Ancestors of our Page Family
Polli
Jost Turner, Editor
Most of the information
in this section is taken from the book Wisconsin Page Pioneers
and Kinsfolk, by Paul and Ethel Turner and Lucia Kate Page
Sayre. There is so much information in this book, I could not
use it all here, instead I have followed some of the more complete
lines.
The Paine Family-- Phoebe Paine, born 1594 in England; died Sept. 25, 1677; 83 years
old. Married (1621, in England) John Page.
Puritans, together they left England and settled in Massachusetts.
Phoebe’s father was William Paine, of Hengrave, Laverham,
Suffolk, Subsidy. From 1690 to 1621 he was "Lord of the
Manor" of Nowton.
According to Wisconsin
Page Pioneers:
"It has been conclusively
proven that the Paine family of which Phoebe was a member
used the same coat of arms after coming to America as the
family of William Paine "Lord of the Manor" of
Nowton which he bought from his nephew Anthony Paine in 1607
for £3000. By this evidence they are shown to be
not only the descendants of Sir Thomas Paine of Leicester
but that they were of the Suffolk County branch and of
that particular descendant who came here. It was here at
Nowton that William Paine held his first court October
6, 1609 and his last in 1621 when he sold to Sir Daniel
le Ligne.
"Of the 150 persons who emigrated
at the time William Paine, brother of Phoebe, and son
and daughter of the William of Nowton, scarce half a
dozen claimed the title of Gentleman, or had the prefix ‘Mr.’ a
title which he was readily accorded as the son and heir
of one who had been ‘Lord of the Manor.’ "
The Dunster Family-- Faith Dunster, bapt. March 7, 1642. Married (May 12, 1664) John Page of Watertown and Groton, MA. Her parents were Robert
and Alice (Fletcher) Dunster of Bury, Lancashire, England.
Faith’s uncle Henry
Dunster had emigrated to New England in 1640. He was
a well-educated man, had graduated from Magdalene College
in Cambridge, England, with a Master of Arts. Upon his arrival
in New England he was requested to become the first president
of Harvard, the newly-founded college in Cambridge. He served
as president from August 27, 1640 to October 24, 1654, "when
becoming opposed to the doctrine of infant baptism, he had
to resign."
When Faith’s parents
died (ca. 1644), Henry sent to England for her and her sister
Elizabeth, and raised them, caring for them as his own children.
He named them both in his will.
The Lawrence Family-- Sarah Lawrence, born May 16, 1672; died before Aug. 14,
1718. Married Samuel Page.
According to Wisconsin
Page Pioneers:
"The
ancestors of the original John Lawrence who came
to New England in 1630 are traced back for sixteen generations
through Henry, John, John, John, Robert, John, Thomas,
John, Nicholas, Sir Robert, Sir Robert, John, John, James,
Sir Robert, to Robert Lawrence of Lancashire, England,
who was born in 1150. ‘Attending
his sovereign, Richard Coeur de Lion [Richard the Lion-Hearted],
to the war of the Crusades in the Holy Land, he so distinguished
himself in the siege of Acre, that he was knighted "Sir
Robert of Ashton Hall" and was thus the first in the
long line of known Lawrences.’"
John Lawrence was a Puritan.
He landed at Salem in the ship Arbella in June 1630, with John
Winthrop, the well-known leader of the Puritans. He went first
to Charlestown, and then Watertown, where he was admitted a
freeman in 1637, at the age of 28. He later moved to Groton,
where he was chosen as a selectman. He was a builder by occupation.
Griffith Bowen was born
in 1600, in Langenith, Gower, Wales; died about 1676 in England.
Married (1627, in Swansea, Wales) Margaret Fleming. Of their
children, six were born in Wales (including our ancestor Henry,
born 1634), and four were born in New England. When leaving
England, he sold only part of their holdings there. He was
made a freeman in 1639, bought land, loaned money, and generally
became involved in public affairs. But for reasons unknown
to us, he (and perhaps his wife) returned to England in 1650,
later entering into the service of Cromwell as an officer in
the navy. Records show he lived in London in 1669. However,
at least five of his children stayed and died in America.
According to Wisconsin
Page Pioneers:
"A
long line precedes Griffith Bowen in Wales--even to the
point of tracing his forebears back through the Kings of
England and Wales to Beli Mawr, King of Britain in 55 BC.
If anyone is interested in that part of the story, I refer
him to The Bowens of Woodstock, Connecticut, by Edward
Augustus Bowen, where he will find a certified copy of
the Pedigree of Griffith Bowen of Barryhead Co., Glamorgan
as it appears in Volume 8 of the Protheroe Collections
deposited in the College of Arms, London, with additions
for Vincents Collections."
The Cheney Family-- It is uncertain
when William Cheney came to New England, but the records
of Roxbury, MA. show that he married his wife there in 1626,
meaning he was there before the Puritans--perhaps he was one
of the later Pilgrims to come. On various documents, he made "his
mark", rather than signing his name, indicating that he
was illiterate. But we find that he was one of those who helped
support the free school which was founded in Roxbury in 1645,
and had promised an annual amount of 8 shillings, more than the
average contribution. He held various offices, including constable
and tax collector. In 1657, he was elected a member of the board
of selectmen.
William’s son Thomas
moved from Roxbury into what is now Cambridge shortly after
his marriage. He was a surveyor of highways, and later served
in Capt. Johnson’s Roxbury company of soldiers.
Abiel Cheney was
born after his father’s death, and was placed under the
guardianship if Daniel Holbrook of Roxbury, and learned the
trade of blacksmith. He worked as an apprentice in Boston for
a time and then sold all his land in Roxbury to his brother
in 1716, and moved to Pomfret, Conn. where he began his own
business. He held several town offices there, including fence
viewer, taller, hayward, lister, collector, highway surveyor,
constable, and brander. He and his wife Marah (Waldo) were
buried in the old cemetery in Pomfret among the Waldo family.
Waldo
Cheney,
born July 7, 1748 [or 1749], in Woodstock, Windham Co.,
Conn.; died July 31, 1834, in Weathersfield, Windsor Co.,
VT; 88 years old. Married (Sept. 3, 1778, in Brookfield,
MA.) Priscilla Bowen, born July 2, 1753, in Woodstock,
Windham Co., CT; died Sept. 4, 1841, in Weathersfield,
Baltimore Co., VT; 88 years old. Both are buried in the
No. Springfield Baptist Church cemetery, in Vermont. Both
were members of the church--Priscilla when it was first
organized.
Waldo was a corporal in
Capt. Manning’s 7th Co., Col. Israel Putnam’s regiment.
He was discharged Dec. 14, 1775, and reenlisted in 1776, for
the period of a year. During this year he served under Capt.
Benoni Cutler as a sergeant. He was in the battle of White
Plains when the orderly sergeant’s arm was broken, and
Waldo took over as orderly sergeant until the end of his enlistment.
Waldo’s annual pension for having fought in the Revolution
was $89.33, beginning in 1831. When he died, the pension passed
to Priscilla.
Waldo was probably one of
the first three settlers in the Baltimore Township, Vermont,
being there as early as 1786. The first town meeting was held
in his home on March 12, 1794, at which time he was elected
as first selectman. At various times he served as tithing man,
hog-reeve, hayward, and collector of rates. In 1817 he sold
the remainder of his land in Baltimore and he and his wife
Priscilla moved to Weathersfield, VT, nearer their church in
North Springfield. There they both died, and were buried in
the cemetery in North Springfield, near their son-in-law, Benjamin
Page.
1. Huldah
Cheney,
born Nov. 23, 1778; died April 15, 1860; 81 years old.
Buried in Baptist cemetery in Union, WI. Married Benjamin
Page.
2. Lothrop Cheney,
born 1781; died 1881, in Stoughton, Dane Co., Wisconsin; 100 years
old. Married Phebe Martin of Baltimore, Windsor Co., VT. They lived
in No. Springfield in the early years of their marriage. Sometime after
the last of their children died they moved to Wisconsin, and settled
in the same area in which did many of Benjamin and Huldah Page’s children.
There Lothrop became a wealthy man. Rather than evenly distributing his
wealth among his nieces and nephews, he chose to make a few of them wealthy.
He was blind by the time of his death.
Second marriage, Armenia Pollard, a widow, died Aug. 20, 1871.
3. Wealthy Cheney,
born March 14, 1879; died young. She was the first girl baby born in
the town of Baltimore.
4. Dorothy Cheney,
"Dolly," married Jesse Clark.
5. Daniel Bowen Cheney,
died in childhood.
6. Theodosia Cheney,
died in Perkinsville, VT. Married Capt. Foster Henry. Buried in Plains
Cemetery.
7. Roxy Cheney,
died Dec. 11, 1813; 23 years old. Married Gideon Chapin.
8. Oliver Lovell Cheney,
born 1795; died March 5, 1812; 17 years old. Buried in Baltimore cemetery.
Clerked in Capt. Henry’s store in Perkinsville.
9. Hannah Cheney,
born 1790, died Nov. 16, 1883; 93 years old. Married (Jan. 24, 1811)
Thomas Prentiss of Weathersfield. They moved to Waitsfield, VT, where
they belonged to the United Church, the Baptist Church, and the Wesleyan
Methodist church, each in turn.
10. Lucius H. Cheney,
born April 21, 1800; died Sept. 19, 1846, in Berlin, OH; 46 years old.
Married Lorenda Griswold. They moved to Waitsfield, VT, and then to
Ohio.
Sources: Wisconsin Page Pioneers and Kinsfolk, by
Paul and Ethel Turner and Lucia Kate Page Sayre, privately published.
The
Lord is righteous in all His ways, and kind in all His
deeds!
The Lord is near
to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth!
Psalm 145:17&18 (NASB)
