The Troutman Land in Southampton Twp., Bedford, then Somerset Co., PA

After we came back from our drive to see Comps Church, I took a browse through the Troutman files on the computer. Found this, below. It shows that Benjamin Franklin Troutman, son of Peter Troutman who fought in the Revolutionary War and is buried there in the cemetery, donated the land that the church is built on, and the very land in which he's buried. Take a look. I've underlined the relevant parts, but you might have to click on the pages images in order to read them.

Now, I do love a good timeline and I've been working on one for Benjamin Franklin Troutman (1780- 1856) and his father Peter Troutman (1754-1846). Then to give it a whole other layer of frosting, added Peter's own father, William, born in 1730 in Germany and landed in Berks County  where he died in 1790. There an amazing number of documents that filled out that timeline pretty well. When put together it tells the saga of a family's pull west powered by a desire for good and then better farming land.

Peter had already moved from Berks County PA to his Bounty Land Grant in Somerset County which is more westerly in Pennsylvania, by the time his father William passed in 1790. Both Peter and his brother William were mentioned in old William's will. William was appointed as Administrator with his brother John. Peter had already moved to the Southampton area when his father made the will. As the oldest son, Peter might have been named as Administrator and I'd wondered why he wasn't. Did they have a falling out, was Peter deemed untrustworthy by his father? But then I put together the timeline and could see the answer right before my eyes. Peter couldn't have been named Administrator because he had already moved away to Bedford County.

The will of William Troutman Sr. is interesting and was worthwhile looking for. It names his sons, Peter and William Jr., so that's valuable right there. But the probate file had two copies of his will, one in English and one in German. Look there above and see a page from each version. What this told me is that they were still very German and probably spoke it at home and in their close circle of friends.

Just after William died, his son William Jr. moved to Somerset County and lived near his brother Peter. Because he was named as one of the administrators, he needed to renounce so that he could move. I have no documentation that this is the official reason why he renounced but it seems logical. Look.

William Jr., Peter his brother, and Peter's son Benjamin are all buried in Comps Cemetery on land that Benjamin donated to the church. At least I think that's William next to Peter there. Some say it's Peter's son who died early but the stone for William is in pieces now.

That's Peter's stone on the right foreground with the flag. His wife is marked by the brown stone, below, and in the above picture, to Peter's left and above.

That's Benjamin's stone standing tall above and his wife's stone, fallen, to the right.

You can see Peter's grave on the upper right of the image, with the flag.

 

The land is beautiful here and I just hope that I'll have the time to devote to finding some of those Troutman land records. Just discovered one in Berks that is a deed between William, mentioned as Peter's father, and Peter, separately mentioned as the son of William, and living in Bedford County.

Was talking to Mom when I was back to see her recently and we agreed that there's something about standing on the very soil of the ancestors that is extremely moving. I stood there at the edge of the Comps Church parking lot and I looked at a lovely farm off a ways. Yup, that was sure to have been Benjamin's land.

The URL for this post is:

A visit to Comps Church and Cemetery and the Troutmans

One of the reasons that I've ignored this blog is that I post stuff to Facebook instead. Of course, they are two different vehicles. And I've really got to break the habit of just posting to Facebook because some of my cousins aren't on Facebook! So here we go on the Great Troutman Adventure of 2015!

It was a nice warm day there in Western Maryland near the old Mason Dixon Line. Sunny, after a night of rain and the trees turning to fall colors. Mom and I were off for an adventure after breakfast at the Princess Restaurant on Main Street in Frostburg. We sat in the Truman booth where President Truman had lunch years ago. We do love that booth! Then we were off for a genealogy adventure, the kind that we are both lucky to get, Mom being 97 and both of us DAR members. We were going to see the graves of one of my DAR Patriots!!

Our goal was to find Comps Church, about 12 miles from Mom's house, as the crow flies. But us not being crows, it took some driving and chatting with the locals to figure out. Fifty miles later, we arrived. 

Maybe you've done this? Maybe you've set out on your genea-adventure with maps and plans and things written down? Along the way at some point you come to the shocking realization that you're missing some of the pieces. Ever done that? We just did!

What was missing? I thought Mom remembered how to get to Comps Church! After about 45 minutes of driving all around and up and down and stopping at some really picturesque country churches with no one home on a Friday afternoon, I slowly realized that Mom didn't remember, and was a bit shy about saying so. At 97, she is sharp as ever but the memory has it's moments, which is probably true of me too;)

Here's an example. We kept on driving past this road called Terra Alta. We're in Southampton Township, in Somerset County, PA in case you want to know, or maybe you have ancestors there...? So we drove past Terra Alta Road a couple of times. On the first pass Mom says, oh that's a pretty name. And on the second pass I chime in with, doesn't that sound familiar? On the third pass she said, why yes it does. So that time we stopped where a local man in overalls was selling cord wood for winter fires in wood burners. Did he by chance know where Comps Church was? Why yes he did. Turn right on Terra Alta Road. Oh. We had to laugh at ourselves!!!

