Beecher, both of whom were natives of New Haven, Connecticut, and were direct descendants of the very first settlers of Connecticut in 1638.  The children of Governor and Mrs. Gaston were:  Sarah Howard, William Alexander, and Theodore Beecher.  The latter was born February 8, 1861; died July 16, 1869.

The death of Theodore was a severe blow to his family.  He was a beautiful and promising boy.  This sad calamity seemed like the withdrawal of sunlight from the household, causing his loving parents the keenest anguish.

Of this branch of the family there are but very few relatives of Governor Gaston.  His son William is the only male representative of his generation.  It is, singularly enough, true that in his family line of descent there have been three generations where each had but one male representative, and two generations having but one representative of either sex.  Thus the Carolina Gastons are of the nearest kindred to Governor Gaston’s particular branch.

Kezia (Arnold) Gaston, the mother of Governor Gaston, was a daughter of Aaron Arnold and Rhoda (Hunt) Arnold, and a lineal descendant of Thomas Arnold, who, with his brother William, came to New England in 1636.  William Arnold went to Rhode Island with Roger Williams, being one of the fifty-four proprietors of that Plantation.  His brother Thomas followed him there in 1654.  The latter was born in England in 1599, probably in Leamington, that being the birth-place of his brother William.  His second wife was Phoebe Parkhurst, daughter of George Parkhurst of Watertown, Massachusetts.  The family record is carried back to 1100, being undoubtedly accurate to about the year 1570, when the name Arnold was first used as a surname; possibly accurate throughout.

The arms of the Family; Gules, a chevron ermine between three Pheons, or; appear on the tombstone of Oliver Arnold, and of William Arnold, the original settler.  The same arms are on a tablet in the Parish Church of Churcham in Gloucestershire, England, placed there in memory of his ancestor John Arnold of Lanthony, Monmouthshire, afterwards of Hingham, who acquired the manor of Churcham in 1541.

     Traditions.

The most ancient written record of the family which the writer has consulted was written by John Roseborough, late Clerk of the Circuit Court, Chester District, South Carolina.  He was the son of Alexander Roseborough and Martha Gaston, whose father, William Gaston of Caranleigh Clough Water, Ireland, was grandson of Jean Gaston, the Huguenot ancestor of the family.

     The statement is as follows, the words enclosed in parenthesis
     being supplied by way of information.