Monday, December 19, 2011


OUR ENGLISH HERITAGE

In my last episode (see the "A Team") I left off with our many times Great Grandfather, William "The Conqueror".  I didn't mention how many times great because the number (from 23 to 30) depends on which branch is chosen, and, as of this writing, there are 25 branches that connect us.  Therefore, for purposes of this presentation I won't refer to the number of generations.  Also, unless I mention otherwise, you can assume these are all direct descendants (i.e., grandfathers or grandmothers shown in bold type).  If you want additional information on anyone I recommend Wikipedia.

In this episode I will leave William because I want to fill in the English connection.  To do that I'm going back to a person I mentioned in the last episode.  That person is William's daughter-in-law, Matilda, Princess of Scotland. Let's start with her.

I give you Matilda MacDonnchada, Princess of Scotland.  The picture, alas, is a 19th century work.  We have no idea of what she really looked like but the histories tell us she had many suitors.  I like to think she looked something like this.

Her father is Malcolm III, King of Scotland (b: 1033, d: 1093) and her mother is Saint Margaret, Queen of Scotland (b: 1045, d: 1093).  On Nov. 11, 1100, she married Henry I Plantagenet, King of England.

Through her mother she was descended from Edmund "Ironside" and thus Alfred "the Great" (b: 840, d: 901) and the old line of the kings going all the way to Cerdic, King of the West Saxons (b: bef 495, d: 534).

Malcolm III is the son of King Duncan I.  Malcolm lived in exile in England during part of the reign of his father's murderer, Macbeth (yes, that Macbeth).  Malcolm killed Macbeth in battle and then ascended the throne. After the conquest of England by William the Conqueror, in 1066, Malcolm gave refuge to the Anglo-Saxon prince Edgar the Aetheling (b: 1016, d: 1057) and his sisters, one of whom, Margaret (later St. Margaret), became his second wife. Malcolm acknowledged the overlordship of William in 1072 but nevertheless soon violated his feudal obligations and made five raids into England.  During the last of these invasions he was killed by the forces of King William II Rufus (reigned 1087-1100), near Alnwick, Northumberland, England.

Malcolm's mother, Sibyl Fitzsiward (b: 1014, d: 1040), was the daughter of Siward , Earl of Northumbria and his wife Alefbed of Bernica.  It is this line that I will explore next.  As the title of the next episode implies, you are in for a surprise.  Stay tuned for the next episode I call "The Vikings."

Thursday, September 8, 2011


Our British Ancestors

THE A TEAM
In the last installment I made several references to ancestors that also had a rich past.  Just how rich?  I'll leave you to be the judge although the title I have chosen may give something away.
Those ancestors that I'll turn you attention to are:  Petronilla Butler, Maude de Neville, Richard FitzAlan, Eleanor or Lancaster, Ralph Greystoke, Edmund Beaufort and Eleanor Beauchamp.   This chapter will cover 18th great grandmother, Petronilla.
Petronilla Butler (?-1368), was the daughter of James Butler, Earl of Ormond and Eleanor de Bohun.  Let's follow James' line first.  James is the son of Edmund Butler and Joan FitzGerald.  Edmund was Justiciar (a kind of prime minister) and Governor of Ireland, and Joan was the daughter of John FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Kildare.
Edmund was the son of Theobald Butler (or le Boteler) and Joan Fitz John.  Joan was the daughter of Sir John Fitz Geoffrey and Isabel Bigod.  Interestingly, Joan's last name of Fitz John would signify that she was John's daughter but the birth was illegitimate, however, the records show that John and Isabel were married.  All I can say is, "curious."
Here's a surprise.  Isabel is the daughter of Hugh Bigod and granddaughter of Roger Bigod.  Both Hugh and Roger were Magna Carta Sureties.  That makes us direct descendants of four Magna Carta Sureties.  Now back to Eleanor de Bohun.
Eleanor was the daughter of Humphrey de Bohun, 8th Earl of Hereford and Essex and Elizabeth Plantagenet.  Guess who Elizabeth's parents were.  If you guessed Edward I, King of England and Eleanor of Castile you are correct.  Returning once again to that cinematic masterpiece, Braveheart, this would be Edward "Longshanks" or Mister Nice Guy.
Where do we go from here?  Not only have we found a Spanish branch (which is worth a chapter or two by itself) we know know we are Queen Elizabeth's cousins.  Just to fill in the blanks, Edwards parents were King Henry III and Eleonore of Provence.  His paternal grandparents were, you guessed it, King John and Isabella de Taillefer.  Now were cover both sides of Magna Carta.  His paternal great grandparents were Peter O'Toole and Katherine Hepburn, oops, I mean Henry II and Eleanor of Acquitaine.
In reality, the name Plantagenet is a nickname that stuck for some reason.  Henry II's father was Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou. a title that Henry inherited.  Politically, this poses a huge problem for the king of France because the Count of Anjou is a vassal to the French king, yet Henry is also King of England.  No wonder things got so screwed up.  Things were not helped by the fact that Eleanor of Acquitaine was married to the King of France before she married Henry.  Wow! I'd love to be at that family reunion.
Just to round this out, Geoffrey V was married to Matilda Aethelic, Princess of England who became Empress of Germany when, after Geoffrey died, she married Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor.  Matilda was the daughter of Henry I, King of England and Matilda, Princess of Scotland.  Matilda was the daughter of Malcolm MacDonnchada, King of Scotland and Saint Margaret, Queen of Scotland (yes, a saint).  Finally, Henry I was the son of William, Duke of Normandy, called "The Conqueror".
###

