Christene, or Christiana, Hoffman was born in April 1776 in Pennsylvania. The name Hoffman means "comes from a farm".
At age 24, Christiana married Charles Wilderson at the Emanuel Reformed Church in Hanover, York County, PA. (I discovered a few men named Christian Hoffman, to suggest a possible father's name for Christiana, in York County, PA but I haven't been able to prove who her parents were, as yet.)
Christene and Charles had 9 children. Their names: Carl, George, Anna Catherine, Margaretha, Henry, Samuel, John, Martha, and Mary A. The only child that wasn't born in PA was the last one, Mary A., who was born in Newton, Trumbull, OH.
Christene died on the 26th of December, 1855 at the age of 79. She is buried at the Wilderson Cemetery.
Christene Hoffman Wilderson
Born: Apr 1776 , , PA
Married: abt. 1800 Hanover, York, PA
Died: 26 Dec 1855 Newton, Trumbull, OH
Sources: Census of 1850 Newton, Trumbull, OH; Book of York County marriages; Warren Chronicler newspaper articles regarding the Wilderson Family.
Our first 3g grandparent stories begins with Charles Wilderson who was born in Mannheim, Lancaster County (later York County), Pennsylvania on the 31st of May, 1773. The Wilderson family lived on a large farm close to the Maryland border among other German families. Charles and Christene Hoffman were married at the Emanuel Reformed Church in Hanover, York, PA when Charles was age 27, around 1800. Most of their children were born in York County and were baptized at the same church. Their names: Carl, George, Anna, Margaretha, Henry, Samuel, John, Martha, and Mary.
Charles and his family moved to and lived in Baltimore, MD for about three years before they made plans to journey to Ohio c. 1832 with Charles' brother, Martin, and other Wildersons. The arduous trek in a huge covered wagon drawn by oxen took about four weeks through forests and often along muddy Indian trails. But they were brave and determined to reach their destination of Beaver Twp., Mahoning County, Ohio. Martin and his family were pleased with this new situation. But Charles, his sons, George and Henry, and his sister, Margaretha thought they could find better land elsewhere and moved on to Newton Twp. in Trumbull County in 1835.
Newton Twp. remained Charles' home until his death on the 5th of February, 1863, where he became a well respected citizen of his community. He lived 89 years!
Charles Wilderson
Born: 31 Mar 1773 Mannhein, Lancaster, PA
Married: abt. 1800 Hanover, York, PA
Died: 5 Feb 1863 Newton, Trumbull, OH
Buried: Wilderson Cemetery, Newton, Trumbull, OH
Sources: Emanuel Reformed Church Records of marriage and baptisms, Hanover, York, PA; Beaver Twp., Mahoning, OH Tax Records of 1834; Census of 1850 and 1860 Newton, Trumbull, OH
Before I begin writing about our sixth generation of ancestors, let's look below at our list of surnames thus far. How many of these names did you know before reading these stories on our blog? I knew a few before I began my family historical research...Shepard, Lewis, Mackey, Phillips, Spitzer, and Wilderson. Although, when I was young, I thought the Wilderson name was Wilderness for a long time.
I want to make sure that all of you know that there are many various ways that almost all of these listed names have been spelled in their records. Since I'm on the subject of the Wilderson name, here are three of the variations I encountered in my research: Wildasin, Wiltensinn, Wiltinsen.
Barnhisel is especially interesting because in the 1600s the name was listed as Hausel. The ancestor's name was Bernhard Hausel.
Perhaps you can see how the two names became one?
I'll stop here about name variations. I merely want you to be aware of this issue. Here are our surnames:
BARNHISEL
BROKAW
DAVIS
HAAS
LEWIS
MACKEY
MAUS
MORRISON
PENSINGER
PHILLIPS
SHEPARD
SPITZER
WILDERSON
You will be learning more new names in the weeks to come and this is part of the fun, I think. Also, learning where each of our ancestors were born and where and how they lived their lives gives us a rich background of our very own personal history.
Our sixth generation of ancestors, our great, great, great grandparents, will be called 3g grandparents for short. I will begin with Charles and Christene Wilderson because they were also buried in the Wilderson Cemetery. Then we can move away from this cemetery and the Newton Township area.