I could have printed out a map, a couple of maps, a bushel of maps. Would have been the reasonable and safe thing to do. But noooo!! Silly me.

It was some miles more and about half-way to the turn on to Comps Church Road when we stopped to ask directions from a group of five men standing around a yard filled with cars in various states of repair. At first I hoped I hadn't made a mistake and stopped at the wrong sort of establishment. 

"Good morning gentlemen. We're trying to find Comps Church. We have people buried up there." They couldn't come over to help fast enough! They were awfully helpful. One even insisted that we follow him to the turn off. The grandfather was ready for a good long conversation with us, so I took an extra moment to talk with him. Have a very soft spot for the elders, even if their conversation rambles. Especially if their conversation rambles. We're looking for Troutman I told him. Oh, yes, they are still living all over these hills, he said. Well please tell them their cousin came to visit the old graves.

Comps Church and it's cemetery sit on a hill high above the rolling Allegany Mountains. That land over there, it was a bounty land grant given to my DAR ancestor, Peter Troutman. He's resting here in the Comps Church Cemetery, next to his brother, William Troutman, also a DAR patriot. They fought in the same company. Side by side. 

Peter had a rather long military history for a farmer and militia man. He ended up serving four tours of duty and one was as a substitute. His letter requesting a pension for his service outlines what he did and where and I'll have to write about that another time because it deserves a post of it's own.

Maybe you've been fortunate enough to read the pension file for one of your ancestors? If so, it's a thing to behold because it gives you a window into what it meant to serve in the Revolutionary War. Then with a little more effort you can find out what the battles were about, and who the commanding offices were. It helps to fill out the picture in a personal way.

I left stones atop their grave markers as is the custom. But this time I left a quarter too because I recently read about the military custom of leaving coins on stones and the meaning of each denomination. Wasn't there when he died, which is the true significance of the quarter, but because it is the highest honor so I dug for quarters. William, Peter's brother, got one too. 

Peter's son and my ancestor, Benjamin Franklin Troutman, is there too. I left a stone on his grave marker as well. And their wives are there, some listed with no maiden name, just X, and they received stones to honor their history.

I talked to them all a while. Some might think it silly but no one was around to cast a critical look.
Mom had been here years ago and taken pictures, long before I got interested in the ancestors and their stories. She sat in the car watching as I walked the rows and claimed the graves one more time.

The URL for this post is:

The Troutman wrap-up and what I found that I didn't know

If you've been following along as I tracked down the life and times of Peter Troutman and his descendants down to my sweet and dear Grandma Kelly, you'll know how much fun I've been having. I've traced the line from Grandma Kelly back through her mother, Moretta (Workman) Zeller, and then her mother, Nancy Ann (Troutman) Workman, then her father Benjamin Franklin Troutman then to the patriot, Peter Troutman. The land records were plentiful and yielded much as did the court records and estate papers. I started to realize that vital records are nice and easy but all the other records just mentioned sometimes give a much fuller picture of what was going on in a family.

When I finally got back to Peter Troutman's generation I felt like I had arrived at my destination! He was the one who fought in the Revolutionary War, and moved from Berks County in Pennsylvania to Somerset County in the western part of the state taking advantage of his military land grant. He settled there and became a part of the community. He farmed, of course, but he was a weaver and carpenter. With other men from the Southampton community, they rebuilt the Comp Church after a fire destroyed it.

His son, Benjamin Franklin Troutman, remained in the area also farming and working as a gunsmith. He went down to Cumberland, Allegany County, Maryland to work as an apprentice to a blacksmith and learn the trade. But then look! His father was a carpenter and he probably learned much of that craft from Peter. So he knew carpentry and metal working and used those skills to become a fine gunsmith. He's listed as such in a book about gunsmiths of the region. It is said that he was a "fine musician" and played the fiddle.

He apprenticed in 1807 and married in 1812 so I'm wondering if he met his young bride while sojourning in Cumberland because she was from Maryland. Oh, and I should mention that Cumberland and Southampton are about 15 miles apart.

His daughter Nancy Ann Troutman married Elisha Workman from a prosperous and landed family in Western Maryland. Their families resided just 12 miles away from each other. Until quite recently I had difficulty organizing some of the records for Nancy Ann. Growing up she was called Nancy, but once she married she became Anne or Anna, or even Angeline. Maybe I had three different people? But no. Once I made a list of which name she used and when I could see how it went. Her birth family called her Nancy, a diminutive of Anne. It was only in her marriage that she was also called Angeline. All the same person.

