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: Joseph Holley 1605-1647

It's been awhile since I had a Beeks ancestor to write about.  Sometimes I just somehow miss these people, and sometimes the first time I looked for information, I couldn't find enough to write about.  It's also possible that I've relaxed my definition of "enough".  When I started doing these brief sketches, I made it a goal to write 8-10 paragraphs about each ancestor.  Now, I'm willing to write even just a little bit, figuring that something is better than nothing.  With Joseph, I've found enough to give at least some outline of his life, although there are still big question marks, too.

Joseph was born about 1605 possibly in Crewkerne, Somerset, England, although his parents have not yet been identified. We know he was born about 1605 because in a court case in 1640, Joseph stated that he was 35 or thereabouts.  Crewkerne is a very old town, dating back to the time of Alfred the Great.  There is a 15th century church there, which Joseph would probably have attended.  There was also a school at the time that Joseph lived there, but we don't know whether he attended or not.

Joseph married Rose Allen, daughter of George and Katherine (maiden name not certain) Allen, in England.  We know that it was in England becae his son was "of age" when Joseph died in 1647, which means the son must have been at least 18.  That puts his birth date at 1629, so this Joseph likely married in or about 1628.  The couple had at least five children together, a son and then four daughters. 

We don't know for sure when Joseph came to New England but he was in Dorchester as early as 1633 and in Lynn in 1636.  By 1637 he was in Sandwich, in Plymouth Colony, where he is considered one of the 61 original signers and one of just 16 long term settlers.  The church of Sandwich seems to have not been as Puritan as was liked, and they went for ten years without a pastor.  There is some thought that the people of the town, or at least some of them, were early Quaker adherents.

We know Joseph was part of a military band, probably guarding against Indians but we don't know whether he actually fought in any battles.  We know he owned property as early as 1639.   By occupation, he was a millwright, which may explain why he went from place to place for a few years before settling in Sandwich.  He was a freeman in 1643/44constable in 1644, and either he or his son was a surveyor of highways in 1647. 

Sadly. that is the last we hear of Joseph, for he died in 1647 in Sandwich.  We have no information about his cause of death but he was only about 42 years old, so it was likely an illness of some sort.  Fevers and dysentery were relatively common at the time. 

His inventory was valued at about 205 pounds, but the estate wasn't settled for another 18 years, as the youngest of the children finally reached maturity.  Rose remarried after a few months as a widow, to William Newland, and she died in 1694. 

The line of descent is

Joseph Holley-Rose Allen
Mary Holley-Nathaniel FitzRandolph__
Samuel FitzRandolph-Mary Jones
Prudence Fitzrandolph-Shubael Smith
Mary Smith-Jonathan Dunham
Samuel Dunham-Hannah Ruble
Jacob Dunham-Catherine Goodnight
Samuel Dunham-Eliza Matilda Reese
Margaret Catherine Dunham=Harvey Aldridge
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants

Harshbarger line: Johann Conrad Reber 1723-after 1790

I've written before about Johann Conrad Reber, born December 10, 1751.  I mis-stated his place of birth, for in researching his father, I find that his parents were already in Pennsylvania by the time Conrad Jr. was born. 

So let's look at this father's life and we may gain some insights into the younger generation also.  Johann Conrad Refer, the father and immigrant, was born in March of 1723 and christened on March 23 of that year.  He was the son of Johan Bernhard and Annia Maria Ahl Reber, and was born in Langenselbold, Darmstadt, Hessen, Germany.  The town may have been more of a village at the time, but it was probably larger than some of the other towns that our German ancestors came from. Still, economics of the time meant that land was scarce and our Conrad decided to come to America in 1746.

We don't know where he lived at first.  Germantown was a first stop for many of the immigrants of the time, but he was soon in Tulpehocken township, Berks County.  It is not known whether he had family there but it's quite possible.  He married Anna Margaret Conrad on August 1, 1750, and the couple set to work to build a family.  It's likely that they built their own home, which can still be seen today, or at least, there are pictures of it.  It's a small log cabin and it's hard to see how they raised 7 children in such a small space, so maybe this is their first home, or their last one.

Conrad may have wondered whether he had made the right choice in settling in Tulpehocken township because that area was hard hit by attacks from the native Americans for several years during the French and Indian War.  There is a long list in one of the Berks County history books of those who were killed, captured, and wounded, and it is sobering indeed to read it.  Most likely Conrad was in a militia to protect his family and his neighbors.  This was a Lutheran or Reformed family, not Mennonite or Amish, so fighting was permissible to them.  There seem to be no nearby settlements that the family would naturally have gone to, so they may have gone to Reading, which would be quite a trip, especially with young children, but there was a greater degree of safety there.

We can also wonder about Conrad's thoughts regarding the Revolutionary War.  He was 52 years old when it broke out, which was probably old to be doing much soldiering.  But he may have been involved in providing or transporting supplies to the Americans.  His son Conrad apparently fought so his father would have had some feelings about the matter.  Mostly, though, he farmed.  

Conrad farmed to support his family, and on some of the tax lists, there are also the initials "g.m."  I haven't found a key for this but I'm guessing this might have been "grist mill".  On tax lists, Conrad is generally taxed more than most of his neighbors, but not as much as some.  On one such list, I believe from 1789, he is shown as owning 200 acres, 4 horses and 5 cattle.  Sometime during his later life, he seems to have moved from Tulpehocken township to Bethel Township, but probably did not move far.  The two townships are adjoining. 

There are varying dates for Conrad's death, from 1786 to 1796.  The inventory was presented in 1796, and there wouldn't have been minor children to delay the probate, so I'm guessing he died shortly before September 24, 1796.  He is buried at Zion Church Cemetery at Strausstown.  It's not known when Anna Margaret died but it was apparently after her husband.  The records I found of his will are not clear but it looks like his estate was valued at about 224 pounds. 

You can see copies of his signature and of the picture I referred to at www.bergergirls.com, if you'd care to look. 

The line of descent is

Johann Conrad Reber-Anna Margaret Conrad
Johann Conrad Reber-Mary Margaret Pontius
Mary Margaretha Reber-Solomon Buchtel
Benjamin Buchtel-Barbara Burkholder
Nancy Buchtel-Adam Kenery
Della Kemery-William Withers
Goldie Withers-Grover Harshbarger
Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Beeks
Their descendants

Beeks line: Thomas Rees born sometime,, died 1783

Do you remember the cat who would weekly proclaim "I hate meeces to pieces!"  I believe Pixie and Dixie were the mice in question but I don't remember the name of the cat.  Anyway, "Reeses" rhymes with "meeses".  While I don't necessarily "hate" this line, it is enough to make me pull my hair out.  Sorry about the vent, but at the moment my local genealogist/librarians are not available to soothe me.

So I'm writing about Thomas Rees today.  Several sites say he was born in 1705 and died in 1783.  But they also say he was married to Margaret Bowen, and that Thomas Rees and Margaret were married for several (the document says "many") years when Thomas and Margaret asked for a certificate from the Radnor Monthly Meeting to send to the Goshen Monthly Meeting.  It states that "Whereas Thomas Reese and his wife Margaret Reese inhabitants within the verge of your meeting have made application unto us for something by way of Certificate unto you.  These are therefore to certifie on their behalf that they was both of them educated amongst us and esteemed of us until they joined in marriage contrary to the order and departure of Friends which they these are satisfied unto this that they have been under trouble and exorcised of mind for many years as well as for the conduct of their lives desiring their sorrows for the same and that they took the blame and shame thereof on themselves and that they hoped through divine assistance to take care for the future not to do anything as may bring a reproach upon truth or a grief to friends, so desiring their insofar and that they who make their profession to the Divine Principal of Truth may be conducted and prospered by it to the end of their day, we remain your friends from our Monthly Meeting, at Radnor this 14th of 1st mo year 1722/1723."

