Adam & Christina (Sink) Hartzell

First, this is to clear up some discrepancies that originated mostly from the Hartzell Ancestral Line.
1. The name was spelled "Hartzell" in the 1816 letter from Jonas Hartzell to his brother Philip.
2. Christina did not also go by "Sarah". Sarah was the wife of Adam Hartzell of Forks Township, Northampton County, VA. This Adam is the one in the 1790 PA Census.
3. Adam did not have a son named Jonas. Jonas was the son of Adam & Sarah Hartzell of Forks Township.
4. Adam did not marry a second wife Mary Spiekard in 1821 in Ohio. In the "Marriage Book, Montgomery County", there is "Marriage of Hutzel, Adam to Mary Spickard Aug. 10, 1826".
5. Adam's son David did not marry Margaret Nieval in 1830. It was David Hetzel, born 1806 in Berks Co. PA, son of John and Catharina (Thomas) Hetzel. Adam's son David married Barbara Nipp in 1836, Connersville, Indiana.
6. Adam did not have a son George who married Margaret Yaughey in 1834 in Montgomery County, OH. It was a different George who was born in 1812 before Adam's family arrived in Ohio. Through Y-DNA 46-marker tests, I differ from a descendant of this George by 3 markers. I match exactly to a descendant of Adam's son John.
7. For my compilation of the children of Adam and Christina Hartzell, click here. I would appreciate any corrections you have.

For reasons given below, I think Christina Sink was very likely the daughter of Micheal and Mary (Ryel) Sink.

Christina could not have been a neice of Micheal Sink because he was the only one mentioned in his father's will. See the web page of David R. Jones, Jr.. This web page does not show a daughter Christina, but it shows Mary, birthdate unknown. She could be Mary Christina or Christina Mary, or it could be the younger children get fuzzy like with the Adam Hartzell family.

According to an IGI record (ID I86046734), Christina Sink was born in Lower Saucon Township, Northamption County, PA. This township is at the southern tip of Northampton County. In the 1830 census, she was 60-69 years old, thus born 1761-1770. Adam Hartzell's father Philip was confirmed at the age of 17 in 1760 in Lower Saucon Township, shortly before Christina's birth. This would put Christina's family close to the Philip Hartzell family. In 1765, Philip Hartzell was in the next township north, Bethlehem Township, where he married, and where Adam Hartzell was born.

Abraham Sink was born 12 Feb 1762 in Northampton County when Philip Hartzell was about 19. From the web page of David R. Jones, Jr. we know that Abraham Sink along with his brother Stephen Sink moved to Franklin County, Virginia in 1792 and settled on a branch of Mill Creek. Also in Feb. 1792, Adam Hartzell's father Philip purchased land in Franklin County that was on Fox Branch (a branch of Mill Creek) and touched or crossed both Mill Creek and Little Creek. So, it seems Abraham Sink and Adam Hartzell came together and settled near each other. Stephen Sink settled on a branch of Blackwater Creek (River?).

Abraham Sink's brother Paul provides an important link between the North Carolina Sinks and the George Sink in 1815 Montgomery County, Ohio, where Adam Hartzell's family headed when they arrived. Paul had moved to North Carolina about 1778, in the Salisbury area of Rowan County. George Sink was in nearby Randolph County, North Carolina. Both these locations are about 4 counties south of Franklin County, Virginia.

Abraham, Stephen and Paul Sink were sons of Micheal and Mary (Ryel) Sink. Micheal Sink was the son of Henry Zinck, who was born 1689 in Germany, migrated to America with his young son Micheal in 1725, and settled in Northampton County, PA. Micheal Sink was born in 1722 in Germany. This is interesting because in a old story in my family, my ancestor David Hartzell's father or grandfather "spoke very broken English". Micheal Sink would be David's maternal grandfather. There is also an old story in my family that one of our grandfathers was from East Prussia. I have found Sink/Zink/Zinck families from East Prussia. There is more Sink information at Sink/Zink Family History.

Now for Adam Hartzell.

The 1799 Franklin County Virginia Tax List shows Philip Hartsel, but not Adam or Abraham Hartzell. With Adam's son Leonard being born in Pennsylvania in 1799, this further validates that Adam arrived in Virginia after 1799. Also listed are Abraham Sink, Stephen Sink, and Jacob Mullendore.

