Sayre family : lineage of Thomas Sayre, a founder of Southampton online

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THEODORE MELVIN BANTA



SAYRE FAMILY



LINEAGE OF THOMAS SAYRE



A FOUNDER OF SOUTHAMPTON



BY



THEODORE M. BANTA

AUTHOR OF "a FRISIAN FAMILY," MEMBER OF THE NEW YORK, LONG ISLAND, AND VIRGINIA

HISTORICAL SOCIETIES, OF THE NEW YORK GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL

SOCIETY, OF THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION, OF THE MAAT-

SCHAPPIJ DER NEDERLANDSCHE LETTERKUNDE TE LEIDEN

(society of DUTCH LITERATURE AT LEIDEN,

NETHERLANDS), ETC., ETC.




NEW YORK
1901

Reprinted, 1968



Allen County Public Library
Ft. Woyne, Indiana



Copyright, 1901, by
Theodore M. Banta



The De Vinne Press



14S44.G8



CHAPTER

I.

II.

III.

IV.



V.

IX.

XIII.

XVII.

VI.

X.

XIV.

XVIII.

VII.

XI.

XV.

XIX.

VIII.

XII.

XVI.

XX.



CONTENTS

PAGB

Illustrations iv

Introduction v

Soldiers in the Wars vii

Descendants of the Pioneers xiv

Errata and Addenda xv

English Ancestry i

The Southampton Founder iS

The Pioneers 26

Line of Francis, Fourth Generation 36

Daniel, Fourth Generation 3*

Joseph, Fourth Generation 4^

Job, Fourth Generation 49

Line of Francis, Fifth Generation 53

Sixth Generation 87

Seventh Generation 179

Eighth and later Generations 434

Line of Daniel, Fifth Generation 58

Sixth Generation 115

Seventh Generation 206

Eighth and later Generations 486

Line of Joseph, Fifth Generation 74

Sixth Generation 131

Seventh Generation 266

Eighth and later Generations 614

Line of Job, Fifth Generation 81

Sixth Generation 158

Seventh Generation 403

Eighth and later Generations 687

Errata and Addenda 691

Other Sayres 702

Index 707

Sayres not identified 697

Ancestral Charts of Author, opposite 49^



ILLUSTRATIONS

Thoodore Melvin Banta Frontispiece

OPPOSITE PAGE

Church at Poddington 8

Church at Leighton Buzzard lo

Facsimile of Church Records 12

Sayre House, Southampton. Front View 18

Rear view 24

Stephen Sayre 90

Sayre Homestead, Madison, N, J . 138

Market Cross, Leighton Buzzard 288

Baxter Sayre and Grandson 328

Mrs. Baxter Sayre and Granddaughter 328

. David Austin Sayre 332

Market Day at Leighton Buzzard 340

William Heysham Sayre 352

Washington E. Connor 372

Three Sisters 398

William Sayre, of Mobile (two portraits) 496

Philemon D. Sayre 500

Gen. William W. Allen 502

Matthias Richards Sayres 504

Edward S. Sayres 506

Daniel Fawcett Sayre 532

Henry and Anna Sayre Roush 536

James Sayre, of Utica 572

Lewis A. Sayre, M.D 632

Reginald H. Sayre, M.D 636

Emilius K. Sayre (two portraits) (^2)^

Dr. John Stanford Sayre, U. S. N 638

Robert H. Sayre and Family (two portraits) 646

Robert H. Sayre and Family (two portraits) 648



INTRODUCTION

Having published, several years ago, a genealogy of his father's family, the
author began the collection of material for a similar work on his mother's Hne,
descendants of Thomas Sayre, one of the founders of Southampton, Long Island.
He met with some difficulties he had not experienced in his former task. All
the persons he heard of bearing the name of Banta were descendants (or wives
of such descendants) of Epke Jacobse, the Frisian immigrant of 1659; whereas
the name of Sayre, in its various spellings, has been common in England for at
least seven centuries, and other persons of that name besides our Thomas were
among the early settlers of New England and the South, and have been found
among the immigrants, not only from England, but from Ireland and Germany,
to the present time. It will readily be seen, therefore, that large numbers of those
in this country who bear the name of Sayre, Sayres, Sayer, Sayers, etc., would not
be included within the scope of this work.

