Pugsley Family Narrative

First Known Pugsley Ancestor in the New Colonies

Manhattan circa 1626

Matthew Pugsley was born around 1660 in Devonshire, England. He came to New England around the age of 21. The first mention of him on record is witnessing the oral will of John Cranch on the 24th of October, 1682.

He then resided at “Queen’s Farm” in Nassau County on what is now Long Island. On November 22, 1683 he married, Mary Hunt.
Her father, Thomas Hunt, married an Elizabeth Jessup around 1665, the daughter of Edward Jessup, a wealthy land owner. When Edward passed away in 1666, she and Thomas inherited the land known as “West Farms” (The Manor of West Farms was part of the Borough town of Westchester; a shire between New York and Connecticut from 1683-1759). Thomas Hunt was already a wealthy landowner in his own right by then, for in 1652 he bought the land known as “Throckmorton’s Neck” (now Throg’s Neck); in 1667 the land known as “Grove Farms”; and by 1668 he possessed the land now known as “Hunt’s Point” (all this land is Bronx County).

Early settlers mid 1600's

Matthew Pugsley and Mary Hunt were married "in her father’s house" in West Farms, by a Sir John Pell, Justice. John Pell was the nephew of a land owner, Thomas Pell, who had acquired 50,000 acres of land from the Siwanoy Indians in November of 1654. John Pell inherited the land in 1669 when Thomas Pell passed away. Matthew and Mary, as well as some of their children, lived in the village of “Pelham Manor” after that.

Matthew and Mary had six children:
*Rebecca (married Henry Titus, no children)
*Rachel (unmarried)
*Hannah (married Jacob Hunt)
*Sarah (unmarried)
* James (married Anne - last name unknown)
* John (married Mary Hunter)


Historically the first son born was named after the paternal grandfather. Some researchers think James Pugsley of Essex County, England could be the father of Matthew. Essex County in those days was full of “Hunts” and other names of the early settlers, who may have known Matthew Pugsley before he moved to New York. Some researchers think Matthew’s father was a Thomas Pugsley of Devonshire, England. Matthew however did not name any of his son’s Thomas. The name “Pugsley” has occurred in Devonshire, England for hundreds of years; however the ancient origin of the name itself may be from Wales.

Matthew’s son James received a “Deed of Gift” for land on ”Long Neck” in West Farms, on November 24th, 1701 from his grandfather, Thomas Hunt. James is also mentioned in Thomas Hunt’s will dated March 14, 1709. The mention of a James in these early deeds of Westchester County has confused a lot of genealogists, misinterpreting this James to be either a “brother” of Matthew, or as being the original Pugsley in America, dismissing Matthew altogether. The historical deeds, wills, and town assessments of that time say otherwise:


WESTCESTER COUNTY, N. Y., MISCELLANEA Second Part, Liber D, Land Records

P. 59: Thomas Hunt of West Farms to grandson James Pugsley, all his half part shares in salt marshes; Mar. 14, 1709/10.
P. 61: Thomas Hunt, Sr., of West Farms to son-in-law Matthew and daughter Mary Pugsley of the same place, a certain Negro girl named Nina; "ye is to say, as soon as it shall please Almighty God to take unto himself, me, ye said Thomas Hunt, in twenty four hours after my sd. Decease." Dated March 14, 1709/10.
P. 94: Thomas Hunt, Sr., of West Farms, and Joseph Hunt, son of ye aforesd; to Matthew Pugsley of “Queens Farms in Queens Co., Nassau Island”; one half of 100 acres of land in Thomas Hunt's Patent; Dec. 6, 1707. Liber E. and Liber F. Westchester Co. Land Records.

P. 315: James Pugsley of West Farms, yeoman, to Thomas Hunt, Junr., land he had received from his grandparents, Thomas Hunt, Senr., of West Farms, and his wife Elizabeth; April 29, 1721.
P. 24: Mathew Pugsley and his son James Pugsley and wife Ann, all of West Farms, sold land in West Farms to Abraham Lent of Westchester, yeoman; Jan. 22, 1722/3.
P. 353: Matthew Pugsley of Westchester, yeoman, to his son John Pugsley of the same place; land in Bedford, which he bought of Zachariah Roberts and of David Mead; March 3, 1730.

