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1. Nicholas SUMMERBELL was born on 27 Nov 1760 or18 January 1762 (see notes below) in Northumberland, England. He died on 13/14 Dec 1844. He was buried in the Shrub Oak Cemetery, Yorktown, Westchester County, New York.
Nicholas was a weaver from Northumberland, England who relocated his family to America in 1799. They settled in Yorktown, Westchester, New York, in the rustic hamlet of Shrub Oak, which probably had no more than a dozen dwellings at the time. .See detailed biographical and research notes below.
Nicholas married Jane WILSON on 28 May 1786 in Corsenside, Northumberland, England. Jane was born on 18 May 1766 in Northumberland, England. She died on 15 Aug 1848. She was buried in the Shrub Oak Cemetery, Yorktown, Westchester County, New York.
Birth date calculated from her grave stone (died age 82 years, 2 months, 28 days). Jane may have been born in Corsenside or lived there at the time of her marriage. It is said she came from "a good family" who are said to have been opposed to the marriage.
Find-A-Grave Memorial #45818606
Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Grave stones of Nicholas and Jane (Wilson) Summerbell
at the Shrub Oak Cemetery.
Photographs contributed by Dick Burns of Wilmington DEThey had the following children:
+ 2 M i James SUMMERBELL was born on 30 May 1787. He died on 22 Nov 1821. + 3 F ii Ann (Nancy) SUMMERBELL was born on 18 Jul 1789. She died on 21 Jun 1846. + 4 F iii Jane SUMMERBELL was christened on 26 Dec 1792. She died in 1873. + 5 F iv Elizabeth (Betsy) SUMMERBELL was born on 8 Oct 1798. She died on 9 Mar 1867.
The following is an excerpt (p. 17-19) from “The Summerbell Family” by Rev. Martyn Summerbell, D.D. Published with separate page numbering in the book “Public Activities of Rev. J.J. Summerbell, D.D.” / by Carlyle Summerbell. Dayton, Ohio: The Christian Publishing Association, c1916.
“The family of the Summerbells, in the branch whose name is written in this manner, is principally distinguished for having a strong religious inclination, a tendency toward literary pursuits, for having a preponderance of girls in its homes, and for the number of leaders whom it has contributed to the gospel ministry.
In the mother country the family is to be traced far back into early history. Its first member in England was a Norman baron who came over with William the Conqueror, Sir Gualter de Somerville, Lord of Wichnour, in the county of Stafford (* See Dormant and Extinct Baronage of England. Lond. 1907, p. 406). His descendents moved northward and people bearing his name are to be found in Northumberland at the extreme northeast of England, and in Roxburghshire and Ayrshire in Scotland. Harriman in his surnames of the United Kingdom mentions several variations of the name: as Somerville, Somervail, Somervell, Somerwill, and Sommerville. To these may be added the form “Summerbell”, which is the one regularly borne by the branch in America to which present attention is directed.
NICHOLAS SUMMERBELL
1760-1844The progenitor of the American Summerbells was Nicholas Summerbell, who was born in Northumberland, England, November 27, 1760. He married Jane Wilson, a lady of good family, who seem to have been much averse to the match, as there as little intercourse between the families afterward. Four children came to their home: James, Nancy, Jane, and Betsy, all of whom were born in England. In 1799 Nicholas brought his family to America. They landed in New York and sailed up the Hudson in a sloop as far as Peekskill. They settled on a farm five and a half miles east of that village in a part of town which received the name of Scrub Oaks. The modern usage has modified this title to “Shrub Oaks,” which is the name by which it is now known. Nicholas was a weaver in the old country and it is supposed that he followed the same occupation here along with the care of his farm. He was a staunch member of the Baptist Church and was known in the community as a man of earnest Christian conviction, of thrifty ways, and a determined spirit. He was living at Shrub Oaks with his wife in the summer of 1844 when he was visited by his grandson, Dr. N. Summerbell, who took with him his son Joseph, who was then a infant of six months. The old man was infirm, as was to be expected at his advanced age of eighty-four, but he was pleased to see his only great-grandson that bore the name of Summerbell. There were others who were born later, but at the time there were in the country but five males owning the name: Nicholas Senior, [his grandsons] Nicholas Junior, Benjamin Ferris, James, and the infant [great grandson] Joseph. It was in the autumn of the same year that the veteran of the family entered into rest, December 13, 1844.”
