and Early Estes Family Coat of Arms from Italy The family history for Emma Victoria Pennell Shew has been traced as far back as the time of Charlemagne. You can learn the origins of the famiy To read the earlier generations of Emma you can click the pdf below the family crest. We will begin here in 1430 with the birth of Francesco d’Este, illegitimate son of Leonello d'Este, Marquis of Ferrara. Francesco married Dorothy Wilson (date unknown). At the time of his death in 1450, Francesco’s father, Leonello had only one legitimate heir, his 12 year old son Niccolo. So it was Francesco’s uncle Borso d'Este who inherited the titles, land and estates. When Borso died in 1471 his half brother Ercole inherited the titles and estate. That same year Ercole had suspicions that Francesco was after his new titles. So he convinced him to leave Ferrara and go live in the Burgundy area in France. To make sure he would leave immediately, he gave him horses and clothes and 500 ducats. So Francesco left and settled in Burgundy. Some years later he moved to Ringwould, near Deal, Kent County England. This was descibed in words written on the back of the painting of Francesco found in a collection of paintings near Ferrara. Recent information suggests Francesco lastly migrated to Vaud, Grandson, Switzerland and died at the on March 2, 1476. Sometime after arriving in England, the name was shortened and the d’ was dropped. Francesco’s son and grandson went by the spelling Ewstas. Robert Estes(Ewstas) was born in Kent County, England in 1475. He lived his entire life in England and died 14 Oct 1506 Dover, Kent, England. His son Nicholas Estes(Ewstas) was born in 1495. In 1520 Nicholas married a woman named Anny(1498 - 1533). He died in 1533 in the same place he was born. By his own request stated in his will, he was buried in the cemetery at St. Leonard Church in Deal. You can view the original copy of Nicholas’ will or read the original text and translated text in His son Sylvester Estes was born 1522 also in Ringwould, Kent County England where in 1545 he married Jone (1525 - 1561). He died on June 6th, 1579. One of Sylvester’s sons was Robert Estes born 1555, died 4 November 1616 and, like his father, never left Kent County. He married Anne Woodward(1570 - 1630) on 2 December 1591 in Sheldon, Devon, England. Robert’s son Sylvester Estes was born September 26, 1596 and died in December 1667 in Ringwould, Kent County England. His occupation is listed in English records as that of a Husbandman, Yeoman and Church Warden. He was married to Ellen Martin 1600 - 1649. It was the next generation that left England. Exactly where Abraham boarded is not confirmed but he was in Sandwich around the same time the ship docked there. The Martha may have stoped at any of the several other ports along the channel, so he could have boarded at one of them. It has been confirmed that the Martha was Dutch built but English registered in London. This type of craft was slim with tall sails, it was very fast and commonly used along coastal waters, but they also carried passengers and cargo to the Colonies. After arriving in the colonies Abraham finished his servetued before marrying his second wife Barbara Brock(1662 - 1720). They were married on December 29, 1682, which was the tenth anniversary of his marriage to his first wife Ann and had a large family. Records show that by 1683, he was living in New Kent Co., Virginia, but he later settled in the parish of St. Stephens in King and Queen County, Virginia. He is listed in the Colonial Papers, 1657-1687, located in the Virginia State Library, Richmond. In 1704 records show Abraham paid taxes on 200 acres of land. He died November 21, 1720 in Virginia leaving a will naming his nine children He was buried at Bunker Hill Cemetery, Stevensville, King and Queen County, Virginia. Abraham's son Richard Estes was born in King and Queen County, Virginia in 1703 and married Mary Yancy in 1727. He died in February 13, 1743 in Hanover or Louisa County, Virginia. One of Lot and Chaney’s children, Benjamin Franklin Estes, was born August 6, 1835. Details of the next several years are still sketchy. It is known that Benjamin became angered at his father over a beating at about age 16 and left home about 1851. Benjamin served in Company A 1st Dakota Cavalry. In June of 1864, while serving under Gen Sully, Benjamin was sent with a detail back to where a small group of Sioux had been shot down after they had earlier ambushed and killed one of Sully’s captains. Sully wanted more evidence than had been brought to him so Sgt. Benjamin Estes is known to have used a butcher knife and cut off the heads of the three dead Sioux and stuffing them in a gunny sack before taking them to Gen. Sully. The next morning the General had the heads stuck on poles at the highest point in the area so all the indians could see he meant business. This is detailed in “Dakota’s First Soldiers” by Albert M. English. After his discharge he was hired as a scout for the Sawyers Wagon Road Expedition June -October 1865. Around age 40 he contacted his parents and informed them he was living in the South Dakota Territory. In the late 1860’s Lot and his wife, Chaney, traveled to South Dakota to visit their son Benjamin. They found he had taken an indian wife. Melissa DeFond wss daughter to Samuel Baptiste DeFond, a half French/half Sioux Indian, and Miniokewin of the Lower Brule Tribe of the Sioux Indian Nation in South Dakota. Here you can of their geneology from South Dakota Historical Collections. Melissa and Benjamin had eight children together. John was their eldest. He died before he reached his eleventh birthday. Their second child was Charles who died at two. Their third child was a daughter, Elizabeth Estes, born on Feb 2nd, 1862. Other children were Alex, Joseph, Jennie, Reuben and George. By this time, around 1874, Elizabeth was about 12. Benjamin requested that Lot and his wife Chaney take her back to NC with them and promised he would follow soon. She tried desperately not to go but was put on the wagon by her father. None of the other children were old enough for the trip so Elizabeth was sent alone with her grandparents. Benjamin was working for the government. His job was to keep an eye on the Indians and prevent them from drinking. Then one night during an argument he shot and killed an indian and fled for his life. Although he had earlier sent his daughter Elizabeth back to NC, he left his wife and other children behind. He turned up in Miles City, Montana area in 1883 after he had remarried Mary Parks (1845 - 1924) and started a new family.
