I've written earlier about John Graves, who was the son of Thomas. I didn't write about Thomas at the time because the information about his father appeared to me to be mixed up with that of at least one and possibly two other Thomas Graves, and I didn't want to get them confused. Some of what I write here may possibly still be wrong, but it seems that our Thomas has been more clearly identified and he is certainly an interesting person.
Thomas Graves was born (or christened) October 19, 1585 at Gravesend, Kent, England. I have seen his parents listed as Thomas Graves and Sarah Malter, but have not located documentation for that so an this point I'm considering that his parents are unknown. Gravesend was an interesting town as Thomas was growing up. It was on an estuary of the Thames River, so was closely connected with the sea. Gravesend had a long history, including a chantry built in 1384 that is still standing, and a Tudor fort built in 1543. It was a bustling town.
Thomas was an educated man, although his name is not found at either Cambridge or Oxford. It's possible that he was an apprentice to someone who shared his own knowledge with Thomas, or perhaps he attended some other school, perhaps even on the Continent. At any rate, he acquired the knowledge to become an engineer, and in 1629 he signed a contract with the Massachusetts Bay Company in which he represented himself as skilled in the discovery of mines, in fortifications of all sorts, in surveying, and in various other similar occupations. He and his wife, five children, and two unnamed servants sailed to Salem, Massachusetts in 1629, on the ship "George Bonaventure." He had married Sarah Whiting in England, and their five children were all 16 or older when they came to America as a family.
He apparently held some offices of note in Massachusetts Bay Colony, and became a freeman in 1631. It's not known when he and the family went to Hartford, Connecticut but they were there in 1645, and stayed for about 16 years. He was granted at least three pieces of property there, and of course had a dwelling. Perhaps for religious reasons, and perhaps because his skills were needed there, the family except for son Nathaniel emigrated to Hatfield, Massachusetts in 1661, By this time, Thomas and Sarah may have been living with son Isaac, or perhaps they were just there until a home could be built for them.
Thomas died in Hadley on or just before November 1, 1662 (burial date) and Sarah died about four years later. Apparently there are estate papers but I've not been able to locate them-yet. He was approximately 76 years old, and had been in America since his middle age. I honor especially those ancestors who were willing to start over in a strange land, and then again in a new settlement, when they could have stayed in England and lived their lives. It took courage and vision, and those are reasons enough to give Thomas honor.
The line of descent is:
Thomas Graves-Sarah Whiting
John Graves-Mary Smith
Mary Graves-Edward Stebbins
Sarah Stebbins-John Root
Sarah Roote-Thomas Noble
Stephen Notble-Ruth Church
Ruth Noble-Martin Root
Ruth Root Samuel Falley
Clarissa Falley-John Havens Starr
Harriet Starr-John Wilson Knott
Edith Knott-Edward Allen
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
Tuesday, August 29, 2017
Friday, August 25, 2017
Harshbarger line: Johann Jacob Enck, Immigrant
Johan Jacob Enck is new to the family tree, and I am grateful to Anne for setting me straight and putting me on the trail of this man. His story appears to be a lot like those of the other German immigrants in the family. He was possibly born July 30, 1698 in Hueffelsheim, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany, to Bernard Heinrich and Elisabetha Arnd Enck. (It is possible that he was born in Heddesheim rather than Hueffelsheim, but he married in Hueffelsheim and lived there for at least twenty years. Since men typically took their bride to their own home village I'm going with Hueffelsheim until or unless we find actual records of the birth location.)
When he married, it was to Anna Cathareina Becker, daughter of Anthonii Becker, on Noember 23, 1723. His father is there listed as Bernhard Enck. The marriage took place at the Evangelisch, Heddesheim, which means it was a Lutheran church. It appears that there are currently three churches in Heddesheim that would fit the description, but probably there was only one church at the time. Heddesheim is described as being a tiny town, which at one time grew a lot of tobacco, but that time period isn't designated so I don't know if it was before or after the time of Jacob and Catherine.
They came to America in 1743, on the ship Snow Charlotta, which arrived on September 5,1743. It is possible that they stayed in Germantown for a while, but they eventually settled in Lancaster County. We know they had three children born in Germany, Johan Jacob, Johannes, and Anna Catherina, but there may have been others born in Pennsylvania. A lot of trees show Jacob marrying again in 1755, but I'm not sure this is the same Jacob. If it is, then he must have first been widowed, which is entirely possible.
It seems that his land may have been along the Cocalico Creek but I am still trying to confirm that. He was buried on March 30,1774 at either the Zion German Reformed Church Cemetery at Brickerville (per Find A Grave) or the Bethany United Church of Christ at Ephrata, per a database from the Historical Society of Pennsylvania found on Ancestry. Bethany UCC was formerly a German Reformed Church, and they have records indicating Jacob was buried there, yet I can't find his name in their old cemetery listing. So perhaps the pastor buried Jacob at the Brickerville location? It's hard to know for sure what happened, but that is the general location of his grave, anyway.
