Harshbarger line: Conrad Mentzer 1734-1781

We know a little more about Conrad than about some of our other German or almost German ancestors.  He was born May 21, 1734 in the tiny village of Hagsfeld, now part of Karlsuhe.  It's located on the border between Germany and France, directly north of Switzerland.  It was probably a multilingual town although the records seem to be in German.  His parents were Johannes and Catharina Mentzer (Meyntzer), although there are disputes about the maiden name of his mother.  She was either a Weyl or a Spirgi, depending on the source you look at.  Johannes had three children from his first marriage, and two from his second.  All but the oldest son, Johan, emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1751, with their father and mother/step-mother.  Conrad was 17 at the time. Since John Mentzer was a burgher in Hagsfeld, it is unlikely that the family had to be indentured to pay for their passage to Philadelphia.  Likely they stayed in Germantown for at least a few weeks, but they probably soon moved on to perhaps Lancaster County, to claim land and begin to plant crops and establish roots.

We know that Conrad was in Lancaster County by 1759, when the first known child was born to Conrad and his wife, Catherine Elizabeth Huebschmann.  The Huebschmann family settled around Ephrata, and this is where we find Conrad, first in Warwick Township, then in Cocalico township, and finally in East Cocalico township.  

He acquired land but I'm not sure how much of it may have been inherited, and how much was outright purchase.  I found tax records showing him with 80 acres, then 100, and then 200 acres shortly before his death.  Some of this land was uncleared and thus taxed at a lower rate than the cleared land.  He had a few farm animals-2 horses, 2 cows, and 5 sheep on one of the tax forms, which was not impressive but also not dirt poor.  As his children grew and left home, less would have been needed to support the familyl.

Records are found for the Mentzers in Warwick Township, at the Lutheran church (now ELCU) formerly known as Brickerville.  This was a German speaking congregation, established before the Mentzers arrived on the scene.  

We don't know much about Conrad's military service, but he was the age to be involved in, at a minimum, protecting his neighborhood during the French and Indian war, and all through the period leading up to and including the Revolutionary War.  Lancaster County was considered frontier at the time, and settlers thronged to Lancaster for "safety", (Some went further east). So far, I've not found a record that lists him (there is a Conrad Mentzer of Lancaster County but the records seem to be from just after his death) but the record may be out there "somewhere". 

Conrad and Elizabeth had at least seven children together.  He died at a relatively young age, 47, in 1781, and six children survived him.  In the will, he calls himself a yeoman, and he leaves his wife one third of the estate until son John comes of age, and then the estate is to be divided among the six children, with John to get an additional 20 pounds.  The land was to be appraised and then divided fairly, but proceeds from the sale were to be balanced except for the 20 pounds.  Each daughter was to receive some items,  The children were considered to be "of age" at the age of 14, when they were to learn a trade.  An inventory was ordered but I have not yet seen a copy of that.  He wrote the will on August 10, 1781 and it was probated August 18, so either the illness was sudden or he delayed writing the will for some reason.  

Elizabeth remarried, to Peter Zeller, and lived until 1796, long enough that even the youngest of her children were in their late teens.  

I'd sure like to find Conrad's name in a military roll somewhere, so we would know for certain what part he may have played in securing freedom for his adopted country.  Regardless, he was one of those early settlers who came to a new land, helped settle it, and supported his family and his country through taxes.  He may well have supplied the Revolutionary War troops with food, hay, or other goods to help them through tough situations like Valley Forge.  Wouldn't you like to know these details, too?

The line of descent is:

Conrad Mentzer-Catherine Elizabeth Hibschmann

John Mentzer-Margreth possibly Scherb

Conrad Mentzer-Elizabeth Tullepan

Catherine Mancer-Lewis Harshbarger

Emmanuel Harshbarger-Clara Ellen Harter

Grover Harshbarger-Goldie Withers

Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Beeks

Their descendants

 

 

Holbrook line: Daniel Robins, Scots Prisoner of War

 Some of his story doesn't make sense to me, so you may sense some skepticism in parts of this post.  But parts of it are well documented, and bring another part of history to life.  It's one thing to read about the sad fate of many Scots prisoners of war and another thing to realize that "they" include our ancestor.  This story, however, does appear to have a happy ending.

