The Importance of Ephemera

My 2nd cousin 3x removed cousin Besse Pearl (Greene) Modesitt's funeral card, thanks to Ancestry user robpower11.

I found this gem while I was straightening up my Tibbetts relations.  There was little information available online for Besse Greene, daughter of Samantha Eva Tibbetts.  I couldn't find her obituary in the three newspaper databases I subscribe to, and her death date was only available as 1969 (FindAGrave). 

But thanks to another Ancestry user I was able to fill in her death date and place.

I share George Tibbetts, Mary Burnight, John Hill Messinger, and Mary Martha Miller with Besse Pearl (Greene) Modesitt.

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Portrait of Phoebe Worrall (1785-1863)

Phoebe Worrall, born in Marple Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, is my 5th great grandmother (on my father's side) and wife to Jeremiah Burnight.  Their daughter Mary Burnight (1803-1863) is my ancestress who married George Tibbetts (1798-1855) and mother to Henry Charles Tibbetts.

After Jeremiah died in Indiana in 1839 Phoebe moved with her children to Iowa, where she married widower Thomas Graffort, who died a year after Phoebe.

This image was pasted into all of May Jarvis's genealogy books on the Tibbetts.  I am not sure who has the original or what kind of photography this was, although possibly tintype or daguerreotype?  A photo sleuth could probably analyze the date due to her clothing, but I am assuming it was taken in the early 1860s and most likely in Jones or Dubuque county, Iowa.

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Some Notes on Early Burnights from New Jersey

I continue to be stumped by the origins of my 5th great grandfather, Jeremiah Burnight (1779-1839).  The family story has been that he immigrated from the "highlands of Scotland" about 1799/1800, arrived first in New Jersey, and then went across the Delaware River to Delaware/Chester County, Pennsylvania.

I have not found any immigration/naturalization record for Jeremiah in the time and place he was supposed to have arrived in the United States.  The place in the federal censuses (1820: "Foreigners not naturalized", and 1830: "ALIENS—Foreigners not naturalized"), were left blank, indicating that he had either naturalized or simply wasn't foreign-born in the first place.

Only one of his children, Fletcher Burnight (1820-1906), can be traced to the 1880 Census, where parent's origins are first answered, and he had his father Jeremiah from New Jersey.

And then, I find a number of Burnight's on Ancestry in Cumberland County, New Jersey, at least as early as 1793:

There is a Lewis Worrell in the 1793 tax list for Maurice River.  I don't know who this is, but I do know that Jeremiah married Phoebe Worrall from Chester/Delaware County, Pennsylvania.  Is Lewis related to Phoebe, and maybe this is how she met Jeremiah?  There are more questions than answers.

There is a Joseph Burnight who had an inventory taken about 1826 in Cumberland County, so this could be the same man as above.  Furthermore, I find a John Burnight who has Joseph Burnight as father:

John Burnight, laborer, (b abt 1811-18 Jan 1857), abt 46
born in Cumberland County, New Jersey
died in Millville, Cumberland, New Jersey
father: Joseph Burnight
mother: Rachel Burnight

It is possible that this Joseph Burnight is the same person as Joseph*Burr, taxed in 1781 in the same place, pushing back the possible Burnight inhabitation in the area even earlier:
Name: Joseph* Burr
State: NJ
County: Cumberland County
Township: Maurice River Township
Year: 1781
Record Type: January Tax List August Tax List
Page: 003
Database: NJ Tax Lists Index 1772-1822


I also find a Peter, Jas (James?), and Wm (William) Burnight who were born in the late 1700's/early 1800's and who died in Cumberland County, New Jersey, and are possibly related to the above-mentioned men.

Peter Burnight (b abt 1792-22 Jun 1871), abt 79
born in Cumberland County, New Jersey
died in Hopewell Township, Cumberland, New Jersey

Jas. Burnight, laborer, (b abt 1796-25 Dec 1879), about 83
born in New Jersey
died in Towne [Downe Township], Cumberland, New Jersey
parents born in the US

Wm. Burnight, widowed, (b abt 1816-8 Oct 1893), about 77
born in the United States
died in Lawrence Township, Cumberland, New Jersey
parents born in the United States

A number of people descend from these Burnight lines, as evidenced a look around Ancestry trees.   Unfortunately, none of those trees provide any more leads, beside an alternative spelling, "Burneitt".  It's not clear to me that any of the owners of these trees have done their DNA tests.

I feel like the evidence is leading to Jeremiah Burnight being from New Jersey, or possibly was born in Scotland and immigrated at an early age to the United States.













© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Throwback Thursday: A Colorful Description of an 1883 Drug-Induced Saloon Brawl In Monticello, Jones, Iowa

Newspaper Archive, Iowa, Monticello, Monticello Express, 1883 Monticello Express, January 4, 1883, Page 3

I think this is a description of one of my 2nd 4 times removed cousins, John Burnight (b 1869) (on my father's father's side), who would have been 14(!) and a Mr. Fahey, of an undetermined age.  There was an Irish Fahey family in Jones County at the time, so I suppose it is apt that Mr. Fahey is being described as "that Celtic devotee of Gambrinus."

A statue of King Gambrinus, in Germany, courtesy of By EPei at German Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24456757

The wording of the article reminds me of the smart aleck dialogue from the classic 1993 movie Tombstone, which was peppered with now-obscure historical or mythical references.  The movie characters would be contemporary to John Burnight and the author of the article:

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Jeremiah Burnight's Will

First page of Jeremiah Burnight's will.  Indiana, Marion County Circuit Court Will Record No. A, Circuit Court Clerk: 198, will of Jeremiah Burnight; digital images, "Indiana, Wills and Probate Records, 1798-1999", Ancestry (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=9045 : accessed 10 Sep 2015), search "Jeremiah Burnight."

Once again I have to give a shout out to Ancestry for their Wills and Probate release.

Jeremiah Burnight, my 5th great grandfather, was a miner in Lebanon, Pennsylvania in the first decade or so of the 19th century, after which he moved to Ohio and then Indiana, probably about the time when Indiana became a state (about 1818).  He bought first 166.6 acres of land in Dearborn County (the next county west of Cincinnati), and then bought almost 80 acres of land in 1824 in Marion County (the farming area southeast of Indianapolis).   I don't know what he did for money after leaving Pennsylvania, although it was likely just farming (his 1820 Census record indicates one person engaged in agriculture).

Second page of the will. I had originally put Jeremiah's death date as 1837, but looking at this now I think he wrote his last will and testament in October 1837, and then his witnesses appeared before the court to prove the will on 7 August 1839.  I'm assuming he likely died very early August 1839.

My transcription (pardon any errors):

Jeremiah Burnight Last Will and Testament,
I Jeremiah Burnight of Marion County in the State of Indiana, do make and publish this my last will and testament, hereby working and making void all former wills by me at any time heretofore made:
First, I direct that my body be ????? intered, and that my funeral be conducted in manner corresponding with my Estate & Situation in life.  And as to such worldly estate as it has pleased God, to interest one (me?) with: I disposed of the same in the following manner to wit: I direct first that all my just debts and funeral expenses be paid as soon after my decease as possible, out of the first money that shall come to the hands of my Executor, from any portion of my estate real or personal.  I also direct that the whole of my estate real and personal, shall remain and be the absolute property of my beloved wife, Phebe Burnight during her widowhood: Except that I do hereby bequeath out of said estate for(?) dollars to each of my children, surviving my decease.
I also direct that at the expiration of my wife's widowhood that all the said estate shall be equally distributed share and share alike among each of my children, except the right of said wife's dowry. And at the decease of my said wife the remains of said dowry shall be distributed to said children as above named, I also further direct that incase(?) I shall leave any child or children living at the time of my decease that my said dear wife shall have the guardianship ???? of there dunny(?) their ????: And to effectuate my above named intentions I hereby ??? my beloved wife Phebe Burnight with full power and authority to execute the same to the best of her judgment.
In witness whereof I Jeremiah Burnight the testator have hereunto let my hand and seal this 27th day of Oct 1837.
Jeremiah Burnight (his mark)
Signed sealed published and declared by the above named Jeremiah Burnight as his last will and testament in the presence of us who have here unto subscribed our names as witnesses thereto in the presence of the testator and in the presence of each other,
Isaac Baylor and Elizabeth Baylor (her mark), witnesses
The State of Indiana
Marion County,
Be it known that in the thirteenth day of June in the year 1839 Isaac Baylor came personally before the Clerk of the Probate Court of the County aforesaid and that in the Seventh day of August in said year, Elizabeth Baylor came personally before said Clerk, who bring by said clerk severally duly sworn on the day at which they appeared as above upon their oaths respectively defered(?) and said, that the within(?) named Jeremiah Burnight signed sealed published and declared the within in--statement of writing to be his last will and testament that they believe he was at the time and on the duty(?) thereof of sound disposing mind and memory, that the signing sealing publishing and declaring thereof was done in their presence, that they subscribed their name thereto in the presence of and at the request of said testator, said Elizabeth by marking her mark to her written name, and in the presence of each other--
In testimony of which I Robert B. Duncan Clerk of said Court hereunto subscribe my name at Indianapolis the 7th day of August AD 1839.
Robert B. Duncan Clerk
Registered August 7, 1839

This was the first I'd ever heard of Isaac and Elizabeth Baylor.  I'll have to see what their relationship was to Jeremiah.

