Surname Saturday: BLOOMER

England to America

Descendant Chart: Robert Bloomer 1634 to Lisa Wallen 1952

A brief description of each generation from my 9th great grandfather, Robert Bloomer, to my 4th great grandmother, Elizabeth Bloomer Wallen, where the Bloomer line daughters out. 

1) Robert Bloomer b. ca. 1634 in Birmingham, England - Early (mid 1800s) family histories coincide on certain details: Robert was a foundling, adopted in infancy by the Bloomerings. He was kidnapped from the streets of England as a teenager and sold in America into four years of indentured service. Married Rachel ca. 1670. Lived in New York.

2) Robert Bloomer b. bet. 1671-1673 - Miller. Married Elizabeth Sutton (The Sutton lineage is where my father is twice descended from my mother's ancestor, Vincent Rongnion/Runyan). Lived in Rye, Westchester Co., New York. Filed a will on 12 March 1738/39.

3) John Bloomer b. bet. 1705-1710 - Mentioned in Rye, Westchester Co., New York from 1735 to 1740 and was justice of the peace in 1746. He married Berthia Fowler, daughter of John and Mary (Tatum) Fowler.

4) Nehemiah Bloomer b. ca. 1754 - Taylor. Left New York just before the Revolution and is found in Pennsylvania by 1777 and appears in tax records (Pennsylvania Archives, 3rd series p. 53) for Hampton Township in Cumberland Co., NY in 1778. By 1790 Nehemiah was in Wilkes Co., North Carolina. He married Elizabeth Ketcham, of Welsh descent, in New Jersey in 1773.

5) Daniel Bloomer b. ca. 1778 - Married Lucinda. Her maiden name is recorded by some as Defoe and by others as Looney. Neither name has been verified. In May of 1821 Daniel made an entry for 86 1/2 acres on the North Fork of the Clinch River in Hawkins Co., Tennessee. On 30 Nov 1836 Daniel bought 432 acres of land laying on both sides of the North Fork of the Clinch river near Wallen's Bend in the same county. His children are listed in his will.

6) Elizabeth Bloomer b. 12 June 1801 - d. April 1860. Married William Wallen/Walling, Jr. ca. 1820 in Tennessee. Family migrated to Rockcastle Co., Kentucky around 1851. Elizabeth gave birth to 10 children, two boys died as teenagers. This is where the Bloomer line daughters out and becomes Wallen all the way down to me. (click on descendant chart above to enlarge.)

For much more information on the descendants of Robert Bloomer I highly recommend the following book:

Bloomer, Robert John. The Bloomer Family in America, 1655-1988: a History and Genealogical Record of the Bloomer Family. Fountain Valley, CA: R.J. Bloomer, 1988. Print.

Sorry Michael, another "damned Anglish" pedigree in your bloodlines...but at least it's tempered with a wee bit o' Welsh!

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Surname Saturday: TOWNSEND

Joseph L. Townsend 1795 - 1875

Joseph L. Townsend was born November 11, 1795 in New Jersey. Earlier genealogists placed him as Joseph Ludlam Townsend, the son of Daniel Townsend, Jr. and Hannah Lord Townsend of Cape May Co., New Jersey. Daniel was the great grandson of Richard Townsend, the oldest of the three well researched Oyster Bay Townsend brothers.

I have not yet seen actual proof that my ancestor is the son of Daniel and Hannah. Perhaps someone will see this article and provide me with that proof. I suppose I am in some agreement since my Joseph named his first two children Daniel and Hannah. The fact he was born in New Jersey and that his middle initial is L. adds even more interest in that direction. I have yet to find a document where Joseph's middle name is spelled out.

Joseph married Christiana Wheaton, daughter of Uriah Wheaton, on April 18, 1921 in Pike Co., Ohio. Christiana's mother, as far as I know, has not yet been identified for certain. Some say her mother's name was Margaret but I believe they have her confused with Margaret Macky who was Uriah's second wife and not the mother of Christiana, and I have also seen it said that her mother was Margaret Wheaton, first cousin of Uriah. The second two children of Joseph and Christiana were named Eleanor and Uriah W. Christiana's grandmother was Eleanor (Elinor) and her grandfather was also named Uriah.

