The “Abbe-Abbey Genealogy” serves as a comprehensive and meticulously compiled homage to the heritage of the Abbe and Abbey families, tracing its roots back to John Abbe and his descendants. Initiated by the life-long passion of Professor Cleveland Abbe, this genealogical exploration began in his youth and expanded throughout his illustrious career, despite numerous challenges. It encapsulates the collaborative efforts of numerous family members and researchers, including significant contributions from individuals such as Charles E. Abbe, Norah D. Abbe, and many others, each bringing invaluable insights and data to enrich the family’s narrative.
The compilation of this genealogy is not merely a listing of names and dates; it aspires to delve into the study of heredity, aiming to contribute to the understanding of how the personal traits and characteristics of family members play a part in shaping the nation’s persona. This ambition reflects Professor Abbe’s belief in the importance of recognizing the contributions of all families to the social and cultural fabric of the country, juxtaposing the focus often placed on the study of negative traits by criminologists and social workers.
Structured in a manner typical of genealogical works to facilitate ease of use, the book includes innovations to simplify navigation, such as minimal use of abbreviations and a cautious approach to the spelling of the family name, acknowledging the variations and perplexities that have arisen over generations. The narrative also acknowledges the challenges of accurate historical documentation, from the adoption of the Gregorian calendar to the diverse spellings of the family name.
Significant emphasis is placed on the migrations of the Abbe and Abbey families, illustrating their journey from England to America and their subsequent spread across the continent, embodying the spirit of adventure, the pursuit of religious freedom, and the desire for a better life that characterized the early settlers.
Accompanying the main genealogical record is an appendix that houses historical items of interest, further contributing to the rich tapestry of the family’s history. This section offers a treasure trove of information for future historians and family members alike, eager to delve deeper into their ancestry.
The Abbe genealogy, as here published, is the consummation of Professor Cleveland Abbe’s life-long interest in the history of his family. Before reaching his twentieth year he began to collect items of interest about his ancestors and the collateral lines, and in spite of more or less interruption he has continued to do so all through his busy career. During the early sixties, Mr. William Weaver, who was then editor of the Willimantic Journal, began the publication of what he planned to be an exhaustive work on the old families of Windham. After publication in the Journal he corrected and republished the sketches in pamphlet form. Mr. Weaver died before his hopes were realized and we have only a small portion of the work, covering the families alphabetically from “A” to “Bill.” His fragmentary notes on other families have been preserved in the library of the Connecticut Historical Society where they were deposited as a gift from his son.
From time to time other members of the family added to the items collected by or worked up at the suggestion of Professor Abbe. A few years ago, finally realizing that other matters demanded too much time and that he could not arrange this material in final form, he turned over all his material to Josephine Genung Nichols (Mrs. L. Nelson Nichols). She has arranged the data in its present form, and added to it, as far as practicable, by extensive correspondence, library research and examinations of the public records at some of the former homes of the family.
Collaborators
Most helpful contributions to this work have been made by: Mr. Charles E. Abbe of Sarasota, Fla., who left an invaluable collection of records about the line of Obadiah Abbe, the basis of our history of that branch; Miss Norah D. Abbe of Elyria, Ohio, and Mrs. John Emerson, on Eleazer and the Abbe families of Elyria; Miss Julia Maynard on the Vermont Abbeys and other New England lines; Mrs. Bronson Post Reynolds, about the Jonathan Abbey line; Mr. Richard N. Abbey on the southern lines; Mrs. D. Stearns Jamison on the Harris Abbey record and portraits; Mr. Charles T. Hendrick, whose unflagging interest and remarkable ability has secured materials hitherto unavailable; Mr. Alden Freeman, whose love for the family is expressed in the beautiful Thomas Abbey monument just erected on Enfield Green; Mrs. Martha B. Hanna on the Pease family descended from Mary Abbey; Mrs. Ashbel Welch, on the Welch family. Lack of space prevents mention of many others who have also contributed to the work and have cheered the compiler by their kind replies. We thank you all once more.
