Category Archives: Genealogy

Ellen “Ella” Rinehart, a great-great granddaughter of Christian b. 1716

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My puzzle for the weekend was one step beyond the HUFFORD name: Ellen Dorcas “Ella” RINEHART’s mother was a born Hufford. What is below can be considered a replacement for page 224 of the HUFFORD FAMILY HISTORY. The first problem with page 224 is that the book editor misspelled the last name of Ella’s first husband. The correct spelling is LONGENECKER.

from page 224

Ellen Dorcas “Ella” Rinehart: 1st Mrs. Longenecker, 2nd Mrs. Frick, 3rd Mrs. Jennings.

Ellen Dorcas “Ella” RINEHART was the 11th child of Sarah Hufford (page 218), who was the 6th child of Christian III (page 200), who was the son of Christian II (b. 1746), who was the son of Christian the immigrant (b. 1716 in Schwaigern).

    (As an aside, the number in front of each person in the book is the birth order for that child. There is no real index in the book, and understanding the code to birth order is key to finding people in the book, and to finding both the ancestors and descendants of a person. The book was put together for family, family who knew how they all were related.)

Ella married Franklin W. LONGENECKER on December 24, 1874. With Franklin, she had seven children: Iva E. (m. Donovan SHIELDS), Artha F. (m. Jesse VAN HART), Leona (m. Charles W. McDONALD), Pearl A. (m. Elmer HARTER), Olive (m. Earl WISE), Dessa Z.    (m. Walter “Bob” TIBBETTS), and Webster Orville. Ella’s husband Franklin died in May 1894.

In 1896, she married the widower Rudy FRICK (b. 1845), a carpenter and Civil War veteran. He was the father of at least seven children from his first marriage. In November 1903, well into her 40s, Ella gave birth to Rudy’s son, Robert. In February 1904, Rudy died. Nineteen months later, Rudy and Ella’s son Robert died.

About a year later, Ella married a third time, to another widower: William Calvin JENNINGS, a farmer born in 1852. Calvin died in March 1930.

In April 1930, Ella was living in Washington Twp., Darke Co., Ohio, with her daughter Pearl and Pearl’s husband Elmer Harter.

Ella died of bronchial pneumonia on March 3, 1931, in Darke Co., Ohio. Her remains were laid to rest at Hillgrove Cemetery, with her first husband and her son Robert.

Her gravestone and her death certificate together show that the puzzle pieces have been fitted together correctly:

Death certificate for Ellen Dorcas Rinehart

PAGE NOTE: Ellen Rinehart is listed on page 224 of the 1909 HUFFORD FAMILY HISTORY.

Jacob Hufford of Scott Co., Indiana: TWO WIVES

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Success today!

I long had puzzled about Jacob Hufford (son of John, son of Christian b. 1716 Schwaigern). The facts on him just weren’t adding up.

The 1909 HUFFORD FAMILY HISTORY said this, at page 264:

snip from page 264

I found his marriage record to Elizabeth Ann ALLEN in Scott Co., Indiana, 25-June-1823. I found him in Scott Co. in 1830, living near his brothers Solomon, John, and William, and near Samuel HOPPER, his sister Elizabeth’s husband. He and his wife had four children under ten – two boys and two girls.

In 1834, he bought 38 acres in Scott Co.; in 1837, another 38 acres; in 1839, 40 acres. All land was in section 1, township 3-N, range 7-E, 2nd PM meridian.

In 1840, they were still in Scott Co. They were living next to Jacob’s brother William and a few farms down from Patsy Hufford, the wife of their brother John. Seven children in the household: five boys and two girls.

In 1850, the family had moved to Decatur Co., Iowa. In the household were their children James, Jacob, Elizabeth, John, and Eliza. In 1860, John and Elizabeth were back in Scott Co., Indiana, with one grandson. By 1872, Jacob was in Cherokee, Butte Co., California, where he was listed on the voter registration list.

In June 1880, his wife Elizabeth was in Butte Co., with their son James and daughter Elizabeth, but Jacob was not in the household.

In October 1880, Elizabeth died. Her death notice appeared in the Chico Semi-Weekly Enterprise on October 19, 1880, and her gravestone says she died October 13, 1880:
ELIZABETH ANN
Wife of
Jacob Hufford
DIED
Oct. 13, 1880.
Aged 77 yrs. & 6 mo.
Elizabeth's gravestone

Buried in the same cemetery are Jacob and Elizabeth’s son James Allen and John Newton. It is a clear match for Jacob’s wife Elizabeth.

