Holbrook line: Samuel Wilson 1686-1730

 A man who lived only about 43 years (he died "in his 43rd year") doesn't necessarily leave a lot of records behind him.  I feel fortunate that I've found a few things, but not enough to make me feel that I could sit and talk with him for a little while.  Too much is just unknown.

Samuel was born April 5, 1686 in Dedham, Massachusetts Bay Colony, the son of Ephraim and Rebecca Sumner Wilson.  (Rebecca was a daughter of Samuel and Rebecca Staples Sumner, the couple that had gone to Dorchester County, South Carolina to found a Puritan colony there.  Rebecca stayed behind, probably because Ephraim didn't go south with the Dorchester group.)  So Samuel would not have known his Sumner grandparents except as a very young child, and his Wilson grandparents also died before he could have known them well.

So Ephraim and Rebecca were pretty much on their own when raising their children in Dedham.  Samuel had at least four siblings and there were doubtless other young children in the village.  Samuel would have attended the local church and had religious instruction at home, if the family followed local expectations.  He also would have learned to read and write.  

Samuel married Elizabeth Hawes (also seen as Haws), daughter of Nathaniel and Sarah Newell Hawes, on November 4, 1714.  Some records say the marriage took place in Dover, but Dover didn't become a town until later.  Dover is on the border of Needham, so likely the official place of marriage should be Needham.  We know that Samuel Wilson and his neighbor Thomas Fuller petitioned for a road from the Charles River (where Samuel's land was located) to the "top of the hill by the plains" on January 29, 1720, so it appears that Samuel had moved either at the time of his marriage or shortly after.  When the Needham church organized, he was one of the men who signed the church covenant on March 18, 1719/20.

Samuel served several minor town office positions in Needham.  He was a field driver in 1714 and 1720, a tythingman in 1723, a fence viewer in 1719 and 1723, and a surveyor of the highway in 1721-1726.  These were all jobs that might be considered "town employee" jobs except that there was no pay for doing them.  The tythingman position was a church position, which involved helping to keep discipline in the church, especially among the youth . The one reference to an occupation was that of school teacher.  He was paid 5 pounds for keeping school for the month of February, 1726/27, but I found no further reference to other school sessions.  (The information in this paragraph comes from The History of Needham, Massachusetts 1711-1911 by George Clarke.)  

Samuel Wilson is listed in the Dedham, Massachusetts Town and Tax Records for September 18, 1717.  He was taxed on a small estate, for the town, the school, and the minister.  His values are about average for the town, it seems.  I'm not sure that this is the same Samuel, as we have record of him in Needham in 1714, but he may have lived in Needham and owned property in Dedham.  

Samuel and Elizabeth had at least six children together, but only four survived their childhood.  Samuel's will leaves everything (including 13 1/2 acres of land) to his wife Elizabeth during her widowhood, with the real estate and personal property going to his son Seth when she died or remarried.  The three daughters were to be given money as they came of age or married.  So there Elizabeth was, with four children to raise.  She was doubtless still grieving the death of a son a year earlier, and their first son also died as a toddler.  

Samuel wrote his will in December of 1729 and died February 2, 1730, so he must have known he was ill (or badly injured?).  I haven't yet located an inventory.   Elizabeth died as a widow, December 18, 1739.  There should be guardian papers for some of the children but I'm still looking for those, too.  

I've not found any indication of military service for Samuel, although he would likely have been part of a training band.  We know he could read and write, because he taught school, and we know he was respected, because school teachers had to be such.  And we know he was active in the church, because he was a tythingman.  But he owned just a relatively small plot of land.  Did he have a trade besides that of farmer?  I sure would like to find an inventory, which might give us a clue.

The line of descent is:

Samuel Wilson-Elizabeth Hawes

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: Johan George Weikert 1682-1755

 A short blog post is better than no blog post, I guess.  I have been trying to honor each of our family ancestors (males, mostly, but once in a while a woman) who came to and lived in what is now the United States of America.  Some people, like George Weikert, seem to have left few records.  Yet, because they had children who had children (etc.), they are part of our family history and deserve to have a mention in this blog.

