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THE GENEALOGY
OF THE
DESCENDANTS
OF
HENRY KINGSBURY
OF
IPSWICH and HAVERHILL, MASS.
FROM COLLECTIONS MADE BY
FREDERICK JOHN KINGSBURY, LL.D.
EDITED WITH EXTENSIVE ADDITIONS BY
MARY KINGSBURY TALCOTT.
HARTFORD PRESS:
The Case, Lockwood & Brainard Company.
1905-
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Descendants of Henry Kingsbury
THREE HUNDRED COPIES PRINTED
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Copyright by
Frederick John Kingsbury
1905
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Illustrations,
Preface - •
Introductory, ... .
Family Name in England, ....
Extracts from Parish Registers,
English Kingsbury Wills, ....
Notes from Chancery Proceedings, .
Notes from the Lay Subsidy Rolls,
Henry Kingsbury the Elder,
John Kingsbury of Dedham,
Joseph Kingsbury ok Dedham,
Henry Kingsbury of Ipswich and Haverhill,
John Kingsbury of Newbury,
James Kingsbury of Plainfield, .
Samuel Kingsbury of Haverhill,
Joseph Kingsbury of Norwich West Farms,
APPENDIX :
John Kingsbury of Newbury (Supplemental),
Other Descendants of Henry Kingsbury (Supplemental),
Inventory of Henry Kingsbury's Estate, 16S7,
Will and Inventory of Captain Joseph Kingsbury, 1757,
Descendants of Henry Kingsbury who Served in the
Revolution,
Kingsburys in Maryland,
Jonathan Kingsbury of Deerfield, Mass., and Ohio,
Documents from the Public Record Office, London,
English Addenda, .
Old Family Letters,
Addenda et Corrigenda,
Index of the Kingsbury Name,
Index of Other Names,
Index of Places,
Page.
5
7
10
16
29
42
70
74
77
82
83
85
90
no
167
201
493
517
556
557
569
575
590
593
596
599
607
627
652
712
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Page
Hon. Frederick John Kingsbury, LL.D., Frontispiece.
Map of Suffolk, Drawn from Ancient Maps 16
Kingsbury Coat of Arms, belonging to Hon. Andrew Kingsbury, 17
Kingsbury Coat of Arms, Dr. Thomas Kingsbury from Co.
Dorset, 21
Modern Railway Map of a Portion of Suffolk, ... 22
On the Road to Boxford, 23
South View of St. Mary's Church, Boxford, Suffolk, . . 24
North View of St. Mary's Church, Boxford, Suffolk, . . 25
South Porch of St. Mary's Church, Boxford, Suffolk, . . 26
Stoke-by-Nayland Church, Suffolk, 27
Kingsbury Coat of Arms. Usher, 28
Kingsbury Coat of Arms, Ireland, 28
St. Edmund's Church, Assington, where Henry Kingsbury and
Margaret Alabaster were Married in 1621, ... 32
St. Andrew's Church, Great Cornard, Suffolk, where the
Early Kingsburys were Buried 42
Chart of the Suffolk Kingsburys, 44
Chart of Kingsbury from Suffolk Wills, 48
Kingsbury Autographs, §5
Bradford and Haverhill, Massachusetts, 86
John Ward Dean, Boston, Mass., 105
Captain Henry Kingsbury, of Salisbury, Mass., . . . . ioi
House Built by Jeduthan Kingsbury in Plainfield, N. H., . 122
Tombstones of Deacon Joseph Kingsbury, the Elder, and Love,
his Wife, Franklin, Conn., 202
Tombstones of Deacon Joseph Kingsbury, his Wife, Ruth, and
Son, Ephraim, Franklin, Conn., ' 203
Captain Nathaniel Kingsbury's Commission from Gov. Talcott, 206
Rev. Alvan Hyde, D.D., Lee, Mass., 211
Rev. Lavius Hyde, Bolton and Vernon, Conn., .... 211
Tombstones of Nathaniel Kingsbury, his Wife, Sarah, and
his Son, Col. Jacob, Franklin, 222
House built by Ephraim Kingsbury, Coventry, Conn., . . 239
Squire Ephraim Kingsbury, Coventry, Conn 239
Judge Sanford Kingsbury, Claremont, N. H 242
Col. Jacob Kingsbury, U. S. A 251
House in Franklin, Conn., built by Col. Kingsbury, 1814, . 250
Col. Kingsbury's Certificate of Membership in the Cincinnati, 253
6
KINGSBURY GENEALOGY.
