From England to New Jersey
We all have 2,048 9th Great Grandparents. Rather daunting. I did a little research on how a group of mine emigrated to the United States. I picked my 5th Great Grandfather, Ephraim Martin and his wife Eunice Dunham and worked them back to MY 9th Great Grandparents through them. Hope that makes sense. The spread sheet below lists 32 of my 2,048 9th Great Grandparents in this group and I know most of the names...well, I know 24 of them.
| Origin of Set A - 9th Great Grandparents | ||||||
| Born | Where | Died | Where | |||
| John Martin | England | England | ||||
| Suzan Hemertin | England | England | ||||
| Thomas Roberts | * | 1600 | Worcester, Eng | 1673 | Dover, NH | |
| Rebecca Hilton | * | 1602 | Wearmouth, Eng | 1673 | Boston, Ma | |
| George Trotter | * | 1607 | Byer's Green, Eng | 1657 | Newbury, Ma | |
| Gertrude Wren | * | 1610 | Auckland, Eng | 1660 | Newbury, Ma | |
| John Gibbs | * | 1600 | Bath Abbey, Eng | 1650 | Newbury, Ma | |
| Joan Scott | * | 1605 | Long Sutton, Eng | 1655 | Newbury, Ma | |
| Thomas Dunham | 1556 | Scrooby, Eng | 1652 | London, Eng | ||
| Jane Bromely | 1560 | Scrooby, Eng | 1656 | Nottinghamshire, Eng | ||
| Thomas Billiou | 1572 | Wichres, France | 1617 | France | ||
| Anne Aime | 1574 | France | 1625 | Netherlands | ||
| William Tilson | * | 1570 | England | 1640 | Plymouth, Ma | |
| Jane Bromely | * | 1575 | England | ? | Plymouth, Ma | |
| Unknown | ||||||
| Unknown | ||||||
| Francis Singletary | 1559 | Surfleet, Eng | 1617 | Surfleet, Eng | ||
| Agnes Cook | 1563 | Haverhill, Eng | 1618 | Surfleet, Eng | ||
| William Cooke | * | 1584 | Worcestershire, Eng | 1682 | Essex, Ma | |
| Martha White | 1589 | Cornwall, Eng | 1648 | Oxfordshire, Eng | ||
| John Bloomfield | * | 1589 | Suffolk, Eng | 1639 | Newbury, Ma | |
| Mary | * | 1620 | England | ? | Prob Newbury | |
| Unknown | ||||||
| Unknown | ||||||
| Richard Ilsley | 1577 | London, Eng | 1613 | London, Eng | ||
| Joanne Lewes | 1572 | Wiltshire, Eng | 1613 | London, Eng | ||
| John Stevens | 1575 | Oxford, Eng | 1627 | Oxford, Eng | ||
| Alice Atkins | * | 1580 | Chesham, Eng | 1650 | Newbury, Ma | |
| Unknown | ||||||
| Unknown | ||||||
| Unknown | ||||||
| Unknown | ||||||
| Next group - 8th Great Grandparents | ||||||
| John Martin | * | 1620 | England | 1687 | Piscataway, NJ | |
| Esther Roberts | 1626 | Dover, NH | 1687 | Piscataway, NJ | ||
| William Trotter | 1630 | Newbury, Ma | 1676 | Piscataway, NJ | ||
| Cutbury Gibbs | 1628 | Newbury, Ma | 1667 | Piscataway, NJ | ||
| John Dunham | * | 1589 | Nottinghamshire, Eng | 1668 | Plymouth, Ma | |
| Abigail Barlow | * | 1600 | Leiden, Holland | 1669 | Plymouth, Ma | |
| Edmond Tilson | 1605 | England | 1660 | Plymouth, Ma | ||
| Joan | 1609 | England | 1668 | Plymouth, Ma | ||
| Richard Singletary | * | 1594 | Lincolnshire, Eng | 1687 | Essex, Ma | |
| Susanna Cook | * | 1616 | Essex, Ma | 1682 | Essex, Ma | |
| Thomas Bloomfield | * | 1617 | Suffolk, Eng | 1684 | Woodbridge, NJ | |
| Mary Withers | * | 1620 | England | 1686 | Woodbridge, NJ | |
| William Iseley | * | 1610 | Berkshire, Eng | 1681 | Newbury, Ma | |
| Barbara Stevens | * | 1611 | Oxfordshire, Eng | 1681 | Newbury, Ma | |
| Unknown | ||||||
| Unknown | ||||||
| Next group - 7th Great Grandparents | ||||||
| Joseph Martin | 1657 | Dover, NH | 1732 | Piscataway, NJ | ||
| Sarah Trotter | 1665 | Newbury, Ma | 1750 | Piscataway, NJ | ||
| Benejah Dunham | 1640 | Plymouth, Ma | 1680 | Piscataway, NJ | ||
| Elizabeth Tilson | 1640 | Plymouth, Ma | 1682 | Piscataway, NJ | ||
| Johathan Dunham | 1640 | Salisbury, Ma | 1706 | Woodbridge, NJ | ||
| Mary Bloomfield | 1642 | Newbury, Ma | 1702 | Woodbridge, NJ | ||
| John Ilsley | 1641 | Newbury, Ma | 1707 | Woodbridge, NJ | ||
| Ann | 1654 | Woodbridge, NJ | ? | Woodbridge, NJ | ||
| Next group - 6th Great Grandparents | ||||||
| James Martin | 1680 | Piscataway, NJ | 1771 | Basking Ridge, NJ | ||
| Hannah Dunham | 1680 | Piscataway, NJ | 1779 | Basking Ridge, NJ | ||
| David Dunham | 1673 | Woodbridge, NJ | 1753 | Woodbridge, NJ | ||
| Mary Ilsley | 1680 | Woodbridge, NJ | 1750 | Woodbridge, NJ | ||
| Next group - 5th Great Grandparents | ||||||
| Ephraim Martin | 1707 | Piscataway, NJ | 1789 | Basking Ridge, NJ | ||
| Eunice Dunham | 1710 | Woodbridge, NJ | 1737 | Basking Ridge, NJ |
