More on Our Morris Ancestors

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

Hello Williamsons,
I’m delighted to share another interesting story with you tonight concerning the ancestors of our Great Grandmother, Effie Helen Victor.

As you may remember, Effie was married to our Great Grandfather William Jonathan Williamson. Grandmother Effie’s mother’s name was Nancy Morris - our doorway into the Morris family of New Jersey.

In tonight’s story we learn about Isaac Morris, his wife Rebecca Hathaway and their children, one of whom was our 4th Great Grandfather Benjamin. This history tell us that we have two more Revolutionary soldiers in our family line, our 5th Great Grandfather Isaac Morris who was a Wagon Master in the Morris County, New Jersey Militia. The other was our 5th Great Grandfather Matthias Spinning who was:

a private minute man of the Essex county, New Jersey, militia, and suffered much for the cause of American liberty. He and his brother Isaac were captured by the British and carried to New York, where they were confined for several months within the loathsome walls of what was called the Sugar House, famous as a place of confinement for the American prisoners of war.

And now, more on the Morris Family of New Jersey. We begin with a Relationship Chart:

Isaac Morris and Rebecca Hathaway
to
Benjamin Morris and Mary Spinning
to
Isaac Morris and ?
to
Nancy Morris and Whitty Victor
to
Effie Helen Victor and William Jonathan Williamson
to
Vennie, Ima Della, Inez, Lillie Ethel, Josie, Emmett, Walt, Charles, Maurice.
to
US

The Morris family came originally from England. Isaac Morris lived in Morristown, New Jersey, prior to and during the Revolutionary war, and during that contest he served as a private with the minute men of the Morris county, New Jersey. militia. He married Rebecca Hathaway and they became the parents of five sons and two daughters, of whom Benjamin, born February 20, 1774, was the second child. At the close of the Revolutionary war the family removed to the Northwest Territory, as Ohio was then called. The route chosen was by way of Pennsylvania, and several weeks were required in making the overland journey through the wilderness and over the mountains to Redstone, near Pittsburg.

After tarrying there for a few months they embarked on a, flatboat with all their possessions and floated down the Ohio river,. landing at Columbia, near Cincimiati, in the year 1790. This site was afterward abandoned because of the frequent overflow of the river, and they went north ten or twelve miles to a place called Round Bottom, on the Little Miami river. In order to protect themselves against the Indians they at once began the erection of a fort. Benjamin Morris, then sixteen years of age, assisted in its construction. A small patch of ground was cleared and such grain as they had brought with them. was planted. While at work, whether sowing or reaping, two men were kept on duty as sentinels, yet the settlement suffered from occasional attacks by the Indians until after General Wayne's successful campaign in 1795. To add to their hardships smallpox broke out among them and carried off several of their number, including the young wife and infant child of Benjamin Morris. He had married a Miss Tichener.

Jacob, the eldest son of Isaac Morris, joined St. Clair's forces against the Indians: and was among the victims of that awful defeat. When General Wayne was organizing his army Benjamin Morris removed. from the fort and enlisted as a pack-horse man, thus taking part in the campaign. After peace' had been established Isaac and Benjamin Morris removed from the fort. The former purchased a tract of land about four miles west of Lebanon, Warren county. He died in his eighty-eighth year. He was. a man of small stature and somewhat original in his religious views.

Benjamin Morris bought a farm a short distance north of that purchased by his father and occupied it throughout his remaining days. He wedded, for his second wife, Mary Spinning, a daughter of Matthias and Hannah (Haines) Spinning, who lived about two miles west of Lebanon. The Spinnings trace their ancestry to Humphrey Spinning, who came to America. in 1639 with the Puritans. He was one of the founders of Elizabeth, New Jersey, in the year 1665. He was married October 14, 1657, to Abigail, daughter of George and Mary Hubbard, and his death occurred in 1689. He was the father of nine children, six sons and three daughters, including Edward, the father of Matthias Spinning. The last-named was born in the year 1750 and died in 1830. He had three brothers and two sisters, including Judge Isaac Spinning, of Montgomery county, Ohio. Matthias Spinning was a quiet and peaceable man of sterling worth. He served in the Revolutionary war as a private minute man of the Essex county, New Jersey, militia, and suffered much for the cause of American liberty. He and his brother Isaac were captured and carried to New York, where they were confined for several months within the loathsome walls of what was called the Sugar House, famous as a place of confinement for the American prisoners of war.
The children of Benjamin and Mary (Spinning) Morris were ten in number-- five sons and five daughters, of whom the subject of this review was the eighth in order of birth. The father died in 1861 at the home of this son, near Bellbrook, Greene county, whither he had come on a visit. After the death of his wife, Mary Spinning, he had married again, the third union being with Sarah Weaver, of White county, Tennessee.

