#85 - When New York Spoke Dutch - 9th great grandfather: Wolfert Gerritse Van Couwenhoven

When New York's Language Was Dutch

Dutch-American Heritage Day is this week, November 16. The Netherlands was one of the first nations to recognize the fledging American colonies as its own nation. Also, the Dutch sold Manhattan Island to the English for a song. Thank you...(I'll agree, the Lenapes got a raw deal).

Americans, at least the ones in New York, haven’t forgotten everything about the Dutch.

We sit on stoops (stoep). We will be spending our dollars (daalder) and will soon be waiting for Santa Claus (Sinterklaas)-and not Father Christmas as the English call him- to eat the cookies (koekje) we left for him. 

We are Yankees the world over, try to be the boss. And love those words like: booze, spook, coleslaw, quack, skate, landscape, cruise, frolic, pump, rucksack, roster, waffle, wagon, onslaught. Yep, all are words came from early Dutch settlers.

You know the team the New York Knicks?  When I first moved to Albany, NY the morning newspaper in town was The Knickerbocker News.  A knickerbocker is a descendant of the original Dutch settlers in New York. When I look in a mirror, I see a knickerbocker. 

"The Knick"  https://www.timesunion.com/photogallery/slideshow/From-the-archives-Capital-Region-marks-Pearl-187598.php

So I celebrate my New Netherlands Dutch ancestors who are more numerous than I thought. 

Let's start with a notable one I came upon when tracing the Tilton family of New Jersey. A woman named Conover married a Tilton, which took me back to Old New Amsterdam. I'll start with her gr-gr-gr grandfather and work my way back.

Wolfert Gerritse Van Couwenhoven

Wolfert Gerritse Van Couwenhoven [sometimes "Wolfert" is omitted] was an original patentee, a director of bouweries (farms), and a founder of the New Netherland colony (or New York).

Wolfert was born on 1 May 1579 in Amersfoort, Netherlands, one of three sons of Gerrit Suype Van Kouwenhoven and his wife, Styne Sara Roberts.

Career - Dutch West India Company

Wolfert ran a baking and clothes bleaching business, when in 1625 he was assigned as one of the first settlers to cultivate farms in the New Netherlands colony by the Dutch West India Company. (He was 46 in 1625, the Mayflower landed in 1620).

Director of Bouweries for Kiliaen van Rensselaer

In 1630, he returned to the Netherlands, where he entered into a contract with Kiliaen Van Rensselaer to return to the colony to manage his farms.  (He was 51).

Wolphert arrived in the colony aboard the ship "Eendracht", where he proceeded in his duties as director for van Rensselaer's farms in Rensselaerwyck and Fort Orange. [Near my house: today’s Renssealaer and Albany, respectively. Quite far up the Hudson River from New York City]

His contract was to run through 1636, but Gerretse requested it cancelled early so he could pursue his own interests. Rensselaer agreed. In 1632, Gerretse was released from his contractual obligations. (He was 53).

New Amersfoort

Shortly thereafter, he leased a bouwerie (farm) in New Amsterdam and managed it until 1636, when he was granted a patent of several hundred acres on Long Island. (He was 57).

He called his plantation "Achervelt"; later it served as the founding of the town of New Amersfoort, named after Gerritse's original home.

Today the area is known as Flatlands (which is in Brooklyn). His plantation was located near the current intersection of King's Highway and Flatbush Avenue.

Farm description

A 1638 inventory for the farm named Achtervelt, owned by Wolfert Gerritse and Andries Hudde in what is now Flatlands, Brooklyn, describes the estate:

"...one house surrounded by long, round palisades; the house is 26 feet long, 22 feet wide, 40 feet high with the roof, covered above and all around with boards..."

Hudde and Gerritse also had a 40 by 18-foot barn.

I found out a decade or more ago his deed of the granted land in Long Island was sold to a private collector for $156,000 becoming “one of the oldest Dutch documents in private hands.” The deed dated June 6, 1636 and was written in Dutch. It outlines the purchase of the land (3,600-acre) from the Lenape Indians.

Public service

In 1637, he became a Freeholder in Midwout, and again in 1641.

In 1653, he was sent by the colony to the States-General in the Netherlands as a Commissioner.

In 1654, Wolphert served as a Schepen (a kind of councillor) of New Amsterdam, and in 1657 was made a Burgher. (He was 78).

He served on the citizens council of Eight Men.

Marriage and children

A member of the Dutch Reformed Church, on 17 January 1605, he married Neeltje Jacobsdochter at the church in Amersfoort, Netherlands.

