Ives Family History Blog

Known Ives Lineages In The U.S. & Canada - David Ives

I recently received a a link to a document entitled, “Known Ives Lineages In The U.S. & Canada.” It can be downloaded from his web site at: http://ivescentral.com/genealogy/  This compilation covers the 18 separate Ives descent lines that are known to me in the U.S. & Canada, which have identified male progenitor individuals (Charles through William), as well as 2 additional, substantial, Ives descent lines (Jeremiah's and John's) for which the actual male progenitor still remains “at large.” It also contains DNA information for 5 of these known Ives lineages (with many thanks to John Wilder – coordinator of the Ives DNA Project – and to the DNA participants!).

Many thanks to David for all the hard work putting this document together and for sharing it with us. It is 153 pages in length. 

DNA signature of William Ives Now Available

I heard from David Ives that for the first time, the DNA signature of William Ives (1607-1648) has been made publicly available. It is the result of the Y chromosome testing of 4 male known direct descendants, none of whom are closely related, of William. This is not only the signature of William Ives; it also is the DNA signature of every one of the thousands of direct male descendants of William Ives. This document, "William Ives DNA Signature," can be downloaded from: http://ivescentral.com/genealogy/

Our thanks to John Wilder ( [email protected] ) for being THE driving force behind the Ives progenitor DNA project. Anyone wishing to find out further information about this project should contact John directly (above); or may contact David at: [email protected].

DNA tests from direct male descendants of any of the progenitors of the various Ives lineages, other than that of William (e.g., the lineages of Timothy, Franklin Alexander, Thomas, Eardley, etc.), are always actively being sought.

Update on the English Origins of William Ives

Richard Ives just returned England where he was conducting more research for his book about his branch of the Ives family in America. He was kind to share his latest discoveries and conclusions. The text that follows is by Richard with only a few minor edits. After a careful examination of the evidence that has recently come to light about the William Ives who was baptized in Langham, Rutland County, England on March 21, 1607, Richard has become convinced that he and our ancestor, William Ives, who arrived in Boston in 1635, are the same person. The evidence to support this view is, admittedly, scanty but extremely compelling.

The first bit of evidence resides in the fact that on the day Will Ives, the immigrant to Boston, boarded the "Truelove" in England, he was asked to swear his allegiance to King Charles - which he did. He was no doubt asked other questions by the ever-suspicious Royal customs and immigrations inspector, but the only answer the inspector was required to write down was William's age, which Will Ives gave as "28." This age accords perfectly with the date of birth of William Ives of Langham. To grasp the significance of this fact, one ought to ask just how men named  William Ives were living in England in the early decades of the 17th century? We know of at least half a dozen and there may have been twice that many. How many of the William Ives men we know about were born in 1607? Answer? Only one.

The second bit of evidence is somewhat more tangential but nevertheless extremely telling. When William Ives of New Haven died in about May 1648, his wife (We will call her Hannah for the same of convenience) understood that in a matter of months she must find a husband (At her age, she would not have been allowed to live without a husband in New Haven.). Now, consider the fact that she might have found a man from anywhere in New England to marry, or she might have chosen an immigrant from any of the 10,000 towns and villages in England itself. Whom did she choose in the end? Dr. William Bassett, scion the Bassett clan of North Luffenham (pronounced "Luff-Num") a village located just 9 miles from Langham, where the only English William Ives we know of from that period who was born in 1607 was born and raised. What, then, are the chances then that William Ives of Rutland and William Ives of New Haven are not the same person?

For some time now, our cousin David Ives and Richard have been in contact with the Langham Village History Group, based in Will Ives' home village, which has produced a magnificent volume entitled The Life and Families of 17th Century Langham. In it there is a considerable amount of information in it that pertains to Will Ives' youth, his family, and his ancestors. Richard would urge any Ives person who is interested in knowing about the background of our ancestor, Will  Ives, to purchase a copy. A careful examination of the book and of the website that the Langham History Group maintains on the internet will open vistas that Ives researchers have been seeking for hundreds of years. Richard believes the that the book may be purchased directly from the Langham History Group, which can be contacted at  [email protected]  The Langham Village History Group Home Page can be accessed simply by entering the name at Google Search or any search engine.   

Last month, Richard traveled to England and met with members of the Langham Village History Group. They could not have been more obliging and generous in their hospitality. He laid the evidence before them that indicates that Will Ives of Langham and Will Ives of New Haven were one in the same person, and they agreed that the evidence is extremely persuasive. Attached below are a few photos by Richard of the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul at Langham - the church where Will Ives was baptized in 1607. Also included is a photo of the font - original to the church, and dating from the 16th century of before - at which Will Ives was baptized.

Finally, Richard it is time to clear the air about a few details relating to Will Ives, both before he arrived in America, and after. Three years ago, he procured copies of the records of church membership for St. Stephen Coleman, London for the years 1630 to 1635 from the LDS genealogical center in Salt Lake City, Utah. Since 17th century English cannot be read by anyone not trained to read that script, he paid several experts to decipher the rolls. What they revealed was that Will Ives was never enrolled as a tithing member of St. Stephen Coleman during the period 1630-1635, nor is there a record of any person named Ives having been enrolled during that time. The legend, perpetrated by well-meaning scholar Isabel Calder that Will Ives was a member of Reverend Davenport's congregation is, simply, false. This is not meant to suggest that Will did not attend St. Stephen - he may have - only that the records indicate clearly that he was never a member.

There is a second bit of William Ives lore in need of correction. It is been stated in the past that on arriving at Boston in 1635, Will resided in Cambridge/Watertown Massachusetts, near Boston, presumably to be near or live with his supposed kinsman, Miles Ives. As far as I have been able to discover, there is not the slightest bit of evidence to support this claim. Because the Ives name is relatively rare, they were probably related, and in view of the fact that Boston and Cambridge were mere villages at the time, the two men probably did meet, but that is really all that can be said about it.

Grace Ives

The following interesting Ives family story was provided by Jeanita Strong. Her husband is Donald Ives Strang.  His grandmother was Grace M. Ives who married Herbert T. Strang.  Grace's father was Charles Augustus Ives, born 1841 in Racine, Wisconsin.  Charles's father was Stephen N. Ives.  His father was Roland Ives, Sr.  

Grace Ives, born in 1885 in Davenport, Iowa, was the seventh of eight children of Charles Augustus Ives and Rosebelle Bullock Ives.  Grace was born into a railroad family.  Her father Charles was a conductor.  Her brothers, Robert S. Ives and William G. Ives also worked for the railroad.  In September 1902 Grace married Herbert T. Strang of Lake County, Illinois, who worked for the North Shore Electric Railroad.  They had 5 children.  

On May 15, 1919, Herbert died suddenly at his home in Highwood, Illinois.  The coroner determined there was strychnine in Herbert Strang's stomach.  Grace was then charged with poisoning her husband.  There were almost daily articles on the case from May 16, 1919 thru June 19, 1919 with a concluding article Oct 29, 1919 in the Waukegan Sun and the Waukegan Daily Gazette (Waukegan, Illinois). Grace was arrested at her home and taken to the jail in Waukegan, Illinois, leaving her children unattended.  Kenneth was 15, Donald was 13, Lenore was 9 and Thomas was 4.  

The newspaper articles at first hinted that Grace was having an affair with another man.  It appears from the newspaper articles that no poison was found at the home nor did Grace purchase any poison from any drugstore in the area. The states attorney James G. Welch was sure he could prove Grace poisoned Herbert.  R.J. Dady was the attorney for Grace.  On June 12, 1919, the judge denied the motion for a special grand jury as the grand jury was not in session.  By June 16, 1919 Grace Ives Strang was released on $25,000 bond.  Grace's brother, Will Ives (supervisor of the North Shore Electric R.R.) had spent most of his time working on her case since she was arrested.  

The bond was signed by a large number of business and professional men of Highland Park and Deerfield, Illinois.  The June 17, 1919 Waukegan Daily Gazette listed those who signed the bond.  Besides the businessmen, they included her brothers, Charles A. Ives of Erie, Pennsylvania and William G. Ives, R.L. Bullock, a cousin on her mother, Rosebelle Bullock Ives' side, and E.L. Terry, a brother-in-law.  On June 24, 1919, Grace took her children to live with her brother Charles A. Ives in Erie, Pennsylvania until the October grand jury.  

The last article that I have found thus far is Oct 29, 1919.  The grand jury did not indict Grace.  "Donald, the thirteen year old son of Mrs. Strang was one of the chief witnesses before the grand jury.  Although called by the prosecution, his testimony, more than that of anyone else, is said to have influenced the grand jury in failing to return an indictment.  The boy testified that on the night his father was taken ill, that he helped his father to place the food on the table, the father having returned home after the others had eaten.  He said he and his father ate the same food."  

Donald was called to testify before the grand jury every day for two weeks.  The article further stated that several witnesses testified that Mr. Strang had talk of suicide.   The grand stated that the evidence for murder also could point to suicide.  The grand jury left it open for the prosecution to further pursue the investigation.  She was told by my husband's aunt, Lenore, that the family had eaten supper together.  Her father had gotten up to get something for a migraine headache and had mistakenly taken the wrong thing.  She founnd that if that had been true why the poison was not found in the house and why this did not come out in the hearing.      

Jeanita said that can see why Grace's son Donald Robert Strang named his son Donald Ives Strang, in tribute of his mother. Grace's brother, Robert (Bob) Ives.  He was crushed between 2 railroad cars in Kansas City in 1918.  Robert was the superintendent of the electric railroad.

Need for Ives Male DNA Samples

I received this note from David Ives who publishes the IvesCentral genealogy page. I am posting it here to reach more people. “John Wilder  ([email protected] ) has been maintaining data on Ives DNA tests and information.  Thanks to his efforts, we now have a solid DNA profile and "signature" for the descendants of William Ives of New Haven.  BUT -- John needs male descendants of other Ives lines (who can provide their DNA data/information) to participate in this effort.  This includes Ives males who are descended from the southern Timothy Ives line, from the Massachusetts Thomas Ives line, and from the New York Franklin Alexander Ives line, among others.  If you fit into one of these categories, or know someone who does, please contact John at the noted e-mail address above. I do not. 

