Retracing the Grove Westward Migration

Grove Genealogical Fanchart

2010-02-15T21:43:00.000-05:00

Grove Genealogical Fanchart

The names in red are ancestors I have researched for this trip.

Recent Grove Family Photos from Parker, Kansas

2010-02-14T20:25:00.004-05:00

John Edwin Grove Intermediate Class Parker, KS School

Parker School Intermediate Class ca. 1915

John E Grove behind the horses clearing the land for Parker High School ca. 1920.

Charles Miller Grove Drummer Parker Coronet Band 1907.

Grave of William and Sarah Grove

Goodrich Cemetery, Linn County Kansas

Images Springfield, Urbana Ohio & Richmond, Centerville, Indiana

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Images Fayette County, Pennsylvania

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Images Williamsport, Ft. Frederick, Maryland

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Images Martinsburg, Darkesville, West Virginia

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Images Hagerstown, Sharpsburg, Maryland

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Images Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

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Museums, Historical Societies, National Parks, Courthouses Visited

2010-01-29T11:33:00.003-05:00

Township Offices East Earl Township, Lancaster County Pennsylvania
Amish Mennonite Museum and Library, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Martinsburg, West Virginia Convention & Visitors Bureau
Berkeley County West Virginia Historical Society, Martinsburg, West Virginia
Antietam National Battlefield, Sharpsburg, Maryland
Falling Waters Battlefield, Falling Waters, West Virginia
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Williamsport, Maryland Visitors Center Cushwa Basin
Fort Frederick, Maryland
Fayette County Courthouse Uniontown, Pennsylvania
Clark County Historical Museum, Springfield, Ohio
Historic Centerville Inc., Centerville, Indiana
Wayne County Historical Museum, Richmond, Indiana
Old National Road Welcome Center, Richmond, Indiana
President Harry S Presidential Home, Independance, Missouri
Parker Community Historical Society, Parker, Kansas

Cemeteries Visited

2010-01-23T18:48:00.003-05:00

Weaverland Mennonite Cemetery East Earl Twshp PA
Ranck Family Cemetery East Earl Twshp PA
Grove Family Cemetery Hagerstown MD
State Line PA Cemetery State Line PA
Reformed Cemetery Sharpsburg MD
Antietam National Cemetery Sharpsburg MD
Darkesville Cemetery Darkesville WV
Jacobs Lutheran Church Cemetery Masontown PA
Goodrich Cemetery Goodrich KS
Osawatomie Cemetery Osawatomie KS
Lakeview Cemetery Wichita KS
Old Mission Cemetery Wichita KS
Council Christian Church Peck KS

Eastbound Day 3 Carlisle PA to Norwood MA 399 miles

2010-01-22T20:53:00.006-05:00

I arrived in Norwood at 2:30 PM EST. My total mileage since leaving on this genealogical journey January 4, 2010 is 4,281.1 miles. I was in 12 states over the past 19 days. I crossed the following major rivers Connecticut, Hudson, Delaware, Susquehanna, Potomac, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Arkansas and Ninescah (not major but family members will know why I crossed it).

I slept at Hampton Inns, Residence Inns, La Quinta, Comfort Suites and Drury Inn. I ate at Cracker Barrel, Steak & Shake, Ruby Tuesday, Starbucks, El Patio, Freddy's, Picadilly, Old Town Cabaret Theater, and One Stop. I visited 13 cemeteries, 2 county courthouses, 3 historical societies, 4 museums, 1 antique shop, 1 university, 1 sign company, 1 camera store, 3 health clubs. I bought 5 t-shirts, 5 post cards, 3 pencils, 1 camera battery, 1 antique apple crate label, 1 historical CD, 1 DVD, 1 genealogical pedigree chart, 1 gallon of windshield washer fluid, 2 toys for grandkids, and a lot of gasoline. I attended 1 wedding, and 1 college basketball game.

I visited or spoke with my mother, stepfather, 1 stepmother, 2 sisters, 3 aunts, 1 uncle, 3 first cousins, 2 second cousins, 2 third cousins. I visited all the places I called home in and around Wichita, KS plus the homes of both my paternal and maternal grandparents.

I have taken 466 digital pictures.

I will be posting a link to all the pictures and my Grove pedigree chart as soon as I can compile all my notes. For those without access to a computer I will try to get this blog in hard copy form at some point.

Thanks for following me.

JMG

Eastbound Day 2 Indianapolis IN to Carlisle PA 523 miles

2010-01-21T22:22:00.004-05:00

After a wet and, in some places, icy start from Indianapolis the drizzle stopped and for a few minutes in Ohio and Pennsylvania the sun was out. On Day 1 eastbound I filled up with the least expensive gas on the trip, $2.40 in Kingdom City MO. It has gradually crept up to $2.59 here in PA. I am averaging 24 miles per gallon since leaving Boston on January 4. My average speed has been 63 mph. I succumbed to the lure of Cracker Barrel for breakfast this morning since I was waiting for the temps to rise so the roads would dry. I think Cracker Barrel has replaced Stuckey's and Nickerson Farms as the most frequently seen eatery along the interstates. I will admit the food at Cracker Barrel surpasses Stuckey's and Nickerson Farms.

After crossing the Ohio River at Wheeling WV the route I am now taking is entirely different from the route I took westbound.

On the eastbound trip I have so far driven the width of Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio. Tomorrow I will finish crossing Pennsylvania and the width of New Jersey and Connecticut then the length of Rhode Island then home. My GPS says I have 399 miles to go. I should be home by late afternoon.

