Reubon Elbon, ca. 1763

Kent County, Maryland
Frederick, Shenandoah, and Wythe Counties, Virginia
West Virginia, Ohio, and Florida

Third Generation

This page was updated by Mara French on 10/18/13. An asterisk (*) shows continuation of that line to the next generation. Send any corrections or additions to marafrench@mindspring.com. Revisions: 2012, 2013.

Contents

Elben Home Page

Elben DNA Test Results

Early Elben Family in Maryland

Outline of Most Elben Families

Introduction to the Reubon Elbon Family

Outline of Reuben Elbon Descendants

Thanks to Ron Coffman for researching and creating this extensive and complete descendant chart of Reuben Elbon. The 124 pages also includes related surnames. Ron welcomes any corrections and/or additional information; please email him at roncoff@ca.rr.com.

Generations: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Maps of Virginia

Bibliography

Third Generation

From Ron Coffman: As far as I know, Reuben Elbon is the only one that may have had any association with Stephens City, VA. Please remember, St. Stephens is nothing more than a church and graveyard (as seen in the map below) and it is not within Stephens City which is north a few miles on Hwy 81 and in Frederick Co., not Shenandoah Co. FindAGrave has that cemetery at Strasburg Junction, this is not correct. A church was erected in the Topnot Community of Shenandoah County (west of Strasburg) and it was called St. Stephens Church. Joseph Elbon (son of Montgomery) and his descendants lived in the Topnot Community and they are the Elbons buried at the St. Stephens Church Cemetery. This St. Stephens is not a community.

Strasburg is a town in Shenandoah Co., VA, founded in 1761. The Topnot Community of Shenandoah Co. is west of Strasburg. Strasburg is about 11 miles south of Stephens City and St. Stephens Church is approximately 6 miles west of Strasburg.

Children of Reubon’s Parents, 2.1

3.1* Reuben Elbon, b. ca. 1763 -- in the 1810 census, Reuben was b. before 1765; in the 1820 census, Reuben was born before 1773; in the 1830 census, Reuben was born between 1761-1770; therefore, his birth date would be 1761-1765. He m1. Margaret Neuschwanger in 1787 in VA, she d. ca. 1797. Reuben m2. Mary Gorley on 24 Oct 1798 in Frederick Co., VA. Reuben died after 1830 in Wythe Co., VA, as he does not appear in the 1840 census. He lived his early life on Duck Creek and may have even been born there. Duck Creek, which was established in 1682, is in Kent Co., mostly in Delaware and partly in Maryland.

As Reuben did not name any of his children Reuben, it is assumed any information about Reuben in Wythe Co., VA, would refer to him, as his age is consistent in all accounts.

Marriage

Reuben had 4 sons (William, Lorenzo, Montgomery, Harold) and no daughters per the census records. Son William was from his first wife, and the other 3 sons were from his second wife.

Shenandoah County Marriage Bonds, 1772-1850

1787 -- Reuben Elbon m1. Margaret Nisewanger on 30 Aug 1787 in Stephens City, Frederick Co., VA, probably at the Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church at Winchester, VA. Reuben and Margaret remained in VA thereafter. Margaret was b. 1757 or before. She had m1. Abraham Niswanger; her maiden name is unknown. Abraham was b. ca. 1746 in Frederick Co., VA, and d. 1785. His father was Jacob Neuschwanger, born in Friesenhaim in the German Palatinate. His grandfather was Jacob Neuschwanger, born at Eggiwil, Canton Bern, Switzerland. The Neuschwanger family moved to Shenandoah Valley, VA, as early as 1732 with Josh Hite, Peter Stephens, and more than a dozen other families from the Coalbrookdale-Skippack area of eastern Pennsylvania, willing to brave the hostile Virginia frontier. They were certainly firmly established in Virginia by the spring of 1734 when a surveyor for Hite noted as one of his marks “Niswanger’s Hunting Path.”

Abraham and Margaret Nisewanger had 3 children: John b. 14 Oct 1772, d. 14 Jul 1858, m. Sarah Grove; Elizabeth b. 1774, d. ca. 1840, m. John Pitman; Mary b. 12 Dec 1776, d. 29 Dec 1858, m. Martin Cryder in 1801 and moved to Union Co., OH. Considering that Margaret must have been 15 years of age or older when her first child was born, she was therefore born in 1757 or before, quite a bit older than Reuben.

When Reuben Elbon m1. Margaret Nisewanger on 30 Aug 1787, her children were ages 15, 13, and 11. Reuben was about 8 years younger than Margaret; perhaps he was helping out at the Nisewanger land at the time Abraham died. This could indicate that after Reuben paid land taxes in Kent Co., MD, in 1783, by 1784 he was already in Frederick Co., VA.

When Abraham died in 1785, Margaret m2. Reubon Elbon. Margaret Elbon died ca. 1797 and Reubon m2. in 1798, Mary Gorley. Two generations back, the Nisewanger family came from Germany. Rev. Christian Striet’s Diary of this church gives the names of the 33 heads of families residing in Winchester that were the founders of the German Lutheran Congregation.

