Eliza Jane Adams

Eliza Jane Adams was born April 5, 1844 in Saltsburg, Pennsylvania.

Her parents, John Quincy Adams and Susan Muffley were married in December 1846.  We don't know why Eliza did not join the family at that time, but on the 1850 US Federal Census, she was living with her maternal grandparents, William and  Catherine 'Kitty' Muffley, in Washington Township, Westmoreland County, while her parents lived across the Conemaugh River in Indiana County, with their two younger daughters Catherine born in 1847 and Rachel born in 1850.

In 1860, Eliza Jane was still living with her grandmother Kitty.  Her parents had moved to Wilkins Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, with two more children:  Eva born 1853 and William born 1856.

In 1868, Eliza Jane married John Learn.   She was close to her sister Rachel, despite growing up in different households.  In 1872, Rachel and her husband Richard F Mitchell named their firstborn, 'John Learn Mitchell'.

Eliza and John Learn were living in Avonmore when Eliza's father, John Q Adams died in 1912.  She is mentioned in his obit as eldest daugher 'Mrs Ida Lern of Avonmore' (sic).

John Learn died in 1926.  John and Eliza had no children, and Eliza went to live in Greensburg with her nephew John Learn Mitchell, her husband's namesake and the son of her sister Rachel.

Eliza Jane (Adams) Learn died September 21, 1934, at the home of her nephew.  She was 90 years old.  John Learn Mitchell signed her death certificate, giving the names of her parents as 'John Adams' and 'Susan Muffley'.  Eliza was buried next to her husband in Hillview Cemetery, Greensburg.

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Bridget Murray / Anna Elizabeth Obney

Bridget Ann Murray and Anna Elizabeth Obney were two different names for the same person.

Bridget Ann Murray was born February 4, 1857 in Altoona, Pennsylvania.  Her father was James Murray, an Irish immigrant who made a living working the Blair County mines.  Her mother was Catherine Troxell, from an old Pennsylvania family.   Bridget was the 4th of 5 daughters in the family.

By 1870, Bridget had moved to Franklin Township in Portage County Ohio, along with her older sister Mary Ann, who had married a James Smith.  Bridget lived there with the family of Edward and Cynthia Green and their 2 young children, perhaps as their nanny (she is listed on census as 'domestic servant').   Bridget's younger sister Catherine, known as Kate, had also moved to the area and lived in Alliance, Ohio.

On January 3, 1872, our Bridget Ann married John Cook Obney.  She was not quite sixteen years old.

By the 1880 census, Bridget and John were living in Alliance, Ohio.  They now had 4 children: Joanna (later to go by Josephine), Maud, Charles and Grace.  Bridget gave her name to the census taker as 'Annie Obney'.   Three more daughters were born after this census:  Jessie May in 1881, Catherine in 1883, and Georgia in 1885.  

By the 1900 census, John was living with his parents again.  There is no mention of his wife or children.  

In 1910, Anna Obney is listed as living with her sister Mary Ann (Murray) Smith in Franklin Township.  

Anna's husband John died in 1918.  In his obituary, it was mentioned that Anna Obney was living in California with her oldest daughter, Josephine.

Anna died May 25, 1919.  This is her obituary:

Her death certificate was signed by her sister Catherine (Murray) Sefert.  

When I was very young, my grandmother told me that her grandmother's name was 'Bridget Murray'.  Despite changing her name through her life, this indeed was my great-great-grandmother's birth name.  

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Catherine Thomas

Catherine Thomas was born in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, in 1814, the 5th of 12 children born to Jacob Thomas and his wife Mary (Keckler) Thomas.  The family moved to Derry Township, Westmoreland County by 1840, and later to Unity Township.

Catherine never married.  In 1850, 1860 and 1870 censuses, she was living with her sister, Elizabeth (Thomas) Chrissinger, her brother-on-law Jacob Chrissinger, and nephew John Chrissinger, in Unity Township, Westmoreland County.  A girl named Lucinda Roberson also lived with them (relation unknown).

By 1880, however, Elizabeth was gone (she had passed in 1873).  The household now consisted of Jacob Chrissinger, his son John, his sister-in-law Catherine Thomas, and a little girl named Katie Lopes.
Katie, born in 1874, was the grand-daughter of Elizabeth and Catherine's sister Mary (Thomas) Lopes.
Katie's mother, Mary Elizabeth (King) Lopes, died when Katie was only 2 years old, and her father left the children in the care of various relatives.
So Catherine Thomas, at the age of 62, took in the little girl who had been named for her and raised her............what a job that must have been!
I have a quilt that was made for Katie, I like to think, by her great-aunt Catherine.  It is child-sized, and has scenes hand-embroidered in red and yellow thread on a bleached cotton muslin background.

Little Katie grew up, married, had her own fine family, so she must have been raised well by Catherine Thomas.
Catherine Thomas died in 1899.

(Obituary from Greensburg Daily Tribune, April 18, 1899)

Catherine is buried in St Lukes Cemetery in Pleasant Unity, Westmoreland County, in a plot with her sister Elizabeth (Thomas) Chrissinger, Jacob Chrissinger, her nephew David F Lopes (Katie's father), Mary Elizabeth (King) Lopes (Katie's mother), and Lucinda Roberson.

(photo courtesy of the photographer spirit_walker)

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Thomas F Terry

Thomas Francis Terry was born September 14, 1878 in Kent Village, Portage County, Ohio.  His parents, Patrick Terry and Margaret (O'Sullivan) Terry, were of Irish origin, thus Thomas was a first-generation American.
He grew up in Kent Village, where his mother Maggie was a midwife and his father Patrick worked for the railroad.  Thomas was the oldest son in a family of eight children, three girls and five boys.  He worked as a skilled machinist.

On April 29, 1901, Thomas F Terry was married to Georgia Obney, the ceremony being performed by Rev Ambrose Graham, the Roman Catholic priest in Kent Village.   Thomas was 22 years old, and Georgia was only 15, she would not turn 16 until August.  Georgia had been living with her aunt MaryAnn Smith, on Dodge Street in Kent, next-door to the Terry family.  And MaryAnn's daughter/Georgia's first cousin was married to Thomas Terry's first cousin, Daniel McGue.

The marriage lasted long enough to produce one child, a daughter, Helen Terry.

Thomas Terry, Helen Terry and Anna Lynskey Terry

Georgia left and later re-married, as did Thomas.  Thomas married his second wife, Anna Lynskey, in 1911.  He was age 32, she was 19.  They went on to have Margaret Terry, Thomas Francis Terry Jr, Alice Terry and Gerald Terry.
As for his daughter Helen, she was raised by Thomas Terry's parents, Patrick and Maggie, and his sisters, Margaret and Mary.  Helen had a happy childhood and dearly loved her aunts.  She named her first child 'Margaret Patricia', to honor her grandparents.

Thomas moved his family to New York for a time, then returned to Ohio, living in Warren, Ohio.  He died there in 1958.  He was my great-grandfather.  And he never came to visit or even meet any of his four grandchildren by his daughter Helen.
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Agnes Jane Cleland

Agnes Jane Cleland was born December 15, 1851 in New York.
We know this because I have a small Bible, inscribed inside as "William Cleland, New York" and recorded in this Bible is the following page:

So we know Agnes had a brother named William Henry Cleland born in 1853.  

The next we see of Agnes, she is living in Chicago with her father William Cleland.  They are in the household of a James and Ann Burns, and Agnes is erroneously listed as  'Agnes Bernes'.  There is no sign of her brother William, nor of a mother.

By 1870, Agnes is still living with Ann Burns, who I assumed to be her aunt, and an elder gentleman named James Cleland, who I assume to be Ann's father and Agnes's grandfather.  William Cleland, Agnes's father, is no longer listed with the family.  Agnes is now shown in the census as "Agnes J Clelland", age 18, occupation dressmaker.  

At some point, our Agnes married Samuel James Mitchell, a railroad man.  On the 1900 census, they state they were married for 20 years, on the 1910 census, it is stated as 30 years, which would put their marriage in 1880.  I can find no record of the marriage.

Their only child was a son named William Glass Cleland Mitchell.  According to his birth record, he was born at 54 Palo Alto Street, Allegheny City, Pennsylvania on August 28, 1877.  

