The Axworthy Genealogy

The Axworthy Genealogy

By Jared L. Olar

March 2012

Updated Febrary 2019

We are very grateful for the assistance of our cousins Graham and Pamela Axworthy of Nottinghamshire, England, for researching our mutual Axworthy genealogy and verifying that we are descendants of the Axworthy family of Yealmpton, Plymouth, County Devon, England. Without their generous help, we would know nothing of the ancestry, or even parentage, of Charlotte (Axworthy) Still.

Graham Roy and Pamela Ann (Groome) Axworthy -- circa 2012

Graham is a fourth cousin of my wife's late mother Carolyn Jean (Riggs) Spencer: Graham is the son of Arthur William Axworthy, son of Arthur John Axworthy, son of William John Axworthy, son of George Axworthy, who was the brother of Charlotte (Axworthy) Still, mother of Luvenia La Dora (Still) Riggs, mother of Herbert Benjamin Riggs, father of Carl Spencer Riggs Sr., who was Carolyn's father.

Our ancestor Jeremiah Still (also called Jeremy and Jerry), an English immigrant from County Dorset who settled in Alton, Illinois, married Charlotte Axworthy, whose surname very probably indicates that her family originally came from an English town or village named Axworthy. There is a hamlet called Axworthy in Thrushelton Parish, West Devon, north of Tavistock in the Lifton Hundred near the Cornish border. Since our Axworthy ancestors came from Devon, Axworthy in Thrushelton Parish is very probably the place whence this family derived its surname. Old maps show this Axworthy as Arkeswrthi in 1238, Assworthe in 1244 and Assworthi in 1330. There is also a Devonshire hamlet called Essworthy, located about a mile and a half south-southeast of Hatherleigh. As a family of County Devon, our Axworthys were descendants of the ancient Britons who dwelt there, sometimes known as Cornish Welsh -- the specific tribe of Britons living there were the Dumnonii, the people of the kingdom of Dumnonia (Welsh "Dyfnaint"), whence "Devon" is etymologically derived.

This photograph provided by Graham and Pamela Axworthy shows Axworthy Barn, at the hamlet of Axworthy in West Devon near the Cornish border -- the hamlet from which the Axworthy family derived its name. Once a cattle shed, the barn has been restored and remodeled as a residence.

Our Axworthy lineage traces back to a branch of the Yealmpton, Plymouth, Axworthys that had moved to Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands. Another prominent branch of the Yealmpton Axworthys emigrated to Prince Edward Island, Canada. The earliest known ancestor of this family was JOHN AXWORTHY OF YEALMPTON, who was born circa 1575. Yealmpton is a village to the east of Plymouth, Devon. Six generations of John's family lived in Yealmpton without interruption from about 1600 until about 1750, when the ancestors of the Prince Edward Island branch moved to nearby Holbeton in Devon. Meanwhile, our Axworthy family belonged to the branch of the Yealmpton Axworthys who resided at Newton Ferrers in the early 1700s.

The following account of our Axworthy line is based chiefly on the research of Graham and Pamela Axworthy, which I have collated with the Axworthy lineage presented at the above-linked Islandregister.com webpage on the Prince Edward Island Axworthys, as well as the Axworthy genealogy found in the "Richard R. Algar Family Tree" at Ancestry.com.

Nine Generations of the Axworthy Family

1. JOHN AXWORTHY, ancestry unknown, born circa 1575 in Yealmpton, Plymouth, Devon, England, died 1631 in Yealmpton, England. Known as "John Axworthy of Yealmpton" or simply as "John of Yealmpton." John's wife was EMLIN [ELLIOTT?], born circa 1580, died 1638 in Devon, England. John and Emlin are known to have had a son and two daughters:

     2.  JOHN AXWORTHY, born 1602 in Yealmpton, Devon, England.
     --  GRACE AXWORTHY, born 1602 in Yealmpton, Devon, England, twin sister of John.
     --  MARGARET AXWORTHY, born 1605/6 in Yealmpton, Devon, England.

