The Knights of Romsey - 52 Ancestors #19

The tangled tale of the Knights of Romsey, Hampshire, England. Try to follow all the family connections if you can. 

William & Elizabeth (Carter) Knight lived in Romsey, Hampshire, England and had at least four children according to baptismal records. The oldest son, Richard, was baptized in May 1589 and buried in June 1596. Next came daughter, Thomasine, who was baptized in June 1590. The other two children, John (baptized in January 1595) and Richard (baptized in January 1603) came to the Massachusetts Bay colony on the James in 1635 and settled in Newbury. They are both called tailors. 

John Knight was married and had several children but only two were living when they family came to the colonies. He married Elizabeth Vincent on March 29, 1624 in Romsey. Their children were:

1. Elizabeth baptized on May 16, 1625 and buried two days later. 
2. John baptized on May 14, 1626.
3. Elizabeth baptized on October 13, 1628 and buried six days later. 
4. Elizabeth baptized on May 22, 1632 and no further record. 
5. Mary baptized on August 10, 1634.
6. Sarah was born after they came to the colonies, probably about 1636.

Elizabeth (Vincent) Knight died on March 20, 1645 in Newbury and John would marry again. 

He and his son, John, married a mother and daughter but there is no record that shows which marriage came first. John, Sr. would marry Agnes (Langlye) Ingersoll between 1644-1652 and John, Jr. would marry Bathsheba Ingersoll before 1648. 

John Knight, Sr. appears to have been quite prosperous as he had a servant, William Nef. He also paid court fines for two women. On April 8, 1651, he paid a fine for Frances Usellton so she would not be whipped but her crime is not listed and I can find no other information on her. On March 27, 1666, he paid the fine for Elnor Bryer so she would not be whipped for the crime of fornication.  A Sketch of the History of Newbury, Newburyport, and West Newbury, from 1635 to 1845, by Joshua Coffin shows a Richard Bryer married Eleanor Wright on December 26, 1665. She died August 29, 1672. and the couple had three children born between 1667-1670. It is unclear if this is the Elnor Bryer for whom John Knight, Sr. paid the fine but it is the only reference to an Elnor Bryner that I could find. 

Richard Knight, brother of John Sr., married a woman named Agnes before 1626. The couple had children born on both sides of the Atlantic. 

1. A Stillborn child was buried on June 17, 1626 in Romsey. 
2. Richard was buried July 15, 1627. 
3. William was baptized on December 7, 1628 in Romsey. 
4. Anna was baptized on May 5, 1631 in Romsey. She would come to Massachusetts and marry Henry Jaques on October 8, 1648. 
5. Richard was baptized on October 18, 1633 in Romsey. 
6. Elizabeth was born between 1634 and 1641. She married Anthony Morse on May 8, 1660. 
7. Rebecca was born on March 3, 1642 and married Abiel Somerby on November 13, 1661. 
8. Sarah was born on February 23, 1648 and married John Kelley on May 20, 1663. 

Richard Knight was in the court record on May 5, 1663. "Richard Knight and Hugh Marsh" were presented "for playing cards at the house of the former." One of the witnesses against them was Bathsheba (Ingersoll) Knight, wife of John Knight, Jr., nephew of Richard Knight. 

John Knight, Sr. died in May 1670 and Richard Knight died on August 4, 1683. 

So ends the tale of these two Knights of Romsey. 

Lines of descent:
William Knight - John Knight, Sr. (he married second Agnes (Langlye) Ingersoll and his son married her daughter) - John Knight, Jr. (he married Bathsheba, daughter of Richard & Agnes (Langlye) Ingersoll. Bathsheba testified against her husband's uncle, Richard Knight) - Richard Knight -Henry Knight - Eunice Knight - Hannah Sawyer - Catherine Hilton - Loann Churchill - Anna J. Rowe - Eva D. Hayes - Linona A. Yates - my grandmother

William Knight -Richard Knight - Anna Knight - Elizabeth Jaques m. Richard Knight (see above)

Richard Ingersoll m. Agnes Langlye - George Ingersoll ( I also descend through his sister, Bathsheba, who married John Knight, Jr.) - Samuel Ingersoll - Dorcas Ingersoll - Jonathan Rowe - William Rowe - William Rowe - Stephen B. Rowe - Charles H. N. Rowe - Anna J. Rowe (see above).