Note:  I did not transcribe this, but I sure do thank the unknown person who did.  In copying it I have changed capitalizations but not the punctuation, or lack thereof.  There are also the signatures of several members of the Radnor Monthly Meeting on this letter.  I found this fascinating, but the main point is that Thomas was likely not born in 1705 in order to have married Margaret and be "under trouble and exorcized of mind for many years" by 1722/23.  So, either this is not the Thomas Reese and Margaret Bowen who are said to have lived later, or there is another Thomas and Margaret that would be the parents of the Thomas and Margaret I think I'm writing about.

The children of Thomas and Margaret were born mostly in the 1730s and 1740s.  It does appear that this was a Quaker family because they are later found at Hopewell Monthly Meeting in Frederick County, Virginia, in the far north "point" of the state.  This is in the area of Opequon Creek.  Early records there were lost in a fire so we don't know how early the Reese's arrived there.  They seem to have been there by 1743, so they would have been in place for the battles of both the French and Indian war and the Revolutionary War. As a Quaker, Thomas wouldn't have been in the militia and he may have had to make a decision as to whether or not he would support the British in the first war and the patriots in the second war.  Some Quakers were happy to supply materials and food for the troops, and some were not willing to do so, as they opposed any violence, or supporting any violence.  It was a decision each man would have to make for himself.  This area would have been under frequent, if not constant, threat of attack by native Americans. 

Thomas and Margaret had 10 children who lived to adulthood.  Two of them are direct ancestors, through this line.  Thomas's uncle, Morris is also in the Beeks line.  All of these trace back to David Rees.  Theyr may be another line, also, for there is another wife of a Thomas Reese named Rebecca Price, and Price is a common contraction for ap Rhys.  (These are Welsh names).

Thomas died in 1783 in Frederick County, Virginia and Margaret died two years later, probably in Washington County, Pennsylvania, where she had gone to visit or live with two of her sons.  Obviously, there are still several records for me to look at for Thomas, especially land records and his will or estate records.  But this is a start, to help us understand a little a very confusing set of families.

The line of descent is:

Thomas Reese-Margaret Bowen
Thomas Reese-Hannah Reese (she is the daughter of Morris Reese, who is a brother to the first
     Thomas)
Solomon Reese=Anna possibly McNeal
Owen T Reese-Margaret Ellen Moon
Eliza Matilda Reese-Samuel Dunham
Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Beeks-Cleveland Harshaber
Their descendants

Harshbarger line: Martin Laber, 1738-1823

It's been a while since I've written about an ancestor in the Harshbarger line.  I seem to have written about most or all of the "easy" ones, and since most of the family is of German or Swiss ancestry, and didn't arrive in American until the first half of the eighteenth century, I have a smaller pool of ancestors to research.  However, here is one that I seem to have overlooked. 

Martin Laber is thought to have been born in Pennsylvania August 20, 1738, although I've not found a record yet. He is the son of Wendell and Anna Margaretha Mueller Laber, and was one of at least ten children.  His father was a religious man who helped to found at least two churches, the second one being closer to his home than the first.  "Home" by at least 1747, was in Cocalico Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and Martin stayed there his whole life.  This is in the northern part of the county, bordering on Berks and Dauphin counties now, but at the time, it was all wilderness.  Lancaster town itself was hardly a village, and the area would go through some very rough times during Martin's lifetime.

Martin married Anna Catherina Enck, the daughter of Johan Jacob and Anna Catharina Becker Enck, on October 13, 1761.  The pastor was Rev. John Waldschmidt, who was actually sent as a pastor for the Dutch Reformed Church.  (Without going into a good detail of theological detail, the Germans of the area were satisfied with their pastor, be he Dutch, German, or some combination there of.

By 1761, the worst of the onslaughts from the French and Indian war (meaning attacks by the native Americans in cahoots with the French) were mostly over, and Martin and Catherine were able to make a home for themselves.  Martin, like his father, was a farmer and called himself a yeoman in his will.  He and Catherine had at least 5 children, and stayed on the farm they owned their whole lives.  In 1782, he is shown on a tax list as having 140 acres of land, 2 horses and 4 cows, and his tax is one of the higher ones on that particular page.  But I'm getting ahead of the story.

After the French and Indian war, and after the few years of peace, life was interrupted by the Revolutionary War.  Martin seems not to have been greatly affected by the war itself.  He was in the militia but I've not found that he was ever called to duty.  He may well have been used for a few days as a guard for prisoners of war, or to transport food and supplies, but it doesn't appear, as far as I've learned so far, that he ever was in a battle.  This is not to say that his life was easy.  He lived perhaps 50 miles from Valley Forge and 65 miles from Philadelphia.  Lancaster County, then, as now, had a reputation as being a "bread basket" and surely Martin would have contributed, we hope voluntarily, to Valley Forge.  It's possible there were British foraging expeditions that far from Philly but if so, they would have been of short duration.  And surely, there was tension.  Where would the next battle be?  Would the country maintain the independence they had declared, or would they be defeated by the British, with the help of the hired Hessians?  Mothers have always had to calm the fears of their children, it seems. 

That is as much of the life of Martin as I currently know, except for records created when he died.  Martin wrote his will on February 26, 1812 when he signed with a mark.  It wasn't probated for another 11 years, though, on October 20, 1823.  His actual date of death is given on Find a Grave as September 2, 1823, so it seems that he either had a long illness or he had a serious illness and recovered.  He provided for his wife in his will, but she died September 23, 1813.  He left land or money or both to each of his three sons, one hundred pounds to each of his 7 Dulibon grandchildren, and one hundred dollars to "his congregation" to build a new church.  The graves, with standing headstones, are at what is now the Brickerville United Lutheran Church and Cemetery at Brickerville, Pa. 

Martin lived through interesting times.  He survived, supported his country, supported his church, raised a family, and paid his taxes.  We can be grateful for ancestors like Martin!  I'm also grateful to Anne Caston, who located some of the information I've used in this post, and who generously shares her knowledge and information.

The line of descent is:

Martin Laber-Catherine Enck
Catherine Laber-Henry Dulibon
Elizabeth Tullepan-Conrad Mentzer
Catherine Mentzer (Mancer)-Lewis Harshbarger
Emmanuel Harshbarger-Clara Ellen Harter
Grover Harshbarger-Goldie Withers
Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Beeks
Their descendants  

Personal note:  This is my 700th blog post.  We'll see how much longer I can keep finding stories to tell.  I know there are a few more waiting out there! 




 

Harshbarger line: Where was George Essig in 1840?

Perhaps I should start at the beginning, with the "who" of george Essig.  He was the son of Simon and Juliana Margaretha Schneer Essig, and was born, some say in Adams County, Pennsylvania, on October 19, 1794.  This would make some sense, as his father, Simon Essig, is believed to have been the only one of his family to have escaped an Indian attack, near Emmitsburg, Maryland, before the Revolutionary War.  The two locations are near each other. 

Simon and Juliana moved on to Stark County, Ohio, and raised their rather large family there.  George was one of 14 children born to the couple.  His parents were on the 1810 tax rolls for Stark County, and it is reported that Simon was in Plain Township, Stark County, planting an orchard as early as 1806.  It appears that all but possibly one of the children in George's first family had been born before the move from central Pennsylvania to central Ohio was made.  What a trip that must have been!  george would have been eleven or twelve years old at the time, so he would have been old enough to help with whatever needed to be done.  He would also have been old enough to remember both Pennsylvania and the trip. 

There is a tradition that George served in the War of 1812 along with his brothers Jacob and Adam.  I have not found any evidence of George's having served, but tradition says that he was injured by Indians (fighting on the side of the British) near Put-in-Bay, Ohio.  Sometimes these stories are true and sometimes not, so take it with a grain of salt until records are found verifying this.  It is beyond doubt that the Essig family would have felt threatened by the events of the war.  Fort Meigs was not constructed until 1813, and it was 156 miles away from Canton, the nearest town to where the Essigs lived.  If George wasn't a soldier in the war, he would probably have been in a local militia, and certainly would have been prepared to protect his family from stray Indian raids.

