I think I’ve found every ancestral family that can be found, so it will be hard to make new ancestor posts. You can click on the “Missing Parents” category to see the possible candidates. I’ll continue to make updates and revisions based on your comments.
I’ve finished adding cousins/grandchildren, through about 8 generations, but there are hundreds more to find in older generations, so I may go back some day and flesh out earlier families.
My new posts are more likely to cover neighborhood history. Recents ones include Murrieta Rock – El Cerrito, Fred Korematsu and El Cerrito Architecture
In urban planning circles, El Cerrito is known as a “first suburb”; mostly residential; not super fancy. It shares liberal values with neighboring Berkeley, but with perhaps a little less histrionics and righteousness. At one point, El Cerrito had the most Nobel Prize winners per capita. (helps to have a smaller denominator for these kind of rankings – lol)
Miner Descent 
I love what you have done with your family history. I find it so very interesting that I have grandparents on here from both my mother and fathers side.
I have some ancestors in common with you and I have some old letters that indicate that one on the connections may be incorrect. email me if you want to discuss it.
Hi Jeff,
Sure!
Mark
Hello,
I am wondering about a photograph on your site. Can we talk further?
Great job on your site!
Sure, I will send you an email
Hi Mr. Miner,
First, thank you for posting the various ancestries. I found the reading very informative and I think you have a great knack in providing history in an excellent lay-out.
Second, regarding the Benjamin Family Crest, I have the black-white print on the published material; the one you have posted looks much better. Do you know if there is a “certified”-type thing for these coat of arms? The reason I ask is related to the five “circles” on the Coat of Arms that I missed with the black-white images (thought they were holes). This is actually very significant, and will answer a lot of mystery, if it can be validated.
Best,
Brad
Hi Mr. Bradford,
I use family coats of arms to indicate immigrant ancestor. 90% + of my families didn’t have coats of arms at the time they arrived. We are yeoman farmers. Little by little I am updating my pages, taking out first name in the coat of arms caption.
A ringed circle is called an annulet in heraldry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annulet_(heraldry) It says In English heraldry it is also used as the difference mark of a fifth son.
Cheers!
Mark
For clarity, my last name is Benjamin (as in the Tribe). 🙂
Bradford is actually my first name, but I get that a lot. I found Benjamin’s Coat of Arms similar to Barron’s (Ireland), which prompted the question. Given the mysteries with spelling Benjamin prior to arriving in 1632, one of the questionable surnames I located referenced some manner of spelling “Berington” or “Barington”. Then I landed on this last night: http://www.araltas.com/features/barron/
The only other reference I was able to locate (besides the representation of the fifth son), was that of the Medici (a very long trail that kept me up too late last night, and without a plausible outcome).
Best,
Brad
This is an absolutely incredible site. My hat is off to you! How I’d love to be on a Skype call and get some tips for a search that’s been driving me a little crazy. I’ve spent a lot of time digging out information about a Ralph Forster. A History of Northumberland placed him in the line of descent for the Forsters of Bruntion. In particular he was born 1732 of the Thomas Forster of Lucker and Brunton with brothers where were in the French and Indian Wars (John) and the conquest of Havannah, Sheriffs of Northumberland (Matthew in 1765), and Robert Forster of Brunton (1737-1803) who fathered the Robert who failed after repurchasing Adderstone and rebuilding the Mansion. It’s stated in the Northumberland history that the Ralph of my interest (1732) was known to reside in 1774 at Upper Marlborough of Maryland. That’s been one stepping off point for my inquiries.