I don't really know why knowing such details of these ancestors lives makes me so happy, but it does. I guess it gives them some flesh and bones. Early on when I first started doing genealogy I read something that's stayed with me. The writer said that it's what the dash represents, the one between the birth and death years, that's the most fascinating part of this work. Yes it is!



The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-troutman-wrap-up-and-what-i-found.html

Benjamin F Troutman's estate file and a genealogical good deed

I'm always amazed at the willingness of strangers to come forward and offer help to fellow traveler genealogists! It warms my heart when I hear of such tales but when it happens to me, honestly, words fail. Here's what happened.

I was stumbling around and not getting very far establishing a connection between my gg grandmother, Nancy Anna Troutman (1826 - 1882) and her father Benjamin Franklin Troutman (1780 - 1856). Oh, there was no doubt in my mind that they were father and daughter, but proof was what I was after. (You can read about that proof here.) Ever have that happen, when you just know there's a familial relationship but the documents elude you? Well, that's where I was.

I knew exactly what I needed, and it was in Benjamin F. Troutman's estate papers. He had a will, so there was that, but it stated "all my children", which is of no use to us at all. "What are their names," I kept asking him in my mind. Why couldn't he have taken a minute and had the foresight to just name them all? But he didn't. Yeah, sometimes it's like that.

So where was I going to find that list of children? Had to be in the estate papers. I looked around the internet in the usual places for mention of the estate papers and a list of heirs and sure enough, clues indicated that there were estate papers and they named all the children.

I picked up a clue that the genealogical and historical society in Benjamin's residential county had them so checked their web site. Sure enough they provided a research service for a fee. I filled out their research request form and mailed it with a check with a fee for copying the rumored 27 pages in the file. I know these things take a while so I waited and waited. Finally there was a letter that said they lost some staff and were backlogged and it would be even longer before they could work on it. Too bad for me.

Now what? I put out some feelers to folks I had met online in my search for the Troutman family and someone suggested going right to the county courthouse. It was rumored that if you could find the right person they would copy stuff for you! Wow! Couldn't wait to call.

I called. Found the right person. Jeff was his name. He did it, he found the pages I needed and scanned them, and ... drumroll please... emailed them right to me right then! I couldn't thank him enough. It was easy for him to do, so why not, he said in an email. And he really would rather not have to print out a copy, slide it into an envelope and use postage to mail it. Free and easy all around, and one super happy customer.

Sure, I know that this isn't the only county that does this and Jeff isn't the only county clerk to jump in and find a record. It's just that when you really want a specific record and it means a lot to you, and then one person come to the rescue it feels like so much more. I know you "get this".

Nancy Anne (Troutman) Workman (1862 - 1882).

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2014/10/benjamin-f-troutmans-estate-file-and.html

Fishing for Troutman and catching some links

The adventure continues as I amass documents and make links along my Troutman line. Dad's mother, Helen (Zeller) Kelly's mother's line climbs back up the family tree to two notable families of Western Maryland, the Troutman family and the Workman family. Both are listed on the DAR patriots list so I wanted to know more about their service and what else I could find out about their lives. Add to that the fact that these two families lived about 12 miles from each other in the mid to late 1700s and... how could I not investigate?!

The game was to crawl back in time and look at each generation as I go knowing full well that the terrain gets more challenging back past 1850 and that wonderfully delightful 1850 census. (After working in the "dark ages" before 1850 for a while and then moving up in time to the glorious 1850 census, it feels to me like someone opened a window!)

I started with my Grandma Kelly making sure all vital records that were available for her and husband Gustav Zeller were in the file and scanned as well. At this point, the name of my overall genealogy game is to double and triple check to make absolutely certain that I've requested every available vital record for each ancestor. As you've probably found out, the archives and state vital records folks too quickly run out of goodies for us and we face that ugly message, "the first death certificates were required in Maryland in 1898." So I want to make absolutely certain that I have grabbed all the low hanging fruit that I can. But I digress from fishing.

Grandma Kelly's mother was Moretta (Workman) Zeller (1859-1946) and her mother was Nancy Ann (Troutman) Workman (1826-1882) who married Elisha Workman (1816-1864), and I blogged about Elisha recently and you can read that here. Nancy Ann sported a number of names throughout her life and that was not a help when tracking her in records, I want to tell you! While with her birth family she was Nancy but once she got married she was either Anna or Anne, except for a little while when she was Angeline as she is listed in the 1860s census. Some legal documents and her will show her as Anna A. Go figure.

Anyway, that name thing was a bit of a problem because how do you prove that the Nancy in the estate papers of her father, Benjamin Franklin Troutman (1780-1856), is the same person as Anna A. in her will? How, indeed! Then I found Daniel.

Daniel Troutman was Nancy Anna's brother, and you can see that relationship in the way the names are listed in her father's estate papers. Did I tell you about her father's estate papers? No? OK, let me get back to that in another blog post because it's a heart-warming story about genealogical kindness. Here's a look at a the disbursal list from Benjamin's estate.



As you can see there, Nancy Anne is listed as "Nancy Workman". There, on the list above her name is Daniel, listed as "Danl". Presuming as we do that "heirs" is children unless otherwise stated, he's her brother. Having her listed as Nancy Workman is a lucky find because it narrow down the possible candidates who could be "Nancy Workman" and points directly to our girl. Oh, and did I mention that one Daniel Troutman is listed as the administrator of Nancy Anna's husband, Elisha Workman? There ya' go. The two generations are linked.

 

 

In looking for and finding the vitals of an ancestor I sometimes get so excited when I find gold that I forget to look for records that link the generations. Gotta stop doing that. The links the thing.

 

 

Nancy Anna (Troutman) Workman (1826 - 1882).

 

 

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2014/10/fishing-for-troutman-and-catching-some.html   

Did you enjoy the Revolutionary War, Peter Troutman?

Back in May I made a list of potential ancestors who served in the Revolutionary War for a blog post around the theme Military Memories which you can find here. You know how it is, we make lists of ancestors who did certain stuff like the most recent to immigrate, all who came from Ireland, all who were blacksmiths. And we mean to take time to learn more about them and the common denominator but other stuff gets in the way. I really wanted to work on this list and see what's what, but there was always something else to do. That said, my recent interest in the DAR motivated me to get on that task and find out which ancestors did what.

Long story short, I've been working on what's called a Supplemental Application for the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution for two of my ancestors. They are Peter Troutman and Isaac Workman. Isaac Workman signed the Loyalty Oath of 1778 in Maryland so that qualifies him for inclusion in the list of DAR patriots. He didn't actually fight and I don't know why that would be but perhaps I can eventually find a clue about what he was doing then. I'll get to him later in another post. My main focus in this post is the other guy, Peter Troutman.

When preparing a Supplemental Application there are two main types of information needed: information proving relationships and connections between generations, and then information about the ancestor's service. My job is to start with myself and prove each relationship to each sequential ancestor going back to the Patriot ancestor. Then, when I've got that going, to document my Patriot ancestor's service. That's quite a challenge, but it is the way genealogy should be done!

Let me tell you about Peter Troutman, or at least what I know about him. He was born 18 December of 1754 in Greenwich Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. His father, Wilhelm Troutman or Trautman, came from Germany on the ship "Neptune" and debarked October 4, 1752. Wilhelm is listed as a carpenter in the tax rolls of 1767-8 and had 60 to 70 acres of land. Peter and William, his brother, both served in the Revolution. In 1780 he was taxed as a weaver and owned a cow.

Peter's military service was choppy. Unlike other of my Revolutionary War ancestors who joined a particular militia company and served a chunk of time, Peter served now and again. I don't know how many served now and again versus those who just joined and served like my other Patriot ancestor Capt. Jacob Whetstone. It was interesting to me that both Peter and Jacob took leave when it was harvest time, as did many other soldiers. Peter served in 1776, 1777, 1778, and 1781. For a short time, some say, he was a captain. I'd like to see the records.

After the war both Peter and his brother William moved to Southampton Township in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. It's said in the reference material and numerously quoted that he and William were awarded bounty land there. I haven't been able to find it yet but really haven't put much time into the task. Should be pretty easy to find. (Famous last words??) Various authors make reference to "a Bounty Warrant per N-11651 - Bounty Land Warrant 40921-160-55 in National Archives".

He applied for a pension May 19, 1833 and gave his age as 77 then. He lived until March 6, 1846 at the age of 91 years. That was a very long life back then!!

My connection to him is through his oldest son, Benjamin Franklin Troutman (1780 - 1856). Benjamin was born in Berks County and moved with his parents to Somerset County. He was a famous gunsmith of the time the few guns still around and of his making are some of the finest of the era. He was also a musician known in the area. Well, the gunsmith thing makes sense because his father was a carpenter. Seems that his friends called him Ben. I think he sounds like a fun guy.

Ben's estate settlement dated February 6, 1863 names his daughter Nancy Ann Troutman who married Elisha Workman, also named. It's this connection that has me down at the moment. I've sent off to the Somerset County Historical and Genealogical Society and requested a bit of research by them on this matter and especially estate papers of his in their files. And now I'm waiting... and trying to be patient. Mom has used them before with good results in fleshing out her file on Peter Troutman so I'm optimistic that it will be worth the wait.

Nancy Ann (Troutman) Workman (1826 - 1882) was born in Somerset Pennsylvania and lived about 12 miles away from the location of her husband, Elisha Workman's family near Mt. Savage, Maryland in Allegany County. Somehow they met and became my Grandma Kelly's grandparents. How I now wish that I had asked Grandma Kelly about her own grandparents!

