My Family History Primer

Compiled and Edited by

Charles W. Paige

 

 

Grandparents Lyman and Hannah (Francis) Keyes:  brought my line of Keyes from East Bloomfield, Ontario Co., NY, to Cambria, Niagara Co., NY, before 1820; had seven children

Grandmother Hannah (Francis) Keyes:  brought some of her children to Climax, Kalamazoo Co., MI, in 1835, seven years after Grandfather Lyman died; farmed and taught earliest school classes in her own residence at Climax before a school was built; married Step-Grandfather George Fletcher of PA, VA, and MI

Cousins to each other and my cousins architect Maurice Powers Carney of Battle Creek, MI, and attorney and amateur photographer Claude Silas Carney of Kalamazoo, MI:  each married a sister of brothers Richard and Joseph Burchnall Westnedge of Kalamazoo; Richard died at Manila, Philippines, of typhoid fever during the Spanish American War; “Fightin’ Joe” died of illness at Nantes, France, at the end of The Great War; Kalamazoo’s West Street renamed Westnedge Avenue in their honor

Grandparents Phillip and Mary Shook:  brought my line of Shooks from PA (probably Turbot Twp., Northumberland Co.) to Lockport, Niagara Co., NY, by way of Seneca Co., NY; their house used as meeting place to start area's German Lutheran and Reformed Church, of which Phillip became an elder January 1, 1837 (later called the Evangelical Lutheran Church); Phillip and Mary had eight children; Phillip had three children by second wife Step-Grandmother Hannah

Grandfather Johnathan “Jonas” Shook:  was a principal member at time of organization of English Lutheran Church at Cambria, Niagara Co., NY, in 1837 (later called St. Paul's Lutheran Church); had nine children by wife Grandmother Annah (LaRoche) Shook

Grandparents Jonathan and Mary (Fay) Brigham:  married as first cousins; had ten children; Mary’s father was Grandfather John Fay who sailed to America in 1656 on same ship (the Speedwell) with Grandfather Thomas Barns, sailing from Gravesend about May 20, 1656 and landing in Boston, Suffolk Co., MA, June 27, 1656; the Fay line and Barns line joined nearly three hundred years later with marriage of Parents Jennie Louise Barnes and Howard Oswald Paige

Cousins, the presidents and governors Bush:  shared grandparents John and Mary (Brigham) Fay; besides other elected and appointed governmental offices, George Herbert Walker Bush was 11^th Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), 43^rd Vice President of the United States (under President Ronald Reagan), and 41^st President; son George Walker Bush became the 46^th Governor of Texas and 43^rd President of the United States; and other son Jeb Bush was the 43^rd Governor of Florida

Grandparents Orlando and Lucinda (Shook) Keyes:  brought my line of Keyes from Cambria, Niagara Co., NY, to Climax, Kalamazoo Co., MI, in 1851; had seven children

Grandfather Rev. Orlando Keyes:  originally a cooper by trade; ordained a Methodist minister of the gospel about 1859; enlisted during Civil War in the 12^th Michigan Infantry, Army of the Republic, as Private with new son-in-law Private James Powers, and later served as chaplain of the 12^th Michigan Veteran Volunteer Infantry, dying January 12, 1866, from disease contracted in the army

Grandfather Riley Preston Page:  born at Macedon, Wayne Co., NY; came to Branch Co., MI, from Webster, Monroe Co., NY, with parents William H. and Chloe (Thayer) Robinson Page, brother William H., Jr., and some half brothers about 1857; returned there alone about 1896; fathered six children—three apiece by first two wives, Step-Grandmother Elizabeth Adelaide (Hollenbeck) Page and Grandmother Sarah M. (Keyes) Page; was a farmer, farm laborer, then sewing machine traveling salesman in MI and shoe maker/shoe repairer in NY; in 1897 bought house belonging to his half-sister Chloe M. (Robinson) Smith on Main Street in Webster, Monroe Co., NY; married third wife Step-Grandmother Emma (Conant) Wright Page at Webster; in 1907, purchased and moved to the George Brown house at Ontario Center, Wayne Co., NY; spent last years with Emma’s daughter Elizabeth (Wright) McMillan Merrill of East Rochester and then Fairport, Monroe Co., NY

Grandmother Sarah M. (Keyes) Page:  married in Kalamazoo, MI, Step-Grandfather Harvey Olmstead Cline “H.O.,” who was a farmer, storekeeper, real estate broker, barber, and served two terms as sheriff of Ingham Co., MI; united in marriage by N. J. Cogshall, Clergyman, and marriage witnessed by Rev. C. C. McCabe of New York City and Rev. J. C. Floyd of Albion, MI; to “the two thousand prisoners who came under her care she was a true adviser and many a wayward one has been led to reform due to her kindness and motherly advice”

Uncle James Powers, husband of Aunt Irene (Keyes) Powers:  was employed as a Climax Twp., Kalamazoo Co., MI, teacher in 1865, 1867 (with Aunt Irene), and 1875, was a school inspector in 1868 and 1875, as a Republican was elected Highway Commissioner in 1871 and 1873, and Township Clerk 1874-76, but as a Democrat was chosen as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention from Michigan in 1896, was elected by 2nd District of Kalamazoo Co. to Michigan's House of Representatives for 1897-8 on the Democratic People's Union Silver ticket, and was an unsuccessful candidate for circuit judge in Michigan's 5th Circuit, 1899; with Aunt Irene spent last years in Seattle, King Co., WA

