Beeks line: Pieter Janse Meet, Immigrant 1614-1697

I've found another Beeks ancestor that I overlooked,, and I've found almost enough to actually write a paragraph or two about him.  I always enjoy finding these ancestors from The Netherlands, who were some of the first settlers of New Amsterdam, later New York city.  It helps remind me that America was not just Puritans and Cavaliers, but has other heritages also, dating back to the first settlements of the continent.  (Yes, I know there were Swedish settlers, French Huguenots and missionaries, and early s Spanish settlers, too, and I know there were native Americans who were here first).  But ever since grade school, the Dutch settlers have interested me.  And I'm a little bit jealous that these folks belong to my husband's family, and not mine!

It's possible that this was originally a French or Walloon Huguenot family, and it's possible that Jan Meet was father, a man who appears in English records.  But actual proof as to his parentage and origins is lacking.  The first we really know of him was that he married Styntje Jacobs on September 22, 1654 in Amersfoort, Utrecht, The Netherlands.  The town had a Protestant majority, but a large Catholic minority and there must surely have been religious tensions there.  Whether or not that was the reason the Meets emigrated to New Netherlands, we don't know.

He and his wife and family of four children left Amersfoort, Netherlands in March of 1663 in the ship "Rosetree".  They arrived at a time of great political unrest, as the colony was about to be taken over by the English.  By October of 1664, Pieter Meet took an oath of allegiance to the English King Charles II, and so began adjusting to a new continent and a new political reality.  It's unclear how much impact this had on the every day lives of the settlers.  Pieter was a resident of what became Brooklyn for perhaps 16 years but if found on a tax "rate" page for Bushwick in 1683.  He purchased land there in 1680.

It's not clear whether it was his son or whether it was Pieter himself who moved to land near Hackensack, New Jersey.  Some records say he died there in 1697 and some say he died at Bushwick. He was apparently not active in town government.  We don't know that there was any conflict with the native Americans during his lifetime, in his towns.  we just don't know much about him at all.  But we do know he cared enough for religious or economic freedom to come to America and worship as he pleased, with the chance to give his family a solid economic base. 

We can be grateful for all the families that made this trip, no matter where they went or when they arrived.  They are part of the history of America, and of the history of the Beeks family. 

The line of descent is:

Pieter Janse Meet-Styntje Jacobs
Jan Pieterse Meet-Gerritsje Jillsae Mandeville
Maretie Meet-Peter Demarest
Lea Demarest-Samuel David Demarest
Sarah Demarest-Benjamin Slot
William Lock-Elizabeth Teague
Sally Lock-Jeremiah Folsom
Leah Folsom-Darlington Aldridge
Harvey Aldridge-Margaret Catherine Dunham
Gretta Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger

Note that the first person probably not of Dutch heritage in this list was Jeremiah Folsom. 

Beeks line: Gilles de Mandeville 1626-1701 Immigrant

You may not be able to guess from the name that this is another ancestor from what is now The  Netherlands.  That's because it seems that there is no one "correct" way to write his name.  Some list him as Aegidius, some as Giles Jensen, some as Yellis, and I'm not sure that the Mandeville surname really "sticks", although he has parents and grandparents all the way back to 1525 who also have been given that surname. I'm going to call him Gilles because that's easier for me, but yet reminds me this is not an Englishman.

Gilles was born in 166 in Veluwe, Gelderland, the Netherlands in 1626, the son of Rev.Jan Michealse and Trintgen Wilma Van Harderwijk Mandeville.  Oh, he may have been born in France and baptized in Doesburk, Geldeland, the Netherlands.  I think he was likely born in the Netherlands, unless the information about his parent's birthplace is incorrect.  The first think we really know about Gilles is that he, his wife Elsje Pieterse Hendricks, and four children sailed on the "de Trouw", to New Amsterdam, supposedly traveling with Peter Stuyvesant. That makes a nice story, the Stuyvesant connection, but I'm not sure that Stuyvesant had gone anywhere so that he would have been returning in 1659.  (I could be wrong about that, of course, and it is likely that the families knew each other.  I just don't find anything that says Stuyvesant had gone to the Netherlands in 1658-59.  He seems to have been in New Amsterdam the whole time.)

He paid the way of himself and his family so he was not a poor man.  He is associated with several pieces of land at Long Island, atNew Amersfoort and New Amsterdam, and when the English took over the Dutch colony, he was on a tax list for New York in 1676.He also had a farm at Flatbush and 30 acres at Greenwich.  The main estate, the farm o Manhattan Island, was in what is now Greenwich Village.  Gilles and Elsje were members of the Dutch Reformed Church in New York.

In his will, written in September of 1696 and proven May 22, 1701, he left all of his estate during Elsje's widowhood.  His farm in Queens county, near Hempstead, with houses, barns,etc he left to his oldest son Hendrick,.  The farm at Greenwich was to be sold to the highest bidder and the proceeds divided among his six adult children.  The final execution probably didn't take long, as Elsje herself made her will the same date that Gilles' will was proven. 

Gilles appears to have been a hard-working man with a good business sense, and enough money to get started in his new life in the New Netherlands.  If he actually lived in all the places that he had land, he could almost be considered a real estate developer.  I wonder what he would think of his most lasting "development", Greenwich Village, and its property values now! 

The line of descent is:

Gilles de Mandeville-Elsje Hendricks
Gerritje Mandeville-Jan Pieterse Meet
Maretje Meete-Peter Demarest
Lea Demarest-Samuel David Demarest
Sarah Demarest-Benjamin Slot
William (Slot) Lock-Elizabeth Teague
Sally Lock-Jeremiah Folsom
Leah Folsom-Darlington Aldridge
Harvey Aldridge-Margaret Catherine Dunham
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants

Beeks line: A cousin discovered and mourned

Well, maybe he's not discovered, because I sure hope someone still remembers him, but this story was new to me and I found it only accidentally, while reading local newspapers for my "next book" project.  But Donald C Murdock deserves to be remembered and honored, not just by the few who may still remember him, but by all his extended family.  He gave the ultimate sacrifice for his country and his family.

Donald Murdock was born June 5, 1918, the son of William and Hazel Aldridge Murdock.  (It's possible that Hazel had an earlier marriage, but I'm unable to verify that now)  Donald was the only child of this couple.  They lived in Frankfort, Clinton County, Indiana from the early years of the marriage, because Donald was listed with his parents there in the 1920 U.S. census.  William is listed as 44 years old, so it's possible that he had been married before also, and Hazel was 26.  Donald's paternal grandparents, the Murdocks, were born in Ireland.  His maternal grandfather, Jeremiah Aldridge, was born in Tipton County, Indiana.  (Jeremiah had three wives and I've not yet found Hazel's birth record, so I'm not sure who her mother was).

As far as we know, life was going OK for Donald in 1930. He spent summers in Huntington County, living on a farm, probably with family members. His father was now a landscaper for an electric light plant, and owned his own home.  Sometime between 1930 and 1940 William died, and Hazel remarried to Chelsea (?) Holtz.  In 1940, Chelsea was a fireman's helper at the electric plant, Hazel was a seamstress, and Donald was a truck driver.  They were living in a rented home, so it appears that perhaps the stress of the Depression and of William's death had reached this home.

The only story I know about Donald during his teenage years is one worthy of a hero.  While staying with his uncle, W.A. Bickel for the summer, Donald went to Silver Lake for an outing.  While there, he saved the life of  a young girl who had swum too far out and was exhausted.  (This was a big enough deal that it reached the Huntington Herald Press, even though it didn't occur in Huntington County).  Donald graduated from high school, probably in 1936, and was inducted into the U.S. Army on November 22, 1941, just about two weeks before Pearl Harbor.  His last job before joining the Army was as a guard at the Kingsbury ordnance plant.

I don't know anything about Donald's training or what his job in the Army was.  Sometime, after he was deemed trained, he was shipped to the South Pacific theater.  I don't know if he was in New Guinea the whole time, or if he had arrived there from another location (he very well could have been in Australia for additional training, as many soldiers in that campaign were stationed and trained there for a time.)  We know that he sent a Christmas greeting to his cousin, Allen Bickel, on December 26, 1942 and said that all was well.  However, in what was probably the battle to retake Buna from the Japanese, on the island of New Guinea, Donald was killed in action on December 29, 1942.  Word didn't read Huntington county until January 21, 1943 of this death in the family.

