My Living DNA Has Been Updated!

Yesterday I received an email from Living DNA announcing that a free update was available for my 2017 ancestry results.* So I followed the link, requested my update and was told that it was in process and would be complete in less than 48 hours. The confirming email arrived early this morning.

And here it is:**

[Living DNA Recent Ancestry]

According to their data, my recent DNA heritage is 100% European--5.7% from my 2X great grandmother Delilah Grove (1845-1925) and the remaining 94.3% Great Britain and Ireland from everyone else.

[Living DNA Recent Ancestry]

Of the more exotic traces claimed by my previous results only Orkney remains (with the addition of the Shetland Islands). My alleged connections to the Iberian Peninsula, Scandinavia, and the Kurds and Pashtuns have disappeared.



*See my previous results here.
**Sadly the company has chosen to show everything in a low contrast format so you may find it hard to read.. And I've emailed them about that.


© 2020 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

1st Cousin 4x Removed Mattie Bell (Groves) White Was a Works Progress Administration (WPA) Sewer

Some footage of women at work for the WPA (the specific locations of the footage are unknown).

I thought this was an interesting find today as I was hashtagging people in my tree--a then widowed cousin Mattie Bell (Groves) White, employed by the WPA in a sewing room in Hawarden IA in the 1940 Census.

"To Expand WPA Sewing Room"
The Hawarden Independent (Hawarden IA)
Thursday, 20 Nov 1941, page 1, col 4
Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/25230049/the_independent/?xid=637 : accessed 8 Nov 2018).

Women to Make Necessities for Relief  

Clients in 30 Counties 

Hawarden will have the only WPA sewing room in Northwest Iowa in a few days.
With the decision of the board of supervisors to close the sewing room at Rock Valley, the Hawarden project will inherit additional sewing machines and the job of furnishing sheets, pillow cases, towels and bedding for relief clients in 30 counties. 

Seven other sewing rooms will operate in the 30 counties, making other necessities for relief clients. 

Twenty or more women will work in the Hawarden project, under the direction of Mrs. Ella Larson.  They will work an average of 30 hours a week, and will receive $47.20 a month [CManczuk note: about $850 in today's dollars]. 

The materials used in making the household goods will be paid for by the counties in which they are used. The sewing room women, however, will be paid by the WPA, as in the past. 

The local sewing room was moved last week from its former location over the Sioux Theatre to larger quarters in the Margolin building.

Mattie's mother Rosetta (Worden) Groves (1857-1912) and children.  Mattie is the little girl on the left.  Probably about 1892.  Image courtesy of Olive Kennedy.

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

My Fifth Great Uncle, Michael "Mike" Grove, Was a Miner Out in Bannack, Montana

"Bannack State Park" lecture uploaded by the Montana Historical Society (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC1_ABaqaHg)

I think my mom will cover this guy in more depth later for his Civil War service for Colorado, but I was excited to find a hard-drinking miner in the Wild West in my family tree, in this case an older brother Michael "Mike" Grove (1810-1890) of my 4th great grandfather Frederick Grove (1812-1882).

At 60 years old Michael Grove appeared in "Bannock", Beaverhead, Montana Territory (his occupation was "Works in mine").  Bannack is now a ghost town/state park.

patdarl (username) posted the following about Mike Grove on an Ancestry board in 2003:

Tony French lived in Bannack in the early days. He kept a journal, in which he recorded info on every person thet lived in Bannack. He wrote:
"Mike Grove: Went to Bannack in the early 1860's. He worked at placer mining for wages. Later he mined for himself at what they called Gyroing, that is drifting on the benches for pockets containing gold. He, like a number of his kind, spent all his gold for whiskey. He died at Bannack."

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

My York County, Pennsylvania Ancestors

On my maternal side my 3rd great grandmother Delilah Grove (who married Dick Worden) had ancestors from York County, Pennsylvania.

I have neglected the Grove/Bixler side of my ancestry for about 8 or 9 years, although they were among the first people I added to my tree.  My mom has many DNA matches to cousins through these couples, and I am getting re-acquainted with York County, Pennsylvania, where they lived from the 1700s on (and I still have distant cousins who live there).

