CHAPTER I, PART 4: THE SINGLETARY FAMILY

The material in this section has been taken almost entirely from an old 
book Genealogy of the Singletary-Curtis Family by Lou Singletary-Bedford, 
published in New York in 1907--Source 125.  The Title Page states that it 
was compiled from Massachusetts records found in the Astor and Lenox 
Libraries of New York City, from South Carolina records, from 
correspondence, and from personal knowledge.  An original copy of this 
book is located in the New England Historic Genealogical Society Library 
in Boston, Massachusetts.  The author of this volume is fortunate to have 
obtained a photostatic copy of the book.  Unless otherwise specified, 
information and dates are from the Singletary-Curtis book, as information 
on the Singletary family is very scarce.  However, some additional 
information on the earliest period was obtained from Sources 126 and 127; 
there is considerable overlap in these three records.

In the last quarter of the sixteenth century, there was living in England 
a family of title and large estates by the name of Dunham (so the 
tradition has it, but the Massachusetts records have it Donham).  Of this 
family there were two branches.  In case of the death of the last male of 
the elder branch, the title and estate would pass to the nearest male 
relative of younger branch.  It so happened that every male of the elder 
branch died except one small boy.  One morning it was discovered that he 
was missing--and that his nurse was missing also.  Although a thorough 
search was made and bloodhounds were used in the search, neither he nor 
his nurse could be found.  As the years passed, nothing further was heard 
of him.  The heir of the younger branch of the family instituted a law 
suit to obtain the property; whether or not he obtained the property in 
the absence of the real heir is not clear.

Many years after this happened, the child's nurse lay on her death bed 
and made an affidavit that she had been employed to destroy the child.  
She had found that she could not do this and had decided to seek a home 
in the new world.  She had hidden herself and the child in a dense hazel 
thicket and had been terrified when she heard the dogs.  Fortunately, the 
scent was cold, and the dogs were called off.  For a day and a night she 
lay hidden; then she made her way to a ship, in which she embarked with 
the child to America.  On reaching America, she deserted the child, 
leaving him in the care of the captain of the ship, who adopted him.  
Before she left, she gave the child the name of Singletarry because he 
was alone in the world and because he would remain (or tarry) in the new 
world.  She shortly returned to England.

The above written and sworn confession of the nurse was believed to be 
true; and detectives were sent to America to investigate the matter.  A 
young man was found bearing the name Singletary, whose age corresponded 
with that of the lost heir of the Dunham estates and who could give no 
account of his forebears.  The captain of the ship on which the child was 
deserted had adopted him under the name that the nurse had given him, 
having no idea of his real name or lineage.  And the captain was now 
dead.  Indeed, such care had been taken to destroy all trace of his name 
or ancestry that no one could say positively that he was the person 
sought.  While he was believed to be the heir, the evidence was not 
sufficient to satisfy the English court and put him in possession of the 
property.

Such is the tradition that has been handed down through many generations 
of the Singletary family; wherever the name is found all over the United 
States, the family member is familiar with the story.  There appears to 
be some truth in the story--in a legal document that appears in the 
Archives of Massachusetts, recorded in 1702, the whole family is referred 
to as "Donham, alias Singletary."  This record is quoted by Mr. David W. 
Hoyt in his Old Families of Salisbury and Amesbury.  Be the tradition 
true or false, it is plain that the Singletary family belongs to the 
aristocracy of the old families of Amesbury, Massachusetts (Source 126).

**  1.  RICHARD SINGLETARY was the founder of the Singletary family in 
America.  If the family tradition just told is true, then he was the lost 
heir of Dunham and was born in England.  We know that his birth predates 
the earliest New England settlement and that American papers carried some 
notices about Singletary heirs and unclaimed estates in England.  Mr. 
David W. Hoyt in his Old Families of Salisbury and Amesbury refers to him 
as "Richard Singletary of Salisbury and Haverhill; planter; born about 
1599; married Susannah Cook in 1638/9; she was born 1616, and died April 
11, 1682, at Haverhill" (Source 126).