Julie Stoddard
14 April 2015
The Family of Robert McCormick and Agnes Gibson
This research project focuses on the parents and
siblings of Rebecca McCormick who was born 28 March 1783 in Penn’s Valley, Centre
County, Pennsylvania. The foundation for this research is based on a previous
research project on Rebecca McCormick and her husbands, first, James Pawley and
then Erastus Cowdery.
Several documents are the basis for her birth
information; first is a letter written by her great-granddaughter, Austie
Applegate Guy, which stated the full date and place of her birth (Enclosure 1).
About the time of her marriage to James Pawley, Rebecca moved to Trumbull
County, Ohio. In an 1875 account of a reunion of the pioneers of Trumbull
County, Rebecca’s daughter, Lucinda Cowdery Russell stated that “the three tin
breakfast plates [and] large platter” were brought by “from Centre County, Penn.,
by Mrs. Rebecca Cowdery, Mrs. Russell’s mother” (2). The death certificate of Sarah lists
her mother’s birthplace as Pennsylvania (3). This is also confirmed in the 1850
U.S. Census for Rebecca McCormick Cowdery. The year of her birth is confirmed
on her tombstone at the Seceder’s Corner Cemetery, Liberty, Trumbull, Ohio. These
foundation documents show that it is almost certain Rebecca McCormick was born
in 1783 in Penn’s Valley, Centre, Pennsylvania
When Rebecca was born.in
1783, Centre County, Pennsylvania was considered the frontier. One of the
challenges in this project is that the county and township boundaries were
changing. The chart below summarizes those changes:
County & Township
Boundaries
Date
|
County
Changes
|
Township Changes
|
Details
|
1750 Jan 27
|
CUMBERLAND
created from Lancaster and Non-County Area
|
Penn's Valley was in Cumberland County
|
|
1772 Mar 21
|
NORTHUMBERLAND created from Bedford, Berks, Cumberland, Lancaster,
Northampton, and Non-County Area
|
Included Penn's Valley
|
|
1774 May
|
Potter Township
erected in Northumberland
|
Included Penn's Valley
|
|
1789 Sep 19
|
MIFFLIN created from Cumberland and Northumberland.
|
Penn's Valley stays in Northumberland,
McCormick on the boundary
|
|
1790 Feb
|
Haines Township
created out of Potter
|
Haines, then part of Northumberland
County, included all of present-day Miles and Penn Townships, the eastern
half of Gregg Township, and Millheim Borough.http://www.hainestwp.org/Pages/History.aspx
|
|
1800 Feb 13
|
CENTRE created from Huntingdon, Lycoming, Mifflin,
Northumberland.
|
Included Penn's Valley
|
|
1826 Nov
|
Gregg Township
created out of Potter, Miles & Haines
|
George McCormick’s (Spring Mills) in
Gregg Township. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pacentre/rlb/gretwp1.htm
|
So although in the documents, the township and county
seem to change, they all still refer to Penn’s Valley (4 though 8). The other
consideration, as shown in the map of Centre County (9), is Penn’s Valley is at
the edge of Centre County and so four surrounding counties, Huntingdon,
Mifflin, Union and Clinton, need to be searched for Rebecca’s siblings.
Robert McCormick and Agnes Gibson
Robert and Agnes McCormick’s family lived during the
Colonial period, which means records can be harder to find. For this reason, a
researcher at the Centre County Library and Historical Museum was contracted to
look for McCormick’s in the records. The researcher found multiple key
documents, including church, tax, cemetery and family records, which provided
information on Rebecca’s siblings. The first was from the McCormick Family File
Folder containing a list of Rebecca’s family, which is the only document which
lists Robert McCormick as the father (10). It is written by Robert & Agnes’
great-grandson, Charles Seibert; unfortunately several of the marriages he
listed, have the spouses mixed up or in one case, doesn’t seem to be related.
(These errors are noted in the chart below.) Also from Centre County, is “A
Register of Marriages and Baptisms by William Stuart from the Beginning of his
Ministry” which provided marriage dates for three of the siblings. (11 through
13) These sources are combined in the chart below to provide an overview of
Rebecca’s siblings.
Listed in order of
marriage date
Austie Guy
Letter
|
C.H. Seibert List – McCormick
Family History Folder
|
A
Register of Marriages by Rev. William Stuart
|
Other Sources
|
Rebecca
md a Pauley (James)
|
Rebecca
md Robert Patterson [WRONG]
|
1801 (Rebecca
would be 18; based on 1st child born in Ohio, 1802)
|
|
Mary
Ann md a Welden
|
Mary
md. Erastus Cowdric [WRONG]
|
Before
1805 –Baptisms by Rev. Stuart
|
|
Nancy
md a Carson
|
Nancy
md. Joseph Carson
|
1808 Joseph
Carson & Nancy McCormick
|
|
Robert
|
Robert
md. Nancy Stewart
|
1810 Robert
McCormick & Nancy Stewart
|
|
John
|
John
md. Hannah Shannon
|
1812 John
McCormick & Hanna Shannon
|
|
James
|
James
md. Elizabeth Borland (2nd Miss Allen)
|
1818 in
Borland Bible
|
|
Jane
married an Adams
|
No
Jane listed
|
||
Thomas
|
Thomas
no marriage listed, he moved to Miami Co. Ohio
|
||
1805 Robert
Patterson & Eliza McCormick
|
History of Jordan, PA indicates
Eliza was born in Scotland.
|
The earliest known McCormick in
Penn’s Valley is George McCormick, possibly a brother to Robert. In a court
deposition, dated 30 November 1810, George stated “I was first in Penn’s valley
in 1773, and lived here in 1774 (14). The land records show he bought land in from
Reuben Haines in Penn’s Creek Valley in 1773 (15 and 16) and in 1774 he was
listed in tax assessment (17). In a 1776 petition for arms and ammunition for
Potter Township (18), both George and Robert McCormick are listed; this is the
first known record of Robert in Penn’s Valley. Along with George and Robert,
are Samuel and John McCormick.
The tax assessment in 1778 for Potter Township is the
only document which shows Robert with land; it states that he was assessed for
“100 acres of land, 10 improved, 2 horses, 2 cattle.” (19) There were no Roberts
in the land grantor or grantee records. This could be because back in that era
they did not have to record the deed until they needed to prove something. Robert may have inherited the land and until
he passed it to his children and they recorded the deed, his name may not show up
on a deed. In future research, deeds need to be checked for each of his
children.
That 1778 tax assessment for Potter Township also listed
John and Samuel as “Single men,” which typically means they reached the age of
21, but are not yet married. To understand the various McCormick’s in the area,
it is necessary to know who the children of George McCormick are. His will,
dated 29 June 1812 and proven 3 July 1813, lists his children; Robert’s
children are listed here for comparison:
Children of Robert (From
Austie Guy letter, great-granddau.)
Thomas
Robert
James
John
Jane (Adams)
Agnes (Carson)
Mary Ann (Weldon)
*Rebecca (Pawley) - my ancestor
|
Children of George (Listed
in 1813 Will)
James
George
Adam
Agnes (Joseph McCune)
John (deceased by 1814)
Eleanor (Archibald Allison)
Margaret (Samuel McCormick)
|
Notice they each have a James, a John and an Agnes. Notice that neither one has a Samuel, which means that a 3rd McCormick family lived in Potter Township in 1776. William McCormick is listed in the land records in 1773 as owning land east of James Potter (15 & 16) so it is possible that Samuel is his son.
Due to violent
attacks by the Native Americans, the settlers left the valley in 1779 and did
not return until around 1784 in what was known as “The Great Runaway” (14). In
the year before “The Great Runaway,” the settlers dealt with the Native
American violence by forming a group of Pennsylvania Rangers. The Rangers were
part of the volunteer military, dressed in homespun clothes, and carried their
own rifles, knives, and hatchets. They could be characterized as the “minute
men of the frontier.” They alerted settlers when an attack had occurred or was
possible, sometimes going on patrols for possible attacks. Both Robert and
George McCormick joined the Pennsylvania Rangers. (20)
In 1786 Robert was
not listed on the Potter Township transcript (21), but John McCormick is listed
next to George. In 1789 Robert, George and John are all listed in Potter
Township (22). In 1790, the Potter assessment shows George with 150 acres, but
Robert only has 1 cow and 1 horse (23). This raises the question on why he was
listed with land in 1778, but not twelve years later in 1790. 1790 is also the
last tax assessment which lists this Robert McCormick.
In February of
1790, Haines Township was created from part of Potter Township and the 1790
U.S. Census for Haines Township lists Agness McCormick (24), as does the 1793
tax assessment for Haines (25). In 1799 the Haines tax list shows Agnes
McCormick owing $.75 for real estate. The clear switch from Robert to Agnes
establishes that it is almost certain that the Robert living in Potter (Haines)
Township in the tax lists listed above is the husband to Agnes McCormick and he
died in 1790. This validates the Charles Seibert paper from the McCormick
Family File Folder in Centre County, Pennsylvania who lists his name as Robert.
As seen in the research log, the probate records for Northumberland County were
search for this time period, but no Roberts were listed.
One
of the important methodologies for this project is cluster research, including
the surnames for each of the children’s spouses. Previously found records show
that James Pawley and Rebecca McCormick were married, and by 1802 their first
child was born in Ohio. But before this project, nothing was known about where
James Pawley migrated from. Their daughter, Nancy married Thomas Watt, son of
Hugh, but again, nothing was known of the Watt origins other than census
records state Thomas Watt was born in Pennsylvania. The following census study
(sorted by page number) and tax records show that it is probable that both the
Pawley’s and the Watt’s came from central Pennsylvania.
Northumberland County, PA 1790 –
reported 26 April 1790
County
|
Page
|
Names
|
White Male 16+
|
White Male under16
|
White Females
|
Other free persons
|
Northumb.
|
97
|
Agness McCormick
|
1
|
3
|
4
|
|
Northumb
|
99
|
George McCormick
|
2
|
2
|
4
|
|
Northumb
|
98
|
John McCormick
|
1
|
4
|
1
|
|
Northumb
|
98
|
James Gibson
|
1
|
4
|
1
|
|
Northumb
|
98
|
James Watt
|
2
|
1
|
4
|
|
Northumb
|
98
|
John Watt
|
1
|
2
|
2
|
|
Northumb
|
4
|
Edward Gibson
|
1
|
4
|
1
|
|
Northumb
|
18
|
Thomas McCormick
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
|
Northumb
|
24
|
William Gibson
|
2
|
2
|
5
|
|
Northumb
|
24
|
James Watts
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
|
Northumb
|
27
|
Hugh Watts
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
|
Northumb
|
27
|
James & Joseph Watts
|
||||
Northumb
|
28
|
Alexander Gibson
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
|
Northumb
|
38
|
William
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
|
Northumb
|
62
|
John McCormick
& John Fleming
|
1
|
5
|
2
|
|
Northumb
|
67
|
Bryan McCormick
|
3
|
1
|
5
|
|
Northumb
|
No Pawley or Polly
|
Northumberland County, PA 1800
County
|
City
|
Names
|
Free
White Males
|
Free
White Females
|
Other
|
||||||||
-10
|
10-15
|
16-25
|
26-44
|
45+
|
-10
|
10-15
|
16-25
|
26-44
|
45+
|
||||
N’umb
|
Haines
|
Mrs. ? McCormac
|
1
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
-16=1
+25=1
Tot=5
|
||||||
N’umb
|
Haines
|
Thomas Polly
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
-16=1
+25=3
Tot=9
|
||||
N’umb
|
Miles
|
James McCormac
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
-16=1
+25=1
Tot=3
|
|||||||
N’umb
|
Penns
|
John Adams
|
4
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
|||||||
N’umb.
|
Washington
|
Seth McCormic
|
2
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
1
|
-16=7
+25=2
|
||||
N’umb.
|
Chilisquaque
|
James McCormic
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
1
|
-16=6
+25=2
Tot=9
|
||||
N’umb.
|
Washington
|
Thomas McCormac
|
1
|
1
|
Tot=2
|
||||||||
N’umb.
|
Point
|
Mrs. ? McCormac
|
1
|
1
|
Tot=2
|
||||||||
N’umb
|
Turbet
|
John McCormac
|
|||||||||||
N’umb
|
Turbet
|
Wm McCormac
|
|||||||||||
N’umb
|
Washington
|
Thom McCormac
|
|||||||||||
N’umb
|
Derry
|
John McCormic
|
|||||||||||
Mifflin.
|
Fermanagh
|
James Polly
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
-16=2
+25=2
|
||||||
The 1790 U.S.
Census show Agnes with 4 sons, one of whom is 16 or older and the other three
are under 16. (26) The Austie Guy letter listed 4 sons and 4 daughters, but
only 3 daughters are listed in the 1790 U.S. Census. This fits with the
probability that Jane, who according to Austie Guy, married an Adams was
married prior to 1790 to Jonathan Adams who was living in Fermanagh, Mifflin
and listed as married by 1790. Ten years later, in 1800, Agnes only lists 1
daughter at home, but still 3 sons. The 1800 U.S. Census also lists Agnes as
over 45 years old; this would mean she was born in 1755 or before. (27) This
matches Robert McCormick who owns land in the 1778 tax assessment, which
implies he is at least 21 years old. But, in the 1810 U.S. Census, Agnes is
listed as being age 26-44 (28) so either the 1810 or the 1800 U.S. Census is
incorrect.
The best tax list
to support the Pawley cluster research is in the 1801 Haines tax assessment.
“Agnes (Widow) McCormick” is listed near Robert Carson and Thomas Pauly, with
single men Robert McCormick, James Pawley and Elijah Paley. (29) If Thomas
Pauly is the father of James, this would explain why a Thomas Pawley signs the
Ohio marriage license for Rebecca McCormick Pawley and Erastus Cowdery. Also a
Thomas Pawley sells land to Rebecca McCormick Cowdery in Ohio.
Internet searches
were performed for Robert and Agnes as well as each of the children. The
searches were specifically for obituaries, cemetery records, USGenWeb and
RootsWeb, and other miscellaneous searches. Genealogy Bank was also searched
for some of the obituaries, but with no results. One excellent find on the
Internet was the bible record for the marriage of James McCormick and Elizabeth
Borland. One of the challenges with the Google searches is that nearly every
McCormick family had a Robert, John, James, Agnes, etc., so more research is
needed to uniquely identify which ones belong to which families. This same
challenge affected the probate search for each of the children and both
parents. In the Wills of Centre County,
PA by Ira F. Fravel and the FamilySearch probate records for
Northumberland, searches for probate did not yield any likely results for the
parents or the children. Requests were made of the Centre Library research to
check the surnames of Welden, Carson and Adams, but no results were found. She
did however find a bible transcription and cemetery records for John McCormick
and Hannah Shannon.
John McCormick and Hannah Shannon
The transcription
of "Bible
Record of JOHN McCORMICK, Sr.” states he died "July 9, 1834, aged 44
yrs."- 1790 Married HANNAH SHANNON, died "May 4, 1873, 81y.
8m."- b.Sep.5, 1791.” It also lists his children and their birth dates,
along with some death dates (30). The Cemeteries of Potter
Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania, confirms these dates (31). In “A Register of Marriages
and Baptisms by William Stuart from the Beginning of his Ministry,” the date of
their marriage is 10 September 1812 (32).
Several records help to
identify where this John McCormick lived. First is from “the names of those
holding pews in the Presbyterian Church of Sinking Creek.” These lists were
kept for each year beginning in 1811 and continue until 1825. John is listed
beginning in 1814 and through 1820 (33 through 35). Another source to document
John’s residence comes from the Spangler Collection, an 1824 record of the
“Potter Township School Children between the age of 5 and 12;” this lists John
with two children, Jane and Robert, which match the Bible record (36). Also, The Commemorative Biographical Record of
Central Pennsylvania, including the Counties of Centre, Clinton, Union and
Snyder, which states that John & Hannah’s daughter, Agnes was born “in
Penn’s Valley, in 1827” (37). After John dies in 1834, Hannah is on the “Potter
Township Assessment List. 1836. Poor Children.” She is listed with Thomas, age
11 and William, age 9 (38).
Jane McCormick Married an Adams
As mentioned
above, the most likely spouse for Jane is Jonathan Adams. He was in the 1790
U.S. Census, living in Fermanagh, Mifflin County and listed with children. By
1793 he is living in Haines Township near Agnes McCormick (39) and in 1797 he
is living in the Miles, the next township over (40). According to Mary
Pierotti’s Ancestry tree, they moved to Butler County, PA. Their oldest son,
James Adams, died in 1872 and his obituary stated that they moved to Butler
County in 1801. Unfortunately, the obituary does not list his parents name to
confirm that Jane was a McCormick (41). The tombstones of Jonathan and Jane
Adams is located in Slippery Rock, Butler County, PA. Her tombstone indicates
she was born in 1769, if this is the correct Jane Adams, then perhaps, Robert
had a first marriage to which Jane was born.
Robert McCormick Married Nancy
Stewart
Robert first
appears as a single men in the tax lists of Haines in 1801 (42) and again in
1805 (43). “The Register of Marriages of William Stuart” shows a Robert
McCormick married Nancy Stewart in 1810 (44). In the 1811 tax list, Robert is
taxed on 120 acres (45) and then in 1812 he is taxed on 117 acres which
continues each year through 1818 (46). In the pew records for the Sinking Creek Presbyterian Church, Robert
is listed beginning in 1812 and continuing through 1819. (33 through 35).
Nancy McCormick Married Joseph
Carson
“The Register of
Marriages of William Stuart” shows Nancy McCormick marrying Joseph Carson 6
September 1808. In the Sinking Creek Church pew rentals, Joseph Carson is
listed in 1811-1818, (33 through 35) but then starting in 1819-1825 it lists
Mrs. Agness Carson and no Joseph is listed. It seems pretty likely this is the
correct family because this fits with John Blair Linn’s history of Centre
County which states that Joseph Carson, son of Robert Carson, who married Nancy
McCormick was killed in 1818 (47).
James McCormick Married Elizabeth
Borland
Many
records were found regarding James McCormick, but this was challenging because
there are multiple possibilities for which James a particular record applies.
It is probable that the Charles Seibert document is correct and James, the son
of Robert and Agnes, married Elizabeth Borland. As mentioned before, an
Internet search provide images and a transcription of the Archibald and
Margaret (McKim) Borland Family Bible (48, 1-3). This lists each of the
Borland’s children with their birth, marriage and death dates. It shows that Elizabeth
Borland was born 6 March 1801, married James McCormick 9 April 1818 and died 20
December 1829. According to Seibert, James remarried a Miss Allen. “A Register
of Marriages and Baptisms by William Stuart from the Beginning of his
Ministry,” lists several children of a James. When one James is born to a James
and six months later, another James is born to a James, note the distinction of
the father James “Irish”:
·
James born 1802 Dec 6, to James
·
James born 1803 May 1 to James “Irish”
·
Cutoff born 1805, Apr 7, to James
·
Sarah born 1806 Feb 23 to James
·
Anne born 1807 Jul 11 to Jas. Jr.
Because Elizabeth Borland was born
in 1801, and James, the son of Robert and Agnes, did not marry Elizabeth until
1818, it is likely that these baptisms refer to the children of other James’ in
the area.
Mary Ann who Married a Welden;
also Thomas and Rebecca
Very
little was found regarding the Welden’s. There were some Welden’s in the
census, marriage, tax and other documents, but the only document which could be
clearly linked to this family was a baptism record for Rachel Welden in “A
Register of Marriages and Baptisms by William Stuart from the Beginning of his
Ministry.” The column
headings are “Child & Parent/Guardian,” and the entry lists “Rachel
Welden of Nancy McCormick 1805 Sep 17” (49). It is probable that Nancy
is overseeing the baptism because both of Rachel’s parents have died, although
it could also imply that her parents were not attending the Presbyterian
Church.
The
Charles Seibert list mentions that Thomas McCormick moved to Miami County,
Ohio. Internet searches, tax lists on USGenWeb and searches in early county
histories did not provide any possible Thomas McCormick’s.
Rebecca
who married James Pawley is my direct line so in-depth research for them is
listed on this blog: https://jamespawleyandrebeccamccormick.blogspot.com/
Ideas for Future Research
·
With
all the records found which identify Robert and Agnes’ children, additional
probate and land research needs to be done in both Northumberland and Centre
County.
o
Further research in Northumberland Land
Film 961185
o
Pennsylvania,
Northumberland County, Deeds, 1770-1866,; index, 1772-1914, Grantor Index, I-M,
1772-1914, FHL microfilm 961185, Family History Library, Salt Lake, UT, p
191-192
o
Centre County Land records are only in PA.
·
Because
very few vital records exist for Pennsylvania in the 1800s, more obituary &
cemetery research needs to be done.
·
Check the Presbyterian Minute Books for
Sinking Creek for earlier marriages and baptisms (pre-1800) and other possible
records.
·
Further research to find each of the
children of Robert & Agnes’ children.
