Mary Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger

Their descendants

Harshbarger line: Johan Jacob Schaeffer died 1789

 The first thing I know about Jacob Schaeffer is that I don't know much, and what I think I know is confusing and conflicting.  However, we know enough to know that he belongs in the line of the Harshbarger family, and by writing this down, perhaps someone will see this and answer the questions I will present.  Mostly, I suspect that the many, many spellings of his last name are causing some of the confusion.

Jacob is reported to have been born on February 7, 1709 in Reisberg, Kusel, Palatinate, Bavaria, Germany.  I have not come up with a definitive location for Reisberg.  Kusel, however, is a small town in the Palatinate area, near the southwest border of Germany.  It is an ancient town with a current population of about 5200, and buildings in the "Old Town" date from long before the time of Jacob.  Jacob's parents are thought to be Johan Niclaus and Maria Catherina Suder Schaffer. (Note the spelling: Shafer, Shaver, Shaeffer, Schaeffer, Sheffer all seem to be variant spellings of the name, and there may well be more ways to spell this name and thus confuse us!)

His father, and most likely the whole family, including Jacob, arrived in New York in 1710, undoubtedly as part of the group sent over by Queen Anne, to colonize areas on the upper Hudson River that were taken from the Dutch.  This land was owned by Robert Livingston.  When the family had either worked off their indentureship, or just plain escaped the settlement, they were likely among those who made their way through the wilderness, perhaps on paths created by native Americans, and then settled in the Tulpehocken valley of Pennsylvania.  These settlers came to American with nothing and that's what they arrived with in Pennsylvania.  

There is a fly in the ointment for this story.  I have a copy of a map that says it is the Tulpehocken Valley as it appeared in 1723, which shows Jacob Shaeffer as owning a rather large tract of land then.  If Jacob was born in 1709, this would not have been possible.  However, I don't know when the map was actually created, and if it was after Niclaus's death in 1758, it could well have been Jacob's land at that time.  

Jacob married Maria Barbara Kobel, daughter of Jacob and Anna Maria Egli Kobel on June 10, 1735 in Tulpehocken, Berks County.  The records are in the Moravian Archives, which makes us wonder whether these were Moravians, or whether they were simply married by one of their members, perhaps because no one else was available.  The Kobels were another family that had been first in New York and then traveled to Pennsylvania.  

Jacob and Barbara had at least 10 children together.  We know very little of their life, except that he is referred to in church records as "baumeister".  The current meaning of the word seems to be architect, but at the time it probably meant "master builder".  Jacob had a means to support himself, other than the farming he undoubtedly did.  

Jacob would have been of the right age to have been a part of the militia guarding borders and perhaps battling native Americans in the French and Indian War.  There are at least two Jacob Shaffers from Berks County who were in the militia in 1780-1782, but likely our Jacob was too old by that time to have been active in the military.  He did, however, take the oath of allegiance in 1778 and served on the committee of safety, which served as an executive would have, from the time independence was declared until state and local governments were put in place.  

There are reports of a will but I have not yet located it.  The will is the basis for the names of his children.  It is believed that he is buried in the "Zion Cemetery", which possibly is now the "Zion Moselem Church".  This congregation was founded about seven years after the marriage of Jacob and Barbara, and records of most of their children are found there.  

Of course I'd love to know more about Jacob.  What sorts of buildings did he construct?  Are any still standing? Did he serve in the French and Indian War? What were his duties as a member of the committee of safety?  What German traditions did his family keep?  We may never know the answers to these questions, but it's good to think of them.  

The line of descent is

Johan Jacob Schaeffer-Anna Barbara Kobel

Anna Maria Schaeffer-Jacob Whetstone

John Whetstone-Mary Magdalena

Catherine Whetstone-Henry Cook

William Cook-Elizabeth Brown

Barbara Ellen Cook-William A Withers

William H Withers-Della Kemery

Goldie Withers-Grover Harshbarger

Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Beeks

Their descendants

 

 

Holbrook line: John Pray abt 1653-1733

Rhode Island, the smallest state in the country in terms of size, was the home of several of our families in the Holbrook line, during the first 100 or so years of its existence.  Some of those ancestors were famous, and some were not.  The Pray family is one that was not famous, although they were definitely a part of the community of Providence Plantation.  