We don't know for sure who Daniel's parents were, nor where exactly he was born in Scotland.  His name may have been Robinson, or Robertson, before he arrived in New England.  The most likely parents seem to be Richard and Mary Robinson, and if this is correct, he was born in 1627 in Struan, Blair Athol, Scotland.  That's a tiny village pretty much in the center of Scotland, north west of Edingurgh and southwest of Aberdeen.  It's likely that Daniel grew up in a poor family, as most Scots in that area were poor farmers at that time.

We don't know when or why Daniel entered the Royalist army supporting Charles II against Oliver Cromwell.  He may have been conscripted, or he may have seen military service to the King as a duty.  We do know that he fought in the last battle of the English Civil War, the Battle of Worcester, in 1651 and that is when he, along with about 10,000 others, was captured and eventually sent to the New World as indentured servants, with little or no chance of returning home.  

Daniel may have been fortunate in having been sent to New England rather than the West Indies or Bermuda.  He arrived in 1652 on the "John and Sara" and was indentured to Nathaniel Foote of Connecticut, who died in 1655.  His term of indenture was for 6-8 years and Daniel was well treated by the family, so he stayed on with them until his term was up.  Indentured servants were generally given a clothing outfit, and perhaps tools for whatever trade he may have learned when they had completed their service, and Daniel was then a free person (not a freeman). 

The Foote family was of Wethersford, Connecticut, but by 1663 Daniel is in New Haven, Ct. where he married Hope Potter on February 10, 1663.  He must not have been penniless by this time, in order to be able to afford a wife and potential family.  Hope was the daughter of William and Frances Child Potter, and she came from a difficult family background, so perhaps she was seeking escape as much as anything.  Did he marry her for love, because of pity, or because she was available?  One source says that Hope was related to the Foote family, but I haven't figured that connection out yet.

Whatever the reason, the couple settled down in New Haven for a few years, and Daniel apparently acquired or purchased land there, as well as "goods".  Their first two or three children were born in New Haven, and then the couple pulled up stakes and moved to Woodbridge, New Jersey, where Daniel was granted 173 acres of land in 1669, the same year that the village was granted a royal charter.  (Daniel apparently received further grants, including one that his heirs received after his death, based on his standing as a first settler of the town.

Daniel and Hope had perhaps as many as 8 more children in Woodbridge, before Hope died a year after her last child was born in 1686.  We can conclude that however their marriage started, Daniel loved her because when he died in 1714, he requested that his body be buried next to Hope's, which was a distance of some 28 miles (in the summer, on poor roads.)  It's a tribute to his family that they honored this request.

Daniel was part of the town civic life.  He was overseer of the highways in 1680, and helped oversee the construction of a causeway over a creek, which later became a bridge large enough for carts.  In 1688 he was both constable and tax collector.  By 1692 he was serving as both sergeant to the court and to the militia.  He is gone from Woodbridge records soon after, as he moved to Crosswick, N.J. 8 years after Hope died, purchasing a large tract of land there, and living out his remaining years there. 

We don't know how the family resolved their religious differences.  Hope came from a Puritan family, although she had reason to dislike them, and Daniel was most likely Presbyterian in background.  Did they find common ground?  Some of their children became members of the Society of Friends (Quakers) and it is possible that Daniel and his family worshiped with them, also.  

Daniel is described as being short (5 foot tall) with dark curly hair and blue eyes.  One interesting detail is that he played a harp (no further description, but probably hand held).  He is not known to have been literate but he knew his Bible, for his children had mostly names from either the Old Testament or the New.  Richard would seem to be the exception.

When Daniel died, he described himself in his will as a yeoman (farmer owning land).  He disposed of several properties in his will but I've not located an inventory.  It seems, however, that he had enough assets to support several family members. including two daughters of his deceased son Nathaniel.  Our indentured servant had come a long way.  

The line of descent is:

Daniel Robins-Hope Potter

Joeph Robbins-Hannah Pack

Bethia Robbins-John Nations

Christopher Nation-Elizabeth Swaim

Joseph Nation-Jerretta Vickery

Elizabeth Nation-Christopher Myers

Phoebe Myers-Adam Brown

Phoebe Brown-Fremont Holbrook

Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants

Beeks line: Samuel Goodnight Dunham 1830-1907

 I did my initial research on Samuel G. Dunham relatively early in my genealogy efforts.  I knew he was a farmer, and that he had come to Tipton County, Indiana with his parents as very early settlers there.  I knew his brother and his father were ancestors to Barack Obama.  I knew he had helped found the Methodist Episcopal Church in Kempton in 1863.  I thought I knew all there was to know about Samuel.  Umm...not quite.  