This guy was fascinating. He was a merchant, then lawyer, and later Sheriff of Prince George County near Annapolis. He’d been appointed to the position by a Governor Eden who seemed in the period to be reaching outside the tight gentry to allow for “new men”. From the 1760s, Forster was associated with Lower House elected ‘republican’ types though he associated with a number who became Loyalists during the Revolution and abandoned the colony in 1776 for several years himself. He and his law partner, a ‘member of the Philpot family’ served as representatives in settling many colonial debts to a leading London merchant. He was a non-associator who paid treble taxes and chose to sign a loyalty oath on either side. Upon return by 1783 he married late in life a Terissa Digges, known as “Tracy” in many George Washington diary entries since her family at Warburton Manor was directly across the Potomac from Mount Vernon. Her father, William had imported a barge for George to come over on social occasions. (Ralph appears in diaries as well, though only once at an event following George’s presidency and in the presence of Benedict Calvert, Colonel Fitzgerald, then Mayor of Alexandria and George’s ‘favorite’ Aide-de-campe throughout the war, and several other distinguished Maryland Catholics)
I don’t know where Ralph was before the early 1760s, though I have a sneaking suspicion that he may have been a pirate and co-owner of ships with the Robert Morris of Philadelphia who became the “financier for the revolution”. Currently my hunt is to tie connections linking advertisements of a sea captain relating to run-away Scottish ship mates in the occupied city of New York in the late 1750s (Ship Nancy) with a “Ship Nancy” which was making port at Annapolis by the early 1760s. We’ll see if I can make such connections or fill any other holes in the story.
Ralph had no descendants. His only wife of record died about a year after their marriage, and Ralph succeeded only another few years, leaving leased land which became Quiet Waters park, a popular wedding venue on the South River just outside Annapolis. I’ve yet to find estate papers though there may be some in the cumbersome but extensive Maryland archives, though his administrator, George Digges occasioned decades of legal squabbles in his failure to report his administration of other estates.
Would like very much to be in touch.
Hi Mark! This is a *wonderful* site! I live in Westford VT, where several of your ancestors lived and participated in the founding and history of our Westford Church. You have a priceless description of your ancestor James Taylor raising a company from here to go to the Battle of Plattsburgh, where the father of one of Westford’s brightest lights, the Rev. John Hills Woodward, lost his life – William Woodward (his company was raised in Charlotte Vt, where he lived, and in surrounding towns). Rev, Woodward would come to be known as the Fighting Chaplain of the First Vermont Cavalry, pivotal in many Civil War battles including Gettysburg. You also have a firsthand account of Westford folks going up Bald Hill to watch the battle, including a mention of “grandfather” Amos Partridge, who held the first meeting of Westford Church in his barn just north of Bowman’s Corners, which is quite near Bald Hill Road (still exists today 🙂 Bald Hill in Westford is just 20 miles from Broad Street in downtown Plattsburgh. The Westford, Milton, and Essex (and I would imagine this also included a few from Fairfax) referenced are in Vermont, not New York, and they could see Plattsburgh quite well. I see it every day I go over the Westford Milton Road to pick up the kids from school. Anyway, thanks again for collecting and publishing this treasure trove!! Suzanne
Oops, meant to include this map link: https://goo.gl/maps/EfP8m8sdcQ22
Hi, I’m hoping that you’ll see this, is there more information about your Lydia Smith? Is she connected to Wiliam Smith? Shockingly I have a lot of silver from that side of my family, and when I read your story and comments about the silver tray I wanted to know a little more about Lydia. Thanks and nice to meet you
Judi
Hi Judi,
Lydia Smith Townsend was a old lady by the time my mom was a little girl, so I don’t know much about her. I researched the Greene family up and down several generations and did not find a connection, so maybe hers was a tall tale.
i. Lydia Frances Smith (17 Apr 1869 Wisconsin- 16 Apr 1946 Los Angeles); m. 3 Jun 1903 to Hubert Isaac Townsend (b. 18 Apr 1878 in Lowville, Columbia Co, Wisconsin – d. 20 Sep 1960 Arcadia, Los Angeles, California) Her parents were Adella Foster and Lewis Henry Smith
Lydia was the second cousin once removed Lydia Townsend who remembered seeing a family silver tray that had belonged to General Nathaniael Greene of the revolution. Hubert’s parents were Joseph Townsend (1846 – 1920) and Abbie Jane Sargent (1846 – 1897) They had one son Joseph Townsend (19 Feb 1910 – 22 Dec 1922) In the 1910, 1920 and 1930 censuses, Herbert was an electrician for the phone company in Los Angeles. By 1930 he was an electric engineer.
