It's been awhile since I had a Beeks ancestor to write about. Sometimes I just somehow miss these people, and sometimes the first time I looked for information, I couldn't find enough to write about. It's also possible that I've relaxed my definition of "enough". When I started doing these brief sketches, I made it a goal to write 8-10 paragraphs about each ancestor. Now, I'm willing to write even just a little bit, figuring that something is better than nothing. With Joseph, I've found enough to give at least some outline of his life, although there are still big question marks, too.
Joseph was born about 1605 possibly in Crewkerne, Somerset, England, although his parents have not yet been identified. We know he was born about 1605 because in a court case in 1640, Joseph stated that he was 35 or thereabouts. Crewkerne is a very old town, dating back to the time of Alfred the Great. There is a 15th century church there, which Joseph would probably have attended. There was also a school at the time that Joseph lived there, but we don't know whether he attended or not.
Joseph married Rose Allen, daughter of George and Katherine (maiden name not certain) Allen, in England. We know that it was in England becae his son was "of age" when Joseph died in 1647, which means the son must have been at least 18. That puts his birth date at 1629, so this Joseph likely married in or about 1628. The couple had at least five children together, a son and then four daughters.
We don't know for sure when Joseph came to New England but he was in Dorchester as early as 1633 and in Lynn in 1636. By 1637 he was in Sandwich, in Plymouth Colony, where he is considered one of the 61 original signers and one of just 16 long term settlers. The church of Sandwich seems to have not been as Puritan as was liked, and they went for ten years without a pastor. There is some thought that the people of the town, or at least some of them, were early Quaker adherents.
We know Joseph was part of a military band, probably guarding against Indians but we don't know whether he actually fought in any battles. We know he owned property as early as 1639. By occupation, he was a millwright, which may explain why he went from place to place for a few years before settling in Sandwich. He was a freeman in 1643/44constable in 1644, and either he or his son was a surveyor of highways in 1647.
Sadly. that is the last we hear of Joseph, for he died in 1647 in Sandwich. We have no information about his cause of death but he was only about 42 years old, so it was likely an illness of some sort. Fevers and dysentery were relatively common at the time.
His inventory was valued at about 205 pounds, but the estate wasn't settled for another 18 years, as the youngest of the children finally reached maturity. Rose remarried after a few months as a widow, to William Newland, and she died in 1694.
The line of descent is
Joseph Holley-Rose Allen
Mary Holley-Nathaniel FitzRandolph__
Samuel FitzRandolph-Mary Jones
Prudence Fitzrandolph-Shubael Smith
Mary Smith-Jonathan Dunham
Samuel Dunham-Hannah Ruble
Jacob Dunham-Catherine Goodnight
Samuel Dunham-Eliza Matilda Reese
Margaret Catherine Dunham=Harvey Aldridge
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants
Showing posts with label Fitzrandolph. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fitzrandolph. Show all posts
Friday, May 15, 2020
Tuesday, July 11, 2017
Beeks line: John Gurney 1603-1663 Immigrant
It's fun to take a name that's on the family tree and try to place him in time and space, to think for a few minutes about his life and to realize that once again there are more questions than answers. John Gurney is such a person. Not much is known about him but I do want to give credit to the RootsWeb World Connect Project called "Genealogies of Families of Brantree, Quincy, Weymouth, Randolph, Holbrook, Mass. & Others". I'd located maybe 20% of this information on my own, so it would have been slim pickings indeed for a post if I hadn't found this source.
As nearly as is known, John Gurney was born about 1603, since he gave a court deposition in 1652/53 saying he was 50 years old or thereabouts. There is a John Gurney who was baptized at Stewkley, Buckinghamshire, England on February 21, 1603 and it is likely that this is our John. If so, his father's name was also John, but that is as much family background as I have at present. If this John Gurney is ours, then he came from an area identified as "Non-conformist" and he may have been a Puritan. The church there is very old, dating to the twelfth century, so it is possible that generations on Gurneys worshipped there. At present, we can't state that with any certainty.
I can't find documentation, but John was supposedly married to a woman named Mary, most likely in England. He may have been an indentured servant but the dates don't match for the most commonly quoted master. At any rate, either at home or in Massachusetts he learned the tailor trade. He is reported as being in Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1636, but it's possible he arrived earlier. His children have birth dates of from about 1628 to about 1640, which is puzzling to have so many "abouts" unless the family was moving frequently.
We know that he was a tenant of rented land owned by Captain William Tyng in Brantree in 1653, which was 45 acres of upland and marsh. As mentioned ealier, he was a tailer and lived within Braintree, with a house and five acres of land, until he sold it in 1661 to Richard Thayer.
John's wife Mary died September 20, 1661 and just a few weeks later he married Grizell Fletcher Jewell Griggs Kibbee. It was his second marriage and her fourth. It's only speculation but perhaps he was already in poor health. To put a good face on it, Grizell seems to have bettered herself with each marriage, and she would have one final marriage soon after John died. (I wonder if people then talked, or whispered, about a woman with five marriages. Two marriages were common, three were somewhat frequent, four were occasional, but five? Really?)
I've found no record of John being admitted as a freeman, and no record of church or civic involvement. John may have been a man determined to keep his head down and just to concentrate on raising his family. When he died, he left an inventory valued at 55 pounds, 14 shillings, and 6 pence. He also had a long list of debts, so it is likely that there wasn't much left for the widow or his children to inherit. Son John did get lands in Mendon, which is where our John had intended to move before his last illness.
This is a summary of the information I've been able to locate about John Gurney. It's the unrecognized people who helped build America, and for that reason, I'm happy to introduce you briefly to John Gurney, immigrant and nation builder.
The line of descent is:
John Gurney-Mary
Mary Gurney-Daniel Shedd
Elizabeth Shedd-Daniel Pierce
Elizabeth Pierce-Samuel Smith
Shubael Smith-Prudence Fitzrandolph
Mary Smith-Jonathan Dunham
Samuel Dunnah-Hannah Ruble
Jacob Dunham-Catherine Goodnight
Samuel G Dunham-Eliza Matilda Reese
Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants
As nearly as is known, John Gurney was born about 1603, since he gave a court deposition in 1652/53 saying he was 50 years old or thereabouts. There is a John Gurney who was baptized at Stewkley, Buckinghamshire, England on February 21, 1603 and it is likely that this is our John. If so, his father's name was also John, but that is as much family background as I have at present. If this John Gurney is ours, then he came from an area identified as "Non-conformist" and he may have been a Puritan. The church there is very old, dating to the twelfth century, so it is possible that generations on Gurneys worshipped there. At present, we can't state that with any certainty.
I can't find documentation, but John was supposedly married to a woman named Mary, most likely in England. He may have been an indentured servant but the dates don't match for the most commonly quoted master. At any rate, either at home or in Massachusetts he learned the tailor trade. He is reported as being in Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1636, but it's possible he arrived earlier. His children have birth dates of from about 1628 to about 1640, which is puzzling to have so many "abouts" unless the family was moving frequently.
We know that he was a tenant of rented land owned by Captain William Tyng in Brantree in 1653, which was 45 acres of upland and marsh. As mentioned ealier, he was a tailer and lived within Braintree, with a house and five acres of land, until he sold it in 1661 to Richard Thayer.
John's wife Mary died September 20, 1661 and just a few weeks later he married Grizell Fletcher Jewell Griggs Kibbee. It was his second marriage and her fourth. It's only speculation but perhaps he was already in poor health. To put a good face on it, Grizell seems to have bettered herself with each marriage, and she would have one final marriage soon after John died. (I wonder if people then talked, or whispered, about a woman with five marriages. Two marriages were common, three were somewhat frequent, four were occasional, but five? Really?)
I've found no record of John being admitted as a freeman, and no record of church or civic involvement. John may have been a man determined to keep his head down and just to concentrate on raising his family. When he died, he left an inventory valued at 55 pounds, 14 shillings, and 6 pence. He also had a long list of debts, so it is likely that there wasn't much left for the widow or his children to inherit. Son John did get lands in Mendon, which is where our John had intended to move before his last illness.
This is a summary of the information I've been able to locate about John Gurney. It's the unrecognized people who helped build America, and for that reason, I'm happy to introduce you briefly to John Gurney, immigrant and nation builder.
The line of descent is:
John Gurney-Mary
Mary Gurney-Daniel Shedd
Elizabeth Shedd-Daniel Pierce
Elizabeth Pierce-Samuel Smith
Shubael Smith-Prudence Fitzrandolph
Mary Smith-Jonathan Dunham
Samuel Dunnah-Hannah Ruble
Jacob Dunham-Catherine Goodnight
Samuel G Dunham-Eliza Matilda Reese
Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
Beeks line: Daniel Shed 1620-1708, Immigrant
Daniel Shedd is another in a line of New Englanders of whom little is known. I often wonder about them. For instance, was Daniel the kind of man who would have been the life of the party? Was he a Puritan? If he was, then he probably wasn't the life of the party, but he may have been a very religious man, or he may have been someone who went through the motions for business reasons. He may have been a farmer or a tradesman of some sort, but so far I've found nothing to help indicate his occupation, trade, or even education. That's the bad news.
