USA – Henry Vodden & Mary Ann Hayman in 1880
Henry (1822-1904) and Mary Ann (1824-1901) came to Illinois in 1880 & 1881 following their sons who had already emigrated from Devon. He was a shoemaker by trade. He emigrated on the ship the City of Chester and arrived in New York on October 11, 1880. Henry and Mary Ann had married on July 9, 1848 in Tawstock. She was the daughter of William HAYMAN (HEMEN) and Ann HERN.
Their three eldest sons had emigrated in the mid to late 1870s. George Henry (1849-1920), John August (1851-1925) and Frederick Henry (1853-1930) came to Illinois where George and Frederick settled in the farming area of Malta & DeKalb, west of Chicago but John moved farther west settling in Fargo, North Dakota.
When Mary Ann emigrated in 1881, she came with Selina (1854-1936), John‘s wife, and their daughter, Florence (1880-1968), along with Mary Ann‘s two youngest daughters, Eliza (1862-1942)and Emily (1864-1950). Henry and Mary Ann‘s fourth son, Albert (1856-1926), (my great-grandfather) remained in Barnstaple, Devon.
Mary Ann died on May 3, 1901 in Malta, DeKalb, Illinois and Henry followed three years later on Jun 25, 1904. They are both buried in Malta Cemetery.
Cousins, Wayne LaVerle Henderson (1924-2013), Linda Joyce Hauley (the author of this site) (1947-), and Lawrence (Larry) Frederick Dunkelberger (1938-2020) visited the gravesite together in August 2002, where we also met with third cousins Robert John HUTCHESON (1944-2022), Carole BEMIS.
USA – Henry Vodden in 1831
Henry VODDEN (1811-1862), son of Thomas and Elizabeth VODDEN of Tawstock was born in Tawstock, Devon and baptised there on November 3, 1811. In 1831 at the age of 19 he emigrated from Devon to Stafford, Ontario, Michigan. Here he met Mary DELBRIDGE, daughter of William DELBRIDGE and Grace KINGDOM. The had five children between 1837 and 1844: Sara Jane (1837-1908), James Bartholomew (1840-1920), Grace (1841), Susan (1843) and William (1844).
In 1845 Henry pruchased a farm comprising of eighty acres in Burton Township, Genessee County, just four miles from the town of Flint, Michigan. It cost him $1 per acre and on it he erected a house for his family. After his family settled in their new home, Henry only had three cents left in his pocket. He cleared a few acres of the land and started cultivating crops. Times were hard and Henry took other jobs to make ends meet.
Henry and Mary had six more children on this new homestead: Mary (1845-1920), Mary Ann (1847), Henry C. (1848-1926), Joanna (1851-1915), Benjamin Franklin (1859-1942) and Florence Elaine (c1861-1919). Henry passed away on May 26, 1862 at age fifty-one and his wife, Mary, lived on until December 15, 1889, died at age seventy-seven.
The farm passed to his son, James Bartholomew Vodden, on his death. James was born in Stafford, Ontario, New York on February 17, 1840 so was five years old when they moved to Burton. Henry had depended on him to help with the heavy pioneer work and so James had very few opportunities to attend school. He raised Durham cattle and Shropshire sheep and cultivated the rest of the eighty acres to support his family. The farm became prosperous.
James married Lucy A. JOHNSON, daughter of Henry and Lucy JOHNSON of Syracuse, New York on February 22, 1871. They were blessed with six children: Edith Bell (1872-1959), Alma (1873), Fred (1875-1956), Lillie (c1878), Gracie (aft 1880), and Ethel L. (1891) who died at three months.
Canada – Robert Vodden & Mary (Diamond) Dyment in 1855
Robert VODDEN (1825-1905), son of William VODDEN and Elizabeth JOHN, was baptised in Beaford, Devon on February 21, 1825. He married Mary (DIAMOND) DYMENT (1825-1902) on December 29, 1845 in Beaford. Mary was the daughter of William and Anne DYMENT also of Beaford.
Robert and Mary moved to Canada around 1855 bringing with them their 5 children: William James (1846-1920), Elizabeth Ann (1849-1921), John (1851-1927), Mary Jane (1852-1926), and Robert (1855-1887) who ranged in years from a baby to 9 years old. They settled first in Perth County, Ontario where they had 7 more children: twins, Melina and Selina (1858-1944 & 1941), Bessie (b1862), Thomas Robert (1864-1933), Martha Helen (1866-1937), Louisa (c1869), and John (George) (b1871).
Robert and Mary purchased a farm in Grey Township, Huron, Ontario. Upon his demise in 1905, the farm passed to his son, Thomas Robert. Most of the family lived and died within the vicinity and are buried in Ethel Cemetery, Ethel Grey, Ontario.
Australia – Laurence Vodden & Mary Ellen Hannah Passmore in 1857
Laurence was the son of William VODDEN (c1783-1852) and Mary KING (b1798). He was born in Exeter, Devon and baptised there on March 29, 1829. Mary Ellen Hannah PASSMORE was born in Chumleigh about 1825. They married in Beaford on December 25, 1852 and moved to Beer Ferris, Cornwall where their first two children, Francis Henry in 1853 and Mary Jane in 1855, were born.
His father, William, at present, has not been connected to the Voddens in the St. Giles-in-the-Wood family and there have been no contacts through DNA matches (2024). This is a brick wall. Someone on Ancestry.co.uk has attached him to William VODDEN and Dorothy HEARD of Beaford but their son, William, married Elizabeth JOHN so these aren’t his parents. So it’s still a brick wall.
Lawrence and Mary emigrated to New South Wales, Australia aboard the ship the FitzJames and arrived there on April 1 1857. They left England during the winter and arrived in the southern hemisphere in time for the winter there. They had four more children: Elizabeth (1858-1923), William (1861-1935), James (1964-1943) and Maria (1867-1892). They lived in Beechworth, Victoria and most are buried in the Beechworth Cemetery.
Vodden Surname Study 