Let it never be said that Walter Chute was the only free-spirited and scandalous Chute in the family history - here's a
story I've never heard. From the Essex Public Record Office, the following description of their collection of "Copies of
Letters From a Brentwood Seminary":
ESSEX RECORD OFFICEThe family in Chute Hall at the time was Francis Chute and Ruth Falkiner - their son Richard was born the same year - 1763, so the dates of both siblings are questionable at this point. This interesting side of the Chute Family history has been added to her records.
Level: Category Records in public repositories
Level: Fonds
Reference Code T/A 855
Title COPIES OF LETTERS FROM A BRENTWOOD SEMINARY
Scope and Content Photocopies of letters written to a Mrs Balfour of Shapinsay, Orkney, by Mrs Holland and her daughter Charlotte Clifford 1808-1812 from a seminary in Brentwood run by Mrs Mitchell. Original letters are deposited in Orkney Archives. These letters form part of a larger collection of Balfour Papers in Orkney Archive (reference D2/27/22) and were written by Mrs Holland (formerly Clifford, formerly Montgomery nee Chute) and her daughter Charlotte Clifford to Mrs Balfour of Shapinsay, Orkney between 1799 and 1812. The letters copied here cover the years 1807 to 1812 when Mrs Mitchell moved her seminary from Wimeswold, co. Leics to Brentwood.
Mrs Holland was born Mary Chute of Chute Hall co. Kerry in 1763, in 1781 married Alexander Montgomery and in 1797 met Colonel Thomas Balfour of Elwick, Shapinsay, Orkney conceiving a daughter by him. She fled from her husband and gave birth to an illegitimate daughter given the name "Charlotte`Clifford" on 15 July 1799. Colonel Balfour died in Bath in September 1799 but his widow, Mrs Balfour made arrangements for œ31,000 to be invested for the child's education. In the meantime Alexander Montgomery returned to Ireland and divorced his wife by Act of Parliament. Mary Clifford married again, this also ended in separation and as Mrs Holland she went to live from 1803 with her Swiss friend Mrs Mitchell while her daughter was educated at her school.
A marriage record of an Elizabeth Chewte and Alexander Sherman has been added to the Great Britain miscellaneous marriage records section. Although her parents and are not recorded - nor is this considered an "official" record, it is interesting for her approximate date and place of birth, which is recorded as "Satterly, Suffolk, Great Britain", a location we haven't seen before in the British lines. Another unusual location for a Chewte is found in the christening records of a "Richarde Choute", parents again not recorded, who was christened 2 OCT 1614, in Ewhurst, Surrey, Great Britain.
A "Robert Chute/Chaute/Choute" was christened in Sible Hedingham, Essex, Great Britain in 1581, also the son of a Robert. Insofar as time frames are concerned, there are several existing families which have a Robert as a father: the first (and least likely) is our Robert and wife Jane Lucas, or Robert and Julian Fry in Somerset, This Robert may be related to the "Breach of promise" Robert's (date 1583), although it's difficult to know where to slot this Robert - he's been tossed into the British "Miscellaneous Records" for the time being. Official record sources have also been added to the records of Charles Chute or Chewte, the son of Charles Chute, Sr. and Ursula Challoner. As for Speaker Challoner Chewte, while his birth record was reported by WEC to have been recorded at St. Mary Abbots, his christening record appeared elsewhere, in Bearsted, Kent. That record has been added to his notes.
The following additions have been made to the family records: the marriage date of Challoner Chute and Dorothy North, and the records of the James Congdon Steadman family have been corrected and updated with assistance from the Steadman Family Records - James is the father of Frances Steadman, wife of Ezra Chute, and Havilah H. Steadman, wife of Nathan Randall Chute. Nathan's brother, Allen M. Chute has also had his records updated. Allen married Mary Ann Savary (or Savory), the daughter of Nathan Savary and Deidamia Sabean. Often you see the Savary surname spelled as "Savary" and "Savory", sometimes both in the same family - in the interests of continuity, I've stuck with "Savary" in most cases, but have added the warning to the Index that the name may have also been spelled "Savory". The same is true of "Sabean", which has also been spelled "Sabin", or "Sabine". The information added to Diadamia Sabean's records can be found at the Sabin Family Association website.
The middle initial for David M. Proctor and the most often used name for his wife Frances
Chute ("Fanny") has been added - the source for that is the
Proctor family database.
All of these Allied Family web site links have been added to the Allied Family Research Links page.
Another Australian Chute was discovered in the Plowman Family database: Jane Chute, married to John Evans, and the mother of John Josiah Evans. The family originally lived in Melbourne; son John Josiah, after marrying Ellen Ricketts, moved to Woodend, in Victoria, Australia. At least five children are recorded of that marriage. All names have been added to the Australian and Surname Index.
In researching the John Bolles, born in 1603, husband of Jane Chute (daughter of Charles Chute and Ursula Challoner), I came across a good many references to his parents, Thomas Bolles and Elizabeth Perkins. Records consistently reflect Elizabeth Perkins being born either in 1603 or 1606, making her the same age or 3 years younger than her son, christened 3 years before she was born, and dead by 1610. I've updated John Bolles' birth records, and have added those of his father, but have left off Elizabeth Perkins altogether, until a more reasonable candidate surfaces.
Anthony Mark McCormack, the son of Dorothy Joan Chute of Australia, has written to correct a few spelling errors on the recorded names of his wife and daughters. His wife, Scheryl was incorrectly recorded as "Cheryl", daughter Kathryn as "Catherine" and Clare Maree as "Clare Marie". All of those corrections have been made, (those with Gedcoms take note) and now that he's made the mistaken of poking his head up, I've bombarded him with requests for biographies, more data, and anything else I can think of. Thanks, Tony!
(Has also been added to the "Chute Family Mysteries" section)
Is there anyone out there who can definitively connect Lionel Chute, Sr. to Anthony Chute of Kent?
