Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Friederika (Keller) Kicherer (1833-early 1870s): The Weaver-Farmer’s Wife

Footloom[1]

The Weaver’s Wife[2]
Her husband Frederick sat at the loom in his weaving room, older than she by ten years, confident in his occupation and status in the community. She could see him behind the large timber uprights, working on a coverlet from a neighbor woman’s blue and white wool yarn. The fineness of the woman’s spinning and the quality of Frederick’s workmanship guaranteed a lovely product. Frederick produced all manner of fine and coarse cloth goods for the local farm community, from coverlets to grain sacks. The farmers’ wives brought him the homespun wool yarn from their sheep and the tow and linen yarn they painstakingly prepared from their flax. He transformed it into shawls, fabric for clothing, bedding, towels, and kitchen linens. Her husband’s craft was important to this western Pennsylvania farming community.[3]

The Young Mother
Wed to the weaver as a teenager, Friederika was just eighteen when her first child was born, a son.[4] As he reached toddlerhood, she had to keep him away from the threads in the weaving room. Her second child, born two years later, was also a son.[5] This was good because the boys would grow up to help her husband on the farm. Like most professional weavers, Frederick also had a small farm, forty-seven acres, to help feed his family.[6] It was forested land, and clearing it was hard, tedious work. As the boys grew up they would be able to help with logging and digging up stumps so the land could be tilled.

In early 1856, Friederika gave birth to a daughter, a promise of help with the household, animals, and the kitchen garden.[7] The next year her husband bought two oxen.[8] Frederick would then have help clearing the land and could plant more food for their growing family. The labor pains came again in 1857 with another daughter and still another in 1860.[9] By that time Frederick had cleared eighteen acres and his harvest for the year brought in a bushel of peas, three of potatoes, a little rice, some oats and buckwheat. There was enough tobacco for his pipe, too. Butchering the four cattle and three pigs provided meat, and Friederika churned 150 pounds of butter.[10] Compared to their neighbors, this was not a lot of produce, but Friederika could count on her husband’s weaving to bring in the remainder of the family’s food needs in trade.

In eleven years, Friederika bore five children, pregnant for nine months, then feeding the new baby for about a year until she weaned it and became pregnant again. She gave birth to a fourth daughter in 1868.[11] The eight years between this baby and the last one may mean that two or three children were born that did not survive infancy. The boys by then were teenagers and strong farm workers, her oldest daughter twelve and taking on more responsibility all the time.

The Farmer’s Wife
Around 1870 Frederick transitioned from part-time weaving and part-time farming to full-time farming. He sold his oxen, as he and the boys were through clearing farmland. They had half again as much acreage in cultivation as ten years before. With his family of workers Frederick now harvested wheat, rye, corn, oats, and buckwheat. He doubled his potato and hay production and increased the butter output by nearly half. He added a flock of sheep to his livestock, and their spun and woven wool was adequate to clothe the family with woolens for the year.[12] The fertility of the farm and Friederika kept pace with each other. She grew her family, and the farm supported it well.

Another baby would come now in springtime of 1871. If her husband were still a weaver, this would have been the end of the linen production season. Now he anticipated planting and wondered what the weather would bring in the coming year. The boys, eighteen and twenty, were strong from the labors of clearing the land, planting, and harvesting. Friederika’s oldest girls were thirteen and fifteen and nearly able to manage the household on their own. The little girls were eleven and three, rounding out the family of workers on the Kicherer farm.

Friederika, thirty-eight, gave birth to yet another daughter.[13]  Sometime after this birth, maybe the same day, maybe as late as when the little girl was beginning to talk fluently and help gather the eggs, Friederika’s life passed into darkness. This last birth, 19 March 1871, was the last tangible evidence of her passing on this earth. The weaving room now quiet, the oxen gone, and Friederika, too: the Kicherer family’s life on the farm entered another phase, this time without a mother.

---------------------------------

The remainder of this post is in two parts. The first focuses on the evidence underpinning the Kicherer family relationships. The second, a genealogical summary, presents vital data for Frederick, Friederika, and their children, along with supporting documentation.

Identifying Friederika’s Family
Proving the relationships of the Frederick Kicherer–Friederika Kellar family is challenged by a lack of birth records for the children and of marriage records for the parents and children. Unusual given names and surnames often misrepresented in existing records add another layer of complexity to proofs.

