Hester (Unknown) Kelsey (abt. 1613 - aft. 1666)

Born about 1613 in England

Descendants

Died after Dec 1666 after about age 53 in Connecticut

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Disambiguation

There is no evidence that Stephen Hopkins ever had a daughter named Bethia. Neither Bethia nor Hopkins is the name of the wife of William Kelsey of Hartford. ^[1] Please do not add "Bethia" or "Hopkins" into this profile. ^[1]

William Kelsey in Account of the Descendants of Robert Chapman, With Genealogical Notes, 1854: "... CHAPMAN. SIXTH GENERATION.. 567. Hester Chapman, eldest child of Major Jedediah Chapman^ born at West-Brook, April 8, 1724, was married to William Kelsey, February 6, 1746, by whom she had five children ..."

Name

The wife of William Kelsey may be named Hester. The onomastic argument that her name is Hester, theorized by by Gale Ion Harris, Ph.D. in TAG Vol. 68, pages 208 to 215, are summarized [see evidence in Harris' article] as follows: ^[1]

William Kelsey and his wife named their first daughter Hester. The life of this daughter of William Kelsey is documented by Harris in his article cited above. William's daughter Hester married James Eggleston, and named her first daughter Hester, born at Windsor on 1 Dec 1663.

William Kelsey's eldest son Mark named his second daughter Hester (his first daughter was named Rebecca, the name of Mark's wife).

Three of William's other children, Priscilla, Abigail and John, named their eldest daughters Hester.

With no record to show us the name of William Kelsey's wife, and with these strong circumstantial clues that she may have been named Hester, it is reasonable to call her Hester, with the caveat that the name is speculative. ^[1]

Biography

This profile is part of the Kelsey Name Study.

The Ancestor - WILLIAM KELSEY, the first of the Kelsey name in America, was born in 1600, Chelmsford, Essex County, England. He was the son of George Kelsey Jr. and Elizabeth Hammond and had 2 brothers: John and Henry. ^[2] William Kelsey is believed to have had only one wife, and that they married shortly before sailing to Massachusetts, or shortly after he arrived. ^[1]

William Kelsey was one of the original "Braintree Company" followers of the Reverend Thomas Hooker, who came to America and were the first settlers of "New Towne" (now Cambridge) Massachusetts in 1632. Reverend Hooker joined them the following year. ^[2]

In June of 1636, Mr. Hooker and Mr. Stone, with more than 50 families of the "first church" (Mr. Hooker's) removed to Connecticut. There, in the valley of the same name, they established "New Towne" which was changed to "Hartford" on February 21, 1637. Among these followers was: William Kelsey. ^[2]

Coming to "Hartford" with the Hooker Company, William Kelsey was one of the "original proprietors" and, as such, his name appears on the "Founders Monument" in the "ancient burying ground" of the First Congregational Church of Hartford, CT, presently known as "Center Church". His name is also found on the "Adventurers Boulder" located at City Hall, Hartford, CT. ^[2]

In March 1663, William Kelsey and 26 others migrated to the "Hammonasset Plantation" and founded the Town of "Kenilworth", later changed to "Killingworth". In 1838, the town was separated into North and South parts. The South part called "Clinton" and the North, "Killingworth". ^[2]

The Descendants - William Kelsey had nine children:

Mark, Hester, Priscilla, Mary, John, Abigail, Stephen, Daniel, and William Jr. ^[2]

Marriage: estimated from the ages of the children, about 1632-1633. ^[1]

The following children were born to William and Hester (Unknown) Kelsey. ^[1]

Son: Mark Kelsey, born about 1634, ^[1] and lived in Windsor, CT and Wethersfield,CT. ^[2] Mark married (1st) Rebecca Hoskins 8 March 1658/9 at Windsor. ^[1] Rebecca was the daughter of John Hoskins and his wife, Ann Filer. ^[2] John Hoskins came to New England on the "Mary & John" in 1630. ^[2] Mark Kelsey married (2nd) Abigail (Unknown) widow of Capt. Atwood, 26 Dec 1683 at Windsor. ^[1] Mark and Rebecca (Hoskins) Kelsey had eight or more children. ^[2]

Daughter: Hester Kelsey, born about 1635 or 1636 "first female child b. at Hartford", died 10 July 1720 at Windsor, married (1st) James Eggleston by Jan 1656, ^[1] and they had ten children. ^[2] Hester (Kelsey) Eggleston married (2nd) James Eno, Sr. 29 April 1680 at Windsor. ^[1]They had one child. ^[2] Hester (Kelsey) (Eggleston) (Eno) married (3rd) John Williams, Sr. 10 June 1686 at Windsor. ^[1] There were no known children born to the third marriage. ^[2]

Son: John Kelsey, born about 1638, died 22 July 1709 at Killingworth, married by Sept 1668 Hannah Desborough. ^[1] John Kelsey removed to Killingworth, CT with his father, William Kelsey, at the age of 27. ^[2] He married Hannah Disborough two years later in Hartford, CT. They had nine children. ^[2] John and his father are noted as two of the first settlers of Kenilworth, CT. ^[2]

Daughter: Priscilla Kelsey, born about 1640, died 7 Jan 1722 at Windsor. She married Cornelius Gillett by Jan 1659. ^[1] They had nine children. ^[2]

Daughter: Mary Kelsey, born about 1644, died 18 April 1676 at Windsor, married Jonathan Gillett (brother of Cornelius) 23 April 1661. ^[1] They had ten children. ^[2] Jonathan and Cornelius Gillett were brothers, who married sisters (Priscilla and Mary Kelsey), ^[1] therefore the children of the two families were genetically related to each other to the same degree as siblings (instead of first cousins).

