I can tell you a lot of things John isn't. He isn't the son of Thomas and Dorothy Harbottle Lamb. He isn't the son of Thomas (see above) and Elizabeth Lamb. He isn't the John who died in Springfield, Massachusetts in 16*90. He isn't the John who died January 9, 1677 in a saw mill accident in New London or perhaps Stonington, Connecticut, although there are indications this may have been John's son, John. We know several things about who he wasn't, but there's not much to show who he was.
I was surprised when I started researching John Lamb to find him first in Kittery, Maine. I had to pull up a map of Kittery, which is in York County (a new county for me to research in, perhaps making this number 238!!) to realize this was not at all far from the northern shores of Massachusetts. At the time, of course, it was part of Massachusetts Bay Colony, so John can be forgiven for being in "new" parts. However, we don't know when or where he was born, or how he arrived in Kittery, or even when he arrived in Kittery.
Most guesses put his birthdate at about 1623, with two or three different locations being put forth for his home at birth, and several guesses as to his parents. If we accept that the John killed near Stonington was his son, and assume that he was probably not more than 24 (since he would likely have been married by then) and assume that he was the first or second son of John's, then our John could have been born as late as 1630. John himself tells us that he was 45 years old in 1670, when he testified in court, so even though these dates are not always accurate, it is as close as we are likely to get.
We know he was in Kittery, Maine in 1651, because then and again in 1653 he was called a liar in court (a thief also, in 1651) although I don't know the disposition of those cases. I also don't know whether he was single or married at this time, although it must have been around this time that he married. His son Thomas sold part of his inheritance to brother Samuel in 1695. The best guess is that John died sometime around 1681, and likely some of his seven children were minors at this time, which could explain why there is no discussion of an inheritance until 1695. But that is supposition.
It's believed that his wife's name was Ann. She may have been Ann Skelton, or she may have been Ann Plaistead. The Plaistead guess seems to be based on that 1670 court case, when John testified on behalf of Roger Plaistead about lands in dispute between Connecticut and Rhode Island. In 1674, John made inquiries on behalf of this same Roger Plaistead about building a fulling mill near Stonington. There was some sort of connection here, but whether this is enough to establish a family relationship appears doubtful. There seems to be even less support for the Skelton idea. So for now and perhaps forever, the name of John's wife is not known.
He was a charcoal burner in Kittery, which was a lonely, demanding job, since the charcoal had to be tended to almost constantly. Charcoal was needed for the iron smelting process. He received grants of land in Kittery in 1655 and 1666, but by 1663 was in New London, or possibly near Stonington, Connecticut. We don't know why he changed locations. At his new home, he seems to have been a farrier and a blacksmith as well as a farmer and a miller. Again, the records are scanty.
He may be the John Lamb who became a freeman at New London in 1670, but that isn't clear.
The implication is that John died about 1681, when there was testimony about what John told John Packer about problems in a mill wash. Since John himself didn't testify, he was likely either too sick to testify or had already died.
So he don't know his parents, his origins, when he arrived in New England (I'm thinking he was possibly an indentured servant), who he married or when, or much about his life near Stonington. We don't know what he thought of King Philip's War, or whether he might have served in earlier militias. We don't know why he was only about 55 when he (most likely) died. We assume that he attended church but there don't seem to be records to confirm this. He apparently prepared a will in 1673 but it's been lost. "Johnny, we hardly knew ye."
Please, if someone knows more or has insights into this family, please contact me!
The line of descent is
John Lamb-Ann
Elizabeth Lamb-Daniel Longbottom
James Longbottom-Elizabeth Jackson
Elizabeth Longbottom-John Eames
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
Showing posts with label Jackson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jackson. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
Tuesday, January 21, 2020
Allen line: Edward Corbin of Baltimore County, dates unknown
This is another of those "I don't know much and some of what I do 'know' I don't quite believe" posts. Edward Corbin is our ancestor, however, and so I'm writing about the little I know or suspect, hoping that with these bread crumbs someone will someday be able to pick up his trail. Who knows? I might even learn more, at some point.
Some of our ancestors seem to have stayed beneath the radar for almost their whole lives, poking their heads up just long enough for a quick sighting before again disappearing. Edward Corbin is one of those men. To make matters worse, he named a son Edward, and many trees on line have confused the two. So with very little documentation to back this up, here's a brief summary of Edward.
Edward's parents were Nicholas Corbin and (likely) Alice Bryen or Bryan, He was born probably by 1684, although the year of 1676 is commonly used, with 1678 coming in a close second. We know he was on the tax rolls, and thus 16 or older, in 1701. There are church records for St Paul's Episcopal Church, locally known as Old St Paul's Church, with the births of some of the children of Edward and Jane Wilkinson Corbin. They are believed to have married about 1710. The church mentioned was in a small village at the time, but is now located (different building, but same plot of land) in downtown Baltimore. It's believed that Edward and Jane had at least eight children.
Edward and Jane (daughter of William and Elizabeth Clark Wilkinson) bought and sold land in Baltimore County like it was going out of style. Most of their holdings seem to have been on the north side of the Patapsco River, although some was south of Gunpowder Falls. Based on what I've learned about the economy in this time frame through the stories of other ancestors in this location, it is possible, even likely, that the Corbins had slaves, and it's likely that their main crop was tobacco. I've not yet seen records that would document the slaveholding, and I've only seen one brief mention of tobacco, so don't hold my feet to the fire over this one.
There don't seem to be land records for Edward after 1750, and I've seen a death date of November 30, 1753 for Edward. I have also, much more frequently, seen a death date of November 30, 1770. However, that Edward left a will which survived, and none of the children's names, nor his wife's name, match that of our Edward. Speculation would say this this younger Edward was either the son or the grandson of our Edward.
That is what little we know of Edward. He was a land owner, who apparently turned the 100 acres at Corbin's Hill that he inherited from his father into a much larger estate, not necessarily all in the same location. He was Anglican in religion. We don't know whether he was ever called on to serve in the militia, although it's possible. It's also possible, but pure speculation, that at some point he traveled to England to meet his paternal grandparents or on business, although there is not a shred of evidence to point to that. There is still so much we don't know. We need to keep looking!
The line of descent is:
Edward Corbin-Jane Wilkinson
Mary Jane Corbin-Samuel Lane
Lambert Lane-Nancy Ann Anderson
Nancy Ann Lane-James McCoy
Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson
Nancy McCoy-George Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
Some of our ancestors seem to have stayed beneath the radar for almost their whole lives, poking their heads up just long enough for a quick sighting before again disappearing. Edward Corbin is one of those men. To make matters worse, he named a son Edward, and many trees on line have confused the two. So with very little documentation to back this up, here's a brief summary of Edward.
Edward's parents were Nicholas Corbin and (likely) Alice Bryen or Bryan, He was born probably by 1684, although the year of 1676 is commonly used, with 1678 coming in a close second. We know he was on the tax rolls, and thus 16 or older, in 1701. There are church records for St Paul's Episcopal Church, locally known as Old St Paul's Church, with the births of some of the children of Edward and Jane Wilkinson Corbin. They are believed to have married about 1710. The church mentioned was in a small village at the time, but is now located (different building, but same plot of land) in downtown Baltimore. It's believed that Edward and Jane had at least eight children.
Edward and Jane (daughter of William and Elizabeth Clark Wilkinson) bought and sold land in Baltimore County like it was going out of style. Most of their holdings seem to have been on the north side of the Patapsco River, although some was south of Gunpowder Falls. Based on what I've learned about the economy in this time frame through the stories of other ancestors in this location, it is possible, even likely, that the Corbins had slaves, and it's likely that their main crop was tobacco. I've not yet seen records that would document the slaveholding, and I've only seen one brief mention of tobacco, so don't hold my feet to the fire over this one.
There don't seem to be land records for Edward after 1750, and I've seen a death date of November 30, 1753 for Edward. I have also, much more frequently, seen a death date of November 30, 1770. However, that Edward left a will which survived, and none of the children's names, nor his wife's name, match that of our Edward. Speculation would say this this younger Edward was either the son or the grandson of our Edward.
That is what little we know of Edward. He was a land owner, who apparently turned the 100 acres at Corbin's Hill that he inherited from his father into a much larger estate, not necessarily all in the same location. He was Anglican in religion. We don't know whether he was ever called on to serve in the militia, although it's possible. It's also possible, but pure speculation, that at some point he traveled to England to meet his paternal grandparents or on business, although there is not a shred of evidence to point to that. There is still so much we don't know. We need to keep looking!
The line of descent is:
Edward Corbin-Jane Wilkinson
Mary Jane Corbin-Samuel Lane
Lambert Lane-Nancy Ann Anderson
Nancy Ann Lane-James McCoy
Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson
Nancy McCoy-George Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
Tuesday, December 24, 2019
Allen line: Matthew Bellamy 1677-possibly 1752
Once again there are mysteries and questions about an ancestor. We know when he was born, and lots of people think they knew when he died, but since the only will I've located in that time period was for his son and not himself, I'm not quite convinced.
Matthew Bellamy, the second Matthew Bellamy of whom I've written, was born February , 1677-78 or possibly 1676, at Killingworth, Connecticut. The reason I say possibly is that some sites give his birth date as 1676, and at Saybrook, under the idea that he and his sister Mary were twins. I haven't proven or disproven that yet. The date and location I've given first are those published in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register volume 61, page 339. Regardless, it is accepted as established that his parents were Matthew and Bethiah Ford Bellamy. Matthew the younger was one of at least five children in his family.
Matthew senior was an educated man, a schoolmaster, so we can only assume that our Matthew learned to read and write, but we know nothing further of his education. He was living in Wallingford by 1696, and that is likely where he met his first wife. We have two marriages for Matthew. His first wife, whom he married September 26, 1705 was Sarah Wood. The couple had six children together, but Sarah died on March 8, 1721, about 6 weeks after the birth of her last child. Matthew remarried quickly, on May 30, 1721 to Mary Johnson, daughter of Samuel Johnson. They had five children together.
The article I mentioned above says that he owned an interest in the copper mines at Wallingford, and may have worked there. I don't find anything to document that, but I did find a petition he presented to the General Assembly in 1721-1722, asking to be licensed for a house of entertainment, for the benefit of the miners who worked at the mine. The article doesn't state whether or not this was approved, so more research needs to be done to verify that. He was apparently looking for a way to better support his family, as his occupation up to this point had been that of a weaver. (On a tax list for 1701, he was charged at a value or "grand rate" of 22 pounds, which was less than most of the town, although of course he was still quite young at that time.) I wonder how Mary thought she would be able to help him, with 6 young step-children and two of her own on the way (she would have twins in February of 1722).
Surprisingly, because most of our early ancestors have been Puritans, it appears that the Bellamy family was of the Church of England, as his name is on a petition to the Bishop of London asking for more pastors for the area.
I've not yet located anything to make me think that Matthew was involved in any of the border wars during Queen Anne's or King William's wars of the late 1600 and early 1700s, but he would have been of the right age for the duty and we can't yet rule out the possibility.
I've not located a will for Matthew yet. There is one for Matthew Bellamy from 1754, but this is his son Matthew, not ours. The Bellamy family was prominent in Wallingford for some time, with some of Matthew's grandsons serving in the Revolutionary War, one a noted Episcopalian pastor, and others of honorable professions. Even though our Matthew may not have died a wealthy person (which is my supposition, not a fact, since I haven't seen a will or inventory), he must have given his descendants a strong sense of character and duty. Mary died before Matthew, on March 8, 1721, and Matthew's date of death is given as June 7, 1752.
The line of descent is
Matthew Bellamy-Mary Johnson
Hannah Bellamy-John Royse
Elizabeth Royse-William McCoy
James McCoy-Nancy Lane
Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson
Nancy McCoy-George Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
Matthew Bellamy, the second Matthew Bellamy of whom I've written, was born February , 1677-78 or possibly 1676, at Killingworth, Connecticut. The reason I say possibly is that some sites give his birth date as 1676, and at Saybrook, under the idea that he and his sister Mary were twins. I haven't proven or disproven that yet. The date and location I've given first are those published in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register volume 61, page 339. Regardless, it is accepted as established that his parents were Matthew and Bethiah Ford Bellamy. Matthew the younger was one of at least five children in his family.
Matthew senior was an educated man, a schoolmaster, so we can only assume that our Matthew learned to read and write, but we know nothing further of his education. He was living in Wallingford by 1696, and that is likely where he met his first wife. We have two marriages for Matthew. His first wife, whom he married September 26, 1705 was Sarah Wood. The couple had six children together, but Sarah died on March 8, 1721, about 6 weeks after the birth of her last child. Matthew remarried quickly, on May 30, 1721 to Mary Johnson, daughter of Samuel Johnson. They had five children together.
The article I mentioned above says that he owned an interest in the copper mines at Wallingford, and may have worked there. I don't find anything to document that, but I did find a petition he presented to the General Assembly in 1721-1722, asking to be licensed for a house of entertainment, for the benefit of the miners who worked at the mine. The article doesn't state whether or not this was approved, so more research needs to be done to verify that. He was apparently looking for a way to better support his family, as his occupation up to this point had been that of a weaver. (On a tax list for 1701, he was charged at a value or "grand rate" of 22 pounds, which was less than most of the town, although of course he was still quite young at that time.) I wonder how Mary thought she would be able to help him, with 6 young step-children and two of her own on the way (she would have twins in February of 1722).
Surprisingly, because most of our early ancestors have been Puritans, it appears that the Bellamy family was of the Church of England, as his name is on a petition to the Bishop of London asking for more pastors for the area.
I've not yet located anything to make me think that Matthew was involved in any of the border wars during Queen Anne's or King William's wars of the late 1600 and early 1700s, but he would have been of the right age for the duty and we can't yet rule out the possibility.
