The Estes name has many spelling variations, such as Eastes, Eustes, Este, Esteuse, though most of the various families in the U.S. and Canada use the Estes spelling. Family tradition, published in Stackpole's "The History of Durham" indicates that Albert Azo II, Marquis of Liguria, born about A.D. 1097, was the founder of the houses of Estes and Brunswick. The house of Estes was prominent in Italy as late as the middle 18th century, when its direct line ended with the death of Hercules III, of the 22nd generation from Azo II. The name Este may have derived from a colony started in the 7th century of Rome, at about 15 miles south of the city of Padua, called Ateste or Este. Later the marquises of Liguria assumed the name in the early part of the 14th century. The family name Estes is actually plural, meant to represent the entire family. Family tradition says that the name came to England by a Francesco, the natural son the marquis Leonello, who first went to Bergendy, France, then escaped to England where he made his home, sometime between 1434 and 1444.
The first Estes to emigrate to the Americas was Robert Estes and wife Dorothy Wilson Estes of Dover, England. They came to Virginia in the late 1600's. Robert's brother, Abraham Estes, a linen weaver in Sandwich, Kent, England, married Ann Burton, a widow, in 1672 at Worth, Kent, England. Abraham emigrated with his family to the British colonies before 1692. Their passage was probably arranged and paid for by Thorowgood Keeling, according to a surviving document. Thorowgood died by August, 1679, so Abraham's family had arrived in the colonies before that date, probably as indentured servants to rich residents who sponsored emigrants, a typical indenture lasted seven years. Family tradition says that Abraham and family sailed on the 'Vana', and that his first wife, Ann Burton, died enroute to Virginia. Records show that by 1683, he was living in New Kent Co., Virginia, but he later settled in the parish of St. Stephens in King and Queen County, Virginia. His second wife was Barbara Brock and they had a large family, which included a son named Elisha. Elisha was born about 1698 in King & Queen Co., Virginia, and married Mary Mumford in 1732 in Virginia. His family included a son, Joel Estes, born about 1750 in Amelia Co., Virginia. He married Ann Harris in 1770 in Virgina, but moved his family to Kentucky and then to Clay County, Missouri, where he died in 1825. His sons included Elisha E. Estes, born on June 22, 1771 in Goochland, Virginia. Elisha married Ann Harris in 1791 in Franklin Co., Virginia, but later moved his family to Kentucky, then to Clay County, Missouri, where he died in 1842.
Among his children were Joel R. Estes, an early pioneer in Colorado, for whom Estes Park, Colorado is named. One daughter was named Mourning Estes, and she married a young widower named Jesse G. Huffman, in Clay County, Missouri. In 1847, she moved with her family by ox wagon to Marion County, Oregon, and lived on a homestead there with her family until 1864, when they moved to a new homestead in Benton County, Oregon. She and her husband were close friends of the first governor of the state of Oregon, George Curry, and knew the first territorial governor, George Abernethy. Mourning Estes died May 29, 1893 in Benton County, Oregon, and is buried in the Pleasant Valley Cemetery, in Benton Co., Oregon.
Among many well known Estes is Richard Estes, a well known 20th century painter, and Simon Estes, a reknowned author and musician, film actor Rob Estes, and actor Will Estes of the TV series 'American Dreams'.