Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Hume Family

Hume Family

The Hume family records go well back in the Middle-Ages.  If you have ever seen the movie Braveheart, you have an idea of the life of this warrior family.  The family had the tragic distinction of seeing every first son die either in battle or as a prisoner of the English from 1413 to 1576, a time when life in the border country was often short and brutal. Sir David Hume’s grandson, of the same name, and the eldest of his seven sons, Sir George both died at the battle of Flodden Field in 1513 and may be buried in the burial ground there.

The union of the Scottish and English crowns under James in 1603 began the long path to the formal Act of Union in 1707. This brought an unfamiliar calm to the border country. Landed families could concentrate their revenues on building grand houses without concern for fortification and engage in the rapid intellectual and philosophical (and recreational) developments now known as the Scottish Enlightenment. But our colonial story starts with an orphaned twelve year-old girl by the name of Barbara Hume whose family fled from religious and political persecution in 1682.


Present Day Wedderburn Castle 

David (Laird Wedderburn) Hume *Sir (1520 - 1574)
is our 12th great grandfather
George (Barron ofWedderburn) Hume * Sir (1550 - 1616)
son of David (Laird Wedderburn) Hume *Sir
David (Laird of Wedderburn) Hume * (1586 - 1650)
son of George (Barron of Wedderburn) Hume * Sir
son of David (Laird of Wedderburn) Hume *
son of George Hume * Sir
daughter of James Hume Sir*
daughter of Barbara Hume *
son of Mary Hogue *
son of Mark Hardin *
son of Benjamin Hardin *
son of Daniel Hardin *
daughter of Martin V Hardin *
son of Nancy Wilson Hardin *
daughter of Walter Scott Bramblett *

Johan Gustaffson 1618-1682

Many countries were involved in the colonizing of the New World.  Our family results from most of these countries.  There were disputes among these countries until we were finally a sovereign nation unto ourselves. This is but one example.

"Johan Gustaffson from the Kinnekulle area, Skaraborg Iän, came to New Sweden in 1643 as a soldier under Governor Printz. Printz' successor, Governor Rising, promoted him to the position of a gunner and, as such, he was stationed at Fort Trinity (New Castle) in 1655 when Captain Sven Skute surrendered the fort to the Dutch. . . After the surrender of New Sweden to the Dutch, Johan Gustafsson moved northward to Kingsessing where he died c. 1682, leaving a widow and at least eleven children. They kept Gustafsson as their surname, but it was heard and written by the English as Eustafason, Justison, etc. [John Gustafsson's name last appears in a public record on 14 March 1681/2 when it was agreed that the lawsuit by Peter [Mattson] Dalboe vs. John Eustasson for trespass would be referred to arbitration. CCR, 1:11-12]. Justis, Justus or Justice finally evolved as the family surname. By 1693, several members of the family had married and left home: Gustaf, Mans, Anna and Hans"

"Kinnekulle is a large wooded hill or plateau, nine miles long and four miles across, rising 860 feet above Lake Vanern in Skaraborg County in central Sweden. This was the home area of the Swedish soldier Johan Gustafsson, progenitor of numerous Justice, Justis and justus descendants in America. Johan Gustafsson came to New Sweden on the Swam in 1643 on the fourth Expedition and was initially stationed at Fort Elfsborg, commonly called 'Fort Mosquito' by the men living there. The fort was located on the east side of the Delaware River near the present town of Salem, N.J. Governor Rising replaced Governor Printz as Governor in 1654 and promoted Gustasson to the rank of gunner, transferring him to Fort Trinity at present New Castle, Delaware. While there, Johan Gustafsson married Brita Mansdotter, whose father Mans Andersson was then living nearby

"After the surrender of New Sweden to the Dutch in September 1655, Johan Gustafsson decided to join his countrymen in the new, self-governing 'Swedish Nation' located north of the Christina River. He established his plantation in Kingsessing (West Philadelphia) on the banks of the Schuylkill River. The English patent for this plantation, dated 16 May 1669, named him John 'Eustas' and described the tract as including 150 acres. He later expanded his holding to 300 acres. Johan Gustafsson died in Kingsessing around 1682 and was survived by his wife Brita and eleven children. Half of his plantation went to his eldest son. The other half was sold in 1699.


