|
|
The Havens
family is one of those which early became established in Suffolk County,
New York province. Starting from a small nucleus on Shelter Island, its
descendants spread, over the years, through the county, the state and the
nation. Historians are agreed that the progenitor of the line in this country
was William of Aquidneck, Rhode Island, who was first recorded in this
country in 1635. Five of his 13 children were sons, and one of them, George,
bought land on Shelter Island. Some of his
descendants made their homes
there. By the time Shelter Island as a political unit broke away from the
township of Southold in 1730, the Havens family was so well established
there that six of the 20 founders of the town were Havenses.
Their
existence was in sharp contrast to that of the present day. It has been
well described by the late Rev. Charles F. Craven in his "History of Mattituck,
Long Island." as follows:
The hundred
or more residents of Mattituck about the year 1700 lived the same simple
life as all their neighbors on the eastern end of Long Island. They were
mostly large andholders, but had little money and little use for it except
to acquire more land. Each
well-to-do man owned a suit
of clothes, and perhaps a 'trooper's coat' made of imported cloth.
These fine suits, with such accessories as silver shoe buckles, lasted
for years and were handed down by will from father to son. The rest of
their clothing was homespun. Their communication with the outside world,
by small sloops sailing to New Haven and New York, was slow. and
in winter dangerous, and they were substantially independent, sufficient
unto themselves, having large flocks and herds, raising their own corn,
wheat, rye and other simple foodstuffs. growing their flax, spinning
and weaving their own fabrics. Importing not much besides the English
cloth already mentioned, sugar, molasses and rum, a very few books, chiefly
Bibles. iron and brass kettles and a meager supply of such other utensils
as could not be made by the smiths at home. and occasionally silver tankards
and spoons that figure in their wills.
There is a Havens tradition that some or all of the early members of the
family were Quakers, were married to Ouakers. or were sympathetic to them.
On the other hand, it is certain that many of them were Presbyterians,
for the Rev. Jacob Mailman, a Presbyterian. Devotes most of his genealogical
listings to members of the Havens family
By the
time of the Revolutionary War. there were at least 18 heads of Havens families
in Suffolk County, judging by the census of 1776. There were six households
of them on Shelter Island (out of 27 census listings), five more
were in Brookhaven, and seven were in Southampton. The federal census of
1790 listed 42 Havens families in New York State 23 of them in Suffolk
County - well over 50% of the state's total. The remainder were distributed
throughout nine other counties. mostly in southern New York. Ten years
later, the federal census showed an increase in their number to 63, of
whom 26 were in Suffolk County and the remainder distributed among 15 other
counties in the state. At I write this, I find 32 Havenses listed in a
recent Suffolk County telephone directory.
The significance
of some of the earlier figures becomes more apparent when one considers
that Suffolk County had a population of 2121 in 1673, 3346 in 1703, and
5266 in 1723.
The destinations
of early migrants from the Rhode Island starting point were by no means
restricted to Suffolk County. A large branch of the family became established
in New Jersey, records show many in Connecticut, and a number went south.
In the latter half of the 18th century, the lure of the frontier brought
about a great westward movement throughout the colonies and the independent
states that succeeded them, and many Suffolk County families became
involved. When the British took possession of Long Island during the
Revolutionary War, large numbers of Suffolk County patriots fled from Long
Island to Connecticut and elsewhere . But even before this, some Havenses
as well as others like the Strongs. The Moores and the Tuthills. had moved
westward to destinations on the mainland both within and beyond the state.
The growth of early Suffolk County families and their geographic spread
were particularly vigorous in the 18th century. and the Havens family was
no exception. As a consequence, quite a few Havenses are listed in
censuses and other early records whom I have not been able to identify.
On the other hand, there are many Havens descendants today who have
been unable to find a link between their ancestors in family records and
the early Suffolk County lines.
