Surname Saturday: Force

Kris Hocker on 21 May 2011

My Force family connection is through Jefferson Force (aka Forcey). He was born 9 Dec 1833 in Centre County, Pennsylvania and died 20 Oct 1910 in Burnside Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania.1 He was buried in Advent Cemetery in Pine Glen. When his wife, Susan (Mulhollan) Force, provided information for his death certificate, she did not know the names of his parents, nor where they were born. To this day, it’s still a mystery. One I’d really love to solve!

His obituary states:

“Died at his home in Pine Glen on Thursday, October 20th, Jefferson Force, a well known and respected citizen of that place, aged 76 years, 10 months and 11 days. During the Civil War, he was drafted in 1864 and received an honorable discharge in 1865. He was married to Susan Mulholland in 1857, with whom he spent a long and happy life. Mr Force was a charter member of Messiah Church, of that place and always remained steadfast to the church of his choice and served its teachings. He leaves a large circle of friends to mourn his loss. Funeral services were conducted by Rev. E.A. Meredith.”2

Jefferson Force served in the 45th Pennsylvania Infantry Volunteers, Company E, IX Corps, 1st Brigade, 1st Division during the Civil War. When he registered for the draft in June 1863, he was 33, married and living in Burnside Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania.3 He enlisted on 20 Dec 1864 at Troy, Pennsylvania and mustered out 17 Jul 1865 at Alexandria, Virginia.

He married Susan L. Mulhollan, daughter of John and Emily (Boileau) Mulhollan, on 22 Mar 1857. The couple had 14 children:

  1. Wilhelmina Force was born 29 Oct 1857 and died 5 Nov 1921. She married Robert Alexander Askey
  2. Catherine E. Force was born 13 Sep 1859 and died 9 Mar 1899. She married Albert Gilmore
  3. Hannah M. Force was born 1 Sep 1861 and died 1 May 1938. She married Johnson Watson
  4. Agnes E. Force was born 1 Sep 1863 and died 16 Jul 1934. She married John Thomas Fye
  5. Carrie Amanda Force was born 23 Aug 1865 and died 3 May 1934. She married William Henry Meeker, son of Henry Rinehart and Angelina (Loy) Meeker.
  6. Martin Force was born 6 Feb 1868 and died 24 May 1945. He married Delilah N. (Hamilton) Harte
  7. John Force was born 16 Jan 1870 and died 27 Aug 1890.
  8. Lovina Caroline Force was born 28 Jan 1872 and died 28 Oct 1964. She married George W. Houdeshell.
  9. Mary Alice Force was born 28 Jun 1873 and died 12 Oct 1913. She married Richard Whiles
  10. Martha Ellen Force was born 9 May 1875 and died 10 Aug 1934. She married Jacob Whiles, then Wilson Smeal.
  11. Lucy Malinda Force was born 26 Sep 1876 and died in Mar 1960. She married William Emerick, then John King.
  12. George W. Force was born 6 Jan 1878 and died 10 Jan 1878.
  13. William E. Force was born 14 Sep 1883 and died 9 Oct 1883.
  14. Albert M. Force was born 4 Sep 1884 and died 5 Sep 1884.

I am looking for information on Jefferson’s parents and siblings. Other Forces of approximate age to be siblings in the area include:

  1. George W. Force, born 4 Dec 1829, married Hannah Bickel; In 1850, George W. was living with the William & Mary Tate family, Spring Township.
  2. Anna Force, born 8 Mar 1832, died 1 May 1833
  3. Martin V. Force, born 12 Dec 1835, died 28 May 1902, married Sarah Beightol in 1867; in 1850, Martin V. was living with the John M. & Mary Barnhart family, Howard Township.
  4. David Force, born 28 Jul 1837, married Mary (___); In 1850, David was living with the Jackson & Elizabeth Watson family, Howard Township.
  5. Agness F. Force, born 8 Apr 1839, married Adam Shope[?]; In 1850, Agnes was living with the George & Amey Cline family, Howard Township.
  6. Philip Force, born 8 Apr 1839; In 1850, Philip was living with the John & Barbara Neidic (Neidie?) family, Liberty Township.

