John Martin's Brother in Law

John Martin is the subject of Marjorie's first book (at least one-third) and she's working on the second. The link below is to the Google Books search for his brother-in-law, Maxwell Simpson, who was in Paris in the 1850's,. The search found Simpson's obituary. (Google makes it easy to select a portion of a page and post it to your blog, but not so easy when there are multiple pages. To read the whole obituary, you'll have to scroll back the pages (and tolerate a lot of discussion of chemistry).


Proceedings of the Royal Society of London By Royal Society (Great Britain):
""

Michael Harshaw's Labors

I stumbled across this while wasting time doing Google searches. And what it mean, I wonder:

A document dated January 10, 1848, in the pos-
session of Miss Clara Mathews of Marissa, is of inter-
est. It reads as follows:

"We. the undersigners promise to pay the sums
next to our names for the ministerial labors of the Rev.
Mr. Harshaw at the Salem Meeting House on Mud
Creek: John R. Lyons $5.00; Henry L. McGuire $8.00;
Thomas Gillespie $5.00: a man named East. $3.00;
Arch McFie $3.00; James Mclntire $5.00; Anny Mc-
Guire $1.50: John Craig $2.00; William McKee $2.00,
H. L. McGuire for 1849, $5.50."

Washington county is north of Perry County, so my guess is Michael was acting as a temporary pastor for a congregation. (Marissa is a town in ST. Clair county, just north of Randolph and west of Washington, about 24 miles by road from Cutler. Mud Creek is close to the Perry/Washington boundary but I don't see the church location in Google maps.) William in "A Romance..." mentions his father's labors in establishing churches in southern Illinois, so this may be a bit of evidence of it.

What Could Michael Buy

Ran across this interesting page describing the wares of a country store in Illinois in 1846. Probably a good representation of what Michael Harshaw could have bought from a store in Sparta. Among the wares:

coffee and tea
whiskey
candy
ginseng (an aphrodisiac)
cloth
dye

William Harshaw's Second Church

From the Jefferson County Ohio Genealogical Site:

First United Presbyterian Church – Steubenville, Ohio – The church was organized in 1810 as a Associated Reformed Presbyterian Church. On March 7, 1811, a call was extended to Mr. George Buchanan to serve a three-point charge of Yellow Creek, Steubenville, and Harman’s Creek. He was installed June 4, 1811. About 1817 the first building was erected on the site of the present building. In 1837 the second was erected. In 1838 Rev. Buchanan served only in Steubenville. In January of 1857, Rev. J.K. Andrews became pastor. Mr. Andrews became chaplain of the 136th Ohio Regiment in the Civil War. By September of 1864, Mr. J.W. Clokey was installed. His family was very important in the history of the United Presbyterian Church in North America. His wife raised millions of dollars for missionary causes. His daughter, Mary Clokey Porter was the secretary of the Women’s Missionary Society. Rev. T.J. Kennedy was pastor form 1869-1873. In late 1873, Rev.S.J.Stewart became pastor. He resigned in 1877 and later practiced law. Rev. William S. Owens became pastor in 1877 and the old building was razed and a new building was erected. It was dedicated on January 1, 1884. Rev. William Harshaw served from 1887 to 1889. He was followed by Rev. E.M. Milligan who served until 1895...

And from this on Muskingum College:

The alumni of this college comprise men who are prominent to-day in the ministry, in the field of letters, and among the professions and business men in various sections of the Union. The following are the members of the present board of trustees: Term expires 1891--Rev. W. H. McFarland. Cambridge, Ohio; Rev. J. T. Campbell, Kimbolton, Ohio; Rev. J. J. Madge, Dalton, Ohio; Rev. J. W. Martin, Mt. Perry, Ohio; Rev. W. H. Vincent, Mansfield, Ohio; Rev. J. G. Kennedy, Wellsville, Ohio; Henry McCreary, M. D., New Concord, Ohio. Term expires in 1892--Rev. J. P. Lytle, D. D., Sago, Ohio; D. E. Ralston, Esq., New Concord, Ohio; Rev. C. E. White, Galligher, Ohio; Rev. W. R. Harshaw, Steubenville, Ohio; Samuel Harper, Esq., New Concord, Ohio; Samuel Smiley, Esq., Sago, Ohio; John E. Sankey, Esq., Cambridge, Ohio.

