Uncle Remus — Horse Thief

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Various versions of this scam have circulated around the internet for years, often reworked with the names of political foes. But for members of the Skillman Family Association who have not seen it, here is the reworked story of an imaginary Uncle Remus Doe.

Let’s say that your great-great uncle, Remus Doe, a fellow lacking in character, was hanged for horse stealing and train robbery in Montana in 1889. A cousin has supplied you with the only known photograph of Remus, showing him standing on the gallows. On the back of the picture are the words:

“Remus Doe: Horse thief, sent to Montana Territorial Prison, 1885. Escaped 1887, robbed the Montana Flyer six times. Caught by Pinkerton Detectives, convicted and hanged, 1889.”
 

Remus Doe hanged
 

Pretty grim situation, right? But let’s revise things a bit. We simply crop the picture by editing it with image processing software so that all that is seen is a head shot.

Next, we rewrite the text:

“Remus Doe was a famous cowboy in the Montana Territory. His business empire grew to include acquisition of valuable equestrian assets and imitate dealings with the Montana railroad. Beginning in 1885, he devoted several years of his life to service at a government facility, finally taking leave to resume his dealings with the railroad. In 1887, he was a key player in a vital investigation run by the renowned Pinkerton Detective Agency. In 1889, Uncle Remus passed away during an important civic function held in his honor when the platform upon which he was standing collapsed.”

Now we have given Uncle Remus a distinguished place inside the family tree, not hanging from it! Needless to say, the Association does not recommend this practice to its members!

John E. Skillman III
President

The Second Generation in America

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The following is extracted from “The Skillmans of America and Their Kin” by William Jones Skillman of Philadelphia, PA. This is the beginning of the first of twelve quarterly issues published in The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record from January 1906 through October 1908. William Jones Skillman’s genealogy and history of the Skillman family in America covers the first five generations of Skillmans in this country and it is considered the definitive genealogy of our family. The genealogy in its entirety is available in the “Members Only” section of the website under Skillmans of America.

“2. Thomas2 Skillman (Thomas1), b. 1671…Was Commissioner of Highways, Newtown 1714; joint owner with [others] of a plat, 30 x 22 feet for a School House, May 20, 1721. This building was at Middletown (near Dutch Kills)…Subscribed £5 for erection of Dutch Ref. Church of Newtown, 1731. The first board of Kerck Meesters (wardens or trustees) of this church, chosen 1736, were Peter Berrien, Thomas Skillman, and Petrus Schenck. His pew in this church was No. 1, on the northwest side of the middle aisle, and his family home (which had been his father’s, the homestead), was at Dutch or Maspeth Kills. In 1693, Thomas, m. Annetje, dau. of Adriaen Hendricksen Aten (Aaten, Aate, Aeten, Atje) “immigrant, 1651, 36 y’r” (his age then), from Holland (van Doesburg)…The will of Thomas2 Skillman (Records of Kings County and Queens), dated Feb. 13, 1739,…names his wife, Ann, and all their then living children. Two had died young. They had:

  • Peter3, bap. In Brooklyn (Ref. Dutch Church), March 4, 1694… He d. in infancy.
  • Elizabeth3, twin with Peter, Bap. at same dates with same witnesses and church; m. 1717, Hendrick Van de Water, N. Y. City. Infant dau. Ann, bap. (Collegiate Church), Aug. 29, 1718…Both mother and child died.
  • Jan3, b. 1696.
  • Mary3, b. 1698; m. Johannes Bant (Band, Bandt, Bondt, Bond) of N. Y. City.
  • Mercy3, bap. In Brooklyn (Ref. Dutch Church), Feb. 2, 1701…She m. John Fijn (Fine), son probably of Jan Fin and Aaltje Jans, bap. (Collegiate Church) May 18, 1698…
  • Annetje3, b. 1703.
  • Abraham3, b. 1704.
  • Isaac3, b. 1706.
  • Jacob3, b. 1708.
  • Benjamin3, b. 1710.
  • Joseph3, b. 1712.”

The third and subsequent generations become much more extensive and will not be extracted into a blog. Members wishing to learn more should go to Skillmans of America in the “Members Only” section for access to the entire twelve quarterly articles.

John E. Skillman III
President

The First Skillman in America

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The following is extracted from “The Skillmans of America and Their Kin” by William Jones Skillman of Philadelphia, PA. This is the beginning of the first of twelve quarterly issues published in The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record from January 1906 through October 1908. William Jones Skillman’s genealogy and history of the Skillman family in America covers the first five generations of Skillmans in this country and it is considered the definitive genealogy of our family. The genealogy in its entirety is available in the “Members Only” section of the website under the menu bar “Skillmans of America.”

“[The first Skillman in America] came probably from London or from near there. He was a musician in the Nicolls forces, and all his life, tradition says, was a musician. With his commander he sailed in the Guiney [sic], the chief of the three (possibly four) very small vessels that brought the adventurers to these shores. Down to this day he is known among his descendants always as Captain Thomas Skillman, a courtesy title, or one gained in later service in this country, or possibly it came from some militia connection merely.”

“[Thomas1 Skillman] was an Englishman, an enlisted soldier under Col. Nicolls, to whom Nieuw Amsterdam surrendered in 1664, becoming thereafter New York. This conquest achieved, the ancestor, so the story goes, being specially attached to his commander, now made Governor of the Province, did not return with his comrades in arms to the home land, but soon took a wife and settled permanently in the Newtown, (L.I.) region, at Maspeth or Dutch Kills. Then the children afterwards intermarried with their Hollandish neighbors, and so the family ultimately came to be much more largely of Belgic than of British blood.”

“With this brief introduction we now pass to the formal record (condensed) of the Skillman Family in this country, direct and collateral, running through the first three and possibly into some of the later generations, so far as details at present date can be fairly well determined.

Thomas1 Skillman, b. 1635-40. Soldier under Col. Richard Nicolls in Expedition of Duke of York, ordered by the King, Feb. 25, 1664, sailed from Portsmouth, May 15, and dropped anchor in the harbor of Nieuw Amsterdam (near present Fort Hamilton), Aug. 18, same year. After the surrender he stayed in this country and became ‘inhabitant and freeholder’ at Newtown (L.I.), under Nicolls’ patent of Jan. 13, 1666. Served in Esopus War; honorably discharged April 6, 1668. In 1669 he m. Sara, Dau. of John Petit, Newtown…John Petit and Sarah Scofield, his wife, were the parents of Sara, wife of Thomas Skillman. Children:

  • Thomas,2 b. 1671
  • Elsje, b. 1672
  • Sara, b. 1675; m. Cornelius Hendricxen, 1694. Their dau. Marytje, bap. In Ref. Dutch (Collegiate) Church, of New York, Aug. 10, 1695
  • Lijsbet, b. 1677…She m. Jan Aten, of Flatbush, brother of Thomas, settled at Jamaica, L.I. and had a child bap. there (Ref. Dutch Church), in 1705.In 1710-15, with other members of the Aten family, Jan removed to Three Mile Run, N.J…Jan Aten’s will, probated March 13, 1743, names his wife Elizabeth.”

(To be continued with the 2nd generation)

John E. Skillman III
President