Gaines

Samuel Gaines and Rebecca Couch b. 1670

/ Kirstin Miller

Samuel Gaines and Rebecca Couch, 8th great grandparents on RootsMagic tree

Samuel Gaines was born in 1670 in Hartford, Connecticut. His grandparents came to America from Buckinghamshire, England. Rebecca Couch was born February 16, 1671 in Hartford, Connecticut. Her grandparents were from Buckinghamshire, England too. Samuel and Rebecca were married around 1694 and they lived near Glastonbury, Connecticut. “At the Glastonbury town meeting of 15 December, 1709 he [Samuel Gaines] was chosen surveyor of highways.” 

Map of the Five Mile Tract 1731 and 1753

Samuel Gaines inherited, bought and deeded land  in and around Glastonbury from 1705 to 1750. Records of land deeds from 1734-1745, show Samuel’s dad had lands in the Three Mile and Five Mile Tracts of  “1672 when Major John Talcott of Hartford bargained with Chief Joshua the third son of Uncas the Mohegan sachem, for a certain tract of land about five miles square” in present day Manchester, Connecticut.

Samuel and Rebecca’s marriage is probable  and the search still continues for an actual marriage record.  From The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, “this Rebecca Couch had a brother Simon Couch, who lived at Glastonbury, and Rebecca named a son Simon. The age is appropriate for this marriage, and the name Simon is significant”. Rebecca Couch has few records, she probably died in 1750 a few years after her husband.
Samuel died on July 17, 1748.

Samuel and Rebecca’s 2nd great grandson Obed Gaines was in Iowa by 1854. Obed’s granddaughter Mary Ella Gaines married James Miller in Waverly, Iowa, 1878. Mary Ella’s grandson, Faber Miller. was born in Greene, Iowa in 1905.

Sources

Nathaniel Gaines and Elizabeth b. 1705

/ Kirstin Miller

Nathaniel Gaines and Elizabeth b. 1705, 7th great grandparents on RootsMagic tree

Nathaniel was born in Galstonbury, Connecticut around 1705. His mom and dad were Samuel and Rebecca Couch Gaines. His grandparents Henry and Jane Partridge Gaines migrated to American in 1637. In 1728, Nathaniel married Elizabeth, her last name, parents aren’t known. Elizabeth was probably born around the same time. Nathaniel and Elizabeth had 4 sons and 1 daughter. The family stayed in Glastonbury, right in the middle of Connecticut, near the Connecticut River.

On June 9, 1749 Nathaniel is mentioned in his dad Samuel’s will, “for love and affection” to “my son Nathaniel Gaines of Glastonbury” 22 acres “the land whereon I now dwell.”

photo via Waste Not, Want Not: The Colonial Era Midden
“Various personal items from the Goodsell site: a plain brass shoe buckle, a fragment of a silver shoe buckle frame with a repair, a 1746 George II halfpenny, a child’s small thimble, and part of a brass jackknife handle with a rococo design – AHS, Inc., Storrs”

Nathaniel died in 1755. Elizabeth wasn’t in Nathaniel’s will so she died before. In 1755 they were both in their 50s. Nathaniel’s will was presented in court, with an inventory of his estate, on April 28th. The inventory was a page and a half and included an old great coat, a Holland shirt, a pair of shoe buckles, 2 blankets, a chest of drawers, 9 wooden plates, 2 forks and 2 knives, an iron pot and a frying pan, an axe, a pitch fork, livestock and land. Older sons Nathaniel Jr and Joseph Gaines oversaw the estate and made an agreement with their siblings on July 3 1759 when the youngest sibling was still a minor. Middle son David moved to Vermont where grandson Obed Gaines was born in 1793. Obed and his family went west to Iowa where granddaughter Mary Ella Gaines married James Miller- they were grand parents of Faber Miller born in 1905.

Sources

David Gaines and Prudence Risley b. 1732

/ Kirstin Miller

David Gaines and Prudence Risley, my 6th great parents on RoostMagic tree

David Gaines was born on June 25, 1732 in Glastonbury, Connecticut. Prudence Risley was born September 26, 1735 in the same place. The Gaines family came from England to America in 1637, the Risley family in 1633.

David and Prudence married in 1754 in Glastonbury, Connecticut, officially Glastonbury, Hartford, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America. Prudence’s 2nd great grandpa Richard Risley built the colony with Thomas Hooker, a Congregational minister who broke with the Puritans in Massachusetts. David and Prudence had 5 sons and 2 daughters and they moved north from Glastonbury to Northfield, Massachusetts to Guilford, Vermont.  Guilford is on the Vermont and Massachusetts border, southern Vermont in between … Sweet Pond and Satan’s Kingdom … One source states the Gaines farm was “near the state line”.  Guilford was the biggest town in Vermont from 1791-1820, today it’s population is about 2000 people.

David’s dad Nathaniel died in 1755 and David and his brothers inherited land, David signed the will. The family was on the 1790 US Federal Census, the first federal census. On this first census one name, the head of house is recorded. Others in the house were recorded by age and gender. In the image, column 1 is males 16 and older,  column 2 males younger than 16, column 3 is females. David Gaines is 2nd in the snapshot with 2 males, and 4 females.