Two more children were born to Joseph and Christiana, my ancestor Lewis and then William H.

I have been able to identify this family in the 1830 census in Sunfish, Pike Co., Ohio and again in the 1840 census in Roundhead, Hardin Co., Ohio. All children born by those dates are accounted for with the addition, in 1830 only, of two female children that I have not yet identified. William was born shortly after the 1840 census so he does not appear until 1850.

In the 1850 census we find this family in Effingham Co., Illinois. Joseph purchased land there in 1850 and again in 1853. It should be noted that in 1850 Uriah W., who was born in 1832, is clearly listed on the census sheet as "David". For years this threw me off. I searched and searched for anything I could find on David and never found a thing. And why was Uriah missing? I couldn't find Uriah anywhere in 1850. When I was able to identify this family in the 1840 census I realized the name David on the 1850 census was just a simple, but glaring, error. There was only one male child for that age slot listed for this family in the 1840 census and that could only have been Uriah.

In 1856 Joseph, Christiana, Uriah W., Lewis, and William H. all appear on the Benton Co., Iowa State census. The two oldest children, Daniel and Hannah, were both married by this time and were living with their families in Fayette Co., Illinois. In 1857 Joseph purchased land in Benton county.

In 1860 through 1870 Joseph and Christiana are back in Illinois, not in Effingham county this time but near Daniel and Hannah and their families in the neighboring county of Fayette. They took up residence in Sefton Township. Christiana died in Sefton on August 28, 1872 and is buried in the Yolton Cemetery. Joseph died almost two and a half years later on March 19, 1875 and I presume he is also buried in the same cemetery with his wife and other family members but apparently there is no stone or record of his burial.

The children of Joseph and Christiana

Daniel md. Evelina Scoles. They had 8 children and lived in Fayette Co., IL

Hannah md. Abel Scoles (brother of Evelina) and had 7 children. Hannah died in Prowers Co., CO

Eleanor md. George Washington Phifer. They had 8 children and lived in Effingham Co., IL then moved to Sumner Co., KS and later to Bates Co., MO

Uriah W. md. Mary Ann Cameron. They had 8 children and lived in Fayette Co., IL

Lewis md. Mary Ann Patterson and they had 9 children and lived in Fayette Co., IL (Their son Andrew Melvin Townsend was my great grandfather.)

William H. - no information found on William after 1860, however there is a William Townsend who was killed in the Civil War on March 7, 1864 and buried in the Mound City National Cemetery in Pulaski Co., IL who needs to be researched.

There may have been other children born to the children of Joseph and Christiana but these 40 are all that I have found.

My paternal great, great grandparents Lewis and Mary Ann Patterson Townsend  Fayette Co., Illinois

Written for submission to the Townsend Society of America Genealogical Journal

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Surname Saturday: GRUNDEN [Part 1]

Samuel Grunden was born 6 Mar 1777 in Pennsylvania and died 20 Jan 1852 in Mercer Co., Ohio.

We know very little about Samuel's parents but the story from Walter, a great grandson of Samuel, that he told in 1947 was that his (Walter's) father, John Snyder Grunden, said they always told him the family lived in Pennsylvania and their cabin burned and the father and mother ran away and left three children and the neighbors raised the children. Walter's brother Samuel later told a similar story: 

"So far as I remember I was told of a Grunden's cabin burning years and years ago, and there were three children which the parents put in another cabin and they (the parents) disappeared and the neighbors raised the children and they never did hear from the parents. Don't know if they were killed by Indians or not. One of these children was Grandfather's father. One of the children was a girl. Her name was Hannah and I think she married a Long. This must have happened in Pennsylvania".  

