This is Chapter Eleven of eleven, being the last chapter of our narrative about the DeVoe Line. We hope that you have enjoyed following along, for this family line was sincerely, the most difficult to have researched due to certain enigmatic records… However, as we move toward the end of the 20th century, life still engages the DeVoe(s), as it has for many centuries.
Pressed Blossoms
Both of our grandmothers long out-lived our grandfathers. As such, neither of us knew our grandfathers at all. Susan knew both of our grandmothers: Mary Adele (McCall) Bond and Lulu Mae (DeVoe) Gore. However, Grandma Mary died when I was quite young, so Grandma Lulu was really the only grandmother I ever knew. She lived nearby and was a strong influence on our family.
More than fifty years ago she made me a birthday card with a few pressed blossoms from her garden and I recently found it tucked-in amongst some family photographs I was reviewing for this history. She was an avid gardener and the perfect simplicity of this card still means much to me.
— Thomas, with Susan
Most Signed Their Name With an “X”
Our ancestors are a mixed lot when it came to their educations. If they had money, they likely had the “3 R’s” of education: ‘reading, ‘riting, ‘rithmatic. These educations seemed to be offered to our male relatives first, then second to the female relatives. If our ancestors didn’t have money, some of them still could sign their name.
If they were poor, generally speaking, education was an unobtainable luxury. We have seen so many documents where they simply signed their names with an “X” which was accepted at that time. This made them dependent upon the courtesy of strangers, because witnesses were required to vouch for the signee.
Observation: Coming to understand this has helped explain why we have records for some of our ancestors that are inconsistent, with weird name spellings, incorrect locations, etc. It became apparent that many of our relatives couldn’t comprehend the words, but they knew that they were signing a contract, a deed, or a will...
The Class of ’99
Having an education became an increasingly important need as the world became more modern. Our Grandmother Lulu was the first person ever in her family, who as a young woman, to have graduated from high school — in the Chagrin Falls, Ohio, high school Class of 1899. (Then known as the Union School on Philomethian Street). None of her siblings accomplished this.
What is remarkable is this — that especially in that era, there were many people who thought it wasn’t necessary for a woman to be educated. Despite that prejudice, we believe that she was likely encouraged by her grandfather Peter A. DeVoe, who was a man who valued education. She became the beneficiary of his guidance, support, and encouragement throughout her youth. Most certainly, she always spoke fondly, almost reverently, about him.
The Union School, built in 1885, was the home of the High School until 1914. Photograph courtesy of cfhs.me — Discover Chagrin Falls History.
Coming from a poor family and achieving this feat was rather astonishingand must have taken tremendous effort on her part. To accomplish this, she moved away from her parents in Russell township, and lived as a household servant for a family in Chagrin Falls while attending school.
After her high school graduation, she went through teacher training and at the very beginning of the 20th century, she worked as a schoolteacher at different one-room schoolhouses in the area. One of the schools is located in Chester township, in Geauga County, and was then known as District School No. 2, or also, as the Scotland School. It still stands today and is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. (1)
The former Chester Township District School No. 2 was also known as Scotland School. Originally built in 1847, it was used as a one-room schoolhouse until 1926, when it closed.
Some Things Change, and Then… Some Things Transform
In the present day, the Village of Chagrin Falls in Ohio, is considered to be an upscale place to live with many nice homes, beautiful scenery, good schools… Typical town boosters might describe it enthusiastically, like this: “Chagrin Falls, Ohio, nestled in the picturesque Cuyahoga County, offers a charming and idyllic lifestyle that beckons residents seeking tranquility, beauty, and a strong sense of community.”
When our grandparents were alive, they certainly would have been much more circumspect in their description of the area. In their era, Chagrin Falls was a nice, but small working-class hamlet, with a village center remarkable for its triangular shape, and a bent wood bandstand where they would waltz to music. We can recall our mother Marguerite describing that many of the houses in her 1920s childhood, really needed painting, — and this was before the Great Depression.
Images of the town of Chagrin Falls, Ohio from the 1870s through the 1910s. Top row, left to right: The High Falls, after which the town is named. Right: The Chagrin Falls park band which performed in the Triangle Park gazebo. Middle center image: Map of the town from the 1892 Cuyahoga County Atlas. Bottom row, left: Main Street. Center: The Atlas cover sheet. Right: Triangle Park in the 1870s before the gazebo was built.
Our grandparents would put Marguerite in the Model T and go to the village for a haircut about once a month, while they also took care of other errands. Mom had an uncle on her father’s side who gave haircuts, (maybe Uncle Forest?) and also another uncle on her mother’s side (Uncle Frank) who did the same. It turns out that Uncle Frank was the craftier of the two, because he always gave her a lollipop when her haircut was done. Apparently it was always a drama to get her to go and see Uncle Forest, and who could blame a kid when lollipops were involved?
Marguerite Lulu (Gore) Bond, circa 1922. (Family photograph).
Knowing our mother as we did, in our mind’s eye, it seems likely she got bored hanging out at the farm, and longed for a bit more excitement in her life. When she was a young teenager, she worked for a time at Speice’s Drug Store as a soda-fountain jerk. The shop was located near the center of the Chagrin Falls village, about as far away from the farm as she could get in those days. It was the first job she had in a long career associated with food.
From Wikipedia: “Soda jerk… is an American term used to refer to a person… who would operate the sodafountain in a drugstore, preparing and serving soda [we actually said soda-pop] drinks and ice cream sodas. The drinks were made by mixing flavored syrup, carbonated water, and occasionally malt powder over either ice or a few scoops of ice cream. The drink would then be served in a tall glass with a long-handled spoon, most commonly known as a “soda spoon”, and drinking straws.”
Likely thinking she was a bit older than she actually was, we’re certain that Mom pictured her career as a soda fountain jerk with starry eyes… After all, the Depression was in full swing and after the local movie theater let out, all the cool kids went to the soda fountain. Maybe she thought her new career would be like this scene from a Hollywood movie?
To this day, as far as we know, Chagrin Falls, Ohio, has never had palm trees, nor pith helmets.
Our mother led an interesting life. To see more about her, here are some of the other narratives in which she is written about. (Please see The Gore Line, A Narrative — Eight, The Peterman Line, A Narrative, and The Bond Line, A Narrative — Seven). (2)
Lulu Mae DeVoe Becomes Mrs. Harley Gore
It is through Lulu that we connect to the Mayflower through two different family lines. We will be writing about this lineage when we document the Warner line.
Harley William Gore and Lulu Mae (DeVoe) Gore around the time of their wedding in 1905. (Family photographs).
In 1905, Lulu left her teaching career behind and married Harley William Gore becoming both a mother and a farmer’s wife. We believe that they met at a dance, or perhaps a picnic, and were introduced by mutual friends or family. At that time, it was a typical way to meet a young man during the Edwardian era. Social relationships were strictly defined by an unwritten set of rules. Young women had chaperones and one didn’t date, one was courted… All these years later, we’ve lost the thread of details about their courtship, but Grandmother used to mention dances in Triangle Park, in Chagrin Falls, and picnics at Pioneer Park at Punderson Lake in Newbury township.
Harley William Gore and Lulu Mae Devoe marriage application, 1905.
They had three children, all born in Russell township, Geauga County, Ohio:
Leland Harley Gore, born September 30, 1906 — died October 1, 1993
Elwyn Clinton Gore, born May 12, 1909 — died February 13, 1935
Marguerite Lulu (Gore) Peterman Bond, born June 28, 1920 — died March 4, 1999 (We are descended from Marguerite).
Some material for this aspect of our family narratives is covered in other narratives. We have written quite a bit about their life together, their children, and their extended family. (Please see The Gore Line, A Narrative — Eight).
We know that Grandma Gore was born at home and that there was no birth certificate. However, at some point in her life she needed one (perhaps to collect Social Security?) and the family had to “locate” two very ancient ladies that testified that she was born when and where she was… (3)
Parlor Games
For most people, television didn’t become a viable option for home entertainment until the middle of the 1950s. In prior decades, our ancestors had to be creative in how they entertained themselves in their limited leisure time. First, with the advent of the Edison phonograph, and then the development of home radios, suddenly there were many more options.
The Golden Age of Radio As a result, its popularity grew rapidly in the late 1920s and early 1930s, and by 1934, 60 percent of the nation’s households had radios. One and a half million cars were also equipped with them. The 1930s were the Golden Age of radio.
The History of the Radio Industry in the United States to 1940 Carole E. Scott, State University of West Georgia
For our ancestors who were of an older age by the time the mid-century period came along, some of their traditional entertainment choices prevailed. One such choice was card games — especially Gin Rummy, Pinochle, and Canasta!
Most people today have probably not heard of Canasta, but it was extremely popular in the late 1940s through the 1950s. Our Grandmother, along with our Uncle George, our Aunts, and their respective spouses, (and other friends) would gather at each other’s homes for potluck Canasta parties. Up to ten tables would be arranged, and the games began. Everyone would compete, shift to different players at other tables, and eventually someone would win a prize. We could be a bit wistful and say times were simpler then — and in some aspects they were, but in other ways, not so much — it was just another era. (4)
One Day in 1966, the Cleveland Press Came to Call
Lulu Gore in her flower garden in July 1966, as published in the following article Gifted Gardener Is Mrs. Lulu Gore, from the Cleveland Press, July 1966. (Family photograph).Gifted Gardener Is Mrs. Lulu Gore, Published in the Cleveland Press, July 1966. Garden photographs courtesy of finegardening.com.
Being Rooted In One Place
Lulu had deep devotion to her family, and her farm, but her passion was her ardent love of gardening, as the above article from the Cleveland Press newspaper highlights. We recall how the long rows of peony plants which lined her driveway, how the ancient maple trees surrounding the house provided shade in the hot summers, the way that boughs of lilacs perfumed the Spring air… We were allowed to play in these gardens, but there was an ever-present warning to be careful, stay on the garden paths, and not damage the plants… (in other words, we needed to be respectful of her hard work).
Her extended family filled the surrounding communities and existed in many ways like our Irish ancestors did with their kith, kin, and clan sensibilities. This gives us pause to think that perhaps this is what it was like for many of our European ancestors in their communities before they immigrated first to the British Colonies in America, then to the United States. Communities gather together for a few generations and then they change, with some leaving and establishing their own respective “center”.
For those of us who have moved around much as adults, it sometimes feels a bit constraining to think about living in one place for a very long time, but this is what Lulu did. She planted deep roots in her community and lived her entire life like the progressive rings from one of her grand maple trees — all within a five mile radius of where she was born.
“A single great tree can make a kind of garden, an entirely new place on the land, and in my mind I was already visiting the place my maple made, resting in its shade.
I’d decided on a maple because I’ve always liked the kind of light and air an old one seems to sponsor around itself. Maples suggest haven. They always look comfortable next to houses, in summer gathering the cool air under their low-hanging boughs and ushering it toward open windows.
Now I knew this wouldn’t happen overnight, probably not even in my lifetime, but wasn’t that precisely the point? To embark on a project that would outlast me, to plant a tree whose crown would shade not me, but my children or, more likely, the children of strangers?
Tree planting is always a utopian enterprise, it seems to me, a wager on a future the planter doesn’t necessarily expect to witness.”
Michael Pollan, “Putting Down Roots“ The New York Times Magazine, May 6, 1990
Lulu Mae (Devoe) Gore died four days before she would have been 93 years old. She is buried in Riverview Cemetery in Russell, Ohio next to her husband Harley William Gore, amidst many generations of other extended family members. (For more on their lives together, please see the chapter, The Gore Line, A Narrative —Eight).
She had once written a poem, titled…
When I Quit
When I quit this mortal shore And mosey ’round this earth no more, Don’t weep, don’t sigh, don’t grieve, don’t sob I may have struck a better job.
Don’t go and buy a large bouquet For which you’ll find it hard to pay. Don’t hang ’round me looking blue, I may be better off than you!
Don’t tell folks I was a Saint Or anything you know I ain’t. If you have stuff like that to spread Please hand it out before I’m dead.
If you have roses, bless your soul. Just pin one on my button hole. But do it while I’m at my best Instead of when I’m safe at rest.
She was the person in our family who helped us gain an appreciation for genealogical research. One day she looked off into the middle distance and made a comment about her family having had picnics at cemeteries. That sounded (!) completely odd to us, but it turns out it was once a thing. From Atlas Obscura: “During the 19th century, and especially in its later years, snacking in cemeteries happened across the United States. It wasn’t just apple-munching alongside the winding avenues of graveyards. Since many municipalities still lacked proper recreational areas, many people had full-blown picnics in their local cemeteries. The tombstone-laden fields were the closest things, then, to modern-day public parks.”
Lulu’s handwritten genealogy notes as she diagrammed her family relationships. (Family epherma).
Furthermore, “One of the reasons why eating in cemeteries become a “fad,” as some reporters called it, was that epidemics were raging across the country: Yellow fever and cholera flourished, children passed away before turning 10, women died during childbirth. Death was a constant visitor for many families, and in cemeteries, people could “talk” and break bread with family and friends, both living and deceased.”
One wonders if perhaps in their collective afterlife… our family members are still enjoying each other’s company breaking bread at family picnics? (5)
Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials, Notes, and Observations
The Class of ’99
(1) — two records
Flickr.com One-room school house Photograph by Steve Mather https://www.flickr.com/photos/mathersteve/29573949615 Note: “Circa-1900, one-room school house. Wood & cast iron desks with inkwells. Tall stool and cone-shaped dunce cap. Teacher’s wooden desk with oil lamp. American flag. Slate chalk board. Framed photos of of American Presidents…”
Part 1. Chagrin Falls (1892 atlas map) by George F. Cram, J. Q. A. Bennett, and J. H. Beers https://archive.org/details/dr_part-1-chagrin-falls-12048097 Note: “This atlas gives a detailed cartographic record of the City of Cleveland, Ohio, and the surrounding areas in Cuyahoga County in 1892. 52 maps show Cleveland. Cram was known mostly for his world atlases and occasional regional atlases. This city and county atlas may be one of the few that he published.”
Canasta https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canasta Whitman Canasta Playing Cards Set with Box Red Roses MCM Vintage Double Deck Note: Canasta playing cars image courtesy of eBay.com.
One Day in 1966, the Cleveland Press Came to Call and Being Rooted In One Place
(5) — ten records
The article about our Grandmother’s floral garden was published in July 1966 in the Cleveland Press newspaper, which ceased publishing in 1982.
“Settle somewhere, become established, as in We’ve put down roots here and don’t want to move away. This metaphoric expression, first recorded in 1921, likens the rooting of a plant to human settlement”. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/put-down-roots#
These pedigree charts are included as an additional guide to support our narrative history chapters for The Bond Line.
Note 1: Each pedigree chart has a title located at the top, indicated by the name of the ancestor, who is documented starting as shown on the far left. Note 2: Charts flow starting at the near present time to the past. Note 3: Clicking on the file will expand it.
Key to our codes: b = birth p = place m = marriage d = death
This is Chapter Eight of eight, and our last chapter in the Gore Line. This family line has been the longest and deepest family research we have yet undertaken, but the effort has been worth it. Ancestors that we once only knew by name, they are now — well — many of them are familiar.
We grew up where our parents built their home in a small, rural farming township in northeast Ohio, in the Western Reserve, where we have much history. We were surrounded by farm fields, some small light-industry businesses, and lots and lots of trees. Ironically, our early ancestors had entered the area, and spent a long time clearing away the dense forest to make farmland, which aligned with their New England viewpoints. Good thing they missed a few trees…
Our Grandfather Harley Gore Made Maple Syrup
Depending upon whom you ask, (because there are lots of opinions on this), it generally takes about 12 gallons of sugar-maple tree sap to make one quart of maple syrup. Think about that the next time you generously slather it on your Grand Slam stack of flapjacks — no wonder it’s so expensive.
Grandfather Harley had a sugaring shack back in what they then called the West Woods section of their farm, where there was lots of forest, occasionally cleaved by the tributary called Silver Creek. The sugaring shack was a ruin by the time we took any interest in it, but by then Harley had already left this world. (1)
As The Victorian Age Gave Way to The Edwardian Age
Harley Gore is the youngest son of Dorr B. Gore and Ann Susan (Booth) Gore. He was born June 7, 1881 Russell township, Geauga County, Ohio – died November 24, 1941 Newbury township, Geauga, Ohio.
He married Lulu Mae DeVoe on December 3, 1905 in Chagrin Falls, Cuyahoga County, Ohio. She was born on April 8, 1882 Russell township, Geauga County, Ohio – died April 4, 1975, Chardon township, Geauga County, Ohio (four days before her 93rd birthday).
Her parents were Clinton Chauncey DeVoe, born April 10, 1858 in New York – died November 19, 1930 Russell, Geauga, Ohio. He married Clara Antionette McClintock on November 18, 1877 in Ohio. She was born July 14, 1860 in Solon township, Cuyahoga, Ohio – died September 6, 1932 Chagrin Falls, Cuyahoga, Ohio.
Harley William Gore and Lulu Mae Devoe marriage application, 1905.
Our Grandmother Lulu, was the first person in her lineage to graduate from high school — from Chagrin Falls High School in the class of 1899. She worked as a domestic servant at a residence in Chagrin Falls to support herself while attending school. After graduation she was a teacher in one-room schoolhouses in the area, until she married Harley Gore in 1905.
Harley William Gore and Lulu Mae (DeVoe) Gore around the time of their wedding in 1905. (Family photographs).
They had three children, all born in Russell township, Geauga County, Ohio:
Leland Harley Gore, born September 30, 1906 — died July 29, 2008
Elwyn Clinton Gore, born May 12, 1909 — died July 29, 2008
Marguerite Lulu (Gore) Peterman Bond, born June 28, 1920 — died March 4, 1999 (We are descended from Marguerite). (2)
Marguerite Lulu Gore, circa 1936. (Family photograph).
Our Uncles, Our Aunt, and — Their Families
Note: All births, deaths, and marriages are in Geauga County, Ohio unless otherwise noted.
Leland Gore and Forrestine (McFarland) Gore, June 1946. (Film stills from the wedding of Dean and Marguerite Bond).
Uncle Leland and Aunt Forrestine Our Uncle Leland was the oldest son in the family. He was born on September 30, 1906 Russell township, Geauga, Ohio – died October 1, 1993 Mount Dora, Lake County, Florida. He married Marjorie Forrestine McFarland, April 12, 1926 in Chagrin Falls, Cuyahoga, Ohio. She was born February 28, 1904 Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio – died March 30, 1991, in Mount Dora, Lake, Florida.
They had two children:
William Eugene Gore, born January 14, 1927 Bainbridge, Geauga, Ohio — died July 13, 2013, Eustis, Lake, Florida.
William “Bill” Gore was married to Marilyn Jean Potter (March 27, 1934 – January 11, 2018). Bill and Marilyn have two sons:
Larry Eugene Gore, born 1952
William Harley Gore, born 1953
Jerrie Lee (Gore) Hill, born July 15, 1929 Bainbridge township, Ohio — died July 10, 2023 Euclid, Cuyahoga, Ohio. Like her grandmother Lulu Gore, Jerri died just five days before her 94th birthday.
Jerrie Lee Gore married Denver Gates Hill, Jr., on September 12, 1949 in Geauga County, Ohio, where was born on August 24, 1928 – died April 21, 2013 in Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio.
They had three children:
Victoria “Vicki” Lynn Hill, born 1950
Denise Ann (Hill) Mitchell, born February 3, 1952 — died August 9, 1995
Dirk Regan Hill, born 1955
Uncle Elwyn Clinton Gore Our Uncle Elwyn died as a young man in a tragic and violent logging accident when he was 25. His death was a shock to the family and he was mourned for many years. He was born on May 12, 1909 in Russell township, Geauga, Ohio – died February 13, 1935 in Auburn township, Geauga, Ohio.
Elwyn Clinton Gore, circa 1921. Family photograph.
When Elwyn died in 1935, it was the midst of the Great Depression and the family could not afford to provide him with a headstone. Our grandparents planted a pine tree to mark his resting place, until such time in the future when an appropriate marker could be placed. A family monument was eventually installed, but to this day, the pine tree still stands there resolutely guarding our relatives. (3)
Our Mother Marguerite, and Her Two Marriages
Marguerite Lulu (Gore) Peterman Bond, the only daughter, was born June 28, 1920 Russell township, Geauga, Ohio – died March 4, 1999 Burton township, Geauga, Ohio.
Marguerite was married twice: first, to Clarence Arthur Peterman Jr., September 19, 1936 in Ripley, Chautauqua, New York – their marriage ended by May of 1942, when they divorced. (Please see The Peterman Line, A Narrative).Note: In our mother’s first marriage, her first child, a son named James Elwyn Peterman, died soon after he was born.
She married second, our father, Dean Phillip Bond, June 26, 1946 in Newbury township, Geauga, Ohio. He was born August 15, 1919 East Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio – died September 24, 1996 Chardon township, Geauga, Ohio. (Please see The Bond Line, A Narrative — Seven). Note: Dean Bond adopted both Jo Ann and John Alfred Peterman as his children. Their surnames changed from Peterman to Bond after the adoption was completed.
Together they had six children:
Jo Ann (Bond) White, born May 9, 1939, in Bedford, Cuyahoga, Ohio — died August 6, 2010 in Chagrin Falls, Cuyahoga, Ohio. Married Wayne Ronald White, October 5, 1958 — divorced November 16, 1977
John Alfred Bond, born 1940 First Marriage: Marjorie Ann (Narusch) Bond, October 28, 1961 — divorced November 29, 1977. Second Marriage: Susanne (Ficht) Bond, June 17, 1987
Susan Deanna Bond, born 1947
Daniel Earl Bond, born 1950 Married Betty Jane Roberts, November 21, 1975
Richard Dean Bond, born December 20, 1952, in East Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio — died May 15, 2022, in Ravenna, Portage, Ohio
Thomas Harley Bond, born 1958 Married Leandro Jose Oliveira Coutinho, June 26, 2008 (4)
Conductor 193 on The Interurban Line
You may have noticed that our Grandfather Harley looked rather dapper in his conductor uniform for what people called The Interurban, otherwise known as the Cleveland and Eastern Electric Railway. (The parent company had the curious name of The Eastern Ohio Traction Company).
“In the late 1800’s the rolling hills of Geauga County were dotted with small farming communities linked by simple dirt roads. Most local travel was done either on foot or by hitching Old Bessie [a horse] to a wagon or sleigh, which posed many difficulties in periods of inclement weather. For longer journeys, the only other transportation available was via two steam railroads... From late autumn until spring… the normally dusty roads [were] impassible muddy ruts that were often frozen and snow covered for most of the winter. Travel in Geauga County, known for its abundant snowfalls, was difficult if not impossible most of the colder months.” [ceihsmu article]
The route that Harley was responsible for was the Chagrin Falls, Garrettsville, Hiram, Youngstown line. The red portion indicates the section which ran directly in front of his Newbury township farm property.
From writer Dan Rager, “Yes, there was a time when Geauga County was nothing but dirt roads, often impassable, and farms — farms with no easy way to get their produce to the city. The electric railroad known as the Cleveland and Eastern Electric Railway became a lifeline between the farms of Geauga county and the bustling city of Cleveland, according to the historical society. The interurbans, as they were popularly known, crisscrossed northern Ohio and provided economical and efficient access between Cleveland and the countryside…”
Observation: It is sometimes difficult for those of us who have grown up in a modern world — with paved roads, heated homes, hot tap water, and myriad groceries at our fingertips the year ’round, to appreciate how different the world was one hundred years ago. Where our ancestors lived was still really quite rural and remote from where most people lived.
Here is an easy example of the difference between the eras: Now, when most of us want to run to the store to grab a gallon of milk, we just grab our car keys, pull the car out of the garage, and run over to the local grocery — and while we are there we — pick up some Haagen-Dazs ice cream too (because > reasons).
Then, our grandparents had it much harder when it came to obtaining their food. For starters, there was no such thing as two-percent milk, nor Haagen-Dazs. (sad face) The ability to just jump in the car and zoom down to the store was science fiction straight out of an H.G. Wells novel. What is a quick jaunt today, would involve bringing out the horse(s), hooking up the wagon, or buggy, scheduling the time it would take in your busy day, etc., …and don’t forget the shovel, in case the horses decide to, well you know…
Various Cleveland and Eastern Electric Railway graphics, photos, and epherma. (See footnotes).
Back to writer Dan Rager, “…the interurban served a valuable purpose… It brought milk and produce from Geauga county farms to the city of Cleveland, and mail and other goods from Cleveland to the countryside, he said, adding city dwellers took the train to enjoy the country and those living out in the country took the train to see shows and shop in the city. Groups would even charter the trains for outings and picnics.”
The interurban lines existed from the 1890s until circa 1925, when they fell into disrepair due to technological changes with the development of bus lines, and the advent of the personal automobile. By that period, our Grandfather Harley had forsaken his railway career and now worked as a farmer. (5)
Their Life On The Farm
In 1910, the census records indicate that Harley and Lulu were renting farm property somewhere in Newbury township, and we know that later in that same decade, they were living “just next door” in Russell township. This is because they had moved to another farm, where they had rented property at the Russell/Newbury township border. (This is where our mother Marguerite was born).
Photos from the early 1920s. Left image: Lulu and Harley Gore. Right image: Brother and sister — Leland and Marguerite Gore.
In 1920, when Marguerite was one month old, they moved again, to a large farm property they had purchased in Newbury township. This is where Lulu, Harley, and Marguerite lived for the rest of their lives, and for Leland, in actuality, for most of his life too. So let’s just call it what it is (sotto voce) — same street syndrome. In their history together, the Gore families eventually all lived near each other on the same street.
The distance from the Harley Gore Farm, Russell township on the left, to Leland Gore Newbury township on the right, is about 3-4 miles as the bumble bee flies. Right in the middle are the homes of our Gore Grandparents, and Marguerite Bond’s home with Dean Bond, which is where we grew up.
When our Grandmother Lulu was in her 80s, we asked here about what it was like in “olden times” when she was involved in running the farm. She said that they were up and dressed before dawn and that the animals — meaning the cows, horses, chickens, pig, cats, and dog — all were fed and watered before anything else was done. That would make at least 1-2 hours of time. Then, while the men continued to work, she came back to the house and started a fire in the wood stove, to cook breakfast for the family and the hired farm hands. Everything had to be made fresh, because there was no refrigeration.
After that, Harley and the other men would head back out to the fields and barns to continue their chores. That would involve many things, such as plowing, planting, cleaning stalls, fence mending, animal veterinary skills, chopping wood, and so on. Lulu would clean up after breakfast, empty the chamber pots, and put the house in order, gather eggs, fetch water, tend to sewing, work in the vegetable garden, prepare a mid-day meal, do laundry, then hang it out to dry, slaughter a chicken, prepare dinner, etc. Just a dizzying array of tasks!
Observation: People were busy (!) and tapping out this history on a keyboard makes us feel like sedentary ground sloths by comparison. We don’t know how they found time for other things, but obviously they did. Before television, there were picnics, card parties, garden clubs, and grange meetings. We heard that Harley was quite a history buff. Also, at a community level, he was involved in making sure that the cows were properly treated for TB, which can be found in unpasteurized milk.
The simple facts were these…
Radio was just starting to come into people’s lives, so after dinner, the family would listen to the radio, or read.
Saturday was the day when everyone had a bath from a tub which was set up in the kitchen.
When Marguerite was born, she eventually attended a one-room school house for the first few years, until the regular school was built in 1928. She told us that her father used to walk her to school about three miles each way.
If something wasn’t available, you would just need to make do with what was at hand.
March 1999, Volume 10, issue of the Russell Township Historical Society Newsletter, page 2.
Sometimes we find a bit of family history which comes along and captures some of the simple pleasures they found in life. Shown above is page two from a local historical newsletter. (Page one is in The Gore Line, A Narrative — Seven). (6)
Sunny hanging out with the Gore family heirloom chair. Family photo, Honolulu, Hawaii, 2023.
An Heirloom Story
What does an heirloom represent?
The chair pictured above descends from the Gore Line and has been in our family for about 200 years, probably even longer. We don’t know specifically when it entered our family’s history, but it seems like it must have been during the Gore family’s time when living in either Vermont State, or New York State.
Our mother used to sit in this chair and rock her children, and her grandchildren. Like the many Grandmothers before her, she was quietly there, loving her children as best she could.
“Heirlooms represent family history, wealth, and treasured memories. They’re more than objects, serving as symbols for stories that deserve to be recounted and preserved indefinitely. Their value is not necessarily monetary, but deeply emotional. A family heirloom connects you to the struggles and successes of your loved ones, and because of that, they’re irreplaceable.” [The Magic Of An Heirloom]
This was a truth for our generation, our parents generation, their parents before them, and so forth…
When our mother Marguerite died in 1999, her own memories erased and long-dimmed by illness, we had emptied out her home a few years earlier. Our Pop had passed in 1996, and since Mom required complete care, living at home was not an option anymore. When we removed things from the walls, the patterns of their living emerged — years of smoking had tattooed the walls with outlined patterns of the former objects once held there. When the house was empty, we didn’t miss the building. We missed their things. Their objects, mementos, heirlooms — all of these things represented them.
“An heirloom is often the final, fragile link to the memory of a parent or loved one, making it invaluable. Handed down for generations, the stories behind them become the stuff of family lore, ensuring that the legacy of the one who passed it on is immortalized.”
from The Magic Of An Heirloom
When writing these genealogy chapters, we have uncovered many interesting stories about our ancestors. Hopefully, the histories we are documenting, will pass through time and represent our own way of sharing an heirloom of memories with future family descendants. (7)
Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials, Notes, and Observations
Marriage documents for Dean Phillip Bond and Marguerite (Gore) Peterman. In looking at this document, it seems obvious that Reverend Clarence E. Hall had been trained initially to write with a quill pen. (Family documents).
From our family documents: Russell Township Historical Society Newsletter March 1999, Volume 10, Issue 8, pages 1 and 2 Note: Page 1 is also found in the footnotes for The Gore Line, A Narrative — Seven.
This is Chapter Seven of eight. We have been covering many interesting centuries of the Gore Family and their forebears, but now we are coming up on these modern times. For the most part, our ancestors are now firmly established in Ohio, living as either farmers, tradesmen, or keeping house.
Where Did These Things Come From?
Tucked in among the paperwork and family ephemera we went through when our Grandmother Lulu Gore died in 1975, were several different anti-slavery newspapers. They both surprised and baffled us because our family stories were silent on the subject of slavery — we wondered how these things had come into the family.
A clue was hiding in plain site on the top of one of the newspapers, where the name Wm Munn had been written in with a quill pen. (This was not really a surprise, because the local Munn family had been in the area as long as our family had, and perhaps, even a bit longer. However, we didn’t see the connection yet). Almost 50 years later, the mystery was solved when we wrote The Gore Line, A Narrative — Six, our previous chapter. In that section, we learned that our Great-Great-Grandfather Luke Gore had been a town clerk in Newbury township, Ohio for the years 1842 and 1844. Looking more closely we observed that William Munn, had served in the same role in 1843 and 1845. It seems then they must have been friends and alternated in this role over the four years.
These newspapers are, the —
Geauga Republican & Whig, March 18, 1845
National Anti-Slavery Standard, July 22, 1847
National Anti-Slavery Standard, May 13, 1852
This got us to thinking about the role that the people of the Western Reserve played in the years leading up to and including the Civil War. In the early part of the 18th century, the Ohio Country was frequently referred to as the West, and from the perspective of New Englanders who settled it, it was indeed pioneer country. By the 1850s and 60s, the Western Reserve wasn’t thought of as a frontier anymore, but actually, it still was — that frontier being a psychological perspective, a state-of-mindabout what it meant to be a good citizen in this newly-created country. (1)
The New England of The West
From an article written in 1957, titled The Connecticut Reserve and The Civil War, we learned several interesting perspectives about the area. “Within this region [of] some three million acres, approximately the size of Connecticut herself… [and] modified only slightly by contact with the frontier, the area became more like New England then New England itself.”
This meant that there was a moral fervor, conditioned by the churches of Protestant Puritanism, which had been transplanted from the New England states, to this new area. Furthermore, the “leveling tendencies” of the frontier experience had deepened the ideas of New England “democracy” within the population of settlers.
This resulted in an emphasis on “the democracy of the town… [and] Eastern culture provided a new synthesis in the field of popular education… social mobility and a re-affirmation of individual worth, equality, and dignity of man in general.” [Lottick] In other words, their state-of-mind, their ethos of hard work, having an education, using a democratic voice, and righteous behavior, was the desired standard. This was an empowering shift from of the previous generations who had chaffed under the rule of a capricious king in the British Colonies.
In the 19th century, the Western Reserve “was probably the most intensely antislavery section of the country”. John Brown Jr. called it, in 1859, “the New England of the West.”
Wikipedia article on the Connecticut Western Reserve, discussing John Brown, Jr.
Twenty years before the Civil War, “According to the theory of Boston’s Wm. Lloyd Garrison and the American Anti-Slavery Society (1833), slavery was a personal and social sin requiring immediate repentance of slaveholders and all others who had failed to witness against the institution.” [Case Western]
The Western Reserve College and Oberlin College became centers of Abolitionist agitation. In truth, Oberlin’s abolitionist viewpoint “was strengthened further when recruits from the Lane Theological Seminary…joined its fold.” [Lottick] Abolitionism then, grew out the mingled influences of both religion and education in the area where our ancestors lived. “People known as abolitionists believed that slavery should not exist and fought to end it. Northeast Ohio was a hotbed of abolitionist activity. Men and women, Black and White, free and enslaved, worked together for their cause.” [Cuyahoga Valley National Park article]
In contrast, the Southern states during this period had flourished under a very different system that most New Englanders (and their transplants) found to be very strange. It was a way of life built upon the use of slaves — essentially, upon a class-and-caste system of belief. As such, the possibility of “social mobility and a re-affirmation of individual worth” were not part of the equation.
Top section, left image: Participants from the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue. Center image: Leg shackles used in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Right image: A painting of fugitives smuggled during winter, The Underground Railroad (1893 ) by Charles T. Webber. Lower section, left image: the National Anti-Slavery Standard newspaper, July 22, 1847, family document. Right image: April 24, 1851 “CAUTION!! Colored People of Boston” broadside warning of watchmen and police acting as kidnappers and slave catchers. [Please see the footnotes for specifics.] (2)
“Routes of the Underground Railroad.” The Underground Railroad was not an actual railroad, but a network of secret routes and safe houses used by black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada. (Observation: There are so many red line over Ohio, that it looks like a cardiac diagram).
The Underground Railroadin the Western Reserve
The battles of the Civil War did not have a profound effect upon the Western Reserve territory, but the existence of the Underground Railroad did. In fact, initially there were many people in Cleveland who were not particularly concerned about the plight of slaves. This changed when “The completion of the Ohio Canal in 1832 enhanced the strategic importance of the city…” because this became one of the most direct routes from the slave-holding South, to freedom in Canada.
Furthermore, the indifferent attitude of some people changed dramatically when The Fugitive Slave Act was passed in 1850. This law lit a white hot fire under the Abolitionists.“The severity of this statute inspired an increased number of abolitionists, the development of a more efficient Underground Railroad, and the establishment of new personal-liberty laws in the North. These personal liberty laws were enacted in eight Northern States and prohibited state officials from assisting in returning fugitive slaves to the South…” [Case Western]
Our ancestors, being settlers from New England, and as evidenced by the anti-slavery newspapers, were likely concerned about and involved with, the abolitionist movement. We know for certain, that this branch of our family did not own slaves. (3)
The 1870s in Geauga County, Ohio
Luke Gore died in 1868, but several of his children continued to live in the area. When we reviewed the 1870 census, it showed that Dorr B. Gore is 18 and listed as living with his mother Electa, and his brothers Milan and Otto. They have a domestic servant, Myra Fowler — it turns out that she eventually married Dorr B.’s older brother Milan Gore on July 4, 1870. Observation: Perhaps this family liked holiday themed weddings?(Maybe it was budget-friendly and helped them save on decorations.)
Engraving of the Geauga County Courthouse reproduced from the History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio, by the Williams Brothers, circa 1879.
We observed that Luke Gore’s oldest son, Crockett Gore, was living with his wife Etta and their young family in Russell township. He was working as a farmer on land that his father had previously farmed (see The Gore Line, A Narrative — Six). From the Russell township Historical Society newsletter, March 1999: “Luke enlarged the farm, adding land in Russell to a total of 163.5 acres. After he died, his eldest son Crockett Gore, farmed the land.”
“He married a neighbor, Lois Havens, and they had Luke W., Dana and Ralph C. Luke W. is listed in our old school records as a student in the brick school in 1872. He died at the age of 17 in Russell, and Ralph C. also died young, aged 21. Both are buried with their parents in Munn cemetery in Newbury.”
“In 1882 Crockett built the home that is still there. He quarried sandstone for the foundation from a quarry on the farm, and cut and used wood from his own woodlot. He died in 1900 in Clio Michigan, but is buried in Munn cemetery in Newbury, with his parents, his wife Lois and a son who died at the age of 17.” (4)
The Kids Get Married! Dorr B. Gore Marries Ann Susan Booth
As always, times change, but love blooms eternal — starting the new year off right (!), our young Great-Grandfather Dorr B Gore (at just 21), married our Great-Grandmother, (even younger at 19), Ann Susan Booth, on January 1, 1872 in Burton, Geauga County, Ohio.
1872 Antique Victorian Home Insurance Company, promotional calendar.
Dorr B. Gore, born September 8, 1851 Newbury, Geauga County, Ohio – died June 11, 1930 Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Ann Booth was born October 30, 1852 Burton, Geauga, Ohio – died March 11, 1908 Newbury, Geauga, Ohio.
Ann’s parents are James Monroe Booth (March 12, 1827-July 8, 1889) and Adelia Rose (March 31, 1827-January 25, 1910), whose families were among the very first pioneers to settle in the Western Reserve area.
They had four children:
Nettie Belle (Gore) Robinson, born December 24, 1873 Geauga, Ohio – died April 20, 1922 Oblong, Crawford, Illinois.
Clara Edna (Gore) Matthews, born July 3, 1876 Auburn, Geauga, Ohio – died March 26, 1933 Russell, Geauga, Ohio (Note: it is interesting to observe that she is a centennial baby).
Forrest Munroe Gore, born August 11, 1878 Newbury, Geauga, Ohio – died January 31, 1930 Chagrin Falls, Cuyahoga County, Ohio
On the 1880 census, Dorr B. is 28 and also on the census are: Ann 28, Nellie 6, Clara 3, Forrest 1, his mother Electa 58, and the farm hand Elmer E. Brewer.
Harley William Gore, born June 7, 1881 Russell, Geauga, Ohio – died November 24, 1941 Newbury, Geauga, Ohio. (We are descended from Harley). (5)
Dorr B. Gore Had Two Wives
The Gores continued to live their lives mostly as farmers. Dorr B. Gore’s wife Ann Booth died on March 11, 1908 of heart failure after having had pneumonia for three weeks. Eighteen months later he married for a second time, to Amelia Harnden on October 12, 1909. A local resident, Amelia was born January 1, 1863 – died July 8, 1947, having outlived her husband Dorr B. by seventeen years.
Ann Susan (Booth) Gore death notice, March 1908. Source unknown.
A transcription of Ann Susan (Booth) Gore death notice: August 7 — Ann Susan Booth, daughter of Monroe and Adelia Booth was born in Burton, Ohio, Oct. 30, 1851 where she lived until Jan. 1, 1872 when she married Dorr B. Gore of Newbury, where she lived the rest of her life. She had heart trouble for years and after a sickness of a little over three weeks with heart trouble and pneumonia she passed away Thursday morning, March 12, 1908, aged 56 years, 4 months, 12 days. She was a true kind and sweet disposition carrying love and sunshine where ever she went. She leaves a husband and four children who loved her and will miss her more than words can tell. Nettie B. Robinson, Clara E. Mathews, Harley W of Russell, and Forest M, who lives at the old home in Newbury, also an aged mother, Mrs. Adelia Booth, Burton. Three sisters, Mrs. P. D. Bishop, Andover, Mrs. Chas Stickney and Mrs. Carl Wicks of Burton, and her twin brother, Wm Booth of Midland, Mich. (6)
Tiny, but mighty. The modest and unassuming Union Chapel located in Newbury township, Ohio, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Union Chapel and “Equal Rights in Newbury”
Our Grandmothers never had the right to vote until the year that our mother Marguerite (Gore) Bond was born — in 1920. That’s still rather astonishing today, but her mother Lulu was 38 years old, before she had the right to vote. Here is how women’s suffrage happened in our local community.
When the Abolitionist movement was birthed, “Many were entering the political arena for the first time. Women in Northeast Ohio organized female anti-slavery societies, circulated petitions, served as delegates to state and national antislavery conventions, and drafted editorials that were published in local papers such as The Anti-Slavery Bugle. In time, growing political experience and awareness of the plight of enslaved people, inspired women to consider their own freedom more critically; the women’s suffrage movement grew from the ranks of the abolitionist movement.” [Cuyahoga Valley National Park article]
The Union Chapel “was built between 1858-1859 by outraged citizens after members of the Congregational Church across the street refused to allow future President James A. Garfield to speak, fearing his topic would be controversial.”
“At the time the area was a vibrant settlement with a grist mill, tannery, tavern wagon and blacksmith shops, a post office and other shops. The population was described as liberal… In retaliation for the church’s snub, Anson Matthews, a store owner and the man who had invited Garfield to speak at the church, donated a one-acre plot of his land across the street for the Union Chapel. Today, both of the buildings continue to face each other.”
“The Union Chapel’s premise was for a “public hall or meeting house for literary, scientific, moral and religious purposes and lectures on all useful subjects,” according to its deed. It was to be open and free and not to be used to the exclusion of anyone. Numerous important social reform movements were launched from within its walls.” [cleveland.com article]
Gallery, left image: James A. Garfield. Right image: Susan Brownell Anthony Images courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery.
Famous among the many speakers at the Union Chapel were James A. Garfield, the 20th President of the United States, and Susan B. Anthony.“She is known as a staunch advocate for women’s suffrage, [but] Anthony also participated in a wide spectrum of social reform movements.”
Here, community reformers—mostly women, but men, too—pushed for progress considered radical for its time. Newbury, like other nearby towns, had been settled by travelers from the East, many from Massachusetts, then considered the center of culture and “advanced thinking.”
The unconventional truth is, the women of Newbury township started to get people’s attention when some of them rightly decided that-corsets-were-just- not-at-all-sensible. “The first reform movement, in 1870, called for women to dress without ‘unnatural and unhealthy’ corsets, bustles and sweeping skirts. ‘Dress reform’ advocate Ellen Munn caused quite a stir when she showed up at a community picnic in trousers.” [Esmont]
“Ruth Fisher was born on January 25, 1809 in Newbury, Ohio. She married William Munn on April 18, 1833.” [Northeast Ohio Suffrage article] We have met William Munn in the introduction to this chapter, as he was a friend and colleague of our Great-Great-Grandfather Luke Gore.
[The year 1871] “witnessed the most significant crusade in the chapel’s history—to secure the right of women to vote.” [Esmont]
“The dress reform organization led to the formation of the South Newbury Woman’s Suffrage Political Club… [It] was established after a group of women, including Munn, presented themselves at the polls to vote in a previous election, but were refused. The chapel served as an incubator for the budding suffrage movement, and became home to the second-oldest women’s suffrage group in Ohio.In 1871, Munn was one of nine women to illegally cast a ballot in a local election at the Chapel, becoming one of the first female voters in Ohio’s history.” [Northeast Ohio Suffrage]
“More women would show up at subsequent elections to cast ballots. An account in the Geauga Republican newspaper from 1873 stated the election judges were “courteous and gentlemanly, as usual” but declined the votes. The women—and the men who supported them—inscribed 50 ballots: “People’s Ticket. Equal Suffrage for all Citizens of the United States, an Inalienable and Constitutional Right. Knowledge and Truth in Opposition to Ignorance and Prejudice.” [Esmont]
On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the United States, on July 4, 1876, the Suffrage Club members planted a tree which came to be known as the Centennial Oak.
Top row, left image: Ruth (Fisher) Munn. Center image: Illustration of typical corsets worn in the 1880s. Right image:Dr. Julia Porter Green, shown August 23, 1919. She was the only surviving charter member of the South Newbury Woman’s Suffrage and Political Club to attend the August 23, 1919 procession at the South Newbury Union Chapel, as shown in the bottom image —”On Aug. 23, 1919, suffragists marched from South Newbury Union Chapel to a wreath-laying at the nearby Centennial Oak to commemorate the 19th Amendment”, via [Valiant Visionaries of the Vote].
A full report of the adoption of a constitution for the South Newbury Woman’s Suffrage and Political Club, including committee members, can be found in the book: 1798 – 1880, Pioneer and General History of Geauga County, with Sketches of Some of the Pioneers and Prominent Men by The Historical Society of Geauga County. (Please see the footnotes).
“The 19th amendment legally guarantees American women the right to vote. Achieving this milestone required a lengthy and difficult struggle—victory took decades of agitation and protest. Passed by Congress June 4, 1919, and ratified on August 18, 1920, the 19th amendment granted women the right to vote”. [archives.gov]
“Planted by the Newbury Women’s Political Suffrage Club on July 4, 1876, the tree, just like the suffrage movement, survived and grew larger and stronger. It was a symbolic move, planting the roots of a movement that would go on to change America’s face forever”.
In the next chapter, which is our last chapter for The Gore Line, we will be writing about our Gore grandparents, our uncles and our mother, during their times in the 20th century.
We have found, like other genealogical researchers, that so much deep history is recorded mostly about men — that when we find records for our female ancestors, our premise became…sometimes our ancestral grandmothers are more interesting than our ancestral grandfathers. And as always, these women, the foremothers, are quietly there… and in our family, we’re thinking about Lulu and Marguerite. (7)
Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials, Notes, and Observations
Where Did These Things Come From?
(1) These newspapers are items from our family collection and have been donated to the Geauga County Historical Society.
Dore Gore Marriage – Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2016 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XZZ1-PZQ Book page: 86, Digital page: 58/169, Left page, top entry Note: For Dorr Gore marriage to Ann Susan Boothe.
This is Chapter Six of eight. In this chapter, we will spend all of our time with our family in the 19th century, almost entirely in an area known as the Connecticut Western Reserve located in the Ohio Country.
Family
So much work in genealogy is about looking backward and trying to make sense of whatever history, stories, family anecdotes — are receding into the rearview mirror. For these family history narratives, we are attempting to look forward into the future — to a future that we know we will not be part of someday. We are creating and crafting a resource for the benefit of future generations.
“During the years when my ancestors went West, so did millions of other people… Many families moved again and again; only a few headed back East across the mountains…
A French observer said that a true American’s life was like a soldier’s, here today and tomorrow fifty miles off… Old America seems to be breaking up, and moving westward… towards the Ohio…”
Ian Frazier, author of Family page 60
In 1994, the great American writer Ian Frazier published a wonderful book called Family, in which he criss-crossed the United States beautifully writing about the past and present histories of his family — from both sides —his mother’s, and his father’s. Much of the book took place in the Western Reserve of Ohio. It inspired us then and still does today! It was such joy for us to read, and with our encouragement, several of our siblings also read it. (In those years, our parents were in much declined health, and even though we told them how much we enjoyed Mr. Frazier’s Family, neither of them were able to read the book.)
We have excerpted a few Family quotes from Mr. Frazier’s book to use in this chapter. We hope he doesn’t mind — with thanks to you, Ian!
“In 1790, almost all Americans lived along the coast in the original thirteen colonies; by 1850, only half did.” — Ian Frazier, author of Family, page 61
The last place we were with our grandfather Luke Gore, was in Belleville, Jefferson County, New York in the years after the War of 1812. From his generation, he and most of his siblings spread out across the young United States. We continue his story. (1)
Luke Gore Marries his First Cousin Mila
Our Grandfather Luke Gore married twice, but first-things-first, we’ll write about his first marriage to his first cousin Mila Gore.
In 1834, when Luke was 28 years old, he traveled to Bernardston, Massachusetts to visit his cousins — his paternal uncle, Ezekiel Gore’s family. Ezekiel was married to Miriam Strate and they had three daughters: Anna, Esther, and Mila. The History of The Town of Bernardston, Franklin Co., Massachusetts 1739-1900, wryly describes his visit:
“Mila m.[married] Jan 19, 1834, Luke Gore (a cousin) of Black River, N.Y., after a long and tedious courtship of three days.”
Mila was born in Halifax, Windham, Vermont and was living with her parents in Bernardston, Massachusetts. At that time Luke was living in Jefferson County, New York. The Bernardston book describes him as being from Black River, a small village in Jefferson county, named after the local river.
How were they cousins, you ask? In the previous generation, (see The Gore Line, A Narrative — Five), Luke Gore’s father Samuel Gore (4) and Mila Gore’s father Ezekiel Gore, were brothers. Observation: It’s reasonable to assume that marrying first cousins would not be allowed in today’s time, but things were different then…
We have a letter from a distant cousin, Pearl Avia Gordon Vestal, written on January 25, 1940, to our Grandmother Lulu (DeVoe) Gore, a portion of which further discusses this trip:
From the above letter it seems clear that Pearl thought Rebeckah (Barney) Gore moved to Ohio. We are not so sure, since Rebeckah is buried in Belleville, New York.
Luke Gore is our Great-Great-Grandfather, born April 1, 1805, Halifax, Windham, Vermont – died October 2, 1868, Newbury, Geauga, Ohio. He married Mila Gore on January 19, 1834 (as written above). She was born circa 1813 Bernardston, Franklin, Massachusetts – died September 29, 1848, Newbury, Geauga, Ohio. They had three children:
Crockett Gore, born 1839 Brattleboro, Windham, Vermont – died December 9, 1900 Vienna, Genesee, Michigan. On January 16, 1866 he married Lois Haven.
Eliza (Gore) Richmond, born May 1846 Russell, Geauga, Ohio – died June 9, 1917 Allapattah, Dade, Florida. On August 10, 1867 she married Cassius Richmond.
Milan R. Gore, born January 6, 1847 Newbury, Geauga, Ohio – died February 20, 1920 Newton Falls, Trumbull, Ohio. On July 4, 1870 he married Myra Fowler.
Luke Gore married a second time about one year after Mila died. He was a widower with three young children. His second wife is Electa Stanhope, who is our Great-Great-Grandmother. They married September 20, 1849 in Claridon, Geauga, Ohio. Electa was born September 13, 1822 in New York – died January 6, 1907 in Chagrin Falls, Cuyahoga County, Ohio.
Her parents are Asahel Redington Stanhope born July 11, 1793 Gill, Franklin, Massachusetts – died September 8, 1879 Mantua, Portage, Ohio and Mary Finch. She was born May 21, 1798 in New York State – died 1873, unknown location.
Marriage license for Luke Gore and Electa Stanhope, September 20, 1849.
Electa and Luke had two sons:
Dorr B. Gore, born September 8, 1851 Newbury, Geauga, Ohio – died June 11, 1930 Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio. (We are descended from Dorr B.)
Otto S. Gore, born September 1854 Newbury, Geauga, Ohio – died April 17, 1941, same location. Otto married Charlotte (Luce) Reed in 1902. (2)
What Was Going On In “The Ohio Country”?
We grew up in the Western Reserve of Ohio and it was puzzling for us when visitors would go-on-and-on about how beautiful New England was in the Autumn. And this: OH My! The Maple Syrup! From our viewpoint, things around us looked just like Connecticut, and our maple syrup was a matter of esteemed civic pride. It all makes sense now, that where we grew up really is New England’s child.
“As a colony, and then as a state, Connecticut had never accepted the finality of her western boundary… After the war, when other states were giving up their western lands, Connecticut said she would yield all but a strip of the Ohio country 120 miles long and 50 miles wide. She said she reserved this section for herself, which is how it got the name Western Reserve. Congress finally accepted this reserve… maybe because Connecticut was so persistent it was just easier to let her have her way.” [Frazier, page 54]
The area was the first gateway westward for the Northwest Territory, and became critical for settlement after President Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase of 1803. From Wikipedia.org: “The Ohio Lands were the several grants, tracts, districts and cessions which make up what is now the U.S. state of Ohio The Ohio Country was one of the first settled parts of the Midwest, and indeed one of the first settled parts of the United States beyond the original Thirteen Colonies.”
A Map of the Connecticut Western Reserve, from [an] actual Survey, circa 1798. Image reproduced courtesy of the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History.
“Map of the Connecticut Western Reserve in what is now Ohio, from Sandusky Bay and Lake Erie to the north, Ashtabula and Trumbull counties to the east, Medina and Portage counties to the south, and the Fire Land to the west. The other counties depicted are Lorain, Cuyahoga and Geauga. All counties are outlined in red and each county seat is colored red.”
From the Western Reserve Historical Society, “The Connecticut Western Reserve was the area of northeast Ohio that Connecticut had reserved for her citizens in 1786 in exchange for ceding all western land claims to the U.S. government. The area comprised all land south of Lake Erie to 41′ latitude and within 120 miles of Pennsylvania’s western border. The Connecticut Land Company (1795-1809) was authorized by Connecticut to purchase and resell most of the Western Reserve, and received title to all Reserve land except for the 500,000-acre Firelands on the extreme west which was reserved for Connecticut victims whose lands were burned by the British in the Revolution. Gen. Moses Cleaveland, a company director and its general agent, led the first company survey party to the Reserve in 1796 and founded the settlement of Cleveland at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River.”
Because of many problems, the Connecticut Land Company failed to return a profit and was dissolved in about 1809. With the advent of the War of 1812, progress was further delayed, but eventually, settlers started to move into the region.
“There were two routes to the Western Reserve. One was through the Mohawk Valley, crossed New York to Buffalo and entered Ohio either by boat or along the lakeshore to Conneaut. The other crossed Pennsylvania, climbed the mountains and down to Pittsburgh, following the trails to Youngstown and into the Reserve from the southeast. Travel time for both was about the same.” [A Mini-History of Newbury]
Ohio became a state in 1803. Geauga County originated as part of Trumbull County, then partitioned and reorganized as Geauga County in 1806. In 1840, the northern part of the county was partitioned off to become Lake County. Since that time, Geauga County has had 16 townships. (3)
Those Two Younger Sisters
Perhaps it was the zeitgeist, or the spirit of the age, that propelled our ancestor Luke Gore with the urge to move west and settle in the Western Reserve of Ohio. It could also simply be because his two younger sisters (and his aunt) had gotten there first.
Belinda (Gore) Barton married Horace Barton in Chardon township, Geauga County, Ohio in 1835. Belinda lived in that area until she died in Lake County in 1900. Additionally, Mary Genette (Gore) Brayman married Lewis Brayman in Claridon township, Geauga, Ohio in 1837 and at some point the Brayman family then continued west to Iowa.
We also know that Luke Gore’s Aunt Sarah (Gore) Slater and her husband John were living in Chardon township at this time. They are listed as residing there for both the 1840 and 1850 censuses, so they must have arrived before 1840. Therefore, we think that all of these family members arrived in the area at about the same time.
Many of his children were born there… We know that our grandfather Luke Gore was living in Geauga County in the 1840s, as four of his five children were born there, starting in 1846 with Eliza, then Milan in 1847, Dorr in 1851 and finally, Otto in 1854.
Tax assessments He was also paying tax assessments from 1838 through 1852. One particular tax record of 1838 through 1852, for Newbury township, includes the name of his brother, Hart Gore.
His oldest son Crockett Gore, was born in 1839, Brattleboro, Windham, Vermont, so we know that Luke and Mila were not living in Ohio yet — but after Crockett was born, he and Mila were on their way! Observation: So Luke was likely an investor and probably influenced by the choices of his relatives: his aunt, his younger sisters, and their husbands. (4)
Our Great Great Grandfather Luke Gore is listed as the Newbury township Clerk in 1842 1nd 1844. From 1798 – 1880, Pioneer and General History of Geauga County, with Sketches of Some of the Pioneers and Prominent Men, page 237.
“1798-1880 Pioneer and General History of Geauga County”
Below are excerpts from the book, 1798-1880 Pioneer and General History of Geauga County, which paint a picture of what life was like in that area from 1810 until the 1840s. It seems that initially, it was quite a wilderness.
Detail showing Newbury township, Geauga County, Ohio in 1847. Reproduced from the foldout map endpiece, Historical Collections of Ohio, published in one volume in 1847 by Henry Howe.
“When the lands composing the Western Reserve were first surveyed [the 1790s], they were all covered by a dense forest, and were considered of little value, so were surveyed very carelessly. They connected but few or no lines. Many of the townships were surveyed by the job, as it is called… The townships of our county are called five miles square…”
“In the month of July, 1810, Mr. Lemuel Punderson and wife moved from Burton (where they had lived most of the time since their marriage in 1808) and settled where the Punderson homestead now stands, near the foot of the lake, and commenced improvements in earnest, where he had previously built their mill and distillery.” Mr. Punderson had been an agent for the Connecticut Land Grant Company. We were taught in school that our township of Newbury was among the first places to be surveyed in the area due to the large lakes there providing excellent sight-lines for the later surveyors. Today, those lakes are an Ohio state park named after Mr. Punderson.
Reproduced from the Historical Collections of Ohio, published in one volume in 1847 by Henry Howe, page 189.
“From [about] that time [1810] the settlement of Newbury became a reality, and family after family came into town from the eastern States. — In the year 1812 the State road was cut through to Chardon. [the County Seat] The contract was to cut all timber less than eight inches, and clear out the road. The larger timber was girdled so it would die. —In the year 1817 the present township of Newbury was set off from the township of Burton by the commissioners…“
“In 1819 Joshua M. Burnett returned to Massachusetts, received pay for property sold, and came back, bringing with him material for building, and that season employed David Hill, of Burton, to erect him a frame house, it being the first frame house in the township. [Prior to this time, settlers lived in log cabins] People gathered from all this and neighboring townships to the raising. They came early and stayed late, it being a new era in the new settlement. The building was named, after the custom of those days, “The Farmers’ Delight,” by Mr. Hamlet Coe, after which the bottle of whiskey was thrown from the top of the house to the center of the road without breaking, which was considered a good omen, and called forth loud huzzas.”
Reproduced from the Historical Collections of Ohio, published in one volume in 1847 by Henry Howe, page 125.
“In 1820, Welcome Bullock, J. M. Burnett, Lemuel Punderson, Jonah Johnson, and others blazed the trees and cut the brush from Burnett’s tavern to Chagrin Falls, there meeting a company from Cleveland at work on the same undertaking. They all camped a few rods north and east of the Falls. The next morning, after breakfast, they separated, each company going home over their own road.“ Observation: This roadway was very likely the street that we grew up on.
In fact, right next to the home we grew up in, was located the Morton Home. It was famous for who married there. From A Mini-History of Newbury: “Brigham Young married Mary Ann Angel, one of his numerous wives [wife number two], on the front porch of this house. She was a cousin of Mrs. Morton and a convert to Mormonism. Abraham Morton opposed the marriage and would not let Brigham Young into the house so the marriage took place on the front porch. That was in February 1834, and Brigham Young was 24 and Mary Ann Angel was 18.” (5)
The 1857 Library of Congress Map of Geauga County
Since 1838, Luke Gore had been paying taxes on properties he owned in various townships. Some of the names are localized designations within each township: Auburn Corners, Bainbridge, and South Newbury. Old tax records helped to locate some of the properties.
Map of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio By Robert Pearsall Smith, Philadelphia : S.H. Matthews [1857] Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.
From the high resolution map link above, we were able to locate the property he owned in Auburn Corners and South Newbury, situated on the border of the two townships. [See L. Gore 81a, 129a, 96-1/2a just below.] (6)
Map detail from the 1857 Smith map indicating property owned by Luke Gore in 1857.
“After That, Mushrooms Were Never Served in the Home”
When we quizzed our mother Marguerite about what she knew of her Great-Grandfather Luke Gore, one of her stories always ended with the words, “After that, mushrooms were never served in the home.” Apparently, Grandfather Luke died on October 2, 1868 — from being poisoned by mushrooms. (Since the best season to forage for mushrooms in northeastern Ohio is late March and early April, perhaps the ones that killed him were mushrooms which had been stored for the winter? We will never know for certain…)
Image courtesy of Alamy.
There are many types of mushrooms available for foraging, but the likely culprit here is probably Amanita phalloides. From Wikipedia.org: “These toxic mushrooms resemble several edible species (most notably Caesar’s mushroom and the straw mushroom) commonly consumed by humans… The genus Amanita contains about 600 species of agarics [a fungus of this style], including some of the most toxic known mushrooms found worldwide, as well as some well-regarded edible species. This genus is responsible for approximately 95% of the fatalities resulting from mushroom poisoning…”
Luke Gore death record, October 2, 1868.
Luke’s wife Electa lived on after him for another 38 years, dying in 1907 in Newbury, Geauga, Ohio. In the next chapter, we are following the life of the son of Luke Gore, the uniquely-named Dorr B. Gore, our Great-Grandfather. After what seems like centuries of Thomas(s), Richard(s), and William(s) — it’s very refreshing to have a uniquely named relative! (7)
Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials, Notes, and Observations
Family
(1) — one record
Family by Ian Frazier Farrar Straus Giroux, New York publishers 1994, First edition Note: We have excerpted material from pages 54, 60, and 61.
