The Ancestry of Ernest Cary Brace

Direct Lineage Notes

Klamath Falls, Oregon

March 28, 1994

This lineage is confined to the direct descendants of our common ancestor Stephen Brace I of Hartford, Connecticut through his son Stephen II and grandson Daniel. The majority of the notes on our ancestors are taken directly from the work of John Sherman Brace, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, completed in 1927. This work is an updating of BRACE LINEAGE as published By John Sherman Brace in 1927 as a limited edition of only 100 copies. Copy number 71 was passed on to me by my father, Cary Ernest Brace, and this copy shall be passed on to my son Patrick Cary Brace who in turn shall pass it on to which ever of his sons shows the greatest interest. I do not pretend to any copyright of this lineage and it may be duplicated and used as wanted by those interested in the Brace genealogy. Over the years I have met other Braces and with the aid of John Sherman Brace's work have usually been able to trace my own and their ancestry back to a common relative of the seventeenth or eighteenth century.

Ernest C. Brace

INTRODUCTION, Taken from BRACE LINEAGE, John Sherman Brace, M.E.

Counselor at Law, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania 1927

The Brace family is of Norman French Origin. Rudulphus de Braceis and Aldulphus de Braci were with William The Conqueror at the battle of Hastings and received charters of English lands. Charter to Rudulphus occurs in 1080. His son William held Wisterton, Cheshire; and the first mense lords of the manor who bore its name and continued until the time of Henry VI, are conjectured to have been the elder male branch of his descendants. The younger, who continued to be called DeBracy "was connected with the parish soon after the Conquest, and had a share in the manor which they alienated before 16 Hen.VI"--Ormerod.

Writers of the period between the Conquest and the end of the sixteenth century disclose only enough to prove the continued existence of the family.

" 'Aldulfus de Braci, filus Bwerne, nepos Osberti Martell,' as he is styled in the registers of Croxton Abbey, Leicestershire, and Melton Priory, Yorkshire, to both of which he was a benefactor, occurs in Domesday only as the 'Foreigner' holding Croxton. He gave to the canons of Sempringham some large possessions in Normandy".--Nichol's Leicestershire.

Three Ardulfs or Audulfs de Bracy, presumably his descendants, appear is Shropshire during the two ensuing centuries. The first, Audulf, in the time of Henry II, received from his kinsman, William Martel, the manor of Meole, since Melesbracy, or Meole-Brace, and held Eaton in Bedfordshire by gift of King John. His daughter, Mascelina was the first wife of the first William de Cantilupe. Audulf II, was a benefactor of Dunstaple Priory, as his father had been before him, and had a long lawsuit with Roger de Mortimer, who unsuccessfully contested Meole. "The Fitz Warine Chronicle calls Audulf de Bracy his cousin, and implies that he shared his exile in Little Brittany in 1201".--Eyton. Audulf III occurs 1267-1280, and apparently succeeded John de Bracey of Meole, who was dead before 1262. Robert, perhaps his son, living 1272-1306, married Maud, one of the daughters and co-heirs of William de Warren or Blancminster (Albo Monasterio), murdered about 1260.

There is mentioned in 1333, Ralph Bracy, Vicar of Meole. In the year 1436 the name was spelled Braa'se although still pronounced as Bracie. In that year we find a John Braase of Doverdale, County of Worcester, England, who married Margery Power and had a son, John Braase, who married Isabel, daughter of Sir Humphrey Stafford, Knight, and had Robert, who married Isabel, daughter of John Stormey. The son from this union, William of Doverdale, Worcester County, seems to have been the first who spelled his name BRACE. He was living in 1505 and 1549. He married Jane, daughter of William Whytton of Whytton Salop. He died before September 17, 1560 leaving issue as follows: William of Droitwich; John of Yearnell House; Lewis; Phillip; and Elizabeth; each of whom had children. The name at times, however continued to be spelled several ways; Brace, Bracie, and Bracey, and our own Connecticut ancestors, as will be seen used all three styles of spelling.

