#45- Mapping the Moves of Reynier /Reynear Tyson

Reynear Tyson & Margaret Strypers
Where Did They Live?

On the 11th of Jun, 1683 (William), Penn conveyed to Govert Remke, Lenart Arets, and Jacob Issace Van Bebber one thousand acres of land each, providing  that a certain number of families should go to Pennsylvania within a specified time.  

Very soon thirteen men, with their families, comprising thirty-three persons, nearly all of whom were relatives, were ready to embark from Rotterdam for London.  Through James Claypoole, a Quaker merchant in London, passage had been engaged for them and the money paid in advance.

Krefeld, Germany

The ship "Concord" sailed from England 7 mo. 24, 1683, and arrived in Philadelphia on 10 mo. 6, 1683.  

One member of this little band was Reynier Tyson, a young man, and believed to have been unmarried.  

With his companions he settled in Germantown, and later removed to Abington. 

When in Germantown, under the Penn Charter, he was one of the Burgesses, 1692, 1693, 1694, 1696.  

Base of Founder's Statue, annotated

He was one of the signers of the certificate, issued by the Quarterly Meeting in Philadelphia, addressed to the London Yearly Meeting, which Samuel Junnings bore with him to London, 1693, concerning the Keith controversy.  

In Abington he was a large landowner and an active businessman.

In a memorial published in the "Friend," Vol, XXX., page 229, it is recorded that: 

"Reynier Tyson was born in Germany in the year 1659.  

He was convinced of the truth whilst living there, and for his faithfulness thereto suffered persecution. 

He removed to Pennsylvania a few years after William Penn first obtained the Province, and settled himself within the limits of Abington Monthly Meeting, then called Dublin. 

He continued faithful to the manifestations of truth received, and grew in the esteem of his friends to a father in the church.  In the year 1725 he was appointed an elder, and continued faithful in fulfilling the duties of the station until prevented by age and indisposition.  His friends say he was innocent and inoffensive in life and conversation, and diligent in attending his religious meetings. 

He lived, beloved and honored, to a good old age, dying on the 27th of the seventh month, 1745, aged about eighty-six years." 

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

In the drawing for lots which took place in the riverbank cave of Pastorius, Reynier Tyson drew No. 5. 

He had purchased fifty acres in the Germantown township and lot No. 5 was laid out along the east side of the Main Street of Germantown, extending southwardly from where Bringhurst Street has since been opened. It reached in front of the highway 231 feet and extended back to the township line. It contained about 18 acres, undoubtedly his first home was erected on this lot. 

To the north of him was the home of Leonard Arets, from whom he had bought, and next towards the city was the lot of Jan Lucken.

Toward his fifty acres he was also given the corresponding No. 5 of the “side lots towards Bristol,” which contained twenty-two acres, lying just north of the present Washington Lane, and extending from the present Chew Street to Stenton Avenue, which was the township line. (See Map in History of Old Germantown). 

To complete the fifty acres there were 18 ¾ acres “broad thirteen perches and twelve feet” in the side land towards Pymouth betwixt the said inhabited part and the land of Jonas Potts.

This land Tyson held by virtue of a deed of sale from Leonard Arets, a first purchaser of 250 acres. 

Tyson's Lot in Germantown, PA 

The deed was dated October 10, 1683, and acknowledged in open court in Germantown, held Eighth Month 8th 1692. These three tracts Tyson sold in 1708 to one Isaac Van Sintern of Philadelphia for one hundred pounds (Philadelphia Deed Book E 5, Vol 7, p. 78).

Reynier Tyson, as he prospered, bought other lands in Germantown.

1st: Two parcels of land adjacent one to the other being both in breadth 14 perches and four feet and in length 11 perches and fifteen feet, being bounded southeasterly with the lot once of John Streipers and now Reiner Tison, westerly with the land of the liberties of the City of Philadelphia, and northward with the lot formerly of Herman op den Graeff and eastward with the eleven acres of Dirck op den Graeff. (Bought November 20, 1692, and November 13, 1683, and sold to John Henry Kuston, April 30, 1709.)

2nd: Two other pieces: “One situated in the inhabited part of the said town, being the very first lot of the same on the west side, containing 23 1/2 acres, making both 50 acres. (Bought of the Trustees of John Streipers, Crefeld, Germany, confirmed on open court in Germantown 12th Mo. 8th, 1703/4. 

Sold April 30, 1709, to John Henry Kuston. (Philadelphia Deed Book E 5, Vol. 7. p 205, etc.)

3rd: Two tracts in Crefeld in the German township, fifty acres of which he bought of Herman op den Graeff 3rd Mo. 1684, and sixty-six acres likewise in Crefeld which he bought of Dirck op den Graeff, 9th Mo. 27th, 1683. 

These were sold to William Strepers, "Leather Dresser" for 35 pounds, January 16, 1699 (Recorded Philadelphia Deed Book G, Vol. 10, p. 301, etc.)

 Reynier Tyson Moves to Abington

On Holmes Great Map of 1684, in the section which is easily identified as the modern Abington Township, is a five hundred acre tract extending from the Cheltenham Township line to the Susquehanna Street Road and labeled “Isaac Hobbs.” 