The following proof that Margaret Niswanger was the widow of Abraham is documented in "From the Rhine to the Shenandoah" Vol III by Daniel W. Bly, 2002.

Abraham had 141 acres of land deeded to him by his brother John. The last year he paid taxes on it was 1786. In 1787, Margaret "widow" paid the taxes and then from 1788 to 1795, Reuben Elbon paid the tax for Niswanger. By 1796, John Niswanger, son of Abraham and Margaret had come of age, married and took over the same 141 acres and paid the taxes on it after that.

Neyschwanger / Niswanger Family

Mary Magdalena m. John Jacob Nisewanger who was b. 1729 and d. ca. 1788 and is probably buried at the Mount Hebron Cemetery where others of his family are buried.

Anna Maria Hite, Joist Hite’s first wife, died. In 1741 Joist Hite married Maria Magdalena, the "Widow Neyschwanger." Their marriage contract is a quaint piece of business. Joist Hite made his will April 25, 1758. His date of death and place of burial have been cleverly hidden by time. His will was probated in 1761. Whether Joist HITE became embittered on account of the lawsuit with Lord Fairfax over title to his lands, we do not know. He did not live to learn the eventual outcome. Knowledge of his vindication, no doubt, would have been immensely pleasing to him. So, too, of the church in his house. From those early ministering visits of Missionary Stoever, the Lutheran Church took root. It has brought forth its fruit in patience, and its fruit has remained.

Page 573, Appendix B "Diary of Christian Striet July 19, 1785 to November 28, 1788" 1787 August 30th. Reuben ELBON and Margaret NISWANGER. "Fairfax Land Suit" Transcript of Copy in the British Museum By Hunter Branson McKay 1951 Index NISWONGER: Christian 54, Stephen 54. Page 54 (164) Stephen and Christian NISWONGER (describes property lines) this 30th day of December 1734. The Diary of Christian Striet was first transcribed as to its English parts by R. E. Griffith of Winchester, Virginia, then transcribed again with all foreign words and expressions translated, all abbreviations expanded, and all scriptural references verified.

Margaret Niswanger was born 1750-1754 and married Reuben Elbon on 30 Aug 1787. She had first married Abraham Niswanger and had son John born in 1772. She died ca. 1797. Reuben and Margaret named their son William which might be the name of Reuben’s father, as the name William was not from the Niswanger family. William was b. ca. 1788 and therefore Margaret was at the end of her childbearing years. Historian Daniel Bly believes “Reuben had arrived in Virginia and maybe worked for the Niswanger family and when he died, he saw an opportunity to have some land and a home and Margaret saw someone who could help raise her children. Most marriages were for convenience in those days.”

The following genealogy is incorrect, but it is put here so that others will not repeat it, as John Niswonger never had a daughter named Margaret. Margaret Niswonger had been married to Abraham Niswonger, and when he died, she married Reuben Elbon.

Abraham Niswanger witnessed the will of his stepfather, Michael Wolf, in 1765, and in 1767 was deeded 141 acres of land by his older brother, John (Frederick Co. Deed Book "11," p. 369). Abraham appears in the personal property tax records of Frederick County for the last time in 1785 and an appraisal of the personal property of Abraham Niswanger "deceased" was ordered 11 March 1785. John Niswanger was appointed administrator of his estate in May 1785 (Fred. Co. Will Book "5," p. 88 and Order Book "19," p. 75). Margaret, widow of Abraham Niswanger, married Reuben Elbon, 30 Aug. 1787 and probably died in 1796 or 1797, because Reubon Elbon remarried in 1798. John Niswanger, was taxed for the 141 acres from 1796 onward.

JACOB NEUSCHWANGER (NISWANGER) was born at Friesenheim in the German Palatinate (Baden-Württemberg), 10 Oct. 1716, married MARIA GERTRAUT BRUMBACH, 5 June 1738, and died in Frederick Co., VA, in mid 1753. Maria Gertraut (Mary) was born about 1721 at Germanna in Orange County, daughter of Melchior Brumbach, married second to Michael Wolf and died in 1803. Jost Hite deeded Jacob Neuschwanger 435 acres, which he originally intended to sell to Jacob's father, in February 1738 (Orange Co. Deed Book "3," p. 80). Jacob's name appears on several road petitions in the 1740s and he witnessed the marriage contract between his mother and Jost Hite in 1741. He obtained a survey warrant for an additional 323 acres adjoining his other tract in February 1752. Jacob died sometime between May 1753 when he helped survey a piece of land, and 29 Sept. 1753, when Mary Neuschwanger and their youngest son, Christian, were named on the deed for the land he had surveyed in 1752. On 7 May 1754 Mary, widow of Jacob, along with his brother, John, posted bond to administer the estate of Jacob Neuschwanger, "deceased" (Frederick Co. Will Book "2," p. 121). Stephen Hatzenbtihler co-signed the bond with John and Mary Neuschwanger. In May 1756, after she had paid all the fees in full, Mary Neuschwanger and Christian received the patent for the tract surveyed in 1752 (Joyner, Vol. II, p. 114). Mary married Michael Wolf of Frederick County about this time. When Wolf wrote a will in November 1765, he mentioned four daughters: Rebecca, Elizabeth, Sarah and Rachel Wolf and mentioned that his wife, Mary was with child. The will was probated in Frederick County in June 1766 (Frederick Co. Will Book, "3", p. 338). The proof that the 1753 deed was made out to the widow and son of Jacob Neuschwanger is found in a deed dated 7 Oct 1777. This deed clearly states that: "Mary Nicewanger, relict of Jacob Nicewanger and now relict of Michael Wolf and her son, Christian Nicewanger and his wife, Barbara," sell 136 acres to "Major" Lewis Stephens, it being part of 323 acres granted to the "said Mary Nicewanger and her son, Christian as Tenants in Common, 29 Sept. 1753" (Fred. Co. Deed Book "17," p. 401). Mary and Christian sold the remainder of this tract to John Donaldson in June 1780 (Fred. Co. Deed Book "19," pp. 47-8).

