This page details the history of the Tanner family (as well as the related Hornbeck family) through a detailed ancestry of Wilson Pennell Tanner and Helen Hornbeck Tanner.

Tree: Ancestors of Wilson Pennell Tanner

(Ancestry) Family tree of Wilson Pennell Tanner, to four generations

Origins

The earliest known Tanner ancestors go back to the late 17th century in Siblingen, in Schaffhausen canton of Switzerland, less than 10 km from Germany.

Hans Georg Tanner (d. 1710)

Hans Georg Tanner was born in Switzerland, quite possibly in Siblingen, Schaffhausen, Switzerland. However, his baptism record has not been found. He is the earliest paternal relative on the Tanner line that is known with confidence.

He married Anna (?) Barbara Muller, although the record has not been found. Barbara was born 30 October 1680 in Siblingen, the daughter of Jacob Mueller and Barbara Weber.

Their son Hans Georg Tanner was born in 1705. They might have had other children.

Hans Georg Tanner died 16 May 1710 in Siblingen. His wife Barbara lived until 6 August 1755.

Hans Georg Tanner (1705-1764)

Hans Georg Tanner was born 22 November 1705 in Siblingen, Schaffhausen, Switzerland. His parents were Hans Georg Tanner (d. 1710) and Anna? Barbara Mueller (1680-1755).

He married Anna Storrerin on 14 February 1732 in Siblingen. Anna was born 15 January 1714 in Siblingen to Hans Balthasar Storrer and Anna Hepp.

Their children included Hans Balathasar Tanner (1741).

He died 16 February 1764 in Siblingen. His wife Anna outlived him but died in Siblingen on 18 June 1776.

Hans Balthasar Tanner (1741-1809)

Hans Balthasar Tanner was born 24 September 1741 in Siblingen, Schaffhausen, Switzerland. His parents were Hans Georg Tanner (1705-1764) and Anna Storrerin (b. 1714).

On 20 November 1760, he married Elisabetha Vogelin. Elisabetha was born 7 January 1742 in Gächlingen, Schaffhausen, Switzerland. Her parents were Marcus Vogelin and Margarethe Hagg (the exact names are hard to read on the baptism record).

Their children included Hans George Tanner (1763).

His wife Elisabetha died in 1790 in Siblingen. He died 3 May 1809 and was buried on 6 May 1809 in Siblingen.

Hans Georg Tanner (b. 1763)

Hans Georg Tanner was born 22 May 1763 in Siblingen, Schaffhausen, Switzerland. His parents were Hans Balthasar Tanner (1741-1809) and Elisabetha Vogelin (1742-1790).

He married Verena Schmidlin on 24 June 1793 in Siblingen. Verena was born 31 July 1768 in Siblingen, the daughter of Jakob Schmidlin (1740-1793) and Magdalena Vogelin (1740-1790).

He and Verena had a son Franz (1798) and probably other children, though no other records have been found so far.

Franz Tanner (1798-1864)

Franz Tanner was born 19 October 1798 in Siblingen, Schaffhausen, Switzerland. His parents were Hans Georg Tanner (b. 1763) and Verena Schmidlin (1768-1822). (Note that later records have this date as 19 Nov 1798, but the original Swiss baptism record shows it was a month earlier.)

On 26 January 1823, Jacob married Verena Weber in Siblingen. Verena was born 20 April 1798 in Siblingen to Hans Jakob Weber (1725-1809) and Verena Walter.

Their children were Martin (1824), George Hans (1825), Jacob (1828), Anna (1831), Newbra (1834; I suspect this name is transcribed wrong), and Elizabeth (1837).

His wife Verena died on 2 January 1847.

In 1848, Franz and most of his children departed on the Baltimore sailing from Le Havre, France and arrived in New York on 26 May 1848. His son George (age 23) seems to have come separately before the rest of the family and was married 1 May 1848 in Lucas County, Ohio (in or near Toledo). That’s where Franz seems to have brought his family.

There’s another 1850 immigration record for a man named Franz Tanner born in Siblingen arriving via San Francisco with a brother Conrad of the same age. Possibly Franz left his children with one of his older sons or another relative in Ohio to go to Switzerland again before returning.

The 1850 US Census record for Franz and his younger children has not been found; households for both of his sons George and Jakob in Lucas County are recorded in that census. In addition, it appears that his eldest son Martin might be the man recorded as “Martin Turner” in Toledo with a wife Madaline and a daughter Mary. However, if so, Madaline and Mary might not have survived because they do not appear in later records and Martin married Ursula Miller (or Mueller) in 1858.

The 1860 US Census shows Franz, now going by “Francis,” living in his son Martin’s home with Martin’s wife Ursula and three children. The two older children–Eliza (b. c. 1850) and Anna (b. c. 1854)–are both too old to be Ursula’s children given the 1858 marriage date, suggesting that Martin must have had an earlier wife. Martin’s youngest child F. (Frank) Otto was only a month old and thus the son of Martin and Ursula.

Franz died 4 April 1864 in Toledo.

Jacob Tanner (1828-1893)

Jacob Tanner was born 30 May 1828 in Sibligen, Schaffhausen, Switzerland. His parents were Franz Tanner (1798-1864) and Verena Weber (1798-1847). In 1848 (the year after his mother’s death), with his father and siblings (except for brother George, who came separately), he left Europe via the ship Baltimore from the port at Le Havre, France, and arrived in New York on 26 May 1848.

The family settled in multiple homes near Toledo, Ohio. Although the 1850 census record for Franz and the younger siblings has not been found, Jacob’s 1850 census record has him (age 23) living in Waynesfield in the household of J.B. Baswtick, a tanner and furrier, himself working as a tanner (presumably as an apprentice).

On 22 March 1855, Jacob married Margaretha Bolli (herself a Swiss immigrant) in Toledo. She was born 26 Aug 1829 in Beringen, Schaffhausen, Switzerland, the daughter of Heinrich Bolli (1797-1883) and Ursula Schelling (1793-1843).

Their first three children were Mary Louise (1856), Frank Henry (1858), and Gustaf Adolph (aka Elizah) (1860).

In the 1860 census, Jacob and his family (wife and three children) were living in Toledo, and he was working as a mason.

Jacob’s daughter Julia was born in 1862.

In 1863, Jacob (his occupation listed as “mason”) and his brother George (a “speculator”) registered for the draft for the Civil War, but no records of either of them serving has been found.

In the 1870 census, Jacob and his wife are listed along with their earlier children and Delia (aka Alia or Ollilia, 1864), Grant (1867), and Harry (1870). His profession is listed as “brick maker.”

His son Charles was born in 1873. By 1880, Jacob was still working as a brick mason, living with his wife and all of his children except Mary Louise, who had moved out. Oldest son Frank, working as a bookmaker, was joined by his new wife Nina. Second eldest son Gustaf Adolph was working as a printer.

The 1890 census record for this family (like most of them) did not survive a fire.

Jacob died 4 July 1893, in Toledo.

Frank Henry Tanner (1858-1929)

Frank Henry Tanner was born 27 January 1858 in Toledo, Ohio. He was the son of Jacob Tanner and Margaretha Bolli, who were immigrants from Switzerland. His family was still living in Toledo for the 1870 census.

In December 1879, Frank married Nina Virginia Pennell (b. 1858) in Cincinnati. Nina was the daughter of Mathias Hale Pennell (1833-1896) and Mary Anna Powell (1830-1860).

At the 12 June 1880 census, Frank and Nina were living with Frank’s parents and siblings at 377 Mulberry St in Toledo (an address that no longer exists). Frank was working as a bookkeeper.

Their children were an unnamed daughter that died at birth (1880-1880), Wilson (1886), Frank (1888), and Gladys (1893).

The 1890 census record did not survive, but by the 1900 census the family was living at 2255 Lawrence Avenue in Toledo, an address that no longer exists after the construction of Interstate 75. Frank’s occupation is listed as “grain dealer.”

By 1908, they were living at 522 Park Ave W in Mansfield, Ohio. In the 1910 census, they are still living there, with Frank working as a “merchant miller” at a flour mill (Hicks Brown Milling company), and his adult son Frank Burgess working as a bookkeeper at his father’s company.

By 1920, Frank was living at 205 Wilson Avenue in Columbus, Ohio. He was secretary of the state miller’s association. His son Frank was a traveling salesman (for “Fire Co.” selling fire insurance, perhaps?) and they had an adult foster son (a Scottish immigrant named John) working as a traveling salesman for a granite company.

Frank’s wife Nina died 8 June 1925. Frank died 4 January 1929, in Columbus. His obituary mentions that he was a 32nd-degree Freemason.

Wilson Pennell Tanner (1886-1972)

Wilson Pennell Tanner was born 6 February 1886 in Toledo, Ohio. His parents were Frank Henry Tanner and Nina Virginia Pennell.

He was recorded in the 1900 census living with his family at 2255 Lawrence Avenue in Toledo (the location no longer exists after the construction of Interstate 75).

He apparently attended the University of Michigan in at least 1904-1905, but did not graduate.

On 16 March 1910, Wilson married Esther Rayman in Stark County, Ohio. Esther was born 24 July 1889 in Logan, Ohio to Robert Edgar Rayman (1859-1934) and Eva Schaeffer (1860-1945) and later lived in East Liverpool, Ohio.

By the 1910 census, Wilson and his wife (going by her middle name Marie) were living at 512 East 58th St in the Sutton Place neighborhood of Midtown Manhattan (the final block of 58th St to the waterfront is now called “Sutton Square,” and the current address of that location is apparently 14 Sutton Square, after being rebuilt and renamed/numbered per the New York Times: “Most of the brownstones in the riverfront block between 57th and 58th Streets on what was then Avenue A faced the avenue, but seven faced 58th Street before it dead-ended at the East River. The seven were 502 through 514 East 58th Street, by present numbering 4 through 16 Sutton Square.“) Wilson was working as a wholesale flour salesman.

Wilson enlisted in Company K of the 7th Infantry Regiment on March 10, 1911.

Wilson and Esther’s first two children were Wilson “Spike” Jr. (1912), Betty (1915). By 1915, their family was living at 31 Bennett Avenue in Hudson Heights. Wilson was working as a flour merchant, as in 1910, suggesting that he was in the reserves and not active duty.

On 5 May 1916, he was enlisted into active service in the 7th regiment, and mustered on 26 June 1916 for the “Mexican Punitive Campaign.” He was discharged 20 September 1916 at Fort Hamilton “per S.O. 231…by reason of dependent relative.”

On 12 September 1918, Wilson registered for the WWI draft. At the time, he was living at 40 East 40th in Manhattan.

His son Robert was born in 1921.

A 1923 “college student list” for the University of Michigan lists him as a “non-graduate,” notes his flour merchant business at 23 Beaver St in Manhattan and notes “a ’04-’05” suggesting he attended in at least 1904-1905.

In 1924, he was registered to vote at 209 Prospect Ave in Richmond (Staten Island), New York (no such address currently exists). By 1925, they were living at 317 Riverside Drive (which also no longer exists).

By 1930 his family was living in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

By 1935, he was living 232 Wilton Road in Wilton, Connecticut with wife Marie, son Robert, and a housemaid. They were also living there in 1940, with Wilson still working as a flour broker, and Marie working as an antique dealer. By then, their two older children had both moved out.

By 1948, Wilson and Marie were living at 21 Park Hill Ave in nearby Norwalk, Connecticut.

In the April 1950 census, Wilson and Marie Wilson and Marie were still living in the house in Norfolk, with Wilson still working as a flour broker, and Marie now operating her own retail decorating business. Within a few months, the couple was divorced in Brevard County, Florida in 1950.

Wilson married Annette Marie Simonet (b. 1897) on 16 September 1950 in Cuyahoga County, Ohio.

Wilson’s first wife Marie died 6 July 1957 in Norfolk, Connecticut.

At some point, Wilson and his wife Annette moved to Florida. Wilson died 27 April 1972 in Palm Beach, Florida. His second wife Annette died 1982 in Boca Raton.

Wilson Pennell Tanner (1912-1977)

Wilson Pennell “Spike” Tanner was born 23 December, 1912 in New York City.

In 1915, his family was living at 31 Bennett Avenue in Hudson Heights.

By 1925, they were living at 317 Riverside Drive (which by current addressing would put them on the river side of the street, which has no houses, so the location if it exists today is unclear).

By the time he was in high school (by 1928-1929), they were living in Pawling, New York.

In 1930 his family moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Spike graduated from Wesleyan College in Middletown, Connecticut in 1937.

On 16 October, 1940, Spike’s draft card has him living at 19 West St in New York City, working for the Browns Hungarian Corp. at 25 Broad Street.

On 22 November, 1940, Spike married Helen Hornbeck in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

He was enlisted in Company K of the 7th Infantry Regiment (the same unit joined by his father in 1911) on November 4, 1942 and separated September 17, 1943 with the code “HD Inducted SO 210 AGO”: (I think this represents an honorable discharge, with 210 being the code for “Separation for failure to demonstrate adequate potential for promotion.”) The unit conducted amphibious landings in Morocco (in 1942) and Sicily (in 1943), but it’s unclear if Spike participated in either. His home address was listed as 1952 79th St in Jackson Heights (Queens).

