I’m having trouble tracing the ancestry of a few individuals in my family tree, most of whom are women. One such person is Lois Ely, born in New Hampshire between 1762 and 1765. Despite gathering a significant amount of data on her spouse, Stephen Chase, and their offspring, I’ve hit a roadblock when it comes to discovering her lineage. It’s pretty discouraging.
The only thing I have is this, her marriage record, but, as you can see, not all the fields were filled out. (Click on each photo for a larger view.)
A lot, and I mean A LOT, of people have her parents as Josiah Griswold Ely and Phebe Denison. Although that would make sense age-wise and the fact that the Ely, Chase, and Griswold families inter-married quite a lot, there is absolutely no proof that these are her parents. In fact, there are many Ely genealogy books out there, and none have Lois as one of Phebe and Josiah’s children. These books were written well after some of their children were married, and not one has a Lois Ely married to Stephen Chase in them.
I have come across several books on Chase genealogy that reference Lois Ely; however, none of them provide any information about her parents or ancestry. In my search, I found variations of her name, such as Lois, Louys, and Louisa. I also stumbled upon a female named Louis Ealey, who was born to Rebeckah Atkinson in the same county and around the same birth year. Unfortunately, there is no mention of her father.
I’ll head to another branch for now and let this one simmer. If anyone has any suggestions, feel free to share them with me.
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Last weekend, I wrote the blog, Hidden In A Letter, in which I was trying to connect the Ohio Stephanz’s to the Kansas Stephanz’s. Little did I know the mystery man was right in front of me the whole time.
I was confusing my generations a bit, but it was the same family nonetheless. I was also so focused on the fact that MY Stephanz was in Kansas that I did not see the facts staring me right in the face! It took two other people seeing my conundrum to help me put the puzzle pieces in the right place.
Back one generation of the Kansas family is my third great-grandfather, Matijas Štefanc married to Marija Fugina. I did not have much information on him except that he was born on 17 Sep 1845 in Stari Trg ob Kolpi, Slovenia, and that his son was also Matijas Štefanc who immigrated to Kansas. It turns out that my third great-grandfather was living a double life. Newspaper articles helped me figure out the secrets.
Matijas Štefanc married Marija Fugina in June 1866 at the Parish Church of St. Jozef in Stari Trg ob Kolpi, Slovenia. In 1867, their son Matijas was born at #10 in Dolenji Radenci, Slovenia. According to a newspaper article, the two separated around 1869 and Marija immigrated to Kansas to be with family.
Another article stated that Matijas left his wife and son in Slovenia around 1865 (it was 1869) and came to America. In 1872, he met and married Clara Latour in Toledo, Ohio. They had three children together. They also had an adopted son who went back to his birth name sometime after 1911.
In 1892, the son, Matijas, traveled to Toledo from Slovenia to visit his father. This is when it became apparent that ‘ole Matijas had a second family and was still married! He makes it legal and divorces his first wife (I have not found a record of the divorce) and remarries Clara in October of 1892. Eight years later, Clara died. A month after her death, he remarried Marija on 15 October 1900 who immigrated here on 26 June 1900. She died in 1904 of tuberculosis.
Yes, he married both wives twice!
Now I have two more 2nd great-grand aunts and a 2nd great-grand uncle giving me numerous cousins! My 1st cousin 1x removed (my mom’s first cousin who is four years younger than me) will be meeting one of those descendants soon! They both have the same 2nd great-grandfather in Matijas (1845) but two different 2nd great-grandmothers.
In the letter, my great-grandfather, Matijas (1894), mentions he’s staying with Alice. Alice is his first cousin, Matija’s and Clara’s granddaughter.
Look at all these cousins! And I haven’t even traced the bottom two lines!
And to think, it all started with a letter from 1916. ✉️
Stay tuned for more stories—who knows what other surprises are hidden in our family’s past! 🔍
Do you have ancestors you want to find out more about? Contact me.
