Allen line: Daniel Eldridge 1659-1726

Daniel Eldridge fascinates me.  He is one of the few Allen ancestors we have in Rhode Island, for one thing.  For another thing, he seems to have belonged to at least two different denominations, or churches.  Whether that was because of geography, or because he had a religious conversion, I don't know.  But he at one time was part of the First Congregational Church of Stonington, Ct, and a few days before his death became part of St Paul's Episcopal Church in Narragansett, Rhode Island.  There is speculation that his parents were Baptists, so that makes the whole church situation even more intriguing.

Daniel was the son of Samuel and Elizabeth Miller Eldred or Eldridge, one of at least 7 children.  He appears to be perhaps the next to the last child, and as such, he didn't live in the many locations that his oldest siblings did.  Daniel was born in Kingston, Rhode Island in 1659 and died there or at Narragansett, RI on August 18, 1726.  Kingston and Narragansett are only about 9 miles apart now, but the town limits may have been smaller then and it could have been a longer journey between the two towns.  Or perhaps he actually lived on a border between the two communities.  He also lived for several years in Stonington, Ct, which was about 30 miles from Narragansett.  These were all towns on the coast line, so it leads one to wonder whether he was somehow involved in shipbuilding or in some sort of maritime trade.  I haven't been able to determine his occupation, although we know his father was a cordwainer.  As a younger son, he likely didn't follow in his father's footsteps.  

Daniel married Mary, usually identified as Mary Phillips, about 1687 probably in Kingston.  The couple had ten known children.  Daniel witnessed several deeds in Rhode Island, but by 1706 the family was in Stonington, where Mary owned the covenant in 1707 and several children were baptized at the Congregational Church in Stonington.  (Congregational indicates a Puritan heritage, with congregations choosing their own pastors, who were usually from New England).   A Daniel Eldridge owned the covenant there in 1716, but that may have been son Daniel. 

In town records of his death, he is referred to as "Captain Daniel".  I haven't been able to determine when he received this military title.  His father participated in King Philip's War and it seems likely that Daniel would have done the same, as he was above the age of 16 when the war broke out.  It's unlikely that he was a captain at this time.  It's also possible that he was involved in one or more of the wars that came later, such as Queen Anne's war or King William's war.   At any rate, Daniel as a teenager would have been greatly affected by King Philip's war as the family lost everything to an assault by the natives.  This may help explain why Daniel was 28 years old when he married. 

Daniel was a freeman in Kingstown in 1696.  He was referred to as captain when he purchased land in Narrangansett, Rhode Island in 1709, but apparently the family lived in Stonington longer, because he was a deputy from Stonington to the General Court at Hartford in 1709 and 1715.  He also served as justice of the piece for several years.  We see him back in Kingstown in 1719, where he was a member of the militia until sometime in 1725.  

I'm not sure when the couple went to Narragansett, but Daniel was "clinically baptized" by the pastor of St Paul's church there, and this was an Anglican church.  "Clinically baptized" was a new term to me, but it seems to mean that he was baptized on his sick bed or in this case on his death bed, as he died just three days later.  I've not found documentation for the death of Mary, but she is said to have lived until 1750.

I've also not found a will or estate papers for Daniel.  They would be most helpful in perhaps determining what economic status he may have had, and what his occupation was.  However, I'm more interested in this man's spiritual journey.  How and why did he go from being raised as a Baptist, to becoming a congregationalist, to a final baptism in the Anglican church?  Did he read books, was he persuaded by others, or was it simply a matter of geographic convenience, that he worshiped with the community where he resided?

The line of descent is:

Daniel Eldridge-Mary possibly Phillips

Daniel Eldridge-Abigail Fish

Sarah Eldridge-Thomas Chester

Bathsheba Chester-Jonathan Havens

Betsy Havens-John Starr

John Havens Starr-Clarissa Falley

Harriet Starr-John Wilson Knott

Edith Knoth-Edward Allen

Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook

Their descendants

Holbrook line: Isaac Newell 1632-1707

 Isaac was an immigrant, having been born about 1632 in or near Ipswich, Suffolk, England.  He would have little memory of England, though, as he was just two years old when he immigrated with the rest of his family in 1634.  I always think of the very young children, and their mothers, when I read about their trip to the New World.  We know how crowded and how hazardous those ships were, and we wonder how the mothers kept their children safe and occupied during the weeks it took to make the trip across the Atlantic.  

It's not known for sure who "mother" was; but her first name was Francis,  There is speculation that her name may have been Foote but that seems to be only speculation at this point.  His father was Abraham Newell, and Abraham was 50 years old when he brought his family to New England.  Abraham, a tailor by trade, settled in Roxbury, some distance from Boston at the time, and Isaac seems to have lived his whole life in Roxbury.  

Considering that he was technically an immigrant, there is not much information about Isaac.  This is even more surprising when we consider that he married Elizabeth Curtis, daughter of William and Sarah Eliot Curtis.  Sarah was a sibling to Rev. John Eliot, known as the Apostle to the Indians, so it seems that the Newells would be deserving of more genealogical attention than they have received so far. 

Isaac appears to have been a farmer all of his life.  He inherited some of his father's rather extensive holdings, although oldest brother Abraham received more than Isaac and his brother John did.  

We know he was part of the church at Roxbury, being listed as a member on December 3, 1660.  His wife Elizabeth became a member on July 22, 1661.  Isaac's name is on a petition sent to the general court in 1664, and on another petition in 1672.  He is reported to have sat on several local juries at various times, but that appears to have been his only contribution to public service.  We find no record of his having been part of a military unit, although he was likely part of the training band formed by each community.  Roxbury was spared during King Philip's War, so he may have never been called to duty during that conflict.  However, his family was not untouched as Elizabeth's brother, Philip Curtis, was killed at Grafton, Massachusetts in an assault on an Indian camp.  

Isaac and Elizabeth were married at Roxbury December 14, 1659, and they had nine children together.  Two sons died during a small pox epidemic in 1678, about a month apart.  Surviving sons were Isaac, Ebenezer and Josiah, and daughters were Sarah, Elizabeth, Hannah and Experience.  

There seems to be no record of a will or estate left when Isaac died on December 8, 1707 in Roxbury.  He had acquired additional land besides the bequest of his father, but perhaps he had sold it, or given it to sons, before his death.  As always, I regret the lack of an inventory, because that usually sheds some light on the lives of an ancestor during this time period.  However, we do have these few facts about Isaac, and for that we are glad.  

The line of descent is:

Isaac Newell-Elizabeth Curtis

Sarah Newell-Nathaniel Hawes

Elizabeth Hawes-Samuel Wilson

Rebecca Wilson-Jonathan Wright

Molly Wright-Amariah Holbrook

Nahum Holbrook-Susanna Rockwood

Joseph Holbrook-Mary Elizabeth Whittemore

Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown

Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants

 

Harshbarger line: Hans Huber 1662-1750

 Hans Huber was the immigrant in this line, and he was a Mennonite.  That much seems certain.  Other than that, there is quite a bit that is up for debate about him.  For instance, who were his parents?  There seem to be several theories, but based on geography, I have tentatively given his parents as Hans Jacob and Barbara Buman Huber.  This family comes from Hausen, Zurich, Switzerland.  Hans had at least three brothers and sisters, but his early life was probably difficult.  Mennonites at the time were despised by the Swiss authorities, and were not allowed to accumulate any wealth.  They also faced the constant thread of imprisonment, although I've not found a record that Hans was ever imprisoned for his religious beliefs.  Some of his neighbors and fellow worshipers likely were.  

Hans moved around quite a bit during the years before his immigration to America.  He is seen in Friedrichstadt, Germany Wesenmatt, and the Ibersheim in Hesse, but by 1700 Hans was back in Hausen.  The next ten years are fuzzy as to where he was.  He would likely have tried to stay in the background as much as possible.  Most sources think that Hans arrived in Pennsylvania in 1710, on board the "Mary and Lyon".  Hans Huber was a common name so it is hard to be sure, but there are records for a John Hoober in 1721 at Conestoga in Lancaster County.  Our Hans had a son named Jacob who was also listed in that tax record, and they were noted as being "Palatine", the area where many Mennonites lived for months or years before moving on to America.  

There is a good deal of debate, also, about Hans's wife.  It seems that wife number one died about the time son Jacob was born, and he then married wife number 2.  The second wife was Margaret Koch, and a slim majority of sites show her as the mother of Jacob, next in the line of descent.  The most common name I've seen for his first wife is Barbara Lier.  More research needs to be done to confirm whether there was one marriage or two, and if two, whether Jacob was the child of the first or the second wife.  Regardless, Margaret would have been the only mother Jacob ever knew. 

Hans is thought to have had between 6 and 14 children.  Six are mentioned in his will, son Jacob and 5 daughters.  Undoubtedly they were an industrious family.  Hans had land surveyed in 1735, 200 acres in Earl Township.  We have no way of knowing how long he had lived on the land before getting the survey that allowed the transaction to become legal.  He had an additional 150 acres surveyed in 1737.  By now, his children would have been grown and he had apparently reached some degree of prosperity, in order to purchase more land.  

He was either prosperous or generous, or both, because in his will he left money to the "poor of the people called Mennonists in Pennsylvania" and also to the poor of the "Mennonists at the place in Germany called Ibersheimerhof".  If his wife predeceased him he left money to the children of her sister, still in Germany.  He wrote the will February 17, 1746 and it was proven on October 23, 1750.  He's buried at the Groffdale Mennonite Brick Church Cemetery at Leola in Lancaster County, where a monument erected in 1928 stands.  Perhaps coincidentally, and perhaps not, 1928 is the year that his 7th great grandson, Herbert Hoover, was elected President of the United States.  

