[Last updated: 18 March 2011]

Johan Frietrich Stembel (Grandfather)

Frederick Stembel (Father)

Mary Margaret Stembel

MARY MARGARET STEMBEL Hoffman (1791? - ?)



Mary is a bit of a mystery. I surmise she was born sometime around 1791, but I have not found a record of her birth. This is odd, because the Middletown church records seem very complete for this period, and we know Frederick and Esther were well established in Middletown by this time. We know of her existence because she appears in her father's will as a child of his. We're just not sure what year she was born. Her mother would have been 41 if she was born in 1791.

Records show she married Jacob Hoffman on September 27, 1816. Jacob's father was well known in the community and Jacob became active in the community after his marriage. He was Treasurer of the Middletown Reformed Church from 1819-21 and 1824-25.(1) He was also reportedly Middletown's first Burgess after its incorporation as a town in 1834 (but that has yet to be confirmed).

Dr. McLean's research (McLean was an early Stembel family researcher) identified four children born to Mary and Jacob: two boys and two girls (Ann Elizabeth, Jacob, Mary Jane, and Henry). However, the federal census of 1830 shows six children under the age of 16 living in their household, so it is possible that Mary Margaret gave birth to more children than the four we are aware of.

The last census in which the Hoffmans are found living in Frederick County is the 1840 census. They were not enumerated in Frederick County in the 1850 or the 1860 census. We do know that they inherited money from Mary's father when he died in 1840, so it can be assumed they used that inheritance to move west, but in my early days of researching the family it was hard to determine where they moved. The best I could do is search the census pages for the Ohio counties where Mary's brothers moved, but I found no Jacob Hoffmans.

Since those days in the 1980s, all the names in all the federal censuses have been recorded, entered into databases and indexed online, thus making it possible to find people anywhere in the country. So when I recently searched those indexed records I found Jacob and Mary living in Warren County, Indiana, near the town of Williamsport in the 1850 census. In the 1860 census Jacob was still living in Warren County, but Mary Wasn't present. In the 1870 census I found one of their children was still living in the area, but Jacob wasn't present. Thus, I assume Mary died between 1850 and 1860 and Jacob died between 1860 and 1870. Most likely both died in Warren County.

Mary and Jacob Hoffman's children:

A. William Frederick (1818-after 1910). William was born February 13, 1818, and baptized in Middletown's Christ Reformed Church on April 10th of the same year. On May 9, 1840, he married Catherine Uhler in Attica (Fountain County), Indiana. They had at least six children, all born in Indiana. Between 1880 and 1900 they moved to Douglas County, Nebraska, and later moved to Los Angeles, California. In the 1910 census William was living with his son, Frank. Catherine had died between the 1900 and 1910 census for William's marital status was WD, or widower. He was 92. He died sometime after the 1910 census for he didn't appear in the 1920 census.

William and Catherine Hoffman's children:

    1. Elizabeth (c1844- ?). The only record I have of Elizabeth is her appearance in the 1850 census when she was 6 years old, so she was born around 1844. She did not appear in the 1860 census (she would have been 16) or any subsequent censuses.
    2. Anna J. (c1847- ?). Anna was born in December of 1847. She remained single all her life and lived with her parents as they moved to Nebraska and eventually Los Angeles. She never had an occupation that was recorded in the censuses. She last appeared in the 1920 census.
    3. Frank Y. (c1851- ?). Frank was born about 1851 in Indiana. By the 1870 census, at the age of 18 he reported a personal estate of $1,200, an impressive sum for someone so young. About 1875 he married Caroline (last name unknown). They had two children, Anna and Ethel. Sometime before 1880 Frank moved his family to Ambia (Benton County) Indiana, where he was a carpenter. I have not found a census record for him in 1900 so I don't know if he accompanied his parents to Nebraska or not, but by the 1910 census he had joined them in Los Angeles where his carpenter skills were no doubt in high demand. He was still living in Los Angeles in the 1920 and 1930 censuses, however his name was recorded as Francis. In 1930, which is the latest census we have available at the time of this writing, his marital status was listed as WD, widower, so Caroline died between 1920 and 1930. Frank was living with his daughter, Ethel, who was a 52 year old single school teacher.
    4. Charles N. (c1854- ?). Charles was born about 1854 in Indiana. On May 20, 1877, he married Ella Hamk in Warren County, Indiana. Three years later, in the 1880 census, he and Ella (recorded as Ellena in the census) were listed next to his parents in Rainsville (Warren County). His occupation was physician. No children were present in the household. Strangely, this is the last record we have of Charles, as he didn't show up in any subsequent censuses. I assume he died between 1880 and 1900 (the 1890 census was destroyed in a fire and thus unavailable to researchers), and his wife remarried.
    5. Arthur W. (c1858- ?). Arthur is elusive. He was born about 1858 in Indiana. In the 1880 census he is living with his parents in Rainsville (Warren County) as a single 22 year old school teacher. I could not find a census record of him for 1900, but in the 1910 census he is a house carpenter in Humboldt (Yavapai County), Arizona. He is married to a woman named Alice and has a 14 year old son, William. That is the last census record of him that I could find.
    6. Edward E. (1860- ?). Edward was born in February 1860, in Indiana. He was enumerated twice in the 1880 census, once in his childhood home of Rainsville (Warren County), where his occupation was carpenter, and a second time in nearby Ambia (Benton County), where his occupation was school teacher. I assume that at the time of the census, Edward was in the middle of moving to Ambia where he had just taken a position as a teacher in the local school. Sometime about 1885 he married Susan (last name unknown) and had two daughters, Beatrice and Louise. Evidently he moved with his parents to Nebraska sometime before 1900 where he remained until sometime before 1920 when he appears in the census living in Los Angeles working for the post office. He and his wife were still living in 1930.

B. Ann Elizabeth (1820- ?). Ann was born on June 17, 1820, in Middletown (Frederick County), Maryland. On September 7, 1842, she married Joel Marsh (this hasn't been confirmed yet). By the 1850 census they were living in Washington County, Maryland, where they remained through the 1860 and 1870 censuses. In the 1880 census, Ann was still living in Washington County (Beaver Creek Township), but her husband Joel, was living with the family of their daughter Victoria, in Washington, DC. Joel's occupation was wagon driver so it's possible he stayed with her when his job took him to Washington, DC. I have no further records on Ann after the 1880 census. Ann and Joel had seven known children. I have not researched these children yet.

C. George F. (c1822- ?). The only record I have of George is his appearance in the 1850 census, living near Rainsville (Warren County), Indiana. He is a single, 28 year old merchant whose real estate owned is valued at $1,400 and yet he is boarding with a family. I have found no other record of George but have not devoted much time to it as of this writing.

D. Jacob Francis (1826- ?). Jacob was born on September 2, 1826, in Middletown (Frederick County), Maryland. The 1850 census shows he had recently moved to Sacramento, California, where he was 24 years old, single, and a clerk. Soon after the census he returned to his family home in Indiana where he married Susan (last name unknown) and had two daughters, Fannie and Elizabeth, both born in Indiana. However, the 1870 census reveals Jacob's wife and two daughters are living with an older woman, who might be Susan's mother, but no record of Jacob was found. I assume he died between 1860 and 1870.

E. Mary Jane (1829- ?). Mary was born on August 7, 1829, in Middletown (Frederick County), Maryland. Between 1840 and 1850 she moved with her family to Warren County, Indiana, where she married Clarkson Bateman on April 1, 1851. However, records show that Clarkson re-married in December 1857, in Fountain County, Indiana, so sometime between 1851 and 1857 they divorced or Mary died. I could not find a census entry for Mary as Mary Hoffman in the 1860 or 1870 censuses, but if she was still living, chances are she re-married before the 1860 census and took a new name.

F. Henry Fenton (1833-1833). Henry was born May 10, 1833, and baptized in the Middletown Reformed Church on August 8, 1833, but he died soon after, on September 9, 1833. He is buried in the Middletown Reformed Church cemetery.

G. John (c1834- ?). John was born about 1834 in Maryland. Between 1840 and 1850 he accompanied his family to their new home near Williamsport, in Warren County, Indiana. About 1859 John married Hester (last name unknown). A year later, in the 1860 census they were living with John's widowed father. They had three known children between 1861 and 1863, but in the 1870 census, John was not present, and Hester and their three children were living with what may have been Hester's mother, so it's likely that John died sometime after 1863. Hester re-married in 1878.

John and Hester Hoffman's children:

    1. Laura (c1861- ?). Laura was born about 1861 in Indiana. In the 1870 census she was living with her (presumably) widowed mother near Rainsville (Warren County). She was a 19 year old single school teacher. I could not find her in the 1880 census so I assume she had married and had a new last name.
    2. James H. (1862- ?). James was born in January 1862. He was a farmer all his life. Sometime around 1894 he married Lillie (last name unknown). They had a son and a daughter, Wilmer and Edna. Sometime between 1900 and 1910 they moved to Harper County, Oklahoma, where they continued to appear in the censuses through 1930.
    3. John C. (c1863- ?). The 1900 census asked what month and year each person was born. John gave his date of birth as March 1862, but we know his older brother was born in January 1862, so I assume John was really born a year later, in March, 1863. Evidently he never married for he continued to appear in the censuses through 1920 as a single male. He lived in Warren County all his life; his occupations ranged from landlord to farm worker to laborer. I could not find a record of him in the 1930 census. I assume he died between 1920 and 1930.



FOOTNOTES


1. Maryland German Church Records, Vol. 2: Zion Lutheran Church, Middletown, Frederick County, 1781-1826. Translated by Rev. Frederick S. Weiser, Noodle-Doosey Press, Manchester, MD, 1987.



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