My Price Ancestors, an Impenetrable, Impervious Brick Wall Line. 52 Ancestors, Week 21: Brick Wall

Posted on May 21, 2023 by Anna Kasper, ACDP

Although like most genealogists, I have more than one brick wall line, but this one has been one of the most aggravating and impenetrable genealogical walls. This week’s writing prompt brick wall gives a few suggestions as to what to write about. Write what you do know about your brick wall ancestor and their lines, how you know what you know, the proof, and how you might be able to fill in the unknown gaps.

The furthest I can take my Price line back is to my 3rd great-grandfather John Price. He was born 7 April 1783 (there is an alternate birthday for him of 11 February 1788) in Maryland, and died before 1860 in Hocking County, Ohio. He married 2 May 1810 in Washington County, Maryland to Nancy Anna Albert. She was the daughter of Johann Peter Albert and Anna Walpurgis Hoerner. Her parents were from Niklashausen, Main-Tauber-Kreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. I wrote about them a few weeks ago. You may read about them here: Walpurgisnacht (Saint Walpurgis Night), Saint Walpurga, My Ancestors Named Walpurgis from Tauber Franconia (Germany).

Even though his parentage is unknown, many link him to various Maryland families with Welsh and English roots, but I have been unable to find documentation to link him with these well-known Maryland Price families. We believe his father was named John or James Price. The only strong DNA clues I have found are that he most likely was a brother to the following:

  1. George Price, born 16 MAY 1773 in Maryland, and married on 18 January 1800 in Hagerstown, Washington, Maryland, to Susannah Zilhart, the daughter of Christopher “Stophel” Zelhart/Zeilhardt and Elizabeth Erlewein.
  2. John Jacob (Johan Jacob) Price born 30 June 1775 in Maryland, and died 16 November 1852 in Mount Morris, Ogle, Illinois. He married on 2 May 1810 in Washington County, Maryland, to Christiana Catharina Albert, the daughter of John Albert and Anna Maria _____. For a long time, I thought that my Nancy Anna Albert Price and Christiana Catherina Albert Price were siblings, but her baptism record is found in Saint Michael’s and Zion Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There may be some Albert connection between us. Nothing more is really known about her parents John Albert and Anna Maria _____. My Nancy lists her place of birth as Maryland in the 1850 census and as Pennsylvania in 1860.
  3. Elizabeth Price born 22 February 1798 in Maryland and died 29 July 1877 in Funkstown, Washington County, Maryland, she married 25 January 1820 in Hagerstown, Washington County, Maryland to John Wolfkill, the son of Jacob Wolfkill, Sr. and Lydia ____.

George, John Jacob “Jacob” (Johan Jacob), and Elizabeth Price all married spouses with German roots. My ancestor John Price also married a woman with strong German roots.

This led me to believe they could possibly be from a German Price family, not English or Welsh as often assumed. There are some well researched German and Swiss-German Preisch/Priess (spelled as Price within a few generations) families. Some were Mennonites. But I have been unable to link my Price family to any of these German or Swiss-German families.

Elizabeth Price and her husband John Wolfkill are buried in the Mount Zion Mennonite Church Cemetery in Mapleville, Washington County, Maryland. They lived in nearby San Mar. Mapleville is 8.9 miles from Hagerstown. San Mar is 7.8 miles from Hagerstown.

At the time Elizabeth Price was born in Funkstown, it was still known as Jerusalem with locals at the time referring to it as Funck’s Jerusalem Town. Funkstown is 2.5 miles from Hagerstown and 5.6 miles from San Mar.

Elizabeth Price and John Wolfkill named their children: Eli, Maria, Lorenzo Dow, Lawson, Lydia A., and David Wolfkill.

George Price and Susannah Zelhart only had one known child named George Price.

John Jacob “Jacob” Price and Christiana Catharina Albert named their children: Samuel, Jacob Isaac, Catherine, John A., Barbara, Christian, and Henrietta Price.

My ancestors John Price and Nancy Anna Albert named their children: John F., Sarah Ann “Sally”, James, Mary Ann, and Nancy Jane Price.

Washington County, Maryland was a hub, and many came from neighboring areas and states to marry there. It is bordered on the NW by Fulton County, Pennsylvania, to the west is Allegany County, Maryland, to the SW is Morgan County, West Virginia, to the south is Berkeley County, West Virginia, to the south is also Jefferson County, West Virginia, to the SW is Loudoun County, Virginia, to the east is Frederick County, Maryland, and to the NE is Franklin County, Pennsylvania.

My John Price may be the John Price found in the 1810 Jerusalem and Upper Antietam Hundreds, Washington County, Maryland census. As noted previously, Funkstown was originally settled as Jerusalem. Funkstown and Antietam are south of Hagerstown.

His first three children were all born in Washington County, Maryland. He is found by 1830 in the US Federal Census for Richland, Fairfield County, Ohio. His next two children were born in Richland, Fairfield County, Ohio. By 1840 he is living in Monday Creek, Perry County, Ohio. Fairfield and Perry Counties are next to each other and have some shared history. By 1850 he is living in Green, Hocking County, Ohio. Hocking County is next to Perry County. He dies before the 1860 census. His wife Nancy Albert Price is found in the 1860 census living in Green, Hocking County, Ohio, in the household of her daughter Nancy Jane Price and her husband Richard Henry Taylor and their children.

My line continues with the son James Price who married Julia Ann Mateer/Meteer, the daughter of Robert Meteer and Esther Chambers. They lived most of their lives in Monday Creek (Maxville), Perry County, Ohio but did live in Falls, Hocking County, Ohio during one census.

I have gone deep down the rabbit hole of looking at others with the surname Price living in the same Ohio counties at the same time as my ancestors. I have spent hours, probably days, doing this, but to no avail. It led me to various Price families from Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York, and elsewhere. Some obviously had no connection to my Price family, others were plausible, maybe, but no solid connections were made or provable.

I also went through every single marriage record in Washington County, Maryland for several decades around the time of my ancestors marriage there. I was able to weed out most of them as having any connection with my Price family, other than the ones I listed above that I think are possible siblings for my ancestor. There were some Price marriage records found in Washington County, Maryland that nothing more is known about the couple or their parentage, and I found no one else researching them.

So, were my Price ancestors of Welsh or English stock? Had they been in the USA for quite a while? Or were they of a German or Swiss-German Price (Preisch/Priess) family? Did they have links to the Mennonite Church?

DNA is usually quite helpful with brick walls, especially since it’s my 3rd great-grandfather’s parentage. In some of my lines, I have close to a hundred DNA matches that share some of my 4th or 5th great-grandparents with me. My Price line has been a headache. You would think with access to viewing my DNA matches as well as the matches of my sister, my niece (my brother’s daughter), and my Kennedy/Price 2nd cousin that an obvious connection or pattern would emerge, but it hasn’t. There are no doubts that my 2nd great-grandfather was the son of John Price and Nancy Anna Albert, I do have DNA matches at that level as well as records that confirm this. It’s going back further that is a brick wall, I wish it were just a locked door, that I just have not been able to open. Maybe others looking at the information I do have will see something that I have missed.

If you’d like to learn more about the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks project, please visit here:

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.

Or join the Facebook group Generations Cafe.

If you use any information from my blog posts as a reference or source, please give credit and provide a link back to my work that you are referencing. Unless otherwise noted, my work is © Anna A. Kasper 2011-2023. All rights reserved. Thank you.

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My Beardsley Ancestors, the Lost Village of Beard’s Wood, My Family Connection to P.T. Barnum and General Tom Thumb. 52 Ancestors, Week 20: Bearded.

Posted on May 11, 2023 by Anna Kasper, ACDP

This week’s writing prompt is the word bearded. Although, my great-great grandfather John Davis Kennedy had a pretty cool looking beard in the photo of him in his US Civil War Union uniform, there is not much else to write about it, he died a decade later in a mining accident and no other photos exist of him, nor are there any stories passed down about him and his beard, or any other ancestors with beard stories, or ones that were barbers. So, I will stay with original idea that came to mind, to write about my direct ancestors with the surname Beardsley.

The surname Beardsley is an English surname. It comes from the words beard and wood. The placename is believed to derive from the Olde English pre 7th Century byname Beard, from the vocabulary word for a beard, with leah meaning wood, glade, or clearing, hence it was a place named Beard’s Wood. The surname Beard by itself was a nickname for a bearded man. Beard’s Wood was a locational name for a now lost place, believed to have been situated in Nottinghamshire or nearby Leicestershire where the name is most prevalent. An estimated seven to ten thousand villages and hamlets are known to have disappeared since the 12th Century, due to such natural causes as the Black Death of 1348, in which an eighth of the population perished, and to the widespread practice of enforced “clearing” and enclosure of rural lands for sheep pastures from the 15th Century onwards. (1 & 2)

Some with the surname Beardsley do have a kinship to the surname Bardsley, which is a parish between Ashton and Oldham, near Manchester. This is not the case with my ancestors. And actually, almost all of the American Beardsley families, that came to this country in colonial times, are from the areas of Nottinghamshire and nearby Leicestershire.

My immigrant Beardsley ancestor was William Beardsley. He was born in about 1605 based upon his age being listed as 30 years on the manifest of immigrant ship Planter upon which he arrived in Boston in 1635.

St. Mary’s Church, Ilkieston, Derbyshire. Artwork by
Muirhead Evans (1849–1907) (attributed to).
Erewash Borough Council

He was of a Beardsley family from the areas of Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire. His wife was Mary Harvie. She was baptized on 26 January 1631/32 as Maria Harvie (Latin spelling of Mary) at Saint Mary’s Church in Ilkieston, Derbyshire, England. She was the daughter of Richard Harvie. Various later records show her surname spelling as Mary Harvie or Harvey.

William Beardsley and Mary Harvie married at the same church, Saint Mary’s on 26 January 1631. The baptism of their third child, a son, John, took place there on 2 November 1633.

The distance between Ilkieston and Nottinghamshire is 24 miles (38.6 km), and it is 20.3 miles (32.7 km) between Ilkieston and Leicestershire.

A bit about Ilkieston. It is a town in the Borough of Erewash, Derbyshire, England, on the River Erewash. The town is close to both Derby and Nottingham and is near the border with Nottinghamshire. The eastern boundary of Ilkeston is only two miles from Nottingham’s western edge and is now part of the Nottingham Urban Area. (3)

St. Mary’s is a parish church in the Church of England. It was built in the 14th century (although the church was founded in 1150), it is known as the “Mollis Chapel” because of a stained-glass window which shows the rising sun above the cross. (4)

In 1635, William Beardsley and his family were identified as “of Leicestershire bound for Concord” on the manifest of the ship Planter, bound for Boston from London. Nicholas [Nico] Trerice was the shipmaster. The Planter departed London on about 10 April 1635 and arrived at Boston on Sunday, 7 June 1635. The Beardsley family brought certificates (references) from the Minister of St. Albons [St. Albans] in Hertfordshire.

