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From Left to Right:
Sadie Chesson Stillman, Kenneth Chesson, Alpheus Chesson,
Hilton Chesson, Ella Chesson, Ola Chesson Patrick,
Dallas Chesson, Gordon Chesson.
January 1959
(photo contributed by Janice Patrick Stillman, 2001)

WHAT'S  IN  A  NAME?

Keesee is a variation of Keese, which is a Low German cognate of the occupational name known as Cheeseman in English-speaking countries, which described the maker or seller of cheese. The English word is derived from Old English cyse = cheese + mann = man. Cheesman, Cheseman, Chesman, Cheasman, Chiesman, Chisman, Chessman, Chismon, Cheese, Chiese, Cheesewright, Cheeseright, Cheswright, Cheeswright, Cherrett, Cherritt are variations of the English form. Other cognate forms are Käsmann, Käser, Keser, Käs, Käse (German); Kaasman, Kaas, Keesman (Low German); Caesman (Flemish); Kaes, Kaas, Kaaskooper (Dutch); Keizman, Keyzman (Jewish); Chasier, Casier, Chazier, Chesier, Chezier, Chazerand (French); Casari, Casaro, Caseri, Caser, Casieri, Casiero, Case (Italian); Queyeiro, Queyos (Portuguese).

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EDITOR'S NOTE:  Not sure if this above applies to the name Chesson but so far
it is the only variation of the name I have found,  still looking

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MORE  INFORMATION  THAT MAY  APPLY

Origin of a Chesnut family

The following is from a book by John B. Chesnut, Jr., 4045 Raymond Rd., Livermore, California 94550. The book follows many of the descendancy lines of a Chesnut that I will call "William of Bucks Co., PA." The text below is quoted from John's book.

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"The first Chesnut of the family branch in this book, to come to America is said to have come from Scotland, but other origin details are shrouded in mystery because of the passage of time and the lack of documentary evidence. Several Chesnut immigrants (relationship uncertain) came to America in the early and mid-1700s; some of these came from Ireland and some came from Scotland. Those coming from Ireland were called Scots-Irish, since their fathers or grandfathers immigrated to northern Ireland from Scotland during earlier times of distress in Scotland. All Chesnut branches and families of the 1700s that were found during research for this book were either Scot or Scots-Irish, leading us to the conclusion that the ultimate origin of all branches of the Chesnut family was probably in Scotland.

In general, most Scots and Scots-Irish pre-Revolution immigrants came to Philadelphia and the Delaware River area, where Bucks County, Pennsylvania, is located, because of the promise of religious tolerance in the Pennsylvania colony in the 1730s and 1740s. From eastern Pennsylvania, these immigrants generally migrated in a south and south-westerly direction, particularly into the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia where eastern Augusta County was located and where the earliest documented member of our Chesnut family settled in the 1760s. A primary reason for the Scots and Scots-Irish migration to the Shenandoah Valley was that land there was considerably cheaper than in Pennsylvania. Also, the Scots and Scots-Irish were not received well in eastern Pennsylvania, due mainly to their numbers. These people were mainly Presbyterian (Church of Scotland), i.e., non-conformists to Episcopal edicts.

The 1730s and 1740s in Scotland were characterized by oppression by the English government which backed the Church of England (Episcopal) at that time. Also, evictions were rampant by Scottish landlords seeking to increase profits by grazing sheep and eliminating tenant farmers. Many of these oppressed and evicted people of the working, or yeoman, class went to America. Our Chesnut ancestor was very likely among these. After arriving in America, most Chesnut descendants continued to be farmers, as were most other immigrants in the 1700s. In fact, it was found that very few Chesnuts were not farmers before 1900. In virtually all cases, the occupations of Chesnuts in this book was farming unless noted otherwise.

The origin of the Chesnut name is uncertain, but several possibilities have been commented on in reference books as likely origins. For example, a Mormon book, Surname Book and Racial History, says the name Chesnut means "the sign of the inn," indicating that inns in old times were identified by chestnuts since most people could not read, and the original Chesnut family head may have been an innkeeper in the very distant past. Another book, Surnames as a Science, by Robert Ferguson, comments briefly on the Chesnut name, saying: "There is a present Friesic (northern Holland and western Germany area) name Tsjisse, which...I take to have the sound of Chissa. Chesson may be taken to be from the ending in "en" (a common phonetic accretion), and Chesnut might be from the ending "noth," bold, frequent in Anglo-Saxon names." The same source also comments that surnames from trees, including Chesnut, are the result of the proximity of the original person who acquired the name to the grove or forest of such trees. For example, "John of the chesnut grove" might have become "John Chesnut."

As to the correctness of spelling of the family name, we note that the spelling of "chesnut" occurs twice in the King James Bible as c-h-e-s-n-u-t, in reference to the tree. The King James translation of the Bible was first published in 1611. Public records after Revolutionary War times have usually misspelled the family name as either "Chestnut" of "Chesnutt." In order to trace the correct spelling, only ancestors' written signatures have been relied upon. In each case, without exception, the signatures found were spelled as we spell the name today: CHESNUT. The earliest signature found was that of 1William1 who died in 1783, the first Chesnut in this book; the signature was on a 1779 document. The "s" in Chesnut was sometimes written much like a cursive "f" in those days and was written that way on the 1779 document."

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Chesson  Surname  Distribution

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