2. JOHN AXWORTHY, son of John and Emlin Axworthy, born 1602 in Yealmpton, Plymouth, Devon, England. John's wife was named ELIZABETH (NN) ("Ellen"). John and Elizabeth are known have had a son and four daughters:

     --  ELIZABETH AXWORTHY, born 1619 in Yealmpton, Devon, England.
     --  MARY AXWORTHY, born 1621 in Yealmpton, Devon, England.
     --  BARBARA AXWORTHY, born 1632 in Yealmpton, Devon, England.
     --  EMLIN AXWORTHY, born 1635 in Yealmpton, Devon, England, died 1638 in Yealmpton, Devon, England.
     3.  JOHN AXWORTHY, born 16 June 1624 in Yealmpton, Devon, England.

3. JOHN AXWORTHY, son of John and Elizabeth Axworthy, born 16 June 1624 in Yealmpton, Plymouth, Devon, England, died 15 Sept. 1693 in Yealmpton, Plymouth, Devon, England. On 21 Oct. 1648, John married BLANCH BLAKE, born 20 Nov. 1620 in Yealmpton, Plymouth, Devon, England, died 1689 in Yealmpton, Plymouth, Devon, England. John and Blanch had a daughter and two sons:

     --  CHARITY AXWORTHY, born 26 Feb. 1649 in Yealmpton, Devon, England.
     --  JOHN AXWORTHY, born 27 Oct. 1652 in Yealmpton, Devon, England, died 27 Oct. 1652 in Yealmpton, Devon, England.
     4.  JOHN AXWORTHY, born 14 Feb. 1656/8 in Yealmpton, Devon, England.

4. JOHN AXWORTHY, son of John and Blanch Axworthy, born 14 Feb. 1656/8 in Yealmpton, Plymouth, Devon, England, died 15 Sept. 1692 (exactly one year before his father) in Yealmpton, Plymouth, Devon, England. On 25 May 1680, John married MARY HOLBERTON (or "Holbeton"), born 1658 in Newton Ferrers, Devon, England, died 1717 in Devon, England, daughter of William and Mary (Dunn) Holberton. John and Mary had three daughters and three sons:

     --  MARY AXWORTHY, born 19 Sept. 1681 in Yealmpton, Devon, England, died 1 July 1683 in Yealmpton, Devon, England.
     --  JOHN AXWORTHY, born 5 May 1683/4 in Yealmpton, Devon, England, married Mary Barrat -- ancestor of the Prince Edward Island Axworthys.
     --  WILLIAM AXWORTHY, born 11 March 1687 in Yealmpton, Devon, England, died 1697.
     5.  ROBERT AXWORTHY, born 11 July 1690 in Yealmpton, Devon, England.
     --  MARY AXWORTHY, born 8 April 1693 in Yealmpton, Devon, England.
     --  ELIZABETH AXWORTHY, born 1696 in Yealmpton, Devon, England.

5. ROBERT AXWORTHY, son of John and Mary Axworthy, born 11 July 1690 in Yealmpton, Plymouth, Devon, England, died 1760 in Yealmpton, Plymouth, Devon, England. Robert's wife was named AGNES HIX (or Hixte), born 1689 in Newton Ferrers, Devon, England, died 1759 in Newton Ferrers, Devon, England. Robert and Agnes had three sons and two daughters:

     --  NICHOLAS AXWORTHY, born 1720 in Yealmpton, Devon, England, died 1720 in Yealmpton, Devon, England.
     --  WILLIAM AXWORTHY, born 1721 in Yealmpton, Devon, England, died 1790.
     --  AGNES AXWORTHY, born 1724 in Yealmpton, Devon, England, died 1762.
     6.  ROBERT AXWORTHY, born 1727 in Yealmpton, Devon, England.
     --  MARY AXWORTHY, born 1731 in Yealmpton, Devon, England.