The good news is that there is a little bit of information about him, anyway. He was born on or before June 25, 1620 in Finchingfield, Braintree, Essex, England, and was baptized on that date as the son of Daniel Shedd and Sarah. Daniel and Sarah had three girls, and Daniel, that we know of. Do you think Daniel might possibly have been just a little bit spoiled? We don't even know for sure when he came to America. He was here by 1643, when he was an early settler of "Brantrey", but he wasn't given land in the first set of grants so either he was young or he wasn't there when the village was started. He did receive land in 1645. He's not found on any immigration lists that I've found, which means that he may (or may not) have come over as an indentured servant and had just gained his freedom in 1643, at the same time that he went to Braintree. (This is just my conjecture, but it makes sense to me.)
He was married by 1646, to Mary Gurney, who seems to have been a daughter of John Gurney, and they had seven children together. Mary died about the time their youngest daughter Sarah was born, in 1658, and Daniel married Elizabeth, maiden name not known, soon after, because the first of four children was born to Daniel and Elizabeth on August 13, 1660. Daniel had the sad situation of seeing at least three of his children die before he did, as young marrieds in the prime of life. One son, his namesake, died of small pox and I've not seen the cause of death of his two daughters.
In 1658, the year his youngest daughter in the first set of children was born and possibly the year his first wife died, he moved from Braintree to Billerica, where he stayed for the remaining 50 years of his life. His family was assigned to live in the main garrison there, during King Philip's War. Billerica was on the frontier and considered a possible target of the native Americans. I'm finding various "alternate facts" about the war, indicating that Billerica did or did not suffer attack, and indicating that the town of about 48 families evacuated to safer locations. Maybe all of the above are true, at different times during the conflict.
Daniel lived a long life and died in Billerica July 27, 1708. Elizabeth survived him. Although we know little of his life, he surely lived a long life in interesting times. He came across the Atlantic as a young boy or young man, made a home out of the wilderness not once but twice, raised two families, likely served in the militia and possibly saw duty during King Philip's War. Even though his name does not survive in very many records, we know that he was a pioneer when that word meant something, and he is a man the family can be proud to honor.
The line of descent is:
Daniel Shedd-Mary Gurney
Eliabeth Shedd-Daniel Pierce
Elizabeth Pierce-Samuel Smith
Shubael Smith-Prudence Fitzrandolph
Mary Smith-Jonathan Dunham
Samuel Dunham-Hannah Ruble
Jacob Dunham-Catherine Goodnight
Samuel G Dunham-Eliza Matilda Reese
Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants
The good news is that there is a little bit of information about him, anyway. He was born on or before June 25, 1620 in Finchingfield, Braintree, Essex, England, and was baptized on that date as the son of Daniel Shedd and Sarah. Daniel and Sarah had three girls, and Daniel, that we know of. Do you think Daniel might possibly have been just a little bit spoiled? We don't even know for sure when he came to America. He was here by 1643, when he was an early settler of "Brantrey", but he wasn't given land in the first set of grants so either he was young or he wasn't there when the village was started. He did receive land in 1645. He's not found on any immigration lists that I've found, which means that he may (or may not) have come over as an indentured servant and had just gained his freedom in 1643, at the same time that he went to Braintree. (This is just my conjecture, but it makes sense to me.)
He was married by 1646, to Mary Gurney, who seems to have been a daughter of John Gurney, and they had seven children together. Mary died about the time their youngest daughter Sarah was born, in 1658, and Daniel married Elizabeth, maiden name not known, soon after, because the first of four children was born to Daniel and Elizabeth on August 13, 1660. Daniel had the sad situation of seeing at least three of his children die before he did, as young marrieds in the prime of life. One son, his namesake, died of small pox and I've not seen the cause of death of his two daughters.
In 1658, the year his youngest daughter in the first set of children was born and possibly the year his first wife died, he moved from Braintree to Billerica, where he stayed for the remaining 50 years of his life. His family was assigned to live in the main garrison there, during King Philip's War. Billerica was on the frontier and considered a possible target of the native Americans. I'm finding various "alternate facts" about the war, indicating that Billerica did or did not suffer attack, and indicating that the town of about 48 families evacuated to safer locations. Maybe all of the above are true, at different times during the conflict.
Daniel lived a long life and died in Billerica July 27, 1708. Elizabeth survived him. Although we know little of his life, he surely lived a long life in interesting times. He came across the Atlantic as a young boy or young man, made a home out of the wilderness not once but twice, raised two families, likely served in the militia and possibly saw duty during King Philip's War. Even though his name does not survive in very many records, we know that he was a pioneer when that word meant something, and he is a man the family can be proud to honor.
The line of descent is:
Daniel Shedd-Mary Gurney
Eliabeth Shedd-Daniel Pierce
Elizabeth Pierce-Samuel Smith
Shubael Smith-Prudence Fitzrandolph
Mary Smith-Jonathan Dunham
Samuel Dunham-Hannah Ruble
Jacob Dunham-Catherine Goodnight
Samuel G Dunham-Eliza Matilda Reese
Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
Beeks line: The missing John Walter born 1619, immigrant
Maybe the reason I know nothing about this man is that no one has ever looked for him, or at least, not successfully. I just spent some time looking on my usual databases and very little is showing for him, and that is undocumented. However, we know the man existed and is in the Beeks family line, so let's get written down what is known about him. He is an ancestor and deserves to be honored as such, even though his life is well hidden at present.
John is believed to have been born about 1619, somewhere in Kent, England, and his father is noted as "Thos." We don't know when he came to America, but it was apparently without his father. We do know that he married Patience Wooten, possibly the daughter of Thomas Wooten or Wotton). This couple is often said to be the parents of Joseph Walter, but he was born in 1629 so if the birthdates for John and Patience are correct, he was not their biological child. Their only known child is Safronia or Safronie, born in 1643 somewhere in Connecticut, presumably. I show that the couple married in 1640, so Safronia may not have been their first, nor their only, child.
I haven't been able to find a single reference to either person in any on line document, although admittedly I've only looked for an hour or so. The only additional information I have is that both persons are believed to have died about 1710, and John, at least, is believed to be buried in Walnut Grove Cemetery in Marlborough, Connecticut. However, I find this questionable because Marlborough wasn't formed until 1803, and the only Walnut Grove cemetery I can locate is in Meriden, Ct and wasn't founded until about 1840. So perhaps this couple was never in Connecticut at all. Their daughter, Safronia, married to Jeffrey Jones, died in Woodbridge, New Jersey. Perhaps the Walters were also there.
This is as much as I know about John, and it's certainly frustrating. I would like to give him parents, a home, a career, and a little bit of a life. Please, if someone knows more about John, please email me: happygenealogydancingATgmailDOTcom. Thanks!
The line of descent is
John Walter-Patience Wooten
Safronia Walter-Jeffrey Jones
Mary Jones-Samuel Fitzrandolph
Prudence Fitzrandolph-Shubael Smith
Mary Smith-Jonathan Dunham
Samuel Dunham-Hannah Ruble
Jacob Dunham-Catherine Goodnight (President Obama's ancestors)
Samuel Goodnight Dunham-Eliza Matilda Reese
Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants
John is believed to have been born about 1619, somewhere in Kent, England, and his father is noted as "Thos." We don't know when he came to America, but it was apparently without his father. We do know that he married Patience Wooten, possibly the daughter of Thomas Wooten or Wotton). This couple is often said to be the parents of Joseph Walter, but he was born in 1629 so if the birthdates for John and Patience are correct, he was not their biological child. Their only known child is Safronia or Safronie, born in 1643 somewhere in Connecticut, presumably. I show that the couple married in 1640, so Safronia may not have been their first, nor their only, child.
I haven't been able to find a single reference to either person in any on line document, although admittedly I've only looked for an hour or so. The only additional information I have is that both persons are believed to have died about 1710, and John, at least, is believed to be buried in Walnut Grove Cemetery in Marlborough, Connecticut. However, I find this questionable because Marlborough wasn't formed until 1803, and the only Walnut Grove cemetery I can locate is in Meriden, Ct and wasn't founded until about 1840. So perhaps this couple was never in Connecticut at all. Their daughter, Safronia, married to Jeffrey Jones, died in Woodbridge, New Jersey. Perhaps the Walters were also there.
