Hallocks in Caroline and the Hallock Genealogy

SEVENTH GENERATION

No. 179. JONAS DAVIS MILLS, born 2 May 1795, died [missing], eldest of the three sons of no. 89. George and Tabitha (Davis) Mills (q.v., page 58); married first Mary Hallock, daughter of Thomas Hallock, on 25 February 1818. She was born 8 December 1798 and died in March 1827. He married secondly, 25 April 1831, Mary Platt Mills (no. 148.) born 30 January 1801; who died 18 June 1881; daughter of no. 76 Jedediah and Elizabeth (Mills) Mills of Mills Pond, Smithtown, Suffolk County, L.I. (q.v., pages 53-54.)

CHILDREN of No. 179. JONAS DAVIS MILLS & 1st. wf. MARY (Hallock):-

222. Edward H. Mills, b. 25 Mar 1819.

223. Emily Tabitha Mills, b. 19 June 1821; mar. in Nov. 1843, John S. Huntting.

224. Thomas James Mills, b. 13 Feb. 1827.

CHILDREN of No. 179. JONAS DAVIS MILLS & 2nd. wf. MARY P. (Mills):

225. Sarah Maria Mills, b. 21 Sept. 1832; d. 25 Apr 1834.

226. Robert Sydney Mills, b. 11 Nov. 1835.

CHILDREN OF GEORGE MILLS⁶ (Isaac,⁵ Isaac,⁴ Timothy³) AND TABITHA DAVIS HIS WIFE.

1. ANNA⁷ d. March 29, 1794 aged 9 months 6 days. Buried at Mills Pond.

2. JONAS DAVID⁷ b. May 2, 1795 md. Mary d. of Thomas Hallock on Feb. 25, 1818. She was b. Dec. 8, 1798 and d. March 1827 leaving Edward H.,⁸ b. March 25, 1819; Emily Tabitha,⁸ b. June 19, 1821, md. John S. Huntting in Nov. 1843; and Thomas James⁸ b. Feb. 13, 1827. He md. again Mary Platt d. of Jedediah Mills⁵ (Jonas,⁴ Timothy,³ Samuel²) on April 25, 1831 and had Sarah Maria⁸ b. Sept. 21, 1832 and d. April 25, 1834; and Robert Sydney⁸ b. Nov. 11, 1835.

3. JESSE⁷ b. Sept. 15, 1797 md. Martha d. of Abraham Smith, Jan. 28, 1824, who d. Dec. 2, 1845 aged 42, leaving Egbert Smith,⁸ George E.,⁸ and Anna Bryant,⁸ who md. Edwin Smith.

4. GEORGE PHILLIPS⁷ b. May 31, 1801, md. Sarah d. of Thomas Hallock Jan. 1, 1833 and had Mary A.,⁸ Charles E.,⁸ and George Thomas.⁸ Mr. George Phillips Mills was born at Smithtown, attended the district school and later Clinton Academy, Easthampton. He resided at Smithtown until 1844 when he removed to Bellport and engaged in farming. He was Supervisor of Brookhaven town from 1847 to 1851 and represented the western district of Suffolk County in the State Assembly in 1858. He died at Bellport, March 6, 1868 and is buried in the Presbyterian church-yard, Smithtown.

The writer has found it very difficult to trace all these daughters, as his predecessors have not burdened their records to any great extent with the female members of the family. The ten daughters of the first John have been most difficult to place.

THOMAS HALLOCK. T.6, James 5. Zerubabel 4. d. 5.

Was son of James and Mary-Hallock. Was born July 11, 1768, and died Jan. 7, 1854. Married wife Sarah about 1800. She was born 1781, and died Jan, 18, 1847. They had son:

1. James, born 1800.*

All are buried at Smithtown, L. I.

Thomas Hallock was a farmer of Smithtown, L. I.

The first attempt to gather and set in order the descendants of PETER HALLOCK was the work of Rev. William A. Hallock, Senior Secretary of The American Tract Society. His “Hallock Ancestry” was published in 1866, and tabulated these descendants down to that date. He says of his work:

“Having had the acquaintance of most of those whose testimony is here given, examined most of the wills, deeds and documents, visited the principal localities, ancient residents and graves, and carefully weighed the evidence in every case, I regard the main statements above as unquestionably reliable.”

With the work of Dr. William A. Hallock as a starting point, his nephew, Charles Hallock, M.A., continued the investigation and tabulation and published his “Hallock Ancestry” in 1906. These two capable and painstaking workers have performed a service that would be impossible at this late day, and have built a trustworthy foundation upon which this somewhat imposing superstructure is erected.

The work has extended itself beyond the anticipation of the writer and has practically absorbed his time and attention the past three years. It has necessitated the writing of more than 1000 letters, and tabulates the contributions of 300 co-workers. The friendly interest and encouraging words of these helpers is fully appreciated and thankfully acknowledged. An effort has been made to give credit in the sketches.

PETER HALLOCK, the ancestor of those of the name in this country, was one of thirteen pilgrim fathers, including Rev. John Youngs, who in 1640 fled from civil and religious oppression in England, and landed at New Haven. In 1634, at Yarmouth, England, Rev. John Youngs and his wife Joan, of St. Margarets, Suffolk, were forbidden passage to New England. (History Puritans, Mass. Hist. Coll. Vol. 4, p. 101.) Mr. Youngs soon after settled at Hingham, in Norfolk Co. adjoining Suffolk, 100 miles northeast of London, and six years later on Oct. 21, 1640, he gathered his church anew under the auspices of Rev. John Davenport minister, and Theophilus Eaton governor of the New Haven Colony, which had just been planted April 18, 1638, under a branching oak—a virtual theocracy, the Bible their code of laws, ecclesiastical and civil.

PETER HALLOCK. The Original. d. 1.

Was born about 1600. Was probably an English Puritan, but his antecedents were unknown.

According to a well authenticated legend, he landed at Southold, L. I., about 1640, with 12 others, all members of a Presbyterian Church in Hingham, Norfolk Co., England, about 100 miles N.E. of London. They were accompanied by Rev, John Youngs, their pastor, and immediately set up a church, naming the place Southold, apparently after a Southwold in their native land.

Peter Hallock was accompanied later by his second wife, known as the Widow Howell. She had a son and a daughter by a former husband and he also had a son by a former wife. He promised her that if she would accompany him to this new world, her son should share equally with his in his estate.

After landing in Southold he proceeded west and purchased a strip of land from the Indians in the western part of what is now Mattituck, reaching from the Sound to the Bay, about three and one-half miles, and about one-half mile wide. His wife’s son, Richard Howell, was settled on the west part of this strip, and his descendant, Elizabeth Howell, still occupies it.

The old homestead was on the east part, and the farm is still held by his descendant, George Omar Hallock, the 9th generation from the original PETER.

Peter Hallock had one son, William, who married Margaret Howell, daughter of the widow Howell, before she became the wife of Peter. As his mother was a former wife of Peter, they were not related.

The widow’s son, Richard, also married a daughter of William, thus effectually uniting the Hallocks and the Howells.

The children of Richard and Elizabeth Howell were: John, Daniel, Richard, Jonathan, Isaac, Jacob, Hannah, and Dorothy, thus giving the Howells a fairly good start.

The children of William and Margaret Hallock were: Thomas, Peter, William, and John, with daughters: Margaret, Martha, Sarah, Elizabeth, and Abigail.

The four sons of William stand at the head of the four divisions of the Hallock descendants in which this genealogy is arranged.

The burial place of Peter, and of his son, William, and grandsons, Thomas and Peter, is unknown,

WILLIAM HALLOCK. Only son of the original Peter. d. 1.

Was son of Peter Hallock by his first wife, who died in England. William was born in England about 1610. He died in Aquebogue, or West Mattituck, as now known, in 1684. His burial place is not known. He married Margaret Howell, daughter by a former marriage of Widow Howell, his father’s second wife, who accompanied him to Southold, L, I., upon his second visit. William and Margaret were married about 1640. Children:

1. Elizabeth-Howell, born about 1642.*

2. Margaret. 3. Martha, 4. Sarah.

3. Abigail-Horton, born about 1656.*

4. John, born about 1658.*

5. Thomas, born about 1660.*

6. Peter, born about 1665.*

7. William, born about 1667.*

William and Margaret settled on the land purchased by his father, Peter, in what is now West Mattituck, L. I. He wills the land where he lived to his sons, Thomas and Peter; to his son, William, land near Southold; and to son John, land in Wading River, He was greatly displeased with John because he had married a Quakeress and joined the Society of Friends. The old homestead in West Mattituck is still owned by a descendant, George Omar Hallock, and the west side by a descendant of Richard Howell, Miss Elizabeth Howell.

Of the four branches into which the descendants of PETER HALLOCK are divided in this work, it may be said that the THOMAS branch is found largely in Mattituck and Northville, L. I. The PETER branch contains many notable persons, including Gen. Henry Wager Halleck. They settled in Mattituck, and from there to the south side of the Island, and are found all over the land, some being missionaries in China.

The WILLIAM branch is the least prolific. Their original home was largely in Cutchogue and Southold.

The JOHN branch is the most prolific and contains a large number of Quakers, or Friends. They settled in and about Setauket, L. I, but like the other branches they have undertaken to explore the land, and are found in large numbers in the region of the Hudson River, and in the West.

Our ancestors were undoubtedly of Puritan stock and strongly religious in their beliefs and practices.

They had a strong aversion to the formalism of the Protestant Church of their native land, which was an integral part of the State, and the simplicity of their public worship was carried to an extreme. It is needless to observe that the swing of the pendulum has returned, and ritual and formal observances are again coming into their own.

JOHN HALLOCK. J. 3. William 2. Peter 1. d. 18.

Was son of William and Margaret-Hallock. Was born about 1658 and died 1737 at Setauket, L. I. Married Abigail Swazey about 1678, She died Jan. 23, 1737. Children:

1. John, 2d, born 1679.*

2. Peter, born 1689.*

3. William, born 1695.*

4. Mary-Willets, born 1696.*

5. Jonathan, born 1698.*

6. Benjamin, born about 1700.*

Of the 10 daughters of John and Abigail we have the name of only one. Four Willets brothers, sons of Thomas and Dinah-Willets, of Syosset, L. I., married five of these sisters, as follows, but we do not know the names of four of them:

Richard Willets married, first, a daughter, and, second, the widow of John Powell, who was another daughter.

Amos Willets married daughter Mary about 1717.* He married again, Rebecca Whitson,

Thomas Willets married a daughter.

Isaac Willets married a daughter.

The controlling influence in this interesting incident seems to have been that they were all good honest Quakers. John Hallock and his wife, Abigail, were active members of the Society of Friends, much to the displeasure of his father, William, who gave vent to this displeasure in his will. They settled at Setauket, L. L, in Brookhaven Town. Their graves are marked by small stones, rising little above the ground in the Friends corner.

Mr. W. B. Hallock, of Danby was in town to-day, driving a magnificent bay team of young horses, probably about six years old. Mr. H. is an expert in horseflesh, as a judge, trainer and fitter, and always has a stock of fine horses at this stables. The team on our streets to-day we understood is for sale.

Messrs Howell and Hallock are constructing a handsome dry goods store at Willseyville, dimensions 22 by 50 feet. The Journal correspondent “Keno” is in the employ of that firm, doing carpenter work. “Keno” shows himself a good workman. Success to you, George.

—We had the pleasure, yesterday, of a ride behind a spanking team of bays, owned by Mr. W. B. Hallock, of Danby. They are a splendid pair of animals and under the skillful hand of their owner, while they are no slow goers by any means, are docile and manageable as kittens.

Valuable Mule Instantly Killed on State Street.

About two o’clock this afternoon a singular accident occurred at the corner of State and Tioga streets, by which Wm. G. Hallock, of Danby, lost a valuable mule. A man, whose name we did not learn, was driving east on State street, a sleigh load of coal, and from the rear of the sleigh a bar of Swede iron, three-quarters of an inch square, and with a beveled end, projected. A son of Mr. Hallock was driving a team of mules at a smart pace behind this sleigh, and when just at the Tioga street crossing, the sleigh ahead came to a stop suddenly, the bar of iron entering the breast of one of the mules to a distance of two feet perhaps, the animal falling dead in its tracks. A large throng is gathered about the body of the animal which is still lying in the street as we go to press.

—Mr. Hallock states to us that he was himself driving at the time his mule was impaled on the bar of iron, and that his team was walking when the accident occurred.

–The house of Mr. W. B. Hallock, near Danby village, was considerably damaged by fire between eight and nine o’clock this morning. The flames originated from a defective flue and the roof and upper portion of the building were badly burned before the neighbors, who nobly rallied to the aid of Mr. Hallock, could by the use of pails of water quench the fire. Nothing but active, determined effort saved the house from complete destruction. Mr. Hallock is secured against loss by a policy in the Danby Insurance Company.

—In our notice of the fire on Saturday last, by which the house of Mr. Hallock, in Danby, was partially consumed, we stated that it originated from a defective flue. Mr. Hallock assures us that such statement was erroneous, as the fire evidently caught on the outside of the roof near the eaves, and was caused by sparks from the chimney, a brisk fire of light wood having been just kindled. Mr. Hallock also wishes to return most hearty thanks to his neighbors for their prompt and timely assistance, which saved his house and its contents from entire destruction.

Mrs. Hallock and Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Hallock attended the funeral Monday of William Hallock at Danby.

William B. Hallock, aged 78 years, died Friday evening, March 29th. He leaves a wife and two sons, James H. of Caroline, and Dr. William H., of Auburn. The funeral was held from his late home Monday at 2 P. M. J. H. Hallock, of Buffalo, W. H. Hallock, and Mr. and Mrs. Henry Fisher, of Spencer, were in attendance at the funeral. The Rev. B. F. Tobey officiated. [?] B. Miller, [C?]. H. O [?], A. Boyer, O. S. Jennings, Wm. Howland and W. E. Martin comprised the pall bearers.

1908 Deaths Continued

Edward Hallioch Mills Died Jan 1st 1908 at 3 o’clock in the afternoon. He was born at Smithtown L.I. March 25, 1819 - lacking less than 3 mos. of 89 yrs.

In Mar. 1879 He came to Brookton from Corfu N.Y. with his family and has lived among us nearly 29 years.

He united with this Ch. Dec. 13, 1896. A few remarks were made by Rev. Woodworth, Jan 3. The trend of thought was that a good man had gone - to which every heart present I feel sure responded. His interest in this Ch was unwavering and his loss seems irreparable. His body was taken to Corfu where his first wife and two sons are buried.

In this connection it seems proper to mention the death of Mrs. Mary A. Mills, although she died Dec. 28, 1895, yet I find no mention of it in these records. She was born at Hempstead L. I. Feb 8, 1819. Mrs. Mills was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Corfu N.Y. She united with this Ch by letter June 13, 1880. Her life was a blessing to all who knew her. She was a noble, consecrated Christian.

Evidently the name was spelled by the sound. Few persons wrote or could write. The best scholars and authors spelled awkwardly. Orthography was in process of evolution. Chirography in business transactions was left to the clergy, scriveners, and clerks by principals, who took down phonetically the names as dictated. Pronouncing of proper names was not always clear or intelligible. It varied with individuals. Dialects were different according to districts and geographical location. Some individuals chopped their words, and some drawled. The name Holyoke seems to have been almost obsolete in American city directories and cyclopedias of biography. Quite recently, in 1888, one of the family living in England came over to America in quest of kinsfolk, and found few of the name, if any.

