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Hildreth Highlights APR03
by admin on Contains the articles ... - Thomas1 - Finding Truth and Eliminating Myth - Thomas1 Hildreth - Forefather of the Southern Family - At Last—A Connection - Still Chasing Thomas - Richard Edward Hildreth Awarded Honor HILDRETH HIGHLIGHTS VOL. XXVI, NO. 3 A Quarterly Publication of theHildreth Family Association - Online Edition © April 2003 Thomas1 - Finding Truth and Eliminating Myth By Jane Hildreth Kelley - February 24, 2003 I’ve just finished pouring through (again!) a stack of papers six inches high, three bound volumes of Hildreth genealogy, and two other bound volumes. The Hildreth CD I reviewed previously has led to the present research. The papers include family lineages as well as partial documentation from books and emails collected in the past two or three years. The result is that I am unable to find any definite dates of birth for the sons of Thomas Hildreth, Joseph and James. What I have found is a lot of speculation and mass confusion between the original Joseph and James, and those with the same first names who came afterwards. There are two dates in the Town of Southampton records which must be taken into consideration when the dates of these men are concerned, the fact that the first mention of Thomas Hyldreth/Hildreth is in 1643 and the last is in October of 1657 concerning his death. So logic dictates that any children of Thomas Hildreth and Hannah Horton had to be born between 1643 and 1658. This eliminates the data given in Daniel Hildreth’s family record dated January 1st, 1867 such as “James or Thomas died 1687 age 71 years”. As above, he was dead by October 6, 1657.1 So I have eliminated this document as a reliable source. JOSEPH Another family document was submitted to the East Hampton Library by Edwin James Hildreth2 It gives the date of birth of Joseph Hildreth as 1657. Since Joseph is known to have been the eldest son, this is highly unlikely. The one date about Joseph himself we know to hold up is that of his marriage to Hannah Jessup, daughter of John Jessup, on Sept. 11, 16783 So no children of Joseph and Hannah Jessup would have been born before 1678. Another fact emerges from this date and that is Joseph was at least 21 years of age when he married Hannah Jessup. The most accurate listing of their children I can find from several sources is: a) Joseph, born July 27, 1679, died young b) Benjamin, born September 22, 1681 c) Joseph, born 1683 d) Nathan, born March 17, 1684-5 e) Isaac, born 1687 f) Ephraim, born 1689 g) Daniel, born 1693 h) Jonathan, born 1697 i) John, born 1702, died October 1, 1720 or 1722. Married Phebe, moved to Orange County, New York. j) Isaac d. about 1750 Some of these dates coincide with those given to Vie Hildreth by Emily Oster, the Town of Southampton historian, in 2002. I have a photocopy of a list of some Hildreth graves in the “new” cemetery on Sebonac Road in Southampton. The date Thomas Hildreth died is printed as 1687 with a penciled notation that this is probably misread on the headstone, initials GJS4 We know that Thomas actually died in 1657. Listed directly below him is “Joseph, d. 1735, Ae. 78 yrs” making him born in 1657. This is where the incorrect date was picked up from in the material by Edwin James Hildreth. I believe that the date also has been copied incorrectly and this Joseph Hildreth is actually the son of Thomas and Hannah. The date given for Nathan Hildreth, listed just below Joseph, is d. June 13, 1746, Ae. 63 yrs. Nathan would be the son of Joseph and grandson of Thomas and Hannah. The printed list states that the cemetery was established in 1887 and those recorded were removed from other burial sites. From another source I received photos and lists of Hildreth graves in several other places; a Nathan Hildreth is found in the North End Burying Ground, Windmill Lane, Southampton. “Here lyes the body of Nathan Hildreth who dy’d June ye 13, 1746 in the 63 year of his age”. These two references apparently are for the same man which now leads to the question, “Which name should the cemetery he is buried in be called; and where is it located”? The North End Burying Ground in Southampton also contains the grave of Ephraim Hildreth: “He dy’d Jan. 16 1771 in the 83d year of his age”. This would make his birth date 1688 which is within one year of the date give for him in other sources. “A Mrs. Hannah Hildreth, wife to Mr. Joseph Hildreth,aged about 23 years, dec’d Dec. 22 1725 lies there