Cousin Jesse Daniel Orlando Powers a.k.a. Jesse D. O. Powers:  like grandfather Orlando Keyes became a minister, though of a different denomination; attended Battle Creek College, after which he taught high school for two years; following marriage to former Mary Esther “Etta” Kraft, the couple attended the University of Michigan, then Jesse attended Meadville (PA) Theological College, from which he graduated in June 1897; that year he moved the family to Kennebunk, York Co., ME, becoming pastor of the First Unitarian Church, was elected superintendent of public schools, and became president of the school board; Sioux City (IA) Unitarian Church beckoned him in 1901, where he served until 1907, there organizing the Associated Charities; the family’s final hometown became Seattle, King Co., WA, where Jesse became pastor of the First Unitarian Church in January 1908; according to volume 6, p. 679, of the “History of Woman Suffrage,” published in 1922 by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan Brownell Anthony, et al, “In Seattle no one spoke more frequently or convincingly [for the amendment allowing women the right to vote] than the Rev. J. D. O. Powers of the First Unitarian Church and the Rev. Sidney Strong of Queen Anne Congregational Church;” that same book, Volume 5, p. 260, included Jesse’s name in the list of Seattle ministers who opened with prayer various sessions of Seattle’s 1909 national suffrage convention; he was listed as president of the State of Washington Peace Society in 1913, and in 1914 was appointed by Governor Lister as a delegate to the national peace conference held in Michigan

Cousin Margret W. (Keyes) Backenstoe Reed:  with second husband Irishman James Frazier Reed and daughter Virginia Backenstoe, traveled from Union, Monroe Co., VA, to San Jose, Santa Clara Co., CA; survived ill-fated Donner party, James Frazier Reed being one of its leaders; Margret had one child by first husband Lloyd Carter Backenstoe and six children by James Frazier Reed

Cousin and possible double cousin Ruth Elizabeth Davis:  with mother—cousin and possible double cousin Ruth Elizabeth (Favor) Davis a.k.a. “Ruthie”—left Lowell, Middlesex Co., MA, for Hollywood, CA, in 1930 as did so many other star-struck hopefuls yearning for fame and a career in movies; she found both under the name “Bette” Davis

Cousin Brigham Young:  replaced Joseph Smith as head of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after Smith killed; took Mormons to Great Salt Lake area of UT to escape persecution; founded Salt Lake City; explored a natural wonder of UT he named Zion, which later became Zion National Park; had fifty-seven children by twenty-three wives—thirteen of the children were born of six wives who had been widows of Joseph Smith

Grandfather Charles Orlando Page:  survived diphtheria contracted as an infant to be the only of three surviving children of Grandfather Riley P. Page to bring forward several generations of descendants; of the other two surviving siblings:  Uncle George Hudson and Aunt Mary (Reed) Page brought forward a single generation, Elsie May, who married Jesse Strange Harrison; Aunt Carrie (Page) Richards Soule Wheeler and first husband Uncle Theodore Dudley "Dorr" Richards began what would be a two-generation run beginning with their daughter, cousin Lola Mae, who married Joseph Burchard Milliman, was widowed young and in June 1911 became editor and business manager of the Scotts department of the Cereal, a Climax, Kalamazoo Co., MI, newspaper, and ended with cousin Helen Elizabeth (Milliman) Shafer Krans Forbes, who left behind a Page family bible first owned by her Grandmother Carrie and containing Page family vital records that wasn’t returned to the Pa(i)ge family until 2010—eighteen years later; Grandfather Charles married Grandmother Maud Annabell Castner in 1902 and they had three children:  Margaret Frances, Howard Oswald, and Marshal Harvey, but were divorced in 1923; Grandfather Charles married in 1931 second wife Step-Grandmother Florence L. (Peck) Squier informally called “Big Betty,” daughter of Mortimer Edward and Luella (Phelps) Peck, former wife of Homer E. Deaver and Glenn A. Squier and mother of Betty Squier called “Little Betty”

Grandfather Henry Welter:  born 1735 in Germany and came to America at age 5; was in American Revolutionary War as drummer from May 1775 until 1778; had four children by Grandmother currently unknown; lived to be 99 years old at Drakestown, Morris Co., NJ

Grandparents William and Sarah (Welter) Casner:  brought my line of Cas(t)ners from Morris Co., NJ to Milo, Yates Co., NY, in 1835; to Ovid, Clinton Co., MI, about 1855; helped found First Baptist Church of Shepardsville, Clinton Co., MI, in 1876; had eight children

Aunt Sarah Castner, a daughter of grandparents William and Sarah (Welter) Castner:  married Salmon Johnson Sutliff in Ovid, Clinton Co., MI, where they had son Alvah (a.k.a. Alva) and raised foster or adoptive daughter Grandmother Frances (a.k.a. Franky) who would later marry Sarah’s brother Grandfather Edward Potter Castner; around time Edward and Frances married, the Sutliffs moved to Dent Township twenty-five miles east of Stockton, San Joaquin Co., CA, where Salmon’s brother Charles B(liss) and sister-in-law Dorliska (Beach) Sutliff had recently purchased a 720-acre ranch, and where Aunt Sarah Sutliff died shortly after her family’s arrival; Aunt Sarah’s widower husband and son immediately returned to Michigan to live with Uncle Salmon’s parents Romsley and Catherine (Barnhart) Sutliff in Lincoln, Isabella Co., where Salmon remarried to Lucilla (a.k.a. Lua) Way and soon died; cousin Alva eventually returned to California with wife Elizabeth M. (Therrett) and two surviving sons Earl J. and Leon Carl, settling in Los Angeles and Kent counties

Grandparents Edward Potter and Frances “Franky” Marie Laronge (Gargett/Sutliff) Castner:  had three children; moved their family from Clinton Co., MI, to Lansing, Ingham Co., MI; for a few years leased the Butler House hotel from its owner Lewis Darby September 26, 1894, and purchased the hotel’s existing kitchen, dining room, office, sleeping room, and other furniture and fixtures from Darby, who later foreclosed on the chattel mortgage unfairly and in bad faith and during the foreclosure sale purchased the chattel himself at a greatly reduced price; Grandpa Castner sued Darby in justice court claiming the foreclosure sale was invalid and won; Darby appealed to the circuit court and again lost; Darby claimed judicial error and took matter to Michigan Supreme Court, which decided September 25, 1901, in Grandpa’s favor (Castner v. Darby, 128 Mich. 241, 87 N.W. 199);  Grandparents Edward and Franky divorced in 1902

