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7 R -M, © _ | The Samis ramy thee" _ S â€"THE corsofing CHRONICLE â€" Thursday, July 12, 2007 ‘»“."”‘i t r o is O CCC se o o o _ FF w hundred years ago, one Ebenezer Samis: : ®r _ [ arrived in Canada with his wife Saran | |___ JE Tuttle Samis and five of eight children, | The family first settled near Morganston, northeast. § 1 Tc esn ns s | of Castleton in Cramahe Township, on 100 acres of ; /% B & | Crown land. Ebenezer was listed as a Loyalist, but aml f b P " stateside records indicate Ebenezer may, in fact, | & S P al I ll y O Ce e ra | have been an American Revolution supporter. | s E ’ i Records from Long Island indicate Ebenezer was I 2 . al I listed as "sick in Huntington", a way of avoiding | j 5 By Manoyv Martin Ebenezer and Saral} Samis are | forced service tgthe Bm-tiSh' y t I: | mmartin@northumberlandtoday.com not Qaur}ted. They‘re happily . Whatever, e qetal‘ s, the Samis forebeays : ; Y anticipating 100â€"150 people at the arrived at what is now Lakeport in ® he surname Samis goes _ July 27â€"29 reunion to mark the | Northun}berl_and _County. It was a. smal} | back a long way, as far 200th anniversary of ~the | community 'Wlth‘a llti_le church foundeq in 1785 back as the Apocrypha. immigration to Canada, of | officially organized in 1798 â€" Canada‘s oldest Thus, hosting a fam ily reunion â€" Ebenezer and Sarah Samis. : | Baptist church. That church was destroyed by fire, | f ‘ «could bea catering challenge. The weekend is billed as "a _ . | but some of the salvased beams were used to build | Current genealogical computer wonderful. chance to. make | a new ch_urch at Wicklow, the Haldimand Baptist { records show 5,228 entries and | connections with your anc«_estl:y [ Church, in 1824. That church burned in 1986, and a | ‘ rising. and meetâ€"unknown cousins". | small replica chapel now stands at the site on | But, the descendants of That is precisely what has been . | County Road 2 between Colborne and Grafton. _ _| | going on since a Samis reunion °_ _ ) _ There is no record of Ebenezer, born in April 17, was first organized locally in | 1742 in Huntington, New York state, and Sarah e efi 2001. id | Tuttle‘s marriage. In fact, little is known of Sarah, w *A i "A lot of us didn‘t know each | believed to have been born in New York state. P other," Don Samis, originally of |__ The couple had eight children: Abijah (b. 1778), w > ~a Cramahe Township, now of | David (b. 1779), Benjamin (b. 1779), Michael (b. | _ . d Courtice, says. : [ 1784), James (b. 1792), Israel (b. 1792) Ebenezer II (b. | E$ a. $ "We organized a Samis | 1797) and Annie (birth/death unknown). Only | f"“ mimatis ’ reunion one year after father | Benjamin, Michael, Israel and Eberezer II arrived d @ W C * â€" "MM died,".Clay Samis, Don‘s brother | in Canada and, of those, James left Canada in the i > 1w dke: Bs â€" "M of Brighton, relates. "We put it on | late 1820s. | | hk . P \ _ 4 the Internet, allkinds of sources. | _ _ The first land record of the children found lists l f e . hm * * _ + 0; It was held in Cobourg." _ _ \ Michael Samis with a land lease in Hamilton | i s Oe C _ MA * The initial catalyst was a lady | Township in 1808. An 1809 census record shows one f No CAE OE . pgewmee . WBE near Parry Sound seeking Samis || man over the age of 60, three males aged 16:60 years | 1e e " . is family information who found 1 and two females listed as Samis‘ residing in i w e ) jig,’ " â€" e Don‘s daughter Karen‘s eâ€"mail on | Hamilton Township. | 5 M r i a university listing. Karen | _ Over the ensuing years, Samis‘ have lived in | & s ' e . referred the request to her father \ Hamilton, Haldimand, Emily, Cramahe, Clarke, : K ; © ; s and the drums started beating. In | Darlington and nearby townships. As the diaspora, | i _ 4. Ee fact, the current generationfi | continued, branches of the family went as far as : tracked and connected a | California and British Columbia, and throughout | M ICHAEL SAMIS branches of the five Samis sons of | North America, | :â€"~ 2ND GENERATION original . Canadian .settlers |__ Locally, there have always been Samis family B 1784, died 1805 inâ€"Arkona Ebenezer and Sarah Tuttle Samis | descendants in the Cramaheâ€"Brighton areas l s t Pon C> t af Eberiezér of 1807. 3 * l Intermarrying with McKagues, Parkers, Scotts, | Lambton Olén y,r?osn 4 "Just about every Samis in & McIndoos, Kelleys and other pioneer family | gnd Sata a;xi coutasuree _ Canada is descended from these / | descendants. 3 B * x‘ ] â€" But, it is from the seven sons of Ebenezer and | "tean ~~A~ytoprulrey ut | Sarah that the 2007 Samis reunion attendees i â€" * 4 i . C3 0 o â€" s 2. | determine their nests in the branches of the Samis f 0s 22 ks n . .: 1 family tree. _ . j was )"‘? i Yas:. “?V | â€" Manpy MARTIN [ . e wase l l n C 3 + 3 B o e y Cc s £ * [ ut ie if,g <orlce .. | Colpokyg & charincl. 6 â€">*"/" w is To e c2o2 C T o kes, { f e 1 o7 ® â€"dimse | . $ oA We | _ 42 _ ymim? â€" _ 8. . Wite i ltsxs 7 7 i T _ * \ l%;" dokls ’“éf‘;*y it : .. yo o s oa. & Ned z+ ¢ ‘ :,wi â€" Phoro ay Te AMsben 2 ; t f Samis DESCENDANTS ~" 3: x ; | _ pon Samis, standing left, of Courtice, is cochair of the upcoming 200th & * : > f anniversary reunion of Samis settlement plgnned this Julyâ€"27â€"29 in and F is around Cobourg. Don‘s brother Clay Samis of Brighton is standing at ; & ' right. Seated, from right, are Chuck Martinâ€"of Brighton of the Benjamin $ Samis line: Donna Griffin, daughter of Mabel Samis Dingwall Puddy of f the Israel Samis line, and her husband Don Griffin. s