The family of Valentine Geiger 1718-1777

 Johann Valentine (Valentin) Geiger, the son of Johann Valentine and Frederica Henckel Geiger, was born in 1718, perhaps in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, shortly after his parents had arrived in the New World.  He spent much of his life in New Hanover, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, and died in 1777 in Sunbury, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania.  His burial site is listed as Rockland Cemetery, Venango County, Pennsylvania, but I have not yet figured out how he ended up there.  The two locations are 80 miles apart, and there are no other Geigers in that cemetery.  

Valentine married twice.  His first wife is still a mystery.  Her name was Sarah, the widow of a man named Vetato, Vetatoo, or Wedato, among other spellings I have seen.   They married in 1747, with Sarah having two children by her first husband.  Valentine and Sarah had at least six children together, but sadly, at least three were apparently dead by the time Valentine died in 1777, because they aren't mentioned in his will, and neither are any potential grandchildren.  

Their first child was Jacob, born in 1748.  He married Elizabeth Shultz or Schutz, the daugher of Daniel and Catherine Walter Schultz.  Their children are Anthony, Jacob, John Charles, Elizabeth, Anna Maria, and Elizabeth Margaretha.  Some sites claim that he served in the Revolutionary War, which is certainly possible, but I don't believe he is the Jacob Geiger whose pension records relate to South Carolina.  There is a Captain Jacob Geiger who in 1777 was serving with the Philadelphia City Militia, but I don't know whether or not this is our Jacob.  Jacob died in 1792 in Greenbrier, Berkeley County, (West) Virginia.  I will follow this family in my next blog post.

Catherine Elizabeth, sometimes seen as Maria Catherine or Catherine Marie Elizabeth, was born in 1750 and died in either 1784 or 1792 in Berks County, Pennsylvania.  She married Abraham Betz, the son of Johann George and Anna Maria Duffield Betz.  Their children are Mary Elizabeth and Jonathan.  There very likely are more children, but these are the two I can identify.  

John Anthony was born in 1753 and died before his father.  I have been unable to find whether this was an infant or childhood death, or whether it could be related to a military action, before or during the Revolutionary War.  

Johann Valentine was born in 1755 and died in 1821 in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania.  (I should say that many of these counties I am mentioning may actually indicate simply the division of the original county, and it is possible that most of the children actually lived very close to their father, but the names of the counties changed as the population increased and more counties were formed.)  He married Elizabeth Eppley, who was possibly the daughter of Martin and Eva Barbara (maiden name not known to me) Eppely.  Their children are Catherine, John, Valentine, William, George, Elizabeth, Marin, Sarah Elizabeth, Lydia, another John, and Peter.  

Valentine's final children with Sarah were daughters Sarah, born in 1758, and Susanna Catherine, born the following year.  No further information is found about either of them, so they may have had an early death.   

After Sarah's death, Valentine married Anna Margaretha Nagel, the daughter of Joachim and Anna Catherine Geiss Nagel in 1766.  They had at least two children together.

Catherine Elizabeth was born in 1770 and must have died young, since she is not mentioned in her father's will.  

Johann George was born in 1771 and that is all I am sure of.  He doesn't appear to be the man who married an Anna Artz or Ortz, nor does he seem to be the one who married Margaret Creel.  Until I find further records, I'm declaring George a mystery.

This is the information I've found so far about Valentine Geiger and his family.  They lived through turbulent times in unsettled lands, and those who were still alive would have been greatly impacted by the Revolutionary War.  It is possible that the family left their home and went to a place of greater safety as the danger increased, and it's also possible that at least Jacob and Valentine actually fought.  Their farm goods and animals could have been sold to, or taken by, either side in that conflict.  And after the war officially ended, there were possibly still alarms and conflicts with native peoples.  We can be grateful for the courage these ancestors showed. 

  

Harshbarger line: The family of Valentine Geiger 1685-1762

Today's post is about Johann Valentine Geiger, who was born in 1685 in Germany and died in 1762 in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.  He most likely came to Pennsylvania in 1717 with his wife and in-laws, and bought land, 250 acres, in 1718, so we know he wasn't as impoverished as many of his countrymen were.  He married Johanna Frederica Henckel (various spellings, just as Geiger is sometimes seen as Kyger or another variation) in 1715. and their first son was born in 1717. It appears that Antonius, probably called Antony, was born in 1718, after his parents arrived in this country.  Frederica died in  1739 and Valentine married again, to Maria Elizabeth, probably Maria Elizabeth Schmidt, the daughter of John George and Anna Maria (maiden name not yet found) Schmidt. Valentine had several children by each of his wives, so this will be a long post.  

Anthony, or Antonius was born in 1717 and died in April 1753 in Douglas, Berks County, Pennsylvania.  He married Mary Barbara Geiger, the daughter of Jacob and Anna Marie Mais Geiger.  Jacob and Valentine were brothers, so Anthony married his first cousin.  Marrying a cousin wasn't unheard of, but was less common in Lutheran churches, where the Geigers were quite active, than in other denominations and cultures.  One record that I found said this couple had no children, and other sources seem to indicate at least two children.  It's quite possible, given the number of Valentine and Jacob Geigers living in the same area, the the families have become conflated or otherwise confused.  

Valentine was born in 1718, perhaps in Philadelphia or perhaps in Montgomery County.  He died in Sunbury, Northumberland County, Pa in 1777, which may or may not have been his place of residence.  I don't know whether he served in the Revolutionary War, nor do I know his cause of death.  Valentine married twice.  His first wife was a widow, Mrs. Sarah Vetato (various spellings, of course), who has not been further identified.  She had two children of her own, and together they had several children-Catherine Elizabeth, Jacob, Antonius, Valentine, Sarah, Susanna and possibly Maria Elizabeth.  After Sarah's death, Valentine married Anna Margaretha Nagel, the daughter of Johann Jacob and Anna Catherina Geiss Nagel.  Their children are Johann, George, Catherine, and Elizabeth, so it became a rather large family.  (I would certainly like to know whether Anna Catherina Geiss Nagel was related to the Anna Maraia Geiss who married Daniel Kramer!!)

Mary Barbara was born in 1719 and died in 1777.  She married Nicholas Seidle or Seidel, the son of Nicholas and Anna Elizabeth Marststeller Seidel.  The children are Anna Elizabeth, Antonius, Frederica, Dortha, Nicholas, Maria Barbara, Johan Phillip, and Anna Catherine.

Christopher, or Stoffel as he is sometimes found, was born in either 1720 or 1722 and died in 1805.  He is identified as a lieutenant in the third PA regiment, Continental Army, during the Revolutionary War.  He married twice.  His first wife is Mary Barbara Geiger Geiger, the widow of his brother Antonius and daughter of Jacob and Anna Elizabeth Mais Geiger.  Their children are Anthony, Jacob, Henry, Catherine, Elizabeth, Mary Magdalene, Margaret, John, and possible Sarah.  After Barbar's death, he married Married Robeson, the daughter of Moses and Christiana Lane Robeson.  Their children are Elish, Barbara, Christina, Sarah, Charles, John, and perhaps another Christina.  

Margaretha (both Anna and Mary have been seen as her first name) was botn in 1721 and died in 1794.  Again, I'm confused.  She married John Stapleton, the son of Robert Stapleton.  She may have also married Benjamin Lindler, or that may be a different Margaretha.  At any rate, she had at least one son, John Stapleton.

Susanna Catherine was born in 1724.  She married John Stoneburner (may be Steinbrenner?) and had Michael, and Elizabeth.  I don't know her death date, but if she was still living in 1810 then there is a strong likelihood she was the mother of at least four more children.  I have seen Jonathan, Robert, Susanna, Sampson, Margaret, Catherine, George and Henry suggested as children for this couple, but I can't really state hat with any conviction.  Records for this family are hard to locate.