Trip, Day 12 and 13 [Updated]

Days 12 and 13, DC

We missed the Harshaw cousin Thursday night, but had a fine day for touring DC on Friday, including several war memorials. Met a cousin of Marjorie's late husband for lunch at the American Indian museum's cafeteria and heard fascinating talk on his genealogical researches (an incredible number of people in his database) and the issue of reunions, both of families and of military vets. After a short time touring the museum on to an Irish pub to meet with a McCauley cousin. He's more conscious of privacy concerns on the Internet than I am so I'll try to restrain my impulses to put everything on the net :-), when it comes to him and his branch of the family. We shared results--he's a very good photographer and has better pictures of the Number 9 new cemetery gravestones than I did. Talked of having summertimes in Canandaigua and the large number of cousins he had.

Then home to Reston for supper, taking Marjorie back to her hotel from whence she will leave Saturday for home.

[Updated--see post in Faceless.]

To and From York, PA

June Lloyd at Universal York has a post on the railroad age in York, which permitted people and goods easy access to many places.

One little appreciated vehicle of transportation for the York area was the Susquehanna River. I bought, skimmed, and almost immediately misplaced a book on working lives in the Broome County, NY area. Apparently for many years lumbering was the big industry there, beginning in the 1790's and going on until about the 1850's. Men would fell the trees, particularly during the winter, skid them to the river(s), and in the spring float them down the Susquehanna to market. Then the raftmen would travel back to Broome county.

My guess is the river path was probably the way the Rippeys, McCauley's, Blacks, and McIntyres traveled from York and Lancaster Counties to Ontario County, NY

John Harshaw of Bangor

Marjorie and I were discussing our early ancestors--there's a John Harshaw of Bangor (not Maine, Ulster) recorded in the 1630's or so--and when they might have entered Ireland. Glancing at the wikipedia.com entry for the Ulster Plantation corrected some of my misimpressions, and suggested John might have been part of the Hamilton settlement.

Googling brings us to this interesting website on Hamilton/Montgomery. The website even includes a map with "Bangor" at the top (on the Belfast Lough). Unfortunately, the website apparently was put up in connection with the 400th anniversary of the settlement (in 1606) and hasn't been added to since.

Trip, Day 4 [Updated]

Was yesterday, Wednesday, but I was too pooped to post. Briefly we drove from outside Lexington directly to Cutler, changing our plans so we could catch Jackie Carrothers in the Cutler Library. (This was after realizing we gained an hour by moving to the CDT zone.) We ended with Erjuanna Hartman (cemetery) and her husband, Robert, Jackie's husband Melvin, Jim Richmond (descended from one of the original families of the area), and Pat, the treasurer. We shared information and good feelings, learned a bunch of things which we'll try to assimilate and disseminate, toured the Presbyterian church with Jim, ate lunch with Jim, then visited the cemetery and saw the family graves (and also the work Jim and Melvin are doing in fixing problems with the gravestones). Drove to Du Quoin to pick up information on data in the library for planning today's trip. Went on to Sparta for a 2-night stay.

Trip, Day 3 [Updated]

An all-driving day--leaving Breezewood in the morning (I'm sure someone has written extensively on Breezewood as a phenomena, I may return to it later), driving through Columbus, Cincinnati, and past Louisville, missing some turns (through failure to plan and organize sufficiently and senior lapses :-).

This is all McCain-Palin territory, as is most of the American landscape. A good reminder to us Eastern liberals of the extent of the country and its sentiments. "Hell is Real" as one sign read. And everyone said "hello", including the guy who noticed my VA plates and asked--which county--he was from Prince William.

We ended up just northwest of Louisville, KY where Marjorie had a long conversation with a woman who told her her life story.

(Since my photos for today ended up in the same slide show as tomorrow, see Day 4 for photos.)

DNA and Ancestry

Have I said I had my DNA tested, through Ancestry.com? (Not necessarily a plug for ancestry, by the way.) Anyhow, I did and the results came through just before Marjorie and I left for our trip.

Of course, the paternal DNA test would work to identify Harshaw males--the son, of a son of a son, etc. The maternal works the mother's side, so that's a Hoeppner. I'm still struggling with the Ancestry software on the DNA side, but I've made connections with a (third???) cousin in England, trying to figure out the intermediate linkages.

If any one is interested, here's the link for the discussion group on ancestry which contains our back and forth. Right now it's public, and hopefully can remain so.

Trip, Day 1

Our trip starts with cousin Marjorie taking a Jet Blue flight from Boston to Dulles International. This is the first involvement with air travel I've had since retiring, over 10 years ago. Furthermore, hurricane Kyle has rushed north and is shown off the Massachusetts coast. So, to be sure I meet her timely, I log onto Jet Blue's website. I find not only does it show the status of the flight (on time), but after take-off it shows where in the air the flight is. She's shown over New York, which must be the result of the hurricane, because I'm sure the normal routing is straighter, down the coast.

I used to fly regularly out of Dulles, which is just a few miles west of Reston. But in the years since, they've spent billions on adding parking and parking garages, new concourses, extending the terminal. The terminal is one of my favorite buildings--"modern architecture" mostly doesn't have good connotations for me, but Saarinen's building is always a pleasure to look at. Today, though, I'm too panicked to enjoy the flight, trying to be sure I navigate the changes. The traffic layout is less changed than the building entrance, though, still the loop around the daily parking lot and the terminal building, but the entrance allows for an underground walkway to the baggage claim level. The weather's humid and threatening, but no rain at the moment.

Marjorie comes through (her trip was rerouted over Syracuse, she napped because it was cloudy all the way down), and it's back to Reston. I point out the skyline, Reston actually has a skyline, and we're back home to pick up Lisa. The three of us drive to a Panera, which we discover also has outlets in the Boston area, and have a light lunch. Lisa will stay on, meeting some fellow knitters for the afternoon while Marjorie and I start traveling back into the past. Lisa gives me strict orders on when to put the chicken in the over, which sets an outer limit on the extent of our travel.

[Preceding typed early 29th, rest in evening, at the end of a tiring day]
We go down the toll road, and around the Beltway (inside which all that's important happens), with me providing bits of information as we go. We find Marjorie's old home in University Park, and she gets to go inside and find out what happened there since she left 55 years ago. [Teaser:--much.]

Get back in car, find the old church, drive though Bladensburg (site of battle) and see Celtic cross, drive through DC and out TR bridge, onto Rte 66 and Dulles Toll road and so to home, pop chicken in over, pick up Lisa, she finishes preparing dinner, we talk, Marjorie describes her father's work on chicken (need to tie this into a post on food) and her honeymoon in Naples when no one knew where she was. After take her to her hotel , come back and pack.

[Updated--errors corrected]

Trip, Day 2

Woke early and couldn't get back to sleep, so started the Trip Day 1 post. Picked Marjorie up at 7:45, drove through rush hour traffic that was less bad than I expected, from DC to Baltimore to Havre de Grace (pronounced "Grah", BTW.) Then off I95 to PA route 222 to the site of the Robert Fulton birthplace. Hugh Rippey's land, to the best of my belief, lies just across the Conowingo Creek from the Fulton place. My preparations throughout the day were disappointingly incomplete, but a rescuer appeared.

Just as we'd found the Fulton house and parked, a man and a woman pulled in by us and stopped by the garden. As it turned out, they were planning to weed in the garden, but the woman was [?head} of the Southern Lancaster Historical Society, whose building was just across the highway from the Fulton house. She kindly let us in the building, showed us the files, gave dirctions, and generally was of immense help. Bottomlines:

• although the Blacks were big in the area, the local researcher had been able to trace back to a Thomas Black and son Robert born in 1770. They didn't seem to tie to our Moses and Aaron Blacks, but we shall see.
• Mary Rippey was buried in the Morrison cemetary--she's 1747-17??, so likely was Captain John's older sister. To be researched.
• Also the McIntires in the cemetery, though we've still not clarified the interrelationships with Rippeys, etc.

