Abigail Akin

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 9 Sep 1723, Dartmouth, Bristol, Massachusetts

Notes:

Baird (citation details below) calls her "of Worcestershire, in the Oblong." Also called Quaker Hill, the Oblong was an area in the lower part of Dutchess County, now in Putnam County.

From Descendants of David Akin of Newport, Rhode Island

[The following from the Daphne Brownell Loose Papers - Quakers Folder. Image also scanned]

Whereas Murray Lester of Crumelbow [Crum Elbow Monthly Meeting] in the County of Dutchess and province of New York son of Mordecai and Mary Lester of the same place, and Abigail Akin at Worstershire in the Oblong, daughter of David and Sarah Akin in the County aforesaid having declared their intentions of marriage with each other before several of the monthly meetings of the people called Quakers in the County of Westchester and Province aforesaid, according to the good order used amongt them whose proceedings thereinafter a deliberate consideration and having the consent of their parents and nothing appearing to obstruct were approved of by the said meeting.

Now these are to certifie all whom it may concern that for the full accomplishment of their said intentions on the third of the sixth month in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and forty three they the said Murray Lester and Abigail Akin presented themselves in a public meeting of the said People and others at Worstershire in the Oblong aforesd, And then the said Murray Lester taking the said Abigail Akin by the hand and did in a solemn open manner declare that he took her to be his wife promising through the Lord assistance to be unto her a true and loving husband untill the Lord. by death shall separate them or to that effect and then and there in the same assembly the said Abigail Akin did in like open manner declare likewise...

Witnesses:

Murray Lester
Abigail Lester
Phebe Ferris
Sarah Ferris
Hannah Thorn
Avis Soule
Mercy Fisk
Benjamin Ferris
Thomas Welles
John Ferris
Thomas Franklin
Joseph Ferris
Nathan Birdsell(Birdsall)
John Parke
Isaac Thorn
Aaron Haight
William Russell
Geo, Soule
William Field
Saml Watters

Abigail married Murray Lester on 3 Aug 1743 in Worcestershire, Dutchess, New York. Murray (son of Mordecai Lester and Mary) was born about 1720 in Hempstead, Nassau, Long Island, New York; died before 1790. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. John Lester was born on 20 May 1749 in Pawling, Dutchess, New York; died on 12 Apr 1832 in Sempronius, Cayuga, New York.

Notes:

Tennessee Williams was a descendant of this couple.

From Descendants of David Akin of Newport, RI by Robert Larry Akin:

"On January 15, 1742, David requested permission to move to the Oblong (Quaker Hill, Dutchess, NY) from the New Bedford Monthly Meeting of the Quakers (New Bedford, MA). He moved to a very beautiful spot on a hill in the Oblong that today is the site of the Quaker Hill Golf Course. He was about 52 at the time and he brought his grown sons with him.

"The Birdsall Genealogy states that David built a sawmill on Quaker Hill and that this mill brought the Akin family 'great wealth'. [Daphne cited The Birdsall Family by G. B. Birdsall in her notes - John Akin notebook.]

"David was fairly wealthy and he and several other men deeded the land on April 16, 1764 for the Oblong Meeting House. This is from Settlers of the Beekman Patent, p. 63. He died on April 7, 1779 on Quaker Hill."

Robert Larry Akin also notes that his burial place is "north of the original site of Akin Hall."

David Akin = Sarah Allen
Josiah Akin (1719-1800) = Judith Huddlestone (1728-?)
Deborah Akin (1755-?) = Preserved Fish Dakin (1749-1835)
James Dakin (1790-1857) = Mary Ann "Polly" Sabin (1793-1877)
Edwin Francis Dakin (1819-1892) = Harriet Jane Bellar (1825-1886)
Walter Edwin Dakin (1857-1955) = Rosina Maria Francesca Otte (1863-1944)
Edwina Dakin (1884-1980) = Cornelius Coffin Williams (1879-1957)
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams (1911-1983)

David married Sarah Allen in 1711 in Dartmouth, Bristol, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Sarah Allen, her sister Abigail Allen, and her brother James Allen--all children of Ebenezer Allen and Abigail Hill--all married children of John Akin and Mary Briggs. Sarah, shown here, married David Akin; Abigail maried Thomas Akin, and James married Mary Akin.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 14 Jun 1746

Notes:

Susan B. Anthony and Hetty Green were descendants of this couple.

John married Mary Briggs before 1689 in Dartmouth, Bristol, Massachusetts. Mary (daughter of Ens. Thomas Briggs and Mary Fisher) was born on 9 Aug 1671 in Dartmouth, Bristol, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 10 Feb 1649
• Alternate birth: Abt 1650, Sandwich, Barnstable, Massachusetts
• Alternate death: Between Apr 1725 and May 1725
• Alternate death: Aft 18 Apr 1725, Dartmouth, Bristol, Massachusetts

Notes:

He was a blacksmith in Dartmouth, and one of the earliest Quakers in that town. In 1703 the Dartmouth Meeting accused him of beating an Indian; he said he was sorry for it.

Ebenezer married Abigail before 1682 in Dartmouth, Bristol, Massachusetts. Abigail was born about 1662; died about 1725. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Aft 18 May 1725

Notes:

Possibly Abigail Smith or Slocum, according to Frank J. Doherty (citation details below). After the death of Ebenezer Allen she married, in 1728, John Whitely of Dartmouth, Massachusetts; the wedding included four Smith witnesses.

She was definitely not the Abigail Hill who was a daughter of Zebulon Hill of Gloucester. That Abigail married Joseph Allen of Salem (d. 1740).

Notes:

From Descendants of David Akin of Newport, RI, by Robert Larry Akin:

"There is very little known about Mary, the 'mother' of this line of the Akin family in America. In fact, the only proof of her existence is a deed that is recorded in the Rhode Island State Archives dated 1671. A copy of this deed can be seen in the Town Hall in Portsmouth, Newport, RI. This deed is for 200 acres of land 'lying in Narragansett Country or Kings Province' purchased for ten pounds sterling. The grantors were William Brenton, Benedict Arnold, John Hull, John Porter, Samuel Wilbur, Asmuill Wilson, and Thomas Mumford. The description of the land states that it is bordered by land owned by Samuell Albro and Robert Hasard (Hazard).

"After purchasing the land in September 1671, Mary assigned it to two of her sons, John and David, the following January, 1672.

"Family lore says that Mary and her three children, John, James, and David, came to America on a ship that sailed from Aberdeen, Scotland to Newport County, Rhode Island before 1676, but there is not a shred of evidence to support this story. In fact, Mary could have been born in America and borne her children in this country. A genealogist I hired in Scotland, Diane Baptie, wrote: 'The reference in Donald Whyte's book A dictionary of emigrants to the USA reads: "Mrs. Mary Akin, From Aberdeen to Newport, Rhode Island before 1676; issue: John born 1663; David born 1664; James born 1668." His source is given as "Letters to the editor regarding Scottish emigrants - Scottish Genealogical Library, 4th January 1963". In other words, this entry does not rely on an original source but has been apparently sent by a correspondent to Donald Whyte almost certainly from America. Aberdeen could mean either the burgh or county of Aberdeen.' As a result, I believe that the idea that Mary traveled to America with her three sons is questionable since the source was a letter from America.

"The Akin genealogist Daphne Brownell found a deed showing that a man named David Akin lived in Newport, Newport, RI as early as 1662. A transcription of this deed can be found in Rhode Island Land Evidences, Vol. 1, 1648-1696 on pp. 84-85. Daphne and I believe that this man MAY have been the husband of Mary and, therefore, the 'father' of this Akin line in America; however, this is only speculation based on the idea of sparcity of population in Newport between 1662 and 1671 and the odds that two of them would be unrelated and named Akin.

"It is not know when either Mary Akin or David Akin were born nor when they died; however, since Mary signed the land deed mentioned above as Mary Akin, widow, we know that her husband died before 1671. No other dates are known.

"We do know the names of her children. They were John Akin, the eldest (b. 1663); James (b. 1667); and David, the youngest (b. 1669). These dates of birth are all derived from their ages at death so are not precise."

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 12 Jan 1720

Notes:

"[A]dmitted as a freeman of Portsmouth in 1673. He was a member of Peleg Sanford's troop of horse in 1667 and doubtless engaged in Indian fighting. [...] Thomas Briggs died in 1720, leaving an estate inventoried at slightly in excess of a thousand pounds. In 1694 he was listed as one of the fifty-six Proprietors of Dartmouth." [The Howland Heirs, citation details below.]

Ens. married Mary Fisher before 1671. Mary (daughter of Edward Fisher and Judith Smith) died in 1717. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Aft 1717

Notes:

In Sandwich, 1648; Dartmouth, 1675. A mason, he is usually referred to as "Ralph Allen the mason" in the ongoing project of sorting out the similarly-named early Allens. Possibly a son of George Allen who died at Sandwich in 1648, but more likely, George's son was the other, older Ralph Allen who lived at Sandwich during much the same time as this Ralph. This Ralph is frequently called "Jr." in Sandwich records in order to distinguish him from the older one.

Ralph Allen = Esther Swift (b. 1629)
Increase Allen (d. 1724) = Rachel (d. 1731)
Benjamin Allen (1682-1704) = Deborah Russell (b. 1681)
Dorothy Allen (1713-1782) = William Wilcox (1711-1742)
William Wilcox (1739-1782) = Sarah Smith (b. 1741)
David Wilcox (1763-1828) = Anna Baker (1761-1813)
Clarissa Wilcox (1796-1827) = Rep. Ambrose Hall (1724-1827)
Clarissa Hall (1825-1895)* = Leonard Walker Jerome (1817-1891)
Jennie Jerome (1854-1921) = Randolph Churchill (1849-1895)
Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

* Buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.

Ralph married Esther Swift before 1646. Esther (daughter of William Swift and Joan) was born before 28 May 1629; was christened on 28 May 1629 in St. Mary Magdalen, Bermondsey, Surrey, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

John Briggs m. Sarah Cornell. Sarah Cornell's brother Thomas Cornell m. Rebecca, possibly Rebecca Briggs, who burned to death in 1673, for which her and Thomas's son, Thomas Jr., was prosecuted for murder in a trial that famously relied on dream-based "spectral evidence," some of which was offered by John Briggs. In his testimony, Briggs called himself "sixty-four years or thereabouts" (thus the commonly accepted birth year of 1609), and said that he had had a dream in which a woman was at his bedside, "whereas he was much affrighted and cryed out, in the name of God, what are thou? The apparition answered, I am your sister Cornell, and twice said, see how I was burnt with fire." Partly because of this testimony, Thomas Cornell was found guilty of the murder of his mother and was hanged.

Sources disagree on whether John Briggs and Rebecca Cornell were actually full siblings, half siblings, siblings-in-law, or some other relationship. It seems to be more generally agreed that John Briggs's wife Sarah Cornell was in fact a sister of the senior Thomas Cornell. See George E. McCracken, "Who Was Rebecca Cornell?", The American Genealogist 36:16 (January 1960), for an overview of the probably insoluble problem of Rebecca (maybe Briggs) Cornell's parentage, and for a critique of the idea (promulgated by the 1953 The Briggs Genealogy, citation details below) that John Briggs and Rebecca (maybe Briggs) Cornell were children of a family from the parish of St. James, Clerkenwell, London. Also see Killed Strangely: The Death of Rebecca Cornell by Elaine Forman Crane (Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 2002).

John Briggs was one of the signers, in 1638, of the compact of the settlement of Aquidneck. He played a prominent part in the government of the town, serving as juryman, constable, town councilor, surveyor of lands, special commissioner, and Deputy to the General Assembly.

John Briggs (1609-1690) = Sarah Cornell (d. 1661)
Susannah Briggs (1640-1704) = William Palmer (1638-1675)
William Palmer (1663-1746) = Mary Richmond (1668-1708)
Elizabeth Palmer (1687-1754) = Henry Head (1680-1755)
Deborah Head (b. 1725) = Brittain Tallman (1729-1815)
William Tallman (1755-1835) = Rhoda Akin (1751-1844)
Lydia Tallman (1787-1873) = Abel Ford (1783-1842)
Silas Ford (1807-1854) = Amanda Hedden (1812-1853)
Emily Helena Ford (1834-1901) = William Lyman Aiken (1821-1893)
William Ford Aiken (1864-1901) = Anna Potter (1864-1901)
Conrad Aiken (1889-1973) = Jessie McDonald (1889-1970)
Joan Aiken (1924-2001)
Jane Aiken Hodge (1917-2009)

John married Sarah Cornell before 1642. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 10 Sep 1677, Portsmouth, Newport, Rhode Island

Notes:

"Edward Fisher was an original settler of Portsmouth, where he had various allotments of land. He served as constable, member of the town council and deputy to the General Assembly. He died in 1677, his wife Judith outliving him for some years. His will appointed the senior John Briggs as 'overseer' of his estate, and made a bequest to his daughter, Mary Fisher. A receipt for this legacy in 1682 was signed by Mary Briggs and her husband Thomas." [The Howland Heirs, citation details below.]

"FISHER, Edward, of Po. Will dated 18 Sep 1665, proved 5 Oct 1677, pg 151. Mentions: Wife Judith Fisher. 3 Daughters Ruth Potter, Hanna Briggs, & Mary Fisher. Receipts were given for legacies from father-in-law Edward Fisher's will by Thomas Briggs of Dartmouth husband of Mary Briggs, John Potter of Warwick husband of Ruth Potter, & John Briggs of Po. husband of Hanna Briggs 6 Jan 1682." [Rhode Island Genealogical Register 3:23, "Abstracts of Portsmouth Wills"]

Edward married Judith Smith before 1640. Judith (daughter of Richard Smith and Anna Goodwin) was born before 10 Aug 1606 in Alford, Lincolnshire, England; was christened on 10 Aug 1606 in Alford, Lincolnshire, England; died after 1680. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Abt 1682

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Abt 1590, Bermondsey, Surrey, England
• Alternate birth: Abt 1593

Notes:

Citizen and leatherseller of London; received his freedom as a member of the Company of Leathersellers on 26 Sep 1620.

