Beeks line: Andreas Raub 1730-1809

Andreas or Andrew Raub was actually an immigrant ancestor, having arrived with his parents in 1732.  However, since he was two years old at the time, he likely had no memory of the "Old Country" or of the journey to America.  He was the son of Philip and Maria Sarah Schoffel Raub and was born February 13, 1730 at Hagsfeld, Stadt Karlsruhe, Baden-Wuerttemburg, now part of Germany.  He was one of at least six children born to the couple, and Philip was almost 50 when Andreas was born. 

Andreas was about 23 when his father died and he was fortunate enough to inherit the family farm in Springfield Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.  A few months before his father's death, he married Maria Charlotte Weber, daughter of Johan Jacob and Maria Charlotte Reichard Weber.  Andrew, at the age of 23, had a wife and a farm and responsibilities.  These may have kept him too busy to participate in either the French and Indian War or the Revolutionary War, or his work as a farmer may have made him too valuable to serve.  There is also the slight possibility that he was a Loyalist.  I haven't exhausted all the records I would need to search to determine whether he was a soldier, a farmer, or a Loyalist during the Revolutionary War, so that is on my to do list. 

It appears that Andreas and family were in New Jersey by the time of the Revolution, and he had bought his first farm there, "about halfway between Walnut Valley and Jacksonville".  It was located in Knowlton Township, Sussex (now Warren) County.  This, incidentally, would have been a horrible place to be during the Revolutionary War, as many battles were fought in New Jersey and troops would have been marching, pillaging, and possibly worse at any of several different times during the war.  I haven't yet located specific information regarding this particular area, as to whether there were actual battles here, but skirmishes, at least, seem likely. 

Andreas acquired several other properties over his lifetime, all in the same general area.  He needed land not only to support his family, but because he wanted to pass land along to each of his sons.  In this, he was successful.  The Raubs had at least three sons and seven daughters, living at the time Andreas wrote his will in 1806.  The will was proved May 25, 1809, one day after the inventory was taken.  The estate was modest, about $325, but that wouldn't have included the land and buildings.  Two of his sons were responsible for making the payments he requested to his daughters.  I sure would like to find that inventory!

Maria Charlotte had died in 1791.  There is one reference that says he later married a Katherine, but if so, she must have died also as there is no mention of her in the will.

Andreas is more interesting than I thought he would be, simply because of the times he lived in and the choice he made to move from Bucks County to Sussex County.  I would like to figure out why he made that change.  Also, his children were baptized Lutherans; why is he buried in the Knowlton Presbyterian Cemetery?  And what were his war experiences?  Did any of his sons fight?  There are always more questions than answers.

The line of descent is:

Andreas Raub-Maria Charlotte Weber
Charlotte Raub-Johan Jacob Weis (Wise)
Andrew Wire-Mary Serfass
David Wise-Matilda Martin
Elizabeth Wise-John Beeks
Wilbur Beeks-Cleo Aldridge
Mary Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants

Beeks line: William Beeks, Civil War veteran, and ancestor

I've been studying family history for thirteen years, and I've made thousands of interesting discoveries (and more than a few mistakes).  I thought I pretty much knew everything back through the past five or six generations.  That was another mistake.  I thought that the William Beeks who was in the Civil War, from Lagro, Wabash County, Indiana must have been another William Beeks, because his parents were listed on an 1890 "enrollment" form as Martin Beeks and Sarah Beeks. 
I was wrong.  The form was wrong. 

So, here's a brief review of William Beeks.  William was born in 1832 or 1833 in either Greene or Clinton County Ohio.  His parents were John and Polly (possibly Mary) Carter Beeks.  They had married in 1830 in Greene County, Ohio.  I'm not at all sure that I have all of their children, but William was one of them.  The Beeks family had moved to Lagro, Wabash County, Indiana by 1850, where John farmed and William undoubtedly helped him.

By 1860, William was ready for marriage.  He married Fanny Dils and had two children with her, Elias and Isaac.  She died shortly after the death of their second child, and he then married Mary Wise on January 14, 1863.  Or did he...He certainly married her, but was she Mary Wise?  That is a subject for another blog post, when I know more.  Their first two children were named Charity, for Mary's mother, and Jackson, for her father...Or were they her parents?  Stay tuned. 

All of this was happening during the background of the Civil War.  Wabash County sent many, many men to fight for the Union.  Elias and Isaac may have been raised by their grandparents, because they were with John and Polly in the 1870 census, but William had two young ones at home when he (apparently) enlisted in the Army on January 28, 1865.  I don't yet have access to all of his military records, so it's possible he was drafted, but the form I am working from says "volunteers".  He was assigned to company F of the 153rd Indiana Infantry. 

This unit was officially mustered in at Indianapolis on March 1, 1865, although company F, composed of men from Wabash and Grant counties, may have formed and drilled between the January and March dates, closer to home.  They had very little time for training after they mustered in, because they were on their way to Nashville, Tennessee by March 5.  I don't know whether they ever got to Nashville because the regiment was stopped at Louisville and three companies were ordered into guerilla warfare in and around Russellville, Kentucky.  Company F was not one of them.  They went to Taylor Barracks,  where they stayed for the rest of the war.

Taylor Barracks is interesting because it was a camp for black Union soldiers.  I would sure be interested in knowing what a regiment of troops from Indiana was doing there.  Were they some kind of guards for the supposedly freed soldiers?  Were they sent there for training which, due to the war ending, never happened?  Did they perform hospital duty for the sick soldiers?  I don't yet know the answer to these questions.

I do know that the unit was disbanded on September 4, 1865, and I think that William came home a sick man.  The 1890 enrollment form says he suffered from chronic diarrhea (dysentery), which was both debilitating and common with soldiers of that era.  I've found that he applied for an invalid pension shortly before his death.  It looks like this was granted, because there are also records for a widow's pension.  William died September 25, 1888 and his widow, Mary, died December 17, 1928.  From what I know now, it looks like neither left Lagro township, except for the war experience. 

My next step is to save up the money to order the pension records.  I want to know, and I want the family to know, more about his Civil War service, and to understand how it affected him for the rest of his life.  I also want to know if the records give us any clues about Mary, his wife.  Was she a Wise, or was she, as I've been told, adopted at a very young age?  Might her birth name have been Rauch?   Did she even know she was adopted?  These may end up to be two separate lines of investigation, but I'm intrigued by both.  I hope to find some answers. 

The line of descent is:

William Beeks-Mary Wise or Rauch
John Beeks-Elizabeth Wise
Wilbur Beeks-Cleo Aldridge
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants

Beeks and Harshbarger Christmas, 1918

Christmas 100 years ago...What was it like for those family members who were alive then?  In many ways, we can only guess whether they had a bountiful Christmas or were lucky to get (or give) an apple or orange.  But we do know they had family...Boy, did they have family! 

We can only begin to imagine Christmas Day in 1918 for Wilbur Beeks.  He was in Russia, and had been since early August, as part of what was supposed to be a second front against Germany but ended up being part of the Russian revolution.  By now, he had mostly recovered from his wounds received September 27, and was operating with his unit again.  We can only hope they had some pause for a Christmas celebration.  Wilbur's wife of a little over four years, Cleo Aldridge Beeks, had a little bundle of joy to enjoy at Christmas.  After having buried two babies, one in 1915 and one in 1916, Kenneth Eugene Beeks was having his first Christmas (he would have only one more) and enjoying the day as much as a baby of almost six months can. 

