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: Anna Wildberger (About 1709 - After 1765)

At little Anna Wildberger's baptism on February 24, 1709, in Neunkirch, a medieval town in the Swiss Canton of Schaffhausen,* her godparents Philipp Waldvogel and Barbara Pfister probably never imagined that their godchild would end up in York County, Pennsylvania.

[Staatsarchiv Schaffhausen, added to an ancestry.com profile by Jeffrey Bernstein]

[Carte de Suisse ou sont les Cantons de Zurich, Berne, Lucerne, Uri, Schwitz, Underwald, Zug, Glaris, Basle, Fribourg, Soleurre, Schaffouse et Appenzel, les Alliez quisont la Ville de Bienne, l'Abbe de la Ville de S. Gal, Grise, de Cadee et des Dix Droitures, le Pays de Valais, l'Eveche de Basle, Mulhausen, Neuchatel et Geneve. Dressee sur les memoires de Mr. Merveilleux, Coner. Secr. Interprete de S.M.T.C. aux Grisons par Guillaume delIsle, Prem. Geographe du Roy de l'Academie Rle. des Sciences. A Paris, chez l'Auteur sur le Quay l'Horloge avec Privilege, Aout 1713. Source: David Rumsey Historical Map Collection]

But this maternal sixth great grandmother did just that, after marrying Hans Segrist (from Rafz**) in Neunkirch on June 2, 1731 and bearing him at least four children*** over the next dozen years.

[Staatsarchiv Schaffhausen, added to an ancestry.com profile by Jeffrey Bernstein]

The family's emigration record from Rafz dated March 21, 1744, gives us an insight into what led them to leave their homeland and seek a better life in the new world.

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

A transcription of that document reads:

Hans Sigerest, son of Hans Jorlis, born 1705. Anna Wildberger, from Neunkirch, his wife, 1709. NB: This man has had respectable means, but has been a poor manager, and as a result could not for long have kept up. Therefore he was also ill-provided at his departure. Children: Hans Jacob, 1731. Franz, 1738. Anna, 1740. Susanna, 1742.

According to The Five Sisters: A Sechrist Heritage, Hans, his wife Anna and children: Hans Jacob, Franz, Anna, Susanna and Mary arrived in Philadelphia from Rotterdam via Cowes on the ship Brotherhood on November 3, 1750, confirmed by a passenger list with his name and mark. (Anna gave birth to their daughter Mary during the voyage.)

[Pennsylvania German pioneers; a publication of the original lists of arrivals in the port of Philadelphia from 1727 to 1808, By: Strassburger, Ralph Beaver, 1883-1959. Published: (1934) Source: Hathi Trust Digital Library, Original, University of Michigan]

[New York And Pennsylvania. (to accompany) Atlas Minimus or a New Set of Pocket Maps of the Several Empires, Kingdoms and States of the Known World, with Historical Extracts relative to each. Drawn and Engraved by J. Gibson from the Best Authorities, Revis'd, Corrected and Improv'd by Eman: Bowen Geographer to His Majesty. Source: David Rumsey Historical Map Collection]

Hans (John), Anna and their family settled in York County, Pennsylvania, where two more daughters were born and where, sometime before May 29, 1765, John died without leaving a will and Anna, as his widow and acting as administratrix, filled a petition regarding the division of the money remaining in the estate, naming his two sons and five daughters. Her daughter Anna is named together with her husband Francis Grof.

Apparently 50 acres of land in the estate was not considered not part of the marriage settlement and the oldest son Jacob filed a separate petition with the Court on behalf of himself and his siblings.

["Pennsylvania, Probate Records, 1683-1994," images, FamilySearch ( https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1971-28760-2090-38?cc=1999196&wc=9PM8-JWP:268493601,268508701 : accessed 21 April 2015), York - Orphans' Court dockets 1749-1781 vol A-D - image 204 of 593; county courthouses, Pennsylvania.]

This document is the last record we have of Anna. So far no date of death or place of burial has surfaced for either Anna or her husband.

*Canton Schaffhausen is the northernmost part of Switzerland surrounded on three sides by Germany. Almost the entire canton is located on the north bank of the Rhine River
**Rafz is located in the northwest part of the Canton of Zurich.
***My descent is through their oldest surviving daughter, also named Anna who married Francis Grof/Groves.
****It's on the fifth line from the top on the last page above.

© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.