THE LOOMIS FAMILY IN AMERICA

Hess-Nickson Family History

THE LOOMIS FAMILY IN AMERICA

The Loomis family is one of the least explored lines in our family yet it has had a presence that has always beaconed to the curious.  For example, one of Dad's middle names was Loomis.  For some reason he did not care for the name, and even went so far as to say so.  Our closest Loomis ancestor would be Bohan Shepard Loomis my 2GGrandfather.  Which leads me into his story.

Bohan was born in 1825 in New York state, the son of Noah Loomis and Sarah Kellogg.  In 1848, he married Laura A. Hart in Ohio and shortly after moved to Preston, Fillmore County, MN.  They had 9 children, five or whom grew to adulthood.  One of his children Martha "Mattie" married the young William Andrew Nelson, who was the Fillmore County Treasurer.  At the same time Bohan was the county Postmaster.  For reasons that remain a mystery, in 1894, the Loomis family and the Nelson family moved from Fillmore County and moved west.  The Nelsons stopped for a time in Kalispel, Montana and ultimately settled in Seattle.  The Loomis family did not stop until they reached Portland, but they ultimately settled in Spokane, Washington.  Bohan died in 1908 and Laura died in 1911.

I have a copy of Bohan and Laura's obituaries which were published in the Preston Times.  The obituary for Bohan was quite flattering.  Bohan was described as "one of Spokane's well known and most respected citizens. . ." without describing what he did to deserve that description.  It is probably safe to assume that they did not leave Fillmore County in disgrace, but I find it odd that they would leave while holding important county offices.

Many of the Loomis' in America, including us, can trace their lines back to Joseph Loomis who has the distinction of being the first person of that name in America.  Joseph as born in 1590 in Essex, England (same as the Kelloggs, hmmm). In 1614, in England, he married Mary White.  Joseph and Mary boarded the good ship Mary and John, skippered by Captain Squid (how appropriate), on March 20, 1630.  They arrived in America at Nantasket Point and by 1639 they settled in Windsor, Harford, CT.

Our line continues through their son, Deacon John Loomis (b:1622 in England, D: 1688 is Connecticut) who married Elizabeth Scott (b: 1625, d: 1696).  They had a son, Sgt. Daniel Loomis (b: 1657 in Connecticut, d: 1740 in Connecticut).  Daniel married Mary Ellsworth in 1680 (much more to come in the future on Mary) and they had a son, Daniel, Jr. (b: 1682 in Connecticut, d: 1754 in Connecticut).

Daniel, Jr. married Elizabeth Barber (her line dates back to the 13th century) in 1709.  They had a son, Daniel Loomis (b: 1710, d: 1758) who married Sarah Enos (b: 1717).  I will come back to Sarah later in this essay.

Daniel and Sarah had 6 children and among them was Noah Loomis (b:1745, d: 1795).  Noah married first, Sybil Williams in 1773, and second to Dorcas Ward (B: 1755, d: 1830) in 1778.  Revolutionary War documents show that Noah was a private in Captain Foot's company, Col. Hooker's regiment of Connecticut militia in 1777.  Noah and Dorcas are the parents of Noah, Jr. (b: 1782 in Vermont, d: 1848 in Ohio).  Noah, Jr. married Sarah Kellogg in 1807, and I have already explained what happened from there.

Getting back to Sarah Enos (sometimes found as Eno, Enno, Henno, Hen, He and Hennot), the story gets interesting.  This line shows up in America as early as 1648, with the arrival of Jacques (aka: James).  Jacques father was Jean de Hennot (b: 1575 in London, d: 1627 in London) who married Catelaine Jone about 1610.  Jean's father was Jacques de Hennot (b: 1540 in France).  Jacque was a Huguenot (French Protestant) before they were expelled by Louis XIV, however, that did not stop him from getting into trouble.  The following is an extract taken from a reliable source:

"Born mid 1500s probably in Valenciennes, France. In 1560-61 and 1566 he was an Alderman in Valenciennes. In 1577, he appears as "trieze homme" or city governer. Valenciennes had become a headquarters of Huguenot strength about this period, and Jacques was Lieutenant of the Guard formed by Huguenot citizens to resist the siege of Valenciennes by the Spaniards. He was captured twice, once before the death of Guy de BRES the celebrated Huguenot preacher in 1567, and once after. He was then taken under guard toward Lisle but escaped though the intervention of a band of Huguenot horsemen. After this escape all trace of him was lost by the authorities. He was pursued by order of Theordore CRESIA commandant of the Italian Cavalry under the Duke of Alva. CRESIA gave instructions to capture the body of Jacques HENNOT wherever he might be found, promising an honorable sum to anyone who should deliver him dead, or a double amount if delivered alive. Jacque's lands and good were confiscated, and he was branded an outlaw. He fled to England where he lived outside London and probably died there in the late 1500s. In 1988 Jacque's name was added to the "Register of Qualified Ancestors" of the National Huguenot Society, thus qualifying his descendents for membership." [Any joiners?].

NEXT TIME:  Why the metaphor of a tree to describe a family ancestry is bad