This week’s prompt for #52Ancestors was Close to Home and immediately my mind jumped to something that happened with my father late in his life. My dad was born in Fayette County, PA, but moved to Sebring OH before he was 10. He went to college at Miami University of Ohio, and then became a lieutenant commander in the Navy during World War II, living in Washington, DC then Hollywood Beach, FL and then Memphis, TN. He married my mom at the beginning of the war (December 5, 1941), but once the war finished, they moved to Cleveland OH. So the theme Close to Home doesn’t work for his early life. About 1980, my dad took a new job in Philadelphia and my parents moved to West Chester, Chester County, PA. This was a dream for my mother, the genealogist, because the majority of her ancestors, and those of my father came from through Philadelphia prior to the American Revolutionary War, and then moved on to western Pennsylvania before ending up in eastern Ohio. My parents were constantly visiting courthouses and genealogical societies to work towards finding their ancestors. But one ancestral couple remained elusive. They were the parents of my fathers 2nd great grandfather, Samuel Coffman. My father would often comment, that if it was easy, he would be related to Jacob Kauffmann of Chester County, PA. Jacob’s history is written in the book The Search for My Kauffman Ancestors Through the Cobwebs and Shadows of Antiquity by Robert Jesse Kauffman. Jacob came from Germany and settled in Berks County, but in 1774 he purchased 123 acres of land in East Whiteland Township, Chester County, PA, about 5 miles from the home my parents purchased in 1980. Below is a map from the book of this land (page 28). The blue line added towards the top is about where my parents’ home was located. The blue line on the bottom along Route 30 is where you would need to travel to get to the Sunrise Living Center. The blue plot of land was that of Jacob Kauffmann in 1774. When my mother contracted Alzheimer’s in 2006, and it became too much to care for her at home, Dad moved her to a Sunrise Living Center in Paoli, PA. Upon her death, my dad also took up residence at Sunrise. Dad would often look out his window and comment, that Jacob’s land was just across the highway, and down about 1 mile.
Prior to my father’s death in 2011, I asked him to do another DNA test. He had been tested in 2001, when the tests first came out, but I felt an updated extended test might help us solve the mystery of Samuel’s parents. Dad took the test and his specimen matched to other individuals who were known relatives of who else – but Jacob Kauffman. Today those of us that are related to Samuel Coffman of Fayette County are still doing more research to determine whether Jacob was Samuel’s father, or whether there is some other relationship between the two men. I hope that one day I’ll actually have the answer to that specific question. But my dad so wanted his relative to be Close to Home that I can’t help but wonder if that musing led to selection of Sunrise Living Center, and when the preliminary results of Jacob’s connection came to be known, Close to Home meant something more to both my father and me.
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There is no question that the term “long line” can mean a variety of things. Standing in a long line at a grocery store check-out was the first thing that popped into my mind. However, when applying it to genealogy, there was no question that my “long line” is the line on my pedigree chart that goes back the farthest. So, my “long line” is through my maternal grandfather for 10 generations. That individual is Michael Langenegger born about 1564 in Bern Switzerland. Neither my mother nor I can take any credit for finding this connection. Instead the research was done by a variety of people and written about in the “Longenecker Family Newsletter” particularly in Volume 6, No. 1. The masthead for the Newsletter is shown below. Here is my lineage beginning with my grandfather (with the wives not listed except for Mary Longacre who was the introduction of the Langenegger family. Earl Vern Yoder (1895-1975) Son of Howard Harrison Yoder (1871-1934) Son of James Longacre Yoder (1832-1898) Son of William Yoder and Mary Longacre (1793-1890) Mary Clark Longacre (1832-1893) Daughter of Daniel Longacre(1765-1837) Son of David Longenecker (1706-1776) Son of Reverend Daniel Longenecker (1686-1786) Reverend Daniel Longenecker (the immigrant to the US) (1686-1756) Son of Hans Langenegger (1652-1691) Son of Christian Langenegger (1626-1673) Son of Ulli Langenegger (1593- UNKNOWN) Son of Michael Longenegger (1564-1602) So who was Reverend Daniel Longenecker, the immigrant? According to my mother’s files, he immigrated before 1720 from Switzerland along with his brother Ulrich. Daniel was persecuted at home and to obtain religious and civil liberty he along with his brother traveled abroad. Many of Daniel’s ancestors changed the spelling of their last name to Longacre; while those descendants from Ulrich remained Longenecker. Daniel was a Mennonite preacher in the Manatawny District by 1727, which was the area of Coventry, Vincent and Phoenixville areas outside of Philadelphia. In 1730 he was naturalized in Berks County. Daniel received an original land grant for 230 acres on the southeast side of the Schuylkill River from John Penn, Thomas Penn, et al. Daniel and Elizabeth had 8 children. Reverend Longenecker is thought to be buried in the Lower Skippack Mennonite Cemetery in Pennsylvania. David his oldest son got the farm and continued in his father’s footsteps as a Mennonite minister. There is a wonderful book if you can find it written in 1902 called “ History of the Longacre -Longaker- Longenecker History” written by John Longenecker. It has been also recently reprinted. More information about Daniel and his family can be found at the Mennonite Heritage Center: http://mhep.org/our-immigrant-heritage-longacre/. #52Ancestors 52 Weeks
Trying to figure out ONE favorite photo is tough. As I mentioned in the previous blog, I received 40 boxes from my mother upo her passing. 20 contained books, folders, letters, and files. The other 20 contained boxes and albums of photographs. My mother loved to take pictures, and thus among the boxes were over 7000 slides. I am about halfway through a digitization project of those slides. Picking one has been fun!
So the chosen picture is from about 1961, making me 8 years old in the picture. This was a typical family photo, taken on my paternal grandparent's farm in Sebring, Ohio (and true to form we never could get everyone to have a straight face). I wish it had been taken with the farmhouse in the back, or even with more of my relatives looking towards the front. But it is the one that was capture of my family and embodies my memories of time on the farm. To add to the picture, I want to offer you the job of reading my grandmother's writing about the meaning of home. Her definition was written on the back of an old letter sent to friends regarding my grandfather's run for Village Clerk, which was during the 1950's. But the writing establishes her thoughts and prayers for her family. She is the oldest women in the photograph, and I am next to her in the blue sweatshirt. My Subject is Home. Someone has said it is the place where we grumble the most and are treated the best. Let us look at the structure of our home. It is a house built of wood & mortar, some bricks & shingles, some paint and some very ordinary wallpaper. But it is more than this. It is also built of love & devotion, comfort & confidence, hope & sacrifices. Here we find devotion of Father & Mother, working together, not only giving all their time & energy but all their means as well. Even sacrificing without a murmur that loved ones have the best loving with a love that never fails - mother love. Hope that never wants. We are hoping that our loved ones will reach the highest in Christian experiences as well as some of the higher positions here. We must as parents build our home with Christ as our helper, from our homes come the future citizens not only of our community, but of the church & Christ's kingdom. A beautiful picture of home. This writing embodies the memories of my grandmother, Virginia King Coffman and what I might consider my second home, the farm in Sebring, Ohio. |
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January 2022
About this BlogThis blog has been designed to serve two purposes. The first is to leave the written histories of my ancestors.
The second purpose is to offer some of my own stories, so that my children and grandchildren can learn more about my direct family and my childhood. Categories |