First known generation

MATTHEW and MARY JAMES, lived in Stafford, Staffordshire, England. They were the parents of our ancestor, Thomas James.

Second generation

Their son, THOMAS JAMES, was baptized in 1638, in Stafford, Staffordshire, England. His wife, ELIZABETH JAMES, may have been the first in our family to became a Quaker at a time in England when it was often dangerous to admit that one was a Quaker. It appears possible that Thomas did not join the Quaker church, but their son, our ancestor, Aaron was clearly a Friend. In June of l995 I received a letter from Chester Thompson, the husband of Jean (James) Thompson, of Dublin, Ohio, who wrote that they had visited an 800-year-old church in Stafford, England where Thomas and Elizabeth were married. He reports the church was "in good condition and very much used."

Third generation

Our first American ancestors, AARON JAMES and ELIZABETH FIELDHOUSE, were married on February 6, 1699 in England. Soon after the wedding, Aaron and Elizabeth sailed for Westtown, Chester County, Pennsylvania. They owned a sizable parcel of land and became the parents of six children. There is interesting evidence in the Quaker records at Swarthmore College that Aaron may have first arrived in America before 1688. I found a document an Aaron James signed at a Friends meeting in the community that year. So far I have not found evidence there was a second Aaron James living in this corner of Chester County in an era when it was wilderness and sparsely populated

1. Thomas James (b. April 20, 1700) married Hannah Pyle
2. Mary James (b. May 15, 1702) married Amos Townsend & Amos Yarnall
3. Sarah James (b. July 1, 1704) married Joseph Gilbert
4. Aaron James (b. Nov. 9, 1706) married Hannah Elwall
5. Joseph James (b. January 29, 1709) married Hannah Hickman
6. Ann James (b. March 24, 1711)

Fourth generation

Their fifth child, JOSEPH JAMES, was born on January 29, 1709, in Westtown Pennsylvania. In 1735 Joseph married HANNAH HICKMAN, the daughter of a Quaker neighbor. She was born on April 21, 1715. The Benjamin Hickman family reportedly lived in a cave when they first arrived in Westtown, probably before Hannah was born. I have talked to a James family member who has searched for that cave. Joseph and Hannah James had 14 children. Quaker records indicate Joseph and Hannah remained loyal to their Quaker faith, but the records also indicate the couple misbehaved in their youth, and when found out, confessed these indiscretions to the entire congregation so they could retain their standing as members of the Monthly Meeting.

1. Caleb James (b. May 1, 1736) married Mary Marshall and when Mary died, he married a widow, Betty (Lewis) Hoopes.
2. Mary James (b. July 26, 1737) married Philip Mendenhall
3. Hannah James (b. August 1, 1739) married John Marshall
4. Ann James (b. June 3, 1741) married William Patterson and _____ Underwood.
5. Joseph James (b. March 21, 1743) did not marry.
6. Elizabeth James (b. November 25, 1744) married Joseph Knight.
7. Sarah James (b. December 22, 1776) married Ezekiel Griffith.
8. Susanna James (b. February 20, 1749) married Jacob Hoopes & Gideon Gilpin.
9. Ruth James (b November 7, 1750) died young.
10. Moses James (b, December 20, 1752) married Mary Hoskins.
11. Aaron James (b. 10-11-1754) died young.
12. Jesse James (b. March 12, 1756) married Elizabeth Hoopes.
13. Esther James (b. September 6, 1757) first married Abraham Williamson and later married Samuel Painter.
14. Rebecca James (b. May 3, 1759) died young.

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Fifth generation

MOSES JAMES, the tenth child of Joseph and Hannah, was born December 20, 1752. He married MARY HOSKINS. There is little information about Mary's early years. It is fairly clear from Quaker meeting records Mary was not a Quaker. One of the allegations against Moses was she was not of the faith. But those Quaker records have much to say about Moses, who reportedly fled the state after learning Mary was pregnant, leaving debts behind. Male members of the Quaker meeting were instructed to find him, but he apparently didn't even tell the family where he and Mary were going.

