The Small and Related Family Histories

I have been working on getting some old documents, photographs and other related document on to my web site. I need to spend some additional time describing what is here, this is a start. Here is a tree of my (our) Ancestors for 8 generations. Some of these lines go back 12 or more generations. The lines longer than 8 generations are shown with the following links: Seymour, Hoyt, Ward, Brown.

 

Old original documents: I have a number of old, some very old, documents that I have been getting on-line for several years now. All of these documents are accessible from the photos/genealogy directory.  When accessing these documents the entire images will be downloaded when you click on the thumbnail. You will likely only see a small part of the entire image. You can save the image (right click and select “save image as”) or you can view entire image (right click and select “View Image”). Most of the documents have been scanned at 300 to 400dpi and all are saved in the jpeg format but have been limited to 800 pixels max here to save download time. If any one wants the full scan of an image let me know.

 

Links to specific documents: Several of the documents are note worthy so I have links setup here specifically to them.

            Edwin Bailey Clayton Passport – This is a passport for EB Clayton and his daughter. Back.

            Ebenezer Small and Sarah Bodge marriage document - 

            Gilbert Brown Diary – This is a very old 8 pages dated from the 1780s. Page 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8

           

There are several significant family lines for which I have a lot of information. Here are some of them.

 

The Seymour line: The closest Seymour to us is Anna Seymour who married Samuel Hoyt in 1783. Descendents from there go:

Samuel Still Seymour Hoyt / Sarah Delaplaine m. May 31, 1806

Caroline Delaplaine Hoyt / James Ward Brown m. June 18, 1838

David Seymour Brown (Mally’s grandfather) / Mary Tiebout Tier Clayton m. April 12, 1864

      David Seymour Brown / Florence Obendorfer m. December 27, 1894

                  Marianne Clayton Brown / Lyndon Frederick Small m. June 15, 1922

 

I have an interesting story about Samuel “Still” Seymour Hoyt. Mom (Rosemary Nuzzolillo Small) told me back when I first started looking at family history about a story that Mally told her about an ancestor named “Samuel Still Seymour Hoyt. His mother (Anna Seymour) named him Samuel “Still” Seymour because he was “still” a Seymour no matter what his last name was. I thought it was interesting but just assumed it was just a nick name or something like that. Sometime later I was in the library and came across the book  Stamford’s Soldiers and, knowing that the Hoyts were from Connecticut, started looking through it. I found an entry for Lt. Samuel Hoyt who married Anna Seymour and had, as there first child, Samuel Still Seymour Hoyt. Interestingly Anna (Seymour) Hoyt died shortly after Samuel’s birth.

 

The first Seymour emigrant in our line is Richard Seymour (b 1596) who emigrated from Sawbridgeworth, England in 1637. The complete line is in our database as well as on The Seymour pages…. These pages have much information on the early Seymour families but do not reach down to Anna. I have scans of the pages that do - somewhere.

 

The Hoyt Line. As mentioned earlier the Hoyts and Seymours in our line joined at Samuel Hoyt b October 21, 1752 Stamford, CT and Anna Seymour b. September 12, 1760 New Canaan, CT. I created ancestor charts of the Hoyt line starting with Samuel’s father Samuel and mother Dinah Hanford and the Seymour line from Anna’s father Andrew and mother Sarah Crissy. Also note that the Hoyt line also comes in through Hannah Hoyt (Sarah Crissy’s mother). Hannah Hoyt and Lt. Samuel Hoyt were not too distant cousins. Another interesting story on this line – Milicent Penoyer’s (grandmother of Lt. Samuel Hoyt) sister was hanged as a witch in Salem. I got this info from Margaret Olson back in 1994.

 

This is an official declaration of Samuel Hoit (Hoyt) being a second Lieutenant in the revolutionary war. This is the Lt. Samuel Hoyt for the Stamford’s Soldiers book.

 

The Brown Line: Closer to our family tree is the Brown line. Mally was of course was a Brown, Marianne Clayton Brown. Mally’s father, David Seymour Brown Jr. (b July 01, 1866 d Aug. 15, 1915) married Florence Obendorfer (b. February 03, 1869 d Jan 3, 1937) December 27, 1894. Five complete generations of David Seymour Brown ancestry can be seen here. Several of our current generation’s names can be seen here including David, James, and Clayton. Photos of David Jr, Marianne, and their mother, Florence can be seen here. Marianne, David, Florence, and Mary Tiebout Tier (Clayton) Brown can be seen here. David Seymour Brown Sr. can be seen here (left).

