Tracing Our Family To The 1600’s In New England, Part 1

December 21, 2014July 9, 2016treeSleuth

Updated 12/1/14 for editorial clean ups.

Updated 12/7/14 to address the alleged lineage between Iyanough and Canonicus

I thought I knew where most of my family roots led back to, or at least I was confident we would not be tracing back to the very beginnings of the country in New England. But as with most families who have roots stretching back to before the Revolutionary War, I should have known there was a high probability we would discover a trail back to those settlements we all learned about in school.

And given I am writing this the day before Thanksgiving 2014, it should also not surprise me (anymore) there may be a path back to some of the major players in the first Thanksgiving in 1621. Interestingly enough, if there is a path it runs along the Native American tribes who were inhabiting the Plymouth Colony at that time [click image above for a larger version].

Tracing Our Family To The 1600’s In New England, Part 2

December 20, 2014May 15, 2016treeSleuth

Updated 12/31/14 to addressed the alleged connection between Mary Hyanno and Canonicus

In this post I will review our family lineage back to Sgt William Cornell of Roxbury MA, Hartford CT and Middletown CT. I will use the spelling “Cornell” throughout. Early records show he signed his name “Cornell” and during most of his life, but later records and generations shifted the spelling to “Cornwell” and then “Cornwall”. I tend to prefer the spelling used by the individual when doing these posts. I have over time switched between all three spellings, so you will see remnants of them in images and file names. But for the purpose of this post, I will stick with the original “Cornell”.

I begin with the lineage from myself back to William Cornell:

I have not seen any issue or ambiguity with this lineage, so I will not dwell on it anymore except to bring in other branches of import when needed. So let’s review not just the life of William Cornell, but the world he lived in based on documented evidence.

Tracing Our Family To The 1600’s In New England, Part 3

December 19, 2014May 16, 2015treeSleuth

Updated 12/22/14 to fix spelling of Indian tribe names

Updated 1/1/15 for corrections to Iyanough/Hyanno generations plus other editorial clean ups

In this post I hope to provide context with respect to the New England Indians during the period 1630-1640. This is the window in which William Cornell comes to Roxbury, MA, joins the Roxbury militia, at some point loses his first wife, fights the Pequots and then moves to Hartford, CT by 1639 where he is recorded having property. It is inside this window of time a nexus must be shown between Mary Hyanno and William Cornwell for the claim of Hyanno Indian lineage to be true.

To set an end state for this post, it must be noted that the first child of William and Mary Cornwell (i.e, Sgt. John Cornwell) was born in 1840 in Middletown, CT (reference: White, Lorraine Cook, ed. The Barbour Collection of Connecticut Town Vital Records. Vol. 1-55. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1994-2002; via Ancestry.com and Family Research Connecticut Town Birth Records, pre-1870 (Barbour Collection) [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA).

Therefore if Mary Cornwell is actually Mary Hyanno, then William Cornwell must meet her sometime in this period. Since no record exists of this meeting, it can only be inferred by events in the region that could tie the Hyanno and Cornwell families together.

Tracing Our Family To The 1600’s In New England, Part 4

December 18, 2014May 16, 2015treeSleuth

Updated 12/20/14 to add further evidence of a broad trade network emanating from Mattabessett/Middletown throughout Connecticut.

Updated 12/21/14 to add map showing how Springfield MA, Middletown CT and New Haven CT were connected by a portage site at Middletown.

Updated 12/21/14 to add record date for marriage between William Cornwell and Mary ____

Updated 3/28/15 and 5/16/15 to fix numerous typos.

Since this blog is dedicated to the genealogy of our family I want to step back and establish some context again. The lineage from my father back to Sgt William Cornwell (pictured above and my 10th great grandfather) is clear and unambiguous (see graph below – click all images to enlarge). This series of posts is still the story of one our of ancestors. A story I think my family would like to know. While it attempts to cover some research and explores some theories, it is – in the end – still a story of our family.

This second-to-the-last post in the series brings together a large pool of information, gleaned from numerous sources, to paint a more complete picture of the life of Sgt. William Cornwell (1609 – 1678). As we fill in these details we will discover that over the time of his life here in America, William Cornwell developed special relationships with some of the Indians of New England. We will see how a brutal war on a single tribe (called the Pequot War) affected English and Indians alike, and sent William Cornwell down and interesting (and profitable) path in life. It will postulate a relationship born of battles that founds a special town in Connecticut, and also leads me to conclude William Cornwell’s second wife was very likely an Indian.

