Tag: Church Records

What Can You Learn from a List?

Kris Hocker on 27 Dec 2016

what can you learn from a list?

If you’ve been doing genealogy for a while, I’m sure you’ve come across lists. You know those pesky records you thought would actually tell you something about your ancestor and instead you found were little more than a laundry list of names.

What help is that?! How can you even tell if that name refers to your ancestor when all you’ve got is a name on a list of names?

Just what can you learn from a list? Quite a lot, actually.

Working from communion lists, I was able to determine several facts about specific relatives. For instance, I was able to narrow down the marriage date of Anna Christina Lang, daughter of Johann Michael and Christina (Hacker) Lang.

Anna Christina (Lang) Stober

I have not been able to locate a marriage record for Christina and her husband Johann Wilhelm Stober. To the best of my knowledge, marriage records for the church they attended do not exist. However, they both attended communion at Emanuel Lutheran Church in 1775.

On August 27, the 11th Sunday after Trinity, Wilhelm is listed with his parents and siblings, Valentin, Friderich, Barbara, and Christina.1 “Christina Langen” is also included separately on the list. I know this isn’t her mother Christina (Hacker) Lang or her sister-in-law Christina (Stober) Lang because both are also included on the list—her mother with husband Michael and (future) sister-in-law alone and separate from her brother Michael Lang.

The very next communion list was recorded on 26 November, the 24th Sunday after Holy Trinity. This list includes “Wilhelm Stover and wife Christina.”2 This tells me that William and Christina were married—likely at Emanuel Lutheran sometime in the ten weeks between 27 August and 26 November.

Maria Elisabetha (Weidman) Hacker

I don’t have a death date for Maria Elisabetha (Weidman) Hacker and since she was most likely buried on the family farm, I don’t have a gravestone to check either. She was alive at the time her husband’s estate was settled in the Lancaster County Orphan’s Court in 1782. She was awarded £12 yearly out of her dower share of the Hacker farm, which amounted to approximately £200.3 I know she was alive as of 2 August 1790, because she was listed as “Widow Hocker” in the 1790 census enumeration of Cocalico Township.4

Elisabeth Hacker on Communion list 1806

Elisab. Hacker (#73) in 1806 Communion list

But when did she die?

By examining communion lists, I determined that she was still alive and attending communion at Emanuel Lutheran Church until sometime after 28 September 1806.5 At that time, both her daughter and granddaughter named Elisabeth had already married and so would not have been listed under their maiden names. The only other Elisabeth Hacker in the area and old enough to be included would have been her son Jacob’s wife and she was listed with her husband (#58 & 59, see below). Furthermore, Elizabeth (#73) was listed directly after “Jacob Weidman Witt.” This most likely referred to Elisabeth’s brother Jacob’s widow, Barbara (Huber) Weidman. Jacob died 20 December 1802.6 Barbara survived until 1828.7 I did not find Elisabeth listed on subsequent lists—the next being on Misericordia Sunday 1807, the 4th Sunday of Easter or, I believe, 19 April 1807.

Jacob Hacker & frau in 1806 communion list

Jacob Hacker & frau (#58 & 59)

The important thing to remember with lists is context. In addition to the standard questions of what type of list is it, who made it, why, where, and when, we should also ask questions specifically about the list based on what we know about lists of this type for that location. Who’s on the list? Who could or should be on the list? Who’s not on the list? How does the list change over time? The answers to these questions provide clues that help us to identify the people on the list and therefore draw conclusions about the people on the list.

While I couldn’t get exact dates for events from the lists, the information they provided helped me to narrow down the possible dates. Christina married between 27 August and 26 November 1775. Maria Elisabetha (Weidman) Hacker died sometime after 28 November 1806 and possibly before 19 April 1807.

1/1/17: Updated to include images and minor edits.

1702 Marriage of John Jones & Margaret Waterman

Kris Hocker on 17 Nov 2014

I’ve been researching and gathering information on John Jones of Philadelphia, because I think I may be descended from him—although at this time it’s a really big leap. So, I’ve been searching through the Quaker meeting records on Ancestry, looking to document information that I’ve found in online forums.

One of the items I’m searching for is the maiden name of John Jones Jr.’s wife. According to an abstract of John Jones Sr.’s will, his son John was married to a woman named Margaret as of 28 Feb 1708. According to the Quaker meeting records, John Jones married Margaret Waterman. They announced their intention to marry on 29 Jan 1702 and again on 26 Feb 1702:

John Jones and Margaret Waterman appeared at this Meeting Declaring thier Intentions of Marriage with each other it being the first time Sarah Goodson and Hannah Carpenter are appointed to Enquire concerning her Clearness and make report thereof to the next monthly.1

I was surprised by the date. My understanding was that John Jones (the father) married Margaret Waterman, widow of Humphrey Waterman, in 1696 and had their first child in 1697. What was with the 1702 date?

