Henry Capehart / Elizabeth Fretz

Who was Henry Capehart (1756-1820)?

Richard L. Tolman, Ph. D.

He really existed, I can tell you that for certain. Many have tried to say that he did not exist, but the purpose of this essay is to put that notion to rest once and for all. This work is supplemental to the Philadelphia Capeharts essay.¹ This problem is further evidence that an error, once prominently published, never dies.

The first and best genealogical researcher of the Gebhardt/Kephart/Capehart line was Calvin I. Kephart (1912-1969), a former president of the National Genealogical Society. In his first publication² of the Gebhardt/Kephart/Capehart genealogy in National Genealogical Society Quarterly in 1942, the children of Heinrich Gebhardt (1725-1793, hereafter Heinrich1725)³ are listed—and Henry Capehart is omitted! In this publication Henry’s daughter Elizabeth (1778-1829) is listed as a child of her grandfather Heinrich1725!

If Elizabeth Capehart (1778-1829)⁴ really were the daughter of Heinrich Gebhardt (she is actually his gdau), his wife (if born 1727) would have been 51 yrs. at Elizabeth’s birth and then 56 yrs. at the birth of her brother John (see at-DNA evidence below for proof they are sibs). Mrs. Gebhardt actually had her youngest and final child Frederick in 1774 (he died with her in the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 in Philadelphia).⁵ And then there was Henry’s spurious marriage⁶ on ‘1 Jun 1772’; Henry would have been 16 yrs.(!) and then he waited 5 years (?) before having any children—‘ya think?’. Luckily all this is totally unsourced so we don’t have to believe it, if we were ever tempted.

In the course of time and as his research into this family progressed, Mr. Kephart realized his error and when the Gebhardt/Kephart/Capehart genealogy was disclosed again (much less prominently) in 1950 in a proclamation⁷ given to the Library of Congress, the New England Historic Genealogical Society (Boston) and the Family History Library (Salt Lake City), the composition of the Heinrich Gebhardt family was corrected to include his son Henry Capehart and Heinrich’s granddaughter Elizabeth. Henry and his brother Andrew were the first in the Gebhardt/Kephart family to use the name Capehart.⁸ And now, a momentary diversion before we return to Henry.

Henry’s Parents

The Capehart connection to Henry’s parents Heinrich1725/unknown and grandparents Johann Heinrich Gebhardt/Maria Catharina Andreas is confirmed by the DNA evidence from Cluster 1; ‘megbower6907’⁹, ‘Linda Clark’¹⁰ and ‘uffdagirl45’¹¹. David Andreas Kephart and Hans Jacob Gebhardt are Heinrich1725’s brothers.

Henry’s mother (Heinrich1725’s wife) is also unknown. Some say Barbara Grünauer¹² (1727-1793), but without any source this author has been able to uncover. This is actually VERY UNLIKELY as Barbara Grünauer was the name of the spouse of Hans Heinrich Gebhardt (1657-1725), Heinrich1725’s grandfather.

Back to Henry Capehart

The paper documentation of Henry’s existence includes the following:

(1) 1790 U. S. census of Manor of Moreland, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; household of 6: two males under 16, one over 16, and three females¹³—this would likely be 2 sons (John and Edward), Henry, and Henry’s wife and 2 daus (Sarah and Elizabeth).

(2) 1800 U. S. census of Byberry, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; household of 10: 5 males (two 10-15yrs, two 16-25yrs, one 26-44yrs.) 5 females (two under 10yrs, two 16-25yrs., one over 45).¹⁴ The Thomas Terry family lives next door (Henry’s dau Elizabeth’s eldest dau will marry one of the Terry boys).

(3) 1820 U. S. census of Bensalem, Bucks, Pennsylvania; household of 3: one male 10-15yrs., one male over 45 and one female 26-44yrs.¹⁵ James and Elizabeth (Capehart) Merkins are living next door. The Thomas Terry family also lives close by as in 1800. Son John Capehart and his family are living at the Byberry residence.