I have not been able to locate Jefferson in the 1850 census. He would have been 17 years old. Other Force families in pre-1850 census records include:

  • 1840: Matthew & Thomas Forcee in Clearfield County; Joseph Force in Clinton County
  • 1830: Joseph & Thomas Force in Centre County; Matthew & Thomas Forcee in Clearfield County
  • 1820: George & Thomas Force in Centre County

One possibility is Isaac (1780-1 Nov 1843) and Mary “Polly” (d. 1846) Force. If you have any information on this couple, please drop me a line!

Footnotes

  1. “Certificate of Death – Jefferson FORCE,” 23 Oct 1910, Centre county, Pennsylvania, File number 103737, registrar Will Sickel, Collection of Kristen Hocker ↩
  2. 241. Chambers, Cordes W., The Mountaintop Thru Newspaper Accounts 1900-1910 (Cordes W. Chambers III, 1992), Volume 1, page 33 (1910), citing the Centre Democrat, 27 Oct 1910. ↩
  3. Ancestry.com. U.S., Civil War Draft Registrations Records, 1863-1865, database on-line (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010); citing Consolidated Lists of Civil War Draft Registrations, 1863-1865, NM-65, entry 172, 620 volumes, Records of the Provost Marshal General’s Bureau (Civil War), Record Group 110, National Archives, Washington D.C. ↩

Cite This Page:

, "Surname Saturday: Force," A Pennsylvania Dutch Genealogy, the genealogy & family research site of Kris Hocker, modified 20 Mar 2017 (https://www.krishocker.com/surname-saturday-force/ : accessed 21 Nov 2024).

Content copyright © 2017 Kris Hocker. Please do not copy without prior permission, attribution, and link back to this page.

4 Replies to “Surname Saturday: Force”

  1. Surname Saturday: My Ahnentafel List 3 May 2014 at 7:17 am

    […] M. Eckley (1836-1911) 44. James Benjamin Houdeshell (1842-1926) 45. Phoebe Mayes (1846-1921) 46. Jefferson Force (1833-1910) 47. Susan Mulhollan […]

  2. Michelle 10 Sep 2011 at 6:53 pm

    Hello,

    My name is Michelle (Meeker) Rogus from Snow Shoe. I am also related through Jefferson. His daughter, Carrie, married my great, great grandfather William Meeker. I love your web site and I got a lot of information from your site! I am supposed to take a genealogy class from the the Centre County Genealogy Society and I’m hoping to get some help from them. If I find anything deeper about Jefferson, I’ll let you know. Any ideas about where these people (Force, Mulhollan, or Boileau) are coming from?
    Thanks. Michelle

    1. Kris 12 Sep 2011 at 8:23 am

      Rudolph Mulhollan, father of John Mulhollan, was supposedly born in Ireland about 1770, coming to the US as a young man. He may have settled in Cumberland County before moving to Centre County. From what I understand, this was a common migration—from York, Cumberland, and Bedford counties northward into Centre and Clearfield.

      Daniel Boileau “came to Milesburg from Huntingdon County to make flour-barrels at the Milesburg grist-mill. He and his father-in-law Mr. Robertson, had fought side by side in the Revolutionary war as soldiers in the French army. Boileau settled eventually on a bit of land south of Milesburg, and died there in 1840. In front of the old log house that was his home at that place stand a hockory-tree that he planted with his own hands upon the occasion of Gen. Jackson’s first campaign for the Presidency.” [History of Centre County, p. 264] ~ The information I have on Daniel Boileau and Mary Robertson may be incorrect. There is, perhaps, another generation between them and Emily Boileau, wife of John Mulhollan.

  3. Marilyn 22 May 2011 at 8:07 pm

    Hello,

    Are you still looking for information on Jefferson Force? I can’t say if we have any, but I can ask my mother. We are descendents of Whlhemina Susan Force and Robert A Askey.

    Don’t know if I can learn any more than you, but I’ll try.

    Marilyn

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