52 Ancestors: #5 Elizabeth Manley Bixler Wolfington Moore, 1828 - 1913

Here I am typing away at the last minute again for my weekly submission to this week 52 Ancestors project as begun by Amy Johnson Crow of the No Story Too Small blog. However, this time I'm fairly certain that I will be too late so I'm not going to worry about it, and will likely just have two in the count for next week.

Last night I started out with the intention to write about my 3rd Great grandfather Abram Wolfington as he is currently the end of a branch, but as I always do before writing one of these I tried to see if I could find one more tidbit about him, and in so doing I started reviewing my great-grandmother's notes (Pearl Pauline Bailey Snyder, 1891-1978) again and doing searches on both Abram and his wife Elizabeth Manley Bixler (who I didn't have much on), including re-checking previously ignored hints. And, all of a sudden, things started falling into place for Elizabeth Manley Bixler, and...several hours after midnight, I had (the start of) a life for her and the beginnings of another generation beyond as well! And all due to great-grandmother's notes, which while not altogether right, assuredly helped me figure out what were the correct hints. Thank you, great-grandmother!

So, I thought this time that I would set out here a transcription of the pertinent parts of great-grandmother's notes on her grandmother (she mixes people together in writing about the family from one sentence to the next; these are the portions I used to help me with research on Elizabeth M.):

"My grandmother (Mama's mother) was a Methodist through and through - when she came to visit us she came alone clear from Kansas. She stayed with us a few years, then she got homesick for Kansas and went back alone. She was tall and stately. She acted the part. She was a real 'lady', in every  way. She had long, thick, medium brown hair and brown eyes. ....Grandma  married a man by name of Moore (Hanns). Mama's sister Anna married his (Moore's) son. ... Mama's sister Belle had three girls and one boy; I've forgotten who she married. Lydia never married; Ella had three girls: Grace, Bird & Fern.

"I have no idea where Papa met Mama, but she was born in Paola Indiana. She went (or started) with her parents to Kansas. She had one or two brothers. One named Clifford, other may have been Clarence. Mama's maiden name was Wolfington. ...Her mother's name was Bixler. They lived along the Maumee River close to  Ft. Meigs at Maumee OH. They lived a short while on Chamberlin Hill in Findlay Ohio. All this must have been before they started west because Mama's father died on the trip west. He died from pneumonia."

Elizabeth Manley Bixler was born in Ohio, in approximately 1828, to Abraham and Sarah Bixler (Manley appears to be a middle name). I don't know where in Ohio yet, and I don't know how long they lived there or Sarah's maiden name. Elizabeth's parent's were born in Virginia, and after living in Ohio for some time, moved the family to Indiana. By 1850 Elizabeth and her father were living in the home of her brother Levi, along with her brothers Jacob and Salothel, in Poesy, Washington County Indiana.

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 On March 30, 1851, Elizabeth married Abram Wolfington, in Orange County, Indiana.  She was 22 and he was 41. He had several children already from a prior marriage that I haven't found yet: William (bn abt 1837), James (1839-1918), Marinda (bn about 1842), Eliza J (bn abt 1845), and Valentine (bn abt 1848).

Elizabeth and Abraham had several children over the years: Martha Emily (1852-1915, my 2nd great grandmother), Clarence (bn abt 1854), Isabel (bn abt 1856), Alfred (bn abt 1858), Annie (bn abt 1863), Emma (bn about 1863), Charles CR (bn abt 1867) and Clifford (bn abt 1867).

In 1860, Elizabeth and Abraham were sharing their home Paoli, Indiana, with William (23), Marinda (19), Valentine (12), Clarence (6), Isabel (4), and Alfred (2).   In 1870, Elizabeth and Abraham were still living in Paoli, Orange County, Indiana, with William (now 33), Martha Emily - called Emily (18), Clarence (16), Isabel - called Belle (14), Emma (7) and Charles CR (3). Apparently Annie wasn't home when the Census taker came through this time, unless she and Emma are the same person.

Abraham died before 1874. I don't know yet if it was on the road to Kansas as my great-grandmother said. I do know that she married Solomon Moore (1822-1898), a boyhood friend of her deceased husband, in about 1874. Solomon had been born in Orange County, Indiana, and in 1850 had lived just down the road from Elizabeth's former mother-in-law (Abraham's mother, Esther Wolfington). So he was someone Elizabeth likely knew well and trusted. His wife had died only 4 years before he married Elizabeth. Solomon would have been around 54 and Elizabeth about 46 years old. They both would have needed someone to help them raise their children.