The Kicherer surname includes variants such as Keyher, Kocherer, Knickerer, and Kitchener, attempts to spell it phonetically and to conform this German surname to English. Frederick’s children shortened it to Kicher. A descendant pronounced it keeker, an approximation of the German pronunciation.[14]

Friederika’s given name is common in Germany as the feminine form of Friedrich.[15] English-speaking Americans had no trouble converting Friedrich to Frederick, but the name Friederika, with no commonly used English counterpart, caused confusion. This was especially difficult as her husband’s name was so similar to hers. The 1870 census enumerator rendered Friederika as Frederick, a male, yet her occupation was Keeping House.[16] The 1860 census lists her first daughter as Frederick, a male.[17] In 1870 this daughter is correctly listed as Fredericka, a female. By 1880 the daughter was using the name Rachel.[18]

Family sources
Kicherer descendants provided two different sources indicating that Friederika Keller was Frederick Kicherer’s wife. A family book assembled by the wife of a descendant of eldest son John gives her Keller surname, but not her given name.[19] A descendant of youngest daughter Elizabeth holds Frederick Kicherer’s 1823 German Bible. A transcription from the flyleaf reads, “Johannes. Frederick Kicherer. Born April 3, 1831 At Zaiserweiber [sic], Oberamt, Maulbroun [sic] Würtemberg [sic] Germany. He Married Rachel Fredericka Keller.”[20] The designation of Friederika as Rachel may come from knowing that Rachel was named for her mother. If so, the name was not given to Friederika (the mother) at birth.[21]

Census information

1860
1870
Frederick
37
47
Friederika
27
37
John F.
9
18
Albert
7
17
Fredericka
4
14
Polly
2
12
Teresa
4/12
10
Caroline
-----
2
Elizabeth
-----
-----

Although Friederika immigrated in 1846 with her family, she has not been found in the 1850 U. S. census.[22]  Then sixteen, she could have been living in the vicinity of her parents in Jefferson County or her older brothers in Centre County.

Friederika was enumerated only in the 1860 and 1870 U. S. censuses.[23] Neither indicates relationships among household members. The value of these censuses is that they place her in a household with her husband and children of the correct ages to be her children.

Vital records
Birth records often indicate the child’s parents. The State of Pennsylvania did not require recording of births and deaths until 1906, too late for the births of Friederika’s children. [24]

No American church records have been located for Friederika or her children. Both Lutheran and Reformed congregations existed in Henderson Township from the early 1830s.[25] Available records do not include any Kicherers.[26]

All but one of Friederika’s children died after mandatory state registration of deaths, which asked of informants the names and birthplaces of decedents’ parents. Four of six gave Keller as Friederika’s surname and three knew her given name.  Three also named Frederick as the father. Two named John, the decedents’ eldest brother, as the father. Thomas is the given name of John Kicher’s informant and of Rachel (Kicher) McPherson’s husband, names perhaps chosen in the confusion of the moment.

Decedent
Death date
Name of Father
Birthplace father
Name of Mother
Birthplace mother
Informant
John Kicher[27]
17 May 1916
Thomas [written over “Frederick”] Kicher
Germany
Fridericka Keller
Germany
Son Thomas
Albert Kicher[28]
18 Nov 1895
-----
-----
-----
-----
-----
Rachel McPherson[29]
13 March 1922
Thomas Kicher
Germany
Freadreka Keller
Germany
Daughter
Pauline Kiecher Weber[30]
10 June 1942
John Kiecher
Germany
Unknown
Germany
Daughter
Teressa Thomas[31]
11 Nov 1926
Frederick Keher
Pa.
Rachel Keller
Pa.
County home
Carrie Williams[32]
25 March 1938
John Kicher
Germany
?
?
Hospital employee
Elizabeth L. Zeigler[33]
3 April 1945
Frederick Kicher
Germany
Fredericka Keller
Germany
Daughter


Genealogical Summary

  1. Friederikab-2 Keller (Eberhard Gottfrieda-1, A, B, FelixC) was born 12 July 1833 in Roßwag, Neckarkreis, Württemberg, to Eberhard Gottfried Keller and Rosina Louisa Rammenstein.[34] She died in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, between 1871, the birth of her last child, and her husband’s remarriage in 1876.[35] About 1850–1851 she married Johann Friederich “Frederick” Kicherer.[36] Frederick was born 26 May 1823 to Johannes Kicherer and Christina Heugelin in Zaisersweiher, Maulbronn, Württemberg.[37] He died 16 February 1900 in Henderson Township.[38]

