In memory of Great Granduncle Adam

Posted on June 25, 2020 by Pat Shaul

One of my favorite family member names is that of my great granduncle, George Adam Hempleman Weaver.  He was my great grandfather, Lemuel Weaver’s younger brother.  I guess GG Grandfather Goodliff [nee: Gottlieb Weber] and GG Grandmother Anne wanted to use up all remaining names since Uncle Adam was their 11th child and they were pretty used up in the creative name game.  Uncle Adam was born on 18 December 1861 and only lived 17 years, dying on 25 June 1879.   He is buried in the family plot in Mount Carmel Cemetery, Rendville, Perry County, Ohio.

Question I wish I had know to ask my grandfather: “What was with the name Hempleman for your Uncle Adam?”    I inherited the Weaver family bible and Uncle Adam’s birth was recorded there with the full name by his mother, Anne Lane Weaver, my great great grandmother, so it was for real.  His death was penned by another since Grandmother Weaver died in 1864 at the same time as the birth of child number 12, Eric.

 

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Happy 412th Birthday, Grandfather Botsford!

Posted on June 15, 2020 by Pat Shaul

Henry Botsford [my ninth great grandfather] was born 412 years ago, 15 June 1608, in Sundon, Bedfordshire, England to Edward and Alice Prior Botsford.  He was baptized there in 1608.  By 1640, he was in the colony of Connecticut as he married Elizabeth Woolhead, daughter of Thomas and Alice Labert Woolhead.  The couple were the parents of six children: Elnathan (1641) [my 8th great grandfather], Elizabeth (1643), Mary (1643) [twins], Hannah (1645), Esther (1647), and Ruth (1649).

From the Botsford Genealogy, The Line of Samuel, 1.1.3, Vol 1:

p 39 –

“Henry was a Connecticut planter in 1639.   Henry Botsford joined the church 25 July 1644.  He was a corporal in the Army against he Dutch 1654.  His will was drawn 1 February 1685/6.  Inventory was taken 15 April.  Elizabeth died 1692.

“Henry was undoubtedly an individualist but he believed in conforming to the accepted standards.  He did join the church after a few years because church membership was considered almost essential in the new settlement [Milford, Connecticut].

“Although he may have avoided payment of the detested ship’s money as “taxation without representation”, he seems to have been a strict observer of all the self imposed laws and restrictions of the community.  His sound judgement and integrity were quickly recognized by his neighbors as show by the long list of offices which he filled. He was called upon to settle boundary disputes and similar problems.  He was a keen student of human nature.  His will, carefully protecting the rights of his faithful wife, Elizabeth, and the claims of his children, is a remarkable document.  He distributed his very considerable land estate with great thoughtfulness and justice.”

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Happy 234th Birthday, Großmutter Gaertner!

Posted on June 13, 2020 by Pat Shaul

234 years ago, 13 June 1786, in Pleidelsheim, Württemberg, my great great great grandmother, Christina Regina Bauer was born to Gotthardt Bauer. and Regina Wolf.  Regina married Alexander Gaertner on 24 November 1813 in Klein Ingersheim, Württemberg.

The couple were the parents of 12 children: Johann David (1815), Christina Regina (1816-1819), Maria Magdalena (1818), Johann Friderich (1819), Baby Girl (1821-1821), Alexander (1822), Johann Michael (1824), Baby Girl (1825-1825), Johanna Regina (1827), Baby Boy (1830-1830), Christina Regina (1831), and Wilhelm Gotthardt (1833) [my great great grandfather and my most recent immigrant ancestor).

All of the information I have on the family in Württemberg comes from church records that were microfilmed by the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints for which I am extremely grateful.

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Happy 383rd Anniversary, Grandfather and Grandmother White!

Posted on June 11, 2020 by Pat Shaul

383 years ago, 11 June 1637, Nicholas White, the son of Walter and Mary Brown White, married Susanna Humphrey, the daughter of Jonas and Frances Coley Humphrey.  The pair were my 9th great grandparents.   Both were born in England: Nicholas in Rochester, Kent, in 1618; Susanna in Wendover, Bucks, in 1615.   Both were brought to North America by their parents.