The Planter ship’s manifest includes the following: Wm. Beadsley, mason, age 30; Marie Beadsley, age 26; Marie Beadslie, age 4; and John Beadslie, age 6 mo. (5) We learn from the ship’s manifest that William’s occupation was that of a mason.

Upon arriving in Boston, the Beardsley family first settled at Concord, Massachusetts where William was admitted to the church as “Wil(iam) Beadseley” a “freeman ” on 7 December 1636. Concord was located about 20 miles northwest of Boston. It was the first inland settlement by the Massachusetts Bay Colony immigrants in New England. Concord was establish in 1635.

The Beardsley family and several others on the ship Planter were followers of the Rev. Adam Blakeman, a Church of England clergyman, who arrived at Boston in 1638. In the History of Stratford, Connecticut, 1639-1939: Stratford Tercentenary Commission, 1939 by William Howard Wilcoxson, the author writes:

“that, finding no land to their liking in Massachusetts, the Blakeman company trekked to Wethersfield, where again they discovered all the best land was already occupied. By August 1639 they were living on land claimed by Connecticut on the banks of the Pequonnock River, possibly as squatters. The Connecticut General Court dispatched the governor to confer with the planters at Pequannock, to give them the oath of fidelity. The English settlers appear to have seized Indian land from the Pequonnock Indians without warfare [but] there are no records of the Blakeman company’s receiving deeds from the Pequonnocks. The Pequonnocks were apparently allowed to remain on portions of their ancestral lands. And when the Pequonnocks demanded belated payments in the 1650’s, the Stratforders paid them—not to ease their consciences but simply to keep the peace. The Indians might be seen by the English as heathen nuisances, but they were still children of God, and they were neighbors.”

Led by Rev. Blakeman, the Beardsley family and 16 other families were the first Europeans to arrive there in 1639. The place was called Cupheag by the native Pequonnock people. The settlers arrived by boat at a spot called Mac’s Harbor. The area was called Pequonnocke Plantation by the General Court on 10 October 1639, then named Cupheag in June of 1640. In April 1643, it became known as Stratford. (6)

William Beardsley died between 28 September 1660, the date of his will, and the will probate date of 6 June 1661. No exact date of death has been found.

In 1939, on the 300th anniversary of the settlement of Stratford, the descendants of William and Mary Beardsley placed a bronze plaque at this Union Cemetery in Stratford. It reads as follows:

“To honor the memory of William and Mary Beardsley and the other first settlers of Stratford who landed near this spot in 1639.
Erected by the Beardsley Family Association 1939″

It is pictured above.

There is a large stone cenotaph monument with the names of William, Mary and several other Beardsley descendants at Union Cemetery. William and Mary Beardsley are not interred there. The Union cemetery was established after his death, in 1678.

My line continues with their daughter Mary Beardsley who married first to Thomas Wells (my ancestor). She married 2nd to widower Deacon Samuel Belding, Sr. (who also just happens to also be my ancestor with his first wife Mary (maiden name unknown) who was killed by Native Americans). I am also a descendant of Deacon Samuel Belding, Sr’s 3rd wife Mary Meekins (with her husband John Allis).

My line down from William Beardsley:

  1. William Beardsley and Mary Harvey (daughter of Richard Harvie/Harvey).
  2. Mary Beardsley and Thomas Wells (son of Thomas Wells and Frances Albright).
  3. Mary Wells and Stephen Belding (son of Deacon Samuel Belding, Sr. and Mary (killed by Indians) maiden name unknown).
  4. Elizabeth Belding and Richard Scott (son of William Scott and Hannah Allis).
  5. Mary Scott and Elisha Root (son of John Root and Mary Leonard).
  6. Lusannah “Lucy” Root and Sampson French (son of Samson French, Sr. and Mary Clement).
  7. Submit “Mitty” French and Phineas Merchant (son of Ezra Merchant, Jr. and Catherine Northrup).
  8. Cordelia Merchant and Lewis F. Cole (son of Nathaniel Cole, Jr. and Laura A. Fuller).
  9. Loren Richard Cole and Nancy M. Losure (daughter of 1st cousins Joseph Losure and Sarah Lozier).
  10. Joseph Edward Cole and Anna Cora Prindle (daughter of Daniel Prindle and Sarah Jane “Jennie” Doman). – My great-grandparents.
PT Barnum and General Tom Thumb.

Famous kin descended from William Beardsley and Mary Harvey:

  1. Jeremiah Day – 9th President of Yale University.
  2. P.T. Barnum – Co-Founder of Barnum & Bailey Circus.
  3. W. K. Kellogg – Founder of the Kellogg Company.
  4. Frank Kellogg – 45th U.S. Secretary of State Nobel Peace Prize Winner.
  5. General Tom Thumb – Dwarf Circus Performer.
  6. Emily Dickinson – American Poet.
  7. Howard Hawks – Movie Director.
  8. Zoe Kazan – TV, Movie and Stage Actress.
  9. Howard Dean – 79th Governor of Vermont.
  10. Phil Knight – Co-Founder, Nike Inc.
  11. Janis Joplin – Singer and Songwriter.
  12. Anna Gunn – TV and Movie Actress.
  13. Edward Norton – Movie Actor.
  14. Amy Adams – Movie Actress.
  15. Treat Williams – TV & Movie Actor.

I share additional ancestors with most of the people in the list above. Some even share the same next 3-4 generations down with me. I find it interesting that PT Barnum and General Tom Thumb were both descendants of William Beardsley and Mary Harvey, something I doubt they ever knew in their lifetimes. They were fourth cousins, one time removed.

References:

  1. Beardsley/Beardslee . . . everyone gets the drumstick here. FamilyTreeDNA groups. Last name: Bearsley.
  2. Surname Beardsley. The Internet Surname Database.
  3. Ilkeston. Wikepedia.org
  4. St Mary’s Church, Ilkeston. Wikipedia.org
  5. The original lists of persons of quality; emigrants; religious exiles; political rebels; serving men sold for a term of years; apprentices; children stolen; maidens pressed; and others who went from Great Britain to the American Plantations, 1600-1700; with their ages and the names of the ships in which they embarked by John Camden Hotten, ed., 1874. p. 50.
  6. Our History Stratford Connecticut by Barbara M. Sirois. 1988.

Additional source:

  1. William Beardsley – FAG (FindAGrave.com)

If you’d like to learn more about the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks project, please visit here:

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.

Or join the Facebook group Generations Cafe.

If you use any information from my blog posts as a reference or source, please give credit and provide a link back to my work that you are referencing. Unless otherwise noted, my work is © Anna A. Kasper 2011-2023. All rights reserved. Thank you.

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Walpurgisnacht (Saint Walpurgis Night), Saint Walpurga, My Ancestors Named Walpurgis from Tauber Franconia (Germany)

Posted on April 30, 2023 by Anna Kasper, ACDP

Today April 30th, is half-way to Halloween! For someone that loves Halloween — I am a closet actress that missed her calling! — today is a pleasant reminder that summer, which hasn’t even started, will be over soon enough! I am not a fan of summer and the desert heat it brings with it. Happy Walpurgisnacht!

The night from April 30th to May 1st is called Walpurgisnacht, an abbreviation of Sankt-Walpurgisnacht – Saint Walpurgis’ Night in Germany, and sometimes also called Hexennacht (witches’ night). It has been suggested that it has its roots in the Celtic spring celebration of Beltane, and with older May Day festivals of Northern Europe. It is said that the witches meet on the Brocken, the highest peak in the Harz Mountain range, to dance around a fire. Though the saint has no concrete connection with this festival, her name became associated with witchcraft and country superstitions because of the date, which is her feast day (the day of her canonization). In modern times, Walpurgisnacht has grown to become somewhat similar to the celebration of Halloween. (1, 2, 3, 4, & 5)

“Walpurgis Night. . .when the devil was abroad— when graves opened, and the dead came forth and walked. When all evil things of earth and air and water held revel.” — from the short story “Dracula’s Guest” by Bram Stoker.

Variations of Walpurgis Night are celebrated in many countries of Northern and Central Europe, including in addition to Germany, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Lithuania, Latvia, Finland, and Estonia. Although in Finland, Denmark, and Norway, the tradition of lighting bonfires to ward off witches is also observed on Saint John’s Eve (Sankthansaften, Midsummer’s Eve), which is associated with the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist. (3 & 6)

For Christians, Walpurgisnacht was the feast of Saint Walburga (Walpurga). Saint Walburga (Walpurga) was born in 710 CE in Dumnonia, today the area roughly corresponds to modern Devon. This was during the period that it was becoming incorporated into Anglo Saxon England. She was born into a wealthy family. She was the daughter of a Christian Saxon king of the eighth century, Richard of Wessex aka Richard the Pilgrim. At the age 10 or 11, she became an orphan and was raised and educated in a monastery in Wimborne in Dorset. She went to Germany at the call of her uncle, Saint Boniface (Holy Boniface), to aid in the work of evangelizing the Germanic tribes. Two of her brothers were missionaries, her brother Wunibald went to Heidenheim and her brother Willibald to Eichstätt. By this time, Walburga was now a nun. It is said that during her journey across the Channel, the boat got caught in a major storm. Walburga prayed without ceasing throughout the whole night until they safely reached Antwerp. Because of this ‘miracle’ she is the Patron Saint of seafarers and sailors, as well as, against storms and hydrophobia. The Christians of Germany hailed St. Walpurga for battling pests, rabies, and whooping cough, as well as against witchcraft. (1, 2, 3, & 8)

Walburga was a missionary to Franconia, particularly in Tauberbischofsheim, Bischofsheim on the Tauber. Tauberbischofsheim is just south of Niklashausen. It is 6.4 miles (10.3 km) between Tauberbischofsheim and Niklashausen. When her brother Wunibald died in 761 she took over the monastery he founded in Heidenheim. Shortly after, a women’s monastery was added, and she was the abbess of both. (9 & 10)

Walpurga died on 25 February 777 or 779 and was buried at Heidenheim. In 870, Walpurga’s remains were transferred to Eichstätt. (9)

The village of Niklashausen

The above photo is of the village of Niklashausen in the Tauber Valley. Niklashausen is a tiny village with a current population of about 390 people. It is in the German state of Baden-Württemberg and sits right at the border with Bavaria. In this region the dialect of German that is spoken is East Franconian. (12)

A bit more about Niklashausen taken from the official website of Niklashausen: (translated from German)

The village is located in a charming basin on the lower reaches of the Tauber, framed by steep mountain slopes with dry stone walls made of red sandstone. From these altitudes you have a wonderful view of the river and the village with its beautiful historic church, while in the area, you can take wonderful tours on the bike path. This historic place is the home of the famous piper of Niklashausen [aka The Drummer of Niklashausen]. (12)

View of Niklashausen from the Mühlberg

I have a myriad of German ancestors in my tree, hailing from all over Germany. But I only have one German line that includes ancestors and kin with the name Walpurgis. The reason for this became abundantly clear to me when I learned that St. Walpurga was a missionary to Tauberbischofsheim, which is just south of the village of Niklashausen. Her influence in the area was quite strong and engendered many girls of the area to be given the name Walpurgis in her honor.