Another Lionel Chute - our present Lionel Chute, up in New Hampshire, who has been corresponding with the College of Arms in Great Britain - called the other evening with some rather startling news. It seems that, based on correspondence he has received from them, the College of Arms doesn't recognize any of us here in Canada and the United States as armigeral Chutes (that is, as being entitled to nail the family crest over the fireplace). Looking at your records, you'll note the line of ascent, from Lionel Chute, Jr., (spouse Rose) to his father, Lionel Chute Sr. (spouse Susan), to his grandfather, Anthony Chute of Kent (spouse with surname Gee). It appears that the College of Arms is unable to connect our Lionel's father, Lionel Sr., with Anthony Chute of Kent, and that they consider the entire North American line of Chutes to be, in their words, "suspect."
"Hey wait a minute …" thousands of individuals named Chute are thinking to themselves at this news. "If they can't connect Lionel Chute, Sr. to the Main Line Chutes, that means …."
Well … yes, it does and no it doesn't. Actually, what it means is that the College of Arms can't connect Lionel Chute Sr. to Anthony Chute - yet - and thus to the known lines of British Chutes. That doesn't mean they've turned themselves inside out in a dedicated effort to do so, either, so don't take that too personally, unless you're seeking their nod to nail a legitimate coat of arms to your wall, and then you're outa luck - for the moment. (The College of Arms also swears on their cantons that the Bethersden Chute line is extinct, and as a result have have just plummeted in the respect and admiration of a large number of Irish Chutes who are direct descendants of the Bethersden branch through Daniel … or, they would have lost the respect, had these Chutes given them a minute of thought in centuries). The Baronetcy is extinct, yes - the line is most decidedly alive and kicking soccer balls around County Kerry in fine form, at this very moment.
It did pose a rather interesting question, though: can we prove that Lionel Chute, Sr. was the son of Anthony of Kent?
There is a reason why the College of Arms can't make the connection. Their information is largely based on the information obtained through "Visitations". You've heard of those. A courier from the College of Arms gets on his horse, trots out to the major landowning families of the region, and interviews the family members and their associates. The Visitation which cemented their records of the Chute family (in Arthur's line, from which Lionel descended) was conducted in (Lionel, if the date is wrong, correct me) 1722, and resulted from interviews with the Chutes who were alive, nine generations later. You'll note this is close to 100 years after our Lionel herded his family aboard a cross-Atlantic schooner and disappeared.
The College of Arms does not consider Burke's pedigree to be an accurate rendering of family history. They also do not consider the pedigree roll in Hampshire as proof. They will accept as proof other official documents, such as wills, birth records, marriage records and, in some cases, verifyable items of correspondence. They won't go out searching for these things, no. But they will regard them seriously, if such items are handed to them. In other words, if you're in the College of Arms, peering over your bifocals at your "shhhh-edule", connecting a rowdy crowd of unruly Americans and irritating Irish to a distinguished British line of Chutes probably isn't high on your list of "must do"s for the week.
In any event, the bottom line is that because the connection of Anthony Chute to Lionel Chute, Sr. is unproven, the entire line of American Chutes is "suspect". One hopes they meant that only in the genealogical sense, and aren't planning to answer our query, "Er … suspect of wot?" using words like "impudence" and "cheek" and "commoners trying to rise above their station".
Lionel (the New Hampshire one!) had a number of thoughts on this, which I hope he'll share with us ... until he puts them down on paper, here is my line of thought:
(1) Let's start with the basic assumption that if Lionel Chute, Jr. was intelligent enough to be elected by the good townspeople of the Massachusetts Bay Colony as an Ipswich schoolmaster, he was also intelligent enough to know the name of his own grandfather. Whatever pedigree he brought over with him from England would have named his own grandfather. He was literate. He could read. Had he glanced at his own pedigree and noticed that the name on it was NOT his own grandfather, he would have gone down in history not as the first Ipswich schoolmaster but as the "Man Who Invented the First American Eraser".
(2) William E. Chute - who had never seen Lionel's parchment - used Burke's pedigree to open his 1894 North American Chute genealogies. He did not use the parchment roll brought over by Lionel.
(3) There is no proof that Lionel's pedigree - which he brought with him - matched the pedigree listed by Burke's pedigree. For all we know, without any of us having actually seen it, his pedigree could have contained the entire Chute family of Norfolk or Combe St. Martin on it - which would have still taken his lineage back to Alexander, but by a different route.
(4) Historian and genealogist James Savage reported that he saw Lionel's "genealogy traced back to 1268" - which suggests that he DID see the parchment scroll with the pedigree on it, but did not specifically state that Lionel was the grandson of Anthony of Kent. Obviously, it went back to Alexander, however the pedigree was constructed.
(5) There is the official will of Lionel Chute, Sr., which was witnessed by "Arthur Chute, Gentleman". The reason this is not acceptable as proof of the lineage is that it does not say "Arthur Chute, brother ..." All that proves is that Lionel Sr. knew Arthur Chute. It certainly is good circumstantial evidence, though. It just doesn't prove the lineage.
(6) One of the worrisome problems with the relationship between Lionel Sr., and Anthony of Kent is all that all Lionel's elder brothers were specifically named in Philip's will, as his brother Anthony had died prior to its creation, and Philip provided for his nephews and nieces as well. Lionel is the only of Anthony's children not named or mentioned in Philip's will. Without official dates of birth, we're not even certain that Lionel, Sr. had been born before Philip wrote out his will.
(7) Nonetheless, we have always assumed that Anthony Chute as Lionel Jr.'s grandfather appeared both in Burke's and on Lionel's document, based on James Savage's visual recollection of what we assume is the parchment scroll brought across the Atlantic by Lionel. This may be an erroneous assumption. We're going to proceed on the assumption that Lionel's parchment was correct, and that Burke (and therefore WEC) may be in error.
Dispensing with some alternatives: living in a cynical day and age, someone might also raise the possibility that Lionel's pedigree might have been invented also. After all, we've all just been through the realization that Baron Edouard LeChute was probably a Chute family invention, from somewhere along the line, so it's not as though the precedent hasn't been set on making things up as they went along.
