Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Chapter 55 - My Loomis Ancestry

My closest Loomis ancestor is my 8th great grandmother, Elizabeth Loomis, who died in November of 1717, a long time ago. In this chapter we are going to approach our family history story a little bit differently than most of our other family histories. Our plan is to broaden our scope and explore as best we can all sides of Elizabeth's ancestry including both her mother's and her father's parents, grandparents, great grandparents and where possible even her great, great grandparents. Elizabeth Loomis's family tree is shown above. We are going to begin our Loomis tale with what we have learned about her great, great grandparents, John and Kyrsten Loomis, who are my 12th great grandparents on my mother's side of our family.

Thaxted, Sussex County, England
Home of early Loomis Family
One of the common problems when researching our ancestors is that their surnames are often not spelled the same as they are today which then makes it a lot more difficult to do the research. This is especially true in the case of our Loomis ancestors. It is not so much that they changed their last names or it's spelling. The problem was that back in the 17th century and earlier almost no one could read or write. This meant that anyone recording a person's name in the public or church records had to guess as to how their surname was spelled. The end results were multiple guesses as to the spelling. A good example is the spelling of John Loomis's surname in his last will and testament that was written on 19 February 1567. Not only was his name written as "John Lomesse" but almost every other word in the document is spelled incorrectly or at least differently than it is today. His will begins "Fyrst, I bequeve my sowle into the hands off allmyghty god . . ."  It is therefore no surprise that we see my great grandparents' last name spelled in many different ways: Lomas, Lummy, Lummys, Loomys, Lummis, Lomesse, and more.

Church of St. John the Baptist, Thaxted
We really do not know much about my 12th great grandparents, John and Kyrsten (or Christine) Loomis. John was born around 1536 and he and his wife lived their entire lives in Thaxted, County Essex, England located about 70 miles northeast of London. In John's case his life was very short as he was only around 31 years old when he died in 1567 undoubtedly, as was common back in those days, due to the effects of some sort of epidemic. Such an epidemic might be as simple as a run of measles or chickenpox for which there was no immunity and no cure. All that we really know about John Loomis is that he was a carpenter and apparently according to his will he owned his own home "with a garden plotte" which seems to imply that he was during his short life reasonably financially successful. From what we learned about the small village of Thaxted it was a flourishing community during this time period and it was well known for its cutlery and weaving industries which employed a large number of the population. Unfortunately, we know virtually nothing about my great grandmother Kyrsten including for certain her last name and when she was born or died. Her surname is often written however, as Pasfield or Jackson and her death year as 1567 although her dying in the same year as her husband may be unlikely. Although their gravestones have long been lost, it is generally accepted that they were both buried alongside the Church of St. John the Baptist in Thaxted that has been described as a "magnificent medieval church," a fact that clearly shows to be accurate in the above photograph. John and Kyrsten are thought to have a number of children before John's early death including my 11th great grandfather, John Loomis (Jr.) who was born in Thaxted around 1562. John's will simply mentions "all my chyldre" and unfortunately the names of his children other than his son John have never been positively identified other than possibly another son named Edward.

Tailor business in merry old England
If both of John Loomis's parents died in 1567 when he was only five he was probably then raised by another Loomis family member, possibly an aunt or an uncle, but the names of whomever may have raised John and his siblings is unknown. Perhaps it was his lack of an intimate family relationship that motivated his move away from Thaxted at a young age to the nearby village of Braintree, located around 18 miles southeast of Thaxted. Another possible and stronger motive for moving to Braintree was that Braintree was larger in population and thus the opportunity for obtaining employment was far greater. John was 22 years old when he married in Braintree on the 30th of June in 1589 my 11th great grandmother, Agnes Lingwood, who was then around 18 years old. Agnes' father is believed to have been a man named John Lingwood (or Lyngwood) who was known to be a "woolen-draper" (wool cloth merchant) and it is very possible that John Loomis went to work for John Lingwood after he moved to Braintree where he not only learned the "tailor" business but he also meet his future wife Agnes, daughter of John and Jane Marlar Lingwood. John Lingwood is believed by some historians to have died in 1592 [some historians say 1594 or even 1597 which is the date often given for his last will and testament] possibly as a result of the plague. There is no way to confirm this as a fact but it is known that in December of 1592 a plague hit nearby London and over a twelve month period it caused around 17,000 deaths. In any case, his death may have made it possible for John Loomis to continue and expand his father-in-laws business. As best that can be determined, our great grandfather John Loomis did quite well in his business, became a rather large landholder in Braintree, and he was a highly respected man in his church and in his community. Together John and Agnes had five children including my 10th great grandfather, their only son, Joseph Loomis, who was born on 24 August 1590. When John Loomis prepared his final will and testament on 14 April 1619 he mentions only his son Joseph and his four married daughters and he died soon after and was buried in the churchyard of St. Michael's Church in Braintree on 29 May 1619. He was 57 years old. My great grandmother Agnes is listed in most records as having died on the day that her husband wrote his will and the fact that the manner that she is mentioned in his final will would suggest that she probably died sometime shortly after her husband. Undoubtedly she too is buried by the St. Michael's Church.  Here again, the fact that they may have died so close in time to each other might suggest that they were each infected with one of the many diseases that were constantly passing through England during this time period.

