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(VI) Thomas worth, son of Josiah and Deborah
(Worth) Olcott, was born in Hudson, New
York, May 22, 1795, died March 23, 1880,
in Albany. He was educated in the
Hudson schools, and began his long and
successful
career in finance as a clerk in the Columbia
Bank of Hudson, where he remained two
years. He rapidly grasped the fundamental
principles governing monetary laws. His
active mind and quick, decisive character
made him an unusually valuable employee,
and when the Mechanic' and Farmers' Bank
opened
its doors for business, July 29, 1811, h
was one of the clerical force. On that
date
began his remarkable connection wit that
institution, a connection lasting nearly
seventy years, the last forty-four years
of which were spent in the president's
chair.
His rise was rapid. Six years after
the bank opened its doors for business,
he
became cashier. Nineteen years later,
in June, 1836, he was elected president. The
Mechanics' and Farmers' Bank, whose success
in a large degree must be, and is by general
consent, credited to the genius of Thomas
Worth Olcott, was the third bank
incorporated in Albany, and was chartered
ostensibly for the benefit of the mechanics
and farmers of Albany county. Its charter
provided that none but mechanics and farmers
should be elected as bank officers, but some
years later was amended so as to authorize
the president and directors without
reference to their occupation or business.
It is a noted fact and one that created
considerable discussion and comment that
the entire first board of directors were
Democrats. It had been understood that
two Federalists would have a place on the
board,
and they were later substituted. Thomas
W. Olcott was the fifth president, and at
his
death he was succeeded by his son Dudley,
who is the present incumbent. (1910).
The
first period of the bank's history ended
by the expiration of charter in 1833. At
the expiration of the second charter in 1853
the bank closed up its affairs, when the
stockholders received one hundred and
fifteen per cent, besides their stock in the
new bank, which renewed the charter for
twenty years and went into operation again
with the same officers. During the civil
war the bank closed up its affairs and
re-organized in 1865 under the national
banking laws having previously operated as a
state bank. In 1868 they again chartered
under state banking laws, abandoning the
national system. The career of the bank has
been one unvarying prosperity, except only a
short period in 1817 when the capital became
impaired, owing to the financial trouble
growing out of depression following the war
with Great Britain in 1812-14. In
1855 the Mechanics' and Farmers' Savings
Bank was
incorporated with Thom-
Page 116
as W. Olcott as the
first president, succeeded in 1880 by
his
son Dudley.
While Mr.
Olcott was eminently the name of affairs and
held a position in the financial world
second to none and was recognized as a great
banker, his obligation to his city as a
citizen did not rest lightly upon him. He
was an active, as well as a leading member
of the boards of several of the public
charitable and educational associations that
have made Albany famous. His private
benevolences were many and cannot be
recorded, his public service can. He was
vice-resident of the first board of
directors of Albany Law School, organized in
1851, the fourth school of its kind in the
Untied States. in 1855 he was elected
president of the board, continuing until his
death in 1880. He was president of the
first board of directors of Dudley
Observatory, a scientific institution
founded through the munificence of Mrs.
Blandina Dudley, widow of Charles E. Dudley,
with the co-operation of leading citizens of
Albany. The observatory profited greatly
through the generosities of Mr. Olcott and
his sons, the latter furnishing the funds
for refitting Olcott Meridian Circle (named
for its donor), housing it in a suitable
building and remounting it on the new site.
He was president of the Albany Agricultural
and Arts Association; president of Albany
Hospital, in which he took a deep and
lasting interest; trustee and president of
Albany Girls' Academy; trustee of the Boys'
Academy; president of Albany Cemetery
Association. In addition to these
institutions, all of which he served
faithfully, giving largely of his rare
executive ability and unerring judgment, his
purse was ever open for all good causes,
earning him the title of the "most
charitable men in Albany."
Returning to
his business life he was president of the
Albany & West Stockbridge Railroad company,
afterwards merged into the Boston & Albany
system, and later trustee of the sinking
fund commission, appointed to retire the
bonds issued by the city of Albany to aid in
the construction of the road. the retirement
of these bonds was successfully accomplished
under the guidance of Mr. Olcott, and is
still referred to as the "greatest piece of
financiering ever accomplished in Albany."