Daughter: Abigail Kelsey, born 19 April 1645 at Hartford, died 12 May 1717 at Killingworth, married Lt. John Hull 3 Dec 1668 at Killingworth. ^[1] Abigail Kelsey also accompanied her father, William Kelsey, to Killingworth, CT at the age of 18. She married Lieutenant John Hull. They had four children. ^[2]

Son: Stephen Kelsey, baptized 7 Nov 1647, at Hartford, died 30 Nov 1710 at Hartford, married Hannah Ingersoll 15 Nov 1672 at Hartford. ^[1] They had ten children. ^[2]

Son: Daniel Kelsey, born July 1650 at Hartford, died 5 June 1727 at Killingworth, married Mary Stevens 16 March 1672 at Killlingworth. ^[1] They had five children. Daniel Kelsey also removed to Killingworth, CT with his father, William Kelsey, at the age of 13. ^[2] Daniel married second, Jane Chalker. They had five children. ^[2]

Son: William Kelsey Jr. was born 23 Mar 1654. It is supposed that he died young, before the family removed to Killingworth, CT. ^[2] [William Kelsey Jr. is not recognized as a child of William Kelsey by Charles Robert Anderson in Great Migration Begins] ^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20} The Family of William^1 Kelsey of Hartford, Connecticut with notes on Hester^2 Kelsey, Wife of James^2 Eggleston, James^1 Eno, and John^1 Williams of Windsor, Connecticut, TAG Vol 68 (1993), pages 208-215
2. ↑ ^{2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22} The Kelsey Genealogy, Book 1, pages 24 to 38

See also:

• Gale Ion Harris, "The Family of William^1 Kelsey of Hartford, Connecticut with notes on Hester^2 Kelsey, Wife of James^2 Eggleston, James^1 Eno, and John^1 Williams of Windsor, Connecticut, The American Genealogist 68 (1993):208-215; digital images, AmericanAncestors.org (accessed 2014). [Note: In his 1995 overview of the immigrant, William Kelsey, Robert Charles Anderson referred to this article and wrote, "We rely on [Harris'] conclusions here, except for a few minor adjustments in approximated dates to conform with the guidelines used in these volumes.]
• The Kelsey Genealogy Book 1, pages 24 to 38; Harleian Society Publications, Volume XIV, page 588; Bysshe's Visitation of Essex, page 55; Burke's General Armory.
• The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010), (Originally Published as: New England Historic Genealogical Society. Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, 3 vols., 1995). Pages 1117 - 1119
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/35620591/hester_-kelsey

About The Kindred Association

An Association of Descendants of WILLIAM KELSEY, a Puritan Ancestor

The Kindred was organized September 13, 1928, it has published 7 genealogy volumes containing family histories of the descendants of William Kelsey. The genealogy volumes were financed by dues, donations, large gifts and loans from Kindred members. Our association has over 58,000 descendants, all serial numbered and indexed on computer; and, more data arrives each week. Unfortunately, there are many, many lines of descent that are incomplete or still unknown. The Kindred, presently, has well over 600 active members and receiving new applications weekly.

The Kelsey Kindred Genealogy, How it All Began

By 1890, Leroy Huron Kelsey of St. Joseph, MO had had some success on gathering data on his branch in Kentucky. In 2 or 3 years several more Kelsey’s in Denver, Chicago, New York, and Connecticut had pooled findings in the keeping of Horatio Nelson Kelsey in Chicago. A slow but steady flow of information was encouraging the task to embrace all William Kelsey descendants in America.

In October 1908, Mr. Edward A. Claypool, a professional genealogist, was engaged by Horatio N. Kelsey. He started immediately to send out blanks seeking information to some 1200 suspected descendants, which by 1914 had increased to about 2500. Mr. Claypool died in July 1916, but in little less than eight years his work had generated a formidable amount of family data and, equally important, had alerted at least a dozen more descendants of William #1, who enjoyed the ancestor hobby. Our project was wounded, but not fatally!

On December 16, 1916, Horatio Nelson Kelsey, who by now had moved to New York City, joined with Professor Francis Willy Kelsey #3643 of Ann Arbor, MI (an internationally known Archaeologist and Egyptologist) and David Stone Kelsey #7004 of Connecticut to arrange for continued work on our genealogy by Miss Azalea Clizbee, a reputable genealogist.

Expense money was a major problem but the work survived another 10 years. With added problems caused by WWI, our family history was laid aside until 1927, when Joseph Jonathan Kelsey #3805 and Earl Leland Kelsey, both of Connecticut, picked up the torch sparked by the prospect of a formal organization which would be called The Kelsey Kindred.

During the summer of 1926, Joseph J. Kelsey of Clinton, CT, who began collecting data about the same time Mr. Claypool died, met by chance in the Town Clerk's office in Killingworth, CT with Mr. Earl Leland Kelsey of Torrington, CT, who had been more or less interested in his ancestors since boyhood. They discussed the possibility of the printing of a Kelsey Genealogy book. At another chance meeting of these two Kelseys in July 1927, this time in the Office of the Town Clerk of Clinton, CT. It was agreed that something should be done towards publishing the book, holding a reunion and other matters related thereto, but nothing definite was decided upon. However, Earl L. Kelsey was not surprised when about 2 months later he received a circular signed by Joseph J. Kelsey as chairman of the "Kelsey Genealogy Committee", asking for contributions to help finish the work. He replied and received notification that he was to act as secretary of this committee and to secure the services of Horatio N. Kelsey as treasurer. Horatio consented to act in this capacity. Then came the slow procedure of securing a new mailing list. So, a larger committee was formed. All known descendants of William Kelsey and through the efforts of this committee, Volume I was published and the 1st Annual Reunion and Business Meeting was held September 15, 1928 in Clinton, CT.

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