My 3rd great grandmother was named Nancy Anna Albert. She was born about 1792 in Washington County, Maryland. She was the daughter of Johann Peter Albert and Anna Walpurgis Hoerner, who were both born in Niklashausen. Not only was her mother named Anna Walpurgis, but her father’s maternal grandmother was named Anna Walpurgis _____ Rükert. She had a sister named Anna Walpurgis Albert, and a paternal first cousin named Anna Walpurgis Rückert.

I discussed in a previous post about German naming customs and that the first name, in this case Anna, would be the baptism name and the middle name, called the Rufname, in this case Walpurgis, was the name they were called. The Rufname along with the surname is what would be used in marriage, tax, land and death records.

In the above map of Franconia, you can see Tauberbischofsheim (in the yellow and white stripped area) on the border with Bavaria.

In addition to my ancestor Nancy Anna Albert, the other known children born to Johann Peter Albert and Anna Walpurgis Hoerner were sons Johann Georg and Johann Martin Albert and daughters Anna Walpurgis and Maria E. Albert (Malott).

Johann Peter and sister Anna Walpurgis Albert were both born in Niklashausen. Their baptism records are found there. Nothing more is known about them; they may have died before the family immigrated to America.

Johann Martin Albert was born in New York and his baptism record is found in the New York City Dutch Reformed Church Records. He married on 15 June 1811 in Hagerstown, Washington County, Maryland, to Catherine Klein. I am a DNA match to his descendants.

The Albert family may have spent time living in Pennsylvania, but are found in records in Washington County, Maryland. Johann Martin Albert eventually does migrate to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where he is buried.

Maria E. Albert was born in Maryland, most likely in Washington County, Maryland. She married 27 March 1807 in Hagerstown, Washington County, Maryland, to Thomas Malott. Their first child was born in Washington County, Maryland, the family then migrated to Stark County, Ohio, and eventually to Congress, Wayne County, Ohio. I am DNA match to their descendants.

Nancy Anna Albert was born in Maryland, most likely in Washington County, Maryland. She married 2 May 1810 in Hagerstown, Washington County, Maryland, to John Price. He was the son of John Price, but other than the Price family being of Maryland and Delaware, nothing more is known about this Price family. It appears that they may have been of a German Price family and not of an English or Welsh family. But for now, it is unknown. It is one of my brick wall lines.

What we do know, supported by DNA, is that he had at least three siblings: George Price (married Susannah Zilhart), John Jacob (Johann Jacob) Price (married Christiana Catharina Albert), and Elizabeth Price (married John Wolfkill). For a long time, I thought that Christiana and my Nancy were siblings, but baptism records show she was of a different Albert family that also lived in Washington County, Maryland.

John Price and Nancy Albert had the following children: John F. Price (married Mary Ann V. ___ and Sarah Hopkins), Sarah Ann “Sally” Price (married Robert T. Baird), James Price (married Julia Ann Mateer/Meteer), Mary Ann Price (married Jacob Adam Lehman), and Nancy Jane Price (married Richard Henry Taylor).

The Price family migrated from Maryland to Ohio. First living in Richland in Fairfield County then to Monday Creek in Perry County and finally to Green, Hocking County, Ohio.

My line continues with James Price and Julia Ann Mateer/Meteer (daughter of Robert Meteer and Esther Chambers), they are my 2nd great-grandparents. They migrated briefly to Logan, Falls, in Hocking County, but spent most of their lives in Perry County, Ohio, and it is where they are buried.

Although the name Walpurgis was not passed down in later generations once they were in America, I feel a kinship to St. Walpurga and to Walpurgisnacht. Happy Halfway to Halloween and Walpurgisnacht!

References and Sources:

  1. Walpurgisnacht – Night of the Witches, Named after a Saint. April 29, 2022. Anika Rieper. More than Beer and Schnitzel. Almost everything you want to know about German culture and language.
  2. Catholic Activity: St. Walburga. Catholic Culture. catholicculture.org
  3. Walpurgis Night. Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org
  4. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix; Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von (2005). Die Erste Walpurgisnacht: Ballade von Goethe für Chor und Orchester. Yushodo Press Company.
  5. Melton, J. Gordon (2011). Religious Celebrations. ABC-CLIO. p. 915.
  6. Walpurgis Night in Sweden in 2023. officeholidays.com
  7. WHAT IS WALPURGISNACHT? 12 November 2020. Macs Adventure.
  8. “CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: St. Walburga”. newadvent.org.
  9. Saint Walpurga. Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wunderli, Richard (1992). Peasant Fires: The Drummer of Niklashausen. Chapter IV: Walpurgisnacht. Indiana University Press. p. 46.
  11. Gemeinde Werbach – Niklashausen
  12. Niklashausen official website

To read more about the celebration and history of Walpurgisnacht:

  1. Walpurgis Night – Halloween in April? April 29, 2018, by Christine Valentor. A WordPress Blog.
  2. Walpurgis Night – World History Encyclopedia. worldhistory.org

To learn more about St. Walpurga:

  1. St. Walburga. Faith. University of Notre Dame. faith.nd.edu
  2. Saint Walburga. Benedictine Nuns, St. Emma Monastery, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. stemma.org

To learn more about Niklashausen:

  1. Niklashausen official website
  2. Gemeinde Werbach – Niklashausen

Image credits:

  1. Walpurgisnacht photo at the very top is from WHAT IS WALPURGISNACHT? 12 November 2020. Macs Adventure.
  2. Happy Halfway to Halloween & Walpurgisnacht graphic is from The Spooky Vegan – Sarah E. Jahier. thespookyvegan.com
  3. Stained glass window of St. Walpurga is from the windows of the Shrine of St. Walburga. Benedictine Nuns, St. Emma Monastery, Greensburg, Pennsylvania.
  4. Village of Niklashausen – Gemeinde Werbach.
  5. View of Niklashausen from the Mühlberg – Niklashausen official website.

If you use any information from my blog posts as a reference or source, please give credit and provide a link back to my work that you are referencing. Unless otherwise noted, my work is © Anna A. Kasper 2011-2023. All rights reserved. Thank you.

Posted in Genealogy, Religious | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

My Ancestor, Royal Servant Edmund Moody Saved the Life of Henry VIII and Changed History! 52 Ancestors, Week 16 – Should Be a Movie.

Posted on April 13, 2023 by Anna Kasper, ACDP

This week’s writing prompt fits quite well into the story of my ancestor Edmund Moody (aka Edmond Moodye), his life would very much make for an interesting historical, costume drama movie, or even a time-leaping Sci-Fi story!

My ancestor Edmund Moody was born about 1495 in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England, and died 15 September 1562 at Moulton, Suffolk, England. Not much is known about him prior to him saving Henry VIII’s life. We do know that he was the son of Edward Moody. For we find in the History of Hitchin, it states that, From Edward Moody, 1504, whose son twenty years after saved the great despoiler’s life when he fell head first into the Hiz, they received two quarters of malt. (1)

He was married, some say twice. The name of his wife is unproven, but she may have been named Anne. He had at least four sons.

Edmund Moody in The Tudors, Season 1, Episode 4.

He served as a royal footman in the retinue of Henry VIII. You probably get visions of footmen in later centuries similar to those found in Downton Abbey, or maybe of a footman that ran along the side of a royal carriage. But Edmund was a footman of the stable, a cadge-man, the lowest ranking servant of the hunt.

In 1525, Henry VIII, during a hawking excursion at Hitchin in Hertfordshire, attempted to leap over a clay marsh using a pole: the pole broke under Henry’s weight and Henry fell into the marsh, the clay of which closed over his head. Moody leapt into the marsh and pulled the king’s head up through the clay, thereby preventing Henry from drowning and saving his life.

These events are well chronicled by several sources, including the following:

In this yere the kyng folowyng of his hauke, lept over a diche beside Hychyn, with a polle and the polle brake, so that if one Edmond Mody, a foteman, had not lept into the water, and lift up his hed, whiche was fast in the clay, he had bene drouned: but God of his goodnes preserved him. (2)

Henry the Eighth, following his Hawk, leapt over a ditch with a pole, which broke; so that, if Edmund Moody (a Foot-man) had not leapt into the Water, and lift up the King’s Head, which stuck in the Clay, he had been drown‘d (This Foot-man was rewarded both with Means and Arms, speaking his Service done to his Prince). And the King lived to perform afterwards a Deed of grand Concern. (3)

Henry VIII, too, was a keen and active falconer. He suffered a bizarre accident when flying falcons at duck. As he leaped across a brook his vaulting-pole broke, pitching the king head-first into the mud. A quick thinking cadgeman – the lowest-ranking servant of the hunt – jumped in and pulled the king out, otherwise history might have followed a different course. (4)

The photo I posted above is of an actor playing Edmund Moody in The Tudors, Season 1, Episode 4. They do not name this servant that saved Henry VIII’s life in that TV series. I do not know who the actor is, his name is not listed in the credits. So, my ancestor gets only a small nod for a few minutes. In the limited series Wolf Hall, the accident and saving of Henry VIII is not shown, but my ancestor is mentioned by name.

The Coat of Arms granted to my ancestor Edmond Moodye.

As a reward for this valiant action, he was rewarded with a pension of a groat a day or about £6 per annum, a very fair sum when we compare it with the £5 pension which the King granted to the former prior of Wymondley a few years later. Payment of Moody’s pension was honored as we see in the following example. “The 24th day of September 1531, paied to Edmond the foteman, being in pension of a grote a day for one quarter now ended, xxx shillings.” Although he started to receive the pension right away, as well as an improvement in his station in life, and the gratitude of the King, he did not receive the lands from Henry VIII or the coat of arms until October 1540 and shortly after he left court and went to live on his lands.