But I do wonder how the Revolutionary War impacted Peter Troutman and his family. It gave them land in the western part of the state and an opportunity for Peter to ply his carpentry craft. I wonder if he worked to build the church he attended, Comp Church. He was buried in their churchyard.

Peter Troutman (1754 - 1846.)

 

His son, Benjamin Franklin Troutman (1780 - 1856).

 

 

His daughter, Nancy Ann (Troutman) Workman (1826 - 1882.)

 

 

Her daughter, Moretta (Workman) Zeller (1859 - 1946.)

 

 

Her daughter and my Grandma, Helen (Zeller) Kelly (1894 - 1984.)

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2014/09/did-you-enjoy-revolutionary-war-peter.html

Surname Saturday: Was her maiden name Stauler, or what?

Off we go into another Surname Saturday, the blogging prompt from GeneaBloggers. We're climbing back up the branches of Mom's Big Tree, which you can see on Ancestry.com here. We're into the 4th great grandmothers so we're far enough back to have some problems finding records, and our subject of the day is a woman we know little about. We know where she's buried (and thank you Cousin Steve for the wonderful photos on Find A Grave), but we're not sure of her last name. Poor GGGG GM!

And you know that all of us who do Surname Saturday use it as "cousin bait" just in case a cousin or two decides to Google one of our ancestors! Therefore, I might be going overboard, but I'm including a lot of names;)

1. Diane Kelly Weintraub

2. Francis Patrick " Pat" Kelly (1916 - 2007)
3. Virginia Williams, living and loving it

4. John Lee "Lee" Kelly (1892 - 1969)
5. Helen Gertrude Zeller Kelly ( 1894 - 1985)

10. Gustav William "Gus" Zeller (1858 - 1927)
11. Moretta Workman Zeller (1859 - 1946)

11. Moretta (Workman) Zeller (1859 - 1946)

23. Nancy Ann (Troutman) Workman (1826 - 1882)

22. Elijah Workman (1816 - 1864)
23. Nancy Ann Troutman (1826 - 1882)
Elijah was born and died in Zihlman, Allegany County, MD, which is really hard to find on the map but located near Mt. Savage and Frostburg, Maryland. You can just about see Zihlman from where Mom now lives, especially when the leaves are off the trees.
Nancy Ann Troutman was born in Wellersburg, Somerset County, PA, and that's where the Troutman line settled and stayed, except for a short move and back again, or the ones who wandered off to Ohio. Elijah was a farmer.
Here are their children:
Amanda Workman (1848 - 1865)
Caspar Workman (1849 - 1949). He married Margaret Holtzman Merrill. They both died in Frostburg.
Benjamin Workman (1851 - 1869)
John Franklin Workman (1857 - 1930). He married Mary Anne Mealing. They both died in Frostburg.
11. Moretta Workman Zeller (1859 - 1946)
Mary Ann Workman (1861 - 1939). She married Peter Pressman. They both died in Frostburg.
Joseph Workman (1863 - 1894). He died in Frostburg.

46. Benjamin Franklin Troutman (1780 - 1856) (Find A Grave Memorial# 74544823)
47. Catherine Wolgerman (1765 - ????)
It is quite possible that Benjamin Franklin Troutman was born in Greenwich Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania and came to the Somerset area with his parents. If he did then his father, Peter Troutman, moved from his place of birth in Somerset to Berks County and then moved back to Somerset County again. Benjamin Franklin was said to have been a renowned gunsmith and well known for his craft. He could sing and dance and was in competitions for such talent. In the 1850 Census he is listed as a farmer, working the land with his son, Adam.
They has these children:
John Troutman (1782 - 1870). He married Elizabeth Horn. They both died in Ohio.
Mary Ann Troutman (1816 - 1899) She married Solomon John Leidig.
Joseph Troutman (possibly twins with Mary Ann. 1816 - 1898). He married Elizabeth surname unknown.
George Troutman (1820 - 1891)
Daniel Benjamin Troutman (1822 - 1891). He married Catherine Emerick. They both died in Kansas.
William Troutman (1825 - 1837) He married Louisa surname unknown.
23. Nancy Ann Troutman 1826 - 1882
Sarah Troutman (1829 - ????). Sarah married George Washington Sheirer.
Adam Agustus Troutman (1832 - 1858). He married Amanda Hildebrand.
Eleanora Troutman (about 1835 - before August 1856). She married M. Reiber.
Harriet Troutman (1843 - before 1920). She married John W. Hansel.

