Speedy, Elizabeth b. 1917

Clementina Benight b. 1800

/ Kirstin Miller

Clementina Benight 4th great grandma on RootsMagic tree

Clementina was born on February 20, 1800 in northern New York state. Her family moved to Prairieton, Vigo County, Indiana where she married Dexter Angell on May 10, 1820. Clementina and Dexter had 4 children and they farmed in Prairieton for awhile.

The 1820 US census shows Clementina and Dexter together in Prairieton, Clementina’s dad and brothers close by. The 1830 census places them in Providence, Rhode Island on the east side of the river. On the 1840 census, Clementina is back in Prairieton, she is head of household, with her children. (1840 census clementina is 10th from bottom on list.) Clementine’s dad Joseph and a brother are neighbors. The 1840 census shows Dexter stayed in Providence.

Benight, Clementina headstone

Clementina Angell headstone 1847 or so.

Clementina died around 1847 and is buried in New Harmony Cemetery in Prairieton. Her Find a Grave memorial includes a photo and text of the headstone inscription, too faded to read in the photo: Wife of Dexter Angell Aged 47 Years. Clementina’s daughter Delia Angell named her 3rd daughter Clementina.

Sources

Joan Hurst b. 1568

/ Kirstin Miller

Joan Hurst 11th great grandma on RootsMagic tree.

Joan Hurst was baptized March 13, 1568 at St Mary’s Parish in Henlow, Bedfordshire, England. Her first husband was Thomas Rogers who died around 1595. Her 2nd husband was John Tilley. They married September 20, 1596 in the same St Mary’s Parish. They had 5 children, Elizabeth Tilley was the youngest she was baptized in the same church as her mom. In 1620 Joan 52, John 48 and Elizabeth 13 were on the Mayflower and in America by November. Joan’s husband John was in the exploring party on December 6 noted for the first contact with American Indians. By January 1621 the exploring parties found a location to set up their colony, an abandoned Wampanoag village. The men built shelters, with each man responsible for his own family, ‘by that course men would make more haste than working in common’. In February this group had homes, food and water sources and supplies unpacked form the Mayflower.

Tilley, John 1620 Mayflower exploring party

1620 Mayflower exploring party

By March the number of passengers and crew, was down from 102 to 47 souls. In Bradford’s History. “Of these hundred persons which came first over in this first ship together, the greater half died in the general mortality, and most of them in two or three months’ time.”

Joan Hurst, her husband John Tilley, John’s brother Edward Tilley and Ann, his wife, they died the first winter and were buried in Coles Hill Burial Ground. Joan and John’s daughter Elizabeth was left an orphan and eventually married another passenger John Howland. Elizabeth and John had 10 kids who all survived so today this couple has more than 2 million Mayflower diverse descendants. I’m working on getting this Mayflower connection officially verified, the 400th anniversary was November 2020, greatly hampered by the global pandemic.

Sources

John Speedy b. 1825

/ Kirstin Miller

John Speedy 3rd great uncle on RootsMagic tree

John was the 2nd son of Thomas and Elizabeth Glenn Speedy, the older brother of Manford Speedy. John was born in 1825 in Jefferson County, Ohio. He grew up on a farm. On March 8, 1855 he married Jane Foulks, a sister of his his older brother Thomas’s wife. John and Jane farmed and had 4 kids. The 1850 US agricultural census shows John Speedy’s farm: 40 acres of improved land, 18  acres of unimproved, $1650 cash value of farm, $ 85 cash value of machinery,  2 horses, 5 cows,13 sheep, 5 pigs, $ 250 value of livestock; produced 200 bushels of wheat, 300 bushels of Indian corn,  200 bushels of oats, 158 lb. of wool, 20 lb. of Irish potatoes, 200 lb. of butter, 2 tons of hay.