I have thought about what the Aldridge and Beeks families must have felt when they heard the news.  Donald was a second cousin to the Beeks "children", who were younger than Donald.  Cleo Aldridge Beeks and Hazel Aldridge Murdock Holtz were first cousins and likely grew up spending time together.  It would have been a sad day for the family, and for the other Aldridge family members.  For Hazel, it must have been devastating. 

At some point, Donald's body was returned to the States and he was buried at the IOOF cemetery in Frankfort.  There is a military marker on his headstone indicating that he was a private.  Perhaps his mother received a letter from his commander, giving more details of the death, but this is as much as I know now.  If anyone reading this has any more knowledge about Donald Murdock, I'd love it if you'd share that with me.  We should know the story of family heroes!

Donald's line of descent would be:                                To show the connection:

Darlington Aldridge-Leah Folsom                               Darlington Aldridge-Leah Folsom
Jeremiah Aldridge-                                                       Harvey Aldridge-Margaret Catherine Dunham
Hazel Aldridge-William Murdock                               Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Donald Murdock                                                          Mary Margaret Beeks and siblings

Beeks line: Jason Wheeler 1765-1843, some thoughts

Jason Wheeler is one of the brick walls that is driving me crazy.  Most trees out there give a definite date of birth for him, of October 4, 1765, and an approximate death date of 1843, supposedly in Marion County, Indiana.  I have no reason to dispute those dates except that I can't find documentation for them.  My hope is that the birth date came from a family Bible somewhere, and that someone seeing this will contact me with more information. 

So the only real thing I have to go on is his birthdate, and the fact that the 1850 census shows his widow, Patience, or Palina possibly, as having been born in Vermont.  So the 1791 census (called the 1790 census on Ancestry, but it was taken a year later than the rest of the country) shows a Jason Wheeler in Lunenburgh, Orange County, Vermont.  This is the only Jason Wheeler in the entire 1790 census, so I'm going to assume this is our guy.  I have bits and pieces through land records and census records of the rest of his life.  He and Timothy Wheeler (a possible brother, possibly named for Timothy Nash) went to Chenango County, New York and then Jason moved on to Clermont County, Ohio, before the final move to Marion County, Indiana.  The dates and time frame aren't really part of this discussion, because I want to focus on the early years of Jason Wheeler's life-in fact, his earliest years. 

Specifically, I would like to know who his parents were.  Every tree that ventures a guess seems to think his father is Joseph Wheeler, from Smyrna, Cobb County, Georgia.  If someone has proof of this I sure would be pleased to see it, but on the face of it this doesn't seem likely.  Going from Georgia to New York (where Joseph supposedly died) is not a usual migration path, and none of Jason's known children are named Joseph.

Let's leave that name alone for a while and apply some of the thought processes that family historians rely on.  We know that family tended to stay together, so let's look at the other Wheelers in Orange County, Vermont in 1791.   There are quite a few, but the one closest geographically is George, who is in Guildhall, which is basically right over the line from Lunenburgh.  In fact, the two men probably thought they were living in the same town, until a 1786 survey showed that the border was not where the towns thought they were.  George Wheeler's name is on some petitions in 1786 and 1788, and Jason's name joins his in 1788.  George's 1791 census shows that he still has quite a large family, with a total of 10 people in the household.  As a further note, Lunenburgh and Guildhall were each very small communities, with only 16 heads of households listed in each town in that year.  George and Jason are the only two Wheelers here. 

The only record I've found for a child for George is George Junior, who was born in 1773.  That doesn't mean that this was the only child the family had, though.  I've found that George first went to the area that became Guildhall in 1764, as one of a small group of people that also included Timothy Nash and David Page.  These men settled in the area, with George pitching a tent on the south side of Fiske's pond (which I've not yet located on a map; it could be drained by now).  There is a reference to the Wheeler family being there in the early years but it's possible that at least for the first year or two that the family joined George only for the warmer months. 

So who was George Wheeler?  Well, the record for George Junior's birth shows his parents as George and Experience Wheeler.  George Wheeler and Experience Nash (she seems to be the daughter of the Timothy Nash mentioned above, and Experience Kellogg) were married in Shutesbury, Massachusetts on March 17, 1764.  Jason was born about 19 months later.  If we count back nine months from October 4, 1765 we arrive at early January, 1765, a time when it would make sense for the couple to have been together, if George went back to Shutesbury that first winter.  It's an "if", but it may be a reasonable "if".  And if Jason was born in Vermont in early fall, it makes sense that his birth records would either be non-existent due to the pioneer experience, have been lost, or are somewhere in the archives of either New York or New Hampshire, each of which was claiming this land at the time. There are no further records for George Wheeler in Shutesbury, so he must have gone someplace.

George served in the Revolutionary War under a New Hampshire group, in Captain Bedell's company, and again in 1782 in a group credited to Vermont.  I haven't done a lot of digging on the war story because I'm still trying to piece together a timeline and figure out how much sense this idea makes. 

George is in Lunenburgh, now Essex County, in the 1800 census.  He is about the age of 45, so born earlier than 1755, and still has 5 people living with him, plus a woman over 45 who is presumably his wife, Experience.  After that, I can no longer locate a likely suspect to be George.  He may have died between 1800 and 1810, or he may be living in a child's home, but since we don't know the children to check that is hard to determine at this point.  Jason, meanwhile has moved on to Frankfort, Herkimer, New York in 1800 (again, he's the only Jason I can find in the 1800 census).  He is apparently married (best guess for marriage date is 1788 or so) and has six children living in the household.  One of these children is a son named George, born in 1799. 

I have no smoking gun here.  I haven't found a will for George, or estate papers, land records or pension records.  I don't know what happened to him.  I have geographic location, opportunity, and names (some of Jason's children used the name George, also, which may be for George Wheeler, or could be for George Washington)  This is more than I can find for the supposed Joseph.  

What do my genealogy friends think?  Are George and Experience strong possibilities for Jason's parents?  Where else can I look?  I'd sure love to add these names to the Beeks family tree, and start researching George and Experience!  Please email me: happygenealogydancingATgmailDOTcom, or leave a comment!

Here's Jason's line of descent:

Jason Wheeler-Patience
Lucinda Wheeler-John Simpson Aldridge Jr.
Darlington Aldridge-Leah Folsom
Harvey Aldridge-Margaret Catherine Dunham
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants

Beeks line: Jans Pieterse Meet 1660- , Immigrant

Technically this post should be about the father of Jans Pieterse Meet, Pieter Jansen Meet.  However, what little I know of Pieter Jansen Meet can be written in two or three sentences. He married Styntje Jacobs in Amersfoort, Utrecht, The Netherlands in 1654 and came to New Netherlands in 1663 with their four children, ranging in age from 19 to 3, and died in 1695 in Hackensack, New Jersey.  So far that is what I know of the immigrant father, although I'll be looking for more information about him. 

Jans Pieterse Meet (somehow some of the family became Meads) was just three years old when the family came to New Amsterdam on the ship "Rose Tree" in 1663.  It may or may not have been a surprise to the family that about a year later, they were no longer living in a Dutch colony, as England took it over in 1664.  Still, although the government was now English, the colony and all the settlements around it were composed of Dutch immigrants, and the family would have found friends and possibly relatives already here.  There were people to "show them the ropes" of how to live in the New World. 

We don't know what trade or occupation Pieter Jansen practiced, but his son Jans Pieterse was a weaver.  He may have learned this from his father, or he may have been apprenticed in some fashion to another tradesman.  Of course, he also acquired land as he matured.  On May 11,1687, he was married to Grietje Mandeville, the daughter of Gilles Jansen de Mandeville and Elsie Hendricks on Manhattan Island.  He was listed as a "poll" at Bushwick but by 1692 the new family was living at Flatbush, which appears to be a different location, although both are part of what is now the Brooklyn borough of New York City.

The record of where he lived and when is a bit confusing.  He purchased property in 1695, 500 acres in what is now Mountain View, New Jersey.  He joined the Dutch Reformed church in Hackensack in 1699.  Yet in 1703 he was reported as living in New York City  There were at least 6 children born to this couple-Maretje, Jan Janse, Jacob Janse, Christina, Elsje, and Gilles, but it's not clear where each was born.  On October 7, 1710 he and three other men purchased 1000 acres in Morris County, N.J. He's believed to have died in New Jersey. 

