William Helme
Born: 1686-93
In: Brookhaven, Suffolk, New York
Died: 1755
In: Westchester
Father: Thomas Helme (d ~1710 Brookhaven)
Mother: Mary Mills (widow of Nathaniel Norton)
Siblings - half: Isaac, Nathaniel, George, Jonathan, Mary, Sarah, Hannah Norton
Full: Thomas (1703-1729)
m Johanna Miller - son Thomas
Ans (Ansel, Anselm, Ants) (1701-?)
4 sisters, names unknown
Married: Temperance Woodhull
Apparently, there has been some confusion over William’s wife’s name. The Woodhull Genealogy (published 1904) claimed that his wife was Dorothy Woodhull. An article in The American Genealogist (v 14, #4, p. 237-9 - “Woodhull, Smith and Helme” by Richard Carteret Sutton) corrected this mistake (Dorothy’s husband was Job Smith of Smithtown, LI) and suggested that William Helme’s wife might have been Dorothy’s sister Temperance. However, according to Sutton, The Woodhull Genealogy said Temperance was born in 1697 and still unmarried in 1717 and as you can see, several of her children were born before then.
more information about Temperance Woodhull
and her parents Richard Woodhull and Temperance Topping
Children: Temperance - our next ancestor - moved to Orange County
born
~1712 Brookhaven
m (1735 Brookhaven) Ebenezer Owen
(1710 Brookhaven - 1759 Walkill, Orange, NY)
s/o Jonathan Owen & Mary Brewster
Hannah - moved to Westchester County
born 8 Dec 1713 Brookhaven
died 31 Dec 1785 Bedford, Westchester Co., NY
m (2 Nov 1729 Bedford) Joseph Owen
(22 Jun 1706 Brookhaven - 11 Oct 1759 Bedford)
s/o Jonathan Owen & Mary Brewster, brother of Temperance's husband Ebenezer
Anselm (~1716)
m Ruth Brewster (b ~1734) - 3 ch Anselm, Thomas, Deborah
Phineas
born 24 Aug 1716 Brookhaven
William - moved to Orange Co
born 1717 Brookhaven
died19 Oct 1758 in Blooming Grove, Orange Co., NY
m Elizabeth Tuthill (1719-1778 - d/o James Tuthill & Rachel Brown) - 2 ch Vincent, William
son William d 1826, Orange Co, NY
Thomas (~1718) - Susan Austin says he died in an English prison
Charity (~1720 - 1792)
m Floyd Smith (s/o Edmund) - 5 ch Charity, Ruth, Jesse, Margaret, Temperance
Susannah
born 4 May 1722 Brookhaven
died 7 Dec 1803
m Daniel Tuthill (s/o James Tuthill & Rachel Brown) -
6 ch Samuel, Rachel, Julia, Bradley, Hanna, John Woodhull
From the will, it would seem as if there had been a slight mistake in the listing of children - Bradley was not a son, but a married daughter's last name. Possibly Woodhull was another son? Anselm Helm could be either her brother or nephew, Temperence Helme could be a niece, Phineas's daughter
Early Orange County Wills
Susanna Tuthill - Liber C, p. 100 14 Apr 1803 27 — 1803
son - Samuel
dau - Rachel Hulse, Julia Bradley, Hannah Sayre
ex. Job Sarye, Julia Bradley, Anselm Helm
wit Phineas Tuthill, James Tuthill, Temperence Helme
Phineas - moved to Orange Co
born 24 Aug 1723 in Brookhaven
died 25 Jun 1798 in Blooming Grove Orange Co., NY
m (13 Nov 1762) Mary Weisner (d/o Col Henry Wisner & Sarah Norton) - 2 ch Ann, Obidiah
m (24 Aug 1775) Mary Moffat - ch Elizabeth, Woodhull, Temperance, Samuel, Phineas, Henry T, Mary, Emily
Mary born ~1724 Brookhaven
m George Norton of Huntington, LI
[Some of the information about the children comes from Susan Austin's Rootsweb file - and she apparently got some of the information from Wanda Clowater.]
Notes from Hook (The American Genealogist, v 31, p. 41)
Thomas Helme (d ~1710) was one of the most prominent of the Brookhaven settlers, serving among other offices as Town Clerk, Justice, and County Clerk; his wife seems to have been named Mary. His son, William Helme, probably married Temperance Woodhull, daughter of Richard, Jr. and Temperance (Topping) Woodhull. The family of William Helme removed to Orange County, NY, but probably not until after 1752. The Helme family, for all its prominence, is a difficult one, and many misstatements are to be found in print. Those interested are referred to Lillian LM Selleck, One Branch of the Miner Family (1928) pp. 114-5, 212, amplified and corrected in The American Genealogist, 14:237-9; 13:71-2, 77. William and Temperance Helme are said to have been parents also of Hannah Helme, who married Ebenezer Owen's brother Joseph.
These records come from the Helme House site
1704 June 2 - William Helme and William Jayne, jr - witnesses and execs of Adam Smith’s will (Smithtown Town Records)
1715 Suffolk County Militia list - Brookhaven Company
1741 Brookhaven Town assessment -
William Helmes 1s 8d
William Helmes jr 1s 3d
1744 June 5 - receipt - William Helme to Andrew Miller (Brookhaven)
1746 May 26 - William Helme road commissioner, Brookhaven (Brookhaven Records, v 2, p 468)
1749 Brookhaven Town assessment
William Helmes 7s 11d
William Helmes jr 5s 5d
Thomas Helmes (III) 8s 11d
1751 March 1 - Indenture between William Helme sr and Thomas Helme
William describes himself as “of the township of Goshan in the county of Oring (Orange) and in the provens of New York yeoman” - and gives a quit claim to Thomas for the (what sounds like all of his) property in Long Island (except for some already sold).
1755 - died
According to all the online genealogies I’ve seen, William died in Westchester, which makes me wonder about the Orange county record above. Could it have been his son William? William’s son Vincent was on the 1790 census for Orange Co, so he was eventually there.
Forward to next ancestor, Temperance Helme
To wife, Temperance Woodhull
Back to father, Thomas Helme
Back to Helm/s Home Page
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Questions, comments, additions, corrections? Contact me at: lee@leesgenes.com
Page last updated 29 June 2007