There is a will for Jacob which I need to research further. If I can locate it, I will make a transcription in a separate blog post. I'd love to travel to Lancaster County so I could do more thorough research on this family, as on many others, but for now we at least know where he came from, the name of his wife, when he arrived in America, his religion, and when he died. That's a start.
The line of descent is:
Johan Jacob Enck-Anna Catharina Becker
Anna Catharina Enck-Martin Lauber
Catherine Lauber-Henry Dulibon (Tullapen)
Eliizabeth Tullapen-Conrad Mentzer
Catherine Mentzer-Lewis Harshbarger
Emmanuel Harshbarger-Clara Harter
Grover Harshbarger-Goldie Withers
Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Margaret Beeks
Their descendants
When he married, it was to Anna Cathareina Becker, daughter of Anthonii Becker, on Noember 23, 1723. His father is there listed as Bernhard Enck. The marriage took place at the Evangelisch, Heddesheim, which means it was a Lutheran church. It appears that there are currently three churches in Heddesheim that would fit the description, but probably there was only one church at the time. Heddesheim is described as being a tiny town, which at one time grew a lot of tobacco, but that time period isn't designated so I don't know if it was before or after the time of Jacob and Catherine.
They came to America in 1743, on the ship Snow Charlotta, which arrived on September 5,1743. It is possible that they stayed in Germantown for a while, but they eventually settled in Lancaster County. We know they had three children born in Germany, Johan Jacob, Johannes, and Anna Catherina, but there may have been others born in Pennsylvania. A lot of trees show Jacob marrying again in 1755, but I'm not sure this is the same Jacob. If it is, then he must have first been widowed, which is entirely possible.
It seems that his land may have been along the Cocalico Creek but I am still trying to confirm that. He was buried on March 30,1774 at either the Zion German Reformed Church Cemetery at Brickerville (per Find A Grave) or the Bethany United Church of Christ at Ephrata, per a database from the Historical Society of Pennsylvania found on Ancestry. Bethany UCC was formerly a German Reformed Church, and they have records indicating Jacob was buried there, yet I can't find his name in their old cemetery listing. So perhaps the pastor buried Jacob at the Brickerville location? It's hard to know for sure what happened, but that is the general location of his grave, anyway.
There is a will for Jacob which I need to research further. If I can locate it, I will make a transcription in a separate blog post. I'd love to travel to Lancaster County so I could do more thorough research on this family, as on many others, but for now we at least know where he came from, the name of his wife, when he arrived in America, his religion, and when he died. That's a start.
The line of descent is:
Johan Jacob Enck-Anna Catharina Becker
Anna Catharina Enck-Martin Lauber
Catherine Lauber-Henry Dulibon (Tullapen)
Eliizabeth Tullapen-Conrad Mentzer
Catherine Mentzer-Lewis Harshbarger
Emmanuel Harshbarger-Clara Harter
Grover Harshbarger-Goldie Withers
Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Margaret Beeks
Their descendants
Tuesday, August 22, 2017
Beeks line: Henry (Heinrich) Harshbarger, Immigrant
I put the Heinrich in the title of this blog post so it would attract your attention. That was his name when he was born in about 1740 in Eppstein, Germany, but by the time of his death in 1788 he had traveled to the New World, seen the Revolutionary War, and gone from Pennsylvania to the Shenandoah Valley.
I'm not sure who Henry's parents were. Many sites list them as Christian and Caroline Funk Harshbarger but I think they were a little too young to be Jacob's parents. A more likely candidate would be Jacob and Maria Catherine (maiden name unknown), who were born about 1698 and 1699 respectively. This is not documented, or at least I don't have the documentation, so please be cautious about totally discarding Christian and Caroline or adding Jacob and Maria Catherine from or to your tree. His parents really are unknown.
However, Eppstein, Germany is not unknown. It is only a few miles from Wiesbaden, and the pictures on Google of the old part of the city show a typical medieval town, absolutely breathtaking in its beauty. We don't know what kind of life Heinrich would have had there. He is said to have been a Mennonite. Eppstein became Protestant during the Reformation, but that doesn't mean the Mennonites were treated well. Most areas of Germany relegated them to day labor type jobs, and taxed them heavily. They were, for the most part, marginalized and they found leaving the area the only way they could practice their faith and build a better life for their families. Heinrich married Elizabeth Stauffer, daughter of Johannes Stauffer, who was born about 1740. Judging from the birth dates of their children, the marriage probably took place in about 1764. The Stauffer family was also Mennonite.
