Beeks line: Jonathan Dunham died 1724

 I have postponed writing this blog post many times, because I am not sure of much of the supposed "information" I'll be using, in writing of Jonathan's life.  I have two completely different and apparently well researched family histories, that each say Jonathan belongs in their family.  They cannot both be accurate, and as is often the case, I suspect that there were two men of the same name and their records have been conflated since early times.  So, I'll give the broad outlines of the two most likely possibilities and hope someday, someone can figure this out.  

The most common story is that Jonathan is the son of Richard Singletary and Susanna Cook Dunham.  Under this theory, Richard used both Singletary and Dunham as his last name at various times, and he is indeed an interesting character.  They did have a son named Jonathan, who was born in 1640 and died shortly after, but I've not found documentation for a second son by that name.  (That in itself is not so unusual, as sometimes later born children with the same name as a deceased child are not noted in the records, or the family historian has decided the second listing was a "mistake".)   Supposedly this Jonathan named a child Richard Singletary Dunham, but the birth date for this child, even using a 1640 birthdate for Jonathan (the date for the first Jonathan born to Richard and Susanna), the father would have been just 17 when he was born.  It doesn't seem likely.  This line says that Jonathan married Mary Bloomfield in 1660 in Haverhill, Massachusetts. 

But there are problems with the alternate theory, also.  Thomas and Martha Knott are said to be the parents of Jonathan, who was born according to this story in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1646.  According to this theory, Jonathan married Mary Bloomfield in 1669 in Hartford, Connecticut.  Torrey's New England Marriages before 1700 shows that Jonathan Singletery alias Dunham married Mary Bloomfield by 1661 in Salisbury, and that Jonathan Dunham married Mary Bloomfield by 1667 in Hartford.  Sigh.

So if Jonathan was the Massachusetts guy, he was pretty much a scoundrel, in court for various misdemeanors and not well respected.  He also helped found and lived in Woodbridge, New Jersey, and was respected there, but went to Massachusetts frequently where he apparently let off some steam.  If he was the Connecticut guy, then he may have been a Quaker or at least Quaker friendly, and spent some time on Long Island before moving to become a founder of Woodbridge, New Jersey.  So I will leave these speculations here, and move to what I think is firmer ground, regarding his life in New Jersey.  

Jonathan is not regarded as an early proprietor, yet we know he was in Woodbridge by 1670, when he built and was operating a grist mill.  He received 30 pounds from the town, and use of sod from the meadow to help with the damming.  He operated the grist mill for many years and it was regarded as one of the best mills known.  He received 1/16 of what he ground as a "toll", which is less than that of some of the other millers I've researched.  He had a grant of 213 acres of land in 1672 and was a freeholder of the town. 

Jonathan was quite active in the life of the town, particularly in the 1670s and 1680s,  At various times he was a ratemaker (assessor for taxes), an overseer of the highways, clerk of the court, and juryman.  He helped lay out lots for a town division in 1685 and was on some sort of vigilance committee in 1686.  In 1701, he was on a committee to ask Mr. Shepard to move to Woodbridge and be ordained as their full time pastor (apparently either a Presbyterian or an Anglican church), but he declined because his wife was not happy there.  

Meanwhile, Jonathan and Mary were busy raising their family, They had perhaps six children, although some lists show as many as 12.  I think that again, records for two men by the same name were mixed.  

I've not located anything showing Jonathan as a participant in any of the military wars of the era.  Maray died in 1705 and Jonathan on September 6, 1724, when he was a few years either side of 80.  He is buried at what is now the Trinity Episcopal Cemetery in Woodbridge.  I haven't located a will, although I've seen a transcription of a document in which Jonathan and Mary sell property to a Mary Ross, relationship if any not identified.  This was dated in 1689.

We may never know who Jonathan Dunham really was.  Was he a Singletary and a vagabond, or was he the son of Thomas and a well regarded citizen who is getting a bad rap by being confused with Jonathan Singletary?  What do you think? It's a fun mystery to round out the year!

The line of descent is

Jonathan Dunham-Mary Bloomfield

Benjamin Dunham-Mary Rolph

Jonathan Dunham-Mary Smith

Samuel Dunham-Hannah possibly Ruble

Jacob Dunham-Catherine Goodnight

Samuel G Dunham-Eliza Matilda Reese

Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge

Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks

Mary Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger

Their descendants

Holbrook line: Zerubbabel Snow 1672-1733

One good thing about researching this ancestor:  With a name like his, there weren't many of the same name to try to sort out!  Zerubbabel is a Biblical name; he led the Hebrew people back to Jerusalem from their Babylonian captivity and helped rebuild the Temple after it's destruction.   I have seen a few other people with that name, but it wasn't wildly popular.  I wonder what kind of nickname the man had?

Zerubbabel, born on May 14, 1672, was the son of John and Mary Greene Snow, and was the grandson of the immigrant Richard Snow.  His grandfather was a founder of Woburn, Massachusetts and his father lived his whole life in that settlement, as did Zerubbabel.  He grew up in a household that included six children.  John was an important man in town but it's hard to find many records of Zerubbabel.  

He married Jemima Cutler, daughter of James and Phoebe Page Cutler, on September 22, 1697 and the couple had nine children, six of whom were included in the estate settlement.  At least two of the other three children had died young.  

For a while, I was a bit despondent because this is as much information as I could find about our ancestor.  Then, I found his estate papers, which tell us more about him and his life than we would otherwise know. 
He died November 20, 1733, without a will.  The first indication that there might be a bit of a story here is that his executors were required to post a bond of 500 pounds, which was higher than many I've seen (a more typical amount would have been 200 pounds, from what I've seen of other ancestors in this time period).  So perhaps he was a man of some degree of prosperity.  

It was not until early in 1735 that six men were appointed to appraise the real estate, to set off one third as dower for the widow Jemima, and to divide the rest of the real estate among the children, with preference being given to the sons.  There's an interesting itemization in the estate of the taxes that had been paid by Zerubbabel or his widow from the years 1731 to 1735.  None of the rates were as high as 1 pound individually, but some years the taxes did approach a total of one pound.  Sadly, I have nothing to compare this to, so I don't know whether this was an average amount, or more or less than average for the town and the time.

At the time of his death, he owned several plots of land, mostly less than 30 acres, and it took 5 men 4 days to appraise them, so they may have been widely scattered.  Or the men may have been less than diligent, or perhaps there was some difficulty in surveying them as required by the probate judge. The land and dwelling house were appraised, in total, at 714 pounds.  One interesting decision made by the appraisers was to give the widow a third of several pieces of land and part of the dwelling house, rather than trying to keep her third to one or two more manageable properties.  Zerubabbel's son of the same name received a double portion of the estate, and the rest was divided among the couple's other five children, with money that had been advanced to John and to Jemima being deducted from their share.  Most of the children received 48 pounds, 19 shillings, and 11 pence. I'm not sure how the money was raised, whether the land was sold or other arrangements were made.  I did not locate a personal property inventory, which was a bit surprising.  

The only possible clue to Zerubbabel's occupation that I found was that his namesake son was a housewright.  This could mean that was our ancestor's occupation also, since one of the properties mentioned a "shop".  The only church in Woburn was Puritan, and with a name like Zerubabbel's, it's probably safe to assume that he was a part of the congregation.  I did not locate his name on any list of militia or colonial soldiers, but that doesn't rule out the possibility.  We also don't know his cause of death at the age of 61.

But we do know that he must have been a hard worker, to acquire so many pieces of land, and to support his wife and family.  For that, we can be grateful.

The line of descent is:

Zerubbabel Snow-Jemima Cutler

William Snow-Elizabeth Stevens

Lucy Snow-Josiah Whittemore

Josiah Whittemore-Betsy Foster

Mary Elizabeth Whittemore-Joseph Holbrook

Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown

Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants

Beeks line: John W Beeks 1867-1946

 Look who I've overlooked, in writing about Beeks family ancestors!  I think I am nervous about writing about him because there are still people alive (two granddaughters) who knew him.  I hope that what I write is correct.  At least, it's what the records seem to show.

John was born February 3, 1867 in Lagro, Indiana (possibly Lagro township and not the town itself) to William and Mary Wise Beeks.  William had returned from the Civil War in late 1865 and his marriage to Mary was just four years old at the time.  William was one of at least seven and perhaps as many as ten children, although it's possible that some of those who were older than he was are John's half siblings, or perhaps they even belong to a different William Beeks.  I haven't figured that part out yet.  

John lived in Lagro until sometime between 1900 and 1910.  He married Elizabeth Wise, daughter of David and Matilda Martin Wise, April 22, 1890, and they lived in Lagro as their three children were born.  At the time, John was a railroad laborer but later he was a section man for the interurban system.  As such, he was responsible for the upkeep of the tracks, and was awarded a prize for the best kept track section in a surprise inspection.  Some of his most exciting days were spent trying to keep the tracks open during floods, especially the flood of 1913, which was one of the worst the area had seen.  

By 1910, he and Elizabeth and were renting a home on North Jackson Street in Andrews, and besides their three children, a boarder was also living with them.  John continued working but World War I was surely on his mind as both of his sons went off to Europe.  Well, actually Chester went to Europe and Wilbur was sent to northern Russia, but that was the subject of a previous blog.  By 1920 he had moved to Main Street in Andrews.  Two of the "children', now in their 20s, lived with him as well as Elizabeth's (she was referred to as Lizzie) father, David Wise.  By now, David was 83 years old and needed care, but so did Elizabeth.  Sadly, she died of tuberculosis September 5, 1922.  John was a widower at age 55.

