05th

Jane Howlett b. 1753

/ Kirstin Miller

Jane Howlett 5th great grandma on RootsMagic tree

Jane, from Maryland, was born in 1753, the oldest child of Andrew and Margaret Howlett. Jane and her siblings grew up near Baltimore. Andrew Howlett owned lands: Howlett’s Ambition and Howlett’s Triangle, the two lots totaled 75 acres.

Baltimore, Maryland

About 1770 Jane married Henry Crooks. In 1776 she was 23 years old. On the Maryland census, Jane and family lived on a farm which Jane would have taken care of, when Henry went off to the Revolutionary War. After the war, Henry earned land from his military service. In 1786 on the Pennsylvania, Septennial Census, Jane and Henry, their family lived in Washington County, in western Pennsylvania, about 5 miles east of the Ohio River. Jane and Henry had 7 kids, 4 sons and 3 daughters.

Jane died in 1816, Henry lived another 15 more years. They are both buried at Raccoon Church Cemetery in Candor, Pennsylvania, USA. They share a headstone, carved with on the front and on each their initial J. C. and H. C. on the back. Henry Crooks was in the Revolutionary War so has a

Sources

Maria Anna Kryder b. 1770

/ Kirstin Miller

Maria Anna Kryder 5th great grandma on RootsMagic tree

Maria Anna Kryder was born in 1770 in Berks County, Pennsylvania to John & Anna Fuchs or Fox, the 2nd of 5 kids. In 1790 Maria married Johann Fryberger and by 1800 Maria and Johann had 3 kids and were on the census in Centre County, about 147 miles west of Berks County, PA. In 1810 Maria and Johann had 7 kids and lived on a farm in the same area. Maria’s brother John and his family were nearby.

The 1820 US census has Maria with Johann and kids in Stark County, Ohio. Along with Maria’s brother John Kryder and family and hundreds of others from Pennsylvania they moved 200 miles further west to Stark, OH. Maria’s parents and other siblings stayed in Pennsylvania. Maria’s daughter Elizabeth Fryberger married Henry Miller. Their son Peter Miller and his wife Esther moved 700 miles further west to Bremer County, Iowa, their great grandson was Faber Miller my grandpa.

Miller, Wm bio with mom

Elizabeth, daughter of Maria and Johann 

Maria was a widow in 1845, she was 75 years old. Maria lived to age 81 she died in 1851. Both she and Johann are buried at Maplegrove Mennonite Cemetery in Hartville, Stark County, Ohio, USA.

Sources

Henry Crooks b. 1743

/ Kirstin Miller

Henry Crooks 5th great grandpa on RootsMagic tree

Henry Crooks was born in 1743, probably in Maryland to William and Mary Weir Crooks. In 1768 or so Henry married Jane Howlett. Henry and Jane had 7 kids. By 1786 Henry, his brothers, his wife’s family and other families from Harford County, MD were in Washington County Pennsylvania, a 200 mile journey. They all farmed on land they owned and paid taxes on properties and possessions. The 1798 taxes for Henry show his home, 1 dwelling valued at $20, and 200 acres of land valued at $1620.

Crooks 1798 taxes

Henry was a widow in 1816, he was 73 and lived 25 more years, he died in 1831 at age 88. Henry’s will is at Ancestry . com, a typed up record. He named his children in the will with his son Henry and friend James McAdams as executors.

“In the name of God Amen, I Henry Crooks Senior of Robinson Township in the county of Washington, being in an afflicted state of body, but having a sound mind and understanding (thanks be to the Almighty God for the same) being mindful of my mortality, do make and constitute this my last will and Testament. First and principally, I recommend my immortal Spirit to God who gave it, in hopes of a joyful resurrection, and my body to the earth (when it shall please God to separate my soul and body) to be buried decently at the discretion of my executors. And as to my worldly estate wherewith it hath pleased God to bless me with I give and depose thereof as follows, after my lawful debts and funeral expenses being paid. I do leave and bequeath to my son William Crooks two dollars, to my son Andrew Crooks two dollars, to my son Henry Crooks two dollars to my son John Crooks two dollars to my daughter Jane now wife of John Burns two dollars also to my daughter Mary McKillip two dollars, likewise and all the residue to my daughter Margeret Crooks to be paid to her at the discretion of my executors as to time and manner. I do nominate and appoint my friends James McAdams and Henry Crooks my son to be my executors of this my last will and testament. I publish and declare this and none other to be my last will and testament. In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this thirteenth day of July in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty five.
Henry Crooks Sr (Seal)
Signed and sealed in the presnece of John R McEwen, John Crooks,
Washington County ss: Be it remembered, that on the 21st day of March A D 1831 Before William Hoge Deputy Register”

Sources

Andrew Malone and Mary b. 1775

/ Kirstin Miller

Andrew Malone 5th great grandpa on RoostMagic tree

Andrew Malone was born about 1775 in Pennsylvania, Mary was born about the same time and probably near the same place. They married around 1795. Mary’s last name and parents are unknown. The 1820 census shows Andrew and Mary lived in Washington Township, Franklin County, PA about 40 miles northwest of Baltimore  They lived in Franklin County until 1828 or 1829 when the family moved west. Andrew and Mary were in their 50s, their kids were in their 20s, 30s. Maybe a son or daughter in law joined the journey. If the family drove their horse and wagon 10 miles every day the 258 mile journey to Stark, Ohio would have taken about 35 days.