6. ROBERT AXWORTHY, son of Robert and Agnes Axworthy, born 1727 in Yealmpton, Plymouth, Devon, England, died 1797 in Newton Ferrers, Devon, England. In 1753, Robert married AGNES ANSTER, born 1730, died 1800. Robert and Agnes had three sons and four daughters:

     7.  JOHN AXWORTHY, born 1753 in Yealmpton, Devon, England.
     --  EMLIN AXWORTHY ("Emblyn"), born 1721 in Yealmpton, Devon, England, died 1790.
     --  AGNESS AXWORTHY, born 1755 in Yealmpton, Devon, England, died 1762.
     --  AMY AXWORTHY, born 1759 in Yealmpton, Devon, England, died 1766 in Yealmpton, Devon, England.
     --  MARY AXWORTHY, born 1762 in Yealmpton, Devon, England.
     --  ROBERT AXWORTHY, born 1764 in Yealmpton, Devon, England, died 1843 in Ivybridge, Devon, England, married Thomazine Nelder and had two sons and four daughters.
     --  WILLIAM AXWORTHY, born 1769 in Yealmpton, Devon, England, married Jenny Elliot.

7. JOHN AXWORTHY, son of Robert and Agnes Axworthy, born 1753 in Yealmpton, Plymouth, Devon, England, died 1823 in Yealmpton, Plymouth, Devon, England. John's wife was named SARAH HELE, born 1754 in Yealmpton, Plymouth, Devon, England. John appears as "John of Yealmpton, Plymouth" in the 6 May 1858 marriage record of his youngest son John, from whom we trace our line of descent. John and Sarah had two daughters and five sons:

     --  AMY AXWORTHY, born 1777 in Yealmpton, Devon, England.
     --  RICHARD AXWORTHY, born 1779 in Yealmpton, Devon, England.
     --  ROBERT AXWORTHY, born 1779 in Yealmpton, Devon, England, twin brother of Richard.
     --  JOHN AXWORTHY, born 1780 in Yealmpton, Devon, England, died young.
     --  GEORGE AXWORTHY, born 1781 in Yealmpton, Devon, England, married Jane Screech ("Jenny").
     --  SARAH AXWORTHY, born 1787 in Yealmpton, Devon, England.
     8.  JOHN AXWORTHY, born 1793 and baptised 6 May 1793 in Yealmpton, Devon, England.

8. JOHN AXWORTHY, son of John and Sarah Axworthy, born 1793 and baptised 6 May 1793 in Yealmpton, County Devon, England, died circa 1860 in St. Peter Port, Guernsey, the Channel Islands. John is listed as the son of John and Sarah Axworthy of Yealmpton in his baptismal record, as shown Ancestry.com's "England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975." On 27 Nov. 1814 in East Stonehouse, Plymouth, Devon, England, John married ELIZABETH CLARK (or "Clerk"), born 1792 in Devon, England, died circa 1856 (between 1851 and 1858) on Guernsey in the Channel Islands. Their marriage record, obtained by Graham and Pamela Axworthy, identifies them as "John Axworthy" and "Elizabeth Clerk." John and Elizabeth are known to have had two daughters and a son. After their marriage, John and Elizabeth lived at Spriddlestone, Brixton, Devon, where their son George and daughter Charlotte are known to have been born in the 1830s. While there, John worked as a Quarryman. At some point after 1832, however, John bought land on Guernsey in the Channel Islands and moved his family there. The 1841 Channel Islands Census shows John Axworthy, age 40, living at St. Peter Port, Guernsey, with his wife Elizabeth Axworthy, age 40, and their children Elizabeth Axworthy, age 20, George Axworthy, age 13, and Charlotte Axworthy, age 10. Ten years later, the 1851 Channel Islands Census again shows John and his wife Elizabeth, but by that time their children were all grown and/or married. On 10 July 1852, John and Elizabeth purchased some land near Pont Renier bordering Route Colborne, St. Peter Port, Guernsey. After the purchase, John built two houses on his land. William John Axworthy (1868-1908), son of George, son of John and Elizabeth, sold the land and houses on 15 Nov. 1888. The 1852 deed of sale mentions that John Axworthy's father was named John. John's wife Elizabeth died after the 1852 land purchase but before the date of John's second marriage.