They had three sons:

1 *Gerret (1610–1648), a Representative at the Council of Eight in 1643 (my ancestor)

2 Jacob (1612–1670), assistant to Gov. Woulter Van Twiller, Representative at the Board of Nine in 1647, 1649–1650, sat on the Court of Arbitrators between 1649–1650, Delegate of New Netherlands to the Hague in Holland

3 Pieter (1614–1699), one of the first magistrates of New Netherlands, member of the Schepens Court 1653–1654,1658–1659, 1661 and 1663, delegate from New Amsterdam to the Convention of 1653, Lieutenant in the Esopus War, signer of the peace treaty 1664 with the Esopus Indians

Descendants/Spelling:

Later variations on surname: Some descendants of Wolfert anglicized the surname "Van Kouwenhoven" to "Kouwenhoven," Eventually they descended to full Anglicization as they became:  "Kownover,"  and "Conover." 

Death Gerretse died in 1662 at 83 (sometime between 2 March 1662 and 24 June 1662). Likely buried Flatlands Dutch Reformed Church Cemetery.

Note: The progenitor of the Vanderbilt family named Jan Aertszoon (1620–1705) (AKA Jan Aertson) a Dutch farmer from the village of De Bilt in Utrecht, Netherlands, emigrated to the Dutch colony of New Netherland as an indentured servant to the Van Kouwenhoven family in 1650. (And, we are co-incidentally descended from that family also)

 From their son Gerrit Woflert Van Couvenhoven to my family:

Son Gerrit Wolfertsen Van Couwenhoven  Abt 1610- abt 1648

His son: Willem Gerretse Van Couwenhoven 1636-1728

His son: Garret Van Couvenhoven  1716 – 1797

His son: Daniel Garretse Conover  1749 – 1823 (died New Jersey)

His son: Daniel D Conover of New Jersey 1800 – 1841 M. M Vanderveer

Their daughter Sarah Jane Conover (1831) married William Henry Tilton 1820 -1899

Their son: Henry Addison Tilton (b. in Brooklyn, died in Chicago)

Their son: William Henry Tilton (b. in Brooklyn, died in Butler, PA)

Their son: Charles B Tilton (b. in Butler, PA, died in VA)

His children included my Mother

As a nice bonus, today Wolphert Gerritse Van Couwenhoven's place is included in Dutch place names in NY:

Some Dutch place names in New York

› Battery Island (a batterij or battery of cannons was once stationed here)
› Beekman Street (after Willem Beekman)
› Bleecker Street (the Bleecker family)
› Bowery Lane (garden, Bouwerijlaan)
› Bronx (Jonas Bronck)
› Bridge street (after Brugstraat)
› Broadway (after Breede Wegh which means broad road)
› Brooklyn (after Breukelen)
› Bushwick (in Brooklyn, after Boswijk)
› Boerum Hill (in Brooklyn, after the Boerum family)
› Coney Island ("Konijneneiland" means Rabbit Island
› Dutch Kills (Queens) Names ending in kill are of Dutch origin in Beaverkill,Poestenkill, etc, and mean a creek or river
› Dyker Heights (in Brooklyn)
› Flushing (Queens, was Vlissingen)
› Gansevoort Street (after Peter Gansevoort)
› Gerritsen Beach (in Brooklyn, after Wolphert Gerritse)
› Harlem (after Haarlem)
› Hells Gate (called Helle Gadt, referring to dangerous currents in the East River)
› Hempstead (after Heemstede)
› Holland Tunnel, Holland Avenue
› Long Island ("Lange Eylandt" named by Adriaen Block, 1614)
› Nassau Street (in Manhattan)
› New Dorp (in Staten Island, dorp means village)
› Rhode Island (after Roodt eylandt which means Red Island)
› Spuyten Duyvil Creek (after Spuitende Duivel or Spitting Devil, referring to dangerous currents)
› Staten Island (after Staten Generaal in the Netherlands)
› Stuyvesant Street (after Peter Stuyvesant)
› Todt Hill (Staten Island, after Dodenheuvel which means hill of the dead)
› Wall Street (after the city wall around Nieuw-Amsterdam)
› Wyckoff Street (Brooklyn, after Pieter Claesen Wyckoff)
› Yonkers (after Jonker, Jonkheer and jonge Heer)

Sources:
1 FamilySearch: November 2020
2  Lincoln C. Cocheu, "The Van Kouwenhoven-Conover Family", 

New York Genealogical and Biographical Record Vol.70-71,81-83 (1939-40, 1950-52): 70:235. (accessed: WorldCat)
3 Internet Archive: Colonial Dutch Families
4  Holland Society of New York; New York, New York; Freehold and Middletown, Part 1, Book 61A ; Source Information: Ancestry.com. U.S., Dutch Reformed Church Records in Selected States, 1639-1989 Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. with Original data: Dutch Reformed Church Records from New York and New Jersey. Holland Society of New York, New York, New York.
5  https://firstsettlers.genealogyvillage.com/EarlyNewJerseyHistories.html
6 ~ Screenshot of "Knickerbocker News" from:  https://www.timesunion.com/photogallery/slideshow/From-the-archives-Capital-Region-marks-Pearl-187598.php

7 https://archive.org/details/dutchfoundingofn00janviala

Other Resources:

https://www.newnetherlandinstitute.org/research/new-netherland-research-center-on-site-resources/

#84 - Westbury, Long Island, NY 1869: Beard or No Beard?