This is as much as I know about John, and it's certainly frustrating. I would like to give him parents, a home, a career, and a little bit of a life. Please, if someone knows more about John, please email me: happygenealogydancingATgmailDOTcom. Thanks!
The line of descent is
John Walter-Patience Wooten
Safronia Walter-Jeffrey Jones
Mary Jones-Samuel Fitzrandolph
Prudence Fitzrandolph-Shubael Smith
Mary Smith-Jonathan Dunham
Samuel Dunham-Hannah Ruble
Jacob Dunham-Catherine Goodnight (President Obama's ancestors)
Samuel Goodnight Dunham-Eliza Matilda Reese
Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Beeks and Holbrook lines: John Pers 1588-1661 Immigrant
John Pers is another in a long line of early immigrants to New England in the Beeks family, and also the Holbrook family. He follows something of the typical mold, if there is such a thing, of coming to New England before the English Civil War, with a family and in his middle age. John was born April 8, 1588 in Norwich, Norfolk, England, the son of Richard Pers or Pierce and Marguerite Coney. We don't know much about his early life, except that his occupation in New England was a weaver. It is probable that he learned this trade at home in Norwich, where the main industry was wool. Wool made Norwich a wealthy city, and the Wikipedia article is quite interesting as it explains how Norwich welcomed religious refugees in the decades just before John was born. What we don't know is John's religion, except that his children were baptized in the Anglican church.
John married Elizabeth Trulle or Stoker on April 22, 1610, in Norwich. (I have seen her name listed as Trulle Stoker and as Stoker Trulle, but as of now I haven't found documentation for either name. The couple had seven children from 1610 to 1622. Four of them are documented as having traveled with their parents to Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1637. There was also a servant, John Gednay, in their party. However, this may not have been John's first trip to the New World. The older children of John were already here, and John was given land in Watertown in 1634. It is likely that he was here as early as 1633 and then returned to New England for his wife and the rest of his family, to bring them over in 1637.
The family settled in Watertown where John taught the weaving trade to at least some of his children, and where they were given land as settlers of the town. John was made a freeman in March of 1638 and took the "oath of fidelity" in 1652. His name appears as a drummer in the train band (militia) of that year but it's not clear whether this was John the immigrant or John the son. John the immigrant would have been 64 years old and likely had been excused from the militia by this time, unless he was in exceptionally good health.
John made his will in 1658 and died September 2, 1661. His will was proven September 30,1661, and his inventory was valued at just over 217 pounds. Elizabeth made her will on March 15, 1667 and died within just a few days, as it was proved April 2, 1667. Her estate was valued at just over 124 pounds, so she must have used her assets wisely.
Of course I'd like to know more about this couple, but I'm grateful to have located this much information about them. Here are the lines of descent.
Beeks:
John Pers-Elizabeth Trulle or Stoker
Anthony Pers-Ann
Daniel Pierce-Elizabeth Shedd
Elizabeth Pierce-Samuel Smith
Shubael Smith-Prudence Fitzrandolph
Mary Smith-Jonathan Dunham
Samuel Dunham-Hannah Ruble
Jacob Dunham-Catherine Goodnight
Samuel G Dunham-Eliza Reese
Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants
Holbrook:
John Pers-Elizabeth Trulle or Stoker
Hester Pierce-Joseph Morse
Joseph Morse-Susanna Shattuck
Esther Morse-Nathaniel Joslin
Israel Joslin-Sarah Cleveland
Sarah Joslin-Edward Fay
David Fay-Mary or Mercy Perrin
Euzebia (Luceba) Fay-Libbeus Stanard
Hiram Stanard-Susan Eddy
Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick
Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants
John married Elizabeth Trulle or Stoker on April 22, 1610, in Norwich. (I have seen her name listed as Trulle Stoker and as Stoker Trulle, but as of now I haven't found documentation for either name. The couple had seven children from 1610 to 1622. Four of them are documented as having traveled with their parents to Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1637. There was also a servant, John Gednay, in their party. However, this may not have been John's first trip to the New World. The older children of John were already here, and John was given land in Watertown in 1634. It is likely that he was here as early as 1633 and then returned to New England for his wife and the rest of his family, to bring them over in 1637.
The family settled in Watertown where John taught the weaving trade to at least some of his children, and where they were given land as settlers of the town. John was made a freeman in March of 1638 and took the "oath of fidelity" in 1652. His name appears as a drummer in the train band (militia) of that year but it's not clear whether this was John the immigrant or John the son. John the immigrant would have been 64 years old and likely had been excused from the militia by this time, unless he was in exceptionally good health.
John made his will in 1658 and died September 2, 1661. His will was proven September 30,1661, and his inventory was valued at just over 217 pounds. Elizabeth made her will on March 15, 1667 and died within just a few days, as it was proved April 2, 1667. Her estate was valued at just over 124 pounds, so she must have used her assets wisely.
Of course I'd like to know more about this couple, but I'm grateful to have located this much information about them. Here are the lines of descent.
Beeks:
John Pers-Elizabeth Trulle or Stoker
Anthony Pers-Ann
Daniel Pierce-Elizabeth Shedd
Elizabeth Pierce-Samuel Smith
Shubael Smith-Prudence Fitzrandolph
Mary Smith-Jonathan Dunham
Samuel Dunham-Hannah Ruble
Jacob Dunham-Catherine Goodnight
Samuel G Dunham-Eliza Reese
Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants
Holbrook:
John Pers-Elizabeth Trulle or Stoker
Hester Pierce-Joseph Morse
Joseph Morse-Susanna Shattuck
Esther Morse-Nathaniel Joslin
Israel Joslin-Sarah Cleveland
Sarah Joslin-Edward Fay
David Fay-Mary or Mercy Perrin
Euzebia (Luceba) Fay-Libbeus Stanard
Hiram Stanard-Susan Eddy
Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick
Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants
Friday, June 19, 2015
Beeks line: Jeffrey Jones about 1630-December 21,1717
Every genealogist and family historian groans when they find a name like "Smith" or "Jones" in the family tree. It almost automatically means long years of research trying to trace the family, and when a "Jones" is found early in the New World with no real indication of his roots, it is going to have to wait for someone with a lot of time, money, and luck to actually trace back another generation. Since this is an ancestor in the line of President Barack Obama, and really excellent genealogists were not able to go back any further, for the time being Jeffrey Jones is an "end of the line" ancestor .
So, we don't know who Jeffrey Jones's parents were. We don't know where he was born, or the circumstances of his family, or their religion. We know of nothing, really, until he shows up We know of two wives but he is thought to possibly have had as many as four. It is believed but not proven that he lived in Massachusetts before going to Long Island. Beginning in 1658, there are land records for "Geoffrey Jones" so it seems he would have been at least 21 at this time. That is the only real guess we have as to his age.
He was one of the original land patentees in Southold, Long Island, but there are no clear records as to his residence prior to that time. However, we do know that his father in law (one of them), Captain Charles Glover, owned a ship building business and that he was noted in a land record in 1664 as being a ship's carpenter. He sold land likely inherited from his father in law in 1664 and in 1665 was in Elizabethtown, New Jersey. Southold is toward the northern end of Long Island and Elizabethtown is directly west of the southern edge of Long Island, but from what I have read this journey may not have been as simple as it sounds. There were all sorts of currents and sea hazards to deal with on this trip.
Jeffrey (also written as Geoffrey) would live out the rest of his days in Elizabethtown. He took the oath of allegiance there in 1665 and in 1668 was listed as one on the eighty patentees of the town. He was at that time, 1668, approved for a license in a whale fishing business, along with John Ogden Sr., Caleb Carwithy, Jacob Moleyn and William Johnson. The boats were to operate out of Sandy Hook. He also seems to have had an association with Woodbridge, Middlesex County, NJ but it's not clear whether he lived there or possibly just owned property there. He was a landowner with considerable property at one time
We know that he had a son named Edward and daughters Abigail and Mary, who were each mentioned in his will and there were likely other children who died before their father. The will was dated December 21, 1717 and was proved December 31, 1717. Jeffrey was at least 80 years old when he died, and if the 1630 birth date is correct he may have been as much as 87 years old.
There is so much I would like to know about Jeffrey Jones. Beyond the obvious questions I've noted above, I'd love to know more about his involvement in the ship building and whaling industries. Did he ever actually go to sea on a whaling expedition? Where did the whalers go during the late 17th century? What kind of whales were they "fishing"? And if he was strictly a land-lubber, what kind of tools did he use in his job? What size of ship did he build?
I need to give a huge amount of credit for this blog post to a site I found on-line, In Old New York, at familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/l/a/c/Dr-ellsworth-J-La-coste/Book. This researcher has done a phenomenal amount of family research and there is much more information about Jeffrey Jones than I have included here. Most of the other information I found on line simply included some of the information found at the website I mentioned.