Hugh March (Marsh) - George March - Sarah March - Elizabeth Deering - Eliakim Emmons - Jacob Emmons - Laura Emmons - Estes G. Yates - Linona Alice Yates - my grandmother. 

In Genealogy Heaven - NERGC 2015 - Day 2

Today was another whirlwind day at NERGC in Providence.

Creating Maine Towns

I started my day with a great presentation, "Creating Maine Towns: How the Wilderness was Tamed" and was so impressed with the dynamic speaker, Carol Prescott McCoy, that I went to see another of her presentations in the afternoon. She talked about all my favorite places, like Sudbury, Canada, which isn't really Canada at all but Bethel, Maine and New Marblehead, which is now the town of Windham, Maine, where I live and teach. She even referenced my ancestor, William Cotton of Woodstock. Carol lives in Brunswick and has a genealogy business called Find Your Roots.

The second presentation was a fascinating case study where she outlined her process in trying to identify the mother of Mary Drummond.  Mary's father was quite easy to find, but her mother is a bit of a riddle. Thomas Drummond was an escaped slave who became a clothes dresser (tailor) and town crier in New Bedford, Massachusetts. His story is pretty fascinating as he came to own about $1500 worth of property, a sizable amount for any person in the early 19th century, much less a person of color. He was married twice and the second marriage took place just before or just after his daughter, Mary's birth. The records are conflicting, but the story is really interesting. 

In between Carol McCoy's presentations, I went to see Judy Russell's presentation on Women & the Law and although I thought I knew quite a bit about the topic, I definitely learned a lot more. As usual, she had really great examples to illustrate her points. I also went to see Diane Gravel's presentation, "Women in the World of Piracy". 

Of course, there was also all the networking, meeting new people, checking out exhibitors, and visiting with my favorite geneabloggers. By the end of each day, my brain is full! 

52 Ancestors #13 - Ellen Pell, Marriage Trifecta

It's difficult to find information about female colonial ancestors. However, Ellen Pell is very intriguing because of her three marriages. That is not unusual for colonial times given the illnesses and accidents that befell those trying to make a life in the colonies. What is unusual is that all three of her husbands are connected to my family lines.


Her first marriage was to a tailor, John Boynton, an early immigrant to Rowley, Massachusetts. She and John had seven children. Their oldest child, Capt. Joseph Boynton was born in 1645. John Boynton and Capt. Joseph Boynton are my 11th and 10th great-grandfathers, respectively.

Her second husband was Maximillian Jewett, another early immigrant to Rowley. He was born in Bradford, Yorkshire, England and died in Rowley on October 19, 1684. They were married on August 30, 1671. Maximillian and his first wife, Ann, are my 9th great-grandparents through their daughter, Faith. This is the signature of Maximillian Jewett from an early deed.

Third time's a charm?

After Maximillian's death, Ellen married Daniel Warner, son of Great Migration immigrant, William Warner. They were married on June 1, 1686. Daniel's sister, Abigail Warner, is my 9th great-grandmother.






Maximillian Jewett & Ann
Faith Jewett
Sarah Dowse
Sarah Pinson
Thomas Capen
Thomas Capen, Jr.
Timothy Capen
Edward Abbott Capen
Fannie May Capen
T. Richard Carter - my grandfather on dad's side

William Warner & unknown wife
Abigail Warner - Sister of Ellen's third husband, Daniel
Thomas Wells
Joshua Bartlett
Lydia Bartlett
Nancy Ripley
Galen Blake
Charles Galen Blake
Harriet May Blake
Clayton Leonard Blake - my grandfather on mom's side

John Boynton & Ellen Pell
Joseph Boynton
Sarah Boynton
Susannah Tenney
Sarah Bailey
Sarah Emerson
Hannah Messer
Micajah Blake
Galen Blake
Charles Galen Blake - see above