92. Peter Troutman (1754 - 1846) (Find A Grave Memorial# 26925953)
93. Mary Barbara Stauler (1757 - 1836) (Find A Grave Memorial# 74554972)
Peter Troutman served in the Revolutionary War. We have a lot of information about him:) But know next to nothing about her.
They had these children:
46. Benjamin Franklin Troutman (1780 - 1856)
Mary Ann Troutman (1781 - 1853). She married John Emmerick. They both died in Ohio.
Anna Marie Troutman (1783 - 1869). She married Abraham Miller.
Mary Magdelina Troutman (1785 - 1853)
Rachael Troutman (???? - 1862).She married Daniel Martz in 1836 and then David Albright in 1832.
Jacob M. Troutman (1788 - 1877). He married Rebecca Boyer.
Susanna Troutman (1789 - 1829). She married Peter Boyer.
John Troutman ( 1782 - 1870). He married first Elizabeth Horn and then Mary Thomas.
Annie Troutman (1802 - 1853)
Catherine Troutman (1808 - ????). She married John Mease.
Rebecca Troutman ( 1812 - ????)
Elizabeth Troutman (1789 - ????)
Peter lived ten years longer than Mary Barbara. He married again to Barbara Cassell on 11 Jan 1838, a younger woman (40 years old when they married) born in 1796 and died in 1870, and about whom we know absolutely nothing. If she was married before we don't know about it. They had no children together. Amazingly, Peter Troutman lived to be 92!

I feel so bad for the women who get lost in a sea of records about the men of the day. Mary Barbara live to be 79 years old and I'm thinking that was pretty good for the time and place. She's buried with her husband in Comps Cemetery, just over the Maryland / Pennsylvania border in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. It's not too far north of where her granddaughter, Nancy Ann Troutman married and lived with her husband, Elijah Workman, and had my great grandmother Moretta Workman. It was a small world then and now.

"In Memory of Mary B. Const. of Peter Troutman,

died Nov. 14th AD 1836,

Aged 79 y, 8m & 14d."

(Photo Courtesy of Steve Miller. Thanks Steve!)

 

Screen shot of the page for Mary Barbara Stauler?? Troutman

on Find A Grave, created and managed by Steve Miller.

When I saw it, it was obvious that he knew a lot about the Troutman line so I contacted him.

Nice!

 
The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/11/surname-saturday-was-her-maiden-name.html

Tombstone Tuesday: She was buried in an unmarked grave

Recently I ran into two instances of female ancestors buried with husbands but there was no marker for the wife's grave. In my head, two is a cohort and deserves thinking about. Maybe in the future when I can find no obvious grave marker for the wife I'll first double check to see if she's buried next to the husband before I go looking far afield.

The first example is in St Micheal's Cemetery in Frostburg, Allegany, Maryland and the other is in the Comps Cemetery located next to the Comps Church in Comps Crossroad, Somerset, Pennsylvania. In both cases the husband died before the wife by about 20 years. A lovely stone was erected for the husband with full information on birth and death dates. In both cases no part of the main stone or any other stone indicated that the wife was also buried there, but she was.

Now I'm starting to suspect that there might be more of this going on than I originally thought. The problem of course is proving something that doesn't exist, in this case no stone marker. I took the lack of a stone at St. Michael's Cemetery as an indication that the wife wasn't buried there with the husband and thus began a year-long search of Western Maryland cemeteries for Bridget (Corcoran) Kelly that came up empty.

Now however, I'm thinking that the obvious place to look for the missing wife, especially for ancestors interred in church cemeteries, is right next to the husband... and in church records. If you can get to them.

My first thought based on the Kelly couple is that possibly by the time the wife passed, the funds to set a separate marker or even engrave the husbands marker were sparse. There could have been small satellite markers placed for the wife that are hidden under dirt and that is worth exploring. And then there could be a lot of other explanations too that I can only guess at.

So here are my two ladies without grave markers, "living" if you will, in the shadows of the husband's markers.

John Kelly (1829 - 1891), St. Michaels Cemetery, Frostburg, Allegany, Maryland.

Find A Grave # 107263732

Also buried there is his wife Bridget Corcoran (1830 - 1912)

Find A Grave # 107271558

Benjamin Franklin Troutman (1780 - 1856), Comps Cemetery, Comps Crossroads, Somerset, PA.

Find A Grave # 74544823

Also buried there is his wife Catherine Wolgerman (1765 - 1874)

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/06/tombstone-tuesday-she-was-buried-in.html

Surname Saturday: Wolgerman, Married Benjamin Franklin Troutman

Here we go for another Surname Saturday adventure, or at least it's an adventure for me as I climb back through the generation and take up the blogging prompt from GeneaBloggers, Surname Saturday!

This week's candidate as we look at the 3rd great grandmothers, having already covered the earlier grandmothers and a bunch of the grandfathers in previous posts, is Catherine Wolgerman. And there's a bonus!! I was looking into her the location of her grave so that I could include a Find A Grave number for her as well as her husband, Benjamin Franklin Troutman, I got a new cousin! Here's how it happened.

