The big disadvantage to being descended from a younger son is that he doesn't inherit the family business! Colonial paper maker Wilhelm Rittenhouse had two sons [Nicholas and Gerhard] and a daughter [Elizabeth].
Nicholas/Claus inherited the paper mill on Wissahickon Creek near Germantown, PA. Gerhard/Garrett was farmer and grist miller on his property along Cresheim Creek.
The identity of Garrett's wife bcomes the Rittenhouse mystery. Early sources gave her name as Revacomb, probably from Revacombs being named as a "kinsmen" of Garrett. Later sources gave the name of Garrett's wife as either Mary Schumacher or Anna Umstatt.
To date no records have been uncovered to positively identify Mrs. Rittenhouse. She preceded Garrett in death, so was not named in his will.
Garrett fathered two sons, William and Peter. William had four daughters: Priscilla, Susannah, Anne & Hannah. Hannah was probably named for her maternal grandmother, Hannah Lakin. Peter also fathered four daughters: Mary, Barbara, Mary & Susannah.
William went on to be the founder of the New Jersey line of the family. His granddaughter, Elizabeth, married Cornelius Prall, Jr.
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Whittaker Family
Next up on my family mysteries is the Whittakers. Edward Whittaker was the immigrant, arriving with Captain Broadhead's company to occupy the New Netherland/New York colony. To say that Edward had temper issues was putting it mildly. He had frequent run-ins with neighbors over the years, as well as the woman who worked in his tavern - Joanna/Hannah Wakeman Hackleton, his future wife. But that's another story - a really good one!
Among the gaps in the Whittaker story:
(1) The marriage date for Edward and Hannah. [If there was one, officially.]
(2) Hannah's death date.
(3) The death date and place of their son James.
The Kingston records are filled with details about the Whittakers. Hannah Wakeman's life was just as much of an adventure as Edward Whittaker's. They were an interesting match!
Among the gaps in the Whittaker story:
(1) The marriage date for Edward and Hannah. [If there was one, officially.]
(2) Hannah's death date.
(3) The death date and place of their son James.
The Kingston records are filled with details about the Whittakers. Hannah Wakeman's life was just as much of an adventure as Edward Whittaker's. They were an interesting match!
Saturday, February 9, 2013
One of Those Wonderful Genealogy Moments!
The Genealogical Society of Marion County held its Feb. meeting at the Irvington Library. Our speaker was Bruce Oakley [Oakley-Hammond Funeral Home in Irvinton], who gave a superb and informative talk on funeral home records.
Early in his presentation, Bruce mentioned his early Marion Co. heritage through Lydia Faucett and Wilson McCalment in 1823/4. The Faucetts and McCalments were pioneers in both Marion and Hendicks Counties. Lydia's parents were John Faucett and Eve Fry of Virginia.
Lydia's older brother, Joseph was MY ancestor. He had married Rebecca N. Hurin/Huron [Mahurin] in Warren Co., OH before the family relocated to central Indiana.
Who'd have thought that the speaker would turn out to be a 4th cousin?!
Early in his presentation, Bruce mentioned his early Marion Co. heritage through Lydia Faucett and Wilson McCalment in 1823/4. The Faucetts and McCalments were pioneers in both Marion and Hendicks Counties. Lydia's parents were John Faucett and Eve Fry of Virginia.
Lydia's older brother, Joseph was MY ancestor. He had married Rebecca N. Hurin/Huron [Mahurin] in Warren Co., OH before the family relocated to central Indiana.
Who'd have thought that the speaker would turn out to be a 4th cousin?!
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Christopher / Christoffels Family of Long Island & Staten Island
The Christopher/Christoffels family is aanother of my NY families with gaps in their history. Maria Christopher [c1674-c1711] was the 1st wife of Pieter Prall [1672-1748]. They were married about 1693/4. Notice the lack of definite dates!
Maria's parents were Hans Christopher and Tryntje Bernts Blom. The Christophers were possibly from Normandy or The Netherlands. A Christoffels family was reportedly on Staten Island before 1655 and stayed on after the massacre of that year [VanName]. A Johannes Cristoffels was a Staten Island patentee in 1661. There was also a Hans Christoffels Schaers/Schaets who resided in Flatbush during the 1660s [Stryker-Rodda]. Yet another Hans Christoffels was recorded on Kings Co. Assessment Rolls in 1675. [This was probably Maria's father.]
