There are no birth records for the children of Rudy and Elizabeth Basom of Greenwood Township. The names of the children are known through Cumberland County Orphan’s Court records, but the dates, names of spouses, and later history are constructed from sources such as census records and burial records. The evidence is particularly weak for five of them—David, Peter, Elizabeth, Ann (Ann Nancy?), and Daniel, and uncertain for John.
Mary, died unmarried before Dec 1816.
David, born before 1799, died by 1860, no further definite records. The Orphan’s Court record of 1860 said that he had a widow and daughter. Some identify them as Elizabeth Graham of Franklin County and daughter Mary Margaret who married a Fuller, then Joseph Shirk. However there are no solid records to support this.1 There are no good records of David in the 1840 or 1850 census. It seems most likely that he died young, and had no connection to the Franklin County family, whose name was probably Beson or Beeson. The Orphan’s Court record was based on information from his surviving cousins and may have been wrong.
John, born 1801, probably the man who married Nancy Haxton on June 13, 1833 in Coshocton, and moved to Washington County, Ohio, just across the Ohio River from Pennsylvania. They were charter members of the Decatur Presbyterian Church in 1849.2 In 1850 they were in the census there, in Decatur Township, John age 49, Nancy, 42, with Children Mary, David, Wm, Margaret, Henry, Elizabeth, Samuel.3 By 1860 they added a son Robert, but Nancy was dead, died in 1852, buried at Decatur Presbyterian Cemetery, Washington County. John was born in Pennsylvania, but all the children were born in Ohio.In 1870 John was living with his son David E, a miller in Barlow Township, Washington County. John died in May 1871, a farmer.4
Mary, b. 1832
David E, b. 1836, d. 1899, a miller of Washington County
William, b. 1837, a farmer, moved to Kansas
Margaret, b. 1839, m. George Fraser, moved to Kansas
Henry, b. 1841, m. Maria Louisa Bennet, a farmer, stayed in Washington County
Elizabeth, b. 1842, d. 1916 in Washington County, possibly unmarried
Samuel, b. 1845, m. Isabelle, d. 1924 in Knox County, Ohio
Robert, b. 1852, m. twice, d. 1893, buried in Chillicothe, Ross County, Ohio
Martin lived in Turbett Township, Juniata County, where he died in 1844, aged 46 years. After his death, his heirs were taxed for his lands in Milford Township and Turbett Township, up until 1851. He was buried in the Kilmer cemetery in Turbett Township.6 He left a house and two lots in Perrysville, at Market and Second streets, with a frame house, stable and shop, also a 10-acre tract in Turbett Township with a two-story log house, double log barn, water well and other improvements. His widow Elizabeth, married by 1846 to the carpenter William Rice, petitioned the orphan’s court for permission to sell the properties for payment of debt and to maintain the surviving child Matilda, her daughter with Martin.7 The 1860 census record shows William Rice, Elizabeth, Theodore age 18, Matilda Basom age 17, 6 younger Rice children between ages of 13 and 1. William must have been married before and had Theodore, then married Elizabeth and had 6 more children. William was a carpenter.
Martin may have been a carpenter, from the lath and saws in his inventory. The inventory in the Perrysville house included a bureau, six rocking chairs, a looking glass, six other chairs, a mantle clock, a nine-plate stove, a wooden safe, breakfast table, stand, bedstead and bed, trunk, two baskets, two chests, a spinning wheel, four bushels of ears of corn, a dough trough, table, kitchen furniture, two hogs, one cow, a three-pronged fork, a turning lath, hand saws, a grindstone, and a length of carpet. Since Matilda was a minor under 14, she needed a guardian for her property rights and the court appointed Samuel Rice, a merchant of Perrysville.8
Child of Martin and Elizabeth:
Matilda, b. ab. 1843, d. 1923. In 1860 Matilda was living with William and Elizabeth, 17 years old.9 She later married Henry Solker and lived in Derry Township, Mifflin County.10 She died in 1923 and is buried with Henry at Lind Cemetery, Lewistown, Mifflin County.11
Rudolph Jr, born about 1805, married Julia Ann about 1832, moved to Ohio, then to Indiana by 1840.12 A farmer. In Clinton Twp, Laporte County, Indiana in the census from 1850 through 1870. Rudolph died in 1875; Julia died in 1872; buried at Union Mills, Laporte County, Indiana.13 Rudolph left a will.
Children of Rudolph and Julia Ann:
Benjamin F, b. 1834, married Sarah Eaton, moved to Missouri
Jane, b. 1835, d. 1914, no evidence on marriage
Catherine Matilda, b. 1839, d. 1912, m. Daniel Leming, stayed in Indiana
Harriet, b. 1842, d. 1914, m. Sidney Aker, moved to Kansas
Emily Samantha, b. 1844, d. 1930, m. Abraham Aker, stayed in Indiana
Peter, born about 1805, no further solid information There was a Peter Basan who married Catherine Sponenburg, and moved to Columbia County, Pennsylvania, northeast of Perry and Juniata Counties. He was in the 1840 census there, in Briar Creek Township, already with seven children, still there in 1850.14 He is consistently listed in the census as Basan or Boson (1850 through 1880). He died Nov. 5, 1881; Catherine died in 1895, buried at Miffinville Cemetery, Columbia County. They had nine known children.15 The change in the name would be unusual, but it is certainly common for the Basam name to be misspelled.
Abraham was born 27 Dec 1804, married Christina Carney about 1829. In the 1840 census Abraham and Christina were in Armstrong Township, Clarion County, with two sons and three daughters. By 1850 they were still in Clarion County, but now in Clarion Township, with three more children. They were still in Clarion Township in 1860. Abraham died in 1864; Christian died 1871, age 67. He wrote his will on Dec 23, 1864, and died the next day. The family was to keep the farm until the youngest child was of age, then to sell it.16 They were buried at Asbury Cemetery, Strattanville, Clarion County.17 There is a fine picture of Abraham with a full beard there in the Findagrave record.18 Abraham and Christina had 8 children.
Children of Abraham and Christina:19
Mary Catherine, b. June 1830, married Richard Ion
Eve, b. 1834, d. 1898, married Samuel Douglas
Margaret, b. 1836, married William Spangler
Andrew, b. 1838, d. 1864, Fredericksburg, Virginia of injuries sustained in battle, left a wife and son.
Levi, b. 1838, d. 1906, moved to Maryland
Calvin, b. 1841, served in the Civil War, lost a leg in battle.20
George, b. 1845, moved to Texas?
Clara Jane, b. 1849, d. 1910, married Samuel Spangler, lived in Beaver County, PA
Elizabeth, no further information, may have died young.
Ann or Nancy, supposedly married Peter Weaver.21 In 1830 Peter Weaver was in Walker Township, Mifflin County, with two children. By 1840 he had six children. If he is the same Peter Weaver who moved to Mifflin Township, Dauphin County by 1850, with a wife Ann Mary and nine children, it this is the wrong Peter Weaver. Her maiden name was Schwab. 22
Daniel, no further information, an Ancestry tree says he married and had a son Jesse. Supposedly died on Jan. 30, 1845 in Greenwood Township. No source found for this.
- There was a Joseph Shirk, from the Shirk family of Franklin County, who married a Mary Margaret and ended up in Indiana with ten children, including children named David and Elizabeth. (Indiana death certificates, federal census of 1860 and 1870). Her name may have been Beeson, barely acceptable as a variant of Basom. The more serious problem is that there are no records of David and Elizabeth with a family, in Franklin County or elsewhere. There is a David Beson in Washington Township, Franklin County, in the 1830 census, adjoining a John Beson. They both have young children. At first glance this is David and his brother John. However this is actually evidence against him as David Basom, not for him, since John Basom, if he is the one who married Nancy Haxton, had all of his children born in Ohio. Finally there is a David Basom, age 56, living in an inn in Haines Township, Centre County in the 1860 census; this is a poor match for David’s presumed age, and still leaves the question of where he was from 1830 through 1860. ↩
- The church record is saved on an Ancestry tree. ↩
- Note that these are good Basom names, several matching John’s siblings. ↩
- Record saved on an Ancestry tree. ↩
- From Ancestry trees, Findagrave, federal census records. ↩
- Cemetery index for Juniata County. This was an old graveyard with many unmarked graves; the oldest is 1811. (Rootsweb page for cemeteries in Turbett Township, under Juniata County) ↩
- Juniata County Orphan’s Court Record, Juniata County Courthouse, Mifflintown; also on PA Probate Records on Familysearch. ↩
- The records and inventory are from the Orphans Court Records of Juniata County, in the courthouse. ↩
- Census record for Perryville Township, Juniata County for 1860. ↩
- 1900 federal census, Derry, Mifflin County, Image 26. ↩
- Findagrave. Henry’s date of birth is missing from their shared stone, given only as “19”. An oddity. ↩
- 1840 federal census in Laporte County, Indiana. Who was the Rhuda Basom in Buffalo Twp, Union County in the 1830 census with 2 daughters under five? If it was Rudolph and Julia, then they were married about 1825 and had two daughters who died young, and no other childen until about 1834 when Benjamin was born. ↩
- Findagrave. ↩
- 1840 federal census, Briar Creek Township, Columbia County, indexed as Basan. 1850 federal census, same place, indexed as Basin. In 1860 indexed as Bosson in Mifflin Township, Columbia County. In 1880 census still in Mifflin Township, indexed as Basin. ↩
- There are no Bason administrations in Columbia County before 1909 (index on Familysearch). ↩
- PA Wills & Probate Records, Clarion County, Will dockets A-B, on Ancestry. ↩
- Findagrave ↩
- This is the line of researcher Michael Merryman. ↩
- From his will, census records, Findagrave, Ancestry trees. ↩
- His obituary in the Clarion newspaper, on Findagrave. ↩
- A letter from Noah Zimmer to Harry Focht in 1987 is apparently the only source for this. ↩
- There was a Peter Weaver married to an Anna Maria, born 1806, but she was a Schwab. They were buried in Lykens Township, Dauphin County (Findagrave). The children of Peter and Ann Mary Schwab were: David, Rebecca, Susanna, Mary, Jonathan, Elizabeth, Sarah Ann, Catherine, Ann Eliza. ↩