Again, while the Bantas, for nearly a century and a half at least, were gen-
erally connected with the Dutch churches of New Netherland and vicinity, the
records of whose marriages and baptisms have been, with rare exceptions, pre-
served, so that it was possible to get [quite complete data as to families from the
beginning, the Sayres were mostly in Congregational or Presbyterian churches
in Suffolk and Orange counties, N. Y., and Essex, Salem, Cumberland and
Cape May counties, N. J., where scarcely any marriage or baptismal registers
are extant prior to the nineteenth century. Curiously enough, too, very few
family Bibles have been discovered containing records so much sought after.
This will explain, therefore, why, in the earlier generations mentioned in this
book, the maiden names of wives, and dates of marriage, birth and death, are so
frequently missing. From wills and deeds the first names of wives have some-
times been gleaned.

The Spelling of the Name.

As is well known, in early times there was no uniformity in the spelling of
many ordinary words, and it was to be expected that in the spelling of proper
names great diversities would be found. The name of the family forming
the subject of this book has had only the ordinary experience of other cogno-
mens m this regard. In the first official document we have discovered referring
to this family, being a tax-list for Poddington, Bedfordshire, England, the ancient

V



VI



Introdtiction



home of the family, under date of 1332 occur the names of WilHam, John and
Galfro Seyer. In Harvey's History, referred to on page 2, the form of Sayer ap-
pears in 1327, Sayr in 1430, and Seyre in 1545. In the will of the first positively
identified ancestor, William, dated 1562, the name appears as Sayer, Seyer and
Seyre. A grandson of this William Sayre, who, we learn, had been educated,
drew up and witnessed his cousin's will, as stated on page 5 : and in this his
signature appears in a " very good hand," William Sayre. It may not be gener-
ally known that the word "cousin" at that period included other degrees of
relationship, such as nephews and grandnephews, and in the particular instance
cited on page 5, William Sayre was a nephew or grandnephew of Edmund
Squire, who called him his cousin.

'I'he families who remained on Long Island and those who went to New Jersey
have usually retained the spelling Sayre, while those who removed to Orange
County, N. Y., about the middle of the eighteenth century, commonly adopted
Sayer. One family removed from Southampton to Middletown, Conn., many
descendants of whom spell their name Sears. Other forms have been adopted,
such as Sayr, Sayrs, Sayers, Sayres, etc., and apparently for no assignable reason.
Two brothers sometimes have spelled their names differently. For example,
Anthony, on page 215, spelled his name Sayre, as did his father. His brother
Matthias, page 212, signed himself as Sayres. Curiously enough, the latter
left two sons, the descendants of one of whom use the form Sayres, and of the
other, Sayre. In another case a father, whose signature is Sayr, has children who
add the final " e."

Assistance Rendered.

The "History of .Southampton," by Mr. George R. Howell, a Sayre descen-
dant (page 160), contains a dozen pages or more of genealogies of the Sayre
family, and these have been of very great value in laying the foundation for this
work. Mr. Samuel P. May, of Newton, Mass., published in 1890 a genealogy of
the Sears family; and in the collection of matter therefor he accumulated consid-
erable material relating to the Sayres, which he generously placed at the disposal
of the present writer. In addition, he has been unstinted in his services in the
way of suggestion and information, and the compiler of these records gratefully
acknowledges his indebtedness to the uniform courtesy and invaluable assistance
of Mr. May.

Of course, in a work of this character the great bulk of the material, other
than that derived from public or official documents, must be contributed by the
various members of the families who may be interested in it, and the labor of the
author has largely been that of a compiler. He would express his warm appre-
ciation of the services of the many who have helped him, sometimes by the ex-
penditure of much labor and trouble, in collecting and contributing records of
their own families.

There are others who have not only furnished information as to their own
immediate families, but have been unsparing in their efforts to collect material



Introduction vii

from a wider circle; and to these he would express especial thanks. Among
these he feels it due to mention Mrs. Laura Jones, of Newark, N. J., who has
thoroughly gleaned the field of Essex County, N.J.; Miss Elizabeth Burt, of
Warwick, N. Y., who has been very efficient in collecting information from the
Orange County, N. Y., families; and Mr. Edward A. Sayre, of St. Mary's, West
Virginia, who has aided materially in enrolling m their proper places many of
the mighty army of Sayres in that State and in Ohio.

Howell's " History of Southampton " puWishes the following in regard to the
coat of arms of Thomas Sayre. Traditions as to family arms are not usually of
much value as authority.




" The arms of the Sayre family are, as handed down by family tradition :
" Gules, a chevron ermine between three sea-gulls argent.
•' Crest : A cubit arm erect proper holding a dragon's head erased argent.
"Motto : Saie and doe."

Sayre Soldiers.

The Sayres have borne their part in all the wars in which the country has
been engaged. A list is here given of all whom we have been able to identify.
It is doubtless by no means complete, especially in regard to the Civil War, as
the main source of information relating thereto has been from correspondents,,
and the questions bearing on the subject may not always have been noted and
answered. The war with Spain and that in the Philippine Islands have been too
recent to permit of obtaining any account of participants therein, except in
two or three cases.

Soldiers of the Colonial Wars.

PAGE

Daniel Sayre 42

David Sayre 45

David Sayre 69

Ethan Sayre 69



viii Introduction



PAGE



Ichabod Sayre 37

Isaac Sayre 63

James Sayre 131

John Sayre 2>^

John Sayre 131

Nathan Sayre 45

Samuel Sayre 134

Samuel Sayre. In New York Colonial Records ; not identified .

Seth Sayre. In New York Colonial Records; not identified ....

Silas Sayre 67

Stephen Sayre 89

Thomas Sayre 28

Revolutionary War.

Abbott Sayre 94

Abraham Sayre 158

Annanias Sayre 55

Anthony Sayre 215

Benjamin Sayre 123

Benjamin Sayre 131

Daniel Sayre 132

Daniel Sayre 209

David Sayre 73

Ebenezer Sayre 147

Ebenezer Sayre 168

Ephraim Sayre 137

Ephraim Sayre 140

Ezekiel Sayre 116

Isaac Sayre 151

James Sayre 164

James Sayre 165

James Sayre 175

Jeremiah Sayre 699

Job Sayre 166

John Sayre 97

John Sayre 131

Joseph Sayre 95

Joseph Sayre 141

Joseph Sayre 207

Joshua Sayre . 198

Matthias Sayres 212

Moses Sayre 79

Nathan Sayre 152



Introduction ix



PAGE



Nathaniel Sayre 206

Nathaniel Sayre 672

Pierson Sayre. (For further reference to Pierson Sayre, see page xiii.) . 117

Reuben Sayre 94

Reuel Sayre 184

Richard Sayre (a sergeant, of Gloucester County, N. J.). Not identified .

Samuel Sayre 122

Samuel Sayre 134

Samuel Sayre 193

Samuel Sayre 240

Stephen Sayre 55

Uzal Sayre 106

William Sayre 125

William Sayre 148

Charles Howell 173

Elias "Van Court 318

War of 1812.

Harvey (or Henry) Sayre 416

Hervey Sayre 180

James Sayre 131

Matthew Sayre 440

Nathan Sayre 183

Reuben Sayre 575

Seely Sayre 136

Silas Sayre 238

Thomas Sayre 339

William Sayre 598

William Allison Sayre 296

Cyrus George Richards 322

Indian Wars.

James Madison Sayre, Seminole War 615

William Sayre, Black Hawk War 654

Mexican War.

Adolphus Sayre 480

Joseph Sayre 279

David Freeman 194

Aaron Price Jacobus 194

Civil War.

Aaron Sayre 363

Abner Cory Sayre 575



X



hitroduction



'AtlE



Adoniram Judson Sayre 606

Alexander Sayre 484

Alexander C. Sayre 522

Alfred Sayre 315

Alonzo Canada Sayre 644

Calvin M. Sayre 343

Charles Sayre 346

Charles A. Sayre 688

Chauncey M. Sears' son 262

Clayton Sayre 520

Daniel Sayre 577

Daniel Sayre 624

Daniel Brewster Sayre 422

Daniel W. Sayre 615

David Sayre, Jr 191

David Warren Sayre 575

Edward Sayre 661

Edward Gordon Sayre's son 148

Edward P. Sayre 434

Eli Pickett Sayre 687

Ellis Brooks Sayre 688

Enos Sayre 606

Ezra Vinton Sayre 604

Francis Sayre 662

Francis Augustus Sayre 658

Fred. E. Sayre 569

George H. Sayre 494

Gordon Abel Sayre 519

Hal Sayr 624

Harrison Sayre 524

Henry Anthon Sayre 659

Henry C. Sayers 609.

Henry Seward Sayre 491

Hosea Thomas Sayre 521

Ira Sayre 524

Isaac Sayre • 577

Isaac Van Doren Sayre 495.

Isaac Wilson Sayre 526

James Sayre 488

James Canfield Sayre, Jr 457

James E. Sayers 609

James Scott Sayre 478

John Sayre 488



Introduction xi

i-a(;r

John J. Sayre 53°

John M. Sayre -557

John Tyler Sayre 7°!

Ludema Arminda Sayre 645

Lyman D. Sayre 189

Martin V. Sayre 5^4

Matthew Henry Sayre 442

Milton Gary Sayre 606

Nicanor Sayre 5^3

Peter Wingfield Sayre Z^l

Randel D. Sayre -317

Robert Adams Sayers 608

Roswell Mead Sayer 628

Salmon Bonnell Sayre 645

Samuel Sayre 526

Samuel Aldsworth Sayre 658

Samuel Cruthers Sayre 451

Samuel K. Sayre 614

Sheppard Reed Sayre . . .â–  581

Sidney A. Sayre 490

Stephen Reeve Sayre 5^5

Thomas Corwin Sayre 615

Thomas Knapp Sayre 508

Thomas Morrow Sayre 57^

Thomas Pinkard Sayre 580

Thomas Wood Sayers 609

William Sayre 339

William Sayre 488

William Sayre 654

William Augustus Sayre 644

William Henry Sayre 374

William Henry Sears 263

William Henry Harrison Sayre 701

William Holmes Sayre 4°^

William J. Sayre 616

Sayre Descendants of Other Surnames.

James Hervey Agens 459

Henry Moore Baldwin 234

Fernando Bennett 668

Charles Edward Blake 302

Joel Sayre Broderick 306

Virgil Broderick 306



xii Introduction



PAGE



George Castner 667

Francis T. Clark 681

Lewis Clark 682

Joseph W. Crane 229

James Albert Day 571

George William Decker 333

Jeremiah Crane Decker 333

David Cory Dickinson 249

Alfred Stoll Dingman 316

William Henry Dodd 367

Seely S. Drake 317

Charles Egbert 678

William Sayre Gramesly 400

Charles Harrison 212

George W. Hedges 663

John Hedges 667

Gabriel Sayer Holbert 627

George Wells Holbert 626

Francis T. Houck 681

George C. Houck 681

John Henry Howell 161

John Jameson's three sons 200

John Francis Kanouse 455

Edward White Larry 404

Milton D. Mattoon 374

Orlando M. Mattoon 378

WilHam F. Mcintosh 561

Greig Howell Mulligan 428

James Strong Mulligan 428

Henry Sayre Osborne 329

David C. Price 462

George Shaw and seven sons 340

Charles Simpson 425

Edward Simpson 425

Martin Simpson 425

Albert William Smith 473

Morris J. Stilwell 258

David Ludlow Thompson 368

George Augustus Titus 364

Francis Makeinie Todd 308

Francis Wixson 682

Jonathan Taylor Wixson 683

Marvin A. Wixson 682



Introduction xiii

PAGE

Charles Jonathan Young 373

George Young 373

Stephen Young 373

Spanish War.

Lewis Wetzel Sayre 608

Hal Sayre, Jr. Was in Roosevelt's Rough Riders, and is now (1901) an

officer in the Philippines 624

Harold Mornton Ely 642

Following is a statement on file at the Pension Bureau, Washington, showing
the Revolutionary War services of Pierson Sayre, which should have appeared
on page 117.

COURT OF COMMON PLEAS,

July Term, 1832.

The State of Ohio )

> ss.
Butler County )

On this 4th day of August in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hun-
dred and thirty-two personally appeared before the Honorable the Judges of the
Court of Common Pleas in and for the County of Buder of the State of Ohio,
PIERSON SAYRE, aged about seventy years, a resident of the town of Ham-
ilton in the County of Butler aforesaid, who, being first duly sworn according to
law, doth on his oath make the following declaration in order to obtain the
benefit of the act of Congress passed June 7th, 1832.

That in October, 1777, he was called out to serve in the militia of New Jersey
for one month. He was engaged in guarding the line at Elizabethtown under
the command of Lt. Squires. Deponent states that the militia companies of New
Jersey were divided into classes who served alternately on monthly tours. From
the time deponent was first called out he served monthly tours every other month
for two years, after which until the close of the war he served on different tours,
sometimes two months, never less than one month on a tour. Deponent states
that he served in all during the whole war between two and three years.

About the first of June, 1778, (as deponent believes) he was called out to
serve in Capt. Lane's company in the Regt. commanded by Col. Jaquish. On
this tour he was called out six weeks during which time he was in two engage-
ments with the British, one at Connecticut Farms, then in two weeks afterwards
at Springfield, New Jersey. In the latter engagement Gen. Knyphausen, a
British officer, was killed. Deponent mounted guard at different times at Eliza-
bethtown which was the headquarters of the militia. He also mounted guard at
Trimbley's Point, Old Point, New Point, Newark and Hackensack. At some of
these places he mounted guard two months and at none less than one month.
At the time the British lay on Staten Island deponent went in a command with
some regulars under General Sterling to the Island and drove the British from
their fort. The Americans soon left it.

Deponent knew Generals Wines and Hurd, to whose Brigade he belonged;
he knew Cols. Jaquish, Ludlow, Crane, and Smith, Captains Lane, Wood, Winans,



XIV



Introduction



Craig, and Major Crane, under all o^'whom deponent served. He was frequently-
engaged in skirmishes with the British and Tories. He cannot state the dates of
the different tours he served, having never kept any regular or written account.

Deponent was born in Essex County, N. J., Sept. 12, 1761 ; he has a written
record of his age. He knows of no living witnesses by whom, from their own
knowledge, he can prove his services. He is well known to John Sutherland,
James Boal, James McBride, and others, by whom he can prove that he sustains
a good character for truth and veracity ; that he is reputed and believed in the
town and county where he resides to have been a soldier of the Revolution.

He hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension or annuity except
the present and declares that his name is not on the pension roll of the agency
of any State.

He has lived in Butler County, Ohio, twenty-three years.

(Signed) PIERSON SAYRE.



Sworn and subscribed the day and year aforesaid,



John Reily, Clerk.



Descend 'Air of the Pioneers.

This volume contains the names of descendants of Thomas Sayre, of South-
ampton, to the number of nearly twelve thousand. Of course, there have been
many thousand others of whom no account has reached the compiler. As a
matter of curiosity, the following table has been prepared, showing the number
recorded in each generation of the descendants of the four sons of the original
founder.



Generation


Franc,


2




3


7


4


29


S


46


6


134


7


273


8


518


9


618


10


355


II


47


12





Totals



2027



Daniel

7

36

III

227

456

787

1600

1021

164



4410



Joseph

4
12

51

234

667

1408

1678

462



4517



6


24


II


88


31


239


141


736


219


1615


332


3045


266


4162


12


1850




212




I



IOI8



II972



New York, November, 1901.



Theodore M. Banta,



ERRATA AND ADDENDA.

On pages 584, 585, and 586 appear the families of James Sayre (i404i),
Rachel Sayre {1404J), and Hannah Evans Sayre (1404k) under the heading,
"Line of WilHam,^ Thomas,^ David/ David,^ Daniel.^" This is an error. It
should be " Line of James,^ James/ David/ David/ Daniel/ " as will be noted by
reference to page 253.

The wife of James ^ Sayre (119) on page 97 was probably Elizabeth or
Rebecca Moore, daughter of Richard Moore.