Heinrich didn't come to America until 1768, although Christian and two of his brothers, Jacob and Caspar, had arrived in 1749. Perhaps Heinrich stayed behind to care for an ailing parent, or perhaps the family fortune had been used to send the three older brothers to Pennsylvania and it took a while for Heinrich to earn his own way. He is believed to have settled first in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and then in Frederick County, Maryland, where he bought land in 1774 and sold it in 1785, before finally going to Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. This was a common migration route for the Germans at the time. We don't know if he sold his land and moved, or if he moved and then sold his land. It appears that Elizabeth may have died about 1782. Henry married Barbara, the widow of Jacob Pence on December 30, 1785 in Shenandoah County. .
He left a will that was written in German, and appears to omit his three oldest children (who may have received land or money earlier). Barbara's will mentions Mary Harshbarger, who had married Henry's son Jacob in 1786. They were step-siblings when they married.
So to the very rich Beeks heritage of early Massachusetts settlers, Welsh Quakers, early Dutch settlers, Scots-Irish, and French Huguenots, we now add German and (probably) Swiss Mennonites. It's quite a family!
The line of descent is:
Henry Harshbarger-Elizabeth Stauffer
Jacob Harshbarger-Mary Pence
Elizabeth Harshbarger-Jacob Wise
Jackson Wise-Charity Botkin
Mary Wise-William Beeks
John Beeks-Elizabeth Wise
Wilbur Beeks-Cleo Aldridge
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Note: As far as I can determine, the line of Cleveland Harshbarger and the line of Henry Harshbarger don't connect, at least as far back as 1650. But since both families apparently come from the same small village in Switzerland, there is probably a connection back further than that.
I'm not sure who Henry's parents were. Many sites list them as Christian and Caroline Funk Harshbarger but I think they were a little too young to be Jacob's parents. A more likely candidate would be Jacob and Maria Catherine (maiden name unknown), who were born about 1698 and 1699 respectively. This is not documented, or at least I don't have the documentation, so please be cautious about totally discarding Christian and Caroline or adding Jacob and Maria Catherine from or to your tree. His parents really are unknown.
However, Eppstein, Germany is not unknown. It is only a few miles from Wiesbaden, and the pictures on Google of the old part of the city show a typical medieval town, absolutely breathtaking in its beauty. We don't know what kind of life Heinrich would have had there. He is said to have been a Mennonite. Eppstein became Protestant during the Reformation, but that doesn't mean the Mennonites were treated well. Most areas of Germany relegated them to day labor type jobs, and taxed them heavily. They were, for the most part, marginalized and they found leaving the area the only way they could practice their faith and build a better life for their families. Heinrich married Elizabeth Stauffer, daughter of Johannes Stauffer, who was born about 1740. Judging from the birth dates of their children, the marriage probably took place in about 1764. The Stauffer family was also Mennonite.
Heinrich didn't come to America until 1768, although Christian and two of his brothers, Jacob and Caspar, had arrived in 1749. Perhaps Heinrich stayed behind to care for an ailing parent, or perhaps the family fortune had been used to send the three older brothers to Pennsylvania and it took a while for Heinrich to earn his own way. He is believed to have settled first in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and then in Frederick County, Maryland, where he bought land in 1774 and sold it in 1785, before finally going to Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. This was a common migration route for the Germans at the time. We don't know if he sold his land and moved, or if he moved and then sold his land. It appears that Elizabeth may have died about 1782. Henry married Barbara, the widow of Jacob Pence on December 30, 1785 in Shenandoah County. .
He left a will that was written in German, and appears to omit his three oldest children (who may have received land or money earlier). Barbara's will mentions Mary Harshbarger, who had married Henry's son Jacob in 1786. They were step-siblings when they married.
So to the very rich Beeks heritage of early Massachusetts settlers, Welsh Quakers, early Dutch settlers, Scots-Irish, and French Huguenots, we now add German and (probably) Swiss Mennonites. It's quite a family!
The line of descent is:
Henry Harshbarger-Elizabeth Stauffer
Jacob Harshbarger-Mary Pence
Elizabeth Harshbarger-Jacob Wise
Jackson Wise-Charity Botkin
Mary Wise-William Beeks
John Beeks-Elizabeth Wise
Wilbur Beeks-Cleo Aldridge
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Note: As far as I can determine, the line of Cleveland Harshbarger and the line of Henry Harshbarger don't connect, at least as far back as 1650. But since both families apparently come from the same small village in Switzerland, there is probably a connection back further than that.
Friday, August 18, 2017
Holbrook line: Edmund Hobart 1573-1646, Immigrant
Update: The is not our ancestor, at least not through this line. John Beal was married to Nazareth Hobart, but she was his second wife, and our connection, Sarah, came through his first wife. A blog post about John will follow later this week, Lord willing. Meanwhile, I'm leaving this up for the usual reason-someone may benefit from it. My apologies to anyone whom I may have misled.
I love writing about the members of the Holbrook line. They are numerous indeed, and many of them are well documented. Edmund Hobart is such a man, at least after he arrived in Massachusetts Bay Colony. Eminent genealogists have written about him and although there is some dispute about his parents (Robert Charles Anderson of The Great Emigration Begins volumes doesn't identify them), I am reasonably confident that they are properly identified.
