Monday, April 22, 2019
Francis and Rachel Mary (Lane) Purdy and family
Francis Purdy was born in Fairfield, Fairfield, Connecticut. At about age 25, Francis married Rachel Mary Lane in Fairfield. Rachel Mary was born in Rye, Westchester, New York and that is where the family lived most of their lives. Their first child was born in Fairfield but the other children were all born in Rye.
Children:
1677 Francis
1678 Joseph, our ancestor
1680 Mary
1685 Thomas
1686 John
1688 David
1690 Rachel
Their son, David, inherited the family estate which had been called Wolf Pit, the name of which was later changed to Pulpit Ridge, located on a hill above Rye Village.
FRANCIS PURDY
BORN: Feb 1650 in Fairfield, Fairfield, CT
MARRIED: abt 1675 in Fairfield, CT
DIED: 16 May 1723 in Rye, Westchester, NY
RACHEL MARY LANE
BORN: 1654 in Rye, Westchester, NY
DIED: 1722 in Rye, Westchester, NY
SOURCES: Look in http://person.ancestry.com/tree/13251017/person/-75129773/facts for Francis Purdy 1650-1723; http://person.ancestry.com/tree/18056779/person/597795691/facts for Francis Purdy III 1650-1723; death: 1723; Rye, Westchester, New York, United States Source Media Type: Electronic birth: 1650; Fairfield, Connecticut, United States Source Media Type: Electronic
Wednesday, April 17, 2019
The Family of George Kniveton/Kniffen
Our ancestors named Kniveton or Kniffen lived in a settlement in Derbyshire, England called Knifton many years ago. I have been able to trace our Kniveton line back to the 1500s. Below is a brief history of the location:
"In Old English, Knifton meant "Knight's Settlement" In those days a knight was a servant. Ton = fence, enclosure, homestead. Kniveton in Derbyshire, is a pretty, grey stone village sheltered in a deep hollow on the slope of Madge Hill. There is a charming little church with a nave, chancel, and a tower. (Church of St. Michael) The tower was built in the 13th century. It is unbuttressed and has small lancet windows, battlements, and a short spire. The medieval glass in the chancel depicts the arms of the family Kniveton. It was Lady Frances Kniveton who gave the altar its lovely flagon and chalice in 1572. Sir Andrew Kniveton became so impoverished through his loyalty to Charles the First that he had to sell most of the family estates. The church also contains a 13th century font. A huge sycamore tree stands by the gate and an ancient yew guards the doorway, which still bears the grooves worn when the archers were sharpening their arrows."
Here is more information about Sir Andrew Kniveton, "A Fortune Lost"...The value of the Kniveton land holdings in 1600 was probably worth about £6.75m today! In total it covered about 2000 acres! Their demise occurred during a lengthy agricultural depression in the mid 1600's. Their tenants could not pay rents so landowners like themselves became swamped in debt.
Sir Andrew at the time of the Civil War of 1642/46 was more concerned with fighting the royalist cause than managing his estates. Sir Andrew sold his estates in 1655 for derisory sums to pay off debt. Other junior branches of the family however survived the economic collapse. Henry Kniveton of Castleton, for example, was a successful lawyer and made his fortune (about £1m today) from lead mining.
Kniveton Mansion is on Pethills Lane, known as Kniveton Hall. In recent years it has been the village post office." [I wasn't able to make a copy of the Hall for our blog, but it is an attractive large building. Type "Kniveton Hall" and it will appear onscreen plus a Google map.]
Our seventh great grandfather, George Kniveton or Kniffen was born in 1632 at Poss, Kniveton, Derbyshire, England. His wife, Rebecca Mary Whelpley was also born in Poss, in 1644. They were married in Stratford, Fairfield, Connecticut about 1660. They had the following children, most of the them born in Rye, Westchester, New York:
1660 George
1661 Hannah
1662 Joseph
1663 Mary
1668 Samuel
1670 George
1672 Ebenezer
1675 Jonathan, our ancestor
1680 Samuel
1680 Nathan
unk Deborah
The family lived in Rye, Westchester, New York after a short residence in Fairfield, Connecticut.