 1869 Beards at the Apex

1869 Westbury Friends Meetinghouse

It was the way to wear your hair in the US: between 1850 and 1901 all of my male ancestors who were young men during the Civil War (AND who were American & whose photo I have) wore beards.
The photo above is a1896 photo of some of the Westbury Friends at the Westbury (Long Island, NY) Meetinghouse.
I first saw in at the Westbury Historical Society.  [You might want to see if you have an ancestor pictured here]. 

Then I noticed it in my cousin's house--she lives in the same house our great grandmother (Bertha Hauxhurst) lived (in PA) after she was married. Bertha's father is in the above photo, as are many of Bertha's relatives.

In the 1990s an elderly relative on Long Island (Esther Hicks) provided an enormous amount of information, including the key to the photograph. 

Both the key and the names to each circled number is provided below.

Back to Beards:
When I looked closely at the photo, I saw fewer than half the men have beards, some seem to have whiskers, and there might even be a mustache in this group. 
I would guess though the Quakers here have in part adopted the fashion of the day (some have 'trendy' stove pipe hats), that they seemed to resist the beard largely. I wonder if it may have been because they were conscientious objectors to war (even if they agreed with the Union)?
I don't know. But, it was fun to examine more closely each face in the photo as I could see some of their expressions. 

Key to Westbury Friends Meeting Members - See Names below

Westbury Quaker Meeting 1869  

Note: # 33 and #39 are unnamed, not recognized. There is a 35 & a 35A to compensate a numbering error.

1 Wm E Hauxhurst - No beard -  (my gr gr grandfather)

2 Wm Hewlett - No
3 Wm Mudge - Whiskers or Beard
4 Isaac Rushmore -No
5 Benjamin Hicks (Manhasset) - No
6 Stephen Rushmore - No
7 Charles F Titus - No
8 Wm T. Cock - No
9 John S. Hicks - Whiskers or Beard
10 James Titus - No
11 Joseph Post - No
12 Lewis Valentine -No
13 Edmond Seaman -No
14 Edward Willets - No 
15 Henry Titus - No
16 Stephen R. Hicks - No 
17 Howard Rushmore - No
18 Hannah Keese
19 Lydia Townsend
20 Henry T. Willets - Beard or whiskers
21 Samuel Keese - No
22 John Keese - No
23 Anna Valentine
24 Edward Rushmore -No 
25 Hannah B. Titus
26 Daughter of Benj. Hicks
27 Daughter of Benj. Hicks
28 Mary W. Seaman
29 Mary Jane Willits
30 Thomas Hicks - No
31 Jacob Hicks - No 
32 William Henry Willits - No
33 --N/A
34 James Post -No
35 John Valentine - No
35A Sidney Pratt -No
36 Benjamin Hicks (Roslyn) - No
37 Mary P. Titus
38 Sarah A. Willets
39 ---
40 Mary F. Titus
41 Phebe Post
42 Amy Keese
43 Esther or Hannah Willets
44 Caroline H. Hicks
45 Charity Hawxhurst
46 John D Hicks - No
47 Jane Titus
48 Annie C. Titus
49 Phebe Barnes (Purchase)
50 Hannah B. Cock
51 Hannah U. Hicks
52 Rachel Post
53 Marietta Willets
54 Joseph Hicks - Yes, nice beard!
55 Elmina Post
56 Mary W. Post
57 Annie T. Willets
58 Frederick E. Willits - No Beard but does he have a mustache??
 

---

Sources
Photo: MB Walmer Collection (by way of Bertha Hauxhurst) - photo

Key: from Esther Hicks (Emory) B 1903 D. 2004 (age 101). Daughter of Henry Hicks & Caroline Jackson. Wife of John M  G Emory. Esther Hicks Emory corresponded with Margaret Tilton Walmer and provided the "key" which she had gotten from a sister. 

#83 - My Grandfather was a Spook, but not spooky

Really, a Spook?

My maternal grandfather Charles Tilton is in this blog: he is several posts. He and my grandmother lived in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania until World War 2 came along. 

When the US entered WW2, my mother was in 7th grade. And although Charles (finally) had a job he liked, by 1942 he signed up for the US Army Air Corps (called the AAF, the predecessor to the US Air Force). When Charles was deployed, his wife and family moved to Adams County, PA, close to relatives and within a few years my mother & her sister went off to college. 

But their brother was much younger brother so was home with his parents the entire time. This uncle kindly updated me of my grandfather's work most of which was after my mother was in college, or married with a family. 

My uncle's information expanded my knowledge of Charles'  his military and postwar career as a military officer and a civil servant. Though Charles set out to be a landscape designer, but somehow became a Spook. That is, he worked in intelligence.  And I was told he worked for the Pentagon. You never know...

