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Many of our namesakes – Eustace, Eustice,
Eustis – can trace their ancestry to Cornwall.
Cornwall is a duchy (county)
occupying the southwestern most area of England.
It is a peninsula bounded by the English Channel on
the south and the Atlantic Ocean on the west and
north and terminates in a point on the west called Land’s
End. It shares a border with only one other county, namely Devon
to the east. The Scilly Islands,
located just offshore to the west, are also part of Cornwall.
Anciently, the Cornish were a Celtic people, related to the ancient
Irish, Scottish, Welsh and Britons, who lived in Cornwall
since the introduction of farming around 3000 B.C and had their own
language. The old Cornish name for Cornwall
was Curnow. Cornwall has also
been occupied and influenced by the Romans, Saxons and Normans.
The Eustis (and variants) family in Cornwall
divides historically into two main groups. The first family group spans the
Cornwall-Devon border of which there are occasional records from the 13th
century to the 15th. There are wills of the Cornish family in Morval and Menheniot as early
as 1578-1594. From the end of that century, the parish registers show the
presence of the family at St. Sampson and Bodmin.
The l8th century records a number of marriages at Pillaton.
The parish church of Tavistock is dedicated to
St. Eustachius (the largest of only three so
dedicated in England).
A family in St. Budeaux prospered in Elizabethan
times and expanded their land holdings far into north Cornwall.
The second group, which may or may not be related to the first, can
be found in western Cornwall,
in the parish of Crowan and surrounding parishes.
The earliest documented ancestor of this branch was Richard Eustis.
According to the Protestation Returns of 1641, a Richard Yestes and William Yestes
were living in Crowan parish. The Protestation
was an oath of allegiance to the Church of England. A bill was passed in
Parliament in July 1641 requiring those over age 18 to sign. Church wardens, ministers, constables and overseers of
the poor first took the oath then oversaw the taking of the Protestation
oath by their parishioners.
The relationship of William to Richard is uncertain but he was
probably either his father or brother. He is likely the William Eustis of Crowan who married Jane Brothes
in Breage parish in 1639. The Hearth Tax of
1660-1664 shows Richard Ustes and John Ustes living in Crowan. As
William is not listed in this roll, it can be assumed that he had died,
moved away or was exempt from the tax.
The seating plan of the parish church
of Crowan
for the year 1666 provides further insight into the family’s
structure and social status. Churchgoers were seated according to social
rank, whether by assignment or purchase. The highest ranking pews were
closest to the pulpit, the lowest furthest from the pulpit. Richard Yestes was seated in the second row in the south aisle,
with John Yestes seated in the row behind
him. From this it can be inferred that both were adults by 1666 and
that Richard had a higher social rank than John, suggesting a father/son
relationship. Richard’s wife was seated on the north side in the
fourth seat of the middle row and John’s wife on the south side of
the same row.
Richard and Mary (surname unknown) had a son named John, who was
christened on 30 May 1624
at Crowan. The surname is written as Ustos
in the christening record.
(John did not sign the Protestation as he was not yet 18.) John
resided at Kerthen Wood (alternately Kirthen Wood), a settlement or village in Crowan parish near Townshend,
and was married to Elizabeth
(surname unknown). John died there between 15 August 1692, when he made his will, and 7 May 1694, when the will was
probated. Elizabeth was buried
in the Crowan churchyard cemetery on 5 Oct 1700. John and Elizabeth
and had 5 known children, one daughter and four sons, John, Eleanor,
George, Henry and Richard. Many, perhaps most, of today’s Cornish
namesakes descend from one of these four sons, which accounts for the
strong DNA matches among different branches of the Cornish families.
Eustis was the most common spelling of the surname in earlier times, but by
the mid-1800s the Eustice and Eustace spellings
appeared more frequently. Whether still in Cornwall
or elsewhere in the world, descendants today include those with all three spellings,
though Eustice seems to be the most common of the
three.
It is being circulated that the aforementioned Richard Eustis was a
son of Richard Eustes and Alice Hornabrooke of the parish of Morval
and grandson of yet another Richard. This is an unsubstantiated
leap. There is no documentary evidence to support such a connection
– nevertheless the dubious ancestry is spreading rapidly and becoming
incorporated into more and more family trees. Richard’s
ancestors were most probably also from Crowan or
nearby, but due to a dearth of records for this early time period, it is
doubtful his ancestry will be traced further with any confidence.