The * indicates the emigrant ancestor. With one exception they were all from England and all entered America at Plymouth or Newbury, Mass. I have included John Martin and Suzan Hemertin as our across the pond Martin connection, but as with several of these families we can only rely on other's research. For many years the Martin family genealogies name an Isaac Martin and Martha Greenhill as John Martin (1620)'s parents. In fact those are the names in the Martin Genealogy put together by Alma Martin in 1976. That has proven to be false and the above is the current consensus and is included in The Martin Family of America, last updated 1984 by Louise Martin Mohler. I corresponded with a fellow many years ago that was convinced the Martins are descended from Martin de tour who came to England from Normandy with William the Conqueror. Not to be confused with St Martin de tour, although lots of folks are claiming the Saint as a remote ancestor - and, who knows, perhaps he is.
Recently I did a DNA test on Ancestry.com and it has taken me back to Colonial America and these Martin ancestors. They were all here by the mid 1600's. I did the DNA test hoping to uncover some new clue on my Mom's side, but alas, as I learn more about the process I find the longer your family has been in this country, the more likely you are to find a DNA match. Just a numbers thing, actually. Ancestry.com matches you with other folks who have taken the test, so I was amazed to get thousands of matches, most of which I can 't determine how or why we match. If we have a name in common, that helps!
Mom's family stepped off the boat only a couple of generations ago, so she is not likely to show up. I do have a potential Deierling "cousin" to match with as you can do one on one comparisons...but after getting me started on this endeavor she is not responding to my notes.
Even on Dad's side, the Lewis, Tyson, Short, Williams families are fairly new and I'm not getting any matches on those lines. Tyson actually should show up as there were Tysons in Virginia in early years. The Zanes show up. I do see the Allen and Freeman families occasionally, but as I have a dead end in Morris County, NJ on John Allen and Sarah Freeman, I can't conclusively say where these "matches" fit. They do indicate I am on the right track, however - because they are the same family groups I have already collected to attach to John and Sarah as collateral and/or direct ancestors. Sort of trying to backdoor Sarah and John into the family tree.
So, back to the above 9th Great Grandparents. In looking at my DNA matches, the first thing that jumped out at me is that all roads in this group, so to speak, seemed to lead to Piscataway and/or Woodbridge, New Jersey. I've always known the Martins were from Piscataway but with this new research, I even added in some grandparents along the way that I was unaware of - and they led me to Piscataway/Woodbridge, too. In fact, since the internet and online genealogical data, there are several lines I have never pursued and this was a great opportunity to work on those folks. The Tilsons, The Bloomfields and the fact there were two Dunham family is actually new to me.
Most of the names of our direct ancestors appear in the book "Woodbridge and Vicinity". Another old book of interest is "History of the First Baptist Church of Piscataway". We are related, in one way or another, with most of the first settlers of Woodbridge and/or Piscataway because, frankly...there were no other people there to marry. So the sons and daughters of these early pioneers married each other. I find Runyons and Drakes and Dunns, etc throughout the tree. The Drakes, by the way are of the Sir Francis Drake lineage - and a supposed ancestor of John Martin (1620), one Capt John Martin supposedly sailed around the world with said Sir Francis Drake. One does always see Drakes and Martins in the same vicinity...so, who knows. Supposedly, it could be true.
A note on the Dunhams. It looks like a lot of Dunhams in here, but there were actually two unrelated families, one in Piscataway and one in Woodbridge. Jonathan Dunham listed in the 7th Great Grandparents group is actually a son of Richard Singletary. Jonathan took on the Dunham name and no one seems to know exactly why although it may have had something to do with a family quarrel. Everyone else in the family retained the Singletary name. Jonathan (Singletary) Dunham is the common ancestor we have with President Barach Obama. Jonathan was very active in the Woodbridge community and had the first grist mill in Woodbridge. If you click on his highlighted name above, you can read all about him.