There has been, and no doubt will continue to be, some dispute over the
country of Havens origin. Most records say it was Wales, but Edwin W. Havens
of Arleta, California, has stated unequivocally that WiIIiam -1 and
his wife Dionis "came from the west of England, probably Somersetshire
or Monmouthshire - almost definitely one or the other. He explains: "These
are the so-called 'Marches' counties that border Wales." Mr. Havens
spent some time in Great Britain in the spring of 1973 searching for records
of the Havens family as starting in Wales, and his conclusion was that
it did not - "the mere fact of their having given names and surnames condemned
that. We checked out the National Library of Wales at Aberystwith and there
were no surnames till well into the seventeenth century, and there were
Havenses in the other counties nearby.
The question of relationship between the Haven and Havens families is moot.
The late Judge Dwight C. Haven told me there was no such relationship.
He said: "So far as there is any record, there were only two emigrants:
Richard Haven of Lynn and William Havens of Portsmouth." (He believed,
incidentally, that William Havens came from Wales.) Whether the two families
were related before they came to this country has yet to be established.
In at
least one instance there has been a shift in the other direction: instead
of adding an S to Haven, one was dropped from Havens. I have been informed
of this indirectly by Mrs. Blake Kocher of Tampa, Florida, whose father,
the late George W. Haven, was the son of Henry Pinkerton Havens.
She said: "The 'S' was somehow dropped from Havens during the time my father
and his immediate family were living."
WILLIAM1 HAVENS (JOHNA)
was born Abt. 1620 in Aberystwyth, Cards, Wales, England, and died September
25, 1683 in Portsmouth,
Newport, RI, USA.
He married (1) DIONIS ALLEN?. He married (2) DENNIS January 24, 1638/39.
Children of WILLIAM HAVENS
and DENNIS are:
2.
i. GEORGE2 HAVENS, b. 1653, Jamestown, Rhode Island; d. February 21, 1705/06,
Shelter Island, NY.
ii. JOHN HAVENS.
iii. SARAH HAVENS, d. Abt. 1718; m. JOHN TYLER.
iv. THOMAS HAVENS, b. Portsmouth, Newport, RI, USA; m. SARAH CRAMER, 1741.
v. ROBERT HAVENS.
3.
vi. MARY HAVENS.
vii. RUTH HAVENS.
viii. DINAH HAVENS.
ix. REBECCA HAVENS.
x. MARGARET HAVENS.
xi. ELIZABETH HAVENS.
xii. WILLIAM HAVENS.
xiii. MARTHA HAVENS.
Generation No. 2
2. GEORGE2 HAVENS (WILLIAM1,
JOHNA) was born 1653 in Jamestown, Rhode Island, and died February 21,
1705/06 in Shelter Island, NY. He
married ELEANOR THURSTON
1674, daughter of EDWARD THURSTON and ELIZABETH MOTT.
Children of GEORGE HAVENS
and ELEANOR THURSTON are:
4.
i. JOHN3 HAVENS.
5.
ii. JONATHAN HAVENS, b. February 02, 1680/81, Jamestown, Rhode Island;
d. August 05, 1748, Shelter Island, NY.
3. MARY2 HAVENS (WILLIAM1, JOHNA). She married THOMAS COOK, son of THOMAS COOK.
Children of MARY HAVENS and
THOMAS COOK are:
i. THOMAS3 COOK.
ii. JOHN COOK.
iii. GEORGE COOK.
iv. STEPHEN COOK.
v. EBENEZER COOK.
vi. PHEBE COOK, b. Abt. 1665.
vii. MARTHA COOK.
Generation No. 3
4. JOHN3 HAVENS (GEORGE2, WILLIAM1, JOHNA). He married SARAH CONKLIN, daughter of JOHN CONKLIN and SARAH HORTON.
Children of JOHN HAVENS and
SARAH CONKLIN are:
i. WILLIAM4 HAVENS.
6.
ii. JOHN HAVENS, b. 1711; d. 1797.
5. JONATHAN3 HAVENS
(GEORGE2, WILLIAM1, JOHNA) was born February 02, 1680/81 in Jamestown,
Rhode Island, and died August 05, 1748 in
Shelter Island, NY.
