From Mayflower roots to my grandchildren

Repost of a blog from 2015...

OK, here is the scoop.  You've probably heard the rumors that someone in your ancestry came on the Mayflower from England, so you are special.

Well, almost everyone came from somewhere else, unless you're Native American, so you're not particularly special, except maybe the Mayflower means something to you that it doesn't mean to me.

In Ancestry, under the title Brief Life of William Reed (b. bef 1650-d. 1705/06) is this information:

 "2.  WILLIAM REED (William1) was born probably before 1650; died at Weymouth between 26 Oct. 1705, and 12 Sept. 1706.  He married, in 1675, Esther Tomson, Daugher of Lieut. John and Mary (Cooke) Tomson of Middleborough.  Her maternal grandfather was Francis Cooke of the Mayflower.  (The Mayflower Descendant, 4:22).  She also died at Weymouth between 26 Oct. 1705, when she was appointed executrix of her husband's will, and 12 Sept. 1706.  He resided on Pleasant Street in the South Parish.  A part of his ancient house was occupied by Palmer Louid in 1888.  He made his well (sic) 26 Oct. 1705, and it was probated 12 Sept. 1706.  To his wife Hester Read he gave the use of his dwelling house and lands for life.  To eldest son William Read the new double house and land adjoining.  To son John Reed his homestead.  To son Jacob Reed land "in ragged plaine."  To his daughters Bashna Porter, Mercy Whitmarsh, Mary and Reed, Hester Reade, and Sarah Reade each L20.  Sons William, John and Jacob Reed, the remainder, Jacob to his youngest daughter, Sarah Reed, the L20.  His friends Edward Bates, Sr., and James Humphrey, both of Weymouth, overseers.   Witnesses Edward Bates, Sr., John Bates, Jr., and Samuel Bates, Jr

1.) Francis Cooke of Mayflower passage to America, apparently numbered (The Mayflower Descendant, 4:22).
2) his daughter Mary Cook Tomson married Lieut. John Tomson of Middleborough, MA
3) their dtr. Esther Tomson Read (1652-1705) married (1675) William Read (1639-1705)
4) their dtr. Mary Read Allen (1677-1759) m. (1707) Josiah Allen (1677-1736)
5) their son Micah Allen (1708-1744) m. (1736) Hannah Edson (1720-1768)
6) their son Dr. Micah Allen Jr (1740-1823) m. (1764) Catherine Everett (1743-1824)
7) their son Micah Allen III (1769-1858) m. (1800) Anna Fuller (1776-1842)
8) their son Micah Bigsbee Allen (1816-1882) m. (1838) Mary Ann Pearce (1816-1896)
9) their dtr. Mary Ann Elizabeth Allen Heym (1841-1930) m (1866) Francis Oscar Heym (1839-1887)
10) their son Francis (Frank) Richard Adolf Heym (1867-1928) m. (1891) Fannie Helena Martin Heym (1870-1926)
11) their son Norman Francis Heym (1904-1974) m. (around 1934) Mary Edtha Hillyer Heym (1908-1971)
12) their son Douglas Martin Heym (1939-living) m (1963) Barbara Booth Rogers Heym (1942-living)
13) their sons Roger Martin Heym (1964-living) and Russell Douglas Heym (1967-living) have children...who would be
14) generations after the Mayflower.

Each of these ancestors lived a full life, going to their respective works and homemaking, having babies, burying their grandparents and parents, and rocking their own grandchildren.  To put a couple of dates in parentheses after their names makes me cringe, because there was so much that happened for that person during their life...and the dates are so simplified.  Soon there will just be a couple of dates after my name, and I wonder if these blogs will disappear.  Perhaps.  I wasn't on this particular tree until fairly lately, but am quite proud that my grandchildren can say they are the 14th generation after someone on the Mayflower, if they so choose.

First homes

  Reposting from 2018

  Here's a Home Blessing that I found...from when I last moved the place I lay my head every night.  That was about 6 years ago.

Russ and Michelle in their first house in 1981...just moving in!  I came to see on a weekend!

 And here's a bedroom photo of me!   The guest room was between the upstairs back and front stairs, and Michelle used it as her office also.

 Waiting for my flight home to FL...Russ and I enjoyed a few moments to say goodbye. I notice that pre-cell-phone-era I still wore a watch to tell time!

And here Russ and Michelle stand in the dining room, before her family's dining room furniture arrived, and they removed the wall with the door to the kitchen...as well as the wallpaper.  I share this shot especially because it comes back to the floral wallpaper in the Sepia Saturday picture of the bedroom!  They actually painted the walls tomato red and they looked great with the Mediterranean furniture.

UPDATE 2021:

Michelle's mom has just sold her house in Connecticut, and Michelle and Russ brought a U-Haul truck of furniture to their current home...in Ohio!

I will be sharing whatever I see from my other son who is purchasing his first home...soon I hope. They are working on various purchasing procedures now.

Clack and Kindred Souls publication information

 A repost of a repost. The question that has come from "unknown" comments twice in the several years after I posted this, was "How do I get a copy of this document?"

Well I looked back at the 2015 resource which I'd saved to my Ancestry tree, and found it had come from another Ancestry member, who I don't know, nor believe I have any relationship to. RosalieBennettChruma

RosalieBennettChruma originally shared this on 25 Mar 2015

Look to the bottom of the original post which follows...I've added the introduction page which gives contact information for the authors.

 Thursday, August 16, 2018

One document explains it all

NOTE: a repost from my other blog...gathering the more recent blog posts into one place for access and organization!

My great times five uncle was Raleigh (Rolly) Robert Clack (1772-1842). His sister Catharine (Aunt Katy) Beulah Clack Rogers  (1778-1850) married Rev. Elijah Rogers, (1774-1841) who were my great times four grandparents, and they all lived in Sevier County, TN in its early settlement stages.

This week was the first time I looked at Great Uncle Rolly's family at all.  Maybe because it was so extensive!  He had 16 children, with two different wives at different times.  His first wife Mary Genieve Randles Clack (1770-1816) gave birth to 9 children.  He remarried within the year of her death to Martha Kerr Clack (1787-1858) who then gave birth to 7 more children of his.

Someone* wrote a book about his family, and most of those children spread out moving west to Missouri and Texas. The book is  Clack and Kindred Souls.  It has some good genealogical research including this one page which clarifies the marriages of Clack and Kerr family members in Sevier County in the early 19th century.  Without reading this page where the 4 Kerr/Clack marriages are laid out in simplicity, I would have just given up on understanding who was married to whom.

It is written with a bit of humor, which includes the various relationships of in-laws by having sisters and brothers of Great Uncle Rolly's wife marrying his older children.

I do wish I could find a document like this for many of the other families which married brothers/sisters etc.!! (That's a brother married a sister of the spouse of one person, not a brother married his sister!)

* Thanks to the authors of this book, Edna Clack Sacks and Joyce Kerr!

Sorry it's a bit blurry...Edna Clack Sachs of Spring City TN, and Joyce Kerr of Memphis TN...and they listed their email addresses as well...when they copyrighted the publication in June 2001.

Since I can't respond to any of these anonymous comments, I hope they look at this blog and get the information themselves.

Mary Horton Tyler of Andover, Medon and Roxbury MA

Job Tyler had ancestors, but I am unable to pin down which ones were his. Several other trees on Ancestry have completely different parents than the ones I had the last time I looked at his resources. So as of today, I have taken off  the ones I had on my tree, and not added the others yet. I'm waiting to see if there are any additional hints coming along. In the meantime, let's consider his second wife, Mary Horton's family. His first wife was also Mary, but we don't know anything about her, and it's certainly confusing history. Originally my records showed Mary Horton had been born in the same year, and died in the same year as her husband, Job Tyler. But I later figured out that these dates are just assumed probably by some modern genealogists.

I do have a Mary Horton, who was baptized in Tredington, Warwickshire, England, whose father was Thomas Horton. The baptism took place on Nov 2, 1617, and the original writing is legible.

I just removed records from my tree which said she was the Mary Horton, daughter of Thomas, who was baptized on 1635, because she married on March 20, 1637 in Massachusetts, and was probably more than 2 years old. 

Job Tyler and Mary Horton Tyler's first son, Moses Tyler, was born on 16 Feb. 1641 in Andover, MA, and was named Quartermaster as an adult.

