Autumn 2014
Leslie Tillett reminds, "The Pennsylvania Dutch (not Dutch at all, but German, the misnomer arising from the spelling and the anglicized pronunciation of 'Deutsch') are famous for their brightly colored and naively charming designs they applied to their objects of daily use--from their drinking glasses to their barns."
Likewise I've seen it written that "fraktur" is a style, not an object like a marriage certificate. A certificate might be designed in the German fraktur style.
Investigating Wikitree which may prove to be a useful tool for us treesearchers!
And not feeling as compelled to write much fiction in A Quilt for Mama since becoming immersed in the top quality Elm Creek Quilts series by Jennifer Chiaverini. I started with The Union Quilters and was both impressed and grateful for the author's ability to bring the controversy of historical argument into the minds and mouths of characters. As I've been cross-stiching a queen-seized family tree quilt top for my family I've lent an ear to the Elm Creek sewing circle but felt my heart stir for the characters as if they are neighbors in some America that still exists despite technology and time for those of us who hold fast to tradition and care to forge a together even in tumult.
Mama (Sherry Candy Lane) emphasizes that Grandma Pearl (Fox) Bohlinger would never concoct story. Grandma Pearl told Mama that our family has "Indian" in it. And, Mama adds, Pearl had Indian hair.
I suppose that's the way legend gets passed on through social history and through family. And be it exactly factual or grown bigger with tall in tale, legend takes hold just as strongly as truth in some cases.
We're using legend as impetus to firm up the facts. We can make inferences based upon evidence but that is not strictly genealogical proof by any means. We are examining lots of legend and facts to try and piece together a plausible case...
Pearl's father was Elias Fox; his father was Henry Fox who married Clarissa Long; that Henry Fox appears on census lists as in the household of John Hudson Fox and Catherine Fox (whom a genealogical society marks as cousins by virtue of the fact that John Hudson Fox's father was Joseph Newton Fox and Catherine's father was that man's brother Peter Fox). Census lists simply do not tell whole story and can introduce confusion. At this time we have no way of knowing for sure, for example, if Henry Fox was the child of John Hudson Fox and Catherine Fox or if these were the people who raised Henry. We had a tidbit of information suggesting John Hudson Fox married someone else first. And we have to compare what records we can round up with all the names and dates on the census lists.
We also find a maybe clue left by family in the list of relations to Joseph Newton Fox in carefully chosen names. Sired by Joseph were girls and boys and interestingly we find John Hudson Fox and James Wilson Fox...perhaps telling the story of one boy being the child of mother Emily (supposed daughter of Chief White Eyes) and the other being the child of mother Jane "Jennie" Wilson.
So we're reading widely about the time period 1776-1850 in history and also about the different cultures in our family tree undertaking. And we are getting back to the tasks of actual correspondence.
That's our update.
We received this lovely photograph from Olin Hartley in Texas. It's a Henry Fox, possibly the Henry Fox in his database which would be the Henry Fox born 4 APRIL 1803 (Greene County) and who died the 20th of October 1881; the Henry Fox who married Susannah Dulaney.
Olin's family includes a first cousin named Edward Allen Hartley (1913-1999) who married Thelma Marie Fox (1915-2001). They lived up Little Shannon Run outside of Mount Morris. Edward and Thelma's sons still own the farm and Olin's in touch with them.
Olin's family includes a first cousin named Edward Allen Hartley (1913-1999) who married Thelma Marie Fox (1915-2001). They lived up Little Shannon Run outside of Mount Morris. Edward and Thelma's sons still own the farm and Olin's in touch with them.
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| Henry Fox |
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| Sherry Candy Lane's Great-Grandfather Henry Fox who married Clarissa Long |
We were muddling through this part of the family tree. First we needed to make sense of this information that Captain John Fox married his cousin Catharine. The information came from the Cornerstone Genealogical Society and it was some hefty clues.
Henry Fox (born about 1832) married Clarissa (nee Long). Henry Fox's parents were...cousins.
"...Henry Fox was a son of Catherine Fox and John 'Captain John' Fox. This family did appear in the 1850 Census for Perry Township. It appears that his parents were cousins. Catharine was the daughter of Peter Fox and Mary Thomas, and 'Captain John' was the son of Joseph Fox and Jane 'Jennie' Wilson" (Correspondence Cornerstone Genealogical Society, 13 JUNE 2011, Yeager to Lane).
So Catharine's parents were Peter Fox and Mary Thomas.
And Capt. John's parents were Joseph Fox and Jane "Jennie" Wilson.
So Catharine and John were NOT siblings, but Catharine's father and John's father WERE brothers.
We found some ancestral file information on FamilySearch which we need to compare more thoroughly to whatever civilized records we can find.
The file information tells us that Captain John was married twice in his eighty-two years of life.
He married Clarissa Jones DYE of Greene County who was also born in the new century year 1800.
But he also married his cousin Catharine Fox, 20 years his senior.