This is roughly described as being along certain lines of marked trees 480 perches, just a mile and a half in length, and 167 perches, or a little over one-half mile in width. This was patented to Hobbs in 1684 (Patent Book A, Vol 1, p. 259) 

This tract Hobbs sold in 1699 to John Colley, a hatter of Philadelphia, and he, in the following year, sold the half of it lying next to Cheltenham Township to “Reynier Tyson of Germantown, Yeoman.” (Penna. Archives, Second Series, Vol XIX, Minute Book “G,” p. 423.)

Just when Reynier Tyson moved from Germantown to Abington is not clear. 

It was not until 1708 and 1709 that he sold his home and the considerable other property he had accumulated in the Germantown Township, and the presumption would be that he moved to Abington about that time. 

He continued to live on his Abington farm the remainder of his years. 

His family became closely identified with the social life of Abington Meeting and most of his children intermarried with the members and attenders of that Meeting.

In 1727 he and his wife Margaret conveyed the Abington farm to their son Isaac, reserving to themselves, in the quaint language of the deed, “One room, commonly called the stove room, and also the kitchen, and free ingress and egress to the rest of the rooms in the said messuage, during the remainder of their lives.” 

This home farm descended from Isaac to his son Isaac (see Partition proceedings, Orphans Court, June 11, 1770), and again to an Isaac and his sister Sarah who in 1830 sold it out of the family to Samuel Schofield. 

This land may be roughly identified as lying north of the Germantown and Willow Grove Turnpike (or the Plank Road), and extending from Cheltenham Township line on the northwest to the road leading from Jenkintown to Fritzwatertown, called in some of the deeds, Jenkintown Road, on the southwest. 

The growing village of Glenside was spread over its western portion, and old property lines have long since disappeared. The land lay gently to the south on the lower slopes of Edgehill, and is underlaid with limestone. 

The lime which was used to build the State House in Philadelphia is said to have come from the kilns on the Tyson place, whether this is some other Tyson farm in Abington is unclear. A little stream crosses it southwestwardly, flowing eventually into Frankford Creek.

In the tax list of 1734 are the following assessments in Abington Township:

John Kirk -----250 acres

Isaac Tyson---100 acres

Rynier Tyson  100 acres

John Tyson -----60 acres

Peter Tyson ----200 acres

Abraham Tyson—60 acres

In Upper Dublin, Dirick Tyson –100 acres

In Northern Liberties, Richard Tyson—100 acres

In Perkiomen & Skippack, Matthias Tyson ---200 acres

Rynear Tyson’s Will

I, Rynear Tyson, of Abington in ye County of Philadelphia in ye Province of Pennsylvania, yeoman, being tho’ the Divine Mercy in Health of Body and of sound Mind and Memory & calling to mind that is is appointed for men once to die do make this my last Will and Testament, revoking & hereby disannulling all & every will & wills, Testament & Testaments heretofore by me made & declared either by Word or Writing and this only to be taken for my Last Will & Testament and none other & touching such Temporal Estate as it has pleased God to bless me with. I do hereby order, give & dispose of ye same in manner & form following. 

That is to say: First I will that all my Just Debts & funeral Expenses be honestly paid & discharged out of my Estate by my Excr, hereinafter named. 

Then I give, devise & bequeath unto my Grandson Matthew Tyson (son of my son Matthias Tyson) the sum of six Pounds current money of Penna. to be paid unto him out of my Estate by Executors at ye end or expiration of one full year after my decease which said Six pounds shall be in full  Barr against all or any of my said son Matthias Tyson’s Heirs claiming any further right to any other part of my estate. 

My Said Son Matthias Tyson having allredy in his life received of me his full share of my Estate. 

Then I give, devise, and bequeath unto my sons John Tyson, Abraham Tyson, Derick Tyson & Peter Tyson ye sum of Six pounds current money of Penna to each of them to be paid unto each of them, their Heirs or Assigns out of my Estate by my Executor at ye End and Expiration of one full year after my decease. 

Item. I give unto my son Henry Tyson the sum of Eight pounds of like lawfull money the aforesaid which said Eight pounds is to be allowed by him to be the Eight pounds that I answered for him to Benjamin Lay. 

Item. I give unto my Daughters Elizabeth Luken and Sarah Kirk ye sum of Six pounds Lawfull money of Pennsylvania to each of them to be paid unto them or their assigns by my Executor at ye Expiration of one full year after my Decease and over and above what is above Devised I give unto my daughter Elizabeth Luken all my Dutch [Deutch?] books. 

Also my mind and will is that all goods Remaining in ye Stove Roome (except ye stove) shall be equally divided between my sons John, Abraham, Derick, Peter and Henry and my Daughters Elizabeth Lukens and Sarah Kirk. 

Share and Share alike and further it is in my mind and will that on ye receipt of the aforesaid legacies or sums by me bequeathed hereby, that all and all manner of writings that in any wise belongeth to me or that is in any wise relating to any affairs of mine being in ye hands or keeping of any of my aforesaid Children shall without delay be given and delivered up unto the hands of my Executor. 

