Author: Kris Hocker

John Weidman’s (1756-1830) Pedigree Was He Really Related to President Buchanan?

Kris Hocker on 16 Jun 2016

John Weidman SAR incorrect pedigree

An issue recently came up in a Facebook group that I belong to for my Weidman surname. A fellow family researcher had found information that connected our Weidmans to President James Buchanan.

I’ve never been terribly interested in making connections to famous persons in my family research. My ancestors were all farmers and laborers with a few shoemakers, innkeepers, tailors and such thrown in the mix. And I’m good with that.

Here is the page of information relating to the issue in question.1

Weidman-Buchanan DAR pedigree

Reading the information, I was nodding. Yes, Martin Weidman had a son named Jacob. True, Jacob had a son named Christopher. I don’t have much information on Christopher, so this was looking like new data to add to the database. Christopher and his wife had a son named John born in 1756 who fought in the Revolutionary War…

Wait! What?

Right away I knew this information couldn’t be correct. Jacob Weidman, son of Martin and Anna Margaretha (Still) Weidman, was born 12 March 1736.2 There’s no way that Jacob had a grandson born when he was twenty years-old. No way.

Do the math. It just doesn’t add up.

Jacob’s son Johannes Fridrich was born 17 August 1764,3 so he wasn’t the John referred to in the article. What about Jacob’s older brother Christopher? Did he have a son named John? Maybe Jacob was incorrectly added to the pedigree.

Christopher Weidman

Reviewing my information I found that, yes, Christopher and his wife Anna Maria did, in fact, have a son named John. I didn’t actually have birth information for him, but a birth in 1756 was consistent with what I knew about his siblings.

What wasn’t consistent was a mother named Sarah Buchanan. Where was that coming from? Was I mistaken in the name of Christopher’s wife?

I went back through the information I had on Christopher. He was born 7 March 1724 in Gräben, Baden-Durlach.4 He came to Pennsylvania with his parents and grandparents, arriving in Philadelphia on 27 August 1733.5 After their arrival, Christopher’s family settled in what—at the time—was often referred to in official documents as Cocalico Township in Lancaster County, though today it’s Clay Township.6

I found a record of a marriage between “Christopher Wittman” and “Mary Adams” at Muddy Creek Lutheran Church in Cocalico Township on 20 June 1748.7 Christopher would have been twenty-four years old in 1748.

In his last will and testament, written 20 March 1777, Christopher named his wife Anna Maria. I have baptismal and communion records at Emanuel Lutheran and Reiher’s Reformed churches naming Christopher and his wife Anna Maria from 1769 through 1777.8 Deeds from his estate settlement, however, name his wife as Barbara.9 He married Barbara (Kissinger) Bücher, widow of Christian Brücher, 8 November 1785.10 So, his wife Anna Maria died sometime between 6 July 1777 and 8 November 1785.

I found no evidence that Christopher had a wife named Sarah. Unfortunately, I can’t positively rule it out either.

Mary Adams

Part of the problem with Weidman research is the lack of consistency of the spelling of the surname in historical records. Add in another unrelated family named Witman who also lived in the same general location and you’ve got a problem. Add a contemporary of Christopher Weidman named Christopher Witman… well I’m sure you see where I’m going. Since some records list known Weidman family members with the “Witman” spelling, it’s a pretty tangled web to unweave sometimes.

Since I didn’t find any records naming Christopher’s wife between the marriage in 1748 and 1769 baptismal records, I decided to research Mary Adams. Who was she? And can I document connections between her family and the Weidmans?

Christopher and his wife Anna Maria sponsored children of George and Catharina (Weidman) Wächter,11 Martin and Anna Catharina (Enck) Laber,12 George and Margaretha (Weidman) Illig,13 Michael and Susanna (___) Rogh (or Roth),14 and Christopher and Catharina (Weidman) Stichel.15 Anna Maria also sponsored a daughter of Jacob and Anna Maria (___) Enck.16 No obvious signs of a sibling of “Mary Adams” there.

