This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list.
Author: kac1144
Surnames:
Classification: queries
Message Board URL:
http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.chaffee/327.1.1/mb.ashx
Message Board Post:
Thanks for your thoughtful reply. It had previously been thought Mathew & Sarah were
lost to history after they left the church... now it appears the lived to old age in the
Boston area. WH Chaffee (in his correcpondence) suspected Mathew and Thomas were related,
but to date, no connection has been found except their coincidental presence in MA (to
include a common land reference for both Thomas and Mathew to property adjoining a John
Prince in Hingham, MA. Glen and I corresponded for a couple years. I miss him and his site
was wonderful. I disagreed however with the emphasis he placed on the spelling of
Chafe/Chaffey/Chaffie/Chaffe etc. I see no significance to early spellings of surnames, as
there was no proper (or correct) spelling.. all names were commonly spelled phonetically.
Glen himself showed had photographic signatures of the family of Thomas' son Joseph
and wife Annis and son, each spelling their surname differently. This held true for church
and secular records i!
n England as well... so the spelling doesn't help trace Thomas' ancestry in my
mind. WH Chaffee thought Thomas and Mathew hailed from Dorset. My research leads me to
believe he may be correct, but that Thomas at least may originally be descended from the
family of Robert, Mayor of Exeter, whose grandchildren founded separate lines in
Devonshire and Dorset. There is a Thomas Chafe m. Joanna Ellet 1601 Exeter; Thomas Chafe
b. abt 1604 m. Alice Adams 25 Jan 1631 Buckfastleigh; Thomas Chafe, Gent. m. Margery
Elston 1 Aug 1627 Ashreigney, Devonshire [parish record]; and Thomas Chafy who m. Rebecca
Forward 10 Jan 1615 Stock-Gayland, Dorset.
Important Note:
The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply
to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.