Grandmother Franky (Gargett/Sutliff) Castner Witherell:  a highly skilled seamstress who worked with furs; lived to be over 102 years old; after divorce, moved to Detroit, Wayne Co., MI, with daughter Aunt Yula; married to second husband Detroit barber Step-Grandfather Harry J. Witherell; they moved to Jackson, MI, from Detroit in 1921—the same year Aunt Yula died of tuberculosis in Jackson

Step-Grandfather Harry J. a.k.a. Henry Witherell:  was born in MI, a son of Hiram Justin and Almira a.k.a. Alma (Stevens) Witherell, purportedly at Lakeport, St. Clair Co., though his brother Alvah L. and sister Sarah Blanch were born at Clyde, same county; during Civil War Harry’s 23-year-old father enlisted in Company K of the 2nd Michigan Cavalry September 20, 1861, at Lakeport, St. Clair Co., and was killed October 30, 1864, in action during the Battle of Shoal Creek, TN (Harry’s sister Sarah Blanch was born nearly four months posthumously); Harry lived a number of years at Sarnia, Lambton, Ontario, Canada, where three of his four children were born by his first wife Catherine, the daughter of Thomas and Mary Lawrence, who were living in Sarnia by the beginning of the Civil War—Mary born in Ireland of Irish parents; Thomas born in Tennessee of slave parents; in late 1880s Harry’s family, as well as Catherine's parents and brother, settled together at Port Huron, St. Clair Co., MI, just across the St. Clair River from Sarnia; Harry's son Harry Jr., nicknamed "Doc" and "Dockie" during his service in the First World War, sent pictures from Europe home, which were added to Dockie’s stepmother Franky's picture album; Harry Sr. was a barber as were his adopted brother Harry Davis (adopted by Harry’s mother and her second husband William Franklin Davis), brother-in-law Don Mcphee (who married Sarah Blanch), father-in-law Thomas Lawrence, Sr. and brother-in-law Thomas, Jr. (Thomas Lawrence and son were listed as hair dressers in Canadian censuses)

Grandfather Edward Potter Castner:  helped found First Baptist Church of Shepardsville, Clinton Co., MI, in 1876; after divorce, moved to Detroit, Wayne Co., MI, and married his second wife Canadian-born Step-Grandmother Catherine E. (Yates) Gallagher, twenty-six years his junior and daughter of Irish-born parents Richard and Anne Maria (Hurst) Yates; lived in Redford, Wayne Co., MI (near Detroit); by Catherine had son Edward, stillborn; all three buried in Section 14, Lot 303, Plots 1, 2 and 3 at Grand Lawn Cemetery in Detroit

Grandmother Maude Annabelle (Castner) Page Moore:  was also a highly skilled seamstress; took steps to preserve family history by writing memories in several small notebooks and by giving list of her father Grandfather Edward Potter Castner’s siblings to her adoptive granddaughter Gayle Marie (Page) Miller, who had expressed an interest; had three children by first husband Grandfather Charles Orlando Page

Step-Grandfather Ira Arthur Moore:  farmer in Carroll Co., IN; prison guard at the Indiana Reformatory at Pendleton, Madison Co., IN, for four years; moved to Jackson, MI, with first wife Lillian (Haslet) and joined the Southern Michigan Prison (SMP) staff as a guard in 1929; became Chief Steward at prison after prison riot of 1952 until retirement in 1958; as Chief Steward known affectionately as “Pappy” supervised preparation of about 18,000 meals a day for inmates and staff of prison and trustee farms; second wife was Grandmother Maude Annabelle (Castner) Page Moore

Grandmother Sarah (Lord) Willson:  in September 1692 accused of witchcraft, arrested at Andover, Essex Co., MA, and imprisoned fifteen weeks at Salem before being released; while in prison, was interviewed by Rev. Increase Mather, father of Cotton Mather; had at least one child by husband Grandfather Joseph Willson

Grandmother Sarah Willson, Jr.:  in September 1692 accused of witchcraft, arrested at Andover, Essex Co., MA, and imprisoned six weeks at Salem before being released; later, had at least one child by husband Grandfather Jacob Preston

Grandfather Richard Tayer:  was born in Gloucestershire, England in 1600; brought my line of T(h)ayers from England to Braintree, Norfolk Co., MA, in 1641; had at least one child by wife Grandmother Dorothy Pray; family resided in Braintree for more than 150 years

Grandfather William Henry Page, Sr.:  born in County Essex, England, according to Page family bible; brought my line of Pages from England to America in 1829, including Step-Grandmother Martha (Hudson or Sanders) Page and at least four of their children—Esther, Ebenezer, Mary and Nathan S.; settled first in Wayne Co., NY; later, settled at Webster, Monroe Co., NY, with second wife Grandmother Chloe (Thayer) Robinson Page, and finally at Bronson, Branch Co., MI, in about 1857

Grandmother Chloe (Thayer) Robinson Page:  settled at Macedon, Wayne Co., NY, in 1800 with parents Grandparents William and Chloe (Preston) Thayer and nine siblings; origination point was Braintree, Norfolk Co., MA; had five children by first husband Step-Grandfather James Robinson; had two children by second husband Grandfather William Henry Page, Sr.

Half-Uncle Chauncey and wife Louisa (Hill) Robinson:  took their family to Quincy, Branch Co., MI about 1857, where they kept a hotel

Half-Uncle Luther and wife Mari (Hill) Robinson:  took their family to Matteson, Branch Co., MI about 1857, and later to Bronson, same county; Luther was a farmer and lightning rod salesman

Half-Aunt Chloe M. Robinson:  married Henry Smith; they kept a hotel in Webster, Monroe Co., NY; widowed, sold her house on Main Street to her half-brother, Grandfather Riley P. Page, in 1897.

