My family emigrated to the United States from England in 1638. Robert Ring, at the time 24 years old, came to the colonies as an indentured servant. He is listed as being one of the first 100 families of settlers. After earning his freedom he founded a fishing enterprise on a piece of land known as Ring Island. Robert and his wife Elizabeth had seven children. One of those children was Jarvis Ring, my 9th great-grandfather. Jarvis and his brother, Joseph, testified against a woman in the Salem witch trials. According to my father, the men testified that after drinking copious amounts of cider, Susannah Martin walked over to the fire, bent over, and turned into a pig. Jarvis and his wife Hanah had ten children. Jarvis II was married twice, having five children with his wife Elizabeth. Issachar Ring, my 7th great-grandfather, and his wife Dorothy had one child. Even though my line comes from this smaller branch of the tree, there are numerous other Rings from this generation, as Issachar's brother, Jarvis Ring III, and his wife had eight children.
Elijah Ring, son of Issachar Ring, fought in the American Revolution. He and his wife Susana had one child, David Ring, born in 1779. David Ring married Judith Rollins and had six children. Issachar Ring and his wife, Clarissa also had six children. Alvah Ring was married three times, having six children with Jane Wells and three children with Sylvia Brown. My second great-grandfather, Issachar Ring, was one of Jane and Alvah Ring's children. Issachar was also married three times, however, he only had children with Jennie Bennett. Robert Ring, born 1903, was one of their six children. Robert and his wife, Laura Cusson, had three children, one of which was my grandfather. Ralph Ring was born in Vermont, September of 1926. He was married twice. He had four children with his first wife, Lorraine Smith, and four children with my grandmother Joyce Ward. While there is not as much information on the Ward side of the family, they have been traced back to Edward Ward Sr., who was born in the 1850's.
My grandparents, Joyce and Ralph Ring, had four children: my father, Robert Ring was born December 19th, 1963; my uncle, Rodney Ring, was born October 12th, 1965; my uncle Francis Ring was born January 10th, 1967; and my Aunt Deanna Ring was born December 31st, 1970. My mother, then Tammy Sampson, married my father and had me in July of 1985. She then divorced my father, and married his brother, my uncle Rodney. They had two children together before divorcing, my brother, Rodney Jr. born in 1987, and my sister, Christina born in 1990. I am my father's only child. My uncle Rodney has three children in addition to my brother and sister. My aunt Missy (Deanna) has two children, as does my uncle Francis.
As adults, my generation has begun raising the next generation. My brother has two children with his wife, while my sister has one biological child and 5 step-children with her significant other. I have one biological daughter, Victoria Ring, who was adopted as a young child. Thus, there are thirteen generations of my family that have been in the United States since 1638. My family has fought in every American war, from the revolution to the current conflict in the Middle East.
Wiki Tree page on Robert Ring, who emigrated to the United States in 1638.
Historical Marker Database page on plantation owned by my ancestors.
Wiki Tree page on Jarvis Ring, who testified in the Salem witch trials.
When I first began working on this project I was surprised to find that all of my living grandparents, and relatives in their generation were in nursing homes with dementia. This includes: my mothers father and his wife, as well as my mother's mother and her husband. Additionally, the grandparents I have lost had dementia upon their passing, including both of my grandparents on my father's side. I felt discouraged and disappointed that I had missed out on chances to learn of my family history from them. Exploring my family history on a chart is great, as it allows me to go back several generations, however, my family tree cannot provide me with the rich stories of their experiences. For example, I wonder what Robert Ring felt as he entered the colonies as an indentured servant. I am also left to wonder about the females in my family tree, as the focus of my tree is mostly patrilineal. According to my father, we have a female Iroquois ancestor, however, I could find no evidence of that when exploring the family tree. My mother was also not included in the family tree, even though it was researched and created by her ex husband, my uncle Rodney.
The stories that I was able to find, or heard from my father and uncle, were impressive but also left me feeling disillusioned. I knew my family was in the United States during the time of slavery, but I did not have any knowledge of my family having owned slaves. While completing the research for this project, I had the opportunity to look at what Robert Ring was taxed for earning in 1640. This included livestock, and five heads, or five slaves. At the time when Robert lived it was very common to have slaves. However, I think I could have gone my whole life without knowing my family was involved in slavery.
The other story that really disturbed me was the story of Jarvis and his brother Joseph Ring testifying against Susanna Martin during the Salem witch trials. This testimony thrust the Ring family back into the public eye, providing documentation for my family to find hundreds of years later. The two brothers were drinking cider with Susanna one evening. They testified that after drinking several cups of cider, Susanna walked over the the fire, bent over, and turned into a pig. If someone were to testify to the same thing today, they would be evaluated for mental health problems. Even though it is no more probable that Susanna turned into a pig then, the testimony of my ancestors contributed to the young woman losing her life. She was hung upon being found guilty of witchcraft. The story of Jarvis and Joseph makes me wonder if alcohol has always been a problem for the Ring family. My grandfather struggled with alcoholism, as have most of my uncles, and my siblings. If the brothers had not been drinking that night, they may not have testified against the young woman.
My family history is so much richer than I thought it was when I began working on this project. We began life in this country as indentured servants and worked hard to develop a life for ourselves. Robert's descendants have since wavered in their economic status. We have gone from wealthy plantation owners to poverty stricken and back multiple times. We have overcome hardships, found love (some more than others), and made a place for ourselves.