Clayton Henry Witherell was a first cousin of my father. Clayton's parents were James Witherell and Elizabeth Henry of Wilkesport, Sombra Township, Lambton County, Ontario. His grandfather was Charles Anderson Witherell, who was born in Gowanda, New York, and moved to Sombra Township shortly after 1850.

The Witherell book referred to is incorrect in showing Clayton's grandfather as Charles Ingersoll Witherell, son of Benjamin F. H. and grandson of James, of Detroit. Charles Ingersoll Witherell was born about 1843 and died Dec. 18, 1872. He could not possibly have been the father of James Witherell of Sombra and his siblings, born between 1854 and 1876.

However, it has always been believed that there was a connection between the Witherells of Sombra Township and the Witherells of Detroit but the exact connection has not been proven, to my knowledge.

I recently came across Clayton's obituary in the Wallaceburg (Ontario) News of Aug. 23, 1960. It reads:

"Mr. Clayton Witherell of Detroit, at one time a resident of (W)ilkesport, passed away Saturday, in his sixty-sixth year. Mr. Witherell was hit by a car as he crossed Collingham Drive, near his home. Rushed to St. Johns Hospital he passed away five days later. Born in Wilkesport, he was the eldest son of the late Mr. and Mrs. James Witherell.

"Surviving are his wife, two daughters, one son, two sisters (Amy) Mrs. Jack Ritchie, Wallaceburg; (Thelma) Mrs. Marvin Krause, Windsor; three brothers L. C. (Dick) Witherell, Dearborn; Lee, Grosse Pointe Woods and Sydney of Detroit."

Clayton's grandfather Charles Anderson Witherell had a half-brother Abel Witherill who went to California in the early 1850s with the gold rush. I haven't found out much about his descendants beyond his children, so I don't know if there's a connection with the father and son antique appraisers. Abel and his children spelled the surname Witherill, so there may not be a connection.

I had not heard the story about a Witherell being a cabin boy on the Mayflower but it seems pretty clear that nearly all the Witherells (of various spellings) in North America are descended from the Witherells who came to New England from England in the first half of the 1600s and are thus related.