I found a video, "York County, Pennsylvania Like a Local" with Peter Greenberg that gives a nice overview of what the area looks like:

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Anna Segrist (1740 - About 1800)

Thanks to research done by Jeffery Bernstein* we have the baptism record for Anna in the archives of Zurich, Switzerland.

[Source: Staatsarchiv Zurich, added to an ancestry.com profile by Jeffrey Bernstein]

Ten-year-old Anna left for Pennsylvania together with her parents John Segrist (also Sechrist or Sigerist) and Anna Wildberger and her brothers and sisters on the ship "Brotherhood" which arrived in Philadelphia on November 3, 1750.

The Segrist family settled in York County where Anna married Franz Graaf (also known as Francis Grove) and they settled in Shrewsbury Township. I haven't found a marriage record for them but their first child was born in October of 1760 when Anna would have been twenty.

In the early Spring of 1765 Anna's father died without leaving a will and her mother filed a petition with the probate court regarding a division of his estate. She named all her children and Anna was listed as the wife of Francis Grof. In petition filed at the same court term, Anna's oldest brother Jacob sought the clarification of the status of 50 acres of land he considered to not be part of his mother's marriage settlement. He requested a division of the land among himself and his siblings.**

[Another document originally found by Jeffery Bernstein]

Anna and Franz had seven children, 6 boys and one girl, their youngest. My direct ancestor is their fourth son John, born in 1769.

Anna died sometime before June of 1801 when Franz married a widow Catharine Eberhard who survived his death in 1812.

We don't know where either Anna or Franz are buried.

Here's how I'm related to her:

[Ancestry.com]

*He's married to one of my distant cousins through my great great grandmother Mercy Darling's second marriage to Joshua Butler Walsh.
**I don't know the outcome of this petition.



© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

From the Probate Files: Francis Grove - York County, Pennsylvania - 1812

As we saw earlier this week Franz Graaf, one of my maternal 5th great grandfathers, was an orphan in 1743 when he left his Swiss homeland for a new life in Pennsylvania.

Sixty-eight years later he made his will as the anglicized Francis Grove which was probated on February 28, 1812. His first wife my ancestor Anna Segrist had died in 1800 and the following year he married a widow named Catherine Eberhard.*

["Pennsylvania Probate Records, 1683-1994," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L99B-VWRQ?cc=1999196&wc=9PM8-4WG%3A268493601%2C270673301 : 3 July 2014), York > Wills 1803-1818 vol L-N > image 446 of 800; county courthouses, Pennsylvania.]

For now** I'm going to rely on a transcript of his will attributed to Gail Bernkopf  that I found attached to the family tree of a distant cousin.

In the Name of God Amen I Francis Grove of York township in the County of York and State of Pennsylvania being aged and Infirm do therefore make and publish this my last will and Testament and in the first place I commit my Soul into the hands of God who gave it unto me and my Body I order to be buried in a Christian manner by my Executor and as to my worldly Estate I order to be disposed of as Follows, my debts and funeral Expenses I order to be paid in the first place I give and bequeath unto my beloved wife Catharina for and during her Natural life or as long as she Remains my widow, all and Every Kind of my household and Kitchen furniture, monies, Bonds, Notes or Book amounts be the same what it may, and also one Cow, And at or Imediately [sic] after, the death of my said wife I give and bequeath the same Household and Kitchen furniture of all and Every Kind as aforesaid and all monies or other Goods, Either in Bonds Notes or Book accounts, or any other thing or things, whatsoever unto my step daughter Eve Intermarried with Nicholas Strayer and to their Heirs and assigns forever, And I further give and bequeath unto my said wife, all and Every the articles & stipulations in a Bond of Performance Bearing Even date herewith  particularly mentioned to be delivered to me and my said wife for any during our Natural lives, or the Surviver [sic]of us and at and Imediately [sic] after the death of my said wife Catharina, all the articles in the said Bond specified and mentioned shall Cease and become Void to all Intents and purposes;  And it is my will that if any of the articles in the Said Bond of Performance mentioned should Remain unpaid at the time of my said wifes death, Shall not be asked Charged or Demanded by any of my heirs Executors administrators, or any other Person or persons whatsoever.  It is further my will and I order and direct that none of my Children Namely George, Frederich, John, Michael, Francis, and my daughter Margaret intermarried with George Shirey[?] shall be carged [sic] with any of the monies due me wherewith the stand charged on a half sheet of Paper in the hand writing of George

