T h e   L i f e   o f

D A V I D   H A R T Z E L L

1 8 0 5 - 1 8 6 5

Table of Contents (when printed with 1" margins)

Companion documents:

Click on my home page links
"Paul Swan's Hartzell Chapter"
"Abraham Hartzell"
"Hartzell Land in Virginia"
"VA Families to Union Co. IN"
"Adam Hartzell 1833 Death and Burial Place"
"The 1850's homesite of David Hartzell"
"1856 Connersville"
"Evidence for Ancestry of David Hartzell"
"Sink/Zink Family History"
"Ancestry of James A. & Sophronia (Walker) Hartsell"

When I first saw this grave at my grandfather's funeral in 1953, I was 14 years old and overwhelmed with curiosity. Virtually nothing was known about them. Little did I know it would take 61 years to find and prove the full story, nor that it would launch a website on a world-wide computer network called the Internet.

Because so little was known about David Hartzell, and because he is the link to our older Hartsell ancestry, this separate life story was written.

With the little that was known about my great-great grandfather, it has been a lifetime project to reconstruct his life. Finally, in 2001, I could put together the first summary from information gathered over the years by me, Thelma Price-Papillo, and Donald V. Hartzell. Each one of us found crucial pieces of the puzzle. For someone so unknown, the detail we have learned of his life and ancestry will astonish you! Anyone in the world using Internet search engines like Google to search for "David Hartzell" will find this web page.

I am certain we have David Hartzell's correct ancestry. Direct proof has apparently been lost to history. My web page "Evidence for Ancestry of David Hartzell" (see link on my home page), provided 99% of the proof. Then, in 2008, we found an exact Y-DNA 46-marker match between myself and Dwight David Hartzell, a descendant of David Hartzell's brother John. Plus, in 2010, an undisputable second clincher with a DNA match to Robert Neal Hartzell, descendant of David Hartzell's brother Leonard. See Appendix A.

This document assumes the "Evidence" document supplies the source for statements made herein.

The full family history is on my website at "Ancestry of James A. Hartsell" and "Paul Swan's Hartzell Chapter" (see the links on my home page). Paul has extensive information on our Hartsell line back to 1580 Switzerland. There is a summary of Paul's information at the end of this document.

This document is about what David Hartzell saw and did. Therefore, instead of saying "Adam Hartzell's brother Frederick" it tends to say "David's uncle Frederick Hartzell".

Latest version (corrections, updates, additions):
www.jdhartsell.com/DavidHartzell
or
freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~jdhartsell/DavidHartzell
or
Do an internet search for "The Life of David Hartzell".

To email me:
jim2[at]jdhartsell[doc]com (disguised for spam engines)

David Hartzell was born Wednesday, November 20, 1805, near Boones Mill, Franklin County, Virginia. His birthdate is according to his age at death shown on his gravestone. Thomas Jefferson was President of the United States. The Lewis & Clark expedition had just reached the Pacific Ocean, and began building Fort Clatsop to spend the winter (Astoria, Oregon). George Washington had died only 6 years ago (Dec. 14, 1799), and Benjamin Franklin about 15 years ago (Apr. 17, 1790). The Revolutionary War had ended in 1789.

Near the center is Rocky Mount, Franklin County, Virginia. Between Rocky Mount and Roanoake is Boones Mill, about 10 miles south of Roanoke. The family lived in this area from 1792 to 1815. In 1810, Adam Hartzell's family was west of Boones Mill and north of Algoma, between "[602]" and the "B" of "Boones Mill" on the map. We know this by the names in the 1810 census, and the names on the Settlement Map below.

David Hartzell was the youngest son of Adam and Christina (Sink) Hartzell, who were married about 1786 in Pennsylvania. Adam Hartzell was born about 1765 in Bethlehem Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, near Allentown. Adam's father was Johann Philip Hartzell. Adam's grandfather Hans Jacob Hertzel came to America as an 11-year old, with his father Hans George Hirtzel, in 1727 on the ship William & Sarah, from The Palatinate (Reihen, Germany). David and another brother (Daniel?) were the only ones born in Virginia; the other children were born near Arendtsville, York (now Adams) County, Pennsylvania, near Gettysburg. David's known brothers and sisters were Philip, born 1787; Jacob, born 1790; John, born 1793; George?, born abt. 1795; Catherine ("Kate"), born bef. 1794; Elizabeth ("Betsy"), born 1798; Leonard, born 1799; and Daniel?, born abt. 1802.

On the name "Daniel": In the family is an old leather-bound Bible. In it was written, after 1910, "From Daniel Hartsell to David Hartsell to James Hartsell to Minnie A. Hart", probably by James' wife Sophronia (Walker) Hartsell. This son could be the Daniel who, before he died, passed the Bible on to David. Minnie wrote "Property of Great Grand Father Hartsell", which to her would be Adam, but she apparently didn't know his first name.

As to the spelling of the name, in a letter from Jacob Hartzell to his brother Philip in 1816, the name is clearly spelled "Hartzell" repeatedly. The letter is on my website.

The Philip Hartzell family arrived in Franklin County, Virgina by 1792 (except son Adam; see below). The route they took from Pennsylvania may have been along where interstate 81 is now located. The distance is about 300 miles.

In February, 1792, while George Washington was President, David Hartzell's grandfather Philip, at the age of 49, purchased 150 acres of land for 160 pounds southwest of Boones Mill, Franklin County, Virginia. See Settlement Map below. 150 acres is about 1/3 the size of the rectangle for Boone Mill, and if square, almost 1/2 mile on a side (almost a quarter section). Since the land touched or crossed both Little Creek and Mill Creek, it had to be where the creeks were about half a mile to a mile apart at that time. It was on a branch of Mill Creek, and adjoining George Griffith's land. According to a USGS map, the creek branch south of Bunker Hill was part of Little Creek. I would say the land was just south or southwest of Boones Mill, and 8 or 9 miles NNW of Rocky Mount.

Adam's children were born in Pennsylvania up to Leonard in 1799. The 1799 Tax List does not show Adam in Virginia yet. Adam was a surety in Franklin County, Virginia, October 1794, for the marriage of his sister Catherine. I'm not sure if he had to actually be there. Adam's family arrived after 1799. Note that the 1800 Virginia census was destroyed during the War of 1812.

Two pages after Adam Hartzell's name in the 1810 census, David's grandfather Philip Hartzell is listed 3 names from Moses Greer, which puts him just west of Gogginsville. Philip may well have been on his son Abraham's land.

Since the Hartzells lived close to William Toney's land by 1810 (upper left corner below), here is a description of William's land from the Toney website. "In 1773, William took his family and moved to the Blue Ridge. The site was a small meadow beside a mountain stream flowing off Cahas mountain into the North Fork of the Blackwater River. The cabin was built beside a flowing spring. Finger ridges extend out from the mountain on both east and west sides. The family cemetery was placed in a grove of trees in the saddle of the east finger ridge, close above the cabin. The graves are marked only by rough uncut field stones. In 1774, a survey shows a second tract of land obtained by William Toney. It included both finger ridges and far up the south face of Cahas Mountain." Mountain stream: Payne's Creek?

From Settlement Map, NW Franklin County, Virginia, 1786-1886
Made for the Franklin County Historical Society; Mrs. Gertrude C. Mann, Historian-Researcher, 1/1/1976
Area of Philip Hartzell's 1792 land purchase,
around Mill Creek & Little Creek (red "X"), just southwest of Boone Mill.
Width of map is 18 miles. It is 5 miles from Boone Mill to Toney's land, and to Googinsville.
Abraham Hartzell's 1796 land purchase was immediately south of Moses Greer's land.
For more information on this map, click on my home page link "Hartzell Land in Virginia".

Abraham Sink, a likely brother of Adam's wife Christina Sink, went from Pennsylvania to Virginia at the same time as Philip Hartzell, and settled near Philip on a branch of Mill Creek.

Location of Adam Hartzell in Virginia. This is different from previous versions.

Below is the area west of Boones Mill, Virginia. Width of map is 3.4 miles. Dillons Mill road (route 643) is shown. Where it goes east below the fish-shaped land is Adney Gap Road. Route 741 is Flanders Road. Route 726 is Wades Gap Road.