The line of descent is:

Hans Huber-Barbara or Margaret

Jacob Huber-Anna

Anna Elizabeth Huber-Jost Gingrich

Maria Gingrich-Adam Burkholder

Joseph Burkholder-Elizabeth Miller

Barbara Burkholder-Benjamin Buchtel

Nancy Fannue Buchtel-Adam Kemery

Della Kemery-William Withers

Goldie Withers-Grover Harshbarger

Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Beeks

 

Holbrook line: Deacon John Hanchett 1649-1744

Proprietor. Selectman.  Deacon. Sergeant.  These are just a few of the labels that can be applied to our ancestor John Hanchett.  He was respected in his town and was probably an educated man, based on the fact that he was a selectman for many years, a deacon in the church, and was active in supporting the school, finding a pastor, processioning boundaries, and fulfilling other civic duties.  His inventory lists only two books, his Great Bible and his book of Psalms, but the man was 95 years old.  It's possible that his eyesight had failed and other books were given away.  (There was, however, no mention of spectacles in the inventory).

John Hanchett was born in Wethersfield, Connecticut on September 1, 1649, to Thomas and Deliverance Langton Hanchett.   He moved often as a child and youth, as his father moved to New London in 1651, to Northampton, Massachusetts by 1660, to Westfield, Massachusetts and then finally to Suffield in 1671.  Perhaps his father had a trade that was needed as new towns were formed.  John married Ester Pritchard (Prittchet in some records) on September 6, 1677.  She was from Westfield and records of the marriage are in both Westfield and Suffield records, so I'm not sure which town had the honor.  

(I find it interesting that we have these Holbrook ancestors in Westfield, at the same time that we had many Allen ancestors there. Our ancestors were neighbors but never could have foreseen that in 280 years, their descendants would find each other and marry!)  

John and Esther had 9 children together, in their roughly 34 years of marriage.  John apparently liked married life because he married three more times during his life, to Mrs. Mary Harmon, then to Mrs. Sarah Tayler, and finally to Mrs. Mary Southwell, who survived him.  He had step children but I've not determined how many, or whether he helped raise any of them.  

Other than the references to "sergeant" Hanchett, I've been unable to find anything that shows that John was a soldier in King Philip's War.  However, Westfield was a source of soldiers for the war, and John was living there then.  If he didn't leave the area to fight, he would have been guarding the town, unless he left the area during this time, which doesn't seem likely but is possible.  

His inventory doesn't give us much idea of what he had been doing as far as occupation, but his will gives all his land and commons rights, including his "now house" to son John, excepting only what his wife needs during her widowhood.  So it's not an easy matter to figure his estate value, but selectmen were generally at least comfortable in their finances so we can assume that was true in this case, until additional information comes to light.  

I look forward to learning more about this man, but I'm delighted to have this much information.  He is another example of a good man who helped build this country.

The line of descent is:

John Hanchett-Ester Pritchard

John Hanchett-Lydia Hayward

Hannah Hanchett-John Stannard

Libbeus Stannard-Eunice Pomeroy

Libbeus Stanard-Luceba Fay

Hiram Stanard-Susan Eddy

Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick

Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants

Beeks line: Jacobus Pieterse Slot 1669-1725

 Although Jacobus (also known as Cobus and as Jacob) lived in the culture of the Dutch Reformed folks in early New Jersey, his grandfather was Danish.  The family had moved to Amsterdam and then to New Amsterdam, and then on to New Jersey by the time Jacobus was born in 1669.  His parents, Pieter Janse and Merritje Jacobs Slot, had him baptized at the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Bergen (now Jersey City) and he seems to have stayed there his whole life.  Most of his neighbors would have been of one or another reformed churches, as some were Huguenots who had been forced out of France by the religious wars.  Some had lived in Amsterdam also, so were known to the family.  

I've now given almost everything that is know about Jacob.  He married Maria Demarest, daughter of Jean and Jacomina de Ruine Demarest, probably about 1695.  They joined the Hackensack Dutch Church on April 5, 1696 after attending the French Church at Kinderkamack.  The French church had been founded by David Demarest.  The new church may have been closer for them to attend, or there may have been some sort of church dispute.  

The couple had at least eleven children, starting with Petrus in 1696 and ending with Benjamin in 1721.  There are records for the baptism of most, if not all, of the children.  When I look at the map now, this area is totally urban, but of course at the time the Slots lived there it would have been frontier, with threats and skirmishes with native Americans, and animals such as wolves and bears to contend with.

 I would love to know whether Jacob served in the militia.  I'd love to know what his will and inventory could tell us.  I'd love to know whether he could read and write, and whether he had another means of income besides farming.  So there is much yet to be learned about Jacob, but we at least can acknowledge his place in Beeks family history, and imagine what his culture may have been.

The line of descent is:

Jacobus Slot-Maria Demarest

Benjamin Slot-Sara Demarest

William Lock-Elizabeth Teague

Sally Lock-Jeremiah Folsom

Leah Folsom-Darlington Aldridge

Harvey Aldridge-Mary Catherine Dunham

Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks

Mary Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger

Their descendants

Holbrook line: John Clarke 1642-1686

 It should be easier to make sense of this man's life than it is.  He was the son of Robert Clarke, Surveyor-General of Maryland (and probably first wife Eleanor), and Robert's life is fairly well documented.  So if John's, except that he seems to have been in more than one place at the same time, and to have been older than the date I've used indicates, if indeed he was granted land in 1655 for headrights to several people.  I suspect we could be dealing with more than one John Clarke, so I'll try to include only the information I think is most likely to be correct here.  The other possibility is that John was born earlier, perhaps in England, and thus would have been old enough to have had head rights in 1655.  I think more research needs to be done about this.

John is frequently referred to as "Gent" or "planter" in land records.  It makes sense that he would have owned quite a bit of land, as his father probably looked out for his son's interests while making his surveys, as well as leaving him extra land as the oldest son.  John married Ann at some point.  Most trees show his wife to be Ann Dent, but there are some other possibilities and I'm not yet ready to hazard a guess as to who his wife was.  

We know that there were five children living when John wrote his will in 1685-John, Robert, Benjamin, Franklin, and Ann.  There may have been other children born to the couple who were not alive at the time the will was written.  John left a tract of 1000 acres to his children, and the rest of his land and estate to his wife, to do with as she wished.  When Ann died, any remaining land or estate was to go to his eldest son, John. 

His land, or at least part of it, seems to have been located on the west side of the Wicomico River, which in turn was a tributary of the Potomac River.  This land he sold or gave to his brother Thomas in 1681.  He evidently lived on the border of Charles County and St Mary's County, so records can be found in both counties, but I'm not sure where he was living at the time of his death. 

Basically, except for some land transactions, this is what we know of John.  His father was Catholic but we don't know if John was also Catholic, or whether he was of the Anglican church.  Maryland started out as a tolerant colony but became involved in bitter religious disputes.  Perhaps he kept whatever religious beliefs he had to himself.  Because he owned a lot of land and grew tobacco, we can guess that his lands were farmed by either slaves or indentured servants, or both.  (The persons he was granted head rights for, if this is the correct John Clarke, may well have served out their indenture on his lands.  At this time in Maryland history, indentured servants were common, as were native American slaves and those imported from Africa, so it could have been any, all, or some combination of the above.  No slaves are mentioned in his will and I haven't yet located an inventory.  

There are a lot of reference books about the early days of St Mary's and Charles Counties, but unfortunately they don't seem to be readily available on line.  When I am able to return to library haunting, I will want to see what more I can learn of our ancestor, John Clarke.  There are probably stories to tell!

The line of descent is:

John Clarke-Ann

Robert Clarke-Selina Smith

Hannah Clarke-James Amos 

Robert Amos-Martha McComas

Robert Amos-Elizabeth Amos

Martha Amos-Peter Black

Elizabeth Black-Isaac Hetrick

Mary Alice Hetrick-Louis Stanard

Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants

Allen line: James Bird 1631-1708

 I think it's a good thing that I write these posts, because I challenge myself (rather too frequently, it seems) to double check what I think I know, as I'm writing.  Sometimes I am confident that I have the correct information, sometimes I learn that I have the wrong information, and sometimes I end up with many more question marks than I started with.  

James Bird is one ancestor who seems to have several errors in his family tree.  For one thing, many people say he was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1631.  That seems unlikely because Hartford wasn't formed until 1635-36, and because his father, Thomas Bird, is thought to have not come to the colony until 1639.  James is believed to be the son of Thomas and his unknown first wife. We don't know where in England (presumably) he was born, but we can believe that James spent most if not all of his boyhood in Hartford.  He had at least a brother and a sister, and they probably kept each other company while learning the skills they would need in later life.  

James married Lydia Steele March 31, 1657.  She is almost always listed as the mother of our connection, but she died in 1659 and our Rebecca was born in 1670.  (So posts I've written about the Steele family should be ignored as far as being in our ancestry!)  James's second wife was named Rebecca but that is all that is known of her.  She probably came from the Hartford area, but that is all that is currently known.  

We know that James was a freeman in 1657 and specifically a freeman of Farmington in 1669. (I've found two dates for the formation of Farmington, one in 1645 and one in 1660.  The 1660 date is reported with a comment that James was an early settler and proprietor of Farmington. This may or may not be correct.)  

James had 7 children, and it's thought that their mother was Rebecca, although birth dates are lacking in some instances and it's possible that one or two of the children were Lydia's.  We don't know a lot about James's life but we can guess that he was involved in the militia, and was eligible to be called out in one or more of the battles of King Philip's War in 1675-76.  We have one story that indicates he may have not always been even-tempered.  Apparently there was either a political or a church dispute in 1673, and James was so upset during a meeting that he stomped out of the building and went, or said he went, to Waterbury, which is about 25 miles from Farmington.  If so, he didn't stay there long because he is on record in the Congregational Church of Farmington in 1679 and 1681. If this was a church dispute, it may have been over infant baptism. 