While the ancestral file tells us that he and Catharine had one child:
James FOX born 25 Feb 1836 Greene Co, PA
We seem to find these people with a house full more in the census of 1850.
There they've got...
An 18 year old HENRY (born in 1832, we believe this is OUR Henry who went on to marry Clarissa Long).
Fifteen year old Eti.
James is 14.
Luerettia, twelve.
Maryann is ten.
Malissa only six.
And then there's Mary. She's 22 years old and she's written down as "idiotic."
The 1850 Census does not show us relationship to head of household so we shouldn't assume that the seven young people are the children of JOHN & CATHARINE. But we did receive word from the people at Cornerstone Genealogical Society that HENRY was the child of Captain John and Catharine.
The story fills in with the ancestral file information. While Captain John's father was Joseph Fox, Catharine's was PETER FOX (born 1755 to John Peter and Elsi Tate FOX). Peter married Mary Thomas.
PETER & MARY had seven children: Margaret, Elizabeth, William, Mary, Peter, CATHARINE (born 5 MAY 1801, died 30 APRIL 1858), and Henry (born in April of 1803, NOT our Henry who married Clarissa).
If Catharine was born in MAY of 1801 and Captain John was born in JUNE of 1800, well that makes them almost the same age! So...maybe we're reading the US CENSUS 1850 wrong OR somebody listed her age incorrectly OR this is the wrong Fox home to be thinking of as family unit which is most likely the case.
Have a look...
Clearly you can see that there are two Peter Foxes and you can see a Susannah next door to Henry about the same age...these may be the Henry Fox and Susannah (Dulaney) who married and who produced the children which includes Dennis Fox.
We're in it up to our eyeballs with Fox cousins getting married because that pegs the responsibility for sorting out this thicket on us through two of the three brothers.
That's right. Peter and Joseph had one other brother--Phillip. Phillip was born in 1760. JOSEPH in 1753. And Peter in 1755. According to the "ancestral file" information on familysearch.org and these were the children of JOHN PETER & ELSI (TATE) FOX. And all three boys were born in New Jersey.
That part of New Jersey which was the winter camp site of the Continental Army in 1779 and again in 1779/80. That part of New Jersey was named Morris County on the 15th of March 1739 and then in 1753 Sussex County was created out of Morris County land.
John Peter Fox was born in 1720 in "German Valley" later Morris County, New Jersey. And the file tells us that Elsi Tate was born the same year. Since their first child Phillip was born in 1753 we can figure that John Peter and Elsi (Tate) probably got married around that time or at least probably before 1753. And that these brothers were born in New Jersey shows that this was the generation of Fox that came to Greene County from New Jersey as mentioned in Dennis Fox's biographical sketch in Bates' History.
The ancestral file gives us the names of the parents of John Peter: Johannes Pieter FUCHS (FOX) born around 1679 & Anna Margartha Maria FUCHS (FOX), born prior to 1713. This couple had three children: Elizabeth, born 14 Feb 1713 Fox Hill, Morris, New Jersey; George, born 1700, Palatinate, Germany, DEATH 27 Apr 1751, Hunterdon Co., New Jersey; JOHN PETER, born 4 Mar 1720 German Valley, Morris Co, N.J., DEATH 17 Mar 1783, Sussex, NJ, BURIAL 10 Mar 1783.
The file says Anna Margartha Maria Fox died after 1720 which is the year that JOHN PETER was born.
JOHN PETER died the 17th of MARCH 1783 in then Sussex County, New Jersey. But at least two of his sons, so far as we can see, Joseph and Peter moved to and eventually died in Greene County, Pennsylvania.
"Ancestral files" are "compilations of entries submitted by individuals (not just Latter Day Saint Church members) listing their relatives. Living individuals are shown only if they are LDS members and specifically give permission. Your distant relative may have submitted your mutual relatives to this file" (45, Anderson and Thode).
Anderson and Thode also report that many Germanic given names were Saint's names, but not all.
And..."In a few regions, there may be a pattern of the oldest son being given the father's father's name; the oldest daughter being given the mother's mother's name; the second son being given the mother's father's name; and the second daughter being given the father's mother's name. In other areas, the first baptismal sponsor ("godfather") provides the first given name; the second one, the second given name. Baptismal sponsors were generally, but not necessarily, related to one of the parents. Be aware that possible regional and religious idiosyncrasies may occur" (17 A GENEALOGIST'S GUIDE TO DISCOVERING YOUR GERMANIC ANCESTORS).
Baptisms of the three official religions (Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed) took place within a few days of birth and involved "christenings" while splinter religions re-baptized their members as adults when the choice regarding baptism was morally made by the individual.
During John Peter's lifetime the Revolutionary War took place and it was in his place in Jersey where the Continental Army camped during the brutal winters of 1777 and '79-'80. But it's directly through John Peter's sons, Peter and Joseph, that we take on the brunt of this story in this blogspace.
