William Tuffs Part 2: who are you?

Searching for the family of William Tuffs has been just as interesting as searching for his military record(http://tuftsgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/03/william-tuffs-history-or-mystery.html)

This Revolutionary hero and veteran in Elkhart Indiana left few records of his family origin.

Tufts Kinsmen states he was the son of James Tuffs (Kinsmen numeration; 12-5) of Medford Massachusetts and Piscataqua (Portsmouth, New Hampshire area).  Kinsmen states James was a lumber trader living in the woods of New Hampshire and sending lumber back to Medford by ship. Carl Mauck states in Portrait of a Patriot that, according to William’s own testimony, William’s father was John Tuffs an innkeeper in Mystic (Medford) and Boston. The History of the Tuffs Family by Patricia Tuffs Snyder states the Tuffs family was from Glasgow, England [sic] and were of Scottish and English descent. They were early settlers of New Hampshire, living off the land in the wilderness. We may assume that Snyder meant Glasgow, Scotland (there is no Glasgow, England).This part of her book isn’t laden with facts. She claims there were three Williams who served in the Revolution and that they were grandfather, father, and son. This information is not confirmed but there were many William Tufts who served.

The search for William’s father John Tuffs/Tufts of this time period is confusing. I would like to trust the research of Adams in Kinsmen, but too many records conflict. 

There is Deacon John Tuffs/Tufts of Windham, New Hampshire and Belfast, Maine whose story is told in my previous blog: http://tuftsgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/10/here-is-my-first-attempt-at-article-on.html

That story tells the conflicting stories of Deacon John either belonging to the Tufts of Medford from Peter the immigrant or being an immigrant from Ireland who was shipwrecked off Nova Scotia. In the New Hampshire records, I have found a John Tufts of Newbury who bought 2 parcels of land in Chester, New Hampshire in 1744. This describes him as a trader, no age given.  There was also a John Tufts of Newbury who was a minister of great renown who can be clearly tied to the Medford Tufts family through Peter the immigrant’s son Peter.

If we assume William was born in 1750 (even though he once stated he was born in 1740) we have the following John Tufts who could be William’s father:

I have attached the numbering for each person here from Kinsmen 2010 to better understand them. The first digit indicates the family number and second indicates the number in his family. They are all from Peter Tufts (A-3) the immigrant. His first son being 1-1 and second (James) being 1-2. The William Tuffs/Tufts subject of this story is 35-8.

      John Tuffs (12-3),  born Feb. 1704 in Piscataqua (New Hampshire) to James Tufts (4-1) and Hannah Woodman, descended from James(1-2) and Peter (A-3). This is the John who married Agnes Foote in 1731 in Newbury and raised the family in West Brookfield Massachusetts. This John was also the brother of James (12-5) who Kinsmen states is William’s father. Dr. James Hayden Tufts believed this John Tuffs was from Ireland, of Scots-Irish descent. 

 John Tufts (13-2), born in Feb. 1705/6 in Charlestown, Massachusetts was the son of James Tufts (5-1) and Ruth Grimes. He was descended from Jonathan (1-7) and Peter (A-3). This James was previously believed to the James above (4-1) but Kinsmen 2010 reversed them. This John (13-2) was a mariner, married twice, and raised a family in Medford, Massachusetts from 1727-1745, then removed to North Yarmouth, Maine where his second family was born. His children born in Medford included a William (1727) (37-1), John (1729)(37-2), and James (1738-1739)(37-6), all of whom could be our William Tuffs’ father (except James 37-6 who died young). John, the son, (37-2) was an innkeeper in Boston running the Yankee Hero. He married Mary Collins of Boston and had four daughters. He is mentioned in later court records regarding a divorce and indenture for property. His daughters all lived, had families, and died in Boston (1756-1828) . William certainly could be this John’s son born in 1750 (before the daughters) but no record of this has been found. John’s name also appeared on a loyalist list but he was later a constable so he must have only been suspected. If he was William’s father it would have been turbulent in that home if William’s claims of taking part in the Boston Tea Party are true.

John Tufts (3-3), born in Feb. 1688/9 in Medford was the minister mentioned above. He lived in Newbury, Massachusetts and raised a family of four from 1715-1726. He was the son of Peter (1-1) from Peter (A-3).  He died in Amesbury in 1750. John (3-3) had two sons, Joshua, who was in the ministry, and John, who only lived one year. It is unlikely that John (3-3) was William’s father and he was probably not the buyer of land in Chester in 1744, so there could have been two John Tufts in Newbury.        

