Ann Borodell b. 1615

/ Kirstin Miller

Ann Borodell 9th great grandma on RootsMagic tree

Ann was born in Cork, Ireland on May 20, 1615. Her dad John Borodell was a land owner, her mom is unknown. Ann married George Denison of England in abut 1645. There is a story of how George and Ann met, published in several sources. George had sailed to America with his family at age 11, met and married his first wife, she died within a few years, he was heartbroken, returned to England to fight in the English Civil War, was injured in the Battle of Naseby, on June 14, 1645 and sent to John Borodell’s home to recover. John’s daughter Ann nursed George back to health, they fell in love, married and sailed to America. George and Ann lived in Stonington then Mystic, Connecticut and were described as “remarkable for magnificent personal appearance, and for force of mind and character”.

  • Ann Borodell image at FindaGrave memorial

Ann was a widow in 1695. From her husband’s will, “First I give and bequeath unto my dear and loving wife Ann Denison, my new mansion place, to wit the house we live in, the barns and buildings, the orchards, and the whole tract of land, and improvements thereon, as far as Mistuxet, eastward, and as it is bounded upon record South, West and North, … all the household stuff that was, and is, properly belonging unto us … to be wholly at her disposal, to bequeath to whom she pleaseth, at her death”.

There’s a Denison Homestead Museum and a Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center on the grounds in Mystic, CT. The house is not the 1663 original that George and Ann built. That house burned down, another was built on the land and was in the Denison family for generations.

Sources

Arabella, How unevenly the world is divided

/ Kirstin Miller

This book, The burying place of Governor Arnold by Alice Brayton, I found  while researching Christiana Peake who married William Arnold. Benedict Arnold, the Governor was their son. Alice Brayton purchased land that was/is the Governor Benedict Arnold Graveyard in Newport Rhode, Island and she set the cemetery’s restoration in motion then wrote the book, documenting “the establishment, destruction, and restoration of the Burying Place of Benedict Arnold, first Governor of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations”. The book contains thousands of small stories and facts. 

One story is Arabella Cowley’s, great-great-granddaughter of Governor Arnold and Damaris. Arabella’s mom Mary Cowley married Mr. Sweet, then Joseph Cowley, they had 3 daughters and a son. One daughter Elizabeth Sweet was blessed with four husbands, and beauty. Half sister Arabella Cowley, as plain as Elizabeth was beautiful said to Elizabeth, “How unevenly the world is divided; you have had four husbands, I have had none.”

The gravestone photo is in the book at HathiTrust.

Entje Frerichs b. 1871

/ Kirstin Miller

Entje Frerichs 3rd great aunt on RootsMagic tree.
Entje was born March 26, 1871 in Aurich Lower Saxony Germany also called East Frisia, Ostfriesland, Germany. She was the 4th of 5 children of Casjen and Kunna. Entje was 12 when she and her family sailed on the ship America, to America. They landed in Baltimore on October 10, 1883 and went straight to Iowa.
In 1890 in Parkersburg, Iowa, Entje and her sister Hilka were confirmed at Ebenezer Lutheran Church in Butler Center, Iowa. On March 12,1891 Entje married John Henrichs, His family was also from Germany, and Entje’s brother Enno married John’s sister Antje. Entje and John farmed in Jefferson Township near Butler Center and Ebenezer Lutheran Church, both the church and town are no longer around. Entje and John had 5 children. A daughter was named Kunna after Entje’s mom. All were baptized in the Ebenezer Lutheran Church. Kunna’s baptism record and Entje’s confirmation record are mix of written German and English words.

  • Entje and Hilka Frerichs confirmanden!!
  • Kunna Henrichs 1892 baptism

The Ebenezer Lutheran Church congregation talked through the years about which language to use in church services. In 1921 they voted for German language services, by 1930 services were alternate Sundays one in German, one in English. A pastor resigned: he’d been a pastor for 40 years, he spoke both High and Low German, but didn’t speak much English. By 1940 the church held one German service and two English services.
Entje died at age 65 and is buried at Butler Center Cemetery with her husband. They have a large Hinrichs [Henrichs] stone and a smaller Mother and Father stone. Entje’s 1936 obituary in the Clarksville (Iowa) Star newspaper included her husband, 2 sons, 3 daughters and 14 grandkids.

