Oh, what a happy dance! Field trip to Ohio

Husband and I took a field trip to the area of Richland County, Morrow County, and Knox County Ohio last week.  I researched for four wonderful days (while husband watched a lot of movies) and here is a list of the wonderful treasures I brought back with me:

*Death record for Mary Elizabeth Hetrick Black, died Dec.1, 1862 of typhoid fever.  The gem?  In the remarks section "Truly a pious woman."

*Article "The Mansfield that Was" from the September 28, 1971 News Journal about the town of Bellville, mentioning founder Robert Bell.  I think "The Mansfield that Was" was the name of a column.

*Plat of Bellville, Ohio from 1900

*Original Blat of Bellville, plus a brief history of the town, from a 1975 book published by the OSU Department of Architecture.

*A lead on where to fid the actual marriage records of Thomas Knott and Hannah Bell, but time ran out.

*Richland, Ohio, marriage record (not the documents, just the record) for marriage of Mr. Joseph Withers and Miss Ann Montgomery, by Elijah Clark, J.P. on September 23, 1852.

*Map of West Perry Township, Morrow County, Ohio, showing location of land of Abraham Hetrick.  Not sure of date. 

*Copy of Abraham Hetrick deed to John Wirick,

*Copy of Abrham Hetrick and Mary E Hetrick deed to Hiram Cravin dated December 14, 1859.  Need to research this but is likely the son of our Abraham who was married to Sarah Lemmon. 

*Abraham Hetrick deed to Levi Lucas  Feb. 22,1850

*Record of marriage of March 12, 1839, Isaac Hetrick to Elizabeth Black by L. or S. B. Leiter

*Guardian bonds for Isaac Hetrick (also L.S. and Ezra Hetrick, December 9, 1863 for minors Alice Hetrick and F. Owen Hetrick, per the estate of Peter Black, deceased, of Noble County, Indiana.  These were the minor children of Peter and Elizabeth Black Hetrick.

*Copy of Deed of Abraham Hetrick to Isaac Hetrick, March 13, 1856, land in Richland County, sum of $3000 dollars.

*5 pages from the Index of Deeds of Richland County, showing transactions with Robert Bell as grantor of land in Bellville (mostly).

*Copies of original plat of Bellville 1815 and Bell's addition 1826. 

*Copy of Deed of John Bell and Hanna Bell to Benjamin Crummell, for $150

*Copy of deed of various Shirk family members to Peter Black, Richland County Ohio, $1000  November 25, 1834.

*Copy of deed for John Carey, Admr to Isaac Hetrick, March 21, 1854 showing order to sell at auction, sold for $1108.50; Then on January 18, 1855 Isaac Hetrick sold the same land to John Carey Junior for $1200.

*Copy of deed from Robert Bell and Hannah his wife to trustees of the M.E. church, for $20, dated January 15,1833 and recorded August 19,1836.

*Copy of deed from Peter Black and wife Martha to Jacob Biddle for $5500; 160 acres, April 4,1853, recorded November 7, 1854.  Isaac Hetrick was a witness.

*Copy of Deed from Abraham Hetrick to Justice Frary, August 18, 1849; no mention of wife so hard to know which Abraham this was.

The above were found in Richland County, Ohio court records and a few in Morrow County.

In Knox County, Ohio, where I'd hoped to find more about Joseph and Mary Gearhart Withers, I found only what may or may not be clues:

*Bond of Christopher Mosley with John Ely and John Gearhart as witness, guardian to John and Mary Ann Gearhart, who were the children of Aron Gearhart, deceased.  dated October 21, 1845.

*Then just 8 days later, guardian bond of John Higgins, Asher F. Ely and Joseph Shinaberry, as guardians of Aaron Gearhart, Mary Ann Gearhart, and William Gearhart. 

*Several pages of estate records for Aron Gerhart, including inventory and sale records.  Aron apparently died close to July 10, 1845.  He may be a brother or other relation to Mary Gearhart Withers???

And then, from the Ohio Genealogy Society Library at Bellville, Ohio, a wealth of material:

*A chart of the Ulrich Ruble family

*The obituary of Andrew Farmer, who died in Columbia City, Indiana in 1897, mentioning his early years.

*A short history of Johnsonville Community, (Morrow County, Ohio) mentioning Abraham Hetrick as an early resident and as a veteran of the War of 1812.

*A transcription of the will of John Wyatt, who died in 1799 in Franklin County, Va.

*A transcription of a quitclaim deed from Jane Farmer widow of William to Adam Black, September 18, 1839.

* A transcript of the marriage bond for William Farmer and Jane Wyatt, October 21,1799, Franklin County, Va.

*A transcript of a deed from Franklin County, Va. from William Farmer and Jane to Joseph Bolin, June 25, 1813.

*Transcript of the will of Mathew Farmer, written 18 December 1834 and probated October 23,1845 in Miami County, Ohio.

*Copy of Deed for sale of Andrew Farmer's share of Mathew Farmer Estate, September 18, 1839.  Various other persons are mentioned and the deed was recorded in Allen County, Indiana and Clark County, Ohio.

*A possible clue to Lemuel Dunn, who may have had a brother James.  James was born in Monongahela County, Virginia and came to Brown County, Ohio about 1800.

*From "A History of Summit County, by Perrin, 1881, more than a full page of stories about the Keplers, brothers Andrew and John. 

*A copy of the will of Alexis Lemmon, written January 12, 1825 and proved July 15, 1826.

*Copies of the family record section of a Bible purchased by Alexis Lemmon  in 1803 in Annapolis, Md, listing his children's births, marriages, and some deaths. 

*Copy of the will of Jesse Finch of Belmont County, Ohio, dated February 9,1824 and probated September 8, 1829.

*Pages from "History of Morrow County", by Baskins, 1880, mentioning Abraham Hetrick as a trustee in 1817 in Perry Township, and also mentions Hetrick residing there at the time of Perry's victory on Lake Erie.

*Part of Chancery Court proceedings of April 11,1840, regarding a deed not given to a purchaser, and naming (apparently) all of Robert Bell's living descendants.

*Copy of Washington County, Pennsylvania Deed of Thomas and Hanna Rees to John Brown, land in Frederick County, Md dated January 1, 1793.

*Transcript of deed from Thomas Rees to Jonathan Garber, showing land was warranted to Jonathan Garber February 28,  1805; dated April 7, 1806 and showing Thomas as living in Fairfield County, Ohio as of that date.

*Transcript of deed from Thomas Rees Sr. of Fairfield Co. Ohio to Thomas Rees Jr. of Washington County, Pa. February 23,1810.

*Copy of bond and appraisal papers for Thomas Rees, dated January 30, 1812 in Fairfield County, Ohio.

*Copy of deed of heirs of Thomas Rees (many) to Mathew Ewing, August 29, 1812.

* Copy of Rees names from Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy, Volume VI, page 425; showing marriage of Thomas Rees son of Morris and Rah, and Margaret Rees, daughter of Thomas and Margaret in 1763, plus many other entries.

*Copies of two letters with information about the (van) Gundy family.

* An article from The Pennsylvania German, no date found, about the Buchtel family, and pages of a passenger list showing Johannes Buchtel's arrival in Philadelphia in 1753.

Obviously, each and every page that I've found needs to be read and analyzed and recorded properly, but do you see why I am doing my happy dance?  This was all found in four days, with time out for cemetery visits, a newspaper interview, and serendipitous meetings.  I'll write more about all that in my next post! 

Harshbarger line: Will of Christian Harshbarger 1744-1810

By 1810, when our Christian died, there were quite a few Christian Harshbargers in the United States.  I found this will on FamilySearch and thought that it was worth trying to transcribe it, in hopes that it will help someone prove or disprove their connection to this family.  This is the Christian Harshbarger who was married to Magdalena (Van) Gundy.  He was born in Pennsylvania in 1744 to Christian Harshbarger and Barbara Rupp, and died in 1810 in Dauphin County.  The will says he was of Inwell Township,  but this must have been Annwell Township.  This is from the transcription in Will Book 1C, page 88.  I noticed that the name of the township was consistently spelled Inwell, but I've not been able to find any reference to such a place.

Here is the will, to the best of my ability to read it, and I do apologize for the lack of punctuation but that's how it looks to me:

"In the name of God, amen.  I, Christian Hershberger of Inwell township in the county of Dauphin and State of Pennsylvania being sick and weak in body but of sound mind and memory, blessed be to God for his mercy Do make and publish this my last will and testament in manner following to wit:  Imprimis I order all my just debts to be paid out of my estate after my decease.  Item Item [it appears to be written twice] I will unto my son Samuel Hershberger my plantation one hundred and fourty acres more or less situate in Inwell township in County of Dauphin and adjoining land of John Miller Philip Baumgardner and others to hold to him his heirs and assigns forever he must pay or cause to be paid [from?] foresaid plantation the sum of twelf hundred pounds good lawful Pennsylvania money as followsfour hundred pounds after my decease and fifty pounds yearly and every year until the twelf hundred pounds is paid to the children of my secont wife John Jacob Abraham Samuel Henry Elizabeth Anna Mary and Anna shall have out of my Estate two hundred pounds of the first money more than my other children equal sheares and the rest of my estate shall be sheared equal between the whole of my children Christian John Jacob Abraham Samuel Henry Elizabeth Anna Mary. and I will and bequest unto my grand daughter Polly Handshaw fifty pounds which shall remain in my hereafter mentioned executor's hands Till she comes of age and shall bear interest after my decease and no more and the personal estate shall be solt by my hereafter mentioned executor after my decease  And I do constitute and appoint my son Samuel Hershberger and John Reasor my sole executors of this my last will and Testetment In Witness whereof I the said Christian Herberger have here set my hand and seal the twentieth day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and three
Signed Sealed Published and declared by the said Christian Hershberger to be his last will and Testament in the presence of the subscribers Martin Meiby [not sure of next name] Williams.  Proved September 10,1810."

In reading this, I've learned some things, including that Christian was married twice, and had at least one son by his first wife, Christian.  I wonder who the first wife was?  I wonder why Anna was singled out for an extra portion of the estate.  Was she his favorite, or had she helped to care for him, or did she need the money due to some sort of physical challenge?   I also wonder who Polly Handshaw was.  She was apparently the daughter of a married (probably deceased) daughter; was this daughter also a daughter of his first wife?  I'd like to know about the last years of his life.  Was he ill the whole time between the time he wrote the will and the time it was proved?  Did he die in 1803 and the will just wasn't presented until later, for some reason?  His will didn't mention his wife, which would lead one to assume she was deceased.  My records show a death date for Magdalena of 1842.  Is that date correct, and if so, what is the explanation?

Perhaps someone reading this already has the answers to some of my questions.  If so, I'd love to hear from you, so I can have a better understanding of Christian's life.  Also, if I have any of this wrong, I'd like to know about it!

The line of descent is:

Christian Harshbarger-Magdalena (Van) Gundy
John Harshbarger-Christena Fehler
George Harshbarger-Mary Kepler
Lewis Harshbarger-Catherine Mancer Mentzer
Emmanuel Harshbarger-Clara Harter
Grover Harshbarger-Goldie Withers
Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Margaret Beeks
Their descendants