March 21, 2009

Trying to knock through a brick wall

Posted in Beery, My Family, Steele tagged , , , , , , , at 1:06 pm by indianajane

My mom’s GGGrandmother on her father’s side, Sarah Serring Steele,  is listed as Sarah Serring in the marriage records of Adams County, Indiana. We have her birthdate in 1824. The birthplace that we had for her was a county in Ohio that didn’t exist yet when she was born. We know that, as a teen, she came to Adams County with William Shady and his family and that when he died, he left inheritances to her children in his will.

Over the past several years I have searched for her family in the counties that her birth county was derived from for some sign of her family. I found a couple of Serrings,or similar names, but no one who looked likely to be related to her.

I spent today at the Allen County Public Library, focusing solely on the Sarah Serring brickwall, how to connect her to William Shady and his family. I made a list of the ways she could have been related, including through his wife, Susannah Grim.

As I was looking over the maps and all of the information that I had on her to this point, it occurred to me that there is a town, Ashville, in Pickaway Co. and that Pickaway County is where William Shady and Susannah Grim were married several years after her birth. Maybe the reports of her being born in Ashland Co. were really confusions about her having been born in Ashville. (Which would explain why my searches in the counties that now make up Ashland have yielded nothing.) In addition, Ashland County didn’t make as much geographic sense.
So I decided to focus on Pickaway County, and began poring through every book that addressed the early 19th century in that county. I searched for over four hours. Finally, in the 5th and final hour of my search, I found what may turn out to be a clue. In a book with inscriptions from three old cemeteries I found a number of  “Zehrung” graves. Several of which are unreadable, including two that seem likely to fall between 1811 and 1850. I made a note of it, because it was easy to see how the pronunciation of Zehrung could end up as Serring. However, when I turned the page I got really excited. I got the “you’re on the right path” chills. In that same very small cemetery was buried Susannah Grim’s mother, Deborah. Also, in that cemetery and the one nearby are  Steeles.

So now I will set back out through the Pickaway County records looking for Zehrung/Zehring (as it was in the nearby cemetery.) I’ll start my search for her family all over again. It may be a blind alley, but it has definitely brought some renewed energy to my search!

October 26, 2007

I love cemeteries

Posted in Cemetaries, Harrod, Indiana Counties, My Family, Photos, Ruhl, Surnames tagged , , , , , , at 11:30 am by indianajane


Okay, I may not love all cemeteries, but I love the country cemeteries where earlier generations of my family are buried.

For a history buff like me, who is also part of a close family, family history is a natural interest. I have been researching for over 10 years now, but moving to northern Indiana five years ago really reinvigorated my searches. Both of my parents are from the county to the south of Fort Wayne, and the last immigrant ancestors of mine arrived there in the late 1840’s. Our families were among the early settlers of three northern Indiana counties: Adams, Allen, and Wells.

This gives me an enormous feeling of connection to this part of the country. I love finding the homes that family members lived in, seeing the churches the attended–and often helped build–and walking through the cemeteries where they were buried. I love finding newspaper snippets about their comings and goings, reading their letters, and seeing their names on old plat maps.

I love the cemeteries for their serene country settings. I love the signs of the faith that was an important part of their lives. Their are eight of them that I know pretty well, now, but each time I go I seem to make a new connection. There are a few I have yet to find. A beautiful fall day is the perfect time to go search.


My great-great-great grandparents, Joseph and Anna Harrod moved here from WiIlliams County, Ohio.

Their son Enos and his wife Hester have one of my favorite headstones. Enos and Hester’s daughter, Alta Jane Harrod Ruhl was my great-grandmother and I was named after her.