Is He or Isn't He?

The question being, is Jacob Switzer #2 a son of Jacob Switzer #1 and his wife Elizabeth?



Jacob #1 did not leave a will nor was there a probate file found for him, thus we do not know with any certainty at this time who his children were, which was discussed in this post.



There is only circumstantial evidence that might connect them, and, to be honest, rather flimsy evidence at that!



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When were they in Columbiana County and where did they live?



Jacob #2 born January 4, 1788 was married on February 26, 1811 in Columbiana County to Caty Brinker. He was 23 years old at the time. He initially lived in Fairfield Township on the land inherited by his wife Catherine from her father Andrew Brinker. In 1838 they purchased land in section 33 of Salem Township and they were living there in the 1840 census. This land was not far from where Jacob #1 and Elizabeth Switzer lived in section 23, also in Salem Township. Jacob #2 easily “fits” in as one of the older children of Jacob and Elizabeth, who were reportedly married on February 19, 1786. They had a daughter, Elizabeth, reportedly born on December 25, 1786 so it is possible that Jacob #2 could be their second child.



But then, so could Jacob #4 who was born November 8, 1788. However, he does not appear in Columbiana County census records until 1830. He is listed in Fairfield Township from 1830 through 1850 where he presumably lived until his death on March 25, 1859. He was already married to his wife Catharine when he arrived in Columbiana County. Yes, he was born the same year and died the same year as Jacob #2, and they both had wives named Catharine.



Then there is Jacob #3 born December 25, 1794 who arrived in Columbiana County about 1815. He was 21 years old when he married Polly Skelton on January 16, 1816 in Columbiana County. In 1824 they sold their land and moved to what later became Ashland County, Ohio. So he was only in Columbiana County a few years, about 1815-1824.



So far, no evidence except that Jacob #2 was in Columbiana County earlier than the other two and he lived closer to Jacob #1 than the others.



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Well, what about naming patterns of their children?



The first two daughters of Jacob #2 were named Barbara and Elizabeth. Barbara was presumably named after Catherine's mother, Barbara Leatherman. Could Elizabeth have been named after her “grandmother” Elizabeth, wife of Jacob #1 ? Or was this merely coincidence? The other three known daughters of Jacob #2 were Rebecca, Susan, and Sarah.



Neither of the other two Jacob Switzers have a daughter named Elizabeth. At least, not that we know of anyway.

• Known children of Jacob #3 were John, William, Nancy, Margaret, and Lewis.


• Children known of Jacob #4 were Ann, Sophia, Benjamin, Lydia, Eliza, and Susan.

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What does the term “Junior” really mean?



On page 133 of the 1828 Ohio Tax Records for Chattels (i. e., personal property) is an entry for a Jacob Switzer and Jacob Switzer (indexed as Junior). The first one listed appears to have an “S” after his name (first line in image). But I can't figure out what it is after the second Jacob Switzer (at the bottom of the image). In any case, in 1828 there were only two Jacob Switzers known to be in Columbiana County – Jacob #1 and Jacob #2.





Also, in his will, Andrew Brinker refers to the husband of his daughter Catharine as Jacob Sweitzer Jr.





Of course, back in the day, “Junior” sometimes simply indicated a younger man with the same name. It didn't necessarily mean that “Junior” was the son of the elder man.



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And that leaves us with what? Not much, I'm afraid. Mostly wishful thinking on my part. Obviously, a whole lot more research will be needed before I can claim Jacob #1 and his wife Elizabeth - if ever - as ancestors! At this point, I guess I'm “beating a dead horse” as the saying goes, rehashing the same information over and over.



So, for now, this concludes the saga of my research on the Switzer families of Columbiana County, Ohio.... until something new shows up!



All posts related to the Switzer families are summarized in this Index to Posts. If anyone doing research on these families is interested in collaborating, please contact me at kinexxions@gmail.com - Jacob #2 and his wife Catharine are my 4th great-grandparents.

Anastasia Island :: Birds on the Beach

Tuesday March 15, .. - - After spending the day with Denise and Apple, I spent an hour or two that evening on the beach. Surprisingly, even though the campground was full, there were not a lot of people roaming the shore. Seemed like there were more birds than people. And yeah, that was rather nice too...

