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Terry Mason's Family History Site50,586 names. Major lines: Allen, Beck, Borden, Buck, Burden, Carpenter, Carper, Cobb, Cook, Cornell, Cowan, Daffron, Davis, Downing, Faubion, Fauntleroy, Fenter, Fishback, Foulks, Gray, Harris, Heimbach, Henn, Holland, Holtzclaw, Jackson, Jameson, Johnson, Jones, King, Lewis, Mason, Massengill, McAnnally, Moore, Morgan, Overstreet, Price, Peck, Rice, Richardson, Rogers, Samuel, Smith, Taylor, Thomas, Wade, Warren, Weeks, Webb, Wodell, Yeiser. |
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RESEARCHER-BIRTH: Information provided to T.Mason on 1Dec2001 by Una A. Bowman [una@winco.net]. "Martha Murphy wife her maiden name Homes (Holmes), wife of Henry Murphy, was born (blank) 1737 and baptized July 8, 1787 by Francis Boehler." PROOF: Records of the Moravian Church at Oldman's Creek in Gloucester County, New Jersey by Paul Minotty.
MARRIAGE: Martha Holme Borden (residing in Penns Neck, Salem County, New Jersey) married as her second husband George White (residing in Deerfield, Cumberland County, New Jersey). Her third husband was Henry Murphy. I have a copy of the marriage bond of George White. Records of the Moravian Church at Oldman's Church in Gloucester County, New Jersey by Paul Minotty confirms her marriage to Henry Murphy.
OBITUARY: Records of the Moravian Church at Oldman's Creek in Gloucester County, New Jersey by Paul Minotty; 12 May --Martha Murphy with her maiden name Holmes widow age 56 years. She was born in 1737. Her first husband was Jonathan Bordon (Borden) with whom she had 9 children of which two sons and 1 daughter is yet living and six are gone before her."
RESEARCHER-BIRTH: Information provided to T.Mason on 1Dec2001 by Una A. Bowman [una@winco.net]. "Martha Murphy wife her maiden name Homes (Holmes), wife of Henry Murphy, was born (blank) 1737 and baptized July 8, 1787 by Francis Boehler." PROOF: Records of the Moravian Church at Oldman's Creek in Gloucester County, New Jersey by Paul Minotty.
MARRIAGE: Martha Holme Borden (residing in Penns Neck, Salem County, New Jersey) married as her second husband George White (residing in Deerfield, Cumberland County, New Jersey). Her third husband was Henry Murphy. I have a copy of the marriage bond of George White. Records of the Moravian Church at Oldman's Church in Gloucester County, New Jersey by Paul Minotty confirms her marriage to Henry Murphy.
OBITUARY: Records of the Moravian Church at Oldman's Creek in Gloucester County, New Jersey by Paul Minotty; 12 May --Martha Murphy with her maiden name Holmes widow age 56 years. She was born in 1737. Her first husband was Jonathan Bordon (Borden) with whom she had 9 children of which two sons and 1 daughter is yet living and six are gone before her."
Marriage Notes for Benjamin Holme and Hannah ROBERTS-4381
RESEARCHER-BIRTH: Information provided to T.Mason on 1Dec2001 by Una A. Bowman [una@winco.net]. Benjamin Holme a Cordwainer from Waterford in Gloucester County married spinster Hannah Roberts also from Waterford. Their marriage bond was dated 3 March 1735/1736 and signed by Benjamin Holme and bondsmen Jacob Roberts of Waterford and Aaron Ward of Deptford, Gloucester. I have a copy of the bond.
Minutes of Burlington MM show that a child of Samuel and Elizabeth Borden, Dinah, was born 9/9 1681 (O.S.)
CHRISTENING: C. C. Cornell 1984 Edited by Elisabeth Cornell; A Cornell Family History From County Essex, England to Winneshiek County, Iowa; Call Number: US/Can 929.273 C815cc; Page: pg.1,11
DEATH: Rev. John Cornell, M.A.; Genealogy of The Cornell Family; Call Number: 929.273 C815c.
