East Hampton, New York Founder — John Stratton

B. about 1620 in England¹
M. before 1645 in (probably) Massachusetts²
Wife: Sarah _______
D. before 16 Mar 1685, East Hampton, New York²

By virtue of being one of the first to settle at the eastern end of Long Island, John Stratton (also spelled Stretton) had the status of a founder of East Hampton. John’s origins are cloudy, and it’s unproven who his parents were, or where in England he was born. The only fact that’s known is that he had a brother named Richard who later also turned up in East Hampton.²

It’s believed that John came to the Massachusetts colony in 1638, and he may have been in Charlestown, then Lynn, before moving to Long Island.³ John likely came to Southampton in around 1644, when he purchased land there,² then he moved to East Hampton by 1649.⁴ He was said to be listed as number 5 on the list of people who first settled in the village.²

Location of Southampton and East Hampton.

John was married by about 1645, the estimated year if his oldest son’s birth.² His wife was named Sarah, possibly with the last name Bancroft, but this isn’t proven. They were the parents of nine known children born between about 1645 and 1654.

East Hampton seemed to function like any other New England Puritan town, except that its location made it somewhat different. John and the other original inhabitants came from the Massachusetts colony, but geography would tie their settlement to the Connecticut colony. It was said that East Hampton took its laws from Connecticut, but also that they were largely self-governing through town meetings presided by three judges, a clerk and a constable. John served as a townsman in 1666,⁵ and an overseer in 1681.⁴

John was a delegate at the Hempstead Convention in February 1665,⁴ which met to declare loyalty to the British government. Each town on Long Island was asked to appoint two men who were “the most sober, able and discrete persons,”⁶ suggesting that John was very well-respected among the men of his community.

John wrote his will on August 30, 1684, and it was probated on March 16th of the following year.² He was said to be one of the few people to own slaves in East Hampton, which unfortunately wasn’t that unusual in many Puritan towns. At the time of his death, his probate inventory listed “two negro and child.” The child was a girl named “Hager,” and John left her to his daughter. Assuming the other two slaves might be her parents, this suggests that he ordered her to be taken away from them.

Because John was a direct ancestor of Cornelius Vanderbilt, he has many notable descendants including Gertrude Whitney, Gloria Vanderbilt and Anderson Cooper.⁷

Children:
1. John Stratton — B. about 1645, (probably) Southampton, Long Island;² D. 19 Feb 1736, East Hampton, New York;² M. Mary James (1653-1718)²

2. Sarah Stratton — B. about 1647, (probably) Southampton, Long Island;² D. before 1684, (probably) East Hampton, New York;² M. Stephen Hand (~1635-1693), about 1660, Essex County, Massachusetts^2,8

3. Joseph Stratton — B. about 1648, (probably) East Hampton, Long Island;² D. 23 Dec 1722, East Hampton, New York;² M. (1) Unknown;² (2) Sarah _______²

4. Hannah Stratton — B. about 1649, (probably) East Hampton, Long Island;⁹ D. 21 Jan 1710, East Hampton, New York;¹⁰ M. Stephen Hedges (1635-1734)⁹

5. Stephen Stratton — B. about 1649, (probably) East Hampton, Long Island;² D. 12 Apr 1699, East Hampton, New York;¹¹ M. Hannah Reeves²

6. Abigail Stratton — B. about 1650, (probably) East Hampton, Long Island;² D. before 26 Mar 1705, Elizabethtown, New Jersey;¹² M. Henry Norris (~1645-1706), about 1665, Elizabethtown, New Jersey²

7. Cornelius Stratton — B. about 1653, (probably) East Hampton, Long Island;¹³ D. 27 Mar 1704, East Hampton, New York;¹³ M. Martha Hull (~1660-1727), about 1695¹³

8. Rebecca Stratton — B. about 1651, (probably) East Hampton, Long Island;¹⁴ D. 14 May 1703, Saybrook, Connecticut;¹⁵ M. William Bushnell (1648-1711), 17 Oct 1673, Saybrook, Connecticut¹⁴

9. Ruth Stratton — B. about 1654, (probably) East Hampton, Long Island;¹⁶ D. about 1740, East Hampton, New York;¹⁶ M. (1) James White (1650-1694), 24 Nov 1675, East Hampton, New York;² (2) John Mowbray (1669-?), 1702, Islip, New York¹⁶

Sources:
1    John’s birth year is a rough estimate based on other events in his life.
2    A Book of Strattons, Vol. 1, Harold Russell Stratton, 1908, pp. 117-125
3    WikiTree listing of John Stratton Sr.
4    A history of the town of East-Hampton, N.Y., Henry Parsons Hedges, 1897  
5    The Ancestry of Lorenzo Ackley & his wife Emma Arabella Bosworth, Donald Lines Jacobus, 1960, p. 73
6    Hempstead Convention (Wikipedia article)
7    WikiTree listing of Cornelius Vanderbilt
8    Estimated marriage date based on age of oldest child
9    East Hampton History Including Genealogies of Early Families, Jeannette Edwards Rattray, 1953, p. 370
10  Death record of Hannah Hedges, Records of the Town of East Hampton, Long Island, Suffolk Co., New York, Vol. 5, 1905
11  Death record of Stephen Stretton, Records of the Town of East Hampton, Long Island, Suffolk Co., New York, Vol. 5, 1905, p. 554
12  Probate record of Henry Norris, Calendar of New Jersey Wills, administrations, etc., Vol. 1, 1901, p. 341
13  Find-a-Grave listing of Cornelius Stretton
14  Find-a-Grave listing of Rebecca (Stretton) Bushnell
15  Death record of Rebecca Bushnell, Vital Records of Saybrook, 1647-1834, 1952, p. 19
16  WikiTree listing of Ruth (Stratton) Mowbray

Mother of Concord’s Colonial Inn — Rebecca Wheeler

B. about 1666 in Concord, Massachusetts¹
M. about 1684 in (probably) Concord, Massachusetts²
Husband: James Minot
D. 23 Sep 1734 in Concord, Massachusetts¹

In the historic New England town of Concord, Massachusetts, sits a landmark house now known as the Colonial Inn. The place has seen much over the years, but it began as a home belonging to James Minot and his wife Rebecca Wheeler.

Rebecca was born in Concord in about 1666 to Timothy Wheeler and Mary Brooks,¹ the third of their three girls; she also had a half-sister from her father’s first marriage. As one of Concord’s founders, Rebecca’s father was prominent in the town, serving as the captain of the militia.³ He also owned vast amounts of property in and around Concord. By early 1684, Rebecca married James Minot,² an accomplished man from Dorchester who worked as a physician and teacher in Concord. They began a family with the birth of a daughter in February 1685,⁴ and over the next 21 years their family grew to having ten children. During Rebecca’s childbearing years, James held many offices in Concord including justice of the peace, and like her father, he became captain of the militia.⁵

At the time Rebecca’s father passed away in July 1687, all three of her older sisters were deceased, and she became his primary heir along with her mother. In his will, Timothy Wheeler wrote, “To my Daughter Rebecca Minot, I give & bequeath after thee decease of my beloved wife, viz. my Homestead in Concord that is my house & Barn, with all thee appurtenances 'that' is joined to it, & also all my meadow in 'ye Great meadow', also I give to my Daughter Rebecca, my Mill in Concord, with all thee privileges of thereunto pertaining.”³ When Rebecca’s mother wrote her will in 1691, she specified that her daughter would receive “one silver cupp without letters, a standing cupp and a bible with silver clasps.”³ She left “land at the east end of town” to Rebecca’s three oldest children, girls who were born by the time the will was written. The old woman also gave 23 acres of land in Charlestown to Rebecca’s oldest son who was not yet born.

Some of the property described in Rebecca’s father’s will was in the heart of Concord, and at some point, likely after 1700, she and her husband James built a house there which survives to this day as part of the Colonial Inn.⁶ The earliest record of the building came when James and Rebecca deeded the house to their son James in 1716,⁶ and this is often credited with when it was built, but it may have been before that year. While the exact year of the house’s construction isn’t established, it’s likely that James and Rebecca lived there; the transfer of it to their son seems to have come at the time of his marriage.⁷

The house in Concord went on to have some notoriety. Rebecca’s son James passed it along to his son Ephraim, then to a cousin Timothy Minot, who worked as a doctor.⁶ On April 19, 1775, the “shot heard ‘round the world” marking the beginning of the American Revolution happened nearby, and Dr. Minot treated the wounded who were brought into the house.⁶ An addition to the house was said to have been used to store ammunition supplies, which was the reason the British marched into Concord. A generation or so later, the house came into the possession of the Thoreau family, and Henry David Thoreau lived there for a time in the mid-19th century.⁶

The Colonial Inn.

In 1897, the house was converted to what became known as the Colonial Inn.⁶ By then, a neighboring house was joined to the original Minot house with its addition to make a decent-sized hotel that’s still in operation today. Famous guests over the years have included John Wayne, Arnold Palmer, Jackie Kennedy, and F.D.R.⁸ The Colonial Inn is also known for having a ghost problem; over the years many have reported strange sightings in the rooms believed to have been used for wounded soldiers during the American Revolution.⁹

Rebecca passed away on September 23, 1734,¹ and she was buried with a gravestone that has a long inscription: “Rebeckah Minott ye vertuous Consort of James Minott Esq'r. A daughter of Capt. Timothy Wheeler, she was a person of serious piety and abounding charity, of great usefulness in her day, a pattern of patient Holy submission under a long confinement & resigned her Soul with Joy in death Sept. 23d 1734.”¹ James survived her by one year, dying in September of 1735.¹⁰

Rebecca’s grave. (Source: Find-a-Grave)

Children:
1. Rebecca Minot — B. 9 Feb 1685, Concord, Massachusetts;⁴ D. 23 Jun 1738, Concord, Massachusetts;⁴ M. Joseph Humphrey Barrett (1678-1763), 27 Dec 1701, Concord, Massachusetts¹¹

2. Lydia Minot — B. 12 Mar 1687, Concord, Massachusetts;¹² D. 14 Feb 1743;¹² M. Benjamin Barrett (1681-1728), 3 Jan 1705, Marlborough, Massachusetts¹³

3. Mary Minot — B. 16 Nov 1689, Concord, Massachusetts;¹⁴ D. 3 Sep 1760, Concord, Massachusetts;¹⁴ M. Ebenezer Wheeler (1682-1748), 26 Sep 1706, Concord, Massachusetts¹⁵

4. Timothy Minot — B. 18 Jun 1692, Concord, Massachusetts;¹⁶ D. 30 Nov 1778, Concord, Massachusetts;¹⁶ M. (1) Mary Brooks (1699-1760);¹⁶ (2) Beulah Brown¹⁷

5. James Minot — B. 17 Oct 1694, Concord, Massachusetts;¹⁸ D. 6 Feb 1759, Concord, Massachusetts;¹⁸ M. (1) Martha Lane (~1695-1735), 14 Nov 1716, Concord, Massachusetts;⁷ (2) Elizabeth Merrick (~1694-1746), 1736¹⁸

6. Elizabeth Minot — B. 29 Jan 1697, Concord, Massachusetts;¹⁹ D. 12 Nov 1764, Lincoln, Massachusetts;¹⁹ M. Daniel Adams (1690-1780), 23 Apr 1715, Concord, Massachusetts²⁰

7. Martha Minot — B. 3 Apr 1699, Concord, Massachusetts;²¹ D. 18 Jan 1738, Bedford, Massachusetts;²² M. James Lane, 30 Apr 1719, Billerica, Massachusetts²³

8. Mercy Minot — B. 15 Apr 1702, Concord, Massachusetts;²⁴ D. 25 Jul 1793, Sudbury, Massachusetts;²⁵ M. Samuel Dakin (1700-1758), 13 Dec 1722, Concord, Massachusetts²⁶

9. Love Minot — B. 15 Apr 1702, Concord, Massachusetts;²⁷ D. 21 Oct 1772, Lincoln, Massachusetts;²⁷ M. John Adams, 13 Dec 1722, Concord, Massachusetts²⁸

10. Samuel Minot — B. 25 Mar 1706, Concord, Massachusetts;²⁹ D. 17 Mar 1766, Concord, Massachusetts;²⁹ M. (1) Sarah Prescott (1712-1737);³⁰ (2) Dorcas Prescott (1714-1803), 1738³¹

Sources:
1    Find-a-Grave listing of Rebecca (Wheeler) Minot
2    Estimated marriage date based on birth of oldest child Rebecca
3    The genealogical and encyclopedic history of the Wheeler family in America, Albert Gallatin Wheeler, 1914, pp. 134-141
4    Find-a-Grave listing of Rebecca (Minot) Barrett
5    A History of the town of Concord, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Lemuel Shattuck, 1835
6    Historic Buildings of Massachusetts: Concord’s Colonial Inn (1716)
7    Marriage record of James Minot and Martha Lane, Massachusetts Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001, FamilySearch.org
8    New England’s Colonial Inns & Taverns: Centuries of Yankee Fare and Hospitality, Maria Olia, 2016, p. 8
9    The Ghosts of Concord’s Colonial Inn
10  Find-a-Grave listing of James Minott
11  Marriage record of Joseph Barrett and Rebecca Minot, M.T.C., V. & T.R.
12  Find-a-Grave listing of Lydia (Minot) Stow
13  Marriage record of Benjamin Barrett and Lydia Minot, M.T.C., V. & T.R.
14  Find-a-Grave listing of Mary (Minot) Wheeler
15  Marriage record of Ebenezer Wheeler and Mary Minot, M.T.C., V. & T.R.
16  Find-a-Grave listing of Timothy Minot
17  Marriage record of Timothy Minot and Beulah Brown, M.T.C., V. & T.R.
18  Find-a-Grave listing of Col. James Minot
19  Find-a-Grave listing of Elizabeth (Minott) Adams
20  Marriage record of Daniel Adams and Elizabeth Minot, M.T.C., V. & T.R.
21  Birth record of Martha Minot, Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1815, FamilySearch.org
22  Find-a-Grave listing of Martha (Minott) Lane
23  Marriage record of James Lane and Martha Minot, M.T.C., V. & T.R.
24  Birth record of Mercy Minot, Concord Births – Massachusetts Vital Records Project
25  Death record of Mercy (Minot) Dakin, Concord Deaths – Massachusetts Vital Records Project
26  Marriage record of Samuel Dakin and Mercy Minot, M.T.C., V. & T.R.
27  Find-a-Grave listing of Love (Minott) Flint
28  Marriage record of John Adams and Love Minot, M.T.C., V. & T.R.
29  Find-a-Grave listing of Deacon Samuel Minott
30  Marriage record of Samuel Minot and Sarah Prescott, M.T.C., V. & T.R.
31  Marriage record of Samuel Minot and Dorcas Prescott, Massachusetts State Vital Records, 1841-1925, FamilySearch.org

A Bedfordshire Gentleman — Oliver St. John

B. about 1575 in Keysoe, England¹
M. (1) about 1597 in (probably) Keysoe, England¹
Wife: Sarah Bulkeley
M. (2) 16 Aug 1611 in (probably) Keysoe, England¹
Wife: Alice Haselden
D. before 23 Mar 1626 in (probably) Keysoe, England²

Some of the Puritan families who settled in New England came from English nobility. The father of one settler, Oliver St. John, had no title himself, but he had connections to both royalty and non-conformists. He was known to his contemporaries as a gentleman, and his son who was named after him became a prominent figure in Cromwell’s England.

In Oliver, we see an example of how nobility sometimes diminished in a few generations. He was born in Keysoe, England, a village in Bedfordshire, in about 1575 to Henry St. John and Jane Neale.¹ Oliver’s father was from a long line of knights,³ and his 3G grandmother was the grandmother of King Henry VII, which made Queen Elizabeth a third cousin once removed of Oliver. But even the low rank of knighthood had not passed down to Oliver or his father. His status in life seems to have come only through his connections.

Bedfordshire was loosely considered to be a part of East Anglia, which was a major center of Puritanism. In fact, 60% of the Massachusetts colony’s settlers would come from one of the eastern counties of England.⁴ This region also supplied most of the prominent ministers of early New England. Oliver became acquainted with many of them later in his life.¹ 

East Anglia map showing Keysoe.

In about 1597, Oliver married Sarah Bulkeley, the daughter of Reverend Edward Bulkeley,¹ and between 1598 and 1609, they had five children. Sarah’s brother was Reverend Peter Bulkeley (1583-1689), who later became a prominent New England Puritan minister.¹ Sarah died in about 1611,¹ and Oliver then married a woman named Alice Haselden;¹ and they had three children together.

One acquaintance of Oliver was Reverend John Cotton, an important figure in both Puritan England and New England. He once wrote of Oliver that he was “a Bedfordshire gentleman,” and “a person of incomparable breeding, virtue and piety.” He also said that “he was one of the completest gentlemen, without affection, that he ever knew.”¹ It’s evident from these words that Reverend Cotton must have known Oliver pretty well, and this wasn’t just a token compliment.

Oliver passed away before he could be a part of the Great Migration to New England. He made out his will on March 13, 1626, and it was proved on May 1st,² so he was likely very sick when he wrote it. One of Oliver’s legacies was in his children. Daughter Elizabeth married Puritan minister Samuel Whiting, and settled in Massachusetts in 1636.¹ And son Oliver rose to fame during the years that the Cromwells were in power, becoming Lord Chief Justice of England.⁵ 

Oliver’s son, Oliver St. John.

There were numerous famous descendants of Oliver St. John, including Calvin Coolidge, Bette Davis, John Kerry, Orson Bean, and Kyra Sedgwick.⁶

Children by Sarah Bulkeley:

1. Oliver St. John — B. about 1598, (probably) Keysoe, England;¹ D. 31 Dec 1673;¹ M. (1) Johanna Altham;¹ (2) Elizabeth Cromwell, 21 Jan 1638;¹ (3) Elizabeth Oxenbridge, 1 Oct 1645¹

2. Dorothy St. John — B. about 1602, (probably) Keysoe, England;¹ M. Richard Westland (?-1646), 13 Jun 1625, Keysoe, England¹

3. Elizabeth St. John — B. before 12 Jan 1604, Keysoe, England;⁷ D. 3 Mar 1677, Lynn, Massachusetts;¹ M. Samuel Whiting (1597-1679), 6 Aug 1629, Boston, England¹

4. Edward St. John — B. before 20 Jul 1606, (probably) Keysoe, England¹

5. Judith St. John — B. about 1607, (probably) Keysoe, England;¹ D. Jul 1607, (probably) Keysoe, England¹

6. Judith St. John — B. about 1609, (probably) Keysoe, England;¹ M. John Percival, 25 Sep 1633, Odell, England¹

Children by Alice Haselden:
1. Mary St. John — B. before 12 Jul 1612, (probably) Keysoe, England¹

2. Anne St. John — B. before 10 Dec 1613, (probably) Keysoe, England;¹ M. John Knapp, about 1637, England¹

3. John St. John — B. before 13 Sep 1615, (probably) Keysoe, England¹

Sources:
1    The Bulkeley Genealogy, Donald Jacobus, 1933, pp. 29-33
2    Will of Oliver St. John, Gentleman of Keysoe, Bedfordshire, The National Archives (U.K.)
3    Memoir of Rev. Samuel Whiting, D,D., and of his wife, Elizabeth St. John, William Whiting, pp. 38-39
4    Albion’s Seed: Four British Folkways in America, David Hackett Fischer, 1988, p. 33
5    Oliver St. John (Wikipedia article)
6    FamousKin.com listing of Oliver St. John
7    Christening of Elizabeth St. John, England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975, FamilySearch.org

Man With Almost No Paper Trail — “James” Fleming

B. about 1778 in Virginia^1,2
M. before 24 Jun 1802 in (probably) Washington County, Kentucky³
Wife: ______ Hand
D. before 1830 in Ohio or Indiana⁴

James Fleming is the speculative link to the paternal ancestors of Mary Fleming (1819-1907). The details which are written here are based on much circumstantial evidence and my own DNA test results.

There are several facts that are certain about the father of Mary. His last name was Fleming, he was born in Virginia (possibly the part that’s now West Virginia),² and since Mary was born in Ohio in 1819,^2,5 we can place him there. He was also married to a woman born in New Jersey² — a less-than common combination of husband and wife birthplaces in early 19th-century America. 

1880 U.S. Census showing Mary (Fleming) Sutherlin and birthplaces of her parents.

Mary first appears in records in Parke County, Indiana, where she married in 1838.⁶ We know that she had a brother Eli who was born in 1804,^7,8 and that two other men also appear to be brothers, James (born 1802)^3,9 and Henry (born 1810).¹⁰ I share various segments of DNA with a few descendants of all three. While these men showed up in records in Parke County, no potential father lived among them, which suggests that their father was deceased by 1830. Also significant is that while the older two brothers were born in Kentucky, Henry was born in Ohio. (There is also a possible sister Susannah who was born in 1823, but it’s uncertain if she might be the daughter of Eli.¹³)

The migration of the Fleming family emerges led by the unnamed father: Virginia to Kentucky to Ohio to Indiana. My DNA results show clustered matches with descendants of another couple who had a similar path, Eli and Jane Hand, except that they wound up in Illinois instead of Indiana.¹⁴ What’s more is that Jane’s maiden name was Fleming, and in 1840, one of her children had a farm sandwiched between two of the Parke County Flemings.¹⁵ We have to assume they were closely related. 

1840 U.S. Census showing George W. Hand between son and son-in-law of Mary Fleming's brother James.

Eli Hand and Jane Fleming were married on July 14, 1804 in Washington County, Kentucky, and accompanying their marriage license was an affidavit verifying the bride’s age signed by James Fleming.¹⁶ Family stories among Eli Hand descendants suggest that this was Jane’s brother.¹⁷ There are also Washington County tax lists between 1796 and 1800 naming a James Fleming, possibly the same man from the marriage record.¹⁸ Jane Fleming said her family had moved to Kentucky during the 1780s, and had been born in Virginia.¹⁷ 

1804 marriage record of Eli Hand and Jane Fleming showing her brother James as witness.

It was said that Jane’s father had served in the American Revolution as a colonel, then went west after the war;¹⁷ this was a typical migration for former soldiers who were paid with bounty land instead of money. Washington County was one of the places many veterans ended up. It was a remote environment to grow up, making social connections often challenging, and some families experienced multiple marriages between two families. And my DNA suggests that this happened between the Flemings and the Hands, because I show strong matches with descendants of Eli Hand’s brother, George Callahan Hand. Through detailed study of my DNA, I’ve determined that James Fleming must have been married to an unnamed sister of Eli.¹⁹

More proof of this is that the Hand family came from New Jersey,²⁰ which was also the birthplace of Mary Fleming’s mother. Also the second son in the family that ended up in Parke County, Indiana was named “Eli H. Fleming,”²¹ and the first born son of Eli Hand was named “James Fleming Hand,”¹⁷ adding more merit to the idea that there was a strong relationship between the two families.

By 1810, the family of Eli Hand moved to Ohio (they would eventually settle in Illinois).²² That same year, Henry Fleming was born in Ohio, then his sister Mary in 1819. The family moved to Indiana within the next ten years, but unfortunately, the name James Fleming isn’t found in records either in place. The younger James Fleming and Eli Fleming were both listed in the 1830 census for Parke County. Eli had an adolescent girl in his household who was too old to be his daughter, and therefore could be his sister Mary. He also had a woman in her forties, who could be his mother as a widow. That would mean James Fleming had died before 1830.³

Will there ever be a paper trail to validate the identity of Mary Fleming’s father? Probably not, what is shown here falls short of the threshold of genealogical proof. Still, it’s worth presenting, especially since the people and scenario I have named here offer an explanation to the unusual migration pattern of Mary Fleming’s parents, and at the same time, fits with my DNA results.