After the war was over, George married Catherine Shollenberger (various spellings), daughter of Peter and Susanna Shollenberger, on September 6, 1816.  We can trace the couple in the 1820 census, when there were two children, and the 1830 census, when there were 7 children under the age of 20 (officially) or under the age of 14 (actually).  We know George owned land in 1828 in Plain Township, Stark County. 

Then George seems to go missing from the records.  A George Essig purchased public lands in Dekalb County, Indiana in 1840 and up through 1852.  I do not know whether this is our George or not.  It is possible, whether or not this was our George, that the family was traveling somewhere in 1840 and thus was missed in the census.  I found a George Essick in the 1840 census in Davidson County, North Carolina, but the ages were off and it doesn't seem likely this was our George.  Some families just get missed, or are hiding within another family and so don't get named in the early censuses. 

We do know that George and Catherine were in Whitley County, Indiana by 1850.  That year's census shows them with 4 children still at home, ranging in age from 13 to 20.  Some of the older children live near by, having started their own households.  (According to his will, there were 11 children living at the time of George's death.) By 1860, George and Catherine are living in Columbia City, where he still is listed as a farmer.  An eleven year old boy named Washington Payne is living with them.  I don't yet know who he is, whether he is someone living there to help care for them or whether he is part of the extended family. 

George died on April 11, 1866.  Although he is not shown as having any land in the 1860 census, his will gives land to his son Joseph and to son David, after the death of his wife Catherine, and to each of his other children $35, which Joseph is to pay at the rate of $10 per year.  Catherine lived until June 19, 1872.  They are buried at Oakgrove Methodist (Redbrush) Cemetery near Larwill, Indiana, which was near the land they owned and farmed. 

There is undoubtedly more to George's story.  He left Pennsylvania, arrived in Ohio when it was basically frontier, helped build Stark County, and then came to Whitley County while it was still early in that county's history, probably again clearing land and farming as his father and his father before him had done.  He would certeinly have stories of his own to tell!

The line of descent is:

George Essig-Catherine Shollenberger
Susannah Essig-Daniel Kemery
Adam Kemery-Nancy Buchtel
Della Kemery-William Withers
Goldie Withers-Grover Harshbarger
Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Beeks
Their descendants

Beeks line: Benjamin Dunham 1681-1715

For a man in the ancestry of Barack Obama, there is still a lot of mystery about him.  Was his name actually Singletary?  I've not found any reference to that name in the vital records and histories of Woodbridge, New Jersey that I've seen, but many genealogies have him listed as either Dunham alias Singletary or Singletary alias Dunham.  That story is too complicated to go into here, especially since I am not confident of the answer.  Another mystery is the name of his wife.  Many trees list her as Mary Rolph or Rolfe, but I can find no supporting documentation for that.  Most experts now give her name only as Mary.

We do know that he was born August 22, 1681, in Woodbridge, New Jersey, the son of Jonathan and Mary Bloomfield Dunham (alias Singletary?).  He was one of possibly as many as 12 children born to this couple, so he had lots of companions growing up, even in a small village such as Woodbridge was.  His father, Jonathan, was a miller and probably one of the more prosperous people in the town.  The Dunhams may had been friendly with the Quakers who also settled in Woodbridge, but our family appears to have been congregationalist in belief, or at least in practice.

Woodbridge was on the frontier when it was settled.  There are references to wolf pits built within the township, which actively trapped wolves, and of course the early settlers would have hunted them, or at least had firearms handy, to protect their families.  Benjamin's father built a house in 1700 that was built of brick and still stands, known as the Jonathan Singletary Dunham house.  If Benjamin wasn't living with another family prior to his marriage, he would have lived here for a few years in his late teens and early twenties.

Marriage records for Benjamin have apparently not been found, which makes it a bit mysterious as to when and where it was decided that he had married Mary Rolfe.  However that may be, a marriage evidently occurred about 1705 or 1706, and his wife does seem to have been named Mary.

Of Benjamin's adult life, we know three things.  He was considered to be wealthy, he was actively involved in starting an Anglican house of worship and providing a place for a small church to be built, and he served in the militia.   I don't yet know his occupation.  His impetus for starting the Anglican church seems to be that he was unhappy with the presbyterian government of the church as it was set up at the time, and he failed to see eye to eye with that pastor.  The militia would have been called out whenever there was a scare from the native Americans, which did happen from time to time. 

The marriage, and Benjamin's life,  was a short one, producing just four children.  Benjamin died on December 31, 1715 of unspecified causes, in his thirty fifth year.  There is an abstract of a will from 1706 that is being accepted as his will, although I haven't read the original.  If he wrote the will in 1706 and didn't die until 1715, it makes us wonder whether he survived an early illness or injury that perhaps made him aware of the brevity of life.  It's also possible that he died of a lingering illness or condition.  Or perhaps he wrote the will during the early months of his marriage, at the request of his wife or in-laws. We just don't know.

I think Benjamin is an interesting man.  I'd like to know why he was considered wealthy, what his occupation was, how often he saw military service, and why he decided to become Anglican.  There are things we'll never know, but there's always the possibility that more information will come to light.  

The line of descent is

Benjamin Dunham-Mary
Jonathan Dunham=Mary Smith
Samuel Dunham=Hannah possibly Ruble
Jacob Dunham-Catherine Goodnight
Samuel G Dunham-Eliza Matilda Reese
Margaret Catherine Dunham=Harvey Aldridge
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants

Harshbarger line: George Harter 1801-1854

George Harter was a bit of a traveling man, it seems.  And he has confused various researchers, including yours truly.  There seem to be two George Harters, each purported to be a son of Gearge and Mary Magdalena Miller Harter.  They have two different birthdates.  One is September 22, 1795 and the other is September 22, 1801.  The later date is supported by the 1850 census, when he was 48 years old.  Both birth locations are given as Rockingham County, Virginia, where George and Mary are known to have lived.  So, either one birth date, and potentially set of parents, is incorrect, or they had two children named George.  This would not be totally unusual.  Possibly the first son died but perhaps they gave two children the name of George and used a nickname for one of them.  Or perhaps he was born in 1795 but not christened until 1801.

At any rate, George would have been a youth in his teens, possibly as much as 20 years of age when his parents moved from Rockingham County to Licking County, Ohio.  The family was there as early as 1817, and George probably helped his father get his land cleared and planted, and the homestead built.  But by 1825 he was ready to marry.  He chose Elizabeth Geiger, daughter of Anthony and Mark Kirk Geiger, as his bride, and they married on September 8, 1825.  (I did find an 1820 census form for a George in Licking County, showing a woman and a child but I am not sure whether this was our George or not.  If it was, then his first wife and child must have died before the 1825 marriage.Or perhaps this was the 1795 George who had married by then).

We're not sure exactly when George and Elizabeth moved to Whitley County, Indiana.  They were there by 1840. George was taxed on land there in 1838, although that is not necessarily proof that he was living there then.   (His land was valued at $98 in Smith Township, and his total state and county tax was $2.38. Elizabeth's father, Anthony, died in Whitley County in 1836, so it is very possible that they had traveled together to their new home.  George and Elizabeth had at least six children together, with John being the oldest.

We often forget what it was like for the first settlers of a region.  They had to live off the land and from what they brought with them to their new home, while acquiring land, clearing it, planting crops, building shelter and then a home, hunting wolves and whatever other predator animals could threaten his family, while his wife had babies, kept the family fed, cooking and did laundry and took care of the animals, made soap and candles, and did all the things that were necessary to keep a household fed and clothed.

 As a further example of life in pioneer days, I found this in the 1907 edition of "History of Whitley County" by Kalin and Maring: (in an 1841 perjury trial related to counterfeiting)..."The jury adjourned to a big black walnut stump to deliberate.  Every man in those days was more or less a hunter of wild game and the barking of squirrels and the gobble of wild turkeys caused the bailiff a great deal of trouble in keeping the jury together and attentive to business."  George was one of the men on this jury, the first "big" trial in Whitley County.