Personal letter from Pearl Avia Gordon Vestal, written on January 25, 1940, to our Grandmother Lulu (DeVoe) Gore. Note: Pearl is the Great-Granddaughter of Mary Gennette (Gore) Brayman, the sister of our Great-Great-Grandfather, Luke Gore.
Electa Stanhope Marriage – Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2016 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XDK1-1XM Book page: 98, Digital page: 51/304, Left page, bottom entry. Note: For their marriage record.
1798 – 1880, Pioneer and General History of Geauga County, with Sketches of Some of the Pioneers and Prominent Men by The Historical Society of Geauga County https://archive.org/details/oh-geauga-1880-historical-society/page/n9/mode/2up?view=theater Notes: Topics researched as follows — Surveying work, Book page: 56, Digital page: 55/821 Mr. Lemuel Punderson, Book page: 228, Digital page: 227/821 1810 in Newbury, Book page: 228, Digital page: 227/821 State road to Chardon, Book page: 229, Digital page: 229/821 Township clerk listing, Book page: 237, Digital page: 237/821
Historical Collections of Ohio… by Henry Howe https://archive.org/details/historicalcollec00howe_4/page/n9/mode/2up?view=theater Notes: Topics researched as follows — Geauga County, Book pages: 187-190, Digital pages: 186-190/593 Chagrin Falls, Book pages: 125-126, Digital pages: 124-126/593 View in Chardon, Book page: 189, Digital pages: 189/593 Note:“…is a work of history published in one volume in 1847 by Henry Howe (1816–1893). Howe had spent more than a year traveling across the state of Ohio making sketches, interviewing people, and collecting data.”
Those Two Younger Sisters
(5) — ten records
Bilindy Gore Marriage – Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2016 Book page: 99, Digital page: 54/247, Right page, center entry. Note: For Belinda Gore 1835 marriage to Horace Barton, in Chardon, Ohio.
Mary G. Gore Marriage – Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2016 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X8F4-BRM Book page: 1100, Digital page: 519/658 Left page, bottom entry Note: For Mary Genette Gore 1837 marriage to Lewis Brayman, in Portage County, Ohio.
Luke Gore, Tax – Ohio Tax Records, 1800-1850 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2RG-S4GP Note: The actual record is for 1838-1852 and includes the name of his Uncle Hart Gore. Digital page: 172/735, Left page, lower middle.
This is Chapter Five of eight. In this chapter we will be writing about how our ancestors migrated first into New York State, and then how the next generation spread into other states and territories to the west, outside of New England. This was an era of much conflict with the French and Indian War, the War for Independence, and the War of 1812.
When we were younger, our Grandmother Lulu Gore lived near us for much of our childhood years. As a creative, can-do type of Grandma, she inspired us with her gardens, her interesting holiday decorations, and her interest in family history. We lived in a rural Ohio area, and Lulu was the wife of our Grandfather Harley Gore. He had passed away years before we were born. However, before his death she helped him begin his Gore genealogy work. Toward the end of his life in 1941, as he was dying of heart disease, he asked his wife if she could begin the story of his family’s origins. The work was never finished, (as genealogy work never is…) However, we feel honored to continue what she began.
Grandma Moses Certainly Knew How to Paint The Rural Life
Anna Mary Robertson Moses, also known as “Grandma Moses” was a prolific American painter of the last century. From Wikipedia: “Moses painted scenes of rural life from earlier days, which she called “old-timey” New England landscapes. Moses said that she would “get an inspiration and start painting; then I’ll forget everything, everything except how things used to be and how to paint it so people will know how we used to live.” Grandma Moses artwork has appeared in museums and galleries the world over, and often, she painted scenes of New England life.
Moving Day on the Farm, circa 1951. Anna Mary Robertson Moses, known as “Grandma Moses” (Courtesy of wikiart.org).
We know that our ancestors didn’t live in a pastoral, problem-free world, but the work of Anna May Robinson Moses inspires us to reconnect with our many ancestors who lived before our time. (1)
Elijah Gore Sr., and Desire Safford Have a Big Family
As the third son of Samuel Gore (3) and Desire (Safford) Gore, Elijah Gore Sr., was born on February 11, 1743 in Norwich, Connecticut Colony – died about 1794, probably in Halifax, Windham, Vermont. He married Sarah Little December 11, 1767 in Voluntown, Connecticut Colony, when he was 24 and she was 18. She was born September 5, 1749 in Sutton, Worcester, Massachusetts Colony – died August 26, 1805 in Halifax, Windham, Vermont, aged 60.
*see The 1790 “Census” of Vermont (below)
The birth registrations for Sarah Little and her older brother Moses. Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001.
Sarah (Little) Gore was the daughter of Ezekiel and Margret (Fitts) Little. She is buried at Stafford Cemetery in Halifax , and it is assumed that Elijah is buried next to her, even though there is no headstone, nor record of his death.
Before 1779, Elijah Gore Sr. and his family left Connecticut for Vermont. They settled in Halifax, Windham (county), Vermont. Here he owned land located on Vermont’s southern border with Massachusetts. As is often the case, as pioneers moved from place to place they named their new towns and counties after the places they had previously lived. As a result, Windham County is in both Connecticut, and Vermont. Some of their family records also cite the adjacent location of Guilford township, which borders Halifax on its eastern side.
McClelland’s Map of Windham County, Vermont, circa 1856. Inset image: Halifax and Guilford townships from Vermont’s southern border. (Image courtesy of the Library of Congress).
Elijah and Sarah Gore had ten children. Their first born, Elijah Jr., was born in Killingly, Connecticut Colony, the next four were born in Voluntown, Connecticut Colony, and the rest in Halifax, Vermont Colony. (2)
Elijah Gore Jr., born (Killingly, Connecticut Colony), September 5, 1768 – died 1798
Ezekiel Gore, born November 20, 1770 – died May 14, 1847 in Bernardston, Franklin, Massachusetts
Margaret (Gore) Stafford, born February 10, 1773 – died March 10, 1864 in Monroe, Franklin, Massachusetts
Samuel Gore (4), born, April 10, 1775 – died August 10, 1815in Belleville, Jefferson, New York (We are descended from Samuel 4).
Obadiah Gore born November 20, 1777 – death date unknown
Hannah (Gore) Starr, born September 1, 1779 – died 1819 in Halifax, Windham, Vermont
Lucy (Gore) Bennett, born May 21, 1781 – death date unknown
Daniel Gore, born October 30, 1783 and died April 10, 1859 in Monroe, Franklin, Massachusetts
Desire (Gore) Bixby, born November 8, 1786 – died December 8, 1833 in Guilford, Windham, Vermont
Sarah (Gore) Slater, born August 12, 1789 and died September 19, 1858 in Chardon, Geauga, Ohio
The French and Indian War
Like the previous narrative, The Gore Line — Four, wars were an elemental part of history in the new American Colonies. In 1666, France claimed “Vermont” as part of New France. From Wikipedia: “French explorer Samuel de Champlain claimed the area of what is now Lake Champlain, giving the name, Verd Mont (Green Mountain) to the region he found, on a 1647 map.”
British forces under fire from the French and Indian forces.
“The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years’ War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the start of the war, the French colonies had a population of roughly 60,000 settlers, compared with 2 million in the British colonies. The outnumbered French particularly depended on their native allies. French Canadians call it the guerre de la Conquête — ‘War of the Conquest’.“
“Following France’s loss in the French and Indian War, the 1763 Treaty of Paris gave control of the whole region to the British... The end of the war brought new settlers to Vermont. The first settler of the grants was Samuel Robinson, who began clearing land in Bennington in 1761.. In the 28 years from 1763 to 1791, the non-Indian population of Vermont rose from 300 to 85,000.
The Elijah Gore Family were living in a territory that was a disputed frontier, likely quite rugged, and similar enough to other areas their forebears had lived in — that it was filled with opportunity. Indeed, this family was living in “Vermont” before Vermont was Vermont. (3)
Many People Had Tried to Claim Land in Vermont
It’s a complicated situation which played out over several decades and involved different English monarchs, Colonial Governors and various legal representatives, as the borders of Vermont were always in dispute — not only with the French, but also with the neighboring colonies, whose settlers seemed to continually want to expand their land holdings. Some of our ancestors probably got up in the morning and thought to themselves, “I feel a bit betwixt and between — wonder who is in charge today?”
From Wikipedia, on the History of Vermont: “A fort at Crown Point had been built in 1759, and the road stretched across the Green Mountains from Springfield to Chimney Point, making traveling from the neighboring British colonies easier than ever before. Three colonies laid claim to the area. The Province of Massachusetts Bay claimed the land on the basis of the 1629 charter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Province of New York claimed Vermont based on land granted to the Duke of York (later King James II & VII) in 1664. The Province of New Hampshire, whose western limits had never been determined, also claimed Vermont, in part based upon a decree of George II in 1740.”
Engraving depicting Ethan Allen at the Capture of Fort Ticonderoga in 1775. (Image courtesy of Wikipedia.org).
There was a lot of acrimonious behavior: “In 1770, Ethan Allen—along with his brothers Ira and Levi, as well as Seth Warner—recruited an informal militia, the Green Mountain Boys, to protect the interests of the original New Hampshire settlers against the new migrants from New York… The American Revolution changed the face of these various conflicts after the battle of Bennington, Vermont became important. “The battle was a major strategic success for the American cause…”
In Guilford, the township adjacent to Halifax, we learn from the website, We Are Vermont: “There was so much controversy between Yorkist and Vermont factions at the beginning of the Revolutionary War that 2 sets of officials were fighting for control in Guilford. The fighting escalated to a point where, in 1783, the Vermont government sent Ethan Allen with a Militia to the town to enforce martial law and collect taxes. This was known as the “Guilford War” and eventually those who opposed Vermont’s laws moved to settle in New York.” (4)
*The 1790 “Census” of Vermont
According to the National Archives: “Vermont became a state on March 4, 1791, [as the 14th state] so the census was taken in Vermont in 1791…” Specifically, “The Census was taken in Rhode Island on 7-5-1790 and in Vermont on 3-2-1791 [March 2, 1791], after they ratified the constitution.” [USGenWeb] Even though Vermont had a census, it was after everyone else’s census, and it continues to be mistakenly referred to as the “1790” census.
Our research has concluded that our ancestor Elijah Gore, even though we do not know his exact death date, was still alive after March 1791. We analyzed the census and believe this for the following reasons:
Heads of Families first Vermont census, Page 50, conducted on March 2, 1791.
Their son Elijah Jr. married Susannah Barney on August 17, 1789, in nearby Guilford, so he was likely no longer living with his parents. (When the census was done, it would be highly improbable that his household numbers could match up with the 1791 census data.) Even though he has the same name as his father Elijah Sr., there is only one listing for a man with this name in Halifax Town, Windham County, Vermont, at this time.
The “Free White Males of 16 years and upward including heads of families” would be Elijah Gore Sr., our grandfather, and his son Ezekiel, age 20 years.
The categories show only one “Free White Males under 16 years” living in the home. That would likely be our ancestor Samuel Gore (4), who was 15 at the time.
The “Free White Females including heads of families” indicates one person, who is likely our grandmother Sarah Little.
“All other free persons” are everyone else who was living in the home. That number is 8, which corresponds exactly to everyone else, from Margaret through Sarah.
Lastly, there are no slaves listed. We would expect this from people who identified as Puritans.
Unfortunately, there is scant evidence on the life activities of this ancestor. Elijah’s occupation is unknown, but it’s very likely, he was a farmer. (5)
Two Locations in Windham County?
This branch of the Gore family, owned land in Windham county in two adjacent townships: Halifax and Guilford. (This explains why family records intermix the two locations). The Official History of Guilford, Vermont, 1678-1961, cites the sale of land in Guilford, as illustrated below.
Note that Lot 168 is mentioned as being “on the Halifax line.” It also appears that Elijah Gore may have also owned a portion of Lot 167.
A plan of Guilford, drawn by Nathan Dwight, surveyor, in 1765, showing the original 50-acre and 100-acre lots. The names of many of the earliest settlers have been added, according to the best information available in existing records. From the Official History of Guilford, Vermont, 1678-1961, Digital pages, Inset: 309/585 and for Map: 396/610.
Even though these two townships are next door neighbors, because they were in disputed areas, the records are a bit complicated. Initially, the Royal Governor of New Hampshire, Benning Wentworth, was in charge of the area. From Wikipedia: “Halifax was the second town chartered, west of the Connecticut River on May 11, 1750 by New Hampshire Governor Benning Wentworth, meaning Halifax is the second oldest town in the state after Bennington…” and also, Guilford was “Chartered as Guilford New Hampshire in 1754… chartered [again] “as Guilford, Vermont in 1791″ when Vermont became an official state. Additionally, Guilford is “the most populous town in Vermont from 1791-1820.”
This may also help explain that our research turned up that Elijah Gore Sr. is recorded as having served in the American Revolutionary War, under the banner of Captain Samuel Fillbrick’s Company in (oddly enough) New Hampshire. From the Official history of Guilford, Vermont, 1678-1961, page 135:
This puzzled us at first, but it makes sense that some militias would be organized under the names of other Colonies, since Vermont did not technically exist until after the war, in 1791. (6)
Samuel Gore (4) and Rebeckah Barney Marry
Our ancestor, Samuel Gore (4), born April 10, 1775 Voluntown, Windham, Connecticut Colony – died August 10, 1815in Belleville, Jefferson County, New York. He married Rebeckah Barney on February 22, 1798, in a ceremony at Halifax, Vermont, officiated by Darius Bullock. She was born April 6, 1782 Guilford, Windham, Vermont – died October 26, 1860 in Belleville, Jefferson, New York. They likely met socially through family or friends because their home townships, Halifax and Guilford, were adjacent to each other.
Rebeckah was the daughter of Deacon Edward Barney, who was a physician and Baptist Deacon. He was born August 18, 1749 in Rehoboth, Bristol, Massachusetts Colony – died August 9, 1839 in Ellisburg, Jefferson, New York. Rebeckah’s mother was Elizabeth Brown, born October 3, 1750 in Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut – died March 5, 1793 in Guilford, Windham, Vermont. Elizabeth died in childbirth with her 12th pregnancy at the age of 42 — her newborn infant daughter Mabel was buried with her. [William Barney and Familysearch.com footnotes] Together the Barneys had twelve children, with Rebeckah being the 7th child.
Our 4x Great-Grandmother, Rebeckah (Barney) Gore.
Samuel (4) and Rebecca had seven children. The first five were born in Halifax, Windham, Vermont and the youngest two were born in Belleville, Jefferson County, New York.
Observation: Quite notable about this family group, is that these are the first ancestors of whom we have photographic portraits! We’ll meet their children in just a moment, but first, we need to discuss this newly invented portraiture… (7)
The Waking Century — The Advent of Portrait Photography
Suddenly, a new age was upon us…
“Getting painted portraits done used to be exclusive to families in the upper classes of society. That all changed when photography came into existence. In 1839, Robert Cornelius shot the first successful portrait, a self-portrait (a selfie, no less), using the venerable daguerreotype. Cornelius took advantage of the light outdoors to get a faster exposure. Sprinting out of his father’s shop, Robert held this pose for a whole minute before rushing back and putting the lens cap back on.”
“You see, shooting with the daguerreotype required between 3 to 15 minutes of exposure time depending on the available light — making portraiture incredibly impractical if not impossible.” [Soriano, A Brief History of Portrait Photography]
Robert Cornelius’s Self-Portrait, 1839.
Did you ever wonder why the ancestors in many old photographs are not smiling, which is our custom today? From Time Magazine: “Experts say that the deeper reason for the lack of smiles early on is that photography took guidance from pre-existing customs in painting—an art form in which many found grins uncouth and inappropriate for portraiture. Accordingly, high-end studio photographers would create an elegant setting and direct the subject how to behave, producing the staid expressions which are so familiar in 19th century photographs. The images they created were formal and befitted the expense of paying to have a portrait made, especially when that portrait might be the only image of someone.” Indeed, these are the scant few images we have of these ancestors…
Observation: It is quite notable that this generation, born after the Revolutionary War, began heading west and moved into new states and territories: Iowa, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, and Wisconsin — none of them died in Vermont.
Shown below are each of the Samuel and Rebeckah Gore children, with their families and respective portraits.
Gratia (Gore) Cook, born September 27, 1800, Halifax, Windham, Vermont – died, February 16, 1876, Winneconne, Winnebago, Wisconsin. Left to right: Gratia (Gore) Cook; her sons Eugene Kincaid Cook, and Malcolm G. Cook.
Hart Gore [twin of Clark], born December 13, 1802, Halifax, Windham, Vermont – died February 11, 1892, Rushford, Fillmore, Minnesota. Top Row, left to right: Hart Gore, his wife Miranda Goodenough, their son Leslie Gore, Bottom row, left to right: Their son Charles W. Gore, his wife Martha E. (Bartley) Gore, and their daughter Mary Jeanette (Gore) Valentine.
Clark Gore [twin of Hart] born December 13, 1803 in Halifax, Windham, Vermont. He married Lydia Burge and they had three children: Martha Lydia Gore, Myron Gore, and Alice Gore.
Luke Gore, born April 1, 1805, Halifax, Windham, Vermont – died October 2, 1868, Newbury, Geauga, Ohio (We are descended from Luke.) Top Row, left to right: Luke Gore, his second wife, Electa (Stanhope) Gore (our grandmother). Milan R. Gore,* Bottom row, left to right: Crockett Gore*, his wife Lois (Haven) Gore, and Crockett’s son Dana D. Gore. *Milan and Crockett are the children of Luke Gore and his first wife: Mila Gore. She was born in 1813 in Halifax, Windham, Vermont – died September 29, 1848 in Newbury, Geauga, Ohio. Luke and Mila were first cousins.
Belinda (Gore) Barton, born July 15, 1807, Halifax, Windham, Vermont – died August 15, 1900, Madison, Lake, Ohio Top row, left to right: Belinda (Gore) Barton, her husband Horace Barton, and their son Hanford Barton. Bottom row, left to right: Their daughter Frances (Barton) Cook, and her husband Eugene Kincaid Cook. Note: Frances (Barton) Cook married her first cousin Eugene Kincaid Cook [see Gratia (Gore) Cook above].
Susan (Gore) Bishop, born February 27, 1812, Belleville, Jefferson, New York – died August 15, 1897, Jefferson County, New York. Left image: Susan (Gore) Bishop and Center image: Her daughter Emogene Matilda Birdy Bishop.
Mary Genette (Gore) Brayman, born June 18, 1814, Belleville, Jefferson, New York – died February 28, 1891, Farmington, Van Burn, Iowa. Top Row, left to right: Mary Genette (Gore) Brayman, her daughter Victoria Icebenda (Brayman) Goodenough, and Victoria’s husband Gilbert Clark Goodenough. Bottom row, left to right: The Brayman children — their sons Andrew Jackson Brayman, Edward Barney Brayman, and their daughter Flora Arabella (Brayman) Orr. (8)
Ellisburgh, and Belleville, Jefferson County, New York
After his wife Elizabeth died in 1793, Deacon Edward Barney eventually remarried. He and his second wife Phebe Bennett had six more children. They also moved from Vermont to New York just after the turn of the 19th century.
From the book, The Growth of A Century: “Deacon Edward Barney came from Guilford, Vermont, about 1803 and settled in the town of Ellisburgh. He was a physician and farmer. He died in 1835, aged 86 years. Three of his sons, substantial business men, settled and raised families in that town, and were foremost in efforts to repel invasion during the War of 1812, especially in defence of Sackets Harbor.” [More on this area below.]
So, it’s clear that he relocated his family to New York State, and it was quite a move(!) They relocated up near the border with Canada at the eastern edge of Lake Ontario. Apparently, Samuel Gore (4) and his wife Rebeckah also followed sometime between 1807 when Belinda was born in Vermont, and 1812 when Susan was born in New York.
Ellisburgh and Belleville are located at the eastern edge of Lake Ontario, as indicated by the inset image. Map of New York 1814 by Mathew Carey from “Careys General Atlas” (Image courtesy of http://www.old-maps.com).
We often wondered what made them decide to emigrate to a new area after spending generations in New England. The article The Coming of the Pioneers from newyorkgenealogy.org helped explain what had been in the air: “By 1800 the tide of immigration towards Northern New York had definitely set in. The lure of cheap lands in a new country brought settlers by the hundreds from the New England states and the still new settlements in the vicinity of Utica. Marvelous tales were told there of the fertility of the lands in the Black River Country, of corn planted in the ground without plowing growing to over eleven feet in height and of wheat yielding from twenty-five to thirty-five bushels to the acre. A traveling missionary commenting on the universal contention of the pioneers in their new homes along the Black river said that he had not “seen an unhappy person for 90 miles on that river.”
“These tales and others brought sturdy, young men and their families from Vermont and Plattsburgh over the woodland trail into Chateaugay and finally to the infant settlements springing up along the St. Lawrence, the Grass and the St. Regis rivers. They brought others, their household goods laden on crude wood sleds, drawn by oxen, up through the trackless woods of the Black River Country…”
To this day, according to Wikipedia, Ellisburgh, New York is still considered a village, and Belleville, (just north of Ellisburgh even smaller), is considered a hamlet. Most of our ancestors who were there, left the area, or didn’t stay there for very long. The only exception was Susan (Gore) Bishop, who was a lifelong resident. (9)
The War of 1812
Like his father Elijah before him, Samuel Gore (4) participated in the new country’s war efforts, as a private in Captain Jonathan Scott’s Company of Colonel Anthony Sprague’s Regiment Jefferson County Militia, New York. (Curiously, his wife Rebeckah never claimed his war pension, likely because he survived unhurt: “All pensions granted to veterans of the War of 1812 and their surviving dependents before 1871 were based exclusively on service-connected death or disability.”)
We had always thought that the War of 1812 was fought because England was rather cranky and upset that they had lost the American Revolutionary War a generation earlier. [Honestly, it just wasn’t deemed to be that important in American high school history classes.] However, there was much more to the conflict.
From the USS Constitution Museum.org: “The War of 1812 pitted the young United States in a war against Great Britain, from whom the American colonies had won their independence in 1783. The conflict was a byproduct of the broader conflict between Great Britain and France over who would dominate Europe and the wider world.” If you recall, in The Gore Line, A Narrative — Four, we had commented on the fact that England had crafted an economic model that benefited them by extracting resources from their Colonies. This changed after the War For Independence, and was aggravated further when President Jefferson passed the Embargo Act of 1807 in retaliation for what was happening to America’s ships and sailors at sea. The embargo was hard on American farmers because it reduced the market for their products, but they weathered the storm, so to speak.
“In Britain’s effort to control the world’s oceans, the British Royal Navy encroached upon American maritime rights and cut into American trade during the Napoleonic Wars. In response, the young republic declared war on Britain on June 18, 1812. The two leading causes of the war were the British Orders-in-Council, which limited American trade with Europe, and impressment, [read as: kidnapping and forced servitude] the Royal Navy’s practice of taking seamen from American merchant vessels to fill out the crews of its own chronically undermanned warships. Under the authority of the Orders in Council, the British seized some 400 American merchant ships and their cargoes between 1807 and 1812.”
It’s hard to believe this today, but in the expansionist era our ancestors lived in, and with everything else that was going on… There were many Hawks in the Continental Congress who believed, The War would allow them to expand American territory into the areas of Canada, which were defined as Upper Canada (essentially Ontario), and Lower Canada (present day Quebec).
“The acquisition of Canada this year, as far as the neighborhood of Quebec, will be a mere matter of marching; and will give us experience for the attack of Halifax the next, and the final expulsion of England from the American continent.”
Thomas Jefferson to William Duane, 4 August 1812
According to the National Park Service: “…many Americans assumed that the Canadian population would welcome the arrival of American forces. In reality, the inhabitants of Canada—a mix of French settlers, American loyalists who had fled north during the War of Independence, and a growing population of ambivalent American transplants – had little reason to embrace an incursion from the south.”
Indeed, “Jefferson also overestimated the readiness of the American armies. Optimists assumed that the U.S. army could be effective as an invading and occupying force… Jefferson also misjudged the effectiveness of the British army. Their own success fighting and defeating the British redcoats during their War of Independence proved a deceptive lesson. Unlike the British troops Americans faced during the Revolution, the British army that arrived in Canada was better led and battle-hardened by twenty years of experience fighting against Napoleonic France.”
However, with our ancestors living where they lived, it was a prime area for much conflict. “Jefferson County early became the theater of active military and naval operations. Sackets Harbor was then the most important point on Lake Ontario. It was made the headquarters of the northern division of the American fleet, and here were fitted out numerous important expeditions against the British in Canada.”[RootsWeb, Child’s Gazetteers 1890]
Furthermore, “The war started in 1812 and lasted until 1815, though a peace treaty had been signed in 1814. Over 2200 US soldiers died and over 1600 British. Jefferson County played a central role in the war, from beginning to end. It was the headquarters of Commodore Isaac Chauncey and the US Navy of the Great Lakes. Six armed engagements were fought in Jefferson County during the war, more so than any other county on American soil. The successful campaigns against York and Niagara (1813) were launched from Sackets Harbor, as were the not so successful campaigns on Montreal and Niagara (1814). Perry’s victory on Lake Erie was also directed from Jefferson County under the command of Isaac Chauncey.” [Jefferson County NY Wiki]
As far as we know, it’s a miracle that none of our family members in this line, died during this time. In Part Six we are writing about our ancestor Luke Gore and his family, as they move west from New England — perhaps following other family members who led the way. (10)
Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials, Notes, and Observations
A Special Note About This Chapter There is a wealth of well done documentation completed by other fellow researchers about this family line, in the Familysearch.org website. We would like to bring this work to your attention, as follows:
Note 2: The research also contains a robust amount of detail and source information for those researchers who would like to research their ancestors beyond the classical “family tree” level.
Note 3: Here is an example — again from this link: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/pedigree/landscape/LQ5C-1D1 , then click on the name Samuel Gore found within the center screen block above his wife’s name, Rebeckah Barney. This will open a biography box on the right side of your screen.
From there, click on the PERSON box, just below Samuel’s birth and death information. This will open a new window which displays useful links such as Details, Sources, etc.
Here is the path: Pedigree landscape view (classical tree) > Samuel Gore biography page > PERSON link > Useful links
Grandma Moses Certainly Knew How to Paint The Rural Life
Sarah Little Vital – Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F4FR-L9K Book page: 117, Digital page: 65/544. Right page, last entry. Note: For her birth registration.
Official History of Guilford, Vermont, 1678-1961. With Genealogies and Biographical Sketches Edited by National Grange, Vermont State Grange, Broad Brook Grange No. 151, Guilford https://archive.org/details/officialhistoryo00unse/page/308/mode/2up Note 1: Gore farm sale, Book page 309, Digital page: 308/585 Note 2: Tipped-in, foldout map of original property lots, Digital page 396/610
Official History of Guilford, Vermont, 1678-1961. With Genealogies and Biographical Sketches Edited by National Grange, Vermont State Grange, Broad Brook Grange No. 151, Guilford https://archive.org/details/officialhistoryo00unse/page/308/mode/2up Note: Elijah Gore Revolutionary War service, page 135.
This is Chapter Four of eight. In this chapter of the Gore narrative, we are documenting a momentous century in the lives of the men and women in two more generations of our family. They journey from their homes in Roxbury, Massachusetts Colony, to the Connecticut Colony, and eventually find themselves facing the American Revolution.
Our ancestors were born into a world already in transition… before we venture further, it is important to understand some of what had been occurring in the New England area of their births.
The New England Colonies in 1677. (Image courtesy of the National Geographic Society).
Preface: Troubles Brewing — Change is Fomenting
The English Monarchy governed its far-flung colonies by the power of extracting resources, then having those resources shipped to England for their own manufacturing use. These raw materials were then processed into goods (for example, textiles such as blankets), which were then shipped to the North American Colonies, sold and taxed. This scheme worked very well for England, but added to a growing sense of displacement which many Colonists felt about their place in the world. What were their rights to self-governance? How did a distant, far off monarchy fit into their worldviews?
Literally and figuratively, boundaries were shifting. Literally, with the actuality that colonies, territories, and borders, were all shifting in a state of flux. Unlike today, as we move through a highly-bound, demarcated world, they were somewhat unbound, trying to figure it out as they went along. Figuratively, our ancestors were starting to form a ‘mental map’ of a world which was really quite different from that of their forbearers.
The English Monarchy was also going through some important changes. From essayist Joerg Knipprath: “There have been few times as crucial to the development of English constitutional practice as the 17th century. The period began with absolute monarchs ruling by the grace of God and ended with a new model of a constitutional monarchy under law created by Parliament. That story was well known to the Americans of the founding period.”
The Gore family had settled in Roxbury, Massachusetts, which is on the far eastern shore of the North American continent. As time went on, more colonists arrived and land holdings expanded to fill what was available under British governance. People wanted stability and prosperity, but the choices about where to further gowere somewhat limited. For the settlers, this meant that ‘you’ needed to expand to the colonies to the north, or to the south. Movement into the western areas, was prohibited, but also, those areas in the 17th century were wilderness, unexplored, and generally hostile. (1)
King Philip’s War
Our ancestors were used to thinking about kings and queens of the European sort, but now they were going to meet a local king, who was new to their understanding. The following is excerpted from the Native Heritage Project article, King Philip’s War:
“King Philip’s War was sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom’s War, or Metacom’s Rebellion and was an armed conflict between Native American inhabitants of present-day southern New England, English colonists and their Native American allies in 1675–76. The war is named after the main leader of the Native American side, Metacomet, known to the English as “King Philip”.
“Throughout the Northeast, the Native Americans had suffered severe population losses due to pandemics of smallpox, spotted fever, typhoid and measles, infectious diseases carried by European fishermen, starting in about 1618, two years before the first colony at Plymouth had been settled. Plymouth, Massachusetts, [which] was established in 1620 with significant early help from Native Americans, particularly… Metacomet’s father and chief of the Wampanoag tribe.”
“Prior to King Philip’s War, tensions fluctuated between different groups of Native Americans and the colonists, but relations were generally peaceful. As the colonists’ small population of a few thousand grew larger over time and the number of their towns increased, the Wampanoag, Nipmuck, Narragansett, Mohegan, Pequot, and other small tribes were each treated individually (many were traditional enemies of each other) by the English colonial officials of Rhode Island, Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, Connecticut and the New Haven colony.”
Over time, “…the building of [Colonial] towns… progressively encroached on traditional Native American territories. As their population increased, the New Englanders continued to expand their settlements along the region’s coastal plain and up the Connecticut River valley. By 1675 they had even established a few small towns in the interior between Boston and the Connecticut River settlements. Tensions escalated and the war itself actually started almost accidentally, certainly not intentionally, but before long, it has spiraled into a full scale war between the 80,000 English settlers and the 10,000 or so Indians.”
Drawing depicting the capture of Mrs. Rolandson during the King Philip’s War between colonists and New England tribes, 1857, Harper’s Monthly. (Image courtesy Library of Congress).
From Wikipedia: “The war was the greatest calamity in seventeenth-century New England and is considered by many to be the deadliest war in Colonial American history. In the space of little more than a year, 12 of the region’s towns were destroyed and many more were damaged, the economy of Plymouth and Rhode Island Colonies was all but ruined and their population was decimated, losing one-tenth of all men available for military service. More than half of New England’s towns were attacked by Natives.” (2)
King Philip’s War began the development of an independent American identity. The New England colonists faced their enemies without support from any European government or military, and this began to give them a group identity separate and distinct from Britain.
The Name of War: King Philip’s War and the Origins of American Identity by Jill Lepore
Philip Wells and The Dominion of New England, 1686-1689
The institution of The Dominion of New England by the Royal Fiat of King Charles II added to an already existing “stew” of tensions in the colonies. It didn’t last that long, and Sir Edmund Andros was dispatched by the Colonists fairly quickly. For our family, the most important resulting aspect was this:
The British rulers knew that when you have accurate maps, you have power.
From the Historical Journal of Massachusetts: “The arrival of Wells and Andros’s government in Massachusetts signaled a major change in how the colonists described borders. In late 1686, King James II appointed Edmund Andros as the governor of the Dominion of New England, an administrative body that combined all the colonies.”
“While previously Massachusetts colonists selected their governors, Andros was an imposition from the King. King James II aimed to streamline the administration of the small New England colonies and bring their unruly subjects more directly under imperial control. A stark contrast to the less experienced, agrarian focused, and rurally raised leaders of early New England.”
“Although Massachusetts colonists had begun to gradually embrace mapping as a tool after the 1650s, the Dominion, an imperial tool, accelerated this process. Unsurprisingly, Andros employed familiar tools of state building and state power, including maps. He gave Wells a new appointment as the head surveyor for the Dominion and hired at least three deputy surveyors, Richard Clements, John Gore, and John Smith. Each man generally operated in a particular area… John Gore in “Napmuge [Nipmuck] Country” in present-day central Massachusetts.“ (3)
Did the Gore Brothers See An Opportunity?
When we first met our ancestor Samuel Gore (1) in The Gore Line — Three, we learned that he had been born in Roxbury, Massachusetts Colony, in October 1652. He was not the oldest surviving son in the family. That distinction belonged to his older brother John (2), who was the (part-time) Writ for the town of Roxbury, and was also a sought-after, skilled surveyor. These positions would have required some degree of formal education, and would be in demand in a fast-growing colony.
Inset: A youthful George Washington surveying at Pope’s Creek, Virginia. Image courtesy of the National Park Service. Background: Frontispiece from Samuel Wyld’s The Practical Surveyor (1780). (Image courtesy of the American Philosophical Society, APS).
Notes: As the oldest son, John (2) would have benefited from primogeniture*, which was the standard for that time. (This meant that the Lions Share of the father’s estate went to the oldest son before any other person.) However, this did not always happen in the Northern Colonies, and in his father’s Will of 1657, this did not happen for John (2), as he had already received his portion of his father’s estate. Hence, his younger brother Samuel (1) likely benefited somewhat.
*primogeniture (noun) – the state or fact of being the firstborn of children of the same parents. – Law. the system of inheritance or succession by the firstborn, specifically the eldest son.
Observation: Additionally, as a surveyor, he was involved in projects which may have influenced the younger Samuel in his choices about where his family would live. They appear to have interacted frequently throughout their lives, as they both did surveying work, and were land-holders themselves. During a time of frequent land speculation, it seems quite likely, that they both benefited from information gained while doing their professions. From the Cameron County Genealogy Project: “Samuel Gore came into the sole possession of his father’s common lands in 1716… On 2 March 1712/13 he was elected one of the Fence Viewers of Roxbury and 3 March 1717 was one of the Surveyers of Highways.” (4)
The New Roxbury Colony, and The Mashamoquet Purchase
The people of Roxbury, Massachusetts Colony had run out of land and they decided to do something about it rather than wait for permission from, or action by, their British Governor-by-fiat, Sir Edmund Andros.
The town of Roxbury was one of the most ancient and influential in Massachusetts Colony. ”The Roxbury people were the best that came from England,” and filled many of the highest offices in the colonial government.
Nothing was lacking for their growth and prosperity but a larger area of territory, then “limits being so scanty and not capable of enlargement that several persons… — were compelled to remove out of the town and colony.
Ellen D. Larned author of The History of Windham County, page 18
In 1642, the Woodward and Saffery line was established as the southern border of the Massachusetts Colony, and thus, the northern border of the Connecticut Colony. Within a couple of decades of that date, in the rough-and-tumble early Colonial period, the people of Massachusetts wanted more land, and their neighbors to the south in the Connecticut Colony, started to take issue with what they felt was their land. It all got very complicated.
In addition, many skirmishes between the Colonists and the Native American tribes had resulted in King Philip’s War, which had destroyed much infrastructure and weakened both sides. The “Indians” in shock from their defeat, had started to return to their old haunts, which the Colonists were looking to expand into. Perhaps the Roxbury settlers were spurred on by the arrival of The Dominion, because by 1686, boundaries and settlements were changing.
There was a grant for “Indian” lands that consisted of two portions in Nipmuck County — one portion was called Myanexet, and the other Quinnatesset. This land had been acquired by the English representatives William Stoughton and Joseph Dudley; purchased in 1682 from the Indian representative Black James, for £50 by the English Government. From The History of Windham County: Among the first to arrive… “The land thus purchased was laid out in June, 1684, by John Gore [2], of Roxbury, under the supervision of Colonel William Dudley.”
This colorful image purports to show George Washington working as a surveyor in Colonial America. We are using it as a stand-in for our ancestor John Gore working with Indian guides in the wilds of the Massachusetts and Connecticut colonies.
Circa May 1686 — “In May, they were visited ‘ by Samuel Williams, Sen., Lieutenant Timothy Stevens and John Curtis, who, with John Gore as surveyor, came as committee from Roxbury, ‘to view the land, in order to the laying out of the same ; settle the southern bounds (upon or near the colony line)… Eleven days were spent by Mr. Gore in making the needful surveys and measurements — Massachusetts’ South boundary line evaded their search, so they made a station about one and a half miles south of Plaine Ilill, and thence marked trees east and west for the south line of their grant, nearly two miles south of the invisible Woodward’s and Safferys line, thus securing to Massachusetts another strip of Connecticut territory.”
Problems arose due to the perceived position of the Woodward and Saffery line, and then it was not clear who exactly who was at fault with information from 1642. (Remember, earlier maps were not very precise before this period). Ultimately, what was surveyed created problems for both Colonies.
This chart from page 15 of Windham County shows the survey work by John Gore (2) that was completed for the Quinnatesset portion of the land purchase. The horizontal line is the Woodward and Saffery line. Above that line is Massachusetts and below it is Connecticut. The small letter ‘e’ on the left portion is the designation for Samuel Gore (1)‘s purchase — the father of John Gore (2). For whatever reason, land purchased by both Thompson and Gore ended up “being-ish” (new word!) in Connecticut, not Massachusetts. This was a problem in the fact that the Colonies were (of course) governed by Britain, and these two colonies had separate governments whose interests were not aligned.
Further excerpted material from Windham County: “No attempt was made to occupy and cultivate these farms by their owners. Thompson’s land remained in his family for upwards of an hundred years, and the town that subsequently included it was named in his honor.”
As time went on, Mashamoquet was the name of a river which was frequently used as a boundry marker. By 1686, the land was known as the Mashamoquet Purchase, and the village settlement was called New Roxbury.
“The survey and divisions (of land) were accomplished during the winter, and on March 27th, 1694, nearly eight years after the date of purchase, the several proprietors received their allotments in the following order: 1, Esther Grosvenor; 2, Thomas Mowry; 3, John Ruggles; 4, John Gore; 5, Samuel Gore [1] ’s heirs; 6, Samuel Ruggles; 7, John Chandler; 8, Jacob, Benjamin and Daniel Dana; 9, Benjamin Sabin; 1 0, Thomas and Elizabeth Ruggles; 11, John White; 12, Joseph Griffin… Note that Samuel Gore’s heirs received his allotment of land. Samuel died in 1694, age 41, two years before the division of land in Connecticut was completed.”
In 1690, the village was renamed Woodstock.
Connecticut was originally settled by Dutch Fur Traders. The first English settlers arrived in Connecticut in 1663 under the leadership of Reverenced Thomas Hooker. They were Puritans from the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
“By the settlement of Massachusetts boundary line in 1713… Massachusetts was forced to admit that Woodward’s and Saffery’s line ran some miles south of the bound prescribed by her patent… That Connecticut had a lawful right to the fee as well as jurisdiction of this land no one could deny, but beset by enemies at home and abroad she was forced to yield it to the stronger Colony, and allowed Massachusetts, by formal agreement and covenant, to keep the towns laid out by her in Connecticut territory, and the various grantees to retain possession of this land, receiving as equivalent an equal number of acres in distant localities. Under this arrangement, Connecticut yielded: To the town of Woodstock, 50,410 acres. …To John Gore, 500 acres…“
…and in 1749 the town officially chose to became part of Connecticut.
In the more southern portion of the Mashamoquet Purchase, below the village of Woodstock (formerly New Roxbury), another small township was established named Pomfret. It was incorporated in 1713, and is important to the next generation of the Gore Family. (5)
Captain Samuel Gore (2) Marries Hannah Draper
Samuel Gore (2) was born on October 20, 1681, in Roxbury, Massachusetts Colony – died May 27, 1756, in Norwich, Connecticut Colony. He married Hannah Draper about 1703, when he was 22 and she was 17 years old. Hannah was born April 8, 1686 in Roxbury, Massachusetts Colony and died July 11, 1741, in Norwich, Connecticut Colony. They are both buried in the Eliot Burying Ground in Roxbury, Suffolk County, Massachusetts.
Hannah was the daughter of Moses Draper and Hannah Chandler. He was born on September 15, 1664 in Dedham, Massachusetts – died August 14, 1693 in Boston, Massachusetts Colony, age 29. His parents were James Draper and Miriam Stansfield.
Hannah (Chandler) Draper, was born September 19, 1669 in Roxbury, Suffolk, Massachusetts Colony – died June 9, 1692 in Roxbury, Massachusetts, age 22. Her parents were John Chandler and Elizabeth Douglass.
Hannah (Draper) Gore was six years old when her mother died in July 1692. In November 1962 her father, Moses Draper, married Mary Thatcher. A child, Moses Draper, Jr. was born September 12, 1693. However, the father, Moses, had died the month before his birth. By age seven, Hannah was an orphan. Her guardianship was given to her Uncle James Draper on August 1, 1695. It is unclear if she was raised by him, or remained with Mary (Thatcher) Draper and her step-brother Moses. Below is interesting information regarding the settlement by 1715 of Moses Draper’s estate.
All three pages above are from The Drapers In America, Being a History and Genealogy Those of That Name and Connection, by Thomas Wall-Morgan Draper, 1892. Note on the third page (167): A past genealogist wrote-in “Samuel” in pencil, to correct the author’s error about her husband.
Samuel Gore (2) and Hannah (Draper) Gore Family
For the first eleven years of their marriage Samuel (2) and Hannah lived in Roxbury, Massachusetts where the first six of their nine children were born. Note: CTC = Connecticut Colony, CT = Connecticut State
Elizabeth (Gore) Witter, born January 12, 1704 – died April 9, 1761 Preston, CTC
Samuel Gore, born March 26, 1705 – died May 22, 1706 (one year old)
Samuel Gore (3), born May 29, 1707 – died July 26, 1791 Voluntown, CT (We are descended from Samuel 3).
Moses Gore, born September 23, 1709 – died 1786 Cornwallis, Kings, Nova Scotia, Canada
John Gore, born October 11, 1711 – died January 19, 1735, Norwich CTC
Obadiah Gore, born July 26, 1714 – died 10 January 1779, of smallpox in Wyoming, Pennsylvania. Notably, he lost several adult children in another Native American “Indian War” — the Wyoming Valley Massacre July 3, 1778.
Their youngest three were born in Norwich, Connecticut Colony (CTC):
Daniel Gore, born September 6, 1719- died October 4, 1719 (one month old)
Hannah (Gore) Burrow/Gallup, born December 20, 1720 – died March 19, 1810 Stonington, CT
Sarah (Gore) Hobart born January 15, 1723 – died July 28, 1743 Stonington, CTC
After his wife Hannah (Draper) Gore died in 1741, Samuel (2) married for a second time to Mrs. Dorcas Blunt on May 13, 1742. (6)
What The Connecticut Charter of 1662 Accomplished
The Conneticut Charter was remarkable for several reasons. From Wikipedia: The English Parliament restored the monarchy in 1660, and King Charles II assumed the English throne. Connecticut had never been officially recognized as a colony by the English government, so the General Court determined that the independence of Connecticut must be legitimized... The key document mapping out Connecticut’s original boundaries wasn’t in fact a map. It was, instead, a royal charter… arguably the most important document in Connecticut’s history—contains among its other provisions a written description of the colony’s boundaries that served the same function as a drawn map.
Charter of the Colony of Connecticut, 1662 – Connecticut State Library.
The document described Connecticut’s western borders extending through Pennsylvania-claimed lands all the way to the ‘southern sea”. From Connecticut History.org: “The “South Sea”—what we call the Pacific Ocean—was well known to early navigators, but its exact location in relation to Connecticut Colony was unclear in 1662. What England’s King Charles II effectively granted Connecticut through that grandiose wording was a swath of land some 70 miles north to south, stretching from the Narragansett Bay on the east to the northern California/Oregon coast just west of Mount Shasta...“
“Historians have long marveled at the generous provisions of the 1662 royal charter. In addition to the transcontinental footprint, the king also granted Connecticut virtually complete governmental autonomy more than a century before the Declaration of Independence. The charter’s provisions in this regard were so complete that when other states scrambled to create new constitutions at the start of the American Revolution, Connecticut simply replaced the king’s name with “the people of Connecticut” and continued using the charter as its constitution until 1818!”
Observations: It is plausible that these boundaries would could have influenced the choices of the ancestral descendants found further on in The Gore Line after this era. For us in the present day, the “western” boundary became a defining feature of where we grew up in Ohio. (7)
The Houses of Stuart and Orange: Queen Anne (reigned 1702 – 1707), and then she continued as Queen under The House of Stuart, (reigned 1707 – 1714), The House of Hanover, George I (reigned 1714-1727), George II (reigned 1727 – 1760).
The Samuel Gore Family Moves to Norwich in the Connecticut Colony
Observation: Samuel Gore (2), was the son of a carpenter and part-time surveyor, but most importantly, he was connected through his relatives to land investments in New England. Land ownership may have been his primary means of retaining wealth. He may have been a farmer (yeoman), but we doubt that he ever pushed a plow in his early life. He likely leased his lands and had other people to do much of the hard labor. (This may have been different for his children and grandchildren…)
The History of Windham County records that John Chandler, the grandfather of Hannah (Chandler) Gore purchased “Pomfret land” from Samuel Gore (2) about 1716. It is probable that Samuel (2) had likely acquired the land he sold, through his inheritance from his father Samuel (1). John then moved his family from Roxbury, Massachusetts Colony to Pomfret, Connecticut Colony. Pomfret was then a newly established area formed from the Mashamoquet Purchase.
Additionally, the Weld Collections, by Charles Frederick Robinson, records of Samuel (2)… “He was of Roxbury in 1719, and 20 July, 1734, he was of Norwich, Conn. He sold on the former date [1719] land in Roxbury on the Dedham road, for £420, Hannah his wife releasing her right of dower (SD 57.16). It is likely that this land “on Dedham Road” was the original land of Moses Draper, the father of his wife Hannah, (see Drapers in America, p 165 above).
In 1721, Samuel (2) was commissioned Captain of the 5th Company, Connecticut Militia, located in Norwich. (8)
The Susquehanna Company
Can we acquire that land? …seemed to be a dominant theme for these generations of the Gore Family. From Connecticut History.Org: “In 1753, amidst a flurry of land speculation and westward expansion that captivated the imagination of American colonists, Connecticut settlers formed the Susquehanna Company for the purposes of developing the Wyoming Valley in northeastern Pennsylvania... a shortage of farmland and a growing population had encouraged some in Connecticut to revisit the terms of the colony’s original land grant…” — the one that promised that Connecticut’s borders extended ever westward. See above: What The Connecticut Charter of 1662 Accomplished
“Pennsylvania also had a royal charter, issued in 1681 by the same king, that gave it title to the territory in question. This was not unusual, as the imperial bureaucracy back in England often possessed only rudimentary knowledge of the vast American terrain.”
Map The Part of Pennsylvania that Lies Between the Forks of the Susquehanna, Divided into Townships, ca. 1790s. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division.
“So, in 1754, when the Susquehanna Company acquired the land for 2,000 pounds from an Iroquois delegation at a conference in Albany, New York, many called the validity of the transaction into question. Settlement of the area (which also included land west of the Wyoming Valley and made up almost one-third of Pennsylvania) quickly became a divisive issue among Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and several tribal nations, as well as within the Connecticut colony itself.”
Samuel Gore (2) and his son, Obadiah Gore, had become members of The Susquehanna Company. As owners of one right, or share, their names appear among the names of the grantees in the Indian deed of July 11, 1754. Twenty-four years later the younger Gore generation would fight in the Battle of Wyoming (a county in Pennsylvania).
Ultimately by 1799, Connecticut gave up any claim it had to lands in Pennsylvania, but this was not before one particularly famous, but truly terrible battle, changed the lives of some of our ancestors. (9)
The Battle of Wyoming (County), Pennsylvania
The situation in Pennsylvania came to a head in the Wyoming Valley Massacre of July 3, 1778. The family of Captain Obadiah Gore did not fare well. (10)
Battle Of Wyoming, 1778 by Alonzo Chapel (1858). Public domain.
“When the Battle of Wyoming was fought, Capt. Obadiah Gore was one of the small company of old men who remained in Forty fort for its defense…” Three of Obadiah Gore’s sons and two sons-in-law died in the Battle of Wyoming that day fighting for The Continental Army. Fully recounted below, more than a century later, in A History Of, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, 1893 edition:
Samuel Gore (3) Marries Desire Safford
Samuel Gore (3) was born on May 29, 1707, in Roxbury, Massachusetts Colony – died July 26, 1791, in Voluntown, Connecticut, USA. He moved with his parents to Norwich, Connecticut sometime in his childhood. He married Desire SaffordFebruary 25, 1735/36 in Norwich, New London County, Connecticut Colony. She was born on October 18, 1717 in Voluntown, Connecticut Colony – died September 11, 1772, same location. Desire was the daughter of John Safford and Dorothy Larrabee.
From Family Search.org: “Before 1881, Voluntown belonged to Windham County, Connecticut, instead of New London County. Much of the land situated in what is now Voluntown was granted to the volunteers of the Narragansett War in 1700. The name ‘Volunteer’s Town’ turned into what is now known as Voluntown.”
Although this map was created in 1856, Voluntown boundaries had stayed the same since Samuel Gore (3)’s lifetime.
Samuel Gore (3) and Desire had nine children. He moved his family from Voluntown, some 14 miles north east of Norwich, and then returned to Norwich, and even later returned to Voluntown. He owned land in both places, and where they were living influenced where each child’s birth was recorded, as noted below — all were born in either Norwich, New London County, or Voluntown, Windham County, Connecticut Colony. Note: CTC = Connecticut Colony, CT = Connecticut State
John Gore, born November 15,1736, Norwich, New London, CTC – died August 15, 1773, Norwich, CT
Elizabeth (Gore) Eddy, born December 15, 1738, Voluntown, New London, CTC – died March 14, 1790, Salisbury, Litchfield, CT
Hannah Gore, born June 26, 1741, Voluntown, CTC – death date unknown
Dorothy (Gore) Titus, born February 6, 1746/47, Norwich, New London, CTC- died 1816, Stirling City, Windham, CT
Desire Gore, born April 19, 1750, Norwich, New London, CTC – death date unknown
Elijah Gore, born February 11, 1754, Norwich, CTC – died after 1791 Halifax, Windham, Vermont. (We are descended from Elijah).
Amos Gore, born October 9, 1755, Norwich, New London, CTC- died June 11, 1827, Halifax, Windham, Vermont
Esther (Gore) Stafford, born January 22, 1759, Norwich, New London, CTC – October 24, 1836, Halifax, Windham, Vermont
Ebenezer Gore, born February 3, 1762, Voluntown, New London, CTC- died September 30, 1790, Killingly, Windham, CT
Observation: Elijah Gore and family along with his siblings, Amos and Lydia (Carpenter) Gore, and Samuel and Esther (Gore) Stafford, moved to Halifax, Windham, Vermont, where they lived for the rest of their lives. Note that the name Windham County (confusingly) repeats in Vermont.
Samuel Gore (3) was a beneficiary of his father’s estate, so this may have provided him with the economic means to live the life of a gentleman farmer: he was a land-holder, who also did some farming. It also seems that his life was quieter than those of his father’s and grandfathers’ generations. The administrative documents for his estate are interesting, extensive, and quite illegible. In those times, all debts were to be settled when the Will was probated, so sometimes an extensive inventory of assets were necessary. (The frequent bane of our research, is trying to interpret the poor quill-penmanship of court administrators and census takers! ‘Our hats are off (to you)’ if you can read the 34 administrative papers!) (11)
First page of the administrative documents for the estate of Samuel Gore (3), circa 1791.
The Last King of America
From Wikipedia.org: “George III’s life and reign were marked by a series of military conflicts involving his kingdoms, much of the rest of Europe, and places farther afield in Africa, the Americas and Asia. Early in his reign, Great Britain defeated France in the Seven Years’ War, becoming the dominant European power in North America and India. However, many of Britain’s American colonies were soon lost in the American War of Independence… [The War] was the culmination of the civil and political American Revolution. In the 1760s, a series of acts by Parliament was met with resistance in Britain’s Thirteen Colonies in America. In particular they rejected new taxes levied by Parliament, a body in which they had no direct representation. The colonies had previously enjoyed a high level of autonomy in their internal affairs and viewed Parliament’s acts as a denial of their rights as Englishmen… The colonies declared their independence in July 1776…” (12)
The House of Hanover, George III (reigned 1760-1820). King George III in his Coronation Robes, by Allan Ramsay, circa 1765.
In the next chapter, The Gore Line — Five, we will feature the last of our Gore relatives who live in Connecticut. They venture on to Vermont, and then move westward to New York state. Indeed very soon, the people of the newly formed United States of America begin their westward journey.
Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials, Notes, and Observations
A group of Indians armed with bow-and-arrow, along with a fire in a carriage ablaze, burn a log-cabin in the woods during King Philip’s War, 1675-1676, hand-colored woodcut from the 19th century. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:KingPhilipsWarAttack.webp Note: For the illustration.
America’s Best History, Pre-Revolution Timeline – The 1600s 1675 Detail https://americasbesthistory.com/abhtimeline1675m.html Note: For the illustration depicting the capture of Mrs. Rolandson during the King Philip’s War between colonists and New England tribes, 1857, Harper’s Monthly.
The Name of War: King Philip’s War and the Origins of American Identity by Jill Lepore Vintage Books, 1999 Book pages: 5-7
Philip Wells and The Dominion of New England, 1686-1689
This is Chapter Three of eight. Our Gore relatives move from the United Kingdom to the New England Colonies in the New World. The relationship of the Gore(s) to the British Crown, like many others in the Great Migration, was one of physical distance, and then increasingly emotional distance.
In this chapter, we are covering the first two generations of the Gore Family in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
The Stuarts: King James I (reigned 1603 – 1625), King Charles I (reigned 1625 – 1649), and King Charles II (reigned 1660 – 1685). The Stuarts represent the Union of Scottish and the English Crowns. As such, they were the first kings of the United Kingdom. (1)
The Great Migration, 1620-1640
The term Great Migration can refer to the migration in the period of English Puritans to the New England colonies, starting with the Plymouth Colony and then the Massachusetts Bay Colony, (where the Gore family immigrated to). They came in family groups rather than as isolated individuals and were mainly motivated for their freedom to practice their beliefs.
This religious conflict worsened after Charles I became king in 1625, and Parliament increasingly opposed his authority. In 1629, Charles dissolved Parliament with no intention of summoning a new one, in an ill-fated attempt to neutralize his enemies there, which included numerous Puritans. With the religious and political climate so unpromising, many Puritans decided to leave the country. (2)
A New Era Begins in The American Colonies
Richard and Elizabeth Gore’s son John Gore (John 1 in America), born 1606 in Alton, East Hampshire District, Hampshire – died June 4, 1657 in Roxbury, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, British Colonies. He was interred at the Eliot Burying Ground at the same location. In England, he lived in North Baddesley and Southampton, Hampshire.
In July 1625 John Gore, aged 19, earned a B.A. from Queens College in Cambridge. He married Rhoda Gardner, on July 24, 1627, at Saint Trinity The Less, London Hackney, London. We believe she was born circa 1605, [“Rhoda wife of John Gore” deposed on May 19, 1655 “aged forty-five years or thereabouts”] near Waltham Abbey, Essex, England. By 1635, they had immigrated to Boston, Massachusetts in the British Colonies. Soon thereafter they moved to Roxbury where they had 10 children, all of them born in Roxbury, except as noted:
Mary (Gore) Mylame, born March 1632 (baptized April 1) in England in the parish of Ippolitts in Hertfordshire; the only record we’ve found of her is in her father’s Will
John (John 2, in America), born May 23, 1634 in England and baptized in the parish of Ippolitts in Hertfordshire in England – died June 26, 1706
Obadiah (I), born June 1636 – died September 1636 (3 months)
Abigail (I), born August 1641 – died before May 1643 (1 year)
Abigail (II), born May 7, 1643 – died October 31, 1671
Hannah, born May 1646 – died July 1686
Obadiah (II), born 1648 – died September 3, 1653
Gore Twins, birth & death dates unknown (possibly stillborn)*
Samuel (1), born June 11, 1651 – died July 26, 1692 (We are descended from Samuel). * The birth and death dates for the Gore twins is incomplete and contradictory in various records.
John Gore (1) was one of the few men in Roxbury who were given the honorific title of “Mister”. When he died in 1657, he provided in his Will for his wife and his five surviving children, as follows:
1657 Will of John Gore of Roxbury, Massachusetts Colony.
Rhoda married a second time, about 1659, to John Remington. Documentation found in Volume 3 of the book, The Great Migration…, indicates that “on 14 July 1662, “Rhoda Gore executrix aforesaid” stated that she had “some years since married with Lieutenant John Remington of Rowley, and that an event following the marriage had taken place “two years since (i.e., two years ago)”. She married for the third time on June 3, 1674, to Edward Porter. Finally, she married for the fourth time, after February 12, 1677-78 and before May 15, 1679 to Joshua Tidd.
Rhoda (Gardner) Gore Remington Porter Tidd died August 22, 1693 in Roxbury, Norfolk County, Massachusetts. She outlived three of her husbands, and her burial details are unknown.
In our research on our Gore family we came across a wonderful and very thorough Gore Family History written by a “cousin”, Jeff Gore. We have excerpted some of his writing in our narrative. You can find his complete Gore Family History at: https://jgoredotorg.wordpress.com/2018/05/27/the-gore-family-history/. Thank you, Jeff! (3)
The Massachusetts Bay Colony
Arrival of the Winthrop Colony, by William F. Halsall, (W. F. Halsall, Public Domain).
“John and Rhoda Gore arrived at the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635 with two young children. At the time of their arrival there were only a few thousand colonists in all of New England. This was just fifteen years after the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock, and five years after John Winthrop founded the city of Boston following the arrival of a fleet containing eleven ships and 700 colonists (see drawing by Halsall above). This was the second attempt by a group of investors to colonize the area, after an unsuccessful attempt in 1623 to establish a settlement further north on Cape Ann. This second attempt was successful, with about 20,000 people migrating to New England in the 1620s and 1630s in what is known as the Great Migration. The Puritans had been embroiled in a long dispute with the Monarchy regarding the practice of their religion, culminating in King Charles I dissolving a rebellious Parliament in 1629.”
Bird’s eye view of Queens’ College, Cambridge by David Loggan, published in 1690, probably drawn in 1685. (Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons).
“John immigrated to the American colonies seven years after graduating from Queen’s College in Oxford University (drawing of Queen’s College above is from 1690). Although Harvard would not be founded for another year, Queen’s College was approaching its 300 year anniversary. John was from a wealthy English family, son of Richard Gore (1574-1644) of North Baddesley and Southampton, Hampshire. Richard [had] married Elizabeth Gore (1576- 1650) in 1599 and together they had two sons, John and Thomas.”
Research has not revealed what the reasons were regarding John’s decision to immigrate to the Massachusetts Bay Colony with his family.
Plan of Boston showing existing ways and owners on December 25, 1635 George Lamb, creator, Boston Public Library, Norman B. Leventhal Map Center
“At the time of John Gore’s arrival, the town of Boston was unrecognizable. Most strikingly, the Back Bay and South End were not yet filled in, meaning that only a narrow spit of land connected the town of Boston to Roxbury and the rest of the mainland (see far left in image above). “The “Field near Colbron’s” will turn into Boston Common, whereas what we refer to as Beacon Hill extends from the region labeled “West Hill” to the original “Beacon Hill” to the South. The town of Boston was still so small that this map could list the name of the owner of each house in the map!” (4)
First in Boston, Then Settling in Roxbury
Plan of Roxbury, made by John G. Hales (Image courtesy of digitalcommonwealth.org).
“In 1637, John Gore moved to Roxbury, just across the isthmus from Boston, with his wife Rhoda Gardner and the beginnings of their family. Although Roxbury is now a neighborhood within Boston, at the time it was an independent town. It was one of the first towns established in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. “
1839 engraving from Historical Collections, Being a General Collection of Interesting Facts, Traditions, Biographical Sketches, Anecdotes &c, Relating to the History and Antiquities of Every Town in Massachusetts, by John Warner Barber.
“Originally the name was spelled “Rocksbury,” and Barber, in his Historical Collections, says: “A great part of this town is rocky land; hence the name of Rocksbury.” The rocky soil caused challenges for farming, and William Pynchon, the original founder of Rocksbury, gave up on the location just before John Gore settled there and left with a third of the population to settle what became Springfield. Despite these initial challenges, Roxbury eventually became famous for its apples, pears, and other fruits.”
