Hi jbnorris73, In our search for Samway, we have a DNA project. I sent your post to the administrator in the states and quite a lengthy reply came back...appears we are all on the same page..he went on to say .... I am a descendant of John Sammis (1643-1693) of Windsor, Connecticut through my maternal grandmother, Annie Florence Samis (1873-1927) of Drayton, Ontario, Canada.
The progenitor of the U.S. Sammis Line and the Canadian Samis line was John Sammis (1643-1693) born in Windsor, Hartford County, Colony of Connecticut (after 1776, State of Connecticut). John Sammis (1643-1693) was the only son of Richard Samways (1615-1650), born in Netherbury, Dorset County, England. Richard was the grandson of John Samways (1566-1639). Richard left Dorset, England in 1630 on the ship Mary and John and settled in Windsor, Connecticut the same year. Note: an email posted, March 8, 2010, at the Long Island Surnames (aka: Long Island Genealogies) website by Richard Samways (1937-2019), a member of the Samis DNA Project ... now deceased, made this comment concerning the surname change from Samways to Sammis ... "change of name [from Samways] to Sammis in the mid 1600's, in this family [Richard Samways (1615-1650)], almost certainly due to the very strong Dorset accent and the fact that very few could read or write their own names." I have more if interested....
