#52Ancestors: Edward AIKEN, Sr., 1661-1747, New Hampshire

Continuing the #52Ancestors year-long challenge by genealogist Amy Johnson Crow, here is my ex-husband's 5th great-grandfather, Edward AIKEN, Sr., 6th great-grandfather to our children, 7th to the grandchildren. Note that Edward's great-grandson Robert AIKEN married Martha PURDY, the granddaughter of the original United Empire Loyalist, Gilbert PURDY. Hopefully, you're drawing out a family tree with all this information-!  This is the coat of arms of the Londonderry County council, from Wikipedia, above.

Edward AIKEN, Sr., born approximately 1661 in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, was the original immigrant to New Hampshire, before 1723. He married Barbara EDWARDS, in estimated 1689/90. I have not found records of their marriage, nor any information of their parents as yet. 

He brought his wife and 4 sons over, and was one of the original proprietors listed in Londonderry, New Hampshire. Much of the information of this family was gathered from Probate records as well as a book, The History of Londonderry, by Rev. Edward L. Palmer, published in 1851, a book written primarily by his father. There are some errors, and as the Aiken sons kept using the very same names over and over again in each generation, the errors are not surprising. 

The following children of Edward and Barbara are listed in several compilations; note their birth dates are estimates, as is their birth order; all born in N.Ireland:
    1.  William, b. 1691, d. 16 Oct 1745 Londonderry NH;  m. 23 Dec 1725 to
              Janet Wilson, 6 children
    2.  James, b. 1693, d. 1 May 1753 Londonderry NH; m. 26 Oct 1725 to
             Jean Cochrane
    3.  Nathaniel, [ancestor], b. 14 May 1696, d. 17 Jul 1782 Londonderry NH;
              m. 1 Dec 1725 to Margaret COCHRANE; 8 known children
    4.  Edward Jr., b. 1698; more research needed. he is often conflated with
              his father.
    5.  Eleanor [possible], b. est 1700; not researched.

Did you notice the spate of marriages in Oct-Dec 1725?  And the two Cochrane sisters marrying two Aiken brothers? 

The family remained in Londonderry New Hampshire, marrying with many descendants.  Edward's wife Barbara died 3 Aug 1744 in Londonderry NH, aged 79, and is buried next to her husband.

Edward died 3 years later 15 Nov 1747, aged 86 years, in Londonderry NH. He is buried next to his wife Barbara, in Forest Hill Cemetery, East Londonderry [FindAGrave, Memorial ID #18085552]:
Inscription,

  HERE  LIES  BURIED /  THE  BODY  OF  MR  /  EDWARD AIKEN /  

  WHO  DEPARTED   /  THIS  LIFE  NOVR  / 15  1747  IN  THE  / 

   86th  YEAR  OF  /  HIS  AGE

The term "Mr." is a notation of a 'gentleman'.  I have not found a will for Edward AIKEN, Sr., and I would be thrilled to find more information about his life in Londonderry, Northern Ireland.  The Presbyterian Scots in Northern Ireland were very challenged by having to abide to the "official church" - the Church of Ireland [Anglican].  The original group of settlers in this area came with their pastor, Rev. James MacGregor, around 1717. 

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If these are your ancestors, I am happy to share what little I have on these ancestors. And if there are errors, please do let me know, via calewis at telus dot net, or in the Comments below and I will get back to you either by email or in the Comments. I appreciate the opportunity to correct any issues in these family trees.

Blogger - or my computer - is still not letting me "reply" to your comments, for some unknown reason. If I don't reply to your Comment, please know that I'm totally thrilled you came to read my post and commented!  You truly make my day!!

#52Ancestors: William JEFFS (est.1675-1732/33), Warwick, England

Continuing the #52Ancestors year-long challenge by genealogist Amy Johnson Crow, here is my son-in-law's 8th great-grandfather, 9th for his and my daughter's children, William JEFFS (birth est 1675-?) from Warwick, Warwickshire, England. I'm referring to him as William-2, as there are several Williams in this family.  