In 1810, Adam Hartzell's family was living in the Blackwater River Valley, due west of Boones Mill, and due north of Algoma. This is according to the order of names in the 1810 Franklin County Virginia Census, and a Settlement Map made for the Franklin County Historical Society by Mrs. Gertrude C. Mann, 1/1/1976. For map details, see Hartsell Land in Virginia, and for the full map, go to spec.lib.vt.edu/imagebase/08MAPS/screen/HM200705310931.jpg (don't let your browser shrink the image to fit your screen).

Names near Adam in the census were John Webster, James McVey, Samuel Webster, and John Webster. These names are on the Settlement Map. Adam was two names from James McVey. Eight names from Adam is the George Hartzell who married Susannah Toney in 1809. William Toney lived just south.

The order of names in the 1810 Census in Adam Hartzell's vicinity are:
Daniel Webster - William Webster - John Webster Sr. - Barber Hill - Butler Murphy - Richard Billips - William Smith - Daniel Acres - Thomas Billips - John Webster Jr. - John Puatt/Peiatt - John Vanmaples - Adam Heartsell - Reuben Green - James McVey - William Kelly - Wesley Keys - Daniel McClard - Frances Moss - Edmon Moss - George Heartsell - George McVey

I think (and also a Family Search IGI) that this George Hartzell was Adam's cousin, son of Adam's uncle John Hartzell (m. Catherine Schneider) of Northampton County, PA, who married in 1781. Likely, since George named his first daughter Catherine (b. 1811 VA) and his first son John. Significantly, he named his second son Adam. I also think this George lived with Adam in Franklin County VA before marrying in 1809. This George moved to Franklin (Union) County Indiana by 1820 (spelled Harzell in 1820 census), where he was surrounded by his former neighbors from Franklin County, VA. George was apparently a shoemaker.

Regarding Adam's 3 youngest children, the 1810 Census shows 3 males under 10 years old. The oldest would be Leonard (don't forget census takers weren't always accurate). One of the other two would be my ancestor David, age 4 in the summer of 1805 (born Nov. 20, 1805). The third would have been born about 1802 or after 1805. The 1820 census shows 1 male 16-26 (Leonard, age 21), 1 male 16-26 (unnamed), and 1 male 10-16 (David, age 14). This means the unnamed son was born about 1802, and age about 17-18 in the summer of 1820.

To see where Adam lived, you can get a Mapquest map for what would be "4500 Dillons Mill Road, Boones Mill, VA" (not a real street address). You can zoom in & out, and get an Arial View. See MapquestImage1, and for a closeup, MapquestImage2. In the first (larger) image, it is 5 miles from Boones Mill to the "742" marker. Height of the second (smaller) image is about 1.5 miles. For all the people living in this area, there is not much cleared land even today. Just north of Adam's area is a cleared area in the shape of a fish swimming to the left. Cahas Mountain is between Adam's area and Boones Mill. Right now there is only one farmhouse w/outbuildings in the area, just southeast of the "fish". Use Aerial View to see what the valley looks like, and how narrow it is. You can drag the image to see what the valley looks like farther south. For driving directions, go west from Boones Mill on Bethlehem Road for 5.1 miles. Turn right (north) on Dillons Mill Road. Dillons Mill Road alternately becomes VA-643 and back to Dillons Mill. Go 5.1 miles to what would be 4500 Dillons Mill Road. Adam Hartzell lived about where Key Gap Road intersects, or maybe a little south of that.

A fascinating document is Rev. Merle C. Rummel's The Virginia Settlement or the Four Mile Church of the Brethren. It tells of many of the families from Adam Hartzell's area in Virginia and their migration to the Miami River Valley in Montgomery County, Ohio (where Adam went in 1815), and Union County, Indiana (where George and Susannah (Toney) Hartzell went by 1820). They were the Lybrook, Toney, Moss, Miller, Kingery, Webster families, some of whom left before 1810 and were not in the 1810 Franklin County VA census. One wonders if some of these people came to Virginia as a group from Pennsylvania, and whether this explains why Adam ended up in this area. Notable is Rev. (Elder) Jacob Miller just north of where Adam Hartzell lived. He went to the Dayton, Ohio area in 1802. About 3 miles NE of Ellerton, Ohio is the Jacob Miller cemetery, presumably the location of his church. Also notable is Edmund Moss (not on the map, but in the 1810 VA census). He lived next door to George (m. Susannah Toney in Virginia), and then Edmund's son William was next door to George in Union County, Indiana in 1830. Edmund Moss was a little south. Phillip Lybrook moved to Union County, Indiana in 1806.

From Rummel's work, the dominate religion in Adam's area in Virginia seems to have been the Church of the Brethren. The Settlement map shows the Blackwater Chapel west of William Toney's land. This was probably their church.