In 1880, Elizabeth (52) and Solomon (60) were living and farming in Hayes, Kansas in Franklin County, with his son Hance (20, bn abt 1860), and her children Annie (17) and Clifton (13).  [Clifford and Clifton are probably the same person.]

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Elizabeth's daughter Annie did marry Solomon's son Hance, in approximately 1882 (it apparently worked since they were still together in 1930 in Chanute, Kansas).

By 1895, Solomon (73) had evidently retired, because when he and Elizabeth (68) were counted in the Kansas state census, he no longer described himself as a farmer. (She was now claiming to be two years older than she was.) They are living down the road from Solomon's second youngest son George (probable). Solomon died three years later on February 20, 1898, of Bright's Disease (acute kidney disease, per wikipedia).

Elizabeth outlived Solomon by 15 years, dying on July 25, 1913 at age 84. She is buried with Solomon in the High Prairie Cemetery in Altoona, Kansas.

So with Elizabeth living to 1913 and Pearl Pauline being born in 1891, Elizabeth would have been alive for my great-grandmother's first 22 years. She probably didn't come and stay "for years" while her husband was alive, so it was probably after 1898. I haven't found the trip back to Findlay, Ohio yet.

I also haven't found her early years in Ohio yet, other than her listing her birth state as Ohio on every census. I haven't found anyone near Ft. Meigs (that would be Perrysburg now). I did find her marriage  to my 3rd great grandfather and they were living in Paoli (not Paola), Indiana, when my 2nd great-grandmother was born, and continued to live there most of their married lives. I found her sons Clifford and Clarence, and daughters Anna and Belle, but  Lydia and Ella belong to Pearl Pauline's Bailey grandparents and not to the Wolfingtons (I double-checked the Baileys about Lydia and Ella).

 I haven't yet figured out the reason for the move to Kansas or whether it was with my 2nd great grandfather or later. She did marry "a man by the name of Moore" and her daughter Annie did marry his son (it was the son that was named Hance, though.)

Great-Grandma's notes are good clues but are mostly hearsay evidence. They make good starting or somewhat corroborating evidence but are not to be taken as gospel.

It will be interesting to see what else might fit with in her stories. Always more to find!

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[Great-grandmother's notes; Federal Census for 1830, 1850, 1870,  1880, and 1930 (for Abraham Bixler, Esther Wolfington, Abraham Wolfington, Abram Wolfington, Elizabeth Bixler Wolfington Moore, Solomon Moore, Hance Moore, Annie/Anna Wolfington Moore and Jane Wilson); Kansas Census for 1895; Kansas Findagrave.com Memorials #16972829 and #52136322; Orange County, Indiana, Index to Marriage Records 1826-1920.] 

Public Tree or Private Tree? I Choose Public.

The question is whether I should have my Ancestry.com tree public - so anyone who wants to can see it (no one can see the living members unless I send an invitation AND grant the invitee that ability) or set to private so no one but me can see it (unless I send them an invitation). I know I've gone back and forth on this question. Initially I had it set Public because I thought that history belongs to everyone (simplistic thought, yes, but I was a rank amateur). Then after reading a bunch of blogs by more experienced genealogists and professional genealogists on this debate who were incensed by mistakes made in public trees being passed on as if they were fact, I made it private (& issued invitations to family although Ancestry is inconsistent about actually sending them) so as not to perpetuate any mistakes I'd make.

I've thought about this more as time has passed and I recently put my Ancesty.com tree back to public for a more conscious reason than "history is free", lol. I know that by doing so I will appall a large portion of the genea-blogging community, since the Ancestry.com tree is my working tree at the moment, even though I also have genealogy software, and yes, mistakes will creep in even though documentation is very important to me (any mistake will be taken down as soon as I'm sure that it is a mistake).  I've put the tree public to increase the likelihood that I might find someone I'm distantly related to me-- or they might find me --and that by sharing information we can improve both our trees/research -- and I might make a friend.