The "other" Dunham family originated in Scrooby, England which is the source of the Pilgrim movement. The Pilgrims escaped from England in 1608 to Holland and after a dozen years or so in Holland, where they were not happy, a group of them climbed onto the Mayflower and the rest is history. Unfortunately, our direct ancestry Dunhams, although they were in Leiden, Holland with the others, did not arrive until about 1633 and thus we are not Mayflower descendants as we would have been had they caught the first boat. In Holland, John Dunham married Abigail Barlow/Billiou, whose family originated in France and this is the only non-English line in this group.
An e-book I just discovered - Dunham Genealogy. I need to do some additional research because there seems to be another theory on who John Dunham married, I have read about genealogies being embellished to provide descendants with a Mayflower ancestor and I think the e-book linked may well be part of that kind of manipulation as it has John Dunham on the Mayflower under cover as John Goodman. Hmmm.
There was a Christopher Martin on the Mayflower but, alas, we are not related to him, either.
More Later.
Recently I did a DNA test on Ancestry.com and it has taken me back to Colonial America and these Martin ancestors. They were all here by the mid 1600's. I did the DNA test hoping to uncover some new clue on my Mom's side, but alas, as I learn more about the process I find the longer your family has been in this country, the more likely you are to find a DNA match. Just a numbers thing, actually. Ancestry.com matches you with other folks who have taken the test, so I was amazed to get thousands of matches, most of which I can 't determine how or why we match. If we have a name in common, that helps!
Mom's family stepped off the boat only a couple of generations ago, so she is not likely to show up. I do have a potential Deierling "cousin" to match with as you can do one on one comparisons...but after getting me started on this endeavor she is not responding to my notes.
Even on Dad's side, the Lewis, Tyson, Short, Williams families are fairly new and I'm not getting any matches on those lines. Tyson actually should show up as there were Tysons in Virginia in early years. The Zanes show up. I do see the Allen and Freeman families occasionally, but as I have a dead end in Morris County, NJ on John Allen and Sarah Freeman, I can't conclusively say where these "matches" fit. They do indicate I am on the right track, however - because they are the same family groups I have already collected to attach to John and Sarah as collateral and/or direct ancestors. Sort of trying to backdoor Sarah and John into the family tree.
So, back to the above 9th Great Grandparents. In looking at my DNA matches, the first thing that jumped out at me is that all roads in this group, so to speak, seemed to lead to Piscataway and/or Woodbridge, New Jersey. I've always known the Martins were from Piscataway but with this new research, I even added in some grandparents along the way that I was unaware of - and they led me to Piscataway/Woodbridge, too. In fact, since the internet and online genealogical data, there are several lines I have never pursued and this was a great opportunity to work on those folks. The Tilsons, The Bloomfields and the fact there were two Dunham family is actually new to me.
Most of the names of our direct ancestors appear in the book "Woodbridge and Vicinity". Another old book of interest is "History of the First Baptist Church of Piscataway". We are related, in one way or another, with most of the first settlers of Woodbridge and/or Piscataway because, frankly...there were no other people there to marry. So the sons and daughters of these early pioneers married each other. I find Runyons and Drakes and Dunns, etc throughout the tree. The Drakes, by the way are of the Sir Francis Drake lineage - and a supposed ancestor of John Martin (1620), one Capt John Martin supposedly sailed around the world with said Sir Francis Drake. One does always see Drakes and Martins in the same vicinity...so, who knows. Supposedly, it could be true.
A note on the Dunhams. It looks like a lot of Dunhams in here, but there were actually two unrelated families, one in Piscataway and one in Woodbridge. Jonathan Dunham listed in the 7th Great Grandparents group is actually a son of Richard Singletary. Jonathan took on the Dunham name and no one seems to know exactly why although it may have had something to do with a family quarrel. Everyone else in the family retained the Singletary name. Jonathan (Singletary) Dunham is the common ancestor we have with President Barach Obama. Jonathan was very active in the Woodbridge community and had the first grist mill in Woodbridge. If you click on his highlighted name above, you can read all about him.
The "other" Dunham family originated in Scrooby, England which is the source of the Pilgrim movement. The Pilgrims escaped from England in 1608 to Holland and after a dozen years or so in Holland, where they were not happy, a group of them climbed onto the Mayflower and the rest is history. Unfortunately, our direct ancestry Dunhams, although they were in Leiden, Holland with the others, did not arrive until about 1633 and thus we are not Mayflower descendants as we would have been had they caught the first boat. In Holland, John Dunham married Abigail Barlow/Billiou, whose family originated in France and this is the only non-English line in this group.
An e-book I just discovered - Dunham Genealogy. I need to do some additional research because there seems to be another theory on who John Dunham married, I have read about genealogies being embellished to provide descendants with a Mayflower ancestor and I think the e-book linked may well be part of that kind of manipulation as it has John Dunham on the Mayflower under cover as John Goodman. Hmmm.
There was a Christopher Martin on the Mayflower but, alas, we are not related to him, either.
More Later.
