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FYI - May be of some help. There is an internet posting providing data to Roger (Thomas) North, born CA 1390. POSTED SEPARATELY.
INTRODUCTION (Book by Dexter North, 1921)
Concerning the antecedents of John North, original proprietor of Farmington, Conn., of whose descendants this. book is a record, nothing is known previous to his arrival in this country, save that he sailed from London in 1635. This would indicate that he came either from the south of England, the eastern counties, or from London or its vicinity, for there were frequent sailings to America from the western ports of Plymouth, Hull and Bristol, thus rendering unlikely, if he came from the vicinity of those cities, what was in those days a slow and tedious journey across England, to embark from London.
The ship in which he came to America was owned and fitted out by Sir Richard Saltonstall, one of the original patentees of Connecticut. His son, Richard, was one of John North's fellow-passengers. The Saltonstalls came from the parish of Halifax in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is not unlikely that many of the passengers in Sir Richard's ship came from that vicinity, where North families are recorded during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In the records of the parish of Rotherhara in the West Riding of Yorkshire, is entered the marriage of a John North and Elizabeth Robinson, Dec. 13, 1614. We give this date as being of interest because John North of Farmington was born in 1615, and hence might be the former's son. But this is a mere surmise based on the information given above, and on the fact that Richard Saltonstall and John North both settled at Ipswich, Mass., after their arrival in this country, and that John North of Farmington married Hannah Bird, whose ancestors are said to have come from Yorkshire where several generations of Birds are recorded in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
Some future historian may have time to further examine the parish records of Yorkshire, and thereby throw light on what remains an unsolved mystery.
The tradition persists in certain branches of the family in this country that John North was descended from the ancestors of the distinguished family of Guilford Norths who were prominent and influential in English history, but evidence is lacking to substantiate this connection. They were intellectual and cultured even at an early date; many became well known scholars and genuine book-lovers; others entered the active fields of politics or law and became famous. They were always genial and popular, loving ease and luxury, shrewd enough generally to be on the winning side; and although always Tories and Royalists, they escaped serious trouble throughout changes and revolutions.
The two most distinguished members of the family, were Francis, Baron Guilford, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal under Charles II and James II; and Frederic, Lord North, Prime Minister under George III during the American Revolution. Both of these famous men have been severely criticized and harshly censured. Their lives may be found in the encyclopedias.
In the English family there is a tradition that the first North entered England with William the Conqueror and married his daughter. Some members of this family have an ancestral tree showing this origin. The first ancestor of the Guilford Norths mentioned in the peerage* books is Robert North, who was living in 1470, in the reign of Henry V. His grandson Edward, born in 1496, was the first Baron North of Kirtling, County Cambridge, in 1553-4. A branch of this family comprises the Norths of County Nottingham.
(* Collins' "Peerage"; Burke's "Peerage and Extinct Baronets.")
Correspondence with present members of the North family in England who have compiled the family records, fails to reveal any who came to America previous to 1700, save one, Roger, who sailed with Sir Walter Raleigh on his fatal last voyage to Guiana in 1617, and who was unmarried.
London genealogists have failed to tell us anything about John North's parentage or place of birth. Although a common ancestry with the Guilford Norths cannot be proved, such a relationship is not unlikely, in view of the fact that the name North is not common in England. That John North's parents were not poor, as poverty was reckoned in those days, may be assumed from his being "no subsedy man."
His fellow-passenger, Richard Saltonstall, was said to be related by marriage to the Norths of Kirtling. Whether there is any significance in this and the fact that they both first settled in Ipswich, Mass., owing perhaps to family ties, or whether these were merely coincidences, remains to be determined.
There were other John Norths among the forefathers of the numerous North progeny of the present day, of whom two landed in America about the same time as John North of Farmington. One of these went to Virginia in the ship Primrose July 27, 1635, aged 22.. The second sailed in the Assurance to Virginia in 1635-7, aged 27. They were probably the ancestors of the Norths in the South, concerning whose progenitors little is known.