 

The Military Treason Trial of Sarah Hutchins

Ken Ives recently sent me this material through a comment and I wanted to elevate it to a post so it would be more accessible. It is much appreciated. What follows came from Ken.

There's an article in the spring edition of the National Archives' "Prologue" magazine that Ives researchers may find interesting. It is titled "All for a Sword: The Military Treason Trial of Sarah Hutchins". There's an on-line version of the article at the above link While the article focuses on the treason trial of

Sarah Hutchins, a Baltimore woman, near the end of the Civil War, it also discusses briefly the closely-related treason trial a New York stock broker named William Ives. This was William Jay Ives, b. abt 1833, son of Ansel Wilmot Ives. Though he was from New York, his family straddled the line during the war. His brother, Joseph, was a Colonel in the Confederate army, and an aide to Confederate president Jeff Davis.

He had another brother, Leonard, also in the Confederate army, who was mortally wounded at Gettysburg (and figures in the article). A third brother, David, served in the Union army. And finally, his brother Malcolm Ives was a war correspondent for the New York Herald, who was at one point charged with spying and imprisoned for several months, then released without a trial.

Ken also posted this on Ancestry, but your site may reach a somewhat different audience. He thinks it should be publicized because it is, as far as he knows, a completely unknown chapter in our family history. The research backing the article is quite good, done using primary sources, by a professor of history at Christopher Newport College in Virginia, and it fits perfectly with other information my own research has found on William Jay Ives and his siblings. He closed by thanking me ever so much for hosting this site, and especially for bringing Richard Ives' great work on the early Ives family to the rest of us.

 

 

Some More Information on William Ives in England

Richard Ives continues do some great work on the origins of our William Ives in England. We know for sure he boarded the True Love at age 28 to sail to the New World.  There are various theories on what happen before then. Here is one post on it - New Clues on the Parents of William Ives (1607 – 1648).

Richard wrote me recently, “In a will made drawn up in 1628, Thomas Ives, a well to do inhabitant of Langham, Rutland, dispossessed his eldest son, Wiliam Ives, making a big deal of leaving him precisely one shilling in his will. To his other sons, Thomas left £15 a piece. This was seven years before "our" William Ives left England, but I think it is interesting to note that in 1628, the year William Ives of Rutland was dispossessed, "our" William was 21 years old - a fact that may have impelled to Thomas Ives of Rutland to make his intentions in regard to his estate clear. Are William Ives of Rutland and William Ives, Boston immigrant the same person?”  He added in, "The Parish Map of 1624," you will find the Thomas Ives ("Iues") residence smack in the middle of Langham, the location of which can still be pinpointed in the town today see below.

 

In a second message Richard found the baptismal records of Langham Parish and he was able to locate William's baptismal record. He was born March 21, 1607, which would make him 28 years old in 1635, the age of our William Ives.

The then picture clouds a bit as Richard added in a third message - David Ives, an expert genealogist, discovered in the Langham Parish Burial Records a record of a "William Ives" being buried at Rutland on September 10, 1639.  No age or family connection of the deceased is provided.

Although this certainly does complicate matters, David and I agree that, far from discarding the notion that William Ives of Rutland is "our" William Ives, we ought to continue looking into the case. There are several reasons why we have come to this conclusion.

The first is, simply, that as far as we know, after a century and a half of numerous American members of the Ives family examining original documents in England, William Ives of Rutland is (as far as we know) the first whose date of birth exactly matches the age given by "our" William Ives to the King's agent the day he boarded the "Truelove." It is, of course, entirely possible that there were two William Ives of the same age living in England at the time, but the fact that the date of birth of William Ives of Rutland perfectly matches that of  "our" William remains powerfully suggestive.

The second is that if the "William Ives" who was buried in Langham on September 10, 1639, is the son of Thomas Ives of Langham, then a curious picture emerges. Born in 1607, William Ives of Rutland is disinherited at age 21, left with only a shilling in his father's will. Despite this, he either goes on living in Langham (or returns there later in life) and dies in the village in 1639 at age 32. For us, this scenario is little short of bizarre. It is nearly impossible to imagine a disinherited and shamed son continuing to live in Langham for 11 years after his stunning disinheritance. For one thing, with no property or money inherited from his father, how would he have made a living? As for the possibility of William leaving Langham and returning later, the idea that William, the prodigal son, left Langham after his disinheritance at age 21, only to return later and die at age 32 (death bed reconciliations notwithstanding), seems pretty unlikely as well.

Our conclusion is that the September, 1639, William Ives burial record for Langham may well refer to a child (baptized because he has a name) who was a nephew or cousin of the William Ives of Langham, born in 1607. The problematic bit of this theory, of course, is that there is no surviving baptismal record from Langham that we have been able to find so far for any such  child.

Richard concluded - So, there you have it. Unfortunately, "our" William Ives still refuses to reveal his origins in a conclusive way and remains, as they say down South, "as slippery as an eel in a barrel of oil."

Thanks to Richard for this great work and I wanted to share it with you in this post. 

 

William Ives Signature’s on the Freemen of New Haven

Here is a recently taken photo of the original list of "The Freemen of New Haven," that Richard Ives was able to retrieve via a genealogical researcher intermediary from the Connecticut State Archives at Hartford just a few days ago. You will find Will Ives' name listed third from the bottom of the left column. There is a blow up posted below the larger image. If you click on the image it will expand. 

 

Grave of Jeremiah and Hannah Ives

Thanks to D. Rochon who sent me the link - below is the picture of the grave of Hannah and Jeremiah Ives. It is in the Elmwood cemetery in Holyoke, MA. Captain Jeremiah Ives (5) was the son of Jonathn Ives (1716 - 1792). He was born on Nov. 19, 1738 in New Haven. He married Hannah Bassett on June 7, 1768 in New Haven, CT. Hannah was born on Dec. 26, 1739 in New Haven, CT. and died Sept. 14, 1803 in West Springfield, MA. Jeremiah served in the French and Indian War, enlisting twice in 1758 and 1760 in the Sixth Company from New Haven under Capt. Hitchcock. He bought land in Hamden, CT on February 16,1775 from David Woofter for 4 pounds, one shilling, and four pence (see below). Jeremiah fought in Revolutionary War. (See David Wooster) He later moved to West Springfield MA after 1780 and is listed in the 1790, 1800, 1810, 1820 US Census in W. Springfield.

Here is a link to more information on Jeremiah and Hannah Ives and their family. 

 

New Photos of 1966 Northampton Street, Holyoke, MA

I recently recieevd these great photos from D. Rochon who also provided this context: " I was driving down Northampton Street in Holyoke last Sunday and stopped to take a few pictures of 1966 Northampton Street (side view) from the Baptist Church Parking Lot. I thought you might enjoy them.  I lived across Carlton Street from this house from 1954 through 1978. Two of my childhood friends rented an attic apartment at 1966 Northampton Street, so we played there a lot. An elderly couple by the name of Ritterman owned the home at that time. We used to play on the snow banks of the Baptist Church.  In the springtime, there were beautiful white lilacs in the yard. As you can see, the house has been very well maintained. I admire the outstanding architecture of this era."

Ellen Ives is listed in the 1912 Holyoke Directory at 1966 Northampton St., along with her brother Dwight, a farmer. Here is a link to a 2003 picture. 

Update: i found out from Carl Eger, the owner of this home for some time that Dwight Ives, the original owner, was the head Deacon of the next door Baptist Church as well as the first President of the Holyoke National Bank, which was located on the north west side of High St, across from City Hall. He also had built, for his two sisters, the home adjacent to this home, which is down Carlton St (formerly aka Mechanic Street that was the first publicly accepted street in Holyoke). His sister, Ellen had moved in this house by 1912. 

  

 

New Clues on the Parents of William Ives (1607 – 1648)

I recently received some interesting clues on the parents of William Ives from Morgan Ives. Here is what he found – ancestry.com had a post for a woman named Allison Newhall who was working on her family tree. It is dated June 13, 2001 and has the ID# 10628. The entry has just a few lines about William and states that he was “born about 1585 in Wilby, England. He married Amy Orlingbury 13 August 1601 in Wilby. She was born about 1585 in Wilby.” The entry goes on to describe the birth of their son, William, in 1607 in Wilby, but does not provide a date of birth.

He found another post on ancestry.com under the heading Orr/Sundholm/Radulovich Family tree that was done by William Orr. It is dated 8/26/01 and has the ID# 11144. It contains information about William that indicates his passage on the True Love, and lists his parents as William Ives and Amy Orlingbury, but shows a birthdate of 9/19/1618 and birthplace of Ipswich, Suffolk, England.

He found a third post on ancestry under the James H. Ives family tree dated 3/29/01 that basically mimics the info in the Newhall post referenced above, i.e. the 1607 birthdate.

Morgan concluded that the question of when and where William was born is an open one. Wilby is about 100 miles west of Ipswich, so its certainly conceivable that they migrated from one to the other. To further cloud the picture there is also a Wilby in Norfolk which is only about 20 miles from Ipswich so that could also be a possibility.   I would add the Norfolk Wilby would fit what I have heard about William Ives but then my source is not conclusive.

Since there are no mention of primary sources on these posting on William Ives parents we have to treat them as clues but they are the best clues I have seen on William Ives parents that I have seen. He do know for sure from ship records  that he came on the ship True Love in 1635 at age 28 so the birth date of 1607 is accurate. I encourage any interested readers to explore these clues and let us know what you find. Thanks to Morgan for making these clues available. 

 

Current Photo of William Ives New Haven Property in 1640s

Richard Ives has again provided a great service to the readers of this blog. See - Record of William Ives Departure to New England in 1635 for an earlier contribution. What follows is his comments to go with the picture only slightly edited by me. He was in New Haven over the holidays and after some serious consultation of old maps was able to pinpoint the precise location of William Ives's home lot, as it appears on the 1641 Brockett map, drawn the year before William and Goodwife Ives' first child, Phebe, was born. Although the site today is, part of the parking lot of a medical building, he found it interesting nevertheless.

The photo seen on the left was taken at the west end of William's house lot - the first property that William was granted after his arrival at Quinnipiac in 1638.

(The photo was taken looking roughly due east.) William's lot was about 50 feet wide by 100 feet long and is pretty much contained by the area shown in the photograph. The hedge and chain link fence on the left side of the photo mark the northern boundary of his property. The snow piled up at the far end of the parking lot marks its eastern boundary. The southern boundary, parallel to the northern, was just about where the right side of the photo ends. The place where Richard was standing when he took the photo is just a few feet inside the western boundary of his house lot.

