My Old Ohio Home - Kern

Joseph Kern of Greensburg, Pennsylvania

2018-10-09T00:00:00-04:00

Joseph Kern was born in York, Pennsylvania, on 30 Aug 1772, the son of Jacob Kern and Catherine Funck. He died in Hempfield Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, on 23 May 1846. He was married about 1799 to Margaret Steinbach/Steinbaugh. Margaret was born abot Oct 1779 either in Pennsylvania or Maryland and died 16 Apr 1856 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

Joseph grew up in York County and apparently stayed there until his mother died in 1806. The household of Joseph Kern in York County, Pennsylvania, in 1800 includes a female over forty-five. "Widow Kern" is said to be on the York Borough, York County, tax rolls in 1800 and Joseph is said to be on the York tax rolls for 1800 to 1805. ¹ In addition, the abstract of Joseph's obituary says he was born in 1772 and moved to Greensburg at the age of 35.²

After Joseph's mother Catherine died, Joseph joined his brothers Jacob and John in Westmoreland County. Joseph appears first on the tax list for Westmoreland County in 1808. He is listed on both the Borough of Greensburg and Hempfield Township tax lists in 1810.³

In 1815, Joseph was assessed and taxed as follows:
Kern, Joseph, Hatter $60, 1 house and lot $700, 1 horse $40, 1 cow $10, Total $800. Tax 1.33.⁴

He is also on the tax list for 1817.⁵

In 1810 his household is on the census in Greensburg, apparently including a male apprentice or boarder age 16 to 25. In 1820 his household numbered thirteen, apparently including a number of apprentices or boarders. Joseph was engaged in commerce.⁶

The Joseph Kern, on the Mt. Pleasant Borough tax rolls in 1829 is more likely his brother John's son Joseph, since they were in Mt. Pleasant.

I have not yet found Joseph Kern on the 1830 Census. By 1840 his household, now in Hempfield Township, had become smaller. The census figures only allow for Joseph, Margaret, and their two youngest children.⁷

On June 18, 1834, John Taylor, Daniel C. Morris (who was Joseph Kern's son-in-law), and George W. Kern (Joseph Kern's son) bought nineteen acres of land in Johnstown from Shepley Priestly for $800. On July 7, 1840, Joseph Kern himself purchased the two-thirds interest held by Taylor and Daniel Morris' estate. The Kern land, now belonging to father and son, lay below Dibert street and east of Apple Tree alley, which was between Franklin and Napoleon streets, extending to the Stonycreek river. This was known for a time as Kernville, and was part of the fifth and sixth wards of Johnstown.⁸

In Joseph's will, written 15 May 1846 and probated 26 May 1846, he discusses this property, improvement needed to it, and a possible purchase from a Joseph Haynes to make the improvement possible.⁹ Instead the land was sold to Joseph Haynes, being described as beginning at a point on "the road leading from the bridge to Amish hill, along the west side of Apple Tree alley." This deed bears the date of August 2, 1847.¹⁰

Something in the will or some action of the executors led to Sarah's son, Jacob S. Kiel petitioning as heir of Sarah against the executors in Westmoreland County Orphans Court on 6 November 1867. A look at Jacob's petition would help here.¹¹

The land in Johnstown is also mentioned in a letter from Joseph's granddaughter Elizabeth Extine (Kiel) Hamilton to her brother Daniel Morris Kiel on 31 Aug 1890. It seems from the letter that Eckie thought the executors had not yet sold the land. The letter says, in part:

"When [their sister] Celia came home from your place, she stopped at Derry and asked [Mr. Gorgas, one of the executors] about that land in Kernville and he says they were all in debt to him. Where did he get his share? I see in the Johnstown papers they are going to make Stoney Creek wider. So I suppose they will get a chance to get something for the land, but I hope it will never do them any good."¹²

A transcription of Old German Cemtery, Greensburg, says that Joseph Kern died May 23, 1843. This is in error since his will was not written until May 1846.¹³

Joseph's listing at findagrave.com states that he died 23 May, 1846 and is buried in Old German Cemetery.¹⁴

A Biographical Sketch

The following reference to Joseph Kern appears in a biographical sketch of his son-in-law Timothy Hunt of Johnstown, who married Eleanor Kern:

". . . Mrs. Hunt is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, as were also her parents, and her father, Joseph Kern, was born at "Little York," this State, and settled at Greensburg, the county seat of Westmoreland, where he died May 23, 1846, aged seventy-four years.