Speculation about his origins and ancestry
Nicholas Summerbell's birth date as calculated from his gravestone (died age 82 years, 10 month, 26 days) is 18 January 1762. However, his great-grandson, Dr. Martyn Summerbell, wrote in his family history that Nicholas was born on November 27, 1760 and died age 84. We are inclined to believe the birth date derived from the gravestone, which is six decades closer to the actual events than Martyn's writings. . Moroever, we can find no record of a Nicholas Summerbell or similar name born or baptized anywhere in Northumberland in 1760 or 1761, but there is a baptism in early 1762 only two weeks after the birth date indicated by Nicholas' gravestone..
NICKOLAS SOMMERBELL
Christening: 31 JAN 1762 Chollerton, Northumberland, England
Father: JAMES SOMERBELL
Mother: ELIZABETH
(Source: Familysearch.org. Parish registers for Chollerton, 1643-1959 Church of England. Parish Church of Chollerton (Northamptonshire) . Film # 0252505.)The parents of this particular Nicholas were most likely James Sumerbel and Elizabeth Lindsal (Linsdal//Linsdale) who married in Chollerton on March 30, 1760. Chollerton lies only 5-6 miles southeast of Bellingham, and the five youngerr children of the couple were all baptised in Belllingham, as was James himself in 1733/34. This was obviously a family with roots in Bellingham. Chollerton, where the marriage and baptism of the first child took place, may have been the mother's home village and only a temporary place of residence. .
Thanks to Thomas Summerbell Bolton of the U.K., who provided us with a copy of research compiled by Allan Summerbell in the 1980s or 1990s, we are able to do some informed speculation about the ancestry of Nicholas Summerbell going back to the early 1600s, Included are multiple surname variiations found in the parish registers for the person or his children.
Generations from oldest to youngest:1. William SUMMRELL / SUMMERELL / SUMERBELL / SOMMERBLE / SOMMERBELL / SOMMERVELL
Born. abt 1620 (range: 1615-1625). Married Margaret YOUNG on 5 May 1642 in Tynemouth, Northumberland, England. Died August 1690 in North Shields, Northumberland. . Buried on 4 August 1690 in Tynemouth, Northumberland.
2. Robert SUMMERELL / SUMBERBELL / SUMMERBELL / SOMMERBELL (son of William)
Born in Lowlights, Tynemouth, Northumberland. Baptized 16 March 1659/60 (1660 by our modern calendar) in Tynemouth. Married Barbara FARROW on 27 Jan 1693/94 (1694 by our modern calendar) in Tynemouth.
3. Nicholas SUMERELL / SUMMERBELL (son of Robert)
Baptized. 21 September 1708 in Tynemmouth, Northumberland. Married <UNKNOWN> abt 1725. All of his four children were baptized in Bellingham, beginning with a daughter Jane in 1726.
4. James SUMMERBELL / SOMMERBELL (son of Nicholas)
Baptized 15 January 1733/34 (1734 by our modern calendar) in Bellingham, Northumberland. Married Elizabeth LINDSAL/LINSDAL/LINSDALE on 30 March 1760 in Chollerton, Northumberland. Buried 17 Oct 1797 in Bellingham.
5. Nicholas SUMMERBELL / SOMMERBELL (son of James)
Baptized 31 Jan 1762 in Chollerton, Northumberland. All of his siblings (he was the first born of six) were later baptized in Bellingham.
The best candidate for *our* Nicholas Summerbell..The map below shows the homelands of our proposed Summerbell tribe. The village of Bellingham (marked in red) lies north of Hadrian's Wall on the edge of the Northumberland National Park, 18 miles below the Scottish border. Tynemouth (so small it's not visible on this map) is just north of South Shields at the lower right-hand corner.
Immigration and Naturalization
As previously noted, Nicholas Summerbell relocated his family from Northumberland, England to New York in 1799. We don't know why he immigrated. Religion might have played a role (the freedom to worship as a Baptists without being labeled a religious dissenters), as well as the usual economic and social factors that drive people to leave their ancestral lands. They appear to have had no close relatives in the U.S., and for decades believed they were the only people of the surname Summerbell in the entire country. No immigration record of this family has been discovered to date. There is no sign of them in the 1800 United States census. The first public record in America is a naturalization declaration filed in Westchester County on May 24, 1808. In this document, his name is spelled SOMERBELL (body of the text) and SUMME[? - rest of signature is torn off). The Westchester Archives filed the declaration under the surname SUMMERVILLE.
