went west

Asa Lowe b. 1825

/ Kirstin Miller

Asa Lowe, no relation, friend of William Flood, my 3rd great grandpa.

Asa Lowe and William Flood were born in Vermont. They appear to have left Vermont together for Delaware County, Iowa. In Delaware County Asa married Amelia Henderson in 1846 and William married Maria Dresser around 1853. By 1854 Asa’s family and William were in Butler County, Iowa. William’s wife had died, he lived with Asa and family until he married Delia Angell in 1857. Asa Lowe is the witness of William and Delia’s marriage record.

On June 6, 1854, Asa made a claim on 80 acres of land in Butler Township. September 15, 1857, he filed a plat for the village of Lowell. “There is no explanation for the origin of the name but one can surmise that Mr. Lowe added the two letters to his name in order to avoid (unsuccessfully) the name of Lowtown. The cemetery, a half mile west, and the nearest country school to the south, were given the official name Lowell.” In 1875 the flour and saw mills fell in to the Shell Rock and “Lowell joined Butler Center as ghost towns with only a cemetery to mark its existence”.

Asa and his family left Iowa for Sacramento, California. In Sacramento, Asa was a fruit grower and a member of the National Grange, “a social organization in the United States that encourages families to band together to promote the economic and political well-being of the community and agriculture”.

National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry at Wikipedia

At a July 13, 1885 meeting, “Held at Grangers’ Hall Last Saturday, An Association to be Formed. Another meeting of fruit-growers was held at Grangers’ Hall, in this city, on Saturday. Asa Lowe was elected Chairman of the meeting, and E. Greer, Secretary … forming an association for mutual protection and benefit, and especially with a view to improve the present prices for fruits.”

Asa died on January 1, 1888 and is buried in Elder Creek Cemetery, Florin, California.

Sources

Jonathan Rawson and Bathsheba Tracy b. 1749

/ Kirstin Miller

Jonathan Rawson and Bathsheba Tracy, 6th great grandparents on RootsMagic tree.

Jonathan Rawson was born March 15, 1749 in Mendon, Massachusetts.  Bathsheba Tracy was born  27 April 1752 in Preston, Connecticut. Jonathan and Bathsheba married on January 1, 1772 in Preston. They had three sons and three daughters born from 1773 to 1788. Jonathan is said to be a private in the American Revolution but there aren’t any records to prove this, only ‘REV WAR’ inscribed on his and Bathsheba’s headstones. Jonathan and Bathsheba joined their sons Solomon and William in Lyndon New York where, “The first settlement was made in 1808 by Solomon Rawson and his brother William. They came with their wives from Pennsylvania.” William ran a tavern, Solomon was a deacon of the church. “Rawson is[was] a postal hamlet near the northeast corner of the town, lying partly in Allegany county. It derives its name from Lyndon’s pioneer. Solomon Rawson.”

Bathsheba and Jonathan died around 1827 and both are buried at  Rawson Cemetery, next to Rawson Church  in Cattaraugus County, New York, USA. The cemetery is also known as Lyndon Cemetery and on the county line between Allegany and Cattaraugus counties. On Google maps the address is Rawson Rd, Cuba, NY 14727.

Rawson cemetery and church via Google maps https://goo.gl/maps/8TuXzSfb3N9AsTnp9

The Rawson family came to America from England in the 1630s, On my maternal side Francis Tracy married Elizabeth Parrish, their son Isaac Tracy married Mehitable Rude, their daughter Bathsheba Tracy married Jonathan Rawson their daughter Margaret married Joseph Benight, their daughter Clementina married Dexter Angell, their daughter Delia married William Flood, their daughter Matilda married Richard Mockford their daughter Philippa married Harve Speedy and had a daughter Elizabeth Speedy who married Stanley Roose, my grandparents.

The Tracy family came to America in the 1630s too. On my paternal side Jonathan Tracy married Mary Griswold, their son Christopher married Lydia Parrish, their daughter Deborah Tracy married David Dewey, their son David married Sarah Witter, their daughter Sarah married John Connable whose daughter Lydia married Obed Gaines, whose son William married Sarah Swain, their daughter Mary Ella married James Miller their son William is the dad of Faber Miller who married Gladys Cable, my grandparents

Sources

Gerd Frerichs b. 1867

/ Kirstin Miller

Gerd Frerichs 2nd great uncle, on RootsMagic tree, was born on November 10, 1867 in Engerhofe, Germany, standard name: Engerhafe, 26624 Südbrookmerland, Germany. Engerhofe is 5 miles south of the Wadden Sea on the northwestern coast of Germany, part of Lower Saxony or Niedersachsen, on Google maps

Gerd’s parents were Casjen and Kuna Janssen Frerichs. Gerd had 3 sisters and was the younger brother of Enno Frerichs who was the dad of Mary Frerichs who married George Roose, their son Stanley Roose was born in 1915, in Iowa.


