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Lake Family History

Letter from Great Great Grandpa William Lake

I received this letter from my cousin and fellow genealogist Ted Fethkenheur
who found me on the internet looking for our mutual kins. I had been working
on the Lake family history for many years when I received this letter which
confirmed most of my findings and gave me more to look for. I'm sure that
the letter has been retyped and is not the original but I believe it to be
accurate as was known. I've changed a couple of names that might not have
been able to be read.The letter as I received it was addressed to Louis. I
changed it to be Louisa who was granddaughter of William Lake.

In 1907 when this letter was written William Lake was in his 80's.  I include
the letter here as an overview of my Lake research.


Clinton,   Iowa  
March   8, 1907  
Dear   Louisa:  

In answer to your request, I will give the history of my family as far back
as I know anything of it. My grandfather on my father's side is as far as
I know anything of them.

My grandfather, Henry Lake, was born in the Parish of Holsworthy in the
year 1752, Devonshire, England. His parents were farmers and died when
he was young and he was brought up by his uncle. He had seven brothers
and sisters. One of his brothers, Wm. Lake, by name, was a Captain in the
British Navy. My grandfather, Henry Lake, when he grew up, moved up into
Monmouthshire, England, to be manager of the estates of Thomas Lewis, Esq.,
a wealthy man who lived in the Parish of Trelleck of that county, where he
was married to Sarah Lewis, a farmer's daughter, at Trelleck, about the year
1788; and they settled down on a small farm of 40 acres my grandfather owned
in Trelleck and they had ten children, two of whom died in infancy. The
others, six sons and two daughters, lived to grow up and and get married,
excepting the youngest, Thomas Lake, who was an old bachelor. The oldest
son, Henry Lake, was a soldier in the British Army and fought in the War of
1812 with the United States, and under General Sir John Ross fought at the
Battle of Blandensburg; and helped to capture Washington and to burn it. He
fought at Sparrows Point near Baltimore where Sir John Ross was killed;
and took part in the bombardment of Fort McHenry at the time Dr. Barton
(Frances) Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner. William Lake, came to the
United States about the year 1818 and settled at Loretto, Cambria County,
Pennsylvania, where he died in 1878. The third son, John Lake, was my father;
he was born the 3rd day of February, 1795, at Trelleck and set up in the
grocery business in the village of Trelleck where he married my mother,
Flora Margaret Pontifex, about the 19th of June 1825. They went over to
the Parish Church of Newland in Gloucestershire to get married.

My grandmother died in June 1826 and my grandfather, Henry Lake, died in 1828
and both are buried on the south side of the church in Trelleck churchyard. My
mother was Flora Margaret Pontifex and she was born at St. John's Square,
Clerkenwell, London. Her father was Daniel Henry Pontifex, who was born
near Hughendon, in Buckinghamshire, in the year 1769 and died in Trelleck
in 1826, in June, and was buried at the west side of the church in Trelleck
churchyard. His father, Daniel Pontifex, was a first cousin to Mr. Disraeli,
the Earl of Beaconfield's grandfather. They were both Jews and came from
Italy together and settled down to farming in Buckinghamshire. My mother"s
grandmother had 4 sons and two daughters and they all settled in London and
with the exception of my grandfather, all got rich there. The oldest son,
William Pontifex, was a copperplate maker and lived to be 100 years old. My
grandfather, the second son, was a silversmith and removed from London to
Trelleck in 1811 and died at the age of 57 years. The third son, Russell,
was a watchcase maker. And the youngest son, John, was a coppersmith. They
all carried on business in London and their two sisters married wealthy
men in London. My grandmother was Harriot Bland and she was born in
London. Her parents died when she was young and she was brought up by her
Uncle, Mr. Bland who kept a sword cutlers shop at Charing Cross, London,
and supplied the Royal Family and officers of the Army and Navy with swords
belts and Gold Lace Epaulettes. My grandmother died in Trelleck and is