Half-Aunt Esther Page:  born in England; appeared to be a woman of independent means, possibly due to signing a lease on the “30th day of December 1864,” along with Lucy E. Shaw, for a piece of land in Parkersburg, West Virginia, owned by Stephen C. Shaw for the “purpose of mining and excavating and boring &c [etc.] for coal, salt, or salt spring coal or rock or carbon oil, or any other valuable mineral substance or substances”; was living with sister, Half-Aunt Mary (Page) Langdon, in Palmyra, Wayne Co., NY, by 1870; at age 71 married first time to 79-year-old Benjamin Hoag of Macedon Center, Wayne Co., as his third wife

Half-Uncle Ebenezer Page:  born in England; was a blacksmith from Palmyra, Wayne Co., NY, when he joined the Civil War as mechanic and member of Company B, 138^th Regiment NY Infantry (which later became Company B of Ninth New York Heavy Artillery); stationed in Washington, D.C., where he helped build forts Bunker Hill, Kearney, Mansfield, Reno, and Foote; during Battle of Monocacy, called the Battle that Saved Washington, he “was sighting his rifle and was all ready to shoot when a ‘Johnny’ shot at him, the bullet striking the musket stock and slivering it”; Ebenezer “fell over and later found that his right hand was badly injured”; a sliver had become embedded causing a “bad hand” and was not found and removed for thirty-two years; after the war he settled in Brockport, NY, becoming a member of Veteran Association of the Ninth New York Heavy Artillery, Company B and lived for just over 91 years; son William Sanders Page enlisted as volunteer in the 111th NY Infantry; Company A, in 1862, was wounded during Battle of Gettysburg in 1863, died from wound received during Battle of Cold Harbor in 1864, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery

Half-Aunt Mary Page:  born in England; married Alonzo Langdon of Palmyra, Wayne Co., NY, where they settled; with husband owned a farm and assorted enterprises which were left to only surviving son William Hudson Langdon, whose descendants, for generations, tended to live in Palmyra or Brutus (Cayuga Co.) or Brighton (Monroe Co.), NY

Half-Uncle Nathan S. Page:  born in England, or according to at least one account, “at sea”; was a blacksmith at New Lisbon, Otsego Co., NY; settled at Sodus, Berrien Co., MI about 1857; was an engineer/mechanic from Sodus at age 28 when he joined the Civil War; enlisted in Company I, 12th Infantry Regiment Michigan in late 1861 (Rev. Orlando Keyes, future father-in-law of Nathan’s half-brother, Grandfather Riley P. Page, and Orlando’s son-in-law James Powers, Jr. would be in the same regiment, Company D); later, was attached to the 11th Independent Battery, Ohio Light Artillery Regiment, in January 1864; was returned to original unit in April 1864; received a disability discharge from original unit in September 1864 at Detroit, MI; with wife, former Sarah J. Maynard, settled with their three children in Chicago, Cook Co., IL in 1878

Uncle William Henry Page, Jr.:  came to Branch Co., MI, from Webster, Monroe Co., NY, with English-born wife Aunt Mariah (Patch) and son Jay D. Page, parents William H. and Chloe (Thayer) Robinson Page, brother (Grandfather Riley), and some half brothers about 1857; had nine children; was a farmer and carpenter

Cousin Jay D. Page:  was only child of Uncle William and Aunt Mariah Page born in state of New York, the rest being born in Michigan; started out as telegraph operator at Cedar Springs village in Nelson Twp., Kent County, MI, but soon took his young family back to New York, to a farm at Three River Point in Clay Twp., Onondaga Co., near Syracuse; started wholesale feed and liquor business in Syracuse called Jay D. Page & Co., Inc., around 1905, which was burned out during locally famous Mowry Hotel fire night of February 10/11, 1907; fire caused $202,000 in total damages, including a $16,000 loss to Jay’s store inventory, yet Jay D. Page & Co., Inc. was back in business May 4, 1907, and remained in business for many years

Cousin Robert Emerson Page:  was born in Athens, Calhoun Co., MI, and was one of the wealthier of my known relatives—apparently untouched by the Great Depression; he became a darling of the Syracuse Herald newspaper, which reported on many aspects of his life before and especially after his marriage to Ruth Steinwald Kuntzsch, only child of magnate William J. Kuntzsch of Syracuse and his wife, the former Magdalena “Lena” Steinwald; Robert and Ruth’s daughter Doris Ruth, in later years affectionately called “Jodie,” also became a darling of the Herald, which shared her parties and other adventures with society; besides Syracuse, where Robert was Commodore of the Syracuse Yacht and Country Club, the family also had a home at Coral Gables, FL, from where Doris Ruth’s 1939 wedding to budding attorney Benjamin Worcester Turner of Philadelphia received a full-page description in the Herald; the family yacht was the Dorubob (and later, the Dorubob II), sometimes moored on Oneida Lake at the Syracuse Yacht and Country Club, or near Coral Gables, FL, or in the Fort Myers (FL) Yacht Basin; in 1933:  “During the summer, they took a cruise on Lake Ontario and Lake Champlain stopping at Thousand Islands, Montreal, Burlington, VT, and Albany”; in 2008, cousin Gail, a grandniece of Robert and Ruth who had spent time on the Dorubob as a youth in the 1950s, described the yacht’s journey from Coral Gables, near Miami on the east coast of Florida, to the Fort Myers Yacht Basin on the west coast:  “The Pages would have come across the Intracoastal Waterway from Coral Gables, across Lake Okeechobee, through several locks down the Caloosahatchee River”

Cousin-by-marriage Russell Byron Clapper, husband of cousin Genevieve Page:  was a botanist working in Beltsville, MD, as a plant pathologist for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA); in 1948, on a test plot at the Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge, Carterville, IL, he planted a blight-resistant chestnut tree he had developed after a blight had decimated the American chestnut trees in the 1930s; he developed the blight-resistant chestnut tree by crossing the American and Chinese chestnut trees and then back crossing the hybrid with an American chestnut; in 1964 the new cultivar (plant propagated via stem cuttings not from seed) was named after him—the Clapper chestnut; cultivars of it are still used to develop blight-resistant trees today; he also wrote, “A Glossary of Plant Genetics,” which he self published (some of the preceding information was provided by Russell and Genevieve’s granddaughter Gail)