 

Mom and Dad have David Seymour Brown’s bible that has the inscription “Presented to D. Seymour Brown by his grandfather David S. Brown New York June 5, 1860”. Other inscriptions document the marriages, births, and deaths in the Brown family – including “Marianne Clayton Brown born at 102st & Riverside Drive NYC, July 19, 1897”.  See them at 1, 2, 3, and 4.

 

Marianne’s grandfather, David Seymour Brown (b April 13, 1839 d June 22, 1914) was in the soap and perfume industry and was very well known in New York. Here is an article about the family and business from the Soap Gazette and Perfumer (p1, p2, p3). I have many letters written to DS Brown from notables including William T Sherman and another. WT Sherman and Mayor Hugh John Grant attended DS Brown daughter’s wedding (p1, p2) to John Schureman Sutphen Jr. Other documents include his discharge papers and special orders. His will is reported in the paper, as well as his house sale, and funeral notice. His obituary from the Soap Gazette is here.

 

I have many hand written notes and poems from Mally’s father David Seymour Brown Jr. along with several photos. (p1, p2)

 

Mally’s brother, David Seymour Brown III (b October 22, 1895 d October 15, 1955) married his second cousin Merriam Souvien July 11, 1934. Merriam was the daughter of Florence Obendorfer’s brother Henry Obendorfer. I’m not sure why she took her grandmother’s (Mary Ann Souvien) name. I think Mom told me this once but I can’t remember.

 

Mary Tier Brown documented much of the Brown, Seymour, Hoyt and other genealogies. View the Brown pages, David S Brown Sr. Letters, and Bible.

Her scrapbook has many items some of which are shown here.

 

In many places I have seen references to Trinity Church in the papers and news clippings from the Browns. I have been to Trinity Church in Lower Manhattan. It is at the end of Wall Street. I even took some pictures of it not knowing that it is likely the same church referenced in these papers. This picture was taken looking up Wall St. toward the church in June 2001.

 

 

The Ward Line: The closest “Ward” to our current family is James Ward Brown (b. August 10, 1816 d. September 14, 1847 NYC) – Mally’s great-grandfather. James Ward Brown is mentioned in David Seymour Brown’s bible – “James W Brown Died Sept. 14, 1847 Tuesday evg at ½ past 11 pm of the cholosis of the liver - a disease that has been making inroads on his health for six years”.  James was the 4th child of David Sands Brown and Elizabeth (Betsy) Ward. Their 2nd child was named James Gilbert but he died young. This is one of many cases where a family “re-uses” a given name when a child dies young. “Love Purity and Fidelity” is how this “Sons of Temperance” from 1845 certificate starts. Here is a web site for the Sons of Temperance.

 

We have a letter from Marcus L. Ward to David Seymour Brown Sr. where he greets “Dear Cousin” (p2). (If anyone wants to transcribe this letter I’d be happy to put the text in here). I cannot find where Marcus fits in but he could be a brother to Betsy – in which case he would be a 2nd cousin to David Seymour Brown. In any case this is a former governor of New Jersey (Marcus Lawrence Ward). His Obituary is here which was found in Mary Tier Brown’s scrapbook [put link to image here]. The NJ Historical Society has a list of documents from Marcus Ward and several are interesting.

 

WARD, Marcus Lawrence, a Representative from New Jersey; born in Newark, N.J., November 9, 1812; received a limited schooling; engaged in candle manufacturing; delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1860 and 1864; unsuccessful candidate for Governor of New Jersey in 1862; elected Governor in 1865 and served from January 16, 1866, to January 18, 1869; was chairman of the Republican National Committee in 1866; elected as a Republican to the Forty-third Congress (March 4, 1873-March 3, 1875); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1874 to the Forty-fourth Congress; died in Newark, N.J., April 25, 1884; interment in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Newark NJ.

 

The Clayton Line: Of course we have the name “Clayton” in our current, immediate family in “Clayton James” and “Donald Clayton”. Mally’s grandmother was Mary Tiebout Tier Clayton (b September 26, 1840 d.   July 26, 1922) pictured here with Florence, David S Brown III, and Mally. An ancestor tree for Mary can be seen here. Many of the old documents I have came from the Clayton line. There is Edwin Bailey Clayton’s passport, there are letters from EB Clayton to wife Margaret Clayton (and daughter Mary) in 1835 (p1, p2, p3, p4). The obituary for EB Clayton reads “Edwin Bailey Clayton met a tragic death: He refused for years to change from oil-lit lamps to illuminating gas, considering it "new-fangled and dangerous". No gas pipes were allowed in his cellar, yet in investigating a "queer odor", the entire cellar was demolished and he was blown through the side walls due to a neighbor's leaky gas main. Died Jan 9, 1853”.

