Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 262, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 November 1910 — Beckwith Family [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Beckwith Family

The Beckwith family is very old, and dates back with a distinct record of each generation to the times of William the Conqueror in England. But strange as it may seem, the founder of the family waß not named Beckwith, but de Malebisse. Sir Hugh de Malebisse was a brave Norman knight, and he came with William in 1066 from Normandy to England. He is mentioned in the Domesday book as a land holder. He had three sons; one of them became a monk and the other two established families in the new country to which they had come. , Almost 200 years later, during which time the de Malebisse family had distinguished itself in peace and in war, Sir Hercules de Malebisse, one of Sir Hugh’s descendants, married Lady Dame Beckwith Bruce. Her father was Sir William Bruce, lord of Uglebarby, and he was descended from Sir Robert Bruce, progenitor of the royal Bruces of Scotland. Beck&ith, Bickwith, or Bechworth, which come from the old English words beck, a brook, and worth, an estate, were the names applied to one of Lady Dame Bruce’s possessions, and she persuaded her husband to take the name of Beckwith for himself and his successors. His grandson, Hamon Beckwith, in 1339 by a special grant, assumed the arms of the de Malebisses. So it is that that the family is named Beckwith, and not de Malebisse. The family made four distinct settlements in America. About 1570 there flourished in England a Marmaduke Beckwith of Dacre and Clint. He sold his lands in Clint, which had been in the family for generations, and bought lands in Featherstone and. Acton. He had three sons, Thomas, Mathew and Roger. Thomas had two sons, Thomas and William, and William was the first Beckwith in America. He came to Virginia in 16Q7. His brother’s son George, old Marmaduke’s great-grand-son, came to Maryland in 1648 Marmaduke’s second son, Mathew, uncle to William and great-uncle to Thomas, came to Connecticut in 1635. His third son, Roger, was the great-grandfather of Sir Marmaduke. who came to Virginia in 1700. William, the first settler here, went to London from Featherstone as a merchant tailor. In 1607 he Joined Capt. John Smith and came to Jamestown in the Phoenix. Mathew, who come here next, settled at Saybrook Point. Conn., in 1635. Three years later he went to Bramford, and in 1642 was among the first settlers at Hartford, to Lyme, Conn., and made large purchases ol land on the Niantic river, Gecrge Beckwith, the third Beck-

with to immigrate to America, came to Maryland in 1648 and lived as a merchant and planter. .With other Protestants he signed the declaration commending the liberal administration of Lord Baltimore, which allowed the Protestants undisturbed worship.

In 1665 he fought in the battle of Ann Arundel! with Lord Baltimore's party against the Virginians. Although ha died In England, where he went on business in 1676. he left five children In this country. There is not much to say about Sir . Marmaduke, who came here In 1700 and settled. In Virginia, where his grandfather's, cousin William had set* tied almost 100 years before, except that he also established a branch of the family which flourished and prospered. s . Two coats of arms are borne by the Beckwiths in this country. The Connecticut branch, which is by far the largest, and which now extends throughout the United States and into Canada, Is entitled to arms blazoned: Argent, a chevron gules, fretty or. between three hinds' heads erased of the second, on a chief engrailed gules, a saltire between two roses argent. The Virginia branch, founded by'Wtt11am In 1607, has arms emblazoned: Argent, a chevron between three hinds* heads erased gules. The former arm* are illustrated. The crest and motto are the same for both arms. The crest Is: An antelope proper In the mouth , a branch vert. The motto le; Jolr enbieu

Beekmith