Apparently the surname JEFFS comes from the time of the [1066] Norman-French, Geoffroi, later spelled Jeff. The final 's' is shortened from the old patronymic 'son', i.e., Jeffson became Jeffs.  

Warwick is a medieval town, on the River Avon, and the St Mary's Church the JEFFS family attended has a 174ft high tower, seen in the photo here. Information can be found on several sites by googling the church. The image here was uploaded to Wikipedia by the photographer, Matthew Field [matthewfield.com].

From digging through page after page of several different versions of early Parish Registers in Warwick [St Mary's Church], I've managed to find a few details. The first item is that I can only find one family named JEFFS [or variant] in the Parish. That's good news for research, in that Jeffs individuals found are likely to be William's family - children or parents, possibly siblings. No siblings of William-2 found after an exhaustive review of several hundred pages and two different registers!  

I believe I've found William-2's father, also named William-1 [of course!], who was buried 14 Feb 1728/29. I never found a "Widow Jeffs" buried, however. Still, it shows he was living near or with his son William. As mentioned before, I've estimated William-2's birth year to be approximately 1675.  And I'm assuming he was born in Warwick region. 

William-2 married Mary [unknown surname] in approximately 1700 in St Mary's Church, Warwick, although I have yet to find the marriage in the register. I'll keep on looking in the other nearby churches in case they married in Mary's original church. 

William-2 and Mary had the following nine children, all christened at St Mary's Church:
    1.  Sarah [ancestor], bap 21 Jun 1702, d. 23 Nov 1755; m. 13 May 1727 to
            Richard PARSONS; 3 known children
    2.  William-3, bap 26 Mar 1704; m. est 1725 to Mary ___; 1 known child
    3.  Thomas, bap 20 Oct 1706; m. unknown; 1 known child 
    4.  Mary, bap 20 Mar 1707/08; m. unknown; 1 known child
    5.  Elisabeth, bap 6 Jan 1710/11
    6.  Anne, bap 2 Apr 1714
    7.  Alice [Alce], bap 2 Sep 1716
    8.  John, bap 20 Nov 1718; m. est 1745 to Elizabeth who was buried
             26 Jul 1750; their son Samuel also died in same month.
    9.  Richard, bap 24 Nov 1721

It is clear I need to continue searching for more details of the JEFFS children, and also for additional historical information of the region. For example, in the Burial section, one month I saw there were 23 burials, where normally there are 2-8 burials per month. Epidemics? Harsh winters? Inadequate resources in the family for food and heat? 

Four years after his father died, William-2 was buried, 16 Feb 1732/33., aged approximately 58 or thereabouts. I have no idea of the cause of his death, nor if his wife were still living. So far, I have not found a will, but that is not unusual for this time period. 

As usual when researching 'ordinary folk' in the early 1700s there are limited resources to check. To date I've found no court cases, no wills,  nor any additional church records. I can check the Hearth Tax rolls from 1662-1672 to see if there are any JEFFS men in Warwick or very close by. And also check the Victoria County books for Warwickshire to see if any JEFFS men are mentioned at all, as well as to check the region for trades, challenges, and more.  

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If these are your ancestors, I am happy to share what little I have on these ancestors. And if there are errors, please do let me know, via calewis at telus dot net, or in the Comments below and I will get back to you either by email or in the Comments. I appreciate the opportunity to correct any issues in these family trees.

Blogger - or my computer - is still not letting me "reply" to your comments, for some unknown reason. If I don't reply to your Comment, please know that I'm totally thrilled you came to read my post and commented!  You truly make my day!! 

#52Ancestors: Anna Barbara ADAMS 1698-1753

Continuing the #52Ancestors  challenge by genealogist Amy Johnson Crow, here is my 5th great-grandmother on my maternal KUHN line, Anna Barbara ADAMS, abt 1698-1753.  The photo here is of the village of Neckartailfingen, a drawing done in 1683, from the forest log of Andreas Kieser. It is believed the ADAMS and KUHN families may have lived here. 