The first settlements by the family in the new world were in Connecticut Colony. John Bracie came over in 1642 and settled in New Haven, "where first he, with prefix of respect sat down in 1644"

He was given the prefix of "Mr.", an honor in that time accorded only to persons of wealth and prominence. Colonial records of New Haven County, Vol.2 page 139 show that Mr. Bracie, July 1644, took the Oath of Fidelity. Page 302 "Seating of meeting house" by order of the Court, March 10, 1646 shows Mr. Bracie in the 3rd Seate, with the men, and Mrs. Bracie in the "Cross Seates at the end", with the woman.

Cotton Mathers (1663-1728), the first American Historian, in connection with this seating says, "A Rev. Mr. Bracey and wife had seats assigned them." There was a clergyman connected with the Branford Church who remained in this country but a short time and then returned to England. John Bracie may have been this clergyman.

August 3, 1647, John Bracie was deeded land in New Haven. October 5, 1647 he deeded to others various tracts including his home lot. Records contain no further mention of him. Whether or not he left descendants in the new world is unknown. After disposing of his property it is believed he returned to England.

In 1642 a Widow Phoebe Bracey came to New Haven with her five children. She was the eldest daughter of William Bisbie, or Bisby, a wealthy merchant of London. She married in 1646 a Samuel Martin who is also mentioned in the "Seating of Meeting House." Mrs. Martin is also mentioned as being "Seated" in the same document. Some genealogists and historians have erred in stating Phoebe to be the widow of John Bracie. The above records and deeds show this to be an impossibility.

In 1647 the Samuel Martin family moved to Weathersfield. the children of Phoebe, by her first husband, Bracey, continued with the Bracey name. The Bracey children were:

John, died January 19, 1708 aged 70.

Constant, married John Morray

Phebe, married Joseph Dickinson

Hannah, married Thomas Paine

Thomas, settled in Hadly, Massachusetts and had six children.

The first of the name in the new world to spell his name BRACE is undoubtedly our own ancestor, Stephen Brace I, who is credited with settling in Hartford in about the year 1669. Stephen the first's exact relationship with the earlier Bracie families in New Haven and Massachusetts Colony has not been established. It is known that he arrived by ship from "the London area" landing at Swanzea, Massachusetts in about 1667. The town of Swanzea which was incorporated in that same year was to be the scene of a horrible Indian massacre in 1675.

Grant of land to Stephen Brace in Swanzea was revoked, possibly after his departure from the town. Stephen's relationship with the earlier arrivals must have been close. They all arrived from the same area within a short period, and even to this day the name Brace, Bracie, or Bracey, is not a common name in either England or America. John Sherman Brace in his BRACE LINEAGE notes that the Massachusetts branch of the family, descendants of the Widow Phoebe, still spell their name in the old way, Bracey.

Those interested in the settlement of Hartford and the surrounding area in Connecticut would do well to read the history of the Reverends Thomas Hooker and Samuel Stone who led their congregations of original settlers to the outpost of Dutch Point on the Connecticut River in 1636 and founded a year later the town of Hartford.

STEPHEN BRACE I abt. 1644 - 1692 Hartford, Connecticut

STEPHEN BRACE came from London, England to Plymouth County, Swanzea (Swansea), Massachusetts in the year 1667. About eight years after his arrival, 1675, Swanzea was to be the scene of a horrible Indian massacre. Stephen did not stay in Swanzea long, and the only record of his having been there is that his grant of land was revoked, possibly after his departure from town.

The real home of Stephen Brace was to be Hartford, Connecticut where he lived out his days and raised his family. Only a few years before Stephen's arrival Hartford had been settled by congregations led through the wilderness from Cambridge, Massachusetts by their ministers Thomas Hooker and Samuel Stone. Stephen Brace was a Puritan and is noted in some Hartford journals as being "a man of Good Estate".

Savidge places the date of his settlement in Hartford as 1669. No transfers of property mentioning him have been found prior to December 23, 1673, at which time a deed from Nathaniel Willet for a house and two acres of land lying on highway south side of Little River is recorded. Here he built a new home and lived until his death in 1692. He is mentioned in the Colonial Records of Connecticut III-103, as having been reimbursed for a horse lost to "Country Service" in 1682.

