Out On A Limb With Jean

    Coat of Arms   The STOCKTON family has been in America since Richard STOCKTON, Sr.   (1630-1707) arrived in about 1656, landing on Long Island, New York, along with his son Richard II (1654-1709), from whom my STOCKTON lineage can be traced.   By 1692 they were residing in Burlington County, New Jersey.   Since there is a 20-year gap between the birth of his son Richard II in England, and his first child born in New Jersey, it is reasonable to assume that Richard, Sr. was a widower.   He and his wife Abigail had seven children born to them in New Jersey.   Richard II married a widow, Susanna WITHAM ROBINSON (? - ?), widow of Thomas ROBINSON (? - ?).   Richard II and Susanna had six children that I know of, all boys; I am descended from their third child, Joseph (1697-1770).   In 1701, Richard II purchased an estate of 6000 acres from William Penn, part of which became the city of Princeton, New Jersey.   The mansion ...

  Fill out your census form – your descendants will appreciate it! DEADLINE – OCTOBER 5!            You probably already know that the U.S. Constitution, in Article I, Section 2, states:   The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.          Why a discussion on the census here on my blog?   Because, it’s 2020, and I want to encourage everyone to fill out their census information completely!   Your descendants will appreciate it!   If you have not already completed the census, the deadline is October 5, so please, do it now!!   Rest assured, the results are not released to the general public until 72 years after it’s taken; this means your descendants will be able to find you in the 2020 census when it is...

            The story of the WALLACE/WALLIS family is another example of why I appreciate the honesty of my ancestors in telling their story.   Eliza C. TURNER (1833-1918) was the daughter of James and Mary TURNER.   She was the second wife of William WALLACE (1813-1903).   William had married Eliza VANSKIKE (??-1852) in 1845, and she bore him three children.   Her death occurred in the same year their third child was born, so her death may have been due to complications from childbirth.   Unfortunately, I can find no record for her on Ancestry; I will try to get her death record from the state of Missouri. William then married Eliza TURNER September 28, 1856.   Her first child, Alice, was born in 1857, and according to my grand-aunt Lizzie, this child may not have been William’s, and he may have married her out of pity, or because they may have already been engaged and he did it to “save face.”   The third child ...

           There is an excellent book on the Vanhooser family, “Van Hoose, Van Hooser, Van Huss Family in the United States,” written by Joyce Lindstrom (Afton Thrifty Print, 1993).  This 932-page book goes back to the birth of Jans Fransse VAN HUSUM in 1608, at Husum, Kreis Nordfriesland, Germany.  Surprised?  So was I!  He actually was not German either, but of Schleswig, a region under Danish rule at the time of his birth – even more surprising!           Jan Fransse VAN HUSUM (1608-1667) was born in a northern city of “an independent duchy ruled by princes of the old Roman empire.”   The misnomer that VanHoosers were Dutch comes from the Van before Jan’s city of birth, Husum.   Lindstrom goes on to explain, “When Jan Fransse left Husum in 1639, the Dutch Domunine (pastor) changed his name from the Danish of Fransse to the Dutch name of Frantz.   The Suffix ‘tz’ means the ‘son ...