Genealogical Gems

On this Memorial Day we remember those who served and died in that service to out great Nation. Today, as President Barak Obama and many before him announced in his Memorial Day Proclamation, “ we pay solemn tribute to those brave Americans who laid down their lives to defend our freedom. ” In our families – mine and my husband’s – we have many who have served. Between us, we cover all five branches too. Our son-in-law is currently serving. However today is Memorial Day. Today we honor those who made that ultimate sacrifice. Today I honor my great Uncle Paulie (Paul Kurenda) and my husband’s 6 th great uncle, Jacob Eckman. Paulie with my grandmother, Anna Paulie, as his sister (my grandmother) always called him, was the baby of the family. Born 16 July 1922, Paul grew up on a farm in Sadsburyville,   Chester   County . He was the youngest child of John Kurenda and Frances Skrabalak. Like many Coatesville area boys of that era, he went to work in the steel mill af...

General George Washington set up camp in Morristown , New Jersey On This Day in 1777. The Continental Army had just enjoyed two significant victories in Trenton and Princeton . By setting up his winter headquarters at Morristown , he gained quite the vantage point.   The Great Swamp and the Watchung Mountains provided a natural defence. He could protect the roads leading to both Philadelphia and to New England . Source Washington sets up winter camp in Morristown . This Day in History. History.com. 6 January 1777. On This Day is a prompt to further explore historical events.                  © Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2016

It was On This Day in 1777 that Lydia Darragh, a Philadelphia housewife and nurse, overheard British General William Howe and his men planning an attack on General George Washington and the Continental Army.   Philadelphia , at that time, was an occupied city. Howe had taken over an upstairs room in Darragh’s house. She would listen in on their conversations and then steal out of the city to pass notes to Washington ’s men.   It is said that on this night she overheard plans to attack Washington ’s army at Whitemarsh on the 4 th or 5 th . Washington , instead of being caught by surprise, had his troops waiting for Howe. Howe finally returned to Philadelphia without claiming a win.   Sources Lydia Barrington Darragh. Find A Grave . (Photo) “ Philadelphia nurse overhears British plans to attack Washington ” 2 December 1777. History.com      On This Day is a prompt to further explore historical events.     ...

Thomas Cheyney lies in rest at the Cheyney Cemetery near Cheyney University in Chester County . He is one of those men locals learned about in school – until the schools stopped actually teaching US history.    Born about 1732, he fought in the Revolutionary War. He provided information about the location of the British troops directly to General George Washington which aided Washington and his men to evade the British.  It is widely accepted that his persistence to speak with Washington saved not only Washington and his men but was a vital point in the fight for our freedom. He married twice. First he married Mary Taylor. She passed in 1766 and three years later he wed the widow Mary Bennett Vernon. He had, according to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, eight children! The children were: Ann, Lucy, Richard, Mary, John, Alice , Elizabeth, and William. The account did not specify who mothered whom.    He died on 12 January 1811. His land is...

  This week I have to admit genealogy took a back seat. It was my first full week back to work (I work seasonally at a nursery – LOVE IT!) and my kids had some medical issues (one still does actually) but I did get some reading done. EIN Presswire sent me a news release concerning a new online Jewish database. The Knowles Collection links generations of Jewish families from all over the world. It has reached its one-millionth record milestone and is now easily searchable online. The vast majority of new contributions are coming from families and private archives worldwide. The free collection can be accessed at FamilySearch.org/family-trees . The National Genealogical Society conference is 13-16 May 2015 in St. Charles , Missouri . The early bird registration deadline is this Monday, 30 March 2015. For more information see the registration brochure . Blog posts worth reading: Dear Myrtle has finally published a How To that makes Hangouts easier to navigate. ...

Today we so often see monuments in every town. Rarely do people even stop and really look at them and remember those who the monument was set to honor. It was On This Day in 1776 that the first national monument was ordered.   The monument was to honor the memory of Revolutionary War Brigadier General Richard Montgomery . He was killed during an assault on Quebec on 31 December 1775. Jean Jacques Caffieri was commissioned to create the monument, which was finished in 1778. The monument is located at St. Paul ’s Chapel in New York City .   Photo: Public Domain image from Wikipedia   On This Day is a prompt I started this month to further explore historical events. © Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2015

It was On This Day in 1781 that Brigadier General Daniel Morgan and a mixed Patriot force defeated British Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton and his more battle experienced men at the Battle of Cowpens in South Carolina . This battle came to be referred to in the South as the turning point of the Revolutionary War.     On This Day is a prompt I started this month to further explore historical events. I will make every effort to keep events localized to that of my research or research I am conducting for others. However, from time to time, it will simply be a subject that captured my attention. © Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2015

Samuel Meredith crossed my desk this past weekend in the form of a postcard. General Samuel Meredith, according to the Pleasant Mount Historical Society , was a Pennsylvania Officer of the Revolutionary War and the first Treasurer of the United States under the Federal Constitution. Born in Philadelphia in 1741 to Reese and Martha Carpenter Meredith, he was a merchant like his father before him. He  attended Doctor Allison’s Academy in Philadelphia. In 1772 he married Margaret Cadwalader at Christ Church in Philadelphia. Together, they had seven children. During the Revolutionary War, he served the Third Battalion of Associators in 1776. The Third Battalion was also known as the "Silk Stocking Company." He served, according to a file at the University of Delaware , in the battles of Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, and Germantown. He was promoted to brigadier- general of the Pennsylvania militia on 5 April 1777. The following year, i...

Yesterday, on the Fourth of July, we took the girls to Valley Forge. They said they enjoyed it - the encampment, the reading of the Declaration, Washington's Headquarters, - everything! There is also a church there and I came across a society that I had not heard of before: the Society of the Descendants of Washington's Army at Valley Forge. The Society, according to its website , was founded by Donald G. Cronan of Manhassett, New York. The purpose of the Society was "to compile a roll and preserve the identity of the individual soldiers, especially those who lie in unmarked graves". Private Jacob Eckman died at Valley Forge that fateful winter. Pvt. Eckman served under Capt. John Lorah in the German Regiment , 5th Division in Brigadier General Peter Muhlenberg's Brigade . He died there on 20 May 1778.

  Christopher Still was a Private during the Revolutionary War, according to Ancestry.com. (1)   In 1789, a Christopher Still appears on Pikeland's Tax and Exoneration List. (2)   In 1799, a document regarding his death was filed in Chester County. At that time, it reveals he lived in Vincent Township. The administrator of his account was John Evans, also of Vincent Township. (3) He died intestate. (7)   Christopher Still is also listed in the American Genealogical-Biographical Index however Ancestry.com does not reveal the full text at this time. It does reveal he was born in 1750 and that he is mentioned in Volume 169 on page 183. (4)   Another source lists a Christopher Still as a Corporal receiving a pension. He began receiving it in 1785 and died 22 July 1807. He had received an annual allowance of $48 and a lifetime benefit of 432.13. (5) The Corporal Still shows up again in the " Vol. II. Muster rolls of ranging companies, &...

Historic Huguenot Street will host "Book Talk: Espionage in the American Revolution" on Saturday, 15 March. Award-winning author John A. Nagy will speak about an intriguing, secret part of the Revolutionary War based on his book Invisible Ink: Spycraft of the American Revolution . Explaining cyphers, codes, paper masks and hidden compartments, Nagy tells stories of the Revolution’s unsung heroes, including several based in the Hudson River Valley. Tickets are $8 at the door ($5 for seniors, free for students). The talk will be held in Deyo Hall, Broadhead Avenue, New Paltz, NY.   Note: The above was from a press release from Historic Huguenot Street

Exciting news to share .... while looking up Sunday's NMAM piece , I confirmed that Martin Eckman, who fought in the Revolutionary War and is buried in the Eckman/Kunkle Cemetery,  is my husband's 4th great grandfather! Actually John Martin Eckman is his full name. He is the son of Jerome Hieronimous (1718 – 1784) and Barbara Slaymaker (1724 – 1796) Eckman! John Martin Eckman married Elizabeth Sides. They had nine children: Mary Susanna Henry Martin Elizabeth Hieronimous Daniel Sarah Jacob Elizabeth Eckman married (yes a cousin) Henry Eckman. They had eight children: Daniel Catharine John Henry Lydia Ann Martha Elizabeth Mary John Henry Eckman married Catharine Kezia Cresswell on 7 January 1858 in Providence Township. They had 11 children! Clara Charles Henry Dora H. Margaret Estella John Grant Darius J. Martha Ann Winona Sue Kate Bernice Oscar Dale Edith Alberta Charles Henry Eckman married Rosa T. Kirchner fro...

There is so much information provided in Civil War records and the two World War records but not so much for those soldiers who initially fought for our freedoms here in the States. The "Pennsylvania, Revolutionary War Battalions and Militia Index, 1775-1783" includes entries for a couple Eckmans, though I am sure more served. The Index includes a John Eckman, a Martin Eckman and a Henry Eackman. There are also many Heckmans and Hickmans that came up in a simply search by surname. Both John and Martin are listed under "Associates and Militia". John is a Lieutenant and Martin is a Private. Henry (not shown) is a Lieutenant and is also listed under "Associates and Militia." My search parameters had merely been Eckman, born and lived in PA. While John was tough to track down with certainty, Martin was relatively easy as someone else had taken a photo (at right) of Martin's grave - with the Revolutionary War grave marker - and uploaded it to Ancestr...