Cleo would have had her choice of places to celebrate.  I don't know where she was living then.  She may have lived in Andrews, as that is where the birth record for Kenneth states,.  If so, she could have been living the life of a single Mom while Wilbur was away.  Or she could have been living with her parents, Harvey and Margaret Catherine Dunham Aldridge. Harvey was 65 and his wife was 60.  In 1920, the Aldridges were living on Berry Street in Andrews, and Harvey was a laborer at the lumberyard.  The Aldridges were already raising two grandchildren, but probably would have had room for a daughter and grandson, too, if needed.  There were six surviving Aldridge children including Cleo, so the family gathering, wherever it was held, would have included many Aldridge grandchildren, nieces and nephews to Cleo.  Maybe she didn't have enough time to really miss her husband that day. 

Or she may have been staying with, or at least visiting, the home of her in-laws.  John, 51, and Elizabeth Wise Beeks, 48, that day.  In 1920, they were living on Main Street in Andrews, and he was a section man on the interurban line.  Two of their children, Charity and Chester (Bud) were living with them, as was David Wise, Elizabeth's father, who was 81 years old.  And there was another Beeks family member to visit, Mary Wise Beeks, Wilbur's grandmother, the widow of William Beeks. She was 78 years old, but lived in a home she owned on East Washington Street in Lagro.  Her son Martin lived with her.  Mary and William had several children, some still living, so presumably there was a large Beeks Christmas celebration somewhere.

One other thing about the Beeks Christmas celebration:  Cleo herself turned 22 on Christmas of 1918.

The Harshbargers in Whitley County also had lots and lots of family.  Grover Harshbarger by now was mostly recovered from the bout with "Spanish influenza" that had knocked him for a loop and out of the military earlier that year.  He may have been living with his father then, but by 1920 he was living with his sister Maud, her husband, daughter, son in law, grandchild, and at least two other lodgers, relationship not determined although another of the 'lodgers" had the surname Harshbarger.  Grover was a logger at a saw mill.  Both his parents, Emanuel and Clara Ellen Harter Harshbarger were still living. listed as in the same household, in Thorn Creek, Whitley County, Indiana.  (This was significant because there had been an earlier divorce action and I never found whether or not it was withdrawn,  Apparently it was.)  Emanuel was 64 and Clara was 61.  They had at least three other children still living, so if they hosted a Harshbarger family Christmas the farmhouse they lived in would have been crowded. 

Goldie Withers was 17 and single, likely living with her parents, William H and Della Kemery Withers.  Her sister Sue, three years older, was married but probably came home for Christmas.  By 1920, both girls were gone, but 1918 would have been a family year.  Della's parents were still alive and in Whitley County, too, and they have a large family.  Adam, 72, and Nancy Fanny Buchtel Kemery, also 72, were farmers in Columbia Township, Whitley County.  They had two adult children living with them in 1920, but others were grown and away from home so there were likely grandchildren at the Kemery household that day, too. 

All of the families I've visited here had good support systems.  In the case of Cleo Aldridge Beeks, that was probably needed and she learned her lessons well, as she cared for many aging relatives during her lifetime.  But Christmas 1918 for all would have been a time of hope, with the war (except for Wilbur and the thousands of others still fighting in Russia) over.  And one other thing-Christmas Day 1918 brought just a little bit of snow to northern Indiana, .6 of an inch but enough to qualify for a "White Christmas". 

Beeks line: Family Christmas, 1917 What was it like?

Christmas for the Beeks (and Aldridge) families, one hundred years ago, may not have been the wild extravaganza that many families are (almost) able to provide today.  But Christmas, after Jesus, if about family, andthe Aldridges and Beeks provided lots of family, even back then.

Wilbur and Cleo Beeks were the people I thought about when I started considering this post.  They were almost newlyweds, with no children, yet.  I think they still lived in Wabash county because that's where Wilbur was drafted from, a few months into 1918.  Wilbur's parents, John and Elizabeth Wise Beeks, were still living, as were Wilbur's paternal grandmother, Mary Wise, and maternal grandfather, David Wise.  All those Wise's can be pretty confusing, but I'm sure the family knew them as much by first name as by family name.

 William Beeks and Mary Wise had had 10 children, and I only have a death date for one of them. So Aunt Sarah and Aunt Rachel and Uncle George, and so on may have been at family gatherings of the Beeks family.  John Beeks and Elizabeth Wise and three children, and I think both Chester (Bud) and Charity were in the area, also.  I haven't tried to trace children for these aunts and uncles but it's a safe bet that at least some of them had children.

On the Aldridge side, Cleo's only direct ancestors living were her parents, Harvey and Margaret Catherine Dunham Aldridge.  However, at least five of Harvey's siblings were living, and there may have been Dunham siblings, also.  Cleo had five or possibly six siblings who were living at the time, mostly spread out between Huntington County and Tipton County.  Also Harvey and Margaret were raising two of their grandchildren, who would have been part of any Christmas celebration. 

I wish I knew how many, if any, of these families owned automobiles in 1917.  If they didn't own automobiles, it might have been difficult for some of the family members to get together, especially since Christmas Day in 1917 was rather cool.  It was fair and 35 degrees for a high according to the Fort Wayne Journal, which would not have been ideal weather for a horse and buggy ride, at least not a long ride.  And family members who came, or went, as far as Kempton probably would not have gone and come back the same day. . Because of these long distances, it may have been just as difficult to schedule holiday gatherings then as it is now, with our busy calendars and "exes" that have to be worked around. 

I wonder what the family did for entertainment, in the days before smart phones and television and even radio.  I know Cleo sang well.  Did other family members sing, and did the entire group join in singing the Christmas carols we still love so much?  Was sledding or ice skating a part of their day?  I'm positive that food was a large part of the day, and possibly liquid refreshment, also, at least for some of the men. 

Maybe there were family disagreements, and maybe there were things that the family just didn't talk about, but it seems likely that in 1918, the family would look back and realize what a good Christmas they had in 1917.  In 1918, Wilbur was fighting in Russia, Bud was just getting home from the war, and I'm sure there were other family members who were also affected by World War I  Also the flu epidemic of 1918 was still to come, and there were other challenges as well. 

In retrospect, it seems that Christmas 1917 would have been a very good year. 

I'd love to hear from family members who can tell us more about Christmas in 1917.  There must be family stories floating around and I'd love to hear them! 

Beeks line: Christopher Beeks, Immigrant

How did I miss writing about Christopher, who as far as we know now is the immigrant ancestor in the Beeks line?  If this is a repeat post, I do apologize but neither my hand written list nor my search function is turning up a post about him.  Maybe I was waiting to try to pin down more details about him.  As it is, there is too much of his life that is still a mystery, but since I am winding down on this process of writing about the immigrants in the Beeks family, it's possibly now or never.

We don't know much about Christopher's early life.  He is traditionally given a birth date of 1756 and it's said he lived in either Leicestershire or Lancastershire in England, born of parents yet undiscovered.  We don't really know if either of these locations is correct, but the first thing we do know of him is that he was in trouble-big trouble.

Life in England in 1770 was, shall we say, difficult.  Jobs were lacking, education was lacking, food was lacking and law enforcement was lacking.  George III was already King of England, but he was not a forceful nor a temperate king, and his officials were, for the most part, out to get what they could for themselves, with no compassion at all for the poor.  We don't know what Christopher's family situation was, but at 14 he was out on his own, just as many of his contemporaries were.  Christopher had the bad luck to be caught, or at least accused and found guilty, of "assault on highway".  This was from Manchester, Lancashire, England, but doesn't necessarily mean that's where his home was, as young men (and he was young, just about 14 at this time).

