Last week we remembered George Washington’s birthday on February 22nd (which also happens to be my birthday). But was George Washington born on February 22nd? Extreme Genes, one of my favorite genealogy podcasts, discussed the uncertainty of Washington’s birthday in this week’s show. Portrait of George Washington – Painted by Gilbert Stuart After listening to the conversation, I decided to dig a little deeper and found his family Bible where he is listed as being born on the “11th Day of February 1731/2.” [See “Washington Family Bible Page” at the Digital Collections site from The Washington Library.] If he was born...

After the death of Michael Kline in 1781, his son Nicholas paid 400 pounds to the other heirs—Nicholas’s mother, Dorothea, along with his siblings and their spouses—for two tracts of his father’s land. Although I’ve blogged about this 1781 indenture before, today I am looking at the adjoining neighbors who were listed in the description of the first piece of land: David Beilor, George Kline (possibly a brother of Michael’s), Thomas Falkner, and John and Jacob Snavely. [Note: The relevant part of this 1781 indenture is transcribed at the bottom of this post. Also, though I believe the document is...

Last week I shared about Dorothy/Dorothea Klein/Kline’s “interesting will.” I also shared about it at my local special interest group genealogy meeting on Friday. We all had some laughs, but a few things were pointed out to me. What’s a “half wagon?” First of all, I shared how two of Dorothy’s sons, Daniel and Nicholas, were each given a “half wagon.” When I first read about this, I thought it must be a type of wagon. But, someone suggested to me that it was literally half a wagon. In other words, the two brothers were sharing a wagon. That made...

Tomorrow is our monthly internet research group genealogy meeting and we will be discussing wills and probate packets. We were asked to pass along any “interesting” wills or probate packets we had in our files to discuss at our meeting. I chose one I recently received from a newly found cousin. The will, which was proved in 1799, is my 6th great grandmother’s. Will of Dorothy Klein of Warwick Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, signed 27 June 1794, proved 14 September 1799, provided by Lititz, Pennsylvania Public Library, page 1 of 3. Highlights From the Will I found this will to...

My last post was about Michael Kline of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, my 6th great grandfather, and a 1781 indenture which listed his 14 children. Finding estimated birth dates/years would be difficult since they were born in the mid-1700’s and census records would not be of much help. So, how did I estimate the birth years for Michael’s 14 children? How I estimated the birth years for the 14 children of Michael and Dorothea Kline: used the birth dates of the two children I knew: Frenia, who was born in 1748, and Michael, who was born in 1764 assumed Dorothea gave...

When I got home from Christmas yesterday, a package from the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society was waiting for me! Earlier this month, I posted about finding my Michael Kline family on an Ancestry.com database called “Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Mennonite Vital Records, 1750-2014.” Surprised to learn that I had Mennonite ancestors, I sent the society $70 for two hours of research. After opening the large envelope, I eagerly read the cover letter to see what records they found. The end of the letter, however, surprised me. It said: “We have many genealogical cards of persons who were not Mennonite. The book by...