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In this 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge, Close to Home, I wrote about Mary Yeula Wescott, my great-grandaunt. She was born on 27 December 1889 at Poyner’s Hill in Currituck, North Carolina, where her father, John Thomas Wescott, was the keeper of the Poyner’s Hill Life-Saving station. She was the third of six children born to John and a year younger than my great-grandfather, Albert.
Laura Wescott, Martha Ann Chadwick Wescott, Mary Yeula Wescott
At a very young age, Mary loved to read and write. She was first published at the age of 12 when she decided to enter a writing contest for the St. Nicholas Magazine: An Illustrated Book For Young Folks by Mary Mapes Dodge. The following was published in January 1903:
Poplar Branch, N.C.
Dear St. Nicholas: I am a little girl twelve years old, and I live on one of the sand-bars of North Carolina, five miles from the mainland. The nearest store and post-office is five miles away. My papa is the captain of the Poyners Hill Life-saving Station. We are bounded on the north and south by sand-hills, on the east by the ocean, and on the west by the Currituck Sound. The land near and on which the station is situated belongs to the Currituck Shooting Club, the club-house is the nearest one to us except the station. The club does not allow any of the station men except papa to build on the beach. We live only a few steps from the station and a little further from the sea, while the club-house is on the other side of the beach. So you see, we have it lonely here sometimes. Inclosed [sic] find my contribution which I hope is worthy of a prize.
Yours truly,
Mary Yeula Wescott
(age 12)
The poem she enclosed won her a silver badge.
FORGIVING
BY MARY YEULA WESCOTT
(Silver Badge)
My little friend Annie
Came over to play.
We stayed in the house,
As ‘t was stormy that day.
She had her doll, Susan,
And mine was named Jane ;
We dressed and undressed them
Again and again.
We made them fine bonnets
For each little head.
They wore them to parties,
Then came home to bed.
Ann stepped on my finger,
And said she was glad.
I got up and slapped her,
She ‘d made me so mad.
Then I knocked Susan’s head off,
And Annie broke Jane.
We cried, and we quarreled
Again and again.
Then I said I was sorry,
As much as could be;
So I forgave Annie,
And she forgave me.
Mary continued to send in poems and articles, as did her brother, Albert, and her sister, Laura. However, Mary continued to write to them until at least the age of 17.
My Dear St. Nicholas League: I am sending to you today my verses for the September competition, and I am so sorry to remember that I have but three more. Does everyone get old so dreadfully fast?
Your subject appealed to me this month, for I have several relatives including my father, who are members of the Life Saving Service to which I have a reference in the poem. This small band extends along the coast of the United States and guards its coast from the ravages of the storm. They maintain a constant watch along the shore and at the appearance of a distressed vessel launch their frail boats and, pitting their strength against the force of the waves, give aid to the distressed seamen. When the sea is so high that launching a boat from the shore is impossible, the beach apparatus is used and the sailors are brought from the vessel by means of a ” breeches-buoy,” which is drawn shoreward over a cable that has been shot across the vessel from the shore and fastened to the mast of the distressed vessel.
On our part of the coast, storms are numerous, and a rescue of this kind is a frequent occurrence.
I thank you so much for the encouragement you have given me in my endeavors to win that coveted cash prize.
But whether I succeed or not, I shall ever remember with gratitude the pleasure and benefit I have derived from your interesting work. Long life to you, my dear St. Nicholas League, and best wishes from your devoted League member, Mary Yeula Wescott (age 17).
It must have been this magazine that sparked her love of books.
Mary went to school in Durham and graduated from Trinity College (now Duke University) in 1914 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree, Magna cum laude. She taught Latin in local schools and went back to Trinity. In 1920, she took a leave of absence to attend and then graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree from the Simmons College of Library Science in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1924, where she also worked in a government position while attending school. Mary returned to Trinity College, her alma mater, to work at Trinity College Library (now Duke University Library).
