Elliott Evidence

Saturday, July 3, 2010

I believe my ancestor was Jacob Eliott of Boston.  I think Ella Zerbey Elliott was confused and linked the wrong Chester to our family.

Here's the evidence:

1.  A sketch of the life of George W. Elliott, son of Chester Elliott, was published in Commemorative Biographical Record of the Counties of Brown, Kewaunee and Door, Wisconsin, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Chicago, 1895 by J. H. Beers and Co.  It reads:  "Hon. George W. (G. W.) Elliott, one of the prominent and honored pioneers of Ahnapee and the State of Wisconsin, is a native of New York State, born February 13, 1804, in Martinsburg, Lewis county.  His grandfather, Joseph Elliott, who was a native of Massachusetts, born of English parentage, became a Baptist preacher of no little renown.  He (Joseph) died near Utica, N.Y., when over eighty years of age, the father of a large family by his wife whom he married in Massachusetts.  Of his (Joseph's) sons, Chester, the eldest, was born in that State (Massachusets) whence he came to Lewis county, N.Y., where he followed farming, and was highly honored and esteemed; he (Chester) died of cholera, in 1832 at the home of his (Chester's) son Joseph in Canada...."  This was published when G.W. Elliott was alive and was probably based on a personal interview of him.  G. W. Elliott was the son of Chester and the father of Charles D. Elliott thus he was closer to the generation of his father Chester and grandfather.  So, he should have had better knowledge of the family history than Charles would have. 

 2.  George W. Elliott died in 1897.  His obituary in the Algoma, Wisconsin newspaper says "...His family trace their lineal descent from Deacon Jacob Elliott, who was among the first English settlers to establish themselves at Boston in 1630..."

3.  G. W. Wing, grandson of George W. Elliott wrote in his family history newsletter, The OWL, (page 68, "Where the Elliotts Lived"):  "The late George W. Elliott, who died, July 1, 1897, in his 94th year, stated that his grandfather Elliott was a Free Will Baptist minister, who lived at a place called Bowman's Creek, not far from Utica, New York.  He was uncertain as to the christian name of his grandfather, who he had never seen but on one occasion, in early youth, when the latter came up from Bowman's Creek to visit his son Chester and family at their house in Lewis County.  He described the grandfather, as he remembered seeing him upon this occasion, as 'a man of large frame', and that he believed that his given name was Joseph." 

4.  George W. Elliott's son Irving's obituary (Friday, December 26, 1941 in the Algoma, Wisconsin Record Herald newspaper) states "The Elliott family traditions were intertwined with American history.  The first Elliott came to Swampscott, Mass., in 1628, seven years after the landing of the Pilgrims in Plymouth Rock."  Swampscott is Boston and these early comers would be the brothers Jacob and Rev. John Eliott. 

Conclusion:  Chester's father was probably Joseph Elliott, deacon of the Ames Baptist Church in Conajoharie, New York.  But he most certainly WAS a descendant of Deacon Jacob Elliott who was one of the first new colonists born in Boston, Massachusetts.  Case closed.

Tomorrow we celebrate Independence Day, one of my favorite holidays!  Happy 4th to you all!