During Stephen's life time he acquired land at Rock Hill, Great Meadows, and other places such as Podaquanck. He did his trade as a "Hatter" and left his family what was considered a large estate for those times. At times in the Colonial records he is referred to as "Bracey" as they might well have pronounced the word in those days; however he signed documents, such as his Will made on the 2nd day of May 1692 and "inventoried-322-06-06" on 31 August 1692, with the name as we know it in these days.

Stephen had seven children; four daughters and three sons. The daughters appear to be of age when his will was made in 1692; the sons were not of age. The approximate date of his marriage would be about 1666, and his birth about 1644. His wife Elizabeth survived 32 years after Stephen's death until she died in 1724. At that time she made her youngest son, Henry, the Administrator of her estate. The family appears as members of the First Church of Hartford on June 23, 1695.

His children were as follows in those records:

Elishebah, (Bliss)

Phebe Stephen II (See life)

Elizabeth John

Ann Henry

The life of Stephen Brace I is of interest for two reasons. He was the first in America to spell his name in the manner of our present usage, and secondly he was the ancestor of the majority of those that bear the name BRACE in the United States of America to this day.

STEPHEN BRACE II abt. 1672 - 1755 Hartford, CT

Stephen Brace II, eldest son of Stephen Brace I, actual date of birth unknown, appears to be twenty years of age at the time of his fathers death in 1692. He followed in his fathers trade as a "Hatter" and a felt maker. He married twice. The first being Hannah Lane or Law, on March 10, 1701. His second wife being Sarah, maiden name unknown.

Among original documents in archives at the Connecticut State Library in Hartford, mention is made of Stephen Bracie being involved in a controversy under date March 6, 1706 over an acre of land at Rocky Point. On May 11, 1715 he was made one of the first 51 proprietors of Tolland. Tolland at that time was declared to be a township of some six miles square bounded on the South by Coventry and on the East by the Willimantic River.

Stephen Brace had 13 children of which 2 are not mentioned in his Will. It is not clear of which wife the children were born, but it must be assumed that Daniel, our direct ancestor born in 1708, was of his first wife Hannah Lane (Law). Our own direct ancestor, Daniel Brace, was the primary recipient of the Will of Stephen Brace II, and was directed to administer the majority of his estate.

The children of Stephen Brace II were:

Stephen, baptized February 21, 1702, not in will

William, baptized August 11, 1706 married Jemima Parker and lived for a time at Saybrook, CT

Sarah, baptized April 27, 1707

Daniel, (see life)

Elizabeth, baptized August 14, 1709 married Samuel Holliday and lived at Suffield.

Joseph, baptized March 11, 1710-11 not in will.

Nathaniel, born October 30, 1711 married Katherine Roberts

Sarah, born July 1, 1713 married a Burlison

Samuel, born September 4, 1716, baptized September 9, 1716

Abigail, born June 19, 1718, married a Knickerbocker

Benjamin, born February 5, 1719-20.

Ruth, born September 19, 1722, married an Edwards

John, married Deborah settled in Tolland then Sommers, CT

DANIEL BRACE 1708 - unknown Hartford, CT--Sharon, CT

The early life of Daniel is well documented in the Hartford area. He was baptized at The First Church of Hartford March 28, 1708, married October 15, 1730, Frances Edwards of East Hampton, Long Island, who was descended from William Edwards who had settled at East Hampton in 1650. Records of The First Church of Hartford show baptism of Frances, wife of Daniel, October 10, 1731.