Cousin Elizabeth Bella "Lizzie" Page:  married at Fawn River, St. Joseph Co., MI, to Albert Monroe Haybarger, originally from Erie Co., PA; their family settled for some years in Lima, Lagrange Co., IN, and later at Coldwater, Branch Co., MI; in about 1903 their family of six—two parents and four children—emigrated to Fort Saskatchewan on the North Saskatchewan River about 25 files northeast of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; the family became Canadian citizens around 1913; both Albert and son Charles Page Haybarger took up homesteads made available by the Dominion Lands Act of 1872 but lost them when their homestead area was confiscated by eminent domain to become part of the Elk Island National Park; Charles applied for and worked a new homestead further north, but later the whole family except Albert and Lizzie’s son Everett Munroe Haybarger settled in the area of Vancouver, British Columbia; one of Charles’ three daughters became a dual Canadian and US citizen after marrying a US citizen, and both of their daughters were born in the USA

Grandparents Robert and Hannah (Uxor) Mason:  resided at Bolton, Lancashire, England, where Robert died at Battle of Bolton during English civil war against King Charles I; son Grandfather Sampson Mason was soldier in Cromwell's Army; Sampson came to America in 1649, settling first at Dorchester, MA; in 1650 married Grandmother Mary Butterworth at Rehoboth, Bristol Co., MA, where they settled; Sampson and Mary had thirteen children

Grandparents Thomas and Dorothy (Wheatley) Bliss:  brought my Bliss line from Devonshire, England, to Braintree, Norfolk Co., MA, in 1636 and ultimately to the religious colony of Rehoboth, Bristol Co., MA, where family resided for more than 130 years; had four children; their granddaughter Aunt Rachel (Bliss) Mann, daughter of Grandparents Jonathan and Miriam (Harmon) Bliss and first wife of Uncle Thomas Mann, and the baby in her arms, were two of first victims killed by Indians at Swansea, Bristol Co., MA, at the outbreak of the King Philip’s War in 1675

Grandfather Captain Samuel Bliss:  fought in the Revolutionary War; commanded a company of eight day minute men April 19-27, 1775, afterwards a company of eight months men in Col. Timothy Walker's regiment; was in Captain Slade's Company three years and was General Washington's steward at Morristown in winter of 1777; had five children by wife Grandmother Keziah (Wilmarth) Carpenter Bliss

Grandfather Calvin Hall Bliss, Sr.:  had five children by first wife Grandmother Seraph (Bothwell) Bliss and four children by second wife Step-Grandmother Louisa (Tuttle) West Bliss; most of children by first marriage settled in Calhoun Co., MI, in mid-1860s, and most from second marriage settled at Farmville, Prince Edward Co., VA, in 1869 along with Calvin, Sr. and Louisa, who sold their 200-acre farm in Galen, Wayne Co., NY, and purchased a 264-acre plantation at Farmville; Calvin and Louisa’s son Half-Uncle Calvin Hall Bliss, Jr. was sheriff of Prince Edward Co. in 1880, and Grandfather Calvin Hall Bliss, Sr. represented the counties of Prince Edward, Amelia and Cumberland, VA, in the Virginia State Senate from 1877 to 1887 during the years immediately following the post-Civil-War era known as Reconstruction

Grandparents Sidney E. and Helen M. (Hubbard) Bliss:  brought my Bliss line from Galen, Wayne Co., NY, to Calhoun Co., MI, in 1866, first to Tekonsha then to Albion; they owned a farm three miles out of Albion and Sidney also built a house in town; had six children

Grandfather Thomas Hobart/Hobert/Hubbart:  originally from Woodbury, Litchfield Co., CT, became part of the American Revolution in February 1776, at age 16, when he joined at Southbury the 2^nd Connecticut Regiment under the command of Colonel Charles Webb, serving for one year (his brothers Elisha and John, Jr. would join the same regiment in May of 1777); was wounded in his right leg, causing him problems with fever sores later in life; a mason by trade, built most of the chimneys for the older houses in Russia settlement; married Grandmother Silence Bartlett of Sharon, Litchfield Co., CT; they settled in Russia, Herkimer Co., NY, where they had most of their nine children and lived in a cabin 15 feet by 15 feet

Grandfather Adam Frink Hubbart/Hubbard, originally from Russia, Herkimer Co., NY and named after Esq. Adam Frink, who owned a store in Russia and provided written testimony regarding Grandfather Thomas Hubbart’s petition for a Revolutionary War pension:  took part in my Hubbart/Hubbard line’s migration from the Finger Lakes area of NY (Wayne and Cayuga counties) to Calhoun and Barry counties, MI; in NY state had at least three children by Grandmother Mary (Mcclean) and at least two by Step-Grandmother Ann M. (DeCamp)

Aunt Polly M. (Hubbart) Vincent, wife of Rodman Gardner Vincent and sister of Grandfather Adam:  joined as a charter member, #12395, of the Fort Stanwix Chapter of the D.A.R. in 1896 when 96 years old; was believed to be the only actual daughter of an American Revolution soldier to be a charter member of a National D.A.R. Chapter (in 1896 the Fort Stanwix Chapter was formed in Rome, Oneida Co., NY by Mrs. William H. Bright, Miss Phoebe Stryker, and Mrs. James Searles); in 1932 her grave at Gravesville Cemetery, in the town of Russia, received a bronze tablet from the Fort Stanwix Chapter commemorating her unique charter membership

The following newspaper interviews recount stories told by Aunt Polly near the end of her 99-year life:

Story #1 (transcribed by Robert C. Neibling, descendant of Thomas’s brother Elisha Hubbart, from an article published in the Rome, New York Daily Sentinel on 24 September, 1932)

Uncle Killed By Indians

               “One of the earliest incidents of her father’s (Thomas Hubbart) life, which Mrs. Vincent related, was of an Indian uprising, in which her father’s brother was killed. This happened about the time of the commencement of the Revolution.  Mr. Hubbard’s brother was living in Connecticut at the time. The Tories led the Indians into the neighborhood and they attacked the house.  He was shot and wounded as he jumped from a window.  His wife, mother-in-law and three children were taken captive. The wife begged to go back to take care of her husband. The Indians said they would take care of him, and they led her back and killed him before her eyes.”

