The Immigrants: 1600s

Over the Fourth of July holiday a family member was in Plymouth, MA, and I was asked if any ancestors came over on the Mayflower.  My response was an, "I don't know of any."  However, this inspired me to catalog as many early Immigrants I could for my family.  ["Early" as in those who didn't cross via the Land Bridge.]  I indicate my web-based sources, though for most I am relying on the poorly cited research of others.

1) The Betts and the Stoughtons

My eighth great grandparents, Richard Betts and Joanna Chamberlain were married in Ipswich, Massachusetts Bay Colony - in 1648.  It is thought Joanna arrived by 1635, and Richard mid-1640s. [source source].  Joanna Chamberlain was the daughter of Elizabeth Stoughton and Richard Chamberlain, and the granddaughter of Rev Thomas and Katherine Stoughton.

2) Hortons and Langtons

9th great grandparents, Barnabas Horton and Mary Langton are said to have immigrated c. 1630 on the ship "Swallow." [source] - Living in Massachusetts and Connecticut prior to settling in Southold, Long Island.

3) Hallocks

Barnabas Horton's son, Caleb, married Abigail Hallock.  Abigail's father, William Hallock, likely arrived in Southold, Long Island ca. 1640. [source]

4) Van Everys

Brothers Myndert and Carsten Frederickse (sons of Frederick Van Iveren) likely immigrated to New Amsterdam in the 1640s or 1650s, with Myndert marrying Catharina Burger (Burghart) in New Amsterdam in 1656. [source].  Most of the descendants of Myndert and Carsten took the surname of either Van Every or Van Avery.  Myndert was my 8th great grandfather. 

5) Swayzes and Kinges 

John Sweezey [Swayze], another eighth great grandfather, immigrated prior to 1650. [source].  He married Catherine Kinge in 1650 in Salem, Essex, Massachusetts.  He settled in Suffolk, Long Island.

Catherine emigrated with her father, William, prior to 1635 

They settled at Salem, Massachusetts. He was admitted a freeman there May 25, 1636. He had grants of land of forty acres on Jeffrey's Creek, now Manchester-by-the-Sea; thirty acres at Royal-side at the head of Bass river, now Beverly, and he located his homestead there. He was a grand juror in 1637. He was a member of the First church at Salem, but in 1637 joined the Antinomians and came under the ban of the Salem authorities. He was requested to sever his connection with the new church or have his arms taken away from him. He remained with the new faith and gave up his gun to Lieutenant Danforth. Later he was banished for a time for sheltering the persecuted Quakers. [source]

Religion and Genealogy

Etiquette tells us to avoid discussion of Politics and Religion. However, a family historian's role is to research and tell the life stories of ancestors, and their collateral kin. Religion and Politics often play a central role in those life stories. Defenestration of the core beliefs our ancestors held goes against the entire purpose of our pursuit.

[Defenestration is the act of throwing someone or something out of a window. The term was coined around the time of two incidents in Prague Castle in the years 1419 and 1618. The first was politically-motivated, and the second was religiously motivated. So the word is appropriate for several reasons.]

I'll leave Politics for a different day. Today, I'd like to discuss religion, as today is Shavuot on the Jewish calendar - the holiday commemorating the handing down of the Torah on Mt. Sinai.

It's possible one or two readers, who know me and my family only through this blog, may have been slightly confused by combinations of blog posts which have hinted at an obvious diversity present in my ancestry that isn't present in every family. My paternal ancestry is Jewish as far back as anyone knows. My mother's paternal ancestry is Jewish as far back as anyone knows. My mother's maternal ancestry, however, contains Puritans, Mennonites, Methodists, Lutherans, Choctaws and Cherokee. [The last two are unproven, though I have no doubts from the testimony provided in front of The Dawes Commission, that my Hartley ancestors believed they had fairly recent Native American blood.]

If I talk about my ancestry, I could say it is 75% Jewish, and 25% a mixture of Christian and Native American religions. However, that is my ancestry. I, personally, am 100% Jewish. Just as I am 100% American, even though my non-Native American ancestry comes from all over Eastern and Western Europe. I had a small problem with the title of the genealogy series NBC recently imported from England (Who Do You Think You Are). I know who I am. I am interested in finding out more concerning my ancestors, but that won't change my identity.

How do I handle my diverse ancestry in my research?

How should I handle it?  I am equally interested in the tombstones of my second great grandfather, Moshe Leyb Cruvant (1857-1911), and my more distant ancestor, Barnabas Horton (1600-1680), despite their disparate beliefs.



Many of my ancestors of various religious faiths arrived in America, fleeing from religious persecution. Brothers Myndert (1636-1706) and Carsten Frederickse (1638-1688) helped found the first Lutheran church in Albany, New Netherland. Israel Swayze (1753-1844) hosted Methodist church meetings in his Beaverdams, Ontario home. Rev. Henry Rosenberger (1725-1809) was a Mennonite minister in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. While all of different religious faiths, religion played a central role in each of their lives.  Just as it does mine, though perhaps to a slightly less degree. 

In my Jewish family history research I wasn't too surprised when I uncovered a handful of variations on Sholom Aleichem's heartbreaking story of Tevye and his daughter, Chava - intermarriages that led to a severing of family ties. These occurred primarily among children of those who immigrated between 1880-1900. Later intermarriages didn't lead to the same result. What did surprise me was the discovery of a hint of something in the distant past of one branch of my maternal grandmother's tree.

