Chapter 2

Haskell Legends

In Chronicles of the Haskell Family by Ira J. Haskell tells of a Haskell legend starting with the Battle of Hastings where William the Conqueror of France defeated Harold, a saxon usurper of the English Crown.

“Back in the year 1066, so the story goes, a great battle was being waged over the Downs of Sussex. Great phalanxes of armored knights were arrayed against each other.  Among them was one Roget, [Last names were not often in use at this time in history and if they were used it usually referred to the place from where they came. The English language at this time had no fast system of spelling rules. For that reason, spelling variations are commonly found in early names.] and it fits our legend to picture him as glorious, glistening armor garbed, an aide to the King.  No guns in those days for combat was hand to hand with pike and sword; in this carefully planned battle for the control of a great country, William, Duke of Normandy, was maneuvering his men with real military genius against his foe, Harold, who was well fortified on Senlac Hill (our histories refer to it as “Hastings 1066”). As the afternoon sun cast lengthening shadows, William, either from hunger or as a dare, expressed a wish for an apple from a tree near Harold’s lines.  Thereupon, our ancestor dashed forth amid a shower of arrows, and filled his scarf with the fruit, returned and presented them to the Duke, who following this battle became William the Conqueror, King of England.  In token of courage, Roget was knighted and subsequently given as a crest an apple tree (fruited proper). The legend further states that he was mortally wounded by an arrow later that day; at least, the tree on our crest is shown pierced by an arrow and ever since we have used the symbol and have liked apples.”  

There are reasons to believe that not all is accurate in this account, since Harold’s     army did not have archers. If the legend were true, the arrows had to have been from             Duke William’s army.

In addition, there is a suggestion that our ancestors originated in England and not         France.  The Vikings not only raided and settled in France but also in England. Ira               Haskell explains:

“It appears that the family was of Aryan origin, using the name Eschol (Gen. XIV 13) and later             such various Norse forms of the name Askitell and Ashkettle. There was a Danish King Oskitel             who ravaged a part of England, finally locating in Hereford, about 870 A.D. hence the legend of             our Welsh origin with Rowlstone Castle as the family home.  The Welsh meaning of “Hasg” is a             moor and ”Asgal” a sheltered place. Some of his descendants became abbots and bishops, which             may account for so many ministers in the family during the 19th century, both periods in history             being good times for the Cloth.  Some of the Haskells went to Normandy whence Roget came to             England with William, Duke of Normandy.”

An article on the internet On the Origins of the Haskell Name by Annessa Main is         quoted:

“My name is Annessa Main.  My grandmother was Vida Lee Hascall from Bridgeport, NE, born March 20, 1926.  I have one of her old letters from an Elinor Hascall Northup.  This letter is dated 4/23/1974 and she states in it that she was 72 at the time she wrote it.  In this same letter, she states that her information was compiled by her great grandfather, William Carey Hascall.  In her collection, she reports a printed page telling about William Haskell I.  This was taken from the papers of a Burnette Haskell and she copied it word for word: William Haskell of Charlton, Musgrove County, Somerset, England appears to have been the second son of Surrey Haskell,  son of Godfrey, son of Stephan, son of Roger,  son of Ordegar, son of Ordegar of Rowlstone Castle,Ealy Brook, Herefordshire, England.  This Ordegar had been a French Nobleman who sided with the English during the Hundred Year’s War and under the final French victory under Joan D’ Arc (in 1453) had lost his property and fled for his life to England.  His wife Una was of the Bec-Crespin family, which family had counts, crusaders, even a Marechal of France. Ordegar was the son of William, son of Ordegar, son of Count Stephan D’ Ascelle, son of Baron Roger, son of Edward, son of Edward, son of Thomas of Theman who was a Baron and Count, son of Roger, son of Richard, son of Stephan, son of William, son of William Fits Osbern.  This William was created Earl of Hereford by William the Conqueror after the battles of Hastings when Norman defeated Saxon in the struggle for England. This William was the son of Osbern, Seneschal of Normandy, who was the son of Ordegar who helped Rollo (?) from the king of France.  This Ordegar is said to be the grandson of Asketil” (Oskitel).

William Haskell of Charlton, Musgrove County Somerset, England it seems was the                second son of William Haskell (not accounted for in this letter) who most probably was            the second son of Surrey Haskell.  WIth so many Williams in the family it would not be            a surprise if one was left out. In another portion of the same letter, she states that the              “Haskells were Norman French 500 years before they migrated to England and spelled            their name “D’Ascalle”.  When Ordegar Haskell was forced to flee to England around              1453, they dropped the “D” so they would not be identified as French”. From 870 to              1453 (end of 100 Years War) is 583 years. “Ascalle” to me makes more sense as the          origin of the Haskell name rather than Hasg (a moor) + Asgal (a sheltered place) from              the Welsh.

 I have been unable to verify this information as true or false.  This information does tie together with the legend above and Rowlstone Castle (now a mound of dirt) in          Herefordshire which is associated with the Haskell family.  This genealogic story with              inaccuracies very likely cannot be passed off as true.  However, since this is the only              lineage I have been able to find and since it does make sense historically, I am inclined          to accept it as probable until someone provides a more conclusive answer. Anyway,              this brings us to the point where Ira J. Haskell started his story and it is where I shall              begin also.  I will only show the lineage that flows from William Haskell to me. Ira’s               book contains a much broader treatment of the early family and is considered the most          reliable source for the early Haskell family so I will deal only with those parts of this                  family history which deal directly with my lineage. For those that are interested, I highly        recommend reading Ira’s book. It will be my primary source for the period 1600 to 1725.          I will only cover information from this period that I think will augment Ira’s work.