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
So we need to look at Captain John Fox as married to three different women.
And through a closer reading of a couple different pedigree chart files and some ancestral files we know that...
Clarissa Jones Dye was born abt 1800.
Clarissa Jones Dye was born 2 JAN 1830. And she died on the 26th of April 1887.
Catherine Fox who married Captain John Fox abt 1820 lived from 1801-1858. Catherine Fox was Captain John's first wife. Her proper vital statistic dates seem to be (1 MAR 1801-30 APR 1858) and so she is ascribed as the mother of Captain John's children born between 1800-1860 to be on the safe side. These children of Clarissa married to Captain john included:
John Hudson Fox (9 FEB 1863-1938)
Ulysses S. "Grant" Fox (15 JAN 1864-16 MAR 1949)
Samuel Fox (born 1866
Deford Fox, born 13 MAY 1867
Lindsay Fox, born 7 AUG 1869, died 1948
So to Captain John's second spouse, Clarissa, is the tentative list...
Samuel D. Fox (1861-after 1880)
John Hudson, Jr Fox (9 FEB 1863-1938)
Ulysses S. Grant Fox (15 JAN 1865-16 MAR 1949)
Deford F. Fox (13 MAY 1867 -July 1966)
This IGI information, the list ascribed to Clarissa are the children born to John Hudson Captain Fox (Born 15 JUNE 1800 at Fox Run, near mount Morris, Greene County, PA---Died 22 MAY 1882, Greene County, PA).
The John Fox who is on an ancestral file list of children of Joseph Fox when he was married to "Jennie" jane Wilson (Martin Fox born 1790, Isaac Fox born 1793, Rebecca Fox born 1794, John Fox born 1800, James Wilson Fox born 1803, Charity Fox born 1805, Mary Fox born 1807, Elizabeth born 1809.
And there is a pedigree chart file which gives us further information about Jane "Jennie" Wilson. She was born in 1764 in Tennent Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey and died 1834 in Perry Township, Greene County, PA. Jane's parents were James Wilson (born 5 July 1721 Middlesex County, NJ) and Margaret Perrine (born 1728 Perrinville, Monmouth, New Jersey---Married to James Wilson 3 MAR 1743 in Perth Amboy, Middelsex, New Jersey---Died 24 JAN 1779.
The Jane Wilson who married Joseph Fox, married the Joseph Fox (1753-1847) whose parents were Elsie Tate (1720-1770) and John Peter Fox (4 MAR 1720-10 MAR 1783). This couple came from New Jersey and settled in Greene County, PA.
Then their son John Hudson Captain Fox was born on the 15th of June 1800 at Fox Run, near Mount Morris, Greene County, PA.
His spouse to be...Catharine Fox (born 5 MAR 1801, married Capt. John abt 1820, died 30 APR 1858). Their children:
William Fox (14 SEPT 1821-24 JULY 1911)
Josephus or Jocephas Fox (died 19 FEB 1901)
Lewis Fox (Sept 1829-after 1880)
Henry Fox (4 MAR 1831-12 JAN 1898)
Eli Fox (7 FEB 1834-14 DEC 1913)
James Fox (25 FEB 1836-31 MAR 1928)
Lucretia Fox (28 FEB 1838-29 MAR 1879)
Mary Ann Fox (born abt 1840)
Frank Marion Fox (born abt 1840, died 1911)
We can compare all this information to Census Records and see...
In Perry Township 1850:
Catharine Fox, age 49
John Fox, age 29 ? 49 ?
Eti Fox (probably Eli) age 16
James Fox, age 14
Luerettia Fox, age 12
Mary Ann, age 10
Malissa Fox, age 6
Mary Fox, age 22
And overlay the different types of information.
And we can look forward int he Census Records and see, for example,
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| Grandpa Jesse and Grandma Pearl's Farmstead at West Branch, Michigan |
It was on this farm that "Here Peter Fox planted a little willow spout which he brought with him, and the tree is now twenty-one feet in circumference, by actual measurement. This tree is to remain standing, as Dennis says, a monument to the memory of him who planted it so many years ago" (Bates, 815).
That is the tradition story that so much impressed us when we first began our family tree research and realized why our Grandma Pearl Fox had planted a sprig of willow when she married Jesse Bohlinger and moved to a farm in West Branch, Michigan.
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| Grandma Pearl's Willow in West Branch, Michigan |
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| Grandma Pearl Fox Bohlinger in West Branch, Michigan |
Pearl didn't have children with Jesse Bohlinger. She'd had two children with Glenn Wilson when she lived in West Virginia after she'd grown up with Mammy and Pappy Fox (Ida Mae nee Delaney and Elias Fox the son of Henry and Clarissa Fox).
Henry and Clarissa (nee Long) Fox grew up in Pennsylvania.
Joseph Newton Fox
We have our notes from a November 2012 internet correspondence with Lori in Arizona.
I love this stuff. At that time Lori in Arizona was working on connecting the last two wives of Joseph Newton Fox. She was in communications with a Diane who found herself a G-G-G-G of Joseph Newton Fox...related to Elenor "Elsey" Dobbins.
Lori was trying to look through the multitude of John Fox-es and place the appropriate children with their respective children. They were also in search of those buried at a Fox cemetery in Fox Run.
She also forwarded rootsweb information RE: FOX PAGRE Emily Sac and the Sachems (the Indian Princess).
They'd gotten a hold of family tree and Census records from 1850 and backwards. So we tailored our Fox research more towards 1850-1900 which worked well for us to do because we were working backwards from Elias Fox and his father Henry Fox (1831-1898) over in Miracle Run, West Virginia. You can click the link below to get over to that part of our web cluster.
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Joseph was the eldest of the three FUCHS brothers--Joseph, Peter, and Phillip (born 1753 or 1758, 1755, 1760 respectively) born in "New Jersey."
Joseph Fox's birth and death dates come to us from his Revolutionary War Pension Papers.
JOSEPH married Emily (Sac) about 1778/80. Emily, Sac--The daughter of Chief White Eyes. Chief White Eyes was of the Delaware Lenape, Turtle Clan from New Jersey. Joseph and Emily had the children Elizabeth Betty (born in 1781), an as yet unknown Fox child possibly born in 1783, Mary who came along in 1785, and Martin Peter (born in 1790).
[Unclear in my notes] There was a child born in New Jersey in 1779/80 but died on the 11th of November 1875 in Perry Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania.
JOSEPH married again in 1789 to Miss Jane "Jennie" Wilson in Morgantown, Pennsylvania (per John Walter Fox 1900-1991 from Jocelyn in Ohio). Morgantown, PA is in Carnavon Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania.
JOSEPH and Jane had children...
Looks like Martin came first on the 2nd of August 1790 in Perry Township.
And Isaac came in 1793.
Rebecca in '94.
Charity (Catharine) was born in 1799
The new millennium--1800--brought JOHN HUDSON FOX.
And in October of 1803 James Wilson Fox joined the family.
Two years later Joseph in 1805.
It was Joseph Newton Fox and Jane "Jennie" Wilson, apparently, who were buried in Fox Run Cemetery on Fox Run about 3 miles NW of Mount Morris. But not before Joseph Newton Fox married for a thrid time...
To Elsey Eboner Dobbins.
"Elsey" became a GGG in this research through her marriage to Joseph Newton and their children:
Lot was born in 1837.
George in 1841.
And Elisha rounded out Joseph Newton's children list in 1848.
Lori in Arizona finds Joseph Fox on the Whiteley Township, Green County US Census 1800. That year the Census didn't list individual names besides the Head of Household, in this case, Joseph Fox. And there are seven people with him. 1 male under ten years old; 1 male 10-16 years old; 1 male 56 and over; 2 females under ten; 1 female 10-16 years old; and 1 female 26-45. This Census snapshot is on Series M32, Roll 40, page 15.
Right next door to Joseph Fox is...
In ten years from 1800 we get another snapshot...(Series M52, Roll 49, page 40) Whiteley Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania.
Lori's research also turned up Joseph Newton Fox on Whiteley Township Tax Lists. In 1820 Joseph Newton Fox owned 200 acres of land, a house, a cabin, one horse, one cow and a dog.
I love this stuff. At that time Lori in Arizona was working on connecting the last two wives of Joseph Newton Fox. She was in communications with a Diane who found herself a G-G-G-G of Joseph Newton Fox...related to Elenor "Elsey" Dobbins.
Lori was trying to look through the multitude of John Fox-es and place the appropriate children with their respective children. They were also in search of those buried at a Fox cemetery in Fox Run.
She also forwarded rootsweb information RE: FOX PAGRE Emily Sac and the Sachems (the Indian Princess).
They'd gotten a hold of family tree and Census records from 1850 and backwards. So we tailored our Fox research more towards 1850-1900 which worked well for us to do because we were working backwards from Elias Fox and his father Henry Fox (1831-1898) over in Miracle Run, West Virginia. You can click the link below to get over to that part of our web cluster.
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Joseph Newton Fox
Joseph was the eldest of the three FUCHS brothers--Joseph, Peter, and Phillip (born 1753 or 1758, 1755, 1760 respectively) born in "New Jersey."
Joseph Fox's birth and death dates come to us from his Revolutionary War Pension Papers.
JOSEPH married Emily (Sac) about 1778/80. Emily, Sac--The daughter of Chief White Eyes. Chief White Eyes was of the Delaware Lenape, Turtle Clan from New Jersey. Joseph and Emily had the children Elizabeth Betty (born in 1781), an as yet unknown Fox child possibly born in 1783, Mary who came along in 1785, and Martin Peter (born in 1790).
[Unclear in my notes] There was a child born in New Jersey in 1779/80 but died on the 11th of November 1875 in Perry Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania.
