My Barber Line

With a name like Thomas Barber Nase, I was almost sure that Barber was another family name. So one day I decided to see if I could find out anything about that, and I did. I dug around and dug around until I found some will abstracts from Sussex Co, NJ (1860 census for TB Nase showed he was born in New Jersey and I think I had already found clues that his father's name was George). There was this entry:

BARBER, Thomas of Greenwich. 1492S - W. 20 Sep 1808; Filed 5 Dec 1816. Wife: Margaret. Sons: Samuel and John (dec'd). Daughters: Phebe STIVERS, Elizabeth NACE(sic) w/o George and Ann Perine MUCHLER. Others: S-n-l, John STIVERS; Thomas and Robert BARBER s/o dec'd son John. Executors: Wife, Margaret, dau Ann (Nancy) Perine MUCHLER and William KENNEDY. Witnesses: James McCARTER, James J. KENNEDY and William M. KENNEDY.

It was the clue I needed! Later on I found this:

File 12696 C. 

1813, Sept. 20. Barber, Thomas, of Greenwich, Sussex Co.; will of. 

Wife, Margaret, $1,333.33; also my negro girl, a cow, bed and bedding, 

household goods for 1 room, all in lieu of dower, and to be at her 

own disposal. Son, Samuel, $00.66. Presbyterian Congregation at 

Harmony in Greewich Twsp., $66.66, the interest thereof for use of 

church as long as it exists there but if dissolved, the principal sum 

to return to my estate. Having paid for land on which my son-in- 

law, John Stivers lives, I give out of said estate, $533.33 to children 

of daughter, Phebe Stivers, and residue to return to my estate. Rest 

of all estate to be sold. Residue to be divided into 5 equal shares. 

One such share to children of my son, Samuel, who is to have interest 

thereof for life and if his present wife survive him, she is to have 

% of said interest during her widowhood. One share to my 2 grand- 

sons, Thomas and Robert (sons of my son, Robert, lately dec'd), 

when 21. Daughters, Elizabeth (wife of George Nace), Ann Perine 

Muckler, and Phebe Stivers, each the interest of one share and at 

their deaths, principal to their children. Executors — wife, Margaret, 

daughter, Ann Perine Muckler and friend, William Kennedy, Esq. 

Witnesses — James M. Carter, James J. Kennedy, William M. Kennedy. 

Proved Dec. 5, 1816, when Margaret Barber*, Nancy Mutchler, Wm. 

Kennedy signed as Executors. 

From http://www.archive.org/stream/documentsrelatin08newj/documentsrelatin08newj_djvu.txt

It was great! Then I went to Find A Grave. I have not been able to find the death or grave of Thomas Barber Nase, it appears he passed before his wife Polly, since I found Polly in the 1880 census in Polk, Crawford Co, OH  as a widow living with her daughter and her family (Lucy Nase Overly). So it's most likely he died in Ohio. I did find Thomas Barber and his wife Margaret on find a grave. Thomas Barber was a patriot in the Revolutionary War. I checked the DAR site and sure enough, several ladies have joined under his patriotism. Here is his Find A Grave memorial:
What seemed odd to me was that his grave, as well as his wife's, was in the basement of a church. So I contacted the person who created the memorial and he wrote back with an explanation. He explained that "the church needed to expand and the only direction they could go was out towards the parking lot. The graves were in the way, and rather than disturb them, the church addition was built over the graves. There are about 12 graves under this addition." This person has installed a Veteran's marker right outside the door that leads to the actual graves.
This same researcher is also descended from Thomas Barber and has also tried to find out more about the family. We know that Thomas' wife's name was Margaret Perrine, but that's about it. The name Perrine sounds French to me too, does anyone know?


So, the tree from Clarinda Nace got expanded. Her parent's were Thomas Barber Nase and Polly Montanye. Thomas Barber Nase was likely born 1799 in Luzerne Co, Pa. His parents were George Nase and Elizabeth Barber. I have seen two different dates for George's birth, and haven't yet confirmed one or the other. One is 1736 and the other is 1858.
I also have two possible birth dates for his wife Elizabeth Barber: 1761-1765 and she may have been born in Sussex Co, NJ. It is said she died 1817 in Luzerne Co, PA. I have seen a possible wedding date for George and Elizabeth as 1782, so if that is true and looking at birth dates suggested for Elizabeth, I tend to think George's birth date to be more likely the later of the two seen. I have yet to locate anything to confirm any dates for this couple. The death dates I have for George and Elizabeth are: George 1814 in Luzerne Co, PA and 1817 for Elizabeth also in Luzerne Co, PA. What I'm not sure about with George's date is that has him having died before Elizabeth's father, Thomas Barber who died in 1816. Would he be mentioned in the will and abstract in the present tense if he had already passed away? Or am I just reading it too literally?
According to the dates I'm seeing Elizabeth died a year after her father, but before her mother, Margaret Perrine who died in 1825.
At any rate, I'm at a dead end with the Barber and the Perrine line, but this felt like some progress anyway.

Finding The Frenchman

As I said in an earlier post, I had been told by an uncle that there was French in the family somewhere. It took me awhile to find it, but when I did, there was no doubt. I simply found another tree and bridged the gap. I had actually seen the tree before, and it included my mom, grandparents and other names I had already known and mentioned here already. This is that tree and this is the site it is connected to. Once I realized what I had stumbled into, I was quite surprised! I communicated with someone from the site and shared copies of the Bible records and papers I had gotten from my family, and I suppose that made it official that I am a descendant of Johannes de la Montagne! 
The connection I had to make was through Clarinda Nace (Nase), who I mentioned and shared a photo of in an earlier post. Clarinda is my 3rd great grandmother and she was married to John A. McCluer. Clarinda's mother was Polly Montanye, who was the 4th great granddaughter of Johannes. Johannes Mousnier de La Montagne is my 10th great grandfather.
I made a chart to help me see this better and am picturing it below. 

My Descent from Jean Mousnier de La Montagne, aka Johannes de La Montagne, aka Doctor Johannes de La Montagne ending with my gr gr grandparents.

Those Places Thursday

I'm just following prompts right now from Genea Bloggers for ideas for posts. I'm feeling a bit scatter-brained today. There are several things I could be doing besides sitting at the computer, but I don't really feel like doing any of them yet. I'm not a morning person at all!
This first entry for Those Places Thursday is sketches  I found in Ancestry, photo copied from a book, attached to someone else's tree which has my 3rd Great Grandpa, John Allen McCluer (McClure)

 

Missionary Baptist Church in which John Allen McClure was a minister during the 1840's.

sketch of the farm of John A. McClure, taken from the 1878 History of Jackson County, Illinois

 John Allen McCluer (also spelled McClure by many) was my grandpa's great grandpa on my mom's side. (Mom>Grandpa George Duncan> Gr Grandma Viola Ellen Duncan>gr gr grandma Ruth McCluer> 3rd gr grandpa John A. McCluer)
The family notes Grandma had and other historical sketches I have found agree that John A. McCluer was born November 15, 1816 in Richland County, Ohio, near the town of Paris. The mention of Paris in family records seems to have confused some family into thinking he was born in France. My uncle kept telling me when I started my research that there was a Frenchman in the tree somewhere, so when I found this, I thought that was what he meant. That may be what he meant, but I have since traced back some more, and found a real Frenchman. But you know, that's another story for another day!
Here is a link to one of the historical sketches I found online about John A. McCluer which includes a photo of him and his wife Clarinda Nase (Nace), which has been added to my records. I have not seen anyone else identify the others in the photo, (I have also seen the photo attached to trees in Ancestry) but I would like to think maybe one is his daughter, my 2nd great grandmother, Ruth McCluer.
I have found land records for John through Ancestry, his Civil War Pension File (he served with the 81st Illinois Infantry, Company D, apparently along with his son-in-law's (Peter Hutsell Duncan) brothers Thomas R. Duncan and Giles Duncan. Peter served with the 27th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Company H.

I have found John A. McCluer (McClure) in the following census:
1850 in Jackson County, IL. (Northern District) with his wife, Clarinda, and 6 children: Susan, Sarah, Rhuey, Thomas, Anna, and George. He is listed as a farmer.
1870 in Levan, Jackson County, IL with his wife and 6 children: George, Ruth, Amanda, David, Oliver and Henry. He is listed as a farmer on this record too.
1880 in Levan, Jackson County, IL. with his wife and only one child, Oliver. He is again, listed as a farmer. His son Henry is living near by in this record.
1885 He is found in Cherokee County, Kansas (Columbus or Lyon?) with his wife and son Henry who is now 28. John and Clarinda are now 68 and 67 respectively.

It doesn't appear that John and Clarinda stayed in Kansas very long, for I found  mention of John in 1896 extracts from the Barry County, Missouri newspaper The Cassville Republican, Weekly Paper. The article is where he performed marriages as Rev. John A. McCluer. His obituary and a historical sketch were found in the same newspapers.
John died April 17- 18, 1899 at the home of his son Thomas, in Cherokee County, Kansas. and was buried at Mineral Springs Cemetery in Barry County, Mo, next to his wife, Clarinda. It appears he was very much loved by all who knew him. It seems he lived quite an amazing life, and my little bit here surely doesn't do him justice.  The link above also lists several sources, one of which seems to be his notebook. I would love to see copies of his notebook! If anyone out there reading this can help me learn more about this family, please contact me! I am always interested in hearing from other researchers and family!

A little more info about John and Clarinda and family: John's parents, said to be of German and Irish descent, were Thomas N. McCluer (b. Feb 28, 1790 in Maryland or Virgina possibly Rockbridge Co. Virginia, death date unknown)  and Susannah Trucks {Trux}(b. in Pennsylvania, date unknown, died August 1838.
John's siblings were Henry C., James J., George Y., William and Ruth Ann.
Clarinda was born December 9, 1817 in Luzern County, Pennsylvania and died June 16, 1893 in Barry County, Missouri. Her parents were: Thomas Barber Nase and Polly Montanye
John and Clarinda's children were Sarah A., Ruth, Susan Polly, Rhuey Jane, Thomas N., Amy, George Y., and Amanda. 
John's daughter Ruth is my gr gr grandmother, and she married Peter Hutsell Duncan (my gr gr grandfather). Ruth's sister Sarah married Peter's brother Thomas R. Duncan (both sons of William Duncan and Amanda Hutsell). After the Civil War, Peter and Thomas, and their families moved to Cherokee County, Kansas.