Gant,Jenkins,Cass,Daly,Leonard,Crawford,Belding,Coleman,Carr,Thayer,Blanchard,Bly,Smith & Allied Lines

Gant/Belding and Allied Lines

Welcome to Betty Lou (Gant) Malesky's genealogy page. Genealogy has been my pasttime and my passion since I was a teenager. My favorite vacations have been those spent in cemeteries, courthouses and libraries searching for long-lost but no longer forgotten ancestors. The rewards of my search have been many.

When I began I had only names and a few dates for my grandparents and great grandparents. With these few facts to go on, I've been able to document descent from both John HOWLAND and Henry SAMPSON of the Mayflower, one on each of my parents lines. I've also discovered I descend from Ann (MARBURY) HUTCHINSON, a woman I've admired since first learning of her amazing life when I was in high school.

Just as special, however, are all those ordinary people who lived ordinary lives as they are part of who and what I am today. Although I've found some two thousand direct ancestors to date, many more are still missing. Perhaps some will never be located but the fun is in the search . . . and today might just be the day I find another.

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In the years since I first created this page, I've made many wonderful discoveries about my ancestry. If you are researching any of the same families I am, please do contact me.

The following are some elusive ancestors who have successfully escaped detection so far. Any clues? If so, my e-mail address is [email protected] or you may click on the link at the bottom of this page.

Elusive ancestors on my Father's side:

Ambrose Cornelius GANT, b. ca 1820 Loudoun or Fairfax Co., VA, was captured by the Union Army and sent to Camp Chase, OH even though he said he was not a member of the Rebel army. Conditions at the camp were harsh and he died of pneumonia two weeks later on 26 Dec 1863. (Was he a descendant of the Ambrose GAUNT who m. Sarah VAUGHAN, daughter of Cornelius VAUGHAN, 26 May 1787, in Fauquier Co., VA?) Ambrose C. GANT left four young children and a widow:

Jane Marie JORDAN, b. ca 1827 in VA, who was married for the second time 22 Mar 1873 to Abraham F. WALKER in Loundoun Co., VA. I know so little about her. Who were her parents?

Her son Ambrose Cornelius GANT, my great grandfather, married Jul 1881 Annie Jerusha DALY, daughter of: John Wesley DALY, the son of Patrick DALY, who was b. May 1836 in Linster Province, Ireland. Their son m. May 1861 Clementine Augusta MATTOCKS whose father was:

Richard Tremaine MATTOCKS, the son of Robert and Mary MATTOCKS, was baptized 26 Dec 1792 at St. Paul's Anglican Church, Halifax, NS. Both father and son were sea captains, who settled in Westchester Co., NY ca 1800. Richard T. MATTOCKS died in VA in 1885, but the Mattocks ancestry remains a deep mystery like the sea.

His wife was Jerusha MOTT, b. 17 Jun 1798 in NY. She was the great granddaughter of: Nathaniel LEONARD, b. ca 1712 in Monmouth Co., NJ, m. Deliverance LIPPIT ca 1737. His will was proved 29 Dec 1763 in Middletown, NJ where he had lived all his life. He surely belongs among the descendants of Henry LEONARD(1) who came to Monmouth from Lynn, MA, ca 1675, but what is his line of descent? To unravel the tangle of the numerous Nathaniel LEONARD's in NJ is possibly an impossible goal.

Mary Emma HOPKINS, was b. 16 Jan 187l Brooklyn, NY, to Francis K. HOPKINS and Catherine DAVY. She m. 23 Nov 1892 in Wash. DC to Meredith Allen JENKINS, b. 18 Mar 1861 in Erie Co., PA. Meredith, my great grandfather was a baker. I met him only once the year before he died, when I was 14 and he was 91 years old. I was fascinated with his stories of the late 1800's and with the amazing extensive genealogy he had done of his paternal grandparents' descendants. With the help of some Bible entries owned by a cousin who located me via this page, I've traced Mary Emma's maternal family lines back to the 1600s. I still have had no luck finding the parents of her father, Francis K. HOPKINS.

Meredith A. JENKINS grandfather was: Ransom JENKINS b. ca 1785-7 in MA or NH, who according to family tradition, walked from Springfield, MA to Chautauqua Co., NY in 1811 where he stopped at an inn and met:

Deborah CASS b. ca 1794 in NH(?) who was working at the inn in Hanover, NY. They married in August, 1812, settled in Chautauqua Co., NY and later in Erie County, PA. Who were their parents and where did they live prior to 180O? Her father was supposed to be Jonathan or Nathan CASS, names common to the CASS family , but as yet I haven't found her niche in the CASS line.

Their son John Cass JENKINS married: Rozillar PERKINS, b. ca 1827, daughter of Joseph PERKINS(b. 1801) and Anna/Amy IRISH (b. 1804). According to census records, the Perkins lived in Boston, Erie Co., NY, then Erie Co., PA and all were born in NY. Rozillar's parents moved to Big Rapids, MI around 1870. A family letter indicates her father was still alive in 1893.