JOSEPH married again in 1789 to Miss Jane "Jennie" Wilson in Morgantown, Pennsylvania (per John Walter Fox 1900-1991 from Jocelyn in Ohio). Morgantown, PA is in Carnavon Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania.
JOSEPH and Jane had children...
Looks like Martin came first on the 2nd of August 1790 in Perry Township.
And Isaac came in 1793.
Rebecca in '94.
Charity (Catharine) was born in 1799
The new millennium--1800--brought JOHN HUDSON FOX.
And in October of 1803 James Wilson Fox joined the family.
Two years later Joseph in 1805.
It was Joseph Newton Fox and Jane "Jennie" Wilson, apparently, who were buried in Fox Run Cemetery on Fox Run about 3 miles NW of Mount Morris. But not before Joseph Newton Fox married for a thrid time...
To Elsey Eboner Dobbins.
"Elsey" became a GGG in this research through her marriage to Joseph Newton and their children:
Lot was born in 1837.
George in 1841.
And Elisha rounded out Joseph Newton's children list in 1848.
Lori in Arizona finds Joseph Fox on the Whiteley Township, Green County US Census 1800. That year the Census didn't list individual names besides the Head of Household, in this case, Joseph Fox. And there are seven people with him. 1 male under ten years old; 1 male 10-16 years old; 1 male 56 and over; 2 females under ten; 1 female 10-16 years old; and 1 female 26-45. This Census snapshot is on Series M32, Roll 40, page 15.
Keep in mind that these early Censuses do not tell us kinship or relationship.
(1800 US Census) Peter Fox
2 females under ten
1 female age 10-16
1 female 45 and over
2 males under ten
1 male 10-16
1 male 45 and over
In ten years from 1800 we get another snapshot...(Series M52, Roll 49, page 40) Whiteley Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania.
(1810 US Census) Joseph Fox
2 females under ten
2 females 16-26
1 female 45 and over
1 male 10-16
1 male 45 and over
There is a "Pedigree Reference File" (MM9.2.1/SBR5-4FM) at FamilySearch contributed in May of 2011 which gives us James Fox (25 FEB 1836-31 MAR 1928) born and died in Greene County, PN. This file shows his parents as Joseph and Jane (Wilson) Fox.
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The Joseph Fox, father of James Fox (and possibly ten other children) seems to have been the Joseph "Newton" Fox who married three different women at different times. His wives seem to have included an Emily (the Indian Princess), Jane "Jennie" Wilson, and Eleanor "Elsey" Dobbins.
Some accounts give his birth year as 1753 (June) and his birth in Morris County, New Jersey. This puts him on a list of three brothers--Joseph, Peter, and Phillip (born 1753, 1755, 1760 to the parents John Peter and Elsie Tate.
It is brother Peter, we believe, to be the listed grandparent of Dennis Fox. Those grandparents which removed from New Jersey to Pennsylvania (not all that far in family history). Those grandparents would have been the parents of the Catharine Fox (born +/- 1801) who (possibly for financial reasons) married her cousin--Captain John Fox.
One cousin's father was brother Peter and one cousin's father was brother Joseph.
It is not uncommon to find a) families with multiple properties assigning relatives to dwellings based on phase of life i.e., education, apprenticeship; b) survivors shacking up to sustain; c) different religious denominations in same family/generational changes in religion; d) rampant variations in spelling; e) specific inheritance issues like old world Germanic (Franks) Salic Law (property passed strictly through the male line/property is indivisible/farm name stays with the land/women inherit the farm only if there are no sons/if a man marries a woman to get her farm he takes HER name) influencing more modern rules. In the old world, for instance, Salic Law combined with erbpacht--the right to tenancy of a farm as inheritance--even for "common" people.
But without being able to talk to any of these distant relatives it's practically impossible to understand why they were doing what they were doing. Just as in some cases surnames and given names were passed along to indicate financial/farm/father-son structure, we cannot assume anything only learn as much as possible to better look at the whole picture. Many of the details fall into place once we understand all the factors.
Even while America was modernizing by becoming a population beholden to a central government many of the immigrants internalized the old ways within their family structures.
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The Bates' History entry for John (Dennis and Catharine's brother) tells us the dates of their parents' deaths. Susannah died on Christmas Eve in 1875. And Henry in Oct of 1882.
Sure enough, we find Henry and Susannah on the 1870 Census (Whiteley Township) ages 73 and 67. Living in their dwelling is not more Fox but a farm laborer named William Maddison. A domestic servant (same age, 14) Mary J. Gump. And two Ruses...21 year old Olliver Ruse (farm hand) and Barbary D. Ruse (aged 19) also a domestic servant.
But by 1880 the Census tells us that Susannah has passed. Henry is 75 years old and widowed, he's actually listed as other to head of household Oliver Ruse (who has turned 31) and Oliver's wife Barbra Ruse (age 40). There is another "other" and that is Jestus Billby, eleven years old.
In 1880, Dennis and Betsy are both fifty-three and some of their children are still with them--David (28), Susannah (24), Kinsey (22), James (20), Sarah J. (16), and Marion (13).
But by 1891 Dennis is re-marrying to Minerva Shriver. The dates of death of their previous wife/husband are in the record books for Waynesburg (although Minerva's place of residence at the time they married was Junis Run, Monongalia, West Virginia) BUT these dates are crossed out in the image of the record I looked at online. Date of death of man's former wife: July 23, 1888 [crossed out] and date of death of woman's former husband: Nov 4, 1887 [crossed out]. Fox and Shriver have no blood relationship between them.
And in the 1900 US Census, Dennis and Minerva aren't the only married couple in the household. Dennis' son Kinsie and his wife Sidie B. and their son Forny B. are with Dennis and Minerva. While Dennis reports being married for 52 years, Minerva lists nine years as well as having given birth to ten children (7 still living at that time).
It's through the Clerk at the Orphan's Court that we find the certificates re: Dennis and Minerva's marriage. Must be the way things were structured in the court system at that time. Or maybe their marriage had something to do with adoption/inheritance matters. I haven't sorted out every detail about the legal doings in Pennsylvania and West Virginia yet.
In fact I need to get some clarification on why people show up associated with the Minor Civil Division esp in regards the US Census 1860. We find a thirty-three year old Dennis Fox showing up that way. And interestingly, no less than three instances of a 55 year old Henry Fox showing up that way...Minor Civil Division in Whiteley Township, East Huntingdon Township and Hereford Township.
And there's an immigrant Henry Fox who turns up in Philadelphia via the ship Musconomo. He's about fifty when he arrives in 1852.
The Henry Fox who married Mary and was living at the time of the US Census 1870 was in Hempfield, Westmoreland, Pennsylvania. His Joseph Fox is a 32 year old barn carpenter in 1870. That Henry Fox is listed as being born in abt 1802-1805. But their Post Office is Greenburg, not Kirby like Henry Fox who married Susannah.
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My genealogy day began with a headline from the past screaming at me from a death registry.
ANDERSON WILSON MURDERED, dateline 5 OCT 1876
I didn't have time to investigate the case. Needed to get on with the business of Captain John.
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The Joseph Fox, father of James Fox (and possibly ten other children) seems to have been the Joseph "Newton" Fox who married three different women at different times. His wives seem to have included an Emily (the Indian Princess), Jane "Jennie" Wilson, and Eleanor "Elsey" Dobbins.
Some accounts give his birth year as 1753 (June) and his birth in Morris County, New Jersey. This puts him on a list of three brothers--Joseph, Peter, and Phillip (born 1753, 1755, 1760 to the parents John Peter and Elsie Tate.
It is brother Peter, we believe, to be the listed grandparent of Dennis Fox. Those grandparents which removed from New Jersey to Pennsylvania (not all that far in family history). Those grandparents would have been the parents of the Catharine Fox (born +/- 1801) who (possibly for financial reasons) married her cousin--Captain John Fox.
One cousin's father was brother Peter and one cousin's father was brother Joseph.
It is not uncommon to find a) families with multiple properties assigning relatives to dwellings based on phase of life i.e., education, apprenticeship; b) survivors shacking up to sustain; c) different religious denominations in same family/generational changes in religion; d) rampant variations in spelling; e) specific inheritance issues like old world Germanic (Franks) Salic Law (property passed strictly through the male line/property is indivisible/farm name stays with the land/women inherit the farm only if there are no sons/if a man marries a woman to get her farm he takes HER name) influencing more modern rules. In the old world, for instance, Salic Law combined with erbpacht--the right to tenancy of a farm as inheritance--even for "common" people.
But without being able to talk to any of these distant relatives it's practically impossible to understand why they were doing what they were doing. Just as in some cases surnames and given names were passed along to indicate financial/farm/father-son structure, we cannot assume anything only learn as much as possible to better look at the whole picture. Many of the details fall into place once we understand all the factors.
Even while America was modernizing by becoming a population beholden to a central government many of the immigrants internalized the old ways within their family structures.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Bates' History entry for John (Dennis and Catharine's brother) tells us the dates of their parents' deaths. Susannah died on Christmas Eve in 1875. And Henry in Oct of 1882.
Sure enough, we find Henry and Susannah on the 1870 Census (Whiteley Township) ages 73 and 67. Living in their dwelling is not more Fox but a farm laborer named William Maddison. A domestic servant (same age, 14) Mary J. Gump. And two Ruses...21 year old Olliver Ruse (farm hand) and Barbary D. Ruse (aged 19) also a domestic servant.
But by 1880 the Census tells us that Susannah has passed. Henry is 75 years old and widowed, he's actually listed as other to head of household Oliver Ruse (who has turned 31) and Oliver's wife Barbra Ruse (age 40). There is another "other" and that is Jestus Billby, eleven years old.