The last record of Maria was in 1711. Pieter Prall married two more times.
Tryntje [Barents Blom] Christopher, Maria's mother, may well have been the 2nd wife of Arent Jansen Prall, Pieter's father.. Arent's 1st wife, Marie Billiou, died about 1690, as did Tryntje's husband. In his 1699 will, Pierre Billiou stated that Marie had eight children. Arent father nine children, per his 1721 will. I believe that Tryntje was the mother of Johannes Prall. Arent named Stoffel Christopher [Tryntje's son] and Arent Prall
Jr. as caaretakers of Johannes, who had some sort of physical or mental malady that prevented him from caring for himself.
Welcome to my world of genealogical research! Anyone with clues to the Christopher clan, let me know.
Prall, asJr. as caretakers of Johannes,who had some sort of physical o
Maria's parents were Hans Christopher and Tryntje Bernts Blom. The Christophers were possibly from Normandy or The Netherlands. A Christoffels family was reportedly on Staten Island before 1655 and stayed on after the massacre of that year [VanName]. A Johannes Cristoffels was a Staten Island patentee in 1661. There was also a Hans Christoffels Schaers/Schaets who resided in Flatbush during the 1660s [Stryker-Rodda]. Yet another Hans Christoffels was recorded on Kings Co. Assessment Rolls in 1675. [This was probably Maria's father.]
The last record of Maria was in 1711. Pieter Prall married two more times.
Tryntje [Barents Blom] Christopher, Maria's mother, may well have been the 2nd wife of Arent Jansen Prall, Pieter's father.. Arent's 1st wife, Marie Billiou, died about 1690, as did Tryntje's husband. In his 1699 will, Pierre Billiou stated that Marie had eight children. Arent father nine children, per his 1721 will. I believe that Tryntje was the mother of Johannes Prall. Arent named Stoffel Christopher [Tryntje's son] and Arent Prall
Jr. as caaretakers of Johannes, who had some sort of physical or mental malady that prevented him from caring for himself.
Welcome to my world of genealogical research! Anyone with clues to the Christopher clan, let me know.
Prall, asJr. as caretakers of Johannes,who had some sort of physical o
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
So much for Resolutions! Clark Family follow-up
Well, not writing a blog entry for two week wreaks havoc with my resolution to publish on a more regular basis! Sometimes you just put things off and forget to get back to them.
My Salt Lake trip answered some questions on my Clark line and left a few others in need of additional research.
I was able to narrow down Samuel Clark's death and am pretty well convinced that the Martha Partlow who was living with Isaac's family in 1850, was Samuel's widow. I was not able to determine Samuel's place of birth or his path to Ohio. For now, the bio of Isaac's grandson F.M. Clark will have to serve as the authority on Samuel. A trip to Butler Co., Ohio is needed for Clark research.
In the next few days, I'll need to examine the documents gathered in Salt Lake, and write up my findings and what else needs to be done.
My Salt Lake trip answered some questions on my Clark line and left a few others in need of additional research.
I was able to narrow down Samuel Clark's death and am pretty well convinced that the Martha Partlow who was living with Isaac's family in 1850, was Samuel's widow. I was not able to determine Samuel's place of birth or his path to Ohio. For now, the bio of Isaac's grandson F.M. Clark will have to serve as the authority on Samuel. A trip to Butler Co., Ohio is needed for Clark research.
In the next few days, I'll need to examine the documents gathered in Salt Lake, and write up my findings and what else needs to be done.
Saturday, January 19, 2013
SLIG in Review
My 13th Salt Lake Institute has come to an end. It was an interesting week.
(1) I found a new Mayflower line!
(2) I disproved the new Mayflower line!
(3) I feel reasonably confident that the Martha named in a handful of deeds is indeed the wife on Samuel Clark and mother to Isaac. [Reasonably confident is sometimes as close as you get in genealogy.]
(4) I narrowed the year of death of Samuel Clark to the time between Butler Co. taxes were assessed between 1834 and 1835.
(5) I have Butler Co. Clarks to identify with the wonderfully uncommon given names of James, John and Jonathan. [sigh!]
(6) I have about nine months to decide on my project for 2014.
(1) I found a new Mayflower line!
(2) I disproved the new Mayflower line!
(3) I feel reasonably confident that the Martha named in a handful of deeds is indeed the wife on Samuel Clark and mother to Isaac. [Reasonably confident is sometimes as close as you get in genealogy.]
(4) I narrowed the year of death of Samuel Clark to the time between Butler Co. taxes were assessed between 1834 and 1835.
(5) I have Butler Co. Clarks to identify with the wonderfully uncommon given names of James, John and Jonathan. [sigh!]
(6) I have about nine months to decide on my project for 2014.
Friday, January 18, 2013
Salt Lake Update
The wifi at the hotel has been a bit tempramental the last couple of nights, so tonight is a triple-header.
Wed.: My assignment for Wednesday was to offer a "proof argument" for Martha Jane Doty being Samuel Clark's wife. That's the new Mayflower line. Oops! A closer look at signatures on deeds turned the assignment around. The person who transcribed the deeds interpreted a fancy mark for a J or I. In reality the mark was just that, the mark used instead of Martha Clark's signature. Jane could sign her name, Martha could not. The clincher was finally locating the Hamilton Co., OH marriage for Samuel Clark & 'Jeane' Doty in 1798. The Mayflower went down! I spent the day on other records, trying to find a fit for Samuel in KY, MD or PA. I also spent some time working on the Butler Co. tax lists.
Thurs.: My assignment for the day was to map out the various Clarks in Butler Co. Butler has wonderful tax lists. The land description is given for each entry. Some years the list is by township. I used the 1816-1829 tax lists. I located a nice county atlas for 1836, 1875 and 1885. Using the county map with the township sections labled, I was able to plot out the Clarks. Fairfield Twp. had a large contingency, as did Reily Twp., the latter was home to my Samuel and Isaac. [John, John Jr., James and Jonathan were neighbors.] There was a scattering of Clarks elsewhere. I also returned to the tax lists after noticing Isaac was a landowner in 1836, but Samuel was missing. The last year I found Samuel on the lists was 1834, so a death date has been narrowed down! I also located an Isaac Clark [possible name of Samuel's father] in Franklin Co., PA during the 1780s. Franklin borders Maryland! Also found a Samuel Clark in Nelson Co., KY from 1790-1795.
Fri.: I spent most of the day searching Butler deeds, tracking Samuel until his death and Isaac until his move to Indiana. John Colletta was the banquet speaker tonight. As usual, he was highly entertaining!
Wed.: My assignment for Wednesday was to offer a "proof argument" for Martha Jane Doty being Samuel Clark's wife. That's the new Mayflower line. Oops! A closer look at signatures on deeds turned the assignment around. The person who transcribed the deeds interpreted a fancy mark for a J or I. In reality the mark was just that, the mark used instead of Martha Clark's signature. Jane could sign her name, Martha could not. The clincher was finally locating the Hamilton Co., OH marriage for Samuel Clark & 'Jeane' Doty in 1798. The Mayflower went down! I spent the day on other records, trying to find a fit for Samuel in KY, MD or PA. I also spent some time working on the Butler Co. tax lists.
Thurs.: My assignment for the day was to map out the various Clarks in Butler Co. Butler has wonderful tax lists. The land description is given for each entry. Some years the list is by township. I used the 1816-1829 tax lists. I located a nice county atlas for 1836, 1875 and 1885. Using the county map with the township sections labled, I was able to plot out the Clarks. Fairfield Twp. had a large contingency, as did Reily Twp., the latter was home to my Samuel and Isaac. [John, John Jr., James and Jonathan were neighbors.] There was a scattering of Clarks elsewhere. I also returned to the tax lists after noticing Isaac was a landowner in 1836, but Samuel was missing. The last year I found Samuel on the lists was 1834, so a death date has been narrowed down! I also located an Isaac Clark [possible name of Samuel's father] in Franklin Co., PA during the 1780s. Franklin borders Maryland! Also found a Samuel Clark in Nelson Co., KY from 1790-1795.
Fri.: I spent most of the day searching Butler deeds, tracking Samuel until his death and Isaac until his move to Indiana. John Colletta was the banquet speaker tonight. As usual, he was highly entertaining!
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