Author: joel@jmhartley.com

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Joyce and Bearse ThruLines Part 2

In part one of my Blog, I did some genealogy on the early Bearse family of Barnstable, Massachusetts and went through Joyce’s first Bearse ThruLine.

My father’s first cousin Joyce and I descend from Olive Bearse. I did the ThruLine of Thomas in my previous Blog, now I’ll look at Beverly.

Is There a Bearse Connection Between Joyce and Beverly?

Beverly’s Ancestry Tree is confusing compared to her ThruLine:

Beverly’s Tree has her father as George Toner which does not make sense. However, the two trees agree on Beverly’s paternal grandmother who is Martha L Brown. Here is the 1880 Census for the Village of Hyannis:

I just need to get more information on Adaline. Her death record has more information:

Most people render Amasa as Amaziah. However, there are numerous renderings of his name:

I see a marriage record for the couple:

The vital records for the are seem to be thorough.

Amasa is listed at the bottom of the death records page for Barnstable for 1867:

However, no date is given.

His parents are Isaiah and Rachel:

So far, I have two more generations of Bearses than Beverly had for her tree:

This, apparently, is Isaiah, who died a widower. His age is given, but some other information is missing:

This puts his birth at about 1774 as he died at age 70 in 1844. However, Ancestry interprets his death to be in 1843.

Findagrave.com has his burial in the Universalist Cemetery:

Isaiah to Enoch

I need to evaluate the suggestion that agrees with the ThruLines suggestion. I have the advantage of checking from either side. I found a wife for Enoch:

They married in Barnstable.

I did find an interesting Will from Hannah Bearse spinster dated 1772. She mentions her two sisters Dinah and Mary Bearse. Also:

This suggests to me that Hannah is a sister of John Bearse. That would mean that those listed are most likely children of John Bearse. I also see that the names match up with Jocye’s ThruLines:

Joyce (and I) descend from Olive. My previous Blog looked at the Gershom Bearse connection. This Blog is looking at the Enoch connection. Martha and Rebecca mentioned in the will represent 8 additional ThruLines for Joyce. All this is interesting but it does not prove the relationship between Enoch and Isaiah.

I did find this reference:

This was from a 2020 edition of Mayflower Descendants. This Timothy has a son Enoch who dies in New Bedford at age 70 in 1873. I see a Lucy baptized? in 1794:

This appears to be Enoch’s death record:

This appears to be the Will for Enoch:

I read a lot concerning the papers of Enoch Bearse and it appears that he owed more than he had at the time of his death. Here is the dow. section:

Widow Elizabeth is mentioned. At this point, I’m ready to take the Geneanet reference:

Here I have added in the Enoch Line to my tree:

This probably makes the best sense, but I don’t know enough about the Bearse family to know that. I wish that I had more records between Enoch and Isaiah.

Bearse DNA Tree

This new tree adds Beverly’s Line:

Summary and Conclusions

  • I looked at the Thruline between Beverly and Joyce going back to John Bearse and Lumbert
  • The connection between Enoch and Isaiah lacked clear documentation, but seems likely
  • Unfortunately, Enoch died without leaving an estate larger than his debts, so children were not mentioned in his legal papers
  • Circumstantial evidence links Enoch and Isaiah and I saw no evidence that would contradict their relationship.
  • There are still some Bearse ThruLines to explore

 

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Joyce and Bearse ThruLines

I have been looking at the ThruLines of Joyce who is my late father’s first cousin. While doing this, I have become more acquainted with some of my ancestors lines through the DNA of matching descendants.

Here are Joyce’s Bearse ThruLines:

I have that Joyce descends from Olive Bearse. Olive’s siblings in white are already in my Ancestry Tree. Then Joyce has 8 potential matches for siblings of Olive that are not in my tree.

Bearse Genealogy

The genealogy for this family goes back to 1888 with the Amos Otis Papers:

I descend from Joseph.

I descend from VI John., born in 1687.

I descend from John and Lydia Lumbert. If John married in 1746, he could have been born around 1720 or so.

John Bearse, born around 1720 and Lydia Lumbert are the ancestors that Joyces’ ThruLines descend from.

Joyce and Thomas

Interestingly, Joyce and Thomas have a shared match with Judith who is on the Martha Bearse ThruLines. So that is hopeful. Martha Bearse was not on my Ancestry Tree. That tells me that if Thomas connects, then it would make sense that Judith could also connect, but we’ll see.

Horace was born in Lincoln, Massachusetts and his mother checks out:

Georgiana was born in Boston. Her father Austin was a real estate agent:

Here is the record from findagrave.com for Austin Bearse:

Here is what I have so far:

I need to confirm the Eleazer H Bearse to Gershom Bearse connection. Gershom marries Prudence Hatch in 1771 according to the Falmouth records:

I see this hint an a history of Barnstable County;

From this account, I take it that Eleazer had a daughter named Martha A and that Eleazoer was the son of Gershom Bearse.

I see this in the Barnstable Town records:

I did find a marriage record between Gideon Hallet and Martha A Bearse.

A First Bearse DNA Tree

Here is a vertical view of my Ancestry Tree showing where I spliced in the new descendants of the Gershom Bearse Line:

I am happy to end the Blog here, but will likely continue with other Bearse ThruLines in a subsequent Blog.

Summary and Conclusions

  • I learned much about the Bearse family
  • I am amazed at how early Austin or Augustine Bearse came to Barnstable. This was 1639 according to his biography. That is not many years shy of 400 years ago.
  • The Hatch family name comes up in many of these families. In fact the name Prudence Hatch comes up in my ancestry and that of Thomas.
  • Austin Bearse born 1808 in Thomas’ line was an abolitionist

 

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Joyce’s Hoar ThruLines

Joyce is my late father’s 1st cousin, so her ThruLines go back one generation further than mine. Here are her Hoar or Hoard ThruLines:

I researched this family many years ago, so it would be good to take a fresh look.

The Hoars lived in the Taunton or Dighton area. I believe that Dighton used to be part of Taunton.

Joyce and Sprry

Sprry’s tree goes back to his paternal grandmother which agrees with the ThruLines up to that point:

I think that sprry will match up with my tree. Here is Luella in 1900 in Bingham, Michigan:

Here is Bingham:

Luella’s father was Adelbert who was a farmer.

This is likely Adelbert sitting down. Here is Adelbert in 1855 as a young child with his father George and family living in Madison, New York:

Here is George in 1850:

My guess is that George’s elderly parents George and Prudence were living next door to him.

At this point, I would like to look more at the top of the ThruLine:

Here is an excerpt I found at Ancestry:

This is from a book called, A record of descendants of Hezekiah Hoar of Taunton, Massachusetts : with an historical introduction.

This fills in the blanks.

A First Hoar DNA Tree

This is at the limits that the ThruLines go to which is a 6th cousin relationship. I should note that the match between Joyce and sprry is listed as a peternal one and I match Joyce on her maternal (Annie Louisa Hartley) side. So the DNA appears to be saying one thing and the genealogy another. This is probably because Joyce has colonial Massachusetts ancestors on her paternal side also.

Joyce and Singinheart

For singin and donald, I only have to show a connection up to James Hoar. Singin shows two Hoards in her tree:

I notice that with singin, the match is on Joyce’s maternal side:

 

Here is Agnes living in Minnesota in 1920 with her family. Her father was post master and was born in New York:

Here is a younger Hiram in 1850:

As suggested, by the ThruLines, Hiram’s father is William. Here is Stockbridge, where the farm was:

Here is some interesting information on William at Findagrave.com:

As William was quite well documented, I will accept the hints for his parents at Ancestry.

At this point, I hope that there is a reference to James and Enos Hoard in a published book. Here is where he is:

Enos is apparently the youngest son of James.

Next, I add singinheart to my Hoar DNA Tree:

Joyce and Donald

Joyce and Donald are said to match on Joyce’s paternal side also. Donald takes his tree back on the Hoard/Hoar Line;

I am tempted to accept Donald’s tree as is. For one reason, his grandmother is mentioned in the Hoar Book:

That grandmother being Laura Adelia Foot.

Summary and Conclusions

  • The genealogy for all of Joyces 3 Hoar ThruLines matches played out well
  • The Hoar family appears to be well documented. I think that one Hoar I read about became the Governor of Minnesota. Another was a traveling Methodist Preacher.
  • There is some confusion as to whether Joyce’s Hoar descendant matches are paternal or maternal. Maternal would be better. Out at this level of relationship I am not sure whether I trust the designation. Regardless, there is still a genealogical connection.
  • I am not sure at my level whether I match any of these Hoar descendants by DNA.
  • Another of my father’s cousins tested at Ancestry and he has an additional Hoar ThruLine that I did not add to my Hoar DNA Tree.

 

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Joyce’s Davis ThruLines

My father’s cousin Joyce has a lot of Davis ThruLines:

Joyce and I descend from Mercy Davis. The other lines show six matches. I have not looked at other children of Noah Davis as ThruLines is showing that I need to evaluate those children. I have that Noah was born in Falmouth. I believe that is where Davisville is.

Davis Genealogy

My tree starts on the left with Mercy Davis who married William Parker.

Findagrave.com has that Mercy was burried in the Woods Lhoe Village Cemetery:

This suggests that she may have lived in or near Woods Hole:

Here is a record from 1756:

Mercy was propounded which I take to mean suggested for commuion in August and baptized and admitted to full communion on August 8 at the age of about 22.

According to the Church’s website:

Falmouth’s first meeting house was built in 1700 or earlier near the Old Burying ground off today’s Mill Road in Falmouth. A second larger meeting house, near that site, was completed in 1717.  Continued growth of the town led to that meeting house being moved and rebuilt by 1756 on that portion of the original Meeting House Lot which was then laid out and called the Village Green. That meeting house was replaced in 1796 with a fourth building in the style of a church, erected on the same site. In its steeple a bell made by Paul Revere was placed. That bell continues to ring out over Falmouth. Its inscription reads: “The living to the church I call, and to the grave I summon all.”

Here is where the original Church was:

Here is the current church location:

Mercy’s husband William Parker served in the Revolutionary War. On my Parker web page I note:

William also served in the Revolutionary War as did his son Isaac and other Parkers. He was at Fort Ticonderoga. He became ill during the war and died soon after.

As William died in 1778, his wife Mercy was a widow about 42 years. I assume that she lived with one of her children:

My assumption is that Mercy was born perhaps in the Davisville area of Falmouth. She has 6 children. The first dies young. Her husband dies due to complications of an illness during the Revolutionary war. She remains a widow for 42 years. She likely lives near the end of her life in or near Woods Hole. Perhaps her child was involved in the area of navigation as Woods Hole was an important pass through place between New Bedford and the Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. This is a guess as Mercy’s son Isaac was in the ship repair business on Nantucket. William’s brother Silas Parker was a Captain who sailed between Nantucket and New Bedford.

Dolor Davis and The Great Migration

One of my favorite sources for early Massachusetts genealogy is in the Great Migration Publications. I see this on page 292:

It looks like Dolor moved around a bit. According to Wikipedia:

Falmouth was first settled by English colonists in 1660 and was officially incorporated in 1686. 

 I am guessing that Dolor’s trade of house carpenter was much in demand.

Dolor’s son John who is also in my tree is mentioned above.

It seems odd that Dolor would live in both Concord and Barnstable. Summering on the Cape?

My tree shows that John Davis married Hannah Linnell. I will change that to Linnett based on this.

Of interest to me is that John came to the New World in 1635 with his mother and two younger sisters when he was nine years old. According to an 1881 ‘sketch’ of Dolor Davis:

John Davis

Further from, “Dolor Davis, a sketch of his life, with a record of his earlier descendents”:

This brings us to my ancestor Noah Davis #12 above. We also learn that John, father of my ancestor Noah moved to Falmouth about 1710.

Back to ThruLines

I would like to start with JB:

JB’s Ancestry tree follows the ThruLines as far as her tree goes:

I note that I also have Hatch ancestors.

I added JB to my tree as a floating tree. I quickly move on to JB’s paternal grandmother. Eleanor’s father was a master mariner:

However, I want to follow her mother Abbie. The couple were married in Boston:

Here is Abby’s family in 1850:

Abbie’s death record has a lot of information including her whole name, her parents’ names where she was born and where her parents were born. Abby and her mother Eleanor who I am tracking were said to be born in Woods Hole.

Here is the 1827 marriage record in Falmouth for Eleanor and Ervin:

Here is Eleanor’s grave marker:

Eleanor’s parents are listed on the Falmouth Death Records:

The last name is transcribed Jenny, but I can also see Young. I am following Andrew next:

Here is the 1797 marriage:

I have two more steps to go. I need to get back to Mehitable Davis. I see her marriage:

However, I need to link her to Andrew Young.

Mehitable Davis

I was able to find a Mehitable in Noah Davis’ will. This will is referenced in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register (NEHGR):

Fortunately, FamilySearch has the Barnstable County Probates online.

Noah names several children:

  1. Son Francis Davis
  2. Daughter Mercy Davis – my ancestor
  3. Daughter [Lavinia?] – the name appears to be behind tape.
  4. Daughter Mehitable
  5. Daughter Anna
  6. Granddaughter Susannah Parker

According to WikiTree:

The will of Noah Davis of Falmouth was dated 12 February 1780 and proved on 16 August 1787[8] in Barnstable. He mentioned his wife Mercy, and his children, Mercy Parker, Francis Davis (executor), Susanna Swift, Mehitable Davis, Anne Davis, and his granddaughter Susanna Parker.

It is interesting that a Susannah Parker is mentioned. I do not have a record of my ancestors William Parker and Mercy Davis having a daughter Susannah, so perhaps she was the daughter of the Hannah Davis who married Benjamin Parker mentioned above in the NEHGR.

However, Mehitable should have been married by 1780. The fact that she was not called Mehitable Young does not necessarily mean that these are two different Mehitables.