Families moving west in the 1800s dealt with some things. Once they arrived at their new home, “earlier settlers … were confronted with two sets of problems: the one concerned with shelter, food, health, and protection – things vital and immediate … the other with ownership of land, transportation, and currency – things necessary for his economic advancement … Without the successful solution to the first, there was little need to worry about the second”.

In Stark County, Ohio, the Malone family joined an already established  community of German American  farmers from Pennsylvania. Their Ohio neighbors may have been their same Pennsylvania neighbors: Bair, Fryberger, Harter and Miller families. The community stepped up, pitched in, helped out to make the move easier for the new arrivals.

Andrew and Mary’s children married and had families in Stark. Their daughter Margaret married George Bair, grandparents of Fianna Druckenbrod who with her husband William Miller moved further west to  Bremer County Iowa.

Malone, 1850 Ohio

1850 US census Stark, Ohio

The 1850 US census shows Andrew lived with daughter Margaret, her husband George Bair and their young family. Every person on the census page is born in Germany, Pennsylvania or Ohio. Most are farmers, with  a blacksmith, carpenter and a couple laborers.

Sources

  • Pennsylvania, Septennial Census, 1779-1863 at Ancestry
  • United States Census, 1850 at FamilySearch

John Fryberger b. 1767

/ Kirstin Miller

John Fryberger 5th great grandpa on RootsMagic tree

John or Johann was born in 1767 in Pennsylvania to Ludwig and Anna Betty Fryberger. John was probably confirmed in Bern Church on October 22, 1786. The 1790 census in Berks County, PA shows John’s mom Widow Fryberger, John’s brother Jacob Fryberger as John’s neighbors. The widow had 3 children in her home. Jacob had a spouse and 4 kids, John was still single. John married Anna Maria Kryder on July 11, 1795 in Pennsylvania. John and Anna had at least 8 children. By 1820 the family had followed hundreds of other German Americans from Pennsylvania farm country to Ohio. The 1820 and 1830 censuses show John and family living in Stark County, Ohio. John and his sons were farmers, landowners. In 1814 John’s daughter Elizabeth married Henry Miller, their son Peter would move to Bremer County Iowa and have a son William whose daughter Lola married another William Miler they were parents of Faber Miller.

John lived to age 78, he died in 1845. He was buried in Maplegrove Mennonite Cemetery in Hartville, Stark County, Ohio. The cemetery no longer exists, “the cemetery was removed, at least 20 years ago, when an addition and parking lot were added to the church.” This is written, no date at John’s Find a Grave memorial. John’s wife and daughter Elizabeth Fryberger Miller are also buried there.

Long after John was gone his grandson John was in The farm journal rural directory of Stark County, Ohio, published in 1915. Photos in the directory show how ancestor farm families lived at the time. And directly above John Fryberger entry is Zenas Fry, another farmer in the area, originally from Pennsylvania. Zenas married Mandana Miller, she was the granddaughter of Henry and his wife Elizabeth Fryberger Miller.

Sources

  • 1790 United States census database at FamilySearch
  • Pennsylvania, Church Records – Adams, Berks, and Lancaster Counties, 1729-1881 at Ancestry
  • Pennsylvania, Septennial Census, 1779-1863 at Ancestry
  • The farm journal rural directory of Stark County, Ohio at Archive.org

Asa Angell b. 1771

/ Kirstin Miller

Asa Angell 5th great grandpa on RootsMagic tree

Asa Angell was the 4th child of Israel and Martha Angell, born  August  24, 1771 in Providence, Rhode Island. Asa grew up during the American Revolution, his dad was a Colonel in the 2nd Rhode Island Regiment  and probably came home with stories of the war.

Asa married Cynthia Hill in 1794 and they moved to New Berlin NY. From the Genealogy of Thomas Angell book, “Asa, Abner and Israel Angell, sons of Col. Israel, went to the State of New York, and settled in the town of New Berlin, Chenango Co., where they purchased farms. A cousin of theirs, who has visited them, reports that their descendants are numerous. We are told that the family of Dexter Angell have in their possession the gold medal awarded by Gen. Lafayette, to Col. Israel Angell. We know less of the descendants of Asa, than of either of the other brothers.” Asa’s son Dexter may have had his grandpa’s gold medals for awhile, with him in Indiana and New York, today they’re at the Rhode Island Historical Society.

Asa and Cynthia stayed in New Berlin and had 8 children. Asas was a farmer and a cooper- he made big wooden barrels, casks, kegs. Asa’s children Betsy, Lewis and Henry all stayed in the NY area, Adeline died young. Oldest son Dexter Angell went further west, to Indiana. Two of Dexter’s children, Charles and Delia, went to Iowa where their aunt, Asa’s sister, Mehitable Angell Wilkinson was living. Delia married William Flood they had a son Asa and are the great grandparents of Elizabeth Speedy. Angell, Asa and family

Sources

Joseph Gaines and Abigail Tubbs b. 1756

/ Kirstin Miller

Joseph Gaines and Abigail Tubbs, my 5th great grandparents on RootsMagic tree.

