In 2018 and 2019 my genealogy project focused on writing about my ancestors on their birthdays. It was a crazy project and it about killed me, but I completed it. In this essay, I’m going to wish happy birthday to all of my “June” ancestors.
June 1: Samuel Kingsley (8th great-grandfather, 1669-1745).
Samuel was the third of four children born to Eldad and Mehitable Mowry Kingsley in the area of Bristol County, Massachusetts. Samuel’s earliest immigrant ancestor was his great-grandfather John Kingsley, who came to Massachusetts with his wife and all of his children in 1635. Samuel may have married twice, although the records are unclear about this. By his first wife, Hannah Brackett, Samuel had one child, a boy named John. By his second wife, Mary Washburn, Samuel had seven children, including my 7th great-grandmother Mary Kingsley, who was their sixth child. I connect to Samuel through my Arnold family line.
June 2: Susannah Brownell (8th great-grandmother, 1655-1728).
Susannah was the last of 10 children born to Thomas and Anne Bourne Brownell in Little Compton, Newport, Rhode Island. Thomas and Anne had married in London in 1638 before coming to Massachusetts the same year. After two years in Braintree, Thomas and Ann relocated with their daughter Mary to Portsmouth, Rhode Island. Thomas owned a large amount of land in Portsmouth and also served the town as juror, constable, and "water bailey," a position which gave him jurisdiction over fisheries and other maritime matters. Susannah married Esek Carr in Newport, RI, in 1684. Susannah and Esek had nine children, including my 7th great-grandmother Elizabeth Carr. I connect to Susannah through my Ellefritz family line. I am also descended from Susannah’s older brother William, through my Arnold family line. Susannah’s 6th great-granddaughter Orpha Ellefritz married William’s 5th great-grandson John Arnold in Hancock County, Illinois, in 1916.
June 4: Mary Burr (6th great-grandmother, 1729-1799)
John’s great-grandfather Benjamin Burr came to Massachusetts by 1635 and was one of the founders of Hartford. Her mother’s earliest immigrant ancestor was her grandfather, Thomas Salmon, who came to Massachusetts in the 1630s. Mary certainly grew up hearing the story of Thomas’s tragic death in an Indian raid on Northampton in 1675, when Mary’s mother was only two years old. Mary married William Manley in Hartford in 1752. Mary and William had six children, including my 5th great-grandfather, Luther Manley, who was their fourth child. I connect to Mary through my Ellefritz family line.
June 5: Thomas Brownell (8th great-grandfather, 1608-1665)
Thomas was the second of three children born to Robert and Mary Wilson Brownell in London. Thomas married Anne Bourne in England, and they settled in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, in 1639. Thomas and Anne had 10 children, including my 7th great-grandfather William, who was their fifth child, as well as my 7th (or 6th) great-grandmother Susannah, who was their 10th child. I connect to William through my Arnold family line and to Susannah through my Ellefritz family line. Thomas’s 7th great-granddaughter Orpha Ellefritz married William’s 6th great-grandson John Arnold in Hancock County, Illinois, in 1916.
June 6: John Pease (6th great-grandfather, 1707-1786)
John was the fifth of 12 children born in Edgartown, Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, to Benjamin and Jean Arey Pease. John’s mother died with John was 16 years old; his father remarried, to Abiah Vincent, with whom he had five additional children. John married Hepsibah Ripley in Edgartown in 1748. Hepsibah was descended from two other immigrants, Joseph Farnsworth and Abraham Ripley, who had settled on Martha’s Vineyard in the 1630s. They had nine children, including my 5th great-grandfather, Prince Pease. Prince was the only one of the children of John and Hepsibah to leave Martha’s Vineyard; he moved to Maine (still part of Massachusetts at the time) after his father’s death in 1786. I connect to John through my Arnold family line.
June 8: Vandia Orilla Brown (2nd great-grandmother, 1825-1900)
Vandia Orilla Brown (know as Rilla) was born in Fredonia, Licking County, Ohio in 1825, the third of eight children born to Harley and Anna Alden Brown. Rilla married Miles Arnold in Licking County in 1844, where they had eight children in the space of 15 years, including my great-grandfather Warner Lismond Arnold, who was their sixth child. Three of their first five children died in infancy. Miles served in the 76th Ohio Infantry during the Civil War, and was wounded at the Battle of Atlanta in 1864. After he returned from the war, they had three more children as they moved to Illinois, Kansas, and back to Ohio before settling finally in Illinois, where Rilla died in 1900, just a year after Miles’ death. I connect to Rilla through my Arnold family line.
June 8: Hannah Manley (4th great-grandmother, 1781-1874)
Hannah was the first of two children born in Massachusetts to Hannah Benton and Luther Manley in Massachusetts. By 1798, Hannah had moved with her family to Onondaga County in upstate New York, near Syracuse. Hannah married Daniel Cody in Onondaga County in 1798. Hannah and Daniel had 13 children, including two sets of twins. Their third child, Melinda, was my 3rd great-grandmother. I connect to Hannah through my Ellefritz family line.
June 9: Samuel Wyckoff (6th great-grandfather, 1725-1813)
Samuel was the only child of Elizabeth Maritie Delgyn and Nicholas Wyckoff. He was born in Readington, New Jersey, about 50 miles west of New York City, where his great-great-grandfather Pieter Claesen Wijhkoff had immigrated as an indentured servant in 1638. Samuel married Geertje Charity Wyckoff in Readington in 1749. Geertje was Samuel’s cousin; Samuel’s father Nicholas Wyckoff was the brother of Geertje’s father John Wyckoff. Samuel and Geertje had two children, including my 5th great-grandmother Elizabeth Wyckoff, who was their first child. I connect to Samuel through my Workman family line; his daughter Elizabeth married Jacob Workman in 1770.
June 9: Geertje “Charity” Wyckoff (6th great-grandmother, 1725-1778)
Geertje was the only child (that I can identify) of John and Geertje Vliet Wyckoff. She was born in Readington, Hunterdon, New Jersey. Her earliest Wyckoff ancestors was her 2nd great-grandfather Peter Claesen Wyckoff, who came to New Amsterdam in 1635 as a 10-year-old indentured servant. The Wyckoff family settled first in Brooklyn and then moved to New Jersey sometime after 1700. Geertje married Samuel Wyckoff in New Jersey in 1749. Samuel was Geertje’s first cousin; their fathers were brothers, John and Nicholas Wyckoff. I connect to Geertje through my Workman family line. (Note: I’m suspicious of some of this information. I think it is unlikely, although not impossible, that Geertje and her husband Samuel were born on the same date. These records may have been conflated over the years.)
June 10: Samuel House (10th great-grandfather, 1610-1661)
Samuel was the last of nine children born to John and Alice Lloyd House born in Eastwell, Kent, England. John was rector of the church in Eastwell. Samuel came to Massachusetts in 1635, settling first in Scituate and then moving to Cambridge in 1642, Barnstable in 1644, and then back to Scituate in 1645, where he remained. He is identified in the records as a ships carpenter. He married Elizabeth Hammond in Watertown in 1636. Samuel and Elizabeth had eight children, including my 9th great-grandfather Samuel House, Jr. Samuel died in 1661. I connect to Samuel through my Arnold family line.
June 10: Susannah Wilbur (6th great-grandmother, 1718-1796)
Susannah was the third of 13 children born to Samuel and Elizabeth Carr Wilbore in Little Compton, Newport, Rhode Island. On her father’s side, Susannah is descended from members of the Wilbure (Wilbore) family who joined Roger Williams in the founding of Rhode Island in 1637. On her mother’s side, her ancestors include several members of the Carr family who came to Massachusetts in the 1620s and 1630s, and also settled in Rhode Island with Roger Williams in 1637. Susannah married Timothy Tripp in Rhode Island in 1737. They had six children, including my 5th great-grandmother Rebecca, who was their fourth child. I connect to Susannah through my Ellefritz family line.
June 10: Mary Parmenter (7th great-grandmother, 1644-1727)
Mary was the third of six children born to John and Amy Ames Parmenter in Sudbury, Massachusetts. I think that Mary’s grandfather, also named John Parmenter, was a minister in England, and that her father John was a tavern-keeper in Sudbury. Some of the records conflate the two John Parmenters and it’s a little difficult to get them straight. Mary married Richard Burke in Sudbury in 1670. Mary and Richard had eight children, including my 6th great-grandmother Mary Burke, who was their fifth child. An interesting side note – Mary Burke married George Parmenter, Jr., her second cousin. I connect to Mary through my Ellefritz family line.