About 1932, Professor William K. Boyd organized the work of the Newspaper Department and placed Miss Allene Ramage in charge of it. Miss Ramage, aided by Miss Mary Wescott and Miss Eva E. Malone, prepared a checklist of these papers under the title Bibliographical Contributions of the Duke University Libraries: a Checklist of United States Newspapers. This publication has been of value to many librarians and scholars throughout the United States.
Part I: Alabama––Georgia
Part II: Idaho––Massachusetts
Part III: Michigan––New York
Part IV: North Carolina
Part V: North Dakota––Vermont
Part VI: Virginia––Wyoming
~LIBRARY NOTES -A BULLETIN ISSUED FOR
The Friends of Duke University Library April 1953; Number 27
She worked there until she retired in December 1954 as Head of the Catalogue Department. A dinner was given in her honor on 14 December 1954. Among the special guests was Lawrence Quincy Mumford, Librarian of Congress. Mr. Mumford, who had known Miss Wescott since his student days, summarized well her contribution to college and university when he spoke of her retirement as the termination of “a valuable career in librarianship.”
~LIBRARY NOTES -A BULLETIN ISSUED FOR
The Friends of Duke University Library April 1953; Number 27
“Pride in her profession, friendliness, compassion, and a delightful sense of humor — these were the characteristics that made Mary Wescott deeply loved as well as highly respected. Exactly what her personal philosophy was, one would not presume to say. One feels though that possibly she expressed it in the last stanza of a poem she wrote long ago — “The Dream of the Sea.”
O my Heart keep young, we would cross that main
With its raging tide;
We would enter those fields of glad abode
On the other side —
And we, how we long for the mighty strife
And the waves’ wild sweep —
To battle our way to the rich reward
And then to sleep! “
Seven months after Mary retired, she died in her sleep. She never married.
By the way, I have never been able to determine where the name Yeula came from. The closest I found was that it could be an Indian word meaning Upward slope. Fitting for a woman who never stopped climbing.
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Thomas is my 4th great-grandfather, father of Lovie Davis Tillett and Josiah Holly Tillett. He was born about 1745 in Nags Head, North Carolina. Not much is known about him other than he was married to Mary Polly Johnson and died at sea. His Mother’s Bible states, “Thomas R. Tillett left home Jan 20th, 1832, was lost at sea soon afterward”.
Josiah Holly Tillett, Sr. was born on April 18, 1829. He married Levina A. Baum/Harris in Currituck County on January 13, 1858. Levina was born May 15, 1846, and died Dec. 8, 1880. She often went by the surname of Harris. Her father has been speculated to be a Baum (possibly Jacob), and her mother was a Harris.
Levina generally went by Harris. By the time Josiah had married Levina in 1858, he already had two children from a previous relationship with Sarah Cooper. These two children were Lucinda Jackson (who took her surname from her step-father, Pete Jackson), who was born April 8, 1852, and died May 1, 1900; and Thomas T. Tillett, who was born June 23, 1857, and died April 27, 1893. It is believed that neither Lucinda nor Thomas T. ever married.
Josiah Holly Tillett, Sr., and Levina Baum/Harris had a dozen children.
The 12 children were:
1) Mary Etta Tillett
2) Esther Holly Tillett – b. Aug. 20, 1859 d. Apr. 20, 1899; married 1st John Willis Tillett, Sr.; married 2nd Jesse James Twiford, Sr.
3) Tilmon L. Tillett – b. Sept. 14, 1862 d. Apr. 10, 1920, married Harriet Anne Baum
4) Lovey Tillett – b. Nov. 25, 1864 d. Dec. 24, 1931; never married.
5) Ella May Tillett – [see her photo & information here]
6) Timothy O. Tillett – [see his photo & information here]
7) Tedrick Tillett – b. June 2, 1870 d. Oct. 10, 1873
8) Titus S. Tillett – b. Nov. 8, 1872 d. Mar. 8, 1931; married Laura A. Davis & Mary David Payne
9) Theocanus Tillett -[see his photo & information here]
10) Almeda Tillett – [see her photo & information here]
11) Josiah Holly Tillett, Jr. – b. Dec. 10, 1879 d. Nov. 29, 1936; married 1st Mattie King in 1899, 2nd Nettie Virginia Fusedly (sp?) in 1904, 3rd Cottie Poole (Culpepper) Peterson between 1923-1930, and 4th Robanna (Fulcher) Beasley in 1935.