John Tufts (16-1), born in 1723 in Medford is the Deacon John who raised two families in Windham, New Hampshire and Belfast, Maine. He was also the subject of the shipwreck mystery. His son, John, was a captain and master mariner. The younger John had two families in Newburyport from 1787 to 1794 but being born in 1749 would have been too young to be William’s father. Deacon John descended from John (6-2) and John (1-10) and Peter (A-3) or came from Ireland according to legend.

John Tufts (17-6), born in Feb. 1726/7 in Charlestown, Massachusetts, was the son of Nathaniel ((6-3) from John (1-10) and Peter (A-3). He married Rebecca Tainter in 1759 in Boston and died in 1760 in Maine. They had no children of record and were married after William’s birth date(s).  

Any other John Tufts were born after 1730 and would have been too young to have been William’s father. The other note I made from these records is that William’s service in the Revolutionary War claimed he had experience as a mariner. During the Champlain Valley conflict, William was in Skeenesborough on Lake Champlain, New York building boats; he also served aboard the Trumbull and the Royal Empire. This would indicate to me that he was from one of the families that were seafaring men, such as John 12-3 or John 13-2.

William was said to have married in Boston but no record has been found of it (yet). He is credited with daughters Helen (Sally),  and Mary (Ann or Polly).; sons, William James Tuffs (1794-1865), and Dexter and possibly a second, John. William is listed in the 1790 census in Schoharie, New York. By 1820 he had moved to Medina County, Ohio. He was in Portage, Ohio in 1830 and his pension application was filed there in 1832 but none of these censuses list his spouse by name or enumerate any children. Most trees on the ancestry.com link William to James (12-5) as stated in Kinsmen, but I have seen no sources to prove it, so these trees could originate from the Kinsmen record. When it comes to William’s family, there are varying family trees. Some indicate the children as stated above. One tree of Olmstead families indicates his wife was Katherine. History of the Tuffs family by Patricia Tuffs Snyder does not detail any of William’s children besides the son William James (1794-1865). For the purposes of this story we will follow that history and refer to the Williams as follows:

William Tuffs (I) (1750-1848) (The war hero and subject of this story)

William James Tuffs (1794-1865) His son with unknown mother

William Tuffs (II) (1824-1865) child of William James and Phylinda Olmstead

William Wallace Tuffs (1853-1925) child of William (II)

William’s (I) children

Helen (Sally) Tuffs (1785-1840) (These dates are estimated from various family trees.) No records of birth and death have been located. It is agreed that she married Jonathan C. Braman about 1820 and had up to seven children. The only record of such is:

 Eunice Marilla Braman. Her record of marriage to Joseph Preserved Eastman is recorded in History and genealogy of the Eastman family of America….. available online. It records their marriage in Wyoming, New York on September 5, 1841 and her birth as Mar 1, 1822 and her parents as Jonathan and Sally (Tuffs) Braman. According to the Elsie Eastman family tree on ancestry.com, the records document the following family: Eunice and Joseph lived in New York then New Berlin, Wisconsin in 1850. They divorced, and in 1860 they both lived in Muskegon, Michigan but Eunice and the boys lived with her second husband, Edmund Towne. In 1870, Eunice and Edmund were in Owatonna, Minnesota where she died in 1879. Joseph Eastman remarried twice after divorcing Eunice and Towne was married twice before and once after Eunice. Eunice and Joseph’s children were: Oliver O. and Jonathan Orson Eastman. Eunice and Edmund Towne had Mary Merilla Towne in 1862 who died in Los Angeles in 1954

Oliver Orange Eastman was born March 2, 1843 in Attica, New York. He followed the family to Wisconsin and Michigan where he married his step sister Anna Elizabeth Towne in 1862. He served in Company H, Michigan 9th Cavalry Regiment on 14 March 1863 and mustered out on 20 May 1863. He then enlisted in Company Battery L, Michigan 1st LA Batty L Light Artillery Battery on 20 May 1863. He was promoted to full Corporal on 27 May 1865 and mustered out on 22 Aug 1865 in Jackson, MI. Because he had lost his leg, he received an invalid pension. Oliver and Anna lived in Iowa and Minnesota before removing to Snohomish, Washington where he lived his last days. They had:

               Marion Leroy EASTMAN 1866 – 1944 Spouse & Children: Mamie Marie JEWETT 1872 –                      1923

            Elma May EASTMAN 1896 – 1977

            Roy Winfield EASTMAN 1898 – 1956

            Sylvia Irene EASTMAN 1902 – 1931

            Cecil Clinton EASTMAN 1905 – 1912

            Lloyd Marian EASTMAN 1913 – 1914

             Ella Merilla "Ellie" EASTMAN 1868 – 1955 Spouse & Children: Carmi Bert CRAMPTON                        SR 1860 – 1901

Carmi Bert CRAMPTON JR 1886 – 1984

Bertha "Berta" CRAMPTON 1887 – 1969

Anna Amelia CRAMPTON 1888 – 1911

Bernice Marian CRAMPTON 1890 – 1980

Frederick James "Fred" CRAMPTON 1893 – 1969

Harold Paul CRAMPTON 1895 – 1943

Oliver Dewey CRAMPTON 1898 – 1901

Spouse & Children: Franklin Granger "Frank" MULLIKEN1865 – 1948

Gladys Irene MULLIKEN1903 – 1972

Ralph Franklin MULLIKEN1906 – 1951

Alta Margaret MULLIKEN1908 – 1993

Evelyn Maud MULLIKEN1908 – 1908

Charles G MULLIKEN1911 – 1913

     EDMOND OLIVER EASTMAN SR 1871 – 1952 Spouse & Children: MARY MAUDE                    OVERHOLT 1880 – 1965

                 Edmond Oliver "Ollie" EASTMAN JR1910 – 1962

                 Etta Elizabeth EASTMAN1916 – 1980

                 ELSE VIRGINIA EASTMAN1920 – 2009

     Franklin Burnett "Frank" EASTMAN1877 – 1964 Spouse & Children: Mary May                                UNZELMAN1888 – 1963

                Jasper A EASTMAN1912 – 1930

                Naomi Valeria EASTMAN1914 – 2002

                Elaine Evangeline EASTMAN1916 – 1989

    Clyde Garfield EASTMAN1880 – 1923 Spouse & Children: Fredolyn "Freda" Naomi                           UNZELMAN1884 – 1941

               Ray Clyde EASTMAN1906 – 1967

               Buelah May EASTMAN1907 – 1990

              William G "Willie" EASTMAN1908 – 1993

              Ivy Freda EASTMAN1909 – 1930

              Clyde Guy EASTMAN1910 – 1997

              Dewey Gordon EASTMAN1911 – 1992

              Daisy Viola EASTMAN1913 – 1929

              Marcelious "Marcy" Orange EASTMAN1916 – 1965

              Marion Oliver "Red" EASTMAN1916 – 2001

              Oral O EASTMAN1917 – 1979

              Orval Harold EASTMAN1920 – 2002

               Goldie Ione EASTMAN

            Jonathan Orson Eastman was born in 1846 in Ohio and followed the family through Wisconsin,                 Michigan, and Minnesota. He did not go to Washington and died in Owatonna, Minnesota in 1938.               He married Anna Catherine Snyder in 1870 in Wisconsin and had;

              Elizabeth Merilla EASTMAN1872 – 1921

              Anna Amelia EASTMAN1876 – 1878

              Mabel Eunice EASTMAN1878 –

  Olive Anna EASTMAN1880 – 1966 Spouse & Children: Byron Miton BOWE1881 – 1957

Harold Melvin BOWE1909 – 1991

Kenneth Eastman BOWE1913 – 2011

Sergeant Stanley Ervin BOWE1915 – 2002

              Etta E EASTMAN1883 – 1960 Spouse & Children Orlie William FARNHAM1884 – 1966

(Unknown child)

Donna May FARNHAM1908 –

Evelaide FARNHAM1911 –

Everett L FARNHAM1915 – 1989

Dorothy L FARNHAM1916 – 2001

William John FARNHAM1920 – 2003

Elements of these families must exist today in the state of Washington. Any information about their ancestor William Tuffs would be appreciated. The Elsie Eastman tree has many pictures of these descendents on ancestry.com. Please feel free to add or correct these families in the comments section for everyone to see.

Mary Marilla Towne (1862-1954), Spouse & Children:

Alfred Lane 1864 –

Eunice Halvorson Lane 1881 –

James B. Belvidere

Eva Smedley Belvidere 1888 –

Charles C. Hoff 1862 –

Marilla Hoff  1903 – 1905

These marriages and children are not confirmed. I am looking for any information on them or their descendents.

William (I) Tuffs children: (continued)

William (James) Tuffs was born 31 March 1794 in Schoharie, New York and died 23 May 1865 in Byron Township, Michigan. In 1823, he married Phylinda Olmstead and soon after removed to Michigan. William was a farmer, born in New York in 1792” (or 1794) according to jabezolmstead.com William and Phylinda may have lived first in Saginaw, Michigan, but by 1844 they had settled in Byron Township, Kent County, Michigan. An historical sketch of Byron Township quotes “Mrs. Tuft” as saying that they moved onto their place on the last day of December 1843 and the only sign of a house was a small sled load of lumber.  Their children were George, William, Elizabeth and Eliza. William may have served in the war of 1812 but it is not clear which of the Williams are which in the records available on ancestry.com (see part 1).  William also may have served in the Mexican War (according to Tuffs Family History). William and his son William (below) died within days of each other in 1865.