Samuel was born September 27, 1830, in Berkeley County in what became West Virginia but was then Virginia to Jacob and Catherine Goodnight Dunham.  The family left Virginia and traveled to Ohio, possibly Clinton County, where their youngest son was born in 1838.  By 1850, Jacob and family had moved on to Tipton County, Ohio, where they settled.  Samuel spent some of his teen-aged years there, helping on the family farm.  He had at least three brothers and a sister, with Samuel being the "middle" child.  

He may have been the middle child, but in no way was he "middling".  He has some fascinating stories.  He started out 'average" enough, as he married Eliza Matilda Reese, daughter of Owen T and Margaret Ellen Moon Reese on May 3, 1855.  Many young men married at the age of 25.  We already know he helped found and support the church in Kempton in 1863.  He probably thought he was set for life, as he and Matilda had at least four children born in the next nine years. However, he was probably paying attention to national affairs, especially the Civil War that many men his age were fighting, and he may not have been surprised to find himself drafted at the age of 35.  

He was drafted into the 33rd Indiana Infantry on March 22, 1865 at Wabash, Indiana.  The war was just a few weeks from being finished, but no one knew that for sure when he was drafted, and so off he went.  He likely spent a few weeks in training and then joined his unit (Company A) wherever they were.  The unit marched in the three day Grand Review in Washington, DC but we don't know whether he participated.  He may well have been assigned instead to guarding prisoners of war or other tasks that didn't require much training.  He was mustered out at Louisville, Ky on July 21, 1865, but we don't know whether he ever was in battle.  (The 33rd had a long list of battles to their credit, which is why their ranks needed to be reinforced.)

After the war, Samuel returned to Kempton and his family and resumed farming.  The next reference I found to him is in 1878 as "Esquire", when he was something of a justice of the peace, and had two juveniles brought before him.  At this time, he was of "Cicero", which was about 22 miles from Kempton.  He owned land in Cicero as late as 1901, when he sold a lot to James A Edwards.

Matilda died November 10, 1900 in Kempton and Samuel became involved in an interesting situation  during the next couple of years.  On December 3, 1901 the Hamilton County Ledger reported that Nancy Calhoun was suing Samuel for breach of contract.  She had purchased wedding clothes at his suggestion, only to learn that Samuel had married Julia Cooper of Sheridan.  I didn't find a report on the disposition of the suit, but it did note that Dunham was reported to be worth at least $10,000.

Unfortunately for Samuel, the marriage didn't last.  I found reference to Mr. and Mrs. Dunham in early 1902, and then the next report I found was his obituary, which stated that he had married a "Sheridan lady" but they had divorced and he had spent his last years living with his son, W.R. (William Riley) Dunham.  Samuel died June 6, 1907 and the obituary mentions his involvement with the G.A.R., the Grand Army of the Republic.  

Samuel may or may not have received a pension, but I did find a military record listing him as an invalid.  I also found that Julia Neill applied for a pension based on his record, even though they had been married just a short time and she apparently remarried.  It sure would be interesting to see those pension papers!  I haven't found probate papers for him.  More research needs to be done, to review the pension, to find the divorce records, and to determine what happened to the property he'd owned in 1901.  "Just a farmer?"  Ummm...no.

The line of descent is"

Samuel Dunham-Matilda Reese

Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge

Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks

Mary Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger

Their descendants

Allen line: Samuel Lamb 1693-1769

Samuel Lamb is the third generation of Lamb men to have strong ties to Springfield, Massachusetts Bay Colony.  This grandparents were John and Joanna Chapin Lamb.  John and Joanna died in Springfield. John and Joanna had each been born in England but came to New England as small children  His father, Samuel Lamb, was born and died in Springfield and his mother, Rebecca Bird, lived her life there after her marriage to Samuel.  So when Samuel was born on February 23, 1693, he had a network of family who had been in Springfield for many years, even though Springfield had been in existence less than 60 years.  