(4) Pennsylvania Tax List 1783 (Bedminster, Bucks County).¹⁶

(5) Pennsylvania Tax List 1798 (‘Bibery’, Philadelphia County); one acre rented from William Walmsley.¹⁷

(6) Pennsylvania Tax List 1808 (Bensalem, Bucks County); son John also listed.¹⁸

From the 1800 census record we discern that Henry had a large family. To date we have only discovered and characterized¹⁹ three of the children: Sarah b. 1777 (md. Martin Summers), Elizabeth b. 1778 (md. James Merkins) and John b. 1783 (md. Rachel Ott); three others are tentatively characterized, Tacy, Edward and Lewis.

Perusal of at-DNA matches (RLT and GLT) reveals three matches where the CA (common ancestor) is Henry Capehart; ‘1_judyhatfield’²⁰, ‘ann howd’²¹, and ‘rsarvadi’²². This is a reassuring confirmation of the deductions from the paper record; John Capehart is a son of Henry and a brother to Elizabeth Capehart.

There is another interesting observation–both RLT, GLT (a sib), and RB (a maternal uncle) have matches to lineages containing the name ‘Fretz’. For RLT/GLT the amount of shared DNA is in the range of 6-11 cMs; according to dnapainter.com this (in highest probability) corresponds to 5th or 6th cousins. 4g-gparents for RLT/GLT are all known and well documented except for Henry Capehart’s wife. The simplest explanation for this presence of the Fretz matches is that Henry Capehart’s wife’s maiden name was Fretz. It is already known²³ that her first name was Elizabeth, that she was born in 1761 and died 25 Apr 1836 (age 75) and was originally buried at St. John’s M. E. Burying Ground (Roy St. N. E., Germantown).

The Fretz family is interesting—they are Anabaptists that emigrated²⁴ from (the Alsace) Mannheim/Baden about 1710-1725 to Bucks County, Pennsylvania, primarily Bedminster and Tinicum townships in far western Bucks.²⁵ Anabaptists in the case of the Fretz family includes Mennonites and Dunkards, although most were Mennonites. The Fretz History²⁶ (1890) is not sourced, but is exhaustively complete with much detail and many stories. It was constructed by personal interview of the players by the author and is truly an excellent volume; there are several versions. The immigrant brothers John and Christian Fretz, called ‘Weaver John’ and ‘Tinicum Christian’, had between them 14 children mentioned in their wills, but many more children are attributed to them. The author presumes that the children that remained valiant in the Mennonite tradition were mentioned in the wills and those that fell away were not. This would explain why the families of the ‘will-children’ are exhaustively complete, while there are gaps in the family records of those other children that were no longer as tightly affiliated with the Mennonites.

As an example, Elizabeth Fretz (1756-1831, Jacob² John¹),²⁷ the wife of Johannes Kephart, minister of the Mennonite congregation in Doylestown, Bucks is well documented.

But Elizabeth Fretz (1761-1836), wife of Henry, is not findable and there is no evidence that she was active in the Mennonite faith after her marriage. Reference 4 above (for Henry Capehart) indicates that Henry paid taxes in Bedminster Twp in 1783 which is probably where he met his wife; they may have lived in Bedminster Township and had children there until they moved to Philadelphia County before 1790. The Fretz DNA match individuals also descend from Fretz families ‘on the fringe’, but mostly from children attributed to ‘Tinicum Christian’.²⁰ More than 10 of the Fretz matches can be traced back to the Christian and Anna Maria (Gross) Fretz family, but the children of Christian’s sons are largely unknown. Elizabeth Fretz, wife of Henry Capehart, is likely a gdau of Christian Fretz.

Some trees on Ancestry already have an Elizabeth Fretz as Henry’s wife (no sources), but these trees have all pilfered the vitae of another Elizabeth Fretz (1756-1831), the Mennonite wife of Rev. Johannes Kephart—Henry’s older brother.²⁸

Cluster 3 shows some of the Fretz matches where the CA is ‘Tinicum Christian’ Fretz, the Mennonite immigrant: ‘Patricia Horner Dudley’²⁹, ‘troyoverholt’³⁰, ‘mcelroym84’³¹, ‘Sue Umbach’³², ‘Jennifer Taylor’³³, ‘rzingery’³⁴, ‘EiBlack79’³⁵, and ‘Lynn Fretz’³⁶. Some Ancestry trees that were available in 2019 are no longer available online in 2020.

