Holbrook line: Josiah Standish 1675 ish to 1753

 You might think that the grandson of one of our Mayflower immigrants would be easy to trace.  Surely his birth records would be readily available, and marriage records, and lots of information about his life.  Well, if you think that, like I did, you would be sadly mistaken.  I've found a few bits and pieces here and there, but not the volume of information I thought I would find as I researched for this post.  I hope someone has studied this man and has more information than I do, and I hope, if that's you, that you contact me!

Josiah Standish was the grandson of Myles and Barbara Standish, and the son of Josiah and Sarah Allen Standish.  He was born very near the site of his grandfather's home, in Duxbury, Plymouth Colony, but we don't know when.  Based on the list that is in his father's will, and on his age at his presumed marriage, he was probably born in about 1675, although I have seen dates ranging from 1660 to February 22, 1682 and I could probably be convinced of any of those dates, if I had documentation. 

Josiah may have spent some of his boyhood years in Duxbury, but his parents moved to Preston, Connecticut by 1687, which is about 107 miles from Duxbury.  It's not known whether they took a coastal ship, or whether they traveled by land, but either way, it would have been quite a trip for a young boy or youth, or even a young man.

There are two guesses as to the identity of Josiah's wife.  It's quite possible that he had two wives, each named Sarah.  In the manuscript documents of Wesley Weyman, she is named as Sarah Doty, which would possibly make her a descendant of Edward Doty, another Mayflower immigrant, although the Doty-Doten family books doesn't seem to leave any "Sarah" unaccounted for.  More often, her name is seen as Sarah Cary or Carey, but I have found nothing at all on which to base that name, except for undocumented trees.  The dates of the children's births are also not well documented, but there may be a gap in the births of the children that would allow for one wife to die and a second to take her place.  Josiah, whether with one wife or two, is thought to be the father of somewhere between 7 and 9 children.  

Sarah, wife of Josiah Standish, was admitted to the First Church of Preston, Connecticut in 1699 and Josiah in 1700.  Josiah is referred to as "Deacon" in the church records, and at least one researcher has given him the title of "Reverend".  Again, I find no documentation for the second title.  Sarah died in 1741 and sometime after that Josiah moved on to the town that would eventually become Stafford, Connecticut, a distance of about 45 miles from Preston.  

I've found no will or estate records for Josiah, so that leaves a big gap in our knowledge about the man and his family.  We don't know his occupation, although it probably included farming.  I have seen him referred to as "Lieutenant" but there may be some confusion with his father, who was eventually a captain, so I don't want to state that as fact.  There is always a question with the men, as to what part they might have taken in military action, which may have included Queen Anne's war, among others.  

There is so much we don't know about Josiah, and I'd love to know more about his life.

The line of descent is

Josiah Standish-Sarah (Doty? Cary?)

Hannah Standish-Nathan Foster

Nathan Foster-Elizabeth Lansford (or Lunsford)

Jude Foster-Lydia M.

Betsy Foster-Josiah Whittemore

Mary Elizabeth Whittemore-Joseph Holbrook

Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown

Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants

Holbrook line: Edward Bussey, abt 1705 to about 1786

 We're back in Maryland, in the 1700's, where Edward Bussey was born about 1705 to Edward and Martha Evans Bussey.  As far as is known, Edward was their only child.  His parents had married in 1701 and Edward is reported to have died about 1705, so there was time for at least one other birth, but there seems to be no record of one.  Perhaps there had been one or more failed pregnancies. I've looked for a record of a second marriage for Martha, but have not found one.  So we don't really know how Edward was raised.  (Some trees show Martha as having died in 1705, some show Edward, and some show both.  No records have been found in this search to indicate which, if any, of these are accurate.) 

Edward, the father of this Edward, apparently had roots in Calvert County, which is north of Baltimore County, where we find most of the records for our Edward.  Edward married Mary, the widow of Edward Pendergrass, about 1729, and the couple had at least nine children together.  (Note: Mary is one of my most wanted ancestors, a brick wall at this point. I haven't found any records of her first marriage, and have no clue as to her maiden name.)

The main document I've found for Edward is his will, written August 7, 1786.  It's thought that he lived in Harford County at the time of his death, but the will is found in Baltimore County records, and his widow is found in Baltimore County in 1790, so perhaps the Harford County is just a guess, based on the location of at least one of his sons.  

Edward owned a farm (not described as a plantation, which was a bit of a surprise) with woodlands and "water rights", which he left to his wife Mary for the length of her widowhood.  Mary was probably not much younger than Edward, so she probably wasn't expected to live for long.  However, she can be found on the 1790 census, with a total of 4 females and, yes, 9 slaves in her household.  

In his will, Edward named 19 enslaved persons, whom he devised to his wife, children, and grandchildren, by name.  I have read that usually house slaves were the ones who were named and passed on to heirs, and that generally there were more field slaves than house slaves.  I don't know if that is true in this case, but if it is, Edward's "farm" was quite extensive.  It is also possible that he held some of the slaves but rented them out to others, as field hands, household workers, or general laborers.  This is such a sad part of his story.

The other part of the will that I found fascinating showed the lengths Edward went to to avoid giving anything except one English shilling to his son in law, John James, and two of his children.  Apparently he had no use at all for this man.  He willed slaves to Mary, wife of John James, but if John would not allow her to accept them, then two of his sons in law, Dixon Stansbury and Benjamin Amos, were to pay for hiring the two slaves out to Mary.  He also made it clear that John James was to have no ownership of the house and half the woodfield that he willed to Mary, only "provided that John James have no part of it."  Clearly this part of the family had problems.

The will was probated February 10 or 13, 1787, so Edward had probably died late in 1786 or early 1787.  

Edward would have lived through some interesting times, and he raised a family that was respected.  Some of his children and grandchildren fought in the Revolutionary War.  I have seen "Lt." attached to our Edward's name, but if he fought, it would have been in an earlier conflict.  He would have been 70 years old when the Revolutionary War began.  Perhaps he had at least served in the militia, or perhaps the honor of "Lt." goes to his son Edward.

I know there is more to his story;  I'd just like to find it.  And if anyone can tell me who Mary is, I will be grateful to the end of my days!

The line of descent is 

Edward Bussey-Mary widow Pendergrass

Sarah Bussey-Benjamin Amos

Elizabeth Amos-Robert Amos

Martha Amos-Peter Black

Elizabeth Black-Isaac Hetrick

Mary Alice Hetrick-Louis Stanard

Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants

Beeks line: David Demarest 1681-I don't know when

 We're back in or near Hackensack, Bergen County, New Jersey to take a quick glimpse of the life of David Demarest.  He was baptized October 3, 1681 at the Dutch Reformed church near there, the son of Samuel David and Marie de Ruine Demarest.  Samuel was an immigrant, but David's mother was born in New Harlem, in what became New York.  The Demarest family was Huguenot, (Protestant), and had fled their home to live in Germany when religious prosecution (France was Catholic, and these folks were Protestant) became too great to bear.  Because of the several different homes the Demarests had, their name is spelled a lot of different ways.  The records I've found for David most often (especially in church records) spell his name as Demaree or De Maree.  

The Demarests were a hard working family and they prospered in their new home near Hackensack.  It had been intended that this would be a home for French Huguenots and although a few families that fit that description settled there, it also attracted Dutch and other nationalities.  Unfortunately, the county was a heavy slave owning county in its early years.  We don't know whether the Demarests held slaves, but if they didn't, it was at least a system with which they would have been very familiar.  

David grew up working hard on his father's farm and perhaps in the family business, if his life reflected those around him.  He married Matie, sometimes seen as Martha, De Baun, daughter of Joost and Elizabeth Drabbe De Baun, on November 10, 1705, when he was 24 years old.  Matie had just passed her fifteenth birthday.  Their first child was baptized February 1, 1707, and they would go on to have 10 more children, with the last born in 1730.  Matie would have had to grow up very quickly, to deal with so many children.  The indications are that the couple did a good job of raising God-loving, patriotic children, with some children and more grandchildren involved in military service, particularly during the Revolutionary War.  

Other than church records of the baptisms of their children, I've found very little about David.  Some can be inferred by reading the book "Huguenot on the Hackensack", by David Major and John Major.  It was a sub-culture that was different, at least in the early years, from New England, or even Pennsylvania, which was not far away.  

The death date for David is frequently given as February 13, 1761, but that is the date his will was probated.  The will was actually written June 23, 1742, and refers to his wife, but she died in 1752, before he did.  So all we really know is that he died after October 26, 1752 and before February 13, 1761.  Since some of his estate was left as cash gifts, though, it seems more likely that it would have been closer to the 1761 date, as the adult children would have been eager for the funds.  I don't have an inventory, but he had given some lands away, or sold them, to some of his children earlier so this was not a poor man by any means.  Samuel declined to serve as administrator of his father's will, perhaps because he had moved from the area by then.

Did he serve in the military, or the militia?  How many languages did he speak (French and Dutch are pretty certain, but German? English? We don't know.) Was he the David Demarest who served as a justice in 1716 and again in 1722, and in 1743, or was this his uncle David?  There was a David Demarest who signed an oath of allegiance to the king and against the papacy in 1755, and this seems likely to have been our David.  We're left with many questions, as usual!

The line of descent is:

David Demarest-Matie De Baun

Samuel Demarest-Lea Demarest (yes, cousins)

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 Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger

Their descendants

 

 

Beeks line: Peter Ruble about 1684-1750

 I hesitate to write this post because so little is known about this man, and because there is a possibility that the Rubles are not actually part of the family line.  Although I have no absolute proof, I tend to think the line is correct.  If not, at least someone else who is sure this man is theirs may learn something.  

I have actually found very little about Peter (Hans Peter, to give his full name).  His birth date is given as February 14, 1684, in either Lauperswil, Bern Canton, Switzerland or Bayern, Germany.  He was the son of Johann Peter and Margreth Ruble.  The possibility is strong that this was a Mennonite family, forced from Switzerland to Germany by Swiss authorities (Mennonites refused to belong to the state church, or to have their children baptized there) and then forced by economics or politics, again, to flee Germany for the British colonies, usually Pennsylvania.  And indeed, there are Rubles who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1736 and in 1742, the second year being the one that Ulrich Ruble arrived.  Peter had a son named Ulrich.  Hans Ruble, who may or may not be Hans Peter, arrived in 1736.  

I found a statement that the Ruble family changed from Mennonite to Methodist, but I'm not sure what time frame that was meant to describe, or whether an older man such as Peter would have made the change.

I've been unable to locate Peter in Pennsylvania unless he was the Hans of 1736.  However, by 1744 Ulrich was in Frederick County, Virginia and Peter was likely with him.  I found a statement in "Shenandoah Valley Pioneers and Their Descendants" that Peter was one of the oldest settlers in the North end of Frederick and controlled large tracts of land.  But then it goes on to state that Peter saw service in the Revolutionary War.  So it may be that these statements combine the lives of two men.  Revolutionary War Peter may be a son or grandson of this Peter.  Since our man was born in 1684 and died about 1750, he didn't fight in the Revolutionary War, or even the French and Indian war.  

We know almost nothing about Peter's family.  His wife's name is given as Anna Katrina Mueller, but I've not found documentation for that.  The marriage would have taken place in Germany, as would the births of their children.  I have a birth date of 1710 for son Ulrich, and September 21, 1720 for Peter (possibly he of the Revolutionary War) but not even that much information for other sons, who may have included Robert, John, and Cunrad.  

I've not found estate records of any kind for Peter, which is strange if he indeed controlled or owned a lot of land.  There is a lot of work to be done before we can even feel that we have enough information for a sketch of his life.  These are mere hints for the most part, and I only hope they will lead us in the right direction.  

The proposed line of descent is:

Peter Ruble-Anna Katrina Mueller

Ulrich Ruble-Jane Jacob

David Ruble-Sarah Malin

Hannah Ruble-Samuel Dunham

Jacob Dunham-Catherine Goodnight

Samuel Dunham-Eliza Matilda Reese

Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge

Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks

Mary Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger

Their descendants

Holbrook line: John Rockwood 1696-1778

 Here's the thing about John Rockwood.  His grandfather was named John Rockwood.  His uncle was named John Rockwood.  He was named John Rockwood.  His son was named John Rockwood.  His grandson was named John Rockwood.  And, although I haven't proved it yet, I'm reasonably sure he had one or more cousins named John Rockwood.  Do you see a problem here?  It has taken me quite some time to untangle these men and figure out which of the few records I've found actually relate to this John Rockwood.  To add to the fun, this John Rockwood and his son John Rockwood each married women named Deborah Thayer.  Ay-yi-yi!

Unfortunately, most of these men didn't leave much in the way of public records other than their birth, marriage, and death dates, so there is not a lot to write about them.   

John Rockwood, the subject of this brief post, was born August 22, 1696, to Joseph and Mary Hayward Rockwood, in Mendon, Massachusetts.  All four of his grandparents had died in Mendon, and both of his parents were born, lived, and died there, so John at least had roots and extended family, whether or not he had much in the way of material goods.  John had nine siblings, so that was a good start right there, to help fill up the village.  

John married Deborah Thayer, the daughter of Ebenezer and Martha Thompson Thayer, on December 19, 1716 in Mendon.  She, too, had deep Mendon roots, with her grandparents all having died in Mendon and her parents born there.  

Just about two years after his marriage, Joseph, John's father, died.  John received land in his father's will, valued, if I am reading the inventory correctly, at 70 pounds.  "To my beloved son John Rockwood, I give all the land and meadows belonging to me, where he now dwells on both sides the Second Bridge River, with seven acres of my Fifth Division lying upstream from his house, against William Hayward's meadow, bounded as by Town Record, with ten acres of my sixth division to lay out with a two acre and half right in the Town Commons."  John was to provide ten pounds to his sister Mary Wheaton, out of what he had been given.  John also received his father's new coat.  

Presumably John and Deborah lived happily every after, or at least until Deborah died July 24, 1750.  They had at least nine children together and John soon remarried, although all of the children were apparently old enough to be out of the house when she died.  The youngest, Deborah, was 16 but possibly didn't need a mother, or a mother figure, but John must have needed a wife.  He married Elizabeth Wheelock Daniels, a widow, on March 18, 1751 in Milford, Massachusetts, and they may have had a son together.  The towns of Mendon and Milford were just 3 miles apart, so they likely had known each other earlier.  

I have found one reference to John Rockwood as an ensign, at the time of his marriage to Elizabeth.  I haven't located his name in any military records, but perhaps he had served in King George's War, which took place from 1744 to 1748 and was more or less a precursor to the French and Indian War a few years later.  At a minimum, he was an ensign in the town militia.

I wish I could pin down the date, or even the year, that John and Elizabeth moved from Mendon to Warwick, Massachusetts.  This was a small town in Hampshire, now Franklin County, so at the center of the state, and bordering New Hampshire.  What caused John to move? Did he sell his land in Mendon, or lose it to the tax collectors, or was this a step up for him?  I haven't found his name in the town histories, so he seems to have been under the radar there.  Or, possibly, he was living in Warwick with one of his children, since I haven't been able to locate a will.   

John died at Warwick on September 7, 1778, when he was 82 years old.  The Revolutionary War was in progress, and some of his children and grandchildren were involved in that.  This seems to have been a family of patriots, for which we, his descendants, are grateful.

The line of descent is:

John Rockwood-Deborah Thayer

Joseph Rockwood-Alice Thompson

Levi Rockwood-Deborah Lazell

Susannah Rockwood-Nahum Holbrook

Joseph Holbrook-Mary Elizabeth Whittemore

Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown

Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants

 

Holbrook line: John Perrin 1701-1770

 I like John Perrin for one reason, which family historians will appreciate: He was born, lived, and died in the same small town in Connecticut.  Thank you, Grandfather John!  

John was the son of Samuel and Mehitable Child Perrin, and was born March 18, 1701/1702 in Woodstock, Connecticut, except that it was Massachusetts at the time.  He was the fifth of at least eight children born to the couple, and the family multiplied so that by the time John died, his own children and those of his siblings were numerous in the town.  This makes it "fun" because it looks like there were at least two other John Perrins who lived in Woodstock, and some records seem to be confused.  They are certainly, to me, confusing.  There was a John who died in 1770 (ours), one who died in 1773, and one who died in 1803, among possibly others. 

We owe a debt of gratitude to the Perrin family in general, for many of the men fought in the French and Indian War, and in the Revolutionary War.  I found no reference to our John having served in either conflict, but John would have been in his 50's when the French and Indian War broke out.  There is a possibility that he fought in King George's War, (1744-48) but I've not found a record yet. I'm not sure whether he would be in Massachusetts or in Connecticut records, since the transfer to Connecticut took place in 1749.  That search continues.

John married Abigail Morris, daughter of Samuel and Dorothy Martin Morris, shortly after December 28, 1725, the date their intentions were published.  At the time, Abigail was noted as being "of "Mianoxit", which I haven't been able to identify.  John was about 24 and Abigail was about 18 years old.  Their first son was born soon after, on April 17, 1726.  John and Abigail had at least fourteen children together, with an apparent gap between 1748, when number 13 was born, and 1753, when the last son is reported to have been born.  There is room for an additional pregnancy between those two dates but I've not located a record for a child born then.  At any rate, Abigail in 1753 was 46 years old and probably had her hands full.  

John's father, Samuel, had been a founder of the town and served in several civic offices.  John appears to have not served to the same extent, but he did leave some records.  We know that he lived in the southwest section of Woodstock, that he and Abigail were admitted to full communion in the Woodstock church in 1727, and that he was a part of the (Congregational) church in West Woodstock and he was apparently assigned per number 5 in 1747, , indicating a degree of respect in the community.  His name is on a petition in 1750 for a division of school districts, asking for a new school to be built nearer to his part of town.  

We don't know what John did for a living but he likely farmed.  He did have several parcels of land at his death, and it seems that he may have given some of his older children land or money as they married and left home.  

John died without a will on April 5, 1770.  Ancestry has a copy of the estate papers.  The older children mostly agreed to renounce their claims in favor of the younger children, but I didn't find out what happened to Abigail.  I didn't see her name mentioned anywhere, although I have a death date for her of June 14, 1787, and she is mentioned on Find a Grave as the widow of John Perrin.  There are also records in 1803 which seem to me to be for a different John Perrin, although some of the same names are in those records.  Surely settling the estate didn't take 33 years?

John is buried at the Bungay Cemetery in West Woodstock.  Engraved on his tombstone are the following lines: "Let not the dead forgotten lie Lest men forget that they must die."

John's family was obviously close, as siblings named their children after not only their parents, but their parent's siblings.  John was undoubtedly proud of the men who went off to war, as well as those who stayed behind.  And we are proud to be his descendants.

The line of descent is:

John Perrin-Abigail Morris

Benjamin Perrin-Mary or Marcy possibly Osborn

Mary Perrin-David Fay

Luceba Fay-Libbeus Stanard

Hiram Stanard-Susan Eddy

Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick

Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants

Harshbarger line: Leonard Duliban Tullepan and related spellings 1730-1785

 It's always interesting to find an ancestor who hasn't been researched very thoroughly.  Sometimes, it seems, maybe he has been researched and very little has been found about him.  That seems to be the case with immigrant Leonard Duliban.  He has a name that is spelled many different ways, and that is part of the problem, I'm sure.  I have seen it spelled Duliban, Tulepane, Dulibohn, Dullenbaum, Dulybantz, Dulleton, Tulpan, and Dulban, and I've undoubtedly missed some spellings. To add to the fun, Leonard is also seen as Lenhard and over variant spellings.

 Leonard is believed to have been born to a French Huguenot family, in Alsace, what is now France, and likely the family went to Germany to escape the persecutions under Louis XIV, perhaps around 1680.  The "D" and "T" sounds are very similar in German, which would explain some of the differences in spelling. 

The Duliban (used here for convenience) family probably came to Philadelphia in 1752.  The man generally acknowledged as his father, Frantz Dulibon, arrived then.  Leonard is not enumerated on that list, which I have recently learned means he likely came as an indentured servant, meaning neither he nor his father could pay his way here.  That may explain why there seem to be no records of him during the 1750s; he was serving an indentureship and thus more or less invisible.  

We don't know when he married, nor whom.  His wife when he died was named Margaret, but as far as I know no records have been found regarding his marriage.  He may have been married when he and his father came here from Germany or Alsace, France, or he may have married here.  The list of children that I have starts in 1762, so that would indicate a marriage after his arrival here, but it's not proof.  

Leonard seems to have been either a tenant farmer or a tradesman of some sort, because none of the tax records I've seen indicate that he owned land or a dwelling.  The most taxable items I've seen him listed with is 2 cows, which could easily have been for household use and kept wherever it was he was living.  We know he spent most if not all of his life in America in Warwick Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  

Assuming that the French Huguenot religion is correct, Leonard likely supported or belonged to a Reformed church of some kind, Calvinist in nature.  The most likely candidate is Old Zion Church at Brickerville, which has a communion table that was crafted in 1743 by Wendell Laber, the grandfather of his son's wife.  I have not, however, found records that support this.  

We don't know what role, if any, Leonard played in the French and Indian War.  That whole area was subject to raids and many families left their homes for relative safety in larger cities.  However, we don't know whether Leonard was in Warwick Township that early.  

I've found his name listed twice in Revolutionary War records.  The Pennsylvania State Archives shows him as being in the inactive duty militia, 9th battalion, 3rd company, second class, with the note "Non Attendance Return 1777-1780", so possibly he missed more than one training session.  He is also noted as being in the Lititz District, 3rd Battalion, 8th company, 2nd class in 1781.  There is a note that the first class served in Northumberland County but nothing is said about the 2nd class.  By this time, he was about 51 years old, so I hope he didn't have to go on a long expedition.  

Leonard and (possibly) Margaret are credited with having at least seven children: Henry, John, Susanna, Elizabeth, Margaret, Jacob, and Christian.  They were born between 1762 and 1783.

Leonard died prior to March 4, 1785, when Margaret Dullebaun was granted administration of his estate.  Apparently the will itself is in German and has not been translated, based on the introduction to "An index to the will books and intestate records of Lancaster County".  One of my fellow researchers says that the administration notice is all that the County has, so someone is right!  Margaret would have had a long road ahead of her, if she lived to raise her children.  I have not been able to find a death date for her, and she may well have re-married.  

This is the total of my information about Leonard.  I hope someone reading this has more information than this and will contact me so we can learn more about him.  He lived through some interesting times.

The line of descent is

Leonard Duliban-possibly Margaret

Elizabeth Tullepan-Conrad Mentzer

Catherine Mentzer (Mancer)-Lewis Harshbarger

Emmanuel Harshbarger-Clara Ellen Harter

Grover Harshbarger-Goldie Withers

Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Beeks

Their descendants