I was on Find A Grave checking out Benjamin Franklin Troutman's memorial page, which was quite extensive and informative. I sent an email to the person who created the page, Stephen, to thank him for all of information there some of which was new to me, like the fact that Benjamin Franklin Troutman was an accomplished gunsmith. I love the details of a life when you can get them but certainly didn't go to Find A Grave looking for them. But there they were! Stephen emailed back pretty fast and, long story short, we're cousins! And I sure didn't go to Find A Grave looking for cousins but, hmmm, is this a new strategy?


1. Diane Kelly Weintraub

2. Francis Patrick " Pat" Kelly (1916 - 2007)
3. Virginia Williams, living and loving it

4. John Lee "Lee" Kelly (1892 - 1969)
5. Helen Gertrude Zeller Kelly ( 1894 - 1985)

10. Gustav William "Gus" Zeller (1858 - 1927)
11. Moretta Workman Zeller (1859 - 1946)

22. Elijah Workman (1816 - 1864)
23. Nancy Ann Troutman (1826 - 1882)
Elijah was born and died in Zihlman, Allegany County, MD, which is really hard to find on the map but located near Mt. Savage and Frostburg, Maryland. You can just about see Zihlman from where Mom now lives, especially when the leaves are off the trees.
Nancy Ann Troutman was born in Wellersburg, Somerset County, PA, and that's where the Troutman line settled and stayed, except for a short move and back again, or the ones who wandered off to Ohio. Elijah was a farmer as was his father Benjamin Franklin Troutman.
Gosh, I sure wish I had a photo of this couple!

46. Benjamin Franklin Troutman (1780 - 1856) (Find A Grave Memorial# 74544823)
47. Catherine Wolgerman (1765 - 1874)
It is quite possible that Benjamin Franklin Troutman was born in Greenwich Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania and came to the Somerset area with his parents. If he did then his father, Peter Troutman, moved from his place of birth in Somerset to Berks County and then moved back to Somerset County again. Benjamin Franklin was said to have been a renowned gunsmith and well known for his craft. He could sing and dance and was in competitions for such talent. In the 1850 Census he is listed as a farmer, working the land with his son, Adam.
As for Mrs. Troutman, hardly ever mentioned in records, she was Catherine Wolgerman and it's generally thought that she was born in Allegany County, Maryland, not too far from the Troutman stomping grounds, but records for that time and place are practically non-existent. She married when she was 27 and now that I think about it I do wonder if there was a first marriage for her. If so we have not found anything to indicate it.
They has these children:
John Troutman (1782 - 1870). He married Elizabeth Horn. They both died in Ohio.
Mary Ann Troutman (1816 - 1899) She married Solomon John Leidig.
Joseph Troutman (possibly twins with Mary Ann. 1816 - 1898). He married Elizabeth surname unknown.
George Troutman (1820 - 1891)
Daniel Benjamin Troutman (1822 - 1891). He married Catherine Emerick. They both died in Kansas.
William Troutman (1825 - 1837) He married Louisa surname unknown.
23. Nancy Ann Troutman 1826 - 1882
Sarah Troutman (1829 - ????). Sarah married George Washington Sheirer.
Adam Agustus Troutman (1832 - 1858). He married Amanda Hildebrand.
Eleanora Troutman (about 1835 - before August 1856). She married M. Reiber.
Harriet Troutman (1843 - before 1920). She married John W. Hansel.

Yeah, well, there you have the end of the line and another brick wall. Maybe Cousin Stephen can shed more light on these ancestors. He seems to know a lot! Just yesterday afternoon we exchanged tree information so my fingers are crossed!

These early frontier families interest me. They are often interconnected in the extreme (see last week's post). But I'm thinking that Wolgerman isn't a particularly common name in these parts. And if I had to guess, I'd say it sounds German. Catherine lived to be 89 years old and that's to her credit, I think. She and Benjamin and his parents made a life around the church their family helped found, the Comps Church. And that's where they are buried.

Find A Grave listing for Benjimin Franklin Troutman.

It is commonly held that his wife Catherine Wolgerman is also burried in this location.

