Hemingway Genealogy

The Great Migration:

There were as many as 30,000 emigrants from England to New England before the English Civil War.   The ships that carried these early settlers to New England  is an amazing story of Providence and the skill of English seamen that dozens of Atlantic ocean passages were made in little wooden ships bringing our Puritan ancestors to America almost without mishap in the 1630's; the unhappy exception being the harrowing story of the Angel Gabriel, 1635, which met a terrible storm and cast up on the coast of Maine with only a few survivors. This movement of people is called The Great Migration.

 

These folks were mainly from the English middle-class, self-reliant and motivated to find a place where they might live, worship, and raise their families without government harassment.  One such settler was RALPH HEMENWAY (HEMINGWAY), born in 1603 in Bradford, West Riding, Yorkshire, England.  He met ELIZABETH HEWES 05 Jul 1634 in Roxbury, Massachusetts, daughter of JOHN HEWES and MARY FOOTE. She was born 1603 in Royston, Hertfordshire, England, and died 02 Feb 1686 in Roxbury, Massachusetts.  Ralph Hemingway died  June 1, 1678 in Roxbury, Massachusetts.

 

Unlike many American families of English origin, it is believed that all Hemenways and Hemingways in this country have a common ancestor in Ralph of Roxbury, Mass. The first US census taken in 1790 uses one spelling commonly in Massachusetts and in Connecticut the other spelling.

 

In 1630, Gov. John Winthrop, b.1583 d. Boston 1649, came to America. With him came a fleet of fifteen vessels bringing one thousand people and within ten years thirty thousand came.  Several towns sprang up, among them Roxbury.

 

During the life of Ralph Hemenway, the town of Roxbury was considered the retreat of the wealthy citizens of Boston and by them a part of the city rather than a village by itself. It is located about three miles south of Boston Common. Between Roxbury and Boston was a stretch of waste and marshy land commonly known as the Neck.

 

Willow trees on both sides outlined the road to enable travelers to avoid the mire of the marsh. At what is now Dover Street, the narrowest part of the isthmus, a mud wall had been thrown up with a pair of strong gates.  This fortification, with various improvements, remained until 1832 or nearly 200 years as a line between city and country.  None could enter after the gates were closed at sun down.

 

A history of the first church of Roxbury, 1630-1904, has been published. Ralph was a member as early as 1633, and was admitted a freeman September 3, 1634. He was also a proprietor of the town.

 

Research of 15th century records shows the name Hemingway to be the most numerous in the Yorkshire area of England. A genealogical researcher, Dr. Arlene Eakle, has been searching Yorkshire records back to 1309.  The Yorkshire Hemingways were landowners who left wills and gave to charities. These are the records the researcher has found:

 

Ralph is known to have been in Roxbury, Massachusetts in 1633. He married Elizabeth Hewes in Roxbury in June or July 1634 and was a freeman there in September 1634.  Elizabeth was the daughter of John Hewes and Mary Foote of Shelford, Essex, England. She had a brother, Joshua Hewes, who came to America and was a prominent man in Roxbury.

 

Ralph and Elizabeth had seven children: Maria (1635-1635; Samuel (1636-1711); Ruth (1638-1686); John (1641-1724), as Elizabeth's father; Joshua (1634-1716), as Elizabeth's brother; Elizabeth (1645-1719), as herself; and Mary (1647-1653), as Elizabeth's mother. With the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th child being named from Elizabeth's family one might expect that the 1st and 2nd were named for Ralph's family. Could his father be Samuel? A Samuel was found in the Yorkshire records, but no proven connection to Ralph has been found. Ralph died in 1677 at Roxbury. Elizabeth died in Roxbury  February 2, 1685/6 at age 82. Their son, Joshua, moved to Framingham, Massachusetts and their son Samuel went to New Haven and later East Haven, Connecticut.

 

Descendants of both Samuel and Joshua were involved in the development of Massachusetts and Connecticut colonies. There were numerous Hemingways and Hemenways active in the colonial period and in the American Revolution. The name was brought westward as the United States expanded inland.