12) Arthur Perry Tillett (listed in census & other records as “Othuel” – b. Dec. 8, 1880 d. June 7, 1957, married Nellie White.
They lived in Nags Head Woods, where their family lived for generations and where their heritage traces back to the early 1700s. His grandfather received all of Nags Head Woods from sound to sea by a land grant from the Lord’s Proprietors of North Carolina. (from https://timothyotillett.com/history.html)
Photo and information kindly submitted by Tammy Holton Jennings.
Four Tillett Family Cemeteries in Nags Head Woods bear the family names and dates.
Joe Holly was appointed assistant keeper of the Bodie Island Lighthouse in Nags Head from l859 to l860; Joe Holly resigned to care for the family and the homeplace in Nags Head Woods. He died on 15 September 1881.
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If you have read my other blogs, specifically “My Journey of Journeys,” you’ll remember I started researching my father’s side in the 1990s. I had started with the direct male line and then a few years later started with the wives, my grandmothers.
In 2010, I met up with a couple of others who were researching the Logans. One, in particular, was a retired Air Force Colonel living in Texas. He had an extensive tree on the Logans, and we emailed back and forth for at least three years. He is my 4th cousin, 1x removed.
Because I was still a rookie, I took what information he had on blind faith and plugged all the information into my tree. Not that his information was wrong, but I failed to verify for myself. Furthermore, I failed to get his sources. So, I have these people in my tree that I do not have verified documentation for.
One such person is Abigail Soper. Oh, I know her name is Abigail, as documentation from her children’s records lists their mother. What I do not have is her maiden name. I decided to try to verify her family once and for all, nine years later. With all the digitizing and new genealogical information, I thought for sure it would be an easier task now. I was wrong.
In November, I started writing historical societies and county clerks in the vicinity of Connecticut and Vermont. The information from my 4th cousin had Abigail being born in Connecticut but marrying Daniel Logan in Vermont around 1780. No cities mentioned. They could find no mention of Sopers or even Logans for that matter.
The town historian for Bennington, Vermont, however, was very helpful. She went over and beyond in trying to help me. She explained that the Logan name was not common in Bennington, but offered other historians who may assist me. One is in the town listed on an ancestor’s death certificate, Middlebury. Another is in the border town where my ancestor was married, Warsaw, New York.
The other Logans in this family were just as confusing as some documentation showed their sons born in New York, and some showed Vermont. I was perplexed. On a website called Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness, I contacted a gentleman who specialized in that area. He wrote me back immediately! And he had some excellent information.
I did not follow my own advice in studying the area of the time. This gentleman gave me the history of my ancestors’ time, and it makes perfect sense on how and why the documentation seems to be conflicting. Here is what he said, in his own words:
The period in history that is involved here is a tough one for research in Vermont. Initially, the area, including Vermont, was under French control. After the battle on the Plains of Abraham in Quebec [ending the French and Indian wars], the area became part of the English holdings. Both the colonies of New York and New Hampshire claimed all or part of the land between them.
While they were still arguing, the War of Independence broke out in 1776. In 1777, the residents of the land area between Lake Champlain and the Connecticut River declared themselves an independent republic. This lasted until 1791 when Vermont was admitted as the 14th state. All record-keeping was done at the office of the town clerk. It still is. The recording of births, marriages, and deaths varied from town to town and really was not codified until around 1865. Copies of the various records were not collected at a central archive until around 1911.
He later wrote: I have done some looking and have found at least one extended family of Sopers from the mid-18th century in the towns of Dorset and Manchester in Bennington County. Your Abigail creates a bit of a problem. Remember the brief history lesson I gave you?