[The above snippets of the Grunden family story were passed on to me by my mother's 4th cousin and one of my dearest family genealogy cohorts, Dorothy Hildreth of Laramie, Wyoming (now deceased).]

We know that Samuel's father was Thomas but do not know anything about Thomas's wife. On page 470 of the "History of Van Wert & Mercer counties, Ohio" by R. Sutton & Co., 1882, it says that Thomas was in the Revolutionary War but no record has been found. An excerpt from the book "William Adams, 1594-1661, of Ipswich, Massachusetts, and some of his descendants: A history of the ancestral Adams lineage of Madeline (Adams) Whitehead ... Wilson, Mapes, Cochran, Whitehead, and Eaton" by Kenneth L. Bosworth 1996 states that this Grunden family had emigrated from the Alsace-Lorraine region of France. Other than this book, I do not yet have documentation on that. We also know from research that the little girl in the story, Hannah, did indeed marry a Long (Armel Long), so that part of the story certainly pans out.

In Huntingdon Co., Pennsylvania, Samuel married Margaret Anderson, of Scot-Irish ancestry. Samuel was in the War of 1812. Sources listed as: Bible of Samuel Grunden; Grave Registrations War of 1812."

Samuel and Margaret had 9 known children: Mary, James David, Rebecca, Samuel A., Margaret, Thomas, Joseph (my ancestor), Hannah, and Anderson.

Joseph Grunden married Martha Dungan, daughter of John and Sarah Dungan of Butler Co., Ohio and Joseph and Martha's daughter Mary Louisa was my great, great grandmother and this is where my Grunden line daughter's out. Louisa married my great, great grandfather, John A. Newby.

Click here to see Part 2


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Surname Saturday: HAYDEN - Parents of Eleanor Logsdon

WILLIAM & CATHERINE ENSEY HAYDEN

Eleanor Hayden was the wife of Joseph (Blackhead) Logsdon, my husband's paternal third great grandfather. For further information on Joseph Logsdon see my blog Amanuensis Monday: The Will of Joseph Logsdon. Eleanor's parents were William and Catherine Ensey Hayden.

A collection of notes on William & Catherine Hayden:

William Hayden and Catherine Ensey were both born in 1754. William was the son of John Hayden who came from St. Mary's Co., Maryland and purchased 164 acres of woodland near Westminster, Maryland called "Friendship Completed" on March 17, 1768. William was one of nine Hayden children and the only son. (1,2,5)

Tax lists show William as the head of a household in 1773.  In 1783, he owned 134 acres of "Friendship Completed" and his household consisted of seven total inhabitants with him being the only adult male.  By 1798, he owned parts of "Friendship Completed" and "Glendorick" and his structures included:

"outhouses, 1 log barn 20 x 40, 1 log stable 20 x 18, 1 log dwelling house 18 x 16, 1 log kitchen 16 x 15, 1 smokehouse 12 x 16, 1 other house 16 x 14, 1 story each." (3)

William Hayden took the "Oath of Fidelity and Support" in Frederick County in 1778.  This oath was required as a pledge of allegiance to the State of Maryland and a renunciation of British rule.  The U.S. Census returns for 1790 show "William Hyden" with four free, white, males under sixteen years of age, and three free, white females. (4) 

William died on January 4, 1802, leaving a will that reads, in part:

"...In the first place it is my will and I do order that sixty four acres of...land of that tract called Glandolick which tract I bought of Stephen Winchester said sixty four acres lying next to Joseph Arnolds and the same to be sold at publick sale and the money arising there from to be applied to my creditors in paying my debts and so much of my personal Estate with what can be spared of the Crop in the Ground as shall pay all my debts and the remaining part of all my Estate real and personal I give and bequeath to my dearly beloved wife Catherine during her natural life to bring up my children untill they come to the age of fifteen years and then to be bound to such Trades as they shall chuse or as my Executors think most proper for them if in case she does not dy nor marry, but if she should either die or marry that then all my Estate Real and personal shall be sold and all my children shall be bound out to treads, but if she should marry that then the money arising therefrom to be divided in the following manner and form that whereas my son John has had to the amount of forty four pounds and my daughter Eleanor has had to the amount of thirty one pound six shillings, it is my will that all the rest of my children shall be made equill with them if there should be enough and if any remains after they are made equill that then it shall be divided equally amongst my wife and all my children...I constitute make and ordain my trusty and beloved friend William Arnold and my well beloved son William Haden my only and sole executors..." (8)

This will became the subject of a lawsuit in 1839 that resulted in the sale and distribution of the Hayden estate.  