Westchester County [illegible character] I Nicholas Somerbell of the Coun[ty]
of Westchester being duly sworn make the Oath
that I will support the Constitution of the United [States]
and that I do Absolutely and entirely renounce [and]
Abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any Foreign
potentate, State or Sovereignty, and particularly to the K[ing]
of Great Britain
Sworn this 24th May 1808 Nicholas Summe[rbell?]
In open Court before me
Elijah Crawford ClkCensuses
United States Federal Census takers consistently misconstrued and misspelled his surname as well:
1800
Not found.1810
Nicholas SUMMERVILL
Household contained 1 male age 45+ (Nicholas himself) 1 female 10-15 (daughter Elizabeth), 2 females 16-25 (daughters Jane and Ann) and 1 female 26-44 (wife Jane).
(United States Census, 1810. Yorktown, Westchester, New York; Roll: 37; Page: 1018)
1820
Nicholas SOMERVIL
Household contained one 1 male <10 (possibly a grandson), 1 male 45+ (Nicholas himself). 1 female 16-26 (daughter Elizabeth) and 1 female 45+ (wife Jane).
(United States Census, 1820. Census Place: Yorktown, Westchester, New York; Roll: M33_75; Page: 336)
1830
Nicholas SOMERVELL
Household contained 1 male 10-15 (grandson Nicholas), 1 male 60-70 (Nicholas himself) and 1 female 60-70 (wife Jane).
(United States Census, 1830. Yorktown, Westchester, New York; Roll: 112; Page: 172)1840
Not found. There was no head of household of a similar name anywhere in Westchester County in 1840, even though both Nicholas and his wife Jane supposedly lived at their Shrub Oak homestead until their deaths.. Nor are any elderly persons listed in the households of their adult children.
Death and Probate
Martyn states that Nicholas died on December 13, 1844, which agrees with the date of death on his gravestone. Probate papers, however, record his death date as December 14. (The probate papers, which refer to a will but do not include it, are housed in the Westchester County Archives). The executors of his estate were his sons-in-law, Joshua Mead of Putnam Valley and Lewis Vail of Peekskill. An inventory of Nicholas' personal estate, excluding the value of his house and land, compiled in February 1845 totaled $3,051.20. The bulk of it consisted of promissory notes, bonds and mortgages (plus interest accrued) owed to Nicholas by numerous parties, including family members and the Trustees of the Yorktown Presbyterian Church. He was a generous man, to say the least.
Summerbell <-- Somerville?
Martyn Summerbell's contention that the family was descended from the 11th century Norman knight, Gualter (Walter) de Somerville, is best taken with a grain of salt, but not to be dismissed outright. The frequency with which Nicholas Summerbell's' surname was spelled with a "v" instead of a "b" in American records brings the theory of a common origin well within the range of possibility. Here are a couple of supporting references.
SUMMERBELL. A U. S. name. The same as the English names Somervell, Somervail ; corrupted from Somerville.
(Source: Ludus Patronymicus: Or, The Etymology of Curious Surnames/ by Richard Stephen Charnock. London: Trubner & co., 1868, p. 109)and
SUMMERVILLE, SUMMERBELL. (Eng.) Variants of Somerville, q.v.
(Source: New dictionary of American family names / by Elsdon Coles Smith. New York: Harper & Row, 1973, p. 498.)Moreover, old parish records show that "Somerbells" were denizens of areas in southern Scotland historically associated with the ancient Somervilles, including this familiar looking example:.
NICOLL SOMERBELL
Christening: 20 AUG 1636 Kelso, Roxburgh, Scotland
Father: William Somerbell
Mother: Issobell Pringill
(Source: Familysearch.org. Parish registers for Kelso, 1597-1854 Church of Scotland. Parish Church of Kelso (Roxburghshire). FHL Film # 1067945, Items 2-3 and 102293.)Roxburghshire and the town of Kelso in particular (shown on the map above, almost directly north of Bellingham) is replete with Somerville history dating back to the 1100s and the founding of Kelso Abbey, which was patronized by early Somervilles. .Until DNA stuides establish a genetic link, the idea of a common origin must remain speculative but nonetheless deserving of further research.
