Benjamin Lloyd and His Primitive Hymnal and His Grandson's Writings

 

I do not know very much about my 4th Great Uncle, other than he was the 5th son and older brother to my Joseph Walter Lloyd. I will have to find out more about him. In reading the Lloyd history by Oliver Weaver, he mentioned this hymnal put together by Benjamin. I had no idea it would be identified over time as a piece of museum quality folk music history. 

This is an article from the Folklore section of the Encyclopedia of Alabama online - Click Here

Information from the article states, "Benjamin Lloyd, a successful businessman from Chambers County and later a public official in Greenville, was a prominent Primitive Baptist elder. He saw the need for a hymn book with selections that expressed—or at least did not conflict with—the beliefs of the new denomination. Thus he selected 535 hymns from other popular hymn books and published the words, without musical notation, in palm-sized books under the title The Primitive Hymns: Spiritual Songs and Sacred Poems, Regularly Selected, Classified and Set in Order and Adapted to Social Singing and All Occasions of Divine Worship."

Something else popped up in a search for Lloyd on this website, Benjamin's grandson, Francis Bartow Lloyd was a politician and author of published articles about life at that time. He wrote under a false name - Rufus Sanders. He was shot and murdered by a man who, after a judgement from the state supreme court was found not guilty! Whoa! 

"Francis Bartow Lloyd (1861-1897) is remembered primarily for Sketches of Country Life: Humor, Wisdom, and Pathos from the "Sage of Rocky Creek," a posthumous collection of his syndicated newspaper columns depicting rural life and featuring his alter-ego Rufus Sanders. Lloyd was a politician, a talented newspaperman, and an accomplished orator who spoke all over the South. Lloyd was murdered at age 36 in a case that drew media attention from across the state."

Through the efforts of his wife and others, his Rufus articles were published as a collection. Another book I need to add to my Family history library!  Here is the article on Francis - Click Here

Curious: Week 4 topic from 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks (by Amy Johnson Crow)

 I think if you are a family historian or genealogist, you are naturally curious and, more than likely, your curiosity is never satisfied.  One found bit of information leads to another. One fact leads to needing to know about another fact. And on and on. 

In my research, I have a page that has a T chart down the entire page with headings: 

What I Know: | What I Want to Know:

I've used this chart over the past 25+ years and have kept most of them for that long.  As I started researching, I wrote down all of the facts I had, and what I needed to find out to answer questions or make connections.  I often wrote on my chart of curiosities as I found new information that prompted new questions.  It is really interesting and satisfying to see what I wrote about not knowing years ago just starting out, and the list of information found over time.  Genealogy is a slow but rewarding process that is as much or as little as you make it. 

Here is my Lloyd Family T chart, updated for 2022:

My great grandfather's name is H. Frazier -- What does that H mean??  Why is it there?

We have the ""Dear Jammy" letter that tells us how John Lloyd came to America after his wife and child both died.  Others have a case for John that claims he was sentenced to 14 years and transported. ------Why did John Lloyd come to America?  Was he truly indentured for stealing the ring and tools? or was it   something else that brought him to America?   Where was he prior to his marriage to Prudence?                 

The Lloyds lived in historical settings like the Shenandoah Valley, Baltimore, Henry, Pittsylvania and Orange Co. Virginia. One source says a relative sold land to G. Washington. --------------------------------Did our Lloyds cross paths with George Washington?  or any other Patriots?                                                  

We have some records from the Revolutionary War -- Can we establish verification to apply for the DAR? 

These are just a few things I am curious about right now.  I am ready to soak into the Revolutionary times and understand how my Lloyd family interacted, lived, worked, and survived during that time.  My dear 3rd Lloyd cousin helped me, and motivated me, to apply to the DAR under another relative on my Lloyd branch - Govin Gordon.  I do not know much about him either, other than the documentation that he is my ancestor and he served in the Revolution, but I am going to be making my chart of curiosities on him and the Gordon family in 2022 as well!  

God Bless America!

Laura

#52Ancestors2022

"Foundations"

 There is a great blog where you are given a prompt once a week for a year, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, by Amy Johnson Crow.  This is something that I have wanted to do for a long time, but never have. I am going to give it a good try this year to do at least half.  I have 4 family history blogs that I will be working on, so I may need some grace. 

The first prompt is "Foundations".  Aside from some hymns about the foundation of Jesus, I think of our 'founding fathers' of our family.  Our line of Lloyds is an interesting one and I can find inspiration in their life stories. A cousin of mine on the Lloyd side recently completed all of the paperwork for the DAR application, and was accepted, for an ancestor on the Gary branch of the Lloyd tree.  When I look at all of our ancestors, this distinction could really be applied to so many ancestors. I think it is cool that one of my 'lines' that have continued from pre-Revolutionary time to the present is represented.  I really appreciate my cousin for all her hard work and for tagging me in!  Now I can pay that forward to my nieces and others. 

This is a Roll and Muster of Capt. Sam Hendry's Company of the 2nd Jersey Regiment, Commanded by Col. Elias Dayton for March 1782.  John Lloyd is listed as a Private (#25).

