The Notes

 

MY FAMILY NOTES

Donna Cooper's Family Connections

Words and Phrases

Note 1:  My ancestor, William Hancock, was among one of the early ones who died at Jamestown - he died March 22, 1621/22. King James the 1st, to settle the town of New Bern in the new colonies hired William Hancock for this task. He was at the Thorpes house, when the area Indians massacred the whole settlement. His older son William came to take over the business, but died soon after going there, and that is when Simon Hancock, his son, came to the United States. He had at least three sons and possibly more.

The Hancock family descended from Thomas Hancock who was born about 1525 in St. Mary Woolnot, London, London, England. One of his descendants, William Hancock came to America in the year of 1619. He was a member of The Virginia Company Of London which was created by King James I for the purpose of colonizing in America. The first settlement was established at Jamestown in 1607 but he did not arrive until a few years later. As an investor in the Virginia Company, William Hancock traveled to Jamestown and in 1619 had taken up residence there. William was a member of a group that founded Berkeley Hundred. On 22 March 1622 Indians attacked the settlement and William, along with many others, was massacred. Shortly after 1630, three of William's sons came to America. Augustine, Simon and William and they too became prominent planters in Virginia and all established families there that today probably include several thousand descendants. From Virginia, their descendants migrated throughout the south and Midwest but today are living in all parts of the United States. His son William Hancock was my ancestor.

Note 2: Pilgrim as well as Governor of Massachusetts, William Bradford is another one of my ancestors. Governor William Bradford was listed in Plymouth as "Master William Bradford (1589-1657) of Austerfield, Yorks, England, fustian maker, a commone blessing and father to them all."  William Bradford was early orphaned and virtually adopted by Brewster, sometime around 1602. He was a silk worker, Amsterdam 1607-9, a citizen of Leyden, England 1612 who was Governor or Assistant Gov of Plymouth from 1621-1657, and was a purchaser, 1626 for Plymouth Colony. Governor Bradford was an undertaker, 1627-41. Bradford served as a leader in opposing attempt to establish toleration, 1646 and was a presiding officer of United Colonies, 1648 and 1656. He left 990 lbs in his estate. Governor Bradford said,  "Plymouth now proclaimed a day of publick Thanksgiving for the beginning of revenge upon the enemy." So as reported in Bradford's History of Plymouth Colony, Gov. William Bradford proclaimed the first Thanksgiving.

The early years of Bradford's life are described by Cotton Mather in his book Magnalia Christi Americana, which was first published in 1702: It reads: "Among those Devout People was our William Bradford, who was born in 1588 in an obscure Village called Austerfield, where the people were as unacquainted with the Bible, as the Jews do seem to have been with part of it in the Days of Josiah; a most Ignorant and Licentious People, and like unto their Priest. Here, and in some other Places, he had a Comfortable Inheritance left him of his Honest Parents, who died while he was yet a Child, and cast him on the Education, first of his Grand Parents, and then of his Uncles, who devoted him, like his Ancestors, unto the Affairs of Husbandry. Soon and long Sickness kept him, as he would afterwards thankfully say, from the Vanities of Youth, and made him the fitter for what he was afterwards to undergo. When he was about a Dozen Years Old, the Reading of the Scriptures began to cause great Impressions upon him; and those Impressions were much assisted and improved, when he came to enjoy Mr. Richard Clifton's Illuminating Ministry, not far from his Abode; he was then also further befriended, by being brought into the Company and Fellowship of such as were then called Professors; though the Young Man that brought him into it, did after become a Prophane and Wicked Apostate. Nor could the Wrath of his Uncles, nor the Scoff of his Neighbours now turn'd upon him, as one of the Puritans, divert him from his Pious Inclinations."  And it reads:  " . . . Having with a great Company of Christians Hired a Ship to Transport them for Holland, the Master perfidiously betrayed them into the Hands of those Persecutors; who Rifled and Ransack'd their Goods, and clapp'd their Persons into Prison at Boston, where they lay for a Month together. But Mr. Bradford being a Young Man of about Eighteen, was dismissed sooner than the rest, so that within a while he had Opportunity with some others to get over to Zealand, through Perils both by Land and Sea not inconsiderable; where he was not long Ashore ere a Viper seized on his Hand, that is, an Officer, who carried him Unto the Magistrates, unto whom an envious Passenger had accused him as having fled out of England. When the Magistrates understood the True Cause of his coming thither, they were well satisfied with him; and so he repaired joyfully unto his Brethren at Amsterdam, where the Difficulties to which he afterwards stooped in Learning and Serving of a Frenchman at the Working of Silks, were abundantly Compensated by the Delight wherewith he sat under the Shadow of our Lord in his purely dispensed Ordinances. At the end of Two Years, he did, being of Age to do it, convert his Estate in England into Money; but Setting up for himself, he found some of his Designs by the Providence of God frowned upon, which he judged a Correction bestowed by God upon him for certain Decays of Internal Piety, whereinto he had fallen; the Consumption of his Estate he thought came to prevent a Consumption in his Virtue. But after he had resided in Holland about half a Score Years, he was one of those who bore a part in that Hazardous and Generous Enterprize of removing into New England, with part of the English Church at Leyden, where at their first Landing, his dearest Consort accidentally falling Overboard, was drowned in the Harbour; and the rest of his Days were spent in the Services, and the Temptations, of that American Wilderness."