John remarried in 1928 to Winifred Knight Rowland.  Her first husband had died in 1904 and it appears there may have been another brief marriage to a man by the name of Gwinn.  If so, it must have ended in divorce because a child died at the Fort Wayne State School, and the mother had a different name.  At any rate, John and Winifred married.  They lived in Huntington, Indiana in 1930, and in 1940 they were at 1324 East Market St.  John in 1940 stated that he had had no income in 1939.  He should have been eligible for Social Security so I'm not sure what his situation was.  The 1940 census also tells us that he had a sixth grade education.  Possibly he left school to bring income into the family.

It looks like Winifred died in 1943 in Dayton, Ohio.  I am not sure why she was there.  Was she hospitalized there, or taken ill while traveling or visiting someone?  At any rate, she was buried with her first husband in Van Buren, Indiana.  

John died October 16. 1946. at the home of Wilbur and Cleo Beeks, just as his wife Elizabeth and her father, David had done.  He died of heart and kidney disease.  He is buried with his first wife at Riverside Cemetery in Andrews, although there is no stone there to mark his plot.  

Fun fact:  Apparently John was a euchre player, as his name is mentioned several times in the newspapers of the 1920s.  Elizabeth had played, also.  

The line of descent is:

John Beeks-Elizabeth Wise

Wilbur Beeks-Cleo Aldridge

Mary Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger

Their descendants

Holbrook line: Samuel Wight 1639-1716

 Somehow, I ended up writing two blog posts about Samuel's father, Thomas Wight, one in 2018 and one in 2020.  I hope they are mostly in agreement with each other, that Samuel's mother was most likely Alice Roundy Wight, but I am not finding proof of that now, just as I did not find it in the previous two posts.

However, we do know a little more about Samuel, thanks almost entirely to the book "The Wights: A record of Thomas Wight of Dedham and Medfield", by William Ward Wight, which was first published in 1890.  According to this book, Samuel was born February 5, 1639, although I often see a non-specific date of 1640.  Likely this is because of the dual dating which should actually read February 5, 1639/1640.  He was baptized "ye 15th of ye 7th month 1640" in Dedham.  

Samuel made the move from Dedham to Medfield, a distance of about 10 miles, with his parents in 1650, and there he stayed for the rest of his life.  Medfield was formed from Dedham, and the Wights were original settlers, along with another of our ancestors, Ralph Wheelock.  Medfield was formed partly as a potential barrier to protect Dedham and settlements further east from potential attacks from native Americans, and was very much a frontier town.  Samuel, along with his seven brothers and sisters, likely had an interesting childhood, to say the least.  He also probably worked very hard, as even young children did in those times.

In 1662, when Samuel was in his early twenties, he was one of three men chosen to burn the woods on land they lived on, in order to clear brush away and make it easier to see if the village was coming under attack.  The next year, on March 25th, 1663, Samuel married Hannah Albee of Medfield, the daughter of Benjamin and Hannah (possibly Miller) Albee.  The couple had nine children together.  At least two and possibly three died young, but the rest contributed to their community for generations to come. Samuel became a freeman of Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1672 and was the town constable in 1673.

Samuel and Hannah may have lived on North Street, as descendants of theirs lived there later.  If so, they may have either had a garrison house or lived near a garrison house, as the book "King Philip's War" by Eric B. Schultz and Michael J. Tougias state that it appears there was a garrison house on North Street, although no more information than that was available to them.   And yes, Samuel would certainly have been involved in one way or another in King Philip's War.  His home was one of the 32 that were burned in the February 21, 1676 attack on the town.  Hannah and the children were either in the garrison house, or had fled elsewhere for safety.  I've not found Samuel's name on any lists of soldiers during the war so it is likely that he was one of the townsmen assigned to a garrison to protect the women, children, and older people of the village.  

It took the town, and Samuel, about two years to begin rebuilding the settlement.  It's possible that they grew crops during this time, and traveled back and forth from wherever they were.  Or they may have stayed with some of those in the town whose homes were intact, until they could rebuild.  But rebuild they did.  There were of course financial repercussions besides the loss of their home and belongings.  Samuel had pledged a bushel of corn to the "college at Cambridge" and asked that the debt be forgiven, which request was granted.  He also, along with many others in the town, asked for forgiveness of taxes he owed in 1678, saying that if he could be forgiven those taxes, which he thought were three or four pounds, he could see his way clear to paying on time from that time forward.  The General Court agreed, as they did to other similar requests.  Even then, one could not squeeze blood from a turnip.  

We know that Samuel was a member of the Medfield parish church in 1697, which was about the time a new pastor came to the church.  This was a Puritan church and again, is believed to have been located on North Street.  Since the family was Puritan, and since we know that Ralph Wheelock and founded the first school in the town, it is more than likely that at least the sons had some education.  Hannah would likely have been responsible for educating the girls in the family.

Samuel is noted as being a proprietor of the "black swamp" of Medway in 1702, but there is no indication that he ever lived there.  

He wrote his will May 19, 1710 and died December 21, 1716. He left everything to his wife, even specifying that she was to receive five pounds in moveable estate (personal property) to be disposed of as she wished at her death, although he maintained control of all the real estate.  Unfortunately, the part that tells what our ancestor, Hannah, was to receive is taped over, but it was some amount of money.  I did not locate an inventory, which would of course have told us more about Samuel's life.  

I don't know his occupation if it was other than farming.  But I do know what I've stated above and I think we can be proud of this ancestor.  He raised his family, toughed it out to rebuild his home, and contributed to the life of his community.  

The line of descent is:

Samuel Wight-Hannah Albee

Hannah Wight-John Thompson

Joseph Thompson-Mary Holbrook

Alice Thompson-Joseph Rockwood

Levi Rockwood-Deborah Lazell

Susannah Rockwood-Nahum Holbrook

Joseph Holbrook-Mary Elizabeth Whittemore

Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown

Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants

Harshbarger line: Adam Burkholder 1728-1800 Immigrant

 Adam Burkholder was an immigrant to Pennsylvania, coming here sometime before 1751, when he is known to have owned land.  Unfortunately, there is not much information about his early years.  He was born in 1728 in Oberdiessbach, Bern, Switzerland, a son of Adam and Anna Mellinger Burkhalter.  It appears that the family was either Mennonite or of another Anabaptist group, and since Anna died in Germany in 1761, they were likely religious and economic refugees from the Swiss persecutions.  

Adam likely came to America as a young man.  We don't know whether he paid his own way or whether he had several years of service as an indentured servant.  If the latter is the case, then that would put his arrival probably in the early to middle 1740's, given that he had enough money saved to buy land prior to 1751.  So far as I have been able to find, no records have been located that give details of his immigration, so the time of his immigration is speculation at this point.  

We know that his wife was Maria Gingerich, daughter of Yost (Joseph) and Anna Elizabeth Huber Gingerich, and it is likely that the marriage took place in Pennsylvania, perhaps about the same time as the first land was acquired.  Again, I'm not locating records.  He seems to have gone to what was the frontier of Cumberland County, which broke off into Franklin County in 1784.  So for roughly 50 years, he may have lived in the same location in what is now Greene Township of Franklin County.

Adam and Maria had as many as 12 children, with eleven living at the time that he wrote his will.  (More on that, later.  First there is more to tell.)

Adam would have been the right age and location to be involved in the French and Indian War, but his Mennonite upbringing may have prevented him from actively participating.  By 1780, though, he was a private in the Third Company, Fourth Battalion of the Cumberland County Militia, under Captain Joseph Culbertson.  (This should make him eligible for DAR recognition, but so far his service seems to have gone unnoticed.)  Culbertson had served earlier in the war and it is possible that Adam did also, but I've not found records stating so.  In 1780-81 the "enemy" would have been some of the native American tribes who were still trying to drive the Americans back to the east. Adam served as a wheelwright during the 1780-81 time period, so perhaps this was his way of supporting his family, neighbors, and country without taking up arms.  Again, that is speculation on my part.  

Adam seems to have been not a poor man.  He wrote his will in 1797, and when his will was probated February 5, 1800 (so exact date of death is unknown), his estate was valued at 3472 pounds.  (Currency was still in flux at this time and I haven't found a reference that would allow this to be converted to dollars.) One reason I think he was probably better off than many of his neighbors is that he had ten shirts in his inventory.  Either he was living comfortably, or he was a bit of a dandy, but based on the other items in the inventory, he lived a comfortable, hard working life.  Much of the inventory and other estate papers are damaged, but we know he had books, a gun, powder horn, and knives, and a number of farm animals, as well as land.  He left much to his wife and then passed most on to his children, although in the final settlement, Joseph's name is missing.  Adam does mention having given much to his children earlier, so perhaps Joseph had already received his entire inheritance, or perhaps he received it when he reached the age of 21.  

Maria died in 1813, and both of them were buried on their farm, now part of the Letterkenny Army Depot, which has a Chambersburg address, but is actually north of Chambersburg.  Unfortunately, their graves are unmarked.  

I'd sure like to know more about Adam, and about how the wars affected his family and his life.  Did they have to leave their home and go back to Carlisle or Lancaster or another larger settlement?  What led him to become active in the militia?  And was he still a Mennonite at the time of his death?  

The line of descent is:

Adam Burkholder-Maria Gingerich

Joseph Burkholder-Elizabeth Miller

Barbara Burkholder-Benjamin Buchtel

Nancy Buchtel-Adam Kemery

Della Kemery-William Withers

Goldie Withers-Grover Harshbarger

Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Beeks

Their descendants

Holbrook line: Richard Seymour 1645-1710

 I was quite excited to find I've not yet written about Richard Seymour (usually Seamore in the old Connecticut records).  He's an interesting man, and I'm glad to share some of his story, although, as always, I wish I knew more of it.  

Richard Seymour was the son of Richard and Mercy Ruscoe Seymour, and was born about 1645 in Hartford, Connecticut, which at the time was still a small village on the Connecticut River.  He had at least 7 brothers and sisters, and they grew up in Norwalk, Connecticut, where the parents had moved in about 1650.  Richard Senior died in 1655 and Mercy then married John Steele, who would have been Richard's step father during his growing up years.  Our Richard moved to Hartford for a time, perhaps to learn a trade, and then went on to settle in Farmington.

