| Notes |
- RESEARCH_NOTES:
1. The book "Descendants of Joseph Loomis in America," by Elias Loomis; update of 1875 edition published by Elisha S. Loomis, Berea, Ohio, 1908. Note - Dr. Elias Loomis died before the Supplement was published. But this third (1908) edition contains all new materials which he had collected, along with all new data collected and obtainable since his death. From Preface: 'While we have retained unbroken Dr. Elias Loomis's historical account of Joseph Loomis, his origin and his name, as set forth under the heading, Historical Data, p. 21, yet we deem it best to add such supplementary facts as have come to light since 1875, especially as touching the name Loomis. Indeed it is very doubtful if our ancestral name originated in the way Dr. Loomis surmised, as the investigations of Prof. C. A. Hoppin, Jr., hereinafter given, seem to show. That Joseph's great-grandfather died at Thaxted, Eng., in the year 1551, is now proved as evidenced by Thaxted church records. But whence came his ancestors, what was the origin of the name, and what is our right to a coat-of-arms? These queries are raised and discussed in Prof. Hoppin's scholarly report to which the reader is referred. Evidently our antecedents are not Royal, but something far better, viz., clean, God-fearing, industrious men of respect and influence - men of character and back-bone.'" The book notes:
Unknown, two sons:
Thos. Lummyus, d. 1551.
John Lummys, will 1567, m. to Kyrsten Pasfield (or Jackson). Two sons:
John Lummys, bap. 1562, d. 1619, m. to Agnes. Six children:
Joseph Lummys the emigrant, m. Mary White, dau. of Robert White.
Ann (Warr).
Sara (Burton)
Elizabeth (Preston)
Jane (Pengally)
Geoffrey, d. 1625, m. Priscilla (Whitehead?), d. 1631. One daughter Priscilla.
Edward Lomys of Bocking, m. 2 Aug 1593 to Alicia Perie. Four Children:
Jane, d. 1595.
Frances, d. 1595.
Thos., c. 1596-7.
William, bap. 9 Jan 1596-7.
William Lommance, d. 1540, five children:
John Lommance, m. Alice Pasfield (or Jackson) will 1580, four children [see book for detail].
William Lummys, d. Lavenham 1573.
Margaret (Llower) Brigham.
James Lummys, living 1573.
Richard Lummys, d. Lavenham 1588, m. Anne or Agnes Gylbarte, four children [see book for detail].
2. The book "Descendants of Joseph Loomis in America," by Elias Loomis; 3rd edition published by Elisha S. Loomis, Berea, Ohio, 1908, pp. 83-93:
The will of "John Lummys, grandfather of Joseph, the emigrant:
'Commissary Court of London (Essex and Herts), Somerset House, London:
In the name of god amé. The xix daye off februare in the yeare off owr lord god M.CCCCC threescore & syx I John lomesse off thaxsted in ye Cowntey off Essex Carpenter beying off pfecte & hole off mynde thanke be gevyn to allmyghty god, do make thys my last wyll & testament in maner & forme foloying that ys to saye, Fyrst I bequeve my sowle into the hands off allmyghty god my maker & redeemer & my body to be buryed in the churche yare off thaxted aforesayed, Item I geve unto the poremés box there iiij Itm I geve & bequeth unto kyrstyne my wyfe my howse wth a garden plotte ther unto belonging durying her naturall lyfe and affter her decese, I will the sayed howse wthye garden to be solde & equalli to be devyded amonge all my chyldre & yff any off the dye I wyll that pey wch shall remayn to haue yt a monge them, Itm I geve unto my wyfe all my dett & movablys whatsoever they be out off the w'ch Iwyll she shall paye to every on off my chyldren xiij's iiij'd in fyve years begynnyg at the eldeste fryst & so forthe unto ye last. Itm I geve unto Krysten my wife all my other goods not bequeathed to paye my detts w't & to brynge my body in to ye erthe whom also I ordayne & make myn Executryx wth Robert almon ye elder, and I wyll that he shall haue for yys paynes vj's viij's.
thes beying wytnesses John button, Wyllam Clarke & Roberte pker the wryter hereoff. Proved at Stortford xij May 1567.'
