Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Two Small Towns in Ohio
on a Rainy Sunday







While I was in Lancaster, Ohio (my birth city) last April I decided to take a drive on the Sunday I was there.  It was drippy, but not pouring rain, so I grabbed my camera and headed for Sugar Grove, Ohio.  My mom's sister, Marie, was married to Clarence Bauer and they had a  farm in the Sugar Grove area.   Marie died early, at age 53, so she isn't in the picture below which was taken at a family reunion in the 1970's.




Clarence Bauer & Marie Darling Bauer about 1930



  





Adults in the back row from left to right:  Donald E Bauer & his wife Nellalou Awalt,  the young man is John Bauer's son Michael, Clarence Bauer, Joanne DeLong & her husband John Bauer.  In front of John Bauer is his daughter Mollie Jo Bauer.  The other three children belong to Don & Nellalou and are named Brian, Greg and Jason but I do not know which is which.  Donald & John are Clarence and Marie's boys.

Except for John Bauer, who visited me in SF in the 1960's, this reunion was the only time I was with this family.  Clarence was quite old, but spry and was the epitome of a gnarly old farmer.  John & his family live in his father's farm and Don has a farm in the area.

Sugar Grove is a sleepy little village right off Route 33, South of Lancaster.  Population 448 in the year 2000.  


Coming into town an old gas station catches my eye.  Antique dealers would love the old pumps and signs.



A little further down,  a local landmark, Stoneburner's Grocery.  I lightened it up so the neat Coca Cola signs are visible.


Brick Sidewalk down the main street.




Lots of houses like this one.





There are four churches in Sugar Grove (Population 448).  A Catholic Church, A Lutheran Church, A Community Church and a United Methodist Church.



Well, didn't take much time to drive through Sugar Grove, Ohio a couple of times.  At least I can say I've been there.  Mom talked about her sister Marie & Sugar Grove and now I have been.  There were a couple neat barns in the area - these following two in Sugar Grove.





That took all of 20 minutes so I headed south on Route 33 again to find the road that would take me to Revenge, Ohio.  A few miles south and I connected up with County Rd 116, which takes me through the Clear Creek Nature Preserve.  On this wet, drippy, day everything looks fresh and clean.  The road runs along Clear Creek.  Just as I turned this wonderful barn and silos jumped out at me so I did what anyone would do and stopped and stood in the road while I took a picture.






Some pictures from the drive through the nature preserve.



   


Next we roll into Revenge, don't blink.  Revenge is in Madison Township at the intersection of County Rd 69 and County Rd 26.  For all practical purposes, Revenge no longer exists.  There are no town markers and I saw no buildings with the name of the town.  Here is an article that relates the history of this ghost town.   Not much of interest to take pictures of, but here are a couple -


Very pretty farmland




Most of the dwellings looked like this


An Old covered bridge that has been moved - see article for more info.


Yes, I messed with the sign picture...





The ghost town of Revenge attracted my attention because of the Born family.  Mom's grandfather, Gottlieb Darling (Deierling) lost his first wife Margaret Wyman when she was only 33.  He subsequently married Margaret "Maggie" Born, who was the daughter of Joseph Born and Elizabeth Presler of Madison Township, Fairfield county, Ohio.  Gottlieb & Maggie's son, Edward William Darling, was my grandfather.  The Born family came from Switzerland and it has been difficult sorting them out because they are all named Jacob.  Or so it seems.   It is also difficult searching for information because every time you enter Jacob Born.....you get all the Jacobs who were ever "Born"..  Anyway, the Borns are buried in Old St Thomas Church Cemetery near what used to be Revenge, Ohio.


From an arbitration record regarding the disposition of Joseph's property.   The year of his death was 1888.




Love that Gottlieb Darling is Gattvel Dyarling.  I think Dyarling is probably how the original name of Deierling  sounds.  There seems to have been a dispute over Joseph's property.  Delilah & her husband William Cruise were living on the farm at the time of Joseph's death and the arbitration was about how the property was to be divided.  Delilah wanted it all.   The court awarded equal shares to all the children.  Sorry, Delilah.  I can't find record of Delilah and William in the 1900 census.  I hope they didn't go away mad.




Unfortunately I did not find the old cemetery.  There was a turnoff from Revenge Rd but I missed it and my phone wouldn't work where I was at (really in the boonies) so I could check.  Plus it started to rain.  So, I continued until I found a place to pull over and check my map - YAY,  Revenge Road had turned into B.I.S Rd which ended up back in Lancaster...Oh, hi officer.  Uh, I'm just checking my map.  No, didn't realize I was parked by a prison and had become suspect....Bye.  Nothing like a prison to perk you up on a rainy day.

