I believe our first Lilly ancestor to America was John Lysley, born 1577 in Stafford, England. He died in 1645 in York County, Virginia; I do not have the date of his arrival in America. I've tried to reconstruct our tree and believe I finally have the correct information. Gustav Anjou (probably not his real name) was a fraud who bilked Uncle Abe and others of $5000 in the midst of the depression. In contrast, my parents bought a very large new home in Charleston for $3500 about the same time. You might say that the family was "had". And that three century nonsense (in even Ripley's Believe It or Not) was a simple case of lots of Johns and Marys. I seriously doubt that Mary would have been having children in her seventies or beyond! We would have heard of a repeat of the miracle that blessed Abraham and Sarah.

I've corrected most of the mess, and all are welcome to the info and photos in my ancestry.com tree Eden's Harvest. But word of warning: I haven't completely corrected all the mess from my eagerness when I first started the tree and could add five generations at a time without seeing what was really there. HUGE MISTAKE!!! So if you find anything that doesn't make sense, please leave me a message on the site. My tree is rather large, and it's really a "given" that there are errors that still need correction.

Can You Trace Your Line To Robert Lilly ? To several!

There is no truth to the Maryland story; I double-checked with the Ark and Dove Society here in MD; if they don't have it, how could that "genealogist" find it? My grand uncle Abe paid $5000 in the early 30's for that piece of fiction. Earliest records for Lillys are in Virginia. The Maryland colony was almost exclusively Roman Catholic; the Lillys were staunch Protestants. Once and for all, throw out that old piece of fiction, please!!!!

Can You Trace Your Line To Robert Lilly ? yes

I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO GET PAST MY GRAND FATHER (WILLIAM LILLY ?) TO NO AVAIL. HOPEFULLY YOU SEEM TO KNOW QUITE A BIT OF THEIR HISTORY. GRANDFATHER: WILLIAM LILLY BORN PENNSYLVANIA. GRANDMOTHER: BERTHA SCHERZ BORN GERMANY. SON: THEODORE R. LILLY BORN 1905 PENNSYLVANIA. HELP PLEASE...
THANKS IN ADVANCE,
TED

Can You Trace Your Line To Robert Lilly ? no

PAUL,
COULD YOU SEND ME ANY INFORMATION YOU HAVE ABOUT OUR FAMILY? I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THIS FOR EVER, AND HAVENT BEEN ABLE TO GET PAST MY GRANDPARENTS.
THANK YOU
TED

Can You Trace Your Line To Robert Lilly ? no

There are no Lillys on the transcribed list of that ship, and the links to the Catholics of Maryland are likewise entirely unsupported.
Indenturement is misunderstood. Most children were taught trades as indentured servants. When someone bought your passage to the Virginia colony, they owned the "head rights" to the land and you were indentured to work for them for a certain period, typically seven years. It was a serious business: colonial newspapers carry ads for run-away indentured servants just as they did for runaway slaves, including a printer's apprentice Robert Lilly, by the way. A woman captured by Indians for many years was still forced to serve out her indenturement when she returned.
....
Interestingly, when the first captured Africans were brought to Virginia on a Dutch ship, the Dutch were out of food and traded them. There was no provision in Virginia for slavery then, so they were indentured. The system changed of course over time.

I believe our first Lilly ancestor to America was John Lysley, born 1577 in Stafford, England. He died in 1645 in York County, Virginia; I do not have the date of his arrival in America. I've tried to reconstruct our tree and believe I finally have the correct information. Gustav Anjou (probably not his real name) was a fraud who bilked Uncle Abe and others of $5000 in the midst of the depression. In contrast, my parents bought a very large new home in Charleston for $3500 about the same time. You might say that the family was "had". And that three century nonsense (in even Ripley's Believe It or Not) was a simple case of lots of Johns and Marys. I seriously doubt that Mary would have been having children in her seventies or beyond! We would have heard of a repeat of the miracle that blessed Abraham and Sarah.

I've corrected most of the mess, and all are welcome to the info and photos in my ancestry.com tree Eden's Harvest. But word of warning: I haven't completely corrected all the mess from my eagerness when I first started the tree and could add five generations at a time without seeing what was really there. HUGE MISTAKE!!! So if you find anything that doesn't make sense, please leave me a message on the site. My tree is rather large, and it's really a "given" that there are errors that still need correction.

Oops! Looking back at a previous post, I see that I didn't bother to check my rather hurried blurb. I DO know the difference between THREW and through! That's what I get for being lazy and letting the computer program jump in!

Sorry!

R White

Can You Trace Your Line To Robert Lilly ? To several!

I found a deposition in either 1638 or 1639 of a John Lilly who came to Virginia in 1637 on the Elizabeth of London
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cullember/otherfam/
1639deposition.html
and
http://image.lva.virginia.gov/VTLS/CR/04005/index.html
Survey report page 2 and page 3

Can You Trace Your Line To Robert Lilly ? yes

If you want to look up the lilly I have found in Suffolk my tree is available on ancestry gordon Paul lilly is anyone wants to have a look.
My grandfathers building firm Walter lilly is still in existence after 90 years. Although no longer owned by the family it is a major firm in and around London. Their 90 th birthday celebrations were held at the Tower of London