I've not located a will for Matthew yet. There is one for Matthew Bellamy from 1754, but this is his son Matthew, not ours. The Bellamy family was prominent in Wallingford for some time, with some of Matthew's grandsons serving in the Revolutionary War, one a noted Episcopalian pastor, and others of honorable professions. Even though our Matthew may not have died a wealthy person (which is my supposition, not a fact, since I haven't seen a will or inventory), he must have given his descendants a strong sense of character and duty. Mary died before Matthew, on March 8, 1721, and Matthew's date of death is given as June 7, 1752.
The line of descent is
Matthew Bellamy-Mary Johnson
Hannah Bellamy-John Royse
Elizabeth Royse-William McCoy
James McCoy-Nancy Lane
Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson
Nancy McCoy-George Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
Friday, September 6, 2019
Allen line: Moses Royse, date and location unknown
Here's what I know about Moses: He was born, he married, and he died. Pretty much everything else is a mystery. There were several Moses Royse's in the time period we're talking about, and in the same or near by towns. I am asking for help. If anyone has figured this man out, with dates and documents, I would be so excited to hear from you!
Here's what might be accurate:
Moses Royse was born about 1689 or possibly later, to John and Sarah Perrigo Royse. If this is the correct couple, then he we born in either Norwich, New London County, Connecticut, or in Mansfield, Tolland County, Connecticut. His parents were born in Norwich but at some point moved to Mansfield. He came from a large family, perhaps as many as ten children, and his father may have outlived him.
Moses may have married a woman named Hannah, whom some have identified as Hannah Beebe. Others say Hannah Beebe married someone else, and so the name of Moses's wife remains unverified. One Moses Royse who had a wife named Hannah. They had at least three children and I've seen as many as eight children listed. Moses died in 1768 and her first name is found in the estate papers. However, that Moses Royse is thought to have been from Stratford. and not everyone is convinced that is our Moses Royse.
If it is our Moses Royse, when did he move to Stratford? On the other hand, it does help make more sense of a thought that Moses Royse was an Indian trader in the Highlands of New York, which would not have been far from Stratford. Also DNA seems to tie this Moses back to John Royse, and to Robert, who is believed to be John's father.
Since I'm not sure about any of this, I am not, at this point, going to describe the estate papers I found, or the inventory. It is available on Ancestry if a fellow researcher wants to look at it. We don't know for sure when Moses died. The one I have in my tree right now says July 30, 1768 but then it also says, Windham, Connecticut. So I wouldn't put up an argument if you agreed, or if you disagree.
Obviously I would like to figure this out. If our Moses was an Indian trader, that could make for some interesting stories. Did he also spy, and if so, was it for the colonists, the British, or the French? He probably lived through the French and Indian war, if 1768 is a correct date, and he may have been right in the thick of things with hair raising stories. Of course, he could have been a stay at home farmer, merchant, or seaman, too. If someone can help with this man, please let me know!
Here's the line of descent, which I hope is correct:
Moses Royse-Hannah
John Royse-Hannah Bellamy
Elizabeth Royse-William McCoy
James McCoy-Nancy Lane
Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson
Nancy McCoy-George Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
Here's what might be accurate:
Moses Royse was born about 1689 or possibly later, to John and Sarah Perrigo Royse. If this is the correct couple, then he we born in either Norwich, New London County, Connecticut, or in Mansfield, Tolland County, Connecticut. His parents were born in Norwich but at some point moved to Mansfield. He came from a large family, perhaps as many as ten children, and his father may have outlived him.
Moses may have married a woman named Hannah, whom some have identified as Hannah Beebe. Others say Hannah Beebe married someone else, and so the name of Moses's wife remains unverified. One Moses Royse who had a wife named Hannah. They had at least three children and I've seen as many as eight children listed. Moses died in 1768 and her first name is found in the estate papers. However, that Moses Royse is thought to have been from Stratford. and not everyone is convinced that is our Moses Royse.
If it is our Moses Royse, when did he move to Stratford? On the other hand, it does help make more sense of a thought that Moses Royse was an Indian trader in the Highlands of New York, which would not have been far from Stratford. Also DNA seems to tie this Moses back to John Royse, and to Robert, who is believed to be John's father.
Since I'm not sure about any of this, I am not, at this point, going to describe the estate papers I found, or the inventory. It is available on Ancestry if a fellow researcher wants to look at it. We don't know for sure when Moses died. The one I have in my tree right now says July 30, 1768 but then it also says, Windham, Connecticut. So I wouldn't put up an argument if you agreed, or if you disagree.
Obviously I would like to figure this out. If our Moses was an Indian trader, that could make for some interesting stories. Did he also spy, and if so, was it for the colonists, the British, or the French? He probably lived through the French and Indian war, if 1768 is a correct date, and he may have been right in the thick of things with hair raising stories. Of course, he could have been a stay at home farmer, merchant, or seaman, too. If someone can help with this man, please let me know!
Here's the line of descent, which I hope is correct:
Moses Royse-Hannah
John Royse-Hannah Bellamy
Elizabeth Royse-William McCoy
James McCoy-Nancy Lane
Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson
Nancy McCoy-George Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
Friday, July 19, 2019
Allen line: James McCoy, Immigrant and part myth?
James McCoy is almost lost under the weight of the stories surrounding his name. His early life remains undocumented, so I can't tell you for sure when or exactly where he was born. He is believed to have been born somewhere in Ulster, Ireland, about the year 1720. This would fit well with a proposed marriage date of 1745, to Ann Bruce, supposedly in Frederick County, Va.
An undocumented story says he arrived in Baltimore, Maryland in 1730. Either he was very young and traveled with someone, or this isn't our James McCoy. Other stories say he was a runaway, who became a stow away passenger on a ship to America. He supposedly ran away because he rode a horse too hard, causing it to stumble and fall. When the horse had to be put down, James disappeared. It's only a story, but it's fun and there might be a grain of truth in there somewhere. Another story is that he at some point prior to his marriage stayed with a "Captain Hyde", whose wife taught him to read and write. It is possible that the "Hyde" was actually a "Hite" but so far no candidate seems to fit the description exactly. Again, it's a story, which may or may not prove true. We know he came to America and we know he married Ann Bruce, daughter of John and Sarah Parrell Bruce, about 1745.
The couple is credited with having as many as ten children. Some, as early as 1753, are given birth locations as Union Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania but that is only in hindsight. In 1753, this would have been Bedford County, and then it was Westmoreland County before Fayette County was finally formed in 1783.
Wherever the McCoy's were (I've found record of them in 1777 in what became Fayette County), they were deeply affected by the attacks of the native Americans in both the French and Indian war and the Revolutionary War. James replaced his original log cabin with a fort, where neighbors gathered when the area was under attack. This appears to be Revolutionary War era, but it doesn't say how long the McCoys lived in the log cabin before the fort was built.
It is most probable that James is a Revolutionary War veteran, and also likely a French and Indian war veteran, although I've not found records yet. Several of his sons served, and since he was likely still in his mid 40's when the Revolutionary War broke out, he would at least have served in the militia. The history of this time and place is absolutely fascinating, and one can't read a book about it without feeing a tremendous admiration for the men and the women who settled and lived on the frontier, long before it was "safe" to do so.
When the first Baptist Church was founded in Uniontown, Fayette County in 1780, James was an early, if not charter, member. He was also instrumental in the building of another Baptist church, south of Uniontown, in 1787, where he was a faithful member until his death on September 30, 1801 (I've also seen 1802 as his death date). Ann died February 4, 1808, also in South Union Township.
As we know, the Baptist legacy of James McCoy lived on through his sons and grandsons and likely there are still descendants of this family who belong to that generation. There are certainly many who cling to the "Old Rugged Cross". Legacies are important, and religious legacies may be the most important of all.
The line of descent is
James McCoy-Ann Bruce
Wiiliam McCoy-Eizabeth Royse
James McCoy-Nancy Lane
Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson
Nancy McCoy-George Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
An undocumented story says he arrived in Baltimore, Maryland in 1730. Either he was very young and traveled with someone, or this isn't our James McCoy. Other stories say he was a runaway, who became a stow away passenger on a ship to America. He supposedly ran away because he rode a horse too hard, causing it to stumble and fall. When the horse had to be put down, James disappeared. It's only a story, but it's fun and there might be a grain of truth in there somewhere. Another story is that he at some point prior to his marriage stayed with a "Captain Hyde", whose wife taught him to read and write. It is possible that the "Hyde" was actually a "Hite" but so far no candidate seems to fit the description exactly. Again, it's a story, which may or may not prove true. We know he came to America and we know he married Ann Bruce, daughter of John and Sarah Parrell Bruce, about 1745.
The couple is credited with having as many as ten children. Some, as early as 1753, are given birth locations as Union Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania but that is only in hindsight. In 1753, this would have been Bedford County, and then it was Westmoreland County before Fayette County was finally formed in 1783.
Wherever the McCoy's were (I've found record of them in 1777 in what became Fayette County), they were deeply affected by the attacks of the native Americans in both the French and Indian war and the Revolutionary War. James replaced his original log cabin with a fort, where neighbors gathered when the area was under attack. This appears to be Revolutionary War era, but it doesn't say how long the McCoys lived in the log cabin before the fort was built.
It is most probable that James is a Revolutionary War veteran, and also likely a French and Indian war veteran, although I've not found records yet. Several of his sons served, and since he was likely still in his mid 40's when the Revolutionary War broke out, he would at least have served in the militia. The history of this time and place is absolutely fascinating, and one can't read a book about it without feeing a tremendous admiration for the men and the women who settled and lived on the frontier, long before it was "safe" to do so.
When the first Baptist Church was founded in Uniontown, Fayette County in 1780, James was an early, if not charter, member. He was also instrumental in the building of another Baptist church, south of Uniontown, in 1787, where he was a faithful member until his death on September 30, 1801 (I've also seen 1802 as his death date). Ann died February 4, 1808, also in South Union Township.
As we know, the Baptist legacy of James McCoy lived on through his sons and grandsons and likely there are still descendants of this family who belong to that generation. There are certainly many who cling to the "Old Rugged Cross". Legacies are important, and religious legacies may be the most important of all.
The line of descent is
James McCoy-Ann Bruce
Wiiliam McCoy-Eizabeth Royse
James McCoy-Nancy Lane
Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson
Nancy McCoy-George Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
Friday, May 24, 2019
Allen line: Samuel Lane 1700-abt 1779 Father of patriots
Revisiting families and blog posts can bring big dividends I've written earlier about Lambert Lane, who served in the Revolutionary War in battles with the Cherokee Indians. I haven't written about his father and in my mind, I had him located in the wrong state. I also have been looking elsewhere for the family of Lambert's wife, Nancy Anderson. I think I need to back up and look for her family in Virginia and Pennsylvania, not in Tennessee. We'll see about that.
In the meantime, I have learned enough to realize that our Samuel Lane was the father of some remarkable children. He must have been a special man, himself, to have raised such outstanding children. But I digress.
Samuel Lane was the son of Dutton and Pretotia Tydings Lane. His birthdate is given as October 4, 1700 although I haven't seen the documentation for that. There are at least two Samuel Lanes in Maryland at this time and I suspect some of the records for one man are attached to the wrong Samuel Lane, but I am not able to sort them out at this time. Our Samuel Lane was born in Baltimore County, Maryland. It doesn't appear that he is the same man who has records in Anne Arundel County. There are records indicating that our Samuel later lived in Carroll County, Maryland, but that county wasn't formed until later. He may well have lived in the part of Baltimore County that became Carroll County.
Samuel married Jane Corbin January 10, 1735/36. She was the daughter of Edward and Jane Wilkinson Corbin. I'm finding the couple credited with as few as seven and as many as twelve children. Our ancestor, Lambert, was their second son. We need to recognize that the area where the Lanes lived was on the frontier, and subject to repeated Indian raids pretty much from the 1750's onward, if not before that. Realizing this may help explain why there are not always written records, and why deeds may have been recorded after land actually changed hands. It may also explain the dearth of church records that would identify children for certain. The other possible explanation is that there is a family tradition that Lambert and Dutton were born in England, but as far as I know there is no documentation for this.
Another fact that makes researching treacherous is that we don't know for certain what religion Samuel was. Some of his siblings were Quaker, and some sites state that Samuel was, also. Some of his family seems to have been Church of England. And several of his children were fire and brimstone Baptists. Was Samuel a religious man? Did he guide his children into a Baptist faith? Or was he dismayed to see them leave the Church of England, or the Quakers? We may never know.
Samuel's first born son, Samuel, became a Baptist "elder" (pastor) and eventually went to Bedford County, Pennsylvania, where he founded a church or churches. Our Samuel seems to have gone with him, so that may indicate a Baptist bent. Lambert's daughter, Nancy Ann Lane, married William McCoy, who was a Baptist minister (among other occupations). So the family was certainly comfortable with Baptist beliefs within a generation of our Samuel.
Samuel's sons Samuel, Lambert, Corbin, and Wilkinson all served in the Revolutionary War. Our Samuel was too old for that war and was probably too old to fight in the French and Indian War but most likely would have been in the militia that protected the settlers from Indian incursions. He and his family could possibly have gone to a nearby fort for protection, or they may have stayed in their home and fought, if necessary, from there.
I'm finding various dates and suppositions for when the Lanes moved to Bedford County, Pennsylvania, probably close to what became the Huntingdon county line. One site says 1743 and one site says by 1773. Samuel was buying and selling land in Maryland in the 1750s but that may not have had anything to do with where the family was actually living. Whether it was Carroll County, Maryland or Bedford County, Pennsylvania, life was probably hard for the Lanes. I've found nothing that makes me think this was a family of wealth, although they may not have needed much money, living in the wilderness as they did.
Jane died in 1773 and Samuel died probably around 1779. He is believed to be buried near his Pennsylvania home. One doesn't become the father of several Revolutionary War soldiers and the father of a mostly Baptist family by sitting around twiddling one's thumbs. Samuel and Jane each had a lot to do with the way their children turned out, and we can be grateful for their service to their country.
