Allen, Holbrook, Harshbarger, Beeks lines: Happy genealogy dance for this week's discoveries

This is my 100th post, a level I would never have believed I could reach.  For my own personal celebration, I decided to write this post a little differently. I'm going to post what I've found this week, since I devoted more time than usual to research and actually found some gems.  Some of these are about people I've already written about in posts, and some are potentially yet to come. They are all ancestors of my children, though, and I was toe-tappingly delighted to find each and every tidbit.

In the Beeks line, I found this about John Beeks, great grandfather of my husband. From the Andrews Espress, January 6, 1884, Page 2, column 2, under "Lagro News":  John Beeks slipped and fell against one of the large windows at Blount and Moss's drug store here, Monday, breaking it in a hundred pieces."  It doesn't say what caused him to fall, but it was January so let's assume it was ice.  It also doesn't say whether John was injured.  Based on journalistic practices of the time, I would guess he was not injured, and would also guess he was not tipsy.  Newspapers were not shy about printing any gory details, nor about stating or implying that someone was under the influence, so the lack of either of these statements helped me form my conclusions.

Regarding Jason Wheeler, fourth great grandfather of my husband, I found New York tax records for him from 1799-1804. Timothy Wheeler, whose relationship to Jason is unknown but I'm thinking maybe a brother, was listed in 1799 and 1800 but not 1801.  In 1801, Jason's taxes jumped considerably.  I wonder if Jason had perhaps purchased Timothy's land, but I haven't found land records yet.  This information was from a new database on Ancestry.com, "New York, Tax Assessment Rolls of Real and Personal Estates, 1799-1804."

Allen line:  Regarding Isaac Bell: "In November 1756 Obadiah Ayers and William Landon were sureties for Isaac Bell who was granted a Public House license."  This statement came from page 82 of Volume X of "The Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey" and took place in Sussex County, where in the same year, the "29th year of His Majesty" same volume but page 76, "Daniel Landon and Isaac Bell had been selected as Commissioners of Roads for the Township of Hardwick."  Having a license of a "Public House", a tavern was a big deal. They were regulated by the government and owners 
were generally watched carefully for any abuse of alcohol laws, particularly in sales of native Americans.  I find it a little interesting that Isaac Bell was a Presbyterian, and yet ran the tavern.  We have to remember that "tavern" is a little bit strong of a term. It was likely an inn for visitors that also served some form of alcohol.  I also found that his name is on a petition to the governor, William Franklin, in 1760 but I haven't seen the document yet so I don't know what it's about. I don't believe I've written about Isaac yet. He was my fifth great grandfather.

Regarding William McCoy, my fourth great grandfather, I found records in his DAR listing that pointed me to the Pennsylvania Archives.  In the Sixth Series, Volume II part I I found William McCoy's name as a private in the 6th class of Captain Andrew Swearingen's unit under Colonel David Williamson's Batalion (sic).  I also found that the fourth and fifth classes were formally called up to go on the Expedition to "St. Dusky" (what if otherwise referred to as Sandusky), so it doesn't appear that William went on that trip unless he volunteered separately to go.  I didn't find further records regarding that.  In the Third Series, I found tax records for him in 1781 in Cecil Township, Greene Twp, and Robinson Township. The DAR indicates these are for the same William McCoy. If so, he was taxed on 700 acres at that time, four horses, 5 cattle, and 2 sheep. 

Holbrook line:  I may have had this information before, but I found the source:  Joseph Holbrook of Bloom Township, Cook County, Illinois was taxed in 1863 for having a carriage with two horses. They were valued at $100 and the amount of tax was $2.  This was to help raise money for the Civil War.  The source is found on Ancestry.com in the "U.S. Assessment Lists, 1862-1918." Joseph was my great great grandfather.

I also found a new possibility for a tie to James Lamphire. So far all I know about him is that his name was Eattan Lamphire, and that he lived in Brookfield, Chenango County, New York in 1802.  This may be the area where James died in 1847, but I need to check it out further.  Please realize, I'm grasping at straws here, but any new Lamphire name deserves study until it is ruled out.  James is my fourth great grandfather.

Along the same lines, by casting my net a little wider, I've found some "new" Wright names to track down, to possibly relate to Molly Wright. Molly is my fourth great grandmother.

Harshbarger lines:  I found a tax record for Lewis Harshbarger, in the same tax records as that of Joseph Holbrook.  In Union Township, Whitley County, Indiana, he is one of four men on the page.  I've tried to decipher the "article or occupation" that generated the tax. I believe it says "Patent Right Dealer" but I would be glad to hear of anyone else's interpretation.  Apparently, a dealer in such was someone who sold, or offered for sale, patent rights.  I'm unclear as to exactly what this would have involved in a rural setting like Union Township, Whitley County back in 1863. At any rate, he was taxed $1.67 for the privilege.  Lewis is the great great grandfather of my husband.

I also learned why I found a land sale for Solomon Bennett in 1841 in Whitley County but couldn't find record of his purchase(s) there.  The land was originally in Allen County (duh!).  I found this in a Deed Index for the early years of Allen County, but have misplaced the exact reference. Solomon is my husband's third great grandfather.

This has been a fun week, and this has been rather a fun post to write.  I hope you've enjoyed it, and I hope that if you are still searching your your ancestors, you will try some new databases or sources. As new sources and data bases come on line every day, and as we learn about ones we've somehow missed, our ancestors can start to come alive.  And as always, if you have questions about what I've written, or have additional information to share, I'd love to hear from you!  Leave a comment, or contact me: happygenealogydance AT gmail DOT com. (You'll know what to do with the AT and the DOT, and hopefully the spam robot won't!)