He wrote his will on November 1, 1709 and is thought to have died about 1714. I haven't yet located a copy of the will, but reports are that it wasn't probated until April 27, 1745, if that last date isn't a typographical error.  I'd love to find the will, and an inventory, and if the 1745 date is correct, try to figure out why it took almost 30 years for this to go to probate.  But for now, that part of the story is a mystery. 

The Beeks family has so many interesting lines in it, from German to Dutch to English to French, but for some reason the Dutch lines particularly intrigue me.  I'm glad to know this much about this family, even though I wish I knew more!  Most of the information in this post came from the information on Geni, a Rootsweb post, and the Mills-Burkholder genealogy.  I'd like to find more!

The line of descent is

Jans Pieterse Meet-Grietje Mandeville
Maretje Meet-Peter Demarest
Lea Demarest-Samuel David Demarest
Sarah Demarest-Benjamin Slot
William Lock-Elizabeth Teague
Sally Lock-Jeremiah Folsom
Leah Folsom-Darlington Aldridge
Harvey Aldridge-Margaret Catherine Dunham
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants

Beeks line: John Purdy 1654-1712

I'm afraid this is another "no nothing" post, but I'm determined to note these ancestor's lives even if all I can do is offer a name, a location, and maybe a date.  This will remind me that I have work to do, to document these people, and it will serve as possible clues to someone who may be able to dig deeper into records than I can currently do. 

John Purdy is a Maryland resident, the first we learn of him.  He is believed to have been born about 1654, although his parentage and their origin are still something unknown.  I have seen his father listed variously as Henry, William, and Francis, so I'm unwilling to make even a wild guess.  I suppose someone who thought father's name was William thought that because his only (surviving) son was named William.  Francis seems to have spent his life in Connecticut and I can't find a logical explanation for a son showing up in Maryland, although I regard this as still a possibility.  And I don't know where "Henry" came from, as a proposed father.

John was apparently married at least twice.  His first wife was either Mary or Elizabeth, and his second marriage took place in 1701 to Mary Jarvis.  He apparently had children only by his first wife. 

We can guess that he was a farmer because there was real estate listed in his will, which was written October 21, 1709 and proved November 16, 1712.  He left his land to his son William, but if William died without issue it was to be sold with 5 pounds to go to John Purdy, the son of Henry and Ann Purdy.  As far as I know, the relationship of our John to Henry has not been proven, but it is quite possible he was a brother.  The residue from the sale of his land was to go to his daughters Margaret Watts, Elizabeth Aldridge and Susan or Susanna Purdy, at 16 years.  testators were Robert Steward, Joseph Tilly, and Thomas Orem.   

Obvious research possibilities would be land and tax records for the time period.  They should show what land he owed, where it was, and what the value was.  This should indicate whether he farmed, raised tobacco, or perhaps was some type of merchant, or trader.  At this early period in Maryland history, he could have been any of the above.  There may be further information in church records, also, which would at least indicate when he became a member at All Hallow Parish (this would have been Church of England or Anglican).

So it may be that someday we will know more about John.  For now, he's an ancestor in the Beeks line and he died in Maryland.  He or/and his father would have been an immigrant, and that is reason enough to want to know more.

The line of descent is:

John Purdy-Elizabeth or Mary
Elizabeth Purdy-Thomas Aldridge
John Aldridge-Eleanor Watkins
Jacob Aldridge Elizabeth Soper
John Simpson Aldridge-Mary Lakin
John Simpson Aldridge Jr-Lucinda Wheeler
Darlington Aldridge-Leah Folsom
Harvey Aldridge-Margaret Catherine Dunham
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants

Beeks line: Jacob Wallinges Van Winkle Immigrant 1599-1657

One of the things I like best about the Beeks family line is the great mingling of countries and cultures.  There are the New England ancestors, and the possible Virginia ancestors, and then there are those from the middle colonies.  The New England ancestors and the Virginia ancestors mostly trace back to England, but some of the middle colonies trace back to Holland and to France. 

Every former schoolchild of a certain age remembers the story of the Dutch "tricking" the native Americans (then called Indians) into selling the island of Manhattan for $24 and some beads, which didn't leave a good taste in our mouths for what the Dutch did.  We remember Peter Stuyvesant, who in the one sided way we were taught history was either a good man or a bad man.  The problem is that most lives are neither black nor white, and then of course further issues arise as we study family history and learn that "we are them", and we may have been pointing fingers at our ancestors.

It's exciting when family history and history come together, no matter which side, or how many sides, our ancestors were on.  Jacob Wallinges Van Winkle is the earliest ancestor I've yet found, who came from Holland and settled on Manhattan Island perhaps as early as 1624, which would make him one of the very first Dutch settlers on the island.  He was born in about 1599 to Jacob Walichs and Tryntje Willems, from the village of Winkel, in northern Holland.  He was also referred to as "Jacob Walichsen Van Hoorn", because the village was near the port city of Hoorn. 

He may have first come to New Netherlands as a deckhand about 1618, but was definitely here by 1630, when he was one of the very first farmers to settle permanently" here.  He and partner Claes Cornelissen Swits farmed bouwerie number 5 until 1636, when their lease expired.  A bouwerie was a large, self sufficient farm and at an inventory taken May 1,1630 the bouwerie had 6 saddle horses, 2 stallions, 6 cows, and 22 sheep.  There were probably pigs and chickens, too, and indicates a well developed farming operation. 

He was a tenant farmer, but returned to Holland to get more stock for the Dutch West India Company, which owned the entire operation, and while there, he was a member of the Dutch church.  He returned to the New World in 1635 and apparently settled along the Hudson river, as part of Rensselaerwyck, opposite Albany.  There are records found for him in 1641 on a council of twelve men to advise governor Kieft of Manhattan about relationships with the Native Americans, and he seems to have made at least one more trip back to Holland before 1650.

It's not clear just when or where, but at some point he married Tryntje Jacobse.  The marriage may have occurred during his second trip to the Netherlands, but records have not yet been found.  He returned to Rensselaerwyck, where he stayed until 1650.  Although we was a successful tenant farmer, he was still a tenant and perhaps he had decided it was time to find land of his own to settle on.  In 1650, his son Jacob Jacobsen was baptized at the New Amsterdam "fort church" on October 10, 1650 and the parents joined the New Amsterdam Dutch Reformed church there. 

Diector General Peter Stuyvesant issued a patent for 25 "morgens" of land to Jacob on October 23,1654.  This land was at Pavonia, near what is now Jersey city, New Jersey, which was attacked by Indians in 1655.  The family, which now included 6 children, returned to New Amsterdam until it was thought safe to return to their land.  They returned in 1657 and Jacob is believed to have died there later in the year. 

Jacob's widow, Trintje, married three more times, each time to a widower.  She died after 1677.

This is a condensed version of information found from various websites, which appear to come primarily from the book "A Genealogy of the Van Winkle Family, 1630-1993" written by James C. Van Winkle.  It would be fascinating to find this book and learn more about this family that lived in such interesting places and times!

The line of descent is:

Jacob Van Winkle-Trintje Jacobse
Marritje Jacobse Van Winkle-Pieter Jansen Slot
Jacobus Slot-Maria Demarest
Benjamin Slot-Sarah Demaree
William Lock-Elizabeth Teague
Sally Lock-Jeremiah Folsom
Leah Folsom-Darlington Aldridge
Harvey Aldridge-Margaret Catherine Dunham
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants

Beeks line: John William Teague

I don't know enough about this man to write about him, but I'm hoping that by posting the little bit I think I know, someone will see this and recognize him as belonging to their family.

Part of the reason things are so confused about John, or William, or John William, as the case may be, is that there are several people by those names and it appears that their trees have been mixed up just about everywhere I looked.  I am doubtful that this is the Teague family that went to North Carolina, although it's possible they share the same ancestors. 

William Teague was in Shelby County, Kentucky by 1797.  His daughter Elizabeth married William Lock on December 25,1797 in Shelby County, and William is on the tax list for Shelby County in 1800.  His wife's name is believed to be Elizabeth, but that is all I have learned about her.  Since Elizabeth was 20 years old in 1797, that would put William as being born possibly from 1730-1755 or so. 