There was a Thomas North in the "list of men living" in Queen City, Va., Feb. 16, 1623. This is probably a list of the survivors of the terrible experiences of the early colony.
A family tradition is that John North of Farmington had a brother, Thomas, who settled in New Haven, and had three children, Thomas, John and Bashua, born there 1650-7. He died and his widow, Mary (Price) North, married again. About 1670, leaving her second husband behind, she returned to London with her two sons, furnished with documents from the colonial authorities to enable her to inherit property there. The daughter Bashua married and remained in this country.
There was a Richard North, who was one of the original settlers of Salisbury, Mass., in 1640, later removing to Salem. His wife's name was Ursula, and they had three daughters: Mary, who married in 1669 Thomas Jones; Sarah Oldum; and Susanna, who married George Martyn.
Though both Thomas North of New Haven and Richard North of Salisbury, Mass., lived within short distances of John North of Farmington while in the latter place and at Ipswich, fifteen miles from Salisbury, no evidence has been found to show that there was any relationship between these three. In a new and strange country where family ties would rather be strengthened than weakened, there would probably have been left some documentary or other evidence of intercourse between them.
A branch of Norths, whose posterity is among the most numerous of the present day families, is descended from a North, supposed by some to bear the christian name Thomas, who was born about 1649, came to America about 1670 and settled at Providence Plantations. His descendants claim descent from the Guilford Norths. He had several children, of whom the oldest son, Thomas, Jr., went to New Town, Long Island. The latter's oldest son Jeremiah came of age in 1731. Soon after that, Thomas, Jr., heard that his grandfather's estate in London was without heir. He prepared to go over and take possession of the property, but was taken sick and died. Jeremiah was then the heir, but for some reason would not go himself, and sent his brother Robert. But in consequence of ignorance of the forms of English law, he failed to obtain the property. This is the story told by the granddaughter of Thomas North, Jr. It corresponds with the facts and dates of history. In 1734, William, Lord North, died without heirs, and the titles and estates passed to Francis, Lord Guilford, son of his first cousin. The exact lineage of Thomas, Sr., is not clear, but it is supposed that he was descended from a younger brother of William, Lord North.
From Jeremiah's brother Benjamin are descended Dr. Frank Mason North, the noted Methodist clergyman, and many Norths in and around New York City. From Robert North are descended the Norths of Walton,
N. Y.
In 1677, Edward North, a mariner, was living in Boston with his wife Sarah Bateman. Their daughter Hannah married Nathaniel Eells. They also had two other children, Sarah and Paul, twins, born Aug. 14, 1677. Edward North died before 1689, in which year his widow married Samuel Eells of Hingham, Mass.
There was a Stephen North of Boston, son of Stephen, also of Boston, who returned to England about 1724, in which year his will was probated. He had an uncle Francis in England, which fact would indicate that his arrival in America was not many years previous to this time. It is probably one of these Stephen Norths whose name appears among the list of Boston tavern keepers in 1714.
About this time there was a Daniel North at Barnstable, Mass., who was born about 1696. He had a wife Hannah, whom he married about 1715, and children: Daniel, born 1716; Mary, born 1718; James, born 1720; John, born 1722-3; Hannah, born 1725; and Winifred, born 1797. Further descendants are untraced.
The next Norths of whose migration we have any record were cousins, Caleb and John North, grandsons of John North who was said to have gone to Ireland about 1650 in the Cromwellian wars, and had lands granted by the Crown in West Meath and County of Kings. His descendants claim an acknowledged kinship with the ancestors of the Guilford Norths, and the right to carry the coat of arms of the North family in America.
Caleb was the son of Roger North. He married Jane, daughter of Eckerly, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and had eight children: Roger, Caleb, Joseph, Ann, Elizabeth, Catharine, Joshua and Sarah. With most of his children he landed at Philadelphia, July 29, 1799, and in 1734 bought sixty-nine acres of land from the Penn family at Gilbert Manor, Pa. Most of the present Norths of Pennsylvania are descended from this branch, as are also many throughout Ohio, Indiana and the middle west. Col. Caleb North, of Revolutionary fame, was the son of Roger North. Another line went into Virginia and during the Civil War made fine records on the Confederate side.
