Saturday, December 3, 2011

Surname Saturday - Ham


Richmond Island has a causeway attached
to the mainland at low tide.

William Ham was an indentured servant on the Speedwell.  This ship arrived in Maine in on 29 April 1635 with men bound for the fishing colony at Richmond Island off Cape Elizabeth.   This was known as the Trelawny Epedition, due to the patent granted to Robert Trelawny and Moses Goodyear in 1631.   Some of the indentured men ran away to other parts of New England, and one of those was William Ham.  He had a grant of land in Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 1652, which was known as Ham’s Point.  His will was proved at Exeter, New Hampshire about 17 January 1672, and it named his daughter Elizabeth, wife of William Cotton, and his grandchildren, sons of his son, Matthew Ham:  William, Thomas and John.   William was known as “Old Ham”.   

In the second generation, Matthew Ham arrived in New Hampshire later than his father.  He had a lot in 1654 next to his father’s land in Portsmouth.  In 1656 he registered a cattle brand at Portsmouth, which was a capital “H”. 

John Ham, in the third generation below, may not be a descendant of “Old Ham”, even though there was a grandson named John in the 1672 will.  There are disagreements among the experts as to his place in the family tree.   He appears in the Dover, New Hampshire records.   His will dates from 29 September 1727, and so we assume he died sometime between that date and 19 February 1728 when his will was proved.

My Ham lineage:

Generation 1:  William Ham, born about 1600, died about 17 January 1672 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire; married 22 November 1622 at St. Andrew’s, Plymouth, Devonshire, England to Honor Stephen, daughter of William Stephens and Mary Woode.  Two children:
1. Matthew Ham (see below)
2. Elizabeth Ham, born about 1629, married William Cotton

Generation 2:  Matthew Ham, born about 1623 in England, died before 1667 when his wife remarried; He married about 1643 to Sarah Unknown.  She married second on 11 November 1667 to Tobias Taylor of the Isles of Shoals.  Matthew Ham was a fisherman on the Isles of Shoals.  They had four children:
1. John Ham (see below)
2. William Ham, married Sarah Dennett
3. Matthew Ham,
4. Thomas Ham

Generation 3:  John Ham, born about 1649, died between 29 September 1727 and 19 February 1728; married on 6 May 1668 in Dover, New Hampshire to Mary Heard, daughter of John Heard and Elizabeth Hull.  She was born 26 January 1650 in Dover, died 7 December 1706 in Dover. Nine children:
1. Mary Ham, born 2 October 1668; married John Horne
2. John Ham, born 1671; married Elizabeth Knight
3. Elizabeth Ham, born 29 January 1675; married Jeremiah Rollins
4. Joseph Ham, born 3 June 1678; married Tamson Meserve
5. Benjamin Ham, born 1693; married Patience Harford
6. Mercy Ham (see below)
7. Tryphena Ham; married John Tucker
8. Sarah Ham; married Thomas Downes
9. Samuel Ham

Generation 4: Mercy Ham, born 19 July 1708 in Dover, New Hampshire; married Richard Nason.
Generation 5. Richard Nason m. Mary Thompson
Generation 6. Mercy Nason m. William Wilkinson
Generation 7. Aaron Wilkinson m. Mercy F. Wilson
Generation 8. Robert Wilson Wilkinson m. Phebe Cross Munroe
Generation 9. Albert Munroe Wilkinson m. Isabella Lyons Bill
Generation 10. Donald Munroe Wilkinson m. Bertha Louise Roberts (my grandparents)

There is a sketch of William Ham in the Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire by Noyes, Libby and Davis, page 73.  There is a short sketch on John Ham in the New England Historic Genealogical Register, Volume 6, page 329 and a longer article on William Ham and his descendants in Volume 26, page 388- 394.

Famous descendants:   Brigham Young of the LDS church
-------------------------
Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

15 comments:

  1. You should also read: “Observations on the Origin of William Ham of Portsmouth” by Neil D. Thompson, NHSOG Record 10 (1993):131-2. I descend from John Ham of Dover once; John Heard of Dover, twice, and Rev. Joseph Hull, three times. William Ham is one of my former ancestors.

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  2. Martin, this is exactly why I mentioned the controversy over this line. I knew he could end up as a "former" ancestor someday... There are always branches being trimmed or leaves being added...Thanks for the source.

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  3. Actually I thought I was descended from William through his daughter Elizabeth who married William Cotton. It's a long story. I've always discounted the John Ham/William Ham connection since John doesn't name a son either Matthew or William. It's too much conjecture for me.

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  4. I love your blog posts. It often gives me hope on hopeless genealogy days! :)

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  5. Do you know the birth place of William Ham? There are several locations identified. One is Aberdeen, Scotland another is Devon, England. I am related to the Ham's through John, son of Mathew.

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    1. Barb, no one has been able to identify or verify William Ham's birthplace or origins. We must be cousins if we are both descendants of William, Matthew and John!

