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| Isabella Lyons (1806 - 1872) wife of Rev. I. E. Bill |
LYONS
This is another brickwall line, and I was reluctant
to post it as a Surname Saturday name until I realized that someone out there
in cyber space may have the answer to my lineage problems. So here is the story…
My line begins with David Lyons. He appears in Nova Scotia records for the
first time when he purchased land from Thomas M. Beckwith near the Pereau River
on 6 April 1803. He appears in the 1790
Federal Census of Stratford, Connecticut.
According to an article in Connecticut
Ancestry “Connecticut Loyalists Who Went to Canada” 1974, Volume 17, No. 2,
a “Daniel Lyon” was granted land in Canning, Nova Scotia. Is this the same man?
On 25 May 1779 in Cornwallis, Kings County, Nova
Scotia David Lyons married Elizabeth Ratchford, the daughter of Thomas
Ratchford and Desire Gore, other new Nova Scotia planters from New England. I know little else about Thomas and
Elizabeth. David Lyons and his family are listed in the Cornwallis Township
book, which gives the names and some dates for the twelve children’s births.
My line continues through their son, Thomas
Ratchford Lyons, who married twice. His first wife, and my 4th great
grandmother, was Ann Skinner. She gave
him seven children. I only know a little
about this generation from vital records in the Cornwallis Township Book and
from a journal written by a son-in-law.
Their daughter, Isabella Lyons, married the Reverend Ingraham Ebenezer
Bill, who wrote extensively about his life, his family and his conversion to
the Baptist faith. There is also some
information about the Lyons family in the family sketches chapters of The
History of King’s County, Nova Scotia by Arthur Wentworth Hamilton
Eaton, 1910 (available to read online at archive.org at this link http://archive.org/details/historykingscou00eatogoog
).
Other LYONS researchers have uncovered information
about a Patrick Lyons in Nova Scotia. This
Patrick Lyons lived previously in Connecticut, where he witnessed a will. Patrick Lyons left a will mentioning his
father’s burial in County Monaghan, Ireland, and a brother Edmund in Castleblaney. Could he be the father, brother or kinsman of
David Lyons? Was the family of Irish descent? Were they Loyalists?
My LYONS lineage:
Generation 1:
Patrick Lyons?
Generation 2: David Lyons, born about 1759 in
Connecticut? Died May 1812 in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia; married on 25 May 1779
in Cornwallis to Elizabeth Ratchford, daughter of Thomas Ratchford and Desire
Gore. She was born about 1764 and died
on 18 March 1845 in Nova Scotia.
Generation 3: Thomas Ratchford Lyons, born 3 March
1780 in Cornwallis, died 1859 in Sackville, Nova Scotia; married first on 30
September 1802 in Cornwallis to Ann Skinner, daughter of Charles Skinner and
Sarah Osborn. She was born 9 March 1786
in Cornwallis and died 19 October 1815 in Cornwallis. He married second to Anne Griffin.
Generation 3: Isabella Lyons, born 28 January 1806
in Cornwallis, died April 1872 in Carleton, New Brunswick; she married on 20
April 1826 in Cornwallis to Reverend Ingraham Ebenezer Bill, son of Asahel Bill
and Mary Rand. He was born on 19
February 1805 in Billtown, Cornwallis and died 4 August 1891 in St. Martin’s,
New Brunswick.
Generation 4: Caleb Rand Bill m. Ann Margaret
Bollman
Generation 5: Isabella Lyons Bill m. Albert Munroe
Wilkinson
Generation 6: Donald Munroe Wilkinson m. Bertha
Louise Roberts (my grandparents)
------------------------
Copyright 2013, Heather Wilkinson Rojo
I can't help you with this line, but I will commiserate with you in that I have a Loyalist line that went through Nova Scotia, but I don't know whether to post it as a Surname Saturday because I don't know where the family was before appearing on a list in Nova Scotia.
ReplyDeleteI am beginning my research for UEL membership for my Bustin lineage. They settled in Saint John New Brunswick.
ReplyDeleteI can's help either. I do have a Roswell Lyons, said to be born in Connecticut Oct 1770. He moved to Vermont, married a Lydia Roberts there, had 9 children between 1796 and 1813, then died in 1814. If you happen to see his birth in Connecticut, I would be quite delighted and very grateful.