If Richard did move into Crowan from
elsewhere, there is no evidence that it was from Morval,
which is a great distance from Crowan. Morval parish is located in eastern Cornwall
not far from the Devon border. Crowan parish is in western Cornwall
– there are at least 20 parishes between them. He more likely would
have come from a nearer parish, as traveling any distance, particularly for
the working poor, was difficult. Even if Richard and Alice of Morval had a son Richard, there is no evidence he was
the Richard of Crowan. Some have assigned
Richard a birth year, but it is an arbitrary guess. Richard could
have been any age between say 16 and 70 when his son was born in 1624 and
thus could have been born anytime between 1554 and 1608. Even if the
all the registers of every parish in Cornwall
survived for this period – very few do – there would likely be
many Richards born in this time period. Even if Richard’s exact birth
year were known, it could well have occurred in a parish where the register
does not survive – most don’t for this period.
If anyone has documentary evidence to clearly establish that Richard
of Crowan was, in fact, the son of Richard and
Alice of Morval or to document a birth year (from
an age at a dated event), please contact the author or editor and it will
be published in a future issue for everyone’s benefit. Until
then, all should avoid perpetuation of the dubious or fabricated ancestry
by not including the Morval connection in their
family tree.
It has also been asserted that Richard was the brother (rather than
the father) of John and that both were sons of William Eustis who married
Jane Brothes in Breage
parish in 1639. However, fragmentary portions of the bishop’s
transcripts (copies of parish registers made yearly for the bishop) for Crowan for the early 1600’s are available on
microfilm. These were examined and the baptism of John Eustis, son of
Richard and Mary was found recorded on 30 May 1624. This, coupled with the 1666 Crowan parish seating plan satisfactorily establishes
the father-son relationship. The relationship of Richard and John to
William, if any, has not been established with any certainty.
For more information on the descendants of Richard Eustis of Crowan and other Cornwall Eustis (all spellings)
families not yet connected, contact:
Dawna J. Lund
Box 10583, San Bernardino, CA 92423 USA
or email: DawnaJL@aol.com.
Back to
Top
Cornish Namesakes
Who Emigrated to the USA
By: Dawna (Eustice)
Lund
Historically, mining was the principal occupation in Cornwall,
dating back at least to between 1000 and 2000 B.C. when Cornwall
is thought to have been visited by metal traders from the eastern Mediterranean.
Some of these traders may have stayed and inter-married with the local
peoples, which may explain why DNA tests of the descendants from Cornish
namesakes indicate a distant origin in the Caucasus
region of the Middle East.
Historically, Cornwall
supplied most of the tin, copper, zinc, lead, arsenic and silver used in Britain
and her colonies. Originally found as alluvial deposits in stream beds and
coastal outcroppings, eventually it became necessary to dig for the
ores. Underground mines made an appearance in Cornwall
as early as the 16th century. Inevitably the mine shafts dropped below the
water table, requiring water be pumped out before
continuing any deeper.
Hence housings for the pumps and the engines became necessary. These
engine houses were the sturdiest buildings at the mines, as they both
housed the machinery and supported the massive beams that worked the pumps.
It is not surprising that it is many of these engine houses or their ruins
dot the landscape in Cornwall
still today.
The traditional Cornish Pasty, a meat and vegetable pie something
like a Calzone, had its origins as the working
lunch for miners. It was nourishing, easy to carry underground and
could be eaten with dirty fingers. The filling and untouched portion of the
pastry crust would be consumed and the dirty portion of the pasty discarded as an offering to appease the
“knockers”, capricious spirits who might otherwise lead miners
into danger.
By the mid-19th century, the Cornish mining industry and
population had reached its zenith. Foreign competition depressed the
price of copper and tin to a point which made mining Cornish ore
unprofitable and lead to the decline and eventual collapse of the industry.
Today, there are no more metal mining operations in Cornwall,
only china-clay mining, but some mine sites and their associated buildings
have been preserved as historical reminders of Cornwall’s
mining past. In the summer of 2006, the Cornwall
and West Devon Mining Landscape was named as a World Heritage Site,
acknowledging the contribution the area made to the industrial revolution
and to the fundamental influence the area had on mining at large.