June 11: Lydia Mosher (6th great-grandmother, 1717-1787)
Lydia was the last of 10 children born to Joseph and Lydia Taber Mosher in Bristol County, Massachusetts (on the border between Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Lydia (mother of the birthday girl) was descended from two Mayflower passengers – Francis Cooke and Richard Warrant – who settled in Plymouth in 1620. Joseph was a mason and owned significant amounts of land in Bristol County. Lydia married Timothy Deuel in Bristol, Massachusetts. They had 10 children, including my 5th great-grandfather Benanuel Deuel. I connect to Lydia through my Ellefritz family line.
June 12: Hugh Mosher (8th great-grandfather, 1632-1713)
Hugh was born in England (I think) in 1632 (I think). His father was also named Hugh, and the records are a little unclear as to which Hugh was who. He was apparently the only child of Hugh and Lydia Mosher, who came to New England in the 1630s and settled in Rhode Island. Hugh (the birthday boy) was a blacksmith by trade as well as being an ordained pastor of the Baptist Church in Westerly, Rhode Island. He married Rebecca Maxson in 1666 and they had eight children, including my 7th great-grandfather Joseph Mosher. I connect to Hugh through my Ellefritz family line.
June 13: Libuccah Sabina Bridwell (6th great-grandmother, 1713-1785
Libuccah (odd first name – I can’t find anything that suggests she had a nickname) was the second of three children born to Samuel and Sarah Bridwell in Stafford County, Virginia (near Fredericksburg). Libuccah’s earliest immigrant ancestor was her great-grandfather Thomas Bridwell, who had come to Virginia in the 1640s as a “headright” immigrant. Libuccah married Seth Botts in Stafford in 1735. They had 12 children over 24 years, including my 5th great-grandfather John Botts (1754-1796). I connect to Libuccah through my Ellefritz family line.
June 14: Cyntha Lambert (3rd great-grandmother, 1803-1880)
Cyntha was born in Virginia to Isham and Sally Blanton Lambert in 1803. I don’t know anything about her parents, except that her father was probably born in England sometime before 1783. She married William Sutton Overman (called “Jake”) in Hardy County, Virginia (it would later become part of West Virginia), in 1823. They had five children in Virginia (including my 2nd great-grandmother Susan Amesley Overman), four children in Ohio, and three more in Missouri before Jake’s death in 1850. I connect to Cyntha through my Anthis family line.
June 14: George Abbott II (9th great-grandfather, 1631?-1689)
George was the second of three children born to George and Mary Abbott in Chappel, Essex County, England. He came with his parents to New England in 1637 and settled with them in Rowley. His parents had two more children in Rowley. About 1655, he moved to North Andover. He married Sarah Farnum in Andover, Mass. on April 26, 1658. they had 13 children, including my 8th great-grandfather John, who was their fifth child. I connect to George through my Ellefritz family line.
June 16: Benjamin Scott (9th great-grandfather, 1612-1671)
Benjamin was born in England – probably in Essex, although I don’t know that for sure. I don’t know anything about his parents or how he came to Massachusetts. He first appears in the records when he marries Margaret Stevenson in 1642. He and Margaret had seven children, several of whom died in infancy. Benjamin died in 1671 at the age of 61. He left a sum of money to Margaret, but it proved insufficient to sustain her over the years of her widowhood. Poor, widowed, and alone, Margaret was accused of witchcraft in 1692 and was hanged, in the last spasm of the witchcraft hysteria that swept through Massachusetts. I connect to Benjamin through my Arnold family line.