When Secretary chase was perfecting plans
for national bank system, he held frequent
interviews with Mr. Olcott and was lately
guided by his wise counsel. In 1803 he
declined a flattering offer from President
Lincoln of the position of first comptroller
of the currency, and declined all public
office except such as related to the
promotion of education or other local
interest. During his business life he
developed a wonderful quality of quick,
decisive action. Strong in his opinions,
yet he was always open to conviction and
ready to accept the views of others. His
ability to judge human nature and read men
was another marked quality. His courage was
another attribute that rendered him
conspicuous; nothing daunted him, and
failure was a word with which he was
unacquainted. He was identified with the
Christian life of Albany as member and
trustee of the Second Presbyterian Church.
His political life was inconspicuous. In
early life and up to 1860 he was a Democrat;
then for the remainder of his life a
Republican. He was strongly Union in his
sentiments, and served on the committee
having in charge the recruiting and
equipping of the One Hundred and Thirteenth
New York Regiment (Seventh Regiment, New
York Volunteer Artillery). His only other
public offices that can be construed as
political were his position as bridge
commissioner to select the site of the lower
bridge across the Hudson at South Ferry
street, and his appointment to the state
board of regents. His home in Albany was in
the midst of a plot of about three acres of
ground and there he gratified his love for
flowers and plants to the fullest extent and
spent his hours of leisure in their
cultivation. He was quiet, unostentatious
and domestic in his tastes and habits,
giving little evidence of being the wealthy
and distinguished financier. He died at his
home in Albany, in his eighty-fifth year,
continuing his active business life until
his last illness.
He married
Caroline, daughter of Daniel Pepoon, of
Pittsfield, Massachusetts, August 17, 1818.
She died March 12, 1867. Children: 1.
Frederick Worth, born August 19, 1820, died
November 2, 1822. 2. Thomas, December 31,
1821, died august 27, 1873; married (first)
April 3, 1844, Lucia Marvin Fowler, who died
August 25, 1850; (second) October 5, 1853,
Harriet N. Leon-
Page 117
ard, who died January
13, 1861; (third) February 19, 1863, Emma
McClive. 3. John Josiah, March 11, 1823,
died April 10, 1899. 4. Robert, July 26,
1824, died May 10, 1859. 5. Mary Marvin,
April 11, 1826, died April 25, 1892. 6.
Theodore, May 1, 1828, died February 27,
1907; married October 2, 1856, Ann Hazelton
Maynard. 7. Alexander, August 10, 1829,
died April 21, 1887; married, May 21, 1856,
Catherine Amanda Mallory. 8. Grace, April
5, 1834, died August 7, 1834. 9. Dudley,
died in infancy. 10, Dudley, of whom
further. 11. Frederick Pepoon, of whom
further.
(VII) Dudley,
son of Thomas Worth and Caroline (Pepoon)
Olcott, was born in Albany, new York,
September 21, 1838. He was educated in the
Albany Boys; Academy, and afterwards
attended the Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute in Troy, where he took a course in
civil engineering. In 1858 he became
connected with the Mechanics' and Farmers'
Savings Bank of Albany, as accountant. This
position he held for seven years, when he
became assistant cashier of the Mechanics'
and Farmers' Bank, and later cashier. For
thirteen years he was cashier of this bank,
until December 31, 1878, when he was chosen
vice-president. In March, 1880, he was
elected president, succeeding his father.
Under his wise and able management the bank
has continued its successful life, and is
one of the strong, conservative financial
institutions of the state. He is thoroughly
versed in the laws governing finance, is
devoted to the institution over which he
presides, and is recognized everywhere as
one of the clearest-headed and ablest
financiers of the state. He was at one time
president of the Albany Bankers'
Association, and represented the Mechanics'
and Farmers' Bank in the leading bank
associations of the country. In 1861 he
toured Europe, since which time his service
has been continuous, saving only his annual
summer vacation, which is spent in Canada.
The connection of the Olcotts, father and
son, now covers the period of a full
century, 1811-1911. Seventy-five of these
years have seen them occupying the
president's chair. This is both a wonderful
and unusual record, and probably unequaled
in point of continuous service.
