The Bethel Web

(updated as of 13 May 2021)

My wife and I began attending church at Bethel Bible Fellowship Church in Emmaus, PA in 1976 – about a year after moving to Pennsylvania. It wasn’t too long before I became aware of the fact that a number of the members of the church were related to each other. I’m a pretty detail-oriented individual, so I began to catalog all the relationships I discovered in my head.

Perhaps a year later I jokingly criticized the then pastor, Harvey Fritz, about nepotism for his having hired a relative as his church secretary. The church secretary was Ardella Bray. He looked at me puzzled and said, “Ardella’s not my relative.” I replied, “Yes, she is – she’s your son-in-law’s cousin’s mother-in-law’s cousin!”

Let me unpack that rather complex relationship. Pastor Fritz’s daughter, Becky, married Rich Kauffman. One of Rich’s many cousins in the church was Bill Schlonecker. Bill had married Pat Wentz, and her mother was Orpha Wentz. Orpha’s cousin was Ardella Bray.

At the time I estimated that between a third and a half of the church members were related to one another in some fashion. Since that time over 40 years ago the church has grown and changed. While older members have passed on, and as young people have grown up and gotten married, there are constantly new family relationships being established as well. So, let me document all the families that are related to one another in one giant spider web.

Note – I wrote an initial version of this several years ago, but as I’ve done additional research, I have found the need to document my findings in a different way so that the presentation is a bit more understandable.

The center of the web is the Kauffman family. Forty years ago, the patriarch of the family, Edgar Kauffman was still living. He and most of his children were members of Bethel. All of them have now passed on, but several generations are still part of the church. In the below I am listing the various surnames involved.

In each of the below family groupings, I will list a key representative (often the “patriarch” of the family), then give a bulleted list of the additional family names introduced in succeeding generations. This will be followed by a second bulleted list of connections to other family groups. Those in brackets are maiden names of females that married men in the church, e.g. Pat [Wentz] married Bill Schlonecker, and their names were “absorbed”, those not in brackets are surnames where females in the family married into other families, e.g. Lillian Kauffman married Edward Storz. Some of these names are no longer represented in the church, but they were at the time.

Disclaimer – I’ve tried to ensure that all the below names and connections are accurate. But this is a very complicated web of connections and it’s difficult to keep everything straight. If I have misrepresented any of them, please let me know!

= = = = = = = = = =

Kauffman (Edgar)

·        Second generation – add Schlonecker, Stortz

·        Third generation – add [Wentz], Fleming, Delong, [Fritz], Mengel, Kuhns (and later Foster-Biddle), Schaeffer, Cole, Strohl

·        Fourth generation – add Nyemscek, [Wigfield], [Hilbert], Snydeman, [Schoen], [Heyer], Mason, Wagner

 

·        Tom Kuhns is a seventh cousin of Mark and Jeff Kuhns

·        Ron Landis is a fifth cousin of Mark and Jeff Kuhns

·        Ron Landis is a second cousin, once removed, of Jane Deutsch

·        Jane Deutsch is a fifth cousin of Glenn Schantz

·        Jane Landis is a third cousin of Dean Bauder

·        Mike Eisentraut is a fifth cousin, twice removed, of Dean Bauder

·        John Milisits is a fifth cousin, once removed, of Dean Bauder

·        Dick Dorney is a fourth cousin of Edgar Kauffman

·        Bob Krasley is a sixth cousin of Dick Dorney and a sixth cousin of Paul Ettinger

·        John Franco is a sixth cousin of Dick Dorney

·        Dick Dorney, Sharon Shiffer, and Heidi Brough are all descended from Johann Phillip Kuhn

·        Bob Schaeffer is a sixth cousin of Chris Boehm

·        Lyn Himmelberger is a sixth cousin of Richard Mengel, a sixth cousin of Glenn Shultz, a fourth cousin of Randy Althouse, and a sixth cousin of Dave Heckman

·        Patti Schenkel is a half-sibling of Randy Althouse

·        Jon DeEsch is a seventh cousin of Randy Althouse

·       Don Brensinger is a sixth cousin of Randy Althouse, Patty Schenkel, Sharon Shiffer, and Nancy Six

·        Sharon Shiffer is a fifth cousin (and a sixth cousin) of Randy Althouse and Patti Schenkel

·        Sherry Wagner is a sixth cousin, once removed, of Randy Althouse and Patti Schenkel

·        Sharon Shiffer is a first cousin of Nancy Six, a third cousin of Dave Engle, a fourth cousin of Terry Scheirer, and a fifth cousin of Patti Hillegass

·        Sharon Shiffer and Nancy Six are third cousins, twice removed, of Robert Sell

·        Patti Hillegass is a third cousin of Michelle Achenbach

·        Vivian Meron is a third cousin of Terry Scheirer, a third cousin of Dave Reichard, a fifth cousin, once removed, of Eileen Long, and a seventh cousin, three times removed, of Nicole Hoffner

·        Dave Engle is a seventh cousin of Randy Althouse and Patti Schenkel

·        Dave Engle is a sixth cousin, twice removed, of Brenda Zuberka

·        Dave Engle, Sharon Shiffer, Randy Althouse, and Patti Schenkel are all sixth cousins, once removed, of Rachel Yeahl

·        Bruce Schanz (late husband of Lori Schanz) is a seventh cousin of Randy Althouse and a fifth cousin, twice removed, of June Ruch

·        June Ruch is a fifth cousin, twice removed, of Deb Schoen and a fourth cousin of Eileen Long

·        Lance Walters is a seventh cousin of Bruce Schanz

·        Lori Schanz is a fifth cousin, once removed, of Heidi Smith

·        Laura Bishop is a sixth cousin of Dave Engle and both of them are seventh cousins of Greg Ruch

·        Laura Bishop is a fourth cousin, three times removed of Peggy Sell and a fifth cousin, once removed, of Dot Kriney

·        Bob Martrich is a sixth cousin of Dave Strohl (husband of Barbara [Kauffman])

·        Bob Martrich is a cousin of June Marsh, a third cousin of Jill Weiss, and a fifth cousin of Kathryn Ritter

·        Elizabeth Iley is a sixth cousin, once removed, of Bob Martrich and Jill Weiss

·        Bruce Shelley is a fifth cousin, once removed, of Bob Martrich and Jill Weiss

·        Anne Renzi is a sixth cousin, twice removed, of Bruce Shelley

·        Kathryn Ritter is a fourth cousin, once removed, of Robert Shiffer and a fourth cousin, once removed of Barb Sulzer

·        Lana Rice is a ninth cousin, once removed, of Robert Shiffer

·        David Hottenstein is a third cousin of Kathryn Ritter

·        David Hottenstein is a sixth cousin, once removed, of Glenn Heyer

·        Joyce Weiss is a fourth cousin of Gerald Fehnel, and a sixth cousin of Mark Schaffer

·        Joyce Weiss, Bob Shiffer, Eileen Long, and June Ruch are all fourth/fifth/sixth cousins of one another through a common ancestor

·        Suzanne Williams is a sixth cousin, once removed, of Gerald Fehnel, and a third cousin, once removed, of Barb Sulzer

·        Karin Capri is a sixth cousin, once removed, of Suzanne Williams and Gerald Fehnel

·        Karin Capri is a fifth cousin, once removed, of Ashley Gottier

·        Diane Marks is an eighth cousin of Ashley Gottier

·        Barry Henritzy was a seventh cousin, once removed, of Gerald Fehnel

·        Barry Henritzy was a seventh cousin of Susan Sterkenburg

·        Liz Yelinko is a sixth cousin of Patrice [Wentz] Schlonecker

·        John Shick is a sixth cousin of Liz Yelinko and Mike Nonemacher

·        Heidi Brough is a fourth cousin of Liz Yelinko (2 ways), a sixth cousin of Tim Swavely, and a sixth cousin, once removed, of Diana Erb

·        Diana Erb is a seventh cousin of Charles Reifinger

·        Tim Swavely is a sixth cousin, once removed, of Eric Reinert, a seventh cousin of William (Wendy) Fox, a fifth cousin, once removed, of Dawn Martrich, and a sixth cousin of Beth Lorah

·        Eric Reinert is an eighth cousin of Tammi Walper

·        Gail Godusky is a sixth cousin of Dawn Martrich, and a sixth cousin, twice removed, of Alvin and Kenny Harley

·        Dennis Shaffer is a sixth cousin of Gail Godusky, and a fifth cousin of Shirley Weaver

·        Kathy Wengryn is a seventh cousin of Dennis Shaffer and Kendra Motsay

·        Kathy Wengryn is a twelfth cousin of both Al and Donna Russell

·        Kendra Motsay is a seventh cousin of Jeff Lowmaster

·        Kendra Motsay and Jeff Lowmaster are sixth cousins, once removed, of the step-father of Karen Smith

·        Deb Schoen is a seventh cousin, twice removed, of Rich Kauffman, Alan Kauffman, and Marge Mengel

·        Deb Schoen is an eighth cousin of Glenn Heyer

 

Stortz (Jennie [Diefenderfer])

·        Second generation – add Nyemscek (Helen), Shollenberger (Arlene)

·        Third generation – add [Reynolds] (Sue)

·        Fourth generation – add [Schlonecker]

 

·        Jennie’s sister was married to Gerald Schlonecker’s uncle

·        Stortz – Jennie Stortz’s mother was Lillian Christman (see Russell below)

·        Dave Roth’s uncle married a first cousin (Mae Stortz) of Kathleen Stortz / Helen Nyemscek / Arlene Shollenberger / Donald Stortz

·        John Huebner is a fifth cousin of Dave Roth

·        David Sell (deceased husband of Margaret Sell) is a third cousin, once removed, of Dave Roth

·        Sharon Roth is a seventh cousin, once removed, of Margaret Sell

·        John Roth is a fifth cousin, once removed, of Dave Reichard and a fourth cousin of Robert Shiffer

·        John Huebner is a sixth cousin, once removed, of Brenda Nicholson

·        Donald Mabus is a fifth cousin of Dave Roth

·        Barbara Ebner is a third cousin of Tim Nyemscek

·        Barbara Ebner is a seventh cousin, once removed, of Jane Hottenstein

 

Houseknecht (Charles)

·        Second generation – add Sell, Shoemaker

·        Third generation – add Hause, Measler, Lafaver, Blackman, Acquaviva

·        Fourth generation – add Zikanovi, Steinke

 

·        Charles Houseknecht’s sister-in-law was a third cousin of Margaret [Miller] Henry (below)

·        Kevin Diehl is a seventh cousin of Dolores [Houseknecht] Sell

·        Aaron Gottier is a fifth cousin of Kevin Diehl

 

Hoffman (Art)

·        Second generation – add Atkins, Burkhardt

 

·        Art Hoffman is a sixth cousin of Gerald Schlonecker through a common ancestor Johann Hertzog

·        Shelley Lavoie’s daughter-in-law, Lisa [Denke] Delong is a sister-in-law of Jessica [Burkhardt] Denke

·        Shelly Lavoie is a sixth cousin, once removed, of Robert Uhl (Karen Uhl’s husband)

 

Bray (Bryan & Ardella) and Diehl (June, sister of Ardella)

·       Bryan and Ardella are sixth cousins of one another

·        Second generation – add Pinto

·        Third generation – add Love

 

·        Ardella Bray is a first cousin of Orpha [Stortz] Wentz who is connected to Kauffman family above

·        Ardella has a fourth cousin who is also descended from the Christman family (see Stortz family above and Russell family below)

·        Weller – Dana Weller is a fourth cousin once removed of Ardella [Bieber] Bray

·        Dolores [Houseknecht] Sell is a sixth cousin of Ardella [Bieber] Bray

·        Bob Schaeffer (above) and Bill Lagler (below) are cousins of Bryan Bray through their common Bieber ancestors

·        Glenn Schantz is a cousin of Andrea [Schantz] Bray

·        Heidi Smith is a sixth cousin of Glenn Schantz

·        Dave Reichard is a sixth cousin of Bryan Bray, a fifth cousin of Patti Schenkel above, and a sixth cousin of Chris Boehm

·        Janine Eisentraut is a sixth cousin, twice removed, of Chris Boehm and Dave Reichard

·        Michael Hoffman is a fifth cousin, once removed, of Janine Eisentraut and a fourth cousin, twice removed, of Diana Erb

·        Marion Stehling is a sixth cousin, once removed, of Janine Eisentraut and Lorri Keiser

·        Marion Stehling is a sixth cousin of Karen Smith’s step-father

·        John Loux is a seventh cousin and an eighth cousin of Dave Schenkel

·        Don Mabus is a fourth cousin of Bryan Bray

 

Hilbert (Kyron and Ruth [Gehman])

·        Second generation – add Gehman (Richard)

·        Third generation – add Wigfield (also see above), Kauffman (also see above)

 

·        Davies – Peg Davies is a first cousin of Nancy Hilbert

·        Fitting – Jenny Fitting’s grandmother was Edna Gehman, a fourth cousin of Ruth [Gehman] Hilbert

·        Howerter – Frieda Howerter is a second cousin of Leonard Hilbert

·        Branning – Gloria Branning is a niece of Frieda Howerter

·        Lorah – Beth Lorah’s maiden name is Hilbert, she is a fifth cousin of Leonard and Doris

·        The following are related to Leonard Hilbert through their common Musselman ancestors: Bryan Bray (above), Sharon [Nace] Breish, Chris Boehm (and Melanie Carwell)

·        Sharon Breish is also a distant cousin of Steve Cassel, husband of Kathy [Schlonecker] Cassel (above)

·        Chris Hoffner is a fifth cousin of Leonard Hilbert through the Oberholtzer family

·        Alyssa [Spengler] Modo is an eighth cousin of Chris Hoffner, an eighth cousin of Gerald Fehnel, a third cousin, once removed, of Elizabeth Iley, and an eight cousin, twice removed, of Joseph Gottschall

·        Russ Amos is the uncle of Nicole [Amos] Hoffner

·        Eric Roth is an eighth cousin of Nicole Hoffner

·        Cathy Stout is a fifth cousin, three times removed, of Leonard Hilbert

·        Sue Labrie is a seventh cousin of Cathy Stout and a seventh cousin of Bill Williams

·        Mark Vitale is an eighth cousin of Cathy Stout

·        Wilma Sorrick is a fifth cousin, twice removed, of Cathy Stout, a sixth cousin, once removed, of Sue Labrie, and an eighth cousin, once removed, of Al Russell

 

Frederick (Robert)

·        Second generation – add Seibert

·        Third generation – add Delong (connected to Kauffman above)

·        Fourth generation – add Benjamin

 

Miller (Ray and Margaret [Henry]) -- siblings

·        Second generation – add Plarr

 

·        Ray is first cousin of Gerald Schlonecker

 

Miller (Andy and Cindy [Karch]) -- siblings

·        Second generation – add Merrick

 

·        Andy Miller’s sixth cousin was Raymond Brobst

·        Brobst – Raymond Brobst married Florence DeLong (see Kauffman above)

·        Harley – Dorothy Harley’s maiden name was Brobst

·        The following are related to the above through their common Brobst/Probst ancestors: Dana Weller (above), Edward Stortz (married Lillian [Kauffman]), Orpha [Stortz] (married Paul Wentz, mother of Patricia [Wentz] Schlonecker), Lillian [Stortz] (married Paul Ettinger)

 

Russell (Al)

·        Second generation – add Christman

 

·        Al Russell is an eighth cousin, once removed, of Bob Davies

·        Al Russell also has a fourth cousin who is a fifth cousin of David Cole

·        Matthew Christman is a sixth cousin of Arlene Shollenberger/Helen Nyemscek/etc

·        Matthew Christman is a seventh cousin of Bob Krasley

·        Gretchen [Warmkessel] [Carraher] Kohler is a third cousin of Bob Krasley

·        Brooks Weirbach is a sixth cousin, twice removed, of Gretchen Kohler and Bob Krasley and a fifth cousin of Heidi Smith

·        Kevin Mertus married a seventh cousin of Bob Krasley

·        Al Russell is a ninth cousin, twice removed, of Ruth [Schoonover] Gavin (six different ways!) and an eighth cousin, once removed, of Aaron Gavin

·        Al Russell is a tenth cousin, of Jared Burkholder

·        Richard Pritts is a seventh cousin of Jared Burkholder

·        Scott Wilson is a ninth cousin, once removed, of Al Russell

·        Richard Pritts is a fourth cousin of Phil Hodge

·        Eileen [Rassler] Long is a fourth cousin of Robert Shiffer as well as a distant cousin of Matthew Christman, Tim Nyemscek, etc. via her Christman ancestors

·        Jim Weiss, Jane Deutsch, Sally Schaeffer, and William (Wendy) Fox are also cousins of Eileen Long, Robert Shiffer, and Matthew Christman via their Christman ancestors

·        Eileen Long is a fourth cousin of Randy Althouse and Patti Schenkel

·        Susan Parker is a sixth cousin, once removed, of Randy Althouse and Patti Schenkel

·        Brian Parker is a sixth cousin, once removed, of Joyce Weiss

·        Eileen Long is a fifth cousin of Lorri Keiser

·        Cheryl Bognar is an eighth cousin, once removed, of Lorri Keiser, and an eighth cousin of Deb Schoen

·        Pam Schlaner is a fifth cousin of Deb Schoen

·        Lisa Bolduc is a sixth cousin, once removed, of Eileen Long, Randy Althouse, and Patti Schenkel

·        Holly [Newell] Nonnemacher is a tenth cousin, once removed, of Al Russell

·        Mary [Nonnemacher] Trexler is a second cousin, twice removed, of Nick Nonnemacher, a sixth cousin, once removed, of Randy Althouse, a fourth cousin, once removed, of Heidi [Prutsman] Brough, a fifth cousin, once removed, of Liz Yelinko, and a fifth cousin, twice removed, of Gerald Fehnel

·        Ed Harrison is a tenth cousin, once removed, of Al Russell, a seventh cousin, four times removed, of Dick Dorney a fifth cousin, twice removed, of Nancy Six, and a fifth cousin, twice removed, of Rose Aboujaode

·        Susan Lavalva is a seventh cousin, four times removed, of Al Russell’s aunt, Gertrude Phipps Clark and a ninth cousin, twice removed, of Al Russell

·        Rick Howells is an eleventh cousin, once removed, of Al Russell

·        Shannon Gross is an eleventh cousin, once removed, of Al Russell

·        Linda Reichard is an eighth/ninth/tenth cousin (at least eight ways) of Al Russell

·        Paul Carr is an eleventh cousin of a second cousin of Al Russell

·        Joy Paulsen is an eighth/ninth/tenth cousin (at least twenty-four ways) of Al Russell, a ninth cousin of Donna Russell, and a tenth cousin of Ruth Gavin (at least two ways)

·        Paul Freeman is a tenth cousin of Donna Russell and a tenth cousin, twice removed, of Al Russell

·        Katie Collins is a ninth cousin, twice removed, of Al Russell (2 ways)

·        Margaret Metz is a ninth cousin, once removed, of Donna Russell and a ninth cousin, once removed, of Al Russell

·        Lorie Edwards is a tenth cousin, once removed, of Al Russell and Joy Paulsen

·        Linda Heater is an eleventh cousin of both Al and Donna Russell

·        Becky [Fritz] Kauffman is a tenth cousin, once removed, of Al Russell

·        Cathy Wimble is a ninth cousin, once removed, of Al Russell and Joy Paulsen

·        Sandy Engle is a tenth cousin of Al Russell (2 ways) and thirteenth! cousin of Donna Russell

·        Laura Rigdon is a ninth cousin, three times removed, of Al Russell (several ways)

·        Paul Satre is a ninth cousin, once removed, of Al Russell and a tenth cousin, once removed, of Donna Russell

·        Mimi Plate is a ninth cousin, twice removed, and an eleventh cousin, once removed, of Al Russell

·        Judy Perrin is a seventh cousin, three times removed, of Al Russell

·        Carol Coogan is a ninth cousin, once removed, of both Al and Donna Russell

·        Phil Morrison is a tenth cousin, once removed, of Al Russell

·        Ralph and Sharon Soper are each distant cousins of both Al and Donna Russell

·        Diane Marks is a tenth cousin, once removed, of Al Russell

·        Wendy Fox is a twelfth cousin of Donna Russell and a thirteenth cousin, twice remove, of Al Russell

·        Gerry Boyle is a ninth cousin, once removed, of Donna Russell and an eleventh cousin, once removed, of Al Russell

·        Dianne Boyle is an eleventh cousin (two ways) of Donna Russell and a tenth/eleventh cousin (several ways) of Al Russell

·        Linda Mehl is a twelfth cousin of Al Russell

·        Janet Mazza is a tenth cousin, once removed, of Al Russell

·        Torey LaFerney is a twelfth cousin, twice removed, of Donna Russell, an eighth cousin of Alvin Harley, and an eleventh cousin, four times removed, of Al Russell

·        Torey LaFerney and Alvin Harley are both sixth cousins, twice removed, of Kim Lowmaster

·        Jay Duncan is a ninth cousin, once removed, of Donna Russell and an eleventh cousin of Al Russell

·        Paul Smith is an eleventh cousin, three times removed, of Al Russell

·        Richard Cook was an eighth cousin, once removed, of Paul Smith

·        Jeff Lowmaster is a tenth cousin, twice removed, of Donna Russell (3 ways) and a tenth cousin, once removed, of Al Russell

·        Johnawane Tarver is a ninth cousin, once removed, of Al Russell

·        Mike Gray is a thirteenth cousin of Al Russell

·        Sue Williams is a tenth cousin of Al Russell

·        Steve Scott is a thirteenth cousin of Al Russell and Donna Russell

·        Fred Sorrick is a tenth cousin of Al Russell

·        Sue Brensinger is an eleventh cousin of Al Russell and Donna Russell (they all have a common ancestor who came on the Mayflower)

·        Dave Schoen is an eleventh cousin of Donna Russell and a tenth cousin, twice removed, of Al Russell

·        Dolores Sell is a tenth cousin of Al and Donna Russell (as is Marlene Shoemaker)

·        Rich Kauffman is an eleventh cousin of both Al and Donna Russell

·        Dave Schlonecker is a twelfth cousin, twice removed, of Al Russell (as is Karen Delong)

·        David Smith is a tenth cousin, three times removed, of Al Russell

·        Phil Atkins is an eleventh cousin, once removed, of Al Russell (and a multiple cousin of Donna Russell)

·        Dana Weller is a ninth cousin, once removed, of Donna Russell

·        Laura Bishop is a ninth cousin, once removed, of Al Russell

·        Jane Hottenstein is an eleventh cousin, once remove, of Al Russell and Donna Russell

·        David Fitting is an eleventh cousin of Al Russell

·        Maggie [Campbell] Roth is an eleventh cousin, once remove, of Donna Russell

·        Stephen Merrick is a tenth cousin, once removed, of Al Russell

·        Annette Kuhns is a thirteenth cousin of Al Russell

·        Marvin Keiser is a fourteenth cousin, once removed, of Al Russell

·        Kevin Diehl is a tenth cousin of Al Russell

·        Nancy Hilbert was a ninth cousin, three times removed, of Al Russell

·        Barb Ebner is an eleventh cousin of Al Russell

·        Bob Martrich is a ninth cousin, once removed, of Al Russell (and 4 other ways)

·        Barb Schultz is an eighth cousin, once removed, of Al Russell

·        David Cole was a ninth cousin, twice removed, of Al Russell

·        Wanda Kauffman is a tenth cousin of Donna Russell

·        Nancy Mertus is a tenth cousin of Al Russell and a ninth cousin of Donna Russell

·        Sue Benjamin is a ninth cousin, once removed, of Al and Donna Russell

·        Mark Benjamin is a tenth cousin, twice removed, of Al Russell

·        John Huebner is a tenth cousin, once removed, of Al and Donna Russell

·        Liz Kuhns is a ninth cousin, twice removed, of Al Russell

·        Nick Jarratt is a tenth cousin, twice removed, of Al Russell

 

Behnke (Alan)

·        Second generation – add Bednar

 

·        Adam Behnke married the step-granddaughter of Vivian Kuhns/Foster-Biddle

 

Zacharda (Richard)

·        Next generations – add Servais, Arnold, Warris

 

·        Richard is second cousin, twice removed, of Ray Miller above

 

Lagler (Bill & Cheryl)

·        Too complicated to try and unscramble here, but there are a number of Bethel families who are connected to the original owners of Stahl’s Pottery in Powder Valley. In addition to the Lagler family, this includes such families as Schultz and Leh.

 

·        There are ancestral family connections from this group to other Bethel families including Christman, Bieber

·        Sandy [Keeley] [Mitchell] Engle’s daughter Charis Mitchell married a son of Dolores Lagler

·        Tom and Karen Creeden’s son Trevor married an eighth cousin, twice removed, of Sandy [Keeley] [Mitchell] Engle

 

Keiser (Marvin & Lorri)

·        Next generation – add Brown

 

·        Lorri [Fegley] Keiser is a fifth cousin of Randy Althouse (two ways), a fifth cousin of Patti Schenkel, a second cousin of Janine Eisentraut, a fifth cousin of Randy Fick, a fifth cousin of Liz Yelinko, and a sixth cousin of Doug Manwiller

·        Ashley Gottier is a seventh cousin of Marvin Keiser, a sixth cousin, once removed, of Cindy Paano, a seventh cousin, once removed, of Anne Moyer, and a sixth cousin of Llewellyn Stein (husband of Eleanor Stein)

·        Cindy Paano is a fifth cousin of Gail Godusky

·        Linda Reichard is a seventh cousin, once removed, of Cindy Paano and a fifth cousin, twice removed, of Dave Engle

·        John Milisits is a sixth cousin, once removed, of Linda Reichard and a seventh cousin, once removed, of Dave Engle

I suspect that there are other families at Bethel who are also connected to this “web” but whom I have not yet discovered or thought to investigate. This is an active project and one that I will continue to build upon from time to time. (As of March 2021, there are only a few families I have to investigate.)

The members of the above families who are currently in the church directory number is over 500, or about 95% of the total number of individuals in the current church directory. This is much more than my estimate from 40 years ago.

 

Dirty Jobs

Many of you may have seen the show “Dirty Jobs” on the Discovery Channel (from 2005-2012) where the host, Mike Rowe, spends a day accompanying people doing manual labor jobs that are classified as “dirty” jobs. He did everything from sewer cleaner to pig farmer to taxidermist. These types of jobs are ones that are necessary to keep our economy going and not the ones that people get college educations for. I respect the people who perform this kind of work. Part of the reason is that I’ve had a few of these types of jobs in my life and I believe that others would benefit from it as well. Here are some of the details.

Charcoal bagger

This is one of the jobs that Mike actually put in his list of the seven dirtiest jobs that he had. Here is what he had to say about it:

"Labor Day cookouts don't happen without a relatively small number of people walking into what amounts to a giant bunker where scrap wood is slowly charred for 72 hours," said Rowe. It's not burned, but rather charred, like a S'more, "just to the point where it becomes internally toasted. Then you hammer the wood, beat it to pieces, and there's smoke everywhere, and you look like Al Jolson."

My first paying job (at about age 10 or 12) was bagging charcoal at the “charcoal pit” at the end of the road. A local neighbor, Mr. Seery, who owned the land, would cut down some trees, put the logs in an enclosure, light it, then seal the entrance so as it burned it would turn to charcoal. It took several days for Mr. Seery and his sons to cut enough trees to fill the enclosure and, as noted above, about 3 days of charring to turn the trees into charcoal. After opening the enclosure, it took another day or so for the charcoal to cool down enough that we could begin breaking apart the big pieces and start the bagging process.

My cousin Dave and I would use a shovel, minus handle, to scoop up the charcoal, fill sturdy paper bags and wrap a wire twist tie around the neck. We got paid so much a bag. It was dirty work, but both Dave and I were hard workers and it was good pocket money. That meant that every few weeks during the summer Dave and I would get to work for several days to bag everything. We’d come home just coated with the charcoal dust. Not sure how my mother felt about how black I got doing this, but it kept us out of trouble and taught us good work ethics.

Truck Tire Recapping

This is another job that Mike Rowe featured in one of his shows. The below video gives some idea of what was involved, but this video shows some of the more advanced technology that is now being used. I’ll note below what was different when I had this job.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8X2GMD1TPzg

In 1966, I graduated from high school and needed to have a summer job to earn money to pay for college. My father had seen a job posted at a small business that he went by on the way to his work. The name of the business was “Service Tire.” While they had a showroom where they sold car tires, the primary focus of the business was repairing and recapping truck tires. The owner, Andy, worked on the car tire sales part of the business, together with one lady in the business office. My only exposure to that side of the business was when they needed the sales floor restocked with tires. They were stored in the basement and I’d go down the stairs, load up four tires on each arm and bring them up to be stacked in the showroom.

Everyone else there worked in the tire repair/recapping side of the business (and mostly recapping with only a few repairs from time to time). There were 3 full-time employees, John (the supervisor), Fred (a black fellow), and Frenchie (so called because he was French-Canadian). There were two of us who applied for a job there. I was a skinny 17-year old who weighed perhaps 155 pounds. The guys who worked in the shop didn’t think that I’d last two weeks and they were betting on the other teen. But whereas he quit after less than two weeks, I continued not only the entire summer, but came back the next summer as well.  It was 55 hours a week, nine hours a day and ten on Saturday – with overtime that was 62.5 hours pay at $1.60/hour or a gross of $100/week.

Recapping truck tires is a tiring, tedious job:

·       Step 1 – mount the tire on a buffer that slowly turns the tire past a set of spinning blades that chew off all the outer surface of the tire, even out any flat spots, etc.  While the tire is still mounted on the buffer, you also had to check for any tire imperfections, noting any holes that need patching, grinding out any spots that need it, etc. [Unlike the video above, we had no automated equipment to scan for imperfections, it was a totally manual inspection.]

·       Step 2 – spray a temporary adhesive on the buffed-up surface, put the new raw rubber around the outside and stitch it down (stitcher is like a thick pizza cutter but with a ribbed edge).  [We had no overhead carrying system, so we then had to just carry the tire with brute force from the buffer to the spreader. I could carry nearly all tires by myself, only needed help once when we had a 12x24 tire with 10 layers of steel that took two of us to carry.]

·       Step 3 – put the tire on a spreader which has one set of paddles holding each of the two tire beads, then use air pressure to spread the beads apart which shrinks the overall diameter of the tire (don’t stand in front of the tire as if the paddles slip they will kill you – there was a hole in the cinder block wall at the opposite side of the building from one such slippage!); put an aluminum band on the tire that has the new tread on the inside. [Unlike the video, we did not use cured rubber tread, but used raw uncured rubber and the tread design was in the aluminum band.]

·       Step 4 – put on a heavy metal rim, put the whole thing on a round table with another round table over it, clamp it all together, inflate the inner tube, then run high-temperature steam through the tubes around the outside of the band. 

·       Step 5 – “cook” for several hours. The rubber gets melted into the design on the inside of the aluminum band then cures.

·       Step 6 – remove everything and you have a newly retreaded tire. 

It was generally 90% humidity and over 90 degrees, so with the black rubber dust that you quickly get coated with, you sweat a lot – making the black dust stick even more.  It was hot, hard work, but I came to appreciate this experience over the coming years.

I did the above nine hours a day from M-F. On Saturday we didn’t recap, but there were other duties. The first thing in the morning I had to take a junk truck that we had out back and drive it to the city dump and empty it there. The truck sat there all week and we loaded it up with empty boxes that the rubber had come in, the rubber dust from the buffing operation, and any other trash from the store. I’d borrow one of our dealer plates from one of the other shop trucks, and use jumper cable to start the engine.

The “junk truck” was a real piece of trash. Besides having a dead battery (which is why I had to jump it to get started), the turn signals didn’t work, the clutch was shot so you had to “double clutch” it to shift, and the brakes were shot so you had to pump the brakes while pulling on the emergency brake to stop it. So, part of the job requirement was you had to know how to use a stick shift, know how to give hand signals out the window to indicate turns, etc. Since the dump was only a few miles away it wasn’t too bad, except for the one time that the truck stalled while I was unloading it and it took me close to an hour of giving the battery a rest before trying to start it again.

Once I got back to the shop it was time to make a delivery run. We had a large contract with a trucking company about 25 miles away. We’d recap their tires during the week, then deliver them every Saturday and pick up any that they had noted needed to be recapped to bring back. My job while I was there was to ensure that every single tire in the facility was brought up to proper pressure (low air pressure is one of the leading causes of tire separation due to excessive heat in the flexing). We had a small truck with a compressor and a 200’ air hose which we stored there. I’d drive to one section of the large facility, check every tire (trucks, trailers, and buses) in that section, noting mentally any needing inflation, then start the compressor and use my long hose to bring everything up to spec.

Despite it being really hard work, I enjoyed it and got along well with my fellow workers. The only person who did not appreciate it was my mother. When I got home each day my instructions were “don’t touch anything, just walk straight to the downstairs bathroom, strip down and shower.”

Dirty jobs are everywhere. And the people that are in them are some of the nicest folks I’ve ever had to work with.

Russell Connections

Some Root Connections

Recently I was doing some further research into my wife’s family tree and while tracing the lines from her mother (born Mary Ellen Wright), I ran into a distant ancestor by the name of Hannah Root (1662-1706) who lived most of her life in Connecticut. This especially interested me because my grandfather, Harold Pierpont, had a step-mother, Anna Root, with that same last name (*1). I wondered if the two Root women might be related and so I began tracing those two lines. The answers took me down some very interesting paths.

Hannah’s grandfather was Thomas Root (1605-1694) and her great-grandparents were John Root and Mary Ann Russell (1574-1683). Anna’s Root line went back to John Root (1608-1684) who was a younger brother of Thomas. So not only was my wife a distant cousin of my grandfather’s step-mother, but there was a Russell connection as well. Some further investigation was definitely called for.

The Russell Links

Mary Ann Russell was the daughter of Francis Russell (1554-1585) who was the 4^th child of Francis Russell (1527-1585). Her marriage to John Root[e] is documented in (*2). But this latter Francis was the 2^nd Earl of Bedford. This means that Francis, 2^nd Earl of Bedford, is the great*11 grandfather of my wife as well as my step-great*11 grandfather.

But there are other connections to the Earls of Bedford that I have previously investigated (*3).

First, going through my grandmother, Sarah [Blackman] Pierpont, and following her ancestral line from Blackman to Talmadge to Sperry to Russell – Sarah’s great*2 grandmother is Mary Russell (1786-1857)). Mary is descended from Lord Edward Russell (1572-1627), the older brother of Mary Ann, and the 3^rd Earl of Bedford. Through this path Francis, 2^nd Earl of Bedford, is my great*14 grandfather.

Finally, my Pierpont great*6 grandfather, Joseph Pierpont, married Hannah Russell. Hannah is descended from William Russell, the 5^th child of Francis (*4). Through this path, Francis, 2^nd Earl of Bedford, is my great*10 grandfather.

What an amazing number of connections to this significant family in England!

The current Duke of Bedford, Andrew Henry Ian Russell, is the 15^th Duke of Bedford. His line of descent from the Earls and prior Dukes of Bedford is a somewhat complicated one (*5), but Francis, 2^nd Earl of Bedford, is his great*13 grandfather. This means that he is my 11^th cousin, 3 times removed (as well as my step-12^th cousin twice removed and my 14^th cousin, once removed) and he is also the 12^th cousin, twice removed of my wife.

Connections among the various Russell groups

While I have mentioned some of the connections between the Bedford Russells, the Kingston Russells, the Scottish Russell ancestors in my direct Russell line, and the origin of the family name in Normandy (*3), I’d like to explore that a little more.

The biography of the first Earl of Bedford, John Russell (*6), claims that his father was Sir James Russell, his grandfather was most likely John Russell, his great-grandfather was Sir Henry Russell, and his great-great-grandfather was Sir Stephen Russell. It then notes that “It was long believed that the family was descended from the ancient family of Russell of Kingston Russell in Dorset, which descent was declared unproven by Gladys Scott Thomson in 1930.”

Similarly, the writeup on the Bedford Russell coat of arms in (*5) notes that “The arms show a claim to be descended from the medieval lord Hugh de Rozel, which has been debunked, especially by J. Horace Round in his essay The Rozels of Bedford (1999). The family tree on the website of Woburn Abbey only refers to the descent from the provable Stephen Russell in 1394.”

However, in (*7), it notes that recent research shows that Sir Theobald Russell (1301-1340) was a direct ancestor of John Russell, the first Earl of Bedford, and documents the line of descent in great detail. Thus, it appears that more recent research, with all the advances in DNA analysis and using the Internet to pull together resources that were previously unavailable, has superseded the prior conclusions.

Since the Kingston Russells trace their lineage back to the time of William the Conqueror, this would also mean that all the connections I have documented above take my lineage back to Norman times and prior to that to the Vikings who conquered Normandy in the 900s (and which accounts for the small percentage of Swedish DNA in my blood (*8)).

Finally, my direct Russell ancestors through my father go back to Robert Russell who immigrated to New York from Scotland around 1750. He would have been part of the Clan Russell, an armigerous clan in Scotland (*9). While there is no complete family documented from this clan, they claim connections back to the original Baron Rozel in Normandy through individuals who arrived in Scotland as early as the mid-1100s.

Notes:

*1 – https://ramblinrussells.blogspot.com/2017/12/genealogy-story-my-pierpont-grandparents.html

*2 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Russell,_2nd_Earl_of_Bedford

*3 - https://ramblinrussells.blogspot.com/2018/12/russell-ancestral-lines.html 

*4 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Russell,_1st_Baron_Russell_of_Thornhaugh

*5 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_of_Bedford

*6 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Russell,_1st_Earl_of_Bedford

*7 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston_Russell

*8 - https://ramblinrussells.blogspot.com/2018/09/revised-dna-results.html

*9 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clan_Russell

Lost Dukedom of the New England Pierponts

One of the long forgotten stories of the New England Pierponts is how they made an effort to claim a title in England of the Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull. In order to understand this effort a little background information is needed first.

Background on English Titles

There are three categories of individuals in England – commoners, peers, and royalty. Commoners may sometimes be recognized for their contribution to the country or to royals, in which case they are knighted and given the designation of “Sir”. For example, the drummer for the Beatles, Ringo Starr, was recently knighted for his contribution to music and charity and is now officially Sir Richard Starkey MBE (Member of the British Empire). There have been several such individuals in the history of the Pierrepont family (*1). This designation is for an individual only and cannot be passed on.

Peers are given specific titles by the royalty. There are five levels of peerage, from lowest to highest baron, viscount, earl, marquess, and duke. These may also be awarded with (or without) various types of inheritance rules such as “heir male” or “heir general”. In general, the higher the level the more likely that inheritance may be attached to it as well. An individual may have more than one title. Also, the higher levels are often associated with specific properties, so that while someone may be Baron Smith, at a higher level they may be the Earl of Anytown.

Royalty are in another entire category – which I will not attempt to explain here. Royals may also be given various other titles as well. For example, the full title of Prince Charles is: His Royal Highness Prince Charles Phillip Arthur George, Prince of Wales, Earl of Chester, Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland. (How's that for a mouthful!)

Peerage in the Pierpont Family

There had been a number of knights in the Pierrepont family over the centuries. The direct forebear of the peers in the family was Sir Henry Pierrepont (1546-1616) who represented Nottinghamshire in Parliament (*2) and who had succeeded his father, Sir George. Sir Henry's son, Sir Robert Pierpont (1584-1643), was created Viscount Newark and Baron Pierrepont in 1627. In 1628 Robert was further honored when he was made Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull.

The first Earl was succeeded by his son, Henry Pierrepont (1607-1680), who was also created Marquess of Dorchester in 1645. When he died his Marquessate became extinct as it could only pass to male descendants. However, the Earldom and other titles devolved on his nephew, Robert (1660-1682), the son of Henry's younger brother. Robert died unmarried two years later and was succeeded by his younger brother William (1662-1690), who himself died a few years later without issue and he was succeeded by yet another younger brother, Evelyn (1665-1726).

Evelyn received other titles – Marquess of Dorchester in 1706, and then he became the first Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull in 1715. When he died, these titles passed to his grandson, also named Evelyn (1711-1773), as the first Evelyn's son, William (1692-1713) had died in the meantime. All these titles became extinct when the younger Evelyn died without issue in 1773.

When Evelyn's wife died in 1796, Evelyn's estates passed to Charles Medows (1737-1816) who was a great-grandson of the first Duke (Evelyn) through the female line. Charles changed his surname to Pierrepont and was created Baron Pierrepont of Holme Pierrepont in 1796 and later Earl Manvers (*3) in 1806. The title of Earl Manvers passed down through his ancestors until the death of the 6^th Earl, Gervase Evelyn Pierrepont (1881-1955) in 1955.

The New England Pierpont Interest

Note that much of the below is taken from the seminal work on the Pierpont family, Pierrepont Genealogies from Roman Times to 1913 (*4).

The New England Pierponts are descended from a brother of Sir Henry, William (1547-1648). William's son was James (1580-1664), who with his sons John (1616-1682) and Robert (1621-1694) were the first of the Pierpont line to come to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1640s. John's oldest son who survived past childhood was the Rev. James (1659-1714) who moved to New Haven.

The Rev. James believed that he was an heir of his 3rd cousin – at that point Evelyn (1665-1726) who had inherited the Earldom a few years earlier. Because there were so few male descendants in the English branch of the Pierreponts, Rev. James believed that the titles held by Evelyn would eventually pass back up through their common ancestor Sir George. There were no other remaining male descendants from the intervening generations.

Note that even today, few of us have much knowledge of who our 3^rd/4^th cousins are and could accurately recount how we are related. So consider how much more difficult this would have been 300 years ago. Also, there was a good reason for the rift and lack of communication between the English and New England branches of the family. While Sir Henry and his descendants had remained loyal to the Church of England, his brother William was sympathetic to the Puritans and the center of that movement was only a few miles from Nottinghamshire in the town of Scrooby where William Brewster, William Bradford, and many of the Pilgrims came from. This “non-conformity” created a barrier between the descendants of Sir Henry and the descendants of William and all communication between the two halves of the family had ceased at that point.

The following is taken from an article in the magazine of the New England Historical Genealogical Society (*5), but this is based on the earlier work (*4).

Few colonial New England families were as attentive to their ancestral connections in England as the Pierponts, and for none were the stakes greater. Several generations of the American family considered themselves closely related to the aristocratic Pierreponts of Holme Pierrepont in Nottinghamshire, England. On various occasions throughout the eighteenth century, the New Englanders sought to clarify the relationship and establish a closer association with their titled English kinsmen. As the English branch teetered towards extinction in the male line, some of the New England Pierponts believed that they might be successors to the cousins' titles and estates, which after 1715 included the Dukedom of Kingston-upon-Hull.

The Reverend James Pierpont (1659-1714) was the first member of the American family to act upon his real or perceived relationship to the English Pierreponts. The New Haven clergyman recruited colonial agent Jeremiah Dummer in London to assist him in his investigations. In March 1711 Dummer advised Pierpont on progress in his research, stating that “if there be the least appearance of making you a title to any part of the Pierreponts estate in Darby or anywhere else, I'll take the opinion of counsel upon it and transmit you the state of the case.” Dummer further recommended that the minister establish contact with his presumptive cousin by writing the Marquess of Dorchester to congratulate him on a recent marriage in his family. In the meantime, Dummer was engaged to have a Pierpont coat-of-arms painted “by the best hand in London” for his New Haven client. Two months later, Dummer wrote again informing the minster that he had called upon the Marquess of Dorchester (otherwise known as the fifth Earl of Kingston and later created the first Duke of Kingston by George I) to introduce the subject of his American cousins and their shared ancestry. The nobleman, Dummer reported, was living “in great splendor” but was a “bad herald” and could not recount the family history any earlier than the reign of Charles I. Dummer promised to follow up with the nobleman's elderly uncle, perhaps the Baron Pierrepont of Ardglass, who was evidently a more capable family historian. The response to the Reverend James Pierpont's genealogical enquiries by this aged gentleman, if any, remains unrecorded.

The Rev. James died in 1714 without ever having established the link to his then living Pierrepont cousins. His oldest son, also James (1699-1776), tried in the years after his father's death to continue that pursuit of reestablishing connections to his English cousins. The latter years of his life were consumed in this pursuit. James' cousin, John, who was a descendant from another branch of the New England Pierponts also got involved, but that only muddied the water. John actually left his new wife in Roxbury, Massachusetts and went to England where he attempted to ingratiate himself with the Duke. During his several years there he was accused of forging the Dukes signature among other things. When he finally returned to New England he found that his wife had declared him dead and remarried and his creditors wanted to be repaid. After a short time, during which he was told that he was persona-non-grata, he left and returned to England and he was lost track of.

The final Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull died in 1773 without male issue, and James died a few years later, ending this 50+ year effort to prove the male descent which would have enabled James to sail to England and claim the title.

The story continues in (*5):

The Pierpont family in America did not let go of its ducal pretensions easily. Jonathan Pierpont was in 1767 captain of a brig call Duke of Kingston and another descendant, Joseph Pierpont of Boston, was in his lifetime nicknamed “the Duke of Kingston.” Whether guided by caprice or legitimate claim, the New England Pierponts were unsuccessful at every turn in their quest for the dukedom they so clearly coveted. In time, memories of the saga eventually faded, taking on the patina of an unlikely, if not fanciful, family legend.

It was reported that in 1878, [Munson] Edwards Pierrepont, a descendant (great-great-grandson) from Rev. James, went as Minister to England where he was entertained by the then Earl of Manvers (Sydney) in the ancestral home in Nottinghamshire. While there the Earl showed him the musty family records which documented the connection between the two parts of the family. If James, or his agent Drummer, had been able to see them 150 years earlier, then he could have relocated to England and in time perhaps have become the Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull and the Lord of Holme Pierrepont. But alas, the Dukedom had been surrendered upon the death of the last Duke in 1773 and it was a century too late!

Notes:

*1 - https://ramblinrussells.blogspot.com/2018/05/pierpont-genealogy-lords-and-sirs-in.html

*2 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_of_Kingston-upon-Hull

*3 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_Manvers

*4 – Pierrepont Genealogies from Roman Times to 1913, R. Burnham Moffat, 1913.

**5 – D. Brenton Simons, “Dreams of castles: The 'lost' dukedom of the New England Pierponts,” New England Ancestors, 19-20, 24.

Investigating a Family Legend

A while ago I had noticed that my daughter-in-law’s grandfather had the middle name of Merril/Merrill. In looking back farther, as expected, I confirmed that his middle name was the maiden name of one his ancestors – in his case his maternal grandmother, Frances Merrill. Since the Merrill name is in my family tree as well, the mother of my maternal grandfather being Annie Merrill, I suspected that there was a family connection. Further research confirmed that my daughter-in-law was also my 8^th cousin.

Upon relaying this to her, she informed me that it would not be a blood relationship since there was an adoption in that part of her family tree. I initially just took her at her word. This past week I had the opportunity to spend a few days in Florida with my son, daughter-in-law, and three grandchildren. While there, I noticed on their book shelf a ½” notebook containing a lot of genealogical material that had been produced by her grandparents back in 1995. Included in that notebook was a two-page write-up about the “adoption” of Frances, who was reported to have been rescued from an Indian village and adopted by the Merrill family. In asking about it, my daughter-in-law also informed me that two family members had recently taken a DNA test and their results showed no Native American blood in them. So perhaps the adoption story was incorrect?

Below I have reproduced the two-page write-up about Frances and following it my investigation into the facts behind it.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A few words concerning Frances F. Benton, wife of Dennis G. Benton, Sr.

Away back in the times of History when the white man was coming into the part of the “New World” now called Pennsylvania, there was a tribe of Indians that was called by some “The Penn Indians.” They were of the “Sac Tribe.”

In time these Indians were bought out of Pennsylvania and moved to the Mississippi, or what was called the West at that time. Then a more Whites came to the New World, they finally caught up with these Indian again and were having trouble with them.

This tribe was finally surrounded and real war broke out. They fought until they thought every Indian was dead. The Captain of the Whites called “attention” and gave the order that if you hear a groan out of any Indian to go and finish him off for they did not want even one to escape.

While standing at attention someone heard a little girl or baby crying. They followed the sound of the voice and found a little girl and her brother under a syrup vat or scalding vat used in butchering. They Captain came and started to draw his sword to kill these two children. But a man by the name of Mr. Merrill grabbed the Captain’s arm and would not let the Captain kill the children. “I have been married for 20 years and have no children. I want them and if you will let me have them and give me leave of absence long enough to take them to my wife, I will return to you and serve you as long as you need me.”

The captain granted Mr. Merrill his leave of absence and he took the children to his wife and then returned as per his promise.

After the war was over and the soldiers had returned to their homes, the cholera broke out and both Mr. and Mrs. Merrill died of cholera and these two Indian children were then adopted by an elderly couple by the name of Rachold.

They lived happily together until in their old age both Mr. and Mrs. Rachold passed away. Nobody seemed to want these Indian children who were big enough at this time to get work and everyone seemed to want to get rid of them.

About this time in History, new land was being opened up for homesteads in what was called Kansas. There were several families making up a train of wagons that were going to travel through together to Kansas and all take homesteads in this new land. So the people in general in the vicinity made up an agreement or purse and sent these children with this caravan and told them “when you get to Kansas, turn this boy and girl loose and let them go to the rest of the Indians and live with them.”

While on their way to Kansas, this caravan was overtaken by real winter weather and they pulled into a town in the state of Iowa and made camp for the winter. While there this Indian girl (maiden) met a young man, fell in love with him and married him. Later in life this couple with their children also went to Kansas to homestead. The brother of this maiden (wife of Dennis G. Benton) went along with them to Kansas. They homesteaded and built a house and set up a saddle post office for the community – Carmi, Kansas.

(Note by Harriet E. Walton: Charlie Benton was born in dugout while they were building the soddie. Harriet E. Benton Walton was born in the Post Office and lived in it until 7 years old. Her Mother died when she was 16 years old.)

The brother of this Indian girl obtained work on a farm helping with the farm. They also had another farm hand, at this place, who did not like Indians. But this Indian was a good worker and this farmer would not fire the Indian. There came a time one day when the farmer and his wife had to make a trip into town and would not be back in time to fix dinner for them. So they told the men, “When noon time comes, one of you take care of both teams while the other one gets the dinner. They drew straws to see who would get dinner and it fell to the Indian to get the meal. This he did and went to call the while man for dinner, but could not find him. But he saw the cattle all coming to the barnyard for a drink. He also notices that the corral wires had been clipped, and that all the cattle could walk right out into the standing grain fields and sorghum crops. The Indian tried to patch the fence but there was nothing to patch it with. So the Indian got in the gap and tried to keep the cattle from getting out of the corral. But there was a bad fighting bull in the herd and taking things in hand, charged the Indian and gored him to death.

When the farmer and wife arrived home, this is what they found. The Indian dead where the bull had killed him, and all the stock out in the growing grain. The white man was gone, both teams tangled in their harness – not having been fed at noon.

Now back to this Mr. and Mrs. Dennis G. Benton family, fighting their way through hardships of early pioneer life. They succeed in bringing up a family of seven children who grew to marriageable age and married.

This was written by Fred. B. Willard (grandson of the Bentons) from memory.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Indian War – The tribe described in the first few paragraphs is the Sac/Sauk tribe (*1). This tribe was involved in the Black Hawk War and the types of incidents mentioned such as killing of the Native Americas by the Europeans really did happen that way (*2). It should be noted that this war took place in April-August of 1832. Following that war, the Native Americans had been pushed back all the way to western Iowa.

*1 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sac_and_Fox_Nation

*2 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hawk_War’

Merrill Involvement in the War – The “Mr. Merrill” mentioned in the legend is Lloyd Merrill (1804-1854). But there are a few problems with the legend as recounted. First, in 1832, while he was about the right age to be a soldier in that war (he would have been about 28), Lloyd was still living in NY (as evidenced by his having children born in NY in both 1830 and 1833). Secondly, there is no record of his ever having performed any military service.

Frances being an Indian Maiden – Frances was born in Ohio in 1840, eight years after the Black Hawk War took place. Also, the mention that Lloyd wanted to take the young children because he and his wife had been married for 20 years and had no children is false. In the 1840 census Lloyd is recorded as having four children – one boy 15-19, one girl 10-14, and two girls 5-9. In the 1850 census, when names of family members are recorded we can see that the boy is Hadger (born 1826), the older girl is Orello (born 1830), one of the younger girls is Lucilia (born 1833), one has apparently died, and the family has been supplemented with Frances (born in 1840 after the census was taken earlier that year). There is no record of a “brother” about the same age as Frances.

Rachold Family – Both Lloyd Merrill and his wife passed away in the cholera epidemic of 1854 when Frances was a young teen. I could not locate any family by the name Rachold or anything like it living in Ohio in the 1850 census, although it’s possible that the name of the family is enough different that I could not locate them. But Frances married in 1856, just two years later, so she would not have lived with them long, if at all. And since she was already “old enough to work” when her parents died, this element of the story is also a bit suspect, although it may be true.

Meeting Dennis Benton – While there is no issue with whom Frances married, the story about going west on a wagon train and meeting him in Iowa is unlikely. Frances and Dennis married in Erie County, Ohio, the same county where she was born and lived with her parents until their untimely passing. She and Dennis did move to Iowa early in their marriage (their first child was born there in 1858), but meeting in Iowa and then making the long trek back to Ohio (where they were both from), only to almost immediately return to Iowa, would not have been practical. It is far more likely that they met and married in Ohio, then moved to Iowa a short time thereafter.

Frances’ Brother – As noted above, there is no record of another brother in the Merrill family. There is a younger brother living with Dennis and Frances in the 1860 census, but the younger brother is Hiram Benson, a younger brother of Dennis, not of Frances. Thus, the story of the Indian brother, the white man, and the cattle is also quite unlikely or at least is not a story about Hiram. Hiram served in the Civil War in 1862 and was a casualty of that war.

Final Years – The remainder of the story, about Dennis and Frances living in Iowa but eventually moving to Kansas is correct. Based on census records and other data, it appears that they had a total of fifteen children but several of them died young: Loyd Burr (1858-1862), Laura Annette (1860-1904), Edward J. (1862-1876), Albert Henry (1866-1944), unnamed son (1869-1869), Clara Aretta (1869-1869), Fannie L (1872-1938), Esther Lucelia (1872-1872), Fredrick W (1873-1874), unnamed daughter (1875-1875), Flora Evaline (1876-1926), Dennis Goddard Jr (1878-1970), Charles Watson (1879-1952), Harriet Estella (1882-1976), and Minnie Ruth (1885-1918). The years from 1869 to 1875 must have been very hard ones with five of six children born in that period dying at birth or shortly thereafter. Frances died in 1898 and Dennis a few years later in 1903.

Where did the Legend come from?

The author of the above paper was Fredrick Burl Willard (1893-1982) who was a son of Laura Annette [Benton] Willard. Frances died when Fred was only 5, Dennis when he was 10, and his mother when he was 11. So as he recorded this story “from memory” late in his life it had been nearly 8 decades since he had heard the various aspects of it.

There is certainly no doubt that Dennis and Frances lived a hard life on the prairies of Iowa and Kansas. But it appears that Fredrick blurred several things together in his memory from when he may have heard them until they were recorded from that memory so many decades later. The story of the Black Hawk War and the result of the Native Americans being pushed out of eastern Iowa would have been an exciting one for a young boy to hear. And it is quite likely that he heard stories of the wagon trains of people who moved west from places like Ohio to Iowa and Kansas. Kansas had become open to settlement in 1854, just a few years before Dennis and Frances met (in Ohio), so it’s easy to see how those facts became mingled in Fred’s young mind.

Thus, while it appears that the “Indian maiden” story is only a legend, the real story is just as interesting and I have enjoyed the work of researching it. The bottom is that my cousin relationship to my daughter-in-law is in fact a blood relationship and the science behind the DNA that did not detect any Native American blood in the family can be confirmed.