These days the area between the far end of the property, as seen in the photo, and the cubical white building in the distance is occupied by a busy highway, known as the "New Haven Connector." (You can't see any cars in the photo because the Connector, built in the 1960's on an old creek bed, is on a somewhat lower elevation than the parking lot.) In the 1630's the place now occupied by the Connector was West Creek, which flowed, left to right (roughly north to south) as seen in the photo.

By the time the creek reached the area below William's house it had widened into a salt marsh that extended to the Long Island Sound, which in those days was not more than two hundred yards off to the right (roughly south) as seen in the photo. From the eastern edge of his property (at the present-day far end of the parking lot in the photo) William would have been able to look out out over the marsh to the wooden bridge that in all likelihood he had helped to build across West Creek, probably in the summer of 1638.

Looking off to the right, he would have been able to see the Sound itself, a couple of hundred yards away. He would have had a splendid, unimpeded view of the rising sun.

William did not live in an area adjacent to the New Haven Green, site of the meeting house and market, but rather in the western "suburbs," along with thirteen other families, whose lots were lined up, side by side, on a gentle bluff, the higher reaches of which, somewhat to the west, would later come to be known as "Sodom Hill," and eventually just, "The Hill."

To reach the New Haven Green in those days, William walked along a path that led down into the marsh (in the direction of the cubicle white building in the photo) to the wooden bridge that was probably just wide enough for an oxcart to pass. Having crossed the bridge, he headed up the path to the top of the slope on the far side and headed east (just to the left of the wavy brownish parking lot in the photo) past other farms belonging to the settlement. The walk from his house to the Green on all but the snowiest days would have taken him fifteen to twenty minutes.

Directions- If you drive (or walk) to the junction of College Street and Congress Avenue in the area of New Haven just west of the Connector, then walk (roughly) east on Congress, you will come to Lafayette Street on the right. If you continue walking a few more steps, you will come to a place where Congress veers sharply right to connect with the "S. Frontage Road." (This little dog leg in the road is clearly visible on the Brockett map and later maps.)

At this point the northern portion of the medical building parking lot will be just ahead. A chain link fence, running along the right side of the Congress Street dog leg is the boundary of the parking lot of a rather imposing medical building. It also marks the boundary of William Ives' property in 1641.

If you visit the site, you will notice that the Long Island Sound is nowhere visible from anywhere on, or near the property. That is because over the last 350 years New Haven town has expanded into the old harbor, which means that the Sound, these days, is one half a mile to the south. 

I really Richard’s photo and comments. I have long wanted to go to New Haven and do exactly what he did. Now I will have his photo to further guide me.

 

 

Request for Contact with Direct Descendants of William Ives

Richard Ives who provided the wonderful pictures of the record of William Ives departure to New England is writing a book on the William Ives family in America. As part of his research he would like to contact direct William Ives descendants on the male line.  I am eagerly looking forward to seeing his work. It is vital part of the story of our country that starts long before the American Revolution. Anyone interested in this project could contact Richard directly at [email protected].

 

 

Record of William Ives Departure to New England in 1635

Thanks to Richard Ives of Sag Harbor New York for the content for this post, both the text and the photos. It is really appreciated. Richard is the author of "Of Tigers and Men" (Doubleday 1997). He is currently working on a book about his branch of the Ives family in America. 

What follows are Richard's words: Here are a few photos of the London port book from the 1630's that lists the passengers on the "Truelove."  If you look carefully at the bottom of the left page in the righthand column, you will find "Wm. Ives" with his age, 28. This is not William's signature. As William was about to board the "Truelove" the Royal Inspector asked him to swear an oath to King Charles, which William promptly did. He then asked William his age, and William told him. The Inspector wrote William's name and age in the book and allowed William to board.

First here is the cover of the port book.

   

Here is the page that mentions William Ives. It is the very last name in the right column on the left page. You can click on the picture to slightly enlarge it. 

 

Herer is an enlargement of William's name.

Here is more context from Richard. Because writing of that period is so difficult and the Truelove passenger list is so hard to read, I thought I would translate a few things. First of all, the heading of the list (which appears at the middle of the page on which William's name is listed) reads: "xix, Sept. 1635" meaning September 19, 1635.  The words just beneath the heading read:  "Theis under written names are to be transported to New England imbarqued on the Truelove, Jo: Gibbs, Mr  the men have taken the oathes of Alleg: and Suprem:"  The "Mr" stands for "Master," meaning master of the ship, Joseph Gibbs. The "Alleg: and Suprem" mean oaths of allegiance and supremacy.

The first name in the left hand column of the passenger list is "Thomas Burchard - 40." The names of Burchard's family follow. As for William, whose name appears at the bottom of the right-hand column, the name listed just above his is that of little Joseph ("Jo") Preston, age 3. The names of five other Preston family members are listed above Joseph's. The Prestons must have boarded the Truelove just before William did. I suspect that all adult male passengers were asked to place their hand on the Bible as they swore allegiance to the Crown.

By the way, there are listings on the internet that say that William was on board the "Hector" with John Davenport in 1637. He was not. It turns out that well-meaning people have assumed that William was on board because of a misreading of a passage in Isabel Calder's New Haven history.  Calder talks about the fact that William was a member of Davenport's London congregation and implies that William was on board the Hector with Davenport. She obviously believed that he was on board. The reason Calder made this mistake was, simply, that she was unaware of the Truelove passenger list and therefore unaware that William Ives was already in Boston in 1637.

(By the way, while I was at the National Archives, I inspected the port book that ought to have included the passenger list for the "Hector," the ship that brought Davenport, Eaton, et. al. to Boston. Regrettably, the book is terribly damaged. Many pages are incomplete, many seem to be missing altogether. It looks as though the book was water damaged at some point. So, we may never be able to inspect the "Hector" passenger list.)

 On his arrival in Boston, William Ives may well have stayed with Puritan divine, John Cotton. Davenport and Cotton were friends. Davenport had hidden Cotton from Royal authorities in London before Cotton's departure for New England. William was a member of Davenport's London congregation. So the connection between Ives and Cotton is pretty straightforward. I suspect that William may have traveled to Boston as a kind of forerunner, or emissary, for Davenport and Eaton. At the very least, William probably remained in contact with Davenport and Eaton by letter until they departed from London on the Hector.

Here is the location of the archives where the book is kept.

Here is the sign in front of the building.  

Post Script: The requirement for allegiance to the king before sailing was interesting as John Davenport and his congregation were on the outs with the king. Davenport was a Puritan and his views became known to the repressive head of the English Church, Archbishop Laud. When Laud got the support of the king in 1633, Davenport hid for three months and then fled the city under disguise and went to Holland where he was made assistant Pastor of the English Puritan Church there.

Not happy in exile, he came back to London in 1636 with the idea of emigrating to New England. He and his Oxford schoolmate, Theophilus Eaton, a wealthy merchant born in Buckinghamshire, were both members of the Massachusetts Bay Company but Davenport’s name was kept secret for fear of repression, even thought there many known Puritans in the company. They assembled a group of supporters, including Thomas Yale, David Atwater, John Cooper, William Peck and their families and sailed from England for Boston in 1637 on the Hector. William Ives was already in the Boston area and joined them on their move to New Haven

 

Captain Edwin Burke Ives 1884-1958

Here is the obituary I received from Sue Vetter Wemett for Captain E.B.Ives, of Verona, KS, 1884-1958. I greatly appreciate it and wanted to make it more visible.

Lincoln Sentinel-Republican, April 3, 1958

E.B. Ives

Edwin Burke Ives was born at Nevada, Mo., June 1, 1884, and passed away at his store in Vesper, Kan., March 18, 1958.

At the age of 16 he joined the U.S. Navy and in four years of service saw the world. He served during the Spanish American War and was honorably discharged in May 1905 with the rank of quartermaster.

In 1910 he was married to Amelia Mae Swartz of Salina and the young couple made their home in that city, operating a grocery store near Kansas Wesleyan University.

During World War I, Mr. Ives volunteered for duty with the U.S. Army, Aug. 1, 1917, and three months later was commissioned a second lieutenant. He served overseas in all the major engagements of World War I where he was assigned to the 2nd Division, Ninth Infantry. He was discharged with the rank of Captain in October 1919 after being decorated with the Croix De Guerre (with palms), the Distinguished Service Cross and the Victory Medal. He was in Germany for a short time after the Armistice but returned to the States when his wife died at Salina during the flu epidemic.

Following World War I, Mr. Ives returned to traveling sales work, opening the sales territory of New Mexico and Arizona for Folger and Company and later opening southwest Texas for sales and carload distribution for Wilson and Company. He organized and established the fresh Provision Company, now one of southwest Texas’ major provision companies.

In 1929 or 1930, Mr. Ives returned to Kansas, selling store equipment, refrigerator cases and similar lines. He acquired the old Vesper bank building late in the 1930s and worked out of there until World War II.

At the age of 58, Mr. Ives re-enlisted in the Army. He retained his rank of captain and was assigned to the Provost Marshall’s department in California. Later he was transferred to the Transport Command and served aboard ship in the Pacific until he was 60, at which time it is mandatory that line officers be placed on inactive-duty status.

Returning to Vesper, Mr. Ives devoted his time to his store and established a good business, always intensely interested in his community. He was a member of the American Legion Post 165 of Lincoln.

Mr. Ives leaves the following relatives: A son, Howard Ives and family of Beaumont, Texas; a daughter, Mrs. Margaret Bell of Phoenix, Ariz.; a sister, Mrs. R.J. Coleman of Phoenix, and eight grandchildren.

The funeral services for Mr. Ives were conducted by the Rev. William L. Staub, minister of the Vesper Presbyterian church, at the Hall Memorial Chapel Saturday, March 22, at 2 o’clock p.m. Interment was made in Gypsum Hill cemetery at Salina.