William Adams of Cocalico Township wrote his  last will and testament on 21 November 1772.17 He does not name his daughter, but does name his grandsons, John and William Witman. So, most likely Mary Adams was not only the daughter of William Adams, but also deceased prior to 21 November 1772 when William wrote his will. Futhermore, while our Christopher Weidman did have a son named John, to the best of my knowledge, he did not have a son named William.

There was also connection between the family of Christopher Witman Sr. and William Adams. On 7 April 1749, Christopher Witman and his wife Barbara sold 246 acres of their 356 acres in Cocalico Township to William Adams.18 This Christopher Witman wrote his last will and testament 18 February 1765 and it was proven on 12 September 1770.19 In it he names his son Christopher.

Apparently, while our Christopher was married to a woman named Anna Maria, she quite possibly wasn’t Mary Adams, daughter of William Adams. She most likely married Christopher “Witman” in 1748 and was deceased before 1772.

Sarah Buchanan

So, did Christopher marry a member of President Buchanan’s family? A Sarah Buchanan? What do we know about President Buchanan’s family?

I didn’t know anything, but a quick internet search revealed a bio of the president. He was the son of Irish immigrant “James Buchanan, Sr. (1761–1821), a businessman, merchant, and farmer, and Elizabeth Speer, an educated woman (1767–1833).”20 So, immediately, we know Sarah couldn’t have been the president’s sister, not since her alleged son was born in 1756 and her father was born in 1761 in Ireland. She couldn’t have been an aunt either—though James Buchanan Sr. did have a sister named Sarah who married William Morrison—unless said aunt was significantly older than her brother. Again, the timeframe does not fit.

Conclusion

While I neither confirmed nor disproved that our Christopher Weidman was married to a woman named Sarah Buchanan, I do not believe he could have been married to a “Sarah Buchanan” from President Buchanan’s family. In fact, I found zero evidence that he had a wife named Sarah.

However, I believe I’ve also proven—at least to myself—that the conclusion that he married Anna Maria Adams in 1748 may, quite likely, be incorrect. I now think that marriage was between the Adams and “Witman” families, not our Weidmans. At a minimum, I’ll need to do more research.

Now I’m adding another item to my research agenda.

Who was Anna Maria (___) Weidman?

Easy Footnotes Adding Footnotes to Your WordPress Blog Post

Kris Hocker on 17 Apr 2016

FD Footnotes example

I’ve written before about the importance of citing your sources. But when you’re writing a blog post creating footnotes can be a bit of a problem. If you’re posting to a self-hosted WordPress blog, however, there is a simple solution.

When I first started writing my blog, I created my footnotes the hard way—inserting the HTML markup into the text for the footnote, then adding a section at the very end of the post and inserting the citations there.

blah blah blah.<sup>1</sup> Blah blah blah

This was awkward and time consuming.

Plugins

There are a number of plugins listed on WordPress.org for adding footnotes to posts or pages. Most of the ones I looked at required the use of shortcodes. A citation would be formatted like this:

[shortcode]This is the citation content.[/shortcode]

Each plugin had it’s own shortcode. Various plugins used [ref], [footnote], <fn>, etc.

This works. But again it’s awkward, especially if you’re not writing your post directly in the post editor.

FD Footnotes does not work that way. For this plugin you add your citation much like you’re adding an inline footnote. So, the citation would look like this in your text:

blah blah blah.[1.This is your footnote.] Blah blah blah.

The plugin automatically numbers and formats the footnote marker and places the footnote at the end of the post or page.1

This works well for me. I write my posts in Scrivener, adding my footnotes as inline citations.2 Then I copy the blog text and paste it into the WordPress editor. When you view the post, the citations have been converted to footnotes that you can click to view the full note.

With a little extra effort, I can later turn the blog post footnotes into Scrivener footnotes. This means I can easily reuse post content in a printed or electronic book I want to publish.