Eastbound Day 1 Wichita KS to Indianapolis IN 665 miles

2010-01-20T22:09:00.006-05:00

The longest day of driving so far. At this rate I hope to be back in Norwood on Friday. Weather in the heartland has been mild for January. At a point today the temperature in Missouri was 55. Fog was heavy from west of St. Louis all through Illinois. By the time the sun went down I was in Indiana and it was clear but damp.

Last night I was lucky enough, thanks to cousins Joe & Sue Poston, to attend my first Wichita State Shockers basketball game in about 40 years. Last nights game was a pivotal one for my alma mater since they defeated the #1 team in the Missouri Valley Conference Northern Iowa University.

Thanks to cousin Jimmy Smith, Lori Baronian, Sheila Lockwood, Patti Fanning , for the emails and following the blog.

Westbound Day 9 Parker KS to Wichita KS 174 miles

2010-01-15T10:58:00.001-05:00

The migration to Kansas actually ends in Wichita since two of William and Sarah's grandchildren eventually migrated to Wichita. This leg of my trip is to see the Wichita cousins and educate them about how they came to live in Kansas today. It would be a big effort to document all the other places the descendants of William and Sarah live today. I have been able to find their descendants living in Kansas, Oklahoma, Florida, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Alabama, Illinois, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oregon, Iraq, Hong Kong, Tennessee, and New York. I am certain I have only accounted for a handful.

I intend to remain in Wichita for about a week then start the drive east. There will be fewer stops and diversions going eastbound since I fulfilled the goal of the trip going westbound. According to google maps I should be able to shorten the mileage to about 1400 miles versus the 2205 westbound.

I will be posting observations and impressions that have struck me as I make this trip that have nothing to do with genealogical research but more to do with what the county looks like from the road. Watch for these posts beginning January 19, 2010.

Westbound Day 8 Overland Park KS to Parker KS 58 miles

2010-01-15T10:41:00.005-05:00

Back in the 1940's and 50's cities like Overland Park, Lenexa, and Olathe KS were small burgs southwest of Kansas City and destinations for farmers' weekly shopping and supply trips. They were self contained stand alone communities and considered to be quite a distance from Kansas City, the big city. Today they are suburbs of Kansas City along I-35 with the typical assortment of malls and eateries that make them look just like any other interstate corridor around a larger city.

The improved four lane highways have shortened the commute to Kansas City which has further closed the distance to the even smaller communities down the highway from Olathe like Osawatomie and Garnett. Consequently what I remember as a long distance when I was a child are today less than an hour away from Kansas City when you can cruise at a legal speed limit of 70 mph. No one is going less than that speed on clear, straight-as-an-arrow roads. I tried to picture how William and Sarah viewed the approach to their Kansas homestead as they arrived in Parker Liberty Township in 1873. It must have been daunting to William who at that time was a war veteran, not in ideal health, and 51 years old. I presume 160 acres of farmland was too good to pass up, kind of a cash for clunkers government program to populate the west in the 19th century.

I had been to Parker KS many times. The first trip I remember was probably in 1959. We visited Parker for Memorial Day (they called it Decoration Day). I remember the Grove obelisk monument at Goodrich Cemetery and I remember that the homes in Parker did not have indoor plumbing (that didn't come until 1962). That left an impression on an 11 year old. I thought I had gone back in time. After I became interested in genealogy in 1974 I was living in Warren, MI. At that time I visited Kansas again and forced my father and grandmother to accompany me to Parker and tell me about the place. It was in the fall and I remember my grandmother was worried that the roads would be impassable due to mud. This seemed peculiar to me. After we got closer to Parker she relaxed when she realized that all of the dirt roads she remembered when she left in 1939 had since been paved with asphalt and getting around was not hazardous. My father was mildly interested in the family research I was doing but he did enjoy pointing out places he remembered. We located the site of the apple orchards where they both remembered picking apples. He pointed out a creek where he recalled hunting squirrels. The house on Taft St. which they lived in and had moved from in 1939 was still standing in 1974 and there was a small cafe in town where we ate lunch and someone came in that my father had gone to school with in Parker in the 1930's.

Jump forward to 2010. I arrived on a 15 degree morning and was met at the Parker Community Historical Society building by Barbara Hines. I knew when I got into the building that I was about to find things no one in my family had ever seen. Barbara Hines and her husband were relative newcomers to Parker so she was as helpful as possible but really was learning Parker history along with me.

They have done a remarkable job of organizing and indexing the artifacts that have been donated by Parker families so it was surprisingly easy to immediately find Grove references. I casually spotted a post card on a counter that showed a school class posed for a picture outside of the school building. I looked at it carefully, flipped it over and there was listed all the student's names and John Grove and Cloyce Grove were in the picture.

The rest of the four hours I spent there were filled with other similar discoveries. I was able to verify the date of the legendary tornado that destroyed my great grandfathers home by finding a news paper article that mentioned the damage done to his home in the April 11, 1893 tornado. I found a framed picture showing my 14 year old grandfather behind a team of horses clearing the land for construction in 1920 of the "new" high school that he eventually graduated from in 1924. This photo had been donated to the museum by Louise Dysart Stites who transcribed the information her mother had written on the back indicating it was Johnnie Grove behind the team of horses and WH Little's team of horses. My host, Barbara Hines, offered to call Louise who had been the Parker postmaster for many years. Louise was available and immediately came to the museum and pointed out pictures, newspaper articles, artifacts and anecdotes she knew about Parker and its history.

