William Elston, of Scotch Plains

William Elston

• BIRTH 1719 Woodbridge, Middlesex County, New Jersey, USA
• DEATH 18 Jun 1789 (aged 69–70) Scotch Plains, Union County, New Jersey, USA
• BURIAL First Presbyterian Churchyard Elizabeth, Union County, New Jersey, USA
• MEMORIAL ID 88418844
• Father: SAMUEL ELSTON b: 1695 [in STATEN ISLAND, RICHMOND CO., NY.??]
• Spouse:

Notes

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/88418844/samuel-william-alston

Note: HE IS THE ANCESTOR OF THE SOUTHERN BRANCH OF THE ELSTON FAMILY COVERED I N THE ELSTON CHAPTER OF "NOTABLE SOUTHERN FAMILIES", BY ZELLA ARMSTRONG. HE MAY HAVE BEEN THE WILLIAM ELSTON WHO DIED IN SCOTCH PLAINS, NJ. ON JUNE 18, 1779, ALTHOUGH UNCONFIRMED. ARMSTRONG'S BOOK ALSO CLAIMS THAT HE MAY HAVE HAD ANOTHER SON, JO OR JONATHAN WHO LEFT NEW YORK ABOUT TIME OF THE REVOLUTION AND JOINED GENERAL GREEN'S ARMY IN THE SOUTH AND WAS PROBABLY THE PROGENITOR OF THE SOUTHERN FAMILY OF ELSTON OR ALSTON.

Research Note

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Elston-146

William appears in The Elston Family in America[1] as person #39, and is said there to be the "ancestor of the Southern branch of the family, covered in the Elston chapter of Notable Southern Families by Zella Armstrong[2]. This chapter was apparently written by Elston Luttrell. The introductory paragraphs probably contain much truth, but it seems to the present writer [James Strode Elston] that he condenses the first two known generations of Elstons in this country and part of the third into one. He says that 'The first emigrants of the name coming to America were three brothers who came from Cardeganshire (Wales) to New York in about 1760. It is thought that one of the three settled in New York and spelled his name Alston instead of Elston, and from him is descended the very numerous and important family bearing that name to the present day. The third emigrant brother was named William Elston. He settled in New Jersey at or near Elizabeth and reared a family there." In the research that led to publication of The Elston Family in America, J. S. Elston found no evidence of a connection to Wales, and numerous clusters of Elstons in the Devon, Nottinghamshire, and Lancashire regions.

William's father, Samuel Elston (person #10 in [3]was in turn probably the son of William Elston, who appears as person #2; [4] James Strode Elston thus refers to this branch of the Elston family of Woodbridge, NJ as "the William branch." He goes on to state that " William cannot be placed anywhere else in the William branch of the family because of others of the same name, each of whose children's names we know, nor in the Peter branch because all the males in that family of the first three generations are known." Elston[5] also notes that William "... may very well have been the William who died June 18, 1789 at Scotch Plains, N.J."

• Parents: Samuel Elston, First Wife Of Samuel Elston
• Siblings: James Elston, Jonathan Elston, William Elston, Thomas Elston

References

1. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/88418844/samuel-william-alston “ Marriage 1: Margaret Shotwell Marriage 2 Sarah Spencer b: 1694 or 1725 Woodbridge, Middlesex Co., NJ (NOTE: profile seems like it mixes several different people)
2. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/117241465/josiah-b-elston (grandson) Josiah was born in Woodbridge, NJ, and died in Pike Township, Indiana. He was the son of William and Mary Elston.
3. Elston, James Strode. The Elston Family in America.. Rutland,VT: Tuttle Pub. Co., 1942; available online at the HathiTrust Digital Library. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ssd?id=wu.89066051269;page=ssd;vie... A James Elston was a witness Jan. 1, 1756, of the will of Joseph Toms (“N. J. Arch. 32," 328). 38*(?) Jonathan. 39 (?) William, b. about 1720. 40*(?) Samuel, b. 1721.
4. http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db... (dead link)
5. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Elston-146 Cites
   1. James Strode Elston, The Elston Family in America. (Rutland, Vermont: Tuttle Publishing Co., Inc., 1942), pp. 63-64; available online at the HathiTrust Digital Library: http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/4484786.html.
   2. Armstrong, Zella. Notable Southern Families, Vol. 3. Chattanooga, TN: The Lookout Publishing Co., 1926, pp. 45-68; available at Family Search.org, url https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/viewer/513443, downloaded 29Jul2022. Page 47. http://www.familysearch.org/library/books/idviewer/513443/54
   3. Elston. The Elston Family in America, p. 49
   4. Elston. The Elston Family in America, p. 39
   5. Elston. The Elston Family in America, p. 64