The Gen Project

Sometimes it can be really difficult to prove a line of descent for an individual, especially when that individual lived during the mid 1800’s. This is a period I often refer to as the black hole of records, as the folks who produce books of church records usually concentrate on records before 1800 and the census information does not become really helpful until the late part of the 1800’s. I have wished for years that some of my own ancestors had been a bit better about listing details in the records they left behind, such as where family members were buried.

A case in point is my great-great-grandmother, Amanda Gregg, born in 1835. From information copied from an old family bible years ago, I knew that Amanda was the daughter of Isaac and Hannah Gregg and that she had married David M. Reynolds in 1857, but I was having real difficulties proving anything substantial about her. I even knew what she looked like as the picture to the right, handed down to me by my mother, hangs in the hallway at my house. The 1850 census shows her in Kennett township in Chester County with her parents, Isaac and Hannah Gregg, at age 15. By 1860, she had married and shows up in Fulton township, Lancaster County with husband David Reynolds. By 1870, she’s back in Kennett, a widow with three children: Mary C., Albert and Isaac. Without the bible record, I would have no clue about Amanda and her husband and children, as I have yet to discover where she was married, or where she and David were ultimately buried. From the same bible record, I know that Isaac, the youngest son, was born at Peach Bottom in 1864 and lived for most of his life in West Chester and is buried at Oaklands Cemetery in West Chester, so perhaps Amanda will turn up there as well but I have my doubts as she is not anywhere to be found near Isaac’s grave at Oaklands. Both the Reynolds and the Gregg families were Quaker, so the most likely places to look for her and David will be in the Quaker meeting burial grounds in the area. I’m going to set an official goal of finding them this summer. My best guess is New Garden meeting, as the death notice for Isaac Gregg, Amanda’s father, states the he died in New Garden, though London Grove is also a possibility as David’s parents were married there in 1795.

It would be interesting to know just when the picture of Amanda was taken, as that might also provide some clues about where she ended up, but as it is, the picture will serve as a reminder to me that she remains a somewhat intriguing mystery to solve as she outlived her husband by nearly 20 years.

One of my great-great-grandmothers on my mother’s side was a lady named Elizabeth Jane Rankin, better known to all as Lizzie. Her family was well-off and well-known in the Shippensburg, PA area, having been in that area for quite a few generations. Born in 1842, she was perhaps well on her way to permanent spinsterhood when she finally married John A. C. McCune in 1868. The picture to the right shows her as an older woman and was probably taken in the latter part of the 1800’s. Lizzie and John had six children: Caroline, Alexander, William, Mary Kezia, Alfred and Elizabeth.

Other than her significant dates and the names of her children, there isn’t too much information to be found about Lizzie. It is possible, however, to get a better picture of her life from some of the things that are known about others in the family. For example, from an article written after his death, we learn that her husband, John McCune, was quite fond of adventure before settling down as an attorney in Shippensburg and he and his brother Edmund was very involved in the founding of the college there. Part of the story of John’s adventures includes him disappearing after being lost at sea for awhile, so it is quite possible that, if he and Lizzie had known each other earlier, she may well have given up on him. Eventually, however, he did return and they were married in 1868.

At some point prior to her marriage, Lizzie, like other young woman of that time, would have been setting aside household items for the day when she had a place of her own. Among such items, apparently was a set of twelve teaspoons of sterling silver, though they may have been part of a more complete set. All we know though is that these spoons were handed down to her descendants and found their way to my house eventually. I only recently unearthed them as they were tucked away in my mother’s old silver chest and just turned up recently. The spoons were produced by the Whiting silver company and the pattern, called Grecian, was patented in 1862, so Lizzie would have acquired them in her early 20’s. The spoons carried the monogram of ER.

What made the spoons most interesting to me was the design itself of the spoons. The top of the spoon has a ram’s head design with the horns appearing on the back of the spoon as well, and the center of the spoon is decorated with a gargoyle. Hardly the type of design that is typically found in a hope chest, to be sure. In an earlier post, I had mentioned an old mourning bracelet that had come down from my Cumberland county side, so in light of these spoons, I think it’s probable that the mourning bracelet belonged to Lizzie as well. As far as I know, these spoons are the only silverware that has come down that belonged to Lizzie, but it would certainly be interesting to know if she had more of this pattern.

My paternal grandmother rarely spoke about her own family, though she was a great source of information about many other things. I was a bit surprised, therefore, to find that her grandfather, Israel Cleaver, had been a very well -known doctor in the area, having served as a surgeon during the Civil War. Somewhere along the line, he was presented with a gold-headed walking stick, which like so many other family artifacts, has ended up in my house.

Israel's Cane

The workmanship is very detailed. the next picture shows the engraving itself on the head of the cane.

Head of Cane

It would be nice to know when the cane was presented to Dr. Cleaver and the circumstances behind the presentation, but for now, I’m just happy to have it in the collection.

While in the early part of the 1800’s we saw needlework memorializing ancestors, by the late part of the century, more personal forms of meorialization had become the vogue as memorial jewelry became the fashion. Hair bracelets, made from woven strands of family members’ hair became extremely popular.

Mourning Bracelet

Though I don’t know who made the bracelet shown above, I do know that it came from my maternal grandmother’s side and probably had its origins in Cumberland county. This particular bracelet also includes some pieces of hair in the locket itself.

Mourning Bracelet Detail

The workmanship and time that must have gone into making a bracelet like this is rather amazing and it is a shame that many of them were salvaged years later for the precious metals used in the fastenings. They are a beautiful, if rather unique, form of expression.

Last week, this blog featured the needlework of Harriet B. Trimble - this time we’ll take a look at one of her talented sisters, Esther B. Trimble, known to all as Hettie. Born in 1819, Hettie was the youngest of the six Trimble daughters and was best known in her later years for her esteemed graperie in West Chester. So well-known in the area were Hettie’s grapes that they won first place at the Philadelphia Exhibition in 1876.

The medal is solid bronze and is about 4 inches in diameter and about a quarter inch thick. It even has its own velvet-lined case of leather. Here’s the reverse side:

Reverse of Medal

Hettie’s grapes were also the subject of a painting that is lurking around here somewhere. Once I locate the painting, I’ll add a picture of it as well.

Hettie died in 1873 and is buried at Oakland Cemetery in West Chester.