The Trouble with Clowns: Self disclosure in Writing

Posted on May 2, 2024     2 Comments

This piece is very short but it speaks volumes about who I am as a person and some of my early relationships without telling the story of who I am in a typical autobiographical style. All writing is biographical no matter what you write about, because you are always disclosing bits and pieces of yourself. When we lift the veil we may not like what we see, and our readers may recoil. That is the risk we take in writing.

I have an unsettled relationship with clowns. My mother adored clowns and I always felt uneasy around them. That disconnect between my mother and I, in respect to clowns, is emblematic of our relationship. We simply perceived the world from completely different vantage points.

Before I get into the details I have to share my only positive clown memory. It is a story my mother often told about the clown that sat on top of her jewelry box. She was in the hospital after my birth. My father came for a visit and outside the hospital he was was approached by a young boy selling hand made clowns. My father bought one and took it to my mother. So it sat for the remainder of my mother’s life as a sentinel to the only child my parent’s had, that survived. My mother loved clowns—so by extension she must have loved me.

The next clown I remember was a framed colored photo of Emmett Kelly with his classic sad clown face. It was hung in my room and I found in troubling and unsettling. It was there for many years, a testament to my mother’s passion for clowns and the circus. When I was finally old enough to have a say, I asked for its removal, much to my mother’s dismay. We went to the Ringling Brothers Circus and again I found it all rather confusing. It did not have the effect on me, that it had on my mother. It delighted her and yet made me sad.

I remember when I was about 10 my mother for Valentine’s Day got my brother and I stuffed animals that included an autograph pen so you could have your friends sign them. My brother got the muted orange dog and I got the red and yellow and blue clown. I don’t remember if I broke into tears straight away, or later. However, I do remember my Mom insisting that the clown was the better of the two. My mother liked clowns, so I should be delighted she chose the clown for me. I wasn’t and she never got that. And sadly it didn’t matter if I tried to explain it to her—she simply could not put herself in my shoes. And I was the opposite. I was always putting myself in everyone else’s shoes, in my attempt to understand why people did what they did. I was wired to try and understand.

When I had children my mother insisted on taking us all to the circus and although decades had past my feelings remained the same. Rather than amuse me and make me laugh and uplift my spirits, I felt out of sorts. Even sad.

This all came to my attention recently when I was talking to someone about comedy. And how so much comedy and humor is at someone else’s expense. There is a fine line between funny and exploitation. Perhaps, this was because I was teased and humiliated as a kid. It is probably the reason I react so strongly against bullying and why I find some comedy–not at all funny. There’s a difference between laughing with someone and laughing at some one. Laughing at our human condition and the silly things we do and laughing, often cruelly, at someone that we place beneath us.

In retrospect I could not reconcile the sadness on a clowns face with something that was supposed to make me happy. Or even a happy clown, like the Bozo of my youth, I could not reconcile with the sadness that lurked inside. I simply do not inhabit a superficial world, where I can take things at face value. One of the nice things about aging is, I know I have lots of company. My apologies to any clown lovers out there, that I may have offended.

Kelly Wheaton ©2024 – All Rights reserved

The Fear of Writing Family History Stories

Posted on May 1, 2024     2 Comments

In my last genealogy class, a member said, “now I see why you want us to write stories!” I got to thinking about all the things that hold us back. Here’s a non-comprehensive list:

  • I am not a writer
  • What I write sounds stupid
  • No one is interested anyway
  • I don’t know how to write a story
  • I have nothing to say, that hasn’t been said
  • I might embarrass myself or another family member
  • I might make a mistake
  • I don’t know what to write about

So let’s take that last one first: “I don’t know what to write about.” This one is easy, pick anything. Pick something you know about or if you want more of a challenge pick something you want to know more about. Write what you Know, and Research what you don’t.

“I am not a writer.” Most family historians aren’t either. If you write, you are a writer. If you don’t write your stories and the stories of your ancestors, that you know about, they will be lost.

“What I wrote sounds stupid.” Yep, it does, so what? When you first started doing anything—did you do it perfectly? Of course not. Lighten up, take a few risks and have some fun. Or if you are in a mores serious mood. Out with the skeletons and traumas and family secrets. It doesn’t sound nearly as stupid if its juicy!

“No one is interested anyway.” You are right. No body cares or only a few. But later—when you are gone or a hundred years from now it will matter. Someone will read something you wrote and they will say, now I know what that was like? I never knew.

“I don’t know how to write a story.” Do you know how to tell someone about something that happened to you? Of course you do. So when you start putting words down on the page hear the conversation in your head as if you were telling it to someone. Just jot down or type or use google translate to type out what you would say. Do not worry about spelling or grammar or anything else. Whatever you get down—that is a draft. That is where we start.

“I have nothing to say, that hasn’t been said.” True. But the way you say it, the way you tell the story is from your unique perspective and that is important. You are important. Doesn’t matter whether it has been said a thousand times—you still must say it, in your own voice.

“I might embarrass myself or another family member?” Yep. So what. You have never embarrassed yourself or someone else? Did you survive? Did they? Everything worth doing in life involves risks. Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway. (also the title of a book)

“I might make a mistake.” Uh huh? So what? It’s just a draft. You can throw it out and start all over. You can edit and improve on it. You can ask for feedback. We learn the most from our mistakes. What works or what doesn’t its all a learning process.

“I don’t know what to write about.” Got that covered here is a whole page of ideas and prompts for you. Link to Family History Writing.

So enough with the excuses let’s do it!

Kelly Wheaton ©2024 All Rights Reserves

“The Wild Inside”: Our Grizzly Ancestry

Posted on April 21, 2024     3 Comments

This like many stories is a web of what connects us to a past. A spark alights, a memory leads us to our own wild insides. We think we stand alone, but we are connected even to our extinct past. Man and beast we are the same, yet different. Our most innate drives and passions are passed down through generations in ways that we take for granted. This journey reminded me of where I come from.

My local library, like many libraries, has bookshelves of donated books for sale. Most are a dollar for hardbacks and 50 cents for a paperback. For a few years I volunteered on processing the donations and now I occasionally peruse them. My latest purchase was a suspense novel called “The Wild Inside” a first novel of Christine Carbo, published in 2015. The cover attracted me with a lone grizzly bear in a snowy landscape. The description was a bit off putting, but I bought it anyway. The main character, when he was 14, was camping with his father in Glacier National Park and his father was attacked and killed by a grizzly bear. Years later he is investigating the death of another man by a grizzly bear.

I love the serendipity of finding a book and then finding something meaningful in its pages. This turned out to be that sort of book. My father liked bears. I like bears. My grandfather liked bears. I have never seen a grizzly (Ursus arctos horribilis) in the wild, but I have seen American black bears (Ursus americanus) at Grand Teton National Park and occasionally they are spotted in my area in Northern California.

I have always felt the bitter irony of the California State flag bearing (oh dear, excuse the unintentional pun), the image of a California Grizzly bear, which is also our state animal. The last one was killed in the state in 1922 . Two years later, one was spotted several times in Sequoia National Park, then disappeared. The Grizzly was declared extinct here in 1924, and now a hundred years later, our flag still bears her image. It is estimated that 10,000 grizzlies once lived in California and yet none remain. In perhaps a warning to us all.

When I finished the book it inspired me to re-read my grandfather’s poem “The Last Grizzly.” According to his annotated copy of “Artifacts” (his collection of poems), his poem was first written in the 1920’s. In his 1964 letter to the California State Department of Fish and Game he had a recollection about a grizzly article he thought from the 1930’s but he wrote “it could have been referring back to the 1922 incident.” The reply had nothing further after 1922. The inquiry and reply below.

But I found the mention of the 1924 visits of a Grizzly Bear to Sequoia National Park, in the San Francisco Bulletin, Fri, Dec 26, 1924 Page 6. I suspect this may have been the impetus for his original poem. This article is worth a read, dispelling many grizzly bear myths.

My grandfather and father were both great admirer’s of nature. Both fly fisherman and hunters, when their need to fill their bellies, was great. My father, his brother and my grandparents spent a snowy winter in the Trinity Alps, living in a canvas tent. My father set snare traps to catch hares during those challenging years of the Great Depression. They were both great admirers of the naturalist Ernest Thompson Seton. I am sure they would think me remiss if I did not mention his book published in 1904, “Monarch the Big Bear of Tallac” the story of a Grizzly Bear near Lake Tahoe. What I remember most about Seton, I wrote about in a report in grammar school. On Seton’s 21st birthday his father presented him with an bill for all of the expenses connected with his upbringing, including the fee of the doctor who delivered him. He paid the bill, it is said, and never spoke to his father again. That story, and the brutality of it, is one I never forgot. These stories passed down through families are seldom recorded, but shape us none the less. Seton founded the organization the “Woodcraft Indians” in 1902 and invited the local youth to join. The group was open to girls and boys. An extraordinary man ahead of his time and remembered mostly for having being instrumental in the founding of the Boy Scouts of America and for his being an early writer of wild animal based fiction stories. He was also an artist whose spare use of line, my Dad greatly admired.

