| Notes |
- (From Margaret Gardner-Cannefax's: Cannefax-Gardner and Related Lines pp83-84 pub.1972)
There is a very old tradition about the Singletary family in the United States. In the last quarter of the sixteenth century there was living in England a family of title and large estates by the name of Dunham (Massachusetts records have it Donham). Of this family there were two branches; and in case of death of the last male of the elder branch the title and estates would pass to the nearest male relative of the younger branch. Now "it came to pass" that the "unexpected" did occur. Every male of the elder branch died except one small boy, and one morning he was missing. On investigation it was found his nurse was also missing. A thorough search was made at once, even nglish bloodhounds were used, but nothing could be found. Time passed and the heir did not appear. There was no evidence that he was dead; and so for some years the property was held in abeyance.
Many years afterward the nurse lay on her death-bed, and there made affidavit that she had been hired to destroy the child. Her heart failed when the test came and she decided to take him to the New World. They finally obtained passage on a ship for America. When they reached the shore she deserted the child and shortly returned to England. She added that she had given the child the name of Single-tarry. Detectives were immediately sent ot this Country to investigate the matter; and a young man was found bearing the name of the lost heir of the Dunham estates; and who could give no account of his background. The captain of the ship on which the child was deserted had adopted him under the name she had given, but the Captain was now dead. The number of years that had passed and other evidence were such that no one could positively testify that this was the person sought. While he was believed to be the heir the evidence was not sufficient to satisfy the English court and put him in possession of the property.
Such was tradition that has been handed down through nine or ten generations of the Singletary family. Whenever the name is found in Massachusetts to Teaxas and Louisiana the bearer of it is familiar with the tradition concerning his or her English antecedents and the founding of the family in America. In a legal document that appears in the archives of Massachusetts recorded in 1702, the whole family is referred to as "Donham alias Singletary."
The name is first noted in the "Domesday Book" as the first tax census made by William the Conqueror was called shortly after he completed his subjegation of England in 1066 A.D. The name also appears in the Book of Hundreds and members of the Singletary family may be found in the vaults of Bury Saint Ives Chapel dating back to the sixteenth century. A coat of arms was granted to the family in the 15th century. From England the family branched out into Scotland and the "Isles." It is now found in almost all parts of Great Britain. It is not known what is the connnection of the Singletarys of England and Richard, the first in America.
Richard Singletary in the earliest records is simply mentioned as "Richard Singletary of Salisbury and Amesbury." His birth antedates the earliest New England settlements. He was a great rover, for we find him in Salem in 1637, where he received a land grant; removed to Newbury where he joined the church in 1638. He moved to Salisbury in 1645, to Haverhill in 1653. In 1638/9 he married Susannah Cook and the had nine children.
Benjamin, youngest son of Richard Singletary married Mary Stockbridge 4 April 1678 at Haverhill, Mass. In 1695 they left Mass. and emigrated to the Carolinas. By this move he became the founder of the Carolina branches of the family.
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Abt 1559 - Abt 1615 (56 years)