A family history is never really complete or entirely satisfactory; but we feel that we have gone to as much expense as was justified. We have made this beginning; may others continue the work.
Professor Abbe had hoped to make this genealogy no mere list of the members of the family. He would have it a contribution to the study of heredity, so has added as much as practicable on the personal characteristics of its members and has included many available photographs. He believes that the study of any good clean family will bring out facts just as well worth following up for the development of the personality of the nation, as are the facts brought out by the work of criminologists and social workers in the field of the mentally deficient, etc., which show the immense value to a country, of the study of inheritance of traits that increase state expenses for caring for such defectives.
Arrangement
The general arrangement of the matter is the same as is commonly used in similar works on genealogy. We have tried to avoid unnecessary numbers and to simplify the work as much as possible in order to make it useful to every one. Few abbreviations are used in addition to b., m., and d., for born, married, and died, respectively.
Dates
Among the earlier records will be noted some double dating. According to the old calendar used in England and her colonies up to 1751, the year began on March 26. In that year England followed the lead set by most European countries and decreed that after the last day of December, 1751, the 25th day of March should no longer be reckoned the last day of the year and that the year 1752 should begin on January 1. Accordingly in most dates prior to 1752, we find the old year continued to March 25 with the new year annexed to it from the first of January. This was not a uniform practice, however.
Spelling
The spelling of the name has been a source of perplexity from the earliest days to the present. Abbe or Abbey have been the favorite forms, followed by Abby, Abbee, Abbe and other variations usually not authorized by the bearer of the name. In arranging the data for publication we have made every effort to follow the usage of each particular family in this matter; there are many errors no doubt in records sent by someone not wholly familiar with the usage of the family concerned. In some cases close relatives have used different spellings, thereby adding to the chance of errors. The records of the Abbay, Aby, and of a few other families have been added, although we do not know that they are connected with the family of John Abbe. The name is not a common one in England or elsewhere. It was probably a name of local derivation, denoting one who lived at or near an abbey.
The late Dr. Edward Payson Abbe of New Bedford, Mass., believed in his French origin. He had a coat of arms that belonged to and was used by a French family in Normandy. This coat of arms is described as : a red eagle with beak and legs of gold on a shield of silver. In British heraldic works the coat of arms is given as : gules, five fusils in fesse between three escallops argent. There are several crests, viz., a cross crosslet azure; an eagle displayed argent between two cross crosslets or, each wing charged with a cross crosslet gules; an eagle’s head erased proper; a leopard rampant proper. The motto also varies: “Spei mea coelo,” or “Confido conquesco.”
It is possible that some of the Abbes came over from France to England at an early date; but we have absolutely no evidence that John Abbey was entitled to use these arms, or that he ever did so.
Migrations
It is a source of regret that so little is known of the history of John Abbey before he emigrated to America. The Heralds’ College, London, began a search for such information some time ago, but thus far no results have been reported. To us it seems likely that he was of or connected with the Abbey family of Staverton (see page 433).
John Abbe, or Abbey, migrated to America at a time when many of England’s young men were coming to the new colonies either for freedom from religious persecution, from a love of adventure, or simply from a desire to better their condition. The brief glimpses into his life and character afforded by colonial records, suggest that John Abbey was of the first-mentioned class. He was early a church member and land owner in the New World and his descendants were active for good in their communities. From the first homes in Salem and Wenham, the three brothers of the second generation went out to new homes in different sections of Connecticut, Windham, and Enfield, where each family became prominently identified with the life of their town. As settlements were extended into the interior, we find the Abbeys going on up the Connecticut valley, then turning westward with the tide of settlers through central New York, then on to Ohio, as that country was opened up, and still later on to Michigan and eventually across the continent.
Appendix
Some items of historical interest which it was not desirable to include in the body of the record but which we are happy to be able to contribute to the family history, have been placed in the Appendix. On pages 406 to 434 we have concisely arranged practically all collected items that might be of use to a future historian. Any information serving to complete these items will be welcome.