ETA: As I am learning about how to understand wills and probate records, it seems knowing the law under which those records were generated is always helpful.  I found on Google Books a relevant work, "The Revised Statutes of the State of Indiana, Adopted and Enacted by the General Assembly at Their Twenty-second Session: To which are Prefixed the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the U. S., the Constitution of the State of Indiana, and Sundry Other Documents Connected with the Political History of the Territory and State of Indiana : Arranged, Compiled, and Published by the Authority of the General Assembly," printed by Douglas & Noel in 1838 (667 pages).



© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Hat Tip: 5 Things to Help You Get the Most from U.S. Probates on Ancestry

Hat tip to Julianna Szucs and Ancestry for this .pdf guide on using their new U.S. Probate release.

I've been busy going up and down my direct lines, finding any probate files I can to attach to my ancestors.  Once I'm done with that I'll have to analyze each more carefully.  My mom had already found a lot through FamilySearch.org over the past few years, but I've actually found some new ones, including one for Jeremiah Burnight in 1837 Indiana!




© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Where in New Jersey did Jeremiah Burnight Arrive about 1800?

The family story has it that Jeremiah Burnight came from the highlands of Scotland, first arriving in New Jersey in 1799/1800, and then moving on to Delaware County, Pennsylvania, where he met his wife, Phoebe Worrell/Worrall, who he married in 1802.

I have not yet found his immigration or passenger information.  I have found a Methodist family of Burnights/Burnites in New Jersey, beginning at least as early as the 1793 Tax List index entry for David Burnight, of Lower Maurice River in Cumberland.
Are they related to my Jeremiah Burnight?

When I did a Google search on Lower Maurice, Cumberland, New Jersey, I came across this very interesting tidbit about the history of the area:

The Cumberland Pond we see today is a remnant of a major industrial facility called Cumberland Iron Furnace. There had been a smaller-scale "bloomery forge" in the area since around 1785. Eagle Glass Works in Port Elizabeth was established in 1799. In 1810, Eli Budd created the power for his new complex - Cumberland Iron Furnace - by damming the Manumuskin, creating a pond twice larger than at present. Ore was brought to the furnace by wagon overland from Schooner Landing on the Menantico. 

I believe that after Jeremiah married he moved west to Lebanon, Pennsylvania, and worked for an undetermined number of years at the Cornwall Iron Furnace.  Am I seeing a pattern here?  Did Jeremiah work at the Cumberland Iron Furnace?  I don't know yet.



© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Small World: The Cornwall Iron Ore Mines

It was a challenge to find a coal mining image from about 1810, but this is probably close to how it might have looked.  from http://webs.bcp.org/sites/vcleary/ModernWorldHistoryTextbook/IndustrialRevolution/IREffects.html

My 5th great grandfather, Jeremiah Burnight (1779-1837), on my father's side, was known to have worked in mining in "Lebanon, Pennsylvania" in the very early 1800's/1810's.  A preliminary look at where Lebanon was reveals that it was likely Steitztown that became Lebanon, and was the location of the Cornwall Iron Furnace, a self-contained iron plantation.  I have not been able to determine what exact mining area Jeremiah was working at if not at this mine.  The strange thing is, one of my 7th great grand uncles on my mother's side, Peter Grubb, my 8th great grandfather John Grubb's youngest son, founded that mine in 1742.

Small world!



© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Hat Tip to Those Relatives Who Wrote Their Stories Down, Part 1

If you are lucky, you have a genealogist or two lurking in your family tree who has already done much of the heavy genealogical lifting for you.  I have three relatives whose written work helped me tremendously, each in their own way:

• May (Tibbetts) Jarvis, 
• Esther (Moreland) Leithold, and 
• James Milo Nosler.

Today I'll cover May (Tibbetts) Jarvis.

[Smartphone image of May Tibbetts Jarvis, her portrait from 1916 in Indianapolis, Indiana, taken from my copy of "The Tibbetts Family, 1636-1940."]

May (Tibbetts) Jarvis (1864-1958), sister of my 2nd great grandmother Mary Jane (Tibbetts) Hartley and my 2nd great grand aunt, was the author/compiler of the enormous and detailed "Henry Tibbetts of Dover, New Hampshire and Some of His Descendants."