John arrived in Roxbury with his wife Rhoda on April 18, 1637and was one of the few men in the colony honored with the title of “Mister”. He is mentioned in a list of landowners of the year 1643 as owning 188 acres.
When he landed at Boston and passed on Boston Neck to Roxbury, “Mrs Gore was carried by two men, as the ground was wet and swampy. Arriving at Roxbury, the men stopped with their fair burden on a small hill, when Mrs Gore, who was much fatiqued, exclaimed “This is Paradise”, and the spot was henceforth named “Paradise Hill”.
from the Cameron County Genealogy Project
“In 1638, John was a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, the oldest chartered military organization in North America and the third oldest chartered military organization in the world. Multiple generations of the Gore family stayed in the Roxbury area, and indeed many of the early Gore Family, including John, are buried in the Eliot Burial Ground.”
“Finally, John Gore was one of the founders of Roxbury Latin School, and his signature is on the school charter. His son John was an early graduate of the school, studied at Harvard from 1651-1654, and later became a master in 1673 back at Roxbury Latin.”
“About 1674 he leased the Bell Homestead in Roxbury for twenty-one years, agreeing [either to] teach the free school, to provide a substitute teacher, or to pay twelve pounds yearly in corn or cattle.” — Cutter
“At the time of his death, John Gore’s estate contained 812 pounds of real estate and buildings, including 4000 acres (over six square miles).” (5)
The Gore Family Home
The Town of Roxbury: its Memorable Persons and Places… by Francis Samuel Drake, 1828-1885, (Image courtesy of archive.org).
Excerpted from the article Paul Gore, written by Walter H. Marx for the Jamaica Plain Historical Society, in September 1990:
“The Gores prospered and early appear as selectmen in the Town of Roxbury. Their homestead (see picture from Drake’s “Town of Roxbury” above) stood by Stony Brook (before it was put into a culvert) and Tremont Street near Roxbury Crossing. A piece of the estate was later sliced off when the railroad to Providence was built.
The homestead, however, continued to stand until 1876 and was inhabited by the Gores, until the land was sold and cut up as a prize location in a Roxbury that was rapidly becoming industrialized. The present Gore Street, running parallel to Tremont Street on the west side into Parker Street, still commemorates the ancient Roxbury family and is probably the reason why the municipal government ordered Paul added to the Gore Street in Jamaica Plain to prevent confusion.”
Left: Detail of the 1843 Map of The City of Roxbury, Charles Whitney, cr. Right: Detail of the Map of the City of Boston and Immediate Neighborhood, Henry McIntyre cr. Boston Public Library, Norman B. Leventhal Map Center
“…a happy side effect of the Revolutionary War was that Britain became exceedingly interested in the Boston Area and commisioned a number of maps to be made, the most famous of which is likely the Pelham map.” (6)
A Plan of Boston in New England with its Environs Henry Pelham, cartographer, Francis Jukes, engraver, published 1777. (Image courtesy of the Mount Vernon Ladies Association).
Samuel Gore, The Second Generation
“John and Rhoda had ten children, and [we] descend from his son Samuel (1638 – 1692, although some sources list 1651 as [his] birth date). As we have seen in discussions of the original Homestead, many of the descendants of John Gore Jr stayed in the Boston region, whereas many of Samuel’s descendants spread across the Union. Although primogeniture [*] was not commonly practiced in the Northern colonies, there may still have been a difference in inheritance that led to this asymmetry.“
*primogeniture (noun) – the state or fact of being the firstborn of children of the same parents. – Law. the system of inheritance or succession by the firstborn, specifically the eldest son.
“Samuel was still relatively young when his father passed away in 1657, but his father’s property should have provided a launching pad for the young Samuel. His mother also received land, and in any case within two years was remarried to Lieutenant John Remington.
Samuel grew up to be a carpenter and, [and also did surveying work] like his father John Gore, served as selectman in Roxbury. In 1689, Samuel was one of the three officers in the military company from the town of Roxbury that took part in what you might consider a prelude to the Revolutionary War that would occur nearly a century later.”
The Houses of Stuart and Orange: King James II (reigned 1685 – 1688), Queen Mary II (reigned 1689 – 1694), and King William III (reigned 1689 – 1703). James II was ousted by Parliament less than four years after ascending to the throne. To settle the question of who should replace the deposed monarch, a Convention Parliament elected James’ daughter Mary II and her husband (also his nephew) William III co-regents, in the Glorious Revolution.
“In 1684, King Charles II revoked the charter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony because the colonial leaders had refused [to] make administrative changes that would have brought the colony under tighter control of the Crown.”
In response, King James II–the successor to King Charles II after his passing in 1685–created the Dominion of New England and appointed [the] former governor of New York, Sir Edmund Andros, dominion. This was deeply unpopular among the colonists, and in 1689 there was an uprising in which 2000 militia members rose up and deposed Andros, eventually leading to the restoration of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.”
Note: The Dominion of New England is also revisited in The Gore Line — Four.
Observation: Having an education afforded John Gore the ability to be the “Writ” (the clerk) of the local Roxbury government. When you read the ancient records of Roxbury, you are reading our ancestor’s handiwork, see below. (7)
Inset excerpt from: The Town of Roxbury: its memorable people and places… Background image: The Expulsion of Sir Edmund Andros
Samuel Gore (1) Marries Elizabeth Weld
“At the age of 21, Samuel [on August 28, 1672]married Elizabeth Weld (1655-1717). [She was the] granddaughter of Captain Joseph Weld. Joseph Weld was one of the richest men in Massachusetts, and indeed the Weld family has a long distinguished history within the region (William Weld, governor of Massachusetts from 1991-1997, is the most famous living member of the Weld family). Given that the Weld and Gore families both had extensive land holdings in Roxbury, the families would have known each other well. Indeed, both Samuel and Elizabeth were born in Roxbury, with Samuel born four years earlier.”
During their marriage Samuel (1) and Elizabeth had seven children. All of the children were born in Roxbury, Massachusetts.
Abigail, born May 29, 1673 – died July 1675
John, born November 10, 1676 – died March 10, 1679
Child Gore born and died September 24, 1680
Samuel Jr. (2), October 20, born 1681 – died May 27, 1756 (We are descended from Samuel).
John, born June 22, 1683 – died November 12, 1720
Thomas, born August 16, 1686 – died October 17, 1689
Obadiah, born July 13, 1688 – died 8, 1721
Samuel Gore (1) lived his entire life in Roxbury. “He was Lieutenant in the Military Company of Roxbury in 1689, which took part in the revolution that overthrew the government of Sir Edmund Andros…” [Abbott, Courtright footnote]
Samuel Gore (1) death record, July 4, 1692.
He died on July 4, 1692 at age 41 and is buried at the Eliot Burying Ground in Roxbury, Massachusetts. (8)
The Weld Family Was Famous and Prosperous
Map of New England printed by John Seller John in 1675 CE, based on William Reed’s original survey of 1665 CE. Image courtesy of the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center.
“Elizabeth Weld was the daughter of John Weld (1630-1691) and Margaret Bowen (1623 – 1692). As was the case for most of these early colonists, her family traced their roots back to Wales and England. Captain Joseph Weld (1599–1646) was the youngest of the three brothers who immigrated from England. For his role in the Pequot War of 1637, the colonial legislature granted Weld 278 acres (1.13 km2) in the town of Roxbury. Captain Weld’s land is now much of present-day Jamaica Plain and Roslindale, and in particular the Arnold Arboretum. With the wealth generated from this grant, Joseph Weld became one of the first donors to Harvard and a founder of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts.”
After Samuel Gore died in 1692 Elizabeth (Weld) Gore married Benjamin Tucker in 1695. He died in 1713 and this left Elizabeth a widow once again. Ten years later in 1723 , aged 68, she married John Smith. Elizabeth (Weld) Gore Tucker Smith died in 1725. It is assumed that she is buried in the Eliot Burying Grounds with her family members. (9)
Women in Colonial America
Throughout the Gore narratives, we have been documenting what we can about our many ancestral grandmothers, but records are scarce. Sometimes we come upon source material that enlightens us as to what was expected of women from that era, and select a passage or two, to share. It can be difficult to understand and to not judge ancestors who held different beliefs from those we hold in the modern era.
A colonial woman’s main duty was to be married and bear as many children as possible to contribute to populating the new American country. It was common for women to have as many as six to twelve children by the time she was 40 – 45. Unfortunately, many of these children did not live into adolescence. A woman could have easily gone through her entire adulthood being pregnant and/or nursing a child. All too often many women died before reaching age 50.
“Women primarily worked at home.” (Illustration from Women in Colonial America, courtesy of Study.com).
In addition to bearing children a woman’s day of labor began at dawn and ended when the work was completed. From page 108 in Women of Colonial America…
“Wherever she lived, whether in a colonial town, on a farm or on the distant frontier, she began her day with a dizzying whirl of daily chores. Her family’s survival often depended upon her skills and efforts – her mastering housewifery.”
“Her duties included management of the house and yard which included dairy (milking, making cheese) planting and tending a kitchen garden, taking care of the hen house and often small animals such as a pig or goat. Of course, she also had to cook, clean the home, make the clothes and care for the children. If the children lived past infancy they were able to help with daily chores, including the farm work.”
Of course, some women did “make a name” for themselves. We have included the following information about Anne Hutchinson because we think it is interesting to understand how women with their own ideas were treated in the very early years of America. Additionally, our ancestor, Joseph Weld and his uncle, the Reverend Thomas Weld, are mentioned. Here is a very brief summary of her story from Women of Colonial America:
Free thought and expression did not go well for Anne Hutchinson.
Anne Hutchinson “A Woman Unfit for Our Society”
Excerpted from page 55:Will and Anne Hutchinson and their eleven children arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1634 as a part of the Puritan movement to America. At that time John Winthrop was the most powerful man, and minister, in the Colony.
“Puritans believed revelation came through scripture interpreted by a minister. Anne claimed God had revealed himself directly to her, a claim considered a vain and arrogant boast for a woman – she placed herself on an equal plane with her betters, the ministers.”
Free thought and expression did not go well for Anne Hutchinson.
On November 7, 1637 at age 46 and during her 16th pregnancy, Anne was tried by a jury of men led by John Winthrop because “she commented, interpreted and preached on church doctrine. She encouraged her followers to evaluate and question their ministers.”
“The men confronting Anne in the Cambridge meetinghouse that day saw a dangerous threat to authority, a woman who dabbled in matters not befitting a female. There was something dark, they thought, something of the devil in a woman so bold and sharp-tongued as Mistress Hutchinson.”
Anne was tried for her interpretation of God and her indiscretions to the men of the Puritan church. Her sentence “was to be banished from our jurisdiction as being a woman unfit for our society and are to be imprisoned till the court shall send you away.”
Portrait of John Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, date unknown . (Image courtesy of the World History Encyclopedia).
At this point in Anne’s trial, the Weld(s) are involved.
“That long cold winter Anne lived under house arrest at the home ofJoseph Weld.” (Captain) Joseph Weld was Elizabeth (Weld) Gore’s grandfather. He and his brother, Reverend Thomas Weld, were deeply involved with the Puritan church. Thomas Weld was one of the ministers who took part in Anne Hutchinson’s trial. Eventually, Anne and her family were expelled from Massachusetts Bay Colony and moved on to the Rhode Island Colony.
Other women were thought to be witches and went through some real terror.
The Examination of a Witch (1853), depicting the trial of Quaker preacher Mary Fisher in 1656. Oil on canvas, 97.8 x 137 cm (38.5 x 53.9 in). Image courtesy of the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts, via Wikipedia Commons.
1692/1693: from Smithsonian Magazine — “The Salem witch trials occurred in colonial Massachusetts between early 1692 and mid-1693. More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft—the devil’s magic—and 20 were executed.” (10)
Observation: Some of these Puritan ancestors don’t appear to be (as we would phrase it today) a barrel of laughs...
In Part 4 we will be continuing the story of the Gore(s), writing about the son Samuel Gore (2) and his wife Hannah Draper, covering two generations.
Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials, Notes, and Observations
Dawes-Gates Ancestral Lines : A Memorial Volume Containing the American Ancestry of Rufus R. Dawes, Vol. I, 1943 Compiled by Mary Walton Ferris https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/11708/Vol I. Gore Book pages: 320-325, Digital pages: 354-360/1773
The Town of Roxbury: its memorable persons and places, its history and antiquities, with numerous illustrations of its old landmarks and noted personages Francis Samuel Drake https://archive.org/details/townofroxburyits00drak For The Revolution of 1689: Book page 19, Digital page: 18/475
This is Chapter Two of eight. The years we will be covering are a period of 375 years, from circa 1272 to circa 1644. We’ve observed that some historical records for our family are scant prior to 1272, and we believe that this is due to the long term after-effects of the Plague of Justinian.
In Part One we looked at the long history of the Comyn family in Scotland, England, and Ireland, ending with Lady Eleanor Comyn. Her story is foundational to our family history because she is the first ancestor from this period that we can locate in a specific place at a specific time. Note: A few ancestors preceded her, but we have records neither for their years, nor their locations.
Observation: Sometimes, we think we are lucky to be here at all! Her history begins circa 1355, right after the lingering finish for the period of The Black Death.
The Plague of Justinian and the Second Plague, aka The Black Death
These three images show plague times in Europe. Left image: St. Sebastian pleads for those afflicted with plague during the 7th century plague of Pavia, by Josse Lieferinxe. Middle image: a plague doctor during the Black Death. Right image: Triumph of Death by Pieter Bruegel the Elder during the second plague.
The first plague, the Plague of Justinian in the 6th and 7th centuries is the first known attack on record, and marks the first firmly recorded pattern of plague. From historical descriptions, as much as 40% of the population of Constantinople died from the plague. Modern estimates suggest that half of Europe’s population died as a result of this first plague pandemic before it disappeared in the 700s.
The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causing the deaths of 75–200 million people, peaking in Europe from 1347 to 1351. Although the plague died out in most places, it became endemic and recurred regularly.
OK — so that history is very sobering and grim. Let’s lighten up a bit and look into the name origins for both the surnames Gore and Gower. (1)
Who’s Behind Door Number 1, Door Number 2, or Door Number 3?
Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation (surnamedb.com). In other words, it became important to know peoples’ occupation and possessions for tax purposes.
When it comes to understanding either the Gore surname, or the Gower surname, there are a dizzying amount of choices depending upon where you look. France, Germany, Wales, England… all of them contribute something to such a simple family name.
Let’s start with what either Gore, or Gower might mean. Many resources point to the belief that Gore describes a triangular piece of land:
Honestly, it doesn’t really matter if the family name of Gore / Gower came from one particular place. After a while, it’s like a bowl of Northern European soup where everything blends together into one tasty dish.
By the close of the 16th century, the spelling of the name in England had been formulated to that of Gore, although there were a few isolated exceptions. All of those bearing this name who came to New England, Maryland, and the Carolinas used the spelling of Gore. It seems that those coming to Virginia used the name Gore, as well as the variant spellings of Gower, Goar, Goare and Goore, probably due to lack of formal education not only by family members, but by those occupying positions at the church parishes and courthouses.
Eating Pigs (from London, British Library, Additional 18851, fol. 6r);
Finally here’s a unique file found at familysearch.com: “French: from Old French gore ‘sow’ (a word of allegedly imitative origin, reflecting the grunting of the animal), applied as a metaphoric occupational name for a swineherd…” (2)
Some Notes As We Begin…
When we are researching our ancestors we look at many samples of family trees, quite a few which have inaccurate dates for birth and death and sometimes mix up or add incorrect family members! [This is understandable when trying to find ancestors from long ago. A lot of research in very old documents and books have to be located and interpreted…even when written in Early English]. TheInternet Archive and Google Books have been invaluable for our research. We reference them in the footnotes so that others can look at them there if interested.
Then we begin the task of figuring out who is who, the approximate times they lived in, who they were related to, and where they lived.
All births and deaths are in England, unless noted otherwise.
The Gower family used the names Richard and Thomas for manygenerations. Don’t worry about being confused — it’s all sorted.
For an understanding of Manor House estates from this era, please see: The Bond Line, A Narrative — Two, under the subhead Slavery, The Feudal System, and the Manor System
For context, as the easiest way to understand the times within which our ancestors lived, we organize each section utilizing the various Houses of the English Monarchy.
We Begin in the Era of the Three King Edwards, 1272-1377
For this era, shown above are these PlantagenetKings of England: Edward I (reigned 1272-1307), Edward II (reigned 1307-1327), Edward III (reigned 1327-1377).
Richard 1, and Thomas 1 In the time of Edward I of England (reigned 1272-1307), genealogists have recorded that a man named Richard Gower (Richard 1) who lived in England. “A right ancient family whose pedigree is recorded in all the visitations…” taken from [The Landed Gentry by Burke]. We speculate that he may have arrived with William the Conqueror, but we do not have direct evidence of this. He had a son namedThomas Gower (Thomas 1), who married Margery.
Richard 2 In the time of Edward II (reigned 1307-1327),Thomas (Thomas 1) and Margery had a son named Richard Gower (Richard 2), named after his grandfather (Richard 1). This second Richard Gower married (unknown wife). In the time of Edward III (reigned 1327-1377), they had a son also named Richard Gower (Richard 3).
We have created this map of England circa 1450 to help locate where our ancestors lived at different times. The time period is: 1285 through 1644.
From 1337 until 1453: The Hundred Years’ War was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of England and France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French throne between the English House of Plantagenet and the French royal House of Valois. The Hundred Years’ War was one of the most significant conflicts of the Middle Ages. For 116 years, interrupted by several truces, five generations of kings from two rival dynasties fought for the throne of the dominant kingdom in Western Europe.
The next three succeeding Kings of England: The House of Plantagenet, Richard II (reigned 1377 – 1399), The House of Lancaster, Henry IV (reigned 1399 – 1413), Henry V (reigned 1413 – 1422).
Richard 3 Richard Gower (Richard 3) was born during the reign of Edward III – died (unknown date). He married Lady Elyanor Comyn, born (date unknown), from the Manor of Newbold Comyn, Warwickshire – died (unknown date). They had a son named Thomas Gower (Thomas 2) born during the reign of Edward III – died circa 1458.
You will find in The Gore Line – One, a helpful narrative, with footnotes, about the Comyns in Ireland and England. It is from this family group that we believe our ancestor, Elyanor (Comyn) Gower emerges. Through primary source documents, The Antiquities of Warwickshire Illustrated and The Visitation of 1569, we found references to Elyanor Comyn of Newbold Comyn. There is no mention of her parents. Using the references The Irish Comyns, by E. St. John Brooks and Notes on the Comyn Pedigree, by David Comyn we learned how, through the marriage of Elias Comyn and Joan, the location became known as “Newbold Comyn”. In the Antiquities of Warwickshire Illustrated, we found the following passage: “for it appears that in 8 H (Henry VIII) the moytie [one-half of the property] of this Mannour, with the moytie also of Poston-Underhill were past away by Robert Dineley, cosin [cousin?] to the said Elene, and Joan his wife, to Thomas Gower of Woodhall and his heirs”….
Since we do not have the date of this dealing other than the reference to Henry VIII, the Thomas Gower that was involved was most likely Thomas, second son of Thomas 6 and Anne (Washbourne) Gower and the 4th great-grandson of Elyanor (Comyn) Gower. We are left to speculate on why Thomas Gower stepped in and purchased one-half of the Manor of Newbold Comyn.
The Antiquities of Warwickshire Illustrated : from Records, Leiger-books, Manuscripts, Charters, Evidences, Tombes, and Armes : Beautified with Maps, Prospects, and Portraictures by Sir William Dugdale, 1605-1686, page 295.
Thomas 2 Thomas Gower (Thomas ) married Katherine Ward. Katherine was born (unknown date) – died (unknown date). They had two sons, Thomas Gower (Thomas 3) born circa 1375- died (unknown date), and Nicholas (dates unknown). Burke’s Landed Gentry describes Thomas 2 thus “resided at Woodhall in Norton juxta Kempsey co. Worcester, which is described by Habingdon as “Woodhall in Norton the fayre seat of the Gowers”. Thomas 2 served as the Escheator of Worcestershire during the reign of Henry V (reigned 1413-1422). (The medieval English escheator was a royal official who seized the goods and chattels of felons, fugitives and outlaws for the crown’s benefit.)
Thomas 3 Thomas Gowerof Woodhall (Thomas 3), was born circa 1375 in Woodhall, Worcestershire – died before 1431, in the same place. He married circa 1395 Lady Katherine, daughter of John, the Third Lord Sutton of Dudley. She was born circa 1380 – died circa 1431 in Woodhall. In the time of Henry VI (reigned 1422-1461 and 1470-1471), they had a son named Thomas Gower (Thomas 4).
Thomas 3 was also an Escheator of Worcestershire: Excerpted from British History Online— “Thomas Gower, escheator of Worcestershire in 1419-20, settled it (Woodhall) in 1410 upon himself and his wife Katherine, in whose right he appears to have held it… She was, according to a pedigree of the Gower family given in the Visitation of Worcestershire, 1569, a daughter of Lord Dudley… Habington mentions that he has seen in a book of the bishopric of Worcester the Lady Dudley called lady of Woodhall… Thomas Gower died before 1431, and his widow married John Finch, who is called ‘of Woodall’ in 1431.”
The House of Lancaster, King Henry VI (reigned 1422-1461 and 1470-1471), The House of York, King Edward IV (reigned 1461 -1470 and 1471 – 1483), King Edward V (reigned 1483).
Thomas 4 Thomas Gower (Thomas 4), Lord of the Manor of Crookbarrow and Woodhall, was born circa 1398 – died circa 1440. He married Alice, daughter of John Attwood of Northwick, Worcestershire in 1422. She was born (unknown date) – died circa 1470 in Worcester, Worcestershire. They had a son named Thomas (Thomas 5).
From the book, The Attwood Family with Historic Notes & Pedigrees, page 17.
Thomas Gower 5 was born in the time of King Henry VI (reigned 1422-1461 and 1470-1471). He had five brothers.
Thomas 5 (We are descended from Thomas 5).
Richard
Robart
William
John
Humfrey
Contemporary planning map for Worcestershire, England showing the ancient sites of Crookbarrow Manor and Woodall.
Sir Thomas Gower (Thomas 5) Lord of the Manor of Woodhall, married circa 1470 Lady Anne, daughter of Lord Norman Washbourne of Stanford, Wichenford, Worcestershire, and Margaret Lepoor, Heiress of Wichenford. Lady Anne was born circa 1455 – died (unknown date). (3)
They had eight children — five sons and three daughters:
John Gower
Thomas
Frauncis
Robart
Richard (4) (We are descended from Richard 4).
Anne
Margery
Margarett
The End of the Plantagenet Reign and The Beginning of The Tudor Reign
The House of York, King Richard III (reigned 1483-1485, The House of Tudor, King Henry VII (reigned 1485-1509, King Henry VIII, (reigned 1509-1547).
From 1455 until 1487: The Wars of the Roses, known at the time and for more than a century after, as the Civil Wars, were a series of internal wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century.
1492: Christopher Columbus, an Italian navigator, began his initial voyage (the first of four voyages), across the Atlantic ocean sponsored by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, opening the way for the widespread European exploration and colonization of the Americas. His expeditions were the first known European contact with the Caribbean, Central America, and South America.
Richard Gower (Richard 4), born circa 1480 – Woodhall, Worcestershire – died May 11, 1543. He married circa 1501 Cornelia Bronson, born circa 1485 in Earls Colne, Essex – died circa 1550. They had a son, Richard (Richard 5).
Observation: In records for this generation and those following, we noticed that the family surname was transitioning in general. This was likely due to record-keeping and errors from different locations and periods. The name was anglicized, (to alter to a characteristic English form, sound, or spelling), similar to this pattern: Gower > Goare > Goore > Gore.
Richard Goare (Richard 5), born in Nether Wallop, Hampshire, circa 1500 – died May 21, 1543, in the same location. He married Elizabeth Stephenson circa 1523. She was born circa 1506 in Waltham Abbey, Great Waltham, Essex – died August 19, 1551 in Chichester, Sussex. Records vary, but they may have had four children: Dates are approximate.
Elizabeth, born 1523
Nicholas, born 1524 – died 1561 (We are descended from Nicholas).
Michael, born 1529 – died 1604
John, born 1532
Observation: We noted that Cornelia Bronson’s husband, Richard Gower (Richard 4) died May 11, 1543, and her son Richard (Richard 5) died ten days later, on May 21, 1543. With both of these deaths coming so close in time, they may be linked to the spread of the plague in 1543, in one of its recurrent phases.
Henry VIII’s idea of social distancing was seven miles.
There was plague and ‘great death’ in the capital [London] in 1543, when a proclamation forbade Londoners from coming within seven miles of the King.
Alison Weir “Ramping up the proclamations – how Henry VIII dealt with epidemics” via Culturefly
1534: For reasons not only to do with his marital situation, Henry VIII broke with Rome, the Pope and the Catholic Church. At the time the Catholic monasteries (and abbeys, priories, convents and friaries) owned over a quarter of all the cultivated land in England. Henry declared himself the Supreme Head of the Church of England and as such he had the authority to do what he wanted with all this church estate. He took possession of their assets. The Pope retaliated by excommunicating Henry in 1538. (Henry continued his plunder and pillage, breaking up over 850 monasteries in total.) Observation: In this chaos, records again were lost.
The House of Tudor, King Edward VI (reigned 1547 – 1553), [Sorry, we skipped over Jane Grey, the 9-day Queen], Queen Mary I (reigned 1553 – 1558), Queen Elizabeth I (reigned 1558 – 1603).
Nicholas Goore, Gentleman, born circa 1524 in Nether Wallop, Hampshire – died November 7, 1561 in the same location. On November 13, 1549 he married Dorothy Thistlewaite. She was born 1532 in Trowbridge, Mendip, Wiltshire and died after 1582 in Nether Wallop, Hampshire. It is not established specifically how many children they had. We do know they had at least one son, William Goore (William 1).
William Goore, Gentleman, (William 1), was born December 21, 1550 in Nether Wallop, Hampshire – died November 9 or 11, 1587 in the same location. He married Joan Pittman (date unknown). She was born circa 1562 at or near Nether Wallop, Hampshire – died circa 1610 in Nether Wallop, Hampshire.
From William Goore’s published Will, we know that they had nine children:
William
Richard (Richard 6) (We are descended from Richard).
John
Nicholas
William, The Younger
Agnes
Elizabeth
Barbara
Margery
The 1587 will of William Goore of Nether Wallop The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 40, 1886, page 38
Richard Goare, Gentleman (Richard 6) born circa 1581 at Nether Wallop, Hampshire – died January 3, 1643 in Southampton, Hampshire. He married Elizabeth Mainwaring circa 1599 in Waltham Abbey, Essex, England. She was born circa 1582 in the area of Waltham Abbey, Essex – died after 1643 in Southampton, Hampshire. Her father Oliver, of Windleshaw of Lancashire Manwaring, claimed to be a Descendant of Charlemagne. Oliver also immigrated to the American British Colonies because he died in Port Tobacco, Charles, Maryland Colony. Elizabeth’s mother Margaret Tarbock (or Torbock), claimed descendancy from King Edward I.
Richard was a leading sergemaker (clothier) in Southampton, England. In 1610, he was one of the overseers of the poor in the Parish of All Saints of Southampton. They may have had at least four children:
Thomas, born circa 1602 – died June 1646
John (John 1), born 1606 (We are descended from John 1).
William, born 1611
Margaret, born 1614
* Observation: Due to the ongoing repetitive nature of many of our grandfathers first names, we have been numbering them throughout to keep them sorted. Henceforth, as our history shifts to the British Colonies in America, John Gore will be designated as “John 1” (to start fresh).
The wax seal referred to above, likely looked similar to this example. It belonged to Thomas Gore (1631 -1684), ofAlderton in Wiltshire.
Now located in the Massachusetts Bay Colony (upcoming in The Gore Line — Four), John Gore 1 was living in Massachusetts when his father, Richard 6, died. He was the executor of his father’s Will, and in 1644 he was required to send a letter to Attorney Joseph Browne of Halster, Southampton, England to prove [his father] Richard’s will, about December 23, 1644.
Dawes-Gates Ancestral Lines : A Memorial Volume Containing the American Ancestry of Rufus R. Dawes, page 320
Richard Gore’s Will, from — sites.rootsweb.com: “Richard Gore left a will dated 6 January 1643 that was written at Nether Wallop, Hampshire, England, and bears the wax seal with the Gore Coat of Arms consisting of three bulls’ heads with sabre and crescent.
He gave to son Thomas GOARE the living at Baddesley in the County of Southampton, “… wherein I lately lived together with all my cattle and the corn in the barns, and all the corn now standing or growing upon the ground there, and also one furnace now standing in the house together with the one half of all my goods of household stuff; also 200 pounds*. Give to wife Elizabeth GOARE the other half of all my household goods and implements of household, together with all my wool and yarn and 200 pounds*. [At this point in history, wool was England’s most valuable export]. Give to servants, three ministers of the towns of Southampton videlt[?] and Baddesley & the poor of those towns. All the rest of goods and chattles unbequeathed after expenses and legacies paid to eldest son John GOARE, sole executor. Well beloved friends Mr. John MAYOR and Mr. Nicholas CAPELIN the executors in trust. Wits. Augustine FULL, Mary MAUGER, Ffran. WEEKES.”
* The values of 200 pounds sterling equals about $58,000 today. Some researchers estimate that his total wealth was closer to 800 pounds…
At this point in our narrative, their association with England shifts gears. Much more happens to these ancestors — a tiny bit more in England, and then on to the British Colonies in America. (4)
We believe that Grog is definitely not one of Gore surname spellings. Borrowed from The Far Side by Gary Larson Copyright 2019-2022 by FarWorks, Inc. Thanks Gary!
Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials, Notes, and Observations
The Plague of Justinian and the Second Plague, aka The Black Death
Wales “This ancient and distinguished surname, with several notable entries in the National Biography, may be either of Welsh or English (Norman) origin. As a Welsh surname Gower is locational from the Gower or Gwyr peninsula, in West Glamorgan, Wales, and the first recording from this source is particularly early.
England The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Walter de Guher, which was dated 1130, in the “Pipe Rolls of Carmarthenshire”, during the reign of King Henry 1, known as “The Lion of Justice”, 1100-1135.
Among the earliest records of the family in England are those of William ad le Gorwege of Cambridge in the year 1273; those of Allan atte Gora of Essex in 1292; those of Thomas de la Gore of Suffolk in 1292; those of Simon atte Gore of Somersetshire in 1327; those of Richard Gorwaye of Somersetshire in 1327; and those of Thomas Pegrim Gore and Mary Gore also of Somersetshire in 1367.
There is a further place called Gower north west of Eastry in Kent from which the name may also conceivably derive, as surname recordings are particularly prevalent in 16th Century Church Registers of Kent and Surrey. John Gower was christened at Farnham, Surrey, on September 22, 1552, and on June 9, 1591, Katherine Gower and Thomas Henshaw were married at Waldershare, Kent.
France There are three Norman origins for the modern surname Gower: the first of these is regional for someone who came from the district north of Paris, known in Old French as “Gohiere”; the second is locational from any of the various places in Northern France called Gouy (from the Gallo-Roman personal name “Gaudius”, with the addition of the Anglo-Norman French suffix “-er”).
Probably also from a familiar / vernacular form of the personal name Grégoire, shortened to Gore. In the United States, the Americanized form of Dutch Goor and Breton Gour .
Germany Finally, Gower may derive from a Norman personal name “Go(h)ier”, an adoption of the Old German “Godehar”, composed of the elements “gode”, good, and “heri, hari”, army.
JSTOR The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland Vol. 86, No. 2 (1956), pp. 170-186 (17 pages) The Early Irish Comyns by E. St. John Brooks https://www.jstor.org/stable/25509253
The Antiquities of Warwickshire Illustrated: From Records, Leiger-Books, Manuscripts, Charters, Evidences, Tombes, and Armes : Beautified with Maps, Prospects, and Portraitures by Sir William Dugdale and Wenceslaus Hollar https://archive.org/details/antiquitiesofwar00dugd/page/294/mode/2up Book pages: 295-296, Digital Pages: 294-295/826
For the three bulls seal] Thomas Gore (1631 -1684) https://armorial.library.utoronto.ca/stamp-owners/GOR007 ” Thomas Gore, of Alderton in Wiltshire, was the third son of Charles Gore, of Alderton, and Lydias, daughter and heir of William White, citizen and draper of London”.
Dawes-Gates Ancestral Lines : A Memorial Volume Containing the American Ancestry of Rufus R. Dawes, Vol. I, 1943 Compiled by Mary Walton Ferris https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/11708/Vol I. Gore Book pages: 320-325, Digital pages: 354-360/1773
This is Chapter One of eight. We’ve documented very little from our mother’s side of the family, until now. Her “roots” (as she used to say), were from a “proud, noble people”. We’re not sure what she was getting at specifically, but in her mind’s eye, she probably pictured history similar to the way that mid-century Hollywood movies portrayed it.
A scene from the Metro-Goldwn-Mayer movie Plymouth Adventure, circa 1952.
We do know that she was quite the enthusiast for her genealogy studies, as was her mother before her. Their time existed before online research was possible, so it limited what they were able to achieve. As we all know, the world has changed a lot, and we have taken up the mantle to continue in our own way, what they started. (1)
Sometimes Our Ancestral Grandmothers Are More Interesting Than Our Ancestral Grandfathers
Human societies weren’t always male-dominated. The switch came when we became farmers — about 12,000 years ago in the Mesopotamian region. That was a long time ago, and the transition from egalitarian family unit to a patriarchal family structure was not something that happened overnight.
After years of researching our family lines, we have most often dealt with the histories of men. This is due to the fact that the men are the ones whose stories were / are often recorded, and most of the time we don’t hear the stories about the women. When we do find their stories, they tend to be within the last few hundred years, but generally speaking, they are rare.
A woodcut depicting agriculture farming 13th century. Image courtesy of alamy.com
Interestingly in genealogy, a woman’s name can provide a valuable link to an entire family history that had remained hidden. So it is with our 20x Great-Grandmother Lady Elyanor Comyn. She lived circa 1355, and was married to Richard Gower. Her life provides the foundational link that connects our family to Scottish Royalty and the Noble Class from that part of the world. We write about her influence in The Gore Line, A Narrative — Two.
We will commence with the history of her forefathers, but remember, the foremothers are quietly there too. (2)
What’s in a Name? For this blog chapter, we are presenting a deep history of the Scottish Kings and Rulers to provide historical context. Eventually, we will relate this to the ComynFamily and our own history.
Note: many of the personal names and place names written in this history are difficult for the modern reader to read and pronounce. Don’t worry about it. These names are from very old languages: Scots, and Scottish Gaelic. Just let the names wash over you as you read the history — it’s more fun that way!
The Kingdom of The Picts… The Kingdom of Alba… The Kingdom of Scotland
The Kingdom of the Picts just became known as the Kingdom of Alba in ScottishGaelic, which later became known in Scots and English as Scotland; the terms are retained in both languages to this day. By the late 11th century at the very latest, Scottish kings were using the term rex Scottorum, or King of Scots, to refer to themselves in Latin.
Illustration of typical Pict clothing, circa 1000. (Image courtesy of Merlin’s Tales of Britannia Wiki).
“Pictish kingship didn’t pass from father to son but from relative to relative through choice. Some scholars have speculated that royal blood wasn’t patrilineal for the Picts, but matrilineal, meaning that the women of the clan (sisters, nieces, etc.) were the only ones who could give birth to kings.
Matrilineality allowed the Picts a larger pool of kingly candidates to choose from, as opposed to one or two sons of a single monarch. Although scholars aren’t completely sure exactly how the Picts chose their kings, it’s worth noting that if power passed through the mother’s bloodline, this didn’t necessarily mean that women were given more power in society.”
The reign of Kenneth MacAlpin begins with what is often called the House of Alpin, an entirely modern concept. The descendants of Kenneth MacAlpin were divided into two branches; the crown would alternate between the two, the death of a king from one branch often hastened by war or assassination by a pretender from the other. [Note: This is important to understand, that these two intertwined lines give us the early Kings of Scotland. We have documented Elyanor’s Comyn’s line through direct descendancy as much as possible.]
For Scottish Kings, an illustration of the Stone of Scone in the Coronation Chair at Westminster Abbey, 1855
Note: All births and deaths are in Scotland, unless noted otherwise.
Alpín macEchdach From wikipedia.com: Alpín macEchdach, born 778 at Dunollie Castle, Argyll – died (unknown date). He was a supposed king of Dál Riata, an ancient kingdom that included parts of Ireland and Scotland. Alpín’s mother was the sister and heiress of Causantín macFergusa, King of the Picts. Alpín married a ‘Scottish Princess’, and fathered two sons: Domnall mac Ailpín and Kenneth MacAlpin.
Alpín macEchdach, born (date unknown) – died in July or August 834, when he was either killed while fighting the Picts in Galloway, or beheaded after the battle. He was succeeded by his son Cináed Mac Ailpin, i.e. Kenneth macAlpin.
Illustration of Kenneth macAlpin (Image courtesy of britroyals.com).
Kenneth macAlpin, Cináed macAilpin, born 810 on the ‘Scottish’ Isle of Iona – died February 13, 858, in Forteviot, Perthshire. Kenneth I is traditionally considered the founder of Scotland, which was then known as Alba, although like his immediate successors, he bore the title of King of the Picts. The name of his wife is unknown, but they had four children:
Causantín macCináeda, Constantine I, King of Alba
Áed of the White Flowers macCináeda, King of Alba
Unknown daughter; she married Rhun ab Arthgal
Máel Muire ingen Cináeda; she married Áed Findliath
Succession in the kingdom was carried out in the form of tanistry* so Kenneth’s successor was his brother Donald, rather than his eldest son. After the death of Donald I (Domnall MacAilpín), the sons of Kenneth I — Causantín macCináeda and Áed macCináeda, inherited the crown. The Alpínid dynasty, which ruled Scotland until the beginning of the 11th century, was formed during this period.
*Tanistry is a Gaelic system for passing on titles and lands. In this system the Tanist is the office of heir-apparent, or second-in-command, among the (royal) Gaelic patrilineal dynasties of Ireland, Scotland and Mann.
Donald I / Constantine I, King of Alba (Image courtesy of The National Galleries of Scotland).
Donald I, Causantín macCináeda He inherited the throne upon the death of his uncle Donald I (Domnall MacAilpín), April 13, 862. Often known as Constantine I, born circa 862 – died in 877, possibly in Fife, Scotland. At the time, his Kingdom was battling the Vikings. The name of his wife is unknown,but they had a son: Donald II (Domnall macCausantín), King of the Picts of Alba.
Donald II, King of The ‘Scottish Picts’ of Alba. (Image courtesy of The National Galleries of Scotland).
Donald II, Domnall macCausantín Donald II, King of The ‘Scottish Picts’ of Alba, born 862 Forres, Moray – died in the same location in 900, in a battle with invading Dane Tribes. His death in 900 marks the transition for the use of Picts as a title, to Scots as a title. He married circa 887 Lady Sigurd Orkney (location unknown). They had one son: Máel Coluim macDomnaill. The Chronicle of the Kings of Alba has Donald succeeded by his cousin Constantine II.
Malcom I King of Alba, Mael Coluim macDomnaill was the son of Donald II. Born October 5, 887, Auchencairn, Kirkcudbrightshire – died December 3, 954, at Dunnottar Castle, Fordoun, Kincardineshire. He became king when his cousin Constantine II abdicated the throne to become a monk. Like the generations before him, he also died a violent death in battle. The name of his wife is unknown, but they had two children: Dubh mac Mhaoil Chaluim (Dub), King of Alba (Scotland), and Kenneth II, King of Alba(Scotland), Cináed macMaíl Coluim.
Kenneth II King of Alba (Scotland), Cináed macMaíl Coluim, (Image courtesy of Hulton Archive/Getty Images).
Kenneth II King of Alba (Scotland), Cináed macMaíl Coluim, born (unknown date) – died 995, was Kingof Scots from 971 to 995. The son of Malcolm I, he succeeded King Cuilén (Cuilén mac Iduilb) on the latter’s death in 971. The name of his wife is unknown.
According to John of Fordun (14th century), Kenneth II Alba (Scotland) attempted to change the succession rules, allowing “the nearest survivor in blood to the deceased king to succeed“, thus securing the throne for his own descendants. He reportedly did so to specifically exclude Constantine (III) and Kenneth (III), called Gryme in this source. The two men then jointly conspired against him, convincing Lady Finella, to kill the king. She reportedly did so to achieve personal revenge, as Kenneth II had killed her own son. Again, we don’t have a record of his wife’s name, but we know that he had at least one son, Máel Coluim macCináeda, Malcom II of Scotland.
Malcolm II, Máel Coluim macCináeda, of Scotland. (Image courtesy of scotclans.com).
Malcolm II of Scotland, Máel Coluim macCináeda Malcolm II of Scotland was the last king of the House of Alpin. Born circa 954 (location unknown) – died November 25, 1034 in Glamis. The name of his wife is unknown.
He demonstrated a rare ability to survive among early Scottish kings by reigning for 29 years. He was determined to retain the succession within his own line, but since Malcolm II had no son of his own… He strategically undertook to negotiate a series of dynastic marriages of his three daughters, to men who might otherwise be his rivals, while securing the loyalty of the principal chiefs, their relatives. His daughters were:
Bethóc ingen Maíl Coluim meic Cináeda, married Crínánof Dunkeld, mother of his successor, Duncan I.
Donalda, married Findláech of Moray, mother of Macbeth, King of Scotland
Olith, married Sigurd Hlodvirsson, Earl of Orkney, mother of Thorfinn the Mighty
In his reign, Malcom II successfully crushed all opposition to him and, having no sons, was able to pass the crown to his daughter’s son, Duncan I,Crínán of Dunkeld, who inaugurated the House of Dunkeld.
Bethoc Beatrix, Bethóc ingen Maíl Coluim meic Cináeda Sometimes referred to as a princess of Scotland, this mother of the future Duncan I of Scotland, Donnchad Mac Crínáin, was the daughter of Malcolm II of Scotland. She was born circa 984 in Perth, Perthshire – died circa 1045 in the same location. She was married to the Crínán of Dunkeld, who was also known as Crinan de Mormaer.
Abbot Crínán of Dunkeld, who was also known as: Crinan de Mormaer and Mormaer of Atholl Artwork: Oil on canvas by Netanel Miles-Yepez, 2006
Crínán of Dunkeld, born circa 976/980 (unknown location) – died 1045 (unknown location) was the hereditary abbot of the monastery of Dunkeld, and perhaps the Mormaer of Atholl. Crínán was progenitor of the House of Dunkeld, the dynasty which would rule Scotland until the later 13th century. He was the son-in-law of one king, and the father of another.
The House of Dunkeld (in Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Chailleann) is a genealogical construct to illustrate the clear succession of Scottish kings from 1034 to 1040 and from 1058 to 1286. The line is also variously referred to by historians as “The Canmores” and “MacMalcolm”.
Bethoc Beatrix and Crínán of Dunkeld had two sons: Duncan I of Scotland, Donnchad Mac Crínáin, (as mentioned above) and Maldred mac Crínán, Earl of Dunbar, Lord of Cumbria & Allerdale, born 1015 – died 1045.
Duncan I of Scotland, Donnchad Mac Crínáin (Image courtesy of ancestry.com).
Duncan I of Scotland, Donnchad mac Crinain, born circa 1001 (unknown location) – died August 14, 1040 in Bothnagowan. He was king of Scotland from 1034 to 1040. He married Sibylla of Northumbia (anglicized as Sibyl Fitzsiward), born circa 1009/1014 (unknown location) – died 1070 (unknown location). They had three children:
Malcolm III of Scotland, also known as Máel Coluim mac Donnchada and Malcolm Canmore, died 1093
Donald III of Scotland, also known as Domnall Mac Donnchada and Donalbain
Máel Muire, Earl of Atholl, also known as Melmare
He is the historical basis of the “King Duncan” in Shakespeare’s play Macbeth. The early period of Duncan’s reign was apparently uneventful, perhaps a consequence of his youth. His cousin Macbeth (Mac Bethad mac Findláich) is recorded as having been his dux, today rendered as “duke” (and meaning nothing more than the rank between prince and marquess) — but then still having the Roman meaning of “war leader”. This suggests that Macbeth may have been the power behind the throne.
In 1039, Duncan led a large Scots army south to besiege Durham, but the expedition ended in disaster. Duncan survived, but the following year he led an army north into Moray, Macbeth’s domain, apparently on a punitive expedition against Moray. There he was killed in action, at the battle of Bothnagowan, by the men of Moray led by Macbeth, probably on August 14, 1040. He is thought to have been buried at Elgin, before later relocation to the island of Iona. (3)
Let’s Talk About William Shakespeare for a Moment
The first page of Macbeth from the First Folio of William Shakespeare, 1623. (Image courtesy of wikipedia.com).
All of us are familiar with the name Macbeth from the writings of William Shakespeare. Even though it is a beautiful work of fiction, it is rather intriguing to know that it involves (in name only) some of the people from the Gore family line.
From IPL, the Internet Public Library: “William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, turned what people knew as Scottish history into a powerful act of betrayal; a madman murdering a good king out of greed. Shakespeare wrote Macbeth for [the] reigning king of England, King James I of England (James VI of Scotland) who had a strong belief in all things dark and supernatural, like witches.
Macbeth includes multiple historical characters, all previous kings of Scotland; but why? Shakespeare uses the characters King Duncan, King Macbeth, and King Malcolm to explore the royalty of Scotland throughout time and to appease the king with a dark story about history.”
The ‘Chandos Portrait’ of William Shakespeare, The National Portrait Gallery. (Image courtesy of wikipedia.org).
Furthermore, why did Shakespeare pick a real Scottish King to be the protagonist of his play Macbeth and then not use his actual history?
Because he was forced to.
Shakespeare was commissioned to write a play for James I, who incorrectly believed that he was descended from Banquo. Of course, Banquo is a fictional character.
He had to write a play about what happens to someone who kills a king, or what James I believed should happen to someone who kills a king. After all, the Catholics had unsuccessfully plotted to kill him [in the Gunpowder Plot].
Joseph Langford, author of Macbeth – Chapters Unspoken at My House
Observation: Shakespeare wrote the play Macbeth in 1606, about 600 years after Duncan I of Scotland, Donnchad Mac Crínáin was born. For perspective, we are yet another 400+ years distant from Shakespeare. (4)
Kings and Queens, Princes and Princesses, Lords and Ladies
Portrait of Donald III of Scotland, by George Jamesone. (Image courtesy of wikipedia.org).
Donald III of Scotland The second son of Duncan I of Scotland, and Sibylla of Northumbia, Sibyl Fitzsiward, was Donald III of Scotland also known as Domnall mac Donnchada and Donalbain [now that’s a mouthful!]. He was born circa 1034, Atholl, Perth – died 1099, Rescobie {prison], Angus. In 1059, he married Hextilda fitz Andlaw of Perth in Rescobie, Angus. She was born in 1040, Perth – died 1100, in Argyll (unknown date). They were the parents of one daughter: Bethoc Ingen Domnail Bane, Princess of Scotland.
Following his father’s death, Donald went into hiding in Ireland for 17 years, for fear that he would be killed by Macbeth. It was during this time that Malcolm’s grandfather, Crinan of Dunkeld, who was married to Malcolm II’s daughter, was killed fighting Macbeth. The minor character of Donalbain in William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth represents Donald III.
1072: William The Conqueror invades Scotland. This forced the Royal Court of Malcolm III to sign the Treaty of Abernethy. The extended result was that Scotland became a liege state (subordinate) to William the Conqueror’s England.
The Purple Thistle, the floral symbol of Scotland. (Image courtesy of Alamy.com).
Bethoc Ingen Domnail Bane, Tynedale, Princess of Scotland, born 1087, Morayshire, Scotland – died 1160 Perthshire, Scotland. She married Uchtred de Tyndale, Lord of Tynedale, about 1121, in Morayshire, Scotland. They were the parents of at least four sons and one daughter:
Ranulf of Tynedale, born 1113 – (unknown date)
Simon of Tynedale, born 1115 – (unknown date)
Adam of Tynedale, born 1117 – (unknown date)
Robert Untried de Tynedale, born 1120 – (unknown date)
Hextilda of Tynedale, 1122 – 1182
Through Hextilda’s marriage, we will meet the very powerful Comyn family of medieval Scotland. Although Hextilda was not a ruler, in this line she is the first iconic and significant Grandmother we have found. This echos our premise from the introduction, that “sometimes Our Ancestral Grandmothers are more interesting than our Ancestral Grandfathers”. (5)
All Things in Comyn: The Origins of the Clan Comyn in England and Scotland
The Comyn surname is of Norman origin. It is either a place-name possibly derived from Comines, near Lille, in France, or possibly derived from Bosc-Bénard-Commin, near Rouen in the Duchy of Normandy.
This clan is believed to descend from Robert de Comyn, (or Comines, or Comminges), a companion of William the Conqueror who accompanied him in his conquest of England in the year 1066. Shortly after his participation in the Battle of Hastings, Robert was made Earl of Northumberland, and when David I came to Scotland to claim his throne, Richard de Comyn, the grandson of Robert, was among the Norman knights that followed him.
This grandson, Richard de Comyn, quickly gained land and influence in Scotland through an advantageous marriage to the granddaughter of the former Scottish King Donald III, Hextilda of Tynedale. She was a Princess of Scotland.
The Purple Thistle, the floral symbol of Scotland. (Image courtesy of Shutterstock.com).
Hextilda of Tynedale Countess of Atholl, born 1122, Tindale, Northumberland, England – died 1182, Moulin, Perthshire. She married Richard de Comyn, born 1115 in Northalteron, Morayshire – died 1179, Altyre, Morayshire. The Justiciar of Lothian in 1145, Badenoch, Invernesshire, Scotland. The Justiciars of Lothian were responsible for the administration of royal justice in the province of Lothian. They had at least seven children:
Idonea de Comyn, born 1148 – (unknown date)
Odinel (Odo) de Commi, born 1150 – (unknown date)
John de Comyn, 1146 – 1152/1159
Christien, born 1160 – (unknown date)
Simon, born 1161 – (unknown date)
William Comyn, Earl of Buchan, Lord of Badenoch, born 1163 – died 1233
Ada, born – (unknown dates)
The Clan Comyn was very successful for centuries in Scotland, and it has been confusing to keep the names, titles, descendants, etc., properly sorted and noted for this blog chapter. This account from Electric Scotland has great merit for providing a credible record of their times. We cover their history up until the time of Elyanor Comyn and Richard Gower. (6)
The Clan Comyn
THERE WAS NO GREATER NAME in Scotland towards the end of the thirteenth century, than that of Comyn. With their headquarters in Badenoch the chiefs and gentlemen of the clan owned broad lands in nearly every part of Scotland, and the history of the time is full of their deeds and the evidences of their influence.
Writers who seek to derive this clan from a Celtic source cite the existence of two abbots of lona of the name who held office in the years 597 and 657 respectively. The latter of these was known as Comyn the Fair, and from one or another of them the name of Fort Augustus, “Ku Chuimein,” was probably derived. Another origin of the family is recounted by Wyntoun in his Cronykil of Scotland. According to this writer, there was at the court of Malcolm III, a young foreigner. His occupation was that of Door-ward or usher of the royal apartment, but, to begin with, he knew only two words of the Scottish language, “Cum in,” and accordingly became known by that name.
He married the only daughter of the king’s half-brother Donald, and his descendants therefore represented the legitimate line of the old Celtic kings of Scotland, as against the illegitimate line descending from Malcolm III. The Comyns themselves claim descent from Robert de Comyn, Earl of Northumberland, who fell along with Malcolm III, at the battle of Alnwick in 1093. That Robert de Comyn, again, claimed descent, through the Norman Counts de Comyn, from no less a personage than Charlemagne. The probability appears to be that a scion of the house of Northumberland came north in the days of Malcolm III, and obtained lands in the county of Roxburgh, where one ‘of the name’ is found settled in the reign of Malcolm’s son, David I.
Map of the erritories of Regional Rulers and other Lordships in Medieval Scotland, c. 1230. Image courtesy of wikipedia.com.
A few years later, in the reign of Alexander III, there were in Scotland, according to the historian Fordun, three powerful Earls: Buchan, Menteith, and Atholl, and no fewer than thirty-two knights of the name of Comyn. There was also Comyn, Lord of Strathbogie. As Lords of Badenoch they owned the formidable stronghold of Lochindorb in that district, and a score of castles throughout the country besides. Stories of their deeds and achievements well nigh fill the annals of the north of that time.
In the boyhood of Alexander III, when Henry III of England was doing his best by fraud and force to bring Scotland under his power — it was Walter Comyn, Earl of Menteith, who stood out as the most patriotic of all the Scottish nobles to resist the attempts of the English king.
When Henry, at the marriage of his daughter to the boy-king of Scots, suggested that the latter should render fealty for the kingdom of Scotland, it was probably Walter Comyn who put the answer into Alexander’s mouth “That he had come into England upon a joyful and pacific errand, and would not treat upon so arduous a question without the advice of the Estates of his realm.” And when Henry marched towards the Scottish Border at the head of an army, it was Walter Comyn who collected a Scottish host, and made the English king suddenly modify his designs. Alas! at the very moment when he seemed to have achieved his purpose, when the English faction had been driven out, and Alexander and the Comyns, with the queen-mother, the famous Marie de Couci, had established a powerful government in Scotland, the Earl of Menteith suddenly died.
William Comyn, Earl of Buchan, Lord of Badenoch grave marker. Image courtesy of findagrave.com.
William Comyn, Earl of Buchan, Lord of Badenoch William Comyn was Lord of Badenoch and Earl of Buchan. He was born 1163, in Altyre, Moray – died 1233 in Buchan, Moray, where he is buried in Deer Abbey.
William made his fortune in the service of King William I of Scotland fighting rebellions in the north. William witnessed no fewer than 88 charters of the king. and he was sheriff of Forfar (1195–1211). Between 1199 and 1200, he was sent to England to discuss important matters on King William’s behalf with the new king, John.
William was appointed to the prestigious office of Justiciar of Scotia, the most senior royal office in the kingdom, in 1205. Between 1211 and 1212, William, as Warden of Moray (or Guardian of Moray) fought against the insurgency of Gofraid mac Domnaill (of the Meic Uilleim family), whom William beheaded in Kincardine in 1213. Upon finally destroying the Meic Uilleim(s) in 1229, he was given the Lordship of Badenoch and the lands it controlled.
Deer Abbey is a Cistercian monastery in Buchan, Scotland founded by William Comyn, Earl of Buchan in 1219; where he is buried. Image courtesy of wikipedia.com.
William Comyn married two times. His first wife Sarah Fitzhugh (aka Sarah filia Roberti) born 1155/1160 – died 1204, married 1193. (Her birth, death, and marriage are unknown locations). Their children are:
Walter, Lord of Badenoch, born 1190 – died circa 1258, married Isabella, Countess of Menteith
Richard, Lord of Badenoch, born 1194-died 1249, married Eve Amabilia de Galloway
Jardine Comyn, Lord of Inverallochy, born 1190 (or before) – died (unknown location)
Johanna (aka Jean), born 1198 – died 1274, married 1220, Uilleam I, Earl of Ross
John Comyn, Earl of Angus, born – died (unknown dates), married Matilda, Countess of Angus (aka. Maud)
David Comyn, Lord of Kilbride, born (unknown date) – died 1247, married Isabel de Valoigne
William’s second wife and family are: Marjory (aka. Margaret), Countess of Buchan (aka Margaret Colhan of Buchan), born circa 1190/1194 – died 1244 (unknown locations). They married circa 1209/1212 in (unknown location).
Idonea (a.k.a Idoine), born circa 1215/1221, (unknown locations) married 1237, Gilbert de Haya of Erroll
Alexander, Earl of Buchan, born 1217 – died 1290, (unknown locations) married, Elizabetha de Quincy
William, born 1217 – died (unknown date)
Margaret, born 1215 – died (unknown date), married Sir John de Keith, Marischal of Scotland
Fergus, Lord of Gorgyn, born 1219– died 1260, married 1249 to (unknown wife)
Elizabeth, born 1223 – died 1267, (unknown locations) married Uilleam, Earl of Mar
Agnes, born 1225 (unknown location) – died (unknown date), married 1262, Sir Philip de Meldrum, Justiciar of Scotia
The Purple Thistle, the floral symbol of Scotland. (Image courtesy of Etsy.com).
Richard Comyn, Lord of Badenoch, the eldest son of William Comyn and Sarah Fitzhugh, is unique. There is little information about his life which has yet come to light. He appears to have continued the tradition of managing his family’s extensive landholdings and estates in England and South Scotland. When his brother Walter died in 1258, he was also bestowed the title Earl of Menteith.
He was born 1194, in Aberdeenshire, Scotland – died 1249, in the same location, and is buried in Kelso Abbey. He married Eve Amabilia de Galloway, born 1215, Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland – died 1280, (unknown locations). They had three sons:
Sir John I, The Red, Comyn, Lord of Badenoch
William Comyn, born 1227 – died 1258
Richard Comyn, born (unknown date) – died 1264
Comyn Family Crest
Sir John Comyn I Lord of Badenoch, was a land Baron known as Rufus and the Red Comyn, a nickname more commonly applied to his grandson, John Comyn III. He was born 1215 – died 1274, (unknown locations).
The Comyn family were important and powerful in Scotland when Alexander III of Scotland was a minor, and John was one of those with court influence. He was an ambassador from Alexander II of Scotland to Louis IX of France in 1246. On the death of his uncle Walter Comyn in 1258, he received all of Walter’s titles (as the new Lord of Badenoch) and estates, and became the head of his family. He was appointed justiciary of Galloway in March 1258 – 1259. John Comyn I was entrusted by Alexander III of Scotland with the defence of Scotland’s northern territories from invasion by the Vikings and the Danes.
His first wife was called Eve Stewart, born 1224 – died (unknown date); married 1240 (unknown location). They had seven children:
John of Badenoch, who succeeded his father
William of Kirkintilloch, born 1240 – died (unknown date); married Isabella Russell, daughter of John Russell and Isabella, Countess of Menteith
Alexander, married Eva, widow of Alexander Murray.
Marian, married Richard Siward
a daughter, married Geoffrey Moubray
a daughter, married Alexander of Argyll
a daughter, married Sir Andrew Moray
His second wife was Lady Alice de Roos (possibly Lindsay), born (unknown date) – died April 29, 1286; married circa 1260. They had four children:
John “le jeon” born 1260 – died (possibly) 1279
Robert, married Margaret Comyn (a cousin), daughter of William Comyn of Lochaber
a daughter, Alice
an unknown daughter, married Sir William Galbraith, 4th Chief of that Ilk, Lord of Kyncaith
John “le jean” Comyn II of Badenoch, nicknamed the Black Comyn, was a Scottish nobleman; a Guardian of Scotland. He was born 1215 (unknown location) – died 1302, Inverness, Scotland.
In 1284, he joined with other Scottish noblemen who acknowledged Margaret of Norway as the heir of King Alexander. John Comyn is credited with the building of several large castles or castle houses in and around Inverness. Parts of Mortlach (Balvenie Castle) and Inverlochy Castle. As his father before him, he was entrusted by Alexander III of Scotland with the defence of Scotland’s northern territories from invasion by the Vikings and the Danes.
From Electric Scotland [again]: On the death of the Maid of Norway, the infant queen of Scotland, in the year 1290, John Comyn, Lord of Badenoch, known popularly as the Black Comyn, was one of the twelve claimants to the Scottish throne, and the tradition of the marriage of the young Comyn of Malcolm III’s time with the daughter of Donald, King Duncan’s legitimate son, is proved to be authentic by the fact that the Lord of Badenoch’s claim to the throne was based upon that descent. He was among the knights who supported King John Baliol against Edward I’s invasion in 1297, but was one of those forced to surrender in the castle of Dunbar after the defeat of the Scots at that place.
The ruins of Inverlochy Castle, painted by Horatio McCulloch in 1857. (Image courtesy of wikipedia.com).
Comyn married Eleanor (Alianora) de Balliol, born 1245 (unknown location) – died 1302 in Badenoch, Inverness, Scotland, at his castle of Lochindorb. She was the daughter of John I de Balliol of Barnard Castle, sister of King John of Scotland.
They were the parents of at least one son: John Comyn III of Badenoch.
A recovered badge that adorned the horse of Sir John Comyn, the Lord of Badenoch, found in a boggy field in Kinross. Image courtesy of The Jordan Family.
John Comyn IIIof Badenoch, nicknamed the Red, was born 1274 (unknown location) – died February 10, 1306, at Greyfriars Church, Dumfries.