Samuel was one of as many as fourteen children born to his parents, although several of his siblings didn't survive to adulthood.  His parents both died when Samuel was about 36 years old, but I've not been able to locate a copy of estate papers for them.  

Samuel married twice.  His first marriage was to Martha Stebbins, daughter of Joseph and Sarah Dorchester Stebbins.  His six children were born to Martha.  She died in 1738, possibly as a result of childbirth and he married Mary Wright June 22, 1749.  

There is a possibility that Samuel was involved in the 1710 expedition to what was then Acadia, but is now known as Port Royal, Nova Scotia.  There are two Samuel Lamb's listed as being part of that expedition.  One was a private and one was an armorer.  One of these may be our Samuel Lamb, but there were other Samuel Lambs in Massachusetts so it is hard to be sure.  If our Samuel was one who went to Port Royal, the colonists were successful in taking the town from the French, but it was a difficult expedition.  There is also a Samuel Lamb who served for nearly two months in 1722 under Captain William Dummer (also governor of the colony), which again involved considerable hardship in fighting the French and various native tribes allied against the British.  This is sometimes called Dummer's War.  So while I can't say that our Samuel had military service, the possibility exists. 

Little else is known of Samuel.  He asked the town to accept Thomas Lamb as "One of the Poor" in the annual town meeting of March, 1735-36.  Samuel had a brother and an uncle named Thomas, but neither of these men seem to fit the facts.  Uncle Thomas died in 1734 and brother Thomas married and was having children at this time.  At any rate, Samuel must have been providing for Thomas, and it seems to have become a strain for him.   

In his will, Samuel refers to himself as "yeoman", meaning farmer.  He left 1/3 of his household furniture to his wife of 20 years, Mary, 5 shillings to each of his four daughters, and his wearing apparel to his son Samuel.  Son John was not mentioned in the will; he may have died early. Whatever was left of his estate was to go to his two grandsons, as each reached the age of 25.  I've not found an inventory, but it appears that Samuel did not have much in earthly goods when he died.  

This brief sketch of Samuel leaves us with more questions than answers, of course.  Did he participate fully in the religious life of the town?  Did he serve on one or both of the military expeditions mentioned? On a scale of financial prosperity, where would he have been ranked?  Did he own land?

Regardless of the number of questions we have, we acknowledge him as one of our family, another of those quiet men who helped build America.

The line of descent is:

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

Allen line: Joseph Stebbins 1652-1728

 The Allen line has a lot of Stebbins names in it.  Joseph is one of them.  Fortunately, he is pretty well documented.  He is of Springfield, Massachusetts Bay Colony, which is the location of many of our Allen family lines.  

Joseph was the son of Thomas and Hannah Wright Stebbins and was born at Springfield October 24, 1652, when the village was just sixteen years old.  He lived and died in Springfield, and had family all around him, both his own and his in-laws.  He was one of at least 9 children born to his parents, so he was never without siblings to play and work during his childhood.  It should be noted that Springfield was very much a frontier town during the earlier years of Joseph's life.  Even into the 1690's his siblings were receiving bounty payments for wolf heads, and there were other wild animals in the area, too.  However, as time went on the fur trade, which was the reason for the founding of the town, became less and less important as the stocks of wild animals diminished.

Joseph was granted land by the town in February of 1673 (as well as later grants) and married Sarah Dorchester, daughter of Anthony and Martha (last name debated; either Chapman or Kritchwell) Dorchester on November 27, of that same year.  Perhaps he had time to build a home for them before the wedding.  Joseph and Sarah had at least nine children together,and some lists show ten.

The wedding was about eighteen months before King Philip's war broke out.  Joseph Stebbins of Springfield is listed in "Colonial Soldiers and Officers in New England"  and due to his age of about 23 at the time the war broke out, we can probably guess that he participated in some fashion in that conflict, although I've not found his name on any other list for the period.  We do know that he was an ensign (sort of a junior lieutenant) by 1694 and ended his life being called "lieutenant", so he was active in the militia at some point.  To return to King Philip's War, if he wasn't in any of the known battles he was in one of the garrison houses, defending the residents who had stayed in town.  

