My mother's earliest American ancestors also settled in Virginia, in their case in the Spotsylvania and Culpepper section of the state. First, let's work our way back through the Ethington family, beginning with our grandfather, Luther Ethington.
Luther Ethington b.1888 | |
Charles Franklin Ethington b.1862 | |
Charles Neal Ethington b.1831 | |
John Lewis Ethington b.1806 | |
John Ethington b.1774 | |
X | William Ethington b. 1748 |
William Ethington (born around 1720) |
William Ethington b. 1748 | ||
John Ethington b.1774 | William Ethington b.1773 | |
John Lewis Ethington b.1806 | John Ethington b.1820 | |
Charles Neal Ethington b.1831 | William Preston Ethington b.1845 | |
Charles Franklin Ethington b.1862 | George Floyd Ethington b.1872 | |
Luther Ethington b.1831 | Ralph Price Ethington b.1906 |
As the above chart illustrates, our grandfather, Luther, and Ralph Price Ethington were 4th cousins. Ralph Price Ethington was born in Shelby Co., Kentucky on Dec. 26, 1906. He married Veda Haymore on Jan. 18, 1927 in Mesa, Maricopa Co., AZ.
It would be in Veda Haymore Ethington's ancestors that took me across the New England Bragg family. First you have to wind your way through 17 generations all the way back to Eleanor Plantagenet. She was, according to Wikipedia
"Eleanor died at Arundel and was buried at Lewes Priory in Lewes, Sussex, England. Her husband was buried beside her; in his will Richard requests to be buried "near to the tomb of Eleanor de Lancaster, my wife; and I desire that my tomb be no higher than hers, that no men at arms, horses, hearse, or other pomp, be used at my funeral, but only five torches...as was about the corpse of my wife, be allowed.""
Veda Haymore Ethington would have then been the 16th great-granddaughter of Eleanor Plantagenent through her Matilda de Beaumont (daughter of Eleanor and John de Beaumont). The third child of Eleanor's second marriage was named after his father, Richard Fitzalan. Proceeding down from Eleanor Plantagenet through her son Richard and across some 11 generations to Zerviah Brigham. She was born 1698 and, sometime around 1730 Zerviah married Ebenezer Bragg, the grandson of Edward Bragg.
Looking over this convoluted journey in our daughter's home in western Missouri, after spending some time just the evening before in Independence, MO, I realized something interesting from this material. continuing from Ebenezer and Zerviah Bragg, this is what I found:
Ebenezer and Zerviah Brigham Bragg |
Elizabeth Bragg b.1732 |
Samuel B. Gates Senior b.1760 |
Samuel B. Gates Junior b.1783 |
George William Gates b.1807 |
George Porterfield Gates b.1835 |
Margaret Elizabeth ''Madge'' Gates b.1862 |
Elizabeth Virginia ''Bess' Wallace b.1885 |
Bess Wallace, then, was the 6th great grand-daughter of Ebenezer Bragg, the 17th cousin 2 times removed of Veda Haymore Ethington. She is, however, best known for her famous husband, the man who brought her to live awhile in the White House, Harry S. Truman.
I know this must be hard to follow, so here is a chart that traces out the lineages presented above:
Eleanor Plantagenet | ||||
Matilda de Beaumont b.1358 | Richard Fitzalan b.1350 | |||
Hugh de Courtenay b.1396 | Elizabeth Fitzalan b.1366 | |||
Elizabeth Courtenay b.1447 | Margaret de Mowbray b.1387 | |||
Thomas Trethruffe b.1478 | Sir John Howard b.1420 | |||
Margaret Jane Trethruffe b.1505 | Thomas Howard b.1443 | |||
Francis Buller b.1545 | Countess Catherine Howard b.1496 | |||
Richard Buller b.1578 | William Rice b.1530 | |||
Katherine Buller b.1600 | Henry Rice b.1564 | |||
Richard Parker b.1630 | Edmund Rice b.1594 | |||
Richard Parker b.1670 | Henry R. Rice b.1617 | |||
Hannah Parker b.1694 | Mary Rice b.1646 | Edward Bragg | ||
William Ethington b.1720 | Elizabeth Sisson b.1726 | Jonathan Brigham b.1674 | Timothy Bragg | |
William Ethington b.1748 | Frances Strange b.1767 | Ebenezer Bragg married Zerviah Brigham b.1698 | ||
William Ethington b.1773 | Nancy Williams b.1787 | Elizabeth Bragg b.1732 | ||
John Ethington b.1820 | Benjamin Taylor Jr b.1816 | Samuel B. Gates Senior b.1760 | ||
William Preston Ethington b.1845 | Lucinda Adeline Taylor b.1847 | Samuel B. Gates Junior b.1783 | ||
George Floyd Ethington b.1872 | Arthur Samuel Haymore b.1878 | George William Gates b.1807 | ||
Ralph Price Ethington b.1906 married Veda Haymore b.1908 | George Porterfield Gates b.1835 | |||
Margaret Elizabeth ''Madge'' Gates b.1862 | ||||
Elizabeth Virginia ''Bess' Wallace b.1885 married Harry S. Truman |