Adam came to Dutch Corner in Bedford County PA with his parents, John and Mary, and a few of his siblings around 1792. He was about 19 years old. He worked on the family farm.
Mary and Adam probably met and were married at the Messiah Evangelical Lutheran Church. Over the space of 24 years Mary gave birth to 13 children. All of them lived into adulthood except for two. Catherine, born in 1819, and Sarah, born in 1829, probably died in infancy.
In 1822 Adam's father, John, purchased farmland in what is now King Township in Bedford County. I know absolutely nothing about farming but having been there it appears to me that they relocated to a much better piece of land. The farm in Dutch Corner was not on any water that I could see and it was at a relatively high altitude on a steep slope. The new farm was adjacent to the Bob's Creek branch of Dunning's Creek and was much, much flatter. In 1823 (the year Adam's mother died) John sold the farm to Adam but he continued to live with Adam and his family until he died in 1829.
According to land records, over the next 14 years or so Adam continued to buy and sell portions of his original land purchase as well as adjacent parcels of land. It was surveyed and resurveyed multiple times over. The 1832 tax records indicated that he owned 190 acres of land, 2 horses, and 2 cows, all of which was worth $375.
Mary died in 1852. She would have been about 66 years old. After Mary's death Adam married Elizabeth Lingenfelter. Lingenfelter was her married name and no one (so far) has been able to identify her birth family. She was 15 years younger than Adam and lived 15 years past his death. She was buried in a family cemetery with one of her daughter's family which, according to findagrave,com is now "defunct".
The 1861 map shows Adam's house to be located right by Bob's Creek, making it fairly easy to retrieve water for cooking, cleaning, and bathing.
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| Adam's farm is labeled A. Ickes in the upper right portion of the map. (Click to enlarge.) |
On a present day map, the farm is located between East Garman Road and West Garman Road.
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| Adam's farm from the end of West Garman Road where horses are grazing. The creek is just behind the trees where the house would have been located. |
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| Looking at the the farm through the trees from the end of East Garman Road. |
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| The creek that runs adjacent to Adam's farmland near where his house would have been located. |
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| It appears Adam may have suffered from cataracts in his old age. |
Adam was active in the Lutheran Church and his will shows his love and gratitude to God:
"In the name of God. I, Adam Ickes of the township of Union County of Bedford and state of Pennsylvania, being in ? good bodily health and of sound and disposing mind and memory calling to mind the frailty and uncertainty of human life, and desires of settling worldly affairs and directing how the estate with which it has pleased God to bless me with shall be disposed of after my death while I have strength and capacity so to do make and publish this my last Will and Testament hereby revoking and making null and void all other wills and testaments by me heretofore made and First, I commend my immortal being to him who gave it and my body to the earth to be buried with reasonable expense by my Executors hereinafter mentioned or named, and as to my worldly estate and all the property real, personal and mixed of which I shall die seized and possessed of which I shall be entitled at the time of my decease. I devise, bequeath and dispose thereof in the manner following, viz: My will is that all my just debts and funeral charges shall by my executors hereinafter named shall be paid out of my estate as soon after my death as shall by them be found convenient. I give and bequeath to my beloved wife Elizabeth my mare, buggy and harnace, two cows, one bureau. It is further my will that my wife Elizabeth keep the farm and receive the proceeds thereof for one year after my death, also it is my will that my executors pay her the interest of one thousand dollars yearly and if she should get sick or helpless it is my will that my executors pay her more yearly, sufficient to keep her from suffering for want of necessary sustenance & at the expiration of one year after my death, it is my will that my farm that I now reside on shall be sold with my personal property to the best advantage by my executors and the proceeds thereof be equally divided among my children share and share alike. I do hereby constitute and appoint my sons Conrad and George Ickes sole executors of this my last will and testament. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal the day and year first above written.
Witness: T.H. Wright
Joseph Ickes
Codicil
Whereas, I Adam Ickes of Union Township, Bedford county have made my last will and Testament in writing bearing date 26 March A.D. 1864, now I do by this writing which I do hereby declare to be a codicil to my said will. I do hereby order that my will is that my personal property be sold by my executors as soon after my death as convenient, that is what may remain after my wife has taken a certain portion sufficient for her to keep house which am’t is to be left to the judgement of my executors and lastly it is my desire that this my codicil be annexed to and made a part of my last will and testament to all intents and purposes. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal 30 Day of March, 1864."
Adam died in 1870 at the age of 87. He would have had children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren attend his funeral service. Adam and his first wife, Mary, are buried next to each other in the Old Union Cemetery near his mother and father.
All original content, images, commentary, etc. copyright © by Joy Denison 2015-2016. All rights reserved. All writings, poems, speeches, essays, images, scans, likenesses, etc. by Adam Ickes (b 1845) as well as personal histories, images, and all other content by all persons referenced and discussed within the pages and posts in this blog may not be copied, shared, or reproduced in any way without expressed permission by the owner unless included here from other referenced sources or are historical records already considered to be in the public domain.
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