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The chart at right (enlarged view)
illustrates the principal lines of our family tree we are currently researching.
These eight lines are described below.
James Phelps of Crewkerne,
Somerset was one of a number of landed Phelpses in 15th Century
England. His grandson William elected to join the emigration to the colonies
where William helped settle Windsor, Connecticut. More recently, Thadeus
Merrill Phelps was born in Wataga, Illinois in 1856. Thadeus is
my paternal great-grandfather.
The Bartle clan hails from the midwest and before that New
Jersey. My g-great-grandfather William Toy Bartle was a minister across the
upper mid-west from Decatur, Michigan to Plattsmouth, Nebraska. He was born
in Mullica Hill, New Jersey on Feb 17, 1822. His daughter Helen Lindsay
married my g-grandfather Thadeus Merrill Phelps. We suspect due to the
rarity of this surname that the name may have derived from Bartte, Bartley
or Bartlett. This is my paternal grandfather's mother's family.
The Christys. My g-grandfather George William Christy served
four years in the Civil War and was left disabled. According to the 1880
Census, he was 'deaf and dumb' and employed as a 'Lightening Rod Agnt'.
He left Illinois in the late 1890s for Santa Cruz, California. Family
legend has it they are Normans originally hailing from France by way of
Scotland. My paternal grandmother's father's family.
The Diuguids. William Diuguid left Aberdeen,
Scotland  ,
in the mid-1700's and settled near Bent Creek in the lower part of what
is now Appomattox County, Virginia. Nearly all Diuguids trace their roots
to Virginia or Kentucky. It is through the Diuguids that we trace our
roots back to the statesman Patrick Henry and to Robert the Bruce, King
of Scotland.
The Diuguids are my paternal grandmother's mother's family.
The Beasleys One of our less well-known lines, Thomas Wesley
Beasley began life in a small town named Brandy Station in Fauquier County,
northern Virginia, around 1830. This later was the site of the largest
calvary battle in the Civil War, which my family watched from their back
porch. My Great-Uncle Tucker said he would never forget the sight of the
dead and dying men. This is my maternal grandfather's father's family.
The Claggetts
Edward Claggett emigrated from England circa 1664. His family grew very
prosperous in Maryland, where the family estate remains occupied today
by direct descendants for the 8th consecutive generation. This is my maternal
grandmother's mother's family.
The Bremsers Hailing from Singhofen,
Rheinland Pfalz, Germany
,
Heinrich Bremser arrived in the U.S. in 1892 with his wife Phillipina,
his father-in-law, Philip Klein, and Henry's brother Phillip. Henry and
Phillip were experienced Masons and founded the first brick and masonry
business in Norwalk, Ohio. This is
my maternal grandfather's father's family.
The
Kleins are German, from near Weisbaden, Rhineland-Pfalz. G-great-grandfather
Phillip Klein arrived in the United States with his daughter Phillipina
"Bina" Klein and son-in-law Heinrich "Henry" Gottlieb Bremser. He died
within a year. Interestingly, Henry's daughter Wilhelmena "Minnie" Phillipena
married Curt Klein, a first cousin from Germany. My maternal grandmother's
mother's family.
The Lovelands. My wife's
maternal grandfather were Latter-day Saint pioneers who crossed 1300
miles of prairie to settle in Salt Lake City, escaping persecution and
death to embrace religious freedom.
The Tolmans. My wife's maternal
grandmother descended from Thomas Tolman b. 1550 in Salcomb Regis, Devonshire,
England. In about 1840, his descendent, Judson Adonirum Tolman, now living
in Maine, joined the newly founded Church of Jesus Christy Latter-day
Saints and left the United States to emigrate to the yet-unnamed Utah
Territory.
The
Morgans. My wife's father's family are pioneers of the Salt Lake
Valley. John
Morgan started the first college in Salt Lake City.
The Pearce family has direct ties to the Latter-day Saint Prophet Brigham
Young and, notoriously, the Mountain Meadows Massacre.
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