Lancaster County Family Ties

WINFIELD SCOTT APPLEBACH - MARRIED 65 YEARS (Source: New Era, Lancaster, PA 8/31/1977)

ANNA MOSSER/MUSSER: According to her marriage license to Benjamin Franklin Musselman, she was the daughter of Michael and Fanny (Albright) Mosser/Musser. She was born in 1836 and died in 1917, apparently a life long resident of Lancaster County, PA. She was the mother of Elizabeth Musselman, who married Charles Garner - making her my gr-gr-gr- grandmother. The marriage license of Benjamin F. Musselman and Anna Mosser/Musser on Jan. 25, 1853 in Lancaster, PA. Benjamin and Anna are known to have had at least 10 children over a span of about 15 years. This photo is undated, but prior to April 1912 when Benjamin died.  The couple on right is Ben (standing) and Anna (sitting). The woman on left is labeled as a daughter, but I have no idea which one. Does anyone out there know?  Please contact me if you know who the other 3 people in the photo are. I am thinking it appears to be a 4 generation photo......

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN MUSSELMAN: Benjamin was born in 1831 and died in 1912. He apparently resided in Lancaster County, PA his entire life. He was the father of Elizabeth Musselman, who married Charles Garner - making Benjamin my gr-gr-gr grandfather. The below photo of him during the Civil War was given to me in among all the other photos from Grandma Garner.  It was not labeled and I set it aside until it could be identified.  Later 2 different distant cousins mentioned it but R. Schneider actually shared a labeled copy  - I was excited to know who the person was. He served in the Civil War in Company E of the 135th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry from Aug. 1862 until May 1863. Personal collection    Benjamin is line 4 on the above document. Source: AG McMillin, Reba Garner, Ron Schneider   Benjamin Franklin Musselman in uniform 1862-63 Source: R. Schneider Ben and Anna's marriage license 25 Jan. 1853 Benjamin Franklin Musselman is listed as the son of Dav

Ralph Garner was an amazing man.  By his own admission, with only a 2nd grade education he worked hard and raised a family. He had a amazing amount of common sense.  His oldest daughter remembers sitting at the kitchen table working on her homework, while at the other end of the table her Mom was teaching Ralph how to read using the family Bible and the newspaper.  My memories of him include him proudly reading the Lancaster newspaper from cover to cover. I don't remember seeing him write, but he had no problem in the math area of figuring out money. I think he was a classic example of taking lemons and making lemonade.  His life could not have been easy, especially as a child and young person. When I was growing up, "the scandal" was still being whispered about - even though at that point he was grown with children and grandchildren.  You see, his parents were not married when he was conceived, which is not necessarily a scandal. The story goes like this: When Cora Gro

JOHN B. STOVER & MICHAEL WOLF - 1880 CENSUS: Per the 1880 Census for East Earl Township in Lancaster County, PA; John B. Stover (42) with wife Catherine (37) and children: William (18), John J (13), Anna (11), Harry (7), Fanny (5), Charles (4), Emma (2) and Milton (2) are listed as dwelling  430 on pg. 172. The next entry in dwelling 431 on pg. 172 is the  household is the of Michael Wolf, consisting of: Michael Wolf (64), Lydia (60), Ann (20), Mary (21), Issac (18), and Catharine (71) listed as sister and feeble. These are the parents of Lazarus Wolf, who is listed in the same census on page 176.  In my head, I wondered how John J. Stover would have met Mary Ida Wolf.  I suspect that she would visit her grandparents, Michael and Lydia, and in the course of this visiting had opportunity to meet the neighbors on the next farm and their kids - the John B. Stovers, including son John J. Stover. I seriously doubt I will ever know for sure, but this is a reasonable guess.

THE 6 AFFLERBACH BOYS WHO IMMIGRATED TO PENNSYLVANIA: Originally 6 young men immigrated from Wittgenstein, Germany to Philadelphia.  By various census records, marriage records, tax records, and stories - the men can be tracked from Philadelphia to Bucks County, PA and beyond.  In Bucks County is a small town named Applebachsville.  I have walked many of the graveyards around Applebachsville, Haycock, and Strawntown and there are many stones with the Afflerbach or Applebach (or variations) name.  The families were large in Germany and would continue to be so in the USA. Twins are also an interesting feature of this family.  The author of one of the books, Jost Afflerbach, is a fraternal twin.  My father is also a fraternal twin, and his father was an identical.  By looking thru various records and talking to family members, twins are a common occurrence in this family. The first immigrant young man was Johann Daniel Afflerbach (Daniel Applebach) who immigrated in 1766 and later fou

JOHANN HEINRICH AFFLERBACH (HENRY APPLEBACH) 1782-1840:  Henry immigrated to America on the ship "William P. Johnson", and arrived in Philadelphia on 03 December 1807. According to the below immigration roster, all he brought with him was one container of clothes. Henry is about halfway down the first column on the left hand side (click on image to enlarge).  In another record, I have seen him described as "middle sized with flaxen hair and grey eyes".  Many of the boys in this family were blacksmiths in the "old country".  According to Pennsylvania German Marriages pg. 346, he married Anna Elizabeth Triede/Truede on 05 Sept. 1809 in Philadelphia at the First Reformed Church. According to Six Afflerbach Emigrants Who Came to Pennsylvania and their Descendants 1750-1930 by Jane K. Thompson (2009), Henry worked at the government armory at Harper's Ferry making musket stocks during the War of 1812. Johann Heinrich Afflerbach (Henry Applebach) was t

1899 STOVER: 1899 Lancaster County, PA directory John Stover married Mary Ida Wolf, and they resided in Terre Hill (although not normally together according to family members). Catharine Stover  was the widow of John Stover, and the mother of the John Stover in the directory of 1899.

Starting on line 17 is the household of Lazarus Wolf - he is 28 and his wife, Elizabeth is 23. They have four small children at home, plus 2 extra men. At this point, I am fairly sure that Michael Wolf is the younger brother of Lazarus, and that Issac Ulrich was his maternal uncle.

EARL LIGHTCAP: Earl married Katie Garner (daughter of Charles and Lizzie Garner), who was the sister of Ben Garner.  Earl and Katie's daughter Thelma would grow up to marry John Andrew "Andy" Ressler.  Typical of tangled Lancaster County roots: Ben Garner married Cora Groff and their oldest son Ralph married Reba Ressler, who was the older sister of "Andy" Ressler.  So the children of Andy and Thelma are related to me on both my Ressler and Garner family lines. I remember discussions growing up about them being double cousins to the rest of us.   Earl Lightcap at "Butchering Day in 1946" (used by permission of R. Schneider 11/2014) Earl Lightcap with Charles Garner, holding Thelma (Earl's daughter), and Lizzie Garner.  Probably taken in 1924. Charles and Lizzie were his in-laws as he married their daughter Kathryne (Katie). Used by permission of R. Schneider 11/2014

THE FRANK RESSLER FAMILY - 1937: The story of this picture as told by Reba Garner was that in the early stage of her pregnancy with her first child, the doctor told her that due to a hernia (or hernia repair), she would not live thru the pregnancy. Her parents wanted a picture of all their children together as a family group, so this photo was taken before Reba started to show.  Standing in the back (l to r): Anna, Andy, Clarence, Victor, and Mary.  Seated in the front (l to r): Martha "Marty", Frank, Charles, Reba, Bertha "Bert", and Emma. I remember this photo as hanging upstairs in the bedroom by the door.  Grandma and I talked about it many times. By the way, the baby girl was born healthy in July 1937 and is still living. Photo used by permission of M. Ressler 11/12/15