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The History of the Endicott Family
By
Teddy Hollis Sanford, Jr.
(Twelfth Generation in America)
Your tombstone stands among the rest
Neglected and Alone.
The name and date are chiseled out
On polished marble stone.
It reaches out to all who care
It is too late to mourn.
You did not know that I exist
You died and I was born.
Yet each of us are cells of you
In flesh, in blood, in bone.
Our blood contracts and beats a pulse
Entirely not our own.
Dear Ancestor, the place you filled
So many years ago,
Spreads out among the ones you left
Who would have loved you so.
I wonder if you lived and loved,
I wonder if you knew,
That someday I would find this spot,
And come to visit you.
The History of the Endicott Family
(Revision of 15 March 2010)
By
Teddy H. Sanford, Jr.
Background in England
The sources of information used in this history include the “Dictionary of National Biography” published by the Oxford University Press; and “Some Descendants of John Endecott, Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony” by Mabel McFatridge McCloskey, 1943. She lived in Camden, Indiana and worked closely with other Endicott descendants including Will Clay Endicott of Cynthiana, Kentucky and Mabel McLaughlin of Henderson, Kentucky. This later document traces my family up through my great grandfather Endicott, and discussions of the later generations have been added by me. Many thanks to the Endicott Family Association (EFA) for help with some of the information and, in particular, cousins Gordon Harmon and Betty Ralph for their input and corrections of errors in the data. Additionally, many other sources have been used to flesh out the histories as well as legends that have come down through many members of our family.
Like most families, the origins of ours are lost in time. We know the Endicotts were in and around the Dorchester England area as early as the 13th Century, and it is likely that they had been there much, much longer. Of course, the early Britons occupied the area before the raising of Stonehenge just to the North in prehistoric times. In Roman times, Dorchester was known as Durnovaria and, like most towns in England, became home to retiring soldiers of the Legions who married into the local population. When the waves of Germanic peoples came to England in the 5th Century, Dorchester was deep in the heart of Wessex founded by the West Saxons. In the 11th Century, the Normans were added to the mix after the successful invasion of William the Conqueror in 1066. So it appears that our heritage in these rolling hills of Southern England has been long and it has been the seedbed for the Endicott descendants that now can be found in great numbers in America and throughout the world. This lineage is dedicated to all of our kin, known and unknown, who have gone before.
Ancient Lineage in England
The first appearance of Endicott in the ancient record list many spellings such as Ynndecote, Yendicott, Endecote, Endecott. The first of the family in America used the ENDECOTT spelling for four generations, but after that, the Endicott with an “i” spelling prevailed. I use both at different points in this narrative. Endicott denotes a place of dwelling, in this case, “the end cottage” as in “John who lives in the cottage at the end of the road.” The origin of the family can be traced to 1262. In a charter granting the Manor of ITTON to William de MOHUN, the estate of YONDECOTT is assessed to pay an annual chief rent of 10S, 6d to the Manor. The earliest recorded name is of a Johannes de YNNDECOTTE of Devonshire in 1327.
First Generation
John YENDECOTT -----------------------------------------Alice
Notes: We begin here because we can not trace back from this ancestor. The name is mentioned in a charter that is preserved in EXTER University College Museum. In 1448, a certain estate was granted them near South TAWTON (village on the Northern edge of DARTMOOR, just South of the A30 roadway). This spelling of the name lasted for at least 100 years.
Second Generation
Henry YENDECOTT ------------------------------------Unknown
Notes: Mentioned as the son of John YENDECOTT in the same 1448 document. Nothing further is on him in the record. He may have been named Henry by his family in honor of the King. Being owners of an estate, the probably were supporters of the Crown. In 1448, the King was Henry VI (1421-1471), a weak ruler who was twice deposed (1461 and 1470) before being murdered by the YORKS, the leading family in one of the factions in the Wars of the Roses (1455-1485).
Third Generation
John ENDECOTT --------------------------------------Unknown
b.1490; d.1580
Notes: Born in DREWSTON Manor near CHAGFORD. He was married in 1514 but his wife’s name is not known. Between 1525 and 1527, he bought MIDDLECOTT Manor from John YOLDON and thus owned both manors. He fathered six children – Henry (1515-1585); Richard (1516-?); John (1517-1584); William (1518-1543); Thomas (1521-1593); and Ella (1523-1595).
Fourth Generation
Henry ENDECOTT ------------------------------------------- Margery HALS
b. 1515; d. 1585
Notes: Owner of DREWSTEN (now DREWSTEIGNTON) and MIDDLECOTT Manor (now MIDDLECOTT village) in CHAGFORD. He married Margery HALS in 1563. This was his second wife, and not the mother of our subsequent generations. His children were John (b.1541; d. 1635); William (b. 1536; d. 11 October 1614); Henry (dates unknown); Elizabeth (dates unknown); and JOHANE (birth date unknown but died in 1620). His life was contemporary with King Henry VIII (1491-1547). Given that following generations were such strong supporters of the Church of England, it is possible that Henry ENDECOTT supported the King against the Catholic Church and was an early convert to the newly Established Church.
Fifth Generation
John ENDECOTT ---------------------------------------- Johanna
b. 1541; d. 1635
Notes: John, being the oldest son of Henry ENDECOTT (1515-1585), inherited DREWSTON and MIDDLECOTT Manor, and acquired large tin mining properties in the area including CRANBROOK farm and CRAMBROOK Castle. John and Johanna had five children including Thomas (b.1566; d. 20 December 1621); Robert (b. 1568); William (b. 1570); Richard (b.1572); and WILMOTE (b. 1574). John was a strong churchman of the Established Church, that is, the Church of England. CRANBROOK Castle is an Iron Age hill fort dating back to 800 B.C. or beyond. It is due south of DREWSTEIGNTON and guards the southern shoreline of the river TEIGN. On the opposite shore is the hill fort, PRESTONBURY Castle. CRANBROOK covers 13.25 acres and has a single rampart and ditch lining the perimeter of the hilltop. Nearby is a tiny hamlet called CRANBROOK, the probable site of CRANBROOK farm.
Sixth Generation
Thomas ENDECOTT ---------------------------------Alice Westlake
b. 1566; d. 20 Dec 1621 m. 1587
Notes: Eldest son of John ENDECOTT (1541-1635) and father of the future Governor John ENDECOTT. He is important to family history because he died before his father, and because he had come under the influence of the great Puritan Reverend John White of Dorchester. This move away from the Church of England had angered his father, and when John died before him, he passed his family over in favor of his second son, Robert, who inherited the family wealth. He left his grandson through Thomas only 40S This might be a moot point, however, as the grandson had long departed for America before his grandfather died, and it is unlikely he would have returned to England to take possession of the properties.
Endicott Lineage in America
First Generation
John ENDECOTT -----------Ann GOVER----------------------------Elizabeth Cogan GIBSON
b.1588; d. 16 Mar 1665 d. 1629 m. 17 Aug 1630 b. 1607; d. 1676
Notes: John ENDECOTT was born in 1588 at Dorchester, DORSETSHIRE, England. In his early life he was a surgeon, and may have seen military action in Holland in 1625. Following in the ways of his father, he was a Puritan and, on 19 March 1628, was the fifth of six signers in purchasing a patent of the territory of the Massachusetts Bay from the corporation styled council established at Plymouth in the county of Devon for the “planting, ruling, and governing of New England in America.” Two of those who received proprietary rights in the new company were Mathew Craddock and Roger Ludlow both of whom were related to John by marriage. In fact, Mathew was the cousin of John’s first wife, Ann GOVER. This is probably why he was selected as a “fit instrument to begin the wilderness work.” John was entrusted with full powers to take charge of the plantation at NAUMKEAG. John, his childless wife, and about 30 settlers left on the ship Abigail from the port of Weymouth near Dorchester on 20 June 1628 and landed at NAUMKEAG, Massachusetts on 6 September 1628, two months and sixteen days later. Two years later, the town’s name was changed to Salem. The year 1628 was also very important for English history. Broke from foreign misadventures, King Charles I was forced by Parliament to sign the “Petition of Rights.” This was the beginning of trouble that would lead to the Civil War in 1642 and 1648; result in the King’s execution in 1648, and the emergence of Oliver Cromwell and the Roundheads. Cromwell was Lord Protector of England from 1653 to 1658. Knowing this is important because it shows why John ENDECOTT was able to do some of the things that he did during most of his long life in the Colony.
Ann GOVER came to America with John in 1628 and died the next year. They had no children. In 1630, John married Elizabeth Cogan Gibson. She was a widow of a man named Gibson and her parents were PHILOBERT Cogan (b.1563; d.1641) and Ann Marshall (b.1576). PHILOBERT was the son of Thomas Cogan (b.1530; d. 8 Nov 1580) and Elizabeth Fisher (b.1537). The history of this family is well documented and can be traced back to Miles Cogan (b.1150), my 24 times great grandfather. John ENDECOTT and Elizabeth had two sons born in the colony, John (b.1632; d.1667) and ZERUBBABEL (b.1635; d.1684). Since John never had children, all members of our family in America come through the second son, ZERUBBABEL.