Since one of my current discovery methods is to put up the connections I think (based on prior research and/or family notes or legends) are there and then see what hint leaves pop up to see if I can confirm or deny the hypothesis, I've thought about the hazards of passing on possible hypotheses as historical fact. Therefore, I've taken steps to try to put people on notice that they need to check their own sources and do their own research rather than relying on mine: 1) My Ancestry.com tree is named "Ancestors of Jo Henn (a work in progress)"; and 2) on any connection I am not sure of and/or which I'm trying out to see if it flies, the main picture (the one that shows on the person box) is the 'question mark in a puzzle piece', that I headed this blog post with, with the picture title "Is this connection correct?" This ought to put a reader on notice that they should not attach this alleged fact to their tree willy-nilly, without further research of their own. And, frankly, if they use it anyway without doing their own research, it's not my problem  -- it's theirs. The only person's work I can truly control is mine and I do what I can to make sure everything is eventually documented. If I can't document it, it comes down. If I can document it, the puzzle piece picture comes down and it stays. The length of the between period is up to me, and varies.

As to the question of people "stealing" my research or pictures or such from my tree, that's where my "history belongs to everybody" mindset comes in. It doesn't bother me. If it would bother me if someone would "steal" or use something, then I don't put that something up on the public tree, ...or on the blog, ...or on Facebook, etc.  You get the idea.

[I am aware of copyright issues and ask before I use anyone else's stuff which is subject to copyright (particularly on the blog).]

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday: Don, Paul and Clarence Snyder

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Written on the back of the photograph is:
"Don    Paul     Clarence,
upon Don's return from WWII 1943-4
Notice he has a cast on his leg - shot -
Huronia Beach"

Don and Paul are my Grand-uncles and Clarence is my Grandpa.
My grandparents lived in Huron Ohio so this was likely taken near their home. Huronia Beach, Ohio, is on Lake Erie.

The photo must have been taken while Don was on leave, because he served on Bataan in April 1945.

Per the 16 April 1945  Findlay Republican Courier, p. 11: 

"Despite Japanese mortar and sniper fire, Technical Sergeant Don B Snyder, of Findlay, leading a platoon of the 151st Infantry, 38th Division, maintained a continuous supply line to the front in the battle of ZigZag pass on Bataan. There were no beaten trails through the jungle-like thickets but the platoon was able to keep the supplies moving. Tech. Sgt. Snyder is the son of Mr. & Mrs. Philip Snyder and the husband of the former Ardyce Ebersole of Arcadia. He was a well-known boxer prior to entering the Army and has continued winning numerous titles while in service. Overseas 15 months he now holds the Combat Infantry Badge, the American Defense ribbon, and [?] Pacific and Phillipine Liberation ribbons with two campaign stars."

(Newspaperarchive.com)

52 Ancestors: # 4 Edward Carleton Bailey (1849-1926)

This is my 4th entry in the 52 Ancestors in 52 weeks challenge put forth by Amy Johnson Crow of  the No Story Too Small blog.

Edward Carleton Bailey (1849-1926)
Posted with permission of Christina Inman
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Edward Carleton Bailey is one of my 2nd Great Grandfathers on my maternal lines (he is the father of my grandpa’s mother).  I know a bit more about him than I do about some of the folks I’ve been writing about recently, but even so I’ve got some gaping holes.

I’m lucky in this instance to have a few pages written by my great-grandmother (GGM), Pauline Bailey Snyder, Edward’s youngest daughter, of her recollections of her parent’s family and ancestors and those of her husband as well, and I’ve been able to use them to help confirm whether records I found were related to the right family. On the other hand, I’ve discovered that while her recollections are largely correct, they are not entirely right when they rest on hearsay – at times her facts get somewhat twisted, and on other occasions she's repeating the family legend which seems, so far, to be apocryphal. In any case, I am extremely grateful to my great-grandmother for writing out her recollections and leaving them for later generations.

Edward C. Bailey was born on 12 November 1849 in Union Township, Mifflin County, PA (see picture below)  to James and Maria Bailey.[1]  My great grandmother says that James was Scots-Irish and Methodist, and that Maria (whom she knew as Sarah Williams, “her first name may have been Maria”) was full blooded Welch, Quaker by birth, and “a straight line descendant  from the Roger Williams who founded Rhode Island.” [2] I have been unable to verify any of GGM’s description of the lineage of Edward’s parents as  I have not been able to find them before 1850. I've also not been able to confirm that Maria is related to the Roger Williams of Rhode Island.

