ELINOR, CALLED "LOCKWOOD", "DISBROW", & "WATERBURY" Elinor, first wife of Nicholas Knapp of Watertown, Middlesex Co, Massachusetts and Stamford, Fairfield Co, Connecticut, has been called "Lockwood", "Disbrow" and at times, "Waterbury", in older genealogies. No known record supports such claims! Her name appears three times in extant records, e.g., Watertown [MA] Books of Town proceedings-Births/Marriages/Deaths, land transaction on file at Cambridge, MA, and her death in 1658, at Stamford, Connecticut; none reflecting a surname of any kind. Extant records identify her as "Elinor" only, and ancestry unknown. Her origin and ancestry remain unknown, though no doubt her origin was England. Many early publications state she was born at Combs, Co Suffolk, England, though do so without benefit of supporting evidence. At best we can say "she was (of) England." It is expected that the surname "Lockwood", was assumed as a result of the known relationship between the Knapp's and the Lockwood's, at Watertown, Massachusetts, and and later the Disbrow's and Waterbury's of Connecticut, and New York. Thus, more often she is cited in many writings, as a Lockwood, and Disbrow daughter, and many believe she was a probable sister of Sergeant Robert and Edmund Lockwood. On 23 Oct 1943, a query appeared in the "Hartford Times", genealogical page, Query, A-2695, authored by Judge H. Stanley Finch, a Surrogate Judge, Stamford, Connecticut, who gave his opinion that Elinor, wife of Nicholas Knapp, was a daughter of Edmund Lockwood (1594-1635) of Combs, Co Suffolk, England, but done so without supporting evidence. While this would seem possible, proof still remains lacking. Later research in 1978, and again in 1995, failed to identify that Elinor, was of any identifiable surname in the early Colonial Records. At any rate, in today's jargon, the "virus" began to spread. Eventually after having been repeated enough, Pedigree Charts sprung forth claiming her as a daughter of Edmund Lockwood, as a Disbrow daughter, and at times a Waterbury daughter, with an unknown ancestry, yet a cited source for the claims remain lacking. Unless an extant document can be produced, to label Elinor with any surname, records should reflect her given name of Elinor, only. To do otherwise would only perpetuate the original "atrocious genealogical blunder"! As a result of Mr William Pelham and Mr Edmund Lockwood, paying the fine of Nicholas Knapp, in 1630, the assertion was made that Edmund Lockwood, was his brother-in-law. Nothing could be further from the truth. Research identifies, Mr (Rev) William Pelham, as the person responsible for Nicholas Knapp, who belonged to his company, and that Mr Edmund Lockwood, was his Deputy, thus the reasons for paying the fine of Nicholas Knapp. Again, the "virus" was perpetuated and became fact without attending proof. As of this writing [2001], her surname remains unknown. For further discussion on the subject of Elinor, first wife of Nicholas Knapp, consult: 1-The American Genealogist (TAG), 10:45 2-Some Descendants of Edmund Lockwood (1594-1635) of Cambridge, MA and his son, Edmund Lockwood (c1625-1693) of Stamford, CT (1978), by Harriet Woodbury Hodge, C.G., Appendix 5:82 3-The Great Migration Begins Immigrants to New England 1620-1633 (1995), by Robert Charles Anderson, F.A.S.G., II:1136. ------------------------------ Fritz Knapp

Dear Mike: Please add my thanks for the warm write-up regarding Cash Disbrow. I "met" him on the telephone in 1987 or 1988 when my husband and I were traveling through Sioux Falls, SD. He sounded like such a nice man. He seemed to love his genealogy research. I hope his family will be able to find a "home" for all his material. How about you Mike? You seem to be the repository for all of us. Cash also corresponded with me through e-mail, for a few years, and through his publishing of the Disbrow Family Newsletter after Mike gave it up. I, too, wish I had known Cash better, but he did help us all in his research. God Bless his family, Sincerely, Doris Disbrow Lobe Marysville, WA

Mike, that was beautiful. I "met" Cash the same way most of us did. Through our genealogy research. Back then I was a rank rookie who didn't know census from beans and was still spelling it "GeneOlogy". We traded a lot of family data back and forth over the next year but we also became friends and our e-mails went back and forth on a daily basis. He often spoke lovingly of his children and his wife, who had gone on before him. He was very commited to his church and his research and I've never known a man of his years who was so "into" computer gadgets. He always amazed me with the new computer add ons and programs and such. He came up with the idea of sending each other a voice e-card so we could put associate a voice and face with that little envelope in the inbox. When my family went through a major crisis a year ago I thought I was going to fall apart but Cash was there in that little envelope every day reassuring me that everything was going to be alright, telling me personal stories and ! humorous tales and putting me back together from 1500 miles away. He was intelligent, sweet, kind, funny, caring and quite probably the greatest man I never knew. Linda Talbott

From: Mike Disbrow, listowner Subject: Cash Disbrow passes away... Hi everyone: The list is already aware of the death of Cash Disbrow on Saturday, thanks to the notification from Cash's daughter Georgia Disbrow and passed on by Cyndra Disbrow. Not everyone knows who Cash was and what he meant to the Disbrow family research effort, so I wanted to send a few (inadequate) words about the man and what he did. Cassius Leo Disbrow was born 29 September 1923 in Yankton, South Dakota, to Cassius Marcellus and Luella Bergetha (Olson) Disbrow. (His ancestral line is as follows: Cassius Leo-10, Cassius Marcellus-9, William Ira-8, William Harrison-7, Oliver Perry-6, James-5, Henry-4, Caleb-3, Thomas Jr.-2, Thomas Sr.-1) He married 11 Jan. 1946 in DeSmet, SD, to Inez Irene Nelson. Inez preceded Cash in death several years ago. They had four children: Cassius Lea, William Dean, Georgia Ann and Linda Kay. I can't tell you much about Cash's life. I do know that he worked for many years for the City of Sioux Falls in the area of water or waste treatment, but that is all I know about that. In more recent years Cash spent time ministering at the local prisons, a project that meant a great deal to him being a man of deep religious convictions. Cash first contacted me about 1978 when I was living in Florida. I believe he'd seen my query in Yankee magazine pertaining to my ancestor Reuben Disbrow and he called to fill me in on what he knew of the family. It seems he'd been collecting Disbrow history for several years and had a lot to fill me in on. It was Cash, for instance, who first told me about Mercy Disbrow and her witchcraft trial, a story which intrigued me enough to get my interest going strong. Cash was low key, but his words were well-chosen and his research clearly thorough and meticulous. I knew I could believe it if Cash told me it was so. He collected all things "Disbrow" he ran across - military and census records particulary intrigued him - and was in contact with many many relatives and Disbrow researchers over the years. Many of the fruits of his research ended up within the pages of my compiled Thomas Disbrow genealogy and the family newsletter which he published from 1988 through 1999. Over the years Cash and I shared a lot of material with each other. We spent many hours on Sunday afternoons in conversation by telephone. Twice Cash travelled to Michigan to attend our Disbrow annual meetings and it was an extreme pleasure to finally meet the man I'd been talking to so long. After I'd edited the Disbrow Family Newsletter for four years and was wanting to rid myself of it so I could concentrate on compiling the Thomas Disbrow descendants books, Cash was there to take over at my request. He made the newsletter his pet project, improving on it in so many ways it became one of the best I've seen. No one can now appreciate the number of hours he must have spent writing, editing, printing, folding, mailing etc. for over ten years and several hundred pages of material. We could never thank him enough for his great legacy to our family history. I wish I could say more about Cash Disbrow, but the truth is I never really got to know him as thoroughly as I would have liked to. That's my loss. And his death is OUR loss, truly. Many of our subscribers knew Cash in one way or another and it would be nice if you would like to share anything with us regarding him. Mike

In a message dated 6/12/01 11:03:46 AM Eastern Daylight Time, cyndras@att.net writes: << Here is the address to send her a message it's her DAD's email address. SiouxCash2@aol.com Should we forward all of yesterday's? I still have them all in my box so I will wait to here from the group. Cyndra Disbrow cyndras@att.net or cyndrad@netscape.net >> Cyndra, Please froward mine. Thank You, Walt Disbrow DieselDis@aol.com

I Cyndra Disbrow posted the message about Cash. I copied it from my other email mail box and sent it out to the list. Georgia sent me the email because she found a few email's that where sent back in forth. I was not sure if she was going to send it to the list or if she even knew about the list. Sorry about not being very clear about this news. Also I am sure this is hard for Mike Disbrow after all Cash Disbrow Is his cousin so Mike when you read this my prayer's are with you and all your family and I am sorry I was not more clear to the list the first go around. Here is the address to send her a message it's her DAD's email address. SiouxCash2@aol.com Should we forward all of yesterday's? I still have them all in my box so I will wait to here from the group. Cyndra Disbrow cyndras@att.net or cyndrad@netscape.net

I would like to say to Stephen Squires and those that have responded to his input, for all the great information presented on the family and paticularly that regarding Nicholals and his Ilk. Cheers, Richard W. Hopper

Hello to all I love all of the work being done by Mike Disbrow and I have told him thanks many of times and Stephen I like what your writting as well. But this is the real reason for my email I was just sent this and was not sure if any one else had heard. This sad news. My name is Georgia Disbrow. I am Cash Disbrow's oldest daughter. I want to inform you that Cash passed away yesterday, June 9, at 10:30 AM. He went very peacefully and with his family around him. I have been going thru his geneology material and have found your e mails so I thought maybe you would be interested in knowing about his passing. If there is anything, geneology wise, that I can send you let me know and I will try and get it to you. The rest of us don't know anything about geneology, so if dad has something you want just tell us. Thank you. God Bless you all. Georgia He will be missed. Cyndra Disbrow © 2001 Netscape, All rights reserved. Legal & Privacy Notices.

The death of Cash Disbrow comes as a shock to me....while I did not know Cash, and never communicated directly with him, his name and fingerprints have been all over the materials I have reviewed so often, in Mike's books and elsewhere. Doing genealogy can make us very sensitive to eternal issues of life & death, not just in seeing the drama of that played out in the sometimes remote lives we are studying. But by so inevitably bringing us to identify with those remote lives, feeling for their struggles, their triumphs and their heart-aches. We inevitably must hope and wish for them a better place. I believe they have earned it, just as I am certain Cash has well-earned his. What is so true for me in this study of our family history, above all, is the certain conviction that they are ALL out there someplace, at peace and in that much better place. Thanks be to God! I wish Cash well on the beginning of his journey to our ancestors. Stephen T. Squires

Doris & List: Thank you so much, Doris, for your very encouraging 'confirmations' of this new data (RE: "Disbrow/Knapp")! I was especially startled by your "Eleanor (Disbrow) Lockwood" mention (more thoughts later on that!). Of course, the first answer still hiding "just around corner" is whether the "Thomas Disbrowe" Mr. Dunn reminded us about is my/our Thomas of Compo, CT. His is son of James Senior, apparently, related directly to Eltisley manor, BAPTIZED in 1625... I must wonder from those Parish records just how old he was at baptism, since the issue of infant vs. older baptism was a "thing" occasionally for Puritans---& as this MAY/'perhaps' make a crucial difference in my arguments below.... Of course, this relationship is important NOT simply for my own gen "bragging rights" (as fun as that would be too!), but for those Eltisley Disbrowe's demonstrated financial clout and "high-born" networks which we now can begin to see were so obviously, aggressively settling southern New England! (I will have something more to say about "Hobson's Choice", re: literally that issue soon.). THAT network would have much to say by inference too about our Thomas of Compo (& therefore for my book project concerning the politics of Mercy's trial, and early settlement of CT). Of course, one of the reasons we never put Lydia (Knapp) Pennoyer together with our Thomas Disbrow of Compo at Mercy's trial in 1692 (i.e.: certainly my own reason, BEFORE discovering that close Pennoyer relationship to Samuel Disbrowe...) was that the "Lydia PENOIR" who spoke out so forcefully in defense of Mercy then (her now demonstrated kinswoman), was herself hidden behind her variant surname spelling. This is exactly the same as happened to me after buying a cherished first edition of John Taylor's 1908, "Witchcraft Delusion in Colonial CT," and then discovering, some eight years afterward, that the "Disbro/Desborough" named there was actually my own family's long-forgotten direct ancestor (silly me)! An exciting find back in 1994..."startling" even.... And of course, NOW so many of these other relationships are only now beginning to appear so obvious to us all (thank goodness!), which in itself is a very good sign abt my thesis. Some more analysis: Thomas Disbrowe of Eltisley parish record, was undoubtedly baptized soon after his birth, as standard practice I believe for then, Church of Eng. (does ANYONE on List know better of when baptism routinely occurred after birth?). Though plse do recall that Mercy Holbridge was not baptized until 1650 in New Haven, the same day as bro. John,...while we now have "certain" evidence from John Winthrop, Jr, confirmed by a 1643 "census" of planters at New Haven you may or may not have seen, that she was likely born by 1637. I have read that 'high-born' families were far more diligent about immediate baptizim of children after birth than were lesser social classes, of whom Arthur Holbridge is perhaps a member(??). It is also true that the issue of infant vs. older baptism (after a church-member could thereby demonstrate a revelation of acceptance of Christ, leading to his "owning the covenant") would, itself, become a big "magilla" in so many of those early religious disputes I have mentioned in colonial CT (along with the potent political implications of just who would be allowed full church membership & thereby civic/electoral rights, & re: the so-called "half-way covenant" having immense civic implications eventually too), but undoubtedly NONE of this was an issue back at Eltisley as early as 1625. NOTE: Those CT religious disputes were also between those folks we are tentatively identifying closely (for further confirmation) with the Eltisley Disbrowes. So, if the Thomas of 1625 is the same as the CROWN MALLIGOE refugee of 1677 (we can all do the math) he was abt 52. How soon after did he meet-up with (converge) with Mercy Holbridge Nichols (divorcee or likely widow??)?? I feel it was undoutedly VERY soon after his migration since it is becoming ever more apparent that the older man, Thomas Disbrowe of Eltisley, had to settle with the least fuss possible (at least that's what MY 53 year-old creaking joints would say!), on already established lands (perhaps already worked certainly) such as Mercy could offer through her mother at Compo. This implies a closer relationship, by family networks, than we have previously been willing to presume. The Fairfield lands, we must recall, had already been divided-up by the time of Thomas Disbrowe's arrival in 1677/8. That he took the "easy way(??)" of it and married a woman who could ALREADY offer him established (perhaps worked) lands may mean several things, inferentially. First, as above stated. Second, that he already knew Mercy Holbridge Nichols or had someone arrange this alliance prior to or very soon after his arrival. This may mean, of course, (just as I implied in an earlier post without any proof of this "romantic convergence!") that Mercy's line was also ALLIED with known Eltisley "to-the-manor-born" folks. I now have "proof", of a kind, for EXACTLY that possibility! Thanks once again to the very great work in posting this by Mr. Dunn (which is what happens when we all work on these Q's). I very soon saw a relationship of Arthur Holbridge/Halbridge at New Haven to the "PECKE" surname he posted this wkend! From the 1641 Map of New Haven (an authoritative map just like 1640 map of Htfd), one "Arthur Halbridge" is shown in the more crowded section near the Long Wharf, directly south of the 'famous' nine square. He is situated on a very small parcel which is IMMEDIATELY next-door to one "William PECK." Of course, it remains to be seen whether this William Peck is somehow related to the very provocative information Mr. Dunn just posted about one "Paul Pecke" at Eltisley, who happened to challenge his in-law, Isaac Disborough, in an undisclosed matter at issue in Eltisley, leaving a record of the maiden-name of Isaac Disbrowe's wife: Elizabeth Pecke. I note too that "Peck/Pecke" strikes me as a very rarely seen, uncommon enuf surname appropriate for our purposes. Here is what Mr. Dunn posted (in entirety here for our assessing its apparent value to Arthur Holbridge): >From "Abstracts of Chancery Proceedings Relating to the Family of Desborough", Pecke v. Disborow, 24 Apr 1645. Paul Pecke of Eltisley, Yeoman v. Isaac Disborow the elder of Eltisley, yeoman; Isaac Disborow the younger and Elizabeth his wife. Identifies Elizabeth, wife of Isaac the younger as daughter of Paul Pecke and his wife Frances. >From IGI (unverified). Paul Peck married Frances Taylor 28 Feb 1608, Caldecote, Cambridge. (Caldecote is about 5 or 6 miles from Eltisley, Cambridge). Isaac Disborrow (or Disbrowe) the younger was he who came in "Hopewell" 1635 [Pennoyer brothers also came in "Hopewell", believed later in 1635], and then later returned to England. He was cousin to Samuel Disbrowe of Guilford, Ct. 1639-1651 who also returned to England and was Keeper of the Seal of Scotland; Samuel was brother to John Disbrowe, a brother in law of Oliver Cromwell and one of the Commonwealth Major Generals. Deacon Paul Peck who died Dec. 1695, of Hartford, CT. Came 1635 ?, is seen in Hartford 1639. Most sources say he was from Essex, but a few state he was from Eltisley, Cambridge. I also have seen Etisly, Essex. [end of Mr. Dunn's post, 6/10/01] I will have more soon about "Hobson's Choice", and network links back in England. But first a cautionary note. The "name magic" I'm indulging in, this 'name-game', while extremely provocative and doubtless reflecting the Disbrowe network, does not yet "prove" out our CT Thomas Disbrow's links (to a genealogist's certainy; tho. a historian might more quickly be better satisfied soonat th). Nor does it yet "prove" the proliferation of CT surnames we are discussing are actually related back to those names in the Disbrowe wills until THAT work is done. It is satisfying, however, to note that quite so MANY names are cropping up in both places very significantly. However, the other day I was "blasted" from too much such enthusiasm by noting one minor disillusionment about Hatley, Hatfield/Hadley. While coincidentally looking at the Winthrop Papers (I had not yet seen Hadley histories I also wanted to look at), I noticed a detailed map of Winthrop's old English turf at "Groton" (from whence name "Groton, CT," where Winthrop Jr. first settled). Just to the right, of course, we see the town of "Hadleigh" (which, if I'm not mistaken, obviously accounts for the name of Hadley, MA---tho. by way of saving my arguments re: Disbrowe's "Hatley" relation besides the speculations of Walter & Phebe innearby Springfield: one must wonder about "Hadleigh's" once-associated older surnames in Eng. too----however THAT, brings us into an infinite regression of "name-magic" idiocy which undoubtedly makes a mockery of some of what I'm doing. (It is all your jobs to point out how else this ALL may be idiotic!) Since I'm 'clearing' the record a bit here: note also that Baird lists a family curiously named "Dusenberry" in his genealogy section of his Rye, NY history (he does NOT list any gen for "Disbrow", curiously enuf, as I recall it). This is the SAME family of "Dusenboroh," w/ given-names, which I noted on the 1698 census for nearby Hempstead (the one-time residence of both John Strickland and Henry Disbrow across the Sound on LI), as I posted recently. That Dusenberry info (from 1698 census) was only incidental to the far more important revelation there, to us, for a far more significant "Golden" surname (ie: several, plus one "John "Golden" there, of poss. CROWN MALLIGOE passage w/ Thomas "Desborow"?). A very unusual surname: "Dusenberry" seems to me (is it yet a "new world" variant, or some attempted subterfuge of the increasingly discredited "Disbrowe" surname back in England, perhaps---recall that 1677 and 1698 are both AFTER the Restoration)!! Also recall the name-game of quite so many people "refugeeing" themselves to America, under duress & "incognito" too, and even those Butler/Pennoyers who changed their name for very intriguing reasons. A 'wild' speculation here no doubt, but then somebody ought to do it?? ----- Original Message ----- From: "Doris Lobe" <djlobe@silvernet.net> To: <DISBROW-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, June 10, 2001 11:42 PM Subject: [DISBROW] DISBROW/KNAPP > To Stephen T. Squires: Stephen you are opening lots of research avenues. The answers to our Disbrow questions have to be "right around the corner". Thank you for all your research data. It is most interesting. I have found, as I am sure many genealogists have, that when we all put our research data together, we each have a piece of the puzzle. Many ancestors have been found in both my paternal & maternal pedigrees in that manner. > I started looking through all my files, sources, data. I have data on Nicholas Knapp, father of Moses (who married Abigail Westcott, and had dau. Lydia who married Thomas Pennoyer) and Sarah who married Peter Disbrow, and in several sources it is said she married 2ndly his brother, John Disbrow. My sources have given Nicholas' 1st wife and the mother of his children, as (exactly this): Eleanor (Disbrow) Lockwood. Her pedigree links her with Lockwood parents, but there is no link to the (Disbrow) as far as I can find. None of her female ancestors have the naiden name of Disbrow and she apparently was not previously married to a man named Disbrow. When I go to Salt Lake in October, I most certainly will be pursuing this further, along with other surnames in your recent e-mails. > I have much more material on the Spencer lines, as well as the children of William Hobson, Rose's father . The Mathew Hallworthy mentioned in Rose Hobson Pennoyer Disbrow's will surely must be Matthew Holworthy II, s/o Sir Knight Matthew Holworthy I of Palgrave, Norfolk. Matthew II married Elizabeth Disbrow, d/o Dr. James Disbrow & Abigail Marsh. James was the s/o Samuel Disbrow & 1st wife Dorothy Whitfield--the same Samuel Disbrow who married Rose Hobson. My source was mainly Eddis Johnson & Harold B. Disbrowe's book: "Disbrowe's of Canada & Their English Antecedents". This book has lots of pedigree data in it. Have you read it? I have access to it through copied pages. > Oh, yes, and the Ward and White, Sherwood, Robbins, Lloyd, Bolton surnames in Rose Hobson's will were the surnames of her sisters' husbands, as you probably know. > It will be interesting to find the link to the (Disbrow) connected with Nicholas' wife, Eleanor Lockwood. > Thanks again, and keep up the great work. Doris Disbrow Lobe Marysville, WA > > > ==== DISBROW Mailing List ==== > The Disbrow Family Web Site: > http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Ranch/5853 > > > ============================== > Ancestry.com Genealogical Databases > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/rwlist2.asp > Search over 2500 databases with one easy query! >