In 1765 the French and Indian Wars had only ended two years previous. This means that England had new land it needed to quantify. The colonies of New York and New Hampshire felt that each of their grants gave them most or all of this former French territory as part of their landholdings. Each colony sent surveyors in to lay out grants. An early Vermont land speculator, Ethan Allen and his brother Ira preferred to deal with the governor of New Hampshire. So they formed The Green Mountain Boys, an ad hoc group of vigilantes whose mission was to force the New York surveyors and tax collectors out in favor of New Hampshire.
There is some argument as to how successful they may have been. History remembers this group in regard to their taking over Ft Ticonderoga in NY. The point in this is that in 1765 those towns were most likely considered part of NY as Vermont, per se, did not exist at that time.
Middlebury, Vermont, is a bit north in Addison County, also on the west side of the Green Mountains, and also was most likely considered part of NY before 1777. I will see if I can find anything that connects Abigail to this family in Dorset and Manchester. You might see if you can get the contact information for the town’s historical society in Dorset and Manchester, Vermont. Every town has a historical society, and some are more active than others.
So, as you can see, it was very convoluted at the time my ancestors were in that area. Trying to find documents in the 1700s is hard enough, even harder when the borders and politics changed so much.
1780 Map of New England- Library of Congress Geography and Map Division Washington, D.C. 20540-4650 USA dcu
I now have three things on my to-do list concerning Abigail.
1) Contact the county historian in Middlebury, NY, to see if he has any information on this Logan family.
2) Contact the historical societies in Dorset and Manchester, Vermont, to see if they have any information on the Soper family and, possibly, Logan.
3) See if I can contact my Colonel cousin to find out his sources.
Look at me, learning from my mistakes and continuing on. 😉
Wish me luck! I will keep you updated on my search for Abigail.
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If you’re reading this hoping to get great clues on finding your brick walls, do not get too excited. I do have a few for you, though.
Today, I searched for more of my dead ends using techniques taught to me by fellow family historians and professional genealogists. They provide some great tips and websites for research.
One such tip is to get the most out of Google™ searches using “Boolean Operators.” Here are some examples.
From the Southern Adventist University
Some others are:
*
Acts as a wildcard and will match any word or phrase.
Example: christmas*trees
( )
Group multiple terms or search operators to control how the search is executed.
Example: (Christmas OR trees) decorations
$
Search for prices. Also works for Euro (€), but not GBP (£) 🙁
Example: Samsung $329
define:
A dictionary built into Google.
Example: define:entrepreneur
cache:
Returns the most recent cached version of a web page (an old version of a web page) (provided the page is indexed, of course).
Example: cache:samsung.com
site:
Limit results to those from a specific website.
Example: site:samsung.com
related:
Find sites linked to a given domain.
Example: related:samsung.com
intitle:
Find pages with a specific word (or words) in the title. In our example, any results containing the word “Samsung” in the title tag will be returned.
Example: intitle:Samsung
allintitle:
Similar to “intitle,” only results containing all the specified words in the title tag will be returned.
Example: allintitle:Samsung android
Another excellent search tool in my research has been Google Books.
Go to Google search
Type a surname or subject and hit enter
Click on the “More” menu
Click on “Books.”
You can leave the search as is or click on “Any Books”
Then click on “Google EBooks” to search for books online.
Again, you can use the above Boolean Operators here.
I used these techniques today, searching for brick walls of mine and some of my clients, family, and friends. I was able to find some information that may help, but I have many names that stump me at the moment. Here is just a sample of my particular toughies:
Abigail Soper (cannot find proof of last name)
Daniel Logan’s marriage record to the above Abigail
Margaret Johnson Carr
Letitia Porterfield and John Rowan
John McMahan and Margaret Hargrove
Horace Case (could be John Horace Case)
Himan Chapman and his wife, Ann
Kezia(h), who married Isaac Burns
Williams Morrison and Christina Spiker
Charles William Davis and Eliza Wake’s parents
Jožef Fugina
Katharina Ilić
Andreas Henning
Maria Kriese
Franz Sierotzki’s family
Josephine(a) Tesmer
Jesse Decatur Simmons (researching for my uncle) 😉
There are many more, but these are my frustrating names now. I hope those searching these same names will find this blog, and we can collaborate.