In the last post of the series I will address the possibility William Cornwell’s 2nd wife was Mary Hyanno of Barnstable (a distinct possibility from her being Indian).

Tracing Our Family To The 1600’s In New England, Part 5

December 17, 2014December 22, 2014treeSleuth

Update 12/21/14 to address the tradition of naming of children after grandparents

Finally we come to it: was it more likely William Cornwell was married to one Mary “Little Dove” Hyanno, – Nauset Indian Princess – or was it more likely she married one Austin Bearse?

Can we attempt to claim Mary Cornwell was actually from the Cummiquids of Barsntable?

This final post in the series will attempt to address these questions.

John Jeffries Jr (28 Oct 1921 – 24 May 2014)

May 24, 2014October 10, 2014treeSleuth

By Alan John Jeffries

John Jeffries Junior passed away peacefully today (May 24th 2014) in Reston, Virginia. He is survived by his wife of 70 Years Corinne (Fleger) Jeffries; daughter Melinda Lasater; sons Alan Jeffries and Robert Jeffries; granddaughters Ashley Nikolic, Danielle Hedgepeth, Alyse Lasater, Jackie Jeffries, and Amber Jeffries; and grandson Sean Jeffries; and great grandson Cameron Hedgepeth; as well as many loving cousins, nieces and nephews.

This post presents a mini-biography of our father so others can learn about this great man.

The Home John Grew Up In Now

John was born on October 28, 1921 in the wild and wonderful hills of Grafton, West Virginia. His mother, Veda Pearl Shriver, can trace her family roots back to the early pioneers of this one time frontier of Virginia. His father, Virgil Luther Jeffries, also can trace his family back to the mid 1800s. In future posts I hope to explore the family histories of John’s parents. But today we focus on John.

Elphinstone Part 1: Connecting Dr Gustavus Brown To Clan Elphinstone

April 3, 2014October 29, 2016treeSleuth

It took a lot of sleuthing and investigating, but I was finally able to identify the branch of Clan Elphinstone from Scotland that married into the Mitchelson and Brown families, from whence the Browns would land upon America’s shores in 1708 in the person of one Gustavus Brown. Dr. Gustavus Brown’s life story is incredible and worthy of its own biographical movie. But for the purposes of this topic, his story is a stepping stone for all those American families who can tie their ancestry back to this fascinating man and his royal Scottish roots.

Gustavus Brown’s ordeal in coming to America is briefly described in “Virginia Genealogies” by Horace Edwin Hayden, 1891:

When a youth of 19 he became a Surgeon’s mate, or Surgeon, on one of the royal or King’s ships that came to the Colony in the Chesapeake Bay, 1708. While his ship lay at anchor he went on shore, but before he could return a severe storm arose, which made it necessary for the ship to weigh anchor and put out to sea. The young man was left with nothing but the clothes on his back. He quickly made himself known, and informed the planters of his willingness to serve them if he could be provided with instruments and medicines, leaving them to judge if he was worthy of their confidence. He began his practice of medicine at Nansemond, Md. He soon gained respect and succeeded beyond his expectations.

How such random events (a landing, a storm, a hasty departure etc) led to Scottish royal blood taking root in America is truly wondrous. Dr. Gustuvas Brown went on to become a wealthy and influential man, whose offspring married into other families who shaped this country and fought for independence. But those stories are for another posting.

This post begins with a family Bible handed down to Dr. Brown by his mother (who remained in Scotland, where Dr Brown briefly returned before settling back in America). In this bible are notations to his heritage. And one key entry provides the connection not only to Clan Elphinstone, but also to which branch [click to enlarge]:

Elphinstone Part 2: Connecting Isobel Elphinstone of “Selims” to Clan Elphinstone

April 3, 2014October 29, 2016treeSleuth

In Part 1 of this post I laid out how a probable transcription error from the family Bible of Dr Gustavus Brown had made it difficult for his ancestors (like us) to trace back into a specific branch of the Elphinstone Clan of Scotland. Assuming this theory to be true, we can assume Dr. Gustavus Brown is descended from the Elphinstones of Selmys (a.k.a. Selims, Selmes, Selms). The question then becomes: can we find evidence of this connection with his grandmother Isobel Elphinstone – wife of George Mitchelson?

I believe I have. But first, a quick recap of the main branch of Clan Elphinstone is in order since it bears on the path of the Selmys branch as well.

Our Family History

Stories discovered while building our family tree.

Jeffries Family Branches