But there's a considerable difference between inventing a remote ancestor that no one could possibly dispute at the time, and inventing your own grandfather, particularly in Lionel's case. The original settlers in the 1600's American Colonies had very close ties to each other and to their English roots. Lionel was not the only citizen of Dedham and Ipswich (Great Britain) to settle in the American Colonies - the very name of the new settlement, taken directly from the original - reflected the large number of local residents who originated from the same location in England. It would be extremely difficult if not impossible to re-invent one's pedigree when people were still living who would have known who his grandfather was, because they knew him personally! A Baron Edouard LeChute, from multiple generations ago, could be invented. A grandfather was a much more difficult relative to invent, especially in a small village atmosphere filled with individuals who had moved there from Dedham & Ipswich.
More importantly, Lionel Chute, Jr. was not only known to the residents of Dedham, he was part of the highly intense, very close-knit Puritan movement, which was closely tied to Dedham, England. The famous Puritan preacher John Rogers preached in Dedham; both he and his son Nathaniel emigrated to Ipswich and preached there. So, not only did these parishioners know Lionel Chute in Ipswich, Massachusetts; they knew him in Ipswich and Dedham, England. They worshipped with him. He was an evangelical Puritan, just as they were - in both places.
Lionel was also a Puritan, which made him a man so closely bound to his faith he chose to move to an unknown land free from religious persecution so that he could live out that strong faith on a daily basis in the midst of like-minded religious people. They were forced to confess personal infractions before their entire community. They were forced to beg forgiveness for those infractions. This was a society where people were put into stocks and whipped for even smaller infractions than falsehoods, and is, naturally, one of the many reasons they don't exist today - this was not an easygoing bunch given to compassionate forgiveness of Biblical infractions without severe punishments being inflicted first. In the 17th century, they were the judges, juries and executioners. They ran the towns, the churches, the political machinery. I would also point out that many of the punishments meted out in Ipswich, Massachusetts are a matter of public record. An example: there is, in the town records, the report of a woman who had argued with her husband being publicly whipped on her bare back. Sadists like this you probably tried to avoid, if you could help it, even if you agree with their methods of punishment. Lying about your pedigree when people knew your family personally was a sure-fire way of getting the attention of somebody looking around for a handy sinners with a gleam in their eye.
And of course, one would hope that Lionel would feel the way many people do today about telling lies, and perhaps even more so, given his religious background and the society around him. Making up a pedigree would have been a big lie, and he would have probably been unsuccessful at it, given the closeness and familiarity of the people around him. I don't know that any of us would feel comfortable making up false pedigrees to make ourselves look important, and none of us have the fear of being publicly beaten and humiliated as a deterrent! We do, however, have our consciences. Lionel was a Puritan and was, one would assume, given to examining his conscience on a daily basis. This isn't proof that he didn't make up a pedigree, but one of the many reasons why we're regarding the remote possibility that he did with healthy skepticism.
The College of Arms uses as a basis for their findings an interview of Arthur's descendants, and was written down in 1722. As this was nearly 100 years after Lionel sailed to Massachusetts, it is quite likely that he was forgotten, overlooked or dismissed as irrelevant, by the titled Chutes who provided the information to the questioners. Possibly, being a Puritan, he was still considered something of a religious crackpot, to the rest of his family.
Another possibility - also remote - was that Lionel was illegitimate. Illigitimacy was certainly a part of life in 17th century Great Britain, but it was also - especially in the days when land ownership and the right of succession was everything - something that was noted, remembered and regarded with both pity, condescension and horror. Again, people emigrated from Lionel's native Dedham who would have known this fact. There's very little chance he could have hidden it.
No other documents have yet come to light to dispute the absence of information provided by Arthur's descendants.
My position at the moment is that the line of succession is legitimate but as yet unproven. Records that might have backed him up have disappeared in at least two fires which destroyed many records in the Dedham area. That said, there are also wills, letters, birth records, property records, that need to be uncovered. (The wedding record does not mention parentage, so that avenue is of no help). IGI records are also unacceptable UNLESS they are records of official documents culled from, for example, parishes, as opposed to family records.
It really is to our advantage to find proof of who Lionel, Sr's father WAS. Even if his father wasn't Anthony of Kent, his father was some Chute who was connected all the way back to Alexander. His canton with a Lion points almost unquestionably to Philip's line, though.
Our belief in its accuracy (Lionel was a Puritan with strong religious beliefs; Lionel also was surrounded by friends from England who knew his family) is not proof, however. Any references to the Greene family, or to the Gee family, who might have mentioned Lionel in wills or property documents would be useful; letters, official documents, census information, etc. Now that we have a more accurate date of his passage (late 1638, early 1639, rather than 1634 as originally thought), we might also find references to him in letters of people he traveled with or lived with in Ipswich.
Numerous genealogical databases - too numerous to count - have married off our Mary Wood, wife of James Chute, to an Edward Ordway as a second marriage. The only problem with that second marriage is that it was recorded as having taken place in 12 DEC 1678, in Newbury. Our Mary Wood married our James Chute a mere five years earlier, in 10 NOV 1673. The original source appears to have been an IGI record.
If this were true, the end result is that all of us who have descended from any of their children OTHER than Mary and Elizabeth, their two eldest children -- which would pretty much be all of us in the American and Canadian lines -- would not be Chutes at all, but Ordways. The fact that we're all here and have the surname "Chute" ought to be everyone's first clue that this reported Wood-Ordway marriage record isn't, as they say in the genealogy biz, "not even remotely supported". Our existances not being enough for some pickier genealogists, there are also records of "Mary Jewt" and not Ordway, changing churches in 1695, the birth of daughter Hannah Chute in 1700, and the fact that she died before he did. A second marriage would have been, well ... bigamous. If any of the two of them could have re-married, it would have been James, and not Mary, although there is no record that he did.
At least one family may have recorded the correct data. This would be the Colby Family. Their records record the following: "Mary WOOD was born on 31 OCT 1653 in Ipswich, Essex County, Massachusetts. She died between 18 MAY 1699 and 14 JUN 1704. Daughter of Isaiah Wood and Mercy Thomson. She was married to Edward ORDWAY on 12 DEC 1678 in Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts. Children were: Ann ORDWAY, Rachel ORDWAY, Joana ORDWAY, Jacob ORDWAY, Isaiah ORDWAY, Daniel ORDWAY." No record of what their sources were on that, but even without a source -- heck, even if they made it up out of thin air -- it's still more supportable than Edward Ordway having married our Mary Wood in 1678.
