Maps-County Boundary Changes for Penn's Valley, PA

These county boundary maps are from the Newberry Library 

1750 Jan. 27 - Cumberland County created  - included Penn's Valley

1772 Mar. 21 - Northumberland County created - included Penn's Valley

1789 Sep. 19 - Mifflin County created - Penn's Valley stays in Northumberland Co.

1800 Feb. 13 - Centre County created - included Penn's Valley

Here is the same map, zoomed out to see the county names

McCormick in Northumberland Co. Land - Grantee & Grantor

There is not an entry for Robert McCormick before 1832. But in this time period, a deed would not have to be recorded until the property was sold outside of the family. Notice the time difference between the "Date of Deed" and the "Date of Record;" in the case of Seth McCormick, Grantee, it was recorded 24 years after the date of the deed. Another possibility is that they didn't always list everyone in the index, just the first couple of names. I will try to get to the library this week and copy all of the early McCormick deeds.

George McCormick of Spring Mills, Penn's Valley - No Relationship Yet

George McCormick of Spring Mills, Penn's Valley died in 1814

Text from Linn's book:

"Early Settlements, Etc.— Of the earliest settlers, George McCormick, after leaving Spring Mills, where James Cooke, Esq., from Lancaster County, moved, went up to the end of Nittany Mountain and built a mill there, where he died in the spring of 1814. His children were George, Adam, Agnes (married to Joseph McCune), Eleanor (married to Archibald Allison), Margaret (married to Samuel McCormick), and John (then deceased)."

"The settlement of McCormick, Livingston, Watson, and others in the neighborhood was the nucleus of the Presbyterian Church, built as early as 1789, eastward of Penn Hall a short distance. Rev. James Martin, the pastor, owned the farm' in its immediate neighborhood."

This correlates with the abstract of George McCormick's will from Spangler's Letter provided by Jean Muetzel. 

George McCormick's 1810 Court Description of Himself in Penn's Valley

Pennsylvania Archives

The Pennsylvania Archives are free on Fold3, see the description below. Someone is welcome to check those. I am currently working on the probate and land records and will let you know what I find. If anyone else would like to research them as well, let me know. 

Description

by Elissa Scalise Powell, CG

As one of the original 13 colonies, Pennsylvania played an important part in our nation's early history. Many significant records were created and kept by Pennsylvania, as Philadelphia was both the site of the Continental Congress and the largest port of the time. Many of those early documents, and others through the 1800s, were transcribed into the published Pennsylvania Archives. These volumes should not be confused with the repository in Harrisburg where official colonial and state records are kept. The images here are pages from the 138-volume, 10-series set of the well-known collection of early government records transcribed and printed by the Commonwealth. The Pennsylvania Archives has been relied upon by scholars, genealogists, and historians for valuable historical information for over a century.

The only online availability of virtually all of the Pennsylvania Archives is here, with free access, on Fold3.com. Previously, the full set was available in total or in parts on various libraries’ shelves, or microfilm, and on a few CD-ROMs. Each of the ten series, numbered 1 through 9 plus the Colonial Records series, has been scanned and made searchable. Previous indexes to each series of the set were incomplete or non-existent and caused this valuable set to be underutilized by veteran and casual researchers alike. The valuable search capability created by Fold3.com provides the key to unlocking previously hidden names and events.

Searching land and probate records

Perhaps we need to research land and probate records. If we examine the Gibson name, maybe we can find some clues. Mary had also suggested we might have the wrong first name for McCormick.
For years, our family thought his name was George but could it have been Hugh and not Robert? Would the Pennsylvania Archives have a list of those McCormicks and Gibsons who took the oath of Allegiance? Jean

Children of Robert & Nancy McCormick

Listed in order of marriage date

Austie Guy Letter	McCormick Family History Folder	Centre Co. Marriages, 1800-1850	Other Sources
Rebecca md a Pauley (James)	Rebecca md Robert Patterson    [WRONG]		1801 (Rebecca age 18 years old; based on 1st child born in 1802.)
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 md.         , moved to Miami Co. Ohio
Mary Ann md a Welden	Mary md. Erastus Cowdric   [WRONG]
		1805 Robert Patterson & Eliza McCormick	History of Jordan, PA indicates Eliza was born in Scotland.

Other McCormick Marriages before 1820:

   1802 John McCormick and Mary Allison

   1814 George McCormick and Catharine Graves

There were other marriages with the surname of Adams and one Welden which improves the likelihood that Austie Guy’s letter was correct.

1805 Robert Patterson & Eliza McCormick

1808 Joseph Carson and Nancy McCormeck

1810 Robert McCormick and Nancy Stewart

1812 John McCormick and Hanna Shannon

The Parents of Rebecca McCormick: Robert McCormick and Nancy (Agnes) Gibson

This letter from Austie Applegate Guy states that Rebecca McCormick was born in Centre County, Pennsylvania, March 28,1783. This birth date matches the information on Rebecca McCormick Cowdery's tombstone. It also lists the siblings of Rebecca.

Notice that the list below shows the wrong spouse for Rebecca McCormick. Also, there are differences in siblings and their spouses between the letter above and document below.

Maps of Centre County, PA and Surrounding Areas

Township Map of Centre County, 1882.

Here is the same map zoomed out to see county names.

Possible Robert McCormicks

Census Records for McCormick