Cluster 4 shows some of the Fretz matches where the CA is ‘Weaver John’ Fretz, a Mennonite immigrant and brother of ‘Tinicum Christian’ Fretz: ‘KETUCKER2’³⁷, ‘S. W.’³⁸, ‘J. F.’³⁹, ‘M. W.’⁴⁰, ‘D. A.’⁴¹, ‘Darren White’⁴², and ‘C. H.’⁴³.

From the Fretz at-DNA matches in the above tables, it is not obvious which of the immigrant brothers, ‘weaver John’ or ‘Tinicum Christian’, is the ancestor of Elizabeth Fretz, wife of Henry.

In a previous analysis⁴⁴ of at-DNA it was observed that whereas a single cM match was not sufficient to determine the number of generations a CA was removed, but an average⁴⁵ of a number of CA matches could provide some insight to the number of generations removed. In the instant case, the average for ‘Tinicum Christian’ matches was 7.3 cM and the average for ‘Weaver John’ matches was 7.1 cM. For this reason ‘Tinicum Christian’ was chosen to be the direct ancestor and the CA for the ‘Weaver John’ (collateral) matches was assigned to be John’s father Johannes (1680-1729).

Figure 1. Old Mennonite Church at Deep Run, Bedminster Twp, Bucks⁴⁶

Many of the sons of the two immigrants can be eliminated as the father of Elizabeth, if she was indeed raised in Bedminster Township, Bucks as the children are widespread in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Canada. Many of the Fretz matches can be traced back to the Christian and Anna Maria (Koehn) Fretz family.⁴⁷ A best guess for Elizabeth’s father would be Henry,⁴⁸ purported son of ‘Tinicum Christian’, who lived in the correct area and had unnamed daus.

GENEALOGICAL SUMMARY

1. Johannes Fretz was born 7 Nov 1680 and died 1729 at Hagenau, Alsace, Germany (of German stock and spoke German). He married Ann Marie Gross. She was born 1682 of Baden and died 10 Nov 1714 at Alsace.⁴⁹

Johannes and Ann Marie (Gross) Fretz had at least three children.

+ 2. i. JOHANNES FRETZ was born 1704-.

+ 3. ii. CHRISTIAN FRETZ was born 12 May 1709 near Mannheim, Grand Duchy of Baden and died 26 Apr 1784 at Tinicum, Bucks, Pennsylvania.

4. iii. MARK FRETZ was born near Mannheim, Grand Duchy of Baden and died young at sea.

2. Johannes Fretz (‘Weaver John’) was born 2 Feb 1704 Mannheim, Grand Duchy of Baden and died Feb 1772 at Bedminster, Bucks, Pennsylvania; buried⁵⁰ at Deep Run Mennonite Church West Cemetery. He married (1) Barbara Meyer dau of Hans Meyer⁵¹ of Upper Salford, Montgomery, Pennsylvania. He married (2) Maria Freed/Friedt.⁵² He bought the Bedminster homestead in 1737/1738.

John and Barbara (Meyer) Fretz had at five children probably all born at Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.⁵³,⁵⁴,⁵⁵

5. i. JOHN FRETZ was born Mar 1730 and died 4 May 1826 (96 yrs) at Tinicum, Bucks. He married Mary Kolb. In 1800 he emigrated to Canada with all his family except dau Barbara.⁵⁶

‘D. A.’ is a descendant of John Fretz (1730-1826) and his dau Elizabeth b. 1789 m. Nunn, d. Canada.

6. ii. JACOB FRETZ was born abt 1732 of Tinicum, Bucks. He married Magdalena Nash dau of William Nash. Ten children including Elizabeth b. 1756 md. Rev. John Kephart, Heinrich’s brother.

7. iii. CHRISTIAN FRETZ iii. was born 1734 and died 1 May 1803 (96 yrs) at Tinicum, Bucks. He married Barbara Overholtzer. Twelve children; including an Elizabeth b. 1780 md. Abraham Meyer⁵⁷, and Isaac b. 1771 m. Susanna Kratz and Abraham b. 1768.⁵⁸

‘KETUCKER2’ is a descendant of Isaac Fretz (1771-1843).

‘J. F.’ is a descendant of Abraham Fretz (1768-1844).

8. iv. ABRAHAM FRETZ was born abt 1736. Wife unknown: Five children including an Elizabeth.

9. v. ELIZABETH FRETZ was born 19 Jul 1739.⁵⁹ She married Jacob Kolb.

‘C H.’ is a descendant of Elizabeth Fretz (1739-1785).

John and Maria Fretz had three children probably all born at Bedminster, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.⁶⁰

10. i. MARK FRETZ was born Dec 1750 at Bucks County and died 24 Feb 1840 (age 89). He was a miller. He married Elizabeth Rosenberger of New Britain Twp., Bucks. Six children, including an Elizabeth, b. 1781, m. John Geil.

11. ii. HENRY FRETZ was born 11 Nov 1755 and died 30 May 1831. He was a shoemaker, called ‘Shoemaker Henry’. He married Barbara Overholtzer. She was born 20 Oct 1757 and died 1834. Ten children.⁶¹ Possible parents of Elizabeth Fretz, wife of Henry Capehart.

‘M. W.’ and ‘S. W.’ are descendants of Henry Fretz (1755-1831).

12. iii. BARBARA FRETZ of Bucks. Probably never married.

3. Christian Fretz (‘Tinicum Christian’) was born 12 May 1709 near Mannheim, Grand Duchy of Baden and died 26 Apr 1784 at Tinicum, Bucks, Pennsylvania.⁶² He married 1737 at Tinicum, Bucks, Pennsylvania Elizabeth Koehn. She was born 1709 and died 1784. He had no sons named Jacob, John or Henry (from will on file at Doylestown).⁶³,⁶⁴

Christian and Elizabeth (Koehn) Fretz had at least seven children all born at Tinicum, Bucks.⁶⁵,⁶⁶,⁶⁷,⁶⁸

13. i. DANIEL FRETZ was born abt 1738 and died 29 Dec 1794 at Bedminster, Bucks, Pennsylvania. He married Mary Bliem. He and some of his family went to Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania in 1800. One of those who stayed in Bedminster was ‘Lisbet’ b. 1782, m. a German and settled in Indiana.⁶⁹

‘rzingery’ is a descendant of Daniel Fretz (1738-1794).

14. ii. HENRY FRETZ was born abt 1740 and died abt 1810.⁷⁰,⁷¹,⁷²

‘EiBlack79’ is a descendant of Henry Fretz (1740-1810).

15. iii. ABRAHAM FRETZ was born abt 1745. He married Dorothea Kulp. Six children, including an Elizabeth b. 1768, m. Henry Stover.⁷³

16. iv. MARK FRETZ was born at Pennsylvania. He married 22 Dec 1772 (1) Gertrude Kulp. He lived in Tinicum Twp. He married (2) Mary ____, widow of Abraham, son of Weaver John. Five children with Gertrude, including an Elizabeth (b. 1776, m. Henry Leatherman) and one with Mary.⁷⁴

17. v. CHRISTIAN FRETZ was born and died at Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He married Judith Kulp. Four children.⁷⁵

18. vi. ESTHER FRETZ⁷⁶,⁷⁷ was born 20 Dec 1743 and died Feb 1813 at Dover, Tuscarawas, Ohio. She married Martin Overholt son of Martin Overholtzer.⁷⁸ He was born 1743 and died 1811.⁷⁹

‘Patricia Horner Dudley’ and ‘troyoverholt’ are descendants of Esther Fretz (1748-1813).

19. vii. JOHN FRETZ was born 8 Feb 1749 at Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and died 30 Aug 1815 at Welland, Ontario, Canada.⁸⁰ He married Magdalena Fox. She was born 1 Apr 1748 of Mannheim Twp, Bucks and died 23 Sep 1820 at Ontario, Canada. Seven children, including Peter.⁸¹

‘Sue Umbach’ is a descendant of John Fretz (1749-1815).

‘M. C.’ and ‘Lynn Fretz’ are descendants of Peter Fretz (1781-1864).

‘mcelroy84’ is a descendant of John Fretz (1730-1826) on the strength of the ancestor Catherine Overholt (father Abraham), d. Ontario. Weaver John’s family also went to Canada, but his son Abraham died young.⁸²

20. viii. BARBARA FRETZ⁸³ was born 1749 at Cambellstown, Lebanon, Pennsylvania and died 1814 at Lebanon County, Pennsylvania.⁸⁴ She married Abraham Longenecker. He was born 1748 and died 1823. Seven children.

‘Jennifer Taylor’ is a descendant of Barbara Fretz (1749-1814).

xx. Elizabeth Fretz was born 1761 and died 25 Apr 1836 at age 75; buried St. John’s M. E. Burying Ground (Roy St. N. E., Germantown), Philadelphia, Philadelphia).⁸⁵ She married about 1777 probably at Bedminster Township, Bucks Henry¹ Capehart (Heinrich^A) of Byberry Township, Philadelphia. Henry was born about 1756, a son of Heinrich Gebhardt and died after 1820 probably at Bensalem, Bucks, Pennsylvania. In 1790 Henry and family were living in Manor of Moreland Township, Philadelphia County (household of 6)⁸⁶ and by 1800 he was in Byberry Township, Philadelphia County (household of 10).⁸⁷,⁸⁸

Known children of Henry and Elizabeth (Fretz) Capehart are:

i. SARAH CAPEHART/COPART was born abt 1777 of Bucks and died and is interred in the Dutch Lutheran Churchyard at Frankford.⁸⁹ She married⁹⁰ abt 1793 Martin Summers; son of George and Ann Summers.⁹¹ He was born abt 1772 of Bucks County, Pennsylvania. His father George was a drummer in the Revolutionary War.⁹² Ten children.

ii. ELIZABETH CAPEHART was born abt 1778 in Bristol, Bucks County; married abt 1797 James Merkins⁹³ of Byberry Township, Philadelphia County (he was born 15 Jun 1771 in England,⁹⁴,⁹⁵ died 8 Feb 1831); she died 19 Sep 1829 in Byberry Township, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They lived in Byberry Township, Philadelphia County until after 1810 when they moved to Bensalem, Bucks County.⁹⁶

iii. JOHN KEPHART/CAPEHART was born 29 Dec 1783 in Bucks County and died 21 Aug 1858 in Bucks County. He married 2 Oct 1805 in Byberry Township, Philadelphia Rachel Ott (born 10 Jan 1782 in Germany daughter of Andrew and Sarah (Hendricks) Ott; died 5 Jul 1874 Athens, Athens, Ohio). In 1810-1830 the family was still living in Byberry Township (household of 4).⁹⁷,⁹⁸,⁹⁹

iv. EDWARD CAPEHART was born 1790-1800 in Pennsylvania.¹⁰⁰

v. LEWIS CAPEHART was born 1800-1810 Pennsylvania.¹⁰¹

vi. TACY CAPEHART was born at Pennsylvania.¹⁰²

NOTES

1. ‘The 19th Century Capeharts of Northern Philadelphia’, version: June 22, 2017) online at www.29deadpeople.com; hereafter Philadelphia Capeharts.

2. Kephart, Calvin ‘A Danish Royal-Skiöldung Lineage’ National Genealogical Society Quarterly, 31: 53-64 (1942); hereafter Kephart NGSQ.

3. Heinrich was his ‘Rufname’—his middle name, the name one used if one were going to call him (ruf = call); his proper name was Johann Heinrich Gebhardt—hereafter Heinrich1725. See the baptism record for Maria Barbara ‘Gebhart’, 22 May 1737 at Sülzbach, Württemberg, parents: Joh. Heinrich and Maria Catharina Gebhart; online at Ancestry.com (accessed 15 Jun 2020).

4. Kephart NGSQ

5. Cf. Philadelphia Capeharts, see references therein.

6. FamilySearch Family Tree; no sources cited.

7. Kephart, Calvin; Proclamation: ‘Medieval Counts of Raeut (Bavaria) of the Danish Skiöldung Royal Dynasty’ (1950); FHL Fiche 6018394; hereafter Kephart Proclamation.

8. Kephart Proclamation.

9. ‘Megan Adams/Bower Family Tree’, owner megbower6907, www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/363856641, some sources (accessed 15 Jun 2020).

10. ‘Linda Clark Family Tree’, owner Linda Clark, www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/70337733, no sources (accessed 15 Jun 2020).