There’s really only one thing I don’t like about this process. It’s difficult for me to read/review the post one last time in the editor. I have to preview the post so that the plugin executes. Otherwise the inline footnotes interfere with my ability to easily read the text.

If you’re writing for a self-hosted WordPress blog and need footnotes, try out the FD Footnotes plugin and see if it fits your writing process.

Ancestral Birthplace Chart A Little Saturday Night Fun

Kris Hocker on 26 Mar 2016

Cropped 5 gen chart

So, Randy Seaver’s Saturday Night fun challenge was to create a color-coded ancestral birthplace chart. This chart has been popping up all over the genea-blogosphere in recent days and it seemed like a fun idea. I decided to play along, too.

5 generation birth location chart

The majority of my ancestors were born and lived in Pennsylvania from their arrival in the 18th century. So my five generation ancestral chart is not very colorful. With the exception of my birthplace and of a couple of latecomers from Scotland and Germany, it’s all the same color.

Extending the chart to six generations makes it a little more colorful, but not that much.

6 gen birthplace chart

Elizabeth (Buchanan) Bonnington’s birthplace is either Scotland or Ireland. Benjamin Houdeshell was born in West Virginia when it was still part of Virginia. And Reverend Frederic Waage was born in what is now part of Denmark, but was part of Germany at the time of his birth.

If I extended the chart to the immigrants for all those green boxes, the chart would still be nearly monochromatic. Most of those ancestors were born in Germany (or German-controlled locations such as Alsace-Lorraine), though some had ancestors born in Switzerland.

My Smith/Bonnington, Mulholland and Jones ancestors would add color as I would be able to add more Scotland and Ireland, as well as England and Wales to the palette. But here in the U.S. my ancestors were almost universally born in Pennsylvania, except for one line with connections to New Jersey and Rhode Island.

Skepticism: Wherefore Art Thou?

Kris Hocker on 12 Mar 2016

A healthy dose of skepticism can be a valuable tool in genealogy. It’s important to examine each record critically. It’s a lesson I’ve just had cause to remember, again.

I was looking at the record in my Reunion database for my ancestor Daniel Boileau and I found the following:

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 stands a hickory-tree that he planted with his own hands upon the occasion of Gen. Jackson’s first campaign for the Presidency. 1

“He and his father-in-law Mr. Robertson, had fought side by side in the Revolutionary war as soldiers in the French army.”

I also have Daniel’s death date as 28 November 1840. At that time he was 69 years old, placing his birth about 1771.2 The 1840 census for Spring Township, Centre County confirms this.3 His age, 60-70, places his birth between 1770 and 1780. This would make him about 12 years old at the end of the war.

France entered the war in February 1778 with the Treaty of Alliance.  At that time, Daniel was six or seven years old. I have a very hard time seeing a boy that young being allowed to join the French army. He would have only been ten years old at the time of the Battle of Yorktown where General Cornwallis surrendered in 1781.

Granted young boys (and occasionally girls) served in historic armies. But at the time the armies were most active in the north—where one would assume Daniel would have served since that’s where he ended up—he would have been exceptionally young to have been a soldier. Not impossible, but not very likely either.

Skepticism Found

Looking at that quote now, I’m surprised I just added it to the database without a qualification. I find it unlikely to be the absolute truth. But it’s possible that it contains parts of the truth.

First, there could have been a Daniel Boileau—perhaps a relative, perhaps even his father—who served in the Revolutionary War. Different people with the same name are confused for each other all the time. And it’s not uncommon for fathers and sons of the same name to be reduced to one person. Adding several hundred years to the problem, only makes it harder to differentiate between people.4

In this scenario, I’m less certain of the French army connection, unless the soldier eventually brought his family over from France. If they were already here, wouldn’t he have just served with the colonials?