John Lloyd in 1st New Jersey Regiment 1779

This is a great copy of the Pay Roll of Colo. Matthias Ogden's comp. of New Jersey Regiment, Commanded by (P. Colol?). Taken for the month of February 1779.  It shows the names and rank of the soldier, (comment?) of Pay, how long for - month and day, pay per month in dollars, amount of payment, and notes on causualtities.  John Lloyd is listed beside #5 - and shows he was paid $2.10.

The 1st New Jersey Regiment took part in many important and infamous events in the Revolutionary war.  A brief history of Col. Mathias Ogden can be found here:  http://www.myrevolutionarywar.com/american-units/nj-01/

Another great source is a digital book, History of Hunterdon and Somerset Counties, New Jersey,  that discusses the New Jersey regiments, how they were formed and information on their battles:  http://books.google.com/books?id=AdMwAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA81&lpg=PA81&dq=new+jersey+regiment+1779+commanded+by+col.+matthias+ogden&source=bl&ots=KF-2PObB_o&sig=2lTn_6e2TN55cwE5utZGoVrtIzo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=td3hT6aRCIKS9gTUvbyGCA&ved=0CGAQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=new%20jersey%20regiment%201779%20commanded%20by%20col.%20matthias%20ogden&f=false


The general timeline for the Regiment is shown from the given link as:

• October 9, 1775 Congress authorizes raising of two battalions from New Jersey.
• November 10, 1775 First six companies are raised. First NJ ordered to Hudson Highlands.
• January, 1776 Detachment from 1NJ Rgt assists in arresting Tories on Long Island.
• May 3, 1776 New Jersey Brigade (three regiments) ordered to Quebec, Canada.
• October 11, 1776 Battle of Valcour Island. 1NJ Rgt participates under command of Benedict Arnold. Later ordered to garrison
• Fort Ticonderoga.
• November 5, 1776 All New Jersey regiments ordered to New Jersey for discharge and reforming.
• December, 1776 First New Jersey Regiment is reorganized.
• September 11, 1777 Battle of Brandywine. 1NJ opens battle as Maxwell’s Brigade plays prominent role.
• October 4, 1777 Battle of Germantown. As part of reserves under Nash, 1NJ assaults Chew House.
• Winter 1777-78 Valley Forge Encampment.
• May-June, 1778 Jersey Brigade to harrass British in New Jersey.
• June 28,1778 Battle of Monmouth. Jersey Brigade part of Lafayette’s command.
• Winter, 1778-79 Encampment at Elizabethtown.
• Spring-Summer,1779 Wyoming Valley Expedition under Sullivan.
• June 23, 1780 Battle of Springfield.
• September 26, 1780 1NJ reorganized (Third Establishment).
• October 19, 1781 Capitulation of Yorktown and Gloucester.
• November 3, 1783 1NJ Rgt discharged at New Windsor Cantonment.

Military History

MILITIA RECORDS, PRE-REVOLUTIONARY WAR

All of the Lloyds were active in the military prior to and during the Revolutionary War.  here are a few pages from Virginia Military Records that I found online.  Here is one link to the information below:
http://www.aomol.net/000001/000044/html/am44p--6.html

RANDOM UNCONFIRMED NOTES ON THE LLOYD FAMILY HISTORY:


I have written some of the information below and have found other notes online.  This is good information to help guide research into our Lloyds in England and maybe in Wales.  The information here is not supported by evidence as of yet that is definitive.   



John's father was from Wales "hence the reason of using the double L in the spelling of our names. He had 2 older brothers, Joseph and Phillip, one a watch maker and the other a printer. John was bound at a young age as an apprentice to a boot and shoe maker and he aspired to become a master craftsman in this trade. He married without the permission of his employer to whom he was bound as an apprentice, and therefore could not become a master craftsman, but would work his life as a journeyman. This marriage took place about 1723 in London, England, to a woman who was born 1704. A child was born to this marriage but the wife and child died suddenly in 1725. 


It is believed that John Loyd came to America as an indentured prisoner convicted of theft of several shoemaker's tools. His punishment was 14 years of indentured service in America. He was shipped aboard the ship Rappahanock, under the command of Charles Whale on March 10, 1727, bound for Maryland, along with fellow prisoners, 7 men and 1 woman. 


Nothing more is known of John until his marriage to Prudence Emrey in Orange County, Virginia in 1742. This would be 16 years after his conviction in England. John Lloyd served in the Frederick Co. Virginia Militia in the 1750's. At a vestry meeting in November, 1767, John was appointed Reader of the Parish of Frederick of the Church of England at McKays Chapel. His salary was 6 pounds a year. He served in that capacity again in 1768 and 1769. A vestry of November 27, 1772 showed John Lloyd was exempted for payment of Parish livies, which might indicate that he was too old or too feeble to work. John would have been 68 in 1772. 


All of John Loyd's 5 sons served in either the Continental Army or the Minute Men Militia during the Revolutionary War. While the manner of his coming to America is questionable, he is thought to have been a productive and respected member of the Frederick County community, living most of his adult life there. His appointment as Reader at McKays Chapel is indicative of the esteem in which he was held by the community and it shows that he was a devout member of the Church of England.