ReplyDeleteDavid Adams, dcadams2@juno.com
Hi, All,
ReplyDeleteI no longer believe that the David Lyon born 1759 to Jonathan Lyon and Anna Miller in Greenwich, Fairfield, CT was the same David Lyons who later married Elizabeth "Betsy" Ratchford 1779 in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia. My g-g-g grandfather was Robert Jones Lyons, David and Betsy Lyons fourth son. My father always claimed that our Lyons family was descended from United Empire Loyalists and the Greenwich, Fairfield CT Lyon family were definitely not Loyalists but instead Rebels/Patriots who ended up in North Castle, (near Bedford) New York. Please read the online account in North Castle History Vol 13. The North Castle Historical Society. 1986 Bedford Rd., Armonk NY "The Lyon Family, Moving a Schoolhouse". On page 17 of this history you will find the the Genealogy of the Jonathan Lyon family of Greenwich, FF, CT. My candidate for our Lyons progenitor is the David Lyons who fought with the Loyalist DeLancey's Second Brigade in 1777 in New York. He is listed as Wounded in 1777. See: Ward Chipman Muster Master' Office 1777-1785 Lists available online at the Libraries and Archives Canada website :http://www.lac-bac.gc.ca/databases/ward-chipman. I have a 4 page Windows document which gives my rational for the above argument. I have shared this document with other searching descendants of David Lyons, circa 1779 Cornwallis, NS Regards, Sharon Lyons BC Canada.
Everyone in Cornwallis was a loyalist. My 4th GGF James Lyons settled there after acquiring a land grant through the crown. The Acadians were driven out and the crown settled loyalists in the area. They enticed New Englanders to come up, especially those from Connecticut.My 4th GGF eventually acquired a hotel and ran a stage-coach in Kentville but I believe he stayed with relatives in Monctoun, NS after he arrived and he came from Monaghan Ireland.
ReplyDeleteMy 4th great grandfather, Thomas Ratchford Lyons (1780 - 1859) had seven children and one was a boy named James. Is this your ancestor? This James was not born in Ireland though.
ReplyDeleteHi Heather! Eaton's History of Kings County NS states that the parents of our Thomas Ratchford Lyons (b. 3 March 1780) were David and Elizabeth Lyons of Cornwallis (Township, now Kings county). The marriage of David Lyons to Elizabeth Ratchford is listed in the Cornwallis Township records as 25 May 1779, but place of marriage is not given. That makes it possible they were born elsewhere, but just had their marriage recorded in the Cornwallis Records.
DeleteEaton lists ten children of David and Elizabeth beginning with John who married 23 March 1808 Mary, daughter of Thomas and Sarah Rand. He ends with a daughter Nancy who married 8 April 1819 Daniel Webster Newcomb, son of Joseph and Catharine (Rand) Newcomb. He lists six children of the first child John, but not the others. However, the Township books for Cornwallis compiled by Lorna Woodman Evans in 1996 lists five children of Thomas and Ann Lyons, beginning with our Sarah Lyons b. 18 April 1804, and ending with Margaret Lyons born 6 Dec. 1813. There is no James listed. However, under the Lyons family (but written as if he does not know if he belonged to David).
Eaton does mention a James Lyons who married widow Rosina Bigelow in Cornwallis (township) 10 April 1806. Under James he states that a Mary Lyons, dau of James and Elizabeth Lyons was married probably in Cornwallis 24 Nov.1814 to James Corbet, son of John and Fanny (Sweet) Corbet. Also under James, he lists an Ann Lyons who married 1 Jan. 1817 to Ralph Atkinson. The township books also list the death of Mrs. Ann Lyons, spouse of Thomas Lyons, on 19 Oct. 1815. This of course was our Ann Skinner Lyons, daughter of Charles Skinner and Sarah Osborn. The latter family were married in 1774 at Passamaquoddy, but moved to a part of NS then called Cornwallis Township (now included in Colchester County) after Loyalists who came to New Brunswick were granted land they were living on in the Maugerville (near Fredericton) area. In compensation, they were granted land in Nova Scotia. Eventually the Skinners moved to the Weston area of Cornwallis Township (near Berwick Kings County). There is a Ratchford Road near Grafton and Waterville, Kings County. I've wondered if this is where Thomas Lyons had lived, as it is not that far from Weston, but just a guess. If Thomas and Ann Lyons had lived on this Road, they would have been living closer to Isaiah Shaw, who my Sarah Lyons married.
My Grandmother was a Sarsfield and was born in Nova Scotia in Kings County(1881). Her brother Joseph married Julia Lyons. The family lived in Canning and Kentfield and Sheffield Mills. I'll see if I can find anything useful for you. I also live near Stratford, CT and will see if I find anything here and in CSL.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Ruth! And thanks for visiting my blog.
DeleteHi Heather. I am Marion Gates Waddell. My sister Doris Gates Thorpe has previously been in touch with you about our mutual Skinner-Lyons family of NS. We too have seen the information re a David Lyons being in Delancey's regiment during the American Revolution (aka American War of Independence), so wondered about the Loyalist connection. I suppose the grant in Canning to a Daniel Lyons may have been a clerical error, and that his name was actually David NOT Daniel. We are at a dead end too, except a census record did say the family were of Irish origin. Apparently the name is spelled Lyon in Scotland and either in England, but almost always Lyons in Ireland.
ReplyDeleteHi Heather. My sister Doris Gates Thorpe of Dartmouth, as previously been in touch with you regarding our mutual Skinner_Lyons family, and says to give her best regards. We too have seen the information posted about Loyalist connections to a David Lyons in Delancey's Loyalist regiment, and wondered if it is our David. Time frame fits. It is possible that a clerk made an error and recorded Daniel vs David Lyons (re the land grant in Canning). Did Doris mention that she found a census record that says the Lyons family were originally Irish? The surname is spelled Lyon and Lyons too, but apparently in Ireland always Lyons.
ReplyDeleteHi Heather. My sister Doris Gates Thorpe contacted you some years ago re our mutual Skinner_Lyons family. We have also seen a posting re the possible Loyalist connection to a David Lyons who was in the muster list of Delancey's Regiment (1777), and wondered if it could be our David (right time frame). Apparently a census record lists the family as of Irish origin. Have seen information on line re the Lyons of Ireland always spelling their name as Lyons vs. the Scottish way of Lyon. Before 1785, what is now New Brunswick was then known as a part of Nova Scotia.
ReplyDeleteWow! I'd like to learn more about this muster list!
DeleteWe are related to Patrick J Lyons, who was born in Cork County Ireland in 1848 and his son Patrick J Lyons (Jr) born in Massachusetts in 1879. Not sure if these are related to your Patrick Lyons or not since the timeline is off.
ReplyDeleteJust a comment re New England Planters and United Empire Loyalists. The Deportation of the Acadians happened in 1755, and the New England Platers arrived in Nova Scotia after the French and Indian Wars ended and peace was signed (so between about 1759-1763). The American Revolution (or War of Independence, depending on which side you were on) began in 1776 and ended in 1783. I too am a descendant of David Lyons and Elizabeth Ratchford, through their son Thomas Ratchford Lyons who married Ann Skinner, and have not figured out when they arrived in NS. The only Lyon(s) listed as Planters in the book "Planters and Pioneers" by Esther Clark Wright (1978) are: (1) Henry Lyon who settled in Falmouth in 1761 and was married to Sarah Bliss at Newport Rhode Island in 1756. (2) Rev. James Lyons who was a graduate of Princeton, 1764/5, ordained, went to NS in the interests of the Philadelphia Land Company, and settled in Onslow (near Truro) and Pictou. So my inclination is to think David Lyons was not a Planter, but rather a Loyalist, or possibly from this family you mentioned came from Ireland. I know there was a Lyons Department store in Sligo on the West Coast of Ireland, and that there was a huge emigration from this port. I think the family in Kentville were Catholics, but I don't think that the David Lyons family were. Ann Skinner's family were Baptist. Of course that can change in a generation, depending on who you marry. In Eaton's History of Kings County (1910), he states that "the origin of the Lyons Family of Cornwallis (township), which as far as we know bears no immediate relationship to the present Lyons family of Kentville, we have not been able to ascertain". Somewhere I read that they may have come from Stonington, Connecticut, but I cannot recall where. The first child of David and Elizabeth Lyons was John, who married in 1808 Mary Rand. That puts them firmly into the time frame of the Loyalists, so if I had to place my bets, it would be that they were Loyalists. Doris Gates Thorpe (Marion's sister).
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteJust deleted the comment as it was repetitive of the previous posting. It was not clear to me if the first one had been posted. Sorry for that.
ReplyDeleteDoris
The side profile photo labeled Isabella Lyons is instead daughter, Mary Ann Bill. I have an original that includes a lock of her hair, medium brown/blonde. The other one looks more 1890s to me.
ReplyDeleteCarolyn Fix Blount GG granddaughter of Mary Ann Bill
Thanks so much, Carolyn! For several decades we have thought that this was Isabella!
Delete