James died in 1708 in Farmington (not Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts.  That was an entirely different James Bird, but their marriage and death records are sometimes conflated.)  Although he was about 77 years old, it seems that he died without a will.  Rebecca must have died earlier, because I saw no mention of her in the settlement papers.  The sons and sons in law of James got together and agreed on a distribution of the assets, with son Thomas getting the land and the others getting various farm animals and personal property.  This was apparently agreed to without a family fight, which speaks well of the family that James and Rebecca had raised.  

I'd like to learn more about James, of course. Most particularly I would like to know who his wife was, and of course I'd like to know more about his occupation (if any beyond farming) and his military service.  But I'm glad to know this much, and I'm glad to see the humanity of this man who had strong feelings about what went on in his church or/and community.  

The line of descent is:

James Bird-Rebecca

Rebecca Bird-Samuel Lamb

Samuel Lamb-Martha Stebbins

Eunice Lamb-Martin Root

Martin Root-Ruth Noble

Ruth Root-Samuel Falley

Clarissa Falley-John Havens Starr

Harriet Starr-John Wilson Knott

Edith Knott-Edward Allen

Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook

Their descendants

 

 

Holbrook line: Josiah Standish 1633-1689

Josias or Josiah Standish (mostly Josias in the earliest records) grew up in the shadow of his famous Mayflower passenger father, Captain Myles (Miles) Standish.  Those men and women who were survivors were people he would have known personally.  His father settled at Duxbury, not far from the home of Elder William Brewster.  What an awesome heritage he had, both with his own parents and with those who were part of early Plymouth Colony.  So we should know a lot about him, shouldn't we?  And yet, there is much of him that we don't know.  

His father, as noted was Myles Standish and his mother was Barbara.  (Rose, sometimes seen as his mother, had died in the first winter.)  The mystery of his mother's name and origins is one of the deep questions in Mayflower ancestry still to be solved.  Josias was probably born about 1633, although I've seen guesses as early as 1629 and as late as 1637, probably at Plymouth but possibly at Duxbury.  He had several siblings although at least two appear to have died as infants or in early childhood.  As much as anyone who grew up in that tiny colony could be called such, he appears to have been one of the privileged ones, with respected parents who were somewhat well off financially, for the time and place.  

Josiah would have early learned to hunt, and fish, to help with the farm animals, and as he reached the age of 16 or so, to participate in the military training and patrols that was required of all colonists.  We don't know what trade, if any, he had but his namesake son became a carpenter, so perhaps that is what Josias did, too.  He likely had some trade because he was not the first son and thus wouldn't have been raised with the expectation of inheriting his father's lands.  We can guess that he learned to read and write, and that he regularly attended the Pilgrim church services, because that's what boys in that time and place did.

In 1654, Josiah married Mary Dingley, but she died in just a few months.  There were no surviving children from this marriage and it's not known whether hers was a childbirth death or from some other cause.  Josiah mourned not only his wife but also his father, who died at about the same time. He inherited 40 pounds and probably some personal items from his father, which likely increased his financial standing.  He soon remarried, to Sarah Allen, who was the daughter of Samuel and Ann Whitmore Allen.  She was the mother of all of his children, probably at least seven although I have seen lists that included many more.  

Josiah either owned several parcels of land at once, while living mostly in one place, or moved around a lot.  (If he was a carpenter or other skilled tradesman, it would be plausible that he would have moved often.) Besides Duxbury, we find references to him in Bridgewater, Marshfield and Sandwich, Massachusetts Bay Colony, and in Norwich and Preston, Connecticut.  We know he was a lieutenant of the military company of Bridgewater in 1660, and he was a selectman of Duxbury in 1666.  He was also a deputy of Plymouth Colony (to the General Court) several times.  

At his death, he was referred to as Captain Standish, so he must have stayed active in the military training band for most if not all of his life.  It's not clear what decided the Standishes, who were middle-aged, to move to Norwich and then Preston, Connecticut.  (Preston was actually formed in 1687, and Josiah was of Norwich in 1686, so perhaps this last move was not a move at all, but merely was the result of the formation of the new town.)  Whatever caused the move, the Standishes didn't have long to enjoy their new surroundings.  Josiah died March 19, 1690 (some sources say 1689; it's probably the double dating thing again that is causing the variance) and Sarah died sometime after.  

I haven't located a will or inventory for Josiah, which would tell us much.  His father's inventory was quite extensive and lists quite a few books by title.  It would be interesting to see whether Josiah inherited, and kept, any of those same books.  Also, he may have referred to his trade, or stated that he was a yeoman, or given us other details that would help us understand this son of a Mayflower passenger. There are always more questions than answers!

The line of descent is"

Josiah Standish-Sarah Allen

Josiah Standish-Sarah Doty

Hannah Standish-Nathan Foster

Nathan Foser-Elizabeth Lunsford

Jude Foster-Lydia M

Betsy Foster-Josiah Whittemore

Mary Elizabeth Whittemore-Joseph R Holbrook

Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown

Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants

Beeks line: Francois Sohier 1595-1663

Don't believe everything I write here, because I can find very little documentation for this ancestor.  I am reasonably certain that he is an ancestor in the Beeks line, but I'm not sure he actually immigrated to the New World.  I sure would love to find a record so that I could verify unsourced trees that are "out there" on the 'net.  But because he is an ancestor, and because I think his story is fascinating, regardless of whether or not he actually came here, I wanted to share the bits and pieces of his life, including speculation.  (Much of the information I am using is from a blog post at https://a400yearstory.wordpress.com.  The information appears to be well researched, with many secondary sources, which is why I'm going to base this post on that article.  

I always take it with a grain of salt, when I find records that say so and so descended from royalty, but there seems to be a possibility that this Francois was one of the many millions of descendants of Charlemagne, and that his ancestors participated in the Crusades and were at least minor nobles.  The record of Sohiers dates back to the birth of Jean Sohier in 1435 on the island of Jersey, and usually we can't get that far back unless there was some sort of reason.  Peasants weren't necessarily tracked as well.  

However that may be, Francois was born about 1595 in Nieppe, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France.  His family were Protestants and left France during one or another of the many wars for religious (and other) dominance of northern France and the Spanish Netherlands, but Francois was born in France so either the border moved or they returned home.  The story of the Huguenots, as the Protestants were known, is tragic and inspiring, and we can use this label to describe Francois.  

He married Margrieta, possibly in Holland, but they apparently lived in either Nieppe or Hainaut for most of their married life.  It's not clear who Margrieta's parents were.  Also not clear is how many children the couple had, nor when they sailed for New Netherlands.  There is so much of the story we are missing, but we know something of Dutch life during the early years, and it appears that Francois's story is intertwined with that story.  He would have known, or at least seen, Peter Stuyvesant and other of the early leaders of the colony.  He is believed to have died in 1663 in Flatbush, Kings County, New York, so he would have missed most of the tension relating to the English takeover, but he may well have lived through some of the troubles with the native Americans.  

I hope to learn more about Francois when I am able to go to the library in Ft Wayne again, but that will be a while.  Meanwhile, I like to remember that part of the Beeks heritage is Dutch and French, and that these ancestors contributed much to the building of what became America.  

The line of descent is:

Francois Sohier-Margreita

Marie Sohier-David Demarest

Jean Demarest-Jacomina DeRuine

Peter Demarest-Maretje Meet

Lea Demarest-Samuel David Demarest

Sarah Demarest-Benjamin Slot

William Lock-Elizabeth Teague

Sally Lock-Jeremiah Folsom

Leah Folsom-Darlington Aldridge

Harvey Aldridge-Margaret Catherine Dunham

Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks

Mary Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger

Their descendants

 

Holbrook line: Rev. Samuel Winsor 1677-1758

 Our family is blessed to have many pastors in our heritage, on both the Allen and the Holbrook sides (and yes, there are a few in the Harshbarger and the Beeks lines, too, for that matter).  But the Winsor family may have some sort of record as far as this line goes, for the number of pastors in the family.  Samuel Winsor (actually he was the second Samuel Winsor) is in a fairly large group of Winsor family members who were pastors.  I believe they were all Baptist pastors, which may indicate that immigrant Joshua Winsor was highly influential in the family, having two sons, at least two grandsons (one of which is this Samuel) and two great grandsons of his who were all Baptist pastors in Rhode Island, and I wouldn't be surprised to find more through additional generations.  

This Samuel was born November 18, 1677 in Providence, the son of Rev. Samuel and Mercy Williams Winsor.  (Mercy was the daughter of Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island, so here is another part of the pattern of pastors).  As far as I have been able to learn, he never left Rhode Island.  I'm not aware that he had any college training; Baptist pastors were not necessarily as educated as those of the Puritans or Church of England.  They of course knew how to read and write, and learned their reasoning and orating skills elsewhere.  Our Samuel is called a "great preacher" so he learned well, somewhere.

Samuel was one of at least four children, growing up in Providence, close to the ocean, and close to farmland but also close to swamps and forests.  One wonders what kind of childhood he had.  Did he spend a lot of time in nature, a lot of time at chores, a lot of time in schooling?  As a pastor's child, he probably had to behave himself, but maybe there was a bit of mischief to him, too.  We just don't know.  

Samuel was 25 when he married Mary or Mercy Harding on January 7, 1703.  She was the daughter of Abraham and (probably) Deborah Gardiner Harding.  As far as I know, there were no pastors in the Harding or Gardiner lines, but it's likely that the Harding family also had Baptist leanings.  Samuel and Mary were the parents of at least nine children, which was enough to keep Mary busy, and probably Samuel, too.  He was an active layman in the church for the first 20 years of their marriage, and was probably a farmer, or at least farmed enough to feed his family.  I've found no information regarding any other occupation.

