Miller, Faber b. 1905

Jacob Bair and Barbara b. 1750

/ Kirstin Miller

Jacob Bair and Barbara 4th great grandparents on RootsMagic tree

Jacob Bair and Barbara – last name unknown- were born around 1750, probably in Maryland. Their parents are unknown, it’s likely  their parents migrated from Germany. Jacob and Barbara  married around 1780 and moved from Maryland to Pennsylvania where they had at least 7 children. By 1820 the Bair family had traveled 350 miles  west to Stark County, Ohio.  In Stark County they joined hundreds of other German immigrants that moved from Pennsylvania to Ohio: Bair, Bowman, Druckenbrod, Essig, Fryberger, Fuchs, Grubb, Harter, Kryder, Miller, all moved together.

Barbara died in  Stark County around 1820. Jacob lived 20 more years. Jacob’s estate was brought to the county court on December 18, 1840. On January 5 1841 an inventory and legal papers were presented.  Peter Loutzenheiser ‘a venerable pioneer’ was the overseer and “Abraham Bair, Jacob Bair and John Bair sons of said Jacob Bair” are mentioned in the will. Jacob’s inventory included: A tea kettle, a plough shovel, an auger, a psalm book, a pair of sheep shears, pewter dishes and plates, a light body coat, a pair of pantaloons, 2 shirts, 1 flannel shirt, 2 pocket books, yarn & threads and weavers reeds & shuttles.

Jacob’s will, Ohio, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1786-1998

Jacob and Barbara are buried in Henry Warstler Cemetery, Plain Township, Stark, Ohio, United States, their headstones long gone. In the Henry Warstler country church cemetery there are 62 Bair burials. In Stark County 442 Bairs are buried.  Jacob and Barbara’s 2nd great granddaughter Fiana Druckenbrod married William Miller, they moved to Bremer County, Iowa. In the summer Fiana returned to Stark Co. for Bair family reunions. Fiana and William’s daughter Lola kept in touch with her Stark Co. relatives, they visited her in Greene, Iowa.

Sources

  • Jacob’s will, Ohio, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1786-1998 at Ancestry
  • Early records of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Canton, Ohio at FamilySearch
  • Find a Grave memorials
  • Bair family, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Mennonite Vital Records, 1750-2014 at Ancestry

David Gaines and Prudence Risley b. 1732

/ Kirstin Miller

David Gaines and Prudence Risley, my 6th great parents on RoostMagic tree

David Gaines was born on June 25, 1732 in Glastonbury, Connecticut. Prudence Risley was born September 26, 1735 in the same place. The Gaines family came from England to America in 1637, the Risley family in 1633.

David and Prudence married in 1754 in Glastonbury, Connecticut, officially Glastonbury, Hartford, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America. Prudence’s 2nd great grandpa Richard Risley built the colony with Thomas Hooker, a Congregational minister who broke with the Puritans in Massachusetts. David and Prudence had 5 sons and 2 daughters and they moved north from Glastonbury to Northfield, Massachusetts to Guilford, Vermont.  Guilford is on the Vermont and Massachusetts border, southern Vermont in between … Sweet Pond and Satan’s Kingdom … One source states the Gaines farm was “near the state line”.  Guilford was the biggest town in Vermont from 1791-1820, today it’s population is about 2000 people.

David’s dad Nathaniel died in 1755 and David and his brothers inherited land, David signed the will. The family was on the 1790 US Federal Census, the first federal census. On this first census one name, the head of house is recorded. Others in the house were recorded by age and gender. In the image, column 1 is males 16 and older,  column 2 males younger than 16, column 3 is females. David Gaines is 2nd in the snapshot with 2 males, and 4 females.

Gaines family 1790 United States census at FamilySearch.org
David and Prudence Gaines 1790 census

David died July 31, 1813 and Prudence died April 15 1816. They are buried in Maplehurst Cemetery in Guilford- with matching headstones. Gaines family burials are 32 of the 235 burials in this small country cemetery.

Sources

  • 1790 United States census at FamilySearch.org
  • Find a grave memorials 21747459 and 21747457
  • The New England historical and genealogical register Volume 85, page 52 Descendants of Henry Gaines of Lynn Mass.
  • Vermont Vital Records, 1760-1954 at FamilySearch.org
  • Guilford , Vermont map at Google

Elizabeth Hibshman b. 1740

/ Kirstin Miller

Elizabeth Hibshman 6th great grandma on RootsMagic tree.

Elizabeth was born around  1740 in Ephrata, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. Her parents John and Anna were both recent immigrants from Switzerland. Elizabeth’s brothers Henrich and Wendell both fought in the American Revolution.

Elizabeth married Conrad Meinzer and they had 4 daughters and 3 sons, all baptized at the local Lutheran church. They farmed and by 1789 owned and paid taxes on 200 acres of land, 2 horses and 3 cows.

Elizabeth was a widow in 1781, her husband Conrad’s will names Elizabeth and each of their children “From said income my wife shall educate my children. My sons shall be obedient to their mother but each of said sons shall be free of his mother when fourteen years of age provided he intends to learn a trade. I order that in four weeks after my death all my personal estate shall be sold except my bed, a wardrobe, the best cow which I bequeath to my wife.” 

Elizabeth is the last marriage, daughter Fronica Verona is the first marriage in the list.

On October 7, 1783 Elizabeth married Peter Zeller, they stayed in Lancaster County Pennsylvania.

Elizabeth and Conrad’s daughter Fronica married Mathias Druckenbrod in 1783, their son Samuel married Maria Menser and they went to Ohio in 1850 and had a son Samuel. This son Samuel married Elizabeth Bair and their daughter Fiana married William Miller in 1875, in Ohio. William and Fiana moved to Bremer County, Iowa near Waverly. Their daughter Lola married William Miller and they settled near Greene, Iowa where their grandson, my dad, Faber Miller was born in 1940.

Sources

  • Biographical Annals of Lebanon County at HathiTrust
  • Pennsylvania, U.S., Compiled Marriage Records, 1700-1821 at Ancestry
  • Pennsylvania, Tax and Exoneration, 1768-1801 at Ancestry
  • Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Church and Town Records, 1708-1985 at Ancestry
  • Pennsylvania, Wills and Probate Records, 1683-1993

George Harter b. 1764

/ Kirstin Miller

George Harter 6th great grandpa on RootsMagic tree

George Harter, also known as John George, was born June 3, 1764 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. His parents Mathias Harter and Anna Schuler were born in Pennsylvania too, their ancestors were from Germany.

George married Elizabeth Bowman around 1790 in Pennsylvania. George and Elizabeth had 9 kids. George farmed and inherited farm land from his dad and from his father in law Abraham Bowman. “Early in the spring of 1806 the family of George Harter started from Beaver [Township, PA] in a six-horse wagon for their new home in Ohio”. They traveled 325 miles west to Stark County, Ohio.

The Harter, Bowman, Bair, Druckenbrod and Miller families moved together from Pennsylvania to Ohio with thousands of other families as the American west opened up. Ohio was a state in 1803, George and family arrived 3 years later. In 1809 the first election was held on the first Monday in April at the house of George Harter in Stark County. George Harter was a Jacksonian Democrat, he wanted equal protection for all [all circa 1809], no ‘moneyed aristocracy’, and supported the community’s goals over an individual’s goals.

George Harter’s inventory 1833

George Harter died June 7, 1833 in Stark County. His wife lived 30 more years. George Harter’s estate was settled Monday August 5, 1833. There’s a five page record with an inventory, debts owed to George Harter and items sold at auction. The inventory included: a mantle clock, a German Bible, an atlas of geography, 1 lot of books, a looking glass, 4 forks, 1 windmill, a black mare and a side saddle.

Sources

Conrad Meinzer b. 1734

/ Kirstin Miller

Conrad Meinzer 6th great grandpa on RootsMagic tree.

Conrad was born in Baden, Germany on May 21, 1734 and baptized there the next day. In 1751 Conrad was 17 years old and sailed to Pennsylvania where he joined a German American community in Lancaster County. It’s likely that Conrad’s parents Johann and Catherine Weil Meinzer sailed on the same ship, possibly a brother too. After arriving in Pennsylvania, men 16 and older all made an oath to the King, like a pledge of allegiance. “ .. in hopes and expectation of finding a retreat and peaceable settlement therein, Do solemnly promise and engage, that we will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His present Majesty, King George The Second, and His successors, kings of Great Britain”.

Conrad married Elizabeth HIbshman in 1760. Her family came from Switzerland. Conrad and Elizabeth had 7 children, who were baptized at the local Lutheran church. Pennsylvania tax records show Conrad’s taxes for 1772, 1773 and 1779. In 1772 he was taxed on 100 acres of woodland, 2 horses and 2 cows. In 1773, taxed on 130 acres of land, 2 horses, 3 cows, 5 sheep and in 1779, taxed on 200 acres, 3 horses, 8 cows.