To Stephen T. Squires: Stephen you are opening lots of research avenues. The answers to our Disbrow questions have to be "right around the corner". Thank you for all your research data. It is most interesting. I have found, as I am sure many genealogists have, that when we all put our research data together, we each have a piece of the puzzle. Many ancestors have been found in both my paternal & maternal pedigrees in that manner. I started looking through all my files, sources, data. I have data on Nicholas Knapp, father of Moses (who married Abigail Westcott, and had dau. Lydia who married Thomas Pennoyer) and Sarah who married Peter Disbrow, and in several sources it is said she married 2ndly his brother, John Disbrow. My sources have given Nicholas' 1st wife and the mother of his children, as (exactly this): Eleanor (Disbrow) Lockwood. Her pedigree links her with Lockwood parents, but there is no link to the (Disbrow) as far as I can find. None of her female ancestors have the naiden name of Disbrow and she apparently was not previously married to a man named Disbrow. When I go to Salt Lake in October, I most certainly will be pursuing this further, along with other surnames in your recent e-mails. I have much more material on the Spencer lines, as well as the children of William Hobson, Rose's father . The Mathew Hallworthy mentioned in Rose Hobson Pennoyer Disbrow's will surely must be Matthew Holworthy II, s/o Sir Knight Matthew Holworthy I of Palgrave, Norfolk. Matthew II married Elizabeth Disbrow, d/o Dr. James Disbrow & Abigail Marsh. James was the s/o Samuel Disbrow & 1st wife Dorothy Whitfield--the same Samuel Disbrow who married Rose Hobson. My source was mainly Eddis Johnson & Harold B. Disbrowe's book: "Disbrowe's of Canada & Their English Antecedents". This book has lots of pedigree data in it. Have you read it? I have access to it through copied pages. Oh, yes, and the Ward and White, Sherwood, Robbins, Lloyd, Bolton surnames in Rose Hobson's will were the surnames of her sisters' husbands, as you probably know. It will be interesting to find the link to the (Disbrow) connected with Nicholas' wife, Eleanor Lockwood. Thanks again, and keep up the great work. Doris Disbrow Lobe Marysville, WA

>From "Abstracts of Chancery Proceedings Relating to the Family of Desborough", Pecke v. Disborow, 24 Apr 1645. Paul Pecke of Eltisley, Yeoman v. Isaac Disborow the elder of Eltisley, yeoman; Isaac Disborow the younger and Elizabeth his wife. Identifies Elizabeth, wife of Isaac the younger as daughter of Paul Pecke and his wife Frances. >From IGI (unverified). Paul Peck married Frances Taylor 28 Feb 1608, Caldecote, Cambridge. (Caldecote is about 5 or 6 miles from Eltisley, Cambridge). Isaac Disborrow (or Disbrowe) the younger was he who came in "Hopewell" 1635, and then later returned to England. He was cousin to Samuel Disbrowe of Guilford, Ct. 1639-1651 who also returned to England and was Keeper of the Seal of Scotland; Samuel was brother to John Disbrowe, a brother in law of Oliver Cromwell and one of the Commonwealth Major Generals. Deacon Paul Peck who died Dec. 1695, of Hartford, CT. Came 1635 ?, is seen in Hartford 1639. Most sources say he was from Essex, but a few state he was from Eltisley, Cambridge. I also have seen Etisly, Essex.

First, Re: DISBROW SPENCER: I quoted Bjerkoe ("Cabinetmakers of America") saying Disbrow Spencer was son of Obadiah, JUNIOR. This is wrong, according to Manwaring's "Digest of Early CT Probate Records". Obadiah, SENIOR was, of course, definitely father of Spencer Disbrow (as our Spencer gens well knew), with mother as Mary Disbrowe, dau. of Nicholas of Hartford (this is just as Doris Lobe correctly reported it, 6/5/01---Thanks Doris!). Then there is this interesting item on Disbrow Spencer from Goodwin's "Notes of the Spencer Family" (p. 206): "At a court, September 7, 1706. Disborough Spencer, of Hartford, and Henry Merry, of Lyme, were complained of before this Court , by Joseph Gilbert, Grand Juryman, for that, on the 2d instant September, they having a quarrel between themselves, did contrary to peace of our Sovereign Lady and the laws of this Colony, challenge each other to decide their quarrel with swords; and for that purpose, at the common Landing Place in Hartford, did take swords into their hands to fight." More on Marshall in early CT:

In my e-mail just posted, "Children of James Disbrowe/Eltisley, etc" I wrote: SNIP...At this very early date of 1640, this "Walter Butler" can be none other than that very same "Walter Butler" named in the will of Rose Hobson Disbrowe's own brother: William Pennoyer (Waters' "Gen. Gleanings in Eng.", NEGHR, Ap 1891)....SNIP I should have written: "....Rose Hobson Disbrowe's own brother-in-law:..."

