Background
The purpose of this site is to share family history through traditional and genetic genealogy.
Project Administrators and their areas of focus:
Steve Dimond;
Genetic genealogy
New York and Pennsylvania Dymond/Dimond M3 lineage
Jack Diamond;
New York and Loyalist Diamond M3 lineage
Marilyn Pilkington;
Newfoundland Diamond/Dimond and New York Dymond/Dimond M253 Lineage
The purpose of this study is to share family history through traditional and genetic genealogy.
This project utilizes yDNA technology in combination with traditional research. The study is ongoing and is continually adding to our knowledge.
The study is interested in using yDNA technology to better understand linkage of our early ancestors in an era where there are few, if any, records. It is also a conduit to connect cousins so that family history may be shared. Participation from all branches is needed and welcome. Even if you find that your line already has a participant in the study, it could be that your participation will greatly aid our understanding.
Contact the study managers to discuss whether your participation makes sense.
We would like to hear from you if you have branch family information you would like to share, or correct/add to our Lineages histories, or to discuss the project.
Currently there are limited funds available to test, free of charge, direct line descendants of:
John Diamond 1759 (Christina Loyst) and brother Jacob Diamond 1756 (Margaret Loyst)
John Dymond 1768 (Mary Lossing/Lawson) of Dymond Hollow, PA
Henry Dimond 1772 (Catherine Stewart) of Dymond Hollow, PA and Coldwater, MI
Matthew Dymond 1775 (Margaret Sickler) of Dymond Hollow, PA
William Dymond 1790 (Catherine Kisenger) of Woodstock, NY and Dymond Hollow, PA.
Isaac Dymond 1791 (Sarah Booth) of Woodstock, NY and NYC
Jacob Diamond 1744
Contacts above.
The Dymen of Hudson's River Y DNA Project Summary
Site rewritten and restructured autumn 2010
(Please report any error of fact on these pages and broken or missing links.)
The introduction of yDNA technology as a tool in 2002 led to the yDNA study of the D*mon(d) surname in colonial America. The goal was to learn whether any of these early family groups were/are linked. This goal was reached in the spring of 2007.
In July of 2007 the Dymond Lineage of Hudson's River was split from the greater Diamond yDNA surname study to focus attention on the one lineage of primary interest.
Link to Diamond and Diamond variants Surname Project at FTDNA
At the outset the paternal outline was based primarily on three publications. They included:
Genealogy of the Dymond, Williams and Related Families 1981 by Robert H. Dymond covering the Luzerne County, PA branch [An expanded version now exists].
DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER by Herbert James Malone, presented to United Empire Loyalist Archives, Adolphustown, 1992 covered the Fredericksburgh, Ontario branch.
The Settlers of the Beekman Patent, Dutchess County, Historical and Genealogical Study of All the 18th Century Settlers in the Patent Vol.4 by Frank Doherty This is an amalgamation of the earlier two works with Doherty's research related to the Settlers of Beekman Patent in Dutchess County, NY.
Beekman Patent Outline
There are now hundreds of Dymond genealogies in personal ancestry program files on the World Wide Web based on the three publications. Errors have been found in each of the genealogies. This is to be expected. As Robert H. Dymond said in his book, "A genealogy is never completed, for there are always new events occurring, new discoveries made, and ever-present errors to be corrected. Many defects spring from the very nature of what is attempted and no one can avoid them........."
The information presented by this project is updated as required to remain current. Each paper or report contains the most up to date and accurate information. Numerous corrections and additions have been made to the genealogies. It has been nearly thirty years since the first was published. A great deal has changed.
The lineage as theorized in the Settlers of Beekman Patent begins with Edward Dimond of Beekman Patent and his sons, Johannes1723, Marcus1726, and Jacob1744 and links Pennsylvania and Ontario branches of MatthewDymond1740-1839, Jacob Diamond 1756-1813 ,John Diamond 1762-1848 to Edward thru these sons.
1- Edward Dimond
2- Johannes 1723
3- Matthew Dymond1740-1839 married to Anne Mosher
3- Jacob Diamond 1756-1813 married to Margaret Loyst
3- John Diamond 1759-1845 married to Christina Loyst
2- Marcus1726
2- Jacob 1744
3- John Diamond1760 married to Katreen Gordanier
Some History
When Hendrick Hudson navigated the river which now bears his name in 1609, the land on both sides of the river was inhabited by eastern woodland Algonquian. To the north west of Albany was the exception. These were Mohawk of the Iroquois Nation.