So, Edmunt Hobart was born about January 1, 1573 (not sure if this is a christening date) in Hingham, Norfolk, England to Thomas and Helen Windsofer Hobart. Thomas was "Lord of the Manor in Hingham", although I've not been able to find more information about that claim. When Thomas died in 1603, Edmund became the Lord of the Manor. The family must have had some money, because Edmund's son Peter was able to attend Cambridge University and obtain his master's degree there.
Edmund married Margaret Dewey, daughter of Robert and Margaret Stasye Dewey on September 7, 1600 in Hingham, Norfolk, England. The couple had a least 10 children, with the last known birth in late 1617. (Let's bless our female ancestors, specifically this one!) Edmund and Margaret are noted as being a very pious couple, so we are not surprised that they made sure that at least one of their sons had the opportunity to become a pastor.
Edmund was 60 years old when he came to the New World in 1633 with at least five of their children. Sarah, the youngest, would have been 15 years old. Margaret, his wife, is believed to have made the trip but did not survive long. The family came on the ship Elizabeth Bonaventura, with a total of 95 passengers. They may have come with the intention of setting up a congregation and location for their son Peter to pastor later, because Peter stayed in England for a few years.
Like many early arrivals, Edmund first settled in Charlestown, where he joined the church on October 19, 1633. Soon after, in March of 1634, he was made a freeman, and on September 10, 1634 he married Sarah Oakley Lyford, the widow of Rev. Peter Lyford. That was certainly an eventful year, with highs and lows. He held the offices of Charlestown constable, lot-layer and assessor, so he was a highly respected person, almost as soon as he arrived in Charlestown
Edmund and Sarah were some of the first founders of Hingham, Suffolk, Massachusetts, which was established in 1635. It's not certain exactly when they took up residence there, but he was serving on a grand jury there in 1637. Later he was on a committee to levy a colony rate, and was deputy for Hingham to Massachusetts Bay Colony Court at least four different times.
Edmund died on March 8, 1646/47 in Hingham, at the age of 73 or 74. Unfortunately, his will, if he left one, has not been found but there are records of land settlements among the Hobarts in 1647 that may relate to his estate. Sarah survived him and was apparently cared for by Rev. Peter Hobart.
I would love to know more about Edmund. Did he have an occupation other than "Lord of the Manor"/ How did he support himself and his family in Massachusetts? Did he still own the manor in Hingham, England? He obviously placed a high value on education. What was the level of his own education? While I have lots of questions about Edmund, I am also gratified to know this much about our pious ancestor, who courageously came to the New World when it was very new and he could almost have been termed "old", or at least well past middle age. Thank you, grandfather Edmund, for your courage and your example.
The line of descent is:
Edmund Hobart-Margaret Dewey
Nazareth Hobart-John Beal
Sarah Beal-Thomas Marsh
Thoms Marsh-Sarah Lincoln
Thomas Marsh-Mary Burr
Deborah Marsh-Isaac Lazell
Deborah Lazell-Levi Rockwood
Susannah Rockwood-Nahum Holbrook
Joseph Holbrook-Mary Elizabeth Whittemore
Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown
Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Note: The first six generations of this family were born or/and died in Hingham, Massachusetts. Our roots there run deep!
I love writing about the members of the Holbrook line. They are numerous indeed, and many of them are well documented. Edmund Hobart is such a man, at least after he arrived in Massachusetts Bay Colony. Eminent genealogists have written about him and although there is some dispute about his parents (Robert Charles Anderson of The Great Emigration Begins volumes doesn't identify them), I am reasonably confident that they are properly identified.
So, Edmunt Hobart was born about January 1, 1573 (not sure if this is a christening date) in Hingham, Norfolk, England to Thomas and Helen Windsofer Hobart. Thomas was "Lord of the Manor in Hingham", although I've not been able to find more information about that claim. When Thomas died in 1603, Edmund became the Lord of the Manor. The family must have had some money, because Edmund's son Peter was able to attend Cambridge University and obtain his master's degree there.
Edmund married Margaret Dewey, daughter of Robert and Margaret Stasye Dewey on September 7, 1600 in Hingham, Norfolk, England. The couple had a least 10 children, with the last known birth in late 1617. (Let's bless our female ancestors, specifically this one!) Edmund and Margaret are noted as being a very pious couple, so we are not surprised that they made sure that at least one of their sons had the opportunity to become a pastor.
Edmund was 60 years old when he came to the New World in 1633 with at least five of their children. Sarah, the youngest, would have been 15 years old. Margaret, his wife, is believed to have made the trip but did not survive long. The family came on the ship Elizabeth Bonaventura, with a total of 95 passengers. They may have come with the intention of setting up a congregation and location for their son Peter to pastor later, because Peter stayed in England for a few years.