This scanned copy of the 1858 record of John Axworthy's second marriage was provided by Graham and Pamela Axworthy.

On 6 May 1858 at Holy Trinity Church, St. Peter Port, Guernsey, in the Channel Islands, John remarried to MARY ANN THOMAS, born circ 1824 in Cornwall, England, daughter of John Thomas of St. Andellion, Cornwall. The marriage record, obtained by Graham and Pamela Axworthy, reads, "John Axworthy, aged 60 years, son of John of Yealmpton, Plymouth, and Mary Ann Thomas, aged 34 years, daughter of John of St. Andellion, Cornwall, were married by license on the 6th day of May, 1858 (eight)." John and Mary had two daughters, one in 1859 and another in 1860. John does not appear in the 1861 Channel Islands Census, so he must have died by then.

Thus, the known children of John Axworthy by his two wives were:

     --  ELIZABETH AXWORTHY, born circa 1821 in Devon, England.
     9.  CHARLOTTE AXWORTHY, born 13 June 1830 in Spriddlestone, Brixton, Devon, England.
     --  GEORGE AXWORTHY, born 1832 or 15 Nov. 1827 in Spriddlestone, Brixton, Devon, England, died 10 July 1886, great-great-grandfather of Graham Roy Axworthy.
     --  ELLEN AXWORTHY, born circa 1859 in St. Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands.
     --  ROSINA AXWORTHY, born 19 Nov. 1860 in St. Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands.

9. CHARLOTTE AXWORTHY, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Clark) Axworthy, born 13 June 1830 Spriddlestone, Brixton, Devon, England; died 17 Sept. 1877 in Madison County, Illinois. Charlotte's birth record identifies her as "Charlotte Axworthy born 13th June 1830. Father John, occupation Quarryman. Mother Elizabeth (late Clar (sic) ). Abode Spriddlestone in the parish of Brixton." When she was a child, Charlotte moved with her parents and siblings from County Devon in England to St. Peter Port on Guernsey in the Channel Islands. The 1841 British census of the Channel Islands shows "Charlotte Axworthy," age 10 (so born circa 1831), daughter of John and Elizabeth Axworthy, both 40 years old, of the parish of St. Peter Port on the Island of Guernsey. The same census indicates that Charlotte was born on Guernsey, and lists her with two older siblings: Elizabeth, age 20, and George, age 13.

Remarkably, an 1846 ship passenger list shows a "Charlotte Axworthy," age 15 (so born circa 1831), daughter of John and Elizabeth Axworthy, both 55 years old -- the three of them arrived in New York Harbor on 11 May 1846 aboard the S.S. Switzerland, which had sailed out of London, England. That Charlotte is the right age to be the Charlotte from Guernsey, but her parents are 10 years older than the John and Elizabeth of the 1841 British census (unless their ages are incorrect on the ship passenger list). It seems unlikely that the Charlotte Axworthy who came to New York in 1846 was our Charlotte, because our Charlotte arrived in the U.S. in 1851 accompanied by her husband Jeremiah and her infant firstborn daughter -- unless she came to the U.S. in 1846 but soon returned to Guernsey, where she married Jeremiah in 1849 and then emigrated to the U.S. a second time in 1851.

This scanned copy of the 1849 record of Charlotte Axworthy's marriage to Jeremiah Still was provided by Graham and Pamela Axworthy.

