Tombstone Found: JOHN COMBS and PERCY CEMETARY and the DAR!

Have no passion for all CAPS, but just had to use them because I'm that excited to share this story:) While at mom's back in May, in Frostburg in Western Maryland, went to see Percy Cemetery. Percy dates from about 1830, with some burials earlier. It was first the major burial place for the Methodist Church in town but then expanded to receive many of the town's prominent citizens until the more contemporary Frostburg Cemetery opened. But first, some background.

I put in a DAR Supplemental Application (supplemental to my original application for Patriot Nehemiah Newan) for John Trimble a while back and received an AIR which is DAR-ese for Additional Information Required. They pointed out that Margaret Trimble Combs, daughter of Patriot John Trimble and wife of John Combs, was lacking a precise death date. When I looked at what I submitted, sure enough, they were right and I could do better!

I narrowed down Margaret's death date by following John and Margaret's participation in the Methodist Church and then Margaret's disappearance from their list of congregants. 1849. That's when she died. And she was missing in the 1850 census too, which was the source document I originally submitted. So her death date was between October 1849 and February 1850.

But where was she buried? John, her husband, was buried in Percy Cemetery and a nice stone was still there stating his death date. Margaret was probably buried there too, but there was reportedly no stone.

John Combs was wealthy and prominent in the Methodist Church giving land for it and presumably supported it with donations. It would be reasonable to suggests that Margaret was buried in the plot adjacent John and that there had been at one time a nice big stone like his. Yet no photo of it was in Mom's tombstone file or on Find A grave.

So off Mom and I went to see if we could locate John Combs' stone and see if Margaret was there but had been overlooked.

John Combs stone.

 

That's John's stone there on the right and see that small stone leaning against the tree? Check this out, below!

 

Right, it says Margaret!!

 

Here's the line-up with Margaret's stone in the foreground and John's off in the back, left.

Here's the photos of what I found. You can see John Combs' stone and then look! There's the top of a stone within five feet of his, leaning against a tree that says "MARGARET". I'm willing to bet the farm that it's her stone!

Of course that's not going to satisfy the DAR genies but it satisfies me.

And here's the wild and crazy part. In the wide view photo up top, you'll see a house right in back of John's stone. That's my Grandma Kelly's house and they were grandma's 3rd great grandparents. WOW! John and Margaret were within 100 feet of me as I played on Grandma's lawn as a kid!

Margaret, you were there all the time, dear girl.

Surname Saturday: About those Trimbles

It's Saturday once again, and that means it's time for my still fav blogging prompt from GeneaBloggers called Surname Saturday. Here's the official description from the source itself:
To participate in Surname Saturday, simply create a post in which you discuss a surname and mention its origins, its geographical location(s) and how it fits into your genealogy research.

I was encouraged to do this at the beginning of the year as cousin bait, and am so very glad I did. It truly is the perfect cousin bait because any remote cousins out there interested in genealogy will probably get around to Googling that surname and hopefully find this blog. One thing I can say is that if you decide to do this one, take the surnames in an orderly manner back through the generations, and follow each back. It's easy and I've eventually been in contact with just about one cousin for each of the surnames I post!

I've taken a longish break from my Surname Saturday posts but let's get going again. I got stumped on the Trimbles because, frankly, I was having "Trouble with Trimbles" (and that reference is for Star Trek fans;)

So here goes as we follow the branches back to the Trimble family of Maryland. There are Trimbles elsewhere in the Colonies early history, but those aren't ours. Here is our bunch.


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

44. John Workman 1779 - 1859
45. Amelia or (Abigail) Combs about 1789 - ????
John was also born in Zihlman but died just up the hill in Frostburg. Presumable, Amelia Combs was born close by Zihlman and also died in Frostburg, but proof remains elusive.
John was a farmer and in the 1840 US Census owned one slave. This was the first record of him owning slaves.
They had these children:
Rebecca Workman 1809 - before 1908. She married Solomon Hansel. They both died in Frostburg.
Kate Workman 1810 - ????. She married Noah Trimble from Wellersburg PA.
Joseph Workman 1812 - 1879. He married Louisa Knabenshue from Keyser, Mineral County, WVa.
Isaac Workman 1814 - 1897
22. Elijah Workman 1816 - 1864
Margaret Workman 1819 - 1908. She married James P. Hannah and then Harry Stevens.
John L. Workman 1821 - 11873. He married Druzilla Workman.
Stephen Workman 1823 - ????.
Cuthbert Workman 1825 - 1882. He married Nancy Conkle. He died in Danville, Knox, County, OH.
Nimrod Workman 1828 - 1870.
William Combs Workman 1831 - 1894. He married Clara Sophia Winebrenner and then Rebecca Sheffiff.

90. John Combs (1765 - 1854)
91. Margaret Trimble (1780 - 1859)
Combs family history has it that John Combs was born in Virginia and married Margaret Trimble in 1794, presumably in Allegany County, Maryland, where they had their family. Mom thinks he was from the part of Virginia that became West Virginia, and perhaps as far west as Hampshire or Morgan counties, or maybe even old Virginia's Frederick County. If he was, then it wasn't so far to go to get to Western Maryland where he ended up.
It's been thought that this John Combs served in the Revolutionary War but he would only have been 11 years old when it began. His birth year could easily be incorrect, as records from this time and place are sketchy at best. But if you look you'll find an approved SAR application from about 1940 on Ancestry.com... but I have my doubts. It is true that Military Lot #3352 was assigned to a Jacob Corns, and that could be a transcription error of some sort, but I haven't seen the original and can't really comment.
The connection that's real solid is to his brother, Cuthbert Combs/Coombs who married Margaret Trimble's sister Abigale. Cuthbert took Military Lots numbered 3408 and 3407.
This John Combs remains a mystery to me and is on the list for a full investigation because we need details, don't we? First place I'll look is Fold3.
They had these known children:
45. Amelia Combs about 1789 - ????
William Combs 1799 - 1878. He married first Marie Arnold and then Sarah Wheeler.
Mary Margaret Combs 1803 - before 1839. She married Josiah Porter and you'll find this couple on the Porter Surname Saturday post.
We know much less about these children:
Martha Combs
John Combs, who married Bathsheba Drake.
Althea Combs

Tombstone of John Combs at Percy Cemetery, Allegany, Maryland. Find A Grave # 55582247

Margaret Trimble Combs is buried there as well. Find A Grave # 55582257

182. John Trimble (about 1735 - 1802)
183. Margaret Arnold (1739 - 1805)
John Trimble and Margaret Arnold had these 8 children:
Charlotte Trimble (1765-1844). She married William Shaw Sr.
John Trimble Jr. (1767-1823). He married Elizabeth Ann Arnold.
Abigail Trimble (1771-1793). She married Cuthbert Combs.
Henry Trimble (1772-1825). He married Margaret Critchfield.
Sophia Trimble (1774-1860). She married Peter Crow.
Catherine Trimble (1774-1815). She married Kelita Potter Sr.
Note: were Sophia and Catherine twins? Looks like it!
91. Margaret Trimble (1780 - 1859)

We're way back here and out in the western most reaches of Allegany County, Maryland, and the frontier of the time, where our John Trimble was born. Our Trimbles were part of the group of families who lived on the land between Frostburg, Allegany, Maryland and Mount Savage, Allegany, Maryland, called Federal Hill. If you want to know more about this location then you've just got to check out The Evergreen Heritage Center. Here's what they have to say about the Trimble family of this area:
Eight generations ago, in the late 1700s, one of Allegany County’s early settlers, Edward Grimes, built a stone foundation log home about a mile from a settlement that would become known as Mount Savage. That home was later acquired by the Winter family, who expanded the home with a large stone addition and outbuildings, creating a southern style plantation. After the Civil War, the Winter’s neighbors, the Trimble family, who had also settled in the area in the late 1700s, acquired the property, further expanded the home and painted it white, and named the new farm Evergreen, in honor of the fledgling evergreen trees planted there.

These Military Lots and their locations all but predict the marriages of the time. You can look at the map and see whose lot is adjacent or really close to others and then see a marriage. The Arnolds to Trimbles. The Trimbles to Coombs, and the Workman and Porters to just about everyone in the area!

 

This map of Military Lots showing the Trimble lots (As well as the Workman lots) awarded after the American Revolutionary War, was put together as a joint project of Frostburg State University and The Evergreen Heritage Center. It's one of my absolute favorite maps!

OK, it needs to be said right here that there were a bunch of Trimbles in the Colonies at this time in the early 1700s and I'm really not super familiar with all of the lines that resided outside of Maryland. Maryland, being basically a historic Catholic colony, has its separate history... not that Pennsylvanians and Virginians can't slide on over and mess up a person trying to trace a line back in time! And I know from personal experience that other Trimble lines have lived in Maryland in the early Colonial period... because I bought a book that didn't contain even one of our guys!

In order to sort out the ball of yarn that is the Trimble ancestry in this particular line, some time and effort needs to be invested, starting right here with John, and then of course his parents. But that goes on the list to do for later. If you care to you can search on John Trimble in this time period on any of the various genealogy web sites and easily find that there are a couple. So you see the problem.

Maybe John Trimble's father was David Trimble (1720-1799) born in Scotland and died in Bourbon County, Kentucky, and married Mary Houston (1724-?) and born in Kentucky. He seems to be the logical choice, and at least Mom thinks so, so it works for me until we see evidence otherwise. If so, then David's own father would be Robert Trimble (1695-?) and born in Scotland. The trail, such that it is, ends right there.

I like this line because it gets interesting and totally documentable right there on that lovely Military Map. That map tells a story, all right!


The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/11/surname-saturday-about-those-trimbles.html

Surname Saturday: Amelia Combs and Friends and Neighbors

Well, it's Surname Saturday once again! Surname Saturday is the blogging prompt from GeneaBloggers that I love most because every week I get to revisit another of the ancestors and their line back as far as I can go. Mom built out this tree which you can find on Ancestry as Virginia Williams Kelly's Big Tree. So my job as a second generation genealogist is to get the word out and make connections with others working on this row in the garden. Cousin bait: that's the name of the game!