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buried by the side of her husband in Trelleck churchyard. She was 92
years of age at the time of her death. The village of Trelleck is five
miles south from Monmouth in Monmouthshire. My grandfather, Pontifex,
lived on a farm called The Nine Wells where he died and my grandmother
carried on the farm for 17 years after his death when she retired and did
not carry on any business for the 26 years she lived after retiring. Two of
my mother's brothers, Henry and Charles, carried on the Coppersmith business
and back & vat making at 54 & 55 Shoe Lane, London, under the firm name of
Pontifex, Jacklin and Pontifex. My Uncle Charles died in 1872 and my Uncle
Henry in 1896 age 96 years. Friederick was a farmer and farmed at Tremen,
Herefordshire, and then moved to a farm in the county of Kent a few miles
from London. Robert was a coppersmith and died when he was about 30 years
of age in London. Josiah was a wagon maker and carried on a shop at the
Graig in the Parish of Skenfrith, Monmouthshire. Edwin, the youngest, was
a farmer at Newland, Gloucestershire. And my mother's sisters, the oldest
Harriot, was married to John Elliott, a lawyer who emigrated to Toronto,
Canada, where he was County Clerk for 46 years. My Aunt died in 1892 age 97
years. My Aunt Louise was married to a man of the name John Rowles, a ship
carpenter and lived in Bristol, England; and Eleanor was married to a farmer
by the name of Richards and farmed it in Trelleck; and Julia married a man
by the name of Richards who worked for Lord Amberly who lived in Trelleck
Parish. My father"s second brother, William, emigrated to Pennsylvania about
1818 and settled at Loretto, Cambria County, Penn. He used to run a line of
Stage Wagons hauling goods from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh before there was
any railroad between the two cities. My father's other brothers and sisters
lived and died at Trelleck. My father bought a farm called the Lade Farm 6
miles north of Monmouth in the Parish of Skenfrith, Monmouthshire, and 11
miles north from Trelleck in 1842 and there I was living when I emigrated to
the United States, and there my father died in January 1856 and was buried
at Trelleck on the south side of the church; he was 61 years of age. My
mother and sister, Flora Margaret, moved to Monmouth to live afterwards,
and my mother lived there until her death at Christmas 1869. She was buried
at Trelleck by the side of my father. She was 67 years of age at the time of
her death. My brother ran a farm called The Graig for some years where his
children were born, afterwards removing to Newton, Cambran, near Newport,
Monmouthshire, where he died the 3rd of May 1907.

I was married to Elizabeth Meredith in 1847-48 at the Independent Chapel in
Monmouth by the Rev. Mr. Loder. My wife lived with her parents on a farm
called The Green Dufferyn in the Parish of Llangattock, Vehan Auel (?),
Monmouthshire, where we got married. My son, William, was born at a house near
the crossways in the Parish of Skenfrith, Monmouthshire, England, on the 2nd
day of January 1849 and came with us to New York where we landed the 1st day
of May 1849 after a passage of 25 days on the ship Andrew Foster. From New
York we came to Elgin, Illinois, and settled there and lived there about
eight years; and we had a daughter born there in July 1851 whom we called
Harroit Pontifex and she died in April 1852 and is buried in Elgin Cemetery;
and the 28th of Sept. 1854, John F. Lake, our son, was born in Elgin, Ill.,
and he lived until the 18th of Sept. 1883 when he died in Fort Dodge, Iowa;
and in Oct. 1856 our daughter, Flora Margaret, was born in Elgin and she died
in Clinton, Iowa, in Sept. 1869 and buried in Springdale Cemetery. During
the time I lived in Elgin I worked for three years at the tanners trade
and then went on to the railroad as watchman and after a year at that I went

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firing a locomotive on the Fox River Valley Railway; and from there removed
to Clinton and went firing on the Chicago, Iowa and Nebraska Railway for Bob
Hufman and then leaving the railway, I ran Lamb?s sawmill one summer. Then
went down to Memphis, Tennessee, and ran on the Memphis and Charleston
Railway in 1858-59 after which I came home and went into partnership with
D. A. Parsons in a flour mill and lost $3,000 by the transaction. Then in
1861 I went to work in the Rly. shops. In Nov. 1860 our daughter, Eleanor
Elizabeth, now Mrs. Olney, was born; in 1862 in July, my wife had twins,
two boys, whom we named James and Henry, but both died in four weeks after
they were born. In 1864 I ran the Ferry Boat ferrying cars across the river
and then left that and went down to Chattanooga to work for the United
States Government as engineer on the U.S. Military Railways. After the war
was over, I came back to Clinton and built a house on Tenth Avenue, where
we resided until 1894. During our residence on Tenth Ave., in Sept 1869,
our daughter, Flora Margaret, died and our son, John F. Lake, died at Fort
Dodge Iowa, Sept. 12, 1883. After our removal to Eighth Avenue in 1894,
my wife died there in 1897, June 6th (?), (or 4th).

My father and mother had three children of which I was the oldest and
was born in the village of Trelleck, Monmouthshire, on Sunday, July 30th
1826. My brother, Friederick Lake, was also born at Trelleck, on the 17th
of October 1829 and my sister, Flora Margaret, was born at the Lade Farm
in the Parish of Llangattock, Monmouthshire, England, on the 27th of March
1824. My father, John Lake, was born at Trelleck on the 3rd day of Feb. 1795;
and my mother, Flora Margaret, was born in the 3rd house after you pass
the ancient gateway into St. John's Square, Clerkenwell, London, England,
on the 17th of November 1802. My wife, Elizabeth Meredith, was born at the
Green Dufferyn Farm in the Parish of Llangattock, Monmouthshire, England,
on the 27th of March 1824. This is about all the information I can think
of to give you about our family at this time.

Clinton   Iowa                                       Your   Grandfather,  
June   25, 1907                                         William   Lake