Church Record Sunday : Beals Family, Westfield MM, Hamilton County, Indiana

Ancestry.com. U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data:Indiana Yearly Meeting Minutes. Earlham College Friends Collection & College Archives, Richmond, Indiana. 

My maternal 4th-great grandparents, John and Mary (Davis) Beals, were members of the Westfield Monthly Meeting of the Society of Friends (Quakers) in Hamilton County, Indiana.  Quaker membership records and monthly meeting minutes are available at Ancestry.com.

The record card of the family states:

John Beals, born Ohio, 6th month, 26th day, 1827; son of Nathan and Elizabeth Beals; received upon request at Westfield Monthly Meeting, married Mary Davis.
Mary Beals, born Holly Springs, North Carolina, 9th month, 9th day, 1825; daughter of John and Mary Davis; birthright member of Holly North Carolina Monthly Meeting, married John Beals.
Mary A. Beals, born Westfield, Indiana, 3rd month, 27th day, 1859; daughter of John and Mary Beals; received upon request at Westfield Monthly Meeting, released by letter.
John F. Beals, born Westfield, Indiana, 9th month, 21st day, 1866; son of John and Mary Beals; received upon request at Westfield Monthly Meeting.
Nathan Thos. Beals, born Westfield, Indiana, 2nd month, 7th day, 1856; son of John and Mary Beals; received upon request of Westfield Monthly Meeting, married Elizabeth Powe.
Elizabeth Beals; born Whitelick, Indiana, 1856; daughter of Isaac and Hannah Powe, birthright member of Whitelick, Indiana Monthly Meeting, married Nathan T. Beals.
Pearley May Beals, born Westfield, Indiana, 1877;daughter of N.T. and E. Beals, birthright member of Westfield Monthly Meeting.
Maggie Beals, born Westfield,Indiana,  9th month, 1880; daughter of N.T. and E. Beals, birthright member of Westfield Monthly Meeting.
Ethel Beals, born Westfield, Indiana; daughter of N.T. and Elizabeth Beals.
Nellie Beals

Some slight differences discovered in this membership record.  John Beals birth date is recorded as the 26th day, while in the genealogy Chronology of the Beals Family, which he wrote, he gave his birth date as the 25th.  John was not a birthright member of the Friends church, although his father (Nathan C. Beals) had been one, but he had been disowned.  Mary (Davis) Beals birth date matches what I have in my database, her parents John and Mary (Barker) Davis had moved from North Carolina to Indiana.

Of the children of John and Mary (Davis) Beals listed in this membership, Mary, John F. and Nathan Thomas, I have just a couple of updates to my data.  The birth date for John F. is listed as the 21st, when I had it as the 9th in my database, without a source, so there is one correction to make.  Nathan Thomas was in my database being born on the 17th, without a source as well.  So there are two corrections/updates to make.

Elizabeth Poe who married Nathan Thomas Beals was a birthright member of the Society from Whitelick Monthly Meeting in Morgan County, Indiana.  Her parents were Isaac and Hannah (Mills) Poe.

The listings of the children of Nathan T. and Elizabeth (Poe) Beals is a bit confusing.  Pearley May Beals was my 2nd-great grandmother, Pearl May Beals, who married Charles Wilson Lambertson.  I only show three daughters in the family of Nathan T. and Elizabeth (Poe) Beals : Pearl May (1878), Nellie Myrtle (1880) and Ethel Mable (1885).  This record gives the birth date of Pearl as 1877, when I show it was May 11, 1878.  I show Nellie born August 30, 1880 and Ethel born November 27, 1885.  This church membership record gives no birth dates for either Nellie or Ethel, but adds a Maggie Beals, born September 1880.   Did they confuse Nellie's middle name as Maggie and have her birthdate off by a month, or could there have been another daughter, possibly a twin of Nellie?  Being born August 30th, it's not a stretch to think the date could be recorded as September, especially since the birth took place in Nebraska and the membership role was created after the fact.  More mysteries.

Not all of John and Mary (Davis) Beals' children are listed in this record.  Left out are Elizabeth (b. 1849), Emma (b. 1851) and Sarah (b. 1854).  I do not know if they were ever members of the Society of Friends.


Church Record Sunday is a daily blogging prompt used by many genealogy bloggers to help them post content on their sites.

To participate in Church Record Sunday, describe a specific church record or a set of church records held by a denomination and how they can assist genealogists.   This is an on-going series developed by Gena Philbert Ortega at Gena's Genealogy.

Church Record Sunday : Lambertson Family, Hinkle Creek Friends MM, Hamilton County, Indiana

Ancestry.com, U.S. Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1994 [database on-line], Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data :Indiana Yearly Meeting Minutes. Earlham College Friends Collection & College Archives, Richmond, Indiana.

