Stories of the Sherwood – Seabrooke Family Lines

With ancestry stretching back to c.1611 in Virginia and 1623 in the New England, there are many stories to uncover. As it takes some doing to get one’s head around it all, these have been broken into ancestral lines. This page focuses on Stories of the Sherwood – Seabrooke Family lines, which is somewhat complicated as there are also Sherwood’s found across a number of the other family lines. And just to really complicate matters, we actually have two Thomas Sherwood’s going back into the 1630’s – and they are totally unrelated. I have distinguished them by using their wives’ surnames ie the Sherwood-Seabrooke family and  the Sherwood-Tiler family. There are stories of families associated with the Sherwood’s, with links to these as follows:

Family tree of Thomas Sherwood and Sarah Seabrook

  • John Sherwood married Sarah Hurd
    • Thomas Sherwood married Abigail Darling
      • John Sherwood (1709 Strathfield Connecticut – 1803 Upham Parish Kings New Brunswick Canada ) married Hannah Parruck/Parich (1709 Newton Fairfield Connecticut  – 1777 Newton Fairfield Connecticut)
        • Sarah Sherwood (1728 Newton Connecticut – 1782 Newton Connecticut) possibly married Ebenezer Dann?
        • John Parrick Sherwood (1730 Newton Fairfield Connecticut – 1785 Amenia Dutchess County New York) married Abigail Staples, great granddaughter of Mary Staples who was twice accused, and acquitted, of witchcraft.
          • Asahel Sherwood married Sarah Gregory – an Asahel Sherwood of Amenia Dutchess County New York is listed as a Patriot in the American Revolutionary War – see Internet Archive
            • Rosannah Sherwood married Reuben Brown
              • Asahel Sherwood Brown married Elisa Ford
                • Reuben Revilo “Henry” Brown/Charles Adams
        • Rachel Sherwood (1732 – ) married Thomas Fairchild
        • Jemimah Sherwood (1733 – 1754)
        • Ebenezer Sherwood (1734 – 1820) married Sarah Raymond
        • Hannah Sherwood (1736 – 1794) married Peter Bulkley
        • Bethuel Sherwood (1738 – ) Patriot?
        • Samuel Sherwood (1741 – 1753)
        • Justus Sherwood Loyalist (1747 Newtown Connecticut – 1798 Trois-Rivieres, Quebec or Three Rivers, Tario, Ontario) married Sarah Bottum; Green Mountain Boy; Imprisoned in Simsbury Mine (Old Newgate Prison – Catacomb of Connecticut) ; FreeLibrary; Wikitree -“Justus was a Captain in the Queen’s Loyal Rangers serving in the same unit as his cousin, Thomas Sherwood, his brother-in-law, Elijah Bothum and a Lieutenant John Dulmage. With a re-organization of the Provincial Corps in 1781, Sherwood was under Jessup’s command as a Captain in the Jessup’s Rangers. Quebec Resources; FamilySearch; Amazon – Buckskin Pimpernel; WarfareHistoryNetwork;  Ontario History – He later settled in Augusta Township (Maynard) with his family and a Negro servant (slave)  Caesar Congo in Brockville.The book”Once upon a time in Connecticut” also describes the prison in Simsbury, including during the American Revolutionary War.
        • Jerusha Sherwood (1751 – 1817) married to Loyalist Isaac Bunnell who captured Patriot General Gold Selleck Silliman, Commander of Connecticut’s Coastal Militia – Bunnell and Silliman were both relatives to Reuben Revilo Brown/Charles Adams
        • Samuel Sherwood (1754 – 1824) Loyalist
        • Jemimah Sherwood (1756 – ) married Amos McKinney Loyalist
        • Felicity Sherwood  – some call her the Reluctant Rebel?
      • Seth Sherwood (1720 – 1784) – has been thought by some to have been a Loyalist however other descendants are emphatic that he was not a Loyalist – and some suggest that he may have been a Green Mountain Boy, though with some Sherwood’s being Loyalists and others Patriots, this may have led to confusion.
        • Thomas Sherwood – Loyalist – Revolutionary War Spy
          • Reuben Sherwood – Government Surveyor and captain of guides on the St. Lawrence during the War of 1812 –  served in the 1st Leeds Militia, in which he commanded a Rifle Company, and won the Battle of Ogdensburgh, New York, in the War of 1812.
          • Adiel Sherwood – Loyalist – memories – Biographi –
        • Seth Sherwood – Patriot – Judge
        • Adiel Sherwood – Patriot – Assemblyman – taken POW with his father Seth Sherwood Senior by his brother Thomas Sherwood

Sadly there were divisions within the Sherwood family during the American Revolutionary War. Some of the Sherwood family were Loyalists and moved to Vermont and Canada; whilst others remained in Connecticut after the American Revolutionary War.

An example of family splits in the American Revolutionary War was that between Benjamin Franklin (Patriot) and his Loyalist illegitimate son, William Franklin, Governor of New Jersey. Also William’s own illegitimate son William Temple Franklin who was raised by Benjamin and who sided with his grandfather against his own father during the American Revolutionary War.

References – The Impact of Loyalists on Canada – Legacies of the American Revolutionary War – United Empire Loyalists -about 15-20%  of the American population during the  Revolutionary War were believed to be Loyalists – Expulsion of the Loyalists – .United Empire Loyalists Association of Canada – A Challenging Refugee Experience  – Historical  Narratives of Early Canada 

Stories of Other Family Lines can be found at the links shown below

  • Brown
    • Brown – Loomis Families
    • Barnett – Brown Families
    • Slater – Holcom Families
    • Terry – Robe/Robey/Robie Families
  • Ford
    • Ford – Stetson Families
    • Bisbee – Pierce Families
    • Curtice/Curtis/Curtiss – Caulkins/Calkins Families
    • Grannis – Forbes Families
  • Shove
    • Shove – Bushnell Families – there are Bushnell’s across various family lines
    • Cornwell – Wheeler Families – there are Wheeler’s across various family lines
    • Knapp – Taylor Families