TOUSEY FAMILY in AMERICA Compilation by THEODORE CUYLER ROSE
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THE TOUSEY FAMILY IN AMERICA Compilation by THEODORE CUYLER ROSE ELMIRA, N. Y. ELMIRA, N. Y.: THE OSBORNE PRESS 1916 "I hear the muffled tramp of years Come stealing up the slope of time ; They bear a train of smiles and tears, Of burning hopes and dreams sublime." -James G. Clarke. PREFACE I am well aware that this compilation is very incom plete, but I believe it to be the best that can be made at this late date. I have inserted blank pages upon which may be noted corrections and additions. I am greatly indebted to Mrs. Herbert W. Cady of New Rochelle, N. Y.; to Miss Caroline Tousey Burkham · of No. 37 West 49th St., New York; to Mrs. Robert D. M~Gill, of Danville, Pa.; to Mrs. F. Marian Wigmore, of Evanston, Ill.; to the late Mr. E. B. Porter, Indianapolis; to Cyrus Levi Tousey, Plainwell, Mich; to Mrs. John Wil liams and Miss Emma Tousey, of Grand Rapids,, Mich., and Miss Ann Blackman, of Newtown, Conn. ; to Mrs. Rose and others, for very able and painstaking assistance in securing and arranging the material for the record. T. C. R. Elmira, N. Y., Nov. 20, 1915. (All corrections and additions should be communicated to Mr. Theo. C. Rose, Elmira, N. Y.) PRELIMINARY SA YB ROOK, Conn., was first settled in 1635. In "Old Paths and Legends of the New England Bor der" I find the following: "The future of Saybrook (at the blue Connecticut's mouth) once hung on the fate of a small craft, The Bachelor, bound from London to the little town of Bos ton, and scarcely more fit to face old Ocean's frown than a Dutch cradle. She carried as passengers Lion Gardiner, his young Dutch wife, her maid servant, and one other. A few short weeks before, Gardiner was Engineer and Master of Fortifications in the legers of the Prince of Orange and now through the persuasion of Mr. John Davenport and Mr. U. Peters of Rotterdam, he had made an agreement for $roo per annum for four years, in the making of a city or forts of defense in New England, for certain Englishmen of high degree, and Republican op1111ons. They were a small but powerful company of pantentees, including some distinguished Commoners with two daring and popular men as, leaders, Lord Say and Sele, and Richard Greville, Lord Brooke, later of 'rusty Warwick, founded by King Cymbeline in the twilight ages.' These noblemen had sternly resolved to brook no longer the despotism of Kings and Courts, but to place the wide Atlantic between themselves and the erring throne of the faithless Charles; therefore they had purchased of a lover of the Puritans, Robert, Earl of Warwick, his splen did American domain (being the patent of Connecticut) extending from Narragansett Bay to the South Sea. The distinguished engineer, Lieutenant Lion Gardiner, retainer of the 'Fighting Veres', and officer under Sir Thomas Fair fax in the Wars of France with the Low Countries, was 7 8 PRELIMINARY engaged to build a fort and a city of solid grandeur at Connecticut River, whose rich meadows were already celebrated in England. In their Dream City; 'their Car cassonne, where one day peafe, freedom and wealth should meet together, they saw visions, of yonder serene green fields of Saybrook, crowded with jostling drays loaded with robes of beaver, otter, mink and fox, shipped by suc cessful merchants in many masted ships from Saybrook's creaking wharves. These noblemen promised Gardiner to send him a company of 300 good men to aid in forming the settlement, and to protect it from the Indians, but there were many delays and some time elapsed before any additions were made to the little company." I note further: "When the trailing arbutus wove its pink carpet of blossoms in Saybrook, Mistress Gardiner looked eagerly· across the ramparts for vessels with news from home, and for one flying the English flag with the promised '300 able men' on board to fortify, till the soil and build houses, ere the 'men of quality' should arrive to occupy the great squares of the future city." Was Richard Tousey one of that promised "300 able men"? Without positive evidence of the fact, but from cir cumstances, and from records which I have been able to secure, I have come to the conclusfon that he was; or that he came to Saybrook soon afterwards. My conclusion is that Mr. Richard Tousey, a widower, came from England to Saybrook about 1655, or perhaps a few years earlier, leaving in England a son John and a son Thomas. That Thomas came to America in 1679, landing at Salem, Mass., and that the brother John remained in England and died there, leaving his estate to his brother Thomas, in America. My belief is based upon the following documents, tra ditions, etc., which I present in full: PRELIMINARY 9 In 1897 Mr. Frederick Wheeler Tousey, son of Renaldo Charles Tousey, was living at Cowes, Isle of Wight, England, and the following correspondence passed between him and Mrs. Cady, of New Rochelle, N. Y.: "3 _Cambridge Terrace, East Cowes, I. W., England, Oct. 25, 18g7. Dear Mrs. Cady:- (New Rochelle, N. Y.) You will no doubt be surprised to receive a letter from me, therefore, I will at once explain my reasons for writing you, viz: In the London Standard I saw the enclosed per sonal, and being somewhat of an inquisitive turn of mind I decided to investigate and so I answered the personal and in reply received a letter, a copy of which is enclosed. F. W. Tousey." (Enclosure) "1 Marlborough Road, London, N. W. F. W. Tousey, Esq. Dear Sir:- In reply to your letter I am tracing out a pedigree of the family of Tousey. I have no doubt that your family is a branch, and should very much like to have you send me further particulars. The Tousey family (in England) at present consists of three main branches,, viz: The Touseys of Lymington, head branch, now represented by Capt. Francis William Tousey, Adj't 2d Batt. West York Regt. The Touseys of Blandford now represented by Vice Counsel Joseph Henry Tousey, Spezia, Italy. The London Touseys by my father of above addres,s (27-9 Bunhill Row) Liverman of the Plumbers and Books Companies, City of London. There are some Touseys in the States, children of an older brother of my father, named Dr. Samuel Tousey, of'Galveston, Texas. All the above Touseys trace their origin to William or Stephen Tousey of Administon, who had six sons, and landed about 1700-18oo. The 10 PRELIMINARY Tousey or Tousie family are supposed by some to be of French Huguenot origin, and by others to be a branch of the Touse family, which has a recorded pedigree at the Heralds College, dating from about the time of Edward III, or about 1640, where it stops. Yours faithfully, Frances P. Tousey." Another letter to Mrs. Cady: "East Cowes., I. W., Aug. 26, 1898. 3 Cambridge Terrace. I hope eventually to show you the ancestors of Rich- ard Tousey, who settled in Saybrook, Conn ............. I have already traced the family back to 1547, but cannot say as yet if they are ours. I am in correspondence with Frances P. Tousey of London, who is working with me in tracing the genealogy of the family. I have two additions to the chart you sent me. My boy, Harold Francis, and the name of my brother Harry's wife, Susan B. Beach. F. W. Tousey." Extracts from letters from Frances P. Tousey: "Nov. 2, 1899. "1 Marlborough Road. Your ancestor Richard Tousey' is supposed to have come from Towersey, Bucks. It may interest you to know that the village of Towersey belonged to men (or min) Thanes named Tours in King Edward the Conqueror's time. The land was then called Eye or Eie. The Con queror (as related in Doomsday book and other records) divided the land into Tours eye and Kings eye (now Tour esy and Kingsey). He gave Tousie to Walter d'Albegue, a follower of his, who sublet it to the Pirot or Pyrot fam ily. But the land came back to the possession of the Tours,ie family, ( otherwise called Tours, Touri de'Tours, di Tourssie, d'Towersey and Towershaye, etc.) On the death of the last Albegue, the Towersey family gradually lost all the land to different people, but principally· to the PRELIMINARY 11 Abbots of Thamse, who were in possession until the seiz ure of all church property by Henry VIII. After the loss of their lands the Towerseys appeared to have lived for about fifty years at Great Hampton, Bucks, until 1580, when so far as England is concerned they totally disap peared, and there is no record of anything like the name until the Tousey appears at Reading about 1700.•••••.•• Also the arms of the Towersey family were these three Tours or Axlets arranged with a Chivron." "Aug. 4, 1900. I have just heard of some more Touseys at Amesbury, Wiltshire." "Aug. 27, 1898. I think the town your people came from may have been Towersey in Oxfordshire. About contemporary with your Richard Tousey of Saybrook there was living a Richard Tousey at Reading, with a wife named Mary, who had a son baptized at St. Lawrence, Reading. This Rich ard Tousey I believe to be my direct ancestor and should not wonder if he were yours." "Aug. 15, 1900. In tracing back step by s,tep my own pedigree I have found a large number of Touseys buried at Amesbury, Wilts, 1620-1700.