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

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.


WHY THE TREE IS A BAD METAPHOR


Hess-Nickson Family History



WHY THE METAPHOR OF A TREE FOR A FAMILY ANCESTRY IS BAD

Family ancestries are commonly referred to as family trees.  It is based on observing nature where the branches of a tree will split to form new smaller branches, and those branches in turn split to form more branches.  As the number of long lost relatives began to grow it became apparent that the metaphor was just not up to the task.  For example, if you were able to trace back all your grandparents to 20 generations you would have discovered 2,097,150 of them.  In the 20th generation alone there would be 1,048,577 grandparents.  If you were to add another generation the number would increase by more than 2 million people.  These aren't uncles, aunts and cousins--just grandparents!  It is not hard to see that if you continued back the number of unduplicated grandparents would quickly exceed the number of people who ever lived.  Certainly, the world's population was never larger than it is now, so what gives.

I have come to the conclusion that a river delta is a better metaphor for a family ancestry.  In a river delta streams branch off, but just as often as not, they flow back into the larger branch.  In the same way a family ancestry branches off, but at some point it can come back in to an existing line.  This is an important point to keep in the back of your mind as I proceed with my family narrative.  As you will see, we have relatives who we are related to in more than one way.  Allow me to illustrate.

Consider the case of our 10G Grandparents, Lieut. Samuel and Elizabeth Smith.



In April of 1634, Lt. Samuel Smith, at the age of thirty-two, set sail for America on the "Elizabeth of Ipswich" with his wife Elizabeth and their four children; Philip aged one, Samuel aged nine, Elizabeth aged seven and Mary aged four. At first the family settled in Watertown, Massachusetts then moved to Wetherfield, Connecticut. Finally, because of church disputes in Wetherfield they moved to Hadley, Massachusetts, where two more sons, Chileab and John, were born.



In Hadley, because of his integrity and soundness of judgment, Lt. Smith was chosen for town affair's management. For many years he was deputy to the Massachusetts General Court, Associate Magistrate at the Hampshire County Court and Lieutenant of the Hadley Company from 1663-1673. He also held important offices in his church and was chosen a Townsman (Selectman) many times. He died at the age of seventy five and his wife died in 1686 at the age of eighty-four.

My initial research established that we were related on the Hess side through the son Chileab (b: 1636, d: 1731).  The begats look like this:  Chileab begat Hannah, who married John Montague and they begat Samuel.  Samuel married Elizabeth White and they begat Samuel Montague, Jr.. Samuel, Jr. married Elizabeth Montague (and, yes, they were cousins) and begat Elizabeth who married Reverend Eleazar Harwood.  Eleazar and Elizabeth begat Lucretia who married Brig. Gen. Amos Kellogg, and you know the rest.

Subsequent research, however, established that Samuel and Elizabeth Smith's other son Phillip (see that little story about Phillip at the end of this discussion) was my great grandparent through my mother's side of the family (Nickson).  Those begats go like this:  Phillip Smith married Rebecca Foote and begat Samuel.  Samuel married Mary Church and begat Mary who married John Kenney.  John and Mary begat David, who married Martha.  They begat John Jonathan Keeney who married Mary Ramsey Burkhalter, and they begat Capt. Jonathan Keeney (who, along with Jim Bridger, established the Oregon Trail).  Capt. Jonathan married Mary Catherine Shoemaker and they begat Eli J. Keeney (who died infamously at the famous "Shootout at the Headquarters Saloon" in Bozeman, Montana) but not before marrying Nancy Ellen Swank and begatting Annie.  Annie married an Irishman named Willard David Nickson and begat a son Fredric Willis Nickson.  Fredric married Pearl Schenck and they begat Maryellen who married William Hess.