Researchers of the Olmstead family have discovered more about this family in recent years and have shown the family to be as listed below. The Olmstead family researcher, Doreen Dolleman, recorded the main differences relating to Phylinda’s marriage to William James was that the children were her own and not from his previous marriage as stated in Patricia Snyder’s article. Doreen Dolleman discovered Phylinda and William’s marriage record of 1823. Both of the above articles are available by internet search and are quoted below. At http://jabezolmsted.com/VOL_9.2/JOB_OLMSTED_UPDATE.htm

“La William Reynolds Clerk of Common Pleas of Stark County July 12, 1823. I joined William Tuffs and Philinda Olmstead in holy bounds of matrimony according to law. Orlando Metcalf Justice of the Peace”

William James Tufts children:

 Mary (Ann or Polly) Tuffs (1832-Ohio). She married Samuel B. Osgood which is confirmed by a Michigan marriage record but other records of Samuel are difficult to find. One states that Samuel B Osgood was the son of Hiram Osgood of New Hampshire and his wife Eliza Edgerley of Exeter, NH. Samuel and Mary are enumerated in the 1850 Newaygo, Michigan census with an infant (Ellen?).The Edgerley family tree on which I found the connection to Hiram also states Samuel died in 1862 by drowning in the Ohio River. There are also records of Mary marrying Thomas Ainslie of England and possibly having a family. Two Osgood children (Hiram and Clara) are listed in the 1870 Byron Center census with Phylinda Tuffs in the home of William and Elizabeth (Tuffs) Evans. Please contact me with any information on their descendents.See the notes in comments below

George (?) Not much info has been found on this son. He possibly died in Middlebury, Indiana after 1850 (Kinsmen). Adams discontinued the line from here. (Possibly confused with George Tufft-below)

William (II) (1824-1865) was born in   Ohio and followed family to Byron Township. He died about May 21, 1865 from disease contracted in the Civil War as a prisoner of war. He had been released and made it home but succumbed after hearing of his father’s death. He married Almira Jane Cronkright and his sons William Wallace and Alonzo Tuffs were born in 1854 and 1856 in Byron.  A graphic description of this couple’s pioneer life in Ohio is in “History of the Tuffs Family as told in 1985 by Patricia Tuffs Snyder. Further research has found some variations in this story but it really tells the story of this pioneer family.

When they moved into t heir new home, they had one corner with pine needles spread on the floor for a bed. Their table was a large block of wood, with two smaller ones to sit on. They had a fork and spoon, a large ladle, an iron (spider) skillet, and an iron kettle. Until a well was dug, she carried her wash to the big spring at Spring Grove a mile and a half from the cabin. This is the same place where the Tuffs family had their reunions for many years.

William and Almira cut wood and hauled it to Grandville. Each trip they were able to buy something for their home. They bought a cow, a pair of geese, and windows for their cabin. They worked from sun up to sun down because as yet they had no candles or lanterns.

One day while eating, a large skunk wandered through the cabin, in the back door and out the front, before he left he sprayed them both with his scent. From that day till her death, Almira had her own personal war with skunks. She would hunt them down no matter where they might be. It was a joke for many years among family and friends if any one saw or smelled a skunk they would say “send for Almira, she’s a good skunk hunter”.

William often took his sons to visit his father and sister. Sometimes Almira would go but she’d rather stay home and accomplish some of her goals. She could not stand her sister-in-lay, Elizabeth. Elizabeth had married William Evans. They lived with her and William’s father in Byron Township. Elizabeth had to be waited on for the least little task. She never split wood, carried water, killed chickens, or planted fields as Almira did. The two women had very little in common. Elizabeth had become addicted to morphine in her early teens. A doctor had given it to her for some minor ailment, (at least in Almira’s mind). This addiction lasted her whole life. Everyone in her family suffered her change in moods.

When William went to visit his father, Almira always got a surge of ambition. Anything from cutting and splitting a huge pile of wood, to building a chicken coup. She did not waste good strength on resentment.