Item. I give unto my Granddaughter Abigail Tyson my Riding hors to ye use of her and her assigns forever and my mind and will also is that what Remains of my estate over and above ye aforesaid Legacies by me here in before bequeathed that the same shall be and continue in ye hands of my Executor to be ye use of him and his Heirs and Assigns forever.

And lastly, I do hereby nominate, constitute and appoint my son Isaac Tyson to be my Executor of this my Last Will and Testament. In Witness Whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal the twenty first day of December in ye year of our Lord 1741.

Be it known y’t: it is ye mind of y testator that no more of his goods but what is in ye Stove Rooms is to be divided among ye above Legatees inserted before signing.

His

   Reynour       ✘       Tyson (seal)

Mark

Published pronounced and declared

by ye sd. Reynour Tyson

SOURCES for this post:

1 The settlement of Germantown, Pennsylvania, and the beginning of German emigration to North America by Hon Samuel Whitaker Pennypacker, LLD; Printed: William J Campbell, Philadelphia, 1899, New Era Printing Company, Lancaster, PA  (Internet Archive.org; Sept 2020)

2  Genealogy of the Shoemaker family of Cheltenham by Shoemaker, Benjamin H, 1827 Pub 1903, J. B. Lippincott, Philadelphia PA pp 13 and 14 (Internet Archive, Sep 2020). 

3 Reynear Tyson's Will: from Ancestry.com (accessed Sept 2019)

4 Descendant Information from: FamilySearch.com; Ancestry.com and Archives of Margaret B Walmer and Edwin C Tyson

Descendants of Reynear Tyson

Reynear Tyson & Margaret Streypers

Their children

Mathias 1686–1727

Isaac 1688–1766

Elizabeth 1690–1765

John¹  1692–1775

Abraham 1694–1781

Derrick 1696–1776

Sarah 1698–1780

Peter 1700–1791

Henry 1702–1738

 John Tyson¹ (1692–1775) M Priscilla Naylor (1697–1760)

Their children

Reynear Tyson 1721–1797

*John Tyson 1730–1768

Susanna Tyson

Mary Tyson

Sarah Tyson

Margaret Tyson

Elisabeth Tyson

 John Tyson² M. (1730-1768) M Hannah Cleaver (1737–1811)

Their children

*John Tyson Abt 1760 Abington, Philadelphia, PA D 1794

Rebecca Tyson 1763–

Isaac Tyson 1765–1835

 John³ Tyson 1760-1794 M Mary Kirk B Aug 1757

Their children

*John Tyson 1787–1847

Mary Tyson 1789–

Seth Tyson 1792–

Hannah Tyson 1794–1875

John⁴ Tyson 1787-1847 M. Sarah Comly 1787-1818

Their children:

John K Tyson 1813

Calvin Tyson 1811 (?)

*Edwin Comly Tyson 1809-1886

 

My 3^rdgreat grandparents

Edwin Comly Tyson 1809-1886 M Susan (Susannah) Griffith 1807-1875 

Their children:

Seth Tyson 1835-1835

Isaac Griffith Tyson 1833-1913

Rachel Griffith Tyson 1836-1874

Ruth Anna Tyson 1840-1913

*Charles John Tyson 1838-1906

Rebecca Watson Tyson 1842-1923

2nd great grandparents

Charles John Tyson  M Maria Edith Griest 1840-1927

Their children:

Edwin Comly Tyson 1864-1945 

William Cyrus Tyson 1879-1953

Mary Anna Tyson 1866-1931

*Chester Julian Tyson 1877-1938

Great Grandparents

Chester Julian Tyson 1877-1938 M Bertha Charity Hawxhurst

#44 - Chester J Tyson's Labor of Love (and Why A Building is Named after Him)

LABOR

It's easy to list jobs but it's hard to know what it takes to actually do those jobs.
Then there is volunteering. I spent many, many hours of my life on boards and committees and receiving no reward nor recognition for it--but I don't expect it.

My great grandfather Chester J Tyson was a farmer and he held many interests in his field of horticulture. 

Chester Julian Tyson 1920s

In addition to his own business and orchards, he helped the (read this post for more:) US government send the first food aid to starving Europeans after World War 1, but he also served on a Board at Penn State at State College (now called "University Park")
Rarely does one have a published document about one's own family members' activities and habits. 

Chester Tyson (2nd frm R) with 3 US Presidents and Food Aid Comm. 1919

But I am lucky enough to have a full description from a magazine about Chester's activities as a Board Member at State College, and what made him so distinctive as a Board Member that the school named a building after him. 
The article below appeared in “Pennsylvania Farmer”  It's a summary telling readers why buildings are named after people. (It has to do with sacrifice).  

After reading this, I can see why they named a building after him. (I believe his own children didn't know half of this information at the time). And, he's in that list of forebears I would have liked to have known. (The copy of the article is from my aunt Margaret B Tilton Walmer's archives.)

I transcribed it so it would be easier to read:

Penn State Remembers

"This Adams County fruit grower gave much to the College. And it was never forgotten. 
This year a building was named in his honor.

By a recent action of the Board of Trustees of the Pennsylvania State University the building formerly known as the Plant Science Building is now Tyson Hall. 
Older subscribers to the Pennsylvania Farmer do not need to be told who Chester J Tyson was, but for the younger generation it is well to give a bit of his history, as his life was a fine example for public service.