Photos taken by Mara French at the Stephens City Historic Museum in May 2013.

Abram (Abraham) Nisewanger, the waggoner mentioned in the article above (1796-1882) showing his gravestone which is in the second to the oldest cemetery in Stephens City on North Mulberry, whereas the oldest cemetery is three blocks south on South Mulberry. Abram’s ancestor John Nisewanger appears in the 1790 census of Frederick Co., MD. Colonel John Niswonger was born 13 Feb 1743, died 13 Jul 1821, and m. in 1763 to Margaret Good. This Margaret Niswonger was obviously not the wife of Reuben Elbon as she was married in the year Reuben was born.

The Nisewanger family lived at the Toll House, the last property at the south end of Stephens City, VA, and is today along Route 11 near the bridge that crosses Stephens Run (seen in the drawing below) and the toll keeper’s house is now a vacant field as it burned to the ground during the Civil War. The edge of town is about 1/10^th of a mile to the north, or right in this drawing below. Immediately across Route 11 and Hwy I-81 is McDonalds which is easily visible from the Nisewanger property. The drawing of the toll keeper’s house was drawn by Frank Staling (Corporal Franz Staling) who was born in 1831 and raised in Germany. He immigrated to America to avoid compulsory military service and married Amanda Nisewanger in the decade before the Civil War. He purchased this home in 1858 on lots 36 and 37 in Stephensburg. He painted the following scene from memory as he had moved to Baltimore, MD.

1798 -- Reuben m2. Mary Gorley on 24 Oct 1798 in Frederick Co., VA; surety was John Gorley, father, and Ann Gorley, mother. Genealogist Ron Coffman noted that the date was typed incorrect in various places and should read 24 Oct 1798 instead of 24 Oct 1778 in Frederick Co., VA; and Reuben’s name was spelled “Elbow”. See https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XRHZ-K2Z. This makes more sense, as Margaret Neuschwanger died in 1797.

Mary Gorley is listed as born between 1771-1780, most likely born 1780 as her last child, Harold Reed Elburn, was born 25 Feb 1815 when she would have been 35.

In 1763 the minimum age of marriage was fixed at 16, but in 1754 Hardwicke’s Marriage Act decreed that parties under the age of 21 (minors) required the consent of parents or guardians to marry. In this case, Mary Gorley could have been under 21 as both parents signed. Reuben, on the other hand, had to be born by 1763 or before, at which time he was 16.

As you can see, there are many varieties of where this family came from and when, but the Gorley family is not the concentration of this website, so I will leave that to others to figure out. Some say Ireland, some say Scotland:

The Gorley / Gourley family was originally from Belfast, Antrim, Northern Ireland, and immigrated to Stephensburg, Frederick Co., VA.

The Gorley family were mostly Scottish. According to “Genealogical and Personal History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania, Volume 2” by James Hadden, p. 402, the emigrant ancestor, John Gorley, was of Uniontown, PA, who came to Pennsylvania with the scotch-Irish emigration before the revolutionary period and settled in the Cumberland valley, a farmer by occupation, and a soldier of the revolution in Cumberland Co., PA. After the war he removed to Frederick Co., VA, as Reuben Elbon did.

For marriage date explanation, see Who Did Reuben Marry and When?

Census and Chronology

1735-1745 – Reuben’s father was born – approximately – place unknown.

1760-1762 – Approximate years Reuben’s father married.

1752 – Approximate date Margaret Nisewanger was born, perhaps in Frederick Co., VA.

1763 – Approximate date Reuben Elbon was born, most likely in Kent Co., MD.