Richard married Hannah Woodruff about 1674, probably in Farmington as that's where her parents, Matthew and Hannah (possibly Baldwin) Woodruff were living.  The couple stayed in Farmington for the rest of Richard's life and had at least five children together.   

We have a few documents about Richard, showing his admission to freeman status in 1669, and his membership in the church in Farmington in 1685, at a time when his children were young and likely needed to be baptized.  His wife had joined in 1679/80.  

We know he was referred to as "Captain", and we know he built a garrison house, surrounded by palisades, in about 1686.  This was really more of a fort, as there were several cabins built inside the walls, and our Richard was in charge of the site.  I have not found record that Richard was active during King Philip's War, but for him to have been "Captain" 10 years later, it seems possible, perhaps even probable.  I'm not sure what prompted the decision of the town to build the fort.  

We know he was involved in a land dispute in 1696/97 with Thomas Hancox, and that Thomas Hancox was involved in a dispute which may have been about the same land in 1702. (The area in question was 2 acres, more or less, and it looks like Richard may have lost his case).  The 1702 case included the name of Richard Seamor of Farmington as  plaintiff attorney against Thomas Hancox, but this could have been his son Reichard, or the son of John Seamor, I'm not sure.

Richard was killed in 1710 when a tree fell on him, in Berlin, Connecticut, which is a few miles south of Farmington.  Was there a storm, or was this an accident when he was possibly trying to clear land?

Richard was apparently well off by the standards of the day.  His probate papers are preserved but are damaged in some of the most interesting places.  His inventory was valued at over 416 pounds, and  this was divided between the widow and each of his five children.  

The same year that Richard died, one of his sons, Ebenezer, was charged (not for the last time) with counterfeiting Connecticut money.  I hope Richard didn't live to see that day, but Hannah surely did, for she died in 1713.  (As an aside, Connecticut had quite a problem with counterfeiters during colonial times.  I just skimmed a 256 page article about it, and noted that Ebenezer was apparently in cahoots with some Woodruff men, probably cousins of some sort.)  

I'd like to know more about Richard, including whether he had an occupation other than farming, whether he served in King Philip's War, and why the community felt the need for a fort in 1686.   But we can tell he was an upright and respected man, and we can be proud of him.

The line of descent is:

Richard Seymour-Hannah Woodruff

Hannah Seymour-Joseph Pomeroy

Medad Pomeroy-Hannah Trumbull

Medad Pomeroy-Eunice Southwell

Eunice Pomeroy-Libbeus Stannard

Libbeus Stanard-Luceba Fay

Hiram Stanard-Susan Eddy

Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick

Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants

Beeks line: Benjamin Slot Locke 1721-abt 1795

 Benjamin is a very difficult man to trace, not least because his name changed sometime between birth and death.  Much of what I have found is based on the research of Judith Rill, so she gets the credit for everything that's correct in this post and I get the blame for mistakes, and for my own speculation.  Benjamin is worth studying, not least because he was part of a vanishing subculture, the "Low Dutch" of Kentucky.

Benjamin didn't start out in Kentucky, though.  He was born probably in May (christening date is May 18, 1721 at or near the Dutch Reformed Church in Hackensack, New Jersey.  His parents were Jacobus and Maria Demarest Slodt (her name is seen as De Maree, but it's the same family as the Demorests), and he was one of at least 10 children born to the couple.  In general, these Dutch families, who in the Slodt case had been early settlers in New Amsterdam, were very hard workers.  Church and family were at the heart of their society, and most of them were contented and reasonably prosperous people.  Benjamin would have had a good childhood, we think.

That's why it's confusing that his marriage didn't take place until 1759.  I am certainly willing to be convinced, if someone has documents, that he was married prior to the April 17, 1759 marriage to Sarah Demarest.  She was 20 years younger than he, and it seems more likely that a (speculative) first wife had died prior to this marriage.  But there is no proof, so for now we'll just say that this was a marriage with a great age difference.  Sarah was the daughter of Samuel David and Lea Demarest, who were likely distant cousins.  These Demarest lines are intertwined to a great extent, due to the relatively small number of acceptable partners in their culture.

At some point, Benjamin and Sarah and their growing family (they're believed to have had at least five children) may have gone to Conewago Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania by 1772, with a group of the "Low Dutch".  It appears that the group may have been given its name in Pennsylvania, to avoid confusion with the "High Dutch" (Germans) who were already there.  Some sites say that Benjamin died in Adams County in 1772, but that must have been a different Benjamin, because this Benjamin died during 1795-1796 in Mercer County, Kentucky.  

We don't know when the group actually traveled to Kentucky.  There may have been prolonged stops along the way in Berkeley and Jefferson Counties, Virginia, but they were in Kentucky by the early 1790s.  This was not long after the Revolutionary War, and about the time that Kentucky became a state.  Native Americans had contested control of Kentucky since the days of Daniel Boone, and memories of the deaths of about 1500 Americans were fresh, but the Low Dutch settled in Mercer County, anyway.  

It appears to be here that Benjamin, either officially or unofficially, changed his name to Lock, which was the English translation of Slot or Slodt.  He is on some tax lists through 1795, and the following year it is Sarah who is taxed, so it's believed Benjamin died during that time period.   We don't know for sure what attracted the Locks and other families to Mercer County, but for most settlers, it was inexpensive, fertile land.  

I've not been able to figure out whether Benjamin served in any of the military conflicts of the time.  He was certainly of the right age to be involved in the French and Indian War, and possibly in the American Revolutionary war.  Records in several states would need to be studied to determine any involvement, and of course many records, particularly of local militia, are missing.  If he didn't serve, he at least would have been following the news and keeping an eye out for the safety of his family. 

Much research remains to be done regarding Benjamin and his family, but there is enough here to be intriguing.  

The line of descent is"

Benjamin Slot Lock-Sarah Demarest

William Lock-Elizabeth Teague

Sally Lock-Jeremiah Folsom

Leah Folsom-Darlington Aldridge

Harvey Aldridge-Margaret Catherine Dunham

Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks

Mary Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger

Their descendants

Holbrook line: Walter Phetteplace of Rhode Island

 It's taken a bit of digging to find even a few bits and pieces that tell us about Walter's life.  I am grateful for each nugget but certainly wish we had more.  The man was a deputy to the Rhode Island Assembly for several years, and was referred to as "Mr.", indicating respect, and one would think that more information would be on line about him.  

Walter was the son of Philip Phetteplace and either Ann or Sarah, maiden name unknown at this time.  Some sites say his mother was Ann Pentelow or Pantlow but a later Walter married a woman by that name, so I think it is a case of mistaken identity.  If a reader can confirm his mother's name I would be most grateful.  

He was born somewhere in or near Providence Plantation in the 1676-1680 time period.  I tend to think he was born after 1676 because there were few families in Providence during King Philip's War, and it took a while to get the area built back when the war ended.   Walter was one of at least four children.  He may have been a Baptist, because his father died in Newport, where Baptists were active, and Glocester itself was a center for "New Light Baptists".  

Walter married Johanna (sometimes seen as Hannah) Mowry, daughter of Nathaniel and Joanna Inman Mowry, on August 4, 1709, at Providence.  A more specific location is not known.  Both Philip Phetteplace and Nathaniel Mowry were respected citizens of their towns and Walter, as noted above, was also an active and respected citizen.  He and Johanna were the parents of seven children, but he still found time to serve as deputy in four different years.  

In one tidbit, as deputy on September 29, 1746, he and three other deputies dissented from the vote of the Assembly for additional works at Ft George, saying basically that the proposed amount was too little to do any good and they did not wish to approve more until the Fort was attacked.  Ft. George was in New York and was the scene of conflict in several wars, at this time fighting native American tribes allied with the French.  It appears to be a short-sighted view, but it is quite possible that Walter was a pacifist, as many of his neighbors were during the Revolutionary War a quarter of a century later.  I've not found his name anywhere as a military soldier, but that doesn't mean that he wasn't a soldier or militia member earlier in his life.  He would have been in his later sixties by the time of the 1746 petition.

Walter had his own land, but also received 10 acres from his father in law's estate in 1718.  This may or may not have been part of the original Inman-Mowry land.  He had land in Providence in 1711, and in 1713 settled in Glocester.  

Johanna died sometime in 1750 and Walter died December 29, 1753.  I haven't located a will or inventory for him, which is disappointing.  There are probably still records to be found about this ancestor, and I will keep looking for his footprints in and around Glocester.  Walter's stories should be found.

The line of descent is

Walter Phetteplace-Johanna Mowry

Sarah Phetteplace-Elisha Eddy

Enos Eddy-Sarah Brown

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

Harshbarger line: Jacob Huber about 1696-1759

There seems to be a bit of confusion about Jacob Huber, probably because there were at least two men named Jacob Huber who were born in about the same time period, each in Germany, and who show up in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania at about the same time.  I am following the research of Janet and Robert Wolfe for the most part, with a few speculations of my own added.  

Jacob was most likely the son of Hans and Barbli (Barbel, Barbara) Lier Huber, and was probably born about 1696 in the Palatinate region of what is now Germany.  Hans was a Mennonite, so he may have come from Switzerland originally, and settled in the Palatinate along with other Mennonite families who were forced to flee their homeland due to religious persecution.  Many of these families made their way to Pennsylvania in order to better practice their religion and also to secure land, which was seen as a necessity in order to support a family.  

It's not known for sure when the family arrived.  It may have been as early as 1710 or as late as 1728, or perhaps Hans had gone back to Germany sometime after 1710 and then returned in 1728.  Jacob was taxed in Conestoga Township beginning in 1718, for at least four years.  Jacob started acquiring land in 1728 and through the years, had at least 1700 acres warranted or surveyed, although not necessarily all at the same time.  He is noted as being in Earl, Warwick, and Martic townships at different times.  There is also the possibility that some of these tracts were for ironmaster Jacob Huber, who was apparently not the same man as our Jacob Huber, who farmed and owned a grist mill.