Gabriel Hiester was a prominent fruit grower in the vicinity of Harrisburg. At A delegate meeting at the College in 1879, he was elected to the Board of Trustees. He was appointed to the Executive Committee of the Board in 1908 and served on the Agriculture Advisory Committee until his death in 1912. During Heister’s period of service the delegates from the county agricultural and engineering organizations were largely from the county horticultural societies and Hiester was regarded as representing the horticultural interests on the Board although he was too broad a man to confine his efforts to any one branch of agriculture.

SEVERE LOSS

Gabriel Hiester’s death in 1912 was a severe loos to the Board of Trustees and presented a serious problem to the delegates to appoint a replacement of his caliber. At the meeting in 1912 Chester J Tyson was selected.

The Tysons, an old Quaker family, had moved from the Philadelphia area into Adams County at Flora Dale near Biglerville and established a fruit nursery and commercial planting of apples. Chester grew up in these surroundings and later with his two brothers he expanded the orchard plantings and organized an orchard supply company which became well known throughout the Cumberland-Shenandoah orchard area.

TYSON A TRUSTEE

Chester Tyson came to the Board of Trustees at a critical time. Penn State was just beginning to recognize its future role as a land grant college and to realize the importance of the School of Agriculture in that development. In 1912 the School had an enrollment of 514 regular four-year students and a faculty of 60. The recent development of the agricultural extension division and establishment of the country agricultural extension agent service was bringing the school in much closer contact with the farmers of the state. The general increase in college enrollment following the close of the first World War was necessitating a very rapid development of the School of Agriculture along with a large increase in the entire College. 
To aid in securing new staff members, to get increased appropriations for new buildings and to expand the college area, especially the College farms, to keep up with this growth, required dedicated service from the Trustees both at State College and at Harrisburg. 
In those days there was no Nittany Lion Inn and only a horse-drawn carryall for transportation. A meeting of the Board of Trustees could mean three to four days away from home and uncertain accommodations at State College.

Chester Tyson took all these responsibilities very seriously. The rapid expansion of campus buildings was overrunning the areas formerly used by the Horticulture Department. When New Beaver Field took the land where the second College orchard was planted, one of the last acts of Gabriel Hiester was to secure the area now called the Hiester Farm for the future use of the Horticulture Department. 
Tyson followed the development of these orchards very closely and during nearly every Board meeting took time to go over plans and to visit the area. Frequently he persuaded Dean Watts to go with him. 
The close friendship between Watts and Tyson many times worked to the advantage of the School of Agriculture during Board Meeting.

TYSON AND BAYARD

Chester Tyson and Ed Bayard believed it was their responsibility to know personally the staff of the School of Agriculture. Bayard kept close watch of agronomy and the animal industries; Tyson’s special interest was horticulture. 
Hardly a Board meeting went by without these men spending some time with staff members in their particular fields. Also they were always interested in the problem of selecting new members. Although it was not his particular field, Ed Bayard was responsible for bringing Frank Fagan to Penn State.

These visits did not stop with the department head. The staff was small in those days and Bayard and Tyson together knew practically all in the School of Agriculture. No new farms were purchased without the careful study of these two. They knew the research program and followed its development closely. Their shrewd but kindly criticism and suggestions encouraged many a young staff member through very trying times.

Practically all of the research program of the Horticulture Department had its beginning during Tyson's period of service. He served on the Executive Committee of the Board from 1924 until his death in 1938. In this position he was able to secure budgetary recognition of the needs of the Department at a time when money was very difficult to secure.

His standing among commercial growers was a great help in establishing contacts for field studies. The limited facilities and restricted finances at State College made it necessary to conduct many field tests with the fruit and vegetable growers of the state. Any of the Tyson orchards was always available for such tests.

FINANCIAL SACRIFICE

Very few people, even staff members, realize the financial contribution the early trustees made in long service on the Board. Ed Bayard once said it had cost him $10,000 during his period of service and this did not include loss of time spent on College business. 
Tyson’s expenses were probably very close to Bayard’s. To carry on the half dozen experiments in his own orchards was no small addition to this expense.

Institutions are notoriously forgetful of their benefactors. In a College generation the services of its pioneers are all but forgotten. The least that could be done was to dedicate a suitable building to one whose services have meant so much to the growth of the University."

   ~ B. D. Anthony; Pennsylvania Farmer, November 10, 1956

Sources:
Margaret B Walmer Archives (photos)
And photocopy of this article:  B. D. Anthony; Pennsylvania Farmer, November 10, 1956

#43-Unforgettable Family: Kindness, Goodness and Love - the Chester Tyson family

“...people forget the words you speak to them, but remember how you have made them feel...” - Frank A. Patterson Jr. 1

“Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.”  attributed to Mark Twain

An Unforgettable Family

What makes a family unforgettable? What makes a family unforgettable? An outsized story? And adventurous spirit full of pioneers, wildernesses and hardships? Or one of contrasts? Of great gain and loss? Or, the characters who make it up? An convict, and a detective? Or, a clergyman, a political leader, or a warrior? A research scientist or a fantastically creative artist? 

