============================================================================ by Scott T.S. Trimble The Two DUNHAM / DONHAM --------------------- Ancestries Beginning in 1600s / 1700s America. /--Rychert DUNHAM *********************** /--Robert DUNHAM written 6 January 1995 /--Robert DUNHAM for America Online Genealogy /--Gregoire DUNHAM /--Robert DUNHAM Most DUNHAMs or DONHAMs are | \--Elizabeth MARYUGE descended from either Deacon /--John DUNHAM John DUNHAM of Plymouth, or | | /--Duke Humphrey STAFFORD Nathaniel DONHAM Jr., pioneer | \--Margaret STAFFORD from New Jersey to Ohio. | \--Duchess Anne DeNEVILLE /--John DUNHAM II | | /--Nicholas BOWET /--(descended from the | \--Elizabeth BOWET | Houses of DUNHAM) | | /--John LaTOUCHE /--Francis SINGLETARY | \--Elizabeth ZOUCHE /--Richard SINGLETARY | | /--Thomas DeBURGH | \--Agnes | | /--John DeBURGH /--Jonathan SINGLETARY | | | \--Lucie DeBELLAQUA | |(alias Jonathan DUNHAM) | \--Margaret DeBURGH | | /--Johanis COOKE /--John DUNHAM III | \--Susanna COOKE | | /--Thomas THORLAND /--Nathaniel DONHAM Sr. | \--Jean THORLAND | | /--John BLOOMFIELD /--Ralph DUNHAM | | /--Colonel Thomas BLOOMFIELD | | /--Adam FOLSGAMBE | \--Mary BLOOMFIELD | \--Benedicitia FOLSGAMBE | \--Mary | | /--John LEAKE /--John DONHAM | \--Kathryn LEAKE | | /--Israel THORNELL /--Thomas DUNHAM | \--Joannah THORNELL | | /--Sir Richard WENTWORTH | | /--Matthew GANNETT | | /--Thomas WENTWORTH | \--Hannah Hall GANNETT | \--Elizabeth WENTWORTH | | /--Joseph ANDREWS | \--Beatrix WOODRUFFE | \--Hannah ANDREWS Deacon John DUNHAM <==============> Nathaniel DONHAM Jr. | sp. Susanna KENNY I | sp. Mary SUTTON | and Abigail BARLOW I | and Keziah CROSLEY \--Jane BROMELY I \--(unknown) I \=== Ancestors of DUNHAMs / DONHAMs ============================================================================ Of course, there are exceptions, but most American DUNHAMs or DONHAMs who have ancestry here back to the 1600s and 1700s are probably going to be descended from either Deacon John DUNHAM or Nathaniel DONHAM Jr. I am fortunate in that I descend from both lines! The wives of Nathaniel DONHAM Jr. have been mostly shrouded in mystery, until this last year. Several of us on America Online and Prodigy have joined together in combining information from many sources. The connections are always changing as new information is found, but it appears that we now have parents for Mary SUTTON and Keziah CROSLEY. Mary was probably the Mary SUTTON who was the daughter of John SUTTON Jr. and Mary MARTIN. There are several points in her favor -- same name, same approximate birthyear, same county as Nathaniel DONHAM Jr., and the fact that her maternal grandmother was a DUNHAM (which explains many inconsistencies in histories of Nathaniel DONHAM Jr.'s children). One source, though, "Sutton Family and Allied Lines", by Marie WATERFORD, did have conflicting information. She wrote that this Mary SUTTON was born fifteen years later and instead married to an Elijah SMITH, son of Richard SMITH. A look at the original records for this SUTTON family should be able to tell us more. John SUTTON's will, probated in 1761 Somerset County, NJ, will probably either refer to daughter "Mary DONHAM" or "Mary SMITH". So far, the only other contender for the wife of Nathaniel DONHAM Jr. was a Mary "Marah" SUTTON, daughter of Rev. David SUTTON and Sarah TREMBLAY. But she was five years older than Nathaniel and was half French-Huguenot, an ethnicity never mentioned among Nathaniel's children. If you know of any other Mary SUTTONs, born about 1733 New Jersey, please let me know. Keziah CROSLEY, it appears, was the daughter of John CROSLEY (son of Charles CROSLEY and Hannah) and Alice MALIN (daughter of Jacob MALIN and Susanna JONES), but there are some inconsistencies