Lt. Nicholas Stillwell, Virginia colonist

My family, what would you think if I told you that one of your ancestors - my 9th great grandfather - was associated with Jamestown?

Lt. Nicholas Stillwell > Capt. Nicholas Stillwell > Nicholas Stillwell III > John Stillwell > William L. Stillwell > Catherine Stillwell > Capt. Jacob Wandell > Miriam Olivia Wandell > Ada Clemina Hall > Horace C. Crofford > Virginia M. Crofford > Teresa Zaun Austin

Lt. Nicholas Stillwell was the progenitor of the famous Stillwells of Long Island. We are direct descendants through my mother's paternal lineage.  There is a wealth of primary documentation about the Stillwell family.  It took some time to wade through it all, especially since many of them had the same first names and there were multiple spellings of the last name. Interesting, this Nicholas consistently wrote his name with the N backwards, so his writing is distinctive. He was a military man who led expeditions against the Indians, but he was also described as a pious man who "lived for the betterment of the human race."  He was loyal all his life to the Dutch people in America.

Nicholas Stillwell was born in Surrey, England in 1603.  He fled England to escape religious persecution, becoming a soldier of Elizabeth Stuart the Queen of Bohemia who was protestant. Elizabeth is called "the Winter Queen" because of her short tenure in the winter of 1619-1620.  According to tradition, he married one of her maids of honor, Abigail Hopton, in about 1630.  After the defeat of Prague, Elizabeth went into exile at The Hague, and her army disbanded.  Nicholas came to America and settled in Virginia.

[see this post for new info on the Queen of Bohemia]

He was a successful tobacco plantation owner on the York River in Virginia from 1635 to about 1646. His house and plantation were located "east of West Creek" (now Felgate's Creek) right off what is now the National Colonial Historic Parkway. From 1635 to 1639, he was a tobacco evaluator, inspecting tobacco for quality before it was shipped to England, so he likely was well known to John Rolfe. He aided Claiborne (future governor of Maryland) in the fight against the Indians in Virginia from 1644-1646.  Afterward, Nicholas left Virginia - perhaps because the "Claiborne Incident," whatever that implies, caused an unsafe situation for colonists vulnerable to attack by small groups of Indians, or maybe because Gov. Berkeley created an uncomfortable situation for certain protestant groups in Virginia.

UPDATE 5/3/2020:  Just discovered that Nicholas Stilwell also owned 200 acres in what is now Gloucester. The following two maps were found in The Descendants of Lieutenant Nicholas Stillwell, Volume I by Raymond J. Stillwell, 2010. Note the proximity to Warner Hall.

In 1646, he left for New Amsterdam, leaving his land to be taken by others.  He was one of the 20 original farm owners (Lady Moody colonists*) in Graves End. He traded a house in town for an outlying plantation. He had to prove he could defend himself from the Indians in order to obtain permission to live outside the town.  He led expeditions against the Indians during the Esopus Wars, which were localized conflicts between the Indians and the Dutch. In the years 1650-1653, he was the town magistrate.  He was a close personal friend and confidante of Peter Stuyvesant, the last Dutch governor of New Amsterdam.

Graves End, or Gravesend, NY

In 1664, he purchased land on Manhattan Island.  In 1665, he moved to Staten Island directly across the bay from Gravesend.  He received the estate of Thomas Morell by will, as Morell did not have heirs.

Nicholas died on Staten Island on December 28, 1671.  

Nicholas Stillwell owned the land on Staten Island between what is now
Jefferson and Liberty Avenues, in the area of Dongan Hills.

Line of descent:  Lt. Nicholas Stillwell > Capt. Nicholas Stillwell > Nicholas Stillwell III > John Stillwell > William L. Stillwell > Catherine Stillwell* > Miriam Olivia Wandell > Ada C. Hall > Horace C. Crofford > Virginia Crofford > Zaun
*some sources say Catherine's father was Stephen Stillwell, also descended from Lt. Nicholas Stillwell.  I'm still working on verifying this information.

Our family lines have crisscrossed through the generations, especially in our New England ancestry.  These links have not yet been proven, but there was a Richard Applegate (mom's maternal ancestor?) who married a daughter of John Stillwell (mom's paternal ancestor?).  I also found out that Jeremiah Stillwell (mom's paternal ancestor?) married Rebecca Ashton (dad's maternal ancestor?).

There is a book out now by Michael Philip Cash called Stillwell: a Haunting on Long Island. 180 five star reviews on Amazon!  There is a Stillwell Avenue in Gravesend, and the estates of some family members were well known on Long Island and in Queens.

*Gravesend was founded by Lady Deborah Moody, a leader of religious dissenters; she was the 1st female landowner.

Sources:
http://haygenealogy.com/hay/sources/britton/stillwelltree.html
http://www.wikitree.com/genealogy/STILLWELL
http://www.stilwell.uk.net/index.php/families/usa-stilwells/the-known-history.html
Various documents linked to Ancestry.com