The Mothers

My great-grandmothers virtually had no voices.  Most of them never owned property and they left no wills.  If they were not the head of the household (which is the case for all of my great-grandmothers) their names were not listed on any US census records prior to 1850.  Any information we would have about them would have come from family, church, or cemetery records.

All of my Bedford County great-grandmothers were farmers' wives, though a couple of the later ones were able to branch out of the farm life.  We can't hear their stories from their mouths, but we can consider the words of other farmers' wives during similar times and in similar places:

"As a class, farmers’ wives are expected to do more work than any other housekeeper.  We do our own washing, ironing, taking care of the milk, meat, chickens, which women of other callings do not.  We do our own sewing, making over an infinite number of old clothes to save the expense of new ones."

"There are compensations to living on a farm anywhere, and particularly here, that I am sure no other hard way of earning one’s living brings; but it is hard, and oh! The needlessness of it is the hardest part to bear!  It is not what money brings that I or any other sensible person wants, but just to do a reasonable amount of useful work and then a chance to lift one’s eyes and thoughts above the daily grind."

"I happen to be married to a man who considers it an unpardonable crime for a woman to sit down to read or study, or to take a minute to rest."

"I weigh 120 pounds.  I milk seven or eight cows night and morning; run a separator (device which separates cream from milk); get breakfast, dinner, and supper; do all of the washing and cleaning; do most of the garden work and rake in some haying.  I feel very good most of the time, only when I get too tired I have a headache and pain in back of my neck.  I mend, read, and such, but I don’t have much time to rest."

"Many farmers’ wives are despondent.  I think some are so despondent as not to care to put forth enough energy to even lift the head.  What causes the state of affairs?  Is it the treadmill?  Is it lack of society?  Is it poor food?  Is it poor clothes? – good clothes are a moral support it is said.  Is it unappreciated toil?  Is the farmer so much among animals that he comes to regard his wife as a beast of burden?  I have been five years trying to answer these questions.  I hesitated years before consenting to marry a farmer because I saw that these things were so and I could not tell why."

"I will try and tell you some of my experiences and what a woman can endure. I was married when twenty years old, went to keeping house the first of July. [We soon] found plenty of bugs. Of course there wasn't much rest for many nights. I would take everything outdoors and'sweep it down from top to bottom and then scald the logs and then whitewash them and so on. We lived that way for nearly twenty years."

"I was married at nineteen and then my farm life began in earnest .. . I would always rise in the morning at four or half past, winter and summer, and have built my own fires, milked from four to eight cows, prepared the breakfast and had it at six. I always did my own churning, and many are the books of poems, histories, stories and newspapers I have read while churning .. . I have always done my own washing and weaving of carpets as I have a large house and it is furnished with rag carpets. . . . One summer I piled up one hundred cords of wood and did my own housework. . . . Not many modem wives would think they could pull flax, cut corn, dig potatoes and do all things on a farm as we used to."

"I used to say that I could select the farmers' wives from a crowd of women of all classes. They seemed to have a sort of hopeless spiritless look." 

"Before leaving your bedroom, open [the] window and put your bed to air. Be sure to ask divine help to carry you through the day. Have your breakfast well on the way the night before. Clear the table and wash [the] dishes right off; don't let them stand to dry or call flies. Sweep and dust; clean lamps. Then do chamber work. Prepare dinner. . . . Can you tell me how to do this and at the same time crowd in the care of milk from five cows, churning twice a week, baking for seven in [the] family, attending to poultry, washing, ironing, mending, sewing, etc., etc.? I must confess I don't know how to do it and keep sweet-tempered as a wife and mother should. God alone knows I would like to be able to do it."

"I am a farmer' s wife, sixty years old today . Thirty-one years I have spent on an isolated hilltop, with work, work, work, and starved for something to read." (from http://tcpl.org/local-history/documents/ithaca-tc/women-roots/lifestylesp19-27.pdf)

And from another source describing the family life of early colonial America:

"By the mid-1700s, across the American colonies . . . travelers described Americans as coarse-looking country folk. Women and girls kept their hair covered with hats, hoods, and kerchiefs. Colonials made their own clothes from linen (flax) and wool; every home had a spinning wheel and a loom, and women sewed and knitted constantly, as cotton cloth would not be readily available until the nineteenth century. Plentiful dyes like indigo, birch bark, and pokeberries made colorful shirts, pants, dresses, socks and caps.

