The family of James Amos 1721-1805

Much of the Amos family is well-documented.  Some is not.  Some "facts", in fact, seem to have little basis in reality, or are related to different persons of the same name, but in other generations or branches of the family.  I hope I have picked my way through this misinformation, and apologize profusely if I have made an error.  In that case, I will be happy if someone will correct me.

James Amos is the son of immigrant William and Ann probably Maulden Amos.  He was born in 1721 in Baltimore County, Maryland, and died in 1805 in Harford County, Maryland.  Harford County was carved from Baltimore County in 1774 so he actually lived his entire life at pretty much the same location.  We know he was a slaveholder because his father left him a slave in his will, but we don't know how many other slaves he held.  He married Hannah Clarke, the daughter of Robert and Selina (different spellings) Smith Clark.  Together they had at least seven children.  After Hannah died, James married Elizabeth Standiford.  No children are known from that marriage.

Robert was the first born son, in 1741.  He married Martha McComas, the daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth Hubbert (also seen as Hibbert) McComas.  Their children are Benjamin, David, James, Corbin and Martha.  I have also seen Joshua and Gabriel mentioned as being born before Benjamin, and Aquilla and Robert as born after Martha.  More research needs to be done to document these potential children.

Elizabeth is the only known daughter of James and Hannah.  She was born in 1743 and died in 1805.  Her husband is Edward Norris, the son of James and Hannah Scott Norris.  Their children are Hannah, John, William, Edward, Elizabeth, Susannah, Oliver, Mary, and Ann.  It is possible that Elizabeth had a second marriage, to a William Bull, but I'm not yet convinced of that.

William is one of the mystery sons of this family.  He was born in 1745 and died in 1816.  He married Elizabeth Hugo or Hugon,  whom I can't further identify.  The only child I've found for them is William. This line needs more research.

James was born in 1747 and died in 1811.  He married Catherine Risteau, the daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth Raven Risteau.  Their children are Isaac, James, John, David, Abraham, Elizabeth, Susanna, Hannah, Catherine, Sarah, George, William and possibly Joshua.  

A side note here: Of the first four children, we are likely related in some fashion to three of the in-laws mentioned-McComas, Scott, and Raven.  All were early settlers, and we descend from families with each of those surnames in early Baltimore County.  

Benjamin is the next son, born in 1748 and died in or before 1815.  He married Sarah Bussey, the daughter of Edward and Mary (widow Pendergrast) Bussey.  I have seen one tree listing Mary as Mary Hayes, but there was no further information and at this time I can't say that is correct.  Their children are Elizabeth, Ann, James, and Mary.  I will follow this family in my next post.

Mordecai was born in 1753 and died in 1840.  He is a Revolutionary War veteran.  (It's likely that others of these men are also vets, but their are too many men of the same name to be sure.)  He married Martha Richardson, the daughter of William and Mary Davis Richardson.  Their children are Robert, Henry, and John.  

I am including Joshua as a son in this list, because it seems more likely than not that he is the son of James and Hannah.  I am not 100% sure of this, so if there is conflicting information on this Joshua, I'd be glad to consider it.  He was born in 1754 and died about 1800.  His wife's name may or may not be Sarah, and she may or may not be Sarah Bonfield, the daughter of John Bonfield.  Their know children are Joshua and William.

And then, there is the possibility of Ann.  That is all I could find, a name, without even a date of birth.  There are several females named Ann in this family, and it's quite possible that this is actually another Anna, such as the one belonging to Benjamin, above.  At this point, it is only a possibility.  

As far as I could determine, none of these people lived outside of Baltimore/Harford County as they all seem to have died there.  Some are Quakers and some may not be.  But they all stayed close together, and so all these cousins would have known each other, whether close in age or not.  An Amos family reunion would have been enormously fun and enormously confusing! 

 

Holbrook line: The family of William Amos 1690-1759

 For this series of posts, I'll be writing about the Amos (Amoss) family of Harford County, Maryland.  William, the son of John and Mary Singer Eme/Eams/Amos, was born in England about 1690 and died in about 1759. His will was dated September 24, 1757 so it could have been a bit earlier than the 1759 date.  I've not found documentation for the actual date of death.  He married Ann Mauldin,the daughter of Frances and Elizabeth (either Mackall or McGill or Gill) Mauldin in January of 1713 in Joppa, Maryland. Some trees give his wife as Ann McComas, but the dates don't seem to work for that (my opinion; others disagree). I'd sure like to get this question settled!

We don't know much about the early circumstances of William, or whether he arrived in Maryland with money, but he soon started acquiring land (by 1715), and owned more than 1000 acres at the time of his death.  Do you see where this is leading?  Yes, William was a slaveholder.  In his will, he leaves 6 named "negro" men, women and boys to his children.  From what I've read, it is likely that these were "house slaves" rather than "field slaves".  6 people would not have been able to maintain a 1000 acre estate, unless William also had leased others, or indentured servants also.  Field slaves were considered personal property, leased slaves or servants were held by others, and indentured servants were still bound by the terms of their indentureship, so would not have been included in the will.  The Amos families are not the only ones in our families who held slaves, sadly, but we must face what was with what grace we can muster.  

William and Ann had seven or possibly eight children.  There were other Amos families in the area, probably related, and some of the same names are used over and over, so it is possible that one or more of these children are assigned to the wrong parents, although I am reasonably sure of the first six, anyway.  Some of the wives are not traced, but perhaps as I mention them, it will inspire someone to do a little more digging on those families.

Thomas was the first born son, in November of 1713. He lived his entire life in Harford County, which of course was Baltimore County until 1774.  Thomas died in 1763.  His wife was Elizabeth Day, the daughter of Nicholas and Elizabeth Cox Day.  Their children are Thomas, Elizabeth, Nicholas, William, Mordecai, Bethia, Hannah, Christiana, and Harriott.  

Elizabeth, their only known daughter, was born in October of 1715.  It appears that she died in 1727, although some have her married to either a John or a Joseph England.  It looks to me, barring further information, that these supposed marriages are not our Elizabeth.

William was born in March of 1718 and died in 1814. He first married Hannah McComas, the daughter of William and Hannah (possibly Dever or Dover) McComas.  Their children are Ann, Hannah, Mauldin, William, Elizabeth, Martha, Eleanor, Priscilla, Mary, and James.  After Hannah's death, he married Martha Wylie, the daughter of Luke Wiley.  Their children are Luke, Nancy, and Benjamin.  William is an interesting person.  He was an Anglican (sometimes referred to as a pastor but I'm not sure about that), an served in the militia until he apparently had a change of heart and became a Quaker, probably even a Quaker leader.  

James was born in 1721 and died sometime between 1797 (date of will) and 1805, which may be when the will was probated.  He first married Hannah Clark, the daughter of Robert and Selina Smith Clark.  Their children are Robert, Elizabeth, William, James, Benjamin, Mordecai and Joshua.  I have also seen David and Mary listed as their children but I am less sure about those two names.  I'll be following this line in my next post.  His second marriage was to Elizabeth Carlisle Standiford, the daughter of William and Anne Croxton Standiford.  She had eleven children from her first marriage, some of whom were likely on their own by the time she married James in 1778.  James and Elizabeth had no children together.

Benjamin was born in 1724 and married Sarah Lyon, the daughter of Samuel and Sarah Harrisson Lyon.  Their children are Benjamin, John, Elijah, Ann, Susanna, Elizabeth and Zachariah.  Benjamin died before May 29, 1775.

Joshua was born October 25, 1725 and died in 1779.  He married Martha Bradford, the daughter of William and Elizabeth Lightbody Bradford.  His son William was born before the wedding, but is listed as being the child of Joshua and Martha.  Their children born after the marriage are Elizabeth, Mordecai, George, Frederick, Martha, Cassandra, and John.  Joshua served in the Revolutionary War.

Mordecai was born February 7, 1727 and died October 10, 1788.  He married Mary Scott, the daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth Whitaker Scott.  Their children are Mordecai, James, Aquilla, Thomas, and William.  We have another line to this Scott couple; perhaps I will be able to write about them some day.

There may or may not have been a final son, John, born in 1729.  He is not mentioned in his father's will, nor in any documents that I have found, and various trees give a death date of 1732 or 1733.

While not ignoring the blot of slaveholding in this family, we can be proud of them.  They were apparently of some degree of wealth and education, and several served their country as they were needed.  They lived different lives than our New England ancestors, and their accomplishments are to be commended.

The family of William H Withers 1872-1936

 This will be the last post in the short line of the Withers family.  I am still not close to determining the identity of Joseph Withers, the first ancestor I can prove in Pennsylvania.  He had a son William, who married Barbara Cook in Whitley County, Indiana, and William had a son, William, who married Della Kemery, the daughter of Adam and Nancy or Fannie Buchtel Kemery.  

William was born in 1872 and died in 1936 in Whitley County, Indiana. His wife, Della, was born in 1882 and died in 1969, also in Whitley County.  Della is remembered by at least one of her great grandchildren, who recalls that her apartment always smelled of mint.  That was the crop they raised, after the onion market went south.  

William and Della had two known children.  Goldie was born in 1901 and died in 1983 in Andrews, Huntington County, Indiana.  She was married twice. Her first marriage was to Adrian Hawn, the son of Marion and Isabella Bentz Hawn. Adrian served in World War I.  The marriage ran into difficulties and the couple divorced, while Goldie was pregnant with their son Paul.  She married Grover Harshbarger in 1924 and they had one child together, Cleveland.  

Susan, usually seen as Sue or Susie, was born in 1898 and died in 1981.  Her first marriage was to Ward Yant, the son of William and Mary Prosser Yant.  Their children are Ruth, Floyd, and Frederick.  Clarence Yant is sometimes shown as their son, but he was the child of Ward's first marriage.  Sue raised him as her own, but he was a step son.  Warn died in 1941 as a result of septicemia, and Sue then married Charles Mallock, the son of William and Carrie Parrott Mallock. He was also a World War I veteran, and had lived a life of some adventure in the Dakotas.  There were no children born to this marriage.

This gives William and Della a total of five grandchildren, and more great grandchildren, several of whom have grandchildren of their own.  I think they might be pleased with their descendants, who have served in the military and otherwise contributed to their communities.

The family of William A Withers 1840-1912

 Today we're looking at the family of William A Withers, born April 2, 1840 in Richland County, Ohio and died in 1912 in Whitley County, Indiana.  He is the son of Joseph and Mary Gearhart Withers, and a Civil War veteran, having served over three years in some of the most renowned battles of 1862-1864, as a drayman and then an ambulance driver.  His marriage was to Barbara Ellen Cook the daughter of William and Elizabeth Brown Cook, in Whitley County, after the Civil War.  William and Barbara had four known children.  

Wilson was the first born, in 1868.  He died in 1897, before his 29th birthday.  His wife was Catherine Wolfe, the daughter of John and Catherine Eberhard Wolf.  (I'd often wondered, in researching the Whitley County families, if there were connections to the Eberhard family.  Yes, there are.) 

Willie was born next, in 1871. Sadly, that is all the information I can locate about him.  He was apparently deceased by the 1880 census.

William H was born in 1872 and died in 1936.  He married Della Clyde Kemery, the daughter of Adam and Nancy or Fannie Bechtel Kemery.  They had two children, Susan and Goldie.  I will follow this family, briefly, in my next blog post.

Finally, there was Della, born in 1877 and died in 1942.  She married Henry Keiser, son of Benjamin and Elizabeth, known as Bertha, Sell Keiser.  They had two children, Herbert and Archie.

All of these children were born in and died in Whitley County, Indiana.  It is refreshing to find a family that stayed put, for at least two generations!  Unfortunately, they did not leave many records other than census records, but at least we have this much information about one of the hard working families of the time.