Samuel was ordained at the First Baptist Church in Providence in 1733, and preached there until his death in 1758.  By the time he became pastor, his children were either grown or almost grown, so this was very much a second career for him.  It says much for the life he had lived that his neighbors approved of his ordination and of his serving his home church.  He must have been well respected, liked, and trusted.  I would certainly like to hear one or his sermons, to get a better idea of the man.  The one thing I learned is that he may have had a bit of a stubborn or determined streak, as the church had a quarrel over whether it was necessary to have the "laying on of hands" in order to become a member of the church.  Samuel said it was necessary, and that's the view that prevailed.  

Samuel died November 17, 1758, the day before his 81st birthday.  Mary outlived him by about 13 years, dying in 1771.  I know that Samuel left a will but I have not yet been able to locate a copy of it.  That, and an inventory, would tell us more about this interesting ancestor.  

The line of descent is:

Samuel Winsor-Mary Harding

Joseph Winsor-Deborah Mathewson 

Lillis Winsor-Nathan Paine

Deborah Paine-Enos Eddy

Joseph Eddy-Susan Lamphire

Susan Eddy-Hiram Stanard

Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick

Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants

 

Allen line: Deacon John Hitchcock 1642-1712

 It's either feast or famine in the genealogy world.  Many times I struggle to find enough information to even write five paragraphs about an ancestor.  Other times, there is more information that I can use, even if I write a longer post.  John Hitchcock, Deacon and Lieutenant, belongs in the second group of people.  That makes me happy.  

John was born on September 27, 1642 in what was then the colony of New Haven but now is New Haven, Connecticut.  He was the son of Luke and Elizabeth Gibbons Hitchcock, and was their first child.  He had two or possibly four siblings, but at any rate, this was a relatively small family for the time.  This was of economic benefit to him as his father was not a poor man, and John not only inherited part of his estate, but he also learned to read and write, and, based on what his later life shows, he also learned many practical skills.  I like to think his father had something to do with that, too.  

I don't know how it happened, but John ended up in Springfield, Massachusetts, home to so many of our Allen ancestral families.  There he married Hannah Chapin, who was the daughter of Deacon Samuel and Cicely Penny Chapin on September 27, 1666.  John and Hannah had at least nine children together, but at least one didn't survive infancy. 

John had a rather low profile for a few years.  He apparently was friends with several other young men who were high spirited, because three years after his marriage, he was accused of and fined for "fast riding" (the equivalent of speeding) through town.  The only time that was permitted was when the cavalry was out on a training run, and this apparently was not one of those times.  This is one of the few things I found about John that didn't reflect well on him, and I imagine Deacon Samuel may have had a word or two with him about that.  At about the same time as this incident, he was paid a bounty for having killed a wolf, so we can guess that he spent some time farming and helping to tame the wilderness.

We know that in 1678 he and Japeht Chapin and Nathaniel Foot were granted to use town lumber (from trees the town owned, likely on the commons) to build a sawmill, as long as it was located beyond the boundary the town gave them, and as long as they held the cost of lumber milled there to a certain price.  It would be interesting to know whether this was a profitable business for the men.  

John apparently began his public service in 1672, when he was chosen constable for the town.  He had some position of authority for most of the rest of his life, either as a selectman (12 years), as a deputy to the General Court (five terms) a hayward, a surveyor, a "commissioner for public assessment", or a clerk of the market.  

We don't know when he was selected church deacon, but he was called such when he died, and he had been involved in various negotiations with the church pastors, and with the building of the meeting house, down through the years.

Many times I have to speculate about what someone was doing or where they were during King Philip's War.  With John, we at least know that he was injured at the fight at Turner's Falls.  Mostly untrained militia attacked a native American encampment and were then ambushed.  Indian raids had been a constant threat so a battle like this was probably inevitable.  Most of the people of Springfield were either in garrisons or had left the area until the situation stabilized, but there were quite a few men from Springfield who were involved in this battle.  One source says that one arm was shot through and the other one broken, so John probably had to return home to recover.  Ensign John was promoted to lieutenant because of his gallantry on the field.  Because of his participation in this battle, his son John was awarded land in what became Bernardstown in 1736, along with surviving soldiers or their descendants.  

So we can say that John was relatively well off, because those were the people who were chosen selectmen.  We know he was active in the church because he was a deacon.  We know he got along with people and was respected, or he would not have been chosen for so many positions requiring tact and skill.  He was educated, because he was on committees to set and collect rates (taxes).  He was hard working, and he had frontier skills that allowed him to protect his family and guard his town.  

John left a will and an inventory when he died on February 9, 1712.  His estate was valued at over 700 pounds.  He left houses or/and land to each of his sons, provided for his wife, gave smaller bequests to his daughters, and gave his weapons to his grandsons.  Later, the court approved a request to give more to his widow, until her death.  

His inventory, besides about nine different parcels of land, includes several weapons (mentioned above), a great Bible and small books, and household items and farm implements and animals.  Among his other attributes, he was a financial success, if not a wealthy man.  

The line of descent is:

John Hitchcock-Hannah Chapin

John Hitchcock-Mary Ball

Samuel Hitchcock-Ruth Stebbins

Margaret Hitchcock-Richard Falley

Samuel Falley-Ruth Root

Clarissa Falley-John H Starr

Harriet Starr-John Wilson Knott

Edith Knott-Edward Allen

Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook

Their descendants

 

Beeks line: Simon Moon 1700-1749

 I've written about Simon's father, James Moon, and I've written about Simon's grandson, Thomas Moon.  Both of those families were Quakers, so it's no surprise that Simon and his family were Quakers, also.  Except, maybe they weren't.  I'll get to the evidence for that in a bit.  

Simon was born to James and Mary Wilsford Moon at Fallsington, Bucks County, Pennsylvania on April 11, 1700.  Except, that date seems to come from Quaker records and they had a different dating system then the rest of the Western world, and he was actually born on the eleventh day of the fourth month, which would be June 11, not April, if I understand the Quaker system correctly.  Both dates are reported on line, so take your pick.

Simon was one of at least six children born to James and Mary.  Living in Bucks County, the family would have farmed and by definition, worked hard.  Simon must have been industrious because by the time he was 21 he was ready and able to marry.  His bride was Louretha (Lowry seems to be a nick name) Humphrey, daughter of Hugh and Elizabeth Lowry Humphrey.  The mystery to me is that the couple were married in Christ Church in Philadelphia.  Was she not a Quaker?  If so, did Simon face any repercussions for marrying outside the faith?  I haven't found church records yet that would help me understand this.  The couple settled in Fallsington, Bucks County, where they built a small home that is still standing (it's on the National Registry of Historic Places) for their growing family.  The family may have grown to include as many as eleven children.

Eventually, the Moons left their home in Pennsylvania and traveled to Frederick County, Virginia which is now Berkeley County, West Virginia.  There they were members of the Hopewell Meeting, which shows that if Simon had trouble regarding his marriage, he was not disowned but rather brought back into, or kept, in the fellowship.  Unfortunately, records that might show us more about this were lost in a fire.  The move seems to have taken place about 1738, when the settlement was in its early days.   

The Moons were living here, in the Shenandoah Valley, when native Americans were sometimes friendly but more often not.  By the time Simon died, most of the original tribes had gone further west, but they still considered the valley theirs and a few years later there were numerous raids.  There is a slight possibility that the Moons may have seen George Washington as a 16 year old surveying Berkeley County, as he was there in 1748.  It took courage and determination to live in this wilderness area at such an early time.  

We don't have an exact date of death for Simon because those records were among those that were burned.  However, Lowry was not mentioned in his will, which was probated in February of 1749.  Simon left bequests to three sons and two daughters, mentioning his "plantation" and various farm animals.  I haven't located an inventory yet.  The couple is probably buried at Hopewell Meeting House, but we don't know because at that time Quakers used only field stones to mark graves.  

Simon didn't live a long life but he saw much.  The trip from eastern Pennsylvania to Berkeley County, probably on the Great Wagon Road, would have been an adventure for not only the children, but for Simon and Lowry.  I honor both of them for their courage, and I hope to learn more about them.  

The line of descent is:

Simon Moon-Louretha Humphrey

Jacob Moon-Jane Rees

Thomas Moon-Jean Gray

Margaret Moon-Owen Reese

Eliza Matilda Reese-Samuel G Dunham

Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge

Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks

Mary Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger

Their descendants

Harshbarger line: Johan Jacob Schaeffer died 1789

 The first thing I know about Jacob Schaeffer is that I don't know much, and what I think I know is confusing and conflicting.  However, we know enough to know that he belongs in the line of the Harshbarger family, and by writing this down, perhaps someone will see this and answer the questions I will present.  Mostly, I suspect that the many, many spellings of his last name are causing some of the confusion.

Jacob is reported to have been born on February 7, 1709 in Reisberg, Kusel, Palatinate, Bavaria, Germany.  I have not come up with a definitive location for Reisberg.  Kusel, however, is a small town in the Palatinate area, near the southwest border of Germany.  It is an ancient town with a current population of about 5200, and buildings in the "Old Town" date from long before the time of Jacob.  Jacob's parents are thought to be Johan Niclaus and Maria Catherina Suder Schaffer. (Note the spelling: Shafer, Shaver, Shaeffer, Schaeffer, Sheffer all seem to be variant spellings of the name, and there may well be more ways to spell this name and thus confuse us!)

