Barns or Barnes
Blysse or Bliss
Cassner, Casner or Castner
Disbrough, Disbro, Desborough or Desbrowe, etc.
Duncan
Eggleston or Egleston
Hood
Hubbard

Keys or Keyes
McClean or McLean
McNelly or McNelley
Page or Paige
Shook
Sitzer or Sittser
Tayer or Thayer
Wilson

Barns or Barnes; Aaron Barns was 2^nd great-grandson of Thomas Barnes, who "Came to America on the Speedwell, sailing from Gravesend Abt May 20, 1656 & landing in Boston, MA, Jun 27, 1656...," and Abigail, daughter of Thomas and Jane (Ruddick) Goodenow of Marlborough, MA. Aaron married Martha, daughter of Samuel and Hester (Buck) Eggleston, and they came from Sharon, Litchfield Co., CT to Mentz, Cayuga Co., NY in 1816. Aaron's brother Thomas had been one of the early settlers in Mentz in the latter 1790's. Aaron and Martha's seven children were: Eleanor, Julia Anna, Jeffrey Samuel, Thomas, Horace, Sarah, and Sephronia. The only of Aaron and Martha's children known not to have settled in Michigan were Horace and Sephronia. Horace bought a farm near Galen, Wayne Co., NY, where he and wife Sarah, daughter of Dr. Benjamin Tucker, spent the rest of their lives and had children. Sephronia married twice but died young and may never have left Cayuga Co., NY. Husbands attributed to her were: Chester Crandall and Chester Craw. She was buried at the Pine Hill Cemetery in Throopsville, Cayuga Co., NY beside her father. Thomas and his wife Sarah, daughter of David and Sarah (Mills) Sittser, brought their family to Jackson, Jackson Co., MI October 24, 1843, and later generations began spelling their name Barnes. See family history memoirs of William Hood Barnes. Eleanor with husband Isaac Shaver, and Julia Anna with husband Calvin Tanner, probably also made Jackson Co., MI, their home. Sarah and husband Hampton Dexter Granger settled in Ingham Co., MI, with their children by the early 1840s. Jeffrey Samuel and wife, the former Lucretia Storke, moved a number of times in NY and MI but finally settled in Branch Co., MI with their children, arriving there sometime between 1860 and 1870.

Blysse or Bliss; Thomas Blysse came to American from England in 1636 after his father Jonathan died in prison for the crime of being a Puritan. Thomas was a founder of the religious town of Rehoboth, Bristol Co., MA and began spelling his name Bliss. His 3^rd great-grandson Samuel brought the family out of Rehoboth to Gilboa, Schoharie County, NY (which now lies under New York City's Gilboa Reservoir). Samuel's wife was Anna Mason, whose 2^nd great-grandfather Sampson Mason fought in Cromwell's army against King Charles I in the English civil war. Samuel and Anna's grandson Sidney Bliss married Helen Hubbard and brought the family to Calhoun Co., MI in 1866: first to Tekonsha and then to Albion.

Cassner, Casner or Castner; William Cassner was born in NJ late 18th century and married Sarah Welter, born in Morris Co., NJ (as were her parents). They were married at Schooley Mountain, Morris Co., NJ in 1833 and in 1835 settled at Milo, in Yates Co., NY. They brought their family to the St. Johns/Ovid area, Clinton Co., MI in 1854; began spelling their name Castner.

Disbrough; Nicholas Disbrough/Disbro/Desborough/Desbrowe (etc.) was a 3^rd great grandfather of Martha Eggleston, wife of Aaron Barnes. His 1683 visitation by "…things lately hapning in New-England, which were undoubtedly praeternatural, and not without Diabolical operation…" were first reported by the Rev. John Russell, of Hadley, CT, in a letter of August 2, 1683, which may be found in the Mather Papers. Increase Mather, minister and first president of Harvard College, included the account in his "Remarkable Providences, An Essay For the Recording of Illustrious Providences." (Boston, 1684.) Later, Increase's son Cotton Mather included it in his "Thaumatographia Pneumatica," and was used, along with other examples, to justify the Salem witch trials. Nicholas is listed as one of the founders of Hartford, CT. His first wife, Martha's 3^rd great grandmother, was Mary Bronson. Both were born in England.