Baptismal font photo via Matthias Süßen, CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Engerhafe_Taufbecken.jpg

The Frerichs family were members of the local Lutheran church, that’s where Gerd was baptized on December 13, 1867 and where his parents married a few years earlier. It is almost certain their church was Church of John the Baptist (Engerhafe) or Kirche Johannes der Täufer (Engerhafe). This church was built in 1250, completed around 1280 and was the only church in the area during Gerd’s lifetime. The church is famous for it’s organ built in 1774 by Hinrich Just Müller. The baptismal font or Taufbecken is impressive too, “The lid was delivered in 1665 by master Hinrich Julfs from Wittmund. Its structure, divided into four floors, shows mermaids with fish tails and female breasts. The facial features of these figures are clearly masculine and have mustaches. In the middle of the lid sits a Madonna, surrounded by columns”.

The mayor of Engerhafe today is Frerich Hinrichs- funny because both these names are Roose ancestor surnames- Enno Frerichs married Annie Hinrichs.

In August 1883 Gerd and his family left Engerhafe, Germany on the ship America, they sailed to America and landed in Baltimore, Maryland on October 10, 1883. From Baltimore they went to Butler County Iowa. Gerd was only in America for 5 years, he died at age 19 on July 25, 1887. Gerd is buried in Jungling Cemetery, near Vilmar Church in Allison, Iowa. His older sister Yevkea Frerichs Reents is also buried there.

Jungling Cemetery, Allison, Iowa

Sources

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

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

Elizabeth Bowman b. 1769

/ Kirstin Miller

Elizabeth Bowman 6th great grandma on RootsMagic tree

Elizabeth was born on October 5, 1769 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. She was the 2nd of 8 kids of Abraham and Christina Bowman. Abraham was in the Revolutionary War and the family lived on a farm. Around 1790 Elizabeth married George John Harter. By 1800 the Harters were living in Stark County, Ohio. Also in Stark County were the Bair, Druckenbrod, Fryberger, Kreider and Miller families, all traveled from Pennsylvania to Ohio. Elizabeth and George Harter had 9 children: 5 daughters and 4 sons. The Harter kids stayed in the area, in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. The Harter grandkids, great grandkids went to Iowa and further west to the coast. Elizabeth’s 3rd daughter, also Elizabeth, had at least 10 kids, great granddaughter Fianna Druckenbrod married William Miller in Ohio, then went to Iowa.

Elizabeth was a widow in 1833, age 64. She stayed in Ohio and would have lived with her grown children, her grandkids. On the 1860 US census she was 93 years old and lived with daughter Christina, married to Joel Rhodes with 4 kids. The census was taken on July 3, 1860. News at the time included the Covode Committee investigating alleged corruption of President Buchanan, an Andrew Jackson Democrat; and Abraham Lincoln the Republican nominee, his strange appearance. Yes, scandal and smallness have always been in politics- all parties. Elizabeth probably lived to see Lincoln elected in November, the start of the Civil war in April 1861 and her grandsons signing up for the war through 1865.

Sources

Seibelt Henrichs b. 1844

/ Kirstin Miller

Seibelt Gerd Henrichs 4th great uncle on RootsMagic tree

Seibelt “Sila” was born August 28, 1844 in Germany, probably Aurich a town in Lower Saxony, on the northern edge of Germany. Sila’s parents were Gerd and Flora Janssen Henrichs. In the family were at least 7 siblings including Henrich ‘Henry’ Henrichs great grandpa of Stanley Roose. Seibelt and Henrich’s family relationship is somewhat iffy, but is probable and once found, a DNA match will prove they are brothers. Sila’s niece Annie Antje Henrichs married Enno Frerichs, grandparents of Stanley Roose.