So from of all of us who descended from James Chute and Mary Wood and who are pleased not to have to change all of our names to "Ordway", a big thank you to the Colby family.
The parents of Isabelle Lydia Payne, wife of Donald Read Chute, have been added to the records, as have the parents and other information on Christina Hayford Ellis, wife of Moses Stubbs Chute. From the same source, the Ellis family web site, I've connected the records of Frederick Ellis, husband of Syrena N. Chute, and his sister Christina (above). This involved deleting duplicate records, so those who have copies of the Gedcom, take note. Another set of duplicate records was caused by the recording of a Jessie Ann Chute marrying a John Rice, and a Jessie Maria Chute marrying a John Balsor Rice. The Rice family records reflect this Jessie as the same individual, and there is a marriage license where she records herself as "Jessie Maria". On the other hand, even the Rice family records show she was also known as "Jessie Ann". The records have been combined, and duplicate ones deleted. Also, an additional daughter of Jessie and John, Ida A. Rice, has been added to the records.
Alan Dale Chute of Pittsburgh has provided updated information on himself, his father Lester Robert Chute and grandfather Lester Warren Chute. Also included were wonderful biographical sketches on the families of all three, that some future descendant is going to be thrilled that he took the time to write - thanks, Alan!
Various records on various Chutes have been updated or sourced:
Christening Records of a Charles Chute christened in Spitalfields, Stepney, London, England
in 1759.
Another Charles Chute, christened in Farnham, Surrey, Great Britain, the son of Charles and Harriet on 9 OCT 1859 has been
added to the Miscellaneous Records section, under Great Britain, Christenings.
Source data for Lionel Chute, Sr. has been added to his notes section; unfortunately, without
any further information on the source of the record on the IGI - until further research is done on that record, it's
impossible to tell if it's an ancestral file or an official record of some sort. Also, the family group record, while
missing the latter half of their brood, has also been added to the family's notes section.
Charles Chute, the son of Challoner Chute and Ann Skory has been added to the records and
sourced. Of course, this raises an immediate flag on the accuracy of the dates of his parents' marriage, which (according
to our records) took place after he was christened. This being unlikely, these conflicting records need to be researched
further.
Finally, the last of the Charles's, Charles Chute, the son of Robert Chute and wife Susanna
was christened in Teversham, Cambridge, Great Britain on 2 APR 1815.
The Leola, South Dakota Centennial Book is the source of property, tax and other information on
Arthur William Chute and his brothers, either Edgerton Herbert Chute or
Herbert Melburn Chute, both of which might have been known as simply "Herbert".
Added to the Great Britain Marriage Records is the marriage of the as yet unrecorded "Dowglasse
Chewte" to Edward Hide in 1616, London ... and cannot think of a standard woman's name that could possibly be
misspelled as "Dowglasse" -- so it appears that such was her actual name.
Judith Chute, sister of Lionel, Jr: in the "early days" ... two years ago ... before I learned the wisdom of
properly sourcing things, I'd added a note to Judith Chute's file in the database, that she'd
married either an "Atkinson" or an "Edmundson", and naturally, neglected to also write down where I'd come by that snippet
of theory. Nonetheless, there is a record of a Judith Chute marrying a John Edmundson. The problem with this record
(aside from the fact that Judith's parents are not named) is the dates of her birth and marriage (1626 and 1649,
respectively). Her older brother Lionel Jr's birth year is ~1580, so this is a 46 year difference between their births.
Not an impossibility, if her father married twice, but enough of a reason to handle it with care, since there is no record
that her father did marry twice. The other major problem with this Judith Chute is her recorded place of, depending on
the record, birth, residence or death: Westmorelandshire, England, rather than Dedham or Ipswich. I've added the wildly
varying records of this Judith Chute to our Judith Chute's records with strongly worded disclaimers, as there is a very
good chance that this is a different Judith altogether. Is she a "Chute" at all? (There is a record of a Judith Shute,
daughter of Enoch, appearing later, in the American Colonies - that was the Judith who precipitated Steve Chute's discovery
of the possible "LeShete" connection). That makes this Judith interesting in itself - if she's not our Judith Chute, whose
Judith Chute IS she? Any and all comments, theories, additional data on Judith will be gratefully accepted - and, this
time, properly credited!.
A list of the numerous short stories written by Mary Grace Chute Smith has been added both to
her notes section, and to the literary database. One of her more well-known characters was
Sheriff John Charles Olson who appeared in numerous magazines in short story format. Mary Grace was the eldest
of the well known trio of literary sisters that included Marchette and B.J. (Beatrice Joy).
Lynda Chute McBride, daughter of Robert Elmer Chute, wrote to inform us of the death of her father on 30 JUN 2002, at the Orillia Soldier's Memorial Hospital in Orillia, Ontario, Canada at the age of 80, from complications brought on by diabetes and a heart ailment. Those who have already received Gedcoms and are looking around in your Gedcom files in a state of confusion ... before her father's illness and death, Lynda had written to inform us that we'd missed a second marriage for Robert, and that she was a product of that second marriage to Irene Dimmock ... there's a familiar surname for the Chute family! Lynda was in the midst of filling out a family worksheet when her father's illness temporarily halted the family history update - understandably - but I've added what little information on that second marriage that we do have to the web site, while sending up our thoughts and prayers to Lynda and her family.
There had been some confusion as to whether the wife of Sir Trevor Chute was an Ellen Brownrigg or Browning - that confusion has now been resolved. One of her family's descendants, Daniel Browning, has written to confirm that Lady Ellen was definitely a "Browning", so we can all rip up our little scraps of paper with the name "Brownrigg" written on them, hit the "edit" button on our databases, knock the name out of the indices ... etc, etc. He also provided additional information on the Browning family that has been added to the notes section.
Linda Gerow's photos of Emily Rebecca Chute, daughter of Daniel Dimock Chute caught the attention of Alan D. Chute, who is still researching Daniel's first wife, Elizabeth Rebecca Rand. He has a hunch on her parents' identity, but is still hoping there are Chute family members out there who can shed some light on her ancestry. The information on Elizabeth Rand has also been added to the notes section.