Ives Marriages in North Adams Massachusetts

One of the readers of this blog mentioned that in Book No. 1 of the First Series of North Adams Massachusetts Town Records, the following marriages are listed:

Page 47 7/1/1790 George Hodge - Sarah Ives
Page 53 7/25/1792 Abraham Cook - Esther Ives
Page 58 5/9/1793 Joshua Knapp - Lydia Ives
Page 59 12/25/1797 Nehemiah Hodge - Rene Ives
Page 63 1/26/1806 John Chamberlain - Lomira Ives
Page 64 3/24/1805 Amasa Ives Jr. - Betsey White
Page 64 4/07/1805 Ruluff Butler - Matilda Ives

This reader is especially interested in information on the last couple, Ruluff Butler and Matilda Ives. If you know anything please leave a message as a comment.

Other Descendants of William Ives - Part One

This is a list of descendants of William Ives from web site created by Roderic Davis. They are all descendents of John Ives, William’s older son and brother of Joseph Ives, our ancestor, so they are not direct ancestors, but cousins of the line of Joseph Ives.

IVES, Charles Edward [1874-1954] – American composer Charles was better known in his lifetime as a successful insurance salesman. Few of his works were publicly performed before he stopped composing in 1930. In 1947, Ives was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his Symphony No. 3. That happy event – and Leonard Bernstein championing his cause – were instrumental in rehabilitating Ives' reputation as an American genius of musical innovation.

IVES, James Merritt [1824-1895] – American artist & publisher – partner in Currier & Ives, Civil War veteran. "Currier & Ives" was the name used by a New York printmaking firm from 1857 until 1907. This business had been in operation since 1834, first as Stodart & Currier (1834) and then as N. Currier (1835 to 1856). Though the name changed, all the prints produced by this firm are usually referred to as "Currier & Ives prints."

IVES, Icle Ivanhoe "Burl" [1909-1995] – American folk singer, actor and author. Born of humble origins in Bible Belt Illinois, he retained that character throughout his life. He was singing songs taught him by his tobacco-chewing grandmother at the age of four and also learned the banjo and guitar at a early age. After high school, and with a promising career as a football star before him, he threw that up – dropping out of college in 1930 with but fifteen cents in his pocket – to hitch-hike around North America as a sort of itinerant minstrel, collecting folk songs. In a career spanning nearly sixty years, he became one of America's best-known folk artists

OLMSTED, Frederick Law [1822-1903] – American landscape architect He is generally considered to have invented the profession. Prior to taking up landscape design, Olmsted traveled throughout the Ante-bellum South, writing on conditions there, especially as relating to the institution of slavery. He was responsible for a large number of park designs, both public and private, either alone or in collaboration with other architects, notably Calvert Vaux. Works include Manhattan's Central Park, the Ashville, NC, Biltmore estate of George Washington Vanderbilt, and Downing Park of Newburgh, NY

IVES, Chauncey Bradley [1810-94] – American sculptor - A sculptor who played a significant role in making sculpture in America generally popular, Chauncey Ives completed many idealized portrait busts and life-size Neoclassical figures in marble.

IVES, Joseph Christmas, Col. [1829-1868] – CSA & American Army officer, explorer, surveyor and cartographer. Resigned his commission (1861) as Lieutenant in the USA to join the Confederacy, where he rose to the rank of Colonel, serving as an aide to Jefferson Davis. He is best known for his exploration of the Colorado River before the war. In the winter of 1857/58, as a 1st Lieutenant of Corps of Topographical Engineers, U.S. Army, he was commissioned to lead an expedition to the Colorado River to ascertain its navigability as a supply route to the several outposts in the region. He shipped a disassembled 54-foot iron-hulled steamboat up the Sea of Cortés (a/k/a Gulf of California) to the mouth of the Colorado. Assembling the steamboat, the expedition steamed up the Colorado to the rapids at Black Canyon, near present day Las Vegas, NV. They then proceeded overland to explore the floor of the Grand Canyon (the first non-Indian to do so), and other parts of Northern Arizona and Southern Utah.

Other Descendants of William Ives - Part Two

This is a list of descendants of William Ives from the web site created by Roderic Davis. They are all descendents of John Ives, William’s older son and brother of Joseph Ives, our ancestor, so they are not direct ancestors, but cousins of the line of Joseph Ives. (see part one also).

IVES, Brayton [1840-1914] General – American military commander, Civil War veteran

IVES, Caleb Smith, Rev. [1798-1849] – Protestant Episcopal missionary to Texas (then part of Mexico); Established first Episcopal parish in Texas in 1838.

IVES, Eli, Dr. [1779-1861] – American doctor and Yale professor

IVES, Ethel [1894-1928] – Nebraska's first aviatrix (a/k/a Ethel Ives Tillotson)

IVES, Frederic Eugene [1856-1937] – American inventor – did work in halftone printing, color photography, microscopy. His son, Herbert Eugene Ives, was also a well-known inventor and physicist.

IVES, George Homer [1835-36--1863] – American bandit and villain - was a member of the infamous Plummer Gang in the time following the 1863 discovery of gold in the Black Hills. Bold and brutal, he came to a bad end with a murder, trial and hanging. The controversy surrounding these events led to a two month spree of 22 hangings by a vigilante mob and, ultimately, to the formation of the Montana Territory in 1864 to restore order. There have been recent attempts to rehabilitate Ives' reputation, but these will surely come too late to be of any personal advantage to him. They still hang him in effigy every year during "Vigilante Days" in Virginia City, MT.

IVES, Gideon Sprague [1846-1927] – American politician - Civil War veteran; Minnesota Lt. Governor 1891-1893.

IVES, Herbert Eugene [1882-1953] – American physicist and inventor - son of Frederic Eugene Ives (qv); Inventions in electric telephotography; First transmission (1924) of pictures by wire, resulted in first public demonstration (1927) of television, for which he was awarded (1927) the John Scott Medal.

IVES, Irving McNeil [1896-1962] U.S. Senator, NY (1947-59)

IVES, Levi Silliman, Bishop [1797-1867] – American cleric, Bishop of North Carolina

IVES, Mary Ann (Brainerd) [1810-82] – Hawaiian Mission (Sandwich Islands) (1836-54)

IVES, Rev.Mark [1808-1885] – Hawaiian Mission (Sandwich Islands) (1836-50)

IVES, William Bullock, MP [1841-1899] – Canadian politician - Commerce Minister (1894-96)

Our Cousins Mike Love, Amelia Earhart, and Others

Here are other cousins from Gary Boyd's reearch. He documents connections between famous people, royalty, and New England families in a regular column he publishes on the ancestors of well known people.

Through William and Elizabeth Peck of New Haven, Albert Ives also shares a common ancestor with the following:

1. Michael Edward “Mike” Love of the Beach Boys, born in Baldwin Hills, Los Angeles Co., CA on March 15, 1941.

2. Harvey Williams Cushing, 1869-1939, well known neurological surgeon.

3. Lewis Cass, 1782-1866, governor of the Michigan Territory, U.S. Secretary of War and of State, Democratic presidential candidate in 1848

Through Robert Day and Editha Stebbins Day of Cambridge and Hartford, Albert Ives shares a common ancestor with:

1. Amelia Mary Earhart, 1898-1937, aviator (wife of George Palmer Putnam II) and daughter of Edwin Stanton Earhart & Amy Otis.

2. Lyman Beecher, 1775-1863, well known Presbyterian clergyman, and Roxana Foote, his first wife.

Our Cousin Richard Gere

Here is another Ives cousin. A recent article by Gary Boyd Roberts, who also documented our royal linage through the Yale and Lloyd families, provides details on our link the Richard Gere, the actor. The descendents of Albert Ives are related to Richard Gere through two connections. Richard Tiffany Gere was born in Philadelphia August 31, 1949 and appears on page G-691 of The Families of George Geer and Thomas Geer: A Supplement to the 1923 Geer Genealogy, Part 2, published by the Geer Family Association in 1991.

He is the eldest son and second child of Homer George Gere (b. 1922) and Doris Anna Tiffany (b. 1924), and grandson of Albert William Gere (1889-1967), Hazel Marjorie Snover, William Stanton Tiffany, and Anna Rebecca Stevens. His movies include: Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), Days of Heaven (1978), American Gigolo (1980), and the American remake of Breathless (1983), as well as An Officer and a Gentleman (1982), The Cotton Club (1984), King David (1985), Pretty Woman (1990), And the Band Played On (1993), Runaway Bride (1999), Autumn in New York (2000), and Chicago (2002).

Richard Gere and Albert Ives are both descended from Stephen Hopkins, passenger on the Mayflower, through the Rich family that married into the Dunbars. They are also both descended from William Peck, one of the co-founders of New Haven. William Peck's granddaughter Ruth was the mother of Ruth Atwater who married Samuel Ives, grandson of William.

Ivesville and Ives Corner, Connecticut - Elam Ives founder

I heard about Ives from Jim in a several comments on my summary of Joseph Ives, our common ancestor. He wrote that the area of Hamden that many Ives settled in is called Mt. Carmel. The area where some had their homes and factories was called Ivesville. So I looked it up on Google. There was a lot on Ivesville, Arkansas that is still going strong.

I found several links to Ivesville CT including this summary from Roadside Thoughts, “Our information shows that the community of Ivesville no longer exists. Although Ivesville is gone, we would like to be sure that it continues to be remembered by having a presence on our website. As we gather information about Ivesville, we'll be sure to add our findings here. While we don't have the exact location of the community of Ivesville, we believe that it would have been located within the boundaries of present-day New Haven County.”

Ivesville was established by Elam Ives, born in 1762, who developed an early industrial village centered around the fabrication of indusrtrial parts. Although the name was bestowed on the area after his death (see below). His house still stands on Ives Street in what is now Ives Corner. When Long Island Sound was blockaded by the British during the War of 1812, he established an overland freight route between New York and Boston to keep goods moving. Elam is a descedent of Wiiliam and Joseph Ives - William > Joseph > Ebenezer > James > Elam so he must have known his cousins Jonathan and Jeremiah who lived in the area.

Much of this information comes from the Hamden Historical Society through Jim. In 1848 the tracks of the Canal railroad line were laid on the west side of Whitney Avenue in Mount Carmel. A coal yard, water tower, and station platform were built opposite Ives Street. The area came to be known as Ives Station and was changed to Ivesville after a station was built a few miles north. A post office was added in James Ives store in 1853, with his brother Lucius as the postmaster.

The railroad was moved in 1888 making the shipping of the industrial goods more difficult. This loss, coupled with the waning of the carriage industry, foreshadowed the decline of manufacturing in the area. By the early 20th century much of the manufacturing had stopped. The area changed from an industrial village to another commercial center in Hamden. The town stopped being a separate entity.

I also found Ives Corner in New Haven County and it still exists between Hamden and Cheshire and is described on place names as well as map quest. Jim wrote that Ives Corner is actually the corner of Whitney Avenue and Ives Street in Mt Carmel.

Ives Family Moves to North Carolina Part Three

S. A. Ives and his family are listed in the 1900 US census for Pinebluff, NC. He is listed as a clergyman, home owner, free of mortgage, married 18 years, with other details consistent with information in Vols. 2 and 3 of this book. Alice Dunbar Ives is listed, as Mrs. S. A. Ives, as Corresponding Agent for the Board of Trade, Pinebluff, NC 1903, 1904. His cousin Ellen Ives from Holyoke (see Vol. 2) contributed to the support of the Pinebluff church.

In Pinebluff, Sumner Abraham built a house for each of his sons and named them after provinces in Canada. His son, Albert, was a skilled carpenter and helped with the construction. Albert’s house was named Alberta and Dwight’s house was named Ontario. S. A. Ives retired in 1920, at age 81, and he died on November 7, 1925 in Pinebluff, North Carolina, at age 86, and was buried in Pinebluff Cemetery on Nov. 9, 1925. Alice died around the same time.

Ives Family Moves to North Carolina Part Two

In January 7, 1908, the youngest son of S. A. Ives, Dwight H., became the first new member by baptism since the church’s founding in 1900. On September 27, 1912, Dwight became the first one to receive a license to preach by the new church. The original wooden church buried to the ground in an electrical storm on June 8, 1925.

A building committee for a new church was formed in July 8, 1925 and it included Prof. J. D. Ives. A new brick church was completed in 1929 and named the Ives Memorial Baptist Church. Dwight H. Ives presided at the first services upon completion, held on the August 18, 1929. Dwight preached again at the church on occasion and during World War Two, he acted as an assistant preacher. To help complete the building Ellen Ives gave $1000 so there was no debt when it was finished. She later donated $2000 in 1932 to be held in trust fund by the Baptist State Convention of Massachusetts with the income to be given semi-annually to the Pinebluff church as long as services were held. This donation was likely as part of her estate. By 1950, church membership had increased tenfold to 80 members.

Ives Family Moves to North Carolina Part One

In the winter of 1898/99, Sumner Abraham Ives moved his family from Thompson, CT to Pinebluff, NC where he became the first Baptist minister at age 59, following a family tradition of founding new churches from the early days in CT. His son Judson later wrote a history of the church he founded. He said they were attracted by advertisements on the growth of Pinebluff by the Seaboard Air Line Railroad (see following section on Pinebluff and the area).

Soon after they arrived, church services were held in private homes, with the first services in the home of L. S. Packard. In the first report of the new church on March 4, 1900, S. A. Ives, his wife and two older sons were listed as four of the original eight church members. The other four members were the Rev. R. M. Hilburn and his family. Lucy C., F. A., and F. F. They were listed as from the Zion Baptist Church in Bladen Co. NC. The first church building was erected in 1903 and called the First Baptist Church. On Dec. 1, 1900, the church appointed Mrs. Alice Dunbar Ives as the first delegate to the Baptist convention which was held in Raleigh, NC.

Ives Family Moves to North Carolina

In the winter of 1898/99, Sumner Abraham Ives moved his family from Thompson, CT to Pinebluff, NC where he became the first Baptist minister at age 59, following a family tradition of founding new churches from the early days in CT. His son Judson later wrote a history of the church he founded. He said they were attracted by advertisements on the growth of Pinebluff by the Seaboard Air Line Railroad.

Soon after they arrived, church services were held in private homes, with the first services in the home of L. S. Packard. In the first report of the new church on March 4, 1900, S. A. Ives, his wife and two older sons were listed as four of the original eight church members. The other four members were the Rev. R. M. Hilburn and his family. Lucy C., F. A., and F. F. They were listed as from the Zion Baptist Church in Bladen Co. NC. The first church building was erected in 1903 and called the First Baptist Church. On Dec. 1, 1900, the church appointed Mrs. Alice Dunbar Ives as the first delegate to the Baptist convention which was held in Raleigh, NC.

In January 7, 1908, the youngest son of S. A. Ives, Dwight H., became the first new member by baptism since the church’s founding in 1900. On September 27, 1912, Dwight became the first one to receive a license to preach by the new church. The original wooden church buried to the ground in an electrical storm on June 8, 1925. A building committee for a new church was formed in July 8, 1925 and it included Prof. J. D. Ives. A new brick church was completed in 1929 and named the Ives Memorial Baptist Church.

Dwight H. Ives presided at the first services upon completion, held on the August 18, 1929. Dwight preached again at the church on occasion and during World War Two, he acted as an assistant preacher. To help complete the building Ellen Ives gave $1000 so there was no debt when it was finished. She later donated $2000 in 1932 to be held in trust fund by the Baptist State Convention of Massachusetts with the income to be given semi-annually to the Pinebluff church as long as services were held. This donation was likely as part of her estate. By 1950, church membership had increased tenfold to 80 members.

S. A. Ives and his family are listed in the 1900 US census for Pinebluff, NC. He is listed as a clergyman, home owner, free of mortgage, married 18 years, with other details consistent with information in Vols. 2 and 3 of this book. Alice Dunbar Ives is listed, as Mrs. S. A. Ives, as Corresponding Agent for the Board of Trade, Pinebluff, NC 1903, 1904. His cousin Ellen Ives from Holyoke (see Vol. 2) contributed to the support of the Pinebluff church. In Pinebluff, Sumner Abraham built a house for each of his sons and named them after provinces in Canada. His son, Albert, was a skilled carpenter and helped with the construction. Albert’s house was named Alberta and Dwight’s house was named Ontario. S. A. Ives retired in 1920, at age 81, and he died on November 7, 1925 in Pinebluff, North Carolina, at age 86, and was buried in Pinebluff Cemetery on Nov. 9, 1925. Alice died around the same time.

Before I look at the families that married into the Ives family in Massachusetts, I will first provide some historical context with a look at early beginnings in Boston and the Springfield area. Then, I will cover the stories of the Day, Humiston, and Bishop families. The Day family started in Boston before moving to the Springfield area. The Day and Humiston families started in New Haven with the Ives before moving to the Springfield area.

Reverend Sumner Abraham Ives (1839 - 1925)

Reverend Sumner Abraham Ives (8) was the son of Dr. Sumner Ives (1799 - 1844). He was born on Oct. 21, 1839 in Suffield, CT and his father died when he was 5. He moved with his mother and sisters to Holyoke some time before 1862. On Feb. 28, 1866, he was certified as approved as a teacher for the school in District No. 2, South Hadley, MA by the school committee: Norman Preston & Elliot Montague (see below). He was living in Newton, MA in 1873, studying with the Newton Theological Seminary. He traveled through Maine later in the 1870s raising money for the Northern Baptist Convention. In Alfred, ME he met Alice Dunbar who was the daughter of the local Baptist minister. They married on Sept. 19, 1879, in Alfred. In Alfred, he preached in a meeting house that was also used for other purposes such as the meeting of the town selectmen.

Alice Dunbar was born on August 12, 1857 in Alfred, ME and died after 1921. Alice is listed in the 1880 US Census as a single school teacher living at home (see Dunbar family). Mrs. S. A. Ives is listed as Corresponding Agent for the Board of Trade, Pinebluff, NC 1903, 1904.

Sumner Abraham was a Baptist minister in Canada for several years before serving as minister of the Central Baptist Church in Thompson, CT in the mid 1890s. In the winter of 1898/99 he moved the family to Pinebluff, NC to found the first Baptist Church there. He died in November 7, 1925 in Pinebluff, North Carolina at age 86.

1. Sumner Albert, born on July 23, 1882 in Alfred, ME and died on Dec. 18, 1944 in Greenville, SC. He married Gladys Sharp and they had three children: Sumner Albert (1911-1984), Eulalia Sharp ( 1913-1996), and Alice Dunbar (1916-).

2. Judson Dunbar, born on Feb 19, 1884 in Alfred ME and died in 1971. He did not marry.

3. Dwight H. born on Oct. 9, 1893 in Alfred, ME and died in 1969 in Pinebluff, NC. He married Virginia Bogas and they had two children, Virginia Gregory and Dwight Humiston, Jr.

Tomorrow I will cover the Sumner Abraham Ives family's move to North Carolina.

Dr. Sumner Ives (1799 - 1844)

Dr. Sumner Ives (7) was the son of Abraham Ives (1769 - 1855). He was born on Sept. 11, 1799*. He married Sarah Humiston on Nov. 26, 1829* in W. Springfield (see Humiston family). The Ives and Humiston families are listed on the same census sheets in the 1820 census, suggesting they were neighbors and the families are also both originally from New Haven and Hamden and they moved to West Springfield around the same time so they must have known each other for generations. Their intension to be married was recorded on Oct. 31, 1829* in W. Springfield and they were probably married shortly afterward as was the custom.

They lived in Suffield, CT (1836/39-1844), where he is listed in the 1840 US Census, and he died Oct. 22, 1844 in Suffield. His brother, Dwight, was minister of the Second Baptist Church in Suffield while he lived there. In the marriage record he is recorded from Suffield, CT while she is from W. Springfield. Sarah was born Dec. 26, 1803 in W. Springfield, MA and died on Nov 23, 1875 in Holyoke, MA. Sumner was as a doctor in Suffield, CT and they appear to have moved there from W. Springfield between 1836 and 1839. Sumner Ives died Oct. 22, 1844 in Suffield.