Or just a family which was full "kindness, goodness, and love"? 

My great grandfather Chester Tyson and his wife Bertha Hawxhurst filled a house full of children (house is pictured at the top of this blog). They had to have household help to keep things running in the house. Bertha usually had more than one person helping her and when my grandmother was old enough, she was drafted to help out as well. 

Daisy Orner was a "regular" who worked for many years at the Tyson homestead or "Hill House" as some people referred to it. Near the end of my grandmother's life, she moved back to her home (which was owned then by her daughter). Apparently Daisy heard Elizabeth, child of Chester and Bertha, was in town and wrote her a letter. I don't know what prompted it. 
Daisy must have been very old at the time as my grandmother was likely in her late 80s. She describes the household as one "filled with kindness, goodness, and love" ( and who would know better than someone who was there everyday?)  
In my estimation, that would make the Tyson-Hawxhurst family unforgettable.

page 1 from Daisy Orner to Elizabeth Tyson [Tilton]

Transcription of page 1:

Dear Elizabeth

I am the one that walked the path through the apple orchard to the beautiful Bertha and Chester Tyson Estate and there [sic] adorable family to help care for them.

A family of children that was always full of kindness, goodness, and love. 

Never did I hear an unkind word - that leaves precious memories.

The first day I came to work was taken in to the library to do some cleaning were [where] I first seen 

page 2 from Daisy Orner to Elizabeth Tyson [Tilton]

two small girls playing—Margaret and Elizabeth.

I remember the long dining room table where I made roast beef gravy and mashed potatoes for you to eat. The old oven by the kitchen door ..I made home made bread. The day the family of us would all husk sweet corn, cut it off and fill four trays to dry for to store for winter time

I am sending ? of your wedding

 Daisy Orner

Mrs Lloyd Orner

Bendersville, Pennsylvania

-------------
1 1990 November 14, Gettysburg Times, Chamber to host ‘relating’ course (Frank Patterson communications course), Quote Page 12B, Column 1, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. (NewspaperArchive)
2 Letter from Margaret B Walmer Archives

#42 - Trouble Making : Battle of Gettysburg and the Underground Railway in Adams County, PA

Two Stories of Trouble Making

Genealogy is boring. Walking through a field of broken headstones, or looking through old books, or at stained, black & white photos of old people is boring. Unless you knew the people, or know the stories. Personal history can be everything that a movie or play is: funny, tragic, mundane, sweet, horrific and etc.
 In 1987 my mother's sister Mardy (Margaret Tilton) recorded her mother's (double) cousin's reminisces in 1987.  Corrine was the best candidate to interview at the time as she was 10 years older than cousin (Elizabeth, Mardy's mother). Also, Corrine's father (Edwin C Tyson) was nearly 10 years older than Elizabeth's father. Not only that, he (Corrine's father) had been keeper of the family genealogy. 
I came across a transcription of the 1987 interview.
I excerpted two short stories told by Corrine (Tyson Lambert), so you'll read just a gist of the story, and neither is in perfect, fluid sentences.
The first story is of her newly-wed grandmother (Maria Edith Griest, w of Charles John Tyson) and her great uncles. 
The second is of her Maria's parents Cyrus Griest and Mary Ann Cook (Griest) who were Quaker participants in the local Underground Railroad in Adams County, PA (see map below to see how close their area was to Gettysburg).
*******
Story #1 When Trouble Came To Gettysburg 
Little Brothers Run Off to “Rescue” Their Big Sister from the Battle of Gettysburg

As told by Corrine Tyson Lambert: [Charles J Tyson’s granddaughter]:

“Grandpa (Charles Tyson) had a hand for money… He was always doing something else. He had started with a photographic studio in Gettysburg, he was there until year after the battle.

Charles John Tyson 

And they stayed, Grandpa and Grandma, stayed living and working in Gettysburg until 1869.

Then the photographic business [called Tyson Brothers] went to his apprentice William Tipton.

Around that time, he had moved from Gettysburg up to the [Quaker] Valley. And he bought…he worked for his Father-in-law [Cyrus Griest].”

Corrine: “You see when she (Maria Griest his wife) was married (1863) her two little brothers [Griest brothers] Amos [age 15] and next boy both used to play with her--well, they were worried, because she was married, and she was in Gettysburg. 

And now part of the war was between them and her [they lived north of Gettysburg].

Maria E Griest 1861 bef marrying Chas Tyson

One day they heard somebody say, “I wish we knew whether Maria was safe,” because she had just been married [and living in Gettysburg].

And so these two little boys got up early and started on foot, without telling anybody. 

They went missing. 

They got halfway [to Gettysburg] and there was a barn there (for years I saw this barn). 

It was the one where they had gone, and they slept in the hay mow, and in the morning the farmer found them and sent them home.”

S: “They were headed for the battle of Gettysburg?”

Corrine: “They were headed for the Battle of Gettysburg. They were going to find Grandma, their sister, those two little boys. One of them was Uncle Amos. He was the youngest. And the next, must have been Uncle Cyrus.”

[Their journey would have been well over 10 miles]

Story #2 Quakers Running an Underground Railway Station in north of Gettysburg

As told by descendant Corrine: 

“Cyrus [Griest], whose wife was Mary Ann Cook...