GEORGE KNIVETON/KNIFFEN
BORN: 1632 in Poss, Kniveton, Derbyshire, England
MARRIED: abt 1660 in Stratford, Fairfield, CT
DIED: 1694 in Rye, Westchester, NY
REBECCA MARY WHELPLEY
BORN: 1644 in Poss, Kniveton, Derbyshire, England
DIED: aft 1694 in Rye, Westchester, NY
SOURCES: Histories about Kniveton, England, Wikipedia; Births: Legacy NFS; Deaths: Find-A-Grave Index.
Wednesday, April 10, 2019
THE FAMILY OF WILLIAM AND SARAH (STACY) DICKINSON
This Dickinson family lived in Ely, Cambridge, England where the famous Ely Cathedral is located, about 14 miles north-northeast of Cambridge and about 80 miles by road from London. Æthelthryth founded an abbey at Ely in 673; the abbey was destroyed in 870 by Danish invaders and was rebuilt by Æthelwold, Bishop of Winchester, in 970. [Wikipedia]William and Sarah were both born in Ely and were married in 1594. I know of three of their children below:
1600 Nathaniel
Thomas, unknown birth information
1602 John, our ancestor
WILLIAM DICKERSON/DICKINSON
BORN: abt 1570 in Ely, Cambridge, England
MARRIED: 1594 in Ely
DIED: 1629 in Ely
SARAH STACY
BORN: 8 Jun 1593 in Ely, Cambridge, England
CHRISTENED: 1 Jan 1575 in Sutton, Cambridge, England
DIED: 1594 in Ely
SOURCES:"England birth and Christenings 1538-1975, film 1040549 christening of Sara Stacy in Sutton, Cambridge, England. Published information: death of William Dickerson: 1629; Ely, Cambridgeshire, England, United Kingdom Published information: birth: about 1570; Portsmouth, England, United Kingdom Published information: birth-name: William Dickerson Published information: male
Wednesday, April 3, 2019
ELDER JOHN AND MARY (OPP) CRANDALL AND FAMILY
From 'One Crandall Family, 1651-1996' by Alice Crandall Park [and updated by Marj Shepard from additional researched sources]...Alice's work, published by Gateway Press in Baltimore, 1996:
"John Crandall, immigrant ancestor of the family in America, came early to New England from the British Isles," [probably from the border of England and Wales in Monmouthshire c. 1634. The name of his first wife was perhaps Mary Opp, by whom he had seven children. The date of her burial in Westerly, Rhode Island, was 1670. He married, second, Hannah Gaylord and by her had two more sons. Below is the list of the children of John and Mary, all born in Rhode Island:
1649 John
1651 James
1653 Jane
1654 Sarah
1655 Peter
1661 Joseph
1663 Samuel, our ancestor
The children of John and Hannah, both born in Rhode Island:
1673 Jeremiah
1676 Eber, Marj Shepard's additional information.]
"John is first on record in this country in 1651, when he was named as one of three men appointed by the Church at Newport, Rhode Island, to visit an elderly brother in the church. In 1655 he was listed among the freemen of the colony, at the town of Newport.
From 1658 to 1663, when he left Newport for Westerly, John Crandall was a Commissioner from Newport to the General Court --- later termed Assembly -- of the 'Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations,' and he was given important assignments at each session. On November 2nd, 1658, the Court ordered that the four towns raise money 'to make restitution for powder and shotte sent from England by Mr. John Clarke. John Crandall was one of four men appointed to draw up a letter to be sent to Mr. Clarke 'to be presented to his Highness and Councell.'
At the session on the 17th of May, 1659, John was a Commissioner when the Court ordered that Mr. Roger Williams bring the colony's charter to be 'openly read in the court.' Roger Williams, banished from Boston for his religious beliefs, had fled to the area that became Rhode Island, and established there, on land he bought from Narragansett Indians, the first white settlement in Rhode Island, which he called Providence Plantations. Later he went to England to get a charter, and returned in the fall of 1644 with a patent authorizing the union of Providence, Portsmouth and Newport under the Incorporation of Providence Plantations. The patent gave the new colony freedom of religious beliefs. This freedom was resented by the neighboring colonies who had very different systems, and they immediately expressed their enmity by causing trouble at Rhode Island's borders. As a consequence, soon after the charter was 'openly read', the Court in 1659 ordered that four men be appointed to 'marke out the westward bownds of our collony as our charter bowndeth it.' The four men -- John Crandall was one -- were also instructed to report any intruders to the President, the work to be accomplished in about a year.