Sarah then moved to Holyoke to live with her brother, Bishop Humiston, between 1850 and 1860 bringing along four of her children, who were ages 14 – 5 when their father died in 1844. Sarah Humiston Ives refers to an Uncle Bishop to her son, Sumner Abraham in correspondence from Holyoke, Oct. 25, 1873. The 1860 and 1870 Census records for Sarah’s family follows. The five children of Sumner and Sarah are:

1. Eunice, born 1830 W. Springfield, MA, died in Holyoke MA April 17, 1878.

2. Sarah, born 1832 W. Springfield, MA, died in Suffield, CT Dec. 17, 1850.

3. Frances, born Dec. 12, 1834 W. Springfield, MA, died in 1862 in Holyoke, MA.

4. Mary, born 1836 W. Springfield, MA, remained single. Mary was living in Saxonville, ME in 1873. She wrote to her brother Sumner Abraham in Aug. 5, 1906 from Holyoke and Feb. 27, 1907 from upstate New York. In this correspondence, Mary refers frequently to the happy times they had in childhood, growing up together at their Uncle Bishop’s farm on Homestead Ave, Holyoke. She and Sumner retained a ¼ interest in the farm when Bishop died but heir cousin, Caleb, eventually had to sell it around 1910 as the upkeep was too much as he grew older. She is listed in Holyoke Directory in 1902 and 1912. She is also listed in the 1910 US Census in Holyoke as 76, single and owner of her home free of mortgage.

5. Sumner Abraham, born Oct. 21, 1839 in Suffield, CT, married Alice Dunbar Sept. 19, 1879, Alfred, ME, died in 1924 in Pinebluff, NC age 85. They had 3 children: S. Albert (1882-1944), Judson Dunbar (1884-1971), Dwight (1893-1969).

Abraham Ives (1769 - 1855)

Abraham Ives (6) was the son of Jeremiah Ives. He was born on 1769 in Hamden, CT and christened on June 1773 at the Congregational Church., Hamden. He came to W. Springfield with his family before 1790, where they are listed in the 1790 US Census. He married Eunice Day on Jan. 22, 1795* in W. Springfield. Their marriage is recorded in W. Springfield but the intension is not recorded a usually occurs. They are both recorded as from W. Springfield. Abraham is listed as a head of household in W. Springfield in the US Census of 1800, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850. The 1820 Census results are on the following page. Eunice was born 1771* in Springfield, MA and died there in 1844* (Her parents were Joel and Eunice Day – see upcoming Day family posts).

Both Abraham and Eunice Ives were listed as early members of the First Baptist Church in Holyoke, MA joining in April 28, 1816 with their son, Dwight joining in April 2, 1826 – from The History of the First Baptist Church of Holyoke, Mass., by Pastor Jesse A. Hungate. Abraham died Nov. 16, 1855 in West Springfield, MA at age 86. He and Eunice had four children, all born in W. Springfield:

1. Sumner, born Sept. 11, 1799,* married Sarah Humiston on Nov. 26, 1829. They lived in Suffield, CT (1836/39-1844), and he died Oct. 22, 1844 in Suffield. They had five children: Eunice (1830-1878), Sarah (1832-1850), Frances (1834-1862), Mary (1836 – after 1907), Sumner Abraham (1839-1924).

2. Eunice, born Feb. 16, 1801*, and died Aug. 24, 1856 in Jackson, MI. She married Leonard Vanhorn,
recorded in W. Springfield.

3. Abraham, born Aug. 14, 1803,* married Harriet Knowles on Nov. 11, 1832 in W. Springfield, MA. They are both from W. Springfield and their intension was recorded in Nov. 11, 1832. They had four children, born in W. Springfield: Ann, Dwight Henry (born Jan. 28, 1836*), Ellen H. (born June 17, 1844*), and Julia B (born Feb. 22, 1846*). At some point Dwight and Ellen, at least, moved to Holyoke (see following description of the town at the time). Ellen is the cousin in the Ives letters and last lived at 1966 Northampton St, Holyoke (see below). She is listed in the 1912 Holyoke Directory at 1966 Northampton St., along with her brother Dwight, a farmer, and in the 1902 Directory at 469 Northampton St, along with her brother Dwight, a farmer, and sister, Julia B. The house at 469 Northampton St. did not exist in 2003. She never married and passed on a room of furniture to each of her cousins. The S. Albert Ives family received the bedroom furniture which is still in the family. The daughters also received some of her jewelry. Ellen died around 1933. Shortly before she died, Ellen invited all the Ives to her home. The Albert Ives family drove up from Greenville, SC.

4. Dwight, born Sept. 20, 1805*, married Julia A. Arms before 1844. He was ordained the pastor of the First Baptist Church in W. Springfield in January 1836, next he was minister in Suffield, CT and Conway, MA. In Suffield he was pastor of the Second Baptist Church beginning in 1840 while his brother, Sumner, lived there. He was so zealous in his search for new members and powerful in his sermons that he gained the nickname, “Priest Ives.” He also introduced a new plan to gain financial support. Everyone wanted to sit near the front so he began to charge for the seats with the front seats costing more. At this point everyone now wanted the cheap seat sin the back, even some of the oldest families that felt they were entitled to the front seats under the old arrangement. He died on Dec. 27, 1875 in Conway, MA and is buried in Howland Cemetery, Conway, MA.

Captain Jeremiah Ives (1738 - 1825)

Captain Jeremiah Ives (5) was the son of Jonathn Ives (1716 - 1792). He was born on Nov. 19, 1738 in New Haven. He married Hannah Bassett on June 7, 1768 in New Haven, CT. Hannah was born on Dec. 26, 1739 in New Haven, CT. and died Sept. 14, 1803 in West Springfield, MA. Jeremiah served in the French and Indian War, enlisting twice in 1758 and 1760 in the Sixth Company from New Haven under Capt. Hitchcock. He bought land in Hamden, CT on February 16,1775 from David Woofter for 4 pounds, one shilling, and four pence (see below). Jeremiah fought in Revolutionary War. (See David Wooster) He later moved to West Springfield MA after 1780 and is listed in the 1790, 1800, 1810, 1820 US Census in W. Springfield. The 1790 Census has his household as 2 males over 16 and 5 females which suggests that either Abraham, age 31, or Joseph, age 29, had left home. Jeremiah died 1825 at age 87 in W. Springfield, recorded there. Jeremiah and Hannah had six children:

1. Abraham born about 1769 in Hamden, CT, married Eunice Day Jan. 22, 1795, died Nov. 16, 1855, W. Springfield, MA. They had four children: Sumner 1799-1844), Eunice (1801-1856), Abraham (1803-), Dwight (1805-1875).

2. Joseph born Feb. 2, 1771 in Hamden, married Sarah Bishop Mar. 18, 1801, died Dec. 21, 1830, recorded in W. Springfield, MA. She was born in Feb. 3, 1777 in New Haven Co. and died on Aug. 21, 1822 in W. Springfield.

3. Hannah, born June 11, 1773 in Hamden, married Elijah Ely on Dec. 4, 1801 in W. Springfield, died Mar. 9, 1831.

4. Sarah, born Jul 23, 1775 in Hamden, CT, married Benjamin Ely Dec. 4, 1801 in W. Springfield, died June 1, 1849

5. Rebecca, born Oct. 29, 1777 in Hamden, CT.

6. Abigail, born Feb. 17, 1780 in Hamden, CT.

From the deed passing land from David and Mary Wooster to Jeremiah Ives (original still in family): “To all people to whom there presents shall come. Greeting. Know ye that We David Wooster and Mary Wooster of the town and county of New Haven in the colony of Conneticutt. For the consideration of four pounds, one shilling, and four pence lawful money received to my full satisfaction of Jeremiah Ives of said town. Do give, grant, bargain, sell, and confirm unto the said Jeremiah Ives and unto his heirs and (description of land and location follows – hard to read)

Will is dated 16th day of February in the 15th year of the reign of our sovereign lord, George the 3rd of Great Britain, Anno Domini 1775. Witnesses: Sam Bishop, Stephen Ball

Captain Jonathan Ives (1716 - 1792)

Captain Jonathan Ives (4) was the son of Samuel Ives (1677 - 1726). He was born on Mar. 14, 1716 in North Haven. He was christened on July 8, 1716 at the First Congregational Church in New Haven, CT. Jonathan settled in the Mount Carmel area of Hamden in 1735 and later built a house on Cheshire Road in what was known in time as Ivesville, opposite Ives Street (Hartley, 1959). (see The Gradual Beginnings of North Haven and Hamden) He married Thankful Cooper on Feb, 19, 1737. She was born on April 11, 1721 in New Haven. All four sons fought in Revolutionary War. Jonathan is listed on the master roll of the Congregational Church in North Haven in 1760 but when the church was completed in Hamden he played an active role and was one of the first readers of psalms.

Jonathan was also on the first Hamden school committee in 1758 along with Samuel Atwater and Waite Chatterton. He was made Captain of the Fifteenth Company of the colonial militia in May 1760 and was still in that role in 1764. Land was leased to him in 1761 for a military training ground in Hamden. He is listed in the 1790 US Census in Hamden, CT with one adult female in his household (certainly Thankful). The 1790 Census also showed that the Ives family continued a strong presence in New Haven County. There are a total of eight Ives males listed as heads of households in the 1790 US Census for Hamden, four male and two female heads of household in North Haven and one male head of household in New Haven town. Jonathan died Jan. 2, 1792 in Hamden, CT at age 76 and is buried at the Centerville Cemetery. Thankful Ives is listed in 1800 US Census in Hamden. CT, now living by herself. She died Feb. 19, 1808 in Hamden. They had eight children:

1. Jeremiah, born Nov. 19, 1738 in New Haven Co., died 1825 in W, Springfield, married Hannah Bassett June 7, 1768: they had six children: Abraham (1769-1855), Joseph (1771-1830, Hannah (1773-1831), Sarah (1775-1849), Rebecca (1777-), Abigail (1780-).

2. Ruth, born July 28, 1740 in New Haven Co., married Timothy Goodyear May 29, 1760. They had 13 children; Jane (1761 - ), Susanne (1762 – 1800), Ruth (1764 – 1774), Mabel (1766 – 1774), Joseph (1768 – 1833), William (1770 – 1774), Milly (1772 – 1773), William (1775 – 1851), Ruth (1778 – 1871), Mabel (1770 – 1780), Timothy (1782 – 1854), Seymour (1785 – 1860), Lewis (1789 – 1840). Ruth died in Aug. 20, 1806 in New Haven, CT. Timothy Goodyear is listed in the 1790 US Census in Hamden with 2 males over 16, 4 males under 16 and 2 females.

3. Mary, born about 1744, died April 14, 1809 in North Haven. She married Seth Todd (1738-1802) from New Haven on Sept. 9, 1765 in North Haven. They had ten children: Ira (1766-1807), Mary (1767-1776), Sarah (1769-1835), Mabel (1771-1847), Eleazer (1773-1825), Bede (1775-1776), Mary (1777-1844), Bede (1779-1857), son (1781), Linus (1785-1819).

4. Thankful, born about 1745 in New Haven Co, died Aug. 1, 1834 in Bethany, CT. Married Uri Tuttle on Dec. 5, 1764. They had ten children: Jeremiah (1765-1793), Amasa (1767-1827), Uri (1769-1773), Chauncey (1771-1843), Mary (1773-1839), Uri (1775-1859), Elam (1777-1842), Benjamin (1781-1803), James (1784-1855), Calvin (1786-1844).

5. Joel, born May 19, 1747 in New Haven Co., married Mary Heaton (1745-1784) on Dec. 2, 1772, Joel and Mary had two children: Sarah and Esther. Then he married Sarah Harrison (1753-1835) on Nov. 1, 1785, Joel fought in Revolutionary War, listed as a pensioner, died Aug. 14, 1825 in Branford, CT.

6. Jonathan, born Mar. 26, 1751 in New Haven, married Sarah Bassett (1751-1836) on May 1, 1777, they had two children: Leverett (1778-1795), and Sarah (1786-1871). Jonathan fought in Revolutionary war, died Oct. 24, 1813 in Hamden, CT. Listed in 1790 US Census in Hamden, CT with his household containing 1 male over 16, 1 male under 16 and 2 females.

7. Alling, born Nov. 12, 1753, married Rebecca Dickerman (1759-), was a Captian in Revolutionary War, Alling escaped British captivity on ship Julia. Alling made old bed passed down from Ellen Ives, still in family. They had four children: Simeon (1773 - ), Edward (1785 - ), Julia (1787–1859), Esther (1789 - ). He is listed in the 1790 US Census in Hamden, CT with his household containing 1 male over 16, 2 males under 16 and 2 females).

8. Phebe, born Feb. 8, 1757, married Benjamin Gaylord (1753-) from Wallingford on Jan. 4, 1776 in Hamden. The had eight children: Merah (1777-1794), Alling (1778-1826), Russell (1782-1869), Lowly (1785-1794), Milly (1789-1794), Alva (1793-), Chester (1796-1852), Milly (1798-1803).

Ensign Samuel Ives (1677 - 1726)

Ensign (& Deacon) Samuel Ives (3) was the son of Joesph Ives. He was born Nov. 6, 1677 in North Haven, and christened on Feb 28, 1685 at the First Congregation Church, New Haven. He married Ruth Atwater on Jan. 3, 1706 in New Haven. Ruth was born Dec, 31, 1688 in New Haven, CT. She was christened 1689 at the First Congregational Church, New Haven. Ruth died May 17, 1758 and was buried in North Haven. (Her parents were Jonathan Atwater and Ruth Pecke – see Atwater family) Samuel and his brother Joseph were listed among the families in North Haven were it was first recognized as a parish in 1715 (Thorpe, 1892) (see The Gradual Beginnings of North Haven and Hamden)

The first church in North Haven was started in 1716 and Samuel’s older brother Joseph was named as the first clerk and member of the building committee and he was re-elected to the post of clerk for 20 years and recorded the parish meetings. (see North Haven First Meeting House). When the building was completed, Joseph was chosen to “dignife the seats.” Samuel and David Yale were named as the first two deacons. Samuel was also named as the collector of the “ministerial rate” in 1717-18 (Thrope, 1892). He and Daniel Barnes were appointed by the North Haven parish meeting in 1718 to organize the first militia. Samuel was an Ensign in this first military company and his older brother, Joseph, was the Captain. Samuel died on Nov. 24, 1726 at age 49 in North Haven and was buried Nov. 25, 1726, in the Old Graveyard, North Haven, CT. Only 12 others had been buried there before him (Thorpe, 1892). Samuel and Ruth had nine children:

1. Mary, born Dec. 5, 1706 in North Haven, married Caleb Todd, brother of Stephen, on Dec. 13, 1725 in New Haven, they had three children; Phebe (1726-1744), Hezekiah (1728-1794), Bethiah (1730-1750).

2. Lydia, born Mar. 7, 1709, North Haven, married Stephen Todd, brother of Caleb, on May 26, 1726 in New Haven, They had 14 children: Jehiel (1726), Ruth (1726-1748), Jonah (1731-1803), Caleb (1733-1769), Stephen (1734-), Noah (1736), Elizabeth (1738-), Sybil (1740-), Noah (1742-1773), Lydia (1744-1834), Charles 1746), Jehiel (1748-), Asa (1750-), Mary (1753-).

3. Samuel, born Sept. 16, 1711, North Haven, died Jan 31, 1784 in Wallingford, CT, married Mary Gilbert (1716-1792) on June 13, 1744. They had at least four children: Samuel (1745-), Lois (1747-), Levi (1750-1826), Mary (1752-1757). Samuel and Levi served in the Revolutionary War, Samuel in the Fifth Connecticut Regiment in 1780, and Levi in Capt. Couch’s Connecticut Troops in 1776 and is listed as a Doctor in Danbury Alarms in 1777. In April 5, 1760, Samuel Ives, Jonathan Mansfield, and Caleb Ball posted a notice in the newspaper that there will be a meeting of the proprietors of the East Meadow in New Haven to protest to the general assembly against a proposed dam across the east River.

4. Ruth, born April 17, 1714 in Wallingford, CT, married Benjamin Yale on Mar. 23, 1737 in Wallingford, CT, They had 10 children: Job (1738 – 1799), Thomas (1739 – 1811), Benjamin (1740 – 1750), Lydia (1742-1798), Enos (1744 – 1797), Ozias (1746 – 1778), Stephen (1749 – 1818), Benjamin (1750 – 1852), Ruth (1756), Uriah (1761 – 1833). Ruth died 1781 in Cheshire, CT. Enos and Benjamin served in the Revolutionary War. Enos in Second Company Governor’s Foot Guards in 1775 and Capt. Couch’s Connecticut Troops in 1776, with Samuel Ives, Benjamin in Danbury Alarms in 1777, with Levi Ives, and Capt. Charles Miel’s Company in 1776.

5. Jonathan, Mar. 14, 1716, North Haven, married Thankful Cooper on Feb, 19, 1737, died Jan 2, 1792 in Hamden, CT. They had 8 children: Jeremiah (1738-1825), Ruth (1740-1806), Mary, Thankful (1745-1834), Joel (1747-1825), Jonathan (1751-1813), Alling (1753-after 1790), Phebe (1757-)

6. Damaris, born July 6, 1718 in Barkhamsted, CT., died Nov. 19, 1802, Wallingford, CT. She first married Ebenezer Frost on April 19, 1739 in New Haven and they had eight children, all born in New Haven: Mary (1739-1750), Samuel (1741-1768), Sybil (1743), Amos (1745-after 1803), Titus (1748-1823), Mary (1752-1809), Lucy (1754-1821), Ebenezer (1756-1761). She then married John Hull (1704-1762) on Oct. 20, 1761.

7. Phebe, born July 20, 1721, North Haven, died Sept. 23, 1725, New Haven, CT, buried in Old Cemetery, New Haven.

8. David, born Nov. 7, 1723, North Haven, married Elizabeth Merriam Feb. 28, 1744, lived in Meriden., CT. died May 20, 1753. They had three children: Hannah (1747-), David (1749-), Rebecca (1752-).

9. John, born Aug. 22, 1726, North Haven, married Lois Barnes (1728-1814) on Sept. 12, 1751 in New Haven, lived in New Hartford and Barkhamsted, CT, died June 17, 1812. They had at least five children: Mehitable (1754), John (1757-1847), Jesse (1759), Lucy (1761), Lois (1764). All were born in New Haven.

Joseph Ives (1647-1694)

Joseph Ives (2) was born 1647 New Haven, the son of William Ives. He married Mary Yale on Jan. 2, 1672 (first cousin of Elihu Yale for whom university named). Mary was born on Oct. 26, 1650 in New Haven and died in 1710 in North Haven. In a meeting of the New Haven court on Feb. 7, 1664, John Thomas, Samuel Cooke, Samuel Clark, and Joseph Ives (age 16 at the time) “were complained of by Edward Preston for disorders in ye meeting on ye lords day; They were dismissed with a serious admonition & told that they should suspend ye punishment they thought of in hopes of amendment, but if ever they were took in like offense this would be remembered against them.”

Joseph first settled in North Haven as one of the first settlers, building a house “on the road twenty rods north of the house erected at the corner by Issac Thorpe (Thrope, 1892),” but then went north and was a co-founder of Wallingford, CT in 1670, He had signed the Wallingford Agreement in 1668 (see following post). Joseph was granted lot 10 but sold his interest to Goodman Foote and returned to North Haven in 1673 after marrying Mary Yale in 1672 to be near her family (Thomas and Mary Yale) who had returned from England in 1660 to settle in North Haven.

Unlike Wallingford, North Haven was most likely settled gradually and remained a part of New Haven. Ives (1928, p. 76) notes that the minutes of the New Haven town meetings in 1650 indicated that there were “more in towne then can well subsist together,” and there was a “neccessitie that some should remove.” Until a meeting house was built in North Haven, people met at the house of Joseph and Mary Ives for Sabbath worship. Jospeh was captain of the first train-band in the place. He is listed as a Proprietor of New Haven, CT, in the Year 1685 (NEGHSR, vol. 1, pp. 157–8). Joseph died Nov 17, 1694 in North Haven at age 47 and he is buried there. Joseph and Mary had ten children, all born in North Haven.

1. Joseph, born on Oct. 17, 1673, and died on Nov. 1, 1751.He was the first clerk of the parish society in 1716 and, according to Thrope (1892) was re-elected for 20 years. During this time he was part of a movement, led by his brother-in-law Nathaniel Yale, to dismiss the minister, Mr. Wetmore, for views too close to the Church of England. Joseph was captain of the first military company in 1718. In 1730, Joseph was appointed, along with Jonathan Mansfield, to lay out a highway from the Country Road to the East River. He married Sarah Ball (1679-after 1722) on Jan. 7, 1700 and had 8 children: Sarah, John (1701), Joseph (1703), Alling (1705), Stephen (1708), Enoch (1711), Elisha (1715), Dan (1721-1776).

2. Mary, born on March 18, 1674/5. She died in infancy.

3. Mary, born on Mar.17, 1675, and died on April 14, 1712. She married John Gilbert (1668-1741) on Jan. 21, 1691, in New Haven. She died on Apr. 14, 1712 in New Haven and is buried in the City Burying Ground, “Grove Street Cemetery”. They had 6 children: John (1692-1732), Sarah (1694-), Jonathan (1700-1758), Mary (1704-), Stephen (1708-1754), Miriam (1712-1799). After Mary died, John married Abigail Heaton, widow of Ebenezer Atwater on Nov. 27, 1712 and they had one child.

4. Samuel, born on Nov. 6, 1677, and died on Nov. 24, 1726. He married Ruth Atwater, on Jan 3, 1705. They had nine children: Mary (1708-after 1730), Lydia (1709-after 1750), Samuel (1711-1784), Ruth (1714-1781), Jonathan (1716-1792), Damaris (1718-1802), Phebe (1721-1725), David (1723-1753), John (1726-1812).

5. Martha, born on March 5, 1678, died Jan. 17, 1727, married Eleazer Stent (1680-) on Jan. 6, 1713 in Branford, CT. They had at least two children: Eleazer (1715-1772), Elizabeth (1717). Both born in Branford, CT.

6. Lazarus, born on Feb. 19, 1680, and died on Nov. 5, 1703. He had no children.

7. Thomas, born on Aug. 22, 1683, and died on May 5, 1767. He married Anne Thompson (1682-1751) on May 4, 1711 in New Haven. They had five children: Thomas (1712-1752), Anne (1717-1748), Rebecca (1719), Mehitabel (1720-1793), Elizabeth (1722-1791). All but Anne were born in New Haven and she was born in Waterbury, CT.

8. Abigail, born about 1685. She died in infancy.

9. John, born on Jan. 18, 1686/7. He died in 1690.

10. Ebenezer, born on April 6, 1692, and married Mary Atwater on Jan. 17, 1714. He died on July 7, 1759. Mary was a cousin of Ruth Atwater who married Samuel Ives. They had 10 children: Miriam (1722-1792), Mary (1717-1770), Abigail (1728-1773), Eunice (1732-1801), Lazarus (1715-1762), James (1718-1804), Abel (1723-1792), Ebenezer (1727-1759), Noah (1730-1800), Lydia (1733-1778). His sons, Lazarus and James, settled near Jonathan Ives in Hamden.

I will now stop and look at what was happening in New Haven during Joseph's time including the early histories of North Haven, Hampden, and Wallingford Connecticut before going on to Joseph's son, Samuel.

William Ives (1607-1648)

Captain William Ives (1) is the starting point for this genealogy series. I think the best guess is that William was born in 1607 in Norfolk, England. Some genealogy sites list him as born in 1621. Here is another list that agrees with the 1607 birth date. If the 1621 birth was the case he would have come to Boston on the Truelove in 1635 (documented fact) at age 14 by himself and then gone to be a co-founder and property holder in New Haven at age 17. Not impossible but less likely. Also, there was a William Ives listed as a member of the same London parish, St. Stephens of Coleman Street, as John Davenport, the first minister in New Haven prior to this trip (Caulder, 1936). That Willliam Ives would not have been born in 1621. So I feel more comfortable with with 1607 date reported at several sites. There is no birth record so this is still speculation.

William arrived in the Boston area by himself in 1635 at age 28, on ship Truelove two years before Davenport and the main party of New Haven settlers came to Boston on the Hector.

He first lived in Watertown. MA (it could be in what is now Cambridge, MA). On March 30, 1638 he left Boston to help found a new colony on Long Island Sound. This party became the founders of New Haven on April 15, 1638. In June 4, 1639 they established the first civil government and William Ives is listed in the original New Haven Civil Compact as one of 63 signers of “Fundamental Agreement of Quinnipiac” (now New Haven).

William Ives was allotted a total of 18 acres in several parcels. His house was at 72-160 Congress Street (at the corner with what is now Hill Street) and his occupation is listed as farmer. In 1638 his estate was valued at 25 pds. and grew to 98 pds. at the time of his death in 1648. His immediate neighbor was George Smith. The map dated 1641 by Brockett shows the nine square that were laid out and the sections of William Ives and others.

William Ives married shortly after arriving in New Haven but the identity of his wife is not clear. The Early List of Estates published by the New Haven Church in 1640 lists William Ives with two people in his household with an estate valued at 25 pds. The second person is most likely his wife. Many claim that she was Hannah Dickerman but I feel that there is more evidence against this claim than supporting it as I outlined in a series of posts (see Who was William Ives' Wife?).. William Ives was admitted as a member of the General Court in Dec, 25, 1641 and received the charge of freeman, along with Mr. Malbon. Ives (1928, p.78) quotes that to be designated a “freeman” a man had to “be possessed of thirty pounds proper personal estate, and be of honest and peaceable conversation.” Candidates had to appear in open meeting and were sworn in if found qualified. They were then required to attend all open town meetings and they had to pay two shillings if they could not present an acceptable excuse for being absent.

In the first division of land in 1641, William received 6 ¼ acres in the first division, 1 ¼ acres in the neck, and 2 ¼ acres in the meadow with 9 acres in the second division. See this 1641 map of New Haven. His annual tax for this land was 4 shillings and 9 pence. He is listed in attendance in the general court of July 1, 1644. At the court of Feb. 24, 1644, he and Edward Banister are listed as “viewers for the suburbs” (the suburbs were near his lot - see map of 1641). William also served as a soldier in the Colonial Militia as a Capitan in the New Haven Indian Alarms from 1642 – 1646. In 1644 he was fined 6 pence, along with John Cooper, James Bishop and many others, for not keeping his military equipment up. He and his wife had designated seats in the “meeting house” in 1646. He had seat 69 and she had seat 149 as the men and women sat separately. Around 1646, he purchased 4 ¼ acres of upland from Mr. Rudderford lying on the further side of the West River abutting the west meadow. William and “Goodwife Ives” had five children:

1. Phebe was baptized in New Haven on October 2, 1642. Her first marriage was to Joseph Potter (1635-1669) on 1660. Joseph was the son of William Potter, one of the signers of the 1639 New Haven Covenant. They had at least four children; Joseph (1661), Rebecca (1663-), Phebe (1665-1738), Joseph (1667-1742), her second marriage was to John Rose (-1722) in August, 1670. They had at least five children: Deborah (1671-), Sarah (1673-), Hannah (1676*-), John (1679), Daniel (1782/3), all born in Branford, CT. Phebe died on 1682 in Branford. After Phebe died, John married Elizabeth Curtis (1654-1719), widow of Mercy Moss. John had also married Deborah Usher before Phebe and they had one child, Elizabeth (1668-1690). Phebe’s mother, in her last recorded appearance before the New Haven court of August 5, 1662, apologized to the court for her “sin in meddling with that which did not concern her,” the execution of William Potter, and breaking the fourth commandment. William Potter was the father of Joseph and father-in-law of her first daughter, Phebe, so this may have given her reason to feel connected to the event.

2. John was baptized in New Haven on December 29, 1644, and died in 1682 in Wallingford, CT. He married Hannah Merriam (1651-1703) on Nov. 12, 1668. They had five children: John (1669-1747), Hannah (1672-1715), Joseph (1674-1755), Nathaniel (1677-1711), Gideon (1680-1767). All were born in Wallingford, CT.

3. daughter still born 1645

4. Martha was born in New Haven about 1646 and married Azariah Beach (1646-1696) in New Haven around 1675. They had seven children: Mary (1676-), Richard (1677-), Thomas (1679-1755), Benjamin (1682-1710), Hannah (1685-1769), John (1689-1713), Martha (1690-).

5. Joseph was born in New Haven about 1647, and died in North Haven on November 17, 1694. He married Mary Yale on Jan. 2, 1672 and they had ten children: Joseph (1673-1751), Mary (1674-1675), Mary (1675-1712), Samuel (1677-1726), Martha (1678-1713), Lazarus (1680-1703), Thomas (1683-1767), Abigail (1685), John (1686-1690), Ebenezer (1692-1759).

William Ives died in New Haven in the late spring of 1648 some time after he signed his will on April 3, 1648. Richard Miles and Roger Allen witnessed his will on that date and they also appraised his estate on June 8, 1648 after his death and placed the amount at 98 pounds, 4 shillings. They provided an inventory of the estate on September 22nd. It included the following:

“his wearing cloathes; one bed furniture to it; one trundle bed with bed & bolster; two cheats; one box; 3 pars of sheets; 2 pars pillow covers; 6 napkins; one board cloath; Table; stools & charis; old brass pot; Iron pot; Iron kettle; 2 skillets; 1 bake pan; a mortar & pestile; 1 skimmer; 2 ladels; warming pan; pewter; 2 candle sticks; wooden ware; one hower glass; 1 gridiron; 1 pr of bellowes; 1 pot; hooks, pair of hangers; frying pan, fire shovel & tongs; cookes ware; Muskit & sword; Bondoleers & Sheaff; working tools etc; 2 wheels; 1 sheepe & yeuss. Ye house’ home lot & all upland & meadow; 3 cowes, 2 oxen, 2 horses, 3 swine. Debts Matthew Molthrop owes to ye Estate.”

His will was probated in court on Nov. 7, 1648, later in the same day his widow married Dr. William Bassett. Richard Miles and Roger Allen testified that William Ives “was in a state fit to make this will & did make it.” In the will he designated his wife as the sole executor of his estate to be used to bring up his children until they came of age. When his oldest son. John, became twenty one he was to receive the house and land and when the other children became twenty they were to received one cow or the worth of a cow. In Feb. 6, 1649, William Bassett agreed in court to honor the will of William Ives. It is assumed he and his wife raised the four Ives children along the four they had together (see Bassett family). The family continued to live in the house of William Ives until it was sold in 1652 to the widow of Anthony Thompson. William Bassett placed eleven pounds worth of cattle as security for John Ives’ portion of the property. William Ives’ two sons, John and Joseph, went northward in 1670 and were among the original 39 signers of the Wallingford plantation agreement in 1668.

I will now look at the founding and early history of New Haven before going on to William's son, Joseph.