Jonathan Trumbull Jr. House Museum – Once Owned by Hewitt’s

Jonathan Trumbull Jr. House Museum – Once Owned by Hewitt’s

 From: http://www.lebanontownhall.org/trumbullheartbeat.htm

“Each of the families that owned the house-Trumbull, Armstrong, Babcock, Holbrook, Spencer, Crandall, Palmer, Hewitt, and Rockwood-brought the personal tastes and needs of their respective generations to the house and remodeled it accordingly. The colonnade was added and removed, front windows lowered, rooflines changed, stoves installed in fireplaces, stairways relocated, ells enlarged, porches added, and indoor plumbing and electricity installed.”  From the web site above.

Not only did Sprague ancestors live several generations in Lebanon, CT, but several other Green ancestors did as well.  A new ancestor surname, Grant, merges, more than once, with Hewitt, Palmer, Wheeler, Maine, and Sprague, and others in the small town of Lebanon, most of them coming directly from the Stonington area.  The Grant web site is one of the best and largest I’ve seen but it is difficult to navigate.   http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/g/r/a/Charles-Loring-Grant/GENE10-0316.html

The first Hewitt in the Grant tree and in Lebanon was the son to Joseph Hewitt and Mary Chesebrough,  Joseph was the son of Benjamin Hewitt Sr. and Marie Fanning. This Benjamin Sr. was the second son of Captain Thomas Hewitt.  Benjamin Jr., your direct ancestor was Joseph’s brother.

It isn't yet clear which Hewitt owned the house.  It will take a field trip to ask the question. 

And… if you have ever seen a $50 dollar bill, you’ve seen a portrait of your distant cousin Ulysses.

Nine Men's Misery - Sprague

A 10-167        Nine Men's Misery

5 generations back, Clarinda Sprague married Jacob Van Benschoten Hewitt.  Her family traces back to Frances Sprague, 1590-1676, born in London, England and died in Duxbury, MA.  He is 11 generations back from grandchildren of Claude and Ila Green.  Frances’s son, John Sprague was born in 1630 in Duxbury, MA.  He was a GGG Grandfather to Clarinda.  He died in the battle described below.  One of 55 English and 10 friendly Indians killed and buried in a mass grave in Central Falls, RI.

from Wikipedia:

Nine Men's Misery is a site in current day Cumberland, Rhode Island where nine colonists were tortured by the Narragansett Indian tribe during King Philip's War. A stone memorial was constructed in 1676 which is believed to be the oldest veterans memorial in the United States.

History
On March 26, 1676, during King Philip's War, Captain Michael Pierce led approximately sixty Plymouth Colony colonial troops and twenty Wampanoag Christian Indians in pursuit of Narragansett Indians who had burned several Rhode Island towns and attacked Plymouth, Mass., as part of King Philip's War. Pierce's troops caught up with the Narragansett Indians, Wampanoag, Nashaway, Nipmuck, Podunk but were ambushed in what is now Central Falls, Rhode Island. Pierce's troops fought the Narragansetts for several hours, but were surrounded by a larger force of Narragansetts. The battle was one of the biggest defeats of colonial troops during King Philip's War with nearly all killed in the battle, including Captain Pierce and the Christian Indians ("Praying Indians") (exact numbers vary by account somewhat). The Narragansetts lost only a handful of warriors.

Nine of the colonists who were among the dead were first taken prisoner (along with a tenth man who survived). These men were purportedly tortured to death by the Narragansetts at a site in Cumberland, Rhode Island, currently on the Cumberland Monastery and Library property. The nine dead colonists were buried by English soldiers who found the corpses and buried them in 1676. The soldiers created a pile of stones to memorialize the colonists. This pile is believed to be the oldest veterans' memorial in the United States, and a cairn of stones has continuously marked the site since 1676.

The "Nine Men's Misery" site was disturbed in 1790 by medical students led by one Dr. Bowen looking for the body of one of the dead colonists, Benjamin Bucklin, who was said to be unusually large with a double row of teeth. They were stopped by outraged locals. The site was desecrated several more times until 1928 when the monks who then owned the cemetery built a cemented stone cairn above the site. The cairn and site can still be visited on the Monastery grounds.

Pierce's Fight was followed by the burning of Providence three days later, and then the capture and execution of Canonchet, the chief sachem of the Narragansetts. The war was winding down even at the time that Pierce's party was destroyed, and in August, King Philip himself was killed.

Link to the monument info:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8y122JfD0TAOUNXMkcxSTVyUms/edit?usp=sharing
 

 

Norwich Connecticut – The Griswold’s

P 10-433        Norwich Connecticut – The Griswold’s

5/16/2014 Ver. 0
Frances Griswold b. 1635, d. 1671 was born in England and came to the New World circa. 1650.  Here he married (perhaps) Mary Tracy and came to reside in Norwich Connecticut circa. 1655. Here they raised a family of 7, after losing 2 of their children.  Of these 7 children, Samuel Griswold b. 1665 d. 1740 raised a family of 11 children in Norwich.  Of his children, Captain Samuel Griswold b. 1693 d. 1740 raised a family of 8 children in Norwich.  His son Samuel b. 1758 d. 1795 raised a family of 9 in Norwich and in Franklin, CT.  Samuel’s daughter, Anna Griswold b. 1766 d. 1838 married Daniel Sampson and removed to Grand Isle, VT. 

When considering the density of Hewitt’s and Griswold’s in central Connecticut, one would expect a relationship to be local, not so.   Anna and Daniel’s daughter, Lucinda Sampson marries Barnabus Minkler.  She dies in Bureaux, Illinois.  Their son, Manley M Minkler (separately posted story) is a grandfather of Ila Mae Schoonover-Green.

Who would predict that the connection between the Griswold’s and Green’s did not occur in Connecticut?  Perhaps it did through the other cousins who populated the area but I have not traced down those branches.

So, four generations of Griswold’s in Norwich are in your direct lineage.  How many subsequent generations of distant cousins remain in the Norwich area?  It is also very likely that any time you see the Griswold name in Connecticut; it is likely a distant relative.  The town of Griswold, CT, the Florence Griswold Museum, the Griswold Inn, and Fort Griswold may all be connected to the Green surname.   

The following letter also reinforces the important role the dictionary filled.

 

 

x

 

Roots in the Catskills

The Green roots run deep into the history of the Catskills. 
The way people used to write, they way they painted pictures with words has become a lost art. 
I invite you to read Washington Irving's two stories,  Rip Van Winkle, and the Legend of Sleepy Hollow, knowing these stories describe your roots in the Catskills.  Enjoy  http://books.google.com/books?id=svuXxq3SfpsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=vip+van+winkle+and+the+legend&hl=en&sa=X&ei=8cBzU6DVN_bJsQTEtoGgBA&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=vip%20van%20winkle%20and%20the%20legend&f=false 

Federal and State Census Data

Intro:             The Federal and State Census

 

A large portion of the information herein comes from the State and Federal censuses as accessed through Ancestory.com.   However, the information found in these earlier records is subject to frequent errors. For those who recorded the census data, standardized spellings didn’t exist until the dictionary had made its way into the education system.  That ‘education system’ was also not standard nor required.  Most early spellings were the phonetic interpretations of the census taker listening to an answer to his questions given by someone who might not be able to provide a correct spelling of their name, and might not speak the same language.

‘In England it was not until Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language (1755) that a truly noteworthy, reliable English Dictionary was deemed to have been produced, and the fact that today many people still mistakenly believe Johnson to have written the first English Dictionary is a testimony to this legacy.

In 1806, American Noah Webster published his first dictionary, A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language. In 1807 Webster began compiling an expanded and fully comprehensive dictionary, An American Dictionary of the English Language; it took twenty-seven years.  Webster completed his dictionary in 1825.  His book contained seventy thousand words, of which twelve thousand had never appeared in a published dictionary before. As a spelling reformer, Webster believed that English spelling rules were unnecessarily complex, so his dictionary introduced American English spellings. He also added American words, like "skunk" and "squash" that did not appear in British dictionaries. At the age of seventy, Webster published his dictionary in 1828; it sold 2500 copies. In 1840, the second edition was published in two volumes.’ Wikiped

What that leaves us with is understanding what people wrote doesn’t have a standard meaning using today’s definitions.

What the census really tells us with accuracy is where a family was at a given time.  Understanding that dates, even years, had less meaning before social security needed to know your age.  Having or reading a calendar might have no meaning at all to most farmers.  Planting was dictated by the moon phase and seasons, last year had no more meaning than the next years. Why bother to remember which year something occurred in?

Manley Minkler 1832-1918 Civil War Veteran

 4-7                  Manley Minkler 1832-1918

4/21/2014 Ver 0

Grandfather of Ila Mae Schoonover-Green

Born; 10 Sep 1832 in Painesville, Lake County, Ohio.
Died; 7 Jan 1918 in the National Military Home at Leavenworth, KS.  
Buried in Garnett, KS cemetery.
Father; Barnabus Minkler.
Mother; Lucinda Sampson
Married; Cordelia Alice Hopkins
Date  26 Feb 1857 in Lemoille, IL
Children: (6) Eugene, Ida Minkler-Folks, William, Harry A., Charles and Estella E.

 

‘Manley M. Minkler, an Anderson County pioneer, was born 10 Sep 1832 at Painesville, Lake County, Ohio.  He died 7 Jan 1918 at the National Military Home at Leavenworth, KS.   He was married 26 Feb 1857 at Lemoille, IL to Cordelia A Hopkins who was born in 1835 at Livingston, County, NY.  She died 9 Mar 1897.  Both are buried at the Garnett, KS cemetery.

At the opening of the Civil War, Mr. Minkler joined many of his new Kansas neighbors in enlisting in company F. 11^th Kansas Regiment where he served from 23 Aug 1862 to 31 Aug 1865.  Mrs. Minkler remained at home with two infant children caring for the home place.

Mr. Minkler believed the Bush City, Kansas area to be an ideal dairy country.  Even prior to the war he was engaged in making cheese at his farm for a quarter of a century and had an extensive market for his products.  In 1874, the Garnett cheese factory was put into operation by Manley M. Minkler and J.C.Wooster.  Mr. Minkler secured a claim from the government for Kansas land in 1855 in East Monroe Township, and in 1870 acquired land in Lincoln township for a public school.  The trees around the school were planted by an early teacher, Ida Minkler, a granddaughter of Manley Minkler.  The school was named Minkler Star.  Six of his great-great grandchildren attended the Minkler Star before it closed in 1962.  The building has been moved to Bush City and is used as a community building.

The Minkler children were Eugene who died in infancy; Ida Minkler Folks born in 1860 died 9 Oct 1887; William born 1 Nov 1861 died 22 Apr 1899 married 6 Feb 1888 Amanda Mulkey; Harry A. born Oct 1867; Charles born 29 May 1871 died 21 Jul 1955 married Lucy Nichols; and Estella E. born 25 May 1876 married Nov 1899 John Schoonover.’ Transcribed.

Civil war; 11^th Kansas Regiment, Company F (Union).

It began as a Volunteer Infantry regiment 29 Aug 1862 and saw the battle of Old Fort Wayne and the Battle of Prairie Grove before being re-mustered in April 1863 as the 11^th Regiment Volunteer Cavalry.  The cavalry saw the Second battle of Lexington, Battle of Little Blue River, Second Battle of Independence, Battle of Byram’s Ford, Battle of Westport, Battle of Mine Creek, and Battle of Bridge Station/Battle of Red Buttes. The regiment was mustered out of service 17 July 1865. The 11^th suffered  61 men, mortally wounded and 112 died of disease.  173 of 1,000, dead, or 17.3% fatality rate, nearly 1 of every 5 volunteers. This was hardly the worst death rate in the Civil War but still horrible.  How many more wounded?  Wikipedia has the details of these battles.  Manley Minkler served for the entire duration. 

At the beginning of the Civil war a Regiment consisted of 10 companies, each with exactly 100 men. With attrition from disease, battle casualties, and transfers, by the mid-war, most regiments averaged 300-400 men. Again, the 11^th seems lucky by comparisons.