Some say he was sentenced to death by hanging and then reprieved, to be sent to America as an indentured servant, a dumping ground for "criminals" for either 7 or 14 years, again, depending on the source.  I have yet to find records of his master, or for that matter, of the ship he came on.

When the Revolutionary War broke out, Christopher was quite happy to side with the American colonists who wanted their freedom.  He enlisted in March of  1777 and served for at least three years in various Virginia Regiments, primarily the 8th and then the 12th.  There is evidence that the unit he served with went through that hard winter at Valley Forge, and I haven't yet found anything that says he was furloughed during that time (the next winter, 1778, yes, he was furloughed for part of that time, but not the 1777-78 winter).  So we can believe that he was there during that difficult winter, that he would have had ample chances to have seen George Washington, and that he survived the winter in good enough shape to continue soldiering.

We know that he served three years because in 1783 he was given a land warrant for 100 acres of land, and that is the amount of land that privates received for three years of service.  Christopher didn't hold onto this land, though, because there was some problem with the tax collector not recording the taxes due and so Christopher, along with several others, lost their land.  We don't know for sure where he lived when the war started, nor where he settled after the war.

We do know he married Catherine Barnes, who was the daughter of John Barnes and possibly Elizabeth, and we know they lived in western Virginia, variously listed as Augusta and then Berkeley County.  They had at least ten children together, with the first known birth date of 1787, so perhaps they married in 1785 or 1786.  No record has yet been located of this event, to the best of my knowledge.  By 1790, he was running a pub or tavern and was soon in debt.  He is found in various counties in Virginia until about 1811, when the family went to Xenia, Greene County, Ohio.  His widow remarried in September of 1814 so Christopher had died before then. Catherine's children would have been teenagers and older at this point, so perhaps they no longer lived at home.

This is as much as we know about Christopher.  He had a rough start in life and it appears that economically, he suffered for that through most of his life.  He struggled to support his ten children, he lost his land and his business, and he may have had life long physical problems because of his time in the service of his new country.  It's easy to feel sorry for Christopher.  But we should also feel proud.  He loved his new country well enough to fight for it for three years, and continued, in other ways, the struggle to give his children a better start in life than he had  He must have felt joy that his children would not have to commit crimes in order to eat, and that they had the freedom to go wherever on this continent they wanted to go.  Christopher Beeks, thank you for your service and for all the sacrifices you made!

The line of descent is:

Christopher Beeks-Catherine Barnes
William Beeks-Mary Elizabeth Nimerick
John Beeks-Polly Carter
William Beeks-Mary Wise
John Beeks-Elizabeth Wise
Wilbur Beeks-Cleo Aldridge
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants

Beeks line: Thomas Page 1595-1676

I'm going to do a dangerous thing here, and write a little bit about an ancestor who hasn't been researched much.  At least, he hasn't been researched enough for the genealogy world to come to a consensus about who he is. 

Still, he's a good reminder that the Beeks family is made up of so many different kinds of people, who came from so many different places and so many different walks of life . Since there are still brick walls there may yet be more surprises for this family.  Today I'm writing about Thomas Page, who was born about 1595 in England and died March 10, 1676 in Rappahannock County.  I do have notes in my files as to the possible identity of his parents, but I am not sure enough about them to list them here.  Likewise, I have a name for a wife but she was about 30 years younger than he was so while it's possible that his wife was Elizabeth Allen, she surely would not have been his first wife since daughter Mary was born just 6 years after Elizabeth.  I've found a reference that says his wife was Elizabeth Finch Allen, and was born in 1607, but again, I'm not finding the documents or supporting evidence. 

What we do think we know about Thomas is that he came to America in 1650.  THe record I'm looking at sas he was "granted" land several times.  Only one of those times was the number of acres a nice, even number that would indicate possibly he had head rights for bringing 12 persons from home, or elsewhere, to work in the colony.  Also one listing includes 600 acres but is dated 12 plus years after Thomas died.  Either this land went to a different Thomas Page, or it could be that it was a delayed entry kind of thing.  The land he acquired included a parcel of 281 1/2 acres on the south side of Rappa River, another 600 acres on the south side of Rappahannock River, another 3075 acres in the same general location, and then 783 acres, and finally a second entry for 600 acres.  His will is said to be missing so we don't know how he disposed of it, or what other assets he may have had.

I have found reference to him as a colonel but I'm not sure what the basis for that is.  His death date is given as March 10, 1676 in Rappahannock County, and that's as much as most of the genealogy world seems to know about Thomas.  We know from earlier reading that if this is one Thomas Page who owned all this land, he must have been a tobacco farmer and probably a fairly well to do man at that.  The strong suspicion is that he would have had slaves or indentured servants, or both, to work the fields.  His home may have been fairly substantial, for the time and place, and he would most likely have belonged to the Church of England, like most of his neighbors. 

Thomas's heritage interests me, and the heritage he left his family is interesting, too.  Virginia planters were not at all common in the Beeks family, especially those who had a military rank like "Colonel".  I hope we can find more information about him!

The line of descent is believed to be

Thomas Page-Elizabeth
Mary Page-Valentine Allen
William Allen-Mary Hunt
Francis Allen-Peter Lehew
William Lehew-Hannah
Mary Lehew-William Featheringill
Elizabeth Featheringill-George Botkin
Charity Botkin-Jackson Wise
Mary Wise-William Beeks
John Beeks-Eliabeth Wise
Wilbur Beeks-Cleo Aldridge
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants

Beeks line: Hugh Donaghe, dates unclear, Immigrant

Hugh Dunaghe or Donaho is the last Beeks ancestor I have on the family tree.  I hope I can find more ancestors  to write about, and I hope I can find more about this man than I have right now.  The information I have is sketchy, but interesting. 

As you might guess, Hugh's last name, Donaghe, or Donaho, seems to indicate an Irish origin.  The sketchy and undocumented information that I have says that Hugh was born about 1680, In Kilkeel, County Down, Ireland . Kilkeel is a small town on the east coast of Northern Ireland, and their principal industry is fishing.  I'm not sure whether that fits with what is known about our Hugh, but of course there would have been other occupations, too, for someone had to feed and clothe the fishermen of the time. 

He is believed to have married someone named Elizabeth about 1700, possibly in Chester County, Pennsylvania, about 1700, shortly before his father John died in 1705.  The location for John's death is given as Virginia, but again, that seems very sketchy.  The only child of Hugh and Elizabeth that I can locate is Dianna, who married Thomas Hicklin in about 1723.  So Dianna would have been born about the turn of the 18th century. 

I suspect that Hugh and Elizabeth had at least one other child, a son named Hugh.  There are records in Augusta County, Virginia referring to a Hugh Donague, and that Hugh died in 1773.  I suspect that this record is not for our Hugh, and I suspect that military records for Thomas and Charles Donaho, as early as the 1740s in Virginia, may also belong to sons or other relatives of this man. 

Land records as late as 1774 mention Hugh.  If this is our Hugh, he had land, 277 acres on "the south side of the North RIver of Shando".  It's possible that the deed wasn't filed until after Hugh's death, because up to that point there had been no need to file a deed.  There is also a record of Hugh witnessing a land deed several years after our Hugh's death, so it seems that whether or not they were father and son, they were surely two different people.  Perhaps our Hugh never made it to the Shenandoah Valley.

That is as much information or speculation as I have for Hugh.  It  certainly isn't much to go on but because the Beeks family doesn't have much known Irish ancestry, I thought it was worthwhile to at least mention the man.  Perhaps there are more records waiting to be found, and if we are lucky enough to find them, I'll post them at a later date. 

The line of descent is

Hugh Donaghe-Elizabeth
Dianna Donaghe-Thomas Hicklin
Dinah or Delilah Hicklin- James Bodkin
George Bodkin-Elizabeth "Fannie" Featheringill
Charity Botkin-Jackson Wise
Mary Wise-William Beeks
John Beeks-Elizabeth Wise
Wilbur Beeks-Cleo Aldridge
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants

Beeks line: Henry (Heinrich) Harshbarger, Immigrant

I put the Heinrich in the title of this blog post so it would attract your attention.  That was his name when he was born in about 1740 in Eppstein, Germany, but by the time of his death in 1788 he had traveled to the New World, seen the Revolutionary War, and gone from Pennsylvania to the Shenandoah Valley.

I'm not sure who Henry's parents were.  Many sites list them as Christian and Caroline Funk Harshbarger but I think they were a little too young to be Jacob's parents.  A more likely candidate would be Jacob and Maria Catherine (maiden name unknown), who were born about 1698 and 1699 respectively.  This is not documented, or at least I don't have the documentation, so please be cautious about totally discarding Christian and Caroline or adding Jacob and Maria Catherine from or to your tree.  His parents really are unknown.

However, Eppstein, Germany is not unknown.  It is only a few miles from Wiesbaden, and the pictures on Google of the old part of the city show a typical medieval town, absolutely breathtaking in its beauty.  We don't know what kind of life Heinrich would have had there.  He is said to have been a Mennonite.  Eppstein became Protestant during the Reformation, but that doesn't mean the Mennonites were treated well.  Most areas of Germany relegated them to day labor type jobs, and taxed them heavily.  They were, for the most part, marginalized and they found leaving the area the only way they could practice their faith and build a better life for their families. Heinrich married Elizabeth Stauffer, daughter of Johannes Stauffer, who was born about 1740.  Judging from the birth dates of their children, the marriage probably took place in about 1764.  The Stauffer family was also Mennonite.

Heinrich didn't come to America until 1768, although Christian and two of his brothers, Jacob and Caspar, had arrived in 1749.  Perhaps Heinrich stayed behind to care for an ailing parent, or perhaps the family fortune had been used to send the three older brothers to Pennsylvania and it took a while for Heinrich to earn his own way.  He is believed to have settled first in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and then in Frederick County, Maryland, where he bought land in 1774 and sold it in 1785, before finally going to Shenandoah Valley, Virginia.  This was a common migration route for the Germans at the time. We don't know if he sold his land and moved, or if he moved and then sold his land.  It appears that Elizabeth may have died about 1782.  Henry married Barbara, the widow of Jacob Pence on December 30, 1785 in Shenandoah County.    .

He left a will that was written in German, and appears to omit his three oldest children (who may have received land or money earlier).  Barbara's will mentions Mary Harshbarger, who had married Henry's son Jacob in 1786.  They were step-siblings when they married.

So to the very rich Beeks heritage of early Massachusetts settlers, Welsh Quakers, early Dutch settlers, Scots-Irish, and French Huguenots, we now add German and (probably) Swiss Mennonites.  It's quite a family!

The line of descent is:

Henry Harshbarger-Elizabeth Stauffer
Jacob Harshbarger-Mary Pence
Elizabeth Harshbarger-Jacob Wise
Jackson Wise-Charity Botkin
Mary Wise-William Beeks
John Beeks-Elizabeth Wise
Wilbur Beeks-Cleo Aldridge
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger

Note:  As far as I can determine, the line of Cleveland Harshbarger and the line of Henry Harshbarger don't connect, at least as far back as 1650.  But since both families apparently come from the same small village in Switzerland, there is probably a connection back further than that. 

Beeks line: Johann Jacob Bentz 1727-1778

I've been trying to learn about Jacob Bentz or Pence, and the first thing I learned is that there are a lot of men by the name of Jacob Bentz or Pence in the same locations and the same time frame.  So I'm going to go mainly by what I've found in other's people's research.  I hope they have figured it out correctly! 

Bentz families were in Philadelphia by at least 1727.  I haven't found anything that ties our family to any of the earlier arrivals, but the possibility exists that they are relatives, at least some of them.  Our Jacob was baptized December 8,1727 in the Reformed Church at Iggelheim, Pfalz, Bayern in what became Germany.  He was the son of Johann George and Anna Barbara Bullinger Bentz.  Iggelheim appears to be a village in southwest Germany, not far from other areas where our German families emigrated.  It is a town that suffered serious loss in the Thirty Years War and was probably still struggling to recover as the Bentz family made the decision to move to America.

Jacob's father, Georg, and at least two of his brothers traveled together on the ship Phoenix, which landed in Philadelphia September 15, 1749. (I am not writing this post about Georg because there is no record of him after his arrival here.  We know he was a shoemaker by trade. It's possible that he lived with one of his sons but it is believed he didn't survive long in the New World. Many seem to think he died in 1749, but I've seen no proof of that.)

Jacob settled in the Hawksbill area of the Shenandoah Valley.  We're not sure just when he arrived there.  There are military records for a Jacob Pence who served in 1757 in Captain Hog's Company of Rangers. Our Jacob would have been of the right age to be this Jacob.  We know our Jacob called himself Jacob Pence, and that is the name used in the records.  So possibly our Jacob had military service in the French and Indian War, although none of the sites I'm looking at it have claimed military service for Jacob. 


One tree I've seen gives his wife a name, Christine Barbara Willrett.  There is no documentation, but it says they married in 1756.  If this is true, then there must have been a first wife, for three sons were born before this marriage.  I've also seen a marriage date of "about 1745".  I'd love to hear from someone who knows more about Jacob and can give some insight about his wife or wives.

We do know he had ten children, and that Jacob didn't leave the Shenandoah Valley after he arrived there.  He died on or before October 29, 1778 in Shenandoah County, Virginia.  As a typical German in this area, he would have farmed and perhaps had a "side trade", but that is all I really can say about the life he led here.  He was working too hard to leave paper records, apparently. 

That's not a lot of information for a blog post, but it gives us something of a feel for the man and his life. We can say beyond a doubt that he worked hard, and that he defended his adopted country, whether he was the Jacob Pence who saw in Captain Hog's company, or whether he stayed home to protect his family.  He's another of the mostly unrecognized men whose pioneer work led to our country's formation.  Thank you, Jacob Pence!

The line of descent is:

Jacob Pence-Barbara
Mary Pence-Jacob Harshbarger
Elizabeth Harshbarger-Jacob Wise
Jackson Wise-Charity Botkin
Mary Wise-William Beeks
John Beeks-Elizabeth Wise
Wilbur Beeks-Cleo Aldridge
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants

Beeks lines: "Bits and Pieces from my Andrews research"

Most of my very few readers know that I am currently reading newspapers for a possible second book about Andrews history.  I am fortunate in that while I am reading Huntington, Indiana newspapers I occasionally come across some articles that "fill in the blanks", or at least a few of them, about the Beeks family.  Maybe everyone(!) who reads this post will already know this information, but it was all news to me. 

First, a little on the light hearted side, Wilbur Beeks seemed to get called for jury duty with great regularity.  I don't know what happened, but in May of 1941, when he was again called for grand jury duty, he apparently asked to be excused.  I don't know whether this was the first time, or what the reason was, but here's what the Huntington Herald Press said on May 18,1941:

"TWO GRAND JURORS EXCUSED BY JUDGE

Remaining Xis Expected to meet Thursday, 9 A.M.

William E Norris, Jackson township farmer and Wilbur Beeks, of Andrews, members of the Huntington county grand jury, have been excused from serving in the session set to begin Thursday, 9 a.m. (cdwt) according to entries made on the court record by Judge Otto H. Krieg. 

The entries set out that the men presented "good and sufficient reason" and accordingly were excused. 

The riding bailiff has summoned Ora Baker, Jefferson township, to take Beeks place.

Beeks, seventh man drawn for the April term grand jury, was summoned when Norris was excused.  When Beeks was excused the eighth and last man was summoned..."  So, what was the good and sufficient reason, I wonder?

Now, to information that was to me both interesting and sad, besides being new to me.  The first was an article from the same Newspaper of November 7,1941 headed "John Wise Dies at Home of Nephew in Andrews."  Briefly, it told the story of John Wise who had died at the home of Wilbur Beeks, with whom he had lived for some time. I've never heard of this man, other than that he was the son of David and Matilda Martin Wise, so I had to go out looking for information.  He was not to be found in the 1900 census, at least not that I recognized, but in 1910, 1920, and 1930 he was listed as a farm worker.  In 1910 and 1920 he apparently worked on the farm of two sisters (not his) in Lagro Township, wabash County, and in 1930 he was a laborer already living with Wilbur (and Cleo) Beeks.  Perhaps the two women he worked for had died, as they were considerably older than he was.  He lived with the Beeks family for at least 10 years and possibly longer, until his death at age 69.  The only other named relatives were his nephew Chester Beeks of Chicago, and his niece Mrs. Charity Carpenter, also of Chicago.  I learned from the census that he had a seventh grade education and could read and write. 

There are those living who could tell more of John's story.  I'd like to know more about him.  For instance, I didn't find him in a WW I draft registration index.  Was he simply too old to be drafted?  What about the Spanish American War?  I have no reason to think he served in the military, but it's possible.  Did he have some physical handicap that kept him from living a more expansive life, or was he simply a happy go lucky man who didn't have a lot of ambition?  And what was he like?  There will soon be no one left to remember him, and I'd like to know his story.

Finally, there was another obituary, which had some surprising information.  Printed in the November 29, 1940 Huntington Herald Press there was an obituary for Mrs. Dorothy O. Huston.  She was the daughter of Harvey and Margaret Aldridge, and the sister of Cleo Beeks, among others.  She died at the age of 46 after having been in failing health for several sears, and being bedfast for two years. 

Survivors included her husband, Frank, four daughters, four sons, four grandchildren, two brothers and two sisters.  Three sons preceded her in death.  What surprised me was the number of children, and also the fact that I think I knew some of them.  Mrs. Doris Reynold of Lagro and Roy Huston were the two who appear to have established their own households.  Vivian, Bernetta, Lois, Alven, Marvin and Walter all lived at home.  Brother Frank Aldridge lived in Wabash and Samuel Aldridge in Midland, Michigan.  Sisters were Mrs. Cleo Beeks of Andrews and Mrs. Stella (should be Della) Harrell of Lancaster township. 

I'm coming to the conclusion that there are a lot more cousins out there than I knew about.  I know a Beeks reunion would be very large, but an Aldridge reunion would be awesome!!  And all this news was because I read some newspapers.

Beeks line: Elizabeth Harshbarger Phillips Wise Williams

What's a Harshbarger name doing in the Beeks family tree, one might reasonably ask?  After all, this family (descendants of my husband and his siblings) already have a line that goes back to the late 15th century in Bern Canton, Switzerland.  Why would I write about a Harshbarger, under the Beeks heading?  It's simple, really.

Elizabeth Harshbarger was the wife of Jacob Wise, who was the father of Jackson Wise, so she belongs in the Beeks family.  Her family has been traced all the way back to Bern Canton, Switzerland, also, to some of the same villages as the Harshbarger line.  Here's the confusing thing.  So far, I have not been able to make a connection between the two lines.  Maybe the connection is far back in the murkiest of times, but surely there is a connection somewhere.  Those villages were quite small and the choice of spouses was just not that large!

What we know of Elizabeth is that she was one of those true pioneer women who helped the men build this country.  Elizabeth's life story is not as dramatic as some, but she had and apparently survived three husbands, so she had to make many adjustments in her life.  Also she lived in several different locations, from Virginia (now West Virginia) to two or three places in Ohio to possibly Indiana. 

Elizabeth was born in 1790 to Jacob and Mary Pence (Bentz) Harshbarger.  She had one brother, Henry, who was born about 1789.   Her mother apparently died early, although I have not yet searched for divorce records.  Jacob married again later to Mary Magdalene Koenig and later yet to Barbara Bushong.  There were several more children born but I'm not sure which children belonged to which mother.  Regardless, Elizabeth, as the oldest daughter, would have been expected to help care for the younger children, until she herself married at the age of 18, in Culpeper County, Virginia to George Phillips.  She and George had four children together. 

I'm not sure when the Phillips family moved to Ohio because the next we hear of Elizabeth she is a widow, with Jacob Wise being appointed the guardian for the children.  Jacob and Elizabeth were married July 29, 1817 in Montgomery County, Ohio. Jacob died about 1829, after apparently having only one child, Jackson.  Elizabeth is found in the 1830 census for Bath Township, Greene County, Ohio with just herself and a male aged 10-14 (probably Jackson).  I don't know what had happened to the Phillips children.

She remarried in 1832 to Thomas Williams, also in Bath township, Greene County, Ohio. 
I have no record that she had children with him, but she would have been 42 years old, so there may or may not have been children. 

After that, I lose track of Elizabeth.  There are several Thomas and Elizabeth Williams couples in the 1850 census but nothing that makes sense in term of ages and locations.  I need to keep searching to learn what happened to Elizabeth.  I have seen a report on an online tree that she died in 1866 in Lafayette Township, Allen County, Indiana but I have yet to follow up on that report.  I would certainly like to learn more about her later life.  If she did die in 1866 and it was in Allen County, Indiana then perhaps her son Jackson, in Wabash County, was able to see her in her last years.  It's nice to think that happened, but even if I locate death records for her, we're unlikely to know whether she and Jackson stayed in touch. 

I would love to write more about this woman but first I have to learn more.  For some reason, she's one of those who have captured my interest, and I want to learn more about her.  If someone out there knows more about Elizabeth, or can correct something I've written, I'd sure love to hear from you. 

The line of descent is:

Jacob Wise-Elizabeth Harshbarger
Jackson Wise-Charity Botkin
Mary Wise-William Beeks
John Beeks-Elizabeth Wise
Wilbur Beeks-Cleo Aldridge
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants

Beeks line: Jackson Wise 1817-1893

Jackson Wise may or may not be the biological ancestor of those in the Beeks family.  But he was certainly part of the family, known as Dad, Grandpa, and Uncle to the Beeks family, and they must have known his story at one time.  We don't know much of his story particularly after he came to Wabash County, but I'm learning more.  T.J. Hunnicutt, the archivist at the Wabash County Historical Museum, has been sending me copies of the "rather large file" about Jackson that he has there.  While I may or may not share all of it, one of the first items he sent me answers an important question:  How did Jackson Wise die?

This is from a typed copy of an article taken from the Wabash Daily Plain Dealer of Monday Evening, March 6, 1893, page 4 column 3. 

"Died From His Injuries"

"Jack Wise, a noted character living about two miles southwest of Lincolnville, died at his home Saturday from internal injuries sustained Thursday of last week while assisting a horse which had fallen in his stable to arise.  The horse was on his back and was wedged in the stall.  A rope was tied around the animal's neck in order to pull him around.  Mr. Wise was behind the horse and he kicked back with one foot striking him in the stomach with the above result.  Wise was picked up and assisted to his house where he lingered in great pain until death came to his relief.  the funeral occurred Sunday morning at 10o'clock. Burial in Center Grove Cemetery."

I'm looking forward to learning more about the reasons "Jack" was considered a "noted character", I think.  I'm also wondering why there would be a funeral at church service time on a Sunday morning.  Maybe that's when the family could be there, or the preacher was available because he didn't have services until a little later in the day.  I don't recall seeing many Sunday 10 a.m. funerals, though, even in that time period.  As often happens, answering one question generates more questions. 

The line of descent is:

Jackson Wise-Charity Botkin
Mary Wise-William Beeks
John Beeks-Elizabeth Wise
Wilbur Beeks-Cleo Aldridge
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants

Beeks line: Valentine Allen 1630-1712 Immigrant

I've spent considerable time in my genealogy life looking at this family and trying to work out a connection to the James Allen in my line, not realizing that I needed to be interested in Valentine because he was in the Beeks line, whether or not he is also in the Allen line.  I'm finding there is a lot of conflicting information about this Valentine, and perhaps there is more than one person with the name Valentine Allen.  This will just be a brief description of what seems to be proven and what is questionable, and hopefully as time goes on someone will find the smoking gun that proves or disproves the questionable "facts".

Everyone seems to agree that Valentine was born in either 1630   No one seems to agree on where that birth took place, nor on whom the two participants in that birth were.  Many sites say he was born at "Isle of Wight, Virginia" to John and Catherine Mayor Allen.  I don't think the birth location is correct because I found records for his arrival in Virginia in 1650, as a headright for John Catlett and Ralph Rousey.  Of course, it's possible that he was born in Virginia and sent back to England to be raised if, in fact, his mother's death date is also 1630, as I have frequently seen listed, but with no documentation.  At any rate, we know he was in Virginia, in what was then Northumberland County, in 1650.

Arriving as a headright meant Valentine would have had to work for several years, usually three or four, either for the men who brought him over or for someone else who bought his services for that time period.  He was a young and apparently strong man, for he survived all the dangers and diseases of early Virginia and lived to marry Mary Page, daughter of Thomas Page in 1655, and to raise a family.  The most consistent notes I find indicate that their children were Samuel, Reynolds, William, Richard, Christine or Christian, Judith, and Valentine.  There may also have been a Susannah, although her birth date as given would be outside the 1654-1671 birthdates of the other children by several years. 

Valentine and Mary deeded land that Mary had inherited from her father Thomas to two of their children in 1689.  Or perhaps the first gift, to Elizabeth, was a daughter from an earlier marriage of Mary's, for she is not mentioned in the above listing of children. The second gift was to their daughter Christian married to Richard Dyson.  Each of these gifts was for 451 acres. 

I haven't located a will for Valentine yet.  I'm guessing he owned more land than the 902 acres accounted for by his marriage to Mary Page.  I'm also guessing this meant he owned slaves to work his land.  I would love to find the will and I'd love to find more about him, especially to see whether any of his grandchildren or great grandchildren would turn out to be James, of the Allen line. 

The Beeks line of descent appears to be:

Valentine Allen-Mary Page
William Allen-Mary Hunt
Francis Allen-Peter Lehew
William Lehew-Hannah
Mary Lehew-William Featheringill
Elizabeth Featheringill-George Botkin
Charity Botkin-Jackson Wise
Mary Wise-William Beeks
John Beeks-Elizabeth Wise
Wilbur Beeks-Cleo Aldridge

I would love to hear from anyone who is working on this family.  Also, please remember that Mary Wise may not be a Wise at all but this is what her legal family would look like. 

Beeks line: Thomas Hicklin 1689-1772 Probable Immigrant

The origins of the Hicklin family are not clear.  It is possible they were Scotch-Irish, meaning the family moved from Scotland to Ireland and stayed there for some time, most likely generations, before they moved on to America.  There was a John Hicklin in Chester County, Pennsylvania as early as 1702, but as far as I know no one has definitely been able to tie John to Thomas. 

The first that is actually heard of Thomas, however, is in Chester County, Pennsylvania in 1734.  He had married Dianna Donaghe, daughter of Hugh Donaghe and Elizabeth, about 1723 but the location is unknown.  In 1734, he received a grant for 120 acres in Chester County and was still there ten years later, as evidenced by an advertisement in Benjamin Franklin's Pennsylvania Gazette. 

Thomas purchased land on the Bullpasture River in Augusta County, Virginia on January 6, 1756.  The family was  there earlier as Thomas had been directed to work on a road crew in 1753.  Historically, this was just before the outbreak of the French and Indian war, and Hugh was found on the rolls of the Highland Fort in 1757.  (The only reference to a fort that I could find for this location and time period was Fort George, and the marker for that says that this fort never came under direct attack.  I don't know about the settlers who lived nearby.  They would have been fortunate indeed to have survived unscathed.)

By 1766, Thomas was aging.  He would have been about 77 by now, and was excused from head tax due to his age.  He sold some of his land to son Thomas Hicklin Jr in 1770 and died probably at the end of 1771, as his will was proved January 11, 1772.  There is no mention of his wife in the transcription I saw of the will, although it appears she didn't die until later in the year.  Perhaps a child was already caring for her.  Also, a comment is made that he signed his will with an "X", but not a rough X as the illiterate did.  This one had extra garnishes, making it appear that he was possibly using the "X" because he was too weak to sign his whole name, yet making it evident that he had at least some education. 

Thomas and Dianna's children known by his will are Hugh, John, Thomas, Rosannah (Johnson), Jane (Laferty), Dinah (Botkin) and Sarah (Black), born from about 1725 to 1740 in Chester County. 

This is what is known of Thomas and his family.  He is one of the mostly anonymous people who settled this country, raised his family and protected them by arms when needed, and, in death, is known mostly by his will and his children.  His heritage is one of hard work and family values, and we could use more of that today. 

The line of descent is:

Thomas Hicklin-Dianna Donaghe
Dinah Hicklin-James Botkin
George Botkin-Elizabeth Featheringill
Charity Botkin-Jackson Wise
Mary Wise-William Beeks
John Beeks-Elizabeth Wise
Wilbur Beeks-Cleo Aldridge
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants

Beeks line:George Featheringill 1710-1767 Immigrant

Little is known about immigrant George, possibly because "Featheringill" can be spelled in so many different ways that it is possible to look at his very records and just not recognize the name, because it was recorded so differently from the way it was carried down through the generations.  And sometimes, someone takes a different spelling of the name and believes it is this George when it may not be.  A case in point:  "George Fotheringham" married Elizabeth Marie Hather in Fleet Street Prison in 1731, and this George has been identified as George Featheringill.  It's possible, but I've not seen the proof nor even clues as to why these two men are identified as one and the same. 

He was probably born about 1719, and possibly in Yorkshire, England although that is conjecture.  All we know for sure is that George came to America from somewhere, and was in the Shenandoah Valley as early as 1737.  His wife's name was Elizabeth, and many are identifying her as Elizabeth Marie Settlemire.  Again, I haven't found documentation for that, so take it with a grain of salt.  George and Elizabeth had at least five children, most if not all born in Virginia. 

George died in 1767 in Frederick/Shenandoah County, Va.  (The family farms were near the border of the two counties and it's hard to separate them as events were recorded in both counties.)  Elizabeth had died three years earlier, in 1764. The life they lived was very similar to that of the Scotch-Irish who populated this region so heavily.  Whether one or both of the couple had those origins, I don't know, but at least knowing what their neighbors were like gives us something of a feel for how they lived.  It was a hard, pioneer life, with log cabin homes, farming as an occupation, and possibly whiskey-making to generate a little bit of cash. 

I know a little bit more about George's son William, and will probably write about him at some time in the future.  For now, this gives us a starting point to research George further, and at least gets his name on the family tree.  Again, this is an ancestor in Mary Wise's line, and may not be her birth family line. 

The line of descent is

George Featheringill-Elizabeth
William Featheringill-Mary Lehew
Elizabeth "Fannie" Featheringill-George Bodkin
Charity Bodkin-Jackson Wise
Mary Wise-William Beeks
John Beeks-Elizabeth Wise
Wilbur Beeks-Cleo Aldridge
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger

Beeks line: Richard Bodkin 1710-1773 Immigrant?

Richard Bodkin may or may not be the immigrant ancestor for his line.  No one seems to know for sure where he was born, but it seems to be either Pennsylvania/Virginia or Galway, Ireland.  There were several Bodkin families in America by the late 1600's, and there were also several families by that name in Ireland in the same time frame.  Many of the Irish people came to America as political and religious challenges from the British made life difficult in Ireland, and that motivation would have been in place for more than a few years. 

So, about the only thing we can say for sure at this point is that Richard was likely either Irish or of Irish extraction.  We can guess that he was Protestant only because the great majority of people who settled where he did were Protestant, many of them Presbyterian.  We don't even know his wife's name, although it is believed to be either Elizabeth or Jane, or possibly he was married more than once.  With so many questions, why am I writing about Richard?

Fortunately, a lot of good people have worked to find some of the details of his life and have been willing to put it on line.  The most complete story is found at ourtexasfamily.com website, under the Bodkin-Smith Family.  There are pictures of family documents there, and maps, and it's worth your while to go there to find out more.  As usual, I am only providing highlights of what is known and am not providing as much information as I could. 

Richard is known to have been settled in Augusta (later Highland County) County, Virginia by 1750, when he had a patent for 339 acres of land on Clover Creek, which was a branch of the Cowpasture River.  The next year, he signed a petition for a road from "Walles Asterns mill to road on head of Cowpasture" and was assigned to work on the road. In 1756, he was on a list of tithables, which only means that he had to pay a tax to the Anglican church.  It doesn't necessarily mean he belonged to the church.  I have seen him referred to as both a captain and a private in the Virginia militia about this same time.  Likely he is the captain and a son or nephew is the private. 

This reminds us that this part of the country was very much frontier country.  The battles of the French and Indian War were about to take place, and military protection was sometimes far away.  This was a time of fear and hardship, with many families leaving for sanctuary and traveling east, but we have no indication that Richard left, or that he sent his family away. 

Many of Richard's sons later moved westward, to what is now Highland County, Virginia, but it's not clear whether Richard went also or whether he stayed in his original home.  He died about 1773.  So far I haven't found a will for him.  He is believed to have had at least five sons, born from roughly 1734 to 1744.  It's possible there were more children, including daughters, but I've not found a reliable source yet.  Also, Richard had brothers who settled in the same general area so figuring out which Bodkin belonged to which is difficult.  To make matters worse, some of the family, somewhere along the line, changed the spelling to Botkin or Botkins. 

The brief picture we have of Richard is as a hard working husband and father, frontiersman, Appalachian, and soldier.  Even though we don't know anything more at this point, that is enough to be proud of, and to be grateful that men like Richard helped shape our country.

The line of descent is:

Richard Bodkin-Elizabeth or Jane
James Bodkin-Diannah or Delilah Hicklin
George Bodkin-Elizabeth Featheringill
Charity Botkin-Jackson Wise
Mary Wise-William Beeks
John Beeks-Elizabeth Wise
Wilbur Beeks-Cleo Aldridge
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants

Note:  As a reminder, Mary Wise may have been adopted.  But these are the people she would have learned about, and to her, these would have been "her people". 

Beeks line: Johann Jacob Weber 1694-1744 Immigrant

Here's another Beeks ancestor who came from Germany. I don't know much about him yet but his is the start of another American success story, if raising a family in colonial Pennsylvania, with descendants down to this day is a success story. 

Jacob was born December 27, 1694 in Hinzweiler, Rhine-Pfalz, of what became Germany.  His parents were Hans Jacob Weber and Maria Margaretha Ring, and he had at least four sisters and one brother.  The only other clue I have about his early life is that when he married in 1720, it was in the Reformed Church in Hinzweiler, meaning it was neither Catholic nor Lutheran, but more Calvinistic in its beliefs.  The area had suffered during the Thirty Years War but had always been a very small village, with population never going above 400.  It must have been a hard life, but perhaps it was also a good life, in the little settlement. 

Jacob's wife was Anna Cecelia Reichard, also from Hinzweiler.  Her parents were Dieterich Reichard and Maria Saloma last name unknown.  It isn't known when the family emigrated to America.  Jacob died here in 1744, so the date would have been earlier than that.  Apparently the children were all born in Germany, with the last of at least three (I suspect there are more) born in 1735.  So immigration would have come between those two dates, except that I haven't found a Johann Jacob or a Jacob Weber listed in the immigration or naturalization records for that time period. 

And that is as much as I know about Jacob at this point.  He reportedly died in Springfield Township, Bucks or Delaware County, in 1744.  We need to determine which area he lived in, for the two townships are a considerable distance apart. One was relatively close to Philadelphia and one was on the frontier, which would mean families in the two areas would have had different concerns.  I tend to think it was in Bucks county, due to family marriages, but that is just a guess at this point.

So here is the bare beginnings of the story of Jacob Weber.  I'd like to find out more in order to give the man the recognition he deserves, but this is a start.  If someone reading this knows just one little bit of information that I haven't yet located, I'd love it if you would share it with me!

The line of descent is:

Jacob Weber-Anna Cecelia Reichard
Maria Charlotta Weber-Andreas Raub
Charlotte Raub-Johan Jacob Weiss
Andrew Wise-Mary Serfass
David Wise-Matilda Martin
Elizabeth Wise-John W Beeks
Wilbur Beeks-Cleo Aldridge
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants

Beeks line: Nicholas Lehew 1656-1719 Immigrant to Virginia

Nicholas Lehew's origins are a mystery.  Some say he was from France and a Huguenot, some say he was English in origin.  So far as I'm aware, no one has found a document that proves his origins, or his family.  The first we know of him is in 1670, when he is in Northumberland County, Virginia, and is an indentured servant to Mr. Leonard Howson, and adjudged by the courts to be fourteen years of age.  Leonard Howson was only 7 years older than Nicholas, so it's a matter for speculation as to how Mr. Howson acquired the means to support a servant, and what the relationship between the two men was.  Were they friends, or were they merely master and servant?  It is to be hoped that the two men got along, because Nicholas's indenture was likely for seven years, until he turned 21.

It seems that Nicholas must have spent his post -indenture time wisely, because in 1699 and 1701 he was a bondsman and a witness, respectively, to wills written by neighbors.  He must have earned the respect of his neighbors, somehow.  In 1707, Lehew was sued by George Durkin, because Nicholas was short on cash, apparently and George's time of indentureship was up.  So Lehew had gone from being an indentured servant, to hiring or buying and indentured servant.  When he died in 1718 or 1719, his estate included three slaves, plus the infant of one of the slaves.  There is no mention of whom the father might be.  So in a way, we can say that Nicholas worked himself up in the world.

He is believed to have married Mary, possibly Mary Owens, in Virginia, but again, I don't find documents supporting this.  When he died in 1718/1719, the widow Mary and son Peter were declared the administrators.  There is no mention of other children.  The main part of the estate consisted of 80 acres of land, and some personal property, plus the slaves already mentioned.  From this limited information, it seems likely that Mary was either quite old when she married, or else was young and married a much older man.  It is also possible that the Peter who is fairly well known has had some records mixed with another Peter Lehew, and that we are in fact missing a generation somewhere.

We are fortunate that Nicholas lived as long as he did (approximately 62 or 63 years of age when he died) because many indentured servants died during their first year in Virginia.  Between overwork, diseases, insects, wild animals, native American's and the climate, many people succumbed to illness or other causes of death soon after arrival here.  Nicholas didn't accumulate a fortune, but 80 acres of land plus the other items was nothing to complain about, compared to the life he probably lead in England or just possibly France.  He must have been a hard worker, and we can be proud of him for that reason.

The line of descent is

Nicholas Lehew-Mary possibly Owens
Peter Lehew-Frances Allen
William Lehew-Hannah
Mary Lehew-William Featheringill 
Elizabeth Featheringill-George Botkin
Charity Bodkin-Jackson Wise
Mary Wise-William Beeks
John W Beeks-Elizabeth Wise
Wilbur Beeks-Cleo Aldridge
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants

Note:  There is a possibility that Mary Wise may have been adopted.  The source is reported to be a relative of Mary's.  I have found no information that would support this, nor have I found information to disprove this.  If anyone in the family knows anything about this supposed adoption, I'd love to hear about it!  Meanwhile, I will probably do more posts in this line of the Beeks's, because these are the stories that Mary would have heard. 

Beeks line: Johan Wilhelm Altomus 1675-after 1719 Immigrant, or not?

First, I take absolutely no credit for the information in this post.  It was mostly taken from the Altemose Family Genealogy site at RootsWeb, authored by Dale Berger.  He has tons of information there so head on over after you've read this very much condensed version.  It is wonderful that people like Dale have been able to devote so much time, effort, and money to teasing out the story of our ancesgtors, and they deserve all the credit for it.

We don't know a lot about Wilhelm, not even his birthday.  His father was possibly Becht Altemuss of Kaulbauch, who was baptized on September 18,1648 and buried on May 29,1713, and Becht's father was likely Hans Altemuss and Maria.  Hans was a cowherd and Becht became a linen weaver and beadle.  A few words of explanation: Kahlbach is more or less in the center of Germany, running north to south and a bit to the west of the center of Germany running east to west.  It seems that it must have been a small town back in the 1600's.  it was likely affected by the Thirty Years War but I haven't determined to what extent.  Since Becht didn't follow his father's profession, he was likely apprenticed to someone else in town, and this would have been a highly regulated situation.  It's likely that Hans had to grease some palms in order to get him into an apprenticeship program, even if he was placed with a relative.  Becht became not just a linen-weaver, but a beadle, which is a minor judge, dealing with petty criminals.  So he must have been respected in the town. 

Wilhelm was likely Becht's son, although Berger is careful to say there is no proof of that yet.  They were in the same area and many of the family were linen weavers.  (If a man was a linen weaver, it often meant that his wife and children did most if not all of the work of raising the family's food and caring for the family's farm animals.)  Sometimes, but not always, linen weaver's had a physical challenge of some kind that kept them from more vigorous work, and sometimes they were just good linen-weavers. 

Johan Wilhelm Altomus married Anna Caecilia Reinmuller on January 16,1700 and the two had at least six children together..  Their last known daughter was Maria Catharina Altomus, who was born July 29,1719 in Offenbach, Hundheim, Germany.  She was the youngest of their children, and she is the one who married Johann Philip Servass.  The Altomus family was apparently of Lutheran belief so it's not know when the Servassor Serfass family became influenced by the Moravians. 

Evidence has not yet been found for the death of Wilhelm, although it seems likely that he died in Germany. At least three of his children emigrated to America in 1739 and 1740, so perhaps his estate helped finance the move.  Or perhaps he came to America with one or another of the families, and died either at sea or shortly after arrival.  At this point, we don't know whether or not he was an immigrant, or whether he intended to be one.  We suspect that he at least gave his family a dream, to come to America, and they followed that dream. 

I've written before of the life of Philip Servass, one of poverty, hard work and dedication to the Lord, interrupted by terrible Indian raids on his land.  Wilhelm did well to have such a son in law, and daughter, who were given values in Germany that helped them cope with their new home.

The line of descent is:

Johan Wilhelm Altomus-Anna Caecilia Reinmuller
Maria Catherina Altomus-Johan Philip Servass
Frederick Serfass-Sabina
George Philip Serfass-possibly Eva
Mary Serfass-Andrew Wise
David Wise-Matilda Martin
Elizabeth Wise-John Beeks
Wilbur Beeks-Cleo Aldridge
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants

Beeks line: Polly Carter Beeks

I am taking a long shot here, to talk about one of the Beeks "brick walls".  Polly was the wife of  John Beeks.  She was born about 1805 in Virginia, and husband John was born there, too, possibly about 1809.  The only real fact I have about her is that the two were married in 1830 in Xenia, Greene County, Ohio.  The Beeks family had been there for at least 10 years but the Carters were more recent arrivals.

In 1810, there is a John Carter in Monongalia, Virginia in the census, with a daughter the correct age to be Polly.  I'm not sure I've located John in the 1820 census, but in 1830 he is in Xenia, Ohio.  By this time his wife is gone, and there are two white females in the house.  The census date of June 1 is before the marriage date of June 30,1830, so it is quite possible that the 20-29 year old female is Polly.

However, "possible" isn't proof.  Just because two families by the same names lived in the same area in 1810 and again in 1830 doesn't mean that these are the same two families, or that their children married.  I have looked at several other Carter families who claimed a "Polly" but there is always something "off" about them-John died in the "wrong" place, or before the 1830 census, or something.  So I am still looking for Polly's parents, although the John Carter from Monongalia who was in Xenia in Greene County seems a possibility to be either a father or an uncle.

Polly lived her life with John, traveling with him from Xenia to Lagro Township, Wabash County, Indiana.  They were there by 1850 (haven't located them in the 1840 census yet), and they lived out their lives there, having at least three children.  There may have been more because Anna Meadows, three years old, who could possibly be a grandchild, is shown in the 1850 census. Known children are William, Casey, and Lucy.

I'd be thrilled to hear from any one who knows this couple, John and Polly, but especially thrilled to hear of someone who knows Polly, and whether John is her father.  She was born not so long ago, a little over 200 years, and her grave is just a few miles from our home, at the Lagro IOOF cemetery.  I'd love to know more of her story.  Please contact me at happygenealogydancingATgmailDOTcom.  Thanks!

The line of descent is:

John Beeks-Polly Carter
William Beeks-Mary Wise
John Beeks-Elizabeth Wise
Wilbur Beeks-Cleo Aldridge
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants