Luke Family Origins

I am a descendant of English King Edward IV, along with thousands of others. He was from the Plantagenet family, one of the most famous in Europe. I am not an official royal because my Great-16 Grandmother Elizabeth Lucy was his mistress. It was common for royal men to cheat on their wives, and several English kings had more than a dozen bastard children. This resulted in so many descendents that the term "royal bastard" became common, books were written about them, and a society of royal bastard descendents exists in England.

Most royal bastards were publicly recognized by their father, thus "legitimized" and supported as a royal child. King Edward IV recognized my Great-15 Grandmother Elizabeth Plantagenet as his daughter, so she grew up royally. She married a wealthy English knight, Sir Thomas Lumley, who lived in a family castle. Lumley Castle still stands in northern England and is used as a hotel (pictured).

Royal Pedigree

Great x 16 Grandparents - King Edward IV (Plantagenet) of York 1442-1483 + (mistress) Elizabeth Wayte "Lucy" 1442-1502

Great x 15 Grandparents - Elizabeth Plantagenet 1463-1503 + Thomas Lumley 1460-1487

Great x 14 Grandparents - Sibilla Lumley 1485-1518 + William Hilton III 1492-1537

Great x 13 Grandparents - William Hilton IV 1516-1562 + Margaret Metcalfe 1520-1566

Great x 12 Grandparents - Mark Roger Hilton 1560-1605 + Ellen Mainwaring 1562-1606

Great x 11 Grandparents - Rebecca Hilton 1602-1674 + Thomas Roberts II 1600-1673

Great x 10 Grandparents - Hester Roberts 1628-1687 + John Martin III 1620-1687

Great x 9 Grandparents - Mary Martin 1649-1694 + Hopewell Hull 1636-1693

Great x 8 Grandparents - Hepsibah Hull 1672-1734 + Nicholas Munday II 1668-1734
                              
Great x 7 Grandparents - Mary Munday 1708-17?? + Hendrick Luke 1710-17??

Great x 6 Grandparents - William Luke 1731-1811 + Catherine Munday 1734-17?? (first cousins)

Great x 5 Grandparents - John Luke 1761-1835 + Margaret French 1764-1823

Great x 4 Grandparents - Azel I. Luke 1791-1874 + Annabelle Mitchell 1793-1852

Great x 3 Grandparents - Isaac Luke 1831-1920 + Rebecca Hewitt 1836-1911

Great x 2 Grandparents - Melissa R. Luke 1856-1944 + Nelson E. Jennings 1853-1939

Great Grandparents - Charles O. Jennings 1884-1969 + Retta I. McIntosh 1885-1968

Grandparents - Howard J. (Jennings) Caldwell 1906-1976 + Dwight L. Thompson 1910-1994

There are several websites that confirm this information, such as: Histories, Familes, Minerdescent, Geni, and Wikitree. Such details are unusual but this was a wealthy family branch that kept records with interesting stories. For example, Great-11 Grandmother Rebecca Hilton was a wealthy English immigrant. Her brothers Edward and William are founders of Dover, New Hampshire. (marker pictured above) She died in 1674 and is buried in the oldest cemetery in Boston. (pictured) Several more generations of her ancestors are linked at that findagrave link. There are numerous accounts of her wealthy husband on the Internet, my Great-11 Grandfather Thomas Roberts:

"Thomas Roberts, born 1600, Colonial Governor of Dover, New Hampshire, was one of the earliest settlers on Dover Neck, New Hampshire. He settled at the Point in 1623, in company with Edward and William Hilton (who became his brothers-in-law), being the only settlers there at the time. Land which he occupied was preserved in the Roberts family in uninterrupted succession for two centuries. In 1638 the people of Dover chose him "President of the Court" in place of Captain John Underhill, whom they had expelled for his various crimes. In 1640 he was elected Governor. Thomas Robert's people came from Worcestershire to London, and their ancestors came from Haverford, Wales. Thomas Roberts was a member of the Fishmongers Guild in London. In 1626, he married Rebecca Hilton (1602-1673) from Wearmouth, Durham, England, sister of Thomas’ two co-founders of Dover Point. They had eleven children: Elisabeth, William, Esther, Jane, John, Ann, Thomas, Hester [my Great-10 Grandmother], Anna, Elizabeth, Sarah." 

Great-8 Grandfather Nicholas Munday was born at sea in 1668 and baptized during a stop on the island of Barbados (thus listed as his place of birth) before continuing to New Jersey. Someone may find time to research and write more about these dozen generations of ancestors. An Internet search of any of these names with their birthdates brings up lots of information. I’ve only written up to Great-4 Grandparents Azel and Annabelle Luke. This Luke Family Tree depicts these relationships.

On the bottom right of that Tree, you see Jane (Williams) Miller. Follow that Ancestor Info link to read about the Williams family, some of the earliest settlers in Pennsylvania. It leads to Great-9 Grandfather Ellis Williams, whose house built in 1754 still stands today and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. (pictured).

The Azel & Annabelle Luke Family

Azel Luke was born in Woodbridge Township, New Jersey in 1791. His parents were John Luke (1761-1835) and Margaret (French) Luke (1764-1823) who grew up there. Azel married Annabelle Mitchell, who was born on Dec. 5, 1793 in New Jersey. I can find no information on her Mitchell family origins, except that Ancestry.com notes her parents were William and Lydia Mitchell from Pennsylvania. Azel and Annabelle moved to Shamokin Township, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania where two children were born: William (1818-1894) and Lydia (1821-1913). They moved to central Ohio where five more children were born: John (1823-1864), Margaret (1825-1874), Mary (1826-1880), Isaac (April 1, 1831-1920), and Charlotte (1833-1910). They were joined in Ohio by three families of Azel's siblings and his parents from New Jersey. Azel's parents (my Great-5 Grandparents John and Margaret Luke) died of old age and are buried at the Sherwood Memorial Gardens in Wooster, Ohio. Azel's family moved to LaGrange County, Indiana where wife Annabelle died in ~1852. 

After most Indians were expelled from the Wisconsin Territory, it experienced a land rush as the population swelled from 31,000 in 1840 to 305,000 in 1850. The Luke family joined this migration and moved to Necedah in central Wisconsin, along with other Luke families. Elderly Azel remarried to Sarah Carpenter and lived to 88 years of age. He died on Jan. 15, 1874 and is buried at the Bayview Cemetery in Necedah. His son Isaac (my Great-3 Grandfather) lived in that area, married Rebecca Hewitt, and raised a family.

Hewitt Family Origins

The opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 allowed barge traffic to move up the Hudson River from New York City and turn west at Troy through a series of locks gradually rising 600 feet for over 363 miles to the Great Lakes. Barges were pulled by a team of mules or horses. This seems slow but it lowered transport costs 95% compared to wheeled wagon transport over dirt roads. This led to rapid development of the Great Lakes region with a mass migration of people from New England. 

Great-4 Grandfather Thomas Hewitt (b. 1793) and his family joined this migration from Pennsylvania in the early 1840s and went ashore in Wisconsin to buy cheap farmland from the federal government. The Hewitt surname came from England and Ireland; as people who cut “hew” wood to clear areas for farming. Thomas married Hannah Miller on May 21,1820. Ancestry.com shows her parents were Robert and Jane (Williams) Miller from Frederick County Maryland who moved just across the state line to Bedford, Pennsylvania where they raised nine children. A nice website about Great-4 Grandmother Hannah Miller's ancestors has more details. Her grandmother Miller (Sarah McClun) came from Rathfyland in Northern Ireland. The Williams side came from Wales. All of Hannah’s siblings remained in Bedford and some are buried at Friends Cemetery.

Thomas and Hannah Hewitt had five children near Meadville in western Pennsylvania before moving to Wisconsin. The 1850 Census shows them living near the town of Medina in central Wisconsin with children: Jane, Rachael, Rebecca (my Great-3 Grandmother born May 2, 1836), Ann, and John. The 1860 Census shows 57-year old Hannah with two older children, but not husband Thomas, who would have been 67 years old if still alive. I have been unable to locate the gravesites of Thomas and Hannah Hewitt, but one website notes that Thomas died in 1850 and Hannah in 1860.

The Isaac & Rebecca Luke Family

Writing this section was easy since a distant relative had already gathered information and posted it on-line. Isaac Luke and Rebecca Hewitt married on Feb. 20, 1851 in Sun Prairie, Dane County, Wisconsin, had their first child in Sauk County, then farmed in Juneau County for over 20 years where they raised 14 children, two who died as toddlers, and one who died at about 18. (Married surnames are in CAPS):

  1. William Alonzo (1852 - 1919)
  2. Robert Thomas (1853 - 1932)
  3. Orville Isaac (1855 - 1943)
  4. Melissa Rachel JENNINGS (1856 - 1944) my Great, Great Grandmother
  5. Lydia J. (c. 1859 - c. 1877)
  6. Orin Azel 1860 - 1932)
  7. Julia Elizabeth  LUKE (1862 - 1916) she married a Luke cousin
  8. Simeon Wesley (1863 - 1947)
  9. Angelia Rebecca MARTIN (1866 - 1941) 
  10. Mary Amanda "Mandy" McDONALD (1868 - 1938)
  11. Clara (c. 1870 - 1877)
  12. Lucy (c. 1872 - 1875)
  13. Eunice Rebecca CARSNER (1874 - 1918)
  14. Alice Viola HAWKEY JONES (1878 - 1955)

The eleven children who survived childhood are pictured above in 1888 with their parents, who sit on either end of the front row. Seated in the front row from left to right, and numbered in birth order are: Isaac (father), Mandy (10), Simeon (8), Alice (14), Eunice (13), and Rebecca (mother). Standing in the back, left to right are:  Alonzo (1), Melissa (4) [my Great-2 Grandmother], Robert (2), Julia (7), Orin (6), Angelia (9), and Orville (3). Isaac was a private in the 16th Wisconsin Infantry during the Civil War. He was drafted late in the war and saw no combat. 

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RjxkeLg6mns/TEZPWxe9R8I/AAAAAAAAGcQ/AnIPTMJmInc/s1600/100509093053.jpg

In the early 1880s, several Luke families moved west to the Dakota Territory and settled near Avon in Bon Homme County, just north of the Missouri River on the Nebraska border. I guess they moved because with such a large family now grown with their own families, Isaac's farmland was far too small to support everyone. Land in Wisconsin was no longer cheap while the federal government offered cheap land in the Dakotas to anyone willing to live there for five years. These were called "homesteaders" who benefited from the 1862 Homestead Act. The railroads had expanded into the Dakotas, but occasional deadly Indian raids remained a problem until 1890.

Farming was difficult in South Dakota so most of their children migrated to Washington, Oklahoma, Texas, California, and Wisconsin. This included my Great-2 Grandmother Melissa who married local preacher Nelson E. Jennings and moved to Oklahoma. Her mother Rebecca died June 4, 1911 in South Dakota. Father Isaac lived there another nine years and married three more times! He outlived three wives and 6 of his 14 children, dying on January 18, 1920 in Avon. Great-3 Grandparents Isaac and Rebecca Luke are buried at the Hitt Cemetery in Avon, South Dakota. 

The Caldwell Family of Oklahoma