Louise and Barbara gave me directions to find the actual 160 acres of land that William and Sarah farmed west of Parker. Today it appears to be entirely farmland with no sign of residences or evidence of foundations or any remnant of houses or barns from the 19 century.

When William and Sarah left for Kansas from Indiana in 1873 they were accompanied by their son John who was 24 years old and unmarried, their 20 year old daughter Cynthia Russell who was married in Indiana to Allen Russell in 1870, 16 year old son Franklin Shepherd, 13 year old son Edward and their 7 year old son Charles. Also accompanying them to Kansas was Sarah's unmarried older sister Ann Rebecca Miller.

I have always presumed that the lure of free land out west was what drew William and Sarah to Kansas. I need to do further research about the Homestead Act to try to discover why their land was in Linn County Kansas. Unlike other communities they resided in from West Virginia to Indiana during their 36 year marriage, I have found no evidence of Grove relatives preceding them to Linn County

William lived until 1882 when he died at the age of 59, only nine years were spent in Kansas. Sarah lived until 1892 and her sister, Ann Rebecca died in 1893. All three are buried about four miles south of Parker in the Goodrich Cemetery rather than the Parker Cemetery. The Parker Cemetery was less desirable to the Grove family as it was said to have been subject to high water frequently. It was on the eighth day of my trip, 2,205 miles from where I began that I reached William and Sarah's grave 128 years after William's death. Over that period I had visited the church in Masontown, PA where William was baptized in 1822, the adjacent grave of his grandparents, the grave of his great grandparents in Sharpsburg MD, the courthouse where he got his marriage license in 1846 in Martinsburg WV, the spot where he enlisted in the Union Army in 1862 in Centerville IN, the town that each of their children had been born in and the land he farmed in Linn County Kansas in 1873.

William's will stated that the land was to be left to his sons Franklin Shepherd. John William and Edward Dunlap. It specified that there were 79 acres of farmland in Anderson County and on this expedition I discovered the county line divides the 160 acres almost exactly in half. Charles Miller, his youngest son was 16 at the time of his father William's death. William's daughter Cynthia was to be given cash that resulted from the sale of cattle at the time of William's death. His widow Sarah was to be cared for by her children as stipulated in the will and upon Sarah's death their minor son, Charles was to be given $200 by his older brothers. Not long thereafter Sarah was granted a widow's pension due to William's military service. It was $12 a month plus an additional $4 for their minor son, Charles.

Charles, my great grandfather remained in Parker where all of his six children were born. He was Parker's town manager in the early part of the 20th century. He served as a director of the Parker Telephone Company and participated in the 1907 Parker Silver Coronet Band.

He was also a jeweler and watch repairman.

Charles and his wife Kate Short raised six children in Parker. Fern, Kenneth, Verle, Lotchen, John, and Cloyce. I will post a pedigree chart at some point for those family members interested in seeing their lineage.

Westbound Day 7 Springfield, IL to Overland Park KS 396 miles

2010-01-10T08:19:00.070-05:00

The temperature in Springfield IL this morning is -8. From the view out my hotel room window it looks like there is some wind. I'm not sure what this huge industrial complex is but it's pumping out heat into the clear sky.
For Grove family members you will be interested to hear I spoke with our cousin Sharleen Robison (she is Dutch and Ruth's oldest child) while I was in Springfield IL. She let me know we have a cousin serving in Iraq, William Cloyce Grove. As you can see he has the middle name of his grandfather whom we all knew as "Dutch" rather than Cloyce. William also shares the nickname Dutch. This is what the family calls him just as the family called his grandfather Dutch. Sharleen confirmed that all her life she had been told name the Grove family was Pennsylvania Dutch and my research has confirmed that too.

Downtown Springfield IL on this frigid Sunday morning was empty. Like most downtowns there were no retail businesses to speak of. It seems the primary business of downtown Springfield is state government, it is the capitol. The Lincoln Museum is not open on Sundays so I was certainly the only tourist in town. According to my father's birth certificate his parents lived at 1205 S. 8th St. which is in neighborhood now designated as Aristocracy Hill. I couldn't really see from the residences any aristocratic homes. The house my grandparents lived in at the time of my father's birth in 1925 is gone and this 1950's era professional building stands in its place.
From Springfield I headed southwest over state highways to Roodhouse in Greene County.

Roodhouse IL is the town my Short ancestors come from. I have not done research on this surname. It was provided to me but I thought since it is on my way west I should pass through. Roodhouse has a population of approximately 2300. It has seen more prosperous times. I found one cemetery but could not find any Short graves. Donald S. Short and Lawrence Short are listed on the veterans memorial in the town square.
From Roodhouse I headed south to Altonville and crossed the Mississippi River into Missouri. The river appeared choked with ice and had a small channel of moving water but I saw no ships in the river.

The drive east to west on I70 in Missouri is one I have made many times but not since the early 1980's. St. Louis suburbs have sprawled even further west. The most striking feature of this drive is the spectacular view of flat, cold terrain. You can see for miles in any direction. This makes it easy for you to find yourself going 80 mph without realizing it. I was bored on this drive and having the Pats lose along the way did not help matters.

I knew I was getting closer to Kansas because the sunset was spectacular. Here is how it looked heading west at 70 mph in Emma MO at 5:30 pm January 10, 2010.

Parker, KS is about 60 miles from Overland Park. I will conclude the Grove migration there as Parker is where William and Sarah settled in 1873. I have an appointment to get in to the Parker Community Historical Society in the morning. Depending on how much is there I may spend a second day if not I will go on to Wichita.

