The Eddy family originated in England. Our forefather William Eddye was born around Bristol in the early 1500’s. He became the Vicar of St. Dunstan Church in Cranbrook just south of London. He married Mary Fosten the daughter of John and Ellen Fosten and had 12 children with her. Two of these children John and Samuel joined the great Puritan movement to America. They left England during the Puritan persecution under the reigns of James I and Charles I. The Mayflower, which we all learned about in school, sailed in 1620 on a 66-day voyage across the wintry Atlantic Ocean. It was the first of these ships to land at Plymouth and establish a colony. On Oct. 20, 1629, John Winthrop a friend of the Eddy family was chosen governor over a group of Puritans who wished to establish a colony in America, and on March 22, 1630, they embarked for America on a ship named the Arbella. On June 30, 1630, the Arbella arrived at Salem, Mass. John Winthrip went on to establish the Massachusetts Bay Colony which later became Boston. John Doggett a cousin of Amy Doggett who married John Eddy was among the leaders of this colony. On August 10, 1630, John and Amy (Doggett) Eddy, their children Mary & Sarah along with his brother Samuel sailed on the vessel Handmaid to the new world. They reached Plymouth on October 29, 1630. John Eddy joined the settlement of Watertown and became the Town Clerk. Samuel Eddy married Elizabeth Savery and remained in Plymouth. Others followed and between the years of 1630 and 1643 over 25,000 people came to America seeking a Purer and Simpler expression of religion.
John and Amy had 9 children. Samuel, the 7th of these children, was born on September 30, 1640. He married Sara Meade on September 30, 1664. He inherited his father’s homestead when John died on October 12, 1684 and was a cordwainer by trade and held public office of various kinds. Samuel and Sarah had 8 children born to them in Watertown. Their second born was named Samuel for his father and he was born on June 4, 1668. Samuel Eddy sr. died on November 22, 1711. Samuel Eddy jr. continued his father’s trade as a cordwainer. He married on December 7, 1693 Elizabeth Woodward. They had 8 children together. Samuel jr. died on August 6, 1746.
Ebenezer Eddy was Samuel & Elizabeth’s 7th child. He was born in Watertown on January 9th 1705. He moved to Oxford Mass. where two of his brothers, John & Samuel, had already moved. He married Ruth Ward on April 4, 1737 and together they had 8 children. He was a soldier in the French and Indian war. He died on December 15, 1768. Able Eddy their third child was born on March 15, 1738. He sold his property to his brother Thomas in 1769 and married Abigail Conant on December 2, 1769. They moved to Warwick, Mass. and established a farm; they had 9 children there. There are no records of Able participating in the Revolutionary war as a soldier. He would have been 38 when the war began.
Asa Eddy was born to Able and Abigail on August 11, 1786. He was their fourth child. He married Betsey Smith on June 16, 1811 and moved to Londonderry Vt. They had 7 children together and was a farmer in Londonderry. The late 1800’s was a time of great religious movement and many charismatic people broke from the Christian Church and founded their own movements. The Mormons, Jehovah witnesses, and the Christian Science movements all developed during this time. Asa’s son Asa Gilbert Eddy broke from the Christian faith and married Mary (Baker) Glover who founded Christian Science in the late 1800’s. They had no children between them so the only Eddy descendants who are related to Mary Baker Eddy are children of Asa’s brothers and sisters. Asa & Betsey’s 4th child was George Eddy who was born in 1824. He married Harriet Elona Benson and they had 5 children together. Asa died at the age of 76 on October 15, 1863.
George and Harriet’s son George Earl Eddy was born at Londonderry on Jan 9, 1861 and married Caroline Lydia Mack. They moved to Windham Vt. and had 7 children. I do not have a record of his death. George and Caroline had 7 children. Edward Earl was the third born on August 19, 1887. Edward married Grace M. Bartlett at Derry N.H. in 1907. Together they had 3 children: Edward Lewis (June 29, 1908), Edgar Bartlett (June 29, 1908 but he died in December of 1908), and Grace Marion (June 22, 1912). He divorced Grace and moved to New York City. There he meet Anna Snavely the daughter of German emigrants (Henry and Anna {Rudy} Snavely) she was one of 9 children. Edward and Anna had three children together. Carl Everett (December 25, 1921), Marvin Dale (June 10, 1924) and Harold Earl (February 27, 1928). Edward died young at the age of 49 in Brooklyn hospital, June 26, 1937 of a heart attack. He was a member of the Junior Order of American Mechanics and is buried in the Hummelstown Cemetery in Pennsylvania.
Carl Eddy married Helen Pigan on January 11, 1948 in New York. They had three children together: Edward Carl (Jan 10, 1949), Gary (July 28, 1951) and Susan (May 6, 1953). Susan married and had a child: Sandy Sailor. He divorced Helen and married Joan Ann Krasse on August 20, 1962. She was the daughter of a Bohemian emigrant Jeremiah Krasensky (his father, Joseph Krasensky, changed the family name to Krasse before Jeremiah got married) and Edna Hohlfeld who’s family was from Germany. Joan was previously married herself to a Bob Stark and had two sons Kenneth Warren and James Peter. Carl adopted them as his sons after the marriage. He then had me Thomas Allen on December 21, 1963 and my sister Cindyann on August 18, 1965. Our father died young, at the age of 48 on November 18, 1970, like his father before him of heart disease. He had served in W.W.II in the engineer corps and participated in European campaigns. He was a Design Engineer and was working for the Unidex Systems company when he died. He is buried at Culpeper National Cemetery in Virginia.
That brings you to my family. I, Thomas, married Lorelei Ann Rouse on June
2, 1984. We are both graduates of Florida Southern College. I have a BA in
Psychology and Social Science and she has a BA in Studio Art. I joined the
Army as a 2 Lt. in the Signal Corps on April 27, 1986 and after serving 3
years we returned to Florida, our home. I started Reformed Theological
Seminary in Orlando Florida and became an ordained minister of the the
Presbyterian Church of America in February 1996. I returned to Active duty
on February 29, 1996 in the Army as a Chaplain. I served at Ft Bragg NC from
February 1996 until June 1999. From June 1999 until July 2002 to Madigan Army Hospital at Fort Lewis Washington.
I served with the United States Reserve Command in Atlanta GA from July
2002-Aug 2005 and I am currently assigned to the United States Recruiting
Command as a chaplain recruiter.
We have 6 children: Andreana Christina (August 1986), Jonathan Patrick (September 1987), Joseph Earl (January 1989) Christopher Krasse (February 1990) Paul Philip (November 1991) and Samuel Michael (June 1994).
