Author: Kris Hocker

Genealogy: A New Perspective from A Discovery of Witches

Kris Hocker on 12 Feb 2021

Next to genealogy, my favorite pastime is reading. I enjoy a variety of genres of fiction, as well as non-fiction on occasion. Recently, intrigued by the ads for the second television season of A Discovery of Witches, starring Teresa Palmer as Diana Bishop and Matthew Goode as Matthew Clairmont, I read the All Souls trilogy by Deborah Harkness (A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night, and The Book of Life).

With an historian, who happens to be a non-practicing witch, researching Alchemical ancient manuscripts and a vampire geneticist, it hit a couple of my reading and genealogy sweet spots. I gobbled up all three volumes as fast as I could. Then I binged the first season of the show so I could be all caught up before the new season started.

In season two, Diana and Matthew travel back in time to England in 1590 in search of a witch to teach Diana how to use her magic. Drama and adventure ensues.

While I’m enjoying the show, I was not prepared for the sense of connection I feel. Knowing that I had an ancestor who I can identify by name who was living in London the very year the show is portraying added an unexpected dimension and gave me a new perspective on his life.

Richard Dungan

My 13th great grandfather Richard Dungan died in St. Martin-in-the-Fields in 1609 and was buried as a gentleman with “a hand-carved coat of arms on his coffin.”1 He was most likely born in Ireland either in Dublin or Dunganstown in County Wicklow.

AGAS map of London, circa 1560s, showing St. Martin-in-the-Fields, St. Paul's Cathedral, Somerset House and more
AGAS Map of London, circa 1560s

When he died, he was living at a house referred to as the Horseshoe in St. Martin-in-the-Fields. Prior to that, however, he lived and owned properties on Little Britain street in St. Botolph’s parish in Aldergate, just outside the London city walls.2 [see image above] There were also associations between family members and St. James Clerkenwell, St. Sepulchre, and Christ’s Church. In Shadow of Night, the basis of season two of A Discovery of Witches, Diana and Matthew spend time in the Black Friars section of London. But I imagine that Richard’s environs were not that much different.

In 1590, Richard was granted “the place of Master Plasterer to the Queen” after the death of John Symmonds, in place of Symmonds’ partner who had recently died.3 When Symmonds died in 1597, Richard was elevated to the position of Queen’s Master Plasterer on July 4th.4 He served as master of the Plasterers Company in 1601/2, 1604/5 and 1606/7.5

As such, Richard worked on a number of Crown projects at Whitehall, the Royal Palace at Greenwich, St. James Palace, and Somerset House, among others.6 He also did private work, including for Robert Cecil, son of William Cecil, Lord High Treasurer to Elizabeth I, who appears as a character in the show for whom Matthew was working as a spy. It’s a second-hand connection, I know, but if Richard did work for the crown, then I imagine he might have had some contact with agents of the Lord High Treasurer, too.

Dungan coat of arms
Dungan Coat of Arms
1598

In 1609, Richard did work at “Brittains Burse” also known as the New Exchange for Robert Cecil’s agent.7 The New Exchange was a center for the purchase of luxury goods, including perfumes. This is important because it—along with Richard’s residence at the Horseshoe, helps to tie Richard to his grandson William Dungan (c1600-1636) of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, a perfumer, who rented space in the Burse for two shops and a small residence8 from at least 1628 through 1637.

After William’s death, his widow, Frances (Latham) Dungan, and their children left England with her new husband, Capt. Jeremy Clarke, and settled in Rhode Island. My 10th great grandfather, William and Frances’ son, Rev. Thomas Dungan (1635-1688), started the first Baptist church in Pennsylvania at Cold Springs, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. His descendant Rachel Jones’ pedigree is—to the best of my knowledge—the only line on my mother’s side of the family which is not of German heritage.

Watching this TV show has unexpectedly given me a deeper feeling of connection to my little explored English roots and especially to my London ancestor, Richard Dungan.

Happy New Year, 2021!

Kris Hocker on 1 Jan 2021

brown wooden opened door shed

May the new year open doors to new opportunities for good health, happiness, and much success to you and yours! Happy New Year from my family to yours.

~Kris

Some Thoughts on the Parentage of Jefferson Force (1833-1910)

Kris Hocker on 27 Dec 2020

brown wall cladding

My third great grandfather Jefferson Force is my most frustrating brickwall ancestor. He was born 9 December 1833 and died 20 October 1910 in Pine Glen, Burnside Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania1 and was buried in the cemetery just down the road from where my grandmother’s family lived.2 He married Susan Mulhollan in 18573 and they had a family of 14 children, three of whom died as infants.