In 1863 John was 38 and was drafted or signed up for the Civil War. He fought with the Ohio 157th Infantry Company K, he was a Private. The 157th Infantry reported to Columbus, Ohio for duty on May 15, 1864, one of the’ Hundred Days’ Men’. The infantry went from Columbus, Ohio to Baltimore then on to guard Fort Delaware on the Delaware River south of Philadelphia. A Major Eames wrote, “Our journey from Columbus to Baltimore was tedious but full of interest. All along the route we were saluted with cheers and smiles and waving of handkerchiefs and flags from early dawn to long after sunset. Never in all my campaigning have I seen anything to compare with those manifestations of rejoicing for the promptness of the 100 day men of Ohio”. At Fort Delaware the soldiers were guarding Confederate prisoners of war. When not on duty John probably watched ships sailing and fished. “The heavy shipping traffic on the Delaware River was a source of fascination to the farm boys from Ohio, who would sit and watch the steamers, side-wheelers, ironclads and fishing boats for hours”. Fort Delaware is where John died. He and 9 others died from disease. 

Speedy, John in 157th Ohio Infantry

John Speedy, 157th Ohio Company K

Sources

 

 

Samuel Hill b. 1652

/ Kirstin Miller

Samuel Hill 8th great grandpa on RoostMagic tree.

Samuel was born in 1652 in Malden, Massachusetts son of Joesph Hill and second wife Hannah Smith. Samuel’s dad Joseph, was well known in Malden: a lawyer, town rep, deputy etc. Samuel fought in King Philips war between 1675-79 in Captain Brocklebank’s command and may have been a sergeant. In Newbury, Massachusetts on the coast, about 40 miles northeast of Malden, Samuel married Abigail Wheeler on May 20, 1679.

Hills, Samuel and Abigail Wheeler marriage 1679

Samuel Hill and Abigail Wheeler marriage 1679

Samuel and Abigail stayed in Newbury and had more than 10 children. On August 5, 1732 Samuel was 80 years old and wrote his will. ‘Weak in body but of perfect mind and memory, the mortality of my body … give and command my soul to the hands of God that give it’.  Samuel’s will mentioned his widow Abigail and  listed his children. His inventory included silver, books, armor, pewter, earthenware, Indian and English corn, barrels and casks and cooper’s tools to make barrels and casks. Samuel is buried in Bridge Street Cemetery in Newbury, Massachusetts, his headstone is still there.

Sources

Alexander Glenn b. 1803

/ Kirstin Miller

Alexander Glenn 4th great uncle on RootsMagic

Alexander was born in Ohio in 1803, a younger brother of Elizabeth Glenn, mom of Manford Speedy, they were 2 of 12 children in the Glenn family. In 1833 on March 31, Alexander married Sarah Parrish in Ohio. It’s very likely that Manford Speedy with his uncle Alexander and family left Ohio for Iowa, all are in Shell Rock, Iowa by 1856. Alexander is on the 1860 agricultural census. His farm has 100 acres of  improved land, 100 acres unimproved land, cash value of $3500, value of farm machinery $150. The farm has 4 horses, 6 milk cows,  6 other cattle, 30 swine, value of livestock $725. The farm produced 225 bushel of wheat,  600 bushel of Indian corn,  200 bushel of oats, 100 lbs of butter, 15 lbs of cheese and 20 bushel Irish potatoes. Alexander was a widow in 1877 and living in Hampton, Iowa with his son Edward and family.

Alexander died in 1894 and is buried in the Old Town Cemetery in Clarksville, Iowa. The source Iowa Cemetery Records, 1662-1999 confirms he was buried in this cemetery: ‘Alex Glenn b. 1803, d. 1894 age 91 buried in Old-town Cemetery, Clarksville, Butler County. Source Gravestone Records of Butler County, Iowa page 37’. The Glenn headstone has a readable inscription for Sarah. On the other side of the headstone is some engraving, most likely Alexander’s information, completely unreadable because it was made 125 years ago, weather and age have worn the words away. The headstone has an open book at the top, inscription also worn away.

Glenn, Alexander and Sarah headstone has a book on top.

 

Sources

  • Iowa, Cemetery Records, 1662-1999
  • Ohio county marriages 1789-2013 database
  • Iowa non-population census schedules 1850-1880 images

Hannah Smith b. 1612

/ Kirstin Miller

Hannah Smith 9th great grandma on RootsMagic tree.

