Oh Susannah! Was this you??

Lancaster County Historical Society is the repository for the old County records, and entering them into the Society’s database is a long, time consuming process.  One person works eight hours a day on this task.  It will take years to finish it.  

A couple of Saturdays ago, when I was volunteering at the Historical Society, I was surfin’ through the database on Lancaster County records and came across an entry for “Susanna Leader” that had been added since I had last surfed through them.  It caught me entirely off guard! I had to find out what was in the Quarter Session documents, so I requested a copy of them from the Archives.

I knew Susannah had lead a tumultuous life, but this came as a complete shock!  In the 1823 November Quarter Sessions the “Grand Inquest for the County of Lancaster” found that Henry Heckroth, “late of the county aforesaid” (did he skip out??) . . . the ninth day of April in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty . . . did commit fornication with a certain Susan Leader of Marietta and there did beget a Male Bastard child. . . .

Now, bear in mind that Susannah and Samuel Leader lived in Marietta ( the court findings have “Susanna Leader of the Borough of Marietta”) and her son, Frederick was born in 1821, seven years after her last child.   Also, in 1831, on the “Poor Children’s List,” Susannah, alone, was listed as the parent for Frederick.

The strange part of all of this is the fact that Samuel did not die until 1839, and Susannah’s Bible and her purchase of another home all center around his death date.  Were they separated for awhile?  Did they divorce?  So far, I can’t find anything to indicate so.  Did he die intestate with a little money?  No record of that either.

Timeline:

• 18?? Samuel and Susannah marry
• 1813 Samuel purchases a home in Marietta
• 1813 Maria born, first child
• 1814 Jacob born, second child
• 1819 Samuel in Debtor’s Prison, everything sold
• 1820 April 9th – Fornication w/Henry Heckroth
• 1820 Census shows 1 male 0-10 and 1 male 45 and older (Jacob & Samuel)
• 2 females 0-10, (Maria and ??) 1 female 26-45 (Susannah)
• 1821 Frederick born – month unknown
• 1824 Samuel’s home sold for debts (another home??)
• 1831 Susannah listed as parent on Poor Children’s List; Frederick owes for 3 sheets of paper
• Tax lists between 1829 and 1837 show Samuel owned no property
• 1839 Samuel dies
• 1840 Susannah purchases home in Elizabethtown
• 1844 Susannah marries George Kehler of Elizabethtown

This is going to take some more digging.  I’m going to start going through old newspapers on microfilm and find out what happened to dear old Henry.  Was he Frederick’s father?  Court records indicate such. . . .   we’ll see

I have a persistent nature. . .

 

Seriously? My Ten Essential Genealogy Books? Only Ten?

I was tempted to say that I could do without a library.  After all, I volunteer at the local Historical Society and have access to every book I could possibly want!  and with all those databases and books online, why do I even need all those books I have?

. . .and then sanity overtook me!  I’m a tactile person and I must touch, turn pages and be able to grab a book in the middle of the night!  I need to put stickies on pages and even highlight an entry or two.  I love my books!

You’re going to see a pattern in my selection of books.  I’ve listed not only my essential books for doing Lancaster County research, but my most frequently used books.  My Lancaster County books are the most well worn books in my collection.

Lancaster County Books necessary in my research

• The most important book in my collection was one of the oldest books in my collection.  A friend in Florida said I absolutely could not do Pennsylvania research without this book.  I’ve had this book for about 15 years and it is well used.  “Pennsylvania Line” was published by SW Pennsylvania Genealogical Society and invaluable in my research.  It contains maps of when counties were incorporated and from what county, rivers, streams, names of old, non-existant towns, post offices, and literally everything Pennsylvania!

Pennsylvania Line - Where would I be without this book???

• My German to English , English to German Dictionary is right up there at the top.  Although I can pick out the basic German in Church records (births, deaths, marriages, etc.)  those other words pop up now and then.  This book has aided me in helping to decipher meanings and tense.  I found it at a garage sale about 7 years ago and it was 50 cents well spent!  Hardback, large and in good condition!  Wow, what a bargain!

• “Churches and Cemeteries of Lancaster County“, by A. Hunter Rineer.  I carry this book in my car!  When I need it, I have to go out to the car to find it!  Not only does it list the Churches and Cemeteries of today, it lists ones that used to be.  It tells the history of each congregation and where their records are kept.  Every cemetery, past and present, is also noted with their history and a map to show exactly where it is.  Another book that has been invaluable in my research since I am, after all,  a Cemetery Person!

• The next book is a rather large book (dimension wise) and has been invaluable in placing my ancestors in various townships and locations. The “1864 Atlas of Lancaster County “has township maps with names marked on it, where they lived, who lived next to them, etc.  It has towns, streams, people and roads.  I was able to take a deed of one of my ancestors and with the help of this book actually find the curve in the road that his house remains on today.

• One of the heaviest and fattest books in my library is “The History of Lancaster County “by Ellis and Evans.  This is a huge book, and as it size attests, has a lot of information.  When I use it, I have to clear off a big chunk of my desk, because it is not a lap book by any means!  There are biographies, histories of each township, tax lists, histories of various organizations, and the list goes on and on.  Any body who had roots in our area is probably in this book.

The Biggest Book in My Collection. . .and this doesn't include the index!

• My next selection is actually four volumes.  Does it count for four books or one?  “Trinity Lutheran Church Records, ” has helped immensely in my research.  The years 1767 through 1810 were translated and transcribed by Debra D. Smith and Frederick S. Weiser,  It was an enormous undertaking, but one many people have appreciated!  My ancestors who settled in Lancaster County were either of the Lutheran or Reformed faith (Duh! they were Germans!) and I have so many stickies, highlighted entries and dog-earred pages in this set, that it would probably not be of interest to anybody else!

• The last very necessary book in my Lancaster County research is actually a series of  five books.  “Lancaster County Church Records of the 18th Century,” the 5 volume set was compiled by F. Edward Wright. Since 18th century ancestors abound in my family, this is another place that my stickies and highlight marker has found it way to!  Having the stickies has helped me flip right to the page in question, since I’ve marked surnames on each one.

I’ve counted the last two entries as five, since the books total nine!  I could list an actual ten books or I could list an actual ten titles.  Since I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, I compromised. I’ve been blessed to have these Pennsylvania Dutch ancestors settle in a region where records are so abundant!

I love my books; the feel of them, the look of them and most of the content in them!

My research is dependent on these books.

 

I’m showing Susannah’s Bible, but not telling on her!

I have three other family Bibles, but this is the one that I treasure the most.  It’s not because it’s the oldest. It’s not because it is the smallest.  It’s not because it is written in German.  and It’s not because it belonged to Susannah.  It’s the feeling I get when I touch this Bible and when I think of Susannah’s life and how it’s affected my life.

Susannah’s Bible is responsible for many major changes in my life.  The Bible is small, written in German, leather flaking off, and probably never read.  Her name is written in it, the date is written in it and Elizabethtown, Lancaster County, is written in it.  However, Susannah didn’t write in her Bible, nor did she read her Bible.

Genisis I, Susannah

You see, Susannah couldn’t read or write.  It was 1839 and many women did not read or write and she was no exception.  Every legal document she signed, she signed with her “X.”  The Bible was probably presented to her upon the death of her first husband, Samuel Leader.  That is another story.  This story is about the Bible, not Susannah.

I don’t think Susannah had any idea of the travels her Bible would take or the effect it would have one of it’s caretakers.

• At some point, Susannah gave the Bible to Amos Zook Myers, a Baptist Minister.  It had to be before 1884, since that was the year Susannah died.  Amos had a notation in the Bible that “Grandmother Kaler” had given it to him.  Susannah’s 2nd husband was George Kaylor, so I know that it was Susannah who gave it to him.  However, I cannot find out how Amos fits into the family tree!

Susannah to Amos Zook Myers

• In 1911, Amos gave it to my great-grandfather, Edwin A. Niess.  I know this because my great-grandfather was a meticulous, well-organized lawyer, and he noted this on the inside of the back cover.  Upon his death in 1948, his son, Edwin Mark Niess,  received the Bible.

Third owner of the Bible ~ Edwin Alonzo Niess

• Edwin M. died in 1966 and it sat in his basement until his widow’s death in 1989.  At that point, the family papers were all boxed up and went to my aunt in Maryland.  My father got the box on a visit to my aunt a year later, and Susannah’s Bible left Maryland and went to California.

• My father only had the Bible for an evening.  He died the next morning, yet the Bible was on it’s way to his home in California.

• I received the Bible shortly after it’s arrival in Calfornia.  (See my blog titled “Every once in awhile I reflect on how far I’ve come in my research”) I became fascinated with the Bible since I had no idea who Susannah was!  I knew she had to be kin, otherwise the Bible would not have been saved all these years.

Every summer we would travel to Pennsylvania from California so I could try to find out who Susannah was.  It took me over five summers to finally find out, and I just stumbled on it in a cemetery!

Five summers was enough for us to know we loved Pennsylvania.  Susannah’s Bible had drawn us to her homeland.  We finally sold our home in California and bought a home in Pennsylvania.

Susannah’s Bible

One hundred and seventy years later the Bible is home in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

We brought Susannah’s Bible back where it belonged.