MySource:Quolla6/Milliken, C.F., 1911

From: Source:Milliken, C.F, 1911 A History of Ontario County, New York and Its People By Charles F. Milliken Published 1911 Lewis Historical Publ. Co. pp 287-288
Supporting Article:Person:Richard Borden (4)

The name of Barden, and also that of Burden, was originally Borden. The change in spelling is due to the fact that among the early generations of families in America, there was a dearth of interest in preserving the original orthography of their surnames. The Barden family of Ontario county. New York, is of the posterity of Thomas Barden, a settler from New England, who was undoubtedly a descendant of Richard Borden, an immigrant from "old England."

[NB: It seems likely that Milliken had no direct evidence that "Thomas Barden" of Ontario, was the same person as "Thomas Borden" of Rhode Island. The phrase "undoubtedly true" (or variants) is sometimes is sometimes used in cases where the author believes something to be true, but lacks direct evidence. User:Quolla6 21:35, 28 October 2007 (EDT)]

(I) Richard Borden. born in the county of Kent, England, in 1601, arrived at Boston in the ship "Elizabeth and Ann" in 1635. and became one of the founders of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, where he died in 1671. He was a Quaker and a man of unsullied integrity, who held various public offices, including that of deputy to the general court. His wife Joan died in Portsmouth in 1688. Children: Thomas, Francis. Matthew, John, mentioned below, Joseph, Sarah, Samuel Benjamin and Anne.

(II) John, son of Richard Borden, the immigrant, was born in Portsmouth in 1640; died there in 1716. He married Mary Earl, who died in 1734. Children: Richard, John, Annie. Joseph, Thomas, mentioned below, Hope, William, Benjamin and Mary.

(III) Thomas, son of John and Mary (Earl) Borden. was born in Portsmouth, December 13. 1682, and was still residing there after 1721. He married (first) Catherine Hull; married (second) Mary Briggs. A complete record of his children is not at hand, but it is quite certain that he had sons: Thomas, mentioned below, Isaac and Samuel, all of whom settled in Attleboro, Massachusetts.

(IV) Thomas (2). son of Thomas (1) Borden, was probably born in Portsmouth. He was residing in Attleboro in 1756, and appears in the records as Thomas Barden. He participated in the revolutionary war and in the "Massachusetts Rolls" is credited with service as follows: On an alarm in Rhole Island he enlisted from Attleboro, Massachusetts. September 1. 1779, as a private in Captain Joseph Franklin's company. Colonel Nathan Tyler's regiment; served four months and was discharged December 31, of that year. Re-enlisted July 28, 1780. in Captain Caleb Richardson's company, Colonel Abiel Mitchell's regiment, raised for the continental army, and was discharged October 31, of the same year. Thomas Barden married Susanna Riggs. Children: Susanna, Thomas, George, Otis, Eleanor, James, Sylvanus, Molly and Eunice.

(V) Thomas (3), son of Thomas (2) and Susanna (Riggs) Barden, was born in Attleboro, February 24. 1765. In 1788-89 he disappeared permanently from his home in Attleboro. and never returned, nor was he ever heard from. It was thought at the time that he might have gone to the then district of Maine, where many young men from Massachusetts were settling as pioneers at that time, but this supposition was never verified. The Thomas Barden previously referred to as the ancestor of the Ontario county family, was, according to information at hand, born near Boston and settled in the town of Seneca in 1790. It is therefore not unreasonable to assume that he was the identical Thomas Barden who disappeared from Attleboro in 1788-89, and turning westward instead of eastward found an acceptable home in the wilderness of Western New York. For a number of years Thomas Barden operated a sawmill at Bellona, manufacturing lumber on quite an extensive scale, and he furnished the material for the old Geneva Hotel, which is now the Hygienic Institute of that city. In 1795 he purchased of John McKin- stry a farm of one hundred acres, and in 1807 he bought another hundred- acre lot of Daniel Smith, the latter being a part of what was known