In the bag are two hand knit projects, both knit alongs with friends at The French Knot in Diamondhead, MS. One is on hold for a couple reasons, the first is it takes lots of brain power, and that makes it difficult when I am so easily distracted by the second reason, which is the other project in the bag. The culprit!
The other knitting related activity in progress is building new sponge bars for the machines. They've been stored for a while, and the bars, being made of foam, deteriorate. I'm trying out the instructions here.
Now that I have talked about my knitting, I want to talk about another project. I'm taking off on an ancestor hunt, and will post a bit about it in the blogs containing "This day..." in the title, if you care to follow along. If not, you may not want to read further. So, here goes!
April 1, 1804, my g4grandfather, Wesley Deer, was born. From a pedigree my grandfather constructed in 1955, I learned that Wesley died of a stomach disorder on May 13, 1881, and that he (Wesley) married Mahala Myers, and they had fourteen children! I can't even imagine that many siblings! Number 12 was Jefferson C., my g3grandfather--this isn't about him, though, so back to Wesley and Mahala.
The 1880 census shows a 76 year old Wesley Deer, wife Mahalia, in Union Township, Johnson county, Indiana, with occupations of farming and keeping house, respectively. Their places of birth are listed as Virginia for him and Kentucky for her, and Virginia as the birthplace of Wesley's parents, while Mahalia's parents birthplaces are Virginia for her father and Maryland for her mother. This is the only place I've seen her name with an "i," so I am guessing the census had that wrong.
Imagine my excitement over the following tree I stumbled upon online. It has a Wesley Deer with the same birth/death dates. If it's my g4grandfather, then it's possible Johannes Hirsch (did you know that hirsch is deer or hart in German?) is my g9grandfather. Here's what is in that tree:
- Johannes Hirsch b. 1640, Beme, Swizeland d. 5 Feb 1673, Tubingen, Wurttemberg, Germany, m. Maria Mayer (1648-1712) They had four children; one was named Andreas Hirsch.
- Andreas Hirsch b. 1693, Tuebingen, Germany, d. 2 Nov 1718, Taebingen, Wurttemberg, Germany, m. Eva Glaser (1695-1751) They had seven children; one was named Johannes Hirsch.
- Johannes Hirsch b. 1710, Taebingen, Wurttemberg, Germany, d. 1781, Virginia, USA, m. Catherine Catron (1721-1748) They had eight children; one named John Deer
- John Deer b. 1760, Virginia, USA, d. 1825, Madison, Virginia, USA, m. Mary Blankenbaker (1754-1828) They had ten children; one named Lewis Deer
- Lewis Deer b. 1779, Madison, Virginia, USA, d. 15 Mar 1852 m. Margaret Crisler (1771-1811) They had eight children; one named Wesley Deer
- Wesley Deer b. 1804, Mercer, Kentucky, USA d. 13 May 1881 m. Mahala Myers (1812-1892) They had nine children; one named Jefferson Cook Deer (1844-Unknown)
I have a lot of homework ahead exploring these possible ancestors! Let's not get too carried away here, though, we are still talking about G4grandfather Wesley. According to the History of Johnson County, Wesley and his brother, Willis, settled in near Union Village in 1831. The book relates the following:
“Union Village. — The Church of Christ, at Union village, was organized at the residence of Wesley Deer, as early as the year 1834. The following were early members: Wesley Deer and wife, Samuel Park and wife, George Byers and wife, John Harris and wife, Cornelius Luyster and wife, John Garshwiler and wife, and others. Elder Thomas Jones was among the first preachers, and the permanency of the organization is largely due to his untiring efforts. Soon after the church was organized, a house of worship (log) was erected on the land of John Mullendore, on Section 14, but as no deed for the property was obtained, a subsequent owner of the land refused the congregation the use of the building. Later, a frame building was erected on the farm of Wesley Deer, which after being used for some time, was burned, the fire supposed to have been the work of an incendiary. It was replaced by another frame structure, which was also destroyed by fire during the late Civil War. The present temple of Worship at Union village was built soon after the war, and is a very neat and commodious edifice. The church has grown and prospered, numbering at this time about 250 communicants.”
Excerpt From: Banta, D. D. (David Demaree), 1833-1896. “History of Johnson County, Indiana : from the earliest time to the present, with biographical sketches, notes, etc. together with a short history of the Northwest, the Indiana territory, and the state of Indiana.” Chicago, Ill. : Brant & Fuller, 1888. iBooks.
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Well, I have a better understanding of the librarian 's comment to me that the Deer family has quite a history in Johnson County when I spoke with her about some research. I think I was leaving a copy of the pedigree for the museum files there in Franklin, Indiana. Guess this is a start. I know there's more about G4grandfather Wesley. Hopefully I will be better prepared by his next birthday!
I hope you had as good a time reading this as I did writing. Take care.