I did find this internet site about the old cemetery - Old St Thomas Church & Graveyard....so, I don't have to be in a rush to go back past the prison, down Revenge Rd and down a dirt road.  On the other hand, if I am in the area again on a rainy Sunday I just might.





Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Sarah Ann Freeman

Sarah Ann Freeman was my 2nd Great Grandmother.

Sarah Ann Freeman m. John Allen
     John D Allen m Mary A Lake
          Nell Sprague Allen m Philip Martin
               John L Martin m Florence Darling
                    Me

Sarah's life journey started on 7/23/1811 in Morris County, New Jersey. Her parents were likely Stephen Freeman and his wife Susan of Jefferson Township.  Stephen was a carpenter and appears in  1830, 1840 and 1850 census returns.  There is a house on Berkshire Valley Road in Jefferson Township that is reported to be "The Freeman House." The reference states "It is thought that a family that disappeared from this area may have built this house long ago."  "0.7 miles away we find The Washburn (Allen) House. Its deed goes back to 1804, the year Jefferson became a township".    The record of these two residences is pertinent as on 4/25/1831 Sarah married John Allen in Jefferson Township, and I have no doubt they belonged to these two families.  

Freeman/Allen Marriage Record

While the Freemans did disappear in the census returns after 1850, there were Allen's living there that I am sure were John Allen's relatives, I just have never been able to sort them out.  John Allen is an incredibly common name.  And, frankly, I don't think anyone knew how old they were back then.  Even when I am sure I have the same person I find dates of birth all over the place.

Stephen and Susan Freeman's graves are in the Oak Ridge Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Oak Ridge, West Milford Township, Passaic County, New Jersey.  They likely died between the 1850 and 1860 census.
The young Allen couple, probably along with other family members and friends started West to settle in Ohio near where other Allen family members had already relocated.  The trip, in the 1830's was relatively easy as there were actual roads by that date.  They likely traveled to Philadelphia and picked up The National Road, as shown on the map below.  Originally the portion from Philadelphia to Wheeling was named the Cumberland Rd, and the piece from Wheeling through Muskingum County was part of Ebenezer Zane's Zanes Trace.  I like to think they took the ferry from Wheeling across the Ohio River to Martins Ferry, Ohio.  The very ferry owned by my 2nd Great Grandfather, Ebenezer Martin.  Wouldn't that just have been cool?  A couple of generations later, Ebenezer Martin's grandson marries Sarah Freeman Allen's granddaughter.


So, Sarah and John settled down in Mt Sterling, Ohio, a little town near Zanesville, Ohio.  On 2/14/1832 their daughter Elma A Allen was born.  And, a year later, 5/15/1833 my great grandfather John D Allen came into their lives.  But, tragedy was looming.  The Ohio River flooded its banks, and in the summer of 1833, the first significant cholera epidemic hit Ohio.  John Allen died 11/22/1833, leaving Sarah with two babies.  I believe he is buried in the Mount Sterling Cemetery, but there is no record, and so many of the stones are worn smooth by the years and years of weather.







I mentioned above that the Allen's probably came to the Muskingum County area because family and friends had already made the journey.  In the 1970's I was allowed into the archives of the Courthouse in Zanesville and held John Allen's disposition of estate papers in my hand, but no cell phone to take a picture in those days.  However, I wrote things down, and it appears one David Allen, along with Sarah were the executors of the estate.  David Allen was born in 1795 in Sussex County, NJ (right next to Jefferson Township in Morris County) and came to Ohio before 1817 at which time he is found to have married Sarah Spencer in Muskingum County - who, surprise - also was born in Sussex County, NJ.  However, the Spencer family, headed by one Ichabod Spencer, were in Ohio by 1807 when Ichabod paid taxes on property he owned.  Also originally from Sussex County NJ and living in the area is the Usual Headley family.  Usual (or Uzal) ran the Headley Inn on the National Road, the building is currently an antique store, I believe.  So, it looks like the Spencers & Headleys migrated first in about 1806, followed by David Allen & his father Noah Allen around 1817, followed by John & Sarah Allen in 1831.  There are Allens buried in the Headly family cemetery in Morris Co, NJ.  These people all knew each other.

So, even though she had just lost her husband, Sarah had a support group.  Elma and John D were appointed a guardian,  John Conklin, who I discovered lived right next to David Allen.  I have some paperwork regarding the guardianship, and when they came of age, Elma and John D received about $200 each out of the guardianship funds.

As was often the case where there is a young widow, there is an older man looking for a second wife to take care of his motherless children.  On 7/25/1835 Sarah married Benjamin Robinson and settled down on his farm in Brownsville, Ohio.  Brownsville is just a few miles down the National Road from Mt. Sterling.  Benjamin was 22 years older than Sarah.  His first wife,  Phoebe Grant died in 1834.  Benjamin & Phoebe had 11 children over the period 1812-1833.


Patience 1812-1885
Susannah 1814-1891
Lucinda 1816-1879
Elsie 1818-1904
Phoebe 1820-1820
Leroy 1823-1906
Sarah 1825-1909
Samuel 1827
George Washington 1828-1912
Susan 1831-1837
Benjamin 1833-1836

 I'm not sure how many of the older ones were still at home when Benjamin & Sarah got married, the 1840 census shows nine people in the household - this includes two of the four children Benjamin and Sarah would have.  So, Sarah & Benjamin, Elma & John D Allen, Nancy & Lucy Ann Robinson & three of Benjamin's children by his first wife.  Blended families are not new.  Benjamin & his first wife, Phoebe were born in Virginia and came to Ohio between 1816-1818.  I believe Benjamin received some land as a result of his father's service in the Rev War and he purchased property in 1820.  I would guess he was a farmer.

Alas, Benjamin Robinson died on 10/4/1845, not sure where he is buried.  Sarah is not having good luck with her husbands.  His first wife is buried in the Robinson family cemetery in Licking County, Ohio and I would assume he is there.   Sarah remained in Brownsville, Ohio and never remarried.  Brownsville, in Bowling Green Township, is such a small community, it would be such fun to see what I can find out.  Just a few months ago I was getting ready for my trip and looked her up again in FindAGrave, and since I last looked, someone uploaded her FindAGrave information was amended to include her grave location so, knowing where she was buried, I visited Cedar Hill Cemetery in Brownsville, Ohio and located her grave.  Interestingly enough, I had visited that cemetery in the 1970's looking for her husband and not knowing she was there with the new name of Robinson.  Her gravestone is extremely hard to read, and I was only able to confirm it was her by a few words AND the fact her daughter Nancy was buried right next to her, and her grave was legible.




Sarah's Grave
You can see my car in the background.  Luckily I did not have to walk up and down too many rows to find the grave.


Close up - not much detail left.


Nancy June Robinson
1837 - 1867
Nannie never married & lived with her mother

The view standing beside the Robinson graves.  Beautiful countryside.

Some other photos from Brownsville



When I was here in the 1970's this old general store was very much the same.  I went in to ask about cemeteries, but the individuals in the store were somewhat odd, and although I found Cedar Hill Cemetery on my own, I was nervous walking around, LOL.  They had "spooked" me.  Unfortunately, it was Sunday this visit and the store was closed.

Sarah's Children

Elma A Allen- Born 2/14/1832 in Mt Sterling, Ohio.  In 1857 Elma married Oliver Marion Hamilton.  In the 1860 & 1870 Census they had a Dry Goods Store in Bowling Green Township, Licking County, Ohio. Brownsville is the only community in Bowling Green Township, so perhaps the Robinson store is/was this place.  Sometime before 1880 the Robinsons moved to Columbus, Ohio where they operated a Grocery Store.  Unfortunately, Oliver died at age 54.  He is buried in Green Lawn Cemetery, Columbus, Ohio.  Elma and Oliver had five sons and three daughters.  Elma passed away in 1914.

John D. Allen - Born 5/15/1833 in Mt Sterling, Ohio.  My great-grandfather. By the mid-1860's John was married to Mary Ann Lake (Short) and started a family.  He was ALSO a grocer and had a store in Fultonham, Ohio and Lancaster, Ohio.  More about him in another chapter.

Nancy June Robinson - Born 4/2/1837   Nancy, called Nannie was a schoolteacher and died at age 30.  She never married and lived with her mother.  Nannie is buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery next to her mother.

Lucy Ann Robinson - Born 9/29/1838  Lucy married William Edward Case who was listed as a school teacher in the 1870 census and a merchant in the 1880 census. They lived in Tuscawaras County, Ohio.   Lucy & William had four daughters and 1 son.  They were divorced between the 1880 census and 1896 as William Edward Case married Agnes Ross in 1896.  He was 56, and she was 20.  It appears the newly married couple headed for Virginia as they are listed in the 1900 census in Fauquier, Va.  They had two children, and William Edward Case died in 1908. Lucy Ann lived alone with a housekeeper until her death on 4/9/1928.  I have had a couple of DNA matches through Lucy.

Emeline Robinson - Born about 1842.   Emeline was a schoolteacher and lived with her mother through the 1870 census.  In 1880 she was residing with her brother Albert in Washington, Tuscawaras County, Ohio.  I lose her at that point and cannot find her in 1900.  She could have gotten married or died during that 20-year span.

