The Tears of Amos

Following the Lancaster Line –

Tears of Amos

First a quick review of the Lancaster line. The oldest record I have is from Pennsylvania in the Lancaster, PA area. My 4G grandfather was John. I know his mother was named Mary and she remarried twice after John’s father passed away. But I do not know for sure what my 5G grandfather’s name was. Some people point to a marriage in 1726 between a John and Mary and use that as my 4G Grandfather's dad. But that would put about 30 years between their marriage and the birth of their children so I have to reject that notion.

My 4G grandfather John was born about 1755 and had two brothers, William and Francis who were both bachelors. His only sister, Mary is a complete mystery to me. I have very little on where she went or what happened to her other than a marriage.

Francis stayed in the area and headed a little south to Delaware County, PA where he died in 1835, and having joined the Quakers would leave no headstone. (Quakers seldom had a headstone)

William headed a little west, settled in York Springs, PA, He invested in the toll road that went by his house and left a will at the county seat, Gettysburg. He  left money to his step brothers from his mother’s second marriage and $400 to John.

John moved with a group of people to the Ohio territory about the time it gained statehood in 1803. They settled north of Lancaster near a small town of Carroll. John had 5 children; William, James, Edward, George, and Ann.

John’s son William had a son named Allen who moved to Findlay and filled the Findlay and Toledo area with Wiseleys. If your family has any history from that area it is possible this may be your line.

John’s son James had a son named George and in 2002 I received a nice letter with the “James Line” that led to New Mexico. If you are from that area perhaps you are from this line as well.

Edward is my 3Ggrandfather, had 15 kids and has caused me a lot of work. One of his kids was Henry my 2G grandfather. Henry and his brother Amos moved from the Lancaster, OH area to near Logansport, Indiana in about 1843.

George also had several children and is the Grandfather of Electious and Allen Newton Wiseley who went to Oakwood.

And finally there is Anne and I have done no research on her at all.

OK that pretty well does a quick thumbnail sketch on my line and may give you some clues to your family history. Now back to Amos and his tears.

Amos and his brother Henry were born near Lancaster, OH. They were sons of Edward and Leah. Here is a good thumbnail sketch of Amos.

       Amos and Elizabeth had five children. Amos did well as a farmer and sold a lot of land he had acquired early. Shortly after coming to Royal Center their first child arrived. A little girl named Leah was born in Oct 1847. Then in June of 1849 Isaac and 18 months later Elizabeth in Dec 1850. Henry would not be born until 1855 and finally William arrived 7 years after Henry in 1862.

Amos and Elizabeth had suffered the loss of one of their children. Little Leah died during the winter in Feb 1853. She was only 5.  It must have been heart wrenching to lose a five year old daughter.

In 1866, four years after their last child William, was born, their 17 year old Isaac got sick over the weekend. It was late October.  He quickly went from feeling a little sick to severe vomiting and diarrhea.  He died on Monday. (Oct 29)  Can you imagine the loss of a 17 year old to a farm family? Then the following Saturday (Nov 3) 11year old Henry died the same way. And 3 weeks from the following Thursday 16 year old Elizabeth also died. (Nov 29) Amos and Elizabeth had lost two teenagers and an 11 year old in one month! And now you know why I named this blog “the tears of Amos”



Cemetery listing of the four children. North and south refers to which side of the headstone
has their inscription.





These two headstones are where the children are buried. Each stone carries 2 inscriptions
Notice my wife in the white pants in the distance next to Amos's headstone.



Elizabeth's inscription. She was just 16!

Here is a closeup of Elizabeths inscription. You can just make it out in the picture above on the stone closest to the camera.

What had happened? As I walked around the Kistler cemetery where they are buried I noticed several gravestones had a death date in 1866. People of all ages had all died about the same time. What had happened to this little community?

When I got home I found the answer. Cholera. I have a wonderful two volume work by Buley “The Old Northwest” He traces how Cholera spread through Europe and arrived in America aboard a ship and was eventually spread to Niagara Falls. A military detachment was sent from there to Chicago to fight the Indians. That resulted in Chicago having a cholera epidemic in 1832. It sprang up again in 1849 and 1866. It spread well beyond Chicago, and affected most of the nation.  

Do a quick Google search on Cholera in Chicago and you will find how devastating a disease this was. People would get Cholera in the morning and be dead by that night or the next day.

Now we know why there is only Williams name on the back of Amos’s tombstone. He was the only one of their five children to survive. I still remember standing in the Kistler cemetery in front of those poor children’s tombstone and trying to imagine the grief that Amos and Elizabeth endured. I cannot help but think those tombstone were once wet from the tears of Amos.