Most of this post is from my "guest blogger," my uncle. It covers a period of his life I had only sketchy information in previous posts. The post covers from when Charles entered military service early in World War 2 till he officially retired. (Thank you, Uncle Bill!)

~ Charles B Tilton’s Jobs from World War 2 On~

Charles not only came out of the war "unscathed," he also made an important contribution to the war effort.

He was an intelligence officer in the 390th Bomb Group (H), at Framlingham, United Kingdom. 

He briefed the B-17 missions to the crews, interrogated them after the missions, and interpreted their bombing photos to assess the damage done.

CB Tilton's Bombing Missions over Germany 1945

Charles had cut a manila folder into two strips and hand-wrote the key points of the nature and value of the target, the route to it, the expected German defenses, possible alternate target, and other pertinent information. 

[His son] donated his briefing notes for the notorious Schweinfurt mission to the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio, USA.

~ After the War~

At the end of the war he started a landscaping business in Flora Dale, PA.  

After he had landscaped the properties of all the wealthy potential customers in this area, mostly doctors plus the president of Masland Carpets, he had to fold up the business.

~ Back to Active Duty~

1948 comes to mind. During the reactivation period Charles  went back into Active Reserves for the [Berlin] Airlift.

As a USAF Reserve officer, he applied to go back on active duty. The Berlin Airlift started just then, fortuitously, and he was activated and assigned as chief of intelligence for the airlift. 

Form he filled out: Personal History - P 1 of 6 I have 

Berlin, Germany was deep inside the Soviet Zone, but the city itself had French, English, and US Sectors, besides the Soviet Sector. 

NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organization] was created during the Airlift (in 1949), so it may have become a NATO operation, but it was not a rebuilding of Europe project.  It was a skirmish in the Cold War. 

Charles' role was Chief of Intelligence for the Berlin Airlift, which was a joint English/US operation to save Berlin from starving and freezing to death when the Soviets blocked off all the land routes. 

However, he downplayed the importance of that significant-sounding job because the Airlift was basically a cargo-hauling operation. However, the crews did have to fly over Soviet-owned territory.

At the end of the Airlift Charles was chief of wing intelligence for Rhein/Main AFB, near Frankfurt (where his wife Elizabeth and son joined him).

At the end of that tour, he was assigned to select and study strategic targets in the Soviet Union for four years, in D.C.

He returned from the Air Force assignment in Frankfurt in January of 1952.

~ Back in the USA ~

Back in the USA from 1952 to 1956 he was in the CIA "targets" section in Washington, D.C.   

~Then Back to Europe Again ~

Then Charles was assigned to Naples, Italy, and it was a NATO job. 

There he represented the US Air Force in a "joint" role, rubbing shoulders with officers from other NATO participants. 

All 12 NATO nations (NATO was a response to the former USSR's efforts to basically take over Europe) sent officers to the various headquarters. 

The NATO located in Naples is for the whole Southern region, including the Middle East to the extent that NATO gets involved there. 

The original HQ of NATO was in France, but DeGaulle pulled out, and the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers in Europe.

SHAPE  (Supreme Headquarter Allied Powers in Europe) moved to Brussels, Belgium, where it is today.  

Eisenhower was the first SHAPE commander, I believe.  I know that's what he was when he retired and then ran for president.

Charles was at Naples, Italy between 1956 to 1960, but it was also a military job.  

Although in fact, the military really had little to do with rebuilding Europe.  That was mostly State Department and their implementation of Marshall Plan, I think. [George S Marshall was the US Secretary of State at the time].

In 1956 Charles was working as an intelligence officer in the Armed Forces South NATO headquarters near Naples, Italy, working with NATO officers from Greece, Turkey, Italy, Portugal, etc., in all aspects of headquarters intelligence work.

~ And Back to the USA ~

After which, in 1960, he was assigned as Deputy Commander.

Then, in his final year, he was Commander of the Air Force Intelligence Training School, which at that time was at Sheppard AFB in Wichita Falls, Texas (the school later moved to Colorado).

But, as a Reserve officer Charles could not legally remain on active duty past age 60 and was forced to retire. 

1962 Charles Tilton retires from USAF

As he was older, that is, he was 39 when he joined, he could have gotten 20 years needed for retirement had he not been in the Inactive Reserve for three years after the war. 

However, and fortunately, the law provided for a partial retirement pension for cases such as his.

~But Then ~ 

After a year or less of driving around and enjoying life Charles decided to go back to what he knew best, and applied for a Civil Service opening in the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). 

He worked at Arlington Hall Station for part of his time there, and in the basement of the Pentagon for part of it (I think the Pentagon was first). 

I believe he was in that job for about ten years, and the only thing I know about it is that he was in charge of the "Cuban Biographies" office during the Vietnam War (when Cuba was not in the spotlight). 