In a message dated 6/8/01 2:22:40 PM Central Daylight Time, jyscoach@rcn.com writes: > > > James Sr James Jr > > Md. Elizabeth Marshall (1) Md. Elizabeth Hatley > > > > John 13 Dec 1608 (2) James 17 Aug 1606 > > William 2 Mar 1611 Elizabeth 10 Apr 1608 (*) > > Bruno 18 Aug 1613 (*) John 8 Oct 1609 (2,4) > > Bruno 27 Oct 1616 (*) Joseph 22 Jun 1611 (*) > > Susanna 1 Aug 1617 (3) Nathaniel 13 Sep 1612 (5) > > Ann 15 Feb 1619 Rebecca 9 May 1615 (6) > > Mathew 23 Feb 1623 (*) Samuel 30 Nov 1619 (7, 9) > > Thomas 25 Oct 1625 Elizabeth 20 Aug 1622 > > Annis 26 Dec 1627 (*) Isaac 2 Mar 1625 (7) > > Elizabeth 7 Jan 1629 (*) Soiror 1 May 1627 (8) > > Elizabeth 26 Sep 1627 (8) > > The children named in the left column were listed as sons or daughters of James Disbrowe SENIOR. Those in the righrt column as James Disbrowe Junior, (except where noted in Notes 4 or 9, as simply children of James (no Senior or Junior suffix). James Jr was certainly father of Samuel and the son of John (died 1610). James Senior was possibly son of Bruno Disbrowe, brother of the John died 1610. I base this supposition (and it is only that) on the fact that two of his children in succession were named Bruno. Carl Dunn

Mr. Dunn's very exciting e-mail just now, re: a "Thomas" Disbrow in England (eg: as apparent son perhaps of a "James Disbrowe Sr", related to a James Jr who was father of Samuel and Maj. Gen. John) and whose mother was one Elizabeth "Marshall" Disbrowe (1st w. of James Sr.) has now immediately stimulated me to look again at my copy of the 1640 map of Hartford, CT (a wonderful resource which I recently consulted also to find two "Butler" names on there, as noted in my previous posts; with a third Butler, I believe I said, also as mentioned being in very early Htfd records as well!). There is no "Thomas Marshall" on this map, but he is indeed mentioned by Wm DeLoss Love ("The Colonial History of Hartford") as serving on a CT "Court of Election", April 5, 1638 (p. 72), from Windsor, with members also from Hartford, Wethersfield, and SPRINGFIELD (four from there; also as now suddenly provocative for our family, as you will see). The question remains as to ANY relation of this Marshall to the wife (nee Marshall) of James Disbrowe "Senior" and mother of Thomas 1625. I believe I have read elsewhere about this CT Thomas Marshall (for very curious reasons I will post subsequently re: an old e-mail I once sent to others called: "Spooky MARSHALL Connections" which concerned my research, sometime ago, into the possibly origins of the name of my own ancestor's Hudson River sloop (Capt. Scudder Squires):: the sloop BENJAMIN MARSHALL, blt 1830 at Coxsackie, NY first owned then by Almet Reeds and Russell Judson, descended from Stratford, CT "Judsons"). I have read that this Thomas Marshall eventually "removed" to New Haven (which does also list him among the early planters there too). Of course, New Haven was where "our" Samuel Disbrowe was very prominent just then too, ...as among 'the richest of planters' (Guilford histories, etc...; Samuel would likely have been seen much more often recorded directly on New Haven Colony records, but many of those, up to 1643, were lost!!). Who is on my 1640 Map of Hartford? Of course, Nicholas Disbrowe appears where I have often mentioned him in previous posts. But not far at all from him, to the southeast (on what is now Prospect street, I believe, just northeast of Old Statehouse Square, itself called "Meeting House Yard" on this map), just there is also listed one "WALTER BUTLER" (a "Richard Butler" is listed too, but on opposite side of village near to, if not directly upon, the very beautiful, present-day Bushnell Park!)!! At this very early date of 1640, this "Walter Butler" can be none other than that very same "Walter Butler" named in the will of Rose Hobson Disbrowe's own brother: William Pennoyer (Waters' "Gen. Gleanings in Eng.", NEGHR, Ap 1891). This will says that he is "now at New England", with his father, Evan Butler, of Cusop HEREFORD mentioned just before the name of Walter----I believe Hartford, CT itself was named after "Hereford," Eng., if I be not mistaken, ...or was it Hertford...??). You may recall too that Henry Waters footnotes in "Gleanings" a ..."Walter Butler who in 1672 was one of 27 purchasers of Horseneck in Greenwich, Ct. He was a legal voter of Greenwich in 1688, etc.etc..." (p.159 footnote to William Pennoyer's will). Please recall too that Abbott in her book of Milford, CT vital records says that "Elizabeth Disbrow" (one of two Disbrow wives listed there for Joseph Guernsey, Jr. of Milford) was from "Horseneck" at Greenwich, CT, ...born 1677, "possibly the dau. of Peter Disbrow of Rye, NY", Peter himself died in 1688 at Rye, per Baird). I also note with some increasing excitement, that Mr. Dunn's e-mail lists one "James Jr" as m. to "Elizabeth Hatley" (as did the Waters material, tho. not with any given name). Can this "Hatley" surname itself, via "networks", have anything to do with the name of either (or both) Hatfield and Hadley, MA, immediately north of "Springfield", MA (mentioned above in the Love ref.)?? Hatfield, nearby to Hadley, was where the Rev. John Russell soon resided also, abt 1665 I believe, after removing from Wethersfield over religious disputes (a "James RUSSELL" is mentioned in Samuel Pennoyer's 1654 will, per Waters, as being one member mentioned among several of "the Company of Drapers of the City of London", Samuel Pennoyer was the 1st husband of Rose Hobson Disbrowe). Rev. Russell later hid the REGICIDE Goffe in his Hatfield basement, and wrote (Aug. 2, 1683) a letter to Increase Mather intimately describing the events surrounding Nicholas Disbrowe's Hartford "witchery"/poltergeisting, later reported by both Mathers. Hadley was also where the Allis clan of "turners/joiners" made the famous Hadley chests, & was undoubtedly 'allied' (by marriage) to Nicholas Disbrowe at Hartford, CT. I am, however, much confused by Mr. Dunn's listing of both a "James Sr. & Jr." for Disbrowe. Perhaps he can elaborate with some analysis of his own over these rather confusing Parish record entries, especially as to whom he thinks the Thomas Disbrow of 1625 may belong vis a vis the TWO James sires. I am pretty confused by them, though this is VERY exciting information, and I must very gratefully thank Mr. Dunn for reminding us of this. Henry Waters makes it "clear" from what I had presumed was a cemetery record (am now not so sure..??) that one "John" was the grandfather of "our" Samuel Disbrowe, and that his father was indeed "James" (as per p. 362, Oct 1887, NEHGR: "John Disbrowe, who was buried there in 1610, is called the grandfather [note: where from, a tombstone perhaps, or is this the crux of my confusion, ie: perhaps it was just a local tradition when Waters wrote this??] of Major General John Disbrowe and of Samuel Disbrowe, Keeper of the Great seal in Scotland, both of whom were born at Eltisley, the former in 1608, the latter in 1619."). Waters himself is a bit confusing, of course, when his material on these famous Disbrowes depicts a pedigree chart, apparently submitted by Samuel himself to the College of Arms in 1684 (since it is said to be signed by him). In addition to being the son of James, it lists another son of this James also named that: "James, died young", Samuel's brother. But later there is still ANOTHER reference to a "James Disbrowe, elder brother of the Major General [JOHN!], inherited the estate at Eltisley, where he resided." (page 362, NEHGR 1887). So then, I am very confused; though I must believe this confusion may be resolved with further looks at the material and analysis help from all of you. Also, I find it hard to believe that such very important property at Eltisley as the "Goldinghams" from the 17th c. might not yet have some LAND ownership records which may further shed light. Please recall this so very provocative information per Waters: "The manor of Stow, or Goldinghams, afterwards called the manor of Eltisley, belonged successively to the families of Stow, Ward and Goldingham." As I have demonstrated already, these are all very early names in CT and New Haven colonies, with Stowe, you may recall, with a famous CT descendant: Harriet Beecher Stowe, who wrote "Uncle Tom's Cabin", 1856 or so. She lived at Hartford (Nook Farm) next door to Samuel Clemens, otherwise known as "Mark Twain". BTW, a "James Disbrowe, Jr"., the son of Samuel Disbrowe obviously, also comes up at the end of Rose (Hobson) Disbrow's will abstract as the "Rev. James Disbrowe, Jr." This is obviously the same as that "James Desbro, Dr. of Physic. Stepney, Middlesex", as listed in Samuel's 1684 pedigree chart. Rev. James Jr.is listed there as married to "Abigail, dau. of John Marsh of St. Albans." Henry Waters adds this: May not the John Marsh, whose daughter Abigail became the wife of Samuel Disbrowe's son, and the Joseph Marsh, her brother, to whom administration [of Samuel Disbrowe's 1680 will which I will posting in entirety soon] was granted, have been related to JOHN MARSH [my emphasis] of Hartford CT." (page 362 Oct 1887, NEGHR) . One Thomas & John Cole, and then too Thomas & John Allin are all mentioned in Samuel's 1680 will. Both of these surnames are represented on the 1640 Map of Hartford (where is seen "our" Nicholas Disbrowe there too). Could the John Allin who witnessed Samuel's will have been the same John Allyn who was the meticulous clerk I have already noted regarding eh now so very famous Nicholas Disbrowe furniture chest? Hartford Town Clerk, John Allyn, certainly did know Nicholas Disbrowe at Hartford VERY well, and not just because it was probably Allyn who inscribed the following on his daughter Mary's chest: "Cutte and Joyned By Nicholas Disbrowe." Allyn was ALSO the fulsome informant to Rev. John Russell re: the 1683 'poltergeisting' of olde Nich at Hartford, as referenced by Russell in his letter of Aug. 2, 1683 to Increase Mather. Finally, about the WHITE (mentioned often in Rose's Disbrowe's will) and WARD surnames. Both surnames appear also on the 1640 Map of Htfd, Ct. The prior as one "John White" (NOTE, as a very important WHITE digression: very curiously, I was recently researching Fairfield's famous Roger Ludlow, who wrote CT's first 'constitution' based on Hooker's sermon, looking for Roger's relationship to the separately 'famous' Puritan Revolutionary, Edmund Ludlow---he's closely related---when I noticed in the will of Roger's brother George, well-fixed at Virginia colony, the following: "To my nephew Thomas Ludlow, eldest son to my brother Gabriel Lulowe Esq. deceased, all my whole estate of lands and servants, &c. that I have now in possession in Virginia, to him and his lawful heirs forever; also MY SIXTEENTH SHARE OF THE SHIP "MAYFLOWER" [my emphasis!!], whereof capt. WILLIAM WHITE is commander [this is the very SAME captain known from the famous MAYFLOWER/Plimouth Plntation, 1620], which part I bought of Mr. Samuel Harwar of London, merchant,only this year's "fraught" excepted, which I have reserved for my tobacco &c....." He also mentions a Mr. John Cray as one consignee for his crop, who "lives at the Green Man on Ludgate Hill...." (p. 300, July 1886, NEHGR) WELL now, "Ludgate" and some WHITE surnames are ALSO mentioned by our William Hobson's 1661 will, Rose's father (who also mentions many Whites in hers, 1698, intimates/ sisters, etc.!). Our Wm Hobson of nearby Hackey (part of London), along with mentioning "My daughter WARD", says THIS of one of his TWO other daus. who m. "Whites": "The six children of my daughter Rebecca White, late deceased wife of WILLIAM WHITE [my emphasis! Is this the Captain??? Noting that White is very common surname tho.], the sons at twenty-three and the daughters at one and twenty three or days of marriage. " (p.161, NEHGR Ap 1891) Re: WARD surname as also associated with earlier ownership of Eltisley manor. Recall I was looking for any reference to a "Nathaniel Ward" in early CT (who printed something on NE liberties, etc. & as Waters noted that his brother, a Rev. Samuel Ward of Ipswich Eng., had also published a religious tract back in England). I first saw a "Nathaniel Ward" at Middletown by the mid-17th century, along with all those STOW surnames which were becoming 'prolific' at that place too (eg: recall "Rev. Samuel Stow" there & his religious dispute of 1652). Well, of course, "Nathaniel WARD" is ALSO now noticed by me as on the 1640 Map of Hartford, along with so VERY MANY surnames now so familiar to us from those provocative wills of the famous Disbrowes of Eltisley manor. Further, Samuel Pennoyer's 1654 will references "Richard Hill" as overseer of his estate (w/ his brother Wm Pennoyer and f-in-law, Wm Hobson). A William HILLS was in early Htfd, listed on 1640 Map there. Also, brother William Pennoyer's 1670 will most interestingly ("startlingly"??) mentions a "Mr. William Hooke" ("Mr." being reserved as sign of respect for middle-class/'upper-crusters' & achievers). This "Mr. William Hooke" can be none other than the same of New Haven Colony, very important early there, and noted in Calder's "History of New Haven" as being on the "lam", that is hiding-out in London's Coleman Street district and then at the house of one "Gold" of Clapham just a few years before this will was made in 1670. I also have a reference somewhere as to Peter Disbrow form RYE also serving as a magistrate early to the New Haven Colony from Stamford, I believe it said (though,it said, those early NH records being lost are problematic from their end). I must again find this reference & anything further on it. Well now, can there be any doubt as to what is generally going on here anyway?? Stephen T. Squires ----- Original Message ----- From: <Cdunn3@aol.com> To: <DISBROW-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, June 08, 2001 9:46 AM Subject: [DISBROW] Children of James Disbrowe/Eltisley,Cambridge/1606-1629 > Some baptisms of Disbrowe in Eltisley,Cambridge > posted to Disbrow-L in Sep 2000 by (I believe) > Barb Hutchins, as abstracted in 1975 from > Parish records by Margaret Bone > Children of James Disbrowe and Elizabeth. > > There were 2 James D, called Sr. and Jr. > both had a wife named Elizabeth. > James Jr was son of John Disbrowe (d. 1610) and Joan > I believe James Sr was his cousin, perhaps son of > Bruno Disbrowe younger brother of John (d. 1610) > > James Sr James Jr > Md. Elizabeth Marshall (1) Md. Elizabeth Hatley > > John 13 Dec 1608 (2) James 17 Aug 1606 > William 2 Mar 1611 Elizabeth 10 Apr 1608 (*) > Bruno 18 Aug 1613 (*) John 8 Oct 1609 (2,4) > Bruno 27 Oct 1616 (*) Joseph 22 Jun 1611 (*) > Susanna 1 Aug 1617 (3) Nathaniel 13 Sep 1612 (5) > Ann 15 Feb 1619 Rebecca 9 May 1615 (6) > Mathew 23 Feb 1623 (*) Samuel 30 Nov 1619 (7, 9) > Thomas 25 Oct 1625 Elizabeth 20 Aug 1622 > Annis 26 Dec 1627 (*) Isaac 2 Mar 1625 (7) > Elizabeth 7 Jan 1629 (*) Soiror 1 May 1627 (8) > Elizabeth 26 Sep 1627 (8) > > Notes > (1) Married 1 Aug 1605, Eltisley > (2) Major General John Desborough is shown as son of > James D and Elizabeth Hatley and brother of Samuel > His Baptism date is given as 13 Nov 1608 in Dictionary > of National Biography. This date corresponds more > closely to the child of James SR and Elizabeth Marshall. > (3) Married William Covell, 2 Aug 1636, Eltisley > (4) No wife shown for this entry > (5) BA, Cambridge, 1630-31 > (6) Married George Greene, 15 Nov 1631, Eltisley > (7) Shown as child of James (no Senior or Junior) > I have placed under Jr. since children are shown > as those of James Senior in the same years. > (8) One of these two may be 1617, which would fit > (9) The Samuel who was at Guilford, CT and later > Keeper of the Seal of Scotland, MP, who married > (1) Dorothy Whitfield and (2) Rose Hobson. > (*) A burial for one of this name, probably the one so marked > > > ==== DISBROW Mailing List ==== > The Disbrow Family Web Site: > http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Ranch/5853 > > > ============================== > Search over 1 Billion names at Ancestry.com! > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/rwlist1.asp > >

