[Last updated: 18 October 2020.]

Johan Friederich Stembel (Grandfather)

Frederick Stembel (Father)

Ann Catherine Stembel

ANN CATHERINE STEMBEL GROVE MICHAEL (1774 - 1858)

Ann Catherine was born April 12, 1774, in the Stembel home on Lot #8 in Middletown, Maryland. She was baptized May 23. Her baptism was sponsored by Johannes [Adam] and [Ann] Catherine Eberle (Frederick's mother and stepfather). She was Frederick and Esther's first child. Ann Catherine went by the name Catherine in daily life.

We don't know much about Catherine's childhood or her education. She was the first child of a young couple, in a new house, and in a new town only recently laid out. Her father was engaged, as were his neighbors, in building their growing town, on the main road west from Baltimore.

No doubt there was a high turnover of residents and merchants in Middletown's early years, as people opened shops, and provided services. Some failed, some thrived, and some moved on. Many of the friendships Catherine made in her early years might have been brief. Catherine's father appears to have been very adept at providing whatever goods and services were needed, and over time he became one of Middletown's reliable leaders. Much of Middletown's initial population were Germans. For many years German was the primary language spoken in town, but a working knowledge of English was probably necessary for anyone engaged in commerce. I assume German was spoken in the Stembel household in the years Catherine was growing up. Her father probably acquired English quickly for he was involved in many different activities. Catherine grew up as a town girl, not a farm girl.

When Catherine was two, the 13 British colonies declared their independence from Great Britain, and went to war to secure their freedom. Her father served for two years in the state militia. The war for independence didn't end until Catherine was about seven years old.

In 1797, at the age of 23, Catherine married Martin Groff (Grove). A year later their first child, Mary Magdalina, was born.

At this point Catherine's life becomes hazy. We know a second child, Elizabeth, was born in March of 1800, but when the 1800 census was taken five months later, Martin had died, for Catherine's name was recorded in the census as "Catherine Groff - widow"⁽¹⁾. I'm not sure if Martin died before Elizabeth was born or after. Since Catherine was listed separately in the census I assume she and Martin had their own home, separate from her parents.

A year or so after Martin's death, on November 1, 1801, Elizabeth, died. She was not yet two-years old.

Losing her husband and a young child in such a short period of time must have been devastating. Catherine soon remarried however. On March 21, 1802, she married Christopher Michael III, a 26-year old farmer from the nearby village of Harmony, Maryland, according to family lore. We believe this was Christopher's first marriage. It is likely that he was a farm laborer on his family's farm and that he bought or rented a farm nearby⁽²⁾. Harmony is now a small settlement four miles north of Middletown, but at the time of their marriage it was becoming a small, bustling community with a distillery, woolen mills, a lumber mill, stores, and churches.⁽³⁾

According to Dr. McLean's research (Dr. William McLean initiated research on the Stembel family in the 1950s), Catherine left her daughter from her first marriage, Mary, with her parents for them to raise. We have no idea why Catherine sent Mary to be raised by her parents. It may have been at her parent's request, or it may have been Catherine and Christopher's decision (one possibility is that they believed Mary would have better opportunities living in town rather than on a farm). Whatever the reason, the decision appears to have created some ill will between father and daughter that was still evident nearly 40 years later in 1738 when Frederick drew up his will. Frederick specifically directed the executer of his estate to withhold one-tenth of Catherine's share of his estate and give it directly to Mary. Is it possible that Frederick was worried that Catherine might deny Mary her rightful inheritance?

Catherine gave birth to 11 children, nine by Christopher. One (Elizabeth) died in infancy. Of the remaining 10 - nine girls and one boy - all lived to adulthood and married. Eight of the ten moved to Ohio between 1827 and 1853, following the pattern of Catherine's own siblings. Of Catherine's five adult siblings, four moved to Ohio or Indiana before 1843, led by her brother, Henry, who moved to Dayton in 1826. Catherine also moved to Ohio in 1853, at the age of 79. She was living with her son at the time, and when he decided to move his family to Ohio, Catherine chose to move with him.

We assume Christopher was a farmer all hs adult life. Judging by the detailed information he provided about his slaves and their disposition in his will, he was a record keeper and methodical planner, useful traits for a businessman or a farmer. His father-in-law, Frederick Stembel, asked him to be the executer of his estate instead of one of his sons (who were living in Ohio by then). In fact Christopher wrote his own will the day before Frederick died.

Christopher died March 8, 1846, at the age of 70. In his will he left Catherine $3,000, plus their furniture. He left his daughter Mary Ann Esther a special legacy of $300 "in consideration of her faithful services now rendering me." He also gave her the part of his land that she was living on (at his death, Mary Ann was 30 years old and unmarried. It appears she had been caring for him for some time. Five months after her father's death, she married (see her section below).

There was a special provision in Christopher's will for another daughter, Maria. While Christopher specified that all the money owed him by his other children was to be subtracted from their portion of their inheritance, the money owed by Maria and her husband, Levi Parsons, was to be considered a gift; it did not have to be repaid. Also, he indicated that $2,400 from his estate was to be put in trust, with the interest on that sum to be paid to Maria annually for the rest of her life. However, these were the only proceeds Maria was to receive from her father's estate. She was not included with the rest of her siblings in the division of her father's estate. Why?

Christopher's eleven slaves were also mentioned in his will. Seven of the eleven were children between the ages of 6 and 15, and two were the children of a female slave. Christopher gave one of the young slaves to his son, John Frederick, two to daughter Susan, two to daughter Lucinda, and two to daughter Mary Ann Esther⁽⁴⁾. However, he stipulated that each must be set free on their 28th birthday. The two remaining slaves were adults. He directed that his slave, Rachel Jones, and her two small children were to be set free at his death. His remaining slave, David, was described in the will as too old to gain a livelihood, so Christopher stipulated that those of his children who received slaves from his estate must contribute to David's support for as long as he lived. Any who refused were to be taken to court. It is assumed that those who received the slaves had consented to all this at the time his will was written.

Christopher further charged that all the lands he owned in Maryland and Ohio were to be sold at public auction with the proceeds to be split equally among all his children (except Maria).

While we don't know how much each child inherited from Christopher's estate (given that it had to be split nine ways - Maria excluded) the proceeds were still probably significant. Genealogists often notice major life changes, such as a move, in the year or so after a large inheritance. That did not seem to be the case in Catherine's family, though two daughters, Sarah and Maria, separately moved shortly after receiving their inheritance.

After Christopher's death, his son, John Frederick, purchased his father's farm from the estate. Ann Catherine continued to live on the farm with John Frederick and his family.

Seven years later, John moved his family to a new home in Urbana, Ohio. Catherine, then 79, accompanied them. She lived with them for five more years until her death in 1858. Catherine is buried in Urbana's Oak Dale Cemetery.

Here is a brief history of Ann Catherine's eleven children:

A. MARY MAGDELINA Grove Keller (1798-1885). Mary, or "Polly," as she was known, was born on September 5, 1798, probably near Middletown, Maryland. As mentioned above, her father died when she was very young, and after her mother remarried she was raised by her grandparents in Middletown. In 1822, she married William Keller of Hanover, Pennsylvania. In November 1827, they packed everything they owned into covered wagons, bundled up their two young girls, and began a two month journey to Dayton, Ohio⁽⁵⁾. Polly's uncle, Henry Stembel, had moved his family to Dayton the year before. They lived in Dayton for a year or so, and in April of 1829, moved again, 34 miles northeast to Urbana, Ohio. Around this time Urbana consisted of "a courthouse and jail, one printing office, a church, a market house, nine mercantile stores, and 120 houses" according to a gazetteer. It had a population of 1,100, about a third the size of Dayton.

Soon after moving to Urbana, William purchased a vacant lot and built a house on Court Street for their family of four. They moved into their new home in December, 1830.⁽⁶⁾

William was a hatter by trade. He was also active in the community, serving as Justice of the Peace for twelve years and then Mayor for three years, in fact William was mayor at the time of his death - he had just been re-elected prior to his untimely death of a stroke on April 27, 1857.⁽⁷⁾

Mary and William had six known children⁽⁸⁾, two boys and four girls. One son became a lawyer and later a Captain in the U.S. Army. The other son was a clergyman. All four daughters were teachers, one of whom married a physician.