House built for Judge John Kingsbury, Waterbury, Conn.,
Hon. Eugene Hale, U. S. Senator from Maine, .
House built by Nathaniel Kingsbury, 1781, Andover, Conn.,
Lemuel Kingsbury of Andover, Conn., and Cazenovia, N. Y.
and Lois Hutchinson, his Wife,
Judge James Kingsbury, Cleveland, Ohio, ....
Hon. Andrew Kingsbury, Hartford, Conn.,
Hon. Andrew Kingsbury, Miss Laura Kingsbury, and Mrs
Harriet Kingsbury Talcott, Hartford, Conn., .
Hon. Ebenezer Kingsbury, Honesdale, Pa.,
Captain James Wilkinson Kingsbury, U. S. A., and of St
Louis, Missouri,
Armand Louis Robert, Comte de Giverville, Normandy
France
Hon. Charles Denison Kingsbury, Waterbury, Conn.,
Charles D. Kingsbury's Home, Waterbury, Conn.,
Major Julius J. B. Kingsbury, U. S. A
Colonel Joseph Kingsbury, Sheshequin, Pa.,
Hon. Addison Hills, Cleveland, Ohio, ....
Mrs. Sophia Kingsbury Hatch, Hillsborough, N. H.,
Oliver Kingsbury, Hartford, Conn., and Penfield, N. Y.,
Russell Goodrich Talcott, Hartford, Conn., .
Nelson Kingsbury, Hartford, Conn
Oliver Richmond Kingsbury, New York City,
Edward Payson Kingsbury, Scranton, Pa.,
Brigadier General Charles Peeble Kingsbury, U. S. A., .
Theodore Bryant Kingsbury, Wilmington, N. C,
Col. Henry Walter Kingsbury, Eleventh Connecticut In
fantry,
Rev. John Dennison Kingsbury, D.D., Bradford, Mass., .
Addison Kingsbury, South Coventry, Conn
Mrs. Jessie Kingsbury Sanderson, Denver, Colorado,
Lieut. -Col. Henry Peeble Kingsbury, U. S. A., .
Dr. Joseph Thomas Kingsbury, President of the University of
Utah,
Captain Frederick William Kingsbury, U. S. A.,
William Barrell of " Barrell's Grove," York, Maine,
Kingsbury House, Kennebunk, Maine, ....
Guy Marion Kingsbury, Dunkirk, Ohio, ....
James Dewitt Andrews, New York City, ....
George Nelson Kingsbury, Providence, R. I., .
Monument of Rev. Alvan Hyde, D.D., at Lee, Mass.,
Francis Coat of Arms,
Page
255
265
266
273
282
286
288
306
314
3i4
318
319
320
339
342
359
366
370
377
385
389
392
396
408
436
452
457
468
481
482
502
508
527
539
555
611
626
PREFACE.
It was while I was in college — 1 842-1 846 — and I think in
1843, that I first began to think seriously of attempting to
compile a Kingsbury genealogy. I had a few names, ob-
tained from my grandfather, Judge John Kingsbury, but
they were mostly without dates. SI entered into a corre-
spondence with Russell G. Talcott, of Hartford, the father
of Miss Mary K. Talcott, editor of this volume, and we
exchanged lists of names and added a few. Mr. Talcott
was a grandson of Hon. Andrew Kingsbury, No. 845, in this
book, and was at that time residing with his grandmother in
Hartford. I also had some correspondence with Miss
Harriet N. Kingsbury, of Francestown, N. H., but I found
that she belonged to the Dedham branch.