Nothing is really known about Jefferson’s ancestry. He first appears in the 1860 U.S. census in Burnside Township and remains in the township’s records through his death in 1910. At no point is there so much as a hint of his parentage in the record. His death certificate simply says “don’t know” under the names of father and mother.

Siblings?

Several other Forces—who I’ve taken as possible siblings—can be found in the 1850 census for Centre County. They appear in a number of disparate households:

• George W. Force (b. ca 1829/30) in the William & Mary Tate family, Spring Township
• Martin V. Force (b. ca 1835/36) in the John M & Mary Barnhart family, Howard Township
• David Force (b. ca 1835/36) in the Jackson & Elizabeth Watson family, Howard Township
• Agnes Force (b. ca 1839/40) in the George & Amey Cline family, Howard Township
• Philip Force (b. ca 1840/41) in the John & Barbara Neidic (Neidie?) family, Liberty Township

Assuming that these are all children of the same family, the parents must have married prior to 1829 and most likely died sometime between 1841 and 1850. If one or both parents were still alive in 1850, then they were unable to care for their children for some reason.

Isaac and Polly

A descendant of Agnes informed me that the names Isaac and Polly Force were handwritten on a Bible page that belonged to Agnes. DNA testing has shown that Agnes—and Martin V.—were related to Jefferson, probably his siblings. So, Isaac and Polly would also be Jefferson and Martin’s parents if the notation is correct.

I’ve seen this couple identified online as Isaac Force (1785-1843 or 1859) and Phebe Crowell (1789-1841), who married 20 March 1813 in Essex County, New Jersey.4 Isaac was allegedly the son of Isaac Force and Hannah Ward and 2G grandson of Matthew Force and Elizabeth Palmer.

I have a cluster of AncestryDNA matches that I’ve traced back to Benjamin, Thomas, and Mark, sons of Matthew and Elizabeth, plus a number that trace back to Forces that I can’t connect further back.

So far, this is consistent with Isaac and Phebe being the parents of Jefferson et al.

Questions and Conflicts

However, the more I research Isaac Force and Phebe Crowell, the more uncertain I am about them being Jefferson’s parents.

When I compare the birth years of those possible siblings of Jefferson to those of Isaac and Phebe, I see that the couple would have been 44 and 40, respectively, at the birth of George W. (born 1829), and 54 and 50 at the birth of Agnes and Philip (born 1839). While certainly not impossible, it’s pushing the limits. Furthermore, since they married in 1813, one would expect to see children born starting about 1815 or so. If there were older children, why weren’t any of those in the 1850 census found in a Force household?

Furthermore, Isaac allegedly died in 1843 in Pennsylvania, but other information shows he died 20 September 1859, and that both he and Phebe were buried in Ithaca. 5 Census records show an Isaac Force, aged 40-50, in Ithaca in 1840 with only a female, aged 40-50—presumably his wife Phebe.6 The 1830 census for Ithaca also shows an Isaac Force, aged 40-50, with one female, aged 40-50, and one male, aged 10-15.7

Neither of these records is consistent with a couple that had children between 1829 and 1839. Nor have I seen evidence of this Isaac in Centre County, Pennsylvania. Why would the children be in Centre County, Pennsylvania if the parents were in Ithaca, Tompkins County, New York?

There are a couple of possibilities based on this information:

  1. Ithaca Isaac and Phebe are NOT a match to Isaac and Polly, but ARE the couple married in 1813
  2. Ithaca Isaac and Phebe are NOT a match to Isaac and Polly and are NOT the couple married in 1813
  3. Ithaca Isaac and Phebe ARE a match to Isaac and Polly, but NOT the parents of the Centre County Force children from the 1850 census
  4. Ithaca Isaac and Phebe ARE a match to Isaac and Polly AND somehow related to the Centre County Force children from the 1850 census, but are NOT the parents
  5. The Centre County Force children—except Jefferson, Martin V. and Agnes—are NOT all siblings (explains age discrepancy) AND some of them belong to Isaac and Polly

At this point, I’m at a loss. I’m inclined to believe that Isaac Force and Phebe Crowell are NOT Jefferson’s parents, but are somehow related. It’s possible that another Isaac and his wife Polly were Jefferson’s parents, but I’ve yet to see evidence of them in any records outside the Bible page belonging to Agnes (Force) Shope (which I haven’t seen).

