52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 44

 Week 44:

The theme for Week 44 is “Rural.” Many, if not most, of us have ancestors who lived in a rural area. Having trouble who to choose? There’s nothing wrong with picking someone at random!


Henry Stetler 4th great-grandfather


Born: 20 Mar 1786 • Newberrytown, York, Pennsylvania, United States


Died: 5 March 1856 • Newberrytown, York County, Pennsylvania, United States of America


Burial: 5 Mar 1856 • Rockey's Burial Ground, Newberrytown, York County, Pennsylvania, USA



Henry was born and raised in Newberry. Newberrytown is an unincorporated village in York County, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the Quakers who settled there in 1745, the Newberry Friends. Being an unincorporated village, Newberrytown is small in size and population. In 1786 it was even more rural than it is today. The Newberry of 1786 would look vastly different than it does today. No Dunkin Donuts, Rutters, Fulton Bank, ExxonMobil, or taco trucks. No tractor-trailers, elementary schools, or police stations. There were some private residences, a Quaker meeting house, a Quaker cemetery, and some businesses. The area was mostly farmland and wooded areas. 




A NEW AND ACCURATE MAP OF THE PROVINCE OF PENNSYLVANIA IN NORTH AMERICA FROM THE BEST AUTHORITIES, published in the Universal Magazine, J. Hinton, London, April 1780. The state ends just past the Susquehanna River on this map. The title is enclosed in an engraving of trees. The 'boundary line from Philadelphia run in 1739', is shown which was based upon the 1732 agreement to define the border with Maryland. This border dispute eventually resulted in the Mason & Dixon survey completed in 1768, so this map is way behind the times. The separation from Delaware is also shown. Counties are not shown, though the original county lines running northwest from Philadelphia are indicated. This map accompanied an article on Pennsylvania on pages 169, 170, 171. The magazine published maps of the other colonies with similar title around this same time and pieces of Pennsylvania are included on some of them. Longitude west from London. See page 677 of Phillips, Sellers & van Ee #1298, Phillips page 677. Blank verso. Scale: 1 inch = 14 miles. Size: 12 x 14 inches.





Newberry is a part of the Red Land Valley, named for its red clay soil. This soil isn't always great for farming, but it makes beautiful pottery. Henry's profession has been listed as a redware potter in 1820 and as a laborer 1850. 


Pennsylvania redware pottery is a folk art style of earthenware, often low-fired and porous, originally made by German immigrants in Pennsylvania. Itis characterized by its reddish-colored clay and is decorated using techniques like sgraffito (scratching through a layer of slip) and slip-trailing (applying decorative lines of liquid clay). Common motifs include flowers, birds, hearts, and Pennsylvania German sayings, and the style was popular from the colonial era until the mid-19th century, with a revival in modern times by artisans. 



Pennsylvania Redware Pottery by Denise Wilz - Sgraffito and Slipware https://share.google/SpWUhn0Y645jN7RQV




Henry and his wife Sarah Miller lived in Newberry with their six children, which they had between 1814 and 1833.

Henry died in Newberrytown at 69 and is buried at Rockey's Burial Ground in Newberry. 







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Reintroducing Jeremiah Miley Spahr, Sr

Image
Reintroducing Jeremiah Miley Spahr, Sr. For years, I've been searching for a photograph of Jeremiah and haven't been able to find one until today!  Looking through a drawer full of pictures, I found a photograph of Jeremiah amongst pictures of his daughter, Amanda.  Jeremiah Miley Spahr Sr 19 Jul 1840 – 26 Nov 1926 3rd great-grandfather Jeremiah Miley Spahr was born on July 19, 1840, in Warrington Township . Jeremiah Miley Spahr joined the military on September 19, 1861, in York, Pennsylvania, when he was 21 years old. Unfortunately, after the Third Battle of Winchester, Jeremiah's story takes a dark turn. https://a.co/d/40ArEsU https://yorkblog.com/cannonball/a-murder-in-warrington-townshi/ ARREST ON THE CHARGE OF MURDER. On Friday last, Jeremiah Spahr, Henry Spahr, Levi Reirer, Lewis Spaht, and Lewis Rester, of Warrington Township, York County, were arrested and brought to this Borough, charghed with killing a certain colored man whose name is unknown, but who came into t...
Read more

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 39

Image
Week 39: The theme for Week 39 is “Disappeared.” All of us have someone on our family tree who seems to have just disappeared. This is a good week to write about them. (Who knows – maybe writing about them will help you spot some gaps in your research and give you ideas on new places to look!) Martin Stanley Taylor Born: 24 Jul 1874 • Newberry, York, Pennsylvania, USA Death: ?? Arizona??  2nd great-grandfather Martin Stanley Taylor, my 2nd great-grandfather is the brick wall that I can't seem to break through. I know when and where he was born. I know that he abandoned my 2nd great-grandmother and their daughter. I know he moved to Ohio, remarried, and then settled in Arizona. I know that he outlived his second wife... but that is where the trail ends.  He disappears completely off the records.  I can't find a death certificate or a grave listing.  His first wife, Minnie, is buried at Paddletown Cemetery in Newberry Township. His second wife, Anna, is buried in her f...
Read more

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 30

Image
  Week 30: The theme for Week 30 is “Religious Traditions.” Have you explored religious records for any of your ancestors? Do you have an ancestor who was active in his/her place of worship? I am the only practicing Catholic in my family. My mom comes from a long line of Protestants and United Methodists. When she married my father they agreed that their children would be baptized into the Catholic Church.  Despite that agreement, we didn’t attend Catholic Mass while I was growing up. Instead, we found ourselves in various Methodist congregations throughout the years. It wasn’t until I turned 20 that I made the personal decision to be Confirmed in the Catholic Church—a step that marked the beginning of my own faith journey. Anthony / Antoni Achenbach  Born: 15 September 1749 Dorf Eisen Eisendorf, Schleswig Holstein, Allemagne, Germany Died: 09 March 1813 Mannheim Township, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania 5th great-granduncle   Anthony Achenbach, my 5th great-grandunc...
Read more