John ENDECOTT became the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and Roger Ludlow was sometimes his Deputy Governor. Roger was related to John through his wife, Mary (b.1604) who was the older sister of John’s wife, Elizabeth. “As a ruler, John lost no time in showing himself to be earnest, zealous, and courageous, but considering the difficulties which he had to battle against, it is not surprising that he was occasionally found wanting in tact and temper. His conduct toward the Indians was always marked with strict justice. On making known to the planters who had preceded him that he and his associate patentees had purchased all the property and privileges of the Dorchester partners, both at NAUMKEAG and Cape Ann, much discontent arose. ENDECOTT and his Puritan Council viewed with no favorable eye the raising of tobacco, believing such a production, except for medicinal purposes, injurious to both the health and morals, while they insisted on abolishing the use of the Book of Common Prayer. The wise enactments of the company’s court in London did much toward allaying these and similar disputes. To protect themselves against the Indians, a military company was organized by the settlers and ENDECOTT was placed in command. His attention was next called to the illegal trading and dissolute ways of the settlers at Mount WOLLASTON, or Merry Mount, now Quincy. He personally conducted an expedition to the site, rebuked the inhabitants for their profaneness, and admonished them. In the purifying spirit of authority, he then cut down the maypole on which Thomas Morton, their leader, had published his satires on the Puritans, while his followers made merry around it in the carousals from which they sold arms and ammunition to the Indians in order to get their supplies (see Hawthorne’s “The May-Pole of Merry Mount”).” He also changed the name of the settlement to Mount Dagon. ENDECOTT continued to exercise the chief authority until 12 June 1630 when John Winthrop. The first regularly elected governor, arrived with the charter by which government of the colony was entirely transferred to New England. ENDECOTT, who had been chosen one of his council of assistants, gave a cordial welcome to Winthrop, and a friendship began which lasted without a cloud while they both lived. On 3 July 1632, the court of assistants, to mark their sense of his services, granted ENDECOTT 300 acres of land situated between two and three miles to the North of the main settlement at Salem which was afterwards known as the Orchard Farm.
In 1634, ENDECOTT was nominated to be on of the seven military commissioners for the Colony. In September, a rumor reached the colony that the King was demanding the charter in an attempt to force them to celebrate the ceremonies of the Church of England. ENDECOTT, a staunch Puritan, was moved by this rumor and, inflamed by the fiery eloquence of Roger Williams, he publicly cut out the Cross of St. George from the colony banner with his sword. He stated that the cross in the banner “---savored popery”. The Colony, and Winthrop, however, were not in a position to ignore the act, and brought action in the general court against ENDECOTT where he was admonished, and disabled from public office for one year. ENDECOTT made his apologies that same day and retired from service for a year.
When he was returned to service, ENDECOTT seems to have acted in greater harmony with the other leaders of the colony. In 1636, he was reappointed as assistant, and was also sent, along with Captain John Underhill, on an expedition against the Block Island and Pequot Indians. The Pequot lived in the forests of Southern New England between the Connecticut River and Narragansett Bay. Feeling encroached upon by the colonists, they killed John Oldham on Block Island (20 July 1636). The retaliation raids by the settlers ruined many of the Pequot villages, and in one battle near Mystic, Connecticut, over 500 members of the Pequot tribe were massacred. Those who survived were captured and sold as slaves in the West Indies or to the colonists. Of note to our family, John ENDECOTT led the assault on Block Island. Some corn was burned, some wigwams destroyed, and one Indian was killed. He was not involved with the killing at Mystic, Connecticut, which was mainly women and children since most of the men were away. In 1665, the remnants of the tribe were granted a reservation on the Mystic River by the colonists. Some of their descendants can be found there to this day.
Another event in 1636 seemed to justify ENDECOTT’S earlier efforts to remove the cross from the flag of the colony. Many of the military militia had refused to serve under the flag, and the military commission finally ordered that the cross be left out. In 1641, and again in 1642, and 1643, ENDECOTT was chosen Deputy Governor. In 1642, he became one of the commissioners for Harvard University. His increasing influence insured his election as Governor in 1644. The following year, when he was succeeded by Joseph Dudley, he was made Sergeant-Major General of Massachusetts, the highest military office in the Colony. He was also elected as an assistant, and one of the commissioners of the province. Upon the death of John Winthrop on 26 March 1649, ENDECOTT again was chosen governor. He maintained this office in annual elections until his death except for 1650 and 1654, when he was the Deputy Governor. The colony made rapid progress during his terms from 1655 to 1660.
The faults of John ENDECOTT were those of an age which regarded religious tolerance as a crime. As the head of the commonwealth, responsible for its spiritual and temporal welfare, he felt a duty to scourge, banish, or hang the unorthodox. He was particularly opposed to the Quakers. Two men of that sect were executed in 1659, and a woman was hanged in 1660. Long before this, on 10 March 1649, he had issued a formal proclamation against wearing long hair “—after the manner of ruffians and barbarous Indians.”
Even in the early colonies there was a need for money, and John ENDECOTT established a mint in 1652. This was against existing law, but coins continued to be minted until the abrogation of the charter in 1685, long after John’s death. John also became a large land owner. In 1658, the court, thankful for his long service to the colony, granted him a fourth of Block Island. In that same year, he was elected president of the colonial commissioners.
After the restoration of King Charles II in 1660, the struggle began in Massachusetts to save the charter and the government. ENDECOTT drew up a petition to the King in the name of the general court of Boston. It asked for the King’s protection and a continuance of those privileges and liberties which the colony enjoyed. The capital blasphemies of the Quakers and their contempt of authority were also set before the King. Charles returned vaguely favorable answers which asked ENDECOTT to seek out villains such as the regicides, WHALLEY and GOFFE, and ordered all condemned Quakers to be sent to England where they would be dealt with. In 1662, the king expressed his willingness to take the colony into his care provided that all laws made during the “late troubles” derogatory to the king’s government be repealed. He also asked that the oath of allegiance be duly observed, and the administration of justice take place in the king’s name. He went on to suggest that the principal end of the Charter was liberty and conscience, and that the Book of Common Prayer and it’s ceremonies might very well be used by those desirous of doing so. Commissioners were sent to the colony in 1664 where they sat in judgment of the governor and the court. ENDECOTT addressed a strongly worded protest against this attempt to override their privileges to Secretary Sir William MORRICE on 19 October 1664. In his response, MORRICE complained of ENDECOTT disaffection and stated that the King would be happy to see someone else elected to lead the colony.
Before the next election, John ENDECOTT died in Boston on 15 March 1665 at the age of 77. His long service to the colony was recognized when he was buried on 23 March 1665. He is buried in the GRANERY Burial Grounds in Tomb #187. This old cemetery is located on Tremont Street in Boston. The tomb does not have his name and is actually of brick and marble with a crypt below that now holds four people. In addition to John ENDECOTT, other notables buried there include Samuel Adams, John Hancock, ABIAH and Josiah Franklin, parents of Benjamin Franklin, Robert Paine, Paul Revere, and CRISPUS ATTUCKS, first black man to die in the Revolutionary War during the Boston Massacre. At the time of his death, ENDECOTT had served the colony in various positions including governor longer than any of the other Massachusetts founding fathers.
SECOND GENERATION
ZERUBBABEL ENDECOTT -----------------------Mary Smith/Elizabeth Winthrop
b.1635; d.27 March 1684 m. 1654/1677 b.1636; d.1677
Notes: ZERUBBABEL was the second son of John ENDECOTT and, like his father, was a physician. He lived in Salem in an area now known as Danvers, on what his father called the Orchard (“Old Orchard Farm” at 100 Endicott Street, Danvers, Massachusetts). He was the only son of John who had children of his own. He married Mary Smith in 1654. It is probable that they said their vows before a Justice of the Peace. In 1747, the Puritans had outlawed the preaching of wedding sermons because they saw marriage as a secular institution. This stricture remained in effect until the end of the century so it is likely that the same applied at his second marriage to Elizabeth Winthrop in 1677. Mary Smith was from the family of Samuel and Sarah Smith of Great Yarmouth, England. She and ZERUBBABEL had ten children including John (b.1657) who married Anna (?) in 1690 and died in London; Samuel (b.19 June 1659) who married Hannah Felton (b.1663) in 1684 and had two sons and two daughters; ZERUBBABEL (b.14 February 1664; d.1706) at Topsfield, Massachusetts; Benjamin (b.1665) who married Elizabeth (?); Mary (b.23 June 1668; d. 14 September 1706) who married twice – Joseph Herrick and Isaac Williams (2 August 1685); Joseph (b.17 July 1672; d.1747) who married Hannah GOSSLING (see next entry); Sarah (b.1673) married William Browne; Elizabeth (b.1675) who married Nathaniel Gilbert; Hannah (b.1676) who married Edward GASKILL; and METHETABLE (b.1677; d.1698). There is great irony in the marriage of Hannah ENDECOTT to Edward GASKILL. Edward’s mother was Provided Southwick. She was sold into slavery by Governor John ENDECOTT for failing to attend “proper” church, and worshiping as a Quaker. Her story is told in the 19th Century poem by the great anti-slavery poet John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892) in his “Ballad of Cassandra Southwick.” He got the first name wrong. Cassandra was PROVIDED’S mother. So John ENDECOTT’S granddaughter married a man whose mother he sold into slavery.