DEATH: Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island quotes "The Friends' records of 8-Feb-1673": Thomas Cornell was convicted of matricide and executed in 1673 in Portsmouth, RI. The "evidence" against him was the testimony of an old man [John Briggs, brother of Rebecca Briggs Cornell] who said that he had a dream in which Thomas' dead mother accused Thomas of having killed her. The woman was found dead and burned, in front of a hearth fire at Thomas' home. The best guess of scholars is that as she sat before the fire, the old woman had a stroke, fell, and part of her clothing caught fire. She was found by her family on the floor, dead, and partially burned. Initially, it was considered a death by natural causes. After she was buried, John Briggs had a dream, and Thomas' nightmare began. His final request was made by his friends after his execution. They said he had asked them to bury him next to his mother. The court denied the request but granted that "the Court consents that if his friends have a desire, they may inter the body in the land lately to him belonging, within twenty feet of the common road."
Thomas' fourth-great-grandson donated the original endowment for Cornell University, which is named after that descendant of Thomas. That man was Ezra Cornell (1807-1874), son of Elijah b. 1771, son of Elijah b. 1730, son of Stephen who m. Ruth Pierce, son of Stephen b. 1656, son of Thomas-the-executed and his first wife, Elizabeth Fiscock. ... Thomas Cornell's daughter Sarah (who married Zaccheus Butts) was, of course, from Thomas' second wife, Sarah Earle, daughter of Ralph Earle b. 1606 and Joan Savage b. 1609. Sarah Earle was pregnant when her husband Thomas Cornell was executed on the bogus charges. She named that daughter "Innocent," and about five years after Thomas was executed, Sarah married David Lake, son of Alice who was executed as a witch because she believed she saw her dead baby. One might wonder what Sarah Earle Cornell Lake thought of the times she lived thru.
REFERENCES: WorldConnect data submitted by Leslie Mendez [peas32@erols.com]
1. Austin, John O. "Cornell". The Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island, 1887, pages 54-55. EXTRACT: Thomas Jr. was a Deputy to the General Assembly of RI and held other government posts.
2. Cornell, Benjamin. His will, written 13 January 1787, proved 27 January 1787. EXTRACT: On 17 Mar 1655 Thomas was chosen with three others to prize land and buildings of John Wood, deceased. He had a grant of ten acres 10 Dec 1657. On 4 May 1670 he and three others were appointed to audit colonies' accounts. His bill to Assembly for futher encouragement of a troop of horses was referred on 7 Jun 1671 to the next Assembly. At the same meeting it was ordered that Thomas Cornell be desired to be a messenger from the court to carry a letter to the Governor of Plymouth, and that he be supplied with 20 shillings in silver by the treasurer towards bearing his charge.
3. Cornell, Chester C. "A Cornell Family History From County Essex, England to Winneshiek County, Iowa", 1984, 125 pages. EXTRACTS: Indited and sentenced to death on 12 May 1673. On 23 May 1673 Thomas was executed for the murder of his mother. On 7 Mar 1674 Ordered by the Assembly, whereas, Thomas Cornell of Portsmouth, who was lately executed for murthering his mother, Mrs. Rebecca Cornell, whereupon according to law, this court of Tryalls have made seizure of his estate. This Assembly (in consideration of the matter, and for the supply of the wife and children of the said Thomas), do see cause to release the said seizure and empowere the council of the towne of Portsmouth to take care and order that the estate of the said Thomas be soe secured and improved that just debts and other charges be first paid and discharged, and that then his wife and children be supplyed and relieved and to that end to order and appoint an executor or executors for the true performance thereof, and that this said Towne Council doe make a will according to law, divide the estate to this wife and children of the said Thomas. Also from: John Cornell, Genealogy of the Cornell Family, 1902, New York.
4. Cornell, Edward. His intestate probate records, 12 May 1784 to 5 May 1794. EXTRACT: He was tried, convicted and hanged for the murder of his mother. "It is true, that on the occasion of the trial in 1673 of Thomas Cornell, for the alledged murder of his mother, when he was convicted on flimsy evidence and subsequently hanged, one John Briggs, of Portsmoth deposed, that he had seen the deceased Rebecca in some sort of apparition and she had asserted, "I am your sister Cornell". Excerpted from "Who was Rebecca Cornell?" American Genealogist Vol 36 pp16-18 By George E. Mc Cracken Ph.D.F.A.S.G.VD. Drake University Des Moines, Iowa
5. Cornell, John. "A Cornell Corner". New York Genealogical & Biographical Record, vol. 31, July 1900, pages 180-181.
6. Cornell, John. Genealogy of the Cornell Family Being an Account of the Descendants of Thomas Cornell of Portsmouth, R. I., T. A. Wright Press, New York, NY, 1902, 468 pages.