On 9 Sept. 1849 at St. Peter Port, Guernsey, in the Channel Islands, Charlotte married JEREMIAH STILL ("Jeremy" or "Jerry"), born 7 Aug. 1827 in Fontmell Magna, Dorsetshire, England, baptised 2 Sept. 1827 at Fontmell Magna, died 16 Aug. 1900 at home in Alton, near Godfrey, Madison County, Illinois, son of William and Mary Still. Their marriage record identifies them as "Jeremiah Still, aged 22 years, son of William of Fontmall in the county of Dorset" and "Charlotte Axworthy, aged 20 years, daughter of John of Plymouth of the County of Devon." (Note that Jeremiah's obituary erroneously says he and Charlotte married 13 May 1847.) Jeremiah and Charlotte had six daughters and one son. On 30 Jan. 1883 in Alton, Madison County, Illinois, Jeremiah took a second wife, MARY ATTER ALLEN, born 24 Dec. 1850 in Alton, died 8 Dec. 1917 in Alton, daughter of James and Ann (Joyce) Allen, who were immigrants from England. No children were born of the marriage of Jeremiah and Mary.

In 1851, Jeremiah, age 24 (so born circa 1827), and Charlotte, age 21 (so born circa 1830), left England and came to America with their daughter Sophia, age 10 months (so born circa 1850). They arrived in New York Harbor on 16 June 1851 on the S.S. Guy Mannering, which had sailed out of Liverpool. The passenger list of the Guy Mannering identifies Jeremiah as a shoemaker, and says he and his wife and daughter were headed to Illinois. No doubt they were planning to join Jeremiah's brothers Thomas (1820-1907) and Frederick (1829-1918), who had come to Illinois two years earlier on the S.S. Boadicea, sailing out of Liverpool, England, and landing in New Orleans on 27 Feb. 1849. All three brothers, Thomas, Jeremiah, and Frederick, settled in southern Illinois, with Thomas and Jeremiah residing in Madison County. Frederick worked on farms in Murrayville, Morgan County, Illinois, where his niece Luvenia and her husband Albert Riggs later came to live. Jeremiah has a single passing reference in the 1882 History of Madison County, Illinois that was published by W. R. Brink & Co. In the section on the early settlers of Godfrey Township, on page 506, it says, "Henry P. Rundle occupied a cabin on the site of the present residence of Jeremiah Still."

It should be noted that Riggs family tradition says Jeremiah and Charlotte had come from England with three daughters. An old typed genealogy of the Albert Riggs family says of Albert's wife Luvenia La Dora Still that, "Her parents and family of three daughters came to America from England . . . ." However, the passenger list of the S.S. Guy Mannering shows they arrived with only their daughter Sophia, who was apparently their firstborn child. Jeremiah and Charlotte had six daughters and one son, and Luvenia, born in 1857, was their fourth child. But if Jeremiah and Charlotte had arrived with three daughters, then their daughter Charlotte, born circa 1855, would have to have been born in England, which means they couldn't have arrived in America until 1855 at the earliest. The Guy Mannering's passenger list makes clear that only their eldest child, Sophia, was born in England, so the rest of their children had to have been born in the United States. It could be that the tradition that Jeremiah and Charlotte came with three daughters is a garbling of the facts pertaining to Jeremiah's older brother Thomas, who came from England when he was 28 years old with his wife Anne, age 24, and three children, Anne, age 3, Edward, age 2, and John, age 10 months.

Jeremiah (also called Jeremy and Jerry) and Charlotte settled at Alton, Madison County, Illinois. The 1855 Census of Madison County, page 76, shows "J. Still" as a resident of Alton Township. Madison County records show that Jeremiah was naturalised as a U.S. citizen in April 1859, having given his intention to become a citizen in 1856. His older brother Thomas was naturalised in September 1860, having given his intention in 1857. It seems that Jeremiah's wife Charlotte never became a U.S. citizen, however.

