Sometimes it's difficult to find anything new about the second generation of colonists. Sometimes it's hard to find anything at all about them. With Daniel Scofield, son of one Daniel Scofield and father of another, we are somewhat more fortunate. I've been able to pull some bits and pieces together that will help us get an idea of his life. I say, "idea" because there is still much I don't know.
Daniel was the second son of Daniel and first wife Sarah Scofield. The elder Daniel was one of the early founders of the townof Stamford, Connecticut, and was first named as a resident in 1641 (settlement had begun in 1640.) Our subject, Daniel II, was born about 1647 or 1648, but I've not found documentation for an actual date. He was one of at least five children, and he outlived his siblings.
One mystery about Daniel at this point is his occupation. He was financially stable, perhaps even well off, judging by tax records of 1700, but it's not clear how he made his living. He married Abigail Merwin, daughter of Miles and Elizabeth Powell Merwin, in Stamford in about 1671, when he was about 24 years old. He and Abigail had at least eight children together.
Daniel's house lot was number three in the town according to a map from 1685. I don't know whether he inherited this lot or whether he purchased it from someone, but it was certainly an early number and may indicate either that the lots were assigned by drawing, or that the original owner had his choice of lots.
Daniel wasn't in the top tier of town government. Most of his duties had to do with the church, such as helping to settle disputes, tything man, and he also was made a townsman in 1700. (I'm not sure whether this was a "freeman" or whether this was what Massachusetts referred to as a selectman, a member of the council. That same year he was appointed a sheepmaster, to take care of the flock.
In the town tax records of 1700, his estate was valued at 115 pounds, 5 shillings. There were men in town with higher valuations, but not many. So he made money somehow, and was more than the term sheepmaster might indicate to us.
Daniel lived his life, and died October 10, 1714. I don't know whether he ever left the village he was born in, although Long Island Sound borders the town, and it wouldn't have been far to travel to New York, or to Hartford, for that matter.
His inventory is not detailed but it indicates that he had several parcels of land and homes, valued at about 300 pounds, and 149 pounds in personal property. An additional amount had been set aside for Abigail. There were debts to be paid. It's interesting that it appears that more was spent for rum and sugar, apparently for the funeral or visitation, than for the coffin. The boards for the coffin were two shillings, the coffin making (marking? not sure I read this correctly) was three shillings and four pence, and the rum and sugar was 10 shillings and 10 pence.
I've not found record of Abigail's death but several sites list it as 1714 also. She is mentioned extensively in the settlement papers so she was still alive as of November 29, 1714. I guess her death date is one of the questions still unanswered, as well as how Daniel made his living. This, however, is more information than we have for many ancestors, and it is enough to recognize that Daniel was a hard working, pious man.
The line of descent is:
Daniel Scofield-Abigail Merwin
Daniel Scofield-Hannah Hoyt
Hannah Scofield-Nathaniel Finch
Jesse Finch-Hannah
Hannah Finch-John Bell
Hannah Bell-Thomas Knott
John Wilson Knott-Harriet Starr
Edith Knott-Edward Allen
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
Showing posts with label Daniel Scofield. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Daniel Scofield. Show all posts
Friday, November 15, 2019
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Allen line: The third Daniel Scofield, 1680 to 1745
I wonder what name he went by. His grandfather was Daniel, as was his father. Did families use nicknames in colonial times, to help keep the generations straight? It's fairly easy to trace Daniel I because he died in 1680 and then Daniel II, or Jr., became Daniel Sr. and this Daniel became Daniel Junior. This Daniel, our Daniel, may or may not have had a son also named Daniel, but there were numerous other Daniels down through the years, many of whom stayed in Stamford. .
Just because he was born in Stamford, Connecticut and died in Stamford, Connecticut doesn't mean we know a lot about his life, though. For instance, his birth seems to have gone unrecorded. It is reported to be as early as 1674 and as late as 1680. Daniel's parents were Daniel and Abigail Merwin Scofield, who married ion July 12, 1677. So either Daniel was born sometime after that date or he had a different mother than the one traditionally assigned to him. The records I found seem to all have dates in the early 1700s so perhaps the early birth records were lost. (Or maybe I haven't looked in the right places).
Stamford itself was founded in 1640 so it was a well established town by the time our Daniel was born. It was in the far western part of Connecticut and bordered on Long Island Sound. Many of the residents made their living in trade and on the ocean, fishing or transporting goods to and from other colonial seaports as well as England. But I don't know for sure how Daniel made his living.
He married Hannah Hoyt April 17, 1701 in Stamford. She was the daughter of Benjamin and Hannah Weed Hoyt, although there is some slight doubt about this set of parents. This is the one that makes the most sense to me but facts will always change my mind.
Daniel and Hannah had eight or nine children together, depending on whether you attribute the Daniel mentioned above to this couple. Other than the births of their children, the only fact I really found about Daniel was from 1701, when his estate (valuation for tax purposes), was listed as 55 pounds and 10 shillings. He was still young, in his early twenties, so this was a good start to his life.
And then...silence. Was he a Puritan, or of another religious belief? Did he hold any town offices? Was he a good guy, or a scoundrel, or just a man trying to make a living and support his family? I don't have answers to those questions, and I certainly wish I did.
He may have been ill for some time before his death, because his will was written in 1743 and he died July 15, 1745, in his late sixties or early seventies. His will leaves personal property, 1/3, to his widow forever and a third in his :mansion house and barn, and land" during her natural life. Apparently he wasn't concerned that she would remarry. Four sons got the majority of the estate, with no mention of Charles, also believed to be a son, who was alive and well at the time the will was drawn up. Daughter Hannah was unmarried at the time of her father's death and was given some income from land until she married, which turned out to be only five months, as well as a small cash bequest.
As for his inventory, it seems to be valued at somewhere around 2200 pounds, but this was, I believe, in "Connecticut money", which was roughly one seventh the value of Massachusetts money at this time. So to compare to other ancestors, if that is possible, it was not a large estate although he had quite a bit of land, including a home for son Josiah and for son Reuben, besides his own home. He had a part interest in a flour mill and in what may have been a ship or boat of some kind. The inventory includes mention of 21 books, so he had some education, or wanted his family to be able to read, anyway. He didn't have a lot of farm equipment, and only two cows that I can make out, so it's probably safe to think he made his living other than farming. I also didn't see any mention of guns or ammunition, which may only mean that he had already passed them along to a son.
So that's the story of the third Daniel Scofield, or as much of it as I've been able to find so far. As always, I'm grateful for this much information but regret that there isn't more. The search goes on.
The line of descent is:
Daniel Scofield-Hannah Hoyt
Hannah Scofield-Nathaniel Finch
Jesse Finch-Hannah
Hannah Finch-John Bell
Hannah Bell -Thomas Knott
John Wilson Knott-Harriet Starr
Edith Knott-Edward Allen
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
Just because he was born in Stamford, Connecticut and died in Stamford, Connecticut doesn't mean we know a lot about his life, though. For instance, his birth seems to have gone unrecorded. It is reported to be as early as 1674 and as late as 1680. Daniel's parents were Daniel and Abigail Merwin Scofield, who married ion July 12, 1677. So either Daniel was born sometime after that date or he had a different mother than the one traditionally assigned to him. The records I found seem to all have dates in the early 1700s so perhaps the early birth records were lost. (Or maybe I haven't looked in the right places).
Stamford itself was founded in 1640 so it was a well established town by the time our Daniel was born. It was in the far western part of Connecticut and bordered on Long Island Sound. Many of the residents made their living in trade and on the ocean, fishing or transporting goods to and from other colonial seaports as well as England. But I don't know for sure how Daniel made his living.
He married Hannah Hoyt April 17, 1701 in Stamford. She was the daughter of Benjamin and Hannah Weed Hoyt, although there is some slight doubt about this set of parents. This is the one that makes the most sense to me but facts will always change my mind.
Daniel and Hannah had eight or nine children together, depending on whether you attribute the Daniel mentioned above to this couple. Other than the births of their children, the only fact I really found about Daniel was from 1701, when his estate (valuation for tax purposes), was listed as 55 pounds and 10 shillings. He was still young, in his early twenties, so this was a good start to his life.
And then...silence. Was he a Puritan, or of another religious belief? Did he hold any town offices? Was he a good guy, or a scoundrel, or just a man trying to make a living and support his family? I don't have answers to those questions, and I certainly wish I did.
He may have been ill for some time before his death, because his will was written in 1743 and he died July 15, 1745, in his late sixties or early seventies. His will leaves personal property, 1/3, to his widow forever and a third in his :mansion house and barn, and land" during her natural life. Apparently he wasn't concerned that she would remarry. Four sons got the majority of the estate, with no mention of Charles, also believed to be a son, who was alive and well at the time the will was drawn up. Daughter Hannah was unmarried at the time of her father's death and was given some income from land until she married, which turned out to be only five months, as well as a small cash bequest.
As for his inventory, it seems to be valued at somewhere around 2200 pounds, but this was, I believe, in "Connecticut money", which was roughly one seventh the value of Massachusetts money at this time. So to compare to other ancestors, if that is possible, it was not a large estate although he had quite a bit of land, including a home for son Josiah and for son Reuben, besides his own home. He had a part interest in a flour mill and in what may have been a ship or boat of some kind. The inventory includes mention of 21 books, so he had some education, or wanted his family to be able to read, anyway. He didn't have a lot of farm equipment, and only two cows that I can make out, so it's probably safe to think he made his living other than farming. I also didn't see any mention of guns or ammunition, which may only mean that he had already passed them along to a son.
So that's the story of the third Daniel Scofield, or as much of it as I've been able to find so far. As always, I'm grateful for this much information but regret that there isn't more. The search goes on.
The line of descent is:
Daniel Scofield-Hannah Hoyt
Hannah Scofield-Nathaniel Finch
Jesse Finch-Hannah
Hannah Finch-John Bell
Hannah Bell -Thomas Knott
John Wilson Knott-Harriet Starr
Edith Knott-Edward Allen
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Allen line: Daniel Scofield's ancestry, revisited
In September of 2014, I wrote a post about Daniel Scofield that was mostly wrong. When I write my blog posts, for the most part I am depending on what other people have "learned" about an ancestor, and I try to filter out the most obviously incorrect information as I write. On this ancestor, I have to admit I had very little to back me up.
Sometime between the time I wrote the original post and now, further research showed me that Daniel's wife was probably not Sarah Youngs, or at least not the Sarah Youngs I thought she was. So I have removed her purported ancestors from my tree (which, as I recall, when all the way back to the Plantagenets) and am still searching for documentation as to who she was.
I also had correspondence from Louis Ogden, who is a very wise and generous person, telling me that my parentage for Daniel was incorrect, and giving not only logical reasons but some additional information that should have pointed me in the right direction. That meant I had to delete that scalawag Cuthbert Scofield from the tree, and a few other folks. I should have taken Mr. Ogden's clues and run with them, but I didn't. My first goal is to get my immigrants back across the ocean, to whatever country they came from. If I live long enough to complete my research here, then I'd love to do actual research in England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, France, the Low Countries, Germany, etc., but I have my hands full on this side of the Atlantic.
Except...Mr. Odgen was kind enough to contact me again, with additional information showing that Daniel Scofield's parents were Richard Scofield and Effame Northend. He gave me additional generations back on Effame's line but since he is the one who has done the research on this I think he should be the one to choose whether or not to provide that information. More than names, he also provided location, (Hipperholme, Yorkshire for Richard) and that is where I've had some fun.
Simply by googling some of the names and locations he provided, I was able to pull up some of the names, including a potential father for Richard Scofield, in volume 15 of the Thoresby Society's Publications. This one is titled as a "Miscellanea" and it is truly a treasure. Yesterday I actually put my hands on a copy of this, in the Allen County Public Library, and was able to sit there and try to make sense of a list of Lay Subsidies from the Waptentake of Agbrigg and Morley, in Yorkshire, for the year 1588. There is an explanation in Latin (I think) which I couldn't make much of, except that this is a list of taxes levied on certain people (property owners of some kind, I think) to support Queen Elizabeth I. Of course the significance of the year 1588 is that these taxes were to raise defenses for the expected invasion from Spain or, as it happened, to prevent the invasion from occurring. 1588 was the year of the battle with the Spanish Armada. I was absolutely fascinated.
There is much I don't know about the "lay subsidy" in general and this list in particular. There are two columns after each name. I'm guessing one is the value that the land or personal property was assessed at, and one is the amount of taxes that were due, but I don't know how to interpret either list.
I found some of the names Mr. Ogden had provided me, and also found the man I think may be Richard's father, and I was hooked. I looked through some of the other volumes of the Thoresby Society and they are the coolest thing ever, if you have ancestors in Yorkshire, especially in or near Leeds. I will be spending many more happy hours with these books, because I found Longbottoms there, and my last Longbottom ancestor with a location was in Yorkshire. Also I found Crowders there, and I have had no clue at all as to where to look for them. (My first known Crowdas is in Virginia in about 1675, but I've had no clue as to where to look for them. Yorkshire seems to be a potential location.) There are even Lockwoods, and I have a possible Lockwood in my tree, also! So many names, so little time!
Many of the Thoresby Society publications m are available on line, as this one is, but there is something about having the actual book at hand when it is possible to do so, that appeals to me. I was holding a book that was published over 100 years ago, and was still in excellent condition. A further fun day will be spent looking at volume 11, which has the same kinds of lists, only from the year 1545, when King Henry VIII apparently needed money.
So, thanks to Mr. Louis Ogden for providing the information to give Daniel his rightful parents. I'd love now to hear from someone who has some knowledge about these records and what they mean or say. And I certainly plan to spend at least some time researching "back across the pond" since it seems to be so much fun!
The corrected line of descent would be
Richard Scofield-Effame Northend
Daniel Scofield-Sarah possibly Youngs
Daniel Scofield-Abigail Merwin
Daniel Scofield-Hannah Hoyt
Hannah Scofield-Nathaniel Finch
Jesse Finch-Hannah
Hannah Finch-John Bell
Hannah Bell-Thomas J Knott
John W Knott- Harriet C Starr
Edith C Knott-Edward Allen
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
Sometime between the time I wrote the original post and now, further research showed me that Daniel's wife was probably not Sarah Youngs, or at least not the Sarah Youngs I thought she was. So I have removed her purported ancestors from my tree (which, as I recall, when all the way back to the Plantagenets) and am still searching for documentation as to who she was.
I also had correspondence from Louis Ogden, who is a very wise and generous person, telling me that my parentage for Daniel was incorrect, and giving not only logical reasons but some additional information that should have pointed me in the right direction. That meant I had to delete that scalawag Cuthbert Scofield from the tree, and a few other folks. I should have taken Mr. Ogden's clues and run with them, but I didn't. My first goal is to get my immigrants back across the ocean, to whatever country they came from. If I live long enough to complete my research here, then I'd love to do actual research in England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, France, the Low Countries, Germany, etc., but I have my hands full on this side of the Atlantic.
Except...Mr. Odgen was kind enough to contact me again, with additional information showing that Daniel Scofield's parents were Richard Scofield and Effame Northend. He gave me additional generations back on Effame's line but since he is the one who has done the research on this I think he should be the one to choose whether or not to provide that information. More than names, he also provided location, (Hipperholme, Yorkshire for Richard) and that is where I've had some fun.
Simply by googling some of the names and locations he provided, I was able to pull up some of the names, including a potential father for Richard Scofield, in volume 15 of the Thoresby Society's Publications. This one is titled as a "Miscellanea" and it is truly a treasure. Yesterday I actually put my hands on a copy of this, in the Allen County Public Library, and was able to sit there and try to make sense of a list of Lay Subsidies from the Waptentake of Agbrigg and Morley, in Yorkshire, for the year 1588. There is an explanation in Latin (I think) which I couldn't make much of, except that this is a list of taxes levied on certain people (property owners of some kind, I think) to support Queen Elizabeth I. Of course the significance of the year 1588 is that these taxes were to raise defenses for the expected invasion from Spain or, as it happened, to prevent the invasion from occurring. 1588 was the year of the battle with the Spanish Armada. I was absolutely fascinated.
There is much I don't know about the "lay subsidy" in general and this list in particular. There are two columns after each name. I'm guessing one is the value that the land or personal property was assessed at, and one is the amount of taxes that were due, but I don't know how to interpret either list.
I found some of the names Mr. Ogden had provided me, and also found the man I think may be Richard's father, and I was hooked. I looked through some of the other volumes of the Thoresby Society and they are the coolest thing ever, if you have ancestors in Yorkshire, especially in or near Leeds. I will be spending many more happy hours with these books, because I found Longbottoms there, and my last Longbottom ancestor with a location was in Yorkshire. Also I found Crowders there, and I have had no clue at all as to where to look for them. (My first known Crowdas is in Virginia in about 1675, but I've had no clue as to where to look for them. Yorkshire seems to be a potential location.) There are even Lockwoods, and I have a possible Lockwood in my tree, also! So many names, so little time!
Many of the Thoresby Society publications m are available on line, as this one is, but there is something about having the actual book at hand when it is possible to do so, that appeals to me. I was holding a book that was published over 100 years ago, and was still in excellent condition. A further fun day will be spent looking at volume 11, which has the same kinds of lists, only from the year 1545, when King Henry VIII apparently needed money.
So, thanks to Mr. Louis Ogden for providing the information to give Daniel his rightful parents. I'd love now to hear from someone who has some knowledge about these records and what they mean or say. And I certainly plan to spend at least some time researching "back across the pond" since it seems to be so much fun!
The corrected line of descent would be
Richard Scofield-Effame Northend
Daniel Scofield-Sarah possibly Youngs
Daniel Scofield-Abigail Merwin
Daniel Scofield-Hannah Hoyt
Hannah Scofield-Nathaniel Finch
Jesse Finch-Hannah
Hannah Finch-John Bell
Hannah Bell-Thomas J Knott
John W Knott- Harriet C Starr
Edith C Knott-Edward Allen
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
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