There is a gap of 13 years between Catherine and Anna Barbara, who was born in 1737 and died in 1766.  I don't know whether we are missing children or whether this little caboose was a total surprise.  She married George Kast or Caust. Their children are Anna, Maria Margaretha, George, and Catherine.  This is the last child of Valentine and Frederica, because she died in or before 1739.

I have not found a marriage date for Valentine and his second wife, Maria Elizabeth Schmidt, that I trust, and information for their children is limited.  There may be a son John, and other children are Johann Dietrich, John Henry, Benjamin, Charles, and Jacob, and Valentine, all born between 1738 and 1751. Some of these men married Elizabeth.  Dietrich's wife may be the daughter of Paul Linenbiegler, and they are thought to have had 2 sons and four daughter. Benjamin is credited with two children before he died in 1777, Benjamin and Carl.  I don't know whether his death was war-related.  Charles was born in 1750 and died in 1828,  He married Anna Maria "Dilbon" which may be Duliban or Tullepan in other records.  We do know that they had at least one child, Maria Elizabeth.

The Geigers lived in a time and place that was under stress more than once.  The French and Indian War may well have called Valentine and perhaps some of the sons into service, or at least into the militia.  There were consistent attacks by indigenous people in the interim between that war and the Revolutionary War.  Again, there may be more Revolutionary War veterans here than I have been able to identify.  Lutherans were not averse to serving in times of war.  

It's important to go back every now and then and revisit the information you thought you had.  I didn't find any obvious errors in my data for this man, but I sure found a lot of children I didn't know about, and second wives for several of the men.  I'm sure I have missed or misinterpreted some of the facts for this family, but I'm closer to completion than I was before I started.  Much of the information in this post comes from "Records of the Geiger Family" found on Ancestry, and also from a blog post at the Wilson Family Tree Album Blog.  I've stumbled across a few things myself, also.   There are probably still errors and omissions here, but this is a more complete picture than I had when I started researching this family.

John French abt 1612-1692

 First, a word of caution.  There are at least two other men named John French in Massachusetts during this approximate time period.  I "may" have written a blog post about Jacob French at some point in this blog career.  It is roughly correct, except that this John French is not known to be connected to Jacob French.  The John French men seen in Ipswich, Salisbury. Billerica, and other places are not ours. Ours is of Dorchester, Massachusetts for a short time, and then Braintree, Massachusetts for the rest of his life.

But just because we know where he was once he arrived in Massachusetts Bay Colony does not mean that we know where he started his life, who his parents are, or who is wife is, other than Grace.  Most of the information I can definitely link to him comes from his estate, which leads to birth records for the adult children who were named there.  We don't know whether John married Grace in England, or after he arrived in the Colony.  We don't know anything about Grace's family.  Many trees say she is Grace Kingsley but others say that comes from a misreading of one document.  

We know that John and Grace had at least two children born in Dorchester in the early 1640s, and seven born in Braintree.  Some of the children married into families with surnames I recognize, but this is not a post about the family, yet.  It's going to be fun to figure out those relationships, if there are any.  

I've found little to help me put meat on the bones of this ancestor.  He assisted in an inventory in 1659, which shows that he was a person trusted by both the family and the court, and he owned property, land a a home and livestock.  Grace died in 1680 and three years later, when John was about 70 years old, he married Eleanor Thompson, the daughter of William and Abigail Skellecorne Thompson and the widow of William Veazie.  They actually have what we would call a pre-nuptial agreement, in which Eleanor was well maintained by what she brought into the marriage, and provided additional funds by John's will.

Braintree was not officially attacked during King Philip's War, and John was old enough that he could have been totally excluded from military duty by then.  Earlier, he would have participated in militia drills, as that was part of life in early Massachusetts.  I don't know what John's occupation was, other than farmer.  He had 40 acres of land and appears to have expanded the farm at some point.  When he died on August 6, 1992, his inventory was valued at a little over 317 pounds, mostly land, farm equipment, and animals. This may have put him above average for the town, but not approaching what we would consider "wealth". He may have given some personal items to his children earlier, and perhaps Eleanor was allowed the use of the more traditional household furnishings.  

That's as much as I can say for sure about John French.  I suspect that he was one of the John French men who was made a freeman, because he belonged to the local church and owned land, but I can't say that with certainty.  If he doesn't seem to have been a civic leader, also he doesn't seem to have tangled with the law.  America was made of men like John.

Our line of descent is

John French-Grace

Elizabeth French-Jonathan Thayer

Huldah Thayer-Benjamin Wheelock

Mary Wheelock-Ebenezer Thayer

Abigail Thayer-Jesse Holbrook

Amariah Holbrook-Molly Wright

Nahum Holbrook-Susanna Rockwood 

Joseph Holbrook-Mary Elizabeth Whittemore

Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown

Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edmund Goodenow, Immigrant 1611-1688

I love to find our immigrant ancestors (this one is in the Holbrook line) and I love it even more when I can actually trace them back to a specific town or county in the Old World.  With this ancestor, my glass is half full.  Opinions are mixed as to when and where he was born, and even as to whom his parents are.  Clearly there was more than one Edmund Goodenow born in England in 1610 and 1611. Savage's Genealogical Dictionary of New England states that he was a husbandman from Wiltshire, so we'll go with that information for now.

We know he came to America in 1638 with his wife, Ann (maiden name not certain, because, of course...) and two sons, John and Thomas, as well as a servant, Richard Sanger.  He and his family settled in Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts, where he was made a freeman in 1640.  This indicates he was a member of the church, and he owned property, which was a good start for a young man who had just passed his thirtieth birthday. 

Edmund and Ann's family continued to grow in Sudbury, as did his influence.  As many as five more children were added to the family-Hannah, Mary, Sarah, Joseph, and Edmund.  

Edmund served in many elected and appointed positions within the town of Sudbury, and was Sudbury's deputy to the General Court of Massachusetts several times.  His name is found on various petitions, including one asking for relief from paying taxes that is undated but probably dates to sometime after King Philip's War.

Yes, Edmund was involved in that war.  He had been chosen ensign of the local militia in 1645, lieutenant in 1651, and by 1674 was Captain of the Foot Company.  I have found references to the "Goodenow Garrison" of Captain Goodenow, which was part of the area attacked by what is believed to be 500 indigenous men in April of 1676.  They burned much of Sudbury and there were at least some colonists lives lost during the battle.  Two groups of soldiers sent to bolster the settlers were massacred.  Edmund's son Joseph died at the end of May in 1676, aged 31, but I don't know whether it was as a result of the battle or from some other cause.  

Edmund continued his life, likely helping his neighbors, those who had not fled the town when the natives burned so much of it, with much of his family surrounding him and still serving the town, until he died in April of 1688.  I'd like to know more about those last years of his life, but I'm glad to know this much.  

The line of descent is

Edmund Goodenow-Ann

John Goodenow-Mary Axtell

Edmund Goodenow-Rebecca Graves

David Goodenow-Mary Bent

Lydia Goodenow-Jude Foster

Betsy Foster-Josiah Whittemore

Mary Elizabeth Whittemore-Joseph Holbrook

Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Myers

Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants 

Matthew Rice 1629-1717

Believe it or not, we descend from at least four of the eleven children of Edmund and Thomasine Frost Rice.  They are Mary, who married Thomas Axtell; Henry, who married Elizabeth Moore; Lydia, who married Hugh Drury; and Matthew, who married Martha Lamson.  This may or may not be a record for a tangled tree, but it sure makes life interesting to a family historian.

Matthew was born in 1629 in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England, the third child and first son of his parents, who had 11 children.  He was just a young boy when he came to Massachusetts with his parents, and the family settled in Sudbury, which is about 20 miles west of Boston.  He grew to manhood there, and in 1654 married Martha Lamson, the daughter of Barnabas and Mary Liggett Lamson.  

I wish I knew more about Matthew.  He appears to have not been a town or church leader, but I found only one possible negative item about him.  In 1670, there was some sort of writ against him by "Mr. Danforth".   Also he was "warned" for "admitting Thomas Hedley, his wife and child to some part of his land".  From what I can gather, this meant that he had sold or rented land to the Hedleys without the permission of the town, and he would therefore be responsible for them if they could not support themselves.  I don't know if this is one and the same event as the 1670 writ, or whether these are two separate events.  

I didn't find Matthew's name in any of the muster rolls for King Philip's War, although I did find several other Rice family members.  Sudbury was attacked and burned during that war, so it's more than likely that Matthew would have been involved as a militia member even though he may not have gone out from the town to fight.  He wasn't 50 years old yet during the war so he would not have been excused from duty unless he had some physical handicap.  

By 1688, he was one of several men who kept guns and ammunition at their home in case there was need for a military action.  Some of the native tribes were still conducting raids.  We don't know when the petition was written and sent to the General Court, but a number of persons signed a petition asking for relief due to losses the townspeople had suffered.  This was perhaps a response to the burning of the town in King Philip's War, or to later incursions, or it may be related to expeditions during the 1690s to Port Royal and later to Quebec.  At any rate, Matthew and others were finding it hard to return to a normal way of life.

Matthew's land was actually on the outskirts of Sudbury, bordering on Framingham, which was about 20 miles south of Sudbury.  We know this because in 1696 he and others agreed to pay rates (taxes) to Sudbury if they in turn would care for the poor of the area, and if the settlers were relieved of the obligation to pay for roads in the town itself.   

Matthew and Martha had eight children, 7 girls and one son, Isaac. Isaac was appointed executor of his father's estate, and was responsible for bequests to four living daughters, all married, and four children of a deceased daughter, Sarah Loker.  The inventory of his estate shows a value of a little over 112 pounds, not including 290 acres of land which was to be divided equally among the six heirs-Isaac, four daughters, and the four granddaughters to have one share.  Wife Martha was to be allowed to live in one half of the house, with Isaac responsible for keeping her "decently".  

We have tantalizing glimpses of Matthew, and reasonable speculation as to some of the events that touched Sudbury, but of course we have many more questions.  Regardless, we know that he was part of the early growth of Massachusetts, and part of our American heritage.  

The line of descent is

Matthew Rice-Martha Lamson

Martha Rice-John Bent

David Bent-John Drury

Mary Bent-David Goodenow

Lydia Goodenow-Jude Foster

Betsy Foster-Josiah Whittemore

Mary Elizabeth Whittemore-Joseph Holbrook

Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown

Loren Holbrook-Etta Stannard

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants 

 

Holbrook line: John Drury 1646-1678

 Sometimes writing about the earliest ancestors in our lines is easier than writing about one just a few generations back.  John Drury is one ancestor who left enough records that we can get some glimpses of his life, even though of course there is always more that we would like to know.

John was born March 2, 1646 (hey! I'm writing this on March 2, 2026-a mere 380 years later! Happy birthday, ancestral grandfather!) in Sudbury, Massachusetts to Hugh and Lydia Rice Drury.  Hugh was our immigrant grandfather, and yes, Lydia Rice is the daughter of Edmund and Thomasine Frost Rice, who are our ancestors in another line.  He seems to have spent the early years of his life in Sudbury, but by 1667 he was in York, Maine, where he married Mary Weare, the daughter of Peter and Ruth Gooch Weare.  

I haven't been able to determine whether he actually lived in York, or whether he may have possibly met her when he was building homes in York (he was a house carpenter by trade), or whether they may have met through relatives.  York and the Boston area are only about 65 miles and travel would likely have been by boat, along the coast.  At any rate, the marriage took place in Sudbury and that seems to be where the couple spent the early years of their marriage.  However, they seem to be in Boston in 1673, when John was made a freeman, meaning he had property, was a member of the church, and could vote.  His membership was in the Old South Church that became famous during the Revolutionary War.  

John was a lieutenant in King Philip's War, serving under Captain Samuel Mosely at Mt. Hope in 1675 and also under Captains Davenport and then Ting in the Narraganset expedition of  1675-1676.  He survived the war, apparently without injury, but died in Boston in 1673, at the age of 32, of smallpox.

He left a widow with three very young children..  Thomas was born in 1668, then Elizabeth, Lydia,n 1670, Mary, Daniel, Hugh, Mercy, and another Elizabeth.  Sadly, it appear that only Thomas, Lydia, and Mary, and their mother Mary, survived that 1678 smallpox epidemic.  This is another case of "how did they survive?" Mary died in 1716 in Boston.  She apparently had never remarried.  

While we need to honor John for his service to his country and his devotion to his family, let's not forget Mary, who was left to carry on.  I would love to know the rest of her story! 

The line of descent is:

John Drury-Mary Weare

Thomas Drury-Rachel Rice

Mary Drury-David Bent

Mary Bent-David Goodenow

Lydia Goodenow-Jude Foster

Betsy Foster-Josiah Whittemore

Mary Elizabeth Whittemore-Joseph Rockwood Holbrook

Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown

Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants 

 

Holbrook line: David Goodenow 1713-1773

 David Goodenow (Goodenough, Goodnow, and probably other spellings) was born March 10, 1713 in Sudbury, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, and died in July of 1793 in Paxton, Worcester County, Massachusetts.  Sudbury is roughly 35 miles west of Boston, and Paxton is roughly 32 miles west of Sudbury.  Sudbury was wilderness when the first Goodenows arrived there, and Rutland, from which Paxton later split, was also just getting it's start when David and his family arrived there.  

David is the son of Edmund and Rebecca Graves Goodenow.  Growing up, Sudbury was a small town.  Earlier in town history, the town had suffered losses in King Philip's War, and David would have grown up hearing those stories.  He married Mary Bent, the daughter of David and Mary Drury Bent in 1741 in Sudbury, and sometime between 1741 and 1745 they moved to Rutland, where all of their children were born.  

I've not found much information about his life in Rutland/Paxton, except that he was a blacksmith by trade, and he was "deer reeve" for the town in 1774 and again in 1777.  This was something like today's game warden, except the only animal he was responsible for was the deer population.  He needed to keep it strong enough that venison could be had by hunting, and small enough that local crops weren't destroyed. He set the seasons for legal deer hunting and enforced the laws that were on the books about that activity.  He gave at least some of his land to his son David in 1773, when our David was 60 years old and likely slowing down.  The only other fact I have is that in the 1790 census, there were 2 white females in his household, and he was the only male.  That census is listed in alphabetical order, more or less, so I can't tell who his neighbors might have been.

Speculation tells me that it is at least somewhat likely that he served in the French and Indian War.  He would have been 43 years old in 1756, and men under 50 who were healthy were expected to serve.  His blacksmith skills may have come in handy to help keep equipment repaired as the soldiers fought and traveled.  He may very well have been in some of the battles in New York state, as that is where much of the fighting took place.

David and Mary had at least 7 children, all born in Rutland.  David, Daniel, and Abijah, all under the age of 4, sadly died during a three week period in October of 1749, from "throat distemper".  This was likely either diphtheria or scarlet fever.  It is difficult to imagine the pain and sorrow and possible questioning of God that this event caused the parents.  Even now, the tears form as I think of that family, and others who also lost family members in that little town.  The pastor must have been totally exhausted from the funerals, and I'm sure it was a dark time in the town history.  

However, life goes on, and soon there were more children.  Mary, David, Rebecca, and Lydia, born from 1750 to 1759, soon filled the house with the joy and laughter only children can bring, and the life of the family continued.  

I wish I knew more about David and Mary, and perhaps more information will come to light in the future.  But at least we know a little about them, and the dash between 1713 and 1773.

Our line of descent is

David Goodenow-Mary Bent 

Lydia Goodenow-Jude Foster

Betsy Foster-Josiah Whittemore

Mary Elizabeth Whittemore-Joseph Rockwood Holbrook

Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown

Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants