Notes for SR JOHN HARTWELL:
HARTWELL GENEALOGY - OUR ROOTS
Hartwells of America is an organization for people with a link to the HARTWELL surname. It was expressly formed "to hold meetings and preserve records, memorials, histories and genealogies." It seems efforts to find the lineage of Lorenzo Dow HARTWELL, b 1803, remains illusive. This line is one of the twenty-one "unattached families"--unattached from William HARTWELL of Concord Mass, 1636, with ancestral roots in England and Sir Richard of the 1300's. From THE HARTWELLS OF AMERICA, A GENEALOGY, we learn how this work came about.
"As early as 1882, Mr. Lyman W. Densmore began his quest to unite Hartwells, and document the HARTWELL genealogy. His mother was Olive HARTWELL and at some point he was persuaded to undertake the preparing of a history of the HARTWELL family. This was to become something of an obsession with him and his efforts yielded material for two books, the HANDBOOK OF HARTWELL GENEALOGY, published in 1887, and the other, THE HARTWELL FAMILY, published in 1895. Using the Handbook of HARTWELL Genealogy, 1636-1887, as a starting point, John F. HARTWELL brought family lines up to date, filled in some gaps and tried to unravel 'mystery families.' Eventually, his research yielded enough new information to warrant its being combined with Densmore's work in a new book, THE HARTWELLS OF AMERICA, A GENEALOGY, published in 1956. A supplement was published in 1962."
Further insight is gained from the following excerpts of this book:
VIRGINIA HARTWELLS
Legend -
Three brothers come from England to America before the Revolutionary war whose surnames were HARTWELL and whose given names are unknown. After the war, two of them settled in New York State, and the other went South and settled in Virginia. Here it seems that all communication between the two in New York and the one in Virginia ceased. The Virginia brother left one son:
JOHN-2, who also left one son:
JOHN-3, who m SARAH SMITH (1839) of Scotch-Irish descent. Sarah came to Illinois with her son, LORENZO DOW-4, and later m Jacob Sanders, who built the old log house, which still stands near Union Grove Church. This legend comes from Roscoe C. HARTWELL-6 of East St. Louis, Illinois.
Another legend - (From Claude-7 HARTWELL of Bryan, Texas)
"There is a legend, not written, that the group of Hartwells from which I came, originated from a HARTWELL who came over with Cornwallis and deserted, marrying a Virginia girl, and finishing the Revolutionary war with Washington's army. It is said that he had ten or twelve sons, and was the paternal grandfather of my grandfather, Lorenzo Dow HARTWELL."
(?) These two legends seem to unite on
4 LORENZO DOW-4 (John-3 John-2), b 1803 (or 1802) d 1866 (or 1865) in Tennessee, m Nov. 4, 1829, CECILY HARRIET, dau of LEWIS HODGES, b 1809, d 1881.
CECILY had a fairly good education for that day and time. She worked in the field with her husband raising tobacco, and at night she taught him the alphabet, how to read, write and spell. He became well versed in the Scriptures and long before his death he was a Baptist minister. He was the principal founder of the Lake Creek Baptist Church. When he was four years old, his father left his wife and little son, went West, and was never heard of again. Lorenzo was bound to a Virginia planter and store owner, who agreed to educate the boy, and give him a horse, bridle and saddle when he became twenty-one years of age. Instead, he turned the boy out into the world without keeping any of his promises. In about 1837, Lorenzo moved from Virginia to Tennessee and from Tennessee to Illinois, settling his family in the "old homestead" (possibly at Marion, Illinois?) and died there. He had twelve children.
THE DATABASE
In 1997 I set out to learn more about my Hartwell roots. Almost immediately I began to discover research done by other Hartwell descendants. I began "compiling" information, adding my own research for my line. As often happens when attempting a compilation, the earliest sources are not always the first to be found and it became confusing as to who deserved credit for what information. This database, THIS COMPITATION, credits sources as they are found. When an earlier research effortwas discovered, attempts were made to credit the 'new' source for additional (or new) information added to the database. The Hartwell Family, 1925, by John Lorenzo Dow Hartwell (b. 2 Mar 1858, d. 9 May 1932), grandson of Lorenzo Dow Hartwell is probably the earliest genealogy done for the "Virginia Hartwells" yet it has been my latest "find." The work is significant because he was able to interview many of the older Hartwell family members, acquiring first hand information. Unquestionably it is this source that gives us the majority of the legends associated with Lorenzo Dow Hartwell and Sicily Harriet Hodges.
Information in the database presented here for the descendants of John HARTWELL, Sr. comes from FIVE main sources: 1) Tim Leon Rissi researched the Lorenzo Dow Hartwell line quite extensively. His wife is a 4th generation descendant of Elizabeth HARTWELL, fourth child of Lorenzo Dow HARTWELL, Sr. I obtained his information from Jerry Collins (another Hartwell researcher) and eventually spoke to Mr. Rissi and gained permission to incorporate his information into my database. Since it represents my "base" there are no souce references for his information. 2) Information had also been compiled for many of the same descendants by Ruth Eklund (LDS referenced) and it has been noted when additional or conflicting information about a person was offered. Ruth's connection to the HARTWELL line is with Volney HARTWELL (son of George Willeford HARTWELL and grandson of Lorenzo Dow HARTWELL, Sr.). 3) Research done by William E. HARTWELL, a great-great grandson of Lorenzo Dow, Sr. through his eldest son, John Lewis HARTWELL. His valuable comments have been added and noted. 4) More recently "The Hartwell Family" by J.L.D. HARTWELL, done about 1927, was found. It provides first hand accounts of the lives Lorenzo Dow Hartwell's children. His work has been transcribed and updated by an unknown person from the Kelley line. 5) Zipra HARTWELL Morgan compiled information for George Willeford HARTWELL's descendants, especially information for his son, Ulysses Sherman HARTWELL.
Child of SR JOHN HARTWELL is:
