By now you should know that my surname is Lamb and that I've been able to trace my direct surname line to Francis Lamb (b. 1796 in Ireland). There's an old family legend that links this line with a famous Lamb, a link that I am still trying to prove. You've probably heard of him. His nickname has appeared in quite a few crossword puzzles through the ages. That nickname is Elia, and the poet was Charles Lamb.
Showing posts with label legend. Show all posts
Showing posts with label legend. Show all posts
Another family legend - Cotton Mather
Today's family legend is one that is told for my wife's side of the family. For a while now we've heard the story that the famous Reverend Cotton Mather is related into her ancestry. There may be some truth to this, but we have yet to prove it.
Cotton Mather circa 1700. The Wikimedia commons description page for this image asserts that it is in the public domain.Reverend Cotton Mather was born on 12 February 1663 as the son of Increase Mather (b. 21 June 1639; d. 23 August 1723) and Maria Cotton. There are a few references that I can find that mention a niece to Cotton Mather named Lucinda Mather. Such a notation is made in American Ancestry; volume I, the city of Albany by Thomas P. Hughes in 1887 (page 71) and also in Genealogical and Personal Memoirs ... of Massachusetts; volume IV by William Richard Cutter and William Frederick Adams in 1910 (page 2280). Both of these books state that she married David Shepard (b. 1744; d. 1817 or 1819) and explicitly state that Lucinda was Cotton's niece. In American Ancestry, there is further evidence of a Shepard/Mather connection in the use of Mather as a recurring middle name within the Shepard family.
Our family records show Lucinda Mathers (sic) married to James Goodhue, with their daughter Mary Jane Goodhue born in Albany in 1819. Some of the family papers suggest that Lucinda's father was named Eli Mathers and then go on to suggest that Cotton Mathers (sic) was Eli's father. The eras between the Lucinda Mathers in our family records and Lucinda Mather in the above noted references seem to loosely coincide, and it is entirely possible that James Goodhue was a second husband for Lucinda after David Shepard's death. What I haven't seen so far is any connection between Increase Mather and Eli Mathers; if the legend holds and the two women are the same, then Eli should be a son of Increase.
Is our family's Lucinda Mathers really the same woman as the aforementioned Lucinda Mather, niece of Reverend Cotton Mather? Clearly more proof is needed to make this connection.
Cotton Mather circa 1700. The Wikimedia commons description page for this image asserts that it is in the public domain.
Our family records show Lucinda Mathers (sic) married to James Goodhue, with their daughter Mary Jane Goodhue born in Albany in 1819. Some of the family papers suggest that Lucinda's father was named Eli Mathers and then go on to suggest that Cotton Mathers (sic) was Eli's father. The eras between the Lucinda Mathers in our family records and Lucinda Mather in the above noted references seem to loosely coincide, and it is entirely possible that James Goodhue was a second husband for Lucinda after David Shepard's death. What I haven't seen so far is any connection between Increase Mather and Eli Mathers; if the legend holds and the two women are the same, then Eli should be a son of Increase.
Is our family's Lucinda Mathers really the same woman as the aforementioned Lucinda Mather, niece of Reverend Cotton Mather? Clearly more proof is needed to make this connection.
Researching the family legends
There are a few family legends that I heard many years ago that are still guiding my research inquiries. No, we don't have a legend of a connection to Billy The Kid, but there are a couple other famous people that are supposed to be connected to the lines I'm researching. I'll start with two legends on my own lines for this post and save other legends for later.
Oliver Wendell Holmes
The family legend that has had the most influence on my research direction so far is that my Holmes line connects to the Supreme Court Justice, Oliver Wendell Holmes (OWH). I found this legend so fascinating from the day that I heard it, I've been trying to prove a connection to OWH's line.
The oldest Holmes that I have been able to prove in my line is Levi C. Holmes, born in 1814, in Hightstown, Mercer County, New Jersey. He married Mary N. Van Marter (born 1813), and together they had 5 children, including Charles H. Holmes (born 1838), William Ward Holmes (b. 1839, Trenton, NJ; m. Anna M. Wharton, 19 Sep 1861, Trenton, NJ; d. 1921), Harrison Holmes (born 1841), Clark Brownwell Holmes (my 2nd great grandfather; b. 6 Oct 1843; m. Phoebe Pullen, 1868), and Mary Holmes (born 1846). Levi's family appears in the 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880 US census enumerations in East Windsor (for 1850) and Hamilton, Mercer County, New Jersey.
The Supreme Court Justice, Oliver Wendell Holmes, was born on 8 Mar 1841 in Boston, Massachusetts. His father, also named Oliver Wendell Holmes, was born on 29 Aug 1809, and died on 7 Oct 1894 in Boston. The elder OWH's parents were the Reverend Abiel Holmes (born 24 Dec 1763) and Sarah Wendell (married 26 Mar 1801). There are a number of published genealogies that take these lines back to the mid-16th century. At one time I had this line entered into a database, but I've misplaced my backup of this database and must go back to the notes and photocopies I made of the original references. Thankfully, I made photocopies of the title pages of the books I was referencing so I should be able to find the books again somewhere.
At this point I'm very certain that my Holmes line does not directly descend from either OWH, but from what I've researched so far, a connection a little further back somewhere above Abiel might be possible.
Two Pullens meet on a boat...
