OTHER LOCAL BIBLE RECORDS
The Hunter Family Bible
Record of Deaths:
Photo by Rosalie Hunter Harrison
Prepared March 10, 2005
By Bob Sweeney
For the Sullivan County Genealogical Web ProjectThis page is devoted to presenting and recording text, pictures and anecdotes from and about bibles from northern Pennsylvania families. The Family Bible was much more than a religious document for the settlers and their children who came and lived in the communities along Loyalsock Creek, Muncy Creek and the Susquehanna River. Births, baptisms, mariages and deaths were recorded in these old books. Important letters, deeds, and other paraphernalia were often inserted into the pages of the Bible. Just look at the way in which the Wentzell Family Bible was recovered and conserved as an example of what we are talking about.
Here is a brief listing in order of the families whose bible records we'll be discussing, looking at and transcribing in part on this page:
Rogers
Secules
Cogansparger/Kohensparger
Hunter
Hess
Marbaker
Marbaker/Smith/Hankinson
Warburton
We'll add mroe as time goes by and information comes our way.Sometimes bibles are recovered in conditions of near destruction. See, for example. the story of the recovery of the Rogers Family Bible at Old Reunions of Yesteryear, and the pictures shown with it. That Bible was saved by Jane Yaples and then restored as best possible by Ernie Hatton. Other times, bibles are recovered in much better condition, witness the previously mentioned Wentzell Family Bible. But even those lucky stories are somewhat amazing. It is just difficult to imagine under what circumstances anyone would either throw away an old bible or put it out for bid at a yard sale. However, that is exactly how many of these treasures are found and recovered.
Other bibles are preserved in fairly pristine condition. For example, look at the Secules Family Bible, also posted on the Old Reunions page. The original handwriting of those who incribed the information, perhaps Sarah (Flick) Secules herself, seems almost new. Another good example of a well preserved bible is the Cogansparger Family Bible in the possession of Elmira, NY descendants of that early German-American family of Bradford and Sullivan Counties.
The frontispiece on this page shows one page of the Hunter Family Bible. The bible is in the hands of the brother of Rosalie Hunter Harrison who made copies of the bible pages and sent them to her cousin, Dawn Fenton, for the Sullivan County Genealogical Page. We are grateful to Dawn and Rosalie for making the three pages shown here and the information on them available for local family research and history. Dawn is the great-great-great granddaughter of John and Margaret Hunter, the couple that first came to Sullivan county. She descends through John S. Hunter, George McClellan Hunter, and Flora Hunter (her biological grandmother). Flora died when Dawn's mother was only six months old. So, Flora's brother Milton Hunter and his wife, Pearl (Kunzman) adopted and raised Dawn's mom. Therefore, her biological great-uncle Milton is her adoptive grandfather. It turns out that Flora was married twice, first to David Bennett and then to Walter Walker, about whom Dawn knows mext to nothing. Her mother was born Bertha Melvina Walker.
Rosalie Hunter Harrison also contributed photos of the records page of the Hess Family Bible. You can see these images below. This is a family that is entwined with the Hunters. The two bibles have been in the family "forever". When her parents moved about year and half ago, they gave them to her brother. It turns out Dawn and Rosalie share the same ancestors, except that Rosalie is one generation closer to the founder. Her great-grandfather, George Washington Hunter, had nine brothers and sisters, one of them being John S. Hunter, the ancestor of Dawn Fenton. Rosalie's parents are Elmer and Bernadyne (Goss) Hunter. Her dad's parents are Thomas Clement and Mabel Ette (Sawyer) Hunter. Then her great grandparents were George Washington and Margaret (Hess) Hunter. So, her great-great grandparents were John Hunter and Margaret Sheep Hunter, the original couple in this area. She can also trace back some of her Hess ancestors. Her great-great grandfather, George C. Hess and his wife, Susannah (Remely) Hess, are buried at the same cemetery at St. Gabriel's near Benton, Columbia County, PA.. She has pictures of them, which we hope she will make availabe to this page in time. Rosalie's parents were still with us in March 2005, her father at age 86 and her mother at 77.
In May 2005, Helen Gammon Smith graciously provided our site with the following genealogical history of the Hess family. She had a copy of a very old Hess pedigee made by Mrs. Ellis (Minnie) Remely. It lists the children of George Hess and Susanne Remely:
From the beginning of the recorded line, the sequence would be: Margaret, married George Hunter
Nancy, married Boyd Cole
Clarence, married Reba Harvey
Alfred, married ____ FritzJerrimias and Anna _______ Hess
Johann Conrad and Anna Maria (Best) Hess
Johann Wilhelm/William and Anna Catharine (Goddard) Hess
John, Sr. and Charity (Cole) Hess
John, Jr. and Nancy (Spencer) Hess
George C. and Susan (Remely) Hess
George and Margaret (Hess) HunterThere are also many references to the Hess family in the early history of the Lutheran Church in northeastern Pennsylvania, which you can find in excerpts from the 1911 Pennsylvania German Magazine.
Lets' now get back to the Hunter history. John and Margaret (Sheep) Hunter and their family were among the very earliest settlers in the southeastern part of what is now Sullivan County. John and Margaret were married on January 10, 1827, per the marriage records shown below, and must have moved north shortly thereafter. If you look at the map on the top page for this site, you will see "John Hunter" listed among the "Early Settlers".
Thomas Ingham's 1899 History of Sullivan County recounts that:
The part of Davidson known as the Elk Lick settlement was an unbroken forest until 1823, when James Rogers and a Mr. Wilson first explored it. The next year they cut a road from the Susquehanna and Tioga turnpike, and moved in with their families. In 1826, John Keeler moved there with his family and soon after that John Hiddleson, Edmund Pennington, John R. Pennington, Christopher Speary, Samuel Speary, John Hunter, Robbins and a few others moved there. It was some time before they had a road to connect them with the Crawley-Anderson settlement.
The 1955 Historical Hodge-Podge history of the area tells us that:
John Hunter and family came from Columbia County while the district was part of Lycoming and settled on what later became part of Laporte Township. His son John Jr. remained on the farm he had helped to clear, married Ann Laird and reared a large family of boys. All these have died and their grandchildren have all become non-resident except Harold who lives in the old Laird home in Davidson at Nordmont. His brother Harry was elected county treasurer but died before his term in office expired. That was in 1941. According to The Sullivan County Democrat for January 5, 1855, John S. Hunter, son of the founding couple, was married as follows:
John HUNTER married to Miss Ann LAIRD, both of Davidson, on Dec. 21st, by Robert TAYLOR, Esq.
So, the Hunter family goes back to the "beginning of time" in the Davidson/Nordmont area. Presented here for the first time ever in a public domain are the three pages recording the births, deaths and marriages of the Hunter family.
The Hunter Family Bible
Record of Births:
Photo by Rosalie Hunter Harrison
The Hunter Family Bible
Record of Deaths:
Photo by Rosalie Hunter Harrison
The Hunter Family Bible
Record of Marriages:
Photo by Rosalie Hunter HarrisonHere is a list of the relationships written in the Hunter Family Bible:
Births
Elizabeth S. Hunter, May 14, 1829
John S. Hunter, May 28, 1831
James Hunter, March 22, 1833
Josiah C. Hunter, September 29, 1835
Manerva Hunter, April 25, 1838
Hannah J. Hunter, May 1, 1845
Sarah Amanda Hunter, May 9, 1846
Catherine L. Hunter, February 2, 1849
George W. Hunter, December 28, 1851Deaths
Elizabeth S. Hunter, April 20, 1862
John Hunter (father), January 25, 1876
Margaret Sheep Hunter (mother), November 24, 1883
John S. Hunter, 1897
James Hunter, date not given
Manerva Hunter, date not given
Mary M. Morris, April 18, 1909
Sarah A. (Hunter) Hess, April 16, 1901
Catherine L. (Hunter) Morris, February 12, 1907
Editor's Note: Rosalie reported in July 2006 that Catherine was the wife of Thomas Morris.
Josiah C. Hunter, April 7, 1923
Hannah (Hunter) Peterman, March 17, 1934
George W. Hunter, February 23, 1938Marriages
John and Margaret (Sheep) Hunter, January 10, 1827
Elizabeth S. (Hunter) and James Glidewell, August 8, 1850
Hannah J. (Hunter) and James Peterman, August 3, 1861
John S. and Ann (Laird) Hunter, December 23, 1853*
Manerva (Hunter) and Phillip Hess, December 6, 1858*Note: Two day discprepancy from the report in the newspaper referenced earlier in this story.
Now let's take a look at the Hess Family Bible. Here are the two images provided by Rosalie:
The Hess Family Bible
Record of Births:
Photo by Rosalie Hunter Harrison
The Hess Family Bible
Record of Deaths:
Photo by Rosalie Hunter HarrisonHere is a list of the relationships written in the Hess Family Bible:
Births
Alfred Hess, October 9, 1861
Frances Minerva Hess, November 11, 1866
Rizzie Alice Hess, August 4, 1886
George Oral Hess, September 19, 1898
Hazel Hess, December 29, 1889
Ralph E. Hess, July 7, 1891
(Lenna) Adella Hess, August 14, 1893
Nancy Ethel Hess, February 18, 1897
Alfred Larue Hess, June 21, 1901
Lois Catharine Hess, January 27, 1905
Mary Vonda Hess, June 9, 1908
Deaths
Hazel Hess, October 13, 1890
Nancy Ethel Hess, November 29, 1910
Rizzie Alice (Hess) Ash, August 26, 1924
Ralph Ernest Hess, March 17, 1925While we have not yet uncovered the relationships among these ancestors, we do know that the Hess, Hunter, Peterman, Ash, Hunsinger and Messersmith families were related by marriage in Columbia County, PA, just to the south of Sullivan County. Many of these families lived in that area before and after they entere Sullivan County. A superb introduction to these relationships, many pictures, and a visually very stimulating overview of twelve cemeteries in Columbia County was organized by Susan Messersmith, but the site became disabled in 2006. It was located at Cemeteries of Columbia County. An alternative site is Columbia County Cemeteries, which is part of the PAGENWEB sie for this county hosted by Terri Cook.
The Marbaker Family Bible came to our attention in the Spring of 2008. A descendant of the Marbaker family living in California, Martha Walker, came into the Bible, several photos and other materials. She provided copies to Carol Brotzman of Tuscarora Township, Bradford County, PA, a regular contributor to the Sullivan County Genealogical Web Page site. It is through the agency of Carol that we are able to present these items here. Ironically, and perhaps difficult to believe but one more of those small coincidences that come down through history, the Marbakers lived in Tuscarora in the 1800's and, even more coincidentally, they lived in the very house that Carol and her husband came to live in. The Brotzman family succeeded to the house after the Marbakers departed in 1902. Eventually, the original house burned down in 2004. Photos of the house taken in 1893 and 1955, respectively, are shown below.
The Marbaker Family House
Clapper Hill, Tuscarora Township, Bradford County, PA
June 1893
Photo by Carol Brotzman
Original Source: Marbaker Family Collection Courtesy of Martha Walker
The Brotzman Family House
Clapper Hill, Tuscarora Township, Bradford County, PA
1955
The house burned down in 2004.
Photo by Carol BrotzmanAccording to Carol:
The old house had four additions made to it. The more recent picture shows the main part where two families raised 12 kids before Elisha Brotzman added the garage, the old house across the road and the woodshed on it to make the what we called the kitchen area.Martha Walker told Carol that she remembers her grandmother recalling that her brother Charlie rode his horse through the front door, down the center hall, and out the back door of the old house. There is a lady and child at the end of the porch and several people in the yard in the older picture. They are not identified at this time.
You can see more photos of the Brotzman farm and find more links to the area at the Brotzman Site. It turns out that Edward Marbaker, Sr. and his wife, Thankful (Cottrell) Marbaker, were living on this land by 1850. The structure they lived in was farther back in a field from the house shown above, in which Edward Marbaker, Jr. and his wife, Almeda (Wage) Marbaker, came to live by at least 1868. Both these residences are shown on the Tuscarora Township maps for those years, respectively.
A second bible connected with the Marbaker family came to our attention thorugh the efforts of Carol Brotzman. It was apparently originally kept by Martha Elizabeth (Marbaker) Bell, daughter of Luther and Lenora (Smith) Marbaker; Lenora later married C. W. Hibbard. The chain of ownership would have been from Leonora Smith Marbaker Hibbard, wife of Luther Marbaker and Charles Worden Hibbard. She was the mother of Martha Elizabeth Marbaker Bell Rosengrant who was the mother of Cecil Bell. Evidently, Cecil Bell had the bible next, inherited from his mother. He had no children and left it to Sandra Marie Yurgatis, a great grandchild of Charles Worden Hibbard, who possessed the bible in 2008. It contains the records of the Smith, Hankinson, Marbaker, Bell, Hibbard and related families. You can access the text at the Marbaker/Smith/Hankinson Bible page.
Perhaps the most astonishing bible find uncovered in over ten years of administering this page was the location in late 2008 of the nearly 400 year old Warburton Family Bible in rural Kansas. The entire story is related at the Warburton Bible Page. Here is a photograph of what the bible actually looks like today:
Warburton Family Bible
Published in 1639
Side Perspective
Photo Contributed by George WarburtonCopyright © 2005-9 Robert E. Sweeney and individual Contributors. All Rights Reserved. Prior written permission is required from Robert E. Sweeney and individual Contributors before this material can be printed or otherwise copied, displayed or distributed in any form. This is a FREE genealogy site sponsored through PAGenWeb and can be reached directly at ~Sullivan County Genealogy Project (http://www.rootsweb.com/~pasulliv)
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