Like many early arrivals, Edmund first settled in Charlestown, where he joined the church on October 19, 1633. Soon after, in March of 1634, he was made a freeman, and on September 10, 1634 he married Sarah Oakley Lyford, the widow of Rev. Peter Lyford. That was certainly an eventful year, with highs and lows. He held the offices of Charlestown constable, lot-layer and assessor, so he was a highly respected person, almost as soon as he arrived in Charlestown
Edmund and Sarah were some of the first founders of Hingham, Suffolk, Massachusetts, which was established in 1635. It's not certain exactly when they took up residence there, but he was serving on a grand jury there in 1637. Later he was on a committee to levy a colony rate, and was deputy for Hingham to Massachusetts Bay Colony Court at least four different times.
Edmund died on March 8, 1646/47 in Hingham, at the age of 73 or 74. Unfortunately, his will, if he left one, has not been found but there are records of land settlements among the Hobarts in 1647 that may relate to his estate. Sarah survived him and was apparently cared for by Rev. Peter Hobart.
I would love to know more about Edmund. Did he have an occupation other than "Lord of the Manor"/ How did he support himself and his family in Massachusetts? Did he still own the manor in Hingham, England? He obviously placed a high value on education. What was the level of his own education? While I have lots of questions about Edmund, I am also gratified to know this much about our pious ancestor, who courageously came to the New World when it was very new and he could almost have been termed "old", or at least well past middle age. Thank you, grandfather Edmund, for your courage and your example.
The line of descent is:
Edmund Hobart-Margaret Dewey
Nazareth Hobart-John Beal
Sarah Beal-Thomas Marsh
Thoms Marsh-Sarah Lincoln
Thomas Marsh-Mary Burr
Deborah Marsh-Isaac Lazell
Deborah Lazell-Levi Rockwood
Susannah Rockwood-Nahum Holbrook
Joseph Holbrook-Mary Elizabeth Whittemore
Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown
Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Note: The first six generations of this family were born or/and died in Hingham, Massachusetts. Our roots there run deep!
Tuesday, August 15, 2017
Allen line: John Clark, Immigrant
This is really a love letter and a challenge to a future family historian. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find out more about John Clark. I have one fact I'm reasonably sure of about the man, and a potential marriage date and name of his wife about which I am less sure. And as to his birthdate and place, I am thoroughly confused. So you, someone in the future and whomever you are, are assigned the task of finding out more about this ancestor of ours.
Every tree that I have looked at gives John's birthdate as about 1606, but there are probably many John Clark's in England that fit that broad description. There are several dates and places attached to his various trees on Ancestry, but none of them match any other information in the trees. His wife is believed to have been named Joan. There are several trees listing a 1620 marriage to John, but this could not be our John if he was born in 1606 or thereabouts.
One interesting possibility is a record from Hartpury, Gloucester, England from April 30,162, stating that John Clark married Joane Nelme on that date. I do know that people from Gloucester went to Virginia, so this seems to be a reasonable possibility. However, his son Abraham is believed to have been born in Weathersfield, Essex, England and that is a long way from Gloucester. So maybe the Joane Nelme idea isn't as possible as it seems. We know that John and possible wife Joan had at least two children, Abraham and Ann.
If the time and location of Abraham's birth is correct, then that would mean John left Virginia no earlier than 1639. I've not yet found an immigration record that gave me any confidence that this was our John. The death information I have consistently gives him a death date of 1664 (nothing more specific) in (old) Rappahannock County, Virginia. This would have been on the Rappahannock river or its tributaries, north of the current city of Richmond.
That is all that I have been able to locate about John. There are so many questions, both in England and in Virginia, but I leave them to the future family historian to dig into this untold story, thanking him, her or them in advance. For now, we only know that he is an ancestor and that he was an immigrant at a time when life was not easy in Virginia. That is a good reason to honor him.
The line of descent is:
John Clark-Joan
Abraham Clark-Sarah Kinsey
Elizabeth Clark-William Wilkinson
Jane Wilkinson-Edward Corbin
Mary Jane Corbin-Samuel Lane
Lambert Lane-Nancy Ann Anderson
Nancy Ann Lane-James McCoy
Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson
Nancy McCoy-George R Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
Every tree that I have looked at gives John's birthdate as about 1606, but there are probably many John Clark's in England that fit that broad description. There are several dates and places attached to his various trees on Ancestry, but none of them match any other information in the trees. His wife is believed to have been named Joan. There are several trees listing a 1620 marriage to John, but this could not be our John if he was born in 1606 or thereabouts.
One interesting possibility is a record from Hartpury, Gloucester, England from April 30,162, stating that John Clark married Joane Nelme on that date. I do know that people from Gloucester went to Virginia, so this seems to be a reasonable possibility. However, his son Abraham is believed to have been born in Weathersfield, Essex, England and that is a long way from Gloucester. So maybe the Joane Nelme idea isn't as possible as it seems. We know that John and possible wife Joan had at least two children, Abraham and Ann.