The line of descent is:
Samuel Lane-Jane Corbin
Lambert Lane-Nancy Anderson
Nancy Lane-James McCoy
Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson
Nancy McCoy-George Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
In the meantime, I have learned enough to realize that our Samuel Lane was the father of some remarkable children. He must have been a special man, himself, to have raised such outstanding children. But I digress.
Samuel Lane was the son of Dutton and Pretotia Tydings Lane. His birthdate is given as October 4, 1700 although I haven't seen the documentation for that. There are at least two Samuel Lanes in Maryland at this time and I suspect some of the records for one man are attached to the wrong Samuel Lane, but I am not able to sort them out at this time. Our Samuel Lane was born in Baltimore County, Maryland. It doesn't appear that he is the same man who has records in Anne Arundel County. There are records indicating that our Samuel later lived in Carroll County, Maryland, but that county wasn't formed until later. He may well have lived in the part of Baltimore County that became Carroll County.
Samuel married Jane Corbin January 10, 1735/36. She was the daughter of Edward and Jane Wilkinson Corbin. I'm finding the couple credited with as few as seven and as many as twelve children. Our ancestor, Lambert, was their second son. We need to recognize that the area where the Lanes lived was on the frontier, and subject to repeated Indian raids pretty much from the 1750's onward, if not before that. Realizing this may help explain why there are not always written records, and why deeds may have been recorded after land actually changed hands. It may also explain the dearth of church records that would identify children for certain. The other possible explanation is that there is a family tradition that Lambert and Dutton were born in England, but as far as I know there is no documentation for this.
Another fact that makes researching treacherous is that we don't know for certain what religion Samuel was. Some of his siblings were Quaker, and some sites state that Samuel was, also. Some of his family seems to have been Church of England. And several of his children were fire and brimstone Baptists. Was Samuel a religious man? Did he guide his children into a Baptist faith? Or was he dismayed to see them leave the Church of England, or the Quakers? We may never know.
Samuel's first born son, Samuel, became a Baptist "elder" (pastor) and eventually went to Bedford County, Pennsylvania, where he founded a church or churches. Our Samuel seems to have gone with him, so that may indicate a Baptist bent. Lambert's daughter, Nancy Ann Lane, married William McCoy, who was a Baptist minister (among other occupations). So the family was certainly comfortable with Baptist beliefs within a generation of our Samuel.
Samuel's sons Samuel, Lambert, Corbin, and Wilkinson all served in the Revolutionary War. Our Samuel was too old for that war and was probably too old to fight in the French and Indian War but most likely would have been in the militia that protected the settlers from Indian incursions. He and his family could possibly have gone to a nearby fort for protection, or they may have stayed in their home and fought, if necessary, from there.
I'm finding various dates and suppositions for when the Lanes moved to Bedford County, Pennsylvania, probably close to what became the Huntingdon county line. One site says 1743 and one site says by 1773. Samuel was buying and selling land in Maryland in the 1750s but that may not have had anything to do with where the family was actually living. Whether it was Carroll County, Maryland or Bedford County, Pennsylvania, life was probably hard for the Lanes. I've found nothing that makes me think this was a family of wealth, although they may not have needed much money, living in the wilderness as they did.
Jane died in 1773 and Samuel died probably around 1779. He is believed to be buried near his Pennsylvania home. One doesn't become the father of several Revolutionary War soldiers and the father of a mostly Baptist family by sitting around twiddling one's thumbs. Samuel and Jane each had a lot to do with the way their children turned out, and we can be grateful for their service to their country.
The line of descent is:
Samuel Lane-Jane Corbin
Lambert Lane-Nancy Anderson
Nancy Lane-James McCoy
Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson
Nancy McCoy-George Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Holbrook line: William White, Immigrant (but not on the Mayflower)
I've wanted to write about William White for a long time. Well, actually, I've wanted to learn about him for a long time. I knew he was not the William White of the Mayflower, and that's about all I was sure of. Today I found a very well written and referenced profile of him on WikiTree and I'm going to borrow from it rather shamelessly, in order to provide a brief sketch of this most interesting ancestor. Any errors of course are mine.
William White is a most interesting man. We don't know when or where he is born but conjecture is that he may have been the William White who was born about June 8, 1604 in Derbyshire, England. Both the date and the location make sense based on his marriage date and on his future occupation(s), but the first date that we really can say "this is probably our William White is his marriage to Elizabeth Jackson in 1629 at St. Gregory but St Paul's in London, England. This would put WIlliam at 25 years of age, and also puts him in London, where he apparently lived from his marriage until his emigration to England.
William and Elizabeth's first three children, Elizabeth, William, and Margaret were born in London. Margaret was born in 1635 and Ursula was born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1639 so the family must have emigrated between 1635 and 1639. I would tend to think it was earlier because most families didn't travel directly to Providence, but were in Massachusetts at first. There is a possibility that the family, or at least William, went back to England because he is again noted in 1645, as having emigrated to Massachusetts in the company of Dr. Robert Child who had recruited him to work in the New England Iron Works for five shillings a day.
William was not a common laborer, however. He seems to have had special skills and knowledge because Samuel Hartlibs "Ephemerides in 1643 says "?Mr. White has amongst many other things invented a new kind of Furnace which will save charges and coales. William White's "Catalogue of Inventions reveals him to have been involved in an exceptionally wide range of activities and to have been actively thinking about involvement in colonization.
William was employed at the Saugus Ironworks from 1646-1648 but was not a model employee. He was fined four pounds for selling beer without a license. (It was about this time that his daughter Elizabeth married Benjamin Herendeen, an ironworker, and may have had cause to regret it, as he was found guilty of beating his wife.) Perhaps the family was somewhat dysfunctional.
Next we find William White, and presumably his family, leaving Boston, where he had lived, and going to Bermuda to help a Bermudian merchant, William Berkeley, salvage a sunken Spanish treasure ship. (The term 'Bermudian merchant' may imply that Berkeley was involved in the slave trade in one way or another.) William supported himself and his family by repairing stills the Bermudians used for making liquor, as well as by fishing aand gardening.
Trouble developed between the White family and William Berkeley. In 1654, one daughter, Margaret, charged that Berkeley had raped her. Margaret had been a servant in Berkeley's home. Another daughter, Ursula, said that he had given her a shilling and tried to get her into his bed. Berkeley supposedly retaliated by accusing Elizabeth, William's wife, of putting a spell on his cattle, and accusing William of saying "the devil take them". Both charges implied witchcraft, at a time when this was a serious charge.
It was time for the Whites to end their efforts in Bermuda and go back to New England. He stopped first in Warwick, R.I., having underestimated the time it would take him to join John Winthrop Jr in Pequot. He had intended to work for Winthrop in his "major alchemical/industrial enteerprise that he was planning on Fishers Island near New Haven.
William was granted land at Pawtucket in 1656, next to his son in law Benjamin Hearndon/Herendeen, and later was granted meadowlands. It appears that he had at least something to do with a bridge that was at Weybosset. He sold this land to Hearndon and went back to Boston, where he was described as a bricklayer. William signed his will October 13, 1673, and he had died by December 30 of that year. The inventory, found on American Ancestors, (Suffolk County #676) is difficult to make out but it clearly is more than just a typical household inventory. One item alone is valued at 1000 pounds. Since much of this appears to do with his industrial/alchemical business, one wonders who actually bought the equipment and what the family actually received as proceeds.
There is more to William's story than I have been able to write in this short sketch, but I hope it shows us that not everyone came to New England and farmed or fished. Some helped build the industrial complexes of the day. Some spent time on Bermuda, or Barbados, or other islands. Some were truly interesting, even if they weren't famous. Such was William White.
The line of descent is
William White-Elizabeth Jackson
Elizabeth White-Benjamin Hearnden
Alice Hearnden-Daniel Brown
Hosanna Brown-Mary Hawkins
Othniel Brown-Deborah Brown
Sarah Brown-Enos Eddy
Enos Eddy-Deborah Paine
Joseph Brown Eddy-Susan Lamphire
Susan Eddy-Hiram Stanard
Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick
Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants
William White is a most interesting man. We don't know when or where he is born but conjecture is that he may have been the William White who was born about June 8, 1604 in Derbyshire, England. Both the date and the location make sense based on his marriage date and on his future occupation(s), but the first date that we really can say "this is probably our William White is his marriage to Elizabeth Jackson in 1629 at St. Gregory but St Paul's in London, England. This would put WIlliam at 25 years of age, and also puts him in London, where he apparently lived from his marriage until his emigration to England.
William and Elizabeth's first three children, Elizabeth, William, and Margaret were born in London. Margaret was born in 1635 and Ursula was born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1639 so the family must have emigrated between 1635 and 1639. I would tend to think it was earlier because most families didn't travel directly to Providence, but were in Massachusetts at first. There is a possibility that the family, or at least William, went back to England because he is again noted in 1645, as having emigrated to Massachusetts in the company of Dr. Robert Child who had recruited him to work in the New England Iron Works for five shillings a day.
William was not a common laborer, however. He seems to have had special skills and knowledge because Samuel Hartlibs "Ephemerides in 1643 says "?Mr. White has amongst many other things invented a new kind of Furnace which will save charges and coales. William White's "Catalogue of Inventions reveals him to have been involved in an exceptionally wide range of activities and to have been actively thinking about involvement in colonization.
William was employed at the Saugus Ironworks from 1646-1648 but was not a model employee. He was fined four pounds for selling beer without a license. (It was about this time that his daughter Elizabeth married Benjamin Herendeen, an ironworker, and may have had cause to regret it, as he was found guilty of beating his wife.) Perhaps the family was somewhat dysfunctional.
Next we find William White, and presumably his family, leaving Boston, where he had lived, and going to Bermuda to help a Bermudian merchant, William Berkeley, salvage a sunken Spanish treasure ship. (The term 'Bermudian merchant' may imply that Berkeley was involved in the slave trade in one way or another.) William supported himself and his family by repairing stills the Bermudians used for making liquor, as well as by fishing aand gardening.
Trouble developed between the White family and William Berkeley. In 1654, one daughter, Margaret, charged that Berkeley had raped her. Margaret had been a servant in Berkeley's home. Another daughter, Ursula, said that he had given her a shilling and tried to get her into his bed. Berkeley supposedly retaliated by accusing Elizabeth, William's wife, of putting a spell on his cattle, and accusing William of saying "the devil take them". Both charges implied witchcraft, at a time when this was a serious charge.
It was time for the Whites to end their efforts in Bermuda and go back to New England. He stopped first in Warwick, R.I., having underestimated the time it would take him to join John Winthrop Jr in Pequot. He had intended to work for Winthrop in his "major alchemical/industrial enteerprise that he was planning on Fishers Island near New Haven.
William was granted land at Pawtucket in 1656, next to his son in law Benjamin Hearndon/Herendeen, and later was granted meadowlands. It appears that he had at least something to do with a bridge that was at Weybosset. He sold this land to Hearndon and went back to Boston, where he was described as a bricklayer. William signed his will October 13, 1673, and he had died by December 30 of that year. The inventory, found on American Ancestors, (Suffolk County #676) is difficult to make out but it clearly is more than just a typical household inventory. One item alone is valued at 1000 pounds. Since much of this appears to do with his industrial/alchemical business, one wonders who actually bought the equipment and what the family actually received as proceeds.
There is more to William's story than I have been able to write in this short sketch, but I hope it shows us that not everyone came to New England and farmed or fished. Some helped build the industrial complexes of the day. Some spent time on Bermuda, or Barbados, or other islands. Some were truly interesting, even if they weren't famous. Such was William White.
The line of descent is
William White-Elizabeth Jackson
Elizabeth White-Benjamin Hearnden
Alice Hearnden-Daniel Brown
Hosanna Brown-Mary Hawkins
Othniel Brown-Deborah Brown
Sarah Brown-Enos Eddy
Enos Eddy-Deborah Paine
Joseph Brown Eddy-Susan Lamphire
Susan Eddy-Hiram Stanard
Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick
Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants
Friday, December 21, 2018
James Longbottom, Immigrant
I'm really not sure whether I should be writing this blog post or not. Most of the sites say that James is "assumed" to be the father of Daniel Longbottom. But then, most sites clearly have erroneous information about James, giving him the same birth date and marriage date, and stating, without any proof that I can find, that he died in Norwich, New Haven County, Connecticut. So let's see what we do know about James, and try to separate fact from speculation.
James Longbottom was probably born about 1605, more or less, somewhere around the village of Todmorden, West Yorkshire, England. A James Longbottom married Isabel Hoult on August 19, 1628 at Heptonstall, Yorkshire, England. Note: The name is spelled Longbotham in England). This couple is often given as Daniel's parents. It's possible, because no one seems to know when exactly Daniel was born, although his birth year is typically given as 1658-1660. If this is Daniel's birth year, then it's not likely that Isabel was his mother, although it's barely possible, especially if Daniel was born say 5 years earlier. Or James may be the father, but another woman may be his mother.
James's place of death is frequently given as Norwich, New London County, Connecticut. In a review of some of the available on line sources, I've not been able to verify that. (A son of Daniel's did die in Norwich, and that might be the source of the confusion.) James is believed to have died in 1674, which would mean that he wasn't likely living with Daniel, in Norwich as Daniel would have been young.
OK, so there are all those things we don't know about James. But I believe I've found traces of him, not in Norwich but in Rhode Island. The time period fits and the story there is believable. He was first of Newport, and in 1660 was one of a group of six who bought land from the native American Narragansett tribe in 1660, representing a group of about 80 men. This land later became the town of Westerly, R.I., and James drew the 55th lot when land was distributed. The town was on the east side of the Pawtucket River, and there were disputes with Stonington, Connecticut, when persons from Stonington built on disputed land there. Eventually this led to quite a feud, and some of the Westerly men were thrown in jail (not sure whether this was in Connecticut or in Massachusetts). I didn't find a list of the men who were arrested so we don't know if this included James or not, but it surely included some of his friends and neighbors.
There is a list of freemen of Westerly on March 18, 1669 that does not include James Longbottom. Was this an oversight? Was he not a freeman? Or had he, perhaps, already left the area for Norwich, or gone back to Newport? Any of these are possible. The land that James had bought in Westerly was sold by Daniel Longbottom in 1714, which is the reason James is believed to be Daniel's father. He could be a grandfather, though. Also there is one reference that Daniel sold land of James's in 1674. This would mean Daniel had to be at least 21 years of age at the time.
Here we come to the end of what I've been able to locate about James Longbottom. He is as shadowy as they come, and if it weren't for the information we have about him in 1660-1661, we wouldn't know he had been in America at all. Newport and later Westerly had early Baptist histories. Perhaps James was a Baptist, and his death was simply not reported to the authorities. It would appear that he stayed out of legal trouble, based only on the idea that no one has reported finding him in court records.
Some of our ancestors like to hide behind thin veils and some behind thick curtains. Some may stay hidden there during my lifetime, but perhaps these hints will allow someone else to do some real digging, perhaps in Yorkshire, and come up with a more definite sketch of our ancestor. I certainly hope that is the case, for I'd like to know more about James Longbottom!
The probable line of descent is:
James Longbottom-possibly Isabel Hoult
Daniel Longbottom-Elizabeth Lamb
James Longbottom-Elizabeth Jackson
Elizabeth Longbottom-John Eames
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
James Longbottom was probably born about 1605, more or less, somewhere around the village of Todmorden, West Yorkshire, England. A James Longbottom married Isabel Hoult on August 19, 1628 at Heptonstall, Yorkshire, England. Note: The name is spelled Longbotham in England). This couple is often given as Daniel's parents. It's possible, because no one seems to know when exactly Daniel was born, although his birth year is typically given as 1658-1660. If this is Daniel's birth year, then it's not likely that Isabel was his mother, although it's barely possible, especially if Daniel was born say 5 years earlier. Or James may be the father, but another woman may be his mother.
James's place of death is frequently given as Norwich, New London County, Connecticut. In a review of some of the available on line sources, I've not been able to verify that. (A son of Daniel's did die in Norwich, and that might be the source of the confusion.) James is believed to have died in 1674, which would mean that he wasn't likely living with Daniel, in Norwich as Daniel would have been young.
OK, so there are all those things we don't know about James. But I believe I've found traces of him, not in Norwich but in Rhode Island. The time period fits and the story there is believable. He was first of Newport, and in 1660 was one of a group of six who bought land from the native American Narragansett tribe in 1660, representing a group of about 80 men. This land later became the town of Westerly, R.I., and James drew the 55th lot when land was distributed. The town was on the east side of the Pawtucket River, and there were disputes with Stonington, Connecticut, when persons from Stonington built on disputed land there. Eventually this led to quite a feud, and some of the Westerly men were thrown in jail (not sure whether this was in Connecticut or in Massachusetts). I didn't find a list of the men who were arrested so we don't know if this included James or not, but it surely included some of his friends and neighbors.
There is a list of freemen of Westerly on March 18, 1669 that does not include James Longbottom. Was this an oversight? Was he not a freeman? Or had he, perhaps, already left the area for Norwich, or gone back to Newport? Any of these are possible. The land that James had bought in Westerly was sold by Daniel Longbottom in 1714, which is the reason James is believed to be Daniel's father. He could be a grandfather, though. Also there is one reference that Daniel sold land of James's in 1674. This would mean Daniel had to be at least 21 years of age at the time.
Here we come to the end of what I've been able to locate about James Longbottom. He is as shadowy as they come, and if it weren't for the information we have about him in 1660-1661, we wouldn't know he had been in America at all. Newport and later Westerly had early Baptist histories. Perhaps James was a Baptist, and his death was simply not reported to the authorities. It would appear that he stayed out of legal trouble, based only on the idea that no one has reported finding him in court records.
Some of our ancestors like to hide behind thin veils and some behind thick curtains. Some may stay hidden there during my lifetime, but perhaps these hints will allow someone else to do some real digging, perhaps in Yorkshire, and come up with a more definite sketch of our ancestor. I certainly hope that is the case, for I'd like to know more about James Longbottom!
The probable line of descent is:
James Longbottom-possibly Isabel Hoult
Daniel Longbottom-Elizabeth Lamb
James Longbottom-Elizabeth Jackson
Elizabeth Longbottom-John Eames
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
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
Allen line: Thomas Sparrow, Immigrant
Thomas Sparrow, immigrant, is another enigma. He has been reported as born in several different locations with several different sets of parents. He undoubtedly came from England, and married Elizabeth Marsh, probably in Virginia. One problem in identifying this immigrant is that he had a son named Thomas, who had a son named Thomas, and they all showed up on records during the same time span.
It appears that Thomas was born probably around 1600, and was in Lower Norfolk Virginia by 1640. I've seen 1625 and 1635 given as dates for his arrival here, but we do know that in 1640 he was granted 300 acres on the Elizabeth River in payment for paying transportation costs from England for 5 people, plus himself presumably. Elizabeth Marsh may have already been here, so she may have been one of the persons he transported. Regardless, this is his ticket to land ownership.
The Sparrows were Puritans, and that was not the correct religion for settlers of Virginia. Puritans were harassed and eventually forced to attend church services of the Anglican church, and to pay tithes to them. When court cases were begun, the Sparrows moved to Maryland in order to practice their faith under a government that practiced religious tolerance. The Sparrows and their servant, John Dennis, moved in 1649. We don't know for sure how many children the Sparrows had, but at least four are attributed to them. The children's birth dates are sketchy so it is likely that there were some born in Virginia and some born in Maryland.
About 1650 Thomas acquired 590 acres on the west side of the Rhodes River in the East River Hundred and called the property Sparrow's Rest. The native Americans were still active in the area and it was only after a 1652 treaty with the Susquehannock Indians that more land became available. Thomas then purchased 600 acres called Sparrow's Rest at the mouth of Broad Creek, and another 200 acres called South Canton. The size of these purchases indicates that he was likely farming tobacco, and that his original land may already have been depleted by the time he purchased the second and third grants.
By 1656, Sparrow and most of his neighbors had heard of a woman named Elizabeth Harris, who was known as the first Quaker missionary. They attended a meeting at the West River Meeting House in 1656 and the whole family converted to the Quaker religion. Shortly after that, Thomas died, probably in early 1659.
I should note that there is a good deal of controversy about whether or not this couple had a daughter Charity, who married Richard Tydings. In general, it seems that there is no real evidence one way or the other. Long, long family traditions have given Charity these parents, but it is still possible that information will be found to disprove the theory that Charity was the child of this couple, or even that she was the child of this couple. There is no mention of her in her purported father's will, but that is not entirely an obstacle as she could have received her share before the death of her father, perhaps as a wedding gift. The jury is still out on this, but for now, I'm including Thomas in our family tree.
The line of descent is:
Thomas Sparrow-Elizabeth Marsh
Charity Sparrow-Richard Tydings
Pretitia Tydings-Dutton Lane
Samuel Lane-Mary Jane Corbin
Lambert Lane-Nancy Anne Anderson
Nancy Lane-James McCoy
Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson
Nancy McCoy-George Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
It appears that Thomas was born probably around 1600, and was in Lower Norfolk Virginia by 1640. I've seen 1625 and 1635 given as dates for his arrival here, but we do know that in 1640 he was granted 300 acres on the Elizabeth River in payment for paying transportation costs from England for 5 people, plus himself presumably. Elizabeth Marsh may have already been here, so she may have been one of the persons he transported. Regardless, this is his ticket to land ownership.
The Sparrows were Puritans, and that was not the correct religion for settlers of Virginia. Puritans were harassed and eventually forced to attend church services of the Anglican church, and to pay tithes to them. When court cases were begun, the Sparrows moved to Maryland in order to practice their faith under a government that practiced religious tolerance. The Sparrows and their servant, John Dennis, moved in 1649. We don't know for sure how many children the Sparrows had, but at least four are attributed to them. The children's birth dates are sketchy so it is likely that there were some born in Virginia and some born in Maryland.
About 1650 Thomas acquired 590 acres on the west side of the Rhodes River in the East River Hundred and called the property Sparrow's Rest. The native Americans were still active in the area and it was only after a 1652 treaty with the Susquehannock Indians that more land became available. Thomas then purchased 600 acres called Sparrow's Rest at the mouth of Broad Creek, and another 200 acres called South Canton. The size of these purchases indicates that he was likely farming tobacco, and that his original land may already have been depleted by the time he purchased the second and third grants.
By 1656, Sparrow and most of his neighbors had heard of a woman named Elizabeth Harris, who was known as the first Quaker missionary. They attended a meeting at the West River Meeting House in 1656 and the whole family converted to the Quaker religion. Shortly after that, Thomas died, probably in early 1659.
I should note that there is a good deal of controversy about whether or not this couple had a daughter Charity, who married Richard Tydings. In general, it seems that there is no real evidence one way or the other. Long, long family traditions have given Charity these parents, but it is still possible that information will be found to disprove the theory that Charity was the child of this couple, or even that she was the child of this couple. There is no mention of her in her purported father's will, but that is not entirely an obstacle as she could have received her share before the death of her father, perhaps as a wedding gift. The jury is still out on this, but for now, I'm including Thomas in our family tree.
The line of descent is:
Thomas Sparrow-Elizabeth Marsh
Charity Sparrow-Richard Tydings
Pretitia Tydings-Dutton Lane
Samuel Lane-Mary Jane Corbin
Lambert Lane-Nancy Anne Anderson
Nancy Lane-James McCoy
Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson
Nancy McCoy-George Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
Tuesday, September 12, 2017
Allen line: Richard Lane, immigrant to paradise?
I've written a little about Richard Lane before, when I wrote about his son, Samuel. But Richard is touching my heart today, because of the manner and location of his death. It makes me wonder more about the circumstances. What really happened, and what were the circumstances? Will we ever know?
To start at the beginning, Richard was born or christened August 7, 1596 in St Peter, Hereford, Hereford, England. His parents were Roger Lane and an as yet unidentified "Beatrix". He was one of at least eight children. Roger is identified as being an "iremonger". I can't identify that unless it is the same as "ironmonger', which would mean he was involved in the manufacture or sale of metal objects commonly found in today's hardware stores, such as pulls, knobs and hinges. At any rate, he made a living for his family until his early death, when Richard was just 10 years old.
Either Roger's family or his mother's family must have stepped in to help raise the eight children, and Richard went to London at the age of 16 where he was apprenticed for seven years to Nathaniel Thornhill, a merchant tailor. At the age of 24, he was admitted a freeman to the Merchant tail company, on February 26, 1620. It took a certain amount of "pull" to be admitted to an apprenticeship and certainly to become a freeman, and Richard took advantage of his opportunities. He married Alice Carter, daughter of Humfrey Carter, on October 27, 1623 in London, and life must have seemed good. Richard had a wife and a successful business. What could go wrong?
Richard Lane also appears to have been a man caught up in the politics and religious dissensions of the early to mid century in England. His religious views may have been not quite orthodox, but perhaps not quite Puritan, either. He was called before the authorities in 1631 and Richard, although not persecuted, must have decided that this was a good time to "get out of Dodge". He got himself appointed as a representative of the Company of Providence Island, a quasi-governmental organization, to go to the West Indies.
He, along with his wife and children, finally arrived at Providence Island in 1635. He spent most of the rest of his life there, introducing a plant called madder, which is used to make red dye. He may have been fairly wealthy, as he was allotted eight servants, later changed to six, to help in his activities. It's not clear whether these were personal servants for his household, or whether they were more like field hands or overseers for the planting operations.
At one point, he and two clergymen were held prisoner and returned to London to be examined for their religious views. By this time, Richard was more like a Puritan, and these beliefs were not acceptable in England. Fortunately, by the time they arrived in England Bishop Laud, who was the source of the "examinations", had died and after a brief interview, the men were freed. There was a bit of political excitement when he was nominated to be Governor of Providence Island, but that was unsuccessful.
Sometime before August 7, 1657, Richard and his son Oziell were drowned. Most sources say this happened at Eleuthera Island, in the Bahamas, but there is one source that indicates the death actually took place on the African coast. That would lead one to wonder whether he was somehow involved in the slave trade, although I've seen no other mention of this.
Providence and Eleuthra are both islands in the Bahamas, which with hurricanes Irma and Jose both threatening the area, is what brought my attention to Richard Lane. Was there bad weather when Richard and his son were drowned? Or were they somehow involved in an encounter with a Spanish ship that was in the area? The Spanish would not have taken lightly to these British posts in "their
territories. It does appear that the days of the "pirates" were later than this time period, so we can probably eliminate that as a potential cause of the drownings.
Alice was left to raise four children. She did receive her husband's back pay and a pension, after petitioning the company, and she is buried in England. I don't yet know when she returned there.
This story interests me because as far as I know now, he is one of only two ancestors we have who lived in the islands of the Caribbean and Atlantic oceans. If I were ever to tour the areas where our ancestors lived, this would be a good place to put on the bucket list!
The line of descent is:
Richard Lane-Alice Carter
Samuel Lane-Margaret Mauldin
Dutton Lane-Pretitia Tydings
Samuel Lane-Mary Jane Corbin
Lambert Lane-Nancy Ann Anderson
Nancy Ann Lane-James McCoy
Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson
Nancy McCoy-George R. Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
To start at the beginning, Richard was born or christened August 7, 1596 in St Peter, Hereford, Hereford, England. His parents were Roger Lane and an as yet unidentified "Beatrix". He was one of at least eight children. Roger is identified as being an "iremonger". I can't identify that unless it is the same as "ironmonger', which would mean he was involved in the manufacture or sale of metal objects commonly found in today's hardware stores, such as pulls, knobs and hinges. At any rate, he made a living for his family until his early death, when Richard was just 10 years old.