Other paternal surnames are: COLES, CRAWFORD, DICKINSON, GORTON, GROVER, HOWLAND, JACKSON, LAWRENCE, MOTT, SHEPHERD, SCOTT, STOUT, THROCKMORTON, TILLEY, TILTON, and WRIGHT

Elusive ancestors on my mother's side:

No longer elusive, Reuben FARLEY, b. ca 1879 in MA moved his family to Greenwich, Huron Co., OH by 1834. He was a Universalist minister, said to preach throughout northern OH until his death 2 Jun 1857. I've been able to trace him back to the immigrant, George FARLEY. Reuben's daughter Eleanor FARLEY was m. 7 Sep 1741 in Huron County to:

Henry BELDING, the son of: Benjamin BELDING, b. 1801 NY, and his wife Jane. They lived in Sawpits (now Port Chester,) Westchester Co, NY, then in New York City until 1829 when the family arrived in New London, Huron Co., OH. He is probably of the Connecticut BELDEN/BELDING families, but where does he fit? Was the Benjamin Belden who died in 1802 in Westchester Co. his father? And who was Jane, his wife? Another mystery. I have much information to share on Benjamin's descendants in OH if you are of this family.

Seth BLANCHARD of Brookfield, MA was b. 1778 in MA, m. Lydia RICE of Sturbridge, MA 3 Apr 1804. Their marriage bans were posted in Brookfield, 30 Jan 1804 but his birth is not recorded there. They moved to Harmony, Chautauqua Co., NY ca 1804 where they had six children. Many BLANCHARD lines are well documented, including those of two other contemporary Seth's. Where does mine fit?

Seth's daughter Lorinda BLANCHARD married Myron BLY, son of Myron BLY whose father was Asa BLY, b. ca 1765. Asa BLY is said in a 1781 Berkshire Co., MA deed to be of Brookfield, MA, however he doesn't appear in Brookfield vital records or in any Worcester County sources I've checked. He later lived in Hoosick, Albany Co., NY, then in Otsego Co., NY, and finally bought land in Chautauqua County where his sons Myron BLY and Theron BLY settled ca 1809. Asa BLY died in Otsego County in 1822. He was married to: Desire SMITH, b. 4 Feb 1767, died 24 Feb 1820 and is buried in Ashville, Chautauqua Co., NY. Her tombstone says, "The virtuous mother's highest praise does not consist of length of days, For when her mortal forms at rest her children rise and call her blest." What more could a mother ask?

Desire SMITH was the daughter of: Dr. Gaius SMITH and his wife, Keziah Page. He lived in Bennington, VT and served in Capt. Ebenezer Wood's Company during the Revolution. His only son Leurendus Belina SMITH died at age 17 in 1794 and is buried in Bennington. All of Dr. Smith descendants are from his five daughters, Desire and her sisters: Rachel SMITH, the eldest who m. David BROWN; Hannah SMITH who m. Zenas ASHLEY, and moved to Burlington, Otsego, NY ca 1800-1805; Vernera SMITH m. Joseph RUDD and settled in Edmeston, Otsego Co, NY; and Myra SMITH who m. Ralph CHAPMAN and also lived in Otsego. Doctor Gaius SMITH died 26 Sep 1819 and his will was probated 4 Oct 1819, but his birthplace and his parents remain unknown.

William S. COLEMAN, my great grandfather was b. 18 May 1860 in NJ to John and Phoebe (SHERIDAN) COLEMAN. He m. Bertha Eunice CARR as his second wife about 1885 in Lackawanna Co., PA. He died in Scranton, PA 15 Apr 1911. My grandmother remembered visiting COLEMAN uncles who were railroad engineers when she was a child. While I've located all the engineers, I've had no success with their ancestry in PA or NJ. In the past two years, however, I succeeded in tracing Phebe SHERIDAN of Oxford, Warren Co., NJ to her grandfather John Sheridan, a revolutionary soldier. Bertha CARR's parents were:

Jeremiah Gardiner CARR and Polly VOSBURGH, who m. 31 Dec 1854 in Washington Twp., Wyoming Co., PA. His family roots in Rhode Island are well documented. Polly was born circa 1830, and died around 1867. In the past two years I finally solved the mystery of her ancestry by searching every available record, compiling and analyzing all the evidence. Her parents were Jacob VOSBURGH, a descendant of the Vosburghs of Kinderhook and Livingston Manor in old Dutch New York, and Ruth BATES, daughter of Caleb BATES, an early Wyoming Valley settler.

Other maternal surnames are: ABBOTT, ADAMS, BARTLETT, BARNES, BASS, CARR, CHAPIN, COOPER, FARNUM, GARDINER, GILBERT, HAYWARD, MOFFETT, NICHOLLS, PEARCE, PHELPS, REMINGTON, RICE, SAMPSON, SAYLES, THAYER, TIBBETTS, UPHAM, WAITE, and WILLIAMS

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