Joseph Kern was a hatter by trade, and carried on hatting at Greensburg for many years before combined capital, improved machinery and specialized piece work drove the individual manufacturer from the market by cheaper but not better work. Mr. Kern was a man of forsight and judgment, and in the early years of Johnstown's history, perceiving its future importance, invested largely in real estate in what is now the Fifth ward, where his son George was the first settler. When buildings were erected and the town commenced to grow on his land it was named Kernville in honor of him, and continued to hold that name until it was made a part of Johnstown as the Fifth ward.

Joseph Kern married Margaretta Stinebaugh, who died April 16, 1856, aged seventy-six years and nine months.

The Hunt and Kern families are among the sturdy, substantial and useful families of Western Pennsylvania, although not so old or numerous as many other families west of the Alleghanies."¹⁵

For more about Joseph Kern see the article Joseph Kern of Greensburg, Pennsylvania--Methodist or Lutheran?.

Footnotes

¹ Ed Morrill, "In Reply to: KERN family of York Co., PA," posted at rootsweb.com York County message board on 30 Nov 2003.
² Mary Jane Mains, compiler, Newspaper Accounts of Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1808-1929, not all inclusive, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania (Greensburg, Pennsylvania: Westmoreland County Historical Society, 1994, citing the Westmoreland Republican and Farmers' Chronicle).
³ Tax Lists, Westmoreland County, PA, 1786-1810.
⁴ "1815 Tax list of Westmoreland County", as found in The Old Westmoreland, Vol 9, No 5, August 1989, Laughlintown, PA: SW PA Genealogical Services.)
⁵ "List of Taxable Inhabitants of Greensburg in 1817, with tax assessed," from History of Greensburg, Westmoreland Co., PA, B. F. Vogle, (Greensburg: Vogle & Wensheimer, c. 1899).
⁶ 1810 Census: Greensburg Borough, Westmoreland, PA. Series M252 Roll 51 Page 183, and 1820 Census, Greensburg, Westmoreland, PA Series M33 Roll 112, Page 98.
⁷ 1840 Census, Hempfield Township, Westmoreland, PA, Series M704, Roll 498, Page 384.
⁸ Henry W. Storey, History of Cambria County, Chapter 13, "Land Titles", pages 290-310, as found at http://www.accessible.com/amcnty/PA/Cambria/Cambria13.htm.
⁹ Transcribed will of Joseph Kern found at: ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/pa/westmoreland/wills/kernj.txt.
¹⁰ Henry W. Storey, History of Cambria County, Chapter 13.
¹¹ Frank W. Kiel, Hendrik Gerrit Kiel, Dutch Immigrant to Pennsylvania (Comfort, Texas: Skyline Ranch Press, 2000), page 43, citing Westmoreland County, Orphans Court Records, 6 Nov 1867, No 31.
¹² Transcribed in Kiel, pages 66, 67.
¹³ This transcription is in an article entitled "Tombstone Inscriptions" contributed by Mary Ellison Wood on page 26 of Publications of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, Vol. VI, No. 1 (March, 1915). The image is found at books.google.com.
¹⁴ findagrave.com, contributed by Kim Frye
¹⁵ Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Cambria County, (Spartansburg, SC: The Reprint Company, Publishers, 1980). Originally published in 1896 by The Union Publishing Company of Philadelphia, pp. 46, 47. Images now at Google Books.)

Joseph Kern of Greensburg, Pennsylvania—Methodist or Lutheran?

2018-10-09T00:00:00-04:00

When asked to write about an individual ancestor's place of worship, you usually don't have ask, "Which one?" But when I researched my ggg-grandfather Joseph Kern (1772-1846), I ran into a bit of a problem. Let me explain.