John was probably born in Providence, although I've not found a document that states that.  His parents, Richard and Mary Pray, were there at least as early as 1652, when Richard purchased the home lot of Robert Coles there.  So if the 1653 date for John is correct, Providence was his birthplace.  He may possibly have been born more or less in transit.  John is known to have at least two brothers, Ephraim and William, and a sister, Mary.  

The family home was one of the original home lots of Providence, first owned by Robert Coles and purchased by Richard in 1652.  It was just a block or two from the Providence River, near the center of town, and just a few lots from the house lot of Chad Brown.  Chad is important to this story because John married Sarah Brown, a granddaughter of Chad's.  So these two people grew up knowing each other.  

John and Sarah married on November 14, 1678, after King Philip's war had ended.  Most of Providence had gone to a nearby island to wait out the war, and most of Providence was burned to the ground.  John, along with his brother Ephraim and their father Richard, had stayed in Providence, doing what they could to protect their property and their crops.  They probably had to rebuild their own homes, as about one hundred homes were burned by the native Americans and only twelve were spared.  They certainly would have worked to help rebuild the homes of their neighbors. Sadly, it appears that John, among others, profited from the sale of native Americans who were sold into slavery, as a reward for staying in town. 

John's father Richard died in 1693 (his mother had died a few years earlier) and it may be about this time that John moved his family to Smithfield.  John and Sarah had at least eight children.  I've found little to indicate that John was active in government, nor have I found indication of his religion.  His wife's family background was Baptist, but there doesn't appear to have been a Baptist church at Smithfield until 1822.  

In his will, John refers to himself as of Providence, because the town of Smithfield wasn't formed until 1730/1731.  His will was recorded in Smithfield.  In it, he calls himself a husbandman, and leaves half of his estate to his son Richard, with the other half to his wife until or unless she remarried.  At her death or remarriage, Richard was to receive the other half of his lands, dwelling house, and orchards.  The other children were left 5 shillings apiece, so one wonders if John had given them other things of value, or money, before it was time to write the will.  The will was written in 1726 and proved in March 1733/34. John died on October 9, 1733. I don't yet have a death date for Sarah, but it was before the estate was settled.

John's inventory is not extensive.  It totaled, not including land and dwelling, just 61 pounds and 4 shillings.  I see no mention of arms or ammunition, so perhaps he had given those items away.  He did have 6 shillings worth of books, so we can guess he could read and probably write.  He still had animals-two cows and a calf, fifteen sheep, and two small swine, and a minimal amount of household goods and farming equipment.  

I would love to know more about John.  Why did he decide to stay in Providence during King Philip's War?  Would there have been a discussion with Sarah, or did he just make up his own mind?  What religion was he?  And what stories could he tell, that we don't even know enough to wonder about?

The line of descent is:

John Pray-Sarah Brown

Mary Pray-Richard Brown

Deborah Brown, Othniel Brown

Sarah Brown-Enos Eddy

Enos Eddy-Deborah Paine

Joseph Eddy-Susan Lamphire

Susan Eddy-Hiram Stanard

Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick

Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants

 

 

Allen line: Samuel Lamb 1663-1729

 Springfield, Massachusetts is the gift that keeps on giving, as far as part of our Allen heritage goes.  This post is about another of our ancestors who was born and who died in that small village, where Samuel Lamb's parents had settled about twelve years before Samuel was born in 1663.  His parents were John and Joanna Chapin Lamb, and Samuel was one of at least 11 children born to the couple.  When his siblings grew and married, some of them stayed in Springfield, so Samuel was connected in one way or another to many of the families in that town.  He would have grown up as a typical Puritan boy, educated to read, write, and do at least some arithmetic, but perhaps with no desire to continue his education.

Samuel married Rebecca (Rebekah) Bird, daughter of James and Lydia Steel(e) Bird, on December 1, 1687, in Springfield.  Her family was in Farmington, Connecticut so I haven't yet determined how the two met or courted.  The two towns were actually about 35 miles apart, but travel on the Connecticut River was relatively common, and undoubtedly some of the families in each town knew each other.  Samuel and Rebecca had perhaps as many as fourteen children, although Henry Burt in his "The First Century of the History of Springfield" gives them eleven children.  Either way, Rebecca would have been one busy woman.  

Samuel would have been twelve years old when King Philip's War broke out, and when the townspeople either left for somewhere safer, or retreated to one of the three garrisons in the town. Most of Springfield was burned by the native Americans, so whether or not the Lamb family lost their home, they would have shared in the devastation felt by those who did.  We know he was trained in the use of arms and ammunition because he was paid a bounty for a wolf's head in 1680, when he was about 17.