Spike and Helen’s first daughter Frances was born in March 1943. Their second daughter Margaret was born in 1945.

After the war, Spike attended a graduate program (in mathematics?) at the University of Florida in Gainesville, earning a master’s degree in 1949. In 1949, he entered a graduate program in the psychology department at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He worked on psychoacoustics and was a co-author of Signal Detection Theory.

In 1950, Spike and his family were living at 1323 Franklin Blvd in Ann Arbor.

Spike and Helen had two more children: Wilson Pennell III “Bill” (1953) and Robert (1955). In 1954, they were living at 1227 South State Street in Ann Arbor.

By 1956, they were living at 701 Brookside Drive in Ann Arbor, and Spike was working as a research engineer.

Spike died on 6 June 1977 in Ann Arbor. Two of his graduate students later established the “Tanner Memorial Award” in his name, an annual prize awarded to fund promising research in psychology, biopsychology, cognition, and neuroscience.

Hornbeck ancestors

Spike Tanner married Helen Hornbeck. The following genealogy traces some of the known ancestry of Helen Hornbeck Tanner. For a biography of Helen, see here.

Tree: Ancestors of Helen Hornbeck Tanner

Origins

The Hornbeck family originated in the Netherlands, though the exact origins are uncertain. At some point in the first half of the 17th century they were associated with Amsterdam for at least a few years, but also might have a connection with Brabant, in the southern Netherlands and/or Belgium.

The first Hornbeck in America was Warnaar van Hornbeck, who arrived in New Amsterdam in the early 1660s just before England took over and renamed it to New York.

Brief Summary

Warnaar’s son Jacobus married a woman born to a German Palatine family that arrived in 1710, and they relocated to western Virginia (later West Virginia) in the 1740s, and then to Kentucky. A century later in the 1840s, Hornbeck descendants moved further west into Illinois, and from there in the 20th century fanned out to other Midwest locations including Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

Joos van Horenbeecke

Joos van Hoorenbeecke lived in Amsterdam when his sons Francoijs and Jacob were baptized in 1635 and 1637 respectively. By that we know that he was married to his children’s listed mother Sara Warnarts before 1635. Francoijs seems to have died shortly after birth. Various genealogy sites provide information about his supposed life, but no good supporting sources have been identified.

Possibly based on secondary sources (which are no longer publicly available), he is also identified as the father of Warnaar Hornbeck (1645) who came to New Amsterdam before 1664. Given Warnaar’s known first son Anthoni, traditional Dutch naming rules would suggest his father was also Anthoni, but those rules were not always followed and it’s possible that Warnaar had an earlier son Joos who did not survive to be recorded later (in addition to the Joost born in 1682).

Some genealogy sites go back further with his ancestry, possibly assuming that if Francoijs was his first son, his father would have a similar name, finding a Franciscus van Hoorenbeke in Ghent, Flanders, and then proceeding from there another generation or two. But all we know for sure is his wife, two sons, and his presumed connection to his third son Warnaar.

Warnaar Hornbeck (1645-1715)

Warnaar Van Hornbeck was born about 1645 in the Netherlands. The exact place appears to be unknown (though various genealogy sites propose locations as diverse as Amsterdam, Holland more generally, Brabant, or even Ghent in current-day Belgium). The baptisms of his presumed older brothers Francoijs and Jacob were recorded in Amsterdam, but his family might have moved to be in what was then the Dutch Republic or the border region with the Spanish Netherlands to its south. His parents were Joos van Horenbeecke and Sara Warnerts.

He came to the New Netherlands colony on or a bit after 1660. He is first recorded in records in 1664 and 1665 in New Amsterdam (now New York).

By 1670 he married Anna de Hooges (b. 1649), a native of New Amsterdam. Their children were Anthoni (1670), Evaatje (1671), Lodewyck (1676), Sara (1681), Joost (1682), Johannes (1683-1685), Johannes (2) (1685), Marietje (1688), and Annatje (1690). His wife Anna died about 1690.

Warnaar married Grietje (Margareta) Ten Eyck about 1692. She was the daughter of Coenradt Ten Eyck (1617–1687) and Maria Boele (1622–1682). Their children were Mathys (1693), Tobias (1695), Evert (1698), Jacobus (1700), Marritjen (1702), Lea (1705), Rachel (1708), and Catrina (1710). Margareta died shortly after the birth of her last child.

Warnaar died in 1715 in Ulster County, New York.

Jacobus Hornbeck (1700-1757)

Jacobus Hornbeck was born 9 June 1700 in Kingston, Ulster County, New York. His parents were the Dutch immigrant Warnaar Hornbeck (1645–1715) and his American-born wife Marietje Ten Eyck (1658–1710).

Jacobus married Margareta Helm on 16 September 1733 in New York (probably in Kingston). She was born in Dutchess County, New York to German Palatine immigrants Peter Helm (b. 1679) and Anna Engel (b. 1674). Her family arrived in 1710 and was recorded in the Hunter Lists at work camps through June 1712, and the number of people in the family recorded increased between 4 Oct 1710 and 31 Dec 1710, suggesting Margareta was born between October and December 1710. Her parents are not found in later records and likely were both dead by not long after 1712.

The children of Jacobus and Margareta were Simon (1735), Anna Margaretta (1737), Anthony (1741), James (1742), Samuel (1743), John (1743), and Michael (1744).

About 1743, they moved from Kingston, New York to Hardy, Hampshire County (then in Virginia; now in Mercer County, West Virginia). At least their last two children (John and Michael) were born there.

Margareta died in 1745 in Hampshire County. Jacob died in Hampshire County in 1757.

Anthony Hornbeck (1741-1787)

Anthony Hornbeck was born in 1741 and baptized 21 June 1741 in Kingston, Ulster County, New York. His parents were Jacobus Hornbeck (1700-1757) and Margaret Helm (1711-1745).

His family moved from New York to Virginia (in what’s now West Virginia) about 1743, when he was very young. They later settled in Hardy in what would be Hampshire County (and in the 19th century, Mercer County).

Before 1765, he married Margaret Ann Colley (b. 1746), the daughter of John Cooley (d. c. 1770), probably in Hampshire County, Virginia (now in West Virginia). It seems like James Hornbeck (1765) was their son, although he could have been the son of Anthony’s brother Michael.

Anthony was recorded in the 1782 Virginia census in Hampshire County. A probate record on 26 September 1787 lists his assets totaling over £309, 4d (shillings). His most valuable asset by far, unfortunately, was an enslaved “negro boy” valued at £182 (it’s unclear what pound was being used here, as colonial currency varied by colony/state (even in the earlier years of independence) and the US dollar wasn’t introduced until 1792).

After his death, his wife Margaret was recorded in the 1791 census. She died in 1794.

James Hornbeck (1765-1845)

James Hornbeck was born about 1765 in Hardy (then in Hampshire County Virginia, and now in Mercer County, West Virginia). Records for him are scarce (consisting of the four census records discussed below and death records for two daughters), but secondary sources suggest his parents were Anthony Hornbeck (1741-1787) and Margaret Ann Colley (1746-1794). There are a few places that suggest his parents were instead Michael Hornbeck (Anthony’s brother, 1744-1800) and Clemency Amos (1742-1800).

He married about 1790 a woman named Keziah, whose parents and origin are unknown. Their children included Levi (1792), Nancy (1793), Susannah (1795), John (1800), and Keziah (1808).

In the 1810 census for Clark County, Kentucky, the household of James Hornbeck has 10 members: 1 white male 26-44 (James was about 44), 1 white female 26-44 (Keziah was also about 44), 7 children under 16 (1 male under 10, 2 females under 10, 2 males 10-15, 2 females 10-15), and one white female 16-25 (Nancy would have been 16-17). Levi would have been about 18 and possibly moved out, Susannah would have been no more than 15, John would have been 10, and Keziah would have been 2, so that suggests children in that census not yet accounted for would include one male and one female each b. 1800-1810, and one male and one female each b. 1795-1800. But those that are known do fit the family members listed.

In the 1820 census for Clark County, the James Hornbeck household lists (among the white household members) 2 males 16-25 (b. 1795-1805, matching the two unknown sons from 1810 and 2 females 10-15 (b. 1805-1810, so would include Keziah and one of the other unknown daughters from 1810). It includes one male over 45 (James), but has the eldest female as 25-44, when Keziah would have been about 54, but these kind of errors are not uncommon, so it is probably the right family (it’s also possible she was younger than James, possibly b. c. 1775, though that would suggest she was 15 at marriage). The household also, unfortunately, included an enslaved woman aged 26-44.

The 1830 census for Bath County, Kentucky has a James Hornbeck family with 1 white male 60-69 (James), one white female 50-59 (Keziah), 1 male 20-29 (possibly John), 2 females 20-29 (one of them Keziah, who was married in Bath County in 1731, and the other possibly a wife of John), 1 male 10-14 and 3 males 5-9 (likely grandsons/children of John and his wife). So again, it broadly fits what is known about the family as a whole. The household unfortunately also included 3 enslaved people (a male under 10, and a male and female 10-23).

The 1840 census for Bath County has the James Hornbeck family with 1 male and 1 female each aged 70-79 (James and Keziah), none of their children or grandchildren, and 5 enslaved people (2 males under 10, 1 male 10-23, 1 male 24-35, 1 female 25-35). It seems likely that the three eldest enslaved people were the same ones from 1830.

James’ wife Keziah died in Bath County about 1740. James died in Bath County about 1845 (possibly on 16 May 1844 per some secondary sources with unclear underlying sources).

Levi Hornbeck (1792-1834)

Levi Hornbeck was born in Kentucky, possibly about 1792. His parents were James and Keziah Hornbeck (her maiden name unknown).

He may have served in the war of 1812. A “Levi Hornback” was a private in the 17th Regiment Kentucky Militia.

Levi married Martha “Patsy” Lampton on 27th August 1816 in Bourbon County, Kentucky. Martha was the daughter of Samuel Lampton (1772-1829) and Mary Aulery (1783-1806).

The 1820 census records a Levi Hornback family in Clark County (previously part of Bourbon County), Kentucky with a man and woman 16-25 and 2 boys under 10. This doesn’t quite fit the family as Levi was more like 28, Martha was 19, and any children before 1822 are unknown.

Later known children include John Lockwood (1822), David (1824), Silas Levi (1826), and Luther (1828). They likely had 2-3 earlier children given the 6 years between their marriage and their first known son.

Levi died about 1834 in Bourbon County, Kentucky. His wife Martha lived a long life after his death.

There was a Martha Hornbeck that married a William Strange in Scott County, Illinois in 1843, but that might not be her.

There was a Martha Hornbeck living in Bath, Kentucky in 1860 (age 59) with a Nancy Hornbeck (age 47) and four girls (age 12-17 and born after Levi’s death). That might not be her, either.

The 1880 census certainly recorded her. Martha was living with her son Silas in Point Pleasant, Illinois (along with Silas, his wife Sarah and their children, and Sarah’s mother Polly Sappington). This shows that regardless of what happened in the previous 46 years after Levi’s death, she did eventually move out to Illinois to be with her children.

She apparently married a Mr. Bradley before her death. She died 10 December 1892 at the age of 91 and was buried under the name Martha Bradley.

John Lockwood Hornbeck (1822-1889)

John Lockwood Hornbeck was born 16 July 1822 in Kentucky. His parents were Levi Hornbeck (1792-1834) and Martha Patsy Lampton (b. 1801) of Bourbon, Kentucky.

He headed west as a young man and married Hester Ann Williams on 15 November 1847 in Scott County, Illinois. Hester was born 26 March 1832 in Illinois, the daughter of Matthias Williams (1792-1864) and Sarah Wood (1803-1873) of North Carolina.

Their children were Levi (1849), William (1852-1856), Sarah Ellen (1854), and Emma Louisa (1866).

In the 1850 census, he was living with his wife and son Levi in Exeter, along with an apparent farmhand. In 1860, he and his wife were living with children Levi and Sarah, and two farmhands.

In 1870, John and Hester were living with all three surviving children, Hester’s mother Sarah (whose husband Matthias had died in 1864, in Scott County), and a farmhand.

Hester’s mother Sarah died in 1863. John and Hester’s son John married in 1874 and moved out. In 1880, John and Hester were living with their two daughters in Winchester, Scott County.

Hester died 16 September 1888. John died the next year on 27 February 1889.

Levi Hornbeck (1849-1932)

Levi Silas Hornbeck was born 1 October 1849 in Exeter, in Scott County, Illinois. His parents were John Lockwood Hornbeck (1822-1889), a farmer, and Hester Ann Williams (1832-1888).

In the 1850 census, he was listed as three years old, though he would have only been 1 at most. All other records show him born in 1849, and his parents were married in 1847, so this is probably simply an error.

In the 1860 census, he was listed as 11 years old with the name “Silas L Hornbeck,” using his apparent middle name. His younger sister Sarah Ellen and two farmhands were also living in the household.

In 1870, still on the farm with his family near Exeter, Levi is listed as a farmhand along with his parents, two younger sisters (Ellen and Emma), his maternal grandmother Sarah Williams, and a farmhand.

On 1 August 1874, Levi married Laura Louisa Wright in Scott County, Illinois. Laura was born 23 July 1857 in New Jersey to Abram Wright (1830-1922) and Mary Jane Perrine (1834-1912).

By 1880 they were living on a farm in Winchester, Illinois (also in Scott County) with their children Leonard (1875) and Hattie (1879).

Their later children were John (1881), Katy (1883), Myrtle (1890), and Benjamin (1892).

Sometime after John was born in 1881 and before Katy was born in 1883, the family moved to nearby Pike County, somewhere between Griggsville and Perry.

Their daughter Hattie married Harvey Saylor in 1898 and moved away. In the 1900 census, Levi’s family except for Hattie were living in Perry and Levi was working as a saw miller. His eldest son Leonard (age 24) was an engineer.

Shortly after 1900, his son John had moved away for school and his early academic career. In 1909, his daughter Katie married and moved out. By 1910, his son Leonard had joined him working at the saw mill.

By 1920, his children Myrtle and Benjamin had moved out. His son Leonard was a saw miller working on Levi’s saw mill. By 1830, Levi was no longer working, and Leonard was working the saw mill.

Levi died 7 July 1732 in Perry, Illinois.

Levi’s wife Laura continued to live with her son Leonard who ran the family saw mill until he died, unmarried, in 1943 at the age of 68. Laura then lived alone, dying in Perry in 1954 at the age of 96.

John Wesley Hornbeck (1881-1951)

John Wesley Hornbeck was born 21 May 1881 in Exeter, Illinois. His parents were Levi Silas Hornbeck (1849-1932) and Laura Louisa Wright (1857-1953).

In 1900, he was living in Perry, Illinois with his parents and four siblings. His father Levi was a saw miller, and his older brother Leonard was an engineer.

He received a B. S. from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, probably about 1904.

In 1904-1905, he was in Summer Hill, Illinois with some kind of academic job.

In 1906, he started working as a math teacher at Park College in Parkville, Missouri. He continued in that capacity into 1908.

In 1908 and 1909 he attended graduate school at the University of Illinois in Urbana, Illinois. He was an assistant in physics at the university from 1909-1910.

In 1910-1911, he attended Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

Later in 1911, he returned to the University of Illinois as a physics instructor and continued working there until 1913.

Later in 1913, he began work at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota.

On 10 June 1915, he married Frances Cornelia Wolfe in Jackson, Missouri. They settled in Northfield, Minnesota and initially lived at 510 East 5th Street.

John and Frances’ children were Helen Frances (1916), John Austin (1918), and Margaret Ann (1920). On the census of 9 January, 1920, the family (except Margaret, born later that year) was living at 617 East Second Street in Northfield.

John continued to work as a physics professor in Northfield until some time between 1921 and 1926, when he is recorded as moving from Northfield to Kalamazoo, Michigan where he began teaching at Kalamazoo College.

The family’s first residence in Kalamazoo was 1227 Jefferson Ave.

By 1930, they were renting a home at 513 Monroe Street. The next year they were listed as living at 311 Monroe Street. By 1940, John and his family (except Helen, who was moved out and was living in New York) were at 305 Monroe Street.

311 and 305 might be the same house renumbered.

In 1945, a residential listing describes John’s wife Frances as an (the?) “executive secretary” of the American Cancer Society. She’s not listed with that position in 1947. In 1948, her listing is as a secretary of public relations at Bronson Hospital.

In the 1950 census, John and Frances were living at an apartment at 1304 West Lovell in Kalamazoo, possibly official faculty housing. There’s a residence hall in that location today.

John died 27 February, 1951 in Kalamazoo. He was buried in White Chapel Memorial Park Cemetery in Troy, Michigan (just outside of Detroit).

Helen Frances Hornbeck (1916-2011)

Helen Frances Hornbeck was born 5 July 1916 in Northfield, Minnesota. Her parents were John Wesley Hornbeck (1881-1951) and Frances Cornelia Wolfe (1894-1980).

In the 1920 census, Helen was recorded living with her parents and younger brother John at 617 East Second Street in Northfield, Minnesota.

By 1930, the family (including younger sister Margaret) was living at 513 Monroe Street in Kalamazoo, Michigan (the address no longer has a home).

By 1935, Helen was attending Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. She was there through at least 1938.

During the summer between terms at Swarthmore, Helen took a summer trip to the United Kingdom in 1937. She left England on 15 September 1937 on the Bremen, and arrived in New York on the 20th of September.

Her return address was listed as 8 College Grove in Kalamazoo (her parents’ home where she lived when she was not in school).

After graduating from Swarthmore, Helen moved to New York City. At the time of the 1940 census (19 April 1940), Helen was boarding with a former Swarthmore classmate Margaret Parton (an editorial assistant at a magazine) at 48 West 8th Street in Manhattan. She was working as a sales representative for American Airlines.

Later that year, on 22 November 1940, Helen married Wilson “Spike” Tanner (who she likely met in New York) in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Their children were Frances (1943), Margaret (1945), Wilson III (1953), and Robert (1955).

In 1950, Helen and her family (Wilson, Frances, and Margaret) lived at 1323 Franklin Boulevard in Ann Arbor. Helen was a graduate assistant at the history department, and Spike was a graduate assistant in the psychology department.

By 1954, the family (including son Wilson III) were living at 1227 South State Street in Ann Arbor. In 1956, after son Robert was born, they lived at 701 Brookside Drive. (Pictures of these homes can be seen in the bio for Spike earlier on this page.)

By 1960, they had moved again to 837 West Huron Street.

Helen’s husband Spike died in 1977, in Ann Arbor. Her youngest son Robert died in 1982 near the family summer cottage in Beulah, Michigan.

In 1986, Helen was living in Chicago at 55 W Chestnut Street Apt 2301 and working at the Newberry Library at 60 West Walton Street.

She lived in Chicago until at least 1991. By the mid-1990s she was living full time at her family cottage in Beulah, Michigan. She died at home in Beulah in 2011.

Maternal-line ancestry of Helen Hornbeck Tanner

The maternal-line history of Helen Hornbeck Tanner involves some fascinating connections to famous colonial figures (including one infamous founder).

Overview

Helen’s maternal-line ancestry can be traced to the very beginning of the 17th century in Dorset and Devon, England.

The line passed into America with several women who were married to influential pastors and theologians in Massachusetts and Connecticut.

Between 1830 and 1840, the descendants in the line moved to Pennsylvania (including Athens, then Wilkes-Barre, then Mauch Chunk, then Philadelphia, and then Scranton around 1890).