 "Americans grew their own food and ate a great deal of corn—roasted, boiled, and cooked into cornmeal bread and pancakes. Hearty vegetables like squash and beans joined apples, jam, and syrup on the dinner table. Given the poor quality of water, many colonials drank cider, beer, and corn whiskey—even the children! As cities sprang up, cattle drank beer, yielding a disgusting variant of milk known as “swill milk” that propagated childhood illnesses.

 "Infant mortality was high, and any sickness usually meant suffering, and often, death.  Women, expected to bear between five and 10 live children, could anticipate a dozen pregnancies. Bodies wore out fast, and women aged rapidly. Overall life expectancy hardly tells the tale of the everyday life, where work was hard, the most minor sicknesses potentially life-threatening, and pleasures few. 

"Despite the reality of this coarse life for common folk, it is worth noting that by 1774 American colonists already had attained a standard of living that far surpassed that found in even most of the civilized parts of the modern world." (from http://www.patriotshistoryusa.com/teaching-materials/bonus-materials/everyday-life-in-america/)

I calculated the average statistics of my 18 Bedford County great-grandmothers for whom I have information. They were an average of 21 years old when they gave birth to their first child.  They had an average of 8 children each over a period of 17 years.  This is actually a very generous estimate as odds are they had far more miscarriages, stillbirths, and cases of infant mortality than what was written down and recorded.  Their average age of death was 69.  By contrast, the average age of their husbands' death was 77.

They were tired.  Overworked,  Exhausted.  And broken.  Let's call it what it really was. Their primary roles were that of work horses and baby-making machines.  They sacrificed themselves - their essence and very identity - for the welfare of others. Some appear to have had a few years of rest toward the end of their lives. Others worked hard every single day. And then they died.  The more children they had, especially boys, the more farm help they provided their husbands.  But more children added even more to their own overwhelming work load. I imagine they had no choice in the matter. The men owned everything else and probably claimed ownership to their wives bodies as well.  Something meant to be tender, loving, and unifying could easily become one of these women's greatest sources of dread and loathing. And the heartache.  The incomprehensible heartache with the premature death of a little one.  It happened far too frequently, and I can't imagine the pain ever lessened. 

Here's my tribute to my Bedford County great-grandmothers.  As much as I appreciate and admire my great-grandfathers' contribution to colonization, the war effort, and evolving affluence, their commitment and sacrifice pale in comparison to the lived experiences of their wives.  Help me honor them by thoughtfully reading each of their names as you carefully consider the implications of their life's statistics: 

My 2nd Great-Grandmothers

Elizabeth Ellen Harbaugh Ickes

first documented child born when she was 20 years old

at least 8 births in 12 years

she died at age 75

Elizabeth Ellen Harbaugh Ickes
Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California

       

son Sheldon Ross Ickes
died at age 2 1/2 months
Hoover Cemetery     

son Harry Beecher died at age 2 days

place of burial is unknown

       

My 3rd Great-Grandmothers

Elizabeth Lingenfelter Ickes

first documented child born when she was 21 years old

at least 8 births in 19 years

she died at age 50

Elizabeth Lingenfelter Ickes
Hoover Cemetery

daughter Mary Ann Ickes died at age 4 months (her first born)

buried in an unmarked grave, Hoover Cemetery

son William Ickes
died at age 17 years
Hoover Cemetery

       

daughter Mandilla Ickes
died at age 12 years
buried next to her mother, Hoover Cemetery

son John Clayton Ickes died at age 11 months

buried in an unmarked grave, Hoover Cemetery

       

Daughter Eliza Virginia Ickes Wilt
died at age 19 years, 1 1/2 months after giving birth
Pleasantville Cemetery

     

   