The 1850 census shows that George was farming a tract of land worth about $2700, and sons John and Henry were also noted as farmers.  He had acquired at least 360 acres of land in two separate transactions in 1837 and 1838, in each of which the patent says he is of Licking County, Ohio.  It is likely that he purchased the land, cleared it and planted crops, and then went back to Licking County for his family.  The land he purchased is on the east edge of Whitley County in Smith township, some of it north of Churubusco and some just south of Churubusco.

The next we hear of George is his death, noted as being March 9, 1854 in Whitley County.  We don't know his cause of death, but since he was likely in his early 50s, it wasn't old age.  The time of year suggests that it could have been pneumonia, ague, or one of the fevers that early ended the lives of many Whitley County pioneers.  I have not found a will or an inventory for him.

George's life doesn't seem to have been impacted by national events, except to the extent that he was looking for land to purchase.  He was too young to have been part of the war of 1812, and it's thought that his parents didn't leave Rockingham County until that war was settled.  The native Americans had pretty much left the area when the Harters moved on to Whitley County, although of course a few stayed behind.  Kilsoquah, the daughter of Chief Little Turtle, was just a few years younger than George and would have likely been known to him, for instance.  Even though he didn't serve in the military, as far as we know, he was one of those quiet American heroes, who worked and worshiped
 and raised children who would do the same.

The line of descent is:

George Harter-Elizabeth Geiger
John Harter-Mary Bennett
Clara Harter-Emanuel Harshbarger
Grover Harshbarger-Goldie Withers
Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Beeks
Their descendants 

Update 7/31/2021.  I think I've located the right Harter family in Licking County, Ohio and back to Rockingham County, Virginia.  I am planning to write another blog post about George's parents.

 

Harshbarger line: William Cook of Whitley County

It's been a while since I've written about a Harshbarger family ancestor.  I thought I'd written about all of the men, but here is William Cook who has not yet been acknowledged as part of the DNA of the Harshbargers.  I really know very little about the man, considering that he has only been gone about 142 years, but he lived through interesting times, and left his home in Pennsylvania to come to Ohio and then on to Indiana during relatively early times.  In each case, the best of the lands had been acquired by the earliest land speculators and settlers, but good land was still available and the prospects must have seemed bright. 

William Cook was born August 8, 1817, probably in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania.  He was the son of Henry and Catherine Whetstone Cook, and was one of at least eight children of the couple.  When William was quite small, probably about 4 years old, his family packed their goods and moved to Stark County, Ohio.  Henry was a blacksmith in or near Canton, Ohio and also farmed.  Henry ran into business difficulties and filed for bankruptcy about 1842, and was buying or leasing land in Whitley County, Indiana the following year.  He may have planted crops, for he was a farmer, but he must have returned to Stark County where by 1850 he was listed as a blacksmith, with his home and land valued at $27,000.  This was quite a turn around for a man who had been bankrupt just a few years earlier. 

William lived in Marlboro Township, Stark County, in the 1850 census but he was not a man of means.  His property was valued at $1200.  William had married Elizabeth Brown, daughter of David and Barbara Brothers (also seen as Bruder) Brown on December 31, 1837 and by the 1850 there were three children, Sarah, Barbara, and Alfred.  Also living in the household was "Barbara" Brown, age 66, who would be Elizabeth's mother.  I have seen references to Elizabeth as Betsy, which somehow makes her seem a little less stern and more cheerful.  I don't know that William ever used a nickname, though. 

Sometime between 1850 and 1860 the Henry Cook household and the William Cook household all moved to Whitley County.  There was already a Henry Cook in Whitley County in the 1850 census and he was of the right age to be Henry's son and William's brother, but he was too young to be the Henry Cook connected to the land deals earlier in the 1840s.

William and Betsy lived in Columbia City, Whitley County in 1860 and owned land valued at $300 with personal property valued at $80.  It sounds like they were just getting started.  By 1870, only Sarah, the oldest, was left at home,  William was still farming, with property now valued at $1200.  The 1880 census doesn't show a value but his son Alfred and his family is living there also.  It is from this census that we learn that William and Betsy could both read, but they couldn't write.  The deeds I have copies of show that they each signed with a mark.

One of the deeds is interesting.  In it, he couple is selling (for $1) land to their daughter Barbara, who is now Barbara Withers.  There is a lengthy description of the land, but what is interesting is that the deed was notarized by Thomas Marshall, who was later the Vice President of the United States.  This deed was from 1878.  Eight years earlier the Cooks had sold land to William Withers, who was their son in law.  (Barbara Cook married William Withers in 1867). 

William died April 3, 1888 and was buried at Bethel Cemetery, just outside Columbia City.  He seems to have not left a will and I've not found estate papers, although there should be some.  Elizabeth outlived him by 11 years and died before March 8. 1899. Sarah, their first daughter, apparently never married and died at the age of 83, single.  She was a retired housekeeper. 

This family seems to have been one of those families that stays out of sight for the most part.  William may have voted, but he evidently did not take an active role in government.  He and Betsy worked hard and helped their family survive, probably at a higher economic level than they attained.   They may not have had riches, but they lived through the War with Mexico, the Civil War, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and James Garfield, and they saw forests give way to factories and farms.  Their times were fascinating and their lives were challenging. 

The line of descent is:

William Cook-Elizabeth Brown
Barbara Cook-William A Withers
William Withers-Della Kemery
Goldie Withers-Grover Harshbarger
Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Beeks
Their descendants

Beeks line: Pieter Janse Meet, Immigrant 1614-1697

I've found another Beeks ancestor that I overlooked,, and I've found almost enough to actually write a paragraph or two about him.  I always enjoy finding these ancestors from The Netherlands, who were some of the first settlers of New Amsterdam, later New York city.  It helps remind me that America was not just Puritans and Cavaliers, but has other heritages also, dating back to the first settlements of the continent.  (Yes, I know there were Swedish settlers, French Huguenots and missionaries, and early s Spanish settlers, too, and I know there were native Americans who were here first).  But ever since grade school, the Dutch settlers have interested me.  And I'm a little bit jealous that these folks belong to my husband's family, and not mine!

It's possible that this was originally a French or Walloon Huguenot family, and it's possible that Jan Meet was father, a man who appears in English records.  But actual proof as to his parentage and origins is lacking.  The first we really know of him was that he married Styntje Jacobs on September 22, 1654 in Amersfoort, Utrecht, The Netherlands.  The town had a Protestant majority, but a large Catholic minority and there must surely have been religious tensions there.  Whether or not that was the reason the Meets emigrated to New Netherlands, we don't know.

He and his wife and family of four children left Amersfoort, Netherlands in March of 1663 in the ship "Rosetree".  They arrived at a time of great political unrest, as the colony was about to be taken over by the English.  By October of 1664, Pieter Meet took an oath of allegiance to the English King Charles II, and so began adjusting to a new continent and a new political reality.  It's unclear how much impact this had on the every day lives of the settlers.  Pieter was a resident of what became Brooklyn for perhaps 16 years but if found on a tax "rate" page for Bushwick in 1683.  He purchased land there in 1680.

It's not clear whether it was his son or whether it was Pieter himself who moved to land near Hackensack, New Jersey.  Some records say he died there in 1697 and some say he died at Bushwick. He was apparently not active in town government.  We don't know that there was any conflict with the native Americans during his lifetime, in his towns.  we just don't know much about him at all.  But we do know he cared enough for religious or economic freedom to come to America and worship as he pleased, with the chance to give his family a solid economic base. 

We can be grateful for all the families that made this trip, no matter where they went or when they arrived.  They are part of the history of America, and of the history of the Beeks family. 

