Continuing the Ancestors of Silence Waite DeLong

I quickly googled Montilleon Waite and found that in 1993, A Harland Waite Rees wrote a book called Descendents of Montilleon Waite and Lydia Douglas. So far only Amazon has one for purchase, for much more than I'm willing to pay. I'll try writing to the author or checking with my local library for a copy. Sounds like a great read!

We've got another Samuel to write about. This Samuel was born in 1660 in Rhode Island and married Abigail Wightman. I have a lengthy dissertation concerning the land purchases of this Samuel, which I won't go through at this point. There were 7 children born of this couple.

The father of this Samuel was again named Samuel, born 1640 in Newport, Rhode Island. He died abt. Oct. 1694 in Narragansett, Rhode Island. He married Hannah Whitman ab. 1658 and then Elizabeth Cole abt. 1675. Samuel and Hannah had 6 children. There is quite a bit of information concerning the history of Conn. and RI as to who had authority over Narragansett County.

The last ancestor that I have with the Waite family is Thomas Wayte, born in 1601 in Alford Lines, England. He died in 1665 in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. He married Eleanor Paine in 1643. Eleanor was born abt. 1618 in Hampshire, England.

From Gencircles - "Thomas Wait was granted land in Portsmouth on July 1, 1639. He had come from Wales to Portsmouth in 1634 with his brothers, Richard and Gamaliel. The two elder brothers settled in Boston. Tradition says that the three brothers were farmers or herdsmen and as they were driving their herd of cattle to market were beset by a press gang. They were able to escape whereupon they sold their cattle and immediately went aboard a vessel for America. They were said to have been a cousin of Thomas Wait who was a member of Parliament and one of the Judges who signed the death warrant of Charles I. The Wayte Coat of Arms was used down to the middle of the 17th century but when Charles II ascended to the throne in 1660 those instrumental in his father's death were brought to the scaffold except the few who fled to America. Thomas Wayte being of that number, either by an Act of Parliament or an edict from the throne, the family was deprived of its insignia.

The Crest is described as a bugle horn. The bugle portrays the musical element of the family and supports the tradition that the Waytes were musicians to the king and his knights. It is said that all Waytes trace their lineage to Ralph de Waiet who received the Earldom, City and Castle of Norwich from William the Conquerer. Ralf de Waiet married Emma, sister to Roger, Earl of Hereford and a cousin of the Conqueror. The Waytes live in the central part of southern England and northern Wales.

Thomas became a part of Roger William's settlement on the Delaware Bay which was organized in 1637 only two years previous to Thomas Wait's arrival. Roger Williams was exiled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635 for his belief in freedom of conscience in religion. He was warmly received by two Indian chiefs, Massosoit and Canon Icus, who gave him tracts of land on the Seekonk River."

Thomas wait was a Juryman in 1650, purchased land in what is now Darmouth, MA, one of the purchasers of Conanicut and Dutch Islands, a large owner of lands at Narragansett and Misquamincut (Westerley, RI).


I have only one child of Thomas and Elanor and that is the previously mentioned Samuel. Just checked the Internet and found Jeremiah, Samuel, Joseph, Benjamin, Thomas, Reuben and Mary. There seems to be a lot more information to be found about this family.

The Ancestors of Silence Waite DeLong

Part of the fun of writing in this blogsite is thinking about long-forgotten people, going back through records, and finding information that almost appears new to my memory. I did this while picking up my very thin looseleaf notebook on the Waite family.

Silence Waite DeLong is my second great grandmother, the wife of Peter DeLong, Sr. She was born May 1810 in Ulster Co., New York. She died in 1883 in whitby Township, Ontario, Canada. In the 1880 census of Tallmadge Twp., Ottawa County Michigan she is listed as a resident. I need to look up that county on the map. Just checked...West of Grand Rapids...also close to Wyoming, a name I remember in my searches.

Silence and Peter had the following children; Oscar, Peter Jr.(my ggrandfather), James, and Horatio.