From the baptisms (subjoined) it is seen that this testator was father of John 'Lymace' baptized in 1562, five years before this will, who, we shall prove, removed to the neighboring town of Braintree, becoming the father of Joseph Lummys, or Loomis, and other children.
The early register of the parish church in Thaxted, variously called St. Mary the Virgin, St. John the Baptist, and St. Lawrence of Thaxted, is a book with parchment leaves, well preserved. The records of marriages and burials, which the book contains, are as old as exist in any church in England, viz: - from 1538. There is but one imperfection to break the continuity and completeness of these records from that date to the present time. Within modern years some one has cut out of the baptismal register the pages bearing the entries between 1538 and 1558. This loss is quite serious to the Lomas inquiry, leaving us, as aforesaid, unable to see quite as clearly as is desired the exact relationships, one to the other, of the earliest known members of Thaxted. All the baptisms, marriages and burials from 1538 to 1600, under the general name of Lomas, however written by the several clerks of this parish, are here beneath reproduced verbatim. The first Lomas item given is that of the baptism of our John 'Lymace' whose father's will we have just read. As this document proves that there were other children, they must have been older than John, for their baptisms, not now appearing after the baptism of John, 1562, would have been entered upon the pages that were cut out of this register. One of these Children, it is imagined, was the Edward 'Lomys' who also appeared in Braintree and Bocking, marrying Alicia Perie in Bocking Church, 2 August, 1593, and had four children there, three of whom died very young, the son William surviving. this name of William again recalls the William of Taxted, the apparent grand-uncle of John of Braintree. Edward and John are the first persons of their family name of record in Braintree-Bocking.
Thaxted church records, 1538 to 1625:
Baptisms:
1562 Januarye. Johes Lumace bapt xxix'o die.
1570 Julye Willns Lammarche fil Johis ix die.
1571 Auguste Sara Lammarche xxx'o die.
1573 December Walterus Lammarche ultimo die.
1579 Januarye Elizabetha Lamas xxiiii'o die.
1580 November Johes Lammarshe viii'o die (son of John and Dorothy)
1585 August Thomas Lammas fil Johe xxx'o die (son of John and Dorothy)
Marriages:
1549 ffebruary Richus Lymmys & Annes Gylbarte, 7.
1550 August Richus Hayloge & Johanna Lymace, 4.
1559 April Willm's Lummys et Margaret Brigham xxv'o Aprilis.
1568 November Johannes Lammas et Dorothy Moulton xxi'o die.
1582 Januarie Nicolaus Woodde et Johanna Lummys xxi'o.
1590 September Rowland Rice and Dorothea Lamas xvii'd.
1605 September John Silvester & Margaret Lammas xxix'o.
Burials:
1540 July William Lommance, 20.
1541 May Elizabetha Lummis, 21.
1549 July Margareta Lummeas, 31.
1551 October Thomas Lummyus, 28.
1567 April Johnes Lummys xii die (Father of John bap. 1562.)
1570 Julie Wilhelm Lammas fil Johis xx die (bap. 11 days before; son of John and Dorothy.
1574 March Gualters Lummas xxiiii.
1579 November Nicolai Woodd, wever, ultimo.
1588 Aprill Johanes Lamas, Eutia cstis, (Warden) iiii die (married Dorothy Moulton 1568; either she or her daughter married, 1590, in Thaxted, Rowland Rice.)
1597 March Agneta Lumys, Vidua (widow) xxv.
These church records, when dissected and supplemented by other evidence which they have led up to, reveal the outline of the particular family in which we are interested to be substantially as set forth in the chart on p. 86, which see. [See the separate note above where I detail the referenced family tree.]
Contemplating the Thaxted evidence as a whole, it is seen that the burials do not indicate the presence there, before 1538, of but three adult Lomases beside the William dying 1540, - viz: - the two females, dying in 1541 and in 1549, and Thomas Lummyus who died in 1551. Therefore it may be accepted that there was not more than one generation, if even that, in Thaxted prior to these names of 1540-1551. A search of the manor Court Rolls of the Honor of Clare, for the sessions held at Thaxted was begun at the year 1420 and continued, voluminously, to 1515. No Lomas was mentioned; no mention was expected. The missing Court-Rolls after 1515 have been referred to. The Lay Subsidies and Fines (agreements in the sale of real estate) have been exhausted. The Proceedings in Chancery, Inquisitions, etc., reveal nothing about the family in Thaxted, or Braintree or Lavenham, in the county of Suffolk. By this it is plain that these Lomases, or Lummyses, kept out of the courts of civil law. The Ancient Deeds yielded nothing after a complete search...