My confusion soon cleared, however, when I found the actual marriage record. It reads:

Whereas John Jones Son of John Jones of Philadelphia in the Province of Pennsylvania Merchant & Margaret Waterman Daughter of Humphrey Waterman late of the same place deceased having declared their intentions of taking Each other in Marriage before Several Monthly Meetings of the people of God called Quakers in Philadelphia aforesd according to the good order used amongst them Whose proceedings thereinafter due deliberation thereof and consent of parties and relations concerned they appearing clear of all others were approved by the said Meetings Now this is to certify all whom it may concern that for a full accomplishment of their said Intentions this Eleventh day of the first Month in the year according to the English account one Thousand Seven hundred & two they the said John Jones & Margaret Waterman appeared in a publick & solemn assembly of the aforesaid people mett together att their publick meeting house in Philadelphia aforesaid and in a solemn manner according to the Example of the holy men of God recorded in Scriptures of Truth He the said John Jones taking her the said Margaret Waterman by the hand declared as followeth (viz.) Friends In the Fear of the Lord and before this Assembly I take this my friend Margaret Waterman to be my Wife promising through the Lords assistance to be a failthfull & Loving husband till it shall please the Lord by death to Separate and then & there in the said Assembly the said Margaret Waterman Likewise declared as followeth (viz.) Friend In fear of God & before this Assembly I take this my friend John Jones to be my husband promising through gods assistance to be a faithfull & loving wife till it shall please God by death to Separate us and for a further confirmation thereof they the said John Jones & Margaret Waterman now (assuming the name of her husband) Margaret Jones did then & there to these presents sett their hands and we whose Names are here underwritten being present amongst others att the Solemnization of their said Marriage & Subscription as aforesaid have also to these presents as witnesses thereunto subscribed our Names the day & year above written2

The marriage intentions and marriage record refer to John Jones Jr. and Margaret Waterman, daughter of Humphrey Waterman. The couple signed the record “John Jones Junr.” and “Margaret Jones Junr.” Then—it appears to me—the family members signed after them.

  • John Jones Senr
  • Margaret Jones Senr
  • Jane Waterman
  • Richd Jones
  • Saml Jones
  • Marcy Waterman
  • Eliza Waterman
  • Grace Jones
  • Yeamans & Mary Gillingham

These names seem to be consistent with the family members of John Jones, merchant, of Philadelphia who came from Barbados in 1683, and his wife Margaret, formerly the widow of Humphrey Waterman, who also came to Philadelphia from Barbados. Furthermore, I also found the record of the marriage between John Jones [Sr.] of Philadelphia and Margaret Waterman in the records of the Abington Monthly Meeting. It was recorded in the minutes of the meeting on 30 Nov [9th mo] 1696.3

I’m not sure how Yeamans & Mary Gillingham fit in, but their names are grouped with the rest of the family members, so I expect I’ll be researching them, too.

Liturgical Days to Remember

Kris Hocker on 4 Nov 2014

I’ve been reading communion lists and calculating dates recently. Here are some of the days I saw that I had to look up.

  • Easter (calendar)
  • Quasimodo Sunday (aka “St. Thomas Sunday”): 1st Sunday after Easter
  • Misericordia Sunday: 4th Sunday of Easter
  • Cantate Sunday: 4th Sunday after Easter
  • Rogate Sunday: 5th Sunday after Easter
  • Pentecost (aka “Whitsunday”): 50th day after Easter (calendar)
  • Trinity Sunday: 1st Sunday after Pentecost (calendar), 8 weeks after Easter

Many of the lists indicated the date of the church service by the number of Sundays after Trinity, making it a useful date to know.

Friday Finds: Trinity Lutheran Birth and Baptismal Records Online

Kris Hocker on 2 Sep 2011

I’ve been trying to get the Trinity Lutheran Church Records, volumes 1-4, through ILL for some time now with mixed results. So, imagine how pleased I was to find some of the records online in the Internet Archive. The Pennsylvania-German Society published their Proceedings and Addresses in the 1890s. Several volumes included records from Trinity Lutheran Church.

  1. The Pennsylvania-German Society, Proceedings and Addresses at Lebanon, October 12, 1892, Volume III
  2. The Pennsylvania-German Society, Proceedings and Addresses at York, October 11, 1893, Volume IV
  3. The Pennsylvania-German Society, Proceedings and Addresses at Reading, October 3, 1894, Volume V
  4. The Pennsylvania-German Society, Proceedings and Addresses at Bethlehem, October 16, 1785, Volume VI

These are just the volumes containing the Trinity Lutheran records. Other volumes that have been put online include records from St. Michael’s in Philadelphia and New Goshenhoppen in Upper Hanover, Montgomery County. View more examples of publications from the Pennsylvania-German Society to see if they might have records you’ve been looking for.