We were successful in finding the Hugh Rippey farm, I'm confident (though I've been overly confident before) and possibly a house location. The current house, a very nice one, seems likely to have been built on the same site as a prior one--a sort of knoll over the lower creek valley (reminds me of the farm in North Fenton, which may be why I'm so convinced it's Hugh's--verrry logical.]

We came upon a good country restaurant on route 272, just northeast of the area, where we had a good, cheap lunch.

I'm sure I can blame the meal for interfering with good thinking, because after eating we started being less successful. We were not successful in finding the Morrison cemetery--it's off the road in a farmer's field and all we could see was corn. (Amazing to think of corn being grown on the land for 265 years, not to mention the years Native Americans may have grown corn there before.) We may have found the Mathew Rippey land site, more difficult because there are multiple tributaries of Fishing Creek that could qualify as the straight line.

We found the current Chestnut Level church (twice, actually, we got lost a bit and Someone may have tried to give us a Message). Then we crossed the Susquehanna into York County where our luck ran out and no rescuing angel appeared. We did find the Hively road and corner where I've noted that Captain John Rippey had land. I need to doublecheck the basis for that conclusion. The land near the river is very rugged and broken up, so it's difficult to see it as good farmland, though the Hively place was nice.

We found the current Chanceford Presbyterian church, and its graveyard, though I don't know of any ancestors who may be buried there (possibly Stewart cousins later). We missed the original Chanceford cemetery, so we agreed it was time to head west. I can revisit York and/or Lancaster as a day trip in the future, when I've got a better grasp on the materials, topography, and history.

So we traveled through York to the PA Turnpike and out to the Breezewood interchange, where we're spending the night.

[Note: editorial changes on Oct. 20, plus embedding slide show]

Trip, Day 9, to B'Ville [Revised]

Our Geneva stay was in a Ramada on the lake. Then off to the Geneva Historical society, where the archivist very kindly allowed us in, even thought the archives were officially closed. Marjorie found the microfilm of the No. 9 Session minutes fascinating and I had to bribe her away. (Capt John Rippey was the clerk of the session initially.) They had the record of William Smith's daughter marrying in 1825 from the Geneva Gazette. She recommended we go to the Ontario County Archives for further material. Unfortunately it meant going west and our stamina was flagging. So we headed east to the Seneca Falls National Women's Rights museum, which I had visited with my wife, but which Marjorie had never seen. Then on through Auburn (Seward mansion--who bought Alaska and gave us Sarah Palin, and Harriet Tubman's home, both closed on Oct. Mondays) and Skaneatles (the prettiest town on the Finger Lakes) and up to Baldwinsville where my sister Jean lives. Met her for supper. (See Day 10 report.)

Trip Day 10, B'ville [Revised]

Spent the day in Baldwinsville, NY, resting a bit and visiting with sister Jean, who last saw Marjorie in 1970 (or before). Lots of talk, reestablishing relationships over Monday evening and Tuesday. A sharing of trip results, prior researches, and heirlooms. Perhaps the most significant may be a big old photo album containing unknown people. We're guessing it might be from when Rev. John Rippey was pastor in Kortright, NY (mid 1850's), because some photos are from nearby towns. But the provenance is lost in the mists of the past, so we'll have to research it. But it might, repeat might, show Rippeys from about the time of the Civil War. Nothing much earlier, I'm afraid.

Much amusement over old photos of Marjorie and her sister, much analysis of photos of my baptism (the chauvinism of W.R. Harshaw is unmistakable), and a number of other artifacts and photographs. Will try to post separately on them as I'm trying to catch up on a number of fronts.

Home Again (Trip Days 11 and 12) [Revised]

Marjorie and I got back to Reston last night. We'd planned to stop in Greene, NY where our grandparents and my parents are buried, but decided to bypass it. Then I got so involved in talking that I missed the exit for West Pittston, where Rev. W.R. Harshaw was minister in the 1890's, so we skipped that as well.

Today is a day of recuperation, with a possible meeting with a Harshaw cousin tonight and a firm meeting with a Rippey (i.e., McCauley) cousin tomorrow.

I need to try to clean up my trip posts, and fill in the gap when the travel caught up to me. Then post some of the detailed stuff from our travels. (My New Year's resolution, I guess.)

Trip, Day 8

Have about 2400 miles on the trip and both travelers are beat. But we end with a bang, traveling from Jamestown northeast (planning a surprise for one of Marjorie's sons but I'll let her tell him) and on to the grand finale of our genealogy--Seneca Presbyterian, or the Number 9 Church near Stanley, NY. Scads of John Rippeys (my father was John Rippey Harshaw) and other connections buried in the cemeteries, including the mother of us all, Mary Orson. Had a pleasant meeting with Bob Robson, a distant cousin descended from Isabella Rippey, and saw the church.

All in all, very good, though fatigue took the edge off for me.

Now we're in Geneva, NY for an early bedtime.

Trip, Day 6

Friday. This was travel day, the longest one of the trip, from Sparta, IL to Brecksville, OH, where Marjorie's son lives. Except for the length, an easy trip.

Trip, Day 5, Perry County [Updated]

Thursday. Got a good night's sleep. Drove to Cutler and took pictures of land the Harshaws owned, including where we then thought the White house might have been. Then on to the Perry county government office and had my first lesson in researching deeds and related documents. We found Michael's heirs had had a number of real estate transactions after his death (Jean had gotten some, but ran out of time in 1978.) Basically they were selling land, mostly as building plots. After the original plat of Cutler in 1873, there were three "Harshaw Additions" platted, and then three "White Additions". The plats just recorded surveys of building plots, which then were sold individually (in some cases not sold).

Eventually we figured out the key transactions were the last, so Marjorie found the 1923 transaction in which Sarah, Howard, and Thresa White sold a plot in Cutler which we could identify on the map as the southeast corner of Erwin and Mills streets. Drove to Du Quoin and got some obits of Michael and W.T.White, but not the missing page 2 of the most impressive obituary. Drove back to Cutler and photographed the vacant lot (looking as if a house had burned) where the White house stood. Also found the derelict house Jean Salger had identified as possibly the Whites. Then on to the Sparta library.

We were excited, briefly, by seeing a large book with the typed label "Family Bible and History of Michael Harshaw". But the bible was published in the late 1870's and had no records of family history. It did contain a typed, briefer and early version of William's "Romance of Old Home Missions." So our guess is it was a family bible, later given to the library, and the library prepared the slightly misleading label. But, we did find more obits and funerary tributes in the Sparta Plaindealer of 1874.

Looking forward to turning east.

Trip Plan

My cousin, Marjorie Harshaw Robie, and I are taking a family history trip beginning in a week. The idea is to visit sites where our ancestors lived, in some cases doing a bit of research and meeting cousins of one degree or other. It will take most of 2 weeks. I'll try to post reports on the trips as we go along. (May take hints from her son's Olympics journal.)

From a York history:

CHANCEFORD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH – This church is located a short distance southeast of the
village of Airville, and its early history was intimately connected with the Slate Ridge
Church, of Peach Bottom Township, the two congregations, being served by the same pastors for
many years.  The exact time of its organization could not be accurately ascertained, through
references are made to it in official records as early as 1760.  The first settlers of this
interesting section were a very worthy class of Scotch-Irish, many of whose descendants are now
members of this church.  The first house of worship was known as “the tent,” which was removed
and a substantial church built.  The present church was built in 1850.  This one is soon to
give place to a new one.

Captain John and the Continental Congress

Granted, Chanceford is not York. And admittedly, I've been too lazy to compose a timeline for the Rippeys. But it's a fact the Continental Congress was in York for 8 months.

Rippey Genealogy--Future Attracttion

Courtesy of Bobbie Ernst, I have a copy of what I call the "Rippey Generalogy", though technically it's "Genealogy Tables of Some Rippey Families in the United States". W.H. Rippey built it based on foundations done by John Newton Rippey. I'm trying to retranscribe it, so it can be shared on the Internet.

As a note, the genealogy essentially ends with Captain John Rippey's birth in 1749. As a result of Jean's researches, it's reasonable to believe we have two more generations, Mathew and Hugh, identified. See the ancestry.com tree and here.

Seneca Township (3) East Southeast

No. 9 Church in the center of this. Rippeys to the east and west off the Lake to Lake road.

Seneca Township (8) Northwest

No relations I can find. Seneca Castle is, however, the most historically significant place in Seneca township if I remember correctly--being the location of an Native-American "castle".

Seneca Township (7) North Northwest

Another Black.

Seneca Township (5) Southwest

There's a C. Black in the upper left corner, but otherwise this isn't of much family interest.

Seneca Township (4) Southeast

This doesn't show Rippeys, but others who married with them. In the upper right is "Black Hill", which may be the home of Elizabeth Black, my great grandmother (and the home to which she returned after the death of Rev. John Rippey, along with her unmarried brothers and sisters). Maybe.

There's also Crosiers, Robsons, Goundrys, and McIntyres (the last in the lower left corner).

Seneca Township (6) West Southeast

Bingo!!

This is the most important one for Rippey's. In the top right corner you'll see one Rippey, and in the area under Stanley you'll see A.C.Rippey (Aaron Chamberlain). A W. Black is also in the right corner. If memory serves, and it may not, there was a Robson-Rippey marriage.

Seneca Township (2) East Northeast

Don't really know how best to designate these. Again, this is not terribly interesting. (You'll note there's a good bit of overlap of images--Mrs. Reed appears on both the 1 and 2.) A Rippey married a Scoon (right center) and a Crosier, lower center. One thing to note in passing is the number of schoolhouses in a small area. Granted they were one-roomers, but with families of 6+ kids, you needed a lot.

Seneca Township, NE corner

Not much of interest to Rippey descendants here. Note there's a Reed in the lower left and there's a W&TSmith Co. in upper right. One Rippey married a Reed (some day I'll insert who) and the Smiths are notorious on this blog. But I've no way of knowing whether there's any relationship between this company and the William Smith in my ancestry.

Stanley, NY

See Seneca Township Introduction for background.

Like the Hall map, this is from the reverse side of the map showing the entire township. Had to scan twice and the scanning cut off the word "Stanley" in the upper left corner. (You may be able to note where I stitched two scans together.)

The "AC Rippey" is Aaron Chamberlain, son of Hamilton, grandson of George Orson and Marjorie Chamberlain.

There are also several McCauleys, who I've not tried to identify.

Hall's Corners

See the Seneca Township Introduction for background.

Of interest for this blog are the Rippeys (G.O. and E.). The Rippey genealogy also has intermarriages with one or more Robsons, Crosiers, and Legerwoods.

Seneca Township and Its Towns--Introduction

Through e-Bay (which I urge everyone to use--you can save a search and be notified anytime something comes up for sale that meets the terms, such as "Rippey"(warning, I own e-Bay stock)) I got a 1905 map of Seneca Township and its towns: Stanley, and Hall's Corners. I'll be scanning the images and putting on the Internet. The map is big, about the size of 6 letter-size pages laid out, so I couldn't get everything in one image. It shows the owners (or maybe occupants) of each house and farm in the township, including a Rippey, McCauley, McIntyre, and Black. The images themselves are now in my Picasa web album, which I haven't used in a year or so. If and when I include the image in a blog post, you can click on the small image to get a full page view.

The Pittsburgh Reformed Presbyterians

Here's one page of an excerpt from a book, which gives a little perspective on the Rev. John Black, Michael Harshaw's mentor, and the Reformed Presbyterians.

A Century and a Half of Pittsburg and Her People By John Newton Boucher: ""

1898 Presbyterian Directory==Harshaw Excerpt

Ministerial Directory ... Of the Ministers in the Presbyterian Church in the United States (Southern), and in the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (Northern), Together with a Statement of the Work of the Executive Committees and Boards of the Two Churches... By Edgar Sutton Robinson: ""

Obit of Rev; John Rippey, from General Assembly Minutes

Minutes of the General Assembly of the United Presbyterian Church of North America By United Presbyterian Church of North America General Assembly, General Assembly, United Presbyterian Church of North America:

"John Rippey DD age 67 Caledonia Presbytery son of Joseph and Eliza Smith Rippey was born Nov 24 1827 at Seneca NY and made a profession of faith in the AR congregation of Geneva NY about 1840 or 1847 was graduated from Union College in 1851 and studied theology at Newbnrg and Princeton was licensed Dec 14 1852 by Caledonia Presbytery and ordained Aug 6 1856 by the Presbytery of Saratoga pastor of West Kortright NY Aug 1856 Dec 1866 Cnylerville NY Dec 20 1800 until his death The degree DD was conferred by Westminster in 1884 He was married May 18 1853 to Elizabeth Black of Seneca NY who with one son and two daughters survives him He died at Cuylerville NY May 14 1894 of Bright's disease "

Michael Harshaw's Move to the United Presbyterians.

This reports the movement by most of the Western Presbytery of the Reformed Presbyterian Church to the United Presbyterians. I apologize for the omission of a couple of sentences--I'm still learning how to handle the Google books excerpting.

The Reformed Presbyterian magazine. Jan. 1855-July 1858, 1862-76:
""

The Golds

An interesting piece here on the decline of mainline Protestantism, but here's the bit that caught my attention:

Early in the twentieth century, a trend toward consolidation began to take hold. Several things facilitated the trend. Those years saw, for instance, the peak of a great missionary movement in which, for two or three generations, the Protestant churches creamed off their best and brightest young people and sent them off to convert the heathen. (It is said that, as late as the 1970s, the most commonly shared characteristic among Americans in Who’s Who was “child of missionaries to the Far East.”) And out in the mission fields, a kind of practical common cause was forced on the Christians, an “ecumenism of the trenches,” which—because of the prestige of the missionaries—increasingly influenced their home churches.

Caught my eye because my aunt, Helen Harshaw Gold, was a missionary in China up to 1927(?)

What'd He Do in the War?

We know Captain John Rippey was in the Pennsylvania militia in the Revolution. But what did he do? I've never seen evidence of his participating in any battles. I think, though I'm relying on an increasingly unreliable memory, I saw some mention in the Pennsylvania archives of his possibly acting as a supply officer. (An unglamorous job, but someone has to do it. )

There's another possibility, maybe even more unglamorous but equally essential.

Prison guard.

See this post at Universal York for very good background on the prison camp in the York. The York militia definitely were guards for the camp, but no specific mention of one John Rippey.

Officers and Ministers of the Reformed Presbyterian Church

Google Books enables one to look up a lot of 19th century publications. Here's one that lists the officers and ministers of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, General Synod, with which Michael Harshaw was affiliated until 1870.
The Presbyterian Historical Almanac and Annual Remembrancer of the Church By Joseph M. Wilson: ""

Is This a Cousin?

George Rippey Stewart, that is? See this Slate post rediscovering his book.

1898 Presbyterian Directory==Harshaw Excerpt

Ministerial Directory ... By Edgar Sutton Robinson

Rippey

For what it's worth, this DIRECTORY OF IRISH FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCH shows these as research interests:

RIPPY/RIPPEY, family, (1600-1900), Ardstraw, Co. Tyr. from
1600 descs. Dr Wm. Ripy, Huguenot, Paris - Byturn,
Scarvagherin, D’clamph, Cappagh.

1058 ROS(S)BOROUGH, all names, all dates, Ahoghill, Co. Ant.
1058 ROSBOROUGH, Jas., (c.1778- ), B’mena area, Co. Ant. son of
Josh.

5845 McCAULEY, Arth./Dan., (1700s-1800s), Clare, Crosserlough,
Co. Cav.
2888 McCAULEY, Bernd./Jas., (1820- ), Co. Ferm.

No Harshaws or McCloskey's listed.

Contacts include:

9634 HARSHAW, Mr, James, 5132 Treesdale Ct, Sarasota, FL, USA,
34238, jwh@plesion.org

Harshaw and Rosborough?

Got a book titled "Destiny of the Scotch-Irish: an Account of Presbyterian Migration, 1720-1853, by H. Leonard Porter III. I had high hopes for it (which I may discuss in another post). But a factoid from it:

In 1852 pastors and laymen associated with the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (not Michael's denomination) initiated work on establishing a Union Academy in Sparta, IL. By 1855 they'd progressed to having the Illinois General Assembly incorporate the academy, naming twelve people to the board, including "William Rosborough" and "M. Hardshaw". I think it's safe to assume the latter was Michael Harshaw and the former was the namesake of his son, and my grandfather. Unfortunately, the depression of 1857 meant the academy failed.

