Meet Joseph Loomis, my 9X Great Grandfather.
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As I was working on the family tree this evening I discovered a new relative – Joseph Loomis, my 9th great grandfather, on my father’s line. Joseph lived on this earth during the years of
1590-1658. Joseph came to the United States in 1638 and settled in Connecticut. He was one of several who were the first settlers of that area. He was from a prosperous family in Braintree, Essex, England. He owned a store in England where he was a woolen draper. He was a Deputy to the general court during 1643 & 1644 in Windsor Connecticut. To this day, the home he built still stands and is part of the Loomis Chaffee School (a premier co educational boarding school for grades 9–12 and postgraduates).  Unfortunately, connecting to Joseph Loomis reveals a connection to some distant cousins who were part of a notorious crime gang in New York during the 19th century. This started with Joseph’s descendent George Washington Loomis 1779-1851 who married a wife with questionable values, Rhoda Mallet.George was known as an embezzler, a horse thief, burglar, and a counterfeiter. Together George and Rhoda raised many children who followed their footsteps in a life of crime. Rhoda Mallet Loomis was known to tell her children “You may steal, but if you are caught, you shall be whipped (wikipedia).”
 “Their descendants may be found in Central New York to this day, and many are proud of their descent from what was, in its time, the largest family criminal syndicate in America (wikipedia).” But, many are quite embarrased of the history of Joseph’s criminal descendents, and have gone so far as to change the spelling of their last name, or the name in it’s entirety so not to be associated with this rich, yet evil history!Several individuals mention a very interesting book detailing the lives of the criminal Loomis’s. Should you wish to read about this group of outlaws, a book by George W. Walter, titled The Loomis Gang, is praised for being an accurate and thrilling depiction of George Washington Loomis and his gang. I guess it’s bound to happen….the more you look you the more chance you take of opening up those skeletons dangling in the closet! That’s the thing that makes family history research so interesting….learning about the past and what role your family played….good and/or bad! Below you find some links with additional information and photos related to Joseph Loomis and his descendants. Click on the links to open a new browser page.
Joseph Loomis Find a Grave Memorial
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The Twigs in My Tree! 