Friederikab-2 Keller and Frederick Kicherer had seven children, all born in Henderson Township, Jefferson County:
                                             2   i.    John Frederick3 Kicher was born 20 July 1851.[39] He died 17 May 1916 in Henderson Township.[40] He married Mary Trexler between 1874 and 1875.[41] Mary was born 14 November 1856 to Gottfried Trexler and Anna Catharine Hopendofer/Hookadoopler/Hoppenduplier.[42] She died 17 May 1915 in Henderson Township.[43]
                                             3  ii.    Albert William Kicher was born 28 June 1853 in Henderson Township and died there 18 November 1895.[44] He married Annetta Reber 18 or 19 January 1881 in DuBois, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania.[45] Annetta was born 15 October 1853 in Schuykill Haven, Schuykill County, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Joseph Reber and Mary Bauch, and died 22 July 1925 in Henderson Township.[46] She was raised by George and Sarah (Berkheiser) Kramer in Henderson Township.[47]
                                             4  iii.    Friederika “Rachel” Kicher was born 10 February 1856.[48]  She died 13 March 1922 in Sykesville, Jefferson County.[49] She married Thomas N. McPherson on 2 November 1876 in DuBois, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania.[50] Thomas was born 10 February 1849 in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, and died 29 October 1930 in Grove City, Pine Township, Mercer County, Pennsylvania.[51]
                                              5  iv.    Pauline Kicher was born in Henderson Township, 9 March 1857 and died 10 June 1942 in Philipsburg, Centre County, Pennsylvania.[52]   She married Frank G. Weber in Brady Township, Clearfield County, on 3 January 1882.[53] Frank was born 5 April 1861 in Philipsburg to Peter Weber and Mary Emily Parker and died there 23 August 1918.[54]
                                              6  v.    Teressa Kicher was born 10 February 1860. She died 11 November 1926 in Pine Creek Township, Jefferson County.[55] She married Daniel Thomas 28 September 1884.[56]  Daniel was born to Joseph and Christena (Shaffer) Thomas 14 May 1857 in Jefferson County, and died 18 March 1918 in Red Bank Township, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania.[57]
                                               7 vi.   Caroline "Carrie" Kicher was born 7 May 1868 and died in South Fayette Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, 25 March 1938.[58] Carrie married John Lemont “Mont” Williams, son of Joshua Bloomfield Williams and Bertha E. (--?--), 17 Dec 1901 in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County.[59]
                                              8 vii.    Elizabeth “Lizzie” Kicher was born 19 March 1871 and died in Ambridge, Beaver County, 3 April 1945.[60] She married John Zeigler in Brookville, Jefferson County, on 22 August 1895.[61] John was born in Punxsutawney, Jefferson County, 23 November 1864, son of Braden Zeigler and Susanna Spencer.[62] He died in Sewickley, Allegheny County, 19 October 1935.[63]