Albert J Robinson - Born 9/2/1844  Albert married Eliza Mary Oldham in 1868.  In the 1870 census, they lived a couple houses away from the Hamilton's (see Elma above), and he is noted as a dry goods merchant. It appears they may have been in business together, but the 1880 census shows the Hamiltons have moved on to Columbus and Albert & his family is in Washington, Tuscawaras County, Ohio and he is listed as a Dry Goods Merchant.  Albert & Eliza had three sons and two daughters.  Albert passed away 1/19/1922.

So, all of Sarah's children were merchants and/or teachers.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

More Deierlings to Muse About....

No new breakthroughs on the Wisconsin, Ohio and Missouri Deierlings. However, I did receive a note from a "distant cousin" concerning what I have always called the Washington State Deierlings. In my frustration, some years ago, I set up a separate database on ancestry.com to collect information on any Deierlings I found on ancestry.com - thinking, right or wrong, that there is likely a connection of some sort between them all. And, maybe by finding an origin on one of them, solve my own problem. Namely, Gottleib Deierling. Most of them, like Gottleib, show an origin in Bavaria but a couple of others show Hannover, Germany which isn't that far from Bavaria and there is no reason to think they stayed put. A lot of them, after all, made it to America.

In Washington we find Henry Deierling, born in 1862 in Hannover, Germany. Henry emmigrated in 1886 and in 1887 in New York City he married Christina Paulina Bauer. They moved west to Vancouver, Washington where they had four children, Fredericka, Pauline, Alma and Lloyd. Henry made his living as a tailor and died in Portland Oregon in 1936.

Henry has been sitting on my database for years and it wasn't until I received a nice inquiry from one of his descendants did I take a good look at him. And then, I looked at some others that have just been sitting there.....neglected.

So, then, there is Carl Charles Bartholomew Deierling. Let's take a look at him. Born about 1844 in Germany, he arrived on 6/23/1870 and I believe it is he I found in the 1880 Census listed as Charles, occupation cabinet maker. He was living in Walla Walla, Washington. I have been unable to find him in 1900, but in 1910 he is in Falls, Polk County, Oregon. He has a wife, Louisa Marie Dubrashimski and three children, Irene Emma, Walter Herman and Erich Alexander Carl - all born in Douglas County, South Dakota. His occupation is shown as carpenter. By 1920 he was back in Washington and he died while living with his son Erich, in 1931, Snohomish, Washington.

There is no proof these two are connected, other than the unusual name, origin and the fact they both end up in Washington.

So, let's consider one John Deierling, born in 1836 in Bayreuth, Bayern and living in Nebraska with his wife Elizabeth and his four daughters, Maggie, Anna C, Jane and Johanna. John has been sitting in my database for awhile so I checked him out and found he might be connected to either of the above Deierlings Why? Because when he first came to America in 1883 the family settled in Douglas County, South Dakota. He was there before Carl - or perhaps at the same time as Carl because I have no idea where Carl was between 1880 and the birth of his first child in Douglas County, SD in 1892.  

Douglas County, SD did not work out for either family. John's daughter Johanna Deierling wrote "Reminiscences of our Pioneering Days in Boyd County, Nebraska" in which she explains how the family removed from SD and homesteaded in Nebraska about 1891. John died in 1906 and is buried in Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Lynch Co, Nebraska alongside his wife, Elizabeth, who died in 1935.  When you click on Johanna's story, you will have to scroll down a bit to find it - it really explains what homesteading was all about.

So, now, a really interesting bit - of John's 4 daughters, 3 of them died in Skagit County, Washington.  I haven't been able to track the 4th one.

Some time after 1935 when Elizabeth died and 1944 (the year Maggie died) all three families pulled up roots and headed West.  Why?  They are all buried in Green Hills Memorial Cemetery, Burlington, Wa.  I found a very interesting essay describing Rev Paul Mayerhoff's life that indicated that the move to Washington was a retirement.  Rev Paul was Johanna's husband and had a very interesting life.  Paul Mayerhoff in Apacheland.
Another interesting thing is that Rev Paul was born not far from my Wisconsin Deierling group - in West Bend, Wisconsin.

I believe, Carl Arrived first and looked around the Pacific Northwest.  John arrived in 1883 and went directly to Douglas County, South Dakota where a) he joined his relative (brother) or b)  his relative (brother) joined him.  It obviously (from Johanna's story) was not a pleasant place and Carl went back to Washington while John ended up homesteading in Nebraska.  Henry, if related, probably would be a nephew as he is younger.  They are the only Deierlings I have been able to find in this part of the country.