The book is available in a number of ways.

May placed a copy of the full two-volume work at the following libraries, where they can be referenced:

• the New England Historical Society library in Boston, Massachusetts, 
• in the Jefferson and Adams Reading Rooms at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.,
• the National Library at the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) in Washington, D.C.,
• the Newberry Library in Chicago, Illinois,
• the Central Library of the Los Angeles Public Library in Los Angeles, California,
• the Sutro Library in San Francisco (a branch of the California State Library) (they also have a microfiche version). 

It is available online.  Ancestry.com members can access it here.  If you have access to databases via The University of California, San Diego (UCSD), you can view the work electronically through their subscription to HeritageQuest (actually this is probably viewable by anyone who can access HeritageQuest).  It is also available at Internet Archive and Open Library (although it may not be immediately available as you may have to wait in line to "borrow" it on those services).

The Genealogical Society of Utah microfilmed the DAR Library's copy in 1971, and those microfilm copies are available to view at the Family History Center and the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University, both in Salt Lake City, Utah.

You can usually purchase a physical copy, and occasionally a CD version, on Amazon.com and eBay.

To get an idea of her style and presentation see this page describing herself:

[Section: Vol. II. 9th generation. Jarvis, May Tibbetts,. Henry Tibbetts of Dover, New Hampshire, and some of his descendants. San Diego, Calif.,: unknown, 1934-1939. Accessed from Ancestry.com on 12 Oct 2014.  NOTE: she had two sons, Van Buren Jarvis and George Tibbals Jarvis.]

May began her Tibbetts genealogical work in 1918.  She used the work of distant cousin Charles Wesley Tibbetts, Esq. (1846-1928), for much of the Tibbetts information (he lived his life in Dover, New Hampshire and Moody, Wells, Maine, and was thus close to where his Tibbetts ancestors had originally settled).  She also compiled tons of genealogical information on collateral lines outside of New England, and would make custom versions of this work to give to various relatives.  She traveled to places like Maine, New Hampshire, Indiana, Iowa, and California to gather information.  It is my understanding that her sister Olive Renah (Tibbetts) Puryear helped with the gathering and typing out of information for the work.  I have yet to list all the people who were principal informants (that's for a future blog post, apparently).

I inherited three versions of her work, each in one volume.  The first, called "The Tibbetts Family, 1636-1940," dedicated to "Dr. George Hartley" (my grandfather and May's grand nephew) which has the most amount of Tibbetts info of my copies (although not as much as the "official" version of this work). The second is entitled simply "The Hartley Family," which was likely done for her sister Mary Jane, whose husband was a Hartley.  (I have seen, but do not possess, another, larger, Hartley version, which has much more information on the extended Hartley clan.)  The third version, "The Tibbetts Family" is a much abridged lineage, made from a Glencoe Loose-Leaf Note book cover and filled with typed pages and photostat images, and just shows May Jarvis's direct Tibbetts lineage.

May had a "just the facts" approach to her subject, following the Register style (more on Register style).  It is a wonderful source of facts and dates on the Tibbetts and related families, names which include Jarvis, Messinger, Burnight, and Worrell (at least in my copies these names are included anyway, and there are many, many more I have not mentioned here).  As was common at the time, she would list the many accomplishments and positive attributes of her subjects, and tended to leave out the more unsavory aspects of the black sheep members of the family, including the folks who got divorced, went insane, or got in trouble with the law.  This is not the place to discover juicy gossip!

She does cover Hannah (Snow) Tibbetts' family, but I believe she traced up the wrong Snow tree on that one (see my post concerning Hannah Snow's disputed parentage).

A number of us Tibbetts descendants have faithfully used her work, including her own descendants, as you might notice if you look at some of the trees on Ancestry and on the open web.  May left many blank pages in her books (at least in my copies), no doubt to encourage later family historians to continue her work.  I will leave my pages blank, as the personal computer and cloud computing have replaced those blank pages.

There is one later Tibbetts/Hartley researcher who deserves a special mention, Richard "Dick" Stanley Dunlop (1931-2011), great grand nephew of May Tibbetts Jarvis, great grandson of Mary Jane (Tibbetts) Hartley, and my 2nd cousin 1x removed.  Following May Tibbetts Jarvis, he produced a number of updated versions of her work in the 1980's and 1990's.  Unlike May, he infused much chatty commentary and humor into his versions.  I don't think he ever officially published his works, but he did distribute a large stack of copies to various Tibbetts/Hartley relatives.  I plan to include a few of his selections from time to time.  To get a feel for his style you can read his obituary, which I am certain he wrote.





© 2014 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.