So what I am trying to connect:

  1. Noah Davis has a daughter named Mehitable who was alive about 1780.
  2. Noah was born in 1707 and probably having children in the 1730’s and 1740’s.
  3. There is a Mehitable Davis of Falmouth who marries a Simeon Young of Chatham, Connecticut in 1768.
  4. Andrew Young marries Marcy Hatch both of Falmouth in 1797

In this Ancestry Tree, it would appear that Mehitable gave birth to all her children in Connecticut:

Andrew father dies the same year Andrew is born and Mehitable remarries. Andrew makes his way back to Falmouth. Under this scenario, Mehitable’s second son is named for her brother Francis. The Connecticut Abstracts reinforce that:

For me, this record tips the balance of evidence for me to add JB’s Line to my tree.

I think the date of Mehitable’s birth is a bit late. However, it could be. She would have been about 20 at the time of her marriage.

My First Davis DNA Tree

I used to call these DNA/Genealogy Trees, but have just shortened the name:

It took a lot of work to convince myself that this was real. The only question is the two Hatch connections. However, these would go back quite a bit further than 1707.

Joyce and Robin

It should be much easier checking this connection:

Robin is a shared match between Joyce and JB above. Robin has her maternal grandfather born in Falmouth which is hopeful. Robert Hamblin’s family is mentioned in an American Histories book which even has a photo of Emily above:

In Emily’s death record in Falmouth, her mother is transcribed as Eleanor Foung, but I am quite sure it should be Young. Here I’ve already gotten ahead of myself:

I’ll delete Erving and Eleanor Young and then Connect Emily to my tree.

Now I just need to add Robin to my DNA tree:

 

This also gave me a chance to correct my tree. Previously I had Eleanor Young and Erving Robinson reversed. This shows that JB and Robin should be 3rd cousins to each other. The only odd thing is that Joyce and Robin show as a paternal match and I match Joyce on her maternal Hartley side. However, I assume this could be wrong or pointing to another relationship.

Joyce and Debra

This will be the last ThruLine for this Blog:

Debra is also shown as a paternal match to Joyce. Mehitable Young already shows in white above which means that she has been added to my tree. The maternal side of Debra’s tree does not include the Young family which is suspicious:

Who Was the Mother of William James Tyron?

I see another problem. Or perhaps two. Augusta Anthony would have been 16 when she gave birth to William James. More improbably, Martha Amanda Young would have been about 59 when her William James was born.

Summary and Conclusions

  • I was able to trace the ancestry of one of Joyce’s DNA matches back to Noah Davis and Mercy Prence or Meigs
  • After that another third cousin of that match was easy to trace back to the same common ancestors.
  • The excercise gave me a better feeling for the Davis family of the 1700’s.
  • I tried to trace another of Jocye’s matches who had a potential descent from Mehitable Davis (the Daughter of Noah and Mercy Davis). However, that descent was not clear and seemed unlikely based on the age one woman would have to have been for this to be right.
  • There are three more Davis ThruLines for Joyce. However, one of the lines is from a child of Noah that I am not aware of which makes me suspicious.
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A New Channon/Hartley BigY Test

It is always exciting when a new BigY test shows up on your branch of the tree of mankind. Here is the new Channon test (from the viewpoint of my test):

This new Channon test is a brother of a previous test. He has done what I did with my brother in the first column. I had my brother tested, so we could get our own branch. Notice a few things above:

  • Smith is from a much earlier branch before. Smith and Hartley broke off before surnames were commonly used.
  • Mawdsley is also separate and likely split before or at about the time that surnames came into common use.
  • Channon is surrounded by other Hartleys. Channon can trace their genealogy to the Nutter surname, but must have been Hartley at some point.
  • It seems to me that Channon will have to have their own branch, but it does not show yet. Both Channon testers are shown initially in R-A11134.

The New Tester and Non-Matching Variants

Here is how the new tester matches some of the previous testers:

There are really three categories here. I show up later on the list as my branch has a lot of variants in it. So that means that there are more non-matching variants and my brother and I are further down on the list. First on the list is the previous Channon tester. These two have one non-matching variant. After that are the two other Hartleys who share A11134. The next three testers are in the R-A16717 Branch. These are a branch of Hartleys that emmigrated to Pennsylvania around the year 1700 or so.

Non-Matching Variant 5672076

One might wonder why the two brothers have a non-matching variant. There are a few reasons. One may be that one of the brothers has formed a new branch of the YDNA tree. Another reason could be that there was no or incomplete coverage for one of the two tests at location 5672076.

Here is the result for the new Channon Tester:

Here is the older Channon results:

That is interesting as the original Channon should form a new branch. However, FTDNA does not name a branch until another tests positive for this Branch. This would be a Private Variant for the original tester. However, it is possible to find this location’s SNP name at YBrowse:

The original tester should eventually be a part of this branch: Y354158.

Y16496

The first non-matching variant the new Channon tester has with the first Hartley on the non-matching list is Y16496. The new Channon tester has that SNP:

The first Hartley on the non-matching list does not have that SNP:

My guess is that this would be a new Channon Branch. The original Channon BigY tester is also positive for this SNP:

A Proposed Tree

It would be interesting to try to create a proposed tree. I have an old tree that I used previously:

This was probably accurate at the time.

I had also created this colorful tree to predict what would happen at FTDNA previously:

This was more in the format of the Block Tree that FTDNA uses. The above tree also accounts for Lawrence and Michael who are in what I call the Pennsylvania Branch of Hartleys. I like this format better. Here I have updated that tree to show what FTDNA has now (except for the private variants):

I am not sure how the new Block Tree should look, but this is how a simplified tree would look:

Unfortunately, I do not believe that FTDNA will put Channon ‘Old Test’ on his own branch. They will likely just give him one Private Variant if I understand the process correctly.

15646418

Here is part of the New Channon Tester’s match list:

Here is that position for the new Channon tester:

He is clearly positive at this position.

Next, I check the new Channon tester for his closest Hartley match Ethan:

Ethan is clearly not positive for that Variant. Here is what YBrowse shows:

That modifies my SNP tree like this:

FGC7804

Using the same reasoning, It could be that FGC7804 is in the new Channon Branch. If this branching is so obvious, I don’t know why it doesn’t show up yet in the Block Tree at FTDNA. Perhaps they are waiting for a manual review.

New Channon Tester:

It is interesting that the new tester has two variants quite close to each other. However, the one I am interested in has the arrow on top of it.

Ethan:

Another reason the Block Tree may not have changed is that usually if a SNP is named, that means that it is already in a tree somewhere. So far, two of these SNPs have already been named for some reason.

This is my best bet at how the tree will look for Channon.

Summary and Conclusions

  • I am glad to see the results for the new Hartley BigY test. The test is from a Channon who has Nutter ancestry, but the testing shows that the family most certainly was a Hartley at some point in time – perhaps in the 1600’s.
  • The new tester did not match his brother in one of the variants. That means in this case that the older tester has formed a new branch and has a variant that his brother does not have.
  • It appears that the new Channon Branch should include three SNPs.
  • I will be interested to see the new branch come out at FTDNA and to see how this plays out in the FTDNA Time Trees.

 

 

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Joyce’s Trafton ThruLine

Joyce is my late father’s cousin. I was looking for possible connections on relatively obscure lines and found one ThruLine that Joyce has:

Joyce and nallen are potentially 6th cousins. Joseph Trafton was from Dighton, Massachusetts.

Joseph Trafton was married to Zipporah Talbot.

Joyce and nallen

I will create a floating tree for nallen and hopefully connect it later to my existing tree. nallen’s grandfather’s mother is listed on his death record:

This gets us back to Trafton.

Leila’s father appears to be a brick layer in 1860:

He was born about 1821 in Virginia. I just need to get from Walter back to Charles G Trafton who is in my tree.

I don’t mind borrowing from this source:

Findagrave.com has additional information:

Here is Camdem, NC:

Here is the final link:

I connected nallen to my tree:

Here we see a tale of two Traftons. Rebecca marries Benjamin Luther and remains in the Dighton area. Charles Gardner Trafton moves South to North Carolina.

A Small Trafton DNA/Genealogy Tree

Summary and Conclusions

  • I assume that Joseph Trafton and Zipporah Talbot had a small family.
  • This Blog was one of my easier ones. My job was to see if nallen and Joyce matched by genealogy as well as by DNA.
  • It is not clear why Charles Gardner moved South. Perhaps he was offered land for his service in the military during the Revolution.
  • The fact that Charles moved out of Massachusetts early on makes it more likely that this an accurate match between DNA and genealogy.

 

 

 

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Burbank ThruLines

My Burbank ancestors go back too far to be covered by my own ThruLines. However, my father’s cousin Joyce shows some ThruLines for Burbank:

This appears to be new territory to look at.

Here is part of my great-granmother’s maternal line:

It shows that Timothy Burbank was married to Mercy Kempton.

Some Burbank Genealogy

Apparently Timothy Burbank was born in Boston in 1703. However, he married in Plymouth.

I have that Timothy’s father was born in Haverhill and that his grandfather was from Rowley.

Joyce and Donna

Donna’s tree goes back to Mary Burbank which is hopeful:

Donna’s tree shows Mary dying in Canada:

Mayflower Births and Deaths has this entry:

This leads to Register 59 from 1905:

This shows a strong link at the top of the tree. I note that families left not because they were unsympathetic to the Revolution, but because they could get free land. I also read that residents of this area became unsympathetic to the Revolution after being raided by Americans.

Now I will start at the more recent part of the tree. Here is the birth record for Donna’s father:

Cape Negro Island is not too far from Yarmouth which I cut off on the map. Shirley’s father Wilford was a fisherman which makes sense given the location that they lived.

The 1901 Census says the family was Baptist, Scottish and the father was a blacksmith. His wife is 37 and he has a daughter who is 27, so that suggests that this was a second marriage.

I think the red on the map is Jordan River. Here is the widowed Albert Morton in 1881:

I found this at Ancestry which apparently refers to FamilySearch:

Albert Edward was born in Liverpool:

His parents were James Roland and Katy S.? (transcribed as F.). James was a mason. This James would be the son of the Lucy mentioned in the New England Historic and Genealogical Register (NEHGR) above.

At this point, I connect my floating tree of Donna into my main tree:

A First Burbank DNA/Genealogy Tree

In my mind, the fact that Donna’s Burbank moved to Nova Scotia before the Revolution makes this DNA connection more likely.

Joyce and Douglas

Douglas could help fill out my Burbank DNA/Genealogy Tree. The 1910 Census has Douglas’ grandfather a physician in Gloucester in 1910:

The fact that the grandfather was from Canada is hopeful. Douglas’ grandfather’s marriage record is helpful:

It gives his birth place and parents’ names. Here is Milton, near Liverpool, NS:

Here is the family in 1891:

Richard was a Congragationalist who was listed as farmer and huntman. So far the tree is going well:

Findagrave.com has this information:

This research on Thomas Knowles was found at Ancestry:

This document was also helpful:

Based on this, I accepted the parent hints at Ancestry:

From there, I added Elizabeth Crowell and linked Elizabeth Burbank to the Timothy Burbank I already had in my tree.

Here, the Burbank DNA/Genealogy Tree gets a little more width:

It turns out that Douglas has small DNA matches to two of my siblings.

Joyce and F.M.

The paternal side of FM’s tree is from Nova Scotia. I have had success so far with Joyce’s Burbank ThruLines. As usual, I start a floating tree for F.M. F.M. has a small tree at Ancestry:

Here is the family in 1921:

John was Scottish and the Town Clerk. However it is Mattie I am interested in.

Here is Mattie’s family in 1901 in Brooklyn, NS:

ThruLines wants me to go with Mattie’s mother Gertrude at this point and then Gertrude’s father. Gertrudes grave stone has her maiden name:

Gertrude’s father was a Baptist blacksmith:

Based on this, I’ll accept the Ancestry hint of Theodosius as Gertrude’s father.

Hannah Burbank

At this point, I look at the family from near the top of the ThruLines:

Hannah marries in Plymouth in 1758. That means that the above Theodosius must have been named for his grandfather. The easiest reference I can find to fill in the blank is this:

Adoriam Judson caught my eye. I assume that Theodosius was a fan of the missionary:

Next, I just need to connect John Ford to his parents in my tree and connect the floating tree.

Here is the big picture:

I am pretty confident with this DNA/Genealogy Tree. However, having said that, I realize that many from Colonial Massachusetts moved to this area. So other connections are possible. At this distant relationship, it would be extremely tedious to check out all possibilities.

Summary and Conclusions

  • It appears that all of Joyce’s Timothy Burbank ThruLines check out.
  • At first it appeared that these were the only possible connections. However, with the emmigration patterns from Massachusetts, there could be other connections. Still this is a good list. This is because my ancestor Lucy Burbank’s three siblings moved to this area in Nova Scotia
  • I had not known about this immigration pattern before, so it is interesting. I’m sure this move was meant to increase personal wealth – or so it seems.
  • It would interesting to check the actual DNA matches and where they occur. However, that is not possible with Ancestry. Ancestry is good with making genealogical connections but does not have Chromosome Browser.
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DNA and the Stuart Line

I originally was writing on my Hartley X-DNA, but the Blog morphed more into DNA and the Stuart Line.

X-DNA is somewhat of a compicated subject in that the X Chromosome is never passed down from father to son. I tried working on my wife’s French Canadian X-DNA and found that complicated also – mostly due to the inter-related gn:ealogy.

My Father’s Cousin Joyce

The only X-DNA match I have for Joyce is on her paternal side:

That is the side not related to me.

However, I notice that Joyce has a match with another of my father’s cousin who is Maury:

Actually, there are three matches. Let’s see who these represent.

The common ancestor between Maury and Joyce has to be their maternal grandparents. The DNA could have come from either James Hartley or Annie Louisa Snell (or a mixture of the two between the three segments).

Pink on pink is not the best color, but it will do for now. The match is from Gedmatch which is my only choice as I tested Joyce at Ancestry and Ancestry does not report X-DNA.

Here is another from one of my second cousins. Her X-DNA would go back to the same couple. Her grandmother was a Hartley so she would have received her X-DNA from either James Hartley or Annie Snell:

Beth’s match with Joyce adds some more Hartley and/or Snell X-DNA to right side of Joyce’s profile:

There is another 2nd cousin at Gedmatch, but that would only add more of the same.