Just to put a bottom line to this.  My parents are also my 10th cousins once removed.  For Gary and Kathie, that makes Maryellen both your aunt by marriage and your 10th cousin once removed.  That also makes all brothers and sisters cousins as well.  Welcome the the family stew.  Now you can appreciate how a tree makes a poor methaphor.

In my research I have uncovered some interesting stories about some of our family members, and the following story involving our 9G Grandfather Phillip Smith is one of the most notable.  Read it and see if you don't agree.

Lieut. Philip Smith was born about 1633 in England.  He moved, in 1635, to Wethersfield, Hartford, CT.  He resided on 9 Nov 1659, in Hadley, Hampshire, MA.  Philip was an original proprietor of Hadley, but did not permanently live there until 1662.  However, he took a freeman's oath on 26 Mar 1661.  He died on 10 Jan 1685, in Hadley, Hampshire, M.  Philip was appointed as one of the "ten troopers" of Hadley, appointed by John Pynchon of Springfield. They were part of the Hampshire Troop or Company of Horsemen. He is reported to have rendered service in King Philip's War and in May 1678 was appointed Lieutenant of the Hadley Foot Company and in the same year made Lieutenant in the Hampshire County Troop of Horseman.  He also was active in the politics of Hadley, being elected a selectman and a Deputy from Hadley to the General Court.  He was also on the school committee and was chosen Deacon of the church in 1680.



The following was written in the Smith family genealogy:



On March 27, 1683 he served as a Judge in the County Court at Northampton, where Mary Webster, wife of William was placed on trial as "being under strong suspicion of having familiarity with the devil or using witchcraft". She was acquitted.



After the trial the health of Philip Smith began to deteriorate and since neither he nor his friends could account for the illness in any other way concluded that the evil power of Mrs. Webster was at the bottom of it.  In what certainly became delirium in his illness, he imagined the most fantatstic influences working, which his fellow townsmen believed, one farmer declaring that a load of hay he was delivering to market took a notion for no good reason to fall off his wagon as he passed Mrs. Webster's house and then, after he had remonstrated to Mrs. Webster, to load itself back on again. Even the pious and intelligent Rev. Cotton Mather took notice of the strange happenings and wrote a vivid description of them in his "Magnalia" which Sylvester Judd reproduced on page 230 of his "History of Hadley". He said in part:



"Mr. Philip Smith, aged about fifty years, a son of eminently virtuous parents, a Deacon of a Church in Hadley, a member of the General Court, a Justice in the County Court, a Selectman for the affairs of the Towne, a Lieutenant of the Troop and which crowns all, a man for devotion sancity, gravity and all that is honest exceeding exemplory. Such a man in the winter of the year 1684 murdered with a hideous witchcraft that filled all those parts of New England with astonishment". Parents: Lieut. Samuel Smith and Elizabeth Chileab.

He was married to Rebecca Foote about 1658.  Children were: Samuel Smith, [son] Smith, John Smith, Jonathan Smith, Philip Smith, Rebecca Smith, Nathaniel Smith, Joseph Smith, Icabod Smith.



NEXT INSTALLMENT:  The Keeney Family, exploring the west, and the famous "Shootout At The Headquarters Saloon".

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

THE MAYFLOWER ANCESTORS AND THEIR DESCENDANTS


Hess-Nickson Family History



THE MAYFLOWER ANCESTORS AND THEIR DESCENDANTS

There are 4 of them and they are Isaac Allerton, Mary Norris Allerton (his wife), Mary Allerton (their daughter) and Degory Priest.

Here's what I know about them. They were all Puritans, having lived in the Netherlands since 1608, were they fled to avoid persecution. Here are my notes on each:

Isaac Allerton--By all accounts, "one of the busiest and most complicated men in early New England [TMG 1:38] With extensive holdings and numerous residences, "records for Allerton may be found in virtually every colony on the Atlantic seaboard and in the Caribbean, including Newfoundland, New Netherland, New Sweden, Virginia, Barbadoes and Curacao."[TMG 1:38].  Born about 1586, died New Haven CT, after 1 Feb 1658/9 and before 12 Feb 1658/9 (Inventory). He married at Leiden, 4 Nov 1611 Mary Norris, a "single woman" from Newbury in England." He married at Plymouth between 1623 and 1627, Fear Brewster, daughter of William Brewster. He married third, Joanna Swinnerton.