ZERUBBBABLE was a doctor in Salem, Massachusetts. It is probable that his medical education consisted of reading medicine in the home of a practicing physician and following him on his patient visits. Several homes built in Salem during his lifetime still stand including the Pickering House (1660); the John Turner House (1668) which was immortalized by Nathaniel Hawthorne as the “House of the Seven Gables,” and the John Ward House (1684). One 20 June 1677, his wife Mary died. A short time later, he married Elizabeth Winthrop, the widow of Reverend Antipas Newman and the daughter of Governor John Winthrop of Connecticut. This second marriage did not produce additional children. In the year of his first wife’s death and his second marriage, Doctor ENDECOTT wrote a set of remedies that he called “Synopsis MEDICINAE” or a “Compendium of GALENICAL and Chemical PHYSICK showing the Art of Healing according to the Precepts of Galen and Paracelsus fitted universally to the Whole Art of Healing.” They are interesting for the language, the spelling, and the ingredients, many of which might be hard to come by today. Thanks to Cousin Betty Ralph for providing them for inclusion in this family history:
For ye COLIK or Flux in ye Belly
The powder of Wolves guts
The powder of Bores Stones
OYLE of Wormwood a drop or 2 into the NAUELL
3 drops of OYLE of FENIL @ 2 drops of OYLE of mints in CONSERUE of Roses or CONSERUE of single mallow. If ye Paine be EXTREAM VSE it a GAINE, @ if need require APLY something HOTT to the belly.
For VOMETING @ LOOSNES in Men Women @ Children
Take an Egg break a Little HOUE in one end of it @ put OWT ye white
Then put in about ― spoonful of BAYE SAL then fill VP the egg with strong Rom or spirits of wine @ SETT it in HOTT ashes @ LETT it BOYLE TIL ye egg be dry
Then take it @ eat it fasting @ fast an hour after it or drink a Little distilled waters of MING @ FENILL which waters mixed together @ drank will help most ordinary CASSES
For a Person that is Distracted If it be a Woman
TAK milk of a Nurse that GIUES such to a male Child @ also take a hee Catt @ cut of one of his Ears or a PEECE of it @ LETT it BLEDE into the milk @ then LETT the sick woman drink it doe this three Times
For the Shingles
TAK HOWSE LEEKE CATTS BLOD and CREAME mixed together @ OYNT the place WARME or take the moss that growth in a well @ CATTS BLOD mixed @ so APLY it WARME to the PLASE WHAR shingles be
For Sharpe @ DIFFICULTT Travel in Women with Child by JC
Take a Lock of VERGINS HAIRE on any Part of ye head, of half the Age of ye woman in TRAVILL
Cut it very SMALE to fine POUDER then take 12 Ants Eggs dried in an OUEN after y bread is DRAWNE or other wise make them dry @ make them to POUDER with the GAIRE
Give this with a quarter of pint of Red Cows milk or for want of it give it in a strong ale WORT
For ye Tooth Ache
Take a LITLE PECE of opium as big as a great pinnes head
Put it into the hollow place of the Akeing Tooth @ it will give preasant Ease
Often tried by me apon many People and never fayled
Third Generation
Joseph ENDECOTT --------------------------------------------------Hannah GOSSLING
b.17 July 1672; d.1747 m.1706 b.1684; d. July 1748
Notes: Joseph was the fifth son and sixth child of ZARUBBABEL ENDECOTT and Mary Smith. Although he was christened at First Church (17 July 1672), Joseph became a Quaker when he married Hannah GOSSLING in 1706. This would not have pleased old Governor John. Hannah was from a New Jersey family and when they met is not known. However, Joseph moved to Northampton in Burlington County, New Jersey in 1698 just six years after the notorious Salem Witch Trials of 1692 in Massachusetts at which two of his brothers, ZERUBBABEL and Samuel, gave testimony against Mary Bradbury. Joseph and Mary were destined to live out their lives on their New Jersey farm and had five children including John (b.1707) who married Mary GOSSLING on 22 march 1728; Mary (b.1708) who married William Bishop; Joseph (b.1711) who married Ann GILLAM (see next entry); Elizabeth (b.1715) who married Isaac DELEVANE; and Ann (b.1715) who married Lucas GILLAM (d.1743). Lucas and Ann GILLAM were brother and sister.
Fourth Generation
Joseph ENDECOTT -----------------------------------------Ann GILLAM
b. 1711; d. 13 July 1748 m.19 May 1736 b.1715; d.1773
Notes: As you can see from the history thus far, religion has always been a bone of contention between father and son dating back at least as far as Governor John ENDECOTT (1588-1665) and his father Thomas ENDECOTT (1566-1621). In that case it was because John embraced Puritanism over the established Church of England. Then John’s grandson, Joseph (1672-1747), left Puritanism and became a Quaker. This tradition continued with Joseph (1711-1748) when he married Ann GILLAM. Her family was not Quaker, and Joseph’s father showed his displeasure in his will giving Joseph only 5 shillings for his inheritance – “I say 5 shillings and no more” were his fathers last words for marrying “out of meeting.” Despite all this, however, Joseph and Ann were married for 12 years and produced six children before Joseph’s untimely death at the age of 37 in 1748. Some of these children, and their lines, produced some very interesting individuals. The children included Thomas (27 March 1737); Joseph (8 June 1738); Samuel (8 February 1741); BARZALLAI (20 March 1743); Sarah (6 December 1744); and PRAZILLIA (9 December 1748).
The long and colorful life of Thomas Endicott will come later in this narrative, but first we need to follow another line that was not to survive to the present day. The third son of Joseph and Ann was Samuel (1741). He, like his father, did not live a long life dying at the age of 41 in 1782. He lived his life in Cumberland County, New Jersey, married, and had five children (Charles, Samuel, Catherine, Ann, and Mary). Of these, the second son, Samuel, was to have a part in a famous American historical event. The muster roll for the 12 gun sloop-of-war, U.S.S. Enterprise, shows that Samuel Endicott, Quarter Gunner, entered service on 2 April 1803, and joined the vessel on 4 April 1803 under the command of Lieutenant Isaac Hull. His service aboard the Enterprise was to last until 20 September 1804 when he transferred to the 36 gun frigate, the U.S.S. John Adams.
These vessels were in the Mediterranean Squadron of Commodore Preble. The name of Samuel ENDECOTT appears on the list of volunteers from the U.S.S. Enterprise who manned the small 64 ton ketch “Intrepid” when she burned the captured U.S.S. Philadelphia. On 31 October 1803, the Philadelphia was chasing a Tripoli cruiser when she ran onto the rocks off Tripoli; was unable to get off; and was captured along with her entire company of officers and crew. The decision was made to set fire to the Philadelphia to prevent its use by Tripoli. The Intrepid was a vessel that itself had been captured by the Enterprise on 23 December 1803. It had been named the “MASTICO” and was renamed the “Intrepid.” This capture was unknown by the garrison at Tripoli. On the night of 16 February 1804, Stephen Decatur and a small crew of 84 volunteers in the ketch Intrepid, all that the ship would hold, entered the harbor of Tripoli and set fire to the Philadelphia. In his book, “the Navy: A History” by Fletcher Pratt (1938), he tells the story of their deeds. “The moon was young when they drifted in on the faintest of breezes, with Philadelphia looming black before them out of the tangle of masts. She had two hundred men or more; her guns were loaded with double shot; the castle stood above her with 115 heavy cannon in it and lights along the embrasures to show the pirates kept watch. Straight on came Intrepid. As Philadelphia’s watch hailed, Sicilian born Salvador Catalano, posing as the captain, jabbered back in their own barbarous lingo that he was bringing in a blockade runner with provisions from Malta. The Philadelphia’s crew threw a rope; Intrepid was warped to the frigates side, with her hatch-combines rising cautiously. At the last moment, someone on the frigate’s deck sighted a row of heads below bright steel. “Americano!” he yelled and at that same moment Decatur shouted “Board!” and the 84 piled across the bulwarks with their cutlasses swinging. Midshipman Morris hacked down the first of the defenders and a seaman drove a boarding pike right through the man behind. The rest broke for the forecastle with the Americans slashing at their backs. In a moment it was all over; the two hundred TRIPOLIANS dead or jumping through the portholes, while the demolition parties were carrying their combustibles aboard. They worked so fast and the flames caught so well that Decatur had barely time to swing himself into the Intrepid rigging as the cables were cut, with smoke billowing all round and little tongues of flame beginning to dance up the tarry ropes. The batteries were awake now; boom, boom, boom, they sounded out, throwing tall columns of rainbow spray between Intrepid and her victim as the little ketch picked up speed while the gunners were so excited they hit nothing. Down the harbor and out to se the adventurous argosy moved with every man safe, just as Philadelphia blew up.” On 5 April 1942, Samuel Endicott, one of the brave 84, was honored when the destroyer, USS Endicott (DD-495) started down the ways at the Harbor Island Plant of the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation in Seattle. She sank a German merchantman and two German Corvettes in a pitched battle off of Southern France in 1944 and was one of the escort destroyers for President Roosevelt’s trip to Yalta. She was decommissioned on 17 August 1954. Now Samuel Endicott was not in my direct line of ancestors. He was the nephew of 5th generation Thomas Endicott (see next entry). However, he never married and was lost on a later voyage about an “East Indian” vessel when he went ashore on one of the Aegean Islands. While he would never know it, he helped meld the American Navy into a force to be reckoned with, and showed how an ordinary man can do the extraordinary when the trumpet calls, and is someone the whole Endicott family can be justly proud of. (Note: I first updated this history of Samuel Endicott on 21 July 1997. That very day, the USS Constitution, “Old Ironsides” sailed under its own power for the first time in 116 years. As I watched it on the CNN television news, nearly 200 years faded away as I gazed on a sight that was familiar to Samuel Endicott as he looked across the water to the flagship of the Mediterranean Squadron, and we shared a moment of pride in this emerging symbol of a great and growing nation).
FIFTH GENERATION
Thomas Endicott ---------------------------------------------------Sarah Welsh
b. 27 March 1737; d. 22 Jan 1831 married 19 June 1759 b. 6 July 1742; d. 1790 (?)
Notes: Thomas Endicott and Sarah Welsh married on 19 June 1759 in New Jersey when Sarah was just short of her 17th birthday. She was the daughter of Patrick Welch (b. 1706) and Jane Flaningam (b. 1710). Both parents were from Burlington, New Jersey and were married there on March 11, 1734. Jane’s father was Patrick FLANINGAM who was born in England in 1670 and died in Gloucester, New Jersey in October of 1713. Her mother was Elizabeth Hillman who was born in 1689 in Gloucester, New Jersey and died there in December of 1765.
Thomas and Sarah began their marriage and family on a farm in Burlington County, New Jersey where their first two sons were born. The remaining seven were born in North Carolina. The nine children included Moses (b. October 31, 1759); Joseph (b. 1761); Aaron (b. August 12. 1764); BARZILLIA (b. 1766); Thomas (b. 1771); Samuel (b. 1775); William (b.1778); John (b. April 7, 1781); and Nancy (b. 1783). When they left New Jersey after 1761, they traveled with Thomas’ younger brother Joseph (b. 1738). They first moved to Southwestern Virginia where they founded Endicott, Virginia (43 miles SSE of Blacksburg, Virginia). They later moved South to farms in Surry County, North Carolina (The location of Thomas Endicott’s land was just South of the Virginia and North Carolina line along Endicott Creek which drains Warrior Mountain. (From Interstate 77, take state highway 89 west for four miles to LADONIA Church Road. Turn left and go four miles to a “T” in the road and turn left onto Blevins Sore Road. You cross Endicott Creek about one mile from that point).
Thomas Endicott’s first son, Moses, fought in the Revolutionary War from 1777 to 1781. He was a member of the North Carolina militia and saw action throughout the Carolina’s. Of four major battles in 1780 and 1781, he probably was not at the disaster at Camden (16 August 1780), and he missed the battle at King’s Mountain (7 October 1780) because someone had stolen his horse. He joined some infantry reinforcements marching there, but the battle was over before they arrived. There is no evidence that he was at Cowpens (17 January 1781), but he most certainly was at the Battle of Gilford Court House (15 March 1781). Here, while the British under General Cornwallis held the field at the end of the battle, Cornwallis is known to have said that “another such victory would destroy the British Army,” Of the 3,000 British Regulars, more than 700 became casualties. This was the battle which climaxes the Mel Gibson movie, “The Patriot.” The results of the battle forced Cornwallis to stop his advance through the South and to retreat to Yorktown on the Virginia coast. That is where General Washington’s Army, assisted by a French Naval blockade, was able to trap Cornwallis and end the Revolutionary War. In truth, the poorly trained North Carolina militia probably fired no more than two volleys before withdrawing ahead of British cold steel, but they did what they could, and had an influence on events that led to the freedom of the United States from British rule. This narrative is based on a statement sighed by Samuel Endicott, younger brother of Moses, and County clerk of Harrison County, Kentucky on 12 March 1833. Here is the statement regarding his brother’s service. “Moses Endicott volunteered in October 1777 to service as a “Minute Man” from Surry County North Carolina; served three months under Captain William Hardin in Colonel Joseph Williams’ regiment of North Carolina Militia. From March 1778 to March 1779, he served under Captain William Underwood who commanded a company of horse in Colonel Benjamin Cleveland’s regiment of North Carolina troops engaged in expeditions against the Tories. April 1779 to March 1780, they scoured the upper part of North Carolina for the purpose of checking the outrages of Tories and the influence of the British who made great efforts to seduce the people to the cause of Great Britain. This course was continued until March 1780 when he commenced a new service, the packing of lead from CHISLER Mine on New River in Virginia for use of the Army under General Rutherford, and later under General Gates. After the defeat at Camden, the lead packing was stopped. He was not at the Battle of King’s Mountain for a short time before his horse had been stolen. He was on this way there with an infantry company but arrived too late. He was home for a few days then he again joined his company on horseback and was active all that winter against the Tories. In the spring, after the Battle of Guilford Court House was fought, he left the service. He has no documentary evidence and knows of no person by whom he can prove his service except his younger brother, Thomas Endicott, and Mrs. Sarah Beacon, the daughter of William Hill (deceased) who served with him in the same company.” He left the Army and returned to Surry County.
The family left North Carolina in 1786 and traveled along the Wilderness Trail through the Cumberland Gap and settled in Kentucky where the family resided in Bourbon and Harrison Counties. From their home near Endicott Creek in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Surry County came Thomas and Sarah along with their nine children. Sons Moses, 27, along with his wife Martha Hill and their first son Joseph (b. 6 December 1784); Joseph, 25, along with his pregnant wife, Nancy FAUBION; Aaron, 22; BARZILLAI, 20; Thomas, 15; Samuel, 11; William 8; John, 5; and daughter Nancy, 2. Shortly after arriving in Kentucky, Joseph’s wife, Nancy, gave birth to Phoebe (1786-1860). She was the first Endicott born in Kentucky, and more will be said about her when her father is discussed later in this narrative.
Probably the most lasting legacy of Thomas Endicott in Kentucky is the Endicott Meeting House, the oldest original church building west of the Allegheny Mountains that is still holding services. It was built by the Endicott family and some of their neighbors on a site four miles east of Cynthiana, Kentucky and has been a house of worship since 1790. In 2004, at the Second Endicott Reunion, the family met in the church yard and dedicated a new stone to our Revolutionary War patriot, Moses Endicott. It was an impressive service with costumed Sons of the American Revolution presenting the Colors and unveiling the new stone. The church land was donated by Moses Endicott whose home was one and one-half miles east and north of the church. Many of the Endicott sons who grew up in this area would go on to fight in the War of 1812. Two sons of Moses, Joseph Endicott (1784-1867) and John A. Endicott (1789-1874), along with their cousin from Moses’ brother Joseph (1775), Joseph N. Endicott (1795-1874), fought at the Battle of the Thames (October 5, 1813). According to Joseph, this is how the great Indian chief, Tecumseh, died, “Colonel Johnson had his horse shot from under him, and in falling caught his leg under it. Tecumseh, seeing his plight and thinking to get an easy scalp, rushed out, but the colonel drew his dragoon pistol from his saddle holster and killed him.” Joseph (1775) had two other sons who fought in the War of 1812 but were not at this battle. One was John B. Endicott (1797-1878) and the other was William H. Endicott (1792-1857). William was in another famous fight, the Battle of Tippecanoe (November 7, 1811). Yet a sixth Endicott son, my William Endicott (1789-1871), the son of Joseph (1761), also participated (see 7th generation).
