Greetings from The Buckeye State! Yes, I'm back on the road again. I left Indiana on Tuesday morning and headed east. Yesterday (07/13) I spent a productive day at the Ohio Genealogical Society Library in Bellville, which is a few miles due south of Mansfield.
One of the things I had on my To Do list was to review the First Families of Ohio application files for several of my family lines – Coy, Hoffman, Neel, Rupert, and Switzer. The first two didn't provide any new information on the ancestors but gave me information about the siblings. The latter two were on Adam Rupert and yet another Jacob Switzer. Those four were all in Columbiana County.
The Neel file was a bonanza! A small publication titled "The Neel Family of Thornville" by Maxine (Lynn) Fisher, which was found in Perry County, Ohio in October 2009, stated that my ancestor James Neel/Neal/Neil had been married four times and had 18 children! My fourth great-grandmother, Nancy Neel, was the fourth and last child by his first wife Rebecca Franks. Prior to finding that book, I hadn't known who Nancy's parents were. She married Martin Brubaker in 1818 and they had nine children. Nancy died in 1851.
Anyway, the First Families of Ohio file was through one of the daughters by Katherine Kuhn, the second wife of James Neal. The “proof” that was provided has become one of my favorite types of record – a land record. Love 'em! James died in 1838 (I think - I don't have the copies with me at the moment) and his heirs requested that the land be sold. The deed names his living children (13 of them, I think) including my ancestor Nancy Brubaker. Very cool.
I left Bellville this morning, still heading east. If you've been following my recent research you can probably guess where I'm headed...
5 comments:
MMM, guessing - - -
I was going to write you and ask, when you would be on the road again.
Cannot wait to hear what you find next! in?? snicker, ya think I don't know - -
You made me think that perhaps I should fill out a First Families application for the OGS. I've done so for my local society, but not the state. Last year I submitted a Century Families and one for Civil War veterans. You're making me want to reconsider.
Hum, I'm guessing Pennsylvania, then maybe Vermont? And maybe the Bash in New Hampshire next month.
I love the OGS library in Bellville! Did you get to eat at the Amish restaurant?
Yeah, Carol, I think you know...
Kathy, go for it! If nothing else, it might help someone else researching the same line!
Barbara, sorry, I won't be going much further east this time around. Though I'd love to join the Genea-Bash in New Hampshire, I have a commitment to be in South Dakota the middle of August.
Dorene, no, I didn't eat at the Amish restaurant. Have eaten at another one in Indiana and it was delicious!
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