The Gaines and Tubbs families came to America, separately, in the 1630s from England. Joseph Gaines was the 5th generation of his family in America. Abigail Tubbs was the 4th generation of her family in America. Joseph and Abigail married on March 21, 1779 in Greenfield, Massachusetts. They moved to Guilford, Windham, Vermont where they had 9 children: 3 daughters and 6 sons. Obed, their 7th child was the only one to leave Vermont and the New England area. Obed went to Bremer County, Iowa to join his son William Gaines. 

Joseph died on November 13, 1843, Abigail died May 17, 1841. They are buried in Maplehurst Cemetery in Windham Vermont- they have matching headstones. Joseph’s brother David Gaines married Abigail’s sister Elizabeth Tubbs, also buried in Maplehurst Cemetery with matching headstones.

Gaines, Joseph and Abigail Tubbs headstone

Sources

  • Vermont, Vital Records, 1720-1908
  • New England historical and genealogical register volume 85 page 52, Descendants of Henry Gaines of Lynn Mass., several pages at American Ancestors

David Dewey b. 1721

/ Kirstin Miller

David Dewey 7th great grandpa on RootsMagic tree

David Dewey was born January 3, 1721 in Stonington, Connecticut. His parents were Jabez and Deborah York Dewey. This Dewey family includes Admiral George Dewey, 1837-1917, as a distant cousin, so the family is documented in published sources. This David’s 2nd great grandpa, Thomas, was the original American ancestor, he arrived in 1631 or so. David was the 4th generation of Deweys born in America.

David and his brother Jabez both joined and were baptized on July 5, 1741- in their 20s. They joined the First Congregational Church, known as The Road. The church was the 1st in Stonington, organized in 1674, it still stands in the same location with a newer building after a fire in 1829. The plain Puritan design, beams and box style pews were built in to the new building. The church doors open to the front of the church so walking in a person faces the whole congregation.

First church Stonington

On September 28, 1741 David married Deborah Tracy in the same Stonington church. David and Deborah had 7 daughters and 4 sons. Three sons were in the Revolutionary War: David Jr was a minuteman, Jabez was in the Battle of Harlem Heights and Christopher was the fife-major in the War of 1812. 

David’s granddaughter Sarah married John Connable, their daughter Leydia Connable and husband Obed Gaines moved west all the way to Iowa where their granddaughter Mary Ella Gaines married James Miller, grandpa of Faber Miller, husband to Gladys Cable.

Sources

Elbert Howard b. 1791

/ Kirstin Miller

Elbert Howard 5th great grandfather on RootsMagic tree

Elbert Howard was born in Georgia around 1791. In 1811 he was in Knox, Kentucky, in 1820 Lawrence, Indiana, 1840 in Lake, Illinois and by 1855 in Floyd County, Iowa. Elbert married Phone McNeil in 1811 in Kentucky, after her death he married Rachel Burlingham. Rachel and Elbert’s marriage was ‘the first marriage license granted by the County of Lake issued out of the Commissioners’ Court under date of September 10, 1839’. A history of Lake County, Illinois page 71 a free ebook at HathiTrust.

On June 15 1855 Elbert purchased 160 acres of land. Certificate 23,975 Elbert Howard of Floyd County, Iowa, 160 acres, 15 June 1855. Howard, Elbert 1855 land purchase

In 1857 he was appointed postmaster of Howardville, Iowa. Elbert Howard and some of his family are buried in the Howardville Cemetery. 

Ancestry . co sources: U.S., Appointments of U. S. Postmasters, 1832-1971, Kentucky, County Marriages, 1783-1965 and U.S. General Land Office Records, 1796-1907.

 

Fronica Meinzer b. 1763

/ Kirstin Miller

Fronica Meinzer 5th great grandmother on RootsMagic tree.

Fronica -her name could have been Verona, Veronica or Fronica, all appear on records- was born about 1763 to Conrad and Elizabeth Hibshman Meinzer. The Meinzer family lived in Pennsylvania, in the Lancaster area, on a farm, part of the Pennsylvania Dutch or Deutsch community. Fronica’s father Conrad died in 1781 and mentions his children in his will “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 five shares to Catharina, Anna Maria, Verona, Frederick and Conrad until all of my heirs are made equal.”

Fronica and Mathias marriage

Fronica married Mathias Druckenbrod on November 25, 1783. They married on the exact day the British troops left New York, the date was for a time remembered as Evacuation Day with parades, monuments and what not. Part of the 1783 celebration was General Washington arriving in New York then during the next weeks riding on through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and then Maryland where he met with the Confederation Congress and formally retired as Commander in Chief and finally returned to his home.General Washington in New York

News traveled very slowly in 1783 so Mathias and Fronica may not have known what was happening 160 miles to the east as they exchanged wedding vows.

Washington’s grand entry into New York, Nov. 25th, 1783
By Alphonse Bigot at New York Public Library’s Digital Library, ID 1650645: Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23557926