In my last post, I identified the four longest surname lineages in the Jonnes Family Tree:

11 Generations —

(339 years)

10 Generations —

(283 years)

(284 years)

(263 years)

I don’t have any surname lineages 9 generations in length, but there are a dozen that are 6, 7, or 8 generations long.[1]If I could ever figure out how my Mead ancestors in Roxbury, New York connect precisely to the well-known Mead family of Greenwich, Connecticut, that line would be 8 or 9 generations.  I am very … Continue reading

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8 GENERATIONS:

(270 years)

Whaley/Wührlin:  This is the first branch of my MILLER line.  It’s purely Alsatian.  Almost 5 years ago, I discovered that my Whaley ancestors changed their name after they came to America.  (The discovery is documented in a series of posts starting here.)

The line begins with 3GG Caroline S. Whaley (1830-1888) who married German immigrant Charles C. Miller in Princeton, New Jersey in 1850.[2]“New Jersey, U.S. Birth, Marriage and Death Records, 1711-1878,” database, Ancestry.com (accessed 12 March 2018); Mercer County, 1848-1867, p. 213, entry for Gus. Charles H. Miller and Caroline … Continue reading  Caroline’s father, Lawrence Whaley, was born in Hartmannswiller, Haut-Rhin, France in 1796 as Lorentz Wührlin.  Hartmannswiller is 20 miles south of Colmar.  Lorentz became a baker in Dannemarie, France as a young man and then immigrated to America in 1827 with his young wife Rosalie Rist and one small child.

By using Catholic parish records, I was able to push the line back to 10GG Heinrich Wührlin (1560-1610).  The Wührlins are a good example of a family that stayed local for a very long time.  Their history in Hartmannswiller goes back to at least as early as 1595 when the village was then part of the Holy Roman Empire.  The men were shoemakers for at least three generations.

Steve & Lucia Jonnes with Elodie Wuhrlen hiking Hartmannswillerkopf, Sept 2023 (Author’s collection)

In September 2023, Lucia and I visited Alsace and went to the villages of Hartmannswiller and Dannemarie.  We even met up with 8th cousin Elodie Wuhrlen and spent the day together climbing Hartmannswillerkopf and gorging ourselves at an Alsatian smorgasbord.  A truly memorable day!

  1. Heinrich Wührlin (1560-1610)
  2. Johann Wührlin (1596-1652)
  3. Johann Wührlin (1643-1690)
  4. Johann T Wührlin (1688-1740)
  5. Theobald Wührlin (1720-1774)
  6. Antony Wührlin (1764-1835)
  7. Lorentz Wührlin (1796-1870), aka Lawrence Whaley
  8. Caroline S Whaley (1830-1888)

The earliest known common DNA ancestor is 4GG Lorentz Wührlin.

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7 GENERATIONS:

(203 years)

Matthews:  This is one of my favorite ancestral lines, although it can get confusing when 4 of the 7 members are named Thomas!  It is the only line in my tree that has historical connections to the county in which I currently reside.

2GG Isabella “Bell” Matthews (1836-1921)

3GG Prof. Thomas Johnson Matthews (1788-1852)

The line starts with 2GG Isabella “Belle” Matthews (1836-1921), wife of Presbyterian minister Samuel Hildeburn McMullin (1831-1892).  Belle’s father, 3GG Thomas Johnson Matthews (1788-1852), converted to Presbyterianism in 1823 when he married Miss Isabella Brown in Cincinnati.  Before 1823, the Matthews were exclusively Quaker, going all the way back to the original immigrant, 8GG Thomas Matthews (1633-1693).

This first Thomas immigrated from Cumberland, England to America in the early 1680s.  Earlier in life, he was reportedly a soldier under Oliver Cromwell, and even named a son Oliver after the great man.  Thomas’ converted to the Society of Friends after the English Civil War; he is known to have been a public preacher in the faith in northern England around 1670.

Old Mill in Waterford, Viginia

Upon emigration, Thomas settled north of Baltimore, Maryland.  One of his grandsons, 6GG Thomas Matthews (1693-1766) moved to Waterford, Loudoun, Virginia in the 1740s, where the family remained for two generations.  (My Mom and I visited Waterford in 2013.  The village is now a National Historic Landmark.)  3GG Prof. Thomas Johnson Matthews (1788-1852) was born in nearby Leesburg.  He became a schoolteacher in Philadelphia, but subsequently settled in Cincinnati.  I should do a blog post exclusively about Prof. Matthews — he is arguably the most impressive individual in the Jonnes Family Tree.

  1. Thomas Matthews (1633-1693), immigrant
  2. Oliver Matthews (1667-1708), immigrant
  3. Thomas Matthews (1693-1766)
  4. Daniel Matthews (1723-1757)
  5. Thomas Matthews (1749-1832)
  6. Prof. Thomas Johnson Matthews (1788-1852)
  7. Isabella Matthews (1836-1921)

The earliest known common DNA ancestor is 3GG Thomas Johnson Matthews.

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(205 years)

Hanford:  This is a branch of my MATTHEWS line.  4GG Ruth Hanford married Revolutionary War hero Sgt. William Brown (1716-1804) in 1784.[3]  William and Ruth were 3rd cousins, so we actually have two Hanford lines, thereby increasing our genetic inheritance from the Browns and Hanfords.  William Brown’s mother was Abigail Hanford (1737-1796).

Both lines go back to immigrant Rev. Thomas Hanford, who came to Massachusetts Bay Colony in the early 1640s and settled in Scituate.  His mother Eglin (Hatherly) Hanford and two sisters actually arrived in America earlier (1635) but Thomas stayed in England to finish his education.  In 1652, Thomas was invited to serve as the first minister of the First Congregationalist Church of Norwalk, Connecticut and became one of the town’s founders.

First Settlers of Norwalk Memorial Stone, East Norwalk Historical Cemetery

The Hanford name derives from one of two locations in England, one in Devonshire (Hannaford in Swimbridge) and one in Cheshire (Handford).  Rev. Thomas Hanford and his father and grandfather were all born in Fremington, Devonshire, close to Swimbridge.  Thus, they likely descend from the Devonshire strain of Hanfords.  Hanford means Hana’s Ford, with Hana a medieval given name.

  1. John Handford (1561-1597)
  2. Jeffrey Handford (1583-1626)
  3. Rev. Thomas Hanford (1623-1693), immigrant
  4. Samuel Hanford (1674-1750)
  5. Capt. Samuel Hanford (1709-1793)
  6. Stephen Hanford (1737- ?)
  7. Ruth Hanford (1766-1836)

The earliest known common DNA ancestor is 4GG Ruth Hanford.

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(202 years)

Hazen:  This is a branch of my VERMILYEA line. 5GG Mercy Hazen married Abner Mead (1747-1815) about 1769 in what was then Frederickstown, Dutchess County, New York.[3]Now Carmel in Putnam County.  At some point in the mid-1790s, Abner and Mercy moved to Roxbury, Delaware County in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains.  This is an important location in our genealogy because the Hazen, Mead, Craft, Molineaux, Husted, and Vermilyea families all connect there.

The Hazen line is significant for its relevance to our Mayflower ancestors.  Through her mother Sarah Hamblin (1720-1814), Mercy Hazen is a confirmed 5th generation descendant of Mayflower ancestors John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley.

Edward Hazen, the immigrant, and his father and grandfather were all from Lincolnshire, England.  Reportedly, the surname derives from a small village in Northumberland originally called Heizende, now HazonHazon is only one mile off the A1 highway which we drove down from Edinburgh to York in 2019.  I had no idea!

  1. Johanis Hassen (1545-1591)
  2. Thomas Hassen (1579-1628)
  3. Edward Hazen (1614-1683), immigrant
  4. Thomas Hazen (1657-1735)
  5. John Hazen (1687-1772)
  6. Caleb Hazen (1720-1777)
  7. Mercy Hazen (1747-1819)

The earliest known common DNA ancestor is 5GG Mercy Hazen.

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Lastly, there are family lines that lasted 6 generations.

6 GENERATIONS:

The first branch of my SMITH line.  3GG Amy Crocker Beckwith (1796-1877) to 8GG Mathew Beckwith (1610-1685), 186 years.

The first branch of my MATTHEWS line — 3GG Isabella Brown (1804-1877) to 8GG Francis Brown (1628-1708), 176 years.

A branch of my MATTHEWS line — 4GG Jemima Kellogg (1744-) to 9GG Phillipe Celloug (1560-1625), 184 years.

1GG Bertha Aaberge (1865-1937) to 6GG Johannes Nilsen Aaberge (1711-1791), 154 years.  Technically, Aaberge was a farm name, not a surname.  Nonetheless, six generations of Aaberges lived at the farm on the ridge just above Sogndal, Norway.

A deep branch of my HAFSLO line — 6GG Lucretia Van Krogh (1694-1741) to 11GG Henderick Wilhelm Von Krogh (1530-1580), 164 years.  The Van Kroghs were an aristocratic family from the city of Lübeck in Schleswig-Holstein who served in Denmark and Norway.[4]Lester W. Hansen, “The Anderson-Krogh genealogy: ancestral lines and descendants” (St. Petersburg, Florida: unknown, 1956).

A branch of my VERMILYEA line — 5GG Phebe Husted (1760-1839) to 10GG Robert Huestis (1595-1654), 165 years.

A branch of my VERMILYEA line –4GG Charity Molineaux (1791-?) to 9GG Thomas Molineaux (1620-1701), 171 years.

A branch of my WHITNEY line —  4GG Nancy Houghton (1796-1875) to 9GG Ralph Houghton (1623-1705), 173 years.

References

References
1 If I could ever figure out how my Mead ancestors in Roxbury, New York connect precisely to the well-known Mead family of Greenwich, Connecticut, that line would be 8 or 9 generations.  I am very likely descended from William Mead (1600-1663) who arrived in New England from Hertfordshire in 1635.
2 “New Jersey, U.S. Birth, Marriage and Death Records, 1711-1878,” database, Ancestry.com (accessed 12 March 2018); Mercer County, 1848-1867, p. 213, entry for Gus. Charles H. Miller and Caroline S. Whaley, 7 December 1850, Trenton, Mercer, New Jersey; citing New Jersey State Archives.
3 Now Carmel in Putnam County.
4 Lester W. Hansen, “The Anderson-Krogh genealogy: ancestral lines and descendants” (St. Petersburg, Florida: unknown, 1956).