Note 3:   My Broyles family came to Virginia in 1717. Johannes Broyles came with about 19 other families. He was seeking to escape the persecution of the French in his homeland of Germany. The ship he was aboard was detained in England for six months because Captain Scott was imprisoned there for a debt. By the time he was released and the passengers were on their way, many of the provisions which had been stored up were almost gone and the group was running low on funds. These families had intended to join their fellow countrymen in Pennsylvania. However, an unforeseen storm drove their course to Orange County, Virginia and so that is where they landed. When they arrived, Captain Scott claimed that the Germans had not paid their way, and would not allow them to land until Governor Spotswood of Virginia gave him the amount demanded for their passage. These families were then sold into indentured servitude to pay off their debt for their trip to the New World.  Gov. Spotswood of Virginia paid their passage in return he asked for indenture servitude of seven years. The governor then settled them at "Germanna" where he also had located an earlier group of German immigrants in 1714. (Germanna is located near the Rapidan River and is west of Fredericksburg.) (Note: The "2nd Colony" arrived in Virginia on the ship, "Scott", whose Captain was Tarbett.)

Note 4:   Like many people living in the United States today I have a number of Pennsylvania Dutch ancestors. One family that comes to mind is that of Johannes Philip Fetrow who came to York County, PA, from Heidleburg, Germany. Pennsylvania, being a proprietary colony, granted to proprietors the full prerogatives of government. Proprietary Rights are really just special land grants. What follows is an index to these land grants in York County, PA. The source of the data is Pennsylvania Archives, Series 3, Volume 3, pages 259-266. 111 Fetterer, Philip 100 in Springetsbury Manor application for 100 acres. This is where he obtains his grant of land in PA.  
 
Note 5: 
  I have several Quaker families in my line of descend but Simon Hadley from Moate, County West Meath, Ireland is one that comes to mind first. Simon Hadley was born in year of 1676 and in Moate, County of West Meath, Ireland. He was the son of Simon and Catherine (Talbot) Hadley. He married around 1697 to Ruth Miller, also of County West Meath. Together they had at least eight children. The oldest, Joseph was born on 25 October 1698. In 1712 the family boarded a ship, possibly in Somerset, England and made the trans-Atlantic voyage to the American colonies. They originally settled in Steyning Manor, Pennsylvania. Where they were members of a Quaker Community which was centered around the New Garden Monthly Meeting House. They lived in Chester Co., PA.