1768 – Letter written either to or from Reuben Elborn who lived on Duck Creek on 21 Jul 1768 as per “Buried Genealogical Data, A Complete List of Addressed Letters Left in the Post Offices of Philadelphia, Chester, Lancaster, Trenton, New Castle, and Wilmington between 1748-1780”, edited by Kenneth Scott and Kenn Stryker-Rodda, 1977. A letter from an unknown person was delivered to Reuben in Philadelphia, but he was living in Duck Creek, New Castle County, Delaware. Duck Creek empties out into Delaware Bay, and across the bay is New Jersey and Salem County where a large Elben family resided ca. 1755 and perhaps earlier. See the Elben Family of New Jersey.

No data is given as to the other party of the letter. This might indicate that both parties could read, write, and spell, and that both parties most likely were adults. Check http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=49099 for the following document. Reuben Elborn is on p. 65 of 246 pages. This list contains the names of approximately 27,000 persons whose letters lay unclaimed at the post office from 1748 throughout the colonial period. Lists previous to 1748 appear in Mr. Scott's Abstracts from Ben Franklin's Pennsylvania Gazette, 1728-1748.

The capital letter designations P, C, L, T, N, W following the addressee’s name signify respectively the post offices in Philadelphia, Chester, Lancaster, Trenton, New Castle, and Wilmington in which letter lay unclaimed. The dates which complete each entry indicate the day of publication in the Gazette so that residents could claim them.

At first only Philadelphia had a post office, as Reuben’s letter arrived at the Philadelphia office. Up to the time of Benjamin Franklin's appointment as Postmaster of Philadelphia, in 1737, letters were held at a post office until called for. Desirous of improving the system, Franklin began the publication of names of persons for whom unclaimed letters were in the office under his jurisdiction. The first list appeared in Franklin's Pennsylvania Gazette of 21 March 1738 and, as a result, the addressees, their friends, or messengers, picked up much of the mail. This does prove that the family immigrated before 1768.

Duck Creek shows in an 1868 map as running between New Castle County and Kent County in Delaware; this creek leads you from the Delaware Bay towards Kent County, Maryland, where Reuben appears in 1781, 13 years later. Old Duck Creek and Little Duck Creek also wind their way to Maryland in a more southerly route across the center of Kent Co., DE, as seen on the 1868 map. The Ringold family, who married into the Elburn family, are seen twice in Dist. No. 8 on this map.

On the following map, the Elben family started out at Salem, NJ, made their way down the Delaware River to Duck Creek in Delaware. Then they traveled thru Maryland along the Chester River to Chestertown.

1781-1783 – Reuben entered the Revolutionary War on 16 May 1781 and mustered out in 1783.

1783 -- Reuben “Elburn” appears in the 1^st District on the 1783 Tax List of Langford Bay, Kent Co., MD. No other family members are listed here. (1^st District, MD, p. 5, MSA S 1161-7-1 1/4/5/50 from the Maryland State Archives, Maryland Indexes, Assessment of 1783, Index, 1783, Kent County, MSA S 1437).

Reuben Elburn. KE 1st District, p. 5. MSA S 1161-7-1    1/4/5/50

A statewide tax assessment in Maryland was taken in 1783. The tax assessment record details the structures, number of inhabitants, slaves, livestock, and personal property for taxation purposes. No other tax assessment for the surname Elbon is listed in Maryland in counties Anne Arundel, Charles, Queen Anne’s, Baltimore, Dorchester, Somerset, Calvert, Harford, Talbot, Caroline, Washington, Montgomery, or Worcester. Listings appear in only Cecil and Kent Counties in 1783 for the Elbon family. The listing in Cecil County is for John Elburn.

Map of Colonial Quaker Neck, Kent County, Maryland, and tracts granted by the Lords Baltimore. I took a photo of the map below at the Chestertown Historic Society, but as it had a clear plastic sheet over it, I couldn’t avoid the glare. I took the photos of Langford Bay in May 2013. See a larger Map of Quaker Neck.

(Above) Path back to my rental car.

Map below shows Langford Bay and the proximity to Rock Hall where descendants lived. See Broad Neck Rd. on map.

"Broadnox," a large tract of land on Langford Bay, was the property of Thomas Broadnox, a man of considerable importance in the earliest days of Kent. From him “Broadnox” was acquired by Robert Dunn, a friend and adviser of the Proprietary. This old place, with its manor house built about 1708, remained in the Dunn family until long after the Revolutionary War. Robert Dunn was a vestryman of St. Paul's Church.

Broadnox, Poplar Neck was near Rock Hall in the mid-18^th century, belonging to Thomas Broadnox who owned it in 1659. In the 18^th Century, 640 acres of this tract came into the possession of the Dunn family, early members of St. Paul’s Church. By the time of the 1852 Tax Assessment, the farm was in the possession of James E. Barroll, one of Chestertown’s prominent lawyers who resided at the Hynson-Ringgold House.

1780 -- Mary Gorley was born between 1771-1780, most likely born 1780 as her last child, Harold Reed Elburn, was born 25 Feb 1815 when she would have been 35.

1783 – Reuben owned land in Langford Bay, Kent Co., MD, was taxed – a statewide tax assessment in Maryland during that year.