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/06/surname-saturday-wolgerman-married.html

Surname Saturday: His Name Was Troutman

Off we go into another Surname Saturday, the blogging prompt from GeneaBloggers. This one is going to be an adventure into a relatively deep past (at least on Mom's Big Tree) along the family known as Troutman back to Germany in the early 1700s. We aren't luck enough to have a lot of 1600s dates on the tree, but there are some. Besides, I'd rather have good stories! There's Benjamin Franklin Troutman, and Peter Troutman the Revolutionary War soldier. This group came from Germany and plopped down in southwest Pennsylvania along the Maryland border, and stayed there for over five generations. The whole family is like that: we get someplace we like and they can't get us out;)

1. Diane Kelly Weintraub

2. Francis Patrick " Pat" Kelly (1916 - 2007)
3. Virginia Williams, living and loving it

4. John Lee "Lee" Kelly (1892 - 1969)
5. Helen Gertrude Zeller Kelly ( 1894 - 1985)

10. Gustav William "Gus" Zeller (1858 - 1927)
11. Moretta Workman Zeller (1859 - 1946)

Moretta Workman Zeller (1859 - 1946)

 

22. Elijah Workman (1816 - 1864)
23. Nancy Ann Troutman (1826 - 1882)
Elijah was born and died in Zihlman, Allegany County, MD, which is really hard to find on the map but located near Mt. Savage and Frostburg, Maryland. You can just about see Zihlman from where Mom now lives, especially when the leaves are off the trees.
Nancy Ann Troutman was born in Wellersburg, Somerset County, PA, and that's where the Troutman line settled and stayed, except for a short move and back again, or the ones who wandered off to Ohio. Elijah was a farmer.
Here are their children:
Amanda Workman (1848 - 1865)
Caspar Workman (1849 - 1949). He married Margaret Holtzman Merrill. They both died in Frostburg.
Benjamin Workman (1851 - 1869)
John Franklin Workman (1857 - 1930). He married Mary Anne Mealing. They both died in Frostburg.
11. Moretta Workman Zeller (1859 - 1946)
Mary Ann Workman (1861 - 1939). She married Peter Pressman. They both died in Frostburg.
Joseph Workman (1863 - 1894). He died in Frostburg.

46. Benjamin Franklin Troutman (1780 - 1856) (Find A Grave Memorial# 74544823)
47. Catherine Wolgerman (1765 - ????)
It is quite possible that Benjamin Franklin Troutman was born in Greenwich Tornship, Berks County, Pennsylvania and came to the Somerset area with his parents. If he did then his father, Peter Troutman, moved from his place of birth in Somerset to Berks County and then moved back to Somerset County again. Benjamin Franklin was said to have been a renowned gunsmith and well known for his craft. He could sing and dance and was in competitions for such talent. In the 1850 Census he is listed as a farmer, working the land with his son, Adam.
They has these children:
John Troutman (1782 - 1870). He married Elizabeth Horn. They both died in Ohio.
Mary Ann Troutman (1816 - 1899) She married Solomon John Leidig.
Joseph Troutman (possibly twins with Mary Ann. 1816 - 1898). He married Elizabeth surname unknown.
George Troutman (1820 - 1891)
Daniel Benjamin Troutman (1822 - 1891). He married Catherine Emerick. They both died in Kansas.
William Troutman (1825 - 1837) He married Louisa surname unknown.
23. Nancy Ann Troutman 1826 - 1882
Sarah Troutman (1829 - ????). Sarah married George Washington Sheirer.
Adam Agustus Troutman (1832 - 1858). He married Amanda Hildebrand.
Eleanora Troutman (about 1835 - before August 1856). She married M. Reiber.
Harriet Troutman (1843 - before 1920). She married John W. Hansel.

92. Peter Troutman (1754 - 1846) (Find A Grave Memorial# 26925953)
93. Mary Barbara Stauler (1757 - 1836) (Find A Grave Memorial# 74554972)
Peter Troutman served in the Revolutionary War. We have a lot of information about him:)
They had these children:
46. Benjamin Franklin Troutman (1780 - 1856)
Mary Ann Troutman (1781 - 1853). She married John Emmerick. They both died in Ohio.
Anna Marie Troutman (1783 - 1869). She married Abraham Miller.
Mary Magdelina Troutman (1785 - 1853)
Rachael Troutman (???? - 1862).She married Daniel Martz in 1836 and then David Albright in 1832.
Jacob M. Troutman (1788 - 1877). He married Rebecca Boyer.
Susanna Troutman (1789 - 1829). She married Peter Boyer.
John Troutman ( 1782 - 1870). He married first Elizabeth Horn and then Mary Thomas.
Annie Troutman (1802 - 1853)
Catherine Troutman (1808 - ????). She married John Mease.
Rebecca Troutman ( 1812 - ????)
Elizabeth Troutman (1789 - ????)

184. Wilhelm Troutman (1727 - 1790)
185. Elizabeth Neusser (1728 - 1806)
Both Wilhelm and Elizabeth came from Germany but married in the colonies in 1753.
They had these known children:
92. Peter Troutman (1754 - 1846)
John Troutman (1756 - ????) He married Anna Marie Sutter.
William Troutman (1758 - 1833) He married Anna Catherine Uhl.
Catherine Troutman (1760 - ????) She married Jacob Koltz.
Philip Jacob Troutman (1764 - 1793)
Joseph Troutman (1766 - 1790)

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/03/surname-saturday-his-name-was-troutman.html