After a while I got Mr. J. W. Dean's brief article in Vol.
X of the Genealogical Register, and I obtained some names
and dates from my father's cousin, Col. T. H. C. Kingsbury,
and from my second cousin, the Countess de Giverville, who
was very much interested in the work and had considerable
correspondence with various persons of the name.
All this work was desultory and with long interruptions.
My first very decided assistance was obtained when the
Rev. Lavius Hyde, then of Andover, Conn., sent me his
compilations, which were far beyond anything I had yet
seen, and contained several hundred names. The posses-
sion of this stimulated me to take up the work afresh, and
I pursued it with such leisure as I could command until I
had collected about eight hundred names. I then became
convinced that I should never find time to complete the
work, and I turned over my material to Miss Talcott, who
is an experienced genealogist as well as a Kingsbury by
descent. She has now been at work on it a good many
years. I have from time to time contributed such things as
fell in my way, but have taken no very active part in the
work.
8 THE KINGSBURY FAMILY.
The Rev. Dr. Addison Kingsbury, of Putnam, Ohio,
made quite extensive collections. We corresponded and
exchanged lists, and he visited me twice so that we might
more conveniently compare notes.
His son, Mr. J. A. Kingsbury of Pittsburg, Penn., getting
impatient at the long delay, or what seemed such, of our
work, printed a small edition of his father's papers with
some additions of his own, in quite an elegant volume,
which he calls "The Pendulous Book." I am sorry on the
whole that he did this, and tried in vain to dissuade him.
His father evidently had not intended to print his papers,
as the earliest part of the work contains serious errors
which I am almost sure Dr. Kingsbury had the material to
correct in his possession and would have corrected before
printing. The time of publication comes so near that of
this book, and so much of the material is necessarily the
same, that it is a pity to call on the members of the family
to purchase two books covering so much of the same
ground. However, Mr. J. A. Kingsbury has added an ac-
count of rather recent Irish settlers in Ohio of the name,
which otherwise we should not have had.
I have said these few words not with the idea of finding
any fault, but rather for the sake of apologizing to the
members of the family that two books should be put out so
nearly at the same time.
In the course of inquiry we have obtained a good deal of
information relative to the Dedham branch, or the descend-
ants of Joseph Kingsbury, who with his brother John were
among the first settlers of that town. Miss Mabel Hope
Kingsbury, of Braintree, Mass., is compiling a genealogy of
Joseph's descendants, and material relating to them has
been passed over to her.
Mr. Hyde gives Jonathan Kingsbury, Batavia, N. Y., as
son of Jonathan of Hampton, Conn. Inquiry elicited the
fact that Jonathan Kingsbury (a lawyer, I think), died at
Barre, formerly a part of Batavia, about 1825. His widow,
Sophia, married Calvin Field in 1826. It was thought that
Jonathan had a brother, Hiram, but it was not known where
they came from. They were not of the Hampton family,
and I do not know how Dr. Hyde heard of them.
PREFACE.
The Maryland family I got trace of from a little book of
travels by Thomas Twining, an intelligent Englishman who
came here about 1800, and who, in his journeyings from
Philadelphia to Baltimore, speaks of "Kingsbury" or
" Kingsbury's " as a stopping-place. I found a record of
large land holdings for several generations, but the name
seems now to have disappeared. They appear to have come
from England to Maryland in the 17th century.
In investigating the family history the Kingsburys appear
to have been an eminently respectable people, occupying a
prominent and often a leading place in the communities
where they dwelt: conservative, of sound sense and judg-
ment, and having a keen sense of humor ; peacemakers and
peace lovers; not litigious, preferring rather to suffer wrong
than to do wrong ; good advisers, relied on by their neigh-
bors, dependable in all things; not ambitious, never striving
to lead, but not shirking responsibility when put upon them;
not often reaching very conspicuous positions in church or
state, but frequently filling offices of much responsibility
and usefulness ; in short, most excellent citizens. There
seems to have been a strong military tendency in the fam-
ily, and in this profession it has won its greatest distinction;
but in theology, medicine, and law it has a good record. Of
course, to all these characteristics there have been excep-
tions, but the record is creditable. May it long continue.
INTRODUCTORY.
In adding another to the large number of family geneal-
ogies already in existence, the compiler feels that she is
increasing the stock of material now being stored up for the
use of future historians. All such human documents are
footnotes to history, and will surely aid materially the
searcher into the past, who one hundred years from now
may be drawing philosophical and physiological deductions
from the chronicles he unearths of the restless, energetic
race now occupying the territory covered by the United
States of America. What results may come from the
mingling of all peoples and races on this broad continent it
is not the province of this chronicler to consider, but she
has endeavored to make this history something that may
be useful for future historians. The "directory" plan has
not been considered as the fitting or proper one in deal-
ing with the careers of so many individuals who lived in
such important eras of this country's history, its settle-
ment, colonization, War for Independence, and the occupa-
tion of the West. The account of these individuals' services
in war, their exertions in clearing the forests and settling a
new territory, their activity and interest in agriculture, com-
merce, and the industrial enterprises incident in building
new commonwealths, are all illustrative of this country's
growth, and the cumulative work of human beings. Each
individual life has its personal interest, but that cannot be
dwelt upon —
"A sleep, a dream, a story,
By strangers quickly told."
But each has his or her place in summing up the family-
characteristics. And not only in the family, but in the
nation. George Eliot says: "That things are not so ill
with you and me as they might have been is half owing to
(10)
INTRODUCTORY. 1 1
the number who have lived faithfully a hidden life and rest
in unvisited tombs." Among the Kingsburys honesty and
probity of character appear as marked features, and the
trust and confidence inspired by those traits have led to
long-continued terms of office in both church and state,
especially in the church, for there have been many Deacon
Kingsburys. Many have held official positions, and were
evidently trusted by their neighbors, as they remained in
office for long terms. Others perhaps less conspicuous
before the public have done faithful service in their day and
generation, discharging their duties " in the various stations
to which it pleased God to call them."
The Kingsburys have been represented in every war in
which the country has been concerned. Many fought in the
French and Indian wars, fifty of Henry's descendants of the
name fought in the Revolution ; and since then Kingsburys
have figured in all the wars in which the United States has
been engaged, and they were in the Civil War on both sides.
There is a solid, substantial quality in the Kingsburys, con-
ducing to trust, and there is also a good deal of conserv-
atism, perhaps an accompanying trait, which is exemplified
in the good old Connecticut Deacon, Joseph Kingsbury, of
Enfield, whose epitaph states that he "was a strict supporter
of the good old ways of Puritans in their most early days."
Pluck and perseverance are marked qualities too, and they
were displayed to the fullest extent in the career of James
Kingsbury, the first white settler of Cleveland, Ohio, who
with his family endured almost unexampled privations.
One of the greatest orators this country has ever pro-
duced, Hon. Daniel Webster, was descended from Henry
Kingsbury, through his mother, Abigail Eastman, and the
wife of our only living ex-President, Mrs. Frances Folsom
Cleveland, is also descended from this same Kingsbury-
Eastman line. Senator Eugene Hale of Maine, a promi-
nent statesman of our day, has Kingsbury blood in his
veins. During the civil war Gen. Charles P. Kingsbury
won distinction by his valuable services as an artillery offi-
cer, and the brave young Col. Henry W. Kingsbury was
killed at the head of his regiment, the Eleventh Connecti-
cut, at the battle of Antietam. Col. Jacob Kingsbury, of
12 THE KINGSBURY FAMILY.
Franklin, Conn., served his country for forty years as a
soldier, enlisting in 1775 m tne Revolutionary army, and
continuing- in the service after that war was over; he was
engaged for thirty years in the Indian wars on the west-
ern frontier. His cousin and cotemporary Hon. Andrew
Kingsbury, of Hartford, Conn., also served through the
Revolutionary War ; then entered the Comptroller's office
in Hartford, became Comptroller and Treasurer of the
State, holding the latter office twenty-four years ; and he
was also Treasurer of the School Fund, having much to do
with the sale of lands in the Western Reserve of Ohio.
Col. Sanford Kingsbury, of Windham, Conn., and Clare-
mont, N. H., was a distinguished Revolutionary officer,
serving on Gen. Sullivan's staff, and afterwards a Judge and
Councillor in New Hampshire. The Rev. Charles Backus,
D.D., of Somers, Conn., a very distinguished divine in his day,
and his nephew, Rev. Azel Backus, D.D., first President of
Hamilton College, New York, were also descendants.
One of the earliest and most distinguished genealogists in
New England, Mr. John Ward Dean, for a long time editor of
the Historic-Genealogical Register, Boston, was the son of a
Kingsbury mother. He published the first genealogical ac-
count of the family, two brief articles in the Register, but he
was not the first who collected material for the family history.
This honor belongs to Hon. F. J. Kingsbury of Waterbury,
Conn., and the Rev. Lavius Hyde of Bolton, Conn., as is de-
scribed by Mr. Kingsbury in his Introduction. Finally, Mr.
Kingsbury, feeling himself unable to complete the work on
account of lack of time, put his materials in the hands of
the present compiler, with authority to conduct researches
in England. These latter, although not as successful as
we could wish in finding the actual j lace of baptism of
Henry Kingsbury, the first settler, have given us much
valuable information about the Kingsbury family in Suf-
folk, to which he undoubtedly belonged. Very careful
researches were made in England, at first by an English
genealogist, and later by the compiler, in two separate
visits to the mother country. The registers were ex-
amined in most of the parishes in Babergh Hundred, and
INTRODUCTORY.
13
also in the neighboring Hundred of Cosford ; the wills were
examined, not only at Somerset House, London, the great
repository for the whole Kingdom, but also the local reg-
istries at Bury St. Edmunds and Ipswich. The Subsidy
Rolls for Suffolk and Essex, the Feet of Fines, and other
documents in the Public Record Office in London, were
searched, and also the Chancery Proceedings. The Davy
manuscript collection of materials for a history of the
County of Suffolk, deposited in the British Museum, com-
prising over one hundred volumes, containing heraldry, ped-
igrees, descriptions of churches, monumental inscriptions, an
almost inexhaustless store, was looked over, and also many
other manuscripts and books in that world-famous library.
The Court Rolls for the ancient manors in Boxford are not
extant for the period between 1590 and 1650, and that loss,
together with the disappearance of several parish registers
in that neighborhood about those dates will probably make
it impossible for us to discover the baptism of Henry Kings-
bury of Ipswich and Haverhill.
The compiler has added much to the material collected by
Mr. Kingsbury and she also verified his records, examining
town records and registries of probate in eastern Connecticut,
and also in Massachusetts and Maine, and visiting many old
graveyards. Then, also, so many genealogies and town
histories have been printed since Mr. Kingsbury began his
collections, that much additional material was derived from
those sources. As the compiler was unable to devote her
whole time to this work there has been considerable delay,
and the work has been prolonged over more years than was
anticipated. Delay was also caused by the difficulty of
obtaining information from descendants, many letters of
inquiry never being answered at all.
The compiler particularly wishes to call the attention of
readers of this volume to the Addenda, which contains much
material which was not received in time for insertion in the
proper place, and also corrections. It is often impossible to
decide between conflicting statements furnished by different
members of the same family, or by the family and the town
records. Gravestones are another fertile source of variation
in dates, and the puzzled genealogist can do nothing but note
14 THE KINGSBURY FAMILY.
down the figures, and leave the question open. Authorities
have been given for military services, and when not cited for
family records it will be understood that they are obtained
from town and church records, and from the family them-
selves. It has been impossible to complete all records, but
in many cases that has been due to the failure to answer
letters of inquiry. The difficulties of compiling a gene-
alogy can only be realized by one who has been through
the experience. And there are also pleasures to one who
loves to trace the history of the past, and delights in the
yellowed pages of old folios, and the quaint script of the
old records. It is a delight, too, to pounce upon some
isolated record, supplying a long-missing birth or marriage,
and identifying some long-lost member of the race, or to
find a lonely gravestone bearing an inscription which reveals
the last resting-place of some wanderer from the parent
stem. The compiler has traversed the region east of the
Connecticut river, and the greater part of Tolland and Wind-
ham Counties, in search of records and gravestones, as that
district and the northern part of New London County were
where the sons and grandsons of Henry Kingsbury settled,
excepting one whose descendants went mostly to Maine.
From Connecticut they went to New Hampshire, Vermont,
New York, and Pennsylvania, and from there to Ohio, Mich-
igan, Indiana, Illinois, and the Northwest, and on to the
Pacific coast; and there are also several branches of the
family living in the Southern States, more especially North
Carolina, Georgia, Missouri, and Texas.
From what has already been said it will probably be
understood that this work has been carried on at the
expense of the Hon. Frederick J. Kingsbury, of Waterbury,
Conn., to whose generous munificence the family owes this
volume. The cost of the English investigations has been
all borne by him, and the numerous charges necessary for
traveling expenses, postage, and all the preparatory work
necessary before printing, have been most generously de-
frayed by him. The compiler wishes also to acknowledge
gratefully the assistance of the late John Ward Dean, of
Boston, whose never-failing interest was always shown most
cordially. Thanks are also due to Dr. J. J. Muskett, 56,
INTRODUCTORY. jj
Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, Mr. Andrew Kingsbury and
the late Mrs. Mary J. K. Gilbert, both of Coventry, Conn.,
Rev. Otis O. Wright, Sandy Hook, Conn., Mr. Henry W.
Kingsbury, Scranton, Pa., Mr. Frank B. Kingsbury, Fitch-
burg, Mass., Mr. Lester L. Kingsbury, Baltimore, Md., Mr.
William Ward Wight, Milwaukee, Wis., Mr. Guy M. Kings-
bury, Dunkirk, Ohio, Mr. Sanford T. Kingsbury, Valdosta,
Ga., Mr. Theodore Bryant Kingsbury, Wilmington, N. C,
Miss Frances Amelia Clark, Syracuse, N. Y., the Comtesse
de Giverville, 12, Rue Cimarosa, Paris, France, Mrs. H. E.
Foster, Derby Line, Vt, Mr. Frank W. Kingsbury, Law-
rence, Kansas, Mr. Thomas E. Sterne, Worcester, Mass.,
Mr. John T. Kingsbury, Georgetown, Wash., Miss Ellen M.
Dennett, York Village, Maine, the late Benjamin F. Ellis,
Hartford, and to many others who have also given assist-
ance in the long and toilsome task.
Perhaps something should be said about the differences
in the spelling of the name, as one very important branch
of the family use the e instead of u in the second syllable.
As far as can be judged from an examination of old records
and gravestones in eastern Connecticut the e was generally
used by Joseph Kingsbury, who came from Haverhill, and
all his immediate descendants, but correct spelling was a
matter of such little moment in those days it is difficult to con-
clude whether this mode was intentionally adopted. There is
a tradition that there was a quarrel between two brothers,
presumably Joseph and Nathaniel, sons of Joseph 2 , and in
consequence one of them would not spell his name the way
his brother did, but as I have found the e indifferently used
in both lines I doubt the correctness of the legend. The
English records show even a greater variety of spelling than
those in New England, — " burie, borough, bary, bearey,
borrowe," etc. Cotton Mather states that a certain Rev.
Eleazer Kingsbury lopped off the first syllable and changed
his name to Bury, and removed to Cape May, perhaps to
get away from his aggrieved kinsmen.
THE FAMILY NAME IN ENGLAND.
Before reciting the family annals in this country we must
turn our attention to our English progenitors. The name is