The one thing that Elizabeth Evans made that Almira admired was the family “hair wreath”. This was made from locks of hair of all the family members, woven into flowers and buds that were mounted on satin or velvet and framed. Elizabeth Tuffs Johnson, (grand daughter of Almira) has the Tuffs family Hair Wreath today. It truly is a work of Art. The last hair to be put into it was Libby’s (daughter of Alonzo), and Francis (son of Wallace).

Their children:

William Wallace Spouse & Children: Ellen C (Ella) Leonard1873 – 1949

Francis Tuffs1903 – Spouse & Children Hazel M (Brown) Tuffs1900 –

Muriel A Tuffs1923 – (1940 census Wyoming Michigan)

Lawrence J. Tuffs1905 – 1905

Lewis Leonard Tuffs1907 – 1908

Elizabeth Tuffs1910 –

Patricia Tuffs1913 – 1995 Spouse & Children: Stanley Harry Snyder1917 – 2004

Damian Lawrence Snyder1941 – 1999

(presumably the author of History of the Tuffs Family)

Eliza (1824) married Robert Konkle and had a large family in Michigan and died in 1897 in Byron Michigan. Spouse & Children: Robert KONKLE1822 – 1886

Sophronia Phylinda KONKLE1846 – 1874

Abram W KONKLE1848 – 1913

Wallace Robert KONKLE1851 – 1927

Ella Elagan KONKLE1853 – 1913

Hallie Dellaphine KONKLE1855 – 1873

Sidney James KONKLE1858 – 1925

Catherine E KONKLE1860 – 1860

Myrtle A KONKLE1864 –

Elizabeth (1837) married William Evans and died in 1925 in Michigan. Spouse & Children: William I EVANS1837 – 1907. (no records of family have been found)

William (I) Tuffs children: (continued)

 John Tuffs, born about 1800 was said to live in Elkhart, Indiana and one census records this. It does not, however, enumerate who his spouse and children are. John is nowhere to be found after 1850 and at least one tree notes he must have died before then. We do find records of his son George who went by the spelling TUFFT. George was in the Civil War; he enlisted in Company A, Michigan 13th Infantry Regiment on 17 January 1862.Mustered out on 04 July 1865. One tree, which states George’s death record, indicates his father was Simon Tufft and his mother was Esther Draper.  That record can be seen at the Michigan site http://cdm16317.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/search/collection/p129401coll7

If anyone has more information on this family, please forward it.

Family of George Tufft: Spouse & Children: Sarah A. Phillips1846 – 1926

Clara Edna Tufft1874 – 1930

                        (married three times)Spouse & Children: Samuel Eugene Hanson1871 – 1957

Spouse & Children: Joseph Smith1867 –

Milo Allen Smith1893 – 1952

Harley Smith1898 – 1978

Spouse & Children: Charles Mathew Mahoney1866 – 1918

Max Leo Mahoney1901 – 1961

Lloyd Mahoney1904 – 1963

Clifford E Mahoney1908 – 1971

     George Emery Tufft1879 – 1943 (no family found)

     Clifford Jacob Tuffts1885 – 1961Spouse & Children: Helen Viola GARNER1868 –

Roland G Tuffts1909 – 1978

Elements of this family may exist in Michigan today. George may have lived in Lee in Allegan County, Michigan.

Dexter Tuffs. There is no record of a Dexter Tuffs, son of William or any other Tuffs. There is the possibility that this name comes from a record of George Elbert Reed’s application for the Sons of the American Revolution under William Tuffs the Revolutionary hero.

This is the only mention of a Dexter I have found regarding the Tuffs family but it is a last name in this record. It appears to show an additional daughter of William. If that is the case, she married a Dexter and had a daughter who married a James Fisher. Their daughter Harriet married Ira Reed and their son George is the applicant. There are records of Ira Reed but they list no family of his wife Harriet. Census records of 1870 and 1880 show that Ira and Harriet lived in Jamestown, Indiana and her parents (James Fisher and Unknown Dexter) were from Ireland and New York (respectively).

Again I have to ask if anyone has information on these families, please contact me to fill in the blanks. What I really seek is anyone who may have more information on the patriarch of this family William Tuffs the soldier and hero of many battles. If he is from our Tufts clan he joins many other soldiers and patriots. The family he is assigned to by many researchers is already full of soldiers and patriots and,  if William Tuffs is not from our group, we still salute his service. I would especially like to hear if any of this family state they are of Irish descent (Scots-Irish).

I am sure there are records I have missed and clues that may lead me to them. At some point in one’s research there comes a point at which you must publish what you have and hope it opens up some more doors. Please feel free to distribute this article to fellow researchers or suggest avenues for me to pursue. For now William Tuffs remains memorialized in history and remembered by family and others.