Joseph

Joseph Rippey's Obituary

The funeral of Joseph Rippey, father of Rev. John Rippey, of Cuylerville, N.Y. and Mrs. Dr. Hartman, of Rochester, took place last week from his late residence near this village.  The funeral sermon was preached by Rev. J. P. Sankey.  The venerable D. C. McLaren, DD, and Rev. Mr. Brush were present at the funeral and took part in the exercise.  Mr. Rippey has resided near Geneva for many years and was well known as a highly respected citizen and an eminent and earnest christian.  Notwithstanding the terrible condition of the roads a large concourse of people attended his reamins to their final resting place.

Rev. John Rippey, Entrepreneur?

From a Google search, a link to the 1884 report by the state geologist, which includes a report on the results of a well near Cuylverville, apparently testing the availability of a strata of rock salt. The geologist credits Rev. John as the President of the Cuylerville Salt and Mining Company as the source of the information.

I find this current news item on Livingston county salt mining:

American Rock Salt Co., which owns the largest salt mine in the country, will invest $4 million into its Livingston County facility to extend its current rail siding and relocate its ice melting packaging company,  [The company is shown on Google maps about 4 miles north (near Retsof) and south of Cuylerville.

And I find a wikipedia item on Retsof, NY, site of the largest salt mine in the US until a big collapse in 1994.  Retsof is 4.5 miles north of Cuylerville.

From the American Rock Salt website:

By the late 1800’s, many companies were drilling for salt throughout the world. Between 1878 and 1895, over 35 mining companies were formed in New York’s Wyoming and Livingston Counties alone. In 1884, the first shaft salt mine was constructed in Livingston County at a cost of $600,000. Previously, all other facilities in the area were wells that extracted brine, which was then evaporated to obtain the salt. The shaft salt mine increased production capacity and efficiency.
The extraction of salt in Western New York covers a vast geographic region. Mine shafts that were formerly operating in the hamlets of Retsof, Greigsville, and Cuylerville were eventually all connected underground, comprising an area even larger than the island of Manhattan. In 1994, due to a flooding of this network, the Retsof mine was closed and salt mining was no longer an industry in the region.
That changed in 1997, when the American Rock Salt Company was established with the vision of creating a new mine and tapping into the underground salt reserves that had been left undisturbed. After securing the required permits and purchasing 10,000 acres of mineral rights and 200 acres of surface property, American Rock Salt broke ground in 1998 for a new mine, ten miles away from all previous mining sites. Construction of the mine at Hampton Corners took more than three years. American Rock Salt built the mine using traditional techniques that have proven over time to be the best approach for safety and success.

Also through a Google search, in 1990 Rev. John is on the board of the Allegheny Theological Seminary.

Branches of Harshaws

Cousin Marjorie and her son are searching for living Harshaws in the various lines to take DNA tests to identify relationships.  I thought I'd document the various branches as currently understood.

The Loughgilly branch--this is Andrew (d1813), his wife Sarah and their children, most of whom emigrated to the US, including my great grandfather Michael, and his brothers Andrew and William, and sister Sarah.  Wikipedia says: " Loughgilly (/lɒxˈɡɪli/ lokh-GIL-ee; from Irish: Loch Gile^[1] or Loch Goilí)^[2] is a small village, townland and civil parish in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is on the main Armagh to Newry road, about halfway between the two. It is within the Armagh City and District Council area. It had a population of 84 people (42 households) in the 2011 Census.^[3] (2001 census: 69 people)"

The Derry/Londonderry branch is


The Ballynafoy/Ballynafern branch

The Washington County Harshas

The South Carolina Harshaws

The Pennsylvania Harshas

Harshaws in the British Census

Here's an entry page to a UK genealogy site which shows Harshaws by name and census year.

Captain John's Father--Interpreting the Evidence

I'm using my blog to lay out my logic for naming Mathew Rippey as John Rippey's father (though really I think I can credit my sister Jean for most of the material).

When one searches Ancestry family trees for Captain John Rippey, born 1749, most of the trees name Samuel Rippey and Rachel Armstrong as his parents.  Some of the trees use Mathew as the father, and there's a mixture of other theories, or possibly errors. I'll consider only the Samuel theory as an alternative to Mathew.

