Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Working on the Smith Family

I have been absent for a while, taking a break. We took an extended trip up North for a while to visit family and since coming back I have been working on my dad's mother's family. My dad would mention "Grandpa Harve" Smith often but being a kid I did not pay attention to the stories. Since coming to Texas I have learned quite a lot about Harve and his family and also visiting the  Krun Jackson Cemetery in  Denton County. His parents, George Washington Smith and Emily Rebecca Barker, both buried in this cemetery along with many other Smith Family, were married in Knox County, Tennessee, where extended family lived many years. There is a story on Find A Grave that George was born on a river boat while his parents were enroute between the two counties on the Ohio River. He was born Mar 1, 1850 in East Tennessee, the oldest child of  six children born to William Smith and Ellen (Meyers) Smith, who, in 1850 are living in Hamilton, Tennessee and in 1860 are in District 7, Hawkins, Tennessee . William's parents were David Smith of Virginia and Elizabeth "Betsy McGill of Tennessee. William's grandparents were (Louther Smith and Barbara Louderback but I have not confirmed the grandparents of  William Smith), all of Hawkins Co., TN.

William married Ellen Myers also of Hawkins Co., TN, but for a short time early in their marriage they lived in Hamilton Co., TN. It appears George and all his siblings were born in  Hawkins County.

According to the 1830 census of Hawkins County, Tn., David H Smith has 2 males under 5, 1 male between 5 and 9, and one 20 thru 29,  2 female under 5 and 1 between 30 and 39 for a total of 7 in this household. So his wife must have been a bit older than him.

In the 1840 census of Hawkins County, he has an older female so it appears that his widowed mother is probably living with them. 1 male under 5, 1 male 30 thru 39, 2 female under 5, 1 female 10 thru 14, 1 1 female 15 thru 19, 1 female 30 thru 39 and 1 female 60 thru 69.

According to the Tennessee Marriages to 1825, David married Betsy McGill 30 Dec 1823in Hawkins County. Then William was born in 1824, which is the one male age 5 thru 10 in the 1830 census, then another son John born 1823, which would be the one male under 5. He had 2 daughters who were born before 1830 and under 5 years and one other who was born between 1830 and 1840. I have not accounted for the females yet. David and Elizabeth are both still alive in 1860 in Hawkins County and son John is living at home with them and possibly a daughter named Nancy.

                                  
  1. Will of William PHIPPS - Hawkins Co., TN -...

    genealogytrails.com/tenn/hawkins/willabstracts2.html

In the Hawkins County, Tennessee
Wills
Random Will Abstracts
Hawkins County, Tennessee Marriages and Wills, by Lucy Kate McGhee
Transcribed by, Vickie Bryan 

1..Louther Smith August 13, 1821
Wife - Barbara Smith
Heirs - David Smith
2..Peter Smith October 8, 1808
Executor - John Smith
Heirs - Joshua Smith, Samuel Smith, Able Smith, John Smith
 
3.. Samuel Smith September 6, 1798
Wife - Ann Smith
Executors - Samuel Smith and James Law
Heirs - Henry Law, Joseph H. Smith, heirs of Thomas Smith
4.. Alexander Smith August 10, 1842
Executor - Alexander Smith Jr.
Heirs - John Smith, Alexander Smith, Joseph Smith, Elizabeth Hicks and heir, Wm. Smith, George Smith
5.. William Smith May 7, 1805
Wife - Elizabeth Smith
Executor - Samuel Smith
Heirs - Sally Smith, George Smith, Wm. Smith, Joel Smith, Betsy Smith, Peter Smith, John Smith, Samuel Smith

**The marriage of  Louther Smith and Barbery Loudeback is recorded in the abstract of the records of old Linville Creek Baptist Church, beginning on page 48, Rev. John Alderson



*Married June the 28, 1791 in Green Brier County, West Va.*


Just a note from my research on William & Samuel: Samuel Smith is shown on Fold3 as being in Co "B" of the 12th Calvary and on a "recruiting service since 22 Oct 1863" and a "deserter since 29 Feb 1864" and then detached in Leavenworth, Kansas since June 28,1865. His age is 41 as of Oct 7, 1865 which would put his birth at about 1824. The record stated he was charged with desertion and restored to duty without trial but with loss of pay in Oct 1865 in Leavenworth(per letter in his file-41 pages). Shows his residence Carter County, Tenn, married, and nearest living relative as "Nancy" Smith. William, also in Co. "B" died at Camp Gillem Tenn May 28, 1864. His notes say William A not H. His age is 43 in 1863, puts his birth at about 1820. He apparently was captured at Jackson, Miss Aug 6, 1863 and confined at a hospital in Richmond, Va Sept 7-10, 1863. His file 43 pages. ** I have not yet figured where these two fit in  to my lines**
























































































































































Friday, June 5, 2015

William Penn's Role in getting German's to Come to America

 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania:
 
   Colonists were needed to found colonies and at 
once every available agency was employed to make these
 new lands profitable to their new owners. 
Government companies were chartered, expeditions
 were authorized, princely land grants were made to
 individuals and each and all of these offered inducements 
to the lower ranks in life, the husbandmen, the 
mechanics and men of all work to enlist themselves
 in these new enterprises. Of course the 
most attractive inducements were held out to set
 this spirit of emigration in motion.
   Scores of small pamphlets of from ten to one hundred
 or more pages each were written, printed and scattered
 throughout almost every country in Europe.
   Allusion had already been made to the crushed,
 oppressed and poverty-stricken character of the
 peasantry in certain parts of Germany, notably in
 the Rhine provinces, 
commonly known as the Palatinate. Religious 
persecutions were carried out against them even more
 relentlessly than the red hand of domestic and 
foreign wars. To a people ready to 
sacrifice and suffer all for conscience sake, the
 persecution by creed was as unbearable as that which
 despoiled them of their homes and their substance.
 Among these people thus affected, 
carnage in the year 1671 and again in 1677. He could
 enter into persecution for conscience the true inwardness
 of the men of the Palatinate, console, soothe and encourage. 
It was William Penn, 
the Quaker, whose religious tenets they found in comparison
 differed little from those held by the followers of 
Menno Simon, which was in itself a strong bond of sympathy.
 Penn's heart went 
out to these resolute but amiable people. Still another bond, 
one of kinship, drew them to him. His mother, 
Margaret Jasper, was a Dutch woman and it has been alleged 
that Penn spoke and wrote in 
Dutch and in German also, although this is not certain. 
    At the period of his travels through Germany, Penn had
 not yet acquired the ownership of Pennsylvania; it came
 four years after his last visit. Naturally, 
one of the first things he undertook 
was to secure colonists for his newly acquired province.
 A writer had referred to the influence exercised by the
 personality of Penn upon the Germans in the Rhine 
provinces in these words: 
"To all of them the news in 1681 that the tall young 
Englishman who four years before had passed through the
 Rhine country, preaching a doctrine of religious life 
not very different from that 
of Menno Simon, was now the proprietor in America of a 
vast region greater than all Bavaria, Wurtemburg and 
Baden together and that he had invited them to come and
 live there, without wars and persecutions, 
under laws which they should share in making such news 
must indeed have roused and stirred many a discouraged 
peasant household."
    Benjamin Furly, an English Separatist, was perhaps 
the principal and most active of these and to him a large
 measure of credit is due for giving direction to the 
rising tide of Teutonic immigration. 
As early as March 10, 1682, he had sold several 5000 acre
 tracts of land to merchants of Crefeld. This was before 
Penn had himself visited his princely domain. In 1683 the
 elder Pastorius, an agent for a number 
of German friends, bought 25,000 acres, and on these, the
 town of Germantown was soon after located. 
   That was the beginning, and thenceforward many other
 agencies were at work to increase the number of German
 immigrants. The Frankfort Land Company did its utmost to
 attract settlers to its lands. 
Such colonists as were already here wrote home attractive
 accounts of the new home they had found in the forests 
of Pennsylvania. 
No one, however, was more industriously engaged in this 
work than Penn himself. As early as 1681, he issued a pamphlet 
giving information concerning his province to such as
 wished "to transport themselves or servants into those
 parts". 
German and Dutch translations were also printed and
 scattered through the Low Countries and Germany. 
In 1682 he sent out in English and German his brief 
account of the Province of Pennsylvania. 
   There can be no manner of doubt that, scattered 
throughout Central and Western Europe in various 
languages, it was a mighty factor in directing 
immigration
 from the Fatherland towards Pennsylvania.
   Then follow his several schemes for the settlement
 of immigrants upon his lands. The amount of lands to be
 allotted to each family; the improvements that will be
 built for them, the stock and farming tools 
that will be supplied, even their seed for the first
 year's harvest; this is followed by the easy terms upon
 which payment may be made, this for those who have the
 means to transport themselves, but no more. 
Still another plan provides for such as are destitute of
 any resources. To each family of such 100 acres are allotted,
 with 15 in hand before starting to provide 
adequately for the journey. 
 
TIMES FOR MAKING THE VOYAGE: 
   While it was possible for ships to reach and leave 
Philadelphia during every month in the year, except 
occasionally during the inclement season of mid-winter,
 the late winter and autumn months were generally 
chosen for the departure from Europe. Accordingly, found
 the ship arrivals were most numerous in early spring and
 late in the fall. April and May, September, October and 
November witnessed the largest influx of 
immigrants during the year. The Passage was not to be 
set by any man; for ships will be quicker or slower. 
Some have been four months, and some, generally between
 six and nine weeks. 
 The very minuteness with which every detail is given 
indicates the desire to leave no room for misunderstandings.
 He was anxious that there should be no cause for complaint. 
His very frankness must have convinced his 
readers and won them.
 All this became apparent to the new immigrant and this was 
no doubt one of the principal 
reasons why the reports sent back to Germany were almost 
universally favorable, and proved instrumental in keeping up
 the immigration movement so many years.
 
 The German Immigration into Pennsylvania:
   Swiss-Huguenots, who came over in 1708 or 1709 and located
 themselves in the Pequea Valley, Lancaster county, forming the
 first settlement of Europeans within that County. 
13 some members of that colony almost immediately 
returned to Germany to bring over relatives and friends, 
and between the years 1711 and 1717, and for some years later there 
were large accessions to the colony. 
It was one of the most substantial and successful settlements ever made in 
Pennsylvania. Even then, as in later years, most of the colonists
 came from the Palatinate, "which sent forth her children from 
her burned cities and devastated fields, their faces turned towards the land of promise". 
Just how many Germans landed at the port of Philadelphia prior to the passage 
of the registry law of 1727. is unknown, but the number was undoubtedly large as may be 
inferred from the quotation above from Jonathan Dickinson. It was not until 1707 
however that Germans in considerable numbers began arriving. 
From that time onward the number increased from year to year, and ten 
years later began to attract the attended of the 
Provincial Government. 
   The country seemed to be filling up with Germans, and as a 
result of the alarm that was caused thereby, Governor William 
Keith soon after his arrival, on September 7, 1717, observed to
 the Provincial Council sitting at Philadelphia 
"that great numbers of foreigners from Germany, being imported into this Province 
daily dispersed themselves immediately after landing, without 
producing any Certificates, from where they came from 
or what they were, without making application to himself or 
to any of the magistrates. This practice might be of very 
dangerous consequences, since by the same method any number of
 foreigners from any nation whatever, as well enemies as friends,
 might throw themselves upon us. The Governor, therefore, 
thought it requisite that this matter should be considered, & thus
 ordered that all the masters of vessels who have lately imported
 any of these foreigners be summoned to appear at this Board, 
to render an account of the number and 
"Characters of the Passengers" respectively from Britain; and
 all those who are already landed be required by a Proclamation, 
to be issued for that purpose, to Repair within the space of one 
month to some Magistrate, particularly to the Recorder of this 
City (Philadelphia), to take such Oaths appointed by Law as are necessary 
to give assurances of their being well affected to his Majesty 
and his Government.
   The Provincial Council perhaps never did an act that so much 
deserved the thanks and the gratitude of those of German descent 
in the State of Pennsylvania today as in embodying the 
foregoing views in an Act of the Assembly a few years later. 
It resulted in the registration of the many thousands of German and 
other immigrants, and these ship masters' lists as we find them today in the 
Colonial Records, Rupp's "Thirty Thousand Names", and Volume XVII
 of the Second Series of Pennsylvania Archives are a 
priceless treasure, a store house to which thousands of people
 of German ancestry have gone on to find information concerning the 
names, ages and time of arrival of their ancestors. Never was a government scare 
so productive of good results. 

Sunday, May 31, 2015

Tracing Your Roots



  *Create Profiles of Your Ancestors
   
     * Focus on Location

    
      * Research Related Families

  
       *Identify Someone in the Family With a Unique First Name

       *Create Charts to Track Information About Your Ancestors 

        *Search Land Records


        *Map the Entire Family in a Particular Area


~Trish~

FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS!!!!

Looking through the Genealogy Do-Over for week 9, I stumbled on the link below. I love this idea so am going to use the idea under "the goals I set last year": {THESE ARE HER IDEAS AND I HAVE REVAMPED THEM FOR MY EXCEL SHEETS}
               
 Organize Your Family History by Janine Adams (http://organizeyourfamilyhistory.com/)

I’ve decided that my new schedule will be as follows:
  • 1st quarter: Funderburg (my father’s father’s line)
  • 2nd quarter: Hudson  (my mother’s father’s line)
  • 3rd quarter: Smith  (my father’s mother’s line)
  • 4th quarter: Willis (my mother’s mother’s line) 
 I’ll use a progress tracker to see what census, vital and military records I’ve already located by making progress-tracking spreadsheets using Excel. Hoping this will keep me more focused and help me feel less overwhelmed.


  • Fill in the gaps on my progress tracker
  • Make sure my surname files for that line are organized
  • Ensure that everything in my paper files for that line are also organized
  • Fill in collateral relatives on my family tree in Legacy
  • Go up at least one generation in verified information
Making these Excel Sheets for my tracking goal:  {this is a work in progress}

     
Sheet 1: BMD Vitals
  1. Birth records
  2. Marriage records
  3. Death records
  4. Burial records
  5. Grave photos
  6. Obituary
  7. City Directory
  8. Will
  9. Divorce
Sheet 2: Censuses
On the first table, a column for each U.S. Census. I fill in the square (using the traffic signal colors) in green if that record was found, green for it's a "go". An amber square indicates the ancestor wasn’t alive for that census. A red (stop, look) square indicates I still need to find this record. I also have a table of state censuses, so I can note those.

Sheet 3: Military
Here I track what military records I’ve found for each ancestor, by war or conflict and track Draft Cards..

~Trish~

Saturday, May 2, 2015

Genealogy Do-Over – Week 4, Cycle 2: 24-30 April 2015

  Trying to catch up on my Do-Over Blog posts. I am learning from Thomas MacEntee's resources on the Genealogy Do-Over & Ed Thompson how to fill in the gaps from his You Tube video's. Evidentia and Family Search" series is a great learning series to follow for newbies of Evidentia and I highly recommend it. In my week 4,  Tracking Searches, it helps to track the  websites where the search was used. I can enter my  thoughts and make an analysis about the search in the notes. I continue tracking my searches as time permits. Week 5 is Building a Research Toolbox and I think that Evidenta will work fine for me to do this. This quote is from Ed's website "Evidentia not only solves the problems facing the genealogy community, but also simplifies the process of analyzing evidence and creating proof arguments while still following the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS)".  So this is my focus, to learn and analyze and make proof. I need to "really listen" to my sources as they have SO much to say.


~Trish~

Genealogy Do-Over – Week 3: 16-22 January 2015

  Spring is here and trying to keep up with the "do-over" is tough when the garden and flowers are calling me wink emoticon and Thomas keeps giving us new items that are discounted, ie.. Evidentia!!!!......lol,  There is so much to learn and absorb that it is almost impossible to do in 13 week. I have just added this new product to my genealogy finds so I can better collect information, analyze evidence, highlight missed connections and feel confident with my conclusions. On this never-ending quest for one person, one picture, and one place at a time, these are some great benefits to help stay on your path and keep focused.
Benefits of Evidentia:
  • Attach each claim to as many people and events as needed
  • Classify your sources (original, derivative…) and information (primary, secondary…)
  • Easily extract multiple claims from one source
  • Copy similar sources for fast entry
  • Analyze evidence based on reliability in relation to other evidence
  • Resolve conflicts and even reveal possible new directions for your research
  • Easily generate coherent proof reports to show how you reached your conclusion
  • Over 150 built-in citation templates based on Evidence Explained
  • Create additional custom citation templates for quick entry
  • Supports the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS) by:
    • Requiring all claims to have a source
    • Fully analyze evidence before reaching a conclusion
    • Finally feel confident about your conclusions and know for sure when you’ve
      done a reasonably exhaustive search

Thursday, April 9, 2015

Genealogy Do-Over – Week 2: 9-15 January 2015




    For the second week of Genealogy Do-Over, my goal is to make family group sheets on myself, siblings and father, mother. I want to take time and look at all documents I have gathered for my parents and get the information transcribed onto the group sheets and source sheets. I have found some on-line sheets in PDF-format that can be filled out and just saved to my files, that will save a lot of hand writing and I can go to them anytime and print out what or when I need. As I said in my last weeks post, I am making "Do -Over Trees 2015" in my genealogy software program, so I've  decided that a best practice for me will be ONLY to enter anything into my software as it was analyzed and a proof statement was written. I did this yesterday in my Week One for my dad. While doing my dad, I have discovered that all documentation I have gathered has his middle name spelled "Coady or Codey" and he has spelled it Cody over the years. I believe that he himself has made the error of spelling it Cody. I could be wrong, just a guess. Baby steps...... 
   Although, there is no one I can actually interview in person, both parents are gone and all my siblings live far away. But I do have a great aunt who is alive and 94 years old, living near me. I have met with her about 4 times now and she has shared her father's Bible and let me photograph it. She has told me stories. I may make another "lunch date" with her in the near future.

    I will try to follow these three  goals. 

~Trish~


  
  • What I Plan to Do: I will be doing both a written narrative in the “first person” voice as well as completing a family group sheet.
  • “All-In” Participant Options: Select an interview format that works for you and enables you to extract the necessary information to launch your initial research next week.
  • Modified Participant Options: Review any copies of family group sheets in your files and check them for accuracy.

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Genealogy Do-Over – Week 1 Cycle 2: 3-9 April 2015

       
       My Genealogy Do-Over. Only I think I will do more of a Go-Over.
  
  This is where I start over with myself and work backwards, adding nothing but facts, and sources. I will label my paternal side "Do-Over Funderburg Tree 2015" and my maternal side "Do-Over Hudson Tree 2015". I have decide to TRY to find at least two sources for each individual. I won't be doing everything on the do-over list; but more of a go-over so I can step back and look at all the documentation I do have and make sure I have completed all of my sources.
   I have Family Tree Maker 2010, which I have downloaded my trees from my Ancestry.com  which I have always used as my Master, but also recently have downloaded Legacy 8 in which I am going to start my brand new Do-Over 2015 Trees. I will also be using the Color-Coding-Organizing Your Paper Files from Mary Hill . They compliment the color-coded organizational system. My Ancestry Tree currently has close to 6000 people in it and I plan on documenting this in my new way, entered thoroughly, sourced and cited. This means square one with ancestor one! Starting with my direct line and work on one ancestor at a time within each generation, finishing one grandparent before moving on to great grandparents, etc.....
   Here is the link for the Color Coding System:  www.genrootsorganizer.com
  

   Following Cycle-1: I will start by 


                    *setting aside my previous research work and making the "hold" folder for the digital records I have. This will be hard for me as I have obtained a vast amount of birth and death certificates from Fold 3 on my Texas ancestors, although, I realize not all info on them are correct. But my plan is to make sure I can cross reference it with other documentation. This is why I am really going to do  more of a ""go-over". The goal I want to use with the new system is to make research logs as I work on each person, listing what I do know against what I don't yet know.

~Trish~

Friday, March 27, 2015

Digging for Poof of this von der Burg Royalty.......

Peter.......
Birth: 1704 Abt
    Palantinate,Pfalz,Germany?
    Peter & Walter (Valentine) names are spelled Fonderburgh on the ship list of "The Thistle". Page 122 in the book. John Wilson, Commander, from Rotterdam, last from Plymouth, England.

SOURCE: STRASSBURGER, RALPH BEAVER.     U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s
Arrival:
    1738 Age: 34
    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
    1738, 19 September, Peter and Walther (Valantin) land in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on the ship "The Thistle". Their names appear as Peter & Valentin FONDERBURH in the book called "A Collection of Thirty Thousand Names of German, Swiss, Dutch, French, etc....Listed as Peter Von der Borg/Founderburgh-* From name written by clerk.

 Death: 1793 Abt ? Age: 89
    Baltimore, Maryland?
    **This has not been proven**

Additional Information: I volunteer on a website called "Gen Gathering". It's a global gathering of researchers and genealogists who are willing to assist with finding a record for you. But I have also added my resources so I can in turn do searches at my local courthouse, library, cemetery, etc, for others searching families in my area.
 I have been in touch with someone in Germany, through this website,  who is trying to help me locate something that will link Peter and Walther to a father and a birthplace for these two men. I have become a bit skeptical of this "royalty" link with the von der Burg's and I am in search of some tangible documentation for our research. There are just too many gaps in the Adolph theory. This being told that there is at least 8 or 9 generations of Adolph's does not jive with me. So, I cannot honestly put this information out there for the public to believe. Below is information this person is sending me.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Let me start by giving you some background info.

Meanings:
Burg - fortress, castle (pron. Boorg)
Berg - hill, mountain (pron. Bayrg)
Schloss - castle, palace (pron. Shlohss)
von - of (pron. like phone)
der/den/dem - the

The use of "von" generally denoted nobility and was used with place names. Based on what you've told me so far, it sounds like your ancestors' names were originally "von der Burg," as opposed to "von den/dem Berg." As you can see, BURG and BERG are pronounced very differently in German, though the anglicized pronunciation would not differentiate. The V in "von" is pronounced like an American F, so it make sense that it was transcribed as such. Similarly, in different German dialects, the following letters are interchangeable in pronunciation: B/P; U/O; K/G; V/F; V/W, to name a few.

Keeping that in mind, there are many, many place names in Germany that contain BURG or BERG, not counting variations in spelling. There are fewer places that are just BURG or BERG, but also quite a few. Most likely, your name reflects a family that was either from the BURG (fortress, castle) or worked there.

Being Lutherans from the Palatinate would generally match the historical immigration patterns of the time. As for the claims to nobility, that is difficult to discern. Yes, their name did contain the tell-tale "von," however, there are examples of names that contain the "von" merely as a grammatical additive (ie. to denote someone who worked in a castle), which is most likely the case here. It sounds like the author of your book got a little bit carried away without taking into consideration the widespread use of the words BURG and BERG in the German language, nor the strong difference in pronunciations.

You mentioned "Hessecastle." I'm assuming you're referring to a castle in the German region of Hesse(n)? There are many castles in Hessen, and even some outside of Hessen named "Hessen Castle."

Engelbert II (based on German sources I could find online) was born in a castle named "Schloss Burg" (yes, the name is slightly redundant in German), near Solingen. He held the title of "Count of Berg" (German: Graf von Berg). Upon his death, the country passed to a cousin and was then ruled by the Limburg family (as opposed to the Berg family previously). Engelbert II was murdered on his way to consecrate a church as Archbishop of Cologne. He does not appear to have any recorded children, which is supported by the fact that, upon his death, the small principality passed on to his brother-in-law. Thus, you may be related, but not likely descended from him.

My personal opinion is that the VON DER BURG family is not related to the VON BERG family mentioned above. It sounds like an uneducated attempt to link two orthographically related names. That being said, genealogy can dig up some very wild things and sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction.

Either way, it's just speculation unless you can find the birth place of one of the von der Burg brothers. Can you resend me the personal data on both brothers, please?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
In which I sent back this:
Adolf is suppose to be the father of Peter & Walther. But I question
that as not one person down the lines had EVER named a son Adolf.
Walther had named his first son Lazarus and his second son Daniel.
This info is from his book. Walther was born abt 1715 probably
Prussia, Hesse-Cassel, or the Palatinate. Walther apparently went back
to Germany and married Catherina Stoll of Brandenburg in 1743.

Another passage in the book I have: Henry born 1723 was born probably Hesse
or the Paltinate, and was brought to America by his father, Peter.
(Henry was a brother to my Anthony, both sons of Peter. Anthony is my
line). Anthony was born 1727  probably Hesse and taken to Holland and
later to Ireland. So I am led to believe that they left Germany
between 1723 and 1727 if his dates are correct.

From what I can tell, my Peter born 1704 in Rheinland-Pfalz,
Germany . So I don't know if this birthplace for Peter is correct and
anywhere near where Walther was born.

Also take note that Peter named his first two sons Henry and Anthony.
A while back I found this record and while it is a christening date it
is so close to Peter's son, Anthony. The father's name, John Michael,
has been carried on in families.
        Name:   Joannes Antonius Von Der Burg
        Gender:         Male
        Baptism Date:   30 Jan 1726
        Baptism Place:  Cöln, Rheinland, Preußen, Germany
        Father:         Joannes Michael Von Der Burg
        Mother:         Maria Adelheidis Steinbuchel
        FHL Film Number:        187126

Thursday, January 29, 2015

The Family History Writing Challenge

  I have decided to take part in the Writing Challenge for the month of February.

A 28-Day Commitment to Writing Your Family History
Feb 1st – Feb 28th
  I find this is interesting. On the one hand, I am not a writer, nor have I ever written anything. But, I thought, I do timelines in my genealogy and I have gathered many documents since starting this journey. What better place than to start putting it into a format that may or may not be interesting to some.  I have been thinking about putting my information into some kind of form but procrastinated because I just never really knew where to start or exactly how to do it. My goal, I am going to start with my dad and write in my Word Program every day. Just write what I have and know, not look back. Most of my work has been about my dad's ancestors on the Funderburg(h) line so that is what I will write about in this challenge.

~Trish~

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Descendants of the Dutch Bend Pioneers

Orangeburgh Migrations - Alabama

 Not long after the Creek War ended and the defeated Indians were neutralized, a number of families - Spigeners, Whetstones, Zeiglers and Stoudenmires followed the Federal Road into the Alabama Territory. According to the Descendants of the Dutch Bend Pioneers, the early settlers of Dutch Bend (Autauga County) Alabama came around 1819-1820. The families who departed Orangeburgh District, SC traveled on a wagon train with an army escort. They came through Georgia near what is now Augusta, then on to Macon, then west to the area that is south of Autaugaville, AL and is known as Dutch Bend.




There were 69 wagons in the wagon train. In a letter written by Lewis HOUSER (b. 1788) in the 1820's, he mentions the proximity of many of these Orangeburgh families.
           (I believe that my Funderburg's and other family members were in this group)

From the The Alabama Historical Quartely SPRING ISSUE 1941 pg. 107
 DUTCH BEND...Is the bend in the Alabama river immediately below Vernon, and took its name from the families which in1820, removed to it,from Orangeburg District,S.C. They were of German descent,and a few of the older had only been taught to read that language, and pronunciation of the English, by a majority of them, was very imperfect.
  A large portion of them when they settled here were by no means wealthy and were limited in education.
  By economy without avarice they have accumulated ample fortunes, and byattention and proper appreciation of mental culture manyof them have qualified themselves to fill high stations.
  For honesty of purpose, integrity of character andindustrial habits, they are unsurpassed in theState. They are conscientious in all their transactions, and their social relations are of the strongest character, particularly among themselves.
  They possess a peculiar fondness for intermarrying, for of forty or fifty families in the Bend, there are but a few that are not related by the ties of consanguinity. With practical intellects, they become professional farmers and rarely ever seek any other avocation. Being devotional in feeling, they, to a man, belong to some branch of the Christian Church.
  A strong attachment to home prevent them from mingling, to a great extent in society; and to remove west is never thought of, except by those whose improved fortunes have rendered more land absolutely necessary.

***It was here that Isaac Funderburg, my 4th great grandfather,  served on the first Jury, summoned and empannelled at Washington, 12th of April, 1820. Also listed are Joshua Oden, Edmund Foreman and Aaron Moore, all of which married into the Funderburg lines.
~Trish~