He was a leading Scottish baron and magnate (a man of higher nobility) who played an important role in the First War of Scottish Independence. He served as Guardian of Scotland after the forced [1296] abdication of his uncle, King John Balliol (reigned 1292–1296), and for a time commanded the defence of Scotland against English attacks. At this time there were 12 or 13 contenders for the throne of Scotland through different birth lines: John Comyn III and Robert The Bruce among them. There was much tension in the air…
John Comyn III of Badenoch, married Lady Joan de Valence of Pembroke, born 1230 – died after September 20, 1307, (locations unknown) daughter of William de Valence, 1st Earl of Pembroke, who was the half-brother to Henry III of England, and uncle of Edward I of England.
Robert The Bruce stabs John Comyn III to death before the high altar of the Greyfriars Church in Dumfries.
Bruce and Comyn met to discuss their differences on February 10, 1306 at the Church of the Grey Friars in Dumfries, leaving their swords outside the church. An argument between the pair ensued and Bruce drew his dagger in anger and stabbed Comyn in front of the high altar of the church. He then fled the church, telling his followers outside what had occurred. Sir Roger Kirkpatrick went back inside and finished off the seriously wounded Comyn, and also slew his uncle, Sir Robert Comyn, who tried to save John. A letter from the English court to the Pope stated –
‘Bruce rose against King Edward as a traitor and murdered Sir John Comyn, Lord of Badenoch, in the church of the Friars Minor in the town of Dumfries, at the high altar, because John would not assent to the treason which Bruce planned… to resume war.. and make himself king of Scotland.’
It is unlikely that Bruce had gone to the meeting with the intention of murdering Comyn in a church. However, the deed was done and there was no going back. He proceeded to attack the strongholds of the Comyns in Southern Scotland. The Bruce confessed his crime to his supporter, Robert Wishart, Bishop of Glasgow, and received absolution, on condition that as King, he would be respectful of the church, he was, nonetheless, later excommunicated by the Pope for the act.
On March 25, 1306, Robert the Bruce, was crowned Robert I, King of Scots at Scone. John (III) the Red Comyn’s only son, died at the Battle of Bannockburn, while fighting on the English side. After the Battle of Bannockburn, the estates of the Scottish Clan Comyn were distributed to other families. (7)
Let’s Learn About The Irish Comyns
Parallel to the busy marriages, alliances, fighting, murdering, etc., that was going on with the Comyn families in England and Scotland, it seems that there is another aspect to this family which needs to be explained. There were also Comyn(s) living in Ireland.
From the journal article, The Early Irish Comyn’s, the author wrote: “There is little reason to doubt that the ancestors of the various Anglo-Irish families of Comyn (Cumin) in Ireland came to this country in the wake of John Comyn, the first Anglo-Norman archbishop of Dublin. John Comyn became archbishop in 1182 and died in 1212. No Comyn’s are known in Ireland before this time.”
He wrote further: “There is little doubt that a family contemporary with him, that of Comyn of Newbold Comyn, Warwickshire, Walcott, Wiltshire and Kinsaley, County Dublin* was closely related to him. It has been suggested that his family was ultimately the same as the great Scottish house of that name.”
Swords Castle was built for the Archbishops of Dublin in the 12th century. (Image courtesy of wikipedia.com).
We researched the Irish branch of the Comyn family and the history of Newbold Comyn, because we have come across files on several genealogy websites which purport to record that Lady Elyanor Comyn’s father was named Newbold Comyn. When studying these files, there is no documentation whatsoever to support this viewpoint. Additionally, this error keeps being repeated again-and-again by other would be tree-makers.
David Comyn, the author of Notes On The Comyn Pedigree, wrote: *“These land holdings came into the Comyn family through the marriage of Elias Comyn to the heiress Johanna, the heiress of Newbolt and Walcott in Warwickshire. In about 1293 he [Elias or Helias] was granted the lands of Kinsale by the Abbot of The Holy Trinity, Dublin to Elias Comyn circa 1281.” It seems however, the Elias’s older brother John was the first trustee of these holdings. We found the record of an agreement from 1246 – 1247, between John Comyn and Geoffrey de Semele, allowing the Comyn’s “the right to fish in the River Leam” at Newbold Comyn.
Our research has determined that Newbold Comyn, on the Eastern edge of Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England, has never been a person’s name. It is the location of a very old estate. From the Leamington History Group: “Newbold Comyn, in [the] Domesday [Book] is recorded as having 5 Hides of land (1 Hide is generally thought to be sufficient land to support 1 family). Newbold was divided between two landlords: 3 Hides were held by Malmesbury Abbey, the gift of the former owner Wulfwine, to enable him to retire to the Abbey as a monk. The remaining 2 were held by the Count of Meulan, a major landowner in Warwickshire.” (8)
The Domesday Book, 1085 Land of Malmesbury (St Mary), abbey of.., Warwickshire folio 3, page 3. Newbold [Comyn], 25 householdsThe Domesday Book, 1085 Land of Count of Meulan, Warwickshire folio 6, page 6. Newbold [Comyn], 25 households
Kith, Kin, and Clan
Your kith are the people you know very well, but who aren’t related to you. If you’re asking all of your best friends over for dinner, you can say that you’re inviting your kith. Your kin are “family” or “relatives”. Call them what you will, but you’re stuck with those people related to you by blood or marriage. It is a bit old-fashioned now, but when when someone refers to their kith and kin, they mean their friends and family.
A clan is an extended family. Your clan might include your parents and siblings, but also your cousins, and second cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandparents. Families that are related to each other, whether through marriage or as distant cousins, are members of the same clan. If you get together with a big family group every summer, you can say [that] you vacation with your clan. In Scotland, a person’s clan has a specific name, like “Clan Comyn.” The word comes from the Gaelic clann, “family” or “offspring,” with the Latin root planta, “offshoot.”
Truthfully, we have not been able to determine exactly which specific branch of the Clan Comyn, Lady Elyanor Comyn emerged from. Her family represented lines of people from Flanders, Scotland, England, and Ireland — areas which came to be very important for our family history.
Sadly, the names of many, many daughters were not recorded and in a sense, they become submerged by recorded history. What we do know about our 20x Great-Grandmother is that she married Richard Gower. From their union, the Gore family line from which we descend, came to be. Her life provides the foundational link that connects our family across England in The Gore Line, A Narrative — 2. (9)
Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials, Notes, and Observations
Family History of Philip Wilson Donald KING OF SCOTLAND (c. 860-900) Donald II, King of the Picts of Alba https://www.whobegatwhom.co.uk/ind1996.html Note: For his portrait.
JSTOR The Early Irish Comyns E. St. John Brooks The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland Vol. 86, No. 2 (1956), pp. 170-186 (17 pages) https://www.jstor.org/stable/25509253
Finally! We are within historical shouting distance of people that we have actually known earlier in our lives, and also some we know now in the present. This is Chapter Seven of seven: most of the narrative takes place in Ohio, as our family grows, changes, evolves, and adapts through the 20th century and moves into the 21st. Thanks for paying attention and riding along with us.
Thank God for Typewriters!
Over the last few years, as we have been working on this project, we have had our struggles with deciphering / interpreting / arguing over / pondering what some past record keepers have been thinking when they take note of things. We have had to interpret Latin, Old English, Middle English, Present Day English, etc., etc. However, nothing competes with the grim torture of having to interpret writing from a quill pen — especially when the person writing(?) seemed to be having a medical emergency. In this narrative, we move on to newly-invented fountain pens (the joy!) and typewriters (sheer ecstasy!).
Most of our ancestors could neither read, nor write until more-or-less the last 150 years, so they are not at fault. Many signed their names with an “X” or could just barely scratch out a signature. We don’t intend to rob them of their dignity, but finally, we are observing that many historical documents are now printed, or even written out on a typewriter. Happy days are here again! (1)
Jerry Lewis in”Who’s Minding The Store” from 1963.
A Succession of Guardians…
When Alexander Norton Bond died in October 1897, and his wife Ruth being previously deceased in 1890… the care of the younger Bond children left everyone in a bit of a quandary. Of the four children, the two older siblings very soon moved away.
The eldest son, Dean Linton Bond moved to Tennessee to become a Preacher. He married Emma Brooks on May 10, 1899. Emma, a young widow, brought her daughter, Bessie Russell, to the marriage. Dean and Emma had no children of their own. He died on December 5, 1933 in Little Rock, Arkansas.
The next eldest, daughter Edna, moved when she was 19 to Glenville, a village on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio. (As recorded in the 1900 Census). On April 27, 1905, Edna married William C. Wickes, Jr. They had one child, a son named William Alexander Wickes, born July 17, 1908. Edna Jane (Bond) Wickes died November 10, 1964 in Columbus, Ohio. She and her husband are buried in Lakeview Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio.
Alexander Bond had an insurance policy with The Commercial Traveler’s Mutual Accident Association of Utica New York which would have benefited his children with $5000 in the case of his death by an accident. However, he died from the complications of a stroke, so the insurance policy didn’t pay out fully. [Mutual’s view, as they wormed their way out of this, was to state that a stroke is not an accident. This resulted in a lower payout of $2500.] Alexander had died without a Will, so this meant that the family home and all of the possessions had to be sold at auction to create a fund for the children’s welfare and upbringing.
Advertisement for The Commercial Traveler’s Mutual Accident Association of Utica New York. It is probable that Alexander Bond selected this insurance company because he was a traveling salesman.
This left the two younger children, Lily and Earl (both minors), in need of a guardian. In November 1897, the Guardianship of Lily, age 15, and Earl, age 9, was given to Alanson Wilcox, a family friend and preacher in the Disciples of Christ Church, within which their mother Ruth (Linton) Bond had been very active. A mere four months later, it seems Lily had moved to Glenville to be near her sister Edna. She became a boarder in the home of O.C. Pinney [Orestes Caesar — understandably, using initials must have made his life easier] and his wife Grace (Cowdery) Pinney at 33 Livingston Avenue, Glenville, Ohio.
Earl Alexander Bond, age 10. (Family photograph).
At the same time, the Guardianship for Earl Bond, age 10 (almost 11), was granted to Jared Dunbar. He did not live with Dunbar, but with his mother’s older sister Caroline Litten in Wells township, near Brilliant, Ohio. At that time she was a widow, about 63 years old. Also living in the home was her unmarried daughter Annie Litten. Annie was about 30 years old. On the 1900 Census, Caroline Litten is living in a home located between the homes of her son, the George Litten family, and her daughter, the Emma (Litten) Brindley family. It seems Earl was being raised with his Aunt Caroline’s family. Perhaps he felt somewhat more secure with these relatives around, after what he had been through.
South Main Street in Brilliant, Ohio, circa 1890s. (Image courtesy of http://www.ebay.com).
Observation: Our Grandfather Earl certainly lived with a lifelong sense of contained, but confusing, and frequent loss. This must have been quite hard for him as a little boy. His mother Ruth, died tragically in a train accident when he was 2 years old. His father Alexander, suffering with severe injuries from the same accident, died from a stroke when Earl was 9. Then his older siblings were not around, and he had a family friend as his Guardian for just four months. Very soon his sister Lily also left. At almost eleven years old, he had yet another new Guardian, Jared Dunbar.
From the Alexander Bond house sale, funds had been paid out to settle Alexander’s estate and death expenses, to Alanson Wilcox (for Guardianship), and to “Uncle” Jared Dunbar (for Guardianship) and hence, given to Aunt Caroline Litten. She collected quarterly payments for Earl’s care for about 2-1/2 years, but then she died in September 1901. (She was the third caregiver of Earl’s to die: mother, father, aunt). By December 1901, the records show that payments were being made to John Raymond Litten, another son of Caroline Litten. These payments continued until July 1903. During this period we are not sure whose home he resided in. (2)
This document from Alexander Bond’s probate papers, shows some of the household items that were sold at auction on May 10, 1899.
Life in the O. C. Pinney Home in Glenville, Ohio
At this time in 1903, payments for the Guardianship of Earl were now being made to attorney O. C. Pinney in Glenville, Ohio. This was an interesting development, and raised many… “speculative questions”.
About 1898, Lily had moved into that home as an ingenue boarder while she was attending school. The Pinneys were neighbors to the home where Lily’s older sister, Edna Bond, was boarding. At this time Lily was under the Guardianship of O. C. Pinney. He and his wife Grace liked having a “daughter” around the house. O. C. and Grace had four sons: Mark (born 1877 – died 1898), Warren (born 1880), Dean (born 1883), and Wallace (born 1894). Lily was right in the middle of this age group — two sons were older than her; two younger.
In September 1900, Grace Pinney died. By May 1901, Lily’s guardianship under O. C. Pinney ended when she turned eighteen.
Lily is our Great Aunt and we shall keep this in polite society out of respect for her, but still, something seemed to have shifted. On February 27, 1903, at 20 years old, Lily Victoria Bond married O. C. Pinney, who was 31 years older than her. Did Lily marry him out of gratefulness, or perhaps a need for stability? Why did O. C. marry someone who was the age that a daughter of his would likely have been? Did his sons call someone their own age “Mom”? We shall never know answers to these questions, but we remain curious. (3)
The marriage record for O. C. Pinney and Lily V. Bond, February 27, 1903. Note that the marriage was solemnized by Alanson Wilcox, the first Guardian of both Lily and Earl.
Earl Bond Had a Stuttering, or Stammering Problem
A family story has been shared over generations that Grandfather Earl had a stuttering problem that started when he was a young boy. The National Health Service website from the United Kingdom explains this condition well on their website.
What causes stammering? It is not possible to say for sure why a child starts stammering, but it is not caused by anything the parents have done. Developmental and inherited factors may play a part, along with small differences in how efficiently the speech areas of the brain are working.
The National Health Service of the United Kingdom
It would be quite logical to assume that stuttering and stammering could be triggered by a traumatic event, such as the train wreck he survived when he was a small child. With all of the consequential anxieties produced in the aftermath, his mother’s death, his father’s disability, his being shuttled around as a child… As his descendants, everyone knitted together something that made sense, and it took on a life of its own. Truly, we just don’t know what was going on back then. We can only look at the historical records and infer.
Sometime between July 1903 and 1904, Earl is living in Glenville, Ohio with his sister and his new brother-in-law O. C. Pinney. We believe that the Pinneys had enrolled Earl into The New Lyme Institute. In all likelihood, in an attempt to help him with his speech problems and avail him to a better education.
The New Lyme Institute, like a Silent Screen Actor whose career gave way to the noisiness of Talking Motion Pictures — looks as if it has seen happier days. Photo circa 1965.
Located in Ashtabula County, Ohio, which is about 60 miles from Glenville in Cuyahoga County, the New Lyme Institute was a school that (it appears) the Pinney boys went to for their educations. Dean Pinney graduated from there in 1902.
In 1904, we see Earl Bond listed as a student in The Cleveland Directory, living with the Pinney family on Livingston Avenue in Glenville. Again in 1906, we find him listed, but now as an apprentice at 813 East 95th Street. It is plausible that the apprenticeship was an outgrowth of his earlier studies. (4)
Listings from The Cleveland Directory of 1904 (above), and 1906 (below).
The Birth of O. C. Jr., and the Death of O. C. Sr.
On February 20, 1905, Lily and O. C. welcomed their son Orestes Caesar Pinney, Jr., into the world. He was likely born at home in Glenville, a place now annexed into Cleveland, Ohio.
President Theodore Roosevelt was being inaugurated as President of the United States for his second term on March 4, 1905, in Washington, D. C. There were many planned celebrations around the country, with many, many groups traveling to Washington to be present for the inauguration. O. C. Pinney was a military Lieutenant and Quartermaster for the Cleveland Battalion of Engineers. He and his 9 year old son Wallace were on their way to Washington with this military group, but they never arrived.
Near Rochester, Pennsylvania, after they left the Clifton Station, a terrible train accident occurred and people died, or were mortally injured. It was such a destructive and shocking event that the federal government got involved. Wallace Pinney died instantly at the scene. His father O. C. was gravely injured and was transported to the hospital at Rochester. Eventually he returned to Cleveland, Ohio, where he died at home three weeks after the accident.
Immediately after the Clifton Accident, The Railroad Gazette published an article describing what had actually happened. (See the footnotes for this section).
Our Great Aunt Lily had lost her husband, (in a similar manner to how her mother had died). She must have grieved greatly. Not only was her husband dead but her stepson Wallace was also gone. The other two stepsons Warren and Dean were in their 20s. Lily was now raising her newborn son, O. C. Jr., in her home with her brother Earl Bond. (Lily called her newborn son “Ralph” in future documents. Maybe it was a nickname she gave him because it was too heartbreaking to call him O. C.)?
Her brother Earl’s welfare still needed to be looked after. The accident happened near the time of his 17th birthday and for him, this was his fourth caregiver to pass away. Stability was once again… elusive.
The Alliance Review newspaper front page, March 7, 1905.
O. C. had been an attorney, and his brother Jay Pinney, also an attorney, came to be called “Uncle Jay” by Lily. He must have stepped in at certain times to help with family matters. The settling of O. C. Pinney’s estate was a complicated issue with many interested parties involved. We learned that Lily Pinney and her family were living at 813 East 95th Street N. E. Glenville/Cleveland, Ohio by 1906. This is the same address that Earl reported as the address for his apprenticeship. (5)
O. C. Jr. Became The Son Of A Preacher Man
On October 6, 1909, Lily (Bond) Pinney married Howard Connelly in Cleveland, Ohio. The year before, he had earned his degree at Yale Divinity School in Hartford, Connecticut. This marriage was a fresh start for her and her son.
U.S., School Catalogs, 1765-1935, Connecticut, Yale University, published 1910
As indicated on the 1910 Federal Census, they quickly settled in Ardmore, Carter County, Oklahoma, where Howard raised O. C. Jr., as his son. It is notable that O. C. Jr., had by 1910, taken on the Connelly name. We have not yet located evidence of an adoption, nor did Lily and Howard have any other children.
This movie is a toe-tapping good time! Image courtesy of Etsy.com.
By 1917 at the time of Howard’s WWI draft registration card, they were settled in New Albany, Floyd County, Indiana.
Earl Bond was living with them in Oklahoma for the 1910 census, and also magically, he is recorded as living with his other sister Edna (Bond) Wickes, in Cleveland, Ohio. So what was going on?
From the United States Census Bureau, article 1910 Overview — “For the first time, enumerators in the large cities distributed questionnaires in advance, a day or two prior to April 15, so that people could become familiar with the questions and have time to prepare their answers. In practice, only a small portion of the population filled out their questionnaires before the enumerator visit, however. The law gave census takers two weeks to complete their work in cities of 5,000 inhabitants or more [such as Cleveland, Ohio] while enumerators in smaller and rural areas [such as Carter County, Oklahoma] were allotted 30 days to complete their task.”
It’s seems that both of Earl’s sisters were trying to claim him, and there must have been some confusion as to where Earl belonged. At 21 years old, he was old enough to decide where he wanted to be.
Great Aunt Lily died on March 19, 1966 in Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana. (6)
The Last of The Gilded Age in Cleveland, Ohio
In 1873, Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner coauthored a book called The Guided Age, A Story of To-Day, the name of which came to define the era. Our Grandfather Earl had been born into what historians refer to as The Gilded Age, but as we have learned, the prosperity of that time was always just beyond him. From Encyclopedia.com:
“The Gilded Age and the Progressive Era in the United States spanned the years from the end of Reconstruction through the 1920s. Many historians overlap the end of the Gilded Age (1870–1900) with the beginning of the Progressive Era (1890–1929). [This] was an age of movement. Populations changed, people moved, and trade increased. Migration to the American west, a dramatic increase in immigration to the United States from foreign shores… the proliferation of railroads, steamers, telegraphs, and the telephone [also occurred].”
The Gilded Age was the era of the corporation, the heyday of the Robber Barons and Captains of Industry. In the era before both corporate taxes, much less personal income taxes, the city of Cleveland had greatly prospered — growing to become the sixth largest city in the United States. John D. Rockefeller, the founder of the Standard Oil Company, and many other very wealthy people lived on a section of Euclid Avenue, known as Millionaires Row. The images below, through both illustrations and postcards, document the opulence of the district.
“While the Gilded Age brought outstanding prosperity to some, it was also deeply tarnished beneath its gold veneer. The poor became poorer, the tenement slums grew, and new immigrants endured increasing economic and social hardships. Some of the most successful corporate endeavors became monopolies. Consumer prices rose; corruption and industrial labor abuses increased.
The Progressive Era sought to solve many of the social injustices of the Gilded Age. Where the Gilded Age was highly individualistic, progressive reformers thought that governments had a responsibility to promote socially beneficial programs. Progressives who advocated the government regulation of industry, asserted that economic and social policy could not easily be separated.” Looking back, it was foreshadowing the sorrows of the coming Great Depression. (7)
Women’s Suffrage Headquarters on Euclid Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio in 1912. Individuals in the picture include Belle Sherman and Judge Florence E. Allen.
Earl A. Bond Marries Mary Adele McCall
On October 12, 1910, Earl Alexander Bond married Mary Adele McCall. She was born on August 10, 1888 in South Euclid, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, the third daughter of John and Mary Jane (McMahon) McCall.
Note: For the history of Mary Adele (McCall) Bond’s early life, and her marriage to Earl A. Bond, please see the blog post chapter titled: The McMahon and The McCall Lines, A Narrative.
Our Grandparents: Mary Adele McCall, circa 1908 and Earl Alexander Bond, circa 1910. (Family photographs).
Mary and Earl had four sons:
Robert Earl, born October 28, 1911
John Allen, born March 2, 1914
Dean Phillip, born August 15, 1919 (We are descended from Dean.)
Edward Lee, born November 2, 1925
They spent the majority of their marriage in East Cleveland, Ohio except for some specific instances that we know of. Three of their sons were born in East Cleveland, except for John Allen, who was born in Kent, Portage County, Ohio, in 1914. (We have no idea why they were actually living in Kent). There is a family story that they moved to southern Ohio (most likely Brilliant) about 1915, with very young sons Robert Earl and John Allen. Sometime in 1916, Mary had an (undiagnosed) “nervous breakdown” and sons Robert and John were dispatched to the care of their maternal Grandmother Mary Jane McCall-Davin and her daughter, Elizabeth. A story passed down was that Aunt Elizabeth claimed that she knew when Mary and Earl were “having difficulties” because he would stutter.
Observation: We noticed that Earl and Mary had some larger gap years between the births of some of their sons. This seems similar to a pattern we saw with Earl’s father, Alexander Bond. However, there was a difference — Alexander had been a traveling salesman and Earl was living with Mary at home. Our father’s cousin Roberta (Loebsack) Fumich stated in 2007: “They had a difficult marriage, much of it attributable to Mary.” [The story goes that] “when they would fight, she would throw him out of the house”. We do not know the circumstances of the “troubles” or where Earl would live during those times.
By the time of World War I, they were back in the Cleveland area. Earl declared on his 1917-1918 Draft Registration Card that he was responsible for a wife and two children, and he cited a Cleveland address. When Dean was born in 1919, they lived in a house they owned on Alder Ave in East Cleveland, which is documented on the 1920 Census.
Additionally from that census, Earl is supporting his family as a private chauffeur. When his son Robert was born in 1911, the story passed down was that he was working for the Quigley Estate. He must have had a knack for working with automobiles, because by the end of the decade, he is listed as an auto mechanic in the The Cleveland, Ohio City Directory for 1920.
Earl was listed all throughout the 1920s in the Cleveland Business Directory in some association with automobile mechanics. Except for 1920, the addresses all match his home address on Alder Avenue. In the 1929 Cleveland Business Directory the address 1509 Crawford Road, as shown below, is likely the location for the photograph above. (Note the sign for Bond’s Garage above the door frame), (Family photographs). (8)
The Stock Market Crash of 1929 and The Great Depression
The following excerpt from History.com gives a brief description of the Great Depression suffered by many, including our families.
“The stock market, centered at the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street in New York City, was the scene of reckless speculation, where everyone from millionaire tycoons to cooks and janitors poured their savings into stocks. As a result, the stock market underwent rapid expansion, reaching its peak in August 1929.” In October of that year…
“The Great Depression was the worst economic downturn in the history of the industrialized world, lasting from 1929 to 1939. It began after the stock market crash of October 1929, which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors. Over the next several years, consumer spending and investment dropped, causing steep declines in industrial output and employment as failing companies laid off workers. By 1933, when the Great Depression reached its lowest point, some 15 million Americans were unemployed and nearly half the country’s banks had failed.”
At first, many people did not understand the significance of the stock market crash and warily went on with their lives. We noted on the 1930 Federal Census, that our uncle Edward Lee had been born in 1925, joining the family at their home on Alder Avenue. Among the census notes was the statement about Earl, “working on own account”.
Surrounding our Grandmother Mary Adele Bond are her four sons, circa 1930. Starting with the back left and working clockwise: Robert Earl, John Allen (aka Al), Dean Phillip, and Edward Lee. (Family photograph).
Unfortunately, like so many other American families, the times they lived in were going to get very hard. (9)
The Sad Death of Earl Alexander Bond
Our Grandfather had lived a life where there was much recurring loss. As a young boy he had experienced the violent death of his mother Ruth, the prolonged ill health of his father, then his father’s death. Additionally, different people who had been his caregivers passed away while he was still young. He had the shame of his stuttering to deal with… his Bond’s Garage business failed sometime in 1931-1932… his marriage to our Grandmother Mary was very problematic, and he frequently was forced out of the house. During one of those episodes, he was living with his sister Edna and her husband Bill Wickes at their home in University Heights, a nearby neighborhood. On February 24, 1932, he went to the garage behind the house and hung himself. Edna and Bill found him the next morning.
Earl A. Bond death certificate, February 1932.
His death was devastating for the family. During his life, our father Dean Phillip, had difficulty talking about his father’s death and how it had affected him. Nearing the end of his own life, he shared that his own father had probably been very, very depressed and maybe he felt abandoned. Our mother Marguerite told us that she still harbored bad feelings toward Mary, her mother-in-law, calling her “a strange woman”. She related that when Mary went to the coroner to identity Earl’s body, she took —only our father Dean— along with her. He was a confused and vulnerable 12 year old, who had been certainly shocked at his father’s death. He sat outside while his mother conducted her identification… but Mom always maintained that the episode deeply affected him.
We learned from the 1940 Federal Census that her sons Dean and Edward were living at home. Edward was a student and Dean, age 20, was working. The census indicates he was employed as a truck driver for a carpet & cleaning company. He shared with us that he would give his mother his paycheck to provide for her and his younger brother.
Grandmother Mary never remarried. She raised her sons on her own after Earl’s death. She lived near her mother and sisters on Bluestone Avenue in South Euclid, Ohio. At some point, she moved to Strathmore Avenue in East Cleveland. Mary became a sales clerk at the May Company department store in Downtown Cleveland where she worked for many years. She lived until she was 76 years old, dying on March 12, 1965 at the Fairmount Nursing Home in Newbury, Geauga County, Ohio. Her death was attributed to a cerebral vascular hemorrhage, complicated by congestive heart failure.
A painting that means much to our family, is one that came from Grandmother Mary Bond’s residence to our home — at the end of her life. Her sons were clearing and organizing her home for its eventual sale, when our father Dean acquired this artwork. He related that during the Great Depression, an artist came to their front door and offered to create a painting for our Grandmother, if only she would feed him a good meal. So, she agreed to this kindness, and his painting of Hydrangeas graced her walls for many years. (10)
Our Uncles, Our Aunts, and — Their Families
From things that our father Dean often said, he valued work, and being a working man. Conversely, he wanted his children to have college educations and have more opportunities and choices than he felt he had. Dean did not graduate from high school. In his 70s, he finally admitted that he could have finished high school if he had wanted to.
Uncle Bob and Aunt Lucille Our Uncle Bob was the oldest son in the family, born at home in East Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio on October 28, 1911. He died on September 26, 2000 in Cleveland, Ohio. Robert Earle Bond married Flora Lucille Burkhart on December 4, 1939 in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. She was born on August 15, 1912, in Moore, Shelby County, Indiana. She died on January 19, 1999, in Cleveland, Ohio.
They had four children:
Robert Franklin Bond, born December 17, 1940 — died on November 14, 2021
Rita Ann (Bond) Bobzin, born 1943
Ruth Mary (Bond) Moorer, born 1947
Rachel Lucille (Bond) Buck, born 1952
Uncle Al, Aunt Mary, and Aunt Ruth Our Uncle Al was the second oldest son in the family, born in Kent, Portage County, Ohio on March 2, 1914. He died on August 18, 1990 in Willoughby, Lake County, Ohio. John Allen Bond married Mary Dunkle by 1940 in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. She was born Mary Elizabeth Dunkle on June 18, 1917, East Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio. She died on July 14, 1999, in Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio. They were divorced in the 1960s.
They had four children:
David A. Bond, born 1940
Gerald L. “Jerry” Bond, born 1943
Wayne Bond, born 1950
Constance (Bond) Evans, born 1955
Uncle Al married his second wife, Ruth Elizabeth (Angle) Shannon in 1969. She was born on March 19, 1913 in Logan, Hocking County, Ohio. She died on August 17, 1998 in Willoughby, Lake County, Ohio.
The four Bond brothers: Edward Lee, Dean Phillip, John Allen, and Robert Earle, before 1990. (Family photograph).
Uncle Ed and Aunt Beverly Our Uncle Ed was the youngest son in the family, born at home in East Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio on November 2, 1925. He died on July 22, 2018 in Orange County, California. Edward Lee Bond married Beverly Black on October 22, 1949 in Lyndhurst, Cuyahoga County, Ohio. She was born Beverlee Ann Black on March 8, 1927, in Lyndhurst, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, and died on April 5, 2011 in Garden Grove, Orange County, California. (11)
They had four children:
Gary Lee Bond, born September 12, 1950 — died July 29, 2008
William Lee Bond, born June 18, 1953 — died November 24, 1958
Karen Louise (Bond) Boehle, born 1957
James Lee Bond, born 1960
Thomas Bond, Susan Bond, Aunt Beverlee Bond, Uncle Edward Bond in Redondo Beach, California, November 2001. (Family photograph).
Out of The Great Depression and Into World War II
Our Pop, Dean Phillip Bond, attended Shaw High School in East Cleveland and took a great deal of pride in the fact that the comic actor Bob Hope had also gone there. As teenagers, when we quizzed him about why he left school, he was always a bit hesitant, and there was never a direct answer. In researching this blog, we came across high school class pictures of him which we had never seen before. He appeared in group photos in 1937 and 1938. We thought he had left school in his sophomore year, but these were Junior and Senior year photos. Honestly, we’re not really sure what happened.
1938 The Shuttle yearbook, Shaw High School, East Cleveland, Ohio, Senior B, Room 107. Dean is pictured in the upper right corner.
When he was a young adolescent, Pop was bitten by a mosquito, contracted the yellow fever virus, and got very sick. (A vaccine had yet to be developed, and later came into use in 1938). Unfortunately, the fevers resulted in partial deafness in his left ear.
When World War II came around, he was classified as 4F — not able to serve. This caused him a lot of shame and anxiety. He was determined to serve. He said that he went to a doctor and “got the problem fixed”. We know that he continued to have partial hearing problems throughout his life by the way he sometimes tilted his head to listen. So we are not sure how his medical problem was resolved to the satisfaction of the draft board.
Pop’s Selective Service Draft Card, completed on October 16, 1940. Interestingly, his brothers Robert and John Allen completed their respective cards on the same day.
We know that he served honorably in the Pacific Fleet on two destroyer escort ships, the U. S. S. Keith, DE-241 and the U. S. S. Oliver Mitchell DE-417.
Pop had different jobs on these ships, including being a fireman. He was reticent to share stories, but at one point he stated that Japanese planes were attacking his ship. He had to man the gun turret to fight them off, all the while being surrounded by bullets. His friend, next to him, died.
One job came late in the war when when it still seemed that Japan was not going to surrender. His job was to drive this flat-style of boat on to the beach, the sides would go down, and everyone would scramble to shore. I didn’t understand this role until I saw the opening scenes to the movie, Saving Private Ryan. The army and navy were training troops for an invasion of Japan. Fate intervened, and the atomic bombs were dropped, which brought about the end to the war in the Pacific.
Pop’s Campaign Service Medals from WWII: Staring clockwise from the left: American Campaign, Asiatic Pacific Campaign, World War II, Occupation Service. These hung on his bedroom wall for years. (Family photograph).
Pop passed through Honolulu in the Hawaiian Territory several times. Once he was able to meet up with his younger brother Edward Lee who was also in the Navy. San Francisco [he called it Frisco] was a big hub for the war effort and he mentioned that he liked to go to The Top of The Mark in the Mark Hopkins Hotel on Nob Hill. (12)
A bottle of whiskey sits on the bar at the Top of Mark in San Francisco. During WWII, servicemen would buy and leave a bottle in the care of the bartender so that the next soldier from their squadron could enjoy a free drink; the only requirement being whoever had the last sip would buy the next bottle.
Top of The Mark history, at the Mark Hopkins Hotel
All It Took Was A White Flower
Pop was on leave when he and Mom went on a date at Chin’s Golden Dragon Restaurant in Cleveland, Ohio in the Summer of 1945. (Family photograph).
Our parents had a mutual attraction to each other. They talked about Mom being a waitress at the White Horse Inn in Cleveland during WWII. She was wearing a white flower in her hair and that caught his attention. Many years later, I asked her to write me (Thomas) a letter and tell me what that time was like for her. [The complete letter is in the footnotes]. Here is a partial transcription:
Nov. 1, 1981 My Dear Son Tom,
You asked for something and I shall try. The years have rolled away and I no longer feel I am on a threshold with all the tomorrows stretching ahead forever; instead I seem to wake each morning a little surprised and sometimes lay there and try to figure what day it is; a temporary vacuum — it will pass as all things do. Natures way perhaps of saying “get your act together” no one is going to do it for you.
It was June 1945. The guns had stopped in Europe, but they still blazed with fury in the Pacific. There had been three and a half years of furious warfare. My own life had gone through a raging battle. As in all battles there was no victor, only the process of rebuilding.
A sailor was home on leave from the Pacific, our paths crossed. An electrical charge passed between us. We had two weeks of fun, dancing-laughing — just fun. He left. A couple of letters, but both of us had been emotionally burned and very wary.
February 1946 — a knock on my door and there stood a sailor. The guns had stopped in the pacific. The men were coming home.
June 1946. Your father and I were married in front of the fireplace at Grandma’s. Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and a handful of friends. A Happy Wedding.
The ensuing years had many ups and downs. I suppose I had always dreamed of being pampered and adored. It is a little hard to pamper a head strong, independent woman. Your father had always dreamed of having someone look up to him. It is hard to look up to a “Happy Irishman” when necessities are knocking at the door.
But, we have survived. We love our children and our home and we love each other, but probably neither of us will ever let the other really know.
On their wedding day, June 22, 1946. (Family photograph).
Our Pop was the third son in the family, born at home in East Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio on August 15, 1919. He died on September 24, 1996 in Chardon, Geauga County, Ohio. Dean Phillip Bond married our mother Marguerite Lulu (Gore) Peterman on June 22, 1946 in Newbury, Geauga County, Ohio. She was born Marguerite Lulu Gore on August 15, 1912, in Russell, Geauga County, Ohio. She died on March 4, 1999, in Burton, Geauga County, Ohio.
June 1946 Wedding of Dean and Marguerite Bond. (Length: 3-1/2 minutes)In looking at this document, it seems obvious that Reverend Clarence E. Hall had been trained initially to write with a quill pen.
Note: This marriage was the second marriage for Marguerite. For the details of her first marriage, please see the blog chapter The Peterman Line — A Narrative.
This is a pencil rendering I did in the Spring of 1980, based upon a photograph of our mother Marguerite, and our oldest sister Jo Ann. The photo was taken in the east yard of our Grandmother Lulu Gore’s home in Newbury Township, Ohio circa 1945. (Thomas)
Together they had six children:
Jo Ann (Peterman) Bond White, born May 9, 1939, in Bedford, Cuyahoga County, Ohio — died August 6, 2010, Chagrin Falls, Cuyahoga County, Ohio Married Wayne Ronald White, October 5, 1958 — divorced November 16, 1977
John Alfred (Peterman) Bond, born 1940 First Marriage: Marjorie Ann (Narusch) Bond, October 28, 1961 — divorced November 29, 1977. Second Marriage: Susanne (Ficht) Bond, July 17, 1987
Susan Deanna Bond, born 1947
Daniel Earl Bond, born 1950 Married Betty Jane Roberts, November 21, 1975
Richard Dean Bond, born December 20, 1952, in East Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio — died May 15, 2022, in Ravenna, Portage County, Ohio
Thomas Harley Bond, born 1958 Married Leandro José Oliveira Coutinho, June 26, 2008
John and Jo Ann Peterman — this is a film still from the wedding of Dean and Marguerite, June 22, 1946. (Family photograph).
Dean Bond adopted both Jo Ann and John Alfred Peterman as his children. Their surnames changed from Peterman to Bond after the adoption was completed.
Dean Phillip Bond at various stages of his life. From left to right: Early 1920s, Early 1930s, Late 1940s, Summer 1979. (13)
Moving Around Until February 1957
Our parents did not have their own home for the first eleven years of their marriage. They spent almost all of their married life living in rural Geauga County, Ohio. The 1950 Federal Census locates them on Music Street, in Newbury township. Our brother John has recounted that he and Pop would climb up to the water cisterns for the house, and scrub them until they were very, very clean… because this was the water source for their home.
1950 Federal Census for Newbury township, Ohio
While their family continued to grow, they went back and forth between living with the Grandmothers: one time with Grandma Mary Bond in East Cleveland, Ohio and two other times with Grandma Lulu Gore in Newbury township. In 1956, ten years into their marriage, they started to build a home on the corner of the farm property owned by Grandma Lulu. It was an old orchard, filled with “past their prime” apple trees and many briar bushes. All of that was cleared away, they broke land, and commenced to build. They moved in on February 1957. (Susan says it was very exciting!)
This is the home we grew up in, before they did quite a bit of remodeling in 1977. (Note Pop’s garden on the far left. He did love his summer garden!)
Our mother described her 30s as being a period of great satisfaction because she and Dean had achieved much. Owning their own home made them particularly proud, and educating their children gave them great satisfaction. As with many other mid-century families — who had lived through the Great Depression and WWII — they found happiness in the stability and the freedom of choice which they could provide to their children. (14)
The Early Bird Catches the Worm
Pop spent many years working in the insurance industry (similar to his brothers Uncle Bob and Uncle Al.) During the Kennedy and Johnson eras, he worked at Sears Roebuck & Co., selling refrigerators and other large appliances. In those days, Sears was at its peak as a department store. It was fun to go to the Southgate Mall and open the refrigerators, looking at the fake food inside. Later in life, he worked as a machinist at Newbury Industries.
Mom spent some years at home with the kids, but around 1960, she went to work as the manager of the Executive Dining Room for the Lear Seigler Corporation. In 1964, she took a position at Kent State University and became their Manager of Banquet Sales. This was a position which she held until her retirement in 1986, having made many friends within the University. All six children attended/graduated from Kent State University. (15)
They Loved Having a Family
One thing that was very true about our family was that each child was viewed as an individual with their own interests. Our parents worked very hard with our education, sports, 4-H clubs, Boy Scouts… many of the things that other mid-century families did as part of their community involvement. In those days, airline flights were out of reach, so we traveled by car, visiting national parks and camping within the Midwest and the East Coast. Family reunions and birthday parties were never missed. These were busy years.
Various selected family photos — Starting clockwise with the upper left photo: June 1980, Back row – Jo Ann, John, Daniel, and Susan. Front row – Richard, Mom, Thomas, and Pop. Right column top: Spring 1954, Left to right – John, Susan, Pop holding Richard, Jo Ann, Daniel. Middle – Pop at The Grill, circa 1950. Bottom – Summer 1962, Left to right – Pop, Thomas, Richard, Daniel on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Left corner bottom – DukeandRasha, circa 1982. Middle left – Easter 1954, Susan, Richard (arms extended), Daniel. (Family photographs). (16)
As the 20th Century Winds Down…
Mom and Pop at Ocean Beach, visiting San Francisco, California in 1985. (Family photograph).
50 years to the day, and at the same location, with some of the same people, Dean and Marguerite celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on June 22, 1996. Old friends and family members from several generations were present. Pop was in very ill, having had heart problems, as well as recently being diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. His mind was still sharp and he reveled in having achieved this moment. Three months later he died.
Dean and Marguerite with their extended family, celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary on June 22, 1996. (Family photograph).
Mom, however, was another story. We had been noticing for years that her memory was slipping… slipping some more… then, slipping much more. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and had been living in assisted care after breaking her hip. It was both interesting and sad to watch how she changed over the years. It was like her life was a movie that had started to run backwards. She was good at “acting” like she knew you, but eventually she would slip up. What was weird was how this consciousness came and went… almost like the way a turtle peaks its head from the ocean waves and peers around. She could be in the present for a moment, and then she was gone somewhere into the depths of the past. She died in March 1999, of uterine cancer, but the Alzheimers had taken her away long before.
The view from our parents home for more-or-less 50 years. (Family photograph).
Our parents lived their lives completely bound by the arc of the 20th century. In many ways, their experiences were similar to others in their generation, but to us — they were quite simply, and uniquely, our parents. (17)
Now We Step Aside to Present the First James Bond 007
Television was a new and exciting invention in the 1950s. Throughout our history of The Bond Line, we have inserted cheeky asides featuring famous actors who have played 007. Quoting directly from the online article: James Bond (Barry Nelson)…
“James ‘Jimmy’ Bond appeared in the Climax episode ‘Casino Royale’, a television adaptation of Ian Fleming’s first novel which aired in 1954. Though this is regarded as the first onscreen appearance of the character James Bond, the character is an American agent with ‘Combined Intelligence’. He was portrayed by American actor Barry Nelson. (18)
Barry Nelson as James “Jimmy” Bond in 1954.
Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials, Notes, and Observations
These documents were sourced through the Jefferson County Historical Society in June 2017, by researcher Tammy Hosenfeld.
1897 November, legal documents from Alanson Wilcox, for Guardianship, Bond, and Administration for Lily Bond and Earl Bond
1898 February, Guardian’s Account from Alanson Wilcox listing Alexander Bond insurance information and expenses
1898 February, letters from Alanson Wilcox and O. C. Pinney for the Guardianship of Lily V. Bond
1898 March and May, legal documents for Bond and Guardianship from Jared Dunbar, for Earl A. Bond
1899 January, Legal documents (two portions thereof) regarding Alexander Bond’s home sale from Jared Dunbar.
Note: The page on the right above indicates that the house had “insufficient rental value to justify holding it”. We interpret this to mean that it had fallen into great dilapidation — Alexander being very ill for several years. In the present day, the site of the home has been replaced by a modern highway.
Life in the O. C. Pinney Home in Glenville, Ohio
(3)— five records
1899 January, O. C. Pinney letters for the Guardianship of Lily V. Bond
Note: These photos were taken on a trip to San Francisco, California in December 2022. The bottle on the right is from the present day, but the brand is known as Woodford Reserve Bourbon, which is a brand I created in the 1990s for the Brown-Forman Company. (Thomas)
All It Took Was A White Flower
(13)— nineteen records
November 1, 1981, personal letter from Marguerite Bond to her son, Thomas Harley Bond Note: Our Mother went to secretarial school for a brief time when she was a young, woman and she always claimed that learning “shorthand” ruined her writing. We could not disagree.
Here is a full transcription of the letter:
Nov. 1, 1981 My Dear Son Tom,
You asked for something and I shall try. The years have rolled away and I no longer feel I am on a threshold with all the tomorrows stretching ahead forever; instead I seem to wake each morning a little surprised and sometimes lay there and try to figure what day it is; a temporary vacuum — it will pass as all things do. Natures way perhaps of saying “get your act together” no one is going to do it for you.
It was June 1945. The guns had stopped in Europe, but they still blazed with fury in the Pacific. There had been three and a half years of furious warfare. My own life had gone through a raging battle. As in all battles there was no victor, only the process of rebuilding.
A sailor was home on leave from the Pacific, our paths crossed. An electrical charge passed between us. We had two weeks of fun, dancing-laughing — just fun. He left. A couple of letters, but both of us had been emotionally burned and very wary.
February 1946 — a knock on my door and there stood a sailor. The guns had stopped in the pacific. The men were coming home.
June 1946. Your father and I were married in front of the fireplace at Grandma’s. Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and a handful of friends. A Happy Wedding.
The ensuing years had many ups and downs. I suppose I had always dreamed of being pampered and adored. It is a little hard to pamper a head strong, independent woman. Your father had always dreamed of having someone look up to him. It is hard to look up to a “Happy Irishman” when necessities are knocking at the door.
But, we have survived. We love our children and our home and we love each other, but probably neither of us will ever let the other really know.
I feel a deep fulfillment in life. Gad gave me what I asked for. It wasn’t easy but no one ever said achieving was easy. Our home was always open to all, I can hear the footsteps, hear the laughter and the tears. See the dreams of each of our children building, some shattering, but it is always home. I know each of you have the tools to build your own lives and an inner strength to withstand the storms that will beat inevitably [ sic.beat] at your doors. And you have each other. Brothers and Sisters will never be alone.
I am a very private person. It is difficult to — impossible to share my inner being. As I grow older, I realize I am regressing into myself, but that is alright. It must be the way the Lord meant it. As the tomorrows come and go — accept — What I was born for has been achieved. God Bless you always Tom. You are very special. I rejoice in the world I have been permitted to share with you and I know when you have children you too will share, as generation passes into a fresh generation, but Love, the dominating force goes on forever. Mother
This is Chapter Six of seven: Finally we cross over into the Ohio frontier and meet several more generations of Bonds as they make their way toward the 20th century. (Thanks for sticking with us through this long history!) But first, we still have to cover some interesting history in Maryland.
Baltimore in 1752, about 25 years before Edward Fell Bond was born.
We are descended from Edward Fell Bond, who relocated from Maryland to Ohio when he was an adult. Having been born in 1777, the last of four children of William and Sarah (Wrongs) Bond, his childhood was during the American Revolutionary War. He is the first grandfather in our lineage who was born and raised without the oversight of a monarch. For about 800 years, the Bond family had both prospered, and suffered, due to the British class system, but now — all of that was changing.
Who Was Sarah Franklin Smith?
We have discovered that Edward had two marriages. His first marriage was to Sarah Franklin Smith on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1807, at St. James Parish, Baltimore County.
Edward Fell Bond and Sarah Franklin Smith marriage certificate, 1807.
Sarah was born on October 12, 1784 in St. Johns Parish, Baltimore County, Maryland, to James and Sarah Smith. Her parents had two more children, Franklin James Smith, who had a long life, and a boy named James Smith, Jr. who died young in 1791. Prior to the time of her christening, the St. Johns Parish and the St. James Parish had been combined. (In some records, both parishes are cited together, even though they separated in 1777). It appears that both this christening and her marriage took place at the same parish.
Observation:There are scant records on Sarah’s life. We can deduce that she was 23 years old when she married William. At 30, he was seven years older. Their son, William H. Bond was born August 12, 1808 in Baltimore County, Maryland. We have calculated his birth date based upon Jefferson County, Ohio court records.
The next record we can find about Edward is the August 1810 census that was conducted in the Pipe Creek and North Hundred area of Baltimore County. It was the third census of the United States.
1810 United States Federal Census for Edward Bond, Maryland, Baltimore
From this census, we can discern a few things. Edward was 32 or 33, there is a male child in the home who is under 10 years of age, (likely William H.), and there is a female in the home who is between the ages of 26 and 45. From our research, we are not able to document specifically who is the female person. It is at this point in our narrative that Sarah Franklin (Smith) Bond just disappears from the records, and we have not discovered what happened to her despite long, fruitless efforts. The female cited in the census, could be her before she “disappears”. We assume Sarah (Smith) Bond died.
Following this census the records show that on January 24, 1811, Edward Fell Bond, aged 33 married Frances Harrison Hawkins, aged 19 (born November 29, 1791) in Baltimore County, Maryland. She took over the motherly responsibilities of raising young William, who was about 3-1/2 at this time. (1)
Who Were These Hawkins People?
The Compendium of American Genealogy, Volume 5, 1933 By Frederick Adams Virkus.
Frances’s father was the Reverend Archibald D. Hawkins, who was born in England, and her mother was Amey Hawkins Harrison. Frances had four younger brothers one of whom was Ezekiel Cooper Hawkins, a celebrated pioneering daguerreotype photographer.
Francis Harrison Hawkins family line was noteworthy for some of her illustrious relatives. The first two relatives were within her lifetime… Benjamin Harrison V, considered to be one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He was a governor of Virginia, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. His son William Henry Harrison was President in 1841. After her lifetime, the great-grandson of Benjamin Harrison V, the same-named President Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893) was also a relation.
From http://www.whitehouse.gov — “William Henry Harrison, an American military officer and politician, was the ninth President of the United States (1841), the oldest President to be elected at the time. On his 32nd day, he became the first to die in office, serving the shortest tenure in U.S. Presidential history.” and also, “Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the United States from 1889 to 1893, elected after conducting one of the first “front-porch” campaigns by delivering short speeches to delegations that visited him in Indianapolis.” (2)
Their Life in Baltimore County
There are a few direct records that inform us of their lives in Baltimore. Edward F. Bond is listed in The New Baltimore Directory, and Annual Register; for 1800 and 1801, as being a grocer. In those days, a grocer would have had an emporium that we would likely call a general store. Except for bakeries, food stores were not specialized in those days to sell only food. They also had to provide for the larger needs of the community. Interestingly, the location of his business was at McElderry Wharf which had become an area for import/export businesses to situate themselves. Records indicate that some of the businesses located there were dealing with fine antiques, such as Chippendale and Hepplewhite furniture.
“McElderry Park takes its name from the McElderry family, who were wealthy merchants in Baltimore in the early 19th century. Irish immigrant Thomas McElderry (1758 – 1810) arrived in Baltimore in 1793 and quickly established himself—building a wharf that bore his name, improving Market Square, and helping found the Baltimore Water Company.”
View of Baltimore by William H. Bartlett, before 1840. (Image courtesy of wikipedia.org).
Observation: It is likely that Edward took notice of the fine home furnishings around him and perhaps pondered how to increase his fortunes. We found a record for an E. F. Bond arriving at the port of Philadelphia in 1804, which could be construed that he had traveled as part of creating his own import/export business.
By 1815, he had relocated and now presided over The Queen’s Ware Store, located at 44 North Howard Street, Baltimore.Queen’s Ware, or cream ware as it was also called, was a style of fine dishware pioneered by Josiah Wedgwood in England in the 1760s. Over time it became so popular, that the Americans tried to manufacture their own versions.
“Creamware was popular for a wide range of household pottery appearing in the Georgian dining-room and on the tea-table. It brought a finer kind of tableware to middle-class families, and wasn’t only for the rich. It was also used for commemorative items, like the pitcher, or jug…” Edward wasn’t a pottery maker, but a merchant, who seemed to appreciate finely crafted items.
Baltimore Street Map, 1838 by T. G. Bradford, G. W. Boyton, courtesy of wikipedia.com. (Note: The map colors are a bit odd. The areas of water are colored gray).
The 1838 map above shows specific items of historical interest for the Bond family. Each city section, or ward, has a specific number, and the arrows help with locating the details.
Ward 1: The location of Fell Street, near Fells Point.
Ward 2:Alice Ann street, named after Aliceanna (Webster) Bond.
Ward 3: Bond Street, named after Gentleman John Bond, and the location of McElderry Wharf (curious — it’s not on the water?). McElderry Wharf is where Edward Fell Bond’s first business was located.
Ward 10: The location of Howard Street, where Edward Fell Bond’s Queens Ware store was located.
Creamware pitcher circa 1800 , with transfer-printed “The Apotheosis of George Washington”.
Edward Fell Bond and Francis Hawkins had four children, three of their own, and William H., from Edward’s first marriage. Many of our ancestors, like others in their time, lived in a blended family. First born was:
William H. Bond, born August 12, 1808 – died, unknown (We are descended from William H.)
Mary Emeley Bond, born November 8, 1811 – died, January 24, 1815
Amy Jane Bond, born May 2, 1816 – died, August 13, 1891
Edward Fell Bond, Jr., born January 5, 1818 – died, January 10, 1884
Observation: We have never discovered what the ‘H’ stood for in William H. Bond’s name. Maybe the letter was added in later after Edward Sr., met Frances? If that is the case, it may have been Harrison, or Hawkins… (3)
On To New Frontiers — Send Me a Postcard!
The western frontier of the new United States expanded greatly with Thomas Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase of 1803. In addition, the Northwest Territory was just starting to settle out, and many people wanted to relocate there. Edward Fell Bond was the last inhis line of Bond ancestors that still benefitted from the earlier wealth of his colonial ancestors. As the country changed, and generations came and went, landed estates had been broken down into smaller and smaller parcels, until there wasn’t much left to be shared or inherited.
“Following the Revolutionary War, for the next 25 years, Ohio became the primary destination of westward bound pioneers because of the fertile farmland in the Ohio River Valley.
Some families stayed for the remainder of their lives. Others simply passed through on their way west.”
United States Migration Patterns Beverly Whitaker, CG
Additionally, this period in Baltimore was a troubled time. There was a crippling trade embargo in 1807, then the War of 1812. Their daughter Mary Emeley died very young in 1815, and it appears that by 1811, Frances’s parents, Rev. Archibald and Amy (Harrison) Hawkins, had moved to the frontier community of Steubenville, Ohio, which was part of the Northwest Territory.
Commodore Perry Leaving the “Lawrence” for the “Niagara: at the Battle of Lake Erie, Thomas Birch, 1815. Courtesy of commons.wikipedia.org
“Between 1812 and 1820 several families moved to Steubenville who afterwards contributed not only to the artistic and literary side of this western society, but whose immediate and subsequent descendants gained a national reputation. The first of these was Rev. Archibald Hawkins, who came to Steubenville from Baltimore in 1811 and built a house on South Third Street, lately occupied by his granddaughter, Miss Rebecca Hawkins. He was a local Methodist preacher and is said to have been specially intimate friend of Rev. Father Morse, of St. Paul’s, who came a few years later. At that time he had a son Ezekiel, three years old, who early gave indications of precocity as an artist.”
We imagine that Edward Sr.’s business on Howard Street in Baltimore was also suffering. “During the early nineteenth century, conflict between England and France led to an [1807] American trade embargo that restricted the importation of goods from these countries. Soon after, English hostilities on the high seas that led to the War of 1812, also stopped the flow of foreign goods to America, including fine British ceramics.” Merchants like Edward couldn’t obtain the imported goods they had been selling, so for a while, perhaps he turned to domestically made American products?
By May 1816, we know that they were living In Steubenville, Ohio because their daughter, Amy Jane Bond, was born that year in Steubenville. (4)
Greetings From Steubenville, Ohio
Edward Sr. and Frances (Hawkins) Bond followed her parents’ path to Steubenville, Ohio. The trip certainly lacked many of the comforts that they were accustomed to in Baltimore. Ohio was still considered to be frontier territory, even though it acquired statehood in 1803. Prior to 1803 Steubenville had been surveyed in 1796 and was well established by the time the Bond’s arrived.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Steubenville, Jefferson County, Ohio, masthead 1892. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
There were very few improved roads, no railroads had been built through, and the canals (a new technology) were located far away. Horse drawn wagons weren’t much of an option until the muddy, rutted roads were much improved. The only way that people traveled initially was by horseback, on flat river boats, or sometimes by stagecoach. Frequently, it was a combination of all three. (It makes us tired just thinking about it!)
The area where Steubenville is located was then called the Seven Ranges, in southeastern Ohio.
Ohio was a place where business entities and governments from other states had rights to certain enormous parcels of land. Hence, many Eastern land speculators were hoping to make a profit on the western migration.
From the book, 20th Century History of Steubenville and Jefferson County, Ohio and Representative Citizens, Volume 1, we learned the tremendous population growth of just a few years time:
20th Century History of Steubenville and Jefferson County, Ohio, page 368.
“The Navigator, published in Pittsburg in 1818, gives the industries in Steubenville in 1817 as follows…” We excerpted the portion below from a long list of occupations:
20th Century History of Steubenville and Jefferson County, Ohio, page 368.
Edward Fell Bond Sr., returned to his appreciation of finer things when he set up a home in Steubenville. We know this because a couple of newspaper notices have survived the last 200 years. Additionally, he offered his services to the community as a silversmith and jeweler.
While they were living in Steubenville Frances had her last two children, Amy Jane Bond, born May 2, 1816 – died August 13, 1891, and Edward Fell Jr., born, January 5, 1818 – died November 10, 1884.
Excerpted from the 1856 James Keyly map of Steubenville, the top image, shows the likely location of E. F. Bond’s Silversmith business. Other than the newspaper clippings, the other two illustrations (above) are actually from later decades in that century. (There just isn’t that much art which documents Steubenville in the 1820s.) Observations: We noticed a couple of interesting things in the newspaper notices. First, the For Rent notice of May 23, 1817, is for a two story framed house. Having a framed house at that early time indicates that there was a local mill which was supplying improved wood. Prior to this, many buildings were somewhat reminiscent of timbered log cabins. Second, the January 19, 1822 Silversmith notice indicates that Mr. George Harris had been hired to carry on, which means that E. F. Bond Sr., was not well.
The Steubenville Herald, March 2, 1822.
Indeed, he was not — Edward Fell Bond, Sr., passed away on February 20, 1822, just two weeks before his 45th birthday. This left his wife Frances to carry on with four young children. As shown below, his brother-in-law William Hawkins was appointed to administer his estate. (5)
Jefferson County Common Pleas Journal D, 1819-1822.
The Curious Story of William H. Bond
In 1822, William H. Bond would have been about 13 years old when his father died. Remember, he lost his birth mother when he was very young. He was now (technically) an orphan. Frances Hawkins was his stepmother. At that time in our history women had very few rights and most often were dependent on the support of a husband or male relative. Two years after Edward Fell Bond, Sr. died, Frances married John Odbert on June 17, 1824, in Jefferson County, Ohio. (Recording date: July 13, 1824). The Minister who married them was her father, the Reverend Archibald Hawkins. By that time William H. was almost 16 years old.
Jefferson County, Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2016.
By March 1825, nine months after his stepmother remarried, William H. Bond was in court “choosing William Hawkins for his guardian — the court approved the choice…” He was now technically an orphan because both of his birth parents were dead and he was under the age of 21. It was required that he have a legal guardian. Since Frances was his stepmother, she was not considered as a guardian for an underage boy. William Hawkins, France’s brother, had been a part of William’s childhood, and had administered his late father’s estate. The elder William’s occupation was a painter. Perhaps the reason for this choice of guardian for young William H. is that William Hawkins could mentor him as an apprentice in the painting trade.
This document is important for establishing William’s exact birthdate in a court of law. His birthdate is August 12, 1808, which places him in Baltimore County, Maryland for his birth, and also confirms that Sarah Franklin Smith was his mother.
Jefferson County Common Pleas Journal E, 1822-1827.
After the guardianship, the documentation on William H. is sporadic. It’s not clear if he was in the home of his stepfather John Odbert for the Federal Census of 1830. The census was conducted on June 1, and the categories only captured the ages of who was reported to be living in the home. We are able to discern that the following people live there:
1830 Federal census, conducted on June 1, 1830.
Archibald Odbert , age 5
Edward Fell Bond Jr., age 12
William H. Bond, age 21 ? (Note: He is marked in the wrong age category.)
John Odbert, age 31
Two girls, ages between 0-5 (We have no idea who they are.)
Amy Jane Bond, age 14
Frances (Hawkins) Bond Odbert, age 39
We find it odd that he is not listed in the correct age category, but we don’t know who was providing the information at the front door. Observation: Why would William be (potentially) living in the Odbert home at the age of 21? That is the age of maturity for a free, white male in 1830, and his guardian is William Hawkins, not John Odbert. However, we also don’t find him in the home of his legal guardian William Hawkins for the same 1830 census.
In surviving records after this time, there is much inconsistency about the exact year and place of William H. Bond’s birth. William H. came to Ohio when he was a young boy, probably seven or eight. His birth mother was deceased by the time he was 2-1/2.It is written (above) that he was 3-1/2 when Edward married Francis …so he probably didn’t remember his birth mother.He lost his father when he was 13, so in this state of loss, he probably just accepted what other people told him when it came to his age. We are sticking to the Jefferson County guardianship court record for his correct age.
Elizabeth Jane Bond born July 11, 1841 – died, August 18, 1911
Alexander Norton Bond, born February 1, 1848 – died, October 21, 1897. (We are descended from Alexander).
The next time we come across a record of William H. Bond, it is 1850, twenty years have passed, and many things have changed in his life. He is married to Lavina (maiden name unknown), and they have two children: William’s occupation is identified as a painter, which meant he was both both a sign painter and a house painter. As we wrote earlier he most likely learned this skill from his guardian, William Hawkins, a well known painter in the Steubenville area. The Bonds lived in Springfield Township, Hamilton County, Ohio, just a few miles north of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Where had he been from 1830 to 1850? Who was his wife Lavinia? We know she was born in Pennsylvania, but nothing else. We will continue to research him and Lavina and update this information if we come across credible sources.
1850 United States Federal Census for Springfield Township, Hamilton County, Ohio
There are at least three errors in this census record: 1) We observed that William and Lavina’s birthdates are likely transposed, (or again, William didn’t really know his birth year).2) William lists his birthplace as Ohio, when it was actually Maryland. 3) Alexander’s middle name is written as ‘S’, but his middle name is Norton. Since we do not know who was giving the census information it is most likely he or she was unaware of the correct dates and places. This is an ongoing problem with early census’. (6)
From our extensive research on this Great-Great-Grandfather and his family we have not been able to determine much about his adult life, and sadly, he seems to fade into obscurity.
We have wondered if William and Lavina may have died in one of the many massive cholera outbreaks that was affecting their area of Ohio for several years. Most people who came down with Cholera died very quickly — sometimes within one day. Local newspapers published daily lists of those who had passed away… From The Specter of Cholera in Nineteenth Century Cincinnati by Matthew D. Smith:
“Before the Civil War, Cincinnati was one of the most flourishing cities in the United States, but epidemic outbreaks of cholera in 1832, 1849, and 1866 threatened a social and economic meltdown. Previously unknown beyond Asia, cholera was a disease of modernity, reflecting new pathways in immigration, transportation, and human settlement. Cincinnati’s per-capita death toll was worse than that of almost any other major city in the United States, and containment proved practically impossible. The city’s central location on the Ohio River left it continuously exposed to infection and reinfection. To make matters worse, cholera’s impact radiated beyond the urban center, as waves of refugees spilled out across the Ohio Valley, spreading panic and disease wherever they went.”
Cincinnati Daily Gazette cholera death postings, October 25, 1832, page 3. Cholera burials, and Graphic illustration about Cholera, This Is Not A Time For Sleep, 1883.
Cholera returned several times after 1849, including Springfield Township where the Bond family lived. As noted in Cincinnatians and Cholera, “When the disease returned in 1850, 1851, 1852, 1853, 1866, and 1873 Cincinnatians, at least partially, had to blame themselves…”
We do not know if, nor when, William and Lavina died, however, after the 1850 census we no longer find any record of either of them. (7)
Daniel Craig as James Bond 007. We wonder – could he contemplating the “disappearance” of William and Lavina Bond? (Image courtesy of http://www.variety.com).
After Springfield Township, the Return Back to Steubenville
On October 26, 1836, Amy Jane Bond married Robert H. Halsted in Steubenville, Jefferson County, Ohio where they lived and raised their family. Robert was born on April 28, 1809 in New York to Jacob and Mary (Anderson) Halsted.
October 26, 1836 marriage record for Robert H. Halsted and Amy J. Bond in Jefferson County, Ohio.
Amy Jane and Robert had three children — a son John, and two daughters Mary Frances, and Margaret Jane. (For a fuller description of their descendants, See Descendant Appendix A in the footnotes for this section).
On the 1860 Census, Alexander is living in the home of his paternal Aunt Amy Jane (Bond) Halsted, under the guardianship of her husband Robert. Observation: Alexander has been living with them since at least 1858 when his sister Elizabeth Jane married Jeremiah Northrup. Perhaps earlier? (For a fuller description of her descendants, See Descendant Appendix B in the footnotes for this section).
One thing is clear — he was raised as part of the Halsted family. Therefore, he would have identified with this family because he was very young when his parents disappeared. He followed Robert Halsted into the shoe business as a clerk according to the 1870 census. Also on the 1870 census, Robert Halsted’s prosperity is considerable at $10,000 dollars — shoes and boots were a good business! Alexander was 22 years old and still living with them in 1870. By 1872, he and Ruth Linton were married.
Wiggins and Weavers Directory of Steubenville, Wellsville, East Liverpool and Wellsburg, 1870-71, page 44.
Robert H. Halsted died on July 30, 1882 aged 73, in Jefferson County, Ohio. Amy Jane (Bond) Halsted died on August 13, 1891 aged 75, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where she lived with her daughter Mary (Halsted) Boyle and husband John Boyle. Both Robert H. and Amy Jane Halsted are buried at the Union Cemetery in Steubenville, Jefferson County, Ohio.
It is important to note that although Alexander was raised in the Halsted home with his cousins he had other family members in Steubenville. His father’s younger brother, Edward Fell Bond, Jr. born January 5, 1818 was married to Drucilla McClelland on April 30, 1846. Drucilla was born in Washington, Pennsylvania on October 9, 1826. (For a fuller description of their descendants, See Descendant Appendix C in the footnotes for this section). (8)
From Merchants and Craftsmen — A Traveling Salesman
Ringing in the New Year for 1872, Alexander Bond married Ruth Linton at the Minister of Disciples Church, Jefferson County, Ohio on January 1, 1872. He was 23 and she was 25.
Ruth was born as the ninth of ten children in nearby Welles township on October 24, 1846; her parents being Benjamin and Anna (Dean) Linton. They settled in the Ohio river-located town of Brilliant, where all of their children were born. Their son Dean Linton Bond was born on September 29, 1873, followed four years later by their daughter Edna Jane Bond, born on January 31, 1878.
Alexander Norton Bond was descended from several generations of merchants and craftsmen. Since he spent most of his childhood in the Halsted home, his path was similar, but also a bit different. As a younger man, when he had clerked for his uncle Robert Halsted in the boot and shoe shop, he had learned a trade. This carried this forth to his traveling salesman career selling boots and shoes. He covered a large territory which reached as far as Columbus, Ohio.
Columbus, Ohio, City Directory, 1883, page: 105.
We find the 1880 census under his wife Ruth’s name. On May 9, 1882, their daughter Lily Victoria Bond was born. We conjecture that because he traveled to support his family, perhaps this explains why the births of his children are 4-6 years apart. On May 6, 1888, our Great Grandfather Earl Alexander Bond was born. (9)
Alexander and Ruth Bond lived at Lot 16, indicated by the blue rectangle.
From Wikipedia.com: “Brilliant was laid out in 1819… a new addition was laid out in 1836 named La Grange… In 1880, the Brilliant Glass Company was established… the town later adopted the name of the glass company and was incorporated as Brilliant.”
The Tragedies of the ColumbusTrain Accident
In July 1890, our great-grandparents Alexander and Ruth Bond, along with their son Earl, were either traveling to (or returning from) Columbus, Ohio to the Steubenville, Ohio area. Several railroad lines criss-crossed the distance that connected the two regions. We have not been able to discover what the exact nature of the trip was, but we do know that Alexander kept a business address in Columbus at 110 North High Street. Perhaps they were traveling there for his boot and shoe business? Another possibility is that they were attending a conference for the Disciples of Christ church in which Ruth was very involved. We will continue our research on this accident.
Ruth Linton Bond, circa 1886.
The Disciples of Christ church was a Protestant denominated fellowship which was popular in the state at that time.
With fewer local churches than other Christian denominations, the Disciples of Christ made less of an impact on moral and social reform and missions than Congregationalists or Presbyterians… Still, their activity was substantial. With the success of the Baptists’ union in mind, churches formed the Disciples’ Union in 1885 to coordinate mission, social work, and communication.
Encyclopedia of Cleveland History
There is a story in our family, the gist of which goes something like this: They were on a train near Columbus, which stopped on an incline to take on water. The last two cars, where the family was located, broke off (decoupled?) and started to slide down the incline gaining speed. The cars crashed violently. Ruth and Alexander were severely injured. Earl was thrown from the car and rolled down the hill where he was later rescued lying by a tree, near a small river or stream.
The trauma from this experience caused our Grandfather Earl Bond, to develop a stuttering problem which plagued him for the rest of his life.
We will likely never learn why they were on that particular trip. Unluckily, several years of research has never turned up any actual records of the accident. What we do know is this: Great-Grandmother Ruth’s injuries were so severe that she was taken to a hospital in Columbus, admitted on July 16, and died on July 23, 1890. Her death record looks rather “thin” on details…
J. A. Norton Railroad Map of Ohio published by the State, 1892. This map diagrams the probable route for travel between Steubenville and Columbus, Ohio in 1890. The insets are obituaries of our Great-Grandparents Alexander and Ruth Bond, (see footnotes).
If Alexander was hospitalized, we don’t have a record for that, but we know by way of a story passed down through the family, that he had injuries to his spinal vertebrae which caused him to be seriously disabled for years. From Ruth’s obituary we know that her brother, Benjamin Linton, returned her body to Brilliant, Ohio for burial.
At some point Alexander returned to Brilliant where he and the children lived. We think that he most likely no longer worked as a traveling salesman. From a recording made by his daughter Lily (Bond) Connelly, when she was a very old woman, we have the following quote:
“My brother Dean, joined and carried a Bible to church. He was the first convert to church that Mother and Brother Wilcox built. After her death he felt being a minister would please her most, to carry on her religious ideas. He was 16 and went south to Knoxville, Tennessee, and stayed in the South.” Dean Linton Bond was a preacher for the rest of his life.
Alexander lived for seven more years until October 21, 1897. From records, we know that he suffered a debilitating stroke about eight weeks before his death. Edna, who would have been 19, may have still been living at home, or she may have already moved to Cleveland, Ohio where she stayed for the rest of her life. Lily was 15 and Earl was 9 years old. Both being minors meant they had to have a guardian, which is covered in the following post The Bond Line, A Narrative — Seven.
Alexander and Ruth Bond were buried in the Barrett Family Cemetery in Brilliant, Ohio. Today, the old cemetery is nearly lost to the encroaching forest. In June 2020, we found their grave marker, which has a curious epitaph: They have done what they could...
Several members of the Linton family are also buried there. (10)
Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials, Notes, and Observations
Wilson Cary notes on the Bond family http://usgenwebsites.org/MDAnnArundel/firstfam/bondfam.htm Note: These files migrated to ancestry.com when the company was acquired. We have not been able to relocate them there — however, we did locate this in 2024.*
JSTOR The Origins of Land Buyers, Steubenville Land Office, 1800 – 1820 by David T. Stephens and Alexander T. Bobersky https://www.jstor.org/stable/2976385
Historical Collections Of Ohio In Two Volumes, An Encyclopedia Of The State, Volume 1 by Henry Howe, and Davison Fillson Photos https://archive.org/details/historicalcollec01inhowe/page/n7/mode/2up Note: For these mages: Market Street, Steubenville and Steubenville From The West Virginia Shore.
Edward F. Bond estate administration record Jefferson County Common Pleas Journal D, 1819-1822 March 1822 term, Entry 409 Obtained from an on-site visit to the Jefferson County Historical Society, Steubenville, Ohio, on June 16, 2020
William H. Bond guardianship record Jefferson County Common Pleas Journal E, 1822-1827 March 1822 term, Entry 409 Obtained from an on-site visit to the Jefferson County Historical Society, Steubenville, Ohio, on June 16, 2020.
Descendant Appendix A Amy Jane and Robert Halsted had three children:
Son John Halsted was born November 1, 1837 in Steubenville and died there on April, 26,1886. He was unmarried.
Mary Frances Halsted, their second child, was born February 1841 in Steubenville and died on December 8, 1911 in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. She married John Dawson Boyle on October 6, 1859 in Steubenville. John was born April 9, 1832 in Union, Fayette, Pennsylvania and died March 25, 1915 in Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Pennsylvania. Mary Francis and John Boyle had five children:
Robert H. Boyle born March 27,1861 in Union, Fayette, Pennsylvania and died November 11, 1916 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Margaret Boyle born November 7, 1862 in Washington, Pennsylvania and died September 3, 1938 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Laura A. Boyle born July 9, 1866 in Washington, Pennsylvania and died February 10, 1948 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Hetty Boyle born February 17, 1868 in Washington, Pennsylvania – her death date and location is unknown.
John E. Boyle born in 1871 in Washington, Pennsylvania and died in 1938 in California.
Margaret Jane Halsted, Amy Jane and Robert’s third child, was born on July 23, 1843 in Steubenville and died on April 23, 1922 in Steubenville, Ohio. She married Jonathan Hagan, Jr. on December 1, 1863 in Jefferson County, Ohio. Jonathan was born in 1839 in Steubenville, Ohio and died there on September 16, 1891. They are buried near her parents in Union Cemetery in Steubenville, Ohio. Margaret and Jonathan had seven children:
Emma J. Hagan born Jan. 1 1865 in Steubenville and died there October 12, 1871, at age 6.
Twin Sons: Calvin H. Hagan born 1867 in Steubenville and died April 28, 1935 in Seattle, King County, Washington and William E. Hagan also born in 1867 in Steubenville and died in 1911 in Kirkland, King, Washington.
Mary H. Hagan born in 1869 in Steubenville and died there on February 4, 1923.
Frances M. Hagan born February 7, 1872 in Steubenville and died there on July 7, 1945.
Margaret C. Hagan born June 3, 1875 in Steubenville and died there in 1965. Hetty or Beatty Hagan born August 21, 1878 in Steubenville and died there on December 23, 1956.
Descendant Appendix B The Elizabeth Jane (Bond) Northup and Jeremiah Northup family.
In 1858, William H. and Lavina’s daughter Elizabeth Jane married Jeremiah Northrup in Steubenville, Ohio. She was only 17 and the marriage record indicates that Elizabeth was “given permission” to marry by her guardian, (uncle) Robert Halsted. Robert was married to Amy Jane (Bond) Halsted, William H.’s sister and Elizabeth Jane’s aunt.
Excerpt from The Northrup-Northrop genealogy… Published 1908.
From the family lineage book about the Northrup family, we see the listing of the marriage and it identifies Elizabeth Jane’s parents, William and Lavina Bond. They are listed in entry #320. The above entry indicates that Elizabeth and Jeremiah had no children, however, this is not true. Our research shows that there are several decendants from William and Lavina Bond and perhaps we can learn more about these relatives.
Jeramiah and Elizabeth Jane (Bond) Northrup had a daughter:
Matilda “Tilda” Peterson Northrup was born on July 29, 1862 in Sweedon, Edmonson County, Kentucky. She died at the young age of 28 on February 3, 1891 in Kirkwood, St. Louis, Missouri.
“Tilda” Northrup married Albert David Spencer, Sr. on February 23, 1884 in Kimmswick, Jefferson Co., Missouri. David was born November 30, 1835 in Megisville, Ohio and died August 21, 1934 in Evansville, Indiana. Tilda and Albert Spencer had two children, a daughter and a son:
Georgia Spencer, born March 31, 1885 in Kimmswick, Windsor Township, Jefferson, County, Missouri, and died in 1920. She married John Montague on June 11, 1902 in Kimmswick. They had two sons, Donald and John S. Montague.
Stanley P. Spencer born December 1890 in St. Louis, Missouri, and died May 12, 1902, age eleven, in McConnelsville, Morgan County, Ohio.
Descedents of William H. and Lavina Bond would have been carried forward via the lineages of: Elizabeth Jane (Bond) Northrup, Matilda “Tilda” (Northrup) Spencer, and Georgia (Spencer) Montague.
Upon their deaths, Jeremiah Watson Northrup on September 3, 1882, and Elizabeth Jane (Bond) Northrup on August 18, 1917 their bodies were returned to Ohio and are buried at Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, Ohio in the Northrup family burial plot.
Descendant Appendix C Five sons were born to Edward and Drucilla Bond.
Leonidas W. Bond born March 2, 1847 in Steubenville, Ohio and died April 11, 1908 in Rochester, Beaver County, Pennsylvania. He married Mary Martin in 1873 in Steubenville. He served as a Private in the Civil War from May – September 1864.
Oldbert F. Bond born in 1849 in Steubenville and death date and location is unknown.
Robert (L.D.) Bond born in 1858 in Steubenville and died July 7, 1911 in Dennison, Tuscarawas County, Ohio.
Edward J. Bond born in 1864 and died in April 1864 in Marion, Grant County, Indiana. He married Johanna Prendeville about 1890 in Indiana. She was born in Ireland and they had six children.
Harry Bond born March 26, 1868 in Steubenville and died February 4, 1941 in Potter, Beaver, Pennsylvania. On an 1899 Tax Document for Beaver Falls, Harry is listed as an invalid.
From Merchants and Craftsmen — A Traveling Salesman
Newspaper clipping, Ruth Linton Bond obituary Steubenville Daily Herald July 24, 1890 Jefferson County Historical research Schiappa Library archive, Steubenville, Ohio, Film Roll B14
Newspaper clipping, Alexander Norton Bond obituary Steubenville Daily Herald October 21, 1897 Jefferson County Historical research Schiappa Library archive, Steubenville, Ohio, Film Roll B40
This isChapter Five of seven: Peter Bond, The Immigrant, seeks a fresh start in the British Colonies in America. We then move through several generations in Maryland, and eventually, we find ourselves moving further west to the Ohio frontier.
Preface:Be Wary Of Those K rations!
Our father Dean Phillip Bond, loved to fuss around in his summer vegetable garden every year. He was proud that he had grown beautiful, tasty vegetables which we very gratefully devoured practically every evening. As children, when we observed him taking a pause in his labors, he would rock back on his heels, and take a long drag on his ever-present cigarette, moving his arm in a long slow arc. We’re sure that he certainly thought about the demonic mosquitos and three corner flies which tormented him… but occasionally, we would see him staring off somewhere into the middle distance. Perhaps he was dreaming about his “unlived life” — that of a gentleman farmer.
United States sailor holds a carton of Philip Morris cigarettes under one arm and a duffle bag over his other shoulder, while smoking a cigarette. (Image courtesy of http://www.azcentral.com).
Pop started smoking in WWII when he would receive K rations, which included four cigarettes, and a small book of matches. (He said that before that time, he had never smoked.) His habit eventually became a two-pack-a-day routine need, which seemed to be typical of many in his generation. Three months after our parents 50th wedding anniversary, he passed away from lung disease.
We bring this is up because there is a lot of rich irony in this history of our family. The progenitor of our line in America is Peter Bond, The Immigrant. In 1660 Peter arrived in the British Colony of Maryland and eventually prospered as he became a tobacco planter. In his era, tobacco was such a precious item that it was literally used as currency for many years. In other words, he could grow his own money.
If our father had known of this fantastical, but true story, I’m sure that he would have dreamed and desired to somehow take his cigarette butts and grow his own magic money. Or better yet, drop a penny into a garden furrow and let each one grow into a crisp one hundred dollar bill. (1)
The British Colonies Desperately Needed Workers
Until 1680 or so, due to the fact that the British Colonies in North America were large and had become quite successful, England determined that relocating “labor” to the Colonies was in their best interest. Ships from certain ports would transport people from the Mother Country to America. Each empty ship would then load up on valuable items which were much desired back home in England. This included prized commodities like cotton, indigo, tobacco, and sugar. This was a scheme where English merchants made money on both sections of the voyage.
View of Bristol Harbour with the Cathedral and the Quay. (Art by Nicholas Pocock).
From the article, Indentured Servants at Gunston Hall —
“When English settlers arrived in the New World, they brought indentured servitude with them. Under this system, people worked for a set period of time as a payment for something. — Indentured servants were men and women who willingly signed a contract in which they agreed to work for a certain number of years to compensate for their voyage to America.
Three different types of indentured servant agreements existed in the 18th century: free-willers, King’s passengers, and redemptioners… Free-will indentured servants decided to come to America on their own merit and willingly signed a contract before departing England. King’s passengers, [also known as convict servants], were criminals who were sent to America to serve a term of seven or fourteen years, depending on the crime they committed. Finally, redemptioners were passengers who were given two weeks to redeem the price of their voyage once they got to America and if they were unable to make the payment, they were sold to the highest bidder.”
In these modern times, a phrase such as “sold to the highest bidder” gives us a bit of pause. Early on, the English had such a desperate fever to send laborers to The Colonies that many unscrupulous people, orphans, and indigents were “spirited” away [kidnapped and not at their choice], who became a commodity in places like Virginia and Maryland. The city of Bristol, England was the epicenter for this white slave trade, which was lucrative for both the merchants and their agents. England was then, and still is to some extent now, a class-driven society. One has to wonder if this spiriting practice was unfortunately due to the “undesirables and destitute” being from a lower social class? Many of these poor people didn’t last very long in the Colonies due to poor health and mistreatment.
Tobacco in Colonial Virginia, map detail.
This however, wasn’t true for all people who immigrated. For Peter Bond, and many people in his class, to become an indentured servant was not something that carried a stigma. As a free-will indentured servants, he was an immigrant who was under a contract, for a short period of years. Once he had met his commitment, he was free by having paid his freedom dues. His passage and care had been provided, and he could now practice a new trade. That is why they were referred to as Servants.
“In the 1650s, an estimated 72,000 individuals, the majority of them indentured servants, went from England to the New World.” By this point in time, to remedy the problem of many [slave] laborers dying in The Colonies, and to create a more attractive market for immigrants, the courts required that proper records be kept and they were. The existing indenture system was revitalized and its use brought many new people to America. A register, known as the Tolzey Book [1654], introduced by the Common Council in 1654, indicates that The Servants, rather than being the destitute, actually consisted of:
Yeomen
39 per cent (yeomen were a wide range of agricultural workers)
Artisans
23 per cent
Husbandmen
16 per cent
Labourers
13 per sent
Gentlemen
2 per cent
Unknown
7 per cent
The Servants as documented in the 1654 Tolzey Book.
After 1680, the plantation owners in North America came to the conclusion that it was too expensive to continue with the English indentured servant system to staff workers for their properties. Over the next century, servant contracts tapered off. From this period forward, they transitioned to purchasing many more slaves from Africa. Hence, the slave system became quite firmly embedded in the central and southern portion of the British Colonies, as well as the Caribbean. (2)
Example of an indentured servant contract from 1738, for British North America.
The Bristol Registry of Servants Sent to Foreign Plantations 1654-1686
There probably was not much for Peter Bond to inherit from his family by this period. The economy in London was very depressed at that time, as a consequence of the English Civil War. So we conjecture that perhaps he wanted totry his luck in the New World — as many young men of his class did at the time.
The Bristol Registry of Servants Sent to Foreign Plantations 1654-1686, page 121 detail.
At 19, Peter became a free-will indentured servant on November 29, 1659. He was one of eight people so indentured to a merchant named Henry Read, who was the agent. (This meant that he negotiated the contract(s) with the ship captain). For a few years prior to 1659, registries had become exacting by listing parents, destinations, etc., but apparently by November ’59, registries were getting “thin” and less detailed.
There are several things to note here: 1) Peter’s parents are not named because we know that both of them had died before his departure, 2) Nor is his destination given, 3) He gave his residence as Whitechapel in London which is the section of London where he was born and grew up in, which assures us that it is indeed our Peter, and 4) For the times, an indenture of four years is remarkable for all eight people. Many contracts were longer, so it certifies that none of them were criminals. Perhaps this was also indicative of their social class? (3)
The Early Settlers of Maryland
The Early Settlers of Maryland, title page.
Some other researchers propose that Peter Bond went for a short time to Virginia, and then to Maryland. Some ships in that era, would go to a port, load up on trade goods, and then go to another port. We have found no concrete evidence to support that this happened with Peter.
In fact, in the book The Early Settlers of Maryland, Peter Bond is listed as being in Maryland in 1660. We know that this is our ancestor, because he is listed as being from Anne Arundel County, which is in fact where he lived. Of note, there are two other Peter Bond(s) listed as being transported: one in 1653; another 1679. The word transported meant that they were indentured servants of some type. (We wonder if their same name(s) have confused other researchers?) Interestingly, Peter is not listed as being transported, even though we know that he had also been an indentured servant.
Peter Bond detail on page 48/525 of The Early Settlers of Maryland.
Fantastically, some people have proposed that he had a wife and child in England who traveled with him. Then his wife died, unnamed in records. Also, that he had two marriages in Maryland. Again, no concrete evidence of that. (4)
The Maryland Colony
The Maryland Colony was founded for religious reasons, not business reasons.
“The Province began as a proprietary colony of the English Lord Baltimore, who wished to create a haven for English Catholics in the New World at the time of the European wars of religion. Although Maryland was an early pioneer of religious toleration in the English colonies, religious strife among Anglicans, Puritans, Catholics, and Quakers was common in the early years…” Ultimately, due to the influx of the indentured servants, the majority of the population at that time were Protestants, and eventually they supplanted the Catholics.
“…the Province of Maryland developed along very similar lines to Virginia… and, like Virginia, Maryland’s economy quickly became centered on the cultivation of tobacco, for sale in Europe.”
British Roots of Maryland Families, page 61.
We see land ownership in the above passage from the book British Roots of Maryland Families which confirms that both Peter Bond and William Jones received their land under the “headright” system, which was used to attract immigrants to Maryland. From Wikipedia: “Headrights were granted to anyone who would pay for the transportation costs of an indentured laborer. These land grants consisted of 50 acres for someone newly moving to the area and 100 acres for people previously living in the area.” Indentured servants were not allowed to obtain rights to land until their period of service obligations had been met.
A New Map of Virginia, Maryland, And The Improved Parts Of Pennsylvania & New Jersey by Christopher Browne, 1685
There is much evidence that Peter, his descendants and associates prospered during their years in Maryland as evidenced by the extensive records of land ownership that still exist — as we wrote in the Preface, we knew he had an extensive tobacco plantation. Most of the properties our direct ancestors held were in both Anne Arundel County (AA) and Baltimore County (Bal). To our modern eyes, some of these property names seem both curious and quaint.
Settlers of Maryland, 1679-1783, Consolidated Edition. This Book lists various Bond properties in Maryland in the 1679-1783 period, assembled here into one file. Book pages: 59-61, Digital Pages: 73-75/906.
We know that he received some land starting sometime in 1667, as written in the book British Roots of Maryland Families, on page 61. Allen Kerr Bond wrote in The Story of The Bonds of Earth, “Nine years after, he is repaid by the authorities a considerable amount of tobacco (the local currency) for services of a nature not specified; and again, in 1678, for services, not military, to the government in a brief war with the Indians.” Further, “Ten years after this [about 1688], Peter becomes a planter… along the Patapsco [river]… on “three hundred and one acres, to be recorded as Bond’s Forest on the rent rolls of Lord Baltimore.”
“It is difficult to determine where Peter lived in Anne Arundel County because the land records were destroyed in a fire in 1703, but one deed dated 12 JUL 1673 regarding him was brought in when the new court house was built that proves he owned a tract on Swan Point on the north side of the Severn River when he conveyed a 40 acre part of his plantation to James Smith.”
Alan Kerr Bond wrote further, “…in 1698 the boundary between Anne Arundel and the newly formed Baltimore County” shifted, and “Baltimore County had moved to him…” (5)
Peter Bond Marries the Widow, Alice (Cole) Gill Drury
By 1677, Peter Bond was a married man. We haven’t discovered much personal information about him, except for some land records, until his marriage to Alice (Cole) Gill Drury.
Alice’s origins are a mystery. Was she born in England or America approximately between 1650-1655, or earlier? Why was she in Maryland? We first see references to her when she appears in marriage records. Before her marriage to Peter Bond, Alice was married twice. Her first husband was Stephen Gill, Sr. and with him Alice had a son named Stephen Gill, Jr., (born about 1673). Her second husband, William Drury, a widower, left a will naming Alice as his wife on August 22, 1676. This is proved because Peter & Alice Bond sued Drury’s executor for her share of his estate in June 1678. By the time she married Peter in late 1676 or early 1677she had been twice widowed with one child.
Peter and Alice were the parents of four sons who are mentioned in his Will:
Peter Bond Jr., born 1676 – died, February 28, 1718
Thomas Bond, born May 26, 1679 – died, December 18, 1755 (We are descended from Thomas).
William Bond, born 1685 – died, August 23, 1742
John Bond, born 1689 – died, April 17, 1720
After Peter’s death Alice Bond was married for the fourth time by May 14, 1707 to Philip Washington. The couple were living apart by 1708 and the following year an agreement appears in the records which states :
“Whereas Philip Washington and Alice, his wife, have joyously consent to separate and live apart…”, etc. — Peter Bond, Jr. posted a (£ One Hundred Sterling) bond that stated he would support his mother.
After a long, and interesting life, Peter Bond, Sr. wrote a will on August 23, 1704; probated April 28, 1705. This informs us that he died sometime during that period. He had written [concise form] — “I, Peter Bond, being sick and weak in body butt still In sound and perfect memory I make this my last will testamentItem I doe give and bequeth my soul to my Lord god and maker and my body to ye Earth from where It Came Item – I doe Leave my well beloved wife Ealse (Alice) Bond my soule and hole Execkticx [Executrix] Item – I give and bequeth unto forsaid wife my plantation and the land belonging to it during her Life and afterward to my son Peter Bond Item – I give and bequeth to my three sons Thomas William and John Bond Equally divided between them 300 Acres of Land Lying in aforesaid County att the head if bush River as will appears Item – I give and bequeth unto my son Thomas Bond one Cos (cow?) Called Dollor and her hefor Item – I give and bequeth after my wifes desease my personal Effects to be Equally Divided among my three sons Peter William and John further my will is that my two sons William and John be free and to work for them – att ye adge (age) of Eighteene Of hears unto Enter thangably sett my hand and seale ye day and years above written. Peter Bond.” (6)
Was Peter Bond a Quaker?
The proof that Peter Bond, The Immigrant was a Quaker, is pretty thin.
As a group in Britain, the Quakers suffered great abuse for their beliefs, and the progenitor, George Fox spent much of the 1660s jailed. However, he did have adherents who continued to grow the movement. When William Penn in 1681 created the Pennsylvania Colony as a sanctuary for religious freedom and tolerance, thousands of British people immigrated there.
George Fox, English missionary and founder of the Society of Friends (Quakers), preaching in a tavern, c. 1650. (Image courtesy of Britannica.com).
“The Religious Society of Friends, also referred to as the Quaker Movement, was founded in England in the 17th century by George Fox. He and other early Quakers, or Friends, were persecuted for their beliefs, which included the idea that the presence of God exists in every person. Quakers rejected elaborate religious ceremonies, didn’t have official clergy and believed in spiritual equality for men and women. Quaker missionaries first arrived in America in the mid-1650s. Quakers, who practice pacifism, played a key role in both the abolitionist and women’s rights movements.”
In April 1649, [Maryland] colonists voted into law An Act Concerning Religion (later known as the Maryland Toleration Act), which granted freedom of worship for all Christians. Although permanently repealed in 1692, the act was one of the first statutes granting religious liberty of any kind and was an important step toward true freedom of religion in the United States.
Quaker missionaries arrived in North America in the mid-1650s. The first was Elizabeth Harris, who visited Virginia and Maryland. By the early 1660s, more than 50 other Quakers had followed Harris. So, Peter Bond was likely aware of the Quaker Movement, but whether or not he was a believer isn’t proven. Among his sons and extended family, there were Quakers, with some even donating land for meeting houses and schools. (7)
Pierce Brosnan as James Bond 007. Since he is an avid genealogist, we consulted with him about the Quaker pedigree of Peter Bond, The Immigrant. (His expression says it all.) Image courtesy of the guardian.com.
Thomas Bond was The Father of Eight Sons and Two Daughters
Of Peter Bond’s four sons, his son Thomas became regarded as an esteemed, respected citizen of Maryland. He was sometimes written of as Thomas of Emmorton, based upon the community where he lived.
Allen Kerr Bond wrote — “Locating with his two brothers, William and John, lads not yet of age, in the present Harford County, on the three hundred acres of ‘Harris His Trust’ given them by their father, Thomas Bond seems to have put all of his energies into the accumulation of enormous holdings of the fertile forest uplands in that vicinity.” [If you consult the Bond Properties Chart above, you will see that this is quite true.]
Thomas was likely very aware of the Society of Friends movement which had been occurring in Great Britain, which also was attracting many immigrants to relocate to the British Colonies, seeking freedom to practice their religious beliefs in peace. Maryland had attracted many believers and the founder of the sect, George Fox, had visited the area in 1672 when Thomas would have been about thirteen years old. It seems there was a lot of Quaker energy present in the area.
Thomas Bond married Anne Robison on September 20, 1770 at All Hallows Parish, Anne Arundel, Maryland . Her father may have been a John Robison (or Robinson) and her mother is unknown. Thomas Bond died at “Kalmia”, his Emmorton, Maryland estate on December 18, 1755. He may have been buried “under a tree” on his property, however there is no official record of his burial. Anne was born on March 28, 1680 in West River, a community in Anne Arundel County. Her death date is unknown.
Thomas and Anne had a large family of ten children. In order of their births:
Thomas Bond (Jr), born 1703 – died 1781
Peter Bond, born April 28, 1705 – died December 23, 1738
William Bond, born 1708 – died 1769
John Bond, born November 10, 1712 – died March 11, 1786 (We are descended from John).
Sarah Bond, born April 29, 1715 – died, December 12, 1759
Joshua Bond (1), born October 8, 1718 – died March 30, 1720
Ann Bond, born May 29, 1720 – died, August 20, 1720
Jacob Bond, born 1725 – died, November 30, 1780
Daniel Bond, born 1727 – died (by) August 11, 1780
Joshua Bond (2), born 1729 – died, July 8, 1768
Observation: It is probable that John and Anne became Quakers at some point during their marriage. Their headstones probably never existed, because before the mid-19th century Quaker headstones were rare, as they are not in keeping with the plain life.
Unbeknownst to either of us, and as wonderful surprise, it turns out that two very good friends of ours, the sisters Lessley and Barbara Berry, are our (very) distant cousins. We were friends for many years before we discovered this fact! From our shared ancestor, Thomas Bond, we are descended from two of his sons, John [>Susan and Thomas] and *Jacob [>Lessley and Barbara]. The world can be a small place sometimes.
*Jacob Bond — “The most prominent of the Bonds from the standpoint of Harford history, was Jacob, who died in November, 1780. He was a prominent member of the Committee of Harford County in the Revolution, having been elected by the people, and was captain of Company Eleven, of Harford militia, in the Revolution… Jacob Bond represented Harford County in the convention which met at Annapolis in 1776 and formed the first constitution of the State… He was also one of Harford’s representatives in the Annapolis convention of June 22, 1774, which protested against the tax on tea…” Jacob married Frances Partridge on December 28, 1747 at St. Paul’s Protestant Episcopal Church, Baltimore Co, Maryland
We know from several records that some of Thomas and Anne’s children became Quakers. It can be taken for granted that those who fought in the early wars were no longer Quakers, and records show many Bonds on the early Military Records.
History of Harford County, p. 206
Thomas of Emmorton, as he was known, was generous to his fellow Quakers by providing a Friends Meeting House at Fallston, for their worship. These buildings were designed in simple, domestic styles unlike more elaborate church architecture.
History of Harford County, p. 207
Thomas Bond may have been a man of good piety, but it seems that some of his prodigy were, how shall we say, not up to standard. This generation was “the first to backslide and fall under the displeasure of the Friends Meeting.” The offenders are pointed out in the following excerpts (below) of carefully kept records from Maryland Friends Meetings. (8)
What Would These Quaker Ancestors Think About Our Time?
Below is some of the information we found regarding the discipline and dismissal of Bond’s who were Quakers. By today’s standards most of this seems extreme!
“John Bond married out of meeting – dismissed; James Bond – plays the fiddle – disowned; Samuel Bond – joins the Militia disciplined; Ann Bond – gone contrary to principle (pretty bonnet) disciplined; Susannah Bond – taking undue liberties and going to places of diversion and dancing – disowned; Joshua Bond – plays cards – disciplined: John Bond lends a man a gun disciplined; Hannah Bond married by a priest – disowned.” (9)
Gentleman John Bond and His Wife Aliceanna Webster
What was a Gentleman in Colonial Maryland? The Colony of Virginia and the Province of Maryland carried over some of the old social class structures from England, and then remodeled them to fit life in the British Colonies. In England, the lowest level of the Landed Gentry were The Gentlemen. They lived on plantations, and unlike their forebears, they no longer had to work with their own hands. Many were involved in managing their properties and investing in business ventures. After a plantation had been settled for several generations, the Planter would be free to have himself referred to as a Gentleman, or Gentleman Planter, as he wished.
John Bond and Elizanna Webster marriage record in the U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935, Nottingham Monthly Meeting, page J4.
On May 26, 1734, John Bond married Aliceanna Webster at the Nottingham Meeting of The Society of Friends in Harford County, Maryland. This is our first solid clue of Quakerism in the Bond family. Aliceanna was born on January 21, 1716 and she died on October 13, 1768, aged 52 years. She was the daughter of John Webster and Hannah Butterworth. The Websters and Butterworths played a large role in the settling of Harford County, Maryland.
In addition to raising her large family Aliceanna was highly regarded as a midwife. Here is a transcription by (present day) Thomas Bond of her obituary:
“On the 13th day of Octr. 1768, died Alisanna Bond wife of John Bond of Fells Point, aged 52 years, and on the 18th: was Intsred [Interred] at the Burying Ground of the Quaker Meeting on Bonds Forrest where was a large _____ [?] of that family. She was Youngest Daughter of John Webster Senior, who had many good Qualities and Understood Medicine and Midwifery which she administered without fees or reward. She left 10 children to console her loose [loss] with their Father. give her the fruits of her hands ___ own works ___ praise her.”
Alisanna Bond obituary, courtesy of The Fells Point Story, addendum exhibits at near book’s end, app. page 102.
John and Aliceanna had eleven children. In the order of their births:
Samuel Bond, born January 23, 1736 – died October 19, 1801
Ann (Bond) Fell, born June 27, 1737 – died July 27, 1791
Thomas Bond, born September 29, 1739 – died January 23, 1791
Pamela (Bond) Moore, born May 30, 1740 – died September 28, 1801
Abigail Bond, born May 17, 1741 – died, May 26, 1805
Susanna (Bond) Hunt, born 1742 – died February 14, 1817
Jane Bond, born July 28, 1743 – died, January 30, 1812
William Bond, born March 8, 1746 – died unknown (We are descended from William).
John Bond, born November 30, 1748 – died December 8, 1812
Aliceanna (Bond) Kell, born 1749 – died, May 30, 1767
Hannah (Bond) Johns, is the eleventh child born (unknown) – death (unknown), however, we have her marriage record of January 27, 1757. We find Hannah in her father’s will, (see John Bond footnotes).
Having accrued a degree of wealth, our ancestor Gentleman John Bond lived his life on the plantation, and in the winter, at the Fells Point area of Baltimore. “He was a large land owner and merchant, shipping tobacco from Joppa and Baltimore to England…” He served as a justice of the peace, coroner, judge of the Orphan’s Court (1769-73).
Since he had taken an oath of office, the Quakers were aggrieved with this “going against testimony” and felt it went contrary to their principles. As a consequence, Gentleman John was “finally read out of meeting for his contumacy.” (That word means: stubborn resistance to authority.) He was an investor in not only his plantations, but also in ship building, home construction and mining. Some of his correspondence from his mercantile ventures survive, with one example shown below.
Letter from John Philpot of London to John Bond — April 24, 1766, courtesy of The Fells Point Story, addendum exhibits at near book’s end, app. page 104.
From the Maryland Genealogical and Memorial Encyclopedia — “He was a large land owner and merchant, shipping tobacco from Joppa and Baltimore to England, until he became involved in financial difficulties connected with the Bush River Company, which he and his father-in-law had organized.”
From The Bonds of Earth by Allen Kerr Bond — “Maryland contains a great variety of mineral deposits, which were worked profitably in many of her counties… Exactly when John Bond began to mine this ore, I do not know… Three years later [about 1762], John seems already to be a partner in the Bush River Company, formed by a number of Hartford County gentlemen… In 1773 it was sold out.” They had been mining iron ore (or what they called pig iron), but by 1773, the vein ran out. Prior to this time, “in the colonial days [they] were forbidden to manufacture anything from our iron. We must send the pig iron to England and buy back from that ‘Mother’ country the finished articles we needed; so that British manufacturing business might be built up.”
When the mine failed, Gentleman John found himself in debt for £3000 Stirling. His plantation home was nearly sold at auction, but it was rescued and saved by his son Thomas, “the Methodist”. His will also mentions the Fountain Copper Works, of which he and four other planters were all partners. It was located in Frederick County, not far from the town of Union Bridge. His four planter-partners must have also been English, because it is recorded that the mine closed at the beginning of the Revolutionary War, when the other partners returned to England.
Observations: This makes us wonder if John Bond and some members of his family were torn between loyalty to England, or loyalty to (the new) Maryland. Our family was involved with three groups, all of whom had a stake in the game, as it were… Many colonists were troubled about exorbitant British taxes and frustrated about how they were forced to purchase imported goods that they could have made themselves. They wanted change now. Some of the planter class were worried that their livelihoods were threatened — some wanted change and some wanted the status quo. The Quakers were pacifists, and they were having serious problems with the institution of slavery, and the idea of going to war. Quakerism had started in England, and even though many were persecuted, it was still a confusing period for them.
Eighteen yeas after his beloved wife Aliceanna died John Bond, Gentleman, died on March 11, 1786 in Harford County, Maryland.
John and Aliceanna’s daughter Ann married Edward Fell on November 2, 1758. They were first cousins as he was the son of William and Sarah (Bond) Fell. (Sarah was a younger sister of John Bond). The Fells were the original settlers of Fells Point in Baltimore. Edward and Ann lived at Fells Point and were very active in beginning to develop it as a place to live. He died six short years after their marriage and the birth of their son, William Fell. William was born on August 28, 1759 and died, unmarried, on October 6, 1786.
After Edward’s death Ann, with the help of her father, Gentleman John Bond, was heavily involved in the continued development of Fells Point. At this time in colonial history it was unusual for a woman to develop land or a community. To this day their is a Bond Street and an Aliceanna Street in Fells Point, Baltimore, Maryland. Further, “…200 years ago, it was one of colonial America’s biggest seaports, one that played a key role in thwarting the British during the War of 1812.”
In 1744 Ann (Bond) Fell married James Giles and they had three children together. Ann died in 1791 in Baltimore County, Maryland. (10)
Portrait of Ann Bond Fell by John Hesselius, 1728 – April 9, 1778 Courtesy of The National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC.
The William and Sarah (Wrongs) Bond Family
In this generation, with this particular family, the historical record gets a bit sparse. This has required us to make some inferential observations when we lack a direct record.
William Bond was the eighth child of John and Aliceanna Bond. His first seven siblings were all born in quick, nearly unbroken succession, and then after his sister Jane, there was a pause before we meet William. That’s a lot of siblings, and there were three more after William. In general, it seems they all lived long lives. All except for William, which we will get to in a bit.
William and Sarah Wrongs were married on November 16, 1771, in St. George’s Parish Baltimore County, Maryland. St. George’s, also known as the Spesutia Parish… [was] the oldest Episcopal parish in Maryland. [The Episcopal Church describes itself as “Protestant, yet Catholic” and claims apostolic succession, tracing its bishops back to the apostles via holy orders… The Episcopal Church was formally separated from the Church of England in 1789 so that American clergy would not be required to accept the supremacy of the British monarch.]
Observation:The fact that they were married in a parish that was an Anglican order, and Episcopalian in its practice, points to the strong possibility that she might have been British and baptized into the Church of England. We have found a record in the papers of All Saints Wakefield Cathedral, West Yorkshire, England, which is part of the Church of England that may be a record of Sarah Wrongs birth. We have not found a birth record for her in America, and we first meet her when she marries William Bond.
Sarah D: of Robt Brook Wrongs [Sarah, daughter of Robert Brook Wrongs]. Baptismal record from Wakefield All Saints Cathedral, dated March 12, 1747.South East View of the Parish Church of All Saints Wakefield, aquatint, by I. Cawthorn, circa 1807. Courtesy of The British Library.
When William married Sarah, it did not sit well with the Quakers. They had an expectation that partners would be selected from within their own community, certainly at the meeting house. In 1772, the Society of Friends, upset with both William and his brother Thomas for their marriages, removed them from participation in the Society of Friends.
Excerpted from Quaker meeting notes from the Gunpowder Monthly Meeting, Baltimore County, Maryland. (What is shown below below are from the bottom of one page, and the top of the next page).
“Where as Thomas and William Bond (sons of John Bond) have had a Birthright Among us the People Called Quakers but they having gone out in Marriage to Women of Other Professions Contrary to the good Order used Amongst Friends, Which Mission = doest [?] of theirs we Testify Against and Disown them from being any longer members of Our Society, unlike they Condemn their outgoing to the satisfaction of this Meeting and that their Conduct For later may Render them Worthy of Our Notice and Christian Care is Our Desire. Given forth from Our Monthly Meeting Held at Gunpowder the 25th of the 3rd month 1772. [March 25, 1772]
We next find William and Sarah in the Maryland Preliminary Census of 1776 which lists both of them as 30 years old. At that time, it was “taken for the purpose of setting Maryland’s quota for a tax to support the Revolutionary War.” We have not been able to identify the other people who are listed with them on this census.
Maryland Records, 1776 Harford County, Bush River Lower census cover sheet and p. 127
William and Sarah were the parents of four children:
John Bond, born, 1772 – died, unknown
Abigail (Bond) Everist, born 1776 – died, unknown
Edward Fell Bond, born March 4, 1777 – died, February 20, 1822 (We are descended from Edward Fell).
Jane (Bond) Bradford, born 1782 – died, January 7, 1860
William Bond, being a child of the planter class, had inherited property from his father John Bond, the Gentleman. We don’t know much about his and Sarah’s life together at this point, simply because no records have been located. We can however, infer some things about William…
Observation:Even though the Quakers seriously rebuked him, we think that he may have still retained some of their pacifist tendencies. Alan Kerr Bond wrote in The Bonds of Earth, that William “was a non-associator in 1775 and 1776; yet like others in Quaker families who would not take up arms, he may have later become county magistrate…”
Like his father John Bond, William chose to disregard the Quaker prohibition against taking oaths, and we locate him as the probable “the worshipful William Bond” administering the Oath of Fidelity and Support to mustered militia men from Harford County. From Wikipedia: The term Non-Associators was applied to American colonists who refused to support and sign “military association” charters.
Also from Wikipedia: “In 1777, all Maryland voters were required to take the Oath of Fidelity and Support. This was an oath swearing allegiance to the state of Maryland and denying allegiance and obedience to Great Britain. As enacted by the Maryland General Assembly in 1777, all persons holding any office of profit or trust, including attorneys at law, and all voters were required to take the oath no later than March 1, 1778.”
Alan Kerr Bond identified William as a probable magistrate, which was defined in colonial times as “…the major figure in the colonial court system… the magistrate (a local official with limited power), often called justice of the peace or, simply, judge. This person mostly dealt with petty (minor) crimes in his local area.” Further, dictionary.com defines worshipful as — Worshipful, British. a formal title of honor used in announcing or mentioning certain highly regarded or respected persons.
Observation: William saw his father John suffer at the burden of British taxes on his tobacco and sugar shipments. He may have felt a need to do what he could to support and help create a new Maryland? Perhaps he felt being a magistrate was a non-violent way to participate in the cause?
Some ‘Quakers’ took up arms against the British, but some did not. Pacifist Quakers were treated with some disdain by their neighbors during and after the Revolutionary War. There are two other men named William Bond from other Maryland Counties, which we found records for, which have survived. It seems likely that our William Bond, unlike the others, never took up arms, but had found a social balance between engagement and pacifism to sustain himself and his family. (11)
The Kentucky Mystery
The rise of maintaining family histories through family bibles, journal stories, and embroidered family trees has had a long history. First, in the British Colonies, and then in the subsequent United States. By the 1800s, some families started cataloging their ancestors as a way to create their own history — “…some Americans came to see the process of learning one’s family history as a moral endeavor—a person could learn much from what her ancestors had done right or wrong… Even before the Civil War, there was ‘lineage consciousness’ among those descended from elite colonial families, who used their descent from ‘high’ birth to justify and enforce their higher social rank.”
We agree that some of these records can be filled with rich information, but you always need to verify your sources. In our research on our family lines, we have encountered two Daughters of the American Revolution publications which have asked us to call into question if they are accurate. Both state that William Bond “was killed by Indians on his way to Kentucky.” We believe that this is an error, and that this mistake was perpetuated through several other subsequent publications.
Records were kept by the new United States Confederation which documented in careful detail who was entitled to land (due to their war service), in new frontier areas (like Kentucky). William Bond’s name does not appear on any of these records, nor does his wife’s name appear on any war service pension records.
The fate of William Bond and Sarah Wrongs is a mystery. (This aspect of our family history will still continue to be researched). We know what happened with their four children. We are descended from their son Edward Fell Bond.(For more about his story, see The Bond Line — Part Six). Their daughter, Jane (Bond) Bradford’s son went on to have a high profile role in Maryland history. (12)
Where are William and Sarah Bond hiding?
Jane (Bond) Bradford and Her Famous Son Augustus
Edward Fell Bond’s younger sister Jane Bond, married Samuel Bradford on July 21, 1803 in Harford County. Their son, Augustus Williamson Bradford was born on January 9, 1806, in Bel Air, Maryland, a community near Baltimore.
Augustus was a law school graduate; politically first a Whig and then a Democrat. He was elected Governor of Maryland and served from January 8, 1862 – January 10, 1866 (essentially the length of the Civil War). As Governor, he was a staunch Union supporter and a fierce opponent of slavery.
During the American Civil War (1861–1865), Maryland, a slave state, was one of the border states, straddling the South and North. Despite some popular support for the cause of the Confederate States of America, Maryland did not secede during the Civil War. Across the state, some 50,000 citizens signed up for the military, with most joining the Union Cause. Approximately 5,000 citizens went south to fight for the Confederacy. This was a rough period for Maryland, because as a border state, it saw much conflict, due to military activity and unrest among a conflicted population.
Augustus Williamson Bradford, circa 1855-65, Photograph by Mathew Brady. Courtesy of The Library of Congress
In April 1864, both President Lincoln and Governor Augustus Bradford spoke at a fair in Baltimore, Maryland, which was held to raise funds for the welfare of Union soldiers. Certainly then, they knew each other.
Three months later — “During the War, the Confederates invaded Maryland three times. During the last of these, Bradley T. Johnson’s raiders visited Bradford’s home in July of 1864, and during his absence, burned it to the ground together with all his furniture, library, and papers.” Learning this, it’s regrettable how much information from our family history was likely lost.
Augustus Williamson Bradford died in Baltimore on March 1, 1881, at the age of seventy-six.
Historical marker in Maryland concerning our distant relative. (Photo courtesy of civilwarquilts.blogspot.com).
About nine months later, on April 14, 1865 the actor John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. Booth was a Marylander and a Confederate sympathizer.
Memory: In March 1975, we traveled with our parents to Washington, D.C., to see the historical sites in anticipation of the approaching 1976 Bicentennial year. Among the memories was a visit to Ford’s Theatre and the upstairs bedroom across the street where Lincoln had died. At that time, we knew next to nothing about our family history. (13)
Unused Ticket for Ford’s Theatre April 14, 1865(The night Lincoln was assassinated there). Image courtesy of http://www.shapell.org
Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials, Notes, and Observations
The Early Settlers of Maryland; an index to names of immigrants compiled from records of land patents, 1633-1680, in the Hall of Records, Annapolis, Maryland https://archive.org/details/earlysettlersofm00skor/page/n5/mode/2up by Gust Skordas, John M, Brewer, Arthur Trader Book page: 16 and 48, Digital Pages: 16 and 48/525 Note 1: Page 48/525 which list: our Peter, other Peter(s), and other Bonds. Note 2: Our Peter is from Anne Arundel County and immigrated in 1660.
WikiTree Peter Bond (abt. 1636 – bef. 1705) https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Bond-340 Note:Some smaller details in this link do not agree with other reliable sources.
WikiTree Alice (Cole) Washington (abt. 1638 – aft. 1708) Alice Cole, Washington (abt. 1638 – aft. 1708) https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Bond-340 Note:Some smaller details in this link do not agree with other reliable sources.
Rhinehart & Bassett Family Tree Peter Bond’s probated Will from 1705: http://www.bassett.net/gendata-o/p10576.htm and from the: Maryland Calendar of Wills: by Jane Cotten, Roberta Bolling Henry, Eleanor Janet Whitall https://archive.org/details/marylandcalendar03cott/page/n107/mode/2up?q=bond Book page: 49, Digital page: 108/680 Bond, Peter, Balto. Co., 23rd Aug., 1704; 28th Apr., 1705. “To wife Alice, extx., plantation and land during life; to pass to son Peter and hrs. at her decease. To sons Thomas, William and John, 300 A. at hd. of Bush R. To sons afsd., residue of estate afsd. at decease of wife. Sons William and John to be of age at 18 yrs.” Test: Lancelott Todd, John Lockett, Wm. Felps. 3. 451
“Quaker headstones before the mid-19th century are rare, as they are not in keeping with the plain life.” Sarah Brown Bond https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/63562855/sarah-bond Note: This gravesite is noted on this blog only for this quotation.
What Would These Quaker Ancestors Think About Our Time?
(9)— two records
Scattered Leaves : Genealogy of the Johnson – Bond and Utermoehlen (and) Bredehoeft Families by Robert E. Johnson https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/viewer/531365/?offset=0#page=14&viewer=picture&o=info&n=0&q= Book page: 10, Digital page: 12/174 Note: Excerpted from the document: “The family of Thomas Bond seems to be the first to backslide and fall under the displeasure of Friends Meeting (Quakers)”.
The Fells Point Story by Norman Rukert, 1976 https://www.rukert.com/docs/FellsPointStory1976.pdf From a section with our direct page numbers, titled “Bond and Fell Papers” – app. page 102, Alisanna Bond obituary, courtesy of Brown’s Wharf Museum. – app. page 104, Letter from John Philpot in London…, courtesy of Brown’s Wharf Museum.
John Bond of Harford Co [County] Lud [land} to be div [divided amongst] his 3 sons Samuel — John — & William 5$ ea. & no more of his R&P. est. [right & proper estate].
— To gr. son John Bond (s. Thomas) [son of Thomas] that pl. [plantation] of “Bonds Forest” where I now dwell adj. [adjoining] Jacob Rush & Wm Tnuch [?] – Wm Baxler, Spring branch Falls – including Enoch William land & Benj Lancaster ld [land] — ½ & cd [called] “Fountain Copper Mines”, ½ of the pl [plantation of resurv. [resurveyed] next adj. [adjoining] that I now hold wh. [which] is the 1/3 pl [plantation] thereof of & the other pls [plantations] that has fallen to the company by any means so ever (being a copper mine in Feda Co. [Frederick County] — also ½ of my lots w.s. [west-south of?] Thames St [Street] Fells Pt [Point] — wh. [which] prop. [property] is to be left in the hands of my son Thomas for [the] bringing up & ed. [educating] of my grand son John Bond (s. of Thos) [son of Thomas] till 21 & then to be put in full pos. [possession]
— to gr. Son [grandson] Thomas Bond (s.Thomas) [son of Thomas] ½ of sd [said] Fountain Copper Mines & ½ Thames St Lots & so on as above
— to gr. Son William Bd [grand son William Bond] (s. Samuel) [son of Samuel] 5A.[?] on Great Road W. the Quaker Meeting house & adj [adjoining] Wm Smith Esq [Esquire]
— Dau [daughter] Alesanna Kell (ux [wife of] Thomas Kell) the plant [plantation] where as she now lives being 2 t. [tracts] of ld cd [land called] 2d Thory pt [Thorny Point?] & 2d T. [?] improved & all that pl [plantation] of Bonds Pleast[ant] Hills that lies adj [adjoining] Prospect & Capt[ain] Thos Kell’s ld [land] & what I have before given her & no money of my est. [estate] whatever
— to my dau [daughter] Hannah Johns ux [wife of] (Aquilla) 20₤.
— Dau [daughter] Susanna Hunt (ux [wife of] Phineus) ₤50.
— Gr Dau [Grand daughter] Alisana Lockwood ₤50.
— Dau [daughter] Pameula Moore (ux [wife of William) of Balt[imore]town my ho. [house?] on Fells Pt Cd [Fells Point called] & known by name of The Coffee House and also 1 lot wh. [with] improvements & house built by Hy Carver E.S. Thames St
— Gr. Son [Grandson] John Bond (s. Wm) [son of William] pt [plantation] of l. cd [lands called] “Bonds Forest” where Wm [William] Bond now lives & all the ld [land] that lies betw [between 2 brs [branches or brooks] Overshot & old Ives Spring Branch down to the Falls & over to the Bond’s Forest line
— To Gr son [Grandson] EdwD [Edward] Fell Bond (s. Wm) [son of William] the pl [plantation] of (cont. [containing] 2nd Page 4a) Bonds Forest where the Strandfords now live – ho [?] & orchard estb [established] at 100A [acres} – also t. [tract] where Amos Jones lives 65A. [acres]
— Gr son [Grandson] John Bond Fell (s. Thomas) [son of Thomas] pl [plantation] Bonds Pleast[ant] Hills where Iona Ady now lives estd 100A. [acres]
— Frnd [Friend? Quaker?] Isaac Everett l. [lots] where he now lives bdg [bordering] on Olojues Sp’g br. – [branch or brook]
Exrs [executors] — son Thomas Bond (surv. exr [surveyed executor] at probate) & — s.-1. c [said 1 called] Capt Thos Kell [Captain Thomas Kell] – Bro Jno Bond [Brother John ]
wits [witnesses] — George Rush — Enoch Williams (Quaker) — Benj Rush Jr. (Quaker)
*We located this data in 2024: Baltimore County MDGenWeb, BOND Family Research Notes Bond Family Notes of Wilson Cary, Found in Maryland Historical Society Transcribed by Lawrence E. Alley https://usgenwebsites.org/MDBaltimore/family/bondresearchnotes.html Note: This transcription may not match this original transcription exactly, but it I call me hove at present. Transcription of John Bond, Gentleman’s Will based on Wilson Carey content and annotations, written in 1786:
“John Bond of HarfordCo lud to be div his 3 sons Samuel – John – & William 5$ ea. & no more of his R&P. est. To gr. son John Bond (s. Thomas) that pl. of “Bonds Forest” where I now dwell adj. Jacob Rush & Wm Tnuch? – Wm Baxler, Spring branch Falls – including Enoch William land & Benj Lancaster ld – ½ & cd? “Forunlain? Copper Mines”, ½ of the pl of resurv. next adj. that I now hold wh. is the 1/3 pl thereof of & the other pls that has fallen to the company by any means so ever (being a copper mine in Feda Co. – also ½ of my lots w.s. Thames St Fells Pt – wh. prop. is to be left in the hands of my son Thomas for bringing up & ed. of my grand son John Bond (s. of Thos) till 21 & then to be put in full pos. To gr. Son Thomas Bond (s.Thomas) – ½ of sd Forulain? Copper Mines & ½ Thames St Lots & so on as above – to gr. Son William Bd (s. Samuel) 5A. on Great Road W. the Quaker Meeting house & adj Wm Smith Esq – Dau Alesanna Kell (ux Thomas Kell) the plant where as she now lives being 2 t. of ld cd 2d Thory pt & 2d T. improved & all that pl of Bonds Pleast Hills that lies adj Prospect & Capt Thos Kell’s ld & what I have before given her & no money of my est. whatever – to my dau Hannah Johns ux (Aquilla) 20₤. Dau Susanna Hunt (ux Phineus) ₤50. Gr Dau Alisana Lockwood ₤50. Dau Pameula Moore (ux Wm) of Balt. town my ho. on Fells Pt Cd & known by name of The Coffee House and also 1 lot wh. improvements & house built by Hy Carver E.S. Thames St – Gr. Son John Bond (s. Wm) pt of l. cd “Bonds Forest” where Wm Bond now lives & all the ld that lies betw 2 brs Overshot & old Ives Spring Branch down to the Falls & over to the Bond’s Forest line – To Gr son EdwD Fell Bond (s. Wm) the pl of (cont. 2nd Page 4a) Bonds Forest where the Strandfords now live – ho & orchard estb at 100A – also t. where Amos Jones lives 65A. – Gr son – John Bond Fell (s. Thomas) pl Bonds Pleast Hills where Iona Ady now lives estd 100A. Frnd Isaac Everett l. where he now lives bdg on Olojues Sp’g br. –
Exrs son Thomas Bond (surv. exr at probate) & s.-1. c Capt Thos Kell – Bro Jno Bond.
wits George Rush. Enoch Williams (Quaker). Benj Rush Jr. (Quaker)”
Maryland Records Colonial, Revolutionary, County and Church from Original Sources, Volume II http://www.grasslandfoundation.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Maryland-Records-II.pdf Book page: 122, for 1776 Hartford County, Bush River Lower Hundred census Book page: 236, for Harford County, Oaths of Fidelity, MarchCourt, 1778 “The Worshipful William Bond’s Returns“
Sarah Wrongs in the North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000 D > Daughters of the American Revolution > Lineage Book : NSDAR : Volume 021 : 1897 https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1946106:61157 Book page: 236, Digital Pages: 249/418 Note 1: Lineage Book, National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, volume LXXXVII, 20001-21000, published 1897, Entry 20672 Note 2: We believe that this history in in error, and that this did not happen: “…and was killed by Indians on his way to Kentucky.”
Civil War Quilts Quilts & Women’s History Focusing on the American Civil War by Barbara Brackman Maryland State Historical Marker (photo) http://civilwarquilts.blogspot.com/2020/01/baltimore-marylands-sanitary-fair-union.html Note: Photo caption, “Co-Chair Elizabeth Kell Bradford (1818-1894) was Governor Augustus Bradford’s wife. The family was enough of a Union symbol that Confederate troops burned their house a month or two after the fair in the closest raid the South made to Baltimore”.