1787 Aug 30 – Christian Striet married Ruben Elbon and Margaret Nisewanger, in Virginia [Christian Striet’s Diary, reprinted in “This Heritage”, p. 363]. Christian Striet was living in Manheim, Lancaster Co., PA, in 1773 and was the sole pastor for many German churches in the area. Margaret Nisewanger’s children by her first marriage to Abraham Nisewanger were ages 15, 13, and 11 at the time she married Reuben. The marriage could have been for convenience as many were at that time; and Reuben could have been working for Abraham Nisewanger.

1788 – Son William Elbon b. ca. 1788 in VA, d. Aug 1861 in Shenandoah Co., VA.

1790 census in Virginia– there was no census in VA until 1810.

1793 – D.B. 24A P. 126 (3/18/1793), James Henning, Executor for Jacob Market, dec’d, sells lots in Lots 7 and 8 to Reuban Elbon “Elburn” for 58 L. [No mention of house on either lot]. From the research of Linden A. Fravel, Jr. at Stephens City Historic Society.

1796 – Witnesses to the sale of I.L. #98 John Taylor to Geo. Ritenour [Nov. 1796]: Reubin Elburn; John Nisewanger; Israel Ewan; John Hannah. From the research of Linden A. Fravel, Jr. at Stephens City Historic Society.

1797 – [? Jan. 1797] witnessed the sale of O.L. #110 from Mary Emmett, Dan. Carrol to Sam. Bryson [D.B. 25 P.330]. From the research of Linden A. Fravel, Jr. at Stephens City Historic Society.

1797 – Reuben’s first wife Margaret Niswanger Elbon died ca. 1797.

1798 Oct 24 – Reuben m2. Mary Gorley.

1799 – Reuben’s second child was born, Montgomery R. Elbon, born ca. 1799.

1800 census in Virginia – there was no census in VA until 1810.

1800 – Reuben was on the Wythe Co. VA Tax List.

1802 – Reuben’s third child was born, Lorenzo Dow “Ren” Elbon, born ca. 1802.

1817 Dec 9 – Reuben witnessed the last will and testament of Jacob Dobler in Wythe Co., VA.

1810, 1820, 1830 census -- Reubin Elburn (1810 Census), Elbin and Elban (1820) and Elban (1830) are all in Wythe County VA. Since the census info is consistent as far as Reubin’s age is concerned, they're probably the same person. He was born ca. 1763.

1810 census of Wythe Co., VA
Reuben is over age 45, b. before 1765
his wife is 26-44, b. 1766-1784, Mary Gorley
one male is 16-25 (b. 1785-1794), William Elburn, son by first marriage
one male is 10-15 (b. 1795-1800), Montgomery, son by second marriage
and one male is under 10 (b. 1800-1810), son Lorenzo, son by second marriage

Note: John Nisewanger, son of Margaret Nisewanger from her first marriage, was b. 14 Oct 1772 in Frederick Co., VA, and died there on 14 Jul 1858, m. Sarah Grove on 7 Oct 1795; he was a blacksmith.

1814 Feb 25 – Reuben’s fourth child was born, Harold R. Elbon.

1817 Dec 9 -- In the Wythe Co., VA Courthouse, Will Book 2, pp. 225-226, Reuben Elbon (correct spelling) is a witness along with George Weaver and Martin Groseclose of the will of Jacob Dobler, dated 9 Dec 1817. See http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/wythe/wills/willbk02.txt.

At a court held for the County of Wythe at the Courthouse on Tuesday, the 9th December 1817. The last will & testament of Jacob Dobler dec'd was proved by the Oath of George Weaver, Reuben Elbon, & Martin Groseclose, the witness, thereto and ordered to be recorded: and on the motion of Henry Huddle, the executor named therein, who made oath to the same and entered in to the bond of six thousand dollars, certificate is granted him for obtaining probate thereof in due form. R. Crockett, Clerk, Wythe County, VA Courthouse, Will Book 2, pp. 225-226. His name was spelled “Reuben Elbon”.

1820 census of Evansham, Wythe Co., VA
Reuben “Elban”, aged 45+, born before 1773
wife 40-49, b. 1771-1780, Mary Gorley, b. ca. 1778
one male 19-25, b. 1795-1801, Montgomery
one male 16-18, b. 1802-1804, Lorenzo
and one male under 10, b. 1810-1820, Harold

Oldest son William had married on 13 Jun 1818 and was no longer living with his parents.

1830 census of Wythe, VA,
Reuben Elban, aged 60-69, born between 1761-1770.
His wife is listed as age 50-59, or born 1771-1780. Calculating this date with the other census records, this last date pinpoints Mary Gorley’s birthdate best.
Living with them is one male, aged 15-19 or born 1811-1815, Harold. As Harold was born in 1815, most likely his mother Mary would have been born closer to 1780 than 1771.

Until 1839 -- “Early Adventures in the Town of Evansham, The County Seat of Wythe County, Virginia, 1790-1839, Vol. 4” in the Early Adventurers series, by Mary B. Kegley, 1998, 416 pages, cloth-bound, indexed, bibliography, illustrated and an 1839-map of the town included.