Cyrus Griest h Mary Ann Cook

Mary Ann Cook w Cyrus Griest

My grandma [Maria Griest] was their oldest daughter.

Before Grandma was married, when she was 18--that was when the slaves hid in the caves up on Yellow Hill. 

Yesterday we went up there, and drove in back of that house and up in there.

And I could see where the path is still there that they took to go up there…I knew just about where it was and I could see where the path went up. 

The slaves would hide in the caves and come down at night.”

S: “And you can remember your grandparents talking about that?”

Red = area of Griest's & Wrights' Underground RR Stations Blue=Battle of Gettysburg

Corrine: “I remember my Grandmother [Maria Griest Tyson] told me all about that. And she taught in the schoolhouse which is the second floor of the springhouse and that is still there.”

For more information see this: http://www.menallenfriends.org/

Stories Recorded & transcribed:

Participants: Corrinne Tyson Lambert (D of Edwin Tyson & Mary Hauxhurst) Margaret B. Walmer (M) (granddaughter of Chester Tyson & Bertha Hauxhurst, d Elizabeth Tyson & Chas Tilton), her son Sam Walmer (son of Margaret Tilton Walmer)

Conversation with Corinne Lambert, granddaughter of Charles Tyson & Maria Griest recorded conversation at Hill House (Flora Dale, PA); at the Tyson Family Reunion at Mapleton, near Aspers, Adams  County, PA, May, 1987

#41 - Long Island Photographs from abt 1900

 Long Island Photographs from abt 1900

Enjoy these photos I colorized. 

Don't you love the dog in the photo?

Wm Ephraim Hauxhurst at home Westbury NY abt 1900 - Bertha's father

Wm E Hauxhurst Marianna Hicks home Westbury NY

Wm E Hauxhurst-Marianna Hicks home Westbury, NY

Bertha C. Hauxhurst (Tyson) young adult

Isaac Hicks/Mary Fry Willis house, Westbury, NY Bertha's grparnts

The girl is my great grandmother, Bertha C Hawxhurst∗ who married Chester Tyson of Adams County, PA). 

Also shown above is Bertha's father, William Ephraim Hawxhurst, surveyor, farmer and land-owner in Nassau County, NY. 

William came to hold a lot of land in an increasingly popular area to buy. He sold a good deal off to those who would build summer homes on Long Island's north shore in the early 1900s. 

Bertha's maternal grandparents, Isaac Hicks and his wife Mary Fry Willis, also not far from the Hawxhurst home.

🞶Hawxhurst is also been spelled Hauxhurst. In some very old records, it has appeared in its phonetic form: "Hawkshurst"

#40- W.E. Hawxhurst hands over lots of genealogical information

Hand Me Down Some Genealogy!

I have a great great grandfather who did just this and what a gift. He was a Long Island Quaker. And since many Friends (Quakers) intermarried, it helps me untangle their genealogy. 

Wm Ephraim Hauxhurst, Surveyor of Long Island abt 1865

Background on William E. Hawxhurst (which he spelled Hauxhurst)
"William E. Hawxhurst, of Westbury, was born here in 1838, and is a son of Ephraim C. and Charity (Titus) Hawxhurst. He traces his ancestry back to Christopher Hawxhurst, a native of England, who crossed the ocean in 1665 and settled in what is now Locust Valley, Queens County, L.I., becoming one of the first settlers of the town of Oyster Bay, and in time one of its largest land owners.
His children were William, Mary and Sampson.
The maternal grandparents of our subject were Timothy and Margaret (Titus) Titus, both descendants of Edmund Titus, the first of that name who settled in Queens County. The family homestead, where our subject was born, became in 1832 the property of his father, who continued to reside there until his death, in 1859.
    The boyhood days of the subject of this notice were passed on the home farm, in the cultivation of which he assisted. For a time he attended a private school in his neighborhood.
When but a boy he took up the study of civil engineering and in it he was especially interested. Under his father, who was a civil engineer, he continued his studies until he had acquired a thorough knowledge of the work.
At the death of his father the home place came into his possession, and afterward he engaged in its cultivation for a number of years, but finally abandoned agriculture in order that he might give his entire attention to surveying.
However, he continued to reside on the farm, which was cultivated under his supervision.
    For the past twenty-five years Mr. Hawxhurst has devoted almost his entire time to surveying. For ten years past he has also dealt quite extensively in real estate, conducting the sale of land purchased by wealthy residents who have recently located here.
He was completed a fine map of Westbury, showing the original purchases and subsequent owners.
His surveying has been principally in the towns of Oyster Bay, Hempstead and North Hempstead.
He has laid out over one thousand acres in town lots and has opened roads and fixed boundary lines.
In politics he is a Republican, and cast his first ballot for Abraham Lincoln.
In 1885 he was appointed notary public and served five successive terms. He is a member of the Society of Friends.
In September, 1869, Mr. Hawxhurst married Miss Marianna Hicks.
To them have been given six children, namely: Mary W., wife of Edwin C. Tyson;
Caroline, wife of Prof. Frederick Sharpless;
Wallace, who is engaged in business with his father;
Florence,
Harold E. and
Bertha. [who married Chester Tyson, brother of Edwin Tyson]
Mr. Hawxhurst has given his children good educational advantages.
In 1895 he sold a portion of the home farm, on which was situated the old family dwelling, but this he moved to its present location and had it completely remodeled, putting in steam heating apparatus and other modern improvements that have made of it a commodious and comfortable residence.