Either Roger's family or his mother's family must have stepped in to help raise the eight children, and Richard went to London at the age of 16 where he was apprenticed for seven years to Nathaniel Thornhill, a merchant tailor. At the age of 24, he was admitted a freeman to the Merchant tail company, on February 26, 1620. It took a certain amount of "pull" to be admitted to an apprenticeship and certainly to become a freeman, and Richard took advantage of his opportunities. He married Alice Carter, daughter of Humfrey Carter, on October 27, 1623 in London, and life must have seemed good. Richard had a wife and a successful business. What could go wrong?
Richard Lane also appears to have been a man caught up in the politics and religious dissensions of the early to mid century in England. His religious views may have been not quite orthodox, but perhaps not quite Puritan, either. He was called before the authorities in 1631 and Richard, although not persecuted, must have decided that this was a good time to "get out of Dodge". He got himself appointed as a representative of the Company of Providence Island, a quasi-governmental organization, to go to the West Indies.
He, along with his wife and children, finally arrived at Providence Island in 1635. He spent most of the rest of his life there, introducing a plant called madder, which is used to make red dye. He may have been fairly wealthy, as he was allotted eight servants, later changed to six, to help in his activities. It's not clear whether these were personal servants for his household, or whether they were more like field hands or overseers for the planting operations.
At one point, he and two clergymen were held prisoner and returned to London to be examined for their religious views. By this time, Richard was more like a Puritan, and these beliefs were not acceptable in England. Fortunately, by the time they arrived in England Bishop Laud, who was the source of the "examinations", had died and after a brief interview, the men were freed. There was a bit of political excitement when he was nominated to be Governor of Providence Island, but that was unsuccessful.
Sometime before August 7, 1657, Richard and his son Oziell were drowned. Most sources say this happened at Eleuthera Island, in the Bahamas, but there is one source that indicates the death actually took place on the African coast. That would lead one to wonder whether he was somehow involved in the slave trade, although I've seen no other mention of this.
Providence and Eleuthra are both islands in the Bahamas, which with hurricanes Irma and Jose both threatening the area, is what brought my attention to Richard Lane. Was there bad weather when Richard and his son were drowned? Or were they somehow involved in an encounter with a Spanish ship that was in the area? The Spanish would not have taken lightly to these British posts in "their
territories. It does appear that the days of the "pirates" were later than this time period, so we can probably eliminate that as a potential cause of the drownings.
Alice was left to raise four children. She did receive her husband's back pay and a pension, after petitioning the company, and she is buried in England. I don't yet know when she returned there.
This story interests me because as far as I know now, he is one of only two ancestors we have who lived in the islands of the Caribbean and Atlantic oceans. If I were ever to tour the areas where our ancestors lived, this would be a good place to put on the bucket list!
The line of descent is:
Richard Lane-Alice Carter
Samuel Lane-Margaret Mauldin
Dutton Lane-Pretitia Tydings
Samuel Lane-Mary Jane Corbin
Lambert Lane-Nancy Ann Anderson
Nancy Ann Lane-James McCoy
Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson
Nancy McCoy-George R. Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
Tuesday, August 15, 2017
Allen line: John Clark, Immigrant
This is really a love letter and a challenge to a future family historian. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find out more about John Clark. I have one fact I'm reasonably sure of about the man, and a potential marriage date and name of his wife about which I am less sure. And as to his birthdate and place, I am thoroughly confused. So you, someone in the future and whomever you are, are assigned the task of finding out more about this ancestor of ours.
Every tree that I have looked at gives John's birthdate as about 1606, but there are probably many John Clark's in England that fit that broad description. There are several dates and places attached to his various trees on Ancestry, but none of them match any other information in the trees. His wife is believed to have been named Joan. There are several trees listing a 1620 marriage to John, but this could not be our John if he was born in 1606 or thereabouts.
One interesting possibility is a record from Hartpury, Gloucester, England from April 30,162, stating that John Clark married Joane Nelme on that date. I do know that people from Gloucester went to Virginia, so this seems to be a reasonable possibility. However, his son Abraham is believed to have been born in Weathersfield, Essex, England and that is a long way from Gloucester. So maybe the Joane Nelme idea isn't as possible as it seems. We know that John and possible wife Joan had at least two children, Abraham and Ann.
If the time and location of Abraham's birth is correct, then that would mean John left Virginia no earlier than 1639. I've not yet found an immigration record that gave me any confidence that this was our John. The death information I have consistently gives him a death date of 1664 (nothing more specific) in (old) Rappahannock County, Virginia. This would have been on the Rappahannock river or its tributaries, north of the current city of Richmond.
That is all that I have been able to locate about John. There are so many questions, both in England and in Virginia, but I leave them to the future family historian to dig into this untold story, thanking him, her or them in advance. For now, we only know that he is an ancestor and that he was an immigrant at a time when life was not easy in Virginia. That is a good reason to honor him.
The line of descent is:
John Clark-Joan
Abraham Clark-Sarah Kinsey
Elizabeth Clark-William Wilkinson
Jane Wilkinson-Edward Corbin
Mary Jane Corbin-Samuel Lane
Lambert Lane-Nancy Ann Anderson
Nancy Ann Lane-James McCoy
Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson
Nancy McCoy-George R Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
Every tree that I have looked at gives John's birthdate as about 1606, but there are probably many John Clark's in England that fit that broad description. There are several dates and places attached to his various trees on Ancestry, but none of them match any other information in the trees. His wife is believed to have been named Joan. There are several trees listing a 1620 marriage to John, but this could not be our John if he was born in 1606 or thereabouts.
One interesting possibility is a record from Hartpury, Gloucester, England from April 30,162, stating that John Clark married Joane Nelme on that date. I do know that people from Gloucester went to Virginia, so this seems to be a reasonable possibility. However, his son Abraham is believed to have been born in Weathersfield, Essex, England and that is a long way from Gloucester. So maybe the Joane Nelme idea isn't as possible as it seems. We know that John and possible wife Joan had at least two children, Abraham and Ann.
If the time and location of Abraham's birth is correct, then that would mean John left Virginia no earlier than 1639. I've not yet found an immigration record that gave me any confidence that this was our John. The death information I have consistently gives him a death date of 1664 (nothing more specific) in (old) Rappahannock County, Virginia. This would have been on the Rappahannock river or its tributaries, north of the current city of Richmond.
That is all that I have been able to locate about John. There are so many questions, both in England and in Virginia, but I leave them to the future family historian to dig into this untold story, thanking him, her or them in advance. For now, we only know that he is an ancestor and that he was an immigrant at a time when life was not easy in Virginia. That is a good reason to honor him.
The line of descent is:
John Clark-Joan
Abraham Clark-Sarah Kinsey
Elizabeth Clark-William Wilkinson
Jane Wilkinson-Edward Corbin
Mary Jane Corbin-Samuel Lane
Lambert Lane-Nancy Ann Anderson
Nancy Ann Lane-James McCoy
Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson
Nancy McCoy-George R Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
Tuesday, August 1, 2017
Allen line: Hugh Kinsey 1592-1667
Hugh Kinsey is another one of those "really" ancestors who reminds me that no, I'm not entirely of sturdy New England stock. This line goes back to early Maryland and before that, Virginia, when the land was being newly explored and settled, relations with native Americans were tense, and life was hard, even though the winters may have been milder than those of much of New England.
Hugh was baptized February 16, 1592 at Oldhaugh, Cheshire, England. This is a new location for me, so I tried to Google it and found only other people who were born there. My best guess is that this was a small farming community and that the reason for leaving here may have been economic.
Hugh married Margaret Coulton in England (lots of sources say Margaret Johns but that appears to be incorrect) in 1632 and they had six known children together, (one died young) but not until Hugh was middle aged. Margaret was reportedly baptized in 1611 so Hugh was enough older that he may have had an as yet unlocated first marriage.
Hugh and brother Robert were in Virginia by 1655, settling in Rappahannock and later Lancaster County, Virginia. Hugh was already over 60, and life was hard in the new land. It gets a little complicated here. Hugh inherited from his brother Robert in 1656 and mortgaged those 500 acres, later selling them to the mortgagor in London because he couldn't make the payment. It's not clear why he needed to sell; did he have trouble financially because he had become (or perhaps always was) a Quaker? A group of Quakers from Lancaster county did emigrate together, to the area on the Patapsco River where Hugh settled. He brought two of his children over from England in 1662, and about the same time, acquired 100 acres of land along the river. The 100 acres probably represented headrights, meaning Hugh had paid the transportation costs and brought new settlers in to the area.
Hugh is seen as a witness to various land transactions in the 1650's and 1660's, but seems to have not generated much other paperwork. He did leave a will dated May 6, 1667 in Anne Arundel County, leaving bequests to grandchildren and the estate to his wife, until her death when it was to go to his living children and grandchildren. I've not located anything saying what the value of the estate was.
It's likely that Hugh's estate was not large. As far as we know, he had just the 100 acres, and that was not enough to support a family. If he was a Quaker, he probably had suffered both religious and economic persecution in Virginia. But he was free and had had opportunities in the New World that he would never had had in England, and he may have felt that the opportunity was worth the risk, even for an older person. He contributed to the building of America, and for that I am grateful.
The line of descent is:
Hugh Kinsey-Margaret Coulton
Sarah Kinsey-Abraham Clark
Elizabeth Clark-William Wilkinson
Jane Wilkinson-Edward Corbin
Mary Jane Corbin-Samuel Lane
Lambert Lane-Nancy Anderson
Nancy Ann Lane-William McCoy
Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson
Nancy McCoy-George Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants.
Hugh was baptized February 16, 1592 at Oldhaugh, Cheshire, England. This is a new location for me, so I tried to Google it and found only other people who were born there. My best guess is that this was a small farming community and that the reason for leaving here may have been economic.
Hugh married Margaret Coulton in England (lots of sources say Margaret Johns but that appears to be incorrect) in 1632 and they had six known children together, (one died young) but not until Hugh was middle aged. Margaret was reportedly baptized in 1611 so Hugh was enough older that he may have had an as yet unlocated first marriage.
Hugh and brother Robert were in Virginia by 1655, settling in Rappahannock and later Lancaster County, Virginia. Hugh was already over 60, and life was hard in the new land. It gets a little complicated here. Hugh inherited from his brother Robert in 1656 and mortgaged those 500 acres, later selling them to the mortgagor in London because he couldn't make the payment. It's not clear why he needed to sell; did he have trouble financially because he had become (or perhaps always was) a Quaker? A group of Quakers from Lancaster county did emigrate together, to the area on the Patapsco River where Hugh settled. He brought two of his children over from England in 1662, and about the same time, acquired 100 acres of land along the river. The 100 acres probably represented headrights, meaning Hugh had paid the transportation costs and brought new settlers in to the area.
Hugh is seen as a witness to various land transactions in the 1650's and 1660's, but seems to have not generated much other paperwork. He did leave a will dated May 6, 1667 in Anne Arundel County, leaving bequests to grandchildren and the estate to his wife, until her death when it was to go to his living children and grandchildren. I've not located anything saying what the value of the estate was.
It's likely that Hugh's estate was not large. As far as we know, he had just the 100 acres, and that was not enough to support a family. If he was a Quaker, he probably had suffered both religious and economic persecution in Virginia. But he was free and had had opportunities in the New World that he would never had had in England, and he may have felt that the opportunity was worth the risk, even for an older person. He contributed to the building of America, and for that I am grateful.
The line of descent is:
Hugh Kinsey-Margaret Coulton
Sarah Kinsey-Abraham Clark
Elizabeth Clark-William Wilkinson
Jane Wilkinson-Edward Corbin
Mary Jane Corbin-Samuel Lane
Lambert Lane-Nancy Anderson
Nancy Ann Lane-William McCoy
Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson
Nancy McCoy-George Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants.
Tuesday, June 6, 2017
Allen line: Richard Tydings, Immigrant abt 1630-1687
I wish I could find more information about Richard Tydings. I'd love to tell you who his parents were and where he was born, whom he married and when he arrived in the New World. However, there is conflicting information about each of these "facts", and obviously not all of them can be correct. There are no alternate facts in genealogy, but alternate theories abound .
As of now, possible parents for Richard,are John and Ann Willson Tydings, married September 20,1630 at St Saviour church, Southwark, Surrey, (across the Thames River from London). John "Tithings" had a son RIchard baptied March, 1633/4, so this is in the correct time frame to be our Richard. Also Richard named a son John, but both first names are very common so this is not proof, just a suggestion.
We do know that he was in Maryland by 1659, when he demanded 50 acres as a headright. Whether this was for himself or for a family member is not clear. He lived at a "plantation" or farm called Haslenut Ridge", which was on the Rhode River in what is now Anne Arundel County, around Annapolis.
He most likely married in Maryland, and his wife is often claimed to be Charity Sparrow, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Marsh Sparrow. There is some dispute about this in genealogy circles but I think it is likely correct, though I'm sure willing to listen to opposing beliefs, especially if documents are found to prove or disprove this theory
Based on his will, we know that he owned not only Haslenut Ridge, by now 166 acres, but also a tract called Nanjomie in Baltimore County, which was 375 acres, and another tract called "New Year's Purchase" which was on Gunpowder River in Baltimore County and contained 500 acres. Because he owned at least three separate pieces of land at the time of his death in 1687, he was likely raising tobacco, which depleted the land quickly. This could mean he had indentured servants or possibly slaves, although there was no mention of slaves in this will. (This isn't necessarily conclusive, because slaves at the time were considered personal property and it wasn't necessary to list or bequeath them separately).
Other than this, we know only the names of some of his children: John, Charity, Pretitia, Elizabeth, and Mary. There are lists that include other children and it's possible, but these five seem to be the ones everyone agrees on. Richard is indeed a mystery. Why did he come to Maryland, and what ship did he come on when he came to America. Did he disembark at Baltimore, or Virginia? Where is the proof of his wife's name?
The Maryland ancestors we have are fascinating, maybe because they seem mysterious to me. I want to learn more about them both individually, and as a group of people.