Jacob was married twice.  His first wife may have been named Anna, and she was the mother of six children. She is not yet identified, but she was the mother of our Anna Elizabeth.  She died about 1733 (her last child was born in 1733) and Jacob married again, to Anna Leininger.  They had at least five children together, so it was a large family that Jacob needed to support.  Like most Mennonite families, they would have worked together, long and hard, to do all that was needed to keep a farm and a family going.  

Although Jacob was raised a Mennonite, and probably remained one, he was apparently interested in what Count Zinzendorf, supporter of the Moravian movement, had to say because he hosted the Count at his home in 1742.  Two years later, Jacob signed a petition to find a teacher who could instruct in English, German, Greek, and Latin, so education was a priority in this household.  

The biggest mystery of his life to me is how he was affected by or involved in the various struggles with the French and native Americans during their several periods of conflict.  Lancaster County was the scene of several ambushes and massacres, and many of the residents fled to the larger towns and either lived with relatives or lived as refugees during the times of greatest danger.  Jacob may well have been a pacifist, but that may not have meant anything to those trying to drive the colonists out of what some tribes regarded as their land.  Also, he may not have taken up arms but may well have supplied local troops or built roads or held any number of other positions.  We just don't know.  If the family left during the difficult times, how long were they away, and was their farm destroyed?  Again, I've not found any records yet.

Jacob wrote his will on July 9 in Martic Township.  He mentioned two tracts of land, and left bequests to all eleven of his known children as well as to his widow.  The will was proved September 12, 1759.  

I'd sure like to clarify many of the details about Jacob's life, including when he came to America, who his first wife was, how many of these land tracts were his and if he moved often, why he did that.  I'd love to know what his life was like in relation to the conflicts with the native tribes and what role he played, or where he was, during that time.  And was he prosperous, or was he cash poor because he purchased so much land?  Jacob Huber left many questions as well as a large posterity.

The line of descent is

Jacob Huber-first wife

Anna Elizabeth Huber-Yost (Joseph) Gingerich

Maria Gingerich-Adam Burkholder

Joseph Burkholder-Elizabeth  Miller

Barbara Burkholder-Benjamin Buchtel 

Nancy (Fannie) Buchtel-Adam Kemery

Della Kemery-William Withers

Goldie Withers-Grover Harshbarger

Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Beeks

Their descendants

 

Holbrook line: Stephen Paine 1716-1797

 This is the last Stephen Paine in our line, I believe.  At least, he's the last ancestor with that name that I've located as of today.  This Stephen was born on August 17, 1716 in Providence Plantation, Rhode Island, the son of Stephen and Sarah Vallett Paine.  I have seen Sarah referred to as the widow Vallett so it may be that she has a maiden name yet to be discovered, but I have also seen that her parents were Jonathan Vallett and Elizabeth Belcher.  I haven't explored that possibility.  

When Stephen was born, Glocester was it's own community but not officially separated from Providence until 1739.  He was, however, considered a freeman of Glocester in 1738 so the town did have some autonomy prior to the "official" date.  We don't know what the religion of Stephen's birth family was.  Glocester was the center of the "New Light Baptists" and he would surely have been influenced by the beliefs of his neighbors if he wasn't actually one of the group.  At least some of his children were New Light Baptists (among other things, they believed in baptism, preferably by immersion, as adults, rather than the sprinkling done at infant baptisms in more traditional churches).  

Stephen married Sarah Thornton, daughter of Benjamin Thornton and a disputed wife who was possibly a Gurney by birth, on July 15, 1739, and the couple had at least six children together, the last born in 1752.  I've not found an indication of Stephen's occupation so I'm going to say he likely farmed, and may have had another job besides, as many men of the time did.  

That is as much as I know about Stephen until the time of the American Revolution.  We know he was a lieutenant serving under Captain Abraham Winsor (probably the father of his daughter in law) in the train band in 1775.  He was almost 60 years old at the time, so it's more than possible that he also had other military experience, possibly in the French and Indian War.  However, I have not been able to document that at all, so the earlier military experience idea is just speculation at this point.  Also, we don't know whether he served during the Revolution, as again, evidence is lacking.  Glocester was a divided town during the Revolution.  Most residents were patriots, but there were several of the New Light Group who were pacifists.  His son, Nathan, whom I wrote about recently, was one of the pacifists.  Also, at Stephen's age, he probably would have been excused from duty had he requested it, as 60 year old men were not up to the rigors of a military campaign as a general rule.  

Sarah Thornton Paine died in 1772, but Stephen lived until December 29, 1797, which gave him plenty of time to swap war stories and to watch the new country being born.  I have not located his will or inventory, which should tell us much.  Like his wife, he died in Glocester.  

This is not a lot of information to fill in the "dash" of Stephen's life,  There may be more records available than I have located (there almost always are) but at least this is an outline to use when researching the answers to many of the questions we have about Stephen.  

The line of descent is:

Stephen Paine-Sarah Thornton

Nathan Paine-Lillis Winsor

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

Holbrook line: George Haile, maybe ours

 Full disclosure:  I have not yet found anything other than geographical location and name patterns to prove that this connection is truly ours.  But it does seem plausible, and even if George turns out to be an uncle or cousin rather than a great grandfather, his history is interesting enough that it deserves a blog post.  As usual, one of the difficulties is that the name is spelled several different ways.  Another is that some of the earliest records are gone.  (And for me, some of the books I need to refer to for this man are not available to me at the moment.  Hint:  I need to make a trip to The Genealogy Center at the Allen County Public Library.)  

There is some confusion about where and when George was actually born, mostly because his parents are not confirmed.  I've found several men born in the right time frame, but none seem to have been born at what is believed to be his birthplace, in Kent, England.  There is a William and Rose Bond Haile of King's Walden, Hertfordshire, England, who was born on July 13, 1601, and most trees that are available are saying that these are his parents.  However, none of his alleged children carry those names forward, so I'm a little suspicious of that identification.  Also, neither of those locations is reasonably close to Bristol, Somersetshire, England, where he set sail from in 1620.

He came to Virginia as an indentured servant, but I've not been able to determine who his master was, nor whether he was indentured in England or only after he arrived in Virginia.  And it gets murkier, because some claim he married Mary Elizabeth Blood in 1620, in Bristol, and some say it was 1626, and in Virginia.  Others agree that his wife was Elizabeth, but do not attempt to date the marriage.  Obviously the correct documentation has not yet been found.  (And there's always the possibility that he married one woman in 1620, lost her to death, and married again in 1626.) Still others think that our George came a bit later, and the boy or man who immigrated in 1620 was a different George.  

George's children are believed to be John, Thomas, and Nicholas,  with Audrey and Ellin sometimes listed as well.  George must have acquired land because he sold 300 acres in 1651, to Thomas Mallett.  Four years later, he was in court where he was ordered to pay the estate of Thos Coggin, deceased, 300 pounds of tobacco.  From this comment, it seems likely that he raised tobacco, although tobacco was a form of currency at the time and he may have merely owned it.  

George was "above 60 years of age on July 22, 1661, when he was exempt from the levy. Two lines below that, in "Northumbria Collectanea 1645-1720", there is a reference to Mr. Nich (Haile), who "wanted satisfaction of Walter Price for entertaining his runaway servant, January 11, 1668/69.  While this doesn't prove a father-son relationship, it does indicate that the two were in the same general location during the same time period.  

George died November 6, 1671 near Reedville, in Northumberland County, Virginia. If he was the George who arrived in 1620, he lived through some extremely trying times as the native tribes tried to drive the colonists from the continent.  There were periods of warfare, the threat of wild animals, and diseases like swamp fever and malaria to combat.  George would have been 70 years old, perhaps older, when he died so his outlived many of the people who came on the same ship with him, whenever that was.  

Obviously there is a lot of work still to be done with George.  We need his will or estate papers, and would love to see an inventory.  We'd love to figure out just who his parents were, and how his wife or wives were.  And we'd love to know details about his every day life.

The (supposed) line of descent is:

George Haile-Elizabeth

Nicholas Haile-Mary

Mary Haile-Charles Merryman

John Merryman-Martha Bowen

Martha Merryman-Alexis Lemmon

Alexis Lemmon-Rachel Stansbury

Sarah Lemmon-Abraham Hetrick

Isaac Hetrick-Elizabeth Black

Mary Alice Hetrick-Louis Stanard

Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants

Harshbarger line: John Wyatt 1663-1714

 It's time to leave the Harshbargers of Switzerland, Germany and Pennsylvania, and head south to Virginia.  I am pretty sure this man has roots in England, perhaps even noble roots, but I've not been able to find the connection (if any) to my satisfaction.  So what we have is just a glimpse here and there of a man who was born and died in Gloucester County, Virginia.  

We don't know who John Wyatt's parents were.  The "information" on line (unsourced, hence the quotes) is about equally divided between John and Jane Osborne Wyatt, or William and  unknown wife (possible first name of Anna) Wyatt.  I suspect that the John and Jane theory is more one of wishful thinking, because that John does appear to tie back to nobility.  William must have had something on the ball, because he was referred to by the end of his life as "Major".  A 1944 article in Tyler's Quarterly Magazine does state that John is Major William's son, but I don't know the source that author used to draw that conclusion.  At any rate, William is currently a brick wall, too. 

If the birth year of 1663 for John is correct, he would have been 13 years old when Bacon's Rebellion broke out.  That was an attempt, briefly successful, to overthrow the colonial governor of Virginia, fueled partly by dislike, fear, and hatred of native Americans, and partly by economics.  Most of those who were rebels were farmers, indentured servants, and slaves, so it was partly a class war also.  I don't know where this left the Wyatt family, but due to William being a Major who survived the rebellion, my guess is that this family was on the side of the governor.  Further adding to that speculation is the fact that Governor Berkeley retreated to Gloucester County, north of Jamestown, when the town was burned.  He must have felt safe there, or at least safer than other places would have been.