[1] “Webstuhl [loom],” photograph 2009 by Eifel07 / CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Webstuhl-3.JPG). All websites were accessed 9 February 2015.
[2] Frederick’s occupation is given in the county tax records. See Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, 1852 Assessment Book, Gaskill Township, unpaginated entries arranged alphabetically, Frederick Kicherer, and 1868 Assessment Book, Henderson Township (formed from Gaskill Township in 1857), Frederick Kitchen [sic]; Jefferson County Historical Society, Brookville.
[3] Ellen J. Gehret and Alan G. Keyser, “Introduction,” The Homespun Textile Tradition of the Pennsylvania Germans: An Exhibit of the Work of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers at The Pennsylvania Farm Museum of Landis Valley, 1976 (Harrisburg: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1976), 7-10.
[4] She was born 12 July 1833, her son 20 July 1851. See Evangelische Kirche Roßwag [Roßwag Lutheran Church], Kirchenbuch [Church record book], Taufen [baptisms] 2 (1808–1845): 101, Friderike Keller; Evangelischen Landeskirchenamt [Lutheran national church office], Stuttgart, Germany; Family History Library (FHL) microfilm 1,184,573. Also, “Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906–1963,” database and images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), John Kicher, 1916; Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg. Friederika’s marriage is assumed from the birth of this son. No marriage record has yet been found. The children’s names and vital information will follow in Genealogical Summary, below.
[5] A birthdate of 23 June 1853 is calculated from the age at death recorded on Albert’s tombstone. See Paradise United Church of Christ (formerly St. Peter's Lutheran Church) Cemetery, Henderson Township, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, Albert W. Kicher grave marker, photographed by the author, July 2000.
[6] Gehret and Keyser, “Introduction,” Homespun Textile Tradition, 6. No deed has been found for purchase of this land, although Frederick paid county taxes on it from 1851 through at least 1889. See Jefferson Co. Assessment Books, Gaskill Twp., 1851–1857 (1856 missing), Frederick Kicherer, and Henderson Twp., 1858–1889, Frederick Kitchener.
[7] “Mrs. T.N. McPherson Died After Brief Illness Monday,” The Post-Dispatch, Sykesville, Pennsylvania, 17 March 1922, 1.
[8] Jefferson Co. Assessment Books, Gaskill Twp., 1857, Fredrick Kichener.
[9] “Pennsylvania, Death Certificates,” Pauline Kiecher Weber, 1942. Also, for Teressa at four months old, see 1860 U. S. Census, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Henderson Township, p. 44 (penned), dwelling/family 314, Henry [sic] Keyher household; digital image, Ancestry.com; from National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) microfilm M653, roll 111.
[10] 1860 U. S. Census, Jefferson Co., Pa., agricultural schedule, Henderson Twp., p. 15, Fred Keyher Sen [sic]; NARA microfilm T1138, roll 15; FHL microfilm 1,602,254.
[11] "Pennsylvania, Death Certificates," Carrie Williams, 1938.
[12] 1870 U. S. Census, Jefferson Co., Pa., agricultural schedule, Henderson Twp., p. 3, Fredrick Kicherer; NARA microfilm T1138, roll 26; FHL microfilm 1,602,266. Also, Gehret and Keyser, “Introduction,” The Homespun Textile Tradition, 2.
[13] “Pennsylvania, Death Certificates,” Elizabeth L. Zeigler, 1945. The 1880 census lists Elizabeth's mother as born in Württemberg, while her father's wife, Pilipena, was born in Nassau.  Elizabeth, then, is likely the last child of Frederick Kicher with his wife Friederika Keller. See 1880 U. S. Census, Jefferson Co., Pa., population schedule, Henderson Twp., ED 191, p. 20, crossed out and 17 written above (penned), dwelling/family 93, Frederic Kicherer household; digital image, Ancestry.com; from NARA microfilm T9, roll 1136.
[14] Daryl Kicher (Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania) conversation with the author July 2000. Mr. Kicher is now deceased.
[15] Here it is spelled for English speakers in a way that approximates German, except when quoting documents.
[16] 1870 U. S. Census, Jefferson Co., Pa., population schedule, Henderson Twp., p. 14 (penned), dwelling 91, family 90, Frederick Kocherer household; digital image, Ancestry.com; from NARA microfilm M593, roll 1352.
[17] 1860 U. S. Census, Jefferson Co., Pa., pop. sch., Henderson Twp., p. 44 (penned), dwell/fam. 314, Henry Keyher household.
[18] 1880 U. S. Census, Jefferson Co., Pa., population schedule, Henderson Twp., p. 21 (written over 24), ED 191, dwelling/family 121, Thomas McPherson household; NARA microfilm T9, roll 1136; FHL microfilm 1,255,136.
[19] Betty D. Kicher, “Kicher,” typscript chart of the descendants of “Fred” Kicherer (d. 1900) and descendants of the grandparents of his daughter-in-law Mary (Trexler) Kicher (1859-1915), last updated 1981, p. 1; author’s files. The manuscript provides names and dates, but no places or documentation. It appears to have been compiled from family interviews and research in Jefferson County probate records. Independent research in original sources shows a number of typographical errors.
[20] Frederick Kicherer 1823 German Bible; in possession of Richard “Dick” Martin, Frederick’s great-grandson, South Park, Pennsylvania, 2014. A transcription was made of a very faded inscription on the bible’s flyleaf. It reads, “Holy Bible[,] own by Johannes Kicherer Grandfather of Lillian Zeigler Knoedler. Johannes. Frederick Kicherer. Born April 3, 1831 At Zaiserweiber [sic], Oberamt, Maulbroun [sic] Würtemberg Germany. He Married Rachel Fredericka Keller.” Photocopy of transcription provided to the author September 2014. The bible inscription is apparently too faint to photocopy or digitize.
[21] Evangelische Kirche Roßwag, Kirchenbuch, Taufen 2: 101, Friderike Keller.
[22] “New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957,” digital image, Ancestry.com, passenger list, Clarissa Andrews, 27 May 1846, p. 1, lines 12-20, Godfrey Keller family; from NARA microfilm 237, roll 61. Also, “1850 United States Federal Census,” database, Ancestry.com, search for Fred* Keller and variants, born 1833 in Germany. Friederika would be expected to be near her parents in Jefferson County or her older brothers in Centre County. See 1850 U. S. Census, Jefferson Co., Pa., population schedule, Gaskill Twp., pp. 204–205 (penned), dwelling 680, household 690, George [sic] Keller household; digital image, Ancestry.com; from NARA microfilm M432, roll 786. See also, 1850 U. S. Census, Centre Co., Pa., population schedule, Marion Twp., p. 576 (penned), dwelling/family 107, Gotlib Keller household; also, Spring Twp., p. 389 (penned), dwelling/family 37, Godfry Keller household; digital images, Ancestry.com; from NARA microfilm M432, roll 763.
[23] 1860 U. S. Census, Jefferson Co., Pa., pop. sch., Henderson Twp., p. 44 (penned), dwell/fam. 314, Henry Keyher household. Also, 1870 U. S. Census, Jefferson Co., Pa., pop. sch., Henderson Twp., p. 14 (penned), dwelling 91, family 90, Frederick Kocherer household.
[24] “Vital Statistics Records at the Pennsylvania State Archives,” Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/genealogy/3183/vital_statistics/387291), Birth and Death Records.
[25] “Two Hundred Present For Dedication Service of Renewed Paradise Church,” The Post-Dispatch, Sykesville, Pennsylvania (29 April 1960), 1, 5.
[26] St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, Paradise, Jefferson County, church records, 1892-1917; Laurel-Trinity Lutheran Church, Jennerstown, Pennsylvania; FHL microfilm 1,428,436, item 7. Also, Paradise Community United Church of Christ (formerly Paradise Reformed Church), church records from 1850 forward; held in the church safe (1999); photocopies provided by Blair E. Kuntz (Sykesville, Pa.) in 1999. Recording is spotty in the registers of both churches.
[27] “Pennsylvania, Death Certificates,” John Kicher, 1916.
[28] Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, Orphans' Court, Record of Deaths, 1893–1899, 127, line 29; Clerk of Courts, Brookville; FHL microfilm 927,545.
[29] “Pennsylvania, Death Certificates,” Rachel McPherson, 1922.
[30] “Pennsylvania, Death Certificates,” Pauline Kiecher Weber, 1942.
[31] “Pennsylvania, Death Certificates,” Mrs. Teressa Thomas, 1926.
[32] “Pennsylvania, Death Certificates,” Carrie Williams, 1938. 
[33] “Pennsylvania, Death Certificates,” Elizabeth L. Zeigler, 1945.
[34] Evangelische Kirche Roßwag, Kirchenbuch, Taufen 2: 101, Friderike Keller.
[35] For Elizabeth’s birth, see 1900 U. S. Census, Jefferson Co., Pa., population schedule, Punxsutawney, ED 74, p. 1 (penned), dwelling/household 17, John Zeigler household; digital image, Ancestry.com; from NARA microfilm T623, Roll 1417; FHL microfilm 1,241,417. For Frederick’s marriage, see “Aged Lady Dead: Mrs. Kicher, of Henderson Township, Expired Saturday,” The Post-Dispatch, Sykesville, Pa., 9 July 1909, p. 1, col. 4.
[36] The year is calculated from the 1851 birth of first child John. See also Betty D. Kicher, “Kicher,” 1. Friederika also appears with Frederick in two censuses, as above, note 23.
[37] Evangelische Kirche Zaisersweiher [Zaisersweiher Lutheran Church] (OA. Maulbronn), Taufen [Baptisms] 1808–1864, 1823, no. 11, Johann Friederich Kicherer; Evangelischen Landeskirchenamt; FHL microfilm 1,187,136.
[38] Jefferson Co., Pa., Register's Docket 4: 25, Frederick Kicherer; Register of Wills and Clerk of Orphans' Court, Brookville; FHL microfilm 927,544.
[39] “Pennsylvania, Death Certificates,” John Kicher, 1916. Also, 1900 U. S. Census, Jefferson Co., Pa., population schedule, East Henderson Twp., ED 64, p. 1 (penned), dwelling/household 5, John F. Kicher household; digital image, Ancestry.com; from NARA microfilm T623, roll 1416. The 1860 census, closest to John’s birth, gives his age as nine, likely a rounding up. See 1860 U. S. Census, Jefferson Co., Pa., pop. sch., Henderson Twp., p. 44 (penned), dwell/fam. 314, Henry Keyher household.
[40] “Pennsylvania, Death Certificates,” John Kicher, 1916.
[41] As of the1900 census date (1 June) they had been married twenty-five years. See 1900 U .S. Census, Jefferson Co., Pa., pop. sch., East Henderson Twp., ED 64, p. 1 (penned), dwell/fam. 5, John F. Kicher household.
[42] “Pennsylvania, Death Certificates,” Mary Kicher, 1915. For the alternate surnames, see Kicher, “Kicher,” 1, which also gives 17 December 1859 as her birthdate. For age and parents, see 1860 U. S. Census, Jefferson Co., Pa., population schedule, Henderson Twp., p. 46, dwelling/family 328, Godfrey Drexler household, continued on p. 47, dwelling 329, family 330 [sic], Catharine Drexlor household; from NARA microfilm M653, roll 1118; FHL microfilm 805,118.
[43] “Pennsylvania, Death Certificates,” Mary Kicher, 1915.
[44] The birthdate is calculated from Albert’s age at death as recorded on his tombstone. See Paradise United Church of Christ, Albert W. Kicher grave marker. The 1860 census likely rounds his age up to seven, which he would have been later that month. See 1860 U. S. Census, Jefferson Co., Pa., pop. sch., Henderson Twp., p. 44 (penned), dwelling/family 314, Henry Keyher household. The 1870 census gives his age as seventeen, in line with the 1860 census. See 1870 U. S. Census, Jefferson Co., Pa., pop. sch., Henderson Twp., p. 14 (penned), dwelling 91, family 90, Frederick Kocherer household.
[45] For 18 January, see Bruce E. Gray, compiler, Friderika (Keller) Kicher Descendants to Grandchildren, a Gedcom created from Gray's personal database and provided October 2003 by Gray (Midvale, Utah). The database includes some source citations. For 19 January see Kicher, “Kicher,” p. 5.
[46] “Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906–1963,” Annetta Kicher, 1925. See also, for the location, Gray, Friderika (Keller) Kicher Descendants.
[47] jshepps29, owner, “Shepps-Schoeps Jan 2012_2013-10-08_2014-02-04,” family tree, Ancestry.com  (http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/67020003/person/36164731796?pgnum=1), “Mrs. Sarah Kramer,” digital image of obituary, [The Post-Dispatch, Sykesville, Pa.], [May 1905].
[48] “Mrs. T.N. McPherson Died After Brief Illness Monday,” 17 March 1922, 1. This is consistent with Rachel’s earliest census listing. See 1860 U. S. Census, Jefferson Co., Pa., pop. sch., Henderson Twp., p. 44 (penned), dwelling/family 314, Henry Keyher household.
[49] “Pennsylvania, Death Certificates,” Rachel McPherson, 1922.
[50] Robert Allison, compiler, Marriage Records of Clearfield County, PA, Prior to October 1, 1885 (Clearfield, Pa.: Clearfield County Historical Society, 199–?), 81. Also, “Mrs. T.N. McPherson Died.”
[51] “Pennsylvania, Death Certificates,” Thomas N. McPherson, 1930.
[52] “Pennsylvania, Death Certificates,” Pauline Kiecher Weber, 1942.
[53] Nancy Lee Stover, comp., and Gladys Campbell Murray, ed., Marriages 1874-1885, Centre County, Pennsylvania (Bellefonte, Pa.: Friends of the Centre County Library and Historical Museum, Inc., 1994), 157, citing The Philipsburg Journal of 20 January 1882.
[54] “Pennsylvania, Death Certificates,” Frank G. Weber, 1918.  While the death record gives Frank’s birth year as 1862, 1861 is probably more accurate based on his age of nine in June 1870. See 1870 U. S. Census, Centre County, Pa., population schedule, Philipsburg, p. 5 (penned), dwelling/family 33, Peter Weber household; digital image, Ancestry.com; from NARA microfilm M593, roll 1322; FHL microfilm 552,821.
[55] Teressa’s death record gives her birthdate as 10 February 1867, yet in June 1860 she was four months old. See “Pennsylvania, Death Certificates,” Mrs. Teressa Thomas, 1926. Also, 1860 U. S. Census, Jefferson Co., Pa., pop. sch., Henderson Twp., p. 44 (penned), dwelling/family 314, Henry Keyher household.
[56] Blair E. Kuntz, comp., Jefferson County (Pa.) Families, undocumented database, CD-ROM (Sykesville, Pa.: privately published, March 2005. Kuntz’s sources include obituaries, tombstone readings, and interviews with local family descendants. Also, Daniel Thomas is listed with Theresa Thomas among the heirs of Frederick Kicherer in a land sale. See Jefferson County, Deed Books, 136: 331–334, Kicherer heirs to McGee, 1913; Recorder of Deeds, Brookville.
[57] “Pennsylvania, Death Certificates,” Daniel Thomas, 1918.
[58] “Pennsylvania, Death Certificates,” Carrie Williams, 1938.  For Carrie’s birth, see also, 1870 U. S. Census, Jefferson Co., Pa., pop. sch., Henderson Twp., p. 14 (penned), dwelling 91, family 90, Frederick Kocherer household. See also, 1880 U. S. Census, Jefferson Co., Pa., pop. sch., Henderson Twp., ED 191, p. 20, crossed out and 17 written above (penned), dwell/fam. 93, Frederic Kicherer household.
[59] “Pennsylvania, County Marriages, 1885-1950,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-21130-46595-94?cc=1589502&wc=9FSS-6TL:1029270201), 004268820, image 310 of 443; citing Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Register of Wills, Marriage License Docket 57 (1901-1902): 580, no. 19239, Williams-Kicher; FHL microfilm 878,599. Also, Bessie P. Douglas, The Families of Joshua Williams of Chester County, Pa., and John McKeehan of Cumberland County, Pa., with Some Allied Families (Minneapolis, Minn.: Augsburg Press, 1928), 149. Douglas’ sources include family members and associates as well as published accounts, mentioned but not fully cited.
[60] “Pennsylvania, Death Certificates,” Elizabeth L. Zeigler, 1945. Elizabeth was nine at the 1880 census. See 1880 U. S. Census, Jefferson Co., Pa., pop. sch., Henderson Twp., ED 191, p. 20, crossed out and 17 written above (penned), dwell/fam. 93, Frederic Kicherer household. The 1900 census places her birth in March 1871. See 1900 U. S. Census, Jefferson Co., Pa., pop. sch., Punxsutawney, ED 74, p. 1 (penned), dwell./hshld. 17, John Zeigler household. Her gravestone indicates her birth on 19 March 1876. See Tom Knoedler, Wallingford, Pa. [private address], “Re: Zeiglers’ cemetery listing,” email to the author 30 September 2014. Tom is Elizabeth’s grandson. Another grandson recorded her birth as 19 May 1874. See Richard “Dick” Martin [private address] letter to the author, late September 2014. Public records created closer to the time of Elizabeth’s birth are probably more accurate.
[61] Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, Marriage License Docket 10: 164, no. 1982, John Zigler and Lizzie Kicher, 1895, marriage license application, license, and duplicate certificate; Clerk of Orphans’ Court, Brookville; FHL microfilm 927,550.
[62] “Pennsylvania, Death Certificates,” John Zeigler, 1935. Also, 1900 U. S. Census, Jefferson Co., Pa., pop. sch., Punxsutawney, ED 74, p. 1 (penned), dwell./hshld. 17, John Zeigler household.
[63] “Pennsylvania, Death Certificates,” John Zeigler, 1935.


© 2015 Judy Kellar Fox, 9395 SW 190th Ave., Aloha, OR 97007-6733; foxkellarj@comcast.net