7. Cornell, William. "[Abstract of his will, written 7 October 1747, proved 17 April 1749]". New Jersey Colonial Documents, Calendar of Wills - 1730-1750, page 113.
8. Cornell, William. "[Abstract of his will, written 27 April 1791, proved 25 May 1791]". New Jersey Post-Revolutionary Documents, Calendar of Wills - 1791-1795, page 88.
9. Glazier, Prentiss. "The English Origin of the Cornwell/Cornell Family". The American Genealogist, vol. 51, no. 2, April 1975, pages 115-116.
10. Hale, George. A History of the Old Presbyterian Congregation of "The People of Maidenhead and Hopewell", Henry B. Ashmead Press, Philadelphia, PA, 1876, [Cornell information on pages 11, 15, 17, 18, 33, 45, 52, 60, 61, & 72].
11. "Hunterdon County Freeholders, 1741". Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey, vol. 37, no. 2, May 1962, page 52.
12. Lewis, Alice B. "The Cornell Family". Hopewell Valley Heritage, Hopewell Museum, Hopewell, NJ, 1973, pages 268-279.
13. Maack, Jean E., & Cornell, C. Clair. "Unraveling One Massachusetts-to-Iowa Cornell Line". The American Genealogist, Vol. 58, no. 2, April 1982, pages 77-83.
14. McCracken, George E. "Who Was Rebecca Cornell?" The American Genealogist, vol. 36, 1960, pages 16-18.
15. "Mercer County Gravestones: Cornell Family Burying Ground, Hopewell Township". Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey, vol. 26, no. 3, 1951, page 72.
16. Moriarty, G. Andrews. "Additions and Corrections to Austin's Genealogical Dictionaryof Rhode Island". The American Genealogist, vol. 35, no. 2, April 1959, page 107.
17. Moriarty, G. Andrews. "Additions and Corrections to Austin's Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island". The American Genealogist, vol. 39, no. 1, January 1963, page 2.
18. Pennington Presbyterian Church Records, Pennington, New Jersey.
Web site for this family: [HYPERLINK http://www.vineyard.net/vineyard/history/allen/Web%20Cards/WC22/W
C22_271.HTM ]Operated an Inn 1638, was a constable for Portsmouth in 1641 and
an ensign in the Portsmouth Militia 1642-44.History of Portsmouth 1638-1936: By: Edward H West pp 37-38.
Thomas Cornell was licensed to keep an Inn in Boston in 1638 and came to Portsmouth about 1641. He served as Commissioner for one yer and died in 1657. He had a small tract on Common Fence Point, another on the East Road, south of Richard Borden's, but his large tract was south of Wading River, part of it being what we now call Lawton's Valley, a piece of which is still owned by a descendant. His widow was granted land north of Union Street. Quakers were expelled from Mass settled in RI with a land grant.They resided first in Boston, MA, then in Portsmouth, RI, then in Cornell's Neck, New Amsterdam (now Westchester Co., NY), then back in Portsmouth, RI.
Web site for this family: [HYPERLINK http://vader.castles.com/ftprints/7-030204.html
"Thomas Cornell came to America about 1638, with his wife and most, if not all, of his children. He is first found in Boston, where by a vote of the Town Meeting, August 20,1638, he is permitted to buy William Baulstone's house, yard, and garden, backside of Mr. Coddington, and to become an inhabitant. This property was situated in Washington Street, between Summer and Milk Streets (see map). He sold it in 1643 to Edward Tyng, who had a warehouse and brew house, and constructed a deal there September 6, 1638. Thomas Cornhill was licensed upon tryal to keepe an inn in the room of Will Baulstone till the next General Court June 4, 1639'; he was fined £30 for several offenses selling wine without license and (18) beare at 2d a quart. (General Court held at Newtone, 2.9 m. in 1637. It shall not be lawful for any person that shall keepe any such inn or common victualling house to sell or have in their houses any wine or strong waters, nor any beare or other drinke other than such as may and shall be souled for 1d the quart at the most. This law was repealed May 23, 1639. Thomas Litchfield's note book contains a copy of Thomas Cornell, setting forth that in the winter time, he had much less by his small beare which he was at cost to preserve from the frost, by fire, that he was ignorant of the law, is sorry for his offenses, and that he hath not been heretofore accustomed to such housekeeping, wherefore he prays for a remission of his fine.
Two days later he was abated £10 of his fine and allowed a month to sell off his ware which is upon his hand and then to cease keeping intertainment and the town to furnish another.
"The Antionomians were great disturbers of the religious peace of the people of Boston, and in 1637 Ann Hutchinson and her adherents were expelled from the Colony. Among them we do not find the name of Thomas Cornell, whose vocation as an innkeeper perhaps saved him from doctrinal errors, but among the obnoxious ones were his neighbors, Baulstone and Coddington, and his brother-in-law, John Briggs. By the advice of Roger Williams, then settled at Providence, the exiles purchased, March 28, 1638, from the Indians Cannonicus and Miantonomi, the island on which Newport now stands, and on the north end of that island on which they began a settlement to which they gave the name of Portsmouth. Thomas Cornell arrived two years later and was admitted freeman of Portsmouth August 6, 1640. February 4, 1641 `a piece of meadow' was granted him to be fenced in at his own cost. The same year he was made constable, and the following year ensign (name spelt Cornill). At the same time,Richard Morris was elected captain and Mrs. Baulstone lieutenant. Some suppose this last office to have been held by his son Thomas, as the father may have been in New Amsterdam at that time.
In the autumn, 1642, he went to New Amsterdam, and it has been supposed that Roger Williams and John Trockmorton went with him, and for this reason: the fugitives from Boston, who joined Roger Williams had formed a sort of colony in Rhode Island, but it was only a self-created government or squatter sovereignity that they had, and it was thought best by them in 1646, that Roger Williams should go to England and obtain a royal charter for his colony. He could not sail (19) from Boston(which would be the nearest port) because he was banished from Massachusetts, so he went to New Amsterdam for that purpose as the Dutch were more tolerant. There was not (as today) many steamers departing every week for England from that port and he did not embark until June 1643.
We know, moreover, that he went to England then, and obtained a charter for his colony and returned. Roger Williams, Throckmorton and Cornell seem to have been much associated together and friends, and this has led to the supposition that they may have come from England in the same ship; at nay rate we know Roger Williams and Throckmorton did.* About a year after Thomas Cornell's arrival in New Amsterdam, Governor Winthrop reports *Mr. Throckmorton and Mr. Cornell' established with buildings, etc., on neighboring plantations under the Dutch. On October 2, 1642, the local Dutch government granted him permission with his associated (thirty-five families) to settle within the limits of the jurisdiction of their mightinesses to reside there in peace (this was eleven miles from New Amsterdam).
After this general license to settle, Cornell and Throckmorton made examination of the territory, procured a survey and map, and on July 6, 1643 Governor Kieft granted to John Throckmorton for himself and his associates, a tract of land in what is now the town of Westchester (see map).
A serious Indian war, though of short duration, was caused by Governor Kieft's unwise attack upon two neighboring camps of Indians on the night between February 25 and 26, 1643, and in retaliation the Indians within the following month or two destroyed many of the white settlers outside of the city; and many others, who escaped fled panic stricken to New Amsterdam. Roger Williams says: `Mine eyes saw the flames of these towns, the flights and hurrying of men, women, and children and the present removal (20) of all that could to Holland.' Governor Winthrop says `By the mediation of Mr. Williams who was then there to go in a Dutch ship to England the Indians were pacified and peace reestablished between the Dutch and them.' Cornell and Throckmorton who were probably in New Amsterdam City limits at that time, escaped, but Mrs. Hutchinson, whose residence was near Throckmorton's, was killed.