Before the outbreak of the War of 1812, Thomas Endicott, now an old man, along with two of his sons, set out on horseback to explore Southern Indiana lands to the west. They found rich land, but any thought of moving their family there was interrupted by the war. In 1815, however, a company of Kentucky families from the vicinity of Cynthiana moved to Posey County, Indiana. Here is their narrative. “It was on the first day of September, 1815, that Joseph Endicott, eldest son of Moses, left Harrison County, Kentucky for Posey County, Indiana. The colony of 44 persons of which he was a member divided into two companies, a part of the men traveling by land with horses, wagons, and cattle. The women and children, with men enough to man the boats, embarked at Augusta, and traveled by water down the Ohio River to Diamond Island, now known as West Franklin, from which point the journey was continued by land. It was not until September 25 that they arrived in Posey County,” from “The Endicott (s) of Indiana.” by Mabel McLaughlin in Indiana Magazine of History, June 1933. Along with Joseph, son of Moses was his wife and five small sons. From 1818-1820, other Endicott family members moved to Posey County including Aaron, his wife and five daughters, and two more of Moses sons – Jesse J. and John A, Endicott. They were accompanied by Nancy Endicott Forrest and her children. She was a widow. Her husband, Captain Memorial Forrest (b. 1783) was killed during the War of 1812 while serving in the Kentucky Volunteer Militia under Lt Col Andrew Porter at Fort Gratiot on 15 March 1815. Since the war was over by this date, he probably died of a fever or an accident, or was one of the unlucky souls who died because word had not reached the combatants that the war was over. Here is an interest aside. In May of 1814, Lt Col George CROGHAN was in command of the 2nd Regiment near Detroit. He ordered Captain Charles Gratiot to lead a detachment of 250 men from Detroit to the head of the St. Clair River, near present day Port Huron, and construct a permanent fort to hold 300 men. It would cut off the water route between the Thames River and the British posts to the North. The post was named Fort Gratiot and was originally manned by Ohio militia (see The War of 1812 in the Old Northwest by Alec Richard Gilpin, 1958). How Memorial Forrest ended up there in 1815 is a mystery. In his later years, Thomas Endicott followed his children and grandchildren and moved to Posey County at the age of 80 with a new wife, Susannah Turner Young who he married on 4 October 1814 at the age of 77. Together, they had a small son, Absalom Turner Endicott (b. 21 November 1815) when Thomas was 78. Susannah was from Virginia. Her first husband was William Young and she had a son, William, in 1810. After her husband died, she moved to Kentucky where she married Thomas. This information comes from “The History of Posey County”, GOODSPEED Publishing Company, 1886. Thomas lived out his days among his family and died at the age of 94 at his farm just one and one half miles south of Cynthiana, Indiana in 1831. There is no grave marker for Thomas but in 2006, the Endicott Association placed a memorial marker for this giant of the family at the cemetery in POSEYVILLE. The following is a quote from Andrew Downing, “There is a striking similarity between the lives of Thomas Endicott and Daniel Boone. Boone was born in Pennsylvania in 1735 on the west bank of the Delaware River. Two years later, Thomas was born on the east bank of the same river in New Jersey. Boone went to the Yadkin in North Carolina in 1753 (at the time it was part of Surry County). By 1775, Thomas was living in Surrey County, North Carolina. Thomas settled in Kentucky eleven years after the settlement of Boone’s borough. Boone left Kentucky declaring that he no longer had elbow room and settled on the Missouri frontier where he died in 1820. Thomas left Kentucky and went to Indiana in 1818 where he died in 1831. Boone was a close friend of the Miller family. Abraham Miller married Elizabeth Endicott and Jane Miller married James H. Endicott. A compass and sunglass, prized possessions of the Endicott-Miller family, once belonged to Daniel Boone.”
SIXTH GENERATION:
Joseph Endicott --------------------------------------------------------------Nancy FAUBION
b. 1761; d. 1827 m. 1786
Notes: Joseph was born in Mt. Holly, New Jersey, and traveled with the family to homes in Virginia, North Carolina, and Kentucky. Unlike most of the family that moved on to Indiana, Joseph remained in Kentucky where he was a successful farmer. He died in 1827, four years before his father. Unlike his brother Moses, a combat during veteran of the Revolutionary War, Joseph stayed on the farm to help raise the younger children and to provide provisions for those who were in the fight. We have evidence that the Endicott family was actively supporting the war effort. When the rest of the family moved to Bourbon County, Joseph stayed in Woodford County near Lexington. He was on the tax list of Woodford County as early as 1794 when he owned 80 acres. He later bought a farm on Buck Creek in Woodford County from Edward and Mary Holman for $1550 in 1810. This farm was near Versailles on Lawrenceburg Road. His estate showed that he was a slave owner with fifteen slaves valued at $3350. He also was paying taxes on two carriages and twelve horses. He and Nancy had a total of eight children including Phoebe (1786-1860); William (1789-1871); James (1791-1860); Lewis (1793-1850); JINCY (b. 1796 but no death date); Cassandra (1800-1850); Clayton (b. 1802 but no death date); and Albert (b.1810 but no death date).
Joseph lost his wife Nancy sometime before 1813, perhaps giving birth to Albert. A land deed in 1813 has no wife’s signature or mark. He did not remarry. Phoebe Endicott, his oldest daughter, married Leonard Searcy (b. 11 July 1781) and her brother William married Martha (Patsy) Searcy. Phoebe and Leonard had six children, the first five being born in Woodford County – Gallatin (1807); EVELINE (1810); Christopher (1814); Langdon (1816); and Mary (13 May 1823). In 1826, they moved to Liberty, Missouri where Leonard had a tavern. Their last son, Thomas (9 May 1827) was born there. They later moved on to Texas and four sons fought in the Mexican War. Young Thomas was in the Captain Evans Company of Colonel Young’s Texas Mounted Volunteers. His brother Langdon was in the Captain Fitzhugh Company of the Mounted Volunteers. I do not have the units for Gallatin and Christopher, but they may have been in the same units as their brothers. Cassandra Endicott married John Henry MOSBY in 1818. He was the son of Nicholas MOSMY (26 December 1788) and Mary Minerva SHOUSE. John and Cassandra had seven sons. The first three – Barry (1819); John (1822); and Washington (1825) were born in Kentucky, and four more – Warfield (1825); Henderson (1828); Gallatin (1836); and Jefferson (1838) were born in Liberty, Missouri. The second son, John MOSBY, and several of his brothers, fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War (1861-1865). Some were captured and later died in a military prison in St. Louis. John and Cassandra eventually left Missouri and moved on to California. John died there in 1850 at about the same time as his wife.
SEVENTH GENERATION
William Endicott ---------------------------------------------------Martha (Patsy) Searcy
b. 1789; d. 1871 m. 25 March 1808
Notes: William was born in Woodford County, Kentucky. During the War of 1812, William was briefly enlisted with the Captain Tom Lewis Company of Woodford County Volunteers (August 29, 1813 – September 28, 1813). He began the March into Ohio where they were to garrison Fort MEIGS along the MIAMI DU LAC River. However, by the time that the Kentuckians began their march, most of the fighting around the Fort was long over and, in route, he found a substitute, George W. New, who went on in his place and was later captured. Why he elected to leave service is unknown but he was a young man with a young pregnant wife and three small daughters at the time and Kentucky was perilously close to the frontier where Indian massacres continued throughout the war. The prospect of sitting out the war in a garrison far from home under these circumstances was probably unappealing. In any case, he returned home. William’s wife was the daughter of Captain Richard Searcy (b. 21 April 1738, Grandville County, North Carolina; d. 21 August 1824, Woodford County, Kentucky). He saw action during the Revolutionary War. His wife’s first name was Mary, but nothing more is known about her. William Endicott’s older sister, Phoebe, the first Endicott born in Kentucky (1786) married Patsy’s brother, Leonard Searcy who was born on 11 July 1781. There was one other Searcy child, an older brother named Edmund. Phoebe and Leonard Searcy had six children as discussed earlier and four of these boys served in the Mexican War. Eventually, they left Missouri and settled in Collins County, Texas. William and Patsy had twelve children. The first eleven were born in Woodford County, Kentucky and the last daughter in Platte City, Missouri. It is unknown exactly when the family moved, but it had to be around 1830. The children were Margaret (1809-?) who married Benjamin Jones on Christmas Day of 1828; Mary (1810-?) who married John Evans on 21 December 1831; Cassandra (1812?); Richard B. (1814); Harrison (?); Jane (1820-1872) who married Jesse McCall; William (1822); John (1824); James (1826); Joseph (1828); Susan (1830?); and Martha (1831).
EIGHTH GENERATION
Richard B. Endicott ----------------------------------------------------DIZA Cartwright
b. 1814 1838 (?) b. 1811
Notes: Of all the generations in America, less is known about the life of Richard B. Endicott than any other. Even his middle name is something of a mystery although it might have been Buchanan. We do not know when he and DIZA were married, but it was probably around 1838. We do know that Richard was a farmer. Born in Woodford County, Kentucky, he traveled with his family to Platte City, Missouri. There he became a farmer and married DIZA Cartwright. She came from Pasquotank County, Virginia. She was the daughter of Isaac Cartwright. Richard and DIZA had eight children, but the first two sons died in infancy. Their third son, James (1841-1898) became a physician in Platte City; Elizabeth (1843); Richard (1845); Josephine (1849). The seventh child was my great grandfather George (1855); and the final son was William (?).
NINTH GENERATION
George Washington Endicott -------------------------------------Leah Murphy
b. 22 Jan 1855; d. 5 Mar 1927 m. 1873 b. 4 Feb 1859; d. 2 Jan 1933
Notes: George was born and raised in Platte City, Missouri. When he was 18 years old, he married Leah Murphy in 1873 when she was just 14 years old. They settled down and farmed for the next 20 years until they decided to make the land run into Oklahoma in 1893. They staked a claim on a farm near Ralston in Pawnee, County. They had a total of ten children. The first eight were born in Missouri, and the final two in Oklahoma. They included five boys and five girls as follows: Georgia Viola (1874-1955); Ambrose May (1876-1945); Cora Francis (1878-1965); Mary Ellen (1880-1946); William Nelson (1883-1961); Walter Leon (1885-1886); Lorena Myrtle (1887-1964); Warren ELVIN (1890-1944); Lorene (1893-1895); and Richard THADDIUS (1898-1979). Cora Francis married John Sanford and her sister Mary Ellen married E. Warren Kelley. When John Sanford died, Cora remained a widow for over twenty five years. Then when her sister Mary Ellen died, she married Warren Kelley. George Washington Endicott and Leah Murphy are buried in Ralston, Oklahoma.
TENTH GENERATION
Cora Francis Endicott --------------------------------------------John Thomas Sanford
b. 27 Feb 1878; d. 7 Sep 1965 m. 21 April 1894 b. 1856; d. 1919
Notes: My grandfather, John T. Sanford was born near Girard, Macoupin County, Illinois to William T. Sanford (b. 1830 in Indiana) and Rachael Davidson (b. 1836 in Illinois). Nothing more is known about William’s family. Rachael was the daughter of John Davidson (b. 1795) and his wife Elizabeth Hall (b. 20 October 1799). John Davidson was born in Rutherford County (later Buncombe County) North Carolina and Elizabeth was from Tennessee. John was the third son of Colonel William Lee Davidson (1746-1828) who was born in Scotland and died in Lancing, Tennessee where he is buried in the FORSTNER Burying Grounds. He fought at the Battle of King’s Mountain (7 October 1780) and served there as a lieutenant under Colonel McDowell. After the war, he was given the honorary title of Colonel and moved in stages to the West and arrived in Knox County, Tennessee in 1797. He moved on to Morgan County by 1810. He presided over the first county court held there in January of 1818. His son John (1795) was a veteran of the War of 1812 and served in the Captain Oliver Company, 1st Tennessee Militia, Dyer’s Regiment from September 1814 until March 1815 (list found in the Tennessee State Archives and is quoted from “The Primal Families of Yellow Creek Valley” by William J. Nesbitt, 1985). This militia regiment was called to service by President James Madison in September 1814 along with 5,000 other troops from Tennessee because of the pending threat to New Orleans at a time when General Andrew Jackson was fixated on capturing Pensacola, Florida. The “Nashville Division” departed for New Orleans on 20 November 1814 and arrived on 20 December 1814. Under the command of General Carroll, it was placed on the West end of the line along with troops of General Coffee. Together, the generals attacked the British left flank and there was some hand-to-hand fighting. In the battle, the Tennessee militia lost nine killed and forty-three wounded. At the end of the fighting, the militia returned to Tennessee and was mustered out in March of 1815. After the war, John married Elizabeth Hall. Their first child, LATISHA, was born around 1818 and lived only sixteen years (d. 4 April 1834). The next two children were born in Indiana – Elizabeth in 1826 and William in 1830. The family must have moved to the vicinity of Girard between 1830 and 1832 because the next child, John, was born there in 1832 and LATISHA is buried there along with her parents. Rachael came next in 1835 and finally ELISHA in 1840. This family continued to be shown in the Illinois census through 1870. John died on 25 April 1875 shortly after Elizabeth who died on 22 October 1874. They, along with sons John (d. 26 October 1863), LATISHA, and ELISHA (d. 1916) are buried in the Union Chapel Cemetery, North Otter Township, Macoupin County. The marriage certificate for William Thomas Sanford and Rachael Davidson is still on file in the county clerk’s office in Carlinville, Illinois, and shows that they were married on March 2, 1854. The 1860 census shows that they had two sons, my grandfather John (b.1856), and a younger brother William H. (b. 1858). Family legend says that John had a stepmother, indicating that Rachael probably died sometime between 1860 and 1868. The name that came down to my father was BIGGERSTAFF, probably from the large family of Benjamin (b. 1814) and Nancy (b. 1814) BIGGERSTAFF who were neighbors of the Sanford family. I was told that John did not get along with his stepmother, and ran away from home at twelve years of age after a fight with her that ended with the young boy throwing a stick of firewood at her. Much of this information comes from the 1860 census (page 198, lines 10-13, Macoupin County, Township 12, Range 7, Girard, Dwelling number 1425, Family number 1368). I was never able to pick up the trail of my grandfather’s brother William and know nothing further of the Sanford family in Illinois. We do know that John Sanford and the Endicott family ended up in Missouri and took part in the Oklahoma land run of 1893. The families staked claims on adjacent land in Pawnee County. John Sanford became good friends with George Washington Endicott. Shortly after their arrival in Oklahoma, the two men had some whiskey to sell and crossed the Arkansas River dividing Pawnee County from Osage Indian land that later would become Osage County. They were seen selling whiskey to the Indians and a posse took off after them. At the crossing on the Arkansas, George Washington Endicott’s horse lost its footing and down he went into the river where he was caught. John Sanford succeeded in crossing the river and got away. While Mr. Endicott spent some time in the prison at Leavenworth, Kansas, John came across the hill and courted his daughter Cora Francis. They were married in 1894 when John was 38 and Cora was 16. The marriage resulted in three daughters (Pearl, Viola, and Geneva) and four sons (John, Lawrence, Luke, and Teddy). Viola died at 19 from a heart ailment. John became an Oklahoma state senator and a colonel in the Oklahoma National Guard. Lawrence served in the National Guard for a number of years and became a successful oilman. Luke became a farmer and remained close to Pawnee most of his life. Teddy became a general in the Regular Army. He was my father.
Eleventh Generation
Teddy Hollis Sanford ---------------------------------------------------------Cora Juanita Kelley
b. 31 Dec 1907; d. 29 Dec 1992 m. 21 Feb 1931 b. 28 Oct 1908; d. 11 Aug 1999
Notes: Teddy Sanford almost became Harold Sanford. That was the name that his mother had chosen for him when he was born. However, this was just after Christmas of 1907 and one of his brothers desperately wanted a “Teddy Bear” for Christmas. They were popular at the time because of President Teddy Roosevelt. The farm family was relatively poor, and there was no money for such an extravagance. When the youngest brother was born one week later, the children all called him “Teddy”. The name stuck and that was put on his birth certificate and has stayed in the family for several generations since. Cora Kelley was born in Pawnee, about 10 miles away from the Sanford farm. She was the oldest daughter of Walter E. Kelley (1886-1955) and Katherine Humphrey (1885-1980). She had two twin sisters, called Jack and Dutch, and two brothers, Lawrence and James Thomas. Jack (b. 4 May 1914; d. 14 May 1993) married Simpson Ambrose Oldham (b. 20 November 1912; d. 19 December 2001) and they had two of my favorite cousins, Jackie Sue Tucker of San Antonio, Texas and Charles Edward Oldham (b. 22 March 1941) of SAHUARITA, Arizona. Jackie Sue was first married to Bill MCCALLON and they had three children including William Bruce; ADDALIE Kay; and Kimberly Ann. Later, she was married to Marine Lt. Colonel LUD ROTEN (ZIGGY) Tucker. Charles, who has served two terms as mayor of SAHUARITA, and several positions within the school district including Principal and Superintendent, was first married to Marcia May Lewis (b. 23 June 1942; d. 2 March 2004) and they had two children. The first, Charles Richard (b. 19 January 1969) married Amy WIERSMA. They had four children and live in Layton Utah. The second, Adrianne Kay (b. 11 March 1973) married Anthony Tipton. They live in McKinney, Texas with their two children. Walter Kelley was the younger brother of ELISHA Warren Kelley who had married my Endicott grandmother’s sister Mary Ellen. In late life, my grandfather John Sanford had been long gone, and Mary Ellen died. Then ELISHA Warren Kelley married my grandmother Sanford. Thus, I had a grandmother named Cora Sanford Kelley and my mother was Cora Kelley Sanford. This caused great confusion for me when I was young. Another confusing aspect was that my father had an older sister named Pearl. She had two daughters – Leah and Gladys. Gladys had two daughters but only Francis Jean lived to adulthood. She was my dad’s great niece, and a 13th generation descendant of the Endicott family. When she was six years old, both of her parents were killed in a car accident, and she came to live with my parents a few years before I was born. I always thought of her as my sister rather than my cousin. She grew up and married a dentist, Tom Kelly. She died in August of 1999 on the same day that my mother died. Although the Endicott family had a well earned military reputation over the centuries, my father was the first to be a professional soldier. He first joined the Oklahoma National Guard at the age of 15 in 1923. After 17 years in the National Guard, he came on active duty as a second lieutenant in 1940 just as World War II began. He was an original member of the 82nd Airborne Division and was on the field when it was so designated on 15 August 1942. That night, his first son, Teddy H. Sanford, Jr. was born and became the AIRBORNE baby of World War II. By 1944, now LTC Teddy Sanford led a glider infantry battalion in the Normandy Invasion and continued to lead his battalion into the Battle for the Bridges (Operation Market Garden) in November. He commanded the rear guard during the German counteroffensive in the Ardennes (The Battle of the Bulge), and ended the war as the Executive Officer of the 325 Glider Infantry Regiment. During these actions, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, second only to the Congressional Medal of Honor; the Silver Star; Bronze Star; and the Purple Heart for wounds received in action. He also was awarded foreign medals and honors including the French Croix de Guerre; the FOURAGERE from both France and Belgium; and Netherlands Bronze Lion and Orange Lanyard. He also wore the Combat Infantry Badge, the Glider Badge, and, post war, the Parachutist Badge. In later years, he commanded the 504th Airborne Regiment at Fort Bragg; the 508th Airborne Regimental Combat Team in Japan; the US 7th Infantry Division in Korea; and the XIX Army Corps at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas. In the early 1950s, he also was the Commanding General of Central Command in Japan. In that capacity, he was effectively the mayor of Tokyo. During this period, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal; the Legion of Merit; the Order of the Rising Sun by the Emperor of Japan; and the TAEGUK by the Republic of Korea. After he retired, he was very active in the affairs of the State of Oklahoma, and was awarded the Oklahoma Distinguished Service Cross, the highest award given by the state. An oral history of his life, consisting of many hours of audio, and two volumes, is held in the archives of the Army War College for those interested in the exploits of this illustrious ancestor. After his service, he returned to his farm near Pawnee and lived another 26 years within 100 yards of where he was born. He had two sons, Teddy H. Sanford, Jr. and Thomas Kelley Sanford. After Teddy Sanford died in 1992, Cora, long suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, was taken by private medical jet to my home in Kentucky. There she would remain in the home for the final six and one half years of her life under constant care. This was the final wish of my father who did not want to see her “warehoused” away from family, and the wish was carried out with the help of my wife Jeannie. After my mother died, I told Jeannie that the world was hers. She has traveled all over Europe, visited Korea on several occasions, and enjoys golf, more golf, and more golf. She is the light of my life. A final honor was bestowed on my father during Veterans Day ceremonies on 11 November 2009 at Oklahoma Christian University in Edmond, Oklahoma. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame and I had the honor of accepting the award for him.
Twelfth generation
Teddy Hollis Sanford, Jr. ---------------------------------------------------- Jeannie Hwang
b. 16 Aug 1942 m. 23 May 1975 b. 28 Sep 1944
Notes: I have always wondered if when my mother viewed the parade activating the 82nd Airborne Division at Camp CLAIREBORN, Louisiana, on 15 August 1942, I heard the beat of the drum and it predestined my life to service with the US Army. I was born that night and began a long journey. I grew up at Fort Hood, Texas, El Paso, Texas, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, SAPPORO, TOKYO, SENDAI, and BEPPU Japan, Fort Monroe, Virginia, and Fort Shafter, Hawaii. While there, I attended the University of Hawaii and joined the ROTC. After Summer Camp at Fort Lewis, Washington, I was designated a Distinguished Military Student (DMS) which allowed me to apply for a commission in the Regular Army after graduating a year later. I graduated as a Distinguished Military Graduate (DMG) and entered the Army as a second lieutenant in 1964. In 1966, I was serving in Vietnam as a reconnaissance platoon leader in the 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, of the 1st Air Cavalry Division. It was the first air cavalry squadron in the world, and the first to see combat. During my tour, I fought in 17 engagements and made a number of helicopter-borne assaults. “We few, we happy few, we band of brothers. For he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.” (William Shakespeare). Please note that the soldiers who died during the following narrative are all listed on Panels 04E; 05E; or O7E of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. My first tour in Vietnam can be described as short, brutal, and bloody. I flew in to Saigon on 3 January 1966 and processed through Camp Alpha as one of the early replacements for the 1st Air Cavalry Division. I caught a C-130 which was delivering supplies to the division base camp at AN KHE and arrived there on 5 January. After processing in and being assigned to the 9th Cavalry Regiment, I caught a maintenance helicopter which was flying up to the squadron which was deployed forward at PLEIKU. Upon arrival, I was met by Captain Ed Fritz who was the D Troop commander. He had only had the troop for about a month after flying scout helicopters during the IA DRANG Campaign in November. That very day, he had me join him when he borrowed a squadron H-13 helicopter and we went out to observe the operational area. I did not think about it at the time, but we did this alone without cover from a gunship or without accounting for exactly where we were off too. Over the next two weeks, I saw the aftermath of the IA DRANG Campaign at close range. D Troop went south from PLEIKU to conduct reconnaissance in the vicinity of the PLEI ME Special Forces Camp where the campaign began when a supply convoy was ambushed by elements of the 32nd and 33rd North Vietnamese Regiments. There were a number of remains and we provided security for graves registration teams to remove the bodies. A few days later, we were ordered in to the IA DRANG Valley to provide security for graves registration teams removing bodies from a downed helicopter that had been discovered up in the heavy canopy. What an eerie place. It was near Landing Zone (LZ) Albany which was North of LZ X-Ray and very close to the location where the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment had been ambushed by the 66th North Vietnamese Regiment. While not as famous as the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment which fought a memorable battle at LZ X-Ray under LTC Hal Moore, the 2nd Battalion had fought an equally tough battle and lost more than 120 soldiers killed on the 17th of November. I felt much better after we got away from that area. We patrolled the area south of PLEIKU for two more weeks before we moved back to AN KHE and began preparations for a major operation in the coastal plain. Operation Masher/White Wing began in late January and was the first major US operation conducted in northern BINH DINH Province. We provided convoy escort out of AN KHE along Route 19 and then up Route 1 which was the coastal highway. Just north of BONG SON we released the convoy and conducted operations to clear a future LZ against minor resistance. Once the area was secured, a base was established which initially was called LZ Dog. Helicopters from the squadron then began arriving over the next few days. Some of them had received hostile fire while trying to land from west to east and we mounted several patrols to try to drive the enemy off but they simply withdrew into the mountains. We then devised a plan to conduct an airmobile assault just four kilometers west of LZ Dog. Our small 13 man reconnaissance patrol made the assault on 1 February. We formed up and began looking for the enemy when we were ambushed by a much larger enemy force. Almost immediately, one of my soldiers on point, PFC JOHN HOWARD GRIFFITH (b. 21 October 1946; d. 1 February 1966; Mount Vernon, New York) went down. Shortly after, our artillery forward observer team consisting of Sergeant Nelson A. Flossie and Private HIRAM DILLARD STRICKLAND (b. 20 October 1945; d. 1 February 1966; from Graham, North Carolina) were attacked and Strickland was killed. Sergeant Flossie tried to save Private Griffith by putting him on his back and carrying him to our defensive perimeter but Griffith was already dead. We called for help and held off the enemy force until relief forces landed. In a continuing fire fight, SP4 DOUGLAS MCARTHUR WETMORE (b. 27 March 1942; d. 1 February 1966; from Williamsburg, Kentucky) was badly wounded by a 105mm artillery round that landed short in the midst of our formation while we were assaulting. Immediate action was taken to cover a very serious chest wound, but he went into shock and a squadron UH-1B gunship helicopter was able to land and carry him away. We heard that he died on the way to the field hospital. That same round blew me flat and I was out of action for the next three days with a minor concussion. We were to see a lot more action during February. When I returned to the unit, we conducted an air assault into a valley known as the CROWS FOOT on the 10th of the month. We moved through the jungle for four hours to reach an old abandoned French fort that covered the eastern exit from the valley. We settled into defensive positions and in the evening moved down along a trail where we conducted a successful ambush. We never got an accurate count, but ten to fifteen were killed. Over the next two days we watched the area and called artillery in on small groups of enemy that we could observe. Things changed on the 13th. One of the squadron’s infantry platoons was in a fire fight on top of a mountain ridge. Helicopters picked us up and we moved in to help. The small LZ on the ridge could only dismount one helicopter at a time and was under sporadic fire. Captain Fritz had landed with a handful of men to assess the situation and they got into a desperate fight during which the captains radioman, SP4 CHARLES LAWRENCE RICHTMYRE (b. 16 November 1943; d. 13 February 1966; WINNETHA, Illinois) was killed at close range by an enemy soldier coming up out of a “spider hole”. Upon landing, my platoon was directed to attack to the east up a steep narrow ridge and clear the enemy who had the LZ under observation and fire. We did this under heavy fire and PFC JOHN WESLEY HOUSTON (b. 10 February 1943; d. 13 February 1966; Little Rock, Arkansas) was killed during the assault. Once we held the high ground, the rest of the troop was able to land and attack to the west along the ridge. There we lost SP4 ROGER ALLEN BISE (b. 4 May 1943; d. 13 February 1966; Morgantown, West Virginia) and there were many wounded. It was difficult to get the casualties off the mountain. A lift ship would come in to drop off water and ammunition and haul off the wounded and dead. While most of the squadron continued to attack west during the afternoon, my platoon was joined by another platoon and we secured the LZ and the high ground to the east. As night fell, our two small platoons dug in as best we could and fought off minor attacks most of the night. In the morning, the enemy was gone. We all were picked up and returned to LZ Dog (later LZ English). Except for a couple of mortar attacks against the base, this ended our combat during Operation Masher/White Wing. We soon packed up and moved back to our base at AN KHE. We had about a week to refit before beginning an operation centered on Route 19 toward PLEIKU to afford convoy escorts to engineer and supply units moving toward what the North Vietnamese called the B-3 Front. There were frequent small fire fights along the way, but our air dominance prevented any major attacks against the convoys and, while we had several wounded, none of my troops were killed. I can’t remember the date, but we had the opportunity to stop by Camp Holloway near PLEIKU to see Ann Margaret perform at the airfield. My troops and I were covered in dust as we pulled our vehicles up in formation just before the show began. It was one of the few light moments that we had during my tour. Soon, however, we were back on the road and moved north to protect convoys moving up through KONTUM to the DAK To area. At some point, we were ordered to open an old French road that ran west out of DAK TO toward the tri-border area where Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos meet When we set out there was no road at all and we spent several days cutting through to an area that would later be the site of the BEN HET Special Forces Camp. This camp was set up to interdict infiltration groups moving south along the HO CHI MINH trail. We had no men killed during this time, but a landmine did serious damage to our infantry ū ton vehicle. The troops on board were blown free but the driver had serious injuries to his legs and had to be medically evacuated. After three weeks in KONTUM Province, we were ordered south to PHU BON Province to provide convoy escorts for some engineers who were going to the CHEO REO Special Forces Camp. This was a relatively quiet sector and we were invited to dinner in their Mess Hall. During dinner, the camps pet tiger wondered through the door and caused quiet a stir since our group was unaware that they kept such a pet. He sat in the corner and eyed us throughout the course of the meal. It is difficult to eat when you are being looked at like you might be dessert. Toward the end of April, we moved east back to AN KHE to prepare for another round of battles near BONG SON. This operation was called DAVY CROCKETT. Two North Vietnamese regiments, the 18th and