               “Years afterwards one of the children left the Indians and came back to civilization. He stayed only a little while, however. He had lived with the savages so long, that he was not content to live with his kindred, and soon returned to the people of his adoption.”

Story #2 (transcribed by Charles W. Paige, from an article published in the Rome, New York Semi-Weekly Citizen on 11 December, 1896—following an earlier but similar telling of Story #1 above)

 

“Another incident she relates took place in one of the old log cabin hotels. In the presence of her father a Tory there said, in a bragging way, that he had often carried babies around with a bayonet run through their bodies, just to torture the mothers. When the Tory had finished his story, Mrs. Vincent’s father picked up a big wooden chair and with that he laid the Tory low, breaking the chair. He then turned to the landlord and asked him what the damages were for breaking the chair, and the reply was: ‘Nothing, you can break every chair in the place that way, if you want to.’”

Story #3 (transcribed by Charles W. Paige, from an article published in the Rome, New York Daily Sentinel on 24 September, 1932)

 

“The War of 1812 was as fresh in the mind of Mrs. Vincent as the Civil War is in the minds of this generation. She remembered meeting a body of troops in the road, and she was of course very much frightened, as would be natural for a child of her years. She got out of the road and close to a fence, to get as far away as possible. The soldiers saw her fright, and reassured her by telling her they would not harm her. A company of soldiers was for some days encamped near where her father lived.”

Cousin Annie Elvira (Hubbart) Barker, a.k.a. Annie H. Barker, Annie Herbert, and Annie Herbert Barker, daughter of Uncle Levi Bartlett Hubbart and niece of Grandfather Adam Frink Hubbart:  early in her life lived in Leon, Cattaraugus Co., NY, then in Meagher Co., MT after marrying her 1^st cousin James Barker, Jr., son of Aunt Belinda (Hubbart) Barker, and spent the last half of her 89-year life in Marin Co., CA; became a schoolteacher and poetess; in 1883 the hymn “When The Mists Have Rolled Away” was published, the lyrics written by Annie and set to music by Ira David Sankey of Boston

Uncle Alexander Wilson, Jr.:   was the son of Grandfather Alexander, Sr. and Grandmother Mary (McNab) Wilson; came to America from Scotland with his nephew Uncle William Duncan, Jr. in 1794; initially settled in Philadelphia, PA; at first was weaver; traveled extensively to sell woven goods and to collect bird specimens and information, and subscribers to his ornithological book series; attributed as Father of American Ornithology, preceding John James Audubon by over a decade

Half-Aunt Janet Wilson:  was a half-sister of Alexander Wilson, Jr. and daughter of Grandfather Alexander, Sr. and Step-Grandmother Catherine (Brown) Urie Wilson; in 1796 Aunt Janet married Uncle Duncan Wright in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, a son of Peter and Agnes (Ferguson) Wright; Uncle Duncan left Scotland for Philadelphia in 1812 to establish himself in his specialty of textile bleaching, but his ship was waylaid by an American privateer, the “Yankee,” commanded by Captain James DeWolfe; Uncle Duncan’s destiny was thenceforth diverted from Pennsylvania to Massachusetts, where he and his family—Aunt Janet and the boys arriving in America in 1815—became important in diverse facets of the textile industry

Grandmother Mary (Wilson) Duncan:  had six children by husband Grandfather William Duncan, Sr., who did not accompany family to America but arrived to join them in later years; brought remainder of her children from Scotland to America in 1802; settled on farm at Ovid, Seneca Co., NY

Uncle William Duncan, Jr.:  twin of Grandmother Isabella Duncan, came to America from Scotland with Uncle Alexander Wilson in 1794; settled in Philadelphia, PA; settled at Ovid, Seneca Co., NY; settled at Milestown, PA; was weaver; was schoolteacher; did some traveling with Uncle Alexander Wilson

Grandmother Isabella (Duncan) McNelly Ellis:  twin of Uncle William Duncan, Jr.; came to America from Scotland in 1797; lived in Philadelphia, PA; had five children by husband Grandfather John McNelly from Ireland; settled in PA; settled at Ovid, Seneca Co., NY; settled at Pulteney, Steuben Co., NY; married Step-Grandfather John Ellis after Grandfather John McNelly’s death in the service of his new country

Grandfather John McNelly:  came to America from Ireland about 1798 (the year of the Great Irish Rebellion); became US citizen at Philadelphia in 1808; enlisted as soldier in War of 1812; took part in US invasion of Canada led by Major-General James Wilkinson and was “slain by the enemy” according to a deposition by his widow

Grandparents Robert and Jane Hood:  brought my Hood line from Turbot Twp., Northumberland Co., PA, to Seneca Co., NY; had three children

Grandfather James Hood, Sr.:  a carpenter; brought my Hood line from Seneca Co., NY, to Pulteney, Steuben Co., NY, to Novi, Oakland Co., MI, ultimately settling in Moscow, Hillsdale Co., MI; had ten children by first wife Grandmother Catharine (McNelly) Hood; married second wife Step-Grandmother Emily (Richardson) Miller Hood, whose first husband, the Hon. Lewis T. Miller, had settled in Moscow Twp. in 1833-34 and become Moscow’s first postmaster, was a delegate to Michigan’s constitutional convention in 1835, and was an uncle of the Hon. William H. Seward, instrumental in the purchase of Alaska from the Russians

