Thaly Ann Stevens married Woodhull Helm

(Jody Gray) while researching Woodhull Helme, I came across a biographical sketch of his son, Clinton D Helm, MD. and learned Woodhull Helme had been married three times. This discovery lead to more research; I found a U.S, Dutch Reformed Church baptism record for Woodhull Helm and Thaly Ann Stevens, parents of William Moffatt b. 10/14, 1809. (Woodhull Helme’s mother’s maiden name, Moffat).

    Lucy Ruggles, mother of Clinton, is the only spouse of Woodhull Helm that I have a marriage record for: 5/25/1816. Phineas, named after Woodhull’s father. Woodhull Helm, Jr. Lucy, after her mother.

Clinton D. Helm MD - Media: Past and present of the city of Rockford and Winnebago County, Illinois

Lucy Ruggles - Media: North America, Family Histories

DAR Lineage Book: NSDAR: Volume 164: 1921

Mrs. Minnie E. Winchell Royce #16324.

Born in Montour, Iowa. Wife of Edgar Austin Royce. Descendant of Sergt. Edward Ruggles, as follows: 1. Clinton D. Winchell (b. 1846) m: 1868 Lucy J.H. Helm (b. 1830). 2. Ruggles Helm (1820-77) m: 1845 Sarah Ann Bass (1827-56). 3. Woodhull Helm (1777-1845) m: 3rd 1816 Lucy Ruggles (1701-1872). 4. Edward Ruggles m: 1772 Anna Dean (1753-1842). Edward Ruggles (1750-1805) was a minute man on the Lexington Alarm and served as sergeant in the Massachusetts Line. He was born and died in Hardwick, Mass. [Also No. 132280]

U.S, Dutch Reformed Church Records for Woodhull Helm’s children

Eliza McDonald (M. Dowel, illegible): George M b. 10/30/1777; Eliza b. 1/25/1802

Thaly Ann Stevens: William Moffat b. 10/14/1809

Using the birth dates of his children, I was able to create “marriage” dates and the order of Woodhull marriages to Eliza and Thaly Ann. Note: I also created death date for Eliza; I found no death record for her, one Ancestry.com family tree listed a death date that would mean that Woodhull divorced her which is unlikely.  Thaly’s death date came from an Ancestry.com family tree.

Research Results for Thaly Ann aka Anna Stevens; daughter of Gershom Stevens and Phebe Henry.

Shared Headstone, Inscription: Sacred to the Memory of Gershom Stevens Sen. A Head of the Revolution, 1741-182. And his wife Phebe Henry, 1744-1831. Here also rest the remains of their children: Ozias Stevens Sen. Levi Stevens Sr. Lois, wife of John Becker. Charity, wife of Rev. Charles Tucker. Anna (Thaly), wife of Woodhull Helm. Sally, wife of Isaac Parker. Erected by O.T. and P. Location: Gilboa Rural Cemetery, Gilboa, Schoharie County, New York.

    Note: Phebe Henry m: Gershom Stevens *Hendry Connection ?

Family of Gershom Stevens b. 1741 married Phoebe Henry b. 1744

1. Ozias b. 1766. 2. Lois b. 1768. 3. Charity b. 1770. Sarah b. 1772. Sally b. 1772. Peter b. 1779. Gershom Jr. b. 1779. Thaly Ann b. 1782. Phoebe b. 1786. Levi b. 1789. Betsey b. 1791.
Note: two of their son's married an Abigail which caused much confusion among genealogist; however, by doing some research, I came up with this:

Ozias Stevens Sr b. 1766 m: Abigail ?? b. 1783

              Mortality Form states she’s a widow

                       son: Philander, of Broom Center, Schoharie *photo

     Ozias Stevens Jr b. 1804 m: Mercy Sowles b. 1805

          1860 Census: Mother, Abigail (b. 1782/83) Children:

          Anna 1838; Hattie 1842; Sarah 1844; Charles 1845

Gershom Stevens Jr b. 1799 m: Abigail H Hand b. 1782

Sources:

I have traced the Stevens Family of Thaly Ann back to Airard Fitz Stephens ca. 1036, of Normandy who came to England with William the Conqueror in 1066; he settled in Gloucestershire, England. Blog Post for Descendants of Airard Fitz Stephens; and links to Stephens/Stevens Family Trees: *BP: Descendants of Airard Fitz Stephen, b. 1036. https://gray-piperfamily.blogspot.com/2016/06/descendants-of-airard-fitz-stephens.html *

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Descendants of Thomas Helme b. ca. 1665

Note (Jody Gray), this is a current project… not completed...

