Class jC^£^Z__ Book _-2^-^"l cop^titN°y£d^. COPYRIGHT PF.Posrr. AN INQUIRY OONCEBNINO THE BOSS FAMILY AND THE NAME BOSS. CORBESPONDENOE BETWEEN WILLIAM GRAHAM BOSS, Edinburgh, Scotland, and HENRY RUSH BOSS, Chicago, n. S. A. CHICAGO: THE BEN FRANKLIN COMPANY, 232 iBVmG AVENUB. 1902. thP. lurary of eONGRESS, T\i»o C -ee Receiveo ?<«AR. f© 1902 . Corvw«HT ENTBY CUASd «-' XXc. No. COPY a Copyrighted, 1902. by Henry R. Boss. \N FOREWOED. One day about the midMe of the month of May, 1898, looking round an old hooTcstall in Leith Walk, Williamsons by name, I chanced on a bundle of odds and ends marked at the low price of twopence, and from a cursory examination of the bundle, thinki/ng it might contain something of interest, I became the possessor. After making another purchase I hied me to my working den to weed the lot, and as it hap- pened I consigned most of the twopence worth to the waste paper, including a copy of the Superior Printer, printed and published somewhere in America, and I thought I was done with superior printing, but at a leisurely moment, a few days after, on passing the waste box, this Superior Printer again caught my eye, and I looked over its pages more carefully than before, when behold an extract on ''Reading Print- ers/* from a magazine called The Ink Fiend, came into view, and, glancing over the paragraf, the name of my future correspondent, the printer of these sheets, attracted my notice. I read the extract and — well, there was something about the sentences and matter which struck me, so that I made up my mind to write Me. H. K. Boss, whose name I had stumbled on in this manner. For this purpose I rolled up the sheet, intending to take it home and have another look over it previous to writing. On the way home, when calling for my monthly magazine, I handed my superior printed treasure to the shopgirl to be rolled up therewith; but alas, on arriving home I found the precious sheet had slipped out of the roll by the way, and was now lost to me. So there was nothing left for me but to draw on my memory for the facts stated in my post-card as printed at page 9 of this volume. 8uch is the history of my initiatory steps to the following imperfect letters of mine, put together at spare intervals, and begun without any intention of publication. And, although rather belated, I desire to thank the postoffice officials at Chicago for their courtesy in forwarding my post-card to Me. James W. Tuenee; to whom my thanks are also due for transmitting it to my friend. I also return thanks to all those who, though not numerous, have kindly furnished me with replies to my enquiries concern- ing the name and its bearers, or who have given infor- mation about kindred matters. For the satisfaction of the curious with reference to the illustrations, I may say that my great-grand- father's signature, at page 25, is from the subscribed copy of the Solemn League and Covenant, preserved in Queen Ann Street Church, Dunfermline, of which he was one of the original members, and where he filled the office of a deacon for ahout twelve years. And the other zincografs are from drawings by me, unless otherwise mentioned; they are left in outline to be coloured by hand if the possessor is so inclined. Edinburgh. W. G. B. PREFATORY. The origination of this book is well told by Me. William Gkaham Boss in his "Foreword.'' When I began the printing of these letters it was with the expectation that they would make a pamflet of forty or fifty pages, and that they might be of interest to the small number of members of the Boss Family of whom I then knew. The worlc, however, has exceeded my anticipations and grown into a booh, and the dis- covery has been made that the Bosses are much more numerous, in all parts of this country, at least, than I had any idea of. In the preparation of my part of this booh I have been hampered by the indifference of many of whom I have sought information, who have utterly neg- lected to reply to my letters, and by the ignorance of many others who have never known, or have failed to remember, much of the family history. Lack of pe- cuniary means has prevented my having researches made in libraries and public offices in various parts of the country; and I have been forced to content my- self with such information as I could obtain from meager sources. If the present volume is successful in awakening a proper interest in the subject, and in making re- turns for the money I have expended upo7i it, it will be followed by one or more other volumes, which it is hoped will be of interest and value, and, possibly, result in tracing the history of the families of the three brothers who, I am persuaded, were the first of the name to settle in this country, and in finding many of their descendants of the present day. To those who have answered my queries, to man/y others who have aided by suggesting possible sources of information, and especially to Mr. William Gkaham Boss, who has contributed so much to this book, I return my hearty thanks. H. R. B. *^ "Every family should have a family genealogist, ******* j^^g extraordinary how often, even in pedigrees of a/mient families, modem facts about cadets are despised. Regrets begin after the links are lost." The Scottish Antiquary, July, 1901. *^ WILLIAM GRAHAM BOSS. THE BOSS FAMILY-THE NAME, BOSS. From William Graham Boss. [Postal-card, addrest: "Mr. , the editor of 'The Ink Fiend,' or The Secretary of the Printing Trade in Chicago, U. S. America." Indorst: "If the P. O. at Chicago wonld kindly endeavour to hand this to the proper quarter, such a serv- ice would be esteemed with thanks. — W. G. B." Forwarded to James V7. Turner, the last publisher of The Ink Fiend, at Lagrange, 111., and by him sent to Henry R. Boss, Chicago.] 16 Union Street, Edinburgh, Scotland, May 26th, 1898. Dear Sir : Early in 1888, perhaps in the month of March or April, there appeared in a printer's trade journal, called T]ie Ink Fiend, which was published in Chicago, a contribution on " Beading Printers," by a Mr. "Henry E. Boss." My object in writing this is to ascertain if you could kindly place me in com- munication with Mr. Boss, for the purpose of making enquiries with reference to his and my own name, as I am collecting information relating thereto. Although I have a number of cousins in U. S. A., I am not aware if this Mr. B. is one. Should this reach Mr. Boss, perhaps he would kindly let me know at his convenience any traditional 10 account or otherwise of the name if he has ever heard anything. I may say that I am a native of Scotland and that the name is a very old one here. I am also aware that it is found in England, France, Germany, etc., but I can not say if in these countries the name had the same origin as in Scotland. Thanking you in advance for any trouble which I may cause, I am Yours faitlifully, Wm. Graham Boss. Henry R. Boss to William Graham Boss. [Letter.] 232 Irving Avenue, Chicago, III., July 28, 1898. Mr. William Graham Boss. Dear Sir : Your postal-card to the editor of The Ink Fiend (which publication expired five or six years ago) reacht me some days since, and I take the first opportunity to reply to it. If there is any relationship between us, it is so distant that we might as well be named Smith or Jones. As nearly as I have ever been able to trace my genealogy on my father's side, my great-great- grandfather (possibly his grandfather or great-great- 11 grandfather) was one of five brothers who emigrated to this country from Holland so long ago that I have no record of it. One settled in Connecticut, one in New York (State), one in Virginia and one in Penn- sylvania ; where the other went I have no means of knowing. My family record is as follows, so far as I know it : Father, Henry B, Boss, b. in Saratoga County, N. Y., 1807; died in Forestville, N. Y., 1842. Grandfather, William Garner Boss, b. 1776, d. 1836. Great-grandfather, William Boss, d. 1801. [His wife, Silvia Boss, died September 1, 1819, "aged 74 years."] Great- great- grandfather, Peter Boss. [This statement is based on tradition only.] Farther than that I can not go, except I make an effort to search the records of Connecticut, Massa- chusetts (where some of the family settled) and other states. I believe that the state of New York never (until quite recent years) required records to be kept of births, marriages, etc. I have never had time or means — or very much inclination — to look the mat- ter up. So far as I have ever been able to learn, none of the family has ever been in the penitentiary, or has ever been hung. We inherit from our ancestors, I hope, their sturdy integrity, but none of us have ever become famous. The name Boss is a good Dutch word signifying "master," and the word is in common use in this country to designate a foreman, superintendent, etc. It is sometimes employed in an opprobrious sense, as 12 when applied to a selfish manipulator of partizan pol- itics, as "Boss Croker," etc.* I am glad you have written on this subject, and I shall be glad to hear from you again. I was sur- prised at learning there were any bearing my name anywhere in the United Kingdom. Very truly yours, Heney E. Boss. William Graham Boss to Henry R. Boss. [Letter.] 16 Union Street, Edinburgh, August 11th, 1898. Mr. Henry R. Boss, Chicago. Dear Sir : Your letter of July 24th duly to hand. As you say, and I agree with you, there is not likely to be any relationship between us, your forefa- thers having gone from Holland to America, unless they were sprung from a Scotch settler there ; even in *It is also frequently used as an adjective, denoting excellence. Some years ago, when my daughter was but a wee chick, I took her out for an afternoon walk. Seeing a sign, " The Boss Cigar Store," the little one said, " Pa, when they want to call anything good, they name it ' Boss,' don't they ? " 13 this case, the relationship would be remote, however interesting to trace. In the latter part of the sixteenth and during the seventeenth centuries there were a great number of Scotch in Holland, engaged in the wars principally, fighting on both sides ; there are a number of families in France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Eussia, etc., who are descended from Scotch military adventurers of that and earlier times. There was also a consider- able trade carried on between Scotland and the Low Countries from an early date, and tliis intercourse may have had an effect on the present form of my name, as my ancestors were settled in Fife, one of the chief counties from which trade was carried on, and during the seventeenth century there was quite a number of Dutch in that county ; their descendants are found there at the present day. In one coast town — Dysart — there was a specially large number of them, and the town was known locally as " Little Holland." From enquiries which I have made so far, and from the tradition in our family, there is nothing to lead to the supposition that my ancestors came from Holland. The earliest mention which I have found in the county of Fife is in the year 1494, the name being spelt in the printed record "Bos; " the bearer was a " John Bos," whom I find within a few miles of the district where my great-grandfather was a farmer. The name in the form "Boss" is not found in any 14 other part of Scotland until the early part of this cent- ury, and as far as I have gone back all the members were related. My father was James Boss, 1802-1885. My grandfather was William Boss, 1760-1839. My great-grandfather was David Boss, 17**-1789. I am in the same position as you here, that I can not go any further back at present. The characteristics of my family are very similar to yours, in that none of them have been famous or infamous, as far as I am aware. Apropos of charac- teristics: the real "Bosses" here are said to have grey eyes, and fair hair when children; of course there are some who have dark eyes, the efifect of mar- riages ; the usual height of male adults about five feet nine or ten inches. Has any observation been made of this in your family ? I believe the original form of my name was " de Bois;" in early Latin documents it is "deBoscho" and " de Bosco." The first appearance of them in Scotland is about 1170; and the spelling "de Bois," " de Boyes," etc. continued till the latter part of the fifteenth century, when the prefix "de" was dropped and the name was spelt "Boiss," "Boyes," "Boice," "Boas," "Bos," etc.; there are about three dozen varieties of spelling. I have not found out when my name was first spelt " Boss," but should suppose it to be about the latter part of the sixteenth or early in 15 the seventeenth century. There is a tradition in the family of a change having been made at some time in the spelling of the name. There are so few of our name in Scotland that I thought it might be possible that you were descended from an early emigrant from this part of the globe. Two of my uncles emigrated to the States about 1830- 40, and their families are now in various places there. My cousin Janet wrote me from Oswego some time since, and she mentioned that there are two firms of the name in New York, one inkmakers and the other watchcase-makers. Although my cousin has met peo- ple who knew them, she did not learn if they were of Scotch descent. Do you know if they are a branch of your family ? It is possible they may be Jews, as I came across a Jew, "Matthew Boss," in business in London. With reference to the Dutch word *' boss," I have referred to a dictionary, and the nearest I find is : "bos," a bunch, bundle, hank, truss, etc.; "bosch," wood, forest, etc. ; " maastur," master. Boss is a well- known term here for master, in a slang sort of way, and is looked on as an Americanism. I am yours faithfully, William Graham Boss. French — Bosse, hunchback; bossu, humpback. German — Bose, evil, wicked. Scotch — Boss, hollow, empty, a small cask. 16 Willia7n Graham Boss to Henry R. Boss. [Letter.] Edinbuegh, 16 Union Street, Oct. 7th, 1898. Mr. Henry E. Boss, Chicago. Dear Sir : In my former letter I made no mention of the earliest members of my name who are on record as being settled in Fife. The earliest notice of them occurs in 1434 — William de Boys, ofi&cial of St. An- drew's, etc. ; and Alexander Boys in 1438, who is bai- lie of Kirkcaldy in 1448 ; and in the same record* there occurs a Henry de Boys, burgess of Kirkcaldy. Then in 1450 a David de Boys is vicar of Cleish, which, al- though not in Fife, is just next to it ; and in 1462-64 David Boys, master of works to the CroM^n, and cus- tumer of the salt custums at Dysart, where an exten- sive manufacture of this article was carried on for about three hundred years after this date ; from very early times it was largely exported to the continent, Holland especially. After 1464 I have not found the spelling " Boys " in Fifeshire, the forms after that date being "Boist," "Bos," "Bost," "Bowse," "Boost," etc.; and these forms are only found in Fifeshire or immediately adjoining parishes. The traditional account of the reason for the change in our name is that the spell- *Eegister of Dumfermline Abbey. 17 ing was altered to distinguish one branch of the fam- ily from another in the same neighborhood. The Christian names, William, Alexander, David, Andrew, James, John, are found in use in our family as far back as I have traced them ; and the Fife bear- ers of the surname are said to be descended from the family of Panbride in the adjoining county of Forfar, the origin of which family is given by Hector Boece in his Chronicles of Scotland, which he printed at his own expense, at the Ascensian press, folio, Paris, 1527 ; he says (about 1360) : Inter cseteros proavus meus Hugo Boetius ciijus pater ad Duplin occubuerat, Baro Drisdaliaa ex regia beneficentia connubio conjunctus est virgin! hseredi partis Baronatus Bal- brid, quam etiam hac s&tate quai'tus jam inde heres possidet. — Fo. cccxxxv, ed. 1527; Fo. 323, ed. 1574.* The Barons of Dryfsdale were the ear- liest settlers of the name in Scotland, and their arms were Argent a saltire and chief azure, which were also the arms of the Panbride branch, who added a mullet in honour point for difference, to show descent from a younger * The following is from the Scotch translation made for King James V about 1530: "Amang sindry othir that war rewardit at this time, Hew Boece, grandschir to Maister Hec- tor Boece, compilar of the Cronikils, gat, in recompence of his faderis slauchter at Dupline, the heritoure and lady of the barony of Balbrid givin him in mariage; quhilk barony is yit possedit be the airis of the said Hew," (Note: The word "grandschir" is Scotch for great-grandfather.) 18 son. Probably the above Hugh would be third son of Sir Humphrey de Bois, who was killed in 1332. Eef erring to the term " boss " as applied to a man of status, I find it in use here in the sixteenth century. John Knox, in his History of the Eeformation of Eeli- gion in Scotland, which was written, between 1559 and 1571, uses the word in tliis sense. To take one instance, under date of 1544, referring to a sermon preached by the Archbishop of Glasgow at Ayr to combat the doctrines of the Reformers, he says, writ- ing in a derogatory connection: "The Archbishop preached to his jaekmen and to some old bosses of the town." I am inclined to think it is an English term as applied to a man of status or position, although it has almost passed out of our vocabulary, yet at the time of the colonization of America it would be in ordinary use and would be introduced there by the English emi- grants. I am yours truly, W. Graham Boss. Henry R. Boss to William Graham Boss. Chicago, November 5, 1898. Mr. William Graham Boss. Dear Sir : I am now convinced that what I wrote you, in July last, about the five Boss brothers who 19 came to this country and settled in different states, is erroneous, so far, at least, as any connection with my family is concerned. In 1858 or 1859, — at which time I was publish- ing a newspaper in the western part of Illinois, — I had some correspondence with the late Daniel W. Boss, then a prominent railroad man in Chicago, in regard to our common name. Unfortunately, I have preserved none of that correspondence ; but the fol- lowing letter from an uncle of Mr. Boss settles the question as to any connection between that branch of the family and my own : Leesbttrg, Va., Feb. 28, 1861. Mr. Henry E. Boss. Dear Sir: I am in receipt of yours of February 25, and in reply : My father came from Germany, together with several brothers. One or two, I think, settled in New York or New- England States, one in Baltimore (Adam Boss), one in Nor- folk, Va. (Christian Boss). My father's name was Peter Boss. I have {sic) several brothers, all dead, except one in Washing- ton, D. C. — Abraham J. Boss. Daniel W. Boss, whom you refer to, is the son of my brother, Daniel C. Boss, dead some years since. My father died in 1818; my mother died in 1825. Daniel W. Boss' father, my brother, died some years since, in Pittsburg, where he Hved One of my brothers, Nicholas Boss, died when I was a child — Bay 1802 or 1803 — so long ago I do not remember him; he died, I think, in Pennsylvania. We may be related, though I can not trace it out. As stated above, I had two or three uncles who remained north of the Potomac Yours, S. M. Boss. 20 The unearthing of this letter from S. M. Boss — I think his name was Samuel — first called attention to the error. Daniel W. Boss and I came to a hasty conclusion that we were connected through the five brothers referred to. I never gave the matter any farther attention until now. The following is an extract from a letter in reply to one written by me to Mrs. Betsey (Jackson) Swift, of Forestville, N. Y., a granddaughter of my great- uncle, Peter Boss, — of whom more hereafter. I have every reason to believe it reliable. It was written by Mrs. Swift's granddaughter, Miss Marie Avery : My grandmother seems to have had no fancy for remem- bering dates or for inquiring about the careers of even her most dietinguisht ancestors; but my mother says that her grandmother* used often to talk of her ancestry, and espe- cially of the three brothers (the heads of this branch of the Boss family) who were navigators, and upon coming to Amer- ica settled in New York, on the Mohawk,-j- receiving a deed of their land from the Indians, which was to be theirs " as long as grass grows and water runs." Mother did not realize of what great interest this woiild be to the Bosses of these later days, and so she either failed to learn the names of the three brothers, or has forgotten them; however she can vouch for the truth of the story — that is, it is just as her grandmother told it to her. So it is doubtless true that my family came from one of three brothers who settled in the state of New *Amy (Boss) Jackson. f Whence the term " Mohawk Dutch." 21 York, and not from one of five brothers who scattered to different parts of the Union. In a copy of " The Original Lists of Persons of Quality .... and others who went from Great Britain to the American Plantations, 1600-1700," ed- ited by John Camden Hotten, it is recorded that a ticket from Barbadoes was granted to Whitehead Joseph, in the Ship Three Brothers, Peter Boss, Comand''. security. Who knows but this Peter Boss was my great- grandfather ? In Volume I of "American Ancestry," publisht by Joel Munsell's Sons, Albany, N. Y., 1887, I find the following : BOSS, LEWIS, Albany [N. Y.]; son of Samuel P. Boss, of Scituate, R. I.; son of Benjamin, b. 1759, d. 1849, served five years in Revolutionary war; son of Benjamin, b. 1727, son of Edward, b. 1685, d. 1752 (m,, 1709, Philippa Carr), free- man, 1713; son of Edwakd Boss (m. Susannah Wilkinson), settled in Narragansett, R. I., May 17, 1710, when he bought vacant lands sold by the Assembly; he died about 1724., The family is of Dutch origin. Name spelt Bosch and afterward Bos. In "British Family Names," pubhsht in London, 1891, by Elliott Stock, is the following : Boss. Fr., Bosse; D., Boss; G., Dch., Bos; jd. n. No further intimation than this is given — no ink- ling as to where, in England, any bearing this name may be found. Yours very truly, Henry R. Boss. 22 William Graham Boss to Henry R. Boss. Edinburgh, 16 Union Street, November 2l8t, 1898. Mr. Henry R. Boss, Chicago. Dear Sir : Your letter of November 5th received. It is of great interest. After reading it perhaps I should have addressed you as "Cousin;" and after all I am strongly inclined to think that you are off the same stock as myself, as will appear by the fol- lowing facts. In the extract which you give from Miss Marie Avery's letter — the whole tenor of which extract is so like our tradition — your ancestors had a deed of lands from the Indians to be theirs "as long as grass grows and water runs." This is very remarkable. Is it not possible that the mention of *' Indians " is an error introduced in the course of time through being trans- mitted orally from one generation to another? Of course, if such a deed is extant there can be no doubt about the matter. Now it so happens that this identical tradition, minus the " Indians," has been handed donm in my family ivordfor word, referring to a tenure of land for " as long as grass grotvs and water runs." I have heard the same from my father, and also from my aunt, Jane Boss, and others — sometimes with this addition, that the lands were to remain in the family provided the descendants bore the name of "Boss," which may mean that, if the elder line ended in a 23 female, the next heir-male was to succeed ; or it may mean that the husband of an heir-female should as- sume the name ; but, however this may be, there is no doubt about the tradition. I will just remark fur- ther that I believe this phrase, " as long as grass," etc., to be a peculiarly Scottish one in old legal docu- ments. Another point which appears along with the fore- going to strengthen my opinion of relationship is the name of your great-grandfather, simply "William Boss," and the date of his death, 1801. He was con- temporary with my great-grandfather, David Boss, who died in 1789 ; this just leaves twelve years be- tween their deaths ; probably your great-grandfather would be a younger brother ; and again my grandfa- ther was William Boss, born about 1760, died in 1839. Here comes in a good old Scotch custom of naming children after their parents and near relatives. In connection with this feature, although I made enqui- ries some time since I could not ascertain who my grandfather was named after. What would be more natural for my great-grandfather than to name one of his sons after his brother, or after the same man whom bis brother was named for, whoever this may have been? If you could ascertain the age of your great- grandfather when he died, it is possible his birth may be found in the registers here, although there have been great irregularities in keeping the parish regis- ters. The names of his father and mother would 24 probably be entered also, thus taking us back another generation. Another consideration which leads me to the same conclusion is, you mention that the three brothers are said to have been sailors. Well, my family have been inhabitants of the seacoast for many generations, and we know that a love for the sea is just like many other hereditary characteristics : it runs in the blood. When my father was a boy he was taken one or two voyages for the benefit of his health, to Holland and the Baltic, by his cousin, Captain Graham (son of Agnes Boss, or Graham), who traded to those parts. Then my uncle, David Boss, who settled in Oswego, U. S. A., was a ship-carpenter and sailed round the globe, I don't know how often, but he was on the sea most of his life. Then my grand-cousin, also David Boss, was a ship-carpenter ; he stayed at Kincardine on Forth, here. Then my cousin. Captain William Burgess (probably named after his grandfather, Will- iam Boss), son of my father's sister,^ Margaret Boss, or Burgess, sailed between Liverpool and New York ; he was lost with his vessel — the Anglo Saxon (steam- er), I think was her name — while on a voyage to New York, about forty years ago, in the vicinity of Cape Eace ; his mdow and family removed from Liverpool to her parents' home, in or near New York, after this disaster. (I am not aware if Mr. Gellet Burgess, author of " The Purple Cow," is a descendant or not.) Captain Burgess' brother Ralph is m business at To- ronto. HENRY RUSH BOSS. 25 As I have mentioned one disaster, perhaps in this place I may mention David Boss, my eldest brother, who, although not a sailor, was wrecked near Halifax, Nova Scotia, while on his way to Boston, about 1873, in the White Star Line steamship Atlantic ; he was one of the few survivors of that disaster, and since then has been settled in Manitoba, Canadian N. W. There are a number of other cousins who were more or less connected with the sea ; also a Captain John G. Boss, R. N., in the early part of this century, who may have come off the same stock, judging from cir- cumstantial evidence ; but I am enquiring. In my family there are other traditions, which may be found in yours. Could you ascertain if there is anything said about the name itself, or anything about a change in the name, however unlikely it may appear to you, the smallest scrap would be of service. If you could obtain a copy of your great-grand- father's signature it might show if he had been trained in the same school as mine, a copy of whose auto- graph I append, taken from a public document dated at Dumfermline May 29th, 1746. There are peculiar characteristics in the hand, showing no little artistic taste. Look at the beautiful form of the letter B, for instance, or any of the letters. The writer appears to have been a man of superior taste ; this is more 26 apparent in the original document, where the names are arranged in two columns on the page, this one being the center name in the second column, contain- ing twenty-three names. The signature is distinctive in character and shows a man of capacity, which is borne out by facts. The signature also shows an in- herited natural taste, and may be of interest to you, as it would probably be derived from the same sources as the members of your family may be indebted to for a part of their natural taste at least. Also, if you could recover the name of your great- grandfather's wife* and the names of their family, also the names of the other brothers and any of their children's names, it would help to show if there was any connection; and if you could ascertain their church connection it might show in which way they had been brought up. Do you know if any of them were Freemasons ? I find four of my family mem- bers of St. John's Lodge, Dumfermline, between 1739 and 1792 ; one of them the above David, probably. My great-grandfather was a Presbyterian, and seems to have taken an interest in the church ques- tions of his time in Scotland — I am glad to say on the side of freedom and progress in these matters. His wife's name was Agnes Watt, and their family consisted of five sons and four daughters ; as far as I *A11 I have ever been able to learn of her was given in my letter of July 28, 1898. See page 11 of this work. H. R. B. 27 have learned, their names were David, James, John, William, Andrew, Agnes, Helen, Margaret, Isabell, With reference to the lands which my forefathers are said to have possessed, I find lands in their neigh- borhood mentioned in 1537, called "Boys' Croft." This may be the lands referred to, or it may have been in another quarter ; but I am enquiring as oppor- tunity offers. The Peter Boss, commander of the Three Broth- ers, may have been one of an earlier generation. I will try and see the work mentioned. Returning to the history of our name in Scotland : All accounts agree in stating that it is of French ori- gin, and that they came over at the time of the con- quest of England in 1066, or shortly thereafter. The name Bois appears in most of the lists of the com- panions in arms of Duke William of Normandy which were compiled in his time or immediately after. The earliest Scotch chronicle in which the name is mentioned is that of Sir Thomas Gray, written in the early part of the fourteenth century, while he was a prisoner in Edinburgh Castle. To quote from Hill Burton's History of Scotland, Sir Thomas Gray " tells how King William the Lion brought with him (1174- 75), when returning to Scotland from his captivity,"* younger sons of the families to whom he was indebted for courtesies, and how he endowed them with lands. *Kmg William was taken prisoner by the English, in battle, and passed his captivity in England and Normandy. 28 "We can not take the passage as precise statistics. We may get more from it by counting it as the shape into which the chronicler put the traditions of the mi- gration of the great Norman houses to Scotland. In this view the list of names is instructive : . . . . " Si estoint ceaux dez Baillolfs, de Bruys, de Soulis, et de Moubray, et les Saynclers, les Hayes, les Giffardis, les Eamesays, et Laundels ; les Biseys, les Berkleys, les Walenges, lez Boysis, les Mountgomeries, lez Vaus, lez Colevyles, lez Frysers, les Grames, les Gourlays, et plusours autres." Also Hector Bois* in liis Chronicle gives a similar list of names. In Volume II, page 281, edition 1821, after mentioning the names of those who came out of Hungary, he says : " Mony othir surnames, be sindry chances of time, came out of France in Scotland; as Frasier, Sinclare, Boswel, Mowtray, Montgumme- ry, Campbel, Boyis, Betown, Tai- lyefer, and Bothwel ; with mony othir." This list is also repeated by Sir David Lindsay, Lyon King of Arms, in his Scots Armorial, compiled about 1542; it is the oldest Scotch Armorial in exist- Keduced copy, half the size of rv> • i • original. cuce aud an official register cer- * Commonly called Hector Boece. 29 DE BOISI OK BOISSY, lie de France. Azure sem^ of fleur de lis argent. tified by act of Parliament. From the facsimile printed edition I send you a copy of the arms of "Lord Boyis of Dryvisdaill of Auld." Dryfsdale is situated in Dumfriesshire and takes its name from the Water Dryffe, which flows tlirough it and is tribu- tary to the Eiver Annan, wliich gives name to Annan- dale. In these early times to which I have referred the Bruce family were Lords of Annandale, and the Bois family were among their feudal vassals ; the Bois arms are the same as the Bruce, with a difference in color to distinguish them, and are what are called feudal arms. The arms of the Bruce family are blazoned. Or, a saltire and chief gules. As bearing on the statement that the Bois family originally came from France there is the name in the original form. Then, why should the colour of the arms be white and blue ? They could have been any other colour excepting those of the feudal superior. On referring to the Berry Armorial de France, 1450, I find a family "de Boisi," or "Boissy," He de France, bearing arms of the same tinctures — blue and white, Azure seme of fleur de lis argent, as in the enclosed sketch. Also another family in France, at an earlier date, bearing the same arms — Bois- Bebky Aemobial de Fbanoe, 1450. 30 Glani, quarterly first and fourth Azure seme of fleur de lis argent, second and third Argent frette gules — about 1425. Then, to return to Scotland, we find, probably late in the twelfth or early in the thirteenth century, a Walter del Bois using a seal having a fleur de lis for the central figure. — Henry Laing's Catalogue of Ancient Scottish Seals, Volume II, 1866 : No. 109, Walter Bois. A fleur de lis of a slender and elegant fonn, not on a shield. (Legend) "Sigil Walter! del Bois." Appended to a charter by Walter del Bois of three acres of land at Karmderes to St. Cuthbert's, Durham — Dean and Chapter of Durham. Placing these facts together, and bearing in mind that it was a heraldic practice for younger sons, when they acquired a position for themselves, to adopt arms somewhat different from their fathers', in many cases taking other figures entirely, but retaining the pater- nal colours ; in this light there is a strong probability that the colours, white and blue, of the Bois arms are derived from France, if not from the same family stock as Boisi — He de France. In this letter I have mentioned lands called Boys' Croft, situated in the barony of Clackmannan, which was held by a branch of the Annandale Bruce family from about 1360 until about 1770. In the history of this family mention is made of the Boises of Dryf sdale having married daughters of the Bruces lords of An- nandale. This is very probable, as it would be a means of mutual strength in the contests of those 31 times. The history of the name bears this out as far as I have seen, numbers of them serving the state in various positions before and after the Bruce family were advanced to the Scottish throne. I am Yours truly, William Graham Boss. Henry R. Boss to William Graham Boss. Chicago, June 30, 1899. Mr. William Graham Boss. My Dear Sir : Your reasoning in regard to our relationship, on account of the occurrence of similar given names in your family and mine, is ingenious, at least ; and your theory on this point may secure some confirmation before we are done with this inves- tigation. The names Andrew, David, Peter and Will- iam occur in my family, but that proves little in favor of your theory. The only Andrew I know of (Andrew J.) probably derived his name from the hero and President, Andrew Jackson, as his father was, I believe, a stanch Democrat and an admirer of *' Old Hickory." The "good old Scotch custom" of naming chil- dren after their parents and near relatives does not prevail in this country to the same extent as it does 32 with you, as can be seen in the case of my own fam- ily. The following are taken from the lists of names in my family Bible :* William G, Boss (my grandfather), b. May 18, 1776; m, Leah Storms Oct. 14, 1795; d. Sejot. 19, 1836. Leah (Storms) Boss, b. Feb. 4, 1779; d. Nov. 18, 1858. Their children were : Hiram Boss, b. Feb. 4, 1797 (on his mother's 18th birth- day); m. Sarah Ann Rogers May 25, 1823; d. 18—. David Boss, b. May 18, 1799; m. Eliza Swan March 18, 1823; d. at Lyons, N. Y., July 27, 1847. William Boss, b. July 2, 1801 ; d. Aug. 15, 1819. Melinda Boss, b. Sept. 14, 1803; d. July 18, 1805. Selinda Boss, b. Aug. 8, 1805; m. John Keeler May 25, 1824; d. March 6, 1863. Henry Ball Boss, b. May 6, 1807; m. Ann Adelia Dix June 24, 1834; d. May 18, 1842. My grandfather's brother, Peter Boss (b. 1755, d. at Forestville, N. Y., 1812), married Catherine * My family record, as I term it, consists of entries on the blank pages left for that purpose, between the Old and New Testaments, in a Bible "printed and published, wholesale and retail," at Saratoga Springs, N. T., by G. M. Davison, in 1826. My grandmother and my father purchased this Bible, paying for it in cider. The earlier entries in it are in the bold, round hand of my grandfather, the last made by him being that of the marriage of his daughter Selinda, in 1824; then follow entries made by my father, the last being dated 1834; the next entries are in my mother's handwriting, while the later ones have been made by myself. 33 Storms (b. at Saratoga Springs, N. Y., 1773, d. at Forestville, N. Y., 1854), a sister of my grandmother, Leah (Storms) Boss. (They were said to be sisters of General Isaac Storms ; but how or where he obtained his military title, or any other particulars in relation to him, I have never learned.*) The children of Peter and Catherine Boss were : Polly Boss, b. June 15, 1794; m. Willoughby. Chil- dren: Maria, Peter, Wellington, Ann. Eliza Boss, b. March 28, 1795. Isaac Boss, b. Sept. 4, 1797. Children : Eliza, Hamilton, Henry Benjamin. Ebenezer Boss, b. Nov, 7, 1799. Children: Leverett, Washington, Harry, Kate. Amy Boss, b. Jan. 20, 1802; m. John Jackson. Children: Betsey (Swift), Mary Elizabeth, Eleanor Catherine. Peter F. Boss, b. in Saratoga County, N. Y., July 4, 1804; m. Elizabeth Jones (b. at Litchfield, Conn., Dec. 3, 1816); d. at Mukwonago, Wis., Dec. 15, 1878. Children: Andrew J., Leander P., Caroline E., Katie E., Eva M. George W. Boss, b. July 4, 1806. Children: Marjorie, Margret, Edgar, Hattie, Lizzie, Maria. *My cousin, Mrs. Annie (Boss) Newell, of Sheridan, N. Y., daughter of Alvin C. Boss, writes me: "I remember when I was very small my Grandmother Boss receiving com- pany from Saratoga Springs — two brothers and their wives, named 'Storms.' They drove from their home in a double carriage, and Father drove to Fredonia after Aunt Leah, your [my] grandmother, to visit with them. They remained at our house about a week, — very intelligent people and inter- esting, — but we never heard from them again, as I remember." I have an indistinct recollection of this visit. 34 Alvin Cornell Boss, b. May 20, 1808; m. Laurentia Mal- lory (b. at Keeseville, N. Y. ) ; d. 1875. Children: Summer, Annie (Mrs. Oliver Newell), Jerome, Jennie, Frank W., Polly. This great-uncle, Peter Boss, was buried on his own farm, near Forestville, N. Y. Forty-two years later, when his wife, Catherine, died, his remains were disinterred for removal to the village cemetery. The casket (in a good state of preservation), when opened, exposed his perfect form and features, even to a flush on his face, but the corpse immediately crumbled to dust on being exposed to the air. The names I have given above coincide in part with those given by you ; but they do not greatly aid your theory of relationship. I presume that my father's middle name (Ball) was given liim in honor of Rev. Eliphalet Ball, one of the early settlers of Ballston Spa, and after whom that now celebrated watering-place was named. This Mr. Ball, it is said, was a third cousin of President George Washington. Of the traditions regarding the family I know but little, as I have been separated from my older rela- tives the greater portion of the time since I was about fourteen years of age. My father died when I was seven, and in my fifteenth year I left school and set out to make my own way in the world. Consequently I have heard very little of the traditions that probably were known even in the generation preceding mine. Now, nearly or quite all that generation have passed over to the great majority; and, unless the present 85 and younger generation have heard and preserved these traditions, they will probably remain forever iini'ecorded. I find it very difficult to secure replies to the few letters I have been able to write, and there are but few of my relatives on my father's side whose present whereabouts are known to me. One of the traditions I have heard is to the efifect that there are immensely valuable landed interests in New York City, belonging to the Boss family, which might be recovered if only the line of descent could be authentically traced. I have never given the mat- ter any serious attention, believing the claim to be on a par with those in the celebrated "Anneke Jans" case, which seem to me to exist only for the enrich- ment of a few lawyers. The phrase, "as long as grass grows," etc., is not necessarily Scotch, I think. If my memory serves me correctly, it was used in some of the transfers of lands by the Indians in the state of New York. It would seem to be an appropriate form to express an Indian's idea of "forever." Mrs. Betsey Swift insists that it was Indians who gave the deed referred to on page 20 of this work ; she obtained the story from her grandmother, Catherine Boss. As to physical characteristics I can not give you much information. My father and my Uncle Hiram were rather short, square-built men, say about five feet eight inches high. The sons of Peter Boss, how- ever, were, most of them, tall and spare, nearly or quite six feet high ; his daughter Amy, as I remember 36 her, was large and quite stout. Blue or gray eyes and brown hair have generally prevailed. I know little or nothing of the religious connec- tions of the earlier members of the family. I believe my grandmother, Leah Boss, was an Episcopalian, and some of her children were Universalists ; while her sister, Catherine Boss, was a Baptist. Little can be predicated on this, however, as the early settlers in a new country, — as Western New York was then, — when churches were scarce, were apt to form such religious connections as they could, rather than such as they desired. From a History of Saratoga County, N. Y., I learn that my grandfather held the office of collector of taxes of the town of Milton, being elected thereto in 1810 and 1811 ; and his son, my Uncle Hiram, was elected to the same office in 1826. In a list of marriage licenses issued in the prov- ince of New York, compiled by the late Dr. Edward B. O'Callaghan, are the following. Dr. O'Callaghan gives the volumes and pages of the books where these are recorded, and a copy of his work is in the Public Library of Chicago : 1778, July 11. Boss, Betty, and John Titley. 1735, July 20. Boss, Elizabeth, and John Parsall. 1772, August 31. Boss, Jacobus, and Mary Miller. 1761, April 21. Boss, Sarah, and Lawrence Harmon. 1758, Sept. 8. Boss, Susannah, and Simon Losse. In response to my inquiry regarding the above, I have received the following letter from Mr. Arnold B7 J. F. van Laer, sub-librarian having charge of manu- scripts in the New York State Library. The varia- tions in names are as they appear in the records : Albany, N. Y., June 28, 1899. Henry K. Boss, Esq. Dear Sir: In reply to your inquiry of tbe 17th inst., I will copy what information can be obtained from the marriage bonds which you indicated. Vol. XXV, p. 124. Jolin Titley and Peter Vanderburgh of New York bound themselves for the sum of £500 on the 11th of July, 1778. John Titley obtained a license for him- self of the one party and Betty Boss of New York, spinster. Signatures: John Titley, John Van der Bxu-gh. In the presence of J. Moore. The earliest records of licenses are in the form of a list givinpf only the names of the contracting parties and the date of issne. Vol. 1, p. 2. 20 July, John Parsall and Elizabeth Boss. Vol. viii, p. 166. Lawrence Harmen of the city of New York, mariner, and George Furman of said city, carpenter, the 21th of April, 1764. Lawrence Harmen obtained a license for himself of the one party and Sarah Boss of the city of New York, spinster. Signatures: Lawrence Hardman, G. Furman. No witness given. Vol, xix, p. 37. Henry I. Sleight of Ulster County, mariner, and Laurence Kilbrun of the city of New York, mer- chant, the 31st of August, 1772. The above bounden obtained a license for Jacobus Boss of Ulster Cotmty, blacksmith, of the one party, and Mary Miller of said county, spinster. Signatures: Hend. I. Sleght, Laurence Kilbrun. In the presence of Jn^- Grumly. Vol. ii, p. 11. Simon Lossee of the city of New York* mason, and Teunis Thew of the same city, mariner, the 8th of September, 1758. The above boitnden Simon Loesee obtained a license for himself of the one party and Susannah Boss of New York, widow. ' his Signatures: Simon ^^^^^^ Loseee, Theunis Thew. In the presence of JnP- Gadby, The names of the various husbands do not appear in our Revolutionary records, so that the above is all the information* I believe, I can give you. Respectfully yours, Abnold J. F. VAN Laer, Sub-Librarian Manuscripts. Mr. van Laer kindly adds the following informa- tion from the " Clinton Papers," in the State Library : April 17, 1778 — No. 1299: "The Evidence of Joseph Gordens is as follows : . . He says he heard Francis Elswert and Joseph Gooding — both of Shohawken — Say that they would Come about five Weeks hence with the Indians and Tories to take all the Wigs at Cashithtown, namely, . . And the persons which would not be hurt, that were King's men, viz., Joseph Boss, . . ." July 11, 1780 — No. 3150, p. 79: "Nicholas Boss, of Capt. Vandeburgh's company. Charged with Disobedience of orders in the Late alarm. Pleads that he has no shoes & says he is under Recognizance to appear before the Commission- ers once a Month & Recons it hard to serve two Masters. . .'» No place or age is mentioned. Mr. van Laer adds : Since so many different spellings of the name occur, and as it seems probable that the family came from Holland, I might mention here that our Dtitch records contain a paper dated 6 December, 1646, showing that Jan Willemsen Bos, carpenter, built a house for Dirk Holgers, on Long Island. 39 In another letter Mr. van Laer gives the follow- ing information concerning the term *' boss : " The Dutch for master is Baas, which is pronounced by country people, and the lower classes generally, quite broadly, somewhat Uke Boss, and has in this way become incorporated under that form in the English language. Bos and Bosch are very common in Holland, and are found among all classes and conditions of people. Some time ago I received the following letter from Mr. Eobert P. Boss, of Boston, Mass. Sad to relate, Mr. Boss' pleasure trip was transformed into a jour- ney of sorrow, by the death of his wife, a few days after leaving home. Mr. Boss is troubled with an affection of his eyes, which interferes with his reading or writing ; but he has promist me that, when he shall have recovered therefrom, he will assist in our inves- tigation : Boston, AprU 19, 1899. Mr. Henry R. Boss. Dear Sir: . . . As I am due to go away on a trip South, to be gone two weeks, I can not enter into any extended correspondence now; but, when I return, will endeavor to give you all the data I possess. The family has aU the characteristics that W. G. Boss mentions, and in appearance they are apparently the same as ten generations ago. The first Edward Boss* (my progenitor) is supposed to have come from Holland; was married to Susannah Wilkinson, about 1770, in Providence, R. I. As near as I can make out, *Se6 notice of Lewis Boss, page 21. Also see list of the American descendants of Edward Boss, on pp. 50 ef seq. 40 they were both Quakers; they were both buried from the Quaker church in Providence on the same day ; the date I do not renaember, but have it at home. Will give you facts later. The Christian names are Edward, William, Peter, Joseph, John. Nicholas. Our branch for several generations has been located in Newport, R. I., where I was born. Hoping we may in the future evolve something in the family line more satisfactory, I am Yours truly, R. P. Boss. PS. I had two uncles, Joseph and John, and an aunt who married a Bliss, who settled in Genesee County, N. T., over fifty years ago. My friend, Andrew J. Mouat, a master-printer of this city, claims kinship with you, thru his mother, Mrs. Laurence Mouat, nee Elizabeth Boss. Her father was Andrew Boss, 1806-65; ro. Jean Nicol. Grandfather, William Boss; m. Margaret Graham. Those were your grandparents also. Great-grandfather, David Boss, b. in the early part of the eighteenth century; m. Agnes Watt. The following of the other children of Andrew and Jean (Nicol) Boss are now living in this country : William, at Emerald Grove, Wis. ; Alexander, near Independence, Iowa ; David, at Pomona, Cal. ; Jean (Mrs. S. J. Safiford), at Augusta, Kan. I thank you for the suggestion as to the Masonic connections of the members of the family. Perhaps, if I can find where to write, I can obtain some infor- mation that will be of value. I have been told that my grandfather, William G. Boss, was a Eoyal Arch Mason (as I am myself), and that my uncle, Hiram LEAH (STORMS) BOSS. Born February 4, 1779; died November 18, 185S. 41 Boss, was a Master Mason. My great-uncle, Peter Boss, was also a Mason, and his Masonic apron is in the possession of his grandson, Andrew J. Boss, of Mukwonago, Wis. This letter is of a desultory, almost fragmentary, character; but I trust the information here recorded will afford us clues to more important discoveries. Hoping to hear from you soon, I remain Yours very truly, Henry E. Boss. William Graham Boss to Henry R. Boss. Edinburgh, 16 Union Street, August 14th, 1899. Mr. Henry E. Boss, Chicago. Dear Sir : Your letter of the 30th June to hand, which contains many facts of interest ; and it is his- torically valuable to learn how your great-uncle was buried on his own farm. I suppose that the country would be sparsely peopled at that time. Judging from the name of your great-grandmo- ther, — Silvia, — which is by no means common here, I should think that, even supposing that her husband, WilUam, was born in this country, it is probable they were married in America; and it would be in the names of the first generation born there that we 42 might expect to j&nd the greatest agreement with the names of the contemporary generation here. Perhaps it is true the legal phrase, " as long as grass grows," etc., may not be exclusively Scotch, but it was used here to denote a perpetual holding, and the tradition in our family here, in the latter part of the last century and early part of the present one, was that they held lands under this form, and the family had been settled in the western district of Fifeshire for about four hundred years. This coin- cides very nearly with the earliest mention of the name in contemporary local records (see page 16), the form of the name at that time being " de Boys " in the record. Then we have the tradition that the name was altered to its present form to distinguish one branch of the family from another. The story handed down from one generation to another, with reference to this, is, that two members of the family, probably cousins, had the same christian name, and they were near neighbours ; so it came about, in the course of affairs, that the one was mistaken for the other and used to receive letters, etc. which were for the other, and vice versa. To put an end to the in- convenience which this caused it was agreed that my ancestor should take the spelling which we have con- tinued to use to the present ; wliich spelling renders the common pronunciation very well, being a long, soft syllable, the o having a sound like oa in oak. We are the only family in Scotland who use this form of the name, and it has been a common saying among 43 us that we are all related, although there are not so many of the name here at present compared with the numbers about sixty years ago ; even then it was a small group. They seem to have gone in for emi- grating largely in comparison with their numbers. There are other branches of the name in Fifeshire which I believe are sprung from the same stock, al- though the connection has been lost, such as the names Bowes, Bowsie, Bousie, Buist; these differ- ences originated in some instances in a similar way as in our family ; the family of Bowsie have a similar story accounting for the difference from Bousie ; and the practice of making a difference in the spelling was just borrowed from the heraldic practice of mak- ing a difference in the armorial bearings of cadets of a family — the arms were retained with a difference to distinguish them ; equally the name was retained with a difference in spelling. At the time our change was made this would be much better understood than at the present day, when heraldic usage is understood only by the few. But to return to your letter : Apart from the In- dians having no written language, and the terms of the deed being in English, it would be doubly interest- ing to find your ancestor when he contracted with the savages for the lands, getting the form, " as long as grass grows," etc., inserted in the document. Per- haps he thought of what he had heard at home in the old country, and had an idea of settling down under his own vine and figtree and perpetuating the ancient 44 usage in the New World. I wonder what he called his new possession : would it also be an echo of home memories, some name familiar to him from his child- hood, with all its fresh, unsullied associations and endearments ? or would it be a presage of a new and better state and changed conditions of life ? Mention is made at page '20 that your ancestors settled on the Mohawk. I find from E. H. Roberts' New York, Commonwealth Series, page 415, that the farmers of the Mohawk Valley, at the time of the Revolutionary War, were mostly German and Low Dutch by blood, with a few English, Scotch and other nationalities, whose names are on the roster. If this could be referred to, perhaps your ancestor might be found among them. The extracts from the state records are of much interest. The earliest one, July 20, 1735, containing the name Elizabeth, is noteworthy, as this name is found here in 1755, when James Boss, my great- grandfather's brother, has a daughter baptized by this name. It is curious to find a Jacobus or James married to a Mary Miller in 1772 ; the Latin form of his name may have been due to a whim of the Re- corder. I have not found any of the others in our family, and of course the above are common names. Evidently Susannah bore her late husband's surname. There can be no doubt of the name " Bosch " be- ing common to natives of Holland, just as "Wood" is very plentiful as a surname in English-speaking countries. Although I can not point to any particu- 45 iar mem'ber of my family who settled in Holland, it would be strange if there were none, considering the great intimacy which existed for centuries between the two countries and my family having been settled for so many years in the trading district of Scotland nearest to Holland. There is an instance of a de- scendant of the Panbride family having apparently settled in Amsterdam. I find, from the Spalding Club extracts from the Burgh of Aberdeen Eecords, a John Boys, about twenty-three years of age, " at present in Amsterdam," son of Thomas Boys, Treasurer, receives a grant of a birth-certificate, under the burgh seal, in 1674. If he left descendants there, possibly they would conform the name to the usage of the country. The name has a great variety of spellings in rec- ords here. Before there was any fixed rule, every scribe appears to have been a law unto himself in this respect, to some extent. I gather from the records that the common pronunciation has not altered for centuries. This is apparent as early as 1494 (see page 13), where the record, as was usual, gives the abbreviated form " Bos," which has sometimes been mistaken for an abbreviation of the name Boswell ; shortly it represents the common broad monosyllable in speech. This is borne out by a reference to Hec- tor Bois' History, a quotation from the Scotch version of which I have given at page 28, where the spelling is " Boyis." The same passage in the original Latin edition of 1527, as written by the author, has the spelKng "Boas," which indicates that the common pronunciation was just much the same as at present, and it also shows the author to have been perfectly aware of how his countrymen pronounced his name, although the spelling in documents varied greatly. In the National Manuscripts of Scotland, edited by Colonel Sir Henry James, is given a facsimile of an ancient manuscript having this inscription on the margin at the bottom of the page : CoUegii aberdonensis ex dono Magistri Hectoris Bois primi Primarii eiusdem.