My bonus is that every week when I go over a particular family line I get to a deeper understanding of who they were and what's known and not known about each family group. I like that! This week we'll look at the life and times of Amelia Combs whose family and husband's family were amongst the pioneers who settled the Western Maryland area in and around the little Western Maryland mountain town of Frostburg. I tell ya', looking at this section of the tree is a nasty ball of yarn gotten into by the house cat! The Trimbles, Arnolds, Workman, and Combs (not to mention the Porters) were all families started by Revolutionary War vets who took possession of their bounty land on one particular slope of Big Savage Mountain. They lived near each other, farmed together, married into each others families, left and sold land to each other. It's confusing!

But never mind, because here we go. And as usual it's a work in progress. When I was back east on my recent visit to Mom (who is 94, in case you don't know) we agreed that we'd have this all nailed down if we just had another 100 years to work on it!

By the way, we're up to the 3rd great grandmothers now because the great grandfathers and previous great grandmother have already been done and the box checked.

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

44. John Workman 1779 - 1859
45. Amelia or (Abigail) Combs about 1789 - ????
John was also born in Zihlman but died just up the hill in Frostburg. Presumable, Amelia Combs was born close by Zihlman and also died in Frostburg, but proof remains elusive.
John was a farmer and in the 1840 US Census owned one slave. This was the first record of him owning slaves.
They had these children:
Rebecca Workman 1809 - before 1908. She married Solomon Hansel. They both died in Frostburg.
Kate Workman 1810 - ????. She married Noah Trimble from Wellersburg PA.
Joseph Workman 1812 - 1879. He married Louisa Knabenshue from Keyser, Mineral County, WVa.
Isaac Workman 1814 - 1897
22. Elijah Workman 1816 - 1864
Margaret Workman 1819 - 1908. She married James P. Hannah and then Harry Stevens.
John L. Workman 1821 - 11873. He married Druzilla Workman.
Stephen Workman 1823 - ????.
Cuthbert Workman 1825 - 1882. He married Nancy Conkle. He died in Danville, Knox, County, OH.
Nimrod Workman 1828 - 1870.
William Combs Workman 1831 - 1894. He married Clara Sophia Winebrenner and then Rebecca Sheffiff.

90. John Combs (1765 - 1854)
91. Margaret Trimble (1780 - 1859)
Combs family history has it that John Combs was born in Virginia and married Margaret Tremble in 1794, presumably in Allegany County, Maryland, where they had their family. Mom thinks he was from the part of Virginia that became West Virginia, and perhaps as far west as Hampshire or Morgan counties, or maybe even old Virginia Frederick County. If he was, then it wasn't so far to go to get to Western Maryland where he ended up.
It's been thought that this John Combs served in the Revolutionary War but he would only have been 11 years old when it began. His birth year could easily be incorrect, as records from this time and place are sketchy at best. But if you look you'll find an approved SAR application from about 1940 on Ancestry.com... but I have my doubts. It is true that Military Lot #3352 was assigned to a Jacob Corns, and that could be a transcription error of some sort, but I haven't seen the original and can't really comment.
The connection that's real solid is to his brother, Cuthbert Combs/Coombs who married Margaret Trimble's sister Abigale. Cuthbert took Military Lots numbered 3408 and 3407.
This John Combs remains a mystery to me and is on the list for a full investigation because we need details, don't we? First place I'll look is Fold3.
They had these known children:
45. Amelia Combs about 1789 - ????
William Combs 1799 - 1878. He married first Marie Arnold and then Sarah Wheeler.
Mary Margaret Combs 1803 - before 1839. She married Josiah Porter and you'll find this couple on the Porter Surname Saturday post.
We know much less about these children:
Martha Combs
John Combs, who married Bathsheba Drake.
Althea Combs

The parents of John Combs might be this couple but it's not been fully checked out, so let me pencil them in for you now. As per our working method, Mom and I don't give these guys numbers in the line-up until they have been vetted by us. We hate to have to take people out later, don't you?

Jonathon Combs 1740 - ????
Nancy Harding
Jonathon was born in Virginia and he might be easier to track down, but we'll see about that later.

We're fascinated by the families that inhabited the area around Mt. Savage and Zihlman in Allegany County, also known as Federal Hill, Workman's Desire, and other lovely and romantic old names. The Military Lot assignments by Francis Deakins in 1787 and the combined map done recently in conjunction with Frostburg State University, is a treasure!

You know that FAN principle? Friends, Associates, and Neighbors? These families of the Federal Hill area (now the area surrounding Evergreen Heritage Center) are the embodiment of it. I truly feel that I could spend the rest of my life working on this ball of tangled yarn!

The Frostburg State University Map (section) showing Military Lot assignments in Allegany County, as per Deakins in 1787, with present landmarks and roads.

 

 

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/05/surname-saturday-amelia-combs-and.html