In 1880, Dennis and Betsy are both fifty-three and some of their children are still with them--David (28), Susannah (24), Kinsey (22), James (20), Sarah J. (16), and Marion (13).
But by 1891 Dennis is re-marrying to Minerva Shriver. The dates of death of their previous wife/husband are in the record books for Waynesburg (although Minerva's place of residence at the time they married was Junis Run, Monongalia, West Virginia) BUT these dates are crossed out in the image of the record I looked at online. Date of death of man's former wife: July 23, 1888 [crossed out] and date of death of woman's former husband: Nov 4, 1887 [crossed out]. Fox and Shriver have no blood relationship between them.
And in the 1900 US Census, Dennis and Minerva aren't the only married couple in the household. Dennis' son Kinsie and his wife Sidie B. and their son Forny B. are with Dennis and Minerva. While Dennis reports being married for 52 years, Minerva lists nine years as well as having given birth to ten children (7 still living at that time).
It's through the Clerk at the Orphan's Court that we find the certificates re: Dennis and Minerva's marriage. Must be the way things were structured in the court system at that time. Or maybe their marriage had something to do with adoption/inheritance matters. I haven't sorted out every detail about the legal doings in Pennsylvania and West Virginia yet.
In fact I need to get some clarification on why people show up associated with the Minor Civil Division esp in regards the US Census 1860. We find a thirty-three year old Dennis Fox showing up that way. And interestingly, no less than three instances of a 55 year old Henry Fox showing up that way...Minor Civil Division in Whiteley Township, East Huntingdon Township and Hereford Township.
And there's an immigrant Henry Fox who turns up in Philadelphia via the ship Musconomo. He's about fifty when he arrives in 1852.
The Henry Fox who married Mary and was living at the time of the US Census 1870 was in Hempfield, Westmoreland, Pennsylvania. His Joseph Fox is a 32 year old barn carpenter in 1870. That Henry Fox is listed as being born in abt 1802-1805. But their Post Office is Greenburg, not Kirby like Henry Fox who married Susannah.
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My genealogy day began with a headline from the past screaming at me from a death registry.
ANDERSON WILSON MURDERED, dateline 5 OCT 1876
I didn't have time to investigate the case. Needed to get on with the business of Captain John.
So...on the 1876 map of Whiteley Township right on the border with Perry Township there we have Grandma Pearl's childhood iconic Willow tree. By 1876 it is on the property of Dennis Fox, a child of Henry and Susannah (Dulaney) Fox. All of this we know from using Bates' History to compare the facts to Census records.
Since everything about Dennis and John Fox's biographical sketches in Bates' work checks out we can most likely say that our Germanic Foxes were of Dutch heritage.
Going back to the US Census of 1850 we find our immediate family, in part, sticking close together. In the 1850 Greene County landscape Dennis, his brother John, and their father and mother--Henry and Susan are in between the Shultz and Whitlatch families in Whiteley Township.
Denes Fox is 23 years old. He's already married to Elizabeth (Betsey John) who is the same age. With them is a one year old Henry Fox and Meriah Delana (she's twelve and in school). These are dwelling #25, family #25 on the visitation list of the enumerator.
In 26/26 is Henry Fox (age 47) and Susannah Fox who is five years older than Henry. With them are Sarah Fox and Barbary Fox (ages 17 and fifteen respectively).
And then 27/27 gives us John Fox, only twenty, and his wife Dorotha (19). With them are Jackson Rose and Colbern Whitlatch (ages 13, 9). This is not surprising since the Whitlach families are right nearby--Joseph Whitlach Senior is in 28/28 and Junior in 29/29. When we get to 30/30 we've got John family (Betsey's maiden name).
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Since everything about Dennis and John Fox's biographical sketches in Bates' work checks out we can most likely say that our Germanic Foxes were of Dutch heritage.
Going back to the US Census of 1850 we find our immediate family, in part, sticking close together. In the 1850 Greene County landscape Dennis, his brother John, and their father and mother--Henry and Susan are in between the Shultz and Whitlatch families in Whiteley Township.
Denes Fox is 23 years old. He's already married to Elizabeth (Betsey John) who is the same age. With them is a one year old Henry Fox and Meriah Delana (she's twelve and in school). These are dwelling #25, family #25 on the visitation list of the enumerator.
In 26/26 is Henry Fox (age 47) and Susannah Fox who is five years older than Henry. With them are Sarah Fox and Barbary Fox (ages 17 and fifteen respectively).
And then 27/27 gives us John Fox, only twenty, and his wife Dorotha (19). With them are Jackson Rose and Colbern Whitlatch (ages 13, 9). This is not surprising since the Whitlach families are right nearby--Joseph Whitlach Senior is in 28/28 and Junior in 29/29. When we get to 30/30 we've got John family (Betsey's maiden name).
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Over in Perry Township, we have a Census record of interest as well.
We have a household with a Catharine Fox (age 49) and John Fox (age 29).
With them are Henry Fox (18), Eti Fox (16),
James Fox (14), Luerettia Fox (12),
Mary Ann Fox (10),
Malissa Fox (6),
Mary Fox (age 22).
The Catharine Fox with a purported age of 49 would indicate that she was born +/- 1801.
This would put her not in the birth times of Dennis and John Fox, but in the time period of the births of the children ascribed to Mary Thomas and Peter Fox. These births seem to range from 1789-1803.
The biographical sketch of Dennis Fox tells us that Mary Thomas and Peter Fox were Dennis' GRANDparents. And it was this Peter Fox who planted the willow sprout on the farmstead.
It was these GRANDparents who came from New Jersey and established the family in
Greene County, Pennsylvania.
An interesting thing happens when we virtually hop over to some History of New Jersey.
We've been reading History of Sussex and Warren Counties, New Jersey by James P. Snell (Philadelphia" Everts & Peck, 1881).
We went to Sussex County history because we'd heard that a man named John Pieter Fox died there in March of 1783. And because Snell boldly tells of other historians not being as complete as possible in their historic tellings, thereby obscuring a good chunk of history which demonstrates that the Dutch were a formidable root source in the what became valuable area of the upper mid-Atlantic.
It's not uncommon to find retro-history written to support later ownership both in geographic histories and in genealogy.
Sometimes in genealogy whole familyscapes are re-written based on financial details rather than biological information.
And it's not uncommon to find mistakes and erroneous information in family lore, such as someone declaring a family surname was Fox and they were "german" therefore the match of surname is FUCHS.
Perhaps not. If, for example, the "germans" in question were Dutch, the surname might very well have been...____________________. Hard to pronounce to the strictly English-speaking tongue, hard to transliterate, and hard to translate. There are millions of records in the world which have yet to be translated. And this can lead to stumbling blocks and dead ends when it comes to research.
It is difficult and slow-going work to match variations to America's records.
One way to get going on getting closer is to learn all about emigration patterns, church records, geographical areas, and realistic possibilities like trends in employment and family ways regarding farm work and inheritance, marriage and moving around. Then in our historical minds we can glean a more complete picture of these distant past people.
For mama's Quilt purposes we need to first gather and broadly brushstroke and then embroider details.
When we go over to the "ancient valley of the minisink" we find a lot of commotion between all the industry and immigration.
We also see that most of the Thomas people were Welsh. What these had in common with many "germanic" emigres and pushing further westward pioneers and settlers was IRONWORKS.
From the old Mine Road forged through the wilderness still keeping Philadelphia as a log cabin or two at this time, we can travel through the Pahaquarry area. We come across river settlements, fertile soil, and a mixture of clucking and vowel-ing that constitutes the language of the day. The roots of the trees here are taking hold before the Huguenots were scrambling and far-flung because of the Edict of Nantes (1685). And the roots of these trees were accustomed to a more free-flowing sense of travel and establishment than colon-izing per King. This was way before Skull and Lukens' survey tour in 1730 when they raved about the tasty apples on grown trees in already-old orchards. Back before the "upper neighborhood" formed around Port Jervis and the "lower neighborhood" on both sides of the Neversink was becoming thickly settled. Back before the proverbial forks were proverbially flooded (due in part to old world recrutiment and writing back to fetch--following; and in part to famine and being too far down on the food chain from father to inherit the old world farms); back before Penn penned Pennsylvania; back even before Peenpack and tracing the path that followed the Mamakating to the Pahaqualin. Even pre-Esopus being filled up to capacity forcing a furthering to the Delaware Flats.
This company of "miners" from Holland were digging and firing, flattening and forging.
And they were planting and growing fruit so that extended family and "friends"--neighbors to come and passers through--might travel lightly but eat well. Their sense of sustainability was part and parcel with their survival.
This sustainability and collective ability to work and live with each other empowered these people to semblence themselves into enough of a population considered a "voting precinct" by an Act of the Provincial Assembly of New York in October of 1701. By that time the old mining road had been abandoned due to the English King's takeover and conflicting jurisdiction to the locals'. But from 1701 to about 1709 there were a considerable amount of voters who needed to be concerned with "the more regular proceedings in the Election of Representatives"...these were the "inhabitants of Wagachemick (Neversink) and Great and Little Minisink (islands)" and they were assigned to give their votes in the County of Ulster, New York. Another Act passed in the November of 1709 moved their votes to "Orange County," precinct of Minisink.
Snell recommends we read an article by B.A. Westbrook, Esq of Montague called "Old Minisink."
But it's not until we get over to Morris County (Munsell's History) New Jersey in our readings that we come across the Welsh Thomas family deep into ironworks and a family Faesch.
No Fuchs. There is one Fox and he is a Reverend. Reverend Daniel Fox, I believe.
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