The line of descent is:

Pieter Janse Meet-Styntje Jacobs
Jan Pieterse Meet-Gerritsje Jillsae Mandeville
Maretie Meet-Peter Demarest
Lea Demarest-Samuel David Demarest
Sarah Demarest-Benjamin Slot
William Lock-Elizabeth Teague
Sally Lock-Jeremiah Folsom
Leah Folsom-Darlington Aldridge
Harvey Aldridge-Margaret Catherine Dunham
Gretta Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger

Note that the first person probably not of Dutch heritage in this list was Jeremiah Folsom. 

Harshbarger line: John Boughan of Virginia

First, almost none of this research is mine.  I found a very well researched blog page on Thomas Moore's Genealogy site and most of what I will be talking about is his research.  Without his research, I would know almost nothing about this man.

It is strange to be writing about a man in the Harshbarger line who was not of German or Swiss descent.  At least, we don't think he was, and he was in Virginia long before more of the Germans and Swiss immigrants had even thought about crossing the ocean. 

John's parents were James Boughan and Mary, possibly Mary Edmondson.  He was born probably about 1675 but maybe as late as 1683.  His parents were probably the immigrants of the family, and were here at least by 1664.  If you wish to prove your descent from James and Mary, you may be eligible for membership in the Jamestowne Society, which would be kind of cool.  It seems that John should also be a qualifying ancestor, but apparently so far no one has submitted his proof.  John had three siblings but so far James is the one that seems to qualify for admission to the society.  It follows that John should also qualify.

We don't know when John was born, but he was signing documents in 1704 so would have been born at least by 1683.  His marriage was to Susannah Ley, sometimes erroneously named as Susannah Bryant.  She married Thomas Bryant after our John's death, which is apparently where the confusion started.  John and Susannah had at least four children together, John, Augustine, Dorothy and Mary. 

If you can imagine a young man in about 1700, wearing colonial clothing and possibly a powdered wig, this may represent John.  He was a man of substance, frequently being called on as a witness to a neighbor's will, or to be an appraiser.  He sued and was sued quite often, and was required to post bond on more than one occasion.  He inherited land from his father as well as, sadly, "Negroe's" and their increase.  His wife was to have the use of them (no indication how many) until her death and then they were to be divided up between the four children.  He was known as a planter and some of his transactions were paid in tobacco rather than cash, as was typical for other planters in the era.  His land was mostly on Piscataway Creek, which drains into Rappahannock River.  This was quite close to the coast and if there were hurricanes, it might have been a bad place to be. 

John died sometime before August 10, 1720, the date his inventory was taken.  Much of the value of the estate was in the 15 slaves he owned.  Their value totaled 287 pounds, 10 shillings and the estate was valued at a little over 410 pounds.  Land didn't yet have a high value.  As mentioned earlier, Susannah married Thomas Bryant, but died herself in 1726.

We don't know whether John worked as hard to raise his family as the "Pennsylvania Dutch" did to raise theirs.  But it wasn't an easy life, living and working on the frontier of Virginia, just as it was not easy living on the frontiers of Pennsylvania.  We can be grateful to John and Susannah for the heritage they passed on.

The line of descent is

John Boughan-Susanna Ley
Mary Boughan-John Edmondson
Sukey Edmondson-Thomas Wyatt
John Wyatt-Alice Gordon
Jean Wyatt-William Farmer
Margaret Farmer-Solomon Bennett
Mary Bennett-John Harter
Clara Harter-Emmanuel Harshbarger
Grover Harshbarger-Goldie Withers
Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Beeks
Their descendants

Beeks line: Felix Weiss, Immigrant

Much of this post will be speculation, especially regarding his early years.  I am throwing this out for amy historians who may recognize Felix and say "I know this man!"  and be able to help correct whatever inaccuracies are in this blog post.  Some of it I am quite sure about but the early years are very murky indeed.  There is at least one story that needs to be told now, and if we never get answers to our questions then at least we know this much. 

First, entirelyl speculative, is the possibility that Felix came from Switzerland.  There is a record of Felix Wyss, carpenter, and also Conrad Wyss, cooper, leaving the Parish of Affoltern, Mt. Albis (also seen as Affoltern arm Albis), which was about 8 miles southwest of Zurich.  Felix came with his wife, Anna Huber and five little children, Anna, Hans Heinrich, Hans Jacob, Johannes, and Heinrich, and he was listed as a carpenter.  Conrad, who may have been  likely a relation of some sort, came on the same ship with his wife Barbara Dupa and four young children. 

If this was our Felix, then more of his tree is available to us and we can likely go back several generations. .

 I'll get the cart ahead of the horse here for a little bit and say that the records showing Felix as having died in 1779 in Monroe County, Pa are a bit misleading.  Monroe County wasn't formed until 1836.  At the time our Felix lived there, it was Northampton County, and it was very much frontier country.  So most of our records are found in Northampton County, and as always, we wish for more. 

Felix apparently led a hard life as I have not yet found him on tax rolls for Northumberland County.  He may have been devastated by the French and Indian War and subsequent harassment (a kind word) by native Americans.   The one record I've found with his name on it is from September of 1763.  In it, he was a petitioner to the government, asking for help against the native Americans.  It was written from Brinker's Mill to Mr. Horsfield and the petiotioners were 18 men , "the neighbors that are now living or rather staying here at this present time".  The  petitioners asked for soldiers to be placed at Jacob Brinker's Mill, "the people have been driven from their houses, their livelihoods destroyed by savages; they gladly returned to their homes , their desolate habitations, so they coudl use the mill and almost forgot their woes but now, every day, they were 'exposed to the unmerciful hands of these savages just at our backs".  Only half the men had even one chrge of powder or lead, God was their only protection, "Please place soldiers at the mill."  We have no idea of the stresses and fears that our families lived under.  These fears were very real, as several families from this area were massacred before the area was truly settled. 

The mill is located on McMichaels creek in what is now Hamilton Township, Monroe County, Pennsylvania, so this gives us a general location of where Felix and his family lived.  The current stone building was actually built about 1800, but there was a log mill there for 50 years prior to the "new" construction, and this would have been the location where Jacob, along with 17 others, signed the petition.  Most of the names on the petition are either German or Swiss.

Felix died in 1779 in what is now Hamilton Township, Monroe County. 

Here's another problem with this man.  Our Felix is given an approximate birth date of 1720, but other records show a Felix born in 1703.  Were there two Felix Weiss's?  Were they related?  Confounding the mystery is that our Felix's wife is shown as Anna Maria Van Buskirk, but...someone with the same purported birth date is shown on Find a Grave, which is somewhat unreliable or at least incomplete, as actually being a Weiss first and then a Van Buskirk.  Was this Anna Huber, then Weiss, then van Buskirk?  The dates are a problem, or were the names a pure coincidence?   These Felixes, and Annas, have me confused, so don't take this as written in stone.  It's written in sand, waiting for the complete facts to emerge. 

The possible line of descent is:



Felix Weiss-Anna
Johan Jacob Wise-Charlotte Raub
Andrew Wise-Mary Serfass
David Wise-Matilda Martin
Elizabeth Wise-John Beeks
Wilbur Beeks-Cleo Aldridge
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants

Harshbarger line: Conrad Mentzer 1799-1880

First, let me give much credit where much credit is due:  Much of the material in this blog post was located by a distant cousin to my husband, Anne M Caston.  I had bits and pieces, (most of the census records) but she has found much more.  Anne, I certainly appreciate you and would love to meet you some time!

Second, let me say that census takers, church pastors, and transcribers, among others, have made it immensely difficult to trace this man.  I don't know of many other people, in our families, who have had their surnames spelled in so many different ways.  except for possibly his wife's surname.  It's no wonder that it has taken more than one person to figure this much out.  I hope someone, sometime, will see this post and be willing to join us in our search. 

And third, it helps not at all that there was another Conrad Mentzer born in 1799, who is mostly documented in Washington County, Maryland.  That Conrad is not ours and he is not very closely related to this Conrad Mentzer.

