yon is a
name well known throughout the world. There are millions with the name.
Our branch can confidently trace itself to Henry Lyon about 1650 in
Fairfield, Connecticut. When we venture further back things begin to get
less clear. Controversy about heritage is fairly common but when we
begin to talk about royalty, it becomes fierce and hot.
Some would argue we are related to the Queen Mother whose family is
Bowes-Lyon. There is no proof of
this.
At the turn of the century, a set of books was released
called collectively The Lyon Memorial. Two volumes appeared
from 1905 to 1907. They were written by scholars from the
Lyon family; two physicians and two historians. The work they did
was truly remarkable considering their resources. The second volume
was written by a woman; Sydney Elizabeth Lyon and edited by Louisa
Lyon Johnson and Dr. A. M. Lyon, one of the authors of the first volume.
He was careful to say that some of Sydney's research was lacking
complete documentation but was nevertheless valuable. It was in
this volume that our ancestor Henry is studied in depth. Much of
the following information is based upon her work which I consider
excellent in most of its content. Occasionally she gets caught
up and facts seem to merge with romance. A quote of Ms. Lyons
should be kept in mind. "If faith is the evidence of things not
seen, history is the evidence of things half known." At such a distance
and with family pride always at work, tradition may be somewhat
colored.
For instance, there is a long standing tradition that
Henry, Richard, and Thomas Lyon were guards in Cromwell's
army outside the building at which King Charles I was executed in
1648/49 and that they then fled to America. At first glance
this seems quite like an adventure story. Nevertheless, Lyon
families separated by time and distance who descend from these brothers
all claim the same story as true. In fact, that they were
actually brothers is only supposition if documentation is the only
source of truth.. However, three men by the same name and nearly the
same age in the same small American locale in 1650 suggests
that they were brothers. I prefer to go with strong family
tradition in this instance. After all, there are few facts
that can be indisputably documented.
As decoration for this page are the arms of the Lyon
family of Scotland. Also seen are the badge of the Farquarson Clan of
which the Lyon family is a member. The tartan at left is also of the
Farquarsons. Very strong and consistent family tradition holds that our
Lyon family is Scottish in origin. The direct line of descent is so
far not possible to list. That Henry Lyon was decended from the
Perthshire, Glen Lyon family is however, indisputable. That will have to
serve for the time being. The interested reader is directed to a line of descent traced by a professional
genealogist at the turn of the 20th century that takes the family back
at least to the Norman conquest of England and perhaps further.
Of more concern in America is
the career and family of our founder, Henry Lyon. We can accept
1648/49 as the date of the immigration of Henry, Richard, and Thomas
Lyon. We can further assume they
came by boat, but its name is lost. They probably came to New Haven
where another Lyon lived who spelled his name Lyne. Henry was first
seen in Milford, Connecticut in 1649 where he was accepted
into the church. Everyone living there had to belong to one of the
Congregational faiths. He did not stay long. In a short time he
moved to Fairfield. This may have had something to do with the fact
that William Bateman lived there and he had an attractive
daughter named Elizabeth. Henry and Elizabeth were married in May
of 1652 and went to live in Fairfield. They had several
children:
Henry lived fourteen years in Fairfield, farming and
raising his family. Between the births of John and Benjamin the family joined
a group from Milford, Branford, and Guilford Connecticut to start a new
town in New Jersey. They called it Newark after the town in England
where their minister, Rev. Pierson, had studied. Below is a map of the
first settlement. Henry occupied lot number 8.
Establishing this town, of course, meant dispossessing the
Native people. They were of the Catawba tribe. Originally, a
meeting was held and a group of Indians who claimed to be representing
the tribe made a deal for the land in exchange for "50 double hands of
powder, 100 bars of lead, 20 axes, 20 coats, 10 guns, 20 pistols, 10
kettles, 10 swords, 4 blankets, 4 barrels of beere, 10 paire of
breeches, 50 knives, 20 bowes, 850 fathoms of Wampum, 2 ankors of
Licquers, or something equivalent, and 3 troopers coats." It is
sure that the natives did not understand that they were giving away any
part of their land permanently. They saw themselves as users of the
land, not owners and were giving permission for the settlers to use it
as well. Also, the tribal members who met were not neccesarily speaking
for all the Native Americans in the area. This made for an inevitable
problem when they both understood what was meant by the other and the
fact that the settlers had made a very well armed group out of their
neighbors.
Further complicating the matter was the fact that the
crown grantee, Phillip Carteret, who was given the land by the Duke of
York, expected to be paid by those who settled there. He did not
recognize as binding the sale directly from the Indians to the settlers.
He claimed a rent of one half penny per acre was due to him.
The Governor was appealed to and it was agreed that the rent should be
paid but not in coin, of which they had none, but in kind. Henry Lyon
was appointed town treasurer and had to receive each man's allottment of
wheat or corn. No doubt he was trusted but held this honor for no
pay. As Ms. Lyon says in her text, "Henry Lyon was a public slave
rather than a public servant." He had to collect the grain, make sure
there was no cheating in the amounts, collect from those who were
delinquent, and assure prompt delivery to the Governor in Elizabeth
Town. He held this office from 1668 to 1673. The effort was rewarded
however, in added status and power in the community. Henry was one of
several men given authority for maintaining order in town meetings
and trying and punishing anyone who disrupted the tranquility of the
town. They acted as a panel of judges.
Henry was then entrusted to operate an "ordinary",
or inn for the community. This was done to provide a place for
travelers and new settlers to stay so as not to put a burden on any
given family. This required a sturdy, fair, and authoritative man and an
equally strong wife. Elizabeth Lyon now had to take in strangers and see
to their comforts along with raising her children. Henry, of course, was
expected to operate at his own expense and retain the profit. The
profit was not only financial. The inn was the place where many town
activities and meetings were held. The inn-keeper was privy to all
the politics and goings-on in the settlement and got all the news from
outside as he met strangers coming in. Henry rose in prominence and was
trusted by his peers. He became wealthy by colonial
standards.
In
1675, Henry and Elizabeth moved to Elizabeth Town, the seat of the
colony's government. There he hit his stride in politics. In 1675 he was
Delegate to the General Assembly. In 1681 he was made Justice of the
Peace, colonial equivalent of a Supreme Court judge. In 1682 he was
commissioned to lay out all highways, bridges, passages, and landings
for the county of Essex, and in 1684 was named to the Council of
the Governor of New Jersey.
Elizabeth must have had an easier life in
those times with servants and nicer living arrangements. Yet her
enjoyment was to be short lived as she died before 1689. Henry remarried
and had two daughters by his second wife whom we know only as Mary. They
moved back to Newark. Henry was a wealthy and influential person and
landowner and had been more than fifty years in America when
he died in 1703. His sons Thomas, John, and Nathaniel had predeceased
him. It is from his son Samuel that we descend.
Home
Lyon