also.” This would be the wife of Joseph Hildreth, born 1683. JAMES Emily Norris postulates that James Jr. was the husband of Lydia Norris and mother of Peter Hildreth however other sources claim that James Jr. went to New Jersey and married another woman. The will of Peter Norris, father of Lydia Norris, was proved in 1719 in which he mentions she is a widow. So the burning question arises, why does some of the Hildreth clan claim that James Jr. went to New Jersey and married another woman? Trying to unsnarl the lineage of those who are in the HFA publications as being descended from Thomas via James is very difficult. It does not take very long to become hopelessly confused by the repetition of the same first names, over and over again, in the Hildreth lines. I managed with some difficulty to sort out most of my own line in Sag Harbor, but only because I knew who my own immediate ancestors were and have also seen their gravestones in the Oakland Cemetery in Sag Harbor. The most likely estimate of the sons of James Sr., son of Thomas is: James Jr. (appears in the 1698 list of Southampton)5 Joshua (also appears in this list) Daniel (died in New Jersey in 1731) Noah Note there is no David mentioned, he was the son of James Jr. Both David and Peter were sons of James Jr. and are confused with being children of James Sr. in various family accounts. Emily Norris presented the theory that Peter is the son of James Jr. and Lydia Norris as found in the liber copy of the will of James Hildreth Sr. dated 1720. By this time, Lydia was a widow. She and Henry Hoff arrived at this conclusion by the process of elimination6 JONATHAN Emily Norris in her article on Peter Hildreth claims that the Hildreth Family Association ignores another son of Thomas and Hannah, Jonathan Hildreth7 I found a Jonathan in the 1698 census listed with the family of Joseph Hildreth8, there is a Jonathan Hildreth mentioned in the rate list of 1683, or 14 years before the birth of Joseph’s son above9 The will of Jonas Bower lists the sons of Thomas Hildreth first, has the name “Jonathan” with Joseph and James. The will was proved in 1671, meaning Jonathan was alive at that time. If the Jonathan Hildreth in the 1698 census is indeed the son of Joseph, he was about one year old at the time. No Jonathan Bower is listed in that census; Isaac Bower and Jonah Bower, the known sons of Hannah and Jonas Bower are listed there. William S. Pelletreau, in his American Families of Historic Lineage, Long Island Edition, mentions a Jonathan as being a son of Thomas and Hannah. Unfortunately he has also listed several Peter Hildreths who did not exist as well as scrambling some of the other data. Jonathan appears on the file card from the Suffolk County Historical Museum with the notation “removed to Cape May - Gelston Howell’s notes”10 To date I have not been able to find any mention of children of this Hildreth. I’ve been collecting information from various sources, mostly from those who were kind enough to answer my messages online, and conclude that most of the information in print, including that of the Hildreth Family Association, is incorrect where the descendants of James Hildreth, son of Thomas and Hannah, are concerned. It is impossible to simply add another generation after James Sr. The data has been too confused over the years. That of Joseph, another son, appears to coincide in all of the sources I have located to date. At this time, I have suspended work on the data base until responses come in from the various email addresses I have culled from online genealogical boards, and my notes. All documentation such as Bible records, birth, marriage, death certificates, wills, and any other source such as newspaper clippings are necessary now to establish the link between Thomas Hyldreth/Hildreth and the pockets of Hildreth descendants which are scattered throughout the world. Please contact me, casa.kelley@juno.com, if you have any information to share. At this time, I am placing what information I have into a new Hildreth database. I may not be able to answer all of your questions, as what I have in hand is limited. Together, we can fill in the missing gaps in the Thomas Hildreth line. Sources 1) Town of Southampton Records, page 23 (Oct. 26, 1643) and page 160 (Oct. 6, 1657). 