After his 1851 arrival in America, Charlotte had five more daughters and a son, including her fourth child, Luvenia, born in Alton in 1857. Charlotte's eldest daughter Sophia married Harry L. Paddock on 21 May 1870 in Macoupin County, Illinois. The 1870 U.S. Census shows the Jeremiah Still family living in Alton, including Jeremy, age 42 (so born circa 1828), his wife Charlotte, age 40 (so born circa 1830), and daughters Charlotte, age 15 (so born circa 1855), "Lavinia" (Luvenia), age 13, Eveline, age 11, and Ida, age 7. Their only son, William J. Still, died of "spasms" (a seizure disorder, apparently) in June 1868 and was buried 14 June 1868 in Alton Cemetery. Jeremy's wife Charlotte died in 1877 and was buried in Alton Cemetery near her daughter Mary, who had died as a child of typhoid fever on 20 April 1865. Their daughter Ida died of "consumption" (tuberculosis) on 23 Dec. 1879 and was buried near her mother and sister. In the 1880 U.S. Census, Jeremy (called "Jerry"), age 54 (so born circa 1826), is shown as a widower and a resident of Godfrey, Madison County, Illinois. The 1880 census also shows Jerry's eldest daughter Sophia, age 30, living in Godfrey with her husband Harry Paddock, age 38, three children, Mattie, age 7, Jerry, age 5, and Rollo, age 2, along with Sophia's sister Eveline Still, age 20, and a certain John King, age 60. This census also shows Jeremy's occupation as "shoemaker," and he, his mother, and his father are reported to have been born in England. As indicated above, Jeremy was a shoemaker by trade, and was one of the first to open a shoemaker's shop in Alton. James T. Hair's "Gazetteer of Madison County" (1866), page 235, shows Jeremiah Still as a shoemaker located at the southwest corner of Wall and State streets in Alton. Also, in the 1890 Alton, Illinois, City Directory, Jeremiah Still is listed as a shoemaker located at 316 State St.

Jeremiah Still's gravestone, Alton Cemetery

Photo courtesy Phillip Sherwood Still. This is the only stone in the Still family plot, but cemetery records say Jeremiah's wife Charlotte and their children Mary, Ida, and William are also buried in the same plot.

Jeremy died in 1900 and was buried in Alton Cemetery with his wife Charlotte and children Mary, Ida, and William. His gravestone gives his correct date of birth, but the date of death is off by one year. Jeremy's widow, Mary Allen Still, is buried close by, in the Allen family plot about 20 to 30 feet north of the Still family plot.

The children of Jeremiah and Charlotte Still were:

     --  SOPHIA C. STILL, born 26 Nov. 1849 in Dorchester, England, died 19 Aug. 1918 in Godfrey, Illinois, married Henry Lee "Harry" Paddock
     --  MARY ELIZABETH STILL, born circa 1852 in Madison County, Illinois, died 20 April 1865 in Alton, Illinois.
     --  CHARLOTTE STILL, born circa 1855 in Alton, Illinois.
     --  LUVENIA LA DORA STILL, born 27 Feb. 1857 in Alton, Illinois.
     --  EVALINE F. STILL ("Eva"), born 5 Oct. 1859 in Alton, Illinois, died 24 Oct. 1890 in Godfrey, Illinois, married Benjamin Crane Hathaway.
     --  IDA MAE STILL, born circa 1861 in Alton, Illinois, died 23 Dec. 1879 in Godfrey, Illinois.
     --  WILLIAM J. STILL, born Oct. 1867, died June 1868 in Alton, Illinois.

Other Still-Axworthy Genealogy Resources:

Fontmell Magna - Dorset Online Parish Clerk website Fontmell Magna Village Archive Alton Cemetery Index (including the Jeremiah Still Family Plot) Genealogy of an Axworthy Family of Devonshire: Descendants of John of Yealmton Axworthy Surname Message Board Axworthy Family Genealogy Forum Murrayville Cemetery Index Children of Albert and Luvenia Riggs (with errors)

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