Woodhull-Helme Connection: Dorothy Woodhull b. 2/13/1687 or 88, Suffolk, Long Island, NY. d. 1742. She married William Helme I , b. abt 1686 Brookhaven, Suffolk, NY d. 1755 Westchester Co, NY

Ancestry.com Helme Family Tree,

Media: [1] Descendants of Woodhull-Helme and [1] Woodhull, Americans of Royal Descent

Thomas Helme is the oldest known progenitor of the lineage of William Helm m: Dorothy Woodhull. His parents are unknown -unverifiable

Media: for Thomas Helme attached to his Ancestry.com Profile Page: Thomas Helms story and Helme House.org internet research and Will of Thomas Helme.

Thomas Helme b. Abt 1665, Massachusetts or New York. Parents, unknown. 12/16/1686, married Mary Mills. d. 1710, Brookhaven, Suffolk, NY.
 1680, Thomas Helme, Patentee of Brookhaven, Suffolk, New York.

    Thomas Helme was commissioned with Richard Woodhull to lay out Little Neck in 1687 [Thomas Helme was recorded to be a surveyor]

    Will of Thomas Helme. 7/28/1710. Suffolk, NY. Sons named: William, Thomas, Ans. Proved, 9/28/1710.

Media: for William Helme attached to his Ancestry.com Profile Page: William Helme

William Helme b. abt 1686, Brookhaven, Suffolk, NY d. 1755, Suffolk or Orange Co., New York. Married, 1710, Dorothy Woodhull b. 2/13/1687, Brookhaven, Suffolk, New York.

Phineas Helme b. 8/24/1723, Brookhaven, Suffolk, NY d. 6/25/1798, Blooming Grove, Orange Co, NY. Married, Mary Moffatt, d. 1720, NY. d. Blooming Grove, Orange, NY.

Woodhull Helm b. 10/31/1777 d. 9/8/1845, Byron, Ogle Co., Illinois. Note: he’s the first to drop the final letter (e) from the family surname. Married first Eliza McDonald b. before 1778 (based on the date of her marriage); m. before 1798 (based on the birth of her son, George), d. before 1815, (based on the second marriage of Woodhull Helm). Note: I've found no birth, death or marriage records for Eliza McDowell but she’s listed as his wife on church records for birth of their children and she’s listed (Eliza McDonald) on the SAR application as wife of Woodhull Helm). Note (Jody Gray): I have since learned, from the Biographical Sketch of his son, Clinton D. Helm) that Woodhull married three times; refer to Blog Post (Gray-Piper): Thaly Ann Stevens married Woodhull Helm.

References used for Thomas Helm -from my Gray-Piper Family Tree, Media

Media: Will of Thomas Helme

Will - Suffolk. Court of Common Pleas held at Southold in County aforesaid on the 28th day of September in the Ninth year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lady Queen Anne now of Great Britain… Annoq. Dom 1710… The within written Last Will and Testament of the within named Thomas Helme deceased by the oaths of Richard Floyd and Arthur Ffuthy witnesses… Has proved an approved the Executor therein mentioned… [nominate and appoint my said wife to be my executor… Thomas Helme]

Media: Thomas Helms story *another Media: Helme House.org internet research contains the same information.

Thomas Helme 1656-1710, Setauket (Brookhaven), Suffolk, NY

B. 1656 -tradition says MA; Susan Austin’s Rootsweb file says Salem

D. Brookhaven, Suffolk (Long Island), NY

Father: unknown. Note: conjectured that his father was William, his grandfather Christopher (of Rhode Island). Recent research, as well as recent yDNA studies, have shown this to be improbable.

Mother: Unknown. Siblings. Unknown.

Married (12/16/1686) Mary Mills Norton, widow of Nathaniel Norton. She was daughter of either Isaac or Richard Mills, both of Southampton.

    Nathaniel Norton (5/29/1639, Salem, MA - 11/7/1685, Brookhaven, NY). Children with Nathaniel: Isaac, Nathaniel, George, Jonathan, Mary, Sarah and Hannah.

     Note: the name of his wife was unknown for a long time. However, one of the records preserved at the Thomas Helme House site - an indenture dated 11/20/1695 (but not recorded) between Nathaniel Norton, Mary Helme and William Smith - proves at least that Nathaniel Norton’s mother Mary was identical with Mary Helme. (In another record - a deposition by Jonathan Norton for a boundary dispute - Jonathan refers to “father Helme”) I do not have proof for her maiden name Mills, but considering how careful the researchers I am copying from are, I assume there is good reason for it.

Children of Thomas Helme and Mary Mills: William (our next ancestor) b. 1696-88 d. 1755. m: Temperance Woodhull. Note: I have Dorothy Woodhull - Temperance Fordham m: Richard Woodhull II are her parents. Thomas 1703-1729 m: Johanna Miller. Ans (Ansel, Anselm, Ants) 1704-? Four daughters (Hannah, one born 1702, one 1705 and Martha born 1705.

Thomas Helme was commissioned with Richard Woodhull to lay out Little Neck in 1687 [we know he served as surveyor]

Records from the Helme House Archives:

*he held many public offices: assessor, surveyor, President of the Board of Trustees (of Brookhaven), clerk of the county court, Justice...

6/10/1664: Massatewse and the Sunke Squaw sold the tract of land called the “ould man’s” to the inhabitants of Setauket (Brookhaven Town Records, Book A, pt 1)

11/3/1680: Indenture between Thomas Helme and William Jayne

2/18/1681: Thomas Helme to build a house for John Roe

3/10/1685: Thomas Helme chosen surveyor of the town

12/13/1686: married Mary Mills, widow of Nathaniel Norton

8/20/1690: Indenture between Thomas Helme and John Thomas

11/20/1695: Indenture between Nathaniel Norton, Mary Helme and William Smith (unrecorded)

6/12/1704: Indenture between Thomas Helme and William Jayne

9/7/1707: Martha Smith left him 40 shillings “to buy him a ring” in her will; witnessed by Thomas, Daniel Brewster, Dorothy Woodhull

9/28/1710: Will of Thomas Helme proved. Sons named: William, Thomas, Ans. [Will written, 7/28/1710]

“The Lester Will Book”: The original Thomas Helme of Brookhaven town, tradition says, came here from Massachusetts… Not among the first who settled here, but appears to have been living in Setauket previous to 1680 [Patentee of Brookhaven]… He left but one child, a son, Thomas, who was brought up by his uncle and guardian, Andrew Miller. After arriving at manhood he built the house at Miller’s Place where Mr. George P. Helme, one of his descendants, now resides.

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Selah Murray Stevens b. 1799, Connecticut

Note (Jody Gray): 10/3/2016. I made changes to this Blog Post after receiving Family Records; which contained the Parents of Selah Murray Stevens. The information may have come from the research of his great-grandson Nahum Vincent Parsons who wrote the genealogy (listed here in Part 1.) Ancestors and descendants of Selah Murray Stevens and Eliza Helm.
This Blog Post was originally "created and published" on 5/19/2016. At that time the only information I had for Selah Murray Stevens was that he was born in Saybrook, CT in 1799 and he died in Stamford, NY in 1878. I spent months trying to "find his parents" on the internet. There were no Family Trees listing parents for him. I found a couple other people who were looking for his parents.


Birth of Selah Murray Stevens, 7/4/1799, Saybrook Middlesex, CT

    Selah Murray Stevens, b. 7/4/1799, Saybrook, Middlesex, Connecticut; d. 1/25/1878, Stamford, Delaware, NY.

    http://www.lubean.com/fhc/searchResults.php?location=Connecticut

Wenatchee, Family History Center Search Results: (Film) Title: Ancestors and descendants of Selah Murray Stevens and Eliza Helm Author: Parsons, N. Vincent (Nahum) -Nahum Parsons (1904-1977) was the great-grandson of Selah Murray Stevens.
Subject: Selah Murray Stevens (1799-1878) was born in Conn. and died at Stamford, Delaware Co., N.Y. In 1821, he married Eliza Helm (1802-1852). They had five children.
One ancestor, Martin Bere/Beer, who died about 1472 at Rochester, Eng., married Alice Nissell of Wrotham, Kent, Eng. Descendants Immigrated to Fairfield, Conn. before 1628.