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Benjamin Estes grave in Miles City, Montana He had two known children by his second wife, son Benjamin F. Estes, Jr. born 1880 and daughter Martha Rosanna Estes, born 1874 in Canada. He died in Miles City in 1921 on his birthday.
read his obituary here
to view the application for his grave marker not made until 1939
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Elizabeth Estes Pennell grave at the Pennell family Cemetary in Wilkesboro Elizabeth grew up with her grandparents in NC where she eventually married Ben Pennell. She died on August 14, 1902. Melissa remarried after Benjamin left her and the children. She married James Diver. you can view the 1892 census of her family Georgia Estes, Benjamin's great-great granddaughter in a recent photo Sitting to the left is Reuben Estes, brother to Elizabeth, son of Benjamin and Melissa. Grandson castle
HERE 
Benjamin Estes around 1900 Genealogy researched at ESTES FAMILY HISTORY ESTES FAMILY HISTORY
read a pdf of the generations of Francesco back to 730
To remember our past is to honor our ancestors. To live in the past is an insult to the dreams they had of reaching for the future.
In 1647 Abraham Estes was born to Sylvester and Ellen in Nonington, Kent County England. A linen weaver in Sandwich, Kent, England, he married Ann Burton (1651-1674), a widow, on December 29,1672 at Worth, Kent, England. Abraham emigrated to the British colonies and arrived sometime between 1674 and 1675. His passage was probably arranged and paid for by Thorowgood Keeling, according to a surviving document. Thorowgood died by August, 1679, so Abraham’s trip to the colonies was probably arranged by that time. It has been listed that Abraham was probably an indentured servant to Keeling’s daugher Lucy since in those times rich residents sponsored emigrants. A typical indenture lasted seven years and after that time they were free to pursue any life they chose. Some information claims Abraham made the crossing aboard the ship Vana, but family tradition says that Abraham sailed from England aboard the English flyship Martha with his wife Ann, who is believed to have died during the journey. The full name of Lott's sixth child was Seth Lot Estes, born January 1, 1813. Known as Esq. Lot Estes he was a prominent citizen in the township of Globe, NC. His life ended at the age of 94 on Aug 4, 1907. He married Chaney Green, daughter of Benjamin Green, on October 13, 1834. Chaney was born Mar. 2, 1814 and died May 5, 1880. In North Carolina. The Green family was the first family to settle in legendary Blowing Rock, NC and owned the land until the late 1800’s. Our thanks to cousin Katherine Hunter for this information. Both Lot and Chaney are buried at the Estes Cemetery in Upton, Caldwell County, North Carolina. Seth "Lot" Estes Recent photo of St. Leonard Church in Deal St. Leonard Church in Deal today St. Leonard Church in Deal 1907 St. Leonard Church in Deal 1800s Dock Scene at a British Port, Jacob Knyff, 1673 - The Martha at dock Philadelphia "Delphia" Atkins Estes grave in Burke County, North Carolina, USA Rueben Estes grave in Johns River, Burke County, North Carolina, USA Metropolitan Museum of Art - A panel painting by the Netherlandish painter Rogier van der Weyden dating to about 1460. The subject of the portrait, Francesco d'Este (1430 - abt 1475), was the illegitimate son of Leonello, an Italian patron of Rogier.
Battle of Grandson
pdf here. 
here
Richard was father to Reuben Timothy Estes born in 1741 in Hanover, Virginia and died in 1811 in Burke County, NC. Reuben married Philadelphia “Delphia” Atkins(1741-1818). Both are buried at the Estes-Franklin Cemertery, Collettsville, Caldwell County, NC. Together they had nine children. All but their second child had names beginning wth “L”.
The Estes name has had many spellings and pronounciations over the centuries. Ewstas, Eustas, Eastye, Eastes, D’Eastes, De Este, d’Este and the American spelling of Estes.
Lott Estes was Reuben’s sixth child and born in Burke County, NC on October 14, 1777 and died on August 12, 1857 in Caswell County, NC. He married Lora Gilbert(1780-1850). Leonello D'Este portrayed by Pisanello. van der Weyden was for a period the highest placed artist at the Ferrarese court Leonello d'Este - artist unknown
here.
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ESTES FAMILY HISTORY ESTES FAMILY HISTORY Melissa DeFond Estes Diver
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