Johan George (Georg) Weikert was born September 23, 1685 (or possibly 1682) at Eschollbrueck, Darmstadt, Hessen, Germany.  His parents were Johan and Maria Magdalene Wetzel Weiker. (Note: There are various spellings for his surname.  I'm using the one that appears the few times I have seen his name in print.  Eschollbrueck was a very small, very Lutheran town when George was born, and is still quite small.  

I have located nothing that tells us whether George had siblings, or what may have become of them, nor we know much about his life in Hesse.  He married Barbara Elisabeth Daecher, daughter of Herman and Anna Catherina Werthes Daecher, with conflicting marriage dates of 1711 and 1719.  If the marriage took place in 1711, Elisabeth would have been just 17 years old, a little young even for the time, but Georg would was in his mid to late 20s and would have been quite old enough to "settle down".  We can surmise that the young couple attended the church in town that is apparently still standing.  George would also have recognized the town hall, which was almost 100 years old when he was born.

Probably for economic reasons, George and Elisabeth came to Pennsylvania in or before 1724.  Their earliest known record is of George as one of the founding members of the Old Goshenhoppen church in what is now Upper Salford Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.  This church was a combined Lutheran and Reformed church, but I've been unable to determine whether the two congregations worshiped together or whether separate services were held.  

I'm not sure how many children George and Elisabeth had.  At least one died as an infant and there is a possibility that there were multiple births, as there seem to be two sets of twins in the family.  Some of the children, who were born in 1739 and 1741, may not actually belong to this family, as Elisabeth would have been in her mid 40's when she had them.  We can at least assume this was a large family, with some of the children having been born in Hesse and some in Philadelphia County.  

I've not found land, nor military, nor estate records for George so about all I can say of his life here was that he was a farmer and that, according to one source, he was an elder of the church.  I don't how how he and his family fared economically, but I like to think that he was at least somewhat successful here.  He was alive during some of the French and Indian War, when many people fled their homes and returned to live nearer the East Coast.  We don't know whether George was one of those who left, or one of those who stayed, nor do we know whether he ever took up arms against the natives who attacked much of the area. 

George died March 16, 1755, in or near Goshenhoppen, where he had apparently lived for over 30 years.  He isn't listed in the burial listings for the church, but there could be reasonable explanations for that.  It could also be that he was buried nearer his home.  That's another of the mysteries of George.  

As mentioned, this is a short blog post but it does continue the story of the German immigrants and is interesting to me because George arrived earlier than many of the other Germans I've written about.  

The line of descent is:

Johan George Weikert-Anna Barbara Elisabeth Daecher

Maria Salome Weikert-Benedict Kepner

Bernard Kepler-Maria Elisabeth Lindemuth

Andrew Kepler-Anna Maria Kramer

Mary Kepler-George Harshbarger

Lewis Harshbarger-Catherine Mentzer

Emmanuel Harshbarger-Clara Ellen Harter

Grover Harshbarger-Goldie Withers

Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Beeks

Their descendants

Holbrook line: Nathan Paine 1741-1818

 I was excited to write this post about Nathan Paine when I learned that he was a Revolutionary War soldier.  I printed out military records, and then I went to the DAR website to check for further information.  I was sadly disappointed to learn it was not our Nathan Paine who was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, but further digging found an even more interesting story.  

But let's start at the beginning.  Nathan Paine was born April 14, 1741 at Glocester, Providence, Rhode Island, the son of Stephen and Sarah Thornton Paine.  He was one of at least six children born to the couple.  We know little of his early life.  Glocester was formed from Providence in 1739, and was a farming community, so it is likely that Nathan was raised with an eye to farming.  At about the same time that Nathan was born, the "Great Awakening" occurred in New England.  There were already many Baptists in Rhode Island, but the revival that took place may have increased the number substantially.  By 1776, Glocester was known as a town of New Light Baptists.  

Nathan married Lillis Winsor, daughter of Joseph and Deborah Mathewson Winsor, and a great great granddaughter of Roger Williams about 1765, and the two settled down to have and raise a family.  I've found names for 12 children, but have not found documentation nor, for most, exact dates of birth.  Our link, Deborah, does have a date of birth of August 18, 1772, although I still have no documentation for that.  I hope it comes from the Town Clerk of Glocester, who holds the records.  