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  6. That is untrue. William Ham was born in 1594 and baptized in Botus Fleming, Cornwall. I visited the church there but was unable to confirm the records in the Cornish archives, found online.

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    1. I stated he "was born about 1600" which is not "untrue". I have not seen the original records either, and until I do I will not be able to state a date and place as fact.

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  7. Hello Heather,

    William's parents, Richard and Matilda, are both reported in Landulph, and Botus Fleming, Cornwall (then still part of Devon, while Richard came from Cargreen before marriage to Matilda (apparently his 3rd marriage!). Those adjacent villages are just miles apart. So, while I agree that the specific location is not cited, as far as I know, he was surely born in one of those towns. I've seen citations that William Ham was baptized and lived in Botus Fleming with his parents. That strongly suggests Botus Fleming as his birthplace, but I agree that it's still not cited as such.

    That said, I wonder where William lived after marriage to Honour Stephens at St. Andrews Church in Plymouth. And where did Honour live when William was in America?

    For the record, I'm part of a Ham Group at Family Tree DNA (https://www.familytreedna.com/) with 121 members! Those of us related to William Ham have very unique DNA (E-M35, subclade V-13), that's very rare in the UK as it statistically sources from Albania/Kosovo. So, those claiming to descend from John Ham should have their DNA checked, thus confirming/rejecting all notions of ancestry with William. From my studies, I see no connection to John Ham of Dover, NH, since my sources state that he's from London.

    All the best,
    -Steve-

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  8. Hello Heather,

    As for William's origins, his parents, Richard and Matilda, are both reported in Landulph, and Botus Fleming, Cornwall (then still part of Devon, while Richard came from Cargreen before marriage to Matilda (apparently his 3rd marriage!). Those adjacent villages are just miles apart. So, while I agree that the specific location is not cited, as far as I know, he was surely born in one of those towns. I've seen citations that William Ham was baptized and lived in Botus Fleming with his parents. That strongly suggests Botus Fleming as his birthplace, but I agree that it's still not cited as such.

    That said, I wonder where William lived after marriage to Honour Stephens at St. Andrews Church in Plymouth. And where did Honour live when William was in America?

    For the record, I'm part of a Ham Group at Family Tree DNA (https://www.familytreedna.com/) with 121 members! Those of us related to William Ham have very unique DNA (E-M35, subclade V-13), that's very rare in the UK as it statistically sources from Albania/Kosovo. So, those claiming to descend from John Ham should have their DNA checked, thus confirming/rejecting all notions of ancestry with William. From my studies, I see no connection to John Ham of Dover, NH, since my sources state that he's from London.

    All the best,
    -Steve-

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    1. Thanks for all your comments. They are very helpful. I'll join the Ham DNA group, although as a female I don't know how useful it will be.

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  9. Hello Heather,

    It would be wonderful to have you in the Ham group! I encourage all other Hams to join too.

    Like you, I'm interested in seeing if there is ANY relationship between William Ham and John Ham of Dover, NH. I have strong doubts, but...let's see for certain. Once entering the Family Tree DNA website, the link to the Ham Group is: https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/ham-dna-project/activity-feed. Sub-links exist to various locations, such as DNA comparisons, etc. The interesting thing is that of 121 Hams in the group, only four of us connect to William Ham - the subject of this article!

    At Family Tree DNA, I also belong to an E-M35 Group and an England/Great Britain group. These groups are helpful in trying to sort out how/why a male from Albania/Kosovo traveled to Britain roughly 2,000 years ago. We have two working hypotheses presently, which I can write about if there's an interest.

    All the best,
    -Steve-

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  10. Hello,

    Just finding this blog post. I am also a William Ham ancestor (we would be my 9th Great grandfather) I will join the family tree group as well.

    Thanks Stephen, and thank you Heather for the article.

    -Tyler Ham

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  11. Hello Tyler,

    I'm delighted to hear that. To join Family Tree DNA's Ham group, you obviously need to first have your Y-chromosome tested there. I recommend testing at least 111-markers.

    Since my/our Y-chromosome is relatively unique, especially in Britain, I subsequently purchased their Big-Y test, testing over 700 genetic markers. As a result, significant fine-tuning was completed, moving my-our paternal genetic ancestry much more "downstream" from E-M35 to E-BY6246.

    So, if you genuinely are related to William Ham, then you share our Y-chromosomal haplogroup that evolved largely in Egypt, subsequently evolving further in the Balkans, becoming E-BY6246 about 2,000 years ago.

    So...let's find out how you test! If your Y-haplogroup matches mine, we have relatively unique genetics that very rare in Britain. In Europe, it's found largely in Albania/Kosovo, but most frequently found in North Africa...as the E-group is sources from NE Africa.

    All the best,
    -Steve-

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  12. I found a John Ham who could be the son John and who married Sarah Lydston and had Elizabeth 1691, Thomas 1702, and John 1705, Portsmouth.

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