This address, in the 1880 census, housed an attorney named Henry Collier, his wife, Mary, their four young sons;  three boarders: Susan, Paul and Sallie McCandless ; and a servant named Mary Thornton.  This baffles me, I can find no connection between any of these people and either Samuel or Agnes.  

There is no record of Samuel, Agnes or their son William anywhere on the 1880 US Federal Census.  

We do have a photo of them, probably mid-late 1880's

Samuel James Mitchell, William Glass Cleland Mitchell and Agnes Jane (Cleland) Mitchell

The next time they appear on the census is 1900, living in Esplen, a suburb of Pittsburgh.  Will lists his birthdate here as 'Aug 1881'.  On the 1910 census, he states it was '1879'.  

On the 1910 census, Samuel and Agnes are still living in the same house in Esplen.  Son Will has married and moved to his own house.  But Agnes's mother-in-law and sister-in-law, Sarah Mitchell and Isabelle Mitchell, are now living with them.  Agnes listed her parents' birthplace as "Ireland-Irish".

Sometime between 1910 and 1913, Samuel and Agnes had an altercation that culminated in Agnes shooting Samuel.  He was not seriously injured, and no charges were filed after the family told the police it was an accident, that she thought he was an intruder.  We suspect it may have had to do with the rumor that SJ Mitchell was quite a lady's man, known as 'Diamond Jim'.

But after that incident, Samuel went to live in a home for retired railroad workers in Chicago, and Agnes went to live with her son's family in West Park, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.  This was my grandfather's house, and he fondly recalls 'Little Granny", as the kids called her for her diminutive stature.  

Agnes Jane Cleland Mitchell died in 1913 at the age of 61.  She is buried in Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh, next to her son Will and her three grandsons, Bill, Sam and Harry.  

Agnes was my great-great-grandmother.  

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Thomas Worth

Thomas Worth was born in 1649.  He came from Nottinghamshire, England, and had been baptised in the ancient church of St Peter and Paul in the village of Oxton.

There is a plaque in this church, commemorating him.  

Thomas was a scribe, an occupation much in demand at a time when literacy rates were less than 50% for the population.
Thomas became a Quaker, and bought land from William Penn while still in England.  He was one of the First Purchasers of Pennsylvania.
At the age of 33, Thomas sailed to America and arrived in the fall of 1682.
He became one of the original settlers in Darby Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, an area that later became Delaware County.  The area was called 'Darby' after the region of Derbyshire in England, a place from which many of the early settlers had emigrated.

(A photo of part of the Worth-Jefferis Historic District in East and West Bradford Townships in Chester County PA, named for two of the early families settling there.)

In 1685, Thomas Worth was married to Isabel Davison, who had emigrated from Derbyshire, England.  They had three children: John Worth born 1686, Thomas Worth born 1688 and Sarah Worth born 1691.
Below is a copy of a page from Thomas's Bible.  Thomas recorded his journey to America as well as the births of his children, but did not record his marriage!

Thomas Worth had a strong constitution and lived to be 82 years old during a time when average life expectancy was 30-40 years old.  He was predeceased by his wife Isabel who died in 1709 at age 54 (Thomas never re-married), his daughter Sarah who died at age 5, his son John who died in 1716 at age 30 (leaving three young daughters).

In his Last Will and Testament, Thomas bequeathed his land in Darby, 222 acres, to his son Thomas and bequeathed his land in Bradford Township, 500 acres near Brandywine Creek, to the daughters of John Worth.  He also left monetary bequests to his grandchildren, the children of Thomas Worth (Jr).

And we are still living here in Pennsylvania, 12 generations after him!

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James Obney

James Obney was born about 1764.  I don't think he was born in America, because on the 1870 census, his son Thomas Obney checked the box "Father of Foreign Birth".   There is an area of Perthshire, Scotland known as Obney Hills:

But I have not found any record of immigration for him. So his origins are shrouded in mystery.  There is a family legend that every Obney is America today is descended from this man.  If you are one of them, I'd love to hear from you!

Our very first official record of James Obney is the 1781 Tax Exoneration List for Robinson Township, Washington County Pennsylvania.  He also is listed on the 1786, 1787, 1788 and 1789 versions of the tax lists.  He is listed as a single man, owning a horse.  There is no record of him ever owning any property.  

However, our James and his horse did militia service, he is listed in militia records for Westmoreland and Washington County.  He went on the ill-fated Sandusky Expedition in May of 1782, in Captain William Bruce's Company:

Reproduced from Pennsylvania Archives Series 6, Volume 2

There are also records of his militia service stretching from 1782 through 1792. He served as a Ranger of The Frontier (see PA Archives Third Series, Vol XXIII, pages 198-220), which meant that he was one of the brave men who patrolled the wilderness areas along the frontier and between forts and blockhouses, looking to prevent attacks on the settlers by marauding indians.   

James Obney appears on the first US Federal Census in 1790 as 'James Abbeny', in that portion of northern Washington County that was taken in 1788 to form Allegheny County.  He is listed with his wife, Susannah Morris Obney.  They had no children yet, as they were married February 9, 1790.  

In 1791, a petition was circulated by the inhabitants of Allegheny County, and our James signed as 'James Obeny'.  

On the 1800 US Federal Census, James is listed in Fayette Township, Allegheny County,  in an area that is probably around where Pinkerton Run is located, along the border of present-day North Fayette Township and Collier Township.  This what Pinkerton Run Hollow looks like today:

By 1800, James and Susannah had a family of 4 boys and 2 girls: James born about 1791, John in 1793, Elizabeth in 1795, the twins Thomas and Susannah in 1796, and William in 1799.  

In 1810, the family was listed in Robinson Township, Allegheny County Pennsylvania.  I believe they were in the same location as the 1800 census, only the border had changed as townships were created and /or merged.  They are shown now with 5 sons and 2 daughters, son Richard McClure Obney being born in 1806.  

James Obney died on Feb 28, 1811.  This fact was recorded in his widow Susannah's pension application in later years.  I have not yet been able to locate his burial place, if we were ever able to do so, James Obney would be eligible for a veteran's Revolutionary war headstone, based on his militia service.  

James Obney was my greatx5 grandfather.  

Feel free to send me an email, jdynbttn@gmail.com

Charles McMillen

Charles McMillen was born about 1772 in Pennsylvania.  

The first official record we find of him is the 1800 US Federal Census.  He is living in St Clair Township in Allegheny County, in a household headed by himself, with a wife and 2 young girls.  He is listed near the families of Couch, Murray, Tidball and Fife, which puts him in the neighborhood of upper McLaughlin Run.  
Our Charles is listed on this census as 'Charrels McMullan'.  There is also a single woman living nearby, Elizabeth McMillen, in the age range of 16-25.  

The next record we have of Charles is the 1810 US Federal Census.  He had moved to Robinson Township, and is now in a household with a wife, a son and 4 daughters.  He is listed near the families of McCurdy, Nickel, Baldwin, Thornburgh, and a Thomas McMillen, which puts him in the area of Robinson Township adjacent to Campbell's Run, a tributary of Chartiers Creek.  
On the following census page is listed James Obeny (also seen as Obney), whose two sons married two of Charles's daughters, Mary McMillen being married to James Obney Jr and Elizabeth McMillen married to William Obney.  

In 1811, we find a deed, on record in Allegheny County Deeds, Volume 102, page 132, which records Charles and his wife Agness purchasing 21 acres of land from Alex McCurdy.  This piece of land is adjacent on the southwest to property owned by Thomas McMillen.  I believe Thomas McMillen is Charles's uncle, but have been unable to directly prove this.  Yet.  
Charles's wife appears variously as Agness or Nancy, which was a common nickname for Agnes.  

This area is located in Robinson Township, off Keiners Lane, and is still called McMillen Road.  

The next official record of Charles McMillen is the 1814 Tax List of Robinson Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, a list of all the Taxable Persons of the age of Twenty-one years and upwards, Residing within the Township, with their respective occupations.  Taken agreeably to an act of the General Assembly passed Twenty-first day of february, AD 1814.  

This list includes:

Charles McMullin, tanner

Thomas McMillan, farmer

Matthew McMillin, farmer

The original of this tax list is currently located in the Special Collections at the Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh.  I have not been able to see it, they don't seem to want to even tell anyone it's there, but I do have a transcribed copy of it, thanks to Bill Riddle.  

The 1820 US Federal Census shows Charles still living in Robinson Township, with his wife, a son, and five daughters.  He is listed as Charles Muckmullen.  His oldest daughter Mary had married James Obney before 1820 and is not listed in this household.  

In 1822, Charles and Agnes sold their parcel of land in Robinson to Isaac Keating.  There is no record of them buying any other land until 1835.  

The 1830 US Federal Census shows Charles and Agnes McMillen still living in Robinson Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.  A number of young children are included in the household, which probably are their grandchildren by their daughter Mary (McMillen) Obney.  By 1830 Mary had a daughter Nancy and 3 sons Charles, John and Alexander, but seems to have been separated from her husband James Obney.  

In 1835, Charles and Agnes/Nancy McMillen bought 150 acres of land in Hopewell Township, Beaver County, Pennsylvania, this area later became Independence Township.  In 1836, William and Alisana Marks, who had been neighbors of Charles McMillen in Robinson Township, sold an additional 187 acres to Charles McMillen and his now son-in-law, William Obney.  William Obney had married Charles's daughter Elizabeth Obney.  

Charles McMillen appears on the 1837 Tax List of Hopewell Township, Beaver County Pennsylvania.  He is shows as owning 102 acres, 2 horses, 2 cows and a saw mill.  

I am unable to locate him on the 1840 census, but he is in Independence Township, Beaver County, Pennsylvania for the 1850 US Federal Census, living with his wife Nancy (Agness) in a household headed by his son-in-law Archibald Ralston, who was married to Charles's daughter Rebecca (McMillen) Ralston, and their children Nancy, John and David Ralston.   Next-door is the household of Charles Obney, grandson of Charles McMillen (by his daughter Mary McMillen Obney)

Charles McMillen died June 19, 1855 in Independence Township.  I have not been able to locate his burial place, not that of his wife Nancy/Agness.  

He did not leave a will, so his estate passed through probate.  His son John McMillen filed as follows:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And now to wit, August 17, 1855,

T he petition of John McMillen, a son and one of the heirs of Charles McMillen, late of Independence Township in said County, deceased, was presented setting forth that your petitioner’s said father lately died intestate, leaving no widow but issue, to wit, 

Mary Obney, formerly Mary McMillen, widow of James Obney, deceased, of the age of fifty-four years, 

John McMillen, your petitioner, of the age of about fifty-three years, who are residents of Beaver County, 

Rebecca Ralston, formerly Rebecca McMillen, intermarried with Archy Ralston, of the age of about thirty-nine years, who resides in the state of Ohio, in what part of the state is to your petitioner unknown,

Susan Chambers, formerly Susan McMillen, intermarried with William Chambers, of the age of forty-four years, who resides in Beaver County, 

Martha Wisman, formerly Martha McMillen, intermarried with Levi Wisman, of the age of thirty-four years, who resides in the state of Ohio, in what county it is to the petitioner unknown, 

And grandchildren, to wit,

Susannah Wisman, intermarried with Wisman, formerly Susannah Obney, residing in Williams County Ohio,

John Obney, residing in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania,

William Obney and

Thompson Obney, residing in New Castle, Ohio, children of Elizabeth Obney, formerly Elizabeth McMillen, dead, who was the oldest child of said Charles McMillen, and 

William McMillen

Amanda Watt, formerly Amanda McMillen, intermarried with William Watt,

John McMillen and

Anna Mary McMillen children and heirs at law of Charles McMillen, Jr, deceased, son of said Charles McMillen, deceased, whose ages are in order of their names, and who reside in Middletown, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, John and Anna Mary being still in their minority.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This summarizes Charles McMillen's family as it was in 1855: 

His living children Mary Obney, John McMillen, Rebecca Ralston, Susan Chambers, and Martha Wiseman.

And his grandchildren, heirs by way of his two deceased children, were Susannah Wiseman, John M Obney, William Obney and Thompson Obney, (children of Elizabeth McMillen Obney who died in 1839), and William McMillen, Amanda Watt, John McMillen and Anna Mary McMillen (children of Charles McMillen Junior who died in 1841).

Charles McMillen was my greatx5 grandfather.  

Feel free to send me an email, jdynbttn@gmail.com