Today's Ice/mixed conditions in SWPA

Here are a few "current conditions" photos from the various ice/mixed climbing locations around Southwestern PA. Most things are thin, but climbable. The cooler temps are building ice fast!

Secret Cliffs I - left phto is of lower tier with its delaminated topout, A much more solid upper tier is pictured in the right photo.












Secret Cliffs II - Overivew of cliff conditions in left photo. Central area is shown in the right photo. Conditions looking promising. Central climbs are in and looking good. Quite a bit dripping going on. Called on account of Security is IN and looking fatter than ever. Left of Central area (Beast Wall) is just about connecting down. the lowdown L to R: Monsta - OUT, The Beast - OUT, Son of Beast - IN (very thin), Frankenstein - IN. Central Area - IN, Final Obligation - IN, The Awakening - IN, Curtain - OUT (Wet and questionable attachment at lip), Called on Account of Security - IN, The Corner - IN, The Sick-le - ALMOST.








South Connellsville Rod & Gun Club - Left photo of Laura Hahn below a very uniced Internet Connection. Right photo is Main flows. L to R Cave Shot, NRA, Longshot. Caveshot would take short screws and protect. The other 2 - OUT










Also checked, but not photographed was lower Meadow Run. I'm happy to report that there's much more ice than a few days ago. The Main flow should be good for those looking to find climbable ice this upcoming weekend. Also on a positive note, the long term forcast looks very promising for building ice.

Big Bend Day 1 - Hike 3 - Nature Trail Rio Grande Village

Our last hike of the day is actually a .75 mile loop at the Campground just across the way.It begins at a raised boardwalk across restored wetlands. There are ducks and frogs that make a ruckus and bats fly around at night to eat the insects.



We start the loop trail

and decide to venture further to the River. We spot some mexicans crossing the river on horseback and decide to high tail it back to the marked trail.

A high promontory provides panoramicviews wouth into Mexico. We see the Mexicans crossing the river back into Mexico towards the town of Boquillas.

From one side a beautiful view of the Santa Elana Mountains

The other a view of the Rio Grande River

While waiting for the sunset I see this dragon fly. After he took off he landed on my shutter finger on the camera!

The Sunset was worth the Hike!We should sleep well tonight!

Meanwhile, we keep on Trek'n

More Later,

Melissa and Gary

Visitation Totals for Mount Rainier Park

The last graph got me wondering, what was the general visitation totals for Mount Rainier during the same period, 1991 to 2005. As you can see, there has been a decline overall. I gathered these stats from here.

Pleasanton Family History Expo

By all accounts, the recent Family History Expo in Pleasanton, California was a success. I'll add my kudos to all of the reports with one exception...

The speakers were good. The topics presented were varied and interesting. Visiting with geneabloggers previously met was wonderful. The exception? In plain and simple terms, the venue was awful. Two classrooms in each building separated by fabric curtains certainly did not enhance the learning experience. To give her credit, Holly Hanson (president of Family History Expos) apologized for the classroom environment in her end of the Expo presentation, saying that the Expo will return to the area next year but in different and hopefully better facilities. That's good news for everyone! All in all, the Expo was well worth the time and money.

The first session I attended was with Arlene Eackle. And even though I have few ancestors in the south (a couple in Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky), I learned a great deal about locating the “right” ancestor through property records.

At 11:30 I learned what was new in RootsMagic4 with Bruce Buzbee. RootsMagic has some interesting features. I'm almost convinced that I should switch from Legacy! Almost.

The lines for getting lunch were quite long and I missed the 1:30 session with Lisa Alzo that I had planned on attending. Her talk was on Websites You Might Be Missing - a review of some cool tools and useful web sites for genealogists. I'll be able to get some of that information from the Syllabus but I'm sure more information was given in the lecture.

At three o'clock I sat in on Tim Cox's presentation on Hard Drive Organization and learned about how he files his genealogy documents and images. I'm always looking at how other people do that since I have several thousand documents and photos that I scanned before leaving home last September and have yet to organize them. I want to devise a system that will not need to be changed sometime in the future! Probably an impossible dream.