The line of descent is:
Jeffrey Jones-possibly Safronia Walter
Mary Jones-Samuel Fitzrandolph
Prudence Fitzrandolph-Shubael Smith
Mary Smith-Jonathan Dunham
Samuel Dunham-Hannah Ruble
Jacob Dunham-Catherine Goodnight
Samuel G Dunham-Eliza Reese
Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendents
So, we don't know who Jeffrey Jones's parents were. We don't know where he was born, or the circumstances of his family, or their religion. We know of nothing, really, until he shows up We know of two wives but he is thought to possibly have had as many as four. It is believed but not proven that he lived in Massachusetts before going to Long Island. Beginning in 1658, there are land records for "Geoffrey Jones" so it seems he would have been at least 21 at this time. That is the only real guess we have as to his age.
He was one of the original land patentees in Southold, Long Island, but there are no clear records as to his residence prior to that time. However, we do know that his father in law (one of them), Captain Charles Glover, owned a ship building business and that he was noted in a land record in 1664 as being a ship's carpenter. He sold land likely inherited from his father in law in 1664 and in 1665 was in Elizabethtown, New Jersey. Southold is toward the northern end of Long Island and Elizabethtown is directly west of the southern edge of Long Island, but from what I have read this journey may not have been as simple as it sounds. There were all sorts of currents and sea hazards to deal with on this trip.
Jeffrey (also written as Geoffrey) would live out the rest of his days in Elizabethtown. He took the oath of allegiance there in 1665 and in 1668 was listed as one on the eighty patentees of the town. He was at that time, 1668, approved for a license in a whale fishing business, along with John Ogden Sr., Caleb Carwithy, Jacob Moleyn and William Johnson. The boats were to operate out of Sandy Hook. He also seems to have had an association with Woodbridge, Middlesex County, NJ but it's not clear whether he lived there or possibly just owned property there. He was a landowner with considerable property at one time
We know that he had a son named Edward and daughters Abigail and Mary, who were each mentioned in his will and there were likely other children who died before their father. The will was dated December 21, 1717 and was proved December 31, 1717. Jeffrey was at least 80 years old when he died, and if the 1630 birth date is correct he may have been as much as 87 years old.
There is so much I would like to know about Jeffrey Jones. Beyond the obvious questions I've noted above, I'd love to know more about his involvement in the ship building and whaling industries. Did he ever actually go to sea on a whaling expedition? Where did the whalers go during the late 17th century? What kind of whales were they "fishing"? And if he was strictly a land-lubber, what kind of tools did he use in his job? What size of ship did he build?
I need to give a huge amount of credit for this blog post to a site I found on-line, In Old New York, at familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/l/a/c/Dr-ellsworth-J-La-coste/Book. This researcher has done a phenomenal amount of family research and there is much more information about Jeffrey Jones than I have included here. Most of the other information I found on line simply included some of the information found at the website I mentioned.
The line of descent is:
Jeffrey Jones-possibly Safronia Walter
Mary Jones-Samuel Fitzrandolph
Prudence Fitzrandolph-Shubael Smith
Mary Smith-Jonathan Dunham
Samuel Dunham-Hannah Ruble
Jacob Dunham-Catherine Goodnight
Samuel G Dunham-Eliza Reese
Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendents
Friday, June 5, 2015
Beeks line: Thomas Soole or Soule abt 1567 to 1614
I'm writing about Thomas because he didn't live to come to New England, although I'm thinking he would have wanted to do so. There isn't much available about him but we do know the basics of his life. He was born 1567 in Hawkhurst, Kent, England. This is near the southeast coastline of England, and was known for smuggling activities in the 1700's. Hawkhurst even now is a small town with a population of 4400, so back then it was probably no more than a village.
Thomas was born to John Soole and Marie Whitfield, most probably. Records for this have apparently not been found, but it seems that every family history and genealogy state this as fact, and it certainly fits that these were his parents. If so, he may have had siblings Jane, Miles, Robert, James and Henry.
We don't know what Thomas did for a living, but we know a little about his family. He married Mary Iddenden (also seen as Indenden and even Ildenden,) daughter of John Iddenden and Christian Mercer, on October 15, 1598 The church would have been St. Laurence, which has been on the same site since about 1100. The church today looks much as it would have looked in the time of Thomas. Just think of how many baptisms, marriages, and deaths this church would have seen!
Thomas of course was living through the "Golden Age" of Queen Elizabeth I. She was the queen when he was born, and for the first 36 or so years of his life. But he was near the coast, so as a young man Thomas may very well have been involved in preparing to fight the army, or the navy, of the Spanish armada. This may partially explain why he was above the age of 30 when he married. People in his village may have been Catholic, in a time of great religious turmoil. I can see why people from Kent would have wanted to have come to the New World.
Thomas died sometime in or after 1614, and didn't get the chance to come to the New World. His daughter Sarah did, however. She had married Samuel Hinckley in 1617 in Hawkhurst, Kent, England and they arrived in 1635 on the ship "Hercules". They were accepted into local churches as members so they must have been Puritans. Was Thomas a Puritan also, one wonders?
Sarah's known siblings were Mary, Thomas, and Anne. Thomas and Mary may have had other children, because even if Thomas died in 1614, that is sixteen years of marriage, and four children would be a low number for that amount of time.
If Thomas left a will, it apparently hasn't been identified yet. I thought it was important to write this post, to remind us of the people "left behind" in England, due to age, infirmities, or lack of desire to come to the New World. The families just before the Pilgrims and the Great Migration went through a very trying time, too. That may have given their children the strength and desire to leave and make a home for themselves in the New World.
The line of descent is:
Thomas Soole-Mary Iddenden
Sarah Soole-Samuel Hinckley
Susannah Hinkley-John Smith
Samuel Smith-Elizabeth Pierce
Shubael Smith-Prudence Fitzrandolph
Mary Smith-Jonathan Dunham
Samuel Dunham-Hannah Ruble
Jacob Dunham-Catherine Goodnight
Samuel Dunham-Eliza Reese
Margaret Dunham-Harvey Aldridge
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendents
Thomas was born to John Soole and Marie Whitfield, most probably. Records for this have apparently not been found, but it seems that every family history and genealogy state this as fact, and it certainly fits that these were his parents. If so, he may have had siblings Jane, Miles, Robert, James and Henry.
We don't know what Thomas did for a living, but we know a little about his family. He married Mary Iddenden (also seen as Indenden and even Ildenden,) daughter of John Iddenden and Christian Mercer, on October 15, 1598 The church would have been St. Laurence, which has been on the same site since about 1100. The church today looks much as it would have looked in the time of Thomas. Just think of how many baptisms, marriages, and deaths this church would have seen!
Thomas of course was living through the "Golden Age" of Queen Elizabeth I. She was the queen when he was born, and for the first 36 or so years of his life. But he was near the coast, so as a young man Thomas may very well have been involved in preparing to fight the army, or the navy, of the Spanish armada. This may partially explain why he was above the age of 30 when he married. People in his village may have been Catholic, in a time of great religious turmoil. I can see why people from Kent would have wanted to have come to the New World.
Thomas died sometime in or after 1614, and didn't get the chance to come to the New World. His daughter Sarah did, however. She had married Samuel Hinckley in 1617 in Hawkhurst, Kent, England and they arrived in 1635 on the ship "Hercules". They were accepted into local churches as members so they must have been Puritans. Was Thomas a Puritan also, one wonders?
Sarah's known siblings were Mary, Thomas, and Anne. Thomas and Mary may have had other children, because even if Thomas died in 1614, that is sixteen years of marriage, and four children would be a low number for that amount of time.
If Thomas left a will, it apparently hasn't been identified yet. I thought it was important to write this post, to remind us of the people "left behind" in England, due to age, infirmities, or lack of desire to come to the New World. The families just before the Pilgrims and the Great Migration went through a very trying time, too. That may have given their children the strength and desire to leave and make a home for themselves in the New World.
The line of descent is:
Thomas Soole-Mary Iddenden
Sarah Soole-Samuel Hinckley
Susannah Hinkley-John Smith
Samuel Smith-Elizabeth Pierce
Shubael Smith-Prudence Fitzrandolph
Mary Smith-Jonathan Dunham
Samuel Dunham-Hannah Ruble
Jacob Dunham-Catherine Goodnight
Samuel Dunham-Eliza Reese
Margaret Dunham-Harvey Aldridge
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendents
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
Beeks line: John Smith, 1614-1710 Immigrant.pastor and mill wright, updated
Any family historian groans when his or her path leads to a John Smith. We have several in our lines, but this John Smith is only moderately challenging. By that, I mean we do know a few things about him, and they are only slightly confusing. Naturally, there is much more we'd like to know.