The Lock family, as much of early Shelby County, was "Low Dutch", meaning they originally came from the Netherlands.  It is quite possible that the Teagues were originally Tagues that came from this same region, but I've not located records that show them travelling with the original Low Dutch who were in Kentucky as early as 1780.

I have located several Teagues in Frederick County, Virginia in the 1750's, and it's quite possible that this William was a son or brother to one of these men.  Their names were Edward, Moses, and Peter, and at least one reference, undocumented, is found to this William being the son of Peter.  I've also seen speculation that this family came from Ireland, which would send us in an entirely different direction.

Even though we don't know much about William or John William, he would have been of the right age to have served in the Revolutionary War, likely as a militia.  If he wasn't in the war, he would certainly have been affected by it.  We know that at least some of his family went on to Switzerland County, Indiana, where there are records of John Tague or Teague as entryman in 1819 and 1825.  This may have been the John Tague in the 1820 census in Cotton Township, Switzerland County, who is shown as being over 45 years of age.  This household had 6 persons under the age of 16, plus John and a woman 26-44.  Only one person was engaged in agriculture.  The ages don't really fit a man born about 1750, but perhaps he was raising grandchildren with the help of a daughter or daughter in law.

This is all we know or even suspect about this man.  I'd love to hear from someone who knows more, even it if is just one little clue that could prove or disprove some of this speculation.  What we do know is that he is a part of the Beeks heritage, and deserves to be remembered.

The line of descent is:

John William Teague-Elizabeth
Elizabeth Teague-William Lock
Sally Lock-Jeremiah Folsom
Leah Folsom-Darlington Aldridge
Harvey Aldridge-Margaret Catherine Dunham
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants

Beeks line: Jan Pieter Slot 1613-1703, Immigrant

Here's an ancestor with a fascinating history.  I would love to sit down with him at the dinner table and learn his story, because he lived in such interesting times and places, that I haven't yet learned much about yet and may not have the time to research myself. 

Jan Pieter Slot was born in Holstein, Denmark in 1613, perhaps the son of Pieter Sloat and Mary Baerts.  I say "perhaps" because I haven't seen the documentation to back up his parents' names.  However, several sources state that he was a Dane, so I am fairly confident with that much of his early life. 

Sometime in his youth or early manhood he migrated to Amsterdam, Holland.  We don't know for sure what he did there, but somewhere he learned the carpenter trade. With all the growth that Amsterdam was experiencing, he would surely have had little trouble finding work in that line.  He also married his first wife there, Aeltje Jans, and they had two sons together, Pieter Jansen and Johan.  Jan Pieter and his sons emigrated to New Amsterdam in 1650, apparently with his wife, who died about 1664.   

New Amsterdam was a fascinating place, small but bustling, and as long as taxes were paid, open not just to the Dutch but to people from all backgrounds.  The contrast with the relatively closed society of the Puritans of New England is quite striking.  Jan Pieter settled first in Harlem, which was a few miles north of New Amsterdam, but still on Manhattan Island.  By 1667 he is believed to have been living at "Fort Amsterdam", under British administration.  His lot was at the foot of what is now known as "Wall Street."  He was a carpenter in Harlem and presumably also in what became New York, and was also a magistrate for at least 6 years at Harlem, so he was well-respected by his peers.  Perhaps he was removed as magistrate when the British took over the colony. 

I have two death dates for Jan Pieter, one in 1690 and one in 1703.  There may be some confusion between Jan Pieter and his son, Pieter Jan.  It's believed that the son died first.  Assuming that the 1703 death date is correct, he lived for about 90 years, in three very different cultures (Danish, old world Dutch, and then Dutch/English New York).  I'd love to know why he made each move, how hard or easy it was to adjust, what language(s) he spoke, what his religion was, and more about his life in early America.  Of course, I'd love to know about his parents, too, and their lives. 

The line of descent is:

Jan Pieter Slot-Aeltje Jans
Pieter Jans Slot-Marritsje Jacobse Van Winkle
Jacobus Slot-Maria Demarest
Benjamin Slot/Lock-Sarah Demaree or Demarest
William Lock-Elizabeth Teague
Sally Lock-Jeremiah Folsom
Leah Folsom-Darlington Aldridge
Harvey Aldridge-Margaret Catherine Dunham
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants

Somewhere between Benjamin and William, the name was Americanized from Slot to Lock.  The words have the same meaning.  

Beeks line: William Jump 1632-1709 Immigrant

I love writing about the immigrants that have been found in the Beeks line.  They came to New England, New Netherlands, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, that I know of so far, and all of the branches are totally interesting to me.  Thomas Jump is one of the early Maryland immigrants, and of course, not much is known of him.

It appears that he was born about 1632 in England, and that his parents may have been Thomas Jumpe and Anne Drayton.  I haven't found any documentation linking William to Thomas yet, but it may be out there and I just haven't located it.  His birthplace is given as possibly Beckley, Northamptonshire, England. (It must have been a small village or parish, as it is not mentioned on the wikipedia page about Northamptonshire.)

We know almost nothing of his life until he arrived in Maryland.  It is possible that he had a first wife in England, Elizabeth Wheat, but nothing more is known of this possible marriage or of any children, as far as I can tell.  He appears in Dorchester county, Maryland in 1664 with a land grant of 100 acres.   The land was on the east side of Chesapeake Bay, on the Little Choptank River, bounded on the west side by Hudson Creek.  He is mentioned in records of Dorchester, Caroline, and Talbot County, which pretty well gives us his location, as Dorchester shares it's northern border with both Caroline and Talbot. 

If there was a wife who traveled to Maryland with William, she died early, because William married Rebecca, possibly Chesmore, probably not long after he arrived there.  Rebecca is generally given a birth date of 1636 but again, I know of no documentation for this, nor for speculation that her father's name may have been George.  William and Rebecca had at least four children, Thomas, Margaret, William and Elizabeth.  Various dates of birth are given for them but it is likely that they were born between 1665 and 1680. 

William was a carpenter by trade, which would have been a needed skill in the colony.  He also acquired additional land, so we can consider him a farmer.  We need to consider the possibility that he owned slaves, because it appears that he owned about 500 acres at one time, far too much for him to cultivate with just the aid of his family.  He is listed as a "planter," in 1701.  However, his will does not bequeath, nor even mention, slaves so he may have had tenants or some other way of farming his land.  Perhaps his inventory, if it could be found, would provide more information. 

His will was written on March 21, 1709 and it is believed that he died shortly after that.   He bequeathed 300 acres of land to Thomas, 50 acres to Elizabeth "Feay", the remaining amount of "Jump's Chance" and all his other lands to William, and included Margaret with the three above named who were to divide his (personalty?) estate.  There is no mention of Rebecca so she must have died earlier.  It is interesting that by this time he was of Queen Annes County, which is north of the previously mentioned counties but still on the east side of Chesapeake Bay.  Was he living with one of his children, or had he moved earlier? 

This isn't much information for a man who apparently lived forty-five years or more in early Maryland.  I'd love to know if he served in the military, what relations were with nearby Indians, what religion he practiced, and if he ever missed his home in England.  I'd love to know how he got that land cultivated, and whether he raised tobacco (probably).  Also, what was his diet?  Did he eat out of the abundance of Chesapeake bay, or did he eat a typical farmer's diet? 

There's always more to know.

The line of descent is:

William Jump-Rebecca possibly Chesmore
Elizabeth Jump-George Fee
George Fee-Parnell Lakin
Eizabeth Fee-Joseph Lakin
Mary Lakin-John Simpson Aldridge Sr.
John Simpson Aldridge Jr.-Lucinda Wheeler
Darlington Aldridge-Leah Folsom
Harvey Homer Aldridge-Margaret Catherine Dunham
Gretta Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendents

Beeks line: Simon de Ruine 1615-1678

Simon de Ruine is one of those ancestors I'd just love to see, in person, and share a day in his life.  I'm not sure on which side of the ocean I'd like to be with him, but probably in the New World, since he was one of the first settlers of Harlem (yes, that Harlem) and had a fascinating set of neighbors. He was probably fascinating, too, although not a lot is known about him.