Some baptisms of Disbrowe in Eltisley,Cambridge posted to Disbrow-L in Sep 2000 by (I believe) Barb Hutchins, as abstracted in 1975 from Parish records by Margaret Bone Children of James Disbrowe and Elizabeth. There were 2 James D, called Sr. and Jr. both had a wife named Elizabeth. James Jr was son of John Disbrowe (d. 1610) and Joan I believe James Sr was his cousin, perhaps son of Bruno Disbrowe younger brother of John (d. 1610) James Sr James Jr Md. Elizabeth Marshall (1) Md. Elizabeth Hatley John 13 Dec 1608 (2) James 17 Aug 1606 William 2 Mar 1611 Elizabeth 10 Apr 1608 (*) Bruno 18 Aug 1613 (*) John 8 Oct 1609 (2,4) Bruno 27 Oct 1616 (*) Joseph 22 Jun 1611 (*) Susanna 1 Aug 1617 (3) Nathaniel 13 Sep 1612 (5) Ann 15 Feb 1619 Rebecca 9 May 1615 (6) Mathew 23 Feb 1623 (*) Samuel 30 Nov 1619 (7, 9) Thomas 25 Oct 1625 Elizabeth 20 Aug 1622 Annis 26 Dec 1627 (*) Isaac 2 Mar 1625 (7) Elizabeth 7 Jan 1629 (*) Soiror 1 May 1627 (8) Elizabeth 26 Sep 1627 (8) Notes (1) Married 1 Aug 1605, Eltisley (2) Major General John Desborough is shown as son of James D and Elizabeth Hatley and brother of Samuel His Baptism date is given as 13 Nov 1608 in Dictionary of National Biography. This date corresponds more closely to the child of James SR and Elizabeth Marshall. (3) Married William Covell, 2 Aug 1636, Eltisley (4) No wife shown for this entry (5) BA, Cambridge, 1630-31 (6) Married George Greene, 15 Nov 1631, Eltisley (7) Shown as child of James (no Senior or Junior) I have placed under Jr. since children are shown as those of James Senior in the same years. (8) One of these two may be 1617, which would fit (9) The Samuel who was at Guilford, CT and later Keeper of the Seal of Scotland, MP, who married (1) Dorothy Whitfield and (2) Rose Hobson. (*) A burial for one of this name, probably the one so marked