Drawing by Ernest Thompson Seton from
“Monarch the Big Bear”

Here I offer my grandfather’s Poem

“The Last Grizzly”

O Grizzly King, accept the bitterness
Implicit in the words I speak to you;
Nor think I seek forgiveness for my kind,
With hope to mitigate their sordid act;
For you, the Patron—bear with me awhile—
The Patron of this sovereign State lie slain;
The State itself your slayer, unrebuked,
Except for these too feeble words of mine.

In what long-hidden wilderness retreat
Did you seclude that massive frame so well,
That howsoever diligent the ones
Who guard us from the power of the beast,
They did not mark your range; nor even see
Your mighty tracks, until this fateful day?

It has been said that you were gone, ere now;
Ere this a mockery, the Golden Bear.
Ah, well, a day; a year; what matter? Just
So you are gone! For you were dangerous,
And fierce. Your goaded charge had raised
The hair on far too many frightened heads.

You were not one to feel the choking noose,
In passive resignation; nor the force
Of rifled death, against whose brutal stroke
The Rhino’s armored hide avails him not.
But when chains, tormented by the goad;
Rope-wracked and torn; awaiting to be dragged
To some corral to fight a hapless bull,—
That also did not seek the senseless fight—
if then the vast frustration grew too great;
And you would ask, and get, God’s leave to die,
and simply cease, the laughing Don would say,
“He dies of rage!”, not caring to recall
His tons of horses pulling, all opposed,
On rawhide lassos looped about your neck—
And more, vaquero-ridden, standing by
To choke you down, if need be, so to void
Their fellows risk, or hold their chains
that simplified their next brutality.

“He dies of rage!” the laughing Don would say,
As if to hide your torture with that lie.
So the crime of fighting for your own,
Te People passed a judgement on your head;
And you have paid. The state claimed your life:
“For seeking food on your own usurped range.”

You took a calf or two, or maybe three,
Against the awful levy on your race,
That filled the bellies of the gold-mad men
Who trespassed on the land God gave to you.

Myself, sometime, have ranged about the wood,
And from a distance watched, to learn your way;
But you were on good behavior then;
Not acting your reputed self. I saw
No arrogance displayed as you did pry
With eager nose, and claws, in rotten logs,
For ants and termites; and I watched you dig
For lily bulbs, and roots, among the stones—
You filled yourself with fungi, succulent;
With bugs and grubs; and berries in their time,
While mulling over heavy memories
Of honey-bees, and hives in hollow trees.

At such a time you were not bad to see,
But much akin to small and curious boys,
Searching in attic, erstwhile unexplored.

Such scenes are gone, with drowsy summer days;
And insect’s drone, in manzanita grove;
And lupine blue; and poppy-gilded slope—
All gone for you—unless perchance, there be
An ursine garden in Elysium,
Where golden asphodels drip honey-dew.


My grandfather mentions in his notes many attributes of the Grizzly, especially from Harold McCracken’s 1955 book: “The Beast that Walks like Man.” I wonder if that was the greatest of man’s fear, that the Grizzly was both intelligent, thoughtful and terrifying when he rose up like man.

I am past the age, when my grandfather died and can not ask him questions, that I would ask him now. My title above is a play on words “Our Grizzly Ancestry” in the double meaning of grizzled as in old, and in grizzly as in brutal. At times I felt reading his poem again, that it was a metaphor for the native peoples who revered the Grizzly and were feared as savages. Grizzlies reduced to caricatures of their complex natures and labels that aim to justify their extermination. It is a not so gentle reminder of the arrogance of man, and his folly in thinking he has dominion over the earth. His brutality to both nature and his fellow man, exceeds any seen in wild beasts.

And finally in reflection, I see in my grandfather, my children and hopefully their progeny, a desire to understand and do homage to the natural world, which we are gifted, but a brief stay.

Kelly Wheaton ©2024 All Rights Reserved












Irish Genealogy Resources

Posted on March 2, 2024     3 Comments

This is a page of resources I have put together for my Genealogy Class. I hope they may be of interest to a broader audience as well. Some of these are pretty obscure so I hope that it expands your list of Irish resources.

Postcard 1913

HINT: Finding Irish Origins for Immigrants

In general there are two overlooked places to find genealogical information as to place of origin for Irish immigrants. First is tombstones which often list the place of origin. The second is Newspaper obituaries or ads in either local papers or in papers like the Irish American Weekly (1849-1914). While writing this I went to my husband’s HALEY line. I read over Patrick HALEY’s obituary carefully. Within the obit the name was also spelled HEALY but I had overlooked was that he came over with his wife and a David MURRAY who also settled in Emporium, Cameron County, PA. Bingo I found David MURRAY and Patrick on the same Ship’s passenger list. I had been searching for Patrick Haley for decades. It was spelled Patrk HEALY on the manifest. Another example of the friends and family research plan. I also had expected that he went from Ireland to New York and It appears he actually left from Liverpool ENGLAND!

Ship’s Passenger List: Patrk HEALY wife Honora from Ireland on the ship R. Robisnson from Liverpool to New York in 1863 just above entry for Davd MURRAY and wife Jane

General & Getting Started

Organizations
Videos
Books
Forum

Surnames

Immigration

Census or alternatives

Records Sources

Catholic Records
Ulster Scots / Scots -Irish in America

Land Records, Deeds, aka Memorials

Maps

Londonderry Map 1879 Thomas Colby

Finding a Barony, town, parish etc.

Specific Area

ANTRIM

CORK

DERRY

Visiting Ireland

1909 Irish Postcard


DNA

Irish Genealogy Blogs

Kelly Wheaton ©2024 – All Rights Reserved


OUR LEGACY: Leaving Breadcrumbs

Posted on February 20, 2024     3 Comments

In my genealogy class last week, I was asked, “why do you write“. My first answer was I write for myself. My second answer was I write for posterity. But since then I have been pondering this provocative question. Which really is a broader question? Why do we exist? What are we here for? What will we leave behind? What will our legacy be? Will we soon be forgotten? I am not sure I am prepared to answer those existential questions. However, I am prepared to grapple with these things.

From “The Fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm” 1881 drawing by Heinrich Merte

My last blog post was Write What You Know: Research What You Don’t & Beware of Artificial Intelligence Generated Answers and I wrote about how we need to view our ancestors in context. That we cannot view their lives in isolation as if they lived devoid of family, friends, geography, history and what was happening around them. So in part I write to look at my own life in the context of history and the ancestors who laid the groundwork for my existence. I am essentially looking for myself in my own context. But more than that, I also write to understand. I want to understand the past, as it informs the present.

“Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.”

George Santayana

I write to understand what I don’t know. I write because it forces you to do your homework and not just rest on the work of others. In my first genealogy class one of the members said, “my family has all been done, there’s nothing to do.” I am fairly certain they no longer feel that way. It’s not just our ancestors that we seek to understand, but it is ourselves. I write and encourage others to write, because it takes courage and I want others to be inspired to take the risk. Especially these days it isn’t always easy to put yourself out there. Especially when no one seems to be listening. But that should not deter us, do it anyway. The doing of it, is its own reward.

As I research and discover more about my ancestors, it brings broader themes of history into focus and it casts an illuminating light on my own family history. Whether you are adopted, or your family kept lots of secrets or whether books have been written of your family there is always more to discover from your unique perspective. No two human beings see things the same way. Whether siblings or spouses each will have different insights and different recollections of events. We are the result of millions of years of genetic experimentation and expression along with the shaping hands of our moment in time and space.

I write because I am curious; because I am wired to seek understanding.  And it isn’t just understanding—I care about the answers. I care about how the choices we make outlive us and ripple and reverberate through time. We walk along the sandy shoreline, leaving footprints in the sand. Those prints are short lived, washed away in an incoming tide. Gandhi said it better than I:

    “Whatever you do in life will be insignificant but it is very important that you do it because you can’t know. You can’t ever really know the meaning of your life. And you don’t need to. Every life has a meaning, whether it lasts one hundred years or one hundred seconds. Every life, and every death, changes the world in its own way. You can’t know. So don’t take it for granted. But don’t take it too seriously. Don’t postpone what you want. Don’t leave anything misunderstood. Make sure the people you care about know. Make sure they know how you really feel. Because just like that…It could end.”

Mahatma Gandhi

We are unique and we have something to communicate. It’s not up to us what if anything survives us: history decides. Whether it is me retracing the path of YDNA from Prague 4000 years ago to a WHEATON, born over 400 years ago which traces to my husband. It matters. My great grandmother’s diary matters. Another great grandmother’s colored pencil drawings matter. They are all breadcrumbs leading us to places we never imagined.