John, cousin of Caleb, was the son of John and Hannah (Watson) North, and grandson of John North, who settled in Ireland. He was born in County West Meath, Ireland, about 1682, and came to America in 1730, landing at Portsmouth, N. H. In 1731 he bought land at Pemaquid, Me., where he settled. He was the ancestor of the Augusta, Me., branch of Norths. His only surviving son John was a surveyor of lands, a captain in the French and Indian Wars, and Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Lincoln Co., Me. His children were Joseph, who married Elizabeth Pittson and was a member of the Maine Provincial Congress, 1774-5; Mary, who married Dr. John McKeckie; and William, who married Mary, daughter of Hon. James Duane of New York, and was General Steuben's aide during the Revolution, later several times member of the New York Legislature, and at one time speaker of the Assembly. For a more complete genealogy of this branch of Norths, see the "History of Augusta, Me.," by James W. North, which presents many facts supporting the claim to connection with the English Norths.
Another family that is probably descended from John North of Farmington, is that of Thomas North who, according to the Federal Census of 1790, was head of a family in Granville, Washington Co., N. Y., of three males over 16 years, one under 16, and two females. He was the father of Capt. Thomas North, Jr. (1768-1859.) of that town, who was a captain in the militia in 1796, and whose three sons, Justus, Nathan and Selah. were the ancestors of the Norths of Elbridge and Marcellus, N. Y.
Thomas North, Sr., was either brother or cousin to John North who was head of a family in Balston Spa, N. Y., in 1790, of one male over 16 years, one under 16 and two females, and who also removed to Elbridge, N. Y. He had one son, Daniel Hoyt North.
The compiler is inclined to believe that Thomas North, Sr., was the son of Capt. Thomas North (No. 19) who removed from Sharon, Conn., to Dutchess Co., N. Y., about 1753. The census of 1790 records no Norths in that county, and records in Granville, Washington Co., besides Thomas North, Salmon North, cousin of Capt. Thomas North (No. 19).
A study of the dates shows no inconsistency in tracing a line from Capt. Thomas North of Sharon to Capt. Thomas North of Granville
.
There was an Edward North, a merchant in Charlestown, S. C., in the time of the Revolution, who was imprisoned in one of the British prison ships. His ancestors came from Bermuda, where they had first settled after leaving England. He had a descendant, Edward W., who was a noted physician. in his day. He died in 1842-3. His two sons, Edward and Richard, were also physicians, and left children whose homes are in South Carolina and Georgia. Another son, James Heyward North, was an officer in the United States Navy.
The first Federal Census of 1790 shows that at that time there were ninety-two families named North, with a membership of 585, or 6.4 members to a family. These ninety-two families were located, one in Maine, three in Vermont, three in Massachusetts, thirty-three in Connecticut, eighteen in New York, sixteen in Pennsylvania, two in Maryland, seven in Virginia (partial enumeration), three in North Carolina and six in South Carolina. Of these families two in Massachusetts, four in New York and all those in Vermont and Connecticut can be identified as being descended from John North of Farmington, which indicates that his posterity at that time formed the largest single branch of Norths.
Of the Norths in Connecticut, three families of the Torrington branch are recorded under the name Noth (perhaps an error on the part of the enumerator). Eleven families lived in Farmington, and the same number in Berlin; eight lived in Litchfield, which then included Torrington, and two in Cornwall.
The descendants of John North are now numbered by the thousands, and are scattered from Maine to California. When the tide of emigration began to move westward after the Revolution, and well into the nineteenth century, many Norths left their homes in Connecticut and were among the early settlers of numerous towns in Vermont, New York, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, Michigan and later in Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Utah and California. Northfield, Minn., and Riverside, Calif., were both founded by John Wesley North.
Among their numbers were farmers, lawyers, doctors, ministers, manufacturers, men of affairs, teachers, college presidents and soldiers in the Colonial Wars and in six American Wars.
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