11. ‘Quincy Tree’, owner Douglas Marks, www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/70978115, some sources (accessed 15 Jun 2020).

12. FamilySearch Family Tree; no sources cited.

13. 1790 U. S. census of Manor of Moreland, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, M637, Roll 9, Page 321, Image 577, FHL Film 0568149; online at Ancestry.com (accessed 13 Feb 2019).

14. 1800 U. S. census of Byberry, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Roll M32_42, Page 145, Image 214, FHL Film 363345; online at Ancestry.com (accessed 13 Feb 2019).

15. 1820 U. S. census of Bensalem, Bucks, Pennsylvania, Roll M33_99, Page 270, Image 286; online at Ancestry.com (accessed 13 Feb 2019).

16. Bucks County Historical Society, Doylestown, Pennsylvania Tax Records 1782-1860, Title No. 102, Roll 26, Bedminster; online at Ancestry.com (accessed 13 Feb 2019).

17. Pennsylvania, U. S. Direct Tax Lists, M372, 24 rolls, Bibery; online at Ancestry.com (accessed 13 Feb 2019).

18. Bucks County Historical Society, Doylestown, Pennsylvania Tax Records 1782-1860, Title No. 102, Roll 1, Bensalem; online at Ancestry.com (accessed 13 Feb 2019).

19. Cf. Philadelphia Capeharts, see references therein.

20. ‘price-2(2)’, owner 1_judyhatfield, www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/103779178, no sources (accessed 15 Jun 2020).

21. ‘howdeshell Family Tree’, owner ann howd, www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/101209297, no sources (accessed 15 Jun 2020).

22. ‘Parker Family Tree’, owner rsarvadi, www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/24994239, no sources (accessed 15 Jun 2020).

23. Cf. Philadelphia Capeharts, see references therein.

24. The Fretz family came from Alsace (Elsaβ) which includes Saarland and the southern portion of Rhineland Pfalz and borders the province of Baden on the west. After the bloody Thirty Years War (1618-1648) which ended with the Treaty of Westphalia, the catholic war of persecution on protestants continued in Alsace making immigration more and more attractive to protestants including Anabaptists.

25. Fretz, A. J. A Brief History of John and Christian Fretz: and a complete genealogical family register with biographies of their descendants form the earliest available records to the present time (Elkhart, IN: Mennonite Publishing Co., 1890) 874 pages, digitized 2011 (651 pages) by FamilySearch; hereafter Fretz History.

26. Fretz History. Cf. ‘Historical Address Delivered at the 2nd Reunion of the Fretz Family’ at Bedminster, Sept. 2, 1893 by A. J. Fretz (573/651).

27. Fretz History, page 90/651.

28. Kephart Proclamation.

29. ‘Horner/VanFleet/Haden/Carver Family Tree’, owner Patricia Horner Dudley, www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/53367890, some sources (accessed 15 Jun 2020).

30. ‘Overholt Family Tree’, owner troyoverholt, www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/60043437, no sources (accessed 15 Jun 2020).

31. ‘Tyree Tree_2016-07-22’, owner mcelroym84, www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/102493425, no sources (accessed 15 Jun 2020).

32. ‘Susan Eglin Family Tree’, owner Sue Umbach, www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/71191686, some sources (accessed 15 Jun 2020).

33. ‘Lennox/Daniels Famly Tree’, owner Jennifer Taylor, www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/155414416, no sources (accessed 15 Jun 2020).

34. ‘Humphries Zingery Connection’, owner s_zingery, www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/24478, good sources (accessed 15 Jun 2020).

35. ‘Black Family Tree’, owner EiBlack79, www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/47688982, some sources (accessed 15 Jun 2020).

36. ‘Fretz Family Tree’, owner Lynne Fretz, www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/152921995, no sources (accessed 15 Jun 2020).

37. ‘Tucker Jr Family Tree’, owner KETUCKER2, www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/17116670, great sources (accessed 15 Jun 2020).

38. ‘wsf002’, owner jdchilson, www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/101559220, no sources (accessed 15 Jun 2020).

39. ‘Fritz Family Tree’, owner donnahatt6, www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/39988758, no sources (accessed 15 Jun 2020).

40. ‘Cole Family Tree’, owner mollycole22, www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/57049387, no sources (accessed 15 Jun 2020).