2) Hildreth, Ancestors of Edwin James Hildreth, circa 1988, original in East Hampton Library, East Hampton, NY. 3) New England Marriages Prior to 1700, Torrey, Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore 1987, pg. 370 4) Gerald J. Stanonis, Librarian, Suffolk County Historical Society, Riverhead, NY. June 2002 5) O’Callaghan, E.B., The documentary History of the State of New York, Vol.1, (Albany, Weed, Parsons & Co., Public Printers, 1850) pp. 437-447. 6) The New York Genealogical and Biographical RECORD, Vol. 120, No. 2, April 1989, Peter Hildreth of Southampton, Long Island, by Emma D. Morris pp. 73-75 7) The New York Genealogical and Biographical RECORD, Vol. 120, No. 2, April 1989, Peter Hildreth of Southampton, Long Island by Emma D. Morris pp. 73-75 8- O’Callaghan, E.B., The Documentary History of the State of New York, Vol. I (Albany, Weed, Parsons & Co., 1850) pp. 437-447 9) Lists of inhabitants of Colonial New York, Excerpted from The Documentary History of The State of New York, by Edmund Bailey; O’Callaghan, Baltimore, 1979, pp. 157, 158. 10) Hildreth, Thomas1 Carpenter , card file from Suffolk County Historical Society ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Thomas1 Hildreth - Forefather of the Southern Family By Vie Hildreth Anson County Courthouse We all know Thomas Hildreth of Southampton New York was one of Long Island's early settlers. He was a carpenter by trade. When Thomas arrived in Southampton, he was considered to be substantially wealthy; and affluent enough in fact, to purchase more than one parcel of land. Records indicate that Thomas died October 6, 1657. He left behind a wife, Hannah Horton, and four children. One of those children was named James.1 James remained in the area where he owned a house and land in Sagaponak, among other holdings. He was said to have married a woman named Deborah Norris and they had ten children. One of their children named James was born about 1690.1 Belief is that James Jr. left Long Island for New Jersey. (This is where opinions vary) According to source information, James then left New Jersey and moved to Orange County, Virginia. Orange County was formed from Spotsylvania County, Virginia in 1734. There he had two children named James and David who were born circa 1720.2 These were the great grandchildren of Thomas.2 Around 1740 James and David Hildreth showed up in what is now known as Anson County, North Carolina. This county was formed in 1750. These two brothers made the trip south with the family of John Bailey, whose daughter Elizabeth, was married to David. The Bailey's had firm roots in Orange County; Virginia.3 There was never any mention of their father, James, again. Belief is that he remained in Virginia, and subsequently died there. About 1740 James and David began their families in this area of North Carolina. It is these two who started all the Hildreth generations that followed. James married (wife unknown) and had four sons: James, Reuben, William, and John. Reuben Hildreth was born 1749, and died October 11 1845. He was a Revolutionary soldier.4 According to abstracts of early records, Reuben, was one of the signers of the petition to annex Anson, North Carolina to the Fayetteville district 1789.17 He was listed in the Montgomery County, North Carolina colonial census of 1787.11 Reuben moved to Marengo, Alabama with his wife, Mary and some of his children in the early 1800's. He was one of the founders of the town of Jefferson, where he lived for the remainder of his life.7 The family home called "Hildreth House" is still preserved by his ancestors to this day. David Hildreth had substantial land holdings from 1749 to 1779.8 Some of this land was sold to his brother, James, in 1755. Other parcels were bought and sold through the years.9 David was also listed in the Anson County tax list and early census of 1763.10,11 David Hildreth and his wife Elizabeth Bailey Hildreth had two children: David, born about 1737, and Joshua. David married Nancy Anne Vickery, daughter of Ezekiah Vickery. They had at least five known children:2 David (born 1775) married to Nancy (maiden name unknown) Thomas (born 1780) married to Hipsira Childress William (born 1783) married to Nancy Covington Mary (born 1785) married to William Bailey Robert (born 1790) married to Frances (maiden name unknown) Robert Hildreth was the black sheep of the family. On August 4, 1848 Robert killed his neighbor, William Taylor, in a drunken rage over a fight between their children. He was convicted, and sentenced to hang on November 2, 1849.12,13 His hanging was the subject of an article published by the "Morning Mirror" of Rhode Island dated November 22, 1849. The article goes on to describe his execution which took