Falk Relations: Ruscoe Family

compiled by Steve Wilson, last updated May 21, 2016.
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Descendants

Outline

William Ruscoe♦ (b. 1594, Billericay, Essex, d. Dec. 1682, Jamaica NY), 1m. c. 1618 to Rebecca --- (b. c. 1595, d. 1635, at sea), 2m. c. 1636 at Cambridge MA to Hester ---

Nathaniel Ruscoe (ch. by 1m., b. c. 1620, England), m. 11 Nov. 1645 to Joanna Corlette
John Ruscoe♦ (ch. by 1m., b. c. 1624, Billericay, Essex, d. 1702, Norwalk CT), m. 2 Jan. 1651 at Hartford CT to Rebecca Beebe (bap. 11 Aug. 1630, Broughton, Northampton)

Thomas Ruscoe (b. c. 1651, Norwalk CT, d. 1739)
Mary Ruscoe (b. c. 1654, Norwalk CT)
Rebecca Ruscoe (b. c. 1656, Norwalk CT), m. by 1695 to Peter Clapham (d. 1698, Fairfield CT)
Ruth Ruscoe (b. c. 1658, Norwalk CT), m. June 1682 at Norwalk CT to John Abbott (b. 2 Sep. 1662, Norwalk CT)
Sarah Ruscoe (b. c. 1660, Norwalk CT)
Mehitable Ruscoe (b. c. 1662, Norwalk CT), m. by 1682 to William Lees
John Ruscoe (b. c. 1664, Norwalk CT)

Sarah Ruscoe (ch. by 1m., b. c. 1626, England, d. Jan. 1688, Saybrook CT), 1m. 10 Dec. 1646 at Hartford CT to Henry Cole (b. 1627, England, d. 10 Dec. 1676, Wallingford CT), 2m. 2 Nov. 1679 at Hartford CT to Robert Bull (b. c. 1620, d. c. 1688)
Mary Ruscoe (ch. by 1m., b. c. 1628, England), m. 19 Aug. 1647 at Wethersfield CT to Hugh Wells (b. c. 1625, England, d. 22 Dec. 1678, Hartford CT)
Samuel Ruscoe (ch. by 1m., b. c. 1630, England)
William Ruscoe (ch. by 1m., b. c. 1634, England)
Ruth Ruscoe (ch. by 2m., b. c. 1645)
Samuel Ruscoe (ch. by 2m., b. 12 Mar. 1648, Hartford CT)

Our Descent

William Ruscoe (1594-1682), m. c1618 to Rebecca --- (c1595-1635)

John Ruscoe (c1624-1702), m. 1651 to Rebecca Beebe (1630--)

Ruth Ruscoe (c1658--), m. 1682 to John Abbott (1662--)

Esther Abbott (c1686-c1750), m. c1716 to Ebenezer Jackson (1698-1766)

Abraham Jackson (1726-1791), m. 1750 to Eleanor Bumpas (1729--)

Abraham Jackson (1751-1833), m. by 1782 to Mary Button (1750-1826)

Jerusha Steele Jackson (1790-1863), m. 1812 to Benjamin Felch (1790-1864)

Mary Jane Felch (1820-1898), m. 1837 to Horatio Higgins (1812-1890)

Harvey Alva Higgins (1864-1928), m. 1889 to Lillian Belle Agee (1868-1947)

Elsie Laura Higgins (1895-1959), m. 1915 to George Washington Falk (1895-1969)

Documentation ♦

John Ruscoe (c1624-1702): m. Rebecca Beebe (1630--)

date???, "In Memory of the First Settlers of Norwalk, 1649. A Sensible, Serviceable and a Forcible Purpose Folk. George Abbitt ... John Ruskoe ..." [Connecticut, East Norwalk, East Norwalk Historical Cemetery, Inscriptions]
Beebe, Clarence, A Monograph of the Descent of the Family of Beebe, 1904. On p. 12-13, "Rebecca Beebe ... was baptized at Broughton, England, on August 11th, 1630. She was the second child of John and Rebecca Beebe. It is recorded that she married John Rusco, of Norwalk, Conn., at Hartford, January 2nd, 1650. This date is probably wrong and should be 1651, or she had come from England before her father, who sailed in May, 1650. It is known that in 1672 she had five children."
Bouton, Nathaniel, An Historical Discourse in Commemoration of the Two-hundredth Anniversary of the Settlement of Norwalk, Ct., in 1651, 1851. On p. 72, "Ruscoe, John, 'was son of William, who, with wife and children, came, 1635, in the Increase, fellow-passengers with the tribe of Marvin. This stock was transplanted from Billericay, in Essex, England.'"
Seymour, George D., "The English Home and Ancestry of Richard Seamer or Semer of Hartford, Conn.", New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 71:105-115, 1917. "John [Ruscoe], b. abtr. 1623; d. intestate at Norwalk, Conn., in 1702; m. at Hartford, Conn., 2 Jan. 1650/1, Rebecca Beebe. He was of Hartford until 1651, when he became one of the fourteen original proprietors of Norwalk, Conn., whither he removed with Richard Seamer, whose will he witnessed in 1655. The inventory of his estate was taken 20 Nov. 1702, and the estate was divided by agreement among his heirs, Thomas Ruscoe, Mary Ruscoe, Rebecca Browne, Ruth Abbott, Sarah Ruscoe, and son-in-law William Lees."

William Ruscoe (c1594-1682): 1m. Rebecca --- (c1595-1635), 2m. Hester ---

Anderson, Robert Charles, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633, 1995. In 6:117-124, a summary and sources for William Ruscoe, including: "ORIGIN: Billericay, Great Burstead, Essex ... MIGRATION: 1635 on the Increase ... FIRST RESIDENCE: Cambridge. REMOVES: Hartford by 1639, Norwalk 1654 ... Jamaica 1665 ... OCCUPATION: Prisonkeeper at Hartford ... EDUCATION: Signed his will by mark."
Hotten, John Camden, ed., The Original Lists of Persons of Quality, Emigrants, Religious Exiles, Political Rebels, Serving Men Sold for a Term of Years, Apprentices, Children Stolen, Maidens Pressed, and Others, Who Went from Great Britain to the American Plantations, 1600-1700, 1874. On p. 57, "xiij Aprilis 1635 ... This vnder written name is to be imbarqued in ye Increase Robert Lea Mr bound for New-England p Cert. from Billerecay in Essex, from the Minister of ye pish that he is no Subsedy man. Husbandmen Wm Rusco 41, et uxor Rabecca 40, Sara Rusco 9, Marie Rusco 7, Samvel 5, Wm Rusco 1"
Seymour, George D., "The English Home and Ancestry of Richard Seamer or Semer of Hartford, Conn.", New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 71:105-115, 1917. "William Ruscoe or Rescoe, born about 1593, came to New England in the spring of 1635 in the ship Increase, the passenger list stating that Wm Rusco, husbandman, aged 41, his wife Rebecca, aged 40, and his four children, Sara, aged 9, Marie, aged 7, Samvel aged 5, and Wm, aged 1, embarked at London 13 Apr. 1635, the father having a certificate from the minister of Billericay, co. Essex, that he was not a subsidy man. Evidences in New England show that, in addition to the four children above-named, William Ruscoe had also two older sons, named Nathaniel and John, the omission of whose names from the shipping list seems strange. This William Ruscoe was doubtless a near relative of Roger Ruscoe of Sawbridgeworth, probably a younger brother. The name is variously spelled Ruscoe, Rescoe, Reskewe, Reskoe, Rescue, Rescowe, etc. Tradition in the Ruscoe family of Norwalk, Conn., has persistently claimed a Huguenot origin for the family. William Ruscoe was evidently an adherent of Rev. Thomas Hooker, as he first settled with the latter at Newtowne (now Cambridge), Mass., and then in 1636 followed him to Hartford, Conn., where in Feb. 1639/40 he appears as a grantor to Richard Seemer, and on 14 Dec. 1650 as a grantee from Richard Semer. In Feb. 1649/50 he was appointed to keep the prison at Hartford. Before 27 Aug. 1657 he had followed his son John to Norwalk, Conn., as he appears in a list of inhabitants there at that date. He continues to appear in Norwalk records until as late as 15 July 1665, when as 'William Rescoe of Norwalk' he sold his homestead there to Joseph Fenn for £60, his son 'John Ruskoe', being one of the witnesses to this deed. He then removed across the Sound to Jamaica, L.I., where he died in 1682. The Will of William Ruscoe of Jamaica, L.I., 5 August 1680. To son John, now living in Norwalk in New England, 5s. To the children of my daughter Sarah £20 among them, when of age. To Alice, daughter of my son Samuel, pewter utensils. To son Samuel all lands, houses, etc. Wife [unnamed] to be executrix. Witnesses: Peter Smyth, William Creed, Thomas Williams. Proved 13 December 1682. (Abstracts of Wills on File in the Surrogate's Office, City of New York ...) He married first, in England, about 1620, Rebecca ---, born about 1594, who came with him to New England in the spring of 1635 but died soon thereafter; and secondly, at Cambridge, Mass., in Feb. or Mar. 1635/6, Hester Musse, a widow. On 24 Mar. 1635/6 'I William Ruskew now husband of the lat widdow Hester Must haue by her Consent sold vnto John Beniamin one accar of grownd,' etc."