Susan Titus of the Webb family also dropped by, with her thoughts on the ancestry of Rainsford Kinney Chute's wife Bertha Webb, and if anyone else has an interest in this branch of the Webb family, or can provide further information, we'd love to hear from you. Susan tells us that her grandmother Doris May Webb married a fine gentleman with the unusual name of Israel Earl Outhouse ... and no, she did not make that up! I've added the names of Alvin Henry and Annie Florence Webb to the database, but please add to your notes that the connection is only theorized and not yet confirmed at this point.
To Philip Chute's multiple accomplishments, we can now add: "ancestor of an American president" through his daughter, Elizabeth and her husband Sir John Taylor, Lord of Shadockhurst... fifth great-grandparents of the 12th President of the United States, Hon. Zachary ("Old Rough & Ready") Taylor. The Taylors are yet another family with ties to William the Conquerer, as the family surname changed from Taillefer to Taylor over time. The first Taylor in the American Colonies arrived in Virginia in 1635, one year after Lionel Chute arrived in Massachusetts. All information on the line of descent between Elizabeth Chute and President Taylor can be found on the Taylor family web site "My Southern Family".
A descendant of Norris Whitfield Potter, son of Sophia Chute and husband Jeremiah Potter, Paul Norris Whitfield Potter, has checked in. The given name "Whitfield", which has passed down through generations of Potters to the current one, was incorrectly recorded as "Whitefield" in the 1894 genealogies, and this has been corrected. Paul has also added the names of spouses and descendants since Sophia and Jeremiah - thanks Paul! As many of you know, the Potters are one of the families with whom we married quite frequently, both in the American Colonies, and later in Nova Scotia.
Linda Gerow, great-granddaughter of Emily Rebecca Chute and Hezekiah Scott sent a truly magnificent 1885 family photo, which, due to uploading restrictions, I had to crop rather severely - and agonized over every slash, believe me. I'm going to see if Linda can rescan the photo in a smaller size so that it can be uploaded in its entirety, but the original, at full size, will be included with the Chute family records. The family posed in a Victorian parlour for the photo - not only would the photo be of interest to Chutes, it would also be of interest to anyone interested in formal Victorian parlour interior design!
Emily Rebecca is the eldest daughter of one of the more interesting and colorful Chutes in North America - Daniel Dimock Chute - who had worked variously as a shoemaker, a farmer, a stage driver, a mail carrier - and, truth be told, a wanderer, a bigamist and a bit of a "rolling stone", traveling from Nova Scotia to California and back again, marrying the second wife without consulting the first for her thoughts on the matter. Emily, his eldest, was fortunate in not inheriting her father's wanderlust, and appears to have enjoyed a very stable and contented life with her large family.
Meanwhile, the photo came with its own mystery attached: on the back of the original photo is text written by Ethel Currier, daughter of Lucy Chute Currier and granddaughter of Emily Chute Scott. The text reads, "Taken 1885, mother was 22, I was 1 year." The individuals in this photo are named, but may not be entirely accurate:
Front row, seated, left to right: Hezekiah Scott, Paul Leander Scott, Emily Chute Scott, Lucy Ambrosine Scott Currier.
Back row, standing, left to right: Edith Medora Scott, Minnie Esther Scott, George Samuel Scott, Clara Emma Scott and Celia
(Lizzie Francelia) Scott.
The discrepancy in this photo is with the son labeled "George". Linda points out: "George Scott would only be 12 years old in this picture - this boy looks older, could this be Hezekiah E., age 15, who is not listed on the picture? If so, where is George?" She also notes that Ethel Pearle Scott does not appear in the photo either.
If anyone else descended from this family can shed any light on these mysteries, let us know!
Martha Kendrick McIntyre, granddaughter of Arthur Hays Kendrick and Lydia Ruth Chute, has checked in, to update her grandparents' records - we had them residing in Ohio when in fact they were long residents of North Carolina. Martha also has a photo of great-grandparents Lane and Dora Belle Chute, which we hope to upload shortly.
Mollie Chute McLaughlin sent in a notice from the Halifax Herald, of the recent passing of Letitia Lois MacLean Chute of Granville Ferry, Nova Scotia. She passed away this past Saturday and is being buried today. Those of us who who know this family and wish to send their condolonces will find the details of the arrangements, and the family's requests, in the notes section. Thanks, Mollie.
Military records have been included in the database for Herbert Alvin Chute who died in World War I, and Harold Chute, who I suspect is the Chute listed as "Harold R. Chute" in the Commonwealth Database. Reasons for the assumption are included in the notes, unless someone out there has another Harold Chute who fits the military record.
The last of Sylvia Chute Albertini's worksheets have been uploaded: Percy Joseph Chute, Darryl Anthony Chute, Ann Maree Chute, Sandra Diane Chute, Clare Laurel Chute, Jill Phillomena Chute and her twin brother, Father John Kostka Chute - not to mention all of their children and grandchildren. You can't help but notice that the number of people in the Australian index is considerably larger than it was the last time you looked ... our many thanks to Sylvia Chute Albertini for all of her hard work in pulling this information together.
And now ... there will be a brief pause while I go back to screaming like a deranged lunatic at the television set.
(World Cup.) You understand.
In the collection of correspondence my grandfather filed is a letter dated 9 JUN 1958 from Mrs. Cornelius J. Hoebeke ... this would be Nellie Grace McConnell, the daughter of Julia H. Chute and Robert A. McConnell. For some reason the data she provided in her letter was not recorded in his notes, so it is recorded now: the husbands and children of her sisters and herself, although brother Albert was not mentioned at all, so it is assumed he died much earlier.
A rule I adopted immediately after reading her wonderful and chatty letter is: never read Chute correspondence while drinking one's morning coffee, as I nearly choked on it when I unexpectly came across the following description of Susannah Harris Webb of Swampscott: "And have you [recorded] the niece [of "Uncle Bill" - that would be William Edward Chute] Mrs. Susannah Webb of Swamscott (sic) Mass - long dead? She came to visit us in Michigan in 1903 & snored so loud she could be heard a block ... so we christened her "Aunt Hosanna".
