The Ensign family is believed to have been of Saxon origin, with its progenitor hailing from a small fishing community on the isle of Schokland in the Zuiderzee (Zuyder Zee, meaning Southern Sea in Dutch). The Zuiderzee is a shallow bay of the North Sea. The region is part of the Dutch province of Flevoland in the Netherlands.
The region, formerly known as West Frisia, or Friesland, was the traditional homeland of the Germanic tribe of people called the Frisii, who began settling there in the 6th century B.C. Archaeological evidence shows Frisian presence since the Early Middle Ages. They were descendants of the Anglo-Saxon immigrants from the German Bight.
They may have been among the early invaders of England who settled in Kent during the Teutonic migrations. See my blog entitled Ens, Netherlands - Origin of the Ensign family for more information.
The first trace of the name in England, was found in Chilham, near Canterbury, England, abt. 1563. See my previous blog entitled "Chilham Castle", where you can have a look around.
It is suspected that the fellow who arrived in Chilham was called Ens, after the name of his former Dutch home. The suffix -ing was an old English term meaning descended from, which explains why in many early records, the name was written Ensing. North of Chilham, there is a hamlet called Ensden, "a contradiction from Ensingden. It would appear, therefore, that at an early date an Ensing made his abode in a wooded vale, called in Old English a "den".
Ensign Genealogy
Generation 1
James Ensign, married Sarah Elson
Generation 2
David Ensign Sr, married Sarah (Wilcox) Long
Generation 3
David Ensign Jr, married Sarah Moody
Generation 4
Datus Ensign Sr, married Lucretia Seymour
Generation 5 Datus Ensign Jr, married Abigail Woolworth
Generation 6
Royal Ensign, married Mrs. Sally Rood
Generation 7 Esther Abigail Ensign, married John Shirley
Generation 8 Royal J. Shirley, married Mary J. Brooks
Generation 9 Gertrude Esther Shirley, married Newman Archelaus Harvey
Generation 10
Mary E. Harvey, married L. John Reese,
Sources:
Commemorative biographical record of Hartford County, Connecticut : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Part 2 (Read)
Commemorative biographical record of Hartford County, Connecticut : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Part 3, pp. 868, 1043 (Read)
Visitations of Norfolk in the Year 1563, Vol. 1, p. 40, by W. Harvey (Read)
Record of the descendants of James Ensign and his wife Sarah Elson, 1634-1939, by Nelson, Martha Eunice Ensign, 1888- (Read)
Genealogiae; or, Data concerning the families of Morse, Chipman, Phinney, Ensign and Whiting, by William I. Morse (Read)
Record of the Descendants of James Ensign and his wife Sarah Elson, 1634-1939 (Read)
NEHGR Vol 13 p. 345 and p. 143
History of Hadley, including the early history of Flatfield, South Hadley, Amherst and Granby, Massachusetts, by Judd & Boltwood, 1905 (Read)
Kingsbury-Bush : American ancestry of Wayland Briggs Kingsbury, son of Joseph B. and Hannah Brown Kingsbury, of Windham Co., Vt. and Osage, Iowa, and Flora Jane Bush Kingsbury, daughter of Alva and Eliza Moore Bush of Chautauqua Co., N. Y. and Osage, Iowa, by Forrest Kingsbury, 1958 (Read)
NEHGR Vol 13 p. 146 Hartford Records (Read)
NEHGR, Vol 72 p. 4 (Read)
Colonial History of Hartford, by Rev. William D. Love, 1914 (Read)
Biographical Sketches of the Moody Family, by C. Moody, 1847 - (Read)
Historical Notes Concerning the Moody Family, by Herbert A. Moody, 1947 - (Read)
Vital Records for the Town of Hartford from NEHGR Vol. 22. p. 195 - (Read)
See also http://dickinsonfamilyassociation.org/
See the Harvey page, the Shirley page, and the Reese page for more.