Lucy Jane (FRANKLIN) HENAGER drawings

They give us glimpses into what mattered to them. Art painted on a cave wall. Grave goods from 4,000 year old burials. Carvings on a prison wall in The Tower of London. There is always an attempt by some of the powerful to eliminate the silenced voices from history. Resist.

Tower of London Carvings and their attributions

So take the risk, write the letter, the story. Paint the scene, give voice to the voiceless. Leave your breadcrumbs for others to discover.

Kelly Wheaton ©2024 – All Rights Reserved

Maps & Mapping Resources for Genealogists and Family Historians

Posted on February 19, 2024     3 Comments

If you are a regular Wheaton Wood blog post follower you will know I love maps. For my genealogy class I compiled some of my favorite Map resources below. In general I use out of copyright maps and those that are as close to the time frame as when my ancestors lived in a location as I can find. This is an active post, meaning I may add to it from time to time. You may wish to bookmark it for future reference.

HINT: Google a library or an archive for the specific area you are researching—from a town to a country. Search archives or museums in the county, state or country of interest for maps. For instance the Google Search:

“Archive North Carolina maps” yields these top hits:

HINT TWO: Do not make the mistake of only looking in the place you think a map might be located. For instance below you will find the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection located at the University of Texas. It includes this large list of maps pertaining to Mexico.

HINT THREE: Check out Etsy and Ebay for old maps and atlases.

GENERAL & USA

  • Google & My Maps (must have a Google account) My maps is a Google product that allows you to drop pins and create migration routes. Measure areas and much more. Here’s a short Youtube video on My Maps to get you started. But you can look for more YouTube videos with greater depth.
Google map with annotation
  • David Rumsey’s Historical Maps Collection – Probably my favorite large map repository. With two features I love. Geo-referencing which allows you to overlay an old map onto a current map. And the new feature “Text on Maps” which allows you to search for a place on a map. Each of those little images sows the term “Alamance” on a map. Hovering over any of the images tells you more about the map. Clicking will take you write to that spot on the map. If you do a surname search this takes you to towns and places with that name but it also includes some individual names on Plat Maps from County Atlases. This will become a more and more powerful tool no doubt. Give it a try it is awesome! It is available by Using the down error in the corner of the search box. Make sure you are in “Text on Maps.”
David Rumsey Map Collection Search “Text on Maps” tool results for the search Alamance

TOPOGRAPHICAL

US LAND PATENTS & PLATS

  • US Dept of Land Management provides access to Federal land conveyance records for the Public Land States, between 1788 and the present. Amazing!
  • US Place names The U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN) was created in 1890 to maintain uniform geographic name usage throughout the Federal Government.

SURNAME DISTRIBUTION MAPS

WORLD

Use Family Search for maps. Go to Family Search Catalog. Then search by place and look for Maps in results list.

United Kingdom

Some Others

Kelly Wheaton ©2024 – All Rights Reserved

Write What You Know: Research What You Don’t & Beware of Artificial Intelligence Generated Answers.

Posted on February 15, 2024     4 Comments

If you are a follower you know I encourage you to turn your family trees into stories. But sometimes it is hard to know how to do that. Well you start with what you know about an ancestor or family. That is where tools like Family Group Sheets, Individual Research Checklists and Timelines come in handy. These are ways to organize information that you know and see what is missing. If you use Ancestry or a similar online program you will be familiar with a view that shows a timeline on the left side, like this one in Ancestry’s Facts view:

So you are placing the individual “Frederick” within the context of time and family. If you switch on Ancestry to the Life Story view it starts shifting you into a narrative format as shown below

You will notice they insert maps and make observations about the family. There may be short articles on historical events.

CAUTION

But now there is a new twist you can have Ancestry AI suggest a question and give you an answer via Artificial Intelligence. The problem is in the first question I tried the answer was partly, VERY WRONG. This is in BETA but it troubles me. The Question was “What was Breitenau, Bavaria, Germany like when Frederick Georg was born?” Below is the answer as reported by ancestry AI.

Generally speaking this a correct, but one horribly wrong statement made me distrust it wholesale. The wrong statement shifts a fundamental part of understanding Frederick MOSER and his parents. This is the patently false statement “Religion played a significant role in the lives of the people in Breitenau. The village had a Catholic church, which served as the spiritual center of the community. The villagers attended mass regularly and participated in religious ceremonies and processions.” There was no Catholic Church in Breitenau. It is in a predominately Protestant area of Bavaria and the church was Lutheran then, as it is today. This is a very small village and it has ONLY one church. Furthermore both Frederick’s parents were descendants of Austrian exulanten. These were protestants who fled Catholic Austria during the early 17th century, for protestant areas of Germany. Do not rely on Artificial intelligence or those nice little historical details to write your stories for you. The only way to do it properly is to do your own research.

HOW TO RESEARCH an ANCESTOR’S STORY

And what does that mean? It means to familiarize your self with the geography, the maps, and local history of the place your ancestors lived. The WHAT, WHERE and WHY of your ancestors story.

  • What was the area known for?
  • Were there wars between indigenous people and immigrants?
  • Were there divisions between religious or ethnic groups?
  • Were there wars or economic divisions that occurred before or during your ancestors lifetime?
  • Who lived nearby?
  • Why did they move here and not somewhere else?

HISTORIES

Immerse yourself in where they lived. It’s wonderful if you have the opportunity to visit, but in the absence of that search for time appropriate maps. Or at least as close to the time frame in question. If you can drive down the road in Google Street View. Look around. What do you see? Do a search for a county or regional history. My favorite way to do that is to do a search for: “Archive the History of [the name of the county or region].” So a search would yield something like this:

This immediately gets you able to read Histories of Lee County Iowa that are out of copyright. I can search for ancestors but I can also look for details about population, agriculture, churches, military service, history etc. Because this brings up history that is uncopyrighted I can freely quote descriptions of life and the areas my ancestors lived. Sometimes it will even have delightful stories about your ancestors, like the one I wrote about in Ice Cream Melons & Foxes.

MAPS

Second I like to research maps. Perhaps my favorite map resource is David Rumsey Map Collection. There are many great features but two favorites are the Georeferencing or overlaying of current and historical maps. And a NEW feature is:  Search by Text-on-Maps! Have a look at what a search for Alamance looks like. Each one of those images will take you to a map with the word Alamance in it.

So first we looked at some background history and then maps. What next? The sky can be the limit but here are a few places I tend to check. I especially like Family Search for looking for an existing genealogy that may cover your ancestors. So here I have clicked on Catalog then on Surnames and Entered the surname “MOSER” This will yield hundreds of published and unpublished manuscripts that contain the MOSER family.

GENEALOGIES

Which brings us to your “Friends and Family” searches. Even if you can’t find something about your family you might find something about their neighbors. So go back to your Census records and take a closer look. Was your family living in a Jewish neighborhood? Or were most of the people in the area Irish? Who did your ancestor marry? Who were her/his in-laws? Who did their children marry? The names you come up with can be clues to finding out more about your ancestor. You can go back and search for them as above.

NEWSPAPERS

Now depending on how deep you want to go—you may wish to explore newspapers to see what was going on in your ancestors lifetime. If you are lucky maybe you’ll find a mention or an obituary. But pay attention to other things that were being reported on locally. Was there a series of droughts? A drop in cotton prices or maybe labor riots. All this familiarity withe what was going on during your ancestors lifetime will inform what you write about and how you understand their challenges. I have a civil war ancestor who was legally charged with taking care of his “slow” brother under and agreement with his father.

ARCHIVES

Another great sources of information is Regional or institutional archives. Examples might include:

  • Religious denominational archives
  • College or University Archives (often repositories of individual papers)
  • Historical or genealogical Archives
  • State Archives
  • Regional Archives
  • National Archives

What you might find can range from letters, vital records, deeds, maps, diaries or even court cases. And REMEMBER the diary, letter etc does not have to mention your ancestor to be relevant to your understanding of what your ancestor went through. Sometimes its a simple tidbit or snippet of information that makes the difference.

So assuming you have followed my suggestions above–what’s next? Go back over all the records you have and see what you overlooked— before you knew all the information you have gathered. Was there some information on a death certificate that now makes sense. An obvious one is a death from a work related exposure. Like an accident on the railroad or dying of black lung because your ancestor was a coal miner. Look at birth order, the number of children, deaths in the family, remarriage etc. Did grandparents live in the household? Did relatives settle nearby? Was your ancestor’s immigration preceded by a friend or family member? When you can answer these questions, then you are ready to write your ancestor’s story.

At the end of the day, how you tell the story will make us care about your ancestor or not. Your job is to tell enough of the story with just enough detail to make us care, without boring your audience and bogging the story down with extraneous details that will cause your intended audience to stop reading. You are not writing the history of blankity-blank region. You are writing about how that history influenced your ancestor’s life. That said whatever you do, however well or poorly written something is, it is always better than nothing, IF it is well researched. But if it is AI generated nonsense it is worse than nothing at all—because it is just glorified fiction. You have to do enough of your own research to know what is true and what is not. AI has its uses like in being able to take places in maps and deliver them to your computer screen. But the lack of conscience and integrity that AI has in compiling stories must be met with a very healthy dose of skepticism.