Joseph held several positions of trust during his lifetime.  He was made a freeman in 1681 and was a surveyor for the highways, a constable, a fence viewer, town treasurer, moderator of town meetings in 1716 and after (the first person who was not a Pynchon to have that privilege), a selectman for several years and also a representative to the General Court.   I have read that people of a higher social status were the ones who were elected to positions like selectman and representative to the General Court, so the Stebbins name was one that was appreciated in the town.  He must have been something of a diplomat, too, because he was appointed to committees to help decide various issues, including the management of turpentine resources.  

Joseph died October 15, 1728, shortly before his seventy-sixth birthday.  We are fortunate to have his will and inventory, which tell us quite a bit about how he lived.  He refers to himself as a husbandman in his will, which is pretty modest of him.  Husbandmen didn't usually own land, and in his will he gives land in Springfield, Enfield, and Brimfield to his sons.  His wife Sarah was to have 1/3 of his real and personal property during her lifetime, and daughters were given 25 pounds, less whatever they had already received.  (In our ancestor Martha's case, she received 10 pounds so had already received approximately 15 pounds worth of property, perhaps as a wedding gift.)  His personal property is valued at a little over 225 pounds, which combined with the land he owned, was a sizeable estate.  

One thing I loved about his inventory is that it listed his books, although I can't read all of the titles.  He had a Bible of course, and a dictionary, a book of Psalms, several books of sermons, a spelling book, and various other titles.  This was a not insignificant number of books for the time, and it's nice to think that his children had access to them as they grew.  

He had other items I found interesting, too.  Why would someone need five gallons of molasses, for instance?  His household goods, including several pieces of pewter but no silver, are listed as are all his farm animals and implements.  The only gun I notices was one "old musket".  He also had horses, various cattle, shoats and pigs, and sheep, in a greater quantity than one would think a 75 year old man would need.  

Sarah was well taken care of by the will, and she lived until 1743, when she was about 93 years old.  

We can be proud of Joseph.  He was quite literate, he raised a family and helped build his community, was a part of the church and a protector of the town, as well as a civil servant.  His life is one to be honored.

The line of descent is:

Joseph Stebbins-Sarah Dorchester

Martha Stebbins-Samuel Lamb

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

Beeks line: Jonathan Dunham 1709-1748

 This will be a short post, but only because Jonathan seems to be hiding from us.  He is important, though, because he's an ancestor to the Beeks family, and because he is part of the family of Barack Obama.  So then, why is it so hard to find information about him?

Jonathan's grandfather, also Jonathan, was an early settler and founder of Woodbridge, New Jersey.  I'm surprised that I seem to not have written about him before, and I will remedy that situation in a future post.  I've written about his father, Benjamin Dunham, earlier.  Benjamin died at an early age and Jonathan did also, which may be why Jonathan's estate was small.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Jonathan was the son of Benjamin and Mary, possibly Rolph or Rolfe, Dunham, and was born January 7, 1709.  He grew up in Woodbridge Township, probably in Dunhamtown which was just north of the meeting house, and died there also.  The earliest birthdate we have for a child is 1738, so he and Mary Smith likely married in 1736 or 1737.  I've not found records of the marriage.  Mary was the daughter of Shubael and Prudence Fitzrandolph Smith, and those families were also Woodbridge families.  

Jonathan and Mary had at least six children together.  In his will, Jonathan mentions Benjamin by name and notes that he had six children under the age of 15.  It's possible that there were other children who did not survive.  

All we know of his life is that he identified himself as "yeoman" in his will, so we know from that that he owned land and farmed it.  As his father's oldest surviving son, he had probably received land from his father, but I don't know how much.  

We can make one other guess about his life.  His father was Episcopalian, so it is likely that is the religion that Jonathan followed.  Some of his siblings were Baptist but we have no indication that is the case for Jonathan.  

Benjamin died on September 21, 1748, not yet 40 years old.  He had written his will January 31, 1747/48, and it was proved the following January 8, noted as 1748 in court records.  If we look at those dates, something is not correct.  I have not seen the original transcriptions so perhaps there is a date that has been misread or mis-typed along the way.  At any rate, he was not yet 40 years old when he died, and since he had written his will several months prior to his death, we are left wondering whether he'd had some sort of lingering illness.  We wonder the same thing about his father, who also died young.  