The Hudson River was the water route between New Amsterdam and Fort Orange (Albany). During Netherlands' occupation there were few inhabitants between these two points other than Native Amerindians.
The earliest records of D*mon[d] men and their families are centered in Dutchess County. The record begins with Edward Dymen (Dimond) at Poughquag, Beekman Patent in 1720.
In the early 1760s, after the French and Indian War, some D*mond men and their families are found to have migrated north following the river north to Kinderhook, Greenbush, and Saratoga. Dutchess County during these years that led up to the Revolutionary War experienced unrest due in large part to the Three Life Lease manorial system of leased land. This was the first of the Rent Wars. The Phillipstown Loyalist Diamond branch may have been caught up in the politics of southern Dutchess County, a Tory/Loyalist hotbed who found their leased land confiscated at the end of the War.
The Beekman Patent D*mond family headed by Edward migrated north to Kinderhook in the early 1760s. Of these men, Edward's son Marcus left a clear and relatively robust trail of documents. Marcus1726 first settled at Kinderhook, and by the 1790s was settled at Stephentown, NY. The Dymond/Dimond name in Stephentown was recorded in the Stephentown area well into the 1900s. Scattered accounts of other D*mond men are found in various records but the problem has always been and remains which D*mond lines or branches to assign the men to. The use of multiple same names is a real problem. Complicating matters further was the discovery of a second genetically distinct D*mond lineage among descendants of the men.
Two Distinct Lineages-Q-M3 and I-M253
Between 2007 and 2009 several yDNA participants known to descend from the Stephentown family were yDNA tested. While matching each other, they were not a match to the Q-M3 lineage. These men share the same yDNA haplotype and are members of yDNA haplogroup I-M253. In other words, a second D*mond yDNA signature was discovered and defined. These results mean the Edward Dimond lineage as outlined in the past now must be rethought.
Project Labels Q-M3 and I-M253
With the discovery of the second lineage, a need to differentiate the lines was necessary. From here forward each group will be identified by their respective deep ancestral root origins; Q-M3 or I-M253. M3 is rooted in pre-contact Americas. M253 is rooted in northern Europe and present only in Americas post contact.
Two Distinct Lineages Genealogies
At this time, and until research proves otherwise, the Genealogies of Edward Dimond of Beekman Patent and that of the yDNA Q-M3 Loyalist lineage are separated. It is too soon to be drawing conclusions given what we now know. If the biological paternal lineage of I-M253 is that of Marcus Dymond1726 the second son of Edward Dimond the Q-M3 lineage is not biologically linked.
The lineages do appear to be living side by side in time and geography. Y DNA alone cannot tell us whether the two lineages were somehow linked directly via inclusion of the M3 lineage into the M253 family via an adoption or by some unknown association, or for that matter whether there was a connection at all.
There is the question of the source from which the Amerindian D*mond lineage acquired their adopted surname. While the idea is that the M253 lineage makes the most sense, there were other colonial D*mond lineages of European descent in New England.
Q-M3 Lineage
The yDNA lineage that was first discovered while researching the Dymen of Hudson’s River was identified as and defined by being members of haplogroup Q-M3 testing positive for the M3 SNP. Q-M3 is exclusive to pre Columbian American Indian males. This D*mond lineage has deep roots in the Hudson River Valley, extending back at least 1000 years.
At the beginning of the study the Q-M3 lineage was thought to be that of Edward Dimond of Beekman Patent.
The lineage has been identified and defined by a 111 marker modal yDNA haplotype signature. A 67 marker ancestral haplotype has been deduced. Y DNA tells us these men were very close first degree relations.
This paternal outline is based on what is known for certain from Loyalist records and yDNA.
John Diamond
2- Matthew Dymond1740-1839 married to Anne Mosher
2- Jacob Diamond1756-1813 married to Margaret Loyst
2- John Diamond1759-1845 married to Christina Loyst
Jacob Diamond
2- John2 Diamond1760 married to Katreen Gordanier
While all of these men are a high resolution yDNA match, their placement in the genealogy, with the exception of Matthew 1740, is based on Loyalist records. The placement of Matthew is a remnant from the The Settlers of the Beekman Patent, Dutchess County, Historical and Genealogical Study of All the 18th Century Settlers in the Patent. Matthew could be of either generation related to these men.
