Pioneer Day

[There are photos if you scroll down. Click on the pictures to enlarge.]

Today is Pioneer Day in Utah.
We celebrate all those who walked, mostly with handcarts, across the plains, rivers and Rocky Mountains, to reach the "[This is the right] Place," the Great Salt Lake Valley, as seen in vision by Brigham Young.

Though I am a Mormon, and you are, too, my children, we don't come from this pioneer stock. I want you to know, though, we come from a long line of pioneers. I'll try to let you know who they are, according to my understanding.

Many years ago, about 1635, on a ship bound for Rhode Island, our ancestor, Richard Borden (your 9th gr-grandfather) emigrated from Headcorn, County Kent, England (about 40 miles SE of London),
with his wife, Joane Fowle, and their five children (at the time). They were part of the original settlers of Rhode Island, settling in Portsmouth thereafter. They had joined the Society of Friends (Quakers) in England, which led to their emigration. Their son, Matthew, was the first child born in Rhode Island. We descend from his eleventh child, Benjamin Borden.

Richard Borden was a surveyor and owned large tracts of land in both R.I. and Monmouth County, NJ. Others to descend from this couple were Gail Borden, inventor of condensed milk and founder of Borden Milk Company (remember Elsie the cow?). Gail, Texas was named after him. Lizzie Borden, who was charged, but acquitted, in killing her parents in 1892 was also a descendant. Two Borden sisters, Mary and Ann Borden, both married signers of the Declaration of Independence. Mary married Thomas McKean of Pennsylvania, though she died before he signed the document. They had six children together. Ann married Francis Hopkinson, delegate from New Jersey, and Benjamin Franklin's protege. She was left a widow with five children.

Benjamin Franklin mentored Francis H. and he was mentioned in Ben's will:
"The philosophical instruments I have in Philadelphia I give to my ingenious friend, Francis Hopkinson.  . . . I request my friends, Henry Hill, Esquire, John Jay, Esquire, Francis Hopkinson, Esquire, and Mr. Edward Duffield, of Benfield, in Philadelphia County, to be the executors of this my last will and testament; and I hereby nominate and appoint them for that purpose." (BTW, I discovered this information about Mary and Ann Borden on July 2, 2004, the real day of independence, according to John Adams. I couldn't believe it. I thought it was a typo, but I Googled it. It's true. Two sisters married two signers.)

Richard Borden's grandson, also named Benjamin, and our progenitor, owned tracts of land in Freehold, N.J. and 1,200 acres of land in Philadelphia, Pa. He was granted 3,143 acres in Orange County, Va., called "Borden's Manor." He was then issued a patent of land for 92,100 acres in Rockbridge County, called "Borden's Great Tract." He also owned tracts in Shenandoah and Botetourt counties in Virginia.

Lydia Borden (your 6th gr-grandmother), daughter of this Benjamin, born about 1728 in Monmouth County, New Jersey, married Hans Jakob Peck (or Beck), a Revoltuionary War hero--along with sons John and Adam). He emigrated from Ebingen, Wuerttemberg, Germany and reached the colony of Virginia about May, 1740. He renounced his German allegiance and became a Virginian in 1747. They settled in Fincastle, Va. 

There is a funny story about Lydia Borden and Jakob Peck told by their descendants.
The following story was handed down by Joseph A. Peck (1812-1886), great-grandson of Jacob I, and was recorded by his daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth Peck Hanby, of Rockwall, Texas: "While we lived in Washington County, Va., near Bristol, my father visited some of Adam Peck's descendents, who lived at Mossy Creek, Tennessee. ...They told some good stories of the Bordens and Pecks. One was that Jacob was very much in love with Lydia and very much afraid of Benjamin. It seems that the old gentleman hadn't noticed very closely and never suspected the attachment. So Jacob told Benjamin that he was in love with a girl and uncertain as to the consent of the girl's father, and it was against the law for a man to run away with a girl. The old gentleman said, 'There is no law against a girl running away with a man. Get your girl to run off with you.' A few nights later, Lydia, mounted on a powerful horse, called for her Jacob, took him up behind her, and away they went."
Their graves are in the Fincastle Presbyterian Church cemetery, along with other of our ancestors.
Click on the photos below to enlarge.

There is a Peck cabin still maintained as a residence in that town.

Peck House, Fincastle, Virginia

We have many ancestors from Fincastle who fought in the Revolutionary war. Click on this picture to see the names vividly.

A monument stands in the Fincastle Presbyterian Church Cemetery to honor those who fought in the Revolutionary War. 

Of those on the monument, Lewis Hickle, Jacob Peck and his son, John Peck, are our direct ancestors. The rest married in.



Archibald Washington Kessler

One ancestor you may have heard me talk about was Mary Catherine Peck, great-grandaughter of Jacob and Lydia Borden Peck. She married Archibald Washington Kessler and, with their families, became pioneers of "The Wilderness" of western Virginia. They were abolitionists and were driven from their homes in Fincastle.

The story goes, they ". . . feared for their safety. A barn had been burned and shots fired at the house. . . . In Rupert [now West Virginia], one wagon broke down. Leaving the women and children with a kindly family, the men traveled on to [Independence] Missouri. They found the towns rough with terrible living conditions. They were quickly convinced that this was not what they wanted. On the return trip, they went to visit Archie's sister in Summersville. The men were well pleased with conditions and the people in Nicholas Couty. While there, John [Peck] purchased a farm. He spent the rest of his life there."

Mary Catherine Peck Kessler is your 3rd great-grandmother. Your great-grandmother, Mary Lou Kessler, talked about her grandmother all the time and was very proud of her.


Mary Catherine Peck Kessler, seated, and her sister, Anna Eliza Peck Hamilton 

Martin Christopher Kessler, Archibald and Mary Catherine's son, married Lucy Richmond Boggs, and that is how we are related to the Boggs clans. 

Lucy Richmond Boggs Kessler

Martin Christopher Kessler, MD

Boggs, Smith, Cochran, James, Clendenin--they are all ancestral names from Virginia and West Virginia. These peoples' were very caught up in the Indian Wars. Francis Charles Boggs (sometimes Charles Francis Boggs) was an Indian Scout and Indian fighter. He was actually born in Chester County, PA--just like me! He married Mary Clendenin, granddaughter of Charles Clendenin, after whom Charleston, West Virginia is named (the capital).

F.C. Boggs and his brothers fought in the Battle of Point Pleasant in October 1774.

Artist's rendition of the Battle of Point Pleasant

In 1776, Francis Charles Boggs volunteered as a scout and Indian spy for a 12-month tour of duty under Captain Matthew Arbuckle. Scouts were experienced woodsmen, whose aim with a rifle meant certain death for its target. They could throw a knife with deadly skill. Francis Charles was stationed in Point Pleasant. In 1777, he volunteer for another 12-month tour.

Please read about the Battle of Point Pleasant, the Muddy River Massacre and the Clendenin Massacre in my genealogy program--or in the biography I wrote in 2003 about your great-grandmother Mary Lou Kessler. Or Google it to find out more interesting facts.

When I visited Point Pleasant in 2005, at the confluence of the Ohio and Kanawha rivers, I was able to see the state park (memorial) and learn that Teddy Roosevelt actually proclaimed the Battle of Point Pleasant to be the very first battle of the Revolutionary War. The savant there told me, if descended from anyone in that battle, you could file to be in the DAR.

The docent at the Point Pleasant Memorial Park told me I was lucky to see a paddle boat on the Kanawha River, right at the confluence of the Ohio River. She said they usually only come by once a month or less.

Click on the photo to read

During that same visit to West Virginia, I hooked up with one of our elderly cousins, James Lewis Ball, and he took me around to family homesteads and graveyards. One graveyard was completely in the woods on top of a hill. The stones were almost all covered by earth. Some newer ones were erected next to the old stones, which looked only like stones sticking out of the earth. I was speechless. I'd never seen anything like it. I don't think I'd ever be able to find it again.

New gravestone in honor of Francis Charles or Charles Francis Boggs. Lewis Ball told me whoever paid for it got to decide which name came first. Just in front of it is the old gravestone which just looks like a rock in the woods. The whole woods was filled with these "rocks."

This is a long post and I hope I haven't put you to sleep. Family history research was, at one time, my passion. I am still passionate about our family history, but I haven't done any research in quite awhile.

To end . . . I would like to consider myself a pioneer. I was the first in our family to join The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I even crossed the plains (in my minivan) and settled in the Salt Lake Valley, just as the Saints of old did.

Children, please visit all my notes in my Legacy program and you will find all of the ancestors I have gathered--many thousands--tens of thousands.

Happy Mother's Day 2011

In honor of Mother's Day, I thought I would give a little genealogy tour of all my ancestor mothers.

I'll start with me!
These are my children at Zannah's wedding in 2011, on my birthday, March 11. From left: Jewely, 21, me holding a picture of Elder Tim Knight, 19, on his mission at the time in Chicago; newlywed Zannah, 25, Alexander, 27.

I am the oldest of eight surviving children, from left sitting: Christine, 12; Susan, 25; Andrew, 19;
Standing:  Jeffrey, 13; John, 15; Kathy, 17; Warren, 18; Henry, 22. July 1979.

My mother is Edith Catherine (Kay) McNelly Tobelmann Doran. Below is my favorite picture of my mother.  She was Harvest Queen her senior year of high school, 1950-51.

She graduated from Downingtown Junior-Senior High School, 1951

Her mother, my grandmother: Mary Louise Kessler Blumberg McNelly Loebe

1903-1989



She was one of six surviving Kessler children.

My grandmother is the little girl in front with the big bow in her hair

circa 1907-1909

Four Generation photo, Christmas 1987: From left:  Kay, 54; Mary Lou, 84; Alexander, 4; Susan, almost 34

My grandmother's mother: Lucy Richmond Boggs Kessler Walts Lively (yes, she outlived 3 husbands), 1871-1956

My great-grandmother's mother: Lydia T. Smith Boggs, 1850-1927, standing next to the chair.

Lydia's mother, my great-great-great grandmother:Frances (Fannie) Cochran Smith,1814-1895

There are many more for which I do not have photos.  This is just one line of my ancestral mothers.  I have many more that I am proud of, and hope I do them justice as part of their posterity.

Who Were You Named After?

I am going to skip the really personal information, i.e. birth info, names, places, since this is a public blog and I don't want that kind of information leaking out.  These may be gotten elsewhere, but the first questions deal with name and name selection.
I imagine my father selected my name since I am named after my paternal great-grandmother in New Orleans. 

                               Susan Marie Hoerner Tobelmann, my great-grandmother namesake

As a child, my nickname, according to my picture albums that my dad kept for us, was Susie.  My childhood friend, Laurie, always called me Susie.  I later changed the spelling to Suzi because it was easier to accomplish with a brush when I started adding my signature when I began painting in oils.  And, in those days, everyone started ending their names in 'i' instead of 'y' or 'ie.'  My dad sometimes called me Suze (rhymes with snooze).

Susie, at two years old

In Catholic school you didn't have nick names, so when I went to public high school, I told everyone my name was Sue.  I was Sue all through high school.

"Sue" in high school

I dropped Sue when I moved to Colorado.  My roommate, M. Catherine Ray, said it sounded too cheerleader.  She called me Susan, or Susita.  So, I've been Susan ever since.

Almost all my siblings are named after someone in the family.  I didn't like this when I was younger.  I thought everyone should have their own name, but when I started working on genealogy, I realized it was so much easier to track people who had been named after someone so you knew what family they belonged to.

Tobelmann siblings, 1979

From left, front:  Christine Mary (Mary after our grandmother, Mary Louise), Susan Marie (after our great-grandmother Hoerner), Andrew Louis (after Granny's father, Andrew Louis Heffner); back row: Jeffrey Charles (Charles is an ancestor name), John Robert (Robert is my father's cousin), Catherine Louise (Catherine after our mother, Louise after our grandmother, Mary Louise), Warren Phillip (Warren after uncles on both sides and Phillip after our maternal great-grandfather Phillip Fair McNelly) and last, but not least, Henry Joseph, III (after Henry Joseph, Jr. and Henry Joseph, Sr. and Henry Rudolf, etc., etc., ad infinitum)

All of my children have middle names after somebody, except Tim.  Timothy is his middle name.

That's all for day one.  I don't want to make this too tedious, or I may not come back to it.

I was just wondering, though...were any of my readers named after anyone in particular?  What is your nickname?