His father, and most likely the whole family, including Jacob, arrived in New York in 1710, undoubtedly as part of the group sent over by Queen Anne, to colonize areas on the upper Hudson River that were taken from the Dutch.  This land was owned by Robert Livingston.  When the family had either worked off their indentureship, or just plain escaped the settlement, they were likely among those who made their way through the wilderness, perhaps on paths created by native Americans, and then settled in the Tulpehocken valley of Pennsylvania.  These settlers came to American with nothing and that's what they arrived with in Pennsylvania.  

There is a fly in the ointment for this story.  I have a copy of a map that says it is the Tulpehocken Valley as it appeared in 1723, which shows Jacob Shaeffer as owning a rather large tract of land then.  If Jacob was born in 1709, this would not have been possible.  However, I don't know when the map was actually created, and if it was after Niclaus's death in 1758, it could well have been Jacob's land at that time.  

Jacob married Maria Barbara Kobel, daughter of Jacob and Anna Maria Egli Kobel on June 10, 1735 in Tulpehocken, Berks County.  The records are in the Moravian Archives, which makes us wonder whether these were Moravians, or whether they were simply married by one of their members, perhaps because no one else was available.  The Kobels were another family that had been first in New York and then traveled to Pennsylvania.  

Jacob and Barbara had at least 10 children together.  We know very little of their life, except that he is referred to in church records as "baumeister".  The current meaning of the word seems to be architect, but at the time it probably meant "master builder".  Jacob had a means to support himself, other than the farming he undoubtedly did.  

Jacob would have been of the right age to have been a part of the militia guarding borders and perhaps battling native Americans in the French and Indian War.  There are at least two Jacob Shaffers from Berks County who were in the militia in 1780-1782, but likely our Jacob was too old by that time to have been active in the military.  He did, however, take the oath of allegiance in 1778 and served on the committee of safety, which served as an executive would have, from the time independence was declared until state and local governments were put in place.  

There are reports of a will but I have not yet located it.  The will is the basis for the names of his children.  It is believed that he is buried in the "Zion Cemetery", which possibly is now the "Zion Moselem Church".  This congregation was founded about seven years after the marriage of Jacob and Barbara, and records of most of their children are found there.  

Of course I'd love to know more about Jacob.  What sorts of buildings did he construct?  Are any still standing? Did he serve in the French and Indian War? What were his duties as a member of the committee of safety?  What German traditions did his family keep?  We may never know the answers to these questions, but it's good to think of them.  

The line of descent is

Johan Jacob Schaeffer-Anna Barbara Kobel

Anna Maria Schaeffer-Jacob Whetstone

John Whetstone-Mary Magdalena

Catherine Whetstone-Henry Cook

William Cook-Elizabeth Brown

Barbara Ellen Cook-William A Withers

William H Withers-Della Kemery

Goldie Withers-Grover Harshbarger

Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Beeks

Their descendants

 

 

Holbrook line: John Pray abt 1653-1733

Rhode Island, the smallest state in the country in terms of size, was the home of several of our families in the Holbrook line, during the first 100 or so years of its existence.  Some of those ancestors were famous, and some were not.  The Pray family is one that was not famous, although they were definitely a part of the community of Providence Plantation.  

John was probably born in Providence, although I've not found a document that states that.  His parents, Richard and Mary Pray, were there at least as early as 1652, when Richard purchased the home lot of Robert Coles there.  So if the 1653 date for John is correct, Providence was his birthplace.  He may possibly have been born more or less in transit.  John is known to have at least two brothers, Ephraim and William, and a sister, Mary.  

The family home was one of the original home lots of Providence, first owned by Robert Coles and purchased by Richard in 1652.  It was just a block or two from the Providence River, near the center of town, and just a few lots from the house lot of Chad Brown.  Chad is important to this story because John married Sarah Brown, a granddaughter of Chad's.  So these two people grew up knowing each other.  

John and Sarah married on November 14, 1678, after King Philip's war had ended.  Most of Providence had gone to a nearby island to wait out the war, and most of Providence was burned to the ground.  John, along with his brother Ephraim and their father Richard, had stayed in Providence, doing what they could to protect their property and their crops.  They probably had to rebuild their own homes, as about one hundred homes were burned by the native Americans and only twelve were spared.  They certainly would have worked to help rebuild the homes of their neighbors. Sadly, it appears that John, among others, profited from the sale of native Americans who were sold into slavery, as a reward for staying in town. 

John's father Richard died in 1693 (his mother had died a few years earlier) and it may be about this time that John moved his family to Smithfield.  John and Sarah had at least eight children.  I've found little to indicate that John was active in government, nor have I found indication of his religion.  His wife's family background was Baptist, but there doesn't appear to have been a Baptist church at Smithfield until 1822.  

In his will, John refers to himself as of Providence, because the town of Smithfield wasn't formed until 1730/1731.  His will was recorded in Smithfield.  In it, he calls himself a husbandman, and leaves half of his estate to his son Richard, with the other half to his wife until or unless she remarried.  At her death or remarriage, Richard was to receive the other half of his lands, dwelling house, and orchards.  The other children were left 5 shillings apiece, so one wonders if John had given them other things of value, or money, before it was time to write the will.  The will was written in 1726 and proved in March 1733/34. John died on October 9, 1733. I don't yet have a death date for Sarah, but it was before the estate was settled.

John's inventory is not extensive.  It totaled, not including land and dwelling, just 61 pounds and 4 shillings.  I see no mention of arms or ammunition, so perhaps he had given those items away.  He did have 6 shillings worth of books, so we can guess he could read and probably write.  He still had animals-two cows and a calf, fifteen sheep, and two small swine, and a minimal amount of household goods and farming equipment.  

I would love to know more about John.  Why did he decide to stay in Providence during King Philip's War?  Would there have been a discussion with Sarah, or did he just make up his own mind?  What religion was he?  And what stories could he tell, that we don't even know enough to wonder about?

The line of descent is:

John Pray-Sarah Brown

Mary Pray-Richard Brown

Deborah Brown, Othniel Brown

Sarah Brown-Enos Eddy

Enos Eddy-Deborah Paine

Joseph Eddy-Susan Lamphire

Susan Eddy-Hiram Stanard

Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick

Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants

 

 

Allen line: Samuel Lamb 1663-1729

 Springfield, Massachusetts is the gift that keeps on giving, as far as part of our Allen heritage goes.  This post is about another of our ancestors who was born and who died in that small village, where Samuel Lamb's parents had settled about twelve years before Samuel was born in 1663.  His parents were John and Joanna Chapin Lamb, and Samuel was one of at least 11 children born to the couple.  When his siblings grew and married, some of them stayed in Springfield, so Samuel was connected in one way or another to many of the families in that town.  He would have grown up as a typical Puritan boy, educated to read, write, and do at least some arithmetic, but perhaps with no desire to continue his education.

Samuel married Rebecca (Rebekah) Bird, daughter of James and Lydia Steel(e) Bird, on December 1, 1687, in Springfield.  Her family was in Farmington, Connecticut so I haven't yet determined how the two met or courted.  The two towns were actually about 35 miles apart, but travel on the Connecticut River was relatively common, and undoubtedly some of the families in each town knew each other.  Samuel and Rebecca had perhaps as many as fourteen children, although Henry Burt in his "The First Century of the History of Springfield" gives them eleven children.  Either way, Rebecca would have been one busy woman.  

Samuel would have been twelve years old when King Philip's War broke out, and when the townspeople either left for somewhere safer, or retreated to one of the three garrisons in the town. Most of Springfield was burned by the native Americans, so whether or not the Lamb family lost their home, they would have shared in the devastation felt by those who did.  We know he was trained in the use of arms and ammunition because he was paid a bounty for a wolf's head in 1680, when he was about 17.

 A Samuel Lamb participated in the expedition to Port Royal in 1710, but I don't know whether it is our Samuel Lamb or not.  (This was part of Queen Anne's War, pitting British and colonials against the French and their native allies, in Nova Scotia.) Samuel would have been 47 at the time, quite within the acceptable age for military service, but there was more than one Samuel Lamb in Massachusetts at the time.  

We don't know what, if anything, Samuel added to his probable occupation as farmer.  We know he had several grants of land, and we know he was one of four men who requested the grant of a pond in 1686.  25 years later, in 1711, he and Tilly Mirick was granted an acres to set up a sawmill on the Skipmunk River, but whether one operation had anything to do with the other is still a question.  

Samuel was relatively "small potatoes" in Springfield.  He was never a selectman, or even a tything man, but he consistently held lower positions in the town, as fence viewer, constable, hayward, field driver, and at least once as surveyor of highways.  These were important jobs, given to men who could get along with people and yet make sure rules and regulations were followed.  He also at various times held the job of "packer, gager, and culler."  These first two jobs seem to have to do with making sure that the proper quantity, weight, or other measurements were used in shipments of goods that left Springfield.  I didn't find a definition I trusted for "culler", but possibly he somehow controlled the quality of goods, food, or animals.  Again, this was a job for someone who was respected for his knowledge.  

Samuel was twice paid for the town's use of his bull, so that the cattle herds would continue to grow.  This and the land that he owned (including 30 acres in one particular location) are our indication that he was a farmer.  

Samuel died December 5, 1729 in Springfield, aged 66.  His widow married William Warriner in 1731 and she lived until 1739.  Unfortunately, I have been unable to locate a will or inventory for Samuel, which leaves me wanting more information.  But I can place him in a town, with many other ancestors in this Allen line, and since we've had a glimpse in these posts of many of his connections, his friends and neighbors, it does seem that we know him better than we know some of out other ancestors.  