On page 93 it is stated that Stephen Sayre lived in New York in 1784. The
Chamber of Commerce was reincorporated April 3, 1784. His name appears
as one of the forty petitioners for the incorporation and as one of the original
thirty-six members of the chamber.



Note. The compiler will be pleased to have his attention called
to any errors or omissions in this volume, and to receive further
information concerning any of the families mentioned.

Address, Theodore M. Banta,
Box 1401,

New York.



CHAPTER I.

English Ancestry.

As will be seen later on, in the account of the founding of Southampton, Long
Island, Job Sayre, in his examination by the Dutch magistrates at New Amster-
dam in 1640, stated that he was born at " Bretfordshire," and was twenty -eight
years of age. This gave us a clue as to the locality where our Sayre ancestry was
to be sought, directing us to Bedfordshire and to a Job Sayre bom about 16 12,
with a brother Thomas. As a result of extended researches conducted by several
experienced English genealogists, we have been enabled to trace the direct line of
Thomas Sayre, our Emigrant Ancestor, for three previous generations in England,
and to show that "the old yeoman family of Sayre " were in Bedfordshire at least
seven or eight hundred years ago. It is commonly supposed to be of Norman
origin.

The earliest mention of the family from which our Thomas Sayre sprang is in
a Subsidy Roll or Royal Grant of the time of Edward II. From an official docu-
ment we quote this explanation of what the "Subsidy Rolls" consist of:

Information from Subsidy Rolls.

Subsidy Rolls. As many of these rolls contain the names of the persons
assessed towards the payment of each subsidy, they are extremely valuable in the
compilation of pedigrees, showing at once the precise hundred and township in
which the family lived at the time of the assessment, and also to a certain extent
their rank and position, which may be deduced from the amount paid. The most
valuable assessments for materials of this nature are the Grants of 23 Edward I,
and of the ist and 6th years of Edward III, and the Poll Taxes of 51 Edward
III, and the 2d and 4th years of Richard II. From the latter date to 14 Henry
VIII, the rolls, with few exceptions, supply no names, but from 14 Henry VIII
to the reign of Charles II, the lists of names are numerous and complete, espe-
cially in the Hearth Tax Rolls of the latter reign.

The first of these rolls in which Poddington (the earliest known residence of
our Sayres) is mentioned is that of 3 Edward II (8 July, 1309-7 July, 1310). It
contains twenty-three names, and among them is " Willo Seyer, 2^- tax," the total
amount for the whole list being ^10 13'- lo^'*-

The next is dated 6 Edward III (25 Jan., 133^, to 24 Jan., 133!), and is a grant



2 English Ancestry

to the King of " a fifteenth and a tenth." Poddington was but a small place, and
yet forty-eight of the inhabitants were named, among whom were three Sayres.
These names, with amount of tax, were :

William Seyer •. 2^- 2^-

John Seyer i2'*-

Galfro Seyer 1 2^-

Note. — Galfro = Golfrido = Geoffrey — an old English name.

The total amount of the tax on the list was ;^3 ^- 8*^- We give the docu-
ment in its original Latin :

Taxatis et collectis quinto decime et decime domino Regi concessa apud
Westm. anno 2 sui sexto in Com. Bed. facta per Nigellum de Saleford et Rogerum
le Marerchal

Villa de Podington

De Willo Seyer ij'- ij"^-

De Johe Seyer xij*^-

De Galfro Seyer xif •

Sma istius iij"- iij^- viij"*-

(6 Ed. III. Com. Bed. xv''- et x''- ^)

Harvey's " History and Antiquities of the Hundred of Willey, in the County of
Bedford, England " (4to, London, 1872-8), is a scarce work. The extracts here
given were made by a correspondent in England from the copy in the British
Museum, and verified from a copy in the possession of Rufus King, Esq., of
Yonkers — the only one we have found in this country.

Page 382. Refers to " the old yeoman family of Sayer."

Page 389. Refers in the text to " Sir Percie's lande " mentioned in the will
of Thomas Sayre of Poddington, yeoman (30th May, 1581), which gives rise to
Note I, as follows: