MEMORY OF RALPH G. GARNER

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 (my mom) 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 GROFF told Ben GARNER in the early spring of 1906 that she was pregnant, instead of doing the responsible thing and marrying the young woman as was proper, Ben took off for Ohio to take sanctuary with family members there.  

When Cora realized she had been abandoned,  she went to Ben's parents (Charles and Elizabeth GARNER). Charles and "the boys" (Charles' brothers?? Ben's siblings?? Cousins?? - I never heard any explanation for "the boys") went to Ohio and drug Ben back objecting to having to marry Cora or claim the baby. Cora and Ben married in Lancaster in April of 1906, and Ralph was born August 5, 1906.

Cora and Ben went on to have 4 other children and by all accounts grew close and happy. However, Ben looked at Ralph as the fault of all this mess and by Ralph's own account he was not treated well as a child by his father.  He was shuffled from family member to family member who had work to keep him busy, and is why his school education was lacking. In the 1910 census he is listed as age 3 and living with his parents and a sister.  In the 1920 census he is living with his maternal grandparents (Joseph and Josephine GROFF) on their farm in Lancaster county. In the 1930 census he is living with his parents and 3 siblings.

I remember him as a loving husband, father, and grandfather.  He was far from perfect, but I believe he wanted a good relationship with his own family and worked hard to have this.  In my memories, he did seem close to his mom and siblings. I do not ever remember him making unkind or bitter comments about his father, he simply did not talk about him.

Reba said that after they married in 1935, she realized she would need to be the bridge to mend the relationship between father and son.  Apparently as Ralph got older, the relationship did mend between these 2 men, but no one has ever told me they were close.

                                                         Ralph Garner 02-14-1985

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

JOHN B. STOVER & MICHAEL WOLF - 1880 CENSUS

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), Isaac (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. STOVER family, including son John J. STOVER. I seriously doubt I will ever know for sure, but this is a reasonable guess.

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

THE 6 AFFLERBACH BOYS WHO IMMIGRATED TO PENNSYLVANIA

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 fought for his new country with the Pennsylvania militia.  

He was followed by a cousin (once removed?) Johann Heinrich AFFLERBACH (Henry AFFLERBACH) in 1770 - he would also fight for his new country. The next young man was Daniel's brother Ludwig AFFLERBACH (Lewis AFFLERBACH/APPLEBACH) who would immigrate in 1773 and also fight for his new country. 

Next would come Daniel's nephew Johannes Jost AFFLERBACH (Joseph AFFLERBACH) in 1796.

Then another cousin (once removed?) George Konrad AFFLERBACH. 

Finally another nephew Johann Heinrich  AFFLERBACH (Henry APPLEBACH) in 1807.

In the mid 1800's a few more family members immigrated, but my understanding is that they arrived in Texas and truthfully, while I am aware of them, I don't know much about them.  Varge APPLEBACH moved around with the military and finally lived in Texas and there was some contact between him and those family members. Maybe someday there will be a book about them as well, but not currently that I know of.

The original 6 young men were trained as blacksmiths, but also worked as carpenters.  Ludwig had a freight company that went back and forth between Bucks County and Philadelphia. His tombstone has an informative life story for him.  These young men came to the US as single men, and married girls from German families once here.  

Whether they knew each other in Germany, or only met in the US is currently unknown.  Daniel married Dorothea POPP in 1772. Henry Afflerbach married Maria RENSHIMER in 1780. Ludwig married Anna ______ in 1778, and Mary Magdalena (widow of KESSLER) in 1805. Joseph would marry Maria STONEBACH in 1799, and George would marry Elizabeth _____, and Henry would marry Anna Elizabeth TRIEDE/TRUDE in 1809.

Little is known about George Konrad once he got to the US.  There is a story that during the War of 1812 he fought on the side of the British, which probably would have put him on the outs with his American loving relatives. What records are known point to George remaining in Philadelphia with his wife and children. 

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

JOHANN HEINRICH AFFLERBACH (HENRY APPLEBACH) 1782-1840

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.  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/TRUDE 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 the son of Johann Wilhelm AFFLERBACH (1742-1809), the grandson of Johann Heinrich AFFLERBACH (1703-1759), the gr-grandson of Johannes AFFLERBACH (1670-1729), the gr-gr-grandson of Hans Herman AFFLERBACH ( ? - 1672), and the gr-gr-gr grandson of Paul AFFHOLDERBACH (1594-1696). He is my immigrant ancestor on the APPLEBACH side.

Currently, I know of 3 published books on the AFFHOLDERBACH/AFFLERBACH/APPLEBACH families:

1) the above book by THOMPSON

2) Wittgensteiner  Geschlechterbuch by Werner AFFLERBACH (2001)

 3) Familienbuch Afholderbach-Afflerbach by Karl und Jost AFFLERBACH (1986). 

The book by THOMPSON is in English, the other two are in German. All of them are well researched and worth looking at (or owning) if you are a family member. The two in German concentrate on the German side of the family, Thompson's book concentrates on the US branches.

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

1899 STOVER IN LANCASTER DIRECTORY

1899 STOVER:

1899 Lancaster County Directory

 

 

 John STOVER married Mary Ida (WOLF) HAHN, 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.

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

 

LAZARUS WOLF CENSUS - 1870 CENSUS

 

 

 

 

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.

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

 

EARL LIGHTCAP

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 Ron Schneider 11/2014)

 

 

 

Earl LIGHTCAP with Charles GARNER, holding Thelma (Earl's daughter), and Lizzie GARNER (on far right).  Probably taken in 1924. Charles and Lizzie were his in-laws as he married their daughter Kathryne (Katie). Used by permission of Ron SCHNEIDER 11/2014

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