THE COLONISTS: Forward to the Past

Our British Ancestors

THE COLONISTS: Forward to the Past

Now the story gets interesting.  Our British ancestors in this case all come from Grace Hess' side of the family, and, specifically, the Loomis branch (Grace's maternal side).  At this point, let me make a sidebar comment regarding our alleged relationship to Admiral Horatio Nelson.  At this point I have not been able to establish any relationship between his Lordship and the Nelson side of the family.  If it exists at all it is certainly illegitimate as the Admiral had no issue from his only marriage.  Worse still, we cannot even say we are related through his most notorious extra-marital affair with Lady Hamilton.  A more likely explanation is that the Nelson clan is descended from Norsemen who long ago settled and ruled on the Isle of Man where our Nelson kin came from.  I will, however, let you know if I discover otherwise.

First, some explanations are required.  All of our British ancestors were in America before the end of the 17th century, and some, as I have previously mentioned, were here as early as 1620.  The difficulty when finding LONG lost relatives is that official documentation is hard to come by, and when you do come by it, it usually requires further inquiry.  On the otherhand, when you do come across information about people from long ago, you can assume they were somebody.  That is, they either owned land, had titles, held positions or were in some way involved in a prominent role in their community.  When you do come across prominent individuals there are a couple pit falls I feel necessary to pass on.  First, if you mention it to acquaintances, and in some cases loved ones, many will think you are a snob or worse.  Second, a fellow amateur genealogist warned me that many family histories are "the product of wishful thinking."  That is, they have  linked themselves  to famous individuals because they want to believe they are descended from famous individuals.  In short, they ARE snobs.

My advice in the first instance is to exercise care when sharing this information.  In the second case, I would like to assure you that the information is iron clad, but, sadly, it is not.  In my research I have endeavored to carefully document every connection, but even now I will only rate the information I am passing along as a "strong probability".  Where I have found solid documentation that disputes a relationship with an ancestor I have reluctantly deleted that person as an ancestor.  In some cases, there are ongoing debates, but no solid evidence.  In those cases, I have maintained the relationship but footnoted it accordingly.  Only time will tell--or not.

So now, you are forewarned.  I have chosen to serialize our British ancestors only because they go wide and deep and in many directions.  This first installment will provide a starting point for all the future installments.  Just a word of warning, it would get too complicated to provide direct lines of descent for everyone so I have chosen to highlight the more prominent individuals (okay I'm a snob).  If any of you wish detailed lines of descent I will be more than happy to provide them.

There are 16 sets of great grandparents, almost all of the same generation, who all either arrived in the New World  or were first generation natives to to the New World in the 17th century.  They are what I call "gateway" ancestors to the Old World. My story will follow each of their lines.  They are:

MALE LINE	DATES & PLACES	FEMALE LINE	DATES & PLACES	COMMENTS
John Loomis	B: 1622 in Essex, England, D: 1688 in Connecticut	Elizabeth Scott	B: 1625 in Suffolk, England, D: 1696 in; Connecticut
Josiah Ellsworth	B: 1629 in Cambridgeshire, England; D: 1689 in Connecticut	Elizabeth Holcombe	B: 1634 in Devonshire, England; D: 1712 in Connecticut	See Notes 1  and 2 below
Thomas Barber	B: 1612 in Lincolnshire, England; D: 1662 in Connecticut	Jane "Joan" Coggins	B: 1619 in Bedfordshire, England, D: 1662 in Connecticut
John Drake	B: 1622 in England; D: 1689 in Connecticut	Hannah Moore	B: 1644 in Massachusetts;  D: 1686 in  Massachusetts	Hannah would have lived in Salem during the witch trials.
Jacques "James" Eno	B: 1625 in London, England; D: 1682 in Connecticut	Hannah "Anna" Bidwell	B: 1634 in Connecticut; D: 1679 in Connecticut,	Jacques is covered in an earlier essay on The Loomis Family In America. Hannah's line ends here.
Samuel Bissell	B: 1636 in Connecticut, USA; D: 1697 in Connecticut	Abigail Holcombe	B: 1638 in Connecticut; USA; D: 1688 in Connecticut	See Notes 1 and 2 below
William Phelps	B: 1599 in Glouchestershire, England; D: 1672 in Connecticut	Mary Anne Dover	B: 1601 in Devonshire, England; D: 1689 in Connecticut	Mary's line ends here
Edward Griswold	B: 1607 in Warwickshire, England; D: 1691 in Killingworth, England	Margaret "Mary" Hicks	B: 1611 in Warwickshire, England; D: 1670 in Killingworth, England	Edward and Mary came to America with their parents then returned to England sometime before their deaths.
Lt. Joseph Kellogg	B: in Essex, England; D: 1708 in Massachusetts	Joanna Foote	B: 1624 or 1625 in Buckland, England; D: 1666 in Massachusetts	Joseph is covered in my previous essay on The Kelloggs In The Old World and The New.
Eleazar Cushman	B: 1656 in Massachusetts, D: 1723 in Massachusetts	Elizabeth Coombs	B: 1662 in Massachusetts, D: 1723 in Massachusetts	Eleazar is a descendant of Isaac Allerton a Mayflower passenger. Elizabeth is a descendant of Degory Priest a Mayflower passenger
John Pratt	????	Margaret Kimbal	????	Their lines end here.
Nathaniel Harwood	B: 1626 in London, England, D: 1716 in Massachusetts	Elizabeth Harrod	B: 1645 in Massachusetts, D: 1715 in Massachusetts	Elizabeth's line ends here
Eliphalet Fox	B: 1644 in Massachusetts, D: 1711 in Massachusetts	Mary Wheeler	B: 1645 in Massachusetts, D: 1678 in Massachusetts
John Montague	B: 1655 in Connecticut, D: 1732 in Massachusetts	Hannah Smith	B: 1662 in Massachusetts, D: 1719 in Massachusetts	See Note 3 below.
Nathaniel White	B: 1652 in Connecticut, D: 1742 in Connecticut	Elizabeth Savage	B: 1655 in Connecticut, D: 1742 in Massachusetts
John Montague	B: 1655 in Connecticut, D: 1732 in Massachusetts	Hannah Smith	B: 1662 in Massachusetts, D: 1719 in Massachusetts	See Note 3 below.

NOTES:  1.     The surname Holcombe was an important discovery in finding our English ancestors and beyond.  Holcombe is an English name, but it is also a French name.  In later installments I will show you where my search led me.

2.    Elizabeth and Abigail were sisters.  Noah Loomis, my 4 Great Grandfather, is a 2 Great Grandson to both of them.  This is an example of why a tree is a poor metaphor for a family lineage.

3.    John and Hannah appear twice in this generation because their grandchildren, Samuel Montague and Elizabeth Montague (that is her maiden name because they are first cousins) married. Their daughter, Elizabeth, married into the Harwood line included above.