 A Samuel Lamb participated in the expedition to Port Royal in 1710, but I don't know whether it is our Samuel Lamb or not.  (This was part of Queen Anne's War, pitting British and colonials against the French and their native allies, in Nova Scotia.) Samuel would have been 47 at the time, quite within the acceptable age for military service, but there was more than one Samuel Lamb in Massachusetts at the time.  

We don't know what, if anything, Samuel added to his probable occupation as farmer.  We know he had several grants of land, and we know he was one of four men who requested the grant of a pond in 1686.  25 years later, in 1711, he and Tilly Mirick was granted an acres to set up a sawmill on the Skipmunk River, but whether one operation had anything to do with the other is still a question.  

Samuel was relatively "small potatoes" in Springfield.  He was never a selectman, or even a tything man, but he consistently held lower positions in the town, as fence viewer, constable, hayward, field driver, and at least once as surveyor of highways.  These were important jobs, given to men who could get along with people and yet make sure rules and regulations were followed.  He also at various times held the job of "packer, gager, and culler."  These first two jobs seem to have to do with making sure that the proper quantity, weight, or other measurements were used in shipments of goods that left Springfield.  I didn't find a definition I trusted for "culler", but possibly he somehow controlled the quality of goods, food, or animals.  Again, this was a job for someone who was respected for his knowledge.  

Samuel was twice paid for the town's use of his bull, so that the cattle herds would continue to grow.  This and the land that he owned (including 30 acres in one particular location) are our indication that he was a farmer.  

Samuel died December 5, 1729 in Springfield, aged 66.  His widow married William Warriner in 1731 and she lived until 1739.  Unfortunately, I have been unable to locate a will or inventory for Samuel, which leaves me wanting more information.  But I can place him in a town, with many other ancestors in this Allen line, and since we've had a glimpse in these posts of many of his connections, his friends and neighbors, it does seem that we know him better than we know some of out other ancestors.  

The line of descent is

Samuel Lamb-Rebecca Bird

Samuel Lamb-Martha Stebbins

Eunice Lamb-Martin Root

Martin Root-Ruth Noble

Ruth Root-Samuel Falley

Clarissa Falley-John Havens Starr

Harriet Starr-John Wilson Knott

Edith Knott-Edward Allen

Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook

Their descendants

 

Holbrook line: Nathaniel Merrill 1634-1682

 Nathaniel Merrill actually was an immigrant because he came to New England with his parents as a young child.  He was born in Lawford, Essex, England sometime before May 25, 1634, which is his baptismal date.  Lawford is a small village in eastern England, and appears to be situated on an arm of the North Sea.  I found no reference to a harbor, so it's not clear to what extent the sea would have shaped the life of the residents.  In the case of Nathaniel, it probably didn't affect him a lot because his parents, Nathaniel and Susannah Wolterton Merrill, left there when he was just a young boy.  I've seen various guesses as to when they arrived in New England but Nathaniel is not included as a featured name in any of the Great Migrations volumes.  It is noted in the Directory that he wsas here as early as 1638. The young family may have stayed with John Merrill, brother of the senior Nathaniel, in Ipswich before going on to Newbury in Essex County, Massachusetts.  

Newbury was a very new village in 1638 (official founding date is 1635) and perhaps it had a "homey" feel to it, because it, too, was close to the ocean.  The Merrill family continued to grow, until the Nathaniel who is the subject of this post had at least six brothers and sisters.  And of course he had at least one uncle in the area, and probably another.  It's interesting to me that in this town at the same time, Jonathan Singletary Dunham lived.  (This name may not mean much to you, but the Dunhams are in the Beeks family line, so my children's ancestors knew each other, way back when).  

Nathaniel married Joanna, but her last name is subject to controversy.  Some say it was Ninian, some say Kinney or Kenney, and some even say Kennedy.  I've looked at the image on Ancestry and can pretty firmly say it was not Ninian.  The "K" looks like other "K's" written on the same page by the same hand.  But for the rest, I will not guess. There are records for some Kinney or Kinne families in Salem, which is about 20 miles from Newbury.

