Tag: 552

Connecting the Elons

I have several Elon Carmans in my family tree.

Elon (1792)
Elon Joseph (1840)
Joseph Elon (1872)
Joseph Elon (1891)
Joseph Elon (1901)
Joseph Elon (1914)

There is also an Elon Carman who lived in and around Philadelphia that I knew must be related, but I couldn’t find any definitive evidence of the relationship beyond DNA matches with some of his descendants.

Yesterday, I found his baptismal record. He was baptized at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in North Wales, Montgomery County, PA on 13 May 1833 and his birth date was listed as 14 Aug 1828. While the last name was spelled in the Ancestry index as Cormon, his parents were listed as Elon & Martha, so I am confident now that he is the brother of my great-great-great grandfather Charles R. Carman.

I’ve now identified four children of Elon Carman and Martha Johnson, although I only have Elizabeth’s name and no other information about her:

– Elizabeth
– Charles R. Carman (1818-1879)
– Mary Ann Carman (1821-1898)
– Elon Carman (1828-  )

I haven’t found Elon Jr.’s death information yet. He is often listed under different names in documents (Elwood, Leon, Eleon, Titus, Kite/Kitus) and his descendants used the Carmen spelling of the last name.  I’ve done a lot of searching of a lot of different combinations of names & spellings, but so far no luck.

 

On this day Johann David Hornef born

Image of Otterberg Germany with the Abbey Church center
The Otterberg Abbey Church (center) where the Hornefs were baptized and married. (image source)

On this day in 1754, my 5th great grandfather Johann David Hornef was born in Otterberg, Bayern (Bavaria), now of the Rhineland-Palatinate state of Germany.

He was the son of Wendel Gottlieb Hornef and Maria Louis. He married Susanne Weber in Otterberg and they had at least seven children there.

His grandson, Jacob Hornef, emigrated to Philadelphia in 1846 with his wife Katherina (née Faber) and infant daughter Catherine who would later marry Elon Carman.

Family Memory

Last night over at Geneamusings, Randy Seaver had for his Saturday Night Genealogy Fun a game of ancestor roulette. The ancestor he landed on was his great-grandmother about whom he had this to say:

I called her “Nana” – as did my mother. She was the earliest born person that I remember being with.

She was born in 1868, so I was impressed by that. The earliest born person I remember is my Great-Uncle Milt who was born in 1900. I had some great-uncles born in the 1890’s whom I probably met but don’t remember. My Uncle Milt had no other family living besides us. He never had children and his only brother, my grandfather, had only my mother. So, Uncle Milt would join us for Thanksgiving and other holidays. When he passed away, I went with my mom to his house and it was like stepping into another time. I came away with a penny from 1919, an old fountain pen and three old 78 records. None of those things have survived to present day, I am sad to report.

Compared to 1868, 1900 is not that long ago. My grandmothers were born in 1904 and 1905 and I knew them better than Uncle Milt. Through the stories of my grandmother Naomi Carman Garrison especially, the early twentieth century was not so far removed.

What about my grandmother? Who was the oldest person she knew? My mind went immediately to her grandmother Catherine Hornef Carman. This was not likely the oldest person in her family my grandmother ever met, but she is the only one my grandmother told me about. It is not much, but this may be all that is ever “remembered” about my 2nd great-grandmother. My grandmother told me she remembered her grandmother as a large, happy German woman and remembered her cooking in the kitchen. My grandmother was only seven years old when her grandmother passed away, so one can forgive the vagueness.

Some things I have learned about Catherine Hornef Carman since:

  • She was born 1 July 1845 in Otterberg, Germany to Jacob Hornef and Katharina Faber.
  • She was christened at the Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche in Otterberg shortly thereafter.
  • They immigrated to Philadelphia when she was a baby and they left Germany “secretly.”
  • She had two sisters Eva Amelia who married Andrew Mahla and settled in Marcus Hook and Mary who has proven elusive.
  • Her sisters were both born in Pennsylvania.
  • She was married in 1862 to Elon Carman at the First Independent Christian Church in Philadelphia.
  • She died 9 April 1913 and is buried in Mt. Moriah cemetery in Philadelphia1