A comprehensive work on the early settlers of the Town of Evansham from its beginning until the time of the big fire in 1838. The name changed to Wytheville in 1839. Deeds, wills, court orders, lawsuits, coroners' reports, tax records and family data provide information for 152 families. Signatures of 145 persons and occupations and trades, if known, are included. The families mentioned include: Allen, Andruss (Andrews), Armstrong, Baldwin, Barron, Baxter, Bevill, Boyd, Brown, Butler, Chapman, Cook, Crockett, Crouse, Currie, Davis, Decker, Dillman, Draper, Drope, Dulaney, Early, Elbon, Engledove (Ingledove), Evans, Ewald, Fanning, Fishback, Fisher, Flournoy, Floyd, Foster, Friel, Fullen, Fulton, Gibboney, Gragg, Green, Haller, Hay, Henderson, Henning, Hieronymous, Hoback, Holston, Hoofnagle, Hoppess, Huffard, Johnston, Kegley, Kent, Kinder, Lane, Leedy, Leftwich, Lehue, Lindenbarger, Maddox, Marshall, Mathews, Mayse, Miller, Minick, Mitchell, Montgomery, Moore, Morgan, Moyers, McCamant, McCampbell, McComas, McFarlane, McGavock, McKee, Neighbors, Nunn, Nye, Oury, Pardee, Pattison, Perrin, Phelps, Piper, Rader, Reed, Reeder, Reddick, Rich, Rider, Riggle, Robinson, Saftly, Seagle, Seavers, Sexton, Sharitz, Sheffey, Shores, Sikes, Simmerman, Smith, Smyth, Steele, Stockley, Straw, St. Clair, Spence, Spiller, Tate, Toncray, Trigg, Walker, Wampler, Ward,Warner, Watson, Whitman, Williams, Wills, Wilson,Wirt, Wisman, Wolfenberger, Wolford, Wright. There are hundreds of lesser-known families mentioned.

IN VA: $51.50     OUT OF STATE: $49.00

1839 – Reuben died after the 1830 census and before the 1840 census, probably in Evansham, Wythe Co., VA, which was first known as Abbeville, then as Evansham, then as Wytheville. If he was born in 1763, he lived at least 68 years. Mary Gorley Elbon had either died or remarried before 1850 as she is not listed as Mary Elbon in the 1840 census of Wythe Co., VA. In the 1850 census of Wythe Co., VA, are 10 women named Mary with these surnames: Arney, Blair, Bottomley, Haller, Maxwell, Miller, Musser, Peirce, Ragenburn, and Sayers.

Military

Reuben enlisted in the Revolutionary War on 16 May 1781 in Kent Co., MD, along with William Elbon, possibly a brother, but most likely a relative. Because they were both recruits, they both were probably age 18-22. Reuben mustered out in 1783 in Kent Co., MD, when the war was over. Reuben then had a tax assessment in Maryland in 1783.

Page 372. William Elbon and Reubin Elbon enlisted for 3 years beginning May 16^th, 1781, below, both as Privates. Because they were recruits, they were probably aged 18-25.

Page 450. Muster and Pay Rolls for 1782. William was not heard of on 1 Jan 1782, only 6 months after entering the war, then he was found sick in Williamsburg, VA.

Page 395. Muster and Pay Rolls for 1782. A Corporal is a low-ranking noncommissioned officer in the Armed Forces, in particular, the Army, ranking above Private First Class and below Sergeant. A Private is an enlisted person in the Army of the lowest rank, ranking below Private First Class. The 3^rd Maryland Regiment consisted of 8 Companies from Anne Arundel, Prince George, Talbot, Harford, and Somerset counties. Note that Kent Co. is not listed. This William Elburn was a Corporal – more research needs to be done on him and his whereabouts. Other records show that Corporal William Elburn was always in the 3^rd Regiment, and in the 6^th and 4^th Company. John Elbin/Elvin was also in the 6^th Regiment in either Harford Co. from 2 Jun 1778-14 Mar 1779 (not listed here).

Henry Roarer

Henry Roarer (or Rorer or Rohrer) of the County Court of Shenandoah, in 1834, at age 74 years, made a declaration in order to obtain the benefits by filing out a Survivor’s Pension Application. He was born in 1760. His sister, Catherine Roarer married Reuben Elbon. He reported to General Stephens during the Rev. War. He was drafted into the militia as a Private and entered the service in Oct. 1780 in Woodstock, VA. He lived in Shenandoah County at that time. He marched from Woodstock toward the South, along the Blue Ridge at Rockfish and towards Carolina through the County of Bedford and directly on to Hillsboro, North Carolina, then the headquarters of the Army. Then into South Carolina where he remained until the approach of the British Army under Lord Cornwallis. Then the army returned to Virginia. He was directed to guard the Prisoners of War. He returned home in April or May of 1781 and received a discharge. Henry states that he was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in April 1760. He moved to Shenandoah County at 9 years old. George A. Hupp, William Elbon (Reuben Elbon’s son), Daniel Funkhouser, and William Funkhouser are all men presently living in Henry’s neighborhood who can testify as to his character and his belief of service as a soldier in the Revolution. George A. Hupp and William Elbon signed this document.