Mr. Olcott
has no outside business interests, although
he is devoted to the welfare of many of the
leading public institution of Albany. He is
a member of the board of governors of the
Albany Hospital, president of the Albany
Cemetery Association, trustee of the Home
for Aged Men, trustee for the Albany Orphan
Asylum, trustee of the Albany Academy for
Girls, and aids other good causes by his
influence and liberality. He served his
state one term as paymaster-general,
appointed by Governor Fenton in 1867. He
served the city of Albany as park
commissioner, was treasurer and later
president of the commission during its
entire existence. Politically he is a
Republican, but his devotion to business
precludes all idea of public affairs. He is
a member of the Fort orange and Country
Clubs, Albany, and of the Metropolitan Union
League and Down Town clubs, of New York
City. He is fond of the solitude of the
great woods, and for the past thirty-one
years has spent each summer vacation at
Restigouche River, Canada, where his
favorite sport, salmon fishing, is his daily
occupation. Mr. Olcott's home is the old
family mansion in Albany, in the midst of
the beauties created and loved by his
father, which he perpetuated and continues
in loving remembrance. He is unmarried. .
(VII)
Frederick Pepoon, son of Thomas Worth and
Caroline (Pepoon) Olcott, was born in
Albany, New York, February 23, 1841, and
died at his home, "Round Top," near
Bernardsville, New Jersey, April 15, 1909.
Upon graduation from the Albany Academy he
entered the bank of which his father was
president and there secured the training and
knowledge in financial matters which
characterized his business career, and
placed him in the highest rank of modern
conservative financial men. For a time he
was engaged in the lumber business, also a
partner with Blake Brothers & Company,
bankers and brokers. In 1882 he accepted
the nomination and was elected comptroller
of the state of New York, which position he
occupied for a term of two years. In 1884 he
declined the Democratic nomination for
governor, and accepted the presidency of the
Central Trust Company, of New York City,
where he remained until 1905; retiring in
that year on account of ill-health to his
favorite residence and farm, "Round
Page 118
Top," Bernardsville,
New Jersey. In addition to his connection
with the Central Trust Company Mr. Olcott
was president of the Galveston Houston &
Henderson Railroad, a director of the
Delaware, Lackawanna, & Western Railroad
and other railroads, of the Bank of America,
and
of the Morristown Trust Company of New
Jersey.
Personally
Mr. Olcott was known as a man of broad,
philanthropic tendencies, taking personal
interest in the political and social welfare
of the community, and ever ready to assist
those less successful in the battle of life.
A few years before his death he provided an
endowment of fifty thousand dollars for the
Albany Academy. He was greatly interested
in horticulture, and his gardens were famous
for the production of choice plants and rare
flowers. He was also a breeder of trotting
horses. Mr. Olcott was a member of the
Union League, New York Yacht, Metropolitan,
Manhattan, and Down Town clubs, of New York,
and of the Morristown Club.
Mr. Olcott
married, Mary Esmay, by whom he is survived,
together with children; Dudley, of whom
further, and one daughter.
(VIII)
Dudley (2), son of Frederick P. and Mary
(Esmay) Olcott, was born in New York City,
may 14, 1874. He was educated in his place
of birth, and his business career had been
conducted in connection with the Central
Trust Company. He now resides in
Morristown, New Jersey. Mr. Olcott has
taken membership in the following clubs:
Metropolitan, Tuxedo, Morris County Golf,
New York Athletic, Morristown, Whippany
River, Automobile of America and Grolier.
He married,
at Bernardsville, New Jersey, August 18,
1903, Sarah Crozer L. Levick, born at
Philadelphia, March 10, 1875, daughter of
Thomas Bowin and Elizabeth Shippen Buckley
(Grubb) Levick. Children of Dudley (29)
Olcott: 1. Gladys Grubb, born at New York
City, December 29, 1905. 2. Jeannette
Grubb, Morristown, New Jersey, May 30,
1907. 