June 21: Mary Hyde (8th great-grandmother, 1673-1723)
Mary was the fourth of 10 children born to Job and Elizabeth Fuller Hyde in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Job’s father Samuel Hyde came to Massachusetts in 1639 and settled in Middlesex County. Elizabeth’s father John Fuller came to Massachusetts in 1635 and settled in Essex County. I have to confess that I’m a little confused about Mary. I think she married William Brown and had several children by him, including my 7th great-grandfather John Brown, but I’m not sure about that. I have found records saying that Mary actually married Abraham Brown and had children by him, but I can’t reconcile the dates for this event. The marriage date I have for Mary and William is much too late for them to have had the children they are credited with having. There were a lot of men named William Brown around in this time period in Massachusetts, and a lot of them married women named Mary, so I’m just not sure about this. I think Mary had a son named John Brown in 1703, and he’s my 7th great-grandfather. I’m not sure who his father was. I think I connect to Mary through my Arnold family line.
June 22: Lloyd Cecil Arnold (father, 1918-2001)
Dad was the second of six children born to Orpha Ellefritz and John Cecil Arnold in Hamilton, Hancock County, Illinois. He moved to Tucson, Arizona, in the late 1930s. This is where he met and married my mother, Violet Henrietta Workman. They had three children – Kenneth (1944-2014), Karen (1947- ) (that’s me), and Maribeth (1954- ).
June 25: Daniel Benton (7th great-grandfather, 1696-1776)
Daniel was the sixth of nine children born to Samuel and Sarah Chatterton Benton in Hartford, Connecticut. Daniel’s grandfather, Andrew Benton, came to New England in 1639 and was one of the original settlers of Hartford, Connecticut. Daniel married Mary Skinner in 1722. They had 12 children over 14 years, including one set of twins. I am descended from their second child, also named Daniel. I am connected to Daniel through my Ellefritz family line.
June 26: Hugh Mosher (9th great-grandfather, 1600-1694)
Hugh was born in England to Stephen and Mary Mosher. I haven’t been able to find out much about them; Stephen apparently died before Hugh was born, and I don’t know anything about his mother. Hugh came to Boston in 1632; he married Lydia Maxson there in 1632 and soon settled in Rhode Island, where later in life he was deeded 1/5 of the town of Westerly, Rhode Island. Hugh and Lydia had five children, including my 8th great-grandfather, also named Hugh, who was their first child. I connect to Hugh through my Ellefritz family line.
June 26: Mary Elizabeth Overton (7th great-grandmother, 1675-1734)
Mary was the first of five children born to William and Elizabeth Mary Waters Overton in New Kent County, Virginia. William and Elizabeth had come to Virginia (landing first in York County) in 1670. As the story goes, William’s father, Robert Overton, had been imprisoned on the Isle of Jersey (off the French coast) because of his disagreement with Oliver Cromwell during the English Civil War of the 1650s. The family, however, didn’t know where he was imprisoned, so his son, William, came to Virginia to see if this was where his father had been taken. William’s family were Puritans and could not have been happy when William’s sweetheart Elizabeth, a Catholic, followed him to Virginia. One story has them marrying on board the ship that brought Elizabeth to Yorktown. As it turned out, Robert had never been brought to Virginia, and was soon released from imprisonment and allowed to return home. William and Elizabeth, however, stayed in Virginia, where they had their children and established themselves as significant figures in New Kent County. Mary married Robert Anderson in New Kent in 1690. They had eight children, including my 6th great-grandmother Charity Anderson, who was their sixth child. I’m a little uncertain about this – the Anderson and Poindexter families in New Kent seem to have some significant connections but I can’t quite untangle it. I connect to Mary through my Anthis family line.
June 29: Mary Bishop Taylor (8th great-grandmother, 1688-1770)
Mary was the second of seven children born to James and Mary Bishop Gregory in eastern Virginia. James’s first wife, with whom he had five children, had died in 1680, so James’s remarriage was not surprising. Mary was raised with a large family of older half-siblings and younger full siblings. Mary’s earliest Taylor immigrant arrived in 1648. On her mother’s side of the family, her earliest immigrant ancestor was her grandfather John Gregory, who was living in Rappahannock County, Virginia, in the 1650s. Mary married Henry Pendleton in New Kent County in 1701. Mary and Henry had 10 children before Henry’s early death at the age of 38 in 1721. I connect to Mary through my Ellefritz family line.
Happy birthday to your Dad! He's a very pleasant looking man. I love Daniel Benton's home. Are you saying that Rilla was buried in the same grave as Miles? I know some places doubled up burials like that. And how would you know without a marker of some sort? Your lineage is long and interesting.