Kelly Wheaton ©2024 – All rights Reserved

MOSER BIBLIOGRAPHY

Posted on February 15, 2024     Leave a Comment

This is a living blog post: new sources will be added. This regards the series of blog posts on German Immigration and the MOSER family. Please feel free to email me with additions or corrections. Hotlinks are included as available.

BOOKS

Barber, Edwin Atlee; Tulip War: Pennsylvania- German Potters 1903

Basset, John Spencer; The Regulators of North Carolina 1894

Berheim, Gotthardt Dellman; History of the German settlements and of the Lutheran church in North and South Carolina, from the earliest period of the colonization of the Dutch, German and Swiss settlers to the close of the first half of the present century 1872

Fausel, Virginia Loy; St. Pauls Lutheran Church History 1982

Hauser, James J; A History of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania 1902

Kars, Marjolrine; Breaking Loose Together: The regulator rebellion in Pre-Revolutionary North Carolina 2002

Kline, Rev J.J.; The Lutheran Church in New Hanover Montgomery County Penna 1910

Krauß, Eberhard; Exulanten aus dem westlichen Waldviertal in Franken (German text)1997

Krauß, Frierich; Exulanten im Evang.-Luth. Dekaat Feuchtwangen (German text) 1999

Kuhr, Georg, Bauer Gerhard; Verzeichnis der Neubekehrten im Waldviertel Codex Vindobonesis 7757 1992

Loy, Harvey; Lay -Loy Families in America undated

Morgan, Jacob L, Brown, Bachman S, Hall, John; History of the Lutheran Church in North Carolina, 1803-1953 1953

Moser, Gary C; Moser of Middle Franken and Pennsylvania, 1653-1732 2006 (some errors in it. Gary updated information with me)

Moser, Leland; Moser: a family history 1994

Offman, D. I; Moser Family Records 1974 available from Alamance County Historical Association

Peters, Geneviere E; Know Your Relatives 1953

Recker, Charles; The People of the Marsh Volume One Johan Martin and Hans Adam Moser 1984

Rusam, Georg; Österreichische Exulanten in Franken und Schwaben (German text) 1989

Schmauk, Theodore Emanuel; A History of the Lutheran Church in Pennsylvania Vol 1 1903

Stoever, John Casper, Rev., Early Lutheran Baptisms and Marriages in Southeastern Pennsylvania 1730-1779, 1896

Stockford, Sally; A History of Alamance 1900

Stoudt, John Baer; The Folklore of the Pennsylvania Germans : a paper read before the Pennsylvania-German Society at the annual meeting, York, Pennsylvania 1916

Strassburger, Ralph B., & Hinke, William John, Pennsylvania German Pioneers: Original Lists of Arrivals in the Port of Philadelphia from 1727 to 1808 1934

Trimble, David B.; MOSER of North Carolina 1996

Whitaker, Walter; Centennial History of Alamance County 1849-1949 1949

Websites, articles, videos

Berks County, Pennsylvania Genealogy Society

Carnes-McNaughton, Dr. Linda F. video “The Loy Family: Pioneer Potters of the Piedmont”

Chilton, Mark Piedmont Wanderings Blog

Chipstone Foundation Loy pottery

Durham- Orange Genealogical Society

Kuhr, Georg Östrreichische Exhulanten: Gründe der Auswanderung. Orte dew Zuwanderung und Bedeutung für Franken nach dem Dreiigjähringen Kreig 1987

Leach, Susan Website with Albright and North Carolina information

Loy History Website

North Carolina Land Grants Query

North Carolina Archives Governor Tyrons Letter et al.

North Carolina Maps

Rumsey, David Map Collection

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts

Trent, Kim Resurrection at Sharps Chapel 2009

Kelly Wheaton © 2024 – All Rights Reserved

German Immigrants to North Carolina: Pioneer Georg “Frederick” MOSER (1722-1800) Part Three

Posted on February 7, 2024     Leave a Comment

AFTER THE REVOLUTION

As we ended the last chapter the North Carolina General Assembly at the close of the Revolutionary War had passed Confiscation Acts to confiscate the property of Loyalists. It may be in this way that Frederick MOSER reacquired his lands or gained clear title to them. We have many anomalies in the land records. First is this one where Frederick MOSER grants land back to Henry MCCULOCH “before” he has acquired it.

  • Henry MCCULLOCH to Fredrick MOSER, 225 acres, proved by Robert RAINEY. RegLn 2186 Not found 2184 dated 15 Jun 1763
  • Fredrick MOSER to Henry Eustice MCCULLOCH, 225 acres near Stinking Quarter Creek. RegLn 2194 proved by Nicholas GIBBS 24 May, 1763

It appears that Henry MCCULOCH grants land to Frederick MOSER after Frederick deeds the same land back to him. If we take the date on MCCLUOCH’s original list we have 225 acres, 24 May 1763 and on the document in my possession, MCCLOUCH makes taxes due as of the 25th. We do not have that the original deed as it was probably in one of the books not recovered from loyalist James MUNRO’s burial of same. Book A is missing. We can hope to piece together his lands from later deeds and documents. Sometimes we must work backwards and forwards simultaneously.

Stinking Quarter Creek takes hits name from a time long ago when many deer died of disease in the winter near the creek. When their carcasses thawed in the Spring the stench was horrible thus “Stinking” . [according to Calvin HINSHAW as told to Lee MOSER recorded on page 210 of Leeland’ MOSER’s MOSER a Family History]

MOSER CONFUSION

  • Anthony MOSER, 220 acres, 8 Sep, 1762 (1st cousin to Frederick) This was likely the land his father settled
  • Martin LOY, 251 acres, 17 May, 1763; apparently he built a mill on Rock Creek. (Son Nicholas MOSER’s future father in law)

In addition to Frederick MOSER the subject of these blog posts we must reiterate that there was another early MOSER settler. This was Frederick MOSER’s uncle Adam MOSER b 21 Aug 1700 d. abt July 1763 in Orange County. Adam had sons: Anthony MOSER (1735-1827) who bought land in Orange Co 8 Feb 1762 and sold it 26 Jan 1768 and removed to Rowan Co, NC then to Carter Co. TN; Adam MOSER (1743-1826) bought land 25 Apr 1767 on the Rocky River, Chatham Co, NC; Tobias MOSER (1748-1837) in 1818 moved to Indiana, died in Fountain Co, IN and Jacob MOSER (1752-1813) Anderson Co., TN. Since they used the same forenames and end up in some of the same places it is easy to confuse them. It appears however that this MOSER family did not stay long in Orange county.

Orange County Tax Lists

In 1777 the State Legislature of NC passed “An Act for levying a tax by General Assessment and other Purposes,”
which enacted that “a tax of one penny value be levied on each pound value of all the Lands, Lots, Houses, Slaves, Money, Money at Interest, Stock in Trade, Horses and Cattle in this State.” Later these were amended to define as “all Lotts and Lands with their Improvements, Slaves under the age of Sixty Years, Horses, all Cattle from one year old and upward, Money, Money at Interest and Stocks in Trade of every kind wherever the same may be, all Bonds, Notes and other obligations, which bear or include Interest.”

Note: For the purposes of this Chapter generations/ lineages begin with Frederick 1.

1779 Orange County Tax List

Frederick 1 MOSER and his son Jacob 2 listed as MOZAR in 1779 Tax List. Interesting that his value is listed at Ł1898

Mozar, Frederick 1 and Mozar, Jacob 2 1779 Tax List
In 1780 Orange County Tax List there were
  • 96 properties under 100 acres 11.6%
  • 223 properties 101-200 acres 27%
  • 295 properties 201-400 acres 35.7%
  • 212 properties over 400 acres 25.7%
  • 826 properties over 1000 acres 47%

But a year later the value has gone from Ł1898 to Ł690. Jacob’s seems more reasonable going from Ł462 to Ł510. However, he may have given or sold land in those 10 years.

  • Frederick1 MOSER Ł690; inc 240 acres, 4 horses, 10 cows
  • Jacob2 MOSER Ł510; inc 200 acres, 3 horses, 4 cows
  • Philip2 MOSER Ł558; inc 250 acres, 2 horses, 1 cow
1816 Orange County Tax List
  • Frederick2 MOSER Jr.  paid taxes on Ł690 in property including 240 acres, 4 horses and 10 cows
  • Jacob2 MOSER paid taxes on Ł510 in property including 200 acres , 3 horses and 4 cows
  • John2 “Philip” MOSER paid taxes n Ł558, including 250 acres, 2 horses and 1 cow
Frederick 2 MOSER Jr 1816 Tax List
John 2 and Michael 2 MOSER 1816 Tax List

Orange County Census

The 1790 Tax list is used as a substitute for the 1790 census. I have included the LOYs and ALBRIGHTs. Jacob ALBRIGHT Sr’s daughter Sophia ALBRIGHT married Henry LOY, son of the immigrant Martin 1 LOY. Both from Berks Co, Pennsylvania. Henry 2 LOY and Sophia (ALBRIGHT) LOY are the parents of Elizabeth 3 LOY who married Frederick’s son, Nicholas 2 MOSER [my 4th great-grandfather].

1800 M260  MOSER         John            M-32 034  581  20110-20010-00
1800 M260  MOSER         Nicholas        M-32 034  522  21010-32010-00
1810 M260  MOSER         Fred            M-252 041  171  NdRcd
1820 M260  MOSAR         Adam            M-33 082  358  NdRcd
1820 M260  MOSAR         Fred             M-33 082  358  NdRcd
1820 M260  MOSAR         John            M-33 082  358  NdRcd
1820 M260  MOSAR         Mical           M-33 082  358  NdRcd
1830 M260  MOSIER        Henry?           M-19 123  292  SOUTH DISTRICT
1840 M260  MOSER         Henry           M-704 367  231  SOUTHERN DIVISI
1840 M260  MOSER         Levi           M-704 367  231  SOUTHERN DIVISI
1840 M260  MOSER         Magie           M-704 367  260  SOUTHERN DIVISI
1840 M260  MOSER         Mary            M-704 367  260  SOUTHERN DIVISI

It is clear that Frederick did well for himself owning 430 acres on the 1790 Tax List. Not bad from the 1780 Tax list where he owned 240 acres. Four of his sons owned between 100-160 acres each on the 1790 Tax List . We do not have much information on what life was like then. However it is slightly amusing that the first thing the yound county and states do, is to pass laws regarding taxes.

Where was Frederick’s Property Located?

The simple answer, we don’t know for sure. We know that the original Land grant from MCCULLOCH was for 225 acres near Stinking Quarter Creek. But then we know Frederick relocated to Sandy Creek [waterways are in green on this map] . My best guess is that he owned 225 acres of land in the area of the red dotted circle about 1763. In the 1790 tax list he has 430 acres. So the blue dotted circle encompasses his land on Sandy Creek. I suspect he retained part of the original 225 acres. In 1893 Calvin5 MOSER: of Frederick 1,2,3, Anthony4 lived within the red dotted circle. And T.L.4 MOSER: of Frederick 1,2, Martin3 lived within the blue dotted circle. So for the time being those are my educated guesses.

1901 Soil Map annotated to show Possible locations of Frederick MOSER’s land.

The following is the Deed from Frederick 1 Sr to Frederick 2 Jr MOSER dated February 21, 1800 from Orange Co. Deed Book 8 pg 343-344 for 220 acres where Frederick 1 Sr now lives. It mentions Malisha FOGELMAN’s corner:

Orange Co. Deed Book 8 pg 343-344

And we get a little more of an idea from this deed of Michael 2 MOSER’s deed of land for 74 acres he bought from James PATTERSON 26 November, 1804, because it mentions this parcel adjoins the lands of Philip 2 MOSER and Frederick 2 MOSER. The land of the latter was that which Frederick Jr received from his father. Also mentions Joshua PIGGOT’s corner

Orange Co Deed Book Deed Book 11 pg 267-268

Children of Frederick and Barbary MOSER Born in PA

  • Jacob 2 MOSER bc 1751; lived lived in St. Asaph’s District, Orange NC in 1762; 31 December 31, 1779 granted an 136 acres on Stinking Quarter Creek for which he received a grant on November 9, 1784. He sold this land to Henry KIMBROUGH for Ł70, 25 January, 1789. From 1794 to 1801 he paid taxes on 242 acres. He entered 240 acres on the waters of Stinking Quarter Creek on July 18, 1805 and received a grant to it on February 9, 1807; moved to Anderson Co, TN in 1805; may have moved to Clairborne, TN and thence in 1819 to Brown Co., IN
  • Catherine “Caty”2 MOSER bc 1753; mc 1773 Powell “Paul” KIMBRO; dc 1807 Orange Co, NC
  • Abraham2 MOSER bc 1754; served Rev War from Orange CO, NC; moved to Anderson CO, TN in 1808; d. 22 Oct 1836 Anderson, TN
  • Johan “Michael”2 MOSER b 1756; m. 1st Maria Sophia REINHARDT; m. 2nd Mary Magdalene (FOX) MORETZ; d. July 1828 Orange Co., NC; 25 August 1786 Orange Co land grant for 115 acres on Rock Creek (South of Haw River); 26 Nov 1804 granted 2 Dec 1805 30 acres on Stinking Quarter Creek
  • Johan “Philip”2 MOSER bc 1758; m. Catherine 1784; 1808-9 he moved to Anderson Co TN then to Floyd Co, IN; d 1840 Jefferson, KY; 4 July 1786 land 112 acres south of Haw River for Ł105, 13 April 1804 150 acres, entered 17 June 1805 Stinking Quarter Creek. To Floyd Co IN
  • Georg2 MOSER 1 Jan 1760 died 1760
  • twin Maria Barbara “Barbary” MOSER 1 Jan 1760 West Hamburg , Berks Co; m c.1778 Samuel HUFFMAN; she d. c 1799 Burke Co, NC
  • Nicholas2 MOSER bpt 8 Aug 1762 Berks Co; m. 9 Mar 1797 Elizabeth LOY; moved 1804 Anderson Co, TN; moved 1808/9 to Madison Co. AL; d. 1821 Madison Co, AL; 9 Mar 1797 land near Stinking Quarter Creek; 4 Jan 1800 sold land 220 acres on Rock Creek

CHILDREN Of Fredrick and Barbary MOSER Born in NC

  • “Mary” Ann2 MOSER b 15 Sep 1765; m. c 1784 Frederick Conrad KECK; lived Clairborne Co, TN d. 15 Oct 1851 Union Co. TN [ She is listed as born in PA in some sources-the date would suggest birth in NC ]
  • John2 MOSER bc 1766; m. 1792 Sally GARRETT; died 12 Apr 1825 Alamance Co, NC; he bought land 144 acres, 15 Feb 1804 from his brother Frederick Jr. Fredrick Jr inherited the Frederick Sr Lands. John entered 464 acres on the waters of Great Alamance Creek 17 Feb 1815, for which he received a grant 3 Feb 1816.
  • Elizabeth2 MOSER bc 1768; m c 1790 Henry SHARP; to Anderson Co, TN in 1802 d 2 Sep 1821 Clairborne Co TN
  • Frederick2 MOSER Jr. b 15 April 1771; m. 1795 Mary INGOLD; m. 2nd 1799 Barbara ANTHONY; d 15 Aug 1823 Alamance Co, NC; buried at St Paul’s Lutheran, Alamance.; 2 Feb 1800 his father gave him 225 acres on Stinking Quarter Creek. [144 acres of which he sold to his brother John MOSER for Ł200 27 June 1823]
  • Eve2 MOSER 1773; m. Peter SHARP 31 Aug 1795; d. Aug 1829 in Alamance Co, NC
  • Magdalena2 MOSER b 1775; m. 1793 Barnabas BUTCHER; lived Anderson Co, TN; d. 1843 Monroe Co, IN

WILL of FREDERICK MOSER SR.

On April 17, 1796, Frederick 1 MOSER made his will, giving his property to his wife Barbary and children. He died 21 Feb 1800 at the age of 78. His will was not proved until May of 1800. Interestingly he left the larger portion of his estate, that is his land and tenements, to his youngest sons John and Fredrick Jr. It may well be that he had already given a significant portion to his eldest sons. Jacob, Michael, Abraham, Philip and Nicholas each received 35 “silver dollars” each (worth about $850 today) and his daughters 12.5 “silver dollars” (about $300 today), staggered over a period of fourteen years, to begin 4 years after Frederick’s death. I suspect this was to keep the estate intact, although I have not seen an estate handled quite this way before.. On February 21, 1800 he gave his son Frederick his 225 acre farm and died shortly thereafter. His estate was probated in May of 1800. Copy below, then transcription. Frederick Signs this Will with his mark. This is consistent with a notation back in Pennsylvania where he signed a petition with his mark.