We know that John married Anne Jones, daughter of Rice Jones, because her father's will specified John and Anne's son, John Jr., by name..  The marriage took place before 1693.  The couple is thought to have had at least three children-John, Thomas, and Ann.  Other children have been assigned to John but they are generally located in a different part of Virginia and unless John was a traveling man, they are unlikely to be part of this family.  

Most of the crops raised in Gloucester County fed the family and their slaves or servants.  We don't know if John held slaves, or indentured servants, but since the main cash crop of Virginia was tobacco, it is likely that John was part of that social strata.  

Many sites say John died in 1684, but this would be a different John, because our John wasn't married until 8 or so years later.  (The John who died in 1684 may be the John who is erroneously supposed by some to be our John's father.)  The correct date for our John's death appears to be August 3, 1714.

There is still much to be learned about John, and it's possible that some of this blog post is not entirely correct.  Records seem to be muddled and I've done my best to not report those things that clearly tie to another John Wyatt, due to impossible dates.  But most of all, I'd like to know whether John ties in, in any way, to the famous Wyatt family.  Meanwhile, we need to remember that part of the family line goes to Virginia and England, and appreciate the different cultures in our blood.

The line of descent is

John Wyatt-Anne Jones

Thomas Wyatt-Sukey Edmondson

John Wyatt-Alice Gordon

Jean Wyatt-William Farmer

Margaret Farmer-Solomon Eliot Bennett

Mary Bennett-John Harter

Clara Harter-Emmanuel Harshbarger

Grover Harshbarger-Goldie Withers

Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Beeks

Their descendants

Beeks line: Thomas Aldridge 1680-1726

 I've so far assembled very few facts for Thomas Aldridge.  Most of what I know could be summarized in one paragraph, but even though I don't know a lot about him, he's important in the Beeks family line and deserves at least a few lines until I can uncover more information.

Thomas Aldridge was born or baptized November 5, 1680 in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.  His parents were Nicholas and Martha Besson Aldridge, and he was the first of the couple's ten known children. He was likely named for Martha's father, Thomas Besson, who had passed away in 1679, about the time that Nicholas and Martha were married.  

Nicholas's land was on the South River in Anne Arundel County, and it is likely that Thomas, as the oldest son, inherited the land but I've not yet found records for that.  The South River is south of Annapolis, and empties into the Chesapeake Bay, so Thomas would have had ample opportunity for both hunting and fishing during his early years.  I speculated in the post I wrote about Nicholas that he was probably a tobacco farmer, and that he may well have held slaves.  The same holds true for Thomas, but I don't have any records to say "yay" or "nay" to this supposition.

Thomas married Elizabeth Purdy, daughter of Johan and Mary (maiden name unknown) Purdy, on July 15, 1703 at All Hallows Parish, Anne Arundel County.  This church had been established some years earlier, and it was Anglican (Church of England, now Episcopalian) in belief and practice.  This was a very different religious and social environment from other Beeks ancestors, who lived further north and were Quaker, or Baptist, or Puritan, or Dutch Reformed, in belief.  

Thomas and Elizabeth had at least seven children, all baptized at All Hallows Church.  We don't know how regular their attendance was, nor have I learned what their assigned seats (assuming this church assigned seats, which is probable) were.  That information would help us determine their social status in the community.

As far as I've learned so far, Thomas seems not to have been active in civic or military service.  Control was in the hands of a wealthy few, and Thomas may not have belonged to the top echelon.  

Thomas probably died in December of 1726.  Some trees use December 1762 but I suspect that is a typographical error.  I've not found a will so I can't make any kind of judgement, but I will keep looking.  We do know that the last known child was born in 1723, but that may be because Elizabeth had reached the end of her child-bearing years.  (There was a Thomas Aldridge in Baltimore County who died in 1714.  I have been unable to identify him but none of the names mentioned in that will correspond with our Thomas's known children.)

This is as much as I know or suppose about Thomas Aldridge.  I like to think that he lived a happy life, providing for his family and enjoying his beautiful surroundings, with time to fish or hunt as he wished.  I appreciate knowing that his descendants fought in the American Revolution, eventually released their slaves, and contributed to America's growth.  But I'd sure like to find some more facts!

The line of descent is

Thomas Aldridge-Elizabeth Purdy

John Aldridge-Eleanor probably Watkins

Jacob Aldridge-Elizabeth Soper

John Simpson Aldridge-Mary Lakin

John Simpson Aldridge-Lucinda Wheeler

Darlington Aldridge-Leah Folsom

Harvey Aldridge-Margaret Catherine Dunham

Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks

Mary Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger

Their descendants

Holbrook line: Samual Perrin 1670-1743

 There are several people named Samuel Perrin who lived in various locations in Massachusetts and Connecticut in overlapping time periods, so I hope I have this figured out correctly.  Samuel Perrin was born March 10, 1670/71, in Rehoboth, Massachusetts.  He was the son of John and Mary Polley Perrin, and was the grandson of immigrant John Perrin (Peryn, Perrine and more variations).  

Rehoboth is located in the southern part of Massachusetts that is quite near to the eastern border of Rhode Island, and this may have been where Samuel grew up.  However, John and Mary both died in Roxbury, Massachusetts, so it is possible that the family had moved there, perhaps during King Philip's War, and therefore Samuel would have grown up mostly in Roxbury.  Samuel had at least nine siblings, so wherever they lived, it was a large family. with Samuel being the second oldest.  He was 17 years old when his youngest sister was born, and was possibly living with another family by then, if he wasn't needed in his father's trade.

It was in Roxbury that Samuel married Mehitable Child, daughter of Benjamin and Mary Bowen Child.  (Mary's ancestry goes back to royalty, and Benjamin was important enough that he was referred to as "Mr."  Samuel must have looked like an up and coming young man, for the Childs to approve him as a son-in-law.  I've not found precise marriage records, but it appears that the two were married in late 1694 or early 1695, as their first child was born in September of 1695.  

By that date, Samuel and presumably Mehitable had gone to what is now Woodstock, Connecticut although at the time it was located on land claimed by Massachusetts.  Several families from Roxbury, including other Child and Bowen families, went together to form a new settlement.  Samuel is one of those recognized as an early resident, arriving probably in 1694.  

There are several references to Samuel Perrin in "History of Windham County, Connecticut" by Ellen D Larned.  Our Samuel had a son Samuel born in 1698, and it is possible that some of the references may be to this son, but the earlier ones would definitely be our Samuel.  He purchased 300 acres of land "at a very early date" from the Wabbequasset proprietors.  This was in the southern part of Woodstock, and references to Samuel Perrin of Pomfret, which bordered Woodstock, may or may not be to our Samuel.  It was our Samuel who was one of three men who purchased 300 acres in 1699, valuable land because of numerous pine trees that produced turpentine.  Samuel is one of those referred to as "businessmen" of Woodstock.

In 1710, Samuel (ours) was on a committee to build, or perhaps to oversee the building of, two new schoolhouses in south Woodstock.  By then, he and Mehitable had nearly completed their family of eight children, and getting their children educated (according to the standards of the day) would have been very important to them.  A new meeting house/church was built in 1721, and Samuel was assigned a pew indicating that he had the fourth highest standing in the town.  (Mehitable would have been assigned a similar spot.)  

I cannot tell whether it is our Samuel or his son Samuel who pledged to donate fifteen pounds, a substantial sum, to the United Society or Company for Propagating Christian and Useful Knowledge" in 1739.  This appears to have been a library of some sort.  Even if it was the younger Samuel who made this donation, it indicates that in the Perrin family, education was a priority, as was religion.  

Samuel died March 11, 1743/44 in Woodstock.  In his will, he describes himself as "of Woodstock, Worcester County, Massachusetts", because Woodstock didn't become part of Connecticut until 1749.  He wrote his will May 7, 1734 and it was probated May 8, 1744.  (I wonder if the 1734 date is correct but that is what the record says.)  He described himself as a yeoman, but had significant assets to distribute.  To his wife, he left 15 pounds per annum plus the use of the west end of the house, garden and necessary yard room, during her widowhood.  If she remarried, she was to be sent on her way with forty pounds.  To his three sons Samuel, Abraham and John, he left 15 shillings each "having formerly advanced very considerable sums to each of them for their comfortable settlement in this world."  To daughters Mary Peak and Mehitabel Peak he left 100 pounds each, have already advanced money to thgem.  Son Nathaniel was to receive 5 acres of land at Planting, where Nathaniel had already started an orchard.  The remaining land, livestock, and utensils of husbandry were to be divided between Nathaniel and Peter.  Sadly, I've not found an inventory but this at least gives us a feel that Samuel was not a poor man. 

Mehetable (spelling as in Hale Collection), wife (widow) of Samuel, died September 7, 1752, presumably having received her 15 pounds each of the intervening years.  

There's quite a bit we still don't know about Samuel, but we know enough to recognize his importance to his family, to his community, and to his posterity.  

The line of descent is:

Samuel Perrin-Mehitable Child

John Perrin-Abigail Morris

Benjamin Perrin-Mary or Marcy

Mary Perrin-David Fay

Luceba Fay-Libbeus Stanard

Hiram Stanard-Susan Eddy

Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick

Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook

Their descendants

Holbrook line: Benjamin Thornton abt 1681-1742

 I confess that there is much about Benjamin Thornton that is unknown, and much of what is "known" is undocumented, or at least I haven't found records yet.  Therefore, this will be a short post but it will serve to remind us of this part of our family history, and will remind family historians that even in New England, which kept pretty good records ever since the earliest days, much has slipped through the cracks of time.

