Family members who attended the Heller reunion on Sunday, September 8th, 2019 can click here to view and download the files we have found on Abraham Heller, 1751-1824.
You can also view his burial information at findagrave as well as that of his wife, Elisabeth Dentzler Heller.
Here is an article I found about a surprise party that my 3rd great-grandfather had for his daughter Anna on her 18th birthday. It is also of note that the names Lowe, Greenwald, and Bucher were all future family names by marriage. Many were neighbors at the time:
(more…)Frederick William Rice, who is one of Wooster’s earliest patriots, was born to Barnhart and Anna Elizabeth (Eberhart) Rice near Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on September 29th, 1753. Bethlehem was founded in 1741 by the Moravians who came from Germany to share the gospel with the Lenape (“Leh-NAH-pay”) Indians as well as those German-speaking Americans who had no church. His grandparents, Frederick and Elizabeth Reis, were from Wittenberg Germany and came to America in 1732. Frederick was the first in the family line to be born in the American colonies.
In 1769, when Frederick was 13, his parents moved him and his two younger sisters, Anna Maria and Christina, to Hannastown, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania which was still a wooded frontier.
(more…)What follows is an account of an attack by Native Americans on Fort Rice in Northumberland County, PA in September of 1782. It was written by Rev. Mr. Doddridge and quoted in full. A free copy of the original can be found here. Three hundred Indians had besieged the fort at Wheeling, but were compelled to retire. To revenge this defeat they determined that 100 …
Sometimes in my research, I will find a personal story that
Caleb Hendee was a nephew of my 4th great-grandfather Israel Ellsworth Holliday (Caleb’s mother, Caroline Ellsworth, and Israel were siblings). As were several of the family members in that day, Caleb was in the Vermont Militia where he progressed to Brigadier General of the Second Brigade and Second Division. In his later years, he wrote a short manuscript regarding family history, the Revolution, and life in Pittsford, Vermont. It is this manuscript that has helped us piece together exactly what happened in the life of his Uncle Israel Ellsworth and his strange disappearance and change of surname to Holliday. If you want to read about that, click the manuscript link above or my own article.
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