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.

Motivation Monday-Help from living Family

I haven't been able to do much work on my puzzles the last few days, but I have been getting a steady stream of emails all weekend, mostly from Cousin Valerie. She's been sending me what she has found, mostly about the Fredericks/Rhinesmiths and some about the Merrions (or Marions). This group of people seem to have come to America (New Jersey) from the Germany area possibly around the French/Swiss border or likely the Rhine River area during the mid 1700's. They were part of the Iron industry that was booming there in New Jersey at the time. I printed out numerous emails and documents she sent, including some that had been shared with her by Blanche years ago, so I could sit and read them while on the road or taking it easy in the recliner. But yesterday's road trip turned out to be longer than we expected and the car doesn't have air conditioning yet. It was a hot day here in Central Kentucky, pretty much like everywhere else, so I really didn't feel like reading much. None the less, I have a challenge before me.
Then this morning when I checked my email I had another unexpected email. This one from my uncle, (my mom's brother in law). It seems he recently made a trip to Mineral Springs, Missouri. He sent me photos he had taken of the church there that Albert Duncan used to attend, and the new building that has been built next to it. He also sent several photos of graves, Albert's grave, Peter Hutsell Duncan's grave and some I had never seen before! Some are very old and hard to read, one was never really engraved, but the name and date scratched on. I belive some of these I had not seen before are descendants and not all are my ancestors, so the challenge will be sorting them out, and for some reading what the stones actually say.

Mineral Springs Baptist Church. Barry County, Missouri

Before I Continue...

Before I dive into this more, let me lay down some basic history about me and my parents. Providing this will help some things make more sense. Extra info will especially help you understand some of my shock, amazement and surprise of some things I have found along the way. It really is a small world after-all!

I was born (in the mid 60's) and raised in Eastern Kansas,. I grew up as the youngest of four. My parents split up when I was 3, and Dad had a job that made him travel a lot. We typically only saw him once a year, or so. But we wrote to each other, him and us kids. Relatives that I had near me while growing up was my siblings (two sisters and a brother, then later a half brother and sister), my mother's parents, Grandma and Grandpa, and my aunts and uncles and cousins, on my mom's side. My Mom was the 3rd of 4 kids. Her older brother and family (a wife and 3 girls) lived (lives) in the Pacific Northwest. We only saw them on occasion, when they could come to Kansas to visit. Their youngest daughter is only a couple years older than I am. Mom's sister and her family were in the same town as we were. She has 5 boys and a girl, her youngest son is my age. We grew up around each other a lot. What you would expect of cousins. Mom's younger brother married, but never had kids. Some of were afraid of him as kids, he wasn't exactly gentle in personality, but we have grown out of that as we have grown older, and actually enjoy talking to him etc. He's a pretty cool uncle.
Grandma's sister lived in our town too, but for some reason I didn't realize they were sisters until recently. We always called her by Mrs. Wolgamuth. So did Grandma. I remember going grocery shopping with Grandma (always a Saturday chore), and sometimes stopping to pick up Mrs. Wolgamuth to take too. She was old, even then (to me), and because of that, slow. But as she got older, going shopping got harder, and Grandma would call her before she went shopping to get a list from her, and we'd drop off her things when we finished and Grandma would stay and chat with her awhile. I must have been pretty clueless as a kid to not realize they were sisters. I just always thought they were old friends.When Mrs. Walgamuth died, I remember Grandma being the saddest I had ever seen her. Grandpa died when I was in the 8th grade.

I never knew my great grandparents on mom's side. I knew they had lived in Missouri. I knew Mom was born in Missouri, and we still had relatives who lived there. I know I met some at a family reunion when I was very young, but I really never remembered who was who.

I also never knew my dad's parents. They both died before my older sister was born. I had seen a couple pictures of them, and heard a couple stories, but not much. My dad was born and raised in New Jersey. He had one sibling, a brother, who was about 14 years older than him. My dad's brother didn't have kids, and I never knew anything about his other relatives growing up. I would hear a few names over the years, and the name of the man my dad was named after, but that was about it.
My Dad joined the Air Force after he finished highschool. He was stationed at the base in Wichita, Kansas. It was through friends that he met my mom. The rest is, as they say, history. My oldest sister was born there, then Mom and Dad moved to New Jersey for a few years, where my brother and my other sister were born. Then they moved back to Kansas, (my dad likes it there better), then I was born.

So how did I wind up in Kentucky!? Well, I was the restless type of teenager, and determined to get out of that little town once I graduated. I joined the Army, went to basic training (in New Jersey of all places!) then was sent to Texas. The third day I was at Ft. Bliss, I met a guy. A few months later we were married. Our first son was born there, then my husband was stationed in Germany. Our second son was born in Germany, then we came back (while I was pregnant with our 3rd) and our third son was also born at Ft. Bliss. By the time our third child was a year old, the oldest was getting ready to start school, and the army life wasn't looking to be a very grounded way to raise kids. So we got out of the Army and moved to Kentucky, where my husband was born and raised. Our youngest son was born here. Kentucky has been my children's home, and my home since. That restlessness of my teen years has faded and I now wish I lived closer. Dad and I stay in touch with email mostly, phone calls sometimes. My sisters are still there with their families, my brother moved west. I've not been able to stay in touch with my half-siblings very well, or at all, as is the case with one. Grandma passed away in 2004, and I still mourn her passing as if it were yesterday. I stay in touch with some of my cousins, and even a few of their kids too. I know most of the family is also curious about our family history, they just aren't able to devote the time to help uncover it.

One cousin ( a second cousin or something to my dad, I had it figured out at one time) on my Dad's side, was my pen pal growing up.  She is close to my age, lives in New Jersey. Her grandmother used to write back and forth with me when I was young too. She was Dad's Aunt Josephine, we just called her Aunt Jo. I actually got to meet Jeannie (Aunt Jo's granddaughter) when she came to my graduation from Basic Training. Jeannie and I now write via email, and she is also trying to do some family history. We have a some-what unique situation in the family history realm. Her grandfather and my grandfather were brothers, and her grandmother and my grandmother were sisters. So our Fraternal family tree is the same!

My journey into the family tree and the use of the internet has allowed me to find more 'cousins', of the more distant kind, but I enjoy being able to talk to them now too. It's pretty amazing how I found some of them!
Many more stories to come...so keep checking back!
Thanks for stopping by, and glad to see some followers sign up since I got this started. Always feel free to comment, make suggestions, send hints, whatever! In case you can't tell, I'm the chatty type. You won't be bugging me!

What I Started With

When my Dad got in contact with the family member he had in mind, something unexpected happened. He isn't sure how it happened, but a different family member sent him an email. The granddaughter of one of Dad's uncles sent him an email. She had been doing family research for a number of years. Her project started as a school project and she never quit. He was blown away by amount of information she had, and began sharing. Cousin Valerie had grown up in New Jersey too, but had by this time moved to Canada and started a family. Many long and forgotten memories of Dad's, little by little, got dusted off and brought back into light. When I'd talk to him on the phone, I could just imagine the look on his face. Valerie was sharing old photos, talking about people Dad hadn't thought about in years. He'd tell me things, and I'd try to write it down as he went. Then he'd put it in email and send it, and I groped in the darkness of the internet trying to find census, cemetery records etc. I felt like I was hunting for a needle in a haystack sometimes. My kids were young, and life was busy, but on slow days I'd do what I could.

Dad's Maternal Line
My family would go back to Kansas about once a year, or every other year to visit, and one such visit we got talking about Family Tree stuff. Dad brought out a family tree of his mother's side (Havens) that had been done back in the 80's. I had known about it, but forgot about it. Dad let me have his copy, and we made a copy of it for him too. It contained info I had never seen before. It had names and stories, cousins and ancestors. It was like gold to me! My first real peek into our family's past. How we got here and who we came from. The earliest names in the the tree are Frederick Kayhart (aka Gearhardt)  who married a Vanderhouf/Vanderhout. It says Frederick was born at sea in 1757 and died 1855 in Pine Brook (I assume NJ).  This couple are my 4th great grandparents. It also had another set of 4th great grandparents listed. Thomas Leach who was born 1781, in Nyack, NY. and died in Brook Valley (no date shown). His wife is simply listed as Priscilla. No last name, no dates.
I only recently came back to this tree to try to expand on it, but that is another story for another day. An amazing story it is too!

My Maternal Line
On that same trip back home, I went to visit Grandma. No trip back home was complete without a visit with Grandma. Grandma was that very special person in my life. We spent so much time at her house when we were growing up. She taught us kids many things, nurtured us, inspired us, put up with us, and fed us. Grandma fed us good things. But on this trip, while my little boys were running around playing with dogs and toys, I asked Grandma if she had any family information, names in a Bible or anything. She started telling me by memory, and I still have where I tried to write those names down in a way I could remember who was who. It was all so confusing. Names of people I could barely remember meeting as a small child. Grandma would mention them in stories through the years, but it was hard for me to remember who was who. They were names floating in the air. Then Grandma got out a newer Bible. not "the family Bible" just a Bible. She opened it up, and found a couple slips of paper.  I asked her permission to take them to Dad's so I could scan them. I promised to return them quickly. She agreed and that is what we did.
Here are those scans, which is what I started with when I started on my maternal line.

This white paper is my grandma's line (my mom's mom). Surnames include: RIGGS, MAKIN, BARRETT.
The yellow papers (was actually one long page but we had to split it into two scans) is my grandpa's line (my mom's dad). Surnames include: DUNCAN, MC CLUER, HASE. The double entry of Duncan is not a mistake. The family lore handed down was that Albert and Viola were cousins. But that will be another story for another day too.