Orange County Will Book D pg 3–4 May 1800 Will of Frederick MOSIER Snr

Of sound mind and memory advanced in years and knowing that by reason of my age I cannot live long, I Frederick MOSIER Senr. of Orange County in North Carolina do make this my last will and testament. I desire will and bequeath to my son[sic] John MOSIER, and Frederick MOSIER their heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns forever all my lands and tenements subject to and charged with the payment of the sums following at or before the times limited and expressed herein after, to the persons herein after to be mentioned, that is to say to each of my sons Jacob, Michael, Abraham, Philip and Nicholas, severally, thirty five silver dollars making in the whole one hundred and seventy five dollars which when paid to my sons as aforesaid shall be a discharge in full of their several legacies. To each of my daughters Caty KIMBRO, Barbary HUFMAN KEK[KECK], Lizy SHARP, Eve SHARP & Magdelane BUTCHER, severally, twelve and a half silver dollars, making altogether seventy five silver dollars in full of their legacies to my daughters. The first payment shall be made to my son Jacob in four years after my death. The second to my daughter Caty in five years. The third to my son Abraham in six years. The fourth to Barbary in seven years. The fifth to Michael in eight years. The sixth to Mary in nine years. The seventh to Philip in ten years. The eighth to Lizy in eleven years. The ninth to Nicholas in twelve years. The tenth to Eve in thirteen years. The eleventh to Magdalene in fourteen years after my death, which sum of one hundred and seventy five dollars when paid to my sons and daughters, severally to my sons thirty five dollars, to my daughters twelve and a half at or before the times and periods after my death as expressed shall be a discharge to my sons John and Frederick of any demand for legacies due in consequence of the land and tenements hereby given to them. It is my will and desire that my personal estate may be sold in the customary maner and that so much of the money as may be necessary for the discharge of my just debts shall be appropriated to that purpose, the residue shall be divided share and share alike among all my sons and daughters or their representatives, but if my wife Barbary survives me, she shall retain and keep possession of so much of my personal chattel as she may think necessary for her support and maintenance during her natural life, to be disposed of after her death and paid over to my sons and daughters as above directed. My wife Barbary shall during her natural life occupy and possess so much of my land and tenements and such as she would have been entitled to in dower if I died intestate.

I constitute and appoint my son Philip and my son in law Peter Sharp executors of this my last will and testament. Witness my hand this twenty day of April seventeen hundred ninety six.     Frederick MOSIER [mark]

Witnesses Present : Ricd COCHRAN & ??

Orange County, NC Will Book D pg 3-4


We do not know the date of Frederick’s wife Maria “Barbary (LIESER) MOSER’s death. Sometime after 1796 and perhaps before Fredrick’s will was proved. John 2 and Frederick Jr2 received their father’s property at his death. The approximate dates of inheritance of the rest of his children of their “silver dollars.” Daughter Barbary predeceased her father :

Where Fredrick and Barbary MOSER’s Children Moved

In total we know of 14 children of Maria “Barbary” and Frederick MOSER. One died in infancy. 7 surviving sons and 6 daughters. To Tennessee went Jacob, Abraham, Mary, Philip, Lizy, Nicholas and Magdalene MOSER; Philip and Magdalena later went to Floyd Co, IN; and Caty, Michael, Eve, Frederick Jr and John MOSER stayed in Orange Co, (later Alamance Co), and Barbara to Burke Co NC. Even today there are MOSERs in the Alamance. The date following their name: is the year of their inheritance from Frederick’s estate.

  • Jacob MOSER: 1804; bc owned land on Stinking Quarter Creek 1779; and sold land in 1789; Moved to Anderson Co, TN on 1805 Tax List
  • Caty (MOSER) KIMBRO: 1805 ; Died abt 1807 Alamance NC
  • Abraham MOSER: 1806; Rev. War NC Militia Dec 1779; 1782 in Alamance; bought land in Anderson Co TN 1808, on 1805 Tax List d.
  • Barbary (MOSER) HUFMAN KECK: 1807; d. Burke Co, NC
  • Michael MOSER:1808; bought land in 1786 on Rock Creek; Stayed in Alamance NC; d. July 1828
  • Mary(MOSER) KECK: 1809; to Claiborne Co, TN
  • Philip MOSER: 1810; Taxed in Orange Co, 1780; bought land in Orange Co 1786; Sold land in Orange Co 1806; 1808-9 moved to Anderson Co TN on 1808 Tax list, to Floyd Co, IN; d 1840
  • Lizzy Elizabeth (MOSER) SHARP: 1811; Anderson Co TN Henry SHARP on 1802 & 1805 Tax List
  • Nicholas MOSER: 1812; Sold his land in Orange Co 1803; Anderson Co TN on 1805 Tax List
  • Eve (MOSER) SHARP 1813; Stayed in Alamance NC
  • Magdalene (MOSER) BUTCHER 1814; Anderson Co TN then to Monroe Co, IN
  • Frederick Jr MOSER: 1800; 1805 bought Land on Stinking Quarter Creek; Stayed in Alamance NC; d 15 Aug 1839
  • John MOSER: 1800; 1814 464 acres Orange Co.; Stayed in Alamance NC; d. 12 Apr 1825 Orange Co

Reflecting back from Frederick MOSER’s birth in the small village of of Breitanu, Bavaria, Germany where his father was a shoemaker to his nearly thirteen weeks, passage across the Atlantic, at the age of six. His settlement at the Faulckner Swamp Church in New Hanover, Berks Co, Pennsylvania. And then his immigration from Pennsylvania down the Great Wagon Road to Orange County North Carolina about 1763 where he lived until his death 37 years later. He survived the Battle of Alamance, the Revolutionary War proper and a period of relative calm in the newly minted country.

With a raft of thirteen children spreading out from what became Alamance County across American “Barbary” and Frederick have many progeny. On AncestryDNA I have 144 matches that share Frederick and Barbary as their ancestors. In 2014 there were 21,900 MOSERs in America and 11,000 MOSIERs. Not all of whom have the same roots, but still a prolific family. At one time descendants claimed they were related and they were.

MOSERS who Stayed in Alamance Co, North Carolina

1886 Chas. Emerson’s North Carolina Tobacco Belt directory / embracing the counties of Alamance, Durham, Forsyth, etc

The following is my best effort at identifying the above.

  • Eli5 MOSER Rock Creek; Frederick 1, 2 , Eli 3, John 4; b. 1850 near Graham, d. aft May 1905 Alamance Co, NC
  • George4 W MOSER Rock Creek; Frederick 1, John 2,Levi 3; b. 20 Jan 1844 d. 6 July 1903 Alamance Co, NC
  • James Adam4 MOSER CURTIS Mill; Frederick 1, 2 , Nimrod 3; b 1852, d 7 Aug 1913 Friendship, Coble Twp. Alamance Co, NC
  • J G [John Gaston]4 MOSER LOY’s Shop; Frederick 1,2, William 3, b 1837 d. 1893 Location Shown as Widow MOSER on 1893 Spooner Map
  • Thos L [Thaddeous Lucien]4 MOSER Brick Church; Frederick 1,2, Martin3 b 15 Nov 1851, d 19 Aug 1915 Coble Twp, Alamance Co, NC
  • William3 MOSER Clover Orchard is this near Snow Camp?; Frederick 1,2; b c 1806 d. 20 Jan 1886 80 years
  • William H4 MOSER; Frederick 1, John 2, Levi 3,

MOSERs On the 1893 Spooner Map

Again my effort at identifying those on the map.

Part of Orange County from 1893 Spooner Map
  • Calvin F.5 MOSER near St Paul’s Church; Frederick 1,2,3, Anthony4 ; b Mar 1856 d. 3 Jul 1920 Coble Twp, Alamanace Co, NC
  • James Adam 4 MOSER CURTIS Mills; as above.
  • Billy MOSER Cane Creek Mountains; ?
  • Widow MOSER LOY’S Shop on map; wife of J G [John Gaston]4 MOSER above
  • Thos L [Thaddeous Lucien]4 MOSER on map near Friendship Academy; as above
  • George W.4 MOSER near Rock Creek on map; Frederick 1, John 2, Levi 3 ; b 20 Jan 1844 d. 6 Jul 1903 Alamance Co., NC

This concludes the North Carolina Chapter of the Frederick 1 MOSER family. In the next blog post I will take up the MOSERs who immigrated from Alamance to Anderson CO., TN with an emphasis on Nicholas.

Kelly Wheaton ©2024 – All Rights Reserved

German Immigrants to North Carolina: Pioneer Georg “Frederick” MOSER (1722-1800) Part Two

Posted on January 29, 2024     Leave a Comment

TROUBLE IN ORANGE COUNTY

Part of William Luther SPOON’s Map of Alamance Co NC 1893

While we read in the last post that settlers were lured to North Carolina with advertisements of inexpensive land and no taxes, the speculators had other ideas. The settlers came, cleared the land and made improvements: cabins, fences, pastures and fruit orchards. They raised rye, barley, oats, hemp and flax as well as herbs and vegetables. They raised livestock such as hogs, sheep, fowl, cattle and horses. They supplemented their diet with game they could hunt and often sold pelts for extra income.

These were settlers in a 60 mile wide area of land that the King had granted Lord GRANVILLE but then in 1737 Henry Eustace MCCULOCH, through proxies, received a deed for 1.2 million acres. The problem was that some of the lands overlapped and there was no clear title. The lands that Frederick MOSER and his fellow settlers in Orange County fell into MCCLOUGH track 11. It was a twelve and a half mile square rotated to appear as a diamond shape. It encompassed much of what was then Orange County but is now Alamance and Guilford counties. When GRANVILLE died in January of 1763 the matter of clear titles had not been settled and there was nothing to keep the unscrupulous from backdating contracts or worse.

Henry MCCULOCH, when he turned over the unsold lands in the GRANVILLE Tract , listed all that his father had sold. The earliest was dated 20 Sep 1757, to George CLAPP. The last 7 were sold to himself between April and June of 1763. The following are of note:

  • 21. Anthony MOSER, 220 acres, 8 Sep, 1762 [first cousin to Frederick]
  • 57. Malachy ISLEY, 200 acres, 14 Sep 1762 [brother of Ludowick Isley]
  • 58. Ludowick ISLEY, 257 acres, 14 Sep 1762
  • 77. Martin LOY, 251 acres 17 May 1763, he built a mill on Rock Creek
  • 85. Frederick MOSER, 225 acres, 24 May 1763
  • 93. Ludowick ALBRIGHT, 258 acres, 1 June 1763

MCCULOCH made his money by trying to sell the land back to the same farmers who had toiled to improve it. These were families that paid for land patents that did not materialize or were claimed to have been handled improperly. It was the work of the settlers who gave the land its value that now MCCULOCH wanted to sell back to them. The German farmers in the Piedmont settled near streams or rivers where they could successfully farm. As they cleared more land they increased the size of their farms. They lived in one room log cabins perhaps with a loft. Later cabins may have been made of stone or clad with wood siding.

“The trouble began to arise between GRANVILLE’s agents and the early settlers. It was said that the title to their land was not good… [Agents] contrived by villainous means to extort money from those who had already paid for their lands. One of them being a lawyer, pretended to find a fault or defect in the other’s patent, which had been signed simply ‘ GRANVILLE’ by his attorneys, saying that it ought to have been by ”the right honorable earl GRANVILLE, by his attorneys,’ etc. GRANVILLE lived too far away to set the matter right. So patents were to be taken out a second time. They doubled the fee and contrived a device which they fixed to a warrant of survey, without authority, for which they charged six dollars.” STOCKFORD pg 49

MCCULOCH cannily made alliances with government officials and even cut them in on the action. The FROHOCK brothers: John, Thomas and William took up positions as commissioners, clerks and land surveyors. Thomas FROHOCK was the son-in-law of Henry McCULLOCH’s cousin, Alexander MCCULLOCH. One final member of the extortion ring was Edmund FANNING who positioned himself as assemblyman for Orange county as well as public registrar for Hillsborough and a militia officer. So the fix was in.

It wasn’t just the German settlers who had been lured or who were caught up in the scheme. Many Scots, Irish, Swiss were early settlers who now realized they were being taken advantage of. And it wasn’t just land transactions it was also fees for marriage licenses and other legal matters that were set beyond the settlers ability to pay. From Walter WHITAKER’s Centennial History of Alamance County 1849-1949 no copyright.

Henry MCCULOCH required settlers to pay twice the price, interest and an agreement not to fight him in court. Either way MCCULOCH made out like a bandit. He appointed Edmund FANNING and John and Thomas FROHOCK to collect debts, fees and monies or claim the settlers forfeited lands. Money was scarce and many settlers would have had no way to pay in the 1760’s and 1770’s.

“In the year 1766, Governor TRYON, escorted by 100 troops and servants, led a 17-day expedition into western North Carolina to run a boundary between the colony and the Cherokee nation. The trip cost taxpayers 15,000 pounds sterling — $75,000. In November of the same year the General Assembly ratified a proposal to tax the colonists 20,000 pounds to build a new palace for the Governor at New Bern. Such government extended into Orange County also. The county clerk charged 15 pounds — $75 — for a marriage license. Tax collectors frequently took a farmer’s horse from the plow to satisfy exorbitant taxes.” WHITAKER pg 47

The Governor of North Carolina, William TYRON and his council ordered the 17th of April 1765 that MCCULOCH “desist from any Steps in Law to dispossess these People,” meaning the farmers of their property. Matters reached a head on the 7th of May also in 1765 when MCCULOCH and his surveyors including John FROHOCK were badly beaten while attempting to survey lands belonging to a widow of the ALEXANDER clan.

1911 Post Card of TRYON’s Palace

The gentry were getting rich, the taxpayers were getting squeezed by new taxes to pay for Governor TRYON’s Palace built in 1767 and viewed with great distaste by the poor farmers of the area.

“On October 10, 1766, a number of men entered a session of Inferior Court at Hillsborough and requested the clerk to read a petition written by Herman HUSBAND [Prominent Quaker and outspoken representative of the farmers]. The petition called for a meeting of county officials and citizens “judiciously to inquire whether the free men of this county labor under any power of abuse . , . and in particular to examine into the public tax and inform themselves of every particular thereof, by what laws and for what use it is laid…
Husband, however, worded his “advertisement” in vague terms, and the court complied with his proposal and set a meeting for October 10 at MADDOCK’s Mill, two or three miles west of Hillsborough, “a suitable place where there is no liquor.” On the appointed day the hopeful planters left their unharvested crops and rode to the mill. After waiting several hours they sent a millboy into Hillsborough to see why no officials had appeared, and late in the afternoon a lone horseman arrived at the mill. Colonel Edmund FANNING and Thomas LLOYD, the Orange County delegates to the General Assembly, had intended to come, said the rider — but Colonel FANNING noticed the word “judiciously” in HUSBAND’s petition. Since the men gathered at MADDOCK’s Mill had no judicial authority, it seemed obvious that they were insurrectionists, and the delegates refused to meet with them. Unsuccessful and dissatisfied, the farmers broke up their meeting and returned to their homes. Their grievances, however, had become stronger.During the following spring further action developed.” WHITAKER pg 47-48

Adam MOSER, Frederick’s nephew was among the signers of a Regulator petition to Governor TRYON seeking relief from excess fees.

THE REGULATORS

The Regulator movement was born out of necessity. From the book the The Regulators of North Carolina (1765-1771) by John Spencer BASSETT

Another very prominent grievance [of the Regulators] was the dishonesty of the sheriffs, who failed to pay into the hands of the public treasury the money they had collected. The public accounts were most inefficiently kept. There was a prevalent opinion among all classes that there was fraud just here. In 1767 Governor TRYON declared it as his opinion that “the sheriffs have embezzled more than one-half of the public money ordered to be raised and collected by them.” BASSETT Pg 152

Extortionate fees was perhaps the greatest grievance of all. Nearly all the officers were paid in fees. The people of the back counties complained heavily of their officers, and in support of their complaint the Orange County Regulators produced affidavits sufficient to satisfy the most skeptical that they were right. As soon as counties were organized on the frontier sheriffs, clerks, registers, and lawyers swooped down upon the defenseless inhabitants like wolves. BASSETT Pg 153

“On March 22, 1767, several hundred Orange County citizens met at Sandy Creek to discuss the situation. The courthouse ring refused to deal with them; the governor would not answer their petitions; it was time for action. Finally they agreed to organize. Things proceeded slowly but by 1770 things were getting heated “When Judge Richard HENDERSON opened the fall term of court for Orange County on September 24, 1770, the Regulators were present in great force…Hardly was the session underway before a mysterious letter written by James Hunter appeared accusing Husband of promoting the Orange County riots. As a result Husband was dismissed from the Assembly and placed under arrest in the New Bern jail. A grand jury found him not guilty, and again he was released. ” WHITAKER pg 54-56

Note the date above September 24, 1770. Note the name Edmund FANNING. [See his portrait above] So back in February of 2016 I randomly decided to do a search on Ebay for “writ” & “MOSER” and bingo I hit genealogical gold! For sale was a document dated 1770 titled “Orange County NC Writ for Frederick MOSLER Owing Henry MCCULLOCH 46 pounds.” It cost me $11! It was actually for Frederick MOSER written MOSUR.

Dated 5th March 1770 Writ–Demand for payment to Frederick MOSER

This original document is signed by Thomas FROHOCK. He was appointed the clerk of Superior court : “Whereas Thomas FROHOCK hath Received an Appointment from the Honourable Martin Howard Esquire Chief Justice of the province aforesaid dated the Fifteenth day of December 1768 thereby constituting and Appointing him the said Thomas FROHOCK Clerk of the Superior Court for the District of Salisbury“

Colonel Edmund Fanning 1856

And on the reverse it is signed by E. [Edmund] FANNING. Interestingly the first date Sept 1769 is crossed out and the March date of 1770 is substituted. I looked through the Superior Court records and did not find the corresponding case. I did find Martin HOWARD Esq Chief Justice at Salisbury present on September 6th 1770 but not on September 5th. it is not clear to me that these cases were ever heard in court. The German settlers were at a decided disadvantage as many were not fluent in English. The date of the original land transaction as it appears in MCCULOCH’s records is May 24th 1763 and on the above document from May 25th 1763 so I believe this is his original purchase. Here is the Transcription:

“North Carolina

George the third by the grace of God King Etc.