three tries before he died.14 Thomas and Hipsira Childress Hildreth had seven children. Their second born was named Berry Grove Hildreth (not to be confused with his cousin named Berrygrove Hildreth). On February 25, 1862 at age 37, Berry enlisted as a confederate soldier. He served with the "Anson County Regulators", Company I 43rd Regiment.15 Many of the Hildreth's of that period proudly served and fought in the civil war. Berry married Coley Peggy Teal.16 They were both born in 1824. They had two children together, Sarah and Ebb H. Ebb H. was b. 1858, d. Oct. 17, 1934. Berry next shows up in the 1880 census as a boarder in the home of Rosanna Gaddy.5 He is buried in an unmarked grave in Bethel Cemetery, located in Anson County. I don't know what became of Coley after the birth of her children. Ebb H. married a woman named Caroline Burr (born 1866 and died January 20 1939). Together, they had nine children. Caroline and Ebb raised their family just over the South Carolina border in a place called Chesterfield County.6 As the family grew, most of the children migrated back to Anson County as did their parents. The second child born to Ebb and Caroline was named Eddie Hildreth born October 6, 1887, and died August 8, 1962. He was married twice. His first wife was named Eliza Culley. They were married in 1909 and had two children. Viola, born 1915, and Redmon, born October 13, 1919, and died April 24, 1997.6 After almost 25 years of marriage Eddie divorced Eliza and married a woman named Hattie Rainwater, born June 10, 1910, and died November 5, 1958. Hattie was also married before to a man named Frank Culley.6 (We believe Eliza and Frank were somehow related.) Hattie was said to be half Cherokee Indian. Not much is known of her family. Hattie and Eddie had two children together: Willie Beatrice Hildreth, born March 3, 1935, and died July 4, 1981, and James Thomas Hildreth, born May 31, 1944, and died June 1982. James had four children. Three of them presently reside not far from Anson County.18 Willie Beatrice, known as Bea, had a child at the very young age of 14. His name is Roger Dale Hildreth, born August 3,1949. Bea left Roger in the care of her parents, Eddie and Hattie who raised him until Hattie's death. Roger went to live with his mother who at this time lived in New York. At age 14 Roger returned to North Carolina and remained there until he enlisted in the United States Marines at age 17. Roger served as a marine during the Vietnam War, from October 1966 to March of 1969. He was in the battle at Khe Sanh and received a Purple Heart among other various medals. After being wounded, Roger was sent to a hospital in Guam and then to St. Albans in New York. He remained hospitalized for nearly a year. At this time he reunited with his mother, and remained in New York. He has two children: Kevin Stockton (born September 5, 1967) and Amanda Hattie Hildreth (born May 27, 1981). They both reside in Atlanta, Georgia. Hildreth is a very popular name in Anson County, North Carolina. There are so many, in fact, that just about every family has a Hildreth in their family tree! In doing this research, I have met many interesting and helpful people from Anson County. Some have even turned out to be related in some way or another to Roger. The Anson County Hildreth's express a strong belief in their ancestry to Thomas. They are also very proud of their southern roots. This fact is evident when you visit the local courthouse for the county, located in Wadesboro. There is a monument in front of the building that has a very powerful statement inscribed on all four sides with a confederate soldier standing at the top. There are also some confederate soldiers names listed on the outside wall of the building. Hildreth is among those names. The Anson County Courthouse suffered a fire sometime in the 1800's.19 Unfortunately, most records were lost in the blaze. The North Carolina State Archives has some material on microfilm. Also, cemetery records were not kept until about ten years ago. It is very difficult to locate graves where markers have been lost. Many of Roger's family are buried in a local cemetery. Three have markers, but nine graves are lost forever. There are also two Hildreth cemeteries in the county. They contain many generations of the family. Hopefully, further research will one day yield information on what happened to James Jr., the missing link. Roger is definitely the fifth great grandson of David Hildreth and Elizabeth Bailey Hildreth, and if all