There are numerous references to Simon Hadley and his family but the most in-depth is that he located in the "Immigration of the Irish Quakers into Pennsylvania, 1682-1730", by Albert Cook Myers. Published by the Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. 1985.

Simon Hadley owned a large tract of land that extended from London Grove Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania into Newcastle County, Delaware. He served as Justice for many years and judge in the New Castle courts. Today the Hadley home is a historical spot for visitors in Newcastle County, Delaware.  The Encyclopedia of Quaker Genealogy, by William Wade Hinshaw recorded that Simon Hadley was received on certificate on 4 August, 1716 at Kennett Monthly Meeting, Chester County, Pennsylvania from Moate Monthly Meeting, County West Meath, Ireland.

Note 5: My Crumley family that married into the Haddock family in Barry Co., MO, were from a long line of Quakers. By the time they'd reached Barry County, they'd given up their faith for some other religion. The story begins sometime around the later part of the 1600's.  James Crumley who'd come from Yorkshire, England and was of an English Quaker family and he married Catherine Gilkey who was born in Scotland. They reared a large family in Chester Co., PA and also in the Frederick County area of Virginia. Their son John moved to Newberry Co., SC with a group of Quakers and established a family there. His offspring moved into Georgia and then from Georgia the family migrated to Barry County. From: "That Went Thataway", Virginia Vol. 3: 5 November 1793 reads: John Crumley and Hannah, his wife, of Newberry County, District of Ninety-Six, State of South Carolina, sell to Robert Bull of County of Berkley, in Virginia (Now West Virginia) for L293, a tract of land in County of Frederick, State of Virginia, being part of Kings patent granted to Giles Chapman who conveyed the same to James Crumley and part of two other tracts of land granted to said James Crumley, and the said James Crumley in his last will devised the same to Samuel Crumley and became the property of the said John Crumley by being heir at law to the said Samuel Crumley and the said John sold the premises to Henry Crumley 30 October 1787 and the said Henry assigned bond to Robert Bull etc. Proved by witness 3 December 1793 . Recorded 3 May 1796".

Quaker descendant, Thomas Charles Crumley, married Susan Terrell in Buncombe Co., NC. She is thought by the descendants of this line to have been either a full blooded Cherokee or of some undetermined mix of Cherokee.  Nothing much is known about her, except her mother may have been Susan Oliver.  They removed to Barry Co., MO from Habersham County, Georgia, sometime between 1850 and 1860.  Thomas Crumley appeared on a list of "Aged Taxpayers" (Over 55) 1860-61 according to Goodspeed's History of Barry County, Missouri.

Note 6:    The Pease family are an old family of Salem, Massachusetts and were among the first settlers and among the first eight families to settle in that area of Hartford, Connecticut. At Enfield, Connecticut some of the Pease family members became Shakers and were known for their association of that religious body but probably most of the family members were puritans.

John Pease had a grant of land in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1681, that part which in 1683 became what is now Enfield. Cemetery information from Hale Collection at the Connecticut State Library, "Pease, John, b 1630 d 1689". "John Pease, admitted to the church, 4th day of 5th month, 1667. John, Robert, Mary and Abraham, children of John Pease, baptized Sep, 1672. On Sacrament day, John Pease and his wife had a letter of recommendation granted to the church at Springfield (now Enfield, CT) Oct 6, 1681. John Pease whose children were baptized at different times from 1667 to 1672, who joined the church at Salem 1667 and who with wife was dismissed and recommended to the church at Springfield, (Enfield) was the son of Widow Pease." "1682. Capt. John Peas (sic), Sen. ae [sic] 52, had moved lately from Salem to Enfield. He had been a deputy to the general court." [Ref: The Pease Family, by Frederick S Pease] John was a yoeman when he settled in that part of Salem called "Northfields". His name was mentioned frequently in the Essex County and Salem Town records as grantee and grantor of deeds, as a witness, as an overseer of wills, as a constable, and etc. He was made a freeman 29 April 1668 and took the oath before the County court 30 June 1668. He was called "Captain" John Pease. He joined the First Church at Salem on 4 July 1667. It is believed that he, with his two oldest sons John and Robert, went to what is now called Enfield in 1679, living the first winter in an excavation in the side of a hill about 40 rods from where the first meetinghouse stood On 23 July 1680 John and his two eldest sons had land granted to them. He sold his property in Salem in 1682. When they moved to Fresh Water Brook it was still a part of Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1681 Enfield was established and became a part of Connecticut. The area is about 2.5 miles east of what is now called Thompsonville, CT. He sickened while making preparations for building, and died suddenly. This was 10 days after his wife died and the day before one of his daughters died.

Note 6:     I have dozens of New England Puritans but one family that I like to read about is the Collins family. Deacon National Collins is rich with history for the Charlestown, Middlesex County, Massachusetts area. And also their heritage story is filled with Puritan history. Deacon Collins came to Massachusetts from Bramford, Suffolk County, England. His son Nathaniel was a graduate of Harvard University. Alice Adams was the daughter William Adams and the grand daughter of Governor William Bradford. She married Nathaniel Collins, Harvard graduate. The history of these families is well studied and a lot has been written about them. The grandson of Alice (Adams) and Nathaniel Collins, who was named Eliphlet Collins, is my registered Revolutionary War soldier for the DAR. Among the many references for this family is this one.  Origin of Early Settlers reads: "Before and in 1670 those in the latter year being householders and acknowledged as Proprietors," By David D. Field, D. D. Middletown, Connecticut, 1853 pp 143 - 149. And also it reads:  "Nathaniel Collins, the first settled pastor in Middletown, and his brother Samuel Collins, were from Cambridge, Massachusetts, sons of Dea. ___ Collins."

Note 7:     John Berryhill came to Virginia from Ulser, Ireland and he is another of my ancestors. He was the son of Alexander and Jane (Cartright) Berryhill. She was said to have been Lady Cartright. One of his sons was a scribe for George Washington and lived in Pennsylvania. But my ancestor who descended from Alexander and Jane was named Joseph and he married a Creek Indian and lived among the Irish who'd settled near Steele Creek in Mecklenburg County, NC. Joseph's son Alexander served in the Revolutionary War and removed to Georgia where some of his kinsmen were important leaders and members of the Creek tribe.  Before the middle of the 16th century the Creeks controlled almost all of Georgia. My Berryhill family migrated to Franklin County, TN where my great-great grandfather, Michael Weeks Berryhill, was born. My line of the Berryhill family migrated from Tennessee to Jackson Co., AL, and then to Ouachita Co., AR, and from there to Barry Co., MO. Michael Weeks Berryhill served in both the Florida War and in the Civil War as a Confederate solider. He was at the Battle of Pea Ridge in Benton Co., AR. From the Cassville Republican, April 1896:  "And when the struggle came he espoused the Confederate cause and served four years. In the last year he was engaged in thirteen battles. He was 2nd Lieutenant under Lieut. Winton, but never in his life received a bullet wound. "Although," he said, "I have had my clothes shot full of holes, it seems like a kind of a Providence interfered on my behalf many times. But the saddest sight I saw and one that aroused my sympathy most was a Federal Soldier with both arms off, carrying water to a dying comrade."  

Note 8:    John Haddock, another of my ancestors received a number of land grants in North Carolina.  After John Haddock arrived in Pitt County, North Carolina, he made his home at a place that he called the Haddock Plantation where at one time was probably around 1700 acres. Some time before Pitt formed, he was listed as living in Beaufort Co., NC, because that part of Pitt was then a part of Beaufort. On the tax rolls of 1755, was listed Jno. Haddock and had no ownership of slaves. In 1755, on the Beaufort County, NC, tax list, there is but one Haddock family listed - and that is John Haddock.