41. ‘Aymer Family Tree’, owner trinahenson123, www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/73423520, no sources (accessed 15 Jun 2020).

42. ‘Guthrie Family Tree’, owner vmiller235, www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/30660400, no sources (accessed 15 Jun 2020).

43. ‘Austin Heckaman Family Tree’, owner aheckaman13, www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/67498537, no sources (accessed 15 Jun 2020).

44. See the essay ‘The Ancestry of Nancy Graham, wife of Chauncey Loveland, born 1797 in the Western Reserve of Connecticut: A DNA Study’ online at www.29deadpeople.com.

45. For RLT and GLT, Henry Capehart is 8 generations removed, but RB is only 7 generations removed, so the cM of his matches were halved in calculating the average.

46. Fretz History..

47. Christian Fretz Family: Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Mennonite Vital Records, 1750-2014, eight children with spouses are named: Abraham, Mark, Christian, Daniel, John, Barbara, Jacob and Henry; online at Ancestry.com (accessed 15 Feb 2019).

48. Fretz History, 547/651.

49. Davis, W. W. H. History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Vol. II, Chapter V. Bedminster (New York Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co., 1905). pp. 54-56.

50. Findagrave #31021945, bio.

51. Fretz. A. J., A genealogical record of the descendants of Jacob Beidler of Lower Milford Township, Bucks Co. Pa (Milton, NJ: unknown,1903) p. 3.

52. Freed, Jacob A., Partial history of the Freed family and connecting families (Elroy, PA: J. A. Freed, , 1923) p. 75, Maria named in will, p. 20—dau of Jacob Freed.

53. Fretz History. Cf. ‘Historical Address Delivered at the 2nd Reunion of the Fretz Family’ at Bedminster, Sept. 2, 1893 by A. J. Fretz (573/651).

54. A. J. Fretz, A brief history of John and Christian Fretz: …to the Fourth Generation (Salt Lake City, UT: FamilySearch International, 2011) 157 pages online; originally published by Press of the Evergreen News, 1904, hereafter Brief Fretz History.

55. (Weaver) John Fretz Family: Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Mennonite Vital Records, 1750-2014, lived in Plumstead Twp. 1710-1720, eight children with spouses are named: (Barbara) John, Jacob, Christian, Abraham, Elizabeth, (Maria) Mark, Henry, Barbara; online at Ancestry.com (accessed 15 Feb 2019).

56. Brief Fretz History, 18/157.

57. Brief Fretz History, 28/157.

58. Brief Fretz History, 28/157.

59. Brief Fretz History, 30/157.

60. Fretz History. Cf. ‘Historical Address Delivered at the 2nd Reunion of the Fretz Family’ at Bedminster, Sept. 2, 1893 by A. J. Fretz (573/651).

61. Brief Fretz History, no birth years for children 33-34/157.

62. Christian Fretz, American Genealogical-Biographical Index, Vol. 58, p. 498; online at Ancestry (accessed 15 Jun 2020).

63. Fretz History. Cf. ‘Historical Address Delivered at the 2nd Reunion of the Fretz Family’ at Bedminster, Sept. 2, 1893 by A. J. Fretz (573/651).

64. Pennsylvania Wills and Probate Records, Bucks, Pennsylvania, 1803, case 3166, General Index to Estates 1684-1939; online at Ancestry (accessed 15 Jun 2020).

65. Fretz History. Cf. ‘Historical Address Delivered at the 2nd Reunion of the Fretz Family’ at Bedminster, Sept. 2, 1893 by A. J. Fretz (573/651).

66. Lancaster, Pennsylvania Mennonite Vital Records 1750-2014; online at Ancestry (accessed 15 Jun 2020).

67. ‘Brennan Family Tree’, owner sbrennanschopp, www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/3690063, good sources (accessed 15 Jun 2020).

68. Brief Fretz History, 30/157.

69. Brief Fretz History, 40/157.

70. Lancaster, Pennsylvania Mennonite Vital Records 1750-2014 ‘Fretz, Christian’; online at Ancestry (accessed 15 Jun 2020).

71. Not listed as a child of Tinicum Christian in the Brief Fretz History.

72. Fretz History, 547/651.

73. Brief Fretz History, 40/157.

74. Brief Fretz History, 43/157.

75. Brief Fretz History, 41/157.

76. Not named in Christian’s will or theFretz History.

77. Fretz, A. J. A genealogical record of the descendants of Martin Overholtzer: … (Scottdale, PA: Westmoreland-Fayette Historical Society, 1985) 254 pages; states Esther is a dau of the immigrant Christian Fretz; 161/405; online at Ancestry (accessed 16 Jun 2020).

78. Lancaster, Pennsylvania Mennonite Vital Records 1750-2014, ‘Stauffer, Christian’, 3 generations are outlined back to Martin/Esther; online at Ancestry (accessed 15 Jun 2020).

79. Brief Fretz History, 44/157.

80. Fretz History, 482/651.

81. Fretz History, 499/651.

82. Brief Fretz History, 19/157.

83. Brief Fretz History, 44/157; Barbara is listed here with no other detail except she was married to Jacob Yoder and lived in New Britain Twp; discounted as this seems at odds with several other accounts.

84. Fretz History, 520/651.

85. Elizabeth Capehart death: Philadelphia City Archives, 3101 Market St. Philadelphia, Death Records; St. John’s Methodist Episcopal Burying Ground no longer exists, bodies were removed to the Oakland Cemetery, Philadelphia in 1904 to 5 mass graves (unmarked) in the ‘singles section’.

86. United States Census Office, 1st Census, 1790 U. S. Census of Pennsylvania (Spartenburg, SC: Reprint Co. Publishers, 1964), FHL US/CAN 974.8 X2, p. 198.

87. 1800 U. S. Census of Byberry, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, National Archives Roll 42, p. 145; online at Ancestry.com (accessed 13 Feb 2019).

88. 1820 U. S. Census of Bensalem, Bucks, Pennsylvania, National Archives Roll M33_99, p. 270; household of 3 (son- and grandson-in-law James Merkins and Thomas Terry are neighbors).

89. Summers, G. Byron A History of George Summers of Douglass and Lower Dublin Townships, Montgomery County, unpublished ms (34 pp) at Bucks County Historical Society, filmed 1958 by Genealogical Society of Utah, FHL Film 173013, pp. 10-11; hereafter Summers.

90. Ibid.:; Robert McDowell Lukens, M. D., U. S. Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications #75099, May 1, 1952; online at Ancestry.com (accessed 17 Jun 2017).

91. Summers, p. 33-4.

92. Summers, p. 10-11.

93. Frequently ‘Murkins’ in the unsourced genealogical record, but all the children of James Merkins were ‘Merkins’ in Pennsylvania records—the spelling ‘Murkins’ apparently originated with the grandchildren of Mary Ann.

94. Kephart III; letter (26 Jun 1945) from Mrs. David H. Wood (gggdau of Thomas Sirls Terry b. 1789) to CIK with Merkins information gleaned from ‘grandfather’s record’.

95. See Tacy Street (dau of James and Elizabeth Merkins) census: 1880 U. S. Census of Evans, Marshall, Illinois, Family no. 98, Roll 235, FHL Film 1254,235, Page 346D, E. D. 146, father born England; online at Ancestry.com (accessed 17 Jun 2017).

96. 1810 U. S. Census of Byberry, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, National Archives Roll 56, p. 51.

97. ‘Jno Caphart’, 1810 U. S. Census of Byberry Township, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, National Archives Roll 56, p. 49 (household of 4; son John appears to have taken over father Henry’s farm—same neighbors as Henry).

98. 1820 U. S. Census of Byberry Township, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, National Archives Roll M33_109, p. 71B; household of 6.

99. ‘John Capart’, 1830 U. S. Census of Byberry Township, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, National Archives Roll M19_158, p. 7; household of 4.

100. ‘Esearl Capehart’; 1840 U. S. Census of Kensington Ward 5, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, National Archives Roll 488, p. 141; household of 4, he was 40-50 yrs old, 2 daughters.

101. Ibid.:, ‘Lewis Capehart’, p. 154; household of 2—he was 30-40 yrs.

102. Wood Correspondence, Cf. ‘The Merkins Family…’ essay on www.29deadpeople.com, note 79.