Anderson: First and Second Generation
James Anderson/Elizabeth Brown
James Anderson/Ann Clifton
The Anderson line is my primary line of descent, I descend directly in this male line from John Anderson and Elizabeth Horney of Delaware. The couple lived and farmed in Kent County Delaware before moving possibly to North Carolina and then on to Greene County, Ohio, arriving there about 1801 or 1802.
I actually begin the line with James Anderson and Elizabeth Brown in Delaware. I have some serious reservations about this and the next generation — the first two generations below. All of the evidence I have for these two generations derives from secondary sources found at Ancestry.com. The best supporting evidence for these earlier Anderson families is in an email message from one Marsha McWilliams in November of 1998. Unfortunately, Ms. McWilliams died before I had an opportunity to contact her concerning her information. She did provide a marriage date for John Anderson and Elizabeth Horney, that I have since confirmed from other sources (Cranor, Henry Downes. Marriage Licenses of Caroline County, Maryland, 1774-1815. Philadelphia, PA, USA: Henry Downes Cranor, 1904).
The problematic part relates to James Anderson and Ann Clifton. I have found sources relating to their existence, but nothing firm that connects John Anderson to them. There are family trees that provide the link but those are uncertain, notably because of the discrepancy in the birth date of John and the marriage date of James Anderson and Ann Clifton.
Most of the settlers in Delaware, Maryland and Virginia were tobacco farmers, it is probable that the Anderson, Christison and Dixon families were such farmers. The wills of the men do pass on substantial land-holdings in the area. The Anderson line left Delaware/Maryland for North Carolina in the 1780s or early 1790s. In 1801 the family moved on to Ohio. Tobacco exhausts the land pretty quickly and by the time of the American Revolution these lands were undoubtedly declining in productivity. Exhaustion of the is certainly a possibility, but we should not ignore the probability that these men were true to their Quaker faith and refused to participate in the revolution. They would undoubtedly have faced some degree of persecution in Delaware/Maryland at the end of the Revolutionary War and this could have led to their departure from Delaware/Maryland. The Quakers in North Carolina may not have experienced persecution as many supported the Revolution and several actually participated in the skirmishs that took place against the British.
Family tradition and other evidence suggests that John and Elizabeth left in the 1780s, first for North Carolina and in 1801 for Ohio. David Teague in an email provided suggestive evidence that John Anderson was indeed in Guilford County, North Carolina in the 1790s.
First Generation:
James ANDERSON and Elizabeth BROWN
James Anderson and Elizabeth Brown may have been members of the Quaker community in this part of Delaware. George Fox, who founded the Quakers in England did work among the colonists in this area in the late 1600s. The Society of Friends or Quakers as they came to be known was well established in Pennsylvania by the 1700s and into northern Virginia. This area between Pennsylvania and Virginia eventually became Maryland and Delaware and is where we find James Anderson and Elizabeth Brown. They were residents of the Maryland/Delaware border and very probably tobacco farmers as were most in these counties.
As mentioned above I have been unable to adequately document our connection to this couple, but many family historians believe our branch of the Anderson clan is descended from this couple — little is known of them and the origins of James and Elizabeth. There is very little good evidence in the many family histories at Ancestry.com to support the claim that these are indeed our early ancestors — include them at your own discretion!
Anderson: First Generation
James ANDERSON/Elizabeth BROWN
1. James ANDERSON was born between 1700 and 1710 and died on 13 May 1762 in Kent County, Delaware.
James married Elizabeth BROWN, daughter of ____________ ____________ and ____________ ____________, about 1730. Elizabeth was born between 1700 and 1710 and died about 1765. Another name for Elizabeth was Elizabeth ANDERSON.
The child from this marriage was:
2 M i. James ANDERSON was born in 1733 and died on 12Feb 1791 in Kent County, Delaware at age 58.
James married Ann CLIFTON (d. Abt 1790) about 1754.
Second Generation:
James ANDERSON and Ann CLIFTON
James Anderson and Ann Clifton were Quakers/Nicholites and are found in histories relating to this early Quaker sect. Supporting the connection of John Anderson with this couple is the fact that descendants of John Anderson and Elizabeth Elizabeth Horney lived among Quakers. Elizabeth’s great-grandmother, Elizabeth Harwood, is the daughter of two Quakers — Robert Harwood and Elizabeth Garey. Robert’s wife, Elizabeth Garey, married first Wenlock/Winlock Christison in 1776 after Robert’s death and next William Dixon about 1781. Both Dixon and Christison were members of Third Haven Meeting, Maryland.
As with James Anderson and Elizabeth Brown above, the documentation for James Anderson and Ann Clifton is fairly thin. The only real evidence I have of this lineage is from a contribution to Ancestry World Tree project.
I have followed only two of James and Ann’s children: John Anderson who is our direct ancestor and Daniel Anderson. Daniel is of interest as he married Ann Dinsmore. One of James and Ann’s grandchildren, William Anderson, also married into the Dinsmore line. That marriage occurred in Ohio. As of 18 January, 2011 I have not been able able to find any additional information about the Dinsmore surname that links to our family.
John Anderson and Elizabeth Horney are documented in the next generation. Elizabeth’s ancestry is documented in the Horney Line.
Anderson: Second Generation
James ANDERSON/Ann CLIFTON
2. James ANDERSON (James1) was born in 1733 and died on 12 Feb 1791 in Kent County, Delaware at age 58.
James married Ann CLIFTON, daughter of Thomas CLIFTON and Mary EDMONDS, about 1754. Ann was born about 1735 in Mispillion Hundreds, Kent, Delaware and died about 1790 about age 55. Another name for Ann was Ann ANDERSON.
Children from this marriage were:
3 M i. John ANDERSON was born in 1755 in Kent County, Delaware and died in 1816 in Xenia, Greene County, Ohio at age 61.
John married Elizabeth HORNEY (d. Abt 1820) on 9 Aug 1775 in Caroline County, Maryland.
F ii. Anne ANDERSON was born in 1763.
M iii. James ANDERSON was born in 1765.
M iv. Issac ANDERSON was born in 1769.
4 M v. Daniel ANDERSON was born on 3 Oct 1771 in Kent County, Delaware and died in 1861 in Greene Co., Ohio at age 90.
Daniel married Jane DINSMORE (d. 1864) on 3 Jul 1817 in Greene, Ohio, USA.
5 M vi. Elija ANDERSON was born on 29 Aug 1773 in Kent County, Delaware and died in Jul 1856 in Clark County, Ohio at age 82.
Elija married Susannah CAIN before 1796 in Clark County, Ohio.
F vii. Mary ANDERSON was born in 1777.
F viii. Sarah ANDERSON was born in 1783.
Please note that the marriage date reported above for James Anderson (1733-1791) is speculation and based on a guesstimate that James and Ann would likely have been married about one year before the birth of John (1755). Various family histories/genealogies I have located on Ancestry.com are not terribly convincing with respect to John Anderson’s presence as a member of this family, or that Ann is his mother. Some of these leave the impression that John, if indeed a member of this family, was born prior to James’ marriage to Ann Clifton and is possibly from an earlier marriage of James. Again there is not known record that I have been able to find that documents this relationship.
So we are left with some very serious doubt as to this connection. I would very much like to hear from others researching this line, particularly if they have documentation that clearly places John Anderson as a son of James and Ann.
MY GGGG Grandfather was James Anderson. He landed in Chester N,S. He and his wife Mary Brimmer Anderson and children Eunice born in Baltimore 1776, Mary born in NY 1780 ,, their son John was born in Chester Nova Scotia in 1790. We think he was a loyalist as he left behind a home in Ann Rundel Baltimore and a farm on the Pontomac (North) near Fort Cumberland. He had a Memorial which he was denied. He had lovely penmanship. Was a Mariner perhaps a Sea Captain. He died in the West Indies in 1797, We can no connect him to anyone. dgrain@aol.com
Pat (Anderson) Grainger He called his son John. John called his first son James other names William, Joseph, Ebinizer, Robert,
Anderson is a very common name and one that is definitely difficult to pin down precisely in early American history. So far as I have been able to determine, James Anderson was in Kent County, Delaware. I am not really confident in our direct connection/link to this James and Ann Clifton.
John Anderson is an identified and documented ancestor who did live in Delaware. He was probably not among the loyalists, though it is doubtful he fought in the Revolutionary War as many members of the family seem to have been Quakers or were associated with the Quakers. Note that both James Anderson and Ann Clifton were known to be members of the Nicholites, a fundamental form of Quakerism.
I have exchanged information with David Teague and he sent to me suggestive evidence that John Anderson, his wife Elizabeth Horney Anderson were in North Carolina in the very late 1780s and 1790s. Stories in the family, land records and his will place John, Elizabeth and their five children, Esther, Lydia,John Horney, Rhoda, and James in the Caesar Creek area of Greene County, Ohio by 1801 to 1803.
I have not found any mention of a Canadian or loyalist connection in the past, though I would suppose it is possible. I do know that in many of the on-line genealogies, that this John Anderson is listed as a son of James Anderson and Ann Clifton, however, his presumed birth date casts some doubt upon that possibility. One might speculate that John was taken in by James and Ann for some reason — this would possibly account for the anomalies with regard to his birth date and those of the other children in this family.
You can see what I have about these early members of the family on these pages, should you be interested in more information (e.g., sources, etc) please contact me through my email account.
Thank you for the time spent on this. The Andersons that came forward from James who came to Chester Nova Scotia in the 1780’s were all very “God fearing ” people. My father was a farmer. Every Sunday without fail he would get up..dress up…and read the Bible for several hours.
I could send you the letter he wrote in applying for a Memorial re Loyalists. He was denied.
I and several others wish we could trace John ( who came to N.S) to someone.
Any suggestions. dgrain@aol.com Thank you.
How do I get your email?
I meant to say ” wish we could trace James (who came to N.S.)” not John.
He married Mary (Marie) Brimmer. I think there were some Brimmers in the Quaker
settlement in Pennsylvania but am not sure of that.
I responded to your comment in an email. Essentially I said that I am not aware of any Andersons in this line that went to Canada during or after the Revolutionary war. I believe both James Anderson and Ann Clifton remained in the Delaware area until their deaths in the early 1790s. I don’t have a great deal of confidence in my connection to this family and those who preceded. There may have been others in this earlier generation who fled the United States (to be) during the revolutionary war. Many families did so, though the Quakers may have been less likely to be Loyalists and have attempted to remain neutral in that conflict.
Now that ancestry has DNA I can assure you thru several trees that were thoroughly checked that indeed John Anderson who married Elizabeth Horney is part of the James Anderson and Ann Clifton family. DNA also matches to brother James Anderson III and his wife Esther, also a brother Major Anderson and his wife Maryann Mendenhall and our direct ancestor Eli Anderson and his wife Mary Thatcher.
Are you still active in research as I believe I am part of them
Kimball,
I have pretty much stepped aside from this research. I work with the family information on Ancestry.com where I frequently update with the hints provided there.
You asked in an earlier comment if I have done the DNA, yes I have through Ancestry.com. I have also made contact with people from that location.
Should you read this reply, please send a message to me at rholmesanderon@earthlink.net. I check that regularly and the response is more like to be timely.
Thanks You
Richard Anderson