This is what we know of Jonathan, along with a few semi-educated guesses.  Jonathan seems to be a man who took care of his family and that is all we can really say about him.  But he's an ancestor in the Beeks family, and perhaps someday someone will be able to learn more.  

I have seen two "facts" which I question.  One calls him "Reverend",  There was an Elder Jonathan Dunham, but he lived later that this one.  He was Baptist.  The other assigns him a middle initial of "S" for Singletary.  I suspect that "S" also belongs to the Jonathan who is termed "Reverend."  It's easy to get men of the same name confused, particularly when they lived in the same area and trace back to the same Jonathan Dunham, the one  that I still need to research and write about.  

The line of descent is:

Jonathan Dunham-Mary Smith

Samuel Dunham-Hannah Ruble

Jacob Dunham-Catherine Goodnight

Samuel G Dunham-Eliza Matilda Reese

Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge

Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks

Mary Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger

Their descendants

Holbrook line: Charles Merryman 1655-1724

I've written before about John Merryman, father of Charles Merryman, who came to Virginia as a young man about 1638, and I've written about John Merryman, son of Charles Merryman, who owned property and lived in Maryland.  I've not written about Charles, though, and of course he is part of the Holbrook line, too.  Fortunately for me, I've not had to do a lot of research about Charles because the website Colonial Settlers of Maryland and Virginia has a quite thorough document about his life.  There of course are still questions that aren't answered, but we know more about Charles than we know about some of our other early Maryland ancestors.

Charles was the son of John and Audrey Heynes Merryman, and was born about 1655 in Lancaster County, Virginia.   This is a small county at the mouth of the Rappahanock River, where John Merryman and his other children lived their lives out.  Charles, however, was different.  We don't know for sure when Charles moved to Baltimore County, Maryland, nor do we know why.  However, he owned land there by 1682 and it is likely that he moved at about the same time.  His first tract, East Humphreys,  was about 300 acres in the northern part of the Patapsco Hundred.  He also owned 210 acres north of the Patapsco Rive210 acres called "Merryman's Lot", 120 acres called "Merryman's Addition, 246 acres called "Merryman's Beginning, and 200 acres called "Merryman's Pasture".  If this was all his land, and none of it belonged to his son Charles Jr., then this would follow the typical pattern of needing more land to grow tobacco, as the good soil necessary to grow tobacco was depleted.  We do know that he called himself a planter, and that tobacco was a form of currency for the family, as for most "planters" of the time.

I've found no reference to the Merryman family participating in Bacon's Rebellion in 1675-76, so probably they stayed on the right side of the law during that time.  It would have been a tense time, whether or not they participated and whatever side they took, as the rebellion involved a good number of native Americans as well as colonial rebels.  

Charles married Mary Haile, daughter of Nicholas and Mary Haile, probably before 1680 when their oldest son was born, and probably in Virginia rather than Maryland.  If the family moved to Baltimore about 1682, they likely had a toddler and an infant son with them as they began their new life in Maryland. Charles may have felt that he had little choice but to leave Virginia, as he was involved in a dispute which he lost, and his land in Virginia was ordered to be seized as security. 

Charles was apprenticed to a wheelwright, and we don't know whether he carried on that craft after he arrived in Baltimore County.  Perhaps he had saved enough money to make the original purchase in Maryland, and that was his chance to "make good".  Charles served on at least one grand jury, and was also captain of the militia in Baltimore County in 1696.  While it doesn't sound like he was really prominent in the county, he was known and respected enough to hold the military appointment.Both John the father and John the son seem to have been Anglican, and our Charles is reported to have been buried at Old Saint Pauls Cemetery, so he also must have practiced that faith. 

Charles and Mary had at least three sons, and possibly a daughter who, again possibly, may have been the daughter of a second wife.  Two sons were left just one shilling in his will, likely because they already had received land from their father.  Mary is thought to have died in 1709, which is why many think he married again, to another Mary, who was mentioned in the will.  Charles died December 23, 1724 and it took until 1726 to finalize the estate.   

I've not found records of slaves in his records, but they may not have been recorded.  It's difficult to think that someone with that much land, cultivating tobacco, would not have been a slave holder but we don't know for sure.  Let's just say it's possible.  