I am a descendant of Thomas Stoughton. My grandmother Maude Helen Stoughton McNellis was the last one to carry the Stougton name in our family. She recently passed away. I really appreciate all the effort you have put into your tremendous blog. Well done! Sheila McNellis Asato in Minnesota.
My 4th great grandfather was George Ormsby died abt 1774 in New Bern NC. BRICK WALL!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wish I could fin something to go futher back.
Mark,
I currently have someone traveling to Canterbury, Thanet, etc Kent to try to unravel the Batchelder Gordian knot… Records indicate a Daniel as father of the three immigrants and there may be another family completely. I found a lot to help in Herrick and Dodge records, so please if you see this write me, so I can pass on your questions.
Liane
Hello Mark. I found this site researching Nathaniel Parks. His daughter Mary married Henry Belyea ( descendant of Louis Boulier ) and their daughter Nancy Ann Belyea married Alexander Cochrane, my GG granfather. It states that they had 2 children, but in fact they may have had around 8 children, one of these being my great grandfather George Cochrane. Thanks for the information. I live in New Brunswick, Canada
Hi Phyllis,
Thanks for the information. I will update my page next week.
My Park ancestors (Millers) moved from New Brunswick to Wisconsin in the 1850’s (overland via wagon train) and to California before 1900. We have been here ever since. My grandparents visited relatives in New Brunswick immediately after my grandfather retired from the San Diego city schools. I have a picture of them posing in front of a cousin’s sugar shack.
Cheers cousin!
Mark
Thanks first of all for all this amazing research. We are distant cousins several times over I can see from your names. We descend from the Canadian branch of the Miners that went north after the war. We are planning a trip to Stonington/Mystic this coming weekend. I wonder if I could possible ask you for brief list of highlights we could visit related to the Palmer/Minors. We could also have a brief by phone if preferred. Any suggestions appreciated. Regards, Chip
I have an ancestor named John Cornelius Brink White, born abt. 1834 in New York and died in 1866. In your research of the Brinks, have you found anyone with the surname White that married into the family? Thanks for your help.
Hi there! I’m related to Thomas French via Marguerite Martha French’s line. Thanks for the great info! Send me an email if you’d like to chat.
Hi there – Great work and very detailed. I did notice one problem, however. You have connected your Ezekiel Fuller (who m. Abigail Richardson in 1843) to the Ezekiel Fuller who married Hannah Dutcher in Salisbury in 1771 (and previously m. a different Abigail). These are two different people; I have given you URL for the official court case which documents this in complete detail.
Hi Mark – Among my immigrant ancestors I found at least five in common with yours – Maximilian Jewett (1607-1684), Leonard Harriman (1622 – 1691), Thomas Grant (1601 – 1642), Capt John Gorham (1621 – 1676), and Edmund Hawes (1612 – 1693). Also, my sister married a Miner (Dr Paul Wesley Miner) whose father was a Methodist minister (actually, an Army chaplain – Ted Miner). My sister’s adult children still live in western Mass, although she and Paul have passed on. Is there any possible connection with your western branch of the Miners?
in the Samuel Rankin line, you have a picture of 3 children… I am wondering if it is possible that you have switched the ladies in the picture since as a descendent of Catherine Maderville Rankin who is buried in KS, we have a picture of her and it looks more like the woman called Mary Ann in your picture? see: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/memories/9X5X-7DM
This is fascinating reading. Living & working in my corner of southern New England, I recognized many of the names cited here. Over the years, I have worded with, become friends with, or taught many people descended from these families. The Goffs, Conants & Hoyts are only 3 examples. How fun is that!
Edward Hazen, Sr. is my 9th great grandfather, if I did the family tree correctly. I am a beginner so I am not certain it is correct. I love your website. So much information and it is so interesting. Thank you for sharing this information. I had wanted to do something like this but did not know how to do it.
Just want to say to thank you for this website/blog. It is has been so helpful in finding genealogy of my Grandma’s family. So many interesting people that we are related to. Thanks once again!