Descendants of Josiah Root

The furthest back that we can trace our branch of the Root family is to Josiah Root, who was born in 1756 in, we believe, Tolland County, CT. Based on the naming convention for Josiah's children that the Baptist church used at the time, it is believed that his parents were Ira and Lucinda Root, but that must be confirmed.

There were many Root family members in Connecticut in the 1700's, but thus far we have been unable to develop a direct link between Josiah and the oldest known Roote, Thomas Roote, who was born in Badby, Northamptonshire, England in 1555. That research is on-going.

From U.S. Census and church records, we know that after Josiah married Experience Adkins in Pitttstown, Rensselear County, NY, in 1784, they moved to Springfield Township in Otsego County, NY. There, they had a family of fourteen children, including their oldest son, Ira Root.

Ira and his wife, Sarah Mallory, had a family of eleven children. One of Ira's sons, Thomas Arthur, is found in the census records in Crawford County, PA, in 1850, where he and his wife, Harriet Knapp, had their four children in the early 1850's. They then moved to Monroe County, WI, in 1854. One of Thomas' brothers, Ephraim, joined him in Wisconsin in the 1860's.

The Root family joined the Griggs family when Eva Jane Root, a daughter of Thomas' son, Ira James, married Samuel Hiram Griggs in 1908.

Created 17 February 2026 with RootsMagic Genealogy Software