Bishop Family

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THE BISHOP FAMILY

from ANTHONY of ENGLAND
to AARON of Nova Scotia, CAN
and to CAROLYN LAVINIA BISHOP & FRANK W. BELYEA in California

The people of Nova Scotia are fantastic keepers of genealogical information. Because of this, a wonderful book has been written about this Bishop Family. It is Tangled Roots: Descendants of John Bishop (1709-1785) of Horton, Nova Scotia: A New England Planter Family" by W.E. Boggs, compiled by The Bishop Family Association, 1990. If you are interested in this family, I hope you can get your hands on a copy. Most of the information herein is from the book. See my website for more details on dates/places.

This website and the pictures are proprietary and thus protected by copyright. You may copy for your own
personal use, but, please do not copy segments, pictures or documents to other web sites or publications
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1st Generation

ANTHONY/ANTOINE BISHOP of England to the ISLE OF JERSEY

Mr. Murray LeMasurier of Toronto, a descendant of Anthony Bishop, has researched this family in Jersey of the Channel Islands with the assistance of the foremost genealogist there. They have determined that Anthony Bishop came there with two sons, Antoine (1677-?) and Eleazar, from England between 1683 and 1692. I have found no other information about Anthony.

2nd Generation

ELEAZAR BISHOP AND SARAH DART of CONNECTICUT

Eleazar was born in 1683 in England. He traveled to the Isle of Jersey in the Channel Islands with his father. In 1692, Eleazar was either kidnapped or stowed away on a ship bound for America. Upon arrival in New London, CT, Richard Dart, a tailor and wealthy farmer, paid for his passage with a yoke of oxen. He was raised as one of Richard Dart's family. Eleazar later married his benefactor's daughter, Sarah.

Eleazar Bishop and his wife received several hundred acres of wild, uncleared land from her father. Eleazar was an industrious worker and a successful wheelwright and farmer. He died 3 Sep. 1755 and provided well for his wife who survived him. They had 9 children.

3rd Generation

JOHN BISHOP AND REBECCA WHIPPLE - NEW ENGLAND PLANTER

from Connecticut to Nova Scotia

John Bishop, son of Eleazor Bishop and Sarah Dart, was born in 1709 in New London, CT. In 1731, he married Rebecca Whipple, daughter of Silas Whipple. After giving birth to 6 known children and a long illness, Rebecca died in Oct. 1751. John married again, this time to Hannah (Allen) Comstock.

In 1758, a proclamation was issued by the government of Nova Scotia to New Englanders that invited them to settle the fertile Nova Scotian farmland that was lying unused since the expulsion of the Acadians (1755-1763). Boatloads of exiled Acadians were landing in New London. This increased the interest of the New Englanders in the abandoned land. By 1768, 8,000 New Englanders, primarily from CT, RI and MA, had moved to Nova Scotia. John and Hannah Bishop were among them. They were dubbed the "NEW ENGLAND PLANTERS."

Since John had inherited a sizable sum from his father, he was among the more well-to-do. They arrived with provisions for a year and enough stock for a good farm. Their land was in Greenwich, Township of Horton. The land had already been cleared and improved by the Acadians -- it included houses, cellars, apple trees and parts of the dykes. John constructed a gristmill on the site. John died 28 Oct. 1785 at Greenwich and is buried at the Old Wolfville Cem., NS. Hannah died after 17 Oct. 1778.

4th Generation

DEACON PETER BISHOP AND PHEBE HAMILTON of NS

Peter Bishop was the son of John Bishop and Rebecca Whipple. He was born 6 Aug, 1735 in New London, CT. He was an original grantee of Grand Pre, Horton Township. He married 1st to ____ Godfrey who died in 1762. He married very shortly thereafter to Phebe Hamilton. He had 4 children by his first wife and 12 by his 2nd. Peter probably was the first person to be baptized by immersion in Nova Scotia in 1763. He was one of the ten original members of the First Horton Baptist Church, founded near Wolfville in 1778. He was elected Deacon in 1780. He died 8 Apr., 1825 in Horton township and was buried in the Old Wolfville Cem. Phoebe died Nov. 1831.

5th Generation

JEREMIAH BISHOP AND KEZIAH B. COLDWELL of NS

Jeremiah Bishop, son of Peter Bishop and Phebe Hamilton was born 18 Apr 1775 at Sunnyside, NS. He was a farmer and butcher and a very strong man. He married Keziah B. Coldwell, daughter of Eliphalet and Abigail (Sutherland) Coldwell. He died 20 Jun 1856 at Canaan, NS. She died 7 Nov., 1865. They are both buried at Canaan, NS.

6th Generation

AARON BISHOP AND REBECCA GERTRIDGE of NS

Aaron Bishop was the son of Jeremiah and Keziah (Coldwell) Bishop. He was born 3 May 1808 at New Minas, NS. He was a tanner, shoemaker, farmer and shopkeeper. He visited local farms, repairing footwear, saddles, etc. He often took payment in produce, some of which was sold in his shop. He had a short stocky build and was called "Little Aaron". He married 1 Feb. 1817 at Gaspereau, NS to Rebecca Gertridge, daughter of John Gertridge and Hannah (Reid) Gertridge. Aaron died 14 Aug 1889 and is buried in the Oak Grove Cem., in Kentville. Rebecca died at Highbury on 18 Jan 1882 and is buried next to her husband.

7th Generation

JOHN EDWIN BISHOP AND LAVINIA WEST

from NS CAN to SAN DIEGO, CA

John Edwin Bishop, son of Aaron and Rebecca (Gertridge) Bishop, was born 1 Mar. 1841 at Highbury, NS. He married Lavinia West in 1862 at Canaan Road, NS. They immigrated to Boston in 1888 with most of their 9 children. Edwin was a carpenter at Stoughton, MA. They moved west on the train to San Diego about 1912. He was a home builder and carpenter in San Diego. They also had a chicken ranch.

John Edwin Bishop died 27 Oct. 1916 in Lemon Grove (San Diego) CA and is buried at Mt. Hope Cemetery there. Lavinia died 14 Aug. 1918 in San Diego and is buried next to her husband.

8th Generation

CAROLYN LAVINIA BISHOP AND FRANK WILLIAM BELYEA

of San Diego, California

Carolyn Lavinia Bishop was the daughter of John Edwin and Lavinia (West) Bishop. She was born 20 July 1879 in Kentville (Kings) Nova Scotia. According to census records she immigrated to the U.S. in 1895, so she may have come later than her parents. She married Frank William Belyea. Frank had immigrated from New Brunswick at about the same time. For more information on this family, see the Belyea story.

Check out the graves of some of these people on my virtual "Cutler Cemetery" with Cutlers, Belyeas, Bishops, Gardners, McMurtrys and others on www.findagrave.com

Click here to view an ancestor chart of this family
Click here to view a migration map of this and related families

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