Close Knit Community

By 1840, my Kantner and Sammetinger ancestors had settled in Pusheta Township, Allen (now Auglaize) County, Ohio. Farmers all. On just one page of the 1840 census (SeriesM704, Roll 375, Page 138), I found two brothers, George and Emanuel Kantner, and father and son, Christian and Lorenz (Lawrence) Sammetinger with their unnamed household members. What interested me was the way in which other names appearing on the same page, thus living in relatively close proximity, are interwoven into our families. I'll come back to that shortly.

NOTE: In the 1840 census, only the heads of households were named. The rest of the household were only known in terms of free males, free females, free male colored persons, free female colored persons, and male slaves, female slaves. Within each of these catagories, the number of individuals within certain age brackets were provided. But whether these persons were related or not or how they were related if so were not given. So if an aunt or a grandmother or a farmhand was living with the family, one would not be aware of it. Thankfully, beginning with the 1850 census, the names and actual ages were added, but it wasn't until the 1880 census that the relationship of the individual to the head of household was provided. The following image is a portion of the page of interest. It contains the complete list of names on the page, but I cut out some of the info which doesn't pertain to the relationship questions.

George (line 8) and Emanuel (3rd line from the bottom) were sons of John (Johannes) M. Kantner, b. 1774. George had a daughter, Catherine, who "appears" in this census as one of the two free white females under 5 years of age in George's household. In 1857 she married John, son of Francis Shaffer (line 3), who "appears" as one of two white free males 5-10 years of age. George and Emanuel had a sister, Otilda who married William Bechdolt, Jr. in 1833. She "appears" on this page, on line 7, as a free white female, age 20-30. George and Emanuel also had a brother, Martin, whose son, John Martin married Wilhelmina Huttis in 1855. Wilhelmina was the daughter of Conrad Huttis (Hotes) and "appears" on the 7th line from the bottom, as a free white female, under age 5.
While the above named relationships are quite clear, in my opinion, the following is not certain, but presented for your consideration and further study. In regard to the Kantner clan:
1) George Kantner married Leah Oswalt (or Oswald), buried Haruff Cemetery, Pusheta Twp. I have her father as John Oswald, and her birthdate as 4/6/1812, PA. Perhaps a relationship to Daniel Oswald (line 15)?

2) George Kantner's grandson (son of John Shaffer and Catherine Kantner), George Frank Shaffer, married Anna C. Fisher, daughter of Antony Fischer and Anna Theresa Wiss, and granddaughter of John Fischer, buried in the Old St. Johns Cemetery, Pusheta Twp. Any relationship to Michael Fischer (line 4)?

Moving on to the Sammetingers:
1) Christian Sammetinger (line 14) is shown with the following in his household:
1 male 10-15       corresponds to Michal, b. abt 1827
1 male 15-20       corresponds to Johann, b. abt 1820
1 male 60-70       corresponds to Johann Christian Wilhelm Sammetinger, b. 6/11/1778
1 female 40-50    corresponds within 2 years to Kunigunda (Kraft) Sammetinger, b. 1788 (via immigration record).

2) Lorenz Sammetinger (line 13), son of Christian Sammetinger:
1 male 20-30      corresponds to Laurence Sammetinger, b. 1815
1 female 20-30   corresponds within 3 years to Rosina Fredrika (Shurr) Sammetinger, b. 1823

Lorenz Sammetinger's wife, Rosina Shurr had a sister, Maria who married John Engelhaupt, b. 1814. John's father was Johannes, i.e. John Engelhaupt. On the 11th line from the bottom is the household John Englehaupt, including 2 males 20-30, 1 male 50-60, and 1 female 15-20. I theorize that Maria's husband, John, is one of the 2 males 20-30 listed in the John Engelhaupt household.

In addition to the above "pretty certain" connection, I would point out the appearance of two Ruck households that may very well be connected to the Sammetingers, but my explorations into the Ruck family barely scratch the surface.  There is a Jacob Ruck on the 12th line from the top and a George H. Ruck on the 12th line from the bottom. I know that there is a
1) Mary Anna Ruck married Johann Sammetinger, son of Lorenz, son of Christian.
2) Catharine Ruck married a William H. Sammetinger, but I'm not sure who his father was. This merits further study.
3) Danniel Ruck married Margaret Engelhaupt, daughter of John and Maria (Shurr) Engelhaupt.

Any of you up on your Rucks? Perhaps you could bring me up to speed!

In the post with the transcription of the Henry William Smith Family Bible, the record of Kathaleen Smith and Bryan Hefner's marriage incorrectly had the date as March 17, 1938. The correct date is April 17, 1938. Thanks MMM for pointing that out. I've edited the original post to note the discrepancy, so those that might want to copy the dates from that post will be informed.

I'm going to share some info that MIGHT be helpful concerning Catharine Amarella Wilson's parents. I'm just throwing this out with the hope that someone might be able to find conclusive evidence that these documents either do or don't apply to Catharine's parents. I know this has been one of those stumbling blocks in tracing our family roots.

First, it is the unofficial position of the family that Catharine's parents were Thomas Wilson and Mary Chesta or Christy. As far as I know there is no documents to substantiate that. Perhaps this info was passed down verbally, from generation to generation. Any thoughts on that?

What we do know is that Frank Michael Smith and Catherine Amarella Wilson were married in Monroeville, Allen Co, IN on 11/4/1869 (Early Marriages of Allen County, Indiana, 1849-1874, Vol. II, compiled by Josephine Crabill Ehle, published by Mary Penrose Wayne Chapter N.S.D.A.R., Fort Wayne, Indiana) and with the date substantiated by the Marriage Records in the Schmidt Family Bible (Henry William Smith Bible) p. 1 “Family Record, Marriages: Frank M. Schmitt & Catharine A. Schmitt, Nov. 4th, 1869”

In the 1870 Census of Monroeville, Allen Co, IN:
Wilson, Mary, age 51, b. in PA
---------, Martha D., age 11, b. in OH
---------, William L., age 9, b. in OH
---------, Nancy C., age 7, b. in OH

If we accept that this is Catharine (Wilson) Schmidt's mother and children, we might posit from this that Thomas died between 1862 and 1870 (since he is missing from census and youngest child was born 1862-1863), perhaps a civil war casualty, that daughters Mary, Catharine, Allethea, Sabina have left the nest, that perhaps Mary, Thomas's widow moved to Monroeville after his death to live near a grown child

In the 1860 Census of Crawford Twp, Coshocton Co, OH:
Wilson, Thomas, age 42, farm laborer, b. in OH
---------, Mary, age 39, b. in PA
---------, Cath., age 13, b. in OH
---------, Allethea, age 12, b. in OH
---------, Sabina, age 10, b. in OH
---------, Martha, age 1, b. in OH
---------, Mary, age 17, Domestic, b. in OH

In the 1850 Census of White Eyes Twp, Coshocton Co, OH:
Wilson, Thomas, age 32, laborer, b. in OH
---------, Mary, age 28, b. in PA
---------, Harvey, age 10, b. in OH
---------, Mary Ann, age 8, b. in OH
---------, Catharine, age 4, b. in OH
---------, Ann, age 3, b. in OH
---------, Olivia, age 11/12, b. in OH

Next I present documents that may provide insight into the marriage of Thomas and Mary Wilson.
Since I found them living in Coshocton Co, OH in 1850, with a child 10 years old, I assumed they may have been married there around 1839. I was unable to find a marriage record in Coshocton Co, but after seeing a family tree that suggested that they were Thomas Wilson and Mary Christy married in Holmes Co in 1846 I got thinking. What if Harvey and Mary Ann were children from a previous marriage? Nothing from the info I had would argue against that possibility. Also, Holmes County is just to the north of Coshocton Co. So I looked for other marriage records for Thomas Wilson prior to 1846. I found:
Holmes Co, OH: Thomas Wilson married Margaret Jane McCaughey, 3/5/1840
Holmes Co, OH: Thomas Wilson married Sarah Jane Boyd, 4/3/1841
Holmes Co, OH: Thomas Wilson married Mary Christy, 3/5/1846

Could it be that Thomas was married twice, or even three times, and that our ancestor, Mary Chesta/Christy was step-mother to Thomas's first 2 children?

Interestingly, there is an 1840 Census, Holmes Co, OH that has a Thomas Wilson, age 20-30 and a female age 15-20, with no other children. Possibly, our Thomas's first wife?
Also an 1840 Census record in Coshocton Co, OH for a Henry Christy with daughters the right age for one of them to have been Mary.

If you want to look at the documents I can email a copy to you as I keep a digital copy of all the records I find.

Next time I'll delve into the little bit I've learned about two of Catharine (Wilson) Smith's sisters that may also help in putting the Wilson pieces together.