The combination of declining employment at home and the discovery of new
mineral reserves overseas motivated
many Cornish to seek a better life elsewhere. Moving offered the
chance of better pay and conditions, and the opportunity to more quickly
rise to a position of responsibility. Cornwall
was soon gripped by a ‘culture of emigration’, a belief that
the best way to get on in the world was to get out of Cornwall.
It is estimated that over a
quarter of a million Cornish migrated abroad in the latter half of the 19th
century and the majority of them were miners. In every decade from
the 1860s to the early 1900s, some 20% of the male working population
departed. The extent of this mass population exodus, known as the Cornish
Diaspora, is typified by the parish of Crowan,
which lost nearly half its population, declining from 3982 in 1851 to 2066
in 1911.
Our namesakes joined other “Cousin Jacks and Jennys” – slang terms for Cornish migrants
- as they scattered all over the world to utilize their mining skills. They
ventured forth to establish homes in the mining areas of the United
States, Canada,
Australia, New
Zealand, South
Africa, Central and South
America, the Caribbean
Islands and elsewhere in the British
Isles. As the Cornish were expert at hard rock mining and in
making and maintaining equipment to service the mines, their skills were
highly sought worldwide. It is said that, “If you find a hole in
the ground anywhere in the World, you will find a Cornishman at the bottom
of it.” It has estimated that today there are over 6
million people in the world who can trace their ancestry to Cornwall.
For more information on the history of mining in Cornwall
see www.cornish-mining.org.
Those of our namesakes who emigrated from Cornwall
to the United States
during the 19th century include the following:
1. Richard Eustice (1821-1900) was
born in Crowan 8 April 1821 and christened there
22 Apri1 1821. He was the son of Richard Eustis (spelling later changed to Eustice) (1796-1851) and Ann Barkle
(1798-1842) and grandson of Richard Eustis (1772-1853) and Grace Pooley (1774-1835). He is the ancestor of the
author of this article.
The death certificate for Richard (1821-1900) mistakenly lists his
mother’s maiden name as Ann Pooley. Her correct
maiden surname was Barkle (alternately Bartle or Barkell). The
informant confused the maiden surname of the mother with that of the
grandmother. The marriage of Richard Eustis (1796) to Ann Barkle and the christening of their first child, Anne,
are recorded in Gwinear parish registers.
Richard’s father Richard (1772) signed as a witness the marriage. Ann
(Barkle) Eustis was christened 1 Apr 1798 in Gwinear
and was the daughter of William and Ann (Hockin) Barkle. This older Mrs. Ann Barkle
was living with the Eustice family in the 1841
census of Camborne parish, Cornwall.
The death of Mrs. Ann Eustis is recorded in the family bible of Josiah Barkle/Barkell, her brother. There would be no reason
for Ann’s death to be recorded in a Barkle/Barkell
family bible, if she were a Pooley. Neither a
marriage of a Richard Eustis to an Ann Pooley nor
a suitable birth of an Ann Pooley has ever been
located.
Richard (1821-1900) moved with his parents to nearby Camborne before
the 1841 census. On 3 April 1842,
five days before his 21st birthday, he set sail for America
from the port of Hayle in Cornwall
aboard the Brig Ruby which had sailed from South Shields
on the northeastern coast of England.
After nearly two months at sea, the ship landed at the port
of New York on June 1.
Also aboard were Richard's sister Ann (Eustice)
Richards, his uncle, James Eustis, and their families. After briefly
working in the mines of Pennsylvania,
Richard settled in southwestern Wisconsin,
first near Benton, Lafayette
County, and later in
neighboring Hazel Green, Grant County.
He worked in the lead mines and ran a small farm and was also lay minister
for the Methodist Episcopal Church. At one point he owned or was in
partnership in some profitable mines, but suffered financial reverses and
died a pauper, so poor that the family could not even afford a stone for
his grave.
On 3 April 1845 at
Galena, Jo Daviess County,
Illinois, Richard married Jennifer “Jane” Carnsew,
daughter of James Carnsew and Mary Harvey, who
was born 22 May 1825 in
Crowan. According to the 1900 and 1910 censuses,
they had 14 children, but only 10 have been identified by name. The
others probably died young. Richard died 21 May 1900 in Hazel Green at age 79 and Jennifer
died there 14 Dec 1915
at age 90.