Quaker records and meeting minutes have recently been added to Ancestry.com.  Not just the abstracts from Hinshaw's Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy, but actual records from Earlham College, Swathmore College, Guilford College and Haverford College collections.  Last night I decided to dig in and see what I could find.

My maternal 3rd-great grandparents, Carey and Clara (Cook) Lambertson and family had joined the Society of Friends in the late 1890s, which I knew from Willard Heiss' abstracts of Indiana Friends records.  Searching the database in Ancestry, I was able to find membership records of the Hinkle Creek Monthly Meeting in Hamilton County, Indiana, which provided some good information on the family, even though they spelled the surname as Lamberson, without the 't'.

The record card of the family states :

Carey Lamberson,  born Butler County, Ohio 29th day, 4th month, 1847; son of John and Sarah Lamberson

Clara E. Lamberson, born Preble County, Ohio 16th day, 11th month, 1848; daughter of James and Mary Cook

Lola Lamberson, born Madison County, Indiana 28th day, 6th month, 1883; daughter of Carey and Clara E. Lamberson.

All were received into membership by request on the 21st day, 2nd month, 1899.  This was not all of the Lambertson family.

These birth dates agree with what I've previously recorded in my database, though I had Lola born in Hamilton County, Indiana.  That source was from a correspondent.

A key fact uncovered her was that Clara's parents were named as James and Mary Cook and her birthplace named as Preble County, Ohio.  Previously, her parentage was not clearly known, as I had found a census record that appeared to be her in 1850, but Clara's death certificate stated her father's name was William, and her mother was _____ Hirharger, both born in Virginia.  I had written a post on Clara's ancestry before.  The informant for her death certificate was likely her daughter, Lola, at whose house she was staying when she died.  Now, this record card is pointing me in the direction of my previous hunch.

The record card also indicates that Cary and Clara were married 1st day, 10th month, 1869; and that Lola married Omer Whisler on 15th day, 4th month, 1905, facts that agree with my data.

The entire family was dropped from the membership of the Hinkle Creek meeting by discontinuance of name by request.  Cary and Clara were dropped 20th day, 2nd month, 1917 and Lola was dropped 20th day, 5th month, 1919.  According to his obituary, Cary was a member of the Friends church at Providence, Hamilton County, Indiana at the time of his death in 1918.

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Church Record Sunday is a daily blogging prompt used by many genealogy bloggers to help them post content on their sites.

To participate in Church Record Sunday, describe a specific church record or a set of church records held by a denomination and how they can assist genealogists.   This is an on-going series developed by Gena Philbert Ortega at Gena's Genealogy.

Church Record Sunday: Mt. Zion Church has served Noble area since 1852

The following is an article that appeared in the Portland, Indiana Commercial Review on March 19, 1977, page 19.  Mt. Zion church was the spiritual home of my HALEY and allied families for many years. I've added my comments in red.

The Mt. Zion Church in Noble Township was organized in 1852, just a few years before the beginning of the Civil War.

This was about the same time Muncie celebrated the completion of the Bellefountain and Indianapolis railroad to Muncie and the same year of the first state fair held at Indianapolis.

A. Nicolai and Frederick Schumerman of St. Mary’s, Ohio circuit conducted the organizational meeting the Mt. Zion (Evangelical Association) at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Sebastian Haley.[maternal 3rd-great granduncle, brother of George J.]  The Haleys were married Feb. 25, 1846 and came to Jay County in 1850 from Ohio, where he purchased 120 acres of land.

Charter members of the church were: Mr. and Mrs. Sebastian Haley, Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Houdeschell, Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Wentz, Mr. and Mrs. Dan Ferner, and Catherine Young.

Daniel Ferner started a tile factory and pottery, in 1861, one of the first industries in the township.  They came to Jay County from Fairfield County, Ohio, and located on a 92-acre farm.  They lived in an old log cabin for two years, then built a hewed log house for a pottery and brought clay from Ohio to make the pottery.  This didn’t prove to be successful, so he made tile from local clay.  In 1879, he moved into a better home.  He and his wife had 11 children.

These charter members worshipped in homes and barns from about 1852 to 1855 when they built a log church.  The 20 or 25 feet square structure seated about 100.  The land was donated by C. Young.  The pews were homemade.

In 1881, the log church was replaced with a brick building 30 by 50 feet at a cost of $2,000.  Most of the labor was donated.

The bricks for the new building were made and burned by Fred Haley [son of Sebastian] in Noble township.  Henry Miller donated the sand and the lime was purchased from the Wagner Lime Kiln, near Fort Recovery, Ohio.  The church was dedicated Dec. 11, 1881 by William Yost from Cleveland, Ohio.

In the early days of the church, people often walked two or three miles to meetings.  At night, they carried lanterns.  Years later, a light plant furnished lights, and when electricity was available, the church was wired for electric lights.

In 1887, the Mt. Zion Church of the Evangelical Association had a membership of 88.  Class leaders were George W. Haley [2nd-great grandfather] and A.[August] Geggenheimer [2nd-great granduncle - husband of Sarah C. Haley] ; exhorters were William Haley [son of Sebastian] and Albert Graves.  Pastor was Rev. H.E. Meyers of Fort Recovery.

Among the preceding pastors were: L.S. Fisher, G.W. Holderman, B.F. Dill, J.D. Pontius.

Sunday school attendance during the 1880’s averaged 60. Adams Metzner [2nd-great grandfather John Adam Metzner] was superintendent.

The church later changed to part of the Portland Circuit.  J.E. Young served from 1910 to 1911 and W.I. Weyant of the Pittsburgh Conference filled the vacancy for two years.

In 1933, the church was re-roofed at a cost of $180.  Mt. Zion became an Evangelical United Brethren Church in 1946, following a merger of the two denominations.

This church was then assigned to the Albright Circuit in 1951.

On Sept. 7, 1952, a centennial celebration was held.  Guest speakers were Rev. Reuben H. Mueller, Rev. C.W. Walmer, a former pastor, and Rev. Hugh Cobb.

In 1958, the church was remodeled by digging a basement, bracing the walls with cement pillars, and raising the floor of the sanctuary three feet.  Cost of the project was $4,000 besides the donated labor.

Later a furnace, well, water system, restrooms, and a kitchen were installed.  A tile ceiling was installed in 1960.  Since then, new carpeting and wallpaper have been added.

The church is now a two-point charge with Westchester United Methodist Church.  Rev. Larry Werbil is pastor and Earl Brumm is superintendent.

Mt. Zion church photographed by author in 2009

Church Record Sunday: Exploring the archives of The United Methodist Church

Geneabloggers advertised the new daily blogging themes for Sunday, and I saw the Church Record Sunday from Gena's Genealogy Blog regarding searching for records of Methodist ancestors through the General Commission of Archives & History of The United Methodist Church.  Since I have many ancestors who were members of the pre-cursors to the modern church, I decided to check out this database resource.

The database can be searched through this link.  There is a convenient simple search and a more advanced search, which should be used if your surname is more common.

According to their website, "today's United Methodist Church is the descendant of several predecessors. These denominations are: Methodist Episcopal Church (1784-1939), Methodist Episcopal Church, South (1845-1939), Methodist Protestant Church (1828-1939), Methodist Church (1939-1968), United Brethren in Christ (1800-1946), Evangelical Association (1803-1922), United Evangelical Church (1894-1922), Evangelical Church (1922-1946), Evangelical United Brethren (1946-1968), United Methodist Church (1968-present)."

I began searching for some of the names of ancestors and relatives to see who may have been mentioned in their Annual Conference yearbooks. Copies of the full text of these mentions is available for a $5 research fee.

Here are some of the "hits" that I found when searching for my family:

Name: Lemasters, Philip Birth: June 10, 1836 Death: May 14, 1915 Denomination: Methodist Episcopal Church Conference Membership or Lay Status: West Ohio State or place of Death: OH Journal Reference: West Ohio Conference Journal for 1915; page(s): 681 Record id Number: 35293  [This was my paternal 2nd-great granduncle. I knew he was a minister in Spencerville, Ohio] Name: Haley, Eli W. Birth: na Death: na Denomination: Evangelical United Brethren Church Conference Membership or Lay Status: Laity State or place of Death: na Journal Reference: Illinois Conference Journal for 1958; page(s): 77 Record id Number: 63998  [This was my paternal great-grandfather.] Name: Haley, Jacob Birth: na Death: May 27, 1920 Denomination: Evangelical Association Conference Membership or Lay Status: Laity State or place of Death: na Journal Reference: Indiana Conference Journal for 1921; page(s): 30 Record id Number: 51513  [Believe this may be my paternal 3rd-great granduncle.] Name: Chew, Nathaniel D. Birth: May 2, 1877 Death: April 28, 1949 Denomination: Methodist Church Conference Membership or Lay Status: Wisconsin State or place of Death: WI Journal Reference: Wisconsin Conference Journal for 1949; page(s): 145 Record id Number: 96841  Name: Chew, Nathaniel D. Birth: na Death: April 21, 1949 Denomination: Methodist Church Conference Membership or Lay Status: Michigan State or place of Death: MI Journal Reference: Michigan Conference Journal for 1949; page(s): 169 Record id Number: 76969 [Paternal cousin] Name: Metzner, J. W. Birth: Jan 6, 1869 Death: July 24, 1929 Denomination: Evangelical Church Conference Membership or Lay Status: Indiana State or place of Death: na Journal Reference: Indiana Conference Journal for 1930; page(s): 296 Record id Number: 53169  [Paternal 1st cousin 3 times removed.] I'm just getting started in researching this resource, and will be interested to find out what information these memorials will contain.