In the spring of 2002 I found courthouse records that prove Moses and Mary bought a farm in Loudoun County, Virginia, about 20 miles west of Leesburg. The farm had been owned by a well known Northern Virginia preacher. Moses and Mary apparently lived there until around 1817 when they sold their house and land to their oldest son, Abel, and followed several other sons and relatives to the Zanesville, Ohio area. Those records and information about their estate (their pots and pans, horses, cows and sheep) are in the archives of the Muskingum County Courthouse in Zanesville. I have a copy of their wills and estate records. Their eldest son, Abel., who apparently was doing quite well by then, had settled just north of Parkersburg, not far from the Ohio river in Northwestern Virginia. He had a son who bought land south of Parkersburg. (West Virginia didnÕt become a state until Virginia was split up in 1863 because of the dispute over slavery that lead to the Civil War. West Virginia was made of people who wanted Virginia to remain free). Court documents show that Abel kept the family home west of Leesburg for roughly a year and then sold it to a non-family member. All of this information is documented in the Register of Deeds offices in Leesburg and in Parkersburg.. I made photocopies of these documents.

1. Abel James (reported to have been born a "bastard," probably born in 1775 or 1776)
2. Abner James
3. Joseph James
4. Caleb James (b. November 28, 1787) married Elizabeth Hoopes (b. December 6, 1794)
5. Isaac James
6. Israel James
7. Jesse James
8. Hannah James
9. John James

Sixth generation

CALEB JAMES, the fourth child of Moses and Mary, was born on November 28, 1797, in Westtown, Chester County, Pennsylvania. Caleb married ELIZABETH HOOPES, who born December 6, 1794. They had eight children, including our direct descendant, Curtis Hoopes James. Our realtive was one of several women named Elizabeth Hoopes who married James family men. Monthly Meeting records show Caleb and Elizabeth, as well as their children, were Quakers. Caleb was the only child of Moses and Mary to regain standing with the church, perhaps so that he could legally marry Elizabeth, who was a Quaker in good standing. When Caleb and his family joined his parents and some of his siblings in Muskingum, County, Ohio, he and his brother, Isaac, built a grist mill on Jonathan Creek, a meandering stream, often about the width of as modern city street. Later, Caleb and Isaac built an a large inn on the Maysville Pike, but they lost it in bankruptcy during a depression. It is at this point that Caleb and Elizabeth moved on to Iowa, near Chariton, where they died. The Inn south of Zanesville is now an antique store, the property of Kenneth James and his wife.

1. Lorenzo James (b. March 13, 1814) married Margaret C. Blythe.
2. Mary A. James (b. August 31, 1816)
3. Curtis Hoopes James, born August 16, 1818, married Julia Ann Mauk.
4. Elizabeth M. James (b. March 6, 1822)
5. Caleb James (b. September 25, 1826)
6. Isaac James (b. April 12, 1830)
7. Caroline James
8. Robert James

Seventh generation

CURTIS HOOPES JAMES, was born on August 16, 1818, in Chester County, Pennsylvania. On January 10, 1840, he married JULIA ANN MAUK, born June 7, 1822, in Muskingum County, Ohio. They were married by a Justice of the Peace, perhaps because he was a Quaker and she was not. Her parents, Anthony and Sarah (Price) Mauk, were natives of Virginia. Curtis and his father, Caleb, visited Iowa in 1849, and in 1851 both families moved from Ohio to Whitebreast Township, Lucas County Iowa. Curtis built a log cabin on 240 acres for his family. Julia Ann died on April 27, l903, according to the Chariton paper. Her obituary reports that she and Curtis had 10 children, and that six of the children preceded her in death. But a history of Lucas County Pioneers reports they had 14 children.

1. John James
2. Eliza James
3. George James
4. Anthony Mauk James, Lucas County, Iowa
5. Sarah Ann James
6. Joseph James
7. Julia A. James
8. Hamilton L. James
9. William James
10. Mary James
11. Rebecca James
12. Wayne James (died in infancy)
13. Catherine James (died in infancy)
14. James James (died in infancy)
The following were listed as still living in Julia's 1903 obituary.
W.M. James, Creston, Iowa
Anthony Mauk James, Lucas County, Iowa
Etta (James) Ramsey, Lucas County, Iowa
M.D. James, Aurora, Nebraska.

Eighth generation

ANTHONY MAUK JAMES married SARAH ROBERTS. Anthony and Sarah had four children. Sarah's ancestors, who were Quakers and came from Wales, also lived in Chester County and several were prominent in the Philadelphia area. Some members of this line trace their family back to royalty, while others suggest the name may have once been Robards, and that the family fled to Wales from France because of religious prosecution. My research raises doubts about this possibility. Our first American relative was ROBERT CADWALADER. His son was named Cadwalader Robert [later changed to Roberts.] The Welsh tradition of that era had children take their father's first name as their surname. The Roberts family also lived near Jonathan Creek south of Zanesville, Ohio, before coming to Iowa. Anthony and Sarah had five children.

1. Verner "Vern" C. James married Iva Zarelda Baldwin.
2, Nelle May James married Alfred Parsons.
3. Olive James married Morris Malone.
4. Lura James did not marry.

Ninth generation

VERNER "VERN" C. JAMES was born on September 1, l880. On June 15, 1907, he married IVA BALDWIN, who was born August 21, 1881. Iva was a school teacher who moved with her parents to Chariton, Iowa from Webester County, Iowa. They were the parents of six children, one of which died leaving three sons. In 1995 three of their offspring are still alive and vigorous. Although they have retired, all three are actively serving as volunteers in their communities, helping others.

1. ROBERT BALDWIN JAMES, born November 17, l908, married PATRICE SCARBROUGH on January 18, 1942. They adopted two children.
2. CAROLINE HARRIETT JAMES, born September 29, 1911, married HORACE ALFRED SMITH. They had two children. Several years after she divorced Horace, Harriett married HARRY WARWICK. This marriage also ended in divorce.
3. HOWARD ANTHONY JAMES was born January , 1913. He died in October of l963. Howard married CATHERINE EVERETT RICHEY in August of 1934. Catherine was born May 26, l915 and died December 20, l993. Howard and Catherine had seven children. One, Mary, died when she was a few days old. Six sons are alive, married and active in 1995.
4. VERN C. JAMES II, born December 20, 1916, married NORMA LIDA BERTHA WELZ, who died in December of l992. They produced two sons. Both are married and have children and grandchildren.
5. JAMES WILLIAM JAMES (deceased), never married.

The Tenth generation

ROBERT and PATRICE adopted two children, and Steve (deceased) and Linda James.

HARRIETT (JAMES) SMITH and HORACE ALFRED SMITH had two children, a daughter, Alison (Smith) Antoun, and a son, Baldwin, who died when he was very young. HOWARD and CATHERINE (RICHEY) JAMES were the first in the family to marry, and they had seven children, Howard Jr., Mary (who died as an infant), David, Daniel, Timothy, Mark, Joel.

VERN and NORMA JAMES had two sons, Vern III and Rolland.
JAMES WILLIAM JAMES (Jimmy) nevfer married.

The Eleventh Generation

Catherine (James) Green, Mary Ann Bettman, and David (James) Weisvogel, the offspring of David and Caroline James; Todd, Jeffery and Jennifer (James) Aviles, the children of Rolland and Jane James; Jennifer (James) Dunham and Heath James, the children of Tim and Mary James; Morgan James, the son of Tim and Carolyn James; Daniel Jr., Howard and Audrey (James) Rose, the offspring of Daniel and Kay James ; John and Ardys (James) Clancey, the offpsring of Vern C. III and Judy; Jonathan H. C. James, the son of Howard and Judy (Vogel) James, and Paul and Heidi (James) Newsom, the two adopted children of Howard and Dorothy (Fontaine) James; Tanya Anton, Benjamin Michael Antoun, Gwendolyn Lee "Wendy" (Antoun) Stephens, the children of Alison (Smith) and Daniel Antoun; Nara, Joshua and Ashley James, children of Mark and Lisa James, and Nathan and Kendall James, children of Mark and Christina (Gleason) James; Sarah James, daughter of Joel and Cheryl James.

The Twelth Generation

Shannon Marie Stephens, daughter of Wendi and Thomas Stephens; Nathan and David Green, sons of Cathy (James) Green and James Green; Jonah Bettman, son of Mary Ann and Jay Bettman; Jacqueline Aviles, daughter of Jennifer (James) and Ricardo Aviles; , daughter of Jennifer (James) Dunham and Timothy Dunham; Jessica Newsom, daughter of Heidi (James) and David Newsom, and Cody James, son Paul and Amanda James.

More branches of the James family tree to come.