Noah Willey – 1753-1820
My 5th great
grandfather
Nancy Simmons to
Paul Simmons to
June Putman to
Ernest Putman to
Perry Willey to
Hugh Willey to
George Willey to
Noah Willey
 |
| Deeds - Land Records |
Up until a year and half ago I had
no idea that Noah Willey was an ancestor of mine. I had been working on a
project to find my great grandfather, Ernest Putman's, father. I found that his
father was Perry Willey. I was so excited that I found him and had found a
whole new family line. On my pedigree
charts there had been this big empty space from my great grandfather backwards.
Now I could start exploring this new family. I had discovered that Perry's father was Hugh Bolton Willey and that his
father was George Washington Willey born about 1794 but George was the end of
the line for the Willey family. I could not track the Willey family back any
further than George. I checked Ancestry for a George Washington Willey born
1794 and death 1844 and found that all the trees on this Willey line ended with
George Washington Willey 1794-1844. Most sources stated that George was born in
Ohio or Vermont and that he died in 1844 in Vermilion County, Illinois. A few trees had his father as Oliv Willey. I
could find no records to prove this fact, so I was going to try and find who
was George Washington Willey’s father.
First, I had to discover if George
was born in Vermont or Ohio. George married twice and many of the Ancestry
trees stated his first marriage was to Martha Colton. I found a marriage record
for a George Willey and Martha Bolton in 1811 in Butler County, Ohio.[1]
The Ancestry trees also stated that George’s second marriage was to Minerva
Tillotson in 1827 in Ohio. His eight
children born to his first wife, Martha Bolton, were recorded in census records
as born in Ohio between 1812 and 1826.
 |
| Marriage Record - George Willey to Patty Bolton - 8 Sept 1811 |
The oldest child of his second
marriage is Hugh Bolton Willey born in 1828 in Hamilton County, Ohio and the
next eight children to his second wife, Minerva Tillotson are all born in
Vermilion County, Illinois. Of those eight children, four stated in the 1880
census that their father was born in Ohio, one said Vermont and one said
Massachusetts. I went hunting for Willey surnames in Ohio.
I started searching for the Willey
surname in the 1820 Ohio census. The 1820 Butler County, Ohio census listed a
Richard, Noah and George Willey![2]
Could this be our George Willey? Noah
was the name of one of George Washington Willey’s sons! I jumped into Butler County, Ohio wills and
probate records on Ancestry and found a will for Noah Willey probated 1820 and
he named three sons: Richard, Noah and George Willey.[3]
I then went back to Ancestry to see if I could find a tree with a Noah Willey
with a death date of 1820 that had a son George. There were many trees with this Noah Willey
who died in Butler County in 1820 and they all had a son named George
Washington Willey. BUT that son was born
in 1786 and died in 1793. How could he
be listed in Noah's will when it was written June 10, 1818?[4]
 |
| Will of Noah Willey written 10 Jun 1818 |
I then decided to look for deed
records where Noah might have sold or given land to his children. BINGO! I found a deed recorded dated
September 14, 1814 in Crosby Township[5]
where Noah Willey gives "in consideration of the love, goodwill and
affection which I have to and bear towards my loving son George Willey ….have
given and grant to the said George Willey the following tract of land said to
contain 50 acres”
 |
| Deed record - 14 Sep 1814 Noah Willey gifting 50 acres to son George Willey |
I concluded that Noah had a son
George who died in 1793 but also had another son born the next year in 1794 and
he named that son George Washington Willey, a custom used quite frequently in
the New England area. As I researched birth records in East Haddam, Middlesex,
Connecticut I found three records for Elizabeth Willey born to Noah and
Elizabeth Willey that [6]exhibits
this pattern where a child died and the next child receives the same name.
Elizabeth
daughter of Noah, Jr. & Elizabeth, b. July 3, 1771
Elizabeth
daughter of Noah, Jr. & Elizabeth, d. Nov. 25, 1774
Elizabeth
daughter of Noah, Jr. & Elizabeth, b. Dec. 22, 1774
 |
| Connecticut Birth & Death Records Elizabeth Willey daughter of Noah & Elizabeth Willey George Willey son of Noah & Elizabeth Willey |
Unfortunately, the Connecticut
birth records do not have George Washington Willey’s birth recorded for
1794. It is possible that Noah and his
family had left Connecticut by this time and as many records indicate George
was born in Ohio where birth records were not being recorded at that time.
As I studied the many Ancestry
trees containing Noah Willey who died in 1820, I discovered he was born in 1753
in East Haddam, Middlesex County, Connecticut and the family dates back to
Isaac Willey born in 1614 in England and immigrated to America by 1640.[7]
Finding a deed record for 50 acres
of land given as a gift by Noah Willey to his loving sons, Richard and Noah,
was the key piece of evidence that proved my great grandfather's lineage from
Ernest Putman born in 1875 to his great-great grandfather Noah Willey and back
four more generations to Isaac Willey born 1614 in England.
 |
| Ancestry - Thru Lines DNA Evidence - Nancy Simmons to Noah Willey |
[1] FamilySearch.org;
Ohio County Marriages, 1787-2013,Butler County, page 37, image 20; https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939K-BJ9Q-9M?i=19&cc=1614804
[2] Ancestry.com;
1820 U.S. Census; Crosby, Hamilton, Ohio, page 370, Image 312; https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/7734/4093883_00312/40279?backurl=https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/12129622/person/302029866247/facts/citation/902182328035/edit/record
[3]
Ancestry.com; Ohio, Wills and Probate Records, 1786-1998, Probate Court (Hamilton County); Probate
Place: Hamilton, Ohio, page 466-468, image 277-278; https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/8801/007642424_00277/1131406?backurl=https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/12129622/person/302131013660/facts
[4]
Ibid - will
[5] FamilySearch.org;
Ohio, Hamilton County Deeds, Book N-O, 1814-1816, page 372-373, image 197; https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS4C-S1DH?i=196&cat=293030
[6] American
Ancestors.org; Connecticut:
Vital Records (The Barbour Collection), 1630-1870 (Online Database:
AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2011.) From
original typescripts, Lucius Barnes Barbour Collection, 1928; https://www.americanancestors.org/databases/connecticut-vital-records-the-barbour-collection-1630-1870/RecordDisplay/?volumeId=13232&pageName=191&rId=235045713
[7]
Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration
Directory: Immigrants to New England, 1620–1640 (Boston: New England Historical
and Genealogical Society, 2015), 374; https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LB9L-Z9L
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