And as always, despite fairly good records and documentation, there is still much we don't know about Conrad, such as the minor detail of the identity of his mother, and what he was doing in 1820, and of course the always present question of "Why?"  In this case, my big "Why" is "Why did you move to Stark County, Ohio, and why move when you did?" 

So let's start with what we know.  Conrad Mentzer was born March 25, 1799 and baptized June 16, 1799 at the Emanuel Lutheran Church, Brickerville, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  His parents were John and Margreth (Margaret) Mentzer, and he was one of eleven children born to the couple. Our first record of him as an adult is on August 29, 1819 in the same church, when he married Elizabeth Tullepan/Dulibon and various other spellings.  The next record is the 1820 census in Elizabeth Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where he is listed as being a while male, aged 16-25, living with a white female aged 16-25, and one female unger age 10. This would be their first daughter, Leah, who was born November 6, 1819.  The young couple certainly had very little time to spend together before their family started arriving.  In the 1820 census, Conrad is listed as being in "manufacture" rather than agriculture or commerce.  I'd love to know what he was doing! 

There is a reference to a Conrad Mentzer who owned land in Clay Township in Lancaster County Pennsylvania in 1828 but I am not sure that this is our Conrad.  John Mentzer had died in 1821 so it's possible that Conrad was able to purchase land there.  Clay Township was not formed until 1853 and is right next door to Elizabeth Township, so possibly this is our guy.  He was listed in 1830 as living in Elizabeth township.  By this time, he was in the male 30-39 column, Elizabeth was in the 30-39 age column, and there were one male aged 5-9 (Joel), 2 females under 5 (Susan and Catherine), one female aged 5-9 (Caroline), and one female aged 10-14 (Leah).  If the couple had additional children, he or she was born and died between the census years.

Interestingly, the name above Conrad's name in the 1830 census is that of Margaret Mentzer, who is between the ages of 60 and 70, and who had two males living with her, aged 15-20 and one female aged 20-30.  This was likely the mysterious Margreth/Margaret, mother of Conrad.  I don't yet have a death date for Margaret, but one wonders if she had died, or gone to live with one of the older children, soon after this. 

We don't know exactly when the Mentzer family moved to Stark County, Ohio but Conrad purchased land there, with a recorded date of May 17, 1831.  He paid $400 for 80 acres of land, which showed the price of inflation in just a few short years.  Earlier, land in this area was going for $1.50 an acre.  He may have been there that year and cleared land or/and planted crops, with or without his family.  Elizabeth had her hands full, whenever she arrived, and we can bet that daughters Leah and Caroline helped watch the younger children when they weren't helping Elizabeth with chores. 

The 1840 census shows "Coaured Mincer" living in Franklin Township, Summit County.  By now, the children were older, but all except Leah still at home.  It appears that Franklin Township, Summit County, may have been very close to Elizabeth Township, Stark County.  If Conrad sold his land in Elizabeth township, we've not yet found record of it.  It's possible that  township boundaries were still not settled, or that the census taker simply got it wrong.  Of special note is that there was no mention of Elizabeth.  Divorce records should be checked as a precaution, which I haven't done yet, but it's probably a safe assumption that she had died, after less than 20 years of marriage. 

By 1850 Conrad was back in Jackson Township, Stark County, with wife Elizabeth.  Except, it was a different Elizabeth.  In 1843 he married Elizabeth Balmore Treesh or Trisch, and they were married until Conrad's death in 1880.  This Elizabeth, then, was Catherine Mentzer Harshbarger's stepmother for much longer than her mother had been able to mother her. We have record of Conrad on the agricultural schedule for 1850.  He is reported as having 30 acres of improved land and 25 acres of unimproved land, valued at $1500.  His farm implements were valued at $30, so probably not much more than a plow.  He had three horses, three milch cows, one other cattle, six sheep, and three swine.  In the preceding year, he had produced 100 bushels of wheat, 50 bushels of Indian corn, and 25 bushels of oats.

We haven't found him in the 1860 census yet, but in 1870 he was in Jackson Township, Stark County, and is still listed as a farmer.  However, there is no value listed for his farm, but it seems that he still onwed land because there is a later record of a land transfer (after his death) from Conrad to Henry Caston, a son in law.  In 1880, he is listed on the census as a retired farmer, and it's noted that his wife couldn't read or write, so by implication he could do so  That is the last record of Conrad until his death on December 16, 1880. There was no probate until 1883, as far as I can tell, and I am not sure where the death date comes from.  Elizabeth apparently lived longer, but I am not sure of her death date.  There was another Elizabeth Mentzer (maiden name Essig) who died in Masillon, Stark County in 1896, and it's possible that the 1896 death death for Eliabeth Balmore Trisch Mentzer is earlier. 

Things about Conrad I wish I knew:

Name of his mother
Date of first wife's death or divorce
Church attended in Stark County
Death date, or where this date came from
Burial location
Was he a happy person?

The line of descent is:

Conrad Mentzer-Elizabeth Tullepan
Catherine Mentzer-Lewis Harshbarger
Emmanuel Harshbarger-Clara Harter
Grover Harshbarger-Goldie Withers
Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Margaret Beeks
Their descendants

Beeks line: John Rolfe, Immigrant 1634-1681

No, he wasn't that John Rolfe, not the one who was married to Pocahontas, not the one who figured large in the early days of Virginia.  But nevertheless, he is a John Rolfe who is an early immigrant, and who has a story to tell. 

The story starts in England, where John was born or baptized May 10, 1634 in Whiteparish, Wiltshire, England.  Whiteparish is a small town about seven and a half miles southeast of Salisbury, and at the time of John's birth was a sheep raising area, with textile manufacturing in Salisbury providing an outlet for the wool produced there.  His parents were Henry and Honor (Rolfe) Rolfe, and their family tree is quite convoluted.  There are Rolfes on both sides of the family going back to about 1515, but it's not know whether it was the 1515 Rolfes (one apparently unproven) or whether the connection goes further back.  Anyway, it's a lot of Rolfes, and more than one Honor, to keep straight-or not. 

Henry and Honor had at least four children.  They are believed to have been in Massachusetts Bay Colony by about 1638, although no documentation seems to exist for their trip.  John would have been a very young child at the time; Imagine being a three or four year old boy with a ship to explore, and imagine being a young mother, with other children, trying to prevent said boy from going overboard.  All were probably glad when they arrived at their destination. 

The family settled first in Newbury, where John grew to manhood and married Mary Scullard, daughter of Samuel and Rebecca Kent Scullard, on December 4, 1656.  Mary was very young, possibly as young as 14, when they married.  They had eleven children together, losing the first one in infancy.  Their first three children were born in Newbury, but they moved on to Nantucket about 1663.

This seems to have much to do with the situation described in "Good Wives" by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich.  John was a fisherman, and had just left for a trip to Nantucket, leaving his young wife and children adequately protected and supported, as he supposed.  But by the time he returned from his trip, Mary and been involved in something of a scandal, involving a gentleman from England, a physician, who decided he wished to bed her, never mind that she was nursing her third child.  He was found out, by a neighbor who came in through a window since the door was locked, and rescued Mary, although they agreed to say nothing about it.  Mary told all to her mother and had a witness (who, hard as it is for us to imagine) shared the bed with Mary in order to keep her safe, although it wasn't a very effective protection as it turned out.

The man involved was found guilty and Mary was vindicated, but John decided this was a good time to move to Nantucket, where he would be closer to the fishing grounds.  They stayed in Nantucket for somewhere around ten years.  By this time, John was approaching 40 and may have been looking for an easier way to make a living than fishing.  The family moved to Cambridge, where John purchased and apparently operated a mill.

John died at Newbury on October 1, 1681, perhaps while visiting his brother Benjamin.  It seems to have been a sudden death and the will may have had an oral codicil, as there is no provision in the will for his wife but the additional testimony of women who were there makes clear that he wanted to have his wife cared for also.  Mary was pregnant with their last son when John died.  John's inventory was valued at somewhere around 500 pounds (it's not totaled on the two pages, but I added up to about 485 pounds in my head, plus all the shillings and pence; I'm definitely no expert on that!).  It seems like a pretty good estate for a fisherman or millwright, either one.  He was just 47 when he died and was just in his peak earning years.  He had tools and farm animals, copperware, earthenware, and pewter, and five spinning wheels, so this was not a poor family.  I didn't see any mention of books or of munitions. 

Mary lived about six more years and died in Cambridge.  Most of their children moved to the area of Woodbridge, N.J, and changed the spelling of their name to Rolph, except for their son John.  I didn't find anything that helped me understand John's religion but some of his children may have become Quakers, or at least lived in harmony with them in Woodbridge.  It would be nice to know more about John, but at least we know he was a hard-working man, and one of the few men in the family who fished for any length of time, for a living. 

The line of descent is:

John Rolfe-Mary Scullard
Mary Rolph-Benjamin Dunham
Jonathan Dunham-Mary Smith
Samuel Dunham-Hannah Ruble
Jacob Dunham-Catherine Goodnight
Samuel Dunham-Eliza Matilda Reese
Mary Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Margaret 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

Harshbarger line: Jacob Geiger 1748-1792

I am seriously wondering if there are two Jacob Geigers, and if they have somehow been mixed up in most records.  What I have found is quite confusing but it seems to have two men by the same name at the same place at the same time.  I am trying to get to the bottom of this but here's what I think I know. 

Jacob was born in 1748 and wsas the son of Johan Valentin Geiger III, and Sarah, who may have been a widow Vettatoe, or some such name.  He was reportedly born in New Hanover Township, in what is now Montgomery County but at the time was still Philadelphia County.  This would have been frontier land at the time. 

Somehow, Jacob made his way to Frederick County, Maryland, where we have one of the first documentations that I've been able to locate.  There he married Elizabeth Schultz on August 11, 1776, in a Lutheran church or at least by a Lutheran pastor, just a few weeks after our country declared Independence.  Jacob had actually been in Frederick County longer than that, because in December of 1775 he was listed as an Associator in the American cause.  This was basically a volunteer militia.  He also took the oath of allegiance in 1778, which was to the state of Maryland rather than to Great Britain, or, more interestingly, to the American cause.  This was required of all office holders, including attorneys, and also all voters, which meant at the time those men who owned real estate. 

Jacob and Elizabeth had at least seven children, born from 1776, just three months after the wedding, to 1786.  Elizabeth, I think, deserved a break after that.  Her body must have been worn out by the time the last one was born. 

We don't know what other military service Jacob may have participated in, before or during the Revolutionary War.  The area he is believed to have settled in was hard hit by attacks by native Americans, and it is more than possible that Jacob participated in one or more of the marches and battles that protected Americans and "rid the area" of most native Americans.  The stories from that time and area are gruesome, but for the purposes of this blog, it is only a possibility that Jacob was involved, not a certainty.  It is, however, more than likely that the family moved to the relative safety of a nearby fort or stockade for at least short periods of time during the war years. 

I think that Jacob owned land in Frederick County, Maryland called "Discontentment". There were 244 acres there, and it was resurveyed in 1793, soon after Jacob died.  It wouldn't have belonged to son Jacob, because the son was only 15 years old at the time.  A more thorough study of land records would possibly show that the land was deeded to either heirs or a purchaser. 

It has been reported, but I can't document, that Jacob Geiger died at or near Greenbrier, Berkeley County, (West) Virginia in February of 1791 or 1792.  If his birth date is correct, he was a young man of 44 at the time, which makes one wonder if an accident or injury of some type was involved.  It could also have been simple overwork.  We don't know when the family relocated, or why, but the Jacob Geiger who died in Northampton County, Pennsylvania at about the same time does not appear to be one and the same with our Jacob. 

One other thing that is confusing on websites I've found is that both Jacob and Elizabeth are said to have died on the same date, February 24, 1791 or 1792.  I'd like to find the source of that information, because that could indicate either Indians, or some sudden disease like cholera.  Either way, there would be a story there.  But once before I thought I'd found a couple who died on the same day, and that information turned out to be faulty.  So the question is still an open one:  Who died when, and where, and how?  Is that too much to ask?

Jacob lived a difficult life in difficult times.  I hope his homestead gave him wonderful views, and I hope he died happy, knowing that his children had the skills and fortitude to continue carving out homes in the wilderness.  

Much of this post is speculation, with just a few records to support it.  If anyone has additional information on this man, I would love to hear more of him, especially if there is documentation.  Please contact me.

The line of descent is:

Jacob Geiger-Elizabeth Schultz
Anthony Geiger-Mary Kirk
Elizabeth Geiger-George Harter
John Harter-Mary Bennett
Clara Harter-Emmanuel Harshbarger
Grover Harshbarger-Goldie Withers
Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Margaret Beeks
Their descendants

Harshbarger line: Johann Jacob Fehler 1746-1817

Johann Jacob Fehler left just enough of a paper trail that I can write a few sentences about him.  He was the son of Jacob and Anna Margareth Lowenguth, and was born April 13, 1746 in Upper Tulpehocken Townhip, Berks County, Pa.  Jacob and Margareth were apparently killed in one of the many attacks by the native Americans, in 1758, and our Jacob was an orphan at the age of 12,  He had three  older and five younger siblings, except that maybe he didn't.  The will of Jacob Lowenguth refers to an only son, Jacob, and two daughters, which would not explain the long list of children I've found for them. 

At any rate, our Jacob would have lived with other family members, or assigned a guardian by the court.  I've not found a record yet of what happened to the children, but somehow they survived the horror of being orphaned and went on to live their lives. 

Our Jacob is next found marrying Anna Eva Behney, daughter of Peter and Anna Barbara Behney, on October 26, 1767, but I haven't yet found records specifying the location.  Some say it was in Heidelberg Township, Berks County and some say East Hanover Township, Dauphin County.  We know he was in East Hanover Township by 1781, when there is record of the baptism of the ninth of his twelve children.  The distance between Jacob's childhood home and his new home was about 30 miles, down a mountain valley and Jacob may have been quite happy to leave his childhood home behind. 

We don't know what Jacob did during the Revolutionary War.  His name is not found on the digital archives of Pennsylvania web site, or perhaps I didn't think of enough way s to check the spelling for Fehler.  It seems that he would at least have been in a militia, since at the start of the war he was only about 30 years old.  Certainly news of the war would have reached him and he would have followed the events with interest, if he didn't go off to war for at least a time. 

Jacob and Eva had 12 children together.  I've not located a death date for Eva but it's possible that Jacob remarried as his will names a wife whose name starts with Pa...Jacob was apparently a successful farmer, for his will lists many items that are to be the property of his wife.  His son Christly is to care for his (Step) mother, and daughter Barbara is also to be allowed to live in the house.  If Christly and Barbara can't get along, then he is to build her a new house to live in, and a barn.  Christly gets the home farm of about 50 acres.  Other sons have already received land from their father, and the remaining daughters are to get 50 pounds apiece, to make them roughly equal to what the sons got earlier. 

The only other fact we know about Jacob is that he and Eva attended Lutheran churches.  He died October 1, 1817 and was buried at the Sattazahn Lutheran Cemetery near Jonestown, which is named for a Revolutionary War hero.  There may or may not be a connection there. 

Jacob Fehler deserves our admiration.  He certainly had a traumatic childhood but he rose above it, made his way through or around the Revolutionary War, married, raised a large family, and when he died at the age of 71, was able to have given or to give each of his children enough to give them a real boost in their financial condition.  He was another hard working :German", although he was of the generation born in the colony of Pennsylvania. 

The line of descent is

Jacob Fehler-Eva Behney
Christina Fehler-John Harshbarger
George Harshbarger-Mary Kepler
Lewis Harshbarger-Catherine Mentzer
Emmanuel Harshbarger-Clara Harter
Grover Harshbarger-Goldie Withers
Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Beeks
Their descendants
 

Beeks family: Thomas Moon 1756-1828

It's been a long time since I've written about a Beeks ancestor.  I've known about Thomas Moon for a long time, as a name and dates, but that much information wouldn't fill a thimble, let alone a blog post, so I've not pursued him.  Today his name struck my fancy, mostly because I noticed he lived during French and Indian War as well as the Revolutionary War.  I wondered if there was more information available than just names and places, and I've found enough to fill in a couple of parts of his life, anyway. 

Thomas Moon was the son of Jacob and Jane Rees Moon.  He was born October 11, 1756 near what is now Arden, Berkeley, West Virginia, in the Shenandoah Valley.  At that time, it was part of Frederick County, Virginia.  The area is in that tiny hook between Maryland and West Virginia, and Arden is 160 miles from Fort Frederick, near Hagerstown, Md.  Fort Frederick was built during the French and Indian War.  We don't know for sure that the Moon family went here during the attacks that the Indians made during those years, but it's possible, since much of Shenandoah, or at least the women and children, evacuated during that time period.  And of course, the Moons were Quakers, so they would likely not have been willing to fight.  Regardless of whether the Moons stayed in their home or left for a safer location, they would have lived through interesting times.  Thomas was one of at least six children born to his parents, and they would all have worked hard to feed the family. 

I've found no mention, yet, of the Moons during the Revolutionary War but this time the danger would have come from the British and the native Americans.  This area was hit hard and repeatedly, and again, it is easy to think that the family would have evacuated to safer areas.  It would be interesting to know whether their cabins or homes were burned, crops lost, etc.  If it didn't happen to the Moons, it happened to many of their neighbors. 

We don't know when or where Thomas met his wife, Jean Grey, but they were married June 1, 1780 in what was now Berkeley County, but still Virginia.  He was 24 years old and had a right to marry anyone he chose; or did he?  Three times his Quaker church family tried to talk to him and three times they got nowhere.  He was bound and determined to marry his "hireling teacher", but may have later admitted his error because he is still referred to as a Quaker in a history of Fayette County.  Jean was from Scotland and it is not likely she would have converted to the Quaker faith.  She was likely Presbyterian in belief.  I would love to find more about this "hireling teacher", as this is the first thing I've learned about her other than her vital statistics.  We can guess that Jean had a decent education, at least for the time and location, and wonder about Thomas's education, also. 

Thomas and Jean had at least nine children together.  Jean died in 1804 in Berkeley County, Virginia, and Thomas remarried at the same location to Lydia Job in 1806.  He is found in the census records of Berkeley County in 1810 but apparently moved to Fayette County, Ohio, later that year and is in the tax records of Fayette County, Ohio in 1814.  Fayette County at this time was quite sparsely settled and he would have contended with wolves, panthers, and probably bear as well as the snakes which gave name to the creek he lived on.  In the 1820 census, he is in Green Township, Fayette County, with two of his sons listed separately but as neighbors.  Thomas and Lydia settled on Rattlesnake Creek and according to a History of Fayette County written by R.S. Dills, owned 1100 acres of land, some of it in Highland County.  He had the first flour mill and saw mill in the county, and also ran a distillery which was apparently a popular "resort".  He was a trustee of the township and held other positions of "public trust".  Lydia died sometime before he married Amy or Annie Ellis in 1819. 

Thomas's will was probated in 1824.  He had already given gifts to his three daughters but gave his personal property to them to be divided equally, and left each of his sons tracts of land.  I didn't see a mention of Amy in the will, so perhaps she had died earlier. 

Who knew that Thomas Moon had such stories to tell us? I'd love to learn more, such as whether his children were Quakers, and whether his childhood home, or his home where he spent the first 30 years of adult life, were destroyed.  Was he ever in fear for his life, during either of the wars in Virginia?  Did he speak with the Quaker "thee" and "thou"?   What would he think was his greatest accomplishment?

The line of descent is:

Thomas Moon-Jean Grey
Margaret Moon-Owen T Reese
Eliza Matilda Reese-Samuel Goodnight Dunham
Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
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: Mary Smith Dunham, one feisty lady

It's been awhile since I've had anything to say about any of the Beeks ancestors.  But I came across one sentence about one lady that I think is noteworthy.  Actually, finding anything about a woman in the 18th century is noteworthy, as for the most part women are hidden in their husband's identity.  Ah, but what is husband dies at a young age?  Remarriage was the norm, but sometimes a widow chose a different road. 

Mary Smith was the daughter of Shubael and Prudence Fitzrandolph Smith.  (The Fitzrandolph family traces back to English and Scottish royalty but that is a story for sometime in the future, if I decide to expand the scope of this blog.)  She was born December 27, 1717, probably in Woodbridge, Middlesex County, New Jersey.  She was one of eleven children, and that's about what I know of her childhood.  I would love to know her religion, but I don't know that at this time. 

Mary married Jonathan Dunham (sometimes spelled Donham), the son of Benjamin Dunham and Mary Rolph, probably in 1737 although I haven't pinned that date down yet.  Their first son was born at the end of 1738, and they had five additional children.  Unfortunately, Jonathan died in 1748, although I've not yet found records that mention a cause of death.  This left Mary with 6 children under the age of 15.  What's a widow to do?

Well, what she did not do was marry again.  We are given a clue as to what she may have done because her name is found (along with some other people by the name of Fitzrandolph and Dunham) on a petition to the New Jersey House stating that the rate for housing soldiers had been 5 shillings, 4 pence but had been reduced to 4 shillings, and the petitioners asked that it be increased to the original level. 

This was during the French and Indian War.  Woodbridge may have been close enough to the frontier that the citizens felt threatened, and apparently at least a few soldiers were stationed there or near there to protect civilians.  My strong suspicion is that Mary ran a boarding house or inn to support her family.  That would explain why some of her late husband's relatives would have signed the same petition.  They wanted her to be able to support herself, so they would not be obliged to do so. 

I've not learned whether the petition was successful or not.  I don't know what Mary looked like, whether she was short or tall, plain or attractive, but I can imagine the determination in her mind and body that showed her a way to support her family without re-marrying.  Signing a petition to the state was not a common thing for a woman to do.  I think she was a feisty lady. 

Mary died in 1791.  Her will, written in 1784, disposed of mostly personal property, but she made cash bequests to two sons.  Samuel, the Beeks ancestor (and also Barack Obama's ancestor) was absent from home and if he did not return within ten years,  his son Jacob was to receive 10 pounds with the remainder of Samuel's share to be divided among her three children.  It's possible that Samuel was already in what became West Virginia at that time, making a life for himself and his several children. 

One other detail.  One of her sons, Asher, was a Tory and fought on the British side in the Revolutionary war.  Daniel Dunham followed the same path.  He may or may not be Mary's son.  Her birth date is given as 1717 and Daniel's as 1730.  I suspect Daniel belongs to another Dunham, or might just possibly be Jonathan's from an earlier relationship.  He would have been family of some kind, however.  Asher seems to have returned to New Jersey by the time Mary wrote her will.  Samuel may have stayed away because his were not Tory views.  

That's what is known about Mary, plus I've thrown in some speculation that may or may not be accurate (that she ran an inn or boarding house of some sort).  I like Mary.  I admire her spunk and her grit that allowed her to raise five children without the benefit of a husband.  I like that she was willing to sign a petition.  I like that she wanted Samuel to return home, as most parents would.  I just like Mary, and I hope you do, too. 

The line of descent is:

Jonathan Dunham-Mary Smith
Samuel Dunham-Hannah probably Ruble
Jacob Dunham-Catherine Goodnight
Samuel G. Dunham-Eliza Matilda Reese
Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge
Gretta Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants