Is it Pitsenbarger or Pitsenberger?

When you have German ancestry coupled with a strange name – you come across some interesting spellings.  My great great grandmother’s name was Rebecca Jane “Frankie” Pitsenbarger.  She was the youngest child of William Pitsenbarger and his wife Mary Amick.  During my research into her family – I have seen the name Pitsenbarger spelled numerous ways.

Rebecca Jane "Frankie" Pitsenbarger - my great great grandmother

The earliest known ancestor of my great great grandmother was Abraham Pitzenberger who arrived sometime before 1766 probably from either Germany or Switzerland.  He married Elizabeth Teysinger whose family came from the Alsace Lorraine region for France which is an area that contains a lot of German people.  Abraham and Elizabeth married in Lancaster Co., PA and moved soon after to Virginia.  They named their children typical German names like Johann Jacob, Abraham, Johann Peter, Elizabeth Ann, John and Philip.  Abraham fought in the Revolutionary War and dies aft 15 Apr 1781.  I am descended through his son Abraham, Jr.  By this time, the name has morphed from Pitzenberger to Pitsenbarger.  Abraham married Mary Magdaline Cowger in 1795 in the Shenandoah Co., VA and their son, Peter is my 4^th great grandfather.  The family has moved by this time to what is now Nicholas Co., WV and Peter and his wife, Elizabeth Amick have a large family of 11 children.  We are now down to William Pitsenbarger and his wife Mary Amick.  You might have noticed that William’s wife and mother have the same last name.  I noticed it too…it took me 6 months to track down how they were connected.  Mary’s father, Jacob and William’s mother Elizabeth were the children of Henry Amick, Jr. and Elizabeth Barbara Niemand…so therefore William and Mary were first cousins. 

The Pitsenbarger family is still fairly prevalent in the West Virginia and in Darke Co., OH.  While researching this family you have to look for a number of spellings – there is Pitsenbarger, Pittsenbarger, Pittsonberger, Pitsonbarger, Pitzenberger, Pitsenberger and I’m sure many more that have escaped my memory.  It must have been a very challenging name for the census takers, because you are never quite sure which spelling that you will find.  They will even have brothers who have their families on the same census page with different spellings for each one.  I finally came to the conclusion that I would standardize the spelling for my line as much as I could. 

I am not alone in my struggles to find common spellings of names.  In some ways, I probably have it easier than most.  At least you can figure out the name by sounding it out… there is a reason that my favorite college basketball coach is known as Coach K…can you imagine trying to spell Krzyzewski at all…it doesn’t really sound at all like it is spelled.  

Here is my line from Abrahm Pitzenberger...

Abraham Pitzenberger b. bef 1750 d. aft 15 Apr 1781 m. 22 Apr 1766 Lancaster Co, PA, Elizabeth Teysinger b. Apr 1750 d. bef Apr 1794

Abraham Pitsenberger, Jr. b. 14 Feb 1771 d. bef 1840 m. abt 1795 Mary Magdaline Cowger b. abt 1770 d. abt 1812

Peter Pitsenbarger b. 1798 d. abt 14 June 1864 m.7 Mar 1820 Elizabeth Amick b. 1801 d. 28 Sep 1857

William Pitsenbarger b. Nov 1827 d. Oct 1901 m 2 Nov 1854 Mary Amick b. 11 Apr 1832 d. 5 Jan 1926

Rebecca Jane Pitsenbarger b 28 Jan 1870 d 10 May 1904 m. abt 1891 George Christian Shawver b 6 Aug 1867 d. 13 Apr 1931

Florence Christine Shawver m. Ora Silas Gage - my great grandparents

Piecing it together…

I have a pretty good database of Penningtons from Ashe Co., NC.  I have been a member of the Pennington Research Association for about 15 years now and have been head of Family Group 7 within that group for almost the same amount of time.  In the beginning, I spent most of my time gathering information about my specific branch of the family moving beyond that within a few years.  I concentrated only on the descendants of Micajah Pennington for a few years (Micajah is the head of Group 7 – b 1743 NC).  Since then I have branched out even further to look at all of the Penningtons in Ashe Co., NC and their surroundings.  This goal at times – has forced me to try and figure out where a family belongs. 

I am a member of the New River list (Yahoo Groups newslist)…and every few weeks someone posts local obits from the area.  These obits usually come from North Carolina, Virginia, or Tennessee.  The Pennington families from that area are primarily the descendants of Group 7 – Micajah Pennington, Group 12 – Samuel Pennington, and Group 30 – Abram Pennington.  If you want more information on these groups…please check out the PRA website at www.penningtonresearch.org. Anyway, a few weeks ago, someone posted an obit on a Joseph Max Pennington b. 8/15/1941 d. 1/2/2012. 

Max was born at Independence, VA, the Saddle Creek Community to the late Joe Pennington and Grace Ward Pennington. Surviving, brother-in-law, John Williams of Lynchburg, VA and several cousins also survive. Graveside service will be held at 3:00 p.m., Thursday, January 5, 2011 at Saddle Creek Cemetery, Independence, VA Elder Curtis Hash officiating. Military rites conducted by Grayson County VFW Post 7726. There will not be a visitation at the funeral home.

It gave me the information that he was the son of Joe Pennington and Grace Ward.  Since he was born after 1930 – my search is automatically made a bit harder.  Here is what I do when I am trying to figure the lineage out:

1. Check my database.  Sometimes, I already have him in my database and I just need to add the additional information.
2. See if I have his parents – I usually try the father first and then the mother.  It is sometimes easier to search for the mother because the Penningtons made a habit of naming their children family names that got duplicated many times.  Sometimes it is difficult to figure out who is who.
3. If I don’t have either the individual or the parents in my database, now I have to do a bit more research.  One of my best places to search is www.findagrave.com – which people have posted gravestones of those who have passed.  The first place to look is the cemetery where Joseph Max is to be buried.  Using this method, I am able to locate his parents as well, because he is to be buried in the same cemetery as his parents.  At this point, I still am not sure which group Joseph Max belongs in, so I keep searching.
4. I will then probably logon to www.ancestry.com (a paid resource) and look up census records on the parents and see if I can figure out who his parent’s families are.  I figure out that Joseph C. Pennington (Joseph Max’s father) is the son of William Columbus Pennington and Bena Phipps and checking out www.findagrave.com, I discover that they both are also buried in the same cemetery.  This method takes me back to William Columbus Pennington’s parents, Johnson A. Pennington and Elizabeth Poe.  All this time, I am adding details such as census data, additional siblings and death dates as I find them.  I never know when this information might be useful. 
5. At this point, I may check out WorldGenconnect on www.rootsweb.com and see if someone else has posted information on this family.  This information can point me in the right direction to find more information on the family.  While doing this, I notice a curious coincidence.  I already have William D. Pennington and Sarah in my database (Johnson’s parents).  I don’t however; have Johnson Pennington under that family.  I notice a curious coincidence though – I have a Jonathan Pennington and Johnson Pennington under the same family with the same birthdate.  I look further to see what other information that I have because this could be the same person or they could be twins.

a.       Jonathan is married to Jane Gincy Hash on 3/15/1874 and she dies on 7/14/1886.

b.      Johnson is married to Elizabeth Poe abt 1877.

Until I have further information, I will leave both in my database with a note reminding myself of what I have found.  My best guess is that I might be dealing with twins, but I can’t be sure with what data is available to me at this time.

I have come across this family before and at that point, I could not make a conclusion as to which family group that they belonged in.  I can make an educated guess that it is probably Group 30 – but William D. Pennington b. 1806 doesn’t fit there.  So – where does he fit?  The answer is “I don’t know?”  However, I have put in the data that I have been able to find at this point and the family will come up again during my research, and perhaps someday I will be able to find that final piece.

John Dula Dollar

I’ve always loved the song Tom Dooley…I can remember hearing the song with the Kingston Trio’s smooth voices imploring Tom to “hang down his head.”  I used to think that my great great grandfather was named for Tom Dooley…but I doubt that the connection.  My great great grandfather was named John Dula Dollar…sometimes it is spelled John Dooley Dollar.  I’m not sure what is exactly correct, but I suspect that Dula might be correct.  From what I have read about the name Dula is pronounced Dooley and it is the Appalachian pronunciation.  It is possible that John Dula’s parents knew of or knew Tom Dooley.  That in itself is an interesting coincidence.

John Dula Dollar was born 3 Oct 1863 in Creston, Ashe Co., NC and died 6 Dec 1933 in Atlanta, Fulton Co., GA.  He was the son of Alexander Monroe Dollar and Elizabeth Pennington.  Alexander Monroe Dollar was a confederate soldier who served in the 58^th North Carolina Infantry which was one of the units that had the most desertions in the Confederate Army.  Tom Dula also served in the Confederate Army and was in the 42^nd North Carolina Infantry.  Tom Dula was from Wilkes Co., NC and Alexander Monroe Dollar lived in Ashe Co., NC near the Tennessee border.  Sometime in the early 1880’s Alexander Monroe Dollar, his wife Elizabeth and three of their children moved to Laurel Bloomery, Johnson Co., TN.  Now…I don’t really think that John Dula was named for Tom Dula but it is in interesting coincidence…especially since the notorious murder occurred in the same stomping grounds.

Tom Dula was supposed in love with Ann Melton (maiden name Foster) and was also involved with her cousin Laura.  He was carrying on an affair with Ann and was supposedly engaged to marry Laura Foster.  Laura and Tom were supposedly going to elope and get married.  Laura left with some clothes and her father’s horse.  She disappeared and was found a few months later stabbed and dead with only the clothes that were with her to help identify her.  Soon after, Tom Dula was considered to be the main suspect and he took off to get out of town.  He was captured in Trade, Johnson Co., TN and taken back to Wilkes Co., NC to be tried.  A local lawyer took his case and got the case moved to Iredell Co., NC.  Tom Dula was hung in Statesville, NC in 1868.   His lover, Ann was also held in jail and considered to be his accomplice.  She died two years after Tom Dula having gone insane despite being acquitted based on a letter that Tom Dula wrote that absolved her.   Sharyn McCrumb wrote an interesting article about that Tom Dula story  which is an interesting read and located at http://blueridgecountry.com/archive/tom-dooley.html

John Dula Dollar holding Sophia - Claude on the left and Bessie on the  right.  Probably taken in 1895.

It is a great story and became the stuff of legend and song.  I’m not sure that my John Dula Dollar was ever quite that interesting.  John married 16 year old Buena Vista Bailey in 1889 and had three children within five years.   Buena Vista died at the age of 21 about 3 months after giving birth to my great grandmother.  John left his children with his father and step mother and went out to work.  He married Cleopatria Josephine Gentry and had 7 more children with her.  He brought his older two children to live with him and left the youngest with his father.  John Dula worked as a logger and builder and eventually ended up in Atlanta, GA where he died at the age of 70.  John Dula was 3 years old when the murder occurred and 5 years old when Tom Dula was hanged.  I wonder if Alexander Monroe Dollar’s family knew the story and if they did – did they find out by gossip or by newspaper.  I’m not sure which version was more salacious.  When I first did a little a research on the story – I was surprised to learn all of the details that were involved.  If anything, the song is a pretty sedate version of the whole ugly episode....the real story is a whole lot more complicated and would be fit for today’s tabloid reporting.  It certainly was a major topic in the newspapers of 1868.

Gallup Trails - Silas

Back in the late 1700’s, 4 brothers and a cousin moved from Stonington, New London Co., CT to Albany Co., NY and helped establish the towns of Knox and Berne, NY.  Silas Gallup and his wife Sarah Gallup – and yes they were second cousins. My great great great grandfather was named for this Silas Gallup who made the move from Connecticut to New York…and he made his own move from New York to Nebraska arriving by train with his four youngest children on Thanksgiving in 1887.

Silas Gallup was the second born son of Ebenezer Gallup and Susan Harden.  He was born on 2 Aug 1831 in Middleburgh, Schoharie Co., NY and died on 13 Sept 1897 in Oakland, Burt Co., NE.  As a young 28 year old farmer and schoolteacher, Silas married his 15 year old student, Phebe Ann Montanye on 12 Feb 1859 in Duanesburg, NY.  As the story goes, it was a custom to ring the school bell to announce the marriage – since no one paid attention; they kept their marriage a secret until the end of the school term.  Phebe was the daughter of Abram Montanye and Hannah Conover and was born on 12 Jan 1844 – ironically 168 years ago today in Glen, Montgomery Co., NY and she died on 21 Jun 1927 in Oakland, Burt Co., NE.  The big question is what prompted Silas and Phebe to move from New York to Nebraska? 

Silas never enjoyed good health in New York and was told by his brother that there was a more healthful climate in Nebraska.  I would also guess that their economic circumstances prompted them to make the move and make a new start.  Silas and Phebe’s youngest 4 children (Elizabeth b. 1877, Irena b. 1881, Alice b. 1883 and Hugh b. 1886) came with their parents to Nebraska.  Later they were joined by their children Albert and Susan who were both teachers, and Everette Henry who was a farmer.  Their oldest daughter, Edith Phoebe Gallup, refused to make the move as she was fearful of the Indians and instead stayed behind and worked as a teacher.  Later she married Orlando Gage and had children of her own…one of whom was my great grandfather, Ora Silas Gage.

I am not sure who arrived in Nebraska first – Silas or his older brother, James.  However, they both lived and died in Burt Co., NE.  Their father had made and sold Gallup Salve.  Both sons knew how to make the salve and made extra money making and selling the salve.  The recipe, as far as I know, has been lost…but I can remember my grandmother telling me that she remember the salve being used in the family when she was a girl.  I’m not sure that Silas every enjoyed good health even after his move.  He died in 1897 of cancer.   He is buried in the Lyons Cemetery in Lyons, Burt Co., NE and is buried next to his wife and son, Everette.  So…in 5 generations – my Gallup family moved from Connecticut to New York to Nebraska and eventually to Idaho.

  

Pancake Quirks???

Every family has some unique ways to eat meals.  Almost every meal of my childhood involved meat and potatoes with the usual gravy accompaniment.  Even at that age, I never liked the gravy…I learned how to make it…but to this day, I don’t eat gravy as a rule.  I’m also not overly fond of peanut butter…I like the flavor, but my favorite meal definitely doesn’t involve peanut butter on bread or anything else.  I am definitely not the norm in my family.

Many years ago, my mother went with her boyfriend (my father) to breakfast with his uncle and aunt.  Dad’s uncle was only a few years older than he so he was more like a brother.  Dad spent a few years working for Duane building boats.  On this particular morning, Dad and Mom sat down to a breakfast with sausage and pancakes and much to Mom’s surprise, sausage gravy!

Mom looked around trying to find the syrup which was her normal accompaniment to pancakes and there was none to be found. Annie, Duane’s wife, noticed her confusion and simply smiled and stood up and reached for the syrup out of the cupboard and placed it on the table.  With relief, Mom grabbed the bottle and fixed her pancakes.  Mom had just experienced a uniquely Gage way of eating breakfast.  The sausage wasn’t just meant to be eaten – it was also used to prepare the gravy to top the pancakes.  This was something that Mom never got used to, but it was the way that my great grandfather liked to eat his pancakes.  I’ve always thought it must be an eastern thing…but who knows it could have been something from the midwest.  Throughout his life…when pancake were served at breakfast so was sausage gravy. When my great granddad was in the hospital at the end of his life, my great aunt made the sausage gravy and took it down to the hospital so he could have sausage gravy for his pancakes.

Another strange pancake/French toast topping evidently came from my grandpa Frank Johnson.  My Uncle Byron once told me that it was the best tradition that he brought to the family.  Evidently, Grandpa Frank loved peanut butter just as my father does…and he put peanut butter on his pancakes.  My mother said that Grandpa Frank made some of the best pancakes that she had ever had.  She asked him one time how he made them and he tutored her on the process.  He carefully poured the batter on the hot griddle waiting for the bubbles to start to appear.  He then flipped the pancake carefully – being careful to never touch the top with the spatula.  My Dad never took this same lesson to heart and my mother would always scold him for flattening down the pancake with the spatula.  Seems my mother took her father – in – law’s lessons to heart…and his son didn’t.  Uncle Byron said that he remember the first time that he saw my Grandpa Frank put peanut butter on his pancakes.  He was a boy and was used to seeing the gravy on the table…but when he saw Grandpa Frank put the peanut butter on his pancakes…he tried it and fell in love with the taste.  My father puts peanut butter on both his French toast and pancakes. 

Every other year, we gather for our Gage family reunions.  Several of us pool together and eat breakfast together…the normal things appear on the table like juice, fruit, bacon, sausage, hash browns…and peanut butter for the pancakes.  Turns out that the in law who came into the family in 1939…made an impact.  Peanut butter has taken over for the sausage gravy as the favorite pancake topping.  Myself…I won’t eat pancakes….but when I eat French toast – I much prefer syrup and butter.  The smell of the gravy or the combination of peanut butter and syrup doesn’t smell too good to me. 

Strange Names....

New parents spend a great deal of time thinking of unique names for their children.  Sometimes they are meant to honor a relative or just names that the parents like.  A lot of modern Hollywood couples have used names like Apple which don’t make a great deal of sense to me.  I suppose that it isn’t really important for it to make sense to me…but it got me to thinking of some of the unique names I have come across in my genealogy research.

There are several names that pop out at me…my modern sensibility has a hard time with the name of Desire for a girl during the era of the Puritans…but it was a common name. I’m not real fond of Hester but certainly do recognize it as an old fashioned name.  My ancestors Thomas Miner and Grace Palmer had sons named Manasseh, Judah, Clement and Ephraim alongside the more common names of John, Thomas, Joseph, and Samuel. Grace Palmer also had half-brothers named Elihu, Moses, Nehemiah and Gershom.  Elizabeth Miner and her husband had sons named Ichabod and Jedidiah and daughters named Hepsibeth and my ancestor, Mahitabel.  Mahitabel’s grandson, Jesse had a son named Ziba.  I even find an Ebenezer Eastman.  Perhaps one of the oddest names that I have found is Wayte-a-While Makepeace.  She was the daughter of Thomas Makepeace and Elizabeth Hawkredd and was mysteriously born a few months after her parent’s marriage.  She married herself in 1661 to a Josiah Cooper, but even he couldn’t make her first name common.  Then there is poor Salmon Treat born in 1672 and married to Dorothy Noyes…his name sounds too much like food…but I know that Salmon was a popular name in an earlier age.

I recognize that most of these names have some sort of biblical derivation, but they do sound a bit odd.  Then there are the nicknames…I have to wonder why a girl named Margaret has a nickname of Peggy or a Mary can also be known as Polly.  Where did those nicknames come from?  According to www.straightdope.com Meg and Mog were nicknames for Margaret and they were changed into Peg and Pog because of rhymes and were probably from the Scottish.  It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me either way – but I’ve always recognized that Peggy was more than likely a Margaret from experience.

My ancestors have their share of unusual names…Potter Gage is a bit strange as is Buena Vista Baily or my grandmother’s named of Capitola.  If my great grandfather had had his way, my mother would have been saddled with Bettina.  Her mother, Capitola, having lived with an unusual name all of her life, decided that with the last name of Tannahill…she should have a more common first name – hence the name of Betty.  I guess she never thought Mom would marry a Johnson and therefore have one of the more common name combinations out there.  When I was growing up, there was a Betty Johnson who lived just a block away with the same house address but different street name…there were a lot of mix-ups in the mail.  Perhaps that is why some of these unusual names are making a comeback.

Family Reunions

When I was a child, we had family reunions of some sort every year of so.  Sometimes it was my grandmother’s birthday and other time it might be my great grandparent’s anniversary.  Those were favorite opportunities for my family to gather and enjoy each other’s company.  21 years ago, my great grandparents died within a few months of each other.  They had celebrated their 73^rd Wedding Anniversary and had the satisfaction of their large and very close family.   Now…it is only the older family members who remember the great grandparents…and a new generation has been added. 

Family reunion from the 1950's.

When my great grandparents died, it was their dearest wish that we continue the family gatherings that we had enjoyed for so many years.  Some of the earliest family reunions occurred in the 1940’s as family members moved from Nebraska to Idaho.  Back then, my great grandmother still had young children as well as grandchildren as did many of her siblings who had moved out west.  These gatherings got bigger and bigger and finally the Gage clan split off to their own group.  Some of us still go to the Shawver reunions, but the Gage reunion is now a rather large gathering.  We held our first formal reunion back in 1991.  We gathered and camped at my great-uncle’s place up on Hatter Creek.  The children played together in the creek and rode their bikes all over the property.  For many, this was their first experience at camping and some lifelong connections were created among these young children.  Those children are now in their 20’s and some have children of their own.  Last summer we saw many of those children gather once again with the older generations to enjoy our family connections.

My great grandparents had 10 children – with my grandmother’s recent passing, there are now six surviving siblings.  The older generation has turned the reins of these reunions to the younger group ad we have added our own twist to things.  My memories of these reunions go back almost 40 years and now I sometimes feel that we have ghosts present - those members that have passed on but are still very much on our hearts and our minds.

 

Family gathering at Grandma's 80th birthday in 2001.

We will gather this coming weekend for a reunion of another mournful type.  My grandmother’s funeral will probably be a rather large affair.  Grandma Marion was well loved within the family and was beloved my many friends as well.  There will be cousins, siblings, children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, great great grandchildren and even an aunt of my grandmother will be present as well as many friends.  We will celebrate my grandmother’s life as well as celebrate our family’s closeness.  This is exactly the type of gathering that my grandmother would have enjoyed and appreciated…and I believe that as we gather – my grandmother will looking down with approval as well as all of the other family members who we miss and love.