Johan Gustafsson * (1618 - 1682)
is our 8th great grandfather
Gustaf Gustafsson (1655 - 1722)
son of Johan Gustafsson *
Mans Justis * (1684 - 1774)
son of Gustaf Gustafsson
Catherine Justis * (1718 - 1790)
daughter of Mans Justis *
Magness McDonald * (1750 - 1809)
son of Catherine Justis *
John or Jack McDonald or McDaniel * (1794 - 1855)
son of Magness McDonald *
Nancy S McDonald * (1843 - 1869)
daughter of John or Jack McDonald or McDaniel *
Martin Crenshaw Holland * (1868 - 1940)
son of Nancy S McDonald *
Ollie Florence Holland * (1892 - 1969)
daughter of Martin Crenshaw Holland *
Margaret May Belle Bramblett * (1911 - 1988)
daughter of Ollie Florence Holland *

Monday, April 7, 2014

Thomas Edward Ashby 1682-1752

Captain Thomas Edward Ashby (1682-1752)
Thomas came to Virginia Colony, (Tydewater), then settling in Shenandoah Valley about 1710 along Beaverdam Rum of Aquia Creek and Chopawamsic Creek. By 1739 lands adjacent his had been surveryed in his son's names. He was an early explorer across the Blue Ridge Mountains into the Shenandoah Valley and "Ashby Gap" is named after him. He claimed 1269 acres on the East side of the Shenandoah River on Novermber 19, 1733. He served as a Captain in the county militia and was active as a companion to surveyors of the Blue Ridge Mountains. He owned a ferry across the Shenandoah River and a tavern at Ashby's Gap. He died in 1752 with his will proven in Winchester Court August 4, 1752.  Thomas’ six sons also were members of the Virginia Militia.  The five,older sons fought in the Revolutionary War.  The youngest son fought in the War of 1812.



Ashby Gap Shenandoah Valley


Letter from George Washington to John Ashby Oct 14 1755 - The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources, 1745-1799. John C. Fitzpatrick, Editor. Winchester, October 14th., 1755. It is my express Orders, that you do not presume to March your Company down on any pretence whatsoever, unless compelled by the Enemy. Clothes will be sent up immediately to you, which you may distribute to the most needy of your Company; and Money I shall bring up to pay them off, if wanted.


Ashby Inn


Ashby Land Grant


Thomas Edward Ashby *Capt. (1682 - 1752)
is our 6th great grandfather
Elizabeth Ashby * (1720 - 1758)
daughter of Thomas Edward Ashby *Capt.
Benjamin Hardin * (1753 - 1834)
son of Elizabeth Ashby *
Daniel Hardin * (1790 - 1850)
son of Benjamin Hardin *
Martin V Hardin * (1834 - 1881)
son of Daniel Hardin *
Nancy Wilson Hardin * (1858 - 1933)
daughter of Martin V Hardin *
Walter Scott Bramblett * (1882 - 1978)
son of Nancy Wilson Hardin *
Margaret May Belle Bramblett * (1911 - 1988)
daughter of Walter Scott Bramblett *

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

William Berry 1610-1654

William Berry was born in Norfolk, England, the son of Johan Berry. He was in service to Captain John Mason in 1631, when Mason sent 58 men and 22 women to the Piscataqua River in North America.
The following were returned as belonging to Sandy Beach in 1688: William Berry (his son), John Berry (his son), John Marden, John Foss 1st, John Foss Jr., John Odiorne, Anthony Brackett, Francis Ran, Thomas Ran, WIlliam Wallis, James Randall, William Seavie, James Berry (his son), Samuel Ran, John Seavie, Anthony Libbie, and Jos. 
William Berry married Jane Locke Hermins in 1636 in the town of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He signed the Glebe Conveyance in 1640. {S7}. In 1640, only seventeen years after the first settling of Portsmouth, Francis Williams, (the governor,) Ambrose Gibbins, William Jones, Renald Fernald, John Crowther, Anthony Bracket, Michael Chatterton, Jno. Wall, Robert Puddington, Matthew Coe, Henry Sherburn, John Lander, Henry Taler, Jno. Jones, William Berry, Jno. Pickering, Jno. Billing, Jno. Wolten, Nicholas Row and William Palmer, the principal inhabitants of Portsmouth, made a deed of fifty acres of land in Portstmouth for a Glebe, or Parsonage.
He became a freeman on 18 May 1642 in Newbury, Massachusetts and is on the list of the first settlers of Newbury.
 He received a lot "upon the neck of land on the south side of the Little River at Sandy Beach on January 31, 1648 that included the area where 'Locke's Neck' is located.