From: George F. Robinson, History of Green County, Ohio (Chcago: S. J. Clark Publishing Company, 1902), 846-848

Our World Wide Readers

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

Hello All,
Did you know that this blog is read and enjoyed world wide? About 40% of our readers live outside the United States.

The graphic above illustrates my point. Yesterday's readers of An American Dynasty came from the above nations.

Occasionally I receive emails from these readers. Some ask questions about family research, others are looking for relatives while others turn out to be previously unknown cousins.

A few weeks ago I received an email from a descent of Archer Glen Williamson. He is known as Archer in their family (and Glen in ours). He sent a picture of Archer Glen.

Archer Glen Williamson, our Great Great Uncle.
Brother to William Jonathan Williamson.

I'd like to extend a warm welcome to everyone that visits and reads this family blog. Please feel free to contact me at the following email address:
AnAmericanDynasty@gmail.com

You are welcome on this historical safari as we search for our ancestors. It is our responsibility as their descendants to remember them.

Simply,
Victor

Our Cousins, Twice Kidnapped By Indians (Williamson Line)

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

Hello Williamsons,
In today's digital gathering I'd like to share a story about Jonathan Haines and his son Thomas. Jonathan was our 1st cousin eleven times removed. He was the son of our 11th Great Aunt, Mary and her husband William. Their relationship is outline on the Family Tree (click on the tree at the top of the right side bar) and below:

Relationship Chart

What a story! It would make for an interesting book and movie. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did.

Simply,
Victor

Summary:
Jonathan Haines, our first cousin eleven times removed, was taken prisoner by the Indians along with is son Thomas only to be killed in an attack several years later. Below is an account of Jonathan and his family (I corrected the original spelling errors but left the grammar and punctuation just as found in the original document).

Jonathan Haynes the eldest son of William and Sarah [Ingersoll] Haynes was born in 1646, in Salem, Essex, Massachusetts - He and his sister Sarah were baptised 2 years later on 11 June 1648.

As a young man Jonathan moved to Hampton, New Hampshire, where he first married Mary MOULTON in 1674. His new marriage was not to last. Mary died in July only a few months after their marriage. The is some confusion as the the exact date.

It was on 30 December of that same year that Jonathan married secondly Mary's sister Sarah.

Jonathan Haynes moved his family to Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts for about 10 years and then to Haverhill also in Essex county, Massachusetts, where the birth of their five youngest children are recorded. They settled in the West Parish near Hawk's Meadow Brook.

Coffin's "History of Newbury", says that at the close of the summer of 1665, by invitation of Bobernor Carteret of New Jersey, several persons went from Newbury and settled in a township which was called Woodbridge. Of these emigrants, some stayed, others returned. among those who returned was Jonathan Haynes, Elish and John Ilsey.

Haverhill, inland on the Merrimac River, was still a frontier town, though founded in 1640, and suffered severely from the Indians. On 16 August 1696, during King William's War, Jonathan and his children were working out in a field nearby Bradley Mills, the children were picking beans, and the father reaping nearby.

The Indians attacked, taking Jonathan and his children captive. They traveled immediately with their captives for Pennacook, Concord, New Hampshire. When they arrived they divided their prisoners and separated. The father Jonathan and his eldest son Thomas age 16, were taken to an Indian Village in Maine from which they were able to escape.

After two to three days traveling in the wilderness, with barley anything to eat, Jonathan collapsed from exhaustion. Unable to get his father to move, Thomas started onward for help. Upon coming to the top of a hill, Thomas climbed a tall tree to see if he could discover any signs of civilization. There were no towns in sight. While pondering on this sad disappointment and
trying to decide what he would do next, his quick ear caught the sound of a sawmill - he listened--- there was no mistaking that familiar sound. He excitedly ran towards it and soon found himself at the settlement of Saco, Maine.

His story was soon told to the settlers and with help and a bottle of milk, he hastened back to his father, who was right were he left him. Jonathan had given up hope and had lay down to die, never expecting to see his son again. The milk, and the good news revived him and with much
difficulty he finally reach Saco. Here, both father and son remained until their strength returned and they started for home in Haverhill, where they arrived without difficulty.

In the mean time, the Indian party which took the other children, Mary 19, Jonathan Jr 12, and Joseph age 7 years, went into Canada where they sold them to the French. The tradition is that Mary was carried to Canada on a hand-sled, and it is presumed the Indians tarried at Pennacook until winter. She was redeemed the following winter, with 100 pounds of tobacco, and
afterward married John Preston of Andover, and moved to Connecticut.

Johnathan Jr and Joseph never returned, A deed of 1731 speaks of them as still in Canada. In one of the companies on the Canada expedition of 1757, were three bothers names HAYNES, from Haverhill. While in Canada they had leave granted to make a search for the captive brothers and found them. They had lost the knowledge of the English language and spoke only French.
They could could only talk to their brothers through an interpreter.

One of them asked about his sister, Mary who had one of her fingers accidental cut off by a young lad, and the son of a neighbor, a short time before her capture. He recollected the circumstance, and asked if she was still living. Nether of them could be persuaded to return.

In the year 1698 the Indians commenced their attacks on the settlers. On the 22nd of Feb, a party fell upon Andover, killing five of the inhabitants and captured as many more. On their return, the same party killed Jonathan HAYNES and Samuel LADD, in Haverhill and captured
a son of each. so it was that Thomas HAYNES was kidnapped for the second time by the Indians.

Jonathan HAYNES and Samuel LADD who lived in the western part of town, had started that morning with their teams, consisting of a yoke of oxen and a horse each, accompanied by their eldest sons, Thomas and Daniel, to bring home some of their hay which had been cut and stacked the preceding summer. They were slowly returning from their meadow in the extreme western part of town, when they suddenly found themselves surrounded by Indians, who had
been hiding in the bushes along the path.

There were 7 Indians on each side with guns pointed and cocked. The fathers seeing it was impossible to escape, begged for 'quarter' to this, the Indians replied, 'boon quarter' [good quarter]. Young LADD , who did not relish the idea of being quietly taken prisoner, told his father that he
would mount the horse and try to escape, but his father forbid him, telling him it was a better risk being taken prisoner. He cut his father's horse loose, however, and giving him the lash, the horse started off at full speed. Though he was repeatedly fired at by the Indians, he succeeded in reaching the settlement and gave the general alarm.

Two of the Indians stepped behind the fathers and dealt them a heavy blow to the head. Jonathan HAYNES, was quite aged and fell instantly, but Samuel LADD did not. Another of the savages stepped before the latter and raised his hatchet as if to strike. Samuel LADD closed his eyes, expecting the blow would fall but it did not and when he opened his eyes, the Indian was
laughing and mocking him. At the same time another from behind gave him the fatal blow.

This was on the 22nd of September 1698. Administration of her husband's estate was granted to Sarah "HAINES" HAYNES widow of Jonathan HAINES of Haverhill on 5 Dec 1698 at Salem Court. She with three other residents of Haverhill signed a petition dated 17 Apr 1701, addressed to the Lt. Governor and Council, begging that the act which has passed for
redeeming of captives be put to execution as speedily as possible.

Thomas HAYNES remained a prisoner with the Indians for several years and was redeemed by his relatives. It is said that when he was about to leave his master, in token of his good will and esteem, presented him with his best cane. This cane, 3 1/2 feet long, top being round and rest 8 sided, it is now in the collection of the New England Historic and genealogical Society in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts. Each side in ornamented with figures, some diamond shaped, other square or diagonal, all neatly cut with a pen knife. There is an iron figure and a pur at the end.

He Who Would Valient Be; To Be a Pilgrim.

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

Utah Valley woke to the sound of hail on the rooftops this morning. Hail is a common experience for many, but not so for those of us who live in this green valley weather has forgotten. Our days are spent with abundant sunshine and the occasional wind, rain and snow. Each element shows us their best side, saving the power of their punch for communities on the other side of the mountain ranges running along America's spine.

I watched the pea sized hail pop up and down on the deck like popcorn in hot oil. Only moments after it started, the hail grew bored with us and continued up and over the Wasatch Range, having reminded us that there really was such a thing as hard rain.

Today we pause a moment to enjoy a hymn well known to our Pilgrim and Puritan ancestors. It is another post honoring the faith of those who came before us.

With the music, enjoy scenes from our British ancestral homeland.

Our 7th Great Grandparents, First Settlers of Newark, New Jersey

This drawing depicts the landing of the 30 families from New Haven Conn. The family of
John Morris was among them.

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

Hello Everyone!
Tonight’s digital family gathering brings a return to the Williamson side of our family. Yesterday I sent out an email asking for help in pushing back the family tree along the Morris line. We know that Effie Helen Victor’s (wife of William Jonathan Williamson) mother was Nancy Morris and that was about it. Nancy seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

Yesterday I received several emails from a distant Morris cousin with detailed research on the Morris line. He gives very convincing evidence from multiple sources that Nancy’s father was Isaac Morris. We are unsure about Nancy’s mother. Isaac’s listed wife if Jane Tway but Jane was born in Ohio and Nancy stated in the 1870 census that her mother was born in Virginia.
It is then assumed that Jane was Isaac’s second wife (although there is no evidence to that fact).

Because we are not 100% sure that Isaac was Nancy’s father I put the “?” in front of his name on the family tree (click on the tree at the top of the right side bar). However, the evidence is convincing enough that I’m willing to continue the Morris line starting with Isaac.

The family tree shows the Morris line back to the 1600’s in New Jersey. So, let’s take a moment tonight to meet one of our ancestors, John Morris. We start with the Relationship Chart:

7th Great Grandparents John Morris b. Dec. 1666. d. 1749 married Sarah Crane b. 1668 d. 1739
to
Daniel Morris and Mary Riggs
to
Isaac Morris and Rebecca Hathaway
to
Benjamin Morris and Mary Spinning
to
Isaac Morris and ?
to
Nancy Morris and Whitty Victor
to
Effie Helen Victor and William Jonathan Williamson
to
Charles Williamson and Elda Vercellino
to
Charles Williamson and Luella Mattson
to
Us

John and Sarah Morris were among the first 30 Puritan families sent from New Haven Conn. to settle Newark, New Jersey.

The following is a short biography of John’s service to Newark.

JOHN MORRIS

It was John whose birth was duly recorded in the New Haven Vital Statistics as 16 December 1666 who grew up to cut a wide swath in Newark as “Captain” John Morris. The official records are fairly spotted with notations of his services to the community. He was, as Mr. Samuel H. Congar, published about 1902, pointed out, the high sheriff of Essex County in 1700. He was chosen in 1698 to “lay penalties upon swine.” The next year he was chosen by vote “To give notice when cattle shall go into the Neck and when it is to be taken out.” in 1702 he was assessor for the north end of town. A few years later he was chosen on a committee to set a table of fees for the town clerk. In 1711 he was on a committee to settle the boundary line between Newark and Elizabeth Town. In 1716 he and James Nuttmann were chosen to select three men to “Seat the meeting house.” He was surveyor of the highways and collector for the overseers of the poor. Captain John lived to a ripe age, and in the delightful phrase of Mr. Congar, “did not soon die as has been said but lived four score years.” He died in 1749. He left at least three daughters, Charity, Phebe, and Abigail; Three sons for sure, Daniel, John, and Stephen. In the book, “First Presbyterian Church in Newark,” by Jonathan French Steam, is the records of the first settlers of Newark 1666-1680, with John Morris in the North West Section.”

The Following is the History Behind John and Sarah's move to Newark with the other Puritan Families.

In 1665 New Haven and Connecticut were merged into one colony. The new constitution allowed baptism of children irrespective of the parents church membership. This was displeasing to the strict church members of New Haven, as the Puritan practice permitted this ordinance only for the children of "the elect". This act created an religious environment that was intolerable for them.

When Governor Carteret of New Jersey sent agents to New England, seeking homesteader for colonization, and carrying the constitution of the Government that granted the religions freedoms sought by the Puritans, they accepted the offer. A yearly quit-rent of a halfpenny per acre was to be paid to the lord Proprietors of New Jersey for the land. In May 1666 about 30 families traveled by sea and arrived at the Passaic River. As they unloaded their goods, they were met by a tribe of Hackenssack Indians who claimed the land. The Puritans learned that the Governor had not attended to the treaty price with the Indians, as he had guaranteed. Reluctantly it was decided to return to Milford. As they prepared to reload their goods, the Governor arrived and acknowledged his failure to fulfill this part of the contract.

The Governor implored the Puritans to stay and arranged for them to purchase the land from the Indians for "fifty double-hands of powder, one hundred barrs of lead, twenty Axes, Twenty Coats, ten Guns, twenty pistolls, ten Kettles, ten Swoards, four blanks, four barrells of beere, ten paire of breeches, fifty knives, twenty howes, eight hundred and fifty fathem of wampum, two Ankors of Licquers or something Equivolent and three Troopers Coats". The Indians also agreed to a Bill of Sales that allowed the Puritans to pay in the Spring of 1667 when Branford and Guilford arrived. And so is the founding of Newark by Martin Tichenor and 29 other Puritain Families.

Our 15th Great Grandfather, Sir William Gascoigne

William Gascoigne refusing to sentence a prelate or peer

Before Henry IV, Sir William Gascoigne, Chief Justice of England, refuses to sentence death charges of guilt and high treason on Archbishop Scrope and Thomas Mowbray. Illustration by James E. Doyle. 1864. Color lithograph. Located in a private collection.

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

Hello Everyone!
It’s been one of those days. I woke with a one of those headaches that can’t decide where to settle. First in was in my upper neck then the back of my head. I hit it with two Equate generics of Tylenol. I wasn’t impressed with their performance so after my afternoon field trip I walked home from the school, picked up the Battlestar and drove to Walmart. This time I was willing to pay the big bucks for the real stuff - Excedrin Migraine with the full strength of 65 mg of the good stuff (Caffeine). The headache is in full retreat - mind you, I’m a slightly jittery and a bit giddy but back to my old disagreeable self.