Emigrated 1634, with his second wife Joan, widow of Roger Dimbleby (himself also a citizen and leatherseller of London). First at Watertown, then Sandwich 1639. In England midsummer 1637, back in New England by 27 Mar 1638.

Fined in 1660 for attending Quaker meetings.

William Swift (~1593-1643) = Joan (d. ~1663)
Esther Swift (b. 1629) = Ralph Allen (1615-1659)
Jedediah Allen (1647-1712) = Elizabeth Howland (d. >1711)
Mary Allen (b. 1681) = Thomas Smith (~1672-1732)
Anthony Smith (1723-1810) = Lydia Willets (b. 1726)
Judith Smith (1751-1836) = Jacob Burdg (1743->1797)
Jacob Burdg (1783-1862) = Miriam Matthews (1786->1860)
Oliver Burdg (1821-1908) = Jane M. Hemingway (1824-1890)
Almira Park Burdg (1849-1943) = Franklin Milhous (1848-1919)
Hannah Milhous (1885-1967) = Francis Anthony Nixon (1878-1956)
Richard Milhous Nixon (1913-1993)

William Swift (~1593-1643) = Joan (d. ~1663)
William Swift (1627-1706) = Ruth (d. >1705)
Jireh Swift (~1673-1749) = Abigail Gibbs (~1677-1740)
Nathaniel Swift (1708-1790) = Abiah Tupper (1713-1782)
Nathaniel Swift (1749-1825) = Sarah Thomas (1751-1835)
Julius Swift (1792-1876) = Lydia Hawkins (1818-1894)
Charles Julius Swift (b. 1845) = Josephine Reno (1848-1920)
Archie Dean Swift (1877-1961) = Bernice Maude Thompson (1882-1979)
Archie Dean Swift (1914-1998) = Rose Baldi Douglas (1920-1994)
Scott Kingsley Swift (1952- ) = Andrea Gardner Finlay (1958- )
Taylor Alison Swift (1989- )

William married Joan on 3 Jan 1626 in St. Mary Magdalen, Bermondsey, Surrey, England. Joan died between 12 Oct 1662 and 25 Dec 1663. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Widow of Roger Dimbleby.

Notes:

Common ancestor between Teresa and:

Ezra Cornell, founder of Cornell University
Amelia Earhardt
John Kerry
Bill Gates
Sen. Bob Graham
Daniel Webster

and:

Lizzie Borden, by way of Thomas Cornell (Jr.)'s daughter, Innocent, born after his death to his second wife Sarah Earle Cornell.

and Jimmy Carter:

William Cornell
Thomas Cornell (1593-1655) = Rebecca (Briggs?) (d. 1673)
Elizabeth Cornell = Christopher Almy
Elizabeth Almy (b. 1663) = Lewis Morris (d. ~1695)
Richard Morris (d. ~1762)
Job Morris (d. 1786) = Mary Ansley (d. ~1816)
Lydia Morris (d. 1838) = Abel Ainsley (d. 1822)
Ann Ainsley (d. ~1848) = Wiley Carter (d. 1864)
Littleberry Walker Carter (d. 1873) = Mary Ann Diligence Sears (d. 1873)
William Archibald Carter (1858-1903) = Nina Pratt (1863-1909)
James Earl Carter (1894-1953) = Bessie Lillian Gordy (1893-1983)
James Earl Carter, Jr. (1924- ), 39th President of the United States

and Richard Nixon:

William Cornell
Thomas Cornell (1593-1655) = Rebecca (Briggs?) (d. 1673)
Elizabeth Cornell = Christopher Almy
Elizabeth Almy (b. 1663) = Lewis Morris (d. ~1695)
Richard Morris (d. ~1762)
Sarah Morris = Joseph Burdg
Jacob Burdg (b. 1743) = Judith Smith (1751-1836)
Jacob Burdg (1783-1862) = Miriam Matthews (b. 1786)
Oliver Burdg (1821-1908) = Jane Hemingway (1824-1890)
Almira Park Burdg (1849-1943) = Franklin Milhous (1848-1919)
Hannah Milhous (1885-1967) = Francis Anthony Nixon (1878-1956)
Richard M. Nixon (1913-1994), 37th President of the United States

Richard married Anna Goodwin on 12 Sep 1605 in Alford, Lincolnshire, England. Anna died after 4 May 1611. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

"She is probably the Anna Smith who married William Puttrell at Alford on 10 June 1612. Richard Smith's death and his widow's apparent remarriage may account for the indenturing of their daughter Judith." [Sanford, citation details below.]