To the sheriff of Orange County Greeting Whereas In a Judgement in Reasoned Lobby in Our Superior Court of Justice held for the district of Salisbury at the court House in Salisbury by Henry Eustace MCCULLOCH against Frederick MOSIER for the Sum of Forty Six pounds Proviso and Intent from 25 day of May 1763 we find for his Debt also the sum of Four pounds three shillings and four pence for his cost by him about his such Expended .__ .___

You the said Sheriff Z?lumo On the Writ of Feri Facias to you District executed on S..dry. And Motion of the Plantiffe Attorney it was so by our hand ordered that a writ of Vandickson? v Expon? Issue whereby the said goods may be sold to answer the Judgement and Costs aforesaid. We remmand you therefore that Expon? The said goods to Sale according to Law and the money arising therefrom you are to return to Our Supt Superior Court of Justice to be held for the district aforesaid at the Court House Afsd on the Fifth day of March Sep —— Next When and then to Render onto the said Henry Eustace MCCULOOCH his debt and costs aforesaid. Witness Martin Howard Esquire Chief Justice of Our said Province at Salisbury the Fifth day of September March in this viiiix Year of Our– Reign AD 1769 1770

Thomas FROHOCK”

Even more interesting perhaps is the second sheet that shows the charges. They include Entering and Docketing action and order rule and order thereon and serving papers; Entering Each Attorney on the Docket 7d, Entering Plaintiff and defendants Appearance and Testimony Defendant and Default et cetera in the amount of Ł8.16s.9d in interest and fees. In 1770 pounds this would be equivalent to: 2 horses, 3 cows, 39 Sheep, 11 stone of wheat and 183 hours of skilled labor. Or $2,000 in today’s dollars. This is what was meant by Exorbitant fees.

Writ 1770 accounting

So we have first hand evidence of the actions that lead to the revolt of the farmers and the formation of the Regulators. And we can place Frederick MOSER in the thick of it. In “A sketch of the life and character of the Rev. David Caldwell, D. D by Eli Washington CARUTHERS in 1842 pg 114 he writes “It was said that he [Thomas FROHOCK] charged $15 for a marriage license; and the consequence was that some of the inhabitants on the head waters of the Yadkin took a short cut. They took each other for better or for worse ; and considered themselves as married without any further ceremony.”

“The General Assembly was reaching adjournment in late January, 1771, when word reached Governor TRYON that a large force of Regulators had gathered at Cross Creek (now Fayetteville), intent on burning the governor’s new palace. Once more, however, the Regulators dispersed when they learned of Husband’s freedom. Once more bloodshed was narrowly averted. The fuse was burning shorter now. Thousands had joined the Regulators. Many of them were law-abiding people who abhorred mob violence and who had no part in the disreputable rioting. Yet they and their forefathers had fought oppression for centuries. They had come to a new land with a new dream — the dream that here there was justice for all. For this dream they were willing to fight and to die.” WHITAKER pg 56

THE BATTLE OF ALAMANCE

Things finally came to a head on May 14, 1771, Governor TRYON and his militia were camped on the banks of Great Alamance Creek, with a force of 2,000 troops. They marched about 10 miles, likely crossing the lands of Frederick MOSER until they reached where the Regulators were gathered, about 2.5 miles west of Frederick’s farm. About 6,000 men, mostly farmer, came in hopes of making a statement. Instead Governor TRYON on May 16th came prepared to put down any rebellion. The Regulators were mostly unarmed and unorganized. In the end 9 members of the militia were killed and 61 were wounded. 10-15 members of the Regulators were killed and between 100 and 150 were wounded in what is known as the Battle of Alamance. Governor Tryon took 15 prisoners, 6 of whom were hanged at the Hillsborough Courthouse. Some believe this was the opening battle of the Revolution. Others believe it was simply a peasant’s revolt. It certainly was an important event in what led up to the Revolution. At the time the citizen’s were seeking relief from their government rather than over throwing it. The effect of this insurrection on breeding the impetus to seek revolution cannot be underestimated.

“On May 16, 1771 Governor TRYON met about two thousand Regulators on the plains of Alamance. Then was the first blood shed for freedom on American soil ; that was the first open resistance against the oppression of King George’s rule. The battle of Alamance, N. C, and not the battle of Lexington, Mass., was the beginning of the Revolutionary war. It was a fight against the primal cause of the war for American Independence.” STOCKARD pg 11

” The blood that we have shed will be as good seed, sown in good ground—which soon shall reap a hundredfold.”

James Pugh, A Regulator at the gallows
Centennial History of Alamance County WHITAKER pg 66

A contemporary article in the Pennsylvania looks on the Battle at Alamance with scorn for the Regulators. This is the opening paragraph:

Pennsylvania Gazette November 8 1770

The following document from the North Carolina is a proclamation by Governor TRYON dated the day after the Battle of Alamance, giving amnesty to those Regulators who will take an oath of allegiance.

Gov. Tryon’s Letter of May 17, 1771
Monument erected on the Battlefield

“Though some took the test oath becoming loyal to King George, some took it and remained neutral; more took it refraining themselves from fighting, but making up for it in helping others, as did old Mr. MOSER, on the Great Alamance, who encouraged his six or seven sons to be ” Whigs of the Revolution.” Some of the Regulators who had sworn to TRYON took Dr. CALDWELL’s advice and considered their oath a broken contract.” STOCKARD pg 75

We get a slightly different version in this account from the Church Records of Reverend D.I. Offman, Lutheran Minister from Part 19 MOSER Family Records 1974:

“Tradition says that when Gov TRYON took the oath of allegiance of those who participated in the battle of Alamance, Mr. MOSER was of that number. His sons were not old enough [Jacob the oldest was about 19] to be in the battle consequently the oath was not administered to them. When [the Rev.] War broke out the boys sided with the patriots, but the old man kept his oath. Someone reported to the authorities that he was aiding and abetting the American cause. Soldiers were sent to arrest him. When he saw them he ran into his house and escaped out the back side into a thicket. The soldiers not knowing this when they could not find him fired the house to be sure of his death. After they left he came from his hiding place and said, that politically he was dead, and he assisted the American cause ever after.” OFFMAN

Like the rest of the colonies the years from 1775 onward through the Revolutionary War were tumultuous. The Orange County Militia was founded the 9th of September 1775 and its last skirmish occurred at Deep River 11th of February 1782. Close by, the Battle of Hillsborough occurred the 12th of September 1781. The patriots under Governor Thomas BURKE lost 15 killed, 20 wounded and 2000 captured by the Loyalists under Colonel David FANNING, who had but 1 soldier injured. So the back-country of Orange County remained an unsafe place. Based on the above two quotes it would appear that while Fredrick tried to thread the needle he like so many others, eventually had to choose a side. How he and his sons helped in the war effort for the patriots remains a mystery. Whether supplying horses, food or a place to hide the two quotes suggest they were involved.

In early 1781, General Charles CORNWALLIS occupied Hillsborough re-imposing loyalist control of Orange County. Before long, CORNWALLIS and his army moved out, and as he left the Loyalists knew that the Revolutionaries would take back control. From “Early Settlers in the North Carolina Piedmont on Land Sold by Henry McCulloh within Granville’s District, 1749-1763” by John Scott DAVENPORT’s (NCGenSoc Journal), #4, 1978

RECORDS BURIED!!! Loyalist James MUNRO, later stated in an affidavit that “when Lord Cornwallis gave sudden and unexpected orders for the movement of the army from Hillsborough,” he decided to seize, “the Records of the County with intention to hold them, in order to strengthen the influence of government until the contest should be decided.” “I had all the records above mentioned privately buried underground in the woods along with my own bonds, books, and most valuable papers, with strict directions not to touch them until I should return; consequently they were suffered to remain in that situation so long, that when they were taken up, many of the books were found quite destroyed, and almost all my own papers rendered entirely useless.” Of the several deed books which Munro buried, only one was salvaged, a book that was at that time known as Orange County Deed Book B and has since been renumbered Orange County Deed Book 1. Though there were thousands of real estate transactions in Orange County between its formation in 1752 and this incident in 1781, only a small fraction remain well documented in Orange County Deed Book 1.” DAVENPORT

After the War the North Carolina General Assembly from 1776 through the 1780s passed the Confiscation Acts to confiscate the property of Loyalists. Part punishment but also to gain control and obtain income for the state. The confiscated real estate netted North Carolina about £600,000. It may be in this way that Frederick MOSER reacquired his lands or gained clear title to them.

In our next post we will examine where exactly Frederick lived and the closing chapters of his life.

Kelly Wheaton ©2024 - All rights Reserved.

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