This is ChapterFour of seven: Our intrepid predecessors, moved to Holwood Manor — then to London — and then to the British Colonies in America.
A Pre-Scientific World
In the The Bond Line, A Narrative — One, we discussed the historical evolution of heraldry, and how that proved useful to our ancestors for ordering their lives. This set of “identities” developed and changed over time as societies evolved. Communities became less centralized, individual family surnames became more important, people moved around a little more. However, our ancestors were still living in a pre-scientific world in which religion was still the dominant player.
Galileo Galilei at His Trial by the Inquisition in Rome in 1633., i.e. Galileo pushes away the Bible. (Courtesy of The Wellcome Collection via Wikimedia Commons).
That perspective might be a little hard for those of us in the modern world to understand. Before us, people didn’t have the perspective to comprehend things which we take for granted: stars and planets, germ-theory, equal opportunity, democratic rule, freedom of religion, etc.
New worlds were being discovered, but their world was still the Britain of their ancient forebears. What was ahead was a century of continued ongoing conflict in which royalty and the church were pitted against each other for control of the English people. (1)
The Italians Were Winning The Renaissance Footrace
“The English Renaissance was a cultural and artistic movement in England from the early 16th century to the early 17th century. It is associated with the pan-European Renaissance that is usually regarded as beginning in Italy in the late 14th century. As in most of the rest of northern Europe, England saw little of these developments until more than a century later.Renaissance style and ideas, however, were slow to penetrate England, and the Elizabethan era in the second half of the 16th century is usually regarded as the height of the English Renaissance.
The English Renaissance is different from the Italian Renaissance in several ways. The dominant art forms of the English Renaissance were literature and music. Visual arts in the English Renaissance were much less significant than in the Italian Renaissance. The English period began far later than the Italian…”
Stage setting design drawing by Cyril Walter Hodges, Folger Shakespeare Library. (ART Box H688 no.1 pt.4).
To understand how much change was a foot in the world — here are just a few of the people who were alive during the century of 1530-1630 outside of England — artists, scientists, philosophers: Michelangelo, Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, René Descartes. Inside of England, it was a virtual hit parade of politicians, but also some explorers and writers: Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots, Sir Francis Drake, William Shakespeare, Walter Raleigh, Oliver Cromwell. (2)
Dramatic Religious and Military Upheaval
It was always a challenge with English history to figure out where your family fits in, much less what was their religious philosophy. For everyday Englishmen, the times of the Tudors and the times of the Stuarts were especially rough. Looking back on this period, it’s a bit of a paradox . England was entrenched in various religious persecutions, as if their old worldview was clashing with the newly emerging one. Geographic boundaries expanded —the world had entered an age of discovery. Inner boundaries shifted — the age of enlightenment was at hand, which would bring great change to our ancestral family.
Martin Luther posting his 95 theses in 1517. (Painting by Belgian artist Ferdinand Pauwels, via Wikimedia Commons).
“On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther, that strong willed German monk, posted his 95 arguments against the Catholic Church, ushering in the Reformation. Declaring Faith and Scripture alone as necessary for Christian salvation, Luther’s rejection of papal authority opened the floodgates for an increasingly varied array of personal revelations and Christian beliefs… Aided by the newly emergent printing press, and a growing humanist unease at the worldly ambitions of Renaissance popes, Luther’s ideas quickly spread.” Most Christian rulers strongly condemned these heretical Lutherans; rightly fearing that…”
…if the pope’s supremacy could be toppled, what wouldstop a king’s subjects from someday condemning their own divinely crowned ruler? Chaos, anarchy, and civil war would surely follow.
Candis Murray, Ph.D. writing for the Shaker Heritage Society
Before 1534, England was Roman Catholic; Wales and Ireland were Roman Catholic as well, but Scotland was largely Pagan. (3)
The Tudor Family Put the ‘Fun’ in Dysfunctional
1534 marks the date when Henry VIII wished a divorce, so he split with the Roman Catholic Church (during the Reformation) to create the Church of England with himself [as] head instead of the Pope. His three successors in 1547-1603 varied between Catholic and Protestant, with each successive monarch trying to purge the country of the opposite religion.
1547: Henry VIII dies, and is succeeded by his son Edward VI.
1585: The Roanoke Island colony, the first English settlement in the New World, is founded by English explorer Sir Walter Raleigh.
Painting of Elizabeth I of England, attributed to George Gower, circa 1585. (Image courtesy of world history.com).
1603: Following Queen Elizabeth I’s death, the Venetian ambassador writes that the “late queen had ruled over five different ‘peoples’ – English, Welsh, Cornish, Scottish, and Irish”.
Protestant James I’s reign (1603-1625) culminated with the start of the cataclysmic Thirty Years War (1618-1648) which raged throughout central Europe primarily between Protestants and Catholics, with 1643-1647 being an English Civil War.
The Miseries of War; No. 11, The Hanging, or Les Miseres et les Mal-Hevrs de la Guerre by Jacques Callot, between 1632 and 1633.
To put this time period into perspective: Thus, religious intolerance was extreme for the entire century… with much bloodshed and deep-seated hatred between those of different views. The end of the Thirty Years War (no victors; it ended by treaty) did not ring in a period of tolerance for all religions.
To our good fortune, the Bond family lines passed through this period without much turmoil. This was likely due to being far removed from much of the conflicts due to their estates being in Cornwall. (4)
London Calling — Living Near the Fulham Palace
Thomas Bond, first of Erth and Holwood, relinquished Holwood to his young son, William, and moved on to Fulham, a hamlet of London. We speculate that his wife Jone remained at Holwood to raise their son William. “The Court Rolls show that Thomas Bonde held property in several parts of Fulham…” In 1566, he and some others were “fined 12 pence because he had no bows.” The Court inflicted this fine under a statute passed in the reign of Philip and Mary.
From the above record, we have inferred that Thomas either lived in, or lived adjacent to the manor-house, or palace of Fulham. It had been, from a very early period, the principal summer residence of the Bishops of London. The renowned gardens at Fulham “first became remarkable in the time of Bishop Grindall, who was one of the earliest encouragers of botany, and the first person who imported the tamarisk-tree into this country, about the year 1560. His grapes, at Fulham, were esteemed of that value, and a fruit the Queen stood so well affected to, and so early ripe, that the Bishop used every year to send her Majesty a present of them.”
A very remarkable memorial tablet to Thomas Bonde, dated 1600, is described in the book Fulham Old And New : Being An Exhaustive History Of The Ancient Parish of Fulham. His will is dated 20 March 1599, (old calendar). The memorial tablet is dated March 1600, (also old calendar where the new year began 25 March). Thus he died between 25 and 31 March 1600.
Detail extracted from the lower photo. If you look carefully, there is marshalled heraldry shown in quadrants for the following: Upper left: Bonds of Erth, Upper right: Erth, Lower left: Maynard (of Easton, Essex) Lower right: Coryton. These families are written about in The Bond Line — A Narrative, Three.Memorial plaque for Thomas Bonde found at the All Saints Churchyard in Fulham, London (Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, Greater London), England. If you look carefully at the top portion, there is marshalled heraldry for— Upper left: Bonds of Erth, Upper right: Erth, Lower left: Maynard (of Easton, Essex) Lower right: Coryton.
The poem on the memorial plaque reads: “At Earth in Cornwall was my firste beginnings From Bonde’s and Corringstone (Coritons), as it may apere; Now to Earth in Fulham God disposed my endinge In March, the thousand and six hundred yere, Tyll both in body and soul I shall be fully blest.” Thomas Bonde, obit A Aetatis Sure 68 (68 years old)
We are not sure how Thomas made his fortunes, but he must have been a man of some prominence. His will, dated March 20, 1599/1600 and proved April 18, 1600: He left “Margaret Meridith, a widow, a piece of farm land and arranged for 20 shillings to be paid yearly forever to the officers of the poor unless the field was given for the use of the poor.” (This is the first time we see the name Margaret Meredith , a widow, in connection to Thomas Bond. We have not located records of what their relationship was.) For the transcribed will with annotations giving us an idea of Thomas’ generosity, see the footnotes.
Observation:1620: The Mayflower is on route to America with the Pilgrims. (5)
The William and Alice (Hall) Bond Family
William Bond son of William Bond and Wilmot (Haughton) Bond, was born in 1608 at Holwood Manor, County Cornwall, England. He died in England, but the exact date is unknown. Other family records determine that his death was likely after 1643, and before 1659. William was born in Cornwall in 1608 and thus a descendant of the Bonds of Erth and Holwood. Was he taken to London about 1620 to learn the mariner’s trade? He could have been sponsored by his grandfather, Thomas Bond, then living in Fulham, or by half-brother Thomas Bond, a member of Parliament and the Virginia Company.
London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812, Tower Hamlets, St Dunstan and all Saints, Stepney, 1609-1632.
The above original document is a record of the marriage for Alice Hall and William Bond on September 21, 1630 in St. Dunstan, Stepney, London, England. William’s church was St. Botulphs Without Bishopsgate. Wikipedia tells us that Bishopsgate was one of the eastern gates in London’s former defensive wall. The gate gave its name to the Bishopsgate Ward of the City of London. The ward is traditionally divided into Bishopsgate Within, inside the line wall, and Bishopsgate Without, beyond it. Bishopsgate Without is described as part of London’s East End. In the marriage record William is identified as a Mariner.
Alice Hall was the daughter of Captain Henry Hall, Jr. and Elizabeth Martin. She was christened April 12, 1615 in St. Dunstan, Stepney, London. At the time they married Alice was only 15 years old and William was 22 years old. Alice (Hall) Bond died in London, aged 44. She was buried 22 March 22, 1659 in St. Olave Churchyard, Hart Street, London, England, as shown in the record below, (noted as Alce Bond). Her husband, William, had died before her because she is listed as a “widdowe” (widow).
Observation:Was there an illness circulating in London at this time? The Great Plague was still five years in the future… The year 1659 saw the following deaths in the Alice (Hall) Bond family: Elizabeth (Martin) Hall, her mother, died on February 3, with burial on February 4. Alice herself died and was buried on March 22 (as noted above). Her father, Henry Hall, Jr. died on March 31, 1659. Three deaths in quick succession is startling, but no evidence of the cause of their deaths has been uncovered.
From The Registers of St. Olave, Hart Street, London, 1563-1700 with Alce Bond listed last.
William and Alice had six children. Sarah Bond was christened September 2, 1632 in St. Botolph, Bishopsgate, London, England. The other five children were all christened at St. Olave, Hart Street, Stepney, London. John Bond was christened October 18, 1635. Ann Bond was christened March 18, 1638. Peter Bond was christened March 15, 1640. (We are descended from Peter.) William Bond Jr. was christened 22 Aug 1641. Finally, Christopher Bond was christened 21 Dec 1642. (6)
Peter Bond christening, March 15, 1640. St. Olave, Hart Street, 1631-1707 Note: It is very faint, but legible. Look for the number 15 on the left.Peter Bond christening, March 15, 1640. The Registers of St. Olave, Hart Street, London, 1563-1700
The family may have lived in Whitechapel, an east suburb of Old London about a mile from the now famous London Tower. It is evident that although William was most likely away, Alice with her children, stayed in the area of London where she was born.
The Commonwealth Period
At the time of Charles I’s beheading Peter Bond was nine years old. The English government became the Commonwealth run by Oliver Cromwell and his son Richard from 1653-1659. In May 1660, the House of Stuart was restored.
“In retrospect, the period of republican rule for England was a failure in the short term. During the 11-year period, no stable government was established to rule the English state for longer than a few months at a time. Several administrative structures were tried, and several Parliaments called and seated, but little in the way of meaningful, lasting legislation was passed. The only force keeping it together was the personality of Oliver Cromwell, who exerted control through the military…Not only did Cromwell’s regime crumble into near anarchy upon his death and the brief administration of his son, but the monarchy he overthrew was restored in 1660, and its first act was officially to erase all traces of any constitutional reforms of the Republican period. Still, the memory of the Parliamentarian cause, [would] eventually result in a constitutional monarchy.” (Wikipedia)
Our direct ancestor, Peter Bond, lived in London during this period before departing for the British Colonies in North America. (7)
Vintage engraving of a Birds-eye view of Westminster, London in the 16th Century. 1584
“Terra Maria” in the British American Colonies
“In 1608, Captain John Smith thought there was “no place more perfect for man’s habitation” than the Chesapeake Bay. [Maryland] Fur trader William Claiborne thought so, too, and set up a fur trading post on Kent Island in 1631. This was the first English settlement in the upper Chesapeake.
Maryland began as a colony when King Charles I promised George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore, a colony north of Virginia. Before he could visit the colony, George Calvert died. His son, Cecilius, became the second Lord Baltimore and the Lord Proprietor of Maryland. He named his colony “Terra Maria,” or “Maryland” in honor of the king’s wife, Queen Henrietta Maria. Because Cecilius Calvert had to remain in England, he sent his younger brother, Leonard, to accompany the colonists and to be the first governor.”
It is recorded that Peter Bond arrived in Maryland in 1660, aged 20 years old. Having been born and raised in London, he was witness to the chaos and ineffectiveness of the Commonwealth government run by Cromwell. Also, his mother Alice (Hall) Bond and both of her parents, had died the year before he left, as well as his father’s unknown death date. The aftermath of the English Civil War of his childhood, (1642-1651) had left the economy severely depressed. We wonder if these many events had anything to do with his leaving for America? As a young man, perhaps he just wanted a fresh start? (8)
Most importantly for us, our path was headed to the New World in the West.
Borrowed from The Far Side by Gary Larson Copyright 2019-2022 by FarWorks, Inc. Thanks Gary!
Bubonic Plague and The Great London Fire
About five years after Peter Bond left for the Maryland colony, central London was devastated by two disasters. Plague returned in 1665, killing one-quarter of the population. The next year, 1666, The Great Fire completely destroyed everything in central London that was enclosed by the ancient Roman walls.
This amazing short 3-1/2 minute video by six students from De Montfort University (taking part in the Crytek Off the Map project), have built a virtual 3D representation of 17th century London before The Great Fire of 1666. (9)
The “Will” of Thomas Bonde as transcribed by Susan Bond from source material originally found on rootsweb.com, which was subsequently acquired by ancestry.com. The original digital transcription file is referenced online, but cannot now be located, likely due the business merger.
(Our observations are in bold italic).
Thomas Bond 1599/1600 Will
In the name of God Amen The Twentieth day of March in the Two and Fortieth [42nd] year of our Sovereign Lady Elizabeth by the grace of god Queen of England France and Ireland defender of the … and in the year of our Lord god One thousand five hundred ninety nine. [20 March 1600 new calendar]
I Thomas Bond of Fulham in the county Middlesex gent [gentleman] although weak of bodies yet perfect mind and memory thanks be to god do make and ordain this my perfect testimony conveying therein my last will in manner and form following that it to say finite and principally & command my soul into the hands of Almighty god my creator. And I also trust my Redeemer and Savior by the merit of what death and passion I trust that my sins are forgiven me and that in the resurrection of the righteous I shall be made perfect of the joys eternal prepared for the faithful and elected [chosen] children. Amen
My body to be buried at the discretion of my Governor and overseers hereafter named. And as to the disposition of all my goods & chattels, lands & cenemente [?] what serve my mind & will is in manner & form following:
Item: I give and bequeath to Mary Meredith, widow, my two acres and a rood [a measure of land area equal to a quarter of an acre] of Freehold Land I have in a … field in Fulham called Anscens Field with the appurtenances [accessories] to have and to hold the said two acres and a rood land with the appurtenances unto the said Margaret Meredith and her heirs and fignes [?] for over conditionally that the said Margaret Meredith and her heirs shall yearly pay to the collectors or other officers for the poor in the same parish for the time being and their …to the use of the poor of the same parish for … Twenty Shillings [= 1 Pound] of good and lawful money of England Balse [?] nearly by porcine [in person]… that if the said Margaret Meredith or her …. shall …or deme [deny] to pay the said some of Twenty Shillings in manor and form of ore [?] said being lawfully demanded, then my will and mind is that from and asce [after? anie?] …Two acres and a rood of land with appurtenances shall … remain and to be churchwardens of the said parishes for the time being and their … forever to the rest of the poor people of the same parish of Fulham to be distributed amongst them upon the day of my funeral by the discretion of my Governor and… Twenty Shillings …
Item: I give and bequeath to every one of William Arnold’s children being seaven(?) Twenty Shillings a piece Bequeathed 7 Pounds
Item: I give and bequeath to every one of Mathew Robyn’s children being Four-Twenty Shillings a piece Bequeathed 4 Pounds
Item: I give and bequeath to every one of Margaret Meredith’s children being Four-Twenty Shillings a piece. Bequeathed 4 Pounds
Item: I give and bequeath to Robert Wardon – Son of Sable Wardon my wife’s daughter Twenty Shillings Bequeathed 2 Pounds
Item: I give and bequeath to each one of John Chandlehill’s children being Two Twenty Shillings a piece Bequeathed 2 Pounds
Item: I give and bequeath to my goddaughter Cathorin Weimall Twenty Shillings Bequeathed 1 Pound
Item: Whereas I am behind and unpaid one yearly annuity of Twenty Shillings from the decease of William Bond my oldest brother somet mes [?] of Earth in the county of Cornwall bc gentleman, by virtue of one writing or deed …the hand and seal of the said William bearing date the eight day of December in the First year of the reign of our late Sovereign Lady Queen Mary (1553) as by the same deed more at ardge [?] appeared.
I do give and bequeath to Roger Bond my brother & Elizabeth Jackman my sister, if they be living the said yearly, annuity of Twenty Shillings [1 Pound] and the armories thereof behind together with the said deed & all my estate and intoees [?] which I have orchad [?]in the same or anie of them to have and to hold to the said Roger and Elizabeth if the be living and to the survivor of them to their own proper use forever.
Bequeathed 1 Pound each x 2 people for the rest of their lives
Item: I do give and bequeath to William Wrennolle my first gown and my best gown a woolen snit-x waistcoat and my service books
Item: I do give and bequeath to Latherin Arnold the wife of William Arnold holder my best gold ring
Item: I do give and bequeath to Ronny Francis my godson my best satin doublet.
Item: I do give and bequeath to Ellyn Robin of Rown To Mary Idlott of old as Branitford & Ellin Donbee of ntuvy(?) to each of them a smock and one apron of my wife’s
Item: I do give and bequeath to John Bond four Pounds and eleven Shillings which he owed me and I give and bequeath to him more five Pounds & one Shilling of lawful money of England to make it. Bequeath = 10 Pounds
Item: I do give and bequeath to Johan (Jone) (blank space), widow, my servant, forty Shillings if she happen to dwell with me at the time of my death.
Bequeathed 4 Pounds
Item: I do give and bequeath to Elizabeth and Blanse my servant and John Ronney my countryman if they marry together my best mattress a feather bolster a coverlet the brought with herself a pair of Heels, a plain bedstead, a brass pot, broad mouthed and peered in the brime and forty Shillings of lawful money of England The residue of all goods moveable and unmovable my debts paid and legacies performed.
Bequeathed 4 Pounds
I give and bequeath to Richard Rawles my nephew whom I make my sole governor of my will and I do ordain and make my loving friends master… Edward person of Chelsey and Ronney Thorneton of Fulham my overseers
And I do give and bequeath to each of them forty Shillings towards their [?] anies herein to be taken Provided always that if my said governor shall refuse to be ordered and directed by my said overseers or the survivor of them and that testified under their hands and seals in writing them my will and mind is that from and after such certificate his interest of governorship aforesaid shall cease and be void.
Bequeathed 4 Pounds each = 12 Pounds total
And that then and from thence forth my said brother Roger shall be my governor and pay and do as is aforesaid In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand & seal the day & year above said this will be subscribed sealed & acknowledged for his last will the day and year above said in the presence of us Thomas Burton John Burtons msc. Thomas Burton Smith
Thomas Bond A short paragraph written in Latin
The will is dated 20 March 1599, (old calender). The memorial tablet is dated March 1600, (also old calender where the new year began on 25 March). Thus he died between 25 and 31 March 1600.
The Richard Bond Family in America by Rev. Thomas A. Bond, Abbey of the Genesee, 1981 Microfilmed by the Genealogical Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on April 9, 1986 (Item 14, Project and Roll XLIB 7-102 2017, G.S. Call 1321093)
The William Bond and Alice Hall Family
(6)— eight records
William Bond in the London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 Tower Hamlets > St Dunstan and All Saints > Stepney, 1609-1632 https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1098358:1624 Digital page: 131/140, Left page, entry for September 21, 1630. Note: Peter was actually christened in 1640, not 1639.
Peter Bond in the London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 City of London > St. Olave, Hart Street > 1631-1707 https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1624/images/31281_a100776-00011?pId=4754774 Note 1: Digital page: 10/75, Entry for March 15 (left page and very faint). Note 2: The Church was using the old calendar where the new year began on March 25. This later changed, so therefore, we believe that his baptism was actually on March 15, 1640.
The Registers of St. Olave, Hart Street, London, 1563-1700 by Bruce W. Bannerman, 1862-1933 https://archive.org/details/registersofstola46stol/mode/2up Note 1: For Peter Bond’s christening. see book page 49. Digital page: 48/362. Note 2: Asserted in the footnote above, The Church was using the old calendar where the new year began on March 25. This later changed, so therefore, we believe that his baptism was actually on March 15, 1640. Note 3: For Alice Bond’s burial, see book page 192. Digital page: 192/362.
Maryland Office of Tourism The First Marylanders — Native Americans and The First Colonists https://www.visitmaryland.org/info/first-marylanders Note: For the reference, “He named his colony “Terra Maria,” or “Maryland” in honor of the king’s wife, Queen Henrietta Maria.”
This is Chapter Three of seven: Digging deeper into our Cornwall ancestors— from Erth Barton, to Holwood Manor.
Wessex, one of the kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England, was land which now approximates the modern counties of Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire, and Somerset, and eventually expanded westward to cover Devon and Cornwall.
This may be how the name Bondi, came to be identified as the Bonds of Erth, who were located near the border of Devon and Cornwall, near Plymouth Sound. We do not know when our ancestors arrived in Penryn, Cornwall, but we do know that about the year 1400 our ancestor Robert Bond (of Penryn) married Elizabeth de Erth (Earth) and upon that marriage the Bonds of Erth began. (1)
Map of Cornwall and the South West, extracted from the map of England by Matthew Paris, circa 1250. The names Cornwall, Devon, and Somerset are large labels written in blue and red ink, with Dorset written in red ink. (Map detail courtesy of caitlingreen.org).
The Cornish Gentry
Gentry is defined as an old English word signifying people from a high social class, i.e. the landed gentry.
The names of most of the Cornish gentry are local… “The Cornish,” says Carew, “entitle one another with his owne and his father’s Christian name, and conclude with the place of his dwelling.” Carew was the author of the 1602 edition of the Survey of Cornwall.
The practice of families taking their names from the place of their abode, with the addition of de, was, at an early period, more or less prevalent throughout England. “Bond, of Earth, near Saltash, married the heiress of an ancient family, who took their name from that Barton [the manor house of a farm].”
Trematon Castle, Cornwall by Petit W Le, after T Allom, published 1830 by Fisher, Son & Co. London.
Before the Duchy of Cornwall was created, as an annex to the English crown in 1337, Trematon Castle was one of four principal residences of the Earls of Cornwall. (2)
Hugh deErth and His Descendants
We first learned about the de Erth family with the mention of both Hugh and William de Erth in a long-titled book — A Continuation of the Complete History of England: containing the lives and reigns of Edward I, II & III and Richard the Second by Robery Brady, published in 1700. (This is the only historical reference we have found for William de Erth.)
On page 78 of that book, Brady writes that in 1304, the Terms given to, and accepted by John Comyn [terms of submission by the Scots after the last insurrection] … “These things are agreed on with Monsieur Richard de Burgh, earl of Ulster, Monsieur Aymer de Valance, … Monsieur Henry de Percy, Knights, and John Comyn of Badenagh, for Himself and his Aydants of Scotland, … in the Name of the King, … Monsieur Hugh de Erth, Monsieur William de Erth, Monsieur James de Ross, … Knights, for themselves and all their Scots assistants, who would be sworn in the Peace and Faith of the King, were Sworn.”
Hence, Hugh de Erth was sworn as a Knight for his faithful service in battles for King Edward I, who reigned from A.D. 1272 – 1307. Edward was also known as Edward Longshanks, and the Hammer of the Scots. Hugh de Erth must have been very brave and valiant in battles to catch the attention of the King. Here is a little background: –24 February 1303: The Battle of Roslin takes place between English and Scottish forces at Roslin, south of Edinburgh, resulting in a Scottish victory. – An irritated and impatient man, King Edward I, in May 1303, invaded Scotland once more, with a view to subjugating the country once and for all. – 3 February 1304: The Community of Scotland under the Guardianship of John III Comyn agrees to a peace treaty with King Edward I.
A Continuation of the Complete History of England…by Robery Brady, 1700. Detail excerpt from page 78. Note the use of the French language.
Obviously, King Edward I and his successors thought highly of the de Erth family from Cornwall. In 1299, Henry de Erth was born in Erth, St. Stephens Parish, Cornwall. His father was Sir Hugh de Erth, Knight, but his mother’s name is unrecorded. (Possibly her name could have been Helena Beckstead?)
In research from nearly a century ago, Allen Kerr Bond wrote in The Story of The Bonds of Earth: “The first mention of Earth in history that I can find, is in the English Calendar of Patent Rolls for 1337 A.D. (for King Edward III) when Henry de Erth [a Knight] is made Constable of the strong castle of Tremerton [Trematon], a few miles from Earth. Although this Knight of Earth was not a Bond, it was by marriage with one of his heiress descendants a little later that the first Bond came to Earth as its knightly possessor…” Henry de Erth had been bestowed these lands for services rendered to John of Eltham, the Earl of Cornwall, and the brother of King Edward III who reigned from A.D. 1327-1377. (Note: Kerr Bond uses the spelling Earth while we have chosen to use the original spelling Erth).
It must have been nice to be “in good” with the royal family. Hugh de Erth’s son, Sir Henry de Erth, was also a Knight, and apparently a very good friend and servant to John of Eltham, the Duke of Cornwall, a younger brother of King Edward III.
Excerpts from the 1337 Calendar of the Patent Rolls for Edward III A. D. 1334-1338. From pages 382-383, 395, and 509.
There are (shown above) three excerpts from the 1337 Calendar of the Patent Rollsfor Edward III A. D. 1334-1338, which identify Sir Henry de Erth specifically. The first two are the most important: – The first excerpt endows him with the constableship of Tremonton Castle, which is a Knight’s role. – The second excerpt reinforces the first endowment, establishes the terms, and recognizes Sir Henry de Erth’s long time services to John of Eltham. It further identifies Henry’s role as a “baneour”. That important role is the chief standard-bearer of the King; a Knight Banneret. John of Eltham was a warrior prince and Henry would have been right there in battle, beside him. In 1333, King Edward III made his greatest expedition against Scotland, resulting in the capture and permanent annexation to England of the strong Scottish border fortress of Berwick.
A medieval depiction of King Edward III at the siege of Berwick. The Knight Banneret carrying the square-shaped banner is Sir Henry de Erth.Here is the original context of the Sir Henry de Erth image, as found in a French illuminated manuscript. (See footnotes).
Sir Henry de Erth’s son Geoffrey de Erth, was likely born at Erth in St. Stephen’s Parish, Saltash, and died est. 1405. Geoffrey had a daughter named Elizabeth de Erth. As the heiress of Erth, she was his favored daughter — her birth is estimated to be 1375. Elizabeth is written about (below) in Our Erth Ancestors. (3)
Nearby is the Village of Saltash, Cornwall, England, Courtesy of Magna Britannia, Vol. III — Cornwall, circa 1814.
Where on Earth was Erth?
The Erth settlement, or estate, was likely located on the Lynher river, which connected to Plymouth Sound, not very far from the village of Trematon. From the book, The Bonds of Earth, by Allen Kerr Bond: “The great harbor of Plymouth, marking the beginning of the line of boundary between Cornwall and Devonshire; and beside a little river of Cornwall which enters this great harbor is the homestead “Earth” or “Erth,” the ancient dwelling of the Bonds of Cornwall.”
Richard Carew (1555-1620), Aged 32, as High-Sherriff and Deputy-Lieutenant of Cornwall. (Image courtesy of the British National Trust).
A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. I, provides two relevant (but unattributed) references. The second entry follows: “In following the course of the Lyner [the Lynher river], you fall down by Master Bond’s ancient house at Erth, descended to his ancestors from a daughter and heir of that name.” We discovered that this quote was taken from The Survey of Cornwall by Richard Carew, published in 1602.
Carew’s Survey of Cornwall, page 111, published 1602.
In the “Table of the Second Booke” Bond is listed as being in the East Hundred, [similar to a county]. This is the easternmost county of Cornwall. This table falls near the end of the book.
Our research led us to add many new sources which confirm the establishment of the Bond family at Erth. (4)
We cited the two books in the top row left and center, in our writing about Hugh deErth and His Descendants. Excerpts from the other four sources are situated below:
The Parochial History of Cornwall, Vol. 3, page 465, published 1838.
Note: Galfridus is an Anglo-Norman variant of the name Geoffrey.
The Battle Abbey Roll , page 138, published 1889.Magna Britannia, page 290, published 1814.Magna Britannia, page c, published 1814.Magna Britannia, page cxxxii, published 1814.
Our Erth Ancestors
We know some of the lineage of the de Erth line and the names of some of the early family. For the de Erth family, their gentry status within the Cornish society, we can infer: 1) Their names are location-based and so they must be from the landowning classes. 2) In a feudal society, land was power and so this placed them well above most Englishmen.
This map is included to show the difference in location from Penryn to Erth, Cornwall. Trains travelling from Penryn to Saltash cover a distance of around 43 miles (69 km) during the journey. Our ancestors could have easily sailed from one location to the other.
Map of Cornwall, circa 1665. Courtesy of etsy.com. The circled areas indicate Penryn on the left, and Erth on the right.
The deErth and Penryn ancestors for whom we have records, are listed below interspersed with important historical points. All births and deaths were in Cornwall, England, unless noted. For the Bonds of Penryn, we show a list only, as we have no knowledge of them as persons; how they lived, their education, and little of their professions.
When Goffery de Erth died, (Hugh deErth and His Descendants section), the next owner of Erth Barton was Robert Bond of Penryn, who had married his daughter, Elizabeth de Erth.
Robert Bond was born est. 1370, in Penryn, Cornwall and died est.1434 at Erth, Saltash, Cornwall . He married Elizabeth de Erth who was born est. 1375 and died est. 1434. Elizabeth was likely born at Erth, Saltash, Cornwall and died in the same location. The Barton of Erth is located in St. Stephen Parish. As a result of this advantageous marriage, the Bonds of Penryn became the Bond’s of Erth, and Robert Bond vastly increased his landholdings.
Ancient Family Crest for de ErthAncient Family Crest for Bond
Elizabeth and Robert had three sons, all born at Erth, Saltash, Cornwall: – Thomas born est. 1400 – death date unknown – Robert born est. 1408 – death date unknown – Richardborn est. 1410 and died est. 1462 Notes: We are descended from Richard Bond — he remained at Erth and continued the direct family line of Erth. His brother Robert, is the founder of the Dorset Branch of the Bond family.
1387: John Trevisa of Cornwall wrote the first book about England in the English language (previously Latin was the language most frequently used by authors).
2. Richard Bond born est. 1410 at Erth, Saltash, Cornwall and died est. 1462 in the same place. Richard married first Elizabeth Maynard est. 1400-1430 of Dorset, and subsequently after her death he married, in 1434, her sister, Agenta “Agnes” Maynard who was born est. 1411 in Dorset and died est. 1470 at Erth, Saltash, Cornwall. It has been written that Agnes Maynard was an heiress of an old Cornish family said to be descended from Irish kings.
John Burke, Esq. wrote A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, in 4 Volumes, published between 1833-1838. According to Burke: “Richard, of Earth , who m. in 1434 , (during the reign of 12th Henry VI) Agnes, second daughter and co-heiress of Richard Maynard, and their posterity were still residing at Earth at the visitation of Cornwall , anno 1620 . The Bonds, of Holwood, in the same county, were a younger branch of those of Earth , and are now represented by Thomas Bond in the county of Cornwall.”
Ancient Family Crest for Maynard in Cornwall, and Essex
Richard and Agnes had two sons: Thomas and Richard. (We are descended from Thomas).
3. Thomas Bond was born est. 1440 and died est. 1510, both at Erth, Saltash, Cornwall. The website Find A Grave states Thomas was born in 1450, but that would make him a pre-teen when married!
Thomas Bond married Elizabeth Kendall of Duloe, Cornwall, date unknown. She was born est. 1445 in Duloe to Richard and Jane (Penpons) Kendall and died est. 1516 at Erth, Saltash, Cornwall. Thomas and Elizabeth are buried in the ancient St. Stephen Churchyard in Saltash, Cornwall, England.
Ancient Family Crest for Kendall
Thomas and Elizabeth had three children, all born at Erth, Saltash, Cornwall. – John born est. 1462 – death date unknown – William (Willms) born est. 1465 – death est. 1529 also at Erth, Cornwall (We are descended from William). – Agenta born est. 1467 – death date unknown.
1485: Polydore Vergil, an Italian cleric commissioned by King Henry VII to write a history of England, states that “The whole country of Britain is divided into four parts, whereof the one is inhabited by Englishmen, the other of Scots, the third of Welshmen, the fourth of Cornish people … and which all differ among themselves either in tongue, either in manners, or else in laws and ordinances.”
4. William (Willms) Bond married Jane Gibbs of Dorset about 1500. She was born est. 1480 in Dorset and died est. 1539 at Erth, Saltash, Cornwall. Both are buried in St. Stephen Parish churchyard in Saltash.
William and Jane had three children at Erth, Saltash: – William II born est. 1503 – death date unknown – Richard born 1507 and died 1553 at Erth. (We are descended from Richard). – Elizabeth est. 1509 – death date unknown. She was married three times; William Killigrewe, Robert Trevisa, and John Piper.
1498: Plague, a.k.a. the Black Death which one of the most devastating pandemics in human history sweeps England.
1509: Henry VIII’s coronation procession includes “nine children of honour” representing England and France, Gascony, Guienne, Normandy, Anjou, Cornwall, Wales and Ireland.
Oh No! 1509-1510 More Plague in Cornwall...
1533-1540 Henry VIII founds Church of Englandand commences the Reformation.Dissolution of the Monasteries including Glasney College in Penryn (Part One).
5. Richard Bond was born September 22, 1507 and died December 20, 1553, both at Erth, Saltash, Cornwall. In 1530, Richard married Elizabeth Coriton of Saltash, Cornwall, daughter and co-heiress of Thomas Coryton/Coriton. Why the spelling of the Coryton name changed is unknown . Elizabeth was the widow of John Batten. The Coritons (Coryton) were an old family who as far back as 1250 were seated at Coryton in Devonshire. Elizabeth was born est. 1508 in Saltash, Cornwall. Her death date is unknown but she most likely died at Erth, Saltash, Cornwall.
Richard and Elizabeth had seven children. Their son, Thomas Bond, was born est. 1532 at Erth Barton, Saltash, Cornwall and died in 1600 at Fulham, London, England. (We are descended from Thomas, see The Bond Line, A Narrative — Four) (5)
Ancient Family Crest for Coryton
1545: The captain of Henry VIII’s ship the Mary Rose, Roger Grenville of Stowe (father of Sir Richard Grenville of the Revenge) dies in the sinking of the ship. This ship was acting as the flagship of vice-admiral Sir George Carew when the ship was struck by a squall and sank at Spithead (Portsmouth) on July 19th. [In the 1980s, our parents toured the recovered and restored ship wreck, Mary Rose, at the Cleveland Historical Society at University Circle, Cleveland, Ohio.]
It should be noted that the Bonds of Erth continued through Thomas’s brother, William Bond, who married Katherine Fitz de Ford and carried on the family Bonds of Erth. There are indications that other children and their decedents moved north of Quethiock to an area known as Tresunger in St. Endellion, County Cornwall. (5)
The ancient ancestral Bond Estate is located close to the small city of Saltash in Cornwall, near Plymouth Sound. The Erth House is a Norman Manor House, and the Barton, or Farm, was once called Goffery Manor, in the 9th Century AD.
In 1610, a study was commissioned to determine if Erth House was the oldest building in Cornwall, and the conclusion was that it indeed was the oldest building due to large sections of the interior structure being intact. It did however, receive remodeling in the 17th century. It is documented as a “barton at Erth held by Golfridus [Geoffrey] de Earth temp Henry IV (1399-1413)”. The building is today a country manor Bed and Breakfast with the same name.
The present day Erth Barton looks like a nice place to stay if you are in the Cornwall, England area. When I wrote about glancing backward in the The Bond Line, A Narrative — Two (Preface), I now realize that if I had earlier attained this level of scholarship about family genealogy — I (Thomas) certainly would have found a pathway for our parents to see the significant, original Bond estate. (6)
6. Thomas Bond married Jone (maiden name unknown) about 1560 and acquired the Holwood estate by marriage with Jone. She had probably inherited it from her family. Jone was the widow of T. Tome and had a daughter named Sable Tome. From the website findagrave.com for Thomas Bond(e) the following is a description of Holwood, the estate of Thomas and Jone Bond. “Thomas Bonde, a younger son, left Earth and located at Holwood, a seat higher up the river Lyner, of very great antiquity,… from him descend the family of ‘Bonds of Erth and Holwood.’ … Gilbert describes the place as” a fine estate abounding in tillage and pasture lands, excellent timber and fruits.” Holwood is 2 miles west of Quethiock, Co. Cornwall. It is also about seven miles northwest of the Bond’s of Erth, Saltash, County Cornwall.
Depending upon who was recording the information, the new parish was called Quethiocke, which had been known by other names. According to Bannister’s Glossary of Names: “The parish, formerly called Quethiocke, Quedic, Queidike, and Cruetheke, means “The weaver’s place (gwia) to weave.” And from genuki.org: “The parish of Quethiock, (Cornish: Gwydhek), is pronounced “Gwithick”; anciently called Cruetheke… It is named after the Old Cornish for a wooded place”.
Holwood Manor on the River Lynher, Cornwall. Quethiocke parish is shown at top center.Quethiock Church & Its Interior Manuments Gilbert’s An Historical Survey of the County of Cornwall, 1820 edition, page 462.
7. William Bond, the only child of Thomas and Jone Bond, was born in 1561 at Holewood Manor, Quethiock, County Cornwall and died there in 1610. In 1582 William married Jane Sproue, daughter of Thomas Sproue of Northill. Children born to this marriage were: Eleanor 1583 (wife of Hugh Rositer), Thomas 1584 (the Second, of Holwood), Susanna 1587 (wife of Peter Hunt), John 1689, Christopher 1591, Anna 1593 (wife of Richard Roberts), and (possibly) Richard 1594. Jane (Sproue) Bond died, death date unknown.
At some point in time, we know that Thomas removed from Holwood and moved to Fulham, London, England. We can only speculate why and when this occurred. His young son, William, became “the lord of the manor.” We will elaborate on Thomas Bond of Fulham in The Bond Line, A Narrative — Four.
Sir Roger Moore as James Bond 007. Clearly perplexed, he’s likely trying to sort out all of the many ancestors named “William Bond” over the generations. Image courtesy of http://www.digitalspy.com
After the death of his first wife, Jane, William Bond married a second time about 1606, to Wilmot Haughton, widow of Philip Stroud. Wilmot was born about 1570 at Haughton Towers in Lancashire, England to William and Anne (DeVerney) Haughton. Wilmot’s death at Holwood Manor is estimated about 1633. To this marriage two sons were born: William Bond 1608 (our ancestor) and his brother Peter Bond 1610. We will follow our ancestor William Bond in Section Four.
Thomas, the first born son of William and Jane (Sproue) Bond, most likely inherited Holwood Manor, as cited below, by the reign of Charles II (1660-1685). In the following generations of the William and Jane (Sproue) Bond’s family there are several males named William. As the generations grew it is likely that Thomas (b. 1688, son of William, b. 1663), had likely inherited Holwood. However, he “died without offspring”. In his will, “dated April 18, 1723, [he] left all of his lands to Richard, his first cousin…” with “the provision that he make either the mansion of Earth or Holwood his principle place of residence, under penalty of forfeiture of all lands so demised.” Richard chose Holwood, but he also died with out offspring. With their deaths, Erth and Holwood probably passed out of the family’s hands.
A description of Holwood. Gilbert’s An Historical Survey of the County of Cornwall, 1820 edition, page 465.Magna Britannia, vol. 3, page 274.
Our line of the Bonds of Erth & Holwood were minor political players, still mostly concerned with tending to their country manor houses, with their plantations and Devon cattle. Eventually, some of the Bond cousins of the Dorset line would become rather prominent in London, but that is not our direct lineage. Some in our line stayed at Erth, some went just a bit north to Holwood for a few generations, and some went to Fulham, London. (7)
Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials, Notes, and Observations
Three mentions of Henry de Erth [in the] Calendar of the Patent Rolls for Edward III A. D. 1334-1338: Excerpt One: Membrane 39 Book page: 383, Digital page: 395/820, Located about halfway down the page. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015011275826&view=1up&seq=395&skin=2021 Excerpt Two: Membrane 32 Book page: 382-393, Digital page: 405/820, Located near the bottom and at the top of the next page. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015011275826&view=1up&seq=405&skin=2021 Excerpt Three: Membrane 6 Book page: 497, Digital page 509/820, Located near the bottom and at the top of the next page. “Henry de Erth had been bestowed these lands for services rendered to John of Eltham, the Earl of Cornwall, and brother of Edward II.”
The Parochial History of Cornwall, Vol. III Founded on the manuscript histories of Mr. Hals and Mr. Tonkin, with with additions and various appendices by Davies Gilbert, 1838 https://archive.org/details/parochialhistory03gilb/page/464/mode/2up Book page: 465, Digital page: 464/470
Magna Brittanica, Being a Concise Topographical Account of the Several Counties of Great Britain, Volume The Third by Rev. Daniel Lysons and Samuel Lysons, Esq., 1814 https://archive.org/details/magnabrittanicab03lyso/page/n7/mode/2up Book page: 290, Digital page: 291/360 Book page: C, Digital page: 124/780 Book page: cxxxii, Digital page: 156/780
Our Erth Ancestors
(5)— seven records
An Historical Survey of the County of Cornwall: to which is added, a complete heraldry, by C. S. Gilbert, 1817 (This edition contained heraldry bookplates.) https://wellcomecollection.org/works/g68eerr8/items?canvas=9 Note 1: Book page: 30, Digital page: 30/441, for the Bond family reference. Note 2: For five Coat of Arms, as follows: – Bond Coat of Arms, Plate VI (6) – De Erth Coat of Arms, Plate XIII (13) – Coryton Coat of Arms, Plate VI (6) – Kendall Coat of Arms, Plate XV (15) – Maynard Coat of Arms, Plate XVII (17) Note 3: The Maynard family coat of arms (as demonstrated in Gilbert’s book), may be a localized Cornwall variation. Excerpted from the Description found in this file: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maynard_%28of_Easton,_Essex%29_Arms.svg , as follows: – Maynard Baronets, Baron Maynard, Viscount Maynard. Descended from Maynard of Sherford in the parish of Brixton, Devon (as is stated on monument to Sir Henty Maynard (d.1610). – The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds’ Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.561); Sherford located in parish of Brixton per Risdon, Tristram, Survey of Devon, 1811 edition, London, 1811, with 1810 Additions, p.392.
Magna Brittanica, Being a Concise Topographical Account of the Several Counties of Great Britain, Volume The Third by Rev. Daniel Lysons and Samuel Lysons, Esq., 1814 – Holloughwood, or Holwood Manor… Book page: 274 (bottom) — 275 (top), Digital page: 274-275/361, for https://archive.org/details/magnabrittanicab03lyso/page/274/mode/2up
The Richard Bond Family in America by Rev. Thomas A. Bond, Abbey of the Genesee, 1981 Microfilmed by the Genealogical Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on April 9, 1986 (Item 14, Project and Roll XLIB 7-102 2017, G.S. Call 1321093)
This is ChapterOne of seven: Please start here — everything will be explained in due time. We’re not in a rush.
Introduction: Hollywood Has Really Messed Things Up
If you think about classic movies like The Adventures of Robin Hood, or Monty Python and the Holy Grail, viewers have the sanitized impression that the Middle Ages were a lot of fun and games, hither ‘n yon, etc., but of course… we all know that just wasn’t true.
There were a lot of wars, people were stressed out, dry cleaners didn’t exist, and worst of all (!), there was no Tylenol available for those tension headaches after a night of drinking too much “mulled wine”. But our ancestors, resourceful as they were, somehow pulled through. We know, we’ve got their genes.
The costume designer obviously had a “bedazzled” phase with that Pegasus motif.
At some point, our ancestors switched from eating like this:
We still eat like this —especially when we get a bucket of Extra Crispy at KFC.
To eating like this:
I wonder what type of family crest they had at Downton Abbey?
Surely, we jest? But there is signifigance in what a Pegasus heraldry symbol meant to the other troops, and what the finally laid table of an upperclass British family meant to the villagers: there was always an audience looking on.
When it comes to the ancient deErth family and the ancient Bond family, we had heraldry for a purpose. Let us explain. (1)
Let’s Pause for a Moment to Look at Symbolic Thinking
We all know what these symbols mean, right? Creating and adding meaning to symbols is a uniquely human trait. As such, symbolic thinking is a feature which sets us apart from all other thinking creatures.
In the pre-literate world, symbols became very important, because once learned, they guided people to understand with whom, or what, they were dealing with. To an extant, that is still true today, especially with sports, commerce, and religion.
Heraldry originated when most people were illiterate, but could easily recognize a bold, striking, and simple design. I guess you could call it an early form of social media, with the court heralds being influencers.
What is a Coat of Arms?
Words used to describe symbols like these, are called “blazons”.
How did a coat of arms get started? The first coat of arms was used to distinguish one knight from another. When a knight had on his full armor, including plate mail and helmet, even his friends couldn’t recognize him. Because of this, knights began to paint symbols on their shields. The symbols on a coat of arms were meant to represent the achievements of the person, manor, or state, to whom the arms were granted. They eventually began to put the symbol on their banner and the cloth surcoat they wore over their armor. This is how it got the name coat of arms.
To use and legally bear a coat of arms, a person had to be granted the honor by a ruling monarch. The laws and rules regarding the right to use them, and if they could be passed on varied greatly by region, ruler, and country. In England and Scotland, the individual granted the coat of arms was the only one who could use it and display it. It wasn’t until King Richard I, in the 13th century, that a coat of arms became hereditary.
Coat of Arms for the DeErth and Bonds of Erth Families
Ancient heraldry for the deErth family. The only design which was evident within the Bond family following the deErth family’s “three deer heads” of Erth. The subsequent black chevron with three gold bezants (coins), is the registered and recognized Bonds of Erth heraldry.
Arms of Bond of Erth Barton, near Saltash, Cornwall. Courtesy of wikipedia.com
At first glance, we thought that this coat of arms was just a little bit plain jane. Then we came to realize that this is what authenticity looks like.
What Did the Colors Mean?
The colors in heraldry are called tinctures. Old French words were used to describe the colors of the background, which came to have different meanings. Red (gules) was the color of a warrior and nobility, blue (azure) for truth and sincerity, black (sable) for piety and knowledge, and green (vert) for hope and joy. Presently, English heraldry has seven colors (tinctures) including two metals (gold, silver) and five colors (blue, red, purple, black, green).
Estucheon, the shape of the shield
Helm, the top center of this shape, where future generations might add elements to represent their individual family.
Charge, the main picture in the center of the coat of arms. In our family, we had a black Chevron, that is the pointed shape on the estucheon.
Ordinaries, designs that appeared on the field. In our family, we had Bezants, these are the three gold coins diplayed on the black chevron. This motif is derived from Richard, the Earl of Cornwall.
What is a Family Crest?
Everyone gets confused and uses these coat of arms and family crest interchangeably. They are not the same. The crest is the helm (top portion) of the coat of arms and is actually part of the overall coat of arms design. The crest is an identifier for what the person (who was originally granted the coat of arms) did, in order to receive the honor. Some families have used it as a logo, without the full arms beneath it.
In the Introduction we wrote about how different eating styles have evolved over time. Family crests evolved for the fortunate few to to use to mark their property. For example, if your Family Shield was too complex to recreate at a small scale, a family crest would be used. Perfect for stamping on the silverware to show your pedigree!
It became the job of people called heralds to keep track of the different coats of arms. They made sure that new coats of arms were unique. They also kept track of to whom each coat of arms belonged.
From Britannica: “In the second half of the 12th century the men who supervised festivities and delivered invitations to guests were often the same minstrels who, after tournaments and battles, extolled [sang the praises of] the virtues and deeds of the victors. Heralds can be identified in the descriptions of tournaments from about 1170. The duties of minstrels and messengers appear then to have merged, and, as the minstrels recounted the deeds and virtues of their masters and their masters’ ancestors, their interest in genealogy developed. That new skill was related to their tournament duties, which included the necessity to recognize the banners and shields of all those invited to attend.” In other words, somebody had to keep things sorted out.
Pictures of heralds from H. Ströhl’s Heraldischer Atlas
By the 12th century, the use of the coat of arms had become much more common, and in the 13th-century family use of the coat of arms became common as the symbols had been passed down from ancestors in the previous centuries. Usually, the oldest son would often inherit the coat of arms from his father without any changes, while younger brothers often added symbols to make theirs unique. When a woman married, the coat of arms of her family was often added to her husband’s arms, called marshaling.
As families grew, the shield of the coat of arms was sometimes divided into different parts (e.g. quartered) to represent the merging of families (although this is not the only reason a shield might be divided). Even still, families would have to alter the coat of arms enough to distinguish it from prior generations. This is where it would become a family coat of arms, the symbol for the family, instead of the symbol for an individual.
Even though this map by John Speed, dates from 1611, one can see that there was still a lot of heraldry going on. (Image courtesy of http://www.caitlingreen.org).
Cornish heraldry generally conformed with the rules and customs of English heraldry… however, the use of arms was far more widespread amongst the Cornish than the English and there was far less control over the use of heraldry. The writer Richard Carew wrote in the early 17th century, “The Cornish appear to change and diversify their arms at pleasure… The most Cornish gentlemen can better vaunt of their pedigree than their livelihood for that they derive from great antiquity, and I make question whether any shire in England of but equal quantitie can muster a like number of faire coate-armours”. Even back then, Carew was sniffing out the socially ambitious families.
This is why you will see several coat of arms for one surname or family, that can look only slightly different, or can look entirely different from each other.
Our cousins, the Bonds of Grange — their coat of arms
Notice in the above example of heraldry for The Bonds of Grange from A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. I. The Coat of Arms for that particular family has been marshalled (four quadrents) and elements have been added to the top (the helm). If you look carefully, you can still see the chevron with the three bezants.
From The Story of The Bonds of Earth, by Allen Kerr Bond, Pegasus Press, 1930.
Notice in the example above how the Bond Coat of Arms has gotten a lot more decorated. There’s even a catchy motto added. This phrase is frequently translated from Latin as: The World Does Not Suffice, or The World Is Not Enough.
As the Bond family married, immigrated, and went on with their lives, it once again became fashionable (rather than a basic necessity) to have a family coat of arms. The trouble is, there were so many Bond families, and not a lot of widespread scholarship to support what designs went forward. There were no more heralds to manage who-really-was-who.
Even George Lazenby, in his only film as James Bond, got in on the act.
Still from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
As we all know, James Bond always prevailed in his fight of good-versus-evil. Even with that modern, exuberant coat of arms. That’s why we love him. (2)
Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials, Notes, and Observations
Introduction: Hollywood Has Really Messed Things Up
For these six Sections listed below, all records are adapted from the links that follow:
Let’s Pause for a Moment to Look at Symbolic Thinking What is a Coat of Arms? Coat of Arms for the DeErth and Bonds of Erth Families What Did the Colors Mean? What is a Family Crest? The Heralds Were Busy Bureaucrats…
An Historical Survey of the County of Cornwall: To Which is Added, a Complete Heraldry by C. S. Gilbert, 1817 edition. https://wellcomecollection.org/works/g68eerr8/items?canvas=9 Note 1: Bond family reference — See book page 30, Digital page: 30/441. Note 2: Bond Boat of Arms, Plate VI (6), DeErth Coat of Arms, Plate XIII, (13)
Lithuania has a very long and very complicated history. Over the centuries, many people ruled the area, and depending upon which / occupier / tribe / kingdom / duchy / tsar / country / was in charge, the borders were always in flux.
Lithuania’s name first written in 1009, in the annals of the Quedlinburg Abbey, Germany. (Courtesy of Wikipedia).
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania
“The history of Lithuania dates back to settlements founded many thousands of years ago, but the first written record of the name for the country dates back to 1009 AD. The Union of Lublin [1569] and the integration of the two countries [Poland and Lithuania] notwithstanding, Lithuania continued to exist as a grand duchy within the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth for over two centuries. It retained separate laws as well as an army and a treasury. Within the Commonwealth, the grand duchy made important contributions to European economic, political, and cultural life — Western Europe was supplied with grain, along with sea routes for trade… The early Commonwealth’s religious tolerance and democracy among the ruling noble class were unique in Europe.
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania within The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth c. 1635 Courtesy of Wikiwand (Sweden)Szlachta [the Noble Class} in costumes of the Voivodeships of the Crown of the KIngdom of Poland, Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 17th and 18th century. (Courtesy of Wikipedia).
…The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth lasted until 1795, when the last of the Partitions of Poland erased both Lithuania and Poland from the political map. After the dissolution, Lithuanians lived under the rule of the Russian Empire until the 20th century… Tsar Alexander I [decided that] the southwestern part of Lithuania [would] became a part of the Russian-controlled Kingdom of Poland in 1815. The rest of Lithuania continued to be administered as a Russian province… There were several [failed] major rebellions, especially in 1830-1831, and 1863… Lithuania ceased to exist as a distinct entity for more than a century.
Large numbers of Lithuanians emigrated to the United States in 1867–1868 after a famine in Lithuania. Between 1868 and 1914, approximately 635,000 people, almost 20 percent of the population, left Lithuania.Lithuanian cities and towns were growing under the Russian rule, but the country remained underdeveloped by the European standards and job opportunities were limited.” (1)
Enter the Narusch Family…
One of the easier things about researching ancestors like Joseph T. Narusch, is that not many people have a name spelled exactly as N A R U S C H. There are variations, such as Narish, or Narusis. They may also be phonetic spellings by immigration officials at Castle Garden, or Ellis Island, who were dealing with a large audience of immigrants. Or there may be families who spell their name that way. We were not able to find any definitive proof of Joseph Thomas Narusch’s arrival path and naturalization into the United States. However, some intriguing clues were found.
We have wondered why they chose Scranton, Pennsylvania as the place they would settle in? It most likely had to do with coal mining, steel manufacturing, and railroads. “How did [the] word of plentiful employment opportunities spread? Agents from the Pennsylvania’s Coal and Railroad Companies traveled throughout eastern and southern Europe, seeking cheap labor. Word spread quickly about the streets of America being paved with gold. These stories hastened the Lithuanians to head towards the ports of Bremen and Hamburg, creating a labor shortage in their own land and prompting the Russian government to prohibit lawful immigration.”
Our narrative begins with Mikolas P. Narusis (Michael P. Narusch), who was born in 1866 in Russia, which Czar Alexander I had annexed about six decades earlier. At the time, it was part of an “erased” Lithuania and Poland.
Mikolas Narusis (Michael P. Narusch) and Anna P. (Hankwicz) Narusus (Anna P. Narusch), date unknown. These are likely colorized daguerreotypes.
In the second year of the Russian Revolution, on 16 February 1918, Lithuania was re-established as a democratic state. From this time forward we start to see Lithuania appearing here-and-there on some documents. However, Russia is still documented and we see a mix of the two countries overlapping each other on records. Perhaps the use of “Lithuania” was a desire to connect with an authentic homeland, and distance oneself from a Czarist / Stalinist Russia.
Mikolas died as Michael P. Narish, in Scranton, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania on May 8, 1927. On his death certificate, his place-of-birth is identified as Lithuania. The certificate was signed by Anthony Narusch, his son. Also, on this certificate it indicates that Michael Narusch father’s name was George Narish. We do not have any other information on the father George.
Michael was married to Anna (Hankricz) Narusis — there is no information on a marriage date. Anna’s birth year was 1868 and she was born in (Russia) Lithuania. She died on November 10, 1938 (as Anna Narish) in Scranton, Pennsylvania. A note on their estimated year(s) of birth: Their first child was born in 1881. If the dates are correct, Michael would have been 15 and Anna 13, when this child was born. These ages are confirmed by their respective death certificates, but, is it probable they were that young?
The Narusch family tree names eight children born to the couple, but only gives information about Joseph T. Narusch. The information below about his siblings is derived from other records, (see footnotes).
Joseph Thomas Narusch — born on September 17, 1881. His birthplace has been identified by others in a couple of locations. From our research, the most logical location seems to be in (present day spellingand location): Mikyciai (village), Lazdijai (municipal district), Altus (County), Russia (Lithuania). This village is located in the southwest corner of Lithuania, about 12 miles from the border with Poland.Joseph died on August 24, 1954 in Akron, Ohio. He is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery, Akron, Ohio.
Anthony Narish — born August 26, 1885 (likely) in Mikyciai, Russia; died October 2, 1969 (likely) in Scranton, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania
William Narish — born March 4, 1888 (likely) in Mikyciai, Russia; died February 9, 1926 in San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas
Peter Narish — born 1888, (likely) in Mikyciai, Russia; death date and location unknown Observation: Brothers William and Peter were both born in 1888. Were they actual twins, or “Irish twins” meaning, they were siblings born in the same year.
Frank Narish — born June 3, 1895 in Scranton, Pennsylvania; died April 7, 1966, at the same location
Eva “Effie” (Narish) Kerchowskas — born about 1897 in Scranton, Pennsylvania; died in 1933 at the same location
Paul Narish — born January 24, 1899 in Scranton, Pennsylvania; died March 4, 1977 in San Diego, San Diego County, California
Anna (Narish) Staninas — born about 1900 in Scranton, Pennsylvania; death date and location unknown
On the 1930 United States census for Joseph Thomas Narish, who is living in Akron, Summit County, Ohio — he indicates that the family left Russia and immigrated to America in 1890. In the same census, his brother Anthony states 1891. We have not been able to determine what port they came through. (2)
Their New Life in The United States
Scranton, Pennsylvania, circa early 1900s.
The family settled in Scranton, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, and our history continues with Joseph Thomas Narusch.
In 1903, Joseph is working as a brakeman for the railroads. Then in 1904, he is working in the same city as a bartender at the M P Narusch Saloon, likely owned by his father. Over the years, the general occupation of Joseph was related to working for the railroads.
Michael P Narusch, Lackawanna, Pennsylvania, U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995, (ancestry.com).
In 1906, Joseph was living in Meadville, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, not far from the Ohio state line. On July 17, 1906, Joseph Narusch and Janet J. Klinginsmith were married in Meadville. Janette was from the town of Orangeville, Trumbull County, Ohio – which is on the Ohio / Pennsylvania state line. (We don’t know why her surname is written as Klinginsmith on the wedding document. Her family name is Klinesmith. If you examine their wedding certificate carefully, there is one consistent style of handwriting throughout. Perhaps someone was filling it out for them? More likely, Joseph and Janette hadn’t the ability to read and write. Being reliant on others, perhaps it didn’t occur to them to verify her name?)
Soon, Janette was expecting a baby. Unfortunately, they had an unnamed child who died from premature birth on April 1, 1907. In the 1910 Census, they are living with Janet’s parents in Hartford, Trumbull County, Ohio, not far from Orangeville. “Railroad” is listed as his occupation. In 1912, he is back in Meadville and working as a brakeman for the railroad. On June 23, 1913, having been married for seven years, Joseph and Janet (Klinesmith) Narusch were divorced in Mercer County, Pennsylvania.
Joseph Thomas Narusch, circa 1906 and Inez M. Cole, date unknown.
In 1914, Joseph was working on the railroad in Corry, Erie County, Pennsylvania. We do not know when or where he met his future wife Inez M. Cole, but we do have a record of their marriage. Joseph and Inez M. Cole were married on May 23, 1914 in Jamestown, Chautauqua, New York. Inez was the daughter of Frank Kiser Cole and Maude (Hurlburt) Cole.(3)
Frank Kiser Cole and Maude Hurlbert, of the Cole Family
Frank Kiser Cole, was born on November 6, 1863 in Mina, Chautauqua County, New York. On the 1865 New York State census, the Cole family is living in the same town. Frank’s father was Elisha Cole, who was born in 1824 in Herkimer County, New York. His mother, Lucy A. Bailey was born in 1827 in Chautauqua County, New York. There are six children listed on the 1865 census: William, age 17; James, age 13; Emily, age 11; Ida, age 6; Eva, age 4 and Frank, age one. Fifteen years later on the 1880 United States Census all of the children, except the eldest William, are still living at home. Frank is 16 years old and is listed as going to school.