2. John Eustice (1827-1860) was born
7 Feb 1827 in Crowan and christened there 4 Mar 1827, son of Richard Eustis and Ann Barkle and brother to Richard. John sailed from Liverpool
aboard the Roscius on the 11 January 1846, celebrated his 19th
birthday at sea, and arrived at the port
of New York on March 7.
According to family legend there were two other John Eustices
aboard, but the passenger list has been located and it shows no other Eustice aboard at all. According to a notation on the
passenger list, his intended destination was Canada,
but if he ever actually went there, it was a short stay. He soon
joined his brother in southwestern Wisconsin,
where he continued in the mining trade that he had learned in the old
country. He was married about 1850 to Jane Oatey,
who was born 29 May 1830
in Gwinear parish, Cornwall,
daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Floyd) Oatey,
and had five children - four sons and one daughter. By the 1860 census, the
family had moved across the Mississippi River to Dubuque,
Iowa, where he died late that same year
at the young age of 33. He is believed to be buried in an unmarked grave in
Center Grove
Methodist Cemetery
just outside Dubuque. His widow
returned to Lafayette County, Wisconsin
and married again in 1865 to James Liddell (alternatively Liddle or Little), had four more children and died in
1885.
3. John G. Eustice (1806-1882) was
born 10 Sep 1806 in Crowan and christened there on 26 Oct 1806, son of William Eustis and
Elizabeth Glasson, and first cousin to the father of the aforementioned
Richard and John. He was married 10
Apr 1830 in Crowan to Ann Ward,
daughter of John and Ann (Eddy) Ward, by whom he had nine children. He
arrived in the United States
in 1841, spent one year in the mines of Pennsylvania
then moved to Wisconsin while
it was still a territory. Soon thereafter he bought a farm of 120 acres in Elizabeth
Township, Jo Daviess County,
Illinois, and established a home for his family who joined him from Cornwall
about 1843. His first wife died 16
Jun 1849 and on 8 Oct
1853, he married as his second wife, Mrs. Elizabeth (Smith)
Green, daughter of William and Elizabeth Smith and widow of John Green, and
had two more children. In addition to farming, John was involved in both
mining and milling. He died on 13
Feb 1882 in Elizabeth, Jo Daviess County, Illinois at age 75.
4. Richard W. Eustice (1809-1890)
was born 12 Jan 1809 in
Crowan and christened there on 29 Jan 1809, son of William Eustis and
Elizabeth Glasson and brother to John G. He married Mary B. Pascoe on 23 Dec 1833 in Wendron parish, Cornwall
and they had twelve children. They moved many times as he sought mining
work in new places. After a few years in Crowan,
they moved to St. Keverne parish in Cornwall
and then to Llangyfelach parish in
Glamorganshire, Wales.
Finally, about 1850, he joined his brother in Jo Daviess County Illinois.
After his first wife died there on 29
Jun 1868, John remarried 24 Jun 1871 to Mrs. Prudence (Baker) Oliver. She
died 14 May 1890 and he
died 25 Jan 1892 in Elizabeth,
Illinois at age 82.
5. John Eustice (1845-1889) was born
19 Oct 1845 in Newton,
Camborne Parish, Cornwall, son
of John Eustis and Grace Temby. He came to America
before 1870. He married 27
Nov 1870 in Carbondale, Pennsylvania
to Elizabeth Ann Hill who was born 9
Apr 1855 in Lanlivery parish, Cornwall,
daughter of John B and Elizabeth (Pike) Hill by whom he had 9 children. The
family lived a few years in Essex County, New
Jersey, where he likely worked in the sandstone
quarries, and then briefly in Luzerne County,
Pennsylvania. By 1877, he was
mining gold in Black Hawk in Gilpin County,
Colorado and he died there 26 Aug 1889 at age 43. His
wife remarried John Humphreys in 1890 and died two years later on 7 Aug 1892. Many of the Black Hawk’s historic
buildings have recently been restored as a monument to its Gold Rush era
heyday.
6. William Eustis (1801-c1870+) was born 15 Apr 1805 in Camborne, Cornwall,
son of John and Mary (Goldsworthy) Eustis. He was married 9 Dec 1830 in Camborne to Mary
Vine, daughter of Joseph and Lucy (Eudey) Vine.
