AND ALLIED FAMILIES Br,. VIOLA E. BRAY Foreword. l,y WALTER S. FINLEY A GENEALOGICAL STUDY WITH BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES "The WO/J/8 thrO'U,gh which my weary atepa I guide In thie re8earc'Jt. of old ·antiquity Are so ezceedi-n,g rich a,nd long and wide And sprinkled 101th rich BWeet 'Variety Of an th,a,t pleasa-n,t i8 to ear and eye Th,a,t I, -n,ear ramhed with rare though-ta deHght M 'JI tediOUB tra1'el quite forget thereby." -Spencer. Prepared and PriTately Printed. for VIOLA E. BRAY BY THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL COMPANY, Inc. NEW YORK 1941 In Memory of Her Husl>and Everett Lewis Bray Lawyer and Man of Mairs _ Whose Life Was Fruitful and Beneficent and To TL.ose Ancestors, Near and Remote, Whose High Attainments and Devotion To Duty and Principle i Also Illumine the Pages of Tb.is Volume, This Work is Dedicated I Ly Viola Eo Bray Contents TOPIC PAGE Foreword • • • • • • • • 9 Bray • • • • • • .. • .13 Seeley • • • • • • • • 26 Hawley • • • • • • • • 39 Curtis • • • • • • • • 45 Welles • • • • • • • • 49 l'omes • • • • • • • • 55 Gunne .. • • • • • • • 58 Fulwood • • • • • • • • • 6o Mytton • • • • • • • • 63 D.e Peshall • • • • • • .. • , .. 66 i Chittenden • • • . • • • .. .6g Hawley (Line Two) • • • • • • • . 82 Meigs • • • • • • . • . 87 Meigs (Family in Ohio) • • • • • .. 92 W_illard • • • • • • ' • • 95 ' Wjlcoxson . .· : 100 . • • • • • . • Johnson • • • • • • ... -102 Bqshnell • • • • • ... • • 104 Jordan • • • • • • • .. 107 Royall • • • • • • • • 109 Adams • • • • • • • • 114 Swart (Line One) • . • • • • • • 116 Wiggins • • • • • • • • 126 Smith • • • • • • • • 129 1 CONTENTS TOPIC PAGE Swart (Line Two) • • • • • • • 132 Zielie • • • . • • • 137 Cassier ( Line One) • • • . • • • 139 Vrooman • • • • • • • • 141 First Everett Lewis Bray Royal Descent from Charlemagne • • 145 Second Everett Lewis Bray Royal Descent from Charlemagne • • 150 Everett Lewis Bray Royal Descent from the Kings of Scotland • 155 Everett Lewis Bray Royal Descent from the Saxon Kings of England . 16o De Botetourt . • • • • • • • 165 De Mortimer . • • • • • • • 169 De Tony • • • • • • • • 176 De Bohun • • • • • • • • 185 De Lusignan . • • • . • • • 18g Counts of Eu. • • • • • • . 192 De Warenne. • • • • • • • 195 Counts of Vennandois • • • • • • 201 Hoµse of Capet • • • • • • • 2o6 Counts of Toulouse • • • • • • • 211 Counts of Anjou • • • • • • • 214 Dukes of Aquitaine • • • • • • • 217 Dukes of Saxony • • • • • • • 220 Carlovingian Kings of France • • • • • 222 De Mandeville (Line One) • • • • • • 230 De Mandeville (Line Two) • • • • • • 233 Kings of Scotland • • • • • • • 234 Saxon Kings of England • • • • • • 241 De Beaumont • • • • • • • 251 De Gael • • • • . 2 55 Counts of Hainault .., .. 9 • • • • • • -=> 8 F rnrewo:ird ENEALOGY is the science that treats of tracing pedi­ grees, the ancestral lines from a common ancestor. His­ tory is a narration of facts and events arranged chrono­ logically with their causes and effects. Family history is a combination of genealogy and history of a family which includes important facts pertaining to that family and to . the various connections of that family. The compilers of this treatise of the Bray-Swart and Allied Families find much of value and interest not only in the direct lines of these families, but also in the many imi>or­ tant connections with these lines. Volumes could be written of the romance, pioneer life and heroic deeds of the ancestors of Everett Lewis Bray, late of Flint, Michigan, and his wife, Mrs. Viola Estella (Swart) Bray. The Swart and Vrooman progenitors wereamong the sturdy Dutch pioneers who were so important in the upbuilding of Albany, Schenectady and all that section of New York State, and included. in those fami­ lies were officers and soldiers in colonial wars and in the American Revolution. No more patriotic nor better citizens can be found than those Dutch pioneers and their descendants who are so important in the history of the Mohawk Val­ ley, and much could be written of their early hardships and privations. We find that Adam Vrooman, an ancestor of Mrs. Viola Estella (Swart) Bray, by his heroic defense of his home against the French and Indians, in 16go, gained the admiration of the French who spared his life, although his wife and infant son were both killed in that massacre and his two eldest.sons were taken prisoners. More than a century and a half later we find Dr. Anselm Bray, grandfather of Everett Lewis Bray, as another heroic figure. A physician, Dr. Anselm Bray had practiced his profession in Mexico City, Mexico, and later came to Spring­ field. Ohio, where he was interested in the founding of Wittenberg College. Dur­ ing the great cholera epidemic raging in that city in 1849, he was one of the two or three heroic physicians who remained there combating that dread scourge, 9 FOREWORD and he, just at the time the epidemic was checked, fell a victim to cholera and died, a martyr to his chosen calling. The Bray-Swart and Allied Families and the connections of these families, contain the names of many of America's noted men. Among them are Gov­ ernor Thomas Welles, of Connecticut; Governor Thomas Chittenden, first Governor of Vermont, 1777-85, 1790-96; Jonas Galusha, Governor of Ver­ mont, who married Mary, daughter of Governor Thomas Chittenden, and Gen­ eral Isaac Clark, distinguished for his service in the \Var of 1812, who married Hannah, daughter of Governor Thomas Chittenden. In the Hawley and Seeley lines will be found the connections with Governors Thomas Welles and Robert Treat, of Connecticut, and through the Welles con­ nection the descendants of Everett Lewis Bray trace in a direct line, back to Charlemagne and to the early Saxon Kings and the early Kings of Scotland. Many illustrious names are among the descendants of Joseph Hawley; among them are Rev. William Hawley, for thirty-five years rector of St. John's Episco­ pal Church. Washington, District of Columbia, long known as the "President's Church," several Presidents of the United States having worshipped there dur­ ing his regime; and Rev. Frank W. Gunsaulus, for twenty-eight years president of the Armour Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois. The Seeley line goes back to Captain Robert Seeley, born in England, who came to Massachusetts with Winthrop's Fleet in 1630, and became one of the first settlers of Watertown. He was a lieutenant in the Pequot W~r, in 1637; captain of the New Haven troops against Ninegret in 1654; and was chief military officer of the Huntington Train Band in 1663. Captain William Curtis, a Bray ancestor through the Hawley and Seeley lines, was one of the most important early settlers of Stratford, Connecticut, serving as deputy to the General Court for thirty-six sessions. He was com­ missioned lieutenant in the Stratford Train Band in 1667, captain in 1672, and in 1673 and 1675 was captain of the Fairfield County Troop. He also served on the Militia Committee in 1672 and on the War Committee in 1673. In the Meigs line we find also many noted men. Captain Janna 11:eigs was a captain in Queen Anne's Wars and Deputy Governor of Connecticut. His wife; Hannah Willard; was a granddaughter of Major Simon Willard, who arrived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, from London, England, in 11ay, 1634. He was made lieutenanf in 1637; captain in 16461 and in 1655 was made a major, which at that time was the highest rank in the colonial militia. Josiah Meigs was a graduate of Yale and later became the first president of the University of Georgia. His 10 FOREWORD brother, John Meigs, was an officer in the American Revolution and later an offi­ cer in the War of 1812. Colonel Return Jonathan .Meigs was an officer in the Connecticut Militia before the Revolution and was colonel of the 6th Connecti­ cut Infantry during the Revolution, and later a pioneer settler of the Northwest Territory, largely instrumental in the founding of Marietta, the oldest city in Ohio. His son, Governor Return Jonathan Meigs, was twice Governor of Ohio, Supreme Judge of Ohio!' United States Senator, and Postmaster-General in the Cabinet of President James Madison.. His daughter, Mary Sophia, was the wife of John G. Jackson, Senator from Virginia, and United States District Judge of Western Virginia. Meigs County, Ohio, and Fort Meigs are named for this illustrious family. A history of the Bray-Swart and Allied Families contains the names of many patriots who served their country valiantly and it would not be complete without mention of Menzo Swart, father of 11rs. Viola Estella (Swart) Bray, who served gallantly as an officer in the great War Between the States. Thtis we find in the history of the Bray-Swart and Allied Families, and families connected with them, sturdy and courageous pioneers, soldiers, officers and gentlemen, statesmen, educators, members of the clergy and leaders in busi­ ness and the various professions; men and women who have been credits to their nation. W. S. F. 11 BRAY ARMS Arms-Quarterly, 1st and 4th, argent, a chevron between three eagles' legs sable · erased a-la-cuisse, their talons gµles; 2d and 3d, vair three bends gttles. ·Crest-A flax-breaker or. M otto-Gardez.. (Burke: General Armory. Arms in possession of the family.) Arms-Quarterly, 1st and 4th, argent a chevron between three eagles' legs sable erased a-la-cuisse, their talons gttles; 2d and 3d, vair three bends gttles. Crest-A flax-breaker or. (Burke: General Armory. Arms in possession of the family.) 13 Bray ~~, RAY is a surname of locality origin which is found under different spellings in many countries in Europe. In Eng­ land the name is found applied to parishes in counties Devon and Berks. The name is also found on the Roll of Battle Abbey among those who aided William the Con­ queror in his conquest of England in 1o66, and it is of record that Richard de Braie held lands at Winchester as early as I 148, while Richard de Brais possessed an estate at Cambridge and Bed­ fordshire in I 165.