Hannah was baptized in Leicester, England on September 6, 1612. She probably sailed to America with her parents and then definitely married Edward Mellows by 1636. Then lived in Charlestown, Massachusetts. Hannah was a widow in 1650 and in 1651 she married Joseph Hill, they had children and lived in Boston and Malden, Massachusetts. In May of 1653 Peter Bulkeley, brother of Martha (Hannah’s mother in law from first marriage) helped Hannah with the estate of her Mellows children.
“[345.] Mr Joseph Hills, with the consent of Hanna, his wife, and Mr Peter Buckley [*345.]
Buckley, theire vnkell, offering a petition for the confirmation of the sale of a howse and certayne lands, sould by his wife in the time of her widdowhood, hath his request graunted ; as also power is hereby giuen and granted to the petitioner to make sale of such land as yet remaynes vnsould, by the consent and advice of Mr Buckley, pvided satisfaction be made to the children of Mr Mellowes according to what the land shalbe sould for about what it is prised in the inventory.”

Hannah was a widow again in April 1674 then she died a few months later on July 11 1674. “Deaths: Joseph Hills, Jr. April 19, 1674. Hannah wife of Joseph Hills July 11, 1674”

Hannah’s marriages connect her to both sides of my family tree. Hannah’s first husband was Edward Mellows, his mother Martha Bulkeley 11th great aunt. Hannah’s 2nd husband was Joseph Hills, their son Samuel Hill was 6th great grandfather of Elizabeth Speedy who married Stanley Roose.

Smith, Dean C, and Melinde L. Sanborn. The Ancestry of Eva Belle Kempton, 1878-1908. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1996.

Jacobus, Donald Lines, 1887-1970. The Bulkeley Genealogy: Rev. Peter Bulkeley, New Haven, Conn: Tuttle, 1933.

Massachusetts. General Court. Records of the Governor And Company of the Massachusetts Bay In New England: Boston: W. White, printer to the commonwealth, 1853-54. http://tinyurl.com/y5rjyf86

Hannah and Joesph’s death dates. The Society. The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 10. The Society, Boston 1856

Martha Ide b. 1656

/ Kirstin Miller

Martha Ide 8th great grandma on RootsMagic tree

Martha was born October 1656 in Rehoboth, Massachusetts. At HathiTrust, page 649 Martha and siblings births in Vital record of Rehoboth. She was a middle child of Nicholas and Martha Bliss Ide, both born in England then living in Plymouth Colony by 1636. Martha would have lived on a farm and once old enough helped her mom with any number of jobs for most of the day. Martha married Samuel Walker in 1681, after the end of King Philips War -her husband was in that war. She and Samuel had at least 6 children and lived where The Philip Walker House is today: 432 Massasoit Ave East Providence, RI 02914.

Philip Walker House, East Providence, RI

Philip Walker House built in 1724

The house was known as the 2nd oldest in Rhode Island and it was accepted that Philip Walker and son Samuel built it in late 1670 or 80. Recent research shows the house was built with “mill sawn timbers” chopped down in 1724. Philip Walker owned the land, passed down to Philip’s son Samuel, then to Samuel and Martha’s son Timothy who built the house in 1724. The house is almost 300 years old and still standing. At Philip Walker House at Preserve Rhode Island the house is part of a study project.

Philip Walker House at Wikipedia

Margaret Denison b. 1657

/ Kirstin Miller

Margaret Denison 8th great grandma on RootsMagic tree.

Margaret was born in 1657 in Connecticut. Her dad George’s family came to America in the 1630s from Hertfordshire, England. Margaret was the 8th of 9 kids and ‘the only one to marry outside of Stonington and move away’. Margaret married James Brown on June 5, 1678 in Swansea, Massachusetts then they moved to Barrington, Massachusetts, now part of Rhode Island, on the Providence River. Margaret and James may have had 12 kids.

Both Margaret and husband James’s wills survive and are printed in the Mayflower Descendent series. Margaret mentions her children including daughter Ann who married Samuel Hill. Margaret’s husband is the Mayflower Descendent: LIEUT. JAMES BROWN3, son of James and Lydia2 (Howland) Brown and grandson of John1 Howland of The Mayflower”.