Mary Norris Allerton--Aboard the Mayflower in 1620. She died 25 Feb 1622.

Mary Allerton--Born 16 June 1616, in Leiden, Netherlands. Married in March 1636, Thomas Cushman who arrived in the New World in 1623. She had 8 children. She died 28 Dec 1699, and was the last survivor of the Mayflower passengers.

Degory Priest--Born in 1579 or 1580 in London. He married Sarah Allerton 4 Nov 1611, in Leiden, Netherlands, and had a daughter, Sarah, born 1615. He was aboard the Mayflower, having left his family behind in Leiden. He died 11 Jan 1621. His wife remarried and arrived with her new husband in the New World in 1623.

The following is our direct line:

Isaac Allerton married Mary Norris, they had one daughter Mary.

Mary (b. 1616, d. 1699) married Thomas Cushman (b. 1608. d. 1691), they had 8 children, one of whom was Eleazar (b. 1656, d. 1723).

Eleazar Cushman married Elizabeth Coombs (b. 1662, d. 1723 and great granddaughter of Degory Priest), they had 6 childrren, one of whom was John (b. 1690, d. 1760).

John Cushman married Joanna Pratt (b. 1690, d. 1747), they had a son Charles (b. 1716, d. 1791)

Charles Cushman married Mary Harvey (b. 1720, d. 1810), they had a daughter, Mary (b. 1740, d. 1828)

Mary Cushman married Joseph Kellogg (b. 1738, d. 1825) and they had a son, Brigadier General Amos Kellogg (b. 1760, d. 1826). Amos fought in the Revolutionary War in the battles at Bennington and Saratoga as a member of Col. Seth Warners "Green Mountain Boys".

Amos Kellogg married Lucretia Harwood (b. 1764, died 1850) and they had a daughter, Sarah (b. 1783, d. 1859).

Sara Kellogg married Noah Loomis (b. 1782, d. 1848) and they had a son, Bohan Shepard (b. 1825, d. 1908)

Bohan Shepard Loomis married Laura A. Hart (b. 1827, d. 1911) and had a daughter, Martha Anna "Mattie", (b. 1858d. d. 1911).

Mattie Loomis married William Andrew Nelson (b. 1849, d. 1906) and they had a daughter, Grace Marie (b. 1888, d. 1970).

Grace Nelson married Frank Grant Hess (b: 1881, d: 1957) and they had two sons, Robert Nelson (b: 1915, d: 2004) and William Nelson Loomis (b: 1917, d: 2010).

William Nelson Loomis Hess married Maryellen Nickson (b: 1920, d: 2002) and they had three children, Julieanne (b: 1944), David Fredric (b: 1946) and Michael Allan (b: 1947, d: 2007).

THE KELLOGGS IN THE OLD WORLD AND THE NEW


Hess-Nickson Family History



THE KELLOGGS IN THE OLD WORLD AND THE NEW

The Kellogg side of the clan was my first big break in researching the family.  I knew about Amos Kellogg because Grandmother Hess left a copy of her application to the DAR based on her relationship to him.  While further exploring this line I came across an obscure reference to an article that appeared in a magazine in 1910.  This was over 25 years ago and, since it predated the age of the internet, the only copy of the magazine was in the Library of Congress.  One day I found myself in Washington, DC on business with some time to kill so I went to the Library and found the article.  That article referred me to a book, The Kelloggs in the Old World and The New, and there it was.  A complete line of Kelloggs back to the first person in England with that name. 

The Kelloggs in the old world were from Essex County located in southeast England very near to London.  The towns, Debden, Braintree and Great Leighs are all located in Essex county, and all the Kelloggs come from one of those three towns.  We can guess that the Kelloggs were people of some means.  What we know of them comes from land deeds, wills and other legal documents that would not be found lower classes.The economy was largely tied to agriculture and wool processing.  Our Kellogg ancestors were largely engaged in those activities.  Here are the details of that line:

Nicholas Kellogg (b:1488, d: 1558 in Essex, England) married (1515) Florence Hall (b: 1490, d: 1571 in Essex, England).  She was the daughter of William Hall (d:1515).  Nicholas is the first person to appear in any records with the surname Kellogg.  They had a son, Thomas (b: 1521 in Essex, England, d: 1568).

