The Hotel Abbey

On 1-Jan-1763, William Shippen deeded a property on what is today the corner of Wissahickon Avenue and West Hunting Park Avenue, to my maternal fifth great grandfather, Francis Diehl.  I do not know for certain whether it was William Shippen Sr. (1712-1801) or William Shippen Jr.  (1736-1808) who deeded the property, although given that the junior Shippen would have been only been in his mid-twenties at the time, my strong inclination is to think that it was the elder.

The image below is a clipping from The Philadelphia Public Ledger of October 6, 1907 discussing the history of the colonial era hotel, and the impact upon it of the widening of Hunting Park Avenue.

 

The following is the transcribed text of the article.

ASSOCIATIONS OF OLD HOTEL ABBEY

Highway Improvements Encroach Upon Hostelry That Has Been an Inn for 150 Years — Frequented by Indians

The widening of Hunting Park avenue to a 100-foot thoroughfare, for which stakes have been driven, will greatly change the appearance of the Abby Hotel at the corner of Wissahickon avenue, and destroy the beauty of the sloping entrances to the large yard.  This hostelry is one of the most ancient in the city and has an unbroken history of 150 years as an inn.  The building is part stone and part frame; the latter, which forms the front toward Hunting Park avenue, was added to the old colonial structure 75 years ago.

A Succession of Owners

The original building with its hip shingle roof, is about as it was when William Shippen built it in the first half of the 18th century.  It was then occupied as an inn and afforded accommodations for the few travelers who passed over what was then the Reading road, now Wissahickon avenue.

Before the Lenape Indians took their departure toward the setting sun they were wont to visit the old inn for “fire water.”

William Shippen deeded the property January 1, 1763 to Francis Diehl, who, in addittion to keeping the inn, carried on the business of a victualer.  He built a slaughter house and enlarged the stables and sheds to make room for the large Conestoga or freight wagons which reguarly were sheltered here for the night.

The property subsequently passed into the possesion of Daniel Diehl and later to Samuel Diehl and still later to another Francis Diehl.  It extended on both sides of the old Indian trail (Nicetown lane) to the Plymouth road (Ridge avenue), on which front the old Dove and Swan Tavern was erected about the time of the close of the Revolutionary War.

On the south side of Hunting Park avenue, a short distance west of Wissahickon avenue is the old Diehl Cemetery.  Its stone fence has nearly crumbled and huge trees grow over where the dead were long ago buried.

Washington as a Guest

The Hotel Abbey was so named by Matthew Ifill, its present owner and proprietor, who spent forty years in the hotel business and will retire this month to live, as he says, on “easy street.”

In this quaint old hostelry George Washington was a guest to dinner in 1777, when his army was encamped on the Hill farm, part of which is now occupied by the Queen lane reservoir, at the Falls of Schuylkill.  In its earlier days the place was known as “Hard Corner,” owing, it is said, to the old-time political fights which took place at the lections between the Democrats and Whigs of the upper part of Northern Liberties.   Many prize ox killings and political barbecues were held in the old hotel yard.

Ifill became proprietor in 1890.  He enlarged the hotel by erecting a sun parlor along its west front.  He bought the property from the Carpenter estate.  In the course of excavations a skeleton believed to be that of an Indian was found

Among the proprietors still remembered by the older residents of Tioga and vicinity were Samuel Hoff, George Kohl, Albert Brothers, George Boos, “Uncle” Jacob Markley, and “Billy” Morris.

In October 1777 shortly before the Battle of Germantown, Francis was shot and killed by an unknown British soldier while “standing inoffensively in the doorway of his residence.”

The intersection of Wissahickon avenue and W. Hunting Park Avenue is, today, a run-down, industrial section of Philadelphia and is home to the abandoned (since 2003) Budd Company factory.

The 1.8 million  square foot building complex was once the prospective site for a casino developed by Donald Trump, for which plans were scuttled in 2005. The parcel eventually sold to a suburban buyer who sat on the deed for years, until the property was seized by the city over unpaid taxes and utility bills in October, according to PlanPhilly.

In January of 2019, the property was sold at auction to a New York developer.

 

The Voyage of the Barque Hiero

In September 1854 there was no such thing as a unified Germany. There were Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, and a handful of Kingdoms, Duchies, Principalities, and Palatinates.

Nearly one million Germans immigrated to America in the 1850s, one of the peak periods of German immigration. In 1854 alone, 215,000 Germans arrived in this country. An interesting discussion of the reasons behind the large German exodus can be found in The Causes of the German Emigration to America 1848-1854. (Jesse June Kile – 1912)

The Crimean War, which had begun the previous October, and saw England, France, The Turkish Ottoman Empire, and Sardinia pitted against the Russian Empire, was on the precipice of the Battle of Alma (Sept 20, 1854), and The Charge of the Light Brigade (October 1854).

Against this backdrop, in late summer 1854, Franz Phillip, his wife Catherine, and four of their nine children made their way from their home in the village of Muhl, in the Trier-Saarburg region of the Rhineland Palatinate, located roughly 80km due east of Luxembourg, to Antwerp, Belgium, a trip of more than 300km.

Franz and Catherine are two of my maternal third great-grandparents. Their son, [Karl] Jacob Phillips, who accompanied them on the journey, is a maternal second great grandfather. Franz was fifty-one years old in September 1854. Catherine was fifty, and Jacob was twenty-one.

At roughly the same time, approximately 200km to the north, a man named Heinrich Johann departed Dusseldorf and made his way to Antwerp via Aachen by rail, a trip of roughly 220km. It seems likely to me that the Phillips also journeyed to Antwerp via Aachen as that was a main rail hub at the time. It is even possible that they crossed paths with Herr Johann at the train station.

The Phillips family and Herr Johann were all to be passengers on the English barque Hiero, bound for New York, a trip of approximately 4,000 nautical miles.

A barque (also spelled bark) was a three-masted vessel having square sails on the forward two masts and a single fore-and-aft sail on the rear (mizzen) mast. This rig was easier to handle than a three-masted ship having square sails on all three masts. Averaging about 325 tons, barques, like fully square sailed ships, had a large crew of up to thirty-six sailors.

According to the Herr Johann’s journal, the Hiero was 140 feet in length and 26 feet in breadth.

If you haven’t physically been aboard a sailing vessel of the period, it is difficult to comprehend just how small a boat this is. By way of comparison, if you laid three semi-trailers end-to-end, that is the approximate length of the Hiero. Another comparison is that 140 feet is just less than 1.5 times the distance from home plate to first base in a Major League Baseball park.

Into this small vessel were crammed 203 passengers, the crew, and all the supplies and provisions (including fresh water and livestock) required for a sea journey of up to two, or even three months.

There were, on departure, 190 between-decks (steerage) passengers, including eight infants, on the Hiero. The Phillips travelled in steerage.

Steerage, also referred to as “between-decks,” is the lower deck of a ship, where the cargo is stored above the closed hold. In the 19th century, steerage decks were used to provide the lowest cost and lowest class of travel, for European immigrants to North America.

In the early days of emigration, the ships used to convey the emigrants were originally built for carrying cargo. Temporary partitions were usually erected and used for the steerage accommodation. To get down to the between-deck the passengers often had to use ladders, and the passageway down between the hatches could be both narrow and steep. The way the ships were equipped could vary since there were no set standards for this. It was necessary that the furnishings could be easily removed, and not cost more than necessary. As soon as the ships had set their passengers on land, the furnishings were discarded, and the ship prepared for return cargo to Europe

The ceiling height of the between-deck was usually six to eight feet. Bunks, made of rough boards, were set up along both sides of the ship. The bunks were ordinarily positioned so the passengers lay in the direction of the ship, from fore to aft, but on a few ships the bunks were placed transversely or athwartships. The latter configuration caused passengers greater discomfort in rough seas. Larger ships might also have an additional row of bunks in the middle. On these ships there was only a small corridor between the bunks. Each bunk was intended to hold from three to six persons, and these were often called family bunks.

Steerage passengers slept, ate, and socialized in the same spaces. They brought their own bedding. Although food was provided, passengers had to cook it themselves. On rough crossings, steerage passengers often had little time in the fresh air on the upper deck. If passengers didn’t fill steerage, the space often held cargo.

Conditions varied from ship to ship, but steerage was normally crowded, dark, and damp. Limited sanitation and stormy seas often combined to make it dirty and foul-smelling, too. Rats, insects, and disease were common problems.

There were, on the Hiero, in addition to the steerage passengers, thirteen “cabin” passengers, including one infant. Herr Johann was well-to-do enough to be able to afford a “second class cabin” which included meals at the Captain’s table.

What follows is an account of the voyage of the Hiero. It is drawn from an English translation of the handwritten, German language journal of Herr Heinrich Johann that I received from a gentleman named Edwin Ellis, a great-grandson of Herr Johann. I am deeply grateful to Mr. Ellis for sharing his ancestor’s journal with me.

I have taken the liberty of lightly editing the journal entries to add a bit of clarity and improve the narrative flow. I have changed nothing of substance but have added some bits of historical information to certain events Herr Johann described, such as encountering the abandoned vessel Iris during the crossing.

Antwerp to New York – Approximately 4,000 Nautical Miles across the North Atlantic

En Route to America 1854 (From the journal of Herr Heinrich Johann)

Finally, after much effort and the difficulties of an overland trip with heavy baggage, crossing various borders, I arrived in Antwerp, and I am beginning the process of writing down the details of my journey, in part to serve as a reminder for myself in the future, and in part to better enlighten others, to the extent possible.

Thursday evening, 31-Aug-1854: In Dusseldorf I took leave from my friend Köttgen. I was supposed to arrive at the Prussian border on the Dusseldorf Railroad at Aachen, which I had hoped to cross that night. However, the start of the trip did not go entirely as planned, as the same train that brought me to Gladbach, through an unfortunate misunderstanding, took me back to Dusseldorf, and there was only a small room left in my first lodging quarters of the trip.

Friday, 01-Sep-1854: This morning at six with the first train in the morning I was supposed to go to Aachen, meet up with my luggage, and take another train to Antwerp. In Verviers, on the Belgian border, the official was rather gracious and assessed tax only on the lower end of the value range of my belongings at 5.50 Francs, without any further trouble of having to open anything for inspection. Yesterday evening I ate in Gladbach and had a cup of coffee and later, in Verviers, I had a half-pint of beer.

Without further ado upon my arrival in Antwerp at three o’clock in the afternoon, I looked up Agent Meyer from Elberfeld, and finally was able to arrange a second class cabin for 325.00 on the North America bound ship Hiero, leaving the next morning under the command of Captain Seabury, including meals at the table of the captain.

Day 1 – Saturday, 02-Sep-1854: Saturday morning early we boarded the ship. The wind was favorable, and there was no time to lose. With great anticipation I entered the room that was to be my abode for a long time, and we set sail. At eleven o’clock in the morning, Captain Seabury ordered the crew to cast off. We arrived in Vlissingen at eight o’clock in the evening.

Day 2 – Sunday, 03-Sep-1854: Sunday morning at 5 o’clock, we left Vlissingen with a favorable wind and headed out toward sea. At noon we passed Ostend. And by ten o’clock in the evening we passed Calais on our way toward Dover.

Day 3 – Monday 04-Sep-1854: Sunrise was at 5:48 o’clock according to my watch, by which time we were through the Channel. By day the weather was perfect with a favorable wind, but not blowing strongly.

Day 4 – Tuesday, 05-Sep-1854: Sailing along the English coast. There are constantly many sails in view and the trip was still a favorable one during the day. By that evening we were opposite Portsmouth. There was a calling out of the ship’s regulations by the ship’s fool, Buckley. At night there was a powerful storm. (n.b. I believe “Ship’s Fool” refers to the Second Mate)

Day 5 – Wednesday, 06-Sep-1854: In the morning we had a view of the Scilly Islands. This is the last land we shall see until America. Then there was a joyous singing of some German songs. In the afternoon we found the first fish (porpoise) in the area of the ship but we did not catch them. At night a strong wind and a strong tossing about with some people vomiting as a result.

Day 6 – Thursday, 07-Sep-1854: The whole day rather clear weather, yet only a slight wind that, toward evening, that pushed us quite a bit to the south.

Day 7 – Friday, 08-Sep-1854: Dreary weather, with the wind veering very much to the west, almost a crazy wind.

Day 8 – Saturday, 09-Sep-1854: Very bad weather. A strong wind toward evening that swelled up a storm. The seasickness – of the general sort. The first attack in my case came around two o’clock in the morning whereby my coat got ruined. There is general misery among the passengers with prayers being said on the steerage deck.

Day 9 – Sunday, 10-Sep-1854: Continued bad weather. No movement, and a miserable life on the ship. It is damp and dirty inside the ship, and outside it is pouring rain and there is a mighty tossing about.

Day 10 – Monday, 11-Sept-1854: Finally, after difficult days, we have a quiet moment. In the morning the wind was out of the northwest. We are moving very slowly forward. A little boy was born in the morning, around nine o’clock. Toward evening another storm came from the southwest.

Day 11 – Tuesday, 12-Sep-1854: The storm continued and grew in intensity throughout the day.

Day 12 – Wednesday, 13-Sep-1854: The storm that began on Monday evening reached its climax early this morning. Horrible life on the ship. Dirty. Loathsome. Terrible turmoil and tossing have made life miserable.

Day 13 – Thursday, 14-Sep-1854: Not until this morning did the weather get better. The sea became calmer, and the sails went up again. In the afternoon there was a whale near the ship. At night, another powerful storm.

Day 14 – Friday, 15-Sep-1854: Somewhat quieter in the morning. Yet soon it was again it became windier with the rain increasing in intensity, which in the night reached its climax and became truly dangerous. The ship is wet enough, even without the rain that you must bail water.

Day 15 – Saturday, 16-Sep-1854: At noon the weather is still unsettled and there is a greatly choppy sea. There is a strong southwest wind, but it is just quiet enough that the crewmen, who had not been able to do anything with our sails, were able to make some preparations again. Toward evening it became even more calm. Again, a little child is born.

Day 16 – Sunday 17-Sep-1854: On Sunday morning we were able to travel again for the first time. The wind was from the southwest and we went first toward the south, and then toward the northwest. At noon a ship came in sight which showed no foremast. Afterwards a rather lot of finished wood floated by. Toward evening again, a strong wind, but more calm in the night.

Day 17 – Monday, 18-Sep-1854: Dreary weather with west wind, afterwards there was a frost. The air became very still and there was no moving forward. Monday there were two other ships in sight. One had lost two masts and the other had lost one mast, a sign of mutilation from the previous storms.

Day 18 – Tuesday, 19-Sep-1854: Lovely weather with a somewhat northwesterly wind. For that reason, we went in a good direction. Very blessed. Tuesday afternoon we recovered several floating crates and refilled our supplies with their contents. Toward evening there was a completely calm sea and wonderfully calm weather. Slept very calmly at night.

Day 19 – Wednesday, 20-Sep-1854: Lovely wind at noon, good sailing. Full sails, the wind behind us, somewhat in the east, also a little to eat.

Day 20 – Thursday 21-Sep-1854: The morning was a beautifully lovely morning. The sea totally calm. Neglected indeed to note that the morale had improved tremendously on the ship; people’s appetites had been better than before – but otherwise life on ship is very boring.

No wind the entire day and the calmness only increasing, the sea like a meadowland, and lovely weather in the afternoon. And then finally a whale neared the vicinity of the ship and entertained us with his moving about and spraying out water. After sunset there finally was a fresh southeast wind which lasted the entire night and led us farther on our journey.

Day 21 – Friday, 22-Sep-1854: In the morning a south wind. Smooth sailing. Toward evening the wind became somewhat too strong, for which reason several sails had to again be pulled in. At night again, a horrible tossing about.

Day 22 – Saturday, 23-Sep-1854: The whole day dreary, rainy weather. The wind at first favorable. Afternoon totally calm. Evening totally gentle wind.

Day 23 – Sunday, 24-Sep-1854: In the morning foggy with a south wind. Afternoon clear with steadily increasing wind, which at night brought in a formidable storm.

Day 24 – Monday, 25 September. A very choppy sea and a very powerful wind. The sails had to remain pulled in.

Day 25 – Tuesday, 26-Sep-1854: At four o’clock in the morning was there a good northeast wind and good sailing until the evening, then uncertain breezes and a standstill. At night wind to the south. –

Day 26 – Wednesday, 27-Sep-1854: For several days there have been no swells and we have seen a few more birds. In the morning, in southerly direction, there was a ship in view. The wind until noon was favorable, afterwards it became too strong, and toward evening it was a weak and unsustained wind from the northeast.

Day 27 – Thursday, 28-Sep-1854: In the morning there was a southeast wind. At night the wind shifted toward the south and made for very quick sailing in the best direction. There are several ships in view that we are overtaking.

Day 28 – Friday, 29-Sep-1854: In the morning there was a continual, powerful southwest wind, making for very choppy seas. Before noon we overtook a three-mast ship. Towards evening the weather became calmer, and at night it was entirely calm. There was an Incident of theft on the ship.

Day 29 – Saturday, 30-Sep-1854: South wind and then calm. Toward evening east wind, very fast movement. Then a storm and quite horrible tossing. At night near the banks of Newfoundland.

Day 30 – Sunday 1-Oct-1854: Quite foggy, nasty day. Totally calm, but horrible tossing – very unpleasant.

Day 31 – Monday, 2-Oct-1854: At night the first newborn child died. After breakfast he was buried at sea (i.e., thrown into the water). Until 12 o’clock noon there was fast sailing to the southwest, then too strong a wind, and afterwards a horrible storm, during which we were thrown off our target. At night not calm.

Day 32 – Tuesday, 3-Oct-1854: South wind from early to evening pushing toward the west, continually improving weather. Evening clear and clear. Still on the banks of Newfoundland.

Day 33 – Wednesday, 4-Oct-1854: Very clear the entire day, and calm. In the morning a bunch of sea lions (400 of them) very near to the ship on the calm ocean. Also ducks on the “fishpond.” After sunset a fresh breeze from the southeast. At night calm and rather quick sailing. –

Day 34 – Thursday, 5-Oct-1854: Still moving nicely forward. A lot of fog on the banks. At eleven o’clock we caught up with a ship that had come into view early evening. Until the night we were under a shroud of thick fog, racing forward, the wind to the northwest.

Day 35 – Friday, 6-Oct-1854: Wind from the Northwest and our direction is to the south. Lovely weather. At night the wind from the south, and our direction is to the northwest.

Day 36 – Saturday, 7-Oct-1854: Eleven o’clock in the morning. For one hour a ship has been in view toward the south, without masts and without direction. Our ship is moving closer in order to check up on it.

One o’clock in the afternoon. The ship is the Iris out of London. The main mast is splintered and is hanging to one side. The ship seems to still be new but has suffered tremendous damage. Unfortunately, the captain did not concern himself any more with it after he had convinced himself that there were no more passengers aboard.

The barque Iris was abandoned in the Atlantic Ocean after severe storm damage. Her crew were rescued by the brig Magnet (United Kingdom). Iris was on a voyage from Wallace, Nova Scotia, British North America to London.

Day 37 – Sunday, 8 October. Until this morning at 4 o’clock SW wind direction NW, then lovely NW with direction to the SW which helps the goal of covering the remaining 850 nautical miles, hopefully in a few more days. The weather clear, and in the morning, there were three fishing boats in view. All the passengers talked a lot.

On Sunday afternoon, we saw many fishing boats near our ship, and also saw a small whale for a moment. In the evening there was an east wind, but it was too calm to make much headway. We moved slowly at night.

Day 38 – Monday, 9-Oct-1854: Since about noon the wind again became strong enough for sailing. A little, long-beaked bird alighted on the ship. We travelled well today, making perhaps 600 nautical miles.

Day 39 – Tuesday, 10-Oct-1854: In the morning the wind came from the south, a strong one that grew into a storm. Three sailors and the ship’s helmsman, Allen, have taken ill. Two falcons landed on the ship, a sign that land is near. Wind changed to northwest. Toward noon it became calmer, but still with very high seas and horrible tossing. Toward evening it became entirely calm, and at night we were standing still.

Day 40 – Wednesday, 11-Oct-1854: A very wonderful morning. Looked at the sunrise from the mast. The sea a mirror. Seven, and then later nine, ships in view. Toward eight o’clock a slight southerly wind. The whole day lovely, warm weather, a good autumn.

Day 41 – Thursday, 12-Oct-1854: This past night a truly beautiful sunset and sunrise. Up until now (10 o’clock) we had a strong southerly wind. We saw a steamship. The wind ‘til evening strong, also due to strong fog cover a high sea, no storm to fear.

Day 42 – Friday, 13-Oct-1854: Last night became calm. This morning at 7 o’clock we spied the American coast, perhaps Maine. A northerly wind, cold but very favorable. We sailed peacefully the whole day.

Day 43 – Saturday, 14-Oct-1854: Early Saturday morning saw lots of ships with lanterns. Wind from the south and southwest. In the morning we caught a duck. The whole day no sailing. In the evening fog, and at night a little stormy. Electric light on the front mast. Slaughtered a pig.

Day 45 – Sunday, 15-Oct-1854: High seas. The storm is one day past and gives us the expectation of staying at sea for another day. At 7 o’clock the first land, but unfortunately not near New York. Perhaps Block Island. In the direction to the north. At noon caught sight of New York – lovely view available to us continually between Newport and Block Island. Sunday evening a lovely sea.

Day 46 – Monday, 16-Oct-1854: Still between Block Island and Newport, and Newport and Block Island.

Day 47 – Tuesday, 17-Oct-1854: This past night we finally got out farther into the sea, but in the morning totally no wind. Numerous whales near the ship, captured two little dolphins. In the evening at four o’clock, a fresh breeze from southwest.

Day 49 – Thursday, 19-Oct-1854: Arrival in New York.

On Saturday 21-Oct-1854 I wrote to mother and to Köttgen.

END OF JOURNAL

Herr Johann, who apparently Americanized his given name to Henry, eventually ended up in West Point, Mississippi working as a jeweler.

The Phillips eventually made their way to Scranton, Pennsylvania and it’s environs.

The Missing: 5-Feb-2020

I am currently engaged in an as-yet unsuccessful search for information on three children of one of my maternal second great-grandmothers.

Sometime last year I was engaged in a similar quest for information on two children of my maternal great-grandparents, Francis Jacob (Frank) Harper and Nellie Rafferty. Census data indicated that there were two children other than my grandfather Frank and his brother Bob, who had died at early ages but for whom I had no information. I was ultimately pointed toward Returns of Death for Nettie Mae Harper (1881-1886) and Mary Jane Harper (1865-1887), and the mystery was solved. Nettie died of diphtheria and Mary succumbed to pneumonia.

My current search is a result of some collaborative correspondence between myself and another relative named Ruth. We discovered each other through Ancestry DNA. World being small; it turns out my aunt Claire Donnelly Harper had also been Ruth’s girl scout leader.

Ruth and I share one of our maternal great-grandmothers, Henrietta Phillips, and her ancestors. Ruth is descended from Henrietta’s first marriage to Friedrich (Fred) Wickel, while I am descended from her second marriage to Albert Carl (Charles) Kunde.

While researching Henrietta’s parents, Jacob Phillips (1833-1880) and Catherine Fries (1841-1920), I came across the fact that in the US Census of 1910, Catherine informed the enumerator that she had born eleven children, six of whom were still living at the time.

Catherine and Jacob’s eldest child, a daughter name Mary, appears in the census of 1860 as a one-year-old infant. There is no further record of her that I have discovered.. Her absence from the 1870 census leads me to the conclusion that she perished sometime between 27-Jun-1860 and 12-Jul-1870, the enumeration dates of the two censuses.

The full list of children I have been able to assemble is:

1. Mary (1859 – ????) Cause of Death: Unknown, Age < 10 years
2. Henrietta (1861 – 1933) Cause of Death: Leukemia, Age: 72
3. Max (1862 – 1909) Cause of Death: Typhoid, Age: 47
4. Kate (1864 – 1921) Cause of Death: Complications from surgery to repair prolapse of uterus, Age: 56
5. Julia (1868 – 1937) Cause of Death: Cerebral vascular accident due to hypertension resulting from diabetes, Age: 69
6. Mary Louise (1870-1956) Cause of Death: Cardiac failure, Age: 86
7. Lizzie (1872 – 1954) Cause of Death: Congestive heart failure, Age: 81
8. Lena (1874* – 1889) Cause of Death: Consumption (tuberculosis), Age 14
9. Lottie (1878 – 1938) Cause of Death: Hypostatic pneumonia, Age 59

*There is some confusion about Lena’s birth year.   Several sources claim that she was born in 1872.  As Lizzie was born in that year, this seems unlikely to be correct.  I consider the more authoritative source for her birth year to be the 1880 census which enumerates both Lizzie (age 9) and Lena (age 7).

Regardless, the list above totals nine children, not eleven. Two are missing completely and Mary is something of a a ghost.  In 1910, the living children were Henrietta, Kate, Julia, Mary Louise, Lizzie, and Lottie. Six children, which matches the information Catherine gave to the enumerator.

The deceased children were Mary, Max, and Lena.

This leaves two deceased children unaccounted for.

Catherine’s husband Jacob was killed in a quarry accident on 18-Oct-1880, so while it is possible that one of the missing children was born and died between Lottie’s birth on 2-Jul-1878, and the census enumeration date of 14-Jun-1880, I think it is more likely that one of the two missing children was born in the four-year gap between Kate and Julia’s births, and that the other was born between Lena and Lottie.

This timeline would fit with the clock-like regularity with which Catherine popped out babies as the table below illustrates.

Child	Months from  Previous Birth to Month of Conception	Estimated Month of Conception	Birth Month
Mary		09/1858	06/1859
Henrietta	10	04/1860	01/1861
Max	13	03/1862	12/1862
Kate	11	11/1863	08/1864
Unknown 1	12	08/1865	05/1866
Julia	11	04/1867	01/1868
Mary Louise	16	07/1869	04/1870
Lizzie	16	10/1871	07/1872
Lena	15	10/1873	07/1874
Unknown 2	15	10/1875	07/1876
Lottie	15	10/1877	07/1878

Consequently, those periods are where I am concentrating my search.

In any event, the hunt is on.

Sarah Cooper (1684-Unknown)

Sarah Cooper was born 24 Aug 1684 in Richmond Parish, Yorkshire, England, and died presumably in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, date of death unknown. She was a twin to Abraham Cooper and there is some evidence that both she and her twin may have been  mentally challenged.

Extract (edited for clarity) from “Minute Book of Common Pleas and Quarter Sessions Courts of Bucks County, Penn 1684-1730”

18th Day of 5th Mo 1703

“We also do present Sarah Cooper daughter of William Cooper for committing fornication and bearing a bastard child, and we also present Auger, a Negro Slave belonging to Robert Heaton for committing fornication with the said Sarah Cooper.

Robert Heaton’s Negro Auger was called to answer this presents. For committing fornication with Sarah Cooper, he appeared and pleaded guilty – therefore the judgment of this Court is that he shall be whipped with twenty-one lashes upon his bare back.
Sarah Cooper being called on her recognizance appeared and pleaded guilty.

Presentment found against her by the Grand Jury the 9th day of September 1703 [and the verdict] was these words, ‘We the grand Jury for the body of the County do [find] Sarah Cooper, daughter of William Cowper, for committing fornication [and] bearing a bastard child, Guilty.’

Court adjourned until tomorrow morning at nine O Clock. The court [instructed] Sarah Cooper that she could pay a fine as the law in that case directs. She answered she could not. The judgment of this court is therefore that she, Sarah Cooper shall suffer corporal punishment and receive twenty-one wipes on her bare back, well laid on, and order executive accordingly. Court adjourned for one hour being open.”

Sarah was 18 years in 1703 and it appears that none of her family offered to pay her fine, so they probably allowed her to be publicly whipped and humiliated to save face in the family.

There was a Robert Heaton living near the Cooper family in the Middletown Township in Bucks County and he is presumed to be the same owner of the slave as noted above.
It appears that the relationship between Sarah and Auger was a mutual one, or else he would surely have been hanged. There is no record of what became of the child.

This was the second time William had had trouble because of his daughters. Two years earlier he had been called before court because his daughter Elizabeth married a non-Quaker.

Sarah is listed in William’s will as Sarah Bond so she must have married sometime later.

When Henry Huddleston died in 1706, Robert Heaton was a witness to his will and William Cooper was the executor.

Issacher Ettenger (1830 – 1862)

The same cousin who published the photo of our 2nd great grandfather Edward R. Balderston and I were doing a bit of joint research into an unknown relation that had contacted him.  During one of our exchanges he remarked on the fact that Edward had enlisted following the second Battle of Bull run where our joint ancestral relation Issacher Ettinger was mortally wounded.

Issacher is a first cousin, four times removed from me.

Issacher Ettenger

Here are Issacher and his wife Eliza(beth) Leeson.

Issacher and Elizabeth (Eliza) Ettenger

Issacher was mustered in to the Union Army as a Private in Company K, 4th New Jersey Militia on April 27, 1861, and served through the July 1861 Battle of First Bull Run, where his regiment was held in reserve.

Mustered out at the expiration of his enlistment on July 31, 1861, he immediately rejoined the Union War effort, enlisting the 6th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry, and being mustered in as a Sergeant in Company F on August 26, 1861.

He served with his unit through the 1862 Peninsular Campaign, seeing action at the Battles of Williamsburg and Fair Oaks.

During the August 1862 Battle of Second Bull Run, he was mortally wounded, lingering a month before dying at the 3rd Division General Hospital at Alexandria, Virginia, on September 29, 1862.

Eliza lived until 1917.

John Bowne (1627-1695) 9th Great-Grandfather

One of my paternal ninth great-grandfathers, John Bowne, kept a journal from the year 1649, when he emigrated to Boston with his father Thomas and his sister Dorothy, until his death in 1695. The journal was transcribed, edited and published back in the 1970’s. Unfortunately, the only copies I have come across so far are in the hands of someone on Amazon who wants $150.00 for the eighty-four-page paperback. Not happening.

The work, however has been reviewed and excerpted, and I have been able to put together the following summary:

John Bowne was baptized at the Church of Saint Giles in Matlock, Derbyshire, England on 9-Mar-1627, the son of Thomas Bowne, a shearman (someone who’s occupation was sheep shearing) of Limetree Farm.

Upon their arrival in Boston, John entered into the service of Boston vintner William Phillips on 7-Jan-1650, earning “five shillings every week, one-half in money and one-half in wine to myself or whom I shall assign, and also my diet and washing and lodging for so long as I shall please to stay with him, I being free at every week’s end, if I will.”

On 24-Oct-1650, he set sail from Nantasket on the “Charles” and arrived at Deal, near Dover, England on 23-Nov-1650. He subsequently visited London and Matlock, and then sailed from Gravesend in the “Artillery” on 26-Mar-1651, returning to Boston on 25-May-1651.

Shortly thereafter he moved to Vlissingen [Flushing], New Netherland on 15-Jun-1651. He married Hannah Feake, the first of his eventual three wives and my 9th great-grandmother on 7-May-1656.

Described as “[A] verri jentiele young man of gud abbiliti, of a lovli fetture and gud behafior.”

John Bowne was one of several Englishmen who settled in Flushing, Long Island. For the first decade after settlement (Bowne’s Flushing was first settled in 1645, although Bowne himself did not move there until 1651), the English did not encounter difficulties with Dutch authorities. When Friends arrived in 1656, English communities proved to be fertile areas for “convincements,” (i.e. conversions) and New Netherland’s officials, led by Governor Peter Stuyvesant, temporarily quashed support for Quaker missionaries despite the protestations of some residents of the town of Flushing in 1657.

Friends meetings apparently continued to be held, one of the largest being in John Bowne’s Flushing home.

Determined to stamp out Quakerism in the colony, Peter Stuyvesant, Dutch governor of New Netherland had Bowne arrested on 1-Sep-1662, and imprisoned, for holding meetings of the “abominable sect called Quakers” at his home every Sunday. Stuyvesant attempted to coerce Bowne, as he had earlier Flushing protesters, by giving him the alternative of paying a 150-gilder fine or of being banished. John chose banishment.

Banished after four months of imprisonment, first in the dungeon, then in the Stadt Huys in New Amsterdam, he was deported to Ireland on the “Fox” on 31-Dec-1662, and arrived in Dublin on 23-Feb-1663, where he stayed with fellow Quakers for about a week until he set sail again on the ‘Grace” on 1-Mar-1663 for Wales, and from there traveled on horseback to England, visiting many Quakers along the way.

He then sailed to the Netherlands from Gravesend on the “Helena” on 24-Apr-1663, arriving in Amsterdam, where he appeared before the directors of the Dutch West India Company and appealed his case successfully before them.

Following his successful appeal Bowne returned to England, then sailed from Gravesend on the “Mary and Ann” on 7-Jul-1663, arriving in Barbados on 16-Nov-1663. After a short stay, he then set sail on the “Tryall” of New London on 27-Jan-1664 and arrived in New Amsterdam on 30-Mar-1664 where he was reunited with his wife and children, nineteen months after his arrest.

Hannah Feake, first wife of John Bowne, became a minister in the Society of Friends. In the early part of the year 1675, she left home to pay a religious visit to Quakers in Great Britain. John Bowne records that on the 22d of Third month, of that year, he “went with his dearly beloved wife on board Andrew Bowne’s ship at Staten Island, bound for London, where he parted with her on the 24th.”

Hannah Feake died in 1677 in London and John lived as a widower for about two years, after which he married Hannah Bickerstaff in 1679.

Bowne was granted 1000 acres of land in Bucks County, Pennsylvania by William Penn on 2-Nov-82, although he never settled there.

He was also elected representative from Queens County to the General Assembly in 1691, but not seated due to his refusal to take the prescribed oaths.

His second wife, Hannah Bickerstaff died in 1690 and three years later, John married Mary Cock.

All told, John Bowne was the father of eighteen children.

His house in Flushing, built in 1661, and still standing, is an historic landmark, presently known as The John Bowne House (administered by The Bowne House Historical Society).

Isaac Horner Baptism 8-Oct-1648

A baptismal record (last line) for my 8th great grandfather, Isaac Horner, son of Bartholomew, of Kirkgate, Leeds, from 8-Oct-1648, and a picture of the inside of the church (St.Peter’s – Now Leeds Minster) where it took place.

Leeds Minster Exterior

Leeds Minster Interior

10th GGF, Thomas Mark

As I understand it, Thomas (1611-1682) was taken into custody and imprisoned for refusing to pay tithes to the Church of England.

“ANNO 1661. John Nicholson, Thomas Mark, and John Peacock, on an attachment out of the Exchequer, were committed to Carlisle Gaol in the Month called April this Year, and detained there about three Years.

In this Year also George Biglands and John Dobinson suffered eight Weeks Imprisonment for refusing to Swear; and for the same Cause Christopher Manser had a Cow taken from him worth 2l. 4s. and Christopher Birkett a Cow worth 3l.

Collection of the sufferings of the people called Quakers (volume 1)
By Joseph Besse – 1753″

For more information see: Lancashire Quakers and the Tithe, 1660-1730 by Nicholas J. Morgan, Department of Scottish History, University of Glasgow.

Le Sigh…

Everything was going so well…

I was feeling ever so French/Belgian as I delved into an as-yet-unexplored limb on the family tree.

To my surprise, there is a fair amount of genealogical information on the Bodine clan,  [See: Bodine Origins] and as I began to expand my research in an attempt to fill in some gaps and verify people, and dates, and lineages, I came upon the following:

The Bodines of New York, New Jersey, and indeed of America, have their origin in the family le Boudin or de Baudain, and the antiquity of the surname is attested by French Charters of the twelfth century.  The family le Boudin was settled in Cambray, in France, originally a district in the Low Countries, as early as 1126.

Jean Bodine, of the Cambray family is said to have removed to Medis in the province of Saintonge, France, where his son Jean was born in 1645.  He was doubtless a Huguenot, and left the country of his nativity to find asylum in other lands, and it is thought that he made a short stay in Holland, as well as in England, before coming to New York.  He settled on Staten Island, at which place he had a survey of land, 1 April, 1686 and where he died during the latter part of 1694.  His estate was administered upon, 4 March, 1695, by Paulus Richards, and before the final settlement thereof, his son Jean Bodine appeared as a defendant in a suit against the same.  Nothing is known of his wife or of children other than the son, given below.

Jean Bodin of Médis, France (b. May 9, 1645). This Jean Bodin was born, it is said, in Médis, a village in the Canton of Saujon, District of Saintes, then located in the former French province of Saintonge, on May 9, 1645, based upon “a tradition universal in the family.” This “traditional” statement is set forth by Mary Elisabeth Sinnott in her genealogical work, Annals of the Sinnott, Rogers, Coffin, Corlies, Reeves, Bodine and Allied Families (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1905), p. 154. She does not state how this tradition came about. The year 1645 was noted earlier in E. P. Bodine’s History of the Branch of the Bodine Family Founded by Cornelius Bodine, (Buffalo, 1897), p. 6 and in Biographical, Genealogical and descriptive History of the First Congressional District of New Jersey (New York: Lewis Publishing Company, 1900), ii, p. 283. The date May 9, 1645 was repeated, subsequent to Sinnott’s publication, in Genealogical and Memorial History of the State of New Jersey (Lee, Francis Bazely, New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1910), iv, p. 1368, all of whom cited no references. No original source for this claim has yet been found. The location of his birth, Médis, appears to have some basis in fact. Upon having fled France, the French authorities noted his escape as “Boudin, fugitif de Medit, Election de Saintes” (Archives Nationales, Paris, TT No. 259).

At this point, things got a bit dicey.

“Jean Bodine, married (1) Marie Crocheron; and (2), Esther Bridon.”

Or maybe not. I haven’t figured it out yet.

• Jean Bodin, young man from near Bethune in Artois, with Maria Crosseron [Crocheron], young lady from near Ryssel in Flanders; both residing on Staten Island, with testimony of the bride’s two brothers and Piere Verite, all present; and they were married the 11th January, 1680 at Midwood.

• The arrival in America of Jean Bodin can be ascertained only by June 19, 1701, when Jean Bodin, as a resident of Middlesex County, in the Province of East Jersey, purchased an 80 acre tract of land on Staten Island, New York from Johannes and Neeltje Messereau. Middlesex County was situated just across Hudson Bay from Staten Island.

• It would appear from probate records that Jean Bodin, now better known as John Bodine, died shortly before March 24, 1708. His death likely occurred shortly before January 3, 1708 when his will was noted in New York Calendar of Land Papers, iv (1704-1709), p. 81.

• Jean and Esther Bodin first removed to Soubize, a small village in the Canton of St. Agnant, District of Rochefort-sur-Mer. Accompanied by his wife, Esther, he fled his native country on Saturday, September 13, 1681, a date noted in the financial aid records of the Threadneedle Street Church in London.

There are quite a few inconsistencies and discrepancies in the above paragraphs.

In order to connect my lineage to the earlier Bodines, I needed to work my way back from Mary Ann Bodine, who married Jacob Harper on 17 May 1835 through her parents John Bodine and Mary Worrell to the earlier Bodines.

A chap named Ronny Bodine has compiled an extensive database of the Bodine family (Twenty years online now with 10,778 Bodines along with 2464 Berdine, Bordine, Bodin, Budine, and Burdine surnames!) and I dove in to see what I could come up with.  Bear in mind that there are quite a few John Bodines in the general time period and that dates are not always precise.

After a short search I came upon:

There they were. Mary Ann Bodine and her parents, John Bodine and Mary Worrell.  Plus there was a “Notes” link under John Bodine.  I hopped over to the “Notes” page.

And there it was. Top Line.  “WE DO NOT KNOW WHO THIS JOHN BODINE WAS.”

You’ve got to be kidding me.

Sacre Bleu!

Nettie May and Mary Ann Harper

I have had to revise the number of my maternal grandfathers’ siblings down.  Upon a closer examination of hand-written census documents, it seems that a digit that I took to be 7 was, in reality, 4.

My maternal grandfather, Frank “Pop” Harper was one of seven four children of Frank J. Harper and Sarah Ellen Rafferty. “Pop” and his brother Robert were the only two to survive to adulthood.  I have uncovered the two that did not survive, Nettie May Harper (1881-1886) and Mary Jane Harper (1885-1887).

Nettie died of diphtheria, and Mary Jane succumbed to pneumonia.

 

 

 

Both of the girls are buried in McDonnell Cemetery in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

McDonnell Cemetery is an old burial ground off of Reese Street. The land was donated by the McDonnell family to be used as a “free burial ground” for people of little means. The last burial was reported to be in 1920. No grave markers remain, but the cemetery grounds are well maintained by one of the neighbors.