PUMPHREY Family - Serene back to Caleb - 1961

PUMPHREY, WELLS, COCKEY, RIDGELY, JACOB, CROMWELL, HERRON, OSBOURN, SEVILE

Posted By: Joey Stark
Date: 9/18/2011 at 16:36:20

"Jefferson County Records"
by Orville & Mary Prill
Volume 10, Page 81

With a letter dated Feb. 17, 1961, Mrs. Bernice Bushfield, Toronto, Ohio, sent the following PUMPHREY information.

JOSHUA C. PUMPHREY (father of Serene C. PUMPHREY), born Sept 29 1779, died Oct 24 1840. Married Aug 24 1810 probably in Brooke Co., Va (now W.Va), Editha WELLS. Joshua apparently died in Ohio, probably Knox County. Editha went with son Serene C. PUMPHREY to near County Line, Iowa, where she died. They had fourteen children.

Joshua was son of CALEB PUMPHREY. Caleb was son of REASON. Reason was son of JOSEPH. Joseph was son of WALTER PUMPHREY, the immigrant ancestor from England to New Jersey, then to Maryland.

WALTER, the immigrant ancestor, came to Burlington, N.J. with English Quakers. He is mentioned in Quaker records. In 1711 he is found in Maryland near Baltimore with grant of land. His son JOSEPH PUMPHREY married Ann COCKEY of another old Maryland family. Their son REZIN or REASON PUMPHREY married Sophia RIDGELY first and Anne JACOB second, with issue only to first wife. Rezin came to Washington Co., Penn. circa 1772 with land near what is now Washington, Pa. In 1785 he secured two grants of land of 400 acres each near what is now Wellsburg, W.Va.

REZIN had nine sons and one daughter. His sons moved into the newly opened territory of the Northwest, Ohio, then Indiana etc. and apparently many of his grandsons went to Iowa, with the opening of that Territory. They were for the most part farmers though seem to have followed some of the mechanical arts such as building. In the Ohio county they were extremely respected and were active in the organizing of Methodist Churches.

CALEB, son of Reason and father of Joshua who married Editha WELLS, is thought to have married Rachel CROMWELL and thus the name CROMWELL in the Iowa families. Her ancestry not proved but surely from the large CROMWELL family of Maryland.

Caleb is last traced to Harrison County, Ohio, Land Records 1812. He then disappears and though data from the Serene Cromwell PUMPHREY family in Iowa give Rachel's death date, they have no information regarding Caleb. He was apparently a local Methodist minister and his son Joshua, father of Serene in Iowa, was also a Methodist leader.

Also from Bernice Bushfield, 509 Daniel St., Toronto, Ohio, June 16, 1961: Parents of Clara HERRON who married Joshua PUMPHREY (son of Serene), and had Jesse: John HERRON born July 15, 1813, died 2 Feb. 1876 Lee County, Iowa; married 2 Apr 1851 Lee County, Iowa, Elizabeth (OSBOURN) SEVILE, born 11 Dec 1825 in Kentucky, died 9 Nov. 1898. Clara (HERRON) PUMPHREY born 12-28-1851, died July 6 1882.

*Transcribed for genealogy purposes; I am not related to the person(s) mentioned.