Grandmother Catharine (McNelly) Hood:  gave birth to ten children before losing own life after birth of twins while staying with Uncle James and Aunt Jane (Waddell) Duncan in Lyons, Oakland Co., MI; husband Grandfather James Hood, Sr. was away; children raised in separate homes

Uncle James Duncan Hood:  twin of Uncle William McNelly Hood; raised by Uncle James and Aunt Jane (Waddell) Duncan; took $50 bounty to serve in Civil War for another person; was captured by Confederate soldiers at Chickamauga and died at Andersonville Prison, GA

Grandfather Thomas Goodenow:  born at Donhead, St. Andrews, Wiltshire, England; came to America on "Confidence" in April 1638; settled at Sudbury, Middlesex Co., MA; with other residents of Sudbury later founded Marlborough, Middlesex Co., MA; selectman of Marlborough 1661, 1662 and 1664; surveyor of highways; built a bridge across Sudbury River; had seven children by wife Grandmother Jane (Ruddick) Goodenow; their crippled granddaughter Mary, a daughter of Uncle Samuel and Aunt Mary Goodenow, was killed and scalped by marauding Indians August 18, 1707

Grandfather Thomas Barns:  by some accounts born at Barking, County Essex, England, to a George and Mary Barns, at age 20 came to America on same ship (the Speedwell) with Grandfather John Fay, sailing from Gravesend about May 20, 1656, and landing in Boston, Suffolk Co., MA June 27, 1656; became early settler at Marlborough, Middlesex Co., MA; had seven children by wife Grandmother Abigail (Goodenow) Barns; in 1676, during King Philip's War, family temporarily fled to Concord, Middlesex Co., MA, while house and goods burned by Indians as part of destruction of Marlborough; the Fay line and Barns line joined nearly three hundred years later with marriage of Parents Jennie Louise Barnes and Howard Oswald Paige

Grandfather William James Barns:  first of my Barns ancestors born in America; with Grandmother Mary (Smith) Barns brought my line from Marlborough, Middlesex Co., MA, to East Haddam, Middlesex Co., CT; had nine children

Grandfather Thomas Barns:  orphaned at age 12—Samuel Evans of Haddam appointed as guardian; Thomas and Grandmother Rebecca Hungerford (Cone) Barns brought my Barns line from East Haddam, Middlesex Co., CT, to Sharon, Litchfield Co., CT; purchased extensive land, including the last 50 acres belonging to the local Indian tribe who had allegedly been swindled out of their land holdings some years earlier by another white man—these 50 acres the only disputed lands that had been legally returned to the Indians; in 1752 Thomas “took a formal deed of their possessions from two of their chiefs, Nequitimaugh and Bartholomew [a son of Apowakenaut—a chief of the Wampanoag /C.W.Paige]. It was contrary to law to take deeds of the Indian proprietors in that way, but the Legislature, on the petition of Barnes, confirmed his title…”; some of the Barns land bordered The Oblong; Thomas and Rebecca had eight children

Grandparents Thomas and Sarah Barns:  remained at Sharon, Litchfield Co., CT; they and several of their children mentioned in book “Born, Married and Died in Sharon, Conn”; youngest son Thomas Barns, Jr. married Mary “Polly” Tyler at nearby Amenia, Dutchess Co., NY

Uncle Thomas Barns, Jr. and Aunt Mary:  had the first two of their twelve children in CT before becoming the first of the family to settle near Auburn in Cayuga Co., NY about 1797 (although the “History of Cayuga County, New York 1789-1879” claims it was in 1795); cousin Deborah, one of their daughters, and her husband William Lobdell vied for being the first white residents of what became known as Argentine Twp. in Genesee Co., MI, with James H. Murray, who also located there in March, 1836

Grandparents Aaron and Martha (Eggleston) Barns:  brought my Barns line from Sharon, Litchfield Co., CT, to Mentz/Aurelius, Cayuga Co., NY, in 1816; used a “shell or dinner horn” to call people in from the fields; had seven children; 1816 is said to have been the year without a summer

Uncle Jeffrey Samuel Barns:  administrator to last will and testament of Grandfather Aaron Barns; settled at Mentz and Brutus, Cayuga Co., NY; settled at Butler and Galen, Wayne Co., NY; settled at Murray, Orleans Co., NY; settled at Niles Twp., Berrien Co., MI; settled at Butler, Branch Co., MI; had six children by wife Aunt Lucretia (Storke) Barns, who spent her last years at Quincy, Branch Co., MI; Lucretia’s brother Elliot Grey “E. G.” Storke was a witness to the signing of David Sittser’s last will and testament and wrote the important genealogical reference book “History of Cayuga County, New York 1789-1879”

Cousin Julia L. Barns, firstborn daughter of Uncle Jeffrey and Aunt Lucretia, married farmer Philetus Chamberlain of Rose, Wayne Co., NY, and later, Mendon, Monroe Co., NY; their son, cousin Philetus, Jr., became an attorney and entered the bar in October 1879, starting in 1881 the law firm of Chamberlain & Page, later changed to Chamberlain, Page & Chamberlain, and later still, to Chamberlain D’Amanda (the current name) of Rochester, Monroe Co., NY; cousin Philetus, Jr. continued active in his profession until his death in 1937 at age 82—he had begun a dynasty of attorneys that would include:  George C. Oliver; Arthur Van Doorn Chamberlain, chosen in 1951 president of the New York State Bar Association; Philetus Mason Chamberlain, appointed in 1948 Assistant New York State Attorney General in charge of the Rochester office; etc., on into the 21^st century; along the way the descendants of Julia and Philetus, Sr. married into the William Teege oil refinery fortune of Titusville, Crawford Co., PA, and the Champlin family’s Pleasant Valley Wine Company fortune of Hammondsport, Steuben Co., NY; with accumulated wealth has also come philanthropic enterprises