Charles had two brilliant Army lieutenants working for him there.  One time he was tasked to brief the Secretary of the Army on the whereabouts of Che Guevara.  He worked hard to prepare a first-class briefing (which I'm sure he did). 

Afterward I asked him what his answer to the question was.  "We don't know," summed it up!

----------------

Proof of him Spooking: Intelligence Analyst (VA death certificate); no rank given (Adams County PA Veterans list)

SOURCES:

1 Thanks to "Uncle Bill" for the writing.

2 Personal files (AC Higgins/Johnson)

3 MB Walmer Collection

4 Ancestry.com

5 Gettysburg Times Archives

6 Wikipedia

7 Deceased Veterans: Ancestry. Com: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Pennsylvania Veterans Burial Cards, 1950-2010; Series Number: Series 4

8 Death Cert: Ancestry. Com Virginia Department of Health; Richmond, Virginia; Virginia Deaths, 1912-2014

#82 Barnwell - McCune Clan: An Endless Parade of Characters

The Barnwell/McCunes: An Endless Parade of Characters

My grandmother Catherine Barnwell, her husband and children moved from Harlem NY when my father was a boy. When she moved, she not only left city living behind, but also her wonderful and kooky family-- 8 siblings.

The Barwnell children were:

 1 Alice Barnwell (1905–1952) M McGee

 2 Lawrence Joseph Barnwell (1909–1991)

 3 * Catherine Florence Barnwell (1911–1992) M Higgins (*my  grandparents)

 4 Richard Barnwell (1913–1981) 

 5 Regina Mary Barnwell (1916–1980) M Waite

 6 Thomas Joseph Barnwell (1918–1976)

 7 Gerard Barnwell (1921–1985)

 8 Lucille Josephine Barnwell (1924–2000) M Traylor

 9 Vincent G Barnwell (1926–1990)

Clearly then, my father has a lot of cousins, and I have a lot of second cousins who unfortunately tend to rotate the same few first names. Hence there are several "Veronicas" and "Lucilles" as well as "Gerards," "Lawrences" and "Vincents." 

To help me sort out the different generations and to share photos, I made a Facebook group for the Barnwell generations. 

Once I formed the Facebook group, I enjoyed the online exchange. For example, I asked my cousins about the children of the Barnwells (birthdates, etc). 

(Understand, most of them live (or used to live) not far from one another and saw one another with frequency.) 

I listed the children of Gerard and Lucille Knapp and asked for help:

Gerard Barnwell married Lucille Knapp. 
1 Agnes Maria Barnwell 1944–1995
2 Gerard Barnwell Jr 1954–2000
3 XXX Female Alice AKA"Missy" –
4 Male #2
5 Daughter #3 –
6 Daughter #4-

• This list prompted one cousin to say to Missy, “I didn’t know your first name was Alice!” 
• And Missy wrote back to her: “Neither did I until I went to school!” 

From the Facebook Group came a story which is representative of this side of the family. It's about my great Uncle Larry, his wife and another relative of my cousin
My cousin on Facebook told this story:

>>Our uncle Larry (Lawrence Barnwell), Helen (his wife Helen Hannon) and a cousin’s mother’s brother Sonny had become fast friends, at the time all three of them were all in their early 80's. And, the three of them were invited to my cousin’s wedding in the mid 1900s (she, a dutiful niece to them all). 

They, along with many others drank. But those three, Aunt Helen, Uncle Larry and Sonny, got really drunk. 

Now, the couple and Sonny happened to live, not on Long Island, but in Long Island City (part of Queens, NY). 

People at the wedding saw how drunk their relatives/friends were and grew quite worried about them. They begged them to accept a ride home.

But for some reason, Sonny and Larry and Helen turned down the numerous offers of rides home.

So instead, all three of them went home together on the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) home. 

On the way, they must have fallen asleep and missed their stop. 

They wound up in the yards where the conductor found them all snuggled up together, sleeping quietly. 

Yep, here they were, cuddled up senior citizens sleeping off a drunk. 

As it was the end of conductor's shift, he loaded them into his car and took them to their homes. <<

Exhibit 2: When a Photo Speaks Volumes: all in one family photo

My father’s side of the family, as I’ve always said, knows how to liven a party. My brother claims they have the “wild gene.” 

The photo above has my grandmother's parents: John JL Barnwell & Agnes McCune, several of her brothers and sisters and spouses, a niece and a nephew. 

------

Photo:

From Veronica "Vera" Higgins Gordon

#81- How Charles Tyson Made His Family Proud - A Recollection from His Son

How Charles Tyson Made His Parents Proud

Edwin Comly Tyson and Susannah Griffith, Charles' parents, would have been proud of Charles. As a young man he struck out, and learned a trade, settled in a new town, found a gal, had a family and became fairly prosperous. 

