Our ancestors hated each other

I have written a column for the local paper, Christian Courier, for the past 36 years. In this recent entry I describe the discoveries my wife and I made during our recent travels in Maryland: Our ancestors hated each other. An excerpt:

When we first visited Maryland in 1996, I had no idea that my own ancestors had lived in the colony in the early decades. But as increasing numbers of records were posted online and genealogical sites established, I discovered one ancestor, Cornelius Howard, Sr., who served in the Maryland assembly and may have been descended from the Dukes of Norfolk. Howard was my ninth great grandfather. This was during the Calverts’ proprietorship.

During our most recent visit, I discovered that two more ninth great grandfathers also served in the assembly, but only after the Calverts had been overthrown in 1689, following the Glorious Revolution in the British Isles. One of these was Nicholas Gassaway, whose fourth great grandson, Senator Henry Gassaway Davis of West Virginia, was the Democratic Party’s candidate for vice president in 1904.

Read the entire article here.

Henry Hanslap (d. 1698)

Henry Hanslap was another of my generation's 9th great grandfathers and thus of the same generation as Nicholas Gassaway and John Hammond. As prominent colonial residents of Maryland, these gentlemen's progeny intermarried, which explains our descent from all of them. Hanslap is described as "sheriff of Anne Arundel" County, having been appointed to this post by the Associators' convention which had displaced the Calverts in 1689. However, he apparently served only until February 1689/90 (Carr and Jordan, 107). He seems to have been a supporter of Lord Baltimore and thus "refused cooperation with the Associators" (Carr and Jordan, 195), whose legitimacy was in dispute between 1689 and 1692.

Hyder women

My grandmother, Frances Marie Hyder (1904–1975), has been gone for just over half a century. But I still have vivid memories of our lengthy visits with her during my childhood. One of these memories is of two lovely photographs sitting on the bureau in her dining room in Milan, Michigan, those of her deceased mother and her eldest sister.

This is Lucy Jane Bentley Hyder, who was born on 2 October 1875, Big Stone Gap, Virginia, and died on 7 November 1948, Adrian, Michigan. As I studied this portrait as a boy, I thought my great grandmother, whom I would never know in this life, looked kind, compassionate, and somewhat careworn. I wished that our lives had indeed overlapped so that I could have known her personally.

John Hammond (1643–1707)

John Hammond was born on the Isle of Wight, England, on 5 December 1643, the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Hammond. He died in Annapolis, Maryland, on 24 November 1707 and is buried in the St. Anne's Parish churchyard. He may have been brother-in-law to Cornelius Howard, perhaps having married his sister Mary, the daughter of Matthew Howard and Anne Hall. This source indicates that Hammond had four sons, Thomas, John, Charles, and William, but this source lists also daughters Mary and Elizabeth. We are descended from Mary, or Mary Katherine, who married Cornelius Howard, Jr., son of Cornelius and Elizabeth Howard.

Because in his youth Hammond was a Quaker, he apparently declined to bear arms, a stance that may have led to a criminal conviction around age 19. But later in life he became a member of the Church of England and assumed a high rank in the local militia, as indicated in this passage found here:

Nicholas Gassaway

During our recent travels in April and May of 2026, my wife Nancy was researching her Calvert forebears, a project she hopes eventually to turn into a book. Given that her and my ancestors were closely associated in early colonial Maryland, I found plenty of opportunities to explore my own genealogical heritage, discovering that three of my 9th great grandfathers served in the colonial assembly during the 17th century. One of these was Colonel Nicholas Gassaway, who was born in 1634 and died in 1691 or 92. As noted previously, Gassaway represented Anne Arundel County in what was briefly called the Protestant Associators' Convention from 1689 until his death two years later. This was in the years immediately following the Glorious Revolution of 1688, which overthrew the Stuart monarchs in the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland. As a Protestant, he was evidently part of the leadership which took over the colony after the Catholic Lords Baltimore had been deprived of their proprietorship.

Baltimore

During our recent mid-Atlantic sojourn, Nancy and I first visited Baltimore, the site of the Maryland Center for History and Culture, formerly known as the Maryland Historical Society, founded in 1844. I was there for only one night and part of one day, as I had to proceed to Alexandria, Virginia, for my board meeting. Our hotel was the century-old Lord Baltimore Hotel, one of whose hallways is graced by portraits of the six Lords Baltimore, the first five of whom are Nancy’s direct ancestors. Here are some photographs I took of the city.