They had three children in Camborne and then sailed from port
of Falmouth in Cornwall
30 March 1837 and
arrived in New York Harbor
on May 6. They settled in British Hollow, Potosi
Township, Grant
County, Wisconsin, where William worked in the lead mines. They had
six more children there, for a total of nine, and Mary died there in 1872.
It is not known if William died there or perhaps went west with his
children. By the 1880 census, one child was living in California,
two in Minnesota and one in Utah.
One son, William, died in the civil war and a set of triplets died in
infancy.
7. William Eustice (1828-1889) was
born in 1828 in Crowan parish, Cornwall
and christened there on 1 Jan 1829,
son of Thomas and Phillipa (Davey)
Eustis. He married 3 Jun 1849
in Camborne, Cornwall to Mary
Jane Gundry, daughter of John Gundry and Ann Saunders and they had at least
eight children. They came to America
about 1852 and, after a brief stay in New Jersey,
settled in Grant County, Wisconsin. He died on 23 Aug 1889 in Buncombe, Grant
County, when the mine in which
he was working caved in on him. His wife died in Grant
County in 1895 or 1896.
8. John Eustice (1844-1902) was born
19 Aug 1844 in
Camborne, Cornwall, son of
Thomas and Sarah (Hicks) Eustice and nephew of the
preceding William. He married 28
May 1865 to Grace Hocking, daughter of Nicholas and Grace (Bennetts) Hocking and had one known child. John
immigrated to America
in 1875 and obtained work as a mining engineer. He settled first in
Morris County, New Jersey. By 1878 he was a widower when he married
again in Morris County
to Sarah Jane Prisk by whom he had 9
children. About 1884 he moved to Pennsylvania
and about 1889 to Iron
Mountain and finally about 1890
to Bureau County, Illinois
where he died in 1902, age 58.
9. James Eustice (1847-1911) was
born 8 Mar 1847 in
Camborne, Cornwall and
christened in the Tuckingmill Chapel on May 10,
son of Thomas and Sarah (Hicks) Eustice and
brother of the preceding John. He left for America
in 1863, but returned to Cornwall
by 1868 where he married at Tuckingmill to
Elizabeth Jane Mitchell Polglase born there 7 Dec 1850, daughter of Henry and
Elizabeth (Rowe) Polglase. Their first
child was born in Tuckingmill in 1870 and soon
after he left again for America
and made his way to the Schelbourne
Mountains in Eureka
County, Nevada Territory,
where gold had been recently discovered. His wife and child joined
him there a few years later. After having two more children, his wife
died 15 Nov 1881.
Shortly thereafter, on the run from the law, he fled Nevada,
deserting his three children, ages 12, 4 and 1 who were placed in an
orphanage. By 1883, he had resettled in Utah
where he worked as an undertaker. He married again in 1883 to Emma
Roscoe by whom he had 10 children, 6 died in infancy. James died in Eureka,
Juab County, Utah
on 11 Feb 1911, aged
63.
10. Josiah Eustice (1849-1909) was
born 14 May 1849 in
Camborne, Cornwall, son of
Thomas and Sarah (Hicks) Eustice and brother to
the preceding James and John. He married 26 Jun 1869 at the Registrar’s Office in Redruth, Cornwall
to Eliza Jeffery born Nov 1852 in Christow
Parish, Devon County, England,
daughter of George and Caroline Jeffery. They had 10 children.
Shortly after marriage, they went to Wales
where Josiah worked for a few years in the coal mines of Gelligaer parish in Glamorganshire. In 1875,
Josiah sailed for America
and the coal fields of the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania. He settled
in Plymouth in Luzerne
County and was joined within a
year or so by Eliza and their two young children. Josiah worked as a
fireman at the mines and later as a breaker boss, supervising the crushing,
sizing and loading of the ore. He died at Plymouth 3 Jun 1909 at the age of 60. His son,
William James, died in 1893 in a mining accident.
11. George Eustice (1816-1898) was
born 15 April 1816 in Gwinear, Cornwall
son of John Eustis and Catherine Pascoe, who were married there 22 Jul 1815. As a child, he moved
with his parents to St. Ives parish and there he married Philippa Richards, daughter of Richard Richards and Philippa Rodda on 21 Sep 1837. After they had
four children in Hasletown, St. Ives, they sailed
in August 1845 aboard the Ship Resolution to Quebec,
Canada. They
made their way to Wisconsin
and settled in Potosi Township,
Grant County
had five more children there. George was a blacksmith and, after Philippa died in 1884, he followed some of his children
to Gilroy (the Garlic Capital)
in Santa Clara County, California,
where he continued that occupation until he died in 1898.
[Notes: Some have concluded that John Eustis, father of George, was
christened at Gwinear on 26 Oct 1794, son of John and Charity
Eustis. This is not possible for two reasons. First, in the 1841 St.
Ives census, John and Catherine are found as age 60-64 and thus born
1776-1781. Also, the burial records of Gwinear
show that said 1794 John was buried in 1796, so obviously he couldn’t
have been anyone’s father. John and Charity moved to Redruth parish and had another John there in 1799, but
he is not old enough to be the ancestor.
It has also been asserted that Catherine Pascoe was born 1785,
daughter of Henry and Catherine King Pascoe. This is highly unlikely
as the death certificate for Catherine Eustis, widow of John, states that
she died of dropsy (congestive heart failure) at Hasletown,
St. Ives on 29 Dec 1842,
age 64. Based on her age at death (and confirmed by her age in 1841
census), she was born about 1778 – some 7 years before the daughter
of Henry was born. As John and Catherine were in their mid to late
30s when they married, it is likely that it was not a first marriage and
perhaps Pascoe was not her maiden/birth name, but her prior married name.]
12. George Eustis (1811-1856) was christened 17 Feb 1811 in Feock parish, Cornwall,
son of George and Phillipa (Bullen)
Eustis. He immigrated to the United
States in the early 1830’s, one of
the earliest of our Cornwall
namesakes to come. He settled in St. Lawrence County, New York, where
he became a farmer. He married there 28 Dec 1836 to Jane McCoy who was born Dec 1812 in Ireland,
daughter of John and Ann McCoy, by whom he had eleven children. George died
in an accident on 9 Nov 1856
in St. Lawrence County and Jane died there in 1890.
13. Tobias Eustis (1821-1889) was born 10 July 1821 in Frogmoor,
Feock parish, Cornwall,
son of George and Phillipa (Bullen)
Eustis and brother of George. Tobias arrived in America
on 5 July 1836, at age
15, from Lancashire, England.
He first lived in Oswegatchie, St. Lawrence
County, New York, probably with his brother, George. He then went to Oxbow,
Jefferson County, New York,
where he married his first wife, Mary Markwick in
1843. In May 1847, they moved back to St. Lawrence County, where he
operated a wagon and carriage building business at Hammond
and was also a farmer. His first wife died
in 1852 and he soon remarried to Margaret Parkinson. He had fourteen
children, five by his first wife and nine by his second, including two sons
who were lawyers of some importance in New York City
and Minneapolis, Minnesota.
One of these sons, William Henry Eustis served as mayor of Minneapolis.
Tobias died in Hammond 4 Jan 1889 at the age of 67 and
Margaret died in 1898.
14. George Eustis (1847-1909) was born on 3 Jul 1847 in Marazion
parish, Cornwall, son of
William and Jennifer (Phillips) Eustis and grandson of William and Ann
(Williams) Eustis. He immigrated to America
about 1865 and went for a short time to work in the mines in Michigan
and then by 1870 in Cambria County, Pennsylvania.
His parents also came to America.
His mother died in 1870 and his father in 1890 and both are buried in Sandyvale Cemetery,
Johnstown, Cambria County.
George soon moved to Westmoreland
County, where he became a mine
foreman and was instrumental in opening several coal mines. In 1868 he
married Sarah Ann Richards, born 30
Apr 1850 in Germoe parish, Cornwall,
daughter of William Henry and Nanny (Potter) Richards. They became
the parents of nine children. He died 20 Aug 1909 at the age of 62 and Sarah died 22 May 1910.
15. Richard Eustice (1811-1854) was
born 12 May 1811 in Crowan parish, Cornwall,
son of John and Margary (Williams) Eustis and
christened there 22 Sep. He married there 28 Jul 1832 to Johanna Stephens, born there 4 Sep 1811, daughter of John and
Jane Stephens. They had at least 8 children, including John Samuel Eustice who married Harriet Fritz. Richard, his wife,
children and his brother, John sailed from Liverpool
and arrived in America
at the port of New
York in September 1841 aboard the ship, England.