VAN DEUSEN. This
old Dutch name is derived from a hamlet
of about five hundred people in Noord
Brabant or North Brabant, Holland, called
Deursen. The immigrant ancestor of the
family came from Deurse, the "Van" being
used in the ordinary sense of 'from,"
indicating that the immigrant ancestor or
the original ancestor who first bore the
surname that became hereditary to his
descendants came from that place. It is
thus that the surname arose, as is the case
in a great number of Dutch surnames in this
country. Previous to arrival in America the
Dutchman was usually designated by the
baptismal name of his father wit the affix
"sen" attached, and it was a universal
custom for one hundred and fifty years to
use the father's name as a middle name among
the Dutch families. This usage has made it
possible to trace many lines that would
otherwise be undiscoverable.
(I) Matthew
or Teuwis Abrahamse Van Deusen, immigrant
ancestor of the Van Deusen family, was born
in Holland, and was one of five brothers,
sons of Abraham Van Deusen, who came to
America about the middle of the seventeenth
century. The names of the five sons of
Abraham Van Deusen were: Isaac, Melchert,
Matthew, Jacob, Peter. Matthew resided in
the village of Beverwyck (Albany) in 1659,
and he was the owner of a lot from 1655 to
1667. This lot had a frontage of
thirty-five feet on Broadway, extending back
to James Street. December, 1677, Paulus
Martense Van Benthuysen conveyed by deed to
Harme Janse Lyndrayer the same property in
Rennselaerwyck formerly conveyed to him by
Mattheus Abrahamse Van Deusen,. By Deed
declared June 26, 1677. This property was
situated in the city of Albany on the west
side of and fronting on Broadway, north of
Maiden Lane, extending back to that street
and lying between Maiden Lane and Steuben
Street. At a sale in Albany, July 5, 1664,
he purchased a cow for one hundred and
eighteen florins. For the payment of this
sum Cornelis Teunisse Bos went his surety
and principal, and Matthew on his part
pledged himself as surety for Cornelis Bos
on the same day for the payment of one
hundred and twelve florins for the purchase
of the running works of a horse mill.
Matthew was still living in Albany in 1700,
and no record of his death
Page 119
appears. His wife bore
the name of Helena. Children: 1. Lysbet
(Elizabeth), married Johannes Benson,
February 2, 1680, died in 1746. 2.
Robert, mentioned below. 3. Tryntje
(Catherine), married Samson Benson about
1673. 4. Jan, married Maritje Martense Van
Buren, March 14, 1695. 5. Isaac, married
Bata Van Ysselsteyn, October 9, 1706. 6. Helena,
married Harpert Van Deusen, November 7, 1707.
(II) Robert,
eldest son of Matthew or Teuwis Abrahamse
and Helena Van Deusen, was a resident of
Claverack, Columbia County, New York, in
1720, and probably spent most of his life in
that town. He married (first) about 1689,
Cornelia Martense, daughter of Martin
Cornelis and Maritje Van Buren, who probably
died before 1718. His brother, Jan, married
Maritje Martense, the sister of Cornelia
Martense Van Buren. He married (second)
august 21, 1718, Gertruyd Van Benthuysen.
In the will of martin Cornelis Van Buren, of
Rensselaerwyck Colony, registered April 10,
1710, he devised his property to his
daughter, Cornelia Martense, wife of Robert
Van Deusen. Children of robert and Cornelia
Martense (Van Buren) Van Deusen: 1.
Johannes, born July 13, 1690; married
Styntje (Christina) Van Alen, August 16,
1712. 2. Mattheus, born November 1, 1691,
died before 1756. 3. Martin, born February
21, 1694; married (first) Elbertje Vander
Poel, December 23, 1719; (second) February
19, 1744, Zara Gardenier, at Kinderhook
(banns) in the presence of the elder, John
Goes. 4. Tobias, baptized August 16, 1696;
married, at Johnstown, in the township of
Livingstone, Columbia County, New York,
March 31, 1723, Ariaantie Muller, of
Claverack. 5. Robert, mentioned below.
(III) Robert
(2), youngest son of Robert (1) and Cornelia
Martense (Van Buren) Van Deusen, was born in
august, 1700, baptized September 1, 1700.
He married Christina Roorbach, November 22,
1724, at Kingston, Dominie, Georg Wilhelm
Maneius officiating. Children: 1. Robert,
baptized February 7, 1727, at Claverack, by
the Rev. Pietrus Van Duissen at the
dedication of the church; married Catherine
Van Ham, January, 1750. 2. Cornelia,
baptized November 10, 1727, at Claverack,
died young. 3. Johannes, baptized April
14, 1729, at Kinderhook, Columbia County,
New York; married Fytie Roorbach. 4.
