TRIP TO HUNTINGDON COUNTY

The trip went well, it turned out to be about a two and a half hour drive.  The drive from Pittsburgh to Altoona is about one and half and the rest was spent driving on Route  22., which was through small towns and much traffic which was heavy with school buses stopping at every railroad crossing.  The morning was mist or foggy, or perhaps it was the smoke of a wood burning fireplaces.
The Historical Society is a great place to research.   They have many books and where I found a lot of information is in their family files and folders.  They also have books or pamphlets on the towns and brochures from different towns from centennials and  such.   The records that I am looking for are in the time from of 1740-1830, most of the records in the folders are a little later.   Huntingdon County was part of Bedford and became a county in 1787.   I need to go to Bedford County.
What I found was a Coleman Chronology in a file.  It is a compilation from 1634 to about 1833.  A note states it is not complete,  and every possible source is not there.  It was an amazing list that gives a wealth of information, I have to peruse it closely.
I also found a copy of Thomas Colemans will, where he names six sons., John, James, Thomas, Absalom Gray, Michum and William.  [My though is that one of these sons is the father of my Michael Coleman 1809-1855]   I have to evaluate and come to a conclusion on which one, if it is indeed one of them. 
I am thinking it is Thomas, because that family lived in the area near the Saylor Family in Huntingdon County PA.  But, the information in the family bible given in the affidavit states that “father” was born in 1780, and the Thomas (one of the six sons) was born in 1788.
And lastly, information of Harlan and Elizabeth Saylor, who are potential siblings of Mary Ann Saylor (1814-1896)   I did not find a will for Thomas Saylor, but there was one for Thomas Sollars, who died about the same time as Thomas Saylor.   I need to go to the Courthouse, but it was 3:30 and I needed to drive home because I hate driving in the dark.   Too many deer frolicking about.

BUSY WEEKEND OF CONFERENCES

I have been busy for the past half year or so searching for my husbands Revolutionary War Ancestors.   It is amazing what you learn about someone who your have known for forty five years.   Actually, he was clueless about them, and in his defense, no one else in the family  has even a hint that they might exist.  Isn’t that a surprise?
On Friday I went to a lecture of D. Joshua Taylor, it was sponsored by the DAR, and the topic was ways for finding them.   I have documented, thanks to his cousin Helen, back to their second great grandparents.   I have found two Revolution War Ancestors, complete with the documentation and information about their pensions and service.   I just need to find the links that connect them.  
I have found information and this week I will go and search for deeds, land records, wills and tax records.   The lecture on Friday night gave me some ideas.   I guess it is a road trip of sorts,   and I have made mental and written notes on what I need to do.   The most important will be to call and see if they will be open.   I hate to drive to central PA and find them closed, but the weather will be warm and leaves should be beautiful.
On Saturday I went to a conference sponsored by the NORTH HILLS GENEALOGIST and the speaker was D.Joshua Taylor again.   He spoke on four topics on “Bridging the Gap, Tracing Families in the United States between 1780 and 1830.”   Which is exactly what I am going to do, hopefully.
The other three topics were Discovering USGenWeb,  Mapping Your Success: Employing Maps for Genealogical Research, and an interesting case study of his own family using the topics above.
It was an excellent day.  Now, off to apply what I have learned. 

EINSTEIN SAID

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result, which I am guilty of in my Coleman search.    I keep looking for trees and another information that would send me back another generation or two.

I finally decided, after many failures, to look at the last census closest to the year that Michael Coleman  (b. 23 December 1809) and Mary Ann Saylor  (b. 21 June 1814) were married, which was 4 April 1833.  I should have thought about this before.

I looked for the census in Huntingdon County PA because other records indicated that was where Mary Ann Saylor lived.   A few Colemans’ lived there too.  Since I had paid a visit to the HUNTINGDON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY and found a family group sheet of an application to the DAR from 1921.

This tidbit of information Lists Thomas Saylor, his wife Mary Kercher and eleven children.   One of which is Mary Jane Saylor, born 21 June 1814 and married to Henry Coleman.  Which is the exact date of birth Mary Ann in the Coleman Family Bible.


[Copy from the  Huntingdon County Historical Society, Saylor file—DAR application 1921.]
I searched the 1830 census and found Thomas Sailor, living in Franklin Township, Huntingdon County,PA.   The ages and dates all fit in with the Family Group Sheet above.   The only person missing is a  second daughter listed  in the under five slot.

Next I did a search for a Coleman Family and found one in Warriors Mark Township, Huntingdon County PA, and I found a few but one for Thomas Coleman seemed to hit the spot.   It listed one  male from 50-59, one woman 40-49, and one male 20-29.

As well as one male and one female under five, one male and two females ages  5-9, one female 10-14, and one female 15-19.   The date of birth for Michael's unnamed father was 1780 and his unnamed mother was 1789.   Michael himself was born in 1809.   All these dates correlated with the 1830 census.

I checked the census of the other Coleman Families and this was the only one that the three ages and dates I had that matched.  Plus Warriors Mark Township and Franklin Township are adjacent.   There is a gap in the mountain and Spruce Creek Flows between the townships.    I have more research to do but I feel pretty comfortable about this match.  

I had an epiphany this morning and decided in 1830 people would most likely marry someone in their community or just down the stream.   More research to be done.  I am wondering if Michael's middle name is Henry.

After spending time perusing and searching on Ancestry I found the other under five female.   Her name was Nancy Saylor, born in 1830 and then married Samuel Wallace [1823-1866.]   Now I will search for the other siblings of Mary Ann/Jane Saylor.