* Probably this was written by the librarian before or about 1535, the year in which the donor died, as I find from the seal of the Panbride family in 1505 (of which family the Principal was a son), the spelling of the name is " Boies." I believe this form is more peculiar to Dumfriesshire, and it serves as a connect- ing link for the Panbride family with the parent house of Dryfsdale, as mentioned at page 17. The forms Boas, Boss, Boes, Bowes, Poece, are all monosyllables, and the last one appears to have been first been made use of by Ballenden in his trans- lation of the Chronicles out of the Latin into Scotch, about 1536, and he knew quite well that this form which he adopted for the author's name was just giv- ing typographical form to the popular usage of the name. It has been remarked by a writer, in refer- ence to the form Boece, that it is not likely to have * The property of the College of Aberdeen, by the gift of Master Hector Bois, first Principal of the same. 47 ever been actually bonie by anyone of the name. I agree with this, as I have not seen it as a personal name in any other work or record. Nevertheless it is a very felicitous rendering representing the common pronunciation. Another noteworthy feature is that these mono- syllabic forms retain this characteristic of the original name " Bois ; " and it is remarkable that the common lingual utterance of the people of the eastern low- lands has also preserved this feature through the centuries to the present day; where the letter i is silent in the spoken name, thus it came in the course of time to be written, in the eastern lowlands, without that letter. In the southwestern parts of Scotland I believe the form Boyes is the only one prevalent, and is pro- nounced as two syllables — Boy-es. The Irish form, again, is said to be of one syllable, written Boyce. The forms Bowsie and Bousie are of two syllables, and are peculiar to the East Neuk of Fife, just as my own name was originally of western Fife. The forms Boiss, Boys, Boyss, with many other varieties, are only found in records. At the present time among the middle classes the pronunciation of my name takes a somewhat smart form, the o partaking of the sound of the same letter in " shot," or at other times approaching the sound of letter a in *' Bass." I find that, with some people who bear my name for the first time, I am taken for a German or -a Dutch- man. May not a similar thing haTe happened witb some bearers of the name in America, and, in the absence of sufficient evidence to the contrary, the as- sertion or assumption has been put into print and taken for gospel ? In my own case I have had occa- sion to put people right on this score. " . . what time bath blurred, Bedeem truth from his jaws.'' The following are a few words which are or have been in ordinary use in Scotland, having the same pronunciation in common speech as my name, and which probably have given rise to the influence which has settled the name into its'present spelling : A boss window — Probably a bow window. Old bosses — Later equivalents, old fogies, bigwigs, guv- nors. Boss, Boce — Hollow. Bos, Boiss* — A cask. Bossie — A small wooden dish. Bost, Buest, Bosse, Boist,* Boiss* — A box or chest, BoBslock — Probably a doorlock made almost entirely of wood. Bossheid (Bosshead) — The iron hollow receptacle fast- ened to the standard of a doorway to receive the lock-bolt, etc. Boysis* — Bilboes, fetters. A Bosen, or a Boss — Is a three-sided wooden frame- work, about seven feet in height, formed like a miniature spire, used by farmers for placing in the center of grain-stacks, forming a hollow for ventilation. *The i and y silent. 49 Boss, Boce — An architectural ornament in use early in the medieval period to the present time, and familiar to archi- tects, masons, carpenters, etc. I am indebted to a local antiquary for the follow- ing list of Masonic brethren who have long passed away to their reward. Let us hope that they lived lives that were ensamples to their immediate poster- ity and brethren : St. John's Lodge, Dunfermline, No. 26. Andrew Boss, mason in Balingry, entered iu 1739. David Boss, no designation, entered in 1764. John Boss, no designation, entered in 1764. David Boss, mason lq Dunfermline, entered in 1792. Faithfully yours, Wm. Graham Boss. Chicago, III., October 28, 1899. Mr. William Graham Boss. My Dear Sir : Your letter is very interesting in regard to the pronunciation of the name Boss. With us, the o has the sound of oa in the word broad, or of au in haul, the name rhyming with moss. Mr. Kobert P. Boss, of Boston, has redeemed in handsome manner the promise made in his letter of April 19 last. I am indebted to him for the following information concerning the American descendants of 50 Edward Boss, of whom mention has been made on pages 21 and 39 of this work. Tho I feel almost con- vinced that tliis branch of the family has no connec- tion with mine, I have sent you a copy of the record and give it here in full, that we may have it for refer- ence, especially in case my investigations should de- velop any relationship with the Edward Boss branch : AMERICAN DESCENDANTS OF EDWARD BOSS. FIKST GENEBATION. (1) Edward Boss, of South Kingston, E. I. b. Germany or Holland, 1651. d. Aug. 12, 1724, in South Kingston, R. I. m. Susannah Wilkinson of Providence, R. I. (a great-aunt of Jemima), who was b. Feb., 1662, and d. Aug. 15, 1724. They were both Quakers. Her mother was Susannah Smith (d. 1692), wife of Lawrence "Wilkinson of Providence, R. I. (d. Aug. 9, 1692), and dau. of Christopher Smith of Providence, R. I. (d. 1676), and his wife AUce (d, 1681). SECOND GENEKATION. (2) Edward Boss, of Newport, R. I. b. Jan. 20, 1685, in Newport, R. I. d. Dec. 25, 1752. m. Phillis Carr of Can- nacut or Jamestown, E. I., April 20, 1709. She was b. Dec. 8, 1688, of Caleb Carr of Jamestown, R. I. (d. 1690), and PhiUia Greene of Warwick, R. I. (b. Oct. 7, 1658, d. before 1706). Caleb Carr was son of Robert Carr of Newport, R. I. (b. 1614, d. 1681). Phillis Greene was dau. of John Greene Jr. (b. 1620, d. Nov. 27, 1708) and Ann Almy (b. 1627, d. May 17, 1709). John Greene Jr. was son of John Greene of Warwick (b. 1597, d. 1658) and Joan Tattersall. Ann Alray was dau. of WiUiam Almy and his wife Audry. (3) Jeremiah Boss, of Westerly, R. I. b. about 1697. d. about 1774. m. Martha SiDencer of Exeter, R. I., March 22, 1722, who was b. Sept. 8, 1700, and d. 1774. She was 61 dau. of Robert Spencer of North Kingston (b. Nov. 6, 1674, m. July 15, 1697, d. 1748) and Theodosia Whaley of Kingston. Theodosia was dau. of Theophilus Whaley of Kingston, thought to be the regicide judge (b. 1616, d. about 1720), and Eliza- beth Mills (b. 1645, d. 1715). Robert Spencer was son of John Spencer (d. 1684) and his wife Susannah (d. April 12, 1719).* THIRD GENERATION. Children of (2) Edward Boss. (4) Mary Boss. b. Sept. 1, 1710. d. — (5) Freelove Boss. b. 1712. d. 1791. (6) Abigail Boss. b. 1715. d. 1715. (7) Edward Boss. b. 1716. d. — (8) Hannah Boss. b. 1719. d. 1732. (9) Susannah Boss. b. 1720. d. — (10) Joseph Boss, of Newport, R. I. b. Jan. 30, 1722. d. Aug. 14, 1807. m. Elizabeth Linscom of Newport, R. I.» Aug. 8, 1756, who was b. in Brandon, Ireland, in June, 1725, and d. Sept. 24, 1807. She was dau. of James Linscom of Newport (b. 1700, d. Oct. 17, 1753). (11) Unnamed child, b. 1724. d. same day. (12) PhilUs Boss. b. 1725. d. 1728. (13) Benjamin Boss. b. 1727. d. 1824. (14) Unnamed child, b. 1729. d. same day. Son of (3) Jeremiah Boss. (15) Peter Boss, of Richmond, R. I. b. Sept. 30, 1732. d. — . m. Sarah Gardiner, or Gardner, of South Kingston, * The Narragansett Historical Register, in a list of births in the town of Charlestown [R. I.?], has the following: "Chil- dren of Jeremiah and Martha Boss, 1724-1735: Richard, Ed- ward, Susannah, Jeremiah, Martha, Peter, Joseph, John and Hannah." Query: Can these be the Jeremiah and Martha Boss referred to above? H. R. B. 52 R. I. (b. April 29, 1736), dau. of Caleb Gardiner of South Kingston and Isabel Sherman of Kingston (b. April 9, 1719, m. Feb. 20, 1734). Isabel was dau, of Dorcas Gardiner and Abiel Sherman of Kingston (b. Oct. 15, 1684, m. Oct. 20, 1712). Abiel was son of Sampson Sherman of Portsmouth (b. 1642, m. March 4, 1675. d. Jan. 27, 1718) and Isabella Tripp of Portsmouth (d. before 1718). Sampson S. was son of Phillip Sherman of Portsmouth and Sarah Odding. Isa- bella Tripp was dau. of John TripjD of Portsmouth and Mary Prime. FOUKTH GENERATION. Children of (10) Joseph Boss. (16) WilHam Boss, of Newport, R. I. b. Feb. 24, 1767.- d. — . m. Edith D. Prior of Newport, R. I., Sept. 22, 1793, who was born April 23, 1773. (17) John Linscom Boss, of Newport, R. I. b. May 6, 1757. d. Aug. 7, 1824. m. Sarah Boss of Richmond, R.* I., his second cousin, Feb. 21, 1779. Child of (15) Peter Boss. (18) Sarah Boss of Richmond, R. I. b. March 14, 1758. d. Sept. 22, 1841 or 1844. m. John Linscom Boss of Newport, R. I., her second cousin, Feb. 21, 1779. ^ FIFTH GENERATION. Children of (16) WHliam Boss. (19) Eliza Linscom Boss. b. Aug. 10, 1794. d. — (20) Christopher Prior Boss. b. May 20, 1796. d. — (21) WiUiam Davis Boss of Newport, b. April 10, 1799. d. March, 1883. m. Eliza D. StaU (b. Jan. 10, 1799. d. about 1836 or 1837). m. Eliza M. Ambrose of Newport, R. I., Dec. 30, 1838 (b. Sept. 7, 1811. d. April 24, 1863). (22) Martha Dickinson Boss. b. Nov. 20, 1797. d — (23) Thomas L. Boss, b, April 28, 1801, d. — (24) Sarah P. Boss. b. June 1, 1802, d, — (25) Robert P. Boss. b. Feb. 21, 1804. d. — (26) Charles Boss. b. Aug. 26, 1805. d. — 53 (27) John Henry Boss. b. Aug. 22, 1806. d. — . m. Hannah June 3, 1826 (b. Nov. 29, 1808. d. Feb. 4, 1883). (28) Abby Boss. b. April 19. 1808. d. — (29) Philip Martin Boss. b. Jan. 19, 1810. d. — (30) Charles Dickinson Boss, b. March 27, 1812. d. — (31) Joseph Boss. b. Dec. 10, 1813. d. — ( 32 ) Catherine Gardener Boss of New York City. b. March 20, 1816. d. — Children of (17) John Linscom Boss. (33) John Linscom Boss. b. Sept. 7, 1780, at Charles- town, d. Aug. 1, 1819. (34) James Boss. b. March 27, 1784, at Newport, R. I. d. March 4, 1805, at Berlin. (35) Joseph Boss. b. March 29, 1785, at Newport, R. I. d. Sept. 11, 1814, at Halifax. (36) Eliza Boss. b. Jan. 26, 1790, at Newport, d. Oct. 2, 1790. (37) Unnamed child, b. April 24, 1792. d. same day. (38) PhUip Martin Boss. . b. Aug. 1, 1794, at Newport, d. Jan. 26, 1810. (39) Harriet Boss of Newport, R. I. b. July 12, 1797, at Newport, d. Nov. 21, 1887. m. Dutee Jerauld Pearce of Newport, R. I., Dec. 2, 1829. He was born April 2, 1789; d. May 9, 1849, and was the son of Samuel Pearce and Hannah Jerauld. He m. as first wife Abigal C. Perry, April 3, 1811, who d. July 4, 1827. Dutee Jeravdd Pearce was United States district attorney 1812, attorney-general 1819-1825, member of Congress 1825-1837, presidential elector 1821, 1825, 1848. (40) Nichols Gardner Boss. b. Jan. 8, 1799, at New- port, d. Nov. 17, 1836. (41) Joseph Elhot Boss. b. March 6, 1801, at Newport. d. March 5, 1886. SIXTH GENEEATION. Children of (21) William D. Boss and Eliza D. Stall. (42) Isaac S. Boss. b. April 11, 1823. d. — 54 (43) Nancy B. Boss. b. Oct. 18, 1825. d. — (44) Abby S. Boss. b. Dec. 15, 1827. d. — (45) WiUiam D. Boss. b. March 22, 1830. d. — (46) WiUiam D. Boss. b. Jan. 6, 1832. d. — (47) Charlotte E. Boss. b. March 25, 1834. d. — (48) Kobert P. Boss. b. Feb. 20, 1836. d. — Children of (21) WilUam D. Boss and Eliza M, Ambrose. (49) Robert Prior Boss. b. Saturday, Jan. 11, 1840, at 4:15 a. m. m. Clarissa P. Pearce of Newport, R. I., Sept. 1, 1861 (b. Dec. 23, 1842, d. May 7, 1899). She was the dau. of Benjamin W. Pearce of Swansey, Mass. (b. April 9, 1819, m. Aug. 2, 1841 ) and Clarissa Carpenter of Rehoboth, Mass. (50) William Ambrose Boss. b. Saturday, March 26, 1842, at 4 p. m. (51) Charles Edwin Boss. b. Sunday, Jan. 7, 1846, at 4 a. m. d. — (52) Edith Prior Boss. b. Saturday, Oct. 25, 1851, at 4 p. m. d. — Children of ( 27 ) John Henry Boss. (53) Stephen P. Boss. b. Aug. 21, 1828. d. — . m. May 22, 1851. (64) Edward J. Boss. b. May 7, 1830. d. Sept. 3, 1832. (55) Abby J. Boss. b. Oct. 1, 1833. d. — . m. Feb. 1, — (56) Mary C. Boss. b. Nov. 11, 183 5. d. Feb. 6, 1883 (57) John H. Boss. b. Dec. 19, 1837. d. June 18, 1872. m. Feb. 13, 1864. (58) Lucy L. Boss. b. July 19, 1840. d. — . m. March 15, 1864. (59) Hannah E. Boss. b. Oct. 11, 1842. d. — (60) Thomas E. Boss. b. Aug. 18, 1845. d. March 19, 1862. (61) Timothy D. C. Boss. b. Nov. 22, 1848. d. — . m. Jan. 11, 1879. (62) Serena J. Boss. b. Oct. 14, 1851. d. — . m. May 25, 1890. 55 ChUd of (39) Harriet (Boss) Pearce. (63) Dutee Jerauld Pearce Jr., of Newport, R. I. b. July 27, 1833. d. — . m. Martha Palmer of Taunton, Mass., June 11, 1862. She was the dau. of Stephen J. Palmer and Martha Hawkins, and was b. Nov. 15, 1842. SEVENTH GENEKATION. Children of (49) Robert Prior Boss. (64) Carrie Burnett Boss. b. May 15, 1862, at New- port, R. I. (65) Nellie Ambrose Boss. b. March 4, 1865, at New- port, R. I. ( 66 ) Edward L. Boss. b. Aug. 30, 1875, at Boston, Mass. In regard to the first Edward Boss, mentioned above, I glean the following additional information from Austin's Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Isl- and, publisht by Joel Munsell's Sons, Albany, N. Y., 1887: He and seventeen others bought seven thousand acres in Narragansett of the vacant lands ordered sold by the Assembly. September 22, 1724, administration on his estate granted to his son, Edward Boss, of Newport. January 11, 1725, the Town Council ordered that Edward Boss, the eldest son of deceased, should have the land, he paying proportional sums to brothers and sister. [According to the foregoing genealog- ical record, this Edward Boss had but one brother and no sis- ter.] September, 1725, suit was brought by Henry Ejiowles Jr. and Susannah, his wife, daughter of Edward Boss, deceased, against Edward Boss, of Newport, for £140, due for a fifth of the homestead of 154 acres. It was declared that Edward Boss died about Augixst, 1724, leaving three sons, Edward, the eldest, Jeremiah and Peter, and one daughter, Susannah. In the inventory of the estate of Edward Boss is one " negro Abram, £60." 56 It is also stated that the second Edward Boss married Phillipp\_a^^ Carr. Their children: Mary, Freelove, Abigail. I have been "nosing around" among the books in one of our libraries, and have picked up a number of scraps of information. Tho they are of a fragment- ary character, they are worth recording here, and it is possible they may, at some time or another, make connecting links in the chain we are trying to form : In the Register of the Old Dutch Church of Kings- ton, N. Y., I find the following. The variations in the names of persons and places are " according to copy," and suggest how easy it would be to transform " Bos " or " Bosch " into " Boss : " MAKKIAGES. Dec. 6, 1711 — Jacobus Bos, "young man," and Eyke Van der Merke, "young woman," both residing in Mormer [Marbletown]. June 24, 1726 — Dirk Bosch, b. in Mormel, and Antjen de Lange, b. in Kingstown, and both residing vmder the juris- diction of Mormel. 1728 (date not given) — Johannes Bosch, b. in Mormel. and Mary tj en van Etten, widow of Cornelius Ennis, b. in Horly [Hurley], and both residing in Mormel. Banns registered on April 21. 1728 (date not given) — Johannes Kleyn, widower, and Angenietjen Bosch, both residing in Nieuw-Mormeltown [New Marbletown]. May 13, 1728 — Benjamin Ekerly, b. on Lange Eyland [Long Island], and Styntjen Bosch, b. in Mormel. 1735 (date not given) — ^ Thomas Moor, b. in Lisebeton [Elizabethtown], and Maria Bosch, b. in Mormel, and both residing there. Banns registered Feb. 2. SAMUEL MATTHEW BOSS. Born at York, Pa., April 3, 1797; died at Leesburg, Va.. August 22, 1S72. 67 Dec. 12, 1682 — Joost Janz of Meteren, in Golderlandt, and Bara du BoiH of Kingston, reHiding in the Nieuwti PalH [New Paltz J. June, 1683 — Isaac dn 13oys, b. in Manheym, in the Pala- tinate, and residing in New Paltz, and Maria Haasbrouck, b. in Moudostad, in the German Palatinate. March 24, 1688 — Walrand du Mount, b. in Kings Touwn, and Cateryne Ter Eos, b. in Nieuw-Yorck [New York]. April 6, 1688 — Johannes Ter Bos, b. in Nieuw-Yorck, and Lysbeth Henderixen, b. in Kings Touwn. March 8, 1689 — David du Bois, b. in Kings Touwn, and Cornelia Vamoye, b. in Kings Touwn. March 8, 1689 — Jacob du Bois, h). in Kingstouwn, and Lysbeth Vamoye, b. in Kings Touwn. Jan. 17, 1697 — Matthys du Boys, b. in Horle [Hurley], and Sara Matthyssen, b. in Kingstouwn. Oct. 12, 1697 — Pietor du Boys, b. at Leyden [Leiden» the celebrated University town in Houth Holland ], and Jan- netje Burhans, b. at BraVjant [a designation for a part of the old town of Kingston], and both residing in Kingstouwn. March 26, 1699 — Jac Alexander, Thomas, Andrew, Walter, Humfrey, Hugh, Will- iam, John. Fifteenth century — Henry, John, James, William, Alex- ander, David, Marion, Jane, Margaret, Hector, Arthur. Sixteenth century — Alexander, Walter, Patrick, James, George, Isabella, David, John, Elizabeth, Matthew, William. Seventeenth century — Alexander, Thomas, John, Bar- bara, Jean, etc. Perhaps it is not necessary to carry the list fur- ther, as the names were spread throughout the coun- try long before this, and they are just the same names as are found to the present time. 88 As introductory to our examination of the lists given above, we will take a glance at the origin and sources of the early christian names — a subject of much interest, carrying us back into the mists of Nor- thern antiquity and the mythology of our ancestors Out of the six names found in the twelfth century, five of them are of Teutonic origin, namely : Humfrey, support of peace; or, as quaint old Camden says, " House-peace, a lovely and happy name, if it could turn home-wars between man and wife into peace." A great favour- ite with the early Normans and borne by many a noble knight before and after the Conquest. Miss Tonge, to whose work I am indebted for many of these notes, says that from being a noble and knightly name it came to be a peasant's appellation; and, as shown by our lists, it fell out of the vocabulary of names in the course of a few generations, and is but rarely met with now. William, helmet of resolution. From the Teutonic myth- ological deity Wili, the Will, and the German Wil-helm, cover- ing the head with the helmit of resolution. According to our old author, this name has been very common in England since the Conquest, and he gives an instance of a festival being held by King Henry the Second in 1173, when it was commanded that none but those of the name of William should dine in the Great Chamber, when one hundred and twenty -two of the name, all knights, sat down. Hugh, mind, or thought, supposed to be from " hu," the Scandinavian word for thought. Huginn, one of the two ravens which sat on the shoulders of Odin and revealed to him all that passed in the world; the other Munninn, memory; and when Thor made his famous visit to Utgard it was Hugi alone who was able to outstrip him in the race — like a flash of thought. 89 Kieliard, or Ricbardet, the first syllable from the same source as ragan, he who executes judgment, stern king, or according to Camden, powerful and rich disposition, and sig- nified powerful in the army ; one of the Paladins. There were three Dukes of Normandy who bore the name, and any n\im- ber among the Normans; it gave name also to three kings of England, and has been a common one in the country ever since. Walter, general of an army, from Waidheri, powerful warrior, a very old name in the North and borne from thence to Normandy, which furnished twenty -eight of the name to Domesday Survey of England after the Conquest. Galfridus, Geoffrey, Godfrey, joyful peace, or good peace, believed to be from Guth, one of the Northern deities, and thought to have been largely used by the Normans of the time, from Gottfried of Lorraine, the famous crusader. Radulfus, Ralf, house wolf, from the Gothic " razn," a house, or a shield from the protection given. The name is found in St. Rudulphus, bishop of Bourges in 888 ; and thirty- eight of the name are given in Domesday Book, and many bearers are found among the crusaders, which were drawn from the western chivalry. Robert, bright fame, or famous in coimcil, originally Hruadperaht, a bishop who founded the first Christian church at Wurms about 700; from the high estimation in which he was held, his name spread through Germany and into France, where it assumed the form Robert, and gave name to Rolf Gauge, the first Duke of Normandy, when he received Chris- tian baptism; where it spread among liis Norse followers and was thence carried on by their descendants, who first brought it to Scotland in the early part of the twelfth century. Gilbert, bright pledge, from Giselhar, the pledged war- rior, or, as Camden says, in the quaint way of Queen Eliza- beth's time: " I judge it to signifie Bright or brave pledge, for in old Saxon ' gisle ' signifieth a pledge. So it is a well fitting name for children, which are the only sweet pawns of love be- tween man and wife." 90 These being most of the early distinctive appella- tions, if not actually descriptive names at the time, perhaps there may have been a lingering tradition of their original significations. It will not be necessary to extend the list further, as it sufficeth to indicate the sources from whence the early settlers derived their names. In our list of the thirteenth century containing fourteen names, no fewer than eight of them are also Teutonic, while there are three of Greek derivation — Alexander, Andrew and Margaret ; these are found at an early period in Scotland, and are believed to be due to the ancient connection with the church, before the separation into the Latin and Greek divisions in the eighth century. The Celtic or Scotch church is said to have adhered to the Greek party, and St. An- drew's being the patron saint of Scotland has caused his name to be widely spread throughout the country. The name Thomas, occurring at the end of the previ- ous century and also during this one, is a saint name, probably from St. Thomas of Canterbury, who was a great friend of King William the Lion, who dedicated the Abbey of Arbroath to the honour of God and of St. Thomas, in the year 1178 ; his memory and his tragic death exercised a great influence in our island for many generations afterward, and no doubt many a Thomas would be named after liim. With the advent of the fouiieenth century there is a falhng off in the ancient mythological and other Teutonic names, and an increase of saint names, 91 tending to show the firm hold which the Eoman church had obtained : out of the twelve names the number of Teutonic ones is reduced to five, and they are exactly the same names as in the eleventh century, showing no Uttle tenacity in the race from which they sprang, and having its counterpart in later and recent times, in the repetition of certain hereditary names ; while we have the first example of the saint names, Mary, which afterward acquired exaggerated use ; Janet, the feminine of John, and Elizabeth. After this century the early Teutonic almost en- tirely disappears : the only survivals are Hugh, Wal- ter and William — the latter especially having retained its hold in nearly every branch of the family, and in the country generally. And possibly a few of the Williams after this, or a little before, would be named from St. William of York. Before the decay of the old names, christian names had become simply ap- pellations, and were at this time largely taken from the lives of the saints, and it was customary to dedi- cate a child at its birth to a saint, whose name it bore and was believed to be under the saint's protection ; sometimes the name would be adopted from the saint on whose festival day the child was born, and annual birthday celebrations were held on the patron saint's festival. In the course of time they became stereo- typed from a family feeling, causing children to be named after their parents and kin ; this feeling ap- pears to have acted more strongly from about the beginning of the sixteenth century, when the medieval 92 church was losing her hold, after the revival of letters in Italy during the previous century, when classic in- fluences received a new birth. For a moment please return to the name as found in the twelfth century, when the greatest number of Teutonic christian names are met with, and along with this we see a wonderful piece of evidence of the intermixture of the Northmen with the Franks, or na- tives of Neustria (the name of the pro\'ince before it became our Normans' home). In the course of about three generations after their settlement there, and with their usual proclivity for taking wives from among other tribes, they have become mixed with the Franks, land now speak a dialect of the French ; then they add to their Teutonic personal names a Frank word as a further distinction and probably descriptive of their place of abode, or from their occupation or office. Thus we have the Norse and Frank combined, and giving names and surnames from both sources to their descendants. Very likely this rise of surnames would be a necessary measure taken to distinguish one family from another ; as this practice was con- tinued in after times when they were settled in En- gland and in Scotland, where a son, on obtaining an estate, very often adopted the name of the property as his distinctive appellation, and which was contin- ued by his descendants as their surname. In Scot- land, the usage with names of this class gave rise to the designation, "of that Ilk," as Forbes of Forbes, or Forbes of that Ilk. 93 The name Humfrey appears to have been a favour- ite with the Dryfsdale family during the first three cen- turies of their residence there. They were a knightly family, as the military title "Sir," applied to them, shows; and the one already mentioned at page 72 was very likely one of the ten knights of Annandale who had to give military service to the King for their lands, held of the Lords of Annandale. This landed military class were a great power in the state at that time, and the kings of Scotland encouraged the Nor- mans to settle in the country, as they were the most efficient soldiers of their day — the chivalry of the Mid- dle Ages. Besides this encouragement from the kings, it is said the ladies also favoured the new comers, and this in part accounts for their rapid assimilation and diffusion over the country. The name William was of frequent occurrence among the Normans of the period. Whether any of them derived it from their great leader, Duke Will- iam, or those in Scotland from King William, it is impossible to say, but it is not found in Scotland be- fore their time, and it appears to have taken a firm hold in the country of their adoption, as the lists in part show. They also appear to have been fond of the names Galfrid or Geoffrey and Rudulph or Ralf, as they are found in other families about this time. These three names — Humfrey, Geoffrey and Ralf — may be said to have died out in the course of the fourteenth century ; but most of the others have continued to the present. 94 In the thirteenth century there is a marked in- crease of bearers of the name ; they are more than trebled, as a few of the names are repeated by differ- ent bearers. We see here a result of the long and wise reigns of thi-ee good kings, dwelling in amity with their neighbour, which has been likened to a golden age ; from William, in 1165, to the death of his grand- son, Alexander the Third, a hundred and twenty years after, when the country was plunged into the distract- ing conflicts of what was practically a civU war, for we find those of Norman descent pitched against oth- ers of the same race, their kinsmen ; just to mention one instance, de Bois against de Bois, or the Scotch- Norman branch against the Anglo-Norman branch of the family. And in the following century there is a falhng off in recorded names, accounted for by the long struggle of the War of Independence, in the lat- ter part of the tliirteenth and early part of the four- teenth century, with its accompanying disorganizing of peaceful pursuits, and consequent loss of life — a time when many of the Norman houses were completely cut off. And during the fourteenth century the family appears to have been just able to maintain its footing in the country ; after the death of The Bruce, in 1329, the country was again overwhelmed with war and dis- asters, in which they bore a full share, as far as can be gathered from the records. An instance of devo- tion to their country has been mentioned at page 18, under date 1332. With the fifteenth century we soon begin to see signs of returning prosperity and a nu- 95 merical increase of the bearers of the name ; although this is not shown in the list under consideration, yet there are actually more of them, as a number of the christian names are repeated two or tlu-ee times. And in 1422 we first make the acquaintance of the name James ; probably it marks an old custom of calling children after the reigning king. The reign of James the First, who was born in Dunfermline in 1394, com- menced in 1406, and the name continued uninterrupt- edly through five kings, till 1542, so that it became one of the most common in the country. This king was the means of giving a great impetus to trade and commerce, by new laws and enactments, and, as a probable consequence of the changes which he intro- duced, — with greater security to those engaged in trade, — we find the family settled in Fif eshire for the first time in the early part of the century, and appar- ently participating in the new life which was infused into the nation, and engaged as merchants in the Ab- bot of Dunfermline's town of Kirkaldy, where they were councillors and gave one occupant to the civic chair ; also it is a well-known fact that local magnates of that day were largely drawn from the landed pro- prietors or their younger sons. They seem to have spread very rapidly over Fife- shire, as they are found in goodly numbers toward the end of the century, when we begin to find the great changes in the name taking place as has been already mentioned. It is during this century that their amalgamation with the general population ap- 96 pears to approach completeness, when they laid aside their distinctive mark of Norman-French descent and accommodated the name to vernacular usage, the knowledge of which died out in the course of time, and gave rise to erroneous conjectures, in after times, with regard to the origin of the name. And here I may mention that a cousin informs me that a friend of his, who seemingly was interested in surnames, would maintain the name to have been "Boswell" originally, and that the last syllable had been dropped, when the truth is that " Boswell " was originally " de Bois-ville," as it is actually found in early records with this form of the suffix, and the first syllable is just the same as the original of " Boss ; " a compari- son shows how both names have been subject to the same changes, both having lost the letter i, under the same capricious influences. After this digression we will now turn to the six- teenth century. During this and the succeeding cen- turies the same christian names are continued, having before this become the recognised christian names of the country. The Eeformation of religion in 1560 does not seem to have made much difference in the chris- tian names used, with perhaps the exception of " Pat- rick," a saint name, which is found in 1536. I have not found this name after the above date, and prob- ably the change in the church may account for its absence since then ; but it has not been a favourite one. The name George, occurring in 1536, may pos- sibly be a saint name. 97 From my examination of the name I should say there has been very little, if any, change in it, as actu- ally borne by any branch of the family, since the early part of the seventeenth century. And, so far as I am aware, the list of forms given as presently in use in Scotland is complete. A remarkable fact contained in this list is the total extinction of the original or- thography, "Bois;" and out of the fifteen examples as borne now, only one-third are even composed of the same number of letters as the original, thus show- ing clearly that the general tendency has been to lengthen the name, by adding a syllable at the end, in most instances. My own experience of variations as applied to myself is not extensive, but I have been addressed as Bos, Bost, Boas, Bowes ; which are likely the result of carelessness or predilection on the part of the writers. And this may account for many of the varieties found in documents, and for exceedingly few, if any, of those found in actual use. But, as already mentioned, the present form of the name was deliber- ately adopted as a difference. THE NAME IN FICTION. Seldom is the name found in fiction, but as a nat- ural consequence of increase of population we might expect to find a bearer of the name in such a position as is described by John Gait, Scotch novelist, in his tale, "The Provost," written about 1821. There is no proof or knowledge of anyone of the name having actually been a town drummer ; but the tale gives a 98 picture of life in a Scotch burgh about one hundred years ago. The tale is told by Provost Pawkie, the chief act- or, and as an amusing sketch may be introduced here. Although it is a rather rough piece of stuff, there is truth to nature ; and at first sight a character having a more honourable part in a story might have been more acceptable to natural pride, but I hope we have got past " Lord, what will all the people say, Mr. Mayor, Mr. Mayor!!" and not set down all bearers of the name as knights or esquires, as some of our family histories were wont to do. Let this pass and allow us to see the enter- tainment provided in the tale : THE TOWN DEUMMEB. Nor did I get everything my own way, for I was often thwarted in matters of small account, and suffered from them greater disturbance and molestation than things of such little moment ought to have been allowed to produce within me; and I do not think that anything happened in the whole course of my public life which gave me more vexation than what I felt in the last week of my second provostry. For many a year one Eobin Boss had been town drum- mer; he was a relic of some American -war fencibles, and was, to say the plain truth of him, a divor body, with no manner of conduct, saving a very earnest endeavour to fill himself fou as often as he could get the means; the consequence of which was that his face was as plooky as a curran' bun and his nose as red as a partan's tae. One afternoon there was a need to send out a proclama- tion to abolish a practice that was growing into a custom, in 99 some of the bye parts of the town, of keeping swine at large — ordering them to be confined in proper styes and other suit- able places. As on all occasions when the matter to be pro- claimed was from the magistrates, Eobin, on this, was attended by the town officers in their Sunday garbs, and with their hal- berds in their hands; but the abominable and irreverent crea- ture was so drunk that he wamblet to and fro over the drum as if there had not been a bane in his body. He was seem- ingly as soople and as senseless as a bolster. StUl, as this was no new thing with him, it might have passed, for James Hound, the senior officer, was in the practice, when Robin was in that state, of reading the proclamations himself. On this occasion, however, James happened to be absent on some hue and cry quest, and another officer (I forget which) was appointed to perform for him. Eobin, accustomed to James, no sooner heard the other man begin to read than he began to curse and swear at him as an incapable nincompoop — an impertinent term that he was much addicted to. The grammar school was at the time skailing, and the boys, seeing the stramash, gath- ered round the officer, and, yelling and shouting, encouraged Robin more and more into rebellion, till at last they worked up his corruption to such pitch that he took the drum from about his neck, and made it fly like a bombshell at the offi- cer's head. The officers behaved very well, for they dragged Robin by the lug and the queue to the tolbooth, and then came with their complaint to me. Seeing how the authorities had been set at nought, and the necessity there was of making an exam- ple, I forthwith ordered Robin to be cashiered from the service of the town; and as so important a concern as a proclamation ought not to be delayed, I likewise, upon the spot, ordered the officers to take a lad that had been also a drommer in a march- ing regiment, and go with him to make the proclamation. Nothing could be done in a more earnest and zealous public spirit than this was done by me. But habit had begot in the town a partiality for the drunken ne'er do well, Robin, • LofC. 100 and this just act of mine was immediately condemned as a dar- ing stretch of arbitrary power; and the consequence was, that when the council met the next day, some sharp words flew among us, as to my usurj^ing an undue authority; and the thank I got for my pains was the mortification to see the worth- less body restored to full power and dignity, with no other reward than an admonition to behave better for the future. Now, I leave it to the unbiassed judgment of posterity to determine if any public man could be more ungraciously treated by his colleagues than I was on this occasion. But, verily, the council had their reward. AN AliAKM. The diver, Eobin Boss, being, as I have recorded, rein- stated in office, soon began to play his old tricks. In the course of the week after the Michaelmas term at which my second provostry ended, he was so insupportably drunk that he fell head foremost into his drum, which cost the town five- and-twenty shillings for a new one — an accident that was not without some satisfaction to me; and I trow I was not sparing in my derisive commendations on the worth of such a public officer. Nevertheless, he was still kept on, some befriending him for compassion, and others as it were to spite me. But Robin's good behaviour did not end with breaking the drum and costing a new one. In the course of the winter it was his custom to beat, •' Go to bed, Tom," about ten o'clock at night, and the reveille at five in the morning. In one of his drunken fits he made a mistake, and, instead of going his rounds as usual at ten o'clock, he had fallen asleep in a change house, and, waking about the midnight hour in the terror of some whisky dream, he seized his drum, and, running into the streets, began to strike the fire-beat in the most awful manner. It was a fine, clear, frosty moonlight, and the hollow eoimd of the drum resounded through the silent streets like thunder. In a moment everybody was afoot, and the cry of "Whar is't? whar's the fire?" was heard echoing from all 101 sides, Robin, quite unconscious that he alone was the cause of the alann, still went along beating the dreadful summons. I heard the noise and rose; but while I was drawing on my stockings, in the chair at the bed-head, and telling Mrs. Paw- kie to compose herself, for our houses were all insured, I sud- denly recollected that Robin had the night before neglected to go his rounds at ten o'clock as usual, and the thought came into my head that the alarm might be one of his inebriated mistakes ; so, instead of dressing myself any further, I went to the window, and looked out through the glass, without opening it, for, being in my night clothes, I was afraid of taking cold. The street was as throng as on a market day, and every face in the moonlight was pale with fear. Men and lads were running with their coats, and carrying their breeches in their hands ; wives and maidens were all asking questions at one another, and even lasses were fleeing to and fro, like water nymphs with urns, having stoups and pails in their hands. There was swearing and tearing of men, hoarse with the rage of impatience, at the tolbooth, getting out the fire-engine from its stance under the stair; and loud and terrible afar off, and over all, came the peal of alarm from the drunken Robin's drum. I could scarcely keep my composity when I beheld and heard all this, for I was soon thoroughly persuaded of the fact. At last I saw Deacon Girdwood, the chief advocate and cham- pion of Robin, passing down the causey Hke a demented man, with a red nightcap, and his big-coat on — for some had cried that the fixe was in his yard. " Deacon," cried I, opening the window, forgetting in the jocularity of the moment the risk I ran from being so naked, "whar away sae fast, deacon?" The deacon stopped and said, " Is 't oot? is 't oot? " " Gang your ways hame," quo I, very coolly, " for I hae a notion that a' this hobbleshow 's but the fume o' a gill in your frien' Robin's head." " It's no possible! " exclaimed the deacon. 102 " Possible here or possible there, Mr. Girdwood," quo' I, "it's owre cauld for me to stand talking wi' you here; we'll learn the rights o't in the morning; so, good night;" and with that I pulled down the window. But scarcely had I done so when a shout of laughter came gathering up the street, and soon after poor drunken Eobin was brought along by the cuff of the neck, between two of the town officers, one of them car- rying his drum. The nest day he was put out of oflBce forever, and, folk recollecting in what manner I had acted toward him before, the outcry about my arbitrary power was forgotten in the blame that was heaped upon those who had espoused Rob- in's cause against me. So much for Provost Pawkie and the supposed worthies of an out-of-the-way Scotch burgh of 1790. There are still Pawkie Provosts among us, and are likely to be to the end of time ; but the town drummer is an official of the past, and will no more entertain the burghers with his cantrips. But to return to matters of fact, in connection with our present enquiry : The author was a native of Irvine, Ayrshire, 1779-1839; he probably became acquainted with our name in the west of Scotland, as it originated in the adjoining shire of Lanark. And to sum up: This being an imported sur- name, as proved by the early Bruce charter quoted and by the language in which it first occurs, it has simply been treated by the Scotch people so as to adapt it to their own mode of speech, by the process of assimila- tion to words having a widely different meaning, but which were current among themselves, and which their tongues could easily **get round," to use a common expression relative to the pronunciation of an uncom- 103 mon word. The name has been as clay in the hands of the potters of the past centuries, and it can not be said that their productions, as a whole, are of much beauty ; no, it bears the marks of many a kneading, chopping, hacking, and mixing up and forming, into every conceivable or inconceivable shape, as the fancy of those whose minds and hands it has passed through might suggest. But in defiance of all the changes to which it has been subject, the cardinal points have been fairly well retained, considering that the bulk of the users did not understand its original meaning. There can be no doubt that it has puzzled many here at various times, and our version, "Boss," is still looked on as a foreign name, by the educated and the uneducated alike, and gives rise to hesitancy with the latter, whose knowledge does not extend be- yond their native tongue, and they invariably give it in pronunciation one of their native Doric forms. To give an illustration, and another proof : I find from the record of a patch of land called " Bois Acre," which belonged to, or was occupied by, one or more of our ancient kinsmen, at Inverkeithing, in the west- ern district of Fifeshire, the original form is still pre- served in the document. Now, on speaking to a native of the locality, and leading him on unconsciously to pronounce the name, what happens ? He gives it his own Doric monosyllable forms, " Bowes " or " Bowse ; " he is quite ignorant of the spelling, with which he does not trouble himself, and knows no other ; the oiv hav- ing the same sound as in now. 104 From the abundant examples given there can be no doubt that the name has acquired its varied native dress in the processes of assimilation and absorption, and from natural increase of families, giving rise to changes in spelling to difference of one household from another. And, as showing how strongly local influ- ences have operated, there is not one of the forms in use which may have been adopted as a difference, which indicates any consideration for the original meaning of the name ; thus tending to show that the original meaning had been lost or overlooked, after the lapse of about three hundred years. It is true some modern writers say that the name has been translated into the ordinary one "Wood," but of this I have seen no evidence further than the armorial bearings of families of this name being oak trees, — which is clearly allusive, — the earliest examples oc- curring along with the name about 1500. Armorial bearings have been aptly defined as " si- lent names," and in Workman's Scot" tish Armorial, compiled about 1565, is given the annexed coat of arms for the name of Blackwood, a Lanarkshire name. The blazon is Argent a sal- tire and on a chief sable, three oak leaves Or. The saltire and chief and The Blackwood Arms. Q^k Icaves suggest that they may be derived from the Annandale family, and lend colour to a translation of the name, but of this there is no direct proof. 105 And to end this long, rambling letter, I beg to remain Yours truly, Wm. Graham Boss. Note: The second figure at page 74 has been inserted by inadvertence, and I take this opportunity of giving the correct bearing from an original impression of the seal in the British Museum; and although I mention there that the sal tire or St. Andrew's cross represents a crusader, yet, as the first Bruce of Annandale married the heiress thereof, the heraldic figures on the second half may be for maternal descent, the male coat having precedence. W. G. B. Henry R. Boss to William Graham Boss. Chicago, June 1, 1900. Mr. William Graham Boss. My Dear Sir : At last, after much tribulation and many unforeseen hindrances, and very many things forcing themselves on my attention and taking my time, I have at last succeeded in getting your letter in type, and am thereby reminded that it is my turn to " contribute to the festivities." I shall not be able to do so as successfully as you have done ; indeed, 106 my contribution, when compared with yours, will be a beggarly one. To me, it is passing strange that so many people, who, it would seem, ought to be interested in the sub- ject of our inquiry, are so utterly indifferent to it that they refuse, or neglect, to answer the simplest letters of inquiry. It is not that my letters do not reach them ; for the envelops bear a printed request for their return in the event of non-delivery, and not one of them has ever come back to me. I have hope that, when we shall have got out one volume on the subject, it may be brought to the attention of those who can and will afford the information that I am now seeking, so that the publication of a subse- quent volume will be justified. I have received the following letter from Dr. C. W. Larison, which contains several points of interest : RiNGOS, N. J., March 1, 1900. Henry R. Boss : In reading the pages relative to the Boss Family which you sent me, I see that one of your correspondents speculates concerning the origin of the family by name Boss and the deri- vation of the name Boss. Hoping to help some in arriving at a proper conclusion in these matters, and to make you certain in the matter of origin of Honas Boss, the primogenitor of the Bosses in the county of Hunterdon, N. J., I beg to state a few facts : Honas Boss and Henry Boss, as appears in the deed by which they held lands which are now a part of the village in which I live, came from the Palatinate, between Wolfenbtit- tel and Halberstadt, in Saxony. They came to this country in 1707, along with the Ents and Butterfauses, ancestors of my 107 mother. The story told me by my ancestors runs thus : Fred- eric Augustus, elector of Saxony, when he turned from the Re- formed church to the Romish, so harassed the Protestants of his country that many of them, in that district called the Pala- tinate, moved, in 1705, over to Neuwied, in Rhenish Prussia? thence into Holland; thence, in 1707, they sailed to America, Their intention was to settle among the Dutch in New York, but adverse winds drove them into Delaware Bay, up which they sailed to Philadelphia, Pa. Having then determined to finish the remainder of the journey to the Dutch settlements in New York on foot, they set out from what is now the corner of Fourth and Vine streets, crossed the Delaware at New Hope, and entered the forests of the Redshal Valley of Central New Jersey, in which, as yet, no settlements had been made, but which was (but had been only from 1702, at which time those speculators purchased a part of it of the Indians) in the hands of land speculators, anxious to secure purchasers.* Lured by the fertility of the soil, the abundance of rivulets and springs of wholesome water, and the smallness of price at which they could purchase, they, in favored spots, from the Delaware to the Raritan, selected what, in the course of events, became their domiciles — to which their descendants have clung with almost matchless tenacity. To you it may seem queer that, in a deed by which an early citizen of New Jersey held an estate, his nativity was mentioned. The lands of West Jersey were, at first, owned by twelve men, by patent from the crown of England. They sold these lands, before there were provisions made to preserve deeds, etc., to whomsoever would purchase, giving the pur- chaser a deed in the form of an indenture, in which, to iden- tify, as closely as possible, both him who sold the land and him * The part of New Jersey in which I live was not pnrchased of the Indians until 1702, and land speculators could not give valid deeds until after that date. 108 who bought it; and to show that he who sold the land was the lawful owner thereof, and that the purchaser was a proper per- son to own lands and act as a member of society, the history of each was given, if not a citizen of one of the American colo- nies, clear back to the nation, township, city or village from which he came; and in case he had made stop-overs on the way, these stoppings, if he had staid only a little while, were in the deed mentioned. Further, in each of these old deeds (and in my possession are many an old parchment by which the first settlers held their lands) is stated the rank, occupa- tion, station in society, etc. of both him who made the deed and him to whom the deed is made. Further, until near the Revolution, if a piece of land had been sold twenty times, each deed of conveyance had to enumerate each person who had prior thereto owned said lot of land and the date of the deed by which he held it, etc. So it happens that one of these old ramskins, as we call them, often contains a deal of very inter- esting history. The name, written by Honas Boss and by his brother, Henry (a very wealthy man, who never married), as I have seen in several papers written by themselves, in Dutch, is Boss. The Ents, Butterfauses, Johnsons, Bosses, etc. were very proud of their nativity, and from parent to children have handed down in tradition and in writing the story of their exile, the hardships they suffered in coming to this country, their strug- gles and their labors in cutting away a virgin forest and estab- lishing in this goodly land homes and institutions which seemed to be very sacred to them. The speaking of the tongue native to this people was so persisted in that my great-grandmother (died in 1850), my grandmother and my mother, when to- gether, spoke in Dutch. In the same tongue, in my childhood, I have heard the older Bosses, the Laushes, the Ents et al. talk, when chatting of matters relating to olden times. I do not recall any books, papers or other things in print which will inform you respecting folks by the name of Boss. 109 In New Jersey, or elsewhere, I have seen the name seldom. Of persons in New Jersey there are, so far as I know, very few whose name is Boss. Pleased will I be if in any way I can further contribute to your work of gleaning facts relative to the work you have in hand. Very respectfully, C. W. Lakison. Tho the families named by Dr. Larison seem to have come to America from provinces in Germany, it also appears that they were Dutch, or Hollanders. They themselves may have been but sojourners in Germany previous to their emigration hither, or they may have been the immediate descendants of Dutch sojourners there. But direct evidence of their Dutch origin is afforded by the persistence with which they clung to the tongue of Holland, up to and including the generation immediately preceding Dr. Larison's. A correspondent suggests, as my grandfather's middle name was Garner, that that may have been his mother's maiden name. (See Sylvia Boss, page 11.) The supposition is a probable one. In a work entitled *' Contributions for the Gene- alogies of the First Settlers of the Ancient County of Albany," publisht by Joel Munsell, Albany, N. Y., 1872, I find the following : BOS (Bosch, alias Van Westbroeck), Comelis Teunise, it is said, came to Beverwyck in 1631 as servant or bouwknecht to Comehs Maase Van Buren. His wife was Maritie Tomase Mingael, who after his death in 1666 married Jurriaen Janse Groenwout. He owned considerable real estate in the village. At his death he had one daughter, Wyntie, living. He was 110 accused frequently before the court of slander and backbiting^ in 1657 by Do. Schaets; in 1658 of having defamed the honor- able court; and again in 1659, for which he was fined 1,200 guilders and banished for twelve years ; next year he was again arraigned for a similar ofPense against Willem Teller. BOS, Pieter Janse, and Susanna Barentse. . . . his wife, m. 1788. Children: Eytie, baptized March 24, 1689; Jan, bap. August 4, 1691; Jenneken, bap. in New York De- cember 1, 1693; Sara, bap. in New York June 20, 1697. BOS (Bosch), Gysbert, and Hester Eyck [Eyckse Van Vranken?], his wife. Children: Kachel, b. March 12, 1772; Mary tie, b. January 24, 1766; Eebecca, b. September 14, 1768J Hester, b. July 16, 1771; Pieter, b. August 13, 1777. The same work states that Pieter Bogardus, mariner, married Wyntie Cornelis Bosch, daughter of Cornelis Teunise Bosch and Maritie Thomas Min- gael. (Bogardus died in 1703.) The city of New York has publisht " Records of New Amsterdam," as the city was named, translated from the original Dutch. In Volume III of these rec- ords, among the " Minutes of the Court of Burgomas- ters and Schepens of New Amsterdam," is found the following. In the same Minutes mention is made of Albert Bos or Bosch, and of Hendrick, Jan, Jan Jan- sen and Pieter Comelisen Bos : Sept. 27, 1658: Pieter Cornelisen Bos of Pumerlant, ship carpenter, appears in Court exhibiting certain writing of pro- curation under signature, anji not notarial, of Philip Schoerle- maar, dated 24 April, 1658, in virtue of which he demands from Lauwerens Jansen the sum of fl. 650. Holland Currency, which the aforenamed Lauwerens Jansen reo** on bottomry from the abovenamed Philip Schoerlemaar. Lauwerens Jansen appears Ill in Court; admits that he the fl. 650 rec'' on bottomry and says the curators shall regulate the estate, from which the fl. 650 may be paid. The Court decree, as Lauwerens Jansen has rec*^ fl. 600 from the estate in beavers, that he shall bring and pay to the curators the fl. 600 in beavers, and collect with the curators the remaining debts, from which the abovenamed Pieter Comelisen Bos may be paid. The last paragraf above is notable chiefly for the mention of the occupation of Pieter Cornelisen Bos as a ship-carpenter and the reference to "bottomry." These suggest a possible connection with the " three navigators " mentioned by Miss Marie S. Avery, on page 20. In a list of early immigrants to New Netherlands ('* New York Genealogical and Biographical Eecord," Vol. rV, page 188) are the following : Bos, Cornelis Teunissen, 1631. Bos, Hendrick, from Leyden, wife and two children, De- cember, 1659. Bossch, Jan, from Westphalen, September 2, 1662. I gather a few bits of information from D. T. Val- entine's History of New York City, publisht by G. P. Putnam & Co. in 1853. Among the owners of houses and lots about the year 1674, at the time of the final cession to the Enghsh, was Henry Bosch, Dutch. Among the inhabitants of the city in 1703 were : Bos, Peter, 1 male, 1 female, 3 children. Bos, Jan Pietersen, 2 males. Bos, Hendrick, 1 male, 1 female, 4 children. 112 Among the members of the Dutch Church, New York, in 1686, were Hendrick Bosch, en zyn huys vrow, Egbertje Dircksen. Among the '* small burghers " in New Amsterdam (New York), in 1651, was Jacob Will van der Bos, mason. Some months ago, an enthusiastic friend in Lon- don, Eng., who is connected with Notes and Queries, inserted in that periodical a copy of the printed slip which I have been sending out, asking for informa- tion ; and to this I have had some replies. The first one, as nearly as I can make it out, — for the writing is of the vertical kind and very difficult to read, — is as follows : Windermere Bank, Bowness, Westmoreland, September 3, 1899. Dear Sir: Seeing yotir query as to your ancestors, in Notes and Queries, I write to say that a Thomas Boyse mar- ried Bemers Preston, of Watlington Hall, Norfolk, and has one son, Augustus Freeman, born September 26, 1822. Thomas Boyes, great-grandson of Nathaniel Boyse, set- tled in Wesford 1781, and purchased the estate of Bannow. He married Margaret Jackson. His son, Samuel, married Dorothy Carew, and had Thomas (his heir), Shaft and Eich- ard. His son married Jane Stratford, but he had no children, so was succeeded by his brother. Is this any guide to you ? Faithfully yours, Elise A. Strong. The following would seem to add to the chances of variation in the form of our family name. That of Bass is not infrequent in this country, or in this city, 113 some of its members having acquired considerable prominence : 28 Angel Hill, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, September 10, 1899. Dear Sir: Observing your note in Notes and Queries, ask- ing for information abont the Boss family, I just write to say that, in editing the Parish Eegister of Horningsheath, alias Horringer, two miles from this town, I have come across sev- eral entries of the Bass family in the eighteenth century, and one entry in the seventeenth century where it is written Boss^ Two hundred years ago, when spelling was less fixed than it is now, the same name was often spelt sometimes with an o, some- times with an o, and then as time went on would get fixed in one or in the other. It may, therefore, help you to find what you want if you know that your name is probably the same name as Bass. I do not see any William and Sylvia in the Horringer Eegisters. The Bass entries lie between 1699 and 1786. Yours truly, Sydenham Ha. Hervey. So far as the American Bosses are concerned, I think Mr. Hervey's surmise is incorrect; for, some- how, — I can not tell why, — I feel that, in this case, at least, there is no connection between the names Boss and Bass. Mr. E. A. Colbeck, a professional compiler of ge- nealogies, etc., writing from London, Eng., under the date of October 2, 1899, makes some interesting sug- gestions, as follows : Permit me to state, with regard to surname, — it is worth Consideration, — that, even if the origin is proved, it can only be a very small matter of interest, and would certainly not assist in the least with regard to tracing family history. 114 Should such origin be simply traditional — the fact remains that all matters of tradition must be eliminated from geneal- ogy, as this science must rest upon facts alone — any such tra- dition can not truly be termed " bits of family history." The only correct way to compile and prove a pedigree is to commence with the earliest members contained in the fam- ily history in hand, and to trace back, step by step, viz., gen- eration by generation, and supply incontrovertible proofs of result, by extracts from records, registers, wills, etc. A few years ago a friend pickt up in a bookstore in this city, and presented to me, a copy of the sec- ond edition of Goold Brown's " Grammar," publisht about 1832 (for the title-page is missing and only the certificate of copyright remains to fix the date). On the inside of the cover is written, in a childish hand, " Susan A. Boss' Book, Clarkson, N. Y." The same name occurs in other parts of the book, and once that of " Julia D. Boss ; " and in one instance the words " Clarkson Colage," signifying that there may, some- time, have been a college there, tho I have been un- able to find any mention of it in the only local his- tory that I could get access to. There has never been a Susan or a Julia in any branch of the family which I have known, or in any of the collateral branches. I have written to several parties at both Clarkson and Brockport, but, tho I inclosed stamps for return post- age, I have received no reply. This, by the way, is not an unusual experience with me. Clarkson is a little place of about three hundred inhabitants, in Monroe County, N. Y., a few miles from Kochester, the county seat, and about three 115 miles from Brockport. A few days since, I met, in a restaurant, a gentleman, (a stranger) who had lived and done business in Brockport for several years, and who said that he had married his wife at Clarkson. I thought I would certainly get some information from him ; but, alas ! he had never even heard of the name Boss. You have on a previous page given me the auto- graf of one of your ancestors. I take pleasure in pre- senting here a facsimile of the entry in my old family Bible of the marriage of my grandfather and grand- mother, which was solemnized almost a hundred and five years ago. The record is in the bold handwriting of my grandfather, and was probably made between 1826 and 1830, as the book was publisht in the former year. The leaf on which the record is made is stained by time, but the writing is scarcely dimmed at all. It is evidently the work of one accustomed to the use of the pen. The worst fault in it is the careless manner in which the name "Leah" is written, causing it to appear like " Loah." 116 From a record of the Wilkinson Family I learn that Hon. M. S. Wilkinson married a Sally Boss — only this, and nothing more. Morton Smith Wilkin- son was born at Skaneateles, N. Y., in the central part of that State, January 22, 1819. He settled in Minnesota in 1847, and in 1859 was elected United States Senator, holding that position until 1865. He served in the lower house of Congress from March 4, 1869, until March 3, 1871. Mr. Wilkinson died some years ago. One of his grandsons lives in Minnesota, but, tho I have written him, explaining the object of this inquiry, he makes no sign, and I am left in the dark on those points concerning which I most desired information. "The Germans (including the Dutch and Swiss and a few Huguenots) were practically the only ' for- eigners ' in colonial times. In 1727 a law was passed requiring them to take the oath of allegiance. All males of and above sixteen years of age were com- pelled to do this."* The lists of the names of these foreigners have been compiled, indexed and publisht as Vol. XVII, Second Series, Pennsylvania Archives. From this volume I have gathered a few items that may sometime be of interest to us. The word '* qualified " herein refers to the taking of the oath of allegiance to King George and the Prov- * Letter of Kev. A. Stapleton, A. M., M. S., in the Chi- cago Daily News. 117 ince of Pennsylvania, which, it seems, was required of all foreigners immediately upon their arrival here : List of foreigners imported in the ship Two Brothers, Thomas Amott, Master, from Rotterdam. Qualified October 13, 1747. Johannes Bosch. List of foreigners imported in the ship Peggy, James Abercrombie, Commander, from Rotterdam, last from Plym- outh. Qualified September 24, 1753. Franz Joseph Boss. Foreigners imported in the ship Nancy, Capt. John Ew- ing, from Rotterdam, took and subscribed the usual oath and declaration on Saturday, the 14th of September, 1754. [In- habitants of Lorain.] Christian Boss. List of foreigners imported in the ship Sally, John Os- mond, Commander, from Rotterdam. Last from Portsmouth, Eng. Qualified August 23, 1773. Johan Christoph Boss. List of foreigners imported in the ship Union, Andrew Bryan, Captain, from Rotterdam, last from Cowes. Qualified September 30, 1774. Jacob Boss. List of passengers per the ship Tom, Capt. F. R. C. Per- mein. Master, from Hamburgh. Arrived October 12, 1802. Johan Gotfried Bosse. In the Newberry Library, in this city, is a quaint volume, printed in Dutch, entitled " Leeven en Daden Der Doorbuchtighste Zee-Helden en Outdeckers van Landen, Deser Euwen." Written by Lambert van den Bos, 1610-98. Printed at Amsterdam 1676. In Eose's Biographical Dictionary, publisht in London in 1853, I find the following : 118 BOS, the surname of Bome Dutch artists. Jerome, called also Bosche, born at Bois-le-Duc, about 1470, excelled in paint- ing specters and other supernatural subjects, which generally offended by their extravagance, in spite of a free hand and skilful coloring, that give them considerable value as works of art. He has, however, so painted some serious subjects as to avoid his faults, and yet exhibit the excellence really belong- ing to him. He was likewise an engraver, and died about 1530. — Lewis Jansen, also born at Bois-le-Duc, but rather ear- lier than the preceding, became eminent for painting flowers, fruits and plants, ordinarily grouped in glasses, or vases of crystal, half filled with water. He died in 1507. — Gasper Van- den, a marine painter, born at Hoorn, in 1634, is distinguisht by a light free touch, a pleasing tint of color and an artful manner of handling. He died in 1666. The same work gives Lambert Bos, born Novem- ber 23, 1670, at Warcum, in Friesland (in the Nether- lands), who became eminent as a scholar. On page 112, in the list of members of the Dutch Church in New York, I should have inserted : Albert Bosch, en zyn vroio huys, Elsje Blanck. It seems to me that all the information I am able to gather is of a fragmentary, "patchwork" charac- ter. It is possible, however, that some of these odd bits may afford clues to matters of much greater im- portance. But — are we any nearer a solution of the problem than when we began ? I shall await your next letter with much interest, and hope that I may sometime be able to present something of greater value than I have hitherto. Yours very truly, Henry E. Boss. 119 William Graham Boss to Henry R. Boss. Edinburgh, April 5, 1901. Mr. Henry R. Boss, Chicago. Dear Sir : Your lengthy letter came to hand a considerable time since. Our friend Dr. Larison, in his communication, places on a sound basis, so far, the source from which his friends of the name are de- rived. It appears, from what you have written and collected, and from what I have learned otherwise, to be the general impression in America that the name is originally German or Dutch ; but I hope our correspondence will go to show that it is not necessa- rily so, being found at least as early as 1298, however sooner, in England under the spelling " Bosse," and later in Scotland. Our correspondence will also show little or no reason for doubt but that the name has had a variety of origins. I will give the traditional account of the name and its origin in Scotland as transmitted by my ancestors ; but before proceeding with this it would be as well to devote a few lines to the " Bois " family in Scotland, which I have hitherto confined myself to the consideration of, as from my enquiries I find a pretty general impression here that " Boss " is believed to be derived from " Bois ; " but of the fact I have not found any evidence whatever, as applied to a surname, excepting only in relation to a place name to be presently mentioned. In the list at page 85, two of the name " Boys," 120 belonging to Lanarkshire, are on record in 1296. They held a small estate in the parish of East Kil- bride at that time, and from whom their lands took the name of " Boysfield." Not that they gave the place this name themselves ; but most likely it would be given to their possession by neighbouring inhabit- ants, in much the same way as a farm in the state of Minnesota, belonging to my cousin Andrew Boss, son of Andrew Boss and Jane Nicol of La Prairie, Eock County, Wisconsin, was called " Boss' Corner " by people in the district. As it was a stopping-place for stage-coaches a generation since, this would possibly lead to the designation, in a colloquial manner. This place in Lanarkshire provides a good ex- ample of the changes which names undergo in the course of time : In 1416 the name is Boysfeld ; in 1502-4 it is Boysfeild and Boyisfeld ; about 1640 and 1680 it has become Bosfeld ; before 1793 it has set- tled into Bossfield, and retains this form until the present time. So far as I have seen, the early Boys proprietors do not appear to have continued long in possession, as a part of it belonged to another family in the year 1416, and it had again changed hands previous to 1502. And there is no record of anyone of the name Boss having belonged to the parish or district at any time. Mr. Ure, who was the parish clergyman, gives a list of the surnames in the district when he wrote his History of East Kilbride about 1790, and this one is not among them ; neither do the parish records. 121 which go back to 1688, record any of this surname. The name Gait, as we have seen connected with our name in fiction, is found in the parish and neighbour- hood at the end of the eighteenth century ; and in all probability the author of " The Towti Drummer" bor- rowed his name for the character from this place. From enquiry and consideration of the history of our name in Scotland I think the true explanation of the origin and source of the name, as borne by those in or from Scotland, who are all descended from one common ancestor, must lie with the traditional ac- count as handed down by my ancestors. I confess that I was rather skeptical of it at one time, but, since looking into the matter, and having found other traditions in the family to be substantially correct, I see no reason to doubt the general accuracy of the tradition, especially in the light of the evidence in regard to the history of the name which I have been able to collect. The traditional account is that the name was originally Boswell, or more probably Bosswell, as it used to be very often written, and that they had been settled in the western district of Fifeshire for many generations, where they possessed lands from father to son, for three or four hundred years, on the terms that it was to be theirs so long as grass grew and wa- ter ran, and so long as it continued in the family name by lineal succession. This latter provision might mean that if the male line failed the property would return to the superior, or that the husband of 122 an heir female would be required to take the family name. In the course of time it happened that a near neighbour and kinsman, traditionally spoken of as *' The Laird," who, my grandmother used to say, was named David Bosswell, and my ancestor, also named David Bosswell, were, through dwelling in the same lo- cality, often mistaken for one another by the post offi- cials, who are said to have sent up the letters, etc. in a bag once a week, the letters for one being delivered to the other, and vice versa. To put a stop to the incon- venience caused by this misdelivery of letters, etc., it was agreed that my ancestor should drop the second syllable of his name and use only the first one, which his descendants have continued to use, with some ex- ceptions to be mentioned further on. Thus it comes about that another saying in my family, that all the Scotch Bosses are related to one another, just means that they are all descended from this one common ancestor who changed his name. I have not ascer- tained when the change took place, but I suppose, from the comparative freshness of the tradition, and considering the political and social state of this coun- try during the second half of the seventeenth century, that the change was made about that time. Our tra- dition points to an ancestor immediately before my great-grandfather, David Boss, 17 . . -1789, perhaps his father, as the one who made the change. And I suppose, from the traditional account, that they would be portioners or vassal kinsmen to the Laird, the chief 123 of the name designed of Balmiito, in the parish of Kinghorne ; as it was a common practice in bygone times for the younger sons of the chief house to be provided with a portion of land, or a farm, to enable them to make a living for themselves. There were three David Bosswells, or Boswells, lairds of Balmuto in succession between the years 1621 and 1705 ; and from a consideration of the circumstances I am in- clined to think the change was made in the time of the last of these Davids — 1667-1705. This is borne out by other coincidences which I will put shortly. On reference to the rise of the postal service in Scot- land, we find that before the middle of the seven- teenth century there was very little postal service ; anything before that time was sent by the ordinary carriers of goods, or by a special messenger, or by a friend traveling that way as is sometimes still done. From 1635 till 1658 the posts were in a spasmodic state, but from this latter year improvements in the service were introduced from time to time, although it was a monopoly in private hands till the year 1695, when an act of Parliament was passed establishing a general post office at Edinburgh, with branches to be erected throughout the country as occasion offered. Another coincidence tending to place the change about the end of the seventeenth century is found in the spelling of the name as Bosswell, the latest instance of this occurring, so far as I am aware, in the same year that the post office was established, and found in the register of the will of John Mure, ship captain. 124 Leith, and Isobel BosswcU, liis spouse, dated 15th April, 1605. Isobel was a family name, and my great-grandlatlier also had a daughter so named. As showing how the tradition has been kept alive in the family, I remember my father telling me that about 18'20, when his lather was thinking of removing from Sunnyside farm, in the parish of Saline, at the approaching expiry of the lease, he was offered the farm of l^andrum, in the same parish, by the proprie- tor, at a fixed rent, to him and his heirs for as long as grass grew and water ran, and so long as the fam- ily name continued in succession. Somehow he did not accept this offer, but removed to the farm of Over Dalkeith (situated in a hilly country and so named to distinguish it from Lower or Nether Dalkeith), in the adjoining parish of Fossoway, Perthshire, where he thiished his earthly career in 1837, and was in- terred in Saline churchyard beside his kindred. His wife, Margaret Graham, — twin daughter of David Graham in Bellsdyke, parish of Airth, Sterliugshire, by his first wife, Lily Boyd, — survived him for about twenty-five years, and was buried in the same ground, where their monumental stone hears record along with other stones of their kindred. My grandfather had the reputation in his day of a capable farmer and being particular to have all his affairs decently in or- der, and while still in the flesh he secured a last resting-place for himself and his beloved wife, as the headstone is dated 1817, the year of its erection. I give herewith a facsimile of his signature, from his 126 last DiHpOBition and Settlement, executed at Dun- fermline on the 23d September, 1830, when he was about eighty years of age. The Hettlement in too long to quote here with its various provisions for the dis- position of his estate and provision for his wife. But his signature may interest some of his descendants on your side of the great pond. A genealogical account of the Boswells of Hal- muto, Fifeshire, formerly the cliief of the name here, was given by Sir Tiobert Douglas, in liis Baronage of Scotland, published in 1708 ; but in the early genera- tions, besides other errors, there is no proof of the succession as given by him. Although their numbers, so far as recorded, are not great in the twelfth, thir- teenth and fourteenth centuries, they are found in sufficient numbers, and in a variety of positions, to give rise to doubt in family succession, in absence of written evidence. But there is no doubt that those of the name in the south of Scotland belonged to the same family stock. From an examination of the name Boswell in Scotland it appears that our abbreviation of the name was simply an adoption of the ancient practice of contracting the name in written records, and an- ciently it was also a heraldic practice for bearers of 126 the name to carry on their shields an allusive figure, as denoting the first syllable of their family name, But this will be better understood if I give a sketch of the name from its first appearance in our island, and it will be seen that changes in the name are not a new thing. Like the Bois family and many others, the Bos- wells are descended from one or more of the numerous adventurers who came over Avith William Duke of Normandy in 1066, or soon thereafter. This was a land for colonization at that time, and doubtless many would arrive at intervals during the Norman period. In M. Leopold de Lisle's list of the chief men who accompanied Duke William, two of the names are mentioned under what evidently was a place-name ; their names are Guillaume de Biville and Hanfroie de Biville. Perhaps they were from one of the places of this name, in the district between Rouen on the Seine and Dieppe on the coast. Saint Yalery, the port of embarkation, occupying a position in the same neighborhood. Boville as a place-name is also found in the same district, and probably gave rise to a separate sur- name ; we will take note of the arms of this name presently. And of course many came over of whom there is no record of when they first landed on this island, both before and after the Conquest in the lat- ter part of the eleventh century. Soon after the Nor- man settlement, the names " de Bevill," " de Boevill," " de Bovile," etc. are found spread over England in 127 various parts of the south and west and Yorkshire in the north ; passing from thence into the southern parts of Scotland, where the name first makes its appear- ance in record about the middle of the twelfth century. In the history of Scotland this was a period of great change, owing to the policy of King David the first, when Prince of Cumberland, and afterward as King of Scots. It was under his auspices that so many Normans and English settled in the lowlands of Scotland, and when he founded and endowed so many bishopricks and religious houses ; the princely and kingly example being followed by his nobles and others, as was the pious custom for some ages after his time, even to excess. We shall find the early Boswells, in common with others, following this fash- ion and giving of their substance for the support of the religious. One of the first BosweUs in point of time referred to in record occurs in the Eegister of Kelso Abbey, where a Pagani de Bosseuilla makes a donation, or gift, to the Abbey, of one bovate, or an oxgate of land, which amounts to thirteen acres, lying in the parish of Edenham, the modern Ednam, in the Merse, Ber- wickshire, close by Kelso, on the north side of the Eiver Tweed, about half way between Kelso and the village of Ednam. Along with others, this donation is recorded in the transcript of a charter of confirma- tion, granted by King William the Lion, after his ac- cession to the throne of Scotland in 1165, confirming gifts made to the Abbey by his grandfather King Da- 128 vid and his brother King Malcolm, and others, previ- ous to his accession ; although this charter is undated, it would probably be granted soon after he became King, as the monks are said to have been very careful to obtain confirmation of their possessions from each new sovereign without undue delay. And the position which the record of the gift occupies, in the list of donations, in the charter — occurring, as it does, among those first mentioned as belonging to the Ab- bey — favours a very early date for the time when the gift was made. Kelso Abbey was founded there about 1126, and the Abbey Church about two years later, by King David of pious memory. There are no remains of the Abbey buildings surviving to our time ; but from the stately fragment of the church remaining to this day, we gather that the architecture is mixed in style, although chiefly Norman in its main features of massive strength and endurance and severity of decorative portions ; passing into the more graceful first pointed, or Early English style, typify- ing a period of transition in stone and mortar, and coincident with the changes which the Norman names were undergoing during the same era, when a collat- eral welding process was taking place among the vari- ous peoples in the country, Saxons, Scots, Normans, English, etc., who had settled there under David, our first feudal King. The spelling of the name in this transcript repre- sents the orthography of the time when the register was made from the original document, and the time 1 129 of the transcript has been found by the editor of the record to be of the first quarter of the fourteenth cen- tury. The original spelling, in all likelihood, would be more akin to the following example of the name from the same neighbourhood, and of the same pe- riod, but from the contemporary original record. About 1164-74 the Liber de Mailros records the earliest instance of the abbreviated form of the name, so far as I have seen, when a " dd de boiu','' or David de Boiuil, witnesses a charter of lands in Teviotdale, lying just under the Merse, the river Tweed running between the two, and the Teviot emptying its waters into the Tweed at Kelso. The lands witnessed to, in this charter, are situated to the east of Jedburgh, in the parishes of Hownam and Morebattle ; and I would note here the early occurrence of the name near Jed- burgh, in Teviotdale, and its form, as it foreshadows a variety of the name to be found in the succeeding centuries ; also the Christian name of this witness is noteworthy, being the first occurrence of David, sug- gesting the influence of King David on the colonists whom he was the means of planting in this district, and it would be quite natural for a colonist of this time to call one of his sons after his benefactor. From a consideration of these two early instances of the name I am inclined to place the arrival of the name in the district during the first thirty years of the twelfth century. The next bearer of the name found connected with Teviotdale is Eobert de Boseuill or Bosuile, as 1 130 his name is variously written, between the years 1175 and 1188, who appears to have been a man of posi- tion in this district, as a juryman and as a witness to various important matters. Then we require to pass over a few years until about 1224, when we have a Henry de Boyville witnessing a charter of the lands of Lesseline, Aberdeenshire, granted by John, Earl of Huntingdon, in England, which was an appanage of the Scottish crown at this time; he was a great- grandson of King David the First, and the grantee was Norman, son of Malcolm, who became the pro- genitor of the Leslies, who afterwards took the name of this property as their family surname, and became the Leslies of that ilk. The place where this charter was granted is not mentioned, but most of the wit- nesses appear to be Scotsmen — one of them named " de Lamberton," apparently of the place so called in the Merse, Berwickshire. And this Henry may be the party referred to by Nisbet, the great Scottish herald, who, writing about 1720, says that he had seen a charter of the lands of Oxmuir, in the Merse, in fa- vour of the Boswells, of the time of King Alexander the Second, 1214-49, but whom he does not particu- larize. How long they possessed lands at Oxmuir I do not know, but we will find the name there again. Meanwhile, to preserve the chronological order, let us pass into the adjacent county of Dumfries. In Annandale, at the court of Sir Robert Brus, lord thereof, we have, on July 29, 1249, as a witness to a grant of lands, William de Boyville, who proba- 131 bly was the progenitor of the Boyils of Whamphry, and of an Eaustace de Bovile in the same locality, to be mentioned about the end of this century. It would appear as if this Annandale family were a branch from the de Bovylls who settled near Car- lisle, in Cumberland, between 1100 and 1135, and had the barony of Levington, from which they took the name " de Levington," laying aside their own patro- nymic. They seem to have been on friendly terms with the Bruce family, as they are found witnessing documents in favor of the Bruces, lords of Annan- dale, etc., between 1194 and 1219. The first of the Levington family was Eichard de Boyville, who, or his successor, changed his name to " de Levington." Others of the name we find in the same county after- wards, as about 1204 a William de Beville takes part in a judicial matter at a court held at Carlisle ; in 1212 Kobert de BoivUla witnesses a grant of lands to Furness Abbey ; then on August 18, 1268, William de Boyville, freeman of Cumberland, serves as a juror ; and after this the name becomes more numerous there. In Yorkshire, again, the name appears to have obtained a footing before it passed into Cumberland. The Bruce family held large estates in Yorkshire, and doubtless many of the Norman settlers would find their way north along the great Roman highways, one of which passed through Annandale, where the name " street " is still applied to the main highway ; another of these highways, called Watling Street, passed north from York by Boroughbridge, through Northumber- 132 land into Teviotdale, passing Jedburgh and Eox- burgh, on into Lothian. Another Roman road ran north from Carlisle, in Cumberland, on the west, through Ayrshire, to the vicinity of Glasgow, where we shall also see a branch of the family settled before the middle of the thirteenth century. Now, returning to the southern district of Scot- land, at the county town of Peebles, on July 4, 1259, at an inquisition held there on certain lands, before the justices of Lothian, we have a Roger de Bodevill serving as a juror. If I mistake not, the third letter of the name is a clerical error, and perhaps he is the same person who is placed third in Douglas' account of the family. Passing to the Merse again, we learn from Kelso Abbey rent-roll, drawn up in 1290, and the earliest rent-roll which has been preserved till our time, that William de Bosuile, of the parish of Hume, paid an annual rent of two shillings and six pence, two hun- dred eggs, and four days' work. This would be for lands held by him there — in all likelihood the farm of Oxmuir, extending at the present day to a little over two hundred acres. The modern farmsteading stands close by the site of a previous one, and I am informed that an ancient setting of small causeway stones has been come upon about five feet under the present sur- face, on the old site. There used also to be a number of very old trees close to the farm — a sure sign of long-continued occupation ; but they were all blown down about twenty years ago, during a great storm. 133 The situation of Oxmuir is on a southern sunny slope, about six hundred feet above the sea level, from which a great expanse of the Merse is beheld, with Kelso ly- ing at the base, about five miles distant, on the river Tweed, and beyond it Teviotdale. And passing into Teviotdale, we find the Bishop of Carlisle, in July, 1298, empowering the Abbot of Jedburgh to absolve the clergy within his jurisdiction who had been excommunicated for delaying to pay the tenth granted for the crusade to the Holy Land, proclaimed at this time ; and in September following the Bishop reports that one William de Boyvill has obdurately sustained a sentence of excommunication for forty days and more, and asking the aid of the secular power to enforce payment. Generally the Scots at this time appear to have been very unwilling to pay this tax, as this same Bishop made another effort, two years after, to recover tenths still unpaid. But of how William finished his resistance to this im- post there is no record. It required no little courage to withstand an all-powerful, despotic church, in such a superstitious age, in this country, and we can hardly realize the effect of church thunder on all the relations of the offender who came under the ban of the church ; it was a strict boycott of him and his, in every way. This member of the family appears to have been a man of substance in the neighbourhood of Jedburgh, and I take him to be a descendant of David de BoivU, already mentioned in the same locality in the previous century ; and it is worth while to note the spelling of 134 Beovill, Cornwall, En- gland, 1231-90. the name in both eases, as we shall have occasion to mention him again. We have now arrived at the time when armorial evidence becomes available, so let us look at the her- aldic figures of the early^bearers of the name. By the middle of the thirteenth century the name generally has become somewhat more bovine in the spelling, leading the old bearers to indulge in allusive or cant- ing armorials, and no doubt the armorial figures would have a strong reflex influence on the name. We will begin with the English families, as they were the earliest settlers in this country; and we find in Tristram Risdon's notebook, compiled early in the seventeenth century, that Eadol- phus Beovill, of Cornwall County, between 1231 and 1272, carried : Argent, a bull passant gules. And Sir Eeginaldus Beavill of Gwarnock, in the same county, about 1289-90, ako carried the same arms. A later variation of this armorial, borne by the same name in England, is, Ermine, a bull passant gules, armed and unguled Or. In Suffolk, again, those of the name Bovill, as William de Bovill bore on his seal, between 1272 and 1307, a shield quarterly — probably. Quarterly Or and sable ; as one of this name, in the same county, in a roll of arms compiled between 1308-14, had his arms blazoned quarterly in these tinctures. Other mem- Argent, a bull passant gules. 135 bers of this family carried the quarterly shield, with variations in the arrangement of the tinctures, such as sable and Or, argent and sable, etc. In a few in- stances they used a bull passant quarterly sable and Or, as a crest ; this is just the con- Boviie, Suffolk, England, ventional heraldic treatment of a black and semi-yellow coloured bull, and the shield quarterly rep- resents, in heraldic manner, the particoloured tough bull's Mde spread over its surface, as was the ancient practice with some peoples to cover their war shields with the hides of animals. So far as I have Quarterly or and sabie. seen, those of the name Bovill never carried the bull on their shields, and, although the quarterly coat is allusive to their name, yet in all likelihood they were of different descent from those of the name Biville or Beville, etc. Eetuming now to Scotland, we have come to the period of the great Eagman Eoll, or roll of landown- ers, and other men and women of importance, in Scot- land, who swore fealty to King Edward the First in 1296. In this roll, recording all who gave their oath of allegiance at Berwick on Tweed, are six of the name, three of whose appended seals have come down to our time. Their names as entered in the roll are : Eobert de Boyville, del counte de Are, whose seal is described as bearing on a shield a bull's head cabossed, with the legend, " S' Eob'ti de Boyvilla ; " William de 136 Boyvile, Koxburgh and Ayrshire, Scotland, 1296. Boseville, del counte de Eoxburgh, on whose seal is the same charge, a bull's] head cabossed, and the leg- end, " S' Will'i de Boyvile." Seals at this time do not show the heraldic colours of the shields, but in her- aldic practice these two shields would be differenced in the colouring. Also in heraldic law, the head, when shown on a shield, is held to rep- resent the whole animal, in much the same way as, in portraiture, the head indexes the whole person. And please note the variation in spelling of the name of this Rox- burghshire representative, whom I take to be the same man that we A bull's head cabossed. have secn defying the church in 1293 , near Jedburgh, Teviotdale. Eustace de Boyville, del counte de Dunfres, whose seal bears, a saltire and on a chief a bull's head couped fessways, with the legend, " S' Eus- tacii de Boiwill." This is the rep- resentative of the Annandale branch of the name, already mentioned in 1249; and they are said to have continued, in the main hne, in pos- session of the property at Wham- phrey, till the year 1513, when an heir female married into the Johns- ton family and carried the prop- erty with her. The other three, whose seals have not come down Boiwill, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, 1296. A saltire, and on a chief a bull's head couped fess- ways. 137 to us, are : William de Boseville, del counte de Ber- wyke — the same, in all probability, who is mentioned in Kelso Abbey rent-roll of 1290, and of the parish of Hume, in that county ; Richard de Boyvile, del counte de Are ; and another William de Boseville, burgess of Roxburgh, acting in his official capacity of councillor, together with the alderman and other ten councillors, who take the oath of fealty on behalf of the commu- nity and town of Roxburgh, in token whereof they affix the burgh seal. And perhaps a seventh repre- sentative in the person of William Bule, del counte de Are. The various spellings of the name are worthy of note, as they indicate the forms it was to assume after this time, in the various branches settled in dif- ferent localities of Scotland- There were three main branches : One settled in Teviotdale and the adjoin- ing Merse, one in Annandale and one in Ayrshire. The Ayrshire and Annandale families both ap- pear on record about the middle of the thirteenth cen- tury, in their respective localities ; and a peculiarity in the spelling of their name, so far as I have seen, is the absence of the letter s, and in the course of time it easily slipped into one syllable, as we find it writ- ten, in 1362, Boyll ; in 1367, Boyuil ; in 1460, Thomas Bullyn, the canon of Glasgow, bears a bull's head cabossed on his seal ; in 1482, Boyle ; in 1500, Boyl ; in 1512, Boyle. The chief family of the name in Ayr- shire were the Boyvils of Caulburne, or, as it has be- come modernly, Boyle of Kelburn, in the district of Cunningham, North Ayrshire. They were advanced to 138 the peerage in the seventeenth century, as Earls of Glasgow, and they still are proprietors of Kelburn, which they have held at least from the middle of the thirteenth century. Their family arms are : Or, three bucks' horns gules ; and, allowing for changes made in the course of time, possibly these tinctures would be the heraldic colours of Robert de Boyvil, the bearer of the bull's head cabossed in 1296. Returning to Teviotdale, in the county of Rox- burgh, where we have seen the name on record be- tween 1164 and 117.5, under the contracted form " de Boiu'," or de Boiuill, and finding the name on the seal in 1296 as de Boyvile, with the bull's head cabossed as armorial bearings, I think there is no doubt — even though we find one recorded in the same locality with the s in the name ; or the Latinized form, which is easily accounted for by the clerkly habit of the scribe — but that the local pronunciation would be something like as if it had been spelled " Bule." Then, again, Will- iam de Boyvile, — to take the spelling on his seal, — of the county of Roxburgh or Teviotdale, swears fealty, in August, 1296, at Berwick, along with a small group of chief men from the same district, among whom are some well-known names in the section round Jed- burgh, for centuries after tliis time ; one of the best known being the Baron of Cavers, on the Teviot. The heraldic bearing of the ))ull, or the bull's head, are arms parlantes, or arras hinting at the name of the bearer; and in the course of time the armorial figure would have some influence in chan- 139 ging the name as well as local habit of assimilating and slumping names. It was an old practice to speak of bearers of shields by the tigiires they carried there- on ; and we do not require to strain our imagination very much to suppose that the Teviotdale members of the family would be called Bule, which is just an- other form of Boyle, as now used by the Ayrshire branch, and as my own appears to be simply a Sax- onized Latin shape of the first syllable of the original name, derived, in all probability, from the allusive armorial bearing, the figure apparently being looked on in a loose way, at this early time, as the head of a bull or of an ox. This way of speaking about people from the heraldic figures they bore is illustrated by the late sixteenth-century rhyming Scotch " Prophecie of Sybilla and Eltrain," so called, but actually owing its existence to political faction of that time. While its primary object was political, the composer of the lines made use of popular heraldic phraseology to indicate the persons to whom he refers : •' The Beares head Jind the Brock, the beame and the bloodie yoke, three Crescentes and a Cok Shall come from the North ; they shall come to the broyle, And Knights keenely shall toyle. For loue of the sinkfoile, And fight upon Forth." Without going into the details of the " Prophecie" I may indicate a few of the possible references. Thus 140 the bear's head is for Barou Forbes ; the brock may be for Mackenzie, Baron of Kintail ; the beam and bloody yoke for Hay, Earl of Errol ; the three cres- cents for Seton-Gordon, Marquis of Huntly, " cock o' the north ; " and the cinquefoil for the Lord Livings- ton. Bnt, whatever the exact references may be, there is no doubt that the writer is indebted for his figurative allusions to the days of heraldic display and pageantry, when armorial bearings displayed in the field on banner or shield were enough to proclaim the presence of more or less distinguished names. After the year 1296 the name de Boyvile disap- pears from the vicinity of Jedlmrgh, to reappear in the neighbourhood of Selkirk in 1315, as Turnbull or Tornebule, and well on in this century, after undergo- ing tliis transformation, it again comes to light in the records as established near Jedburgh, where the name of Turnbull has always been most numerous, becom- Turnbuu Anns. ing oue of the strougcst border clans of stark moss-troopers in Te^dotdale. They continued to use the })uir8 head cabossed as their armorial ensign, as in 1439 John Turnbul, Bishop of Ross, and in 1451 William Turnbull, Bishop of Glasgow and founder of the University there, — both Argent, a bull'H head ca- bossed sable, armed Or. g^jjg gf Tcvlotdale families, — and Turnbull of Minto, Teviotdale, iu 1455, all bore a bull's head cabossed on their sliields. And then 141 some wealthy and pious one — or more probably a number of them, perhaps the whole clan, — contrib- utes to build and restore a part of Jedburgh Abbey about 1480, when the family shield bearing the bull's head cabossed was placed on a buttress to commem- orate their good work, as was the fashion of that time ; remaining there to tliis day as a memorial of the name, buttressing the church which their prede- cessor of the year 1293 defied so obdurately. And here I would note the colouring of their armorial shields, namely, a white shield with the bull's head cabossed sable ; so coloured in the oldest heraldic records, the Armorial de Berry, about 1450, giving tlu'ee bulls' heads cabossed, two and one sable, armed Or; and the spelling of the name as TournebouUe. These colours and those of the Fifeshire Boswells' arms are identical, although the figures are different, which will be seen when we come to consider them, I am aware of the popular story of the origin of the name TumbuU, but it is very doubtful if it was applied to any other than the Philliphaugh family in Selkirkshire, unless the whole clan changed their name by prefixing the syllable Turn, in the four- teenth century ; but the more likely way is that the first syllable would be floating among them for some time before it l)ecame fixed to the family name, and I am inclined to think it would originally be derived from a place-name. Perhaps the ancestor of the fam- ily who settled in Teviotdale in the twelfth century may have possessed lands called Turn, and his des- 142 cendants, as they multiplied toward the begiiming of the foni-teenth century, would be called Tum-Bouils, to distinguish them from their neighbours and kins- men, the Boyuills or Bosseuylls of the Merse, or per- haps for some more local reason. There is at least one place in Teviotdale called Torn or Turn ; and it was a common enough practice for a surname to be attached to a place-name by way of distinction. Just to mention one near Kelso, called Newton Don ; this was originally the Newtown, or Little Newton, and after coming into the possession of a family named Don it got the addition of this family name, or collo- quially the proprietor would be Newtondon. Before quitting this matter I would note that the common pronunciation, in Teviotdale, of the name Tunibull is Tramell, and these are much farther re- moved from one another than Bule is from Boiuil or de Boyvile, the original family name. Nisbet, the Scottish herald, in 1722, says the name of tliis family was Ruel originally, but he gives no authority for the statement. Sweet Teyot,*well do I remember the happy days of childhood on the banks of your clear stream, when I have bathed in thee, during summer's heat, and sported in the cold of winter on your frozen waters, and with childish awe beheld the rush of your torrents when in spate.! * Local. Teyot Teviot. tin sudden flood. 148 During the years immediately after l'29fi, William de Boseville, Burgess of Roxburgh, is frequently men- tioned, witnessing various documents and transacting affairs, down to April, 1345 ; his name often being written '" Bosseuyll," the earliest instance of this oc- curring about 1328, and about this time the prefix "de" begins to be omitted. The town referred to at this time was old Roxburgh, situated opposite Kelso, at the confluence of the Teviot and Tweed rivers ; it was one of the Four Boroughs, so distinguished through special privileges for trade and other mat- ters. Not a vestige of the old town now remains, al- though it was a populous, thriving place in the time of our namesake, with full burghal equipment. Our Burgess appears to have been an influential man, fig- uring in most of the important affairs of the borough of his time, as a Councillor, and afterwards as Alder- man or Mayor. His house was in one of the principal streets of the borough, called Market Street, and the scene of one of its special privileges, in the annual fair of St. James the Great, the patron saint of the borough, on whose festival day, July "i.^th, the fair opened, after due observance to St. James in the town church dedicated to Mm in April, 1134, where our Chief Burgess and his family doubtless worshipped ; thereafter the Alderman would officiate at the open- ing ceremonies, surrounded with all the quaint para- phernalia and dignity of the time, in this ancient Royal Burgh, which, although now luimbered with things that were, is still brought to remembrance by holding 144 the annual fair of St. James on the site of the ancient bnrgh. In conformity with his position as a man of substance, he had his own seal — an indispensable adjunct to a man of affairs in medieval Scotland. How I should have liked if an impression of his seal had come down to our time! About 1338, while he was Alderman, his wife, Isabella de Merlinton, gave one acre of land in Broxlawe, in the territory of New- ton, — the modern Newton Don, — to the canons of Dryburgh Abbey, out of piety for the health of her own soul, and of her husband, her ancestors and successors. From this we learn that they had a fam- ily ; and as one of the witnessing burgesses to docu- ments, in the town, is William de Bosevile, during the time our Alderman was in office, I am inclined to think we have a son of his also a Burgess of the town. Also contemporary with the Councillor, in the town, we find one Alexander de Bos, or Bosville, as his name is entered in the contracted and full forms, in the Exchequer Rolls, recording the escheat of his goods to the King, and the amount of eleven pounds and ten sliillings, as received therefor, by the Cham- berlain of Scotland, who presided in the court, held at Roxburgh, while on his yearly eyre, or circuit jour- ney, sometime between June, 1328, and December, 1329, when he visited the Royal Burgh and market town, and held a court to try certain causes pertain- ing to burghal law. This contraction of the name is found occasionally after this, and we have seen a very early example of it about 1164, in the same district. 145 and we shall refer to other instances, occurring after a similar interval of time. In what relationship this Alexander stood to the Alderman we have no evidence, but it is interesting to find so many of the family on record, connected with this ancient burghal com- munity. The places called Newton and Broxlawe lie about two miles north from Kelso, close to the Eden Water. Newton was originally in the parish of Edenham or Ednam, and had a chapel subject to the mother church of St. Cuthbei-t of Ednam. About the mid- dle of the twelfth century, as already noticed, we have seen Pagani de Bosseuille gifting one bovate of land in this parish to the Abbey of Kelso ; and where we find, at a later date, the family name apparently pos- sessing lands in the same parish, as witness the pious donation of the Alderman's wife, in the gift of one acre of land lying here. And it also happens that, for upwards of three centuries after the date of Isa- bella's gift, lands lying in Newton were called Bos- well's lands, so named in 1598; and again called Boswal-lands in 1642, and described as extending to two carucates, or two hundred and eight acres. Tak- ing all the circumstances into consideration, so far as I have seen, this appears to have been the place where the name was first settled, north of the Tweed, early in the twelfth century. Now to notice the remaining one named in the Ragman Roll of 1296, William de Boseville, of the county of Berwick. There is no doubt this is the 146 same that we have seen in the rent-roll of Kelso Ab- bey in 1290, as occupying lands in the parish of Hume, to the north of Kelso, And we have seen Nis- bet, the herald, mention them there, in Oxmuir, be- tween 1214 and 1249. The Boswells must have been settled here very early, as they also left their name behind them attached to lands in the parish ; for by a retour of inquest, among the Earl of Home's MSS., dated 16th April, 1551, mention is made that the lands called Boswellands, in the town of Home, are held in chief of the Abbot and convent of Kelso, for service, and are valued at four pounds yearly. Then in 1605 the same lands are described as lying in the eastern part of the to^vn of Hume, above Burrig, and extend- ing to a husbandland, or twenty-six acres. The name, as applied to these lands, appears to be quite forgot- ten locally, but the field called the Burrigs is still pointed out ; and from an examination of the ground this husbandland appears to lie to the north of it, and separated from Oxmuir, on the east, by the roadway. From these circumstances, probably, the husbandland would be the holding of a younger son of the family, unless it was a part of Oxmuir in their time. The town of Home, or Hume, is a quaint old sur- vival of a medieval village, and has been in a state of decay for many years ; the houses nestling along the slopes, with their ancient gardens stretching behind them, containing visible evidence of the cultivation of many past generations, who lived in the village, and now sleep in St. Nicholas' churchyard under the 147 shadow of the rebuilt fragments of the ancient castle of the Lords of Home, which reared its massive walls on a craggy eminence, above the village inhabited by their retainers, and from its elevation dominated the whole Merse, or March. Anciently the lands of Home belonged to the old Earls of Dunbar and March, the monks of Kelso ob- taining a large part of them in the twelfth century ; and about 1240 a descendant of a younger son of the Dunbar family, named William, acquired the barony of Home by marriage with his cousin, a daughter of the sixth Earl. He built the castle and was called Wilham of Home ; his descendants figuring in border affairs for many generations afterwards. This seeming digression may afterwards help us to understand the armorial bearings of the Boswells of Fifeshire, who are said to be sprung from this par- ticular branch, but there does not appear to be any proof of the fact, and all I can say is, a general state- ment has been current in our family that they origin- ally came from the south of Scotland to Fifeshire ; and their arms give colour to the conjecture that, while in the southern district, they were vassals of the old Earls of Dunbar and March. In this connection it is interesting to find a Wal- ter de Boseville, esquire, among the hundred and thirty Scots knights, esquires and others who were taken prisoners in the beginning of May, 1296, when the castle of Dunbar, which had been garrisoned by the Countess of Dunbar and March, was obliged to capit- 148 ulate to the besiegers through fortune of war. The prisoners were marched to Roxburgh or Marchmount* Castle, and sent off from thence, in detachments, to various castles in England ; two knights and four es- quires, of whom Walter was one, being sent to Not- tingham Castle, on May 16th of that year. He appears to have been kept in durance for a considerable time, as on November 23, 1298, the King orders the Sheriff of Nottingham to pay Michael Miggle and Walter de Boseville, esquires, Scottish prisoners in Nottingham Castle, three pence each, and their warder two pence, daily. Their fellow prisoners who were sent to this castle all appear to have been liberated before this time, which may be accounted for by a practice, in that age, of holding prisoners of war to ransom, and becoming part of the business of war, some captures proving a valuable reward for the risks of warfare. Walter does not appear to have been able to buy him- self out of prison, as we again meet with him at the end of September in 1299, when the same Sheriff" has a warrant for moneys paid to Walter de Bozeville, Michael de Miggle and Eoger le Clerk, esquires, Scot- tish prisoners; and Michael is fortunate in getting deliverance from prison, leaving Roger, who had been transferred from another castle, to keep Walter com- pany. How long after this he remained in prison, or if he sighed for a sight of the Merse land and his *This is written Marchmound, Marchmont or March- mount. 149 friends, does not appear by the hard, dry facts of record. In 1329, the Exchequer Rolls record a payment of thirteen pounds six shillings and eight pence, as paid to William de Boswill, at Scone, — an ancient seat of the Scottish court, adjacent to the city of Perth, — on behalf of Sir Alexander de Setoun, a landowner in Lothian and Berwickshire, and four years after this Governor of the town of Berwick. We can not localize this member of the family, but he apparently was a trusted agent of the representative of one of the foremost Norman families in Scotland ; and if he was not the Alderman of Roxburgh, or a son of his, most likely he would be a son of the Ox- muir or Hume family. About the middle of the fourteenth century, or after 1345, the name disappears from the southern district of Scotland. Perhaps in these troublous times their fortunes had waned, and in consequence they would not be in a position to be placed on record. But the name does not appear to have died out alto- gether, as one representer, called Robin Boswel, is found witnessing a document in the vernacular, at Melrose Abbey, on the 21st of September, 1535. And here we would note the parish called St. Boswells, next to Melrose, a comparatively modern appellation, dating from the beginning of the seventeenth century, and named after St. Boisel, a seventh-century preacher here, but doubtless influenced by the surname in the district. Shortly before the middle of the fourteenth 150 eentui*y, when the name sinks out of sight in the Meree, or border district, it makes its first appear- ance on record in Fifeshire, and afterward the chief seat of the name. We have now reached the period when the name first appears as settled in Fifeshire. Before proceed- ing to sketch the history of the name there, which I hope to do at another time, I will collect a fragment or two here in reference to matters mentioned in pre- vious pages. At page 117 you give the names of six sea cap- tains as carrying settlers to the continent of America in the eighteenth century. The first three — Thomas Arnott, master of the Two Brothers; James Aber- erombie, commander of the Peggy, and John Ewing, captain of the Nancy — are all bearers of Scotch names found in Fifeshire. I have already referred to the continual intercourse between the east coast of Scotland and the opposite coasts of Germany, Hol- land, France, etc., and it is interesting to find Scotch sailors engaged in trading between the continent of Europe and the New World. The names Arnott and Abercrombie are taken from places so named in Fife- sliire, and I don't know if there may be any connec- tion between Captain Arnott's Two Brothers and Captain Boss' Three Brothers, mentioned by you at page 21 ; but, curiously enough, the Arnott family and the Bosswells in Fifeshire had intercourse with each other in centuries past, for they were neigh- bours. 151 A correspondent informs me that the name Boss has been settled for many generations in the county of Essex, England. Also the names Boseville, Boss- well and Boyce are found on record in that county at various times, from early in the twelfth century down- wards. And one of your correspondents conjectures the names Boss and Bass to be the same, as found in the adjoining county of Suffolk. Formerly these two names were spelled with a final e, as in the present- day place-name of Bosse Island, in the Cattegat, Den- mark. So far as I have seen, the name in England appears to have been chiefly settled in the eastern and southeastern counties, and probably in most cases is of Teutonic origin ; thus accounting for its being found spread over so great an area of western Europe, in Saxony, High Germany, as mentioned at page 106 ; and in the Netherlands, and tlie opposite coasts of England, where the Saxons at a very ..early period made settlements. Then at page 25 mention is made of a Captain John George Boss, R. N. ; and I am indebted to one of his descendants for a few details of his life. He was born at Beverly, Yorkshire, England, in 1785, of parents in very humble circumstances, and joined the Royal Navy when a lad. For his distinguished serv- ices he was promoted from time to time, becoming a Commander in 1811, and obtaining his Captain's com- mission in 1833. He served under Admiral Nelson, and took part in the battle of Trafalgar, on the 21st of October, 1805, where Nelson met his death on the 152 quarter-deck of the Victor if. The King also recog- nized Captain Boss' services by presenting him some pieces of gold plate. After the passing of the Reform Bill in 1832, the Captain was elected to Parliament Captain Boss" crest and motto, for Northallcrton, in his na- tive county. I have pleasure in sub- joining Captain Boss' crest — which, I believe, commemo- rates an important act of service done by him — and his motto : Every man ac- 'Out of a naval coronet, an arm, in band a billet, all proper. CORDING TO HIS WORKS. It appears the name is found in Yorkshire frequently, but as to its origin there I have no information. Wliether derived from an early Saxon or Danish settler, or from the place called Bossall in that county, or whether it is the con- traction for Bosswell, is undecided. There has been a long line of the Boswell family in Yorkshire, from the twelfth century downwards, and the name there has undergone various changes in the spelling, the contraction being made use of in records, if not in actual living intercourse. I remain Yours faitlifully, Wm. Graham Boss. '^ 153 Henry R. Boss to William Graham Boss. Chicago, September 30, 1901. Mr, William Graham Boss. My Dear Sir : Over three years have now elapsed since this correspondence between us began. To me it has been a source of much pleasure. It has been extended far beyond any limits that either of us, prob- ably, anticipated. I deeply regret that I have been able to contribute so little on my side; but I rejoice that you have gathered so much. I have, however, labored under great difficulties, a portion of which — unnecessary to mention here — I could not anticipate. In addition to being a very busy man, — all my wak- ing hours being fully occupied with various affairs in addition to the everlasting bread-and-butter question and other cares, — I have for the greater part of the last half-century or more been absent from my birth- place and my native State, and hundreds of miles from the most likely sources of information, while the older members of my family — the conservators of the family traditions — have died and left no sign. Docu- mentary sources of information have been out of my reach, even if any such exist. The truth is, the pioneers in this country were too busy making history to be able to devote much time to the tvriting of it. Even when my father settled in the western part of the State of New York, which I think must have been about 1825-30, he was thought 154 to have gone beyond the bounds of civilization — to the then " Far West." Of postal facilities there were few and the rates of postage so nearly prohibitory that communications between families so separated were, like angels' visits, few and far between. Small won- der is it, then, that we have so few records from which to draw material for family histories ! Your theories regarding the origin of and the nu- merous changes in our family name seem to be fairly well supported by the facts you adduce. The meager records I have been able to find and the transcripts I have given therefrom would seem to indicate that like changes, tho not so numerous, have been going on in this country since the name was planted here. For instance, reference to the extracts from the Eegister of the Old Dutch Church at Kingston, N. Y., given on pages 56-64, shows the possibility, and even probabil- ity, of unlooked-for variations. The record of bap- tisms in the same church, referred to on page 65, dis- covers still worse^variations, some of the later recorded names running into Terbosch — a name which would hardly be suspected of any relationship to Boss. If you are correct in your supposition that the name may even have been connected with the armorial bear- ings of the Turnbull family, we need not be surprised at any other of the numerous variations that you have recorded. Dr. A. Hamilton, the well-known filologist and spelling-reformer, of Toronto, Ontario, Can., writes me as follows : 155 The name Boss does not occur in the Toronto Directory, but Bose, Bosco, Basco, Basso, Boyce, Boice. I know about nothing about it [the subject of our inquiry] myself. The two following facts may interest you : 1. A few words have come into Amerncmi usage (as dis- tinct from British usage). They are such words as boss, span and some others due to Dutch influence via "New Amster- dam." Sjian, above, means pair or team of horses. 2. When Peter the Great went incognito as a journeyman to work in Dutch shipyards, they called him " Peter bas," i. e., Master Peter. Probably he took on dominant attitudes and was of superior mental caliber. I gleaned this from Voltaire's Life of Charles XII (Histoire de Charles XII), which used to be a French reading-book in Ontario schools, in the fifties and sixties. The name Bass is perhaps the same as Boss, being pro- nounced as in German. It has been suggested that I give in this work the definitions of the term " boss " that are printed in our American dictionaries. Here are some of them : Century Dictionary: [A word derived from the Dutch settlers in New York. D. haas, master, foreman.] 1. A mas- ter. Specifically: (a) One who employs or superintends work- men; a head man, foreman or manager. (6) In U. S. politics, an influential politician who uses the machinery of a party for private ends or for the advantage of a ring or clique; a pro- fessional politician having paramount local influence. 2. The chief; the master; the champion; the best or leading person or thing. International Dictionary (Webster's) : D. haas, master. A master workman or superintendent; a director or manager; a political dictator. Standard Dictionary: D. haas, master. 1. A superin- tendent or employer of workmen; manager; foreman. 2. A 156 manager or dictator of a party organization, especially one who uses such leadership arbitrarily or for private or partizan pur- poses; the head of a "ring." It will be observed that all these authorities give the Dutch word haas as the original of the term. The Century Dictionary, however, goes into the etymology more fully, and shows how the word has had or may have had other significations than those given above. The following is interesting : Middle Dutch, baes, master of the house, also a friend; feminine, baesinne, mistress of the house, also a friend ; cognate with Flemish baes, parallel with Low German baas, master, foreman (derived from Danish bas, master), parallel with Old High German basa, and with Middle High German base, feminine, aunt, German base, feminine, cousin ( dialectically also aunt, niece), apparently ultimately identical with German wase, cognate with Low German tease, feminine, cousin, aunt. The word, in the masculine, seems to have meant " kinsman, cousin," and to have been used especially as referring to the master of the household, the chief " kinsman " in fact or by courtesy. There are numerous other definitions of the word given in the dictionaries, several of them of a tech- nical character, — as in architecture, bookbinding and other arts, — and others of an humorous kind. I have been endeavoring to learn at what time my great-uncle, Peter Boss, settled in Western New York, but, so far, without success. Mrs. Mary A. Avery (mother of Miss Marie Avery, a letter from whom is printed on page 20) writes me from Utica, N. Y., as follows : 157 As to the time when my great-grandfather, Peter Boss, settled in Chautauqua County, I have no knowledge; but it must have been considerably over one hundred years ago. It was in this Mohawk Valley that the Boss brothers set- tled, on lands deeded to them by the Indians. These lands were situated between the sites of Eome and Troy, N. Y. Grandmother Amy Boss Jackson has told me many a quaint story of their adventures and experiences. I greatly regret that I can not now recall any of them. A few days since, I was reading the proof of a mailing-list for an outside party, and came across the name of Dunn, Boss & Co., at Milton, Wis. I at once wrote " Mr. Boss," and have received the follow- ing interesting and highly satisfactory reply : MHiTON, Wis., September 25, 1901. Mr. Henry R. Boss, Chicago, HI. Dear Sir: While I was absent your letter came, and on my return it was not handed to me for several days; but I hope that what I have written will be of interest to you. I should judge that we come of the same stock. My great-great- great-grandfather came from Holland. He was a sea-captain, and on his first voyage to this country landed at Newport, R. I. He was so well pleased with the country that he soon made another trip hither, bringing with him two brothers, one of whom settled at Narragansett and the other in New York State. My ancestor, whose name was Edward, settled in Newport; our family are descended from this one. My great-grandfather married Eliza Liscom,* who was of Irish descent. They had two daughters — Betsy and Polly ; * In the list of "American Descendants of Edward Boss," furnisht by Mr. Robert P. Boss, of Boston, this name is given as Linscom. (See page 51.) H. R. B. 158 also five Bons. The sons were: Joseph, who was a baker; Ed- ward and Philip, who were both officers in the navy; John was president of one of the Newport banks ; and William, my grandfather Boss, who married Edith Dickinson Prior. My grandfather was born in 1763, his wife in 1773; they were married in 1793. They had fourteen children, as follows: Eliza Liscom, b. August 11, 1794. Christopher Prior, b. May 20, 1796. Marthy Dickinson, b. November 20, 1797. William Davis, b. April 10, 1799. Thomas Liscom, b. April 23, 1801. Sarah Prior, b. June 11, 1802. Eobert Prior, b. February 21, 1804. Charles Prior, b. August 28, 1805. John Henry, b. August 23, 1806. Abbie, b. April 19, 1808. Philip Martin, b. January 19, 1810. Charles Dickinson, b. March 12, 1812. Joseph, b. December 20, 1814. Katherin Gardner, b. March 10, 1816. Joseph Boss, my father, came from Newport, R. I., when a boy, and lived the rest of his life in Little Genesee, Allegany County, N. T. He was married, to Eliza Crandall December 25, 1839; they had two children — Susan Mariah Boss, b. July 7, 1842, and Martin Prior Boss, b. March 31, 1845. Susan M. married James Harry Ingraham, October 6, 1870, and they have made Providence, R. I., their home, where they run the Breezy Bluff House, a summer hotel ; they have two children — Fred Fadden Ingraham, b. September 10, 1873, and Louis Harry Ingraham, b. May 8, 1879. Martin Prior Boss married Laura S. Gallagher, July 25, 1870; she died July 24, 1888. They had three children — Helen Winsmore Boss, b. June 10, 1874; Laura Boss, b. April 27, 1876 (and died in infancy), and Ira Crane Boss, b. December 3, 1877. Martin P. Boss has followed mining engineering, and is now President of the American Bank of the City of Mexico. 159 Eliza Crandall Boss died April 8, 1847. On August 17, 1848, my father was again married, this time to Eliza Wheeler. There was one child by this marriage — Frank Boss, b. No- vember 5, 1852, and died June 29, 1887. Eliza Wheeler Boss died February 7, 1857. My father then married my mother, Aurilla F. Eogers, May 3, 1858, who died at Milton, Wis., January 31, 1883. By this union there were three children — May Eliza Boss, b. April 27, 1859 (on November 28, 1888, she married John Cunningham, a lawyer of Janesville, Wis., and they have two children — George Rog- ers Cunningham and Robert John Cunningham); Mark Boss, b. March 25, 1862, died April 1, 1863; and George Rogers Boss, the writer, b. June 18, 1862. I married Mrs. Stella Loofboro Ferine, January 13, 1889. We have three children — Lela Aurilla, b. August 27, 1890; Joseph Kenneth, b. March 29, 1896; Malcolm Loofboro, b. June 16, 1900. I have been in the general merchandise busi- ness at Milton for eighteen years. If there is anything more that I can tell you, I would be pleased to do so. Yours very truly, Geo. R. Boss. Mr. Boss is clearly entitled to be classed among the American descendants of Edward Boss, and there- fore can trace his lineage directly to the founder of one branch of the family in this country. Taking my cue from the letter of Mr. Charles F. Boss, given elsewhere, I wrote to Mr. C. S. Boss, the Postmaster at Bossburg, Wash., and received the fol- lowing in reply : I am miich pleased to know that one of the Boss family is looking up our ancestors. My father's name was Truman. He had three brothers — George, Randle and Chester (my name). They originated in New York; that is, my father and mother came from New York 160 State. I know very little about the Bosses, as I was born in Michigan, near Jonesville. Then father moved to Wisconsin when I was three years old, and to Minnesota when I was eleven. I enlisted, when eighteen, in 1862, and served three years in the Sixth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry. This town or postoffice I named in 1891. Mr. Sidney Smith, of Boston, Mass., — who, like myself, was born at Forestville, N. Y., — sends me the only authentic information I have been able to obtain concerning the Masonic affiliations of my rela- tives, as follows : Hanover Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons instituted at Forestville, 1824. Charter members and first officers: Lu- ther Thwing, Ezra Puffer, Seth Snow, Albert H. Camp, Wal- ter Griswold, Richard Smith, Ephraim Judson, William Jones, Elijah Robinson. Discontinued 1828. December, 1849, this Lodge was rechartered. The fii'st officers were: Albert H. Camp, Daniel B. Parsons, William Colville, Rodney B. Smith, Isaac Boss, Marshall Cass, Charles Brown and Elisha Robinson. Isaac Boss was Secretary. Isaac Boss, mentioned above, was a son of Peter Boss and a cousin of my father. A newspaper excerpt sent me records the death, on July 31 last, at Berlin, Prussia, of Dr. Julius Eob- ert Bosse, former Prussian Minister of Public Instruc- tion, at the age of sixty-nine years. It is not probable that Dr. Bosse's family had any connection with your family or mine, at least for many generations ; but Ms life and death may well be mentioned here, if only for the similarity in names. His career was a distin- guisht one. 161 Mr. Charles F. Boss, of Washington, D. C, has favored me with the following letter. While he in- dulges somewhat in theories and speculations, he at the same time furnishes many facts of interest and adds to the evidence in favor of the early settlement of the Boss family (or families) in this country and of the extent to which the family name has spread : 1316 Florida Avenue N, E., Washington, D. C, August 31, 1901. Mr. Henry R. Boss, Chicago, El. Dear Sir: I am very glad that you have undertaken to gather the history of the Boss family, and have been greatly interested in reading the proofsheets you have sent me of the work as far as completed. I have considerable information in relation to oiar family that I have gathered from books in the Congressional Library, and will endeavor to add to what you already have. The tra- dition that you speak of — relative to the "three brothers, navigators," — is the same that has been given to me. I find records of Peter Boss as early as 1680; at that time he com- manded the ship Three Brothers. I find the family in colo- nial days in Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, Pennsyl- vania and Maryland, but have not found them in Virginia until my own family went there, about 1800. Many members of the family were soldiers in the Revolution. The Name. In olden times, before the use of family names, as you know, it was the custom to call a man by his trade or business. John the smith became John Smith; Thomas the coppersmith became Thomas Coppersmith; Wilham the carpenter became WilMam Carpenter; and so one could go on indefinitely. In thinking of this matter of our family name, it has always been 162 my belief, in view of the tradition in regard to our ancestors having followed the sea, that one or more generations of them were ship captains or masters, or, as the Dutch would say, Baas or Boss. Perhaps one of them performed some especially valiant deed; and it does not require a great stretch of my imagination to see him standing before the King and hear the latter say to him, " You have been my faithful servant. As a reward, you and yours shall be known as Baas. Arise, Sir Peter." And from that time he would be known as Peter Boss. The Traditions. One tradition I have heard is that three brothers came to this country from Holland, in the ship Three Brothers, and that they were the ancestors of all in this country bearing the name Boss. The little information I have gathered disproves the latter part of the assertion, as many of the name have ar- rived at various times and places. As to the first part of the tradition, it seems to me probable that Peter Boss, commander of the ship Three Brothers, was the only one of the name who came over in that vessel. One can perceive how easy it would be for a man to say to his son, " My grandfather came here in the ship Tliree Brothers; " and in after years the son might say to his son, " My great-grandfather came to this country with his three brothers." This, I think, is possible. We find mention of but one more at this time (1680). In 1690 we find Peter Boss as the author of a book giving an account of a trial in Philadelphia, Pa. ; and in the first half of the next century the family is found in Rhode Island. As Peter had trouble with the Quakers in Philadelphia, what is more prob- able than that he left Philadelphia and went to Rhode Island, where Roger Williams had established a more liberal govern- ment so far as religion was concerned ? Another tradition is to the effect that my great-great- grandfather received a letter from the old country telling him of a legacy left him there, and that he promptly tore up the 163 the letter, saying, " I do not want my children to inherit any money. I want them to work for their living." GeBMANT vs. HoLIiAND. I was much surprised to read the letter of my great-uncle Samuel M. Boss, on page 19 of your work, especially where he says, " I do not think we are related, as my family came from Germany and yours from Holland." While it is true the older generation should be better informed than the yoimger, it is possible that the former may have been mistaken; for in nothing that I have read concerning this matter do I find any mention of Germany, save a note of the arrival of a ship from Hamburg. Even this one exception may have arisen from the fact that Hamburg was the last European port the vessel stopped at before sailing to America. I think the term " Dutchman " is confusing and mislead- ing. In our loose manner of speech we apply it to Germans as well as to Hollanders. It is possible my great-vmcle had an aversion to being called Holland Dutch, or Low Dutch, as it is sometimes termed even now. I find some people who say, when questioned, "Oh, no, I am not Dutch; I am Ger- man. Where I came from there are no Dutch." I shall continue to believe that the family is of Dutch ori- gin until I find some better proof to the contrary. In the Abmy and Navy. The Official Register of Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Revolution, by Stryker, gives the following : Abram Boss, private, Hunterdon County Militia, Revolu- tionary War. Joseph Boss, private, State troops, Revolutionary War. From Records of Connecticut Men in the Revolution and War of 1812, issued from the Adjutant-General's Office, 1889: Gideon W. Boss, private, Connecticut Militia. Period of service, August 13, 1813, to September 16, 1813. 164 From the " Civil and Military List of Rhode Island, 1647- 1800," compiled from the records by Joseph Jenks Smith, and published at Providence, in 1900, by Preston & Rounds Co.: Peter Boss, Ensign, Third North Kingstown Company, Militia of Newport County, May, 1731, and again in May of the succeeding year. Captain Caleb Boss, Sealer of Duck, May, 1732, (The author does not explain the meaning of " sealer of duck," but I imagine the Captain was an inspector of canvas or duck, and stamped it to show its quality. ) WilUam Boss, Ensign, Westerly County Company, 1732* June, 1758, John Boss was Chaplain and Surgeon's Mate, and on a subsequent page John Boss is named as Captain of the Third Company, West Greenwich. Joseph Boss, Ensign, First Regiment, Newport County Fourth Company, June, 1785» On a subsequent page he is mentioned as Captain of this company, and in June, 1794, he is still holding the title .» Peter Boss, Lieutenant, Charlestown, August, 1774. Benjamin Boss Jr., First Lieutenant, Scituate Light Infan- try; afterward Captain of Scituate Hunters, February, 1791» to May, 1794. Joseph Boss Jr., Captain Fourth Company of Newpor* and Bristol Brigade, May, 1792, to 1797, Joseph Boss Jr., Ensign, 1796; also. May, 1797, Artil- lery of Newport. [The difference in rank would indicate that these were two different men.] Joseph Boss Jr., Second Major, February, 1798, to June, 1799, First Regiment Newport County, From "New York in the Revolution, and Colony and State," records arranged by James A. Roberts, Comptroller, I get the following: Jeremiah Boss, private. Van Rensselaer Regiment, Niles Company, New York State. 165 Heinrich Boss, Tryon County Associated Exempts. Joseph Boss, private. First Regiment. William Boss, Duchess County Militia (Land Bounty Rights). From Archives of Maryland, Muster Rolls and other rec- ords of service of Maryland troops in the Revolutionary War, published by authority of the State under the direction of the Maryland Historical Society, 1900, I get the following: October 13, 1781, the following received from Robert Denny such sums as were due them : Christian Boss, and others, enlisted Fifth Regiment Ma- ryland, August 23, 1781, for period of war; was in the service November, 1783. From " Citizen Soldiers Who Served at Battle of North Point and Fort McHenry, September 12 and 13, 1814," pub- Hshed by N. HJickman, Baltimore, 1858 : George Boss, private, Eagle ArtUlery; George J. Brown, Captain. John Boss, private, Sixth Regiment Maryland Militia; Thomas Shepard, Captain. From Hammersly's Army and Navy Register: Hiram Boss, of Massachusetts, cadet in Military Acad- emy, 1818. Edward Boss appointed Lieutenant in the Navy, June 27, 1799. Joseph Boss appointed Midshipman March 2, 1799. From " Census of Pensioners," published by the United States Government: Ben Boss, born in 1757, living in Rhode Island, 1840, aged 83. Sarah Boss, born 1758, living in Newport County, R. I., 1840, aged 82. James Boss, living with Jane Boss, in Dinwiddle County, Va., 1840; bom 1760; aged 80. 166 In the Historical Register of the Officers of the Continen- tal Army, War of the Revolution, April, 1775-December, 1883, by F. B. Heitman, published in Washington in 1893, is the following record of one George Boss, " also called Bush," of Pennsylvania : Captain of Hartley's additional regiment January 13, 1777; regiment designated Eleventh Pennsylvania December 17, 1777; transferred to Sixth Pennsylvania January 17, 1781; transferred to Third Pennsylvania January, 1783, and served to close of war. From the War Department I have the record of another George Boss from Pennsylvania, as follows : George Boss served as an Ensign, Adjutant and Lieuten- ant in the Fourth Pennsylvania Regiment, Revolutionary War. He was cormnissioned Ensign June 2, 1778; his name is borne with rank of Lieutenant on a Ust dated August 17, 1780, in a book compiled from the records of the organization mentioned, under the head of " State of Pennsylvania against the United States for Depreciation of Pay of the Army." The "Archives of Pennsylvania " give the name of Daniel C. Boss of Allegheny County, Pa., private Pennsylvania Mili- tia; pensioner May 13, 1820; died June 7, 1828. The following is my grandfather's war record, as obtained from the War Department: It is shown by the records that one Abraham Boss served as a private in Captain Martin Kitz- miUer's company, Fifty-seventh Regiment (masons and miners) Virginia Militia, in the service at Baltimore, War of 1812. His name appears on the records of that organization, covering the period from August 23 to September 23, 1814, with remarks: "Commencement of service, August 23, 1814; expiration of service, September 16, 1814; term of service, 26 days." As the British entered Washington on August 24th, it is evident that my grandfather came to the defense of this city; and when the Americans were routed he and his company went to Baltimore, 167 Md., and were engaged in the battle of North Point and the bombardment of Fort McHenry. In PennsyiiVania. From the " Archives of Pennsylvania " I glean the fol- lowing : Thomas Boss, freeman, Chester County, Pa., 1779. Adam Boss, freeman, Lancaster County, Pa., 1779. Jacob Boss, Lancaster County, 1782, 2 cattle, tax 18s. 9d. John and James Boss each had 400 acres surveyed in Northumberland County, Pa., March 15, 1794. John and Michael Boss were residents of Chester County, 1766-67. Mathias Boss owned 159 acres, 3 horses, 5 cattle, in Co- dorus Township, York County, 1781; tax, £2.10.6. John Boss owned 150 acres in York County, 1780. Joseph Boss, resident of Philadelphia, 1782. Nicholas Boss, in Mahauoy Township, Northumberland County, in 1782 owned 50 acres, 2 horses, 2 cattle, 2 sheep; tax, £2.10.5. In 1783 he owned 100 acres, 1 horse, 1 cattle; tax, £7.9. Friedrich Boss married Wilhelmina Weber, in the German Reformed Church, Philadelphia, July 19, 1794. Miscellaneous Items. In looking through the Postoffice Department Bluebook for 1897, I find Charlotte K. Boss Postmistress at Boss, Logan Coimty, Ark., and Frank H. Boss Postmaster at Bossdale, Jef- ferson County, Ky. ; both of these offices have since been dis- continued. I also find C. S. Boss as Postmaster at Bossburg, Stevens County, "Washington. There are a number of people named Boss in the postal service, in different sections of the country, as postmasters, mail messengers, clerks, letter-car- riers, etc. There is a colored man in this city who goes by the name Charles Boss. There is no doubt but that, if one could trace 168 his family back, it would be found that they were slaves owned by someone of our family name in the South. In the Congressional Library, in this city, are two copies of a book written by Peter Boss, previously referred to in this letter. The title-page of one of them is as follows : NEW England's spibit of pebseoution Transmited to PENNSII.VANIA And the pretended Quaker found persecuting the true CHRISTIAN QUAKER In the T R Y A L OP Peter Boss, George Keith, Thomas Bndd and William Bradford At the sessions held at Philadelphia the Ninetli, Tenth and Twelth Days of December, 1692, giving an account of the most Arbitrary Procedure of that Court. Printed in the Year 1693. The title-page of the other copy reads nearly like the above, is described as " Licensed," is dated " Octob 19 1693," and at the foot is the following : Printed first beyond-Sea and now reprinted in London for Richard Baldwin in Warwick Lane 1693. From the Civil and MUitary List of Rhode Island, previ- ously cited: Peter Boss ajjpointed Justice of the Peace, at Westerly, R. I., May, 1735. Also same name and title at Warwick, 1736; North Kingstown, May, 1738; South Kingstown, May, 1746. John Boss, Justice of the Peace, West Greenwich, June, 1767. John L. Boss, one of a Committee on the State of Ferry Wharves, May, 1799. From " Colonial History of New York : " Jacob Boss and others were naturalized at New York in 1734, by act of Assembly. [This was requisite to make good the titles to lands bought by the EngUsh from the Dutch.] 169 In a work entitled " Painters, Sculptors, Architects and Engravers," by Clara Erskine Clement, published by James K. Osgood & Co., I find the following: Abraham Bosse, bom at Tours, 1610. He wrote a treat- ise called " La Manier de graver k L'eau forte et au Burin." He left a good number of plates, principally from his own de- signs. They are bold and masterly, etched with unusual spirit and freedom. Yours respectfully, Chakles F. Boss. Hon. Fernando Jones, of this city, who was born at Forestville, N. Y., eighty-one years ago, called on me recently. Mr. Jones is a remarkably well-pre- served man, being as active, bodily and mentally, as most men of half his years. He informed me that three families of the Joneses — not related in any way to one another — settled in or about Forestville about the same time ; but he did not tell me when. They were all from Connecticut. As a daughter of one of the Joneses, Elizabeth, married Peter F. Boss, son of my great-uncle (see page 33), one may readily guess that the families were acquainted before they settled in Western New York, and even that Uncle Peter Boss emigrated from Connecticut. Should this guess — and it is only a guess — be correct, it would connect my forebears with the New England branches of the family. November 28, 1901. I have been so long in getting this letter in type that I shall have to begin with a new date. The de- lay, however, is compensated for by the additional 170 information that I have obtained, some of which has been incorporated in the pages preceding. Mr. Charles F. Boss — who is very enthusiastic in gathering information concerning members of the Boss family — has placed me under additional obliga- tions by furnishing me with copies of the following letters, received by him : United States Post Office, Fleminqton, N. J., October 21, 1901. Mr. Charles F. Boss. Dear Sir: Your letter came duly to hand. In reply will say my father came from Ringos, N. J. His father's name was Peter Boss, and he had a brother William. I always under- stood we were of German descent. My father had three broth- ers and two sisters — Joseph P. Boss, Henry Boss, John Boss, David B. Boss, Joannah Boss. and Rebecca Boss; all are now deceased. I am sorry I do not know more about my people; but we were poor and had to work for a living, and did not pay much attention even to our own people, except to make a living. I have a brother who lives at Fairview, 111., who is older than I am, and I think he would remember more than I can. Yours truly, A. W. Boss, P. M. Stephens City, Va., October 28, 1901. Mr. Charles F. Boss. Dear Sir: My wife (who was Sarah F. Boss) received a letter from you, dated October 15th, asking for information of the Boss family. She gave it to me to answer, and I have been looking up old papers to see what I could find. I had a clipping from a Baltimore paper giving an account of George Boss, who was one of the Old Defenders, who met in Baltimore once a year; I loaned it to Mrs. Johnson in Leesburg, and it was lost. George Boss was an uncle of my wife's father, S. M. 171 Boss, so my wife thinks; her father was born in York, Pa., April 3, 1797; his parents moved to Leesburg when he was about six months old; he died in Leesburg August 24, 1872. He married Miss Elizabeth Fox, of Leesburg, b. February 9, 1802, d. June 30, 1874. Their chUdren were: Mary Rebecca, b. October 10, 1820, living; m. Charles A. Johnson, dead. Gamaliel Fox, b. December 31, 1822, d. when a boy. Margaret Ann, b. October 22, 1824, dead; m. William Cline, dead. Martena Kilgore, b. August 17, 1828, dead; m. Edmond Benedum, living. Lydia Gibson, b. September 17, 1828, dead; m. Benjamin Franklin Hough, dead. Sarah Foley, b. March 10, 1830, Hving; m. Thomas WiU" iam McArtor (writer of this letter), living. Caroline Eliza, b, April 25, 1832; d. unmarried. Elizabeth Jane, b. October 4, 1834, dead; m. Samuel N. Hirst, unknown. Virginia Alexander, b. February 7, 1838, living ; m. John M. GaUeher, dead. Juha Wilson, b. August 15, 1840, living; m. Silas W. Wright, d. July 8, 1896. James Peter, b. April 10, 1843, unmarried; killed in battle at Gettysburg, July 3, 1863. I can not give you the dates of the deaths of the above, as the family record was burned in the house of J. Dennis Dunn, near Alexandria, Va., about three years ago. He mar- ried Mabel C. Wright, a daughter of Julia W. (Boss) Wright. Grandfather Peter Boss moved from York, Pa., to Lees- burg, Va., in 1797. He was a baker; dates of birth and death unknown to me. His wife's name was Rebecca; dates unknown. They were both buried in the old stone M. E. church yard in Leesburg; no tombstones. In the Genius of Liberty, pubUshed at Leesburg, under date of July 24, 1829, appeared this notice: "At the County 172 Court of Loudon, held June 12, 1829, Lydia Boss, John Ean- dolph Boss, Peter Gibson Boss, Lydia Louisa Boss, Margaret Eliza Boss and EHzabeth Fox Boss, plaintiffs," in a suit versus Samuel M. Boss and Peter Boss, and it was stated that Peter Boss was not an inhabitant of this country. Neither my wife nor her sister, Mrs. Julia W. Wright, knows anything about the above-named persons, some of whose names are very simi- lar to S. M. Boss' family names. In the American Mamifacturer dated June 19, 1841, published at Pittsburg, Pa., mention is made of Daniel 0. Boss, a member of the Pittsburg Blues, wounded in battle at Fort Meigs, May 5, 1813. I was in Mechanicsburg, Pa., about twelve years ago, and saw the name Boss over the door of a photographer. I went in and had a long talk with him. I, as well as he, was con- vinced that he belonged to the same family. He was much like S. M. Boss in his quick movements. I do not remember his given name. EespectfuUy yours, T. W. McAktor. I have received the following interesting letter from Mr. Homer B. Boss, of Binghamton, situated in southern central New York. It was written at the instance of my only surviving brother, my younger brother having died in infancy, a few days previous to the death of my father : Binghamton, N. Y., November 10, 1900. Mr. Henry R. Boss. My Dear Sir: I received a letter, a few days ago, from William E. Boss, Bath, N. Y., requesting my aid in helping to get statistics of the Boss family. I fortunately have a record back as far as my great-grandfather, which I gladly furnish you. It is as foUows: Phihp Boss, b. January 29, 1743, d. March 10, 1807; m. 173 Dorcas James, b. May 16, 1746, d. February 16, 1825. I have no knowledge of brothers or sisters. Children of above : John Boss, b. October 15, 1770, d. March 8, 1836; m. Elizabeth Stanton, b. June 2, 1771, d. December 17, 1824. I have no knowledge of brothers or sisters. Children of above: Philip Boss, b. February 14, 1795; d. April 30, 1879. Electa Boss, b. September 29, 1797; d. March 24, 1879. Ela W. Boss, b. June 11, 1800; d. December 15, 1882. John Boss Jr., b. August 14, 1802; d. September 2, 1855. Benjamin B. Boss, b. April 30, 1805; d. December 8, 1826. Eason Boss, b. September 8, 1807; d. December 5, 1851. Alfred Boss, b. April 29, 1810; d. November 4, 1864. Bradley Boss, b. June 14, 1812; now living at Kennedy, Chautauqua County, N. Y. Wniiam H, Boss, b. June 12, 1814; d. October 21, 1834. Eliza V. Boss, b. November 6, 1818; d. August 15, 1891. Children of Ela W. Boss, whose wife was Louisa Butler, b. February 23, 1802; d. February 3, 1895: Almira Eliz. Boss, b. August 11, 1822; d. October 19, 1823. Sally Jane Boss, b. June 8, 1824; d. August 25, 1857. Henry W. Boss, b. August 16, 1827; now living at Bing- hamton, N. Y. Helen M. Boss, b. January 1, 1832; now Mrs. Holladay, living at Fabius, N. Y. John Boss, b. March 14, 1834; d. March 7, 1835. Homer B. Boss, b. February 14, 1836; now living at Binghamton, N. Y. Louisa M. Boss, b. June 10, 1838; now Mrs. Larrabee, hving at Binghamton, N. Y. Francis E. Boss, b. September 11, 1840; d. September 18, 1846. Morris E. Boss, b. April 8, 1843; d. June 14, 1900. 174 Charles W. Boss, b. April 7, 1845; now living at Bing- hamton, N. Y. The only male child living of above family (the children of Ela W. Boss) is Harry W. Boss, son of Charles W. Boss, born, I think, in 1869. I have reason to believe your great-grandfather, William Boss, and my great-grandfather might have been brothers. My father was born in Herkimer County, this State, in 1800. He lived in Orleans County in 1825. We are all, no doubt, from the same ancestors. There are a few Bosses in New York City ; one or two in Buffalo. We — my brothers and sisters — are all there are in this part of the country. There is a family in Providence, E. I., one of whom has been here; they manufac- ture the "Boss Axle Washer." Yours very truly, Homek B. Boss. Your fotograf came duly to hand, and I have had it reproduced in halftone for publication in this work. It has a decided " Boss look " about it ; indeed, when I handed it to my wife for her inspection, she at once said, "Why, that looks like the Bosses." There is something about your face, especially the upper part of it, which calls up a mental composit picture of our family ; that is, a curve here reminds of one member, while another curve there recalls a vision of another member. Not that all the Bosses we know look alike ; quite the contrary. Some have had full, round faces ; some have been square- jawed, while others have been very spare in feature. But there is an undefinable something about a number of the members of the family which marks them as belonging to the same race. Possibly, if we had accurate fotografs of repre- sentatives of the various generations existing from 175 the time of the adoption of the surname, we might be able to trace a family Kkeness thru all of them, even the it be true, as the ethnologists tell us, that climatic and other influences make great changes in racial characteristics. I have been surprised, while making researches concerning the Boss Family, to learn how numerous are the bearers of the name and how widely they are spread in the various States of the Union. One can hardly look in the directory of an important town in the country without finding recorded there the names of a greater or less number of the Bosses. Our sur- prise is diminished, however, when we observe the large families which some of our name have been the progenitors of. The few lists which I have given in this work show much more than the average number of children in a family. If this volume meets with the reception that I think it deserves, so that I may be enabled to get out one or more additional volumes, I hope to include in it or them many more like lists. The christian names in the lists above referred to fail to show any markt similarity among those in the different branches of the family in this country ; but that does not necessarily indicate lack of relationship between them. The "good old Scotch custom" that you refer to on page 23 has had little vogue in this country. In many cases that have come under my observation names have been conferred upon children in honor of friends of the family, or of distinguisht individuals, rather than members of their own fami- 176 lies. As an illustration of the differences in christian names, see the lists of children of my grandfather and my great-uncle and those given by Mr. George E. Boss, of Milton, Wis., and Mr. Homer B. Boss, of Binghamton, N. Y. Miss Jennie H. Boss, of Forestville, N. Y., writes me concerning the children of her great-grandfather, Peter Boss, and gives me the following list of them. I do not tliink this list is as reliable as that given on pages 33 and 34, for it makes no mention of Maria (Boss) Willoughby, whom I knew when I was a very young boy. The addition of the name of William Boss is undoubtedly correct : Elijah [Eliza?] Boss, b. March 28, 1791. Polly Boss, b. June 11, 1794. Isaac Boss, b. September 4, 1797. Ebenezer Boss, b. November 7, 1799. Amy Boss, b. January 20, 1802. Peter F. Boss, b. July 4, 1804. George W. Boss, b. July 4, 1806; m. Maryette Green, b. June 31, 1813. Alvin Boss, b. May 20, 1808. William Boss, b. January 4, 1811; d. when young. Children of George W. and Maryette Boss : Marjorie Boss, b. February 22, 1834; now Mrs. Merritt Stillson, Irving, Mich. Ann Boss, b. June 5, 1836. Edgar Boss, b. August 5, 1839; m. Hester Snow, b. Au- gust 17, 1839. Margaret Boss, b. December 3, 1842. Hattie Boss, b. April 12, 1845; now Mrs. Hattie Town, Hamlet, N. Y. 177 Mariah Boss, b. July 23, 1847. EUzabeth Boss, b. May 7, 1849. G. Emery Boss, b. June 23, 1856; d. when he was abou five years old. Children of Edgar and Hester Boss : Arthur S. Boss, b. April 17, 1861. George S. Boss, b. June 15, 1863. Carrie Boss Dennison, b. August 24, 1866. Samuel Boss, b. November 16, 1869. Mary Boss Tenny, b. April 16, 1874, Jennie H. Boss, b, December 10, 1878. In sending me a fotograf of the late Samuel M. Boss, reproduced in this book, Mr. T. W. McArtor writes from Stephens City, Va., as follows : I will give you an account of how I came to have his foto. The family had often tried to get him to have it taken, but he never had time or patience to sit still that long, so I went to a fotograf er (who was a new beginner at the busi- ness), and told him to have everything ready and I would get Mr. Boss to come in. After a good deal of persuasion I got him there, and when the artist saw the picture he said it was not very good and he would take another. After Mr. B. had gone home I told the artist not to destroy this one until we got another; but I never could get him to go again, and this is the only picture of him that was ever taken. Do not take the dark spot on the chin for a goatee; he never wore a beard or a mustache. Samuel M. Boss was the quickest man, in all his move- ments, you ever saw, and his children inherit this trait. My wife, who will be seventy-two next 10th of March, walks off as briskly as a young girl. A few years ago I was in Mechanicsburg, Pa. I saw the name Boss over a foto gallery. I went in and talked with the artist. I knew from his quick movements that he was a Boss. 178 He had a relative named Peter; it seems to be a family name. In appearance this Mechanicsburg man favors you, to the best of my recollection of him; it has been about thirteen years since I saw him. Tho I have strenuously endeavored to keep this book free from typografical errors, I find that two have crept in. On page 46, first line of last paragraf, "Poece" appears for"Boece." On page 66, under ** South Kingstown, K. I.," the first date given should be 1745 instead of 1845. Possibly there are other errors ; but I have not been able to find them. As I am concluding this letter I am learning of several sources from which I hope, sometime, to get information of much value and interest. If my pecu- niary circumstances would permit I would extend this volume considerably beyond its present limits. I am compelled, however, to close up with this letter, hoping that what is here printed may awaken a wider and deeper interest in the matter, so that, in the near future, I may be enabled to extend the work to two or more volumes, and thus preserve an authentic and nearly complete record of the Boss Family. The portraits given herewith will give opportunity for comparison and study. I tried to obtain more of them, but was unable to do so. Trusting that our labors are not yet completed, and that life and health may be spared for us to do much more in this direction, I am Yours very truly, Henry K. Boss. INDEX. Absolving the Bxcommunlcants 133 Albany County, N. Y., Genealogies 109 Allegiance, Oatli of U6, 117 "American Ancestry" 21 American Descendants of Edward Boss 157, 159 Armorial Bearings 17, 28, 74, 75, 77, 104, 105, 134, 135, 136, 138, 140, 141, 152 Army and Navy, In the 163 Army and Navy Register 165 Arnotts and Abercrombies 150 "As long as grass grows and water runs".. 20, 22, 36, 42, 43, 121, 124 Austin's Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island 55 Autograf of David Boss 25 Autograf of William Boss 125 Autograf of William G. Boss 115 Avery, Miss Marie S 20, 22, 111, 156 Avery, Mrs. Mary, Letter from 156 Baas 156 "Baas," Dutch for Boss 156 Bain's Calendar of Documents 72 Ball, Rev. Eliphalet 34 Ballston Spa 34 Bass 47 Bass vs. Boss 113 Battle of North Point and Fort McHenry 165 Beavill 134 Bellenden, Translator of Hector Boles' Chronicles 71 Beovill 134 Berry Armorial de France 29 Biville and Boville 126 Blackwood 104 Boas 14, 46, 81, 83, 97 Boaz 83 Bocche, Hew, "Grandschir to Maister Hector Boece" 17 Boece, Hector, Chronicles of Scotland 17, 28 Boece, Hector— See Boies or Bois, Hector. Boes 46, 82, 83 Boethius. Hector 71 Boice 14, SI 180 Boies or Bols, Hector 28, 45, 46, 71, 81, 82, 85 Boies 46 Boies', Hector, Chronicles 71 Bois 27, 119. 126 Bois Acre 103 Bois, Extinction of 97 Bois Glani 30 Bois, Humfrey del 86 Bois, the Sire de 7 Bois, Walter 30 Bols, William de— Clerk, Bishop, Lord Chancellor 86 Boisi, lie de France 30 Boises of Dryfsdale 30 Bolss 14, 47 Boist 16 Bolull 142 Boos 82 Boosle 83 Boost 16 Bos 13, 14, 16, 38, 39, 45, 56, 70, 80, 97, 109, 110, 111 Bos (Bosch), Cornells Teunise 109 Bos (Bosch), Gysbert 110 Bos, Jan Wlllemsen 38 Bos, Jerome, Lewis Jansen and Gasper Vanden 118 Bos, John, in County of Fife 13 Bos, Lambert Van den 117 Bos, Pleter Cornelisen 110 Bos, Pieter Janse lift Bosch 39, 44, 56, 70 Boseville 151 Boseuill, or Bosuile 129 Boss 46, 83 Boss, Bossburg and Bossdale Postoffices 167 Boss and Bass 151 Boss, a Good Dutch Word 11 Boss, an English term 18 Boss, Andrew J 31, 41 Boss, Abraham, Military Record of 166 Boss, A. W., Letter from 170 Boss, Charles F 159 Boss, Charles F., Letter from 161 Boss, Charles F., Letters to 170 Boss' Corner 120 Boss, C. S., of Bossburg, Letter from 159, 160 Boss, Daniel W 19 Boss, Definitions of 155, 156 Boss, Earliest Mention of in County of Fife 13 Boss, David 23, 24, 25, 32 Boss, Edward 21, 39, 66, 70, 157 181 Boss, Edward, American Descendants of 159 Boss, Edward, Some Particulars Concerning 55 Boss, Edgar and Hester, Children of 177 Boss, Ela W., Children of 173 Boss, Etymology of 156 Boss, George R., Dutch Ancestors of 157 Boss, George R., Letter from 157 Boss, George R., Portrait of Facing page 72 Boss, George W., and Maryette, Children of 176 Boss, Henry, of Hunterdon, N. J 106, 108 Boss Family Numerous and Widely Spread 178 Boss, Henry Ball 32 Boss, Henry R., Ancestry 11 Boss, Henry R., Portrait Facing page 24 Boss, Henry R., to William Graham Boss 10, IS, 31, 49, 105, 153 Boss, Homer B., Letter from 172 Boss, Hiram 32, 36, 40 Boss, Honas 68, 106, 108 Boss, James, of Scotland 44 Boss, Janet, Oswego, N. Y 15, 16 Boss, Miss Jennie H., Letter from 176 Boss, Captain John George, R. N 25, 151, 152 Boss, John L., Jr., M. C 66 Boss, Joseph, from Newport, R. 1 158 Boss, Joseph, Royalist 38 Boss, Leah (Storms), Portrait Facing page 40 Boss, Lewis, Albany, N. Y 21 Boss, Matthew, a Jew, in London 15 Boss, Meaning of 11, 12, 15, 18 Boss, Robert P 39, 40, 49, 66, 69 Boss, Peter, Book by 166, 168 Boss, Peter and Catherine, Children of 33, 176 Boss, Peter, of Forestville 20, 32, 33, 34, 156, 157, 176 Boss, Peter, Commander "Three Brothers" 16, 20, 27 Boss, Philip, Children of 173 Boss, SaUy, Wife of M. S. Wilkinson 116 Boss, S. M., Leesburg, Va., Letter from 19 Boss, Samuel M 170, 171, 172, 177 Boss, Samuel M., Portrait Facing page 56 Boss, Sylvia 11, 26, 41 Boss, William 11, 23 Boss, William, Autograf of 125 Boss, William, Newport, Children of 158 Boss, William, father of William Gamer Boss 11, 23 Boss, William, son of William G 32 Boss, William G., Autograf of U5 Boss, William G. and Leah, Children of 32 Boss, WilUam Garner 11, 32, 36, 40 Boss, William Graham, Ancestry 14 182 Boss, William Graham, Nativity lo Boss, William Graham, Portrait Facing page 8 Boss, William Graham, Postal-Card from 9 Boss, William Graham, to Henry R. Boss 12, 16, 22, 41, 69, 119 Bossch, Jan j^l Bosse ]j^9 Bosse, Dr. Julius Robert I60 Bosses Who Were Sailors 24, 25 Bossall 152 Bosswell j^23 Bosseuyll 143 Bosseuilla, Pagani de 127 Boswell's Lands 145 145 Boswel or Bosswell 121 Boswel, Robin, in South of Scotland 149 Boswells of Balmuto 125 Bos well 28, 45, 96, 125, 126, 127, 130, 146, 147, 150, 151, 152 Bosse Island 151 Bosswell, David, "The Laird" 122 Best 16, 80, 97 Bousie 43, 47 Bovill 134, 135 Bowes 46, 83, 97, 108 Bowhouse 83 Bowls 82 Bows 82 Bowse 16, 43, 80, 103 Bowsie 43, 47, 81, 83 Bowosye 81 Bowsy 81 Boyce 47, 151 Boyes 14, 47, 81, 83 Boy-es 47 Boyis 28, 45 Boyl 137 Boyle 137, 139 Boyll 137 Boys 16, 47, 70, 79, 119, 120 Boys, Alexander 16 Boys' Croft 27, 30 Boys, David 16 Boys, John and Thomas 45 Boyse and Boyes in Norfolk and Wesford 112 Boysfleld, Boysfeld, Boysfelld, Boyisfeld, Bosfeld, Bossfleld.... 120 Boysis, lez 28 Boyss 47 Boyuil 137 Boyuills or Bosseuylls 142 Boyvil 131, 137 183 "British Family Names" 21 Brown's (Goold) Grammar U^4 Bruce Family 29 Bruces lords of Annandale 30 Brus, Robert de 72 Buist 43, 83 BuJe 137, 139 Bullyn 137 Burton's (Hill) History of Scotland 27 Century Dictionary 155, 156 Cliange from Bosswell to Boss 122 Changes in Family Name 154 Christian Names 85, 87, 96, 175 Christian Names— William, Alexander, David, Andrew, James, John 16, 31 Chronicles of Scotland....^ 17 Church Connections , 26, 36 Clarkson, N. Y., a Mystery Concerning .' U4 "Clinton Papers" 38 Colbeck, R. A., Letter from 113 Continental Army, Officers of 166 Connecticut Men in the Wars 163 Crusaders 74, 75 De, Del and Du 78-80 de Bevill, de Boevill, de Bovile 126 de Beville 131 de Boiuil, David 129 de Boiuill 138 de Bois 14 de Bois, Sir Andrew, Lord of Redcastl^ 77 de Boisi, or Boissy 29, 30 de Bois-ville 96 de Boivil 133 de Boivilla 131 de Bos, or Bosville, Alexander 144 de Boscho 14 de Bosco 14 de Bosuile 132 de Boseville 136, 137 de Boseville, Walter 147, 148 de Boseville, William 144, 145 de Boseville, William, Burgess of Roxburgh 143 de Bovile 131 de Bovill 134 de Bovyll 131 de Boyes 14 de Boys 42 de Boys, David 16 de Boys, Henry 16 de Boys, William 16 184 de Boy vile 140, 142 de Boyvlll, William, Excommunicated 133 de Boyville 130, 131, 135, 136, 137, 138 de Bruis, Sire 73 Deeds, Early, in New Jersey 107, 108 Definitions of the Term Boss 155 del Bois, Walter 30 del Boys, Humfrey 72 Derivation of "Boss" 155 Difl3culties in Getting Information 153 Du Bois 64 du Bois 75, 76 Dubois 64 du Boy 64 Donations to Kelso Abbey 127 Douglas, Sir Robert, Baronage of Scotland 125 Dryburgh Abbey, Donations to 144 Dryfsdale, Barons of 17 Dryfsdale House, Tbe 82 Dutch or German Origin of the Name 119 Dutch Settlement in New Jersey 107 Dutch the Language of the New Jersey Bosses 108 Dutch Words in America 155 Early Scotch Chronicles 27 East Kilbride, History of 120 Errata 178 Error Corrected 18, 19 Essex, County of, England 151 Etymology of "Boss" 156 Exchequer Rolls 149 Family Arms 17, 28, 29, 30 Family Characteristics 14, 35 Family Records 32, 33 Family Resemblances 174 Fiction, the Name in 97 "Foreigners" in ColonLal Times 116 Foreigners Imported 117, 150 Freemasons 26, 160 Freemasons, Saint John's Lodge, Dumfermline 26, 49 French Origin of the Name 27, 29 Garner, Was it a part of William G. Boss' Name? '. 109 Germany vs. Holland 163 Good Old Scotch Custom 23, 31, 175 Gray, Sir Thomas 27 Hamilton, Dr. A., Letter from 154 Hanover Lodge, F. & A. M 160 Heraldic Bearings 13S, 140,141 Hervey, Sydenham Ha., Letter from 113 Home or Hume, Town of 146, 147 185 Hunterdon, N. J., Bosses in lOg Indifference of Correspondents 106 Influences on the Name 70, 71 International Dictionary 155 Jackson, Amy Boss 20, 157 Jones, Hon. Fernando 169 Kelso Abbey 127, 128, 132, 145, 146 King David 72, 127, 129 King Richard the First 75 King William the Lion 27, 72, 96, 127 Knox, John 18 Lairds of Balmuto 122, 123 Lands Bought of the Indians 157 Large Families 175 Larison, Dr 119 Larison, Dr. C. W., Letters from 67, lOS Leslies, The 130 Lerington Family 131 Lindsay, Sir David 28 Linscom or Liscom? 157 Lords of Annandale 72 Marriage Licenses in the Province of New York 36 Maryland, Muster Rolls and other Records 165 Masonic Connections 40, 160 Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the Revolution 67 McArtor, T. W., Letters from 170, 177 Mechanicsburg, Pa 172, 177 Miscellaneous Items 167 Mohawk Dutch 20 Mohawk Valley, Settlers in 44, 157 Monosyllabic Forms 47 Mouat, Andrew J 40 Name, The, Charles F. Boss on 161 Narragansett Historical Register 65 Nativity, Proud of Their 108 Newell, Mrs. Annie (Boss) 33 New Amsterdam, Records of 110 New Jersey, Ofl3cers and Men in the Revolution 163 New Netherlands, Early Immigrants to Ill New York, Colonial History of 168 New York in the Revolution 164 Nicol, Jean ,.... 40 Nisbet, the Herald 130, 142,146 Norman Adventurers, Descendants of 126 Norman Conquest 27 Norman French 96 Norman French Bearers of the Name 83 Normans in Scotland 86 Normandy, the Bois Family in 73 186 Normandy, the Bruce Fief in 73 Old Smithfleld (Conn.) Records 65 Origin of this Correspondence 3, 9 "Original Lists of Persons of Quality," etc , 20 Origin of the Name in Scotland 121 Old Dutch Church at Kingston, Register of 56, 154 Old Dutch Church in New York 18 Painters, Sculptors, etc 169 Panbrlde Branch, Arms of 17 Panbride Family, The 17, 45, 46 Pennsylvania Archives 116, 166 Pennsylvania, Bosses in 167 Pensioners, Census of 165 Pensioners, Revolutionary 67 Peter the Great 155 Pious Customs 127 Postal Facilities in Early Days 154 Prisoners of War 147, 148 Pronunciation of the Name 45, 47, 49 Prophecy of Sybilla and Eltnain 139 Provost Pawkie 98, 102 Quakers 69 Ragman Roll 135, 145 Religious Connections 26, 36 Rhode Island, Civil and Military List of 164, 168 Richmond Family 66 Richmond (R. I.) Town Records 65 Roman Roads 131, 132 Rose's Biographical Dictionary 117 Saint Boisel 149 Saint Boswell's 149 Scotch in Holland and other European Countries 13 Scotch Names of Seamen 150 Scots Armorial 28 Significations of the Name U, 15, 48, 49 Smith, Sidney 160 Spelling of the Name 38, 45, 128 Spread of the Name in Scotland 84, 85 Stapleton, Rev. A 116 Storms, Catherine 32 Storms, Leah, Catherine, etc 32, 33 Strong, Elise A., Letter from 112 Surnames, First Use of 86 Surnames, One of the Oldest on Record 86 Swift, Mrs. Betsey (Jackson) 20, 35 Taxes for the Crusades 133 Ter Bos ... Ter Bosch Terbosch . 64 64 154 187 The Name, Boss 161 Theories Concerning Family Name 154 The Prefix "De" 73 Three Brothers, Navigators 20, 24 The "Three Brothers" 21, 150, 162 Toronto, Canada, No Bosses in 155 Town Drummer, The 98, 102 Tradition Kept Alive 124 Traditions 34, d5, 162 Tum-Bouils 142 Turnbull 154 Turnbull or Tomebule 140, 141 Turner, James W 4, 9 Valentine's History of New York Ill Van der Bos, Jacob Will 112 van Laer, Arnold J. F., Letter from 37, 38 Vajiations in Spelling 47, 79 Variations in the Name 71 Various Forms of the Name 78, 79 Vinsauf, Geoffrey de 75 War Department Record 166 Watt, Agnes 26, 40 Why this Volume is not Extended , 178 Wilkinson, Morton Smith 116 Wilkinson, Susannah 39 Wood, a Translation of Bois 104 i