Nathaniel married Joanna on October 16, 1661 at Newbury.  Some sites say Newburyport but that town wasn't established until 1764.  It may have been in the part of the settlement that eventually became Newburyport, however.  They had at least seven children, but two girls, each named Joanna, seem to have lived very short lives.  Nathaniel was listed as a freeman in 1668 and took an oath of allegiance in 1678, but his name is not mentioned as a leader of the town, nor could I find a reference to him in the records I looked at for military records.  He would have been part of the training band of the town, but I don't know (yet!) whether he was involved in any actual military actions.  

We do know that he was considered a "planter" and that he was relatively prosperous.  His father died in 1654 and his mother in 1673, and when she died he inherited all of his father's lands and estate.  That inheritance undoubtedly helped Nathaniel and Joanna as they raised their family, and Joanna probably gave thanks for it many times when she was left a widow on January 1, 1682.  

Nathaniel was not yet 48 years old when he died and there is no indication of the cause of death.  I have noticed that a lot of people died in Massachusetts during the years 1682-1684, but whether it was of an infectious disease, or the results of a poor harvest, or something else entirely, I don't know.  Joanna lived until 1718, having buried two more of their children.  It doesn't appear that she remarried. 

Nathaniel's will and inventory have been wonderfully typed out on his Wikitree entry, with original spelling.  The estate was valued at 520 pounds, 7 shillings.  It doesn't mention any books, nor does it mention any arms or ammunition, although the spelling is eccentric enough that I may have missed something. 

Fun fact...Besides being our ancestor, he was also the ancestor of Franklin Pierce, 14th President of the United States.  We are cousins to yet another President, however distant.  

The line of descent is

Nathaniel Merrill-Joanna Kinney

Hannah Merrill-Benoni Clough

Benjamin Clough-Faith Hart

Lydia Clough-John Whittemore

Josiah Whittemore-Lucy Snow

Josiah Whittemore-Betsy Foster

Mary Elizabeth Whittemore-Joseph Holbrook

Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown

Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants

Allen line: John Chester 1692-1771

 We know a little of the life of John Chester.  Or maybe I should know that we have some facts about him.  How much can we really know of the lives of those who lived so many years before our time, in a different culture, speaking "English" in an accent and idiom we probably couldn't understand well today, and with an entirely different world view from what we in the 21st century have.  

We can maybe understand a little of his surroundings, if we use our imagination and transpose a current scene from perhaps a state park to that location, and get an idea of the view he would have had when he stopped outside his front door and looked around.  Probably the view of the nearby Thames River is the same, if you ignore the 300 plus years of "progress".  We know he would have been standing on or in the vicinity of Fort Griswold, which is where Thomas Starr was wounded and many of our cousins were killed during the Revolutionary War.  John, however, died before that conflict, and as a farmer, his life would have centered on his home and his land, and not so much on the river.  

John was born in New London, Connecticut about 1692 (he was baptized May 29, 1692) to Samuel and Hannah Chester.  His mother's name is believed by many to have been Talcott, but others say she was a different Hannah.  He grew up with several siblings, some of whom were probably half siblings as it appears that his father was married twice, and John was a child of the second wife.  When his father died in 1708, John was named in the will and he and his two brothers inherited the homestead and sixty acres of land from him.  His father's will was recorded in New London but it appears under Groton, also, in the records.  

John is referred to as "Captain", based on his election in the first company of militia in October 1738.  I would like to learn how long he had been a member of the militia (since age 16?) and whether he served in any military conflict, but so far I haven't located that information.l  He also was a deputy for Groton to the General Assembly in 1736, serving just one term.   

John married Mary Starr, daughter of Thomas and Mary Morgan Starr, on November 1, 1716 in Groton.  He was about 24 years old at the time, and she was about four years younger.  It was probably considered a good match for each, as both families had some status in the community.  The couple had at least eight children, and perhaps another who died in infancy.  He would have attended the Congregational Church there, which was founded in 1702.

John lived his life as part of his community, but one wonders whether he made any trips on voyages with or on behalf of his father.  Was he satisfied to be a farmer, or did he have the sea in his blood also?

John wrote his will February 17, 1770 and it was proved June 8, 1771.  We have his inventory which shows 149 acres of land, a house, typical household goods and farm animals and implements, and what appears to be, comparatively speaking, a good supply of bed clothes and table linens.   I did not see any guns or ammunition.  Mary lived until 1774, having enjoyed the use of what she needed until her death.  In his will, John mentioned a grandson by the name of Daniel Williams.  He would have been the son of his daughter Katherine Chester, so there is an untold story there.  Katherine is not known to have married.  