Continue to read the blog as I will be posting events on the reverse trip west to east and I will be taking a different route. I also will be posting facts about the trip and observations I have made along the way.

Westbound Day 6 Springfield, OH to Springfield, IL 375 miles

2010-01-09T08:37:00.070-05:00

The temperature in Springfield OH this morning is 16. I have several places to visit around here and then I am off west hoping to get to Springfield IL by dark.

I made it to Springfield IL and was able to explore Springfield, OH as well as Richmond IN and Centerville IN.

The Springfield OH Clark County Historical Society has an excellent museum in downtown Springfield which I had all to myself this frigid cold, snowy morning. As I was explaining to one of the volunteers working at the front desk my genealogical road trip west I handed him my card and he immediately told me that one of his card playing buddies is Don Grove. Of course he assured me he would pass my card to him, who knows he's probably a distant cousin. Springfield has some fine old 19th century homes and is a prosperous community today. Two of Sarah and Williams children were born in this area. But something drew them about 50 miles west from Springfield along the National Road to Richmond IN.

Richmond IN is the county seat of Wayne county and is significant to me as the birthplace in 1866 of William and Sarah's final child, Charles Miller Grove, my great grandfather. The National Road Visitor Center sells an audio CD driving tour of Richmond which is really excellent and gives you a comprehensive historical tour of this small city. As with most of the towns and cities along the National Road in the 19th century Richmond was a manufacturing center surrounded by fertile farmland. Some of the items manufactured here were cars, lawnmowers, pianos, and even phonograph records at the Gennette recording studios. Hoagy Carmichael recorded there. The Wayne County Historical Museum is excellent. There are both indoor and outdoor exhibits that show the town in the 19th century so I was able to imagine what the area must have looked like in 1866.

About 6 miles further west on the National Road is Centerville IN. This is important to my story as this is where William enlisted in the Union Army in November, 1862. William's enlistment papers indicate he was 40 years old, 5' 9 inches with dark hair and eyes. He was enrolled in Co. B 24th Regiment of Indiana Infantry Veteran Volunteers.
In 1862 Centerville was the Wayne County seat which may be the reason the army was enlisting men there instead of in the larger city of Richmond. In 1873 Richmond convinced the courts to move the county seat to Richmond from Centerville.
William served in the Army and saw action at the Siege of Vicksburg but was frequently in hospital with dysentery. He was discharged in 1865 in Galveston TX and returned to Indiana.

After Centerville IN the next documented records of William and Sarah's presence is in Liberty Township KS in 1873. So I am headed to Liberty Township which is just west of Parker KS which is about 11 miles from Osawatomie KS which is about 40 miles south of Kansas City. It should be obvious that William and Sarah settled in the heart of rural Kansas. More on Parker later.

So why am I in Springfield IL? There are two reasons. As I indicated in my December 13, post researching only one surname is showing a very thin slice of one's ancestry. My great grandfather Charles Miller Grove married my great grandmother Kate Short in 1892. Other genealogists have supplied me with documentation on my Short family line and they have their roots in Roodhouse, IL in Greene County. Most of them are buried in the Short Cemetery in Greene County. Since I have already logged almost 1600 miles in my journey I thought it appropriate that I visit these ancestors' graves also. So as I leave here I will angle off toward Roodhouse.

Reason #2. I recently found my father, John Virgil Grove's birth certificate and discovered the address where my grandparents were living when he was born in November, 1925. So in addition to a side trip to Roodhouse I am also going to get a picture of 1205 S. Eighth St in Springfield.

Of course since the last time I visited the Abraham Lincoln sites I was about 12 I thought I owe it another visit. My FBLS book club members will appreciate this since we read the Doris Kearns Goodwin book last year which revived my interest.

Good to hear from you Michelle Lafleur. Thanks for the New Salem info Chris. Hi Emma the BFCCPS sign is enjoying the trip. Andrew I saw some kids playing hockey in Indiana today. They were skating on a frozen farm pond. It's -2 in Springfield as I write this. As I scan the weather I have been in it seems I left the more moderate temperatures in Boston and headed in to the frozen plains. I hope I get some normal January temperatures soon.

Westbound Day 5 Uniontown, PA to Springfield, OH 307 miles

2010-01-08T20:57:00.002-05:00

About 3" of snow has fallen overnight. The temp this morning is 11 with a windchill of -1. Roads seem to be salted but the forecast is for blowing scattered snow all the way west.

So far this has been my high mileage day. Despite the frigid temperatures and persistent snowfall and wind I had a great day. I was able to visit the Fayette County Courthouse. Since most of Uniontown was frozen closed there was little traffic and only a handful of people doing deed research. Their records are well indexed and within only a short time I found a deed for the sale of land in Masontown by Shepherd B Grove to Charles Bohen recorded October 14, 1825. This deed along with the baptism record (see post of December 13, 2009) provides further further evidence that Shepherd once lived in Masontown, PA and that is the likely location of William's birth.

Of course I had to visit Masontown. It's a small town approximately 10 miles from Uniontown. Jacobs Lutheran Church is a rural church surrounded by a cemetery. I would have never found it if I hadn't had my GPS which took me over some incredibly rural roads that had only been slightly plowed and the wind was causing drifts. In many cases I was the first set of tire tracks down the road. But the effort was worth it because not only did I get to see the site of William's 1822 baptism, I also found the graves of John Grove and his wife Mary Brown Grove at this cemetery. These are William's grandparents although he was born long after their deaths in 1811 and 1812 respectively.

The Grove westward migration truly begins with leaving Pennsylvania. My research, and this trip, confirms that my Grove ancestors prior to William and Sarah were concentrated in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Maryland. Based on the birth of their children I know that William and Sarah left West Virginia sometime between 1853 and 1857. Since Franklin Shepherd was born in Springfield, OH in 1857 and Edward Dunlap was born in Urbana, OH in 1860 it appears they were the first Grove's to cross the Ohio River and head west. The topography of the land drastically changes when you cross the Ohio River at Wheeling WV into Ohio. The hills, valleys, ravines, immediately flatten out and the mid-west farmland begins. It's hard to imagine how any of those westward travelers made this journey without automobiles whether they were crossing the Alleghenies or Appalachians or Rockies or Sierra Madres it had to be a welcome sight when the land stretched out before them as compared to the mountainous east. Once you cross the Ohio River at Wheeling, WV the land seems to stretch out before you and you can see the west horizon.

It appears William and Sarah, like many Americans in the mid-19th century, followed the National Road west. By 1850 when the railroads reached the Ohio River from the east the National Road began its decline since there was now an alternative to reaching the west. But for most travelers enroute west of the Ohio, the National Road provided the way. It reached Vandalia, IL in 1839 so it provided a paved surface for William and Sarah to follow to Richmond IN. Today that route is closely approximated by I-70. Prior to the mid-20th century construction of the interstate highway system the National Road was US Route 40. In places US Route 40 still exists and I exited I-70 for about 40 miles and followed US Route 40 toward Columbus OH. All along this route you can see references to the National Road. It provides the main street of many Ohio towns on its route. You can see stone markers at certain major intersections. It certainly is not a "fast" route west today since there are stoplights and many crossroads but I'm sure I made better time on it than William and Sarah and the kids, Cynthia, John, Franklin, and Edward.

Tomorrow I am bound for Richmond, IN, the birthplace of my great grandfather, Charles Miller Grove in 1866. I will also visit Centerville, IN where William enlisted in the Union Army in November, 1862.

Thanks for the emails Michele Murphy, Julia Holloway, Shannon Jordan, Kathy Noren, Jim & Stella Mainero, John Burkhardt.

Westbound Day 4 Martinsburg, WV to Uniontown, PA 195 miles

2010-01-07T08:24:00.082-05:00

The westbound weather forecast is 1-3" of snow. I am doing more Berkeley Co. exploring this morning and leave for Uniontown this afternoon.

About 30 years ago I wrote to the Berkeley County Courthouse seeking the license for the marriage of William and Sarah. I knew they married in Martinsburg in 1846 but I wanted a copy of the license or some other documentation. My inquiry was answered by Don Wood who was President of the Berkeley County Historical Society. He sent me notarized copies of the marriage license and a record of the death of Mary Isabelle Grove, William and Sarah's first child who died at age 2 and was buried in Darkesville Cemetery according to the county records.

Just as I was leaving Martinsburg today I thought I would stop into the Berkeley Historical Society's headquarters on Race St. just to see if anyone was there. The sign on the door said they were only open on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays in the winter. Since I was in Martinsburg on Wednesday and Thursday I assumed I would find no one there. I was in luck. There were two volunteers working. I explained I was leaving Martinsburg after spending two days there. I was just curious to see if they had any Grove information that I was not already aware of. After 5-10 minutes of explaining who I am and how I am retracing my Grove family migration I let them know that Don Wood had mailed me information many years ago. As my luck would have it of course it was Don Wood I was speaking to. He immediately pulled the Grove family file and there were my letters from 30 years ago asking for information. I spent about an hour there. Don Wood confirmed the abundance of Grove's still living in the area. He also confirmed that related family names are Bowers, and Van Metre's.

Next stop was Darkesville. I presume William and Sarah buried their two year old daughter within proximity of their home in 1849. This would mean they lived somewhere near Darkesville which is just 7 miles south of Martinsburg. I visited the cemetery in 1981 and it was totally overgrown and almost in accessible. Don Wood let me know that it had been cleaned up since then and I would be able to walk it easily but he doubted I would find a marker for Mary Isabelle. He was right. I couldn't find any readable Grove markers but it was the same cemetery of my 1981 visit.
I left Martinsburg about 1:30 pm headed for Uniontown, PA but I got side tracked. The first diversion was in Williamsport MD where I was able to visit the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal aqueduct. That was a great find, totally unexpected but I had this national site to myself. The canal parallels the Potomac River and in the early 19th century it was another east west route. Today it is a bike/walk trail from Cumberland MD in western Maryland to DC in the east. My second diversion was Ft. Frederick in Maryland. This is also a national historical site. It is preserved just as it looked as a defense of the country during the French/Indian War which pre-dated the US Revolution. This was considered a outpost on our western frontier.

Again, the best part about visiting these places on a 20 degree January day is I HAVE THE PLACE TO MYSELF. Just as I experienced at Antietam I was the only person there. If you have ever visited a popular historical site in the summer during peak tourist season you often have to imagine what the place would look like with no one there. Well I get to experience it that way.

The trip from Ft. Frederick into Uniontown was uneventful except for the beauty of the Allegheny Mountains. I was totally unaware of how mountainous western Maryland is. It reminds me of New Hampshire with stunning views across valleys, rivers, and gaps. I followed I 68 west, also called the National Freeway, since it follows the original National Road which became US Route 40. I have a hypothesis that William and Sarah (and probably other Grove's) migrated west along this road since their third child, Franklin Shepherd was born in Springfiled, OH; their 4th child Edward Dunlap was born in Urbana, OH and their 5th and final child Charles Miller was born in Richmond, IN. I 68 deviates from US Route 40 but I followed Route 40 north into Fayette Co. PA.