The line of descent is:
Richard Tydings-Charity Sparrow
Pretitia or Pretosia Tydings-Dutton Lane
Samuel Lane-Mary Jane Corbin
Lambert Lane-Nancy Ann Anderson
Nancy Ann Lane-James McCoy
Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson
Nancy McCoy-George R. Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
As of now, possible parents for Richard,are John and Ann Willson Tydings, married September 20,1630 at St Saviour church, Southwark, Surrey, (across the Thames River from London). John "Tithings" had a son RIchard baptied March, 1633/4, so this is in the correct time frame to be our Richard. Also Richard named a son John, but both first names are very common so this is not proof, just a suggestion.
We do know that he was in Maryland by 1659, when he demanded 50 acres as a headright. Whether this was for himself or for a family member is not clear. He lived at a "plantation" or farm called Haslenut Ridge", which was on the Rhode River in what is now Anne Arundel County, around Annapolis.
He most likely married in Maryland, and his wife is often claimed to be Charity Sparrow, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Marsh Sparrow. There is some dispute about this in genealogy circles but I think it is likely correct, though I'm sure willing to listen to opposing beliefs, especially if documents are found to prove or disprove this theory
Based on his will, we know that he owned not only Haslenut Ridge, by now 166 acres, but also a tract called Nanjomie in Baltimore County, which was 375 acres, and another tract called "New Year's Purchase" which was on Gunpowder River in Baltimore County and contained 500 acres. Because he owned at least three separate pieces of land at the time of his death in 1687, he was likely raising tobacco, which depleted the land quickly. This could mean he had indentured servants or possibly slaves, although there was no mention of slaves in this will. (This isn't necessarily conclusive, because slaves at the time were considered personal property and it wasn't necessary to list or bequeath them separately).
Other than this, we know only the names of some of his children: John, Charity, Pretitia, Elizabeth, and Mary. There are lists that include other children and it's possible, but these five seem to be the ones everyone agrees on. Richard is indeed a mystery. Why did he come to Maryland, and what ship did he come on when he came to America. Did he disembark at Baltimore, or Virginia? Where is the proof of his wife's name?
The Maryland ancestors we have are fascinating, maybe because they seem mysterious to me. I want to learn more about them both individually, and as a group of people.
The line of descent is:
Richard Tydings-Charity Sparrow
Pretitia or Pretosia Tydings-Dutton Lane
Samuel Lane-Mary Jane Corbin
Lambert Lane-Nancy Ann Anderson
Nancy Ann Lane-James McCoy
Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson
Nancy McCoy-George R. Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
Tuesday, May 9, 2017
Allen line; Robert Johnson died 1661, Immigrant
There are a lot of stories about Robert Johnson on line, but not a lot of good, documented information. I'm not sure but I think it's possible that two Robert Johnson's have been combined and confused, and that makes it hard to determine which Robert Johnson is ours.
The esteemed genealogist Donald Lines Jacobus in his "Families of Ancient New Haven" gives the idea that three brothers came from Hull, Yorkshire, England, and from that others have apparently jumped at the conclusion that Robert is the son of Abraham who was the son of Robert Johnson son of Maurice Johnson, who was an alderman of Stanford in Lincolnshire. I'm not sure this holds up under scrutiny, but it's possible.
I'll start with what I believe to be correct. Robert Johnson was in New Haven, Connecticut as early as 1641. At least two more generations of Johnsons lived in New Haven, and their records seem to be a little more easily traced. So that's helpful, to show that Robert was an early resident there
William Richard Cutter says that Robert came to Boston in 1637 from Kingston on Hull, Yorkshire, England, where he was in business. He brought his wife "Adlin" and four sons, Robert, Thomas, John, and William. There is some belief that Aldin may have been a second wife, but so far no records have been produced to indicate whether this is so or not.
The first I can really find about Robert is that he was in New Haven, Connecticut in 1641, and that this is where he spent the remainder of his days. He is believed to have been born sometime between 1603 and 1612, but again, there is no known documentation. It makes sense based on the ages of his known children to think that it would be closer to 1603, since some of his children are believed to have been born in the early to mid 1620's.
We see him in 1641 in New Haven in a dispute with his brother, John. He had loaned money to John back in England, and John apparently did not pay him back. the house had been pledged as security, or so Robert thought. In the 1640's he was several times appointed to committees to resolve disputes about crops damaged by cattle and hogs, and to determine how much corn each farmer was growing, that the town would be responsible to buy. He bought 91/2 acres of land "in the Necke" and also had recorded 62 acres of "upland" he had purchased from Thomas Yale, both in 1646. He apparently also owned a dwelling or land in "Yorkshire quarter", which was disposed of in his will.
That is pretty much what is known of Robert Johnson. If he was descended from Maurice Johnson then there is likely more material to be found regarding his ancestry, and hopefully more clues to his occupation, religion, and other mundane matters that bring our ancestors to life.
For now, we will leave him at the end of his life, in 1661, in New Haven. He chose to live there and had been there at least 20 years, watching his family grow and settle in to the new land they had come to. I am thankful that men like Robert Johnson were willing to come to America and build this new land!
The line of descent is:
Robert Johnson-Adeline
John Johnson-Hannah Parmalee
Samuel Johnson-unknown
Mary Johnson-Matthew Bellamy
Hannah Bellamy-John Royse
Elizabeth Royse-William McCoy
James McCoy-Nancy Ann Lane
Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson
Nancy McCoy-George Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
The esteemed genealogist Donald Lines Jacobus in his "Families of Ancient New Haven" gives the idea that three brothers came from Hull, Yorkshire, England, and from that others have apparently jumped at the conclusion that Robert is the son of Abraham who was the son of Robert Johnson son of Maurice Johnson, who was an alderman of Stanford in Lincolnshire. I'm not sure this holds up under scrutiny, but it's possible.
I'll start with what I believe to be correct. Robert Johnson was in New Haven, Connecticut as early as 1641. At least two more generations of Johnsons lived in New Haven, and their records seem to be a little more easily traced. So that's helpful, to show that Robert was an early resident there
William Richard Cutter says that Robert came to Boston in 1637 from Kingston on Hull, Yorkshire, England, where he was in business. He brought his wife "Adlin" and four sons, Robert, Thomas, John, and William. There is some belief that Aldin may have been a second wife, but so far no records have been produced to indicate whether this is so or not.
The first I can really find about Robert is that he was in New Haven, Connecticut in 1641, and that this is where he spent the remainder of his days. He is believed to have been born sometime between 1603 and 1612, but again, there is no known documentation. It makes sense based on the ages of his known children to think that it would be closer to 1603, since some of his children are believed to have been born in the early to mid 1620's.
We see him in 1641 in New Haven in a dispute with his brother, John. He had loaned money to John back in England, and John apparently did not pay him back. the house had been pledged as security, or so Robert thought. In the 1640's he was several times appointed to committees to resolve disputes about crops damaged by cattle and hogs, and to determine how much corn each farmer was growing, that the town would be responsible to buy. He bought 91/2 acres of land "in the Necke" and also had recorded 62 acres of "upland" he had purchased from Thomas Yale, both in 1646. He apparently also owned a dwelling or land in "Yorkshire quarter", which was disposed of in his will.
That is pretty much what is known of Robert Johnson. If he was descended from Maurice Johnson then there is likely more material to be found regarding his ancestry, and hopefully more clues to his occupation, religion, and other mundane matters that bring our ancestors to life.
For now, we will leave him at the end of his life, in 1661, in New Haven. He chose to live there and had been there at least 20 years, watching his family grow and settle in to the new land they had come to. I am thankful that men like Robert Johnson were willing to come to America and build this new land!
The line of descent is:
Robert Johnson-Adeline
John Johnson-Hannah Parmalee
Samuel Johnson-unknown
Mary Johnson-Matthew Bellamy
Hannah Bellamy-John Royse
Elizabeth Royse-William McCoy
James McCoy-Nancy Ann Lane
Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson
Nancy McCoy-George Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Allen line: Timothy Ford bt 1611-1684, Immigrant
We know at least a few things about Timothy Ford. It is quite likely that he came from Devonshire, England. He may or may not be connected to the Henry and Catherine Drake Ford from that area. I have it on my tree as fact, but looking at it more closely, he didn't have children named Henry or Catherine so I am a bit skeptical. Also, Henry was a Sir Henry and Catherine was from a family connected to Sir Francis Drake. So one would think that he would at least be accorded the title of "Gentleman" and I haven't found him referred to as such. So maybe they were distant cousins, but Timothy was probably not their child. (I hope I'm wrong; I like the Francis Drake connection.)
Timothy is believed to have come to New England in 1637 and to have stayed in the Cambridge area for a couple of years before traveling to New Haven. We don't know whether he went to New Haven for religious reasons or for some other purpose, but it appears that his marriage took place at about this same time. New Haven was the most Puritan town, and the strictest, in New England so we can hope he went willingly, knowing that life would be different in New Haven than it was in Boston.
Most sides give his wife's name as Eliza Gordy, but I haven't found any documentation as to that name. Torrey's New England Marriages doesn't give her even a first name, so I guess the verdict is still out on the name of his wife. The marriage, however, is supposed to have taken place before 1640, as Samuel Ford was born in that year, and at least five other children were born after that. Timothy signed his name to the New Haven Covenant in 1639 and received land during the first and second divisions of land there. He took the "oath of allegiance" in 1644, which basically said he would do what the government (local) said. 215 other men took the oath at the same time, probably all the residents except for perhaps the very sick and those temporarily away from home.
He is believed to have been a farmer, and seems to have been hard pressed for funds in the early years of his marriage, but gradually acquired more land. He moved to Fairfield, where he owned land before 1650, but was back in New Haven by 1652. He was fined there, then for a defect in his arms (there were strict rules as to what kind of guns and swords each man must have, and the type and amount of ammunition0 and he tried to excuse himself by saying the requirements were different "where he came from". Since he was fined, apparently the judge didn't buy the excuse.
When the meeting house was built, the Fords were assigned seats toward the back of the room, which indicates a low social status, but 25 years later they were in the center of the room, and he was in the 7th row, which may mean he was more prosperous or it may mean simply that age had its privileges.
His wife, referred to as Goody Ford, died in 1681 and Timothy died August 28, 1684. He had sold some of his land to one of his sons in 1679, but his estate was still valued at 166 pounds, 17 shillings, and two pence. He had come up in the world.
Timothy didn't leave a lot or records behind, but apparently he kept out of trouble except for the one arms violation, and that was hard to do in a town like New Haven. My respects to this gentleman, our ancestor!
The line of descent is:
Timothy Ford-possibly Elizabeth Gordy
Bethiah Ford-Matthew Bellamy
Matthew Bellamy-Mary Johnson
Hannah Bellamy-John Royse
Elizabeth Royse-William McCoy
James McCoy-Nancy Lane
Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson
Nancy McCoy-George Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
Timothy is believed to have come to New England in 1637 and to have stayed in the Cambridge area for a couple of years before traveling to New Haven. We don't know whether he went to New Haven for religious reasons or for some other purpose, but it appears that his marriage took place at about this same time. New Haven was the most Puritan town, and the strictest, in New England so we can hope he went willingly, knowing that life would be different in New Haven than it was in Boston.
Most sides give his wife's name as Eliza Gordy, but I haven't found any documentation as to that name. Torrey's New England Marriages doesn't give her even a first name, so I guess the verdict is still out on the name of his wife. The marriage, however, is supposed to have taken place before 1640, as Samuel Ford was born in that year, and at least five other children were born after that. Timothy signed his name to the New Haven Covenant in 1639 and received land during the first and second divisions of land there. He took the "oath of allegiance" in 1644, which basically said he would do what the government (local) said. 215 other men took the oath at the same time, probably all the residents except for perhaps the very sick and those temporarily away from home.
He is believed to have been a farmer, and seems to have been hard pressed for funds in the early years of his marriage, but gradually acquired more land. He moved to Fairfield, where he owned land before 1650, but was back in New Haven by 1652. He was fined there, then for a defect in his arms (there were strict rules as to what kind of guns and swords each man must have, and the type and amount of ammunition0 and he tried to excuse himself by saying the requirements were different "where he came from". Since he was fined, apparently the judge didn't buy the excuse.
When the meeting house was built, the Fords were assigned seats toward the back of the room, which indicates a low social status, but 25 years later they were in the center of the room, and he was in the 7th row, which may mean he was more prosperous or it may mean simply that age had its privileges.
His wife, referred to as Goody Ford, died in 1681 and Timothy died August 28, 1684. He had sold some of his land to one of his sons in 1679, but his estate was still valued at 166 pounds, 17 shillings, and two pence. He had come up in the world.
Timothy didn't leave a lot or records behind, but apparently he kept out of trouble except for the one arms violation, and that was hard to do in a town like New Haven. My respects to this gentleman, our ancestor!
The line of descent is:
Timothy Ford-possibly Elizabeth Gordy
Bethiah Ford-Matthew Bellamy
Matthew Bellamy-Mary Johnson
Hannah Bellamy-John Royse
Elizabeth Royse-William McCoy
James McCoy-Nancy Lane
Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson
Nancy McCoy-George Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Allen line: Alexis Jackson 1762-1826
This post is a little about the "dash" in Alexis Jackson's life. Before our recent trip to Ohio, I knew the names of his parents, that he had married Catherine Moore in Greene County, Pennsylvania, about 1784 and that he had died in Pike Township, Marion County, Indiana. I also had names for some of his children. That is all that I knew about this man.
One of the first books I looked at in the Ohio Genealogy Society library was one called "Index to Servicemen of War of 1812, State of Ohio" published in 1988 and edited by Phyllis Brown Miller. Here's what it said: "Jackson, Alexis; vol patriot in Seth Harrington's Company, Erie Co., Ohio, b 1768 (nt=y records say 1762) d. 1826; bur. Marion Co., In., m. Catherine Moore; Erie Co. Rcds Vol 1 p. 105, vol. 11 p. 913, Williams Hist Huron & Erie Co.s Oh. p 454 (1954, 1967)".
Wow! Our ancestor was in the War of 1812 in one way or another. Ordinarily a "patriot" is one who donates supplies, livestock, or money to the war effort but this specifically says he was with "Seth Harrington's Company". I wonder if he was somehow more directly involved in the effort. Did he perhaps serve as a cook or a guide or in some other function, not directly in battle? I am still working on that. However, he was somewhere around 45-50 years old at the start of the War, so he may well have not been up to military service. Still, he served, somehow and someway. I can't wait to find out more about what he did, but he belongs in the company of those who served their country, in my estimation.
So now that I knew where to start looking, I found quite a bit of information about Alexis. He was in what became Huron County by 1811, before the War broke out. If the 1784 marriage date is correct he have been married more than 25 years, and had several children. I still don't know what prompted him to go there, to what was basically a pioneer wilderness, nor whether he had spent the first 25 years of his marriage in Greene County. But what I did find is just, to my mind, extraordinary.
It's a letter published in the Firelands Pioneer, Volume XXIII, pages 346-348, from a great grand daughter of Alexis Jackson, Mrs. M.C. Frederick. This was published in 1925 but the letter itself may have been written as much as a year earlier, for it's not dated. Here are some excerpts from the letter:
"My grandmother, Catherine Jackson Carter, was born in Pennsylvania in 1809 and when she was very young her family drove to Sandusky, Ohio. They took their cows with them, the milk was strained into the churn, and traveling churned the butter. I was told that a recent history of Erie County mentioned Alexus Jackson (my great grandfather) as having settled in Groton Township, the exact date not given. A letter to the County recorder of Huron county bought the information that Alexus Jackson sold (or bought?)land in 1811 (Vol. 1 page 305 of Erie, Town of Perkins) and again in 1819 he sold 40 acres, his wife Catharine being mentioned in this deed (Vol. 2 p. 913 Erie., also that a tract containing 116 acres in Huron county, (Erie not yet formed) the property of Alexus Jackson, deceased, was sold in 1830 by Alexus, executor, late of Marion County, Indiana by his last will and testament made Feb. 2, 1826 (vol6, p. 440, Erie). This would indicate that the family went to Ohio some time between June 1, 1809, the date of my grandmother's birth, and 1811; that the father died, probably in 1826, and that the widow and family-there were six girls and five or six boys-went to Marion County (Indianapolis) between 1826 and 1829, when my grandmother was married at Indianapolis.
"As I remember the story she told me when I was a child, they with other settlers were in the fort at Sandusky for protection from the Indians in the War of 1812, and nearly perished for lack of food. At intervals men would steal out at night and endeavor to procure provisions, but they never returned, undoubtedly discovered and killed by the Indians. What food they did have was not suitable for small children, and a number of them died, including, I think, my grandmother's baby sister. Grandmother remembered seeing the smoke and hearing the firing of "Perry's Victory," which ended the trouble and permitted them to return to their homes. She was then four years and three months old."
There is other interesting material in the letter, not directly applicable to Alexis Jackson and family, but I find this fascinating. The author does mention several of the children, including Eleanor, who married Vincent McCoy, so we know this is our Alexis. Eleanor would have been about two years younger than the Catherine who was mentioned above, so she surely was with her mother and siblings in the Fort, too, although she may not have had any memory of it.
These were exciting finds for me. Now I have more questions, such as why Alexis and Catherine decided to leave Pennsylvania for Ohio, and why they later (date undetermined) decided to move on to Marion County, Indiana. I believe the writer made an error when she said that the widow and children went to Marion County. Alexis's will was written there and I believe he died there, although I don't know how long he'd been there. I still don't know if Alexis had an occupation besides farming. But what I do know is this glimpse into one segment of his and his family's life, and it's so much more than I knew before.
It's another happy genealogy dance day!
The line of descent is:
Alexis Jackson-Catherine Moore
Eleanor Jackson-Vincent McCoy
Nancy McCoy-George R. Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
One of the first books I looked at in the Ohio Genealogy Society library was one called "Index to Servicemen of War of 1812, State of Ohio" published in 1988 and edited by Phyllis Brown Miller. Here's what it said: "Jackson, Alexis; vol patriot in Seth Harrington's Company, Erie Co., Ohio, b 1768 (nt=y records say 1762) d. 1826; bur. Marion Co., In., m. Catherine Moore; Erie Co. Rcds Vol 1 p. 105, vol. 11 p. 913, Williams Hist Huron & Erie Co.s Oh. p 454 (1954, 1967)".
Wow! Our ancestor was in the War of 1812 in one way or another. Ordinarily a "patriot" is one who donates supplies, livestock, or money to the war effort but this specifically says he was with "Seth Harrington's Company". I wonder if he was somehow more directly involved in the effort. Did he perhaps serve as a cook or a guide or in some other function, not directly in battle? I am still working on that. However, he was somewhere around 45-50 years old at the start of the War, so he may well have not been up to military service. Still, he served, somehow and someway. I can't wait to find out more about what he did, but he belongs in the company of those who served their country, in my estimation.
So now that I knew where to start looking, I found quite a bit of information about Alexis. He was in what became Huron County by 1811, before the War broke out. If the 1784 marriage date is correct he have been married more than 25 years, and had several children. I still don't know what prompted him to go there, to what was basically a pioneer wilderness, nor whether he had spent the first 25 years of his marriage in Greene County. But what I did find is just, to my mind, extraordinary.
It's a letter published in the Firelands Pioneer, Volume XXIII, pages 346-348, from a great grand daughter of Alexis Jackson, Mrs. M.C. Frederick. This was published in 1925 but the letter itself may have been written as much as a year earlier, for it's not dated. Here are some excerpts from the letter:
"My grandmother, Catherine Jackson Carter, was born in Pennsylvania in 1809 and when she was very young her family drove to Sandusky, Ohio. They took their cows with them, the milk was strained into the churn, and traveling churned the butter. I was told that a recent history of Erie County mentioned Alexus Jackson (my great grandfather) as having settled in Groton Township, the exact date not given. A letter to the County recorder of Huron county bought the information that Alexus Jackson sold (or bought?)land in 1811 (Vol. 1 page 305 of Erie, Town of Perkins) and again in 1819 he sold 40 acres, his wife Catharine being mentioned in this deed (Vol. 2 p. 913 Erie., also that a tract containing 116 acres in Huron county, (Erie not yet formed) the property of Alexus Jackson, deceased, was sold in 1830 by Alexus, executor, late of Marion County, Indiana by his last will and testament made Feb. 2, 1826 (vol6, p. 440, Erie). This would indicate that the family went to Ohio some time between June 1, 1809, the date of my grandmother's birth, and 1811; that the father died, probably in 1826, and that the widow and family-there were six girls and five or six boys-went to Marion County (Indianapolis) between 1826 and 1829, when my grandmother was married at Indianapolis.
"As I remember the story she told me when I was a child, they with other settlers were in the fort at Sandusky for protection from the Indians in the War of 1812, and nearly perished for lack of food. At intervals men would steal out at night and endeavor to procure provisions, but they never returned, undoubtedly discovered and killed by the Indians. What food they did have was not suitable for small children, and a number of them died, including, I think, my grandmother's baby sister. Grandmother remembered seeing the smoke and hearing the firing of "Perry's Victory," which ended the trouble and permitted them to return to their homes. She was then four years and three months old."
There is other interesting material in the letter, not directly applicable to Alexis Jackson and family, but I find this fascinating. The author does mention several of the children, including Eleanor, who married Vincent McCoy, so we know this is our Alexis. Eleanor would have been about two years younger than the Catherine who was mentioned above, so she surely was with her mother and siblings in the Fort, too, although she may not have had any memory of it.
These were exciting finds for me. Now I have more questions, such as why Alexis and Catherine decided to leave Pennsylvania for Ohio, and why they later (date undetermined) decided to move on to Marion County, Indiana. I believe the writer made an error when she said that the widow and children went to Marion County. Alexis's will was written there and I believe he died there, although I don't know how long he'd been there. I still don't know if Alexis had an occupation besides farming. But what I do know is this glimpse into one segment of his and his family's life, and it's so much more than I knew before.
It's another happy genealogy dance day!
The line of descent is:
Alexis Jackson-Catherine Moore
Eleanor Jackson-Vincent McCoy
Nancy McCoy-George R. Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
Tuesday, September 6, 2016
Allen line: John Parmelee 1584-1659, Immigrant
If for not other reason, John Parmelee is noted for having five wives, apparently having out-lived four of them, and for having children by each of his first four wives. He was born in Lewes, Sussex, England before September 27, 1584. His father, also John Parmelee, had died late in April (buried May 1) 1583, so his mother, Alice Russell, waited a few months to have him baptized. Perhaps she herself was ill, or she was waiting for relatives to arrive. Babies were usually but not always baptized shortly after birth. John is known to have had one sister, Margaret, who was born a little more than ten years earlier than John. There was another sister, Catherine, who would have been about five years older than John but who died as an infant.
It's not clear who raised Margaret and John. Alice apparently did not remarry, which would have been unusual for this time frame, unless her health was not good. Probably the family moved in with relatives and eventually John learned the trade of bricklaying. He supported his own family with his trade. This would have been back breaking work, just as it is today, but John was apparently a strong young man. He married at age 24 for the first time, to Anne Howell, and their marriage lasted until her death 21 years later. They had seven children together, but only one survived childhood.
John next married Hannah Wilbur in 1630. She had two children, and died on February 20, 1634, perhaps as a result of childbirth. Fifteen months later, John married Elizabeth Holter, and had three children with her. Again, all three children died young. He next married Joane Cobden, about 15 months after wife Elizabeth had died, and they had one daughter, Rachel, who was buried just five days after her 1638 baptism. It isn't known what happened to Joane, but she was probably dead when John decided to start a new life in America, or at least when he set sail.
His surviving son John was already in New England when John sailed from London on the St John on May 20, 1639. The ship went directly to New Haven, Connecticut and John Senior joined his son John Junior in Guilford. His signature was on a Plantation Covenant which was officially dated June 1, 1639, but apparently a few late-comers signed the document as they arrived in port. He was assigned a home lot at the north end of the village green, where the First Congregational Church now stands. We are told on the Town of Guilford, Connecticut's website that the homes built were no more than huts, with thatched roofs, wooden walls, and dirt floors, and the village resembled a medieval village for several generations.
John was voted a freeman about 10 years after he arrived in Guilford, but some time before 1659 he and his family moved to New Haven, where he was admitted as a freeman on August 8, 1659. His family at this time included his fifth wife, Elizabeth, whom he had married in 1653. There were fourteen years between the death of his fourth wife and the final marriage, so perhaps John had finally given himself time to grieve the loss of so many wives and so many children. John died November 8, 1659, probably at New Haven. He did leave a will and inventory but so far I haven't been able to locate it.
This brief outline leaves a lot of questions. Was John a strong Puritan church supporter? How did he support his family in Connecticut? What were the early relations with the native Americans? Was he a member of a train band or other military group? I need to find out more about John Parmelee, who sparks my compassion across these many generations.
The line of descent is:
John Parmelee-Hannah Wilbur
Hannah Parmelee-John Johnson
Samuel Johnson-unknown
Mary Johnson-Matthew Bellamy
Hannah Bellamy-John Royse
Elizabeth Royse-William McCoy
James McCoy-Nancy Ann Lane
Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson
Nancy-McCoy-George R Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
It's not clear who raised Margaret and John. Alice apparently did not remarry, which would have been unusual for this time frame, unless her health was not good. Probably the family moved in with relatives and eventually John learned the trade of bricklaying. He supported his own family with his trade. This would have been back breaking work, just as it is today, but John was apparently a strong young man. He married at age 24 for the first time, to Anne Howell, and their marriage lasted until her death 21 years later. They had seven children together, but only one survived childhood.
John next married Hannah Wilbur in 1630. She had two children, and died on February 20, 1634, perhaps as a result of childbirth. Fifteen months later, John married Elizabeth Holter, and had three children with her. Again, all three children died young. He next married Joane Cobden, about 15 months after wife Elizabeth had died, and they had one daughter, Rachel, who was buried just five days after her 1638 baptism. It isn't known what happened to Joane, but she was probably dead when John decided to start a new life in America, or at least when he set sail.
His surviving son John was already in New England when John sailed from London on the St John on May 20, 1639. The ship went directly to New Haven, Connecticut and John Senior joined his son John Junior in Guilford. His signature was on a Plantation Covenant which was officially dated June 1, 1639, but apparently a few late-comers signed the document as they arrived in port. He was assigned a home lot at the north end of the village green, where the First Congregational Church now stands. We are told on the Town of Guilford, Connecticut's website that the homes built were no more than huts, with thatched roofs, wooden walls, and dirt floors, and the village resembled a medieval village for several generations.
John was voted a freeman about 10 years after he arrived in Guilford, but some time before 1659 he and his family moved to New Haven, where he was admitted as a freeman on August 8, 1659. His family at this time included his fifth wife, Elizabeth, whom he had married in 1653. There were fourteen years between the death of his fourth wife and the final marriage, so perhaps John had finally given himself time to grieve the loss of so many wives and so many children. John died November 8, 1659, probably at New Haven. He did leave a will and inventory but so far I haven't been able to locate it.
This brief outline leaves a lot of questions. Was John a strong Puritan church supporter? How did he support his family in Connecticut? What were the early relations with the native Americans? Was he a member of a train band or other military group? I need to find out more about John Parmelee, who sparks my compassion across these many generations.
The line of descent is:
John Parmelee-Hannah Wilbur
Hannah Parmelee-John Johnson
Samuel Johnson-unknown
Mary Johnson-Matthew Bellamy
Hannah Bellamy-John Royse
Elizabeth Royse-William McCoy
James McCoy-Nancy Ann Lane
Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson
Nancy-McCoy-George R Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
Friday, August 26, 2016
Allen line: Samuel Lane, Immigrant 1628-1682
There is a lot of information about Samuel Lane on-line, but of course some of it contradicts other information and some is just not very clearly explained. I'll try to pick and choose and leave the contradictory parts out of this post, or at least point out the points of disagreement.
