William Wilson, the pioneer ancestor of this family, emigrated from Stewardstown, County of Tyrone, Ireland, in 1732, when 19 years of age. The Town of Stewardstown is in the parish of Donagheny in the province of Ulster and eighty-two miles northwest of Dublin, long noted for its very superior linen cloth.
The family bearing this name in New Bedford, where it is one of nearly one hundred years’ standing one, too, of prominence and wealth, is a branch of the ancient Knowles family of the town of Eastham, Barnstable county, this Commonwealth. Reference is made to some of the descendants of the brothers Thomas and James H. Knowles of Eastham, several of whose sons – at least two of the former and one of the latter – in their earlier manhood cast their lot with the people of New Bedford. The firm of Thomas Knowles & Co. for many years was one of the greatest engaged in the whale fishery business in New Bedford; and its members in turn have been succeeded in business by younger generations who have most worthily worn the family name and sustained its reputation; and today the name continues of record in and about the city of their birth connected prominently with many of the most extensive commercial establishments and banking institutions of the locality.
In 1895, Cyrus Henry Brown began collecting family records of the Brown family, initially with the intention of only going back to his great-grandfathers. As others became interested in the project, they decided to trace the family lineage back to Thomas Brown and his wife Mary Newhall, both born in the early 1600s in Lynn, Massachusetts. Thomas, John, and Eleazer, three of their sons, later moved to Stonington, Connecticut around 1688. When North Stonington was established in 1807, the three brothers were living in the southern part of the town. Wheeler’s “History of Stonington” contains 400 records of early descendants of the Brown family, taken from the town records of Stonington. However, many others remain unidentified, as they are not recorded in the Stonington town records. For around a century, the descendants of the three brothers lived in Stonington before eventually migrating to other towns in Connecticut and New York State, which was then mostly undeveloped. He would eventually write this second volume of his Brown Genealogy adding to and correcting the previous edition. This book is free to search, read, and/or download.
About 1760, two brothers, Thomas and Samuel Leighton, came from Falmouth to this River. Samuel settled on the lot now in possession of Richard P. Willey. His sons were Theodore Leighton, Isaac Leighton, Parritt Leighton and Phineas Leighton. Thomas Leighton, the brother of Samuel Leighton, settled upon a lot at the head of Pigeon Hill Bay. He had a family of six sons and five daughters. Robert, Joseph, Thomas, Annie, Molly, James, Ross, Abigail, Betsey, Sarah and Benjamin. Nearly at the same time that Thomas and Samuel Leighton came and settled, Thomas Leighton 2d came from Dover, N. H., to Gouldsboro. His wife was Lydia Tracy. It is not known that there was any relationship between these two Thomas Leightons. From Gouldsboro, Thomas 2d soon removed to Steuben and settled upon the lot afterwards known as the Henry Leighton lot. He had ten children, Jonathan, Mark, Charity, Alexander, Hatevil, Pamelia, Isaiah, Daniel, Israel and Asa.
The Lincoln County New Mexico online archives contains pdf’s of all remaining copies of the El Farol Newspaper of Capitan NM, but doesn’t have an index to the newspaper. C. W. Barnum, an active member of AHGP, and state coordinator for the New Mexico AHGP recently invested his time and energy into providing an every person index to the various extant issues. He has shared this wonderful index with AccessGenealogy in hopes that it will reach a wider audience. Enjoy!
The Stitgen family comprises most of the book, and starts with Theodor and Barbare (Wollgrafs) Stutgen (the family would variously spell their name as Stutgen, Stuttgen, Stuettgen, and Stitgen.) Theodore Stitgen, grandson of Theodor Stutgen would immigrate to Richfield, Wisconsin about 1850 and eventually settled in Hillsboro, Oregon.
The Doane family starts with Christina Barnet from Annandale Scotland, who’s husband _____ Doane, died while in Scotland. She settled in Waunakee Wisconsin in 1853, with her twin sons, Andrew and Peter. The progenitor of the Rapp family, Peter and Susan (Marsh) Rapp, started in Pennsylvania and moved their family to Dane Township, Wisconsin in 1848. The Steele family starts with Robert and Nancy (Dunshee) Steele of Armagh County, Northern Ireland, who met on the voyage to America in 1801. They settled near Bovina, Delaware County, New York. The Newman family starts with John and Mary Newman of Polajewo Poland. They immigrated to America together in 1853 and settled in Madison, Wisconsin.
Nicholas Snow, a native of England, came to this country in 1623 in the ship “Ann,” locating in Plymouth, where he had a share in the division of land in 1624. In 1634 he removed to Eastham, where he became a prominent citizen. His home was on the road from Plymouth to Eel river, on the Westerly side. He was admitted a freeman in 1633, and was elected town clerk at the first meeting of the town of Eastham, holding that office sixteen years. He was deputy to the General Court from 1648, three years; selectman from 1663, seven years. He and his son Mark signed the call to Rev. John Mayo to settle as their minister in 1655. He was one of Gov. Thomas Prence’s associates. He married at Plymouth, Constance, daughter of Stephen Hopkins, who came over in the “Mayflower.” Constance herself came in the “Mayflower.” She died in October, 1677. Mr. Snow died Nov. 15, 1676, in Eastham, Mass.