Sources

  • U.S. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Church Records, 1781-1969. Congregational Records Iowa Parkersburg Bethel page 10 image 16 of 173. Ancestry . com
  • U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Records, 1875-1940. Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Iowa Parkersburg Bethel page 60 image 35 of 298. Ancestry . com
  • Clarksville (Iowa) Star, 1872-2017, 1936 Jul 2 page 1 of 8 column 4 top.
  • Find a Grave memorial 111232991 

William Holdridge b. 1610

/ Kirstin Miller

William Holdridge 11th great grandpa on RootsMagic tree

William Holdred or Holdridge was born in London, England in 1610. In 1635 he sailed on the Elizabeth to America. He lived in Ipswich until 1640 when he married Isabelle, last name unknown, and they moved to Salisbury, Massachusetts. He was in Haverhill, MA in 1650, and Exeter, New Hampshire by 1671. William was a tanner, he turned animal skins into leather. He was also a planter, landowner, farmer. He and Isabelle had 9 children. His life story is big with lots of movement, land deeds, purchases and sales, appearances in court for different reasons some good some not so good.

  • 1635 Wm Holdred age 25, a tanner


Most fascinating is his parish in London, St Alphage, built in the 1100s. The parish was built right on the London Wall, a defensive wall built by Romans between 190 and 225 in Roman Britain. Through the centuries St Alphage changed names, was built up and torn down, damaged in WW1 and WW2 and now the remaining ruins are in between two modern concrete, steel and glass office buildings. In 2018 the ruins were opened to the public with new garden areas and walkways: St Alphage Garden.

  • St Alphage Garden

Sources

Richard Mockford b. 1802

/ Kirstin Miller

Richard Mockford 4th great grandpa on RootsMagic tree.

Richard Mockford was born June 1, 1802 in Brighton, Sussex, England. In Brighton on February 13, 1830 Richard, a bachelor  married Elizabeth Green, a spinster. Elizabeth and Richard had 8 children. The Mockford family lived in Brighton, Sussex, then Burdock, Cornwall, England. On the England  1851 and 1861 censuses Richard was a miller.  

By 1863 Richard and his wife were living in New York state. They joined their sons Henry and William who migrated earlier. They all settled in western New York, Monroe County, near Rochester on Lake Ontario about 30 miles east of Niagara Falls.
In 1863 Richard was on a New York tax list, “Richard Mockford of Brockport, Retail dealer, 6.67 in taxes”.

A Rochester, NY business directory from 1863 has Richard Mockford listed as a baker and flour broker. The same directory described Monroe County, the towns of Batavia and Brockport, where the Mockfords lived, known for its ‘fine wheat’. Also in the same directory: a House for Idle and Truant Children and the Rochester Home for the Friendless.

Richard died in 1867, his wife Elizabeth lived 10 more years. They both lived to see many grandchildren born in Monroe County, New York including Richard Mockford who made the 1,000 mile journey to Iowa where he married Matilda Flood and they had a child Philippa Mockford, mom of Elizabeth Speedy.

Sources

  • England Sussex parish registers 1538-1910 database. There’s an image, copyrighted and viewable at FamilySearch.org. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DRP3-Z3B?i=185
  • 1863 U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 page 37 at Ancestry
  • 1851 and 1861 England census databases at FamilySearch.
  • US IRS Tax Assessment Lists 1862-1918 New York District at Ancestry. 