Anna Barbara ADAMS and her husband, John KUHN, plus their 4 living adult children, emigrated to Pennsylvania between 1730-1742. They had been said to be living in the Wuerttemberg region - now the southwest portion of Germany. I haven't been able to definitively pinpoint where she was born, nor her husband's birthplace. The Kuhns have "always" been of the Catholic faith, so I still have a few more options for research.  

John KUHN was a carpenter, and was responsible for the erection of the first Catholic church in Goshenhoppen in the early 1740s for the region's first Catholic priest: Father Theodore Schneider, signature on the right [1741].  

In several different KUHN trees, and also on one questionable document, it appears that she may have been born in Schlaitdorf, close to the Neckar River. As the Kuhn family likely came with others from the same region, I have been researching as many of the early immigrant in-laws and neighbours as possible, in their region of Pennsylvania. Challenging. So far, nothing definite has been found, but several crumbs, perhaps! 

Anna Barbara's parents were apparently Hans Jacob ADAMS and Margareta SCHAFER. As it is said her daughter was born in/near Schlaitdorf, it is likely her parents lived here and may have been born here as well. Another in-law states the family lived in Neckartailfingen, a smaller village within a kilometer from Schlaitdorf, on the Neckar River.  

Her mother Margareta died on 26 Jan 1753, on apparently the same day/year as Anna Barbara's death, in Berks county, Pennsylvania. This may indicate a serious illness going through the community, or, may be an error in transcription. I have not found the church register information for this time period.  

Children of Anna Barbara ADAMS and John KUHN, all born in Wuerttemberg region: 

    1.  Henry, b. abt 1718, d. 22 Aug 1765 Salisbury, Northampton, PA; m.
         bef 1741 to Anna Margaret Schmidt [1720-1773]; 10 known children.

    2.  John George, [ancestor],  b. abt 1720, d. 1762 in PA, aged only 42;
          m. 27 Nov 1744 in father's home, Macungie PA, to Catherine RIFFEL
          [1725-1799]; 5 known children

    3.  Eva Mary, b. abt 1722, d. abt 1756 aged 34, after 6th child, Macungie PA;
         m. 24 Apr 1743 in father's home, Macungie PA to Philip Schmidt;
         6 known children

    4.  Joseph, abt 1724, d. 1782, aged 58 Macungie PA; m. to unknown person;
         1 son

Re other ADAMS or SCHAFER/SHAEFER individuals or families in the region:
There is one other Adams at the same time in the community: a Simon Adams marrying Catharine Eck/Egg on 13 Feb 1776, but I would have expected an Adams or Schafer individual to be witnesses.  One Catharine Schafer [dau of Henry Shaefer] married Solomon Grett 10 Nov 1816; no witnesses listed. No other Schafer individuals show up in church records of this time and place.

Note that Burials for the old Goshenhoppen Church [Bally, Berks, PA] begin in 1765, marriages from 1741, baptisms. also from 1741.  These details are from compilations produced and published by Barbara Brady O'Keefe, Miami FL, in 1982 [copyrighted]. Not all baptisms would be of babies, it must be noted, so I cannot make assumptions about a baptism following shortly after a birth.

I need to keep digging into the compilations of the Goshenhoppen church to see if I can find more clues to follow. Plus search for the Catholic church records on FamilySearch and online. And wouldn't it be lovely to find a family Bible-? of any of the Kuhn, Adams, or Schafer families.

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If these are your ancestors, I am happy to share what little I have on these ancestors. And if there are errors, please do let me know, via calewis at telus dot net, or in the Comments below and I will get back to you either by email or in the Comments. I appreciate the opportunity to correct any issues in these family trees.

Blogger - or my computer - is still not letting me "reply" to your comments, for some unknown reason. If I don't reply to your Comment, please know that I'm totally thrilled you came to read my post and commented!  You truly make my day!!