Thomas Kellogg married Florence Halles (b: 1533 in Essex, England, d: 1587) and they had a son, Phillippe (b: 1560 in Essex, England, d: after 1595 in Essex, England).  [NOTE: I am suspicious about the similarity between Florence Hall and Florence Halles but I have nothing to work on so far.  Also, Phillippe is an interesting name because it does not appear often as an English given name.  Perhaps they were anticipating a different outcome in the 1588 attack of the Spanish Armada, but I doubt it--hmmm.].  Anyway, they had 11 children, the seventh, a son, Martin (b: 1595, in Great Leighs, England, d: 1671 in Essex, England).

In 1621, Martin Kellogg married Prudence Bird (b: Before 1625, d: Before 1671).  She was the daughter of John Bird (d: 1625), but that is all I know about her line at the moment.  They had 6 children including a son, their third child, Joseph (b: 1626 in Great Leighs, Essex, England, d: 1708, in Hadley, Massachusetts).

It is not known when Joseph Kellogg first arrived in the new world, but he was in Farmington, Connecticut in 1651.  In 1653, he married his first wife, Joanna Foote (b: about 1624, in Buckland, England d: 1666 in Hadley, MA).  With Joanna, he had 9 children (20 total with 2 other wives) and the sixth was Edward (b: 1660 in Boston, MA).  Joseph was a county Selectman and a Lieutenant in the militia.

Edward Kellogg married Dorothy ? (poor grandma Dorothy. We know so little about you) and by her he had 9 children.  The last of whom was Edward Jr. (b: 1713, d: before 1753).

Edward Kellogg Jr. married Jemima Bartlett in 1738.  They had 8 children, the first of which was Joseph (b: 1738 in Bozrah, CT).

Joseph Kellogg married in 1759 Mary Cushman (b: 1740) the daughter of Charles Cushman and Mary Harvey [NOTE: The Cushman line goes straight back to the Mayflower connection as I noted in the essay on the Mayflower descendants].  Joseph was in General Wolfe's army when it captured Quebec.  Joseph and Mary had 12 children.  The first was Amos (b: 1760 in Lebanon, CT, d: 1828 in Pittsford, VT).

Brigadier General Amos Kellogg married Lucretia Harwood (b: 1764, d: 1850) in 1782.  She was the daughter of Reverend Eleazer Harwood and Elizabeth Montague (more on them to come).  [NOTE: The following is a transcript of Ancestor’s Service copied from Grace Marie Nelson’s Application for Membership in The Children of The American Revolution, written about 1906-7.

"My great great grandfather, Amos Kellogg, entered Col. Morris’

 Regiment of Continental Troops, March 19, 1777, in his 16th year of age.  Commencing as Captain’s [one word unreadable] and serving as waiter soldier and sergeant in that unit until 1781, when he was offered a lieutenant’s commission by the Vt. Board of War.  On application for discharge, Col. Seth Warner (of the famed Green Mountain Boys) consented to give him a parole for that purpose but not a discharge from the regiment.  Yet he never was recalled nor discharged from the regiment, but served as a commissioned officer of some grade under appointment of the Vt. Board of War until the close of the war being connected with the army some seven years.

He was sick with the measles in the fort at Ticonderoga at the time of the retreat before the Battle of Hubbardton, so he was not in that battle, but incurred the risk of exposure in traveling to Bennington rather than to be taken prisoner by the British and he engaged in the Battle of Bennington.  He was married in 1780, on the 7th day of Dec. and his wife remained in camp until 1782.  When they moved to the farm in Pittsford he was still liable to be called to service and was [one word unreadable] Commander of the troops at Castleton.  After his removal to Pittsford, his having been an officer in the army, he was immediately promoted to the office of major and then again to Brig. Gen. in the Vermont Militia.  He was a Whig of the Washingtonian stamp in the times of the War of 1812. When Plattsburgh was invaded by the British he was one of the first to volunteer and went with his horses and wagons to transport the soldiers and arms to and from Bennington and Montpelier. This action on his part and on the part of the other Whigs caused the remarks to be made by members of the opposing political parties while they were on the march that they did wrong in heretofore denouncing the whigs as enemies of the country and they asked their forgiveness and so the invasion had the effect of causing the condition of halting(?) animosities between the political parties in Vt."]

Amos and Lucretia had 8 children.  The first was Sarah (b: 1783) who married Noah Loomis and you have the rest of the connection from the Mayflower essay previously discussed.

Next Chapter:  The Loomis Clan