He referred to himself as a "Walloon", which means he was likely from the southern part of what is now Belgium or the northern part of France, not far from the German border.  He is reported to have come from Valenciennes, which is right on the border between Belgium and France, and this area did speak the language known as Walloons when Simon would have lived there.  Actually, Valenciennes would have been a good place for him to have lived, because he was a Protestant, a Huguenot, and they were persecuted in France.  Belgium wasn't much safer, so in his youth or early manhood he went to Holland, where he remained for 15 years and where he was permitted to practice his faith. 

He was born in 1631, with his father's name given as Jean de Ruine but no further information is known about him. It is possible that he lost his family in the persecutions, or in war, or due to disease.  He married twice in Holland.  His first wife, whose name has not been found, gave birth to two daughters who stayed in Simon's family.  His second wife was Magdalena Van der Straaten, who was from Hainault. 

The family was young when they emigrated from Amsterdam to New Amsterdam, in the New World, and three additional children were born to them here.  They settled first in New Amsterdam, then moved to help form the settlement of Harlem, and finally went to what is now Flushing, Queens County, New York.  To us, it would just be a crowded hour or so of travel to go from one location to another but these were wilderness areas and they would have needed to have started from scratch at every location.  From what I've read, though, they would not have built log cabins, but would have built homes in the Dutch tradition from the start. 

Simon died at Flushing on June 12, 1678 and his wife died at about the same time although I am not sure of the documentation for that statement.  He had certainly lived an interesting life!  He probably spoke at least two languages, Walloon and Dutch and perhaps more.  He had lived in France, Holland, and New Amsterdam, and helped found two settlements in the New World.  He probably was a member of the military, as there were Indian attacks during this time and he would have been needed to help protect the settlements.  By the time he died, the Dutch settlements were under English control, so here was another culture he had to learn, or at least learn to co-exist with them.  I think Simon was probably quite a flexible man.

The line of descent is:

Simon de Ruine-Magdalena van der Straten
Jacomina de Ruine-Jean Demarest
Maria Demariest-Jacobus Slot
Benjamin Slot-Sarah Demaree Demarest
William Lock-Elizabeth Teague
Sally Lock-Jeremiah Folsom
Leah Folsom-Darlington Aldridge
Harvey Aldridge-Margaret Catherine Dunham
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendents

The second line goes:

Simon de Ruine-Magdalena van der Straten
Maria de Ruine-Samuel Demarest
David Demarest-Mattie De Baun
Samuel David Demarest-Lea Demarest
Sarah Demaree Demarest-Benjamin Slot 
See above

There is also a third line, but it's too confusing to add here! 

Beeks line: George Fee 1675-abt 1730

It may be that George Fee born about 1675 is the original immigrant to Maryland, or he may have been born in Maryland.  At any rate, he is believed to be the son of George Fee and Rebecca possibly Parnell.  The Fee family was from County Fermanagh, Ireland, but in turn they may have been immigrants to Ireland from Scotland, about the year 1600.  There may be some connection to Donald Fee, who is said to have bought in the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.  Donald's sons, Donald and George also fought with him.  (I haven't researched this yet so although it is on most Fee trees on the internet, take it with a grain of salt.)

Whether it was because they were on the losing side of the battle, or because of other economic reasons, the Fee family emigrated to Maryland sometime in the late 1600's.  Under the theory above, our George would have been born in Ireland and not Maryland, but this is not proved.  The first George was a clothier, someone who made or sold clothes or cloth, which would have been a needed product on the Maryland frontier.  Our George is listed as a planter in Talbot and Dorchester County, Maryland and also in Kent County, Delaware.  It appears that the first land was received from his father in law (actually it was willed to his wife) and from there various purchases and sales were made.  

George Fee married Elizabeth Jump, daughter of William Jump and Rebecca possibly Chesmore, probably about 1701.  They had six known children, George, Thomas, Elizabeth, William, Mary, and Rebecca, and possibly more.  George is believed to have died about 1730, and I have no record of Elizabeth's death.

That is as much as I know about George right now, so obviously there is a good deal more digging to do.  I wanted to get this much written down, though, because I think the older George's history could be fascinating, and I certainly want to know more about this George.  What stories did he hear as he was growing up? Did he hear about his father and his grandfather's experiences in the Battle of the Boyne, or was this something that wasn't talked about?  When and where was he born, and when did he die?  Did he leave a will?  What other stories will his records tell?

I found much of this information at jmoule.com/Ball family website.  If someone has documentation for any of the missing information, I'd love it if you'd share!

The line of descent:

George Fee-Elizabeth Jump
George Fee-Parnell Lakin
Elizabeth Fee-Joseph Lakin
Mary Lakin-John Simpson Aldridge
John Simpson Aldridge Jr.-Lucinda Wheeler
Darlington Aldridge-Leah Folsom
Harvey Aldridge-Margaret Catherine Dunham
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendents

Beeks line: Thomas Besson 1616-1678

Thomas Besson is the immigrant ancestor in this line. The mystery is, which Thomas Besson is he, and when did he come to the New World?  As is often the case, there are several versions of who he was and when he arrived.  His parents may have been Francis Besson and Marcella, of York, England, or they may be Thomas Besson, or his records may actually be found in the Channel Islands. It seems most likely that he is the Thomas Besson who was baptized January 11, 1617/1618 at St Andrews, Plympton, Devon, England.  These records are not yet available on line, as far as I can find, so we don't know what they might show as to the parents of Thomas. 

We also don't know when or whom he married (apparently a woman named Ann) nor do we know when he arrived in the New World. I've seen records stating he arrived as a servant in 1635 and another that he arrived in 1649 with his wife, two children, and servant. He received headrights for these later, along with three additional persons who were claimed as his headrights.  It is of course possible that he arrived in 1635-1640, went back to England and married, and then brought his family here.

At any rate, we know that he received a grant from Lord Calvert in 1649 on the south side of the Arundel River, and here he stayed.  It is believed that he may have been one of the non-Conformists who were forced from Virginia at that time due to religious intoleration. Fortunately, Maryland was still practicing religious freedom at the time.

Thomas and Ann had several children, as did Thomas and Hester (widow Caplin).  Almost everything I have looked at assigns the children in different order, to differing mothers. There were John, William, two Thomases, Martha, and Anne. On my tree, I've used the most common finding of Hester for Martha's mother, but that is still open to proof, one way or the other. 

Thomas was a respected man in his area as is evidenced by the fact that he held office under the commonwealth in Maryland and attended the last session of the Commision in September 1657, when Lord Baltimore regained sovereignty after the English Civil War.  At the Restoration (of the English monarchy) he was appointed a magistrate of Anne Arundel County and served as such from about 1568 to 1668. He was "Captain of the Trayned Band" (a militia unit, needed because of the ever-present threat from the native Americans) and in 1665 was elected one of the burgesses from Anne Arundel County. 

Thomas's will was written March 10th, 1678/79 and proven May 1, 1679.  His inventory included 16,296 lbs of tobacco, and his debts were almost as large, leaving about 500 lbs of tobacco to be distributed among his heirs. He also had owned about 800 acres of land, and that was given to son John, son William, son Thomas the younger. Thomas the elder was overseer but apparently didn't receive anything in the will.  He may have received his land earlier. 

There's a lot more research to do regarding Thomas. Did he live out his live as a Puritan non-conformist, or did he join the Church of England? Who was his first wife, and which children belonged to which wife? Who was his second wife? When did he first arrive in the New World?  And of course, who were his parents?  I'd like to know about this immigrant ancestor.

The line of descent is:

Thomas Besson-Ann or Hester
Martha Besson-Nicholas Aldridge
Thomas Aldridge-Elizabeth Purdy
John Aldridge Eleanor Watkins
Jacob Aldridge-Elizabeth Soper
John Simpson Aldridge-Mary Lakin
John Simpson Aldridge Jr-Lucinda Wheeler
Darlington Dart Aldridge-Leah Folsom
Harvey H Aldridge-Mary Catherine Dunham
Gretta Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendents

Fun fact:  One of the appraisers of Thomas's inventory was Richard Tydings, who is an ancestor in the Holbrook line.  The families were neighbors, way back when and way back there!

