On the Hunt for the Elliott Ancestors

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

When you love genealogy like I do, it's exciting to find a new clue about your ancestors.  Unfortunately, sometimes the clue doesn't get you anywhere; it just gives you more ideas for more places to search.  Follow the trail with me as I take an ancestor hunt.       

For many years, I have been looking for the father of Chester Elliott.  In fact, my very first blog entries described the family mystery surrounding his identity.

It is important to identify Chester Elliott to help confirm or rule out the claim that our earliest Elliott ancestors in America were the parents of Deacon Jacob Elliott who came to Boston in 1630.

So, when a google search turned up this listing from the Yearbook of the Wisconsin Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, 1896 for the father of Chester Elliott (as part of the documention for George W. Wing's SAR membership), I thought I was on to something!

Page 104 of the SAR Yearbook lists these details about David Elliott according to the application filed by George W. Wing. 

"...enlisted July 12, 1781 as a fifer in his brother Captain Joseph Elliott’s company of Colonel William Thomas’ regiment of the Massachusetts troops of Sutton, Massachusetts.  David served four months and 23 days in the Revolutionary War. 

Authorities:  War Records of Massachusetts; Records of Sutton"
Massachusetts soldiers and sailors of the Revolutionary War, Vol. 5, pg 287

Armed with this information, I was on the trail.  At least I thought I was.

I looked at the Revolutionary War lists for soldiers from Massachusetts named David Elliott, Captain Joseph Elliott and Colonel William Thomas.  Nothing conclusive jumped out at me.

I looked at the Sutton Vital Records and came up with two David Elliotts:

1)  David, son of Joseph and Jerusha, b. Oct 11, 1734
2)  David, son of Joseph Jr. and Susanna, b. Feb 19, 1766

And two Joseph Elliotts:

1)  Joseph, son of Joseph and Jarusha, b. Nov 17, 1731
2)  Joseph, son of Joseph Jr. and Anna, b. August 19, 1775

One pair seemed too old: 1) David, 47 and Joseph, 50; and the other is definitely too young: 2) David, 15 and Joseph, 6, on the enlistment day in 1781.  While fifers did enter the service as young as age 9, it is impossible that set 2) could be right because this Joseph could not be a captain at age 6. 

Then, assuming that set 1) David IS the father of Chester Elliott and Chester was born somewhere between 1774 and 1780, David would have been 40-46 years old when his son Chester was born and 41-47 when he enlisted in 1781 .  His older brother, Captain Joseph Elliott, would have been about 50 when David went into the service.

To consider if it would have been plausible for David and Joseph to be in the Revolutionary War between the ages of 41 and 50, I read the Militia Act of 1792 (written just 10 years later).  It clarified whom the militia consisted of.  The Act reads: 

"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That each and every free able-bodied white male citizen of the respective States, resident therein, who is or shall be of age of eighteen years, and under the age of forty-five years (except as is herein after excepted) shall severally and respectively be enrolled in the militia, by the Captain or Commanding Officer of the company, within whose bounds such citizen shall reside, and that within twelve months after the passing of this Act..."

That tells me it is reasonable that these brothers could be serving at their ages.

Then I e-mailed the Town of Sutton offices and their historical society.  Both responded with suggestions and contact addresses for further research but did not have any information except a record that "a David Elliott" died at age 27, no date of death available.  They had no record for children of David Elliott.

On my next blog entry I'll provide an update on the hunt for the elusive David Elliott.

This information turned out to be inaccurate.  See the post called Elliotts of Sutton, Massachusetts for an update.

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!

Another Elliott Family

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Charles Doty (C. D.) Elliott was the son of George Washington Elliott and the grandson of Chester Elliott.  C. D. Elliott's obituary (d. July 19, 1899) claimed that his ancestor was Andrew Elliott, one of the 12 jury men for the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts.  If this is accurate, then our family's Elliott line did not begin with Jacob coming to America in 1631 because that Andrew is not part of Jacob's line.