Mary continued to live in Urbana for 28 more years. She died in 1885 at the age of 86.

Mary and William's six children:

1. Barbara Catarina Keller (1823-1909). Barbara was born July 29, 1823, and baptized in Middletown's Zion Lutheran Church on October 19 of the same year. When she was about 5 years old, her parents moved to Ohio where she grew up. Barbara was a teacher. She never married. She lived in Urbana most of her life, but a few years before her death she moved to West Liberty, Illinois, (there is some doubt about the location) where she lived with her brother, Joseph, and his family. She died there March 7, 1909. Her body was returned to Urbana and buried in Oak Dale Cemetery. A year before she died, she wrote a will leaving her possessions to her brother Joseph Keller, her sister Belinda Pearce, and a neice, Mary Euans.

2. Drucilla Elizabeth Keller (1826-1879). Drucilla, "Betsy," was born April 23, 1826, and baptized in Middletown's Zion Lutheran Church on September 10 of the same year. She was just two years old when her parents moved to Ohio. Some in the family tell us Betsy was a teacher, but later, in the 1860 census her occupation was given as seamstress. She never married. Betsy died of a stroke on June 8, 1879, at the age of 53, and is buried in Urbana's Oak Dale Cemetery. She appeared in the 1880 census Mortality Schedule which confirmed the cause of death as heart disease, and that her occupation was seamstress.

3. Theodoric G. Keller (1833-1893). Theodoric, "Todd," was born April 12, 1833, about five years after his parents moved to Ohio. There was a seven-year gap between the births of Todd and his older sister, Betsy, so it is possible there were other children born between these two. Like his two older sisters, Todd began his career as a teacher. However, in 1852 he began reading the law under the tutelage of General John Young. He was admitted to the bar in 1855, but family members don't recall that he ever practiced the law. The 1860 census seems to contradict this because his occupation was recorded as Lawyer. In 1861 he enlisted in the Ohio Volunteer Infantry as a Private, but rose to the rank of Captain. Though he saw much action, Todd returned home after the war uninjured. After the war he resumed teaching. He never married. In 1880 Todd was a census enumerator, and in 1886 he became the County Recorder for Champaign County, a position he held until his death on September 12, 1893, at the age of 60. He died of a heart attack, and is buried in Urbana's Oak Dale Cemetery.

4. Margaret L. Keller Euans (1836-1903). Margaret was born October 1836; I don't have the exact date. At the time of the 1860 federal census, she was single and living with her widowed mother. The census gave her occupation as a French language teacher. A year later, on June 20, 1861, Margaret married Benjamin Euans (not Evans as some claim. See photo of Margaret's tombstone which confirms the spelling). Benjamin was about eight years older than she. They had only one child, Mary. Sometime before 1870, they moved to North Carolina. In the 1880 federal census, they were living near Franklin (Macon County), North Carolina, where Benjamin was a farmer. Later they became associated with the Newton Academy, located in Asheville. Margaret was a teacher there and may have headed the school (this according to her mother's obituary). Margaret died in 1903, Benjamin died a year later. They are both buried in the Newton Academy's cemetery in Asheville.

5. Joseph C. Keller (1838-1915). Joseph was born in March 1838, in Urbana. In April 10, 1860 he married Nancy E. Braucher in Logan County, Illinois. He studied for the ministry and was ordained to preach in 1870. As a clergyman, he spent almost all of his time preaching in Illinois. In the 1880 federal census, Joseph and Nancy were living in San Juan (Mason County), Illinois. Their three daughters were Mary, Maud, and Lena. Sometime after the 1900 census Joseph's oldest sister, Barbara Keller, came to live with them. She died in his house in 1909. Nancy died in Ford County in 1912. All three daughters were still living at her death. Joseph died on January 26, 1915, at his daughter, Mary's, house in Bloomington (McLean County), Illinois.

6. Belinda Ann Kaufman Keller Pearce (1840-1919). Belinda, "Bennie," was born September 1840, in Urbana, Ohio. Like her three older sisters, she was a teacher. In 1873 she married Dr. Henry Clay Pearce of Urbana. Henry's grandfather, Thomas Pearce, had been the first settler in Urbana. For Dr. Pearce this was his second marriage. According to family members Henry had five children by his first wife. He had two more children with Belinda: William and Frank.

In 1893, Henry Pearce was stricken with paralysis which left him an invalid. Two years later, Belinda and Henry's son William - who loved horses and worked on a farm - died of typhoid at the age of 20. Their other son, Frank, attended the Tennessee Medical College in Knoxville, where he earned a degree in 1901.

Henry died the next year at the age of 69. Frank decided to remain in Tennessee to practice medicine in an area of west Tennessee that was in desperate need of physicians. In 1904, Frank married Lyda Sumners. A year later they had a little girl, Dorothy, but the next year Frank became ill with typhoid fever. On September 27, 1906, Frank, like his brother William, succumbed to typhoid. His daughter Dorothy survived to adulthood, married, and had two girls of her own.

At the age of 66, Belinda was now a widow who had also lost both of her sons. She lived 13 more years. She died September 9, 1919. Belinda and Henry, and their sons William and Franklin, are buried in Urbana's Oak Dale Cemetery.

B. ELIZABETH Grove (1800-1801). Elizabeth was born March 1, 1800, probably near Middletown, Maryland. Her father died sometime around her birth. She died November 1, 1801, just shy of two years old.

C. SARAH Michael Lowe (1802-1877). Sarah was born December 20, 1802, near Harmony, Maryland. She was baptized in Middletown's Christ Reformed Church on March 27, 1803. Her baptism was sponsored by her father's sister, Sarah Michael Stattlemeyer.

Sarah married Elias Lowe on April 8, 1821, in Middletown. Sarah was 18, Elias was 22. Eleven years later, in 1832, they moved to Ohio with Sarah's younger sister, Elizabeth, and her husband, Perry Darby, along with two of Sarah's younger sisters, Maria and Ann Catherine - both single.⁽⁹⁾

Sarah and Elias eventually settled in Vermillion Township, Erie County, Ohio.

In 1845⁽¹⁰⁾, Sarah and Elias moved their family to LaPorte County, Indiana, where Elias bought a farm. After farming for a few years (or in addition to it), Elias opened or operated a hotel. In 1849 Elias laid out an addition to the nearby town of Byron (LaPorte County), south of the settlement of Rolling Prairie, presumably on land he owned. The town of Byron no longer exists.

Sarah and Elias lived in LaPorte County's Kankakee Township. It is located northeast of the county's largest town, LaPorte. It is largely rural, with only one settlement of note, Rolling Prairie. In the mid-19th century, with rutted, muddy dirt roads the only thing connecting towns in the rural areas, towns with stores and needed services were spaced closer together and rural settlements like Rolling Prairie supplied those essentials. We have reason to believe the Lowes lived near Rolling Prairie. The occupations of some of the people recorded on the same census pages as the Lowes and their adult children (sheetmaker, hotelkeeper, clerk, merchant, plasterer), are more commercial than rural. Further, Elias is buried in the Rolling Prairie cemetery.

Sarah and Elias had six known children, all of whom lived to adulthood. All but one moved away as adults: three eventually settled in California, one moved to Oregon, and one moved to Nebraska. They may have had a seventh child who died in childhood.

Elias died in 1863. He was 64 years old. He is buried in the Rolling Prairie Cemetery as noted above.

Sarah remained in the area, but eventually moved to Yolo County, California, after the 1870 census, to be with her son, John. She died there on October 19, 1877, at the age of 74. She is buried in Woodland Cemetery, in the town of Woodland, a few miles northeast of Sacramento.

Sarah and Elias Lowe's seven children (the author thanks cousins Juliane Montgomery Burbach and John Montgomery who contributed much of this information):

1. John Rufus Lowe (1823-1887). John was born in Frederick County, Maryland, on January 18, 1823. When he was nine his family moved to western Ohio, near the shores of Lake Erie. When he was 21, John's parents moved west again, to LaPorte County, in northwest Indiana. John apparently accompanied them. There, on April 20, 1848, John married Helen Gennette Root⁽¹¹⁾, she was 18, he was 25. Two years later, the 1850 census listed John's occupation as Merchant.

By 1857 it appears John and Helen had made the treacherous move to California. They settled in Vacaville (Solano County), a stop on the Pony Express (April 1860-October 1861). We don't know for sure when they moved, but their first born child was born in California in 1857. By then John and Helen had been married about nine years, an unusually long time to wait for a first child ... unless there were prior pregnancies that ended as stillborn, or infants who died soon after birth. Helen went on to give birth to three more children after their first. They were John, William, Effie, and Walter. All four were born in California.

In 1863, the Civil War was raging and skirmishes were occurring all over. The citizens of Solano County wanted to take no chances on their safety, so they formed a local militia, called the "Maine Prairie Rifles." Eventually 72 men from the county signed up, including John. John was elected to be the second in command, with the rank of 1st Lieutenant. The militia never saw action, but they wee ready. It also indicates that John was, by then, a leader in the community.

Sometime before the 1870 census, John and Helen moved once again, for that census shows they were residing in Cottonwood Township, Yolo County⁽¹²⁾, California. It appears that John was thriving as a farmer, for his real estate in 1870 was valued at $11,125 and his personal estate valued at $4,725.

Twelve years later, in 1882, they moved one last time. This time it was just ten miles to the north, to a place called Happy Valley (near Redding) in Shasta County. It's reported that John purchased an olive grove and a vineyard, which were reported to still be intact 100 years later.

John died there in 1887, at the age of 64. He is buried in Redding's Happy Valley Cemetery.

After John's death Helen moved to San Fernando, California, where she lived until her death in 1908. She was buried with her husband in the Happy Valley Cemetery.

(2). Christopher F. Lowe (? - ?). A son of Sarah and Elias named Christopher appears in a Stembel family researcher's records, with no date of birth or date of death. The researcher's notes say Christopher lived near Denver, Colorado, as an adult. I've done a thorough search of the U.S. census records from 1850 through 1900 and have found no record of him. Lowe family researchers say they have no record of him, and doubt he exists. I agree. I am leaving him in the family history in case we find he existed, for there is a break between the birth of John in 1823 and Mahala in 1827 where a child could have been born.

2. Mahala Catherine Lowe Ransom Doolittle (1827-1890). Mahala was born April 22, 1827, in Frederick County, Maryland. When she was about five years old, her family moved to LaPorte County, Indiana. On November 28, 1844, Mahala married Levi Ransom. They were married in Erie County, Ohio, for some reason. It was Levi's second marriage. Levi was married to Miranda Root with whom he had a daughter, Rebecca, but Miranda died soon after her daughter's birth. Rebecca was just two years old when Mahala and Levi were married. Rebecca joined her new family. Interestingly, Rebecca married a younger cousin of her step-mother (see ELIZABETH Michael Darby, below).

Mahala and Levi had four children of their own, three girls and a boy: Mary Ann, Frank, Sarah, and Rachel. They lived on a farm in Kankakee Township, LaPorte County. In 1869, Levi, Mahala, and two of their daughters traveled to California for a visit. We don't know if they were visiting relatives or looking to move to California, or for some other reason. Sadly, two months after arriving, Levi died. He was just 51, but had been in ill health for some time. Levi died in Vacaville, Solano County, California, and is buried in the Vacaville-Elmira Cemetery.

After Levi's death, Mahala and her daughters returned home to LaPorte County where she spent the rest of her life. In 1883 she married Samuel Doolittle. They had no children. Mahala died of cancer in 1890 at the age of 63 and is buried in LaPorte's Patton Cemetery.

3. Elias M. Lowe (1834-1896). Elias was born in 1834, probably near Vermillion, Ohio. When he was 11 his family moved to LaPorte County, Indiana.

On April 20, 1865, Elias enlisted in Indiana's 155th Infantry Regiment to fight in the Civil War. He was 31 years old. He enlisted as a Private. Four days later he was promoted to a 2nd Lieutenant - and three days after that, on April 27, Elias married 18-year-old Anna Benford in LaPorte County. In August of that year Elias's enlistment was up and he returned home.

Elias and Anna had three known children, Inda, Lewis, and Mabel. In the 1870 census Elias' occupation was a day laborer. In the census ten years later, his occupation was lawyer! By then they were living in Michigan City, Indiana. Sometime after 1880 Elias and Anna moved their family to Nebraska, where Elias served as County Judge for over 10 years. Anna died in 1889 at the age of 42; Elias died June 15, 1896, at the age of 62⁽¹³⁾. Both are buried in O'Neill (Holt County), Nebraska.⁽¹⁴⁾

4. William F. Lowe (1836-1911). William was born May 5, 1836, near Vermillion, Ohio. William was a sergeant in Co. I, 87th Indiana Volunteers during the Civil War. He was wounded during the war, and returned home disabled. In 1868 he moved to Yolo County, California. In the 1870 census, he was living next to his brother, John. His occupation was "locomotive engineer." In the 1880 census, he was living in Wasco County, Oregon, and still working for the railroad.

I could not find William in the 1900 census, but in 1903 I found him residing in the Multnomah Old Soldiers Home (in or near Portland, Oregon). Their records describe him thus: 69 yrs old, 5'11", fair complexion, grey eyes, grey hair, reads and writes, Religion - Protestant, farmer, single, home in Portland. By 1910 he was living in Columbia County, Oregon, according to the census. Columbia County is just north of Portland. The census gave his age as 73, and his occupation as "fisherman-Columbia River." He owned the home where he resided. He lived alone. He died a year later and is buried in the Grand Army of the Republic Cemetery, Portland, Oregon. William never married.

5. Lewis M. Lowe (1838-1864). Lewis was born sometime after July 1838 near Vermillion, Ohio. He was a teacher when the Civil War broke out. Like his older brother William, he served in Co. I of the 87th Indiana Volunteers. During the Battle of Chickamauga (in northern Georgia), on September 20, 1863, Lewis was wounded and taken prisoner. He died in Libby Prison, a Confederate prisoner camp, on March 17, 1864. He is buried in the Danville (Virginia) National Cemetery.

6. Sarah M. E. Lowe (1845-1918). Sarah was born October 19, 1845, in Erie County, Ohio. Soon after she was born her family moved to Indiana. In the 1870 census, she was living in LaPorte, Indiana. She was single, 24-years old, and working as a milliner. She was living with two other milliners. I have not found a census record for her in the 1880 census. She may have married and thus would be difficult to locate, however, by 1900 she had moved to Pacific Grove (Monterey Co.), California. She was 54, single, and owned her home free of a mortgage. She had no occupation but had a border living with her, providing her with income. In 1903 she helped organize the Woman's Civic Improvement Club of Pacific Grove and served as their secretary. Later she served as their First Vice President and then President. She died in Los Angeles in 1918 at the age of 72. She is buried in the Woodland Cemetery in the town of Woodland, Yolo County, California.

D. ELIZABETH Michael Darby. (1804-1849). Elizabeth was born March 11, 1804, near Harmony, Maryland. When she was 18 she married Perry Darby in Middletown. About seven years later they moved to Huron County (now Erie County), Ohio, presumably with Elizabeth's sisters and the Lowe family (see Sarah Michael Lowe above). Elizabeth and Perry had eight known children, the first two of which were born in Maryland before the move. Their first child was born in 1824, and the last was born in 1846--a 22-year spread! All but one child, a son who died at the age of 12, survived to adulthood.

Elizabeth died in 1849 at the age of 45, just three years after her youngest child was born. Elizabeth is buried in Brownhelm Cemetery in Lorain County, Ohio. Perry remarried a year later. He had two more children, one of which died before the age of two. Perry died in 1873 and is also buried in Brownhelm Cemetery.

Elizabeth and Perry Darby's eight children:

1. Sarah Catherine Darby Sayles (1824-1877). Sarah was born August 25, 1824, in Frederick County, Maryland. She was about eight when her parents moved to Ohio. On July 3, 1842, she married William Sayles. She was 17, William was 21. In the 1850 census, Sarah was recorded living apart from her husband. She was listed as head of household. Living with her was her younger sister, Ephagene. A young couple, Nelson and Sarah Parsons (Nelson was a ship's carpenter) was boarding with her. William was living next to Sarah with a family named Quigley.

In the 1860 census, William and Sarah were living together. They had moved just a few miles to Lorain County, Ohio. According to the census they had a three-year-old boy, Marion Sayles. Sarah's 14-year-old sister, Ephagene, was also living with them, as well as a boarder, a 20-year-old blacksmith.

Here's where it gets interesting. The 1870 census holds two surprises. One, William and Sarah were now living in the town of Antwerp, in Paulding County, Ohio - 120 miles east of their old home in Lorain County. The second surprise is that in the 1870 census the male child named Marion in 1860 is now recorded as a female named Mattie - who was born in England! Mattie's real name was probably Marian, for three years later a Marian J. Sayles married a Franklin Gordon in Paulding County. I assume Marian/Mattie was an English relative of William's, and not William and Sarah's child. I base this on the fact that it would be rare indeed for a farmer from Ohio to travel with his wife to Europe and stay long enough to have a child. Also, in the 1860 census, Marion (Marian) had the last name "Sayles" written on the form, which was not the norm. Usually the children's last name was left blank because it was assumed the child had the same last name as the head of the house. The third reason I believe Mattie was not William and Sarah's child was that they had been married for 15 years with no children up to that point.

As the reader can see, much of this story is based on flimsy assumptions. Trying to unravel William and Sarah's story using census and cemetery records had resulted in confusion. Fortunately, another family researcher came to the rescue. What follows is the information researcher Elvin Pippert sent me in 2004 (which, unfortunately, got lost in my records until a few years later):

"The reason your data does not make sense is that there were two marriages with children who were adopted by William Sayles after the parents died. To further confuse things the [first set] of parents that died were the parents of the wife of the second set of parents. Now that I have confused you, let me try to lay it out for you.

William & Sarah Elizabeth Darby Sayles adopted Marian Josephine Yelland when her parents died in about 1859. Thus, she shows up as William's daughter in the 1860 census. Marian Josephine (Yelland) Sayles married William Franklin Gordon in [1873] in...Paulding Co., Ohio. William and Marian Gordon had a daughter, Sarah Elizabeth on 04 Sep 1874 in Paulding or Lorain Co., Ohio. Marian died on 28 Jun 1876 in Brownhelm Twp, Lorain Co., Ohio. When Marian died her daughter was adopted by William & Sarah Elizabeth Darby Sayles. That is why in the 1880 census she shows up as William's daughter. Since Sarah Elizabeth Sayles died on 06 May 1877 in Brownhelm Twp, Lorain Co., Ohio and William married Lovinia Elizabeth Gordon in Sep 1877 (Brownhelm Twp, Lorain Co.), Ohio the 1880 census would show him married to Lovinia with a daughter of Sarah Elizabeth. Sarah Elizabeth Gordon Sayles married John H. Keeler and one of their children was Ruth Alice Keeler. Ruth married Clarence Frederick Pippert..."

So here is the timeline for Sarah Darby and William Sayles as we now know it:

Sarah married William Sayles in 1842 and they had no children in the marriage. However, they adopted a young girl whose parents had died sometime before the 1860 census. She was Marian Yelland, and she was born in England. We're not sure if she was legally adopted, but she took the Sayles last name. When Marian was 16, she married a William Franklin Gordon (about 1873), and a year later (1874) they had a daughter, Sarah Elizabeth. But just two years later Marian died, and William and Sarah adopted Marian's daughter, who was known as Lizabeth. However, soon after they adopted Lizabeth, Sarah died (May 1877). William then married 23-year-old Lovinia ("Vena") Gordon, possibly a relative of Marian's husband (I'm not sure what happened to William Gordon, Marian's husband and Sarah Elizabeth's father. Did he also die, or just give his daughter up for adoption?). In 1878 William (Sayles) and Lovinia had a child, Willie, but he died just four months later. He was their only known child.

William Sayles died on March 10, 1887, just three days after Lovinia died. Lizabeth was 13 when they died. She eventually married and had children. She was in her mid-80s when she died in 1959.

So ends one of the stranger stories of our family. There is still more we need to know about them.


We should note that Sarah inherited 1/6 of her father's estate in 1874-75, just a few years before her death. We don't know the amount she received, but it might have been a significant amount.


2. William Edmund Darby (1828-1899). William was born February 22, 1828 in Frederick County, Maryland. When he was an infant his parents moved to Ohio. There he married and had at least one child, a son (name unknown), according to a family source. We're told he or his son eventually moved to California, but I have never found any information about the son.

It appears that William moved around a lot. I recently found a record of him living in Shasta County, California, in 1872, where he appeared in the voting records for that county. Eight years later I found a William Darby living in Mitchell County, Kansas, in the 1880 federal census. His age was given as 50, he was single, but he was born in Maryland as were both of his parents, so it is possible this is our William. Five years later in the same county, a W. E. Darby is recorded in the Kansas state census. He is married, but the census shows that he and his parents were born in Maryland. I'm reasonably certain this is our William Edmund Darby. This was the extent of my knowledge of William until a relative and fellow researcher, Pat Conwell, contacted me recently and told me a William Edmund Darby is buried in a cemetery in Fresno, California. Since this grave is next to graves of his brother, Lloyd, and his brother's wife, it seems almost certain that this is where William is buried. His tombstone says he died in 1899.

More recently we found that in about 1882, William married Mary Lucinda Page, 28, in Mitchell County, Kansas. This appears to prove our assumption that the William Darby & W. E. Darby recorded in the 1880 and 1885 censuses (single in the first, married in the second) is our William Darby. Mary was previously married and had a 5-year old daughter who was living with her grandparents. Mary died in 1891 at the age of 37, and is buried in Mitchell County. William then moved to California where he died in 1899 and is buried in Fresno as noted above.

3. Lloyd Darby (1831-1898). Lloyd was born May 27, 1831, in Ohio. In the 1860 census 29-year-old Lloyd was single and working on his brother's farm in LaPorte County, Indiana. Ten years later, the 1870 census shows that Lloyd was now married and farming near Vacaville, Solana County, California. His wife's name was Sarah, and there were three children in their household. Since the oldest child in the household, William, was born in 1856, four years before the 1860 census which showed that Lloyd was single at the time, I conclude that soon after the 1860 census Lloyd married a widow, Sarah, who had a son by her first marriage. I also conclude that soon after their wedding they moved to California, for their first child together, born in 1864, was born in California. Ten years later, the 1880 census shows they had moved again, to San Benito County, California, where Lloyd was working in a lumber mill.

Lloyd and Sarah had three known children together: Jay, Edna, and Edie. Family members believe the Darbys later moved to Fresno, California, where Lloyd died in 1898 and Sarah died in 1909. Both are buried in Fresno's Mountain View Cemetery.

4. John Frederick Darby (1834-1897). John was born February 21, 1834, in Ohio. When he was 15 his mother died. At age 17, the 1850 census shows John boarding with a farm family, his occupation was given as laborer. By the 1860 census, John had moved to LaPorte County, Indiana, where it appears he bought a farm and was working it with his brother and two cousins. Two years later he married Rebecca Ransom, the step-daughter of a cousin of his mother.⁽¹⁵⁾ John and Rebecca had six known children, all sons. In the 1880 census, John and Rebecca were still living in LaPorte; John's occupation was listed as retired grocer (at the age of 46!). Soon after, John and Rebecca moved the family to Howard (Elk County), Kansas. The 1885 state census listed John's occupation as merchant. Rebecca died in 1893 at the age of 51, and John died in 1897. He was 63. Both are buried in Howard's Grace Lawn Cemetery.

5. Franklin Darby (1836-1842). Franklin Darby was born June 26, 1836 in Ohio. He died just two months after his 12th birthday. He is buried in the Brownhelm Cemetery, Lorain County, Ohio.

6. Ann Rebecca Maria Darby Phillips (1839-1925). Ann was born February 14, 1839, in Ohio. On October 18, 1857, she married George Phillips. They set up household in Erie County, Ohio. According to the 1910 census record, they had seven children in all, five of whom were still alive at the time of the census. My records show the names of eight children, so this needs further research.

Family members believe that at some point Ann and George moved to LaPorte, Indiana, and then later to Colton, California. However, census records show they moved to Illinois before moving to California. Granted, the 1860 census does show Ann and George living in LaPorte, Indiana, but they were staying with relatives on a visit. They still resided in Ohio. We know this because a year after the 1860 census they had a child who was born in Ohio. Two years later (January 1863) that same child died and was buried in Ohio. It is possible they were staying with relatives in LaPorte while contemplating a move there, and even may have lived there briefly, but they returned to Ohio where they lived for a few more years before moving to Illinois and later, California.

Apparently, the move to Illinois was made soon after the death of their young son in early 1863, for Ann gave birth to a daughter later that year. They were recorded living in Jefferson County, Illinois, in both the 1870 and 1880 censuses. Sometime after 1880 they moved to California, for the 1900 census shows them living in Riverside County. By 1910 they had moved to the town of Colton, in San Bernardino County, California.

Of the nine children I have records of, two died young. I have not found four others in the censuses after 1880. Of the three remaining children, Georgia, born in 1865, married when she was 20, Moved to Nebraska, had two children, and eventually moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she died in 1936; Charles, born about 1867, married, had four children, and moved to Evansville, Indiana; David, born in 1875, married, moved to California, had one child, and moved to Oregon, and then to Yakima, Washington, where he was living in the 1940 census.

George died May 13, 1918. Ann died June 20, 1925. Both are buried in Hermosa Gardens Cemetery, Colton, California.

7. Benjamin Dwight Darby (1842-1866). Benjamin was born August 26, 1842, in Ohio. He enrolled in Oberlin College after high school, but when the Civil War broke out, he joined the 41st Ohio Volunteers (Co. F). He died February 25, 1866, soon after the war ended. Though I don't know the cause of his death, it seems possible it was war related, for he was just 23 years old when he died.

8. Ephagene Elizabeth Darby Mead (1846- ?). Ephagene was born June 10, 1846, in Ohio. It appears that she was raised by her older sister, Sarah Darby Sayles, for she was living with her in the 1850 and 1860 censuses. Family members say Ephagene married a man named Mead. They reportedly moved to Hiawatha (Brown County), Kansas, soon after they married. When I looked for them in the 1880 census, I found an Eva Mead, widow, age 34, living in Washington County, Kansas (about 70 miles west of Brown County) whose parents were both born in Maryland. I'm reasonably certain this is Ephagene Darby⁽¹⁶⁾. She was listed as head of the household with a boarder, Thomas Root, living with her. Thomas may be related to Josiah Root whose daughters Helen and Miranda married into the Lowe family (see above). This is the last record I have of Ephagene.

E. MARIA Michael Parsons (1806-1874). Maria was born on January 25, 1806, near Harmony, Maryland. She moved to Ohio with her sisters Elizabeth and Sarah and their families around 1832. There, she married a widower, Levi Parsons, in 1838. This was Levi's second marriage. He had two children from his first marriage, a son 12 and a daughter who was 4.

Maria and Levi had two children. In the 1850 census, the Parsons were living in Erie County, Ohio, where Levi was a farmer. Their real estate was valued at $6,000. Sometime before 1860, they moved to Springfield, Ohio, where Levi ran a lumber yard.

Maria was treated differently from the rest of her siblings in her father's will. Unlike her siblings, the money her father had lent Maria and Levi did not have to be repaid to the estate, it was to be considered a gift. In addition, $2,400 from his estate was to be put in a trust fund, with the interest to be paid to Maria annually for the rest of her life. However, these were the only proceeds Maria received from her father's estate. She was not included with the rest of her siblings in the division of her father's estate. Why?

Levi died in 1867. Maria died in 1874. Both are buried in Springfield's Ferncliff Cemetery.

Maria and Levi Parson's two children:

1. Mary C. Parsons Nicholson (1846- ?). Mary was born in 1846. At the time of the 1870 federal census, she was 23, single, and living in Springfield, Ohio, with her widowed mother and widowed aunt, Mary Ann Brunner. No occupation was shown for her. Ten years later, on February 9, 1880, she married William Nicholson. They must have immediately moved south, for four months later the 1880 federal census shows them living on a farm in Madison County, Alabama. Mary had four children after her marriage to William, the first at age 36. She was 41 when her fourth child was born in 1887. This is the last record I have of Mary. She died between 1887 and 1900, probably in Alabama. In the 1900 census William was still farming in Madison County, Alabama. His marital status was given as Widowed.

2. Marian Elizabeth Parsons Longstreet Nelson (1850-1928). Marian was born March 4, 1850 in Ohio. On April 2, 1868, she married Dr. Aaron Longstreet, a physician. Aaron was a distant relative of Confederate General James Longstreet. Marian and Aaron had 5 children (one died as an infant) between 1869 and 1877, but Aaron died suddenly in 1879 at the age of 37. Five years later, Marian married Robert Thackery Nelson. Robert was 30 years old and Marian was 32. I don't know if Robert was previously married or if he had any previous children. In 1887 Marian and Robert moved first to Santa Anna, California, then Los Angeles, and eventually settled in Upland, California, where they bought an orange grove. Robert died in 1921; Marian died January 7, 1928. She was 77 years old. Both are buried in Ontario, California.

F. REBECCA Michael Poffenberger (1808-1892). Rebecca was born on January 28, 1808, near Harmony, Maryland. On May 2, 1833, she married John Poffenberger in Middletown. Soon after their marriage, they moved to Urbana, Ohio. John was very involved in civic affairs, and was one of the founders of Urbana's Oak Dale Cemetery. Rebecca and John had seven children, three of whom died in childhood. I'm told Rebecca and John made numerous trips back to Maryland to visit their relatives.

John died in 1877 at the age of 67. Rebecca lived 15 more years. She was 84 years old at the time of her death. Both are buried in the Oak Dale Cemetery John helped found.

Rebecca was the great-grandmother of the original Stembel genealogist, Dr. William McLean. It goes without saying that this family has been well researched.

Rebecca and John Poffenberger's seven children:

1. Franklin Michael Poffenberger (1834-1837). Franklin was born May 23, 1834, probably in Urbana, Ohio. He died at the age of two.

2. Ann Rebecca Poffenberger (1836-1844). Ann Rebecca was born May 15, 1836. She died October 16, 1844, at the age of eight.

3. John Carlton Poffenberger (1837-1910). John was born October 23, 1837, in Urbana, Ohio. On November 20, 1866, John married Adaline Sessions Breedlove. This was Adaline's second marriage, and she brought two children to the marriage. Her first husband, Charles Breedlove, died of wounds suffered in the Civil War.

John and Adaline had five more children. According to family members, John and Adaline moved to Illinois, and later, to Topeka, Kansas. This is where they were living at the time of the 1880 census. John's occupation was machinist. Adeline's two children were living with them as well as four of Adeline and John's children (one died earlier). Eventually they moved to Springfield, Missouri, where they were living at the time of the 1900 census. John was an engine machinist. John died October 1, 1910, in Springfield. Adaline died 17 years later in California. Both are buried in the Hazelwood Cemetery in Springfield.⁽¹⁷⁾

4. Oliver Benton Poffenberger (1840-1851). Oliver was born January 1, 1840, in Urbana. He died when he was 11 years old, August 28, 1851. He is buried in Urbana's Oak Dale Cemetery.

5. Ira Michael Poffenberger (1843-1914). Ira was born October 27, 1843, in Urbana, where he attended school until he was about 16 when he quit to work on the farm. In September, 1862, at the age of 18, he enlisted in Company H of the 86th Ohio Infantry to fight in the Civil War. Four months later he was discharged. Did he see action? Was he injured? Twenty-five years later Ira applied, and was granted, an invalid pension based on his service.

On December 8, 1864, two years after his military service, Ira married Elizabeth Crabb. Soon after their marriage, they moved to Mason County, Illinois, where they had a daughter, Lillian, but Elizabeth died in their new home just eleven months after her daughter was born. Ira and his young daughter moved back to Ohio where he moved in with his parents and got a job as a train engineer.

In 1871 Ira married Mary Brelsford. Ira and Mary had eight more children, including a set of twins. In the 1880 census, Ira and Mary were living in Concord Township, Champaign County, where Ira was a blacksmith. All nine of Ira's children lived to adulthood. Ira died June 13, 1914, in Urbana. He is buried in Urbana's Oak Dale Cemetery. Mary remained in Urbana where she lived ten more years.

6. Miranda Catherine Poffenberger Hefflebower Moore (1845-1922). Miranda was born October 2, 1845, in Urbana, Ohio. On September 1, 1870, she married Abraham Hefflebower in Paris, Ohio. Abraham was 30 years old and a Civil War veteran (3rd Ohio Cav., Co. C). They lived in Champaign County, Ohio, where their first child was born. They then moved to Missouri where a second child was born. Soon after the second child was born, they moved back to Champaign County where Abraham died in 1875. At his death, Miranda was four months pregnant with their third child, Sarah, who was born on 9 May 1876.

Seven years after Abraham died, Miranda married William Savage Moore in Springfield, Ohio. William was born in Virginia and served as a Colonel in the Confederate army. At the time of their marriage William was working for the New York Life Insurance Company, traveling around the South and Midwest. William legally adopted Miranda's three children, however no children were born of this marriage. Miranda and William lived in Springfield, Ohio, for a few years, then possibly moved to the South. Sometime before the 1900 census they moved to Detroit. There William died in 1906 at the age of 60. Miranda remained in Detroit where she died 16 years later. Both are buried in Detroit's Woodlawn Cemetery.

7. Oren Christopher Poffenberger (1847-1886). Oren was born August 24, 1847, in Urbana. He never married. In 1880 he was a machinist, living in Springfield, Ohio. On December 2, 1886, he died in Detroit while visiting his sister Miranda. His cause of death is unknown. He is buried in Urbana's Oak Dale Cemetery.

G. ANN CATHERINE Michael Hewett Schindler (1809-1909). Ann Catherine was born on May 21, 1809, near Harmony, Maryland. She was known as "Kittie" all her life. At the age of 23, and single, Kittie moved to Ohio with her sisters (see above). Five years later she married Col. Leeds Hewitt. Col. Hewitt was a widower with a son from his previous marriage. Kittie and Leeds had one child - a daughter, but just two months after her birth - and less than one year after their marriage - Leeds died, on August 26, 1838. Kittie and her infant daughter returned to her childhood home of Middletown, Maryland, and moved in with her grandfather, Frederick Stembel. Frederick's wife had died two years earlier. Soon after the 1840 census and the death of her grandfather, Kittie married David Schindler. David was a widower with three children. Ann and David had three more children.

David owned a farm near Middletown. According to the 1850 census, his farm consisted of 135 improved acres, and 60 unimproved acres. The farm was valued at $10,000. This was somewhat above average in both size and value for a farm in the Middletown area.

In 1856, Kittie was once again widowed. David was just 46 years old when he died. Kittie was left with four children, ages 17 (who soon married), 14, 8, and 6. She never remarried.

Kittie died in 1909, just two months shy of her 100th birthday. She was buried in the Middletown Reformed Church Cemetery.⁽¹⁸⁾

Ann Catherine Hewitt Schindler's four children (by two husbands):

1. Melissa Hewitt Brandenburg Getzendanner (1838-1908). Melissa was born June 13, 1838, in Erie County, Ohio. Two months after her birth, her father died. Her mother moved back to her family home in Middletown, Maryland, taking Melissa with her. They lived with her great-grandfather for a few years. In 1840, her mother married David Schindler, who raised Melissa as his own. In 1856, when Melissa was just 17, her step-father died. A year later Melissa married Joel Brandenburg, probably in Middletown. Joel was a merchant, and Melissa was a milliner according to the 1870 census. She had a hat shop next to the Valley Register, Middletown's newspaper. In 1873 Joel and Melissa were living at 11 East Main Street in Middletown.

Joel died in 1877. He and Melissa had no children. Two years later Melissa married Dr. John Getzendanner. John was a widower twice. He had two children by his first wife, and one by his second. He and Melissa had no children of their union.

Soon after they married, they moved to Abeline, Kansas, where John worked as a physician. At the time of the 1880 census, John's two daughters were living with them, as well as two of John's nephews and his aunt.

By 1890, John and Melissa had moved back to Middletown where John operated a drugstore. John tore down the old structures sitting on the lot at 10 East Main Street and built a large house. I'm told it is still standing.

Melissa died January 19, 1908. John died six years later. Melissa is buried in Middletown's Reformed Church Cemetery.

2. Mary Catherine Schindler Toms (1841-1924). Mary was born September 28, 1841, in Middletown. On Christmas Day, 1857, Mary, at the age of 16, married Isaiah Toms (known as "Ike) who was 19. Mary and Ike had six children. All six lived to adulthood and married.


Ike was a confectioner. In 1869 he purchased a large house for $6,600 on Main Street (lot #5). The family lived upstairs, and the store was on the ground floor. It is said that Ike sold the first ice cream in Middletown.

Ike had a stable of horses in a barn behind their house. On January 11, 1898, the barn and stable burned to the ground in a spectacular fire. All the horses perished.

Ike died in 1914; Mary died ten years later, on August 4, 1924. Both died at their home on Main Street.

3. Theodore Christopher Michael Schindler (1847-1918). Theodore was born August 19, 1847, in Middletown. When he was eight, his father died. Sometime before 1870 Theodore moved to Ohio to live with his aunt Lucinda and uncle Samuel Bowlus (see below). He worked as a clerk in Samuel's store. In 1868, at the age of 21, Theodore was appointed postmaster of the Bowlusville post office. While living with his aunt and uncle, Theodore began spending time with their 18-year-old daughter, Maria. It soon turned serious, and on October 21, 1873, they married, despite being first cousins. Even though they were first cousins. Maria was about five years younger than Theodore. They had two boys, both of whom grew to adulthood, and had successful careers in the federal government.

Theodore and Maria soon moved to Toledo where they were living at the time of the 1880 census. Theodore was a railroad clerk. Twenty years later, according to the 1900 census, they were still living in Toledo and Theodore had been promoted to railroad freight agent.

Between 1900 and 1910, Maria and Theodore moved their family to Washington, D.C. Theodore's occupation in the 1910 census was "railroad traffic expert" working for the government. Theodore died in Washington in 1918. He is buried in the Middletown (Maryland) Reformed Church Cemetery. Maria died in Washington a year later. She is also buried in the Reformed Church Cemetery with her husband.

4. Margaret E. Schindler (1850-1910). Margaret was born October 23, 1850, in Middletown. When she was five, her father died. "Maggie," as she was called, never married. She was an accomplished harpist. On summer evenings she would sit in the doorway of her parent's house and entertain the neighborhood.⁽¹⁹⁾ Maggie died April 14, 1910, at the age of 59.

H. JOHN FREDERICK Michael (1811-1879). John, who usually went by his middle name, Frederick, was born on May 30, 1811, near Harmony, Maryland. He married Mary Ann Hyatt on March 11, 1837. Frederick and Mary had eight children. All but one lived to adulthood.

When his father died in 1846, Frederick bought his 177-acre farm from the estate. He also inherited a slave from his father's estate, 17-year-old William Edward Jones. In the 1850 Census Slave Schedule, Frederick owned two male enslaved persons, ages 21 and 61. We assume the 21-year-old is the William Jones mentioned in Christopher's will, and the 61-year-old is the older servant, David, also mentioned in Frederick's father's will. David was described in the will as being too old to start life over as a free black man. He was to be provided for by all four children who had inherited Christopher's slaves, Frederick being one of them.

In the 1850 agricultural census, Frederick's farm is described thusly: the farm was valued at $7,650. consisting of 140 improved acres, and 37 unimproved. He had 8 horses, 4 milk cows, 8 cattle, and 15 pigs. Total value of the animals was $580. On the improved acres John grew wheat, rye, corn and oats.

In 1853, John evidently sold the farm and moved his family, including his mother, to Champaign County, Ohio. There he purchased a 360-acre farm, seven miles southeast of Urbana. In the 1870 federal census, their farm was valued at $21,800.

John Frederick died in 1879. Mary lived 13 more years. They are both buried in Urbana's Oak Dale Cemetery.

John and Mary Ann Michael's eight children:

1. William Franklin Michael (1838-1913). William was born March 6, 1838, in Frederick County, Maryland. When he was about 15 his family moved to a farm in Champaign County, Ohio. On August 12, 1862, William married Emily Harper. They had seven children.

William bought a farm adjacent to his father's. When his father died in 1879, William bought his farm from the estate.

Emily died in 1882, leaving children aged 6, 11, 12, 14, and 19 (their other two children died young). William never remarried. He died December 31, 1913. Both William and Emily are buried in Urbana's Oak Dale cemetery. Four of their five children who lived to adulthood remained in Champaign County all their lives. Only their oldest child, Effie Jane, moved away. She and her husband moved south, eventually settling in Chattanooga.

William and Emily's descendants are well researched by William's granddaughter and her husband, Emily and Lawrence Little (now deceased), of Urbana, and I benefited greatly from their research.

2. Christopher Michael (1839-1877). Christopher was born December 10, 1839, in Frederick County, Maryland. When he was about 13, his family moved to a farm in Champaign County, Ohio. There he married Rebecca Sunderland in the early 1870s. They had three children, the last born in July 1877. Christopher died three months later. Rebecca never remarried. She died in 1912.


In the 1880 census, Rebecca and her two daughters were living with her widowed mother in Urbana, Ohio.

Christopher's youngest daughter, Ella, married Johnny Siegle who was a professional baseball player who briefly played in the major leagues. He played 39 games for the Cincinnati Reds in 1905 and 1906.

3. Eli H. Michael (1842-1916). Eli was born March 27, 1842, in Frederick County, Maryland. He was eleven when his parents moved to Champaign County, Ohio. He married Sarah Ellen Stewart on April 2, 1868. Sarah and Eli had four children, three of whom lived to adulthood and married. Soon after they married, they moved to Howard County, Indiana, near the town of Greentown, where Eli had a farm. Sarah died in 1896. Eli died October 30, 1916. Both are buried in the Greenlawn Cemetery, northwest of Greentown.

4. James K. Polk Michael (1844-1932). James was born November 20, 1844, in Frederick County, Maryland. His parents moved to Ohio when James was about eight years old. On December 27, 1877, he married Eliza Stewart in the Kingscreek Baptist Church. They had four children, but all died before reaching adulthood. At various points in his life James was a farmer, cigar maker, and a worker in a telephone factory. At the age of 76 he was still working, as a clerk in a grocery store. James died January 5, 1932 and is buried in Urbana's Oak Dale Cemetery. Eliza lived three more years.

5. John F. Michael (1846-1920). John was born December 18, 1846 in Frederick County, Maryland. When he was about six years old, his parents moved to Ohio. In the 1870 census John was a farm laborer, single, and living with his parents. In 1880 he was a farmer, single, and listed as the head of household. Living with him were his sister Margaret, and his widowed mother, Mary. It appears John is farming his father's farm (his father died a year before the census).

The 1880 census form had a box labeled, "Maimed, crippled, bedridden, or otherwise disabled." It was checked for John. This is the only record that shows that John might have a disability. Later in life he married, had children, and had an occupation in every census, including the 1920 census when he was 73. So, I'm not sure what to make of this. The box was rarely checked.

Sometime around 1893, John married Lieuella Rupert who was about 20 years younger than John. They had two children. In 1910, they attended the 59th wedding anniversary of John's cousin, Joseph and Mary Stembel. In the newspaper article reporting the event, John and Lieuella's residence was given as Magrew, Ohio (now called Westville). John died soon after the 1920 census. Lieuella died in 1946 at the age of 80.

6. Charles E. Michael (1849-1861). Charles was born September 9, 1849, in Frederick County, Maryland. When he was four years old, his parents moved to Ohio. Charles died there on January 20, 1861, at the age of 11.

7. Margaret Ann Catherine Michael (1851-1932). Margaret was born September 23, 1851, in Frederick County. She was known as "Kate." When she was two years old her family moved to Ohio. Kate never married. At the time of the 1880 federal census, she was living with her widowed mother and single brother, John. I assume she moved to Greentown, Indiana, to live with her older brother, Eli, after her mother passed away, for that's where she died on January 16, 1932, at the age of 80.

8. Samuel M. Michael (1855-1913). Samuel was born November 11, 1855, in Champaign County, Ohio. At the time of the 1880 federal census, he was working in a flour mill and was boarding with the owner in Salem Township, Champaign County. The owner's wife's sister, Lucretia Hunter, was also living with them. Soon after the census was taken, Samuel married Lucretia. They had four children. Lucretia died in 1898, four years after her fourth child was born. Samuel never remarried. In the 1900 census, Samuel's occupation was recorded as "Mill owner." He died May 20, 1913. Both Samuel and Lucretia are buried in Urbana's Oak Dale Cemetery.

I. SUSANNAH Michael Neikirk (1814-1868). "Susan" was born on September 20, 1814, near Harmony, Maryland. At the age of 24, she married John Neikirk (sometimes spelled Nykirk or Nikirk) on March 19, 1839. John was 31. John's family, the Nieuwkerckes, originally came to America from Holland in the 1650s.

When Susan's father died in 1846, he left her two young slaves in his will. In the 1850 census only one, Amanda Jones, 17, remained. Amanda was freed sometime before the 1860 census, but in 1860 they owned a young 6-year-old girl. That girl was set free on November 1, 1864, when every slave in Maryland was freed.

John and Susan owned a large, profitable, farm a few miles outside of Boonsboro, Maryland (I believe it was near the little town of Benevola). They had eight children, however three died in childhood (two died within 11 days of each other in 1857). The remaining five children grew to adulthood, married, and had children, however the five adult children all died fairly young: 31, 42, 43, 52, 61. Susan herself only lived to be 53. Two of Susan's daughters, Anna and Maria, married brothers, Otho and Daniel Shifler.

Susan died on May 16, 1868. John died on the same day ten years later. Both are buried in the Boonsboro Cemetery.

Susan and John Neikirk's eight children:

1. Anna C. Neikirk Shifler (1840-1882). Anna was born March 5, 1840, in or near Boonsboro, Maryland. On January 28, 1860, she married Otho Shifler, who was just a month younger than she. For a few years they lived with Otho's parents on the Shifler farm in Pleasant Valley, south of Boonsboro, but sometime before 1870, Otho purchased a farm near Hagerstown. By 1880, they had again moved, this time to a farm near the village of Conococheague, west of Hagerstown. They lived there with their six children (two others had died as infants). Anna died on Christmas Day, 1882. She was just 42 years old. She left behind children aged 6, 8, 10, 13, 15, and 16. Seven years later Otho married Emma [last name unknown]. He had one more daughter by his second wife. Otho died November 30, 1912. Both are buried in Hagerstown's Rose Hill Cemetery.

2. Maria Neikirk Shifler (1844-1897). Maria was born January 10, 1844, near Boonsboro, Maryland. At the age of 21, she married Daniel Shifler, brother of her sister's husband, Otho Shifler, on October 9, 1865. Maria and Daniel had five children. Daniel took over the Shifler farm near Rohrersville when his father retired sometime in the 1860s. After his father's death sometime after the 1870 census, Daniel sold the family farm and moved to a farm near Boonsboro. Maria died in 1897, Daniel died in 1923. Both are buried in the Boonsboro Cemetery.

3. Margaret E. Neikirk (1846-1857). Margaret was born May 31, 1846, near Boonsboro. She died six days before her eleventh birthday.

4. Charles E. Neikirk (1847-1909). Charles was born November 12, 1847, near Boonsboro. On December 31, 1867, he married Amanda Toms. The 1870 federal census shows Charles, Amanda and their first child, Rosa, living on a farm outside Boonsboro. By the 1880 census, Charles and Amanda had four more children, with one more on the way. Amanda, however, was suffering from consumption (tuberculosis) and, soon after giving birth, succumbed to the disease on August 16, 1881, at the age of 35. About a year later Charles married Wilhelmina Wallick. She and Charles had four more children. At the time of the 1900 census Charles was a day laborer living in Boonsboro. Charles died March 3, 1909. He had 12 children by his two wives and all, but one survived to adulthood. I don't know if Wilhelmina remarried or not (she was 46 at the time of Charles' death).

5. Lucinda Jennette Neikirk (1850-1855). Lucinda was born March 13, 1850, near Boonsboro. She died May 1, 1855, at the age of five.

6. Silas A. Neikirk (1851-1895). Silas was born June 10, 1851, near Boonsboro. On November 14, 1870, he married Mary Walters. At the time of the 1880 federal census they were living on a farm near Boonsboro with their two children, Bernard (age 8) and Mary (7 months old), and Mary's mother. Silas and Mary may have had more children. Silas died April 19, 1895. It is not known when Mary died.

7. Mary E. Neikirk Huffer (1853-1884). Mary was born March 12, 1853, near Boonsboro. At the age of 16, she married Jonas Huffer who was about 13 years older than she. They had five children (one died young). In 1880 they were living on a farm near the small town of Chewsville, Maryland. Mary's name was recorded as Mollie. Mary died four years later, on April 1, 1884. She was just 31 years old. Her children were 12, 11, 9, and 5 at the time of her death. It is not known if Jonas remarried. He died in 1896. Both Mary and Jonas are buried in the Boonsboro Cemetery.

8. Susan Cora Neikirk (1855-1857). Susan was born July 6, 1855 near Boonsboro. She died less than two years later, on May 14, 1857--eleven days before her older sister, Margaret, died.

J. MARY ANN ESTHER Michael Brunner (1816-1897). Mary Ann was born on November 26, 1816, near Harmony, Maryland. Evidently, she remained single into adulthood and remained at home to care for her aging father, for in his will he left her a special legacy for her services rendered him. In addition to the legacy, she inherited a share of her father's substantial estate. She also inherited two young slaves, Caroline Elizabeth Jones, age 8, and Jacob Hamilton Jones, age 6.

Five months after her father's death in 1846, Mary married Jonathan Brunner (later offspring spelled it Bruner). Mary was 29, and Jonathan was a 37-year-old widower who was raising four children by his first wife. According to the 1850 census, Jonathan owned a 202-acre farm, with 163 acres under cultivation, valued at $13,000. The 1850 census agriculture schedule has a full description of the farm and their crops. The farm provided food and a good income for the family. The census showed that John and Mary still owned the two young slaves she inherited, now ages 14 and 11.

About a year after they wed, Mary gave birth to twins, but they died soon after birth. Those where the last children they had together. Sometime after the 1860 census they moved to Clark County, Ohio, where Jonathan died in 1867, at the age of 58. He is buried in Ferncliff Cemetery in Springfield, Ohio. Mary eventually moved in with her sister, Maria, in nearby Bowlusville where another sister, Lucinda Bowlus, lived. Mary died in 1897. She was 80. She is buried in Ferncliff Cemetery where her husband is buried.

K. LUCINDA Michael Bowlus (1819-1897). Lucinda was born on January 19, 1819, near Harmony, Maryland. In 1840 she married Samuel Bowlus. Samuel was the son of Judge George Bowlus who served in the Maryland Legislature. Samuel's mother died when he was eight. Lucinda's father died in 1846 and she inherited part of his large estate and two enslaved persons.

According to the 1850 census, Samuel owned a 175-acre farm not far from Middletown, Maryland. His main crops were corn and wheat. He owned two slaves, a female, 15, and a male, 14. It's likely these were the two slaves Lucinda inherited from her father.

In 1853, Samuel and Lucinda moved to Clark County, Ohio, where Samuel bought a farm. The 1860 census shows their real estate was valued at over $20,000. Living with Lucinda's family is one of the slaves Lucinda inherited from her father, Sarah Jones, who was automatically set free when the family moved to Ohio.

Sometime after 1870, Samuel laid out the town of Bowlusville, Ohio, which was on the county line between Clark County and Champaign County. The town was on a main railroad line and thrived for some time, but is just a memory now.

Lucinda and Samuel Bowlus's twelve children:

1. George Christopher Bowlus (1841-1917). George was born April 11, 1841, near Middletown, Maryland. When he was 12, he moved to Ohio with his parents. In 1863 George married Barbara Crabill. George was 21, Barbara was 22. They had six children. One son, Charles J. Bowlus, was twice elected mayor of Springfield, Ohio (see campaign pin⁽²⁰⁾). In 1876 George was appointed postmaster of the Bowlusville post office. By 1880, George and Barbara had moved to Urbana, Ohio, where George was a lumber dealer. Barbara died six years later, at the age of 45. George eventually moved to Springfield, Ohio, where he died January 11, 1917.

2. Samuel Washington Bowlus (1842-1923). Samuel was born on September 4, 1842, near Middletown. He moved to Ohio with his parents in 1853. Samuel never married. At the time of the 1870 federal census, he was a telegraph operator, in 1880 he was living in Bowlusville, Ohio, where he worked in a sawmill. In 1910 he was a carpenter. He died November 17, 1923.

3. Charles Freese Bowlus (1844-1907). Charles was born July 19, 1844, near Middletown. His parents moved to Ohio when he was about nine years old. When Charles was 21 he married Adelia Kershaw, who went by the name Delia. Charles was a farmer. In 1869, after the birth of their second child, they moved to Lyon County, Kansas. By the 1880 federal census they had moved back to Ohio. Charles, Delia, and their three children were living on a farm near Urbana (Champaign County), Ohio. Sometime before the 1900 census, they bought a farm near Holland, Michigan. Charles died there on January 3, 1907, and is buried in Holland's Lakeshore Cemetery. Delia died December 9, 1914. She is also buried in Lakeshore Cemetery with her husband.

4. Ann Catherine Bowlus (1846-1848). Ann Catherine was born in 1846. Dr. McLain's records show she was born on April 16, but her tombstone shows August 16. She died in 1848. Again, there is a disagreement on what day she died. Dr. McLean's records show it was October 31, but her tombstone shows October 18.

5. Mary Elizabeth Bowlus (1848-1848). Mary was born March 18, 1848. She died just two weeks later, on April 3 of the same year.

6. Mary Ann Catherine Bowlus (1849-1911). Mary Ann was born October 19, 1849, near Middletown. Her parents moved to Ohio when she was four. Mary Ann, who went by the name of "Kate," never married. She died in 1911.

7. Maria Annette Bowlus Schindler (1852-1919). Maria was born May 17, 1852, about a year before her parents moved to Ohio. On October 21, 1873, she married her first cousin, Theodore Christopher Michael Schindler (see above). They had two children, Samuel and Ray. Later they moved to Washington, D.C. Theodore died in Washington in 1918; Maria died in 1919. Maria is buried in the Middletown (Maryland) Reformed Church Cemetery.

8. Millard McCauley Bowlus (1854-1921). Millard was born in Ohio on May 5, 1854. He married Phoebe Richards. They had at least one child, Lloyd, born just before the 1880 federal census. In that census they were living in Bowlusville, Ohio, where Charles was a bookkeeper. In 1895 they were living in Des Moines, Iowa. Five years later the 1900 census recorded them in Kansas City, Missouri, where Millard eventually worked as a building contractor, but by the 1920 census Millard had moved on to Clear Creek Township, Vernon County, Missouri, where he was a farmer. That's where he died on April 25, 1921. Phoebe moved to Independence, Missouri, soon after, where she died on July 29, 1924. I suspect they only had one child, Lloyd.

9. Warren Liles Bowlus (1856-1924). Warren was born August 9, 1856, probably in Bowlusville, Ohio. On September 15, 1885, at the age of 29, he married Jennie Mumma. Jennie had been married before, but it is not known if there were any children of that marriage. Warren and Jennie had two children, Annette and John. In the 1900 census, Warren and Jennie were living in Cleveland where Warren was a commercial freight agent. In 1910 they were living in Springfield, Illinois, were Warren was a railroad agent. Warren died March 16, 1924. Jennie lived until 1954; she died the day after her 97th birthday.

10. John Levi Bowlus (1858-1930). John was born September 9, 1858, in Bowlusville, Ohio. When he was 20 John was appointed postmaster of the Bowlusville post office. Two years later, the 1880 census shows he was also employed as a train engineer (tiny Bowlusville was situated on a main train line). Fourteen years later John married Emily Dunlop in May of 1893. John was 34, Emily was 28. They had at least three children, although one of them died in infancy.

Emily died in 1904. John remarried in 1905 and they soon moved to Los Angeles where he operated a grocery store. He died June 12, 1930. He is buried in Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park.

11. Henry Clay Bowlus (1860-1933). Henry was born August 29, 1860, in Bowlusville, Ohio. Sometime around 1890 he married Alice Alexander. They had nine children, the last was born in 1912. At the time of the birth, Alice was 48 years old (she had also given birth when she was 44)! Henry and Alice lived in Springfield, Ohio, for a while, but later moved to California, where Henry was a manufacturer. Henry died in 1933. Alice died a year later.

12. Clement L. Bowlus (1862-1891). Clement was born September 1, 1862, in Bowlusville, Ohio. He never married. He died June 23, 1891, at the age of 28.