St. Andrew's Parish Church - Shalford, Essex
My 10th great grandfather, Joseph Loomis was around 23 years old when he married my great grandmother Mary White on the 30th day of June in 1614 probably at the St. Andrew's Parish Church in Shalford where she and her parents were living. Shalford was and is today a small community located about 5 miles north of Braintree. It is likely that Joseph's and Mary's parents as well as all of Joseph's and Mary's siblings attended the wedding. Joseph's new father-in-law, Robert White (1561-1617), was a man of considerable means for the times and his wealth was undoubtedly a great benefit to young Joseph. Joseph's new business was the purchasing and then the reselling of cloth that he acquired from the many small weavers who had flocked in recent years to the greater Braintree area of Essex County. It is not entirely clear how my great grandfather Robert White had achieved his wealth although it may have been through an inheritance. While he apparently was not a member of the English nobility, he was considered a yeoman and he did own a moderate amount of land. This ownership of land was very unusual during a time period when most of the land in England was either controlled by a small number of noble families who essentially "rented" the land to other less affluent people, or the land was owned by the English church.  Robert White's wealth was pretty much reflected in his last will and testament that he had written near his death in May of 1617 only three years following his daughter's wedding to Joseph Loomis. Robert White not only left his land and goods to his wife and children but the fact that he was wealthy was reflected by his bequeathing money both to "the poore people of Messinge. . " as well to two local church ministers. Messing was a small village east of Braintree where the White family lived at the time of Robert's death in 1617. Unfortunately nothing is known about the ancestry of my 11th great grandfather Robert White. On the other hand, the family history of Robert's wife and my 11th great grandmother, Bridget (Brydgette) Allgar (1562-1605), goes back by tradition a number of generations to my alleged 17th great grandfather, a Sir John Algor (1333?-1398?), who was a member of the English nobility and who lived in what was then called the Manor of Lindsell. Today Lindsell is a small village located near Shalford and Braintree. Sir John was then known as the Lord of Castle Brazen (Brason) Head although from what we read, Castle Brazen was probably just a large farm house. Whether or not all of this is accurate, it is quite apparent that our Loomis ancestry goes back for many, many generations in Essex County, England.

We do not know for certain what motivated Joseph Loomis to move with his wife Mary White Loomis and their children to America in 1638. At the time he was around 48 or 49 years old which was relatively old for this period in history. Besides his wife Mary, they had eight children who travelled with them ranging in age from 10 years old to 23 years old including my 9th great grandfather, Nathaniel Loomis, who was 12.  Joseph was fairly well-off financially. He had an excellent business in Braintree which included a large woolen drapery store that he had developed over many years. Many weavers from Flanders in Holland had settled in Braintree in the 1500s and the village had quickly become a center of cloth manufacturing in England. The family undoubtedly lived in a nice home, were a well respected family, as well as respected members of the local church in Braintree. Furthermore the cost of taking the trip to America was undoubtedly expensive especially for a family of 10. There is no question that Joseph Loomis would have had Puritan leanings although there are no suggestions in historical records that he was an avid and outspoken critic of the Church of England and/or the current King of England, King Charles I. Certainly during this period of English history the country was in turmoil over religious issues as well as King Charles' quarrels with the British Parliament, the public distrust that they had for him, and the threats and the realities of war and higher taxes. We really believe that Joseph Loomis was thinking of his children and their future when he elected to emigrate to America. In America, unlike in England, he believed that there would be religious and political freedoms as well as the right to own land, all liberties that were not offered in their homeland. These beliefs made for him the decision to board the ship "Susan and Ellen" in London with his entire family on 11 April 1638. Not surprisingly one of Mary's sisters and her husband and family as well as one of her brothers had already left for America in 1632.  Mary's sister Anna and her husband John Porter travelled with Mary and Joseph and their family onboard the "Susan and Ellen" when it finally left the shores of England headed for America. After almost three months at sea the ship finally arrived in Boston on July 17th.

After a year living in Dorchester located just south of Boston, Joseph decided in mid-1639 to leave the area and relocate to a new community in Connecticut by the name of Windsor. He was undoubtedly aware and attracted to the fact that in early 1639 the new settlements of Hartford, Wethersfield, and Windsor had issued a written constitution that offered liberality to its citizens and a unified government for these new colonies. A trading post had been established on the future site of Windsor in the year 1633 followed by the group of original settlers of Windsor consisting of around 30 people who arrived in 1634. They were followed the following year by another 60 new emigrants. Most of these original settlers had traveled from Dorchester so it probably should not be surprising that Joseph and his family selected Windsor to be their new home. It is estimated that by the year 1636 there were around 160 families or 800 people living in the townships of Hartford, Wethersfield, and Windsor. Despite the Loomis family's later arrival in Windsor, Joseph Loomis is universally listed as one of the village's original founders. According to some early town records of Windsor, Joseph was granted in February of 1640, 21 acres of land adjoining the Farmington River near its junction with the west bank of the Connecticut River (noted as the Great River on the adjacent map). Windsor is located around 8 miles north of Hartford and this home village of our Joseph Loomis is usually accepted as the earliest of all English settlements in all of Connecticut.
Loomis Family Home, Windsor, Connecticut












Joseph Loomis at first constructed what has been called a "dugout cabin" on his new land followed sometime before the year 1652 with the construction of a small timber-framed house. Following Joseph's death in 1658, their original home was greatly expanded by one of his sons during the years 1688 to 1690 and what is really wonderful is that the original home as expanded still stands to this day as shown in this old photograph above. The home today has been somewhat modernized since this older picture was taken. The Loomis home today is considered to be one of the oldest timber-framed houses still standing in America.

Monument to Joseph Loomis and Family
Joseph Loomis lived for almost 19 years in Windsor before his death on 25 November 1658 at the age of around 68 years old. Mary, my 10th great grandmother, died at the age of 61 in the year 1652. Joseph lived long enough to attend the marriage of all eight of his children including my 9th great grandfather Nathaniel Loomis, their youngest son, who married Elizabeth Moore in Windsor on 24 November 1654. Joseph and Mary had lived a good life in Windsor. They lived next door to Mary's sister Anna and her husband John Porter. Also living nearby them were another of my 10th great grandparents, Henry and Elizabeth Saunders Wolcott whose family history is told in Chapter 16 on this blog (www.Bakerfamilytree.blogspot.com). While Joseph Loomis was not a young man when he moved to America, he still was able to remain active in his new community. In October of 1640 he joined the local Windsor church. In 1643 and 1644 he served as a Deputy to the Assembly which would have been quite an honor in colonial Connecticut during this time period. There are also several records of him serving on a jury in 1644 as well as in 1652 including once with Nathaniel Foote from Hartford who was another one of my 10th great grandfathers. Joseph Loomis may have died unexpectedly in 1658 for he died without writing a last will and testament. His estate fortunately was settled without any disagreements by his sons and daughters.

Style of Furniture made by Moore Family
John Moore, the father of Nathaniel Loomis' wife Elizabeth Moore, is believed to have been born in Southwold in Suffolk County, England sometime between 1603 and 1614 (who knows) and possibly with his brother Thomas (some say that Thomas was his father) sailed to America in 1630 on the ship "Mary and John". If John Moore sailed alone to America as typically reported, it would seem unlikely that he was born as late as 1614 which would have meant that he was traveling alone to America at the age of only 16. John initially settled in Dorchester but like so many other early Dorchester settlers he eventually moved to Windsor around 1639 (possibly earlier). There is some question as to the name of John Moore's wife and my 10th great grandmother. Some believe that her name was Abigail although the name has never been confirmed in historical records. Furthermore, John Moore's oldest daughter was named Abigail and some believe that some historians may simply have confused the two individuals.  Perhaps the most interesting thing about John Moore was his occupation. My great grandfather was an extraordinarily skilled maker of wood furniture. The furniture, some of which still survives to this day (see photograph as to style) was typically decorated with vines and blossoms carved into the wood, furniture if sold today, would be almost priceless. Thanks to his training, John Moore's sons and two of his son-in-laws continued the business following John's death and it is said that "Windsor became the region's premier woodworking site throughout the mid-1700s", obviously thanks to my great grandfather's influence. John Moore was also a large farmer, a house carpenter, a joiner, a wheelwright, a turner, and a maker of boats as well as paddles and oars. Obviously he was a busy man.

Moore House as it appears today
Besides his occupation, John Moore was a very active patriarch in his community of Windsor. He was not only elected as one of Windsor's five "selectmen," he was ordained as a deacon in Windsor's First Congregation Church in 1651 and he was elected by Windsor as a Deputy to the Connecticut General Court, a position that he served for a least 21 years. He also became a large property owner as well as being credited as being generous via donations to the poor. What is also interesting is that like his son-in-law's father, Joseph Loomis, the home that John Moore had built in Windsor in 1664 still survives in part to this day although like the original Loomis house, it too was later attached to a larger home that subsequently in 1897 was moved to a new location. John Moore and his wife had two sons and four daughters all of whom are believed to have been born in Windsor. My 9th great grandmother, Elizabeth Moore, was born on the 23rd day of July in 1638. She was only 16 years old when she married Nathaniel Loomis on 27 November 1654 who was by then 28 years old. Her father, John Moore, died on 18 September 1677.

King Philip's War, Windsor Troop of Horse
Unlike his father and his father-in-law there is little evidence to show that Nathaniel Loomis was active in his community unless one counts the fact that during the period of his marriage he and his wife had twelve children including my 8th great grandmother, Elizabeth Loomis, who was born on 7 August 1655. Historical records show that Nathaniel's occupation was primarily that of a farmer. He was made a freeman in 1654 and he and his wife were admitted to the local church in 1663. What is somewhat surprising is that only four years after his marriage Nathaniel was listed as a member of the Connecticut Calvary (a/k/a Windsor Troop of Horse) under the command of Major John Mason (also another early Windsor settler).  He undoubtedly maintained his part-time position within this cavalry through much of his life which was probably compulsory, for he is listed again in 1676 as being with this same group during the King Philip's War. At 50 years old at the start of this war, it is hard to imagine that Nathaniel actually engaged in any large battles with the Indians. The population of New England during this time period was around 60,000 people and with around 110 towns with militias and with as many as 16,000 men of military age all of whom would have been required to join their local militias, it would seem Nathaniel Loomis' role may have been primarily to maintain a defensive force around his own town. There are no records that suggest that Nathaniel was at any time an officer in his local militia. Sometime after the King Philip's War, Nathaniel Loomis purchased a large section of land on the east side of the "Great River", now the Connecticut River, showing that during his lifetime he may have gained a certain amount of wealth. Nathaniel died in 1688 at the age of 62 and he is buried in the Palisado Cemetery in Windsor. My 9th great grandmother, Elizabeth Moore Loomis, was only 50 years old when her husband died and not surprisingly, three years following her husband's death, she married a man by the name of John Case. Here again, my great grandmother outlived her second husband, finally dying at the age of 89 on the 23rd of January in 1728. Elizabeth is buried alongside her first husband Nathaniel in the Palisado Cemetery in Windsor. At the time of the arrival of the Loomis family to Connecticut in 1639 the total population was a little under 1,500. Around the time of Nathaniel and Elizabeth's deaths the population had grown to around 17,000 and was starting to increase rapidly such that by the end of the 18th century, the Connecticut population had expanded to around 250,000 people.  When people like our Nathaniel and Elizabeth Loomis have 12 children, it is no wonder that the population would expand dramatically.

Their daughter and my 8th great grandmother, Elizabeth Loomis, obviously named after her mother, was only 33 years old when her father died. Her mother on the other hand outlived her by 11 years.  Elizabeth married my 8th great grandfather, William Burnham, in 1671 when she was only 15 years old and William was 19. They, like Elizabeth's parents, had many children and lived a good and seemly prosperous life. My ancestry from Elizabeth Loomis and William Burnham down until today is listed below: 

8th Great Grandparents: Elizabeth Loomis and William Burnham
                                        (1655-1717)                (1652-1730)
                                                                       |
7th Great Grandparents: William Burnham and Hannah Wolcott
                                       (1684-1750)                 (1684-1748)
                                                                       |
6th Great Grandparents: Josiah Burnham and Ruth Norton
                                     (1710-1800)               (1724-1762)
                                                                       |
5th Great Grandparents: Hannah Burnham and Benjamin Hall
                                    (1746-1797)                 (1736-1786)
                                                                       |
4th Great Grandparents: William B. Hall and Rebecca Boardman
                                      (1774-1842)             (1783-1805)
                                                                       |
3rd Great Grandparents: Elizabeth B. Hall and Mosely Hutchinson
                                     (1801-1877)             (1795-1861)
                                                                       |
2nd Great Grandparents: Mary R. Hutchinson and David Ferree
                                     (1825-1901)                 (1826-1869)
                                                                       |
Great Grandparents:     Eugene H. Ferree and Marian Coapman
                                     (1866-1952)                 (1867-1895)
                                                                       |
Grandparents:          Florence A. Ferree and Douglas Patterson           
                                (1891-1938)                   (1888-1979)
                                                                       | 
Parents:                   Marian C. Patterson and Charles A. Baker
                                 (1916-1973)                     (1916-2000)
                                                                       |
Living Generation:      Charles Baker (1942- )
                                Anne Baker Fanton (1943- )
                                Joan Baker (1950- )

And so ends another family history story . . . .











Tuesday, July 11, 2017

Chapter 54 - My Boardman Ancestors

My name is Christopher Boreman and I have been asked by my great, many greats actually, grandson, Charles Baker, to write a story about my life and about the lives of some of my ancestors as well as some of my descendants, all of whom are related to both Charles as well as myself. When he asked me to write such a story, which was in the middle of the night and we were both sound asleep, my first reaction was to say no. I have been dead for over 370 years and who in their right mind gives a damn about me and some of my many long dead relatives. But following hours of discussion and snoring, Charles finally convinced me that many people do care about their long dead ancestors and besides, writing such as story should be fun and it would give me something to do in this otherwise sometimes boring heaven-above-earth place that is now my home. Anyway, as I said, he finally convinced me, so here goes what I hope is an enjoyable and interesting story about our many common Boreman/Bordman/Boardman ancestry.


St. James the Great Church, Claydon
I, Christopher Boreman, was born in my parents' home in the small village of Claydon in Oxfordshire, England in the year 1581. I was baptized on the 1st of December in 1581 at the beautiful St James the Great Parish Church in Claydon which incidentally still exists to this day as shown in this recent photograph, although honestly the church has changed a lot since I was last there. I was only 6-1/2 years old when my father, Thomas Boreman, unexpectedly died in June of 1587 at the young age of only 27 years old. Obviously I was caught totally off guard with the sudden death of my father and I had no idea that at this time in history early deaths were not all that uncommon. Hospitals did not even exist except as sites for the poor and homeless and for those dying of diseases like leprosy and while the few doctors that could be found were well intended, they were mostly ignorant as to treatments and to the causes of death. In any case, there were no doctors or hospitals in rural Claydon where the total population was no more than 300. My only sibling, my sister Joan, was only three when our father died and we were left to be raised by our mother, Dorothy Gregory Boreman, who was at the time only 28 years old. Fortunately for my mother she had plenty of love and help in Claydon both from her in-laws and from her own family and while I do not remember his name, other than "Father", my mother soon remarried following our father's death and we continued to live in our family home in Claydon. But then, I am getting ahead of myself. Let us begin this family history story with what I have learned, albeit not much, about my great grandfather, William Boreman (Charlie's 13th great grandfather.).

Banbury is in northeast corner of County Oxford
William Boreman's name first appears in the year 1527 in ancient tax records of the village of Banbury in County Oxfordshire.  Banbury is located about 6-1/2 miles south of my hometown of Claydon up in the southeastern corner of Oxfordshire and about 64 miles northwest of London. While it is entirely possible that William's ancestors lived in the area of Banbury for many, many generations, no records exist that confirm this likelihood.  What is known is that people occupied this area as far back as 200 BC and that by the time of William Boreman's life the population of Banbury was somewhere around 1,400.  We do not know the exact years of William's birth and death although based on the birth of his son Thomas, who was born around 1519, and his tax payment records, it is estimated that he was born around 1490.  We could not learn the name of Samuel's wife nor the names of any of Samuel's children other than my grandfather, Thomas Boreman. However, in a subsequent "Lay Subsidy" tax record for Banbury area for the year 1546, there were five Boreman names listed all of whom, including Thomas, were quite likely sons of William Boreman.

King Henry VIII
William Boreman probably lived in Banbury for his entire life which is estimated to have ended in the year 1557. Since his name does not appear in any town records other than the tax records, it is unlikely that he served in any leadership roles in the community. More likely is that he may have been involved in some manner in the weaving industry for Banbury during the period of his lifetime was famous for it cloth and woolen industries. Also prominent during this time period was the leather working industry which engaged numerous skinners, tanners, shoemakers, and saddlers. William of course, may have simply been a farmer and a supplier of material to either or both the woolen and the leather industries. Whatever occupation he served, during most of William's lifetime King Henry VIII was King of England and despite Henry's tumultuous reign including war with France beginning in 1513, and England's departure from the Catholic Church in the 1530s, it is unlikely that our William Boreman ever left the greater Banbury area during his entire lifetime or even cared much about the changes that were taking place within his country of England.

The exact year of the birth of my grandfather (Charles' 12th great grandfather), Thomas Boreman, is not known for certain although it is believed to be sometime between 1517 and 1520 and it is fairly certain that he would have been born in his parents' home in Banbury. Thomas is believed to have married a young girl by the name of Isabel probably in Banbury around the year of 1640 and we believe that they moved up to rural Claydon located about 6-1/2 miles north of Banbury shortly following their marriage. It was here in Claydon that Thomas spent his entire life as a small farmer living in a farmhouse on land that he rented from the head of a wealthy English noble family, titled the Viscount Saye and Sele, whose family had been granted hundreds of acres of land given to them by the English Crown for their services following the Hundred Years War back in the 15th century. This arrangement was very common during and prior to my lifetime as actual ownership of land by the common man was extremely rare.  My grandparents raised a total of nine children during their lifetimes including my father, Thomas Boreman, the youngest of his parents' five sons, who was born around 1560.

Market in Old England
One of the interesting things about living close to Banbury was the frequency of public markets held within the Banbury village. Here my grandfather was able to sell many of the goods that he raised on his farm including not only livestock but also items such as grains and wools that were in high demand at the time.  Each week he undoubtedly would have hooked up his horse and wagon loaded with farm goods and hauled them to Branbury for sale at the market. His sons of course, as they got older would have helped on the farm as well as assisting their father at the multiple fairs and markets that were held in Branbury during the summer months. One thing that can be learned when reviewing Thomas' last will and testament that he wrote in April of 1576 was that his farm contained many tools which may very well have been used to construct items such as wooded barrels, tubs, buckets, butter churns, and so forth. This is interesting because many of his descendants were "Coopers" which was an occupation that constructed such wooden items for a living. My occupation was a cooper as was the occupation of my father Thomas Boreman as well as my son Samuel who moved to America in 1638. Thomas' final will and testament listed among other things that he was passing to his children at his death his horse, his 2 cows, 3 heifers, 60 pigs, and much hay and grain along with of course his tools and household furniture and clothes. My grandfather, Thomas Boreman, died in Claydon in December of 1579 at the age of around 60 and he is buried in the graveyard surrounding the St James the Great parish church in Claydon. My grandmother Isabel outlived her husband although the actual date of her death I do not know. She too is buried alongside my grandfather, her husband, at the St. James the Great parish church.

Thomas Boreman home in Claydon
My father, Thomas Boreman, son of Thomas Boreman "the Elder", was around 19 years old when his father died in late 1679. Fortunately for both of them, my grandfather was able to attend my father's wedding to Dorothy Gregory at the St. James the Great Church that took place on the 16th of February in 1679.  My parents following their wedding moved into a home in Claydon and my father continued working at his father's nearby farm employed as one of its several coopers. I was born in 1581 at my parent's home. The old photograph of their home shown above was obviously taken around 300 years after my birth, closer to your birth Charles, but it really has not changed that much since my younger days. Our windows did not have glass of course, and our toilets consisted most of pots that were dumped outside. Anyway, as I mentioned at the beginning of our story, I was only around 6-1/2 years old when my father unexpectedly died in June of 1587.  We do not know this for certain but the bubonic plague was killing many during this time period in England, and considering that my father was only 27 when he died, the plague might very well have been the cause of his early death. If it was the plaque, fortunately my mother and my younger sister and I survived.  What is tragic however, although I do not know that the cause was the plague, was that at least five of my father's siblings, my aunts and uncles, died like my father at a fairly young age in the 1570s and 1580s. It was not all that uncommon during this time period that adults did not survive on the average beyond their late 50s to their mid 60s. My father's early death obviously lowered the average of age of deaths in this period of the late 16th century.

Living next door to our home in Claydon were Felix and Margaret Tredwell Carter and their six children including their daughter Julian Carter who was several years younger than I. She was born in Claydon in December of 1581. We were friends from a young age and not surprisingly we married on the 19th day of November in the year 1604. She was 20 and I was 22. Our marriage of course, was at the St. James the Great Parish Church. Attending the wedding were numerous family members from both sides of our families including my wife's older sister, Elizabeth Carter, who had married my cousin Thomas Boreman back in 1596. Thomas Boreman was the son of my father's older brother and my uncle, William Carter, who also attended our wedding. He was an old man at the time, around the age of 54 and only one of two surviving siblings of my father.

Shortly following our marriage Julian and I decided to move to nearby Banbury where the possibility of my finding a good job as a cooper had a far greater chance for success.  We lived in Banbury for almost fifteen years and during this period we had five children including our son Samuel, who is your 9th great grandfather Charles, who was born on 20 August 1615.  Unfortunately in May of 1619, my father-in-law, Felix Carter, died and Julian convinced me that it was important that we move back to Claydon so that we could care for her mother who was at this point 68 years old and seriously in need of help. We moved back to Claydon and into the Carter home which we soon inherited; Julian's mother died a few years later in 1621; Julian and I had two more children. I died unexpectedly in March of 1640 at the age of 58 and was buried in the graveyard alongside the St. James the Great Parish Church and next to many of my relatives and ancestors.  I, Christopher Boreman, 10th great grandfather of Charles Baker, lived a good life, fairly long by the standards of the early 17th century.  Most of my children were adults at the time of my death, many were married, and my son Samuel who was now 24 years old was living in America. Julian survived me by over twenty years before her death and burial alongside me. We lived a good life but as illustrated by our son Samuel's move to America, times were changing in England and he understood why it was important for him to leave England and his home.

William Fiennes, Viscount Saye-and-Sele
(1582-1662)
It is not surprising that my son Samuel Boreman and probably other members of his family became Puritans and that Samuel eventually emigrated to America in 1638. It has been said that by the early 17th century the name "Banbury" had become synonymous with Puritanism as the inhabitants of the villages of Banbury and Claydon were for the most part Puritans who were strongly opposed to both the Roman Catholic practices of the Church of England as well as the leadership of the current King of England, Charles I (1625-1642). In fact one of the king's strongest opponents was a man by the name of William Fiennes who was the current Viscount Saye and Sele who as we stated earlier was the landowning family of much of the property surrounding Banbury and Claydon including land upon which sat most of the Boreman family homes.  William Fiennes besides opposing Charles I on many issues including his attempts to raise money from landowners to fight a war against France, was also a strong advocate of colonization in America and he devoted a lot of time and money to organizing colonies in various states including a settlement bearing his title name, the Village of Sayebrook (now spelled Saybrook) in Connecticut (see map below). Samuel Boreman, like most everyone in his community, including the leaders of his local church, became an avid Puritan and as a young and highly opinionated man it is not surprising that he like so many others chose to leave England and emigrate to America. Both myself and Samuel's mother Julian cautiously gave our son our approval to leave and wished him luck in the New World.

Location of Wethersfield on Connecticut River
Samuel departed England in the early spring of 1638 and after a long voyage his ship landed in the Boston area in early July. Shortly following his arrival he moved north of Boston to the new community of Ipswich located about 30 miles north. It was here in Ipswich where he expected that he might be granted land plus he knew that his cousin [actually his second cousin] Thomas Boreman and his family had settled there back in 1634 and he knew that they would welcome him at their home while he built his own house.  The early records of Ipswich show that my son and your 9th great grandfather Charles was finally granted land in Ipswich in August of 1639 and within a few years he owned three different parcels and his occupation was listed not surprisingly as a "Cooper."  Apparently Samuel soon realized that his business of manufacturing wooden barrels, casks, buckets, tubs, and other containers was not well suited for the Ipswich area as due to the larger population and numerous farms and the general rocky environment surrounding Ipswich, there was a shortage of available trees and saplings that he could cut down. Furthermore the land that he purchased was quickly becoming void of trees. In 1640, Samuel Boreman made the decision that if he was going to grow his business, he needed to move west into Connecticut where forests were more common and land was available. He therefore  sold his land in the Ipswich area and moved to the new community of Wethersfield located on the Connecticut River about 7 miles south of Hartford, Connecticut.

Mary Bett's name on monument
Samuel's move to Wethersfield ultimately proved to be an excellent decision. First, he met soon after his arrival his future wife, Mary Betts, who was living with her mother Mary Betts, in Hartford.  Mary's mother of course, Charles, was your 10th great grandmother.  She and her husband John Betts had sailed to America around 1634 along with their children but unfortunately John died on the voyage or shortly after their arrival. Mary was at this point forced to begin a new life without her husband. She and her children moved to Hartford in 1636 shortly following its original founding. Apparently the "Widow Betts" did pretty well for herself for she was soon granted by the "courtesy of the town" a great piece of land in Hartford (currently near the intersections of Trumbull and Wells Streets) upon which she operated one of  Hartford's first schools for children. Mary Betts died in 1647 apparently stricken by an "epidemical sickness" and she is now credited by the City of Hartford as being one of the town's original settlers. Her daughter also named Mary Betts, married my son Samuel Boreman shortly after Samuel's arrival in Connecticut in 1641.When they married Mary Betts was only 18 years old and Samuel was 26. I should know this but I cannot remember, but it is written by some that the Betts family was originally from our hometown of Claydon in Oxfordshire. If this is the case, it is possible that Samuel may have known the Betts family in Claydon before they left for America in 1634 although in 1634 Samuel would have been only 19 years old when his future wife Mary was only 11. 

The Cooper Business
Samuel Boreman's life prospered following his marriage and his arrival in Wethersfield. As the population of New England increased so did the demand for barrels and other containers and Samuel's soon to be large cooper business was a huge beneficiary of the demand. The fact that Wethersfield sat on the Connecticut River with access to the Atlantic Ocean plus the fertile soil in the area and the growth of multiple varieties of plants from corn to peas and rye resulted in a huge demand for shipping containers. As his wealth increased so did the amount of land that he purchased or was granted from his town. At one point it is said that he owned upwards of 1,000 acres much of which was covered with trees and even at the time of his death in 1673, he owned around 350 acres. Several of Samuel's larger purchases were from an Indian chief by the name of Warramuggus who was the "Sachem of the Wongunks" tribe that lived in the Wethersfield area. Since Indians at the time were ignorant of the concept of land ownership it is likely that Chief (Sachem) Warramuggus had no idea that he was giving up his tribe's land when he accepted gifts from the local whitemen including Samuel.  It is not surprising therefore, that eventually the Wongunk Indian Tribe completely disappeared, a not to uncommon occurance as the whiteman moved westward in America.

My son Samuel unlike his forbearers, myself included, was very active in his town's affairs.  He was elected for eight years as a Townsman, he was a surveyor of highways, and he served on numerous occasions on various town and church committees. In 1646 he was a Town sealer of weights and measures and in 1659 he was a Customs Master. Furthermore he served fifteen times between years 1642 and 1662 as a juror on the Particular Court or Court of Magistrates and on the Grand Jury in 1660 and again in 1662. And finally and most importantly, he served 18 terms beginning in 1657 as the Representative of the Town of Wethersfield as the Deputy to the Colony of Connecticut. This role of course was a great honor and shows how important my son Samuel was in his community.

Samuel Boreman home in Wethersfield
Between 1642 and 1666, Samuel and Mary had ten children including your 8th great grandfather and their seventh child, Daniel Boreman, who was born at his parent's home on the 4th of August in the year 1658. Like so many of his contemporaries, Samuel died fairly young at the age of only 57 in 1673. The fact that he left no final will and testament when he died, strongly suggests that his death was sudden and unexpected. Fortunately Samuel's wealth left his wife Mary in fairly good shape especially considering that she was still taking care of a large family including her youngest daughter Martha who was only seven when her father died.  Mary died at the age of around 61 in August of 1684.  By this point her children were grown and most of them had married.  Unfortunately two of the sons of Samuel and Mary had died in 1675 during the King Philip's War reflecting that even during this period of New England history wherein the population had grown to around 80,000 people, life was still not easy and peaceful.

Daniel Bordman (noticed that he spelled and signed his name differently than his predecessors) was around 15 years old when his father died and around 26 years old when his mother died, and the fact that he was their seventh child and fourth son probably meant that he inherited very little money and no land.  Despite this fact, he was fortunate to marry the oldest daughter and child of Samuel and Mary Butler Wright, a young girl by the name of Hannah Wright, who was only 17 when she married Daniel on the 8th day of June in 1683. The Wright family like the Boreman family had been early settlers in Wethersfield and undoubtedly the marriage between their daughter and the Boreman's son had been prearranged for some time which was not all that uncommon during this period of history. This would have worked out well for both Daniel and his new wife as the Wright family allowed them to live initially on a lot and home owned by Daniel's new father-in-law and then two years later in 1685, Daniel and Mary were given 25 acres of land by Mary's brother, Samuel Wright Jr., upon which to build a house. Undoubtedly, Daniel worked in his father's cooper business while he was growing up, however at some point he changed his focus to the glazing business which during this period would have consisted of making glasswear as opposed to installing window glass. It is likely during Daniel's lifetime that only the very few wealthy families in Wetherfield owned homes with glass in their windows and the glass if it were used had probably been shipped in from England. Most windows at the time were simply covered with wooden shutters and sometimes a thin and partially transparent fabric on the windows. It is no wonder than most homes during this period were rather dark on the interior.  At least one could drink wine from one of my grandson's glasses and hopefully his business became fairly successful.
















Daniel Bordman like many of his close ancestors and descendants lived during a rather tumultuous time in American history for it seemed that there was always a war or battle taking place somewhere not far from home. The King Philip's War fought between 1675 and 1678 was a series of engagements mostly between the Americans and the Indians who were under the leadership of an Indian by the name of Metacomet (who I understand Charles is one of your other great grandfathers.) The subsequent King William's War which took place between 1688 and 1697 was a war initiated by the French and the English but here again it was a series of battles fought primarily between the American and British troops and the Indians who were fighting in support of the French. And finally the Queen Anne's War fought between 1702 and 1713 was also a war between the French and English which also involved the Indians who as always were the big losers. This war was fought primarily in Canada or just south of Canada but American troops including some from Wethersfield were engaged. While there is no evidence that Daniel Bordman fought in any battles during any of these three "Wars," it is highly likely that he was a member of the local militia and it is entirely possible that he may have marched with his militia to some of the possible engagements particularly during the King Philip's War when Daniel was still in his late teens and before he was married. As we previously mentioned, we know that two of Daniel's brothers were actually killed during the King Philip's War in 1675.  Whether or not Daniel actually fought in any battles, the effects of constant wars and the threat of Indian attacks must have had a major impact on everyone in all of the New England communities (including, unfortunately, the Native American Indians themselves). Despite the constant threats facing the citizens of Wethersfield from both Indians attacks as well as epidemics, the population grew from around 500 residents at the time of Daniel's birth in 1658 to around 1,000 by the year of his death in 1724.  On the positive side for Wethersfield following the demise of the Indian population, the farmlands and the village itself spread westward and mills and other commercial buildings were built.

Daniel Bordman was by no means as active in his community as was his father, but he did hold several public offices. He was elected as a selectman, a collector (of taxes), a surveyor, and a member of the school committee as well as a few other minor positions such as a fence viewer (administrator of fence laws and inspector of new fences), sheep master (carer of strayed sheep and other farm animals), etc. Also during the Queen Anne's War in 1704 he was appointed with others to help fortify several homes in Wethersfield as forts as a place to hide in the event of an Indian attack.  Perhaps Daniel's biggest role along with his wife's was their job as parents for between 1684 and 1707 they had 12 children including their second son and my great grandson, Daniel Boardman (Jr.) who was born on the 12th day of July in the year 1687. Daniel (Jr.) was your 7th great grandfather Charles. What is really interesting is that their third daughter Martha who was born in 1695 is also your 7th great grandmother. Both Daniel (Jr.) and Martha are your great grandparents on your mother's side of your family. 

New Milford, Connecticut
Home of the Rev. Daniel Boardman
Not surprising in 1724 a serious epidemic again hit the Wethersfield and Hartford area and Daniel Bordman died along with his youngest son Charles who died on the same day as his father. His older brother Israel died several months later. Israel was married and 27 years old when he died, Charles was only 17, and their father Daniel died at the age of 65.  Apparently Daniel was aware that his life was nearing it's end for shortly before his passing he wrote his Last Will and Testament. His will is kind of interesting and at the same time a little confusing. Daniel Bordman left all of his then living sons land that he owned in the nearby villages of Newington, Litchfield, and New Milford with two exceptions one being your 7th great grandfather Daniel Boardman Jr. In Daniel Jr's case his father left him only "one gunn, in his own possession."  His son Israel who died shortly after his father, he left only a small sum of money and also no land. My first reaction was that Daniel Sr. did not get along with his son Daniel Jr. and that willing him only a gun that Daniel Jr. was already using was his father's way of insulting his son, especially considering that Daniel Jr was his second oldest son. However, after reviewing more about the life of Daniel Jr and realizing that at the time of his father's death, he was a minister at a church in New Milford, Connecticut and he and his family were living at a home that was owned by his church, it is very possible that Daniel Jr. had told his father that he did not want to be willed anything when his father died and that everything should be given to his mother and brothers and sisters. If this is truly the case, Daniel Jr. was a remarkable and generous man.

Hannah Bordman Treat's grave
Daniel Bordman's wife and your 8th great grandmother, Hannah Wright Bordman, was 59 years old when her husband died in 1724. Not surprisingly especially during this time period in history, Hannah remarried shortly after her husband's death. Her new husband's name was James Treat (1666-1742) who like Hannah had recently lost his spouse. Hannah Wright Bordman Treat died in 1746 at the age of 80 outliving both of her husbands and five of her children including her son Daniel Jr. whose story we are about to relate.

First Congregational Church
New Milford, Connecticut
Daniel Boardman (Jr.) is the last of your ancestors Charles to have the surname of Boreman or Bordman or Boardman at least in this line. It is not that uncommon back in history where education was limited that spelling of surnames varied considerably. Daniel was somewhat unique among our many ancestors Charles in that unlike myself and some of my ancestors and descendants, this Daniel Boardman was not a tradesman, not a cooper or a glazier or even a farmer.  In 1709 at the age of 22, Daniel graduated from a college in Saybrook, Connecticut then known as "Collegiate School" that had been established by clergy and been founded back in 1701. The school, following Daniel's graduation, moved to New Haven in 1716 and shortly after changed it's name to Yale College (and many years later to Yale University.)  You must be proud that your 7th great grandfather was one of the very early graduates of Yale. Shortly after graduating Daniel was hired as a teacher at the Hopkins Grammar School in Hadley, Massachusetts where he worked for one season lasting around eight months. Then in 1712 he was hired as a minister by the small village of New Milford in western Connecticut and over the next few years they built him a dwelling home and eventually by 1716 a new church.  Our Daniel Boardman remained as the church minister for many years up until his death on 25 September 1744 at the age of 57. He truly must have been a highly respected man and a skilled administrator of what eventually became a large parish over the almost 28 year period that he was their minister.  The First Congregational Church United Church of Christ celebrated its 300 anniversary in 2016. On the website of the First Congregational Church the following is written about their first minister:
 
    "In 1712, there were twelve families in the "plantation." Mr. Boardman, from Wethersfield, had been called to "preach ye gospel here." In 1713, the town voted to lay out a pastor's lot and dig and stone up a well for Mr. Boardman if he became a settled minister. . . . . The town also voted to pay the minister "one third in grain and two thirds in labor, grain, and pork." They were hard working people, but so poor that Mr. Boardman could not be settled for nearly four years; nevertheless he continued to preach in view of settlement. He was supported by the people as best they could. Finally in 1716, Mr. Boardman was settled, or moved in officially."  The Rev. Daniel was then ordained and served as the minister until his death in 1744.

Gravestone of the Rev. Daniel Boardman
On the 20th day of February in the year 1716, the new Rev. Daniel Boardman married Hannah Wheeler who was possibly from Stratford, Connecticut although I could not verify Hannah's background nor the names of her parents.  Hannah gave birth to a daughter in 1717 whom they named Hannah obviously after her mother. Unfortunately Charles, your 7th great grandmother, Hannah Wheeler Boardman, died unexpectedly in June of 1719. The cause of her death is unknown although it might possibly have occurred while trying to give birth to a second child or more commonly perhaps as a result of a sickness without a cure. During this early period of our country's history, diseases as simple as measles could be deadly. Hannah was only in her early 30s when she died. Not unexpectedly Daniel Boardman remarried within a year following Hannah's death. His new wife was named Jerusha Sherman and like her new husband she too was a widow. Together Jerusha and Daniel had five children, four girls and one boy. Daniel Boardman lived a good life overall and he was a highly respected man within his church as well as within his village of New Milford. He died at the age of only 57 on the 25th of September in 1744 and he was buried alongside his first wife Hannah in the Center Cemetery in New Milford, Connecticut. We have to believe that a large crowd was present at both his church funeral service as well as at his burial.

This Charles is the end of my story about my Boreman ancestors and descendants. Daniel's daughter, Hannah Boardman (1717-1756) married a man by the name of Benjamin Cowles in 1736 and they are your 6th great grandparents. Daniel's sister Martha Boardman married a man by the name of Samuel Churchill and they are both your 7th great grandparents.  Hope you enjoyed the story.

Signed: Christopher Boreman
I would like to thank my 10th great grandfather Christopher Boreman for taking the time out in his boring life in Heaven to write the biographies of my many Boardman ancestors. I cannot promise that he might not have made a few errors in his biographies but overall I think that what he laid out is mostly accurate.  For the record I would like to relate below how my Boardman ancestors tie into our present day family.

6th Great Grandparents: Hannah Boardman and Benjamin Cowles 
                                         (1717-1756)                   (1713-1803)
                                                                 |
5th Great grandparents: Thankful Cowles and Asa Johnson
                                         (1738-?)                      (1735-1791)
                                                                 |
4th Great grandparents: Anna Johnson and Elijah Starkweather
                                        (1775-?)                  (1756-1847)
                                                                 |
3rd Great grandparents: Adaline Starkweather and John J. Yawger
                                        (1818-1849)                    (1817-1895)
                                                                 |
2nd Great grandparents: Elsie Ann Yawger and David S. Coapman
                                         (1844-1918)                 (1844-1910)
                                                                 |
Great grandparents:        Marian E. Coapman and Eugene H. Ferree
                                         (1867-1895)                     (1866-1952)
                                                                 |
Grandparents:                  Florence A. Ferree and Douglas Patterson
                                          (1891-1938)                   (1888-1979)
                                                                 |
My Parents:                            Marian Patterson and Charles Baker
                                          (1916-1973)                 (1916-2000)

and the other line from Daniel's sister:

7th Great Grandparents: Martha Boardman and Samuel Churchill
                                          (1695-1780)                  (1688-1767)
                                                                 |      
6th Great grandparents: Jesse Churchill and Jerusha Gaylord
                                         (1726-1806)             (1731-1769)
                                                                 |
5th Great grandparents:  Martha Churchill  Benajah Boardman**
                                         (1751-1813)            (1749-1813)
                                                                 |
4th Great grandparents: Rebecca M. Boardman and William B. Hall
                                         (1783-1805)                  (1774-1842)
                                                                 |
3rd Great grandparents: Elizabeth Hall and Mosely Hutchinson          
                                         (1801-1877)            (1795-1861)
                                                                  |
2nd Great grandparents: Mary R. Hutchinson and David D. Ferree
                                         (1825-1901)                     (1826-1869)
                                                                  |
Great grandparents:        Eugene H. Ferree and Marian E. Coapman
                                         (See above for rest of line.)  

 **    Benajah Boardman is also in our Boardman family line. He was a great grandson of Daniel Bordman (1658-1725) and Hannah Wright (1665-1746) through their son Israel Boardman, brother of the Rev. Daniel Boardman.