John Chester was a solid man, one who was respected enough to lead men and to serve them.  He's another in our line of ancestors who have told us only parts of their life story, but we know that they are the reason America exists.

The line of descent is:

John Chester-Mary Starr

Thomas Chester-Sarah Eldridge

Bathsheba Chester-Jonathan Havens

Betsy Havens-John Starr

John Havens Starr-Clarissa Falley

Harriet Starr-John Wilson Knott

Edith Knott-Edward Allen

Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook

Their descendants

 

Harshbarger line: Matthias Bruder 1720-1762

 Never is this easy, separating fact from fact from fiction.  So many times two men of the same name are conflated into one, somewhere along the line, and the confusion is compounded.  I am picking my way very carefully here, and hope that I am landing on the correct side of the facts for our Matthias Bruder.  

He was probably born about 1720, based on the age of his first known child, and possibly in the area of Lossburg, Germany, in what is known as the northern Black Forest.  Lossburg has the first known record of the birth of a son there in 1749, to Matheus Bruder and wife Christina.  This Matthias is thought to be the son of Jacob and Magdalena Schuttler Bruder.  Christina, his wife, is up for dispute.  Many websites list her as Christina Glintz,  Some list her as Christina Emmert.  The Glintz name runs into other lines of this family, including another or the same Christina married to Sebastian Kestenholtz.  I think it more likely that it's Christina Emmert, but don't go filling out your family tree based on my inexpert opinion which is not backed up by documents!

We do know that the couple was in Lossburg in 1749 when Johann Georg was baptized at the Evangelishe Kirche.  We know that the couple, along with several other families from Lossburg, emigrated in 1752 on the Duke of Wirtemberg, which arrived in Philadelphia on October 20, 1752, from Rotterdam via Cowes.  We don't know how long the voyage lasted, and there are no Glintz or Emmert families noted on the manifest so clues as to the name of his wife are not to be found there.  

Once landed, the men would have departed from the ship briefly, to swear an oath of loyalty to the English king, and then returned to the ship for their families.  If they had paid their own way to Pennsylvania, they would then be free to leave for the home to relatives or friends, or to make their own way in what would have been a strange land.  Many who came to Pennsylvania in this time period had to serve a period of indentureship to pay for their voyage, but I haven't found records yet for him during his first years in America.

The family settled in what must have been a border area between Berks County and Northampton County.  Mattias's will was probated in Berks County but at least some of his children were baptized at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church near Alburtis, in what is now Lehigh County but was Northampton County at the time.  They may have lived somewhere along Toad Creek, as that is the only identifiable water source on the maps I've seen.  

Matthias and Christina had several children, but George and Matthias are the two with documented dates, in 1749 and 1759.  There is a Jacob Bruder who likely is this couple's child, and several others, including a daughter who was born the year Matthias died.  As far as we know, Matthias was a farmer, working hard to provide for his family, however large it was.  

We can guess that the family was somehow affected by the French and Indian War, but precisely the extent of the involvement we don't know.  This area was repeatedly attacked by native Americans and it is likely that the family could tell us some intriguing stories if we could talk to them.  It is also likely that Matthias served in the militia, guarding borders if nothing else.  

Matthias died in Longswamp Township, Berks County, before November 3, 1762, when Christina was appointed administrator.  He left no will, but an inventory was taken.  "Improvements", presumably buildings on his land, were valued at 65 pounds and there was a little over twelve pounds in what we would consider personal property, including farm animals and implements.  Interestingly, he had 6 shillings worth of books, so he was a literate man.  I didn't see any mention of guns or ammunition.  It appears that he had about 8 pounds of debts, so this was a small estate.  

I don't know what happened to Christina, whether or not she re-married, or what happened to the children.  Were they apprenticed to someone in the area?  It would be interesting to trace them to see what became of them.  (We do know that son Matthias became a weaver and fought in the Revolutionary War.)

This story is like many of the others in the Harshbarger line-a sea voyage from Germany,  a Lutheran religion and community of believers, and a drive to care for family.  He's another man we can be proud to call ours.

The line of descent is:

Matthias Bruder-Christina

Matthias Bruder or Brothers-Christina Chestnutwood

Barbara Brothers-David Brown

Elizabeth Brown-William Cook

Barbara Cook-William Withers

William Withers-Della Kemery

Goldie Withers-Grover Harshbarger

Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Beeks

Their descendants