Grandfather Johannes Zitzer:  lived in Mundingen, Baden-Wurttenberg, Germany, south by southeast of Strasbourg near the border with France and in the area known as the Black Forest

Grandfather Johann Martin Zitzer (a linen weaver), Grandmother Maria Catharina (nee  ) Knoll Zitzer, Uncle Andreas Zitzer (a linen weaver) and Aunt Elisabetha (Graf/Grav) Zitzer:  brought  my Zitzer family from Poppenweiler, Baden-Wurttenberg (a town in the Ludwigsburg District not far from Backnang and Stuttgart), Germany, to America April 2, 1738, settling in Dutchess Co., NY

Grandfather Johann Friederich Zitzer and Grandmother Johanna (Wingfiel/Wutfiel) Zitzer:  were married about 1742 in Rhinebeck, Dutchess Co., NY; had children baptized at Red Hook Lutheran, Rhinebeck Lutheran, and Rhinebeck Flats Reformed churches; Grandmother Johanna "Anna" joined Loonenburg Lutheran Church at Rhinebeck, Dutchess Co., NY, July 7, 1745

Grandfather Andrew Zitzer/Sitzer (variously spelled "Andreas" and "Andries"):  baptized October 16, 1743, at St Paul's (Zion's) Lutheran Church of Red Hook, Dutchess Co., NY; married Grandmother Sara Allen; settled along Hudson River, probably at Coxsackie, Greene Co., NY; Andrew Sitzer, Ensign, was assigned to the New York (Coxsackie and Groote Imbocht) militia’s Fifth Regiment and later the Eleventh Regiment during Revolutionary War; may have been the Andrew Sitzer who later married Elizabeth Ten Eyck December 1, 1799, at the Dutch Reformed Church, Coxsackie, Greene Co., NY

Grandfather David Sittser:  was married to Grandmother Sarah Mills March 12, 1791, in St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Albany, Albany Co., NY, by Thomas Ellison, Pastor; settled in area called Rensselaerwyck Manor near Berne, Albany Co., NY, in 1790s until after 1810; occasionally leasing mills with his in-law Grandfather Samuel Mills, Sr.; immigrated with his family to Throop, Cayuga Co., NY (near Auburn), in about 1815 to help build new state prison at Auburn (David’s name is engraved on a wall in the old part of the prison); also that year, with his sons, built large farmhouse on Sittser Road in Throop, which remained in the family until about 1970; the “Sitzer or Community Cemetery” is located on part of original property across the meadow from the house, where David, Sarah, and some descendants and relatives R.I.P; had seven children by wife Grandmother Sarah (Mills) Sittser

Uncle Peter and Aunt Emeline J. (Miller) Sittser:  settled on old Sittser farm; became abolitionists and were part of Underground Railroad; at time of 1860 Federal census of Cayuga County had living with them Charles and Betsey Fergeson and child Maria, fugitive slaves—Charles being 38 years old and born in Virginia; later settled on a farm near Owasco Lake, where Peter and Emeline ran "Sittser's Resort" for summer boarders at foot of Owasco Lake until 1890

Cousin Clara (Sittser) Williams:  before marriage to physician Marcus J. Williams, was one of ten women attending Syracuse University at Syracuse, NY, who founded Alpha Phi women’s fraternity in September 1872; first meeting of the today-international fraternity/sorority held September 18 in Clara’s room

Grandparents Thomas and Sarah (Sittser) Barns:  settled at Mentz, Cayuga Co., NY; settled at Rose, Butler and Galen, Wayne Co., NY; settled at Seneca Falls, Seneca Co., NY; brought my Barns line from Seneca Falls to Jackson, Jackson Co., MI, October 24, 1843

Grandparents David and Mary W. (Hood) Barns:  bought a 200-acre farm near Horton, Jackson Co., MI, that remained owned by their descendants for well over a century; David had two children by first wife Step-Grandmother Arvilla (Field) Barns and six children by Grandmother Mary

Grandfather William Hood Barn(e)s:  recorded several highlights of family history on paper, later leading to discoveries of much more information; had four children by wife Grandmother Nellie Mae (Bliss) Barnes

Grandfather Bygod Egleston:  brought my line of E(g)glestons from England to America about 1630, landing at Dorchester, MA; about 1635 moved to Windsor, Hartford Co., CT, at the confluence of the Farmington and Connecticut rivers and about six miles north of Hartford; had four children by wife Grandmother Mary (Talcott) Egleston; had seven children by wife Step-Grandmother Mary (Wall) Egleston

Grandfather Nicholas Disbrough:  listed as one of original landowners of Hartford, Hartford Co., CT; cabinet-maker (two beautiful chests carved by him are in the Hartford, CT, Athenaeum); chosen chimney-viewer 1647, 1655, 1663, 1669; chosen surveyor of highways 1665; in 1683 became involved in dispute with neighbor over ownership of clothing chest resulting in Nicholas being afflicted by events deemed supernatural; after dispute resolved, such events ceased; a local pastor reported the purportedly supernatural phenomena to Rev. Increase Mather, to be used by both Increase and Cotton Mather, his son, to build case for Salem Witch Trials (account first introduced in Increase’s "Remarkable Providences, An Essay For the Recording of Illustrious Providences"  (Boston, 1684); and later was the fourth example in Cotton’s "Thaumatographia Pneumatica"); Nicholas was surprisingly “suspicioned” a witch at time of trials (1692) but had died nearly a decade earlier; had four children by wife Grandmother Mary (Bronson) Disbrough

Grandparents Samuel I and Sarah (Disbrough) Eggleston:  settled in Middletown, Hartford Co., CT; had nine children

Grandfather Samuel IV Eggleston:  one of earliest settlers at Spencer’s Corner (a later name), Northeast Twp., Dutchess Co., NY; wrote a mandatory schoolbook called, “Know Your Schoolmaster”; had eleven children by wife Grandmother Hester (Buck) Eggleston, daughter of Grandfather Israel Buck

 

././././