The second legend that intrigued me was the story of Peter and Eliza Pullen. The family legend is that Peter and Eliza already shared a surname when they met and started a relationship while on the ship that took them from Britain to America during the time of the Great Potato Famine.
The facts as far as I've been able to find are that Peter Pullen was born in 1817 somewhere in the British Isles, and died sometime after 1907, with a will prepared in 1892 in Mercer County, New Jersey. Eliza Pullen was born to James Pullen in 1820, also somewhere in the British Isles, and died in 1897 (some records indicate that Peter was a widower, which would mean Eliza died at least before 1907) in Mercer County, NJ. Together they had three children: Phoebe Pullen (married Clark Brownwell Holmes in 1868, as mentioned above), Anna M. Pullen (b. East Windsor Twp, Mercer County, NJ; m. Stephen B. Bergen in Dec 1863), and Eliza Pullen (born Oct 1863 in Washington Twp, Mercer County, NJ).
There are a few grains of truth that seem to bolster this family legend more than the Holmes legend above. I've found that the elder Eliza's father was named James Pullen, and that both Peter and Eliza were born somewhere in the British Isles. According to one British surname popularity tool, Pullen is the 937th most popular surname in Britain with 10,776 people still living in the UK that share this surname; the tool also indicates that most of the Pullens are currently located in Highland County, Scotland, where Pullen is the 76th most popular surname. Wikipedia mentions that the Irish Potato Famine led to mass migrations away from Ireland in the late 1840s, which would fit the facts for the birth dates and locations that I've been able to find so far. I have read that there was some intermingling of family lines between Ireland and Scotland, but I need to read more on this before I make a more definite connection between these two data points. I haven't gone very far yet to prove this legend, but so far, it's looking very probable.
Oliver Wendell Holmes
The family legend that has had the most influence on my research direction so far is that my Holmes line connects to the Supreme Court Justice, Oliver Wendell Holmes (OWH). I found this legend so fascinating from the day that I heard it, I've been trying to prove a connection to OWH's line.
The oldest Holmes that I have been able to prove in my line is Levi C. Holmes, born in 1814, in Hightstown, Mercer County, New Jersey. He married Mary N. Van Marter (born 1813), and together they had 5 children, including Charles H. Holmes (born 1838), William Ward Holmes (b. 1839, Trenton, NJ; m. Anna M. Wharton, 19 Sep 1861, Trenton, NJ; d. 1921), Harrison Holmes (born 1841), Clark Brownwell Holmes (my 2nd great grandfather; b. 6 Oct 1843; m. Phoebe Pullen, 1868), and Mary Holmes (born 1846). Levi's family appears in the 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880 US census enumerations in East Windsor (for 1850) and Hamilton, Mercer County, New Jersey.
The Supreme Court Justice, Oliver Wendell Holmes, was born on 8 Mar 1841 in Boston, Massachusetts. His father, also named Oliver Wendell Holmes, was born on 29 Aug 1809, and died on 7 Oct 1894 in Boston. The elder OWH's parents were the Reverend Abiel Holmes (born 24 Dec 1763) and Sarah Wendell (married 26 Mar 1801). There are a number of published genealogies that take these lines back to the mid-16th century. At one time I had this line entered into a database, but I've misplaced my backup of this database and must go back to the notes and photocopies I made of the original references. Thankfully, I made photocopies of the title pages of the books I was referencing so I should be able to find the books again somewhere.
At this point I'm very certain that my Holmes line does not directly descend from either OWH, but from what I've researched so far, a connection a little further back somewhere above Abiel might be possible.
Two Pullens meet on a boat...
The second legend that intrigued me was the story of Peter and Eliza Pullen. The family legend is that Peter and Eliza already shared a surname when they met and started a relationship while on the ship that took them from Britain to America during the time of the Great Potato Famine.
The facts as far as I've been able to find are that Peter Pullen was born in 1817 somewhere in the British Isles, and died sometime after 1907, with a will prepared in 1892 in Mercer County, New Jersey. Eliza Pullen was born to James Pullen in 1820, also somewhere in the British Isles, and died in 1897 (some records indicate that Peter was a widower, which would mean Eliza died at least before 1907) in Mercer County, NJ. Together they had three children: Phoebe Pullen (married Clark Brownwell Holmes in 1868, as mentioned above), Anna M. Pullen (b. East Windsor Twp, Mercer County, NJ; m. Stephen B. Bergen in Dec 1863), and Eliza Pullen (born Oct 1863 in Washington Twp, Mercer County, NJ).
There are a few grains of truth that seem to bolster this family legend more than the Holmes legend above. I've found that the elder Eliza's father was named James Pullen, and that both Peter and Eliza were born somewhere in the British Isles. According to one British surname popularity tool, Pullen is the 937th most popular surname in Britain with 10,776 people still living in the UK that share this surname; the tool also indicates that most of the Pullens are currently located in Highland County, Scotland, where Pullen is the 76th most popular surname. Wikipedia mentions that the Irish Potato Famine led to mass migrations away from Ireland in the late 1840s, which would fit the facts for the birth dates and locations that I've been able to find so far. I have read that there was some intermingling of family lines between Ireland and Scotland, but I need to read more on this before I make a more definite connection between these two data points. I haven't gone very far yet to prove this legend, but so far, it's looking very probable.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)