here too. They mostly involve the time and place for the "siblings" of Keziah. If you have any information on the CROSLEYs or CROSSLEYs, you should also contact Pete MANN of Miami (address at the bottom of file) as he is our CROSLEY expert. I descend from Keziah CROSLEY twice and from Mary SUTTON once, thus three descents from Nathaniel DONHAM Jr. Plus, with the fact that Mary SUTTON also had DUNHAM ancestry, I have four DUNHAM / DONHAM lines. Mary was the daughter of Mary MARTIN. Mary was the daughter of Jonathan MARTIN and Elizabeth DUNHAM: /--Deacon John DUNHAM /--Benajah DUNHAM | \--Abigail BARLOW /--Edmond DUNHAM | \--Elizabeth TILSON Elizabeth DUNHAM \--Mary BONHAM ============================================================================ Deacon John DUNHAM arrived in Plymouth Colony in about 1630 with a group who had been in Leydon, Holland. He was born about 1588 in Scrooby, Nottingham- shire, England. Following are his children, the first three of which were the children of Susannah KENNY and the rest who were children of Abigail BARLOW: John DUNHAM b. 1620 Leydon, Holland m. 14 Mar 1643 to Dorothy (or Mary) d. aft 2 Feb 1691 Humility DUNHAM b. abt 1621 Holland Thomas DUNHAM b. abt 1622 Leydon, Holland m. never married Abigail DUNHAM b. 1623 Plymouth, MA m. 16 Nov 1644 to Stephen ATWOOD, son of John WOOD and Joan COLESON Samuel DUNHAM b. 1628 MA m. 29 Jun 1649 to Martha BEAL (prev. married to William FALLOWAY) m. to Mrs. Sarah (or Mary) WATSON Hannah DUNHAM b. 1630 MA m. 31 Oct 1651 to Giles RICKARD d. bef 20 May 1662 Jonathan DUNHAM, Reverend b. 1632 MA m. 15 Oct 1657 Barnstable, MA to Mary COBB, daughter of Henry COBB & Patience HURST m. to Mary DELANO, daughter of Philip DeLaNOYE d. 18 Dec 1717 Persis DUNHAM b. 1635 MA m. 29 Nov 1655 to Benajah PRATT m. 15 Oct 1657 to Jonathan SHAW / SNOW d. 1672 Joseph DUNHAM b. 1636 MA m. 18 Nov 1657 to Mercy MORTON, daughter of Nathaniel MORTON m. 20 Aug 1669 to Hester WORMELL, daughter of Joseph WORMELL Benjamin DUNHAM b. 1637 MA m. 25 Oct 1660 to Mary TILSON d. Eastham, MA Daniel DUNHAM b. 1639 MA m. to Hannah m. abt 1670 to Mehitable HAYWARD Benajah DUNHAM b. 1640 Plymouth, MA m. 25 Oct 1660 to Elizabeth TILSON, daughter of Edmund TILSON d. 24 Dec 1680 Piscataway, Middlesex, NJ ============================================================================ Thomas DUNHAM, son of Deacon John DUNHAM, did not marry, contrary to many of the histories of Nathaniel DONHAM Jr. that claim him as their ancestor. He did not marry Martha KNOTT, daughter of George KNOTT and Martha. In his will George promised a coat to Thomas DUNHAM if he married his daughter, but it turned out that he never did. This caused a lot of confusion in many early DUNHAM genealogies such as those written by SAVAGE and by Isaac Watson DUNHAM. It is correct that Nathaniel DONHAM Sr. was the son of Jonathan DUNHAM, but a closer look at the records shows that Jonathan was actually born as Jonathan SINGLETARY, son of Richard SINGLETARY and Susanna COOKE. He was not the son of Thomas DUNHAM and Martha KNOTT. Jonathan, born 17 Nov 1639/1640 Salisbury, Essex, MA, got into some court trouble with a John GODFREY when he was in his twenties. At one point in their disputes over land Jonathan even accused John of being a witch! Jonathan also had some run-ins with the Plymouth government. He was arrested for some sort of rebellion and was described in government records as being a "ranter" and "disseminating corrupt religious principles among his neighbors" (from Olive B. LEONARD's "First Settlers of Piscataway and Woodbridge: Dedication to Five Notable First Settlers"). Presumably, it was because of all these troubles that Jonathan decided to move his family to New Jersey. What is not so easy to figure out