If the time and location of Abraham's birth is correct, then that would mean John left Virginia no earlier than 1639. I've not yet found an immigration record that gave me any confidence that this was our John. The death information I have consistently gives him a death date of 1664 (nothing more specific) in (old) Rappahannock County, Virginia. This would have been on the Rappahannock river or its tributaries, north of the current city of Richmond.
That is all that I have been able to locate about John. There are so many questions, both in England and in Virginia, but I leave them to the future family historian to dig into this untold story, thanking him, her or them in advance. For now, we only know that he is an ancestor and that he was an immigrant at a time when life was not easy in Virginia. That is a good reason to honor him.
The line of descent is:
John Clark-Joan
Abraham Clark-Sarah Kinsey
Elizabeth Clark-William Wilkinson
Jane Wilkinson-Edward Corbin
Mary Jane Corbin-Samuel Lane
Lambert Lane-Nancy Ann Anderson
Nancy Ann Lane-James McCoy
Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson
Nancy McCoy-George R Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants
Tuesday, August 8, 2017
Beeks line: Johann Jacob Bentz 1727-1778
I've been trying to learn about Jacob Bentz or Pence, and the first thing I learned is that there are a lot of men by the name of Jacob Bentz or Pence in the same locations and the same time frame. So I'm going to go mainly by what I've found in other's people's research. I hope they have figured it out correctly!
Bentz families were in Philadelphia by at least 1727. I haven't found anything that ties our family to any of the earlier arrivals, but the possibility exists that they are relatives, at least some of them. Our Jacob was baptized December 8,1727 in the Reformed Church at Iggelheim, Pfalz, Bayern in what became Germany. He was the son of Johann George and Anna Barbara Bullinger Bentz. Iggelheim appears to be a village in southwest Germany, not far from other areas where our German families emigrated. It is a town that suffered serious loss in the Thirty Years War and was probably still struggling to recover as the Bentz family made the decision to move to America.
Jacob's father, Georg, and at least two of his brothers traveled together on the ship Phoenix, which landed in Philadelphia September 15, 1749. (I am not writing this post about Georg because there is no record of him after his arrival here. We know he was a shoemaker by trade. It's possible that he lived with one of his sons but it is believed he didn't survive long in the New World. Many seem to think he died in 1749, but I've seen no proof of that.)
Jacob settled in the Hawksbill area of the Shenandoah Valley. We're not sure just when he arrived there. There are military records for a Jacob Pence who served in 1757 in Captain Hog's Company of Rangers. Our Jacob would have been of the right age to be this Jacob. We know our Jacob called himself Jacob Pence, and that is the name used in the records. So possibly our Jacob had military service in the French and Indian War, although none of the sites I'm looking at it have claimed military service for Jacob.
One tree I've seen gives his wife a name, Christine Barbara Willrett. There is no documentation, but it says they married in 1756. If this is true, then there must have been a first wife, for three sons were born before this marriage. I've also seen a marriage date of "about 1745". I'd love to hear from someone who knows more about Jacob and can give some insight about his wife or wives.
We do know he had ten children, and that Jacob didn't leave the Shenandoah Valley after he arrived there. He died on or before October 29, 1778 in Shenandoah County, Virginia. As a typical German in this area, he would have farmed and perhaps had a "side trade", but that is all I really can say about the life he led here. He was working too hard to leave paper records, apparently.
That's not a lot of information for a blog post, but it gives us something of a feel for the man and his life. We can say beyond a doubt that he worked hard, and that he defended his adopted country, whether he was the Jacob Pence who saw in Captain Hog's company, or whether he stayed home to protect his family. He's another of the mostly unrecognized men whose pioneer work led to our country's formation. Thank you, Jacob Pence!
The line of descent is:
Jacob Pence-Barbara
Mary Pence-Jacob Harshbarger
Elizabeth Harshbarger-Jacob Wise
Jackson Wise-Charity Botkin
Mary Wise-William Beeks
John Beeks-Elizabeth Wise
Wilbur Beeks-Cleo Aldridge
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants
Bentz families were in Philadelphia by at least 1727. I haven't found anything that ties our family to any of the earlier arrivals, but the possibility exists that they are relatives, at least some of them. Our Jacob was baptized December 8,1727 in the Reformed Church at Iggelheim, Pfalz, Bayern in what became Germany. He was the son of Johann George and Anna Barbara Bullinger Bentz. Iggelheim appears to be a village in southwest Germany, not far from other areas where our German families emigrated. It is a town that suffered serious loss in the Thirty Years War and was probably still struggling to recover as the Bentz family made the decision to move to America.
Jacob's father, Georg, and at least two of his brothers traveled together on the ship Phoenix, which landed in Philadelphia September 15, 1749. (I am not writing this post about Georg because there is no record of him after his arrival here. We know he was a shoemaker by trade. It's possible that he lived with one of his sons but it is believed he didn't survive long in the New World. Many seem to think he died in 1749, but I've seen no proof of that.)