For, says Governor Winthrop of this event, under the date of September 1645, `The Indians set upon the English who dwelt under the Dutch. They came to Mrs. Hutchinson in way of friendly neighborhood, as they had been accustomed to, and taking their opportunity, they killed her and Mr. Colvin, her son-in- law, and all of her family and such of Mr. Throckmorton's and Mr. Cornell's families as were at home, in all sixteen, and put their cattle into their barns and burned them'. he also adds 'These people had cast off ordinances and churches, and now at last their own people, and for larger accomodation had subjected themselves to the Dutch, and dwelt acatteringly near a mile asunder.' Some that escaped the Indian attack went back to Rhode Island. Thomas Cornell it appears during these troubleous times, returned to Portsmouth, Rhode Island, and secured a grant of land from that town, August 29,1644, in company with Mr. Brenton and Mr. Baulstone. `Butting on Mr. Porter's round meadow', and on Febraury 4, 1646, a grant of 100 acres was made to Thomas Cornell by the town of Portsmouth `on the south side of the Wading River and so as to run from the river towards the land that was laid out to Edward Hutchinson' (a son of Ann Hutchinson). This may be considered the original Homestead of the Cornell family.
Previous grants were made to him in company with other parties and as we will see the grant of Cornell's Neck was later. This land or the [part on which the house and burial plot are situated has never been out of the family. In September, 1894, Rev. John Cornell (the writer of this) purchased from Mrs. Ellen Grinnell (Cornell) Smith and others about 80 acres of this grant, and in 1902, 45 acres more; a house has been erected in colonial style on the site of the one that was destroyed by fire, December 21, 1889, and somewhat on its old plan, (21) that is, the plan which it is understood to have had before it was modernized about 50 years before its destruction.
After the restoration of peace in New Netherlands, brought about by the mediation of Roger Williams, Thomas Cornell returned to the Dutch Colony, but not, it seems, to restore and rebuild what had been destroyed of his property on Throgg's Neck. But he asked for a tract adjacent, fronting on the south and west of that of Throckmorton, from which it was separated on the shore by the mouth of Westchester Creek, and extending thence about two miles on the Long Island Sound to the Bronx,Bronx Co., NY River and extending back two miles or more from the Sound to the westerly edge of the present village of Westchester, formerly and even now known as Cornell's Neck; this estate was granted by Governor William Kieft to Thomas Cornell by patent, dated July 25, 1646 (see appendix and map). This was only the third private grant of land of which there is any record in Westchester County. Jonas Bronck in 1637, and Throckmorton in 1642, being previous, and possibly Adrian Van der Donk in 1642. Thus he was there four years prior to Adrian Van der Donk at Yonkers in 1646. Thirty-five years before Col. Stephanus Van Cortland, in 1677, obtained from Governor Andros permission to make his first purchase of lands from the Indians, in Westchester County, nearly forty years earlier than the first acquisition of Westchester lands by Frederick Phillipse within the present towns of Greenburgh and Mt. Pleasant in 1681 and thirty years before his first interest in Yonkers, 1672, and fifteen years before the great grandfather of the illustrious George Washington first settled in Virginia in 1657.
"Cornell's Neck was within the limits of Greater New York. After the death of Mr.Cornell, Thomas Pell set up a counter claim to the land and litigation issued between him and Sarah Bridges, in the course of which it appeared in evidence that Thomas Cornell had been at considerable charge in building, manuring and planting, that he was after several years driven off by the barbarous violence of the Indians, who burned his (22) house and destroyed his cattle, that the widow Cornell, sole executrix of the last will and testament of her husband (although neither the will nor a copy was produced), conveyed the land to Sarah Bridges and her sister. The litigation established the validity of the Cornell title and Sarah Bridges was put in possession of the land. A new patent was issued April 15, 1667, for `Cornell's Neck' setting forth the fact that Thomas Cornell's interest devolved long since on Sarah Bridges, one of the daughters of Thomas Cornell deceased, and that said Sarah had conveyed her interest by deed to William Willett, her eldest son, to whom the new patent was issued (see appendix). The history of this grant and of the litigation respecting it is given at length with the documents in Bolton's History of Westcheser County. Thus we infer that after several years residence in Cornell's Neck, perhaps nine years, Thomas Cornell was again driven by the Indians from his property in New Netherlands, and returned to his homestead at Portsmouth, where he lived and died, and was buried. For we find a record of him as serving on a coroner's jury in 1653, and in 1654 Thomas Cornell was one of the commissioners of `Ye foure-towns upon ye re-writing of ye Colonie of Providence Plantations.' He probably died the following year.
"As an old memorandum made by Stephen B. Cornell of Portsmouth about the beginning of the last century, and still preserved in the family, states that Thomas Cornell, by will dated December 5, 1651, gave to his wife Rebecca all his real estate, also that Rebecca, by will dated September 2, 1664 gave to her son Thomas all her land lying on the west side of Rhode Island and lying between the farms of Thomas Hazard and John Coggeshall. Neither of these wills is known to be now in existence nor any copy of them. The records of the Society of Friends at Portsmouth, Rhode Island have numerous entries respecting Thomas and Rebecca Cornell and their descendants.
"As some of the preceding statements with regard to Thomas' two residences in New Amsterdam have been questioned, it has seemed best to give here a letter written by Roger Williams which may be considered authority and throw some light on the subject.
"Letter of Roger Williams to the General Court of Massachusetts, October 5, 1654.
Published recently in the Newport Daily News.---
Not having liberty of taking step in your jurisdiction I was forced to repair unto the dutch, when mine eyes did see the first breaking forth of that Indian war, which the Dutch began, upon the slaughter of some Dutch by the Indians; peace which some offered to mediate, was foolish and odious to them. But before we weighed another their boundaries were flames. Dutch and English were slain. Mine eyes saw their flames at the town, and the flights and hurries of men, women and children, the present removal of all that could for Holland and after vast expenses and mutual slaughter of Dutch, English and Indians about four years, the Dutch were forced, to save their plantations from ruin, to make up a most worthy and dishonorable peace with the Indians.`It was in this war, in September, 1643 that Ann Hutchinson and 16 of her family were murdered by the Sewanoy Indians. Her daughter Susan, then eight years old, was carried into captivity, and four years afterwards was redeemed by the Dutch and returned to Rhode Island. The place were Mrs. Hutchinson was killed was long after known at Manhattan as `Ann Hook's Neck,' since known as Pelham Manor. Nearby, at that time, there was a more numerous settlement of Rhode Islanders. John Throckmorton, who had been found worthy of excommunication with Roger Williams from the Salem Church, and who had accompanied Williams to Providence, had obtained a grant of half a league of land at what is now known as `Throg's Neck'and he, with Thomas Cornell from Rhode Island, John Updike, afterwards changed to `Opdyke,' and others, sought to establish a colony in the same neighborhood, but they were driven off by the Indians and went to Long Island, from whence, some of them seeing Mrs. Hutchinson's house on fire, crossed over in a boat to make an effort for her rescue. They succeeded in rescuing some persons, not of the Hutchinson family, but at the expense of the lives of two of their number. Throckmorton returned to Rhode Island, Opdyke went to New Jersey; while Cornell remained in New York, and the descendants of each of these persons have among them names which have attained to an enviable distinction.'
"1657 Dec 10 Rebecca Cornell, widow was granted 10 acres in lieu of 10 acres granted her husband. 1659 Rebecca Cornell deeded these 10 acres to her son and daughter Kent. 1661, April 30 Rebecca Cornell, widow and executrix of Thomas Cornell, sold Richard Hart for ?30, two parcels of land, containing 8 acres with house, fruit trees, etc. Confirmed by her son Thomas, 1663. 1663, October 25 Rebecca conveys to her son Joshua one sixth of a share of land at Coshena and Acookset (part of Dartmouth) in Plymouth Jurisdiction. This he conveyed November 21, 1664 to his brother Samuel, also 20 acres of land he bought of William Earle. July 27 she deeded (24) to eldest son Thomas, all her housing, orchard and fencing in Portsmouth. At her death she held Thomas' bond for ?100. 1669 she conveys to son Samuel land in Dartmouth, one sixth of a share (see No. 10). (It appears Rebecca had three-sixth (1/2) of a share; she conveyed to Samuel one-sixth, to Joshua, one-sixth and perhaps one-sixth to John, who lived in Dartmouth. Thomas she gave land in Portsmouth. Richard, her other son, had gone to Long Island 1656, and had probably received his patrimony.)
1673, February 8 Friends Records state `Rebecca Cornell, widow, was killed strangely at Portsmouth in her own dwelling house, was twice viewed by the Coroner's Inquest and buried again by her husband's grave in their own land'.
May 25, her son Thomas was charged with murder, and after a trial that now reads like a farce, was convicted and executed. Among the witnesses of this rial were John Briggs (brother of Rebecca), Mary, wife of John Cornell (her son), Thomas Stephen, Edward and John, sons of Thomas (2), Rebecca Woolsey (her daughter), etc.
It appears that the old lady, having been sitting by the fire smoking a pipe, a coal had fallen from the fire on her pipe, and that she was burned to death. But on the strength of a vision which her brother John Briggs had, in which she appeared to him after her death, she said `See how I was burned with fire.' It was inferred she was set fire to, and that her son who was last with her did it; and principally on this evidence Thomas Cornell was tried, convicted and hung for her murder. Durfee in his Legal Tracts of Rhode Island comments on the strangeness of this trial and the injustice of the execution. The writer of this remarked to a leading lawyer of Newport (who knows much of the history of Rhode Island) that there seemed very little evidence to convict this Thomas Cornell, the lawyer's answer was simply `There was no evidence.'"
New York Genealogical and Biographical Record XXXI (1900): 180-181. By: Rev John Cornell
A Cornell Corner. "The following are some inscriptions copied from the tombstones now standing in the Cornell Homestead Burial Plot at Portsmouth, Rhode Island."As will be seen, the oldest monument is 1740, and the inscription is still very distinct. The stone is of slate, which though seemingly the most perishable, is really the most enduring, remaining when the stone, marble and even granite perish in (181) this climate. There are stumps and remains of other tombstones in this family burial plot, and some still standing on which the inscriptions are entirely effaced. We have good reason to suppose that the Emigrant was buried in this place, for the Quaker Records state that Rebecca, his wife, was buried by her husband `in their own ground'. This Cornell homestead was a grant to Thomas Cornell, February 4, 1646 and earlier than that of Cornell's Neck in Westchester County by Governor Kieft, which was dated July 14, 1646. This Thomas does not seem to have remained there long for he was driven away by the Indians, and returned to his former home in Portsmouth, where he lived, died and was buried. It may be of interest to know that he came from Essex County, England, to Boston about 1636, and in 1640 to Portsmouth, Rhode Island, closely following Roger Williams and Ann Hutchinson', a son of Ann Hutchinson. This Cornell homestead, which is about six miles from Newport, has been in the family ever since, and is now owned by the Rev. John Cornell, eighth in descent from Thomas."
History of the County of Westchester --- 1848. II:152-156. Cornell's Neck, New York. By: Robert Bolton
"The second grantee under the Dutch (in this town) was Thomas Cornhill or Cornell, who obtained the following `grond brief' or grant in 1646.`We, William Kieft, Director-General, and the Council on behalf of the High and Mighty Lords, the States General of the United Netherlands, the Prince of Orange and the noble Lords, the Managers of the incorporated West India Company in New Netherlands residing, by these presents do publish and declare that we, on this day the date underwritten, have given and granted unto Thomas Cornell a certain piece of land lying on the East River, beginning from the Kill of Bronck's land, east south east along the river, extending a bout a half a Dutch mile from the river till to a little creek over the valley (marsh) which runds back round this land; with the express condition and terms that the said Thomas Cornell, or they who to his action hereafter may succeed, the Noble Lords the Managers aforesaid,
shall acknowledge as their Lords and Patrons under the sovereignty of the High and Mighty Lords, the States General and until their Director and Council here shall in all things be confirmed as all good citizens are in duty bound, provided also that he shall be furthermore subject to all such burdens and imposts as by their noble Lords already have been anacted, or such as hereafter may yet be enacted constituting over the same the aforesaid Thomas Cornell in our stead in the real and actual possession of the aforesaid piece of land, giving him by these presents the full might, authority and special license, the aforesaid and piece to enter, cultivate, inhabit and occupy in like manner as he may lawfully do with other his patrimonial lands and effects, without our the grantors in the quality as aforesaid thereunto any longer having, receiving or saving any part, action or control whatever, but to the behoof as aforesaid for all destiny, for this time and forevermore, promising furthermore this their transport firmly, inviolably and irrevocably to maintain, fulfill and execute, and furthermore to do all that in equity we are bound to do without fraud or deceit, these presents only as undersigned and confirmed with our seal of red wax here underneath suspended.Done in the Fort Amsterdam in New Netherlands, this 26th of July, 1649 undersigned William Kieft'
"Upon the death of Thomas Cornell, the neck became vested in his widow who conveyed the same to her eldest daughter, Sarah, the wife of Charles Bridges. (Most of pages 153-155 concerns details of Charles Bridges and Sarah, his wife, as plaintiffs against Thomas Pell defendant. The Bridges won.)