Charles Hicks Clayton (b February 22, 1817 d July 24, 1889) married Sarah Elizabeth Tier. His obituary is here. CH Clayton Obituary Photos of CH Clayton are here. Photos of Sarah Elizabeth Tier, Charles and Daughters, and Arthur Cecil are here.

 

There is also a letter from Charles Hicks Clayton to Debbie Irving which has his signature (p1, p2, p3). This is a photo of a daguerreotype that mom and dad have of CH Clayton and his daughters at Niagara Falls.

 

I have been told about the origin of the Clayton family and name. Here are some records of the Clayton Family p1 and p2 and descendents from the house of Cecil and Lord Salisbury (p1 and p2). 

 

The Tier (not Tiers) Line: Sarah Elizabeth Tier ( b Nov. 17, 1821 d July 27, 1869) married Charles Hicks Clayton. Mom and Dad have her bible (cover, page1).

 

The Small Line: What I have on the Small line is all from Massachusetts. Lyndon Frederick Small (b Aug. 16, 1897 d. June 15, 1957) married Marianne Clayton Brown Dec 30, 1921. They had another marriage ceremony June 15, 1922 which they recognized as their marriage date. See their official marriage certificate and an announcement. I have a significant amount of information on Dr. LF Small but a good summary of his life and work (as of 1948) is in an article on him from the Dec. 1948 Dartmouth Alumni magazine. Page 5 has a nice photo of the Small family including Donald C and Rosemary Small (with Lyndon and David) and Ruth and Ned Farren (with Edward). Dr. LF Small’s death is well documented with an obituary/letter (one of many), a death notice (p1, p2), letter from the Whitehouse, and a telegram from Dartmouth. Both LF Small and Marianne are buried at Woodlawn Cemetery, New York, NY.

 

The parents of LF Small were Frederick Eugene Small (b 1857 d 1923) and Amanda Edmond Corey (b 1863 d 1935). They had 3 children Harold Corey Small (b 1893 d after 1956) Lyndon Frederick, and Dorothy Small (b 1899). There is a picture of all three in a car taken Oct 25, 1903 on Warren St . in Needham, Mass.(?) (p1, p2) and another picture here. I have a series of letters that Dorothy sent to LF Small (Donny) in 1956. The letter and other items are here. These letters have a wealth of family history information and should be transcribed. I remember when Aunt Dorothy died but I do not know the date or even the year (early 1970s probably). I remember Mom and Dad going to New York and coming back with some antiques and some pictures. I do remember meeting Dorothy’s husband Lyon Southworth (b 1898). Lyon gave me an antique Royal typewriter that I should get out and take a photo of to place here…

 

The Parents of Frederick Eugene Small were Ebenezer Small (b abt. 1805, d Jan 19, 1876) and Sarah E Bodge (Mar 7, 1825, d 1902). They were married in Newton Co. Middlesex, MA May 17, 1855 (copy of Marriage Certificate). They had 3 children Mary, Frank, and Frederick Eugene. Ebenezer wrote a book used in high school called "Physiology Rendered Attractive" that can be found in the Library of Congress (someone in our family has a copy of that book). I also have a desk clock the belonged to Ebenezer that was said to be on his desk at all times.

 

The Parents of Amanda Edmond Corey were Frederick A Corey (b 1834, d abt. 1873) and Ann Maria English (called Nana)(b 1830, d 1916). They had 2 children Frederick (b 1861 d 1909) and Amanda Edmond. Confusingly Frederick had a sister Amanda Edmond Corey (the poet) (b 1824, d 1862) who married James Edmond. 

 

Most of this information comes form Dorothy’s letters, notes (1, 2) and the family tree she did.

 

Here is a link to all of the names currently in our Family database. Family Genealogy pages. I think I have removed ALL information about living individuals but if not let me know. There are over 7000 individuals in this database most of which are from my family, some are from Christine’s. I don’t really like the format that this free program produced but until I get something better it will have to do.

 

There is still a lot I need to get in here and I’d also like to reformat this entire site. It just takes time….I you have any comments send them to me – genesmall@cfl.rr.com