It appears he remained a footman and in royal employ for some years, for it states he was one as of 1531, although he most likely would have moved up the ranks a bit. In Tudor times, working as a servant was seen as a respectable career and many masters (in this case the King of England) saw some of their staff as good friends, and some became the master’s favorite. I believe that Henry VIII looked upon Edmund Moody favorably since he did save his life, especially since he eventually gives him land and a coat of arms. When Henry VIII was drowning in the mud, Edmund was the only person around him, so it was quite advantageous for Henry that Edmund chose to act quickly to save his life.

Servants generally lived in the home they worked at and would be provided with food and clothes in addition to lodging. All servants would have also had annual contracts of employment, protected their rights and ensured that their employer treated them properly. Most domestic servants would have slept in shared chambers in either the cellars or attics of the castle buildings. There might also be simple buildings outside the castle for herdsmen, servants of the stables, mill workers, woodcutters, and other craftspeople. (6 & 7) I would venture to guess that servants of the hunt would have slept in buildings near where the falcons were kept.

Regarding the gifting of land to Edmund, Moulton is a peculiar jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury, rather than the Archdeacons of Sudbury or Suffolk.

That is why Henry VIII was able to grant Edmund Moody land there; Moulton was the closest place in Suffolk to Edmund’s home which was entirely in Henry’s gift. The land was probably confiscated from a religious organization. (5)

Had Moody not leapt into the marsh to save the King, it is likely that the King would have perished: if Henry had so perished, here are just a few of the innumerable ways history would have changed if Edmund Moody had not saved the life of Henry VIII in 1524/1525:

  1. Mary I (Bloody Mary) would have become Queen at age 8. She, and her mother Queen Catherine, were devoutly Catholic and England would probably have remained Catholic as long as she reigned, presumably until at least 1558, and may have remained Catholic much longer.
  2. Neither the Act of Supremacy nor the dissolution of the monasteries would have occurred.
  3. Henry VIII would have been married to only one woman, his 1st wife Catherine of Aragon.
  4. Mary I would have married younger and probably to someone else and would have most-likely had heirs.
  5. Elizabeth I would never have been born and her long reign and bringing about what is known as the Elizabethan era would never have existed.
  6. England would have remained Catholic and there would have never been English Puritans to come to America. American history would have been different, and we would have either remained a British Colony much longer, or even could have instead been a Spanish, Portuguese, or French Colony!

Edmund Moody’s life would have changed as well. He would have remained a low-ranking royal servant, he would not have become a gentleman, he would not have received the lands, the coat of arms, or the pension. His whole life changed that day when he went from being an unnoticed low-ranking royal servant, to one of the King’s favorite footmen and eventually became a gentleman, and part of the landed gentry.

Edmund Moody (Edmond Moodye) had the following children:

  1. Rev. William Moody buried 28 June 1567 at St. Peter’s, Cockfield, Suffolk, England. He was the rector of St. Peter’s in Cockfield.
  2. Rev. John Moody, buried 24 April 1567 at Benhall, Suffolk, England. He was the vicar of St. Mary’s Church in Benhall.
  3. Rev. Thomas Moody, buried 26 August 1569 in Islington, Middlesex, England. He was the rector of Lackford, Suffolk, then rector of St. Peter’s, Moulton, Suffolk, before becoming the Chaplain of Islington. He was the chaplain to Lady Worcester, the widow of Henry, 2nd Earl of Worcester.
  4. Richard Moody, born 28 April 1524 at Bury St. Edmund, Suffolk, England, and died 28 April 1574 at Moulton, Suffolk. He married 4 February 1548 to Anne Panell/Parnell. He was a Puritan and his occupation was sheep grazer. After the death of his older brother Rev. Thomas Moodye he inherited his father’s land and wealth. (My direct ancestors).

My line continues with a son of Richard Moody and Anne Parnell, George Moody, Gentleman. George was a graduate of Trinity College. He was a yeoman who took up livery of his father’s lands in Moulton. He was “famous for his housekeeping & honest & plain dealing.” George inherited the family lands and wealth. He married first to Margaret Chenery on 12 October 1581.

Margaret Chenery was the daughter of John Chenery and Elizabeth Norwich. Margaret was buried 25 January 1602/3 in Moulton, Suffolk, England, the same day that their daughter Mary was christened. After her death, George Moody married second to Christian Cramp/Knapp on 19 September 1604 in Moulton, Suffold, England.

George Moody made his will 5 August 1607, and it was proved 20 November 1607. He was buried 23 August 1607 in Moulton, Suffolk, England.

My next generation down is via a daughter of George Moody and Margaret Chenery, Frances Moody. She married Thomas Kilbourn. Frances Moody and husband Thomas Kilbourn were both immigrants to British Colonial America. In April 1635, they left London on their way to Boston in the vessel “Increase”. They settled in Colonial Wethersfield, Connecticut. Frances Moody and Thomas Kilbourn are my 10th great-grandparents.

The list of the famous descendants of Frances Moody and Thomas Kilbourn is rather lengthy. It includes Pres. Rutherford B. Hayes, Author Louisa May Alcott, Elihu Root – the 28th Secretary of State, Frank W. Woolworth – the founder of Woolworths, Gilbert Clifford Noble – the co-founder of Barnes & Noble, Vice Pres. Charles Dawes, Actress Margaret Hamilton, Aviation Pioneer Amelia Earhart, Actors Warren Beatty and his sister Shirley MacLaine, First Lady Nancy (Davis) Reagan, First Lady Bess (Wallace) Truman, Actor Clint Eastwood, and many more. You may view the full list of their famous kin here.

Photo from Rutland Outdoor Pursuits (UK)

Side note: Having a falconry experience is on my Life’s Adventures List, and when it does come to pass, I will be thinking of my ancestor Edmund Moody. 🙂

References:

  1. History of Hitchin by Reginald L. Hine, Gresham Press, Old Woking, Surrey, 1927- Vol. I, p. 140
  2. Life of Henry VIII by Edward Hall, 1904. Republished by Forgotten Books January 2, 2019
  3. From 1682 by John Gibbon, excerpt from page 4 (on microfilm at Harvard University Library).
  4. REALM No. 96, February 2001, page 40.
  5. Edmund Moody/Modye Gentleman – Compiler: Pomala Black, 2014.
  6. Life of a Tudor Servant – The Tudor Team: Behind the scenes with Tudor House team of volunteers. May 29, 2019
  7. The Household Staff in an English Medieval Castle by Mark Cartwright. June 1, 2018. World History Encyclopedia

Image credit:

Header image is of St Peter’s Church in Moulton, Suffolk, England.

Further reading:

  1. HENRY HAWKING by Kyra Cornelius Kramer. October 27, 2012. Henry VIII and his love of Falconry.
  2. Falconry and the Tudors by Katharine Edgar. June 9, 2014. Katharine Edgar, writer of historical fiction for young adults.
  3. LIFE AT THE TUDOR COURT THE PLACE TO SEE, AND BE SEEN. Historic Royal Palaces.
  4. Tudor Entertainment & Pastimes. Ryan Gibson & Marilee Hanson. englishhistory.net

If you’d like to learn more about the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks project, please visit here:

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.

Or join the Facebook group Generations Cafe.

If you use any information from my blog posts as a reference or source, please give credit and provide a link back to my work that you are referencing. Unless otherwise noted, my work is © Anna A. Kasper 2011-2023. All rights reserved. Thank you.

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52 Ancestors, Week 15: Solitude. Quaker Ancestors. Quakers and the Invention of Solitary Confinement.

Posted on April 8, 2023 by Anna Kasper, ACDP

I have quite a few Quaker ancestors that lived in several American Colonial states including Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina. Quakers were no stranger to punishment, torture, confinement, spending time in jails and prisons, and even being hung on occasion.

The first Quakers in American were stripped, beaten, and starved. Puritans fined anyone who brought a Quaker to America. Women were stripped and beaten. Quakers caught in Massachusetts had their ears cut off. Four Quakers were murdered by Puritans for their beliefs. The Puritans threatened Rhode Island for harboring Quakers. People who spoke out in the defense of Quakers were arrested. Two Quaker children were almost sold into slavery (but not a single captain in the country was willing to let them use his boat to sell the children into slavery). Dead Quakers’ bodies were desecrated and humiliated. Europe had to intervene to save the Quakers. Although Americans, during this time period, never stopped torturing Quakers, but, in the end, the English government banned the persecution of Quakers. (1)

It is often thought that Quakers invented solitary confinement. Quakers did not invent solitary confinement. The idea of solitary confinement had been borrowed from a Calvinist, John Howard, who introduced the idea of solitude and silence leading to repentance, and the ideas took hold with the Quakers and Anglicans as humane reform of a penal system with overcrowded jails, squalid conditions, brutal labor chain gangs, stockades, public humiliation, and systemic hopelessness. Prisons up until that point had been dungeons. Quakers were very involved in the organization that started the penitentiary, which was a place that people were supposed to go and be penitent. It was a concept of reforming. It’s a cautionary tale about reforms. It drove many men mad. (2, 3, & 4)

Quakers moved away from solitary confinement within a few years of the opening of the Eastern Pennsylvania Penitentiary. By 1838, leading Quaker Elizabeth Fry was already speaking out against solitary confinement. (4) This mistake, although it was rooted in compassion and a change for the better, caused many repercussions and consequences for people in the criminal justice system.

Solitary Confinement, an idea rooted in compassion and reform that backfired.

Today Quakers activists are engaged in campaigning on many current crime and justice issues, notably restorative justice and women prisoners, to make up for the deleterious mistake that they made in the 19th century. (5)

References:

  1. 10 Horrifying Ways America’s Puritans Persecuted The Quakers by Mark Oliver
  2. Did Quakers Invent Solitary Confinement? – Quaker Speak
  3. Solitary Confinement: A Brief History From Quaker logic to America’s first electric chair, a quick tour of prisons past by Brooke Shelby Biggs. Mother Jones.
  4. Quakers Know Prisons from the Inside Out – Justice Reform. Friends Committe on National Legislation. Lobbing with Quakers.
  5. The Connection Between Quakerism and Solitary Confinement by Frank Sheffield. wildezine.com – The student news site of Sandy Spring Friends School.

Further reading:

  1. Reformers in Criminal Justice – Quakers in the World.
  2. Elizabeth Fry 1780 – 1845 – Quakers in the World.
  3. Eastern State Penitentiary – wikipedia.org
  4. Quaker Prison Reform – philanthropyroundtable.org

Photo credits:

  1. Quaker Heritage – Guildfordiana – Guilford College blog.

If you’d like to learn more about the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks project, please visit here:

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.

