This is the third post in my series about brick walls in our family. You can find the other posts here:
Mystery Monday-Who's Your Daddy-Post #1 - John C. Gould
Mystery Monday-Who's Your Daddy-Post #2-Robert Lee Bowden
Bio for Isaac C. Hunter
Rev. Isaac C. Hunter is my 3rd great grandfather on my mother’s side. From all accounts he was born 30 Aug 1798 in Bellefonte, Mifflin, Pennsylvania. By 1828 he had moved to Lawrence County, Ohio where he married Emily GILLEN on 11 Sept 1828. They had 5 children: Susan, James, Martha, Isaac C. Jr. and John E. Isaac was an itinerant preacher in the Ohio and Michigan territories. He died 27 Jun 1842 in Gallipolis, Gallia, Ohio at age 43.
Finding any records in Pennsylvania in those early years is not easy. I’ve not yet made a trip to Mifflin County. However, I have been in contact with their historical society volunteers and they were not able to find anything about Isaac C. Hunter’s birth.
By the 1830 census we find Isaac C. Hunter living in Burlington, Lawrence, Ohio with his family. In the 1840 census he and his family are in Perry, Pickaway, Ohio.
Here are those census records:
(CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT)
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Rev. Isaac C. Hunter was a Methodist Episcopal Preacher.
Quite a lot has been written about the Rev. Isaac C. Hunter and his ministry. He seems to have been quite well respected.
A history of his ministry:
Quite a lot has been written about the Rev. Isaac C. Hunter and his ministry. He seems to have been quite well respected.
A history of his ministry:
· Age 20 - 7 Aug 1819 – Admitted to trial to Methodist Episcopal ministry at the annual conference in Cincinnati, Ohio. Appointed to the Beaver circuit.
· Age 22-23 – about 1921 – Became a Deacon in the church
· Age 23-24 – about 1823 – Became an Elder in the church
· Age 24-43 – Was an itinerant preacher throughout the Ohio & Michigan territory
Here are some of the many documents I have regarding Rev. Isaac C. Hunter and his ministry.
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As you can see, I have quite a few publications and articles about my 3rd great grandfather, his ministry and his death.
Sadly, none of them mention his parents.
Here is the family group record in my Legacy database. 
Some SURNAMES ASSOCIATED WITH Rev. Isaac C. Hunter
Boggs, Bridwell, Frampton, Gillen, Lunsford, Pope, Stover, Trail
It is difficult to locate records from the late 1700’s and early 1800’s in Pennsylvania. Actually, it’s difficult in most states during that time period. Church records can be a great help. In this case, you'd think there would be a church record. I have not exhausted all sources at this time and hope to continue this search at the FHL in June.
I have tried the following research methods to locate any possible records:
- Searched land records and located one at the BLM land site for Isaac Connely Hunter in Ohio. Certainly could be our Isaac C. Hunter, but I cannot prove it.
- Searched the 1790 & 1800 census records for any Hunters in Mifflin or surrounding counties. Located a couple of “possibles” but, again, have yet to find proof.
- Googled “Isaac C. Hunter” and found several book references, but none mention his parents.
- Posted message to online forums in Pennsylvania and Ohio on Genealogy.com
- Searched the Mifflin County Historical Society webpage and located a few Hunter men, but have not connected them.
- Looked through images of Ohio Probate Records 1789-1996 for Gallia, Journals & Wills 1831-1844 and 1841-1849 and found no Hunters.
What would you do next?
What have I missed, short of traveling to Mifflin County?
I welcome any and all suggestions from my very knowledgeable readers.What have I missed, short of traveling to Mifflin County?
If you think you might be related, even remotely, to anyone mentioned in this blog, please contact me!
OTHER POSTS THAT YOU MAY FIND INTERESTING
SIBLING SATURDAY - The Hunter Sisters
DEATH CERTIFICATE OF Joseph Jackson Hunter - age 25
Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl
Copyright © 2015 Diane Gould Hall
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION
Hi Diane,
ReplyDeleteI’ve researched Pennsylvania genealogy for almost 20 years. Where has the time gone My family is from Huntingdon County, PA, for the most part, but I've also found records in the counties erected to/from Huntingdon.
On 19 Sept 1789, Mifflin County was erected from both Cumberland and Northumberland. Centre County was erected from Lycoming, Mifflin, Northumberland and Huntingdon counties on 13 February 1840. You possibly could find records in any of these other counties, especially land patents and warrants for Rev. Isaac’s family. Bellefonte is now the county seat of Centre County, you could find records at the Court House there for the time period you are searching.
Here are some PA sources I use:
• http://www.pa-roots.org/data/index.php?99 record transcriptions for all counties
• http://www.usgwarchives.net/maps/pa/county/ some of the maps are too contemporary for your timeframe but could give you perspective for locations
• http://historical-county.newberry.org/website/Pennsylvania/viewer.htm insert date to see counties that existed at that point in time
• http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/rg/di/r17-534WhitesideMaps/r017-534WhitesideMapInterface.htm Melish-Whiteside maps from 1816-1921, increase file size to see surnames of residents
• http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/land_records/3184 Pa land patents and warrants
• http://www.krishocker.com/how-to-use-the-online-land-records-at-the-pa-state-archives/ how to use the PA archives land patent/warrant site
Good luck with your search!
Sue Palmer
Thanks so much for your input Sue. I recognize some of those sites, but not all of them. Pennsylvania is a tough state to research in. Kinda like New York. At least the later PA death certs have been released. That solved one of my problems on another ancestor. This one has been ongoing for over 10 years. I have to think that if I could get to a courthouse in Mifflin or one of the surrounding counties, I could find what I need. I'll never give up though :)
DeleteThanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.
You could try the Centre County Library Pennsylvania. It is the first link on the list.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pacentre/cadd01.htm
Another resource is the Lycoming College in Williamsport PA. It is a Methodist College and the Library Archivist has a collection on churches and ministers of the area. I was searching for circuit rider records, they do not exist but some of the records of an established church may.
ReplyDeleteClaudia - thank you for both of your suggestions. I will give them a try. Collaboration is one of the only ways I know of to get more eyes on a particular subject. We all have different levels of experience an knowledge. Sharing that with one another is truly helpful.
DeleteI appreciate your input.
I also have an ancestor that was involved in the early pioneer days of the Methodist church (John Wesley) I contacted them to find out who to contact for help looking for any church records between 1777-1808 & this was the reply:
ReplyDeleteThe archives office of the conference your ancestor would have been part of at that time may have those records. Or you can contact our general archives and history agency since that was at the very beginnings of the church in America. Email: research@gcah.org
Thank you for the information and the email address. I will check it out.
DeleteAlso been trying to figure out, since the John Wesley Methodist Church was an "ENGLISH" church, maybe they (Church in England) have records of birth & baptisms & christenings of early American members!?
ReplyDeleteLara - if you find out about any other records, I'd love to know. The articles written about these preachers were interesting, but they tend to lack the vital information we are looking for (parents, siblings etc). Many times they don't even mention the wife and children by name.
DeleteGood luck with your search.
Diane, Have you tried Mifflin County court minutes for any mention of guardianships? Maybe his father died when Isaac was young, his mother remarried and there are some clues in court minutes. I've found clues in minutes that I've browsed that weren't indexed, nor were there any other records with the same information.
ReplyDeleteHi Linda - thank you for the comment. I have contacted Mifflin County in the past, but had no luck with getting anything from them. I do believe this is going to require a trip to PA. I have several ancestors who probably have records back there that are not accessible online. I've never been to Pennsylvania and it's certainly on my list. Fingers crossed that trip can happen in the near future. Thank you for your input.
Delete