By Teresa Martin
Klaiber 2020
Rachel Barbe [Henrich, Johann Jacob³,
Wigandt², Johann Jacob¹] was born 30 March 1795 in Shenandoah County, Virginia
died 13 Oct 1851 in Beaver, Pike County, Ohio.
She was the daughter of Henrich Barbe, Sr and Mary Winegardner.
Rachel’s first introduction to this researcher
was in a family tree written in what appears to be the hand writing of, my
great uncle, Henri Gorath Halderman. The
tree was folded among other family items in the Feyler family Bible that sits
on our living room table. The compiler
of the tree said that Rachel’s maiden name was Lamb. I searched for Rachel Lamb,
using methodical genealogical steps, for many years (and prior to web
genealogy) but none of the pieces fit the puzzle. A few other researchers were insisting that
my Rachel was not a Lamb but that her maiden name was Barbe. I could not imagine that the family tree
would be wrong. I admit I had already discovered a few
flaws in family notations along my genealogy journey. I reminded myself to keep an open mind.
Court research had proved that Rachel and
husband Daniel L. Halterman were the parents of John J. Halterman, this
compiler’s second great grandfather. Working from the known to the unknown was not
unlocking a clue to her maiden name. Deed records in Pike and Jackson County,
Ohio show Rachel with her married name along with Daniel.
Rachel’s husband, Daniel, died in February
1849 and was buried in Mountain Ridge Cemetery, located on a hill at the edge
of Beaver, Ohio. In her husband’s will
written in Scioto Township, Jackson County, Daniel left to “his beloved wife
Rachael” all his personal property, money, affects and all his real estate for
her lifetime with stipulations of several dollar amounts to their
children. Left a widow at the age of 54
she still had a 15 year old son, William at home.
None of the records I reviewed seemed to give
clue to her maiden name. I had already
honored both Daniel L. and Rachel, at their graves, on the hill top of Mountain
Ridge Cemetery in Scioto Township, Jackson County. But nothing led to Daniel having married a
Rachel Lamb as the handwritten tree suggested.
Then in May 1993, I met by chance, a fellow
researcher, Lois Stange, at an Ohio Genealogical Society Convention. She is one of those angels that have appeared
from time to time in my genealogy journey. Several had posted surnames they were working
on outside their hotel room doors. Great
idea! Our room happened to be next to
the OGS social hour room so everyone passed by the names on my door. During a social get-together, along with a
glass of wine, Stange stated that there was massive material on my Halderman/Halterman
family at the Cincinnati Historical Society known as the Olive McLaughlin
Collection. Among the many letters
concerning the Barbe family was correspondence from Stephen Simpson Halderman,
grandson of Rachel and Daniel. S. S. is
my great grandfather and the father of Henri Gorath Halderman whom we presume
wrote the tree tucked in the family bible.
Lois rattled off my family names, like they were her own so I knew it
was not the wine talking.
Remembering that my mother lamented about
throwing away unidentified papers when they were closing the family estate, I
gulped air and made a beeline to Cincinnati.
The Cincinnati Historical Society, located in the lower level of the
historic Train Depot was a delight.
The McLaughlin Collection created by Olive
Amelia Barbe McLaughlin (1842-1928) consists of thirty-five boxes. At the time of my visit there was a small
finding aid. It would be several more
months before Alan Williams and Waverly Barbe[i] would organize the
material and publish the findings concerning her Barbe research.
With the finding aid and white gloves I
narrowed down which boxes most likely held clues to anything involving my
family. I marveled at Stange’s remarkable memory that the collection included
the Halterman family. It seemed like hours but hours worth the work. Olive
McLaughlin would hand write thousands of questionnaires requesting they be sent
back to her. There were no memo graphs,
copiers or scanners. She had taken on a
determined, monumental task. Finally two
letters from my great grandfather surfaced and pieces of the puzzle started to
fit.
Stephen wrote Olive McLaughlin that he did not
know the maiden name of Rachel. In a
letter dated 15 March
1889
” Sciotoville, Ohio Mrs. O A Barbe McLaughlin Mt Auburn, Cin., O Dear Madam Yours of March 4th recived promptly and I did not answ immediately was ...I tried to get accurate data but could get nothing very definite. Father died while I was quite young and his books and papers were not preserved. He had quite a library and many valuable papers. I know very little of my ancestors. Trusting the enclosed may be of some value. I am very resp. Stephen S. Halderman.”
McLaughlin must have been persistent for in
another letter dated May 20th, 1891, from
Portsmouth, Ohio Stephen stated to Olive McLaughlin “...at the age of
15 cast upon my own resources & have known but little of my ancestors...saw any but Grandfather
Kinneson." Kinneson was his
maternal grandfather.
