Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 201, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 August 1910 — Langford Family [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Langford Family

Langeford, Langforde and LanckTord are perhaps the only variations of this name. Langford Is the name of parishes In Bedford and Cornwall, and other counties In England. The Cornish family' of Langfords descend from Roger de Langford, sheriff of Cornwall, 1225. He took his name from the estate of Langford, In the parish of Marham Church. The Langfords of Langford Hill, Cornwall, have always been prominent in affairs. The family has also been seated for centuries at Somerset, Wiltshire, Derby, Shropshire, Devonshire, Leicester, Nottingham and London. Baron or Lord Langford, traces his line back to the time of Edward 11. The pilgrim of the family—-or one —was Richard Langford, or Lanckford, as the name appears in the records. His name is given In the tax roll of Plymouth colony, and his tax was 9sh. Od.; date, January 2, 1632. The name has never been a common one in New Englandr John Langford was a resident of Salem, Mass., or was helping to found the town in 1645, he was a freeman. Thomas Langford, a resident of Rhode Island about 1670, may have been a descendant of Richard or John, but it is not -stated definitely. About the end of the seventeenth century, Thomas and John Langford, who are called sons of Thomas, were liv-' ing In Newport, R. I. John’s wife “was probably Alida or Alleda,” and they had five children. He was a merchant and accumulated property. One of his sons was Richard, baptized at Trinity church, Newport. Thomas married Comfort, whose last name is left to the imagination, and removed to East Greenwich, where he owned property and was a freeman, 1699. His second wife was Sarah. Thomas died 1709; and his property was valued at £482, 7sh, lld„ a goodly sum for those days of simple living—plain living and high thinking. Thomas had seven children. His widow became the wife of Immanuel Rouse. Thomas, called son of Thomas the second, was born in Newport, but after his marriage to Hannah, removed to North Kingston, R. I. In January, 1756, he and his son Holdebe were living In Dutchess county, New York. In 1776 Holdebe (don't you wonder where he got this name?) “was allowed 18sh. 3d. for measuring salt." The Langfords have been freemen all along the line. John of East Greenwich is a splendid ancestor to have on your family chart, for he was for many years member of the town oouncil. and Justice of the peace. He

married Barbara Rice of Warwick, R. I- and they had six children; one daughter, Ellen, married Abraham Greene; another daughter, Barbara, married Stutely Wicks of Warwick. The Langfords are related to the line of which Gen. Nathanael Greene was the distinguished member. The Greenes, like the Langfordß, were ofnoble ancestry—“of royal and noble ancestry” Is the way It is down In the books. The Greenes trace to Egbert, king of England, and Lady Redbiyga, his queen. \ There Is another marriage conneo tlon with the Greenes. John Lang-

ford, born 1740, married Ruth Greene of Warwick. His first wife was Desire, daughter of Benjamin fucker of Newport Jonathan and Benjamin were sons of John, just named, and married the ‘‘Spencer girls,” perhaps sisters —Rachel and Ruth. Jonathan Langford, also of the Thomas Langford line, born 1708, married Ann Clappe Freeman of Warwick. They had two children. Thomas the fourth of the name, born 1731, married Sarah, widow of Capt. Joseph Weaver. Another Thomas, born 1829, married Elizabeth Cornel, and bad three children. One son Joseph, “was probably a soldier In Elliott's regiment, 1776.” Besides Langfords of New England, and of New York, there Is a record of a family of the name living In Antigua, West Indies, 1759, of English descent The coat-of-arms illustrated Is blazoned: paly of six, argent and gules: over all a bend of the first (1.. e„ the first color named above—argent, or silver), charged with three eagles displayed of the second (gules, red). Crest: In a row of partridge feathers of divers colors, three chebales. or and argent No motto Is given. 'Military strength and fortitude are symbolized by this coat-armor; also willing obedience and serenity—the heraldic meaning of feathers.