Beeks line: Nicholas Aldridge, immigrant, 1653-1708

Much of what we "know" about Nicholas Aldridge is conjecture.  We know that he was baptized December 28, 1653 in East Wellow, Hampshire, England, to Nicholas Adridge and Martha. At present, Martha's maiden name is unknown.  He was the oldest of six children, but was still a teen- ager when he sailed with his father to the New World in 1667.  (I don't know whether the younger children came also, or came later, or perhaps stayed behind with other relatives.)  The two Aldridges arrived at Annapolis, Maryland from South Hampton, England.  They settled near the Severn River, close to All Hallows Parish, Maryland.  The senior Nicholas lived only two years, and died March 2, 1669.  Nicholas, our subject, would have been only a little over 15.  He was in a strange land and it's hard to know how much or what he had learned to support himself as an almost grown orphan.  The next ten years are a mystery at present.

By 1679, things were looking up for Nicholas.  He married Martha Beeson or Besson in 1679 at All Hallows Parish, Maryland.  The next year, on August 20, 1680, he purchased 300 acres of land named "Aldridge's Beginning" in Anne Arundel County.  I can almost feel the hope in his heart as he came to manhood with a new bride and land of his own in the New World.  By this time, the worst part of troubles with the native Americans and the worst part of the religious disputes between Catholics and Protestants was over.  Slavery had already begun, but much labor was done by indentured servants and by the colonist's own family.  The family of Nicholas and Martha began with son Thomas in 1680, and he would have been doing chores for most of the day by the time he was four or five.  Thomas and his 9 brothers and sisters were all baptized or christened at All Hallow's Parish. 

We don't know if Nicholas owned slaves or not, but it is certainly possible.  He grew tobacco, and tobacco is a labor intensive crop. If he had cleared all 300 acres of land, then slaves would have been considered a necessity. 

We know that Nicholas raised crops, had children, and apparently attended church services at All Hallow's Parish, but that is basically all that I have learned of him.  He died November 20, 1708, at an age of approximately 55, and Martha died October 19, 1719. 

I'd love to know more about him. Was he literate? If he owned slaves, how did he feel about that?  Did he treat them well?  What caused his death?  If someone knows more about the life of this man, I'd love to hear from you!

The line of descent is

Nicholas Aldridge-Martha Besson
Thomas Aldridge-Elizabeth Purdy
John Aldridge-Eleanor Watkins
Jacob Aldridge-Eleanor Soper
John Simpson Aldridge-Mary Lakin
John Simpson Aldridge Jr.-Lucinda Wheeler
Darlington Aldridge-Leah Folsom
Harver H. Aldridge-Margaret Catherine Dunham
Gretta Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendents

Beeks line: Joost De Baun

Joost De Baun was probably born as Joseph De Beaune in Beaune, Cote d'Or France, about 1643.  Beaune is located in the east central section of France, west of Switzerland.  He and it is believed his family were staunch Protestants and at the time of his birth, Protestants had some protection in the Catholic country of France.  However, the tradition is that he was the only member of his family to escape torture and massacre by the dreaded Inquisition.  He is believed to have fled to Flanders about 1670, where he married, with his wife living only a few years.   

This much is tradition and supposition, as far as I can tell, because I have found no documentation for any of these "facts".  I would love to be able to sit down and talk with Joseph/Joost, to ask him if this is a fair representation of his early life.  It sounds like it could have the makings of a good book or even a movie, with danger, persecution, flight, a first tragic marriage, and religious faith all playing a role in the story.  I'd love to know how he made his escape, and why he went to Flanders rather than to Switzerland, which geographically was much closer, or even to Germany, as others before him had done. I'd also love to know what he did for a living.  Beaune is in the middle of Burgundy wine country, and if he had been trained in some aspect relating to wine, what did he do when he went to Flanders?  He obviously had learned to read and write, (see later in post) so perhaps he was a clerk, or perhaps he had enough family or church connections to be a merchant of some sort.

Sometime in the next few years he went from Flanders to Middleburg, on the Zeeland islands of Holland.  Joseph changed his name in Holland to Joost De Baene, and he married Elizabeth Drabbe or Drabba, who was from Holland.  Her ancestry has not been traced as far as I can find, except that her father's name is believed to be Thomas.  They married about 1681, and by 1683 were the parents of their first child, Jacobus.  (There are reports that the marriage didn't take place until 1684 and occurred in the New World. So again, we are not really sure of this much and would dearly love to find some documents from the time period to settle some of these questions once and for all.)

Joost and presumably Elizabeth and Jacobus left Holland in 1683 and immigrated to Bushwick, Long Island, New York.  We don't know whether it was for religious, economic, or other reasons that they chose to immigrate, but they were part of a large number of "Dutch" families that came during the 1600's.  He quickly became clerk of the small settlement of Bushwick, but a year later moved to New Utrecht, Kings County, New York, where he was clerk as well as schoolmaster and reader of the Reformed Dutch Church.  (New Utrecht is now part of Brooklyn, which is part of New York City, but at the time it was just a village, founded in 1657 as a largely Dutch community). 

Joost and Elizabeth lived here for about 15 years, raising their family of five children. Jacobus, Karel (Charles), Matie, Christian, and Catherine would have kept their parents busy, and since Joost was the school master we can assume that the boys and hope that the girls learned to read, write, and "cipher".  The family was also active in the Dutch Reformed Church there.  For three years in this time period, family life may have looked a little different. Joost was removed from his posts in 1689 due to being on the "wrong" side of a political dispute, but was returned to all his offices again in 1692.  We don't know he provided for his family during this time period.  In 1698, the family moved to New Rochelle, where he had apparently gone to be the schoolmaster, and was also one of the surveyors of fences.  He acquired land in 1698 and then sold in at the end of 1701, and moved on to the area around Rockland Lake, in Rockland County, NY.  Perhaps he taught school here, too. 

The family made one final move, to the Huguenot colony near Hacksensack, New Jersey, where farming was their source of income.  Joost may have felt more at home here, with the Huguenots, but we wonder about his Dutch wife. Fortunately, by now the Dutch Reformed church at Hackensack felt like home to both of them.  He served as elder and as church master, and was instrumental in getting the steeple raised on the church building.  Joost died sometime between 1718 and November of 1721, and Elizabeth is believed to have died about 1724. 

He left a heritage of a strong religious faith, a desire for freedom, and the love of learning to the four children who survived him.  He also left the mystery of his early years, and the sadness that we may never know who made up his first family-his father, mother, and siblings. 

The line of descent is:

Joost De Baun-Elizabeth Drabbe
Matie De Baun-Samuel Demarest
Samuel David De Maree-Lea Demarest
Sarah De Maree-Benjamin Slot
William Lock-Elizabeth Teague or Tague
Sarah Lock-Jeremiah Folsom
Leah Folsom-Darlington Aldridge
Harvey Aldridge-Margaret Catherine Dunham
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Harshbarger children. grandchildren, and great grandchildren

Beeks line: The well traveled and fascinating David Demarest 1620-1693

I've used the name Demarest in this post, although he was known by the name David Des Marets and David Des Marest during his lifetime. Demarest is the name by which his descendents were known. 

David was born about the year 1620 in the town of Beauchamp, Picardy, France.  This is a small town (current population slightly over 1000) very near the coast, in northern France and is located on the Bresle Rever.  It might seem as though this was a backwater town which time could pass by, and perhaps it was that kind of town for the French Catholics.  For the French Protestants, or Huguenots, though, it was not that kind of town.  Religious persecutions including economic forces, caused the Demarests, probably including David's parents, Jean Demarest and possibly Marguerite de Herville to move or flee to Middleburg, on the island of Walcheren Zeeland, Holland.  There the Demarests were members or congregants of the Walloon Church, and there David maried Marie Sohier on July 24, 1643.  Marie was the daughter of Francois Sohier and Marguerite. 

The new Demarest family stayed in Middleburg long enough for two sons, Jean and David, to be born into the family.  In 1651, the family moved to Mannheim, on the Rhine, in what was then the largest city of the Lower Palatinate.  The Elector, or ruler, of this state badly needed settlers to work and help the area recover from the Thirty Years War, and he offered inducements to French Protestants to come to settle in his lands.  He even built them a church, which was used also by the Lutherans. 

However, peace did not long visit Mannheim, and soon there were fears that the German Catholics were going to bring war to the area.  Having seen what had happened to the Huguenots in France, the Demarests decided that they would go to the New World, to settle near the Dutch (possibly even some of their friends from their days in Middleburg).  David and Marie and four children, (Jean, a second David who had been born in Mannheim after the first son David died, and Samuel, plus one unnamed who likely died young) came to New Amsterdam on the ship "Bentekoe" where they landed on April 16, 1663.  They settled in the French Huguenot colony on Staten Island, a little south of the Narrows, where they lived for about two years.  This was about the time the English took control of New Amsterdam. 

Apparently David was a very adaptable man, for he next bought property in New Harlem, and stayed there about 12 1/2 years.  Another son, Daniel, was born to the couple in either Staten Island or New Harlem.  The Demarests might have stayed there forever, but David was dunned for taxes (tithes) he did not feel he owed, so he and his family left the area.   

This time they settled in what became Bergen County, New Jersey, on the Hackensack River.  Compared to some of the moves the family had made in the past, this was not a particularly long move, but it had significance because at last the family found a place to put down roots.  Unfortunately Marie died here, shortly after they had arrived, and she was the first burial in what is known as the "French Cemetery."  The family carried on, regardless of their loss. They purchased large tracts of land, set up a mill and mill house, lived peaceably with their neighbors and continued worshiping God. During this time period there were no significant problems with the native Americans, and David lived out his days there until he died in 1693.

Most of the information for this post came from a book or pamphlet called "The Huguenots on the Hackensack", which was presented as a "paper" in 1885. It was written by Rev. David D. Demarest, and is available for free on the internet.  There is a more recent book out, that is now at the top of my wish list, called A Huguenot on the Hackensack:  David Demarest and His Legacy.  I can't wait to order it, because I'm sure it contains a lot of valuable information.  David Demarest lived a fascinating life, and I'm sure the book will be extremely interesting.

The line of descent is:

David Demarest-Marie Sohier
Jean Demarest-Jacomina DeRuine
Peter Demarest Maretje Meet
Lea Demarest-Samuel David Demarest (yes, a descendent of the same couple)
Sarah Demarest or Demaree-Benjamin Slot
William Lock/Slot-Elizabeth Teague
Sarah Lock-Jeremiah Folsom
Leah Folsom-Darlington Aldridge
Harvey Aldridge-Mary Catherine Dunham
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Harshbarger children, grand children, and great grandchildren

Beeks line: Abraham Lakin 1695-1745

Abraham Lakin was born in 1675-77 in Shenstone Parish, Staffordshire, England, or in 1695 in Lakins Heath, England, depending on which records you believe.  Most trees show the 1695 birthdate and location, but Robert Barnes, a highly respected genealogist and historian, uses the 1675 birthdate.  Given the dates that Abraham began acquiring land, the earlier date seems more likely to be correct.

His parents were William Lakin and Elizabeth Symons, who were married in Shenstone Parish Church on May 2, 1671.  Abraham was listed in the inventory of Joseph Hanslap, Gentleman, of Anne Arundel County, Maryland in 1702/1703, so this may be where he served his indentureship, as mentioned by Robert Barnes in "Bound and Determined". In 1712, Abraham is listed as a debtor in the administrative accounting of William Greenshap of Prince George's County.

Abraham "Laking" and Martha Lee were married in Queen Anne's Parish, Prince Georges County, Maryland on October 10, 1717.  This marriage date could be used to support either birth date, but there is always the possibility that this wasn't Abraham's first marriage.  At any rate, he began acquiring land about 1717.  He was granted a land warrant of 200 acres on June 11, 1717. Then he patented 100 acres in Prince Georges County, called "Abraham's Fancie" . He purchased a tract of 100 acres called "Joseph and Margaret's Rest" from Joseph Gould in 1739.  He also patented a tract of land on Catoctic Creek north of the Potomac called "Two Brothers" in what would become Frederick County, Md.  A quote from a younger Abraham Lakin says "Our great grand sires, as the Indians were driven back, took up the land spoken of in the grant from King George III of England and known as "The Old Homestead" by blazing through the forest with a tomahawk. It was called in that day a "Tomahawk or Hatchet Claim." 

Abraham and Martha had at least 10 children together. Since the first child listed was born in 1722 and they were married in 1717, it is possible that there were more children who did not survive. The children we know of are Abraham, Martha, Sarah, Joseph, Deborah, Elizabeth, Rachel, Ruth, Mary, and Benjamin.

Abraham died before December 16, 1744.   Abraham and Joseph and their heirs were willed the land known as "Two Brothers." Benjamin and his heirs were willed "Joseph and Margaret's Rest", after the death of Martha, who had a life estate.  Martha was named as executrix of the will , and she filed an administration account on May 14, 1745.   John Dickeson and Larkin Pierpoint appraised the estate on May 13, 1745, and assigned a value of almost 193 pounds to Abraham's personal property.

In researching this post, I realized I have what is probably an error in the on line tree.  Besides the line shown below, which I believe to be correct, I also show Abraham and Martha as parents of Parnell, who was born in 1705.  Now I need to research her, to see if she was Abraham's daughter at all, or whether she came through another Lakin line.  Meanwhile, I need to remove some names from the tree, until I have better information.

Most of the material for this post came from "British Roots of Maryland Familes II,", by Robert Barnes, "Bound and Determined," by Robert Barnes, and a "Forsythe-Deaver-Person Sheet, found on line at photosbymardi.com/deaver.  

The line of descent is:

Abraham Lakin-Martha Lee
Joseph Lakin-Elizabeth Parnell Fee
Mary Lakin-John Simpson Aldridge Sr
John Simpson Aldridge Jr-Lucinda Wheeler
Darlington Aldridge-Leah Folsom
Harvey Aldridge-Margaret Dunham
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Beeks children, grandchildren, great grandhildren, and great great grandchildren

Beeks line: A few tidbits about Darlington Aldridge 1820-1859

I wish I could tell you where the name Darlington came from.  I suspect he may have been a hero in a newspaper serial, but to the best of my current knowledge, it was not a family name.  His parents gave rather "different" names to several of their children, much as many young people are trying to do today. 

I don't know a lot about Darlington but here are the basics, and then the tidbits:  He was born November 18, 1820 in Clermont County, Ohio to John Simpson Aldridge Jr and Lucinda Wheeler.  He was one of at least 10 children and was either the oldest or the second oldest child. The entire Aldridge family had moved to Rush County, Indiana by 1835.  Darlington married Leah Folsom, daughter of Jeremiah Folsom and Sally Lock, on October 28, 1841, in Shelby County, Indiana, less than a year before his father died, and about five years after his mother had died.  Darlington and Leah later moved to Tipton County, Indiana where he died July 31, 1859.  He is buried in Tucker Cemetery there, and his Findagrave site indicates there are actually two tombstones, with slightly different death dates. 

These are the tidbits I've learned:  At the estate sale of his father's property which was filed on May 9, 1842, Darlington, a newlywed, bought a few item. He purchased a dinner pot for 34 1/2 cents, a box of meal bag for 43 and one quarter cents, and a lot of meat for 12 and one half cents.  Darlington would still have been a newlywed then, and apparently didn't have a lot of ready cash at the time. It is interesting to note that Austin Clark, who had been Leah Folsom's guardian before she married, made two purchases at the sale, so he was still keeping in close contact with the family.

The other tidbit that I found that fascinates me is the settling of "Dart" Aldridge's account at the Moscow store. I am not sure whether Dart was a nickname for Darlington, or whether that was his middle name (we know the middle initial was "D"), but it apparently was the name he used.  Anyway, the ledger of this store indicates that there was a balance forward on July 7, 1851 for "balance on calico". Jusly 6, there were two entries totaling 75 cents for ballamean and 1 1/2 yards lining.  On August 21, there was a balance forward of 70 cents for calico, plus purchases of 2 yards of ribbon for thirty cents, 8 yards of calico for $1, 2 yards of black lustre for $1 and 2 3/4 yards red flannel for $1.03.  August 10 there was a purchase of 7 lbs cotton yarn for $1.75, 2 oz. indigo for $.30, 1/2 lb madder for 10 cents, 1/2 lb alum for 5 cents, an illegible item, and 15 yards brown muslin for $1.50.  This was all settled on December 20, 1851 with a $9.15 cent cash payment.  The crops may have come in or some livestock may have been sold at this time, so there was cash to pay the bill.  Leah must have been keep awfully busy, sewing and perhaps knitting!