Note 9:     My ancestors were Anthony Wherry and his wife Sarah Harmon of the Albemarle area. They were the parents of Mary Wherry who married Nasby Mills and lived in the Pitt County area of North Carolina. The Wherry family members and their kinsmen were among the early settlers to the Albemarle area of North Carolina.  Anthony Wherry's wife, Sarah Harmon, was the daughter of Robert and Elizabeth (Freeman) Harmon and they also were early settlers to the Albemarle area of North Carolina.  These people were among the Virginia and English settlers who came to North Carolina at an early date. Anthony Wherry was an Englishman and he was born Crediton, Devonshire, England about March 11, 1672/73, the son of Jeremy Wherry. He had a brother named Peter who lived nearby in Credition. After Anthony came to North Carolina, he paid taxes in Perquimans in 1702 and in 1704 he was listed in the Perquimans records because he registered an appraisement - assignment of a patent - and it was acknowledged from Archibald Holmes to Anthony Wherry and ordered to be recorded in 1704. In 1706, October ye 30th, John Foster entered 300 acres of land in Perquimans Precinct adjoining to the lands of Thomas Houghton on the east and the lands of Colleton Sturgeon on the west and soe running to Anthony Wheryes South line to Yeapin Creek. Anthony Wherry died soon thereafter in 1718 there in Perquimans. In 1729 and in the will of Thomas, son of the Deputy Governor Thomas Harvey of North Carolina, two of Anthony Wherry's children were mentioned. The Wherry family had many family connections to these early Albemarle settlers. Thomas Harvey, the elder, was the Deputy Governor  from 1694 to 1699.  And also at an earlier time, and in 1679, John Harvey was the Governor of North Carolina. 

In 1691 the Lord Proprietors appointed a governor of Carolina, and this united all the settlements under one head. At that same time the deputy governor became head of the government in the Albemarle region, thus beginning the division of the province into North and South Carolina, though not so called at this time. Between the years of 1694-1699 Thomas Harvey was the Deputy Governor of the region north and east of the Cape Fear.

Note 10:   John Bellfaught was one of my ancestors who came from the Palatine country. He was no different than the other German people who came to the New World and tried to Americanize their names. In the record books he appeared as Vaught, Faught, Vogt, Vaught and as Bellfaught. His name is usually located as John Vogt [Vaught], Sr. And he is thought to have arrived at Charleston around June 10th, 1750. He died near Harrisburg, Augusta, VA in 1761. Peter Funk, Oct 9, 1759, Augusta Co., VA, served as a witness, probate date Aug 18, 1761 Will Book 3, Page 50. The abstract reads: Johan Paul Faught's (John Bellfaught) will - Wife, sole executrix; wife, Mary Katrine; 3 children, Katrine Cleman, Andrew and Caspar Faught. Proved by Huston and Peter Funk. Mary Catrine qualifies. (signed, Cath. Fought). Ref: "Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia, 1745-1800. Extracted from the Original Court Records of Augusta County" by Lyman Chalkley. John's grandson Andrew Vaught married Elizabeth Tobler who was born at Mt Airy, Wythe, VA. Her father was Jacob Tobler who was from Switzerland and had migrated to the Wythe County, VA area. Sometimes the Tobler name is located as Dobler in the Virginia record books.   

My Vaught family line left Virginia and removed to Blount Co., TN, and then some of their descendants went on down to Jackson Co., AL where they intermarried with the Broyles family. This gave me a good supply of the Broyles family. I have a double line of them. My Conrad Broyles was from Otisheim, Wurttemberg, Germany. Conrad Broyles married Margaret Raush and had a large family. In separate states and a hundred and fifty years later their offspring somehow or another found each other and intermarried. As odd as it seems, one family line of them had gone to KY and then several generations later ended up in the southwest section of MO. The other line went to TN and then to AL and then several generations later migrated to southwest MO. So in the middle part of eighteen hundreds Conrad Broyles had two bloodlines that were living in Barry County, MO. It was here in MO that Conrad and Margaret gave two of their children to my ancestral line. I remember that my grandmother had a hard time with this. She just couldn't believe that it was possible. She wondered what would her mother and father think if they'd known that they were really related. But my grandmother finally consented to the idea after all she said that the connection was so far back that they would never have known or has even guessed. After a lot of ado she finally surmised that after a hundred and fifty years that it would be very unlikely for them to have known.

