Surname Saturday – Treat

Richard Treat, who came from England, has many notable descendants including: both Presidents Bush, John P. Morgan, Treat Williams, Tennessee Williams, and Thomas Edison. Treat, born in 1584, immigrated to Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut with his wife, the former Alice Gaylard, and their ten children. There has been much written about the Treat family and one predominant book is The Treat Family: A Genealogy of Trott, Tratt, and Treat for Fifteen Generations, and Four Hundred and Fifty Years in England and America, Containing More Than Fifteen Hundred Families in America by John Harvey Treat and published by the Salem Press Publishing and Printing Company in 1893 which is found online through Google Books.

Although, some online genealogies mention that Richard Treat was married to someone named “Joanna” prior to his marriage to Alice Gaylord on April 27, 1615 in Pitminster, England, there has been no documentation to support that. My ancestor, daughter Joanna Treat, was born just a few years after the marriage of Richard and Alice. Alice was still living at the time Richard’s will was proved in March 1669.

Wife, Alice, was the daughter of Hugh. Her surname at baptism was spelled Gaylaud and her father’s name is reported as Gaylard according to John Harvey Treat’s book. It has also been reported as Gaylord over time. Find a Grave lists her burial location by Richard in the Wethersfield Village Cemetery although a stone has not been located.

The photo above (Attribution: Derek Harper [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons) is of the church in Pitminster, Somerset, England where all of the children of Richard and Alice, including my ancestor, Joanna, were baptized.

Descendants of my 9th great-grandparents, Richard Treat and Alice Gaylard:

1. Honor Treat b. 1616
2. Joanna Treat b. 1618
3. Sarah Treat b. 1620
4. Richard Treat b. 1622
5. Robert Treat b. 1624
6. Elizabeth Treat b. 1627
7. Susanna Treat b. 1629
8. Alice Treat b. 1631/32
9. James Treat b. 1634
10. Katherine Treat b. 1637

My ancestor, Joanna Treat, was married to John Hollister in Hartford, Connecticut and  had eight children who were all born in Wethersfield. Their oldest son, John Hollister Jr., was my ancestor. Joanna Treat Hollister died in Wethersfield in October 1694. Her grave just like her husband’s is unknown although I’m sure it is somewhere in the Wethersfield area.

I’m excited that the church where my eighth great-grandmother was baptized is still standing. Perhaps someday I’ll be able to travel to England to visit this building and walk among the stones in the graveyard and pay my respects to other ancestors who are buried there.

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Those Places Thursday – Connecticut

The John Hollister House in Glastonbury, Connecticut was built about 1649 according to “The HIstorical Society of Glastonbury” (Architecture page). It is located at 14 Tryon Street. This was the ancestral home for the Hollister family for many generations.  Lieutenant John Hollister was born in 1612 in England and came to America around 1642 (1). Lt. Hollister married Joanna Treat, daughter of Richard and Joanna Treat, and eight children were born to this union: Elizabeth, John Jr, Thomas, Joseph, Lazarus, Mary, Sarah, and Stephen. Hollister Sr. died after April 3. 1665 and left a will naming his widow and living children and the children of daughter, Elizabeth. His burial location is unknown.

John and Joanna Hollister are my 8th great-grandparents through their son, John Jr. He married Sarah Goodrich and through their son Thomas who married Dorothy Hills. Their daughter, Hannah Hollister, married William House and through their son, my 4th great-grandfather, Lazarus House. He married Rebecca Risley and their son, Allen House, married Editha Bigelow. Their son, Florus Allen House, married Julia Ann Lewis, and their son, James Emory House, was the father of my paternal grandmother, Ella Maria House, with his second wife, Frances Virginia Ogan.

My House and Hollister ancestors all lived in Hartford, Connecticut since the mid-1600’s. They were founders of Wethersfield and many are buried in the Ancient Burying Ground in Hartford county. I would like to visit the area to walk the same places they did; view the historical John Hollister House; and pay my respects to all my many times great-grandparents in the cemeteries there.

 

(1). The Hollister Family of America: Lieut. John Hollister, of Wethersfield, Conn., and His Descendants; Case, Lafayette Wallace; 1886; Fergus Printing Company; p 19; Digitzed 19 Sep 2006; American Libraries; Internet Archive.

 

(Photo credt: Connecticut Historical Society)

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Roadmap to New Cousins!

Tuesday when I posted my submission for the 59th Carnival of Genealogy, I didn’t realize that several of my genea-blogger friends would suddenly realize we are related! Julie Cahill Tarr from GenBlog and Becky Wiseman from kinexxions and Whitley County Kinexxions Blog are my newly found distant cousins! We are related through our ancestor, Richard Treat, one of the first settlers of Wethersfield, Connecticut.  So for full disclosure, I thought I would list how I am related to Richard Treat.

Richard and Joanna Treat – 9th great-grandparents
 parents of Joanna Treat married John Hollister (8th gr-grand)
   parents of John Hollister Jr. married Sarah Goodrich (7th gr-grand)
      parents of Thomas Hollister married Dorothy Hills (6th gr-grand)
         parents of Hannah Hollister married William House (5th gr-grand)
            parents of Lazarus House married Rebecca Risley (4th gr-grand)
               parents of Allen House married Editha Bigelow (3rd gr-grand)
                  parents of Florus Allen House married Julia Anna Lewis (2nd)
                     parents of James Emory House married Frances V. Ogan (great)
                        parents of Ella Maria House married William Lloyd Amore (grand)
                           parents of my dad married my mom (parents)
                               parents of ME!

Richard was born around 1584 in Pitsminster, Somerset, England.  He was married first to Joanna (maiden name unknown) – who was the mother to several of his children, including their daughter, Joanna (my ancestor).  Many refer to his second wife, Alice Gaylord, as the mother of Robert and Joanna.  Alice outlived Richard and was named in his will.  (Source information:  The Hollister Family of America.  Compiled by Lafayette Wallace Case M.D.; Chicago, Fergus Printing Company; 1886 and The Treat Family, A Genealogy of Trott, Tratt and Treat.  By John Harvey Treat, A.M.; Salem, Massachussets; The Salem Press Publishing & Printing Company; The Salem Press; 1893.)

St. Mary and St. Andrew Church, located in Pitsminster, Somerset, England where Richard Treat was baptized.  (Picture from The Pitminster Church.)

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Books for Genealogy

This is my submission for the 56th Carnival of Genealogy being hosted by Lori Thornton at Smoky Mountain Family Historian. The topic is 10 essential books in my genealogy library.

Unfortunately I haven’t been able to buy a lot of the books I really should.  Some I’ve checked (& re-checked) out of the local library.  Others I’ve been able to find on Google Books.  So without further ado:

1. The Hollister Family of America.  Compiled by Lafayette Wallace Case M.D.; Chicago, Fergus Printing Company; 1886

2. The Genealogy of the Loveland Family in the United States of America from 1635 to 1892. By J.B. Loveland, Fremont, O., and George Loveland, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.; Vol. 1; Freemont, Ohio; I.M. Keeler and Son, printers; 1892.

3. The Risley Family History.  By Edwin H. Risley of Utica, N.Y.; The Grafton Press; Genealogical Publishers; New York; MCMIX; Copyright 1909 by Edwin H. Risley.

4. The Treat Family, A Genealogy of Trott, Tratt and Treat.  By John Harvey Treat, A.M.; Salem, Massachussets; The Salem Press Publishing & Printing Company; The Salem Press; 1893.

5. Genealogy of the Bigelow Family of America.  Gilman Bigelow Howe; Worcester, Mass.; Printed by Charles Hamilton; No. 311 Main Street; 1890.

6. Historical Sketches and Reminisces of Madison County.  John L. Forkner and Byron H. Dyson; Anderson, Ind.; 1897; from the Press of Wilson, Humphreys, & Co., Fourth St., Logansport, Ind.

7. A Genealogical Record of the Descendants of Martin Oberholtzer.  By Rev. A.J. Fretz; Milton, N.J.; Press of the Evergreen News; Milton, N.J.; 1908

8. Marriages of Coshocton County, Ohio, 1811-1930.  Miriam C. Hunter; Compiled from marriage records, Probate Court, Coshocton County, Ohio; Coshocton Public Library, Coshocton, Ohio; 1967.

9. History of Coshocton County, Ohio: Its Past and Present, 1740-1881.  Compiled by N.N. Hill, Jr.; Newark, Ohio; A.A. Graham & Co., Publishers; 1881; Carlon & Hollenbeck, Printers & Binders, Indianapolis, Ind.

10. Historical Collections of Coshocton County Ohio; 1764-1876.  By William E. Hunt; Cincinnati; Robert Clarke & Co., Printers, 1876

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Relatives – Lost and Found

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, this blog and my regular genealogy website (All My Branches) has been instrumental in the “finding” of long lost and unknown relatives.  I attribute my good fortune to several things.

1. The use of great keywords
2. Submitting my sites to search engines
3. Submitting information on key family names via message boards and queries on a variety of genealogy related sites
4. Posting enough information about ancestors that will aid others who are searching for specific family names

Not too long into my research, I ran across a post on a message board by an Amore relative whose name was familiar to me.  Turns out, he was the son of my first cousin!  We emailed constantly and shared a wealth of information with each other.  When his father had to travel to my part of the country many months later, we were able to meet.  I hadn’t seen him since I was very little.  He also got to spend time with my sister, who he had known quite well when they were both younger.  I mailed letters to many with that last name who were living in Coshocton, and soon I was also in contact with others from my Amore branch.  Several others also found me through the website.

On my Johnson line, I had posted a query on a message board about my great-grandfather’s half brother and his children’s names.  Quite awhile later, the grand-daughter of that half-brother, contacted me after seeing her mom’s and two aunt’s names.  Since that time, we have exchanged pictures of our shared ancestors and family.  She even sent me copies of letters my grandparents had written to her mom.  Between her queries and my website we brought several more Johnson family members into touch with each other.

I have also heard from relatives I never knew existed: a daughter of an uncle; a daughter of a great-aunt; a grand-daughter of my gr-great aunt’s son; just to name a few.  I’ve also heard from those I’ve been searching for – maybe not by name, but by relation (case in point: Rachel Blazer Given’s descendents). 

In almost all of my closest family lines (Amore, Johnson, House, Wilt, Stern, Blazer, Goul, Werts) – there has been at least one distant “cousin” (sometimes closer) that has found me via the blog or website.  Sometimes I’ve heard from relatives that share a common ancestor through the Caylor, Roudebush, Hollister, Loveland, or Risley line.

So as you post information on your blog or set up your genealogy website, make sure you:

• submit it to several search engines
• use good keywords
• post information to message boards or queries – not only Surname – but location and even ethnic or religious boards
• list Surnames so they are easily found

When contacted by other researchers, sharing is wonderful – but until you know enough about who you are giving information to, make sure you privatize your gedcom files.  Also, make sure when you receive information from others (as is the case when surfing the web), take with a grain of salt any information that’s posted unless there are sources and accurate citations.

And if you happen to stumble across long lost relatives or those waiting to be found, enjoy the experience!

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