James, mentioned below. 5. Cornelia,
baptized June 15, 1735, at Johnstown,
Columbia County, New York; married Tobias
Van Deusen, May 15, 1758. 6. Martin,
baptized January 29, 1737, at Kinderhook;
married Elizabeth Oostruder, November 1,
1764. 7. Barent, baptized August 17, 1740,
at Johnstown, Columbia County, New York;
married Jenneke Schut. 8. Christina,
baptized October 17, 1743, at Claverack,
Columbia County, New York; married Isaac
Spoor. 9. Tobias, baptized May 31, 1748,
at Johnstown, Columbia County, New York,
died October 27, 1802; married (first)
Hannah Spoor, (second) Tryntje Van Deusen,
February 15, 1789.
(IV) James,
son of Robert (2) and Christina (Roorbach)
Van Deusen, was baptized September 30, 1733,
at Germantown, Columbia County, New York.
he owned a farm about a mile north of
Johnstown, Columbia County, New York, on the
road leading to Hudson, and another farm at
West Taghkanie. The latter farm he gave to
his son Nicholas. The Johnstown farm he
gave to his son Robert, which farm was
afterwards owned by Henry du Bois (in 1894
by Austin Hodskins). James Van Deusen and
his wife are buried on this farm, near the
old hay barn. A bible record owned by Mrs.
Mary E. Briggs-Kells, of Sheffield,
Massachusetts, gives the date of his death
as June 7, 1820. James Van Deusen was a man
of unusual strength and vigor and
exceedingly tall. On account of his height
he was called "Foyer" by the members of his
family. He died very suddenly at the home
of his son, Nicholas Van Deusen, on the farm
at West Taghkanie, Columbia County, New
York, his dead body being found in his bed
by the family slave, named Dunn. His wife,
Elizabeth, daughter of Jonas Smith,
originally Smidt, who came from Germany, and
settled at Johnstown, became blind in the
latter years of her life; she died at the
home of her son, robert, near Johnstown.
Children of James and Elizabeth (Smith) Van
Deusen: 1. Matthew, born February 22,
1761, at Johnstown. 2. Margreta, born
December 25, 1764, at Johnstown. 3.
Nicholas, mentioned below. 4. Christyntje,
born October, 1767. 5. Robert, born
December 15, 1772, at Claverack, New York.
Page 120
(V) Nicholas,
son of James and Elizabeth (Smith) Van
Deusen, was born May 31, 1766, died January
4, 1829, at the home of James Nicholas Van
Deusen, at West Taghkanie, which is now in
possession of the two unmarried daughters of
James Nicholas, who also died there. Thus
three generations of heads of families of
Van Deusen have died at this homestead. He
married Anna Fonda. Children: 1. James
Nicholas, born October 13, 1789. 2. Peter,
born July 29, 1791. 3. Christina, born
December 11, 1793. 4. Matthew, born
September 6, 1796. 5. Elizabeth, born June
8, 1798. 6. Margaret, born July 28, 1801.
7. Robert Nicholas, mentioned below.
(VI) Robert
Nicholas, youngest son of Nicholas and Anna
(Fonda) Van Deusen, was born October 4,
1804, died October 28, 1867. As a young man
looking a bout to secure a position to
better himself, he furnished a man to assist
his father in his store and undertook the
teaching of a school in the neighborhood
where he was born. He afterwards served as
a clerk in the store of Forrest & Van Deusen
at Johnstown. He entered into the flour
mill and general merchandise business with
Abram F. Miller as partner in the town of
Ancram. When Mr. Miller retired from
business Mr. Van Deusen secured the store
and mill on Punch brook, built by Livingston
in 1775, which was situated at Scotchtown.
Afterwards as a result of exposure his
health failed to such a degree as to
incapacitate him for business. He married
Catherine Best. Children: 1. Edwin
Holmes, mentioned below. 2. Margaret Ann,
born July 27, 1830. 3. Ellen, born
September 20, 1832, married William Pierson
Hazleton, of Tarrytown, New York.
(VII) Dr.