The point of family history is not to state the facts, but to fill in the "who's, why's and how's" answering questions such as, Why did he do this? Who helped him? How did he make his decision, or find his way? But unless we have recorded information, we can only guess or deduce some of those, and much of it we will never know.

I was lucky enough to find a letter from his son (my gr grandfather's brother) Edwin “Ned” Tyson (b. 1864). Ned was a genealogist and meticulous in his attention to detail. Apparently Ned wrote a letter in response to a letter from Albert Cook Meyers, a distant relative of his. Meyers had a question regarding Ned's father. Ned outlines for Meyers when, how and why his father came from Philadelphia to Gettysburg, PA.

The story was set in motion when my great-great grandfather Charles Julian Tyson decided to move: He headed out of Philadelphia in the 1859. 

Below is my transcription of Ned Tyson's letter to Albert Cook Meyers. Just a note: the photo is of Ned Tyson, Charles' eldest son, because Ned preserved so much family history. Though an uncle, he deserves some kind of honor in this space)

Edwin (Ned) Comly Tyson - Preservationist

Albert Cook Meyers
Moylan, Pennsylvania
January 29, 1940

Dear Albert:

Thy very interesting communication of the 26th finds me temporarily in bed as being the best place in the doctor's belief for me to complete recuperation from the effects of the Farm Show and I have had the Dictaphone moved down to facilitate my taking care of various business correspondence. The clipping for the 1860 Census taken by Aaron Sheely is interesting.

In 1859 Father [Charles J Tyson] left his home in Philadelphia where living conditions were none too rosy to strike out for himself. As he was born in 1838 he was then just under 21 years of age. Just why he started in this direction [towards Gettysburg] I don't completely recall, but he finally landed in York [PA] and called on a photographer at that place asking for a job.

The photographer had plenty of help, but suggested that there should be a good opening for a photographer at Gettysburg and recommended that Father proceed there and look over the situation which he did.

Upon investigation he decided that Gettysburg should be a good starting point, a situation which was concurred in by Judge Wills and several other prominent Gettysburg people whom he consulted. 

He found that Judge Wills had a building adjoining and in fact attached to his residence which, with certain alterations, would be suitable for a photographic gallery and upon consultation with carpenters it was determined that the necessary changes could be made for $200.00, and Judge Wills agreed to stake him for the room rent for a year and the carpenter for the carpenter work when Father divulged to them that he just had $10.00 to his name.

It was arranged that the carpenter make alterations at once which they estimated would take about two weeks.

And in the meantime Father returned to York and arranged to work for his board with the photographer previously consulted for the purpose of learning the business, he having no previous workable knowledge of it.

I think it was the following First-day [Sunday] after he had returned to Gettysburg and started a business that he learned of a settlement of Friends [Quakers] up this way [Menallen and Warrington Meetings], and hired a team and drove out to Meeting and was invited home to dinner by Cyrus Griest which proved to be a momentous trip and the start of a friendship which resulted in his marrying Cyrus Griest’s daughter in April 1863.

His business flourished and the report thee sends indicates that by June 1860 he had secured the assistance of his brother, Isaac Tyson, establishing the firm of Tyson Bros. and continuing for several years until Uncle Isaac returned to Philadelphia to open a gallery for himself in that city which he continued the balance of his life, he having in the meantime married a first cousin of Mother’s [Maria E Griest], Rachel Griest.

Father and Mother [Charles J Tyson & Maria Griest] lived on what was then the lower end of Chambersburg Street at the time of the battle [Gettysburg] between the homes of William Boyer who was then a grocery man with a store, which later became Eckerts store, and Annie Hannaway and only a few doors east of John Burner’s home.

They were warned to leave their home on the first of July and left before noon getting as far as Littlestown (south east) where they remained till the morning of the 4th [Jul 4 1863].

-- Ned Tyson

Source:

MB Walmer Collection

#80--How Old? The Hawxhursts of Shropshire or of Hawkhurst!?

How Old? 

The fun of having English ancestors is that English surnames can  give you a good lead on the origin of a particular branch of the family. Names like "Cook"  are not particularly helpful, but place names can be. My maternal lineage is the one I can trace back the furthest with reliability.

My mother's mother's maiden name was "Hawxhurst, and they came from Long Island." Hawxhurst is not a particularly common name in North America. I knew that the Hawxhursts had come from England.

Seeking Hawxhursts

I started with the assumption that the “Hawxhurst” surname came from the original place a Hawxhurst ancestor lived. English surnames often grew from their location. I found out that surname use in England grew between 1400s-1600s as populations grew and social customs changed. 

I searched online for a location in England which sounded similar to Hauxhurst. And I found one! There is a village in Kent, in south east England by the name of “Hawkhurst”--a likely candidate to me.

How Old is the Village of Hawkhurst? 

