October is Family History month. To celebrate, I thought I would share some of my favorite family history finds with you. The first is a discovery I made as I was working on my four-generation project for ICAPGen accreditation. I was working to prove that Hannah Fisher Beck was the daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth Fisher. This had been a long-standing brick wall in our family’s history. I had a baptism record that named the parents of a Hannah Fisher as Jacob and Elizabeth Fisher but I didn’t have enough evidence to prove that this was MY Hannah Fisher, who married Daniel Beck. Also listed on the record were her presumed siblings Johannes and Catharine. All three children were baptized on the same day.
There were two key documents that tied this family together and helped prove that this was my Hannah Fisher. The first was the will of Jacob Fisher Jr.[1] In it he named his parents Jacob and Elizabeth Fisher and a brother named John Fisher. Also named in the will were Hannah “Peck” and Catharine Ferry. Their relationship to the testator was not stated, but I was pretty certain that Hannah Peck was actually my Hannah Fisher Beck and that Hannah Peck, John Fisher, and Catharine Ferry were the three children named in the baptism record. Here’s the transcription:
Will of JACOB FISHER
Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Will Book 3:158-9
Written 30 March 1846; Proved 11 April 1846
I JACOB FISHER of Sewickley Township: to JOHN L. MILLER, my farm. To my wife ELIZABETH, one half & south end of the dwelling house and kitchen on said farm and one half of the spring house and garden, and pasture or provinder sufficient for one cow during her natural life, twelve bushel of wheat or the flour thereof, three bushel of corn, three bushel of buckwheat, and three bushel of oats annually and as much fuel, coal, or wood as she may require for her private use to be furnished free of charge by JOHN L. MILLER. Also all household and kitchen furniture she may select and five hundred dollars to be paid by the said JOHN L. MILLER in yearly payments of not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than fifty dollars. Also twenty dollars and choice of any one of the cows on the farm and two hundred weight of pork, fifty pounds of beef, one bushel of salt, and one pair of calfskin shoes. All this is in lieu of her dower at common law.
To my sister SARAH SHOTTS one hundred dollars. To JOHN FISHER one hundred dollars. To HANNAH PECK and CATHARINE FERRY each one hundred dollars. To my brother JOHN FISHER my blue coat, velvet vest, and blue pantaloons and all my shoemaker tools. To SUSANNAH KROCK ten dollars annually. To my mother ELIZABETH FISHER twenty-five dollars. To my father JACOB FISHER five dollars. All sums of money to be paid by JOHN L. MILLER. To PRISCILLA MCGREW MEANS twenty-five dollars. To ADAM KIEHL my rifle gun and ten dollars. I appoint my neighbor JOHN L. KUNKLE executor.
[Signed] Jacob FisherWitnesses: S. N. Kreuder and John L. Kunkle
Proved 11 April 1846. Letters Testamentary granted to executor. D. Cook, registrar.
Identifying the Beneficiaries of Jacob Fisher Jr.’s Will
By researching each individual named in the will, I was able to find records tying all of these individuals to Jacob and Elizabeth Fisher, who originated in Northampton County and migrated to Westmoreland County sometime prior to 1808, when their youngest three children were baptized. John L. Miller ended up being the husband of Jacob Jr.’s sister Elizabeth, who was not named in the will.
The final document that tied Hannah Fisher Beck to Jacob Jr. and their parents Jacob Sr. and Elizabeth was found in a Westmoreland County Deed book. Each of the beneficiaries of Jacob’s will appeared in court to attest that they had received the legacies bequeathed to them. The witness to Jacob’s mother Elizabeth’s statement was Daniel Beck, who I know was the husband of Hannah Fisher Beck. The indirect evidence discovered in this document tied the family of record to Daniel’s wife Hannah and solidified the generational linkage for the family.
Bonus Information From These Records
Another fun bonus from these records was the statement of release by William P. Fisher and Mary his wife of Chicago, Illinois, named as “grandchildren and heirs at law of John Fisher.”[2] Before finding this document, I had not been able to find any evidence that Jacob Jr. and Hannah’s brother John had ever married or had children. With this direct evidence that he had children and grandchildren, I could now use the clues provided to identify John’s family members too.
This is a great illustration of how a couple of great record discoveries can be key to solving a family history mystery. It’s always rewarding to reflect on fun family history finds, and family history month is a great time to remember and celebrate. What is one of your favorite family history discoveries?
[1] Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Will Book 3, entry 1585, p. 158-9, will of Jacob Fisher, 30 March 1846; image, “Pennsylvania, Probate Records, 1683-1994,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89S9-ZDTG : accessed 27 March 2019); FHL microfilm #5547051, image 82. [2] Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Deeds, April – August 1884, vol 129, p. 16, entry for release, W.P. Fischer et ux to John L. Miller, 21 March 1884; image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSNP-C976-Q : accessed 30 January 2020); FHL microfilm #929159, image 13.