is why he changed his name also. His name-change was never a secret. All the records of him in New Jersey say either "Jonathan Donham, alias Singletary" or "Jonathan Singletary, alias Donham". The explanation for this might lie in a family legend among SINGLETARY descendents today. Their story tells about their immigrant ancestor, Richard SINGLETARY, Jonathan's father. They believe Richard was born in England, not a son of Francis SINGLETARY (who is presumed to be the father after narrowing out the other possible SINGLETARY families), but a son of the heirs to the House of DUNHAM. Various accidents or female births resulted in his being the only one left to inherit the wealth. Since he was only a few years old, the Lower House decided they would try to take that chance to seize the estates. They plotted to have the nanny murder the child so they wealth would transfer to them. The nanny could not do it and instead brought the child to America where she gave him the new name SINGLETARY because, in America, he would be "single" or alone, and he would "tarry" or remain. One description of this claimed that there was some documentation back in England, such as an affidavit by the nanny, but I have not attempted to find anything yet. This would explain, though, why Jonathan chose the name DUNHAM or DONHAM -- he was reclaiming his father's ancestral surname. He might have heard many stories of their ancestry and being thus proud of the name, he changed his to DONHAM, instead of a "fake" name like SINGLETARY. Anyway, he also changed his ways in New Jersey, and the same book above also says about him, "was a respected and reputable citizen... and commanded the esteem of his fellow townsmen." Another common misconception among the descendents of this line involved the two Nathaniels. Nathaniel DONHAM Sr., son of Jonathan SINGLETARY, married Joannah THORNELL and had at least nine children. But Nathaniel DONHAM Jr. (m. Mary SUTTON and Keziah CROSLEY) was not one of them. This has always been assumed because of the Sr. and Jr. Nathaniel was actually the grandson of Nathaniel DONHAM Sr. He was the son of John DONHAM. This theory was first developed by my friend Brent SCHLOTTMAN of Arizona (on Prodigy). Remember that in the 1700s and before, Jr. and Sr. were mostly used to distinguish between two family members of the same name. Nathaniel DONHAM Jr., son of John, was called that because he had an uncle who was also a Nathaniel DONHAM. This Nathaniel (b. 17 Oct 1726) married an Elizabeth WILSON and went to New York. Jonathan SINGLETARY + Susanna COOKE * All birth dates in this chart ______________|______________ were in Woodbridge, Middlesex, NJ | | Nathaniel DONHAM Nathaniel DONHAM Sr. + Joannah THORNELL b. 8 Feb 1677 b. 10 Apr 1679 | d. 14 May 1678 __________________|_____________ | | John DONHAM Elizabeth + Nathaniel DONHAM b. 1708 WILSON b. 17 Oct 1726 | Mary SUTTON + Nathaniel DONHAM Jr. + Keziah CROSLEY b. 1733 This theory makes sense for two reasons. Nathaniel DONHAM (m. Elizabeth WILSON) went to New York and had a family there, not New Jersey. Also, the dates fit much better. Nathaniel DONHAM Jr. was born when John was 25 years old and Nathaniel DONHAM Sr. was 64 years old. It is more likely he was the son of a 25-year-old than a 64-year-old. Also, a clue in Isaac Watson DUNHAM's book says that John went west to Pennsylvania (the only one in the family it says that about). We know that Nathaniel DONHAM Jr. lived in Washington (now Greene) County, Pennsylvania, and might have taken his father with him. Also, Nathaniel DONHAM Jr.'s oldest son was a John DONHAM. It was common to name the oldest son after the father or grandfather. The following chart shows how the name "Nathaniel DONHAM" was still very common in later