The Chutes and the McConnells intermarried so frequently in Ontario, those of us descended from the Malahide and Elgin Chutes have about as much McConnell blood as Chute in our veins. Needless to say, I added that little priceless gem to Susannah's notes, and hope she wouldn't have minded the story TOO much!
Another little piece of information I certainly never knew was that Nellie Grace McConnell Hoebeke was named "Nellie" after Nellie Aikens, the second wife of William H. Hamilton, and "Grace", after William's daughter Gracelia Belle Hamilton - my own great-grandmother.
Data and photos for Dorothy Joan Chute, husband Thomas Joseph McCormack, and their children: Paulene Joan McCormack, Peter Thomas McCormack, Patricia Faye McCormack, Phillip Laurence McCormack, Anthony Mark McCormack, Jennifer Mary McCormack, Thomas Richard McCormack, Elizabeth McCormack, Marguerite McCormack and Louise Ann McCormack ... and their grandchildren and great-grandchildren ... have all been added to the website. More to follow.
Data and photos for Sylvia Chute Albertini, Paul Richard Albertini, Tanya Agnes Albertini, Audrey Dawn Chute, Deirdre Lynette Chute, Darrell Pierce Chute, Arthur George Chute, Kathleen Mary Chute, as well as their Iveli and Carter descendants, have all been added to the website. More to follow.
Data and photos for Ernest Richard ("Richard") Chute, Richard Barry Chute, Noel Keith Chute, Carolynne Tanya Chute, Jenniffer Ann Chute, and Steven Noel Chute have all been added to the website. More to follow.
Sylvia Chute Albertini sent a huge package of information on the Australian branch of the Chute family - obviously a huge amount of work went into this! I've so far begun with Richard Percival Chute and his son Pierce Alexander Chute and their families, in addition to the photos that are attached to each family group ... more to follow. In the meanwhile, a big thanks to Sylvia!
The resolution to the inaccuracy on the Rose Baker Chute & Matthew Whipple marriage (i.e., some sources suggest they had offspring, which struck me as extremely unlikely), was provided by the Whipple Family web site. Their data has been extensively researched and records of all children as having Matthew Whipple and first wife Ann Hawkins (not Rose Baker Chute) as parents decisively confirmed. That data has been added to this site, and you can visit the Whipple family web site at http://www.whipple.org/docs/descent/mamatthew1.html
Looking into the possible origins of Sir John Carmine who married Joane Chute requires looking at the Carminow family of Cornwall - one early possible candidate, based entirely on the dates associated with him, can be found in the Notes section, along with the source. The dates associated with this John Carminowe closely approximate the dates given for Joane's brother George Chute.
Cynthia ("Cindy") Nangle Houston dropped a line with the fondest recollections of her great-aunt, Jennie Nangle Chute, who married John Nelson Chute of Nova Scotia and Massaachusetts. Cynthia is a descendant of Jennie's brother, and would love to hear from any of their descendants ... I've added her recollections to the notes section -- and updated the records of the Nangles family ... hopefully, she'll provide more fond memories.
Lionel Chute provided the dates of death for both Andrew Chute, and his wife Ann Maria Perry, which we didn't have recorded - thanks, Lionel!
We've heard from Carol, a descendant of Susan Forbes, who provided further information on Henry Ricketson Chute. Carol is also looking for "lists of British ships or private transports that brought the Regiments to New York in 1777", so if anyone knows where she might locate such lists, I've added her contact information to the Allied Family Research page. Thanks, Carol!
An interesting connection resulting from Chute-Cheney marriages was through Hannah Cheney, whose first cousin, Daniel Cheney, married the daughter of the famous Hannah Duston. Hannah Emerson Duston became a legend in colonial days for having not only survived an Indian attack and kidnaping, but for having the presence of mind to slay her captors, escape and lead the party of victims back to the Massachusetts settlement a month later on foot. As a result, she became an instant celebrity in the British colonies at the time. Her eldest daughter, Hannah, who married Cheney, was 18 at the time of the attack and was credited with helping to save her younger brothers and sisters from being kidnaped along with their mother. The story is told briefly in the notes on the younger Hannah Duston.
Linda Covert-Ewens e-mailed in with corrections and additions to the Morris Winfred Chute and Nellie Stimpson Marshall family, which have now been added to the web site -- Linda is the daughter of Virginia Harriett Chute and George W. Covert.
From George S. Brown's Yarmouth Genealogies, the following families have been updated: Vorus F. Chute and Captain Ainsley Parry, who has had his name altered from "Perry" to "Parry" - his father was Miner R. Parry of the Parry Family. More to follow.
I'll remind everyone again come fall, but for those who start planning for the next Christmas on December 26th ... there is a brief announcement on adding me to your "Christmas Letter" mailing list, if you traditionally mail one out. See the "News and Announcements" section.
Dr. Elizabeth Anne Chute, daughter of Michael Matthew Chute provided some interesting information on this branch of the family. Elizabeth is the great-grandaughter of Michael Chute, whose ancestry was unknown -- and, unfortunately, still is. However, she wrote, "Michael Chute is the first of our Chutes known in America. He arrived in about the late 1860's or 1870's. He changed his name to "Cute" for some unknown reasons. However, my grandfather Thomas refused to change the name. Michael Cute or Chute came from West Hartleypool, England with his brother Christopher and two sons, Christopher and Thomas, maybe other children. Thomas was ill on the way to America and as a result he died at age 39 of "rheumatism of the heart" - as recorded on his death certificate. With my father's death we did not see the so-called "Cute" cousins in Rumford, Rhode Island. My great-grandfather Michael was a mechanic for the Rumford Baking Powder company in East Providence, a village of Rumford. He was provided with a home on the Rumford Company property for life. The house was removed a few years ago ... there are many people named "Cute" in Rumford."
There are a few "Cutes" that came through Ellis Island, but the time frames, names and ports of origin don't match -- it does indicate that the surname "Cute", while a bit unusual, did exist. Michael may have chosen to change his name, in order to revert back to an original spelling - his line started as "Cutes", were briefly "Chutes" and then reassumed an ancestral name. Or he may have had other reasons. We may have to look for more information from the Cute family in Rumford.
The records are being updated over the next day or so, but for those interested in this line: the allied name in this line is not "Hoye", but "Hoey", after Elizabeth's grandmother, Elizabeth Hoey. Michael Chute/Cute's wife's name was Elizabeth Mullin.
For those who'd received copies of the Gedcom: James C. Steadman incorrectly appears twice in the database - first as the father of Frances Steadman, who married Ezra Chute, and again as the father of Havilah Steadman, who married Nathan Randall Chute. This has been corrected; you might want to revise your own records. Note that James is the brother of Charles C. Steadman, whose daughter Julia married Israel D. Brooks who was both grandson of Timothy Brooks and Joanna Chute, as well as brother of Mary Ann Brooks, who married John Eber Chute.
Trying to reconstruct the early Chute history, we realized that the husband of Christiana Chute, daughter of Ambrose Chute was not spelled "Ralph Menell", but, according to the De Meynell family, actually "Sir Ralph de Meynell". They eventually lost the "De" and became "Menell's at some point ... possibly even at this point, but Ralph was definitely the grandson of Richard de Meynell, and Alice de Audley, the Baroness Neville. (One source lists her as "Alice Basset", but more sources show Alice as the widow of a "Basset" when she married de Meynell as her second husband). The Baronness Neville, it should be pointed out, was the daughter of Ela Longespee, the Countess of Warwick, and SHE was the granddaughter of King Henry II. Needless to say, this was not the sort of family one married into, if one belonged to a family of people scrounging around in the dirt digging up carrots; this was a major land-owning Norman family in the region. In other words, you don't see families marrying into such prestigious ones as the De Meynell's without some pedigree and wealth to them. Alexander may not have been the owner of a manor in Taunton, but he had to have a considerable degree of importance ... Ambrose is only five generations away from Alexander.
This strongly hints at a few things: one is the virtual certainty that our original ancestor was one of the knights that originated in Normandy, gives more weight to the "Jute" theory as the origin of the name (as opposed to the Saxon "forest" theory, which wasn't much believed anyway), and possibly narrows down the Norman families with which the original Edward was affiliated. If you'll look at the lineage, there is also a strong possibility that he was affiliated with either the House of Anjou, or with the Empress Matilda - both of these families were connected with the DeMeynells, and would have given respectability to one of their descendants. Needless to say, that has just opened up another remote possibility for the origin of the last name - Edward of the House of Anjou - although the possibility is remote, inasmuch as the name "Anjou" would most likely not have been supplanted by "Chewte" in the intervening centuries, the way that the name "Jute" would have been, in a Norman society - the name was too well known.
You might enjoy looking at everyone else in the world this connection adds to your pedigree: everyone from Fulk IV "The Rude" of Anjou, Clovis II King of the Franks, Childeric I King of the Salian Franks of Tournai, Coel 'Old King' (Coilus) of Britain (yes, that would mean that you're related to "Old King Cole"), Claudius I Roman emperor (AD 41-54), Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, and Marc Antony, Ptolemy Auletes XII of Egypt, Queen Esther of Biblical fame ... to even more interesting sorts, such as Eystein of Vestfold "The Fart" Halfdansson, King of Sweden -- and while I'm sure there once was a very entertaining story as to how the gentleman came by that particular nickname, I'm not sure any of us want to hear it. If you're a dedicated conspiracy theorist, you'll definitely appreciate being connected - at least by marriage - to the entire Merovingian Dynasty with its reputed ties to everything deep, dark and mysterious, from secret societies to the Knights Templar to the Legend of the Holy Grail.
Another interesting (although perhaps not as famous) sidenote on this line: at some point while still in Normandy, the De Meynell ancestors intersect with "Robert Le Bigod" - which may not mean much until you know that the Bigod family of Normandy evolved into the "Wiggett" family of England ... the same "Wiggett" family which inherited the Vyne.
I've added the De Meynell line through "Fulk V 'The Younger' of Anjou" to the database (indexing to follow shortly), but no further - The Enfield web site (above) will take you as far back into history as you'd wish to go.
Lionel Chute has contributed two great photos - of Andrew Chute and his wife Ann Maria Perry Chute - this is the Andrew described in Helen Cleaveland Chute Lightener's story of "Silent Andrew". Our guess is that the photos were taken for their "Golden Wedding" anniversary. Thanks, Lionel!
Christine Chute, the eldest daughter of Donald Allen Chute checked in, and mentioned that her mother's maiden name had been incorrectly recorded as "Buhl" instead of "Buell" - and that we're missing two children, in addition to the four already recorded. Hopefully, we'll be able to add them soon - thanks, Christine!
I've finally uploaded some of the notes on Sir John Chute - there are still more to be added.
The collection of Horace Walpole's correspondence, edited by W.S. Lewis for the Yale University Press, includes a large section on the letters between Sir John Chute of the Vyne, son of Edward and Katherine Keck, and Walpole, and are a fascinating mixture of literary, political and Chute family history. It will take a while to upload all of it, but for the moment, I'll add the sketch made by Rosalba Carriera (1675-1757), the Venetian pastel painter and miniaturist, who did sketches on both Walpole and Sir John Chute, while they were in Venice. The ripples in the paper exist in the original, which has apparently wrinkled over time.
As embarrassing as this is, the family you'd THINK I'd have the most information uploaded on, is my own ... but as for my own immediate relatives, I figured I'd call them "next week" and get all the right dates, places of birth, marriage dates, etc. And of course, I hadn't - yet. The only Chute cousins I have are Janet and Larry, children of my Dad's only brother, Robert. Larry was the cousin I spent the most time with - he and I attended the University of Michigan at the same time. I'm just now starting to fill in the dates, places, etc., for his family - I've known Larry my whole life, and you'd think I'd know exactly when and where he was born, but of course I don't. I know lots of other things about Larry, but I doubt he'd appreciate having them posted on the Chute web site! Hopefully he and Jeanne will begin filling me in on all of those genealogical details ... and help me replace the goofy "notes" up there now with something a little more substantial.
Terri Lehman-Carrow checked in - she's the daughter-in-law of Rexford Carrow and Patricia Jean Chute of Michigan. As the last thing we heard about this family was the marriage of Rex and Patricia, we appear to be missing everything since then. Patricia is about to become the great-grandmother of twins this coming December ... so we're missing a lot! Terri, herself a family genealogist, will hopefully fill in all the blanks on this branch of the Chute Family!
We've heard from Kathleen Elizabeth ("Katie") Chute King, daughter of Philip Conrad Chute of the Naples, Maine "Chute Homestead" family, with a kind offer to update her branch of the Chutes. I particularly enjoyed her description of her Great-Aunt Lilla May Chute, youngest daughter of Warren B. Chute - seated in the center of the family living room in a straight-backed chair, "holding court." (A description that fits a few of my great-aunts to a "t"!)
I've added some of the text on the Chute family, from The History of Annapolis, by W.A. Calnek, in the notes sections for Samuel Chute and his father John Chute. The comments on Baron Edouard have been proven incorrect, but it's evident that he read William Edward Chute's recently published work before writing his own - there is only a three year difference between the two. I'm still going through it for missing genealogical information, as well as photographs and maps ... it's a big 660-page book!
If you've spent any time in the LDS Family Research Index, you've no doubt come across the Coombe St. Nicholas Chutes and wondered who they were. From our end, we know only that they appear in the Somerset Records in several legal and land deed documents, and (more importantly) we know that they were related to the Main Line Chutes in some fashion. How we know this is their family crest, which also appears in the margins of the Chute heraldic register in Hampshire: the three swords in a vertical row. The primary source of information on the genealogy of this family was found in a court document - it seems that Robert Chute had broken a promise to marry a young woman named Elizabeth Seelie, when he was 18 or 19. In that day and age, a broken promise of marriage was a serious business.
Coombe St. Nicholas and Bridgewater are both located in Somerset. As you recall, Edmund Chute had sold some property in 1502 (although not to Lord Denham, as suggested) and moved out of Somerset into Sussex. These documents are from 1583, and this branch of the family was still in Somerset. You'd probably have to look at the generations between Alexander (our first known ancestor with the 3 swords) and Edmund (first to move away from Somerset in our line), to find the connection between our two families.
What we also don't know is if their descendants are still living.
The research on this family was done by Francis Chute of Arundel, to whom we owe our thanks. To show you the sort of gibberish that Francis had to translate to pull this family genealogy together, here is a copy of one of the pages of the response to the original deposition, during which Robert called on everybody he knew to defend his honor in the matter. I don't know about you, but I can't read a word of it.
Now here's a conflict you can't even attribute to spelling variations. While the name "Ansley" has never been consistent since it was first appended to the Chute family (the name has appeared in various records as "Ainsley", "Ansley", "Ensley", "Einsley", and "Ensley"), "Burnett" is not often confused with the name "John". William Edward Chute recorded this son of Edward Manning Chute as "Ainsley Burnett", married to an "Annie Ducette", while his official marriage records reflect him as "John Ansley", and married to an "Annie Doucet". Based on little more than the suspicion that "Ducette" may have actually been "Doucet" spelled phoenically, I can't explain the discrepancy between "Ainsley Burnette" and "John Ansley". I'm combining the two records under both names, until confirmation of either one or the other surfaces.
From the Cory Family Society website, the family of Jonathan Cory, husband of Mary Chute, was expanded. His surname has also been amended to reflect the more widely used spelling of the name; the Cory family has recorded him as "Cory" as well; he now appears in the index under both spellings. From Early Settlers of Rowley, Massachusetts, the family of Samuel Jewett and Jemima Chute has been added to the web site.
Added to the "Miscellaneous Family Records" section are the records of articles, papers and books written or edited by Chutes. Often, these are listed with the last name and first initial, so it is not always easy to figure out who, for example, "Chute, R." is - especially when the records show there are 50 Chutes still living with the first initial "R". So far, there are only three entries, but this section will probably grow large enough to warrant its own page, as Chutes seem to be a prolific bunch.
Also, information from the 1881 Clementsport Census in Nova Scotia have been added to the notes section of those Chutes who were listed ... about 10 families or so. Finally, I've also added the notation to the records on Clayton Forest Chute and his son Daniel William Chute of Newfield, Maine. It seems you need to win a lottery to be allowed a hunting license for turkeys in Maine ... Clayton and Daniel won this lottery in 2002.
Thanks to Heather Waddington's Campobello web site (see the Message Board), I've been able to update a number of records of Campobello Chutes. One in particular was the family of Joshua Marsden Chute, who typically appears in records by the name he went by, "Marsden Chute". As a result of the information provided also by the Down to Sea web site, a tribute to the men of Gloucester, Massachusetts who perished at sea, the dates of death for both William and Lorenzo Chute, sons of Joshua Marsden Chute, have been changed, from 1877 to 1879. Obviously, neither was a resident of Gloucester, but both sailed on fishing vessels which sailed from Gloucester, and both of their names appear on a bronze memorial plaque in the town. The tragedy for this family was that both William and Lorenzo, their two eldest sons, were both lost during winter gales in the North Atlantic, although they were sailing aboard two different ships at the time. The treacherous weather that can form in and around the North Atlantic region without warning was recently reflected in the film, The Perfect Storm.
Other Additions to the Web Site:
2001
24 Mar 2001 through 26 July 2001
26 July 2001 through 31 December 2001
2002
3 February 2002 through 26 April 2002
1 May 2002 through 29 July 2002
10 August 2002 through 27 October 2002
2 November 2002 through 28 December 2002
2003
10 Jan 2003 through 15 Feb 2003
2 Mar 2003 through 28 Sep 2003
28 Sep 2003 through 31 Dec 2003
2004
2005
2005
2005
Other Additions to the Web Site:
2001
24 Mar 2001 through 26 July 2001
26 July 2001 through 31 December 2001
2002
3 February 2002 through 26 April 2002
1 May 2002 through 29 July 2002
10 August 2002 through 27 October 2002
2 November 2002 through 28 December 2002
2003
10 Jan 2003 through 15 Feb 2003
2 Mar 2003 through 28 Sep 2003
28 Sep 2003 through 31 Dec 2003
2004
2005
2005
2005
INDEX
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