William and Hannah (Milliken) White Tombstones in Pana, IL

Al and I went on another adventure to visit friends and relatives in our motorhome. We visited with Cousins Mark and Colleen Myers in Cleveland, TN. Always fun to hear about Marks latest birding trips. He has been all over the World banding birds and taking wonderful pictures.

Our next stop was Plano, TX to visit Nephews Jeff and Rob. We stayed in a RV park nearby and had the pleasure to meet a group of Venezuelans who were celebrating their friend’s birthday. We talked with one of the couples who gave us a dining suggestion, Hola Cafe. It is in nearby Carrollton, TX. They were absolutely correct that their country’s cuisine is delicious.

On to Tucumcari, New Mexico then heading home. Since we were going across the upper corner of TX and OK then through Kansas we stopped in Kansas City, MO to visit my boss from Adria Laboratories, Karen and husband, Kevin. As far as boss’ go, she was the best. She always championed her employees plans for their career and would take the heat to see that everyone was fairly treated.

On our way through Illinois, we were very close to Pana, IL where three times great grandparents William and Hannah (Milliken) White are buried. I cleaned their stones as good as possible. The rain, if it comes, will help to further clean their stones. I will be contacting a local stone mason to right their stones.

William M. White Tombstone Linwood Cemetery, Pana, IL
Hannah Milliken White Tombstone Linwood Cemetery Pana, IL

I have DAR supplements for both of these ancestors. Thomas White is the grandfather of William and his brother, Thomas’ son, James great grandfather. James also married Sarah White, daughter of previously mentioned and pictured above William and Hannah White. Making two supplements for the same ancestor. Hannah Milliken’s grandfather was Samuel Milliken. I proved him as a new Ancestor.

Samuel Milliken Added as New Ancestor in DAR

What a struggle to get 5 x great grandfather Samuel Milliken proven as a Revolutionary War patriot, but it’s done. Samuel was born in Ireland c. 1727, married Sarah Jardine, sister to Mary Jardine the wife of Thomas White. They lived in Cumberland County, later Perry County that broke off of the former in 1820. Samuel and Sarah are buried in Bixler, Perry County PA

Their son, David Milliken moved west to Braddock Fields, Allegheny County, PA where he and some of his family are buried. The big question for DAR is how did Hannah, daughter of David Milliken marry William White if the family had moved west and William was still in Perry County. They were concerned about Hannah being only about 10 years old, must have stayed behind and not moved to Allegheny County with her family. Why would a 10-year-old not go with them? A lot of speculation, but probably to help with relatives’ children.

I thought that none of the Whites went west from PA, however Hannah Milliken married William White. They moved west through Indiana and finally settled in Pana, Illinois. Al and I took a trip on Route 30 west. Pana, IL is not far off of Rt 30, so we went on what I call “grave digging” looking for William and Hannah’s burial site.

We arrived in Pana, found the cemetery rather quickly and began the search. There was a caretaker working and I stopped to ask if he knew where they were buried. Since they were among the earlier people buried in the cemetery, he directed us to the older section. We parked the motorhome, and I began to look for their tombstone. I knew from FindAGrave what the stone looked like and started up and down the rows. No luck out the driver’s side door, going up and down the rows, so I crossed the road to go up and down that side. After about a half hour, I was back at the motorhome and you guessed it, the tombstone was right beside the RV. AHHHHHHHHHHHH! I figured Hannah and William must have had a great sense of humor to let me do all that walking when they were right there.

Their stone is not in bad shape; however, it needs to be cleaned and reset to be in good shape for many more years. I am calling a local tombstone company to see if they can fix the stone.

Revolutionary War Patriots Approved by NSDAR

I have been working on additional Patriots for the Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) from my White and Brown family lines and have added three, with one more in the cue to be approved.

The first is George Eckert, born in 1743, possibly Earl Township, Lancaster County, PA. He paid the Pennsylvania Supply Tax in 1781, making him eligible as a patriot for NSDAR. He had not been proven before, so is a New Ancestor, if you want to check this out on line, go to DAR.org. I am related through Moses and and Rebecca (Eckert) Hess. I haven’t found his wife’s last name, but her first name is Catherine.

Next is a duo, father and son, John and Frederick Harter. John, the father, lived in Greenwood Township, Cumberland County, PA and also paid the Pennsylvania Supply tax in 1779, 1781. Frederick, the son, was from Greenwood Township and fought under Capt. David Boal, Col. Purdy in the 7th Battalion. He was also in the Cumberland Co. Militia, in 1780.

Frederick’s wife was Margaretha, possibly Wendt, but that will take further research to prove to DAR standards.

If you are looking for a project during our coronavirus stay-at-home order, this is a fun project, looking for Patriots of all the wars. I’m proud of my Patriots and want to make sure they are not forgotten, so I’m trying to prove as many as possible. Samuel Milligan/Milliken is in the cue and I hope to have Abraham Jacobs submitted soon. These are all on my father’s side. I still have many more on the White side and mom’s Brown side. So many ancestors, so much research. Happy Hunting!

Abraham Hershey Connected and another two White’s to go

As I continue with other prospective member applications to NSDAR, I also find new ancestors for me.  My latest is the connection to Abraham Hershey.  Now I can say I’m a Hershey with a Hershey connection.  My original application, so many years ago, was with Abraham Long.  His son married Catherine Hershey, whose father fought in the revolutionary war.  A quick connection and another ancestor bar for my pins.

Recently, my cousins from Seattle WA were in for a visit.  We had a great conversation about all of our ancestors, when Mark posed the question  “did any of the White’s fight in the war”?  I thought I knew the answer, but then questioned whether I every checked.  Sure enough, Thomas White, born in Rye Twp., Perry County, PA had been proven by a DAR member.  So to the computer to search for all those direct connections.  Actually, I can do two applications for Thomas because down the line first cousins married.  William White’s daughter married Thomas White’s son, generation 6 – grandchildren of the Patriot Thomas.   A couple of more proofs and off to DAR go these supplementals.

A Week of DAR

This week started with Regents’ Club of Central Pennsylvania where new officers were elected.  President, Joan Romig;   V. President, Mary Duggan; Recording Secretary, Suzanne Seebold; Corresponding Secretary, Deborah White Hershey; Treasurer, Phoebe Conner; Chaplain, Lorraine Prutzman.

It was on to Harrisburg Chapter, DAR Flag Day luncheon with SAR.  We had an excellent attendance with numerous prospective, pending  and verified members.  The support the Chapter has garnered continues to grow as others see the many projects we have to honor our veterans, including Wreaths Across America; toiletries to Lebanon VA hospital; Bingo with the veterans at Lebanon; and clothing and other items sent to Landstuhl Medical Center in Germany.

Finally a trip to Rocky Springs Presbyterian Church in Chambersburg to the Franklin County Chapter, DAR memorial service and annual church service. The church is owned and maintained by this chapter.  It was a very warm day, but well attended services.

Volunteer Field Genealogist Workshop

I am now available to present the National Society Daughters of American Revolution volunteer field genealogist workshops.  The workshop will help anyone who is interested in joining DAR, complete their application or Registrar’s some good information to help prospective members submit an application that is approved the first time it is submitted.

I joined 40 ladies at NSDAR for the 3 day seminar and learned so much about DAR and the folks that review these applications.  There are some very good resources for proving lineage.  Sometimes the information is not there to be found so a “preponderance of evidence” must be used for the proof.

Anyone who enjoys research will enjoy the workshop or course in Washington DC.

Search and share

I work on many lineage society applications, so do research  on the NSDAR website and am amazed what connections I find in my research for others.  Today I need to send a birthday card to a “daughter” in my local DAR chapter, looked her up on the NSDAR website  and lo and behold, she was from the area where I grew up.  Many of her ancestors have similar last names to my ancestors.  Today will be spent researching our possible connections. Is there another supplement in the works here?

I’ll begin my research on the Bradford County (PA) website that Joyce Tice hosts.  This is the best county website I have ever found.  All the folks in Bradford County graciously offer historical records and their own research, to Joyce, for the website.  If every county would be so generous, we would have so much more information available and so many records would not be destroyed.

On another similar topic, that I have mentioned before, don’t hoard those records you find, share them with a local historical society or submit them to the web for your local county site.  You can find a good repository by going to www.uswebgen.org and click on your State and county.  You will find many volunteers ready to help.