For two generations after the emigration, in 1630-40, the name of Holyoke persisted as spelled; thence onward continued variations took place. Just now, it is quite difficult for inquirers to find Hallocks in England or Holyokes in America.

HALLOCK—HOLYOKE

It is a curious fact that this most circumstantial and apparently incontrovertible story should now be discredited, after it has stood for more than two centuries and a half, by historians who once labored to establish its authenticity. It is even asserted that there was no Peter Hallock; and, indeed his name cannot be found on the passenger lists of colonists migrating to America in 1632-8, as given in the Mass. Hist. Collections. Whittaker himself, whose “History of Southold” is in the Long Island Historical Society’s library, says in a note to the author of these lines:

“T repeated to your uncle, who compiled the Hallock Ancestry, the story which I had heard respecting Peter Hallock, and which is published in ‘Griffins Journal’. I now know that the story is untrue. There is not a particle of evidence to be found that Peter Hallock was ever here.”

But who was? Who was the historical man? Who was the Father of William, whose record is admitted to be “clear and accurate”, as stated. by his acts, and will of 1682? That will is signed William Hallock, but the copyist, whose rescript is of record, has inadvertantly subscribed it Holyoake, a noticeable departure from the original Holyoke. Recognising these Discrepancies in the spelling, which are conspicuous on gravestones and legal documents along the family line for the preceding forty years, the logical conclusion would be that well authenticated facts of long standing, and always accepted as historical data, have simply been overlaid by a mirage resulting from a distortion and interchange of family patronimics.

If Hallock is not a diatonic of Holyoke, whence and how did it originate? It is not common in England today, and is not’of record at Yarmouth or Hingham whence Rev. Youngs and his company migrated.

The name Holyoke has been known in England for centuries, and there is a family coat of arms. One Edward Holyoke migrated from Stafford Co. in 1639, and was afterward President of Harvard College. His son Elizur Holyoke became well known in Northwestern Massachusetts in 1654 from having received a grant of land near Northampton ; and Mt. Holyoke is named for him because he camped at its base while land looking. The family arms appear in his will (1711). He had a son Edward Augustus, who lived to be nearly 100 years old.

There is little doubt that the name of Peter Hallock, in England was HOLYOKE. He may have changed his name to facilitate his departure at a time when many were prevented from leaving by order of the King, and that upon arrival he continued this change of name which was variously spelled as found in documents and records of these early days.

Quoting from the “Genealogical and Family History of the State of Connecticut,” by the Lewis Historical Publishing Co. of New York, the spelling of the name is given as: Holyeake, Holliok, Halliock, Halleck, Hollioak, Hallick, Hallack, Hollyoake, and Hallock, all diatonics of Holyoke.

If there is any doubt as to the authenticity of PETER, the father of us all, the continual recurrence of this name in the early generations is an abiding evidence of the existence of an ancestor of that name who walked about in the flesh, and was known to them. It occurs 22 times in our records of these early generations.

THE HOLYOKE-HALLOCK ARMS

ARMS: Azure, a chevron, argent, coticed, or, between three crescents of the second.

CREST: A crescent, argent.

(Another crest is a cubic arm erect, habited gules cuffed argent, holding in the hand proper an oak branch fruited or)

…

We conclude that the Holyoke Arms, as they appear upon this page, can be honorably appropriated by descendants of the original PETER HALLOCK who are interested in the subject of Heraldry, and desire to adopt a Crest for family use. They appear in the will of Elizur in 1711. He was son of Edward Holyoke who migrated from Stafford county in 1639 and was afterward President of Harvard College. He became well known in Northwestern Massachusetts in 1654 from having received a grant of land near Northampton as stated heretofore.