Benjamin Thornton was born in Providence (Plantation), Rhode Island about 1681.  His father was John Thornton, but there is some dissent about the name of his mother.  Many sites show Sarah Thurston, although I've not found any records showing her name, so take this with a grain of salt.  Likely her name was Sarah, though.  John died in 1695 and his wife sometime after that, so Benjamin was left fatherless as a young teenager-not quite a man but it was surely time for him to be learning a trade, if he was not already doing so.  Benjamin was the youngest of the eight children, so he may have been kept at home a little longer than the other children, but all good things must come to an end.

Benjamin became a stonelayer.  I'm not sure whether this is the same thing as a stone mason, who cut, dressed, and placed stone, or whether he simply placed stones that were already cut.  One would be a laborer's job and one would imply some skill and training.  It's hard to know what "stonelayer" meant 300 years ago, and how precisely the word was used.  Benjamin had land as early as 1699, if this is the same Benjamin Thornton (there was at least one other Benjamin in Providence at the time, so I'm not sure we are talking about the same man).  It's possible this is land that he received when his father died in 1695.

 Benjamin married about 1699.  His wife's name is a matter of controversy.  There is a documented marriage of "Benjamin Thornton Jr" to Elizabeth Herendeen Gurney, but this marriage took place in 1738, when Benjamin was about 57 years old.  (It is likely this applies to another Benjamin, just as the records of Benjamin as a freeman in the 1680s also apply to a different Benjamin.) Most trees show Benjamin's wife to be a Gurney, possibly Mary, but I don't know what the basis is for that "fact". Benjamin and his wife are thought to be the parents of perhaps as many as six children.  He is sometimes credited with an additional daughter, Mary, who was born four years after Benjamin's death, so that is an error, either in date or in attribution. 

He seems to have sold the parcel he acquired in 1699 in 1707 but must have acquired additional land, for he sold 60 acres to Experience Mitchell in 1715. In 1742, he sold his son David 23 acres of his, Benjamin's, homestead, excepting "four rods" for a burying place.  This may have been in preparation for his death, which occurred sometime that same year. The land David purchased was in Glocester, which had just formed out of Providence Plantation.  It's possible this had been Thornton land for generations.  

There is much about Benjamin that I don't yet know-his religion, his possible military service, the names of his mother and his wife, and his degree of participation in town affairs.  I've not located a will nor an inventory.  We do know, however, that he worked to support his family, and that he lived in what was at the time an area still being developed into a town.  He was one of the men who helped build America, and this family.

The line of descent is:

Benjamin Thornton-possibly Mary, possibly Gurney

Sarah Thornton-Stephen Paine

Nathan Paine-Lillis Winsor

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

 

Harshbarger line: Benedict Kepner 1714-1778

 Benedict Kepner would probably be easier to trace if there weren't at least two alternate spellings for his name (Kepler, Kebler, probably Kebner).  However, we do know enough about him that we can pretty well trace him and place him at a few times and locations.  That is more than we can do for some ancestors.

Benedict was born in Suzfeld, Karlsruhe, Baden-Wuerttemberg (what is now Germany) on or before June 29, 1714.  (That date may be a baptismal date.)  His parents were Benedict or Bernard and Anna Barbara Schlagmann Kepner, and he was the youngest of their eleven known children.  Soon after Benedict was born, probably in 1715, his parents and most of the family took the enormous step of moving across the ocean to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  By now, some of the children may have been close to thirty years old and it's not clear whether they all came or not, but at any rate, it would have been a large family group that traveled together.  I can feel the pain that Anna Barbara went through.  (She died in 1718, just a few short years after arriving here, and I can't help wondering whether the trials of the voyage had anything to do with her death.)

Benedict's father seems to have stayed in the Philadelphia area for his life, but Benedict himself had other plans.  He married Maria Salome Weicker or Weickert in 1734, and they settled in Bern township, Berks County, where he farmed and owned and operated a grist mill.  (Some records, because he is identified as a miller, actually show Miller as the surname but this is an incorrect interpretation of the original record.)

Benedict and Maria Salome had at least eight children together.  The family was Lutheran, with some of the children being baptized by the Reverend Daniel Schumacher,  (As an interesting aside, this man had no ministerial training and was a fraktur painter by trade.  He often did certificates of baptism and marriages, incorporating his art.  I wonder if any were done for this family?)   I've been unable to locate a specific church for the Kepners, but at least we know they were Lutheran.  

I've not located any specific information about the family during the French and Indian War, but it is quite likely that they were affected in one way or another.  Benedict may well have been in the militia, called out to guard settlers and defend forts, perhaps even going on expeditions.  Many people in the area left for safer shelter until the worst of the violence was over.  Did Benedict send his family away?  So far I've been unable to determine that.  Wherever they were, it would have been a terrifying time as about 100 people in the county were killed by the natives during the war.  

Benedict was 50 years old when he took a naturalization oath in 1764.  Four years later, there are tax records that show he had 150 acres of wooded land, 40 acres cleared, and 10 that I can't make out the heading for.  In the same record, it's indicated that he had two horses, 5 cattle, and 4 sheep, and also a mill.  He was taxed at 10 pounds, which is the second highest total on the page. He may not have been what we would consider prosperous, but he was probably at least in comfortable circumstances, at the time.  

A few years later, in 1771, he moved to Cumberland County with his sons John and Benjamin, perhaps as a widower.  He is said to have died back at his old home in Bern township in 1778, but records seem to be lacking.  It is possible that he died in Cumberland County but was buried "back home", perhaps beside his wife.  

I've not found a will for Benedict, so we don't know whether he still held real estate or the mill when he died.  I'd like to know, just because I'm curious, whether he lived entirely within the German communities, or whether he learned English.  I wonder whether or not he was literate.  I especially wonder about his experiences during the French and Indian War.  But at least we know a few details about his life, and can be grateful that he is part of the family.

Full disclosure:  At least one researcher does not think that Bernard Kepler, whom I list as a son, was Benedict's son.  This person believes Bernard to be a son of Johannes Jurg Kepner, who was a brother to Benedict.  I am not at all convinced of this, but would love to see documentation if it's available.

The line of descent somewhat tentative, I guess) is:

Benedict Kepner-Maria Salome Weickert

Bernard Kepler-Maria Elizabeth Lindemuth

Andrew Kepler-Anna Maria Kraemer

Mary Kepler-George Harshbarger

Lewis Harshbarger-Catherine Mentzer

Emmanuel Harshbarger-Clara Ellen Harter

Grover Harshbarger-Goldie Withers

Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Beeks

Their descendants

 

Holbrook line: John Eames, unknown dates

 I'm sure hoping someone will be able to help me with John Eames, the son of John and Abigail Rosemorgie also seen as Morgan) Eames.  I have dates that don't add up, and places where he supposedly lived, that seem not to have records for him.  And for the few sources that I have, I can find them in only one place, not duplicated elsewhere.  Usually that could be a red flag, but it could also just mean that John was a man who lived under the radar, or who lived in several different locations.

John was probably born or baptized August 15, 1701 in New London, Connecticut.  I have seen other families claiming this John Eames as theirs, and perhaps the confusion is easily cleared up.  At least some of those have John married to Ann Stebbins, in 1726.  She died November 6, 1732, having given birth to two children.  Perhaps it was the same John Eames who married Rachel Comstock in New London on April 4, 1736.  She was about 19 years younger than John, and may well have been a relative of John's first mother in law, who was Bethia Comstock Stebbins.  John and Rachel had at least four children together, perhaps raising John's first two children also. 

About the only solid fact I have is that John admitted his fault when his first son, Daniel, was baptized in 1729, at the Congregational Church, and that he was admitted to the church on September 18, 1743.  This appears to have been without "owning the covenant"; the requirements for church membership were not as stringent as they had been earlier.  

I have not been able to determine a death date for John.  None of the wills I've found for "John Ames" appear to match in terms of wive's names, or children's names.  It is possible that he had moved out of the area before he died.  It's also possible that he was living in 1790, in one of the three John Ames's households who were listed in that census, or perhaps with a daughter.  He was obviously not the John Ames who died in 1735 (that appears to have been his father), and he doesn't seem to be the one of Preston, Connecticut who died in 1768.  

Although I don't know much specifically about John, I've just finished reading a book called "For Adam's Sake" by Allegra di Bonaventura. There is much social history in the book that would apply to John, such as the Great Awakening and the New Lights and the Rogerenes, as far as religion goes.  There is also a good explanation of how families were raised, with children being sent to live with other families at a young age in order to learn a trade or act as a servant to learn how to run a household.  This may well have occurred with the Eames family, especially with the two oldest.  We simply don't know.  The book also details the relationship New London had with slavery.  We don't know whether or not John held one or more slaves, but many people in the town did.  It's a very interesting book and if you are at all interested in early New London life, I recommend it.  

I would love to hear from other Eames researchers or family members, who may have additional information to help us fill in the many blanks in our knowledge of this ancestor.  Meanwhile, we know that he lived and died, and left a family that eventually led to our family.

The line of descent is:

John Eames-Rachel Constock

John Eames-Elizabeth Longbottom

Hannah Eames-James Lamphire

Susan Lamphire-Joseph Eddy

Susan Eddy-Hiram Stanard

Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick

Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants 

 

Beeks line: Samuel Smith 1644-1719

 Family historians need to be careful when they research, when they draw conclusions, and when they share them.  Even with all these efforts, sometimes they still lead people astray.  As has happened several times in my research, I've found that at least two different men named Samuel Smith have been merged into one.  In this case, it's understandable because they were born around the same time, and in the same general location.  I hope I have untangled them enough to give accurate information here.