My Sister Heidi and Likely Stuart DNA

Heidi matches Charlene at Gedmatch:

That is interesting as it should give a hint as to how they are related due to X-DNA inheritance patterns. In a 2019, I suggested this connection with Charlene, based on triangulation of X Chromosome matches:

Based on the above image, I suggested that the common ancestor was Margaret Stewart as there was no X-DNA passed down from Michael Frazer to his son Archibald. However, in a Blog I wrote earlier this year, I put Charlene on a different part of the Frazer Branch:

This change was based on ThruLines between Charlene and Joanna and the extensive genealogy work that Joanna has done on the Frazer family. At first, it is not clear how an X-DNA match could fit in here, but here is Joanna’s tree:

Joanna and Charlene descend from Archibald Frazer II, but they also descend from Anne Palmer. And Anne Palmer’s mother was a Stewart. Joanna further has this in her tree:

Joanna has that my ancestor Margaret Stewart was a daughter of Thomas Stewart. That means that assuming this scenario is right, the common ancestor between my sister Heidi and Charlene by X-DNA would be Thomas Stewart born in 1725.

Based on that, I will add Heidi’s match with Charlene to her DNA profile. This is what I have currently for Heidi on her X Chromosome:

Heidi has a paternal X match with Emily and several matches on her maternal X Chromosme. The match with Emily goes back to 1846 on the McMaster side. Frazer and hence Stewart are on the Frazer side. Here is the updated match:

Above, I have filtered for just the paternal matches. Here is the likely connection for the X-DNA matches:

My Cousin Paul and Stuart Genealogy

Here is how Paul matches Charlene:

Here is Paul mapped with Charlene on Chromosome 9:

Interestingly, Paul makes a connection to Charlene and BV similar to the one my sister Heidi makes on her X-DNA. I take that connection to go back to Thomas Stuart of 1725 and his wife. This identifies the BV, Sharon and Michele DNA as from along the Stuart Line also.

I had to look up Michele and found her on one of my DNA/Genealogy Charts:

Paul does not have X-DNA of interest to me because his father was a Frazer, so no Frazer X-DNA was passed down to him.

Paul’s Autosomal DNA

Here is what I have now for Paul:

I need to modify the top as this could also be Thomas Stuart and his wife. When I check Gedmatch, this is Paul’s match with Jonathan:

This was missed previously somehow. Perhaps different tests gave slightly different results. Here, I add Jonathan to Paul’s Chromosome 5:

Stuart and McPartland

I have long pondered the McPartland family and how they fit in with the Frazers. It appears that they have a connection with the Stuart family. I already showed how Charlene descends from the McPartland Line.

I don’t see Karen anymore at Gedmatch, but from a 2017 Blog I wrote, I see that my sister Heidi and Karen had this X-DNA match:

I have never added this information manually, but it’s not too late to learn:

Here I have added Karen and Chris (though they came out quite large):

Sharon and Charlene

From my 2017 Blog, I see I mentioned that my sister Sharon matches Charlene:

Here I have added Charlene to Sharon’s DNA profile using DNA Painter:

Here the DNA is ‘walked back’ from Paul and his McMaster ancestor, to Michele with Margaret Stewart ancestor (married to Michale Frazer) to Charlene who has an ancestor who was the sister of Margaret Stuart.

People Who Match Sharon and Karen

I used a comparison tool at Gedmatch:

Sharon and Karen

Sharon and Karen also match on Chromosome 9:

Adding this result to Chromosome 9 on Sharon’s profile is interesting:

 

Note that there is a break where Charlene’s match stops and Karen stops. That likely represents what I call a crossover. That crossover could be the difference between Thomas Stuart born 1725 and his wife. I don’t know which is which but I think one segment belongs to the husband Stuart and one to the wife.

Sharon and Brian

I was able to find the match between Brian and Sharon at Ancestry:

He shows having our common ancestors as Michael Frazer, but I no longer believe that to be correct. Brian should be in this box with Chris and Karen:

Sharon and Brian’s Shared Matches

The other interesting thing about Brian is that because he tested at Ancestry, he has shared matches with Sharon. One of those shared matches is also on the McPartland Line:

I hope this theory is right, because I have had many other theories about where the McPartlands fit in with my genealogy that have seemed to be wrong.

Patrice: Shared Match with Brian and Sharon

Ancestry has what I would call a wild guess as to how these two may connect:

This is where I had previously placed Patrice on my Frazer DNA/Genealogy Chart:

I think that my tree is the more correct one.

Jonathan and Jonathan

By my recollection, my brother Jonathan matches Frazer researcher Joanna’s brother:

By the Frazer Line these two would be fifth cousins twice removed. However, by the Stuart Line:

Also 5th cousins twice removed. However, I suppose that based on the genealogy, there was twice as much chance that the two Jonathans would match each other at this distant relationship.

Here, I have mapped Joanna’s brother onto my brother’s DNA profile:

In the key I have noted that the match could be Frazer, Fitzgerald or Stuart. It could also be from the unknown wife of Thomas Stuart. Or, the match could even be from another unknown line. However, I am sticking to what I think I know. It may be possible to know where that match comeps from if there were more overlapping matches. Paul’s match overlaps, but he also descends from McMaster and Frazer. If there was an overlap that was just McMaster, I would say the Jonathan DNA would be Stuart. If the and overlap was with someone with just Frazer ancetry, I would say the common ancestor DNA would be Frazer/Fitzgerald.

The Two Jonathans’ Shared Matches

Here is the shared list at Gedmatch:

I am interested in Bonnie as I know of her. Although she shows as a match at Gedmatch, she does not show as a match at Ancestry.

Bonnie also has Stewart and Frazer ancestry:

That means that any match that my family has with her could equally be on the Frazer side or Stuart side.

Bonnie shows as a 4th cousin once removed to my family. DNA matching with Bonnie could be from either the Frazer side or Stuart side. Here is my brother’s match with Bonnie:

Here is Bonnie’s Frazer or Stuart DNA added to my brother Jon’s DNA profile:

Paul and Jonathan’s Shared Matches

Here is what they look like at Gedmatch:

One name that caught my eye is Gail.

Gail is in one of the boxes with a different color. Gail’s line goes through Archibald born about 1792 who married Anne Palmer. That puts her in the category of one who could be related on the Frazer side or the Stuart side. Here is how she matches Paul:

This match fills in a gap in Paul’s DNA profile on Chromosome 12:

There are no overlapping matches in that area, so this may represent Frazer, Fitzgerald, Stuart or wife of Stuart DNA.

Paul and Joanna

Joanna is a good choice as she has shared her Ancestry results with me.

Here I see Gail again, and I recognize Bob:

Bob is one of those matches that has a chance of matching Paul doubly.

Here I add Bob in one of the places where he and Paul could match on the Stuart Line:

 

Also I recognize kimac who my notes say is Rodney on my tree: and a brother to Gail. He will map with Gail, but I will add him.

Summary and Conclusions

  • I started out looking at my family’s Hartley X-DNA connections
  • This quickly lead to my Frazer side as X-DNA stops at my father’s father.
  • However, it occurs to me that if I looked at my father’s two cousins’ X-DNA results, it may result in something as their mothers were Hartleys and the X-DNA would continue on.
  • This Blog continues to enforce the fact that I have Stuart ancestors. Those ancestors are on my Frazer side who were ancestors of my McMaster ancestors.
  • There is still room for more research on Hartley X-DNA and Stuart DNA and genealogy.

 

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My Wife’s French Canadian DNA

My most recent Blog on this topic appears to be from April 2022. The best way to update my wife’s French Canadian DNA is through her late father and two late Aunts using DNA Painter.

A Summary to Date

Richard is 45% filled in on his maternal French Candadian side, which is pretty good. This includes 5 ancestors on his LeFevre side and 7 ancestors on his Pouliot side.

Lorraine is 40% filled in on her French Canadian side. She has 6 LeFevre side ancestors mapped and 5 Pouliot side ancestors mapped.

Aunt Suzy or Virginia is 37% filled in on her French Canadian side. She only shows DNA matches from descendants from two Pouliot ancestors and 5 LeFevre ancestors.

Here, I have summed up the ancestors mapped:

I short-cutted and didn’t write down the spouses for all the male ancestors. The DNA could have just as easily come from the spouse in any case.

X Chromosome

I notice that there are not a lot of matches on the X Chromosome. Perhaps I can fill in some blanks by looking there. The only place I have available for that is from FTDNA and Gedmatch.

First, I’ll try Lorraine at FTDNA. Lorraine’s closest X DNA matches there either do not have trees or do not have useful trees.

Lorraine and Elizabeth

Elizabeth has this tree:

However, unlike Ancestry and MyHeritage, FTDNA does not suggest common ancestors. It appears that there could be a Tremblay connection. However, the X-DNA inheritance shows that it cannot be through Jean-Baptiste:

The X-DNA Lines of inheritance must one of the following:

  • Jette
  • Deschenes
  • Sasseville
  • Munger
  • Cote
  • Gauthier
  • Larouche
  • Fillion

Munger brings us back here:

Further, on the Tremblay Line:

These are two common ancestors which are supported by the X-DNA inheritance. Here is Aunt Lorraine’s Tree:

However, let’s check Aunt Lorraine’s X-DNA inheritance:

If this is the connection, the X-DNA would have to be from Madeline Bouchard. Unfortunately, I have not checked other possibilities:

Here is Cote:

This exercise is becoming cumbersome. This is why Ancestry and MyHeritage have an advantage in that they suggest common ancestors. As I know there is a possible connection to Madeleine Bouchard, I would like to assume that she is the correct connection.

Here is the DNA match between Lorraine and Elizabeth:

One problem with the match on Chromosomes 14 and 17 is that my analysis above was just for X-DNA. The autosomal matches open up many other possibilities. For now, I will just look at the X-DNA match. Here is the X-DNA match:

This one X-DNA match brings Lorriane up to 42% of her maternal side DNA identified versus a previous amount of 42% identified. I feel like I had some success with this approach, so I will try one more X-DNA match.

Lorraine and Jane

Jane has a pretty good tree, so I will look at her match with Lorraine:

I have outlined Jane’s possible routes of connection with Lorraine. Based on the sound of the surnames, I would go with Roy, Gauthier or Lamott aka Lamoth. Jane’s tree does not go far beyond these names, so I will skip this match for now.

Lorraine at MyHeritage

I am looking for easy answers, so I will try MyHeritage’s Theories of Family Relativity. Next, I will sort by most recent:

Sylvie has four ways she could match Lorraine, but those ways are all similar. I’m willing to add Sylvie to my tree to see if she fits in. Here is Theory #1 between Lorraine and Sylvie:

It looks like this would take a while to confirm, so I will move on to the next Theory:

Martine’s Tree at MyHeritage continues on with Tremblay rather than having a Rochefort in there:

I’ll add Martine to my tree in hopes that she will connect. Here is the baptismal record for Martine’s father:

I’m not sure if this is the right place:

Here is the 1931 Census, a year before Martine’s father was born. I think this is the right place:

In 1931, the family lived in Jonquiere:

Apparently, there was more than one Lace Kenogami in Canada.

Looking back 40 years, I take this to be Cleopas as a small child:

In 1891, Cleopas was not as far North:

Cleopas and his father Lin were both journaliers or day workers.

20 years earlier in 1871, LIn was in the same place:

I see that LIn’s parents were Frederick and Angelique. Here is Lin’s marriage record:

Frederick was a farmer or cultivateur. This source at Ancestry seems a bit off:

This would mean that Frederic married when he was 10 years old. Here is part of the marriage record for Frederic and Angelique from 1837:

Unfortunately, I do not see that part that says who his parents were.

More on Frederic Tremblay

Here is one:

Frederic married in Baie-St-Paul, so this is a possibility:

Here is the 1826 marriage to Flavie Girard:

Further, I have determined that this Frederic is likely not the same Frederic who married Angelique Menard. As I mentioned above, this would assume that Frederic married at the age of 10, but here is called majeur which means he would be of legal marrying age without further consent of his parents. While I do not know that age – it may be 21 – it was surely more than 10 years old! On the other hand, Flavie in this record was not of the legal age: mineur. She would have needed the consent of her parents.

This tells me that I want to disregard the Ancestry suggestion for the father of Frederic Tremblay:

Here is another possibility:

Here is the 1861 Census:

I don’t know who Venerande Tremblay was. Jean Minard could have been a brother to Angelique.

Expanding the Theory

I can choose the full Theory between Lorraine and Martine. At the top, it looks like this:

There are a lot of problems with this expanded Theory. First Frederick’s dates are between 1790 and 1863. However, here he is in 1881 with his extended family:

Further, his Census ages have him consistently born right around 1815.  Further, it appears that the woman in the Theory who is Marie Bouliane had tow husbands. Yet she has a child by the second husband while the first is still alive. All this, plus there is another Tremblay in the line: Lidia. I’ll move on.

Lorraine and Claude

The Theory looks straightforward.

I started a tree for Claude. I assume that he knew his grandparents or of them and added his paternal grandmother as suggested by Ancestry. Here is the family in Montreal in 1921. Emile’s father was from France:

Apparently, there is a sister Lucie on the next page of the Census.

In 1891, Eugenie lived in Magog Village:

Her father was a Carpenter:

Here is the tree I have so far:

In order to check the Theory, I will be following Marie Lavoie who looks to have the maiden name of Gagnon. This is likely the marriage record from 1857:

The location is Les-Eboulements, Quebec:

This is not far from Baie-Saint-Paul where I was looking not too long ago for a specific Tremblay family. As the names in the marriage record match with the suggested parents at Ancestry, I will accept the Ancestry hint:

 

Oops, I actually need to follow Michel Lavoie:

I don’t get the same hint for Michel, but based on his marriage record, his father is Laurent Lavoie and his mother is Marie Boivin. Here is the Lavoie family in 1851:

I was able to find an 1828 marriage record for Laurent and Marie:

The original transcription is Laurent Larvia, but that was corrected to Laurent Lavoie. His parents are Michel and Marie Gagnais which I would take to be equivalent to Gagne.

Using the same logic as above, I will accept the Ancestry hints:

Next, I am really hoping that there is a connection:

However, there is also Gagnon which I assume to be different than Gagne and also another Simard Line.

At this point, Marie is in a published document:

Making the Connection

This Genealogical Dictionary makes the connection. I have also added Marie’s siblings. Unfortunately, I do not see my wife’s ancestor Alexis Lavoie born in 1780. However, I believe that I have the right information.

I now have this tree:

I need to merge this couple with the other couple of the same name in my tree. I go to tools:

It was difficult to find Jean Baptiste due to whether the name is hyphenated or has markes on the vowels. After merging Jean Baptiste and his wife, I get this:

Unfortunately, those added from the genealogical dictionary had no sex and were shown as living in many cases. Here is an update of my wife’s tree:

It turns out that the link on my wife’s side was not well documented as I was depending on one of my wife’s relative’s research. I have had to update my wife’s side also.

Finally, the DNA

Here is Claude’s DNA match with Lorraine:

I’m suspicious with all that DNA that there could be matches on other lines. However, I will add this DNA to Lorraine’s profile as if it were all from the common ancestral couple to see how it works out.

First, on Chromosome 6, the match looks right as Gagne/Simard is back from the Pouliot side of Lorraine’s ancestry.

Chromosome 9 is a problem:

From visual phasing, I show that Lorraine has Lefevre DNA before position 119 (million). The match between Lorraine and Claude is before that point:

The match is between about 104 and 114 million.

Chromosome 12 is also a problem:

After position 12, Lorraine has Lefevre DNA. So after all that work, only one of the three segments were mapped correctly. And even that mapping is not certain. We just know that it is from the right side of the family.

Summary and Conclusions

  • In this Blog, I wanted to update my wife’s French Canadian DNA
  • In looking at my wife’s two aunts, it appeared that they were missing mapping on their X-DNA.
  • This can only be had from FTDNA or 23andMe and the aunts did not test at 23andMe.
  • FTDNA is difficult to work with on the genealogical side.
  • Due to X-DNA inheritance patterns, there is a narrowing down between both matches as to where the common ancestors could be. This fact can be helpful.
  • I was able to find one match with Lorraine where I couild find a likely common ancestor. I mapped that to Lorraine’s profile using DNA Painter.
  • I then tried to find common ancestors of Lorraine with DNA matches using MyHeritage’s Theories of Relativity
  • These did not work that great – at least with Lorraine’s French Canadian ancestry. This ancestry contains a lot of possible common ancestors.
  • After much genealogical checking, I found one match with possible common ancestors. The match, Claude, had three matching segments with Lorraine. However, after mapping, it was found that two of the three matches could not be with the common ancestors identified.
  • I think that if I persue updating the DNA again, I may stick with the X-DNA.
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My Pastor’s Knarr Genealogy

Previously, I looked into my Pastor’s Gray genealogy. In this Blog, I’ll take a look at his Knarr genealogy:

Frances Ruth Knarr was my Pastor’s paternal grandmother. Here is Frances’ birth certificate:

She was born to a miner in Big Run, Pennsylvania:

Big Run is close to Punxatawney.

It is difficult to make out Frances’ name in the 1910 Census, but it is transcribed as Sadie:

We learn further that her father was a coal miner.

Here is Ruth in 1925:

Here is Ruth the following year at her Indiana, Pennsylvania School:

This appears to be a sample of her handwriting. There seemed to be several different ways to write her last name.  Ruth must be about 16 at this time. A few years later, Ruth or Frances made the Punxatawney News:

I suppose that people did not shop as often in those days.

Here is more news for Frances:

Ambridge is a place near Pittsburg – also near where the family was living in 1940. I wonder if the couple eloped as Greensburg is quite distant from Big Run:

There is also no mention of a wedding party. Here is the Gray couple in 1930:

They are living with Frances’ mother who was divorced and going by her maiden name of Weber.

Here is the couple in 1940:

They now have four children and live in Baden, Pennsylvania where Melvin is a laborer for a steel company.

In 1950 Melvin is an insulator for a refrigeration company and the family is living in Bell Township:

Not long after this, the family was back in Punxatawny:

Frances passed away in 1997 in Punxatawny:

She is buried in Big Run:

Clarence Emmanuel Knarr Born 1876

During the Draft Registration for the First World War, Clarence was a farmer in Troutville, Pennsylvania:

Troutville was not far from Big Run:

Clarence was of medium height and build and had gray eyes and light hair:

Here is a photo:

Clarence’s hair does not look very light, but perhaps this is an earlier photo.

Clarence married Emma Weber in 1904. The marriage was performed by a Justice of the Peace:

Here is Clarence in 1880:

The family lived in Brady Township which included Troutville. Three of Clarence’s grandparents were born in Bavaria:

Clarence’s father was a farmer in 1880.

The 1900 Census is a bit confusing:

An immigration year is given, but it must be for the parents as it is before Jacob and Louisa were born.

Clarence is living by himself in 1920 and listed as divorced:

There is a 70 year old Emiline Knarr living next to him. Clarence’s occupation is a coal loader. In 1930, Clarence is still by himself but now a farm laborer:

In 1950, Clarence is still alone, but listed as a widower:

Clarence dies two years later at the age of 76 from heart related issues:

Clarence was buried at the United Church of Christ Cemetery:

Jacob George Knarr Born 1850

In 1860 Jacob was likely living in an Inn as his father was an Inn Keeper:

I assume that they lived in Troutville as that was where the local Post Office was according to the 1860 Census. Jacob’s father was born in Germany. There is no age listed for Margaret, so there is some confusion as to who she is. George and Louisa Knarr are the next listed couple on the Census and they are listed as being 71 and 69 years old.

Here is the 1870 Census showing two Knarr families living next to each other:

We now see that Margaret was Adam’s wife. Jacob is a farm laborer. Jacob’s father Adam has extensive real etate holdings worth $10,000 and is now a farmer. He says that he was born in Wurtemburg:

Apparently, this was a Kingdom that bordered on Bavaria on its Eastern and Southern borders.

In 1880, Jacob is now married with children as a farmer. His sister-in-law is living with the family:

In 1910, Jacob is living with his wife:

Jacob was buried in a Lutheran Cemetery:

From findagrave.com:

Jacob George Knarr was the son of George Adam Knaff b. 17 Mar 1827 in Gersbach, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany and Anna Margaret Kuhnley b. 30 Oct 1827 in Westmoreland Co., PA

He married his first wife Margaret Barto born About 1850, They had a son they named George Jacob Knarr Jr.

He married Maria Louisa “Louisa” Keller on 11 Sep 1873 in PA and they had 4 children they named: Clarence Emanuel, Margaretha Luella, Mary Louise and Wilhelmine Anna Knarr.

George Adam Knarr Born 1827

Here is what I have so far:

One account I read described George Adam as a picturesque figure. Thanks again to findagrave.com, I have a photo:

According to the 1900 Census, Adam immigrated in the year 1831:

If that is correct, he would have been quite young at the time. Based on a birth year of 1827, he would have been 4 or based on the Census, he would have been aboiut 8.

I was able to find and online version of the 1887 History of Clearfield County Pennsylvania:

 The dwelling houses in those pioneer days were little better than “shanties.” It is true there were openings for windows and doors, before which sheets and blankets were hung, as boards were not to be had, as no saw-mills existed. Consequently floors were rare, or did not exist. The roofs were made of split shingles, or clap-boards, held in place by good sized logs known as weight poles. In I832 the Knarr residence, the first house, where Troutville now stands, was built; it was probably as good as most in the township; it was made of hewn logs, clap-board roof, no second floor or ceiling, a hole in the apex and centre, as to length of the roof, for the smoke to escape. This house had a ground floor, made by placing cross pieces between the “sleepers,” close together, so as to hold a layer of clay mortar, which, packed solid and smoothed over and allowed to dry, made a firm and warm floor, which had the advantage, by virtue of its material, to escape scrubbing. The idea of this kind of floor was taken from the old German method of stucco work, similar to old time German threshing floors (not a nail used). Within a stone’s-throw of the site of this pioneer cabin is the modern residence of H. E. Ginter, having all the modern conveniences of steam heat, hot and cold water throughout the entire house; make the comparison between the two, and the vast improvement since then, will strongly impress us that the world moves. Prior to the location of the Knarr cabin, between the years 1821 and 1824, or near those dates, the first settlers located in the southern part of Brady township; 

Societies

Literary and debating societies found favor prior to 186o. Troutville and vicinity had a debating club (German) which used to meet at the Black Horse Tavern, kept by Adam Knarr, prior to 186o, and discussed such weighty (?) questions as: Which is the mother of the chick, the hen which laid the egg, or the one that hatched it? and, Which is the stronger element” fire or water? etc. During the winter of 1868 or ’69 there was a society organized at Luthersburg, having physical and mental improvement in view. This society had the spacious title of United Brethren of Progress. Then, shortly after (winter of 1869″70) Troutville supported a literary society in which Jno. Carlile, Henry Sykes, sr., L. Schuch, S. G. Kuntz, P. S. Weber, J. C. Keller, J. M. Carlile and others took an active part. The question: “Resolved, that woman shall be granted equal rights with man,” attracted considerable attention in the earnest and able manner in which this debate was conducted. From this period to the present time, literary societies both at Luthersburg and Troutville are kept in operation, and maintaining a high standard. I. 0. 0. F.  Mingle Lodge No. 753, I. 0. 0. F., was instituted at Troutville, February 17, 1871, with the following charter members: H. E. Ginter, noble grand; H. W. Schoch, vice-grand; J. C. Keller, secretary; J. M. Miller, assistant secretary; George Knarr, treasurer; William Null, Charles Miller, Sr., Israel Frantz and P. B. Weaver. The lodge was moved to Luthersburgh November 17, 1871, on account of the smallness of the hail at Troutviile, but was removed to the latter place August 2, 1884, occupying their new and commodious hail, owned by the order; membership in good standing, 49; lodge in flourishing condition; no debts, and handsome surplus in the treasury. Good Templars.   This temperance society flourished in the township from 1868 to 1870, but finally lost prestige and ceased to exist.

Hotels

The first tavern, as hotels were then called, was opened by Lebbeus Luther shortly after settling at Luthersburgh, in 1820. Later he sold to Jacob Flick, who continued in the business until about 1839, when Joseph Fulton succeeded him. Fulton was followed by. William Irvin, and he by P. W. Barrett. The lower house, where D. Goodlander’s “Merchants” Hotel now stands, was first kept by Conrad Best, followed by Judge William Foley. Foley was followed by Daniel Barrett, and he by his son, Lewis. George W. Long kept what is to-day known as the Schwem House. In 1863 lie was followed by the Evanses, and they by the present proprietor, William Schwem, Jr. In 1863 to 1864 Frederick Korb kept what was known as the Eagle Hotel, now occupied as a tenement and office. In about 1853 Wilson Moore built the “Merchant’s” (now Goodlander’s). Moore was succeeded by Wallace & Shaw, they by David Johnston, Johnston by James Zeigler, he by H. Wittenmyer, when it finally passed into the hands of D. Goodlander, the present owner, who keeps it as a temperance house. In 1855 Henry Goodlander took charge of the old “Salem” tavern, succeeding Thomas Montgomery. Mr. Goodlander kept this well known hostelry until his death (1883). In 1845 Jacob Trautwein started the first hotel at Troutville. About 185? he sold to William Schwem, Sr., Schwem sold to Frederick Zeigler, he to George Knarr, the present owner. This house is now occupied as a dwelling. The second hotel was started in 1854 by Adam Knarr, known as the “Black Horse Tavern.” The “Traveler’s Home” stands on the site of the old tavern, and is owned by Adam Knarr. It was an extremely difficult task to secure data on this subject, and may be defective on that account. As a reminiscence it may be remarked: Little or no beer was sold prior to 1860, and whisky was served in tumblers at three cents a glass.

According to the findagrave.com entry for Jacob Knarr above, George Adam Knarr was born in Gersbach, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany:

Jo

Gersbach is not far from the French border.

Here is George in 1850:

Johann George Knarr Born 1789

George or Johann George was the first to bring his family to the Pennsylvania. We find out about George’s arrival in another biography of his son Adam:

Thi

This 1898 biography is quite extensive and the reader may refer to the link above if interested. Here is Warren, Pennsylvania mentioned in the article:

Ancestry gives this hint for George’s Baptismal record:

I don’t think that Knerren is right. It should be Knerr.

Pirmasens appears to be close to where we were looking earlier in Germany:

Here is a closer view:

According to Wikipedia:

Pirmasens is an independent town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, near the border with France. It was famous for the manufacture of shoes. The surrounding rural district was called Landkreis Pirmasens from 1818 until 1997, when it was renamed to Südwestpfalz

Going Further

I have not done my own research into the German background of the Knerr surname. I have just accepted suggestions from Ancestry which uses online trees. This tree has a different name:

However, the Germans tended to have a lot of names. He could have been Johann Georg Andreas.

It would be intersting to accept the hints to see where they take us. This tree has:

This shows the Knerr family in Winzeln:

This tree (right or wrong) has the Knerr family in Switzerland going back to the 1500s:

If the tree is right, Theordore was the one who moved from Switzerland to Primasens:

According to Wikipedia:

Nennigkofen is a former municipality in the district of Bucheggberg, in the canton of Solothurn, Switzerland. On 1 January 2013, Lüsslingen and Nennigkofen merged to form Lüsslingen-Nennigkofen.[1]

This would have been a considerable way to travel for this family:

Summary and Conclusions

  • I was able to find a coal miner’s daughter in my pastor’s genealogy.
  • Frances Ruth Knarr’s parents divorced. It may be possible to find the details of this divorce in County records.
  • The Knarr’s moved from Germany and were early settlers of Troutville, Pennsylvania.
  • One early Troutville Knarr was an Inn or Tavern Keeper.
  • In Germany, the family lived in the Primasens area, not too far from the border of France.
  • In Germany, the name was originally Knerr.
  • The family has possible roots going back to the 1500’s in Switzerland.