Soon after the death of his father, (March 28, 1755) he commenced to dispose of his property. Hartford land records show several deeds of transfer to other persons including Ebenezer Benton, Jr. some Rocky Hill property near Farmington, and to Ebenezer Webster, dated July 4, 1761, that property in Rocky Hill.."with the small mansion house standing on such land". Daniel must have remained in the Hartford area until some time in the 1760s and then moved with his family to the wilderness of Western Connecticut

Daniel wasn't one to keep records on himself. Life on the frontier was harsh, paper was rare, and writing instruments had to be made. He lived for some time in Sharon, Connecticut as at least four of his children were married from there including our own ancestor Elijah. He eventually situated in Dutchess County, New York. A deed of land to Aaron Shepard, dated June 10, 1762, reads: "I, Daniel Brace of Dutchys County and Province of New York --- land lying in Hartford--three acres," etc. The exact place and date of his death are unknown. Daniel had 11 children and there is no mention of a second wife.

Josiah, the sixth of Daniel's children was baptized October 14, 1744 in Hartford. He married at Sharon, Connecticut January 24, 1765, Sarah Calkins. Josiah died before December 7, 1769, as Sarah took out letters of administration on his estate on that date. From the records available it is apparent that two of Daniel's sons married girls of the Calkins family. I, Ernest Cary Brace, b.1931, have visited Sharon, Connecticut and searched the graveyards for evidence of our ancestors. While I was never able to locate a Brace, I did find many Calkins buried there.

Children of Daniel Brace:

Daniel 1731 Huldah 1746 (the first died in infancy)

Huldah 1735 Elijah 1750 (see life)

Ann 1738 Submit 1752

Francis 1740 Desire 1754

Josiah 1744 Timothy 1757

ELIJAH BRACE 1750 - 1824 Sharon, CT - New York State

Elijah Brace, son of Daniel, grandson of Stephen II, and great grandson of Stephen I, was born February 25, 1750 at Hartford, Connecticut. Daniel took Elijah on to Sharon, Connecticut where he was to marry in June 1766 Catherine Calkins, born June 19, 1751, daughter of John and Elizabeth Calkins. The bride was fifteen years of age, and the groom sixteen. At Sharon most of their children were born.

From Sharon, February 4, 1776, the young husband and father marched off with Captain Oliver Parmalee's Company, Col. Charles Burrell's regiment, to reinforce the troops besieging Quebec under General Wooster. In February 1777 after serving one year in the Continental Army, Elijah Brace received honorable discharge and returned home. One only need to look at a map of the area to see the hardships Elijah must have faced in the march to Quebec and back in the dead of winter.

Elijah later moved to Saratoga County, New York, and still being restless moved on to Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. In 1816 he finally settled in Claredon, Orleans County, New York where he lived until 1824 when he moved to the nearby town of Sweden, Monroe County, New York. There he died September 11, 1824. Catherine (Calkins) Brace was to live on to 1839 and died in Clarkson, Monroe County, New York. They were married 58 years before his death and had seven sons.

Daniel

Elijah II

Reuben "killed in a runaway"

Nathaniel

Elisha 1778

Luther (see life)

Chester

LUTHER BRACE 1779-1861 Sharon, CT - New York State, Pennsylvania, & Wisconsin

Luther Brace, sixth son of Elijah and Catherine (Calkins) Brace born December 27, 1779 at Sharon, Connecticut moved along with his parents on to New York at an early age. He married at Milton, Saratoga County, New York, Lois Strong, daughter of Rev. John and Lydia (Thomas) Strong of Sharon, Connecticut on November 13, 1799. It is a curious incident that the birth and death of Lois were in the same month and year as that of her husband Luther.

In 1800 the young couple moved to Northmoreland, Wyoming County, Pennsylvania, where their children were born. In 1824, the year of his father's death, Luther took his family on to Holley, New York where they lived until 1850, when he went on to the wilderness of Wisconsin. There he was to die on October 16, 1861. Luther was in early life a mechanic, but after moving to Holley became a farmer. Luther and Lois had five children.

Elisha

Nancy (Wood) b. October 3, 1802

Almanza (see life)

Catherine b. August 7, 1809

Jane A. b. January 5, 1819

ALMANZA BRACE 1805-1885 Pennsylvania

Second son of Luther and Lois (Strong) Brace was born in Pennsylvania, March 1, 1805. Married in 1824 Lucena Cary, and thereby the middle name of Cary for the eldest son of each succeeding generation came about. The following story is told in connection with his courtship and life.

Mr. Brace on account of his freedom of speech regarding matters of religion had incurred the strong opposition of the minister of the Episcopal Church at which Miss Cary worshipped. The minister did everything possible to prevent the marriage. On the Sunday before the wedding he took as his text: "..Be ye not unequally yoked with unbelievers..". Mr. Brace was in the congregation and resented the text and sermon as a personal affront. So deeply was he offended that he rarely afterwards attended a religious ceremony. In his will he directed that his funeral should not be conducted from any church. On the same day as the marriage the young couple set out for their new home at Holley, New York. The journey was made by wagon drawn by what was later described as a splendid team of horses. At night stops were made at wayside taverns. This honeymoon trip was made just six years before the first railroad was to be built in the United States.

Almanza was a carpenter and builder, operated a carding mill, saw mill, and later in life a large farm near Holley, NY where he spent the remainder of his life, dying in 1885. In 1927 the farm was in the possession of his grand-daughter, Delia, Mrs. John Rogers. Lucena died only six years after their marriage, September 24, 1830, while giving birth to our direct ancestor, Luther Cary Brace. Almanza then married Hannah Bishop (1803-1881). There were two sons by this marriage, Andrew J. and Fordyce R..

LUTHER CARY BRACE 1830-1882 Holley, NY

Son of Almanza and Lucena (Cary) Brace was born at Holley, New York on September 24 1830. Lucena died in childbirth the same day. Luther is the first of our ancestors to bear a middle name, and his middle name Cary carries on to this day in the first born son of the succeeding generations. Luther C. married Amelia Rose Vallance on May 16, 1849. He served in the Civil War of 1865 as Sergeant, Company C. 105th New York Volunteers. Copies of his discharge, and his wife's award of a pension are still in possession of our family. After his discharge he engaged in manufacturing business. He was born in Holley and died there September 6, 1882. Luther and Amelia had three children:

Lucy V. 1850 married Henry Seymour

Fred E. 1852 lived in Saginaw, Michigan

Luther Cary Almond 1876 (see life)

LUTHER CARY ALMOND BRACE 1876-1928 Holley, NY - Detroit, MI

Second son of Luther Cary and Amelia (Vallance) Brace was born at Holley, New York June 26, 1876. He married at Detroit, Michigan, February 18, 1904 Frances M. Hamilton, daughter of William and Theodosia (Greene) Hamilton. L. Cary A. (He was called Cary), was a Stationary Engineer, and was Chief Engineer at the F.B. Stevens Plant in Detroit. I, Ernest C. Brace b.1931, never knew my grandfather as he died before I was born. I was however fortunate to know my grandmother Frances well as I grew up in Detroit.

Frances Brace was a devout member of the Salvation Army. I can remember her in her uniform as she stood before the Christmas kettles at the stores in Detroit. My mother drove her on her rounds of the many bars to collect change during the rest of the year. Grandma would not hesitate to bang her tambourine down on the bar to entice, or we might say coerce the drinkers to contribute their change. If there was no school the next day I sometimes rode with them. I envy my fathers being brought up as a Salvation Army child. He would describe to me and my sisters how they were required to play on the street corners the various instruments of the Army Band. He could play almost any instrument since they would be forced to use what ever was available when they arrived at the gathering point. Frances outlived Luther Cary by many years, not dying until October 21, 1961. She lived during the age of discovery; from horse and buggy days, to seeing her grandson, Ernest Cary, fly jet aircraft. Luther and Frances had seven children:

Theodosia 1908 married Alonzo Anderson 1921

Cary Ernest 1909 (see life)

Russell Francis 1910 married Leona Bousquette 1935

Mildred Amelia 1912 married George Bousquette 1929

Nellie Ruth 1915 married Lloyd Good 1940

Spraque Bateman 1916 died at age one

Earl Edward 1918

BRACE PHOTOS

Cindy's BRACE line

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