That two lane highway climbs and descends some pretty tough grades, particularly Mt. Summit which descends into Uniontown. I'm glad I got through that stretch since it began to snow just as I reached my hotel in Uniontown.

Westbound Day 3 Martinsburg, WV; Hagerstown, MD; Sharpsburg, MD 99 miles

2010-01-06T20:03:00.003-05:00

I decided this morning that there is too much to see in this vicinity to try to do it in one day so I am spending two nights in Martinsburg. I know that my great, great grandmother Sarah Miller Grove was born here and she and William married here in 1846. They had 3 children here, Mary Isabelle who died at age two and is buried in nearby Darkesville, John William and Cynthia Hester both survived to adulthood and died in the early 20th century in Kansas(Cynthia died in the 1918 flu epidemic). Spending an extra day here also lets me explore Antietam Battlefield in nearby Sharpsburg, MD. William and Sarah had left this area by the time of the Civil War but oddly enough I just learned that in the Reformed Cemetery in Sharpsburg, MD are the graves of Jacob Graff and his wife Catherine Stalie Grove (see spelling change in earlier post). They both died in 1819 and 1823 respectively long before the Civil War. They are William's great grandparents. My Grove roots run deep here so there was plenty to see.

I have visited Gettysburg Battlefield twice so I pretty much knew what to expect at Antietam. Although January is not the ideal time for outdoor touring it does have its advantages. I had the battlefield to myself. What a cool experience to walk through the entire area alone. I kept thinking the only way this could be better is if Ken Burns was telling me all about the battle. I got some great pictures that were not marred by other people and their cars, tour busses, etc. Antietam was the bloodiest one day battle in the history of American wars. Yes, much bloodier than June 6, 1944, invasion of Normandy. Over 23,000 died in the battle at Antietam that day. The battlefield is rolling hills and farmland and not marred (at least not yet) by encroaching development.

In Hagerstown I stopped briefly at a cemetery known as the Grove Family Cemetery. I'm not sure why the Find-a-Grave website calls this the Grove Family Cemetery. There is only one Grove marker in the small plot situated in the middle of a cornfield surrounded by a gated fence. Luther Grove is the only Grove marker in this plot. But I had to visit the place. It was unique. It literally borders the Hagerstown, MD airport and had it not been for this family plot I'll bet the airport would have expanded into this field. Other graves in this plot were of the Brumbaugh family members.

This area is rich with American history. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal has a visitor center in Williamsport only seven miles from Martinsburg. This canal plays into the Grove migration west as the family seems to have migrated west along routes that the canal followed which later evolved into the route US highway 40 follows west through the Alleghenies into Ohio and the west.

Martinsburg seems to be a fairly thriving city today. I visited here in 1981 when we were on a family vacation that started in Warren, MI and went as far south as Virginia Beach and included visits to Gettysburg, Harper's Ferry, Washington DC, Skyline Drive and Martinsburg. In 1981 I snapped a few quick pictures and spent the night but no real sightseeing. The place now has a mall, all the required franchise eateries, big box stores, and over night accommodations all clustered along I-81. The downtown area seems to be mainly surviving on the business that a county seat requires. There are plenty of attorney's offices....and oh yes a brilliant architect no doubt....

Now that I have plenty of documentation on my Grove ancestors I have become curious about their movements around the region. What drove them to go from Fayette County PA east to Martinsburg, WV and then back west again to Springfield, OH and on to Richmond, IN. Were there family connections in those places? I speculate that the reason William and Sarah went to Kansas was the opportunity for free land due to the Homestead Act. This is pure speculation on my part. But I want to learn what attracted them to the other locations. In 1843 the B and O railroad came to Martinsburg which brought growth and prosperity. William would have been 21 at that time. Did he come to Martinsburg to work and then met Sarah? Or was he already in Martinsburg since his father Shepherd appears on the 1840 census in Berkeley County? I'm hoping this trip will uncover some answers.

Westbound Day 2 New Holland, PA to Martinsburg, WV 200 miles

2010-01-05T07:14:00.042-05:00

Don't be misled by the title of this post. The distance from New Holland, PA to Martinsburg, WV is about 149 miles. I logged 200 miles on the odometer today. So my 51 miles of driving around Lancaster, PA makes up the difference.

I began by going cross country (read, no double lane restricted access roads) from New Holland to Route 340 which meanders to Lancaster (city). You really get an appreciation for farmland. Makes me think this is what America would look like if there had been no Industrial Revolution. The country is rolling farmland all well manicured and neat. The landscape is dominated by huge silos and plowed fields. True farming communities populated, it seems, by Mennonites/Amish. The first time you encounter a horse drawn buggy on a 25 degree, frigid, windy day in January it's a novelty and you try to get a picture without drawing attention to it. But after similar encounters all day in all places (I so wanted to take a picture of the buggy parked outside the Target) it becomes no more unusual than a pick up truck would be in the Boston burbs.

This sight was a surprise...a team of four mules spreading fertilizer. Not as common as the buggy commuters, but this was not the only farmer I spotted doing this. It must be the time of year to fertilize as the aroma of manure was common in the area. I spent most of the morning driving around East Earl Township. This is the northeast corner of Lancaster County and according to a map in the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society this township has the greatest concentration of "Old Amish". These people seem to reflect the popular notion we have of the Amish. I learned at the museum the ways of the Mennonites/Amish range from very conservative to less-so and cannot be stereotyped anymore than one could stereotype all Catholics. This is also the area that my ancestor Hans Graf was said to have originally settled.

About 10 miles from East Earl Township is the Lancaster Mennonite Museum which I had programmed into my GPS along with the address I had of the nearest Starbucks. I thought I would go to the museum first then to Starbucks. What a great surprise the musuem is directly across the street from the Starbucks.

I spent almost two hours here. There is a great bookstore and friendly staff. The library is well maintained and it contained both Volume I and II of the Groff book. They had a genealogical pedigree chart showing the descendants of Hans Graf originally drawn in 1867 and updated in 1932. I was able to buy a facsimile of this and I will pore over it to determine my line. As I paid for the chart the cashier told me she should get one since she too is a descendant of Hans (we both agreed we could use his first name since we are "family"). Here is a bit more about Hans.

It took about 2.5 hours to get from Lancaster to Martinsburg. My route took me through Harrisburg, PA, across the Mason-Dixon line into Hagerstown, MD across the Potomac River into West Virginia. In keeping with my efforts to eat local cuisine I can't decide whether to go to Waffle House or Chick fil-A, both within sight of my hotel room. I am in the "south" after all.

I've heard from Jim and Stella Mainero, Steve Loo, Pam Hall, Janey Price, Aunt Jo Kocourek, Jim and Jean Smith keep reading. To all my Fugitive Bill Literary Society members I will not be at the meeting on Thursday, I should be in Ohio along the National Road US Route 40.

Westbound Day 1 Norwood, MA to New Holland, PA 389 miles

2010-01-04T20:27:00.003-05:00

After almost 72 hours of moderate to heavy snowfall in the Boston area overnight, today was bright, clear, and cold. I got on the road about 8:30 bound for my first family connection stop in East Stroudsburg, PA. My father's first cousin Betty Ann George is in East Stroudsburg. We had a good visit, went through old Cliff family photos and caught up on her family and mine.

From East Stroudsburg to New Holland is about a 2.5 hour drive and the GPS worked great getting me to my first night in New Holland, PA which is in Amish country in Lancaster County.

Now I have never claimed to really understand the Amish faith, other than what our mass media tells us. I'm pretty sure I missed hearing about Amish (Dutch) cooking but I was really surprised with my meal at Yoder's Restaurant and Buffet in New Holland. It's a good thing it was a buffet because it gave me chance to sample ham balls, pork and kraut, potato filling, baked oatmeal, beef stew, buttered noodles, stewed tomatoes with cheese sauce. I think I've discovered a new American cuisine, well at least new for me.

East Earl Township is near here and I intend to scout a few of the Amish museums in the area and do some genealogical research on the Groff and Grove surname at the Lancaster Historical Society. I've already noticed several Groff references in the area. Groffdale Road is a well traveled Lancaster County route. And the placemat at Yoder's advertised Groff's Auto Repair. I'm pretty sure I share in this gene pool.

Day 2 should end with me in Martinsburg, WV.

2009-12-29T21:12:00.001-05:00

The bags are packed, the route is planned. Now I just need fair weather to be on my way on January 4, 2010. My first stop is in East Stroudsburg, PA. East Stroudsburg is about a 5 hour drive from Boston. I will be making a short stop to see my father's first cousin Betty Ann George (nee Smith). Betty Ann's mother Mary Clarissa (May) was my grandmother's (Margaret) older sister. Betty Ann is not in my Grove genealogical line but she was born in Parker, KS. I plan to spend the first night in Lancaster County, PA which is approximately 2 hours from East Stroudsburg.

The Early Graff/Groff/Grove Roots

2009-12-22T20:31:00.002-05:00

A Bit of Earl Township PA History
The link above will give you a good overview of the Graff/Groff/Grove's family initial presence in the colonies and specifically Pennsylvania. From Lancaster County PA my Mennonite ancestors left the state and apparently the faith, as from what I have researched none of my Grove line are Mennonites today.

Here you can see the birth record of William Young Grove as recorded in the records of Jacob's Lutheran Church in German Township Fayette Co. PA. Also recorded in this book are the births of 2 older brothers, Johannes(John) 1818 and Henrich(Henry) 1820. So my Pennsylvania roots span the state from east to west. Oddly enough by 1840 Shepherd and the family are in Berkeley County WV and William married Sarah there in 1846. They remained in Berkeley County until the early 1850's. Within 50 miles of Martinsburg, WV are many sites with documented births, marriages and deaths of many of my Grove ancestors whether it be in Virginia or Maryland the Grove surname is frequently spotted.

Departure Date

2009-12-17T08:53:00.010-05:00

Departure date is January 4, 2010, approximately 120 years after William and Sarah began their westward migration to Kansas where they homesteaded just west of Parker. William and Sarah were married in Martinsburg, West Virginia in 1846(it was part of Virginia then) which will be one of my first stops. They began their westward migration over a period of years departing from Martinsburg, making stops in Springfield, OH, Urbana, OH and Richmond, IN based on the birthplaces of their children. It appears they headed for Kansas from Richmond, IN ca. 1873. Their vehicle may have looked like the one above. My vehicle will be the 2009 version of the above closely resembling the one here.

So...Who Is My Great, Great, Great Grandfather

2009-12-13T10:23:00.003-05:00

Any genealogists knows that researching one family line only reveals a slice of who your ancestors are. It was fairly easy to research back to my great, great grandfather, William Y. Grove. Others had done most of the work for me. My task was finding who had done what. I began making contact with them in the pre-internet era, seeing what they had and determining where they got their information. After 35 years I had found all of William's descendants, documented how we are related and in some cases met them and re-connected long lost family members all over the USA.