In Germany, Sila married Anna Itjes in 1870. On March 20, 1881 this Henrichs family sailed on the ship Leipzig from Bremen to Baltimore, Maryland. Sila, Anna and their first 4 daughters Flora or Foolke, Dena or Bernadine, Jenny or Fauken and Katie or Gretje. The family went from Baltimore to Butler County, Iowa, a journey of 1,000 miles. Most likely German American immigrants, churches? provided food and shelter, if needed, along the way.

Henrichs, Seibelt 1917 land

Sila and family on the 1895 Iowa census lived in Albion township, near Parkersburg. On the 1900 US census they were in Ripley Township, closer to Butler Center, a tiny town no longer there. Siebelt had purchased a farm, his neighbors were from Germany, Holland, Iowa, Michigan, New York. Four more daughters, Annie, Johannah, Mattie and Christina were born and Ben Hinders, also from Germany, lived with the family as a servant or farm hand. By 1900 daughter Dena had married John Classe Hoodjer, they farmed nearby and had 3 children. Other Henrichs daughter married, had families and stayed in the area except oldest daughter Flora who stayed single and daughter Hannah who died of pneumonia in her 20s.

Sila and family were members of the Ebenezer Lutheran Church along with almost all ancestors of Stanley Roose. The church is gone, was in Butler Center. A published book Mission in a Mile by Henry Freese tells the story and history of the church. On page 33, a list of baptisms at the church shows Sila’s daughter Johanna Henrichs baptized in 1888. On that same page Claus Endlemann, a future son in law and Jantje Reents, a future grandniece are also baptized.

Sila lived to age 75 and his wife Anna lived to age 96. Both are buried at Butler Center Cemetery near where Ebenezer Lutheran church used to be. Sila and Anna share a large ‘Hinrichs’ headstone and each have a smaller Mother, Father headstone with Ruhe Sanft ~ rest gently, or peacefully. Of the 22 Henrichs buried in there, 10 are of Sila’s family. Daughter Christina who married Harold Hartson, they are buried at Lynwood Cemetery in Clarksville.

Sources

  • Mission in a mile by Henry Freese published 2002.
  • United States Germans to America index 1850-1897 at FamilySearch
  • Iowa death records 1904-1951 at FamilySearch
  • Headstone photo at Find a grave, public photo, “Added by Hooked On Family 21 Apr 2014”
  • US and Iowa censuses at FamilySearch
  • Maryland, Baltimore Passenger Lists, 1820-1948 FamilySearch
  • 1917 Atlas, Jefferson Townshipat UI Iowa Digital Library

Phebe McNeil b. 1789

/ Kirstin Miller

Phebe McNeil 5th great grandma on RootsMagic tree.

Phebe was born March 12, 1789 in Fayette, Kentucky. Her parents were Jonathan and Jane McCord McNeil both of Virginia. They married in Botetourt County, VA in between the Blue Ridge and Appalachian Mountains, then moved 300 miles west to Kentucky. Phebe McNeil and her siblings were all born in Knox County, Kentucky. Knox County is about 8 miles south of the Dr. Thomas Walker State Historic Site. The historical site has a replica of a cabin built around 1790, the type of cabin Phebe and her family would have lived in. After they cut down trees, made lumber and built it. Phebe is the only one of her family who left the area, all siblings stayed in Knox County, married and had families.

Original 1790s log house

In Knox County, Phebe married Elbert Howard on October 24, 1811. Phebe and Elbert had 1 daughter and 2 sons born in Kentucky. By 1820 they had moved to Lawrence, Indiana where Elbert’s older sister Elizabeth and her family were living.

Phoebe died in June 1826 she was about 40 years old. She’s buried at Old Shiloh Cemetery in Lawrence, Indiana. At the same cemetery are Elizabeth Howard Evans and her family. Elbert, after Phebe’s death moved his family to Lake Illinois and married again. Elbert’s daughter Polly married Benjamin Swain, their daughter Sarah went to Iowa where she married William Gaines and had a daughter Mary who married JD Miller, their son William is the dad of Faber Miller.

Sources

Pleasant Davis b. 1844

/ Kirstin Miller

Pleasant Davis: 1st cousin 4 times removed on RootsMagic tree.

Davis, Pleasant son of HortonPleasant Davis was born in Ohio on November 30, 1844. He was one of 13 kids of Horton and Florida Russell Davis. Horton’s dad, Pleasant’s grandpa was Pleasant Davis married to Sarah Horton, both of Virginia. Names ‘Pleasant’ and ‘Horton’ were carried on through the generations as first or middle names for sons. One ‘Pleasant’ went by Plez. This Pleasant married Huldah England on February 17, 1868 in Ohio. Soon after Pleasant’s family and older sister Sarah Davis Martin and her family left Ohio for Illinois where Pleasant lived for a few years. Pleasant’s other siblings were in Iowa, North Dakota and sister Martha, in photo, went all the way to Oregon. By 1883 Pleasant was in Union, Iowa with his dad, mom and some siblings. Pleasant and Florina’s son Clement Pleasant Davis was born in Union and 4 Davis daughters Florina, Mary, Sarah and Victoria were all married in Iowa.

Florina died around 1888 and Pleasant with his younger kids, they all headed for the Cherokee Nation where the 1889 Indian (land) Appropriations Act gave up land for purchase and President Harrison proclaimed “unassigned lands were open for settlement under much less stringent rules”. Today the area is north eastern Oklahoma, it was called ‘Cherokee Nation’ on census forms from about 1840? until Oklahoma became a state in 1907.

1900 census Davis family in Cherokee Nation

Pleasant’s family lived in Bluejacket where he farmed. His sons Horton and Warren helped on the farm, the younger kids were in school. Bluejacket is 50 miles north east of Tulsa with a population of about 300 today. Pleasant’s daughters Florina and Victoria with their families joined their dad in Bluejacket, Oklahoma. Pleasant died at age 78 on April 3, 1924 and is buried at Bluejacket Cemetery.

Sources

  • Davis, Pleasant, Public Ancestry photo, “wrae7711 originally shared this on 25 Apr 2013”
  • This Land podcast on Cherokee Nation, how it began
  • Cherokee Nation, some history at Wikipedia
  • Iowa, Delayed Birth Records, 1850-1939 at FamilySearch
  • Iowa, County Marriages, 1838-1934 at FamilySearch
  • 1900 US census at FamilySearch

Minnie Roose b. 1855

/ Kirstin Miller

Minnie Charlotte Roose 2nd great aunt on RootsMagic tree.

Minnie Roose was born 12 November 1855 in Germany, a middle child of Garbrand and Catherine Renistra Roose. When Minnie was 6 years old in 1862, she sailed with her family to America. They left from Bremen, Germany and sailed on the Adler, ‘eagle’ in the English language. The Roos family docked in New York and went on to Freeport, Illinois, 900 miles west. No idea how they traveled. When they got to Freeport an established German American community welcomed them. Minnie’s youngest brother Johann, grandpa of Stanley Roose, was born in Freeport in 1865.

New York arrival 1862

Around 1876 Minnie and family were in southern Butler County, Iowa near Aplington and Parkersburg. On July 18, 1878 Minnie married Harm Haren, also from Germany. Harm and Minnie married in Grundy County and lived the remainder of their lives there, in Palermo Township, Grundy County, Iowa. Harm was a farmhand “for two years, after which he engaged in the operation of rented land until 1882 when with the capital he had acquired through industry, perseverance and economy he purchased the farm which has since been his home.” Minnie and Harm had 9 kids, 5 sons and 4 daughters. Harm died in 1918, a long life, he was 67 years old.

34 years later in 1952, Minnie was 97 years old and featured in a 75th anniversary issue of the Grundy Register, Grundy Center’s local newspaper. Minnie was the oldest resident of the area. There’s a photo and a story of her life, family.

Minnie lived another 13 years to age 109 or 110. Minnie and Harm are both buried at Fairview Cemetery in Grundy Center, Iowa.

Sources

  • New York passenger lists 1820-1891 at FamilySearch
  • The Grundy Register 1952 Jun 5 at Ancestry
  • Portrait and biographical record of Jasper, Marshall, and Grundy Counties, Iowa at HathiTrust
  • Public Ancestry photo, “ivametge originally shared this on 04 Aug 2012. Top Row L-R Henry, Otto, Claus Bottom Row L-R John, Harm, Hubert”Public Ancestry photo, “ivametge originally shared this on 04 Aug 2012. Top Row L to R_ Ella, Anna Second Row- Mae, Kathryn (Trina) Front- Minnie”
  • Public photo on FamilySearch, ” Contributed By SchwartzBarbaraHaren1 24 December 2017″