William Elbon was the son of Reuben Elbon; Reuben had died after 1830 in Wythe Co., VA, at the time the foregoiong document was written in 1834. His son William was living in Shenandoah County in 1834, married to Henry Roarer’s daughter, Cathrine Roarer.

Who Did Reuben Marry and When?

This was a puzzle for a long time due to mistyped records that were propagated throughout the genealogy world, but the Clerk of Circuit Court for Frederick Co., VA, set the record straight, that Reuben Elbon married Mary Gorley on 24 Oct 1798 ---- and NOT 1778 as in mistyped records.

1. Reuben would have been age 18 or older when he enlisted in the Rev. War, and 2 years older at the 1783 tax assessment of his land. Therefore, he was born in 1763 at the latest possible date and in Maryland. He could have been born earlier.

2. As the Rev. War started before 1778, Reuben probably would not have left his home in Maryland at that time and gone to Virginia to marry Mary Gorley in 1778, especially at a time when his parents could have needed him.

3. If his Kent Co. Assessment was recorded in 1783 after he mustered out of the Rev. War, he had not yet left for Virginia.

4. Reuben might have had a lot to deal with family deaths after the war and therefore did not immediately leave Maryland for Virginia.

5. He departed for Virginia sometime between 1784 and 1786 and met and married Margaret Nisewanger on 30 Aug 1787. Margaret was b. 1767, the first child of John Niswonger and Margaret Good, and was evidently named after her mother.

6. Margaret and Reuben had one child, William, in 1788 right after they married, and Margaret dies in 1797. This brings up the point that perhaps Reuben’s father was a William, as the name Reuben does not exist anywhere that we could find any earlier than this Reuben.

7. The 1797 date fits in exactly when his first wife, and Reuben had more children thereafter by Mary Gorley, who was quite a bit younger than Margaret Niswonger.

8. Reuben marries Mary Gorley on 24 Oct 1798 in Frederick Co., VA, when son William from his first wife was about 10 years old. Mary is listed as born between 1771-1780, most likely born 1780 as her last child, Harold Reed Elburn, was born 25 Feb 1815 when she would have been 35. Mary Gorley could have been under the legal age of 21 in 1798 as both parents signed her marriage license, only the typed version has a typo, 1778 instead of 1798. Mary Gorley was from Stephensburg, Frederick Co., VA.

9. After Reuben marries Mary Gorley in Frederick Co., VA, he moves to Wythe Co., VA, where Reuben died after 1830, and after having 3 more sons, Lorenzo, Montgomery, and Harold, as Reuben does not appear in the 1840 census.

10. Reuben’s first child, William was born 1781-1790 per census records; in the 1850 census, both William and his wife were 62; therefore, born 1788.

11. Second son Lorenzo was born 1801-1810 per census records. Third son Montgomery was born 1801-1815. Fourth son Harold was born on 25 Feb 1814/15. None of his children lived in the 1880 census, which would have told us where their father Reuben was born.

12. According to the AGBI (American Genealogcal-Biographical Index), John Gorley was born 1740 in Virginia. He fought in the Revolutionary War, and that record states he was born in 1750 in Delaware.

13. Another record shows John Gorely as Ann Gorely’s father in another generation, and this Ann Gorely married John Cryder on 25 Aug 1814 in Frederick Co., VA. This John Gorely is listed in the 1810 census of Stephensburg, Frederick Co., VA as over age 45 living with his wife, also over age 45, and 2 females 16-25. This would indicate that John Gorely was born before 1765; and he could have been the father of Mary Gorley. Early on the name Gorley was spelled Gourley. Jane Gorley m. Isaac Wickersham on 3 Oct 1811 in Frederick Co., VA. Thomas Gourley m. Nancy Hughs on 20 Jan 1821. These dates of 1811, 1814, 1821, and all in Frederick Co., VA, could indicate marriages of siblings; therefore, if Mary Gorley m. Reuben Elbon in 1798, if does not seem so far off, but if the 1787 record is correct, then she was in an earlier generation.

“Frederick County Marriages 1738-1850” by John Vogt and T. Willliam Kethley Jr., 1984. No birthdates were given in early marriage records, after 1850 they did give the age of the bride and groom. In the Vogt & Kethley marriages they have Margaret Niswanger and Reuben Ellls 30-Aug-1787 min Christian Striet. Daniel Bly, researcher, says that someone had checked the original records and found it to be Reuben Elbon.

“Frederick County Virginia Marriage Bonds 1773-1850” by Joan Hackett and Rebecca Good 2006. Their information was taken from the original marriage bonds. All information in the marriage record is in the book. Rebecca Good was a descendant of Margaret Good, the wife of John Niswonger who were the parents of Margaret Nisewanger who married Reuben. Rebecca Good (now deceased) was a long time genealogist researching Shenandoah, Frederick, Warren and Page Counties, Virginia. Ron Coffman corresponded with her many times over the years. She was very accurate with her work. In the Hackett & Good marriages they skipped from 1777 to 1788 so, therefore skipped the marriage of Reuben and Margaret Niswanger.

Here is the incorrect data stating that Reuben Elbon married Mary Gorley on 24 Oct 1778 and Margaret Nisewanger in 1787. “Frederick County 1771-1825 Marriages” which was transcribed by Joyce Roe Flaugher and compiled and edited by Eliza Timerlake Davis, copyright 1941, states that Mary Gorley married Reuben Elbon on 24 Oct 1778.

From “Genealogy Trails” by Joyce Roe Flaugher, two streams of migration flowed through Frederick County. The first came from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland. Among these were the German, Dutch, Welsh and Scotch-Irish. The second were the English People from Tidewater, Virginia, who became large landowners. Reuben’s and Mary’s marriage is listed on “Genealogy Trails”, but it is also listed incorrectly as 1778.

Why Did Reuben Elbon Move to Virginia from Maryland?

Henry Rohrer fought in the Revolutionary War with Reuben Elbon and Henry was from Shenandoah Co., VA. As Reubon Elbon moved to VA after 1785, Reubon’s oldest son William married Cathrine Rorer in 1818 in Shenandoah Co., VA, the daughter of Henry Rohrer. The German spelling of Henry’s name is Rohrer, but it since changed to Rorer or Roarer.

Stephensburg, Frederick Co., VA, now called Stephens City, was the “New Town” on the wagon road south of Winchester. Stephensburg was founded in 1758. It is the second oldest town in the Shenandoah Valley. German emigrants built this area, named after Peter Stephens who originally came from Heidelberg, Germany. Jost Hite (Hans Joist Hite, b. 1720) was also one of the early German emigrants in this township which had predominately German-speaking inhabitants. Joist Hite married into the Nisewanger family, also German, and into whom Reuben Elbon married. The father of Joist Hite, Hans Jost Heydt, immigrated to New York ca. 1710. His first 2 children were born in Bonfield, Neckarland, Baden Wurttenberg, Germany, the next child was born in Amsterdam, Holland, and the rest in NY and PA.

By the start of the Revolutionary War, Stephensburg was becoming known by a nickname that would eventually become part of its official designation. In some documents of the period we find “New Town” or “Newtown” being used to identify Stephensburg. It is hard to know when this nickname was first used, but it is likely that it had something to do with the fact that Stephensburg was the “new town” on the Great Wagon Road south of Winchester. By the time of the Civil War, this nickname of “Newtown” had become almost exclusively the only name for which the town was known.

Many who journeyed south, up the Valley, during this period rested from their travels in Newtown-Stephensburg. Fortunately one of these travelers kept a journal. On 23 May 1775 a young Princeton educated Presbyterian minister named Philip Vickers Fithian (1747-1776) came to Stephensburg to stay while he preached to nearby congregations. Details of his Journal. The role that transportation played brought many new inhabitants via wagons, such as Reuben Elben. Frederick County is the most northerly county in Virginia.

Rockingham and Shenandoah Counties were inhabited by many of German origin, who spoke the language of their ancestors. Shenandoah Valley, in the Vicinity of Harrisonburg, was almost exclusively settled by Germans from Pennsylvania, prior to 1748. See “Names of Immigrants in Pennsylvania from Germany, Switzerland, Holland, France, and other countries from 1727 to 1776.”

Maryland and Virginia passed a Boundary Agreement in 1785.

Notice that Reubon Elbon first spelled his name with the vowel “o” and later used an “e”, Reuben Elben, in both his first and last name.

Death

Margaret Niswanger Elbon died ca. 1797 just before Reuben m2. Mary Gorley. She probably died in Stephens City, VA. The oldest Graveyard in Stephens City was a Lutheran/German cemetery on south Mulberry, deeded on 17 Jan 1799 just after Margaret died. Research of L. A. Fravel, Jr., of Stephens City Historic Society lists her tombstone inscription from the Old Town Cemetery on a limestone headstone, undated. It would not be that of Mary Gorley Elbon as she lived in Wythe Co., VA, when she died. Gravestones in this cemetery were only of the very first deaths. The Lutheran Church Chapel no longer stands, but the cemetery has changed little in the last 120 years.

As described in “Early Days and Methodism in Stephens City, Virginia, 1732-1905”, by Inez Virginia Steele in 1906, states that this congregation was served by the pastor at Winchester until 1833. The first pastor was Rev. Christian Striet from 1786 to 1812 who baptized Reuben Elbon’s son William children, as well as married Reubon and Margaret. Rev. Christian Striet’s Diary of this church gives the names of the 33 heads of families residing in Winchester that were the founders of the German Lutheran Congregation. This does not equate to Reuben being German or not; the Niswanger family was German.

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