generations: Mary SUTTON + Nathaniel DONHAM Jr. + Keziah CROSLEY ________|_ ___|____________________________ | | Eliz. | | | John DONHAM + BROWN William DONHAM + Sarah ARTHUR Robert DONHAM | _____|___________ |________________ + Ruth FERGUSON | | | | | |______________ | | | | | | | Nathaniel DONHAM Margaret DONHAM + Abijah DONHAM Ira DONHAM | | + Mary SWEM | + Cynthia TOWSLEY | Mary DONHAM |________________ Nathaniel DONHAM | | + Henry LEE | + Alena ARMSTRONG Nathaniel M. DONHAM | |___________________________ | ____________________ | | | | | Mary Maria LEE + Nathaniel DONHAM | | Elizabeth DONHAM + Isaac Ferguson DONHAM | Nathaniel "Bud" DONHAM + Alma (unknown) One last bit of confusion for Nathaniel DONHAM Jr. involved his daughter(s). The histories claimed that by Mary SUTTON he had children: John, David, Lewis, and (female) DONHAM; and by Keziah CROSLEY he had: Mary, Henry, Abel, Amos, Robert, William, and Jonathan Singleton DONHAM. There have been no clues about who this first female was. My theory is that she was the same person as Mary DONHAM. Mary was born 5 May 1774 and (female) was born about 1773/1774. Also, by having Mary be a daughter of Mary SUTTON, it adds a couple more years before the time that Nathaniel married Keziah CROSLEY. Keziah was much younger than Nathaniel and these two years make a big difference in her age. Also, it was common that one of the oldest daughters was named after the mother. It would have been somewhat tacky if Nathaniel named a daughter of Keziah after his first wife. Also, Mary DONHAM had a son named David Sutton LEE, who was probably named after a cousin of hers since most of her children were named after immediate family: John, Henry, William Donham, Nathaniel, Jonathan, Mary, and David LEE. (the other children were John Rosse, Rachel, Rhoda, and Anna LEE). Nathaniel DONHAM Jr.'s children are as follows. The first four were children of Mary SUTTON and the rest were children of Keziah CROSLEY. The birthplace could have been Perth Amboy or Woodbridge. They are towns only a few miles apart. Records conflict as to which one the children were born at. It was probably Woodbridge, since that was where Nathaniel Jr. and his ancestors were from, but it's also possible Nathaniel moved away a little before his trip west. John DONHAM b. 07 Apr 1767 Salem, NJ m. to Sallie JENNINGS m. 05 Feb 1811 Indian Creek Baptist Church, Clermont, OH to Elizabeth BROWN, daughter of George BROWN and Margaret Rebecca CONRAD d. 15 Aug 1856 Clermont County, OH David DONHAM b. abt 1769 NJ m. bef 1790 to Elizabeth GARRISON d. Greene County, PA Lewis DONHAM b. 24 Jun 1771 Perth Amboy, Middlesex, NJ m. 1805 Greene County, PA to Amy MAPLE, daughter of Stephen MAPLE and Mary Elizabeth SLACK d. 1845 Greene County, PA Mary DONHAM b. 05 May 1774 Perth Amboy, Middlesex, NJ m. to Henry LEE, son of William LEE and Cathren LEE d. 09 Feb 1839 Riley, Vigo, IN Henry DONHAM b. abt 1776 Perth Amboy, Middlesex, NJ m. to Mary LEE d. 18 Dec 1852 Riley, Vigo, IN Abel DONHAM b. 19 Aug 1777 Perth Amboy, Middlesex, NJ m. 1800 PA to Elizabeth FERGUSON, daughter of Isaac FERGUSON and Elizabeth LEEDOM (descendent of Reverend Thomas DUNGAN and Elizabeth WEAVER of 1600s Rhode Island) m. 2 Sep 1852 Clermont County, OH to Sarah Ann (prev. married to a Mr. HANCOCK) d. 17 May 1853 Clermont County, OH Amos DONHAM b. abt 1779 Greene County, PA d. "the South" Robert DONHAM b. 16 Feb 1782 Greene County, PA m. Clermont County, OH to Ruth FERGUSON, daughter of Isaac FERGUSON and Elizabeth LEEDOM d. abt 1846 Clermont County, OH William DONHAM b. 13 Jun 1784 Mapleton, Greene, PA m. 15 Dec 1802 Clermont County, OH to Sarah ARTHUR, daughter of James ARTHUR Jr. and Rachel BROWN d. abt 1849 Vigo County, IN Jonathan Singleton DONHAM b. 16 Feb 1786 