 Source: "Portrait and Biographical Record of Queens County (Long Island) New York" Copyright 1896 by Chapman Publishing Company

 
I have a letter written by WE Hauxhurst in 1907 to his daughter, Mary Hauxhurst Tyson (sister to my great grandmother Bertha).

She had written to him after reading an article on the old family homestead in a newspaper "The Herald." Apparently she had many questions, which he tries to answer. Here is his response:

Westbury Station New York

February 19th 1907

Dear Mary:

Thy letter was received this morning in regard to “The Herald" article and on Westbury. The reporter interviewed me and I gave him a lot of stuff orally. He took notes but, of course, did not get everything as I told him. I did not give him the history of the Pump at the Turnpike. That he embellished from his own imagination. The article, nevertheless, was pretty fair. That was Buster at the half-door. The picture was all right but the process of copying in the paper destroyed the beauty of it. The reporter had lots of reverence for old things. He could hardly give up looking at the samplers that hang in our wall. Thee will remember that we have Mary Fry’s sampler made when she was a school-girl, dated 1724, which is in perfect preservation.

As to the title of the land in Westbury. The Dutch, thee knows, settled the west end of Long Island and owned and claimed the land. A company of men, viz., Robert Fordham, John Strickland, John Ogden, John Carman, John Laurance and Jonas Wood, obtained a patent on March 6^th , 1666 from the Dutch governor Kieft for the Town of Hempstead which, of course, included Westbury. Previous to that there is no record of owners of the land here except the Indians.  From that time “The Proprietors,” as the company of men called themselves, owned the land in common. They had meetings which they adjourned from time to time and called them Town Meetings. I neglected to state that the said "Proprietors" purchased the land besides from the Indians. The Town Meetings made the laws and regulations for the Town and for small consideration, would give individuals land grants or deeds for land, every landholder becoming one of the “Proprietors,” so that their numbers increased pretty fast.

 

 [About their house:]

A man by the name of Seaman obtained a grant of the “Proprietors" for all Westbury, i.e., for quite a large tract just here.

Henry Willis, thy ancestor, purchased the Rachel Hicks place from Seaman and built a home and lived thereon near Buttonball Pond in the Barrack Lot on the Mary Seaman place. Henry Willis's daughter married Nathaniel Seaman who subsequently purchased the place.

 Henry Willis's son, William Willis, married Edmund Titus's daughter and built a house in our old garden and owned my place, together with a hundred acres of land besides.

William Willis's son, Samuel, married Mary Fry, thy namesake or rather ancestor.

William Willis, in his will, gave this place to his two sons, Samuel and Jacob, besides much of the land in Westbury.

Jacob bought out the interest of his brother Samuel. Jacob never married. He was not rugged and died young. In his will, he ordered his executors to sell all his land which they did, and this place was purchased by Richard Willis, son of John and nephew of Jacob who lived here a generation and then sold the place to John Loines. John Loines lived here a generation then sold the place to Benjamin Hicks, Uncle Joseph Hick’s father.

He owned it a short time, never living here, when he sold the farm to Richard Willits, Edward Willits' father, and grandfather of Mary Seaman.

Richard Willits built our house somewhere about 1820. He lived here a number of years, then sold the place to William Willis of Jericho, a grandson of Samuel Willis and Mary Fry.

William Willis owned the farm for about one year when my father [Ephraim Cock Hauxhurst] purchased it for about $2500. William Willis moved back to Jericho. The rest of the title thee knows.

I can give dates for all the above changes and transfers but if I went into all the particulars, I would have to write a volume.

 

[Questions about Long Island's history]

As to the bulrushes thee spoke of, that episode did not happen here. The Town of Flushing obtained a grant of land also from the Dutch Governor later confirmed by the Duke of York, brother of Charles II. The Town of Flushing also bought out the Indians and it was in the Indian deed that the reservation was made for them to obtain bulrushes anywhere and at any time forever for them and their descendants.

Speaking of Indians thee may not know that the road down by Isaac Cock’s in the olden Colonial times was called Matinecock Hollow. 

Matinecock was the name of an Indian tribe who lived on the north side of the Island [Long Island] Matinecock Hollow was the old Indian trail used by the Indians in traveling from the north to the south side to obtain clams and fish and dry them and when they had a supply they would go back again home. There are hundreds of loads of shells, always in heaps, on the south side where the Indians had their camps and left the clam shells. The Indians, thee may not know, called Long island Sewanhaka, meaning Island of Shells. 

The Town of Hempstead, I'm proud to say, was not stolen from the Indians but was purchased from them after “The Proprietors" had obtained their patent from the Dutch Governor Keift. The name of the Indian Chief from whom the purchase was made was Tacaposia. The deed, or copy thereof, is in the records of the Town of Hempstead. 