 

Ralph Hemingway, the emigrant ancestor, was born c. 1603 near Bradford, West Riding, Yorkshire, England, where Hemingborough and other related Place-names exist. Ralph probably indentured himself as a servant to get to New England, for John ELIOT's diary records him as such.  Ralph purchased 16 acres of land in Roxbury, Mass. He was a member of the Roxbury Church as early as 1633 and was admitted a freeman September 3, 1634. By 1635 he was one of the largest property owners and tax payers in town and gave liberally to the Roxbury Free School. His will was dated May 4, 1677 and proved July 11, 1678. He d. June 1, 1678. m. July 5 1634 Elizabeth HEWES dau. John and Mary (FOOTE) HEWES (HEWS) see Hewes Family b. c. 1603 Royston, Hertfordshire, England; d. February 4, 1684 at 82 years in Roxbury, Mass.; Children born Roxbury.

 

Sources: Barry and Temple: Framingham, S. Sullivan Hist. of Gilsum (with picture of Luther Hemenway.) Evan L. Reid Ways and Means of Identifying Ancestors, F. S. Drake, Roxbury"; and http://www.hemingway.net/ralph.htm

 "Ralph Hemmenway of Roxbury, Mass. 1634. and His Descendants" compiled by Clair A. Newton, 1932.;

 

Notes for ELIZABETH HEWES:

 

The History of the Hewes Family by Eden Putnam show Elizabeth's parents (John and Mary Foote Hewes) came from London and the Footes Shalford, first settling in Providence R.I. Joseph Hewes signer for the Declaration of Independence was a great nephew to Elizabeth.

 

Several Famous Descendants of RALPH HEMINGWAY include two US Presidents:

 

WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT, PRESIDENT OF THE US (LOUISE MARIA8 TORREY, SAMUEL DAVENPORT7, ANNA6 DAVENPORT, SETH5, REBECCA4 HOLBROOK, DANIEL3, ELIZABETH2 HEMENWAY, RALPH1) was born 15 Sep 1857 in Cincinnati, Ohio, and died 08 Mar 1930 in Washington, DC, US. He married HELEN HERRON 19 Jun 1886. She was born 1861, and died 1943.

 

RICHARD MILHOUS NIXON, PRESIDENT OF THE US (HANNAH ELIZABETH10 MILHOUS, ALMIRA PARK9 BURDG, JANE M.8 HEMENWAY, JAMES7, JAMES6, ISAAC5, JOSHUA4, JOSHUA3, JOSHUA2, RALPH1) was born 09 Jan 1913 in Yorba Linda, California, and died 22 Apr 1994 in New York, New York. He married THELMA CATHERINE PARTICIA RYAN 21 Jun 1940 in Riverside, Riverside County, California, daughter of WILLIAM RYAN and KATE BENDER. She was born 1912, and died 22 Jun 1993 in Park RIdge, NJ.

 

DR. CLARENCE EDMONDS9 HEMINGWAY (ANSON TYLER8, ALLEN7, JACOB6, JACOB5, ABRAHAM4, ABRAHAM3, SAMUEL2, RALPH1) was born Bet. 1849 _ 1879, and died 1924 in Oak Park, Illinois. He married GRACE HALL Bef. 1899. She was born Bet. 1854 _ 1881, and died 1951.  His Son was

ERNEST MILLER HEMINGWAY, b. 21 Jul 1899, Oak Park, Illinois; d. 02 Jul 1961, Ketchum, Idaho.

Hemingway, Ernest Miller (1899_1961), born in Oak Park, Illinois, Hemingway was educated at Oak Park High School. After graduating from high school in 1917, he became a reporter for the Kansas City Star, but he left his job within a few months to serve as a volunteer ambulance driver in Italy during World War I (1914_1918). He later transferred to the Italian infantry and was severely wounded. After the war he served as a correspondent for the Toronto Star and then settled in Paris. While there, he was encouraged in creative work by the American expatriate writers Ezra Pound and Gertrude Stein. After 1927 Hemingway spent long periods of time in Key West, Florida, and in Spain and Africa. During the Spanish Civil War (1936_1939), he returned to Spain as a newspaper correspondent. In World War II (1939_1945) he again was a correspondent and later was a reporter for the United States First Army; although he was not a soldier, he participated in several battles. After the war, Hemingway settled near Havana, Cuba, and in 1958 he moved to Ketchum, Idaho.

Jeanne Hemingway Sharpe's Ancestry, from the first Hemingway in America, Ralph Hemingway, her 7th Great Grandfather, who emigrated in 1633 to Boston from Yorkshire, in England.  NOTE: (The reference to 8th great grandfather is the relationship with Jeanne's sons.)

 

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