I have many emails to different historical societies, churches, and county clerks trying to gather information or possible avenues for me to search.
For instance, go to that website and type in the search engine “Wood County, Ohio.” You get 1,147 results! Once you click a book or similar, you can then search inside the book itself.
And, always, always work sideways! Research the siblings, the aunts, the uncles, and cousins. You will be amazed at what you can find. You can even find others who are researching the same family.
So, do not give up. Keep trying and dig, dig, dig. I have broken many brick walls. It has sometimes taken years, but it happened.
To all those reading, have a Merry Christmas, Festivus, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Boxing Day, Ōmisoka, or any other holiday you celebrate. Make beautiful memories together, and write them down for your descendants while you’re at it!
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UPDATED 3/2021: There is speculation about how our Beckwith line connects with the Yorkshire Beckwiths. More research is needed. Beware of “The Beckwiths,” Paul Edmond Beckwith, Albany, 1891. This genealogy, which contains a totally fabricated English lineage, is filled with errors, has a son Benjamin2, who never existed, and was thoroughly debunked in “The American Genealogist” articles by Simeon Fox. This genealogy is not recommended by the Society of the Descendants of the Founders of Hartford.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sir Hugh de Malebisse (Malbisse, Malebysse, Malbis), one of the Norman knights who accompanied the Conqueror to England and served in the Battle of Hastings, is my 25th great-grandfather. That’s right, 25th!
“Sir Hugh de Malbisse held lands (in Yorkshire), time of William the Conqueror” is all the Domesday Book says about him. (The Domesday Book or “Book of Winchester” is a manuscript record of the “Great Survey” of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William the Conqueror.) Since he was a Norman, he must have had a fair complexion and a tall height. When he fought in Hastings, he wore “a leather coat of tough bull hide.” According to the book “The Beckwiths” by Paul Beckwith, the leather coat would have had metal rings sown upon it, just touching each other. The coat and breeches would have been one piece with a casque of metal at the breast gilded and painted. He would have had gloves of leather and sheepskin covering his legs. He must have been a formidable figure in 1066 A.D.
He married Emma de Percy, daughter of Henry de Percy of Acaster. (There is a lot of confusing information in different books on who this Emma married. Some say she married Hugh’s son, Richard. Others say she married a William.) I am more inclined to believe the original writers of history, such as the Madox, Hist. of Exchequer, i. 316, which states that the first Hugh was married to the daughter of Henry de Percy.
Madox was a legal antiquary and historian known for his publication and discussion of medieval records and charters, particularly his History of the Exchequer, tracing the administration and records of that branch of the state from the Norman Conquest to the time of Edward II. It became a standard work for the study of English medieval history. He held the office of historiographer royal from 1708 until his death.
Hugh had three sons. Richard, Hugh (2), and Galfred. This Hugh (2) is our direct line. He married first, Emma de Bray. I am not finding much on this, Hugh. His brother, Richard, seems to take up much of the glory, or in this case, scandal. More on him later. Hugh’s (2) will be proven in the third year of the reign of King Stephen, 1138. Galfred gave all his land to God and became the first Prior at the monastery of Newbo of Lincolnshire in 1142.
By the way, Richard, whom I mentioned before, was an interesting, cruel fellow. He was a justiciar, held Acaster in 1176, and was a forester for Yorkshire (Madox, i. 316). But then things changed for dear ‘ole Richard.
He was one of the leaders in the savage attack on and massacre of the Jews at York in 1190 (Will. Newburgh, i. 321, Rolls Ser.) As a punishment for his share in this outrage his lands were seized by the king. Malebysse appears to have been a supporter of Earl John, and in consequence he was one of those who were excommunicated by William de Longchamp in December 1191 (Hoveden, iii. 153). In 1193 he paid a fine of twenty marks for the recovery of his lands till the king’s return, and eventually paid six hundred marks for full restoration (Madox, Hist. of Exchequer, i. 473, 483).Richard Malebysse
Evidently, he owed many debts to “the Jews” and was known as “the Evil Beast’. On hearing the news of the southern outbreaks, he and various members of the Percy, Faulconbridge, and Darrel families determined to seize the opportunity to wipe out their indebtedness. One hundred and fifty Jews were killed. The entire Jewish community was wiped out! More can be read in the Jewish Encyclopedia.