Joerg Schambaugh, another of my ancestor, came from Pfalz-Palatine, Germany. The Shambaugh family was also of the Palatine people. They were among those that went to Rotterdam and then on to Plymouth, England and from there to Pennsylvania. The foreigners whose names are underwritten, imported in the Ship Saint Andrew, James Abercrombie, Master, from Rotterdam, but last from Plymouth in England, did this day take the usual Qualifications to the Government. By the List 111. Persons 400 Palatines. Among the listed was Joerg Schambach. In Pennsylvania George married at the Dutch Reformed Church in Bucks County, PA to Elizabeth Boehm. Elizabeth was born at Lambsheim, Palatinate, Germany. My Shambaugh family didn't stay too many years in Pennsylvania because they migrated to Harrison Co., OH, where they lived in the Ohio Valley by the early or mid part of the 1800's. Also living in the Ohio Valley was the Fetrow family who'd migrated from the Harrisburg area. From there Elizabeth Shambaugh and her new husband Abraham Fetrow, who'd been born in Harrisburg, Dauphin Co., PA, moved westward to Dallas County, Iowa. My great-great grandmother Janetta Ermina Fetrow was born there in Dallas County. Her mother, Elizabeth (Shambaugh) Fetrow is buried at Clayton Cemetery in Dallas County, Iowa, and Janetta's father, Abraham Fetrow, is buried at Cedar, Smith County, Kansas.  At one time Cedar was a thriving farm community but today only about thirty families live there. 

Janetta married James Alvin Pease, [my great-great grandfather] who was the son of Orlando and Asentha (Goddard) Pease, in Gage Co., Nebraska at Beatrice. They lived in a sod house on the Nebraska prairie and applied for a homestead there in Gage County. In this area of Nebraska, large squares of sod was cut and stacked for construction of homes. Only a few were said to have had wood floors. Most were primitive and they were very cold. History has recorded that with the spring thaw sometimes snakes would crawl from the frozen sod blocks into the house. One New England woman wrote home that she could no longer tolerate the snakes and that she was worried they'd get in their beds at night. My grandparents never mentioned, that I know of anyway, that they had snakes in their sod house. But, according to the Nebraska Homestead Foundation, and to the literature that has been preserved from these pioneer families, it appears that snakes in the house during the spring thaw was not an unusual happening.

Buried at on the Nebraska prairie at Holmesville, at Stark Cemetery, are Orlando Pease and his wife Asentha Goddard, James' first wife, Phebe Mittan, and two of his young children. James and Janetta migrated to Missouri and both died in Barry Co., MO and are both buried at Washburn Prairie Cemetery. Janetta told her offspring that she was Pennsylvania Dutch. James Pease passed on the story to his offspring that some of his family had come on the Mayflower and that he was born at Windsor, Connecticut, and that Granby or the Simsbury, Connecticut area was the home of his ancestors.

Note 11:   In Missouri several of my ancestors were killed by the bushwhackers. See some of the stories listed below.

Hiram Long, one of my ancestors, my fourth great grandfather, along with one of his sons, who was presumably thought to be John Dake Long, my third great grandfather, were both killed at the same time. The story is that they were both taken out in the yard and brutally murdered in front of their families in Barry Co., MO somewhere near Purdy, MO. They may both be buried at Maddy Cemetery.

A bushwhacker story about another of my ancestors is the one about Giles Ira Smith [my third great grandfather] who also lived in Barry Co. MO. He was being chased through the orchard on a dark night as bushwhackers fired into the brush trying to kill him. He ran, escaped, and soon thereafter left Barry County. He went to Texas and remarried leaving behind a wife and children in Barry County that he never returned to.