The above information came from a small book called "Happenings: Orange Township, Rush County, Indiana and Adjoining Townships," compiled by Opal Boring and found in the Public Library in Rush County, Indiana on our "field trip" last fall. 

To put this in context, the book also noted that Millard Fillmore was the President of the United States, the thirteenth, during this time period. The Mexican War was over, but  Kansas was beginning to "heat up" in events that were part of the build up to the Civil War and there were continuing disputes with Native Americans in the West.  If Darlington could read, he may have been reading a best seller like Moby Dick or The House of the Seven Gables, both of which were published in 1851.  Darlington's brother, Joseph, had purchased a lot of books at the 1842 estate sale, and there was a family Bible also purchased, so I am hoping that he could read.

I hope you've enjoyed this brief look into Darlington Aldridge's life.  These little bits and pieces of information are what brings our ancestors to life, and help us realize just how alike, and different, we are. 

The line of descent is:

Darlington Aldridge-Leah Folsom
Harvey Aldridge-Margaret Catherine Dunham
Gretta Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Beeks children, grand children, and more generations!


  

Beeks line: Road trip! Wise, Aldridge, Folsom research

I had the most marvelous time last week!  Husband and I escaped for a short road trip. I spent my time in courthouses, libraries, and historical societies. Husband spend his in the car, reading woodworking magazines.  I had a lot of fun, but I'm not sure he did...

Our first stop was Hancock County, where I found microfilmed records relating to the arrest and trial of Jackson Wise, in 1847.  Briefly, an arrest warrant was issued on February 9, to the sheriff of Marion County, requiring that Jackson Wise and McLean Bodkin, who were in the common jail of Marion County, be returned to the Hancock County Sheriff on a charge of burglary.  The sheriff was prompt in making the return, and on February 11 there are records of the jury being chosen, with the trial being delayed until the next morning due to the time.  Jackson and McLean were found guilty and ordered to Jeffersonville State Prison, where they were promptly received.  There are no records of the actual trial.  McLean died in prison after about six months.  Jackson was pardoned in 1854, and I hope to write more about that later.

Next it was on to Rushville, in Rush County, to see what we could learn about the Aldridges. Due to time constraints and the fact that I have transcripts of the relevant wills, we didn't go to the courthouse there.  I found some wonderful things at the Rushville library, including a five page typed biography of John Simpson Aldridge Sr., one of the family's heroes. I'll post that at a later date.  We also were able to locate the cemetery and the graves of John S Aldridge Sr and Mary Lakin are buried, as well as John S Aldridge Jr and Lucinda Wheeler. We didn't locate the grave of Ella Folsom, John Jr's second wife, but it may have been there. A lot of the gravestones are deteriorated, but there were flags at the gravesites of three veterans in this small family cemetery. The cemetery was on the land that John Sr originally owned. It's hilly, but peaceful and I can see why someone would have settled there. 

We then went on to Greensburg, in Decatur County, which is where the guardianship papers for Jeremiah Folsom's children are located. I'd hoped to find a will for Jeremiah there, but the records for that time period are burned or otherwise destroyed.  I didn't learn a lot there, but it was fun anyway.

The next day, we drove to Lawrenceburg, in Dearborn County, which is the last place we know for certain that Jeremiah Folsom was.  I didn't find any trace of Jeremiah there, but I did get some land records for Richard, who is possibly a brother or uncle to Jeremiah.  The librarian and a wonderful gentleman in the recorder's office there were just extremely helpful, but I didn't get there names. They helped me understand where the properties of Jeremiah and Richard were located, and helped me focus in on McGuire's Station, which was a blockhouse or fort just a mile inside the 1794 Treaty of Greenville line.  The other side of the line was Indian territory, and until the war of 1812 was settled, the area around McGuire's Station was very much frontier territory, and under constant threat of attack.  There are several Folsom's who were from this area and fought in the war of 1812, including Richard and James.  I haven't found Jeremiah's name yet, but he was only about 15 when the war started so he may have been considered too young to enlist.

We also went to Ripley County, Indiana, where Richard Folsom and William Lock purchased land in 1816, but I didn't learn a lot there.  Again, some of the records for the time period were missing.

Friday we were in Switzerland County, where I went to the library and the courthouse.  The gentleman at the library, Barry Brown, was very helpful but we found little new information. Jeremiah Folsom and Sally Lock were married in Switzerland County in 1815. His father gave permission, but the recorder failed to note the father's name, and we didn't locate any likely suspects.

So, I have some deeds and court papers, some hints and other places to look, and that makes me happy. I feel like I understand these people a little better, having seen the land where they lived (Aldridge and Folsom), and it was a good trip. If I'd had more time, and more experience, I probably could have located  more information or at least eliminated some possibilities, but at least I found what I found.  Thank you, husband, for your patience and for driving to all these places.  Start saving those magazines because we may go somewhere else sometime! 

Beeks: Folsom brick wall

On many Tuesdays, I'll be writing about brick walls.  There are a lot of them in our tree, and I've been told that some may stay brick walls forever.  I would at least like to "find" ancestors who were born in America after 1750.  It doesn't seem like that should be so very difficult. The gentleman I'm writing about today was born sometime around the year 1795, because when he married on July 24, 1815 (date of license)  his father (unnamed) gave permission.

The marriage record of Jeremiah Fulsom and Sally Lock is the first solid evidence we have of his existence.  This was in Switzerland County, Indiana. Sarah was the daughter of William Lock or Locke and Elizabeth Teague. William's family originally were Slots and their trail went from Shelby County, Kentucky to Mercer County, Kentucky to Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New Amsterdam, Holland, and even to Protestant France at a time that being Protestant in France was not politically acceptable, nor even safe.  That family history is fascinating and I'll write more about it another time.

There is, however, no indication of where the Folsoms came from.  Most Folsoms in America trace back to the New Hampshire and Massachusetts Folsoms, and there are plenty of Jeremiah's there to study. So far, none that I have found seem to indicate a close connection to "our" Jeremiah.  If he was a New England Folsom, it is possible that he came overland to western Pennsylvania or Virginia and then came down the Ohio River, possibly landing at Marietta, where there were some Folsoms in the early 1800s. Folsom names don't start showing up on Indiana land records until about 1819, although of course they could have lived there without owning land prior to that time. 

Jeremiah "and family" were settled in Manchester Township, Dearborn County, Indiana by 1820. He and Sally are each listed as being between the ages of 16-25, and there was one male under the age of 10, presumably their son .  Since they had been married almost 5 years by then, having only one child makes one wonder if there were other pregnancies that ended prematurely, or if one or more children died very young.

Jeremiah himself died young, because in 1835 and later there were court records with the minor children choosing Austin Clark (who was married to Sally's sister Leah) as their guardian. The children listed as minor heirs of Jeremiah Folsom were Rachel Corn, Ella Baxter Folsom, Hannah Folsom, Jane Folsom, Leah Folsom, Mary Ann Folsom, and Richard Folsom.  Austin bought land for himself as well as the Folsom heirs in Decatur County, Indiana. The land purchase may have been in process in 1835, and Jeremiah may have died before it was completed.

There were at least two other Folsom men in the same general area (Switzerland, Dearborn, Ripley Counties, Indiana). One was Richard, and one was James. I suspect that these men are brothers or cousins, although it is possible one was the father of one or both.  James shows up on a petition signed in 1813, which means he would have been at least 21 by then.  Richard was married in the 1820 census, and was listed as 26-45 years old, with 4 males in the household under the age of 16, and one female 16-26.  A Richard married Elizabeth Overturf in 1823, and children by his first wife are noted to have been named Jeremiah and James.

I can trace most of the orphaned Folsom children forward, and three of them married Aldridges, including Leah who married Darlington D Aldridge. They were my husband's great great grandparents.   

I'd dearly love to know who Jeremiah was, and who his parents were. Did his father come directly from New England, or did he come from the Folsoms who had gone south, to Georgia and Mississippi, and married Indian women?  Who was his mother?  I'd love to hear from anyone who has any thoughts or knowledge, or suggestions about where I could look for clues.