William Lommance, dying in Thaxted, 1540, left no will or inventory that is now of record, the same likewise of Thomas who died 1551.
As an apparent freeholder of both house and land, John Lummys, or Lomess, the grandfather of the emigrant stood very well in his native town of Thaxted; but he died young, seemingly under forty. As has been seen, his will did not name any of his children, possibly because they were so young.
John 'Lomesse' must have been a man of few words, unless much indisposed when he sent for Robert Parker to write his will. Houses with or without 'garden plotts,' in his time, were known by names instead of numbers. Of but few citizens could it be said that they owned house and land. The great majority of houses and the most of the land was manorial and Crown property in Thaxted, as elsewhere, and obtainable only upon lease or rental. John Lummys was thus singularly independent. His property must have been sold as his will directs, if not before, for the family had all dispppeared from Thaxted records by about 1600. If we knew how many children were in the family, how many grew up and married, and where they went from Thaxted, then we might answer some queries now not answered. But the veil is drawn, and we probably shall never know.
Thaxted, long since shorn of its commercial prestige, is more interesting than Braintree and the average town. Seven miles from the railways, it slumbers on with scarcely a modern building on its slopes. Upon approaching from the south, the traveler's first view discloses what seems to be a small cathedral city centering in a niche, upon a hill, round about a church, - its roofs tiled and mossy, jumbled and impressive in the sunshine. This view from the southward height promises much of modern import; but the promise is broken when the empty market-place meets the eye. The main streets seem quiet, lonesome and mediaeval, particularly by moonlight. Quaint, irregular houses of two and three stories, some with the front of each floor protruding out over the story beneath, lean forward, or upon each other sideways, as if forlorn over departed days.
Nevertheless, there is one object here, which no other Essex town or city can match - the parish church. [The book describes the church in detail. It is reputedly the finest of the 436 churches in the county of Essex. It predates the Loomises. It is currently in poor repair without repair funds since the parish is currently so poor. It stands as a testament to the prominence it commanded in olden days. A photo is included. The author notes that there are no interior stones nor cemetery stones with the Lomas family memorialized.]
The various forms in which the general name of Lomas, in the Thaxted church records, have been set forth, showing how the name appears several times as 'Lammas' and 'Lamas.' This form is the name of another family than Lomas altogether and one not of the del Lumhalgh origin at all. The ecclesiastical scribes of Essex were familiar with the word Lammas before any Lomas appeared therein. They sadly confounded the two names, the similar pronunciation being deceptive indeed; and as it has been advanced that the name of Lomas or Loomis might have derived from Lammas (pronounced Lummas) it is advisable to disprove that idea." [The author over several pages gives a detailed history of the origin of "Lammas" which he purports is never confused or corrupted (except apparently in the Thaxted records) for Loomis, Lomas, or any variation thereof. Lammas, unlike Lumhalgh, refers to a harvest festival at which loaves of bread were consecrated, made from the first ripe corn. It also meant the part of the year marked by this festival. Its use is quite ancient.]
DEATH:
1. The book "Descendants of Joseph Loomis in America," by Elias Loomis; 3rd edition published by Elisha S. Loomis, Berea, Ohio, 1908, p. 88: "William Lommance, dying in Thaxted, 1540, left no will or inventory that is now of record, the same likewise of Thomas who died 1551."
SOURCES_MISC:
1. Per family group sheet archive record submitted by Jesse Lenard Warner, 627 S. 8th W., SLC, Utah. References: "Loomis Family in America A6 F 15, Am Pub Ar, vol 4, p 283." Mentions George A. Smith as Family representative and as 11ggson.
|
Chris & Julie Petersen's Genealogy
Abt 1487 - 1551 (64 years)