My great-great grandfather, Charles Haddock, Jr., was left hanging from a tree in Benton County, AR near Garfield with a fire under his feet. He was left to die. Legend has it that the bushwhackers wanted the gold that he'd collected from horses that he'd sold to the Union Army.  One time when they'd come looking for him he hide in the house in the feather bed and once he hid in the corn crib or the barn. He'd decided that he'd have to leave the county or they'd kill him and take his gold. So he told people in the community that he was going to Pitt County, NC where he had relatives but the bushwhackers caught up with him somewhere near Garfield. That was when they tied his hands and to a limb and left him hanging with a fire burning under his feet. A freed black man named Steve who lived on the Haddock place in what was called the Hudson Bottoms took a pack mule and went to Arkansas to find him. He brought back his bones and buried them at Walnut Grove - now called New Site Cemetery.

Note 12:  My ancestor, George Hayes, was born in Scotland but lived at Derbyshire, England before he came to Massachusetts. He married Abigail Dibble at Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut, and of their children four of them are in my direct line of ancestors. One of their children, Daniel Hayes, was the ancestor of President Rutherford Hayes. George and Abigail (Dibble) Hayes died at Simsbury, Hartford, Connecticut and were among the earliest of the Hartford County, Connecticut settlers. I have dozens of ancestors who lived at Simsbury and who are buried there. The Dibble family came from Weymouth, Somersetshire, England. Thomas Dibble came with his parents on the John and Mary in 1635 to the Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts area. But by 1660 or thereabout, he was living in the Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut area.

Note 13:   My ancestor Thomas Collins was from the Spartanburg, SC, area and that is where he died in 1796. He was a Revolutionary Solider and the great grandfather of Sarah Collins who married Charles Haddock, Jr.  My Collins ancestor was born in Yorkshire, England and migrated to the United States. He died at Spartanburg, South Carolina. His son, my fourth great grandfather, William Collins, Sr., was born in York Co., PA, but migrated to Warren Co., KY, and then on to Lafayette County, MO.  [Ref: Ross, Bobby Gilmer, Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1983. Ref: Page 189] Collins, Thomas, b. 1729--d. 11 Sept. 1796. He married Rosannah Dodd. He enlisted in the Fourth Regiment on 1 December 1776. [DAR Patriot Index 1966, NARS M-853, Roll 16.]  [Ref: Spartanburg, SC, Page 90. Original Wills] Collins, Thomas- File #611. Will of Thomas Collins...to wife Rosana Collins, sole possession of all my property while she liveth; to my son Joseph Collins & Alexander Collins, sole heirs to all lands; to Joseph one Negro Rachal; to my daughter Neancy (?), Negro Tamer (?); to my grandchildren by the name of Thomas viz Thomas Collins, son of John; Thomas White, and Thomas Auston, L10 each; also the sons of William and Richard Collins of the name of William, L10 to each, as also the two single daughters, there beds & furniture; to the remainder of my children John Collins, Wm Collins, Richard Collins, Mary White & Tenny Auston, one shilling if legally demanded; John & Joseph Collins, exrs. 22 Aug 1796. Thomas Collins (Seal). Wit: B. D. Shumate, William Trayler, James Jordan.

William Collins, Sr., is reported also to have been a Revolutionary Solider and buried in is buried in Lafayette Co., MO. Collins, William.  He enlisted in the Second Regiment on 4 November 1775. He was at the fall of Charleston and he is one of the few Revolutionary Soldiers who are buried in Missouri.