 [Regarding slaves on Long Island]

It may interest you to know that thy Willis ancestors living in Westbury where landholders and were well-to-do people, and they, part of them, I know by their wills, and probably all of them, owned slaves. Henry Willis, the elder, had slaves, and his son Henry, who owned Uncle Stephen R. Hicks’s farm, and William Willis, who owned our farm, kept slaves, so that in all probability all the land in Westbury was cleared of timber and swamps by slaves. In fact, there is no doubt about it.

 

[Families in Long Island]

It is a curious fact that the names of residents, landowners, of Westbury has changed about every 100 years. I have memoranda to show that. Around 1860 to 1880 the old residents died off, their property being sold and strangers came in and bought up their farms. The exceptions are, old John Titus's place, the Rachel Hicks place and in a measure the William Hicks or Hitchcock place. Since 1860-70, Westbury has steadily been denuded of its old residents and their descendants. Their places have been sold and people of other names and character will soon own all of lovely Old Westbury. It is sort of sad. In our Firstday Meetings [Quaker worship service] there is not a single man of my age and that I care particularly about who comes to meeting, except occasionally William Townsend. I will not burden thee with anymore of this long rambling letter.  If it reminds thee of any more that thee would like to know, ask, and if I can, I will answer thee. 

 

[Original Owners of Westbury]

 

I can place the original owners on about all the land in Westbury. The Colonial owners were, commencing at Cock’s road: first, George Baldwin, then John Loines, one Davis, Thomas Carman, Seaman, Henry and William Willis, Richard Stiles, Joseph Clement, Joseph Dingee, Edmund Titus. Those persons own all of Westbury. Dingee being the owner of Oliver Titus's and Powell's places.

 

[Mayo's Purchase]
            Thee is mixed up about Roger Williams. He had nothing to do with the land on Long Island, except acting as arbitrator to settle a disputed line in the Town of Oyster Bay. Tradition says that Robert Williams, cousin of Roger, sent for him to come to Long Island as follows:  Robert Williams had a grant from the King of England for a large tract of land, i.e., all the Plain land in the Town of Oyster Bay and a large part of the Plains in the Town of Hempstead.  Robert Williams’ grant formed the eastern boundary of the Town of Hempstead over which there was no dispute, but there was a dispute about the east line of the Robert Williams purchase, between it and the adjoining grant or purchase of some people, or brothers by the name of Mayo, called Mayo's Purchase. To settle this dispute, Robert Williams had his cousin Roger come over from Rhode Island to settle the difficulty by fixing the line, which he did and ended the dispute. Mayo's line is now in existence, but here I am spinning out another yarn. 

I must stop or thy English head will fail to comprehend it, at least for a while.

Papa

[William Ephraim Hauxhurst]

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

Confused yet? If not, here's another gift from my gr-gr grandfather, WE Hauxhurst. He wrote down the Titus family genealogy:

Titus Family According to William E Hauxhurst

[Marriage 1]

Timothy Titus (my grandfather) married Magdelina Hogland and had two children.

1. Andrew [Titus] 
2. Edmund [Titus] 

Magdelina died.

[Marriage 2]

Timothy Titus married Margaret Titus (who was his first cousin)

 [WE Hawxhurst’s maternal grandparents]

 and had children, 8 in number as follows:

1. Martha [Titus] married Charles Frost of Wheatly [Long Island, NY] (now living) [1884] 
2. *Charity [Titus] (my mother) married Ephraim C. Hauxhurst [his father] 
3. Mary [Titus]  never married. Deceased about 20 years [c. 1864] 
4. Ruth Titus Ruth never married. She was also unhealthy and died previous to Mary. Deceased about 20 years. [c. 1864] 
5. Sarah Titus married Horace B. Hinman from one of the River Counties. Green, I think. [Hudson River, Greene County, possibly] They lived in Brooklyn. They are now both dead. 
6. Timothy Titus married Martha Williams of Herricks [Long Island]. Timothy married Col. Williams, daughter’s  Martha. They now live in Auburn, Shawnee Co., Kansas. Have several children.
7.  Benjamin Titus  married Nancy Adams, daughter of Jacob Adams of Westchester Co. N Y. She was descendant of Jesse Dickinson. They lived on the old Homestead at Wheatly. And had several children. He died several years ago. 
8. Margaret Titus has not married. She is living at Wheatly [Long Island] with Benjamin's family [#7].

 *Charity Titus [above], my mother and daughter of Timothy [and Margaret Titus], married Ephraim C. Hauxhurst. 

[They] Had four children as follows:

1. Elizabeth Hauxhurst married Oliver Van Cott of Dutchess Co, NY. (Oliver is a descendant of Jemima Titus, my grandfather Timothy's sister who married John Van Cott) They have two children:1 William E. [Van Cott] and 2 George T. [Van Cott]
2. Caroline Hauxhurst never married. She had spinal disease and could not walk. She died with diphtheria in 1860. 
3. *William E. Hauxhurst married Marianna Hicks, daughter of Isaac and Mary [Fry] Hicks. [He did not list his children, as this genealogy was for them.] 
4. Margaret Hauxhurst is unmarried. Lives with me.

William E. Hauxhurst

Westbury, NY

1884