In April 1777 Conrad is on Mathias Harter’s land deed. The deed list neighbors: Benjamin Bowman and Conrad Meinzer. The Meinzer, Harter and Bowman families would all move together to Stark County, Ohio where Conrad’s 2nd great granddaughter Fiana Druckenbrod married William Miller. Fianna and William moved to Waverly, Iowa

Conrad wrote a will and his estate was settled on August 10, 1781. The will isn’t in his writing, the image shows a handwritten copy made by a clerk. Conrad’s will named his wife and children and he left his best cow to his wife.

Pennsylvania, Wills and Probate Records at Ancestry

Summarized: In the name of God amen. I Conrad Meinzer being very sick but of good senses, thanks be to God. My wife Elizabeth shall have all the use and income of the lands till my eldest son John is at lawful age the same to my son in law Michael Oberle. From said income my wife shall educate my children. My sons shall be obedient to their mother but each of said sons shall be free of his mother when fourteen years of age provided he intends to learn a trade. I order that in four weeks after my death all my personal estate shall be sold except my bed, a wardrobe, the best cow which I bequeath to my wife. From the money arising my debts shall be paid and the residue shall be dispersed. All my lands shall be divided into six plots the share that I live on at present shall be appointed to my son John and the other six shares to Catharina, Anna, Maria, Verona, Frederick and Conrad until all of my heirs are made equal.

Sources

Deborah Bell b. 1650

/ Kirstin Miller

Deborah Bell 10th great grandma on RootsMagic tree

Deborah Bell was born on November 29, 1650 in Boston. Her dad and mom were Thomas and Anna Bell who migrated from England separately, met then married in Boston around 1640. Thomas Bell was one of Boston’s public executioners. Deborah had 7 siblings: John, Joan, Tabitha, Thomas, Hopestill, Moremercy and Joseph.

1670 Stonington census

Deborah married James York on January 19, 1669, probably in Boston. They moved to New London, Connecticut where they were on the 1670 census with 42 other families. Deborah’s brother Thomas Bell and James’s dad James York Sr. were on the census too. They founded a church, The First Congregational Church of Stonington, James Noyes the first pastor is on that same 1670 census. The church is still there today, organized in 1674 it was rebuilt after a fire in 1829. On June 16, 1678 Goodwife York was admitted to the church.

In New London, Deborah and James had 7 children. Deborah was widow in 1676 at age 26. She married Henry Elliot and they had 5 more children. Deborah and Henry Elliot’s marriage is recorded in a diary of the time, “… It was in the 5 day of March 78-79 mrs bruster was buried the 12 day father avery was buried: Henry Eliot was here to be maried Curtice brought the wine,.”

Sources

Prudence Heath b. 1597

/ Kirstin Miller

Prudence Heath 10th great grandma on RootsMagic tree.

Prudence was born in Ware, Hertfordshire, England and baptized there on November 6, 1597. Her parents were William and Agnes Cheney Heath. The town of Ware is 30 miles north of London, it’s as old as the Roman Empire from 55 B.C. The Heath family’s church was St Mary’s Parish, still there today.

In 1622 Prudence married Edward Morris, he was also from Ware. They were married in London, on Friday, October 25 at St Mary Mounthaw a parish church “in Old Fish Street Hill”. This church was destroyed in The Great Fire, started in a London bakery on September 2, 1666 and spread fast through the city. Mayor, Sir Thomas Bloodworth ignored the fire or didn’t realize the seriousness and by the time he acted it was a firestorm that lasted 5 days, destroyed one third of London and left 100,000 without homes. “The social and economic problems created by the disaster were overwhelming”. Even though the church burned, and was never rebuilt, a register record with Prudence and Edward’s marriage of 1622 survives.

Marriage in London 1622

Prudence and Edward had 4 children, all born in Ware, all left for America. Prudence and Edward both died in their 30s, Edward in 1631, Prudence in 1632. Around this time Prudence’s bothers William and Issac left for America and Prudence’s kids did too. Daughter Elizabeth migrated in 1635, she was 11 and was a servant to George Giddings. Son Isaac migrated the same year, he was with the Ruggles family and age 9. Youngest son Edward Morris (7th great grandpa of Elizabeth Speedy) stayed in Ware until 1651 then left for America to join his family there.

Sources

Joanna b. 1618

/ Kirstin Miller

Joanna 9th great grandma on RootsMagic tree

Joanna was born around 1618. There’s no information on her last name, parents and arrival in America. She probably came from England in the 1630s when King Charles 1 had dissolved Parliament, imprisoned 9 members and was cracking down on “non-conformist preachers” and believers. English Protestants and Puritans, broke away from the Pope & Catholic Church, and left for America.