Going by the Franklin County Settlement Map overlaid on a Google Map of Franklin County, the 1810 Census (Adam "Heartsell" two names above James McVey), and the accuracy of Wades Gap Road on the Settlement Map, I would put Adam Hartzell's homesite about halfway from where Wades Gap Road (726) branches north from Dillons Mill Road (643) to where Wades Gap Road turns sharply east. This part of Wades Gap Road is 1.7 miles long. The Adam Hartzell family would have gotten water from Paynes Creek which runs along Wades Gap Road. This would be where David Hartzell spent his early childhood.

Using zillow.com or similar real estate tool, you can see the oddly drawn lot boundaries. Because it is so hilly there, a regular plat map would not be possible.

Reverend Jacob Miller's land would have been above where route 726 angles zig-zaggedly to the east, but he is described as being from the Blackwater River Valley. Luke and John Webster must have been west of the Blackwater River, along with Phillip Lybrook. Perhaps they all attended Blackwater Chapel, about where Route 643 & 726 meet. Lybrook and Rev. Miller went to Ohio before 1810.

In the census, Luke Webster, Samuel Webster, John Webster Sr and John Webster Jr are in that order before Adam Hartzell. Going by the three finger ridges as described in William Toney's land above, I guess you can say they are there on route 726 just north of the Dillons Mill Road intersection (route 643). James McVey's land would have been below about where route 744 intersects with route 726. Adam Hartzell's land would have been in that vicinity.

Below was Boone’s Mill in Franklin County, Virginia, built around 1790 near where David’s family lived. Boones Mill was not yet a town. The mill was surely seen by David Hartzell when he was a child. David’s cousin Clarisa Kinsey, daughter of Adam's sister Elizabeth, married Jacob Boone in 1817. They lived at the mill. The area around the mill site is now the town of Boones Mill, Virginia.

Boone's Mill

George Hartzell was most likely a cousin of Adam Hartzell, and a son of Adam's uncle and aunt John & Catherine (Schneider) Hartzell. George must have lived in Adam's household, in Franklin County VA, by 1808 (about age 23), since George's parents were still in Pennsylvania. George at this age could have been like a son to Adam, and like a brother to David. George married into the Toney family in 1809 in Franklin Co. VA as we will see below. The Toney's lived near Adam Hartzell in the Blackwater River Valley. George was also related by marriage to the Sink family. George named his first son John and first daughter Catherine, which would be after his parents. He named his second son Adam.

An interesting find was D.A. Hartzell, born 1802 in Virginia, and keeper of a boarding house in Cincinnatti, Ohio, in 1860. But, as shown in the "Evidence" document, his name was David instead of Daniel as I had hoped, so he was not David's next older brother. I believe this David A. Hartzell to be a son of Abraham Hartzell, and our David's cousin.

On March 28, 1809, George Hartzell married Susannah Toney in Franklin County Virginia. Surety was James Toney, son of William Toney. It is presumed James Toney was Susannah's father, and that he stayed behind in Virginia when the other Toneys moved to Union County, Indiana. Note William Toney's land on the Franklin County map, east of Boone Mill. James Toney's brother Jesse married Frony "Fanny" Sink, daughter of Stephen Sink. Stephen Sink was a possible brother of Christina Sink (David's mother). Again, see "Evidence" document.

By 1818, a George Hartzell had land that was adjacent to the land that Jacob Hartzell bought in 1818. This was most likely our George Hartzell above, but it could be the George Hartzell who married Nancy Goode in 1823. This would add to the possibility that this second George and Jacob (and David) were brothers. This second George and Jacob were fairly close in age, about 5 years apart. George's land was also adjacent to Toney's land and to John Webster's land.

In the 1810 census, presumed brother of David Hartzell's mother Christina Sink, Stephen Sink (Sinck), is listed on page 580 with 3 other Sink households, listed alphabetically: David Sinck, Daniel Sinck, and Henry Sinck. These are Stephen's sons, born in 1794, 1789, and 1783, respectively.

On the Settlement map above, there is the Blackwater Chapel southwest of William Toney's name. This may have been the church for the Church of the Brethren, and may have been the church the family attended.

We don't know Adam Hartzell's occupation. Since no land purchase records have been found, he may have rented land for farming. Back then, it was mostly growing and raising their own food.

The 1810 Census for Franklin County Virginia shows in the household
of Adam Hartzell (page 592):

1 male 26-45     - Adam Heartsell      b. 1765-1784  (abt. 1765)
1 female 26-45   - Christina           b. 1765-1784  (abt. 1768)
1 male 16-25     - must be Jacob       b. 1785-1794  (1790)
1 male 16-25     - must be John        b. 1785-1794  (1793)
1 male 10-15     - George?             b. 1794-1800  (m. Nancy Goode?)
1 female 10-15   - must be Elizabeth   b. 1794-1800  (1798)
1 male under 10  - must be Leonard     b. 1800-1809  (1799)
1 male under 10  - Daniel?             b. 1800-1809  (abt. 1802)
1 male under 10  - must be David       b. 1800-1809  (1805)

Son Phillip was married and had his own household.
Catherine must have married.

The 1810 Census for Franklin County Virginia shows George Hartzell living 8
names from Adam. In George's household were (page 592):

1 male 16-25      - George Heartsell    b. 1785-1794
1 female 16-25    - Susannah            b. 1785-1794
1 female under 10 - Catherine           b. 1800-1810 (1810)

We have daughter Catherine born about 1811-12.

For Adam's father Philip Hartzell, the 1810 Franklin County Virginia Census shows on
page 594:

1 male 45 & over   - Philip Heartsell   b. before 1765
1 female 45 & over - Christina Barbara  b. before 1765
1 male 16-25       - ?                  b. 1785-1794  (Frederick was in Ohio)
1 male 10-15       - ?                  b. 1794-1800
1 female 10-15     - ?                  b. 1794-1800

The spelling of the name as "Heartsell" suggests the same census taker did
all three.

Also in Ohio was David's uncle Frederick Hartzell. Frederick was in Butler County, Ohio before 1810, where he married Sarah Houghman Nov. 10, 1810 (IGI record). Butler County is next to Montgomery County. Frederick arrived in Ohio before his cousin George Hartzell (of Union County, IN), and maybe about the same time as David's uncle Abraham Hartzell. Frederick was still in Butler County (Wayne township) in 1820. In 1830 Frederick was in the Indianapolis area, when Indianapolis was just a tiny town and only started growing when the National Road reached it in 1830. Frederick's land was in the same township where the Indianapolis Speedway is now located.

At the start of the War of 1812, David was in Virginia, age 6. In 1814, when David was 8, the British burned Washington, and "The Star Spangled Banner" was written.

David Hartzell knew his grandparents Philip and Christina Barbara Hartzell. He must have had some memory of them later in his life. Philip died after 1820. He may have told his grandson what it was like before and during the American Revolution.

In late 1815, when David Hartzell was 10 years old, the family moved to Montgomery County Ohio. They obviously followed family members, leaving Virginia Sep. 1, 1815, and arriving in Germantown, Montgomery County, Ohio, on Christmas day.

Montgomery County, Ohio The Adam Hartzell family lived in or near Ellerton, between Miamisburg and Liberty along route 4, SW of Dayton (see detail map below). The Indiana border (and Union County Indiana) is 25 miles west.

They were probably also following many of their Franklin County Virginia neighbors: Lybrook, Toney, Moss, Kingery, Webster, etc.. They seemed to have migrated as a group to Montgomery & Preble Counties, Ohio, and over to Union County, Indiana. In Union County, George and Susannah (Toney) Hartzell were surrounded by their neighbors from Virginia. There is a lot more on this in the "Evidence" document.

To get insight into the settling of Montgomery County, Ohio, go to brookville.dcoweb.org/twp, and click on the various townships, like Jefferson and German. On those pages are a map of the township, and an 1882 history by W.H. Beers & Company. Also see Rev. Merle Rummel's "The Virginia Settlement" (see my website or do a Google search for "The Virginia Settlement or the Four Mile Church of the Brethren").

From a first settlers plat map of Montgomery County, Ohio, we find that by 1806 all the land in Jefferson Township was being homesteaded, most of it during 1802-1805. From the 1882 histories, we find that by 1815, much of the land had been cleared of trees. Most houses were log cabins, many abandoned as their builders moved on. The 1882 histories tell of our own Abraham Hartzell, Adam's brother, being in the group of the first white settlers (actually sqatters) in German Township in 1798. At that time the country was a dense forest, inhabited by numerous tribes of Indians. Abraham later homesteaded (in 1802?) 60 acres just west of the future site of Germantown. Also mentioned is Adam's son-in-law Jacob Mullendore, who settled on the present site of Gettersburg (later Ellerton) in 1802, "and there lived for many years". In 1800, Elder Jacob Miller of the Blackwater River Valley in Virginia, settled in Jefferson Township. The only town was Dayton. Germantown, Gettersburg/Ellerton and Miamisburg did not yet exist in 1815.

