Joseph Kitchell, Samuel Kitchell's grandfather
Notes about the
KITCHELL family
As published in "Whallon and Kitchell Families"
by Edward Payson Whallon, 1932
The first of the family to come to this country was Robert Kitchell, who landed at New Haven in 1639, his wife being Margaret Sheaffe, daughter of Rev. Edward Sheaffe, of Cranbrooke, Kent, England. They left England April 20, 1639, with a company of Puritan refugees, led by Rev. Henry Whitfield, in the first vessel, The Arabella, that anchored in the harbor of Quinnipiac, now New Haven, Conn. Robert Kitchell was born in England in 1604, and died in 1672. His wife died in 1682. While on shipboard the Plantation Covenant was signed, in which the Puritans agreed to remain together, the first name to the Covenant being that of Mr. Robert Kitchell, the "Mr." designating him as a "Gentleman Commoner," or some such rank of sub-noble dignity. They soon settled at Guilford. These settlers were generally men of character, culture and substance, several of them being of University training, and Robert Kitchell held a large place among them in all trusts and dignities. Samuel Kitchell, his son, married Grace Pierson, daughter of Rev. Abraham Pierson, pastor of the Guilford Church. Laxness of views spreading through the colony, Dr. Abraham Pierson was asked by the "Fundamentalists," as they classified themselves, to find a new home for them and their church. He first organized a church at Southampton, Long Island, and then, going to the territory now occupied by Newark, N.J., he secured this for his people and sent word to them to come down as a Colony and Church, Samuel Kitchell, his son-in-law, being with him there from the first, as one of the founders of Newark. The Guilford Church and people became re-established at Newark, and Dr. Abraham Pierson became the first pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Newark. Robert Kitchell became known as "the benefactor of Newark." Dr. Pierson's son, Dr. Abraham Pierson, was his assistant and successor as pastor, and became founder and first President of Yale College, his statue in bronze now standing on the campus. The daughter, Grace Pierson Kitchell, wife of Samuel, is the mother of all the American Kitchells.
The Kitchell family grew into a large and influential family in New Jersey and other states, becoming associated by marriage with many other prominent and influential families, as Tuttle, Farrand, Baldwin, Houghton, Gardner, Willis, Land, Pierson, Mulford, Sayre, Peck, Bruen, Lindsley, Howard and others.
Abraham Kitchell, son of Samuel and Grace Pierson Kitchell, was born at Newark in 1679 and died December 12, 1741. He married Sarah Bruen, who was born in 1679 and died April 20, 1745, daughter of John and Esther Laurence Bruen, and they had four sons and three daughters: Samuel, born 1704 and died November, 1732; Joseph, born 1710 and died December 24, 1789, who married Rachel Bates, who died December 24, 1789; John, born 1714, and died January 9, 1777, who married
Marie Phoenice Keziah Ball, daughter of Caleb Ball and Mercy Parkhurst; David, born 1723 and died December 26, 1753, who married Ruth Tuttle, who was born 1713, and died April 4, 1780; Grace, who married Benjamin Lindsley; Mary Allis, who married Paul Leonard; Abigail, who married Edmund Crane.
Daniel Kitchell, son of John and Keziah Ball Kitchell, came to Cincinnati in 1788 and his name stands as the first of the eight charter members who organized the First Presbyterian Church of Cincinnati, in 1790. The family that descended from this Daniel Kitchell, changed the name to Kitchel, for some reason, and carry this as the family name. President H. D. Kitchel, of Middlebury College, chose this spelling, although Robert Kitchell, who signed the Plantation Covenant, certainly knew how the name should be spelled. Daniel Kitchel, early pioneer of Cincinnati had one son, Samuel, and one daughter, Phebe, who married Hezekiah Flint, and had a large family. Samuel Married Margaret Kennedy, daughter of Francis and Rebecca Kennedy. Their children were: Daniel, born in Cincinnati, in 1795, and died in Union County, Ind., in 1855; Phebe married William Goldtrap; Mary married Joshua Druce; John died in 1839; Rebecca married Andrew Davison and Julia married Elisha Walden.
From "Kitchell Family Genealogy" by Margaret Ellen Kitchell Whallon: Aaron Kitchel, cousin of Daniel Kitchel who came to Cincinnati in 1788, was one of the most notable members of the family. He was a U.S. Senator from New Jersey and a warm friend and counselor of General George Washington, on his staff and was one of his pallbearrrers. He is buried in the churchyard cemetery at Hanover, New Jersey. For 36 years, he was a member of the state legislator, the National Congress and the Senate, on the Commission of Forfeited Estates of Tories and on the Commission that established the Northwest Territory. He was the son of Joseph. Mrs. Wallon, through her ancestors, Abraham Kitchell, son of Samuel, a founder of Newark, and Sarah Bruen his wife, has descended from four of the signers of the Magna Charta, one being King John himself, who was compelled to sign it and the three barons: Roger and Hugh Bigod, of the de Beauchamps family and Geoffrey de Say, ancestor of Geoffrey de Say.
footnote: The Balls were relation of George Washington.