At the end of my e-mail "Whole STARTLING Enchilada" (YES, I knew I was going to 'blow' it somehow, silly me!), at middle of last paragraph, I made a "startling" mistake: Lydia is the WIFE of Thomas Pennoyer not his dau., as I already made very clear elsewhere there. She was, in fact, the "dau" of Moses Knapp, as stated, who married Abigail Westcott, sister to the Mercy Disbrow witch trial opponent: Sgt. Daniel Westcott. Please correct this minor error in your copy, & tell me of any others, major especially! Thanks so much. ----FYI, Moses Knapp (b. abt 1645) was the much younger brother of Timothy Knapp (b. Oct 14, 1632, per Mead). Timothy, as Peter Disbrow's brother-in-law, served often with Peter as a fellow magistrate from Rye to the CT General Court (per Baird) when that town was still a part of CT Colony. In fact, Timothy was next most frequent magist. after Peter, & the most frequent office holder: very interesting John Banks, who ALSO served from Fairfield occasionally while holding homesteads in both places. Could THAT be some indication about the very mysterious "Thomas Disbrow", referenced by Baird as a "dissenter vestryman" at Rye, NY, 1703?? The CT Court usually met in Hartford, but sometimes would meet in Wethersfield, according to CT Hist. Soc. Can you imagine regularly riding horses all that way, thru unfriendly native territory too!). Wethersfield, curiously enough, is where Peter Disbrow's son, also "Peter", came down with small pox, with Stiles "History of Wethersfield" saying: "In 1693, Peter Disborough, of Rye, was ill of small pox in Robert Francis' house, and R. F's dau., Sarah, lived for a time at Sgt. John Stedman's, in what is now Jordan Lane." (page 271) It's funny how some things like that can get stored in the permanent memory bank, while so much else will not be. But the 'pox' was always dreaded, just as it seems to have killed my own Hudson sloop Captain, Scudder Squires at age 37 (according to great service done me in finding this by the Columbia Co. Hist. Soc. at Kinderhook, NY, found tiny news reference to an outbreak at nearby Hudson City, 1853). Makes one muse about that "hospit! al city" of the "alchemical philosopher", Gov. John Winthrop, Jr., who carefully recorded all such diseases, and his colleague, the Rev. doctor Gershom Bulkley, helping him set up their "hospital City" at New London to plumb such mysteries of life & death. BTW, Winthrop left a telling diagnostic note about one John Young of Stratford about 1661 (I hate to mention it but my father is named John Young Squires, named for his schooner captain ggf of no known relation YET. Winthrop described a persistent illness of Young's by also noting that he was, yes indeed, the suspected HUSBAND of the first woman executed for witchcraft in America, Alse Young in 1647. They were both known to live in Windsor then. Apparently, not even John Putnam Demos may have picked up on it tho., from the Winthrop Papers (hard to believe), since he seems to be making only an educated guess about that Stratford John Young in his "Entertaining Satan.". Stephen T. Squires

The dam is bursting and I can't hold back the flood any longer, so this first inadequate effort must begin an "epochal" (for our ancient folks certainly were that!) journey into the mysteries and wonders of our fascinating Disbrow "inheritance". Sorry for the delay (of almost 300 years!) but the dam is STILL bursting with information (far too much now for me to handle it in one "startling" blast to you all). I've spent the last ten sleepless nights & days, hour upon hour, in ever-increasing excitement over this incredible material for our family clans: the all-too apparent realization now of my sporadic attempts over these years to link our several Disbrow clans to one another in early CT. We are finally there folks! First, let me say what this multi-layered evidence will NOT demonstrate to us yet: it will not show the EXACT kinship relationships between the five principal Connecticut Disbrow clans of Samuel, Nicholas, Henry, Peter, and Thomas in 17th century (though I haven't yet begun to very carefully review Bernice's data from England, ...so go at that yourselves & tell me about it). What this material certainly DOES do, however, is it brings Samuel Disbrowe's very close kin not just into very close proximity with one another, which it is still doing for EACH of them in fact, but also into the exact parlor, jailhouse and courthouse of my own Mercy and Thomas Disbrow, rallying to them during their worst moment of crisis (so very crucial to my book). This is accomplished, to even a genealogist's certainty, by multi-layering facts still flooding in which shows beyond any doubt now, finally, that ALL of our Disbrows were very closely interwebbed by strong (very strong!) kinship ties in their own "DISBROW NETWORK" in the 17th century, just as I described for my Norwalk clans of a more recent era. ALL of this must inevitably provoke a lot of further investigation, especially on that other side of the Atlantic from my Connecticut where once stood Eltisley manor house,....perhaps even your own further investigations thereabouts also....(OK, so I've had my BIG moment,...now on to that "startling" info. I promised.). So much of what I now have in hand is simply thanks to Rose (Hobson Pennoyer) Disbrow who added that almost too-obvious "key" to it all, whereas I had been looking through tiny keyholes (which effort, none the less, has helped me to know so many names involved in the Disbrow Network "name-game"). "Rose Hobson Pennoyer Disbrow", was long married to Samuel Disbrowe (lucky us), of Guilford, CT,...Disbrowe brother to the very famous---many once unfairly called him "infamous"---Major General John of those several very important "Major Generals" (about which many once said "self-important"---ah, yes, the good olde ENGLISH, just as fickle as the Americans!) who literally stole a kingdom and very commitedly ran the place for well over a decade. Even our own revolutionary Major General (I think I can drop those quotes around that word "our" now!) would not even allow a 'presumptive' brother-in-law of his to stand in as England's "king"---this guy was truly a very dedicated "republican", folks,.... and with a truly multi-layered approach to his rapidly expanding world. By his influence and emphatic outcry, HE, it was, who once thwarted his brother-in-law's slightly embarrassed bid to take the crown for himself at parliament's urging. BTW, the son of another brother of Cromwell's (this time of blood), Col. John Cromwell, emigrated to Westchester Co., to a place called Long Neck & later Cromwell's Neck, by way of Holland & New Netherlands, apparently sometime after the Restoration like our Thomas (though this is not my promised information about that!). Remember that "PENNOYER" surname (the first husband, Samuel Pennoyer, of our Rose Hobson Pennoyer DISBROWE), and all else comes flooding out (as if with Dr. Flood, that astrologer/alchemist favorite of John Winthrop, Jr., the internationally known---yes, that's right---would-be alchemical "magus" of his own independent domain of greater Connecticut). In this name Pennoyer you have the seemingly so obvious clue now, just as it once struck me when first reading dear Rose's will and that of her previously deceased husband, Samuel Pennoyer's. Yes, I knew I'd seen that surname somewhere before, ..countless times, turns out,...it was while time-traveling at the UConn Library endlessly browsing nine slim volumes of early colonial history (published in typescript, 1978, at Westchester, NY, lucky me) ---genealogies, town records, land sales ---volumes expressly all about the tiny colonial settlement at Bedford, NY. As once noted to you, this is a town just above the panhandle of modern CT (founded in 1680 as part of "greater" CT Colony, when there was no "panhandle"). I frankly wasn't sure why those many blue volumes fascinated me so much, but I kept going back to them. At first they seemed to hold very little promise except as a border-land curiosity (& I was desperate for any thorough-going items at hand for the general region),..."dry" lists of town records, endless geanealogies of "proprietors", etc. Nothing very exciting,...but now a "white-water" ride of excitement! One Lydia (Knapp) Pennoyer has now turned out to be our Samuel Disbrowe's very close kin at Bedford, and wife to one of the twenty-two founding "proprietors" in 1680. Her husband, Thomas Pennoyer, "turned out to be" the son of the half-brother of Rose (Hobson Pennoyer) Disbrowe's first husband, Samuel Pennoyer. The good Lydia had her own multi-layered, very provocative family ties at each of Bedford village, Greenwich, and Rye, NY (there it is again, that RYE place!), just as I would eventually realize after staring at all those names for such a long a time! You see, Lydia's father was Moses Knapp who was the brother of that same "Sarah Knapp", who herself appears--from multiple reliable sources, to have been the wife of BOTH Peter and John Disbrow of Stamford and then RYE, NY. It seems that one "brother", Peter, may have married the wife of his "brother" John, exactly according to the very ancient Mosaic law of "levirate" (look it up in any dictionary), doing so obviously only after the death of John about 1657 or so, one must assume (recall that these Puritan folk were ALL pretty much Biblical "scholars", too). It is this same sweet Lydia (Knapp) Pennoyer who once became, so anonymously to me when I first read it in the trial documents, the single most "startling" witness at Mercy Disbrow's witchcraft trial in 1692. YES, that's right, gang!! Samuel Disbrowe's own "Pennoyer" kin, and very close kin at that, were "in-on" the extremely vigorous defense of my Mercy Disbrow, as her very own family "champions" (not unlike that gallant "Grey Champion" of Hawthorne's poem??, ....another, but somewhat more mysterious "Major General" buddy of our own Gen. John Disbrowe, appearing like a grey whirlwind at the Hadley fight in 1676). I recall first reading Lydia (Knapp) "Penoir's" testimony some years back in John Taylor's "Witchcraft Delusion in Colonial CT" and then wiping a tear of thankfulness that here was a outspoken soul ready, and unafraid, to speak the blatant truth in a bold defense of my ancestor, the "much put upon" Mercy Disbrow of 1692 . Which, by the way, is only to borrow a very sympathetic phrase from the New Haven Town Records for her own mother, Susanna Holbridge (one wonders what sort of high-regard they had for this woman, soon to marry the respected pastor at Fairfield, John Jones. For Susanna Holbridge was bent upon "removing" from New Haven by 1659, according to Town Records. Did she move to Fairfield about 1661, perhaps, meanwhile marrying the Rev.Jones (who would die by 1664/5, the "much put upon" Susanna!)?? If that is what happened than another explanation would present itself for her daughter, Mercy, being settled as servant to Rev. Jones' own kinsman, Rev. Gershom Bulkley, at New London----you will recall also that this too is exactly what Nicholas Disbrowe seems to have done with the children of his new wife Elizabeth Shepard Strickland: delivering up at least one to Henry Disbrow, & a gf John Strickland, at Hempstead, L.I.. But this is Lydia's story now. Her vivid defense and damning testimony about Mercy's accuser made me want to ask: 'who is this incredible person' (for she is corporeal now to me up from those dry Bedford genealogies of "Knapp", "Wescott" and "PENNOYER" !).' Perhaps YOU too remember such a feeling about Lydia's brave & pointed testimony when first reading this for yourself in John Taylor's book. The Pennoyer's would not be the only "Disbrow" kin who would involve themselves DIRECTLY in Mercy's trial, as I had already discovered. Each of these families would aggressively rally around their obviously very close kinswoman: Mercy Disbrow. That's just what Joseph "Garnsey," Jr. did, in the most calculating and aggressively ingenious manner (see any of the several modern edition's of John Taylor's 1908 book, or other such references). According to Abbott's very detailed rendering of the Milford (CT) Vital Records (p. 296-8), Joseph Guernsey, Jr. had married not one, but TWO DISBROW women!! They were "Eleanor DISBROW" and "Elizabeth DISBROW". Eleanor was the elder Disbrow sister, according to a mysterious 3-page "Disbrow" genealogy by a "professional genealogist" named "Grenville MacKenzie" from the Westchester Historical Society (of unknown date & authenticity!), though Abbott herself gets this minor 'factoid' backward by putting the younger Disbrow sister, Elizabeth, as "first wife" to Joseph, though she obviously out-lived them all to 1752! Abbott says of these TWO Disbrow women: "Elizabeth was born 1677, baptized and admitted to church in Milford 26 October 1701 and died 15 September 1753 (Bethlehem TS). She was of Horseneck (Greenwich), Conn.....Eleanor Disbrow was sister of Elizabeth and possibly dau. of Peter and Sarah (Knapp) of Greenwich, later of Rye, NY." This agrees substantially with other sources too. I was especially interested in the HORSENECK reference though. Here is what Henry Waters comments about THAT in his "Genealogical Gleaning in England" following a very lengthy will abstract for William PENNOYER, Esq. (p. 158-9), William was the BROTHER to the first husband, Samuel Pennoyer, of Rose (Hobson Pennoyer) Disbrowe: "Walter Butler, son of Evan Butler of Cusop, Herefordshire, named above as being in New England [by Wm Pennoyer, who also fills his will with incredibly important references to various New England "BUTLER" family members, and to very incredibly important "CORPORATION FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE GOSPEL IN NEW ENGLAND"--my emphasis here---] , was probably the Walter Butler who in 1672 was one of the 27 purchasers of HORSENECK [my emphasis again] in Greenwich, CT. He was a legal voter of Greenwich in 1688, but his name does not appear in the town lists for 1694-5; though Thomas Butler is found in that list. (see Mead's "History of Greenwich, Ct." pages 67, 71 and 79.) The Christian name Walter occurs in the Butler family of New London, CT, at a later date. (see Caulkin's History of New London, page 342.)" NEGHR April 1891 p. 159 Well now, that "BUTLER" surname crops up again, several times, including three times at Hartford by 1640, where Nicholas Disbrowe lived until 1683!! As you will almost certainly recall if you are closely reading my e-mails, it also shows up together with Thomas "Desborow" on the CROWN MALLIGOE passenger list for 1677, this time as one "Ann Butler" who appears not just with our refugee to Maryland, but along with so many others I have now pointed out were all probably destined for New England, including someone w/ my own surname: "Eliza. Squire"! Then there is the following note of real intrigue from the "Bedford Genealogy" section (those 9 volumes) regarding the family called "BUTLER/PENNOYER" ("Town of Bedford, Westchester County , New York Historical Records", volume 9, pp 133-39, also confirming information about Lydia (Knapp) Pennoyer, trial "champion": 2. Robert (Butler/Pennoyer) came from Bristol, England, born the eldest son of Thomas Butler, but later changed his name. The reason was that "he happened to be present where a man was killed," and fled to Bristol where, to conceal his real identity, he altered his name to "Pennoyer." [one wonders why!] Other spellings of the name include Penoyer, Paynoyr, Penioyer, Penior (as in the trial transcripts!), Pinoyer, Pennyer, etc.; the two most common being Penoyer and Pennoyer. Robert married 1st Elizabeth Chambers, and 2nd, about 1614, Alice -----. Children by 1st wife: 5, William Pennoyer [whose long will abstract Waters printed, ref. above], b. 1603-5, d. 1670, London, England; m. Martha Jostlin, who d. in 1674. They had William and Samuel, both d. in infancy 6. Samuel Pennoyer, d. about 1654; m. Rose Hobson, b. 1616, d. 1698 [Waters' will abstract which I posted other day to you]. She m. 2nd SAMUEL DESBOROW [my emphasis; note same spelling of "Desborow" as for Thomas on his ship passage in 1677], b. 1615, d. 1690. Samuel Pennoyer died without issue. Children by 2nd wife: 7. [gen carried forward] Robert Pennoyer [he emigrated on the HOPEWELL in 1635, tho. perhaps NOT of the same month of that year as Isaac Disborough, our previous discussions, confusingly enuf!! Robert Pennoyer is the father of Thomas Pennoyer who married "our" Lydia Knapp above---see an EXCELLENT website at http://drwilliams.org/doc/Web-26.htm for much data] 8. Eleanor Pennoyer, b. abt. 1623; m. Thomas Redding at Plymouth, Mass., 1637. He d. abt. 1673; she was living at Boston, Mass. 1686 [you will recall that William White and other WHITE names are in the wills of Rose Disbrowe's family---there was a White at early Hartford and Whites at early Plymouth] 9. Thomas Pennoyer, b. abt. 1625; removed to New England 1635 [also on the HOPEWELL that year with his older brother Robert, above, of our interest] 4. John Butler of Cusop, England; married Anne-------. 10. Thomas Butler, d. 1663; m. Jane------ 11. [carried forward] Evan Butler; m. Johane------- 12 Katherine Butler; m. -------- Roberts ....[etc. etc. continuing for 6 more pages, with many early folks ALSO listed in the wills of Rose Hobson Disbrowe and her brother-in-law, & husband back in England!!] Finally (we're almost THERE gang!), in Mead's "Ye History of Greenwich": Peter Disbrow's wife, Sarah (Knapp) Disbrow's is given as b. 5 Nov. 1638, & she was m. to John Disbrow on 2 Feb. 1657; Most incredibly too, Lydia (Knapp) Pennoyer "is" the dau. of the sister, Abigail, of Sgt. Daniel Westcott, house holder and 'puppetmaster' of the chief accuser, Katherine Branch, in OUR Mercy's witchcraft trial. Daniel himself was brother to a 1680 proprietor, John Westcott, also at Bedford settlement (as settled by CT Colony, with many settler/proprietors originally from nearby Stamford,CT, which settlement was once closely allied closely with Samuel Disbrowe's New Haven. YES, folks, Lydia is, most importantly for us, the dau. of Thomas Pennoyer, close kin to all OUR famous Disbrowes back at Eltisley manor in Cambridgshire, Eng. (I think I can shed the quotes from around the "ours" now, whaddya think?? "But wait, ...there's MORE"---much, much more...!). But to sum up, from those MANY very reliable sources consulted to date (including the posted wills of all those closely Disbrowe-related Pennoyers, as printed by Henry Waters): Thomas' Pennoyer's father was Robert, whose half-brother, Samuel Pennoyer, had married Rose Hobson (see the following website for an excellent/authoritative Pennoyer genealogy: http://drwilliams.org/doc/Web-26.htm). Rose became the wife of Samuel Disbrowe not long after the death of Disbrowe's own first spouse in 1655 by smallpox, Dorothy Whitfield of Guilford, CT and Surrey, Eng.(----one wonders if the pox was what also killed Rose's first husband "about 1654"?).

I hope you got this since it's been 'messing up' on me--love these machines! On permanent display at The CT Historical Society on Elizabeth St. (just "around the corner" from my one-time apartment in Hartford of many years) happens to safely sit what is known as the "Governor Winthrop Chair." I have a collector's edition, recent reprint of Ethel Hall Bjerkoe's book: "Cabinetmakers of America", which I bought in 1994 at Hartford's Wadsworth Athenaeum (a place which takes colonial furniture very seriously!!). Here is what Bjerkoe says about this elaborately carved chair: "Also attributed to [Nicholas] Disbrowe is the so-called Wesleyan Wainscot Chair in the Olin Memorial Library, Middletown, Conn. [note: At the time of Bjerkoe's writing this in 1957 the chair was still at Wesleyan's Olin Library,...it is a curious fact of my family history that my older brother, Richard, matriculated at Wesleyan several years after this passage was first written, ...& for all the time he spent at Olin Library he never once had any clue about his own family's apparent association to this 'famous' artifact, prominently displayed there for him to see virtually every day he was a student: Class of '65!] This chair is believed to have been made about 1662 and is of American oak. It is said to have been used by Governor John Winthrop, Jr., of Connecticut, and it is thought this chair may have been made for the ceremonies accompanying the reception of the Connecticut Charter, which Winthrop brought from England in 1662. It has been owned by Wesleyan University since 1836 [the accompanying caption for its line-drawing updates info by placing it at the CT Hist. Soc.]. The ALUMNI RECORD of Aug. 26, 1836 states: 'About this time the Governor's Chair of Connecticut, made of carved oak, brought from England in 1629 and used in the inauguration of the younger Winthrop, came into possession of the college.' Since this was written, it has been discovered that the chair is of American oak. Lockwood said of it [ie: Luke Vincent Lockwood: "Colonial Furniture in America", other articles; he was apparently of the Norwalk Lockwoods] : 'Across the top of the back is a series of gouges, so finished as to resemble an arcade. The lower rail of the back and the upper rail of the under part are cut in a rope design. Originally there were a cresting and finials at the top now missing.' He continues: 'The rabbets of this chair (on the stiles at the back and upon all four stretchers) and those on the Mary Allyn chest [I mentioned earlier post] are cut by a rabbet plane...The workmanship of the Hadley chests shows that these workmen did not own such planes. Therefore, it seems logical that the same cabinetmaker that made the Mary Allyn chest made this chair [and so too has concluded the CT Historical Society which displays it as "probably" attributable].' (ANTIQUES, Jan. 1930; Collections of the Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, Vol. 14; Lockwood; Luther; Willison)." page 81-82. BTW, here follows a truly spooky interlude of direct pertinence referencing my brother's Wesleyan matriculation in Middletown, Class of '65: being younger, I decided to go to another "Little Three" college: Williams College in Williamstown, MA-- Class of 1970 (didn't want to follow in his footsteps afterall!). Well, I fell in love with that place because of its beautiful old campus, & its highly regarded history teaching (I was an AP in American history), and also perhaps for that battle-worn, ancient red coat on display in its own beautiful library (said to have been worn by Col. Eph Wms at the Battle of Lake George, 1755). Like my older brother, and despite my interests in history, I certainly knew NOTHING about my family's history, either Disbrow or Squires (a seemingly too-boring subject, too familiarly "close to home" I supposed). AND I certainly knew nothing about my now so recently re-discovered gggf Captain Scudder Squires (1815-1853), who, as a direct ancestor, owned a Hudson River sloop by 1845, operating that sloop for many years just across the mountain and "around the bend" from my own Williams College, ...sailing out of Coxsackie, NY (14 miles south of Albany). This too was the very well-traveled route we rowdies would take on "road-trips" to such places as first Skidmore ("up the bend"), then down to Vassar, & points south, passing, enroute, highway exits onto that old-time riverport at Coxsackie, NY (surprisingly well-preserved, as if in amber, with its steam-boat gothic buildings still at Reed's Landing). Well, not so long ago I was particularly "startled" to discover something truly very strange and very remarkable about my clan history: I discovered that my most-probable Long Island Squires' ancestor ("confirmed" for various reasons which layer analysis upon fact, despite a yet lacking "crucial document") was one "Captain John R. Squires" of Huntington, L.I, a whaling man just like his brother David at Sag Harbor in the late 18th century (it is also a very curious fact, but perhaps an irrelevant one nevertheless, that my father is named "John" while his only brother is also named "David!"). As I've noted earlier to you, John married Lucinda Fitch at Nantucket, 1765. She was NOT of that expected Norwalk Fitch clan, since that is also where my father & his brother were both born and raised (a clan also very early there, just like my Disbrows so nearby). But she was from a related Fitch clan descended from Rev. James of eastern CT Fitch, at Norwich (not far from my present home in Storrs). Still, James was ALSO the brother of Thomas ( founder of the Norwalk clan), as well as ancestor of "my" Lucinda. YES, all of this certainly does have very DIRECT pertinence, explaining just why I have been so preoccupied with the early "DISBROW NETWORKS." What I discovered to my utter amazement was yet another direct descendant of Rev. James Fitch (he has so many!), apparently just like me, but this one was the very first president of Williams College back in 1793,....my own alma mater in 1970! YES, all very "coincidental", ...right? This was the Rev. Ebenezer Fitch, who I discovered had, indeed, been "networking" with his two other separated Fitch clans in settling, DURING the American Revolution no less, the upper Hudson valley (a valley soon to be very crucial to the well-being of early Williams College, according to my college professor, Fred Rudolph, in his book "Mark Hopkins & The Log"). Both of these Fitch clans, each from Norwalk and Norwich, were EACH represented at tiny Coxsackie by 1779, which factoid I suddenly discovered just last year (by Ezekiel from Lebanon --Rev. James'-- and then by Matthew from Norwalk--Thomas'). Coxsackie was then hardly more than a Dutch "hay-dock",...but wouldn't be that for long. For also coming just then to the Coxsackie hayfields & its village cross-roads was one Ezra "Reed" of Norwalk (the Reeds were also very early at Fairfield, as you know). By then intermarried & allied to the Norwalk Fitch clan, the Reeds set about building a prime riverside shipping business at what has always been known since as "Reed's Landing" in Coxsackie, just as their families back "home" had done on the Norwalk River & Rowayton shoreline over the generations. Pertinent also, and very curious, to my L.I. Squires whaling history (with many echoes I won't bore you with here!) is this: Ezra Reed was also a first proprietor of Hudson City in 1783, together with a score of WHALING captains mostly from Nantucket,...of all places, .....which city became a major WHALING port on the upper Hudson River 'rivaling' Nantucket, & over 100 miles north of NY City, almost opposite Coxsackie,... imagine that!! Around 1800 or so, Hudson City even lost out to Albany in becoming state capital by only one vote!). Only now does my family have SOME fascinating insight into just why my Stony Brook schooner captain, Oscar Squires, son of Scudder, was living at Rowayton by 1889 (at Five Mile River---the very same place of the Reed/Fitch clans earliest homesteads too!) in Norwalk, and just a year before his premature death by tug-boat boiler explosion in NY Harbor (my gf Oscar also died, exactly like his father, at the age of 43, ...also prematurely, both leaving eldest sons aged just over 10 years, including my own father!). OK, so now you can see why I have known so very little about my family history. In any case, the Fitch/Reed Norwalk/Norwich nexus is ALTOGETHER deeply involved with my Squires at little Coxsackie, NY (& before that too, apparently via whaling Captain John's wife Lucinda Fitch at Huntington, nearby to my own Stony Brook family roots). It is profoundly moving for our family to realize all these connections after years of virtual darkness, for so many sad reasons. Networks revealed----all VERY exciting for our family, since more & more evidence accumulates each day, demonstrating the multi-layering of ALL my family networks. Well, I've blithered long enough once again, but first a little 'braggadocio'---isn't that what 'gen' research is too often mistaken to be about! In this case though it demonstrates the strange spiral of time which never truly forgets...just as I have not been allowed to either. The intermarrying Reeds & Fitches became prominent & very successful at Coxsackie and never lost their ties to their old hometowns back in CT (as I have read it directly from old letters at the Columbia Co. Historical Society). A Coxsackie Reed (named Luman) became the principal patron of the famous painter, Thomas Cole of the Hudson River School, and those Coxsackie Fitch went on to produce the future founder of Abercrombie & Fitch Clothing Stores (Ezra Hasbrouck Fitch, as I understand it). What's remarkable about that is the fact that the father of both early CT Fitch brothers: Thomas & Rev. James, was also himself a clothier back in 17th century Bocking, England (& Ezekiel Fitch's father, Nathaniel back at Lebanon, CT, also ran a fulling mill near his house, which house still stands as I've seen!). And cloth manufacturing, I have now 'seen' too, has itself been all tied-up with the economic "ups & downs" of the whaling trade, both on Long Island and within my eastern CT of Rev. James,...but also especially at Hudson City on the upper Hudson River, which manufactory helped to fill the sloop of my great great grandfather, Scudder. So how do you like that, amazing I think... I have certainly NOT forgotten my so-called "startling info", still pending for you (yes, that's an annoying phrase!). I had been TRYING to take a break, I can stand ONLY so much of these machines! ( And you, likewise, of such missives of mine....?) Stephen T. Squires