Alternatively, perhaps Daniel and his father-in-law fought together in a different war. At the time of the War of 1812, Daniel would have been about 41 years old. Not the age of the average soldier—especially if his father-in-law fought beside him—but not outside the realm of possible. The planting of a hickory tree in honor of Andrew Jackson’s first presidential campaign seems to indicate some strong feelings for the man who played a pivotal role in the War of 1812.5

Regardless, I apparently need to give my inner skeptic more of a free reign when researching my ancestors.

Ruth Olive Hocker (22 Aug 1920—12 Feb 2016)

Kris Hocker on 19 Feb 2016

Ruth Olive (Hoover) Hocker passed away Friday morning, the 12th of February, at her home in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Born on 22 August 1920 in Lescontes Mills, Girard Township, Clearfield, County, she was one of the twelve children—seven sons and five daughters—of Clyde Leroy and Nora Melinda (Houdeshell) Hoover.

Hoover House, Pine Glen

Hoover House, Pine Glen

When she was just a child, her family moved from Lescontes Mills where her father had been working as a lumberman, to Pine Glen, Centre County where her father was born. She grew-up there near her paternal grandparents and many other family members.

Ruth Hocker taking a photo

Ruth taking a photo

The house they lived in1—while sizable enough for a family of 12 children—did not have electricity or running water. There was a well for water and an outhouse. Still is for that matter. When they needed water for cooking or washing, one of the children was sent either to the creek across the road or out back to the well. 2

When I asked about her favorite summer pastimes, she recalled that with chores there wasn’t a lot of free time. They baked their own bread, raised their own food—both animal and vegetable, harvested and preserved the food from the garden in the fall, and washed their clothes—and with 12 kids there was a lot of it—by hand. The girls worked in the house and gardens while the boys worked the farm and farm animals, hunted, and cut firewood.

When there was time, she liked to go on wood hikes with her father, picnics, reading books from the library her mother ran from their front room, and splashing in the creek. The boys, she remembered, sometimes played baseball.

At the age of 18 she moved to Harrisburg where she worked as a domestic for the Bogar family to earn money to go to college. That was where she met her future husband William H. Hocker.  He accompanied his father to do some carpentry work at the Bogar house.

1941 Bill and Ruth's wedding photo

1941 Wedding photo

William and Kate—as she was known to close friends and family—were married 24 September 1921 at Olivet Presbyterian Church in Harrisburg. Bill’s sister Anna Louise and Ruth’s brother Don served as their attendants. The couple resided in Harrisburg, living in a home that had been owned by the Hocker family since the 1890s.

While Ruth worked outside the home at a flower shop after her children were grown, she was happiest tending to her home, family and friends. She enjoyed baking, sewing, and discovered a love of reading at a young age when her mother operated the Pine Glen library from their home.

Bill and Ruth Hocker in the kitchen at home

At home in the kitchen

She is survived by her children: Richard Hocker, William III Hocker, Virginia Davis, and JoAnn Hocker, four grandchildren, and two great grandchildren. Also surviving her are her sister Norma Jean (Hoover) Hoover, brother Marvin “Bud” Hoover, and various nieces, nephews and their children.

She was preceded in death by her parents and nine siblings, including: Harold L. Hoover, W. Russell Hoover, Helen F. Yingling, Sarah I. “Betz” Plubell, Willard C. “Boots” Hoover, Clyde L. Hoover, Donald V. Hoover, Gladys H. “Peg” Hoover, and Robert P. “Bob” Hoover.

She will be buried beside her husband at Paxtang Cemetery, in Paxtang, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.

Using the Census to Fill In Family Details The Ancestry of Abraham Huber (1847-1910)

Kris Hocker on 10 Feb 2016

1860 census John Huber household

In my last post regarding Abraham Huber, I learned that he was the son of John Huber from John and Christian’s last will and testaments. Based on those documents, I was able to create a simple outline of the family. Now I want to flesh that out a bit with information from census records.

We know that John and Christian lived in Providence Township. John died in 1862, his widow in 1890. Christian died in 1881. Based on this information I’m going to start with the 1880 census for Providence Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

1880 Census

Abraham Huber 1880 Census

Abraham’s household is located on the first page of the Providence Township records.1 His household includes:

  • Abraham Huber, age 31
  • Christian Huber, his uncle, age 79
  • Margaret Huber, his mother, age 70
  • Susan Huber, his sister, age 45
  • Catharine Huber, his sister-in-law, age 29
  • Emma Huber, his niece, age 11
  • Tobias Huber, his nephew, age 9
  • Susan Huber, his niece, age 6
  • John Sheridan, a servant

The next household is also a Huber family, headed by John Huber, aged 76, and his wife Elizabeth, aged 70. This may be the “little” John Huber mentioned in the 1892 deed.

1870 Census

Margaret Huber 1870 Census

The family is also located near the beginning of the records for Providence in 1870. In this record, Margaret is listed as the head of household.2 The family includes:

  • Margaret Huber, age 60
  • Christian Huber, age 42, Farm manager
  • Tobias Huber, age 38, Farm laborer
  • Susan Huber, age 35
  • Abraham Huber, age 24, Farm laborer
  • Mary Rineer, age 32
  • Fanny Rineer, age 10
  • Mariah Rineer, age 8
  • Margaretha McFalls, age 20
  • Christian Huber Sr., age 71, Retired

Christian and Tobias Huber—John’s executors—are listed with the family. They both died in 1876, and so are not included in the 1880 census. John’s daughter Mary is included with her two daughters this time, while daughter-in-law Catharine Huber and her daughter Emma are not listed. So, it’s likely that Catharine’s husband is still alive.

And indeed, their household was found two pages later:

  • John Huber, age 30, Farm laborer
  • Catherine S. Huber, age 19
  • Emma R. Huber, age 1

Once again, John and Elizabeth Huber’s family is listed directly after this Huber family.

1860 Census

John Huber 1860 Census

The 1860 census provides our first glimpse of John Huber in these records.3 His household is included on page nine of the Providence records. It includes:

  • John Huber, age 71, Farmer
  • Margaret Huber, age 52
  • Christian Huber, age 33, Farm hand
  • Tobias Huber, age 28, Farm hand
  • Susan Huber, age 26
  • John Huber, age 20, Farm hand
  • Abraham Huber, age 13

Daughter Ann Huber is listed in the next household, headed by her husband James McFalls.

  • James McFalls, age 34, Laborer
  • Ann McFalls, age 32
  • John McFalls, age 8
  • William McFalls, age 3

I could not locate Christian Huber Sr. in the 1860 census. However, John and Elizabeth Huber’s household, as expected, is nearby, three households down from John and Margaret Huber’s family.

1850 Census

John Huber 1850 Census

Providence Township was established in 1853, taken from Martic Township. So, John and family are located in the 1850 census for Martic.4 The family is number 164 and includes:

  • John Huber, age 60, Farmer
  • Margaret Huber, age 41
  • Christian Huber, age 20
  • Anny Huber, age 22
  • Tobias Huber, age 21
  • Susanna Huber, age 17
  • Mary Huber, age 13
  • John Huber, age 11
  • Abraham Huber, age 3
  • Daniel Huber, age 1
  • James McFalls, age 24, Laborer
  • Christian Huber, age 49, Laborer

This census includes all the family seen in the other census records, plus Daniel, age 1. His absence from the 1860 census, leads me to believe that he died prior to 1 Jun 1860. Note James McFalls living in the household. He married Anna Huber sometime in the next year to two years.

Furthermore, the wide age gap between John and his wife Margaret and between sons John Huber and Abraham Huber makes me think that Margaret might not be John’s first wife. She’s old enough to be Christian’s mother, but the gap between children either relates to a previous marriage and death of the spouse or a number of children who died young. We’ll need to see what the previous census shows for more clarity.

Again, as in previous census entries, the John and Elizabeth Huber family is located within three household of John and Margaret’s. Also on this page, however, are two other Huber households: Jacob and Anny Huber and Abraham and Mary Huber.

1840 Census

John Huber 1840 Census

In the 1840 census, John’s household includes:5

  • John Huber, 40-50 (b. 1790-1800)
  • Male, 30-40 (b. 1800-1810) [brother Christian?]
  • Male, 10-15 (b. 1825-1830) [son Christian?]
  • Male, 5-10 (b. 1830-1835) [son Tobias?]
  • Male, <5 (b. 1836-1840) [son John?]
  • Female, 70-80 (b. 1760-1770) [Mother?]
  • Female, 10-15 (b. 1825-1830) [Annie?]
  • Female, 5-10 (b. 1830-1835) [Susanna?]
  • Female, < 5 (b. 1836-1840) [Mary?]

If John was married to Margaret, there should be a woman, aged about 31 (26-44), in the household. The fact that there isn’t strengthens my feeling that Margaret was John’s second wife and that Abraham and Daniel were children of this union. If so, John’s first wife died sometime between January (John’s birth) and August 1840 (census).

As in previously viewed census records, John’s brother Christian was living in his household. It also appears that John’s mother, aunt, or other senior female may have been living with him in 1840, too.

1830 Census

John Huber Sr. 1830 Census

In 1830, John was living adjacent to Peter Huber in Martic Township. His household was composed of:6

  • John Huber Sr., 30-40 (b. 1790-1800)
  • Male, 30-40 (b. 1790-1800) [brother Christian?]
  • Male, <5 (b. 1826-1830) [son Christian?]
  • Female, 60-70 (b. 1760-1770) [Mother?]
  • Female, 20-30 (b. 1800-1810) [1st wife?]
  • Female, <5 (b. 1826-1830) [Annie?]

Since his children are under 5 years of age, he likely married sometime around or just prior to 1825. He was probably living at home in 1820. Both his brother Christian and the senior female were living with John in 1830, too. If the female is his mother, his father likely died prior to this census.

Conclusions

Based on the information in the census records, we can flesh out John’s family some. Here’s what it looks like with the new information.

Children of Unknown Huber:

  1. John Huber, born about 1790 and died 11 Dec 1862, married first Unknown by 1825, married second Margaret (___) by 1847. Margaret (___) Huber died in 1890.
    1. Christian Huber was born about 1827 and died in 1876; never married
    2. Ann Huber was born about 1828; married James McFalls
      1. John McFalls, born about 1851/2
      2. William McFalls was born about 1856/7
    3. Tobias Huber was born about 1830 and died in 1876; never married
    4. Susanna Huber was born 1834 and died after 1892; never married
    5. Mary Huber was born about 1837; married John Rineer
      1. Fannie Rineer was born about 1860
      2. Mariah Rineer was born about 1862
    6. John Huber was born about 1840 and died 1876; married Catharine (___)
      1. Emma Huber was born about 1869
      2. Tobias Huber was born about 1871
      3. Susan Huber was born about 1874
    7. Abraham Huber was born about 1847 and died after 1892.
    8. Daniel Huber was born about 1849 and died before 1860.
  2. Christian Huber was born about 1800 and died in 1881; never married

Who Are We? DNA and the Genealogist's Search

Kris Hocker on 2 Feb 2016

Interesting information on DNA and our common ancestry. Consider this.

  • “You share no DNA with the vast majority of your ancestors.”
  • “You have more ancestors — hundreds a few generations back, thousands in just a millennium — than you have sections of DNA.”
  • You have 64 great-great-great-great-grandparents — but if you are a man, you share your Y-chromosome with only one of them.
  • The amount of DNA you pass on to your descendants roughly halves with each generation. It is a matter of chance which of your descendants actually carry any of your DNA.

Alva Nöe, “DNA, Genealogy, And the Search for Who We Are“

Will testing your DNA really tell you who you are? Or are the stories we find about our ancestors much more enlightening than the test tube? What do you think?

A Little Saturday Research Delight Were Barbara, Daniel and Mary Ann Smith Related?

Kris Hocker on 31 Jan 2016

I was doing some Beinhauer family research yesterday and noticed once again that two of Johann Peter and Christina (Weber) Beinhauer’s children married Smiths. I’ve always wondered if they were related to Martin Hocker’s second wife Barbara Smith—he was married first to Christiana Beinhauer. So, I decided to find out.

Background

Daniel Smith married Margaret Beinhauer 19 May 1812 at Salem Reformed Church in Harrisburg. Margaret was born 21 Oct 1784 and died 23 Dec 1870 in Hummelstown, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. I didn’t have any information on this couple beyond that.

John Peter Beinhauer married Mary Ann Smith sometime before 1812. He was born 30 Nov 1787 and died 25 November 1853.1 She was born 8 April 1790 and died 4 April 1877.2 They are both buried in the Churchville Cemetery, Oberlin, Swatara Township, Dauphin County.

Martin Hocker married Christiana Beinhauer 22 March 1799 in Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lebanon County.3 He was born 21 October 1768 in Cocalico Township, Lancaster County and died 25 April 1862 in Derry Township, Dauphin County.4 She was born 23 August 1777 in Cocalico Township and died 15 December 1808 in Derry Township.5

After Christiana’s death, Martin married again about 1809 to Barbara Smith. She was born 6 October 1787 and died 16 March 1878 in Derry Township.6 Martin and both his wives are buried in the Hummel Memorial Cemetery in Hummelstown.

Unlike the Beinhauer’s and Smith’s, I have significant information on Martin and his family. What more could I find on the Smiths who married into both the Beinhauer and Hocker families?

A Little Research Fun

I started with Daniel and Margaret (Beinhauer) Smith. A check of the census records turned up Margaret Smith living in Hummelstown by herself in 1860. Knowing she died in 1870, I went looking to see if she left a last will & testament.

She did. As expected, it indicates that her husband predeceased her. It also names various individuals, along with nieces and nephews as her heirs.7  Margaret and Daniel apparently did not have children—at least none that survived to leave heirs of their own.

Looking for deeds pertaining to Margaret’s estate, I didn’t find any that helped answer the research question. I found several deeds relating to Daniel’s estate—dated 1872?!

At first, I didn’t think they could be for Margaret’s husband. Going by Margaret’s census record, he’d most likely died prior to 1860, after all. But I decided to check them anyway. And, boy, am I glad I did.

From those deeds I discovered the following relationships:

  • Magdalena Smith, daughter & legatee8
  • Mary Beinhower, daughter & legatee9
  • Susanna Messimer, sister & legatee10
  • Barbara Hocker, sister & legatee11
  • Elizabeth Smith, legatee12
  • John Smith, legatee13

I was a little confused by the deeds for Magdalena Smith and Mary Beinhower. If they were alive in 1872, shouldn’t they have been named in Margaret’s will? Perhaps they were Daniel’s daughters from a previous marriage?

But then something else caught my eye. All these deeds named David Roop and George Roop as Daniel’s administrators of the will. Daniel had left a will.

Daniel Smith of Upper Swatara Township wrote his last will and testament on 2 February 1845 and it was proven on 4 September 1845.14  He named his widow Margaret and bequeathed to her a house and lot in Hummelstown. He also directed his executors to sell any property not bequeathed to his wife after her death and divide the proceeds equally between his brother and sisters. He names them as:

  • John
  • Susanna
  • Elizabeth
  • Magdalena
  • Barbara
  • Mary

He makes absolutely no mention of children in his will. Additionally, all the legatees from the deeds are named specifically as his siblings in his will. So, I find it probable that Magdalena Smith and Mary Beinhauer weren’t his daughters, but his sisters.

Conclusion

Were Barbara (Smith) Hocker, Daniel Smith, and Mary Ann (Smith) Beinhauer related? Based on the information from the will and deeds, I find it highly likely that they were.