Elizabeth Callihan Harbaugh

first documented child born when she was about 18 years old     

at least 2 births in 4 years

her age at time of death is unknown

her place of burial is unknown

son George Wisegarver Harbaugh died at age 25 years (killed in Civil War)

place of burial is unknown

My 4th Great-Grandmothers

Mary Haverstock Ickes

first documented child born when she was about 21 years old

at least 12 births in 24 years

she died at age 65

Mary Haverstock Ickes
Old Union Cemetery

Elizabeth Wisegarver Lingenfelter

first documented child born when she was 21 years old

at least 12 births in 30 years 

she died at age 60 

Elizabeth Wisegarver Lingenfelter's broken headstone
Horn United Methodist Church Cemetery

son George Lingenfelter died at less than 1 year of age

Horn United Methodist Church Cemetery

daughter Rachel M Lingenfelter died at age 18 years

Horn United Methodist Church Cemetery

son David A Lingenfelter died at age 1 year

Horn United Methodist Church Cemetery

daughter Sarah Ann Lingenfelter died at age 6 years

Horn United Methodist Church Cemetery

Elizabeth Wisegarver Lingenfelter's broken headstone surrounded by
smaller, unmarked headstones which could be marking her
deceased childrens' graves

          

Rachel Hammond Harbaugh

first documented child born when she was 24 years old

at least 9 births in 16 years

her age at time of death is unknown

her place of burial is unknown

Margaret Reininger Callihan

first documented child born when she was 17 years old

at least 14 births in 27 years

she died at age 47, 2 1/2 years after her last recorded birth

Margaret Reininger Callihan
Mock Dunkard Church Cemetery

My 5th Great-Grandmothers

Maria Elizabeth Stambaugh Ickes 

first documented child born when she was about 25 years old

at least 5 births in 10 years

she died at about age 73

Maria Elizabeth Stambaugh Ickes
Old Union Cemetery

Margaret Reighard Haverstock

first documented child born when she was about 18 years old

at least 8 births in 22 years

she died at about age 84

buried in an unmarked grave

Mount Eaton Lutheran Cemetery, Wayne County OH

Elizabeth Blackburn Wisegarver

first documented child born when she was 24 years old         

at least 11 births in 17 years

she died at age 72

her place of burial is unknown

daughter Eve Wisegarver Griffith died at age 25 years (probably died giving birth)

her place of burial is unknown

Rachel Blackburn Hammond  

first documented child born when she was about 25 years old

at least 8 births in 19 years

she died at age 70

her place of burial is unknown

Mary Proctor Callihan

first documented child born when she was about 28 years old

at least 6 births in about 14 years

she died at about age 84

Mary Proctor Callihan
Callihan burial ground

Mary Hine Reininger 

first documented child born when she was about 21 years old

at least 11 births in 25 years

she died at age 71

Reininger Cemetery

My 6th Great-Grandmothers

Maria Imler Reighard

age at first documented birth is unknown

at least 3 births in about 6 years

age at death is unknown

place of burial is unknown

Mary Elizabeth Steel Wisegarver

age at first documented birth is unknown

at least 4 births in 12 years

age at death is unknown

place of burial is unknown

Elizabeth Griffith Blackburn

first documented child born when she was 24 years old

at least 9 births in 18 years

she died at about age 74

buried in an unmarked grave in Friends Cemetery

Deborah Dicks Hammond

first documented child born when she was about 22 years old

at least 6 births in 16 years

her age at time of death is unknown

place of burial is unknown

Rebecca Harlan Blackburn

first documented child born when she was about 18 years old

at least 13 births in 26 years

she died at age 44 giving birth to her 13th child

place of burial is unknown

"...no love in mortality comes closer to approximating the pure love of Jesus Christ than the selfless love a devoted mother has for her child."   Jeffrey R. Holland


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The Whisky Rebellion of 1794

According to court records, two of my 5th great-grandfathers, Conrad Haverstock and John Wisegarver, were directly involved in the Whisky Rebellion of 1794.  I'll try to summarize as best as I understand it.