I’m hazarding a guess that at some point some of my Hauxhurst ancestors were living in “Congehurst” or Hawkhurst, England in the 800s AD. I wondered how old the village was and the village website said it was a Saxon manor which the Danes burned in 893 AD.  That is a long time ago. Ask yourself, when did England actually become England? Wikipedia claims it was 927 AD.

 I copied this from the Hawkhurst Village website:

>>Hawkhurst is a village in the borough of Tunbridge Wells, Kent. The oldest known settlement was the Saxon manor of Congehurst, which was burnt by the Danes in 893 AD. There is still a lane of this name to the east of the village.

The name Hawkhurst is derived from Old English heafoc hyrst, meaning a wooded hill frequented by hawks – 'Hawk Wood'.  And hurst (hyrst) in a place name refers to a wood or wooded area. 

The 11th-century Domesday Monachorum refers to the village as Hawkashyrst, belonging to Battle Abbey. 

In 1254, the name was recorded as Hauekehurst; in 1278, it is often shown as Haukhurst… By 1610, it had changed to Hawkherst, which then evolved into the current spelling. <<

 Back to the Hawxhurst Family:

Next I checked on locations: the village Hawkhurst is in SE England in Kent, but my Hawxhurst family came from Shropshire [alternatively Salop (abbreviated, in print only, Shrops)].

Shropshire is its own county, located in West Midlands near Wales. As mentioned earlier the village called "Hawkhurst" is in Kent, which is not near Shropshire. 

I’ll hazard a guess (and in genealogy everything is temporary until DNA proves it’s not) and say that my ancestor, William Hawxhurst, (my earliest known ancestor in Shropshire) had moved to Shropshire from Hawkhurst in Kent (but if not him, then one of his predecessors).

Having thus moved, he would have provided the Shropshire locals a reason to call him “William of Hawkhurst,” which would eventually be shortened to a surname: “William Hawkshurst” (or spelled "Hawxhurst)".

Spelling Doesn’t Count: Genealogists tend to spend more time focusing on the phonetic variations than on the exact spelling of surnames through time. 

The name Hawxhurst has been spelled: "Hawkshurst" (mostly in 19th cent and earlier docs) "Hawxhurst" and "Hauxhurst," almost interchangeably. In earlier days, there likely were more variations.

GENERATIONS of SHROPSHIRE HAWXHURSTS: 1 William Hawxhurst, 2 Christopher Hawxhurst, 3 Sampson Hawxhurst and 4 Christopher of England & the American Hauxhursts

Generation 1 Presumably, William Hawxhurst (of Shropshire) or his family had come from Hawkhurst in Kent. William had at least one son named Christopher Hawxhurst.

Gen 2 His son Christopher Hawxhurst, Curate of St. Chad’s
Christopher Hawxhurst was born about 1521 in Shrewsbury, Shropshire [Salop] England. He died in August 1576 also Shrewsbury, Shropshire [Salop], England.

A record states: “Christopher Hawxsworth [yet another spelling] married October 15, 1550, Elizabeth. They had William, baptized October 15, 1551.”
And Christopher had another son (Rev) Sampson, my direct ancestor.
Christopher Hawxhurst was the Vicar or “Curate” of St. Chad, Shrewsbury, Shropshire having been appointed to position on the accession of Queen Elizabeth. He succeeded John Marshall (who was ejected on the accession of Queen Elizabeth in 1558 for refusing burial in his church to Mr. Burton of Longnor).
With Elizabeth's ascent to the throne, it was an eventful time.
It suggests that Christopher and/or his father or wife was politically connected to the new Queen for a brief history of Elizabeth's changes see more at end of post.*

St. Chads was a 'Curacy' though it has been styled a Vicarage.  The Church of St Chad is a parish church in the area of Stowe in the north of the city of Lichfield, Staffordshire, in England. The current building dates back to the 12th century.

St. Chad's, Lichfield, England

Christopher died of plague, August, 1576. One entry reads: "Christopher Hawksworth, Died of Plague, Aug., 1576. "
 

Gen 3  His son Samson Hawxhurst
Samson Hawxhurst was born in 1571 in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England.
Education:
• He matriculated Balliol College, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England on 6 Nov 1590.
• He was conferred with the degree B.A. from Balliol College, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England on 28 June, 1593.
• He was conferred with a B.D. Degree from Magdalen Hall, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England on 9 Jul 1607.
Lichfield Cathedral
From 1607-1622 Samson was Canon of Lichfield Cathedral, Lichfield, Staffordshire, England.
Lichfield Cathedral in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England, is the only medieval English cathedral with three spires.
The Diocese of Lichfield covers Staffordshire, much of Shropshire, and parts of the Black Country and West Midlands.

Family:
Samson had at least three children with his wife Alice. 

His son Christopher Hawxhurst was born about 1615 in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England.

Samson died in 1627 in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England, at the age of 56.

