Simon Basom was born around 1823 in Juniata County, Pennsylvania. He was probably the son of Samuel and Barbara Basom. He moved to Mifflintown in January 1838 by his own account.1 He was too young to buy land, so he probably came as an apprentice. We know that he was a chairmaker, so possibly he was learning the trade.2 His brother Amos was also a carpenter; they may have come together.

By 1847 Simon owned land in Fermanagh Township. About the same year he married Lydia Howe. Her family lived in Milford Township, Juniata County, which is next to Mifflintown. By 1850 Simon and Lydia were living in Mifflintown.3 They already had two daughters, Martha and Hannah Jane (known as Jane and probably named for Lydia’s mother Hannah). Lydia died two years later, on July 24, 1852. She is buried at Westminster Presbyterian Cemetery in Mifflintown next to her father John Howe.4

On September 10, 1853 Simon petitioned for a guardian for his daughters Martha and Jane, since they were both under 14 and entitled to an interest in real estate from their late mother Lydia. He asked the court to appoint a suitable person and they chose John Howe, Lydia’s brother.

In October 1854, Simon married Susanna Boyd of Perry County.5 They were married in Newport, Perry County, by Rev. Franklin Gearhart, a Methodist minister. Years later, in applying for a widow’s pension, Susanna claimed that she was Simon’s only wife and that she had not been previously married. However the deposition also states that “Her maiden name was Susan Webb,”  which suggests that she had been married to a Boyd.

In August 1862 Simon enlisted in the army for a nine-month term, in Company I, 126th Regiment.6 The regiment was mustered in a week later in Harrisburg. They moved south in late August, heading for Virginia. In the middle of September they marched toward Antietam but arrived after the battle was over.7 By December Simon was suffering from a lung disorder, probably tuberculosis. The commanding officer of his regiment, Amos Martin, later stated that Basom was stricken with hemorrhage of the lungs and severe diarrhea in the winter of 1862-63, which kept him in the hospital during the engagement at Fredericksburg in December 1862. Basom did not recover from his illness and was invalided out in January 1863 on a Surgeon’s Certificate. 8

Simon’s discharge removed him from high risk of death in battle. The regiment distinguished itself at the battle of Fredericksburg, in December 13, 1862, by “a furious charge upon the enemy behind the historic stone wall, where seventy-seven of its members were killed and wounded.”9

Cornelius McClellan, a friend of Simon’s for fifteen years before they enlisted together, painted a vivid picture of Simon that winter.10

“Just before the battle of Fredericksburg on December the 11^th 1862 we broke camp early in the morning when about a mile from camp Basom gave out. He asked the captain for a pass to fall back as he was not able to march and for some reason he refused to give him one. He then appealed to me and I went to the surgeon and got a pass for him and the regiment went some farther and lay all day in a swampy field and Basom then came up to us and in the evening we fell back to high ground and camped for the night and Basom lay with his feet to my head. It was a very cold night and heavy white frost in the morning and when he got up in the morning of 12^th he took a spell of coughing and he coughed up great clots of blood.

On the 13^th we crossed the river. The regiment went into the fight, but Co. I was detailed for hospital duty to attend to the wounded and sick. I was detailed and sent away from the company to prepare a church for a hospital and did not see Basom for several days. The Army crossed the river on Monday night and Tuesday Co. I was kept for further duty at the new hospital on the north side of the river. Several days afterwards I saw Basom. I thought he would die before he would go home. His discharge from his disability was in contemplation at this time. He done no duty after that to my knowledge and he was discharged for disability on the 13^th day of January 1863. He was very much …  and never gained much strength up till the time of his death.”

Another friend, George Goshen, wrote that he knew Basom for ten years before his enlistment and never heard him complain of lung disease.  (To get a pension Simon needed to show that his illness was contracted while serving in the army.)  That winter Goshen took Basom many times to the surgeon when he was coughing up blood. “He was never very stout after his return home. He done painting for me but was not very able to work. He was confined to the house a long time before he died.” Basom’s neighbors John North and Samuel Showers also testified as to his illness, adding that his hemorrhage was “very bad and dangerous”. Showers was Simon’s son-in-law, so he possibly had a vested interest in this matter.11

After his medical discharge Simon returned home to Mifflintown. Instead of carpentry, he now worked as a painter.12 In 1866 the county treasurer paid him for painting and papering at the county prison.13 In 1860 he and Susan had four children living with them (Hannah, Margaret, Mary and John), and one apprentice painter. Simon’s daughter Martha, from his first marriage, was living across the street.14 Simon and Susan lived on Third Street in Mifflintown.15 John Howe, Lydia’s brother, was living across the street.

In the 1870 census Simon was listed as 45 years old, a painter. He and Susannah had two daughters, Maggie, age 14, and Mary, age 13, and two apprentices living with them, James Farmer and J. H. Kugney.16 Henry Sherwin and Edward Williams did not introduce pre-mixed paint until about 1880.  Before then a painter needed to mix his own paints out of linseed oil and pigments.

As an enterprising businessman, Simon branched out into wallpaper. He ran a series of ads in the Juniata Sentinel and Republican starting around 1871. “Mr. Simon Basom has just received, at his residence on Cherry Street, a fine assortment of Wall Paper, which he will dispose of at very low prices. He intends to keep a stock constantly on hand.”17

In 1874 Simon died, probably of tuberculosis. He is buried at Union Cemetery, Walker Township, Juniata County.18 His obituary described him as a long-time member of the Methodist Church and a class leader there. His death came after a long illness. “He was a good man in whose faith there was no fault.”19

Simon left no will and the Orphans Court appointed Samuel Showers, Simon’s son-in-law, to administor the estate.20 Samuel reported that the personal estate was not sufficient to pay Simon’s debts, which amounted to over $1,000, typical of the time. Simon and Susan owned a house, which was sold at auction and raised $1400. This paid off the debts but left only $296.53 in the account to be distributed to the heirs.

Susan decided to move to Sandusky, Ohio, with her two daughters Maggie and Mary, and in 1880 she applied for a widow’s pension. She claimed that Simon became ill while serving in the Army, was discharged for medical reasons and died of his condition. The army ruled that his lung disease existed before his enlistment and refused to pay.  In January 1884 the Juniata Sentinel and Republican reported that the widow of Simon Basom died at the home of her son-in-law William E. Fought, in Fremont, Ohio, aged 70.

Children of Simon and Lydia:

Hannah Jane, called “Jane”, b. May 11, 1845, d. Oct 1, 1911, m. Samuel H. Showers. He had three children with his first wife, Euphemia North; Jane and Samuel had more four children. Samuel died in 1904, and around 1907 Jane married again, probably to Joseph Postlethwait.21 She died on Oct. 1, 1911, in Altoona.22

Children of Samuel and Euphemia: (surname Showers)23

Mary, b. ab. 1861, married, no further information.

Edith, b. Dec 14, 1862, d. 1925, m. Luther Fisher, a house painter, lived in 1910 in Dauphin County.

Lewis McClellan, b. 1864. d. 1948, lived in Altoona, worked as a painter for the railroad, m. Elma McCullough.

Children of Samuel and Jane (surname Showers)24

Nellie, married Frederick C. Walker, in 1900 in Phila. as a clerk for the RR25

Roy, d. Lawrence County, PA, 1923, unmarried, no occupation26

Victor, b. 10 Dec. 1875, d. 1943 in Pittsburgh, a linotype operator, married Helen Farraday. They lived in Altoona, Johnstown, then Pittsburgh.

Ethel, b. 1886, m. Fred Sunday, in 1920 in Burlington County, NJ where he was a carpenter for the railroad; in 1930 in Mercer County, where he still worked for the railroad. Apparently no children.

Martha Hamlin, b. 1849, d. 1910, m. in 1866 Moses Pannebaker, son of Joseph & Polly.27 Moses served in the Civil War (in the same regiment as Simon and Moses’ older brother Daniel). In 1870 Moses and Martha were living in Mifflintown.28 Moses was working for Simon as a painter. Martha died in 1910 and in 1912 Moses married Mary Ella Swilger.29 Moses died suddenly on Nov. 6, 1921.30 He is buried with Martha at Westminster Presbyterian Cemetery in Mifflintown.

Children of Martha and Moses:31

Jesse May, b. May 1, 1868, d. 1953, m. 1891 Harry W. LaPorte, lived in Tyrone, Blair County, had children Ada, Ira Foster, Virgil, Richard, Harry, Karl.

Corbett Basom, b. Sept. 6, 1870, d. 1929, m. 1895 Annie Rollman, buried at Westminster, had children Mary Edna, Ralph, Geraldine.

Joseph Clinton, b. April 30, 1873, d. 1886, buried at Westminster.

Van Irvin, b. Nov. 7, 1877, d. Jan 1973, m. Gertrude Morgan (d. 1951), lived in Tyrone, a blacksmith,  buried at Eastlawn, Tyrone, had children Boyd, Ruth, Helen.

Boyd Murray, b. Dec. 7, 1880, d. April 1950, no children, buried at Westminster.

Clarence Howe, b. Aug. 19, 1883, d. 1936, m. 1) 1910 Anna Swails, divorced in 1913, m. 2) in 1914 Daisy Kaufman in Floyd County, Indiana, living in Louisville, Kentucky at the time of the marriage, no children, buried at Westminster.32

Blanche Wright, b. Jan. 6, 1886, d. 1954 in Dauphin Co, lived with Jessie & Harry in Tyrone in 1900;  On Oct. 9, 1911, she married Lewis M. Steele in Louisville, Kentucky.33 By 1920 she was back in Lewistown, working as a housekeeper, as Blanche Steele. Ada Long remembered Blanche as a spinster. Soon afterwards Blanche married Austin Freeman Wescott. He was a pilot who sailed the Panama Canal. Buried together at Westminster.

Alton Scholl, b. Oct. 22, 1888, d. October 1973 in Tyrone, m. Margaret Dry, children Richard, Robert, Alton, William.

Jane “Bessie”, b. June 22, 1893, m. FNU Hamer, died after 1953, possibly in Florida, no children.

Children of Simon and Susan:

Margaret, called “Mame” by the family, b. Sept 1857, married William E. Fought on Aug 25, 1881 in Sandusky, Ohio34. She was his second wife, he had a son with his first wife Sarah Richards. He was born in 1852 in Sandusky County, worked as a farmer and carpenter, died suddenly in 1920, left Margaret and four sons—Arthur (with his first wife), Clarence, Harry and Earl.35 Maggie died in 1930.

Mary, b. Feb. 7, 1857, married John Wesley Shirk (b. 1853), lived in Tyrone; he was a house carpenter.36 He died in June 1828; she died 1931; they are buried at Eastlawn Cemetery.37 They had a son Harry.

John W, b. ab. 1858, no further record, in the 1860 census, probably died young.

Samuel Basom was born about 1792, possibly in Dauphin County. When he was young his parents bought a farm in Greenwood Township, Cumberland County (later Perry County). Samuel probably grew up on the farm there with his many brothers and sisters. His parents Rudy and Elizabeth died within a few years of each other in 1813 and 1816, leaving behind a large family of grown sons and younger children. The grown sons, including Samuel, may have taken some of the younger ones into their families.

There are only a few records for Samuel, and many blanks in his history. Even the list of his children is conjectural. In 1830 he was in Fermanagh, Mifflin County with a wife and five children, two boys and three girls.1 His wife was Barbara Page, daughter of George and Rebecca. The will of her father George Page, proved in 1815 and supposedly written in 1811, includes a daughter, Barbara, who married a Basom.2  To be married by 1811, she was probably born about 1792, about the same age as Samuel. Samuel and Barbara came from Mennonite families, and the Mennonites had no tradition of keeping vital records.3

In 1840 Samuel was no longer in Fermanagh Township.4 There was a Samuel Basan or Basam in two nearby townships, one in Decatur with ten children, and one in Granville with six children.5.]  It is difficult to decide which of these might be the right Samuel. It does seem more likely that he did not have ten children. Samuel supposedly died in 1847 in Mifflintown, which is close to both Decatur and Granville, across the line in Juniata County. Barbara outlived Samuel by twenty-five years.6

Because Samuel died relatively young, he did not live to see the Civil War, and the problem it posed for Mennonites, who had a strong pacifist tradition. The state of Pennsylvania permitted them to file conscientious objector depositions, yet many chose to enlist, including Samuel’s son Simon. Would he have enlisted if Samuel were still alive?7

Samuel and Barbara had five children shown in the 1830 census record. The names of some of them are known, although it should be kept in mind that some of these might be children of his brother Jacob, and conversely some children listed for Jacob may actually be children of Samuel. There are clues that help place children in this family. Amos and Simon were both carpenters and both lived in Fermanagh Township, Mifflin County, as did their presumed sisters Martha Ellis and Elizabeth Reynolds. Catherine and Christian Martin lived in Greenwood Township, and her placement in this family is probably the weakest of the five. There was a Philip Basom taxed in Tuscarora Township, Juniata County, in 1851 as a laborer; he could have been another son. After that he disappears from local records.

After Samuel died Barbara lived with her old neighbors Joseph and Polly Pannebaker in 1850, possibly keeping house for them.8 (They were adjoining Samuel and Barbara in the 1830 census.) Barbara was listed in the census as 50 years old, making her born in 1800, surely off by several years. Joseph and Polly’s son Moses Pannebaker would grow up to marry Martha Basom, Barbara’s granddaughter.

According to a Juniata County newspaper, Barbara Basom died in Mifflintown, Juniata County on May 26, 1873 at the age of 77 years and 17 days. 9 This very specific date also has to be off by several years.

It is interesting that Samuel and Barbara named a son Amos Winey Basom.There was a large Winey family in the area, Mennonites, with an Amos born 1800, son of Jacob Winey and Anna Keeler. Amos was an admirable Mennonite, raising 13 children, four of whom became ministers.10 Since there is no obvious family relation between Samuel and Barbara and the Wineys, the name was possibly a tribute to Amos as a fellow Mennonite.

Probable children of Samuel and Barbara:11

The evidence for Catherine is weakest of these five. She may be a daughter of Jacob and Catherine instead. The evidence for Martha, Amos, Simon and Elizabeth is stronger, and is strongly based on where they lived.

Catherine, b. ab. 1820, m. Christian Martin, lived in Juniata County where he was a carpenter.12 In 1850 they were in Greenwood Township, in 1860 in Monroe Township (split off from Greenwood in 1858). Catherine was his second wife, married on June 12, 1842; they had thirteen children in addition to the six with his first wife.13 By 1870 they were in Fayette County, Iowa, where Christian worked as a millwright. Catherine died between 1870 and 1880. In 1880 Christian had only one child at home, the youngest, age twelve. Christian died in 1884, in West Union, Fayette County.

Children of Catherine and Christian:14

Mary, b. ab. 1844, no further information

James, b. ab. 1845, an apprentice carpenter in 1860, no further information

Henry Clay, b. 1846, d. 1921 in Buchanan County, MO; m. Freda Julia Schieber, fought in the Civil War, a farmer.

William, b. ab. 1848, no further information

Jacob, b. ab. 1850, no further information

Clara Ann, b. ab. 1858, m. Henry Bartlett in 1906 in Brainard, Fayette County, Iowa , as Caroline Reed.

Franklin Pierce, b. 1852, d. 1932 in Fayette County, Iowa, m. Sarah Hopkins; a farmer

John, b. ab. 1854, m. Louisa Rogers, living in Fayette County in 1925

Charlie, b. ab. 1857, m. Hattie Bates, living in Fayette County in 1925

Margaret, “Maggie”, b. 1861, m. 1) Bill Basford in 1882; he died in 1885; m. 2) John H. Bartlett in 1893; moved to DeKalb county, Missouri by 1900, widowed by 1910, died 1914 in Fayette County, Iowa.

Sarah, b. 1864, m. George Tripp, a farmer in Pleasant Grove, Fayette County, Iowa; she d. 1934, buried there.

George, b. ab. 1867, no further information

Martha “Muzzy” was born Aug 1822 in Juniata Co. She married Alexander Ellis about 1839; she was quite young. They settled in Fermanagh Township, Juniata County, where he was a blacksmith. They had four children by 1850, and added more by 1860. In 1870 they were in Mifflintown, still with six children, and moved to Lewistown by 1880.15  Alexander died in Aug 1886, and Martha went to live with her son Steward, a grocery man in Mifflintown; there in 1900.16 She died 7 Dec 1904 in Mifflintown, was buried at Westminster Presbyterian Cemetery.

Children of Alexander and Martha:17

Catherine Sarah, b. 1844, d. 1917, m. John Stump, lived in Mifflintown.

Mary, b. 1847, d. 1931 in Madison County, Nebraska, m. Augustus Cunningham; he was a farmer.

William, b. 1849, d. 1932 in Harrisburg, m. Annie Kinser, m. 1911 Effie Mills; he was a blacksmith.

Everard, b. 1852, d. 1923 in South Bend, Indiana, m. Mary Ann Chubb. A blacksmith, he probably moved to South Bend to work at the large Oliver Plow Works there. Died in 1923 when he was run over by a truck.

Caroline (Carrie), b. 1853, single in 1880 census.

Stewart, b. 1858, d. 1935 in Mifflintown, m. Mary Martha “Mattie” Hinkle, kept a general store in Mifflintown for many years.

Ida Rebecca “Becky”, b. 1861, d. 1924 in Lewistown, m. 1882 Samuel Rarrick; he was a brakeman for the railroad.

John Bradford, b. 1863, m. Ida LNU; he was a machinist in Lewistown in 1900.

Amos Winey was born in April 1824. He married Sarah McCurdy in 1848 and in 1850 they were living on the farm of her father Thomas in Fermanagh Township, Juniata County.18 Although he worked as a farmer, he also appears on the tax list for Fermanagh as a cabinetmaker.19 In 1855 Amos and Sarah moved to Iowa, and had three children there: Fremont, Victoria J. and Eva.20 In 1856 he was assessed for keeping a hotel.21

Amos had a bad temper and did not get along with his family; in fact he left them for several years and went back to Pennsylvania. His daughter Eva and her husband moved in with Sarah and helped her run the farm. At the time Amos promised the farm to Fremont if he would take care of Sarah. As Fremont testified later in court, “Father said to me: “I am going to leave. I am going away and if you will stay and take care of mother we will give you this eighty acres of land at her death. And I told him I would. Father done the principal part of  the talking.” Amos went away for several years, then returned to Iowa.

Sarah died in 1893. After her death Amos and his daughters took Fremont to court over the farm. The court ruled that whatever agreement was made was superceded by later arrangements between Sarah and Fremont.22  Amos died in March 1900 and was buried in Carrollton.23 He and Sarah are buried together in Dedham Cemetery.24

Children of Amos and Sarah:25

Taylor Fremont, b. 1851, d. 1911, buried Dedham Cemetery, Carroll County, Iowa, m. 1874 Lucinda Cretzinger, had six children.

Victoria Jane, b. 1851, d. 1906, buried Dedham Cemetery, Carroll County, Iowa, m. William Spencer Winnette

Eva, b. Aug 1858, m. 1) Evan Heater, m. 2) FNU McDonald, m. 3) in 1899 Joseph Blake26, possibly m. 4) Evan Heater again, m. 5) T. A. Davis. She lived in Ainsworth, Nebraska (with Heater), Carroll County, Iowa (with McDonald and Blake), Van Buren County, Arkansas (with Heater the second time around and with Davis). She had children Charles W, Pearl W, Earl, Winnie.

Simon was born about 1825 and moved to Mifflintown as a young man, working as a chair maker. He married Lydia Howe about 1846 and had two daughters with her before her death. Then he married Susanna Boyd in 1854 and had two daughters and a son with her. In 1862 Simon enlisted in the Civil War. His regiment, the 126^th, marched toward Antietam, arrived too late for that battle, but fought at the battle of Fredericksburg. Simon was coughing up blood, probably from tuberculosis, and was unable to fight. He was discharged a month later, in January  1863 and returned home.27 After his discharge he returned home to Mifflintown and worked as a painter. He died in 1874, at a relatively young age, and was buried in Union Cemetery, Walker Township. Susan moved to Sandusky, Ohio, with her two daughters Maggie and Mary, and died in 1884 at the house of her daughter Maggie Fought in Fremont, Ohio.

Children of Simon and Lydia:

Hannah Jane, “Jane or Jennie”, b. 18 May 1847, m. Samuel H. Showers, a coachmaker, as his second wife; he had three children with his first wife Euphemia North and four children with Hannah Jane. After Samuel died in 1904 she may have married again. Jane died in 1911.28

Martha Hamlin, b. 1849, d. 1910, m. 1866 Moses Pannebaker, son of Joseph & Polly.29 Moses worked as a blacksmith as a young man, served in the Civil War, came back, married Martha, worked as a house painter for her father Simon Basom. Moses and Martha had nine children before her death in 1910 from consumption.30 He married Mary Ella Swilger in 1912 and died in 1921. Moses and Martha are buried together at Westminster Presbyterian Cemetery in Mifflintown.31

Children of Simon and Susan:

Margaret, b. Sept 1857, d. 1930, married William E. Fought on Aug 25, 1881 in Sandusky, Ohio32. She was his second wife, he had a son with his first wife Sarah Richards. He was born in 1852 in Sandusky County, worked as a farmer and carpenter, he died suddenly in 1920, left Margaret and 4 sons: Arthur (with his first wife), Clarence, Harry and Earl. William and Margaret lived in Fremont, Ohio.33 They are buried together at Four Mill House Cemetery, Fremont.

Mary, b. ab. 1857, married John Wesley Shirk (b. 1853), lived in Tyrone; he was a house carpenter.34

John W, b. ab. 1858, no record past the 1860 census, probably died young

Elizabeth, born April 29, 1828, died June 21, 1906 in Fermanagh Township, Juniata County, married Jacob Reynolds, buried at Lost Creek Cemetery.35 In 1860 census they were in Fermanagh, with seven children.36  Jacob registered for the draft for the Civil War in 1863, for the 9-months service, living in Fermanagh.37 In the 1870 census he was back in Fermanagh; a farmer.38 He died in 1872; Elizabeth stayed on the farm after his death. Two of her sons, Samuel and David, were boarding in the McAlisterville Soldiers Orphan School in 1880. Elizabeth died in 1906 and is buried with Jacob at Little Creek Mennonite Cemetery.

Children of Elizabeth and Jacob:39

Frances, b. 1848, d. 1923, m. David E. Shellenberger, lived in Altoona

Lewis, b. 1849, d. 1898, m. Annie King

Jane, b. 1850, no further information

Henry, b. 1853, in 1870 working on the farm of D. Shellenberger, no further information

Debra Emma, b. ab. 1856, no further information

William Henry, b. 1858, d. 1924 in Jackson County, Michigan, a farmer, married Fiedella Street.

John H, b. 1860, no records past 1870

Ada C., b. ab. 1862, no records past 1870

Anna Mary, b. 1864, d. 1920 in Jackson County, Michigan, m. 1) Harrington, m. 2) 1907 William Straight; William was a carpenter.

Samuel B, b. ab. 1865, , d. 1890, buried at Lost Creek Mennonite Cemetery, m. Emma Woods

David Simon, b. 1867, d. 1952, a farmer, m. Bertha Pannebaker

Elizabeth, b. 1869, d. 1955 in Otsego County, Michigan, m. John W. Bruder in 1895

Rebecca May, b. 1871, d. 1943, m. James Cummings in 1900 in Juniata County, he was a blacksmith.