Historian Finds Gustin A Familiar Warren County Name

"What's in a name?"
This is a familiar old saying that has been handed down through generations. We all know that our name is our only possession that cannot be taken away from us.
I found while researching my genealogy that my surname originated in Ireland. It came from the word "bog" which was derived from the people who worked the bogs in the old country.
The origin of many of our American family surnames has been lost forever. Many of these surnames can be traced to the European countries and points beyond. The population of the United States has so many nationalities represented, and has had so many name changes since our forefathers arrived in this country, that tracing one's own name can be very challenging.
A grand old Warren County surname, "Gustin," actually originated in America. It was at one time more common in the County than any other place in the United States. The name has been traced back to the latter part of the 17th century.
The origination of the Gustin family came from the Island of Jersey where the language and descent of the people was French. The family name in Jersey was Jean, the French version of John. Edmond Jean lived in the Parish of St. Owen, Isle of Jersey, where he married Esther Rossignon on April 25, 1638. This marriage had a number of children, one of them being baptized January 9, 1647, and christened Augustin.
Augustin Jean came to America about 1674. Possibly his first residence was at Reading, Massachusetts. He was a soldier in the Indian war known as the King Phillip War. His name was written in the roster of soldiers as Augustin John. The transition of his name was easily changed to John Gustin in which he was customarily known in his later years. John transferring land and houses left to him by his father signed a deed. It reads as such:
"As the name was given or left or otherwise ordered unto me, the said Augustine John by my father and mother, Edmond Jean and Esther, his wife, late of the Parish of St. Owen, in the island of Jersey."
After King Phillip's War had ended, John received a tract of land at Falmouth (now Portland, Maine), after which he later purchased more land.
He married Elizabeth Brown on January 12, 1678, and resided at Falmouth for several years, until the French and Indians destroyed this small town in 1690. This incident caused him to move away for a spell, but returned at a later date where he died in 1719.
His will named six children, four sons and two daughters. As generations passed, the Gustin family was found not only in Portland, Maine, but also in many surrounding states and in the Province of Quebec, Canada, and after 1798, in Warren County.
The first Gustin found in the County was Jeremiah, a grandson of John. He was born July 1, 1740, possibly in Glastonbury, Connecticut. He moved with his parents to New Jersey, and later to Pennsylvania in 1798, when he was 58 years old. His family was fully-grown, and with them he moved to the Northwest Territory, finally settling in Clearcreek Township in Warren County. The family was among the pioneers of the area.
He purchased a full section (640 acres) just east of Red Lion. Jeremiah, along with his family, settled in the middle of the woods and built a home.
He died August 31, 1823, and was buried, along with his wife, Bethany, in the Kirby Cemetery (now called the Turtlecreek Cemetery) just north of Lebanon.

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This page created 28 July 2004 and last updated 28 September, 2008
© 2004 Arne H Trelvik  All rights reserved