1882 Bird’s eye view of the village of Jamestown, Chautauqua County, New York. Drawn by H. Brosius & A. F. Poole. Beck & Pauli, lithographers.
On the 1880 census, the Hurlbert family is living in Corry, Erie County, Pennsylvania and Maude Herlbert is 10 years old. She was born in July 1870. Her father is William Hurlbert, whose occupation is listed as a molder. (From the website, Family Tree Researcher, Dictionary of Old Occupations: “Moulder: a person who carved stone, a skilled occupation. The occupational term evolved to include casting iron”). He was 42 years old, born about 1838 in Canada, as were both of his parents. Maude’s mother is Mary (maiden name unknown) Hurlbert. Mary was 27 years old, born about 1853 in Pennsylvania. She indicates that her father was also born in Pennsylvania and her mother was born in New York. Other information about her parents is unknown. On this census we learn there is a 15 years age difference between William and Mary Hurlbert. Given that Maude was 10 years old in 1880, her mother would have been about 17 and her father 32 when she was born. Also listed on the census are two additional children: Claud(e) age 8, born 1872, and Pearl age one, born 1889.
Frank Kiser Cole, age 24 married Maude Hurlbert, age 18 on November 1, 1888 in Jamestown, Chautauqua, New York. Their first child, Hazel Irene Cole was born in 1889, and died in 1892.Their son, Ray F., was born in 1891, and died in 1918 at age 27, from the Spanish flu epidemic. Their second daughter was born in 1893, and they named her Irene Hazel, perhaps in honor of her sister. The last child born into this family is Inez M. Cole, born on May 5, 1895.
On October 31, 1900 Inez’s mother, Maude (Hurlbert) Cole, died age 30. Her cause of death is unknown. Frank Cole was now widowed with three young children. Three years later, on September 2, 1903, he married Marjorie E. Johnston, of Harrisburg, Brant County, Ontario, Canada. They were married in Jamestown, New York.
Frank Kiser Cole, circa 1888.
Frank and Marjorie (Johnston) Cole were married for a truly short time. On April 20, 1904, Frank Kiser Cole, age 40, died of gastroenteritis. Married for less than a year, Marjorie Cole was now raising her step-children alone. In 1914, when Inez married Joseph Narusch, she named Marjorie as her mother on their marriage certificate. It is quite possible that she barely remembered her birth mother, Maude (Hurlbert) Cole. However, in 1943 on the Social Security Application & Claims Index, Inez (Cole) Narusch’s mother is listed as Maude Hurlbert.
In 1919, Marjorie (Johnston) Cole went on to marry Henry Dallenbach.(4)
The Nine Children of Joseph and Inez (Cole) Narusch
Joseph and Inez had a very large family, many of them eventually settled in the Ohio, but one son went to live as far away as Alaska. The son who carries the Narusch line forward in this narrative is: Thomas Joseph Narusch.
Thomas Joseph Narusch, circa 1938.
Thomas Joseph Narusch was born on Nov. 20, 1914 in Corry, Erie County, Pennsylvania He died on September 27, 1972 in Chardon, Geauga, Ohio. He was married to Mary Schott. Thomas and Mary are buried in the All Souls Cemetery in Chardon, Geauga County, Ohio.
Francis “Frank” Joseph Narusch was born on March 6, 1916 in Scranton, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania. He died on May 2, 1966 in Alaska. He was married to Valaria E. Lashinski.
Joseph Narusch was born on May 12, 1917 in Akron, Summit County, Ohio. He died on November 5, 1918 in Akron, Ohio, age 1.5 years old. His cause of death was from bronchial pneumonia, as a consequence of having had the flu. The timing of his death coincides with the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic.
Anna Narusch was born in 1918 in Akron, Ohio. She died on January 27, 1923 in Akron, at age 4. She should be listed on the 1920 Census, but we cannot locate a 1920 Census record for Joseph and Inez Narusch.
Michael John Joseph Narusch was born on October 2, 1921 in Akron, Ohio. He died on January 19, 1988 in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio. He was married to Doris Ann McDaniels. Michael and Doris are buried in All Souls Cemetery in Chardon, Ohio.
Paul W. Narusch was born on November 7, 1924 in Akron, Ohio. He died on January 30, 1998 in Akron, Ohio. He was married to Marilyn J. Vereshack.
James Thomas Narusch was born on July 16, 1926 in Akron, Ohio. He died on October 12, 1977 in Painesville, Lake County, Ohio. He was married to Beverly J. Shook. James and Beverly are buried in All Souls Cemetery in Chardon, Ohio.
Eva Mae (Narusch) Shook Stahl was born on December 16, 1927 (likely) in Akron, Ohio. She was married to Donald C. Shook, brother of Beverly Shook, who was married to James Narusch. She was also married to David T. Stahl. Eva Mae died in 2015, location unknown.
Mary Helen (Narusch) Allshouse was born on April 13, 1929 in Akron, Ohio. She died on January 3, 1990 in Calaveras County, California. She was married to James Allshouse. (5)
Joseph and Inez Build a Life Together in Akron, Ohio
In 1918, Joseph and Inez Narusch were living at 532 Spalding Ave, Akron, Summit County, Ohio. On his WW I Draft Registration Card, he identifies himself as a Brakeman for the Erie Railroad. He is 37 years old, described as tall, slender, with brown eyes, and dark brown hair.
The United States established diplomatic relations with Lithuania on July 28, 1922. A poster from Lithuania celebrating the recognition of Lithuania by the United States.
Many Lithuanians, who, as part of a global diaspora from Europe, relocated as immigrants to the Akron area. “In 1920 the top immigrant groups in Akron were Germans, Hungarians, Austrians, and Russians… The immigrants during this period formed social organizations, clubs, and churches. They settled in ethnic neighborhoods, often near the booming rubber factories that were giving Akron its claim to fame as the “Rubber Capital of the World.” There was a Polish-American club on Glenwood Avenue, and Hungarian and German Clubs on Grant Street. Many of these clubs and organizations still exist. The immigrants also held picnics, parades and other cultural affairs to celebrate their cultural heritages. Most of the immigrants of the period eventually moved out of these ethnic areas by the second generation.”
Most of the information we have been able to learn from the family comes from census material. Throughout the history of the census, the questions asked can vary from one decade to the next. The 1930 census offers the most information about Joseph Narusch’s background. In this census he tells us that he immigrated to the United States in 1890. (His brother Anthony states it was 1891.) He would have been nine years old. It is fair to assume that he came to the United States with his parents, and perhaps some siblings, even though we have been unable to confirm, with documentation, when and where they immigrated. The census states that he was a naturalized citizen by 1930.
The 1930 census further tells us that the family still lived in Akron, and that Joseph owned his home which was valued at $4000. One of the questions asked was “Is there a Radio Set in the home”? [This question was asked to learn how many homes had electricity in 1930]. They reported no. At that time television was unavailable, so the radio was the major form of communication. He reports his, and his parents, place of birth as Lithuania. They spoke Lithuanian at home before they came to the United States. Joseph’s occupation is as an engineer for the Quaker Oats Company. He most likely transported Quaker Oats products, or materials to make the products, by train. There are seven surviving children living at home. Two of the children had died: Joseph in 1918, Anna in 1922.
In the 1940 Census, the family continues to live in Akron and five of the children are still living at home. The oldest two brothers, Thomas and Francis Narusch, are located on other 1940 census. New information in this census tells us that Joseph attended school through 5th grade and Inez went through 7th grade. In this census, Joseph is 58 and does not list an occupation. He is selected for supplementary questioning and he lists his “usual occupation” as a steam engineer for the Quaker Oats Rubber Company.
Front page of the Akron Beacon Journal newspaper, December 8, 1941.
America declared war on December 8, 1941 after Japan attacked the United States Navy in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii territory. In 1942, Joseph registers for the Draft for WW II. He is 61 years old. It was very patriotic to register and enlist in the armed services. Several of his sons served in WW II. There is no evidence that Joseph Narusch actually joined one of the services.
Inez (Cole) Narusch died May 5, 1944 in Akron, Ohio of a cerebral hemorrhage due to cardio-vascular and renal disease. She is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery. Akron, Ohio. Joseph Thomas Narusch died on August 24, 1954 in Akron, Ohio. He is also buried in Holy Cross Cemetery. We were unable to locate his death certificate. (6)
Thomas Joseph — The Oldest NaruschSon, Marries Mary Schott
When Thomas was 23, and his bride Mary was 20, they married on January 4, 1938, in Akron, Ohio.
Marriage record for Thomas Joseph Narusch and Mary Schott. Photocopy provided courtesy of their granddaughter, Catherine Marie (Bond) Brigham.
Mary was born on February 23, 1917 in Akron, Ohio to John and Mary (Muck) Schott. Her birth name is Marie. She grew up in a blended family with three step-brothers: Harry, George, and John Muth. At age 94, Mary died on September 6, 2011, while living in a Long Term Care home in Parma, Ohio.
Top row, left: Thomas and Mary Naurusch with son Tommy, circa 1945. Center: Thomas and Mary, circa 1938. Right: Mary, Thomas, son Tommy, daughter Marjorie, Mary and Henry Muth, with Harry Muth behind. Bottom row, left: Inez M. (Cole) Narusch and Joseph Thomas Narusch, circa 1914. Right: Inez and Joseph Thomas, circa 1942.
After their marriage, Thomas and Mary lived in Shaker Heights, Ohio. On the 1940 Census they are living with the Athel Wood family. Mr. Wood was the general manager of the Cleveland Slag Manufacturing Company. He and his wife, Alice Wood, had three children ages 12, 4, and 11 months. Mary is listed as a servant in the Wood home where she (most probably) helped with the children. Thomas Narusch is listed as a fireman at the same slag manufacturing company where Mr. Wood worked. The census identifies them as high school graduates. Thomas’s salary was $1200 and Mary’s was $300. While they were living in Shaker Heights, Thomas registered for the World War II draft.
They moved back to Akron where on April 7, 1942 their daughter, Marjorie Ann Narusch was born. Their son, Thomas Michael Narusch was born on April 21, 1945. At age 14 Thomas Joseph Narusch died of leukemia on February 29, 1960. He is buried in All Souls Cemetery, Chardon, Geauga County, Ohio.
At some point the family moved to Newbury, Ohio where Marge and Tommy attended Newbury School.
Marge graduated from Newbury High School in 1959 and was married on October 28, 1961 to John Alfred Bond. John was born on December 18, 1940 in Bedford, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, to Clarence Arthur “Art” Peterman Jr., and Marguerite (Gore) Peterman. After Art and Marguerite divorced, John was adopted by Marguerite’s second husband Dean Phillip Bond. (See The Bond Line, A Narrative — Seven).
Four generations together: Foreground: Marjorie Ann (Narusch) Bond, John Alfred Bond, Second row, left: Mary (Schott) Narusch, Thomas Narusch, Mary (Muck) Muth Schall, holding Linda Christine Bond, Betty (Hines) Peterman Lemr, holding Catherine Marie (Bond) Brigham, Frank Lemr, circa December 1963. Photograph provided courtesy of their great-granddaughter Heidi Louise (Bond) Lahammer
On November 29, 1977, John and Marge Bond were divorced in Geauga County, Ohio. Marjorie Ann (Narusch) Bond passed away on April 25, 2022 from renal failure. She is buried at All Souls Cemetery in Chardon, Ohio. (7)
John Alfred Bond and Marjorie Ann (Narusch) Bond had five children:
Linda Christine Bond, born 1962
Catherine Marie (Bond) Brigham, born 1963
Heidi Louise (Bond) Lahammer, born 1964
Holly Annette (Bond) Territ Bond, born 1967
John Patrick Bond, born 1970
Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials, Notes, and Observations
Maude Hurbbert in the 1880 United States Federal Census Pennsylvania > Erie > Corry > 142 https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/37313828:6742 Book page: 6, Digital page: 6/58, Left page, entries 15 through 19. Note: This census determines her birth year.
Family Researcher Dictionary of Old Occupations Definitions of jobs Monger – Mustarder > Moulder https://www.familyresearcher.co.uk/glossary/Dictionary-of-Old-Occupations-Index.html Note: “Moulder: earliest use was as a person who carved stone, a skilled occupation. The occupational term evolved to include casting iron. Is also a pottery industry term for a Presser.”
Ray F. Cole Death – New York, Church and Civil Deaths, 1797-1963 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99KT-29L6 Digital page: 1234/1726 Note: On this certificate, Ray’s mother is listed as Maude Colburn Cole. We believe that this is an error, and that Colburn was not her middle name.
Irene Hazel Cole Mentioned in the Record of Frederick S Propheter (Irene Hazel Cole’s Husband) Marriage – New York, County Marriages, 1778-1848; 1908-1937 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9Q97-YS89-H37?i=354&cc=1618491 Digital page: 1459/1998 Note: This document informs us of her age, to infer her birth year. and here: Frederick S Prophetre Marriage – New York, County Marriages, 1778-1848; 1908-1937 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FF5B-1FX Book page: 620, Digital page: 354/566, Left page, left column, entry 1, #3096.
Thomas Joseph Narusch, 1973 obituary. Photocopy provided courtesy of his granddaughter, Catherine Marie (Bond) Brigham.Francis “Frank” Narusch, date unknown.
Marjorie Ann (Narusch) Bond, date unknown.Transcribed text from Marjorie Ann Bond obituary, published in 2022, in the Geauga CountyMaple Leaf newspaper.
The following four documents are related to the adoption of John Alfred (Peterman) Bond by Dean Phillip Bond in 1948. The original documents were lost and in 1985, duplicate documents were sourced.
June 1985, Letter from Daniel Earl Bond to Clarence Arthur Peterman, Jr. requesting cooperation in providing evidence for adoption(s) of Jo Ann (Peterman) Bond by Dean Phillip Bond. (Family document).1985 Telephone notes from Daniel Earl Bond’s correspondence with Clarence Arthur Peterman, Jr. Note: “She said she thinks he decided not to execute the form.”Authorization form for adoption document duplicate.John Alfred Bond adoption form (duplicate).
Something to share… In a blog about family genealogy, it is not often that one encounters something so personal about a family member. After she had passed on, I wrote a letter to the children of my former sister-in-law Marjorie Ann (Narusch) Bond. I have decided to share it for posterity, because it captures many of the simple details and nuances we pass through in Life, and these things don’t normally appear in a blog of this kind. (There are four pages which follow).
A polyglot is defined as a person who can speak and use many languages. (Neither of us are a polyglot — Heavens, no!) However, it seems that many of our ancestors are from parts of the world where, over time, there were many different cultures in charge depending upon the era. “The noun polity refers to a political group of any size or shape— it can be a government, a state, a country, or even a social group. When you hear the word polity, think politics and you’re on the right track.” Maybe it’s time to coin a new word: poly-polity.
From the Celtics, to the Romans, to the Mongols… and so forth
“The history of Budapest began when an early Celtic settlement transformed into the Roman town of Aquincum, the capital of Lower Pannonia. At the time, the settlement was at the edge of the Roman Empire. The Hungarians arrived in the territory in the late 9th century, but the area was pillaged by the Mongols in 1241–42. Over the centuries, the area became known as Buda.
Location of Aquincum within the Roman Empire. (Image courtesy of Wikipedia).
It became one of the centers for Italian Renaissance culture by the 15th century, [which] was particularly significant during the reign of King Matthias Corvinus. His library, the Bibliotheca Corviniana, was Europe’s greatest collection of historical chronicles and philosophic and scientific works in the 15th century, and second in size only to the Vatican library. After the foundation of the first Hungarian university in Pécs in 1367, the second one was established in Óbuda in 1395. The first Hungarian book was printed in Buda in 1473, [and it had] about 5,000 inhabitants around 1500.
Buda during the Middle Ages, woodcut from the Nuremberg Chronicle (1493). (Image courtesy of Wikipedia).
The Ottoman Turks conquered Buda in 1526, as well in 1529, and finally occupied it in 1541. Turkish rule lasted for more than 150 years. The unoccupied western part of the country became part of the Habsburg monarchy as Royal Hungary.
The 19th century was dominated by the Hungarian struggle for independence and modernisation. The national insurrection against the Habsburgs began in the Hungarian capital in 1848 and was defeated one and a half years later, with the help of the Russian Empire. 1867 was the year of [the] Reconciliation that brought about the birth of the Austro-Hungarian Empire… After the unification of Buda, Óbuda, and Pest on November 17, 1873, with the name Budapest given to the new capital, [which] made Budapest the twin capital of a dual monarchy. The Austro-Hungarian Empire [was] dissolved in 1918, following [the end of] WW I.” (1)
Mary Muck Immigrates to America
Our ancestor Maria Muck, was born on April 4, 1896, in Bogyiszló, Pest-Pilis-Solt-Kiskun, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. (Present day Budapest, Hungary). Her parents were Pál (Paul) Muck and Erszébet (Elizabeth), last name unknown. We really don’t know anything about her parents. Her baptismal name is Maria, but it seems she became Mary upon her arrival in America.
The steamer Lapland, courtesy of ancestry.com.
Mary immigrated to America on the steamer ship Lapland leaving from Antwerp, Belgium on November 20, 1913, and arriving at Ellis Island, New York on December 8, 1913. Closely examining the immigration document from Ellis Island, it appears she traveled with three other young women: Rosalina Urspringer, Maria Schmidt, and Maria Shiener.
Historical Observation — One can see in the postcard image above, as stated, that they had sailed on the Red Star Line steamer ship, the Lapland. This was in 1913. During our research, we discovered that this particular ship had been designated in April 1912 (the previous year), for a special sailing. It returned the 172 surviving crew members of the R.M.S. Titanic, from New York City, to Plymouth, England. (See footnotes).
Returning to Maria and her fellow travelers — all four claimed Bikacs, Hungary, as their last permanent address. Each listed themselves as a servant ranging in ages from 18 to 22, and all were single. Lastly, all four identified Akron, Ohio, as their final destination for permanent residence. There are two categories in which they gave the same answer—
Nationality (country): Hungary Race or People: German
The original document found online is slightly trimmed off at the bottom, but in the notes section it indicates that a cousin, Konrad Hartenstein, was Mary’s contact in Akron. Researching that name, we found a Konrad Hartenstein who immigrated to America from Hungary in 1910. He was a 31 year old man whose destination was also Akron, Ohio. What brought them both to Akron, Ohio? It may have been the opportunity to work in one of the thriving rubber companies: Goodyear Rubber Co., Goodrich Rubber Co., or Firestone.
The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, The General Tire and Rubber Company, The B.F. Goodrich Rubber Company, early 20th century. (Images ourtesy of bonanza.com).
“What might be called the ‘first wave’ of Hungarians to Akron and Summit County occurred in mid 1890s and continued up until the First World War when a lull in European immigration occurred. During this time period, only the Germans, Irish, and Italians sent more immigrants to the U.S. than those from the Austria-Hungary Empire. The vast majority of these initial immigrants from Hungary were unskilled laborers and were met with suspicion and the derisive American slang epithet of ‘Hunkie’.
By November of 1911, the Beacon Journal was trumpeting the fact that Akron was the home of 6,000 Hungarians known as the ‘Akron Colony,’ and they formed ‘the larger part of the foreign population’ within the city… Akron, with its expanding factories and corresponding constant demand for additional laborers, …that “not a day passes but that Hungarians from across the seas locate in Akron.” (2)
Hungarian immigrants celebrating the sunflower harvest in [nearby] Cleveland, 1913. (Image courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org).
John Schott, the Young Widower
On the immigration document Mary identified herself as a servant, but it appears she eventually became a rubber worker. That is the occupation she named on the marriage application when she married John Schott. We don’t know specifically when, or where, Mary Muck met John Schott, but it seems logical that they met through their work. Both of them worked within the community of people who worked at the numerous Akron rubber plants. John Schott was a young widower. He had married Teres Mandl on October 13, 1914. We have no further records on her, but we know that she died within the first year of their marriage. John indicated that on his marriage document with Mary, that Teres was no longer living.
Three years after her arrival, Mary and John were married on November 12, 1915 in Akron, Ohio. Their daughter Mary Schott was born on February 23, 1917. She was only eight months old when her father died on October 12, 1917. His death certificate indicates that he died aged 21 years, 4 months, 27 days. John’s cause of death was general septicemia (a bacterial blood infection), complicated by emphysema.
Mary was now a 23 year old widow with a daughter to raise. (3)
Six Months Later She Married Henry Muth
Hendrick (Harry) Muth immigrated to America in 1907 when he was 17 years old. He traveled on the ship Bluecher departing from Hamburg, Germany. On the ship’s manifest he identifies his previous location as Ketfel, Hungary. At the time, the town was on the Austria-Hungary border, and today it is in Romania. For an unknown reason Henry submitted two Declaration of Intentions documents for naturalization. The first was in 1915 when he lived in Michigan. He may have intended to get his citizenship at that time but did not complete it. The other in 1923, is when he lived in Ohio and eventually did become a citizen. On both naturalization papers he indicates his birth location as Csikóstőttős, Austria-Hungary. While living in Michigan, he did complete a registration card for WW I. He was 5 foot eight inches tall, weighed 154 pounds, had blond/light brown hair and blue grey eyes.
The Bluecher, Hamburg-American line, circa 1902.
Once he arrived in America his whereabouts from 1907 to January 1915 is unknown. Records appear when he marries Karoline Dakart in Michigan.
On January 30, 1915 Henry Muth and Karoline Dakart were married in Detroit, Michigan. She was born in Austria-Hungary in 1894. On November 15, 1915 they had a son, Harry H. Muth, born in Detroit. At some time before March 1917, they moved to Riverdale, Cook County, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. On March 11, 1917, a second son, Leonard Muth was born.
This was both a very joyous and a very sad period of time in Henry Muth’s life. He was married with two sons. Then on December 2, 1917 his wife Karoline died, reason unknown. Two months and a few days later, on February 8, 1918, baby son Leonard died — he was only eleven months old. He also is buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery. After these two deaths, Henry and his son Harry moved to Akron, Ohio. Both mother and son are buried in the Mount Olivet Catholic Cemetery in Chicago, Illinois. (4)
A Blended Family
Henry Muth, a widower, and Mary (Muck) Schott, a widow, were married on April 16, 1918, in Akron, Ohio. On their marriage license he names his parents as Phillip Muth and Katherine Keller. Mary names her father as Paul Muck and her mother as Elizabeth Muck. (Our research has not revealed Elizabeth’s maiden name.)
The Muth marriage began with two very young children. Harry Henry Muth was two years, six months and Mary Schott was one year, two months. Two more sons joined the family.
On January 19, 1919, George Muth, a honeymoon baby, was born in Akron, Ohio almost nine months to the day from when his parents married. On January 23, 1922, John Muth was born. This completed the blended Muth family.
In the 1920 census, the family was comprised of Henry and Mary, sons Harry, age 4, George, age 11 months, and daughter Mary Schott, age 3. Henry identified his occupation as a machinist. On all of the future census, Henry will identify his occupation as a machinist. Both Henry and Mary indicated that the language spoken at home was German — they could speak English, but must have preferred speaking German.
By the 1930 census, John has joined the family. This census has a mistake in that their son George is identified as a stepson. His name is listed right after Mary’s who is listed as stepdaughter. Also, Mary’s last name, Schott, is not used on this census as it was on the 1920 Census. We find that there is often inconsistency with some census material. Either the person giving the information, or the person taking it, make mistakes when writing it down.
The information on this census tells us that Henry owned his home which was valued at $7000. He became a naturalized citizen in 1926, but Mary (his wife) was identified as an alien. An undated document from the Department of Labor, Immigration and Naturalization Services has Mary’s birth date, country of birth, date and port of arrival. It is witnessed by George and Eva Kohler and the address is in Cuyahoga Falls, which means it was completed at a later time. The line where a date for naturalization should be filled in is blank. So perhaps, Mary never became a naturalized United States citizen, or someone forgot to fill in the date.
U. S. S. Macon – Navy Blimp and Goodyear Zeppelin Airship Hanger Akron — 1940’s Ohio Vintage Postcard. (Image courtesy of amazon.com).
On the 1940 census, George and John are still living at home with their parents. Daughter Mary is not on the 1940 census because she married Thomas Narusch in 1938. (See our blog post, The Narusch Line, A Narrative.)
Front row: Marjorie Narusch, Carole Muth. Second Row: Mary Muth, Henry Muth, Jo Muth, George Muth. Back Row: Harry Muth, John Muth, circa 1948.
On the 1950 census, just Henry and Mary are living at home. Henry is still working in the rubber industry, as a machinist, molder, and polisher. There are two additional interesting things to note on this census. First, Mary was selected for a few additional questions, which correlated to her entry line 24. Secondly, notice that in column 13, the census asked about place of birth. The next column “Leave Blank B” follows. If you were born in Ohio, the B Column is left blank. If you are born in a state or country outside of Ohio, a code number would be written there. “These codes were added later, after the enumerator had handed in their work, as part of the editing process. After the census data was collected it needed to be translated into codes on punch cards that the machines could read, and then tabulate into statistical information.” The number 126 is beside both of their names with 26 being the code for Hungary. (5)
Harry, George, and John Muth
Harry Muth was not on the 1940 census because he joined the United States Navy in April 1940, before the United States entered WW II. He served in the Navy until May 1962. Harry Muth died in 1993 in California. He and his wife Goldie Marie (Neuenschwander) Muth are buried in the San Joaquin National Cemetery in Merced County, California.
George Muth married Josephine Miller in 1942 in Akron. He joined the Army in 1943 and served until the end of World War II in 1945. George died in Northampton Township, Summit County, Ohio, in 1997.
John Muth joined the United States Navy and served in WW II and the Korean War. In 1956, he married Julia Aswad in Alameda, California and lived the rest of his life in Northern California. He died in 2010, and is buried in the Sacramento Valley National Cemetery in Solano County, California. (6)
The Third Husband, John George Schall, is Also a Widower
On December 15, 1951, Henry Muth died in Akron, Ohio. His cause of death is unknown. He is buried at the Chestnut Hill Memorial Park in Cuyahoga Falls, Cuyahoga County, Ohio.
Four generations together: Foreground: Marjorie Ann (Narusch) Bond, John Alfred Bond, Second row, left: Mary (Schott) Narusch, Thomas Narusch, Mary (Muck) Muth Schall, holding Linda Christine Bond, Betty (Hines) Peterman Lemr, holding Catherine Marie (Bond) Brigham, Frank Lemr, circa December 1963. Photograph provided courtesy of their great-granddaughter > granddaughter > daughter Heidi Louise (Bond) Lahammer
One can surmise that Mary (Muck) Schott Muth liked being married to Hungarian gentlemen, and that the ones who came her way, were widowers. She married a third time to John George Schall on October 19, 1953, in Akron, Ohio. John was a widower whose wife Elizabeth (Binder) Schall, died about 1952. They moved to Whittier, California where Mary died on November 25, 1965. She is buried in Chestnut Hill Memorial Park with her second husband, Henry Muth, in Cuyahoga Falls, Cuyahoga County, Ohio. John George Schall died on August 23, 1970, in Whittier, and is buried at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, Los Angeles County, California. (7)
Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials, Notes, and Observations
(Click on the image above). What Happened to Titanic’s Surviving Crew After the Sinking? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_swzJ4Jvl_Y Note: For the story of the R.M.S. Titanic crew.
John Schott in the Summit County, Ohio, U.S., Marriage Records, 1840-1980 915-1924, Volumes 26-43 > Vol 26 (p. 292-end)-Vol 27 (p. 1-507, cont), 1915-1916 https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2145/images/4441426_00350?pId=148987 Book page: 162, Digital page: 344/592, Left page, entry 1. Note: For his second marriage in 1915 to Mary Muck.
Mary Schott, 1917 birth registration. Photocopy provided courtesy of her granddaughter, Catherine Marie (Bond) Brigham.
Johann Schott (gravesite) https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/119756345/johann-schott Notes: Translation from German: Here lies Johann Schott Husband of Maria [Muck] Schott, Father of Maria [Mary, daughter] Schott, Born on 21 July 1896, Died on 12 October 1917
Henry Muth Migration • Ohio, County Naturalization Records, 1800-1977 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QG1L-DHTS Book page: 117, Digital page: 524/861, See right page. Note: For his second naturalization application, 1923-1926.
This is Chapter Two of seven: There’s a lot to write about! In this part, we will cover Our Earliest History up to and including Penryn, Cornwall, England.
Preface: Let’s Begin with Bond Street in London
Our parents were not world travelers. Outside of my father’s experiences as a WW II sailor in the Pacific Theater, and some trips to Ontario, Canada, they seemed to be the most comfortable traveling within the mainland USA. In 1988, I (Thomas) volunteered to be their chaperone if they would come to London for a week, to see some places involved with their family heritage. So they came.
We called our father “Pop”. Our parents were simply Mom and Pop.
Dean Phillip Bond in London England, 1988. (Family photograph).
Pop had always embraced his Irish heritage; our Mom, her English roots. He desired to be All Things Irish, but that was truly only a part of him. For both of them, Britain itself played the largest role.
One day we found ourselves in the very posh Mayfair District, seeking out a place we had learned of — Bond Street. To our delight, we saw that there were actually two sections: Old Bond Street and New Bond Street. Pop stood on the old side, I stood on the new side, and we reached out and hugged each other. He was tickled pink.
— Thomas
Bond Street in the Mayfair District of London, England. (Image courtesy of wikipedia.org).
The story about London’s Bond Street is emblematic of how family histories are always about connecting the old with the new. The old path merges with the new path, both united, always following time’s arrow in one direction. By glancing backward, we seek to try and discern clues about our fleeting, ever-receding past.
Introduction: Our Ancient Origins
Located at the fringes of Europe, Britain received European technological and cultural developments much later than Southern Europe and the Mediterranean region did, during prehistory. By around 4000 BC, the island was populated by people with a Neolithic culture. No written language of the pre-Roman inhabitants of Britain is known; therefore, the history, culture and way of life of pre-Roman Britain are known mainly through archeological finds. [This] evidence demonstrates that ancient Britons were involved in extensive maritime trade and cultural links with the rest of Europe from the Neolithic onwards, especially by exporting tin that was in abundant supply.
Recent archeological evidence (based on measuring specific isotopes found in tin), has revealed that ancient tin ingots found in Israel — prove the metal was mined in Cornwall as long ago as 2000 BC. Through trade routes from thousands of years ago, these ingots ended up in the far eastern Meiterranean. There is some current controversy over whether the Phoenicians had ever reached Britain, and that is for others to settle. As always, new evidence sometimes takes a while to be accepted. They may have gotten there…certainly someone did. (1)
The earliest known reference to the inhabitants of Britain was by Pytheas, a Greek geographer who made a voyage of exploration around the British Isles between 330 and 320 BC.
Wikipedia, Pytheas of Massalia
Although none of his own writings remain, writers during the time of the Roman Empire made much reference to Britons. Pytheas called the people of Britain the Pretanoí or Bretanoí. Pliny’s Natural History (77 AD) says the older name for the island was Albion, and Avenius calls it insula Albionum, “island of the Albions”.
The Latin name for the Britons was Britanni. The last centuries before the Roman invasion saw an influx of Celtic speaking refugees from Gaul ,[modern-day description: generally where France meets Belgium], who were displaced as the Roman Empire expanded around 50 BC. They settled along most of the coastline of southern Britain between about 200 BC and 43 AD, although it is hard to estimate what proportion of the population they formed there. In the first century BC, Roman leader Julius Caesar reported that the Gauls called themselves ‘Celts’ — Thus whether it was given to them by others or not, it was used by the Celts themselves.
The southwest peninsular location of the Cornovii. (Image courtesy of vividmaps.com/roman-britain).
In pre-Roman times, Cornwall was part of the kingdom of Dumnonia. The ancient Britons formed a series of tribes, cultures and identities: the Dumnonii and Cornovii were the Celtic tribes who inhabited what was to become Cornwall during the Iron Age, Roman, and post-Roman periods. The map above shows the Cornovii tribe in the southwest peninsula of “England”, now known as Cornwall.
The Cornovii, who Become The Cornish People
The Sack of Rome in the year 410 prompted a complete Roman departure from Britain, and Cornwall then experienced an influx of Celtic Christian missionaries from Ireland who had a profound effect upon the early Cornish people, their culture, faith, and architecture. These first centuries after the Romans left are known as the age of the saints. The ensuing decline of the Roman Empire encouraged the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain. The Angles, Jutes, Frisia, and Saxons, Germanic peoples from northern [mostly coastal] Europe, established petty kingdoms and settled in different regions of what was to become England, and parts of southern Scotland.
Historically, the Anglo-Saxon period denotes the period in Britain between about 450 and 1066. The early Anglo-Saxon period includes the creation of an English nation, of which many aspects still survive today, including regional government by shires and counties (also known as hundreds). During this period, Christianity was established and there was a flowering of literature and language. Charters and law were also established. The term Anglo-Saxon is popularly used for the language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons in England and southeastern Scotland from at least the mid-5th century until the mid-12th century. It is more commonly called Old English. (2)
The Norsemen, The Danes, and The Vikings
The Viking Age in Scandinavian history is recorded as the period from 793, the earliest record of the first Danish sea raids on England by Norsemen, lasting until the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. At that time, the present day nations of Norway, Sweden and Denmark did not exist… Those who came to the British Isles have been generally referred to as Vikings [from Scandinavia]. However, some scholars debate whether the term Viking represented all settlers, or just those who raided England and other countries.
In the 700s, Frankish and English records of political, military, and economic interactions with the north, describe the Danes as one people ruled by a king, and Denmark as comprising the peninsula of Jutland, all the islands, and Scania [part of Sweden]. A unified realm was initiated by King Harald I Fairhair in the 9th century. His efforts in unifying the petty kingdoms of Norway resulted in the first known Norwegian central government.
The Age of Viking Voyages. Notes the years indicated on the orange boxes. Bright green: territories, and bright blue: sailing routes
Sabine Baring-Gould writes in his Family Names and Their Meaning:
“It is now generally recognized that the name Bonde… (plural Bonder) was not originally a family name; but was the designation of a class of Norse landholders.
“The old Norse Bonde was the man in highest position after the Earl. He was the free-holder responsible to none save the Earl. It was because [King] Harold Fairhair resolved on introducing the feudal tenure of land into Norway, that a great exodus of the Bonder took place; and they migrated and colonized Iceland and the Faroe Isles.
Bonders emigrated to England from Scandinavian with, or as, Vikings. They may have arrived as early as the 800’s and became landholders. They lived among the people and became “English”. At the onset of the Norman Conquest in 1066 they were initially overwhelmed in a common ruin with the Saxons and other tribes. However, not for long; within in a generation or two they adjusted to Norman rule, reestablished themselves and began to identify by the old class title: Bond.
Observations: This establishes that the Bond name and its variations, was present throughout England in the centuries before the Norman Conquest, and that many of them were landholders during the Anglo-Saxon period. It is reasonable to assume that some of these Bond(ers) ended up in Cornwall.
The Anglo-Saxons referred to Cornwall as West Wales, to distinguish it from North Wales (modern-day Wales). The Saxons, of the Kingdom of Wessex, were expanding their territory westwards toward Cornwall. The Cornish were frequently embattled with the West Saxons, until King Athelstan of England, 927-939, determined that the River Tamar would become the formal boundary between the West Saxons and the Cornish in the year 936, making Cornwall one of the last retreats of the older Britons that encouraged the development of a distinct Cornish identity.
Arrival in England scene [39] from the Bayeux Tapestry, depicting ships grounding and horses landing. (Image courtesy of wikipedia.org).
The Norman Conquest of England, which began with an invasion by the troops of William, Duke of Normandy (King William I of England) in 1066, resulted in the removal of the Anglo-Saxon derived monarchy, aristocracy, and clerical hierarchy. It was replaced by Normans, Scandinavian Vikings from northern France and their Breton allies where they maintained rule in the Brittonic-speaking parts of the conquered lands. England would come to absorb the Normans, but the Cornish [Cornwall] “vigorously resisted” their influence.
The Normans themselves were descendants of those Vikings who had been given feudal over-lordship of areas in northern France, namely the Duchy of Normandy, in the 10th century. In that respect, descendants of the Vikings continued to have an influence in northern Europe.
William I the Conqueror with Battle Abbey, courtesy of the British Library.
Edward The Confessor died in January 1066 after a reign of 23 years as King of England. Edward was childless and had no heir to the throne. After his death there were several claimants to the English throne. Harold Godwinson, Harald Hardrada, King of Norway and Duke William II of Normandy. William was a first cousin once-removed of Edward the Confessor. Harold Godwinson repelled Hardrada and claimed the throne for 282 days. Duke William II of Normandy invaded England and defeated Harold at the Battle of Hastings in October 1066. He became William the Conqueror and King William I of England.
The Domesday Book
Oxford Reference defines the Domesday Book as “A survey of property in England conducted in 1086. Conceived by William I, but probably to some extent based on pre-Conquest administrative records, it was the most comprehensive assessment of property and land ever undertaken in medieval Europe. Its purpose was to maximize the revenues from the land tax…” The holdings / estates that became connected to the Bond families are mentioned in two places. Note: We have included these references to demonstrate that there were Bond, Bonde, Le Bonde, Bondi, Bondu etc., families present before the Norman invasion and that these families already had long histories in England.
The Domesday Book was a comprehensive survey and record of all the landowners, property, tenants and serfs of medieval Norman England. It was compiled in 1086-7 under the orders of William the Conqueror (r. 1066-87).
The Domesday Book established that the “Bondi” [derived from Bonder] family in [the future Wiltshire county] were endowed with ancient land holdings. At that time the recognition of land ownership gave them rights and privileges that were excluded from most other people.
Domesday Book, Folio Wiltshire, page 17, is where we see the name Bondi specifically mentioned.
Fisherton-de-la-mere, Folio Wiltshire, page 17, Domesday Book
Domesday Book, Folio Wiltshire, page 10, is where the Fisherton estate [in Wilts] is specifically mentioned. Lord Roger DeCourseulles (also known as De Courcil) 1030-1121, came to England with William The Conqueror in 1066. In this Folio he is identified as the tenant in chief of Fisherton Delaware, Wiltshire, England. The Lord of Fisherton was surnamed Bondi. Lord Roger’s second son, Hugh Fitz Roger married the Bondi sister and heiress. Upon this marriage their offspring assumed the Bondi name. Note: From Lord Roger’s first son, John de Curichil, the family line eventually leads to Sir Winston Churchill.
Fisherton [Anger], Folio Wiltshire, page 10, Domesday Book
In Cornwall, the Domesday Survey identified that the major landholders were King William I, his half-brother Robert, Count of Mortain and the Bishop of Exeter of Tavistock Abbey. (3)
Slavery, The Feudal System, and the Manor System
Throughout Europe, wartime captives were commonly forced into slavery — something that remained true for the people captured during Viking raids. As European kingdoms transitioned to feudal societies, serfdom began to replace slavery as the main economic and agricultural engine. From Slavery to Tenant Farming — “In England, slaves (or slave families) are recorded at the village level in the Domesday Book (1086). If counted as heads of households, the c. 28,000 slaves made up just over ten percent of the recorded population. In general, slavery was more prevalent in southwest England than in the east of England.” English Christians nominally discontinued owning slaves after the 1066 conquest. It is difficult to be certain about slave numbers, however, since the old Roman word for slave (servus) continued to be applied to unfree people whose status later was reflected by the term serf.
The system of having slaves gave way to the feudal system. It is most assured that our ancestors of the High Middle Ages worked under the feudal system.
From Western European Feudalism — Establishing Order: “By the High Middle Ages… feudalism was completely developed and the Europeans benefited from it. Feudalism established a strong social order that provided protection and safety. Under feudalism, Europeans were linked to each other with promises which helped both parties, up and down in the hierarchy. The feudal system was just like an ecosystem – without one level, the entire system would fall apart. The hierarchies were formed of four main parts: Monarchs, Lords/Ladies (Nobles), Knights, and Peasants/Serfs. Each of the levels depended on each other on their everyday lives.”
From wikipedia.org — “The classic version of feudalism describes a set of reciprocal legal and military obligations which existed among the warrior nobility, revolving around the three key concepts of lords, vassals, and fiefs. In broad terms, a lord was a noble who held land, a vassal was a person who was granted possession of the land by the lord, and the land was known as a fief. In exchange for the use of the fief and protection by the lord, the vassal would provide some sort of service to the lord,” [such as tenant farming, and military service].
Penhallam Manor, with an example of a a 13th century manor house inner courtyard. (Image courtesy of http://www.english-heritage.org).
The feudal system slowly morphed into “manorialism.” Again, from wikipedia.org — “Manorialism, also known as the manor system, was the method of land ownership in parts of Europe, notably England, during the Middle Ages. Its defining features included a large, sometimes fortified manor house in which the lord of the manor and his dependents lived and administered a rural estate, and a population of labourers who worked the surrounding land to support themselves and the lord. Manorialism is sometimes included as part of the feudal system.” (4)
The Bond Family Surname
As explained in the section The Norsemen, The Danes, and The Vikings, the Bond family name has its origins in a class of landholders originally from Scandinavia who settled in England. As a consequence of the Norman Invasion and the purging of Anglo-Saxon culture, some Bond families (through good fortune) retained their land. Some had already transitioned to the use of surnames, which eventually came to be recognized through heraldry.
Sabine Baring-Gould: [An apt example] “Richard, the Bonde immigrant settler, became Richard Bonde [landowner], as the terror of the Norman rule relaxed. The completeness of the catastrophe of the Conquest may be perceived by the total and permanent disappearance of Saxon and Norse personal names.”
Throughout the records and rolls of the 12th and 13th centuries we find [that] all our personal names are Norman. The Saxon seems almost extinct. This lament applies with full force to the Bonds of Cornwall. Thomas, William, Richard, Henry, [and] John repeat themselves generation after generation. …this compliance with Norman custom was really due to a contempt for everything pre-Conquest…
Sabine Baring-Gould, Family Names And Their Story
Ancestry.com also has a good summation of the origins the Bond surname — English: status name for a peasant farmer or husbandman, Middle English bonde (Old English bonda, bunda, reinforced by Old Norse bóndi). The Old Norse word was also in use as a personal name, and this has given rise to other English and Scandinavian surnames alongside those originating as status names.
Sean Connery as James Bond in Dr. No (1962) Definitely not a peasant farmer: So, who’s your favorite Bond?
From A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. I, provides two relevant (but unattributed) references. The first follows:
“Mr. Bond has an old MS. pedigree on vellum, dated 1636, which deduces their descent from a Norman, who came in at the Conquest, and married the daughter and heiress of Bond, of Penryn in Cornwall: and in Andersen’s pedigree, of Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, we find that Hugh Fitz Roger, second son of Roger de Council, (a follower of William the Conqueror, and who obtained from him extensive estates in Somersetshire, Dorsetshire, and Wiltshire, as appears by Domesday ) [circa 1086-1087], espousing the sister and heiress, lord of Fisherton, their offspring assumed the surname and arms of that family, viz sa fess or, and hence came the family of Bond. This Bond (or Bondi as he is called in the Domesday book) appears to have been a Saxon, and is mentioned in that record as holding Fisherton in Wilts, as well as other lordships in Dorset and Somerset, as early as the time of Edward the Confessor.“
Observation:In the first sentence Roger De Courcil is marrying the daughter and heiress of Bond in Penryn, Cornwall. In Collins’s Peerage of England, Roger De Courcil wedded Gertruda, daughter of Sir Guy de Torbay. Then the mention of Hugh Fitz Roger marrying a sister and heiress of Fisherton and taking on the Bondi surname. All of the historical documents we have discovered, go back-and-forth in time with their references. As such, “what happened whenand to whom” from a thousand years ago, can get a little cloudy. (5)
The Emerging Bond Family Lineage in Cornwall and Wilts
Our research has led us to believe that our Bond family line originates to a large extent, in Penryn, Cornwall, England. Cornwall was a distinct and to a great extent, separate part of the kingdom. In 1485, Polydore Vergil, the Italian cleric commissioned by King Henry VII to write a history of England, wrote that “The whole country of Britain is divided into four parts, whereof the one is inhabited by Englishmen, the other of Scots, the third of Welshmen, the fourth of Cornish people … and which all differ among themselves either in tongue, either in manners, or else in laws and ordinances.”
The ancient town of Penryn. (Image courtesy of visionofbritain.org.uk).
Penryn is one of Cornwall’s most ancient towns, located on the southwest coast of Cornwall. The town first appears in the Domesday Book under the name of Trelivel, and was named Penryn in 1216 by the Bishop of Exeter. It was once an important harbor, handling granite and tin, trade to be shipped to other parts of the country and the world, during the medieval period. We don’t know what our Penryn ancestors did for their living over the centuries. It seems likely that some of them could have engaged in some form, with the acquisition and refinement of tin.
At the time that our early Bonds lived there, Penryn was administered by the Bishop of Exeter. He had a manor house and our ancestors most likely were among the people who supported his manor through both trade and tax. (6)
The Two Centuries After William The Conqueror
Two years after the Norman Conquest, in 1068, there was a rebellion in the Southwest (Cornwall), causing King William I, to order that castles be built there. At this time, the Manor of Trematon was in the hands of William’s half-brother Robert, the Count of Mortain. Robert chose for his castle a site about 1-1/2 miles southeast of Trematon village, overlooking the Lynher estuary. The original castle defenses consisted of earthworks and timber palisades — it was built upon the Roman ruins of an earlier fort. Four Norman castles were built in east Cornwall at different periods, at Launceston, Trematon, Restormel, and Tintagel.
Trematon Castle on the River Lynher. (Image courtesy of Magna Britannia, Vol. III, Cornwall, circa 1814).
Trematon Castle became the administrative center for the area, and Robert, (the Count) soon founded and promoted a weekly market outside the castle’s gate. This functioned administratively to focus the population on him charitably. In 1075, Robert ceded the Manor of Trematon to Richard de Valletort, a Norman knight who had fought at the Battle of Hastings.
From the Battle Abbey Roll:
The Battle Abbey Roll , page 138.
Observation: We do not know with certainty if these ancients Bond(s) were Saxon, or Norman, or perhaps a bit of both.
The following text is taken directly from A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. I — “The family of Bond were of great antiquity in the county of Cornwall and are said to have been originally seated at Penryn in that county, but removed thence, at a very early period, to Earth, in the parish of St. Stephens, [near Trematon Castle] an estate they acquired in marriage with the daughter and heiress of a very ancient house, which took its name from that place.” (7)
Our Bond Penryn Ancestors
We have tried to give a bit of history of the possible origins of Bond’s in England. However, we do not have documented records of Bonds until we learn of Robert Bond marrying Elizabeth de Erth in Saltash, Cornwall about 1400. Below are some references to Bonds found in family trees in Ancestry and/or Family Search. Without actual source material it is difficult to know the exact nature of our early ancestors.
The early Penryn ancestors (without sources) are listed below interspersed with important historical points:
1. John Le Bond I, born est. 1220
Observations: John LeBond is generally recognized as the progenitor of the Bond family line in Cornwall, but there are almost no verifiable records of him. It is interesting to note that his surname begins with ‘Le’. Could this be a Norman influence? Interestingly, in the Cornish language there is a word Laë , which means “High”. Perhaps Le Bond was a designation of high status?
1258: Grant to Bishop of Exeter for a market and fair at Penryn. “The granting of the right to hold markets and fairs was a very significant development for any town in the medieval period; they provided the underpinning for the economy of the town and brought trade in from the surrounding countryside.”
2. Gnu Le Bond est. 1250 – 1307, (A son with a curious name… Obviously the name is transcribed from some ancient name which we do not have reference to.)
1265: Glasney College was founded at Penryn by the Bishop of Exeter.On completion this fortified residence housed 26 clerics with its own church, domestic quarters, refectory, chapter house, mills, and cemetery. It was subsequently destroyed during the Reformation.
3. John Le Bond II est. 1280-1340, married to Mnu 1285-1345 (What a name! — perhaps her name could be Mary?).
4. Richard of Penryn Bond est. 1300-1350, Penryn, Cornwall, married Sarah, Lady Bragham, est. 1300 -1330, Penryn, Cornwall.
1315-1317: Total failure of the harvest in Cornwall through bad weather. In Europe, climate change leads to the Great Famine.
5. Richard II of Penryn Bond est. 1330-1380, Penryn, Cornwall
The Black Death (or “Great Pestilence”) reached Cornwall 1349, almost certainly by a ship, peaking in 1350-51 and breaking-out again in 1352. Estimates suggest that towns in Cornwall such as Truro and Bodmin lost half of their populations.
6. John of Penryn Bond est. 1350-1400, Penryn, Cornwall England, married to Mary, dates unknown.
1360-1362: Second outbreak of The Black Death in Cornwall lasting to 1362. (8)
After this period, we have records which indicate that Robert Bond est. 1375 – about 1434, relocated east to Erth, Saltash to marry Elizabeth deErth. Erth (Earth) is the area near Tremanton Castle and Plymouth Sound. Subsequent posts will show, that our Cornwall family history will move through: Penryn > Erth > Holwood > London to America. (8)
Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials, Notes, and Observations
“This Bond (or Bondi as he is called in the Domesday book) appears to have been a Saxon, and is mentioned in that record as holding Fisherton in Wilts… The two estates of “Fisherton” in Wiltshire are mentioned in these folios, as follows:
Some family relationships are hidden in plain sight.
When I was in fourth grade, my teacher Mrs. Blackington, was teaching us about how to refer to different relatives. When I was called to go to the chalkboard and list my Grandmothers — I wrote three names: Grandma Gore, Grandma Bond, Grandma Lemr. Then I took my seat. There was a little buzz going on in the classroom because I had written three names, and Mrs. Blackington told me that I was wrong. No one can have three grandmothers. I pushed my glasses back, and insisted I was right. This went back-and-forth between us for a minute or so. I was feeling a bit defiant that day, so I stood up at my desk and insisted that I was correct. We had reached détente, but she told me I needed to go home and “discuss this matter” with my parents.
It turns out that our mother Marguerite had a previous marriage that I did not know about. When my sister Susan and I talked about this years later, she expressed amazement that we lived in a very small township, that everybody already knew the story, and yet “no one said anything”.
This is how I came to learn that “Grandma” Lemr was more of an honorific title. In her life she was Elizabeth “Bessie” (Hines) Peterman Lemr, the mother of Clarence Arthur Peterman, Jr., my mother’s first husband. (See The Peterman Line, A Narrative).
— Thomas, with Susan
Introduction — Newfoundland was an Anomaly…in the British Empire
Our narrative begins in Newfoundland, the most eastern province of Canada, officially known as Newfoundland and Labrador. “The first European contact with North America was that of the medieval Norse settlers arriving via Greenland. For several years after AD 1000 they lived in a village on the tip of the Great Northern Peninsula, known today as L’Anse aux Meadows.”
St. John’s, NL, 1786, “A View of St. John’s and Fort Townsend.” Courtesy of Library and Archives Canada (R5434 C-002545).
“Newfoundland was an anomaly in the expanding British Empire of the 17th and 18th centuries, because it was considered primarily as an industry rather than as a colony — as an activity rather than as a society.”
“European fishers had been working off Newfoundland and Labrador’s coasts for about 100 years by the turn of the 17th century. Most arrived by May or June to exploit abundant cod stocks before returning overseas in the late summer or early fall. Known as the transatlantic migratory fishery, the enterprise prospered until the early 19th century when it gave way to a resident industry.
As the number of permanent settlers at Newfoundland and Labrador increased throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, the lifestyles of workers engaged in the fishery changed. The household became an important part of the industry because resident fishers were increasingly able to rely on relatives for assistance instead of on hired hands. At the same time, the emergence of the seal hunt and other winter industries allowed fishers to diversify into other sectors and work year-round. A growing resident population also led to dramatic social and political changes, giving fishers and their families access to schools, churches, hospitals, poor relief, and many other services and institutions.
Despite these developments, many similarities remained between fishers in the 19th century and their 17th-century counterparts. Handlines, small open boats, and other gear remained largely unchanged since the days of the migratory fishery, as did the basic techniques of salting and drying fish. Inshore fishers of both the 17th and 19th centuries lived in coastal areas that were close to cod stocks, and they rowed to fishing grounds each morning before returning home in the evening or night.
Codfish painting by Charles M. Harden, courtesy of Fine Art America
The migratory fishery was a seasonal industry that required most of its workers to live in Newfoundland and Labrador on a temporary basis only, usually during the spring and summer when cod were plentiful in offshore waters. France, Spain, and Portugal participated in the early migratory fishery, but it was England that eventually dominated the industry, each year dispatching shiploads of fishers from its West Country ports.
Despite the dangers and expenses associated with annually sending thousands of men across the Atlantic, British fish merchants and government officials did not initially want to establish year-round settlements at Newfoundland and Labrador. The region had limited agricultural potential and offered few opportunities for winter work, which meant the state would likely have to spend large sums of money supporting colonists. Fish merchants also feared a resident industry would interfere with their profits from the lucrative cod trade.
England’s West Country eventually dominated Newfoundland and Labrador’s early migratory fishery. Painting by Nicholas Pocock. From Stanley Hutton, Bristol and its Famous Associations (Bristol: J.W. Arrowsmith, 1907)
As a result, most fishers working at Newfoundland and Labrador in the 17th and 18th centuries were not permanent residents. They instead travelled across the Atlantic each year in large ocean-going vessels and spent only a few months overseas before returning west in the late summer or early fall. During this time, the vast majority of fishing people were separated from their families and their homes.
The lifestyle of fishers remained largely unchanged until the migratory fishery gave way to a resident industry in the early 1800s. The number of permanent settlers at Newfoundland and Labrador gradually increased during the 17th and 18th centuries for a variety of reasons. Planters and merchants hired caretakers to overwinter on the island and guard fishing gear; wars sometimes made it difficult for people to cross the Atlantic and return home; and the emergence of proprietary colonies in the 1600s helped create a foundation for permanent settlement. The Irish and English women who began to come to Newfoundland and Labrador in greater numbers during the 1700s, often to work as servants for resident planters, were crucial to settlement. Many married migratory fishers or male servants and settled on the island to raise families.” (3)
“By the end of the 18th century a mixed English-Irish society was emerging in Newfoundland that was to develop a distinct character, in part because its existence had never been intended… The population was approximately 20,000 by the 1790s, and double that by 1815.” (1)
A Settler’s Life in Newfoundland and Labrador 1780-1840 (short video)
An excellent resource for understanding this time and place is found is found in this short ten minute video. Please take time to watch it. (2)
We observed while researching this family line, that there was a great deal of variability in how the family surname was recorded. We have seen: Hynes, Hinds, Hinde, Haines, and Hines. For this narrative we will use the spelling Hines.
The Birth of James Hines
Into this population of Newfoundland immigrants, we commence our narrative with James Hines, the first ancestor we were able to find on record. His parents/grandparents may have been a part of the migratory population of Fishers that crossed the ocean from Ireland or England to fish the waters of Newfoundland. He was born in 1817 in Grand Banks, Newfoundland, Canada. The records indicate he married Jane Thornhill on October 2, 1833, in Fortune, Newfoundland. Jane was born on May 15, 1819, and baptized in Grand Bank, Newfoundland. She may have had a twin sister named Elizabeth. She was the daughter of William Thornhill and Ruth (?) whose last name may have been Baggs. The death dates for both James and Jane are unknown.
James and Jane had three children: George, Phebe, and James Wilson. Their eldest son was George Hines, whom we shall write about next.
Newfoundland, circa 1900 (Map image courtesy of Marionopolis College)
George Hines (Hynes) was born in Fortune, Newfoundland, Canada in 1837. He died on January 17, 1909, also in Fortune. It is from his death record that we determined his birth year, since we have not located a birth record. He married Sarah Hickman on June 6, 1864, in Fortune, where she had been born on June 30, 1847. She died on September 14, 1890 in Grand Bank, Newfoundland. Her parents were Robert Hickman and Grace Gallope Keeping.
George and Sarah had nine children, all of whom were born in Fortune, Newfoundland. Their eldest son, George Thomas Hines, furthers our narrative. (3)
Fortune, Newfoundland, circa 1890 (Image courtesy of facebook.com)
The Family Moves to York County, Ontario
Like the generations before him, George Thomas Hines was born in Fortune, on October 6, 1864. He married Olivia Forward Kelley there on August 14, 1886, and he died on June 25, 1921 in York, York County, Ontario. Olivia was born on September 15, 1863 in Fortune, and she died in York on December 30, 1944. They had seven children, all of whom were born in Newfoundland, except for their youngest son, John Oliver Mowt Hines, who was born in Toronto. The 1911 Canada census tells us that the family had relocated to York in the year 1906.
We learned that Olivia’s parents were Samuel Kelley and Jane Lake. Samuel was born about 1834, and died in 1854 in Newfoundland. His parents are Laurence Kelley and Margaret Forsey. Jane was born in Fortune on February 14, 1840. Samuel Kelley and Jane Lake married on September 27, 1860 in Fortune, Newfoundland. Jane (Lake) Kelley’s father, James Lake, was born in 1799 and died in 1854 in Fortune, Newfoundland. Jane’s mother was Susannah Gallope born in 1797 in Fortune. Her death date is unknown. James Lake married Susannah Gallope on May 10, 1835 in Fortune, Newfoundland.
“Who’s a good boy?” Newfoundland postage stamp. Courtesy of arpinphilately.com
In the George Thomas Hines and Olivia Forward Kelley family, there are seven children. We did not locate birth records for all of the children, so marriage or death information was used to access the birth dates.
The first six children were born in either Fortune or Grand Bank, Newfoundland. The last child was born in Toronto, Canada.
Samuel George Hines (birth record name is Sam George) – born January 28, 1887
Pricilla Tryphena Keeping Hines – born September 20, 1889 (death dates for Sam and Pricilla are unknown)
Emma Jane Hardy Hines – born August 28, 1892 and died April 22, 1985 in Middlefield, Geauga County, Ohio
Elizabeth “Bessie” Patten Hines – born July 19, 1900 and died March 10, 1978 in Windber, Somerset County, Pennsylvania
Frederick James Hines – born October 19, 1902 and died April 27, 1931 in Toronto, Ontario Canada
Alfred Charles Wood Hines – born about 1903 – death date unknown
John Oliver Mowt Hines – born May 17, 1910 and died October 22, 1976 in Scarborough (Toronto), Ontario, Canada
Their fourth child, Elizabeth “Bessie” Patten Hines, figures more prominently in our narrative. (4)
After Fortune, the Hines Family in Toronto
We could not locate the 1901 Canada census to learn about the family at that time. The first census document we found is the 1911 Canada census. It gives several pieces of information. The two eldest children, Sam and Priscilla, are not on this census. Sam would have been 24, and Priscilla 22, by 1911. If they were still living, there is no record of their whereabouts. (Note: this particular census is a good example of how “misinformation” is given to the census taker. For example: Olivia Hines age does not coincide with her birth date — it is off by five years. Frederick is identified as James K., and Alfred is identified as Frederick C.)
Additional information learned, is that the family immigrated from Newfoundland to Toronto, Canada in 1906. At that time the children were living at home. George Hines is working as a laborer, his wife Olivia is working as a washerwoman and the eldest daughter Emma, age 19, is a clerk in a millinery department. (Hat-making or millinery, is the design, manufacture, and sale of hats and head-wear. A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter.) The remainder of the children are either in school, or too young for school. They identify their religion as Methodist.
The 1921 Canada census tells us that George Thomas Hines was 57 years old and working as a teamster. Living in the home was Olivia age 55, James F. (Frederick) age 19, Alfred age 17, (John) Oliver age 10. The family indicates they are no longer Methodist, but Baptist.
Four generations from left to right: Olivia (Kelley) Hines, Emma Jane (Hines) Wright, Edna Winifred (Wright) Gardner and (in the foreground) Barbara Mae Gardner, circa late 1930s
We also learned that here were other changes within the family. In 1912, Emma Jane Hines had married Alan Hamilton Wright in Ontario, Canada. During their marriage they had five children, all born in Canada. Edna Wright 1913-2003, Vernon “Bill” Wright 1916-1937, Margaret Wright 1919-1921, June Dorothy Wright 1923-2010 and Elizabeth “Betts” Wright 1924 – death unknown. Their daughter June was a life-long friend to our mother Marguerite (Gore) Peterman Bond, and was also a cousin to Clarence Arthur Peterman, our mother’s first husband.
June Dorothy Wright, circa 1940 The photo inscription reads: “To Geet” June’s nickname for Marguerite (Gore) Peterman Bond.