This, of course, is the Lord Baltimore Hotel, which opened for business near the end of 1928. 

Benedict Swingate Calvert (before 1727-1788)

Benedict Swingate Calvert

Benedict Swingate Calvert is my wife's 4th great grandfather and my own generation's 7th cousin 7 times removed. Nancy has done a considerable amount of research into his life and times. What follows reflects this research. During our recent travels, we visited more than one site associated with Benedict, who was born in England, moved to Annapolis as a child, eventually presided over a stately home in Upper Marlboro known as Mt. Airy Mansion, and is buried in St. Thomas Church in Croom, Maryland. Benedict was a common name amongst the Calverts, so this particular Benedict is usually referenced by his second name Swingate to distinguish him from his relatives.

Benedict was fathered by Charles Calvert, the 5th Lord Baltimore, sometime before 1727. His gravestone lists his birth year as 1722, although he was likely born several years later. The identity of Benedict's mother is uncertain, although there is more than one theory concerning his maternal parentage, two of which tie him to the reigning house of Hanover in Great Britain.* If one of these connections is proven, it would be remarkable given that the Calverts were largely Jacobites and, a few generations earlier, included the Stuart monarchs themselves. Benedict was a loyalist during the War for Independence, although he was also a personal friend of George Washington, a fact which appears to have protected him and his property from confiscation by Patriots. Benedict's daughter Eleanor, who is buried next to him in St. Thomas Church, married Washington's stepson John Park Custis at Mt. Airy Mansion in 1774, although their marriage sadly ended seven years later with Custis's death.

The Maryland State Houses

During our recent travels, my wife and I revisited Historic St. Mary's City, the first colonial capital of Maryland between 1634 and 1695. We were there for the first time during our honeymoon three decades ago. Since then a lot of work has been done to excavate the archaeological sites and even to rebuild some of the buildings that once stood there. To our delight, our distinguished hosts, Dr. Henry Miller and Ruth Mitchell, treated us as honoured guests and devoted an entire morning to us, guiding us through the most important places that had once served the early English colonists. Nancy and I were most favourably impressed by what is being done to bring Maryland's history alive for a 21st-century public. Indeed, while we were there, we saw a group of school children touring the site. I rather imagine that these constitute a large portion of the visitors.

Mid-Atlantic sojourn

My wife and I have recently returned from a visit to the mid-Atlantic states, where we both had ancestors prominent in their communities during the colonial era. Our travels combined more than one purpose. First, it has been thirty years since we were married, and this trip was something of a second honeymoon. Second, I was participating in the semiannual board meeting of the Center for Public Justice just outside of Washington, DC. And third, my wife, Dr. Nancy Calvert-Koyzis, undertook research in Baltimore and Annapolis, exploring the activities of her ancestors, the Barons of Baltimore, who founded Maryland in 1634. During our travels I discovered previously unknown history of my own ancestors, who, as it turned out, were closely associated with, and possibly opposed to, the Calverts during the late 17th century.

The Trail of the Lonesome Pine

In 1908, John Fox, Jr. (1862-1919), wrote his best-selling book, The Trail of the Lonesome Pine, a romance novel set in the Appalachian region amid two fictional feuding families, the Tollivers and the Falins. Outsider John Hale wants to transform the area by mining the coal and bringing prosperity to the community and to himself, but he finds himself falling for the young and lovely June Tolliver, complicating his ambitions. 

Fox was born in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, where Nelson and Lucy Jane Hyder and family were living at the time the book was published. During our honeymoon, my wife and I visited John Fox's house, which is now a museum. We also attended a stage version of the novel performed at the Barbara Polly Theater in Big Stone Gap.

In 1913 Harry Carroll (1892-1962) and Ballard MacDonald (1882-1935) wrote a popular song based on the novel. It was sung in the recording posted below by Albert Campbell (1872-1947) and Henry Burr (1882-1941). Although the novel was set in Kentucky, the song brings the action to "The Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia," located somewhat to the east of Big Stone Gap. The girl's name is June in the song. June was also the name of one of Nelson and Lucy Jane's younger daughters (1916-2001), who was born in Michigan on the first day of June.

The Beans of Tennessee, Virginia, and Scotland

Russell Bean's headstone

My generation's 2nd great-grandmother, Mary Hyder Shepherd (1844-1925), was the daughter of Jacob Hyder (1814-1881) and Elizabeth Bean (1812-before 1868). We know rather a lot about her Hyder ancestors going back to the American War of Independence and to 16th-century Germany.

Mary's mother's family has origins extending back to the first European settlements of Tennessee and before that to 17th-century Inverness, Scotland. Elizabeth's father was named William Russell Bean, or Russell Bean (1769-1829), and her mother was Rosamond Robertson (1770-1850), reputed to be "the first white child born in Tennessee."

Sam Jack Hyder (1892-1970)

I recently corresponded online with someone I've known for slightly more than twenty years. He lives in Carter County, Tennessee, where our Hyder ancestors took up residence sometime after arriving in America. I mentioned that my forebears had come from there, and he told me that Milligan University, formerly Milligan College, located near Johnson City, has a Hyder Auditorium and a Hyder House. Figuring that these were likely named for a distant cousin, I did a little research and learned that a Professor Sam Jack Hyder (1892-1970) taught mathematics at Milligan and appears to have made a singular impact on the university, which not only named two campus sites for him, but also issues an award in his name to faculty. Sam and his wife, Mary Ellen Thomas Hyder (1892-1984) are pictured here in 1915.

Using Find a Grave for reference, I discovered that Sam's parents were Nathaniel Henry Hyder (1847-1935) and Mary Isabell Williams Hyder (1851-1921). Nathaniel's parents were Samuel Washington Hyder (1817-1897) and Lavicia Elizabeth Edens Hyder (1824-1870). Samuel's parents were Michael Hyder II (1767-1861) and Sarah Eisenberg Zimmerman Hyder (1780-1865), from whom our line of the family is also descended. Michael's father was also named Michael and fought in the War for Independence. His parents, Hans Michael Hyder and Katherine Chasteen Hyder sailed from Germany to America by way of Rotterdam and Philadelphia in 1729. This makes Sam my second cousin three times removed.

Incidentally, Milligan University is a Christian university in the Restorationist (Stone-Campbell) tradition of the Christian Churches, Disciples of Christ, and the Churches of Christ. Sam's great-uncle Jacob Hyder (1814-1881), my third great-grandfather, was a trustee of the Union Church of Christ, located in nearby Washington County, in 1876. That two members of the extended Hyder family were associated with the Churches of Christ suggests that others might have been as well, but I've not found concrete evidence of this.

The Booths of Stratford, Connecticut

Lucy Jane's grandparents were David and Nancy (Elkins) Wells. Recall that, according to the story making its way down through two family lines, David was murdered by "the Raiders or Ku Klux Klan as they were sometimes called" on the day the Civil War ended. Nancy Jane Elkins was born in 1822 and died from complications of measles in 1887, more than two decades after her husband's death. Nancy's father was Joseph Elkins (1789-1865), who, according to Lucy Jane, "died suddenly after being caught in a wind storm." Joseph's father was named Elijah (1760-1850), and his mother was Jerusha Booth (1771-1856). This brings us to the ancient Booth family whose origins appear to extend back to the 14th century with Sir Thomas de Booth (1330-1368). Several members of the Booth family, including our direct ancestors, were knighted by the king and thus had their names prefixed with "Sir."

The Booths lived in the northwest part of England near the cities of Liverpool and Manchester, more specifically in Lancashire, Cheshire, Trafford, and Staffordshire. Our line of the family crossed the Atlantic and were amongst the first settlers in and founders of Stratford, Connecticut, named after Stratford-upon-Avon, William Shakespeare's birthplace. The first arrivals landed in 1639, possibly escaping the troubles in their homeland just prior to the outbreak of the English Civil War, or the Wars of the Three Kingdoms (i.e., England, Scotland, and Ireland). Because the community was founded by Puritans, it is reasonable to assume that the Booths themselves were Puritans.

Seeking our roots

Lucy Jane with three of her children

Here is an article on genealogy which I recently published with a local periodical called Christian Courier: Seeking our roots. An excerpt:

Since childhood I have wanted to know who my ancestors were and where I came from. This flowed out of a general interest in history. I knew the major milestones such as the Roman Empire, the Middle Ages and the exploration and settlement of the Americas. But where did my own family enter the picture?

Fortunately, my maternal great-grandmother, Lucy Jane Bentley Hyder (1875-1948), had the foresight to record two reminiscences of her own forebears extending back to the late 18th century. These included her grandfather David Wells (born c 1815), of Big Stone Gap, Virginia, who, on the day the American Civil War ended, was murdered by “the Raiders or Ku Klux Klan as they were sometimes called.”

Read the entire article here.

Piney Prospect

One of our ancestors was apparently responsible for building this house between 1790 and 1800. His name was Henry Hines (born around 1750, my 5th great-grandfather), whose wife was surnamed Williams and whose first name was either Elizabeth or Catherine (or perhaps a combination of the two). Their daughter Sarah Hines (1770-1856) married Squire Bentley (1770-1851). They were great-grandparents to Lucy Jane Bentley Hyder, my generation's great-grandmother.

 

The house was recently restored and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This 2015 article in Home & Garden tells the story of recent owners who restored the house and moved it to its present location: Homeplace: Piney Prospect. The house is located in Tarboro, Edgecombe County, North Carolina, and is "[o]ne of the finest examples of federal architecture within North Carolina."

• Henry Hines (c 1750—?), married Elizabeth (Catherine) Williams 
• Sarah Hines (1770—c1856), married Squire Bentley (1770, North Carolina—1851), son of Benjamin Bentley (1747—1839, North Carolina) and Jane (1750, Rowan County, North Carolina—?)
• Benjamin H. Bentley (1814—?), married Mary Davis (1815 Alexander, North Carolina—?), daughter of Jeremiah Davis (c1796 Virginia—1882 Cave-In-Rock, Hardin, Illinois) and Nancy Bridgeman (Madcap?) (09 May 1796 Wythe, Virginia—1873 Hardin, Illinois)
• Squire Benjamin Martin Bentley (15 November 1849 Yancey County, North Carolina—11 March 1903 East Stone Gap, Wise, Virginia), married Virginia Elizabeth Wells (1854 or 1857 Virginia—8 Dec 1917, Big Stone Gap, Virginia), daughter of David W. Wells (1815, Virginia—9 April 1865) and Nancy Jane Elkins (1822 Russell, Virginia—22 December 1887 Wise County, Virginia)
• Lucy Jane Bentley (1875—1948), married Nelson Hyder (1875—1959)

Matthew Howard (c 1609-1659)

David W. Wells' great-grandmother was named Hannah Howard Osborne, who lived from 1735 until an unknown year. This is where the Wells line intersects with the Howards, who may have been descended from the Dukes of Norfolk in England. Here is the lineage:

• Matthew Howard (1609, Wardour, Wiltshire, England—4 September 1659, Anne Arundel County, Maryland), married Anne Hall (1610, England—1640, Annapolis, Maryland), daughter of Richard Hall 1585-1645) and Marion Lee Loveland (1580-1645)
• Captain Cornelius Howard (1637, Norfolk, Virginia—15 October 1680, Anne Arundel County, Maryland), married Elizabeth Todd or Gorsuch (sources differ)
• Captain Cornelius Howard, Jr. (1664, Anne Arundel County, Maryland—23 February 1717, St. Annes Parish, Anne Arundel, Maryland), married Mary Katherine Hammond (1689, Anne Arundel—24 December 1714, St. Annes Parish), daughter of Major John Hammond (5 December 1643, Anne Arundel County—24 November 1707, Anne Arundel County) and Mary Howard (1647, Anne Arundel County—4 April 1721, Anne Arundel County), whose parents were Matthew and Anne Hall Howard
• Captain John Howard (1698-1765), married Elizabeth Gassaway (28 March 1712, Anne Arundel—unknown), daughter of Thomas Gassaway (20 February 1683, Anne Arundel County—10 September 1739, Anne Arundel County) and Susanna Hanslap (8 February 1682, Anne Arundel County—24 February 1740, Anne Arundel)
• Hannah Howard (1735, Virginia—unknown), married Caleb Osborne (1725 or 1731, James City (Williamsburg), Virginia—7 August 1781, Rowan County, North Carolina)
• Elizabeth Abigail Osborne (1757-1856), married Zachariah Wells (1745-1825)
• Dr. Jeremiah Wells (1792, Scott County, Virginia—18 November 1845, Wise County, Virginia), married Elizabeth Culbertson (1792 or 1796, Scott County, Virginia—5 April 1859, Wise County, Virginia), daughter of Joseph Culbertson (1766-1815) and Agnes Chittleton
• David W Wells (c 1815, Virginia—9 April 1865), married Nancy Jane Elkins (1822, Russell, Virginia—22 December 1887, Wise, Virginia), daughter of Joseph Elkins (c 1789, Russell County, Virginia—after 1865) and Margaret (1803-unknown)
• Virginia Elizabeth Wells, married Squire Benjamin Martin Bentley
• Lucy Jane Bentley, married Nelson Hyder
  

