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
My mother was a Bottum desended from Daniel. Elijah Bottum (Long have being dropped) moved North to Shaftsbury Vermont. He had three children Elijah Jr, Sarah and Simon. Elijah and Sarah were Tories (Loyalists). They both settled in Ontario Canada. Simon stay inheriting all the family property post war.
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