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

The DAR Chapter Meet & Greet

I was kinda nervous. I was going to meet some of the local chapter DAR ladies to see about joining. (See previous posts here and here for the full background on how I got to this point.) The more I thought about joining, the more I liked the idea. I love genealogy and have a lot of warm feelings about my ancestors especially those who served in the Revolutionary War. I love finding out about them and was sort of looking for an excuse to dig deeper, as if I even need one. Back in May of this year I did a post for the theme "Military Memories" listing both my proven and suspected Revolutionary War ancestors, which you can see here. I decided then that I wanted the chance to figure out if they served and in what capacity. This DAR adventure could help me do that because it would give the task structure, another level of motivation, and some really great support in the form of DAR records and fellow Daughters who are much better than I at research in this area.

I checked out the activities of one of the local chapters online and liked what they were doing. They were a medium sized group and their projects were worthwhile. They even have a connection to a local military memorial and museum, the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier that's a very popular local attraction in San Diego Bay on the Embarcadero. Now it was time to take the first step and see where I might fit in. That's where the Meet & Greet comes in.

I thought about what to wear. A long time. Too long in fact. But that says more about me than them. I finally settled on an outfit that I can best describe as a selection from my summer wardrobe I call "clean casual". No spots? I'm good to go!

I walked into Mimi's Café in Mission Valley and saw three ladies in the waiting area who glanced in my direction and these were the ladies I had come to meet. What is it about walking into a place and meeting people you don't know? It can be off-putting and might take a small muster of courage, but good things often take that. I was feeling awkward for all of 20 seconds and then, poof, we had already met and it was OK. No, it was more than OK because I felt welcome.

Once we got going - there were four of us, we two prospective transfers plus the Regent and the Registrar - time flew and we had a great good time getting to know each other. The Regent is like the head of the group and the Registrar is a mystery to me because it seems she does just about everything from taking in new and prospective members to giving guidance to those navigating the waters of getting applications approved. (And remember here that I am beyond new and don't know much at all so that might be all wrong.) There had just been a change of the guard and they were the incoming officers. Still, they really knew what they were doing!

I could tell right away that I wanted to be part of the team these ladies were on. Even the other "new kid" who was transferring from a chapter in another state was super nice and knowledgeable. I felt right at home. Sign me up!

There were some take-away points that came up. It so happened that both myself and the other transfer are working on an additional ancestors and are researching, compiling materials, and readying ourselves for the official papers called a Supplemental Application. I picked up that the review process is now much more rigorous than in the past. Past applications were approved way back when, pretty much on the basis of "because my grandmother told me so." As time went by and the art and science of genealogy got spiffed up, the applications needed increasingly more rigorous back-up documentation. Now with so much available online the hunt is easier, but there are still elusive documents in out of the way archives. Aren't there always?! But the very best effort must be put forth and often explained with notes and proper source citations. I tell ya, it really makes you spiff up your game, and I do like that!

Another aspect of the rigor of the process is that you have to show real links between generations with supporting documents. The idea is to use the best direct evidence that you can and if that's not available it should be explained as to why only supporting evidence is being used. The first four generations (me plus three) need to be pretty much locked in with birth, marriage, and death certificates. Exceptions are made and substitutes accepted for cause.

This isn't as hard as it sounds, if it does sound that way. It's a bit laborious and time is required but that's true of all good genealogy. But if you ask what's required first and then take the time to find it, you'll probably be just fine. It's a process. It can be hard when documents aren't where they are supposed to be or not available for 100 years or whatever, but it's at those moments when you need to ask for help that help is there waiting for you. I have to remind myself to take time and enjoy the process. It feels great when you can finally prove a relationship that you once took for granted because grandma told you so!

I got a briefing on the committees looking for assistance. The other transfer was very experienced and had held committee positions at her old chapter in another state. I asked to exchange contact info with her because she obviously knows what's going on and I so do not!

I left the meet and greet feeling very good about this group:)

My Grandpop Kelly visiting his sister in sunny Florida from cold and snowy Maryland.

About 1950.
It was his mother's ancestor, Nehemiah Newan who was the Revolutionary War ancestor under whom I was accepted into the NSDAR.

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-dar-chapter-meet-greet.html

Military Memories: Figuring out who served in which war

While work continues in the background on our Farrell's Connections project (see some previous posts) I'm following the GeneaBloggers writing prompt for the month of May with short posts on Military Memories, from Jennifer Holik. One of the things that stumps me and gets in my way is trying to figure out which ancestors might have served in, say, the Revolutionary War or the Civil War. Have to confess to ignoring the Spanish-American War entirely. At least I've kept a list of Revolutionary War Patriots on a big post note next to the desktop computer as I stumble into them. But really, isn't that kind of pathetic? There must be a better way.

This morning I read a blog post with the solution to this problem from Michele Simmons Lewis who writes the helpful blog, "Ancestoring". Her post provided a very useful link to another blog run by Ancestry.com with a beautiful chart of each major war and the war years with a corresponding range of birth years. The Ancestry blog says:

You know you should look for military records for your ancestor, but what war did he serve in? Our friends over at Fold3 created this handy little infographic to use as a rule of thumb. There are exceptions to every rule, but this will get you started!

 

 

OK, now just to be clear, click here to get to the infographic. I'd love to post it here for your immediate enjoyment but also want to respect copyright of the Ancestry folks.

 

Thanks Michele!! I can not even begin to tell you how many times I've sat here counting on fingers trying to figure out if it was possible a particular ancestor served. Now if Randy Seaver over at Genea-Musings would just come up with some super slick way to search our tree programs for possible candidates... problem solved!

 

 

Enoch Clise (1843-1896), served in the Civil War, my second great aunt's husband who was mayor

of Frostburg twice. Frostburg is the little mountain town in Western Maryland where my  recent ancestors came from. Nice photo, huh?

 

 

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2014/05/military-memories-figuring-out-who.html



Amanuensis Monday: Will of Nehemiah Newans

Amanuensis Monday

What's an Amanuensis, you say? It's a copyist: someone who sits like a crazy person squinting their eyes and probably ruining eyesight to read that old document hand-written so very long ago and type it out. We do because we love:) 

 

 

One of my very favorite ancestors to write about is Nehemiah Newans (1740 - 1820), and you can see more about him using the page tab above where you'll find a rough time line of his life. (And don't even look at the nasty source citations: I need to fix that and can do better. It's on the list.)

He's one of my Revolutionary War ancestors and there was a little book his great grandson, Thomas F. Myers (1841 - 1920), had printed that's fascinated me for quite a while. You can see that book by clicking the tab above. The family has looked to it as gospel but in digging around I found that Nehemiah Newans did not die in the last battle of the Revolutionary War but instead never returned to his wife, Catherine Kepplinger Newans and small son, Thomas Newans, in York, Pennsylvania. Instead he made a life for himself as a stone mason in upstate New York... and with a new wife, Mary Newans! And in the will he mentions a second son, Elias Thompson. What's up with that and a different last name of Thompson?! Hey, it's not for me to pass judgement... I just hope to get to the bottom of some of it as I go along:)

Today, I want to take another look at his will. Here it is, below and my shot at a transcription, below that.

I Nehemiah Newans of the town of Canandaigue in the County of Ontario and State of New York do make and ordain this my last will and testament in a manner and form following - (vis) I direct that all of my just debts should be paid out of my potential (?) estate if it should be sufficient thereof and if not that such part of my real estate be sold as will be sufficient there for at the election of my executors___________
All the rest and residue of my estate both real and personal as shall remain after my debts are paid I give and bequeath unto my well behaved wife Mary Newans to have and to hold the same to all and enjoy during her natural life and the remainder of all such estate after her decease shall invest in the heirs of my sons Elias Thompson and Thomas Newans  And I do hereby constitute (?) and appoint Moses Atwater Esq of Canandaigue afore said my sole executor of this my last will and testament. Hereby (?) all other and former wills by me made _____________
In witness thereof I have here unto set my hand and seal this twenty third of March in the year of Lord one Thousand eight Hundred and twenty. _________

Nehemiah Newans (seal)

Signed sealed published and declared in the presence of us by the said Testator Nehemiah Newans as and for his last will and testament in the presence of us who subscribe our names as witnesses thereto in the presence of the said testator

Canandaigue 23 March 1820  _______________

Thomas Beals
Chester Loomis
E. S. Cobb

When I check online trees, Nehemiah Newans' wife's name is all over the place. I use that as a bellwether to decide how well the researcher has done their homework.

I'm still practicing my transcribing skills and it's a work in progress, but it's improving. The first time around this project was really hard for me, but this time around it was easier and that allowed me to focus on acuracy.


Ananuesis Monday is a weekly blogging prompt from GeneaBloggers. You can find the whole week's list of prompts here. Thanks, GeneaBloggers for being you!!

Before the Introduction

If you've been following along here you'll know that I'm taking a shot at writing a family history book, a narrative of the major family lines going back as far as I can manage based on the excellent work and research Mom has done. I want to capture on paper what is known at the moment for those who come later, knowing full well that this will be an imperfect work, always in progress.

