| 8. | Santee Elias died in 1690 in In prison, Burgandy Province, France. Notes:
THE FIRST SANTEES IN AMERICA
The story of the Santees who established the family in this country will probably never be accurately told.
There is a popular tradition that Elias Santee or Sandy/Sendi was of French Huguenot origin; that
Elias came to America from Holland in 1690, whither he fled from France, in 1685, at the time of the Revocation of the Decree of Nantes, and settled on a farm nine miles from Easton, PA. and that he was the son of Robert Sandy who fled England to Barbados and later came to America.
THE FIRST SANTEES IN AMERICA
The story of the Santees who established the family in this country will probably never be accurately told. There is a popular tradition that they were of French Huguenot orgin; that Elias came to America from Holland in 1690, whither he had fled from France, in 1685, at the time of the Revocation of the Decree of Nantes, and settled on a farm nine miles from Easton, Pa. The latter part of the tradition must be certainly erroneous, for the first white settler anywhere in that section of the country came there not earlier than 1725. No account of the Huguenot emigration contains the name or anything that resembles it in the slightest degree. Neither does the name appear in either Rupp's 30,000 Emigrants or Hutton's Emigrants. Rupp gives the name of Gabriel Santer as having come from England and settled in Germantown in 1683, and Hutton gives the name of Robert Sandy as having been banished from England to the Island of Barbadoes in 1685 for complicity in Monmouth's Rebellion, and says that large numbers of these banished Englishmen later came to America.
In the old records the name is spelled (when known to refer to members of the family) Sandy, Sandi, Sandie, Sandee, Sendy, Sendee, Sendie, Sendi,Sentie; This variation is probably due to changes in church clerks and possibly to the German blood in the veins of the descendents of John, son of Abraham and grandson of Elias. The first authentic record now obtainable that is known to refer to any member of the family, gives the name Sandy. Possibly the banished Robert was the father of the whole family. The record referred to above is in the church record of the Drylands Church at Hecktown, Pennslyvania, and gives the date of birth of Christopher,son of Christopher Sandy, as May 4, 1765, and that of his christening as Dec. 22,1765. In the same record under date of Sept. 21, 1790, is recorded the date of the birth of John, son of John and Mary Magdalene Sendy. In 1795 John and Ragina, his wife, were sponsors, and in the record it is spelled Santee, which is the first time it appears that way. In 1797 the record of Mary is spelled Sendi; in 1798 it is spelled Sendee; in 1802, Sandy, which is the spelling followed until 1825, when it is again Sendee; again in 1839 it is Sendie. In another church record in 1809 it is Sandi, and the same until 1830, after which it is spelled Sanatee. In the Hecktown cemetery, on the monument of John (551 in the history of the Santee family), it is spelled Sentie. He died in 1840. A careful study of all these records, the county histories of Pennslyvania, reports from correspondents and talks with very old people in various places, leads to the conclusion that the first American Santee located in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, early in the eighteenth century; that his name was Elias and that possibly he was the son of Robert Sandy from Barbadoes.
From Pennslyvania, Isaac, son of Valentine and brother of Mary Nancy Santee Loghry went to New York state, settling in Cameron, Steuben County. He may have followed the Loghry boys out since they too were from the Wilkes-Barre, PA area. Valentine, the father of Isaac and Mary Santee Loghry went to Luzerne County, Pennslyvania. The first settlement of Easton, called by the Indians "Forks of the Delaware," was in 1739. Northampton County set off from Bucks County in 1752, and Luzerne County established Sept. 26, 1786. In a list of first settlers of Easton who organized a military company under Jacob Arndt, Oct. 13, 1763, are the names of Valentin Sandy and John Painter, 35 men in all. In court records of Luzerne County, Northampton County Clerk's office, May 7, 1807, Abram Landes and wife conveyed to Val. Santee, of Nazareth Twp.,15 acres 94 perches for 89 pounds, 12 schillings, 6 pence. 1 NOTE Military Records, fifth series,in the Pennslyvania Archives, Vol. VIII # 562 gives name of Lieut. Jona King of Santee's Co. Probably Capt. John Santee. # 297 Capt. John Santee. A list of his, the 6th Co. Northampton Co. Militia. # 540 Capt. John Santee. A list of his, the 8th Co. Northampton Co. Militia. 1 FAMS @F46@
Huguenot Settlers in North America and Europe
{(1)} Vide Davis' Hist. of Bucks County.
{(2)} See Davis' Hist. of Bucks County.
Page 79
Santee--The history of the Santee family is somewhat romantic, as following brief sketch, furniched by Dr. Ellis M. Saneee, of Cortland, NY, shows: The story of our ancestor as handed down to me by my grandfather, is as follows: "In 1685,about the time of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, Elias Santee lived in the Province of Bergundy. He was a French nobleman and a favorite of the King. He had a son named Isaac who was enamored of a German lady named Hahn, who was one of the Queen's maids. Elias was a Huguenot and the King begged him to renounce his religion and conform to the decree. This he refused to do and was impriscned. The Queen informed her maid of what was coming to the family and she and Isaac were quietly married and secretly left the country for Holland, there to await the release of Elias. In 1690 Elias died in prison and Isaac and his young wife came to this country, landing at Philadelphia. Soon afterward he went up the Delaware and settled near where Easton now stands."
John Santee, a descendant, was a distinguished officer of the Revolution War.
Elias married Santee Wife of Elias about 1686 in Northampton Cnty, Pennsylvania, Usa. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
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1780 - 1844 (64 years)