the 22nd had been sending battalions out of the mountains into the coastal plain to collect rice and materials. Just north of LZ Dog, we fought a daylong series of skirmishes with small numbers of enemy troops. During some of this operation, we dismounted and fought as infantry. On the 4th of May, we conducted a major dismounted attack against enemy troops entrenched in a village. During the assault, there was an error on the part of one of our helicopter gun ships and my platoon was strafed all along our line. Somehow, no one was hit. That night we brought up our vehicles and prepared for an assault on an enemy battalion. While some of the enemy forces were successful in pulling back into the mountains, this battalion became trapped between us and two infantry battalions, the 1st and 2nd Battalions, 7th Cavalry Regiment who were in blocking positions. Those battalions had sent their antitank platoons to join with us and a company of Vietnamese mechanized infantry. Together, we attacked on the morning of 5 May. One of our platoons was attacking dismounted and got pinned down by machinegun and mortar fire. My platoon, now including four 106mm recoilless rifles pulled up on a trail in the midst of the rice paddies and began firing newly acquired beehive rounds into the enemy positions. Quickly, however, the enemy shifted their mortar fire away from the dismounted platoon and onto our position. We continued to fire and at some point an 82mm mortar round landed near me and my combat days were over. SP4 JAMES RUSSELL KOVAR (b. 12 April 1939; d. 5 May 1966; Oneida, Illinois) died in this attack and four more members of the troop died over the next several weeks of fighting. I remember them here because they fought along side me. My recollection is that PFC JOHN VAN DRIESSCHE (b. 6 April 1942; d. 7 May 1966; Mishawaka, Indiana) might have been wounded that day and died in hospital. He was a nice young man who put on a tough exterior. He added to the morale of the unit. Even though I thought that Sergeant PHILLIP MADDOX (b. 17 February 1935; d. 28 May 1966; Lincoln, Nebraska) was killed in this fight, he somehow managed to survive only to be killed three weeks later. He was a very good soldier and an interesting man. That was a very tough day for D Troop, as both PFC JIMMY REX BALL (b. 1 August 1941; d. 28 May 1966; Rogersville, Alabama) and PFC JACK RUSSELL KOONE (b. 23 November 1942; d. 28 May 1966; Lansing, Michigan) also died that day. They were both good men who always did their duty. These were the final deaths where I knew the individuals. After only four months of combat, I was evacuated to the military hospital at Camp ZAMA, Japan. I was there for several weeks and then returned to the United States. “And we remember those days and our comrades and long after we are gone, long blue streamers will still caress proud flags.” These are words that have stayed with me and have made every veteran of Vietnam and other wars my brothers. After nearly three years of stateside duty including command of a tank company, I again returned to Vietnam in 1969 and served on the Intelligence Staff of General Creighton Abrams at the Headquarters of the US Military Assistance Command – Vietnam (USMACV). It was a fascinating assignment and I was present when all of the strategic decisions regarding President Nixon’s “VIETNAMIZATION” plan were formulated. Compared to my first tour, this one was marked with dodging frequent missile attacks launched against SAIGON and the occasional satchel charge delivered by terrorist elements from motorcycles. At one time, I was staying in the ARKANSAS BOQ which was really an old hotel taken over by the Army. A satchel charge was thrown through the front door and caused quite an explosion. I moved to a larger facility, the MISSOURI, after that. One duty that I found interesting was marking target locations for B-52 bombers flying ARC LIGHT missions out of Guam. A number of these were directed against enemy regiments I had previously fought in the B-3 Front and along the coastal plains of BINH DINH. I remember the day that I left Vietnam for the last time. The invasion of Cambodia was underway, and Saigon was once again being shelled. A rocket round hit near the runway just as we were taking off and we all held our breath until we passed through the clouds and banked toward home. There were tears and loud cheers. We had survived. When I returned to the United States in 1970, I was assigned to the Combat Developments Command Armor Agency where I conducted research and development activities. During the next three years, I helped write the requirements documentation supporting the Main Battle Tank Task Force for a new tank which was later designated the Abrams. This tank became the backbone of American power in the Gulf War of the early 1990s and later the key to combat success during Operation Iraqi Freedom. My work on this project caused the Army to make me a 1972 candidate for the US Junior Chamber of Commerce “Ten Most Outstanding Young Men in America.” In 1973, I was a student at the Army Command and General Staff College. I was selected in my eighth year of service and attended in my ninth year. Most of my remaining assignments in the Army were either in Research and Development or Intelligence. I was selected and served three years in the Directorate of Scientific and Technical Intelligence at the Defense Intelligence Agency where I handled all intelligence related to foreign tanks and other armored combat vehicles. Along the way, I served two tours in Korea and there met my future wife, Jeannie Hwang in Seoul. After gaining the approval of her family, not an easy task, and fighting our way through all the impediments to international marriages that existed at the time, we were married on 23 May 1975. She comes from a culture which reaches back over 5000 years and she is my greatest treasure. We raised two children, Teddy H. Sanford, III and Katherine Sarah Sanford. We named Katie after my grandmother Kelley. It is fact that I never completely recovered my full health after my first tour in Vietnam and in 1986 I was retired and put on the Permanent Disability Retired List (PDRL). During my 22 years of active service, I was awarded the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, two Defense Meritorious Service Medals, two Army Meritorious Service Medals, two Joint Service Commendation Medals, and three Army Commendation Medals. I also wear the Gallantry Cross from the Republic of Vietnam. I really had not had my fill of the Army in 1986 and immediately set up my own consultant services company. Beginning in 1986, I became the representative of first Honeywell Defense, and later their spin off ALLIANT TECHSYSTEMS. I have also been active in politics, which I hate, and was once the local president of the Rotary Club. Several years ago, I was made a Distinguished Knight of the Order of St. George. This is an honor bestowed by the United States Armor Association for long and honorable service to the Armor and Cavalry force. I enjoyed 50 years of military involvement dating back to when I first became a cadet at New Mexico Military Institute in 1959. I finally retired on 31 March 2009. I would gladly do it all again.
THIRTEENTH GENERATION
Teddy Hollis Sanford, III -------------------------------------------------------- Ann MCLAURIN Ford
b. 1 April 1977 m. 8 April 2000 b. 24 June 1976
Notes: Teddy III was born at Ireland Army Hospital on Fort Knox in Hardin County, Kentucky. When he was two years old, he moved with us to Washington, D. C. and lived in Lake Ridge, Virginia. At five years old, he moved to Seoul, Korea for 30 months and then back to Kentucky where he spent most of his youth. He was an accomplished baseball player and athlete as a young man. He was an honor graduate of North Hardin High School in 1995. He went to Eastern Kentucky University where he graduated in 1999 with a degree in Asset Protection. When he was a freshman, he met a young lady named Ann Ford who he began dating. This lasted all the way through college and the two were married on 8 April 2000. Ann Ford grew up in Lexington, Kentucky, the oldest daughter of GOBEL Ford (b. 18 October 1948) and Margie Ford (b. 21 August 1948). She graduated from Eastern Kentucky University in 2000. Teddy first worked in Asset Protection for a company in North Carolina, but later went to work for Lowe’s and switched to management. He came up quickly through the ranks and became a store manager at the age of 29 in Somerset, Kentucky. In 2009, he left Lowe’s and started his own home improvement business in Somerset. Ann and Teddy have two sons, Landon Cole Sanford, and Logan Reed Sanford. A third child is expected to be born in August of 2010. They mark the 14th generation in the direct line back to Governor John Endicott. They will get their own line in this ever expanding narrative when they get a little older.
Katherine Sara Sanford
b. 5 October 1980
Notes: Katherine “Katie” Sanford was born in the Army Hospital at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. She moved with her birth parents to Seoul, Korea where, for a variety of reasons, they were forced to give her up. She was taken in and adopted by Jeannie and Ted Sanford who raised her as their own for the next 20 years. Katie is a very accomplished pianist, and graduated with honors and a Commonwealth diploma from North Hardin High School in 1999. She attended the University of Louisville where she majored in Biology. She graduated in just three years. She married a college professor and lived in Pittsburg for several years but now is divorced and lives in California. Several years ago, she asked about her birth parents and was given all of the information that I have. She elected to return to her parent’s family name and is now known as Katherine Sara BOURCE. She will always be considered an important member of the Sanford family.
Postscript: Twenty generations over a 700 year period is a long time to trace a family. I hope that it does not end here. Future generations of our family need to add to this narrative and keep alive our long tradition of service to our nation and to family. Life is a continuous stream that needs to have markers along the way to help us understand who we are and how we got that way. I am proud to say that I have contributed to our understanding of who we are and wish our descendants all good things and a life worth living. Your ancestors will all be watching and waiting for you when your journey is done - Teddy Hollis Sanford, Jr. Lieutenant Colonel, United States Army, and 12th Generation American.
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