When I found Rev. Charles Althouse's church record book on Ancestry buried in the records of Durham Reformed Church of Bucks County, Pennsylvania (even though my ancestors in these records lived and died in Butler County, Pennsylvania), I felt like I hit pay dirt. I was thrilled to find the information
about several ancestors all on the same page. I already knew the burial locations but there was new information: their exact ages in years/months/days; their causes of death; and the scripture text for the funeral sermons. Dixon Bartley is one of my paternal great-great-grandfathers. He died where he lived most of his life, in Parker Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania. Dixon's information is on the very last line of these two pages, above.
At the time of this record Rev. Althouse was serving as pastor of St. Peter's Reformed Church in Fairview, Butler County, Pennsylvania. He recorded the following information for Dixon:
Date of Funeral: April 23, 1900
Name: Dixon Bartley
Scripture text: Job 5:26
Age: 94 years, 6 months, 13 days
Cause of death: cancer and old age
Cemetery: Bear Creek
The closest birth information I had for Dixon was "about 1806." Using the age at death in this record Dixon's calculated birth date is October 9, 1805.
The text for the sermon, Job 5:26, is,
Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season.It seems to state the obvious, since Dixon was 94 years old when he died, but I'm sure Rev. Althouse expanded the thought in some depth.
Thank you, Rev. Althouse, for keeping your record book. Thank you, Durham County Reformed Church, for preserving the record book. And thank you, Ancestry, for making it available.
–Nancy.
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Nancy, I'm sharing some joy with you! That was a good discovery, now on to your next quest, right?
ReplyDeleteThank you, Barbara. I've posted 3 ancestors from this single page and I suspect that any regular readers might be getting tired of posts focused on this single page. On to the next quest -- but only after one more post from this record. (Or maybe 2.)
DeleteNancy what an exciting and fun discovery! Like you, I feel gratitude on so many levels when I find those nuggets---those that recorded it in the first place, those that make the records available and for the websites that house the records. It's an amazing time to be doing family history.
ReplyDeleteOh, yes, Michelle, it IS an amazing time to be searching for our ancestors and their stories. I've only been seriously searching for less than 10 years but even in 10 years there's such a huge difference.
DeleteThat "About 1806" was surely close. What a good scripture choice for someone who lived about as long as possible.
ReplyDeleteYes, I would have settled for the "about 1806" and been grateful for it if I hadn't found a closer date. As it is, there's no guarantee of the "exact" date, but I'll take it.
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