The Hartwrights
George of Upton-upon-Severn, Worcs 1767- 1833 youngest son
James of Longdon Heath, Worcs. and Darien, Connecticut USA (1819 – 1907)
Click here for an explanation of the Branches of the Hartwright Family
The following information is provided in collaboration with Cynthia Hartwright Yarrows from the USA who has most generously made all her researches into James Hartwright’s descendants available to me.
James was baptised in Upton-upon-Severn when he was three years of age. Although James continued to live in the Upton area he left the land and became a tailor for a number of years, later he was a gamekeeper like his father before him. It is from James Hartwright and Jane Thomas that some branches of the American Hartwrights are descended.
James and Jane’s eldest daughter Priscilla married Charles Bennett at Oldswinford Chapel in Worcestershire and they lived at Wolverley in Worcestershire where he was a gardener. All this was to change when two of Priscilla’s brothers Esau (1848 -1937) and Ezra (1862 - 1924) emigrated to USA eventually settling in Sound Beach, (now Old Greenwich) Fairfield, CT. James and Jane - who were in their sixties, Priscilla, her family and other siblings and their families all joined Esau and Ezra in the USA. The name of Hartwright is still known in Old Greenwich because of a piece of land Esau had owned is called The Hartwright Tract.
Esau and Hannah Brown who married in Monmouth, Wales in 1873 had nine children including two daughters. Esau and his brother Ezra set up a successful market gardening business within a few years of arriving in Greenwich CT. After two year Ezra left the business and Esau continued on his own growing a general line of garden produce for the Stamford market. In about 1913 Esau’s son Frank joined him to learn the business at 8 Shorelands Road He was, according to the Encyclopaedia of Connecticut Biography, one of the most successful florists of Fairfield County. Frank and his brother Clarence William took over the business from their father Esau. Frank bought out his brother C. William in about 1917 and he added flowers to his business specialising in sweet peas. He and his wife Mabelle Chavelle did not have any children but there are descendants from four of Frank’s brothers living in the USA. Percy, (1875 - 1945) was his eldest brother, who was born in 1875 in Herefordshire, England. He and his wife Harriet had two children, Percy Henry and Alida. Percy and Harriet settled in Stamford Connecticut where he became a Tool and Die maker for Yale and Towne Lock Company. He later formed a business partnership with Mr. Williams Young as Young & Hartwright. When Percy died, his son Percy Henry (1901 - 1975) and William Young's son Clifton carried on the business. Percy Henry adopted the name "Harry" for business purposes. He married Gertrude Shrekgast and they had two children. Alida, Percy Henry's sister married Irving Jones. Esau and Hannah’s son John Esau, who was born in the Monmouth area of Wales in 1879, became a horticulturist, he died of tetanus in the USA in 1948. He and his wife Edith Mercer had two daughters as did C. William’s wife.
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James’ House |
Mabel Byxbee Hartwright and her home |
Cynthia’s grandfather, George Henry Hartwright, was another of Esau and Hannah’s sons. He was born in Sound Beach in 1890 and died on 26th December 1918 in the Spanish Influenza epidemic, leaving his wife Mabel Byxbee Hartwright, a widow with three young children. She later married William Brandt. Present day Hartwrights of this branch live in Massachusetts.
Esau’s younger brother James (1857-1935), who as a carpenter, married Annie McIntosh in Vernon CT USA. They were members of the Salvation Army. He was an Ensign and trumpeter in the New York band under Ballington Booth whilst she was a Captain. Commander Booth and his wife founded the breakaway "Volunteers of America", which James joined as Chief Paymaster and subsequently attained the rank of Colonel. Their descendants live mainly in Texas. As mentioned earlier Esau’s youngest brother Ezra joined him for a couple of years in the market gardening business. He had married Ellen Naber and their eldest child was born in Du Page Co. Illinois. They had land at Downer’s Grove but went to live in Darien Connecticut where two further children were born. In 1913 Ezra and his family moved to Florida. Their son Gilbert James (1898 -1922) married Isabelle Baylor in Florida and descendants live in that state. Their son Jack is mentioned in Hartwright Military Records For more about the Baylor and Garmon family see Bonnie Garmon’s website at Family Treemaker.com.