Basil Hayden administered the sale of the estate and sold "Glendorick" and part of "John's Pleasant Meadow" to William Ward in 1843 and 134 acres of "Friendship Completed" to Lewis Trumbo for $1800 one year later.  The notices advertising these sales and describing the property read as follows:

"ONE FARM, Containing 134 Acres, more or less, lying on the road leading from Westminster to Washington city, about three quarters of a mile from Westminster.  The improvements upon the said farm, consist of a Log Dwelling House, one story and a half high; Barn and other necessary outhouses; a fine dairy immediately below a Spring of most excellent water.  The convenience of this farm to the county seat, renders it a very desirable situation.  The land is of a very improvable quality and not remote from abundant supplies of limestone.  A few years of husbandlike management would increase its value to double its present rate.  If however, purchasers can be better suited, it will be divided into lots of five and ten acres, and thus sold.  

Also,

A SMALL FARM of about 80 Acres, a short distance below, being about three miles from Westminster and one mile from the Baltimore and Reisterstown turnpike road 2E This farm has no improvements upon it. -- It has, however, all the conveniences which would make it a pleasant residence.  About one third of it is excellent TIMBER, Hickory, Oak, and Chestnut of good quality.  Also, excellent springs of water, &c.  Terms made known on day of the sale.  Basil Hayden, Trustee" (11)

Catherine lived for 35 years without William.  She is listed in the 1810 U.S. Census as the head of a household of three males and three females and the 1837 tax lists enumerate her as owning 134 acres of "Friendship". Catherine passed on in October of that year, at the age of 83.  Her son , Basil, administered her estate and ran the following newspaper ad on January 12, 1838:

"Notice is hereby given that the subscriber of Carroll Co. hath obtained from the Orphan's Court of said county, letters of administration on the personal estate of CATHERINE HAYDEN, late of Carroll Co., deceased.  All persons having claims against said estate are hereby warned to exhibit the same, with the vouchers, to the subscriber, within the time limited by law.  They may otherwise, by law, be excluded from all benefits of said estate.  Those indebted are requested to make immediate payment. Basil Hayden, Adm'r" (10)

Both William and Catherine were buried in St. John's Catholic Cemetery, in Westminster, Carroll Co., Maryland. (5)

SOURCES

(1) "Let's Meet The Old Folks", by J. Hampton Baumgartner, 1944, courtesy of Historical Society of Carroll County.

(2) Little, Millie Albert, The Chronicles of the Little - Lee and Albert - Buckingham Families, Westminster, MD., 1936.

(3) 1773, 1783, 1798, 1837 Tax Lists, Baltimore and Carroll Counties, MD.

(4) 1790 and 1810 U.S. Censuses, Baltimore County, Maryland.

(5) Scharf, John T., A History of Western Maryland, Regional Publishing Co., Baltimore, Maryland, 1968. Originally published in 1882.

(6) Brumbaugh, G. M., Revolutionary Records of Maryland, 1924.

(7) Donnelly, Sister Mary Louise, Rapier, Hayden, and Allied Families of   Colonial Maryland and Kentucky.

(8) Will of William Haden, Baltimore Co., MD, June 30, 1802.

(9) Equity Case #41, "Basil Hayden v. John Hayden," Carroll Co., Maryland 1839.

(10) Westminster Carrolltonian, January 12, 1838.

(11) Westminster Carrolltonian, August 23, 1839, as included in (9)

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