Category Archives: Larrison

Larrison

William Larrison of Old Hopewell, New Jersey

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Newtown (Elmhurst, Queens) to Hopewell, New Jersey
Source: Google Maps

As mentioned in the preceding Larrison family posts, there are definite gaps in the timeline. For those who haven’t been following along before today, there were two brothers, James and John Larrison, who were the earliest immigrants of the name in Newtown, New York by 1656.

The sticky wicket appeared when each had a son named John, with no birth or baptismal records to identify each, and the cousins were not far apart in age. Mary (MNU) Larrison Ponten deposed in 1689 that her son, John Larrison, was born in Newtown in June 1652.

I hypothesized (and others have come to the same conclusion) that John and Mary’s son was the man who regularly appears in the Newtown court records until 1684/85 and he is the same man who is found in Southampton, New York records in September 1686. That John Larrison died in 1693, leaving a will naming wife Mary and one child, also a daughter named Mary. Therefore, John Sr. and his son, John Jr., have no male Larrison descendants today.

James Larrison married Leah (MNU) and only one child, his son John, has been located in those early Newtown records. If there were other surviving children, they have been lost to time.

However, because James had a documented son, John, the conclusion has been drawn by most researchers that John is the progenitor of the Larrison who lived in the area of today’s Hunterdon County, New Jersey by the early 1700s. At this point in time, I agree with those other researchers!

There is but a scant paper trail for John, or Johannes Larrison in New Jersey. First, the area of Hunterdon County where the family settled was part of Burlington County until Hunterdon was set off from part of it in 1714. In later years, other counties were set off from Hunterdon and today, the Larrison home is found in Mercer County.

Once again, I have no image to back this up, but there is a land deed from the West Society of New Jersey, dated 18 March 1698/99 that purportedly includes Johannes Lawrenson in Maidenhead, Burlington, New Jersey as one of a group of grantees receiving 100 acres of land “of the Society’s 15000 acre tract above the Falls of the Delaware to be used as a meetinghouse, burying ground and schoolhouse.” Subscribed 155 Jan 1st 1712. Parts 1 & 2, page 113-14.” (First Settlers of Piscataway and Woodbridge, by Orra Eugene Monnette).

If this Johannes Lawrenson is our John Larrison (very possible, given that the surname moved back and forth between the two spellings), then John Larrison was living in New Jersey by 1699.

These early New Jersey land records are quite difficult to locate (there is currently a program to begin digitizing the collection), but this does provide a convenient link between John Larrison in Newtown and the New Jersey family.

The Larrisons who lived in New Jersey all appear to be descended from one man, William Larrison, said to have been born in Newtown, New York about 1672/73 and who migrated to New Jersey c1710. It is said that William Larrison is found on the 1722 tax list of Hunterdon County, New Jersey, but I haven’t located an image of that document.

The best I could do was the image, above, from the History of Hunterdon and Somerset Counties, showing William Larason taxed for 11 horses and cattle, 9 sheep and 160 acres of land.

I have not found any documentation for the birth year of this William Larrison. I tend to believe that it is an estimation based on the supposed birth year of his eldest son, James Larrison. I’ll discuss that in a moment.

However, William Larrison died in 1749 and he left a will! Although I have not been able to locate an image of this document either, its contents have been published in multiple sources. The Early Germans of New Jersey: Their History, Churches and Genealogies by Theodore Frelinghuysen Chambers is one well regarded source that talks about his will.

William Larrison wrote his will on 7 April 1749 and a codicil leaving bequests to his daughters was added the same day. It was probated on 30 May 1749.

Quite annoyingly, William mentioned “my wife” but did not give her name.

Children:

  1. James, called “eldest son” in William’s will; married Keziah Parke; this family stayed put in New Jersey and the children seem to be fairly well documented.
  2. William, died 1777 and left a will naming wife, Patience, and children – Thomas, Andrew, James, Elizabeth, Mary, Nancy and David. If the daughters were married, no indication of their surnames was given. His children were likely somewhat young as William specified that James and David were to be sent to school. Online websites given a birth year (undocumented) of 1707 for this man. However, with two sons to be sent to school, it seems William might have been born quite a bit later than 1707. If James, William’s eldest son, was born closer to 1710, then this man might have had unmarried daughters and two sons of school age when he died in 1777.
  3. Thomas, said to have gone to Virginia and possibly he or a son Thomas, on to Ontario, Canada
  4. John, said to have settled in Chester, Morris County, New Jersey and had seven sons (unproven information)
  5. George, said to have gone to Pennsylvania
  6. Elizabeth, born c1712, if David Stout (1732-1827, Mason County, KY), Revolutionary War soldier was her son and her firstborn child; married David Stout before 7 April 1749. (Four other Stouts from NJ died in Kentucky.)
  7. Martha, married Mr. Hide before 7 April 1749
  8. Mary, married Mr. Higgins before 7 April 1749 (One Azariah Higgins from NJ died in Fayette County, Kentucky in 1812.)
  9. Rebecca, married Mr. Brittain before 7 April 1749
  10. Deborah, married Mr. Shippey before 7 April 1749
  11. Keziah, married Mr. Van Tilburg before 7 April 1749 (One Henry Van Tilburg from NJ died in Jefferson County, Ohio.)

Before any further discussion, I would like to address the birth year and age of eldest son James Larrison. Most online data gives a birth year of 1695 and death year as 1792, aged 97 years old. However, I cannot find any primary record to support either of those dates.

Those same websites estimate Keziah’s birth year to be c1713 and their date of marriage in 1734, with the first child born in 1735. No mention is made of a previous wife/wives for James Larrison or children by an earlier marriage. Because of that, I tend to think that James Larrison was born closer to 1710 and he would have been in his mid-20s when he married Keziah. This is important because it shifts the estimated birth years of his siblings further into the future.

If James was born in 1695, and assuming he was the oldest of all the children of William Larrison, then the likely range in which William’s children were born would be from 1694-1717, as there were eleven siblings named in the will.

If James was born closer to 1710 and he was the oldest of all the children, then the birth range of William’s children would be more like 1710-1732.

As it appears that Elsee Larrison Ketcham Stufflebean was probably descended from William’s sons John or George, that could make a difference as to whether there is a missing generation between William’s sons and Elsee. However, I am getting ahead of myself. Just keep this in the back of your mind!

At the moment, it is looking like George Larrison, son of William and (?) Larrison  might be Elsee Larrison Ketcham Stufflebean’s line. He is said to have gone to Pennsylvania, so it remains to be seen if I can pick up his trail. Elsee’s son, Richard, in the 1880 census, did give Pennsylvania as his mother’s birthplace. He correctly identified his father as having been born in New York, so I can only hope that he is also right about Elsee’s place of birth.

Larrison

Will the Real John Larrison Please Stand Up?

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Before proceeding further with the family tree/s of John and James Larrison, a closer look needs to be taken at the three John Larrisons.

Who is who in the court records?

We have three candidates:

John Larrison Sr., born c1620s and who died in 1671. He married Mary and left two children, a son John and possibly a daughter Abigail, although some believe she was the wife of John Jr.

John Larrison, son of John, born no earlier than 1649, based on a court record in 1669 naming the “two young John Larrisons.” I am assuming that each was under 21 years of age. Otherwise, they would have been charged in court for their family brawl.

John Larrison, son of James, probably unmarried in 1649 and somewhat close in age to his cousin of the same name. This John was indentured to his uncle, John, until he died and was released from the agreement.

That much is for certain. Therefore, from 1671 onward, there were but two John Larrisons.

A new question has arisen from three documents recorded in the Town Minutes of Newtown, 1653-1734, found on pages 134 and 173.


Page 134


Page 173

These documents raise more questions than they answer. On 10 March 1669, Lawrence Peterson sold a piece of land to John Larrison, no price stated, and called him his son-in-law. Therefore, this John Larrison was born no later than 1648 (over 21 to own property) and possibly much earlier.

To complicate matters, or perhaps to clear them, Mary Ponten, wife of Captain Richard Ponten, deposed aged about 72 years that her son John Larrison was born in June of 1652 in Newtown.

If Mary Ponten was correct about the year and her son John was, indeed, born in 1652, then the Johannis Larrison who deposed in 1679 that he was aged about 29 years is most likely the son of John who died in 1671 and Mary (MNU) Larrison. Her son therefore could not be the Johannis Larrison, son-in-law of Lawrence Peterson  in the 1669 deed.

That leaves the other two John Larrisons as the potential son-in-law. Notice that the second document on page 134 also mentioned John Larrison, but the item is dated 2 February 1677/78.

The document recorded on page 173 by Lawrence Peterson says that he had received the full 2,500 guilder wampum value from John Larrison. The acknowledgement is dated 19 November 1680. He doesn’t call John his son-in-law here, but if this is a younger John, he would be Lawrence Peterson’s grandson. The record is silent on the family relationship.


Newtown (Today’s Elmhurst, Queens) to Southampton, New York
Google Maps

To answer the above questions, I have no proof, just hypotheses of my own.

1. I believe that John Sr.’s and Mary’s son, John, born in June 1652, according to his mother’s deposition, was likely the same man who appears in Newtown records until 1684/85 and then turns up in Southampton, New York records in the fall of 1686.

Therefore, this John has no male Larrison descendants, as he left only one child, a daughter, Mary, named in his 1693 will.

2. I have no idea which John married the daughter of Laurens/Lawrence Peterson. Given the earliest document’s date of 1669, either John Sr. could be his son-in-law or possibly John the son of James could be the son-in-law. The only man precluded from this relationship would be John, the son of John, as he would have been too young to own land in 1669 even if he was born as early as 1649.

3. I also believe that the 1671 family brawl may have well fractured the cousins’ family relationship. John Sr. died not long afterwards and I think the younger men went their separate ways, one John east 85 miles to Southampton and the other John westward 65 miles to Hopewell, New Jersey.

By default, that means that the Larrisons in New Jersey before the Revolutionary War are descendants of James Larrison through his son John.

These are just HYPOTHESES at this point in time, as there are some definite data gaps. First, we know that James Larrison survived his brother, but no death record or probate has been found for him.

Second, we have no firm birth date for his son, John, although it appears that he was a little older than his cousin John. We also have no death date or probate for John Larrison and/or his unknown wife.

Third, we do have one William Larrison who was reportedly born in Newtown, New York who migrated to today’s area of Hunterdon County, New Jersey. This William did leave a will and he will be the subject of the next Larrison post.

 

 

 

Larrison

Building Out the Family Tree of John & James Larrison, 1600s Immigrants, Newtown, New York

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Building out a family tree for the immigrant Larrison family is going to be a bit of a sticky wicket, as the saying goes. The header image for my own blog is an apt illustration, as there are several issues at play.

First, there was not one Larrison immigrant, but two men who were brothers, stated on 5 December 1661 when James Larrison sued Francis Doughty for payment of some pumpkins.


Minutes of the Town Courts of Newtown, 1656-1690, Page 24
Source: FamilySearch

Most of the research focus has been on descendants of John Larrison, or at least most descendants have been placed in John’s tree rather than James’s family tree.

Second, the European home of the Larrisons isn’t certain. John the Immigrant is often referred to as “John the Dane” with a fanciful story about how he escaped from Denmark with his life. However, in the almost 400 years since he arrived, not one bit of the tale has been proven true and several pieces of it have been proven to never have happened.

Instead, researchers have come to the conclusion that it is much more likely that the Larrison brothers were of Dutch origin.

Third, the Larrisons LOVED to use the same given names over and over and over to the point where it is impossible to sort them out.

Lastly, the Larrison family lived in two colonies without much in the way of vital records – New York and New Jersey – and then descendants made their way westward to settle once again in states with few early vital records.

One practice that helps name children of the early Larrisons is the writing of wills, so there is a very reliable starting base on which to build a family tree.

To begin, we have brothers John and James Larrison, who had settled in Middleburg, New York by December 1656, when their names appear on a list of freeholders of the town.

However, by February 1667, they had both removed to Newtown.


Town Minutes of Newtown, Page 19
Source: FamilySearch

Mary Larrison, wife of John Larrison (proved by his will a few years later) appeared in a 1662 court record, complaining about cookies being stolen.


Page 35

The family had a bit of a litigious streak, as John was in court in Middleburg in 1663 with a new complaint:


Page 37

A couple of months later, John Larrison sued James Larrison for £20 damages for defaming him!


Page 40

Further, on the bottom of the very same page, there is one John “Citcham” appearing during the same court session:


Page 40

This record proves a Larrison-Ketcham association at least as neighbors in the FAN club stretching back to the mid-17th century.

In 1664, James Larrison was back in court:


Page 44

John Larrison gave a deposition on 12 September 1665 in the Newtown court:


Page 51

In late 1664, James Larrison sued Henry Satle (sic) in Newtown Court for using his oxen for work. Several people gave statements and the court found in favor of James:


Pages 57-58

On the same page, but at the February 1665 court, John Larrison is again tangled in a complaint:


Page 58


Page 59

John Larrison was apparently well enough educated to offer teaching services. In 1666, he sued Frances Doughty for not paying 40 shillings for teaching his “girl.” Doughty claimed the agreed fee would be 20 shillings. John won his case.



Pages 68 & 69

In 1667, John Larrison was suing John Ramsden:


Page 74

James Larrison also made a 1667 appearance in the court records, suing over the cost of a shirt:



Pages 76-77

John Larrison closed out the 1667 court year with yet another appearance, this time being charged with trespassing, along with several other men. However, this court record is important, as the trespassers were ye two young Jhon Lauressons. Additionally, the yard of James Larrison is mentioned, so the brothers lived quite close to each other.

This is the first example of loving to use the same names. Both John and James Larrison had sons, apparently fairly close in age, named John. Both would have been under 21 in December 1666/67, so born no earlier than 1645.:


Pages 77-78

John Larrison, presumably the senior, was in court in December 1667 as a defendant (Note: court minutes are out of chronological order:


Page 199

During the same court session, one John Ketcham testified that his animal was hurt by one of John Larrison’s and he wished compensation. Here we have proof that the Larrison and Ketcham families knew each other at least a century before Elsee Larrison married Mr. Ketcham:



Pages 199-201

Notice that at the bottom of the page above, Francis Doughty withdrew a complaint of trespass against John and his wife!

The year of 1669 began as most of the other Larrison years seemed to begin. Both John Sr. and John Jr. were filing complaints in court:



Page 203, 206

Mary Larrison, wife of John, had to appear at the same court session. She may have been as hot tempered as the rest of her family! I’d love to know what she said to defame him, but I soon found out.


Page 206

Her husband wasn’t about to accept that:



Pages 210-212

In April 1669, James Larrison sued over a load of bad hay. John Larrison also testified:


Page 217

James attended the following court session in July 1669 to testify.


Page 227

John Larrison was at September 1669 court:



Pages 231-232

He even made it into the November 1669 court minutes with more complaints:


Pages 236-237

James Larrison was sued in February 1670 over Thomas Morrell’s wife’s diet!



Pages 249-250

George Wood also had a complaint filed against James:


Page 250

Not to be outdone, I guess, John Larrison was also mentioned in the minutes, but this is the last time his name is found before the proving of his will:


Page 251

James Larrison is in court for the May 1671 session:


Page 267

The whole family was squabbling in Newtown on 1 August 1671. James Larrison accused his brother John of “abusing” James’s son. The cause was a family brawl, as described in the minutes. In this same court record, Mary Larrison is involved in a complaint with Abram Frost.


Pages 83-86

However, the next page of the court minutes has this curious affadavit by James Larrison. Widow Mary Larrison is also mentioned. The issue at hand was the “Indentors” (indenture) of John Larrison, son of James.


Page 87

There is one page of minutes not in chronological order, as they are recorded on pages 180-181, but dated 1671, and are extremely important because they name the wife of James Larrison as LEAH:


Page 180-181

James was further involved in a tiff over cow ownership:


Page 182

Widow Mary Larrison was also in attendance at the same court session:


Page 184

John Larrison Sr. wrote his will on 5 December 1670 and an inventory of his estate was taken on 7 September 1671. John Larrison Sr. likely died during the summer of 1671.


Abstract from Access Genealogy
Liber 1:57, New York Surrogate Court

From this will, we know that John Larrison was survived by his wife, likely Mary in the court records, and two children, a son John and a daughter Abigail.

Mary apparently married (2) Captain Richard Ponten of Westchester and was deposed on 8 April 1689.  She stated that “her son John Lawrencson, was born at Newtown, Long Island in June of the year 1652.”

James Larrison was sued for debt by Josiah Farman in January 1676:


Page 187

Here is where another dilemma appears. We know James Larrison and his son, John, were both living in April 1671. It isn’t clear whether John Larrison Sr. was alive at this time, but his son, also named John, survived him.

Up until now, John Sr. and both younger Johns are called JOHN in court minutes. However, in June 1679, one Johanes Larrison, aged about 29 years, gives a deposition. The big question is WHICH John is it?

Page 112

He continued to be called Johanes:


Page 118


Page 140

Johanes Larrison was involved in a contentious lawsuit against him involving trespass and damages at October 1682 court and lost:



Pages 142-143

Yet another mystery appears on page 146 of the same court minutes:


Page 146

Here we have Johanis Loroson AND John Loroson. Is this one and the same man or are these the sons of John and James Larrison? The next page of minutes seems to indicate that they are one and the same man:


Pages 147-148

In 1684, Johanes Larrison entered a claims against the estate of John Rider and Mathias Barry:


Page 159


Pages 160-164

In February 1684/85, Johanis Larrison gave a deposition:


Pages 167-168

Although the court minutes don’t end in this volume until 1690, the last mention of the Larrison family is the above entry about Johanis Larrison in February 1684/1685.

On 18 September 1686, John Larrison appears immediately before Thomas Halsey on a list of inhabitants of Southampton, Suffolk, New York. He had apparently left Newtown for Southampton about 1685. This John Larrison married (1) Jemima Woodhull, widow of Daniel Halsey on 22 May 1683. She must have died soon and they had no known children. He married (2) Mary Howell, a widow, on 22 December 1686. John and Mary had one daughter, Mary.

This is an extremely lengthy post, but there is so much mis-information online about the early Larrisons, that it is necessary to put all the early court data together in one place.

Most online information states that Johanis Larrison was the son of John Larrison. It is clear, though, that both younger men named John Larrison were close in age and lived in the same community. Furthermore, James Larrison continues to appear in Newtown court minutes.

I don’t believe there is evidence one way or the other that conclusively shows which John Larrison became Johannes Larrison. This will take some more thinking!

From all of this data, though, the Larrison family tree can start to grow. No records indicating ages for the senior Larrisons have been found. However, as both of them had sons born no earlier than 1650, it seems quite safe to say that they probably were born in the early to mid-1620s.

1. James Larrison married Leah (MNU) and had a son named John, born no earlier than 1650, based on the court minutes talking about the two young John Larrisons.

2. John Larrison, who died probably in the summer of 1671, married Mary(MNU), who survived him. He had a son, John, born no earlier than 1650, and a daughter, Abigail.

Next, we will look at the second generation.