They settled in Pennsylvania,
first in Schuykill
County and later in Carbon
County. Richard died in
August 1854, aged 43, of injuries incurred in an explosion in the mine
where he was working at the time.
16. John Eustice (c1804-1850+) was
born about 1804 in Cornwall (parentage not yet determined), married 30 Jun
1825 in Crowan to Christian (aka
Christina) Nicholas christened 7 Mar 1802 in Sithney
parish, daughter of John and Christian (Hocking) Nicholas. They are said to
have had seven children, but only four have been identified. The
oldest son, John, was born 1826 in Crowan and
soon thereafter the family moved to Ireland,
perhaps to work in the Knockmahon Copper Mine in County
Waterford. While in Ireland,
at least three more children were born, William James (1830), James (1832)
and Thomas Henry (1835). Christian and these three sons arrived at the port
of New York on 3 Oct 1849 aboard the ship
Mountaineer, which had sailed from the harbor at Penzance in Cornwall,
so perhaps the family had returned to Cornwall
after 1841. The father and oldest son had come to America
earlier. John settled his family in Tamaqua, Schuykill County, Pennsylvania
and was the superintendent of copper and lead mines. He died before
the 1860 census. Christian was last known living in 1880 in Plains
Township, Luzerne
County, Pennsylvania with
her son, John.
[Note: Ann born 1829 and George born 1832 in Crowan
have been mistakenly identified as their children. However, said Ann
and George were children of John and Christian (Arthur) Eustice
who remained in Cornwall.]
17. John N. Eustice (1826-1899) was
born 17 Mar 1826,
christened 16 Apr 1826
in Crowan, son of the aforementioned John and
Christian, arrived in the United States
about 1846. He joined a party which was exploring for copper on Lake
Superior and then was variously engaged in mining in Michigan,
New Jersey, and Connecticut
(where he was in the 1850 census). By 1860 he had settled in Luzerne
County, Pennsylvania where
he became a citizen in 1866. He continued his work in mining as foreman
until 1889, when he was compelled to retire on account of failing eyesight.
He was married about 1848 to Mary Raugh, by whom
he is said to have had 20 children, though only 9 have been identified with
certainty. John died in Plains
Township, Luzerne
County, Pennsylvania on 11 Jun 1899 at the age of 73.
18. William James Eustice (1830-1897)
was born 1830 in Ireland of Cornish parents, son of the aforementioned John
and Christian and brother to preceding John N. He immigrated to the United
States with his mother and younger
brothers in 1849 and settled in Luzerne County,
Pennsylvania. He married Julia
(surname unknown) and had at least 10 children. He worked most of his
life as a miner, but for a time he owned a tavern in Wilkes-Barre.
He died in 1893 of injuries received in a mining accident. He was
about 63 years old.
19. James Eustice (1832-1916) was
born Apr 1832 in Ireland of Cornish parents, son of the aforementioned John
and Christian and brother to the preceding John N. and William James.
He lived in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania
where he worked in the mines. He was married about 1857 to Sarah Reed
and had at least five children. She died about 1869 and he married
again in 1871 to Elizabeth “Eliza” Cavanaugh and had six more
children. His second wife died before 1900 and James died 26 May 1916 in Inkerman, Luzerne County,
Pennsylvania at the age of 84.
20. William Eustice (1816-1858) was
christened at Crowan parish 28 Apr 1816, son of Richard and Sarah
(Noble) Eustice. His father died when he was
about one year old and his mother when he was six. He married 2 Jun 1838 in St. Blazey parish in Cornwall
to Mary Williams born 1 Nov 1817
Crowan, daughter of Richard and Ann Williams, by
whom he had nine children. About 1840, soon after the birth of their oldest
child, they left for America.
They lived briefly in Tioga County, Pennsylvania
and then in Ontonagan County,
Michigan and then finally, by 1850,
settled near the town of Elizabeth
in Jo Daviess County, Illinois where he worked in the lead mines. He
had nearly completed building their new house there, when tragedy struck on
3 Jun 1858. He was
standing near the chimney and his son William was taking the wash basin to
the back door to empty it. A bolt of lightning suddenly struck the
chimney and followed through to the back door, killing both father and son.
Mary died 4 Jun 1902.
21. Thomas Eustice (1846-1885+) was
christened 20 Jul 1846
at Perranuthnoe Parish, Cornwall,
son of George and Thomasine (Symons)
Eustis. He married there 1
Aug 1865 to Mary Ralph who was born there Dec 1846. They
settled first in Camborne parish where three children were born.
Thomas left England
for America
in 1870 and went to work in the mines of Central City, Gilpin
County, Colorado.
Mary and the children followed in 1874 and they settled in Clear
Creek County, Colorado and
had at least seven more children. Thomas died between 1896 and 1900,
probably in Jefferson County, Colorado.
Mary died there in 1910.
22. William Henry Eustice (1810-c1870+)
was born in Cornwall about 1810
(parentage not yet determined). He
married 15 Dec 1838 in
Crowan parish to Charlotte Rodda
who was christened there 24 Mar
1813, daughter of Thomas and Honour
(Pearce) Rodda. Five children were born in Crowan before they sailed from Penzance on the ship Oregon,
arriving at the Port of New
York on 6 May 1852. They first settled in Bristol,
Connecticut where a sixth child was
born. During the 1870 census, the family was in Richmond,
Berkshire County, Massachusetts.
William had died by 1880, when his widow Charlotte was living in Cheshire,
New Haven County, Connecticut.
Two sons moved to Vermont.
23. John P. “Jackie” Eustice
(1826-1900) was born 17 May
1826 in the village
of Troon
near Camborne, Cornwall and was
christened at Camborne 20 May 1826. He married 5 Feb 1846 at Redruth
parish to Mary Ann Trevena, daughter of Henry and
Ann (Ivey) Trevena, by whom he had Ann born in Gwennap 23 Sep 1846. John’s first wife died
and he married her sister Eliza, as his second wife. By Eliza Trevena, he had a son, John Henry born 6 Sep 1850. Sometime after the 1851
census, John left England for America and his second wife and
daughter Ann followed later.
Family tradition says that the second wife died at sea and that Ann was taken in by some fellow
passengers for a few years before reuniting with her father. The
1851 census of Gwennap parish includes John Eustice, a miner, age 24, wife Eliza age 23 born Redruth, daughter Ann age 4 and son John age 7 months,
both born in Gwennap. Also in the household
is lodger, John Trevena age 18 born in Redruth.
John soon left for America
and was followed later by his wife and daughter. Family tradition
says that this wife died at sea. By the 1860 census, John was a miner in
Polk County, Tennessee (surname misspelled Ustell)
with his third wife, Susan 23 born in North Carolina, 14 year old Ann born
in England and Mary 4 and Matilda 2, both born in Tennessee. John and
Susan are believed to have divorced. John married about 1862 as his fourth
wife, Lucinda Ricketts and had at least 10 more children in Polk
County. Polk
County was the location of the Copper
Basin which at the time had the
largest metal mining operation in the southeastern United
States. Sometime after 1880 the family
moved to Hamilton County, Tennessee.
John died there 4 Jul 1900
and Lucinda died in 1941. Both are buried in the Presbyterian
Cemetery, Soddy,
Tennessee.
24. Thomas Eustice (1811-1858) was
born 9 Oct 1811 in Phillack parish, Cornwall
and christened there 24 Nov, son of John and Elizabeth
(Roscrow/Roscoe) Eustice.
Thomas married 23 Mar 1837
at Phillack to Susan Ley
who was born in Cornwall 20 Aug 1819. They had two
daughters (Eliza and Jane) in England
before Thomas left for America
about 1846. Susan and the children followed in 1849, arriving at New
York Harbor on
5 May aboard the bark Marquis of Chandos which
had sailed from the port of Hayle in Cornwall.
Thomas and Susan settled in Jo Daviess County, Illinois
had another child, John. Susan died in 1852 and Thomas in 1858.
25. William Eustice (1845-1893+) was
born 20 Apr 1845 in Polladias, Breage parish, Cornwall,
son of John and Rosina (Allen) Eustis. He
married Mary Jane Williams and had one child in England
before leaving for America
about 1871. He settled in Morris County, New Jersey where he worked
as a mining engineer and had at least 10 more children. He probably died
between 1893 and 1900. His mother died in 1857 and his father
remarried that same year to Mrs. Mary Ann (Jeffery) Prideaux.
The father and step mother and family came to New
Jersey for a short time around 1870, but soon
returned to England.
They lived in Lancashire, where Mary Ann died in
1884 and John in 1899.
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