The town of Glocester was almost completely Patriot leading up to the Revolutionary War, and so it is hard to understand that when a military census was taken in 1777, Nathan was listed as "Aff".  A little digging led me to the information that he and several other men on the same page had taken the following oath, designed by the Rhode Island Assembly for "persons of tender conscience":  I, (insert name), do sincerely affirm and declare that the art of war and fighting, and the use and exercise of arms therein, either offensively or defensively, is utterly inconsistent with my belief as a Christian; and that I do not declare and refuse the use thereof, out of obstinancy, or singularity, but for conscience sake.  And this affirmation I make and give, without evasion or mental reservation."  The oath had been made available in February of 1777, but it came a bit late for Nathan.  He and eight other men had been arrested and jailed for refusing to serve, and the assembly agreed to their petition for release, at the next session of the assembly.  It is not known how long they had been jailed, but they were released to their home and family.  Whether they participated in any way in the way, by providing supplies, for instance, is not known.  

Nathan was apparently a successful farmer, because the 1778 tax list published in volume 20 of Rhode Island Roots shows him as having one poll (person able to vote), 2 houses, 2 oxen, 5 horned cattle, 10 sheep/goats, 4 swine, 15 acres pasture to keep 3 cows, 4 acres of tillage, 32 bushels grain, 15 acres meadow, 5 tons English hay, 46 acres wood and waste land, total acres 80.  His personal estate was valued at 36.8 and his real estate at 250 pounds.  This seems to have been about average; some men had more and some and significantly less.  

Glocester was so independent that the freemen and freeholders of the town, including Nathan Paine, voted against accepting the US Constitution in 1788, by 288 to 9.  I've not found a clear explanation of why the feeling ran so hard against it.  Did they want Rhode Island to remain independent, not part of the United States, or were they objecting to suffrage requirements, or to the glaring inequities that refused to acknowledge Blacks as free and equal to Whites, or was it some other reason?  Whatever the reason, the town stuck to their beliefs just as Nathan had early in the Revolutionary War.  

We don't know exactly when Nathan moved to New York.  There is a Nathan Paine in Richfield, Otsego, New York in 1799, or at least he owned land there.  This may be Nathan's son, for Nathan was still in Glocester in the 1800 census.  He and Lillis are in New York in 1810, however, where both are listed as over 45 years of age.  

Nathan died in Castleton, Town of Seneca,  Ontario County, New York on July 17, 1818, where Lillis had died two years earlier.   So far I have not located estate or will papers for him.  We don't know whether he was in New York long enough to establish his own home and farm, or whether he lived with one of his children.  This area seems to have been part of a land rush after the natives were driven out, so perhaps that was the motivation for the move.  The search for those last records continues.

I think highly of Nathan.  He was willing to go to jail for his convictions, and he voted with his conscience.  He obviously cared about his country and had a vision for it.  Well done, sir!

The line of descent is

Nathan Paine-Lillis Winsor

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

Beeks line: Peter Demarest 1683-1763

The French/Dutch Huguenots in the Beeks line have always intrigued me, and Peter Demarest is no exception.  Technically, he wasn't French, or Dutch, or even a Huguenot, because he was born in Bergen County, East Jersey (now New Jersey) in 1683.  His grandfather, the immigrant David, was born in France, and escaped to what is now the Netherlands, where Peter's father, Jean Demarest was born.  Peter's mother was Jacomina DeRuine, and she was born in France but came to America as part of the Huguenot community also.  The Huguenots were Protestants and followed the teachings of John Calvin, which meant they were not welcome in Catholic France.  The Demarest and DeRuine families, among others, were fortunate to come to a part of the country that was unsettled, and thus not Anglican, and not Puritan.  They were free to worship as they wished, or at least, more free than in Europe.  

Peter was born in 1683, in a settlement along the Hackensack River.  He grew up here and died here, although there are hints that he (or another man by the same name?) may have gone to New York, just a few miles away, for a short time.  He was part of a large family of perhaps as many as eleven children.  One of his many children is said to have been born in New York.  As far as I can tell, Peter was a farmer, like his father and grandfather before him.  There was a Demarest mill in the area but I'm not sure whether Peter had ownership of it.  There were a lot of Demarests!

Peter is a perfect example of this.  He married Maretie Meet, the daughter of Jan Pieterse and  Geritjie Mandeville Meet, at the Dutch Reformed Church in Hackensack on May 14, 1709.  The couple soon had seven children together, but Maretie died probably in 1720.  My first guess was that seven pregnancies in 11 years had worn her out, or perhaps she died as a result of her last childbirth.  Sara, her last child, was baptized June 19, 1720.  Peter was not yet 40 when he married again.  On October 15, 1722, he was married to Marie Batton, who was 21 years Peter's junior.  She also was of Huguenot origins, and she gave birth to at least eleven more Demarest children.  

Peter must have worked very hard to raise such a large family, although of course the older children would have been expected to help with the younger ones, until they left home or began their own apprenticeships elsewhere.  Perhaps that is why we don't find Peter's name included in the early lists of civic leaders, although some of his brothers seem to have been active politically.  Peter (I think it was this Peter, but there were other potential candidates, too) signed an oath of loyalty to King George II of England in 1753, at the same time "aburing" (solemnly renouncing) the papacy.  

I found one reference to Peter as a soldier, but there was no documentation.  There were at least two Peter Demarests from New Jersey in the Revolutionary War, but our Peter died in 1763 so it's possible that the reference was actually to one of the later Peters.  I will keep looking to see if there is evidence of his participation in a militia as a younger man.  

As mentioned, Peter died on August 31, 1763 at the age of 80.  He is probably buried in the French Burying Ground at New Milford, although there is no longer a stone there if there ever was one.  In his will, Peter provided for his wife by stating that she was to have the use of Peter's land and estate until she remarried, and that if she left and then returned (meaning a potential second husband had died) needed help, the children were to provide for her maintenance.  

It looks like Peter would have been a Patriot if he had lived to see the Revolution.  At least two of men with the same names as his sons, Peter and Samuel, had their farms burned by Tories, and Samuel was "carried off", although I don't know what happened to him.  This event occurred May 10, 1779.  Even though Peter wasn't alive to support the patriots, he raised children who were known to be such.  We owe men like Peter our country.

The line of descent is:

Peter Demarest-Maretie Meet

Lea Demarest-Samuel David Demarest

Sarah Demarest-Benjamin Slot

William Lock-Elizabeth Teague

Sally Lock-the still elusive Jeremiah Folsom

Leah Folsom-Darlington Aldridge

Harvey Aldridge-Margaret Catherine Dunham

Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks

Mary Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger

Their descendants

Holbrook line: William Pritchard

 The first thing I learned as I wrote this blog post is that I don't know much about William.  I thought I knew who his parents were, and some of his grandparents, but it seems more likely that Roger, whom I believed to be William's father, is actually his brother.  And their parents aren't proven.  In fact, their birth location is still a mystery, as far as proven records go.  Pritchard is thought to possibly be a Welsh name, as in "ap Richard", but the name is also spelled Pritchett or Pritchet so I'm reluctant to do anything more than consider that as a possibility.  

We are not even sure of his birth date, variously given as anywhere from 1617 to 1629, but it's believed that he was likely born in either Wales or England, not in New England.  We don't know when he came to America, although he is not listed in the Great Migration Directory.  There are early references to him in Ipswich, Massachusetts in 1639 and in Lynn, Massachusetts in 1645.  The two towns were located across the Ipswich River from each other and it is possible that he moved from one location to the other for his job. He is sometimes found in Ipswich and sometimes in Lynn until he later moved west.  .  

William was a mariner, a captain of a boat that traveled at least as far as Barbados in about 1647.  We don't know if this was his only trip that far afield, but it seems unlikely that he would have captained just one trip.  Also, as a captain he must have had earlier experience on the seas, as one didn't just become a captain.  It was a position attained by hard work usually starting from the bottom of the ladder and working one's way up the ladder.  He would have been a young captain indeed if he was born in 1629, so I suspect we need to look earlier for a birth date.  

We also don't know who William's wife was, or whether he may have had an earlier wife.  My tree shows his wife as Hannah Langton, daughter of George Langton, but that is still up for debate.  A Hannah Pritchard married a Lovejoy in 1676 and it is thought that this was William's widow.  This marriage supposedly occurred about 1652, and if that is correct than we need to be looking for an earlier wife, because our connection, Esther, was born in November of 1647, and a son John was born about 1645.  So that search continues, also. William and his wife are credited with as many as nine children, although it's possible that some of these were the sons of Roger, who had died in 1671.  Or perhaps these boys were raised by the couple and not noted in the lists I've seen. 

Sea-faring was a hard life.  As was the case with many seamen, William may have had a drinking problem, since it 1645 Timothy Tomlins testified in Salem that he, an innkeeper, and his wife were out of the house when William entered it and "he drew more wine himself and drank too much."  This didn't necessarily mean that he wasn't a Puritan, but again, it's a possibility.  

By 1667 William had either retired from life at sea or had otherwise resolved to turn over a new leaf.  He and his family moved to Brookfield, Massachusetts, where he became an outstanding citizen.  He was one of a commission of five to direct the early affairs of the town, was chosen "Clerk of the Writs".  This seems to mean he dealt with a lot of the routine paperwork of a court, issuing summons to witnesses, taking bond petitions, applying attachments, and so on.  So we know he was literate.  

He also was part of the committee to purchase land for the settlement from the the indigenous people, and was a sergeant in the militia at Brookfield.  This brings us to the final event in his life, which is quite well documented.  On August 2, 1675, he and two other men were ambushed by native Nipmucs, and later in the day his son John was killed as he desperately attempted to gather supplies for the 80 people who were garrisoned in one home during what had been, to that point, a three day siege.  Fortunately, military reinforcements arrived and the town was safely evacuated, although it was burned and resettlement did not begin for about 12 years.  One can only imagine the horror of William's wife as she dealt with the death of her husband and son (or stepson), the loss of her home, and the need to care for her remaining children.  If she was the Hannah who married in 1676, she needed all the help she could get.  

There is a will for William Pritchard of Topsfield, which may be where the remnants of his family settled.  It is dated March 27, 1677, so over 18 months after William's death at Brookfield, but the eldest son was John and other facts seem to show that this is our William.  Interestingly, his widow was only referred to as "the woman" and she was not given her widow's third, probably because she had already remarried.  The estate was valued at 109 pounds, and included land in Topfield and in Ipswich, plus some household goods and farm animals.  There is no mention of the land in Brookfield so either this had been sold ((perhaps replaced by the land in Topsfield?) or it was considered worthless.  

William's life came to an early end, but it was an interesting life.  From England or Wales to the east coast of Massachusetts and then on to the "interior", from a life on the sea to a farmer, from a man who on at least one occasion imbibed a little too much to the Clerk of the Writs, this man was and is fascinating.  I'm glad I learned this much of his story, and would certainly love to learn more!

The line of descent is:

William Pritchard-possibly Hannah

Esther Pritchard-John Hanchett

Johgn Hanchett-Lydia Hayward

Hannah Hanchett-John Stannard

Libbeus Stnnard-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

Harshbarger line: George Harshbarger died 1844

I've waited quite a while to write about George Harshbarger, because much of what I "know" is based on hearsay.  However, since I am trying to note as many of our ancestors as I can, before ending this blog project, I will write a little bit about him and hope to find more in the future.

George Harshbarger was the son of John (Johannes) Harshbarger and Christena Elizabeth Fehler.  However, there's a problem here.  We know he is the son of Johannes because of Johannes' will, but perhaps his mother is someone else.  The problem is with the dates.  Most sites I've seen list George's birthdate as "about 1802".  Johannes and Christena (who was likely actually known as Elizabeth) were not married until 1804, at Brush Valley, Miles Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania.  So either George had a different mother, or the date of 1802 is just a guesstimate and he was born after the marriage.  The dates for his children would work with a date that is more like 1805-1806, and so would his reported age in the 1840 census.  

John sold his land in 1822 and moved to what was then Green Township, Stark County, Ohio, now Summit County.  Many trees show George's marriage to Mary E Kepler, daughter of Andrew and Anna Maria Kramer Kepler, as occurring in 1817, with no documentation.  I think the marriage took place later than that, because the earliest known child was born in 1828.  I would love to find documentation for the marriage, but I'm thinking it happened in Stark County.  

George and Mary had four known children, Lewis, John, Andrew Jackson, and Leah.  All four children moved to Whitley County, which brings us to the question of what happened to George, and why did the children all live in Whitley County.

George was a driver of some sort.  We were told he drove wagons of supplies from Stark County to Chicago.  Someone on line thinks he drove a stage coach, and it's possible that he handled both types of vehicles.  At any rate, in 1844 there was an accident in Whitley County, Indiana and his wagon (or coach) overturned.  George was killed.  We spoke to someone who believed they could show us where George was buried, but there is a listing for him in Summit County Cemetery Inscriptions, Volume 2, showing him as buried at the East Liberty Cemetery in Green Township, Summit County.  It is possible that he was first buried in Whitley County and then moved to the family plot (of mostly Keplers, in that area) later.  

One wonders whether George had talked of settling in Whitley County, and that's why his children moved there.  Mary remarried, apparently twice, and did not settle in Whitley County.  Her farm records, still as Mary Harshbarger of Green Township, Summit County, on the 1850 farm census show that she had 40 acres of land, 20 improved and 20 unimproved.  The cash value of the farm was $800 but the value of farming implements and equipment was $30.  She had 1 milch cow and 4 swine, for a total of $40.  Her crop inventory included 100 bushels of wheat, 100 bushels of Indian corn, and 30 bushels of Irish potatoes.  The value of animals slaughtered the previous year was $20. I've not found her on the 1850 census, but we can guess that her children, or some of them, were still living with her in 1850 because Lewis wasn't married until 1852.

I have read that only German was spoken in this home, and there is a story that Mary came to visit her children in Whitley County at some point, but because she did not understand English well, her train ticket which she thought would take her to Columbia City took her to Columbus, Ohio.  Mary is believed to have died after 1880, but I don't have a death date for her-yet.  

This is as much as I've learned so far about George, stories and a few bits of information that are documented.  The search continues!

The line of descent is:

George Harshbarger-Mary E Kepler

Lewis Harshbarger-Catherine Mentzer (shown as Mancer)

Emmanuel Harshbarger-Clara Ellen Harter

Grover Harshbarger-Goldie Withers

Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Beeks

Their descendants

Holbrook line: John VIckery-1653-1698

I've found very little information about this ancestor, but because not many of our ancestors had this kind of background, I want to share what I've learned.  Our New England ancestors are fairly well documented (most of them) but when we get to the mid-Atlantic states, finding information seems to be more challenging.  I suspect that if I were able to spend weeks at each of the locations where I know our ancestors lived, more could be uncovered, but that is not likely to happen.  So even though this glass is mostly empty, I'm going to write a little about the small amount of information we do have.

John Vickery was born in England sometime around 1655.  The most likely set of parents I've found for him are John and Mary Vickary.  If their son John is our John, then he was baptized October 26, 1653 at St Decumans church in Watchet, Somerset, England.   Two clues make this idea worth pursuing.  The older John named this son John, and our John named his land in Maryland "Bristol", which is 37 miles from Watchet.  Our John could easily have lived in Bristol, or at least passed through there, on his way to life in America.  

John arrived in Maryland as an indentured servant in 1681 or 1682.  I've not yet found the name of his master, but the odds are that John served an indentureship of 4 to 7 years, and the most likely scenario is that he worked clearing land and planting crops for his master.  He probably married in England, because the dates we have for his children are about 1680-1683.  It's unlikely that his master would have given him permission to marry early in the indentureship.  

When John bought 200 acres of land in 1696 (at least, that's when it was recorded), it was located in Dorchester County, Maryland.  John probably either served his indentureship there or had reason to have visited the area.  This is on the eastern shore of Maryland, across Chesapeake Bay from areas where our Amos and many other families lived.  The main crop was tobacco, which was eventually replaced by mixed farming.  It's likely that John's land was on the Choptank River or one of its tributaries, as a fresh water source would have been needed.  

If I've located the correct records, John was baptized in the Church of England and would have attended Anglican services in Dorchester County.  It may be that attending church services was required as an indentured servant.  There are two Anglican churches in the area.  One is at Church Creek, Old Trinity Church, which bills itself as the oldest church building still operating as a congregation in the United States.  It was established and built in 1674.  Christ Church in Cambridge was founded in 1675 but has burials in its cemetery dating from 1675.   

It is thought, but not proven, that John's wife, the mother of his three known children, was named Margaret.  That is all that is known about her.  The three known children are John, Mary, and Hezekiah.  The Vickery family stayed in Dorchester County for some years, as Marmaduke, Hezekiah's son, was born there in 1715.  I've not found a will for John, who is thought to have died in 1698.  (There is a will for a John Vickery who died in 1711, but his wife was Ann and his only named heir was Robert Stevenson Vickery.  It appears that our John may have had other relatives in the area.)

Clearly, there is much more to be done to research this ancestor.  I'd like to know much more about him.  I'd love to find his will and inventory.  I'd love to know how the area he lived in related to the native American population.  Were there conflicts?  Did the natives get pushed out, succumb to epidemics, or what?  And most of all, why did he come to America?  The search continues.

The line of descent is

John Vickery-possibly Margaret

Hezekiah Vickery-Merci Holland

Marmaduke Vickery-Elizabeth Nation

Jerretta Vickery-Joseph Nation

Elizabeth Nation-Christopher Myers

Phoebe Myers-Adam Brown

Phoebe Brown-Fremont Holbrook

Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants

 

 

Beeks line: John Aldridge died 1750, Prince George's County, Maryland

I'm hesitant to write this blog post because there are major events in John's life that at this point, I'm unsure of.  For instance, his birth date is variously given as 1688, 1702, or 1712, in either Anne Arundel County or Prince George's County, Maryland.  His parents are variously given as George and Anne Aldridge of Talbot County, and Thomas and Elizabeth Purdy Aldridge of Prince George's County.  I've shown Thomas and Elizabeth as his parents, and either the 1702 or 1712 date of March 28, 1712, possibly on the South River in Anne Arundel County.  I suspect that once again there is more than one John Aldridge whose records have been confused (not to mention the several who were born and died in England, who seem to have no connection at all to this Maryland family.

John married Elinor (Eleanor) about 1739, but I've not found records to document this.  Speculation is that Eleanor may have been a Watkins, or she may have been a Jones.  I currently have no opinion at all about her surname or her parents.  

Most of what we know about John comes from his will.  From that, which was dated November 30, 1750 and yet was proven March 14, 1750, we know that his wife was Elinor and that he had four children.  His sons were Thomas, Jacob, and John (no George, notice) and his daughter was Susannah Prather.  He owned two parcels of land, one 111 acres called Tucker's Cultivation, and one of 100 acres called Pasquaham which was near Sugar Loaf Mountain.  Elinor received the first tract of land, plus all farm animals and personal property, for her lifetime and then the land was to go to Jacob.  

The sad thing is-you guessed it-that he was a slaveholder.  Elinor was to receive three Negroes-Jenney, Cato, and Valentino.  John was to receive on Negro boy called Black, Jacob a Negro boy called George, and Thomas a Negro girl called Momber.  The three for Elinor are called "all the rest of my Negroes". so this was apparently a total list, with no differentiation between field and, if any, house slaves.  We have no way of knowing whether families were split by this division, but at least they weren't immediately sold out of the family, anyway.  

Elinor lived for ten more years as a widow and died in 1760.  In her will, she bequeathed Negroes Ozburn and Sarah to John, Valentine and -ed to Jacob, and a Negro woman whose name I can't make out, her son Judah, and the Negro woman Jane to Thomas.  Three Prather grandchildren received specific items of personal property and heifers, and the sons were to divide the rest of her property, including livestock.  It appears that only one of the Negroes had stayed with Elinor for those ten years.  It would be both interesting and painful to know what happened to the others, and how the "new" Negroes came to her.  

Because of the slaves and the fact that John owned two tracts of land at his death, we can be fairly sure that at least one of his crops was tobacco.  I've not located an inventory which might tell us more. There are a lot of questions about John but this at least will give us places to research, and indicate some answers we still need.

The line of descent is:

John Aldridge-Elinor

Jacob Aldridge-Elizabeth, possibly Soper

John Simpson Aldridge-Mary Lakin

John Simpson Aldridge-Lucinda Wheeler

Darlington Aldridge-Leah Folsom

Harvey Aldridge-Mary Catherine Dunham

Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks

Mary Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger

Their descendants