Duncan; William Duncan was a weaver in Paisley, Scotland; was husband of Mary Wilson but did not come with Mary and their family to America in 1802, though convincing evidence exists (PDF; 440 KB) that he joined them in later years. Mary (Wilson) Duncan and children settled on a farm near Ovid, Seneca Co., NY, that had been purchased by her son William, Jr. and brother Alexander Wilson the Ornithologist. William, Sr. and Mary were also parents of Isabella Duncan, who came to America in 1797 and married John McNelly in Philadelphia. See family history memoirs of William Hood Barnes.

Eggleston or Egleston; Martha Eg(g)leston was 3^rd great-granddaughter of Bygod Egleston of Settrington, Yorkshire, England and Windsor, Hartford Co., CT. Her parents were Samuel IV and Hester (Buck) Eggleston of Northeastern, Dutchess Co., NY. Martha and husband Aaron Barns moved from Sharon, Litchfield Co., CT to Throopsville, Cayuga Co., NY in 1816. Martha purportedly married again after Aaron died, marrying a "Mr. Treat." See family history memoirs of William Hood Barnes.

Hood; George, William, John, Robert, Andrew, Elizabeth and Mary were children of John Hood, Sr., of Turbot Twp., Northumberland Co., PA. All five sons settled in the Romulus/Fayette, NY area around 1797 after the father died. Some of the brothers got badly fleeced by the purchase of what two decades later would prove to be a fraudulent land title. Robert's son James Hood was born in New Paltz, Ulster Co., NY May 31, 1796 and lived in Romulus, Cayuga Co., NY (Romulus became part of Seneca Co. in 1804). Parents were Robert and Jane (Haynes?) Hood of Turbot Twp., Northumberland Co., PA and Romulus, NY. Siblings were Elizabeth and Jane. After the deaths of Robert and Jane between 1800 and 1812, James was placed under the guardianship of John Williams. In 1825, James married Catherine McNelly and they eventually moved with family to southern MI (Oakland and Livingston counties) in mid-1830s. Their son James would die at Andersonville, GA during the Civil War. See family history memoirs of William Hood Barnes.

Hobart/Hubbart/Hubbard; Helen M. Hubbard, born in Moravia, Cayuga Co., NY, married Sidney E. Bliss of Galen, Wayne Co., NY, in 1861. They settled in Albion, Calhoun Co., MI, in 1866. Her parents were Adam F. Hubbard a.k.a. Adam Frink Hubbard a.k.a. Adam Frink Hubbart and Mary (McClean). Helen's father, stepmother, and brothers Daniel, Levi Bartlett, and Thomas would also settle in MI, primarily in Barry Co. and Calhoun Co. Levi Bartlett Hubbard and Thomas Hubbard (and perhaps Daniel) were born to Ann (DeCamp), Adam's second wife.

Generations prior to Adam Frink Hubbard spelled their surname Hubbart and Hobart. Adam, also, spelled his surname Hubbart at the time of the 1870 Federal census of Albion, Calhoun Co., MI. Adam's parents Thomas and Silence (Bartlett) Hubbart spent many years in Russia, Herkimer Co., NY, which is most likely where Adam was born. Thomas Hubbart had been born in Connecticut somewhere in an area comprised of Waterbury, New Haven Co., and Woodbury, Litchfield Co. Silence had been born at Sharon, Litchfield Co., CT. Thomas' father John Hubbart/Hobart spent at least his final years in South Britain, New Haven Co., CT. The information about Thomas and Silence Hubbart and several of their descendants was researched, compiled, and placed online by Marvin G. Miller, who subsequently died in a bicycle accident. Much additional information, including Thomas Hubbart’s Revolutionary War file, were provided by cousin Robert Neibling.

Keys or Keyes; Henry and wife Elizabeth (Olds) Keys settled in East Bloomfield, NY from Pownall, Vermont. Their son Lyman eventually took his wife Hannah (Francis) and family to Cambria, Niagara Co., NY. (Lyman was a fifth cousin to Brigham Young of Mormon fame, through their common Brigham ancestors.)

The widow Hannah Keys/Keyes and a few of her children settled in Michigan in 1835, where she purchased from the US government 80 acres of land in Section 17 of Climax Twp., Kalamazoo Co., patent #71. Most of this original land purchase would remain in the family for ninety years, passing to Hannah's son Orlando, then to his son Wilbur, then to his descendants until 1925. Hannah's Cambria, NY, neighbor John Carney also bought land in Section 17 in 1835, to which he brought his large family, some of whom married into the Keyes family. Hannah soon married George Fletcher of Ohio and Virginia and settled on his farm in Prairie Ronde, Kalamazoo Co.

Lyman and Hannah's son Orlando Keys married Lucinda, daughter of Jonas and Annah (LaRoche) Shook, and they brought their family to Climax, Kalamazoo Co., MI in 1851; they began spelling the name "Keyes." Orlando was a cooper by trade but became a Methodist minister, and in 1858 he formed the West Climax Methodist Church. Orlando and Lucinda's daughter Sarah M. married sewing machine salesman Riley Preston Page, and another daughter Irena Hannah "Rene" married James Powers, who enlisted as a soldier in the Civil War on the same day and in the same regiment as Orlando. Orlando became Chaplain of the 12^th Michigan Infantry Regiment Veteran Volunteers late in the Civil War and died at home from illness contracted during his tour of duty at DeValls Bluff, AR. James Powers survived the war and became a farmer and politician.

McClean or McLean; Mary McClean of NY was wife of Adam F. Hubbard a.k.a. Adam Frink Hubbard a.k.a. Adam Frink Hubbart and mother of Charles, Helen M., and possibly Daniel, Hubbard. Mary's parents were William and Susan McClean of Moravia, Cayuga Co., NY.

McNelly or McNelley; John McNelly [McNelly being a sept, or branch, of Clan Niall (MacNeil, etc.)] came from Ireland about 1798 to Pennsylvania, marrying Isabella Duncan of Paisley, Scotland, at Philadelphia in 1799. They settled in PA for a number of years, then in mid-state NY at Ovid, Seneca Co., and finally at Pulteney, Steuben Co. John died in the War of 1812. His widow later married widower John Ellis of Pulteney. Daughter Catherine McNelly married James Hood in 1825, and they immigrated to Novi-Oakland Co., MI, in 1835 and had ten children. See family history memoirs of William Hood Barnes.

Page or Paige; William Henry Page was born in County Essex, England on February 19, 1797, according to a Page family bible kept by descendants of William’s American-born son Riley. (There is some evidence that William’s birth may have been in County Sussex.) William married Martha Sanders or Hudson in England before 1818, possibly at Ringmer in East Sussex. (It is possible that Martha, who was about four years older than William, had been married previously so that both Sanders and Hudson could be used for the same person.) The couple remained in England some years and had children including Esther, Ebenezer, Mary and Nathan S.

The Page family immigrated to the United States of America in 1829, settling in Macedon, Wayne Co. Martha died shortly after their arrival, and two years later William married the widow Chloe (Thayer) Robinson as his second wife and her second husband. In the mid-1840s the family moved to Webster, Monroe Co. The entire Page family and some of Chloe’s Robinson children subsequently removed to Branch Co., MI, in about 1857. William and Chloe's oldest son William Henry Page, Jr. had married Mariah Patch and they had already had their first child, son Jay D., at Webster. William and Mariah would have eight more children in Michigan. William and Chloe's second son Riley Preston Page married Elizabeth Adelaide Hollenbeck at Burr Oak, St. Joseph Co., MI. She was born in NY. By her Riley had three children, Carrie Bell, born in Michigan, George Hudson, born in New York, and Elsie Adelaide, born in Michigan. Of these only Carrie and George survived to adulthood. Elizabeth died in 1871 and Riley married Sarah M. Keyes in Charlotte, Eaton Co., MI in 1873, by whom he had three more children, Bernice May, Harvey Judson “Juddie” and Charles Orlando. Of these last only Charles Orlando survived an 1879 diphtheria epidemic that carried away Elsie Adelaide, Bernice May and Harvey Judson. Charles had it too but surmounted.

Riley and Sarah were later divorced and Riley spent some time in Coldwater, Branch Co., MI before returning to Webster about 1896, where he bought a house from his half-sister Chloe M. (Robinson) Smith in 1897, became a shoemaker, and married Emma (Conant) Finkle Wright. Riley and Emma later moved to Ontario Center, Wayne Co., NY, but Riley and Emma spent his last days staying with Emma's daughter and son-in-law Elizabeth (Wright) and Caldwell Merrill at East Rochester, Monroe Co., NY. Riley died there in 1928.

Sarah (Keyes) Page remarried to widower Harvey Olmstead "H.O." Cline, and they spent their first nine married years in Angola, Steuben Co., IN, where Sarah had a millinery shop. Then they returned to Michigan, settling in Lansing, where H.O. won election as Ingham County Sheriff and they moved to Mason, the county seat. Sarah died in 1911, between H.O.'s two terms in office, during an operation for cancer.

Shook; Johnathan "Jonas" and Anna (LaRoche) Shook were parents of Lucinda Shook, who married Orlando Keys in Cambria, Niagara Co., NY. The Shooks lived in Niagara Co., at one time in the town of Royalston. Jonas was a child of Phillip and Mary (Lilly) Shook of Lockport, Niagara Co., who were both originally from PA.

Zitzer, Sitzer or Sittser; Sarah, wife of Thomas Barnes, was the only daughter in a household with six sons of David and Sarah (Mills) Sittser, originally from Berne, Albany Co., NY. A family tradition claims that one of her ancestors returned to Germany about 1770 to collect an inheritance. He then left Europe on the return voyage but was not onboard when the ship arrived. David Sittser came to Cayuga Co., New York, sometime between 1812 and 1815 "with his family to help build the new state prison at Auburn. His name is engraved on a wall in the old part of the prison and can be seen on tour day. As usual it is misspelled. He and his boys built a big farm house in Throop south of Weedsport in 1815, and it stayed in the family until about 1970. The road in front of the house is Sittser Rd. Across the meadow from the house is a private cemetery, where he, Sarah, and some of his boys R.I.P. David was a stone mason of some repute. I'm guessing his father had these skills and brought them with him from Europe and passed them to his son." -Quoted portion by Douglas Norton Sittser (d. 3/1999) See family history memoirs of William Hood Barnes.

Tayer or Thayer; William and Chloe (Preston) Thayer lived with family in Braintree, MA, where Thayers had lived since coming to America from England in mid-1600s. William and Chloe later settled near Macedon, Wayne Co., and Webster, Monroe Co., NY. In 1812 daughter Chloe married James Robinson, by whom she had five children including Clarkson, Chauncey, Luther, Chloe M., and Lewis James. After James died, Chloe married in 1832 to William Henry Page, who was born in England. Their children together were William Henry, Jr. and Riley Preston Page. The Pages would remove to Branch Co., MI, in about 1857.

Wilson; Mary Wilson was a daughter of Alexander "Saunders" and Mary (McNab) Wilson of Paisley, Scotland, and a sister of Alexander "Sandy" Wilson the Ornithologist. Saunders and Mary were married in Rhu or Row (near Helensburg) but moved to Paisley soon after. Saunders had been a soldier and was a sometimes weaver and sometimes smuggler, who always kept a still. Mary Wilson was quite young when she married the weaver William Duncan. Her brother Alexander served his weaver's apprenticeship under William before traveling to America in 1794. See family history memoirs of William Hood Barnes.