This particular John Smith was born in 1614 in Brinspitell,(Dorset or possibly Dorchester, England,) according to his own deposition in a court case. His parents were Thomas and Joan Doan Smith, and it's not known whether he had siblings.
He appears to have come to Plymouth colony as early as 1630. which would have been at a young age indeed. He may have been one of the first settlers of Barnstable, which was founded on Cape Cod in 1638, under the leadership of Thomas Hull. We know he was made freeman there in 1640, indicating that he was of age, of good moral character, and owned property. Rev. John Lathrop was pastor there in October of 1640, when John was admitted to the church. A few years later, on June 13, 1643, John Smith married Susanna Hinckley, sister of the future governor of Plymouth Colony, Thomas Hinckley.
In his manhood, we was a member of the militia,and a deputy to the General Court in 1656-1657. He was part of a negotiating team with the native Americans in 1653 and again in 1657. In 1659 we was "allowed" with Isaac Robinson to talk to Quakers and possibly even go to their services, in order to determine what was in their hearts. They recommended that the anti-Quaker laws be repealed, but their recommendations were ignored. He occasionally preached in Barnstable and was pastor of a Separatist church in 1661-1662, until the church was closed. He may have upset the authorities or he may have been upset by the authorities, because he left Barnstable about this time. Some believe that he first went to Long Island, NY, although I find that the John Smiths there are confusing and there may be some room to question that conclusion.
It is clear, however, that John and Susannah and family left the Puritan colony and they did settle in New Jersey, whether or not they were first on Long Island. He received land at Piscataway in 1666 but settled at Woodbridge, N.J. and was quite active there. He assisted in building the church and supporting the minister, was constable in 1669, was member of the New Jersey Assembly town clerk, and moderator, and eventually, justice. During this time, his occupation is given as mill wright. We don't know where he learned that trade, or whether he had been pursuing it in Barnstable or even in Long Island.
By 1675, the town of Sandwich, Massachusetts was looking for a pastor and called him to fill the spot. Most pastors were from England and had a college education so I'm a little confused about this, but he was apparently ordained in Sandwich and served the church there until 1688, when his pastorate ended at his own request, at the age of 74. He may have been feeling the effects of his age, or other infirmities may have set in.
John and Susannah had 13 children, Samuel, Sarah, Ebenezer (died as an infant), Mary, Dorcas, John (lived two days), Shubael, John, Benjamin, Ichabod, Elizabeth, Thomas and Joseph, born from 1644 to 1667. I find conflicting death dates for Susannah, of 1667 and 1675. I hope she lived until 1675, to see her family grow up and to make sure her youngest children would remember her. John died in 1710, at the age of 96 years, probably in the home of one of his children.
I'd love to know more about his religious beliefs and what led him to pastor a church when he was already past the age of 60 years old, and the circumstances of his ordination. I'd love to know what books he had in his library. I'd love to learn where he learned the skills to be a mill wright, and where he learned the diplomacy to deal with the native Americans. He was another fascinating man.
The line of descent is:
John Smith-Susannah Hinckley
Samuel Smith-Elizabeth Pierce
Shubael Smith-Prudence Fitzrandolph
Mary Smith-Jonathan Dunham
Samuel Dunham-Hannah Ruble
Jacob Dunham-Catherine Goodnight
Samuel Dunham-Eliza Reese
Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants
Update: I've been directed by a wonderful reader (all my readers are wonderful, but my favorites are the ones who point out errors or additional information) to an article in the The American Genealogist from January/April 1985 that has convinced me that we don't know where John Smith came from. He was certainly close friends with Elder John Chipman, who was from Brinspittle, Dorset, England, but there is no evidence that John Smith was born there, or had even been there. The search for his origins continues.
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Beeks line: George Allen circa 1583-1649
Lots of people "know" who George Allen is, where he came from, the names of his wives, and the names of his children. The problem is that there is no documentation for any of these facts, and they may or may not be as believed. So all I will say about George's early life is that he was born somewhere in England (most likely) about the year 1583 (most likely) and that he married more than once while in England.
Our first known record for him is in the records of his departure from England on an unnamed ship, from Weymouth, Dorsetshire, on March 20, 1634/35. On that record, he is erroneously listed as being age 24, but was probably closer to 50. His wife Katherine, who was 30, and sons George, 16, William,8, and Matthew, 6, and a servant, Edward Poole were with him. It seems likely based on ages that George was the son of an earlier marriage, and there may have been other children (females, who would not necessarily be listed on the manifest) who were also in the party. Daughter Rose, for instance, is generally thought to have been the child of George's first marriage, and she is not listed on the manifest.
George is sometimes referred to as an "Anabaptist", which would mean he did not believe in infant baptism. This may explain the difficulty in finding birth/baptismal records for the above noted children, which might provide clues to the parents and their location. Some of his children became part of the Quaker tradition, which was a difficult way to live in Puritan Massachusetts.
When George arrived in the New World, he was first at Weymouth, Massachusetts and within two years was an early settler of Sandwich, Massachusetts. His land in Weymouth seems to have been given or sold to sons George, Ralph, and John. We don't know how or when Ralph and John arrived in Weymouth, and again, we don't know their ages or the name of their mother.
George, despite being an "Anabaptist", was made a free man of Plymouth Colony September 3, 1639, when Sandwich officially became a town. That same day, he was appointed Constable, and held various other town offices during the early 1640s. He was also the deputy for Sandwich to Plymouth General Court from 1640-1644. This would have meant traveling from Sandwich, which is on the north side of Cape Cod, up the coast of what is now Massachusetts to Plymouth. This may have been a trip made by ship rather than horseback or walking, for by the time he was first elected, he would have been approaching age 60.
Within a few years of his last known election as deputy, his health failed him. His date of death isn't known, but he was buried May 2, 1648. His will was not dated but was proved June 7, 1649. His inventory, excluding real estate, was 44 pounds 16 s, and most of his estate was given to his wife and "five least children".
There is so much I'd like to know about George, including more about his religious beliefs. He would not have had to have been a member of the church in Plymouth Colony to be a free man, so what were his beliefs and practices? How did the family become acquainted with Quaker beliefs, and how many practiced that faith? Why was Sandwich more tolerant of Quakers than other towns, particularly in Massachusetts Bay Colony? I'd love to know who George's parents were, and I'd love to know why he decided to come to America when he was probably about 54 years old. Did his sons come first, and then encourage him to come, or did George lead the way and the older sons came later? I'd like to know who his wives were, and I'd like to know more about how he lived in Sandwich. Did Edward Poole stay with him as a servant, or if he eventually earned his freedom, did the family have other servants?
As usual, there are more questions than answers when I think about George Allen, but I have to admire him, as I do all immigrants who came to the New World when it was nothing but a few towns on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean.
The line of descent is:
George Allen-first wife (possibly Katherine Davis)
Rose Allen-Joseph Holway or Holley
Mary Holley-Nathaniel FitzRandolph
Samuel Fitzrandolph-Mary Jones
Prudence Fitzrandolph-Shubael Smith
Mary Smith-Jonathan Dunham
Samuel Dunham-Hannah Ruble
Jacob Dunham-Catherine Goodnight
Samuel Goodnight Dunham-Eliza M Reese
Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge
Gretta Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendents
Fun fact: There is also a line of descent for the Holbrook line:
George Allen-first wife
Samuel Allen-Ann Whitmore
Sarah Allen-Josiah Standish
Josiah Standish-Sarah Doty
Hannah Standish-Nathan Foster
Nathan Foster-Elizabeth Lansford
Jude Foster-Sarah Goodenow
Betsy Foster-Josiah Whittemore
Mary Elizabeth Whittemore-Joseph R Holbrook
Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown
Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendents
Most of the information for this post came from "The Great Migration" volume 1, pages 27-35.
Our first known record for him is in the records of his departure from England on an unnamed ship, from Weymouth, Dorsetshire, on March 20, 1634/35. On that record, he is erroneously listed as being age 24, but was probably closer to 50. His wife Katherine, who was 30, and sons George, 16, William,8, and Matthew, 6, and a servant, Edward Poole were with him. It seems likely based on ages that George was the son of an earlier marriage, and there may have been other children (females, who would not necessarily be listed on the manifest) who were also in the party. Daughter Rose, for instance, is generally thought to have been the child of George's first marriage, and she is not listed on the manifest.
George is sometimes referred to as an "Anabaptist", which would mean he did not believe in infant baptism. This may explain the difficulty in finding birth/baptismal records for the above noted children, which might provide clues to the parents and their location. Some of his children became part of the Quaker tradition, which was a difficult way to live in Puritan Massachusetts.
When George arrived in the New World, he was first at Weymouth, Massachusetts and within two years was an early settler of Sandwich, Massachusetts. His land in Weymouth seems to have been given or sold to sons George, Ralph, and John. We don't know how or when Ralph and John arrived in Weymouth, and again, we don't know their ages or the name of their mother.
George, despite being an "Anabaptist", was made a free man of Plymouth Colony September 3, 1639, when Sandwich officially became a town. That same day, he was appointed Constable, and held various other town offices during the early 1640s. He was also the deputy for Sandwich to Plymouth General Court from 1640-1644. This would have meant traveling from Sandwich, which is on the north side of Cape Cod, up the coast of what is now Massachusetts to Plymouth. This may have been a trip made by ship rather than horseback or walking, for by the time he was first elected, he would have been approaching age 60.
Within a few years of his last known election as deputy, his health failed him. His date of death isn't known, but he was buried May 2, 1648. His will was not dated but was proved June 7, 1649. His inventory, excluding real estate, was 44 pounds 16 s, and most of his estate was given to his wife and "five least children".
There is so much I'd like to know about George, including more about his religious beliefs. He would not have had to have been a member of the church in Plymouth Colony to be a free man, so what were his beliefs and practices? How did the family become acquainted with Quaker beliefs, and how many practiced that faith? Why was Sandwich more tolerant of Quakers than other towns, particularly in Massachusetts Bay Colony? I'd love to know who George's parents were, and I'd love to know why he decided to come to America when he was probably about 54 years old. Did his sons come first, and then encourage him to come, or did George lead the way and the older sons came later? I'd like to know who his wives were, and I'd like to know more about how he lived in Sandwich. Did Edward Poole stay with him as a servant, or if he eventually earned his freedom, did the family have other servants?
As usual, there are more questions than answers when I think about George Allen, but I have to admire him, as I do all immigrants who came to the New World when it was nothing but a few towns on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean.
The line of descent is:
George Allen-first wife (possibly Katherine Davis)
Rose Allen-Joseph Holway or Holley
Mary Holley-Nathaniel FitzRandolph
Samuel Fitzrandolph-Mary Jones
Prudence Fitzrandolph-Shubael Smith
Mary Smith-Jonathan Dunham
Samuel Dunham-Hannah Ruble
Jacob Dunham-Catherine Goodnight
Samuel Goodnight Dunham-Eliza M Reese
Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge
Gretta Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendents
Fun fact: There is also a line of descent for the Holbrook line:
George Allen-first wife
Samuel Allen-Ann Whitmore
Sarah Allen-Josiah Standish
Josiah Standish-Sarah Doty
Hannah Standish-Nathan Foster
Nathan Foster-Elizabeth Lansford
Jude Foster-Sarah Goodenow
Betsy Foster-Josiah Whittemore
Mary Elizabeth Whittemore-Joseph R Holbrook
Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown
Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendents
Most of the information for this post came from "The Great Migration" volume 1, pages 27-35.
Friday, October 31, 2014
Beeks line: Samuel Hinckley, Immigrant
First, I have to acknowledge my joy and ensuing gratitude when I realized that there is a huge amount of information on americanancestors.org about this immigrant. It certainly makes it a lot easier to write a post about this man, even though I am doing absolutely no original research.
I found it fascinating to learn that when Samuel Hinckley, who is my husband's ancestor, came to America in 1635, he was on the same ship as my ancestor, Comfort Starr, whom I have known about since I was a young girl. They went their separate ways after landing, but still, they knew each other for the time period of their voyage, anyway. How cool is that? The other fun fact about Samuel is that he is the ancestor of both Presidents Bush, and also the ancestor of Barack Obama.
Anyway, Samuel Hinckley was born or christened on May 25, 1589 in Harrietsham, Kent, England to Robert Hinckley and "widow Katherine Leese". He was one of at least 8 children born to this couple. I've not been able to determine Robert's occupation but he had small property (thirty three acres of land and a dwelling) to dispose of in his will, so it may be that he was a farmer. The family was more prosperous than some, but probably not wealthy by any means.
After his christening, we know nothing of Samuel until his marriage, on May 7, 1617, in Hawkhurst, Kent to Sarah Soole, daughter of Thomas Soole and Mary Iddenden. The couple lived in the Hawkhurst area for 18 years, before they emigrated to America. They were a Puritan couple, yet they had their certificate departures signed by Mr. Jno Gee, vicar of Tenterden, Jn Austin, mayor, and Fregift Stace, jurat, on March 15, 1634. Did they keep their faith quiet, or was someone paid off, one wonders? Or was the town just winking an eye and they were glad to be rid of them?
The record shows that only three children were listed as traveling with their parents to America on the ship Hercules. Eight children had been born to the couple in England, but at least three had died. I was unable to determine the fate of the other two children. Sarah was pregnant during the trip across the ocean, because another child, Elizabeth, was christened on September 6, 1635 in Scituate, Massachusetts, where the family first settled. A total of 8 children were born in Massachusetts, with four of them dying as infants or children. Even for these hard times, this was a lot of children to bear, and a lot of children to loose, for Samuel and Sarah.
Samuel and Sarah had first settled in Scituate but then went to Barnstaple and lived the rest of their lives there. Samuel died October 31, 1662, about six years after the death of Sarah. He had remarried in the meantime, to Bridget widow Bodfish. The inventory of his estate totaled 162 pounds 16 shillings, plus some other items including real estate and housing. So he was not a poor man when he died.
The clues we have as to his personality are scant. He was one of 8 Scituate men who were presented (charged with) "receiving strangers and foreigners into their houses and lands, without license of the Governor or Assistants, or acquainting the town of Scituate therewith." "Strangers and foreigners" basically meant non Puritans, who were regarded as being a threat to the peace of the colony. It was shortly after this that the Hinckleys moved to help settle Barnstaple, but they could not have gone there without the approval of the authorities so they must have smoothed things over somehow. Then in 1651 Samuel Hinckley and Jonathan Hatch were charged by the grand jury with hiring land of the Indians. Again, this was something the colony would have wanted to control. Samuel was a non-conformist in England and a non-conformist of the non-conformists after he had moved to America.
We owe this couple honor and respect for the sacrifices they made to raise their family, to bury so many children, and to do the hard work it took to establish a home in this country in the 17th century. Their efforts made it possible for us to raise our families here in America.
The line of descent is:
Samuel Hinkley-Sarah Soole
Susannah Hinkley-Rev. John Smith
Samuel Smith-Elizabeth Pierce
Shubael Smith-Prudence Fitzrandolph
Mary Smith-Jonathan Dunham
Samuel Dunham-Hannah Ruble (probably)
Jacob Dunham-Catherine Goodnight
Samuel G Dunham-Eliza Reese
Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendents
I found it fascinating to learn that when Samuel Hinckley, who is my husband's ancestor, came to America in 1635, he was on the same ship as my ancestor, Comfort Starr, whom I have known about since I was a young girl. They went their separate ways after landing, but still, they knew each other for the time period of their voyage, anyway. How cool is that? The other fun fact about Samuel is that he is the ancestor of both Presidents Bush, and also the ancestor of Barack Obama.
Anyway, Samuel Hinckley was born or christened on May 25, 1589 in Harrietsham, Kent, England to Robert Hinckley and "widow Katherine Leese". He was one of at least 8 children born to this couple. I've not been able to determine Robert's occupation but he had small property (thirty three acres of land and a dwelling) to dispose of in his will, so it may be that he was a farmer. The family was more prosperous than some, but probably not wealthy by any means.
After his christening, we know nothing of Samuel until his marriage, on May 7, 1617, in Hawkhurst, Kent to Sarah Soole, daughter of Thomas Soole and Mary Iddenden. The couple lived in the Hawkhurst area for 18 years, before they emigrated to America. They were a Puritan couple, yet they had their certificate departures signed by Mr. Jno Gee, vicar of Tenterden, Jn Austin, mayor, and Fregift Stace, jurat, on March 15, 1634. Did they keep their faith quiet, or was someone paid off, one wonders? Or was the town just winking an eye and they were glad to be rid of them?
The record shows that only three children were listed as traveling with their parents to America on the ship Hercules. Eight children had been born to the couple in England, but at least three had died. I was unable to determine the fate of the other two children. Sarah was pregnant during the trip across the ocean, because another child, Elizabeth, was christened on September 6, 1635 in Scituate, Massachusetts, where the family first settled. A total of 8 children were born in Massachusetts, with four of them dying as infants or children. Even for these hard times, this was a lot of children to bear, and a lot of children to loose, for Samuel and Sarah.
Samuel and Sarah had first settled in Scituate but then went to Barnstaple and lived the rest of their lives there. Samuel died October 31, 1662, about six years after the death of Sarah. He had remarried in the meantime, to Bridget widow Bodfish. The inventory of his estate totaled 162 pounds 16 shillings, plus some other items including real estate and housing. So he was not a poor man when he died.
The clues we have as to his personality are scant. He was one of 8 Scituate men who were presented (charged with) "receiving strangers and foreigners into their houses and lands, without license of the Governor or Assistants, or acquainting the town of Scituate therewith." "Strangers and foreigners" basically meant non Puritans, who were regarded as being a threat to the peace of the colony. It was shortly after this that the Hinckleys moved to help settle Barnstaple, but they could not have gone there without the approval of the authorities so they must have smoothed things over somehow. Then in 1651 Samuel Hinckley and Jonathan Hatch were charged by the grand jury with hiring land of the Indians. Again, this was something the colony would have wanted to control. Samuel was a non-conformist in England and a non-conformist of the non-conformists after he had moved to America.
We owe this couple honor and respect for the sacrifices they made to raise their family, to bury so many children, and to do the hard work it took to establish a home in this country in the 17th century. Their efforts made it possible for us to raise our families here in America.
The line of descent is:
Samuel Hinkley-Sarah Soole
Susannah Hinkley-Rev. John Smith
Samuel Smith-Elizabeth Pierce
Shubael Smith-Prudence Fitzrandolph
Mary Smith-Jonathan Dunham
Samuel Dunham-Hannah Ruble (probably)
Jacob Dunham-Catherine Goodnight
Samuel G Dunham-Eliza Reese
Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendents
Friday, October 3, 2014
Beeks line: Thomas Blossom, the almost Mayflower Pilgrim
Actually, Thomas Blossom was a Mayflower Pilgrim. However, he arrived on a later ship, also known as the Mayflower, in 1629. Most of the passengers on this trip were those who had intended to arrive in 1620 with the first Pilgrims. However, Blossom and his fellow passengers had been on board the Speedwell, which turned out to be so leaky and unseaworthy that it was forced to turn back before the voyage was well underway.
Thomas Blossom was born about 1580, probably in Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire, England, the son of Peter and Annabel Blossom. Her maiden name is as yet unknown. He was the youngest of four children; a fifth, Francis, Peter and Annabel's first born, had lived only about a month. As the youngest child, he may have been pampered just a little bit, and he seems to have secured an education somehow. His later letters to William Bradford are not those of an uneducated man.
There isn't much known about Thomas's life as he was growing up. His father was described as a husbandman and then a laborer, so he may have fallen upon hard times before he died in 1597. Thomas married Ann Helsden or Elsdon on November 10, 1605 in St Clement's Church, Cambridge, England. (The church is still in existence and can be googled for interior views; however, it appears that the church bears little resemblance to the building of 1605.)
I'm not sure when Thomas would have acquired his Puritan views. Most families that went to Leiden in 1609 had been Puritans for years, so perhaps Thomas and Ann had held their beliefs for years, or perhaps they were "late" converts. Regardless, in 1609, the couple were in Pieterskerkhof, Leyden, Holland with the Separatists, and several children were born there. The first two children died before the 1620 trip, and another son was born before 1620 and died in 1625. Elizabeth, Thomas, and Peter were born in Leyden and accompanied their parents when the trip to Plymouth was finally accomplished in 1629.
Thomas was a deacon in the church at Plymouth Colony, but little else is known of him there. He died of an infectious fever in 1632, along with at least 19 other colonists. His widow was taxed 9 shillings in 1633, which seems to be the minimum amount that anyone was assessed. Ann married Henry Rowley on October 17, 1633.
Most of the information for this post came from a Robert Charles Anderson article called "Pilgrim Village Families Sketch" found on americanancestors.org, and from a book called "Plymouth Colony, Its History and People 1620-1691" by Eugene Aubrey Stratton.
The line of descent is:
Thomas Blossom-Ann Helsdon
Elizabeth Blossom-Edward Fitzrandolph
Nathaniel Fitzrandolph-Mary Holley
Samuel Fitzrandolph-Mary Jones
Prudence Fitzrandolph-Shubael Smith
Mary Smith-Jonathan Dunham
Samuel Dunham-Hannah probably Ruble
Jacob Dunham-Catherine Goodnight
Samuel Goodnight Dunham-Eliza Matilda Reese
Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Beeks descendents
Thomas Blossom was born about 1580, probably in Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire, England, the son of Peter and Annabel Blossom. Her maiden name is as yet unknown. He was the youngest of four children; a fifth, Francis, Peter and Annabel's first born, had lived only about a month. As the youngest child, he may have been pampered just a little bit, and he seems to have secured an education somehow. His later letters to William Bradford are not those of an uneducated man.
There isn't much known about Thomas's life as he was growing up. His father was described as a husbandman and then a laborer, so he may have fallen upon hard times before he died in 1597. Thomas married Ann Helsden or Elsdon on November 10, 1605 in St Clement's Church, Cambridge, England. (The church is still in existence and can be googled for interior views; however, it appears that the church bears little resemblance to the building of 1605.)
I'm not sure when Thomas would have acquired his Puritan views. Most families that went to Leiden in 1609 had been Puritans for years, so perhaps Thomas and Ann had held their beliefs for years, or perhaps they were "late" converts. Regardless, in 1609, the couple were in Pieterskerkhof, Leyden, Holland with the Separatists, and several children were born there. The first two children died before the 1620 trip, and another son was born before 1620 and died in 1625. Elizabeth, Thomas, and Peter were born in Leyden and accompanied their parents when the trip to Plymouth was finally accomplished in 1629.
Thomas was a deacon in the church at Plymouth Colony, but little else is known of him there. He died of an infectious fever in 1632, along with at least 19 other colonists. His widow was taxed 9 shillings in 1633, which seems to be the minimum amount that anyone was assessed. Ann married Henry Rowley on October 17, 1633.
Most of the information for this post came from a Robert Charles Anderson article called "Pilgrim Village Families Sketch" found on americanancestors.org, and from a book called "Plymouth Colony, Its History and People 1620-1691" by Eugene Aubrey Stratton.
The line of descent is:
Thomas Blossom-Ann Helsdon
Elizabeth Blossom-Edward Fitzrandolph
Nathaniel Fitzrandolph-Mary Holley
Samuel Fitzrandolph-Mary Jones
Prudence Fitzrandolph-Shubael Smith
Mary Smith-Jonathan Dunham
Samuel Dunham-Hannah probably Ruble
Jacob Dunham-Catherine Goodnight
Samuel Goodnight Dunham-Eliza Matilda Reese
Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Beeks descendents
Friday, March 28, 2014
Beeks line: Edward Fitzrandolph, gateway immigrant
There is a lot of information on line about this gentleman, but I'm going to give a brief recap here because it's a possible a family member will read about him here for the first time. This is a condensed version of his life. He is important in the genealogy world because he was an immigrant in the Winthrop fleet of 1630, and because he has lines that tie him back to Scottish royalty (a direct descendent of William I of Scotland).
Edward Fitzrandolph, often referred to as Junior, was born to Edward Fitzrandolph and Francis Howis or Howes on July 8, 1607 (this may be his christening date) at Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottingham, England. Frances was Edward's third wife, so some of his brothers and sisters are more correctly called half brothers and sisters. It appears that Edward had five full brothers and sisters: Anthony, Ales (Alice), Christopher, Joseph, and John. Edward was the oldest of them.
In 1630, when Edward was about 23 years old, he came to Massachusetts with the Winthrop fleet. The Winthrop Fleet was a group of 8 ships, containing about 800 Puritans, that came to settle the Massachusetts Bay colony (not to be confused with Plymouth Colony). He was settled at Scituate, Massachusetts, with his home being the 38th home built there. He married Elizabeth Blossom there on May 10, 1637. Her parents were Elder Thomas Blossom and Ann Heilson, who were passengers on the Speedwell, the ship that was forced to turn back after setting sail with the Mayflower. Her parents returned to Holland, where Elizabeth was born.
Edward and Elizabeth had at least 12 children, all born in Barnstable, where they had moved in 1639. He lived in Barnstable and then West Barnstable until 1669, when he and six of the children moved to Piscataway, New Jersey. It isn't known why he moved to Piscataway. Perhaps it was economics or perhaps it was religion. His son Nathaniel had married Mary Holley, and this family was Quaker. Perhaps Edward, or Elizabeth, or both, had Quaker leanings and were ready to be a little more free in their religious practices. Perhaps it was for economics, or perhaps they had simply been approached and asked to help plant a new colony, much as we would ask someone reliable to help plant a new church.