Following the war, the brand new United States of America was considerably in debt.  In 1791, one of the taxes imposed to offset the debt was a tax on spirits. It was considered to be a luxury tax since alcohol was not a necessity of life.  It was also intended to limit its use as the effects of alcohol in loss of productivity and incidents of domestic violence was being more and more recognized.  For the farmers west of the Allegheny Mountains it wasn't that simple.

A primary crop for them was rye.  There was limited demand for it on their side of the mountains, but they could trade it on the other side of the mountains for salt, sugar, and other necessities their families needed. Transporting rye across a mountain range was time consuming and expensive.  The most rye they could transport in one trip was 4 bales, and often the value of the grain couldn't offset the cost of the trip.  If they used the grain to make whisky, however, they could transport the equivalent of 24 bales of rye in a single trip, making it exponentially more profitable.  To those farmers, whisky was not a luxury but a primary commodity they needed to trade in order to provide basic necessities for their families.  The tax was not really that high, but to the farmers who felt unfairly targeted it was all about the principle of the thing.

So why were John and Conrad so incensed?  Obviously, we can't be sure, but we have at least two very compelling clues.  First, we know from tax records that John's dad, George, and Conrad's dad, Tobias, were both distillers. The fair trade of whisky had been an important way their dads provided for their families.  Second, John's dad, George, and Conrad himself both put their lives on the line in defending their new government against the oppression of Great Britain. Being over burdened with unfair taxes was exactly what they fought to get away from, and the very government they defended was now guilty of the same.

The task assigned the tax collector proved to be a very dangerous job.  Not only would the farmers refuse to pay, they would retaliate against him any way they could.  Tar and feathering was not uncommon. Several major altercations occurred in Pittsburgh and other areas of Western Pennsylvania, escalating the conflict even more.  One thing the farmers would do in protest was to raise "liberty poles", showing the government and government sympathizers they weren't going to stand  for this continued injustice.

Hoisted onto these liberty poles were flags with inscriptions such as, "Death to Traitors", "Liberty and No Excise", "Equal Taxation and No Excise", and "No Asylum for Traitors and Cowards".

Many angry farmers of Bedford County, John and Conrad included, gathered at the Jean Bonnet Tavern in late 1794 and there erected a liberty pole in protest of the excise tax.  Being in violation of the law, they were ordered to appear at the Bedford County Court of general quarterly sessions, January term, 1795, "to answer to such bills of indictments as shall be then and there preferred against them for Riot and other Treasonable proceedings in assisting and setting up a seditious Pole in opposition to the laws of the United States".  The men were ordered to pay fines ranging from £30 to £300 each.

Conrad was ordered to pay one of the stiffest fines.  In a post on ancestry.com, one of his other descendants speculates that he must have been the one to actually raise the pole while others were there to riot and raise their voices in protest.  He did, after all, serve in the same militia division during the war as the Bonnet brothers, so he could have also been one of the primary instigators of the entire protest.  This proves to be a compelling scenario, but who really knows.

The Jean Bonnet Tavern is still open for business in Bedford County.  We enjoyed a great lunch there.  (The onion rings were exceptional.)  Though you walk up vinyl composite steps onto decking of the same material, you can't help but be awed by the original stone facade and the large, historic fireplaces and features inside.  It was . . . how do I put it . . . wa-a-a-ay cool to sit there and imagine two, count 'em, two of my 5th great-grandfathers meeting in that very same tavern 221 years earlier plotting and planning their protest against the injustices perpetrated against them.  I greatly admire their tenacity and activism.

Jean Bonnet Tavern

We didn't make it to the lower level, but the restaurant/tavern is on the mail level and guest rooms
are located on the upper level.

To replicate authenticity a few farm animals and a small garden were located near the parking lot.

A small gift shop was added behind the tavern.

Placemat

I wanted Brent to capture an image of me next to the historical marker erected in remembrance of
the Whisky Rebellion.  Oh well.

So how did it all end?  President George Washington wouldn't stand for it any longer.  He called out 13,000 troops to march to Western Pennsylvania and take on the traitorous farmers.  He preceded the troops as a voice of warning to all those who dared come up against them. The farmers knew they were outnumbered and outsmarted, and consequentially were resigned to pay the tax they so strongly opposed.  That particular tax law was ultimately repealed in 1801.

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Adam Ickes and Mary Haverstock Ickes

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.

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.

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.

Looking at the the farm through the trees from the end of East Garman Road.

The creek that runs adjacent to Adam's farmland near where his house would have been located.

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.

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Haverstock, Reighard, Imler, & Hann

First off, I know absolutely nothing about Christina Hann and her family.  I don't even know if she really belongs in my family tree, but her name kept popping on all the genealogy websites (which isn't unusual) so I decided to go with it.  If I ever get a chance to research her and her family I'll edit what I've got here.  

Also, I haven't done any research on the Imlers.  The Imler family is highly researched and there are so many differing opinions I can't keep it all straight in my head. From what I can tell Maria's grandfather, or father, or both immigrated from Bavaria, Germany in the early 1700s. One of them maybe, or probably, served in the Revolutionary War.  They were both named George - at least they were called George.  Or maybe it was her father and her brother who were called George.  See what I mean?  It can make your head spin!  I do know that George Imler bought land in Dutch Corner because I've seen the survey. I also know that Maria Imler married John Frederick Reighard in the Messiah Evangelical Lutheran Church (discussed in an earlier post), but actually that information came from a book and not an actual historical record so maybe I don't "know" that after all. The Imlers appear to be one of the oldest families in Bedford County and their family is HUGE there even today.  They certainly left their mark.  If anyone is interested in finding out more about the Imler family, and Marie Esther Imler specifically, good luck!  When you make sense of it all, please fill me in.

John Frederick Reighard was born in Germany in 1729.  He was an early settler in Bedford County as he shows up in the tax rolls in 1777.  He is listed in Abstract of Graves of Revolutionary Patriots, Vol. 3, so we know he is a Revolutionary War veteran but we don't have any details.  He and Maria had at least 4 children.

The general consensus from the online community is that John and Maria Reighart are buried on the family farm in Dutch Corner. Land is bought and sold quite frequently, and subsequent owners are relunctant (to put it mildly) to let descendants of early homesteaders traipse around looking for headstones.  According to a post (from a book, not from first-hand experience) on findagrave.com, the farm cemetery was once called Holderbaum Farm Cemetery but is "now" called Mattas Farm Cemetery.  I didn't even attempt to try to locate it.

Tobias Haverstock, wife, and 3 sons emigrated to York County Pennsylvania via New York from Switzerland in 1765.  I just realized I have no record of he and his wife, Christina, ever having lived in Bedford County.  It looks like they both died in York County.  Tax rolls show Tobias to be a distiller; in other words, he made whisky.  This wasn't as controversial back then as it was during the Daisy Duke days in the South.  Often it was hard to find water that was safe for human consumption, so something distilled was believed to be safer to drink than contaminated water.

Tobias and Christina's son, Conrad, is another Revolutionary War Veteran. He served in the York County Militia and worked his way up to the rank of Lieutenant.  He left York County and went to Bedford County sometime after 1783.  There he met and married Margaret Reighard.  They had 10 children, maybe more.  Conrad and Margaret eventually followed at least one of their children to Wayne County Ohio where they are buried.

Conrad was involved in the Whisky Rebellion of 1794 which is a fascinating piece of history.  I'll write about it in a subsequent post.

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My Bedford County Family

Adam Ickes (not to be confused with his grandfather, Adam Ickes) was born in Pleasantville, Bedford County, Pennsylvania in 1845.  Here is his Bedford County ancestry:

Elizabeth Ellen Harbaugh, Adam's wife, was born in 1843, also in Bedford County PA.  Here is her Bedford County ancestry:

All of their ancestors shown on the pedigree charts on a blue background lived in Bedford County.  I have no evidence to believe that the names printed in blue with a blue border around them ever lived in Bedford County (but I included them just to balance out the pedigree charts).  The names on Adam's pedigree in light blue still need more documentation to prove they actually fit in this line. More research is needed.

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Pre-Trek Prep

Multiple generations of my dad's family lived in Bedford County Pennsylvania beginning in the mid 1700s. My direct-line ancestors left Pennsylvania in 1884, but many descendants of some of my early ancestors still live there today.

My 2nd great-grandfather, Adam Ickes, (born 1845) and his wife Elizabeth Ellen Harbaugh had a daughter named Allegra. She was their youngest child, born in 1873 in Pleasantville, Bedford County, Pennsylvania. She lived to be over 100 years old. I actually met her when I was a young girl. She was living in a nursing home in Fort Collins, Colorado at the time. It's hard to believe I actually met (and kissed on the cheek) the daughter of a Civil War soldier. At some point in her life she had become interested in genealogy. She handed over all of her research, documents, photos, keepsakes, etc. to my dad sometime back. Several years ago he passed everything on to me.

Allegra Ickes at age 18 

Growing up I knew the basics about many of my identified ancestry: names, relationships, birth places, etc., but in order to take the most advantage of a trip to the homeland of this particular family line I needed to find out a whole lot more.

I've identified 39 direct-line ancestors that lived in Bedford County. The vast majority of them, I believe, were German and Irish immigrants. Several men were Revolutionary War veterans. Two of my 5th g-grandfathers were directly involved in the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794. There were active abolitionists in their families, risking their lives and freedom to help secure freedom for others. Most of the men were hard-working farmers looking to make better lives for themselves and their posterity. Many of the women experienced great heartache from the untimely death of young children. From my research of wills and historical church records, they all seemed to be very devout Christians from various denominations which included Lutheran, Quaker, Methodist, German Baptist, and Independent.

Many online resources were used to get as much information as I could prior to roots trekking in Bedford PA. I scoured findagrave.com for burial locations and any historical info attached to each person. I found historical accounts and stories in old local history books available on archive.org, google books, and familysearch.org (viewable at any local Family History Center). I looked for land records on the PA State Archives website and also found old maps from 1861 and 1877 (St Clair, Union/King, and Pleasantville) showing actual locations of houses and farms labeled with the occupants' names.

My great-aunt Alle's (Allegra mentioned above) research was extremely helpful to me. Many of my ancestral lines have been heavily researched with family research websites available online. Other websites specific to the history and early settlers of Bedford County were very informative as well. I'm sure I'm missing other key resources, but hopefully I'll remember to mention them in subsequent posts. (There was A LOT of incorrect information online as well, especially within ancestry.com family trees.  Those are not primary sources and should not be treated as such.)

I sent emails; matched up old maps with Google Earth; compiled all the information I found by event, family name, and venue; printed simple pedigree charts to keep track of everybody; and made one custom google map showing every cemetery, church, parcel of land, and historical venue I wanted to visit.  My husband, Brent, accessed my Google map on his phone while he navigated our way around Bedford County.

It was the third week in October, 2015. We actually flew into Columbus, Ohio where our daughter and son-in-law are attending grad school at OSU. We left the airport and headed toward PA, only having to return after 30 minutes on the road to exchange our rental car - a delay I was none to excited about - but we arrived with a couple of hours of daylight left on our first day. (From now on I think I'll do my best to avoid flying first thing Monday morning and I'll NEVER book on Travelocity again! But that's another story for another day.)

We finally got a rental car we KNEW we could trust!

We were blessed with awesome weather. We had just missed the peak foliage as the first freeze had happened the previous week, but it was still breathtakingly beautiful. The title image above (may not be visible on a mobile device) was taken from Barefoot Road near Pleasantville at dusk.  I captured 484 images over 2 1/2 days.

All the people we met were incredibly friendly and helpful. The Bedford County phone book listed 63 people with the last name of "Ickes". I've never seen more than one or two "Ickes" listings - myself and/or my dad - in any other phone book. I actually met my first Ickes outside my own immediate family (excluding my dad's sister and great-aunt Allie).

After 3 days in Bedford County we made a quick side trip to Kirtland, Ohio to visit some historic LDS church sites, and we ended up in Columbus, Ohio where another son, his wife and 2 kids joined us for the weekend. The purpose and focus of our week spanned 11 generations. We had a great trip and a great time!

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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.