Note 14:   William Hancock, son of William Hancock, listed above died at Bacon's Rebellion. He was the same William Hancock who was born about 1640 Surry, VA, and died 1693 Lawnes Creek Parish, Surry, VA, was a son of William Hancock born 1615 in England, and a grandson of William Hancock (1580-1622) the patriarch of the line. This William III was one of those was killed and who was protesting and who was at Bacon's Rebellion. Because he was protesting he was described as one of those who was among the "Giddy headed, Rude & Seditious" persons. William Hancock and his wife Elizabeth had only one son, John, as proven by his will. William's son John Hancock born 1670 and died 1732 in Surry, VA, married Jane Holt, daughter of Major Randall Holt and Elizabeth Hansford Wilson.

John and Jane (Holt) Hancock had several children. It is thought that Benjamin who was born in 1710 was one of their sons and also that he was the ancestor of the Benjamin Hancock, Revolutionary Solider, who was born abt 1740. This Benjamin who was born abt 1740 died in Wayne Co., KY and left a will.  He married Sarah Lane, a Quaker, and a daughter of  William and Anne (Crew(s)) Lane. When Sarah married Benjamin Hancock she was disowned for marrying out of unity and is listed as such in 1765 in the Quaker Church minutes. Sarah was received at Lost Creek, TN, but was married in Randolph County, NC.

Sarah's father William Lane was at Cedar Creek and then according to William Wade Hinshaw's book The Encyclopedia of Quaker Genealogy, he  went to Henrico in 1733.  William and his wife Anne Crew were from a long line of Quakers and the Hinshaw books have many entries that concern their genealogical history.

Note 15:   Benjamin Hancock, Sr., received a bounty land warrant from the state of Virginia for his service in the Revolutionary war. Grantee: Hancock, Benj; Acres: 400; Book: 13; Survey Date: 11-17-1804; County: Wayne; Water Course: Gap Creek; Reference: Kentucky Land Grants, Volume 1, Part 1.

Benjamin Hancock named his wife Sarah in his will. Also named is my ancestor, Benjamin Hancock, Jr.  Wayne County, Kentucky Vital Records Wills 1802-1909, Volume Six. Compiled and Published by June Baldwin Bork. 1983. p. 11, Old Will Book B; 12 Written: 23 Sept 1811; Proved: Sept Ct 1811 (in Old Will Bk); Proved: Nov Ct 1815 (in New Will Bk); Will of Benjamin Hancock; Being in a low state of health...to my beloved wife, Sarah, all my dwelling household & kitchen furniture ... ; to my daughter Nancy Martin, 5 shillings ... ; to my son, William Hancock, 5 shillings ... ; to my son, John L. Hancock, my daughters, Sarah Rains, and Marjory Warren, all 5 shillings each ... sons, Jessy and Benjamin to divide said land at death of me and my beloved wife, equally and to share in the profits of the mines or minerals that may be discovered on the 200 acres. Executors: Jessey and Benjamin Hancock. Witness: John Duffy, Jacob (X) Hicks and Benjamin Dabney. (Re-copied in New WB A-6)

Note 16:  The one ancestor who comes to mind quickly who carried the title of Selectman is Deacon Samuel Chapin. The title of Selectmen was only given to certain men in the New England communities. Deacon Samuel Chapin was one of those persons and among the Puritans who settled Springfield, MA.  William Pynchon, a town leader, appointed five men of good standing in Springfield, called Selectmen, to watch over the morals, health, and public measures. Deacon Samuel Chapin was one of these who was selected. One of their most delicate duties was that of assigning seats in the Meeting House. The place of Mrs. Cissily C. is there recorded: "Good wife Chapin is to sit in the Seate alonge with Mrs. Glover, and Mrs Hollyock." Mrs. Glover was the minister's wife and therefore the leading lady, and Mrs. Hollyock was the daughter of William Pynchon."  Samuel Chapin was engaged in town business and held continuous office of selectman 1644 to 1652 and again in 1661 and 1664, and later as auditor. Samuel Chapin is first called deacon in the records on Feb. 21,1650. Besides the regular duties assigned to this office, he conducted the Sabbath services, including preaching, for several years when the church lacked a pastor. Springfield, MA has a bronze statue that was erected to honor his life in their town.


 

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