Gaines family 1790 United States census at FamilySearch.org
David and Prudence Gaines 1790 census

David died July 31, 1813 and Prudence died April 15 1816. They are buried in Maplehurst Cemetery in Guilford- with matching headstones. Gaines family burials are 32 of the 235 burials in this small country cemetery.

Sources

  • 1790 United States census at FamilySearch.org
  • Find a grave memorials 21747459 and 21747457
  • The New England historical and genealogical register Volume 85, page 52 Descendants of Henry Gaines of Lynn Mass.
  • Vermont Vital Records, 1760-1954 at FamilySearch.org
  • Guilford , Vermont map at Google

Joseph Gaines and Abigail Tubbs b. 1756

/ Kirstin Miller

Joseph Gaines and Abigail Tubbs, my 5th great grandparents on RootsMagic tree.

The Gaines and Tubbs families came to America, separately, in the 1630s from England. Joseph Gaines was the 5th generation of his family in America. Abigail Tubbs was the 4th generation of her family in America. Joseph and Abigail married on March 21, 1779 in Greenfield, Massachusetts. They moved to Guilford, Windham, Vermont where they had 9 children: 3 daughters and 6 sons. Obed, their 7th child was the only one to leave Vermont and the New England area. Obed went to Bremer County, Iowa to join his son William Gaines. 

Joseph died on November 13, 1843, Abigail died May 17, 1841. They are buried in Maplehurst Cemetery in Windham Vermont- they have matching headstones. Joseph’s brother David Gaines married Abigail’s sister Elizabeth Tubbs, also buried in Maplehurst Cemetery with matching headstones.

Gaines, Joseph and Abigail Tubbs headstone

Sources

  • Vermont, Vital Records, 1720-1908
  • New England historical and genealogical register volume 85 page 52, Descendants of Henry Gaines of Lynn Mass., several pages at American Ancestors

Mary Ella Gaines b. 1855

/ Kirstin Miller

Mary Ella Gaines, my 2nd great grandma on RootsMagic tree

Gaines, Mary Ella photoMary Ella was born June 3, 1855 in Bremer County, Iowa to William Gaines of New York and Sarah Swain of Illinois. Mary Ella grew up near Janesville, Iowa. She was the oldest of 8 brothers and sisters, three siblings died young. At age 23 Mary Ella married James Miller on November 13, 1878, in Waverly, Iowa. They had 2 boys William and James and the family farmed in Bremer and Butler counties in Iowa. The 1895 Iowa census shows Mary Ella, her husband, her 2 sons, her dad William Gaines, her niece Clara and James’s brother Jacob Miller living in the house. The 1900 US census has Mary Ella, her husband and 2 sons, James’s brother Jacob and another niece Jeanette Gaines. Both nieces were daughters of Mary Ella’s brother William and wife Virginia Gaines from Minnesota.

Lewis and Clark expo 1905Mary Ella’s dad, a brother and 2 sisters moved west to Junction City, Oregon about 50 miles south of Portland. In 1905 Mary Ella and James visited Junction City and attended the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition in Portland. The Expo lasted 4 months, had more than 1 million visitors and took close to 3 years to build.

Mary Ella was an artist, and one of her paintings survives. According to a note written by her grandson, “The pond was on their farm near Janesville, Iowa. The tree leaning over the pond was a Honey Tree (partially hollow with bee hives in it).”

Sources

Obed Gaines b. 1820

/ Kirstin Miller

Obed Gaines 4th great uncle on RootsMagic Tree 

Obed was the son of of Obed and Leydia Connable Gaines. He was a triplet with Abigail and Leydia Gaines, they were all born in 1820 in northern New York. This Gaines family moved west steadily and by 1840 they were in Lagrange, Indiana. In 1856 on the Iowa census Obed, siblings William and Leydia, with their dad are in Bremer County, Iowa where Obed married Lucretia Cross on February 16, 1859. Obed and Lucretia stayed in Iowa for awhile. Both Obed and his younger brother William were postmasters in Bremer County. “Along about 1857, during the Buchanan administration, a postoffice had been established in the township, called Polk. Aug. 13, 1861 … succeeded by W. N. Gaines, who distributed the mail from his residence on section 18. At this time the name was changed to Syracuse. Gaines retained the office of postmaster until succeeded by his brother, Obed Gaines, who lived on the same section and kept the office at his home” from History of Bremer County, Iowa. Obed registered for the Civil War on July 1, 1863, he was not drafted. On the 1880 census Obed and his family were in Wadena, Minnesota near nephew William Gaines Jr, son of Obed’s brother William.

Obed and Lucretia moved out to Salem Oregon in March 1903, a daughter Minnie was already living there along with Obed’s brother William and 2 of William’s daughters. Obed was a widow in 1904. On the 1910 census he was living with his daughter Minnie and grandson also named Obed. Obed died in May 11 1910, both he and Lucretia are buried in City View Cemetery in Salem, Marion County, Oregon.

Gaines, Obed obituary newspaper clipping

Sources

  • Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/49904426
  • 1860 Us Census Polk, Bremer County Iowa
  • U.S., Civil War Draft Registrations Records, 1863-1865, Iowa 3rd Vol 3 of 3 page 149 penciled in image 300 of 935
  • History of Bremer County, Iowa: a record, Page 203 Post Office
  • Salem, Marion County, Oregon US Historical Postcard screenshot, source on Ancestry, undated probably 1910 or so.
  • A shared source on Ancestry, Statesman Journal newspaper snapshot, Salem, Oregon, 13 May 1910, Fri, Page 5

Rebecca Gaines b. 1688

/ Kirstin Miller

Rebecca Gaines 8th great grandma on RootsMagic tree.

Rebecca was born in Connecticut in 1688 or so, one of 10 children of Samuel and Anna Burnham Gaines. On August 1, 1704 Rebecca married Samuel Risley in Hartford, Connecticut where they set up a home. Around 1710 Rebecca’s mom deeded land to Rebecca’s husband, “Anna Gaines of Hartford, widow, for 30 shillings, conveys to her son-in-law, Samuel Risley of Hartford, all her right and interest in land formerly sold to her father, Thomas Burnham, late of Hartford, by the Indian sachem Totonimo, which lands are undivided among the children of Thomas Burnham, [Signed] Anna Gaines, her mark..

Rebecca was a widow in 1752. In her husband’s will, “I give and bequeath to my Beloved Wife Rebecca one hundred and fifty pounds out of my moveable Estate old Tennor and also ye free use and improvement of ye one half of my dwelling house and cellar and three acres of land by said house as long as she shall Remain my widow.”

There’s no date, no record for Rebecca’s death and her burial place is unknown. She was a widow at 68, probably died fairly soon after her husband. He has a headstone at Old Eastbury Cemetery in Glastonbury. Rebecca is probably right by him.

Sources

Allen Preston Gaines b. 1900

/ Kirstin Miller

Allen Preston Gaines 1st cousin 1x removed (1 generation back) from Faber Miller who married Gladys Cable. Allen’s aunt Mary Ella Gaines Miller was grandmother to Faber Sr.

Allen Preston Gaines was born September 25, 1900 in Wadena, Minnesota, the oldest child of Charles and Mary Trewie Gaines. Allen and his family were in Lane, Oregon when Allen was 10 years old, then in Everett, Washington by 1920 when Allen was 20. Allen married Mary Ingram April 4, 1925, they settled in Boise Idaho, raised a family then in later years moved back to the Everett, Washington area where both are buried.

Allen was an apprentice mariner on the SS Emergency Fleet Corporation at the Port of Seattle and has a record: Applications for Seaman’s Protection Certificates, which includes a photo, thumbprint, physical description and identifying details, including tattoos if any. This application was a passport and provided protection on sea voyages from -forced recruitment by navies of other nations-. The Protection Certificates began in the American Revolution, disappeared for a while, returned around WW 1 then were obsolete by the 1940s, more at Wikipedia: Protection papers

Gaines, Allen 1919 page 2 application for Seaman's protection

Allen Preston Gaines March 7 1919

Samuel Gaines b. 1638

/ Kirstin Miller

Samuel Gaines 9th great-grandfather on RootsMagic tree.

Samuel Gaines was born in Massachusetts, probably Lynn, in 1638 to Henry and Jane Partridge Gaines who left England for America in 1636. Henry and Jane died young, in their 30s, Jane died shortly after her husband Henry, she left a will presented in court at Salem, May of 1645. In the will the Gaines boys were set up in apprenticeships, Samuel was 6. He learned to read, write and run a farm. Samuel in his 20s married Ann and was a widow by age 27 in 1665. By 1667 he was in Connecticut and married Anna Burnham whose family lived near his home. Samuel and Anna had children and farmed. Through marriages 2 children of Samuel and Anna are 6th great grandparents of Faber Miller b. 1905: son Samuel (m. Rebecca Couch) and daughter Rebecca (m. Samuel Risley). Samuel died in 1700 at age 62. He left a will, about 27 pages handwritten, not yet read or transcribed.

Gaines, Jane will 1645

Records and files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts
Volume 1, Page 163

Henry Gaines b. 1612

/ Kirstin Miller

Henry Gaines 8th great grandfather of Faber Miller who married Gladys Cable.

Henry was born about 1612 in England, near Olney, Buckinghamshire, England. On May 17, 1634 Henry married Jane Partridge. Around 1637 Henry and his brother in law William Partridge sailed to America. Their spouses may have sailed with them or come later.  In the Massachusetts Bay Colony on March 14, 1638 Henry and William become Freemen: they vowed to defend the Colony and to not overthrow their British rulers.  

Lynn Marshes

Henry settled in Lynn, Massachusetts where he was a juryman, owned land and farmed. The Gaines family probably lived near the seashore. Both Henry and Jane died in their 30s. Henry didn’t leave a will but Jane’s will gives and inventory and information on the 3 son’s apprenticeships. John was apprenticed to Francis Dowse of Boston, a shoemaker. Daniel was apprenticed to Luke Potter of Concord a tailor. Samuel was apprenticed to Nathaniel Handforth. 

Sources