Edwin Holmes Van Deusen, son of Robert
Nicholas, and Catherine (Best) Van Deusen,
was born August 29, 1828, in Columbia
County, New York. He was educated at
Williams College, graduating in the class of
1848. He attended the College of Physicians
and Surgeons in New York City, and graduated
in the class of 1850. In 1853 he was
appointed first assistant physician at the
State Lunatic Asylum, Utica, New York. In
1855 he was appoint superintendent of the
Michigan State Asylum at Kalamazoo, where he
remained as superintendent for the next
twenty years. He retired owing to failing
health and lived in Kalamazoo until a short
time before his death, which occurred at
Goshen, New York. He was an active
churchman and vestryman of the Presbyterian
Church, and he was also a member of the
State board of Charities and Corrections,
Michigan. Dr. Van Deusen belonged to the
Free Mason Society, being a member of the
Lodge at Utica, New York. he married
Cynthia, daughter of John T. and Cynthia
(van Slyck) Wendover, of Stuyvesant Landing,
New York, in 1858. They had two children, a
daughter who died in infancy, and Robert
Thompson, mentioned below.
(VIII)
Robert Thompson, only son of Dr. Edwin
Holmes and Cynthia (Wendover) Van Deusen,
was born at Kalamazoo, Michigan, April 26,
1859. He was educated in Kalamazoo, and
spent his life there until the age of
twenty. At that age he began to travel and
has kept on doing so up to the present
time. He has been a member of the Holland
Society and of the Society of the Sons of
the American Revolution, but resigned some
time ago. He married, June 6, 1899, at
Hartford, Connecticut, Harriet Louise
Mosher, of Albany County, New York, daughter
of Leonard Mosher. Children: Harriet
Huyck, born in 1900, and Robert W., born in
1903.
ROE. Of
this surname in its English forms of Row
and Rowe
is said by Lower to be possibly derived from
the word "row", applied to a street or
rather a detached row of houses. In some
cases, he thinks, it may be derived from a
parish of the same name in Dumbartonshire,
Scotland. Or again he thinks it may be
taken from the Gaelic word "rhu", signifying
a low, detached, narrow, peninsula. Rowe
without any prefix is found in the Hundred
Rolls of England. The name has also been
fancifully derived from Roo or Rollo, the
famous leader of the Danes in the ninth
century. Whatever may be said about
the English name of Rowe, however, there
is no
question concerning the derivation of the
patronymic of the Roe families of Ireland
who have in many cases [preserved their
pedigrees over a period of two thousand
Page 121
Years. The Roes of
Ireland are a branch of the O'Neills of
Tyrone, who were monarchs of Ireland for
over five hundred years, the princes of
Tyrone, and Kings of Ulster. The name
itself if taken from Niall Ruadh ("ruadh in
Irish or Gaelic means "red", applied to a
warrior with red flowing locks, who is one
hundred and eleven on the pedigree of the
O'Neills of Ulster, and the chief ancestor
of the Roe family. The old form of the name
in Gaelic was O'Ruaiadh, and has been
anglicized into Rowe and Roe, "d' when
followed by an aspirate in Gaelic remaining
silent. This Niall Ruadh was a Prince of
Ulster, and was married to Nuala, who died
in 1226, the daughter of Roderic
O'Concubhair or O'Conor, the hundred and
eighty-third monarch of Ireland. The son of
Niall Ruadh was Brian Catha Dun, in the
direct line of the Roes, who is reckoned as
the one hundred and eighty-fourth monarch of
Ireland. Under the date A. D. 1258 the
"Annals of the Four Masters" says of this
Brian: "Hugh, the son of Felim O'Conor and
Teige O'Brian, marched with a great force to
Caol Uisge (near the present Newry) to hold
a conference with Brian O'Neill, to whom the
foregoing chiefs granted the sovereignty
over the Irish, and they agreed that the
hostages of Hugh O'Conor should be given to
him as sureties for the fulfillment of this
compact, and the hostages of the O'Reilly's
people and also those of the Hy-Bruin, from
Kells to Drumcliff, should be likewise given
to Hugh, the son of Felim O'Conor." After
this Brian's death on the battlefield of
Drom Deirg at Dunleathglas (now
Downpatrick), commanding the Irish forces
against the English, he was succeeded in the
principality of Ulster by the celebrated
Hugh Buidhe, son of Donal Oge, son of Hugh
Dubh, the ancestor of the O'Neills of
Clanaboy. There are several branches of
this interesting Roe family that have
preserved all the links in their remarkable
pedigree down to the present generation,
notable among them being that of Henry roe,
Esq., of Dublin. The arms of the family are
described heraldically: Ar. Two lions
rampant, combantant gu. Armed and langued
az. Supporting a sinister red hand couped at
the wrist erect, palm outward. Crest: A
right arm couped below the elbow cased
grasping a naked sword. Motto: Lamh dearg
Abu. (The Red Hand Uppermost), this
motto has been in remote times the battlecry
of
the clan of which the family was the head.
