Tuesday, April 8, 2014

52 ANCESTORS in 52 WEEKS, #15: Vincent MEGGS / MEIGS

Following the challenge of writing 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, issued by Amy Johnson Crow, here is my 15th installment, for Vincent MEGGS/MEIGS, my 10th great-grandfather on my maternal side.

Vincent is another immigrant settler from the south of England, apparently from the parish of Chardstock in Dorset.  Luckily the Bishop's Transcripts of the parish [1579-1641] were found in 1991 and copied by a researcher, providing excellent confirmation of 3 of his children, plus the name and details of his wife.  

Vincent's surname is recorded as  "also known as Vincent LOVE" in a record of being landlord of the Angle Inn, in Axminster. This AKA surname might indicate he was an illegitimate child.  

Note that the surname MEGGS comes from 'Margaret's son': i.e., Megs/Maggs as a nickname for Margaret.  It is spelled many ways; John, Vincent's third child, apparently changed the spelling to "Meigs". 

Much of my information comes from Rick Meigs' detailed genealogies of the Meigs brothers, online at http://meigs.org/Vincent.htm  as well as from a book by Henry Benjamin Meigs, who published in 1901 "Record of the Descendants of Vincent Meigs, who came from Dorsetshire, England to America about 1635." pub Baltimore, MD, John S. Bridges & Co. [available online].  I am very grateful for the work done by many individuals on these early settlers to America.  

Vincent is believed to have been born about 1583 in Dorset, and married Emma Strong about 1608 in the parish of Chardstock.  Emma's parents were William & Margaret; Margaret's will in 1621 confirms Vincent as Emma's husband.  We do not know Vincent's parents' names or details.  Interestingly there is another will from Axminster (adjacent parish) of a John Maggs 1632, listing children and wife, and also listing "overseers: Vincent Maggs, Thomas Lovinge".  However the relationship of this John to Vincent is not clarified.  A father? brother? uncle?

Vincent and Emma had 4 children that we know of, the younger 3's christening records were detailed from the parish of Chardstock:

  1. Vincent, b. bef 14 Dec 1608; no marriage/children known of; d. 3 Nov 1700, New London CT
  2. Mary Ann, b. bef 16 Apr 1610
  3. *John, [direct ancestor], b abt 29 Jan 1611/2; m Thomasina FRYE abt 1632; 5 children
  4. Mark, b 25 Aug 1616; m. Avis ___ about 1658; at least one child (Hannah)
Vincent is first found at Weymouth MA in 1641, but the family made plans in 1643 to leave and settle in Rehoboth MA [with Rev. Samuel Newman].  Several years later, the family appears in New Haven, CT, in 1646.  By 1658, Vincent appears to have moved to live with his son John in Hammonasset [Madison], New Haven, CT. 

Vincent made his will, dated September 2, 1658 "on his deathbed", witnessed by son John, which was probated on December 2, 1658.  Local tradition has it that Vincent was the first to be buried at the Hammonasset Cemetery, Madison, New Haven, CT, as the cemetery grave yard opened in 1658.  However any gravestone or exact location is unknown at this time. 
 
If you know more information on the MEIGS/MEGGS family, I would be pleased to hear from you; contact me directly via calewis at telus dot com, or in the comments below. 


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

My line is: Vincent Meggs married to Emma Strong, his son John married to Thomasine Fry. His son John married to Sarah Wilcox(son). His son Janna Married to Hanna Willard. His son Return Johnathan Meigs married to Elizabeth Partridge Hamlin. His son Return Johnathan married to Grace Starr, (2nd wife). His son Timothy married to Elizabeth Holt. His son Return J. married to Jane aka Jennie Ross, daughter of Cherokee chief John & Quatie Ross. His son, Henry Clay Meigs married to Josephine Lavinea Bigelow, (her parents were murdered when she was a child). His daughter Carrie aka Caroline, married Richard Calmet Adams, (hereditary war chief of Lenape Indians, Chief Thunder Clouds), her son Wm. Henry Adams who married Barbara Frances Handy, (German/Jew was secretary for Richard Adams),His son Charles Handy Adams who is my dad whom I buried in a Lenape Tribal cemetery in Oklahoma in Oct.1999. Emma Strong's parents Wm. & Margret. Thomasine Fry parents: Wm. Fry & Sarah Hill. Sarah Wilcox(son) parents: Wm. b.1601 St.Albans Hertfordshire, England d.11-28-1652 New Haven, CT. & Margaret Birdseye b.1629/1632 St. Albans England d.1675 Killingsworth, CT. her parents: John Wm.Birdseye b. 9-15-1588 Woburn Bedford, Eng. d. 1649 New Haven, CT. & Alice Poss b. 1590 Reading Berkshire, Eng. Parents of John Wm. Birdseye: Nicholas b. 1560 Woburn Bedford, Eng. d. 1600 same as birth place & Joan Crawley b.1568 Woburn Bedford, Eng. d. 1600 same as husband. Joans' Crawley's parents: Thomas & Agnes Garner who married 10-31-1546 in Rushton, All Saints & St. Peter Northampton, Eng.Back to Sarah Wilcox(son), b. 10-26-1646 Stratford, CT. d. 11-24-1691 New Haven, CT. her parents: Wm.
Wilcoxson Jr. of Stratford. b. 1601 Ikeston, Derbyshire, Eng. d. 1691 & Margaret Birdseye. Wm. Jr. parents: Wm. Wilcox(son) Sr. of Wirksworth MP born aprx. 1570 St. Albans Hertfordshire, Eng.d. 1612 (1st wife Joann Grundick b. 2-17-1596 Fresham Chester, Eng.) & 2nd wife Ann Howdiche/
Howsische. Father of Wm. Wilcoxson Sr. is Edward Wilcoxson b. aprx. 1540 England wife not known yet . .

Celia Lewis said...

Thank you so much for passing on this wonderful information, "Anonymous"! I appreciate the details very much. Do you live in England, that you have so many details of the earliest ancestors in England?

Anonymous said...

I live in the western U.S.

Welcome!

Family, friends, and others - I hope you enjoy these pages about our ancestors and their lives. Genealogy has become somewhat of an obsession, more than a hobby, and definitely a wonderful mystery to dig into and discover. Enjoy my writing, and contact me at celia.winky at gmail dot com if you have anything to add to the stories. ... Celia Lewis