Bill/Bills Family

Generation 1

The name of our first ancestor in the Bill/Bills line is unknown. He had at least two children:
  1. John Bill
  2. William Bill

Generation 2

John Bill was born 1576 at Much Wenlock, Shropshire, England and died after 1639, probably at London, England. He was buried at St. Anne's, Blackfriars, London, England. He followed the occupation of Publisher 1607-1639 and was Publisher to King James I of England in 1613. He married first to Anne Mountford, daughter of Thomas Mountford, D.D.  She was born 1587 or 1588 in England and died 3 May 1621 probably at London, England. She was buried at St. Faith's under St. Paul's, London, England. She was highly educated for her time and was the author of "Mirror of Modestie" published in London in 1621. John Bill married second to Joan Franklin.

Child of John Bill and Anne Mountford:

  1. John Bill
Children of John Bill and Joan Franklin:
  1. Anne Bill
  2. Charles Bill
  3. Henry Bill
  4. Mary Bill

Generation 3

John Bill was born in England and died December 1638 at Boston, MA. He married Dorothy Tuttle at England. She was also born in England. For information on her ancestry see the Tuttle Family. They resided at Boston, MA in 1635. They had the following children:
  1. James Bill
  2. Thomas Bill
  3. Philip Bill
  4. John Bill
  5. Mary Bill

Generation 4

Philip Bill was born c1620 at England and died 8 July 1689 at New London, New London Co., CT. He married Hannah Waite. She died 1709. She married second to Samuel Bucknall 1696. He died 1700. Children of Philip Bill and Hannah Waite:
  1. Elizabeth Bill
  2. Sgt. Philip Bill
  3. Mary Bill
  4. Margaret Bill
  5. Samuel Bill
  6. John Bill
  7. Jonathan Bill
  8. Joshua Bill

Generation 5

Joshua Bill was born 6 October 1675 in the part of New London which later became Groton and is now in Ledyard, New London Co., CT and died c26 September 1735. He was baptised 29 March 1676. His occupation was Blacksmith. He married first to Joanna Potts 1 November 1699. She was born May 1679 and died 3 November 1718 at New London, New London Co., CT. He married second to Hannah Swodel 4 October 1719 at Groton, New London Co. CT. She was born December 1697. For information on her ancestry see the Swodel Family.

Children of Joshua Bill and Joanna Potts:

  1. an unnamed son
  2. Joshua Bill
  3. Edward Bill
  4. Benajah Bill
  5. Mary Bill
Children of Joshua Bill and Hannah Swodel:
  1. Phineas Bill
  2. Naomi Bill
  3. Orpah Bill
  4. Hannah Bill
  5. Sarah Bill
  6. Esther Bill
  7. Joanna Bill
  8. Phebe Bill

Generation 6

Phineas Bill was born 3 September 1720 in the part of Groton that is now Ledyard, New London Co., CT and died there February 1780. He was a Cooper by occupation. He married Mehitable Woodworth. She was born c1723 and died July 1813 at Groton (now Ledyard), New London Co., CT. Both are buried at Ledyard, CT. They had the following children:
  1. Mary Bill
  2. Mehitable Bill
  3. _____ Bill
  4. Phineas Bill
  5. Benajah Bill
  6. Joshua Bill
  7. Gurdon Bill
  8. Avery Bill

Generation 7

Joshua Bill was born 14 May 1762 in the part of Groton that is now Ledyard, New London Co., CT and died 20 December 1841 at Ledyard, New London Co., CT. He was a Cooper and a veteran of the American Revolutionary War. He married Abigail Miner. She was born 15 December 1759 and died 14 February 1839. She was the daughter of Nathaniel Miner, a Revolutionary War Veteran, and Ann Denison. Both are buried in the Bill Cemetery at Ledyard, CT. They had the following children:
  1. Gurdon Bill
  2. Sabrina Bill
  3. Sarah Bill
  4. Phineas Bill
  5. Abigail Bill
  6. Betsey Bill
  7. Fanny Bill
  8. Avery Bill
  9. Nancy Bill

Generation 8

Sgt. Phineas Bill was born 16 September 1789 in the part of Groton that is now Ledyard, New London Co., CT and was murdered 19 December 1839 at Assumption Parish, LA. He was a Cooper and a veteran of the War of 1812. He was buried at Assumptin Parish, LA. He married Fanny Gallup 23 November 1817 at Groton, New London Co., CT. She was born 13 December 1787 at Groton, New London Co., CT and died 28 October 1878 at Staten Island, Richmond Co., NY. For information on her ancestry see the Gallup Family. They removed to Norwich, CT in 1830 and to Sag Harbor, NY in 1835. They had the following children:
  1. Sabrina Taylor Bill
  2. Frank Wesley Bill
  3. Abby Bill
  4. Edwin Bill
  5. Erastus Denison Bill/Bills
  6. Adelia A. Bill
  7. Mary F. Bill
  8. Phineas Bill, Jr.

Generation 9

Erastus Denison Bill/Bills (aka Barclay) was born 13 May 1826 at Groton, New London Co., CT and died 23 December 1905 at Sheffield, Bureau Co., IL. He went to sea as a young man serving first as crewman and harpooner aboard the Citizen 1843-1847. He also served as second officer aboard the Hannah Sprague (New York to San Francisco, CA) May 1849, first officer aboard the Sarah Sheafe (San Francisco, CA to New York City) 1851 and aboard the Ascutney (Boston, MA to Australia to Boston, MA) 1852-1854. He mined for gold in California during 1850. He married first to Eliza Jane Phillips 15 June 1854 at Lisbon, New London Co., CT. She died 1855 at Sheffield, Bureau Co., IL. He married second to Adah Mary West 1 September 1857 at Plymouth, Marshall Co., IN. She was born 3 August 1838 at Lee Center, IL and died 20 August 1921 at Sheffield, Bureau Co., IL. For information on her ancestry see the West Family. They had the following children:
  1. Emma Frances Bill
  2. Harriet Ada Bill
  3. Charles Denison Bill
  4. Laura Eva K. Bill
  5. Henry Avery Bill
  6. Albert Edwin Bill
  7. Bertha Bill
  8. Frederic Arthur Bills
  9. Fannie Louise Bill

Generation 10

Charles Denison Bill was born 1 December 1862 at Sheffield, Bureau Co., IL and died 16 August 1941 at Newburg, IA. He married Olive Thresa Keese 28 September 1892 at Green Mountain, IA. She was born 18 February 1871 at Gilman or Ferguson, Marshall Co., IA and died 21 December 1940 at Davenport, Scott Co., IA. For information on her ancestry see the Keese Family. They had the following children:
  1. Homer Keese Bill
  2. Maurice Denison Bills
  3. Mary Julia Bill
  4. Robert Wesley Bills
  5. Florence Alma Bill

Generation 11

Robert Wesley Bills was born 9 April 1900 at Sheffield, Bureau Co., IL and died 11 September 1986 at Urbana, Champaign Co., IL. He married Virginia Lanius Applegate 7 July 1928 at Second Presbyterian Church, Peoria, Peoria Co., IL. She was born 29 June 1902 at Chicago, Cook Co., IL and died 12 May 1987 at Urbana, Champaign Co., IL. For information on her ancestry see the Applegate Family. Both are buried at Roselawn Cemetery, Champaign, Champaign Co., IL. They had the following children:
  1. Mary Denison Bills
  2. Priscilla Lanius Bills

Generation 12

Mary Denison Bills married Orcutt William Frost, Jr.  For information on his ancestry see the Frost Family. They had the following children:
  1. Carol Denison Frost
  2. William Orcutt Frost
  3. Susan Marshall Frost
  4. Robert Wesley Frost

Sources

Descendants of Erastus Denison Bill and Ada Mary West Bill by Robert W. Bills, Private Printing, 1972

History of the Bill Family by Ledyard Bill, New York, 1867

Pedigree chart prepared by Don G. Olmstead

Looking Back: An Appreciation of Our Parents, Charles and Thresa Bill, and Reminiscences of Our Childhood Days by Mary Bill Smith and Robert Wesley Bills, Private Printing

Citizen: An American Boy's Early Manhood Aboard a Sag Harbor Whale-Ship Chasing Delirium and Death Around the World, 1843-1849 Being the Story of Erastus Bill who Lived to Tell It by Erastus D. Bill; O.W. Frost, Anchorage, AK 1978

New England Marriages Prior to 1700 by Clarence Almon Torrey, Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, MD 1985

Death Certificate of Robert Wesley Bills

Death Certificate of Virginia A. Bills

The Bill Memorial Library by Sharon Lee Rowland, Unpublished?, 1985

Birth Certificate of Mary Denison Bills

Marriage Certificate of Mary Denison Bills and Orcutt William Frost, Jr.

Bill History and Heritage by Helen Vergason, Ledyard Historical Society, Ledyard, CT 1975

Original Lists of Persons of Quality 1600-1700 by John Camden Hotten, Genealogical Publishing Co., Balitmore, MD 1980

Cemetery visitation to the Bill Cemetery, Ledyard, CT by Susan Frost Bennett, 11 June 1996

Portion of diary of Erastus Denison Bill

Gallup Genealogy by Darwin C. Gallup and Josephine Middleton Peck, Gallup Family Association, 1966

Return to Cathi's Genealogy Page

24 July 1999