Charles is another in our Maryland line, one who led an interesting life and who lived perhaps a little more "on the edge" than some of our other ancestors.  But he raised a family and contributed to the building of Maryland, and for that, we honor him.

The line of descent is:

Charles Merryman-Mary Haile

John Merryman-Martha Bowen

Martha Merryman-Alexis Lemmon

Alexis Lemmon-Rachel Stansberry

Sarah Lemmon-Abraham Hetrick

Isaac Hetrick-Elizabeth Black

Mary Alice Hetrick-Louis Stanard

Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants

Allen line: Thomas Kinton 1702-1779

 Thomas Kinton is new to our family tree and I'm not sure I have him completely figured out yet.  He had a son Thomas who may actually be the Thomas of some of these stories.  Part of the confusion is that it's possible that this Thomas may have had two wives, one, Rebecca Stoves, and the second, Rachel Carson. The Thomas I am writing about was married to Rachel Carson, daughter of John and Sarah Elizabeth Dickey (not 100% sure of her mother's name) Carson, and that is our line. Thomas who was married to Rebecca was born March 1, 1701 and that doesn't leave much time for a Thomas Jr. to be born and married to Rachel by about 1740, although it is possible.  

The reason I'm writing this post without being sure of parentage and dates is that Thomas Kinton was an absolutely fascinating man.  We need to know his story, even though we're not sure which Thomas was which.  

I've written about a lot of people who settled in Pennsylvania.  Some, mostly in the Beeks line, were Irish or Welsh Quakers.  Many in the Harshbarger line and a few in the Holbrook line were Swiss or German, Lutheran or Reformed or Mennonite.  And then, in the Allen line, we have a few Scots-Irish, and possibly a few Irish.  Thomas Kinton may be Irish, as his father (or grandfather) was reportedly John O'Canton of Lycargus, County Down, Ireland.  

Be that as it may, Thomas was a very early settler in what was then wilderness but became Bedford County in Pennsylvania.  There is a story that Thomas first became a landowner when he sold a barrel of whiskey to a native American in return for 600 acres of land, perhaps as early as 1738.  This was long before settlement in the area was common, and any neighbors would have been very distant.  Thomas and Rachel would have been on their own, except that Thomas somehow became friendly with George Croghan, who was a fur trader (and more) of the time.  Croghan became a huge land owner and it's possible that Thomas purchased more land from him.  Thomas signed petitions as one of the "Suffering Traders" who had lost property to the French from 1749-1754, just prior to the outbreak of the French and Indian War. 

Thomas traveled with Croghan at times, although it's hard to pinpoint exactly when and where.  He was with Croghan at a place called Pickawillamy (now Piqua, Ohio) on the Great Miami River when a trading post was established there in 1748.  Although he was likely involved earlier than this, he is known to have been horsemaster of the Forbes Expedition in 1758, the third time George Washington was involved in the effort to capture Fort Duquesne (now Pittsburgh) from the French.  The expedition started out with about 6000 men so we don't know whether Thomas ever met then Colonel Washington in person, but he surely would have at least laid eyes on him.  Thomas was horsemaster for York County, through at least 1764.  By this time, he would have been 63 and perhaps no longer up to the duties and traveling requirements of the job.  

When Thomas was not involved in military expeditions or traveling to trade with natives (or possibly after he stopped trading with them), he apparently kept a tavern, which would have been a welcome respite for others who were traveling as well as for anyone in the general neighborhood.  He did spend a considerable amount of time at home because at least eight children were born to the couple.  Thomas gave up his trading after the French and Indiana war and settled in Bedford, where he had two lots laid out in 1766.  He also owned land near what is known as Kinton's Knob in Bedford County.  

Thomas made in will in February of 1777 and died in March of 1779.  In it, he mentions his three sons and two of his five daughters. 

Thomas had a brother, Mark Kenton, who made his home in Virginia, and Mark had a son, Simon, who is famous in Kentucky and Ohio River valley history as a longhunter, Indian trader, and translator.  It's reported that our Thomas was one of Simon's mentors and that he occasionally visited Thomas and Rachel's home when he needed a bit of respite or was just generally in the area.  (You can read Simon's story in "The Frontiersman" by Alllen W. Eckert, among others.)

Thomas's story is fascinating to me.  How did he decide, once he'd arrived in Pennsylvania, to travel to such a place as western Pennsylvania, then mostly unknown?  Did he know George Croghan, or his family, in Ireland?  What kind of woman was Rachel Carson, that she would agree to live in such an unsettled place?  How did Thomas gather the courage to trade with people of such a completely different culture as the one he came from?  And oh, I wish we could hear his stories, of military life, of the natives he traded with, of what sort of encounters he had with the wild animals of the area.  These stories are just as interesting as those of our more settled families, "Back East".

The line of descent is

Thomas Kinton-Rachel Carson

Rachel Kinton-Solomon Adams

Mary Adams-Joseph Knott

Thomas Knott-Hannah Bell

John Wilson Knott-Harriet Starr

Edith Knott-Edward Allen

Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook

Their descendants

Holbrook line: Nathaniel Mowrey 1643-1717

 We have quite a bit of information about Nathaniel Mowry, but there are also gaps in our knowledge.  This is one of those cases where the glass is half full, to my way of thinking. His birthdate is given as January 10, 1644 although I've also seen it written as 1643 (one of those tricky calendar double dates, so I'm using the most common date I've found).  Some of the sites say he was born in England but his father had been in New England since 1631, so it is much more likely that he was born in Lynn or Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony, where his parents were living.  His parents were Roger and Mary Johnson Mowry.  (Note that there are about 10 different spellings for this name; the "Mowrey" I've used in the title seems to be the one Nathaniel settled on.)  He was one of about 11 children, born in Salem, Lynn, and Rehoboth, Massachusetts and the last two in Providence.

His parents seem to have traveled with Roger Williams, although they didn't arrive in Providence until about 1649.  Nathaniel was just five years old at the time, so he would have had little memory of his days in Massachusetts.  Rhode Island would have always seemed like "home" to him.  I like to think of little Nathaniel perhaps visiting with Roger and Mary Williams.  They were kindly people and I like to think they treated children well.

Nathaniel married Joanna Inman, daughter of Edward and Elizabeth (possibly Hopkins) Inman after August 28, 1666, (date of intention) and they had either 11 or 12 children.  It was enough to keep the parents busy, anyway . 1666 was a busy year for Nathaniel.  Not only did he marry that year, but his father died, and he also became involved in a land acquisition of 3500 acres (in what became Smithfield) from native Americans.  He and his partners bought the land without an agreement from the Providence Plantation residents, and although they kept the land, it caused a bit of tension in the settlement.  This didn't destroy his reputation, because he was admitted a freeman in 1672.

We don't know what Nathaniel did during King Philip's War.  Presumably he either fought or took his family to safety, or both.  He would have been in his early 30's and unless he was Quaker, he probably fought in at least the Great Swamp battle.  The family probably went to an island for safety.   I've not found any mention that he held any colony offices but he was a man of some substance, if only for being Roger Mowry's son.

Nathaniel gives his occupation as yeoman (farmer who owned property) in his will.  He had sold much of the land he owned by the time of his death March 27, 1717, but he did have 300 acres of land which he disposed of to his sons.  The daughters were to divide up the farm animals and household goods after the death of his wife.  It appears that his farming operating by the time of his death had been curtailed; his animals were listed as a mare, six cows and two heifers, and four swine.  His inventory also included an old gun, a Bible and four old books, household furnishings including a few pieces of pewter, and farm implements and food in storage.  The total valuation of the personal property was a bit over 106 pounds.  

I have seen speculation that Nathaniel was Baptist and I've also seen speculation that he was Quaker, but I've not seen anything that documents either religion.  I'd like to know how and where he worshiped, and I'd like to know the extent of his military service, if any.  The Bible in his inventory indicates that he had some education, and we have a record of his signature so he could at least write his name.  How much education did he receive?

Even though we know quite a bit about Nathaniel, there are always more questions.  What we don't question is that he is a part of our family, part of our Rhode Island roots.

The line of descent is:

Nathaniel Mowrey-Joanna Inman

Joanna Mowrey-Walter Phetteplace

Sarah Phetteplace-Elisha Eddy

Enos Eddy-Sarah Brown

Enos Eddy-Deborah Paine

Joseph Brown Eddy-Susan Lamphire

Susan Eddy-Hiram Stanard

Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick

Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants