Saturday, June 22, 2013

SURNAME SATURDAY - BUELL, England to CT


The first BUELL immigrant is William BUELL, born possibly before 17 Feb 1604/5 in Chesterton, Huntingdon, England, according to several records.  He arrived in approximately 1630, apparently settling first at Dorchester MA, then moved to Windsor, settling there in about 1635 or shortly after.  In England, the surname was sometimes seen as Bevil(le). Occasionally the Buell family is considered from Wales, but this may well be an error.  In the link about Chesterton in 1870-1872  HERE, the Bevil name shows up as of the surname of early owners of the Manor in the Parish of Chesterton.  And more information for searching in this region of Huntingdon is found HERE.  

One major source for Buell records is Albert Welles' publication in 1881: The History of The BUELL FAMILY in England, From the Remotest Times Ascertainable from Our Ancient Histories, and in America, from Town, Parish, Church and Family Records.  Illustrated with Portraits and Coat Armorial.  This book is available on  Google Play free.  There are apparently some errors and confusion with some of the details in this book, particularly with the earliest statements of ancestry, but as providing a set of clues for early settlers in America, it has been very helpful in my first steps with the Buell families.  

William BUELL & his wife Mary POST married in Windsor, Connecticut, 18 Nov 1640, and eventually had 7 children, 2 boys and 5 girls, all born in Windsor. William was apparently a skilled cabinet maker, and general carpenter, excellent skills for the new colonies.  

My line goes as follows - # is generation number:
  1. William BUELL, 17 Feb 1604/5 Chesterton, Huntingdon, Eng;  d. 1681 CT;  Mary POST
  2. Samuel William BUELL, 2 Sep 1641, CT;  d. 1720 CT;  Deborah GRISWOLD
  3. Samuel BUELL, 20 Jul 1663 CT;  d. 1732 CT;  Judith STEVENS
  4. Nathaniel BUELL, 29 Sep 1700 CT;  death date not known;  Deborah HORTON
  5. Grover BUELL, 4 Apr 1732 CT;  d. 1818 NY;  Jerusha BUCK
  6. Grover BUELL, 22 Jan 1759 NY;  d. 1811 NY;  Mehitable [unknown]
  7. Grover BUELL, 24 Dec 1794 NY;  d. 1874 NY;  Charlotte BORTLE
  8. Harriet F. BUELL,  27 Jan 1829 NY;  d. 1911 NJ;  James M. TERWILLIGER
  9. James Grover "Grove" TERWILLIGER,  27 May 1856 NY;  d. 1929 NJ;  Clara GRAVES
10.  Marguerite Josephine TERWILLIGER,  19 May 1880 NY;  d. 1973 BC Canada; ChasEK
   -  then, my mother;  JnoG
   -  then, ME    

Do you see all those "Grover Buell" individuals?  Some of their siblings named their sons Grover Buell as well, living in the same region, in the same years. Challenging, very challenging!   Because first names were repeated in each generation of each sibling - making a rather confusing mixture of finding same-named individuals in the same geographic setting at the same time - many records need to be followed with local histories, christenings, birth/marriage/death/burial records, land use, and early census records are essential to follow the lines.  

Early BUELL settlers in the first and 2nd generations married into well-known New England families:  Fenner,  Griswold,  Horton,  Palmer,  Parmalee,  Porter [many marriages], and Welles/Wells.  Mary POST, wife of William BUELL, has listed her mother as Mary Porter Mills... and the Porter intermarriages may be cousins of course.  Both the BUELL and POST families were originally from Chesterton; Mary's parents apparently died at sea on the way over from England to the colonies.

Several wives of these BUELL men [#'s 6, 7] are very difficult to research, and continue to be end points in my family tree. Bit by bit by bit, I hope to start filling in more information.  This is by no means the only information I have on the Buell line, but I'm always happy to find out a bit more, see another land grant, or a record of any kind.  

If you have any information on any of these individuals, please feel free to comment below and/or contact me at calewis at telus dot net.  


2 comments:

GeniAus said...

Celia, I applaud your naming of the book with erroneous content. So often people allude to errors in research but don't share details of the offending resource.

Celia Lewis said...

Thanks Jill - I so wish there was an annotated review for each "history/genealogy" book out there! Of course, I'd also like to think there has been better more thorough research used in recent times! Thanks for commenting.

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