But, I could not find the link to who William's parents were. I know from his Union Army enlistment papers he was born in Fayette Co. PA in 1822 (he enlisted at age 40). But nowhere could I find his parents or siblings referenced. I did find some likely candidates who could be his parents from census records in West Virginia but no solid document listing Willam Young Grove as the offspring of _???__ and __???__. Until November, 2009. While surfing and googling William's name I found a message board that listed a person researching the surnames of Grove, Bower and Shepherd. This caught my eye. I knew that William named his second son Franklin Shepherd. Shepherd seems to be an unusual name but likely it was the maiden name of a mother or grandmother. I posted a reply to this posting and within a day I got this response:

.....checked my copy of "Jacob's Lutheran Church, German Township, Fayette County, Parish Records, Part II 1793 - 1885" by Paul Miller Ruff. On page 53 of that volume, entry #890, I found the baptismal record for a William who was born on 20 November 1822, the child of "Shepperd B. Grove and Maria." Possibly Maria is the Mary Bower mentioned in the above reference in the Groff Book.

The AHA!!! moment. A record was found. Shepherd B(rown) Grove and Maria Bower Grove had a son born in Fayette Co. PA within a month of the date I had for the birth of my William. This is likely to be the link I was missing. Back to the Groff Book (see posting December 7, 2009). Further documented evidence shows that Shepherd's mother was Mary Brown. Hence Shepherd's middle name, Brown. Furthermore, Shepherd's grandmother on his mother's side was Elizabeth Shepherd. Could it be that Shepherd and Maria's son William named one of his sons Franklin Shepherd to continue the tradition of keeping the maternal maiden names going in future generations. Franklin Shepherd Grove is seated in the photo on the left surrounded by his family.

But, where did William get his middle name, Young? Through my new found link could I find evidence of a maternal ancestor with the Young surname? Another AHA!!! moment. Earlier genealogists had documented the ancestors of Maria Bower, William's grandmother on his mother's side was Elizabeth Young. So this can no longer just be a possible link. This baptismal record connects my William to Shepherd and Maria.

This link provides a connection to published genealogical histories taking my Grove line back 4 and maybe 5 generations.

Another stopping point on my genealogical journey is Mason Town, PA. I must visit Jacob's Lutheran Church in German Township Fayette Co. PA. I also want to see, or own, the book Jacob's Lutheran Church, German Township, Fayette County, Parish Records, Part II 1793-1885 by Paul Miller Ruff.

Surnames

2009-12-07T21:27:00.001-05:00

According to Wikipedia, in Europe, surnames began to be used in the 12th century, but it took several centuries before the majority of Europeans had one. The primary purpose of the surname was to further distinguish people from one another. In the 13th century about a third of the male population was named William, Richard or John. To uniquely identify them, people began referring to different Williams as William the son of Andrew (leading to Anderson), William the cook (leading to Cook), William from the river (leading to Rivers), William the brown-haired (leading to Brown), and so on. Eventually these surnames became inherited, being passed from parents to children.

So how did I come to have Grove as a surname? My research shows that the Grove surname I have inheirited began in Germany or Switzerland as Graff. It appears my original ancestors modified it slightly perhaps due to the Great Vowel Shift and after emigrating to the new world the spelling became Groff. For several generations they continued it's use. For some reason my 5th great grandfather, John Groff, had a son, Jacob, who was born in Lancaster Co. PA in 1737 and the surname was recorded as Grove. Not sure why this shift occurred but it seems to have happened in several branches of the family tree not just mine. Nevertheless, genealogists continue to recognize Graff, Groff, and Grove, and Groves as a linked surname.

Through my life the Grove surname was very easy to communicate since grove is a common noun in English. At times people have misunderstood it to be Grover or Groves. Overall, it's been an easy surname to spell and pronounce.

My father, John Virgil Grove (1925-1991) had more trouble however. His Illinois birth certificate incorrectly lists his last name as Groves. An error acknowleged by both his parents but never corrected officially. He grew up in Parker, Kansas where the Grove family had roots so he didn't find any problems until leaving Parker for Wichita and enlisting in the Merchant Marines in 1943. At this point he was forced to assume the surname "Groves" due to the birth certificate error and hence his military career was under the name of John Virgil Groves. He made sure his children had correct spellings on their birth certificates and Grove prevailed.

Introduction

2009-11-30T10:21:00.017-05:00

In 1974 I began researching my Grove family genealogy. At that time my paternal grandmother was living and at age 68 she was able to supply me with names of others who had been researching our Grove line. My grandfather's youngest sibling, Cloyce "Dutch" Grove was also living. He had family lore that filled in many "blanks".

William Young Grove was identified as my great, great, grandfather. There were plenty of public records for his birth, his marriage to Sarah Elizabeth Miller, his enlistment in the Union Army in 1862, his land ownership in Virginia, and Kansas, and many other references of him and his family in census records and wills. At that time William and Sarah were the furthest documented ancestors I could find.

Since 1974 I have discovered and contacted all branches of William and Sarah's descendants. I have been able to trace William and Sarah's westward migration from Fayette County PA to Parker KS.

In January, 2010 I am planning to embark on a journey from my home in suburban Boston and ending at William and Sarah's final resting place in Goodrich Cemetery near Parker KS. I will be stopping at various places along the route to do research, see museums, libraries, churches, cemeteries, and historical sites that have some connection to William and Sarah when they lived there in the 19th century.

Watch this blog for daily updates of my journey.

Grove Migration Map