To Print

GILDERSLEEVE

Roger Gyldensleve, fl.1273, land holder in Norfolk.  The name was derived from "sleeves braided with gold."  This was an insignia of office at the Court of Flanders before the Norman Conquest. Roger is the first occurrence of the name in England, and a direct line has not yet been found.  The name is found primarily in Norfolk, England, until the 1500's when it starts to occur also in Suffolk.

-a few generations missing here - - see Gildersleeve Pioneers by Willard H Gildersleeve, 1941, for an account of Richard's experiences among the New England Puritans, the Indians, and the Dutch.   and New England Historical Genealogical Register 2003 or later for additional information.

Myles Gildersleeve

Robert Gildersleeve (1544) of Heddington, Essex, married Barbara Fairchild

Robert, Richard, or possibly Thomas Gildersleeve (c1566) possible father of:

Richard Gildersleeve (c1601-1681) is said to have been born in Hempstead, Hertfordshire. [Directory of the Ancestral Heads of New England Families, Frank R Holmes, 1923] He married first a wife whose name we do not know (see below), mother of his children.  He married secondly the Widow Smith, mother of John Nan Smith.  He is supposed to have been born in Aldeburgh, Suffolk, England, but I have not seen proof.  Both he and his wife claimed to be 76 years of age in a deposition in Hempstead 22 July 1677.  He moved to Watertown, Mass, in 1635, Wethersfield, CT, in Sept 1636, Quinnipiac (New Haven CT) in 1639, Stamford, CT, in Oct 1640, and Hempstead LI in 1643.  He was in the group of puritans led by Rev. Richard Denton, but later became a Presbyterian.  He moved to Newtown, LI, in 1652, where he was among the purchasers of land from the Indians in 1656.  He was appointed Magistrate by Peter Stuyvesant, a position he again held in Hempstead in 1658.  Shortly after its formation, Heemstede (Hempstead) fell under the gaze of the leaders of the Connecticut colony, who had long hoped to incorporate Long Island. In 1662, Connecticut sent representatives to ask the English towns on Long Island to change their allegiance to the Connecticut colony, but Richard Gildersleeve refused, and remained loyal to the colony to which he had sworn an oath.  He protested the exploitations of Colonial Governors, both Dutch and English.  He signed the Hempstead Petition of 1669, demanding "No taxation without representation!"   He died in Hempstead, Queens County, New York.

1. Richard Gildersleeve (c1626-21 May 1691) married 1654 Dorcas Williams
2. Anna Gildersleeve (c1629-bef.1671) m.c1646 John "Nan" Smith (see below)
3. Elizabeth "Betsy" Gildersleeve (c1628-aft.20 Feb 1663/4) m.c1645 Jeremiah Wood (1620-1686) 
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . OR m.1647 William Lawrence of Flushing.  The identity of her husband is disputed,
4. Samuel Gildersleeve (1631- after 1665)
.

Richard Gildersleeve has been widely reported to have married Joanna Appleton (1601-aft.1677) in 1620.  She is alleged to have been the daughter of Thomas Appleton (1539-16 May 1603) who married in 1572 Mary Isaacke (1552-11 Jun 1613).  This line extends back to William D'Aubigney (1175-1220) Crusader, named in the Magna Carta, and further back to Charlemagne.  Unfortunately, Thomas Appleton did not have a daughter named Joanna.  He and Mary had 9 children between 1572 and 1588.  Those who survived were listed in his will.  There was no Joanna.  Connecticut Genealogy, Vol 3, p. 1023, published 1911-2, established this myth.  It was garbled from a Latin rendition of the 1635 purchase by a Richard Gildersleeve and John Borcham, of the Appleton Manor in Groton and Combs, County Suffolk, England, from Samuel Appleton and wife Judith; Thomas Gostlyn and wife Jane or Joanna, and Stephen Keable and wife Mariam.  
- Colonial Families of Long Island, New York, and Connecticut, Herbert F Seversmith, 1948, v.3, p.1158
I have also seen Gildersleeve's wife listed as Experience.  But I have seen no evidence for this claim.
A Richard Gildersleeve of Aldeburgh, widower, married 18 Apr 1618 Barbara Patrick, a widow.  This is not likely to be the Richard who moved to Massachusetts in 1635, since he was approximately 17 years old in 1618.  This is more likely the purchaser of the Appleton Manor in 1635, perhaps the father or an uncle of the Richard of Massachusetts.  Richard of Groton died in 1653, his wife was Mary.
Another Richard Gildersleeve lived in Little Wallingford with his wife Joanna.  The Ancestry of Rev. Nathan Grier Parke and his wife Ann Elizabeth Gildersleeve, N Grier Parke III, 1959.

Anna Gildersleeve (1629-before 1671)  married about 1646 John "Nan" Smith (1625?-1694) And John Nan Smith remained a close neighbor of Anna's father Richard Gildersleeve, who apparently married John's widowed mother.  John married secondly, 1672,  Elizabeth Wickes, daughter of John and Mary Wickes of Warwick, Rhode Island, and widow of Richard Townsend. John's will made 2 July 1694, proved 6 Sep 1694, called himself the "son-in-law" of Richard Gildersleeve and used the same term to identify Richard Townsend, Jr, the son of his second wife.  This leads us to believe the term "son-in-law" would be in modern terms "step-son," giving further evidence that his widowed mother had married Richard Gildersleeve.

1. Jonathan Smith (c1647) married Hannah, died in Egg Harbor, NJ
. . children Thomas, Mary, Ruth, Hannah, and Jonathan "Black" Smith of Merrick
2. Hannah Smith (c1650) m(1) c1670 John Smith "Rock" Jr (3 Jan 1651/2-12 Mar 1683/4)  
. . She m(2) c1686 John Marvin.  (see below)
3. Miriam Smith (c1652) m(1)c1669 John Williams;  m(2) c1682 Elias Durland (1656-1780)
. . children John, Miriam, Samuel, Richard, Thomas and Ann Williams; and Elias and John Durland
4. Jeremiah Smith (1656-1726) m.1679 Hannah Carman, m(2) Hannah, m(3) Anna Cornell
. . children Jeremiah, Hannah, Elizabeth, Ruth, John, Ann, Richard, Thomas, and James Smith
5. Mary Smith (1666?) married c1686 Samuel Denton Jr (1665-1719)  He m(2) before 1697 Abigail
. . Barlow, widow of Jonathan Rowland. His children: Samuel (b.14 Oct 1687) Ruth, John, Martha,
. . Mary, John (again), Deborah, twin daughters not named died in infancy, Joseph, Geziah, Jemima,
. . and Anna.  Other than Samuel, we are uncertain of birth order and which mother.
6. Elizabeth Smith (alive and single in 1698) Possibly the daughter of John's second wife.
S. Richard Townsend Jr (c1671-c1737) married before 1706 Ruth Marvin (20 Dec 1687) 

Hannah Smith (c.1652) married about 1670 John Smith "Rock" Jr (3 Jan 1651/2  - 12 Mar 1683/4)  She married secondly about 1686 John Marvin (1649-1708) son of Robert Marvin. 
The August 31 1698 census of Hempstead lists Roberd, John and Hannah Marvill with children Ruth, Hannah, Jereme and Robert Marvill Jr, and Richard, Timothi and Mary Smith.

. 1. Sarah Smith (c.1670) married about 1690 William Pine (c1666-1737) of Hempstead
. 2. Timothy Smith
. 3. Richard Smith (d.1711) married Cathie Smith, daughter of Philip Smith and Margariet Blanck
. 4. Mary Smith
. 5. Ruth Marvin (20 Dec 1687) married before 1706 Richard Townsend Jr (c1671-c1737)
. 6. Hannah Marvin (1689) married a Whitman
. 7. Jemima (Jereme?) Marvin
. 8. Robert Marvin (d.1775) married Phebe

Hannah Smith (c.1652) m.1670 John Smith "Rock" Jr (1652 -1684)

Richard Smith (c1675-1711) m. Catherine Smith (1682-after 1711)

Mary Smith (c.1709-1761) m.1727 Uriah Platt (c.1707-1746)

Margaret Platt (1728-1791) m.1744 Isaac Smith ( 1722- 1795)

Mary Smith (1744- 1809) m.1762  Maurice/Morris Smith (d.1779)

Margaret Smith (1763-1821) m.c1780 Morgan Edwards (c.1750-1798)

Margaret Edwards (1789-1864) m.1821 Thomas Tate (1775-1838)

Thomas Edwards Tate (1821-1914) m.1845 Mary Vernon Cutrer (1825-1892)

Frances Mary Tate (1852-1881) m.1871 Walter Edwin Tynes (1848-1928)

Jeanne Marie Tynes (1878-1958) m.1913 Carson B Matthews (1874-1948)

Frances Mary Tate Matthews (1917) m.1949 Virgil Raymond Liptrap (1907-1977)

James Matthews Liptrap (1951)


BACK to My Ancestor Chart

BACK to Surname List

BACK to My Home Page