Following the Ancestor Trail
The first two hundred miles seemed endless today, spent on the interstate, I-80, going west across Pennsylvania. We finally reached the exit for Brockway where unfortunately the history center was not open. In the 1800's this would have been the center of business for Daniel and Susanna Bower, she whose birth we have been trying to establish.
We do know about where they lived, and we also know where they came to rest at the end of their lives. We visited them today.
The Amish are here in Jefferson county too.
We spent quite a bit of time trying to find Beechtree Road, where Tom's Grandma Gertie was born. We did find the crossroads marked Beechtree on the map.
Tom's great, great, great, great grandfather Moses Slawson was a bit harder to find.
It's almost impossible to read now, but we know the dates are b. 1780, d. 1848.
Brookville is the county seat of Jefferson County.
Jefferson County was home to Bowers and Slawsons and Vandervoorts, all branches on Tom's family tree. Distant cousins probably still live here from the evidence on the tombstones in the cemeteries.
Now we have left family history behind for a day, because as far as we know there were no ancestors living here, in Pittsburgh.
We'll be here two nights, and tomorrow we will just be tourists.
How special it must have been to locate those old grave markers. Susanna certainly had a long live in a time when women did not live that long.
ReplyDeleteWhat is that nestled at the base of the tree? Looks like a carving of a young ram??
I too wondered about the ram. I thought maybe it's a toy left behind. The pictures take me there along with you, Linda. I hope you have a good day just being a regular tourist in Pittsburgh today. :-)
ReplyDeleteThe "ram" is a teddy bear angel, obviously once marking the grave of a child. It was rescued and set at the base of the tree where it blends in so well it's easy to miss, but, oh, so sweet.
ReplyDeleteI love cemeteries and thinking about the lives of those found there just from a few dates. You've found Tom's roots!
ReplyDeleteClearly, tracking down a family tree is an act of persistence! It's pretty neat that Tom can get back to the great great great greats - Most of us have a hard time getting past a great grandfather.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you had some success. I used to go on these cemetery hunts with my father. Now, I would have to find the places all over again. I remember the cemeteries, but not the exact location of the plots.
ReplyDeleteWhat brought Tom's family to this area? Where did they come from?
Have a great time in Pittsburgh.
I just visited the cemetery yesterday checking on some dates. The dates I found weren't quite as early as the ones in your photos, but they were very hard to read too. Such a shame those old markers are deteriorating so badly.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a fun thing to do. It's like solving a mystery, but even better because you are the mystery. Well actually Tom is the mystery, or his heritage.
ReplyDelete