Here is roughly the orientation of the Indiana-Illinois counties in which we will be interested; left is West:

Rush County Indiana

Fayette County Indiana

Union County Indiana

Preble County Ohio

Montgomery County Ohio

(From July 2002 Smithsonian magazine.) "In April 1815, Indonesia's Mt. Tambora erupted, the most destructive explosion on earth in the past 10,000 years. Ash filled the atmosphere world-wide. In the northeastern United States, the weather in mid-May of 1816 turned cold, with summer frost striking New England and as far south as Virginia. On July 4, water froze in cisterns and snow fell. It was the year without a summer. Failing crops and rising prices in 1815 and 1816 threatened American farmers. Odd as it may seem, the settling of the American heartland was apparently shaped by the eruption of a volcano 10,000 miles away. Thousands left New England for what they hoped would be a more hospitable climate west of the Ohio River. Partly as a result of such migration, Indiana became a state in 1816 and Illinois in 1818."

Ellerton, Ohio (center). Height of map is about 8 miles.

At the time of the family move in late 1815, son David was 10 years old, so he surely remembered this trip. They left Virginia about 7 months after the War of 1812 ended. (The following from Paul Swan.) "It took them just over sixteen weeks, their covered wagon probably having been drawn by oxen. Their most likely route was west-southwest to the Kentucky border, then west along the main wilderness trail, or circling south into Tennessee over a slightly longer but easier route. They then would have gone north through the Cumberland Gap, across the Cumberland River a little way west, and then turned and made their way due north, up Boone's road and beyond across the Ohio River into western Ohio. This would have amounted to about a 480 mile trek, at a little over four miles per day. They first headed to where George Sink, a possible uncle of Christina, had settled in 1804, about 20 miles north of Germantown. They settled in or near Ellerton, about 5 miles northeast of Germantown."

This was almost the edge of the frontier. In 1815, Connersville Indiana was a small Indian station on the outposts of the white settlements. However, most of Jefferson Township, Montgomery County, Ohio was "entered" (for homesteading) by 1805.

After 1815, and until he went to Indiana about 1833, David lived near the town of Ellerton, Ohio.

On November 19, 1816, David's brother Jacob Hartzell, who stayed behind in Virginia, married Hannah Capper. On October 15, 1818, David's sister Elizabeth ("Betsy") married Moses Rentfrow in Montgomery County, Ohio. On October 19, 1819, David's brother John married Susanna Heck in Montgomery County, Ohio.

The 1820 Montgomery County Ohio Census, Jefferson Township, shows for the Adam Hartzell family (p. 116):

1 male 45+       - Adam Hartsell   
1 female 45+     - Christina 
1 male 16-26     - Must be Leonard, age 21
1 male 16-26     - Daniel? Hartsell (age 17-18)?
1 male 10-16     - Must be David, age 14

Area around Ellerton, Ohio, 2007. Image height = 2 miles.

David Hartzell's world in the summer of 1820: David was 14 years old, the same age as I when, 133 years later, I first saw his gravestone. In the aerial image above, he was living just below the center of the map in the vicinity of present-day Ellerton. In his time it was not a town, but a cluster of log cabins and houses that later became known as Gettersburg, later named Ellerton. The family was most likely living in a log cabin that they either built, or in one that was abandoned by an earlier settler. As a child, David would have explored nearby Bear Creek, and surely hauled water from there for household use.

David's uncle Abraham Hartzell: There is a reason Adam Hartzell and his family settled where they did. The future site of Gettersburg was located in the southwest corner of Section 27, Jefferson Township, Montgomery County, Ohio, at the intersection of South Union Road and Germantown Pike. Moyer Cemetery is located just south of this intersection. The entire section 27, a square mile, was "entered" by Michael Moyer on April 7, 1802. This land was later owned by John Getter, who arrived in 1820. The order of names in the 1820 Census in the vicinity of Adam Hartzell are: John Houts,-,-,-,-,-,Michael Moyer,-,-,-,Nicolas Moyer,-,-,-,Moses Rentfro,Adam Hartzel,John Moyer,-,Henry Moyer. John Houts could be John Christian Houtz, father of Abraham Hartzell's wife Eve Houtz. Eve's sister Catherine Houtz married John Moyer, brother of Michael Moyer. Thus John Moyer was a brother-in-law of Abraham Hartzell. I believe this relationship is how Abraham Hartzell helped his brother Adam find a place to settle, since all the land was already taken.

David's father Adam most likely rented land from Michael Moyer. With 640 acres, there was no way Michael Moyer could farm all of it. Since Moyer probably wanted to hold on to all of it to sell later at a good price, it was better to rent an unused chunk to Adam Hartzell. Adam may have had a regular farm with chickens, pigs, horses, etc. In 1820, David was at home with his parents, along with his brothers Leonard and Daniel(?). In 1820, the family's immediate neighbors were David's brother John Hartzell, and David's sister "Betsy" & her husband Moses Rentfro. "Two names away", were Catherine Heck, over 44 years old (possible mother-in-law of David's brother John), and John Moyer (Michael's brother), age 26-44. Also in the area was David's uncle Jacob Mullendore, who had arrived at the site of Gettersburg in 1802, and later had a tannery. Jacob was married to Adam Hartzell's sister Katrina (David's aunt).

NOTE: Erroneous information from "The Hartzell Ancestral Line" says that Adam Hartzell married Mary Spiekard Aug. 11, 1821 in Montgomery County, Ohio. In the "Marriage Book, Montgomery County", there is "Marriage of Hetzel; Adam to Mary Spickard Aug. 10, 1826". Since there was also an error on David Hartzell marrying a Margaret Nievel (another NOTE below), and an error on Adam's son George Hartzell marrying Margaret Yaughey (wrong George), I am ignoring the marriage of our Adam to Mary Spiekard. There is still another NOTE below on a land purchase by an Adam Hutzel in 1827.

On October 20, 1824, John Getter's wife Mary was buried at what is now called Ellerton Cemetery at Salem's Evangelical Luthern Church. His oldest daughter was about 11 years old and not likely to take over all the wife's household chores. I wonder if Adam's wife Christina helped some since they were neighbors.

About 1825, David's brother Leonard married Delilah Weiss in Montgomery County, Ohio.

By Nov. 1826, George (Adam's cousin) & Susannah (Toney) Hartsell were in Union County Indiana, where George was witness to the will of a John Stanley. In Oct. 1828, George Hartsell purchased 160 acres 2 miles east of Kitchell, Indiana in Union County, in the NE corner of the county, 1/2 mile from the Ohio border. It was the SW 1/4 of Section 24 in Harrison Township.

Below is a drawing of the Elder William Moss cabin, built about that time, across the road from George Hartzell. David Hartzell surely saw this cabin, and may have lived in one like this on his 1853 Indiana land.

By permission of Rev. Merle C. Rummel, "The Virginia Settlement".

There is no known record of Adam Hartzell buying or selling land in Montgomery County, Ohio.

NOTE: The land purchase described below must be the Adam Hetzel who married Mary Spikard 8/10/1826, and who was not our ancestor.

On May 17, 1827, Adam "Hutzel" and his wife Mary purchased, for $500.00, 50 acres off the west end of the south half of the northeast quarter (S 1/2 NE 1/4), Section 26, Township 2, Range 7, Montgomery County, Ohio. This land is in Van Buren Township, about 9 miles as the crow flies from Ellerton. Notice it was 9 months after their marriage. On June 13, 1827, they purchased, for $60.00, the remaining 30 acres on the east end of the S 1/2 NE 1/4. This land was between the "great and little Miami Rivers". Five years later, on June 2, 1832, Adam "Hurtzel" sold this land for $1000.00.

The 1830 Montgomery County Ohio Census, Jefferson Township, shows for the Adam Hartzell family (p. 235; census taker marked 30-39 instead of 20-29). They were next to John Getter.

1 male 60-69     - Adam Hartsell b. 1761-1770
1 female 60-69   - Christina
1 male 30-39     - could be Daniel, age 20-29
1 male 30-39     - assumed to be David Hartsell age 20-29 (age 24)

I am going to take the logical path and assume the census taker mismarked the census.

