dren. Nathaniel Ely was one of the leading men in that community, as is evidenced by his signature, attached to several important land transactions with the Indians, and the various public offices he filled. He remained in Hartford and in Norwalk, Connecticut, for twenty-five years, and then, in 1659, moved north to Springfield, Massachusetts, where, until the close of his life, in 1675, he again was charged with responsible public trusts.

The Elys were one of the foremost families of New England during the whole Colonial period, were noted for their selfsacrificing patriotism through the Revolutionary war, and many of that name served with distinction in the late civil war.

Nathaniel Ely's only son, Samuel, married Mary Day, daughter of Robert Day and Editha Stebbens; their son Samuel married Martha Bliss, daughter of Samuel Bliss and Mary Leonard; their son Samuel married Abigail Warriner, daughter of Samuel Warriner and Abigail Day; their son Thomas married Sarah Merrick, daughter of Captain Joseph Merrick (the Revolutionary soldier) and Mary Leonard; their son Lewis Ely (the Revolutionary soldier, born 1756) married Anna Granger, daughter of Simeon Granger (Revolutionary soldier) and Abigail Dudley; their son Merrick, born 1793, married Lovisa Farnum, daughter of Elisha Farnum and Thankful Day; their daughter, Lucinda Maria Ely, married Luke Dewey Johnson; their daughter, Louisa Maria Johnson, married Major

* Lewis Ely was born in West Springfield, December 9, 1756. He was married to Anna Granger in 1777; lived in West Springfield nine years, then moved into Granville, Massachusetts, cleared up a farm, and built a saw-mill and grist-mill. The grist-mill burned; went on and rebuilt; afterwards traded his farm for lands in New Connecticut; moved on with an ox team. He started on the 12th day of June, 1799, and arrived in Deerfield on the 25th of July following. His was the first family settled in Deerfield on lot 19, nearly a mile east of the center, where the first improvement was made. The nearest neighbor was at Atwater, five miles, and in Canfield, fifteen miles. They had to go to McIntosh, now called Beaver, sixty miles, to buy their provisions. He cleared up the farm, on which he lived until his death, which took place on the 5th of September, 1826, aged seventy years. His wife died March 21, 1837, aged seventynine years. They are buried in the burying-ground which he gave to the township for that purpose, which is three-quarters of a mile from the center of the town.

Charles H. Smith, Twenty-seventh regiment, Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry.

THE DAYS. The history of the Ely family is so interwoven with that of the Day that one could in most important events stand for the other.

From the time that Mary Day married Nathaniel Ely's only son, Samuel, the Elys and Days down to the present generation have joined their fortunes in wedlock until their commingled blood flows in the veins of nearly all those who bear either name. The American ancestor of this family was Robert Day, who came to this country with Nathaniel Ely in the bark "Elizabeth." He probably was from the same place, and every sign points to the fact that they were close friends, and possibly relatives, before their emigration to America. Nathaniel Ely, Robert Day was an influential man in the Colony, and for generations afterwards his posterity continued to associate the name with important events of Colonial history. Their Revolutionary record also was a brilliant one. In the branch from which Mrs. Smith descends it will be noticed that Timothy Day, her great-grandfather, and his two sons, Lewis and Asa, were in the battle of Stone Arabia. Robert Day married Editha Stebbens, daughter of Rowland Stebbens, the ancestor of all of that name from Northampton, Massachusetts, and many of the Stebbens family in Connecticut. Their son, Thomas Day, married Sarah Cooper, daughter of Lieutenant Thomas Cooper, killed by the Indians when Springfield was burned. Their son, Ebenezer Day, married Mercy Hitchcock. Their son, Timothy Day, the Revolutionary soldier, married Sarah Munn, of Deerfield (whose ancestor was Benjamin Munn, a soldier of the Pequot war, in 1637). Their daughter, Thankful Day, born 1756, married Elisha Farnum, the Revolutionary soldier and great-grandfather of Mrs. Smith.

THE MERRICKS.-Thomas Merrick, born 1620, came to America from Wales about 1630. He settled in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1638, and married Sarah Stebbens, daughter of Rowland Stebbens, July 14, 1639. It will be recalled that Robert Day married Editha, another daughter of Rowland Stebbens, so that of all three families, the Elys, Days, and Merricks, he is a

common ancestor.

THE GRANGERS.-Anna Granger, born 1758, the wife of Lewis Ely, the Revolutionary soldier, was descended from Launcelot Granger, the first of the name in America, whose birth is not recorded, but whose death took place in 1689. His wife was Joanna Adams, daughter of Robert Adams, born in 1601, the American ancestor of one of the Adams families. Their son, Thomas Granger, married Mindwell Taylor, daughter of Stephen Taylor and Elizabeth Newell. Their son, Samuel Granger, married Hannah Pomeroy, daughter of Joseph Pomeroy and Hannah Seymour. Their son, Simeon Granger, born 1728, the Revolutionary patriot, married Abigail Dudley, born 1737Their daughter, Anna Granger, married Lewis Ely, the Revolutionary soldier and great-grandfather of Mrs. Smith.

Mrs. G. V. R. WICKHAM,

Historian Western Reserve Chapter, D. A. R.

THE MOTHER OF TWO PATRIOTS.

ONE of the most ardent Tories of the Revolution was Mary Herbert Claiborne, of Virginia. A beautiful and accomplished woman, she had married when very young Colonel Augustine Claiborne, of "Windsor," whom she had a short time before chosen as her guardian. When the War of Independence broke out Colonel Claiborne espoused the cause of the patriots with ardor, and as he was an eminent lawyer and very popular his opinion exerted a great influence on the community. Mrs. Claiborne, however, was devoted to the King, the aristocracy, and the established church. To her mind, without each and all of these institutions no government could or ought to exist. She was a scion of one of the most splendid families in England, whose members were all staunch friends of the King. Her revered rector kept diligently before the minds of his parishioners that it was their duty to "honor the King," and consequently thoroughly devout followers of the church would

honor" their monarch, though he reduced friends and neighbors to misery and despair and ruined the whole country.by his besotted and iniquitous tyranny. Mrs. Claiborne loved her husband dearly, notwithstanding his odious political principles,

and never meddled with his affairs or thwarted him in any enterprise that would redound to his honor or his interest. When she drank tea (which she did all through the war) it was without his knowledge and in the privacy of her own apartments. She was never so regardless of his wishes as to drink the prohibited beverage in his presence. Mrs. Claiborne had inherited a block of houses in London from a relative, one Mrs. Grammar, and her husband sold them for eighty thousand pounds, which was considered far below their value. Some of this money probably did good service for the patriot cause, or replenished deficiencies in the family treasury caused by her husband's generosity.

It is greatly to be regretted that some of Mrs. Claiborne's letters written during this period have not been preserved; it would have been so interesting to have read her own description of her feelings when the hospitable Colonel brought home his dear friends and fellow-patriots to partake of "Windsor "cheer. She and General Morgan must have had many a sprightly argument, as she was also a descendant of the Morgans and had inherited some of the fire which goes with that blood.

Two of her sons, Buller and Richard Claiborne, were enthusiastic patriots, and both attained the rank of major. Buller Claiborne, at the age of twenty, was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Second Virginia, October 2, 1775. The following year he was promoted to a captaincy, and the year after was made a brigade major, which rank he held until the close of the war, also serving as aide-de-camp to General Lincoln. At the famous battle of Cowpens he aided materially in defeating the infamous Tarleton.

Major Buller Claiborne inherited from both the Claibornes and the Morgans that fiery, impetuous daring, so inspiring in the leader who fights from love of the fray, and dashes into battle with passionate delight. His brother Richard was a member of the House of Delegates from Brunswick during the early part of the war, but he afterwards joined the Revolutionary Army as a major and commissary. His characteristics were inherited from the Herberts. With bravery equal to any, he had as well the calm, deliberate, determined courage that neither slumbers nor sleeps, and is none the less effective for being absolutely under the control of its possessor.

Another son, Thomas Claiborne, sheriff of Brunswick, 17891792, was also a patriot, but did not serve in the army.

The eldest daughter, Mary, married General Charles Harrison, who was a colonel of artillery in the Continental line.

Herbert Claiborne, of " Chestnut Grove," the eldest son, was the comfort and pride of his mother's heart, although she was most tender and devoted to every member of her numerous family. He took no part whatever in the Revolution, and is strongly suspected of having shared Madam Claiborne's Tory principles. He probably had many a cosy cup of tea with his mother, deploring the misguided policy of Colonel Claiborne and his rash sons and devising schemes for saving them from the justice of King George when His Majesty succeeded in suppressing this absurd and unnatural revolt. However, the surrender of Cornwallis must have effectually quieted their anxiety in regard to the welfare of their rebellious relatives.

Herbert Claiborne easily and gracefully adapted himself to the Government of the young Republic, and his descendants are as patriotic as those of Buller and of Richard.

Mrs. Claiborne's brother, Buller Herbert, was so strong in his Toryism that he resigned all his American possessions to his sister and returned to England.

As the gallant colonel and his wife had sixteen children, all of whom, with one exception, lived to grow up and marry, the gift must have been very acceptable to their numerous descendants.

Major Herbert Augustine Claiborne, of Richmond, Virginia, an officer in the Confederate army during the late war, is a descendant of this interesting couple, being a grandson of their eldest son, Herbert.

Major Claiborne's wife, a descendant of the Cabells, Hamiltons, and Allstons, is a prominent member of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Virginia and also of the Colonial Dames.

The wife of General Buckner, of Kentucky, is Major Claiborne's niece, and inherits the beauty as well as the blood of her Tory ancestress.

Dr. John Herbert Claiborne and Dr. James Herbert Claiborne, of Petersburg, Virginia, and Dr. John Herbert Claiborne, Jr., of New York city, are also scions of this noble stock.