The Will of Richard Davis of Charleston, Montgomery County, New York

Richard Davis was one of the sons of Loyalist Thadeus Davis, who moved to Niagara towards the end of his life with many of his adult children.  I  believe that Richard moved to Ontario briefly and then returned to the United States, where he lived in Charleston, Montgomery County, NY.  He was the husband of Mabel Mann and the father of Deacon William Davis, one of our Baptist ancestors who moved to the Aylmer area as a young man.  Here is his will, which names his wife Mabel and all of his children then living.  It was written January 2, 1823 and registered June 2, 1823.  Richard was 61 years old at the time of his death.

Highlights:

• he identifies himself as being of Charleston, Montgomery, NY and says that he is "weak in body but of sound and perfect mind and memory"
• he leaves  his "beloved wife Mabel Davis" all his personal property and the interest and profit of it "to be under her control as long as she remains my widow for the bringing up and educating of my son Henry Davis and my son Joel Davis and my son Hosea Davis"
• he gives two hundred dollars each to his younger sons Lyman, Henry, Joel and Hosea, with the caveat that if his estate is not sufficient to cover the amount they are to get the equivalent in real estate after the death of his wife
• he leaves to his children William (whom he names as his eldest son), Joseph, Simeon, Andrew, David, Mary, Sally, Lyman, Hannah, Henry, Joel and Hosea all his property to be divided equally between them
• his daughter Sally's share he gives to his sons William, David and Lyman to control,  and instructs them to give her the interest from it and upon her death to give the principal from the property to her children.  Why is her share treated differently than the others?  
• he names William, David and Lyman as executors of the will
• witnesses are Francis Carey, Wright Davis (Richard's brother), and (Wesn?)  Gage. 

The William Norton Family in the New York Tax Assessment Rolls

I'm trying to create a timeline for William Norton, father of Louisa Norton, who was the wife of Adoniram Davis.  I'm finding it a little tricky.  William has many siblings, as did his father Josiah Norton, and many of the names are passed down through the two generations.  Also, it turns out that the name Norton is common in New York State.  The records I usually rely upon to trace people--birth, marriage and death records--are pretty sparse around this time, so I'm looking around at other records which might fill in some of the blanks about  his life.  William was born in 1795, and he marries Amaryllis Andrews in 1816.  (He fought in the War of 1812 in 1812).   By 1820 he and his family had moved to Granville, Washington County, New York, where William and his wife Amaryllis lived for the rest of their lives.   However, I've found a few tax records which suggest that William and some of his family were located in Canaan, Columbia County, New York from 1799 to at least 1803 (the records don't go any further).  William's brother Elisha Norton's obituary states that he was born in Canaan, NY in 1791,  and his father Josiah Norton shows up as a head of a household in Canaan in the 1790 census, so the family can definitely be placed there.  What I'm interested to know is whether the William Norton on these records is our ancestor William, who would  have been only 14 years old in 1799, or is he a different member of the same family, or is he someone totally unrelated?  Other Norton names which appear are in the Canaan tax records are Thode Norton, Theodore Norton (probably the same person), Andrew Norton, James Norton, and a second William Norton, one with the initial W.  You''ll notice Josiah's name does not come up at all.

Interestingly, there is a David Flint living in Canaan in 1790 and in the 1800s.  Remember William Davis's son David Flint Davis?  I'm wondering if there is a family connection, but right now I can't figure it out.

The history of Canaan is described on usgennet.org,  I was interested in finding out which Church the family attended--Louisa and Adoniram were Baptists, and I wanted to see how far back in the family Baptist membership went.  The Baptist Church in Canaan was begun in 1776, according to the information here, but none of the members are listed.  However, in the Canaan Methodist Episcopal Church, which begun in 1804, a few Nortons (Truman Norton and Jeremiah Norton) are named as members, but I don't believe they are immediate family.

Database:  New York, Tax Assessment Rolls of Real and Personal Estates, 1799-1804, Ancestry.

1799.  Canaan, Columbia, New York.  William Norton, Thode Norton, William W. Norton.
Columns, from left:  Name of Possessors, Description of Real Estate, Value of Real Estate, Value of Personal Estate, Tax to be Paid Thereon.

Canaan, Columbia, 1800:

Canaan, Columbia, 1801:

Canaan, Columbia, 1802:

Canaan, Columbia, 1803:

Eleanor Whitfield's Mother

As we saw in our last post, Eleanor Whitfield's mother (first name unknown, maiden name also unknown), was identified in one of her obituaries as "Niece to the present Sir Robert Cotton, of Gidden, Bart. and first Cousin of John Cotton, of Shatton, Esq....".  I'm hoping this information will make her name and parentage easier to trace.

The information below is taken from:  A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies of England, Ireland and Scotland by John Burke and John Bernard Burke, 2nd edition.  Sir Robert Cotton (1669-1749)  appears on page 138, although the section on the family (Cotton, of Connington) begins on page 136.  The title was created in 1611 and went extinct in 1752.  This family is one of three Cotton families to receive a Baronetcy in England;  the others are the Cottons of Landwade and the Cottons of Combermere.

"v.  Sir Robert Cotton, of Gedding, in the county of Huntingdon, who m. first Elizabeth, daughter of ____ Wigston, esq;  and secondly, Mrs. Morton.  He died 12th July, 1749, aged eighty, and was succeeded by his son, 
vi.  Sir John Cotton [this is the John Cotton who was identified as Mrs. Whitfield's first cousin]  who m. Jane, daughter of Robert Burdett, bart. of Bramcote, and had one son and four daughters, viz. 
 John, died at Durham of the small-pox, 15th November 1739.
Jane, m. in October 1741, to Thomas Hart, edq. of Warfield, Berks.
Elizabeth.
Frances.
Mary.
Sir John d. 27th March, 1752, when the BARONETCY became EXTINCT."

So if Mrs. Whitfield, is Sir Robert's niece, it follows she is descended from either one of Sir Robert's siblings or possibly a sibling of one of his two wives.  Sir Robert Cotton's father was Sir John Cotton (1621- 1702)  and Sir John  had children by two successive wives.  The people highlighted in yellow are Sir John Cotton's children and Sir Robert Cotton's siblings, and the people highlighted in pink are Sir Robert's nieces and nephews.  The third generation is highlighted in green.  Sir Robert himself is highlighted in blue. 

"He m. first, Dorothy, daughter and sole heir of Edmund Anderson, of Stratton and Eyworth, in the county of Bedford, who had issue, 
John, who m. Frances, daughter of Sir George Downing, bart. of East Hatley, in the county of Cambridge, and dying in the lifetime of his father, anno 1681, left two sons and a daughter, viz. 
John, successor to his grandfather.
Thomas, m. Frances, only daughter and heir of William Langton, esq. of Peterborough, and left an only daughter, Mary. 
Frances,  b. 1677, m. to William Hanbury, esq. of Little Marcle, in Herefordshire, and had issue*
 (footnote: The daughters of Frances Cotton and William Hanbury were, 
Mary Hanbury, m. to the Rev. Martin Annesley, D.D., vicar of Bucklebury, Berks, and had issue....
Elizabeth Hanbury, m. to Thomas Neale, esq.
Frances Hanbury, m. to F. Bareel, esq.  
Catherine Hanbury, m. to Velters Cornewall, esq. of Moccas Court.)



Dorothy, m. to ____ Dennis, esq., of Gloucestershire.

He m. secondly, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Thomas Honywood, knt. of Marks Hall, Essex, and sister and heir of John Le Mott Honywood, esq....By this lady he had several children, but only three to survive, viz.
Robert, who succeeded as fifth baronet [i.e. Mrs. Whitfield's uncle].
Elizabeth, m. first, to Lyonel Walden, esq. of Huntingdon, and secondly to ___ Smith, esq. of Westminster;  by her first husband she had, 
Lionel Walden, who d. unmarried.
Elizabeth Walden,  co-heir to her brother, m. first, to Charles Pitfield, esq., and secondly, to Talbot Touchet, esq.  By the former she had,
Charles Pitfield, who m. Miss Ashley, daughter of Solomon Ashley, esq., M.P....
Elizabeth Pitfield, m. to Edward Bigland, esq. of Long Whatton, in Leicestershire.

Hester Walden, co-heir to her brother, m.  Humphrey Orme, esq. of Peterborough, captain in the royal navy, and had a son, 
Walden Orme 

Mary Honywood, m. Doctor Roger Kenyon, and died s.p."  


The following excerpt, which goes over much of the same information, is from a contemporary book, The English Baronetage, Vol. 1, by Arthur Collins, printed in London in 1741.  It has a fabulous title page which I can't resist showing:

You'll notice the name Whitfield doesn't appear anywhere in either family record.   How annoying.
I think it's time to consider the other possibility, that Mrs. Whitfield is actually a relative of one of Sir Robert Cotton's wives and is only connected to Sir Robert by marriage.  His first wife was Elizabeth Wigston, and his second was "Mrs. Morton" (really? no first name? no parentage?  are they trying to make it challenging?).  Now to track down these two ladies' siblings and their children....

Will of James Whitfield of St. James, London

James Whitfield is the father of Eleanor (Whitfield) Bland, who was the wife of Stephen Bland, and he is also the grandfather of Ann (Bland) Elliot, wife of Robert Elliot.   Trained as a barber and surgeon, he became a peruke-maker in London.  In case you don't know what a peruke is, it's one of the curly, powdered wigs that men wore in the 1700s.  It's similar to a periwig, but not as huge and extravagant.  

Here is James' London Freedom of the City Admission paper, which marks his apprenticeship to John Bon, Barber-Surgeon of London:

James is the son of another James Whitfield "late of Hodington in the county of Oxon" (or Oxford). I can't make out what James the elder's
profession is. 

Here is an obituary for James, from the London Chronicle, October 7, 1760.

Here is one for his wife, from the Whitehall Evening Post or London Intelligencer, December 31, 1748.

And another from the same newspaper, January 5, 1748.

This one gives more detail about Mrs. Whitfield's family, but I haven't yet been able to confirm any of the information using other sources.  The above obituaries were very kindly sent to me by a fellow researcher who is working on the same line.

And here is James Whitfield's will.

The important parts:

• The will was written in Twickenham on April 12, 1757, but James describes himself as "of the Parish of St. James in the Liberty of Westminster Gentleman"
• he asks to be interred in a wooden coffin and to "erect a stone with an Inscription to the Memory of my deceased wife and my self  the whole of my funeral expenses not to exceed twenty five pounds"  
• he leaves an annuity of 50 pounds a year payable during the natural life of Daniel Smith Esquire and Thomas Budgon Esquire;  these two are to divide the annuity and pay 30 pounds yearly to James' daughter Eleanor Whitfield (our ancestor) and 20 pounds a year "to be equally divided between my three grandsons Cotton Latimer son of John Latimer and Velters Berkley and Henry Berkley sons of Lionel Spencer Berkley and his wife Margaret..."
• in case of the death of his three grandsons, the twenty pound a year annuity "to devolve to my daughter Margaret Berkley for her natural life and in case of her death and my daughter Elenor (sic) should survive her in that case the whole Annuity of fifty pounds should devolve to my aforesaid daughter Eloanor (sic) to dispose of at her discretion..."
• he leaves to Eleanor his "Gold watch with the Gold chain and two Gold seals affixed thereto as also (sic)  my two stools and fire screen which were the work of her deceased Sister Ann Latimer which are not to be valued or appraised or sold among the rest of my effects..." 
• he also leaves Eleanor a bequest of 150 pounds "being part of a sum of money which will arise from the sale of my plate Linnon and household goods of my house at Twickenham..."
• the rest of his estate he divides equally between his two daughters Margaret Latimer and Eleanor Whitfield 
• he leaves "the property of the Remainder of my Lease of my house in St. James' Street" to Eleanor 
• he directs his daughters Margaret and Eleanor to give the executor of the will 150 pounds yearly "for the use and benefit of my Grandson Cotton Latimer towards his maintenance" until he reaches the age of 21 years  

Eleanor seems to profit more from this will than her sister, perhaps because she is not yet married and presumably would have no other means of support.  He also gives more support to his grandson Cotton |Latimer than his two Berkley grandsons.  (Cotton Latimer must have been named after the Cotton family, members of the English gentry, to whom Mrs. Whitfield was related.)  All in all, given that James has a country home (Twickenham is now part of London but in the 1760s was a rural town) as well as a rental in the heart of fashionable \London, a good amount of money and a gold watch he appears to have been a prosperous gentleman.  

Obituary for Howard Elliot, Son of Robert Watt Elliot

The Globe Newspaper, Toronto, May 22, 1893, page 8.  I have edited out some material pertaining to Mr. Ware. 

Scottish Obituary for Thomas Chalmers Scott

From The Dundee Courier, Friday January 12, 1877, p. 4.

I didn't know he lived in Glasgow for a short time. The description of his public speaking prowess and interest in temperance and religion fits what we already know of him very well. 

Nancy (Godfrey) Johnson, sister of Sarah Ann (Godfrey) Hunter

One of the great things about research in this day and age is how much sharing can go on via the internet.  I have recently come upon a website, Purdy Steele Family History, which has some documentation related to the Godfrey family.  A researcher named Edith Helen Purdy is responsible for most of the documentation on this site, with the assistance of her granddaughter.  The most significant find is a birth name for the mother of Sarah Ann Godfrey, wife of James Hunter.  

Sarah Ann came from a large family.  Her siblings were documented in the will of her brother John Godfrey, which was written in 1879.  Among Sarah Ann's sisters was a woman named Nancy Godfrey Johnston.  I was able to find abstracted marriage information for many of Sarah Ann's siblings, including Nancy, on RootsIreland.  The Purdy Steele Family History Website has an image of an actual parish record for the Godfrey/Johnston marriage which was issued by the parish in 1969, presumably in response to a genealogical inquiry.  Notice that they reproduced the mark that the illiterate Nancy made in lieu of signing her name.  

This site also contains a family history document written by a woman named Mary Johnson Conley, which was based on family letters in her possession.  The document is called History of the Johnson (Johnston) Family.  Here are some excerpts relevant to the Godfrey family.  

...Samuel Johnson married Nancy Godfrey in Ireland in January 1853.  His first five children were born there.  Encouraged to do so by letters from his brother John, he came to America about the year 1863 to make a home for his family.  He soon sent for them and it was a long, stormy voyage for the mother, Nancy, and her five small children.  During the voyage she spent much of her time, clinging to the mast and praying for the safety of her family, especially for that of the two small boys, who were constantly running about the small sailing vessel.  In America, two more children were born to this family...

Nancy Godfrey, wife of Samuel Johnson was born in England (Ballynease Ireland) and through her grandmother Stuart was a direct descendant of Mary, Queen of the Scots.  One of her sisters married a wealthy Englishman (North Irishman), William Crawford, who with his wife Mary Jane (Godfrey), family and servants, as well as a small flock of sheep, went on his own sailing vessel in about 1862 to settle in Australia.  It is said to have been about a three month voyage.  He had four sons, Henry...Thomas (after her father), John...and Hugh, and five daughters, Mary Ann, Matilda, Jane, Nancy and Sarah... Another sister Matty (Matilda) married Robert (William) Houston of Scotland and came to Canandaigua...There were two children, Robert and Ellen (Jane) but no descendants.  For awhile Ellen visited Ireland every five years, visiting the following places and families:  ...the Hunters, a sister of Nancy Godfrey, the McCulloughs, another sister of Nancy Godfrey... 

Finally, there is a death certificate for Nancy Johnson on the site which gives Mary Sampson as the name of her mother.  I wish I knew the full name of grandmother Stuart, whether she is descended from the Queen of Scots or not...