David Hartzell's world in the summer of 1830: David was 24 years old, still at home with his parents, along with brother Daniel(?), age 27-28. Going by the names in the census, they were still in the same location as in 1820. Nearby were David's brothers Leonard and John, who lived next to each other. Next door to David's family was John Getter, who arrived in 1820 and must have bought Michael Moyer's land. Gettersburg was on John Getter's land and was named after him. Adam Hartzell's presumed arrangement with Michael Moyer apparently continued with John Getter Sr. In the 1850 Census, John Getter Jr. owned $14,300 in real estate. This would include his house and outbuildings.

Below, the Adam Hartzell family lived about at the center of the picture, with Bear Creek not far to the left. John Getter probably lived to the right of the road (S. Union Road). There is a very old looking brick building barely showing just above the plowed field at lower right. This building has a fireplace and was a summer kitchen.

More evidence that Adam Hartzell's family was close to or within future Gettersburg, the 1850 census shows many households directly above John Getter's name with the following occupations: lawyer, preacher, tavern-keeper, cooper, tailor, gunsmith, potter, tailor, carpenter, doctor, gunsmith, cooper, clerk, plasterer. Down a few names below John Getter Jr. was a wagon maker and shoemaker.

The 1830 Union County Indiana Census shows for the George Hartzel family:

1 male 40-49     - George Hartzell          b. abt. 1785
1 female 30-49   - Susannah Hartzell        b. abt. 1792
1 female 20-29   - Catherine Hartzell       b. abt. 1811      (1st dau.)
1 female 10-14   - Frances/Fanny Hartzell   b. abt. 1815
1 male 5-9       - John Hartzell            b. Nov. 28, 1820  (1st son)
1 female 5-9     - Susannah Hartzell        b. Aug. 18, 1822
1 male under 5   - Adam Hartzell            b. Dec. 9, 1825   (2nd son)
1 female under 5 - Salina Hartzell          b. Mar. 10, 1827

1 male 20-29     - James Alexander      b. abt. 1806 Tennessee
1 female 20-29   - Catherine Alexander  b. abt. 1811 Virginia
1 child under 5  

James & Catherine were to have sons David and Adam after 1844.

NOTE: Erroneous previous information said that David Hartzell married Margaret Nieval in 1830 in Montgomery County Ohio. In "Montgomery County, Ohio Marriage Journals 1803-1850", Vol. B, page 38, there is "on the 29th of April 1830 David Hetzel and Margaret Nievel". David Hetzel was born May 4, 1806 in Rehrersburg, Berks County, PA; son of John and Catharina (Thomas) Hetzel.

David's uncle Frederick Hartzell was in the Indianapolis, Indiana area by 1830 (Marion County). Frederick could have been a pulling influence for both David's and Leonard's move to Indiana.

David's brother Leonard, who married Delila Weiss, was still in Ohio in 1831 when his daughter Susanna was born. Daughter Nancy was born in 1832 in Indiana. When Leonard migrated to Indiana, he surely stopped by George Hartsell's place.

In Sept. 1832, Leonard bought land in the northern part of Rush County, Indiana, about 2.5 miles east of the present town of Carthage, halfway between Richmond and Indianapolis. It was 46 acres in Center Township, Section 22. He sold this land in 1835. In March 1840, he bought the S 1/2 of the NE 1/4 of Section 16 in Ripley Township, 1/2 mile from his 1832 land. Leonard was David's older brother by 5 or 6 years. By now Leonard and Delilah's children were Willis, Lewis, Adam, Susanah and baby Nancy. These were David's nephews and nieces.

There was a world-wide cholera epidemic that affected the region in 1833. We had noticed a large number of deaths that year, and this is why. Some quotes from internet searches are: "1833 Worldwide cholera epidemic reaches Bloomington; Indiana College students abandon town for a month." "Harriett Sells died 23 Nov 1832 in cholera epidemic, Rush County Indiana." "In the summer of 1833, a cholera epidemic killed 500 Lexingtonians in two months, and half the population fled the city in fear."

Adam Hartzell's death: Adam Hartzell died Aug. 30, 1833 (Montgomery County Ohio German Church Records, Volume 1). Long before I found his date of death, I had a theory that Adam and Christina died about 1832-1833. In 1832, their son Leonard moved to Rush County, Indiana. In 1833 there was the cholera epidemic. David left about 1833-34. It is as if David was no longer needed at home. I think Adam and Christina both died in the epidemic. There is no trace thereafter of the son, name unknown, which could mean he never married. If he also died in the cholera epidemic, he would have been the oldest of the two sons caring for the parents. I have reason to believe that this son, name unknown, was Daniel.

Now, as I write this in 2014, I'm even more convinced that Adam and Christina died in the cholera epidemic. It has to do with where they were buried. Our only clue on where Adam Hartzell is buried is in the "Hartzell Ancestral Line", page 3: "It is believed he (Adam) and his wife were buried at Ellerton, but the graves were destroyed when Hemple Road was straightened (on the school district ground)".

Cholera fatalities were often buried "in a separate place" out of fear. Adam & Christina were not buried in a cemetery, but alongside Hemple Road north of Gettersburg (Ellerton). They were buried on "school district ground", which would be the south edge of Section 21 (see 1875 plat map below). In 1927 a bridge was built over Bear Creek alongside Hemple Road, like a detour (see second picture below). This made Hemple Road "crooked" at Bear Creek. The latest date in the Hartzell Ancestral Line is 1953, so the document was completed at that time. It may have been typed from handwritten notes, and it looks like it was typed on a 1950's typewriter. So, sometime between 1927 and 1953, Hemple Road was straightened with a different bridge over Bear Creek. Since the graves were destroyed, they must have been near the road and unmarked. The burial place would be on the north side of Hemple Road in Section 21. This spot is 0.4 mile west of S. Union Road.

The family must have done the burying. David, his brother John, and others must have dug the graves themselves. It may have been a mass burial that included others from town who had died. On the graves being destroyed, I'm trying to find out if there were reports of bones being found when Hemple Road was straightened.

http://www.historicmapworks.com/Map/US/20603/Jefferson+Township/Montgomery+County+1875/Ohio/
Part of Jefferson Township in 1875.

Above is a recent Google image of the bridge area. The road on the left from the bridge probably originally was angled straighter to Hemple Road, to where the large stones are located at the left edge of the picture. The burial place was on the side of Hemple Road opposite the bridge, which side of Bear Creek is unknown. The old bridge was built in 1927. The straight bypass was built before 1953. The bridge was closed in 1994 and is now a historic landmark.

Ironically, not knowing the cause of cholera, the burial site was north of town. Bear Creek flows south, right through Gettersburg/Ellerton. This was worse than in the cemetery in town.

Below, the house at 5000 S. Union Road is about where Michael Moyer and later John Getter had their house. It was built in 1850 according to zillow.com. Adam's son John (m. Susannah Heck) lived nearby and saw this house. David Hartzell would have seen it if he visited his brother John in the 1850's. To the right is a very old looking brick building with a fireplace, used as a summer kitchen. You can do a Google Maps Street View to look around this area.

As of this writing (2014), the present owner said the house dates back to John Getter. There is a small one-room log cabin across the street. The adjacent brick building has always been a summer kitchen.

1850 house at 5000 S. Union Road.

Summer kitchen at 5000 S. Union Road. The blur is on Google's street view.

In late 1830, George Hartzell died in Union County, Indiana. Executor and a primary beneficiary of his will was James Alexander (last name Alexander). James was a son-in-law of George, having married George's daughter Catherine in 1827. James and Catherine lived next to George's place in 1830 and 1840. In George's will, his property contained "a lot of shoemaker tools".

More on Abraham Hartzell, AKA "Ferdinand"?: Since the 1920's, the family has thought that Ferdenand Hartsell was the father of our ancestor David Hartzell. Many, many years were wasted looking for Ferdenand, but he was never found. Ferdenand was a childhood memory of David's daughter Sarah (Hartsell) Walden, who was 10 years old when her father died in 1865. She recalled the name Ferdenand some 60 years later, most likely confusing the name Abraham. Abraham, with his Daniel Boone-like early explorations of the West (into Ohio out of Kentucky in 1798 and into Kansas around 1820), would have been like a hero, a frontiersman, and larger than life to the family, and probably much talked about. He most likely guided the Adam Hartzell family to Ohio in 1815. He would have seemed like a grandfather to a child. Sarah also recalled the name Fredrick as David's brother, and David had an uncle Frederick. See "Abraham Hartzell" at www.jdhartsell.com/hartsell/AbrahamHartzell.html.