Jacob settled in the Hawksbill area of the Shenandoah Valley. We're not sure just when he arrived there. There are military records for a Jacob Pence who served in 1757 in Captain Hog's Company of Rangers. Our Jacob would have been of the right age to be this Jacob. We know our Jacob called himself Jacob Pence, and that is the name used in the records. So possibly our Jacob had military service in the French and Indian War, although none of the sites I'm looking at it have claimed military service for Jacob.
One tree I've seen gives his wife a name, Christine Barbara Willrett. There is no documentation, but it says they married in 1756. If this is true, then there must have been a first wife, for three sons were born before this marriage. I've also seen a marriage date of "about 1745". I'd love to hear from someone who knows more about Jacob and can give some insight about his wife or wives.
We do know he had ten children, and that Jacob didn't leave the Shenandoah Valley after he arrived there. He died on or before October 29, 1778 in Shenandoah County, Virginia. As a typical German in this area, he would have farmed and perhaps had a "side trade", but that is all I really can say about the life he led here. He was working too hard to leave paper records, apparently.
That's not a lot of information for a blog post, but it gives us something of a feel for the man and his life. We can say beyond a doubt that he worked hard, and that he defended his adopted country, whether he was the Jacob Pence who saw in Captain Hog's company, or whether he stayed home to protect his family. He's another of the mostly unrecognized men whose pioneer work led to our country's formation. Thank you, Jacob Pence!
The line of descent is:
Jacob Pence-Barbara
Mary Pence-Jacob Harshbarger
Elizabeth Harshbarger-Jacob Wise
Jackson Wise-Charity Botkin
Mary Wise-William Beeks
John Beeks-Elizabeth Wise
Wilbur Beeks-Cleo Aldridge
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants
Friday, August 4, 2017
Holbrook line: James Harmon 1635-1680, Immigrant
Update 8/11/2022. This man is not our ancestor. I am leaving this post up in case it is of interest to someone, anyway. The error is that Sarah Doty did not marry Josiah Standish.
It takes all kinds. Most of our ancestors were fine, upstanding people, who served God, lived their religion, and contributed to the building or/and protection of their country. And then there is James Harmon.
We don't know a lot about James, and what we do know is largely from court records and is not very complimentary. Many believe him to be the son of Frances and Sarah Martin Harmon, but there seems to be no documentation at this point for that relationship. His parentage remains unproven.
We don't really know when James first showed up in the New World. Indications are that if he first touched ground anywhere other than Saco, Maine, it would have been for a very brief period . Based on his history in Maine, it's possible that he was "invited" to leave England, or he may have come as a crew member of a ship and decided, on his own or with persuasion, to stay in the New World. (Those last two items are purely speculation, but read on,)
James married Sarah Clark, daughter of Edward and Barbara Clark, about 1658 at Saco. Unfortunately, the record shows that the part of the page showing the date was torn, so we will likely nevver know the exact date. We an wonder what Sarah saw in him, but she may have had little to choose from, as far as husband material goes. The couple had two known children, but they were not enough to keep this marriage together.
In 1655, James made an announcement that he had slandered John Snelling. This sounds very much like it must have been a church happening, but at the time there was little difference between church and court. He was likely given a light punishment and returned to his life and occupation, whatever that was. About the time of his marriage, in 1658, he was sentenced for swearing, a fine and a bond were required. By 1660, James was known as a wife abuser, and that year he also slashed his father in law with a knife. He was also charged with not providing for his family.
The court, believing that James was preparing to leave to go elsewhere, appointed Edward Clark, Sarah's father, to be in charge of James's estate, to provide for the wife and family. Unfortunately Edward drowned the following year. Sarah must have felt so alone, with an abusive husband and no father to protect her or to help provide for her children. James lived sometimes in Saco and sometimes in Kennebunkport, and there appear to be attempts at reconciliation, or at least no attempt at divorce. Sarah had permission to live with a Mr. Gibbons, possibly as a housekeeper (my guess) and later Mr. and Mrs. Gibbons took in daughter Jane, who was also being abused.
James left no known record after 1668. He could have left the area, gone to sea, straightened out, or any of a number of other possibilities. I suppose this could make the outline for a good story or novel, except, hey, he's our ancestor. If nothing else, we can thank him for marrying a strong woman who survived in spite of his bad behavior,.
The line of descent is:
James Harmon-Sarah Clark
Jane Harmon-Samuel Doty
Sarah Doty-Josiah Standish
Hannah Standish-Nathan Foster
Nathan Foster-Elizabeth Lansford
Jude Foster-Lydia M.
Betsy Foster-Josiah Whittemore
Mary Elizabeth Whittermore-Joseph R Holbrook
Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown
Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants
Tuesday, August 1, 2017
Allen line: Hugh Kinsey 1592-1667
Hugh Kinsey is another one of those "really" ancestors who reminds me that no, I'm not entirely of sturdy New England stock. This line goes back to early Maryland and before that, Virginia, when the land was being newly explored and settled, relations with native Americans were tense, and life was hard, even though the winters may have been milder than those of much of New England.
Hugh was baptized February 16, 1592 at Oldhaugh, Cheshire, England. This is a new location for me, so I tried to Google it and found only other people who were born there. My best guess is that this was a small farming community and that the reason for leaving here may have been economic.
Hugh married Margaret Coulton in England (lots of sources say Margaret Johns but that appears to be incorrect) in 1632 and they had six known children together, (one died young) but not until Hugh was middle aged. Margaret was reportedly baptized in 1611 so Hugh was enough older that he may have had an as yet unlocated first marriage.
Hugh and brother Robert were in Virginia by 1655, settling in Rappahannock and later Lancaster County, Virginia. Hugh was already over 60, and life was hard in the new land. It gets a little complicated here. Hugh inherited from his brother Robert in 1656 and mortgaged those 500 acres, later selling them to the mortgagor in London because he couldn't make the payment. It's not clear why he needed to sell; did he have trouble financially because he had become (or perhaps always was) a Quaker? A group of Quakers from Lancaster county did emigrate together, to the area on the Patapsco River where Hugh settled. He brought two of his children over from England in 1662, and about the same time, acquired 100 acres of land along the river. The 100 acres probably represented headrights, meaning Hugh had paid the transportation costs and brought new settlers in to the area.
Hugh is seen as a witness to various land transactions in the 1650's and 1660's, but seems to have not generated much other paperwork. He did leave a will dated May 6, 1667 in Anne Arundel County, leaving bequests to grandchildren and the estate to his wife, until her death when it was to go to his living children and grandchildren. I've not located anything saying what the value of the estate was.
It's likely that Hugh's estate was not large. As far as we know, he had just the 100 acres, and that was not enough to support a family. If he was a Quaker, he probably had suffered both religious and economic persecution in Virginia. But he was free and had had opportunities in the New World that he would never had had in England, and he may have felt that the opportunity was worth the risk, even for an older person. He contributed to the building of America, and for that I am grateful.
The line of descent is:
Hugh Kinsey-Margaret Coulton
Sarah Kinsey-Abraham Clark
Elizabeth Clark-William Wilkinson
Jane Wilkinson-Edward Corbin
Mary Jane Corbin-Samuel Lane
Lambert Lane-Nancy Anderson
Nancy Ann Lane-William McCoy
Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson
Nancy McCoy-George Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants.
Hugh was baptized February 16, 1592 at Oldhaugh, Cheshire, England. This is a new location for me, so I tried to Google it and found only other people who were born there. My best guess is that this was a small farming community and that the reason for leaving here may have been economic.
Hugh married Margaret Coulton in England (lots of sources say Margaret Johns but that appears to be incorrect) in 1632 and they had six known children together, (one died young) but not until Hugh was middle aged. Margaret was reportedly baptized in 1611 so Hugh was enough older that he may have had an as yet unlocated first marriage.
Hugh and brother Robert were in Virginia by 1655, settling in Rappahannock and later Lancaster County, Virginia. Hugh was already over 60, and life was hard in the new land. It gets a little complicated here. Hugh inherited from his brother Robert in 1656 and mortgaged those 500 acres, later selling them to the mortgagor in London because he couldn't make the payment. It's not clear why he needed to sell; did he have trouble financially because he had become (or perhaps always was) a Quaker? A group of Quakers from Lancaster county did emigrate together, to the area on the Patapsco River where Hugh settled. He brought two of his children over from England in 1662, and about the same time, acquired 100 acres of land along the river. The 100 acres probably represented headrights, meaning Hugh had paid the transportation costs and brought new settlers in to the area.
Hugh is seen as a witness to various land transactions in the 1650's and 1660's, but seems to have not generated much other paperwork. He did leave a will dated May 6, 1667 in Anne Arundel County, leaving bequests to grandchildren and the estate to his wife, until her death when it was to go to his living children and grandchildren. I've not located anything saying what the value of the estate was.
It's likely that Hugh's estate was not large. As far as we know, he had just the 100 acres, and that was not enough to support a family. If he was a Quaker, he probably had suffered both religious and economic persecution in Virginia. But he was free and had had opportunities in the New World that he would never had had in England, and he may have felt that the opportunity was worth the risk, even for an older person. He contributed to the building of America, and for that I am grateful.
The line of descent is:
Hugh Kinsey-Margaret Coulton
Sarah Kinsey-Abraham Clark
Elizabeth Clark-William Wilkinson
Jane Wilkinson-Edward Corbin
Mary Jane Corbin-Samuel Lane
Lambert Lane-Nancy Anderson
Nancy Ann Lane-William McCoy
Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson
Nancy McCoy-George Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants.
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