"The Widow VanZandt" & Samuel PHILLIPS, married 1840's PA or NJ; HELLER.
According to a letter written in the 1970's by a now-deceased great-uncle, my g-g-g-grandfather Samuel Phillips married "the widow VanZandt" and I am hoping someone might have a clue as to her maiden name.
Supposedly, the Phillips family disowned Samuel for marrying the widow although the reason why was not specified.
She supposedly had two children - a daughter & son - from her first (VanZandt) marriage.Since her children with Samuel Phillips were born in the late 1840's I assume the children from her first marriage were born in the early 1840's.
Here is what the letter had to say about her son:
"...was in the Civil War - after a tree fell on him, he went West and became an Indian Scout - COLORADA AL - used both his name -- VAN ZANDT and his stepfather's name - PHILLIPS.Was said to have been with detachment that separated from Custer near Little Big Horn and wasn't killed."
Of the Widow VanZandt's daughter from her first marriage he wrote:
"...she had 18 children - lived at Bristol, PA.HELLER was her name."
This following would refer to the father of the widow:
"...was a Frenchman who turned up in Philadelphia about 1800.As did many other French either from France after the revolution or from the Islands (West Indies) after a slave revolution."
These families could have been from Bucks Co. or Philadelphia, PA -- or maybe even Southern NJ -- I don't know.
Anything ring a bell with anyone?