However, there are death notices for Jacob Hufford and his wife Elizabeth in the old weekly newspaper The Chronicle of Scott Co., Indiana. Elizabeth’s notice appeared Dec. 17, 1891, page 3, column 2, saying she died Dec. 9, 1891. Jacob’s notice appeared Dec. 24, 1891, page 3, column 2, saying that he died Dec. 18, 1891, in New Frankfort, Scott Co., Indiana.

It just was not making sense. Did I have the wrong Jacob? Was there another Jacob in Scott Co., buried in the same small cemetery where Jacob’s brother William’s wife was buried?

Then I found online a book of Scott Co., Indiana, will abstracts: “Index and Scott County, Indiana, Will Book Records,” by Carl R. Bogardus, 1974.

And at page 20, I found this:

    HUFFORD: JACOB. Date 3-2-1881. Prob. 3-21-1892. Exec: Elizabeth Hufford, John T. Mitchell. Witt: M.B. Reynold, Dexter Davis, John T. Mitchell, Heirs: present wife, Elizabeth. Sons, David, James Allen, Jacob, John. Daughters, Nancy Jane Fields, Elizabeth Cushman, Eliza A. Sewell. (not found recorded in indexes of Will Bk, A & B)

The names were an absolute match. The daughters’ married names all matched. How, if Elizabeth died in October 1880 in Butte Co., California, could Jacob have named her in a will that he wrote March 2, 1881? Then I read a little more closely: “present wife, Elizabeth.”

“Present wife.” In other words, there had been another wife, another Elizabeth.

Indiana Marriage Collection, 1800-1941, (found at ancestry.com) shows that Jacob Hufford married Elizabeth McFADDEN December 21, 1880, in Scott Co., Indiana. Two months after his wife died in California, Jacob married again in Indiana. But, he was 79. Why waste time?

Further research showed that Elizabeth McFadden was born Elizabeth BRIDGEWATER in about 1816. She first married Henry SMITH; he died in 1849. She second married the widower Henry McFadden. Jacob Hufford was her 3rd husband.

Puzzle solved! Here are the three findagrave entries:
Jacob HUFFORD (1801-1891)
Elizabeth Ann ALLEN, the 1st Mrs. Jacob Hufford (1803-1880)
Elizabeth BRIDGEWATER, the 2nd Mrs. Jacob Hufford (1816-1891)

All of Jacob’s children were born to his first wife, Elizabeth Allen. His children and descendants are on pages 264 and 265 of the 1909 HUFFORD FAMILY HISTORY. Below is his list of descendants extended. There may be some wrinkles still to be ironed out.

Jacob’s descendants are listed on page 3 here:

1– Jacob HUFFORD, Sr. (1801-1891)
.sp-Elizabeth Ann ALLEN (1803-1880)
….2– Sally Ann HUFFORD (d. bef. 1909)
….2– Surrilda HUFFORD (d. bef. 1909)
….2– Nancy Jane HUFFORD (1824-1881)
…..sp-William Harrison FIELDS (1817-1894)
……..3– Elizabeth E. FIELDS (1843)
……..3– William H. FIELDS (1845)
……..3– Emeretta S. FIELDS (1847)
……..3– Dexter M. FIELDS (1849)
……..3– David A. FIELDS (1851)
……..3– Elmira Angeletta FIELDS (1854)
……..3– Amanda J. FIELDS (1856)
……..3– Eliza B. FIELDS (1858)
……..3– Laura FIELDS (1863)
……..3– Martin FIELDS (1867)
….2– David HUFFORD (1828-1906)
…..sp-Mary M. MORRIS (1835-1869)
……..3– Judge Walter Sylvester HUFFORD (1853-1931)
………sp-Martha M. GRAHAM (1854-1915)
…………4– Edwin Joseph HUFFORD (1878-1946)
………….sp-Julia BERG (1880-1953)
…………4– Walter Graham HUFFORD (1880-1953)
………….sp-Florence E. GEORGE (1883-1910)
…………….5– Walter Graham HUFFORD, Jr. (1908-1979)
………….sp-Anna M. ARNOTT (1889-1972)
…………….5– Samson Graham HUFFORD (1916-1993)
…………4– Jessie S. HUFFORD (1883-1905)
…………4– Dr. Bessie K. HUFFORD (1891)
………….sp-WOODS
………….sp-LEHMAN
……..3– David HUFFORD (1855)
……..3– Elizabeth HUFFORD (1858)
……..3– Ida Rose HUFFORD (1861-1953)
………sp-Thomas Clemmons FERRILL (1858-1949)
……..3– William E. HUFFORD (1863)
……..3– Frank L. HUFFORD (1866-1945)
………sp-Ella MONTGOMERY
…………4– Floyd A. HUFFORD (1888)
………….sp-Frances LYONS (1893)
…………….5– Floyd Eugene HUFFORD (1916-1975)
……………..sp-Jessie Ester PERRY (1914-2010)
………………..6– Walter Eugene HUFFORD (1938-2007)
…………4– Josephine HUFFORD (1892)
………….sp-GALLON
………sp-Myrl G. GRIFFIN (1872-1942)
…………4– Ida E. HUFFORD (1893-1981)
………….sp-FRANCIS
…………4– Blanche HUFFORD (1894)
………….sp-John FRANCIS
…………4– Elva HUFFORD (1897)
…………4– Walter G. HUFFORD (1901-1972)
………….sp-Mildred C. (1910)
…………4– Vina E. HUFFORD (1904)
…………4– Leslie F. HUFFORD (1906-1970)
…………4– Elmer HUFFORD (1908-1976)
………….sp-Thelma I. PESOLA (1913-2004)
…………4– Kenneth O. HUFFORD (1910-1955)
……..3– George Washington HUFFORD (1868-1951)
………sp-Jennie BABCOCK (1875-abt 1923)
…………4– Mary Elizabeth HUFFORD (1894-1986)
………….sp-Edwin Monroe BURNS (1883-1963)
…………….5– Mildred BURNS (1914)
…………….5– Jennie Mae BURNS (1917-1992)
…………….5– Laura BURNS (1915)
…………….5– Burns BURNS (1916)
…………4– Imogene HUFFORD (1895)
…………4– Rosa C. HUFFORD (1896-1962)
…………4– Georgia Wilma HUFFORD (1899-1989)
………….sp-George Healvin COVE (1885-1962)
…………….5– Katherine Marjorie COVE (1920-1940)
…………….5– George A. COVE (1923-1969)
…………4– Grace HUFFORD (1904)
…………4– William H. HUFFORD (1911)
…………4– Leola Gertrude HUFFORD (1913-1987)
………….sp-Joaquin Luis Jack OLIVERA (1910-1992)
…………….5– Leora Cecilia OLIVERA (1933-1991)
…………….5– Gary Russell OLIVERA (1938-1939)
…………….5– Margery Ann OLIVERA (1940-2002)
…………4– Madge L. HUFFORD (1915)
…..sp-Mary MELCHER (1853-1900)
……..3– Mary M. HUFFORD (1873)
……..3– Catharine L. HUFFORD (1875)
……..3– Melvina A. HUFFORD (1878-1951)
………sp-Smith A. MARSHALL (1876)
……..3– David Frederick HUFFORD, Jr. (1880-1951)
………sp-Emma Grace BAILEY (1891-1970)
…………4– Wesley Raymond HUFFORD (1904-1969)
………….sp-Eva Legretta KEITH
…………4– Lois J. HUFFORD (1920-1985)
………….sp-Charles BRADLEY
……..3– Tessie HUFFORD (1882-1957)
………sp-MAGUIRE
……..3– Mantie E. HUFFORD (1885)
….2– James Allen HUFFORD (1831-1903)
…..sp-Rebecca WINTERS (1832-1880)
……..3– Josephine HUFFORD (1853-1871)
….2– Jacob B. HUFFORD (1834-1915)
…..sp-Mary Ann CARY (1840-1912)
……..3– Charles H. HUFFORD (1865-1941)
………sp-Georgia M. BURROWS (1868-1957)
…………4– Dr. Mary Anita HUFFORD (1904-1959)
……..3– George Benjamin HUFFORD (1867-1956)
………sp-Eleanor Eliza Nellie BURKE ( -1903)
………sp-Caroline VOGT (1867-1934)
……..3– Frances HUFFORD ( -1900)
……..3– Frank HUFFORD ( -1909)
……..3– Florence May HUFFORD (1874-1954)
………sp-John William TEMPLER (1848-1937)
….2– Elizabeth Ellen HUFFORD (1836-1915)
…..sp-Obadiah Obed CUSHMAN (1823-1901)
……..3– Laura CUSHMAN (1856)
……..3– Mary CUSHMAN (1858)
……..3– America CUSHMAN (1862)
……..3– Cora L. CUSHMAN (1866-1917)
……..3– Eugene Albert CUSHMAN (1869-1950)
……..3– Lott CUSHMAN (1876)
….2– John Newton HUFFORD (1839-1929)
….2– Eliza A. HUFFORD (1844-1881)
…..sp-James Oscar MOSELEY (1837)
……..3– John Richard MOSELEY (1860-1952) [NOTE: Birth year is wrong at findagrave because it was reported incorrect on California Death Certificate.]
……..3– Kate MOSELEY (1863)
…..sp-Hiram Stoles Heil SEWELL (1837)
……..3– William Arden SEWELL (1867)

PAGE NOTE: Jacob Hufford is on page 264 of the 1909 HUFFORD FAMILY HISTORY.

Finding a child you never knew of: son of an Andersonville POW

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Finding a child you’d never known of is always a surprise, especially when it’s the child of a man who died young in the Civil War after time in the Andersonville Prison.

Jefferson C. BEERY was born in 1832, the son of Susannah HUFFORD and her husband David BEERY. Susannah was Christian Hufford’s granddaughter through his son Casper. Susannah was 48 with eight or nine children living when her husband died in the Mexican War. Her children ranged from six to 29. Susannah’s basic information is on page 166 of the 1909 HUFFORD FAMILY HISTORY. Information on Susannah’s descendants is at pages 166 and 167; the only mention of Jefferson is that he was dead.

Jefferson was a surviving twin; his twin brother John died as an infant. Jefferson was eight when his father left for the Mexican War, and Jeff never again saw his father. Jeff was ten when his father died.

When Jeff was 28, in June 1861, he married Sarah A. SEVITTS. When he was 30, in November 1862, he left for the U.S. Civil War. He enlisted as a private in Company C, 72nd Infantry Regiment, Ohio. On June 11, 1864, he was captured in Ripley, Mississippi. He spent time in Andersonville Prison and died of disease in late October 1864 in Savannah, Georgia.

And that’s where Jefferson Beery’s story was believed to end until a death certificate was found:
William Beery's death certificate

Jeff Beery had a son: William Beery, born four months before Jeff enlisted into the U.S. Army. William died in 1946 in Sandusky Co., Ohio. Whether William had any children is not known. I can find him on the 1880 census, 16 years old and doing farm labor in Sandusky Co., Ohio, but the next I find him is in 1910 after his marriage had ended. Lots can happen in thirty years.

If you descend from William, I’d love to hear from you: alicemariebeard@gmualumni.org

PAGE NOTE: Jefferson Beery is listed with his parents and siblings on page 166 of the 1909 HUFFORD FAMILY HISTORY.

Info to send me if you want genealogical help

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I’m more than happy to help other genealogists working HUFFORDS, even beginning genealogists.

However, PLEASE send full information when you send a query. A query like this won’t get you anywhere: “Are you related to my Aunt Rosemary who married John Hufford?” Seriously, I get some like that.

If you contact me seeking Hufford genealogical information, please include at least an approximate year and a place. Include as much information as possible so that I can pinpoint your Hufford among the several thousand in my database.

And, generally, I will not give information on the living, even if I have the information. The exception is with adoption. If you can prove to me that you descend from a Hufford, but you do not have the courage to make “that call,” I’ll do it for you. I have reunited adoptees with birth parents in a few instances. Sometimes it’s a good situation; sometimes it’s not. But my opinion is that someone has the right to be in contact with his/her own mother or father if that’s his/her choice.

But, please, no, “Are you related to my Aunt Rosemary who married John Hufford?”

Well, yes, through Adam and Eve. 😉

alicemariebeard@gmualumni.org

Gedcom files

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The exchange of genealogical information used to be fueled by family group sheets. A family group sheet is a piece of paper with the names of a couple (in olden days, we knew that meant one man and one woman) and with the names of all children born to that union. In addition, the family group sheet would name the parents of the husband and the parents of the wife. (Yes, such old-fashioned terms.) And, the group sheet would give the names of the all spouses of the children. “Spouse” included someone with whom a child had been produced, even if there had been no legal marriage.

The sheet had the basics on the father, the mother, and each child: date & place born, date & place died, date & place married. A new group sheet was created for each child-producing union.

Then, we would arrange the family group sheets in manila folders and organize the folders in a way that we found useful.

In the 1980s, the LDS Church (Mormons, Latter-day Saints) introduced a DOS program called “Personal Ancestral File” that was “gedcom compatible.” And we began talking about “PAF” and “gedcoms.” With that advancement, the ability of genealogists to store, manipulate, and share genealogical data changed dramatically.

It so revolutionized the way genealogists store and share data that Amish genealogists now rent corners in offices to use computers to work with their data. My database contains over 40,000 names. It would not be possible for me to handle that amount of information with old-fashioned family group sheets and manila folders.

PAF has “grown up” and is now in a Windows format. (Don’t laugh, but I still use the old-fashioned DOS version that I began using in about 1994.)