While getting a running start at the Introduction I felt the need to write a short piece that might set up the overall why and wherefore of the effort in an effort to explain myself. A Prologue was needed. So here it is. If it amuses you, let me know what you think. All feedback is appreciated, not just complements. You can post as a comment or email me at dianew858@hotmail.com

Prologue 

There was a moment when I understood in a very visceral way the importance of saving family history and felt the great depth of sorrow at the loss of it. On one hand, I’d never missed the heirlooms that might have gone to others in the family after someone passed. I just figured that someone else was more entitled to them than I. My cousins have grandmother’s aprons and that’s great because they love them. I rest easy knowing that my other grandmother’s china in in her glass case is living with other cousins who have the grand kids. Wonderful!

But I just about lost it when I heard that Aunt Edith’s son threw out all of her old photos and papers! My guts tied themselves in a knot, and that felt awful. My sense of loss was deep and anger followed.

I don’t know where I get off being in a twist about Aunt Edith’s son dumping her stuff. He lived with her; he took care of her and was entitled to do as he pleased. And it wasn’t as though Aunt Edith didn’t have control over the disposition of her possessions as she had her wits about her and other children to whom she could bequeath her treasures. I wasn’t even that close to her. Maybe I saw her two or three times in my life. And she’s not my aunt; she’s my Dad’s aunt. So we were not that close. Where do I get off being that upset?

I tell you where. If Aunt Edith hadn’t given my Mother a truly treasured book containing the story of the Myers line back to the Revolutionary War and beyond to a man known simply as Indian Fighter Myers, I’d not know about Nehemiah Newans, my fifth great grandfather. I wouldn’t have known his story and the story of his son and his son’s family and most important, his life’s story from Derbyshire, England, on to the Revolutionary War, and finally all the way to the frontier in upstate New York.

I can’t help but wonder what else might have been thrown out over the centuries, treasures that ended up unceremoniously at the town dump, or burned in a trash fire behind the house. Sometimes on a cold and rainy afternoon I grieve for those lost mementos and feel sad for the ancestors’ faces staring out from old photos whose names are unknown.

I just simply want to do better and capture what can be collected now so as to preserve it for anyone who might care down the line.

 

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2012/12/before-introduction.html

Wait, Wait, Wait... Now Hurry Up!

This newbie has been waiting and waiting for my two microfilm rolls ordered online from Family Search to be delivered to the local Family Research Center. Yesterday I found out that they have been there since about the first week in September! Between me not knowing what I'm doing and them switching over from the old system to the new one... and some misinformation along the way: they said they'd call me... am feeling lucky to have them available at last! BTW, they do not call you when the films arrive at the Center. You are to get an email and that's where it all went kablooie for me! And yes, they did have my correct email address, thanks for asking.

Never mind, the records that hopefully contain proof that my Revolutionary War ancestor, Nehemiah Newans, served under General Braddock in the mid 1700s are at my fingertips and ready for me to sit in the darkened room, quietly, the reader before me (my head at an uncomfortable angle... am I too short, what's the deal?) making swisssshhh sounds as the rolls spin into the past. I'm gonna be a while.

The point of the title of this blog post is that I've lost precious time here, about a month as I figure it. I know that I have until the week before Thanksgiving but I'm jittery that all the work won't get done. Heck, I'm always jittery that all the work won't get done;)

Fishing for Troutman on Footnote

There's an ancestor on our tree named Peter Troutman. I have some info from mom but you can never have too many facts, especially about an ancestor who was reportedly in the American Revolution.

I love hunting down tidbits on Revolutionary ancestors because it's a fabulous time in history - holy cow, can you even imagine what that was like - and there are super war records... if you're lucky. Well I got lucky. Curious to me, I didn't find him by searching on his name. I browsed, and who doesn't like a good browse now and again? Records stated that he was in the Pennsylvania Militia, so I checked out the Pennsylvania Archive. Maybe you'd approach it differently, but remember I'm kinda a newbie. I got nuthin'. Seriously, nada.

Then I searched his name in all Pennsylvania war records of soldiers. Zip. Zero returns. Bummer.

So thinking that as usual I probably am clueless about the working method a pro would use I hit the browse button. Drilled down and up popped an alphabetical column (nice!) and I knew - duh - to click on the "T". Troutman! Bingo! Four and a half hours later I had downloaded copies of his war record, pension request, widow's request, and various sundry other documents. Found out he was married two years after his first wife passed. Did not know that. Browsing is way cool!!

It's days like this that keep me coming back. Now today I'm looking for George Adam Echart who also reportedly served in Pennsylvania in the Revolution. Not one hit. Some days you get the bear and some days the bear gets you.

Elsie Long. Isn't she so very cute?