Michael Hyder (1740-1790), patriot

As we noted in an earlier post, Hans Michael and Katherine Chasteen Hyder immigrated from Germany to the American colonies in 1729. Their son Michael Hyder, Sr., fought in the American War for Independence, and his contributions to that and other skirmishes are memorialized on his headstone:

Erected by his Descendants to Michael Hyder Sr. Died 25 June 1790
Member of the Watauga Association in Watauga Fort, June 21, 1776. Took part in all the early Indian wars in Tennessee under Shelby, Sevier and Christian.
Was in the following battles of the Revolution, Thickety Fort, Cedar Springs and Musgrove's Mill in South Carolina. Was detailed from the King's Mountain, SC expedition to defend the Watauga Settlement from Indian invasion.

'Irish Andrew' Culbertson (1694-1746)

Another line intersects with the Wells line with David W Wells' mother Elizabeth Culbertson. It begins in Scotland in the 16th century. A major figure in the line is a certain Andrew ("Irish Andrew") Culbertson, who came to Pennsylvania in the early 18th century and was my generation's 8th great-grandfather.

• Thomas Cutbertsoun (c 1570?—unknown), married Bessie Hog
• Nicoll Culberstone (21 November 1590, Kelso, Roxburgh, Scotland—27 April 1650, West-mains Seatoun, Midlothia, Scotland), married Cicill Waddell (1590, Berwickshire, Scotland—c 1692, Mid-Calder, Midlothian, Scotland)
• Andrew Culbertson (Cuthbertson) (1612, Mid Calder, Midlothian—1654), married Elspeth Johnstone (1610-1661), daughter of Johnne Johnstoun (1580, Halifax, Yorkshire, England—14 October 1622, Midlothian, Scotland) and Margaret Hacketstoun (1580, Leith, Midlothianshire, Scotland—unknown, Leith)
• William Culbertson (c 1645, Scotland—after 1720), married Jean Breckenridge (1668-1742), daughter of Thomas J Breckenridge (1655, Ballyrichard, Antrim, Ireland—1700, Clogher, Tyrome, Ireland) and Jane Austin (21 March 1652, Elton, Huntingdonshire, England—2 January 1690, Antrim, Ireland)
• Andrew “Irish Andrew” Culbertson (1694, Derry, Londonderry, Ireland—1746, Shippensburg, Cumberland, Pennsylvania), married Janet Breckenridge (Caldwell) (Miller?) (1696-1742), daughter of Alexander Breckenridge (c 1665—unknown) and Elizabeth Jane Preston (c 1665—unknown)
• Andrew Culbertson, Jr. (c 1726, Culbertson's Row, Franklin County, Pennsylvania—1763), married Esther Arbuckle (1726, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania—unknown), daughter of Matthew Arbuckle (c 1700-unknown) and unknown
• Joseph C Culbertson (1744, Cumberland, Pennsylvania—5 December 1805, Russell County, Virginia), married Agnes Bailey Stacy (1 August 1745, Westmoreland County, Virginia, or Lancaster, Pennsylvania—3 April 1811, Russell County, Virginia)
• Joseph Culbertson (1766, Caswell County, North Carolina—1815, Scott County, Virginia), married Agnes Chittleton
• Elizabeth Culbertson ((1792-1859), married Dr. Jeremiah Wells (1792-1845), David Wells' father.
  

Map of origins

This map shows the regions of what is now the United States where some of our ancestors lived. Our earliest ancestors on the Howard and Wells side were from Maryland. Captain Cornelius Howard (1630/43-1680), our generation's 9th great-grandfather, represented Anne Arundel County in the Maryland General Assembly in St. Mary's City, the first capital of Maryland under the proprietorship of the Lords Baltimore, who founded the colony in 1634. Anne Arundel (1615/16-1649) was married to Cecil Calvert (1605-1675), the 2nd Lord Baltimore. They are my wife's 8th great-grandparents. During our honeymoon, we visited St. Mary's City, mostly because of her forebears' connection with the place, little realizing at the time that one of my own ancestors had spent time there as well. As mentioned in an earlier post, Howard County was named for our Howard ancestors.

Lucy Jane's reminiscences, 2

Later turned out to be today. Here's the second document that Lucy Jane recorded.