Sarah Bulkeley b. 1640

/ Kirstin Miller

Sarah Bulkeley 8th great grandma on RootsMagic tree

Sarah was born in Concord, Massachusetts in 1640 to Thomas and Sarah Jones Bulkeley. Both grandpas were pastors, VIPs of their time, their writings, lives, arrival, all documented in detail. In 1640s Concord there was trouble, disagreements about religion, Sarah’s grandpas were on opposite sides. Sarah’s family was one of several that followed Pastor Jones and joined Pastors Davenport and Eaton in New Haven, Connecticut. Sarah’s dad Thomas was in his dad Peter’s will so even though Thomas chose the Jones side instead of the Bulkeley side he was still family. Sarah married Eleazer Brown in 1663, they had 7 children and stayed in New Haven. Sarah’s mom died in 1683, her will left books to her daughter Sarah: Graham’s Works 3 vols. Walker’s God’s Providence, and A View of False Christianity.
Sarah and Eleazer were most likely buried in what is no the Center Church on the Green Churchyard. This burial place has changed over the years, their headstones aren’t there anymore. There’s a memorial plaque at the site. “From the Settlement of New Haven 1638 to 1796 the adjoining ground was occupied as a common place of burial the a new burying ground was opened and divided into family lots and city squares. In 1813 this church was placed over the monuments of several whose names are engraved on tablets in the vestibule. In 1821 the remaining monuments were by consent of survivors and under direction of the city removed to the new ground. In a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump.(et) The dead shall be raised”.  The current church has a crypt, in the basement burials and headstones and they offer tours and a few photos here: https://centerchurchonthegreen.org/history/crypt/ .

Sources

Leydia Connable b. 1795

/ Kirstin Miller

Leydia Connable 4th great grandma on RootsMagic tree.
Leydia Connable was born in Bernardston, Massachusetts on April 23 1795. She was the third of John and Sarah Dewey Connable’s 8 kids. She also had 5 siblings from her dad’s first marriage. Leydia married Obed Gaines in 1815. They have 2 marriage records. One dated August 10 and another dated September 23. The August record was probably an ‘intention of marriage’.

By 1820 Leydia and Obed had 5 kids, 3 of them triplets. So Leydia was caring for 3 infants, a 2 year old and a 4 year old- all at the same time! The 1820, 1840 and 1850 censuses show Leydia and family in Cazenovia, New York, then Steuben, Indiana, then Van Buren, Indiana. Leydia’s 6th child William Gaines, great grandpa of Faber Miller, was in Bremer County, Iowa in 1850. In 1854, probably in August, most likely in a covered wagon with a coupe horses, Leydia, husband and 2 kids made the 500 mile trip to Iowa. They would have traveled 10-20 miles per day probably for about 37 days. When the family entered Iowa they’d traveled 1,200 miles and 6 states.

Connable, Leydia d.1854

Headstone Leydia wife of Obid Gaines

A Connable family history book tells that Leydia died of cholera October 23, 1854. Her death date is verified in Iowa Cemetery Records. She is buried in Old Barclay Cemetery near Dunkerton, Iowa. Leydia is the only Gaines buried in the cemetery. Her family would have arranged a funeral, buried Lydia, then kept moving on to son William’s location about 50 mile north near Plainfield, Iowa. When Leydia was buried in 1854 Iowa was 80% native prairie. Barclay township was founded in August 1854, so the town was just beginning when Leydia was buried there.

Mehitable Angell b. 1800

/ Kirstin Miller

Mehitable Angell 6th great aunt on RootsMagic tree.
Mehitable was born January 31, 1800 in Johnston, Rhode Island to Israel and Susannah Luther Angell. Israel Angell’s life is documented because he was a Colonel in the American Revolution and he and General George Washington wrote letters back and forth. Israel also explored the west from August 4 to October 9, 1788. The ‘west’ only went as far as Ohio, Israel kept a journal of his travels, these are published in Rhode Island History magazine of January and April, 1963. Israel’s kids would have heard stories of his western travels. Only 2 of his 17 kids moved west: Mehitable and her younger brother Henry.

Mehitable married William Wilkinson. Henry married William’s sister Eliza Wilkinson and they all moved across the country, first stop Hennepin, Illinois where they were on the 1850 census. Henry and his family stayed there in Illinois. Mehitable and her family went 200 miles further west to Jefferson Township in Buchanan County, Iowa where they were on the 1856 Iowa census. When the Wilkinson’s set up their home it would have been on acres and acres of prairie- Iowa was 80% tall grass prairie in 1850. Mehitable’s family farmed, she and William had four children they stayed there in Jefferson Township. Mehitable was a widow the last 12 years of her life and lived with her son and family. She is buried in Spring Creek Cemetery. The address is LaPorte City, Iowa and it’s surrounded by cornfields on three sides, I 380 is on the 4th side. From the cemetery a person can see the interstate. From the interstate in certain seasons a person can see the cemetery.
Headstone Mahetebel Wilkinson wife of W B Wilkinson

Mehitable Angell is probably the reason Delia and Charles Angell ended up in Iowa. When Delia’s mom died in 1847 her dad Dexter went to New York where his dad and brothers were. Delia and Charles stayed in Indiana with their older sister, then left for Iowa. Delia stayed with Charles and his family until she married and had a daughter Matilda Flood, who had a daughter Philippa Mockford who had a daughter Elizabeth Speedy.

Sources

  • Iowa census 1856, Buchanan, Jefferson at Ancestry
  • Angell Family Bible, typed up sheet. Rhode Island Births and Christenings, 1600-1914 database at FamilySearch

Rebecca Brown b. 1676

/ Kirstin Miller

Rebecca Brown 7th great grandma on RootsMagic tree.

Rebecca Brown was born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1676 the youngest of 7 kids. Her mom’s dad and both grandpas were pastors who founded churches in Concord, Massachusetts- Peter Bulkeley and New Haven- John Jones. In 1703 Rebecca married Benjamin English.

Brown, Eleazer and Sarah Bulkeley, children

Eleazer Brown, Sarah Bulkeley, their children

Benjamin was a widow from Salem. He and his cousin William Punchard arrived in New Haven in 1701 or so and they married sisters: Benjamin married Rebecca Brown and William married Hannah Brown. Rebecca and Benjamin stayed in New Haven and had 8 children. One daughter, Mary English, had a son John Connable who had a daughter Lydia Connable. Lydia married Obed Gaines and in the 1850s journeyed about 1,245 miles to Iowa where in 1878 the Mary Ella Gaines and James Miller married and had a son William Miller who had a son Faber Miller who married Gladys Cable.

Sources

 

Oliver Angell b. 1717

/ Kirstin Miller

Oliver Angell 7th great grandpa on RootsMagic tree

Oliver was born February 20, 1717, the 2nd of Hope and Lydia Olney Angell’s 7 children. On June 13, 1740 Oliver and Naomi Smith were married by Reverend Josiah Cotton in Providence, Rhode Island. Oliver and Naomi farmed and raised 7 children in Providence. Oliver was also a ‘cooper’ he made barrels, baskets and casks; a carpenter and a shoemaker.


Oliver died on April 1, 1799, his wife Naomi died December 3, 1799 and their grand daughter Adah died October 9, 1799. These 3 Angells and 16 others are buried in the Rhode Island Hist. Cemetery North Providence #8, also known as the Hope Angell Lot, or the Oliver Angell Lot. This tiny cemetery has 19 burials, was originally on Angell farmland and is now in a residential area between two houses. If you’re related to Elizabeth Speedy Roose, you’re related to 17 of the 19 buried there, all but Smith Angell’s 2 wives.


Oliver Angell has an obituary posted on his Find a Grave Memorial:  Obituary — Providence Gazette, April 6,1799, p. 2: At North-Providence, on the 1st inst. Mr. Oliver Angell, in the 83d year of his age, who sustained an unblemished character. As a citizen he was firm in the support of government; as a husband he was kind and affectionate; as a parent he taught his children the love of virtue in their early years, and by his example daily set before them, shewed that he had himself experienced the happy effects. Few who lived to his advanced age could say, as he did, that he was never sued at law, nor sued any person, but lived in peace with them all.


The 19 burials in the Hope and/or Oliver Angell Lot 1,2 Oliver and Naomi Smith Angell, 3 Ruth Angell daughter 4, 5 Elisha Angell, son and his wife Anna Fenner 6, 7, 8, 9 – Elisha’s son Fenner Angell, Fenner’s wife Mary Smith Angell, their son Zachariah Angell, Elisha’s 2nd wife Mary Dean Angell. 10, 11, 12, Hope Angell son and his wife Avis Olney, their daughter Adah.  13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 – Hope’s son Smith Angell, Smith’s wife Freelove Harris, their daughters Asenath and Minerva, their sons Horace Lafayette, Thomas and Zalmon.

Sources