[next page]:

George Lewis Lefler[?] Esq. on purpose therein stated.  (Excepting those of my Children which have given me their obligations) shall be paid unto my Executors which sums of money with which they stand charged.  I give and bequeath, to them and each of them the sum that the Hand Charged with as aforesaid and no more which shall be in full of their shares out of my Estate both Real and personal, or of any household stuff or other goods whatsoever and wheresoever.  And lastly I do hereby Nominate, and appoint my son in law Nicholas Strayer, of Hopewell Township my sole Executor of this my last will and Testament hereby Revoking and disannulling all other wills by me heretofore made declaring this and no other as and for my last will.  In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and Soul the fifteenth Day of February in the year of our Lord one thousand Eight hundred and Eleven.

Francis Grove [his mark and seal]

Signed Sealed pronounced and Published & Declared by the said Francis Grove the Testator as and for his last will & Testament.  In the presence of us who at his Request subscribed our Names hereunto as witnesses, in his presence and in the presence of Each other at the same time.

Sarah Neaff  [her mark]

Ignl. Leitner


York County ss.    Before me Jacob Barnitz Register for the Probate of Wills and granting Letters of Administration in and for the County of York in the State of Pennsylvania, personally came Sarah Naeff and Ignatius Leitner Esq. the Two Subscribing Witnesses to the foregoing Instrument of Writing

[next page]:

Writing and on their Solemn Oath, Do severally say, that they were personally Present and saw and heard the above named Francis Grove make his mark unto and Seal and Publish the foregoing Instrument of writing as and for his Last Will and Testament; and that at the time of the doing thereof he the said Francis Grove was of a Sound and disposing Mind, Memory and Understanding to the best of their knowledge and belief And that they subscribed their names thereto as Witnesses in the Presence of the said Testator and at his request, and also in the Presence of each other at the same time.

Sarah Naeff [her mark]

Sworn & Subscribed before me at York the 28th Day of February A.D. 1812

J. Barnitz    Regr.[Register]

*Her first husband John Eberhard named he and Francis Grove as the executors of his 1790 will.
**I plan to read through the document and compare what I see there with the transcription. I'll share any discrepancies I might find later.

© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Working on Wednesday: Franz Graaf/Francis Grove (1733 - 1812) Immigrant & Farmer

From Swiss records for the town of Rafz we know that this maternal 5X great grandfather left his native land in 1743 when he was a ten year old orphan in the company of his maternal uncle and his family.

[Emigration record for Francis Grove, 16 May 1743, Rafz, Zurich, Switzerland.

Source: Staatsarchiv Zurich.}

Fortunately for those of us who aren't fluent in German, a translation is available. As far as I can tell he never followed his father's (and uncle's) trade of mason.

[From Faust, A. Bernhardt. (1920-1925). Lists of Swiss emigrants in the eighteenth century to the American colonies. Volume 1 Washington, D.C.: National Genealogical Society. Source: HathiTrust]

Young Franz made it safely to Pennsylvania where he settled in Shrewsbury in York County and later* married the daughter of another Swiss couple  Hans/John Segrist and his wife Anna Wildberger.

This list informs us that Francis Grove** was taxed for 200 acres of land, two horses and two cows in 1779.

[Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Tax and Exoneration, 1768-1801 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data: Tax & Exoneration Lists, 1762–1794. Series No. 4.61; Records of the Office of the Comptroller General, RG-4. Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.]

And he was counted in the 1786 Pennsylvania Septennial Census.

[Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Septennial Census, 1779-1863 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Original data: Septennial Census Returns, 1779–1863. Box 1026, microfilm, 14 rolls. Records of the House of Representatives. Records of the General Assembly, Record Group 7. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, PA.]

There's a 1790 federal census record that may refer to him, but I'm not convinced because it's the enumeration for a township in Lancaster County and I don't know that he had any connection to any place but York County and I wasn't able to locate him in the 1800 U.S. Census.