Tonight we are going to learn about our 15th Great Grandfather Sir William Gascoigne. Pull up one of those nice overstuffed recliners and join me near the fire. It gets chilly in the Great Hall.

We will start with the Relationship Chart:

Sir William Gascoigne and Margaret Clarell
to
Hugh Hastings and Anne Gascoine
to
Bryan Hastings and Anne Portington
to
Francis Hastings and Jane Restwold
to
Bridget Hastings and Robert Swift
to
William Swift and Joan Sisson
to
William Swift and Ruth Tobey
to
William Swift and Elizabeth Tomson
to
Ebenezer Swift and Abigail Gibbs
to
Ebenezer Swift and Jedidah Benson
to
Judah Swift and ?
to
Phineas Swift and Deborah Dearborn
to
Elmira Swift and Joseph McCrillis
to
Isabel McCrillis and John Mayberry Dennis
to
Vesta Dennis and Walter Pierce
to
Violet Pierce and Walter Mattson
to
Luella Mattson and Charles Williamson
to
Us

A Short Biography of Great Grandfather William

Sir William Gascoigne Knight was born 1370 and died 28 Mar 1422. His reputation is that of a great lawyer who in times of doubt and danger asserted the principle that the head of state is subject to law, and that the traditional practice of public officers, or the expressed voice of the nation in parliament, and not the will of the monarch or any part of the legislature, must guide the tribunals of the country.

He was a descendant of an ancient Yorkshire family. Though he is said to have studied at the University of Cambridge his name is not found in any university or college records.It appears from the year-books that he practiced as an advocate in the reigns of Edward III and Richard II. When Henry of Lancaster was banished by Richard II, Gascoigne was appointed one of his attorneys, and soon after Henry's accession to the throne was made Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench. After the suppression of the rising in the north in 1405, Henry eagerly pressed the chief justice to pronounce sentence upon Lord Scrope, the Archbishop of York, and the Earl Marshal Thomas Mowbray, who had been implicated in the revolt. This he absolutely refused to do, asserting the right of the prisoners to be tried by their peers. Although both were later executed, the chief justice had no part in this. It has been doubted whether Gascoigne could have displayed such independence of action without prompt punishment or removal from office.

The popular tale of his committing the Prince of Wales (the future Henry V) to prison must also be regarded as unauthentic, though it is both picturesque and characteristic. It is said that the judge had directed the punishment of one of the prince's riotous companions, and the prince, who was present and enraged at the sentence, struck or grossly insulted the judge. Gascoigne immediately committed him to prison, and gave the prince a dressing-down that caused him to acknowledge the justice of the sentence. The king is said to have approved of the act, but it appears that Gascoigne was removed from his post or resigned soon after the accession of Henry V. He died in 1419, and was buried in All Saints' Church, the parish church of Harewood in Yorkshire. Some biographies of the judge have stated that he died in 1412, but this is disproved by Edward Foss in his Lives of the Judges. Although it is clear that Gascoigne did not hold office long under Henry V, it is not impossible that the scene in the fifth act of Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 2, (in which Henry V is crowned king, and assures Gascoigne that he shall continue to hold his post), could have some historical basis, and that the judge's resignation shortly thereafter was voluntary.

King Malcolm III of Scotland. Our 27th Great Grandfather

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

Hello All,
We were introduced to St. Margaret of Scotland in our last post. This post continues from that post with our formal introduction to our 27th Great Grandfather, Malcolm III of Scotland, husband of Margaret.

I won't bore you with another Relationship Chart considering the same one from Margaret's post will suffice for Malcolm.

Biography of Malcolm III.

Malcolm Canmore ('great head' or 'chief') was the eldest son of Duncan I. After his father's death, he found refuge in England with his uncle Siward of Northumbria, where he stayed for more than 14 years.

His first wife was Ingibjorg, widow of Earl Thorfinn of Orkney. She died, and in about 1070 he married Margaret, great-niece of King Edward the Confessor of England. She had sought refuge in Scotland with her brother, Edgar the Atheling (Anglo-Saxon heir to the English throne), when William I excluded him from the English succession.

Margaret had a strong influence over her husband, who revered her piety and secretly had jewel-encrusted bindings made for her religious books, which he himself was unable to read, never having learned to do so. He also substituted Saxon for Gaelic as the court language.

According to Margaret's biographer, she corresponded with Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, brought Benedictine monks to Dunfermline and did away with local usages in the Scottish Church. Margaret also began building what was later to be known as St Margaret's Chapel, situated on the highest part of Edinburgh Castle.

Malcolm was determined to extend his kingdom southwards and take advantage of the upheaval caused by the Norman Conquest. Making the excuse that he was supporting the claim to the English throne of his brother-in-law Edgar Atheling, Malcolm invaded England five times (he was a formidable warrior-king, having killed his two predecessor kings).

Three times defeated, Malcolm was forced under the treaty of Abernethy in 1072 to become 'the man' of the English king and give up his son Duncan as a hostage.

Malcolm and his eldest son were finally killed in battle at Alnwick, Northumberland on 13 November 1093, aged about 62. His wife died when they brought her the news at Edinburgh Castle. She was canonised in 1249.

After Malcolm's death, the frontier between the kingdoms of Scotland and England was clearly defined for the first time. Anglo-Norman influence in Scotland was promoted by the subsequent marriages of Malcolm's sons to English brides.

Our 27th Great Grandmother. St. Margaret of Scotland, Patron Saint of Death of Children, Large Families, Learning, Queens, Scotland and Widows.

Our 27th Great Grandmother, Saint Margaret of Scotland

by Somerset

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

Good Morning!

From the deck of the Fortress I see the valley below is in good spirits. The air is fresh and warmer than yesterday. Warming breezes from the south are ominous signs of an approaching storm, but that isn't until tomorrow. Until then, we enjoy the moment and let tomorrow take care of itself.

I'd like to share a few stories with you this morning about our 27th Great Grandmother, Saint Margaret of Scotland. We have another Catholic Saint as an ancestor. If you are a Catholic you could pray to your own Grandmother for intercession on your behalf. How awesome is that! And if your not Catholic, would it hurt to try, especially considering she is the patron Saint of so many things that pertain to family life? An icon of St. Margaret could double as a religious piece but also a family portrait.


Being non Catholic and not a believer in Saints, I can only hope that if I'm wrong and the Catholics are right, that my Great Grandmother will feel mercy on her heathen great grandson and intercede on my behalf for a shorter sentence in purgatory.

Shall we start with the Relationship Chart?

Saint Margaret of Scotland and Malcolm III King of Scotland
to
Matilda of Scotland and Henry I King of England
to
Matilda (Maud) de Normandy Empress and Count Geoffrey V
to
Hamelin Plantagenet and Isabel De Warenne
to
Countess Norfolk Ida Isabel and Roger Bigod
to
Lord Hasting William De Hastings and Margaret Bigod
to
Sir Henry De Hastings, Knight and Ada De Huntingdon
to
Henry De Hastings and Joane De Cantilupe
to
Baron John Hastings and Isabel De Valence
to
Hugh De Hastings (Sir Knight) and Margery Foreliot
to
Hugh De Hastings and Anne De Spenser
to
Edward Hastings and Meryell Denham
to
John Hastings and Ann Morley
to
Hugh Hastings and Anne Gascoine
to
Bryan Hastings and Anne Portington
to
Francis Hastings and Jane Restwold
to
Bridget Hastings and Robert Swift
to
William Swift and Joan Sisson
to
William Swift and Ruth Tobey
to
William Swift and Elizabeth Tomson
to
Ebenezer Swift and Abigail Gibbs
to
Ebenezer Swift and Jedidah Benson
to
Judah Swift and ?
to
Phineas Swift and Deborah Dearborn
to
Elmira Swift and Joseph McCrillis
to
Isabel McCrillis and John Mayberry Dennis
to
Vesta Dennis and Walter Pierce
to
Violet Pierce and Walter Mattson
to
Luella Mattson and Charles Williamson
to
Us

Margaret's life was an example of a true Christian life devoted to her family and the people of Scotland. Please take a moment to learn about this pious and righteous ancestor.

St. Margaret's Church Dunfermline, one of Many Churches of St. Margaret throughout
Scotland and the United States.

A Biography of our 27th Great Grandmother, Saint Margaret of Scotland

Margaret was a daughter of Edward d'Outremer ("The Exile"), next of kin to Edward the Confessor, and sister to Edgar the Atheling, who took refuge from William the Conqueror at the court of King Malcolm Canmore in Scotland. The young prince Malcolm, who was to become Margaret's husband, was still a child when his father, King Duncan, was killed by Macbeth. It was not until 1054 that Macbeth was driven out and Malcolm established on the throne of Scotland, as readers of Shakespeare's Macbeth will remember.

Margaret, as beautiful as she was good and accomplished, captivated Malcolm, and they were married at the castle of Dunfermline in the year 1070. Margaret was then twenty-four years old. Their marriage bestowed great blessings upon Malcolm as well as Scotland. Malcolm was rough and uncultured, but his disposition was good, and Margaret, through the great influence she acquired over him, softened his temper, polished his manners, and rendered him one of the most virtuous kings who have ever occupied the Scottish throne. To maintain justice, to establish religion, and to make their subjects happy appeared to be their chief objects in life.