Children:
1. James Fleming — B. 24 Jun 1802, (probably) Washington County, Kentucky;³ D. 10 Nov 1858, (probably) Polk County, Iowa;³ M. Catherine ______ (~1803-?)⁹

2. Eli H. Fleming — B. 16 Feb 1804, (probably) Washington County, Kentucky;²³ D. 6 Sep 1876, Humboldt, Kansas;²³ M. Sarah ________ (~1810-?)⁸

3. Henry Harrison Fleming — B. about 1810, Ohio;¹⁰ D. after 16 Jan 1876, (probably) Humboldt County, California;²⁴ M. (1) Nancy ______ (~1810-?);¹⁰ (2) Nancy Jones (1829-1905), 20 Aug 1854, Clackamas County, Oregon²⁵

4. Mary Fleming — B. 16 Aug 1819, Ohio;^2,5 D. 31 Mar 1907, Grady County, Oklahoma;⁵ M. Jackson Sutherlin (~1815-1878), 17 Jan 1838, Parke County, Indiana⁶

5. (possibly) Susannah Fleming — B. about 1823, Indiana;¹³ D. after 1875, (probably) Allen County, Kansas;¹³ M. John R. Butler (1814-1901), 15 Feb 1841, Daviess County, Missouri²⁶

Sources:
1    The approximate birth year for James Fleming is based on the age of his oldest known child.
2    1880 U.S. Census, Everett, Kansas (showing birth places of daughter Mary’s parents)
3    Find-a-Grave listing of James Flemming (this is James’ son) 
4    1830 U.S. Census, Parke County, Indiana
5    Find-a-Grave listing of Mary Sutherlin 
6    Marriage record of Jackson Sutherlin and Mary Fleming, Indiana, U.S., Marriages, 1810-2001, Ancestry.com
7    Local news paragraph in newspaper Humboldt Union (Kansas), 26 Sep 1907
8    1860 U.S. Census, Allen County, Kansas Territory
9    1850 U.S. Census, Polk County, Iowa
10  1850 U.S. Census, Holt County, Missouri
11  1840 U.S. Census, Parke County, Indiana (showing Eli and James Fleming)
12  Document regarding purchase of public land by Henry Harrison Fleming, Parke County, Indiana, 30 Sep 1834
13  1875 Kansas State Census, Allen County (listing shows Susan age 52 in household of Eli Fleming age 71)
14  1850 U.S. Census, Crawford County, Illinois
15  1840 U.S. Census, Parke County, Indiana (showing Henry Evans, George W. Hand and Asa Fleming)
16  Marriage record of Eli Hand and Jane Fleming, Kentucky, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1783-1965, Ancestry.com
17  Hand Family Scrapbook, compiled by Margaret Smith Isaac, 1986, pp. 43-44
18  Washington County, Kentucky Tax Books, 1797-1875, FamilySearch.org
19  Joining Hands: Using My DNA to reunite a Midwest family named Hand, Laura Mitchell, 2024
20  Hand Family Scrapbook, compiled by Margaret Smith Isaac, 1986, p.1
21  Document regarding purchase of public land by Eli H. Fleming, Parke County, Indiana, 10 Sep 1838
22  Hand Family Scrapbook, compiled by Margaret Smith Isaac, 1986, pp. 37-39
23  Find-a-Grave listing of Elijah H. Fleming 
24  1876 voters in Humboldt County, California, California, U.S., Voter Registers, 1866-1898
25  Marriage record of Henry H. Fleming and Nancy O’Connor, Western States Marriage Index, 1809-2011, Ancestry.com
26  Marriage record of John Butler and Susannah Fleming, Missouri Marriage Records, 1805-2002, FamilySearch.org