The line of descent is

Samuel Lamb-Rebecca Bird

Samuel Lamb-Martha Stebbins

Eunice Lamb-Martin Root

Martin Root-Ruth Noble

Ruth Root-Samuel Falley

Clarissa Falley-John Havens Starr

Harriet Starr-John Wilson Knott

Edith Knott-Edward Allen

Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook

Their descendants

 

Holbrook line: Nathaniel Merrill 1634-1682

 Nathaniel Merrill actually was an immigrant because he came to New England with his parents as a young child.  He was born in Lawford, Essex, England sometime before May 25, 1634, which is his baptismal date.  Lawford is a small village in eastern England, and appears to be situated on an arm of the North Sea.  I found no reference to a harbor, so it's not clear to what extent the sea would have shaped the life of the residents.  In the case of Nathaniel, it probably didn't affect him a lot because his parents, Nathaniel and Susannah Wolterton Merrill, left there when he was just a young boy.  I've seen various guesses as to when they arrived in New England but Nathaniel is not included as a featured name in any of the Great Migrations volumes.  It is noted in the Directory that he wsas here as early as 1638. The young family may have stayed with John Merrill, brother of the senior Nathaniel, in Ipswich before going on to Newbury in Essex County, Massachusetts.  

Newbury was a very new village in 1638 (official founding date is 1635) and perhaps it had a "homey" feel to it, because it, too, was close to the ocean.  The Merrill family continued to grow, until the Nathaniel who is the subject of this post had at least six brothers and sisters.  And of course he had at least one uncle in the area, and probably another.  It's interesting to me that in this town at the same time, Jonathan Singletary Dunham lived.  (This name may not mean much to you, but the Dunhams are in the Beeks family line, so my children's ancestors knew each other, way back when).  

Nathaniel married Joanna, but her last name is subject to controversy.  Some say it was Ninian, some say Kinney or Kenney, and some even say Kennedy.  I've looked at the image on Ancestry and can pretty firmly say it was not Ninian.  The "K" looks like other "K's" written on the same page by the same hand.  But for the rest, I will not guess. There are records for some Kinney or Kinne families in Salem, which is about 20 miles from Newbury.

Nathaniel married Joanna on October 16, 1661 at Newbury.  Some sites say Newburyport but that town wasn't established until 1764.  It may have been in the part of the settlement that eventually became Newburyport, however.  They had at least seven children, but two girls, each named Joanna, seem to have lived very short lives.  Nathaniel was listed as a freeman in 1668 and took an oath of allegiance in 1678, but his name is not mentioned as a leader of the town, nor could I find a reference to him in the records I looked at for military records.  He would have been part of the training band of the town, but I don't know (yet!) whether he was involved in any actual military actions.  

We do know that he was considered a "planter" and that he was relatively prosperous.  His father died in 1654 and his mother in 1673, and when she died he inherited all of his father's lands and estate.  That inheritance undoubtedly helped Nathaniel and Joanna as they raised their family, and Joanna probably gave thanks for it many times when she was left a widow on January 1, 1682.  

Nathaniel was not yet 48 years old when he died and there is no indication of the cause of death.  I have noticed that a lot of people died in Massachusetts during the years 1682-1684, but whether it was of an infectious disease, or the results of a poor harvest, or something else entirely, I don't know.  Joanna lived until 1718, having buried two more of their children.  It doesn't appear that she remarried. 

Nathaniel's will and inventory have been wonderfully typed out on his Wikitree entry, with original spelling.  The estate was valued at 520 pounds, 7 shillings.  It doesn't mention any books, nor does it mention any arms or ammunition, although the spelling is eccentric enough that I may have missed something. 

Fun fact...Besides being our ancestor, he was also the ancestor of Franklin Pierce, 14th President of the United States.  We are cousins to yet another President, however distant.  

The line of descent is

Nathaniel Merrill-Joanna Kinney

Hannah Merrill-Benoni Clough

Benjamin Clough-Faith Hart

Lydia Clough-John Whittemore

Josiah Whittemore-Lucy Snow

Josiah Whittemore-Betsy Foster

Mary Elizabeth Whittemore-Joseph Holbrook

Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown

Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants

Allen line: John Chester 1692-1771

 We know a little of the life of John Chester.  Or maybe I should know that we have some facts about him.  How much can we really know of the lives of those who lived so many years before our time, in a different culture, speaking "English" in an accent and idiom we probably couldn't understand well today, and with an entirely different world view from what we in the 21st century have.  

We can maybe understand a little of his surroundings, if we use our imagination and transpose a current scene from perhaps a state park to that location, and get an idea of the view he would have had when he stopped outside his front door and looked around.  Probably the view of the nearby Thames River is the same, if you ignore the 300 plus years of "progress".  We know he would have been standing on or in the vicinity of Fort Griswold, which is where Thomas Starr was wounded and many of our cousins were killed during the Revolutionary War.  John, however, died before that conflict, and as a farmer, his life would have centered on his home and his land, and not so much on the river.  

John was born in New London, Connecticut about 1692 (he was baptized May 29, 1692) to Samuel and Hannah Chester.  His mother's name is believed by many to have been Talcott, but others say she was a different Hannah.  He grew up with several siblings, some of whom were probably half siblings as it appears that his father was married twice, and John was a child of the second wife.  When his father died in 1708, John was named in the will and he and his two brothers inherited the homestead and sixty acres of land from him.  His father's will was recorded in New London but it appears under Groton, also, in the records.  

John is referred to as "Captain", based on his election in the first company of militia in October 1738.  I would like to learn how long he had been a member of the militia (since age 16?) and whether he served in any military conflict, but so far I haven't located that information.l  He also was a deputy for Groton to the General Assembly in 1736, serving just one term.   

John married Mary Starr, daughter of Thomas and Mary Morgan Starr, on November 1, 1716 in Groton.  He was about 24 years old at the time, and she was about four years younger.  It was probably considered a good match for each, as both families had some status in the community.  The couple had at least eight children, and perhaps another who died in infancy.  He would have attended the Congregational Church there, which was founded in 1702.

John lived his life as part of his community, but one wonders whether he made any trips on voyages with or on behalf of his father.  Was he satisfied to be a farmer, or did he have the sea in his blood also?

John wrote his will February 17, 1770 and it was proved June 8, 1771.  We have his inventory which shows 149 acres of land, a house, typical household goods and farm animals and implements, and what appears to be, comparatively speaking, a good supply of bed clothes and table linens.   I did not see any guns or ammunition.  Mary lived until 1774, having enjoyed the use of what she needed until her death.  In his will, John mentioned a grandson by the name of Daniel Williams.  He would have been the son of his daughter Katherine Chester, so there is an untold story there.  Katherine is not known to have married.  

John Chester was a solid man, one who was respected enough to lead men and to serve them.  He's another in our line of ancestors who have told us only parts of their life story, but we know that they are the reason America exists.

The line of descent is:

John Chester-Mary Starr

Thomas Chester-Sarah Eldridge

Bathsheba Chester-Jonathan Havens

Betsy Havens-John Starr

John Havens Starr-Clarissa Falley

Harriet Starr-John Wilson Knott

Edith Knott-Edward Allen

Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook

Their descendants

 

Harshbarger line: Matthias Bruder 1720-1762

 Never is this easy, separating fact from fact from fiction.  So many times two men of the same name are conflated into one, somewhere along the line, and the confusion is compounded.  I am picking my way very carefully here, and hope that I am landing on the correct side of the facts for our Matthias Bruder.  

He was probably born about 1720, based on the age of his first known child, and possibly in the area of Lossburg, Germany, in what is known as the northern Black Forest.  Lossburg has the first known record of the birth of a son there in 1749, to Matheus Bruder and wife Christina.  This Matthias is thought to be the son of Jacob and Magdalena Schuttler Bruder.  Christina, his wife, is up for dispute.  Many websites list her as Christina Glintz,  Some list her as Christina Emmert.  The Glintz name runs into other lines of this family, including another or the same Christina married to Sebastian Kestenholtz.  I think it more likely that it's Christina Emmert, but don't go filling out your family tree based on my inexpert opinion which is not backed up by documents!

We do know that the couple was in Lossburg in 1749 when Johann Georg was baptized at the Evangelishe Kirche.  We know that the couple, along with several other families from Lossburg, emigrated in 1752 on the Duke of Wirtemberg, which arrived in Philadelphia on October 20, 1752, from Rotterdam via Cowes.  We don't know how long the voyage lasted, and there are no Glintz or Emmert families noted on the manifest so clues as to the name of his wife are not to be found there.  

Once landed, the men would have departed from the ship briefly, to swear an oath of loyalty to the English king, and then returned to the ship for their families.  If they had paid their own way to Pennsylvania, they would then be free to leave for the home to relatives or friends, or to make their own way in what would have been a strange land.  Many who came to Pennsylvania in this time period had to serve a period of indentureship to pay for their voyage, but I haven't found records yet for him during his first years in America.

The family settled in what must have been a border area between Berks County and Northampton County.  Mattias's will was probated in Berks County but at least some of his children were baptized at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church near Alburtis, in what is now Lehigh County but was Northampton County at the time.  They may have lived somewhere along Toad Creek, as that is the only identifiable water source on the maps I've seen.  

Matthias and Christina had several children, but George and Matthias are the two with documented dates, in 1749 and 1759.  There is a Jacob Bruder who likely is this couple's child, and several others, including a daughter who was born the year Matthias died.  As far as we know, Matthias was a farmer, working hard to provide for his family, however large it was.  

We can guess that the family was somehow affected by the French and Indian War, but precisely the extent of the involvement we don't know.  This area was repeatedly attacked by native Americans and it is likely that the family could tell us some intriguing stories if we could talk to them.  It is also likely that Matthias served in the militia, guarding borders if nothing else.  

Matthias died in Longswamp Township, Berks County, before November 3, 1762, when Christina was appointed administrator.  He left no will, but an inventory was taken.  "Improvements", presumably buildings on his land, were valued at 65 pounds and there was a little over twelve pounds in what we would consider personal property, including farm animals and implements.  Interestingly, he had 6 shillings worth of books, so he was a literate man.  I didn't see any mention of guns or ammunition.  It appears that he had about 8 pounds of debts, so this was a small estate.  