is correct, a descendant of Thomas Hildreth. Sources: 1) Excerpt's From "The Hildreth Family" By James Wilson Newman 2) Margarette Maybry 3) Descendant's Of John Bailey 4) Alabama State Archives 5) Anson County NC Census Records 6) Chesterfield County SC Probate Court and Census Records 7) Jefferson Cemetery, Marengo, Alabama 8- The North Carolina State Archives 9) The Anson County Register of Deeds 10) Anson County Early Tax List 11) Anson County Early Census Index 12) Steve Bailey 13) The Anson County Library 206 Wade St., Wadesboro, NC 28170 14) Rhode Island Historical Society 15) Anson County Civil War Rosters 16) Kenny Hildreth 17) Leah “Pud” Harris 18) The North Carolina Department of Vital Records 19) The Anson Record – Old microfilm Credits: 1) My real name is Elvira A. Hildreth. The name I prefer to use is Vie. 2) I'm married to Roger Dale Hildreth, for whom my research is dedicated. 3) The enclosed article was researched and written by Vie. 4) I would also like to thank all the people of Anson County who gave me their time and helped me to understand their Hildreth southern heritage. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- William Hildreth II, Knox County, Ohio At Last—A Connection By Trella Hemmerly Romine, Caledonia, Ohio trella@earthlink.net For nearly a hundred years our Hildreth family has searched for a connection to the descendants of either Richard or Thomas Hildreth who emigrated from England to Massachusetts in 1635. My great-great uncle, Columbus Hildreth (David, William III, II, I) ended his 1926 genealogy of the descendants of William Hildreth III with: What I would like to know is where do we connect into the Chain. Grandfather (William III) came from Connecticut as I have always been told, but I fail to find so far the connecting Link. The search was taken up by my uncle, Allen Sheneman,(Lucy, David, William III,II,I). He traced our lineage through maternal lines back to the Chalkers, Tuthills, Youngs, and Wells. Allen joined the Hildreth Association and corresponded with Alice Hildreth Prichard, and Mrs. Mercy of that organization, but the link was still missing. Our family refers to William, husband of Joanna Chalker Hildreth, as William Hildreth I. The first record found in the Glastonbury Buckingham-Eastbury Church records in the Connecticut Church Records at the Connecticut State Library in Volume 2, pages 1, 3, 9, 12, 16, 30, 38 and 86. Of these the earliest is of William and Joanna (o.c.) on December 7, 1769 followed by their baptism and baptism of their children. The marriage of William II to Ruth Mason is also recorded as October 8, 1794. William I died on February 3, 1810 in Marlborough, Connecticut. By 1814 William II had sold his property in Connecticut and the family came to Ohio and in 1817 settled in Knox County, Miller Township. Here they built a fine brick home, still standing, that looks much like the houses in Glastonbury, Connecticut. His son, William III, married Elizabeth Stokely in 1817 in Muskingum County. Sometime in the 1830s they moved to Knox County, and in 1850 moved to Leesburg Township, Union County where their son David had moved in 1848. Here the next two generations were born, Lucy Hildreth and Ivaloo Sheneman. Ivaloo moved to Marion in 1906, married Ray Hemmerly in 1912, and I was born in Marion in 1915. With our lineage well documented back to 1769 it has been frustrating to not have a “link” to all those other early Hildreths in New England. Following the publication of Allen Sheneman’s Hildreth Genealogy, Ancestors and Descendants of William and Joanna Chalker Hildreth in 1982 I was invited by the Hildreth Association to speak at their annual meeting in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. As I look over the assembled Hildreths in the old church I found people who resembled my aunts and uncles. They had what I have always though of as “the Hildreth look.” Later I spoke with each of them, and in every instance they were descended from Thomas Hildreth who had moved to Long Island soon after his arrival in America. But this wasn’t proof, and there was no connection found in the publications of the Hildreth Association. I have always felt like an orphan that had been befriended by kind relatives, but not really belonging. Then came the day last fall when Raymond (Bud) Hildreth send word to my Hildreth cousin, Earl Mack Hildreth of Bellefontaine, Ohio, that by DNA testing of the Y chromosome through the male line a common ancestor could be determined. The test was made, and it matched! Suddenly we had a connection--and thousands of new cousins! It came too late for Columbus Hildreth and Allen Sheneman, and we still have a few links missing in the chain, but now there may be someone out there who can provide those links. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Still Chasing Thomas By Wayne V. Hildreth The July 2001 Highlights contains an article by Jane Hildreth Kelley entitled “Chasing Down Tom.” In preparing for her article Jane began a quest to dispel a number of myths associated with the Thomas lineage of Long Island and to embark on truly the most comprehensive effort ever to research and factually develop the genealogy and history of the lineage. Jane’s efforts continue, but are taking on new form – the Internet. With a collection of technology tools utilizing the Internet as a medium, we now can collaborate, codify, preserve and share our common heritage. Jane and I constitute the beginnings of a team dedicated to the following five objectives: To continuously develop a fluid or “living” online database accessible by all that serves as a central point for our research; To maintain an online document repository for the preservation and sharing of historical and genealogical documents related to our research; To provide research tools and assistance for those interested in improving upon prior research and updating personal lineage; To provide an online vehicle for publishing written works, photographs and projects of historical or genealogical value; and To provide a central online point for open discussion and collaborative research. We are searching for folks willing to become actively involved with research efforts and developing an online community with a common interest. The success of this project depends on participation! Visit www.waynehildreth.net (temporary home for the site – will be shifting domains within the next few months). You will find many historical source documents, articles, databases and much more. So, why not help us find the truth behind our common heritage? Feel free to email Jane at casa.kelley@juno.com or Wayne at whild@attbi.com with questions. Biographical Information Wayne retired from the U.S. Navy in 1998 after serving 26 years as an officer in the JAG Corps. He is a founder in Military to Home Video Network, Inc. – a company that enables video communication between service members and their families at home. Wayne holds an MBA in Technology Management. Richard Edward Hildreth Awarded Honor Editors Note: The following article was submitted by Richard E. Hildreth, a long standing member of the HFA who always has read the Highlights with great interest, especially those articles and photographs concerning his Long Island relatives. Richard is from the Thomas1and James2 lines. Richard Edward Hildreth was recently awarded personal armorial bearings as an honor from the Canadian Crown. Richard is the son of Louise Mitchell Hildreth and the late Edward Graham Hildreth of Port Jefferson Station, New York and now lives in Port Perry, Ontario, Canada. A social worker by profession, he has had a long and distinguished career in Ontario child welfare. The award is in recognition of this and of his many years of charity work and community leadership on behalf of abused children, the developmentally handicapped and the blind. The Governor-General of Canada granted the honor by Letters Patent in the name of Queen Elizabeth II. The coat of arms bears white roses, an allusion to his paternal, Yorkshire ancestry from Hildreth Highlights Thomas and Richard, and includes a feature borrowed from arms of ancestor Eugene Hildreth. The Letters Patent make additional grants of a personal standard and badge and are listed in the Registry of Canadian Arms, Badges and Flags. Richard is presently Policy Advisor to the Government of Ontario, in which capacity he continues to contribute to the welfare of children through public policy work on mental health issues and services to those with special needs. He has retained his American citizenship. In addition to his mother, he has a sister Patricia Hildreth Roth and niece Lorraine Roth of Sound Beach; nephew Michael Roth of Wading River, and several Hildreth cousins on Long Island. Published by The Hildreth Family Association 30 Rockefeller Plaza, 44th Floor New York, NY 10112 www.Hildreth.net Ronald B. Hildreth, Editor Raymond C. "Bud" Hildreth, Asst. Editor George A. Hildreth, Distribution  
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