Lost Money : Wesley T. Metzner (1889), Jay County, Indiana

Portland Commercial, Portland, Indiana
August 22, 1889, page 5

LOST - On Tuesday, Aug. 6th, between Westchester and Burt Lewis' by way of the township-line road, a buckskin pocket-book containing some money.  Finder will be liberally rewarded by returning to this office.  W.T. METZNER.

---

Wesley T. Metzner was a contractor and the brother of my paternal 2nd-great grandfather, John Adam Metzner.  I wonder if he ever recovered this money and exactly how much was lost.

In the 1900 census, Wesley was living in Wayne Township, Jay County, Indiana and owned his home free of any mortgage.  Westchester is an unincorporated community in nearby Bearcreek township that had its own post office from 1854 to 1904.  Several members of the Metzner family were living in and around this area through the years.

DNA : Mom's Cousin Linda

Corresponding recently with mom's DNA match, Linda, with whom I share no DNA.  Linda matches mom on only one segment, chromosome 1, and is predicted to be a 3rd to 6th cousin, according to 23andMe.

When I contacted Linda and shared my family tree at Ancestry, she wrote back and thought that we might be related on the Caldwell line.  Linda sent me a link to her Ancestry tree as well.  Her Caldwell line comes from Andrew Caldwell who died 1759 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  Mom's line, however, comes from an Andrew Caldwell who died 1758 in Frederick County, Virginia.  While there might be a connection further back, this did not appear to be where we connected.

Looking at Linda's tree, I discovered that she had a branch that ended with Ruth Hunt (1745-1767) who married Thomas Thornburgh (1743-1788).  Her Ruth Hunt was born 1745 in Loudon County, Virginia and died January 20, 1767 in Rowan County, North Carolina.  This matches up with the Quaker relative of my mother, Ruth Hunt, daughter of Thomas Hunt (1723-1763) and Ann Beals (1720-1790), members of the New Garden MM, Society of Friends.  Ann Beals was the daughter of John Beals (1685-1745) and Sarah Bowater (1689-bef1767), my mother's 7th-great grandparents.

If this is the connection, it would make Linda and mom 8th cousins twice removed.  The DNA recombination might be a bit higher because I noticed that Linda had Osborn relatives as well, and mom has Quaker Osborn ancestors as well.

I've sent Linda some information today and I'm hoping we can continue the discussion to confirm the connections.

My Mayflower Connection

With today being Thanksgiving, several Geneabloggers have been participating in the meme of listing their Mayflower ancestors.  I discovered a couple of years ago that my family has a direct connection to the Mayflower through the Hopkins line.  I'd appreciate any additions/corrections to this line.

1. Stephen Hopkins (1581-1644) and wife Mary (  -1613).
2. Constance Hopkins (1606-1677) and Nicholas Snow (1598-1676)
3. John Snow (1638-1703) and Mary Smalley (1647-1703)
4. Rebecca Snow (1676-1753) and Benjamin Smalley (1664-1721)
5. Joseph Smalley (1712-1783) and Jemima Ordway
6. Francis Smalley (1744-1811) and Sarah Hutchinson (1750-1780)
7. Thirsa Smalley (1771-1861) and Gordon Pierce (1773-1865)
8. Francis S. Pierce (1806-1881) and Rebecca Page (1806-1893)
9. Edmund G. Pierce (1837-1875) and Catherine Groenendyke (1843-1913)
10. William Francis Pierce (1865-1950) and Clara A. Penisten (1869-1906)
11. Edna Muriel Pierce (1897-1968) and Virgil Lee Wright (1894-1972)
12. William Lee Wright (1919-1973) and Bonnie Mae Lambertson (1924-1984)
13. My mother
14. Me

Stephen Hopkins has an interesting story, his page at Wikipedia gives more detail.  Apparently, he was previously shipwrecked in Bermuda, and was the inspiration for Shakespeare's The Tempest.  Tried for treason, found guilty and sentenced to hang, sounds like my kind of ancestor.