But he's listed in the 1810 U.S. Census.

[Year: 1810; Census Place: York, York, Pennsylvania; Roll: 57; Page: 157; Image: 00168; Family History Library Film: 0193683. Ancestry.com. 1810 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Third Census of the United States, 1810. (NARA microfilm publication M252, 71 rolls). Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

On Friday I'll take a look at his will which was probated in 1812.

["Pennsylvania Probate Records, 1683-1994," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G99B-V4RD?cc=1999196&wc=9PM8-4WG%3A268493601%2C270673301 : 3 July 2014), York > Wills 1803-1818 vol L-N > image 248 of 800; county courthouses, Pennsylvania.]

*The exact date of their wedding isn't known but their oldest child was born in October of 1760.
**Note how his name has been anglicized in this record, although in the list of wills for York County his surname was written as Groff.



© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Elisabeth (About 1781 - Before 1750)

Although several tests have indicated that my maternal haplogroup is J1c2 you don't have to go very far up my family tree to find a brick wall in this 4X great grandmother whose surname isn't known and her given name may not even been Elisabeth.

[Ancestry.com]

Her birth year is based on the presumption that she's the 40-49 year-old free white woman residing in Emanuel Bixler's household in the 1830 U.S. Census lists and close to her husband Emanuel's age but she could be as much as 9 years younger. Even her place of birth is debatable--her son Jacob thought she was from Maryland and her daughter Leah told enumerators her mother was born in Pennsylvania.

[Ancestry.com]

It's also unknown where and when Elisabeth died--was it in Pennsylvania where her family was living in 1830 or in Ohio where the 1850 U.S. Census lists Emanuel as residing in Jacob's household, apparently a widower?

One thing that's almost certain is that she and her husband spoke German because son Jacob's 1887 obituary includes this sentence.

[The Anamosa Eureka Anamosa, Iowa. Thursday , January 27th, 1887 Page : 3

Source: Jones County Genealogical Society.]

© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Family Friday: Groves

The young man in this photograph is my maternal third great uncle Levi Groves (1856-1891), who appears to have lived his entire life in Jones County, Iowa. His parents were my third great grandparents Frederick Groves* (1812-1882) and Leah Bixler (1813-1900) who were originally from Maryland but met and married in Ohio, finally moving to Iowa in about 1846. There is no evidence that Levi ever married and he's buried in Forest Hill Cemetery.

[The Anamosa Eureka, Thursday, July 2, 1891.

Source: Digital Archives of Jones County Genealogical Society. ]

[Both images above courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

*Some records list his name as Grove. His ancestors first appeared in mid-18th century Pennsylvania with an German-speaking immigrant who came from Raffz, Zurich, Switzerland.surnamed Grof or Graf.



© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Family Friday: Who Are These Men? Wordens? Groves?

I've referred to my great great grandmother Elnora May (Worden) Webb's photograph album and the treasures we found in it many times.

[Floral Album courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

And while there are still portraits of known relatives that we haven't shared here on this blog yet, today I'm going to post three unknowns.

["Grove?" courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

["A Worden?" courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

["A Worden?" courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Family Friday: A Missing Photograph?

When Aunt Olive shared her collection of Slater family photos with us several years ago there were two people whose portraits should have been there--great great grandfather Willet Orlando "Dick" Worden and his wife Delilah Grove--because their daughter Elnora's album included pictures Dick's parents and many of his brothers and sisters.*

Here's the portrait of Dick's parents Hannah (Leonard) and Porter Worden.

I think this is his oldest sister Elizabeth Ann (Worden) Peregoy.

Another older sister Sarah Jane (Worden) Peregoy was portrayed with her adopted daughter Attah Faith.

A family portrait of Dick's younger brother John Henry Worden with his wife Lucinda and their two daughters was in the album.

A group portrait that includes Dick's brother George Worden (right) was in Elnora's album also.

Another photograph included in the album shows his sister Polly Ann (Worden) Joslin and her husband Thurston who posed holding Dick's grandson, Elnora's son Herbert Leander Webb.

A portrait of sister Rosetta (Worden) Groves was among the album pages too.

And finally there was his youngest sister Emma Maria (Worden) Kuder shown with her husband Madison and the four oldest of their eventual seven children.

So there were portraits of seven of Dick's nine siblings but there was NO picture of Dick and Delilah. Why?

*All photographs here are from Olive Slater-Kennedy's collection.


© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Family Friday: Grove/Graves

Although the borders of this photograph have been trimmed, the note on the back has survived so we know that the woman is my maternal third great aunt Rebecca Groves (1847-1881) together with her husband George Bedford Graves (1843-1914)* and the couple's only child William O. Graves (1867-?).**

[Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

Rebecca was one of the six daughters of Leah (Bixler) and Frederick Grove; her older sister was my great great grandmother Delilah Grove.

Seven years after Rebecca's death, George married a young woman named Jane Baya (who was about the age of his oldest son) with whom he had seven more children.

Jacob W. Miller (1841-1907) had a photography studio in Anamosa, Iowa, for many years.***

*George's occupation is listed in the 1880 U.S. Census as "Saloon Keeper."
**I've not been able to trace William with any certainty past the 1870 U.S. Census.
***The number 253 is a reference number we used to identify the images while scanning the photographs.

© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Gone for Soldiers: John Grove (1769 - 1851), Soldier?

According to this state grave registration card, John Groves, my maternal fourth great grandfather, served as a private (4th class) in the York County, Pennsylvania, Militia. Or did he?

[front]

[reverse]

[Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Veterans Burial Cards, 1777-2012 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Pennsylvania Veterans Burial Cards, 1777–2012. Digital Images, 3–5. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Bureau of Archives and History. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.]

The Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission's Archives for the York Revolutionary War Militia states that there were two Battalions formed, one in 1777 and the other in 1780. My ancestor John Grove would have been only about 11 at the time of the 1780 muster.

The source referred to on the reverse of the grave registration records is available online through the Internet Archive and there is indeed a John Grove on a list of privates serving in the York Township Militia on October 14, 1780 (although as far as we know John was living with his parents in Shrewsbury Township at the time). What appears to be the same man is also listed on a muster several years later as a Private "4th Class" in York Township.

[Pennsylvania Archives, Sixth Series, Volume II. Source: Internet Archive]

As far as we know, John Grove never applied for a pension as a Revolutionary War veteran even though he would have been eligible under the terms of the 1832 Pension Act so we have no testimony from him about his service.

I can't help but wonder if my ancestor really served in the Militia or if there was another, older John Groves who has been forgotten.


© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Working on Wednesday: Samuel Bixler (1742-1803), Farmer, his Will and Estate Inventory

My maternal ancestor Samuel Bixler* signed his will on May 15, 1797. It begins in the traditional manner by stating his name, place of residence and occupation, and commending his soul to God and his body to "Decent Christian Burial."

When he comes to the distribution of his worldly estate, the first bequest Samuel makes is to provide for his wife Elizabeth and he's quite specific about what she is to have.

"...and as for my Worldly Estate wherewith it has Pleased God to bless me with
in this life I give Devise and dispose of the Same in the following manner
and form - it is my will and Pleasure that my wife Elizabeth shall have
ninety pounds Specie out of my Moveable Estate and a Good bed and bedstead
& furniture thereto belonging and her Spinning Wheel and a good Chest and
all the Puter and Kitching Whear which she brought to me and my son
Peter Shall Keep her a riding creature Suficient for her use and two Cows and
two Sheep and them shall be used as his own and these during her natural
life if she remains a widow but if not it shall fall to my Children again
and it is further my will that my wife Elizabeth Shall have yearly as long as
she remains a widow Twenty Bushels of wheat and ten Bushels of Rye and
fifteen Pounds of Hackelt flax and fifteen Pounds of Toe and one
hundred Pounds of Good Pork and fifty pounds of good beef and one Pair
of Shoes one Bushel of Salt and she shall have Suficient firewood
brought to the Door and cut suficient for her house and she shall have her
Widow Seat in the house where I live in now And shall have the old Gartain
next to the house and room in the Spring house and three of the largest
apple Trees and two rows in the next orchard and two rows in the Ober orchard
and the one third Part of my Personal Estate and all the Linnen & Woollen
Stuff which remains after my Decease and the remainder of my Personal
Estate Shall be Praised after my Decease and Sold and the money shall be
Equally Divided amongst all my Children Excepting my son Samuel..."**

The detail above and my transcription come from FamilySearch's Maryland Register of Wills Records, 1629-1999, Frederick County, Wills 1794-1803 vol 3

["Maryland Register of Wills Records, 1629-1999," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-24294-37256-52?cc=1803986&wc=SNYC-FM3:146535301,147314001 : accessed 12 August 2015), Frederick > Wills 1794-1803 vol 3 > image 309-310 of 332; Hall of Records, Annapolis.]

Even though in his 1797 will Samuel said he was "weak in Body" he didn't die until four years later and his will was brought to Frederick County's probate court by his oldest surviving son Peter Bixler*** on June 14, 1803. Elizabeth and her brother-in-law Samuel Flickinger, who had both been named as executors along with Peter, signed a document refusing to act in that role, leaving the administration of the estate to Peter.****

In the inventory of Samuel's estate, taken in July of 1803, the total value given was $557.78. It's clear from the list of the livestock and crops in the fields that the property was still a working farm, but in the descriptions of the tools and household goods the words "old" and "broken" appear constantly--what's missing are the things I would expect to find in a house that was occupied. To see what was customary, I looked at inventories taken before and after Samuel's and they list clothing, linens and food supplies (like wheat, coffee and bacon), and although old stuff is included it doesn't predominate.

While it doesn't appear to me that Samuel was living there, the house wasn't derelict--it still held three beds (although no bed linen), some walnut furniture, a clock worth $24 dollars and two iron stoves, a ten plate with pipe ($20)***** and an six plate one ($10). At the end of the inventory list my fourth great grandfather Emanuel Bixler and his brother Benjamin signed the record as the nearest relatives and Peter Bixler, as "Acting Executor" swore on his oath that the foregoing was a "True and Perfect Inventory of all & Singular the Goods and Chattles of the said Deceased that have come into his hands and possession at the time of the making thereof."

All of the detail above comes from FamilySearch's Maryland Register of Wills Records, 1629-1999, Frederick County, Inventories 1803-1805 vol 4.

["Maryland Register of Wills Records, 1629-1999," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-24262-57284-84?cc=1803986&wc=SNYH-ZNL:146535301,146999701 : accessed 12 August 2015), Frederick > Inventories 1803-1805 vol 4 > image 70-71 of 299; Hall of Records, Annapolis.]

Samuel Bixler, who appeared in the 1790 U.S. Census, is not named anywhere in the 1800 Census which only listed the head of each household. But their 29-year old son Peter's household included a free white man and woman aged 45 or older which would describe Samuel and Elizabeth. I think it's possible (though not provable) that Samuel's health, already poor in 1797, worsened to the point where he and Elizabeth moved in with their son sometime before 1800.

[Year: 1800; Census Place: Westminster, Frederick, Maryland; Series: M32; Roll: 10; Page: 198; Image: 205; Family History Library Film: 193663. Ancestry.com. 1800 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Second Census of the United States, 1800. NARA microfilm publication M32 (52 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. Second Census of the United States, 1800]

*He is my maternal fifth great grandfather. His granddaughter Leah Bixler married Frederick Grove (or Groves) and their daughter Delilah's marriage to Dick Worden brings them into my line through my grandmother Anna Delilah Webb.
**Some clarification is needed here, although I think you can guess what "Puter and Kitching Whear" are, unless you happen to be familiar with linen production you wouldn't know what hackled flax is but if you watch this video you'll know all about it. Flax tow is the name given to the shorter fibers left over after hackling; you can see a picture of it here (and buy a pound or two if you want). The "old Gartain" is, I think, a lapse into German (garten) and the "Ober orchard" probably is too. If you want to understand what a spring house, here is a video tour of a stone one in Forks Township in Northampton County, Pennsylvania. (We don't know any details about the Bixler's spring house but the principle would be the same.)

***His oldest son Samuel died the previous year.

****You can see 58-year old Elizabeth's signature on this document in my previous post about her here.

*****Read all about this kind of stove here

© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.