Additionally on the Hines family 1921 Census, Elizabeth/Bessie (Hines) Peterman and her son Clarence Arthur Peterman, Jr. were living with her parents. For some reason, her name on the census is “Mary”. In 1920, her husband Clarence is living in Indianapolis, Indiana with the Stroud family and working as an auto mechanic. (See The Peterman Line, A Narrative)
As that blog post explains: “It seems that while he was in Toronto Clarence Arthur Peterman met, or knew, Elizabeth Patten Hines. At that time, she went by the name Bessie. Later in her life, she was known as Betty Lemr. On August 23, 1918, she gave birth to a son, Clarence Arthur Peterman, Jr. Two weeks later, on September 6, 1918, she and Clarence Sr. were married. On their marriage certificate his occupation is listed as soldier. Bessie returned to York to live with her parents, and Clarence returned to Toronto. The separation may have been because of his service in the Royal Flying Corps, or because they did not intend to live together.”
On June 25, 1921, George Thomas Hines died of a pulmonary disease, most likely COPD. He is buried at the Prospect Cemetery in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Within a couple of years, the Hines siblings — including Bessie (Hines) Peterman — began crossing from Toronto to Cleveland, Ohio.
In October 1923, Alfred Charles Hines crossed into the United States at Buffalo, New York to visit a friend. It is not known how long he stayed. In August 1936, he married Clementine Ellen Williams in Toronto. There is no further information about Alfred Charles Hines. His wife Clementine (Williams) Hines died in 1975, in Toronto, Canada.
Euclid Avenue at the corner of East 105th Street, Cleveland, Ohio, circa 1920s. Courtesy of the Cleveland Memory Project.
Also in October 1923, Frederick James Hines applied for Naturalization in the United States. By all accounts, Frederick James Hines’s adult life was tragic. After he entered the United States and settled in Cleveland, he brought his fiancé, Ann Jane Arbour, to Ohio. In May 1924, she entered the U.S., destination Cleveland. Frederick and Ann were married on June 7, 1924, in Cleveland, Ohio. Ann Jane (Arbour) Hines died tragically in Cleveland on July 12, 1924, barely a month after their marriage. Her cause of death is unknown. At some point Frederick J. Hines returned to Canada. On August 16, 1930, he married Gladys Love in Toronto, Canada. Eight months into this marriage, Frederick died on April 27, 1931, of tuberculosis. He is buried at the Prospect Cemetery in Toronto with his parents.
The youngest brother, John Oliver Mowt Hines, remained in Canada. He married Catherine Josephine McLellan on September 23, 1936. John died on October 22, 1976 in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada.
After her husband died in 1921, Olivia (Kelley) Hines spent the rest of her life in Toronto and died on December 30, 1944 in Toronto. She lived to be 81 years old and is buried at the Prospect Cemetery in Toronto with her husband and son. (5)
Bessie/Betty Married Frank Lemr…
On January 3, 1924, Betty (as she now called herself) entered the United States in Buffalo, New York with her five year old son, Clarence “Art” Peterman. Her destination was Cleveland, Ohio to visit her sister Emma Jane (Hines) Wright. Presumably, she did not return to Canada. There are no other records of her leaving or re-entering the United States. On April 25, 1929 she married Frank Lemr in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio. They never had any children together. In 1936, her son Art Peterman met, and then married, our mother Marguerite Lulu (Gore) Peterman Bond.
In 1937 their first child, James Elwyn, died within hours of his birth. Their next two children, Jo Ann and John Alfred Peterman, are the linkage from the Hines/Petermans to the Bonds. Art and Marguerite Peterman’s marriage ended in 1942. Marguerite married Dean Phillip Bond in 1946. At Art’s request, Dean legally adopted Jo Ann and John. Their last name was now Bond. Dean and Marguerite went on to have four more children. Art had married Dorothy Weyant and they had a son, Dennis. They moved to Pennsylvania. (see The Peterman Line, A Narrative).
On July 10, 1942, Betty Lemr became a naturalized United States citizen.
All of this brings us to memories and remembrances of Betty. She is the link that ties us together as one family. She was the natural grandmother to Jo Ann and John, the “Grandma Lemr” referred to in the preface. As the Bond family grew, the Lemrs were always close by. There was never any discussion about Marguerite’s marriage to Art Peterman. Betty and Frank were just our Grandma and Grandpa Lemr.
Jo Ann (Peterman/ Bond) White, featured in The Plain Dealer newspaper, (Cleveland, Ohio), Sunday, June 8, 1997
They would do small things for all of the children such as attend birthdays, holidays, graduations, and other special occasions. In 1957, the year Jo Ann Bond was a senior in high school, Betty bought her a beautiful black and white Prom dress. Jo Ann kept the dress and was still able to it wear many years later — even at her 30 year high school class reunion.
In the 1950s Betty was a cook for Newbury School. She was a friendly voice that for many years was was lovingly remembered by the students.
Betty started a catering business in the early 1960s. She and Marguerite focused their entertainment and cooking skills on weddings. These were small weekend affairs where the guests ate canapes, buffet items, and wedding cake. The main table was covered with a white table cloth and tulle to match the wedding party’s color scheme. There were silver platters and a silver tea service to add to the formal occasion. Often the “kids” were enlisted to help with the serving, or hauling items in and out of the reception. We might get paid as much as $5.
Four generations together: Foreground: Marjorie Ann (Narusch) Bond, John Alfred Bond, Second row, left: Mary (Schott) Narusch, Thomas Narusch, Mary (Muck) Muth Schall, holding Linda Christine Bond, Betty (Hines) Peterman Lemr, holding Catherine Marie (Bond) Brigham, Frank Lemr, circa December 1963. Photograph provided courtesy of their great-granddaughter > granddaughter > daughter Heidi Louise (Bond) Lahammer
The great-grandchildren sometimes had sleep-overs at the Lemr’s home. Betty, who never had a daughter, loved to set the girls’ hair in curlers so they would look cute for church on Sunday. Betty attended Newbury United Community Church on Sunday and always sat in the very last pew.
She had a collection of tea cups she kept on display in her living room. As children we were afraid to go into that room for fear of breaking something. A fun pastime was to play in the creek that ran behind their house, occasionally having to peel off any slugs that (unfortunately) may have become attached.
As Betty grew older, she drove a brown Duster car. Once she was visiting and left the car running with the keys locked inside. She didn’t even realize it until the kids came inside and asked why her car was still on! And there was always the matched set of outfits for the four great-granddaughters. Betty probably thought it was cute to dress all of the girls alike, even though the girls might not agree!
Ralph and Emma (Hines) Wright Daniels, with Frank and Betty (Hines) Peterman Lemr circa 1950’s
Frank Lemr, for many years, was active in the Masons (the secret fraternal order of Free and Accepted Masons), and Betty was busy in its auxiliary organization, Eastern Star. It’s likely that Frank probably started attending meetings at the main lodge in downtown Cleveland, and then they eventually shifted their membership from there, to the Lyndhurst Lodge when they moved to Geauga County. Freemasonry is defined as “…an international fraternity for men (although there are also some lodges for women). [It] is not a religion, but its beliefs are heavily influenced by 18th and 19th century Deism and Universalism. Masons must only swear a belief in a Divine Being, … religion, as well as politics, are forbidden topics in any lodge. How one worships is one’s own private business. All Masonry demands is that you do have religious beliefs to rest your moral development on.”
From Wikipedia: The Square and Compasses joined is the single most identifiable symbol of Freemasonry. Both the square and compasses are architect’s tools and are used in Masonic ritual as emblems to teach symbolic lessons.
Betty and Frank Lemr lived for many years in their house on Music Street, in Newbury Township, Geauga County, Ohio. Frank died of a heart attack on December 8, 1967. He had just begun his retirement. He is buried at the Acacia Masonic Memorial Park in Mayfield Heights, Cuyahoga, Ohio. Betty died on March 10, 1978 in Windber, Pennsylvania. (She had moved to Pennsylvania to be near her son Art Peterman). She is buried with her husband at the Acacia Masonic Memorial Park in Mayfield Heights. (6)
Good advice is always helpful. Image courtesy of facebook.com
The story of the Hines family began in Fortune, Newfoundland, Canada and spread to many parts of the United States and Canada. At the time they lived there, Fortune was very small, and also apparently, refreshingly honest. We found this photo and thought it would be a great one with which to end our Hines Narrative.
Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials, Notes, and Observations
Introduction, Newfoundland was an Anomaly…in the British Empire
James Lake (for birth record) Mentioned in the Record of Jane Lake (James Lake’s Daughter) Vital – Canada, Newfoundland, Vital Statistics, 1753-1893 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QK9Y-QMTC Digital page: 153/193, Entry 5.
Frank Lemr Marriage – Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2016 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2Q72-B9B Book page: 344, Digital page: 483/922, Left page, Second entry from the bottom, Application No. 243219.
This chapter is about a line from our family that was filled with much mystery and drama. Our research has cleared away many myths…
Preface
In 1936, our mother, Marguerite Lulu (Gore) Peterman Bond eloped with a young man named Clarence Arthur Peterman, Jr., and they married in Ripley, Chautauqua County, New York. The state of New York was chosen because they could travel there by car in one day, and it had laws that allowed a young woman of 16 years to get married without parental permission. Most importantly, even though the marriage was not a successful one, Marguerite had three children with “Art” — James, Jo Ann, and John. Their family lines are documented within this blog, we thought it essential to document the Peterman family line for the future benefit of our many nieces and nephews, and their descendants.
Map of the Rheinland-Pfalz by Gerard de Jode, 1593. (Image courtesy of Sanderus Antique Maps & Books).
Rhineland-Pfalz, or the Rhineland-Palatinate
The Peterman family is first encountered in the Rhineland-Pfalz (Rhineland-Palatinate), located in the southwestern area of Germany. In those times, this small section of what would later become Germany, was very close to the borders of both France and Belgium. From britannica.com “Rhineland-Palatinate has had a long history of division and possession by foreign powers…” and, “The Reformation of the 16th and 17th centuries saw further territorial divisions that originated in the conflicts of Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, and Calvinism and led to the Thirty Years’ War (1618–48). Foreign countries and principalities—particularly Bavaria, Spain, Austria, Sweden, and France—determined the political development of Rhineland. In the 17th and 18th centuries the Palatinate had close political and cultural ties with France.” Essentially, the area was one of shifting borders, changing political alliances, and religious conflict. (1)
Heraldry for Landau from a 17th century document. (Courtesy of Heraldry-Wiki.com).
The Peterman Line Begins in Bavaria
The oldest surviving records for the Peterman line begin with the birth of Hanns Velti Petermann I in 1615. He lived his life in the small village called Wollmesheim, located adjacent to the city of Landau, in the Rhineland-Palatinate. He died on March 24, 1692. Depending upon who recorded the information and when, records may also list Bayern (Bavaria), and Deutschland (Germany).
We don’t know what he did for a living, but we do know he married a woman named Agnes (maiden name unknown) Petermann who was born circa 1623, also in Rhineland-Pfalz, Germany. She died on April 20, 1701 at the same location. There are two recorded dates for their marriage, one in 1643, and another in 1658, but we cannot confirm which date is the actual year they married. What we did observe is that both of their sons were born after the 1658 date.
Hans Petermann in the Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1500-1971. (Ancestry.com, see footnotes).
The oldest surviving son from the marriage of Hanns Velti Petermann I and Agnes, is their son who was named after his father: Hanss Velten Petermann II. We have learned that he was born in 1659, in Mörzheim, Landau, Bayern, Germany, his death date is unknown. His wife named Margaretha Kuhn. She was born in 1670 in Baden, Preuben, Germany. She died in 1743 at the same location. Hanns II and Margaretha had 7 children. Their oldest son continued the line.
As what seems to have been a strong family tradition with the naming oldest sons, Hans Valentin Petermann III was born on June 4, 1692 in Mörzheim, Stadt Landau, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. This was only a few months after his grandfather Hans I had died. He married Anna Elisabeth Barbara (Liebeta) Matthessin, who was born on December 24, 1702, in Odernheim, Bayern, Germany. They married in 1718 and had 12 children, all of whom were born in Mörzheim, Stadt Landau, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Equestrian portrait of Louis XIV (1638–1715) by René-Antoine Houasse. At this time, “The Sun King” was the most powerful monarch in Europe.
The area that they lived in continued to have much volatility. From britannica.com, “During the War of the Grand Alliance (1689–97), [also known as the Nine Years War] the troops of the French monarch Louis XIV ravaged the Rhenish [Southeastern Germany] Palatinate, causing many Germans to emigrate. Many of the early German settlers of America (the Pennsylvania Germans, commonly called the Pennsylvania Dutch) were refugees from the Palatinate.” (2)
The Harrowing Journey on the Osgood
Wikipedia writes that “Gottlieb Mittelberger (1714 – 1758) was a German author, schoolmaster, organist, and Lutheran pastor. He was best known for his work Journey to Pennsylvania (1756). Mittelberger’s travelogue provides a firsthand historic account of the misery and exploitation of German immigrants during the US colonial period... [He] wrote a two-part travelogue about his voyage and experiences in colonial America... Observing from the perspective of a ship passenger aboard the Dutch vessel Osgood, Mittelberger documented the harrowing experiences of the 400 impoverished European immigrants making the transatlantic voyage from Rotterdam to Philadelphia. The majority of the passengers were representative of the influx of Germans to America from Baden, Württemberg, and the Palatinate.”
The front cover of Gottlieb Mittelberger’s 1756 book, Journey to Pennsylvania in the Year 1750 and Return to Germany in the Year 1754. (Image courtesy of Wikipedia).
As it happens, in 1750, the family immigrated to the American British Colonies, on the same ship, the Osgood. An account of the harrowing passage, including reference to (Johan) Michael Peterman has survived at: http://susanleachsnyder.com/Genealogy/TheOsgoodShip1750.html (Please see the footnotes section at the end for a transcription).
They passed through ports in Holland, and arrived in Philadelphia—but, settled in the town of York, in the newly established (1749) York County, in the Pennsylvania Colony. Their new home was a community of people who, like them, had left Europe behind. Perhaps they were seeking a new start in a place less burdened by tradition, with less strife from wars. This move afforded their children a chance at new lives, in a new world.
The ship Osgood, circa 1750. The background image is from The Pennsylvania Gazette (Philadelphia), the October 4, 1750 issue. It is included for this line of text announcing the arrival of the ship Osgood a few days earlier: “Since our last Captain Wilkie arrived here from Holland with Palatines.”
Hans III died in York, Pennsylvania Colony, on September 26, 1782. He and Ana Elizabetha may have had 12-13 children. Their son Johan Michael Petermann, carried the family line forth in America. (3)
Life in the British Colony of Pennsylvania
Their choice of settling in York, Pennsylvania was a prodigious one. It was laid out as a city in 1741, so they were among the very first settlers. After our ancestors were well established, the city became very famous for being the temporary Capitol of the United States, for the Continental Congress during the Revolutionary War. (1775-1783)
“The City of York, Pennsylvania – named for York, England – was part of the building of our nation, … [the] City was the birthplace of the Articles of Confederation and it was here that the words “The United States of America” were first spoken.”
“The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was an agreement among the 13 original states of the United States of America that served as its first frame of government. It was approved after much debate (between July 1776 and November 1777) by the Second Continental Congress on November 15, 1777, and sent to the states for ratification. The Articles of Confederation came into force on March 1, 1781, after ratification by all the states.
A guiding principle of the Articles was to establish and preserve the independence and sovereignty of the states.” Between 1787-1789, the Articles of Confederation were superseded by the present Constitution of the United States, our main governing document which is still in use to this day.
Continental Congress Court House, circa 1777.
In this new country, Johan Michael Peterman, his wife Anna Maria Wegener, and their children prospered. He had been born on March 15, 1727 in Mörzheim, Stadt Landau, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. He died on October 11, 1784 in Windsor, York County, Pennsylvania, United States. His wife Anna Maria Wegener, had been born in the British Colonies in York, Pennsylvania in 1734, and died November 15, 1810 in Baytown, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
They married in 1755 in York, Pennsylvania Colony and had 11 children. From this large family, it was their son George Michael Peterman who is our ancestor. (4)
The Family Name is Shortened by One Letter
It is interesting to note that about this time in this generation, the family surname was shortened by dropping the last letter “n”. From this point forward, the family name was simply spelled as Peterman. With this, George Michael Peterman now had an American name. George was born on September 3, 1763 in Windsor, York County, Pennsylvania (colony), and died on August 20, 1853 in Stoystown, Somerset County, Pennsylvania (state). George was a farmer his entire life.
In 1785, he married Anna Maria Frey in Stoystown, Pennsylvania. She was born on December 18, 1789 in Washington, Franklin County, Pennsylvania and together they had 9 children, all born in Pennsylvania. Anna Maria died in March 9, 1853 in Somerset, Pennsylvania. It is their eldest son, John George Peterman, who carried our family line forward. (5)
O Canada!
John George Peterman was born on May 9, 1785 in Hooverville, Shade Township, Somerset, Pennsylvania. He was the only member of his family who relocated to Vaughn Township, Ontario, Canada. John George, preferred the name “George” and used it throughout his life. He married Susanna Sell in Somerset, sometime before 1812. She was born in Washington, Franklin County, Pennsylvania on December 18, 1789. It seems that George and Susannah moved to Vaughan, Ontario, soon after they were married. Their first child, a daughter, was born in 1813 in Vaughan Township, which was located just north of Little York (Toronto).
We don’t have direct evidence of why they moved to Canada, but we can make observations about the times they lived in. The country of Canada was loyal to the British Crown. Perhaps (John) George Peterman was a Loyalist and thought that he would prosper in a place that was under British rule? It could also be that he was tired of the conflicts generated by the American Revolution, and the approaching War of 1812.
Cover of sheet music for “O Canada,” published by Frederick Harris Music Co.
At the time, Canada’s boundaries were in flux: “In 1786, Lord Dorchester arrived in Quebec City as Governor-in-Chief of British North America. His mission was to solve the problems of the newly landed Loyalists. At first, Dorchester suggested opening the new Canada West as districts under the Quebec government, but the British Government made known its intention to split Canada into Upper and Lower Canada. Dorchester began organizing for the new province of Upper Canada, including a capital. Dorchester’s first choice was Kingston, but he was aware of the number of Loyalists in the Bay of Quinte and Niagara areas, and he chose instead the location north of the Bay of Toronto, midway between the settlements and 30 miles (48 km) from the US.”
“Dorchester intended for the location of the new capital to be named Toronto. Instead, Lieutenant Governor Simcoe ordered the name of the new settlement to be called York, after the Duke of York, who had guided a recent British victory in Holland. Simcoe is recorded as both disliking aboriginal names and disliking Dorchester. The new capital was named York on August 27, 1793… [named so from 1793 -1834] …To differentiate it from York in England and New York City, the town was known as Little York.”
In America, York County, Pennsylvania, had been important to their family’s history. So, it is very interesting to observe that now there was a place rich with opportunities in Canada which was also called York:
“The Battle of York was an easy win for Americans as they eyed expansion into Canada in the first years of the War of 1812. On April 27th 1813 in York, Ontario, now present-day Toronto, 2,700 Americans stormed Fort York, defeating the 750 British and Ojibwa Indians defending what was at the time the capitol of Upper Canada…”
American strategy at the beginning of the War of 1812 was one of a young country looking for room to grow. Seeing the rivers and lakes to the North as key routes for trade and transportation, Americans attempted, unsuccessfully at first, to gain control of Canada.”
The American Battlefield Trust
Perhaps they moved to Canada because they had friends and acquaintances who had already relocated there, and they saw a farmland opportunity as advantageous. He was starting a new family and maybe he wanted a fresh start.
“Despite the hardships of pioneer life, settlers came to Vaughan in considerable numbers. The population grew from 19 men, 5 women, and 30 children in 1800 to 4,300 in 1840. The first people to arrive were mainly Pennsylvania Germans, with a smaller number of families of English descent and a group of French Royalists.” “The first settlers to arrive were Pennsylvanian Germans from the United States, but the influx of homesteaders was a mere trickle at first. In 1800, there were a mere 54 people in all of Vaughan Township. After the war of 1812, however, a massive wave of British migrants flooded the area.”
George and Susanna Peterman, circa 1860.
Canada conducts a census every ten years, beginning in the year 1851. On that census, (John) George’s occupation is listed as farmer.
He and Susanna had nine children, all born in Canada. He died on August 16, 1871, in Vaughan Township, York, Ontario, Canada. Susanna died on January 25, 1866 in the same location. They are buried in the Zion Lutheran Church Cemetery in Vaughan, Ontario. Their last child, a boy named John Peterman, is the next ancestor of whom we will write about.
John George Peterman, Jr. was born on October 20, 1814 in Vaughan, York, Ontario. On May 6, 1834, he married Susan Robins in the Vaughan Township, York, Ontario, Canada of Ontario. She was born on October 1, 1814, location unknown. Between 1886 and the 1900 United States census, John Jr. and Susan had relocated to Cheboygan, Cheboygan County, Michigan. She died there on November 20, 1892. John Jr. had a long life — he died in Cheboygan on January 16, 1911. They had eight children, but one record indicates that perhaps there were two more, for ten total. Their oldest son, George Alfred Peterman, continues the narrative.
George Alfred Peterman was born on October 30, 1832 Vaughan, York, Ontario. He died in the small lake town of Innisfil, Simcoe County, (north of Toronto), on December 20, 1927. He worked as a farmer his entire life. On January 22, 1853, he married Charlotte Elizabeth Shuttleworth in York, Ontario. Charlotte was from Lancashire, England, United Kingdom. She died on January 1, 1911 in Bradford, Simcoe, Ontario.
They had four children, and their second son was William Albert Peterman (Sr). He is the one who continues our narrative. It appears that succeeding generations of the family eventually settled in the nearby town of Newmarket.
William Albert Peterman (Sr.) was a new year’s baby, born on January 1, 1857 in Vaughan, York, Ontario, Canada. He married Mary Strasler in Scott Township, Ontario, on February 8, 1881. Mary was born on November 13, 1858 in Ontario, and both of Mary’s parents, Henry Strasler and Susanna (Meyer) had been born in Switzerland.
On the 1901 Canada Census, all four children are living at home. William lists his occupation as a carpenter. He identifies their “Race or Tribe” as German, their nationality as Canadian, and their religion as Methodist. Interestingly, on this census they identify their “Race or Tribe” as Dutch*, not German, and their nationality as Canadian. William is listed as a Cabinetmaker who works for himself.
* Could they have been confused about their family’s earlier generations having lived among a Dutch population in Pennsylvania, or perhaps, the family’s passage through Holland on the way to the American Colonies?
Observations after reviewing documents
William Albert Peterman died on April 17, 1926 in Newmarket, York County, Ontario, Canada. Mary died on May 5, 1938 in the same location. Of their four children, Clarence Arthur Peterman (Sr.) continues the history. (6)
A Man Shrouded in Mystery
Clarence A. Peterman (Sr.) was born in Newmarket, York County, Canada on May 26, 1894. He has been shrouded in mystery over the years and was not on the 1911 Canadian census with his parents. He would have been 17 in 1911 and he may have already left home. The next record we found for him is dated June 5, 1917. He was living in Minneapolis, Minnesota and had filed a US registration card, presumably for World War I. The registration information indicates that he was working as a mechanic for the Oakland Motor Company and that he was a Registered Alien in the US because he was still a Canadian citizen. Information on the card indicates he is 23 years old, single, and had no dependents. He is described as “short, slender, brown eyes, and black hair”.
Clarence Arther Peterman Sr., World War I draft registration card.
Clarence also filed a second WW I registration card. This one was for the British Expeditionary Force of the Royal Flying Corps based in Toronto, Canada. His involvement (or job) in the Corps is unknown. Perhaps he worked as a mechanic. There is no indication that he was a pilot, or that he left Canada to fight in WW I.
It seems that while he was in Toronto Clarence Arthur Peterman met, or knew, Elizabeth Patten Hines. At that time, she went by the name Bessie. Later in her life, she was known as Betty Lemr. On August 23, 1918, she gave birth to a son, Clarence Arthur Peterman, Jr. Two weeks later, on September 6, 1918, she and Clarence Sr. were married. On their marriage certificate his occupation is listed as soldier. Bessie returned to York to live with her parents, and Clarence returned to Toronto. The separation may have been because of his service in the Royal Flying Corps, or because they did not intend to live together.
Eighteen months later, in January 1920, Clarence Sr. is living in Indianapolis, Indiana. This information comes from the 1920 United States census. On the census it specifies he is single, age 26, and is an Alien (Canadian) working in the United States. (29) Since Clarence specified he was single, we looked for a record of a separation or divorce from Bessie (Hines) Peterman. To date, a document has not been located. Therefore, it is possible they were still married, but not living together. On the 1921 Canadian census, Bessie and her two year old son, Clarence Peterman Jr., are living with her parents, George and Olivia Hines in Toronto, Canada.
Map of the city of Indianapolis, Indiana, circa 1926. (See footnotes).
In 1920, Clarence is living as a boarder in the William Stroud home. William is a superintendent in the auto industry and Clarence is working as a mechanic in the same industry. Looking closely at the census, the family he is living with is from Minnesota, where Clarence had previously lived. It’s possible there was a connection in Minnesota. In addition to William Stroud, the other family members are his wife Lydia, age 28, son William, age 10, daughter Doris, age 8, and William’s mother Anna, age 72. The importance of this information will follow.
As stated earlier, Clarence A. Peterman Sr. had been shrouded in mystery over the years. What was his relationship with his son? Why didn’t he remain in Canada and live with his wife and son? One important story has been that he was involved with a woman and wanted to marry her. We know he died young, age 31 on October 16, 1925. The following story in The Indianapolis Times newspaper dated October 17, answers the questions about Clarence Arthur Peterman Sr. – or perhaps creates new ones.
The Indianapolis Times, October 17, 1925 — front page and page 3.
The tragic newspaper account above indicates that on October 16, 1925 he died in a murder/suicide with a gunshot wound to his head. His death certificate indicates that he was married, but with no information about a wife. (Recall, that on the 1920 census he registered as single.) The death certificate is signed by William Stroud, the man in whose home he was boarding.
Clarence Arthur Peterman, Sr. was buried on October 20, 1925 in Newmarket Cemetery, Newmarket, York, Ontario, Canada. He preceded his parents in death. Even though his life ended sordidly, Clarence Arthur Peterman Sr. did have a son with Bessie Hines, who was named after him and is important to the rest of our narrative.
For more information on the Hines family, see The Hines Line, A Narrative. (7)
Building a Nest… or Two
We continue with the childhood of Clarence Arthur Peterman, Jr. He was referred to by the name of “Art” most of his life, so to distinguish him from his father, we will refer to him by that name.
Art was born in Toronto, York County, Ontario on August 23, 1918 and he died on May 10, 1994 in Johnstown, Cambria County, Pennsylvania. His story in Ohio begins when he first entered the United States on January 3, 1924. His mother, Elizabeth “Bessie” (Hines) Peterman crossed into the United States with her 5 year old son Art, through Buffalo, New York. Her destination was Cleveland, Ohio to visit her sister, Emma (Hines) Wright, for three weeks.
Elizabeth “Bessie” (Hines) Peterman 1924 entry card.
It’s unknown how long he remained in the United States. One story is that he was raised by his maternal grandmother, Olivia Hines, in Toronto, Canada. This may be true because his mother Bessie married Frank Lemr in 1929, in Cleveland, Ohio. On the 1930 United States census, Art is not living with them. He cannot be found on either the 1930 United States census, nor the 1931 Canadian census.
As stated in the introduction, in 1936, just after his 18th birthday, he eloped with Marguerite Lulu Gore and they married in Ripley, Chautauqua County, New York on September 19, 1936. Marguerite was born in Russell Township, Geauga County, Ohio on June 28, 1920, and was the only daughter, and the youngest sibling with two older brothers.
Comment: Their trip to a legal marriage was the absolute shortest path possible, so they plotted well (as some teenagers do).The town of Ripley is just over the border from Pennsylvania, so literally their journey was 120 miles — a small jaunt across northeast Ohio, then a short section of Pennsylvania, and then Voilà,they were in Ripley.They did this trip in one day — they drove there, got married, drove home, and then told the parents.
This map shows the distance between Chagrin Falls, Ohio and Ripley, New York — about 120 miles of driving. (map image courtesy of Curtis Wright Maps).
They had married quite young and they had a fractious marriage. He was barely 18, and she was 16 — it’s likely that they both thought they were older than their years. Being married was probably quite fun at first, but very quickly, a baby was on the way (!)
Art and Marguerite had three children. James Elwyn Peterman was born on June 26, 1936 in the evening, at Bedford, Cuyahoga County, Ohio. From the very moment he was born, he had severe medical problems with his heart, and also his lungs. We were told that he was a blue baby, which is a condition caused when there is a shortage of oxygen in the baby’s blood. He lived for a few hours and died early in the morning on June 27, 1936 of respiratory failure. The next day, Marguerite turned 17. He is buried in Briar Hill Cemetery (Riverview) in Russell Township, Geauga County, Ohio.
In 1939, Marguerite and Art welcomed their daughter Jo Ann (Peterman) Bond White into their family. She was born on May 9, 1939 in Bedford, and died August 6, 2010. She is buried at the Western Reserve Memorial Gardens in Chesterland, Geauga, Ohio. On December 18, 1940, they also celebrated the holidays with the arrival of their last child, John Alfred (Peterman) Bond, who was also born in Bedford, a few days before Christmas.
The Peterman Family, 1940 US census.
The 1940 Census contains quite a bit of information about their life together. One of the questions asked was where had they lived in 1939? The answer given was Newbury, Geauga, Ohio. It is reasonable to assume they were living with Marguerite’s parents, Harley and Lulu Gore. Art’s job is listed as farm hand. Harley was quite ill and not able to work the farm — his son Leland Gore was operating his father’s farm, as well as his own. Art was most likely working on one, or both of the farms.
By May 1940, Art and Marguerite were living in a house in nearby Chagrin Falls, Ohio. Listed in the home are (Clarence) Art, age 24 [his correct age is almost 22], Marguerite, age 20 (pregnant with son John), Jo Ann, (age one), and June Wright, age 16. June Wright was Art’s cousin and attending Chagrin Falls High School. Art and June are listed as non US citizens, both born in Canada. Also in 1940, Art registered for the WW II draft. He indicates that he is working for City Ice and Fuel, in Cleveland, Ohio. (8)
Clarence Arthur Peterman Jr. Becomes a Naturalized Citizen
To become a United States citizen one needed to complete several documents. In 1941, Art Peterman completed a Petition for Naturalization. He is identified as being 5’6” tall, weighs 145 pounds, has brown eyes and dark brown hair. Interestingly, he states his Race as French and his Nationality as Great Britain. Canada was still part of the British Empire at the time, but his nationality should have been Canadian. Why he listed his Race as French is a mystery because the family’s history is German and English, not French.
Clarence Arthur Peterman Jr., Petition for Naturalization, circa 1941 — 1942.
There are two additional documents. An Affidavit of Witness on which two witnesses said they were acquainted with him since August 1938. A third document is the Certificate of Arrival. This document tells us that Art first entered the United States with his mother, Bessie (Hines) Peterman, on January 3, 1924 when he was five years old. They entered the United States in Buffalo, New York on the Michigan Central Railway. Clarence Arthur Peterman became a Naturalized United States Citizen on June 12, 1942.
On November 24, 1941 Harley Gore, Marguerite’s father, died of heart disease. By this time Marguerite and Art had endured a very difficult marriage and had grown apart. After her father’s death, Marguerite and the children, Jo Ann and John, moved into her mother’s home in Newbury, Ohio. By May of 1942, Art and Marguerite Peterman were divorced. On his Order of Admission form dated June 12, 1942, Art Peterman was living in Cleveland, Ohio.
By then the United States was deeply involved in WW II. In October 1942, Clarence Arthur Peterman Jr. joined the United States Coast Guard – Merchant Marines. From 1942 to 1945, he served on ships that transported vast quantities of war materiel, supplies, and equipment needed to fight the war between the United States and parts of Europe. (9)
WWII Recruitment Poster for The Merchant Marines. (Image courtesy The National WWII Museum, New Orleans).
Life After World War II
Art was discharged from the Coast Guard in 1945 at the end of the war. He and Dorothy Weyant were married, date unknown. On July 19, 1946, their only child, Dennis A. Peterman, was born in Lorain County, Ohio. Also in 1946, Marguerite (Gore) Peterman married Dean Phillip Bond. At the time of Dean and Marguerite’s marriage, Art asked Dean if he would legally adopt his children, Jo Ann and John. The adoption went forward and thereafter, Jo Ann and John’s legal last surname became Bond, and they were raised by Dean.(See footnotes).
Dennis A. Peterman, circa 1964.
At some point, Art and Dorothy Peterman moved to Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Their son Dennis married Madeline S. Koot on June 17, 1967 in Windber, Pennsylvania. Five years later, Dennis Peterman, aged 32, died on March 23, 1979, cause unknown, in Lorain County, Ohio. His mother Dorothy’s memorial on findagrave.com mentions her daughter-in-law Madeline (Koot) Peterman-Teli, her grandchildren, and her great-grandchildren.
Art Peterman died on May 10, 1994 in Johnstown, Dorothy J. (Weyant) Peterman died on March 19, 2013. Art, Dorothy and Dennis are buried in Richland Cemetery, Richland Township, Cambria County, Pennsylvania. (10)
Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials, Notes, and Observations
Please note: Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.com were used extensively in researching information for The Peterman Line, A Narrative blog post. We observed that each site had both strengths and weaknesses with regards to correct information. Errors are mostly due to data entry errors by other people. It is important to look for other supporting evidence (when possible) to document correct genealogical histories.
Preface and Rhineland-Pfalz, or the Rhineland-Palatinate
[Author’s note: While researching material for this blog post, we have observed that some of the files on ancestry.com are messy and can lead the viewer down false trails. We include these links only for the interesting details found within them. However, the files found at family search.com are extensive and much more accurate in diagramming this family lineage. For an example, see * below in the section Life in the British Colony of Pennsylvania].
Nine Years’ War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_Years’_War Note: For the Equestrian portrait of Louis XIV (1638–1715) by René-Antoine Houasse. The Sun King was the most powerful monarch in Europe.
From Gottlieb Mittleberger — Journey to Pennsylvania in the Year 1750 and Return to Germany in the Year 1754, trans. Carl Theo Eben (Philadelphia: John Jos. McVey, n.d.), as excerpted from: http://susanleachsnyder.com/Genealogy/TheOsgoodShip1750.html
Here is the transcription about travel on The Osgood Ship: A German immigrant by the name of Gottlieb Mittelberger, who arrived along with Michael Peterman in Philadelphia in 1750 on the ship Osgood, gave us a vivid account of his crossing to America.
“Both in Rotterdam and in Amsterdam the people are packed densely, like herrings so to say, in the large sea-vessels. One person receives a place of scarcely 2 feet width and 6 feet length in the bedstead, while many a ship carries four to six hundred souls; not to mention the innumerable implements, tools, provisions, water-barrels and other things which likewise occupy such space.
On account of contrary winds it takes the ships sometimes 2, 3, and 4 weeks to make the trip from Holland to . . England. But when the wind is good, they get there in 8 days or even sooner. Everything is examined there and the custom-duties paid, whence it comes that the ships ride there 8, 10 or 14 days and even longer at anchor, till they have taken in their full cargoes. During that time every one is compelled to spend his last remaining money and to consume his little stock of provisions which had been reserved for the sea; so that most passengers, finding themselves on the ocean where they would be in greater need of them, must greatly suffer from hunger and want. Many suffer want already on the water between Holland and Old England.
When the ships have for the last time weighed their anchors near the city of Kaupp [Cowes] in Old England, the real misery begins with the long voyage. For from there the ships, unless they have good wind, must often sail 8, 9, 10 to 12 weeks before they reach Philadelphia. But even with the best wind the voyage lasts 7 weeks.
But during the voyage there is on board these ships terrible misery, stench, fumes, horror, vomiting, many kinds of sea-sickness, fever, dysentery, headache, heat, constipation, boils, scurvy, cancer, mouth rot, and the like, all of which come from old and sharply salted food and meat, also from very bad and foul water, so that many die miserably.
Add to this want of provisions, hunger, thirst, frost, heat, dampness, anxiety, want, afflictions and lamentations, together with other trouble, as . . . the lice abound so frightfully, especially on sick people, that they can be scraped off the body. The misery reaches the climax when a gale rages for 2 or 3 nights and days, so that every one believes that the ship will go to the bottom with all human beings on board. In such a visitation the people cry and pray most piteously.
Children from 1 to 7 years rarely survive the voyage. I witnessed . . . misery in no less than 32 children in our ship, all of whom were thrown into the sea. The parents grieve all the more since their children find no resting-place in the earth, but are devoured by the monsters of the sea. That most of the people get sick is not surprising, because, in addition to all other trials and hardships, warm food is served only three times a week, the rations being very poor and very little. Such meals can hardly be eaten, on account of being so unclean. The water which is served out of the ships is often very black, thick and full of worms, so that one cannot drink it without loathing, even with the greatest thirst. Toward the end we were compelled to eat the ship’s biscuit which had been spoiled long ago; though in a whole biscuit there was scarcely a piece the size of a dollar that had not been full of red worms and spiders’ nests. . .
At length, when, after a long and tedious voyage, the ships come in sight of land, so that the promontories can be seen, which the people were so eager and anxious to see, all creep from below on deck to see the land from afar, and they weep for joy, and pray and sing, thanking and praising God. The sight of the land makes the people on board the ship, especially the sick and the half dead, alive again, so that their hearts leap within them; they shout and rejoice, and are content to bear their misery in patience, in the hope that they may soon reach the land in safety. But alas!
When the ships have landed at Philadelphia after their long voyage, no one is permitted to leave them except those who pay for their passage or can give good security; the others, who cannot pay, must remain on board the ships till they are purchased, and are released from the ships by their purchasers. The sick always fare the worst, for the healthy are naturally preferred and purchased first; and so the sick and wretched must often remain on board in front of the city for 2 or 3 weeks, and frequently die, whereas many a one, if he could pay his debt and were permitted to leave the ship immediately, might recover and remain alive.
The sale of human beings in the market on board the ship is carried out thus: Every day Englishmen, Dutchmen and High-German people come from the city of Philadelphia and other places, in part from a great distance, say 20, 30, or 40 hours away, and go on board the newly arrived ship that has brought and offers for sale passengers from Europe, and select among the healthy persons such as they deem suitable for their business, and bargain with them how long they will serve for their passage money, which most of them are still in debt for. When they have come to an agreement, it happens that adult persons bind themselves in writing to serve 3, 4, 5 or 6 years for the amount due by them, according to their age and strength. But very young people, from 10 to 15 years, must serve till they are 21 years old. Many parents must sell and trade away their children like so many head of cattle; for if their children take the debt upon themselves, the parents can leave the ship free and unrestrained; but as the parents often do not know where and to what people their children are going, it often happens that such parents and children, after leaving the ship, do not see each other again for many years, perhaps no more in all their lives. . .
It often happens that whole families, husband, wife and children, are separated by being sold to different purchasers, especially when they have not paid any part of their passage money.
When a husband or wife has died a sea, when the ship has made more than half of her trip, the survivor must pay or serve not only for himself or herself but also for the deceased. When both parents have died over half-way at sea, their children, especially when they are young and have nothing to pawn or pay, must stand for their own and their parents’ passage, and serve till they are 21 years old. When one has served his or her term, he or she is entitled to a new suit of clothes at parting; and if it has been so stipulated, a man gets in addition a horse, a woman, a cow. When a serf has an opportunity to marry in this country, he or she must pay for each year which he or she would have yet to serve, 5 or 6 pounds.”
Clarance Arthur Peterman in the UK, Royal Air Force Airmen Records, 1918-1940 U.S., Residents Serving in the British Expeditionary Forces, 1917-1919 https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/11190:9178 Note: This file is only visible with a Fold3 membership.
Clarence Arthur Peterman [Jr.] U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 Ohio > Paterson-Predmore > Petering, Williams-Peters, Ralph https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/199441456:2238 Digital page: 152/2292 Note: He indicates that he is working for City Ice and Fuel, in Cleveland, Ohio.
Clarence Arthur Peterman (Jr.) Becomes a Naturalized Citizen
Clarence A Peterman [Jr.], Migration – New York, New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1909, 1925-1958 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2H36-HPB Book page: 185, Digital page: 416/772 Note: The ship name: William D Moseley — List or Manifest of Aliens Employed on the Vessel as Members of Crew.
The following six documents are related to the adoption of Jo Ann (Peterman) Bond White, and John Alfred (Peterman) Bond by Dean Phillip Bond in 1948. The original documents were lost and in 1985, duplicate documents were sourced.
June 1985, Letter from Daniel Earl Bond to Clarence Arthur Peterman, Jr. requesting cooperation in providing evidence for adoption(s) of Jo Ann (Peterman) Bond by Dean Phillip Bond. (Family document).1985 Telephone notes from Daniel Earl Bond’s correspondence with Clarence Arthur Peterman, Jr. Note: “She said she thinks he decided not to execute the form.”Authorization form for adoption document duplicate.Jo Ann Bond adoption form (duplicate).Authorization form for adoption document duplicate.John Alfred Bond adoption form (duplicate).
Dorothy J. Peterman https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/112661672/dorothy-j-peterman From the Associated Press: “WINDBER — PETERMAN – Dorothy J., 90, Windber, went home to be with the Lord March 19, 2013. Born March 25, 1922, in Windber. Dorothy lived in Windber for most of her years prior to moving to Richland and recently resided at Church of the Brethren Home. Dorothy graduated from Windber Area High School in 1941 and was a member of Trinity United Methodist Church Scalp Level. She completed her studies in cosmetology and received her license in l961 after which she opened and operated “Dorothy’s Beauty Salon” in Scalp Level for more than 20 years. She also was a member of Anna L. Windolph Chapter 495 Order of the Eastern Star, Johnstown. Dorothy was a strong, kind-hearted, loving mother and grandmother. Despite her recent set backs, she remained high-spirited. She devoted her life to her family, especially her grandchildren and great-grandchildren who will miss her dearly.
Survivors include her brother, Charles J. Weyant, Richland; daughter-in-law, Madeline (Koot) Peterman-Teli; grandsons, Jason Peterman and Ryan Peterman; and great-grandchildren, Nadine and Caden Peterman, all of Ohio; and her “living guardian angel,” Bonnie Ott from Windber. Also survived by several nieces and nephews. Preceded in death by parents, Leslie and Margaret (Shearer); husband, Clarence “Art” Peterman; son, Dennis A. Peterman; brother, Donald Weyant; and devoted friend, Robert “Bob” Caldwell…”
In 2021, we came across this image from a holiday greeting card and took delight in how it diagrams the expansive nature of grandparents as they flow from one generation to the next.
Family trees are frequently diagrammed from the tree base to the upper branches. However, we like how this places “you” as the star at the top, and works through all of the supporting branches to give a more realistic picture that each of us are descended from many others.
A popular song titled The Story, written by Phil Hanseroth, has these lyrics which speak to us about all of our ancestral grandparents. When you read the lyrics and reflect on their meaning, it feels as if this is a song our ancestors sing to us in gratitude for acknowledging them. “All of these lines across my face Tell you the story of who I am So many stories of where I’ve been And how I got to where I am Oh, but these stories don’t mean anything When you’ve got no one to tell them to, it’s true I was made for you…”
We have discovered many unexpected and interesting things about our various ancestors. For instance, two branches of this tree are linked to our Mayflower ancestors: Pilgrim George Soule (about 11 generations) and Pilgrim Edward Doty (about 12 generations) back. We knew about Soule, but Doty was a surprise.
Family trees are nice to have, but we believe that they truly come alive when given a context within history. Please enjoy the narratives we have undertaken about our family, and come to know the times and places within which they lived.
And finally, as the holiday tree indicates, after about 20 generations… we all have one million grandparents! (That’s a lot of stories!)
This is Chapter One oftwo, being the very first of our many family lines which we have researched over the last few years. Some of our ancestral lines have enough complete history that we are able to travel very far back in time, and others, we can only link back for a couple of centuries due to the historical circumstances. The McMahon and McCall lines are of the latter category, as you will see…
Ireland — A Country in Transition
The story of the McMahon and the McGuire families requires a brief explanation about the times and places within which they lived. Their history takes place during the past 225 years, primarily in Ireland, and Scotland, and then eventually the United States.
Ireland around the year 1800 was already a country in transition, evolving from a strictly agricultural society, to one where the impact of the Industrial Revolution was altering the landscape of life. Watt’s invention of the steam engine in 1786 was beginning to have an influence on where railroads were built, what materials factories eventually came to manufacture, and where people lived.
A Map of Ireland, by William Faden, 1798. (Image courtesy of David Rumsey Historical Map Collection).
Most people started to work at a very young age, and what was important in their lives was their labor and their productivity. The very idea of having an education must have seemed like a luxury to them. We see this in the documents that survive from the time period, where our ancestors had to sign their names using an X. Hence, they had to rely on others (witnesses and administrators) to write for them. Sometimes this resulted in errors in the spelling of family names, errors in relying on memory for place names, etc. Not being able to read, nor write, these individuals had to trust that what was recorded was accurate. In actuality, they truly couldn’t verify much. The spelling of names for the same person could vary over time. For example: The Mc prefix on the surname was used to designate the relationship as “son of…” Sometimes this prefix was dropped, sometimes it was altered to M’ or Mac. The same person at different times of their life could be Mahon, M’Mahon, or Macmahon; McGuire could be Maguire, M’Guire, or McGuire.
Our Irish ancestors were Roman Catholic, and by 1800 were emerging from two centuries of oppression by other political and religious movements.
In the 1920’s, a fire In Dublin from the Irish Civil War destroyed almost all of the previous century’s records which were held at the Public Record Office of Dublin’s Four Court complex.
Initially, census records in Ireland were haphazard, to nonexistent. The first full census was conducted in 1821 and today only fragments of it exist. In the 1920’s, a fire In Dublin from the Irish Civil War destroyed almost all of the previous century’s records which were held at the Public Record Office of Dublin’s Four Court complex. Very, very few records survived and are generally referred to as census fragments. However, the church parishes had kept marriage and baptismal records — many of those records survived. Forenames and family names were common and tended to be repeated in families over time. This makes it difficult to discern if particular records belong to our ancestors.
Ireland’s history in the 19th century is known for The Great Famine (or The Great Hunger), which devastated Ireland from 1845 to 1852. The population of Ireland greatly declined through disease and emigration and the generational effects from this period lasted much longer than those few years. The accompanying article on The Potato Famine is a good overview of the conditions the Irish lived through.
The Irish Famine: Scene at the Gate of the Work-House by Thomas Horsfall of the English School.
This history greatly affected our Irish ancestors, and by fate, our family history. In the case of the McMahon and McGuire families, some of them moved to Scotland seeking work, to build their families, and our futures. (1)
The McMahons and The McKinzies
The research of our McMahon roots via Mary Jane McMahon/McCall/Davin begins with her father Patrick McMahon, born and baptized in Dublin, Ireland.
We first encounter our ancestor Patrick McMahon in the register for his baptism in the Parish Church of Finglas and St. Margaret’s in Dublin, Ireland, in 1834. He was the youngest of four sons from the marriage of Philip Mahon/McMahon and Jane McKenzie. His baptism, as well as the baptisms of his brothers, had been dutifully recorded in the church record “Parish of Finglas and St. Margaret’s Register of Baptisms and Marriages 1821—1841”.
Image from Fingal And Its Churches by Robert Walsh was published in 1888. Fingal is an area of north Dublin that extends from the River Tolka in the south to the River Devlin in the north.
For these ancestors we have baptism dates, but not birth dates. For Roman Catholics, the baptism of a child was considered essential due to the high infant mortality rate of those times. This meant that the baby was baptized as soon as this could be accomplished with the church. Outside of a religious context, Ireland did not require the civil registration of a child’s birth until 1864.
William Mahon was the first born son in December 1825, followed by John Mahon in October 1828, then Philip Mahon (likely) in December 1830 since his baptism date is January 2, 1831.
Patrick Mahon/McMahon was the last born son, in July 1834, (we are descended from Patrick). His baptism date was August 3, 1834. If Philip and Jane had other children, it is probable that the births would also have been recorded in the Finglas Parish Register. No other records have been identified.
Inset details from A Map of Ireland, by William Faden, 1798. (Image courtesy of David Rumsey Historical Map Collection).
We don’t know how or when Philip McMahon and Jane McKenzie met, but it’s clear that they were married sometime between the May 1821 Irish census, and the end of December 1825 when their first son William was baptized. (We are still searching for their actual marriage record.) We found that Jane McKenzie’s surname is frequently misspelled on the baptismal records. If they were not married, a proxy for each person would have had to stand-in for them and the parish record would reflect that. We are confident that these ancestors are the parents because of the consistent use of the same parish church for baptisms and importantly, Jane’s surname (McKinzie) is found on Philip and Patrick McMahon’s respective wedding certificates.
A Mackenzie clansmen. (Image courtesy of highland titles.com).
Patrick McMahon’s mother Jane McKenzie was born in Ballinacargy, Drung & Larah Parish, County Cavan, Ireland, on December 29, 1800, the daughter of Alexander McKinzie and Mary Goggins. We have no evidence of her beginnings, but we did find a clue about her in a census twenty years after her birth.
Through a surviving 1821 Census fragment, we know that Jane was living in County Cavan, at the home of her grandmother Elizabeth Goggins. Also living in the home is her mother Mary McKinzie. Both Elizabeth Goggins and Mary McKenzie were identified as widows. Jane is identified as a granddaughter to Elizabeth Goggins. All of them list their occupation as spinners. The growing of flax fibers and the spinning of those fibers into linen thread, was a strong industry in the north of Ireland.
A young Irish woman working at a spinning wheel. Engraving by Francis Holl after F.W. Topham, via Wikimedia Commons.
Jane’s mother, Mary (Goggins) McKinzie was the first born in a family of four children, with her siblings being brothers. Their names were John, William, and David Goggins. We know much about the Goggins family, but very little about Mary’s actual life. It appears that she was part of a large extended family, through her brother John’s marriage, but the evidence is circumstantial.
It’s interesting to note that it was traditional to name your children after other family members such as grandparents, parents, aunts or uncles. It’s one of the biggest challenges in genealogical research to keep all of those overlapping names sorted out! So perhaps Jane’s inspiration for naming her two oldest sons with Patrick Mahon was from her maternal uncles’ names William and John.
The MacMahon Coat of Arms, (Image courtesy of wikipedia.org).
We think that Patrick’s father Philip Mahon/McMahon, was born somewhere between 1799 and 1805. We have not been able to trace ancestors on this line further back than Philip Mahon/McMahon due to the fact that names like his were very, very common in Ireland. We have several different couples who could have been his parents, but the evidence is not concrete enough at this time to publish the names. We are still researching his origins.
We learned that Irish and English history had an impact on how Irish family names were recorded. Philip McMahon’s forename Mahon in the Finglas Parish baptismal records for his sons, is better understood by reviewing this article from The Irish Times. We don’t know exactly why his name is recorded as Mahon for those records. We know that in that era, some people were starting to restore prefixes to their family names which had been dropped in earlier times. Certainly, surviving records indicate that his sons returned to using the full family name of McMahon. (2)
The Maguires
Patrick and Anne Maguire’s daughters were born in the midst of the Great Famine years in Ireland. The oldest daughter, Mary Francis Maguire was likely born in May 1845 and baptized on June 1 that same year. Our ancestor, Elizabeth Margaret Maguire was born in June 1846 and baptized on July 3. The youngest sister, Margaret Ann Maguire was baptized on November 22, 1847.
The Maguire Coat of Arms, (Image courtesy of COADB.com).
We know nothing about Elizabeth Maguire’s Irish childhood, nor how long she lived in Ireland. Across the Irish Sea, Scotland did not suffer the same deprivations and impacts that Ireland had endured during The Famine. Ultimately, many Irish people emigrated to Scotland in search of work and a better life.
We believe that the Maguire/McGuire branch of the family was living in Dublin, Ireland. We noticed on the marriage document that both Patrick and Anne have the same surname Maguire. Was this a coincidence, or were they perhaps cousins? Often second or third cousins married each other. This location, The St. Mary’s Pro-Cathedral in Dublin City, is the same location where their three daughters were baptized. (3)
Their Emigration to Scotland
We know that both Patrick McMahon and Elizabeth Maguire are in Scotland by 1860, because they are living in the village of Doune, and are married in on October 1, 1860 in nearby Stirling, Scotland.
Doune Castle in an 1803 engraving in the publication Scotia Depicta. In Sir Walter Scott’s first novel, Waverly (1814), the protagonist Edward Waverley is brought to Doune Castle by the Jacobites.
There are several things to note about their marriage certificate. Both Patrick and Elizabeth lacked education and could not sign their names, so instead they made an X. Witnesses were required to vouch for the signee, so we see other names like Michael McGuire, Richard McGuire, and Edward Maguire. We do not know if these people were relatives, but it’s probable.
It’s important to note another observation we have about Elizabeth Maguire’s mother, Anne Maguire. Her name is recorded as Nancy C______ on the marriage document. She is also the only one of the four parents, who was not listed as being “dead” by the time of the October 1860 marriage. In that era, a woman with the name of Anne, is often called Nancy. The name Nancy was originally a diminutive form of Anne or Ann.
We believe that she remarried, hence her surname changed to C______, and she was known as Nancy C______. Due to the obscure penmanship on that 1860 marriage document, we have not been able to decipher the exact spelling of Anne Maguire/Nancy C______’s (new) surname. We did see that her “maiden name Maguire” is written just below her new surname. On Elizabeth’s 1911 death certificate, her mother’s maiden name is written as Kerns. We believe that this is more likely a phonetic spelling for her re-married surname.
For those of us living in current times, it seems strange that Patrick and Elizabeth had difficulties in keeping track of their actual ages. On the marriage register, even though he was 26 when he married Elizabeth, Patrick stated that he was 25. As for Elizabeth, she gave her age as 19 when she was actually only 14. Throughout her life, Elizabeth (and sometimes her daughter Ann Elizabeth) would state ages and locations that were not correct. It’s clear that they were guessing. For her 1860 marriage, perhaps Elizabeth wanted to appear older?
Throughout her life, Elizabeth (and sometimes her daughter Ann Elizabeth) would state ages and locations that were not correct. It’s clear that they were guessing. For her 1860 marriage, perhaps Elizabeth wanted to appear older?
An observation we made after analyzing documents
We know that Patrick McMahon’s older brother Philip McMahon had emigrated to Scotland in the 1850s. By 1860, he is living in nearby Kilmadock, Scotland. In 1857 he and Margaret Duncanson were married.
This map below shows the layout for the region within which they lived in the village of Doune in Stirlingshire. The map is interactive, so if you navigate the map in a “north-westerly fashion” you can see the layout of the Doune Village and the Deanston Cotton Works where Elizabeth worked as a weaver.
There were many woolen mills and linen factories in the larger surrounding area. The fact that Elizabeth worked as a weaver on a steam-powered loom is noteworthy. She was likely employed as a child-laborer in the factories and worked her way up to that position. Prior to this time, women, like Jane McKenzie, were confined to making thread and men ran the looms. A little more than a generation later, women had advanced and were considered skillful enough to do some of the jobs that men used to do. (4)
Moving Around Frequently — The Central Belt Of Scotland
During the next period of slightly more than 20 years, Patrick and Elizabeth moved around a lot. Their children’s births and deaths were in the areas of Perthshire, Stirlingshire, and North Lanarkshire, Scotland. On a map these locations are in the Central Belt of Scotland, all in a relatively close area. On most of the children’s birth registrations Patrick McMahon is identified as a quarryman, or laborer. With an ever growing family, perhaps he was following the best employment opportunities open to him.
Eventually, we learned from the 1900 census, Elizabeth was asked two questions:For mothers, “How many children has the person had?” and “How many of those children are living?”
1900 United States Census Question
On the 1900 census,Elizabeth answered that she had had twelve children and that six are living. We have been able to confirm eleven children. Their records are woven together with census and administrative records.
Scotland holds its census very ten years beginning on the first year of the decade (1861, 1871, 1881). The 1861 census has them living in Kilmadock, Scotland. Patrick is listed as an agricultural laborer, and Elizabeth is a cotton weaver.
In the 1871 and 1881 census’ we see the growing McMahon family.
View of the Town of Perth, County Perthshire, Scotland 1837. (Image courtesy of media storehouse.com.au).
In Kilmadock Parish, Perthshire County, Scotland — two children…
James McMahon born January 24, 1862 in Doune, Kilmadock, Perthshire, Scotland.
Mary Jane McMahon born August 4, 1863 in Doune, Kilmadock, Perthshire, Scotland. (We are descended from Mary Jane).
St Ninians, by Jane Anne Wright (1842–1922). (Image courtesy of artuk.org).
In St. Ninians Parish, Stirlingshire County, Scotland — three children…
Margaret McMahon born August 12, 1865 in Craigforth, St. Ninians, Stirlingshire, Scotland. Margaret died of hydrocephalus on July 7, 1866 aged 11 months, in Bannockburn.
Philip McMahon born May 2, 1867 in Bannockburn, St. Ninians, Stirlingshire, Scotland.
John McMahon born December 10, 1868 in Bannockburn, St. Ninians, Stirlingshire, Scotland. John (also) died of hydrocephalus on October 2, 1869 aged 10 months.
By the time of the 1871 census, Elizabeth and Patrick are registered on two separate censuses. There was a pattern of Patrick seeking out work and Elizabeth following with the children. Elizabeth was living in Shotts, Lanarkshire, and with her are James, Mary Jane, (both scholars) and Phillip. Patrick was a boarder living at the home of Mrs. Thomas Mulligan in Wishaw, Lanarkshire. Between the time of the census in the Spring, and Edward’s birth in October, the family had relocated to Wishaw.
Scottish Post Office Directories, Pigot and Co.’s National Commercial Directory for the Whole of Scotland and of the Isle of Man, page 636.
In Cambusnethan Parish and Shotts Parish, North Lanarkshire County, Scotland — five children…
Edward McMahon born October 19, 1871 in Berryhill Rows, Wishaw, Cambusnethan, North Lanarkshire, Scotland
Thomas McMahon born August 16, 1873 in Auchinlea, Shotts, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. Thomas died of bronchitis on March 30, 1875, aged 19 months.
Ann Elizabeth McMahon born August 15, 1875 in Crossgates, Shotts, North Lanarkshire, Scotland.
Shotts Parish, General Register of Poor, 1870-1894, page 397.
It seems that 1879 was a very difficult year for the McMahon family. We found a poorhouse record indicating that the family needed help. The records states that Patrick was “wholly disabled” and “partially destitute”. Curiously, his name is listed as Peter McMahon, so perhaps his name was Patrick (Peter) McMahon? This cannot be confirmed, but the spouse and children are definitely his family. It also indicates that at 17, James is already working in a mine and that at 15, Mary Jane is described as “sitting at home doing nothing”. Perhaps instead of working in an outside location, Mary Jane was helping her mother with the children?
This document is the only place where their daughter Helen appears. Helen never appeared on a census. Finding her name on the poorhouse document led us to her birth certificate, which we would have never looked for otherwise. Also on the document, a 5-month-old baby boy named Pat appears.
Helen McMahon born February 22, 1877 in Crossgates, Shotts, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. Helen died of whooping cough and bronchitis on August 14, 1879, aged 18 months, in Auchinlea, North Lanarkshire.
Patrick McMahon born November 9, 1878 in Crossgates, Shotts, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. Patrick died between November 17, 1881 when they arrived in America, and November 1882, when his younger sibling was born in Ohio.
The 1881 census shows us there have been many changes at their Scotland home. Patrick, James, and Phillip are not listed. Living with Elizabeth in Shotts, Lanarkshire, are: Mary Jane (brickwork laborer), Edward, and Ann Elizabeth (both scholars), and baby Patrick, listed at the top of the next page. Curiously, baby Patrick is listed as Peter even though his birth certificate clearly states that his name is Patrick. (5)
In the next chapter, we follow the McMahons as they make a new life in America.
Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials, Notes, and Observations
Jane Mc Kinzie Vital – Ireland, Births and Baptisms, 1620-1881 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F5P2-QW5 On page 662 of 746, the page reads: “The Parish Book of Drung & Larah Diocese of Kilmore” And on page 664 of 746, it reads: “Register book for the parishes of Drung and Larah received in Drung Church on the 7th August 1785 by the Revd Thomas Cradoc — The registry of such families of ancient parishioners as could in any wise be calculated from Ruins of the Old Register Book are inserted in the first six Leaves of this book”
The murder of Shane O’Neill: In the mid-1500s, Sean or Shane O’Neill, the Earl of Tyrone, was causing so many problems for the English crown that Elizabeth I banned the name O’Neill, on punishment of death and forfeiture of property. She would not be pleased to know that today O’Neill is a top ten Irish surname, and Sean is a top ten Irish given name. (Photograph: Getty Images)
Moving Around Frequently — The Central Belt Of Scotland
(5) — twenty four records
Elizebeth C McMahon Census – United States, Census, 1900 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MSCQ-JQ5 Book page: Sheet 18, Digital page: 318/1069 Entry lines 68 through 71. Note: Joliet township, Illinois. Included here for the census questions.
Our Ancestors, Our Narratives 
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