Colonial New York mid 1700's

The Next Generation: Westchester Pugsley’s

It is from Matthew’s other son, John, that our family story continues. John was born around 1690 in “Pelham Manor”, Westchester, New York. He married Mary Hunter around 1714.
They had ten children:
* James (married Martha, last name unknown)
*William (married Deborah Stevenson)
*Samuel (married Elizabeth Brundage)
*Stephen (married Abigail Archer)
*Israel (married Elizabeth Causten)
*John Jr. (married Elizabeth Mullineux)
*Gilbert (wife unknown)
*David (married Hannah Vail)

New York Harbor circa 1770

John married again in 1759 to widow Mary Hunt. They were both empty nesters at this time of their lives. He passed away in December of 1768. In John’s will he states:
”All my lands, tenements and meadows, in the Manor of Pelham, and all lands, tenements and meadows in the Borough town of Westchester, commonly called Cow Neck, and my right in the Sheep Pasture, to be sold”.
John did leave legacies to his children in his will, with the exception of one: his son, John Jr., (husband of Elizabeth Mullineux):


" Codicil -- 'Whereas in my will I left a share of my estate to my son John, and now calling to mind, to my great grief, that for a long time past he has led a dissolute and idle life, and has made a very bad use of what I have heretofore given him: my executors shall take his share and carefully lay it out for him in purchasing a farm, but not to be at his disposal, but he may live upon it during his life, and then to his children.' Dated: December 24, 1768. Witnesses: Samuel Pugsley, Sarah Wright, Thomas Wright. Physician Proved: December 31, 1768."


Why John Jr. is considered “idle” I have not been able to determine. All I know is that he was born in 1736, and that he married Elizabeth Mullineux around 1756.
John Jr. and Elizabeth Mullineux had nine children:
*John III (1st wife Sarah Kingsland, 2nd wife Mary Archer)
*James (married Mary Oakley)
*David (1st wife Miss Horton; 2nd wife Elizabeth Ripley) –settled in Cumberland, Canada
*Gilbert (unmarried)
*Hannah (married Rueben Jeroo)
*Phebe
*Daniel
*Charlotte (married James Scofield)
*Sally (married Mr. Moore)

A notation on the back of the photographic print depicted in the image above indicates that it shows what is "probably" the oldest structure still standing in what once was the Manor of Pelham. According to local tradition, a portion of the “Old Stone House” may have been built as early as the seventeenth century. Also according to tradition, the Old Stone House (or at least a portion of it) served as the residence of successive owners of the island including John Pugsley, Alexander Henderson, William Henderson and even John Hunter who reportedly lived in it while his famous mansion was being built only steps away in the early nineteenth century.


This generation of Pugsley’s found themselves in the middle of the Revolutionary War. Three of John Jr.’s sons, David, Daniel and John, were part of the Westchester Loyalists of 1779, who stayed loyal to the British Crown and left for Canada when the war ended. John Jr.’s brother, William, was a Captain in the war against the British (William and his wife, Deborah, are buried in the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery). Clearly the family was divided.


John Jr.’s other brother, James, was a peaceful Quaker. He had bought land in “Pelham Manor” May of 1755, and then bought property in New Rochelle, March of 1762. By the time the war broke out he was a widow living with his daughter, Hannah, in his home in New Rochelle. During the war, thousands of British, Waldeckerst, and Hessian soldiers inundated this area.

On Oct. 18th of 1776, General William Howe, while en route to the Battle of White Plains, made his headquarters in the “Pugsley House”. He rested there for three days. It was also the headquarters of General Knyphausen, the Hessian commander, for about a week. The troops going through New Rochelle drank the wells dry and consumed all the provisions, and then they just moved on.

In the lawless days immediately following the war, marauders attempted to hang James’s daughter, Hannah. Legend has it that she was saved by a slave. She is said to have suffered injury at the hands of these outlaws or soldiers, which left her a cripple.

Her father, James, freed his slaves in his will probated in December of 1789, and left everything to his daughter, Hannah. In the town records of Aug. 15, 1799, Hannah freed a slave, also known as Hannah Pugsley. When Hannah died in September 24, 1831 she was unmarried, and willed everything, including the “Pugsley House”, to the freed slaves and their heirs. There is a section of New Rochelle that is called “Pugsley Hollow” where some of the descendants of these slaves live to this day.


John Pugsley Jr. was killed by “rebels” in 1799 without a will. His eldest son, John III, had joined the British in the Battle at White Plains in 1776. He served as a Guide, a Lieutenant, and Adjutant to West Chester Refugees. He married Sarah Kingsland in 1779. His first son, Daniel was born January of 1782. Sarah Kingsland is listed as having died April 1783.

John III’s second wife was Mary Archer (the Archer Family owned the Fordham Manor in Westchester County). His second son, John IV, was born August of 1783 in Westchester County.

The Continental Army re-entering New York- Nov. 1783

John Pugsley III left New York in June of 1786 for Canada. He was able to purchase lot 23 (203 acres in the parish of Sussex, Kings County, New Brunswick), and lot 17 (104 acres) in April of 1790 from his settlement with the United Empire for the lands he’d lost as a result of the war, and as repayment for his loyalty. He settled down on the Hammond River, in a French Village (Sussex, Kings County, New Brunswick), where he owned and operated a tavern until 1804. He and his wife, Mary, sold these 2 lots, and a lot in the parish of Rothesay, in February of 1804. They left to reside in England, leaving behind one son, Daniel (he was left with friends in Petitcodiac, New Brunswick). The Pugsley’s of King's County and St. John, New Brunswick are descendants of this Daniel. Those in Cumberland, Nova Scotia are descended from John III’s brother, David (the only brother to have remained in Canada and is now an officially documented loyalist of the United Empire).

The other children of John III either went back to New York after the war ended, or they had remained in New York with relatives; a lot of information is missing from this time. John Pugsley III returned to New York, from his stay in England, around 1830. He died of heatstroke that August. I am not sure when or where Mary Archer passed away.

Their son, John Pugsley IV, born 1783 in Westchester, married a Mary Valentine of Flushing, Long Island in March of 1804. They lived in the township of West Farms, Westchester County until his death in 1866.

John IV and Mary had nine children;
*Martha Ann (married Isaac Lounsbury)
*Elmira
*Harriet
*James Edward (married a Hannah and lived in New Jersey)
*Elizabeth (married Moses Rogers and lived in Michigan)
*John Valentine born November 1814 (married Harriet Downs of Long Island)
*Clarissa (married James Sloane)
**Samuel born February 1818 (1st wife Maria, 2nd wife Margaret)
*Valentine

Pugsley’s of Long Island

John Valentine Pugsley, John IV’s son, settled in Riverhead, Suffolk County of Long Island, around 1836 when he married Harriet Downs. On the 1850 US Federal Census John Valentine Pugsley is listed as a Carriage Maker. John’s brother, Samuel, is also listed on the 1850 Census residing in Riverhead, with an occupation as a Carriage Maker.

Long Island Museum of American Art, History and Carriages
“Carriages – not cars – once ruled the road. These forerunners of automobiles and trucks were absolutely essential to American life in the 1800s. Carriages came in an amazing assortment of sizes, shapes and finishes. They moved people from place to place, transported goods, demonstrated their owners’ pride and accomplishments, and provided new leisure opportunities. But carriages were not for everyone. Owning a vehicle, and the horse or horses to pull it, took a good deal of money. The standard of living of Americans improved greatly during the 1800s. As a result, more and more people were able to own vehicles and in turn were able to demand more and better roads. And as roads grew and improved, people could go more and more places and faster. This, in turn, greatly helped the developing American economy, since horse-drawn vehicles often provided the necessary connections between other forms of transportation – trains, canal boats and steamships – to get people and goods from point of origin to final destination.”

 

John Valentine and Harriet had a total of seven children;

* John Valentine Jr.
*Mary
*Annie
*George (married a Sarah Tomlinson)
*Ida
*Charles
*Harriet

At this point in history it gets confusing. Let me take a moment to back up. My grandfather Tom Pugsley and his brother Joe knew very little about their Pugsley history. The bits of information passed on from their father were these:

1) their family had close ties to relatives on Long Island
2) their grandfather died young

3) that their people of Wales were weavers, wool wrights and farmers

4) that his grandfather may have made carriages or carriage wheels
5) that in their father’s “first” family, the first born son was named Gilbert(traditionally this would be the name of the child’s paternal grandfather)
6) that they had ties to the Westchester family that had owned a lot of land
7) that a “shirt tail” relative owned a duck farm – well known for the fine quality of these ducks.


These clues leave us with the conclusion that Tom and Joe’s grandfather would be named Gilbert, and that he was from somewhere on Long Island. We also know by this point that there have been no direct ancestors from Wales.

I was able to track down a birth date for Tom’s father, Samuel Grover, and order his birth certificate. Once I had the birth certificate, I was able to confirm that his father’s name was indeed Gilbert W. Pugsley born 1857 “from” Long Island (his birth was actually recorded in Manhattan, New York – perhaps the hospital location). No actual birth certificates survived for the time period that this Gilbert would have been born, so I was unable to confirm Gilbert’s parents. I was able to get a death certificate, however.

I had spent a long time narrowing down his time of death from city directories, business directories, and census data. On the death certificate his parents’ identities were confirmed; Samuel Pugsley of West Farms, New York, and Maria (no maiden name given). Following the rest of the clues I centered my search on counties of Long Island around 1857 with a Samuel and Maria Pugsley. There was no Gilbert to be found. However, “Gus” was born in 1857, to the “right” parents in the “right” location. **This Samuel Pugsley is noted earlier as being born to John IV and Mary Valentine of Westchester.

Samuel Pugsley married a “Maria” on January 1, 1837. Some genealogists have her as being a Maria Downs, perhaps the sister of Harriet Downs, his brother’s wife. There is a Maria Downs that was born May of 1820. This age matches up closely with the Census data:

On the 1850 US Federal Census Samuel, a carriage maker, and his wife Maria have four children: Sarah (age 11), Mary (age 9), Ellen (age 5), and John (age 2).

On the 1860 US Federal Census Samuel and Maria have their children listed as: Ellen (age 17), Jerusha (I suppose this could be the middle name of Mary mentioned in 1850-age 15), John (age 13), Thomas (age 11), Henry (age 7), and a “Gus” (born 1857-age 3).
To further cement the conclusion that “Gus” is our Gilbert, his cousin George Pugsley, John Valentine Pugsley’s son, owned a duck farm in Long Island. He did raise prize ducks. George, Samuel and John are all listed in the Business and City Directories of Riverhead, Suffolk County from 1764-1871 as living on Main Mill Rd., and they are all Carriage Makers.

On the 1865 New York State Census there is a Samuel Pugsley living in Riverhead, Suffolk County, with an occupation of Carriage Maker. However, now his wife is listed as Margaret Emeline. They have one child listed in the household, Louis, born in 1858 (perhaps this is her son from a previous marriage, or perhaps it is theirs?).

On the 1870 US Federal Census it reads the same - Samuel, Margaret Emeline, and Louis.
I found a Mary Pugsley in 1870, with the correct age of our Maria “Downs”, living with a Harris Family in Albany, New York. I am not sure whether or not Mrs. Harris was Maria’s daughter. This was during the Civil War, again our country is at odds, and a lot of families were torn apart. We may never know what the real story is.

It is on the 1880 Census that we finally find a Gilbert W. Pugsley, the first time on record. He is living in the Village of Brooklyn of Suffolk County, New York, with his mother, Maria. She lists her occupation as a Carpet Weaver. He was also a Weaver by trade. She has listed herself as being “widowed”. Maybe saying this, during that era, was better than being divorced? Samuel Pugsley was still alive and listed as a Wagon Maker living in Riverhead, Suffolk County. He died October 19, 1893 and is buried in the Riverhead County cemetery.

 

Gilbert was married circa 1883 to an Irish Catholic lass named Catherine “Katie” Flynn. She was born in Albany, New York, June of 1865. Her parents, Michael Flynn and (Miss) Crowley, were from Ireland (when they immigrated and from where I have not been able to discover as of yet). Gilbert and Katie’s first residence was on Bronx St. in West Farms, Westchester County, New York. In 1898 West Farms was annexed into Bronx County, one of the five boroughs of New York City.

Gilbert and Katie had four known children: *Samuel Grover was born September 14, 1884 (1st wife Anna Bankretz; 2nd Margaret Tuohey)
*Katherine Cecilia was born 1886 (1st husband Thomas Travis; 2nd husband Norman Kemp)
*Joseph Michael was born 1890 and died in August, 1896. He is buried at St. Raymond’s Cemetery.
*Julia was born 1892(married Charles Barrett)

Gilbert did die young, at the age of 38, on the 18th of January, 1895. Their last known address was 1279 Clover St., New York City, New York (still part of Long Island at this point). On his death certificate the cause of death is pneumonia. He is buried at St. Raymond’s Cemetery. His son was buried next to him.

After Gilbert passed away, Katie placed her children in the New York Catholic Protectory (otherwise known as The Society for the Protection of Destitute Roman Catholic Children of New York City). I imagine she had no other choice, being single and poor. Sadly, it was there that young Joseph Michael died in August of 1896.

Katie remarried around this time to a younger man from England named Charles Chapman. In the business directory from 1885-1887, there was a “Pugsley and Chapman Hardware” listed, below Gilbert Pugsley’s name. Maybe that is how she met her future husband? They had a son together, Charles Chapman Jr., born in 1897.