Or join the Facebook group Generations Cafe.

If you use any information from my blog posts as a reference or source, please give credit and provide a link back to my work that you are referencing. Unless otherwise noted, my work is © Anna A. Kasper 2011-2023. All rights reserved. Thank you.

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My Three Ancestors Named Ursula – 52 Ancestors, Week 14: Begins with a Vowel

Posted on April 4, 2023 by Anna Kasper, ACDP

When trying to decide who to write about this week, I do have a few ancestors that both their first and last names begin with a vowel, including my eleventh great-grandfather Egidius Egen who was born and died in Dettingen an der Erms, Reutlingen, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany. He married Lea Golmer. This is on my maternal Swartzlander line. Or my eleventh great-grandmother Alice Adlam who was born and died in Leigh, Wiltshire, England. She married a well-to-do Clothier named Robert Cogswell. She was the daughter of another well-off Clothier named John Adlam and his wife Marjorie ____. This is on my Cogswell line. I also have many women named Anna or Elizabeth in my tree. But the only ancestors that I have that their name begins with the vowel “U” are three women named Ursula that are all kin to each other.

The most recent ancestor with the name is my sixth great-grandmother Ursula “Ursy” Sine Budd. She was born 9 March 1728 (Budd Family Bible) in North Tarrytown (Sleepy Hollow), Westchester County, New York. She was the daughter of Nicholas Sine (Sayn) and Urseltje (Anna Ursula) Maul.

Ursula “Ursy” Sine Budd’s mother, Anna Ursula “Ursula” (Urseltje) Maul Sine, my seventh great-grandmother, and is my next ancestor with the same name.

Anna Ursula “Ursula’ (Urseltje) Maul Sine’s maternal grandmother, Anna Ursula _____ Drisch/Dricksen, my ninth great-grandmother, is my third ancestor with the name Ursula.

I need to discuss here a bit about the German naming system. All three of these ancestors would have been called by and listed in most records as Ursula.

German children were given two names. The first one was a baptismal name, the second name, known as the Rufname, along with the surname is what would be used in marriage, tax, land and death records. This tradition began in the Middle Ages. By the 1800’s, more Germans began to give their children three names. Again, typically only one of the middle names was used throughout the person’s life. Roman Catholics often used saints’ names, while most Protestant groups also included names from the Old Testament or even non-Christian names. (1)

Ursula “Ursy” Sine Budd is sometimes listed as Ursty by some that have misread her nickname in records which would have actually been spelled Ursie, Ursey, or Ursy.

The Maul (Maulin/Moulin), and Drisch/Dricksen families were from Hohenroth and Driedorf in Lahn-Dill-Kreis, Hesse, Germany. I have a TON of German ancestors, but this line is the only known line going back to Hesse. Although my ancestors come from all over Germany, most were from the Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Württemberg, with a smaller amount coming from Bavaria, Berlin, and North Rhine-Westphalia. 

The distance between Holenroth and Driedorf is 3.7 miles (5.9 km). They are both smaller places, Driedorf has a population of about 5,213 people, and Holenroth has a population of about 3,604 people.

Out of my three ancestors named Ursula, the least is known about my ninth great-grandmother Anna Ursula ____. She was born in the area of Hohenroth and Driesdorf. Her parentage and maiden name are unknown. She married Johann Georg Drisch/Dricksen. We do know that she died 19 April 1677 in Hohenroth.

My line continues with their daughter Anna Elisabetha “Elizabeth” Drisch who married Johannes Maul (Maulin/Moulyn).

Their daughter Anna Ursula “Ursula” (Urseltje) Maul (Maulin) is my second ancestor named Ursula. A bit more is known about her. She was baptized 2 November 1694 in Driedorf, Lahn-Dill-Kreis, Hesse, Germany. She arrived in New York, along with her parents and siblings in 1710.

The Banns were recorded for Nicolas Syn & Urseltje Maulin on 10 August 1724. They were married October 1, 1724, at the Dutch Reformed Church in New York City. Recorded in family history books and records are that Ursula had two sisters, named Catherine and Marie. Nicholas immigrated from Rückeroth, Westerwaldkreis, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.

The banns and marriage record are from the Dutch Reformed Church and Urseltje is a Dutch version of the name Ursula.

We know that the couple had at least four children: Ursula “Ursy” Sine Budd, William Sine, Elizabeth Sine Bartholomew, and Ann Sine.

Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow – Photo taken by David Pyatt

The 1685 church and cemetery that the Headless Horseman famously haunts, this Old Dutch Church’s ancient cemetery is the resting place of local citizens who likely inspired Washington Irving’s characters of Katrina Van Tassel, Brom Bones, and others in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”

Nicholas Sayn/Sine/Syn and wife Anna Ursula (Urseltje) Maul/Maulin and their family were in New York for a time, but then later migrated to Hunterdon County, New Jersey. Their daughter Ursula was born while they were still in New York, and I think it is all kinds of cool that she was born in what was called North Tarrytown aka Sleepy Hollow! Yes, the very same place written about in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” My family kin are found in the records of the Old Dutch Church in Sleepy Hollow and some are even buried in the cemetery. The other known children were all born in New Jersey. While the greater part of the families and related kin migrated to New Jersey, some remained in New York, some in the Tarrytown/Sleepy Hollow area, others migrated to other villages and towns in Westchester County, and also to other areas of New York.

Ursula “Ursy” Sine married Elijah Budd on 2 April 1751 in New Rochelle, Westchester, New York. Elijah was the son of Maj. John Budd and Mary Prudence Strang. I have written prior about my French Strang and Le Maistre ancestors. You may read about them here and here. My Budd and related ancestors have roots in New York and were of English stock.

Ursula “Ursy” Sine and Elijah Budd had at least five children including my fifth great-grandmother Mary Budd Palmer, and her brothers Gilbert, John, Peter, and Elijah Budd.

The only known famous person that is descended from my ancestors Nicholas Sine (Sayn/Syn/Seyn) Anna Ursula “Ursula” (Urseltje) Maul (Maulin) is Major General Joseph Bartholomew who is pictured above. He is known for his long military career, and also his daughter Martha Bartholomew Vail and several of his grandchildren were some of the earliest converts to Mormonism. Joseph Bartholomew and my fifth great-grandmother Mary Budd Palmer were first cousins. I have DNA matches to the descendants of Major General Joseph Bartholomew.

My direct line:

  1. Johann Georg Drisch/Dricksen and Anna Ursula ____.
  2. Anna Elisabetha “Elizabeth” Drisch and Johannes Maul/Moull/Maulin.
  3. Anna Ursula (Urseltje) Maul/Maulin and Nicholas Sayn/Sine/Syn.
  4. Ursula “Ursy” Sine and Elijah Budd.
  5. Mary Budd and Solomon Palmer.
  6. Floyd Palmer and Barbara Wolf.
  7. John Palmer and Mary Ann Spotts (Spatz).
  8. Susan Palmer and John Davis Kennedy.
  9. Abraham G. Kennedy and Mary Elizabeth Price (my great-grandparents).

References:

  1. German Naming Traditions Genealogists Should Know by Diane Haddad

If you’d like to learn more about the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks project, please visit here:

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.

Or join the Facebook group Generations Cafe.

If you use any information from my blog posts as a reference or source, please give credit and provide a link back to my work that you are referencing. Unless otherwise noted, my work is © Anna A. Kasper 2011-2023. All rights reserved. Thank you.

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Felicitas Grosshans Weinmann, 52 Ancestors, Week 11, Lucky.

Posted on March 12, 2023 by Anna Kasper, ACDP

This week’s writing prompt for 52 Ancestors is Lucky. I immediately thought of the girl’s name Felicitas. Surprisingly, I only have one direct ancestor in my tree with the first name Felicitas. The name Felicitas is the female form of male name Felix, which is from the Latin adjective meaning lucky, good luck, happiness, fruitful, blessed, or fortunate. It is the root word for the English words felicity and felicitate. I do have a few men named Felix in my tree, but they are not my direct relations.

My sixth great-grandmother is Felicitas (Felizitas) Grosshans (Großhans). Her name is found both as Felicitas and Felizitas in German church records. Felizitas is a German variant of the name. In Germany, the name is pronounced as Feh-LEE-tzee-tahs.

Was my ancestor happy, fortunate, or lucky in life? I do not know. All the records attached to her name are all linked to her daughter, my fifth great-grandmother, Anna Margretha Weinmann. What we do know is that she born about 1742 in or near Heuchelheim-Klingen in the Southwest Wine Route area of the Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany. I have been unable to locate her marriage record, but she would have married before 1763 to Michael Weinmann. I have not located any death or burial records for either she or her husband Michael Weinmann. I did not locate any other baptism, marriage, or burial records listing this couple as the parents. Although I cannot be sure, this could mean that they only had one child, and may have both died when she was a child.

DNA has helped me to learn a bit more about her family and origins. I do have DNA links to those with Grosshans ancestors from Landau and Godramstein, which are 6.7 miles (10.8 km) from Heuchelheim-Klingen, 8 miles (12.9 km) from Klingenmünster, and 11 miles (18.2 km) from Kapellen-Drusweiler.

My ancestor Felicitas may have actually been born in Godramstein. DNA strongly points to her being the related to Johann Georg Grosshans and Anna Maria Müller. She may have been their daughter, if this is the case, she actually was unlucky. Her mother died 14 January 1743 at the age of thirty-four, when Felicitas was a very young child. But if we are looking for name connections, she equally could be the daughter of Johann Jacob Grosshans and Anna Felicitas ____. Johann Georg and Johann Jacob Grosshans were relations.

Anna Margretha Weinmann, the daughter of Felicitas Grosshans and Michael Weinmann, was born and baptized on the same day, 19 August 1763 at the parish church of Heuchelheim-Klingen. She married 16 October 1792 to Johann Jacob Propheter, the son of Johannes Adam Propheter and Katharina Elisabetha LeBeau, in the parish church of Kapellen-Drusweiler. She died 26 November 1834 in Klingenmünster, and was buried two days later. The names of her parents are listed in her baptism, marriage, death, and burial records.

All of my great-grandmother Alice Elizabeth Nutick Armstrong’s maternal family were from or nearby to Klingenmünster, Germany. Felicitas Grosshans is one her ancestors. Heuchelheim-Klingen is 1.9 miles (3.2 km) from Klingenmünster and Kapellen-Drusweiler is 4.2 miles (6.7 km) from Klingenmünster.

In Roman mythology the goddess Felicitas was the personification of good luck. Felicitas was a goddess of abundance, wealth and success and presided over good fortune; her feast day was celebrated on October 9. Felicitas could refer to both a general’s luck and good fortune as well as a woman’s fertility. 

Felicitas is a state of blessedness, productivity, or enjoyment inspired by God.

The name was also borne by a 3rd-century saint, a slave martyred with her master Perpetua in Carthage.

There are actually at least two saints of this name. Saint Felicitas of Rome (c. 101 – 165), also anglicized as Felicity, is a saint numbered among the Christian martyrs. Apart from her name, the only thing known for certain about her is that she was buried in the Cemetery of Maximus (Catacombe di Santa Felicita), on the Via Salaria on a 23 November. However, a legend presents her as the mother of the seven martyrs whose feast is celebrated on 10 July. The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates their martyrdom on 25 January. Her feast day in the Roman Catholic Church is 23 November.

Saints Perpetua and Felicity (Latin: Perpetua et Felicitas) were Christian martyrs of the 3rd century. Vibia Perpetua was a recently married, well-educated noblewoman, said to have been 22 years old at the time of her death, and mother of an infant son she was nursing. Felicity, an enslaved woman imprisoned with her and pregnant at the time, was martyred with her. They were put to death along with others at Carthage in the area of Africa in the Roman province of Africa (now known as Tunisia). The feast day of Perpetua and Felicity and their Companions is 7 March.

Sources:

  1. Felicitas Roman deity – Britannica
  2. Felicitas of Rome – Wikipedia
  3. Felicitas – baby names. babycentre
  4. Felicitas – Behind the Name
  5. Felicitas, the Goddess of Wealth and Success. Weird Italy
  6. “Calendarium Romanum” (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1969), p. 146
  7. Perpetua and Felicity – Wikipedia

To read more about St. Felicity of Rome and Saints Perpetua and Felicitas of Carthage:

  1. Saints of the day: Perpetua and Felicity, martyrs by Susan Kehoe. WordPress Blog – A Deacons’ Wife.
  2. Perpetua and Felicitas by Mary Walker. WordPress Blog – My Lord Katie.
  3. St Felicitas of Rome – Feast Day – November 23. Catholic Readings.org

To read more about the goddess Felicitas:

  1. The Festival of Felicitas by shirleytwofeathers. Pagan Calendar. Shirleytwofeathers.com

Image credits:

  1. Saints Perpetua and Felicity. It is an Art Print by Lawrence Klimecki.
  2. Goddess related image. I give image, artistic, and graphic credit to original creators whenever possible. The origins of lovely graphic of the blond woman lounging in a tree made of branches is unknown. I have been unable to locate the name or any root information regarding the graphic. It is used on several sites discussing the goddess Felicitas, but where it originated is unknown. If you are the creator or artist of the above graphic, please let me know and I will, with great felicity 😃, give you credit.

If you’d like to learn more about the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks project, please visit here:

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.

Or join the Facebook group Generations Cafe.

If you use any information from my blog posts as a reference or source, please give credit and provide a link back to my work that you are referencing. Unless otherwise noted, my work is © Anna A. Kasper 2011-2023. All rights reserved. Thank you.

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My Great-grandfather Abraham G. Kennedy, Well Respected and Lauded School Teacher and Principal. 52 Ancestors, Week 4: Education

Posted on January 23, 2023 by Anna Kasper, ACDP

The above information is from the book The History of Perry and Fairfield Counties, Ohio; Their past and present by A. A. Graham and Ephraim S. Colborn and published in 1883. Directly below the biographical sketch for Abraham G. Kennedy is a sketch on his brother George W. Kennedy.

As it states, my great-grandfather Abraham G. Kennedy (they incorrectly give his middle initial as “C’) was born 10 January 1848. He was born in Pike Township, Perry County, Ohio. He was the son of John Davis “J.D.” Kennedy and Susan Palmer. His Kennedy family has strong ties to Perry County, Ohio and his ancestors were very early in Ohio and were in Perry County when it was settled and established. After his birth, his family lived briefly in Rush Creek, Fairfield County, Ohio, where his sister Mary Jane Kennedy was born in 1849, and they are found in the 1850 US Census living in Rush Creek, Fairfield County, Ohio. The next sibling James Monroe Kennedy was born in 1852 back in Perry County. Then the family was in Vinton County, Ohio in 1856 where George W. Kennedy was born. By 1858, when Alfred P. “A.P.” Kennedy was born, they had returned in Perry County and are found in the 1860 and 1870 US Censuses living in Monday Creek Township, Perry County, Ohio.

The distance between Pike Township in Perry County and Rush Creek in Fairfield County is about 12 miles. I do not know exactly where they were living briefly in Vinton County or why they were there, but in general it is about 40 miles between Pike Township in Perry County and Vinton County in general. His father worked as a Cooper (maker of barrels) and that is his occupation listed in 1850 and 1860. In 1870 it is listed as Farmer and Cooper.

I do not find the family living in Jackson Township as is listed in the biographical sketch as the place he grew-up, but Jackson Township borders with both Pike and Monday Creek Townships.

He began his occupation of teaching school on 11 January 1868 and in the 1883 biographical sketch it states he had been teaching for fourteen years and was considered one of the best teachers in Perry County.

His brother George W. Kennedy was also a teacher and taught eight terms before he worked as a clerk in a store and then established a business as a dealer in books with a shop on Main Street in New Lexington.

The biographical sketch does not discuss where Abraham was teaching school between 1868 and 1878. In the 1870 US Census we find him living with his wife and children in Monday Creek Township, Perry County, Ohio and his occupation is listed as schoolteacher, and he would have been teaching at the neighborhood school in the area near Monday Creek, before going to the county seat New Lexington to teach in 1879. He is found in the 1880 Census for New Lexington, Perry County, Ohio living with his wife in his parent’s household, and his occupation is listed as School teacher. Then in 1882 moving to the school in New Straitsville to teach.

The above photo is of an abandoned brick schoolhouse found west of New Lexington. Which gives us an excellent idea of the schoolhouses my great-grandfather taught in. The photo was taken 12 years ago by Ken and posted on his Flickr.

To give you an idea of the distance between each of the places he taught school, Monday Creek and New Lexington are 11.8 miles from each other. New Lexington and New Straightsville are 8.8 miles apart.

He was a much lauded schoolteacher for decades and later became a principal of the schools in Perry County. After retiring from the education field, he is found in the 1900 US Census for Athens, Athens County, Ohio living with his wife and children and his occupation is listed as a music dealer. We know the family migrated to Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio when his wife, Mary Elizabeth Price Kennedy, became ill. She died there on 12 May 1909 of Carcinoma of the liver.

After her death, Abraham migrated with three of his adult children to Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio, where he is found there in the 1910 US Census. He is listed as working as a Piano Salesman. I do find him in the 1920 US Census in Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio. But they only listed his name and then put a line through it with no explanation as to why.

The photo to the left is of Abraham G. Kennedy and his mother Susan Palmer Kennedy, and is part of a 5 generations photo. The photo was taken in 1922. His mother lived to the ripe old age of 106 1/2 years!

He is found in the 1930 US Census in Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio, living with his married daughter Tessie (Kennedy) Menninger, with her husband and son. He is listed as aged 82 years and retired.

He dies aged 91 years on 24 July 1939 at St. Anthony’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. His cause of death was a Cerebral Compression/skull fracture due to a fall.

He taught school for decades, and then was a principal, for a total of 30+ years. Then after retiring, he worked as a music dealer and piano salesman.

I have great respect for education and am a perpetual student. I also can play the piano and am musically inclined. I would like to think that I got some of this passed down from my great-grandfather Abraham G. Kennedy.

To learn more about my Kennedy ancestors in Northern Ireland, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, with links to New Jersey, please visit my blog post My Kennedy, Graham, and Murray Ancestors from Ballintoy, Antrim, Northern Ireland.

The above 19th century pencil case is from the 19th Century School Supplies post of Joanna Church’s WordPress blog.

All research for this blog post was done by me and any references used are cited and included within the body of the post.

If you’d like to learn more about the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks project, please visit here:

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.

Or join the Facebook group Generations Cafe.

If you use any information from my blog posts as a reference or source, please give credit and provide a link back to my work that you are referencing. Unless otherwise noted, my work is © Anna A. Kasper 2011-2023. All rights reserved. Thank you.

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My German Doman Ancestors in Ohio, and Related Davison/Davidson Lines.

Posted on December 16, 2022 by Anna Kasper, ACDP

Pictured above is my great-grandmother Anna Cora Prindle Cole. She was the daughter of Daniel Prindle and Sarah Jane “Jennie” Doman. Daniel Prindle was the son of David M. Prindle, Sr. and Hannah Elizabeth Kritsinger/Greatsinger. I have written prior about my German Greatsinger ancestors here and my related Dutch lines here and my Norwegian ancestor that intermarried with the Dutch here.

Researching my Doman ancestors has been a bit of a headache for some decades now. Firstly, my great-grandmother pictured above was born a year before her parents married, but DNA has confirmed that she was a full sibling to all the children born after the marriage of her parents, and it also confirmed that we are descendants of both the Prindle and Doman families. In the 1870 Census for Scioto, Pickaway, Ohio, it shows Sarah Jane “Jennie” Doman Prindle living in the household of her Prindle in-laws. She and Daniel had married on 7 November 1869 in Pickaway County, Ohio. Just to confuse things further the census-taker recorded her directly below Daniel’s brother John Prindle and incorrectly listed John Prindle and Jane Prindle (Sarah Jane) as married! My great-grandmother Anna Prindle is found on the bottom line directly below her cousin Flora Hudson. The two grandchildren, Flora and Anna listed together.

The section of the 1870 US Federal Census for Scioto, Pickaway, Ohio, that I am discussing is shown above.

Sarah Jane “Jennie” Doman was the daughter of Jacob (John Jacob) Doman and Mary Ann. For many years I was confused between two women that married Jacob Doman and were both named Mary Ann! But after several months of working on this line, and finding a few new records, and countless hours examining my DNA matches and the DNA matches of my sister Linda and niece Elisabeth, I believe that I finally worked it out!

Jacob Doman married first to Mary Ann Chamberlain on 27 December 1838 in Pickaway County, Ohio. He is found in the 1840 Census for Walnut Township, Pickaway County, Ohio. The 1840 Census shows 1 Male – aged 20 thru 29 – Jacob Doman. 1 Females – aged 20 thru 29 – Mary Ann. There are no children or others found living with them.

Mary Ann Chamberlain was the daughter of Richard Chamberlain and Elizabeth Abbott. Mary Ann Chamberlain was born about 1819 in Walnut Township, Pickaway County, Ohio. Her sister Nancy Chamberlain married Jacob’s brother John Thomas Doman on 1 January 1843 in Pickaway County, Ohio. Now, we all had a few DNA matches that could link us remotely to this Chamberlain family, but now that Ancestry separates your DNA matches between maternal and paternal, it became apparent that the few connections we had were not on sides that we all shared. My sister and my niece (my brother’s daughter) only share my maternal side with me, and those Chamberlain matches, the few we had, had connections to the opposite sides of our trees.

Jacob Doman married second to Mary Ann Davison/Davidson on 4 December 1845 in Hocking County, Ohio. Pickaway County is bordered on the southeast with Hocking County.

Now, I knew from later census records that the Mary Ann I am descended from was born about 1827 in Connecticut. She would have been about ten to eleven years old at the time when Jacob Doman married the first Mary Ann (Chamberlain).

Mary Ann Davison/Davidson Doman lists her age in the US Federal Censuses twice as being born in 1827, twice as being born in 1828, and in the two Kansas State Censuses her year of birth is listed as 1826 and 1832, but obviously she was not old enough to marry in 1838.

I finally found Jacob Doman and second wife Mary Ann (Davison/Davidson) and Jacob’s children, from both his marriages, in the 1850 Census, just today! Sadly, it is a very faded census page, but you can make it out. But it tells us many things, one that Jacob and his first wife Mary Ann Chamberlain had at least two children that were living in 1850. Mary Ann Chamberlain died around the date of the birth of her last child Mary, who was born 18 November 1845. She must have died in childbirth or of complications shortly afterwards, for Jacob Doman marries his second wife Mary Ann Davison/Davidson sixteen days later.

I am including the section of the 1850 Census I am discussing below. As you can see, it’s very faint and faded.

The above image is from the 1850 US Federal Census for Wayne Township, Pickaway County, Ohio.

Although difficult to make out, between the original transcribers and my reading of it, it includes the following:

The original transcribers saw the surname as Domand, the census-taker may have made a mistake when recording the name, or the tail of the letter “n” may have been what they were seeing.

Line number: 9 Dwelling number – 113

  1. Jacob Doman. aged 35. born 1815. male. working as a Farmer. Value of Real Estate $900. born in Virginia.
  2. Mary Ann. aged 23. born 1827. female. no occupation listed. born in Connecticut.
  3. Mary C. aged 7. born 1843. female. no occupation. born in Ohio.
  4. John H. aged 9. born 1841. male. no occupation. born in Ohio.
  5. Sarah J. aged 2. born 1848. female. no occupation. born in Ohio.
  6. Mary L. aged 9 months. born 1849. no occupation. born in Ohio.

Now the children Mary C. and John H. Doman have often been incorrectly included in the family of John Thomas Doman and Nancy Chamberlain.

Mary C. is Mary Catherine Doman born 18 November 1845 in Pickaway County, Ohio, and died 24 March 1932 in Bloomington, McLean County, Illinois. She married 21 March 1878 in McLean County, Illinois to Benjamin Prothere.

John H. Doman was born 1841 in Pickaway County, Ohio. He is found in the 1860 Census living in Blue Mound, McLean County, Illinois. I have been unable to locate him in any other records after 1860.

Jacob Doman dies 1851/1852 in either Pickaway or Vinton County, Ohio. After his death, his two children from his first marriage to Mary Ann Chamberlain, go to live with their Doman and Chamberlain uncle and aunt – John Thomas Doman and Nancy Chamberlain, which is why the two children are sometimes incorrectly listed as their children. John Thomas Doman and Nancy Chamberlain were still in Pickaway County, Ohio in 1851, but by June 1853 they were living in McLean County, Illinois.

It’s understandable, his widow Mary Ann Davison/Davidson Doman was either still pregnant or had just given birth to their last child when he died. She was left a widow in her mid-twenties with three young children of her own and two stepchildren. It makes since that Mary Catherine and John H. Doman went to live with their Doman/Chamberlain kin.

Children born to Jacob Doman and second wife Mary Ann Davison/Davidson:

  1. Sarah Jane “Jennie” Doman born 8 July 1848 in Wayne Township, Pickaway County, Ohio, and died 2 March 1909 in Askew, Steuben County, Indiana. She married Daniel Prindle on 7 November 1869 in Pickaway County, Ohio. They had eight children before they divorced in 1886. She married second to Albert Goumond on 3 April 1888 as his second wife. Side note: Her daughter Ona Belle Prindle, at the age of fifteen, married his son Prosper Jacob (P.J.) Goumond on 11 October 1892 in De Kalb County, Indiana. Sarah Jane “Jennie” Doman and Daniel Prindle are my 2nd great-grandparents.
  2. Mary L. Doman born 2 December 1849 in Wayne Township, Pickaway County, Ohio, and died 14 November 1922 in North Manchester, Wabash County, Indiana. At the age of fourteen, she married Amos Stoneburner on 15 Sep 1864 in Vinton County, Ohio. She had no children.
  3. Lucy A. Doman born 22 March 1852 in Vinton County, Ohio, and died 16 February 1928 in Oklahoma. She married 13 November 1873 in Pickaway County, Ohio, to David Grabill/Graybill/Grable. My sister, my niece, and I all have DNA matches to the descendants of Lucy A. Doman Grable.

Marriage Certificate between Mary L. Doman and Amos Stoneburner.

After the death of her husband Jacob Doman, his wife Mary Ann (Davison/Davidson) marries second to Asa Ray on 4 January 1853 in Swan, Vinton County, Ohio.

Children born to Mary Ann Davison/Davidson Doman and second husband Asa Ray:

  1. Martin Luther Ray born 10 October 1853 in Vinton County, Ohio, and died April 1905 (most likely in Oklahoma where he was living in 1900). He married Mary Emaline Beard on 29 January 1892 in Kansas. He would be my half 2nd great granduncle. I do not have any DNA matches to the descendants of this couple, but my sister does have a few matches to our Ray half-cousins. We would be half 3rd cousins, 1x removed / half-4th cousins to their descendants. So, a lot less DNA available for us to share.
  2. Orlando Freeman Ray born about 1858 in Swan, Vinton County, Ohio, and died before 1940 in Oklahoma. I do not find any marriage records for him or any descendants.

We know that the two stepchildren of Mary Ann Davison/Davidson Doman, Mary Catherine Doman and John H. Doman, went to live with their Doman/Chamberlain kin after their father’s death. It was a bit of work to figure out what happened with her children from her marriage to Jacob Doman, after her marriage to Asa Ray.

In 1860, I did find my 2nd great-grandmother Sarah Jane “Jennie’ Doman living next door to her mother in Swan, Vinton County, Ohio. She is living with Lucy Bingham, who it turns out is her maternal grandmother! She is listed incorrectly as Sarah Bingham.

I will come back to Lucy Bingham being Sarah’s grandmother.

I have been unable to locate Mary L. Doman in the 1860 Census. But she does marry quite young at the age of fourteen in 1864 in Vinton County, Ohio, to Amos Stoneburner. She was most likely living with extended family in 1860 and I just have not located her in that census yet.

I find Lucy A. Doman living with her mom Mary A. and stepfather Asa Ray, and her two younger half-brothers, in the 1860 Census for Swan, Vinton County, Ohio. She is incorrectly listed as Lucy A. Ray and incorrectly listed as aged 3 years old, when she was actually aged about 8 years old at the time. In 1870, I find Lucy living in Jackson, Jackson County, Ohio, with her widowed paternal aunt Susan Doman Perry. Lucy is listed as Lucy Dowman, aged 18 years old.

OK, back to Lucy Bingham.

Mary Ann Davison/Davidson was born 1827 in Connecticut. and was the daughter of unknown Davison/Davidson who was born in Connecticut and Lucy ____ who also was born in Connecticut.

Her mother Lucy ____ Davison marries second on 22 August 1843 in Hocking County, Ohio to Ralph Bingham, as his fourth wife! He was over twenty years older than her, and he was left a widower in his first two marriages and his third marriage ended in divorce.

Lucy ____ Davison and Ralph Bingham had one child:

  1. Patty Patta Prena Bingham born November 1846 in Ohio and died 1910 in Ohio. She married 1 January 1883 in Vinton County, Ohio, to William Tatman. They had two children: Lucy Nevada Tatman, who died as a teenager, and George Ralph Tatman who married Lelah Etta White, they only had one child, a son, who did marry and have two daughters, so there are only a few Tatman kin out there.

She is listed as Patty in most records and only once as Patta. Her father lists her name as Betty Prena Bingham in his will.

As of now, I am still working on trying to discover more about my Connecticut Davison/Davidson ancestors and also trying to discover the maiden name of Lucy ____ Davison Bingham.

I will write up a different blog post about my Doman ancestors going back to Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Germany. Jacob (John Jacob) Doman was the son of John Doman and Catherine M. _____. I will add here a little new information, I believe that Jacob Doman’s mother Catherine M. _____ ‘s maiden name was Grandstaff and goes back to Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Germany. Grandstaff/Grindstaff are Americanized forms of the German surname Kranzdorf or of its extinct altered form Crantzdorf. There are DNA links to Grandstaff and related surname Wetzel. Johann Adam Grandstaff and wife Catherina Sophia/Maria Catharina Wetzel did have a daughter named Catherine that fits as my ancestor.

Besides DNA, there is a census link as well. If Catherine’s maiden name is Grandstaff, then her brother Lewis Grandstaff is found in the 1850 Census for Swan, Vinton County, Ohio, living in the household of Ralph Bingham and wife Lucy ____ Davison/Davidson and daughter Patty Bingham. Lewis would have been the uncle-in-law to Lucy’s daughter Mary Ann Davison/Davidson Doman Ray, as well as kin to her Doman grandchildren.

All research for this blog entry was done by me personally. The only reference is for the meaning of the name Grandstaff from Grandstaff family history found at Ancestry.

If you use any information from my blog posts as a reference or source, please give credit and provide a link back to my work that you are referencing. Unless otherwise noted, my work is © Anna A. Kasper 2011-2023. All rights reserved. Thank you.

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The Ancestry of my 4th great-grandfather Peleg Rogers. Too many men named Peleg and Shadrach Rogers/Rodgers!

Posted on November 25, 2022 by Anna Kasper, ACDP

Peleg is Biblical name, evidentially quite a popular name in the 1700’s and 1800’s in the United States! It is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as one of the two sons of Eber, an ancestor of the Ishmaelites and the Israelites, according to the “Table of Nations” in Genesis 10–11 and 1 Chronicles 1. (1)

Above image: Uncompromising Faith: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

The Biblical name Shadrach was also a quite popular name at this time and his story in the Bible is more well-known. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Hebrew names Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah) are figures from the biblical Book of Daniel, primarily chapter 3. In the narrative, the three Hebrew men are thrown into a fiery furnace by Nebuchadnezzar II, King of Babylon for refusing to bow to the king’s image. The three are preserved from harm and the king sees four men walking in the flames, “the fourth … like a son of God“. (2)

My 4th great-grandfather Peleg Rogers was born about 1782 in North Carolina. He died 29 January 1864 in Grandview, Edgar County, Illinois. He married Mary Ellen Stafford on 26 June 1806 in Highland City, Highland County, Ohio. Many list Mary Ellen Stafford as the daughter of an Arthur or Charles Arthur or Charles Arthur Gorden Stafford, where the name Arthur or Gorden came from I have no idea. A Charles Stafford is found in a baptism record in England, but no proof of any connection to this Charles Stafford. Some also list her father as a Samuel Stafford, the reason why is found in who they list as her mother. They list her mother as Nancy, most often as Nancy Hastings. A Samuel Stafford and a Nancy Hastings, who were Quakers, did marry, but they are not the right ages, they are more the age of Mary Ellen’s generation, they also do not live anywhere near where she was born or later lived.

My Research into family naming patterns as well as DNA, show that she was the daughter of Zorababel Stafford, and the granddaughter of Henry Stafford and his wife Elizabeth _____. Zorababel was married to a woman named Elizabeth (her maiden name is unproven). She may have been the mother of all his children, or he may have had a first wife that died that was the mother of his first three or four children. The date of birth of Elizabeth is based on the 1850 census where she is listed as aged 70. But the earlier census records show she may have actually been 75 years old, she could have been Mary Ellen’s mother in that case. If she was closer to 80 years old, she would be old enough to be the mother of all of the Zorabable’s known children. But I am a DNA match to numerous children of Zorababel that we know for sure their mother was his Elizabeth. His name was based on the Biblical name Zerubbabel, but he spelled it Zorababel. Zorababel is the Greek form of the name Zerubbabel.

His daughter Ann Stafford (who married Benjamin F. Davis) named a son Zerubabel. I have several DNA matches to the descendants of Ann Stafford Davis, as well as the fact that she lived in Washington Court House, Fayette, Ohio, near my ancestor Mary Ellen Stafford Rogers. She is a proven sibling.

His son Young Stafford (who married Mary “Polly” Heath) named a son Zorobabel “Babel” Stafford. Young Stafford is a proven sibling of my Mary Ellen Stafford Rogers, he also lived in Fayette County, Ohio.

His proven son Dr. James Stafford (who married Susan Ward) also named a son Zorababel Stafford. He did not come to Ohio, but I do have a DNA connection to his descendants.

Even though my ancestor Mary Ellen Stafford Rogers did not name any of her known children Zorababel, the name was passed down to her grandson Zora Babel Rogers.

I will write more about my Stafford line in another blog post in the future.

Back to my ancestor Peleg Rogers. He migrated to Ohio and eventually to Ilinois, where he died.

There were numerous men (including some also name Peleg) that had sons name Peleg Rogers/Rodgers and lived in Virigina, and North and South Carolina. People have linked my Peleg Rogers with many of these various families, but wills and other records, as well as DNA has not shown a link to those families.

But DNA has shown a strong link between the descendants of my Peleg Rogers and a Rogers family. DNA has shown that he was most likely the son of Shadrach Rogers/Rodgers and Susanna Warriner. DNA has also shown a connection to Shadrach’s parents and grandparents. Shadrach Rogers was the son of Isham Rogers and Prudence _____. Some give a maiden name for Prudence, but her maiden name is unproven.

I am a DNA match to descendants of Shadrach Rogers and Susannah Warriner, and I also am a match to descendants of Isham Rogers and Prudence ____.

I need to point out here that there were far too many men living at this time named Shadrach Rogers/Rodgers! A few were also known as Shadrach Meshach Abednego Rogers/Rodgers. Some lived in Virginia, many came to North and South Carolina, and some migrated to Tennessee and Mississippi. Some people (and even Ancestry in it’s Thru-lines recommendations) try to link my Peleg Rogers with a Shadrach Rogers that married Hopey Bethea and lived in North and South Carolina and eventually migrated to Covington County, Mississippi. There is possibly a remote DNA connection between the ancestry of this Shadrach Rogers and my Shadrach Rogers, but there are no strong direct DNA links to the Shadrach Rogers who married Hopey Bethea and migrated to Mississippi. My Peleg Rogers has no links to Mississippi. Whereas there is a strong DNA connection to the Shadrach Rogers who married Susanna Warriner, and to his parents and grandparents.

Isham Rogers was the son of Joseph Rogers and Mary Fargeson (Ferguson). Joseph Rogers was the son of William Rogers and Elizabeth Cartwright. I have DNA matches to descendants of William Rogers and Elizabeth Cartwright.

Elizabeth Cartwright was the daughter of Robert Cartwright and Elizabeth Orchard who were both born in Worcestershire, England and settled in Colonial Virginia.

Famous descendants of Robert Cartwright and Elizabeth Orchard:

American genetic genealogist CeCe Moore. Singers Whitney Houston, Cissy Houston, and Dionne Warwick. Actor sisters Kay Panabaker and Danielle Panabaker. American former professional football player and coach Steve “Mongo” McMichael. Singer Tanya Tucker. Politician Beto O’Rourke. Actress Evan Rachel Wood.

Mary Fargeson (Ferguson) was the daughter of John Ferguson/Fargeson and Ann Stubbleson. Because the name Ferguson was misspelled in records as Fargeson (and other spellings) and many used this unusual spelling of Fargeson, it was easy to see the DNA link to others that share John Ferguson and Ann Stubbleson as ancestors.

John Fargeson (Ferguson) was born in Scotland and settled in Colonial Virginia. His wife was the daughter of Stubble Stubbleson, who was a Dutch man living in Colonial Virigina. When Stubble Stubbleson died, the land he owned was forfeited to the crown, because he was considered an alien (a non-citizen).

Deed of John & Ann Farguson:

1683 in (Old) Rappahannock County, Virginia

“John Fargisson married Ann only surviving daughter of Stubble Stubbleson, dec.”

Stubble was likely a Dutch man who settled in Old Rappahannock County, Virginia, probably in the 1660’s, as he is first mentioned in 1665. He apparently was married, although nothing is known of his wife, and was the father of one surviving daughter, Ann, when he died by February 1668/69. (4)

There were two transactions between Stubble and Thomas Rawson on 29 October 1665.

In the first sale, Rawson sold 513 acres of land to Stubble for 1,000 pounds of tobacco in the parish of Sittenbourne.

In the second sale, Stubble sold a cow and heifer to Rawson, although the amount of money agreed upon is not mentioned in the deed.

“Stable Stubleson” settled a dispute with Thomas Rawson over property in December 1667 and in June 1668, Thomas Rawson again recorded a land sale to Stuble for 1,000 pounds of tobacco. (3 & 4)

The parcel of land is described as “land formerly belonging to Stubble Stubbleston alien deceased” and granted to Theophilus Wheele by the governor. Theophilus appointed an attorney to represent him and wife Elizabeth to support his claim to the land.

In 1669, an inquisition was held and determined that Stubble was an alien (non-citizen), that when he died, he owned about 100 acres of land in Old Rappahannock County and that, upon his death, his land was escheated (returned) to the state. (4)

 . . . I, the said John Fargisson as marrying Ann, the only surviving daughter and heir of Stubble Stubbleson, deceased, do hereby . . . make over unto . . . William Jewill . . . with . . . the voluntary consent of the said Ann, my now wife . . . a certain piece of land . . . formerly sold by one Thomas Rawson unto the said Stubble Stubbleson . . . (5)

Stubble Stubbleson’s only transactions in Old Rappahannock County involved Thomas Rawson, it is possible that Stubble may have married a daughter of Thomas Rawson.  However, whomever Ann Stubbleson Farguson’s mother was, has been lost to time. (4)

This is the only mark that Stubble made on history, besides leaving one surviving daughter. It is possible that he was a young married man and his wife died giving birth to their daughter Ann. But this is just supposition, the answers have been lost to time. (4)

Shadrach Rogers married Susanna Warriner on 3 December 1781 in Henrico County, Virginia. He served in the American Revolutionary War in Virginia. Military service recorded on 30 October 1783. Halifax County, North Carolina is on the border with Virginia, it is 8 miles from the border.

Children of Shadrach Rogers and Susanna Warriner:

  1. Peleg Rogers born 1782 in North Carolina, and died 29 January 1864 in Grandview, Edgar, Illinois. He married Mary Ellen Stafford on 26 June 1806 in Highland City, Highland, Ohio. (My direct ancestors).
  2. Nancy Rogers 1784 in Halifax, North Carolina or Virginia, and died 1865 in Halifax, Halifax, North Carolina. She married about 1804 in Halifax County, North Carolina to Telmelah Cherub Adden Smith.
  3. Samuel Rogers born about 1790 in North Carolina and died about 1849. He migrated to Tennessee. He married unknown and did have issue including a daughter named Arilia D. Rogers who married Samson Vanderpool. (I am a DNA match to descendants of Arilia D. Rogers Vanderpool).
  4. Willoughby Rogers born about 1791 in North Carolina and died before 1870 in Cache, Crowley, Greene County, Arkansas. He married/1 to Sarah Yancey and had issue, he married/2 to Sally Ingram. (I am a DNA match to descendants of Willoughby Rogers and Sarah Yancey).
  5. Lott Rogers born about 1795 in North Carolina, and died 1844 in Calloway County, Tennessee. He married Sarah Cagle. He fought in the War of 1812. (I am a DNA match to descendants of Lott Rogers and Sarah Cagle).
  6. Rebecca “Becky” Rogers was born about 1812/1813 and died either in Tennessee or Kentucky.

References:

  1. Peleg in the Bible. Wikipedia.org
  2. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Wikipedia.org
  3. Land Deeds Between Stuble Stubbleson & Thomas Rawson, Old Rappahannock County, VA Deed Book 3: pg. 457-461. Source: FamilySearch
  4. John Ferguson (Farguson) – Empty Branches on the Family Tree. Blog – October 20, 2020.
  5. Land Deed, 2 May 1674. Old Rappahannock County, Virginia Deed Book 5:299. Source: FamilySearch

If you use any information from my blog posts as a reference or source, please give credit and provide a link back to my work that you are referencing. Unless otherwise noted, my work is © Anna A. Kasper 2011-2023. All rights reserved. Thank you.

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