It is believed that Edward died in 1674 or 1675. After a second marriage, Elizabeth was buried beside him in 1713, in what is now St James Churchyard in Piscataway. Their stones were lost when a skirmish was fought there during the Revolutionary War, and breastworks were thrown up against the British. When the area was cleared after the war, the stones weren't found, so even in death, this couple was giving to the cause of their chosen homeland.
He is referred to as a "yeoman", which would be a farmer of some importance. I have not found that he was ever made a freeman of the colony, although that is possible. He did bear arms and was available for military duty.
I've used James Savage's Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, quotes from The Descendants of Edward Fitzrandolph and Elizabeth Blossom 1630-1950 by Louise Aymar Christian, and Genealogies of Barnstable Families by Amos Otis for this brief discussion.
Here's the rather lengthy line of descent:
Edward Fitzrandolph-Elizabeth Blossom
Nathaniel Fitzrandolph-Mary Holley
Samuel Fitzrandolph-Mary Jones
Prudence Fitzrandolph-Shubael Smith
Mary Smith-Jonathan Dunham
Samuel Dunham-Hannah Ruble
Jacob Dunham-Catherine Goodnight
Samuel Goodnight Dunham-Eliza Reese
Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge
Gretta Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Beeks children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great great grandchildren
Edward Fitzrandolph, often referred to as Junior, was born to Edward Fitzrandolph and Francis Howis or Howes on July 8, 1607 (this may be his christening date) at Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottingham, England. Frances was Edward's third wife, so some of his brothers and sisters are more correctly called half brothers and sisters. It appears that Edward had five full brothers and sisters: Anthony, Ales (Alice), Christopher, Joseph, and John. Edward was the oldest of them.
In 1630, when Edward was about 23 years old, he came to Massachusetts with the Winthrop fleet. The Winthrop Fleet was a group of 8 ships, containing about 800 Puritans, that came to settle the Massachusetts Bay colony (not to be confused with Plymouth Colony). He was settled at Scituate, Massachusetts, with his home being the 38th home built there. He married Elizabeth Blossom there on May 10, 1637. Her parents were Elder Thomas Blossom and Ann Heilson, who were passengers on the Speedwell, the ship that was forced to turn back after setting sail with the Mayflower. Her parents returned to Holland, where Elizabeth was born.
Edward and Elizabeth had at least 12 children, all born in Barnstable, where they had moved in 1639. He lived in Barnstable and then West Barnstable until 1669, when he and six of the children moved to Piscataway, New Jersey. It isn't known why he moved to Piscataway. Perhaps it was economics or perhaps it was religion. His son Nathaniel had married Mary Holley, and this family was Quaker. Perhaps Edward, or Elizabeth, or both, had Quaker leanings and were ready to be a little more free in their religious practices. Perhaps it was for economics, or perhaps they had simply been approached and asked to help plant a new colony, much as we would ask someone reliable to help plant a new church.
It is believed that Edward died in 1674 or 1675. After a second marriage, Elizabeth was buried beside him in 1713, in what is now St James Churchyard in Piscataway. Their stones were lost when a skirmish was fought there during the Revolutionary War, and breastworks were thrown up against the British. When the area was cleared after the war, the stones weren't found, so even in death, this couple was giving to the cause of their chosen homeland.
He is referred to as a "yeoman", which would be a farmer of some importance. I have not found that he was ever made a freeman of the colony, although that is possible. He did bear arms and was available for military duty.
I've used James Savage's Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, quotes from The Descendants of Edward Fitzrandolph and Elizabeth Blossom 1630-1950 by Louise Aymar Christian, and Genealogies of Barnstable Families by Amos Otis for this brief discussion.
Here's the rather lengthy line of descent:
Edward Fitzrandolph-Elizabeth Blossom
Nathaniel Fitzrandolph-Mary Holley
Samuel Fitzrandolph-Mary Jones
Prudence Fitzrandolph-Shubael Smith
Mary Smith-Jonathan Dunham
Samuel Dunham-Hannah Ruble
Jacob Dunham-Catherine Goodnight
Samuel Goodnight Dunham-Eliza Reese
Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge
Gretta Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Beeks children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great great grandchildren
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Beeks, Allen, Holbrook lines: Our "royaltrees"
Although this blog will focus mainly on our ancestors on this side of the Atlantic, this particular post takes us back to the Tudors, the Plantagenets, the Stuarts, the Capets, and numerous other lines of royalty, mostly in the time period prior to 1550.
Each family mentioned above has numerous connections to royalty. That really doesn't mean much to us in terms of living our everyday lives, since our claims to any throne were long ago extinguished by marriages, the end of the line for male descent, or revolution of one sort or another. Knowing that many of the rulers we study in history books are either ancestors or cousins does make history more interesting, though.
I'm listing here the "gateway immigrant" for each of the main lines I'm tracing. Of course, once we are back a few generations from the "gateway immigrant", the lines all interconnect so that we are all cousins to the other lines. There are more immigrant ancestors through other marriages, but those immigrants would be considered our step grandmothers and grandfathers, so I won't list them here. Also, many in our royal lines were not faithful spouses, so many of our descents are from children born to mistresses.
Allen line: Peter Bulkeley, Jane Allen
Holbrook line: Anne Lovelace Gorsuch, Edward Raynesford
Beeks: Edward Fitzrandolph goes back to William I of Scotland
There are the lines approved by Douglas Richardson (Allen and Holbrook lines) and others who are very learned in this type of genealogy.
There are also lines, either not proven to the experts' satisfaction or not considered royalty. For instance, the Allen and Holbrook lines both include Owain Glendower as an ancestor. He was not technically royalty, but he assumed the role of leader of Wales during the early 1400s. His story is fascinating.
Then there are the "maybes". In the Allen line, Mary Morton Hamilton is shown as the wife of Humphrey Parrish. Since none of the experts have approved this line yet, I'm thinking it is suspect, but I've shown it on our tree anyway. It traces back to James II of Scotland and Maria Guelders, who has a fabulous tree herself. We also have a lot of people with the same surname in the same place at the same time as proven gateway immigrants, but they are not proven. Nicholas Corbin and Elizabeth Kemp (a married couple) are good examples of this. They came to Maryland from England in 1671. Corbin lines and the Kemp lines from Virginia/Maryland both are traced back to royalty, but as far as I can find, no one has proof that Nicholas and Elizabeth actually fit into these families.
So far I have been unable to trace any lines to royalty of any of the Harshbarger lines. If they exist, they would likely go back to German rulers of long, long ago. However, we can be reasonably certain that each of us traces back to Charlemagne, which gives all of us a reason to claim that we are "royal pains".
Each family mentioned above has numerous connections to royalty. That really doesn't mean much to us in terms of living our everyday lives, since our claims to any throne were long ago extinguished by marriages, the end of the line for male descent, or revolution of one sort or another. Knowing that many of the rulers we study in history books are either ancestors or cousins does make history more interesting, though.
I'm listing here the "gateway immigrant" for each of the main lines I'm tracing. Of course, once we are back a few generations from the "gateway immigrant", the lines all interconnect so that we are all cousins to the other lines. There are more immigrant ancestors through other marriages, but those immigrants would be considered our step grandmothers and grandfathers, so I won't list them here. Also, many in our royal lines were not faithful spouses, so many of our descents are from children born to mistresses.
Allen line: Peter Bulkeley, Jane Allen
Holbrook line: Anne Lovelace Gorsuch, Edward Raynesford
Beeks: Edward Fitzrandolph goes back to William I of Scotland
There are the lines approved by Douglas Richardson (Allen and Holbrook lines) and others who are very learned in this type of genealogy.
There are also lines, either not proven to the experts' satisfaction or not considered royalty. For instance, the Allen and Holbrook lines both include Owain Glendower as an ancestor. He was not technically royalty, but he assumed the role of leader of Wales during the early 1400s. His story is fascinating.
Then there are the "maybes". In the Allen line, Mary Morton Hamilton is shown as the wife of Humphrey Parrish. Since none of the experts have approved this line yet, I'm thinking it is suspect, but I've shown it on our tree anyway. It traces back to James II of Scotland and Maria Guelders, who has a fabulous tree herself. We also have a lot of people with the same surname in the same place at the same time as proven gateway immigrants, but they are not proven. Nicholas Corbin and Elizabeth Kemp (a married couple) are good examples of this. They came to Maryland from England in 1671. Corbin lines and the Kemp lines from Virginia/Maryland both are traced back to royalty, but as far as I can find, no one has proof that Nicholas and Elizabeth actually fit into these families.
So far I have been unable to trace any lines to royalty of any of the Harshbarger lines. If they exist, they would likely go back to German rulers of long, long ago. However, we can be reasonably certain that each of us traces back to Charlemagne, which gives all of us a reason to claim that we are "royal pains".
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