Samuel Smith, the son of pastor and millwright John Smith and his wife Susannah Hinckley, was baptized  October 24, 1644, about six moths after he was born, in Barnstable, Plymouth County, Massachusetts.  He was the first of the couple's 13 known children.  Samuel grew up in Barnstable, probably learning his father's trade or at least being exposed to it.  Barnstable was a town that was not quite as anti-Quaker as the other towns and villages in Plymouth Colony, but Samuel was brought up as a Puritan and likely a Separatist (Pilgrim).  As such, and as the first son, he would also have learned the basics of reading and writing, although we don't know how literate he actually became.

Samuel's mother died, probably in or following childbirth, in 1667 and nine years later his father, and two of his brothers moved to New Jersey, where they helped found the town of Woodbridge.  There Samuel married Esther (also seen as Easter) Dunham, the daughter of Jonathan and Mary Bloomfield Dunham, who are Beeks ancestors on a different line.  They were married about 1680, with four children being born during the next nine years.  Sadly, Esther died August 14, 1690, leaving those four children motherless.  

I should note that it's possible Samuel had an earlier marriage, as he would have been 36 at the time he married Esther, which is late for that time period.  One researcher thinks it possible that Samuel went to Woodbridge as a widower with three children.  

However, it's possible that he simply delayed marriage in order to help his father raise his youngest five or six siblings.  If this is the case, then Samuel had at least some experience in raising young children, but he remarried in less than two years.  His second (or possibly third) wife was Elizabeth Pierce, whom he married about 1691; I've found three different dates for the marriage and am not sure which is correct.  (I am also not sure who were parents were.  I had a whole blog post written about the Daniel Pierce who married Elizabeth Shedd, but that does not appear to be correct, because Daniel named his daughter in his will as Elizabeth Mixer.  I'm still researching that. It's possible that she was the daughter of Daniel Pierce, but a different one than named above.) 

Samuel was granted 103 acres of land when the village of Woodbridge was founded, and he was also given a lot (number 27) in the fourth division of land in 1717, as one of the original founders.  I've not found records of the other two divisions but he may well have received lands, possibly woodlot or meadow, in those divisions also.  His home was across the commons from the meeting house, and was used on more than one occasion as the location for meetings of the town government, when the meeting house was too cold for the men.  

One account listed at least eight men who would have been present at the meeting, so we can think that the Smith home was not small.  If it had no other advantages, it at least had a fireplace, and some sort of seats-chairs or benches-for the men.  

Samuel was given minor positions in the town, although they required some skills.  At various times, he was constable, and overseer of the highway.

One aspect of Samuel's life gives us reason to pause.  In 1717, he paid 50 pounds current New Jersey silver to purchase Phebe, a "Negro woman".  We don't know if this was his first and only slave, nor do we know why he purchased her.  It's possible that Elizabeth was not well and needed help.  I've not found information yet indicating whether this would have been unusual for Woodbridge, or whether there were additional enslaved people in the town.  We do know that he still held a Negro girl at the time that he wrote his will, which was December 16, 1719.

Although we know when he wrote his will, we don't know when Samuel died.  The will was not probated until October 15, 1729.  In it, he mentions just three of his seven (or ten) children; the three youngest.  He had likely given his other children land, or money, or other goods as they married and started their own families.  

This is what is known about Samuel.  There are at least three other bits of "information" floating about the internet that are unproven.  He is sometimes referred to as "Rev. Samuel Smith."  I've found no indication that is correct, but I have found other men with the same name who were "Reverend".  He is said to have been a member of the New Jersey Assembly in 1709, 1716, and 1718, but I've been unable to verify this.  (There was a Samuel Smith from Burlington who was a member of the Assembly and who died in 1718, so there may be reason for the confusion.) And finally, there is a family tradition that Samuel Smith operated a tavern in Wellfleet, Plymouth Colony before going to Woodbridge.  There was a Samuel Smith in Wellfleet but I have been unable to confirm that is was our Samuel Smith; the references I have found point to an 18th century man.)

Samuel doesn't need to have been a pastor, or a member of the New Jersey Assembly, or an early tavern owner, for us to appreciate his life.  He was a respectable citizen who raised a large family, who contributed to his town, and who seems to have stayed out of any trouble with the law.  I'd love to actually view his will and inventory.  He also has to be considered a pioneer; Woodbridge was on the frontier when it was founded during King Philip's War, and was west of the still small town of New York.  There were wild animals (bears, wolves, probably panthers or other large cats) to deal with and native Americans who were used to thinking of the land as theirs.  He led an interesting life.

The line of descent is

Samuel Smith-Elizabeth Pierce

Shubael Smith-Prudence Fitzrandolph

Mary Smith-Jonathan Dunham

Samuel Dunham-Hannah possibly Ruble

Jacob Dunham-Catherine Goodnight

Samuel Dunham-Eliza Matilda Reese

Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge

Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks

Mary Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger

Their descendants

 

 

Holbrook line: Samuel Wilson 1686-1730

 A man who lived only about 43 years (he died "in his 43rd year") doesn't necessarily leave a lot of records behind him.  I feel fortunate that I've found a few things, but not enough to make me feel that I could sit and talk with him for a little while.  Too much is just unknown.

Samuel was born April 5, 1686 in Dedham, Massachusetts Bay Colony, the son of Ephraim and Rebecca Sumner Wilson.  (Rebecca was a daughter of Samuel and Rebecca Staples Sumner, the couple that had gone to Dorchester County, South Carolina to found a Puritan colony there.  Rebecca stayed behind, probably because Ephraim didn't go south with the Dorchester group.)  So Samuel would not have known his Sumner grandparents except as a very young child, and his Wilson grandparents also died before he could have known them well.

So Ephraim and Rebecca were pretty much on their own when raising their children in Dedham.  Samuel had at least four siblings and there were doubtless other young children in the village.  Samuel would have attended the local church and had religious instruction at home, if the family followed local expectations.  He also would have learned to read and write.  

Samuel married Elizabeth Hawes (also seen as Haws), daughter of Nathaniel and Sarah Newell Hawes, on November 4, 1714.  Some records say the marriage took place in Dover, but Dover didn't become a town until later.  Dover is on the border of Needham, so likely the official place of marriage should be Needham.  We know that Samuel Wilson and his neighbor Thomas Fuller petitioned for a road from the Charles River (where Samuel's land was located) to the "top of the hill by the plains" on January 29, 1720, so it appears that Samuel had moved either at the time of his marriage or shortly after.  When the Needham church organized, he was one of the men who signed the church covenant on March 18, 1719/20.

Samuel served several minor town office positions in Needham.  He was a field driver in 1714 and 1720, a tythingman in 1723, a fence viewer in 1719 and 1723, and a surveyor of the highway in 1721-1726.  These were all jobs that might be considered "town employee" jobs except that there was no pay for doing them.  The tythingman position was a church position, which involved helping to keep discipline in the church, especially among the youth . The one reference to an occupation was that of school teacher.  He was paid 5 pounds for keeping school for the month of February, 1726/27, but I found no further reference to other school sessions.  (The information in this paragraph comes from The History of Needham, Massachusetts 1711-1911 by George Clarke.)  

Samuel Wilson is listed in the Dedham, Massachusetts Town and Tax Records for September 18, 1717.  He was taxed on a small estate, for the town, the school, and the minister.  His values are about average for the town, it seems.  I'm not sure that this is the same Samuel, as we have record of him in Needham in 1714, but he may have lived in Needham and owned property in Dedham.  

Samuel and Elizabeth had at least six children together, but only four survived their childhood.  Samuel's will leaves everything (including 13 1/2 acres of land) to his wife Elizabeth during her widowhood, with the real estate and personal property going to his son Seth when she died or remarried.  The three daughters were to be given money as they came of age or married.  So there Elizabeth was, with four children to raise.  She was doubtless still grieving the death of a son a year earlier, and their first son also died as a toddler.  

Samuel wrote his will in December of 1729 and died February 2, 1730, so he must have known he was ill (or badly injured?).  I haven't yet located an inventory.   Elizabeth died as a widow, December 18, 1739.  There should be guardian papers for some of the children but I'm still looking for those, too.  

I've not found any indication of military service for Samuel, although he would likely have been part of a training band.  We know he could read and write, because he taught school, and we know he was respected, because school teachers had to be such.  And we know he was active in the church, because he was a tythingman.  But he owned just a relatively small plot of land.  Did he have a trade besides that of farmer?  I sure would like to find an inventory, which might give us a clue.

The line of descent is:

Samuel Wilson-Elizabeth Hawes

Rebecca Wilson-Jonathan Wright

Molly Wright-Amariah Holbrook

Nahum Holbrook-Susanna Rockwood

Joseph Holbrook-Mary Elizabeth Whittemore

Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown

Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants

Harshbarger line: Johan George Weikert 1682-1755

 A short blog post is better than no blog post, I guess.  I have been trying to honor each of our family ancestors (males, mostly, but once in a while a woman) who came to and lived in what is now the United States of America.  Some people, like George Weikert, seem to have left few records.  Yet, because they had children who had children (etc.), they are part of our family history and deserve to have a mention in this blog.

Johan George (Georg) Weikert was born September 23, 1685 (or possibly 1682) at Eschollbrueck, Darmstadt, Hessen, Germany.  His parents were Johan and Maria Magdalene Wetzel Weiker. (Note: There are various spellings for his surname.  I'm using the one that appears the few times I have seen his name in print.  Eschollbrueck was a very small, very Lutheran town when George was born, and is still quite small.  

I have located nothing that tells us whether George had siblings, or what may have become of them, nor we know much about his life in Hesse.  He married Barbara Elisabeth Daecher, daughter of Herman and Anna Catherina Werthes Daecher, with conflicting marriage dates of 1711 and 1719.  If the marriage took place in 1711, Elisabeth would have been just 17 years old, a little young even for the time, but Georg would was in his mid to late 20s and would have been quite old enough to "settle down".  We can surmise that the young couple attended the church in town that is apparently still standing.  George would also have recognized the town hall, which was almost 100 years old when he was born.