I don't know what happened to Christina, whether or not she re-married, or what happened to the children.  Were they apprenticed to someone in the area?  It would be interesting to trace them to see what became of them.  (We do know that son Matthias became a weaver and fought in the Revolutionary War.)

This story is like many of the others in the Harshbarger line-a sea voyage from Germany,  a Lutheran religion and community of believers, and a drive to care for family.  He's another man we can be proud to call ours.

The line of descent is:

Matthias Bruder-Christina

Matthias Bruder or Brothers-Christina Chestnutwood

Barbara Brothers-David Brown

Elizabeth Brown-William Cook

Barbara Cook-William Withers

William Withers-Della Kemery

Goldie Withers-Grover Harshbarger

Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Beeks

Their descendants

Holbrook line: Abraham Hetrick 1776-1861

 Abraham Hetrick was my third great grandfather, and I feel closer to him than to some others because I've stood at his gravesite.  I've seen the land that he owned, and that he farmed and walked.  I've imagined him with Sarah and with his children, and how hard they must have worked to build a life together in Morrow County, Ohio.  He was of German descent, so there would have been cultural differences, if I had known him then, but still...Abraham seems to be part of me.  I don't know why I haven't written about him before, except that there are one or two basic things about his life that are still mysteries to me.  They may remain mysteries, or I could find the answers the day after I post this.

Abraham was born September 15, 1776 in Codorus Township, York County, Pennsylvania.  He was a son of Johan Jacob and Eizabeth Nuss Hetrick, and his family was well off.  His father at one time owned at least 1700 acres of land. He appears to be the youngest of nine known children, so perhaps he was a little bit spoiled, or at least his brothers thought he had been favored in the settlement of his father's will.  He was young enough when his father died in 1789 that he needed a guardian, and Abraham chose his brother Christian as that person.  Yet, that same year, his mother, brother and three uncles pledged to take the land from Abraham when he was 21 and give it to Christian.  If they could not get a release, they would each share with Christian a part of the money they had been left.  

It's hard to know how to interpret this.  Was it truly a family dispute or had Jacob left extra land to Abraham for his support until he reached manhood?  Maybe this was merely a formal written agreement and there was no conflict at all.  This family was God fearing, respected and respectable, so one can hope they were merely putting something in writing that they had all agreed to beforehand. It's not often that I find reference to an ancestor before he or she reaches adulthood, so this was a different kind of "find" for me.  

Abraham married Sarah Lemmon, daughter of Alexis and Rachel Stansbury Lemmon, on October 7, 1801.  The marriage took place in Baltimore County, Maryland, which leads one to wonder how the two met.  The two locations were actually quite close to each other, with the Lemmon home being on the border between the two states, so perhaps they were near neighbors.  The couple had 6 children during the first 9 years of their marriage (by the 1810 census) in York County and then at least one additional child before the 1820 census.  

By 1820, however, the family had a new home.  The ten years between 1810 and 1820 must have been eventful, because Abraham and his son in law are in Richland County, Ohio by 1814.  They are both described as riding the horses they rode during the War of 1812, and they chose adjoining land in what is now Morrow County, Ohio to settle.  I have been unable to document the War of 1812 experience, and I don't know where Sarah was during the time that Abraham was in Ohio preparing a home for them.  They had sold land in York County in 1811 and perhaps had already moved, or perhaps had gone to live with relatives (hers?).

Abraham was busy raising a family but he still had time to devote to civic duties.  He was a justice of the peace in his new home, and signed various claims for wolf scalps, among other business.  He and Sarah raised their children together into adulthood, with the youngest being in his middle twenties when Sarah died in 1834.  Abraham helped found the Methodist church in 1847, which met in the Lamb Schoolhouse.  We don't know whether he had earlier been practicing the Lutheran/Reformed religion he grew up in, or whether there was no congregation near enough for him to participate.  

Abraham lived about 24 years after Sarah died, farming, buying and selling land, and contributing to the life of his family and community. He was living with his son Isaac in the 1850 census, but I've not located him in 1860.  His will seems to have disappeared long ago, although surely he had one.   

Abraham was born just months after our country's birth, and died December 29, 1861, as the country was fighting the Civil War to keep the Union intact.  He lost grandsons in the War, but as far as I can tell, those I know of who died, died later in the War.  Not much fighting had been done by the time of his death.  

I think back to Shauck Cemetery, to the rolling hills around it, and the creek to the south, and think that it wasn't a bad area in which to settle.  I hope he and Sarah were content with it, too, and I wish I knew more of the story of the family's trip from Maryland (or Pennsylvania) to Morrow County.  I also wish I knew what state he served in during the War of 1812.  

The line of descent is:

Abraham Hetrick-Sarah Lemmon

Isaac Hetrick-Elizabeth Black

Mary Alice Hetrick-Louis Stanard

Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants

Holbrook line: John Jordan 1647-later

 Information about John Jordan is scarcer than hen's teeth.  Whenever I write about an ancestor like this, I think about all the ancestors, many who are not known to us, who lived and died and made very little mark on the world.  And yet, we're here, and we wouldn't have been if these people had not been part of the "great invisibles" somewhere along the line.  

We know that he was born about 1647 to John Jordan and his wife Ann, who may or may not have been Ann Bishop, in Guilford, Ct.  Or at least we think we know that much.  He had at least four brothers and sisters, and seems to have spent his childhood and youth in Guilford.  The next we know of John is through his first marriage, to Deborah Joy or Rose, before 1677.  Deborah must have died, and the couple may or may not have had children John, James, and Mary.  If these are children of this couple, then the marriage would have taken place more in the time period of 1670-1673.  I've not been able to locate on line records to verify this.  .  

John next married Katherine Chalker, daughter of Alexander and Katherine Post Chalker.  They were married soon after Deborah's death, which would make sense particularly if John was left a widower with three small children.  Soon after this, it is thought that the couple, or family, moved to Middletown, Connecticut, although I've found no records there.  John and Katherine had at least two children, Katherine and Hannah, and settled in Saybrook, Connecticut. 

John was a cooper by trade, so it made sense for him to be on the coast of Connecticut, as both Guilford and Saybrook (Old Saybrook) where we know he can be found, were.  Ships docked at those locations, and the barrels and casks that they transported required frequent replacement.  We don't know John's income, of course, but it likely paid him at least a living wage.  We also don't know whether he was in business for himself, or whether he worked for someone else.  

We also don't know whether or to what extent John was involved in the church, or in the militia.  John sold land in Guilford in 1679, so he was likely there during King Philip's War.  I've found no evidence, yet, that he was called to duty then.  

 I've not been able to find a will or probate for him, and his date of death is given variously as 1694 and 1713.  Katherine's death date is given as 1713 so it's possible that John had died almost 20 years earlier.  

As you can guess, I'm somewhat frustrated by the lack of available records for this man.  Most of what I've found came from brief mentions in genealogies of the Bushnell family, and from Torrey's New England Marriages.  I don't know whether there is more to John's story or not.  He's another ancestor to keep researching, and to keep remembering.

The line of descent is:

John Jordan-Katherine Chalker

Hannah Jordan-John Stannard

John Stannard-Hannah Hanchett

Libbeus Stannard-Eunice Pomeroy

Libbeus Stanard-Luceba or Euzebia Fay

Hiram Stanard-Susan Eddy 

Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick

Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants

Allen line: John Riley died 1684

 I wish I could share John's origins with you.  I have earlier written about his supposed grandfather, Joseph Riley, and his supposed father, John Riley who was married to Grace Buck.  I now find that I can't support those suppositions.  John and Grace are almost certainly not this John's parents, although it is possible that Joseph is his grandfather.  

Most of the "information" I found says that John was born in Wethersfield, Connecticut in 1646.  I think there was a John RIley born there, to John and Grace per above, but he was not our John Riley.  In the first place, our John was married by 1660, and I don't think a 14 year old boy was husband material.  Our John Riley appears to be older than he is given credit for.  He shows up in records for the first time in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1656, already an adult or he would not have been listed with a date of residence in town records.  

From that time on, we can see evidence of our John in Springfield in town records.  He was granted land in various town meetings in 1662, 1664, 1666, and 1668, plus he also purchased land from a previous owner.  In December of 1659 he was seated in the 9th row of the meeting house, and moved up to the eighth row in 1662.  He put up bond for a man by the name of William Hunter to be admitted to the town, and had land next to that of William Hunter.  I haven't yet determined whether Hunter was a relative, but it seems possible.  

John held minor offices in town, that of fence viewer some years, and hayward some years.  Both jobs required tact and people skills, but not necessarily education, and John signed with his mark, not a signature.  

I would also love to tell you who his wife is.  Almost every source I looked at said her name was Margaret O'Dea.  I have not been able to find anything that says who Margaret was, or when she arrived in Springfield.  She could have arrived as a servant, or as the daughter of someone who had remarried, and thus she could have been living in her step-father's home.  But John and Margaret did marry, and they had two daughters, Margaret and Mary.  One can find longer lists but these were the only two children listed in Springfield records, and we have no indication the family ever lived anywhere except Springfield.  

There was a John Riley listed as a soldier in December of 1675 under Captain Samuel Appleton.  The operations he was involved in were located around Hadley and Deerfield, so there is a possibility this is our John.  If he wasn't out in the field, he would have been in a garrison house in Springfield.  We don't know where Margaret and the girls were when the natives attacked Springfield during King Philip's War, but they were likely in one of the three garrisons in the town.  The girls were old enough to understand what was going on and probably helped the women of the town cook and clean during the ordeal.  

In 1678 and again in 1681 John was fined for missing the annual town meeting.  He may have been ill or there may have been bad traveling conditions.  There were several other men on the "no show" list each time, so there is also the possibility that this was a political statement.  We just don't know.  We do know that he paid his taxes, including "rates" for the pastor.  He gave wheat one year, and another year he gave Indian corn.  

I haven't been able to locate a will or inventory for John, but I get the sense that he was not in the upper crust of society.  He farmed, but whether or not he had another occupation is still to be determined.  He did, however, raise two daughters and provided for his family.  He died October 24, 1684 in Springfield, and Margaret died August 22, 1689.  

We don't know what the cause of death was for John, just that he "was sicke",  This was the third year in a row for what seems to be an excessive number of deaths for a small town, but I have no explanation, except that I know the crops were poor some of those years.  Townspeople may have been forced to eat spoiled grain, or malnutrition may have contributed to the deaths. 

Even though we don't know much about John Riley, not even his age, we do know that he was part of the town of Springfield for twenty eight years.  Surely his family was joined by other community members, including several other Allen ancestors, who mourned his death.

The line of descent is 

John Riley-Margaret

Mary Riley-Joseph Ely

Mary Ely-Thomas Stebbins

Ruth Stebbins-Samuel Hitchcock

Margaret Hitchcock-Richard Falley

Samuel Falley-Ruth Root

Clarissa Falley-John Havens Starr

Harriet Starr-John Wilson Knott

Edith Knott-Edward Allen

Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook

Their descendants

 

 

 

Holbrook line: Timothy Sheldon 1661-1744

 Timothy Sheldon is another of our Rhode Island ancestors, one of those who knew Roger Williams and other men who were more famous than Timothy.  We don't know as much about him as we would like but enough books have been written about Roger Williams, and about early Rhode Island, that we can think we understand a little of his world, anyway.  

Timothy was born March 29, 1661, in Providence, Rhode Island, the son of John and Joane Vincent Sheldon.  He lived and died in Providence Plantation, probably in what later became Johnston, although at the time it was considered part of Providence.  Timothy was the oldest known son of his parents, and as such, he was given the opportunity to learn a trade.  Timothy became a cooper, someone who made or repaired barrels and casks.  There would have been a demand for these products, as Providence had a decent harbor, and barrels used in transporting goods didn't last forever.  

Timothy married Sarah Balcom, daughter of Alexander and Jane Holbrook Balcom, before 1687, when the first of their four known children were born.  (Yes, Jane represents another Holbrook line. That line is complicated!)  He may have been either newly married or preparing to be married in 1685, when his father deeded about 60 acres of land to him.  Not much of it, if any, was cleared and ready to plant but it was still a generous gift, one that would help support Timothy and his young family as they grew.

There are a few tax records for Timothy but for the most part he stayed out of the public eye.  It may be Timothy, or perhaps his son, who was recorded as a member of the First Baptist Church in Providence in 1734.  Possibly Timothy had been raised with Baptist ideas, as they were common in Rhode Island, so it wouldn't surprise me at all to know that he was part of this congregation. 

I haven't found any military records for him, nor have I found a will.  There is a will for his son Timothy, who died in 1741.  Perhaps our Timothy followed his father's lead and gave his children land or money as the children came of age.  Timothy died about March 31, 1744 and it appears that Sarah died about the same time.  

Timothy was 83 years old when he died and he had lived a long life.  He was a teenager when King Philip's war broke out.  He knew many of the early great men of Rhode Island.  He would have heard many stories about the native Americans and of battles fought on land and sea with France, whether or not he actually served.  And perhaps most importantly for genealogical purposes, he raised a family, with one of his descendants being Mamie Doud  Eisenhower. 

The line of descent is:

Timothy Sheldon-Sarah Balcom

Martha Sheldon-Thomas Mathewson

Deborah Mathewson-Joseph Winsor

Lillis Winsor-Nathan Paine

Deborah Paine-Enos Eddy

Joseph Eddy-Susan Lamphire

Susan Eddy-Hiram Stanard

Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick

Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants

  

Harshbarger line: Joseph Burkholder 1783-1863

 I've been waiting to write about Joseph because I thought that surely I would find more information about him.  It's been about three years now and I still haven't found more information so I'm going to go with what I've got.  Nuggets are better than nothing, and Joseph needs to be acknowledged as an ancestor for the Harshbarger family.  

Joseph is another ancestor of Swiss/German descent, who was born in Pennsylvania, moved to the Portage-Stark County area of Ohio, and then traveled on to Whitley County, Indiana. Like so many of the men in this line, he was a farmer and appears not to have had a lot of education, although he made sure his children got at least some public education. 

To start at the beginning, Joseph is believed to have been the son of Adam and Maria Gingerich Burkholder. born in 1783 in (Old) Bedford County, Pennsylvania.  The family seems to have been in Franklin County, Pa a few years later, but Franklin was one of the counties created from Bedford so it is possible that they never moved and that what we are seeing here is merely a label change.  Joseph married Elizabeth Miller about 1810, and she may also have been from Franklin County.  The 1810 census shows about 35 Miller families in that county, and possibly she is hidden there, as one of the women aged 16-25.

By 1820, the only Joseph Burkholder that I can locate is in Middleton Township, Columbiana County, Ohio, with a female and two young children.  This appears to be our Joseph.  In 1830, the family is in Harrisburg, Stark County, Ohio, with seven persons under the age of 20, and a few years later the family is in Portage County, Ohio, where several of the family were enrolled in school.  The family was changing, however, as there were now just seven people in the family, including two who had not been born yet for the 1830 census.  I haven't found Joseph in the 1850 census.  He may have been in the process of moving from Ohio to Whitley County, Indiana and may thus have been missed, or he may have been missed for any number of other reasons (Gold rush seems unlikely, but it's always possible).

We know that he was in Whitley County by 1854, when he purchased land from Daniel Sayer for $400.  The plot was for $400 for 40 acres, which may have been a steep price to pay.  But son Michael was already there and Joseph may have realized he might be needing help over the next few years.  I've written before of his youngest son, Hiram's service in the Civil War, and we can see how this weighed on Joseph's mind as he wrote his will in late June of 1863.  Hiram was to have $50 in case he returned from the War, and he also made bequests to his wife for her natural life.  All the children were to share in the proceed of the farm after paying the $50 to Hiram, except two daughters to whom he had apparently given or loaned money were to have that amount deducted from their share.  Fortunately, as we know, Hiram did return from the war and he seems to have helped with the farm until he married.  Elizabeth deeded the farm to this youngest child in 1870.  

I wish I knew more about Joseph.  For instance, was he in the War of 1812?  What was his religion? Did he speak German, or English, or both languages?  What stories could he tell us of his various moves, and why he moved each time?  I would love to know more of his story, but I'm glad I know this much.  

The line of descent is:

Joseph Burkholder-Elizabeth Miller

Barbara Burkholder-Benjamin Buchtel

Nancy Fannie Buchtel-Adam Kemery

Della Kemery-William Withers

Goldie Withers-Grover Harshbarger 

Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Beeks

Their descendants

Beeks line: Jacob Aldridge of Maryland

 Jacob Aldridge seems to have not received a lot of attention in the genealogy world, mostly because it's more interesting (to some) to talk about his son, John Simpson Aldridge, and John's role in the Revolutionary War.  However, there obviously would have been no John if there had been no Jacob, and for that reason alone, he deserves some attention.  He also provides us with some interesting tidbits of history, which means that I am all ears and eyes.  

The general consensus, although I can't find documentation for this yet, is that Jacob was born in September of 1732, the son of John and Eleanor Aldridge.  Various surnames have been suggested for Jacob's mother, with Watkins being the most common.  Again, I've not found documents for that.  Jacob was most likely born in Prince George's County, Maryland, and he lived there his whole life.   He inherited part of his father's property when John died in 1751, and it may have been just a few years later that he married.  Again, the name of his wife isn't known, but her first name was Elizabeth and her last name may have been Soper, or possibly Simpson.  

Jacob and Elizabeth had at least 6 children, with the earliest known birth year of about 1759.  This was a large family to raise and care for, and as many of their neighbors did, Jacob bought or possibly inherited, or both, slaves to produce crops, which likely included tobacco.  In the 1776 state census, he reported eight slaves, and in the 1790 federal census he reported 20 slaves, in 1800 19, and in 1810 18.  It's possible that he was selling a few each year, because there would likely have been babies born each year to one or more of the slaves.  This is not easy to accept but it is part of family history and it needs to be acknowledged.  I found a reference to 12 black Aldridge slaves who escaped from Prince George's County in the 1850s but there wasn't enough information to figure out if these may have come from our Aldridge family.  

I found Jacob's name in just a few state records, so far.  He is listed in a 1776 state census, as a grand jury member in 1780, and as being drafted in 1781.  I'm not positive that the 1781 draft Jacob was ours, as he would have been almost 50 years old.  It may have been another Jacob Aldridge (although Jacob's son Jacob would have been only about 13 years old, so it was not him) or Jacob may have then hired a substitute, as was sometimes done.  We do know that the family would have been anxious for son John, whether or not Jacob was also involved in the fighting. 

Jacob died in 1815 and Elizabeth probably preceded him.  So far I haven't found his will or inventory, which would certainly help give us a better glimpse into his life.  That will, and his military records, if any, would be two of the top items on my wish list, in order to have a better idea of his life.  On the bright side, we do have these few tidbits to help fill in the "dash" in his life story. 

The line of descent is:

Jacob Aldridge-Elizabeth

John Simpson Aldridge-Mary Lakin

John Simpson Aldridge Jr.-Lucinda Wheeler

Darlington Aldridge-Leah Folsom

Harvey Aldridge-Margaret Catherine Dunham

Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks

Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger

Their descendants