However, after about ten years, Richard is back.
After the accession of John, Malebysse comes into some prominence. In June 1199, he, or it may be his brother Hugh, was sent as an envoy to Scotland to William the Lion to demand homage. In July 1200, he had a license to fortify Wheldrake Castle, but the permission was withdrawn at the request of the citizens of York. In May 1201, he was sent on a mission to the king of Scots to ask him to defer his answer to Northumberland until Michaelmas (Hoveden, iv. 91, 117, 163–4). Malebysse was a justice itinerant for Yorkshire in 1201 and next year sat to acknowledge fines at Westminster. In 1204, he was employed to enforce the payment of aid. He was keeper of the forests of Galtres, Derwent, and Wernedale. He died in 1209.
We must take the bad with the good in our family history.
Back to my direct line. Hugh (2) and Emma had Simon. He was lord of Cowton in Craven, England, and married a daughter of John, Lord of Methley. I do not know much about Simon either. More research needs to be done.
Simon had Hercules de Malebysse. Hercules married Lady Beckwith Bruce, daughter of Sir William Bruce of Uglebarnby and heiress of an estate named Beckwith. He retained the Malbisse escutcheon (his coat of arms) and assumed Beckwith as a surname during the period when surnames were being adopted in England. Beckwith was the name of his wife’s estate. So, the Beckwith surname was passed down. At this time, they still use “de Beckwith”. Lady Beckwith and Hercules had Nicolas de Beckwith born in 1260. He married a woman by the last name of Chaworth, but nothing more is known.
Nicolas and his wife had Hamon in 1294. Hamon married a daughter of Sir Philip Sydney. He was the first of the family to drop the use of the particle “de” in the surname. Hamon and Anne had William in 1316. William and “unknown” Usfleet had Thomas. Thomas and “unknown” Sawley had Adam. He married (second) Elizabeth Malebisse, widow of John Heringe. His children were all by his first wife, name unknown. His first wife and he had William. William married a daughter of Sir John Baskerville, a descendant of English and French ancestry, who traced his lineage to the Emperor Charlemagne (don’t we all).
I’ll run through our line in this paragraph as I know the names; I just haven’t researched them. William and his wife had Thomas, who died in 1495. Thomas had Robert, who had John, who had Robert, who had Robert. This Robert made his will on October 6, 1536, and died before March following. Robert had Marmaduke Beckwith in 1567.
In 1597 he sold Clint and purchased Fetherstone and Aikton (or Acton). Among his numerous children was William Beckwith, the founder of the Virginia line of Beckwiths, who landed in America in 1607. He sailed from England in the ship “Phoenix” and arrived with Captain John Smith at Jamestown, Va. (I’ll be researching this little gem!)
This immigrant ancestor and progenitor of the Beckwiths of New England and those branches of the family, which are offshoots of the New England lines, was born in England about the year 1610. The history of his life from when he came to America is somewhat obscure.
He is found early in Hartford, Conn. Here, he bought the homestead of William Pratt, one of the original proprietors of Hartford, in 1645. About 1652, he was in the same colony at New London and Lyme, his land lying in both towns. It is judged from the size of his real estate holdings that he was a man of considerable wealth.
He was able to give land to his sons liberally, and it is recorded that in 1675, thirty acres of additional land were granted to him, all of which he gave to his son, Joseph Beckwith.
UPDATE March 2021: There is a question that the connection between Matthew 1 (b. 1610 or maybe 1612) and the Beckwiths of Yorkshire seems inaccurate/undocumented.