Abraham Hartzell presumed scenario: Married Eve Houtz in Franklin County Virginia in 1796. In Kentucky before 1798. In Montgomery County Ohio in 1798. Back in Virginia in 1801 (son David A. conceived). In Montgomery County Ohio in 1804 with son David A. (cousin of our ancestor David Hartzell). Purchased land in Montgomery County Ohio in 1805. Son William born around 1804 in Montgomery County Ohio. Daughter Elizabeth born in 1807 in Montgomery County Ohio. In Butler County Ohio in 1807. In Cincinnati in 1810. Probably went back to Franklin County Virginia in 1815 to guide Adam Hartzell family to Ohio. In Cincinnati in 1817, with Eve and family. Left family and went to Kansas before 1820. 1820 Census shows Eve Hartsell as head of household in Cincinnati. Abraham returned to Ohio around 1840. Died in 1842. See the link for "Abraham Hartzell" on my website.

David Hartzell's cousin David A. Hartzell: David A. Hartzell was born in Virginia in 1802. He first shows up in Montgomery County records in an 1835 Dayton, Ohio court case regarding someone who owed him money. The court record shows David A. Hartzell in partnership with George Sinks, as "Hartzell & Sinks". This is compelling evidence that David A. Hartzell was closely connected to our family. This George Sinks was a son or grandson of the George Sinks whose homeplace in north Montgomery County is where the Adam Hartzell family first headed on arrival in Ohio in 1815. It is thought that this George Sinks "Sr." was an uncle of Adam's wife Christina Sink. In 1840, David A. Hartzell lived in Cincinnati at 398 W. 3rd Street, between Main and Walnut. In 1860 this David was keeper of a boarding house in Storrs Township, Hamilton County, and no wife is shown. His 1868 will names his wife Ellen, and "our children". Again, see the link for "Abraham Hartzell" on my website.

David & Leonard Hartzell's cousin William Hartzell: In 1844, Leonard sold land in Rush County; a William Hartsell signed with Delilah Weise. This William was a long-time mystery until finding that Abraham Hartzell had a son named William. This must have been the one.

Susannah (Heck) Hartzell, David's sister-in-law.
She married David's brother John Hartzell when she was 15.
She died in 1873. John died earlier in 1868.

David's children never knew their Hartzell grandparents.

It was about this time that David Hartzell moved west into Indiana. Perhaps the other male in the household (Daniel?) also moved elsewhere, or died in a cholera epidemic.

East Central Indiana Along Route 44 is Rushville (Rush County), Connersville (Fayette County), and Liberty (Union County). Carthage is NW of Rushville (Leonard). Kitchel is NE of Liberty (George). Springersville and Alquina are east of Connersville (David). 1838 Metamora, a "must see" if you're in the area, is south of Connersville, or visit www.metamoraindiana.com.

My dad's cousin Don Hartzell remembered hearing, when he was a kid, that some old shoemaking tools, still at G'ma Sophronia's, had belonged to one of our grandfathers. He had always connected it with another story that he had heard that one of our grandfather Hartsells was a one-legged shoe cobbler. David's daughter-in-law Sophronia would have known. She died in 1926. It seems that the story would have been more definite than this if it was David, so I rather doubt it. The 1860 Census shows David's occupation as "farmer".

It is difficult to imagine what life was like in the early 1830's in Indiana. Log cabins were the usual form of housing. Matches were not yet available, so it was easier to "keep the home fires burning" all the time, even in the summer, rather than the arduous task of starting a fire with flint & steel. This made cabins very hot in the summer. Window screens had not yet been invented, so flies, mosquitos and gnats were a constant nuisance, along with flies on the food. People made or grew almost everything they used, and depended on barter for manufactured goods. In summer, adults as well as children went barefoot most of the time. Corn, game and pork were the principle items of diet. Meat had to be salted and dried for preservation. Liquid mud made roads impassable after a heavy rain. Lighting came from candles and lanterns. Water came from wells or streams. The only ice they saw was in the winter.

Around this time, David's brother Phillip had moved to Miami County Ohio, just north of Montgomery County. Brother Jacob had remained in Virginia when the family went to Ohio in 1815 (he married Hannah Capper in 1816 in Franklin County). Brother John and sister Elizabeth were in Montgomery County Ohio. Sister Catherine (Kate) was probably in or near Montgomery County Ohio; it was her husband who fled there to escape the War of 1812. I wonder if David visited his brothers and sisters, or vice versa.

By 1835 David had met Barbara Nipp. Since she was apparently living with her uncle George Nipp just east of Rushville in Rush County, we had wondered how they met. With George about 8 miles from Leonard's land, they may have been going to the same church, and maybe that's how they met. George Nipp, who married Rebeccah Townsend in Wythe County, Virginia in 1809, had arrived in Connersville in 1815. He bought land in Rush County, Indiana in 1821. To put this in perspective, the western portion of Fayette County belonged to the Indians until 1818; as late as 1820, "Connersville was filled with them every day." In 1820 the white male voters in all of Fayette County totaled 1,153. Barbara arrived in 1831 at the age of 15. Her father Phillip remained in Virginia; her mother had recently died, and there is reason to believe her father was disabled and could not support Barbara. This explains why she would be with her uncle. David probably did not meet his future father-in-law. Uncle George did farming in the summer and shoemaking in the winter. Much information on the ancestry of Barbara Nipp is on my website. She was born Dec. 17, 1815 in Wythe County, Virginia. Her parents were Phillip and Catharine (Lindemuth) Knipp. Phillip Knipp was born in 1775 in Pennsylvania. He married Catherine Lindemuth before 1815 in Wythe County, VA. It is thought that Phillip and George Knipp were brothers.

Since David Hartzell never owned much land, shoemaking must have been his year-round occupation. It would have been difficult to make a living out in the rural areas, so David must have had a shop in town. Maybe at first it was in Rushville, nearer to where his brother Leonard lived, and perhaps this is how he came to know Barbara Nipp. Maybe George Nipp worked with David in the winter. By 1836 his shop must have been 17 miles east in Connersville, which was most likely a larger town.

On May 15, 1836, 30-year-old David married 20-year-old Barbara Nipp in Connersville. The minister who performed the wedding ceremony was George Harlan, M.G. (Regularly ordained minister of the gospel in the Church of Christ). The church was probably the Christian Church (marked "L" on the Connersville map) at Harrison and Water Street (now 5th and Water). 5th Street becomes Route 44 going east. When coming into town in David's time, this church was about the first building you would see. This church seems to be the one the family attended, since David's son James was also married there 22 years later. The minister (George Harlan) was David's age, his wife's name was Sarah, and they had 3 children: James, George, and Rhoda. These are people David knew.

Connersville, Indiana, 1856

Now that this seems to be the church they attended, it may answer the question why no Hartsells are buried at Springersville Cemetery, where the Walkers are buried. David's daughter Eliza J. may be buried in the cemetery that was used by the congregation of this church, probably nearby. There is a cemetery, shown on the 1856 plat map, a little north of town, and about 7 blocks north of where the church was. It is now called the old City Cemetery, at 13th and Grand.

1856 Plat Map, Part of Fayette County, Indiana. Width = 5 miles.

David & Barbara made their first home about 3 miles east of downtown Connersville along what is now Route 44, on what was probably Alex Walker's land. This may be how the Walker family came into the picture. Alex's brother Joseph was the father of Sophronia, future second wife of David's son James.

On the 1856 plat map, they were living in the lower right of the map, in Section 28, above the "28" along the road (now route 44). In the lower left is 1856 Connersville, a much larger town now.

On Mar. 18, 1837, David's son James Alexander Hartsell was born. He was very likely named after James Alexander of Union County (George Hartzell's son-in-law), who must have been highly regarded.

On Mar. 11, 1838, daughter Margaret was born, perhaps named after David's Aunt Margaret.

Daughter Rebecca was born in Oct. 1839. She was possibly named after her mother's aunt Rebecca Nipp.

In the 1840 Indiana Census, Union County, James Alexander (his last name) is shown with children John, George, and youngest child Thomas (who later became a doctor), born Sept. 25, 1839.

Daughter Eliza J. was born in 1841, but apparently died after 1850. She may be buried in the old City Cemetery in Connersville.

Daughter Barbara was born Oct. 30, 1842, probably named after her mother.

Around 1845, David's brother Leonard moved from Rush County to Wabash County, Indiana, about 100 miles north, north of Marion, Indiana. James A. Hartsell was only 7 years old, so this may explain why there is no family memory of David's brother Leonard. David probably didn't pack up the whole family if and when he went to visit his brother. The 1840 census shows an Adam Hartsell, b. 1800-1810 (not David's father or George's son) in Wabash County, Noble Twp., the same township where Leonard was in the 1850 census. Adam was not there in 1850.

Sometime in the 1840's David & Barbara had moved 1 1/2 miles north, on or near the land they were to buy in 1853. We have reason to believe they were living in a log cabin in a small wooded area.

Son William was born Apr. 16, 1848. He could have been named after William Walker, father of Alex, Joseph, etc. Walker (see www.jdhartsell.com for Walker family details).

In 1849 news arrived of gold in California. The stories made people believe they could just walk along and pick up the gold.

David's sister "Betsy" Elizabeth (Hartzell) Rentfrow, 1849. About 51 years old, and presumably living in Kosciusko County, Indiana, between South Bend and Fort Wayne. She died in 1881. Her husband, Moses Rentfrow, died April 20, 1849 and is buried in Syracuse Cemetery, Kosciusko County, Indiana.

The 1850 census shows that David owned $500 worth of real estate, but no record of previous buy or sell has been found. I recently realized land in town may be in a different book, and maybe David had a city lot in Connersville where he may have had a shoemaking shop. This should be looked into.

By 1850, James Alexander, still in neighboring Union County Indiana, had added 3 children to his family: Fanny, David, and Adam. Interesting choice of names. James was to leave Indiana in 1852. He died in 1867, and his wife Catherine died in 1879. In the 1880 Topeka, Shawnee County, Kansas census, David and Adam Alexander, ages 36 and 29, were in the State Insane Asylum (after parents died).

Let's try to picture the scene in 1850. Try to visualize pictures you've seen of frontier people and houses before the Civil War. David had 6 children so far and was now 44 years old. Barbara was 34. Eldest son James A. Hartsell was now 13 and not attending school (normal in those days). It is difficult in modern times to picture what life was like. Picture living in a log cabin in the damp, cold woods of late autumn. It has a permanent smell of fireplace smoke. There is no plumbing, no sinks, no bathroom. The "sink" is a bowl on a table. No TV, radio, telephone, or electricity. Furniture is very basic. Beds are wooden and possibly homemade. In the morning when you wake up it is very cold in the cabin. Someone lights a kerosene lantern. Someone starts a fire in the fireplace, cookstove, or pot-belly stove over in the corner. You can smell the smoke from the fire and the burning kerosene. You go outside to the outhouse or bushes. You wash your hands and face in a washbasin filled with water that was carried from the well or stream. The dirty water is dumped outside. You take a bath once a week or so. The clothes you put on are ragged and still dirty from the last few days. If you're going to school you walk on dirt roads that are often very muddy. Travel is by walking, on horseback, or by horse and wagon. There are horses in the pasture, and probably cows, pigs and chickens.

Fayette County Courthouse, 1849. Connersville, Indiana, looking north. This is how David Hartzell saw the courthouse and this corner at Madison and Monroe (see building marked "A" on the 1856 Connersville map). This corner is now 4th (left) and Central (right).

Daughter (Mary) Celestia was born in 1852. She was later known as Aunt Let and her gravestone says Mary C. She is listed in the Census as Celestia (1860) and Salesta (1870).

On Aug. 27, 1853, David bought 20 acres in Jennings Township about 1 mile west of Springersville, and 3 1/2 miles east of Connersville. He bought it from Jonas Scholl for $500. It was 8 acres in the NE corner of Section 21, and the adjoining 12 acres in the NW corner of Section 22. He may have already been living on this land, quite likely in a log cabin. A local farmer said there used to be a log cabin here.

We are extremely lucky that there is (or was) an 1856 plat map of Fayette County in the courthouse hallway in Connersville, parts of which are shown above and below. David's and Walker family names are on this map. It is a snapshot in time that shows the roads that existed then, towns, churches, streams, neighbors, etc. Using the 1850 Census, and following the census taker's route against the names on the 1856 map, you can find where people lived even when they didn't own land. You can even find the names of the kids that David's children played with when they were kids. How else could you do all this! The map also shows the streets of Connersville at that time. I have photographed this map in segments, and the pictures, along with my partial Index of Owners, are on my website at www.jdhartsell.com.

Another lucky break is that 16 miles south of Connersville, there is the fascinating town of 1838 Old Metamora ( www.metamora.com). If you're ever in the area, you absolutely must see this place. My wife Connie and I have stayed at the Metamora Inn, built in 1845, right in Old Town. There are buildings there that David Hartzell must have seen.

The map below is an 1856 closeup of sections 21 and 22 of Jennings Towhship, along with Waterloo Township sections 16 and 15. You can barely read "D. Hartsel" right in the center, but it is more clearly seen on the original map. A section is one mile wide. The angled road is now Springersville Road. The creek going through David's property is still in about the same place, and the railroad track is still there. Straight east (right) from David's property, at the right edge of the picture, is Springersville, which was laid out in 1840. The Springersville Cemetery is also there where our Walker ancestors are buried. There is a church at Springersville, and 1/2 mile south is another church (there's a drawing of a church), and the Union Cemetery behind this church is where David's daughter Barbara is buried. In the SE quarter of section 16 is what is now north-south farm road 325E, and in 1856 it did not connect with Springersville Road as it does now. There was another church 1/2 mile north of David's property, where there is a drawing of a church, on James Walker's land. The church is no longer there. As mentioned previously, David's family apparently attended the Christian Church in Connersville. The names on the map were his neighbors, and he is surrounded by Walkers.

David's land was first occupied in 1813 and 1816. In 1813, David Fletcher homesteaded the NW 1/4 of Section 22. In 1816, Oran Stoddard homesteaded the NE 1/4 of Section 21. The 20 acres David bought were first divided out in 1826 when Jonathon Sutton sold it to James Rumbly. The land is at the border of Waterloo Township, 1/2 mile north of the land where William Walker (Joseph's father) was living. William Walker bought 320 acres there in the 1820's. It is shown here as belonging to his sons Willis, Samuel and John Walker. At this time William Walker was probably living at the bottom center of the map.

On the map, the angled road towards Connersville is now Springersville Road. From this road you can turn north on farm road 325E. From 325E, David's land begins 220 yards east, midway across the field. Given that a rod is 16.5 feet, and starting from the NE corner of section 21, his land went 40 rods west (660 feet), 60 rods east (990 feet), and 32 rods south (528 feet).

In the far NW corner of the 12 acres in section 22 is (as of 2001) a major surprise. It is a preserved timber area with evidence of a homesite with a rock-lined well. Even more fascinating is that a local farmer said there used to be a log cabin here. There is also evidence of a "driveway" going east along the north edge of Section 21 to what is now farm road 325E. This has to be where David Hartzell lived.

Below, finally found in 2007, is the actual location of David Hartzell's land. I never knew exactly where the section line was. The Mapquest scale shown at bottom right of the images is off. On another zoomed out image, I measured from Road 250E on the west edge of Section 21 to Road 450E on the east edge of Section 22. This is 2 miles. From this I finally found the Section 21-22 line midway in between. 660 feet = 1/8 mile. 990 feet = 3/16 mile. 528 feet is close to 1/10 mile. The heavy horizontal line marks the township boundary. The heavy vertical line marks the section boundary.

David Hartzell's land is marked with the less heavy lines. The homesite location, described below, is at the round white dot, which we now know is in Section 22. The wooded area is probably still like it was in 1853! The cultivated area is about 10 acres.

Below is a zoomed out image showing the reference roads. David's land is in the lower left. The farmhouse immediately above the "325" road marker is the one pictured farther down this web page.

Going back to the 4-section map above the Mapquest maps, David's neighbors to the south were Abram & Sarah Sutton, about the same age as David & Barbara. Abram was probably related to the Jonathon Sutton mentioned above who used to own David's property. Abram's children were James, Jane, William, Samantha, Elizabeth, Lafayette, Thompson and Mary, who must have played with David's children. Neighbors to the north were Daniel & Matilda Gise/Guise and their children David and Minerva. Daniel was a carpenter. (Here's a Daniel, beside David's brother or cousin Daniel, who could have given David the Bible.) Also to the north was John Scholl. To the west was John Spivey; east was another piece of land owned by Daniel Guise.

David probably walked what is now Springersville Road into town. (If it was less than 3 or 4 miles, it seems that it was quicker to walk rather than saddle or hitch up a horse.) The ground level drops as you approach Connersville on this road, and all you see are trees until you get close.

Around 1854 a railroad was put through within 1/2 mile from David's home as shown on the 1856 plat map. They could hear the train from their house, and they must have gone to watch the amazing spectacle of a steam train. The tracks are still in the same place.

Here I am in 1983 at David Hartzell's 1853 land and possible homesite, in the SW corner of the timbered area, looking east. Square nails were in the rotted boards. A stone-lined well is in the backround (covered). In 1999 the boards were gone, and the well had a wire mesh fence around it. A local farmer said there used to be a log cabin here!

 
 
 
 

The stone-lined well, about 3 feet in diameter. In 1983 it appeared to be about 25 feet deep, but had probably been filled in some. The well is about 30 feet east of the homesite. Many more pictures are at www.jdhartsell.com.

From inside the timber area, at the north edge of the property, looking west; this must have been the driveway into the property from the "main" road (now 325E). The driveway must have been along the north edge of section 21. The homesite is south (left) of this spot.

Farmhouse just inside Waterloo Township, looking north on farm road 325E. The farmer who lived there is the one who said there used to be a log cabin on the land that David Hartzell owned. To the right (east), across the field, is the land David Hartzell owned.

Daughter Elizabeth (Sarah/Sade/Sallie) was born 1854-55. She was later known as Aunt Sade; her gravestone says Sarah. Everyone had nicknames, it seems, and even nicknames had nicknames.

David's oldest brother Phillip died Dec. 1855 in Covington, Miami County, Ohio at the age of 68. David was 50.

On May 6, 1858, at the age of 21, James Alexander Hartsell married (Mary) Elizabeth Palmer, age 21, in Connersville. The wedding ceremony took place at the same church and by the same minister as his father and mother 22 years before. Elizabeth died in 1866 and is not our ancestor. At the time of his son's marriage, David Hartzell was 52 years old.

In August, 1858, David's daughter Rebecca Ann married Timothy Small.

In 1859, Joseph Walker's family settled in Shelby County Illinois, shortly after his father William died.

In 1860, David Hartzell and his family moved 235 miles west to Shelby County, Illinois, in the vicinity of Windsor. Joseph Walker had come back with his two children to help with the move. We don't know why they decided to move. It could have been because of the drought in 1859-60. Moving in order to obtain land could not have been the reason because David's son James did not buy land until 1872. It is curious that David did not sell his 20 acres in Indiana until 1863. They probably could have used the money. Perhaps he thought he'd be coming back, or daughter Barbara and her husband took up residence in the house. Perhaps the move was because of the impending Civil War: Joseph Walker, who was an avid reader and was well informed, saw what was coming and could have recommended that the Hartsells should move. James A. was military age at 23.

They left Fayette County Indiana after the June 1860 Census. From the census taker's route, they were in Alquina. The staging area for the wagon train was apparently the town of Alquina (one mile south of SE corner of Section 27 on the 1856 plat map). The 1860 census shows the David and James A. "households" next to each other, with Joseph and his children in David's household, and children Phoebe & Adonija Sutton in James' household. There is only one reason I can think of why they would be listed in the census at this location, and not back on their land: they had already loaded their possessions in the wagons, the departure of the wagon train was imminent, and they were near the wagons because that's where their stuff was - plus insuring nothing would be stolen. The wagons must have had a canvas shelter and a place to sleep, so they would have been like a traveling home. Since this was June, you may wonder about their crops and why leave now (except for the drought)? Joseph was already living in Illinois, and had come back just to help with the move. David wasn't really a farmer so he had no crops to worry about. I think at this time son James had been earning money as a farm laborer.

1985 photo of old building in Alquina, Indiana. That's my rented Camaro.

One more thing: it's gone now, but as of 1985 there was a large old building in Alquina that could very well have been a boarding house (photo above). Maybe the families stayed there just before leaving. The 1860 census showed the families next to each other with some doubling up, like in a boarding house. The building looks like it could have been there in 1860. If built around 1850, it would have been 135 years old in 1985 - not unreasonable.

There were at least 4 households in this wagon train, most likely more, with their possessions and possibly some horses and cows in tow:

1. David (54) & Barbara (44) Hartzell and children Margaret (22), William (12), Celestia (8) and Elizabeth (5).
2. James A. Hartsell (23), first wife Mary Elizabeth, and someone else's children Phoebe (13) & Adonijah Sutton (8).
3. Joseph Walker (43) and his children Sophronia (11) (James A's future wife) and Amos (9).
4. David's daughter Rebecca (20) and her husband Timothy Small.

It must have been painful for David & Barbara to leave without their daughter Barbara. A year before, at the age of 16, she had married 36-year-old Samuel Walker, Joseph's brother, and stayed behind in Indiana. Daughter Margaret never married and lived with her parents after the move.

Phoebe & Adonija Sutton must have been the children of David's neighbor Abram Sutton. Abram must have gone ahead to Illinois.

They probably traveled on the National Road, now U.S. Route 40. On this trip, somewhere in Indiana, the youngsters were scolded by their mother (Barbara) for yelling "hurrah for Lincoln" as they were going thru a town and admonished "don't make trouble". You can read all kinds of things into this. The children must have heard the adults talking, and they must have been in an area of southern sympathizers. Lincoln wasn't President yet, but they knew about him. Joseph Walker probably talked a lot about the slavery situation. The children must have been high-spirited and not suffering much so far on the trip.

Windsor, Illinois, bottom center.

Try to imagine what this caravan of covered wagons looked like. It must have been in June or July. Eight adults (counting Margaret), and seven children ages 5 to 13. Joseph Walker was hauling some of the other's belongings, having already settled in Illinois, but there must have been 3 household's worth of furniture. Think what they must have taken with them. Foodstuffs, tables, chairs, cupboards, heating woodstoves, dishes, pots & pans, bedding, clothes, tools and maybe a plow, David's shoemaking tools, the children's toys, and even family heirlooms (like the old Bible). There had to be at least 4 wagons. Plus, the usual mode of travel in those days was to tie a spare team of horses to the back of the wagon, and switch horses periodically to give the pulling horses a rest.

David Hartzell had now traveled over 700 miles in two family moves, by wagon train, from Virgina to Windsor, Illinois.

It is thought that David & Barbara, along with their younger children, lived with widower Joseph Walker after the move, probably in Windsor Township. (In 1870, after David died, Barbara was a live-in housekeeper in the home of Joseph Walker in Windsor Township. Margaret (32), William (22) and Celestia (18) were also in the household. In 1880, shortly after Barbara died, Margaret was still in the household at age 41.)

David was 55 years old when the Civil War began April 12, 1861. James A. was 24.

Illinois was recognized as a northern state during the war although there were many southern sympathizers. Trainloads of soldiers from Chicago passed through Windsor on their way to the South. Injured and dead soldiers were going north. Immigration of new settlers virtually stopped during the war.

In 1863, during the Civil War, David sold his land in Fayette County Indiana for $500 to Richard Slithens. The fact that he kept it this long implies he may have planned to go back. Maybe he gave up with the war lasting so long. He must have gone to Connersville to sign the papers, and must have visited daughter Barbara.

On Sunday, March 5, 1865, David Hartzell died, at the age of 59 years, 3 months, and 13 days. He and wife Barbara are buried at Ash Grove (now Cochran's Grove) Cemetery, east of the church, in Ash Grove Township, Shelby County, Illinois, about 1.5 miles SE of Windsor.

David Hartzell died 6 weeks before Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, and 2 months before the Civil War ended.

The cemetery had its first burial 7 years earlier in 1858, so it must have been fairly small with all of it east of the church. At David's burial, it was winter and probably cold. No leaves on the trees. Horses and wagons were tied up nearby. Among the people at David's graveside were his widow Barbara, age 50; son James, age 28, & his wife Mary Elizabeth, age 21, who was to die a year later; daughter Margaret, age 27; daughter Rebecca, age 25, & her husband Timothy Small; son William, age 17; daughter Celeste (Let/Mary), age 14; and daughter Elizabeth (Sarah), age 10. Daughter Barbara, age 22, was living back in Indiana and may not have been there. Joseph Walker, age 51, was surely there, along with his children Sophronia, age 15, and Amos, age 14. They were all dressed like people you see in pictures during the Civil War era.

David Hartzell died before and never knew the following events: On Feb. 25, 1866, his daughter-in-law Mary Elizabeth died at the age of 29, 8 years after marriage. There were no apparent children by this marriage. On Dec. 23, 1868, James A. Hartsell, age 31, married Sophronia Walker, age 20. On Aug. 21, 1870, their baby Mary Elizabeth (note the name) died at the age of 1 year, 8 months and 22 days. All are buried next to David Hartzell's grave.

So now, the grave of David Hartzell no longer stands as a mystery. He had parents. He had brothers and sisters. We now know where he was throughout his life.

James A. Hartsell, first child of David Hartzell, born in 1837, with wife Sophronia (Walker) Hartsell.
James a possible likeness of his father? Photo taken before 1910.
Using distance between eyes versus his height in the picture, I calculated James A.'s height at 5' 4",
which seems reasonable comparing the size of his head and the width of his shoulders.

Sarah/Sade Elizabeth (Hartsell) Walden,
youngest child of David Hartzell, born 1855, age 10 when her father died in 1865.
With son Wade and daughter Edith. Gravestone shows Sarah E. Walden.
Sarah was the originator of the name "Ferdenand" as her grandfather Hartzell.

Hartsell family Bible that belonged to Adam Hartzell.
Inside is written "From Daniel Hartsell to David Hartsell to James Hartsell".
There is no other writing in the Bible as you would expect in a family Bible.

David's daughter Rebecca Ann & husband Timothy Small.

SUMMARY OF DAVID HARTZELL'S LIFE

David Hartzell's great-great grandfather Hans George Hirtzel came to America in 1727, along with David's great-grandfather who was 11 years old. The family first settled in Pennsylvania, and moved to Virgina in 1792. David Hartzell was the son of Adam and Christina (Sink) Hartzell. David was born Nov. 20, 1805 near Boones Mill, Franklin County, Virginia, about 10 miles south of Roanoke. He was 10 when the family moved in 1815 to Ellerton, Montgomery County, Ohio, about 10 miles SW of Dayton. David appears to be still with his parents in Ohio in 1830. His father Adam died Aug. 30, 1833, apparently in the cholera epidemic, and I think his mother, too. David was in Rush County Indiana around 1833. David was a shoemaker. He married Barbara Nipp on May 15, 1836 in Connersville, Fayette County, Indiana. They lived in Jennings Township, near Springersville, about 3 miles east of Connersville. In 1860, David and his family moved to Shelby County, Illinois, in the vicinity of Windsor. David Hartzell died Mar. 5, 1865 in Windsor Township, Shelby County, Illinois.

(The Y-chromosome is passed from father to son to son to son. It remains identical except for small mutations that creep in over the generations. Specific regions contain a series of repeating markers. The test in this case was for 46 markers, which means we share a common ancestor within 5 or 6 generations - 5 in our case.)

The earliest known generations of our Hirzel-Hirtzel-Hertzel-Hartzell family lived in Pfäffikon Parish of the Zürich Canton in Switzerland, some ten miles east of the city of Zürich (note the scale in the top right of the map). A Canton is a small territorial division in Switzerland. It appears that Pfäffikon Parish is now simply called “Pfäffikon”. The name Hirzel was very well known in Zürich (Canton?), where eleven of them served as the burgermeister or mayor. There are several volumes of history and genealogy published on the prominent Hirzel line in Switzerland. At least one of these is in the library at SLC. It is in German, and takes the genealogy of the Hirzels back to the early 1300s. An Annemarie (Hirzel) Fariña wrote: “All the Hirzels have their origin in Pfäffikon, Canton Zürich. My genealogical tree starts with Niklaus Hirzel who lived from 1402 till 1446 at Pfäffikon. According to the first official document dated 811 AD the village was then "Faffinochova"; in the year 1308 AD it is documented as "Pfeffinkon". “

Off the map, near the southern shore of Zürich See (Lake) lies the village of Hirzel. It unfortunately has no connection to our ancestors.

David's great-great-great-great-great-grandfather Jacob Hirzel (pronounced “Hirtzel”) was born in 1580 in Pfäffikon Parish, Zürich Canton, Switzerland, and christened Feb. 14, 1581 in Fehraltorf (less than 2 miles NW of Pfäffikon). He married Madalen Keller Aug. 2, 1601 in Pfäffikon Parish. They had their first five children in the parish of Pfäffikon, and lived "in Hochfalden in the congregation Hittnau, same Parish" in 1610 and 1611. After that they were in the towns of Balm and/or Fierersbalm, probably for the rest of their lives, but we have no death record for either. All of these locations are within a few miles of the town of Pfäffikon. Jacob died before 1634 in Balm, Pfäffikon Parish.

David's great-great-great-great-grandfather Heinrich Hirzel was born Jan. 12, 1619 in Pfäffikon Parish, Zürich Canton, Switzerland, and christened Feb. 28, 1619 in the same parish. He married Maria Steiner Jan. 12, 1646 in Lysslingen, Switzerland. After their marriage they resided in Sulzberg with his brother Felix. In 1653, they emigrated to Reihen, Kries Sinsheim, Baden, The Palatinate (SE of Heidelberg, Germany). Heinrich died June 23, 1663 in Reihen, near Sinsheim, Baden.

David's great-great-great-grandfather Clemens Hirzel was born Feb. 20, 1659 in Reihen, Kries Sinsheim, Baden, The Palatinate. He married Anna Sinter Nov. 23, 1680 in Reihen, Baden, The Palatinate. Clemens' godfather was the Rev. Clemens Hirzel, as of 1651 Pastor of the Reihen Evangelishe (Reformed) Kirche. The pastor emigrated from Winterthur, north of Pfäffikon, and may have headed the emigration from Switzerland to Reihen. Our ancestor died Mar. 25, 1707 in Reihen, Duchy of Baden, The Palatinate.

David's great-great-grandfather Hans Georg Hirtzel was christened May 30, 1686 in Reihen, near Sinsheim, Baden, The Palatinate. He married Anna Margaretha Conrad before 1714 in Reihen. He emigrated from The Palatinate, arriving in Philadelphia by Sep. 14, 1727 on the William and Sarah, from Rotterdam by way of Dover. His 11-year old son, Hans Jacob (below) accompanied him. Anna died before or during the trip. Hans Georg died after Nov. 12, 1747 in Lower Saucon, Bucks (now Northampton) County, Pennsylvania.

David's great-grandfather Hans Jacob Hertzel was christened Apr. 16, 1716 in Reihen, Baden, The Palatinate. He came to America as an 11-year old with his father in 1727 on the ship William & Sarah. He married Barbel “Barbara” Ritter about 1743 in Northampton, Pennsylvania. He moved about 1755 to Bethlehem Township in the recently created Northampton County. He died Feb. 11, 1781 in Bethlehem Twp., Northampton County, Pennsylvania, and was buried in Dryland Cemetery, Northampton.

David's grandfather Johann Phillip Hartzell was born Apr. 20, 1743 and christened May 1, 1743 in Old Williams, Northampton County, Pennsylvania. He married Christina Barbara Kreiling on Apr. 30, 1765 in Dryland, Bethlehem, Northampton County, Pennsylvania. By 1781 he moved to York (now Adams) County, Pennsylvania, on the Maryland border. After 1792 he moved his family to the Boones Mill area, Franklin County, Virginia. He died after 1820 near Rocky Mount, Franklin County, Virginia.

David's father Adam Hartzell was born about 1765 in Bethlehem, Northampton County, Pennsylvania. He was about 13 years old when his father moved the family around 1780 from Northampton County to York (now Adams) County, Pennsylvania, on the Maryland border. Adam married Christina Sink in 1786 in Pennsylvania. Adam's father moved to Boones Mill, Franklin County, Virginia (south of Roanoke) by 1792. Adam followed after 1799. In 1815, Adam’s family moved to Ellerton, Montgomery County, Ohio, southeast of Dayton. Adam & probably Christina died in 1833, most likely in a cholera epidemic. They were both buried north of Ellerton near the Hemple Road Bridge.