Mifflin County PA

As a baby, Edward was evidently known as Carlton, as that is how he is listed in the 1850 Census, when he was one year old. Both his parents are listed as being born in Pennsylvania and both are 34 years old (so born approximately 1816). The census lists his siblings as John, age 7; Anna M., 5; and Lydia, 3. [3] My GGM recalls his brothers and sisters as John “who was killed in the Civil War”; Richard or Dick, “who had a family of several girls – I remember three of their names – Dove, Mabel, and Pin – there were four but I’ve forgotten the other name”; Ella “a housewife”; Lydia “a trained nurse”; and James “who bred fine Kentucky horses”. (None of the descriptors are confirmed yet). I assume Richard, Ella, and James are younger than Edward Carlton since they weren’t on the 1850 Census but I don’t know for sure as I’ve not found Edward’s parents or siblings in any other Census, yet.*

GGM told me, via her notes, that her father had served in the Civil War, and I confirmed this when I searched Fold3.com and found his service index card and his pension index card showing  he had filed  for an invalid pension in 1884 (granted). It noted that he had enlisted as a private in Company D of the 192 Regiment of the Pennsylvania Infantry, on February 10, 1865. [4] I subsequently found him on the Company D, 192^nd regiment Infantry Roster, which indicated he had mustered in on February 15, 1865 (lying about his age and telling them he was 17 – he would have been 15 then)  under Captain Andrews and mustered out with the whole Company on August 24, 1865. [5] In the spring of 1865, nine new companies were recruited to the regiment, which reported as fast as organized, to the commander of the Middle Military Division, with headquarters at Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. When the spring campaign opened, the regiment moved up the valley to Staunton and Lexington, and after Lee’s  and Johnston’s surrenders, assisted with the decommissioning of the Confederate armies in the Shenandoah Valley and with . The fighting was substantially over.  It was, however, retained in the department, engaged in various duties, until the 21th of August, when it was mustered out of service. [6] I have no idea how or where Edward was injured. I intend to order his pension records from the National Archives.

I then lost Edward again for ten years, and next found him in Ottawa, Kansas, in 1875, with his wife, Emma, and 4 month old child, Howard, on the Kansas State Census; it states he is a boilermaker. [7] He had married my 2^nd great-grandmother Martha Emily (called Emma)  Wolfington in 1874. [8] She was born and lived in Paoli, IN. (I have no idea how they met and neither did GGM, although she did say that “Mama went (or started) with her parents to Kansas.”). By 1880, the family had moved to Anderson, Kansas where Edward was a fruit grower, and the couple had three more children: Howard W. was now 5, Granville W. was 4, Lloyd W. was 3, and Myrtle was 5 months old. [9] In 1884,Edward submitted his request for a military invalid pension and it was granted.[4]

By 1900, Edward has moved his family to Findlay OH; he is 50 and states that he is a blacksmith. Living at home with them are Howard, age 25; Floyd age 23; Myrtle, age 20; James, age 17; and Pearl Pauline (my GGM), age  9. The city directories show the family living at 519 Hull Avenue, and lists Edward as a blacksmith through 1914. [8, 10] He worked as a blacksmith at the Buckeye Traction Ditcher Company in Findlay for 18 years. [1]

Edward’s wife Emma died in or about 1914. [1] His daughter, Myrtle was still single and still living at home. She applied for a passport to China in 1916 and subsequently lived much of the rest of her life there as a missionary (I wrote a post on her life here. Do read it; it’s fascinating!) By 1918, Edward had married Martha Emily’s sister Isabel Wolfington Wells .[10] (She had been previously married to John Wells, in Kansas [11]).  The couple lived at Edward’s house at 519 Hull St. In 1923, at age 74, he is listed as a fruit grower. [10] I hope it is as a hobby rather than out of necessity.

In 1925 and 1926, he was ill for most of the time and spent March through June 1926 mostly bedfast.  He died on June 30, 1926, at the home of his daughter, Pearl Pauline (Mrs. Philip A Snyder). [1]

His obituary stated that he was a member of the Stoker Post G.A.R. and had converted to the Assemblies of God Church where he had been an Elder and a Deacon for many years.   He was survived by six of his eight children of his first marriage (Homer W. Bailey, Lloyd Weldon Bailey, Myrtle Bell Bailey, Pearl Bailey Snyder, all of Findlay Ohio, and Lloyd Wellington Bailey and James Bailey, of Toledo Ohio) his 2^nd wife, Isabel, and one brother, Richard H Bailey of Vandergrift PA. Edward was buried in the Maple Grove Cemetary. [1]

[*UPDATE: I've subsequently found out that Edward's father died in 1858, but his mother was still living in 1860 and was living with her are her daughters Lydia Marie, Eliza Jane, and Rebecca Ella, and her son James -- I still don't know where John, Edward and Richard are that year. In 1870, Edward's Mother has remarried, to Samuel Huber, and she is living with Samuel and his son, and her son James, and her daughter, Ella. Edward's mother lives through the 1900 census. See Mariah/Maria's story.]

________

I want to:
Find Edward's parents, James Bailey & Maria Sarah Williams (if that is her last name)
Find Edward's siblings
Get Edward's military pension file.
Find Birth, marriage (2), and death records
Find out if Edward's brother died in Civil War

I'd really like to know why Edward left PA to go to Kansas, where he met Emma, and why they left Kansas to go to Findlay Ohio, and what happened to Isabel after Edward's death?


[1] Edward C Bailey Obituary, Findlay Morning Republican, July 1, 1926, p. 12; newspaperarchive.com.
[2] Family record. Pearl Pauline Bailey's notes. Copy .
[3] 1850 U.S. Census, Union Township Mifflin County PA
[4] Index Card for Civil War Pensions: http://www.fold3.com/image/5844937/; Index to Civil War Service Record: http://www.fold3.com/image/288562900/.
[5] http://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/192nd_Regiment,_Pennsylvania_Infantry
http://www.pa-roots.com/pacw/infantry/192nd/192dcoe1yr.html; Records of the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs REGISTERS OF PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEERS, 1861-1865. Volume 13: 160th-171st, 188th, 190th-192nd Regiments.
[6]http://www.pa-roots.com/pacw/infantry/192nd/192dorg.html;http://vshadow.vcdh.virginia.edu/OR/augusta1865.html
[7] 1875 Kansas State Census, Ottawa, Franklin, Kansas; Ancestry.com.. Kansas State Census Collection, 1855-1925[database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009.
[8] 1900 U.S. Census, Findlay, Ward 6, Hancock Ohio
[9] 1880 U.S. Census, Anderson Kansas
[10] Findlay City Directory, Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
[11] 1900 U.S. Census, Chanute, Neosho, Kansas.

52 Ancestors: Ancestor # 3 Samuel Hartman 1809-1864

I almost blew the challenge in just the third week. I've been spending the weekend doing research on another branch of the family but I'm not ready to write about any of that yet. I couldn't intially get my head yanked out of that area to figure out what, or who, to do my #3 Ancestor post on. And I left it to the last minute. (It's 7:10 PM Tuesday night; let's see if I can get this posted by the 8:00 PM deadline!)

I noticed in reading other's 52 Ancestors blogs that a number of people are writing about their end line ancestors in hopes of finding someone to help them break through their brick wall. That sounded like a good idea. So I'm going with that.

Samuel Hartman is my 3rd great grandfather on my Mom's maternal side. I have a prior blog post about his son, my 2nd great grandfather, Samuel Myers Hartman here, where I talked  a little about the Samuel I will talk about here, too, so there will be some overlap. Our ancestors' propensity to be more flexible in the spelling of their names made finding Samuel, for sure, a little challenging. I ended up tracking him more by his wife and kids' names than by his middle initial, which, since I've seen it as F., S., T, and U., I left out of the title of this post! (Mostly, I think it's more an issue with the census taker's handwriting.)

Samuel Hartman was born somewhere in Pennsylvania in approximately 1809. I haven't yet found where or who his parents were for certain. (Let's hold off on that thought until the end of the sketch.) He first shows up in the 1830 Census in Wayne County, Ohio. It was one of those numbers in a category census and indicated in his household 1 male 20-29 (him) and one female 15-20, who I take to be his wife, Maria Eve Whonsetler, who was also born in Pennsylvania  around 1813 (per later censuses ...censi?).

Over the course of their marriage the couple had 11 children. The first, Alexander Stephen Hartman, was born the year after that first census, in 1831. Tragically, he pre-deceased his parents in 1853. Their first daughter, Laraneice, born in 1833, also died before her parents in 1850. Their second son, Hiram Whomsetler, born 1836, died in 1862 but, as far as I can tell so far, his death was not related to the Civil War. The rest of the children are as follows: Elmira Suse (1837-1892), Ephraim D (1839-1930), Samuel Myers (1844-1928), Jasper Newton (1847-1906), Francis Marion (1851-1934), Franklin Pierce (1853-1926), Pandie Elmer (1855-1856 [sad]) and Lorena 1856-1886.  (Francis and Franklin show that the American trend of naming your kids after celebrities is not solely a current phenomena!)

Samuel owned property worth $1001 in 1850 in the Canaan Township of Wayne County OH. At that point he and Marie Eve had 8 children, ranging from 19 to just born. (1850 Census) By 1860, Samuel had become a very successful farmer, owning $18,200 worth of real property and $1573 of personal property in Chester Township. (1860 Census.)  [For perspective, a 4 room apartment rented for $4.45 cents a month in 1860; land sold for $3-$5 an acre; a laborer’s wage without board was 90 cents a day; eggs were 20 cents a dozen. (http://www.choosingvoluntarysimplicity.com/what-did-things-cost-in-1860/)]

Samuel died in 1864. His wife outlived him by over 20 years. The 1880 Census shows her living in her son Franklin's home, which was next door to Francis' home.

At one point, I did have Samuel's mother, or who I think is his mother (based mainly on other Ancestry tree and shaking leaf hints). But I was having problems figuring out who his father was, or rather which Peter was his father. I discovered via a note on one person’s well-documented tree that the problem I was having with Peter Hartman is partially because there are four Peter Hartman(s) in Wayne county in Ohio at that time; I’d run across all four, plus one Peter Hartmann, and  in another state a Johann Peter Hartmann that various people were tying into what looks like our line and having them all married to Catherine Zollnar or Caterina ZÖllner, which just isn’t possible – one Peter Hartman even had a different birth date that had him marrying her at age 11, while she was 23, which I think is unlikely. It looks like Catherine Zollnar is in our line but I couldn't establish that for certain yet so I took her off the tree.

So if there's anybody out there who has these Hartman's in your tree or knows more, Cousin, I'd love to hear from you! If there is anybody with research suggestions, I'd love to get them too. I've only been doing this about a year; I have a lot to learn. Any insight on where or how to research Wayne County OH would be appreciated as I seem to have a boatload of ancestors that came through there. Some Amish! But that will be another post...

52 Ancestors: Ancestor #2 John Snyder 1854-1925

John Snyder, 1854-1925, was my 2nd great grandfather

I have less information on this ancestor than the one I wrote about last week.  As far as I can tell to date, no one has included his bio in a book.  ; )  On, the other hand, I am lucky enough to have a copy of some hand-written recollections of family by his daughter-in-law, Pearl Pauline Bailey (my great grand-mother, wife of John's son Philip A. Snyder). Thus far, her recollections of various family members in her family tree and that of her husband, have proven to be largely, but not entirely, accurate (or at least sometimes confusing), and a hand-drawn (on one sheet of paper) family tree which is drawn in a way that indicates the person drawing it tended to believe the viewer already knew these people as many names are incomplete (it's a help for verifying the record X I'm looking at refers to the right family). 

John Snyder was born in Pennsylvania on or about August 15, 1854, to John and Hannah Snyder, according to his obituary; however, the obituary is slightly inaccurate as his mother's name was Margaretha Pink. [My posts on my third great-grandparents: Johannes Schneider (see HERE) and Margaretha Pink  (see HERE2).]  John was christened Johannes Schneider on November 3, 1854 in the Second Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chambersburg, PA.  Some of my research indicates his parents were born in Pennsylvania, but more of it indicates they were born in Germany. John always told the census taker they were born in Germany and my great --grandmother's notes say his father was born ne near Stuttgart and his mother's father, Philip, was born in "Dumstart" but does not indicate where John's mother was born. Hannah’s maiden name was Pink (my great-grandmother’s notes say that her name was originally Pinkstein but that she dropped the “stein”, and that she may have been Jewish. GGM’s notes say that after she dropped the “stein” they laughed about her being named “Pink”).

So far I have nothing on his life with his birth family, other than he had three sisters and two brothers, according to GGM's tree.  They were Deenie (married name Buess or Buse), Elizabeth (married name Hines), Mary (married name Keckly), Ben, Charles, and John. [Charles is not listed in the obituary and may have predeceased John, if he existed; the others are listed as surviving John in his obituary.]

The first record I have of John is from when he married Catharine Snyder (daughter of Philip Snyder/Snider/Schneider, 1831-1909, and Hannah Essinger, 1834-1898), in Hancock County OH. I have a copy of their marriage license (bottom right of picture), but it contains little information, other than their names and that it was applied for on October 4, 1875, and they were  married on October 21, 1875, by minister A. W. P. Wilson.  I wonder if  it has been reconstructed after a fire in the courthouse? Or whether they eloped?

For the first few years of their marriage John was a farmer in Wyandot County, Ohio. The 1880 Census places them in Jackson Township, Wyandot County (Wyandot County is adjacent to Hancock County). They had a 3 year old daughter, Mary (born approx. 1877) and a 1 year old daughter Delly (born approx. 1879). It also says that John cannot read or write but Catherine can.

In 1882, Philip, my great grandfather was born, and in 1884 his brother George was born.  1984 was a year of major changes for the family, in that Delly died, and the family moved to Findlay,OH. I’m don’t know which occurred first but I imagine that the family may have moved back to Hancock county so that Catharine would be closer to her family for comfort after  her 15 year old daughter died.  

It’s also possible they could have moved back to allow Catherine to help care for elderly parents.  At the time of the 1990 Census, Catherine’s widowed father, Philip, 69, was living with them. My great grandfather, Philip, 17, also still lived at home, but his older sister, Mary, no longer lived with them – she had married Marion M. Greer in 1895. John worked as a saw mill hand, was renting their home, and had learned to read and write. I like to imagine that Catherine helped him learn to read and write over the course of their marriage.  

By the time of the 1920 Census, John owned their home at 301 East Main Cross Street in Findlay.  At 65, he was still "working out" as a laborer, paid by wages and not salaried. In 1925, at age 71, John still worked as a laborer. On November 3, 1925, he was working in a potato field near Arcadia OH for Mart Sausser, when he died suddenly of heart trouble. He had been in poor health for several years. He was a member of the Evangelical Church in Findlay and was buried in Arlington Cemetery in Hancock County, Ohio.

[Sources: Second Evangelical Lutheran Church records Chambersburg, PA, Historic Pennsylvania Church and Town Records,  Historical Society of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; U.S. Census for 1880, 1900,and 1920; Obituary, John Snyder, "Dies Suddenly While Working", Findlay Morning Republican, 4 November 1925, p. 7 (Newspaperarchive.com);"Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-1994," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X8FZ-73X : accessed 14 Jan 2014), John Snyder and Catharine Snyder, 21 Oct 1875; citing Hancock, Ohio, United States, reference Vol-6 P-239 #183; FHL microfilm 1299132; "Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1953," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X63H-8LT : accessed 14 Jan 2014), John Snyder, 03 Nov 1925; citing Washington Twp., Hancock, Ohio, reference fn 63938; FHL microfilm 1992764; Notes written by my great grand-mother, Pearl Pauline Bailey.] 

Further Explanation - No Worries!

I've answered a few questions in emails, so I thought that I should address the general subjects here as well, in case anyone else  has been curious too.

The first is in regard to the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge I'm participating in. The "premise of the challenge is to write once a week about a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, a research problem — any that focuses on that one ancestor. The next week, write about a different ancestor."  I see it as a way to give you all something to look forward to each week. I will try to make most of them like my previous Ancestor Highlights, as complete as currently possible, but depending on whatever else is going on in my life there will likely be times that I will take advantage of the flexibility of the challenge, and do a shorter story about a person.

For those concerned that I intend to move on to research my father's side of the family before telling all the stories for all the people I've found on Mom's side of the family, just because I'm moving on to the other side doesn't mean I'll stop dipping into Mom's side for stories for the blog -- particularly when I don't have time enough to complete enough research on a Henn side person to do a decent story that week! I'll be popping back to Mom's side for stories off and on through out the year, likely.

For those concerned that I'm going to run out of people to tell stories about, as of today Ancestry.com reports that I have 572 people in the tree. They are not all sufficiently developed right at the moment to write a story about, true; but, even without writing about living people, I have material to fill this blog for a decade! Moreover, the tree is going to keep growing! And the stories should only get better as I uncover more information throughout the years. I may even be able to discover more stories simply by blogging about the ones I do have.

Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small posted a blog recap post covering all the blogs participating in the challenge by the name of the Ancestor they wrote about and giving links to all so that we could read each other's work (she intends to do this each Wednesday). Amy Johnson Crow reports that within hours of the publication of the 1st recap post, two participants in the challenge discovered a connection with each other, and another's post netted him a new 8th cousin, and Crow herself made two connections, helping her smash through a long time brick wall (dead end) in her research! Exciting stuff! Perhaps I will find new connections (with pictures and/or new information in the course of this challenge, too!