"In 1709 Col. Thomas Willett of Flushing, Long Island, conveyed to his eldest son, William Willett, all that certain parcel of land contained within (6 Col. Thomas Willett was the son of the Hon. Thomas Willett, first mayor of the city of New York, in 1665.) a neck, commonly called and known by the name of Cornell's Neck, bounded on the west by a certain rivulet that runds to the black rock and so into Bronx,Bronx Co., NY's river.
From William Willett, the neck passed to his brother Thomas Willett, who conveyed the same to his son William Willett.
The latter was father of Isaac Willett Esq., high sheriff of this county in 1738. Cornell's neck is now (1848) owned by the family of Ludlow, Clason and Beach." (Sarah Cornell who m. (2) Charles Bridges, m. (1) Thomas Willett hence the Willett's interest in Cornell's Neck.)
Vital Record of Rhode Island 1636-1850, Hartfordshire Essex Co. England
There is evidence or lack thereof regarding Rebecca's lineage found at [HYPERLINK http://www.bone-zone.com/Documents/WhoWasRebCp18.gif ] (Who was Rebecca Cornell?)
"Moreover if Rebecca Cornell was, indeed, the Rebecca Briggs baptized in 1600 at S. James, then the John Briggs baptized there in 1618, is about 10 years too young to have been the Portsmouth settler, since his age was given when he testified in 1673, showing that he was born in 1608 or 1609. I conclude that if Rebecca Cornell was really a Briggs, then she was not the one baptized in Clerkenwell." By George E. Mc Cracken Ph.D.F.A.S.G.VD. Drake University Des Moines, Iowa. American Genealogist Vol 36 pp16-18
Rebecca Cornell's will, dated 2 Sep 1664, proved 1673, from the RI Town.
Records Scrapbook 1639, as widow to the late Thomas Cornell of Portsmouth, mentions sons Thomas eldest, Richard second, William third, John fourth, Samuell fifth, and Joshua sixth; daughters Sarah eldest, Ann second whose husband is Thomas, Rebecca third, Elizabeth fourth, and Mary fifth. No surnames for spouses of children.
"Some time before 1656 [Richard] moved to Flushing, Long Island, becoming the owner of large tracts of land in various parts of the island. His death occurred about 1694. By his wife Elizabeth, he had five sons and three daughters."
Source: William Richard Cutter, New England Families, New York, 1915.
Richard Cornell an early Patentee of Flushing, held the position of Magistrate and Justice of the Peace in Flushng. He was not a Quaker but fought for the rights of Quakers to practice their religion. He was a drafter of the Flushing Remonstrance and chisen by his contemporaies to present these articles to Gov. Stuyvesant,translting them into Dutch, as Stuyvesant spoke no English.Through these articles religious freedom was won for the colonies.
Richard was also one of the drafters of the Dukes Laws as one of the Reps. from Flushing. He owned huge properties throughout Flushing and Hempstead and most of rockaway Peninsula.
After his long legal career he retired to Far Rockaway, living with his family among the natives of this area in peace and harmony.
Richard is buried in the Cornell family graveyard in Far Rockaway. This cemetery has been declared a national landmark and is slowly being restored. (Excerpted from material supplied by Mary Cornell)
Lived at Cow Neck, Long Island.