The President was authorized to 'signify to Mr. John Winthrop our intentions to run our westward lyne.' Rhode Island's west boundary was its border with Connecticut, and Mr. John Winthrop Jr. was Connecticut's Governor. In August 1661 a petition was presented to the Court, asking, first, for its approval of the previous purchase from the Indian owner by 'adventurers' of the colony, of a tract of land in a remote area on which to establish a plantation. Intruders were now confronting the colonists, so they were asking the Court for help against the 'adversaries of the colony.' The petition was signed by nine of the 'adventurers' -- one was John Crandall -- acting on behalf of the rest of the company. The petition was granted 'by approbation of the Court.'
The last time John Crandall served as Commissioner from Newport was May 12th, 1663, for before 1665 he removed his family from Newport to the new settlement of Westerly, which he helped to establish. It was located on the remote tract of land which was the subject of the petition presented to the Court in 1661. In the record of the purchase of that tract all its boundaries were specified: '... bounded on the West by Pawcatuck river ...' That is, the tract lay east of Pawcatuck River, which was its boundary on the west. Difficulties arose immediately following the settlement of Westerly, for Stonington, a Connecticut settlement on the opposite side of the river, laid claim to the land on the east side, as well, and Connecticut officers were sent into Westerly to enforce that claim.
In 1670 the Rhode Island General Assembly tried to settle the boundary question with a letter dated 14 June sent to the Connecticut Assembly, 'Per John Crandall.' The court also ordered warrants issued 'for horses, boats or any other things conducing to the comfortable accommodation and speedy dispatch of Mr. John Crandall and Joseph Torrey, Jr. in the voyage to Connecticut.' Their destination was Hartford, Connecticut.
In May of the next year the men of Westerly were told to ignore orders from officers of Connecticut, and 'fathfully adhere to the officers ...: Mr. John Crandall and Mr. Tobias Sanders, Conservators of the Peace.' A letter from the Governor of Connecticut to Governor Benedict Arnold of Rhode Island, dated at Hartford 12 Oct. 1671, was read to the Assembly. The answer to Rhode Island's letter was clear: they simply disregarded Rhode Island's claim to land 'east of Pawcatuck River.' And at a session in Hartford on the same date as the letter, the Connecticut Assembly took action. They said, 'In answer to the petition of Mr. John Crandall ... in behalf of the people on the east side of Pawcatuck River within the bounds of Stonington ...'Within the bounds of Stonington' -- this was Connecticut's final answer to Rhode Island's claim to Westerly, and it meant the difficult, contentious life Westerly's colonists had endured since its establishment would continue. Altercations, fights, clubbings, arrests with fines, kidnappings continued, as the settlers continued their claim that Westerly was a part of Rhode Island Colony.
The boundary question was not finally settled until more than fifty years later, when in 1728 Westerly was confirmed as a part of Rhode Island. (It is interesting now to see records which show that by this time there were many marriages of prominent colonists from Stonington with men and women from Westerly -- including Crandalls.) During the bitter King Philip's War, John Crandall moved his family back to Newport, and he died there, in 1676. [A discrepancy in John's death information...see Marj's report below and list of sources].
Another Genealogical book about John Crandall is 'Elder John Crandall of Rhode Island and His Descendants' by John C. Crandall (New Woodstock, NY 1949) Crandall is referred to in 'Records of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in New England', Vol. I 1636 to 1663, on the following pages: 303, 394, 395, 408, 409, 417, 449, 450, & 501 And he's also mentioned in 'Records of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in New England,' Vol. II on pages 354 & 418-419."