The next available US Federal Census is 1900. There it shows that Katie and Charles had another child, Emma. Samuel Grover Pugsley is 15 and listed as Charles’s step-son living with them. Her other daughters, Julia and Katherine, were not present. They are listed on a separate census as inmates at the Catholic Protectory.

On the 1905 State Census Julia is almost 13 and is finally living with them. In 1903 Katherine Cecilia married a Thomas Travis. That same year, Samuel married a young lady named Anna Bankretz.

Around 1907, Katie and Charles had one more daughter, Anna. Julia married a Charles Barrett in 1912. They had two children before she died tragically of rabies in 1916.

The 20th Century Pugsley’s

The Big Apple 1910

On the 1910 US Federal Census Samuel Grover Pugsley owns a home on East 216th St in the Bronx, District 32. His occupation is Conductor for a Gas Company. He has two children with wife Anna: Gilbert Samuel Pugsley born August of 1906, and Irene born 1910.

On the 1915 State Census his occupation is Collector. They have another child, Robert, born 1915. On Samuel's 1917 WWI Draft Card his profession is listed as a Sales Manager for a Brooklyn Gas Co. On the 1920 US Federal Census he is still married to Anna and his occupation is the same, but they are living at 383 E 157th St in the Bronx, District 1.

It is around 1921-1922 that Samuel married an Irish woman, Margaret Frances Tuohey, from New Jersey. I can only assume that he met her while traveling as Sales Manager for the Gas Company. She was born in 1891 to Irish immigrants, Michael Tuohey and Mary Vaughan (where they immigrated from in Ireland I have not been able to discover as of yet). Margaret and Samuel’s first child, Mary P., was born in Chicago, Illinois November of 1922. Their second child, Samuel “Tom” Thomas, was also born in Chicago, Illinois, November of 1923.

Siblings: Tom and Mary Pugsley

On the 1st of January of 1925, the family is found on the Iowa State Census as living in Cedar Rapids. The household includes Samuel Grover and wife Margaret, Samuel Thomas, Mary, and also Irene and Robert from his first marriage. Margaret was pregnant at this time with their third child.
His first wife, Anna, had remarried the year of 1925 to a man named William Erbe from Germany.On the 1930 Us Federal Census, Irene and Robert are then found living with Anna and William in New Jersey.

Samuel and Margaret are living in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 1930, and now have a third child, Joseph “Joe” Edward, born in June of 1925.
They are found on the 1940 census all still living together at the same home.
Sometime after 1942 Samuel, Margaret and Mary moved from Iowa to Pasadena, California (perhaps due to Samuel’s work?). Tom and Joe both joined the military in 1943. Tom had enlisted in the Army. He had only attended 1 year of college at this point. While in the Army he worked as a Radio Operator. He separated from active duty in February of 1946 and joined his family in Pasadena. Tom’s first marriage was to Jean Winifred Miller in 1947.

In 1948, Samuel’s mother, Catherine “Katie/ Cate” Flynn Chapman, was living with her daughter, Emma, in the Bronx, New York. She had gone to live there after her husband died some time after 1940. Emma and her family had been living next door. After 9 days in the hospital, Katie passed away on the 23rd of October, 1948, at the age of 83. She is buried with her first husband Gilbert and her son, Joseph, at the St. Raymond's cemetery.

Joe, Mary, Margaret and Tom - 1947 Tom's Wedding to Jean

Samuel Pugsley with granddaughter, Joan

Tom and Jean had two children:
*Michael Thomas born in 1948,
*Joan Elizabeth born in 1949.

Tom went back to school and graduated from UC Berkely, CA in 1950. He got his Masters Degree in San Jose, and started work as an Art Teacher in 1951.

Jean, Joan, and Tom

Margaret and Joan with Samuel and Michael - 1951 Yosemite

 

On the 10th of November in 1954, while traveling for work, Samuel, got into a car crash near Buckley, Kansas. He died in the Kiowa County Hospital as a result of his injuries. His body was interred to Resurrection Cemetery in Montebello, Los Angeles, California. Margaret was laid to rest there with her husband in September of 1958.

Tom’s second marriage was to Pam Ellison in 1972. That same year they had a son, Jon. After a long while living in Corralitis, CA they moved north, around the mid 1980's, to Oregon. 

 

Tom passed away in Stayton, Oregon on July 14th, 2013.