DON CURTIS - re: Franks, Furst/First, Troxel(l)
Don:
I really hope you do get this e-mail.(WELL IT BOUNCED AGAIN SO I AM POSTING HERE in response to your email to me)
You are very correct, Don- this genealogy mess is a big one, indeed, concerning the identification of WHICH Catherine First/Furst we are talking about, and WHICH Jacob or John Troxell we are talking about, and WHICH is buried where.
The information you sent me from Susan Franks Leininger is fascinating.Her comments are well-taken, and we all need to try to unravel the confusion of the individuals Catherine First, Catherine A. First, Catherine Ackerman First - who all appear (at least in MY mind) to possibly be three separate individuals(or at the minimum different individuals).Because there at least three different dates of birth assigned to these three individuals (we can discuss and address this specifically later).
It is extremely interesting that one Catherine A.(Ackerman) First or Furst married one John/Jacob Troxel (the Gettysburg family whose tombstones Susan refers to and their family are well documented) and their lives happened to co-incide with another Catherine First/Furst who md. another Jacob Troxel(l) and who married either in Pennsylvania or Maryland, then moved to and lived in Fairfield County, Ohio (well-documented).This latter Jacob Troxel died in fall of 1833 in Fairfield County, Ohio (I am in process of trying to find records relating to where he may be buried - my sister and I suspect he may actually be buried in Hocking County, Ohio, but we haven't yet found burial records either in Fairfield County or Hocking as of this date, but are planning a trip down there this summer) and his widow, Catherine First/Furst Troxel then re-married a man named Adam Kuehn/Coon in Fairfield County, Ohio in 1839, and they moved on to Salisbury, Hutton Twp., Coles County, Illinois where both of them died and are buried in Whetsone Cemetery, Coles County, Illinois.I have the sources and citations to support this information.
So - as you can see - there is definite overlap of these two families, and it may take awhile to unravel the details.
My other major concern is exactly what Susan L. referred regarding the wives of Jacob First/Furst - and exactly which of his three wives are the biological mothers of the known children and, of course, there are the suspect dates of birth, dates of baptism, etc. of the children of Jaocb Furst/First.
To add to this confusion, there is YET ANOTHER Furst/First family that lived in or near Wayne County, Ohio, and I don't know yet what connection, if any, they have with the people we are discussing, but some one of their researchers suggested that Jacob Furst/First from Fayette County, PA was the father of those Furst/First in Wayne County.Another BIG series of questions to address IF any of it is true.
My primary question to you and Susan F. Leininger(or any other researcher on this family) is this:IS Charlotte Franks indeed the biological mother of my Catherine First/Furst who was born in July 1786?Some records indicate Charlotte Franks married Jacob First/Furst in Fayette County, Pennsylvania CIRCA 1786.
OR Was the previous wife of Jacob Furst the actual biological mother of the child (possibly Katrina Joanna Franck/Franks) and that this Katrina Joanna died giving birth to Catherine in 1786?Most of the trees I've found assign a date of death for Katrina Joanna as anywhere from 1781-1786.So it is possible, but I just don't know.
And, then it begs the question, IF the biological mother Katrina died, did Jacob Furst then get Charlotte Franks to come take care of the children he had in his household? And then did he marry her in 1786 or when?Because different people/trees identify that marriage as having taken place beteen 1786-1789 - so what is the correct date and who can verify it?)It is well established that Charlotte Franks/Furst and Jaocb Furst had other issue of their marriage.But - the really big question for me is whether or not the third wife of Jacob Furst/First -namely Charlotte Franks, daughter of Michael Franks, - is really the mother of the Catherine Furst/First who is my ancestor and the same Catherine Furst/First who married the Jacob Troxel who then moved to Fairfield County, Ohio.
Of course, the other possible scenario is that Charlotte Franks/Furst is indeed the biological mother of this earlier Catherine Furst/First and was already pregnant with her or delivered her in Jul 1786 and then was subsequently married to Jacob Furst later in the year.I just am asking questions. Not suggesting this is true or not.
Other online trees also name YET ANOTHER female child born in 1806-1809 with parents Jacob Furst/First/Charlotte Franks, and THAT child born to them is also named Catherine Furst/First.Could this possibly be?Would they have had a daughter at that late date and called her by same name as another biological daughter who was still living and probably married by this time? Just wondering......
My issue is in trying to find the RIGHT family to attach to my family tree.It would be lovely indeed to just start connecting this tree or that tree and make assumptions, but I am not willing to do that until or unless my speculation concerning Catherine First/Troxel can be cleared up.BECAUSE, if Charlotte Franks Furst is not the biological mother, but Katrina Franck/Franks was the biological mother, then who were her (Kartina's) parents and was she related to Charlotte Franks?Do you see where I am going with this?THAT, of course, is at the very center of the nature of my questions.
So, that's it in a nutshell.Perhaps you and Susan L. and I can continue to research together, and perhaps we'll all be able to shed some light on this terribly messed up lineage information.Thanks for taking the interest.
J. Ruth Zelenko
(Briefly I descend thru Jacob Troxel(l)b. 1782 -died Sep 1833 and buried in Ohio/md Catherine First/Furst b. Jul 1786 - remarried Adam Coon and died Nov 1851 (buried in Whetsone Cemetery,Coles County, Illinois as well as her 2nd husband), - their son Henry B. Troxel b. 1825 - died , his daughter Julia Rebecaa Troxel b. ca. 1850 - died 1913, who md. Daniel K Strickler b. 1842 - died 1919, their son DeVerl Troxel Strickler b. 1883 died 1963, my father Kenneth D. Strickler b. 1914 died 1971, and then me and my five other siblings).