(I) Matthew
roe, the first ancestor of the Roe family in
America here dealt with, was born in
Ireland, probably in Ulster, and died in New
Haven, Connecticut. He came from Ireland
about 1640 and settled in course of time in
East Haven, Connecticut. He married and had
children, among them: 1. Elizabeth, born
January, 1650. 2. Daniel, January, 1651.
3. John, mentioned below. 4. Hannah,
August, 1656. 5. Joseph, November, 1658.
6. Stephen, August 28, 1660.
(II) John,
second son of Matthew roe, was born in East
Haven, Connecticut, April 30, 1654. He
married Abigail Alsop, July 14, 1680.
Children: 1. John, born October 23, 1681.
2. Matthew, February 14, 1683. 3.
Stephen, mentioned below. 4. Abigail,
August 13, 1689, married James Morris, in
1715. 5. Hannah, February 11, 1691,
married John Leak in 1720. 6. Sarah,
October, 1700, married Eleazar Brown in
1725.
(III)
Stephen, son of John and Abigail (Alsop)
Roe, was born in New Haven, Connecticut,
July 1, 1687, and lived there all his life.
He married Mary Peck. Children: 1.
Stephen, born September, 1716. 2. Joseph,
mentioned below. 3. Daniel, November 7,
1720. 4. Mary, December 21, 1722. 5.
Ebenezer, February 18, 1725.
(IV) Joseph,
son of Stephen and Mary (Peck) Roe, was born
at New Haven, Connecticut, October 7, 1718.
He married, December 21, 1743, Abigail
Beecher. Children: 1. Joseph, born
September 27, 1744. 2. Ebenezer, September
2, 1748. 3. Rebekah, June 29, 1750. 4.
Mary, January 28, 1753. 5. Eunice, June 29,
1755. 6. Stephen, mentioned below.
(V) Stephen
(2), youngest son of Joseph and Abigail
(Beecher) Roe, was born at New Haven,
Connecticut, January 31, 1758, died in
1835. He served in Job Wright's company,
Colonel G. Vandscaick's regiment, during the
Revolutionary War and was at the battle of
Fort Montgomery, and later drew a pension
from the government. "Rebecca Roe drew a
pension for serves and food given the
soldiers" runs a statement in one of the
papers in the pension bureau at Washington,
D. C. Stephen Roe and his wife were
both recognized by the continen-
Page 122
tal congress for
services rendered the government during the
War of the Revolution. After the war
Stephen roe taught school and was called
"Mr." Roe as a mark of distinction, such a
title being a distinction in those days. He
married Rebecca Lewis. She was presumably
the daughter of Leonard and Hannah (Perkins)
Lewis. Leonard Lewis served in King
Philip's war in Cortland's regiment as
private in 1778, and died in 1817, about
seventy-five years old. His father was
Johannes Lewis, who married in 1737, Sarah,
daughter of Roger Alling, who was treasurer
of the colony of Connecticut from 1661 to
1664. His father, Leonard Lewis, married
Elizabeth Hardenburgh, of Ulster County, New
York, in 1688. He was captain of the foot
company, 1700, and was later called
Colonel. He was a member of the assembly
from 1699 to 1706, from New York and
Dutchess County. The father of Elizabeth
Hardenburgh was Gerrit Ganse Hardenburgh,
who was commissioned July 8, 1690, by
Governor Leisler as commander of the sloop
"Royal" to fight against the French. Among
the children of Stephen and Rebecca (Lewis)
Roe was Bentley, mentioned below.
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