The final classroom session for the day was with Jean Wilcox Hibben on Shaking the Myth: Proving/Disproving Family Legends. Jean has devised a method of evaluating evidence by asking a series of questions to help determine if the legend could be true. It was fascinating to “step through” one of her family legends using this process.

The first day wasn't quite over when the last session finished. I, along with most of the geneabloggers and quite a few other people, attended the live Genealogy Gems Podcast with Lisa Louise Cooke. Her guests were Craig Manson and Sheri Fenley. They discussed writing for the online magazine Shades of the Departed which was created by footnoteMaven. Both Craig and Sheri were fantastic guests, and the dessert bar was pretty good too!

Lisa Louise Cooke and Craig Manson
Day two of the Expo, I was a slacker. It was noon before I made my way to where the Expo was being held. I went in to a session at 1:30 but left after 10 minutes. I couldn't hear the speaker due to the noise from the neighboring session... I went to a 3:00 session but left soon after it started because the subject wasn't what I thought it would be. At 4:30 Holly Hanson gave the final presentation on breaking down brick walls on those troublesome ancestors providing several inspiring examples. And then, it was over... a few days respite and I'm back on the road!

New Home!

Sarah and Dustin both thought they had found houses that I would like to buy and move into. The first photo is of the house next door to Dustin and the other is the house Sarah found for me. They were both disappointed when I turned down both houses.

Guadalupe Mountains

Wednesday, April 6th - - Continuing north on Texas Highway 54 about 60 miles from the town of Van Horn, you run smack dab into the south face of the Guadalupe Mountains!





This was still about 15 miles south. The mountain rises dramatically from the desert floor. The peak in the center is El Capitan, which has an elevation of 8,085 feet. Guadalupe Peak, the highest peak in Texas at 8,749 feet, is directly behind El Capitan. (As always, double-click on an image to view a larger version! It's worth the "extra" clicks!!)





US Highways 62 and 180 intersect with route 54 just south of the mountain. I traveled a short distance west on 62/180 to take the above photo.





Turning back to the east, highway 62/180 heads into the mountains. (This was taken as I was driving down the highway – not a recommended practice by the way - hence a bit of glare in the center of the picture.)





El Capitan as seen from Guadalupe Pass, which is at 5,420 feet.



The view from my site at Pine Springs Campground in Guadalupe Mountains National Park. Not quite as imposing as El Capitan but impressive nevertheless.



I had been told by one of the campers at Monahans Sandhills that even if I did no hiking, it was worth the drive to Guadalupe just to see the Mountains. I totally agree with that assessment.



I had also been informed that it was extremely windy at Guadalupe. In fact, that is the primary reason I didn't go there last year. And, yes, it was quite windy. The van was buffeted all night long as the wind howled through the mountains. They have some nice trails too (some even designated as easy), but I didn't do any hiking – too windy and the left leg is still bothering me.

Allensworth State Historical Park

After leaving Death Valley on March 27th I had decided to continue west to the coast of California, still seeking warmer weather. Along the way, I saw a sign for the Colonel Allensworth State Historical Park, which is located off of Interstate 5 northwest of Bakersfield, California. I went there not knowing what it was, only hoping that it had a campground.

The entrance welcomed me and I knew that I was in a very special place. Thankfully, it also had a campground!

According to a brochure that I picked up, the town of Allensworth was established in August 1908 by Colonel Allen Allensworth and four other settlers. It was the first settlement in California founded, financed and governed by African Americans. Their dream was to develop a thriving community based on the belief in programs that allowed blacks to help themselves create better lives. By 1910 Allensworth’s success was the focus of many national newspaper articles praising the town and its inhabitants.

Born into slavery and educated illegally, Allensworth ran off and joined the Army during the Civil War. He became one of the Army's first Black chaplains and at his retirement in 1906, he was the highest ranking African American commissioned officer in the United States military.

The townsite was purchased in 1974 by the California State Parks. Some of the homes and buildings have been restored while others are reconstructions.

The Stockett House and outbuildings.

The First Baptist Church.

Each building has a sign which provides a brief history.

The prefabricated house of Colonel Allensworth, delivered by railroad and assembled in 1911.

Additional photographs can be found on this page of the Allensworth Historical Park website. A biography of Colonel Allensworth can be found on Wikipedia.

Christian Phend Family Photographs

Christian and Mary Emily "Mollie" (McConnell) Phend, date unknown.

The family of Christian Phend and Mary McConnell. Probably taken sometime in 1907 (the youngest child in the picture, Dwight Rhoades, was born January 30, 1905).
two men in the back: Frank Wehrly and Delvin Phend
middle row: Waldo Phend, Harry Phend, Hattie (Phend) Rhoades, Grover Phend, John Rhoades holding his son Dwight, and Clarence Phend
front row: Ivy (Phend) Wehrly, Belle Phend, Clifford Phend, Christian Phend, Mary Phend, Mary McConnell Phend, and Helen Rhoades.

Christian Phend and his sons, taken at the same time as the previous picture, sometime in 1907. Seated in front are Harry, Clifford and Grover. Standing in back are Waldo, Delvin, Christian, and Clarence.

Location of original photographs is not known. These are digital copies of copies of copies! The quality is not the best in the bottom two; the texture of the print shows up in the scanned copy. As always, click on the images to view a larger version.

Related post: Where's Waldo? (subtitled "Go ahead, Make My Day")

Cancel the Luau, Winter is Back!

As we approach the month of Juneuary here on Mt. Rainier our weather has done a 180. Monday was sunnywith great corn skiing on the Muir Snowfield, now we are looking at breaking out the powder skis again!








Yesterday, NOAA published a Special Weather Statement reguarding this front moving down from the Yukon. Snow is expected Wednesday thru Friday. So far we have 14" of new snow is on the ground!

Today, 5/23/13 rangers in Paradise woke up to another7" of fresh snow and no sign of it letting up soon. If your a powder hound you will be stoked! If you are traveling to Paradise, Chainsor 4x4 have been required for the past two days.




On the climbing front, this storm system has provided a reset for the mountain. Last week was bluebird andclimbing felt likeJuly. This weekclimbers should be prepared for winter conditions and the subsequent avalanche hazard from heavy snow fall and wind loading.


Further, crevasses are going to be a increasing hazard. The recent warm spell produced significant melt on the mountain with NPS natural resources speculating that 2 meters of snow was lost. Lots of craks have started to open up and combined with this recent snow the possibility for thinly covered and wind-liped crevasses is very high. Be sure to travel in rope teams anywhere on a glacier.



The Climbing Rangers are still on the Mountain and Rainier is open for business. Come up and enjoy the weather.

Autumn Rainbow

Near Greenwood Lake - Cook County, MN. The other day I was driving the back roads from the Gunflint Trail back to Grand Portage. Along the way there were a few rain showers and at one point the sun came out and I saw this beautiful, full rainbow. Luckily I was in a place where the trees weren't as tall so I was able to get a good view of it!

Badlands :: Where the Buffalo Do Roam

Wednesday, August 24th - - As I pulled in the Sage Creek Basin Overlook, I remembered from the sign at Hay Butte that bison reportedly roam this area but I hadn't noticed any. I drove on over to the far side of the parking area and was getting out of Van Dora when I heard a grunting, snorting sound behind me.





Turning around I saw a long line of buffalo, the first few were approaching the top of the bluff and were just a few feet away! They extended for quite a distance down the hill. I immediately got back into the van and put the windows down so I could take pictures.





The vast majority of the buffalo came up on the passenger side of the van but the one above and below came up on the drivers side, and oh, so close!





I think this one must have been the calf of the one above. They stuck pretty close to each other the entire time I saw them.





I thought this was the last of them...



So after they passed by, I gathered some nerve and stood up outside the van and saw more of them coming.





Others that had already come up moved slowly through the parking lot, some continuing on across the road. But some of them stopped to browse or scratch their bellies on the posts that delineated the parking lot.





They were of all different ages and sizes and colors. Just like people, bison have distinguishing characteristics too.













For about 15 minutes I was entirely alone with this herd of bison. It was incredible. The sounds they made were like nothing I had ever heard before – growling, grunting, snorting. This car was stopped in the road waiting for the buffalo to pass – it took about 30 minutes from the time I first saw them for all of them to get to the top of the bluff and across the highway. This one lone bison lingered for quite some time scratching his belly on the post then he (or she) too moved on. And all I could do was shake my head and say Wow! again and again.