Silence was the daughter of Montilleon Waite. He was born in NY State and I have him buried in Yorkville, Methodist Cemetery, Wisconsin. Now where is Yorkville? I see that it in Racine Co, Wisconsin. There are two cemeteries in that area. I need to explore the internet a bit to find the correct one and see if there is a listing of people buried.

Montilleon Waite married Lydia Douglass, who died at the young age of 42. They had 13 children. I'd love to find out more about them. Silence was the oldest and was 29 when her mother died.

Montilleon's father was Samuel Wait. Born in 1763 in New Lebanon Co., NY. He married Mary B. Douglass. It would be interesting to know if Mary and Lydia were related. They had 9 children, Montilleon being the oldest.

Samuel's father was also named Samuel, married to Ann Gardner. This Samuel was born in Rhode Island as was Ann. Samuel was a soldier in the Continental army in 1776 in Vermont and Canada. His Rev. War Pension number was S16015. There is an interesting story about Ann...she being a Scottish woman who was stolen by her uncle, her mother's brother; a Gardner, who brought her to America. No researcher has been able to prove these facts. It more appears that Ann was the daughter of John Gardner, a schoolmast of East Greenwich, Kent, RI. They had seven children. Samuel being right in the middle.

I'll go back one more generation, then continue next time. The above Samuel's father was also Samuel. born and died in Rhode Island. He married Sarah Greene Day, about 1724. The above Samuel is the only child I have listed for Samuel and Sarah.

The Huge John Enke Family

I'd like to continue sharing information found at www.the-roundup.com/quaker/bevans. Lydia Enke (my second ggrandmother) and her brothers Josiah (who I wrote about yesterday) and Hiram (check a previous post for info on him) had many brothers and sisters. I don't have the correct count, but find 16 listed in my records. One of these was Mary, who was two years older than Lydia.

Here is her obituary: From the Memphis Reveille - Feb. 6,1936. "Mary Enke and a twin sister, youngest in a family of 15 children, of John and Ann Enke, were born in Ohio, October 24, 1842. Mary spent her girlhood days in Ohio and on October 23, 1870was married to Edmond C. Peel of Morning sun, Iowa. To this union was born one daughter, Maude, who married Charles Wilson. Edmond C. Peel was born Feb. 16, 1847 and died Feb. 4, 1901 and Mary died J. 27, 1936. Survived by daughter and grandchildren; Vernon Wilson of Memphis, MO, Mrs. Ila Weir of Mexico, MO and Buford Wilson of Rutledge Missouri. Burial in N. Bethel Cemetery, Memphis, Missouri.

Note: I don't have a Maude listed as Mary's daughter. Rather I've listed two children, Arthur and Ida. I need to do some research on this. I also don't have a sibling on my listing with the same birthdate as Mary. I do have the 16th child being a "?". Could that have been the twin? Perhaps she was stillborn.

On the Census Record - Ohio, Mahoning Co., Berlin Twp, Sept. 21, 1850 John Enke, born in Pennsylvania - farmer and Ann Enke, born in New Jersey, are listed with Elizabeth, 18, born in Pennsylvania, Sarah (13), b. in Ohio, Hiram 11, born in Ohio, Lydie A.,9, born in Ohio, and Mary 7, born in Ohio.

The same census lists another sibling of Lydia. John Enke, 25, b. in New Jersey - farmer. Also included in this website is John Enke marrying Catharine Grove, Jan. 19, 1854. Another sibling, Francis applied for the license. I just noticed that on my records I had Catharine Grove listed as a wife for John, senior...along with Ann. Changed that one!!!

Also on this website is the 1880 Census of Washington, Des Moines, Iowa. Lydia's sibling Josiah is 51 - Farmer, with Cynthia Ann his wife and their children Elysabeth, 19, Charles, 13, Louis, 10, and Nellie, 8.

Also in this census are Frank (Francis) 21, and Clora, 19. Frank is the son of Josiah. It is interesting to note that Josiah's daughter, Elizabeth, b. 1860, lived in SD in 1913. The last names of her spouses were Shaw and Burton.