St. Margaret of Scotland Statue, Stockbridge MA

What she did for her husband Margaret also did in a great measure for her adopted country, promoting the arts of civilization and encouraging education and religion. She found Scotland a prey to ignorance and to many grave abuses, both among priests and people. At her instigation, church councils were held which passed enactments to meet these evils. She herself was present at these meetings, taking part in the discussions. Attendance at Mass on Sundays and holy days was made obligatory, and the rules for Easter communion and Lent were restored. Many scandalous practices, such as simony, usury and incestuous marriages, were strictly prohibited. St. Margaret made it her constant effort to obtain good priests and teachers for all parts of the country, and formed an embroidery guild among the ladies of the court to provide vestments and church furniture. With her husband she founded several churches, notably that of the Holy Trinity at Dunfermline.

God blessed the couple with a family of six sons and two daughters, and their mother brought them up with the utmost care, herself instructing them in the Christian faith and superintending their studies. Their daughter Matilda married Henry I of England and was known as Good Queen Maud, while three of their sons, Edgar, Alexander, and David, successively occupied the Scottish throne, the last named being revered as a saint. St. Margaret's care and attention was extended to her servants and household as well as to her own family; yet in spite of all the state affairs and domestic duties in which she was involved, she kept her heart disengaged from the world and recollected in God. Her private life was most austere: she ate sparingly, and in order to obtain time for her devotions she permitted herself very little sleep. Every year she kept two Lents, the one at the usual season, the other before Christmas. At these times she always rose at midnight and went to the church for Matins. King Malcolm often shared her vigil. On her return, she washed the feet of six poor persons and gave them alms.

She also had stated times during the day for prayer and reading the Holy Scriptures. Her own copy of the Gospels on one occasion was inadvertently dropped into a river, but sustained no damage beyond a small watermark on the cover. That book is now preserved among the treasures of the Bodleian Library at Oxford. Perhaps St. Margaret's most outstanding virtue was her love of the poor. She often visited the sick and tended them with her own hands. She erected hostels for travelers and ransomed many captives, mostly those of English nationality. When she appeared outside in public she was invariably surrounded by beggars, none of whom went away unrelieved, and she never sat down at table without first having fed the crowds of paupers and orphans. Often -- especially during Advent and Lent -- the king and queen would entertain three hundred poor persons, serving them on their knees with dishes similar to those provided for their own table.

In 1093, King William Rufus surprised Alnwick castle, putting its garrison to the sword. King Malcolm and his son Edward were killed in the ensuing hostilities. St. Margaret at this time was lying on her deathbed. The day her husband was killed she was overcome with sadness and said to her attendants, "Perhaps this day a greater evil hath befallen Scotland than any this long time." When her son Edgar arrived back from Alnwick, she asked how his father and brother were. Afraid of the effect the news might have upon her in her weak state, he replied that they were well. She exclaimed, "I know how it is!" Then raising her hands toward Heaven she said, "I thank thee, Almighty God, that in sending me so great an affliction in the last hour of my life, thou wouldst purify me from my sins as I hope, by thy mercy." Soon afterward she repeated the words, "O Lord Jesus Christ, who by thy death hast given life to the world, deliver me from all evil!" and breathed her last. She died four days after her husband, on November 16, 1093, being in her forty-seventh year, and was buried in the church of the abbey of Dunfermline which she and her husband had founded. St. Margaret was canonized in 1250. Dunfermline was sacked in 1560, but the relics were safely removed. St. Margaret's body, together with that of Malcolm, was transferred to a chapel in the Escorial, outside Madrid. In 1673, St. Margaret was named a patron of Scotland.

Our 9th Great Grandfather, Lt. John Ellis of Plymouth.

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

Hello Everyone!
Tonight I’m writing away from home and hearth. I’m sitting at my desk at the Space Education Center reading about our 9th Great Grandfather as our weekly Space Camp is waged about me. The Space Center has five futuristic starship simulators, each running tonight fully crewed with 5th and 6th graders from Lehi, Utah. I’m hearing explosions and the wailing of the alert klaxons as I try to focus on life in early Plymouth MA. My brain is anchored in the 17th Century while my ears are firmly attached to the 23rd.

My 9th Great Grandfather’s name was Lt. John Ellis. To see his place on the Family Tree click here. Follow these simple steps.

Shrink the image by clicking on the “-” magnifying glass at the bottom of the page.

1. Click on my mother Luella
2. Click on her mother Violet
3. Click on her mother Vesta
4. Click on her mother Isabel
5. Move up the tree to Emira Swift, then Phineas Swift to Judah Swift to Jeddah Benson then to Jerusha Ellis to William Ellis
6. Finally to Lt. Ellis Jr.

The following is a quick snapshot of his life and accomplishments.
Thanks for Reading!
Victor

John Ellis Jr.

Born-14 September 1623 at St. Budolph, Bishop’s Gate, London, England.What we know: Before John was born-His parents were in Leyden, Holland in 1619 according to records.

At 21 years old-“As soon as he arrived at the age of 21 he took the oath of a freeman, June 2, 1641 in Boston…”

Around the age of 24-Before August 20, 1644, John Ellis married Elizabeth Freeman at Sandwich, Barnstable, Massachusetts.

At 30 years old-June 5, 1651 John was chosen to be a member of "the Grand Enquest."

At 32 years old-The General Court of Plymouth Colony, sitting at Plymouth June 9, 1653, commissioned JOHN ELLIS to be the Lieutenant, (then Commander) of the Military Company at Sandwich.

At 32 years old-November 7, 1652 he and five others were selected to buy all the fish offered by the Indians; to provide casks, and to prepare the fish for use by the Town.
From age 31 to age 33-February 24, 1652 he and others were selected by the General Court to survey and build a road-on the most convenient line-from Sandwich to Plymouth, which task they completed satisfactorily and so reported to the General Court, June 20, 1654.

At age 33-December 13, 1653 he and two others were given a monopoly on whales captured within the water line of Sandwich, under condition that they pay 16 pounds apiece for each whale.

At around age 39-In 1659 he and others were appointed to take charge of extraction of oil from whales and fish for the public use.

At age 39-As the Lieutenant commanding the Military Company he was allowed, June 6, 1660 two pounds of powder for his command on "Training Day," which was the first Wednesday in July, 1660.

At age 50-July 6, 1671 the Town of Sandwich gave him (Lieut. ELLIS) 20 acres of land from his then-owned land down to the beach. .July 13 he as Lieutenant, with four others, was selected as "Tax rater." Aug. 26, 1671 "JOHN ELLIS, Senior" and one other surveyed a parcel of fund, on the order of the town.

At age 54-February 28, 1675 he, Lieutenant, and BENAMIN HAMMOND, Constable, called a Town Meeting to make arrangements for protection of lives and property and to make new land available for cultivation because of the dangers incident to King PHILIP'S War.

At age 55-May 10, 1676 he as Lieutenant and THOMAS TOBIE, Sen. and STEPHEN SKIFF as agents of the Town, were obligated to form "Sandwich Town Scouts," to hire as many men as they chose for that purpose, and the Town promised to pay all such engagements.

At age 56-He died previous to May 23, 1677 as the inventory of his estate was taken by RICHARD BOURNE, JOHN SMITH, and THOMAS TOBEY May 23, 1677 and exhibited to the Court held at Plymouth June 5, 1677, on the oath of his widow, ELIZABETH ELLIS.

An interesting side note was the charge of fornication against our Great Grandfather John.

At the court held on 20 Aug. 1644 he was accused of fornication, and the record shows that "A warrant was set forth to bring in the bodies of Jonathan ffish & Mary his wife; Nathaniell ffish; Jane the wife of William Wood; Rose the wife of Joseph Holly; the wife of Richard Kerby; the wife of Michael Turner & Joanna Swift, widdow, to give evidence in John Ellis and his wife's case" (Nathaniel B. Shurtleff ed., Records'of the Colony of New Plymouth,* vol. 2, p. 75. 4 June 1645 "John Ellis of Sandwich ... and his now wife. . ..is censured to be whipt at publicke post and Elizabeth his wife to stand by whilst execucon of the sentence is pformed; which was accordingly done. And the said John Ellis for his long and tedious delayes occasioning much trouble and charge to the countrey, for that he would not confess the truth untill the present, is fyned 5 li" (ibid., p. 85).

It has often been observed that neither the colony nor the ecclesiastical courts of the period were apt to view with favor the possibility of a premature birth. In this instance the stubborn refusal-of Ellis to admit guilt may have been based on some other argument. The prominence of the Freeman family may have played a part in the case. It would be interesting to read a transcript of the testimony presented by the young couple and their neighbors.

Whatever may have been the merits of the case, it is clearly of interest genealogically speaking that the marriage almost certainly took place before 20 August 1644 and that the first child by EIizabeth Freeman was born about that date. Yet the first recorded birth, that of "Benet Elles" (no parents listed), took place in 1648-1649.

More Pilgrims in the Branches

From the Fortress of Solitude
Pleasant Grove

The sounds you hear in the Family Tree's top branches are the rustlings of newly awoken Pilgrim ancestors.

I spent some time last night researching lines left unattended and found new information I'll be finalizing into several new posts in a series celebrating our family's contributions to the founding of this nation. There are good stories to tell and you know my fondness for a good tale over a warm drink near the fire in the Fortress's Great Hall.

Also, several new names have been added to the family tree. The McCrillis Lines are in along with several others. Be sure to take a look. Remember this family tree is inclusive. To see the branches you must click on a persons name. You can use the magnifying glass icon on the bottom of the screen to decrease the size of the window to see more names at once.

Simply,
Victor