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

southern new england

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].

Read more

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

Sgt William Cornwall Jr

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:

Alan J to William Cornwell

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.

Read more