Greene County, PA m. bef 1809 to Hila ROSS m. 19 Apr 1818 Clermont County, OH to Elizabeth AYRES d. 21 Sep 1856 Clermont County, OH &c. his name is obviously a corruption of Nathaniel DONHAM Jr.'s great- grandfather, Jonathan SINGLETARY, alias DONHAM. ============================================================================ Following is a chart showing my triple-descent from Nathaniel DONHAM Jr. and my double-descent from Thomas BROWN: John DONHAM | Mary SUTTON + Nathaniel DONHAM Jr. + Keziah CROSSLEY | |________________ ___________| Thomas BROWN __|_________ | + Mary Osborn BALL | | | ______|_____ | Abel DONHAM | | | | + Elizabeth FERGUSON | George BROWN Rachel BROWN | | | + Margaret Rebecca CONRAD + James ARTHUR Jr. | Abel DONHAM Jr. | | | | + Matilda REECE John DONHAM + Eliz. BROWN Sarah ARTHUR + William DONHAM | | | Elizabeth DONHAM Margaret DONHAM + Abijah DONHAM + Enoch Mabury RECTOR | | Ferdinand Lee DONHAM + Florella Jane "Jenna" RECTOR | Melvin Roy DONHAM + Rose Marie HEIM | Genevieve Mignon DONHAM + Walter Graham SUGGS Jr. | Thomas Erwin TRIMBLE + Gail Mignon SUGGS | Scott Thomas TRIMBLE ============================================================================ SUTTON Ancestry: CROSLEY Ancestry: /--Joseph SUTTON /--John CROSLEY /--George SUTTON /--(unknown) CROSLEY /--William SUTTON | \--Mary SHINN | | /--Thomas TILDEN /--Charles CROSLEY | | /--Nathaniel TILDEN /--John CROSLEY | | | \--Alice BIGGS | \--Hannah | \--Sarah TILDEN Keziah CROSLEY | | /--Stephen HUCKSTEP | /--Randal MALIN | \--Lydia HUCKSTEP | /--Jacob MALIN | \--Winifred HATCH | | \--Elizabeth /--John SUTTON \--Alice MALIN | | /--Richard BISHOP | /--David JONES | \--Damaris BISHOP \--Susanna JONES | | /--Christopher MARTIN | \--Alice MARTIN | \--Mrs. Marie PROWER /--John SUTTON Jr. The mother of John SUTTON Jr. | | /--William BELCONGER might have been an Elizabeth | | /--John BELCONGER HIGGINS instead of E. CONGER: | | /--John CONGER | | | \--Elizabeth /--Richard HIGGINS | \--Elizabeth CONGER /--Jonathan HIGGINS | | /--John KELLEY | | /--Edmund CHANDLER | \--Mary KELLY | \--Lydia CHANDLER Mary SUTTON Elizabeth HIGGINS | /--Isaac MARTIN | /--Thomas ROGERS | /--John MARTIN | /--Joseph ROGERS | /--Benjamin MARTIN | | \--Elizabeth | | | /--Thomas ROBERTS \--Elizabeth ROGERS | | | /--Thomas ROBERTS \--Hannah | | | | | /--Martin JAMES | | | | \--Frances JAMES | | \--Esther ROBERTS | | | /--Rogers HILTON Another possibility, though | | \--Rebecca HILTON unlikely, for Mary SUTTON, the | /--Jonathan MARTIN wife of Nathaniel DONHAM Jr.: | | | /--Nichoals REYNOLDS | | \--Margaret REYNOLDS /--John SUTTON (above) | | \--Dorothy /--David SUTTON \--Mary MARTIN | \--Elizabeth CONGER (above) | /--John DUNHAM Marah "Mary" SUTTON | /--Benajah DUNHAM | /--Jean Jacques TREMBLES | | \--Abigail BARLOW | /--Jean DuTREMBLAY | /--Edmond DUNHAM \--Sarah TREMBLAY | | | /--Edmund TILSON \--Mary NOE | | \--Elizabeth TILSON | | \--Joanne \--Elizabeth DUNHAM | /--George BONHAM | /--Nicholas BONHAM | | | /--George MORTON | | \--Sarah MORTON | | | /--Alexander CARPENTER | | \--Juliana CARPENTER \--Mary BONHAM | /--John FULLER | /--Robert FULLER | /--Edward FULLER | | \--Frances | /--Samuel FULLER | | \--Ann \--Hannah FULLER | /--John LOWTHROPPE | /--Robert LATHROP | /--Thomas LATHROP | | \--Ellen | /--John LATHROP | | \--Mary \--Jane LATHROP | /--John HOWSE \--Hannah HOWSE ============================================================================ Please contact me if you have any information or questions about any of the surnames in this file -- stst@stst.net Contact Pete MANN also if you have any information on the CROSLEYs: Pete Mann 7915 S.W. 55 Avenue Miami, FL 33143 fxxg59c@prodigy.com ============================================================================