Death of Selah Murray Stevens

http://smdlocalhistoryblog.blogspot.com/2015/01/death-notices-january-7.html   Local History Notes. News-clippings of obituaries, marriages and other news items pertinent to the southern tier of New York state… Death Notices. Selah M. Stevens died at Stamford, Delaware Co., NY, 1/25 (1878) of cancer, aged 78 years. He kept a hotel at that place for many years.

Blog Posts for Stephens/Stevens Family: http://gray-adamsfamily.blogspot.com/2016/07/blog-posts-for-stephensstevens-family.html  (Jody Gray) created this Blog Post to provide links to all Blog Posts related to the Stephens/Stevens Family. The Gray-Piper Family Tree Trunk - The Stevens Family is connected to the Piper Family.
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Marriage, laws and traditions - Origins

http://www.genealogy.com/ftm/s/t/e/William-Lackey--Stephens/GENE20-0002.html- Some Descendants of the Fitz Stephen Family in England and New England by C. Ellis Sevens, LL.D., D.C.L. F.S.A. (Edinburgh) Knight of Portugal. New York - Privately Printed 1904.

Also included in this website information: Stevens - Stephens Genealogy and Family History” author: Clarence Perry Stevens. Contains the Stevens-Stephens family of North Carolina. Privately Published. 1968.

    In this book marriages are not confined solely to those still listed in church registers and county recorders offices. These are only some of the evidence in proving parents along with common law marriages etc… in the past there has been much confusion as to what constitutes marriage. Note also that official marriage registers are not proof beyond all doubt as to a child’s parents as several court cases show. A so-called illegitimate child is defined as “one born out of wedlock”; but wedlock is not so easy to define…. Different nations and even states have different definitions.

   Strange as it may seem, there are few modern books on marriage… One recent book by Dr. D.S. Bailey, an English clergyman, tells us 1. Marriage was originally a civil rather than a religious ceremony. In the early Christian church (and secular government) it consisted simply in an exchange of consent before witnesses after a contract and dowery (p. 84) and no permit or blessing from the clergy was used. (Vide Quaker marriages). It was a civil right of the people.

 Even after the Roman church became powerful enough and united with the state, to have a monopoly in most of Europe, no permit was required from the clergy before the 9th century (p. 74). About this time some of the clergy conceived the idea it would add to their power and wealth if they had authority over marriage. Naturally, if people had to get clerical permits for marriage they could also be forced to join the church and pay money to the bishops. By the 11th century a clerical permit (blessing) was rather well established (p. 117) which, of course, showed the church's authority in permitting anyone to marry. What right did they have to this authority? Why, none at all; they just usurped it. Then the tyranny over marriage began in earnest. In the 12th century any marriage between people more related than sixth cousins was prohibited (p. 143)... There we also other “impediments” such as a prohibition against marrying a deceased wife’s sister or the widow of a maternal uncle. These of course, were no blood relation, nor were those of “spiritual affinity”, added later (belonging to the same faith -denomination). This is a sample of the list too long to give here. Also by the 12th century the clergy were branding innocent children as illegitimate and began hunting witches… Thus they established a sort of taboo, which was to a certain extent has come down to the present time against the so-called illegitimate child. (the author tells of a boy who committed suicide because he persecuted by his school mates because he was illegitimate)

   Then in the 17th century religious liberty was established in England by the great Cromwell and his brave soldiers, including, our Capt. Nicholas Stevens and some of his kin. They were tired, as Milton said, of “the clergy meddling with marriage”, so they outlawed marriages “blessed” by the Roman clergy which, in effect, made such marriages illegitimate in England unless there was also a civil ceremony… This was a long step toward separation of church and state we are supposed to have in the U.S today. So if before 1800, no official marriage record is found or a birth is marked “base” or “spurious”, it may only mean that the persons did not belong to and use the official national church.

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