In America Joanna married Isaac Willey around 1638 in Boston and their first son, Isaac Jr., was baptized at the First Church in Boston. The church was created on July 30, 1630 by John Winthrop of the Winthrop Fleet, “their first official act, even before drawing up a charter for the city, was to create by themselves, and sign, a Covenant for the First Church in Boston. In this document we find these words: [Wee] solemnly, and religiously Promise, and bind ourselves, to walke in all our ways in mutuall love, and respect each to other.”

In 1646 with John Winthrop, the Willey family were original settlers of New London, Connecticut- on the south edge of Connecticut 20 miles north of Long Island, New York. “1. John Winthrop, Esq., whose home-lot was undoubtedly selected by himself before all others. The next five were probably John Gager, Cary Latham, Samuel Lothrop, John Stebbins, and Isaac Willey, whose home steads lay northwest of Mr. Winthrop’s, on the upper part of what are now Willams Street and Main Street.”

In New London, Joanna and Isaac had 5 more children. In 1667 Joanna was written up in the court records, 2nd on the list, she had failed to bring herself and her children to church and was fined 5 shillings. “Minutes of cases, chiefly before the County Court … Goodwife Willey presented for not attending public worship and bringing her children thither; fined 5s”.

Joanna’s death date isn’t known, it was before 1670 when widowed Isaac married again.

History of New London, Connecticut, Joanna fined

Sources

Mary Hopkins b. 1623

/ Kirstin Miller

Mary Hopkins 10th great grandma on RootsMagic tree.

Mary was born in 1623 in England, the daughter of William and Mary Andrews Hopkins.

The Hopkins family were in America by June, 1640 and in Cupheag (now Stratford) Connecticut where Mary’s dad surveyed and divided up land. “Mr. Roger Ludlow, Mr. William Hopkins and Mr. Adam Blakeman shall survey and divyde and sett out the bounds betwixt the Plantations of Cupheag.” The Hopkins family later moved to Hartford, Connecticut. In Hartford, Mary’s dad died around 1643 and her mom married Richard Whitehead.

Mary -by her married name Lewis- was in her step dad’s will. She inherited money and lands in England that were probably in her mom’s family and provided rent income. “… due and owing unto my daughter in law Mary Lewes the sum of one hundred pounds … and the gift and delivery of several goods and chattels … unto the said Mary Lewes, and her heirs forever, my message or tenement, with the backside, orchard and garden and all edifices and buildings upon the same built and standing, lying in Knoll in the county of Warwick in the kingdom of England.”

Hartford 1640 land lots

Mary married William Lewis in 1644 and they had 10 children: 7 sons, 3 daughters. William Lewis was an only child so would have inherited his dad’s home in Hartford. CT. On the map the Lewis family is No. 25 at the top. They lived right by the meeting house, market and jail in the center of town and on the landing of the Big River, or Connecticut River. The oldest Lewis daughter Mary, leads to Obed Gaines and family who were in Bremer County, Iowa by 1855. Mary Hopkins Lewis died at age 46, William remarried and lived a few years longer. Mary’s burial place is unknown.

Sources

Jane Partridge b. 1612

/ Kirstin Miller

Jane Partridge 10th great grandma on RootsMagic tree

Jane Partridge was born around 1612 in Olney, England, one of 2 children of John and Frances Partridge. Jane married Henry Gaines, also of Olney, England. By 1638 Jane, Henry and their 3 sons John, Daniel and Samuel, were in Salem, Massachusetts. The family moved to Lynn, Massachusetts where they lived on the Nahant Bay. In their times there was a small stream called Gaines Neck. Their home was near a salt marsh so they probably ‘fished’ for shrimp, mollusks, and hunted all kinds of game birds that no longer exist. Their south east view was Egg Rock a tiny island. Today Egg Rock is a bird sanctuary, it had a lighthouse for awhile.

Egg Rock, Nahant

Both Jane and Henry died fairly young, in their 30s. Jane’s will survives and shows an inventory of possessions and apprenticeships for each of her sons. John age 13 was apprenticed for seven years to Francis Dowse a shoemaker. Daniel age 11 was apprenticed for eight years to Luke Potter, a tailor in Concord. Samuel age 7 was apprenticed to Nathaniel Hanforth “who was to educate him”. Nathaniel Hanforth was also asked to oversee the money left to each of the boys and improve it if possible.

The inventory showed possessions of the family. A house and a parcel lot including upland, 8 acres of salt marsh. Several bushels of Indian corn, a featherbed, plows, blankets, clothing, one trunk, a straw hat, ten handkerchiefs, four pewter dishes, one kettle, a handsaw, a sword, a pitchfork, 3 spoons, an earthen ware pot, flax and hemp, 2 bibles, a parcel of books.

Sources