Probably for economic reasons, George and Elisabeth came to Pennsylvania in or before 1724.  Their earliest known record is of George as one of the founding members of the Old Goshenhoppen church in what is now Upper Salford Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.  This church was a combined Lutheran and Reformed church, but I've been unable to determine whether the two congregations worshiped together or whether separate services were held.  

I'm not sure how many children George and Elisabeth had.  At least one died as an infant and there is a possibility that there were multiple births, as there seem to be two sets of twins in the family.  Some of the children, who were born in 1739 and 1741, may not actually belong to this family, as Elisabeth would have been in her mid 40's when she had them.  We can at least assume this was a large family, with some of the children having been born in Hesse and some in Philadelphia County.  

I've not found land, nor military, nor estate records for George so about all I can say of his life here was that he was a farmer and that, according to one source, he was an elder of the church.  I don't how how he and his family fared economically, but I like to think that he was at least somewhat successful here.  He was alive during some of the French and Indian War, when many people fled their homes and returned to live nearer the East Coast.  We don't know whether George was one of those who left, or one of those who stayed, nor do we know whether he ever took up arms against the natives who attacked much of the area. 

George died March 16, 1755, in or near Goshenhoppen, where he had apparently lived for over 30 years.  He isn't listed in the burial listings for the church, but there could be reasonable explanations for that.  It could also be that he was buried nearer his home.  That's another of the mysteries of George.  

As mentioned, this is a short blog post but it does continue the story of the German immigrants and is interesting to me because George arrived earlier than many of the other Germans I've written about.  

The line of descent is:

Johan George Weikert-Anna Barbara Elisabeth Daecher

Maria Salome Weikert-Benedict Kepner

Bernard Kepler-Maria Elisabeth Lindemuth

Andrew Kepler-Anna Maria Kramer

Mary Kepler-George Harshbarger

Lewis Harshbarger-Catherine Mentzer

Emmanuel Harshbarger-Clara Ellen Harter

Grover Harshbarger-Goldie Withers

Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Beeks

Their descendants

Holbrook line: Nathan Paine 1741-1818

 I was excited to write this post about Nathan Paine when I learned that he was a Revolutionary War soldier.  I printed out military records, and then I went to the DAR website to check for further information.  I was sadly disappointed to learn it was not our Nathan Paine who was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, but further digging found an even more interesting story.  

But let's start at the beginning.  Nathan Paine was born April 14, 1741 at Glocester, Providence, Rhode Island, the son of Stephen and Sarah Thornton Paine.  He was one of at least six children born to the couple.  We know little of his early life.  Glocester was formed from Providence in 1739, and was a farming community, so it is likely that Nathan was raised with an eye to farming.  At about the same time that Nathan was born, the "Great Awakening" occurred in New England.  There were already many Baptists in Rhode Island, but the revival that took place may have increased the number substantially.  By 1776, Glocester was known as a town of New Light Baptists.  

Nathan married Lillis Winsor, daughter of Joseph and Deborah Mathewson Winsor, and a great great granddaughter of Roger Williams about 1765, and the two settled down to have and raise a family.  I've found names for 12 children, but have not found documentation nor, for most, exact dates of birth.  Our link, Deborah, does have a date of birth of August 18, 1772, although I still have no documentation for that.  I hope it comes from the Town Clerk of Glocester, who holds the records.  

The town of Glocester was almost completely Patriot leading up to the Revolutionary War, and so it is hard to understand that when a military census was taken in 1777, Nathan was listed as "Aff".  A little digging led me to the information that he and several other men on the same page had taken the following oath, designed by the Rhode Island Assembly for "persons of tender conscience":  I, (insert name), do sincerely affirm and declare that the art of war and fighting, and the use and exercise of arms therein, either offensively or defensively, is utterly inconsistent with my belief as a Christian; and that I do not declare and refuse the use thereof, out of obstinancy, or singularity, but for conscience sake.  And this affirmation I make and give, without evasion or mental reservation."  The oath had been made available in February of 1777, but it came a bit late for Nathan.  He and eight other men had been arrested and jailed for refusing to serve, and the assembly agreed to their petition for release, at the next session of the assembly.  It is not known how long they had been jailed, but they were released to their home and family.  Whether they participated in any way in the way, by providing supplies, for instance, is not known.  

Nathan was apparently a successful farmer, because the 1778 tax list published in volume 20 of Rhode Island Roots shows him as having one poll (person able to vote), 2 houses, 2 oxen, 5 horned cattle, 10 sheep/goats, 4 swine, 15 acres pasture to keep 3 cows, 4 acres of tillage, 32 bushels grain, 15 acres meadow, 5 tons English hay, 46 acres wood and waste land, total acres 80.  His personal estate was valued at 36.8 and his real estate at 250 pounds.  This seems to have been about average; some men had more and some and significantly less.  

Glocester was so independent that the freemen and freeholders of the town, including Nathan Paine, voted against accepting the US Constitution in 1788, by 288 to 9.  I've not found a clear explanation of why the feeling ran so hard against it.  Did they want Rhode Island to remain independent, not part of the United States, or were they objecting to suffrage requirements, or to the glaring inequities that refused to acknowledge Blacks as free and equal to Whites, or was it some other reason?  Whatever the reason, the town stuck to their beliefs just as Nathan had early in the Revolutionary War.  

We don't know exactly when Nathan moved to New York.  There is a Nathan Paine in Richfield, Otsego, New York in 1799, or at least he owned land there.  This may be Nathan's son, for Nathan was still in Glocester in the 1800 census.  He and Lillis are in New York in 1810, however, where both are listed as over 45 years of age.  

Nathan died in Castleton, Town of Seneca,  Ontario County, New York on July 17, 1818, where Lillis had died two years earlier.   So far I have not located estate or will papers for him.  We don't know whether he was in New York long enough to establish his own home and farm, or whether he lived with one of his children.  This area seems to have been part of a land rush after the natives were driven out, so perhaps that was the motivation for the move.  The search for those last records continues.

I think highly of Nathan.  He was willing to go to jail for his convictions, and he voted with his conscience.  He obviously cared about his country and had a vision for it.  Well done, sir!

The line of descent is

Nathan Paine-Lillis Winsor

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

Beeks line: Peter Demarest 1683-1763

The French/Dutch Huguenots in the Beeks line have always intrigued me, and Peter Demarest is no exception.  Technically, he wasn't French, or Dutch, or even a Huguenot, because he was born in Bergen County, East Jersey (now New Jersey) in 1683.  His grandfather, the immigrant David, was born in France, and escaped to what is now the Netherlands, where Peter's father, Jean Demarest was born.  Peter's mother was Jacomina DeRuine, and she was born in France but came to America as part of the Huguenot community also.  The Huguenots were Protestants and followed the teachings of John Calvin, which meant they were not welcome in Catholic France.  The Demarest and DeRuine families, among others, were fortunate to come to a part of the country that was unsettled, and thus not Anglican, and not Puritan.  They were free to worship as they wished, or at least, more free than in Europe.  

Peter was born in 1683, in a settlement along the Hackensack River.  He grew up here and died here, although there are hints that he (or another man by the same name?) may have gone to New York, just a few miles away, for a short time.  He was part of a large family of perhaps as many as eleven children.  One of his many children is said to have been born in New York.  As far as I can tell, Peter was a farmer, like his father and grandfather before him.  There was a Demarest mill in the area but I'm not sure whether Peter had ownership of it.  There were a lot of Demarests!

Peter is a perfect example of this.  He married Maretie Meet, the daughter of Jan Pieterse and  Geritjie Mandeville Meet, at the Dutch Reformed Church in Hackensack on May 14, 1709.  The couple soon had seven children together, but Maretie died probably in 1720.  My first guess was that seven pregnancies in 11 years had worn her out, or perhaps she died as a result of her last childbirth.  Sara, her last child, was baptized June 19, 1720.  Peter was not yet 40 when he married again.  On October 15, 1722, he was married to Marie Batton, who was 21 years Peter's junior.  She also was of Huguenot origins, and she gave birth to at least eleven more Demarest children.  

Peter must have worked very hard to raise such a large family, although of course the older children would have been expected to help with the younger ones, until they left home or began their own apprenticeships elsewhere.  Perhaps that is why we don't find Peter's name included in the early lists of civic leaders, although some of his brothers seem to have been active politically.  Peter (I think it was this Peter, but there were other potential candidates, too) signed an oath of loyalty to King George II of England in 1753, at the same time "aburing" (solemnly renouncing) the papacy.  

I found one reference to Peter as a soldier, but there was no documentation.  There were at least two Peter Demarests from New Jersey in the Revolutionary War, but our Peter died in 1763 so it's possible that the reference was actually to one of the later Peters.  I will keep looking to see if there is evidence of his participation in a militia as a younger man.  

As mentioned, Peter died on August 31, 1763 at the age of 80.  He is probably buried in the French Burying Ground at New Milford, although there is no longer a stone there if there ever was one.  In his will, Peter provided for his wife by stating that she was to have the use of Peter's land and estate until she remarried, and that if she left and then returned (meaning a potential second husband had died) needed help, the children were to provide for her maintenance.  

It looks like Peter would have been a Patriot if he had lived to see the Revolution.  At least two of men with the same names as his sons, Peter and Samuel, had their farms burned by Tories, and Samuel was "carried off", although I don't know what happened to him.  This event occurred May 10, 1779.  Even though Peter wasn't alive to support the patriots, he raised children who were known to be such.  We owe men like Peter our country.

The line of descent is:

Peter Demarest-Maretie Meet

Lea Demarest-Samuel David Demarest

Sarah Demarest-Benjamin Slot

William Lock-Elizabeth Teague

Sally Lock-the still elusive Jeremiah Folsom

Leah Folsom-Darlington Aldridge

Harvey Aldridge-Margaret Catherine Dunham

Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks

Mary Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger

Their descendants