Matthew Beckwith occupied a prominent place in the community and was one of its most prominent citizens. He was killed on October 21, 1680, “by a fall in a dark night down a ledge of rocks.”
There are many books about the Malebisse family. You can research yourself at Google Books.
Sources:
(WordPress will not let me cite them properly without upgrading to the Business Plan!)
Fromhttps://www.foundersofhartford.org/the-founders/matthew-beckwith/Genealogy not recommended: “The Beckwiths,” Paul Edmond Beckwith, Albany, 1891. This genealogy, which contains a totally fabricated English lineage, is filled with errors, has a son Benjamin2, who never existed, and was thoroughly debunked in “The American Genealogist” articles by Simeon Fox.
There are several pamphlets entitled “Beckwith Notes,” intended to correct some of the “The Beckwiths” errors, but these only marginally help.
Thanksgiving is a time to be with family, and it is also a great way to reconnect with family as well. Yesterday I took my mother to her sister’s house for Thanksgiving. All her siblings were there too. Mom is seventy-six but has been sick for the last couple of years and hasn’t visited face-to-face with them.
It was a pleasant visit. My two aunts and my uncle were there. My son, mom, and I. My cousin, his wife, and children came. We Facetimed with his brother, wife, and cousin, who are out of the country. And we also spoke with another cousin on the phone who is out of state. Isn’t technology grand?
My uncle has been researching his own family history for decades. He has run into the proverbial brick wall with his great-grandfather. I asked him to send me the name, and I would see what I could find out. My uncle also spoke to me about passing on his research to his children or grandchildren. He is 80 and has some medical issues; therefore, he would like to make sure his research lives on.
He thinks one of his granddaughters is interested, but like me at her age, they are not just into family history just yet. I hope she finds the bug and at least ensures his ancestry is preserved for generations to come.
That is why I keep telling my son specific stories I find that I think will pique his interest. I want him to preserve my ancestry research too.
Everyone should have at least one family historian in their family. It is a vital way to keep our history alive!
To get the most out of your family history takes time. You need to research and verify facts and sources. Sometimes you need to order documents. But, what you get out of it is so much more than the time and money you spend. It helps you to understand your family members a little bit more, and it may just help you to understand yourself a bit too.
And, don’t underestimate your children. As I explained in my Family History for Children blog, children are very curious and avid learners of their history. A good age, in my opinion, is about 4th grade.
There are many online programs out there to help you find records but do not ignore the many other outlets that can help you. I have reached out to many other researchers and genealogists in the past to help guide me in the right direction. Some I have hired to look up documents for me in a place I was not able to go to myself. Also, see my post on using Facebook to help you in your research.
Maybe you are not curious enough about your family roots to spend hours digging through historical databases. That is where Family History Researchers like myself can help.
At www.loganalogy.com, there are many ways in which I can assist you in your family history research. I not only blog about my ancestors and family research in general, but I also offer other services.
An online genealogy basics class, I provide one-on-one tutoring as well as group tutoring in the Florida, online consultations, and I offer my Family History Research Specialist service.
So, visit me at www.loganalogy.com today, and let’s build something together!
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A couple of weeks ago, I received my jury notice. Yes, like you, I immediately rolled my eyes and groaned. But, as the date got closer, my curiosity got the better of me.
The first day was the narrowing of the jury, but it was very tiresome. The waiting around and the same questions were fraying my nerves, but I was one of the seven picked. The guards called us the “Lucky Seven.” We were to report to trial the next day.
The trial was going to be an interesting one. An assault case but not a cut-and-dry matter. I was excited to fulfill my obligation as an American citizen. Our court system has been tried this way for over 200-400 years, and I would be a part of that history. And, to think, it was only one year before I was born that women could even serve on a jury!
The trial lasted only one day. The whole process was fascinating. Not the interesting you see on television, but many of the same aspects, weighing evidence, hearing testimonies of witnesses, etc. The hardest part is not speculating or giving an opinion.
Yes, it is an obligation to serve, but it is also a privilege and an honor. I will not roll my eyes the next time I get a summons.
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