Charles D. Elliott's information should be credible.  He was a newspaper publisher and editor most of his life--a man who would be aware how to dig into a story and gather facts.  Furthermore, his wife, Ella Zerbey Elliott, was an author, assistant to the editor of a newspaper, and proprietor of a newspaper for many years in addition to writing short stories and researching for articles.  In 1916, Ella Zerbey Elliott published the Blue Book of Schuylkill County.  In it, she outlined "The Elliott Line of Descent".  ( pages 246-249)

Based on Ella's outline of descent, the father of Chester Elliott was John Elliott.  This John Elliott married Rebecca Parker it reads and had children:  Chester, David, George Washington, Zylphia and perhaps others.  He came from Easthampton, Mass., moved to Bowman's Creek, N.Y., and ultimately to Cayuga County, Ohio.  This John Elliott served in the Revolutionary War from Massachusetts.

This John Elliott did exist.  According to his Revolutionary War Pension File, he married Rebecca Gardner, not Rebecca Parker.  John's pension file mentions only one child, a son named Lewis. The Elliott Line as described by Ella Zerbey Elliott resembles other published lines of descent for this family (see page 436, The Elliott Line, IV Nathaniel, 3 John).  But, more than ten people registered on Ancestry.com claim Chester Elliott, the son of John and Rebecca Elliott, was married to Abigail Ellis in 1812 in Ohio and that this Chester Elliott had two daughters, Independence and Abigail, and that he died in Ohio. 

That doesn't fit our family bio for our Chester Elliott who married Betsey Benjamin on July 6, 1797 and died at his son Joseph's home in Canada around 1832.   

Now stay with me people.  More clues next time....      

            

My Family in America -- From England to Wisconsin and Nearly 400 Years in Between

Monday, June 28, 2010

My daughter suggested that I write a blog.  "You could put all that stuff you know about our family history in it and share it with me and the family, and, maybe someone would read it who knows something you want to know," she said.  Well, maybe.  Yes, maybe.  With nearly 25 years of genealogy research on my bookshelves, in my archives and in my noggin, I think I'll give it a whirl.  It might be fun!

The first thing I needed was a little inspiration about where to start.  The blog background my daughter added "fits the bill".  In fact, the signs for locations in England and the map of Wisconsin inspired me.  I decided to wind my way through nearly 400 years of tales of our family heritage.  So, let's begin....

There is a mystery in my family's history. 

In 1632, my ancestor John Benjamin and his wife, Abigail Eddy Benjamin, sailed from England on the ship "Lion" to join Governor Winthrop's colony.  The lineage is easy to follow and the documentation is clear.  No controversy exists with the Benjamin Family ancestors.  I'll share more about them--much more about them--later. 

But then there are the Elliotts.  The Elliotts are problematic.  Who were our Elliotts?  The variations in the spelling of the name are just one of the many challenges in unraveling the thread of this family line.  I believe our Elliott ancestors were from the Elliott Hill Line--the family line that begins in America with the first Jacob Eliott. 

Jacob Eliott (1606-1651), the father, came to Governor Winthrop's colony in 1631 (perhaps even as early as 1628) aboard the ship "Lion"--the same vessel that brought the Benjamin family a year later.  Jacob was the brother of John Eliott, the famed Apostle to the Indians.  Jacob's son, who was also named Jacob (1632-1693), was a yeoman and became deacon of South Church in Boston.  The son Jacob was among the first children born in the colony.  Upon Deacon Eliott's death, Samuel Sewell, (a judge of the Salem witch trials who later expressed his deep regret for the injustices of the witch trial hysteria) called Deacon Jacob Eliott, (see page 382, August 16, 1693 entry of Sewell's journal) one of his dearest friends and one of the most Serviceable men in Boston.  I found Deacon Jacob Eliott's grave on my recent trip to Boston.  His remains are in Granary Burying Ground surrounded by his wife and children. 

Grave of Deacon Jacob Eliott at Granary Burying Ground, Boston

The lineage of this Eliott family beginning with the father Jacob is this:  Jacob; Deacon Jacob; Jacob (b. 1673 who was first to move to Preston, Connecticut); Andrew (b. 1721); Rev. George Elliott (1757-1845) and George's brothers: Deacon Joseph, Jacob, Gidian and Jonathan.  This is where the mystery lies.  Were either Rev. George, Deacon Joseph or one of their brothers the father of our Chester Elliott?  Through process of elimination, I suspect Deacon Joseph is Chester's father.   

Reverend George Elliott's and Deacon Joseph Elliott's Baptist Church in Ames, New York was the same church that Jesse Benjamin, our ancestor who served in the Revolutionary War, attended.
 

Others believe Chester Elliott's father is from another Elliott line.  That doesn't seem likely.  More to come....