Surname Saturday: LUKE

The LUKE family is my mother-in-law's maternal grandmother's line. I haven't done much research on this line, except for early on in when I first started genealogical research and found the births of the children of Isaac LUKE and Rebecca HEWITT in the International Genealogical Society...how excited I was! I also recently located, visited, and photographed the graves of Angelia Rebecca LUKE and her husband, Joseph Franklin MARTIN. I think this line would be an interesting one to research in depth with its somewhat unique surname and the prolific family tree!

Stories and History:

There is a genealogy book that I will be ordering via Inter-library Loan which discusses this family: The Wilcox-Luke Genealogy: Descendants of Joel Wilcox and Catharine Randall of Connecticut, New York, Michigan and Indiana, and of John Luke, Revolutionary War Soldier of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan by Dyane Monroe Dye Wood. Printed by the Genealogical Publishing Service, 1996.

Ahnentafel #960 - Nathaniel LUKE (b. c. 1670) - earliest known LUKE ancestor

Ahnentafel #480 - Hendrick "Henry" LUKE (b. c. 1700) - still knowing next to nothing about this ancestor, but wondering with a name like Hendrick if he was from what is now Germany

Ahnentafel #240 - William LUKE (b. c. 1730) - possible immigrant ancestor? Possibly married to Catharine MUNDY.

Ahnentafel #120 - John LUKE (1761 - 1835) - born in Woodbridge Twp., Middlesex Co., NJ and died in Wooster, Wayne Co., Ohio. Married Margaret [--?--] (b. 1762): nine children. He may have served in the Revolutionary War.

Ahnentafel #60 - Azel Isak LUKE (1791 - 1874) - born in Woodbridge Twp., married Annabel MITCHEL (1793 - c. 1850), probably in Pennsylvania. Removed to Shamokin Twp., Northumberland Co., PA; Mt. Vernon, Wayne Co., OH; Vema Twp., LaGrange Co., IN; and finally Necedah, Juneau Co., WI, where he died. Seven children.

Ahnentafel #30 - Isaac LUKE (1831 - 1920) - born in Mt. Vernon, Wayne Co., OH; married Rebecca HEWITT (1836 - 1911) in 1851 in Sun Prairie, Dane Co., WI: 14 children. Served as a private in Company U, 16th Wisconsin Infantry during the Civil War. Removed to Avon, Bon Homme Co., South Dakota while it was still Dakota Territory. After Rebecca's death he married three more times to: Florence SUMMERS, Eliza HURD, and Maryann (BEST) SPERB

Ahnentafel #15 - Angelia Rebecca LUKE (1866 - 1941) - born in Summit Twp., Juneau Co., WI, she married John Franklin MARTIN in 1883 in Avon, Bon Homme Co., South Dakota: 12 children. John worked for the railroad for much of his life, which may have been the reason why they lived all over the Northern Plains and Pacific Northwest. After John's death in 1928, Angelia apparently moved to California to live with one of her two daughters that lived in the area. She died in Berkeley, Alameda Co., CA and is buried with John in Forest View Cemetery, Forest Grove, Washington County, Oregon.

Ahnentafel #7 - Leona Mary MARTIN (1906 - 1993) - youngest of 12 children and a twin, she was my husband's maternal grandmother. Her fantastic cooking provided for her family during the Depression through a diner she and her husband, Forrest Lyton CHAPLIN, owned.

Ahnentafel #3 - my mother-in-law, living

Ahnentafel #1 - my children's father, living


More about the LUKE family:

1. Online database (I update this at least once a month): LUKE ancestors and relative (no info on living persons available)

2. Posts about LUKE ancestors and relatives on this blog

3. Some scanned LUKE photos


My husband's LUKE immigration trail:

Middlesex Co., NJ > Northumberland Co., PA > Wayne Co., OH > LaGrange Co., IN > Juneau Co., WI > Bon Homme Co., DT (now SD) > Ransom Co., ND > LaMoure Co., ND > Kootenai (now Boundary) Co., ID > Franklin Co., WA > Multnomah Co., OR > Washington Co., OR > Clark Co., WA > Yakima Co., WA > Pierce Co., WA > Clark Co., WA > Spokane Co., WA