According to a Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, county history, Joseph's brothers John and Jacob were among the first Methodists in the area, and one of the first trustees of the church was Joseph himself. ¹ But at least five of Joseph's children were baptized at the First Lutheran Church in Greensburg, namely Sibilla, Anna Maria, Elizabeth, Anna Catharina, and Elenora Margaretta.² There was only one Joseph Kern in Greensburg with a wife named Margaret, so how could this be? Did he belong to two churches?

To find the answer, I had to look into the early history of Methodism. I learned that the founder of Methodism, John Wesley's, "plan was to revive the Church of England from within, not to form a new church. All his followers were expected to continue to attend their Anglican parish church for public worship and communion, and for baptism, marriage, and burial."³

In America, a difference of opinion arose among early Methodists in connection with administering the sacraments for themselves. Northern Methodists believed that they did not have that authority, while Southern Methodists did.⁴

Additionally, the Methodist class in Greenburg was founded by Samuel Bushfield, who had only arrived in the United States from Ireland in 1792. At the time, in Ireland "although many people joined the Methodists, they remained within their own churches . . . the majority of Methodist baptism registers do not begin until the 1830's."⁵

Finally, the Lutheran Church services in Greensburg at this time were in German,⁶ and the Kerns were a second-generation German-American family. John Wesley's plan of staying within the traditional religion for baptisms and marriages would have been especially appealing to such a family in a closely knit community.

After doing my research and looking at all the records, I concluded that Joseph Kern and his brothers were, for a time at least, Lutherans who attended the local Methodist classes. By the time that the first Methodist meeting house was built in 1833, however, I suspect that they devoted their full attention to that religion.

So, when I'm asked to write about Joseph Kern's place of worship, I do have to ask myself, "Which one?" Do you face a similar difficulty with one of your ancestors? A bit of research into the times and places in which they lived may help you find the answer.

This article was originally published for the 118th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy, which had as its theme "Our Ancestors' Place of Worship!" The link to their site is no longer working in 2023, but I did find them once by searching for my article on one of the search sites--not Google if I remember right.

For more about Joseph Kern see the article Joseph Kern of Greensburg, Pennsylvania.

Footnotes

² Della Reagan Fischer, compiler, Births, Baptisms (3683) of the First Lutheran Church, Westmoreland County, Greensburg, Pennsylvania, 1792-1853 (McKeesport, Pennsylvania, 1964), 88-89. From online images at HeritageQuestOnline.com.

³ Encyclopedia Americana, "Methodism", (Danbury, Connecticut: Grolier, 1999).

⁴ Frank Baker, From Wesley to Asbury: Studies in Early American Methodism (Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1976), 101-103.

⁵ Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, "Methodists."

⁶ History of Westmoreland County, Volume I, (New York: Lewis Publishing Company, 1906), 305ff.

Patrick McQuaid of Hempfield Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania

2018-10-09T00:00:00-04:00

On April 30, 1827, "Patrick McQuaid, the son of Rudy McQuaid dec'd, of Hempfield township, Westmoreland county, and state of Pennsylvania," signed indenture papers beginning his apprenticeship to George W and Jacob S Kern of Greensburg "by and with the advice and consent of his Mother." See: Patrick McQuaid, Jacob Kern, George W Kern, of Greensburgh, PA, Indenture Papers.

Included among the persons signing the document is Margaret Bussard, who signed with her mark and Patrick McQuaid who signed with his.

Based on what I found at the McQuaid message board at rootsweb.com, http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.mcquaid/mb.ashx, there was a good sized McQuaid family in Westmoreland County, descended from eight sons of Patrick McQuaid and Catherine Graham, both born in County Down, Ireland. They settled first in Chester County, Pennsylvania, then moved to Westmoreland after the Revolution.

They are said to have had a son Roderick who died before 1820. This could be the "Rudy" father of Patrick, apprentice to the Kern brothers. "Roddy" is a nickname for Roderick and would sound a lot like "Rudy" if spoken with even the slightest Irish accent. Patrick's father was deceased, which agrees with the information that Roderick had died by 1820.

If so, that would mean that Roderick McQuaid married a woman named Margaret; and that Margaret's second husband was named Bussard.

An image of the document is in the Documents/Kern section of this website under Kern-McQuaide-IndenturePapers.jpg.

If any McQuaid descendants have more information about Patrick, I would be interested in learning it.

Sources

The helpful posts at rootsweb were:
Re: Patrick McQuaid, Posted: 8 Oct 2003, by Robert E. McQuaid
http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.mcquaid/173.3/mb.ashx

Re: Children of Patrick & Catherine Graham McQuade; PA, Posted: 5 Nov 2005, by rlmcilvain
http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.mcquade/191.1.1.1.1/mb.ashx

Children of Patrick & Catherine Graham McQuaid Posted: 29 Oct 2005 , by aohkii
http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.mcquaid/198/mb.ashx

A Surname Index to Mary Ann Snider's Reminiscences

2018-10-08T00:00:00-04:00

Below is a surname index to Mary Ann Snider's Reminiscences, which are found in the Documents section of this website. Hopefully it is complete. I did not list every page on which Mary Ann or her immediate family is mentioned. The number following the name is the photocopied page on which the name appears. I hope you enjoy it.

For an introduction to the manuscript see the article Mary Ann Snider, Reminiscences.

Surname Index

Bess, Billy (fictional or real?), 2
Biddle, Mrs (teacher in York PA), 2
Brady, Hugh James, 4
Eckstein, Elizabeth, 1
Fore, Dan, of Shirleysburg, 17
Harrison, President William Henry, 7
Horton, Maggie, 7
Huffman, Clementine, 13
Kauffman, Mr and Mrs, of Shirleysburg, 17
Kern, Joseph, 2
Kern, Mary M. 13
Kern, Samuel Mclane, 8
Kern, Sarah, 2, 5
Kiel, Anne, 1
Kiel, Hendrik, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 11
Kiel, John Hendrik, 1
Kiel, Katocha, 1
Kiel, Mary Ann, throughout
McMillan, Katherine "Kitty" (Kern), 6
McMillan, Uncle [Robert], 6
Mechling, Rev. and Mrs. of Greensburg, 3
Mock, John, of Shirleysburg, 17
Rotz, Jacob, 9
Rugan, Rev. of Greensburg, 11
Simpson, Mr., 13
Snider family, 12 to 22
Snider family in Germany, 8, 9, 10
Snider, "Uncle" George, 17, 20
Snider, Jacob, 8 to 22
Snider, "Uncle" Philip, 8, 9, 10
Sprout's Hotel, 19 miles from McConnellsburg, 13
Statler's Hotel, near Laughlinsville, 13
Steinbach, Margaret, 2, 8
Stern, Elizabeth "Lizzie" (Kern), 6
Stern, John, 6, 7
Stout, Rachel Anne, 3
Williams, W. W., 13
Wise, Will, 4

Henry and Sarah (Kern) Kiel, Family Bible

2018-10-08T00:00:00-04:00

A transcription of the family Bible of Henry G and Sarah (Kern) Kiel, from a photocopy of the original in the possession of a descendant. A photocopy of the original is in the Documents/Kiel section of this website under bible1.pdf, bible2.pdf, and bible3.pdf.

Family Bible Record of Henry G. and Sarah (Kern) Kiel of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, page 1

The earlier births are recorded in the second column. A copy of the original is in the Documents section of this site.

page 1, first column

Henry G Kiel was married to Sarah Kern on the 24th of June 1824 by the Rev Mr Painter

John Henry Kiel was born on the 7 day of January in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and thirty eight.

Sarah Elean Kiel, was born on the 22d February, in the year of our Lord, eighteen hundred and forty

Celia Anthus L Kiel was born on the 26 April ad 1843 Baptised by Rev W. [or M.] Long

Elizabeth E. Kiel was Born on the 2th day of March ad 1845

Emma Henry Kiel was Born on the 4th day of Augst 1848

page 1, second column

Margret Elizabeth Kiel was born on the 3th day of May in the year eight hundred and twenty five

Mari Een Kiel was born on the 29[?] of July 1828

Jacob Steinbaugh Kern Kiel was born November 8th 1829

Daniel Morris Kiel was born on the 19th of December in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and th [page torn] one

Joseph White Kiel, [page torn]
September 13, in th [page torn]
of our Lord, one [page torn]
eight hundred [page torn]
four

page 2, first column

Joseph White Kiel, died on the 24th December, in the of our Lord [sic], eighteen hundred and thirty nine

John Henry Kiel, died on the 31st of December in the year of our Lord, eighteen hundred and thirty nine

Celea Anthus L. Kiel was born 26 April A D 1843 Baptised by Rev. W. Long

page 2, second column

Henry G. Kiel Died on the 14th February In the year of our Lord Eighteen Hundred and forty eight

page 3

Married on the 30th October By the Rev Henry R Kern
Mr. Thomas Young to Miss Margaret E Kiel Daughter of H G Kiel and S Kiel all of The Borrow of Greensburgh

Henry and Sarah Kiel, 1847 Letter

2018-10-08T00:00:00-04:00

A transcription of a letter from Henry Kiel to his wife Sarah "Sally" (Kern) Kiel, from a photocopy of the original in the possession of a descendant. A photocopy of the original is in the Documents/Kiel section of this website under Letter1.pdf and Letter2.pdf. In the same folder is another transcription made by another descendant of Henry and Sarah.

[Phila scratched out] New York July 12th 1847

Dear Sally

after spending one Sabbath in New York
i will give you the particulars of what has happened. in the first
place the sabbath is not observd here. the first thing that
saluted my ears after I got up was a parcel[?] of boys in the street
crying out Newspaper for Sale. after while the different church
bells began to chime and play verry buatafull. after that i
wint up stairs to my room waiting for Mr. Souer to come. he did arrive
til eleven o clock. i wondered why he did not come soner. i begin to
think that he had over done himself on Saturday night owing to us
walking about so much for whe wint and paid Dr Vogeley a visit.
he lives about 3 myles from where whe board. whe spent a verry
pleasent evening. the doctor and his lady was very glad to se us. they
are well and doing verry well. whe left that about 10 o clock. it
was after 11 o clock before i got home to my boarding house. wel Mr
Souer had to walk about two myles after that and that was the reason
why I thought he had over done himself. but to return to sunday,
after Mr Souer had arrived he came up to my room and escqused
himself for not coming soner. he said he had overslept himself. he tooked
some tyme and then proposed to take a walk. whe to the Bowery
and from there to Castle Garden. then whe went on board a Dutch
vessel and asked for the Captain. he came forward and was introduced
and whe where invited down in the Captain's cabin. he than brought
out some Dutch beer. after that he brought out his long smoke pipes
and whe began. i wisch you had been here, you would have laught
to kild yourself, and the Dutch had to go it with a perfect rusch after.
staying a while, the Captain took us and showed us every
apartment in his vessel. i was much pleased with my visit. it brought

[page 2]
back the days of my childhood and i thought i was really in Amsterdam.
but to proceed, whe returned to his boarding house after dinner.
Mr Souer took me down to his boording house that was about
two myles and remained there til almosst six o clock. he has
a splendid room fitted up for himself in graat style.
after that whe went to a family by the name off Camp, a
low dutch family, a Merchant that is worth about eight
thousand dollars. whe staid their a little while and than
Mr. Souer and Mr Camp and Jacob and myself started down
Broadway. Mr Souer observed to me he thought that my
supper would be over and proposed to go to a saloon
and take supper. so whe did and called for four suppers
elegantly served up. after that he would have me to go
to the great Castle garden one off the most splendid
places i ever saw. there was at leest about ten thousand
persons there. they played sacred music til ten o clock. after
that i wint home and wint to bed after spending a very
laborious sabbath. Newyork certainly is one off gratest places
in the unitedstates. Jacob is wel and is verry wel
contented. i think that this week or next week he
will git a sattuation. give my best lofe to my children
and a kiss to my little [Eck?]. Newyork is a place to spend money
if a man has it. Nothing more at present, but remain,

Yours, H G Kiel
Mr Souer sends his respects to you all.