Surnames
Abbe, Abbey, Abby, Aby, Adams, Adkins, Alden, Alexander, Allen, Ames, Anderson, Andrews, Armstrong, Arnold, Austin, Avery, Ayers, Babcock, Backus, Bacon, Badger, Bailey, Baird, Baker, Balch, Baldwin, Ballard, Bancroft, Banfield, Barber, Barker, Barnard, Barnes, Barrows, Bartlett, Bates, Baxter, Beach, Beadle, Beebe, Bell, Bement, Bennett, Bent, Bicknell, Bidlack, Bidwell, Bigelow, Billings, Bingham, Bishop, Bissell, Black, Blackman, Blair, Boardman, Bond, Booth, Bostwick, Bovier, Bowen, Bower, Boynton, Bradley, Bragaw, Brainard, Brandriff, Brewer, Brewster, Bridgman, Britting, Broadfoot, Brock, Brooks, Brown, Brownell, Bruce, Bryan, Bryant, Buchanan, Buck, Burch, Burdsall, Burgess, Burnham, Burroughs, Burt, Bush, Butler, Cadwell, Cady, Campbell, Canfield, Carpenter, Carrier, Carter, Cary, Carey, Caswell, Caum, Chaffee, Camberlain, Chambers, Chandler, Chapin, Chapman, Chase, Cheney, Chichester, Child, Childs, Chubbuck, Church, Clapp, Clark, Clarke, Clayton, Cleveland, Cochrane, Colgate, Collins, Colton, Compton, Conant, Cone, Conklin, Converse, Cook, Cooley, Cooper, Cordner, Cornell, Cornwell, Corvin, Couch, Cowden, Cowherd, Cowles, Crandall, Crane, Crawford, Crocker, Crosby, Cross, Crosset, Crowell, Crozier, Cullery, Culver, Cunningham, Curtis, Curtiss, Cutler, Daggett, Darling, Darling, Davidson, Davis, Dawley, Day, Deming, DeMouilpied, Denison, Dickson, Cilley, Dix, Dixon, Dodge, Douglas, Douglass, Driesbach, Duff, Dunbar, Duncan, Dunham, Dyer, Dwight, Eastman, Edwards, Elbridge, Elliott, Ellis, Ellsworth, Ely, Emery, Emmons, English, Ensign, Evans, Everett, Faison, Farnham, Farnsworth, Felch, Fellows, Ferguson, Ferriss, Fessenden, Field, Fields, Fish, Fiske, Fitch, Flint, Flowers, Forbes, Ford, Foster, Fowler, Fox, Freeman, French, Frink, Frissell, Frost, Fuller, Gallup, Gardiner, Gates, Gay, Geer, Gibbs, Giberson, Gifford, Gilbert, Gildersleeve, Gilman, Gleason, Goble, Godsoe, Goff, Goldsmith, Goldthwaite, Goodale, Doodell, Goodrich, Goodwin, Gordon, Gowdy, Graham, Granger, Grant, Graves, Gray, Green, Greene, Griffin, Griswold, Haggett, Haigh, Hale, Hall, Hallett, Hamilton, Hanna, Hard, Harley, Harmon, Harris, Hart, Hartshorn, Harvey, Haskell, Hastings, Hatch, Hathaway, Hawes, Hawks, Heath, Hebard, Hibbard, Henderson, Hendrick, Henry, Hieskell, Hill, Hills, Hine, Hinsdale, Hitchcock, Holcomb, Holbridge, Holkins, Holland, Hollister, Holmes, Holton, Hopkins, Horner, Horton, Hoskins, Hosmer, Hotchkiss, House, Hovey, Howard, Howe, Howell, Howson, Hoyt, Hubbard, Hudson, Huggins, Hulbert, Humphrey, Hunt, Huntington, Hutchins, Hyde, Ingersoll, Ingraham, Ingram, Irish, Ives, James, Jamison, Jenks, Jennings, Jewett, Johnson, Johnston, Jones, Judd, Keeler, Kellogg, Kennedy, Kent, Keyes, Kibbe, Kilbourn, Killam, Kimball, King, Kingsbury, Kingsley, Kinney, Kittredge, Knight, Knowlton, Kobler, Kuer, Ladd, Lane, Langworthy, Lathrop, Lawson, Leach, Lee, Leonard, Lewis, Light, Lillie, Lincoln, Livermore, Lockwood, Loomis, Lord, Lovejoy, Lovett, Lowell, Lucy, Lukens, Lyman, Lyon, Lyons, McClellan, McCoy, McDonald, McGaw, McGehee, McKinney, McKnight, McLinn, MacRae, Magruder, Malburn, Manning, Mansfield, Marble, Mark, Markham, Marsh, Marshall, Martin, Mason, Mathewson, Meacham, Mead, Merrick, Merrill, <Miles, Miller, Mitchell, Montague, Moody, Moore, Morgan, Morrison, Morrow, Morse, Morton, Mosher, Moulton, Munson, Mygatt, nash, Needham, Nelson, Newcomb, Newton, Nichols, Niles, Norcross, North, Northam, Northrop, Norton, Odgen, Olcott, Olds, Olmsted, Olmstead, Ormsby, Osborn, Osborne, Osgood, Owen, Packard, Paddock, Page, Paige, Paine, Palmer, Parish, Parker, Parks, Parsons, Partridge, Pascoe, Patten, Patterson, Payne, Pease, Peck, Peirce, Pellett, Pelton, Pemberton, Penfield, Perkins, Perry, Phelps, Phillips, Pierce, Pinney, Pitkin, Pomeroy, Porter, Pond, Poppleton, Porter, Potter, Powell, Powers, Pratt, Preston, Price, Prince, Prior, Putnam, Quimby, Ramsdell, Randall, Rathbun, Raymond, Read, Reed, Reynolds, Rhodes, Rice, Richards, Richardson, Rider, Riley, Ripley, Robbins, Roberts, Robinson, Rockwell, Rogers, Rood, Root, Rose, Ross, Rouse, Rowe, Royce, Russ, Russell, Sackett, Sage, Sanderson, Sanford, Saunders, Sawdey, Sawyer, Scofield, Scott, Scrafford, Scribner, Sessions, Sexton, Seymour, Sheldon, Sherman, Sherwood, Shipman, Shockley, Shultis, Simmons, Simonds, Simons, Skinner, Slade, Slate, Smart, Smith, Snow, Sofield, Sobelle, Spafford, Spangenberg, Spauldin, Spear, Spencer, Spooner, Squire, Squyres, Stafford, Stanchfield, Stanley, Starr, Stearns, Stebbins, Steele, Stephens, Sterling, Stetson, Stevens, Stewart, Stiles, Stocking, Stone, Storrs, Stoughton, Streator, Strickland, Strong, Strout, Stuart, Sweet, Symonds, Taintor, Talcott, Taylor, Terry, Thayer, Thomas, Thompson, Thurston, Tice, Tiernan, Tinker, Todd, Tower, Towle, Tracy, Treat, Tripp, Trowbridge, Trumbull, Tryon, Tuck, Tucker, Turner, Turrill, UNderwood, Upham, Van Andrew, Van Keuren, Van Ness, Van Osdal, Van Rennselaer, Van Steinberg, Vreeland, Wailer, Waite, Waldo, Waldron, Wales, Walker, Wallace, Walsh, Wanzer, Ward, Warner, Warnick, Warren, Waterman, waters, Watkins, Watrous, Watson, Weaver, Webb, Webber, Webster, Weed, Weeks, Weir, Welch, Wells, Welton, West, Westcott, Weston, Wetmore, Wheeler, Whitaker, White, Whiting, Whitmore, Whitney, Whittemore, Wiggins, Wilcox, Williams, Williamson, Wilson, Winchell, Wing, Wolcott, Wood, Woodruff, Woods, Woodward, Woodworth, Wooster, Wright, Young, Zarneke, and Zook.
Source
Abbe, Cleveland, Mary Josephine Genung Nichols, compilers; Abbe-Abbey genealogy, in memory of John Abbe and his descendants, New Haven, Conn., The Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor company, 1916.