Josiah Enke

I received an E-Mail from a newly discovered relative, Barbara Gulk, who is the 2nd great granddaughter of Lydia Enke (as I am). She gave me the following website: www.the-roundup.com/quaker/bevans. I had already checked this one out, but to my knowledge haven't written about the Bevans/Enke connection in my blog. Thanks, Barb for reminding me. Josiah Enke was the brother of Lydia.

This takes place in Morning Sun, Iowa. What a beautiful name.

Cynthia Ann Bevans...born 1829, Highland Co., Ohio. Migrated to Peoria Co., Ill, in 1838. m. Nov. 2, 1848, Peoria Co., Illinois, Josiah W. Enke, b. Dec. 22, 1828, in Pennsylvania. Cynthia d. Morning Sun, Iowa, August 18, 1892, at the age of 63 years. Josiah W., d. Sept. 14, 1913. Both buried Elmwood cemetery, Morning Sun, Louisa Co., Iowa.

Here is the obituary of Josiah Enke as found in the Morning Sun, Iowa News Herald of Sept. 18, 1913.

Josiah Enke, well known in this vicinity, died at the home of his son, Lewis Enke, near Winfield, at an early hour Sunday morning. The funeral services were held from his late home Tuesday forenoon, conducted by his pastor, the Rev. D.L. McBride. The interment was in the Elmwood cemetery, near this place. Mr. Enke was born in Pennsylvania, Dec. 22,1828. After a residence of some years in Ohio and Illinois, he came to Iowa in 1855, settling southwest of Morning Sun, on the county line in Des Moines County, where he lived several years. He was married to Cynthia Ann Bevans in 1848. Mrs. Enke died in 1892, since which time he has made his home with his son Lewis, living north of Winfield for the past nineteen years. Nine children were born to Mr. Enke and wife, six living at the present time. The surviving children are; J.W. Enke, Charles Enke, Lewis Enke and Mrs. Nellie Enke of winfield; Frank Enke of Mt. Union and Mrs. Lizzie Shaw living in South Dakota. He also leaves two sisters and one brother to mourn his death; Mrs. Mary Peel of Memphis, Missouri, who was here to attend the funeral; Mrs. Lydia Wilson of Wessington, SD and Hi Enke of Hinton, Oklahoma. He was a member of the U.P. Church at Winfield and will be greatly missed by his relatives and friends.

Wilson - again

I wanted to share the beautiful (probably wedding photo) of Mary (Maude) Wilson Hill and Wardell (Frank) Hill. This was sent to me by David Williams...Great Grandson of John Fletcher Wilson, brother of my ggrandfather, William White Wilson. Mary was the daughter of Fletcher and I invite you to read her story in an earlier post.
David and his wife, Minnette grew up only 50 miles from Walla Walla, WA where John Fletcher settled when leaving South Dakota.
David has gotten me thinking about several avenues of research. One I mentioned yesterday with the counties of Pennsylvania. Another, finding the death certificate of William White Wilson and Lydia Enke Wilson's son William E. He died in Omaha at a young age. The story of the Cavenee (Cavende)family, who followed the Wilson family from Pennsylvania, merits more time. And I want to work on the Hobkirk family
Myself, cousin Pam and her husband Dave will be in Miller, SD in a few days. We'll be visiting the grave of John Fletcher Frank Wilson's wife, Mary Hester Kennedy. Mary Hester was born in Taylor County Iowa in 1848. She died in Hand County, SD two weeks after the birth of Mary Mayme Wilson. Mary Hester's father was Robert Jackson kennedy, born in Tennesse. Her mother was Elizabeth Childers, born 1820, and died in Iowa 1864. I need to find out if there are any Cavenees left in the Wessington area.
I'd like to learn more about Wardell Hill. I'll do some googling.
As I look through my information, I've got a Mary "Mayme Wilson buried at Hillcrest Cemetery in Miller. AS I've written before, not sure how her body was transported all the way from Walla Walla to Miller, SD in three days.
Will sign off now. Too many questions. Should be a great exercise for my brain.

Returning...with the Wilsons

Yes, I've been gone a long time from this blog. Getting the Daugherty/Carrington Newsletter, Prairie Roots sent, writing for a local art magazine, and getting ready for a trip to Italy has taken its toll. I'm back for a few days now, until the 16th of June when cousin Pam Rounseville and her husband Dave and I go for a family visit to South Dakota. We'll spend two weeks meeting and re-meeting family members. Pam and I haven't seen each other for years and years so I can imagine we'll have a wonderful time. Our mothers, Delores & Helen, were sisters. Mom (Helen) is living here in Wisconsin. Delores passed away a few months ago.

I am just thrilled to have come home to an E-Mail from David Williams. He found this blog and is another contact person in my belated search for Wilson relatives. He is the Great grandson of John Fletcher Wilson, the brother of William White Wilson, my second GGrandfather. Dave sent me a wonderful wedding photo of Mary Wilson Hill and Wardell Hill. Now I know that the beautiful "mystery" young woman above center, is Mary (Maude) for sure. Check out earlier postings about her tragic story.

David has had the same situation as the rest of us...wanting to learn more about the generations before John Fletcher and William. We know that their parents were Joseph M. Wilson and Annie White. From inferences from other writers, I'm wondering if "Annie" was a middle name. Both seem to have been born in Sullivan County Pennsylvania.

I just checked for information on Sullivan County. Several counties, including Lucerne (where William White Wilson was born) and Sullivan, were part of Northumberland County...then Lycoming, and lastly, in 1847, Sullivan. The population in 2000 was 6556. The area is over 2,000 ft. above sea level and appears to be very rural. It's area is only 478 square miles. A couple of years ago I met a woman from Nova Scotia who also has roots from that area at the same time period. She was confident that we shared ancestors, as the population was so small. I need to get in contact with her again.

From here, I suppose I need to check any county records of that time period, if they exist at all. From some sources, the Wilsons were German and Scotch/Irish (perhaps this last from Annie's family???).

It's gratifying to add another individual interested in this family. Pam and I will be seeing several Wilson family members this month. Most of their information on the Wilsons has already been compiled in the Wilson-Enke Descendents book, written in 1977 by Bonnie Cavenee Runge.

Thanks, Dave, for writing. Although I created this Blog primarily to keep me fine-tuned to information that was collecting dust on my shelves, it's always great to know that there are interested readers.

Record of the Bartholomew Family

How good can timing be? I just started writing about John and Joan Carrington (from the Bartholomew Family) and I finally received my copy of "Record of the Bartholomew Family" by George Wells Batholomew, Jr. - published in 1885. This is a reprint, obviously. as an original would probably go for $600 or more. I have viewed this book, via film, at the Historical Society in Madison, WI. There have been many known mistakes in George's writing, however, I really feel great about having a copy of my very own. There are over 750 pages, so it's going to take a bit of time to go through it.

I also wanted to menation that a Rootsweb page, mentioned that John and Joane Carrington were parents of my ancestor Dr. Peter Carrington. This was the first that I'd heard of Dr. Peter being the son of these people who were hung as witches (see the previous posting). Usually the son is regarded as another John, or a daughter, Rebecca. It's from Rebecca that my Bartholomew family eventually entered in.


I requested the opinion of James Carrington, whom I've been in touch with for quite some time. This is his comment. "There's no reason to believe that John and Joan Carrington (the witches convicted in Wethersfield, Ct) were the parents of Dr. Peter Carrington because no one has any proof. Furthermore, there's no proof that either John Carrington (1642-1690) or Rebecca Carrinton were children of those 'witches'. Until someone finds such evidence it's nothing but pure speculation. Hope you can find some proof!"

So far there is no connection of my family of Carringtons and Jim's. Lots of "close-calls", but nothing definite. History is filled with mysteries and uncertainties. It seems the more difficult the challenge, the more interesting the search. I need to hone my own skills in doing deep searches in historical collections.