Gen 4 His son Christopher Hawxhurst 

Christopher in Nuneaton, Warwick, England. Baptized on 11 Jan 1615 at Dunchurch, Warwickshire, England

(*Warwickshire County Record Office; Warwick, England; Warwickshire Anglican Registers; Roll: Engl/2/1024; Document Reference: DRO 73;Registers. Warwick, England: Warwickshire County Record Office.)

He died aft. 1683 in Matinecock, Long Island, NY.
He immigrated with Robert Coles, and his sister, Mary who had married Coles, arriving in New England before 1643 (Salem and Ipswich). 

He soon moved to Rhode Island, and was elected deputy to the Rhode Island General Court. In Rhode Island he married Mary Reddock. They remained in RI for ten years, then moved with Richard Townsend and Joseph Carpenter to Oyster Bay, Long Island, NY. 

Once there he bought 70 acres at Matinecock in 1665.

Gen 5 - Children of Christopher and Mary:
~William B c. 1657: Ch: Sarah and William.
~Mary B c. 1660: M 17 Nov  1684, George Townsend
~Jane B c. 1663; M Jarvis Mudge, Ch: Jarvis, Elizabeth, Mary, Jane, and Charity.
~Sarah B c. 1667; M William Crooker, Ch: Robert, William, Samson, Sarah, Benjamin, and Abigail.
~ Samson Hawxhurst (Gen 6)

Samson was B in Oyster Bay, Long Island, NY c. 1670. He died in Oyster Bay, NY on 25 January, 1733.
Samson married Hannah Townsend  on 18 January 1698 (Born abt 1680; D. abt 1757). 

Hannah was given 180 acres at Cedar Swamp by her father as a wedding present.
Samson's will dated 23 October 1732, and probated at New York 21 November 1732
Samson and Hannah had Joseph Hawxhurst. 

 

The successive Hauxhurst generations, all born in Oyster Bay, Buckram or Locust Grove:

Gen 7 Joseph Hauxhurst (M Sarah Mott)
Gen 8 William Hauxhurst (M Violetta Allen)
Gen 9 Ephraim C Hauxhurst (M Charity Titus)
Gen 10 William E Hauxhurst (M Marianna Hicks)
Gen 11 Bertha C Hauxhurst (M Chester J Tyson)- my great grandmother

* For more on religious events at the time which may have some bearing on Christopher Hawxhurst having been installed as a curate of St. Chad's.

"When Queen Elizabeth I came to the throne in 1558 her people were divided by religion. Her sister, Mary, had made Roman Catholicism the official religion of the country, but many of the people were Protestant, and there was a growing number of Puritans. 

To bring together these different groups and ease religious tensions, Elizabeth came up with what became known as the Religious Settlement. 

In 1559 she passed two laws:

 1-The Act of Supremacy: making Elizabeth the Supreme Governor of the Church, taking power away from the Catholic Pope in Rome. 

(Henry VIII had done the same in his reign, but called himself the Head of the Church, so her title as Governor implied she would be less dictatorial, more tolerant.)

2 -The Act of Uniformity

This made Protestantism England’s official faith and also set out rules of religious practice 

and worship in a revised prayer book. Between 1559 and 1563 introduced the acts which made up the Church Settlement. 

This returned England to the Protestant faith stating that public worship, religious books such as the Bible and prayers were to be conducted in English rather than Latin. The new Book of Common Prayer was introduced, adapted from earlier Books used under the Protestant Edward VI.

But Elizabeth was careful not to erase all traces of Catholic worship and retained, for example, 

the traditions of candlesticks, crucifixes and clerical robes. 

By pursuing a policy of moderation she was attempting to maintain the status quo and, although Puritans were particularly upset by the continuance of some Catholic traditions, an uneasy compromise was reached and maintained throughout her reign. " 

This information was accessed on Oct 3, 2020 from BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zg68tyc/revision/1

 

Some Sources:

Ancestry.com (records)

Warwickshire County Record Office; Warwick, England; Warwickshire Anglican Registers; Roll: Engl/2/1024; Document Reference: DRO 73;Registers. Warwick, England: Warwickshire County Record Office.)

The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record By Richard Henry Greene, Henry Reed Stiles, Melatiah Everett Dwight, George Austin Morrison.

History of Shrewsbury, Shropshire (Salop), by Owen & Blakeway, Vol. II., p. 212;

Incumbents of St. Chads and History of Shrewsbury, H. Owen, p. 153, Ministers of St. Chads.

 Village of Hawkhurst in Kent: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawkhurst

Oxford University Alumni, 1500-1886 (Ancestry.com)

England & Wales, Calendar of the Principal Ecclesiastical Dignitaries, 314-1853 (Ancestry.com)

Warwickshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1535-1812 (Ancestry.com)

Global, Find A Grave Index for Burials at Sea and other Select Burial Locations, 1300s-Current (Ancestry.com)

Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s (Ancestry. com)

PHOTO CREDIT:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichfield_Cathedral#/media/File:Lichfield_Cathedral_2010-10-13.jpg