He married HANNAH BROWN January 01, 1705/06, daughter of JEREMIAH BROWNE
and MARY HAVENS.
Children of JONATHAN HAVENS
and HANNAH BROWN are:
i. WILLIAM4 HAVENS, d. 1763.
7.
ii. ELIZABETH HAVENS, d. February 13, 1809, Shelter Island, NY.
iii. SARAH HAVENS, m. ALEXANDER KING.
8.
iv. GEORGE HAVENS, d. 1733.
9.
v. JONATHAN HAVENS, b. 1709; d. 1774.
10.
vi. CONSTANT HAVENS, b. 1713; d. 1761.
vii. JOSEPH HAVENS,
b. 1714; d. 1775.
Generation No. 4
6. JOHN4 HAVENS (JOHN3, GEORGE2, WILLIAM1, JOHNA) was born 1711, and died 1797. He married PATIENCE TUTHILL, daughter of DANIEL TUTHILL.
Children of JOHN HAVENS and
PATIENCE TUTHILL are:
i. BETHIAH5 HAVENS,
m. DANIEL RACKETT.
11. ii. JEREMIAH HAVENS.
iii. NEHITABLE HAVENS,
m. JOHN MOORE.
7. ELIZABETH4 HAVENS (JONATHAN3, GEORGE2, WILLIAM1, JOHNA) died February 13, 1809 in Shelter Island, NY. She married DAVID HOWELL January 20, 1750/51, son of ISRAEL HOWELL.
Child of ELIZABETH HAVENS
and DAVID HOWELL is:
12. i. MARGARET5 HOWELL.
8. GEORGE4 HAVENS (JONATHAN3, GEORGE2, WILLIAM1, JOHNA) died 1733.
Child of GEORGE HAVENS is:
i. GEORGE5 HAVENS,
d. 1770.
9. JONATHAN4 HAVENS (JONATHAN3, GEORGE2, WILLIAM1, JOHNA) was born 1709, and died 1774. He married CATHERINE NICOLL.
Child of JONATHAN HAVENS
and CATHERINE NICOLL is:
13. i. NICOLL5 HAVENS.
10. CONSTANT4 HAVENS (JONATHAN3, GEORGE2, WILLIAM1, JOHNA) was born 1713, and died 1761.
Child of CONSTANT HAVENS
is:
i. ABIGAIL5, m. THOMAS
TERRY.
Generation No. 5
11. JEREMIAH5 HAVENS (JOHN4, JOHN3, GEORGE2, WILLIAM1, JOHNA). He married BETHIAH CONKLING.
Child of JEREMIAH HAVENS
and BETHIAH CONKLING is:
i. JOSEPH CONKLING6
HAVENS, b. Moriches, NY.
12. MARGARET5 HOWELL (ELIZABETH4 HAVENS, JONATHAN3, GEORGE2, WILLIAM1, JOHNA). She married EBENEZER HART, son of CORNELIUS HART and MARY SMITH.
Children of MARGARET HOWELL
and EBENEZER HART are:
i. CHARLES6 HART,
m. SUSAN HALSEY.
ii. NATHANIEL REEVES
HART.
iii. EUNICE HOWELL
HART, b. 1800.
13. NICOLL5 HAVENS (JONATHAN4, JONATHAN3, GEORGE2, WILLIAM1, JOHNA).
Child of NICOLL HAVENS is:
14. i. NICOLL6 HAVENS.
Generation No. 6
14. NICOLL6 HAVENS (NICOLL5, JONATHAN4, JONATHAN3, GEORGE2, WILLIAM1, JOHNA).
Children of NICOLL HAVENS
are:
15. i. RENSSELAER7 HAVENS.
ii. JONATHAN NICOLL
HAVENS, b. January 18, 1757; d. October 25, 1799.
Generation No. 7
15. RENSSELAER7 HAVENS (NICOLL6, NICOLL5, JONATHAN4, JONATHAN3, GEORGE2, WILLIAM1, JOHNA).
Child of RENSSELAER HAVENS
is:
i. KATHERINE E.8 HAVENS,
b. Stamford, Conn..