Based on the DNA, however, I’m fairly certain that Jefferson is a descendant of Matthew and Elizabeth (Palmer) Force. The question, of course, is how.

In Search of My Schneider Ancestry

Kris Hocker on 13 Dec 2020

1744 Old Goshenhoppen Cornerstone - Lutherans

I’ve written multiple blog posts regarding my search for my Snyder/Schneider family ancestry, specifically the ancestors of Joseph Snyder (1826-1895) of Upper Hanover Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. In recent years, I’ve had multiple occasions during which I needed to review those posts.

As a result, I decided to compile a list of posts in sequential order for myself and any other family member who wants to read about the journey. Some of these posts represent historical side trips, but this list should include any and all posts I’ve written regarding the family of Conrad and Catharina (Betz) Schneider.

It all started with a mortgage…

  1. Mortgage: Henry Snyder, 1830 (17 Jun 2011)
  2. 52 Ancestors: Joseph Snyder (1826-1895)—Who’s Your Daddy? (9 Feb 2014)
  3. The Greulich Farm (28 Sep 2015)
  4. Part II: The Greulich Farm (5 Oct 2015)
  5. Henry Schneider (1792-1860) (14 Oct 2015)
  6. Jacob Snyder of Upper Hanover (28 Nov 2016)
  7. Building a FAN Club for Jacob Schneider (3 Jan 2017)
  8. Miss Snyder’s Class Photo (8 Feb 2017)
  9. Unexpected Discovery from AncestryDNA Match (19 May 2017)
  10. How Are We Related? (30 May 2017)
  11. Greulich Farm Buildings (30 Oct 2017)
  12. The Snyder Connection (5 Dec 2017)
  13. Catharina Schneider:1783-1877 (13 Dec 2017)
  14. Building Pedigrees for Shared Matches (18 Dec 2017)
  15. On the Right Track? (9 Jan 2018)
  16. Building a Timeline for Jacob Schneider (13 Aug 2018)
  17. Jacob Schneider’s Timeline (19 Aug 2018)
  18. Is This a Schneider Breakthrough? (1 Oct 2018)
  19. Will: Conrad Schneider of Upper Salford, Translation (10 Nov 2018)
  20. Researching Michael Bender (1766-?) of Menallen Township (1 Dec 2018)
  21. Friday Finds: Stark County, Ohio Deed Archive (7 Dec 2018)
  22. Michael Bender (1766-?): A Follow-up (11 Dec 2018)
  23. Is It Nichl or Michl Bender? (15 Dec 2018)
  24. Margaret Schneider Reppert (1764-1831) (10 Aug 2019)
  25. Surprise! A New Mom for Catharina Betz (3 Jan 2020)
  26. Searching for Maria Margaretha Barbara’s Maiden Name (6 Jan 2020)
  27. AncestryDNA Cluster: Elizabeth (Snyder) Rantz (11 Jan 2020)
  28. Exasperating Elias (25 Jan 2020)
  29. Elizabeth (Snyder) Rantz: More Thoughts (5 Feb 2020)
  30. How Many Henry Benders? (23 Aug 2020)

The bold entries relate directly to my research to identify Joseph Snyder’s pedigree. The other entries provide additional information or clarifying research regarding other family members or genetic genealogy.

How Many Henry Benders?

Kris Hocker on 23 Aug 2020

I’ve been busy this year creating trees for my presumed Schneider matches on AncestryDNA, trying to identify our common ancestors. Success has been hit or miss, but I had one recently that caused some initial consternation.

In building a tree for a match I traced their line back to a Henry Bender of Tuscarawas County, Ohio. Henry died in 1833, leaving a widow and children. Online family trees identified this Henry as the son of Conrad Bender and his wife Susanna of Menallen Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania, born 25 March 1787. The problem, however, was that according to information I’ve found, Conrad’s son remained in Menallen Township his whole life and died there in 1863. 

I’ve got Schneider cluster DNA matches that trace back to both this Tuscarawas County Henry (d. 1833) and the Adams County Henry (d. 1863). So, both of them are descendants of Jacob Bender and his wife Eva Catharina Schneider. Which one was the son of Conrad Bender?

Identifying Henry

1809 baptismal record for Johannes Bender

The first thing I wanted to do was verify whatever information I could on Henry (d.1833), but specifically any information that would place him in Menallen Township. The online trees showed baptisms for two of his children—Johannes and Mariane—in Adams County.  FamilySearch shows Johannes was baptized at Benders Reformed Church in Butler (was Menallen) Township on 12 February 18091 and Mariane was baptized at Arendtsville Lutheran and Reformed Church on 19 April 1819.2 So, it’s likely that this Henry was in Menallen Township, at a minimum between 1809 and 1819. There were also baptisms for children of a Henry and Catharina, a Henry and Elisabeth, and a Henry and Magdalena. 

Census Records

There were three Henry Benders enumerated in the 1820 United States Federal census for the township. One of them was aged 45+ (born <1775),3 the other two aged 26-44 (born 1776-1794).4 The elder Henry was most likely Henry Bender (1762-1843), son of Jacob Bender and Eva Catharina Schneider. Of the other two, one was most likely the son of Conrad and the other one a son of one of Conrad’s brothers.

Looking earlier, since we know that Henry (d. 1833) was in Ohio in 1830 (aged 40-50),5 we find two Henry Benders in Menallen in 18106 and one in 1800.7 The elder Henry was enumerated as aged 45+ (born <1765) in 1810 and 26-44 (born 1756-1774) in 1800, the younger as 26-44 (born 1766-1784) in 1810. Henry (d. 1833) had son John in 1809 while as far as I know Henry (d. 1863) had his first child in 1821. 

So that means that Henry (d. 1833) was likely the younger Henry in the 1810 census—since he was already married and having children—and one of the younger Henrys in the 1820 census. Reconciling the ages from all these census records, we find that the mystery Henry was born about 1780-1784. This puts his birth prior to that of Conrad’s son Henry. But since census ages can be unreliable, I can’t conclude Henry wasn’t Conrad’s son from this information.

Tax Records

Most people wouldn’t expect to find parentage information in tax records. And they’d be correct in the majority of cases. However, without deeds—and I totally struck out with deeds for these Benders—tax records can show the transfer of property from person to person. Since this often happens within families, it can provide important clues to determine parentage.

In this case, the tax records were very illuminating. The closest tax assessment to the 1820 census was for 1821. There are four entries that include the name “Henry Bender”:8

  • Henry Bender Jr. (taxed on 336 acres, 2 horses, 2 cows)
  • Henry Bender of C (taxed on 3 horses, 2 cows)
  • Henry & Jacob Bender (taxed on 125 acres and 25 acres)
  • Henry Bender (taxed on 160 acres, 25 acres, 4 horses, 5 cows)

Only the first two are necessary to answer the question at hand.9

1809 Henry Bender Menallen Township tax entry
1809 Henry Bender Jun Menallen Township tax record: 446 acres, 2 horses, 2 cows

Following the tax records backwards and forwards, I found the Henry Jr. with the 336 acres in 1809.10 He may have been the Henry Bender in 1805 listed with the single men, but with the notation “mared.”11 He was also listed in the 1822, 1823, 1824, and 1825 tax assessments. 12 The 1824 tax assessment includes the notation “sold to George Newcomer & Hannah Bender.”13

The Henry Bender of C was most likely the son of Conrad. He was taxed on 140 acres in 1823.14  Jacob Bender of C was taxed on 134 acres.15 Put the two together and you have the 274 acres that Conrad was taxed on in 1821.16 And we know from Conrad’s will that he did, indeed, have two sons: Henry and Jacob.17

This Henry was consistently listed in the tax records for the township through 1833 where I stopped examining the records.18

Henry, Son of Conrad

Conrad’s son Henry was born 25 March 1787 and died 10 August 1863 and was buried in Bendersville Cemetery.19 He was most likely the Henry Bender who purchased the land that become Bendersville from William Sadler in 1819.20

Henry (d. 1833)

So, who was the mystery Henry’s father? 

The tax records seem to indicate that his father was Conrad’s brother Johannes. Those 446 acres Henry was taxed on in 1809? John Bender was taxed on 150 acres, 446 acres, and 20 acres in 1806.21 In 1809, he was taxed on only the 150 acres and 20 acres.22 The 446 acres was crossed out with the notation “mad over to his son” written next to it. Therefore, we can infer that “Henry Jun” was his son.

John and Conrad Bender 1809 Menallan Township tax entries
1809 Menallen Township tax record for John Bender with 446 acres crossed out

Furthermore, according to his last will and testament, John Bender did have a son named Henry.23 Although he left his real estate property to sons John and Jacob, Henry is mentioned in the will. John left Henry £150 to be distributed as £50 per year from 1823 through 1825. And it is after 1825 that presumably this Henry is no longer found in the Menallen Township tax record.

And there we have it. The Henry Bender who died in Ohio in 1833 was the son of Johannes and Catharina Bender of Menallen Township and first cousin of Henry Bender, son of Conrad, who died in Menallen Township in 1863.

AncestryDNA Cluster: Philip Craver

Kris Hocker on 15 Feb 2020

While assigning my Mom’s AncestryDNA™ matches to an ancestral line using the Leeds Method, I noticed there were a number of matches to my more recent Snyder cousins who were not actually Snyder descendants. Instead, they all seemed to be related to one specific couple: Philip Craver of North Carolina and his wife.

At first I wondered about the surname. I have Garbers in my tree. Did I get that surname wrong? Did the name get garbled somehow? But that’s a completely different ancestral line and no one in this cluster matched other members of it.

The Gräber Family

I know there was a family of Gräbers (aka Graber, Graeber, Craver), living the same areas in Montgomery County as my Mom’s ancestors. Andreas Gräber settled in Upper Hanover Township. He had two sons with his first wife: Andreas (1725-1807) and Ludwig (1732-1797); he had one son with his second wife: Philip (1745-1820). Andreas and Ludwig remained in Pennsylvania, while Philip moved to North Carolina.

The curious thing, however, is that I have found no DNA matches that can be traced back to either Andreas or Ludwig. None. Zip. Zero.

Since their descendants lived, in may cases, right down the street from many of my Mom’s ancestors, you’d think if I were related to the Gräber family, there would be matches to the Pennsylvania Gräbers. Since there aren’t, I can only draw one conclusion. I’m not genetically related to the Gräber family.

Philip Craver

Huh? But what about Philip, you say?

It’s entirely possible that he’s not the relevant party in this scenario—just the one I can identify by name. Since Philip’s children got their DNA from both their dad and their mom, it’s possible that the relevant DNA comes from Philip’s wife.

I currently don’t know her name—given or surname. The online sources do not agree. One, however, refers to a deed abstract in which Philip Craver of Rowan County, North Carolina sold land in 1787 and his wife Sarah signed the deed with her mark. This is the right family, but whether or not Sarah was the mother of Philip’s children, I do not know. The year 1787 seems to be after all the children were born. Therefore it’s possible she was step-mother to Philip’s children.

So, possibility #1 is that I’m genetically related to the mother of Philip Craver’s children—possibly through a woman named Sarah.

Andreas Gräber

While I’m apparently not related to Andreas (Jr.) or Ludwig Gräber, I can’t rule out the family completely. Philip was the son of Andreas’ second wife Gertraut (___) Muss Gräber. So, a second possibility is that Philip is the provider of the DNA in question, but he didn’t inherit it from his father. Instead, it could be from his mother.

I don’t know much about her, except that she was Andreas’ second wife and had herself been married previously. Two step-daughters are named in Andreas’ will: Anna Christina and Anna Margaretha Muss. Anna Christina married Carl Doerr and Anna Margaretha married Peter Laber/Lebar/Lauer/Lawar. To the best of my knowledge I haven’t found descendants of either of these couples among my Mom’s AncestryDNA matches, but I haven’t been looking specifically for them either. That will need to change.

Connection Points

This cluster provides two possible points of shared ancestry: 1. Philip Craver’s wife and 2. Philip Craver’s mother. Finding out more about them might give me an idea on where my tree intersects with theirs. Currently, I have only a general idea.

I mentioned above the cluster matches to some of my more recent Snyder cousins. More specifically, it connects with descendants of Joseph Snyder (1826-1895) and Judith Deischer (1830-1906). This tells me the shared ancestor is most likely among their ancestors.

Given the generational difference—Philip born in 1745, Joseph in 1826, and Judith in 1830, I’m probably looking at Joseph and Judith’s great grandparents or, more likely, 2x great grandparents as the common ancestors. That makes these ancestors, whoever they are, my mother’s 6x great grandparents and my 7x great grandparents.

Joseph Snyder

I can rule out one of Joseph’s ancestral lines—his paternal line. No one in this Craver cluster matches any of the core members of the Snyder or Nuss clusters. This means the common surname is not likely to be Schneider, Betz, Nuss, Reiher (Reyer), Röder (Roeder), or Zimmerman.

His maternal line is complete back to his great-grandparents and only missing one set of 2x great-grandparents. But I do not have maiden names for his maternal great-grandmother Esther (___) Wißler or maternal 2x great grandmother Magdalena (___) Wißler.

Sarah Wisler Snyder's pedigree
Sarah (Wißler) Schneider’s pedigree
Judith Deischer

Both Judith (Deischer) Snyder’s ancestral lines provide research opportunities. Her maternal grandmother’s maiden name is unknown and I’ve no information on her paternal grandmother’s family, allegedly named Rein/Rhein. There’s plenty of research to do on this branch of the family tree to identify the possible common ancestor.

Peter Deischer's pedigree
Peter Deischer’s pedigree
Anna Maria Trump's pedigree
Anna Maria (Trump) Deischer’s pedigree

Where to Start

The hardest part of identifying the common ancestor may be in deciding where to start. The best place may lie with a couple of the cluster members who share other surnames from my family tree. This may show where the connection lies. How? By allowing me to identify the ancestral line of Joseph or Judith to which the common ancestor belongs—assuming I’ve already identified an ancestor of that name.

If the common surname is not one I’ve already identified—e.g. one of those unknown maiden names, then at least I’ll have a surname and location (Montgomery County, PA) in which to start searching.

Additionally, I could simply start working to fill in the holes I’ve identified in the Wißler, Deischer, and Trump pedigrees all the way back to persons born in the late 1600s.

Either way, I won’t know until I do more research.

Elizabeth (Snyder) Rantz: More Thoughts

Kris Hocker on 5 Feb 2020

I just added a couple of new matches to the Elizabeth (Snyder) Rantz match group. In doing so, I’ve been reviewing the shared matches associated with this group and realized something.

All of the group members’ match lists include members of the larger Schneider cluster. However, in about half of the cases, the lists also include members who’ve been identified as descendants of Jacob and Catharina (Nuss) Snyder, my 5th great grandparents.

While not a great surprise—we are all Schneider descendants, after all—I’ve come to associate the appearance of these specific individuals in match lists with the possibility of there being Nuss DNA involved with the match.

What does this mean?

The presence of Snyder-Nuss descendants in the match lists to this degree, I believe, ups the likelihood that Elizabeth (Snyder) Rantz’s descendants are also Snyder-Nuss descendants.

I can pretty much rule out Elizabeth (Snyder) Rantz as being a child of Jacob and Catharina (Nuss) Snyder. I’ve documented Jacob and Catharina’s adult lives in Upper Hanover Township, Montgomery County and, for a short time, in Hereford Township, Berks County. Furthermore, I’ve researched their daughter Elizabeth and can place her in Upper Hanover after William Rantz and Elizabeth Snyder were married in Columbia County, Pennsylvania in 1824.

At this time, I only have one other Snyder-Nuss connection identified: Elias and Anna Maria (Nuss) Schneider—Jacob’s presumed parents. I’m not an expert, but this seems to indicate that my hypothesis that Elizabeth was the granddaughter or great granddaughter of Elias and Anna Maria through their son Conrad or grandson Daniel is the correct one.

I don’t, unfortunately, believe that it proves the hypothesis correct. I’m going to keep searching for documentation on this family line. To quote the X-Files, the truth is out there. It may take me a while, but I’m going to find it.

Exasperating Elias

Kris Hocker on 25 Jan 2020

I used to think that Christian Hoover (1825-1887) was my most frustrating and exasperating ancestor. No more. That title now belongs to my presumed ancestor Elias Schneider (1733-1779).

Finding records for Elias and his descendants is proving to be a challenge. So far, I’ve got:

  • 12 Aug 1733: Elias born in Pennsylvania to Conrad and Eva Catharina (Betz) Schneider
  • 24 Jun 1752: Elias confirmed at Old Goshenhoppen
  • 15 Apr 1753: Elias took communion at Old Goshenhoppen
  • 2 Sep 1753: Elias sponsored Johann Elias, son of Johannes & Anna Maria Weicker, at Old Goshenhoppen with his father and Maria Margaretha Derr
  • 4 Feb 1756: Elias and Anna Maria Nuss sponsored Elias, son of Jacob and Eva Catharina (Schneider) Bender, at Old Goshenhoppen
  • 7 Dec 1756: Elias married Anna Maria Nuss at Old Goshenhoppen
  • 20 Jun 1758: Elias & Anna Maria’s son Conrad (b. 18 Nov 1757) baptized at Old Goshenhoppen, sponsored by Conrad Grimm (single) & Elisabetha Nuss (single)
  • 10 Aug 1759: Leonard and Elias took out an administration bond on their father’s estate, Elias Lang & Henry Vanderslice submitted their inventory and appraisal of Conrad’s estate
  • 8 Apr 1761: Leonard and Elias filed their account administration for their father Conrad’s estate
  • July 1764: Elias & Anna Maria’s daughter Anna Margaretha (b. 2 Jul 1764) baptized at Old Goshenhoppen, sponsored by George Gaugler & Anna Margaretha Nuss
  • 1769: Elias taxed in Upper Salford Township
  • 17 Nov 1771: Elias & Anna Maria’s daughter Catharine (b. 27 Oct 1771) baptized at Old Goshenhoppen, sponsored by Philip Gabel & Anna Margaretha [Schneider]
  • 31 Mar 1779: Anna Maria Schneider, widow & relict of Elias Schneider, granted Letters of Administration on Elias Schneider’s estate, Oley Township, Berks County; takes out administration bond
  • 5 Apr 1779: Daniel Guldin & Elias Waggoner filed their inventory and appraisal of Elias Schneider’s estate
  • 1780: Widow Snyder & Conrad Snyder taxed in Oley Township
  • 1781: Widow Snyder & Conrad Snyder taxed in Oley Township
  • 1782: Widow Snyder & son taxed in Oley Township
  • 3 Jan 1784: child born to Conrad Snyder & wife “Margreda” baptized at Oley (Salem) Reformed Church, sponsored by Elias Wagner & wife Eva
  • 1786: Conrad Snyder taxed in Oley Township
  • 10 Jan 1786: Margaretha Schneider married Jacob Reppert in Oley Township
  • 1787: Conrad Snyder taxed in Oley township
  • 17 Jun 1787: Conrad’s daughter Catharina (b. 7 Feb) baptized at Zion Spiess’ Reformed Church, sponsored by Jacob Dreher & wife Barbara
  • 1788: Conrad Snyder taxed in Alsace Township
  • 10 Mar 1789: Conrad and Margaretha sponsored Daniel, son of John Feger & wife at Zion Spiess’ Church
  • 10 Mar 1789: Conrad’s daughter Catharina buried at Schwartzwald Church cemetery
  • 4 Apr 1789: Conrad’s son buried at Schwartzwald Church cemetery
  • 3 Aug 1789: Conrad’s son Daniel baptized at Schwarzwald Reformed Church, sponsored by Valentin Hartmann & Elisabeth [Schneider?]
  • 1790: Conrad Snyder enumerated in Alsace Township
  • 1791: Conrad Snyder taxed in Exeter Township
  • 21 Aug 1791: Conrad’s daughter Catharina baptized at Schwartzwald Reformed Church, sponsored by Johannes Meyer & Catharina Papp
  • 1792: Conrad Snyder taxed in Exeter Township
  • 1793: Conrad Snyder taxed in Exeter Township
  • 30 Jun 1793: Conrad’s daughter Anna Maria baptized at Schwartzwald Reformed Church, sponsored by Philip Lies & Anna Maria Kelchner
  • 24 May 1795: Conrad’s daughter Elizabetha baptized at Schwartzwald Reformed Church, sponsored by Elizabetha [Schneider?] Seyer [Sayer/Sayre]

That might look like a lot of information, but it reveals relatively little about Elias and his family. Most of the records aren’t for him. They are for his presumed widow and son. I’m left with a number of questions that I can’t answer.

For instance, there are baptismal records for three children: Conrad in 1758, Anna Margaretha in 1764, and Catharina in 1771. There are 6-7 years between these children’s births. Were they the only children for this couple? If not, why weren’t the births of the others recorded at Old Goshenhoppen? Were they not born in Upper Salford? If not, where were they born?

If my 5x great grandfather Jacob Schneider was their son, he was born in one of those 6-7 year intervals. Why can’t I find a record of his birth?

The records—that I’d expect to find, but haven’t—raise additional questions. For example, Elias’ estate inventory was valued at about £1,100. That’s almost $190,000 today! When he died in 1779, his known children were 21, 15, and 8. Only one of them was of age, so there would have had to have been guardians appointed for his two daughters. Yet, I have found no Orphans Court record in Berks County for Elias Snyder and there absolutely should be.

The “Widow Snyder” and Conrad Snyder were consistently taxed on horses and cows in 1780 and part of 1781, but no land. But the third tax record from 1781 and the 1782 list show they were taxed on 200 acres. Where did the land come from? Was it part of Elias’ estate? If so, why were there no Orphans Court records regarding it? It should have been appraised and evaluated to determine if it could be divided between the heirs. I found no record of such.

Nor have I found evidence of a warrant, patent, purchase, or sale of land by Elias or his heirs in Berks County. By 1786, the Widow Snyder is not included in Oley Township tax records. But Conrad was and he was only taxed on his occupation (shoemaker) and 1 horse. No land. What happened to it?

See what I mean? Exasperating.

I honestly believe that Elias is the best candidate to have fathered my 5x great grandfather Jacob, but proving it may be very difficult—even with the DNA evidence. The generational distance between my mom and any DNA matches may prevent even the DNA evidence from actually telling us much about our degree of relationship.

But I’ll keep plugging away. Sooner or later, that exasperating man is going to yield up his secrets. At least, I hope so…

Update: 5 Tips to Get the Most Out of Your AncestryDNA Results

Kris Hocker on 19 Jan 2020

Waaay back in December 2017, I wrote a post entitled “5 Tips to Help You Get the Most Out of Your AncestryDNA Results.” Given that a lot has changed since then would I make the same suggestions today?

Let me first remind you of those 5 tips:

  1. Add a family tree
  2. Connect your family tree to your DNA test
  3. Trace collateral lines
  4. Make your tree public
  5. Download your DNA results

For the most part, I’d make those same recommendations today. However, I don’t know that they would all be in my top five. Given the changes Ancestry has made and the tools they’ve added, I would tweak some of them or replace them with new tips altogether.

So, here’s my updated top five tips.

1. Add a family tree

This is absolutely still my top tip—and my number one frustration with new DNA matches. It’s absolutely impossible to identify our common ancestry if I don’t know who any of your ancestors were. I mean, I’m good. But nobody is that good unless they already know you personally.

Ancestry family tree example shown in pedigree layout
Ancestry Family Tree (pedigree)

So, build a tree. Even if the first few generations are private—as they should be for living people—I can work with your deceased ancestors to build a tree to knit our respective branches together. It’s more work than if it’s already complete, but it can be done.

And this ties into the next tip.

2. Connect your family tree to your DNA test

This is not absolutely necessary. I’ve worked successfully with unlinked trees. But it’s always easier when you know how the DNA test taker fits into the family tree. That’s not always clear with unlinked trees.

So, go ahead and tie the test to your entry in the family tree. It will help immensely with my ability and that of Ancestry’s ThruLines™ to locate our shared ancestry.

3. Make your tree searchable

When Ancestry switched from DNA Circles to their ThruLines, they changed the way in which family trees were used to make the connections. First, they changed which trees were used. With Circles only public trees were used. Now with ThruLines, Ancestry will use both public and private trees, but will only use a private tree if it is searchable. (Here’s how.)

They now also use multiple trees. It doesn’t just match between the public trees of two DNA matches. Their algorithm builds connections between the individuals in multiple trees—some may not even be related—back to the common ancestor. So, it might match your Grandpa Joe to someone else’s cousin Joe, then connect his great grandpa Thomas to someone else’s ancestor, and so on until it makes a connection to Henry in my tree. Giving us both a common ancestor.

Pro tip? Follow up each common ancestor with your own review. I’ve sometimes found that a match and I do indeed share the provided common ancestor, but the DNA we share comes through another ancestor. How did I determine this? Our Shared Matches were related through someone else—who I found with a little research we both also shared.

4. Create custom groups

While the first three tips will help both you and your DNA cousins to make connections, this tip benefits primarily you.

How to create an AncestryDNA custom group
Ancestry Custom Group

Ancestry added custom groups at the beginning of last year. Many users, including myself, have been using them to assign DNA matches to an ancestral group following the Leeds Method by Dana Leeds. It’s a useful method of identifying which branch of your family tree a DNA match belongs to and can help identify a common ancestor or couple.

One column on your Shared Match list contains the group (and the ability to add/edit it) and your notes for each match included. Once you’ve started using a method to group and color tag your matches, you can use your Shared Match list to identify and group the match you’re reviewing.

On the main match page, you can filter your match results based on the custom group and use additional search parameters to narrow the list even further if you wish. This allows you to easily work with a subset of your matches.

5. Make use of Ancestry’s ThruLines

Use Ancestry’s ThruLines for tips and hints. As I mentioned in tip #3, a ThruLines match can be valid and still be incorrect as a common ancestor between you and a specific DNA match (or match group).

Ancestry ThruLines showing my ancestors and number of DNA matches

You can use the information it provides as a suggestion for additional research. Evaluate what you find. Does it corroborate the information or contradict it? How reliable it that piece of evidence? Does it suggest other avenues for research.

You may find that your existing or new research proves ThruLines correct, semi-correct, or not at all correct. But evaluate it before making a decision.

Conclusion

These are my top five tips, as of the beginning of 2020. Depending on new developments they will likely change in the future. I’ll let you know.