Samuel Lane, immigrant was born about 1628 in probably London, England. I haven't yet found documentation for this, but most sites seem to agree that this is correct. His parents were Richard and Alice Carter Lane. This family is interesting because although they were Puritans, they didn't follow the typical route to New England. They arrived in 1635 at the Island of Providence, which I believe was the main island of the Bahamas. There is another Island of Providence off the coast of Costa Rica, and it could possibly be here that the family settled. However, Richard is reported to have drowned at Eleuthra, another Bahamian Island, so that makes the Bahamas theory more logical. Both islands were initially settled by Puritan families, so at least we know that the family was Puritan and that they were in the Caribbean, more or less. Probably one of the many people who have worked on this family can clear up this mystery.
So Samuel was on the island of Providence by about 1635, as a seven year old boy. He had at least three siblings, two brothers and a sister and it is fun to think of them living in an almost enchanted world, at least for their early years. It would have been a very different world from that of England, with a different diet, a different religious culture and a different way of life. All went well until Richard died in 1657. Samuel was 22 by now and perhaps in England, for he is mentioned as a "clerk" which generally means a cleric, and would mean that he had an education to acquire that title.
In Maryland, he was apparently a man of some importance. In various documents he is called a gentleman, chirurgeon, doctor, doctor of physick, commissioner of Anne Arundel county, justice of Anne Arundel County, gentleman of the quorum (another term for justice), and major. It was his role as major that apparently led to his death. It appears that he may have led or at least participated in some sort of skirmish with the Seneca Indians of New York, who were ranging farther afield in 1682 when Samuel's death occurred. He and his second wife Margaret Mauldin, a wealthy widow, had at least six children, but all would have been minors at the time of Samuel's death. His widow married Job Evans, who apparently helped raise the children.
There are still unanswered questions,of course. What religion did they practice in Maryland? What is the true story of his death? How wealthy was he at his death? I'll bet Samuel would have some interesting stories to tell, if we could talk to him!
The line of descent is:
Samuel Lane-Margaret Maulden
Dutton Lane-Pretitia Tydings
Samuel Lane-Mary Jane Corbin
Lambert Lane-Nancy Ann Anderson
Nancy Ann Lane-James McCoy
Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson
Nancy McCoy-George R. Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
Samuel Lane, immigrant was born about 1628 in probably London, England. I haven't yet found documentation for this, but most sites seem to agree that this is correct. His parents were Richard and Alice Carter Lane. This family is interesting because although they were Puritans, they didn't follow the typical route to New England. They arrived in 1635 at the Island of Providence, which I believe was the main island of the Bahamas. There is another Island of Providence off the coast of Costa Rica, and it could possibly be here that the family settled. However, Richard is reported to have drowned at Eleuthra, another Bahamian Island, so that makes the Bahamas theory more logical. Both islands were initially settled by Puritan families, so at least we know that the family was Puritan and that they were in the Caribbean, more or less. Probably one of the many people who have worked on this family can clear up this mystery.
So Samuel was on the island of Providence by about 1635, as a seven year old boy. He had at least three siblings, two brothers and a sister and it is fun to think of them living in an almost enchanted world, at least for their early years. It would have been a very different world from that of England, with a different diet, a different religious culture and a different way of life. All went well until Richard died in 1657. Samuel was 22 by now and perhaps in England, for he is mentioned as a "clerk" which generally means a cleric, and would mean that he had an education to acquire that title.
In Maryland, he was apparently a man of some importance. In various documents he is called a gentleman, chirurgeon, doctor, doctor of physick, commissioner of Anne Arundel county, justice of Anne Arundel County, gentleman of the quorum (another term for justice), and major. It was his role as major that apparently led to his death. It appears that he may have led or at least participated in some sort of skirmish with the Seneca Indians of New York, who were ranging farther afield in 1682 when Samuel's death occurred. He and his second wife Margaret Mauldin, a wealthy widow, had at least six children, but all would have been minors at the time of Samuel's death. His widow married Job Evans, who apparently helped raise the children.
There are still unanswered questions,of course. What religion did they practice in Maryland? What is the true story of his death? How wealthy was he at his death? I'll bet Samuel would have some interesting stories to tell, if we could talk to him!
The line of descent is:
Samuel Lane-Margaret Maulden
Dutton Lane-Pretitia Tydings
Samuel Lane-Mary Jane Corbin
Lambert Lane-Nancy Ann Anderson
Nancy Ann Lane-James McCoy
Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson
Nancy McCoy-George R. Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Allen Line: Nicholas Corbin about 1650-1696, Immigrant
First, I am not joining in the controversy as to the parentage of Immigrant Nicholas. I know there are those who think it "proven" that his parents are Thomas Corbin and Margaret Goodver, of Halls End, but I don't have any reason to think that is correct. Nor do I have reason to think it is incorrect. I am just suspicious that it may have come from Gustave Anjou or one of his comrades, who tried to fit nearly every family they worked on back to a line in England. If there is better documentation than that, I'd love to see it and see where those lines run,but I'm not ready to go off in that direction at the moment.
So, we believe that Nicholas was born about 1650 in England, possibly in or around Halls End, but possibly in some other location entirely. He could have been born earlier, but he is listed in 1671 as claiming headrights for himself, his wife Elizabeth, and two daughters. This means he paid for the passage of his family, himself. 21 would have been young to have married in England, had two daughters, and raised or saved enough money to pay for the passage of four persons. Perhaps 1640 is a better guesstimate for his age. (This is just speculation on my part.)
Sometime before 1677, Nicholas's wife Elizabeth died, and in 1676, Nicholas received a bequest from Lewis Bryan. He is believed to be the father of Alice, Nicholas's second wife, so Elizabeth was likely to have died prior to 1676. Nicholas and Edward Corbin were born to Nicholas and Alice, and Nicholas acquired land at this time. He patented 200 acres in 1680, called "Corbin's Rest" and another 100 acres in 1687, called "Costrell Hill", and the family would have lived at the first site, most likely. The land he acquired was apprently somewhere along the Patapsco River, in what was then Baltimore County, Maryland, but so fara I've not been able to pinpoint the exact location.
Nicholas was a constable in 1692 and a vestryman in 1693 and 1696, so he had the respect of his neighbors and fellow church-goers. "Vestryman" indicates that he was a member of the Anglican church, and "vestryman" seems to be similar to a member of the church board in today's language.
Nicholas wrote his will in 1695 and died December 31,1696. His son Edward received 100 acres of land known as "Corbin's Hill" but it's not clear whether this was the land earlier noted as "Costrell Hill." He also left land to Thomas Gostwick, his grandson, and left cows to his two daughters. His wife Alice was left the balance of the estate and was named executor. His estate was valued at 32 pounds, which was not a large estate at all. That may explain why Alice remarried to John Barrett within a few years.
Of course I'd like to know more about Nicholas, particularly where he came from and who his parents were. I'd also like to know more about his life in Maryland. Were he or his family ever threatened by native Americans, or was he involved in a militia? Did he have another occupation besides farmer? Did he have indentured servants to slaves to help him on his land? Did he raise tobacco?
It seems that no matter how many answers we have, there are always more questions. Maybe another Corbin descendant will have some of the answers we are lacking.
Our line of descent is:
Nicholas Corbin-Alice Bryan
Edward Corbin-Jane Wilkinson
Mary Jane Corbin- Samuel Lane
Lambert Lane-Nancy Ann Anderson
Nancy Ann Lane-James McCoy
Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson
Nancy McCoy-George R Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
So, we believe that Nicholas was born about 1650 in England, possibly in or around Halls End, but possibly in some other location entirely. He could have been born earlier, but he is listed in 1671 as claiming headrights for himself, his wife Elizabeth, and two daughters. This means he paid for the passage of his family, himself. 21 would have been young to have married in England, had two daughters, and raised or saved enough money to pay for the passage of four persons. Perhaps 1640 is a better guesstimate for his age. (This is just speculation on my part.)
Sometime before 1677, Nicholas's wife Elizabeth died, and in 1676, Nicholas received a bequest from Lewis Bryan. He is believed to be the father of Alice, Nicholas's second wife, so Elizabeth was likely to have died prior to 1676. Nicholas and Edward Corbin were born to Nicholas and Alice, and Nicholas acquired land at this time. He patented 200 acres in 1680, called "Corbin's Rest" and another 100 acres in 1687, called "Costrell Hill", and the family would have lived at the first site, most likely. The land he acquired was apprently somewhere along the Patapsco River, in what was then Baltimore County, Maryland, but so fara I've not been able to pinpoint the exact location.
Nicholas was a constable in 1692 and a vestryman in 1693 and 1696, so he had the respect of his neighbors and fellow church-goers. "Vestryman" indicates that he was a member of the Anglican church, and "vestryman" seems to be similar to a member of the church board in today's language.
Nicholas wrote his will in 1695 and died December 31,1696. His son Edward received 100 acres of land known as "Corbin's Hill" but it's not clear whether this was the land earlier noted as "Costrell Hill." He also left land to Thomas Gostwick, his grandson, and left cows to his two daughters. His wife Alice was left the balance of the estate and was named executor. His estate was valued at 32 pounds, which was not a large estate at all. That may explain why Alice remarried to John Barrett within a few years.
Of course I'd like to know more about Nicholas, particularly where he came from and who his parents were. I'd also like to know more about his life in Maryland. Were he or his family ever threatened by native Americans, or was he involved in a militia? Did he have another occupation besides farmer? Did he have indentured servants to slaves to help him on his land? Did he raise tobacco?
It seems that no matter how many answers we have, there are always more questions. Maybe another Corbin descendant will have some of the answers we are lacking.
Our line of descent is:
Nicholas Corbin-Alice Bryan
Edward Corbin-Jane Wilkinson
Mary Jane Corbin- Samuel Lane
Lambert Lane-Nancy Ann Anderson
Nancy Ann Lane-James McCoy
Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson
Nancy McCoy-George R Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
Allen line: Adam Armstrong 1685-1749 Immigrant
Adam Armstrong would be a fascinating man to talk with. He was born in Cumbria, England in 1685, the descendant of Armstrong families who had fought in the border wars with Scotland for hundreds of years. The fact that he was born in England indicates that his side of the family had reconciled to English rule, since for three generations back his family had been born in England, but possibly heir heart was still in Scotland. From what I've read about the Border Wars, it would take make than a generation to win a family's loyalty. So at the very least, he would have had a lot of family stories to tell, and they alone would have made him a very interesting character.
He was a son of Adam Armstrong and Jane Graham, and had a brother, Francis. Little is known of their upbringing. Some sources say the family went to Ireland but since the family was English that seems at first glance to be unlikely. However, if the family adhered to the Scottish church (akin to Presbyterian) then perhaps they did emigrate. I've not found proof of that yet. At any rate Adam married Mary Forster in 1705 and they had at least four children: Margaret, William, Adam Abraham and John.
The next fact I can find about Adam is that he died in Cumberland Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania in 1749, according to Find A Grave. . It is believed that the family came to America in the 1730s (one source thinks it was as early as 1729). What interests me immensely is this "fill in the blanks" time between arrival here and how/why he arrived in Greene County, Pa. Or is Howard Leckley correct, in saying that the family settled near Chambersburg, which is far to the east and still was described as frontier during the French and Indian War? I found mention of Adam (Adam Abraham), father of Hannah, in Peters Township, Bedford County in 1751, which would be between the two locations.so I'm leaning towards the Chambersburg location at present. Whichever location is correct, the family would have been one of the many thousands who came to Pennsylvania and made something out of nothing, basically. (We do know that Adam's granddaughter, Hannah, who married Dr. John Moore, was in the Greene County area but that was some years later, so again makes me think that the first Adam didn't make it as far as some think.)
I'd be thrilled to hear from someone who knows more about this Adam and his wife Mary. What did he do for a living? Were they troubled by native Americans, wherever it was they lived? And was it near Chambersburg, or was it in Bedford County, or was it in what became Greene County? We need to know more about this family!
The line of descent is:
Adam Armstrong-Mary Forster
Adam Abraham Armstrong-Elizabeth Olifer
Hannah Armstrong-Dr. John Moore
Catherine Moore-Alexis Jackson
Eleanor Jackson-Vincent McCoy
Nancy McCoy-George R Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
He was a son of Adam Armstrong and Jane Graham, and had a brother, Francis. Little is known of their upbringing. Some sources say the family went to Ireland but since the family was English that seems at first glance to be unlikely. However, if the family adhered to the Scottish church (akin to Presbyterian) then perhaps they did emigrate. I've not found proof of that yet. At any rate Adam married Mary Forster in 1705 and they had at least four children: Margaret, William, Adam Abraham and John.
The next fact I can find about Adam is that he died in Cumberland Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania in 1749, according to Find A Grave. . It is believed that the family came to America in the 1730s (one source thinks it was as early as 1729). What interests me immensely is this "fill in the blanks" time between arrival here and how/why he arrived in Greene County, Pa. Or is Howard Leckley correct, in saying that the family settled near Chambersburg, which is far to the east and still was described as frontier during the French and Indian War? I found mention of Adam (Adam Abraham), father of Hannah, in Peters Township, Bedford County in 1751, which would be between the two locations.so I'm leaning towards the Chambersburg location at present. Whichever location is correct, the family would have been one of the many thousands who came to Pennsylvania and made something out of nothing, basically. (We do know that Adam's granddaughter, Hannah, who married Dr. John Moore, was in the Greene County area but that was some years later, so again makes me think that the first Adam didn't make it as far as some think.)
I'd be thrilled to hear from someone who knows more about this Adam and his wife Mary. What did he do for a living? Were they troubled by native Americans, wherever it was they lived? And was it near Chambersburg, or was it in Bedford County, or was it in what became Greene County? We need to know more about this family!
The line of descent is:
Adam Armstrong-Mary Forster
Adam Abraham Armstrong-Elizabeth Olifer
Hannah Armstrong-Dr. John Moore
Catherine Moore-Alexis Jackson
Eleanor Jackson-Vincent McCoy
Nancy McCoy-George R Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
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