At the end of his introduction to A Genealogical Record of the Descendants of Henry Rosenberger of Franconia, Montgomery Co. Pa; Together with Historical and Biographical Sketches (1906) author, Rev. Abraham James Fretz, writes,

"Note. — There is no doubt that Henry Rosenberger, Sr., of Franconia. was the pioneer emigrant, and that he in common with other Mennonites fled from Germany on account of religious persecution. Of the earlier history of the family...we know nothing. We have seen Rosenbergers direct from Austria and Germany and one Rosenberg from Prussia. One of the former from Austria claimed to be of an old Austrian Rosenberger stock, and were Jews. The last mentioned Rosenberg, from Prussia, was also a Jew."

Fretz appears to have conducted a 'surname study' and interviewed anybody he could find with the Rosenberger name, doing his best to connect anyone he could. He may have been unable to connect these Jewish branches, but felt obliged to indicate they existed, and let the family draw their own conclusions. Any historical 'tribal ties', though, may be too far in the past for research to uncover.

Religion in general has long fascinated me.  In college I took several courses studying Eastern religions, Islam, Judaism, Christianity, and Native American theology.  Since I am confident nothing I find in my research will change my own beliefs, there is no reason for me to fear researching the beliefs of my ancestors.  On the contrary, learning 'what made them tick' helps me to better understand who they were.  In short, when I research my ancestors, I throw nothing out of the window.

Tombstone Tuesday: Barnabas Horton (1600-1680)

Below is the "Tablestone" (also called a Table-Tomb) of Barnabas Horton, a 9th Great Grandfather. It resides in the Old Burying Ground of First Presbyterian Church in Suffolk County, New York. I am unaware of any older ancestral tombstone still in existence.

Photograph by Carrie, used with permission

The text in the center of the stone reads:

Here Lyeth Buried The Body of

Here slepes my body tombed in its dust
Till Christ shall come & raise it with the just
My soul’s assended to the throne of God
Where with sweet Jesus I make my aboad
Then hasten after me my dearest wife
To be pertaker of this blessed life
And you dear children all follow The lord
Hear & obey his publick sacred word
And in your houses call upon his name
For oft I have advis’d you to the same
then God will bless you with your children all
And to his blessed place he will you call.

Hebrews H & Y 4

He Being Dead Yet Speaketh

Also at his feet lie the remains of his youngest son
Jonathan Horton
The first Captain of Calvary
in the County of Suffolk
He died Feb. 23, AD 1707, AE 60

Around the outer edges of the stone is written:

Mr. Barnabas Horton born A. Mousely in Lester Shire in Old England & Dyed At South Hold the 13th Day of July 1680 Aged 80 Years.

It is said that the poem on the stone was written by Barnabas before his death. (source)

It is from Barnabas that I am related to former President Benjamin Harrison, through his grandmother Anna Tuthill Symmes. (So I am not directly related to Anna's husband, William Henry Harrison.)

BARNABAS HORTON, of Southold, L. L, was born in 1600, at Mowsley, Leicestershire, England, and died July 13, 1680, at Southold, Long Island. His wife, Mary, survived him. He emigrated to America prior to 1640, and settled at Hampton, New Hampshire. As early as 1651 he removed to Southold, and resided there until his death. He held many public offices and was one of the prominent men of Southold. He was deputy to the General Court of the New Haven Colony in 1654, 1656, 1658, 1659 and 1661. In 1663 and 1664 he was a commissioner for Southold. - Source

CoG #59: Apathy is foreign to my genes

In conjunction with the US election on November 4th, the topic for the 59th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is: Politics and Our Ancestors.

There have been several lawyers and judges over the centuries, but I have been able to find only one direct ancestor who held a public office. My 9th great grandfather, Barnabas Horton, one of my earliest non-Native ancestors to step foot in America, is described thusly:

BARNABAS HORTON, of Southold, L. L, was born in 1600, at Mowsley, Leicestershire, England, and died July 13, 1680, at Southold, Long Island. His wife, Mary, survived him. He emigrated to America prior to 1640, and settled at Hampton, New Hampshire. As early as 1651 he removed to Southold, and resided there until his death. He held many public offices and was one of the prominent men of Southold. He was deputy to the General Court of the New Haven Colony in 1654, 1656, 1658, 1659 and 1661. In 1663 and 1664 he was a commissioner for Southold. - Source

While he may have been the most recent direct ancestor to entangle himself in local affairs by actually holding office, politics are of great interest to my family, in all branches, and have been for generations. Getting involved in political parties, campaigns, protests, internships on Capitol Hill, voting in every election, and freely and eagerly voicing our opinions, are things my siblings, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents have done. I suspect apathy is foreign to my genes.

During the summer of 1990 I interned on Capitol Hill for Congressman William L Clay of St. Louis. Mostly I opened and helped respond to constituent mail, though I also proofread a couple chapters of one of his books. I also worked two summers at the St. Louis County Election Board, and helped Gephardt campaign in Iowa in 1987-8 while I was attending college in Grinnell, IA.

I will be standing in line to vote at 6 am on the morning of November 4th.

[Image created by footnoteMaven]