This lineage originates in the area that is Dutchess County on the east side of the Hudson River and Ulster County on the west side. The area was homelands of the Wappinger and Esopus extending north to Mahican territory. During the Revolutionary War years they are found as far south as Phillipstown and as far north as Saratoga. After the War there is a split into two primary branches: those who were displaced Tory supporters (Loyalists) and removed to Fredericksburgh, Ontario; and those of Matthew Dymond1740, who settled at Woodstock in the southern Catskills Mountains between 1792 and 1800. Seven of Matthew's eight sons and daughters migrated to the Endless Mountains region of northeastern Pennsylvania between 1800 and 1809. This location became known as Dymond Hollow.
Q-M3 Study Branch Lines
The Loyalist Diamonds of Dutchess and Saratoga Counties, New York, who settled in Fredericksburgh, Ontario, in 1783.
John Diamond Sr.
Jacob Diamond Sr.
John Diamond 1760
John Diamond 1759 (Christina Loyst)
Jacob Diamond 1756 (Margaret Loyst)
Dutchess and Ulster County New York families:
Moses Dimond 1747
Matthew Dymond 1740 (Ann Mosher) of Dutchess County and Woodstock, Ulster County, NY
The sons of Matthew Dymond 1740:
These men and their families settled in Luzerne/Wyoming Co. PA between 1800 and 1809.
John Dymond 1768 (Mary Lossing/Lawson) of Dymond Hollow, PA
Henry Dimond 1772 (Catherine Stewart) of Dymond Hollow, PA and Coldwater, MI
Matthew Dymond 1775 (Margaret Sickler) of Dymond Hollow, PA
William Dymond 1790 (Catherine Kisenger) of Woodstock, NY and Dymond Hollow, PA. Wife and sons returned to Woodstock.
Isaac Dymond 1791 (Sarah Booth) of Woodstock, NY and NYC
Locations where these men are found:
Dutchess County, NY
Rensselear County, NY
Ulster County, NY
Saratoga County, NY
Luzerne and Wyoming Counties, PA
Fredericksburg, Ontario
Phillipstown, New York Province
Poughkeepsie, NY
Woodstock, NY
Dymond Hollow, PA
I-M253 Lineage
At the beginning of the study, the Q-M3 lineage was thought to be that of Edward Dimond of Beekman Patent, but the testing, between the years 2007 and 2009, of several participants who are believed to descend from Marcus1726 Dymond of Stephentown revealed a new and different yDNA signature. While matching each other, they were not a match to the Q-M3 lineage. These men share the same yDNA haplotype and are members of yDNA haplogroup I-M253. These results mean that the Edward Dimond lineage, as outlined in The Settlers of the Beekman Patent, Dutchess County, Historical and Genealogical Study of All the 18th Century Settlers in the Patent, may be of European origin.
To be clear at this time, the association of either the Q-M3 lineage or the I-M253 lineage with that of Edward Dimond is not certain, though the evidence leans greatly toward the I-M253 lineage being that of Edward.
Judith Lalley, in her Dimond of Marblehead genealogy [mentioned in the Beekman Patent volume], speculated about a link between the Marblehead family and the Edward Dimond family of Beekman Patent, New York Province. The Edward Dimond family of Marblehead was most certainly European, arriving in Marblehead in the 1640s. They were not among the founders but arrived not long after. There is no evidence or reason to believe that they were in any way American Indian. A close look at the Marblehead town records indicates that the Beekman Dimond family was descended from the Marblehead family. Edward Dimond, the first recorded patriarch, was recorded in 1641. Later Edward Dimond members of the family were: Edward1687, Edward1707, Edward1712, and Edward1725.
Marblehead A Fishing Plantation
Marblehead was settled as a fishing village in the first half of the 1600s.
The local society consisted of two groups: the men who managed the fishing industry, and those who performed the labor at sea. Marblehead’s early settlers were seafaring immigrants. The village in 1650 had about 100 inhabitants; by 1680, it had 600.
By the 1670s, Marblehead’s original 44 householders had grown to just over 100.
The people of Marblehead showed no commitment to the values and institutions of Puritan Massachusetts. Closer counter parts to Marblehead were the settlements of the Isle of Shoals and other centers of the fishing industry. [D*mond's are recorded at Isle of Shoals]
These were fishing camps for West Country men rather than experiments for devout East Anglicans. The two decades of war [Queen Anne’s War] before 1713 brought hard times to the Marblehead fishery. With peace in 1713 this reversed and local control began to develop.
1652 Kittery - Fishery-landing and processing
The Diamond family of Kittery was a second large mariner Diamond family.
John Di[a]mond was from Devonshire England. He was a rope maker and boat builder, building shallops
with sons John, Andrew, William, and Thomas. The Diamond Shipyard was in use for more than a century. John Di[a]mond lived on Crooked Lane, Kittery.
John signed the admission to Massachusetts in 1652. John and Grace had five children:
i. John Jr.
ii. Andrew b. 1640 m. Elizabeth d. 1707 Ipswich
iii. William, m. Joan d. 1667.
iv. Thomas,
v. Grace
Son John, 1631, was of Kittery and was a boat builder.
Son Thomas was of Star Island, Isle of Shoals. Records say he was born in Devon, England.
Son Andrew, 1642, of the Isle of Shoals was a fishing master.
There is a record of Dymond's Garden on Star Island in the Isle of Shoals.
A Maritime Connection to Beekman Patent Dimond?
In the spring of 2011, a participant from the line of John Diamond 1788 of Lower Island Cove, Newfoundland, matched into the I-M253 Stephentown Dymond group.
This result seems to reinforce the idea that the Edward Dimond lineage of Beekman was I-M253. Much work remains to take this from speculation to fact.
Edward Dimond of Beekman Patent
Edward had nine children, three of whom were male. They are recorded in southern Dutchess County, New York Province, at Poughquag, Beekman Patent, in the 1720s. Edward Dimond and his sons and their families migrated north along the Hudson river, first to Kinderhook in the 1760s. The document trail ends there for all but son Marcus1726, who settled about nineteen miles to the NNE of Kinderhook at Stephentown and Sand Lake. Marcus, unlike his brothers, left a Will naming his children. From that we can create the following outline:
1- Edward Dimond
2- Johannes1723
2- Marcus1726
3-Jacob
3- Isaac
3-Abraham
3-Robert
3-John
3-Henry
3-William
3-Mary
2- Jacob1744
The majority of these sons were over twenty years of age during the Revolution. They must be taken into account when attributing records.
John Diamond of Lower Island Cove, Newfoundland
John was born about 1788, location unknown. By 1807 he was living in Lower Island Cove, Conception Bay North, Newfoundland. Dimonds first appear through land registry records in this area in 1773, when a William Dimond & Co. is situate at Adam’s Cove, some 12 miles distant from Lower Island Cove. The records of the day state that part of the land which the company claimed was “inherited from mother”; this points to a Dimond presence in Adam’s Cove pre 1773, though it was probably on a seasonal basis. Family lore states that the Lower Island Cove Dimonds and the Adam’s Cove Dimonds were of the same fishing family; this has not yet been proven through yDNA analysis.
Three of John’s sons (James (1817-1887), Peter, and Nathan) moved to Russell’s Cove (now known as New Melbourne), Trinity Bay, around 1850.
John’s grandson and James’ son, John Diamond (1853-1942), moved to Flat Islands, Placentia Bay (south-east coast of Newfoundland, off the Burin Peninsula), as a young man in about the early 1880s. This settlement no longer exists, having been a casualty of the Newfoundland resettlement program in the 1960s.
The Question going forward is how and when were these lines linked within the paternal lineage?
The study now includes descendants of:
John Diamond of Lower Island Cove, Newfoundland
Descendants of:
Edward Dimond of Beekman Patent
His sons:
Johannes Dymen 1723
Marcus Dymond 1726
Jacob Diamond 1744
Dimond’s of Marblehead??
Locations where these men are found:
Newfoundland
Adam’s Cove (Wm Dimond & Co.)
Lower Island Cove*
Russell's Cove (now known as "New Melbourne")
Flat Islands, Placentia Bay*
(*Diamonds are no longer found in these communities.)
New York
Beekman Patent
Dutchess County, NY
Rensselear County, NY
Kinderhook
Stephentown
Sand Lake