Unfortunately, the book doesn't provide any more information about the two.

A further note--at the same time the 2nd Associate Presbytery of Illinois was initiating Monmouth College as a coed school. This became the alma mater of my grandmother, Ada Rippey.

Jamestown, PA

Sarah Harshaw and her sons were living near here. William has Michael finding an academy in "Jimtown" for his education. Here is an early 20th century postcard.

Here's a Google map of today's


View Larger Map

New Harshaw and Rippey Conjunction

For those of us who descend from a Harshaw/Rippey union, these links may be of interest:

This article reports Andy Harshaw (of Canada): "Dofasco veteran Andy Harshaw has been named chief operating officer of ArcelorMittal's U.S. operations."

As such, he is sort of united with the head of Mittal's US : "Michael G. (Mike) Rippey has been President and Chief Executive Officer of Mittal Steel USA Inc., Operating Subsidiary of Mittal Steel Company N.V. since August 15, 2006. Mr. Rippey has two decades of industry experience and a diverse background experience, having previously held responsibility for finance, purchasing, and human resources. He served as Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Mittal Steel USA Inc. since April 2005 until August 15, 2006, with ..."

Oregon Rippeys

I discovered if you Google "Oregon University Rippey" you get hits on several apparently illustrious Rippeys--whether they're any relation to Captain John, I've not the foggiest.

Welcome Living McCauley

This blog has served one of its purposes--helped locate a living McCauley (descendant of Capt. John's daughter Anna).

York County and German

June Lloyd reports on the prevalence of German in York County. It's not clear to me when the influx occurred. My impression is that the Scots-Irish were the first immigrants, although I know that Pennsylvania had many Germans (if I remember, Benjamin Franklin was worried about whether English or German would be the common language).

Universal York

For any descendant of the Rippey's, the "Universal York" blog written by June Lloyd is good reading. Thanks for the cross link here.

Catch Up

I've uploaded pictures of Elizabeth Rippey Turner and James Turner to the ancestry.com tree as well as what I believe to be the wedding picture of John Newton Rippey and his wife, all courtesy of Bobbie Ernst and Kingston Rippey.

Orson

Found another George Orson, added to the Orson family document.

Prairie Albion

This is a book published in 1962, basically a compilation of documents relating to the founding of Albion, IL.

As wikipedia has it:

In 1816 a wealthy Englishman named George Flower came to America. He and another Englishman, Morris Birkbeck met and agreed to explore the western country with the idea of starting a colony of their own countrymen. After a long voyage of prospection through Ohio, Indiana, and the Illinois Territory, they were so impressed with the beauty they saw in the countryside when they reached Boultinghouse Prairie, they knew they had found the site for which they were searching. They soon bought up all the land they could afford, and eventually brought over from England more than 200 settlers, £100,000 in capital, and a carefully thought out selection of good livestock and agricultural implements: the area became known as the English Settlement.

It seems two wealthy Englishmen, Birkbeck and Flowers, became interested in the U.S. and disgusted with post-Napoleon England. So they visited the U.S., selected southeastern IL as the place to settle, wrote books on the U.S. and the opportunities, bought land, brought over settlers, split irrevocably, perhaps over love of the same woman, founded separate towns, Albion IL and a failed town, and then died. Lots of people visited them and wrote their opinions of the effort, pro and con. The book is a selection of writings from Birkbeck and Flowers plus those who wrote about their efforts.

It presents an interesting picture of the Illinois prairie country, roughly on the same latitude as Perry County where the Harshaws settled but 20 years earlier and miles further east What struck me was the extensive use of liquor. It may explain Rev. Michael Harshaw's firm temperance views.

Multiple Harshaw Family Trees

I learned in the 1970's that sometimes computers knew the difference between upper case and lower case letters and sometimes they didn't. Obviously Ancestry.com's computers do. There are three sites with the same name, but different capitalizations:

HARSHAW Family Tree, whose owner is a TracyHewitt.
harshaw Family Tree, whose owner is TracyHewitt
Harshaw Family Tree, whose owner is bharshaw.