What do I know for sure:

1. There's no primary source giving John's father
2. There's are secondary sources giving John's father as Samuel, but I'm not aware of that linkage being based on a primary source. 

What do I think I know:

Geography: Two censuses are relevant, the Federal census of 1790 and the Pennslyvania septennial censuses of 1786 and 1793. The 1786 census shows Hugh and Mathew in Dromore, Lancaster county; John in Chaunceford, York county, and William and Samuel in Southampton, Franklin County. The 1790 Federal census shows William, Samuel and Mathew in the same places, no John, a Richard Rippey in "Mixed township", York county (not seen since), and an Elijah in Franklin, plus a couple new Rippeys in Philadelphia.

We know John and Mary were in Chaunceford township before moving to Ontario county, NY.  Geographically it makes more sense for John to be the son of Mathew than of William or Samuel.  Why? Because the Scots-Irish tended to move to the west and south for land.  It's less likely that John would move east from his fathers farm than west.

Lack of Support for Samuel

The Biographical Annals of Franklin County is provided as one source for the Samuel/Rachel parentage.  Here's a link to the relevant entry for them.
According to this, they had 8 children, with child no. 6 a son John. But all it says for him is "6. John C became a physician."  That doesn't fit with our Captain John.

This is another early genealogical history .It lists only four children for Samuel and Rachel, none of them John.  (Samuel Rippey Jr had a son, John, known as "Col. John" according to this, but no dates given and they'd be too late for our Captain John.

 Support for Mathew/Hugh

The best support for Mathew as John's father goes back to Jean's researches, which I got into Google documents years ago but haven't managed to get them public. (Sheer inertia.)  To save redoing previous work, I'll provide these links:

• transcripts of the wills of Hugh Rippey (1757), land transactions between Hugh Rippey's son Mathew and his grandson Hugh and the will of Mathew Rippey. Jean got these from Lancaster county records in 1978.
• My interpretation of the above documents. 

The bottom line for the documents is that a John Rippey appears twice in the documents and the ages fit.  That's not conclusive evidence but it seems the most probable conclusion based on the evidence I know of.

[Updated}
Naming Pattern
As cousin Marjorie first observed,the naming pattern of Capt. John's sons fits with Mathew being his father, not Samuel.  John named his oldest son Mathew (his father), his second son George Orson (wife's father) . He never named a son "Samuel".

The Roseborough Mystery

Stumbled on this in a book on SC Presbyterians (

History of the Presbyterian Church in South Carolina, Volume 2

 By George Howe), discussing the Covenanters:

The Covenanters had no difficulties about the jury laws Mr Rosborough the clerk of the court would state to the Judge that they had conscientious scruples in taking the oath to serve as jurors The Judge would then order them to be excused In the Revolutionary War there were no tories among them all fought on the side of the country

The covenanters migrated to Ohio (Rev. John Orr supposedly a teacher of Rev. John Black and MacMillan_

Tn the vicinitv of New Alexandria or better known 
in the eaidv davs as Dennistons Town, there was an early 
Covenanter settlement. TTn<>h Ca™non settled near Perry ?ta 
lion in 17R7. c nml. Patterson in 1707 settled two miles east of 
NTp-w Alexandria on a farm now owned by his grandson W. J. 
P-itte'-cnn David Rrown located on a tract of land on 
\ho White Thorn 'Run. three mi 1 ^s northeast of New Alex- 
andria in the vear 1RO0 The condition of the scattered Cove- 
nanter families and individuals ai this time was indeed try- 
inp r , Besides the privations of frontier life and peril? to which 
thev were continually exposed they were without the public 
preaching" of the Gospel. Their longing desire was that they 
rmVht have an uuder-shepherd, one who would visit them in 
in their homes, who woidd cheer and encourage the living 
and ■-peak words of i omforl and hope to the dying. Thev made 
known their wants to the Eastern Reformed Presbytery. The 
result was thai Presbytery appointed a commission to meet at 
the forks of the Yough on the 1th of Dee. 1800, for the pur- 
pose of moderating in a call. This commission consisted of 
Rev. McKinney, Moderator; Rev. S. B. Wylie, Clerk; and 
Samuel TIavs, elder. This was the First Reformed Presbytery 
held west of the mountains. Samuel Wvlic and John Anderson, 
elders, representing all the Covenanter Societies and in<1i\' 
duals west of the mountains, met with them. After a sermon 
by the Moderator, the form of a blank call was produced and 
the electors being called upon in form unanimously gave their 
votes to Revs. John Black and S. B. Wylie, licentiate as col-' 



REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 21 

iegiate pastors. Rev. Wylie declined, Rev. Black accepted. 
On the 18th of Dec. 1800, Presbytery met in Pittsburgh at 
which time Rev. John Black was installed pastor over all the 
Covanenters of Western Pennsylvania, known as the Pitts- 
burgh Congregation, which included New Alexandria and 
Greensburg. He was to receive the sum of Four Hundred sil- 
ver dollars the first year of his labors. Rev. Black and family 
lived on a farm twelve miles east of Pittsburgh in the Thomp- 
son's Run Society. In later years he lived in Pittsburgh. The 
labors of Rev. Black were abundant are arduous. He would 
leave for a tour of Pastoral Work and be away for several 
weeks at a time. His journeys were on horse back. He was 
exposed to fatigue and danger of all kinds, but he was speciallv 
fitted for missionary work of this kind as he was of a robust 
constitution, never succumb to difficulties nor yielded to dis- 
couragementST Rev. Black was a great man, a fine scholar, an 
able and popular preacher, fie lived to see quite a number of 
I 1 . is preaching stations become organized congregations. Rev. 
Tohn Black, D. D. was born in Ireland in 1768, came to Amer- 
ica in 1797, was married to Elizabeth Watson of Pittsburgh 
in 1802. They had ten children, three sons became ministers 
i if the Reformed Presbyterian Church, one a doctor and Samuel 
the gifted, learned and eloquent lawyer. At the division of 
the church in 1833 Rev. Black became identified with the new 
light brethren. He died at his residence in Pittsburgh in 
April, 1849, aged eighty-one years. 

https://archive.org/stream/historyofreforme00elde/historyofreforme00elde_djvu.txt

Rev. John

JOHN RIPPEY DD Son of John and Eliza Smith Rippey was born Nov 24 1827 at Seneca NY At the age of seventeen he made a public profession of his faith in the Associate Reformed Church of Geneva NY He was prepared for college in Geneva under the care of Prof Taylor and graduated from Union College in 1851 During his senior year in College he pursued the studies of the first year's course in theology in the Associate Reformed Seminary at New Newburgh NY entering the Seminary at Princeton in 1851 as a middler and remaining there two years He was licensed by the Associate Reformed Presbytery of Caledonia Dec 14 1852 and ordained by the Associate Reformed Presbytery at Saratoga Aug 6 1856 being at the same time installed pastor of the Associated Reformed church of West Kortright NY This relation was dissolved in December 1866 From Dec 26 1866 until his death he was pastor of the United Presbyterian church at Cuylerville NY He died May 14 1894 at Cuylerville of Bright's disease in the 67th year of his age He received the degree of DD from Westminster College Pa in 1884 He was a director of the United Presbyterian Seminary at Allegheny Pa had served as a delegate to the general conference of the Reformed Dutch Church and to the council of the Reformed churches held in Toronto Canada He was married May 18 1853 at Seneca NY to Miss Elizabeth Black who survives him with one son and two daughters

Add caption

Pittsburgh

http://www.clpgh.org/research/pittsburgh/history/pgh1816.html

http://www.clpgh.org/research/pittsburgh/history/royall.html

Mrs. Royall and Michael's professor:
Read an extract from the Rev. Black's Sermon, in the first volume of my Black-Book, and say whether such a traitor is fit to be trusted with the tuition of youths, unless it be to make slaves of them. The people say, in Pittsburg, Black is a covenanter; a sect, with whom the Presbyterians do not agree. Tell me nothing of covenanters. I saw the Presbyterians very busy, strewing his church and state sermon over the deck of the Union Line steam-boat. This sham story is not to deceive me; it is one of these seditious sermons I took the extract from, being on the boat at the time when a gang of these traitors were scattering a number of seditious papers, for which they ought to have been arrested. Let any man read the sermon, and say whether or not, a man, who would utter such treason, is fit to be trusted, one hour, with the instruction of youth.
It appears to me that the people of the United States have entirely lost sight of their liberty, and are bent on becoming slaves.

Finally, Fort Pitt became a manor of the Penn family, and Pittsburg was laid out into a town. It improved slowly, however, until the year 1793, since which it has increased in wealth, commerce and manufactures, almost beyond a parallel, and is said to have been, some years back, the seat of much taste, learning and talent. But since the reign of terror, or Presbyterian tyranny rather, every thing learned, dignified, or manly, has fallen before those all-devouring monsters! It was to be so! This will open the eyes of the people and teach them hereafter to be garded [sic] against priests of all sorts. It will teach them what they ought to have learned from history, that the clergy have always been foes to liberty; as to the tenets or piety of any of them, I neither meddle with nor care for. I would trust none of them with power--since I have been writing this article, I have heard the pleasing news that my favorite state, and not only my favorite state, (Pennsylvania,) but my favorite county of Lancaster, has begun the glorious work of putting those enemies of man-

Captain Rippey's CO

COLONEL HENRY SCHLEGEL SLAGLE was born in Lancaster County Pennsylvania in 1735 His father Christopher Slagle of Saxony came to Pennsylvania in 1713 and the following year took up a large tract of land on the Conestoga Creek and built a mill Subsequently he transferred his interests therein and removed in 1737 west of the Susquehanna locating near the present site of Hanover now within the limits of Adams County on Slagle's Run a branch of the Little Conewago Henry was one of four sons Daniel Jacob and Christopher and followed the occupation of his father a farmer and miller He was commissioned one of the provincial magistrates in October 1764 and continued in office by the convention of 1776 In December 1774 he served on the committee of inspection for York County commanded a battalion of Associators in 1779 was a member of the Provincial Conference of June 18 1776 and of the subsequent convention of the 15th of July He was appointed by the Assembly December 16 1777 to take subscriptions for the Continental loan November 22 1777 acted as one of the commissioners which met at New Haven Connecticut to regulate the price of commodities in the states He represented York County in the General Assembly from 1777 to 1779 appointed sub lieutenant of the county March 30 1780 one of the auditors of depreciation accounts for York County March 3 1781 member of the Constitutional Convention of 1789 90 commissioned by Governor Mifflin one of the associate judges of York County August 17 1791 and continued as such upon the organization of Adams County He represented the latter county in the Legislature sessions of 1801 2 Colonel Slagle died at his residence near Hanover his remains were interred in the graveyard adjoining St Matthew's Lutheran Church The various offices held by him show conclusively that he had the confidence of the community He was an ardent patriot a faithful officer and an upright citizen

Tyrone's Ditches

Michael Harshaw's family attended Tyrone Ditches Presbyterian Church, which appears to have been a Seceder Church.  Whether the secession occurred in 1712, as the below says, or 1733, as this chart says. and this wikipedia entry says

 

The Secession Presbyterian Church

Lylehill Presbyterian Church

The Secession Church was a branch of Presbyterianism that emerged following a split in the Church of Scotland in 1712 over the issue of official patronage. Before long it had gained a foothold in Ulster and began to spread rapidly, especially in those areas where the Presbyterian Church had hitherto not been as strong. The first congregation was at Lylehill, near Templepatrick, in County Antrim. In the nineteenth century nearly all of the Secession churches were received into the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. Therefore, in the Guide to Church Recordscongregations that originated as Secession churches will be found listed as Presbyterian churches.


This book says that Tyrone's Ditches was one of these churches.

Marjorie's New Blog

At this blog Marjorie is posting stories on ancestors of the Robie (her husband) and Harshaw families.  The first one was published this morning.