Mary Horton was the daughter of Thomas Horton I. (I've added the "I" to his name because there was a son named Thomas Horton also, who I've named "II" 

There are several Thomas Hortons who lived in the early New England colonies. I don't believe my ancestor was the one who died in Springfield MA, nor the one who died in Long Island NY. I may be wrong, as I'm just guessing, based on his daughter who lived in MA, though that doesn't mean her father lived in the same area necessarily.

My records show Thomas Horton I was born in 1596 in Mowsley, Leicestershire, Eng. and died in 19 May 1687 in Cambridge, Suffolk County, MA.

His wife may have been Mary Eddy or Mary Moore. Since some records of the Eddy family exist, I will check through them to either rule out her being his wife, or perhaps substantiate it.

It doesn't look like Mary Eddy Horton was the daughter of a Rev. Eddy...but might have been the daughter of John Eddy (1597-1684) and possibly his first wife, Annie or Amy Horton. Mary Eddy Horton is more likely to have been born about 1600 instead of 1596, since her father had a birth date of 1597. But that means her father was only 3 when she was born. Oops.

So this parentage is questionable. And I'm not going to put John Eddy as her father, nor his brother, Samuel...though they were listed on a ship's manifest in 1630 arriving in Plymouth MA.

I'm going to stop this tree at this point...too many questionable dates for the parents of the Tyler ancestors who came from England. It may always stay that way, or perhaps some more documents will be clarifying.

Thomas and Mary Horton were my 9 times great grandparents, who did come to the early American colonies

Job Tyler, Immigrant to American Colonies

Let's look beyond the recent records which are very sparse, (the Lovett's ancestors back to Shropshire, Eng and Montgomeryshire Wales) to those ancestors who have 17 hints under their names, and I've already got at least that many resources listed...namely Hopestill Tyler Sr, husband of Mary Ann Lovett Tyler, my 8 times great grandparents.

Having opened and considered Hopestill Tyler's 17 hints at Ancestry, I am now looking more seriously at his father, Job Tyler, who immigrated from England and was one of the first settlers of Andover MA in 1638.

As many Tyler descendants have celebrated Job Tyler's life, and there are quite a few publications about him, I'll try to give a brief summary.

Job Tyler was born in Cranbrook, Tumbridge Wells Borough, Kent, England, in 1617 or 1619.  The following is what I published on my blog many years ago.

The Tyler Homestead in West Boxford, Massachusetts, is the earliest home of the Job Tyler family. Job, the first Tyler known in America, came to Boxford in 1640 and was one of the very first settlers in the community of Boxford. The first Tyler home was built on a tract of land at the corner of Ipswich Road and Main Street. The hearth of that very early structure is still in the rear of the large white house, sometimes known as the Boxford House. (Listed as "Witch Hollow House")

He was known in Newport RI arriving on May 20, 1638.  (Source Rhode Island Collections p. 92)

He had various dates of his marriage recorded, and since he lived in different towns, it's possible each record gave the year they were notified of his marriage to Mary Horton. One record indicates she might have been a widow. But others give information of her parents the Hortons.

By 1650 he had moved to Andover, and also spent some time in Roxbury MA, according to several old records.  Earliest settlers to Andover thought he might have been the "solitary man" that was living there when they arrived in 1639-40 (by legend, since no records exist before 1650 in Andover. 

The 1650 date is when he mortgaged his property to John Godfrey of Newbury.  This apparently is considered the "beginning of his troubles." (Source: Boxford History, Andover Rec. Bk iv, p 8) This mortgage is documented several ways, including a description by Job in 1662 of it.

Most of the information I'm relating is from "North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000."  It is cited quite often in Ancestry.

However there are more legal documents about Job's troubles.  In 1658 he and his wife Mary brought a complaint of witchcraft to the same John Godfrey who held his mortgage, a suit which continued until 1665.  He also disputed his son's apprenticeship to another man, to the extent that when he lost the case, he was required to post an apology in public places.  However the apology gives very cryptic denouncements of the person he had slandered. It doesn't seem to deal directly with why he didn't want his son, Hopestill to have fulfilled his apprenticeship.  

He continued to have squabbles with his neighbors with various court documents given in "North America, Family Histories" pp 3-16.  

He also in 1662 began to be situated in Roxbury, having some documentation about that area, such as a Native American saying Job cut and carried off his hay.  He was living in the Mendon area by 1669 where a complaint was issued that he refused to help dig the cellar for the minister. In Mendon he took part in a lottery to double his land size in 1671.  He apparently gave satisfaction to those who accused him of not helping with the cellar digging, because in Dec. of that year he helps in the confirmation of the first minister for that area.

 

Job Tyler family home

He and all the inhabitants of Mendon fled (1675) at the outbreak of King Phillips War when the Native Americans killed several colonists in Mendon and the town was eventually deserted. That's also when a grandchild was born in Roxbury.  He may also have had connections still in Andover, (1681) and yet he pays for minister's fees in Mendon in 1688-91 and 1695.

In 1700 he signed a deed to his son, Moses in Mendon.  There are no further documents with his name, so it is assumed that is the year of his death.

Job Tyler honorary stone marker in Andover saying Job Tyler was the first resident of same.

But the interesting part of the treatise given in "Family Histories" is how it mentioned that there had been about 3000 Tyler descendants in the three centuries since his life.  In 1901 a memorial was erected in Andover, MA in his honor. Prof. Henry Tyler of Smith College (a Tyler descendant) gave the dedicatory address, and his comments are included in the "Family Histories"

 

Cemetery, North Andover, MA

His son, Hopestill had a daughter, Mary, who married Steven Farnham, and eventually their descendants led to my grandmother Ada Swasey Rogers.  So Job Tyler would be my 8th great grandfather.

But tomorrow I'm going back up the Tyler tree and see what information there might be about the English  roots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

More ancestors beyond the Lovetts

The parents of Magdalen Gitten Lovett 1600-1674) were Roger Gittens (1581-1603) and Elnora Robinson Gittens (1583-1617).

Though Roger was British, being born in Worthen, Shropshire, Eng, his wife Elnora Robinson was Welch, and was born in Llanllugan, Montgomeryshire, Wales. 

Stained glass window of kneeling abbess at the medieval Abby of Llanllugan, Wales

St. Mary's church, Llanllugan, Montgomeryshire, Wales.

They married in her Llanllugan, Montgomeryshire, Wales in 1600. I have at least 5 children listed in Ancestry, most of whom used the plural of the surname, Gittens. Some, including Magdalen, seemed to just use Gitten.

I don't have Elnora's parents on my tree at this time. But I welcome the bit of ancestral blood which is Welch.

Elnora died on the 13 July 1617, in her home town (I wish I knew how to say it.) Roger died 16 Aug 1603 in Great Ness, Shropshire, Eng. Below is St. Andrews church in Great Ness, Eng.

He must have had a profession that made him travel, or perhaps he had relatives there, since it's also in Shropshire, where he had been born in Worthen, Shropshire, Eng. Unfortunately I don't know how close Wortham is to Great Ness.

Roger and Magdalen Gittens were my 10 times great grandparents.

And...I'm not finished on the Gittens' family tree. Roger's parents also appeared.

Some church of England parish records have the following baptismal entry:

Father: Ric'i Gyttns

Gender: Male

Child: Rogerus Gyttyns

Ancestry has changed that name of his father to Richard Gittens...who was born in 1540 in Worthen, Shropshire, Eng. He died 25 April 1602. 

Richard Gittens' wife was Alice Meritt Gittens, born sometime between 1535-1545 in Shropshire, Eng. She died at an unknown date and place. And once again we don't know anything about her parents.

So I complete todays post with these 11 times great grandparents, the Richard Gittens of Shropshire.

How far back from the Lovetts does ancestry go?

While my father's father's family (mainly the Rogers) settled in Virginia as early colonists, my father's mother's family came to New England. I call that portion of my family tree the Ada Swasey Rogers Family Tree. And I've posted about a lot of these ancestors before.

But I want to check and see if there are any additions to the tree up on the branches back in England before the colonials came to America.

Recently I had been talking about Mary Lovett Tyler, who was accused of witchcraft in 1692 in Andover, MA.  And yes, new people have been added to my tree!

Her father, Daniel Lovett, was an immigrant to the colonies sometime between 1620 and 1650. Since he was probably born in 1620 on 24 Dec. in Chesham Parrish, Buckinghamshire, England, it is likely he didn't come to the American colonies until he was at least a teen. But since his parents (which I've just added to my tree) also came to the colonies, he could have been younger.

Daniel was not only one of the immigrants of my family, he was a Deacon of the church (there was only one church at that time.) On 8 June 1645 in the Boston records he married Johanna Blott. Johanna was born on 1 Oct, 1620 in Harrold, Bedfordshire, Eng. Daniel died on 24 Jan 1691, in Milton, Suffolk, MA. Johanna died on 20 Mar 1665 in Medon, Worcester MA.

Daniel and Johanna were my 9 times great grandparents.

Now let's look at Daniel's parents who also immigrated to the colonies. His father was Edmond Lovett, born in 1600 in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, Eng. Edmond married in 1618 to Magdalen Gitten. I found an interesting note in another person's resource, stating that Elizabeth Lovett was their daughter, and she married one of the Smith sons, and became the grandmother of Joseph Smith of Latter Day Saints fame.

However, as much as I like that the Mormons do a lot of ancestry additions, it is highly unlikely that Magdalen Gitten Lovett was the mother of Elizabeth Lovett Smith, who was born in 1672 while Magdalen had been born in 1600. No mother gave birth anywhere near her 72nd birthday.

Now the record does say that Elizabeth was the daughter of Edmond, and not Magdalen. So maybe there is another mother that I haven't found. My ancestor's mother was Magdalen Gitten Lovett though.

And I will pause here knowing of my 10 times great grandparents...and that there are at least another generation given (thanks to the Mormons probably!)

More ancestors with titles

Sir Robert Huntington's wife was Lady Anne Stanley Derby Huntington (1510-1570), my 13 times great grandparents.

Her mother was Lady Anne Hastings (Countess Derby) Stanley, lady in waiting to Catherine of Aragon. Catherine was Queen of England from June 1509 until May 1533, the first wife of Henry VIII.

Lady Anne Hastings Stanley Derby married Sir Thomas Stanley, 2nd Earl of Derby, 10th Baron Strange of Knockyn, 6th Baron Mohun, Lord of Mann and the Isles, in 1503 or 1507. She was probably born in 1485, and died in 1550.  Sir Thomas Stanley had been born in 1484, and died in 1521.

They would have been my 14 greats grandparents.

Lady Anne Hastings Stanley Derby's parents were Edward Lord Hungerford, b. 16 Nov 1466,  in Kirby Moxloe in Leicestershire, Eng. There's a ruin of a castle there still.

Kirby Muxloe Castle, Leicestershire, Eng.

Lord Edward Hungerford died 8 Nov. 1506 in London, Middlesex, Eng.

His wife was Mary Sacherverell Hungerford, born 1455 in  Salsbury, Wiltshire, Eng.  She married Lord Edward in 1481 and gave birth to Anne in 1485. She died on 10 July 1533 in Ashby Magna, Leicestershire, Eng.

They were my 15 times great grandparents. I don't know about their parents, so that the end of that limb of the tree. Some other people I might be related to had found some people they thought were Lord Edward's parents, but their dates were after Lord Edward had died, so that's not accurate.

I think that's all the titled ancestors I have on this tree. On my Ada Swasey Rogers tree (my father's mother) there were probably some others.

The lords and ladies continued

To continue with a theme of going back in my ancestry as far as there are records designating these are my ancestors. So I'm on my father's Rogers Family Tree. The last time I posted about them was on March 30. I'd started to look at the parents of Clarissa Elizabeth Huntington Reynolds, my 12 times great grandmother.

Lady Clarissa Huntington Reynolds' father was Sir Robert Huntington, knight. He had been born in 1502 in East Bergholt, Suffolk, Eng. He died 7 Feb 1579 in Shropshire, Eng.

He married Lady Anne Stanley Derby Huntington when she was 16 and he was 24, in 1526 in Kent, England. Lady Anne was born in 1510 in Southampton, Hampshire, Eng. and died in 1570 in Kent, Eng.

Those were my great times 13 grandparents.

Sir. Robert's parents were Sir Richard Huntington, b. 1468 Hempstead, Essex, Eng; d. 1552, London, Middlesex, Eng. and Alice Huntington Castell, b. 1470 Little Stampford, Eng; d. 1546 Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, Eng.  These grandparents times 14 greats are as far as this line goes.

All Saints Church, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, Eng.

Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, Eng.