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Greathouse of Philadelphia County, PA

Do you have any Greathouse kith and kin who resided in Philadelphia County, PA? If so, please join us in our efforts to better document the Greathouse kith and kin who lived in this county, by sending your additions and corrections to Greathouse Point.

2013, Feb 9 - Proof Argument: Herman Greathouse In Twain

In Noah Webster's 1828 American Dictionary, the term "resurvey" was defined as:

RESURVEY, v.t. [re and survey.] To survey again or anew; to review.

Through our Greathouse Archives project, we have been conducting an exhaustive resurvey of the locations where our Greathouse ancestors resided and left records prior to 1800. The resurvey has resulted in new discoveries of evidence, which supports many of our long established working theories for the origin of the Greathouse family in America at Springfield, Philadelphia County, PA. In those cases, we can be sure that the Greathouse family of America has been built upon a firm foundation.

However, the resurvey has also revealed new discoveries of evidence, which conflicts with a few of our long established working theories for the first three generations of the Greathouse family in America at Springfield, Philadelphia County and Heidelberg, Lancaster County, PA. In those cases, the new evidence has raised questions, that when answered, have revealed the first three generations of the Greathouse family in America was built on a foundation laid on some premature conclusions.

Between 1950 and 1954, several premature conclusions were made, which has caused the foundation for the first three generations of the Greathouse family of the mentioned counties to crumble, so the rubble will need to be washed away before that foundation can be repaired. Those premature conclusions have been discussed more fully in the following article:

Article: 1745 - Baptism: Anna Maria Schellmeier, Witness: Herman Grothauss

Oftentimes, when the waters recede after a flood, you soon discover that poorly laid foundations have been washed away.

Well... the waters have receded at Greathouse Point. So we have begun to repair the foundation, by laying brick upon brick, for the first three generations of the Greathouse family of Springfield, Philadelphia County and of Heidelberg, Lancaster County, PA.

Yes, once again, we have discovered conflicting timelines for two contemporary men, in this case, named Herman Greathouse, who were residing in different places at the same time. So in December 2012, work was begun on a genealogical proof to develop a new working theory.

A comparison of the conflicting timelines of Herman Greathouse of Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania; Frederick County, Maryland; Frederick, Hampshire, Augusta, West Augusta, Yohogania and Ohio County, Virginia versus Herman Greathouse of Philadelphia and Lancaster County, Pennsylvania; and Baltimore County, Maryland between 1745 and 1796.

Proof that Herman Greathouse who married Mary Stull and resided in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, Frederick County, Maryland; and the following counties of Virginia: Frederick, Hampshire, Augusta, West Augusta District, Yohogania and Ohio, was not the same Herman Greathouse who married Mary [maiden name unknown] and resided in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and Baltimore County, Maryland.

A summary of additional records discovered, along with more soundly reasoned and plausible conclusions based upon the evidence now available, which were used to compile our new working theory has been presented below. This new working theory has enabled the two men named Herman Greathouse to be successfully tracked through their respective locations of residence, to near the time of their deaths. Our new working theory follows:

1) Herman Greathouse of Philadelphia and Lancaster County, PA and Baltimore County, MD between 1717 and 1795. This Herman Greathouse was related by Francis Snowden Esq., Justice of the Peace, Baltimore County, MD, as age 75 in 1792, so Herman Greathouse was born in 1717. In 1726, he moved with his father, Henry Greathouse, to Chester County, PA, where they resided in the area which became Heidelberg Township, Lancaster County, PA by the time Henry Greathouse created his will in 1744. After Herman Greathouse was named as a son in his father's will, we lose track of him until his brother Jacob Greathouse moved from Lancaster County, PA to Anson County, NC between 1757 and 1758. Jacob Greathouse's journey to the "Great Wagon Road" would have followed the Monocacy Road through Frederick, MD, where a Herman Greathouse served five [5] days in Cpt. Joseph Chapline's Company, which was responsible for building Fort Frederick in 1757. Upon completion of Herman Greathouse's militia duty, he appears to have moved to Baltimore County, MD, along Piney Falls, opposite present-day Marriottsville, MD in 1759, where he was documented as a resident in church, court, land and tax records through 1795.

2) Herman & Mary Stull Greathouse of Philadelphia County, PA; Federick County, MD; Hampshire, Yohogania and Ohio County, VA between 1745 and 1796. This Herman Greathouse, appears to have been born between 1721 and 1724. He was probably the son of Johann Adolph & Anna Amelia Miller Grothaus of Springfield, Philadelphia County, PA. Herman Greathouse appears to have married Mary Stull, daughter of John Stull near Elizabeth Town, present-day Hagerstown, MD before the conception their daughter Rachel was conceived in May 1746. In the next month, Jun 1746, Herman Greathouse with Daniel Cresap co-witnessed a debt payment between Jonathan Hedges and Abraham Teagarden along the Potomac River in Frederick County, VA. By 12 Apr 1747, the couple had returned for a visit at Springfield, Philadelphia County, PA where their daughter Rachel Greathouse was baptized at St. Michael's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Germantown on said date. Herman Greathouse and his family were back in Elizabeth Town, Frederick County, MD [present-day Hagerstown, MD] where Mary Greathouse and Rachel Greathouse, were named as daughter and grand-daughter in the will of John Stull on 17 Apr 1749. In the same year, Herman Greathouse obtained a tract of land called Chestnut Spring, which was located near a great spring about two miles south of Boonsboro, MD. By 1753, Herman Greathouse moved his family back to the "long bottom of the Potomac River" in Hampshire County, VA, where they resided until the spring of 1773. Then in Mar of 1773, Herman Greathouse moved his family to Harmon's Creek, which flows into the Ohio River at present-day Weirton, WV, where Herman & Mary Stull Greathouse resided through their deaths. No documentation has been found for the death of Mary Stull Greathouse, however Herman Greathouse was named as deceased in the 1796 resurvey of Thomas Edgington's land, which was adjoining Herman Greathouse Sr. between 1792 and 1796.

Evidence presented for the case:

2013 - Proof: Herman Greathouse in Twain: The Conflicting Timelines of Herman Greathouse of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia

Footnotes:

1) This proof argument while first published on 16 May 2008, was last revised on 4 Jan 2014.

2) The revised proof argument follows the examples provided in the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) Application Preparation Manual, “Example Problem Resolutions Using a Proof Argument”, Pages 25-33. View @ SAR

Sources:

Noah Webster's 1828, American Dictionary of the English Language, Online Edition. Resurvey defined. View @ Webster's 1828

Greathouse Point > Greathouse Archives > USA.

Greathouse Point > Greathouse Archives > USA > Pennsylania > Philadelpia County. 1745 - Baptism: Anna Maria Schellmeier, Witness: Herman Grothauss.

Greathouse Point > Greathouse Archives > USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County. 2013, Feb 9 – Proof: Herman Greathouse in Twain: The Conflicting Timelines of Herman Greathouse of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia.


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