East Coast Genealogy

Unexpected Discoveries - Bonsall Records

2008-12-26T07:28:00.004-05:00

I've been blessed to have been born into a family that had at least its fair share of history and genealogy buffs, and from time to time records turn up from the research done years earlier. My maternal grandfather, Gregg David Reynolds, had a first cousin, David M. McFarland, who was his generation's historian and he was very interested in tracking the family lines. Though he was not as particular as I might like about sourcing his work, I've yet to find any serious errors in his research. His wife was a Bonsall and he tracked that family as well as his own. Over the years, one of his daughters has been sending me his files as they turn up during housecleaning efforts and these packages have often contained some real gems.

My latest find in this conglomeration of data is two very old pages from an old Bonsall family bible. These pages allow me, at long last, to feel confident about cousin David's assertions that Thomas Bonsall (1789 - 1875) was the son of Edward Bonsall and Hannah Gleave. I've transcribed the pages and uploaded them to Chester County Genealogy (under the Data Archives). David's files also include some old family letters, some of which I'll be transcribing as well. One of the more interesting of these letters is one from David to his father as he explains why he feels the need to enlist in the military during World War One, against his father's wishes. At the very least, these old files provide an interesting slice of history for modern readers.

Even the best ones make mistakes....

2008-06-02T17:27:00.002-04:00

When you do a lot of research in any particular area, you get a sense after awhile of whose work is good and whose is not. In Chester county, PA and the surrounding areas, one of the trusted names in genealogy research has always been Gilbert Cope. He was also very prolific and his work is generally very high quality. But, even the best researchers can make mistakes, and Cope was no exception. The sad thing is, when a reputable researcher publishes a work with a mistake in it, that error gets compounded over and over again, as newer researchers take the older research as gospel truth. That is almost certainly the case with one Emanuel Grubb, son of John and Frances Grubb.

Actually, Emanuel isn't the problem -it's his wife who has the issues. Everyone agrees that her first name was Anne (or Ann) and nearly all seem to agree that her rest of her name was Hedge Cock (or Hedgecock or Hedges Cock, or Hedge Koch, etc, etc, etc). In Cope's case, he listed her in the Smedley Genealogy as Ann Hedge Cock, and that seems to be the most common variant. Her parentage seems to remain a total mystery. Poor Anne - destined to live in obscurity forever...or at least for as long as we continue to let others' research stand in for doing our own.

Luckily, Anne has been found and does have parents. Born September 27, 1691, she was the daughter of Thomas and Anne Hitchcock of Cecil county, Maryland. But, hey, don't take my word for it - let's look at some documentation:

First, we have the extract of Thomas Hitchcock's will:

Hitchcock, Thomas. Cecil Co.
12th Oct. 1707
To wife Anne, dwelling plantation, including 200 A., ____, during life; at her decease to son John.
To son Thomas and hrs., land ____, on which he lives.
To dau. Anne and hrs., "Swamp" and "Paradise" on s.e. side N.E. River.
To daus Anne, afsd., Millycent and son John afsd., personalty.
Wife, afsd., extx. and residuary legatee.
Test: John Coosyne, Wm. Dare,Sr., Andrew Rosenquist, Paul Phillips.
12.190

By itself, that doesn't prove much, except that Thomas had a daughter named Anne, who apparently was named after her mother. The land transfer below is the piece that pulls it together:

P. 243. Deed.
Emanuel Grubb of New Castle Co., upon Delaware, farmer, and Ann his wife, for £120, to Robert Story of Cecil Co., gent., a tract of 165 acres called the Swamp on the east side of the Shannon River (now called North East River) by land called Whitton's Forest. Said land is part of the land that belonged to George Talbot and was sold to him by Thomas Hitchcock by deed dated 11 Aug 1684, recorded in Lib. C, folios 159-160. Also a parcel of land called Paradise on the south side of the Shannon River adjoining the other tract and containing 150 acres. This was also part of George Talbot's land and sold by his wife Sarah Talbot to Edward Johnson by deed dated 27 Aug 1686 recorded in Lib. C, folio 434. By the Last Will and Testament of the said Edward Johnson and the said Thomas Hitchcock the lands became the property of Ann Grubb, one of the daughters of Thomas Hitchcock.

Made and Ackn: 19 Oct 1736. Wit and JPs: Wm. Rumsey, Thos. Johnson, Jr.

Rec: 11 Dec 1736.
Wm Knight, Clerk.

Taken together, these two documents make it clear that Anne was the wife of Emanuel and the daughter of Thomas Hitchcock. Now, all I have to do is convince the rest of the researchers...OK, I won't hold my breath on that idea...

Setting the record straight

2008-05-27T20:27:00.000-04:00

Perhaps the most aggravating experience for an active genealogist is to come upon records that are just plain wrong. It may take a fair amount of work to straighten these things out, but it is very satisfying to do so.

In the process of doing some research on my Todd line, I came across a number of online genealogies linking John Todd, first husband of Dolley Payne who later married James Madison, to my line of Todds who originally settled in Montgomery County, Pa. Though there are lots of interesting people attached to that line, including Mary Todd, wife of Abraham Lincoln, John Todd, husband of Dolley, is not one of them. There are also some genealogies stating that John's mother was Martha Wilson.

To set the record straight, we will start with John Todd himself, or more correctly, John Todd, Jr. From his will in 1793, after he died from the Yellow Fever that ravished Philadelphia, its clear that this is Dolley's husband:

Name: John Todd
Residence: Philadelphia, Philadelphia Co., PA
Description: Decedent
Date: 2 Jul 1793
Prove Date: 21 Nov 1793
Title: Jr.
BookPage: W:585
Remarks: Todd, John, Junior. City of Phila. Wife and Exec: Dolly Paine Todd. Child: Payne. Advisaries to Wife: Edward Burd, Edward Telghman.

Born in 1763, John's parents were John, Sr. and Mary Durborow, both of whom also perished in 1793 from the Fever, as did John, Jr's son, William Temple Todd. John, Sr. and Mary were married in the Arch Street Friends meeting on 12/9/1762, as documented in the records for Philadelphia Friends Meeting. John is shown in the record as being the son of John of New London twp., Chester Co. Among the witnesses were Rebecca and Samuel Durborow, Jane and William Todd, and John and Elizabeth Blair. Rebecca was Mary's mother, her father John having passed away; Samuel is most likely a brother to Mary. William and Jane Todd were siblings of John, or Jane may have been William's wife.

John's will, also filed in 1793, shows the relationship clearly:

Name: John Todd
Residence: Philadelphia, Philadelphia Co., PA
Description: Decedent
Date: 21 Sep 1793
Prove Date: 14 Nov 1793
BookPage: W:594
Remarks: Todd, John. City of Phila. Wife: Mary. Sons: James, John. Brother: James, of Chester Co.Grandchildren: John Payne Todd, William Temple Todd, Sons of Son John.Samuel Poultney Todd, Deborah and Mary Todd, Children of Son James. Nephew: William, Son of Brother James Todd. To Elizabeth Blair, Wife's Sister's Daughter. Friend: Margaret Taggert.Exec: Samuel Jones, John and James Todd.

John, Sr. and Mary had three children, listed in the Philadelphia meeting records: John born 11-17-1763, James born 4-3-1766, and Deborah born 4-7-1771. Deborah died the following year, and because of this, does not appear in her grandfather's will, written in 1774.

Racing back one step further, we move to Chester County, to find John, Sr. Born about 1700, John the father married Margaret Cane (or Cain) at New Garden Friends meeting on 8/28/1720.

Name: John Todd
Description: Decedent
Date: 16 Jul 1774
Prove Date: 18 Aug 1775
Remarks: John Todd. New London. 7/16/1774. Aug. 18, 1775. To son William Todd now supposed to be in Carolina £100. To daughter Jane wife of Henry Hayes £35. To son James £15 and all wearing apparel having advanced him to the value of £115 in my lifetime. To daughter Margaret wife of James Willson £15. To grandsons John and James, sons of John Todd, £30 each. To 3 grandchildren Martha, Mary and Sarah Willson £20 to be divided. To daughter Sarah McKee £10 and to grandson John McKee £15. To daughter Elizabeth Hodgson £5. To grandson John Willson £5. To grandson Isaac McKee £5. To grandson Wm. son of Jas. Todd £5. To daughter Margaret wife of son James £10. Reversion of legacy to son Wm. to sons-in-law John Morton and Wm. Hutton of York Co. Executors: Son John of Phila. and son-in-law Henry Hayes.

As is often the case, there are other records that confuse the issue. In this particular case, the New Garden records show a marriage on 8/12/1749 between John Todd of New London and Martha Wilson of Londongrove. This gives us two basic possibilities - either this John Todd is no relation to ours, or Martha was John's first wife. I consider this a distinct possibility as John's sister Margaret married James Wilson of Londongrove and John didn't marry Mary Durborow until 1762, after which his three children were born.

Even if Martha was his first wife, it does not change the fact that mother of his children was Mary Durborow, with the family having its roots firmly in Chester County and Philadelphia.

More Bingaman Related Items

2008-05-25T12:39:00.000-04:00

Apparently, the family of Walter Bingaman, friend to Harry K. Thaw, had more issues with which to deal than just Walter's stay at Dixmont Asylum. Walter's sister, Nancy, also had issues:

Wilkes-Barre Times Leader. 1910-05-09

Pittsburg Girl Barred In Room Kills Herself

The Death of Fiance Leads Miss Bingaman to End Life

Put Bullet Through Brain

Suicide is member of one of Pittsburg's Most Prominent Families

Pittsburg, Pa. May 9. Miss Nancy Bingaman, twenty-six years old, a Vassar graduate and member of one of the oldest Pittsburg families, killed herself here by firing a bullet through her brain. Sudden dementia, caused by grief over the death of her fiance a year ago, is given by the family as the cause for her suicide. Miss Bingaman was a niece of Dr. Bingaman, an alienist, who figured prominently in the trial of Harry K. Thaw.

While other members of the family were at church yesterday morning, Miss Bingaman remained at home. When the family returned home from home, she could not be found. They finally learned that the door to a maid's room was barricaded, and looking through the keyhole saw stains on the floor. They called Dr. J. E. Johnson, who entered the room by means of a ladder. The girl was dead.

Miss Bingaman took part in many Vassar functions in the east. Her father, J. P. Bingaman, was a n associate of E. M. Bigelow, one of the foremost public men in Pittsburg.
-----------------------------------

One way or another, this family had a lot to deal with.

Finding the churches

2008-05-24T06:26:00.000-04:00

One of the challenges faced by anyone who does serious research into their roots is, literally, finding out where the bodies are buried. Since public records were not required in most places until the early part of the 1900's, finding early ancestors can be quite difficult, and the best resource will usually be any church records that might exist for the time in question.

In the case of my Reber and Hiester ancestors, I've been relatively lucky in that many of them can be found in some of the better documented churches. Closson Press, out of Apollo, PA, has printed a fair number of books covering some of these early churches and their books are very reasonably priced. In 1995, they published a two-volume set called Collected Church Records of Berks County, which includes records from Altalaha Evangelical Lutheran, St. Pauls's (Smoke), St. Michael's Reformed, Moselem Lutheran, St John's (Hains) and Zion (Blue Mountain). In most cases, the baptism records include the name of the sponsors for the child, which are often the grandparents or a sibling of one of the parents, providing a valuable clue to the rest of the family.

With my Hiester lines, the main churches of interest are Bern, Hains and Zion's, but the lines are still not clear in some cases. For example, I know from his obituary that my great-grandfather was buried at the Hains church, but his father was at Bern, so I suspect many of the other early members of that line will turn up at Bern church as well, and hence, the road trip I am planning.

Time for a road trip

2008-05-21T08:18:00.000-04:00

Every now and then, I get to a point in my research that I need some better information. That time has come again now. Luckily the two main places that I want to go are relatively close to each other, just outside of Reading in Berks county, PA.

The first of these is the old Bern churchyard along the Bernville Road, where the largest number of my Hiester ancestors are buried. There are also a lot of Rebers buried at Bern, so the trip to Bern will serve two purposes.

The second stop will be St John's near Wernersville, AKA Hains Church. According to his obituary, my great-grandfather, Adam Reber Hiester was buried here. Adam was one of the toughest of my early stumbling blocks in my Hiester research so it will be nice to have him finally located. For whatever reason, Adam and his wife, Ellen or Laura, were not part of the regular family visits when I was a kid, and though I was really too young to remember them at all, my mother had told me years ago that he was a difficult man. I gathered that my grandfather did not choose to spend much time with his father in later years.

If time permits, I'd also like to get up to the Pagoda and take a few shots, as it was always a neat sight in my visits to Reading as a kid and I haven't been up there in years. Now if the weather will just cooperate a bit...

Looking at Mapquest, it might actually make sense to combine one more location into my trip, St. Paul's (Summer Hill) near Auburn in Schuylkill county, where some of the early Rebers from the Johan Leonardt side are buried. Mapquest says it's just short of two and a half hours, by going up Rte 15 from Taneytown and heading east from Harrisburg. If so, that's not much longer than it would be to go straight to Reading. If I do it that way, I would hit Summer Hill first, and then come down 183 to Bern and finish at Hains. It would for a pretty long day, but it would save me making a separate trip later to Summer Hill.

The Strange Connections We Find...

2008-05-19T13:33:00.000-04:00

I was doing some reading about the trial of Harry K. Thaw, who murdered Stanford White in New York City, presumably to remove him as a rival for the affections of well-known model, Evelyn Nesbit. One of those who testified at the trial was Dr. Charles F. Bingaman, the family physician. Since my own family lines are connected indirectly to the Bingaman family, I was interested to learn more about the family' connection to the Thaw case. Two articles immediately attracted my attention:

Grand Forks Daily Herald. 1909-08-05

Pullman Feared Curse

Pittsburg, Pa. Aug. 4 - A tale of the blighting curse of a cripple is out here in connection with the suicide of President Harry C. Pullman, of the National league. Pullman with Harry K. Thaw and Dr. Walter S. Bingaman, both close friends of his, were standing in front of the Hotel Henry in Pittsburg, four years ago, and three laughed loudly at some joke just as a cripple in passing slipped and fell on the pavement. The cripple, thinking the trio was laughing at his fall, became most bitter and pronounced a curse to the effect that none of the trio would ever die a natural death.

Pullman was much exercised over the incident and hurried after the crippled man trying to explain that he and his friends had not been laughing at his fall, but the cripple stormed away and would not have anything to do with Pullman.

The famous baseball man apparently never forgot this curse of the crippled man and mentioned frequently to it among his friends. One year later Thaw killed Stanford White and has been in the hands of the law ever since. Recently Dr. Bingaman was sent to the Dixmont Insane Asylum, and Pullman is dead by his own hand.

The second articles tells of the problems experienced by Dr. Bingaman:

The Philadelphia Inquirer. 1909-07-23

Friends Believe Him Sane

Special to the Inquirer

Pittsburg, Pa. July 22. Dr Walter S. Bingaman boyhood friend of Harry K. Thaw and one of the leading young society physicians of Pittsburg, has been placed in Dixmont Insane Asylum, and the case promises to develop into a sensation. The nervous breakdown appears to have been aggravated by his infatuation for Katherine Frank, a pretty German nurse who attended some of his patients. Bingaman writes the nurse from Dixmont that he is held there because he would not marry a rich East End girl instead of herself.

Friends of the young physician, however, are inclined to question his incarceration, and today members of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows called on Dr. C. F. Bingaman, an uncle, and on J. F. Bingaman, the man's father, demanding that the case be re-opened. Dr. Walter Bingaman is a member of this order, and his lodge mates assert that they will go into court and ask that he be brought into court on a writ and his sanity inquired into.

His close friend, Dr. Henry M. Goebring, with whom he has been associated on many cases and who was treating him at the time he was ajudged insane, has come out with a statement that he does not think Bingaman was insane. "Purely some nervous trouble," said Goebring.

Dr. Bingaman was ajudged insane by Drs. W F. Edmundson and J. H. McClelland, recognized medical authorities throughout the country.

Miss Frank, the nurse, who received a long letter from Bingaman written from the asylum, said tonight in tears:

"I know Dr. Bingaman as a physician, I handled some cases for him, and when his nerves gave way, I helped attend him, but I have never had any thought of marrying him."

The second article lists his father as J. F. Bingaman but should actually list his father as Joseph Philips Bingaman, who was the son of Fredrick Bingaman of Chester County. Dr. Charles Bingaman, who testified at the Thaw trial, was Joseph's brother. Many of the Bingaman family stayed in the northern part of Chester County and quite a few of them are buried at Coventryville Methodist Cemetery. I haven't yet found out what finally happened to Walter, so there is undoubtedly more to the story.

In other family news, it becomes quickly apparent that Walter is NOT a good name to have if you're a Bingaman:

Gettysburg Times, 1925-02-03

2 Murder victims are Buried Toady

Pottstown, Pa. Feb. 3. Priscilla, Bingaman, 3, and William Bingaman, 18 months, who were beaten to death by their father last Saturday, and George C. Bingman, 73, grandfather of the children, who died from excitement as a result of the tragedy, were buried today.

Walter Bingaman, farmer and father of the children, who killed them while demented, according to the police, is in the Chester county hospital for the insane. His condition today was said to be improved. Should he recover his reason, the district attorney said today he may be placed on trial for murder.

In this case, it's a different Walter, with the same sort of result. The grandfather, George Chrisman Bingaman, was buried at Coventryville Methodist, so the two children probably were also.

Here's another article covering the same story in more depth:

Times Signal, Zanesville, Ohio. 1925-02-01

Beats Tots to Death; Aged Father Dies

Horrible Crime Enacted By Farmer During Religious Frenzy; "Spirits" Told Me To Kill Baby; Only Explanation; Had Attacked Wife; the Father Dies of Fright

Pottstown, Pa., Jan. 31 - Walter Bingaman, a farmer of Warwick township, near here, while in a religious frenzy, beat to death two of his three children.

When policemen broke into the farmhouse that found the farmer's father, George C. Bingaman, 73 years old, also dead. His death, Coroner Russell James of Chester county, said was probably due to excitement and heart disease.

Tonight Bingaman was in the Chester County jail violently insane, police said.

Bingaman's wife was at a neighbor's hose when the tragedy occurred. The dead children were Priscilla Bingaman, 3 years old, and William D. Bingaman, 18 moths.

Thursday night, according to Mrs. Bingaman, her husband tried to convert her to his way of thinking in religion.

An argument followed and he tried to strangle her. She was rendered unconscious for some time. Friday night her husband again attacked her and she fled to the house of a neighbor and remained there over night, fearing to return to her home.

Today she became alarmed when nobody was seen about the farm house and the authorities at West Chester were notified. Breaking into the house, they found Bingaman and a five year old son, Walter, Jr., stretched across a bed, with the dead grandfather and the two lifeless children in the same room.

The county officers seized Bingaman and manacled him hand and foot. He said he was prompted by "spirits" to kill the baby He evidently had beaten the infant to death with the handle of a carpet sweeper.

When his aged father died Bingaman said he had to "sanctify" the home by sacrificing the three year old girl. Her skull had been crushed.

The coroner held an inquest and decided Bingaman had killed the two children and that the father had died from the excitement and heart trouble.

Bingaman spared the life of Walter, Jr., his five year old son, he told his captors because "God had not commanded him to take it." The coroner believes that the fit of temporary insanity left the man after he had killed the two children, to return later.

Bingaman was placed in a straight jacket late tonight and taken into the Chester county insane hospital after examination by two physicians.

New and interesting things...

2008-05-18T18:04:00.001-04:00

I found out a few weeks back that a large number of my Gregg relatives were buried at Red Clay Creek Presbyterian in New Castle County, DE, so that has prompted a whole new line of research for me, as well as a new website, New Castle County DE Genealogy. I'm really happy with the way the new site is working out so far.

Along with the Greggs at Red Clay, there's a large number of the Derickson group there as well, so it look like a road trip is going to need to happen in the near future.