A building that Adam Hartzell surely saw was Boone's Mill. Adam's neice Clarisa Kinsey, daughter of his 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.

(In 1815, the Adam Hartzell family moved to Montgomery County, Ohio, where they first headed to George Sink's home.) This area was called the Stillwater Settlement.

Available from the Brookville Historical Society, Brookville, Ohio, are plat maps of Original Land Purchases in Montgomery County. Virtually all the land in Montgomery County was taken by the end of 1804. The Butler Township map shows George Sink (actual spelling), in the SE quarter of section 2, 11/10/1804, near the Stillwater River. This is at the north center of Montgomery County. This is where Adam Hartzell headed when they arrived in Ohio. The Jackson Township map, just west of Jefferson Township, shows Jacob Sinks, in the NE 1/4 of section 31, 4/24/1804.

Ellerton is about 10 miles southwest of Dayton. For a Mapquest aerial image of the Ellerton, Ohio area, click here. Height of image is 2 miles. Notice Bear Creek running north-south near the center.

For more maps & pictures and explanation, go to The Life of David Hartzell. Also browse my Home Page. At the link above for the Brookville Historical Society, those pages have links to the 1882 Township Histories by W. H. Beers & Company.

On Jacob Mullendore who married Adam's sister Katarina/Catherine (Kate) in 1794: The 1882 History of Montgomery County, Ohio by W. H. Beers & Company has "Jacob Mullendore, a native of Virgina, settled on the present site of Gettersburg (later Ellerton) in 1802, and there lived for many years. During the war of 1812, he hauled flour to the soldiers at Greenville." Also "Jacob Mullendore carried on quite an extensive tannery in the days of the early pioneers, on Bear Creek, on the farm occupied in 1882 by John Snepp, Jr. Here, either this man or his father erected a log cabin, which still stands (1882) ... and is probably the oldest house in [Jefferson] township."

The 1820 Jefferson Township, Montgomery County, Ohio Census shows Jacob Mullendore living in the vicinity of Moses Rentfro, Adam Hartzel, and John Hartzel, near the site of Gettersburg (later Ellerton).

Regarding Adam's brother Abraham Hartzell: The 1882 History of Montgomery County, Ohio by W. H. Beers & Company has "The first white settlers came to [German] township in the year 1798, from Kentucky, ... but some of these were of Virginia. The names are as follows ... Abraham Hartzel. These people were not actual settlers, but squatters only. As soon as the land was offered for sale, some purchased. On the west side of the [site of Gettersburg] were two tracts, each of sixty acres. ... the southern one was entered by Abraham Hartzel."

In the Montgomery County Archives there is a deed listed for Abraham Hartsel in Emuneration Book 96. He owned Tract E 4-3 dated March 25, 1805, Section 12, Range 4, Township 3. I interpreted it as the SW 1/4 of Section 12.

Adam Hartzell's brother Frederick was in Butler County, Ohio before 1810, where at about age 24 he married Sarah Houghman Nov. 10, 1810 (IGI record). Sarah died before the 1840 Census. Butler County is just south of Montgomery County. This means Frederick arrived in the area before Adam (1815), and probably after the time of his brother Abraham (1798). Frederick's son Peter was born in Ohio, presumably Butler County, about 1811-12 (from 1860 Iowa Census, Keokuk County). Frederick later bought land in the area of the Indianapolis Speedway in Indianapolis.

More on George Sink: The 1882 History of Montgomery County, Ohio, by W. H. Beers & Company, for Butler Township, has "The families of George Sinks and Henry Yount, hailing from the same neighborhood in North Carolina, immigrated to the Stillwater settlement in 1802, locating, the former in Section 2, ..., where he entered 320 acres of land. ... July 30, 1816, was organized a religious society, ..., known as the Lower Stillwater Church of Christ. The original members were George Sinks, and wife Sarah, ...

Looking at the names in the 1820 Census for Jefferson Township, Montgomery County, Ohio, Adam's immediate neighbors were Adam's son John (m. Susannah Heck), and Adam's daughter Elizabeth (m. Moses Rentfro). Two names away were Catherine Heck, and John Moyer. John Moyer owned a large amount of land. Still at home in Adam's family were his sons Leonard (age 21), unnamed, (age 17-18), and David (age 14).

About this time, present-day Ellerton was not yet a town, but a cluster of log cabins and houses that became the site of Gettersburg, later renamed to Ellerton. Adam's family could have been living in a log cabin vacated by earlier settlers. The family surely got water from Bear Creek for household use. This the same Bear Creek mentioned above for Jacob Mullendore's tannery.

There is no known record of Adam Hartzell or any Hartzell buying or selling land in Montgomery County, Ohio. However, it is very possible Adam was renting land or working as a farm hand for John Moyer, probably in section 27, just east of Ellerton.

In the 1830 Census for Jefferson Township, Montgomery County, Ohio, there are numerous corrections on the page for Adam Hartzell. I believe Adam's son David was still at home. I could not find him in any other household in 1830. He was not yet married, thus more likely to still be at home. The youngest usually was the one to take care of the parents. This would explain why David did not marry until 1836 at the age of 30. I believe the two males age 30-39 were actually age 20-29, and that they were Adam's second youngest son (unnamed), and David Hartzell. I have not found any Hartzell born in Virginia about 1802 who would be this unnamed son, so I think he died before marrying, and has no descendants.

I have reason to believe that Adam's unnamed son was Daniel. In my family is an old leather-bound family 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. Minnie wrote "Property of Great Grand Father Hartsell", which to her would be Adam.

For another name of Adam's unnamed son, there is a William Hartsell who signed a land record in 1844 along with Leonard Hartzell's wife Delilah. No other information has been found on this William Hartsell.

Going by the names in the 1830 Census, Adam's family was still in the same location as in 1820. Nearby were David's brothers Leonard and John, who lived next to each other. Next door was John Getter, who arrived in 1820 and must have bought John Moyer's land. Gettersburg was on John Getter's land and was named after him. The town name was later changed to Ellerton. Adam Hartzell's presumed arrangement with John Moyer apparently continued with John Getter. In the 1850 Census, John Getter owned $14,300 in real estate ($335,000 in 2008 money). This would include his house and outbuildings.

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 was a wagon maker and shoemaker.

Adam's death:

From "Montgomery County, Ohio, German Church Records", Volume I, by Anne W. and Robert E. Johnson, published by Montgomery County Chapter, Ohio Genealogical Society, 2001; page 185, Records of Deaths & Funerals, Salem's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Moraine (Ellerton), Ohio:

HARTZEL, Adam (old), 30 Aug 1833

It doesn't say specifically, but it is believed Adam was buried in Ellerton Cemetery. Not listed are Adam's wife Christina, or Adam's brother Abraham, or the Daniel who could have been Adam's second youngest son. It does list Adam's son John and John's wife Susannah. There are many Hartzell's listed.

From the book described above: "Salem's Church, as it was referred to in the earliest records available, was first formed around 1815 as a Union Church, and later called the Ellerton Church. It is located on Union Road, near the intersection with Dayton-Germantown Road, originally in an unincorporated community first called Gettersburg. This name was soon changed to Ellerton, and the area has now been incorporated into the City of Moraine. The address of the church is now 4573 South Union Road, Moraine, OH, 45342".

Here's what I had before finding the above information:

It is surprising that we don't know when Adam and Christina died. They are in the 1830 Census for Jefferson Township, Montgomery County, Ohio (age 60-69), but not in the 1840 Census. In 1830, their sons Leonard and John were living nearby, and the unnamed son and David were at home. In 1833 there was a cholera epidemic. In 1833, both Leonard and David moved to Rush County, Indiana. It is as if David was no longer needed at home. I think Adam and Christina both died in the 1833 cholera epidemic. There is no trace of the unnamed son, 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, and (if his name was Daniel) could have passed the Bible on to David before he died. I saw a web page that said "if you're wondering what happened to an ancestor who simply disappeared, he probably died in a cholera epidemic". Cholera was considered a poor man's disease.

From some other source: Ellerton Cemetery, Jefferson Township:

NAME	BORN	DIED
Abraham Hartzell, b/o Adam	1771	May 7, 1842, age 71 yrs, 3 mo, 14 days
John Hartzell, s/o Adam	1793	Feb. 17, 1868, age 74 yrs, 4 mo, 22 days
Susanna Hartzell, w/o John	1803	Mar. 19, 1873, age 70 yrs, 11 mo, 7 days

(No Adam or Christina Hartzell.)

On Adam's unnamed son, there was a D. A. Hartzell in 1860 Storrs Township, Hamilton County, Ohio, born 1802 in Virginia. He was keeper of a boarding house. No wife or children are shown. Prime candidate for the unnamed son of Adam, maybe Daniel. But alas, the 1840 Cincinnati City Directory shows his name as David A. Hartzell. He lived on 3rd, between Main and Walnut. Two David Hartzells born 1802-1805 in Virginia!