ELDER JOHN CRANDALL
BORN: 1612 in Monmouth, Monmouthshire, Engand
BAPTIZED: 15 Feb 1617 in Westerleigh, Gloucester, England
MARRIED: 1648 in Grand Island, RI
MARRIED 2ND: 1672 in Rhode Island to Hannah Gaylord
DIED: 8 Aug 1678 Westerly, Kings, RI
MARY OPP
BORN: abt 1625 in England
DIED: 1 Aug 1670 in Westerly, Kings, RI
SOURCES: Elder John Crandall, Find-A-Grave Memorial #5757231 Data copied into Notes for this Source and into Story (Memories); American Marriages Before 1699 [/PFT]; John Crandall, "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975";"Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVV4-8P52 : 13 December 2015), John Crandall, 1676; Burial, Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, United States of America, Old Crandall Cemetery; citing record ID 5757231, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com;Citation: John Crandall, Record of christening (baptism) on 15 Feb 1617 in Westerleigh, Gloucester, England, "England Births and Chris.;"Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QK15-ZZRT : 15 December 2015), John Crandle, 1676; Burial, Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, United States of America, River Bend Cemetery; citing record ID 149110118, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.
"John Crandall, immigrant ancestor of the family in America, came early to New England from the British Isles," [probably from the border of England and Wales in Monmouthshire c. 1634. The name of his first wife was perhaps Mary Opp, by whom he had seven children. The date of her burial in Westerly, Rhode Island, was 1670. He married, second, Hannah Gaylord and by her had two more sons. Below is the list of the children of John and Mary, all born in Rhode Island:
1649 John
1651 James
1653 Jane
1654 Sarah
1655 Peter
1661 Joseph
1663 Samuel, our ancestor
The children of John and Hannah, both born in Rhode Island:
1673 Jeremiah
1676 Eber, Marj Shepard's additional information.]
"John is first on record in this country in 1651, when he was named as one of three men appointed by the Church at Newport, Rhode Island, to visit an elderly brother in the church. In 1655 he was listed among the freemen of the colony, at the town of Newport.
From 1658 to 1663, when he left Newport for Westerly, John Crandall was a Commissioner from Newport to the General Court --- later termed Assembly -- of the 'Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations,' and he was given important assignments at each session. On November 2nd, 1658, the Court ordered that the four towns raise money 'to make restitution for powder and shotte sent from England by Mr. John Clarke. John Crandall was one of four men appointed to draw up a letter to be sent to Mr. Clarke 'to be presented to his Highness and Councell.'
At the session on the 17th of May, 1659, John was a Commissioner when the Court ordered that Mr. Roger Williams bring the colony's charter to be 'openly read in the court.' Roger Williams, banished from Boston for his religious beliefs, had fled to the area that became Rhode Island, and established there, on land he bought from Narragansett Indians, the first white settlement in Rhode Island, which he called Providence Plantations. Later he went to England to get a charter, and returned in the fall of 1644 with a patent authorizing the union of Providence, Portsmouth and Newport under the Incorporation of Providence Plantations. The patent gave the new colony freedom of religious beliefs. This freedom was resented by the neighboring colonies who had very different systems, and they immediately expressed their enmity by causing trouble at Rhode Island's borders. As a consequence, soon after the charter was 'openly read', the Court in 1659 ordered that four men be appointed to 'marke out the westward bownds of our collony as our charter bowndeth it.' The four men -- John Crandall was one -- were also instructed to report any intruders to the President, the work to be accomplished in about a year.
The President was authorized to 'signify to Mr. John Winthrop our intentions to run our westward lyne.' Rhode Island's west boundary was its border with Connecticut, and Mr. John Winthrop Jr. was Connecticut's Governor. In August 1661 a petition was presented to the Court, asking, first, for its approval of the previous purchase from the Indian owner by 'adventurers' of the colony, of a tract of land in a remote area on which to establish a plantation. Intruders were now confronting the colonists, so they were asking the Court for help against the 'adversaries of the colony.' The petition was signed by nine of the 'adventurers' -- one was John Crandall -- acting on behalf of the rest of the company. The petition was granted 'by approbation of the Court.'
The last time John Crandall served as Commissioner from Newport was May 12th, 1663, for before 1665 he removed his family from Newport to the new settlement of Westerly, which he helped to establish. It was located on the remote tract of land which was the subject of the petition presented to the Court in 1661. In the record of the purchase of that tract all its boundaries were specified: '... bounded on the West by Pawcatuck river ...' That is, the tract lay east of Pawcatuck River, which was its boundary on the west. Difficulties arose immediately following the settlement of Westerly, for Stonington, a Connecticut settlement on the opposite side of the river, laid claim to the land on the east side, as well, and Connecticut officers were sent into Westerly to enforce that claim.
In 1670 the Rhode Island General Assembly tried to settle the boundary question with a letter dated 14 June sent to the Connecticut Assembly, 'Per John Crandall.' The court also ordered warrants issued 'for horses, boats or any other things conducing to the comfortable accommodation and speedy dispatch of Mr. John Crandall and Joseph Torrey, Jr. in the voyage to Connecticut.' Their destination was Hartford, Connecticut.
In May of the next year the men of Westerly were told to ignore orders from officers of Connecticut, and 'fathfully adhere to the officers ...: Mr. John Crandall and Mr. Tobias Sanders, Conservators of the Peace.' A letter from the Governor of Connecticut to Governor Benedict Arnold of Rhode Island, dated at Hartford 12 Oct. 1671, was read to the Assembly. The answer to Rhode Island's letter was clear: they simply disregarded Rhode Island's claim to land 'east of Pawcatuck River.' And at a session in Hartford on the same date as the letter, the Connecticut Assembly took action. They said, 'In answer to the petition of Mr. John Crandall ... in behalf of the people on the east side of Pawcatuck River within the bounds of Stonington ...'Within the bounds of Stonington' -- this was Connecticut's final answer to Rhode Island's claim to Westerly, and it meant the difficult, contentious life Westerly's colonists had endured since its establishment would continue. Altercations, fights, clubbings, arrests with fines, kidnappings continued, as the settlers continued their claim that Westerly was a part of Rhode Island Colony.
The boundary question was not finally settled until more than fifty years later, when in 1728 Westerly was confirmed as a part of Rhode Island. (It is interesting now to see records which show that by this time there were many marriages of prominent colonists from Stonington with men and women from Westerly -- including Crandalls.) During the bitter King Philip's War, John Crandall moved his family back to Newport, and he died there, in 1676. [A discrepancy in John's death information...see Marj's report below and list of sources].
Another Genealogical book about John Crandall is 'Elder John Crandall of Rhode Island and His Descendants' by John C. Crandall (New Woodstock, NY 1949) Crandall is referred to in 'Records of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in New England', Vol. I 1636 to 1663, on the following pages: 303, 394, 395, 408, 409, 417, 449, 450, & 501 And he's also mentioned in 'Records of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in New England,' Vol. II on pages 354 & 418-419."
ELDER JOHN CRANDALL
BORN: 1612 in Monmouth, Monmouthshire, Engand
BAPTIZED: 15 Feb 1617 in Westerleigh, Gloucester, England
MARRIED: 1648 in Grand Island, RI
MARRIED 2ND: 1672 in Rhode Island to Hannah Gaylord
DIED: 8 Aug 1678 Westerly, Kings, RI
MARY OPP
BORN: abt 1625 in England
DIED: 1 Aug 1670 in Westerly, Kings, RI
SOURCES: Elder John Crandall, Find-A-Grave Memorial #5757231 Data copied into Notes for this Source and into Story (Memories); American Marriages Before 1699 [/PFT]; John Crandall, "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975";"Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVV4-8P52 : 13 December 2015), John Crandall, 1676; Burial, Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, United States of America, Old Crandall Cemetery; citing record ID 5757231, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com;Citation: John Crandall, Record of christening (baptism) on 15 Feb 1617 in Westerleigh, Gloucester, England, "England Births and Chris.;"Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QK15-ZZRT : 15 December 2015), John Crandle, 1676; Burial, Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, United States of America, River Bend Cemetery; citing record ID 149110118, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.
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