Margaret Denison Brown is buried in Ancient Little Neck Cemetery in East Providence, Rhode Island. Her headstone inscription: In memory of Mrs. Margaret Brown Relict of Lieut James Brown, Who died on the 5th Day of May 1741 in ye 85th year of her age.

Denison, Margaret will snapshot

Widow Margaret Brown’s will 1733/4

At Archive.org. Page 24 Captain George and Lady Ann; the Denisons of Pequotsepos Manor, Margaret’s marriage.

At HathiTrust Their wills The Mayflower descendant, Volume 17 page 193 several pages.

Rhode Island historic cemetery database. Denison, Margaret ID 97022 Ancient Little Neck Burial Ground.

Mary Williams b. 1683

/ Kirstin Miller

Mary Williams 8th great grandma on RootsMagic tree

Mary Williams was born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1683, the oldest child of Daniel and Rebecca Rhodes Williams. In 1709 Mary and Epenetus Olney married. They would have lived in the Stone Ender home Epenetus began building in 1702 or so. The Stone Ender home stayed in the Olney family from the time it was built till it was demolished around 1898. Mary and Epenetus had 9 children: James, Charles, Joseph, Anthony, Mary, Amy, Ann, Martha, and Freeborn. The family lived on a farm: “Here was raised in those early days beans. “turnops”. “wheate”, Indian corn. rye. “flex”, while in the orchard, through which passed the road leading to the Providence settlement, there were “Apple and peach tree, fruited deep”.

The current address for their farm is 370 Woonasquatucket Avenue, Centerdale, Providence County, RI. The farm and home stood for almost 200 years on the banks of the Woonasquatucket River about 6 miles northeast of Providence 41°50’45.1″N 71°28’37.5”W.

370370 Woonasquatucket Avenue Olney site

ON the banks of the Woonasquatucket River in Rhode Island

Roger Williams Family Association online: Genealogy, Daniel Williams, 27 i. Mary3 Williams, m. Epenetus Olney Jr. Mary and Epenetus’s daughter Martha is the mom of Marrtha Angell the mom of Asa Angell the dad of Dexter Angell the dad of Delia Angell the mom of Matilda Flood the mom of Philippa Mockford the mom of Elizabeth Speedy.

Olney’s Stone ender home at Library of Congress 

At Archive. org. A genealogical dictionary of the first settlers of New England Volume 3 page 313.

At HathiTrust. Early Rhode Island houses: Isham, Norman Morrison, 1864-1943, plate 33.  State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations Volume 3 page 627 – 630.

Widow Walker b. 1600

/ Kirstin Miller

Widow Walker 10th great grandmother on RootsMagic tree.

Widow Walker’s first name is unknown, her last name was probably Brown. She was born in England around 1600, married, then was widowed by 1635 when her two older children Sarah and James came to America with their uncle the widow’s brother, his name may have been John Brown. The widow and younger son Philip came to America about 1640. Widow Walker is on land records in 1643, 1644 and 1646 then she disappears with no more records. By 1658, son Philip is on land records. So her estimated death is in 1658 at about age 58. There are theories on her Brown family ancestors and her husband’s Walker family ancestors, but not much is proven, except her land.

Land Widow Walker and Zachariah Rhodes 1644 screenshot

The history of Rehoboth, page 25

In Vital Records of Rehoboth on page 911: “At a Town Meeting, the 31st day of the 4th month 1644, lots were drawn for a division of the woodland, between the plain and the town. Shares were drawn to the number of 58 as follows”: Widow Walker is the only female on the list of 58 which included The Schoolmaster, The Governor and The Pastor. Thomas Bliss 8th great grandpa of Elizabeth Speedy is also on the list.

Sources at HathiTrust
The history of Rehoboth, Bristol County, Massachusetts, page 25 Widow Walker and Zachariah Rhodes of Seakonk alias Rehoboth.

Vital record of Rehoboth, 1642-1896, page 911, Widow Walker No. 52

The story of my ancestors In America, page 8 Widow Walker settles in Seekonk, Rehoboth, land grants