Berry served as a Selectman of Strawberry Bank (which is now Portsmouth, New Hampshire) in 1646. 
·                  Savage, James A., A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, 1860-   1862., (Boston 1860-1862; rpt Baltimore 1955), [Savage], 1:171
·                  The Berrys by the beach : one of New Hampshire's first families / by Sylvia Fitts Getchell.
·                  New England Marriages Prior to 1700,Charles Torrey,New England Historic and Genealogy          Society, Boston
·                  Parsons, Langdon B., History of the Town of Rye, NH From Its Discovery and Settlement to December 31, 1903, (1905; repr. Bowie, MD: Heritage Press 1992), [RyeHist], 269.
·                  Brewster, Charles W., The Selling of the Land, ~186
·                    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Berry_(pioneer)

Freeman in Colonial Times
Black's Law Dictionary (9th edition) defines Freeman as 1. A person who possesses and enjoys all the civil and political rights belonging to the people under a free government. 2. A person who is not a slave. 3. Hist. A member of a municipal corporation (a city or a borough) who possesses full civic rights, esp. the right to vote. 4. Hist. A freeholder. Cf. VILLEIN. 5. Hist. An allodial landowner. Cf. VASSAL. - also written free man.[2]
"Freedom" was earned after an allotted time, or until the person demanding "payment" was satisfied – this was known as indentured servitude, and was not originally intended as a stigma or embarrassment for the person involved since many of the sons and daughters of the wealthy and famous of the time found themselves forced into such temporary servitude.
An indentured servant would sign a contract agreeing to serve for a specific number of years, typically five or seven. Many immigrants to the colonies came as indentured servants, with someone else paying their passage to the Colonies in return for a promise of service. At the end of his service, according to the contract, the indentured servant (male or female) usually would be granted a sum of money, a new suit of clothes, land, or perhaps passage back to England. An indentured servant was not the same as an apprentice or a child who was "placed out."

Once a man was made a freeman, and was no longer considered a common, he could, and usually would, become a member of the church, and he could own land. The amount of land he was able to own was sometimes determined by how many members there were in his family. As a freeman, he became a member of the governing body, which met in annual or semiannual meetings (town meetings) to make and enforce laws and pass judgment in civil and criminal matters. As the colonies grew these meetings became impractical and a representative bicameral system was developed. Freeman would choose deputy governors who made up the upper house of the General Court and assistant governors, the lower house, who chose the governor from among their ranks, and who passed judgments in civil and criminal matters. To hold one of these offices it was required, of course, for one to be a freeman. Thus, the enfranchised voters and office holders were landholding male church members. Women, Native Americans and other non-Puritans were not made freeman.
Initially, any male first entering into a colony, or just recently having become a member of one of the local churches, was formally not free. They were considered common. Such persons were never forced to work for another individual, per se, but their movements were carefully observed, and if they veered from the Puritanical ideal, they were asked to leave the colony. If they stayed or later returned to the colony, they were occasionally put to death.
There was an unstated probationary period that the prospective "freeman" needed to go through, and if he did pass this probationary period of time – usually one to two years – he was allowed his freedom.
A Freeman was said to be free of all debt, owing nothing to anyone except God Himself.

William Berry (1610 - 1654)
is our 9th great grandfather
Henry Berry (1635 - 1672)
son of William Berry
Henry Berry (1660 - 1692)
son of Henry Berry
Rosanna Berry * (1682 - 1752)
daughter of Henry Berry
Elizabeth Ashby * (1720 - 1758)
daughter of Rosanna Berry *
Benjamin Hardin * (1753 - 1834)
son of Elizabeth Ashby *
Daniel Hardin * (1790 - 1850)
son of Benjamin Hardin *
Martin V Hardin (1834 - 1881)
son of Daniel Hardin *
Nancy Wilson Hardin * (1858 - 1933)
daughter of Martin V Hardin
Walter Scott Bramblett * (1882 - 1978)
son of Nancy Wilson Hardin *
Margaret May Belle Bramblett * (1911 - 1988)
daughter of Walter Scott Bramblett *