Too Many Mouths to Feed

Although New England was generally a very prosperous place, not all immigrants were successful. This is the story of one such immigrant. Samuel Eddy was baptized in Cranbrook, Kent, England on May 15, 1608. Samuel does not appear in any ship's records but his brother, John, arrived in the Handmaid, in 1630. Since Samuel is shown to be in Plymouth in 1630, it is the general consensus that he likely came with his brother. Two sisters also came to the colonies: Abigail (Eddy) Benjamin, wife of John Benjamin and Anne (Eddy) Wines, wife of Barnabas Wines. The Eddy immigrants were the children of Rev. William and Mary (Fosten) Eddy. I am connected to John Eddy through my grandfather, Clayton Blake and to Samuel Eddy through my grandmother, Linona Yates.

Samuel was a tailor in England and continued in that profession in the colonies. He made uniforms for soldiers in King Philip's' War. He married a woman named Elizabeth. There is speculation that she may have been the sister of Thomas Savory of Plymouth. This is based on a transfer of land from Samuel Eddy to widow Ann Savory. The record states that the land was received from "our brother-in-law Samuel Eddy." Samuel and Elizabeth had five children: John b. 25 December 1637; Zachariah b. abt. 1639; Caleb b. abt. 1643; Obadiah b. abt. 1645 and Hannah b. 23 June 1647. 

Riches to Rags? 

In 1632/3, Thomas Brian, servant of Samuel Eddy, was brought before the council for running away from his master and was privately whipped. So it seems that initially, Samuel's family was doing well enough in their new home but that would change.

Evidently the tailoring business was not doing very well because three of the children were placed with other couples to be raised. Five was not a large family by the standards of the time but there may have been other children who died young and were not recorded. Still the family could not take care of them and in April 1645, they placed the first of their children, John, with the family of Francis and Katherine Goulder. Then the court record of 2 March 1646/7 states "Whereas Samuell Edeth & Elizabeth, his wife, of the town of Plim(outh) aforesaid, having many children and by reason of many wants lying upon them, so as they are not able to bring them up as they desire, and out of the good respect they bear Mr. John Browne, of Rehoboth, one of the Assistants of this government, did both of them jointly desire that he, the said Mr. Browne, would take Zachery, their son, being of the age of seven years, & bring him up in his employment of husbandry, or any business he shall see meet for the good of their child till he come to the age of one & twenty years," which Browne agreed to do. In March of 1652, Samuel and Elizabeth made a similar arrangement with Mr. John Browne for their son, Caleb, when he was nine years old. Further evidence of the poverty of the family is seen in the records that show Samuel Eddy regularly hired one of the cows which were maintained for the town's poor.

After putting out the oldest three boys, Samuel & Elizabeth had at least two more children. I wonder why the family ended up living in poverty despite Samuel's skill and evidence of better times in the 1630s. Was there an event that changed the circumstances of this family? Was there a family connection with John Browne or was he just someone known and respected by Samuel & Elizabeth?

Samuel Eddy & Elizabeth Savory?
John Eddy & Hepzibah Doggett
Alice Eddy & John Leach
Giles Leach & Anna Waterman
Elizabeth Leach & Jonathan Shurtleff
Lucy Shurtleff & Calvin Cole
Calvin Cole Jr & Betsey Judkins
Aphia Delphina Cole & Sydney Hayes
George Hayes & Anna Rowe
Eva Delphinia Hayes & Estes Yates
Linona Alice Yates - my grandmother

John Eddy, Sarah Eddy, Elizabeth Marion, Samuel Dearborn, Mary Dearborn, Benjamin Blake, David Blake, Micajah Blake, Galen Blake, Charles G. Blake, Harriet Mae Blake, Clayton L. Blake - my grandfather.

Plymouth Colony: Its History & People 1621-1691 by Eugene Aubrey Stratton. Ancestry Publishing. Salt Lake City. 1986.
http://www.mayflowerfamilies.com/enquirer/servitude.htm
http://www.americanancestors.org/pilgrim-families-samuel-eddy/