AMERICAN REVOLUTION DESERTER?

Source: Bing clip art

AMERICAN REVOLUTION DESERTER?

If you have been doing family research for more than a few days, you have found interesting, funny, or ironic things. I recently ran across the "GRAFF" name in a book titled: He Loves a Good Deal of Rum...Military Desertions during the American revolution 1775-1783...Volume One 1775 - June 30, 1777 by Joseph Lee BOYLE. 

 The title alone caught my attention. Um...I had ancestors in the American Revolution. Would this book have anything about any of them? I flipped to the index and started looking for any familiar name: BOWMAN/BAUMAN, GROFF/GRAFF, BOEHM/BEAM, STOVER, WOLF, METZLER, MUSSELMAN, RESSLER. Some of the names I had to look for alternate spellings. 

Um....GRAFF, Jacob. Maybe a possibility?

The below had been published in the Pennsylvania Evening Post on May 13, 1777:

This is to certify that Frederick Shinkle and Jacob Graff, two militia men of this city, brought me a man named John M'Cartney, the 21st ult. 1777, as s substitute for them, agreeable to a resolve of the Hon. Continental Congress, but the said John M'Cartney proves to be a deserter from another regiment, and of course no recruit, there the said Frederick Shinkle and Jacob Graff can derive no advantage from the resolve of Congress - Joseph Wood, Col. Third P. R.

Could this be an ancestor? Maybe. There were Jacob GRAFF's in Lancaster County. But it will require more research and digging far deeper than I have time for right now.

Source: Bing clip art

However, it made me chuckle because I (actually all of us) have characters in our families that for one reason or another prove that people will try to get out of doing things they don't want to do.

As I dig around in family history, I find that a necessary tool is a sense of humor. While most of them are names and dates to us, they lived as real people with lives. Depending on the documents or memories available, I will never know how my ancestors thought or why they acted as they did. 

Our people were far from perfect. Neither am I. 

What happened to these two men after their "substitute" did not pan out? Would they fight in many battles? Would they just walk off and leave the militia behind? Would they get drafted again at some later date? Would they live thru the war and return home, or die forgotten in some field?

As for the book, it is a fascinating look at how people acted and descriptions of their clothing or personal items when they deserted. Many had rewards of a few dollars on their heads if found or arrested. Note: I found the book at a genealogy library, however, I found several books by this author, including this one, on Amazon.

Family history is not dry and dusty. It is full of people who have stories to tell us. 

All the content writing of this post is my own unless I state otherwise.

Update 03-04-2023 I checked the DAR website to see if Jacob Graff was there. There is a Jacob Groff listed as an ancestor from Philadelphia. Three of the five in the ancestor search are from Lancaster County, PA. This man is ancestor #A048820 with dates of 1751-1824. Probably not my direct ancestor, but he has been used by someone to get membership in the DAR.

HANDY BOOK FOR LANCASTER, PA AREA

Handy Book for Lancaster, PA area

For those of us who have ancestors in Lancaster County and the surrounding area in the 1700's, I would like to suggest finding or making a copy of this booklet for yourself. It is the "Records of Rev. John Casper Stoever - Baptismal and Marriage 1730-1779". It was originally published by Harrisburg Publishing Co. in Harrisburg, PA in 1896. 

 There is nothing promising about the way this booklet looks, but as a circuit riding preacher during those years, Rev. STOEVER kept a record of all the people he baptized and married. He spent much of his circuit in southeastern Pennsylvania, however, some locations are in northern Virginia and possibly a small corner of Maryland. 

I found a copy of it in a genealogy library years ago, and promptly photo copied the less than 100 pages. The copy I have has a more recent typed alphabetical index. I put my copies in a three ring binder with my other genealogy books and reference materials. It is a handy item to have. 

 For anyone with colonial area people in the Lancaster County, PA area - it is like a roster of who's who for common family names. I have no idea if this book can be purchased from a publisher or some website like amazon or eBay, but I would suggest it as a really great item to have on hand.

PLEASE NOTE: 
ALL PHOTOS AND WRITTEN CONTENT ARE MY OWN UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.

MARY IDA (WOLF/HAHN) STOVER'S ESTATE SETTLEMENT

My paternal gr-grandmother was Mary Ida (WOLF/HAHN) STOVER.  She was born in Lancaster County, PA on Feb. 22, 1864 to Lazarus and Elizabeth (NEWPHER/NEWFER) WOLF. Her first husband was Jacob HAHN - they had one son Irvin. Her second husband (my gr-grandfather) was John J. STOVER - they had 6 known children (one daughter died before her).

By family accounts, John and Mary did not have a happy marriage and it is thought by the current living members of my family that they may have spent the last 10 - 15 years of their marriage living separately.  My grandma (Jennie) told her own children that she was in her teens before she remembered meeting her father.

Above is Mary's death certificate - she is listed as married, and her youngest daughter filled out the info on the death certificate.

Mary STOVER died on Dec. 17, 1924.  Here is her obit in the Lancaster newspaper. She was survived by 6 children and 10 siblings. No husband is listed in the obit, even though he was still living.

Her estate was settled in Jan. 1925 (#25 January 1925).  I obtained this from the Lancaster Archives. The person who signed for the intestate papers for the estate to be settled was Ray GRUBE - the husband of her daughter Elasta. In fact, John STOVER is not mentioned in the papers at all.

Page 1

Page 2

Notice that on page 2, listed are her children and where they live is listed - I already knew who the children were, but I did not know where all of them lived so this helped me locate some other information.

Page 3

On page 3 the children had to sign all signed to renounce their right to be the administrator of the estate, so I now can see their signatures.

Page 4

Page 4 shows that Mary (WOLF/HAHN) STOVER had no property and nothing else of value either.

I have not found any photos of Mary, and no family members admit to ever having seen one.

Below is the photo of her gravestone in Terre Hill Cemetery, Terre Hill, PA

Photo Source: Find A Grave
Memorial # 103007174

PLEASE NOTE: 
ALL PHOTOS AND WRITTEN CONTENT ARE MY OWN UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.

DAUGHTER OF JOHN AND IDA (WOLF) STOVER: ELASTA 1897 - 1973

One of the daughters of John and Mary Ida (WOLF/HAHN) STOVER was Elasta Gustava STOVER who married Ray Y. GRUBE.

So far, I have been unable to locate photos of her.

She was born Feb. 1, 1897 and died Feb. 3, 1973. She is memorial #99097373 on Find A Grave.

What I have found (for no reason I can figure out) is that she got 2 delayed birth certificates, one in 1942 and one in 1957.

1957 Delayed birth certificate:

1957 pg. 1

1957 pg. 2

The people affirming her birth are Lizzie MULL, Irwin HAHN, and B. Sylvester STOVER:

Elizabeth "Lizzie" MULL was a maternal aunt (younger sister of Mary Ida WOLF).

Irwin (or Irvin) HAHN was the son of Mary Ida (Wolf) and Jacob HAHN - hence a half brother to Elasta.

B(arton) Sylvester STOVER was a full brother of Elasta G. STOVER.

The 1942 delayed birth certificate:

1942 page 1

1942 page 2

The people affirming her birth are Mrs. T. APPLEBACH, Mrs. T.J. GEIST, and Mrs. Howard MULL.

Mrs. T. APPLEBACH was her sister Jennie.

Mrs. T. J. GEIST was her sister Lottie.

Mrs. Howard MMULL was her maternal aunt, Elizabeth "Lizzie" (WOLF) MULL.

Source of documents: Lancaster County Archives

PLEASE NOTE: 
ALL PHOTOS AND WRITTEN CONTENT ARE MY OWN UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.

FAMILY ITEMS AT OUR HOUSE

Growing up, there were many family items that had been passed down and were around our house.  

I remember a large family Bible and Blue Willow dishes that we used for good - both of these items came to us via Grandma Jennie (STOVER) APPLEBACH. 

There was a wool handwoven rug that I was told had been made by my gr-grandma Bertha (FINDLEY) RESSLER - I have this item now. It is oval and made from wool. It is still in amazing condition considering in was made prior to 1952 and has been used at times.

There were cookie cutters and all kinds of glass "dust catchers" from my Grandma Reba GARNER, and many of these are now in my home.

I recently was able to get a copy of Jennie APPLEBACH's will, and in it she gave the family Bible to my father.  

Source: Wikipedia

The Blue Willow dishes were also in the will as going to my cousin Keith.  I do not know how those dishes ended up at our house, so hopefully the next time I go to Lancaster, I will be able to ask Keith how that came about.

Source: iStock

I remember the Bible as being a large book that usually sat on the coffee table in the living room.  It had several pages with writing in the front. It was "delicate" and we rarely opened it or used it - I remember the Christmas story being read from it for many years. There was no real reason to use it as we all had our own Bibles.  My father had many Bibles that seemed to be all over the house.

Source: Wikipedia

The dishes fascinated me though as they were so obviously handmade.  They rippled a little at the edges, and the painted scenes were not exactly the same on any of the plates.  There were bowls, cups, small plates, dinner plates, and I believe a large platter. Someone told my mom that they were very valuable because they were made in the 1800's but we continued to use them for holidays.

I have no idea what happened to the Bible or dishes as I have not seen them since 1980 when my father packed up many things from out house into his car and headed east to Lancaster.  When he returned, none of those items were with him and he refused to admit what he had done with them. I have wished many times over the years that I had copied what was written in those pages so that those at least would not have been lost.

PLEASE NOTE: 
ALL PHOTOS AND WRITTEN CONTENT ARE MY OWN UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.

 

SCHOOL PHOTOS

Amanda and Katie GARNER were the daughters of Charles and Elizabeth (MUSSELMAN) GARNER.

Katie (GARNER) LIGHTCAP 1901 - 1975   
FAG memorial #32505284

Amanda (GARNER) MATSON, MORRISON 1894 - 1970  
FAG memorial #32505304

Source of photo: Lancaster County School Students circa 1890's to 1960's compiled by Brenda Creasy pg. 44

______________________________________________________

Edna STOVER was the daughter of John J. and Mary Ida (WOLF) STOVER.

Edna (STOVER) 1899 - 1986
FAG memorial #169889327

Source of photo: Lancaster County School Students circa 1890's to 1960's compiled by Brenda Creasy pg.167

PLEASE NOTE: 
ALL PHOTOS AND WRITTEN CONTENT ARE MY OWN UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.

MY ORGANIZATION SYSTEM

 I was recently contacted and ask how in the world I actually keep track of all this stuff??? My system is anything but perfect and generally pretty low tech.  However, keep in mind, that I like stuff being where it belongs - and that means any item you care to name. 

 I work the paperwork side of medical (HIM) and a definite mind set to being successful in this is simply being organized. Another common personality quirk in this field is liking mysteries and/or puzzles. I spend all day digging thru medical records and doing research, so it shouldn't surprise anyone that I have no issues about coming home and spending time digging thru more records trying to solve genealogy mysteries.

That being said, as a teen when I started on this family history journey, I recycled a bunch of old manila file folders.  On each I put the name of a person, their birth and death years, parents names, and known spouses.  Inside I just stuck anything I found that fit that person. I was happy to just have it in one spot. Each person had a file, ok, some people ended up with 2 or 3.  They continue to look the same:

 

As I collected more and more info and documents, I added 3 ring binders for direct ancestors that I was specifically looking for and so had lots more stuff (remember the people who had 1 and more files).  I put the documents in date order and use plastic acid free sheet protectors to put these in.  

If the paper is double sided, then it is in the sheet protector by itself - if it is a single side then I put 2 in. This way I can simply flip thru and see what I have - it kind of works like a timeline. I am very visual, so this allows me to see what is there.  I also highlight with a yellow marker dates and names so they stand out.

 I recently started making a binder for all the known children of a set of parents (excluding the one who is actually a direct ancestor and has his/her own binder). I simply take the manila folder that the papers were in inside the file cabinet (I have 2 four drawer ones for genealogy), punch 3 holes in it and put all that person's papers behind it.  I put the children in birth order.  

On the folder for my direct ancestor I write somewhere to "See Binder" because everything for that person has been moved to a personal binder.  While not actively searching out all the various children and their descendants, I do end up finding stuff on them as I search for my own ancestors so this allows me to have plenty of room for this extra info. Again, all the papers are in sleeve protectors. (Tip: the local Goodwill here tends to have 3 ring binders and for 49 cents each I get lots of them.)

 As I research now, I save a copy of what I find onto my computer and also print off a copy that will go into that person's binder or file.  Yes, it is a little bulky, but it is what works for me.  I then back up all my computer files onto a very large external hard-drive.  The external hard-drive is kept in a fire proof safe.

     I also purchased 2 techie items that I feel are very important:

• A good quality scanner - mine does negatives, slides, photos and documents.  It also has a labeling program for the photos, so I can label the photos right on the front (no more unlabeled photos or lost postie notes).
• A high end digital frame that I can put several thousand photos on.  It is in the living room and I have a really nice way to display so many of the old photos that are now in my possession. 

 Please realize that I have thousands of photos and documents and the scanning project is a long way from being complete, however, it is in progress.  Each day sees a few more items scanned in and saved on the computer. 

I end up having 2 complete sets of photos in the computer because I keep the original, plus the photo that is labeled on the front. Aw yes, and let us not forget the actual printed photo that was scanned in to begin with. Many of these have been given to other family members who will also appreciate them.

 So how to I store the photos?? Well the first thing I did was took them out of those old sticky "magnet" photo albums that were so popular in the 1970's and 1980's.  If they weren't labeled, I took a few with me every time I visited with family and tried to find someone who knew who, when, and where. 

For many years I felt like I really was drowning in photos and it was an overwhelming project.  I still have boxes of photos that are not scanned in.  However, as I scan them in and they get labeled, they they go into acid free photo boxes by year.  I don't know that I will ever get them put into some form of photo albums, but at least they are in one place.  I know those acid free photo boxes can be a little pricey, but for me they are worth it.

 So below is a shelving unit that is neat and tidy.  More important, I can find the people or photos I am after without a lot of muttering and frustration.

     I keep reference books in one certain spot, however, they are in no particular order:

 I recently went on a research binge, so now I am catching up on my filing again.  It's ok though, because all of it has a spot to go to when I get to it.  I guess my advice is to simply find or make a system that works for you and then stick to it.  If I (or you) can't find the documents or photos they are not doing any good for family history.

A side note: figure out how you are going to label your individual documents or files on the computer and then be consistent.   I tried several different naming systems over the years and when I finally settled on a way that I really liked, I had to go back thru years of files and rename all of them consistently.  It took weeks and turned me into a blithering idiot for the time I was working on it. I am now labeling my computer documents like this: surname_first name_date_place_item

Years ago, I saw somewhere a suggestion to use colored file folders for the various branches of a family tree.  Since I was (and still do) use recycled manila file folders, they are all that lovely off white color. 

So, I bought cheap star stickers in blue, green, red, and yellow.  I put a colored sticker beside the name on each file or binder that are my direct ancestors. The colors to me mean:

• Blue = my father and his paternal line
• Green = my father's maternal line
• Red = my mom and her paternal line
• Yellow = my mom's maternal line  

PLEASE NOTE: 
ALL PHOTOS AND WRITTEN CONTENT ARE MY OWN UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.

CLARA E. (STOVER) AMES

Clara was the daughter of John and Mary Ida (WOLF) STOVER.  I never really paid much attention to her as she was gone long before I came along, no one talked about her, and while her name is on the 1900 and 1910 census with her family after that she disappears.

On a recent call with my Aunt Fran (APPLEBACH) WOODS, she commented about "mom's sister who died birthing twins". I went back to the census and saw that Clara had to be the correct one as the rest I knew or knew about them or knew their spouses.

So off to Ancestry I went to pursue this line of thought. I found Clara's death cert:

Yep, her death was caused by childbirth, and it gave me her husband's name to look for.

I did not find birth certificates for the babies (yes, twins) but I did find them on Ancestry. Laura and Mary both born and died in 1915 and buried at Ranck's Cemetery.  It also lists Clara, born 1895 and died 1915. I haven't found a marriage certificate for her and Earl AMES yet.

Thanks to Find a Grave for the photo of Clara's and the twins tombstone:

PLEASE NOTE: 
ALL PHOTOS AND WRITTEN CONTENT ARE MY OWN UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.