There were only two recorded children of this union: Elizabeth (1643) [my 8th great grandmother}, and Nicholas (1647) [my 8th great grandfather]!  Nicholas married Ursula Macomber and they had 4 children including my 7th great grandfather Thomas White.  Elizabeth married Samuel Hall and they were the parents of George Hall, my 7th great grandfather.  George married Lydia Dean and their daughter, Lydia Hall married Thomas Morey.  Thomas married Abigail Crossman and their son, Nathaniel, Sarah Thrasher.   Now it gets messy!  Nathaniel and Sarah’s son, Nathaniel, Jr. [for those trying to keep track, my 5th great grandfather), married Mehitable Morey [my 5th great grandmother], the daughter of Thomas and Lydia Hall Morey.   So, they are my double 5 times great grandparent since they also happen to be 3rd cousins to each other and, my 3rd cousin, 7 times removed!

Nathaniel and Mehitable were the parents of Prudence White who married Morris Jenks.  Together they became one of the earliest settlers of Oakland County, Michigan.

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OK, Boomer!

Posted on June 8, 2020 by Pat Shaul

It was on this day, 8 June in 1874, 146 years ago, that my 3rd cousin, six times removed, Boomer Jenks passed away. He might not have made my list of strange familial names except for the current craze of placating older members of society with the admonition of “OK, Boomer” referring to their origins in the post World War 2 Baby Boom.

Cousin Boomer was born 19 February 1761, in Scituate, Rhode Island, to Joseph and Sarah Moon Jenks.  He married Anna King, the daughter of Thomas King.   With Anna, he parented 13 children: John (1781), Thomas (1782), Sarah (1784), Olive (1786), Boomer King (1789), George Washington (1790), Charles (1792), James (1794), Lyman (1797), Eunice (1798), Aurelia (1800), Isaac (1803), and Andrew Nelson (1806)!

Anna passed away on 6 March 1839.  Boomer relocated to Marlborough, Vermont, prior to his passing and that is where he finally left this life.

 

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Happy 163rd Anniversary, Aunt Minerva and Uncle Nathaniel!

Posted on June 7, 2020 by Pat Shaul

163 years ago, 7 June 1857, in Wayne County, Michigan, Minerva B. Jenks, the daughter of Morris and Almira Botsford Jenks, married Nathaniel Barnes, the son of Timothy and Rose Ann Barnes.

Aunt Minerva was my great great grandaunt, the sister of my great great grandmother, Esther Jenks Lee. Minerva and Nathaniel were the parents of three children: Ida Almira (1859), Seth Adelbert (1864), and Erminnie (1866).

Uncle Nathaniel died on 28 September 1871, in Detroit. Aunt Minerva remarried 4 years later. The family relocated to Norfolk, Nebraska, before the birth of her son, Guy Washinton Bolton, with her second husband. It was while in Norfolk, that her second marriage ended. My great grandmother, Effie Clarissa Lee was sent to help with the four children and seems to have found a husband as well since that is where she met and married great grandfather, Lemuel Weaver.

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Happy 372nd Birthday, Grandfather Sprague!

Posted on May 28, 2020 by Pat Shaul

Jonathan Sprague, my 8 time great grandfather, was born in Hingham, Massachusetts, on 28 May 1648, to William and Millicent Eames Sprague.  He married Mehitable Holbrook, daughter of William and Elizabeth Pitts Holbrook, 20 July 1670, in Providence, Rhode Island.  In 1672, the couple removed to Mendon, Massachusetts.  William Sprague died in 1675 and left Jonathan 60 acres of land in Providence, Rhode Island, where the family relocated before 1680.  He was appointed, with other, by the Assembly to run the eastern line of the Colony.

From Genealogy (In Part) of the Sprague Family in America As Descended from Edward Sprague of England from 1614, compiled by Augustus B. R. Sprague. 1905:

“Jonathan Spague was evidently a man of strong character, was one of the most prominent and influential citizens of his town, and served frequently in public office. He was a member of the House of Deputies for sixteen years between 1695 and 1714; Speaker of the House in 1703, and member of the Town Council, eight years, from 1705 to 1712; Clerk of the Assembly in 1707.  In 1703, he, with two others, was appointed to draw up the methods and proceedings of the Court of Common Pleas.

“Of a decidedly religious bent, he professed the Baptist faith, and preached as an exhorter. — Staples’ Annals of Providence

“He died probably in Smithfield, Rhode Island, September 1741.”

Jonathan and Mehitable were the parents of 6: Jonathan, Joanna, an infant daughter, Patience (1674) [my 7 time great grandmother], William (1691), and Mary (1697).   Their daughter Patience married William Jenks, connecting that family line.

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Happy 207th Birthday, cousin Alexander Hamilton Lee!

Posted on May 27, 2020 by Pat Shaul

2019-05-26 18.22.27

The set of Hamilton, 2019

Alexander Hamilton Lee, my fourth cousin, 5 times removed, was born to Jonathan and Mindwell Hill Lee on 27 May 1813.  He was the great great grandson of our MRCA couple, John Lee and Elizabeth Crampton [my 8th great grandparents].  Obviously, cousin Jonathan and Mindwell were enchanted by the Secretary of the Treasury and patriot even though he died 10 years before the birth of the son who bears his name.   Cousin Alexander does not appear to have ever married or been the father of any children.   He died 5 July 1835 at the age of 22.

Another in the series of relatives with remarkable names — both cousin Alexander and his mother, Mindwell are on my list!

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A History of Strong Willed Women ….

Posted on May 18, 2020 by Pat Shaul

FlorenceKoontzWeaverColorized

It was 125 years ago, 18 May, 1895, that my grandmother, Florence Marie Koontz, was born in Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio, to Casmear and Phebie Ann Gardner Koontz.  Grandma graduated from The High School of Commerce at Columbus, Ohio, in 1914.  She married Lee Norton Goodliff Weaver on 27 April 1918 and they were the parents of two daughters, the youngest was my mother.   Growing up, I had no doubt that my mother had a very strong will and was an indomitable force once she set her mind to a event, result, or desire.   I had always heard that her grandmother,  Florence’s mother-in-law, was of a similar bent, of course not described in such positive terms.  It wasn’t until I heard, and reheard, the story of great grandmother’s burial day that I realized my mother also got a bit of her spunk from her mother.   On the day my great grandmother was buried, it happened to be VJ day, horns were blaring, church bells were ringing and there was an all around air of celebration, except in the Weaver car as they left the cemetery where they had just laid Lee’s mother to rest in the six grave plot that she had purchased for her husband, herself, her son and his wife, and her two granddaughters, that Grandma Florence came forth with the comment to Grandpa Lee:  “Lee, tomorrow we go out and buy our own grave plot, I am not spending all of eternity at that woman’s feet”.    It took a few years, but they did just that.   There are still four openings in the Weaver plot available.

It was Grandma Florence in her later years who pulled me aside and said she only had one regret in her long life, that the family did not touch each other and hug each other enough.

I tend to think all of these women have a bit of influence on me and have made me a better person for it.

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Birthdays, Lots of Birthdays!

Posted on May 15, 2020 by Pat Shaul

20200515_131639

The horse and wagon that belonged to Lee Weaver.

15 May was a pretty busy day for birthday cake baking in the family!  My grandmother’s grandfather, Ezra Peter Koontz, was born on this day in 1832; my grandfather, Lee Norton Goodliff Weaver, was born on this day in 1893, and my grandfather’s cousin, Estelle Wright, was born on this day in 1894.

Now, grandma’s grandfather died in 1864, so there was no way he would have met her or her husband, Lee.  But, Lee and Estelle were thick as thieves as children.  Lee was the son of Effie Clarissa Lee Weaver and Estelle was the daughter of Effie’s sister Marietta Lee Wright.  If you wish to be super industrious, you can page way back in this blog to when I was showing Lee’s postcard collection.  There are a number of postcards from Estelle to Lee or  her Aunt Effie.

EzraPeterKoontzAndFamily_116b-Colorized

Ezra Peter Koontz and Family

 

Estelle Wright as a young woman and as a child with her parents, Marietta Lee and Stephen A. D. Wright.

LeeWeaver1890

Lee Norton Goodliff Weaver – age 5, approx.

 

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