The family then moved west to Iowa, Nebraska, and Missouri. Between 1915 and the birth of Helen in 1916, the family moved to Minnesota.

Helen was born in Minnesota but lived much of her life in Michigan, though she went to college in Pennsylvania, lived briefly in New York City before marrying, and at times lived in Florida and Illinois.

Joanna Collins

Joanna Collins married John Dabinet on 26 October 1601 in Chardstock, England (then in Dorset, and now in Devon on the border of Dorset). John was the son of Thomas Dabinot (c. 1520-c. 1584) and Rawlin Manfield (d. 1612, daughter of William) of Chardstock.

Joanna and John’s children were Rawlina (1602), Joan (1605), Thomas (1607), Jane (1611), and John (1615).

Her origins prior to her marriage are unknown. A profile on FamilySearch ties her to a Johanna Collyn who was baptized 21 August 1558 in Buckland Monachorum, Devon with her father Guilmi Collyn. But that’s not at all in the same area of Devon, and there’s no reason to think that is the same person. And Guilmi’s wife is unknown in any event, so Joanna represents the end of the documented maternal line.

Jane Dabinott (b. 1611)

Jane Dabinott was born about 1611 in Chardstock, Dorset, England (now in Devon on the border with Dorset). Her parents were John Dabinott (1553-1625) and Joanna Dabinott, whose maiden name was probably Collins.

Her life is confusing in part because her mother was named Joanna, she had an older sister Joan, and a cousin Joan who was the first wife of her husband, and with those often being different spellings or variants of the same given name, untangling the scarce records is difficult.

Jane is mentioned in her father’s will (from November 1624) indicating she was not yet 15 years of age at that time, so she was born later than January 1608/9. She was baptized 12 June 1611 in Chardstock, so was most likely born close to that time.

In 1619, a man named Thomas Newberry married a Joan Dabinott in Yarcombe, Devon, England. Joan seems to have been a cousin of Jane Dabinott born about 1600. Thomas and Joan’s children were Joseph (1620), Sarah (1622), Benjamin (1624), Mary (1626), and John (1629). Joan died about 1629.

About 1630, Jane seems to have married this same Thomas Newberry (who was also an overseer of her father’s will in 1624). Their children were Rebecca (1631), Hannah (1633), and an unnamed daughter (1635) who likely died young.

Thomas Newberry was baptized 10 November 1594 in Yarcombe, Devon, England. His parents were Richard Newberry (1554-1639, son of William and Ellen Newberry of Yarcombe) and Grace Mathews (1558-1632) who were both born and died in Yarcombe. A longstanding genealogy identified the parents of Thomas as Richard Newberry (who has royal ancestry) and Elizabeth Horsey, who also emigrated to New England. Documentary and DNA evidence establishes that this other Richard is not the father of Thomas.

Thomas moved from Yarcombe to Marshwood about 16 miles away about 1626, with his children Mary and John being baptized in nearby Whitchurch Canonicorum.

After his first wife died in 1629, and after his 1630 marriage to Jane and birth of their daughters Rebecca and Hannah, Thomas and Jane and their children left Marshwood and sailed 17 April 1634 from Weymouth. Thomas is recorded in Dorchester, Massachusetts with a land grant on 1 September 1634, and joined the local church on 3 September 1634.

Thomas died suddenly in Dorchester on 1 December 1636 at the age of 42.

In 1637, Jane moved with her two daughters to Windsor, Connecticut and married (as his second wife) Rev. John Warham (the ancestor of the descendants in this line). John Warham was baptized 9 October 1595 in Crewkerne, Somerset, England and had preached at Exeter as a young man (his origins thus being quite close to Jane’s only 10 miles from Chardstock). He came to Massachusetts with his first wife about 1630. She died in Dorchester in December 1634, and so John must have met Jane there before they all moved to Windsor.

Jane and John’s children were Abigail (c. 1638), Hepzibah (1640-1647), Sarah (1642), and Esther (1644).

There are no clear records of Jane’s death. One secondary source (an index of church records) seems to indicate she died in 1645. Other secondary sources say 1655 but without good underlying sources, some even suggesting she died in Norfolk, Connecticut where there is no record of her ever living. Her husband John remarried in 1662, so she must have died before then. John lived in Windsor for that marriage and his death in 1670. Her daughter Esther married a man in Northampton, Massachusetts in 1659.

Esther (Hester) Warham (1644-1736)

Esther Warham (also known as Hester) was born 8 December 1644 in Windsor, Connecticut. Her parents were John Warham (1595-1670) and Jane Dabinott (b. 1611).

On 29 September 1659, Esther married her first husband Eleazer Mather, the brother of Increase Mather and uncle of Cotton Mather. Eleazer was born in 1637 in Dorchester, Massachusetts to Rev. Richard Mather and Katherine Holt, who immigrated from Lancashire to Massachusetts in 1635. Eleazer graduated from Harvard in 1656, came to Northhampton in 1658 (the year before his marriage), was ordained in 1661 and became pastor of the Congregationalist church in Northampton.

Esther and Eleazer’s children included Eunice (1664), Warham (1666), and Eliakim (1668).

Eleazer died 24 July 1669. When Eleazer died, he was succeeded as pastor by Solomon Stoddard.

Solomon, born 27 September 1643 in Boston, was the son of Anthony Stoddard (d. 1687) and Mary Downing (d. 1647), both English immigrants. Solomon graduated from Harvard in 1662. In 1667, he accompanied the governor of Massachusetts to Barbados as a chaplain and spent two years preaching to the Dissenters. He returned in 1669 after being called to the church in Northampton.

Esther married Solomon Stoddard on 8 March 1670, shortly thereafter beginning his pastoral duties. Solomon officially became the minister of the church on 11 September 1672.

Esther and Solomon’s children were Mary (1671), Esther (1672), Samuel (1674-1674?), Anthony (1675-1675?), Aaron (1676-1676?), Christian (1676, Aaron’s twin), Anthony (1678), Sarah (1680), John (1682), Israel (1683), Rebecca (1686), and Hannah (1688).

Esther’s daughter Eunice, who married John Williams and moved to Deerfield, Massachusetts, was captured (and eventually killed) during a raid by French and indigenous warriors (sometimes called the “Deerfield massacre”). Two of Eunice’s children and a “domestic” were also killed in the raid, and the rest of her children were taken captive–including Esther’s granddaughter Eunice, who assimilated into Mohawk culture. The raid was an early part of Queen Anne’s War. In that same war, Esther and Solomon’s son Israel was apparently captured and died of a fever c. 1703 while in French custody, possibly back in Brest, France.

Solomon is most well-known for taking a more liberal position over the controversy of the “half-way covenant” in which he opposed the position of Increase Mather over who could take the sacrament of communion based on how and when they were baptized. His two most relevant writings were “The Doctrine of Instituted Churches” (1707) and “Sermon on the Lord’s Supper” (1709), but he wrote several works between 1696 and 1724. This aligned him with the Reformed (aka Calvinist) and presbyterian position rather than that of the Congregationalists (even though he was pastor of a Congregational church).

Solomon died 11 February 1728/9 in Northampton. Esther died 10 February 1736, also in Northampton.

Esther Stoddard (1672-1771)

Esther Stoddard was born 2 June 1672 in Northampton, Hampshire County, Massachusetts. Her parents were Solomon Stoddard (1643-1729), and Esther (aka Hester) Warham (1644-1736).

On 6 June 1694 she married Rev. Timothy Edwards (b. 1669), the son of Richard Edwards (1647-1718) and Elizabeth Tuttle (b. 1645). Timothy was a theologian and the first pastor of the Second Church of Windsor.

Their children were Esther (1695), Elisabeth (1697), Ann (1699), Mary (1701), Jonathan (1703), Eunice (1705), Abigail (1707), Jerusha (1710), Hannah (1713), Lucy (1715), and Martha (1718). Their only son Jonathan Edwards was the famous preacher of the Great Awakening (and grandfather of Aaron Burr). A memorial for Timothy Edwards indicates that he and Esther’s 10 daughters were all (implausibly) at least 6 feet tall, such that they had “60 feet of daughters.”

Her husband Timothy Edwards served as a chaplain in Queen Anne’s War (the American theater of the Wars of the Spanish Succession against French Canada) in 1709, but took ill while marching and left after only a few weeks. His health declined after 1752 and he died 27 January 1758 in East Windsor.

Esther continued to live in East Windsor until her death on 19 January 1771.

Ann Edwards (1699-1790)

Ann Edwards was born 28 April 1699 in Windsor, Connecticut. She was the daughter of Rev. Timothy Edwards (1669-1758) and Esther Stoddard (1673-1771).

Ann was also the sister of Jonathan Edwards, famous preacher of the Great Awakening (and briefly President of the College of New Jersey–now Princeton University–for the last month of his life before he died of a smallpox inoculation). Esther, the daughter of Jonathan Edwards, is known for being the mother of infamous founding father Aaron Burr, who killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel.

Ann married 8 May 1734 in Windsor, Connecticut John Ellsworth. John Ellsworth (b. 1697) was a captain of the militia and the son of Lt. John Ellsworth (1671-1720) and Esther White (1671-1766).

Their children were John (1735), Solomon (1737), Frederick (1738), and Anne (1741).

Her husband John died in East Windsor, Connecticut on 4 January 1784. Ann died 11 April 1790, also in East Windsor. They were buried in Scantic Cemetery in East Windsor.

Anne Ellsworth (1742-1819)

Anne Ellsworth was born 23 Jan 1741/2 in Windsor, Connecticut. Her parents were John Ellsworth (1697-1784), a captain of the militia who was the son of Lt. John Ellsworth and Esther White, and Ann Edwards (1699-1790), the daughter of Rev. Timothy Edwards and Esther Stoddard.

(Ann Edwards was also the sister of the famous preacher Jonathan Edwards of the First Great Awakening (who was also the grandfather of Aaron Burr, and third president of Princeton University (then the College of New Jersey)).

Anne Ellsworth married Lemuel Stoughton, who was born 9 August 1731 in East Windsor, Connecticut to Nathaniel Stoughton (1702-1753) and Martha Ellsworth (1709-1791). Ann and Lemuel were first cousins, sharing grandparents John Ellsworth (1671-1720) and Esther White (1671-1766).

Their children were Ann (1770), John (1772), Lemuel (1774), Ruth (1776), Martha (1777), and Eunice (1779). Ann and Ruth both married first cousins who were brothers from the Ellsworth family, and Martha married a more distantly related Ellsworth.

Her husband Lemuel died 4 March 1793 in East Windsor.

Ann was recorded in the 1800 census in East Windsor as the head of a household of 8 (possibly indicating at least one more child not recorded here). In the 1810 census, she was head of a household of 5. Ann died 8 November 1819, in East Windsor.

Ruth Stoughton (1776-1859)

Ruth Stoughton was born 12 May 1776 in East Windsor, Connecticut. Her parents were Lemuel Stoughton (1731-1793) and Anne Ellsworth (1742-1819).

She married about 1798 John Ellsworth. He was born 13 February 1773, the son of Solomon Ellsworth (1737-1822) and Mary Mosely (1737-1823). Ruth and John were first cousins, with their shared grandparents being John Ellsworth (b. 1697) and Ann Edwards (1699-1790). Anne and Solomon Ellsworth were siblings.

Their children were Lemuel (1799-1799), Ruth (1800-1801), Ruth Ann (1802), Lemuel (1804), John (1806), Erastus (1808), Abigail Sage (1810), Harriett (1812), and Emily (1814). They were all born in East Windsor, Connecticut.

Her husband John died in Athens, Pennsylvania on 10 March 1823 (but was buried in Connecticut).

In the 1830 census, Ruth Ellsworth was listed with two daughters the right age to be Harriet and Emily, still living in East Windsor, Connecticut. By the 1840 census, Ruth was in Athens, Pennsylvania with one daughter (probably Emily, who does not seem to have married). Harriet had married Warren Marshall in 1833 and moved out. By the 1850 census, Harriet (listed under her maiden name) was back living with Ruth and Emily.

Ruth died 25 November 1859 and was buried in Rest Cemetery in Sayre, Pennsylvania, less than two miles from Athens, PA.

Ruth Ann Ellsworth (1802-1861)

Ruth Ann Ellsworth was born 15 February 1802 in Harford, Connecticut. She was the daughter of John Ellsworth (1773-1823) and Ruth Stoughton (1776-1859).

In September 1833, she married Dr. Ebenezer Little Boyd (b. c. 1798), a physician. Note that Ebenezer might have been a descendant of a Scottish lord and a distant descendant of royalty.

In the 1930 census, there’s a record in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania for a family of four under the name Ebenezer L. Boyd. The ages match the ages of Ruth, Ebenezer, and their daughter Sarah from other records. In addition, there’s a male under 5 who does not appear in later records; possibly this son died young or moved out before he could be recorded in other records.

Ruth and Ebenezer appear in the 1850 census with their daughters Caroline (Carrie) (1836) and Fannie (1839), in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

Also living with the family was Samuel Phenix, a 16-year old Black male, born in Maryland and listed as a laborer. It’s unclear if Samuel was working for the family or simply boarding with them. Note that the 1850 census took place only a couple months before the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act, and that Maryland was a slave state until 1865. So it’s quite possible Samuel was enslaved at birth and depending upon circumstances of his life might have been in danger of being sent back to Maryland after the passage of that law.

Ruth and Ebenezer had an older daughter Sarah (1827) who had already married Rensselaer Leonard and moved out prior to 1850. Both of their other daughters would marry men in the Weitzel family.

Neither Ruth nor Ebenezer seem to appear in the 1860 census. Possibly Ebenezer had died in the interim, though no records of his death have been found. Ruth was alive in 1860, however, because there are records both of her death and her will, which names her as Ebenezer’s widow and lists her three known daughters (and no other children) as heirs. She was living in Wilkes-Barre at the time of her will, on 16 April 1861. She died on 25 April 1861 in Wilkes-Barre.

Fannie Edwards Boyd (1839-1915)

Frances Edwards (“Fannie”) Boyd was born 27 July 1839 in Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of Ebenezer Boyd, M.D. (b. 1798) and Ruth Ann Ellsworth (1802-1861).

In the 1850 census, she was living with her parents and two older sisters in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Her father was listed as a physician.

On 18 January 1859, Fannie married Paul Ross Weitzel in Wilkes-Barre. Paul was born 13 September 1832, the son of Joseph Weitzel (1808-1899) and Sarah Woodrow (d. 1884).

In the 24 July 1860 US census, Fannie and Paul and their first child William (1860), plus two servants, were living in Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania (which was renamed “Jim Thorpe” in 1954). William died in October.

In 1870 they were living in Williamsport, Pennsylvania with their later children Paul Elmer (1861), Cornelia Shepard (1864), Eben Boyd (1867), and Herbert Edwards (1869), and a house servant. Her husband Paul was a lawyer.

Her last two children were Frances Eleanor (1872) and Caroline “Carrie” Leonard (1875).

Fannie was working as a milliner (women’s hat maker) in Williamsport from 1889-1891, and as a saleslady from 1892-1893.

In the 1900 census, Fannie and Paul were living in Philadelphia at 3327 N 15th Street with their daughters Frances and Carrie, and a servant. Paul was still working as a lawyer, and their daughter Frances (27) was working as a music teacher.

In 1910, Fannie and Paul were living at 3303 16th Street in Philadelphia with Fannie’s sister Carrie and a servant.

Paul Weitzel died 3 March 1915, and Fannie died that same month on the 31st. Her obituary says she was living at 3200 N 16th Street in Philadelphia. They were both buried at West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.

Cornelia Shepard Weitzel (1864-1939)

Cornelia Shepard Weitzel was born in Mauch Chunk, in Carbon County, Pennsylvania on 3 June 1864, and baptized 9 April 1865. (Mauch Chunk was an anglicized version of Mawsch Unk (Bear Place) in the Munsee-Lenape language. In 1954, when merging with nearby East Mauch Chunk, it was renamed in honor of Jim Thorpe, the famous athlete who had passed away the year before.) Her parents were Paul Ross Weitzel (1832-1915) and Fannie E Boyd (1839-1915).

In the 1870 census, Cornelia was recorded living with her parents, three siblings, and a servant in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Her father was listed as a lawyer.

She married Austin Dickinson Wolfe on 29 April 1890 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Austin, born in 1861 to Aaron Wolfe (1821-1902) and Laura Jackson (1827-1899) in Montclair, New Jersey, was at the time of their marriage a student at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. After he graduated from seminary a couple months later, the couple moved to State Center, Iowa where Austin had been invited to be a pastor.

Cornelia and Austin’s first two children, William Merrill (1891) and Frances Cornelia (1894) were born in State Center. The family lived in Nebraska for some time around the birth of Mary Gertrude (1896).

The 1900 census indicates that their son Paul (1898) was also born in Nebraska, but all later records indicate he was born in Avalon, Missouri. Cornelia’s obituary says that the family moved in 1896 to Avalon and that her husband Austin was president of the Old Avalon College and pastor at the Presbyterian church there. That same 1900 census shows that they were living in Mound City, Missouri. Their daughter Alice Margaret (1901) was born in Mound City.

Their youngest child Laura Katherine (1904) was born in Parkville, Platte County, Missouri. They still lived in Parkville for the 1910 census, which lists Austin’s profession as a librarian (apparently being between pastoral duties).

Some time in the 1920s, Austin and his brother Paul bought property in Beulah, Michigan that became a summer retreat for the extended family. It remains associated with the family to this day.

By 1930, Cornelia and Austin were living in Kansas City, with Laura their only child still living at home. Austin was working again as a Presbyterian minister.

Austin died 28 May 1932 in Kansas City. Cornelia died there on 19 November, 1939. They were both buried at Walnut Grove Cemetery in Parkville.

Frances Cornelia Wolfe (1894-1980)

Frances Cornelia Wolfe was born 1 February 1894 in State Center, Marshall County, Iowa. Her parents were Austin Dickinson Wolfe (1861-1932) and Cornelia Shepard Weitzel (1864-1939).

By 1900, the family (including her parents and three siblings) was living in Mound City, Missouri. Her two younger siblings, Mary and Paul, were born in Nebraska, indicating the family (and Frances) lived there from at least 1896-1898 (although later records would have Paul born in Missouri). Her father’s occupation was listed as “preacher.”

In 1910, the family lived in Parkville, Platte County, Missouri. Her father Austin was working as a librarian.

In 1915, Frances was attending Park University in Parkville, with several honors and activities listed, including chapel pianist. In June 1915, she married John Wesley Hornbeck (b. 1915) in Jackson County, Missouri.

By 1920, Frances and John Hornbeck were living in Northfield, Minnesota with two children, Helen (1916) and John (1918). Their youngest child Margaret was born later that year.

They moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan by 1926. She lived there until her husband John’s death in 1951 and her subsequent remarriage.

While in Kalamazoo, Frances had several jobs including dean of women at Kalamazoo College (1934-1935), executive secretary at the National Cancer Society (1945), secretary of public relations at Bronson Hospital (1948), and registrar at Kalamazoo College (1952).

Her husband John died 27 February, 1951.

On 21 June, 1952, Frances married Gerald Henry Allen in Beulah, Michigan (near the site of her family’s summer home, which had been in the family since the 1920s when purchased by her father Austin and his brother Paul).

Frances and Gerald moved to Brownsville, Texas, where Gerald died in 1974. Frances died in Los Fresnos, Texas on 13 March 1980.