Re: Children of "Old" Andrew Gudgel
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In reply to:
Children of "Old" Andrew Gudgel
Chuck Gross 4/14/00
Dear Chuck, While many references report that Old Andrew had 17 kids, by three wives, I think when this gets all sorted out there may be only 2 wives and fewer kids.
Barbara is the name of the 1st or 2nd wife (before Betsy Payne/Kane/Hayne). The name Barbara shows up in court documents in Fayette Co., PA in the 1770s-80s when Old Andrew began to sell his property at the timehe left for KY. At that time people interviewed the wife separately to determine if she objected.
Many people feel that the name Catherine is Andrew's first wife because Andrew Gotshall and Catherine show up in Bucks Co, PA in the 1740-50s when a few children were baptized and when this man was a sponsor for his sister's kids. But I have always contented that we need more data to firmly connect the Bucks Co Andrew (and Catherine) with the Fayette Co Andrew. We do have one very strong lead and that is a debt that our Andrew skipped out on that caught up with him 20 yrs later. In 1758 or so Andrew borrowed money from Joseph Ball and Ball's son finally found Andrew (we guess) in Fayette Co 20 yrs later and there was much to do with this debt collection in the court dockets in Fayette Co.
But we do not find the children of this Bucks Co Andrew either coming with him to KY -- although they may have been married by then; and either do we find communication with his siblings for whom he was a sponsor for their kids. We do have the will of this Bucks Co Andrew's father so we know siblings and parents' names from that. But I personally need a lot more data to be convinced.
As for Andrew's children by this wife Barbara, I would suggest going to the Gudgel Web site and join the "list-group" where we share data.
Dianne Gudgel-Holmes
Anchorage