Thus my great grandfather was unaware of Rachel’s maiden name. Rachel
died two and ½ months before Stephen’s birth in
January 1852. His only contact after
the death of his own father in 1866 was with his mother and his maternal
grandfather. If he did not know Rachel’s name until corresponding with Olive
McLaughlin then we must assume that Stephen’s only son, Henri, would not be
privy to the information and would have obtained the information through
here-say or his own research which now is proven flawed.
Olive McLaughlin had tracked down the
Halterman/Halderman family because she had knowledge that Rachel was a
Barbe. She stated that Rachel was the daughter
of Henry and Mary Winegardner Barbe. She
even described Rachel as having blue eyes and black hair[ii] and had moved to Ohio
about 1825/6 from the Elk Run Branch of Stony Creek in Shenandoah County,
Virginia.
Rachel Barbe’s marriage to Daniel L Halterman (Jacob,
Jacob, Christian Haldeman) 22 April 1815 is recorded in Shenandoah County,
Virginia [iii] The bondsman for their
marriage was William Bussey. In May 1816
Daniel and wife Rachel, Peter and Eva Bussey heirs of Jacob Haltiman late of
Shenandoah County sold 262 acres of land on Stoney creek. The land had been
conveyed to Jacob by William Barb and Barbara his wife.[iv] [v]
She and Daniel did in fact move to Ohio in the
1820's and settled on property that bordered the Jackson and Pike County line. [vi] They traveled from Virginia with two small
children, John J. and Rachel. She may
well have been pregnant with Levi who was born circa 1820. Son Henry M. was born February 1821 in
Jackson County, Ohio. Daniel, Jacob,
Mahala, and Permelia were all born within the next ten years. The families last son, William was born about
1832.
After Daniel’s death the 1850 census shows
that son Daniel, not yet married, and her youngest son William are residing
with her in Scioto Township, Jackson County. William is about the same age his
uncle S. S. Halderman was when losing a father. Rachel died 13 October 1851, at
the age of 56 years 6 months and 13 days.
Her youngest son William died in 4 October 1855, at the age of 20, and
is also buried in Mountain Ridge Cemetery.
It is hard to let go of the piece of puzzle
that have never fit into the finished picture.
Why did my great uncle put her last name as Lamb on a family tree? The
surname Lamb does appear in Jackson County, Ohio. Catherine born about 1793 widow
of Jacob Lamb is a contemporary of Daniel L. and Rachel Barbe Halterman. This Lamb family migrated from Virginia to
Fairfield/Perry County, Ohio before Catherine shows up in Jackson County as a
widow in 1840. Her daughter Sarah J.
Lamb married Levi Fout.
Levi’s father Anthony Fout was from Shenandoah
County, Virginia. Some researcher’s
place Anthony Fout’s wife as Elizabeth nee Lamb. Anthony and Elizabeth (Lamb) Fout born about
1792 are just two entries away from John
J. Halterman in the 1850 census of Scioto, Jackson, Ohio. Anthony’s
brother, Adam Fout married Margaret Barbe, sister of Rachel Barbe
Halterman.
Let’s twist the branches a bit more. Rachel Ann Halterman born about 1818, in Shenandoah County, Virginia, daughter of
Rachel Barbe Halterman and Daniel L. Halterman, married Daniel Fout in Jackson
County, Ohio. Daniel Fout was the son of
Adam and Margaret Barbe Halterman. That
makes Daniel Fout Rachel Barbe Halterman’s son-in-law and nephew.
At this writing the compiler has 98 dna
matches, just at Ancestry, for Rachel Barbe Halterman’s father Henrich Barbe
(1759-1819). Henrich Barbe’s will in
Shenandoah County lists Rachel as the wife of Daniel Halterman. When the inventory of his estate was sold,
Rachel’s brother Henry is noted as having purchased a bible written in English
as well as a hymnal. At least one of
those matches links to Adam Fout and wife Margaret Barbe Fout. If there is any Lamb dna from this family, I
have not found it yet. It has been a
long journey and I have met some wonderful people along the way. Alan Williams and I corresponded until he was
to ill to reply. I am forever grateful
for he and Waverly Barbe’s work and beautiful publication. But it was the determination of Olive Barbe
McLaughlin with her incessant questionnaires that have preserved the wonderful
Barbe and Halterman connections in my family.
[i]
Barb-Barbe Genealogy…Waverly Wilson Baqrbe & Alan Lee Williams 1993
[iii]
Virginia, Shenandoah Marriage Bonds 22 April 1815. Wm Bussey bondsman
[iv] : Mary Alice
Wertz and Marguerite Hutchinson, History of the Halterman (Holdiman,
Holeman, Haldiman) Ross, Cullers O'Flaherty Families of The Shenandoah Valley,
VA (N.p.: n.p., n.d.), page 8.
[v] Olive McLaughlin notes Box 5
[vi] General
Land Office, Chillicothe, Ohio, Patent 3436; volume 21, page 429.
