Back in the old days of genealogy research, I was working on my Van Eman family. This family has been mentioned in a couple of other blog posts but never given a lot of attention. So for Week 2 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, here is my favorite find.
My dad's family line goes: Donald Mohney
Valentine Mohney and Margaret Book
James Preston Book and Sierra Nevada Morrow
George Van Eman Morrow and Margaret McConahy
Adam Morrow and Catherine Van Eman
Now, I had read several histories and Catherine was said to be the daughter of Nicholas Van Eman and his wife who was a Riddle. Turns out that she wasn't the riddle as much as her hubby Nicholas was. And the Nicholas Van Emans' were about to become confusing. Nicholas Van Eman (wife Catherine Riddle) was born 1762 and died in 1832. His parentage was in question however. There is another Nicholas Van Eman who was born in 1782 and died in 1857. This Nicholas married Ann Riddle. One of these men named Nicholas was my ancestor but which one?
I stumbled across a Nicholas Van Eman in the DAR lineage books- it listed "my" ancestor as being Nicholas( 1782 -1857) and was the son of George Van Eman. George and the other Nicholas (1762-1832) were sons of Nickolas Vaneman (1715-1780). The DAR Records were considered to be perfect and so, I continued my research, assuming that Nicholas and wife Ann Riddle were my line. I followed it through George and his wife, Rebecca Scott. Continued researching and had a thick file of information on "my" ancestor, Hugh Scott!
Then, researching other family lines, I visited Slippery Rock Church near Ellwood City, PA and in the church records, I found the children of Nicholas and Catherine Riddle Van Eman listed. And my great-great grandmother, Catherine Van Eman is enumerated among his 16 children to 2 wives, Catherine Riddle and Margaret Catherine Lusk. I had been researching the wrong Nicholas! In the cemetery are stones for Catherine Riddle Van Eman and Margaret Lusk Van Eman, and in between is the space where Nicholas' stone once stood.
The correct Nicholas (later proven even more definitively with orphan's court records) had left Washington County and settled in the New Castle, PA area.) He and his wife, Catherine Riddle (daughter of David Riddle) eventually ended up in Lawrence County.
The other Nicholas, followed (or went with) his parents to Ohio, settling in the Canfield, Mahoning County, Ohio area. (This was the county where I grew up. I went to the Canfield fair every year, took my driving test in Canfield, visited my cousin there, and later did my student teaching there.) His wife, Ann Riddle, turned out to be the niece of Catherine Riddle. He was also married twice- the second time to Margaret Baird.
Both of these Nicholas' had sons named Nicholas and so did several of their relatives so the family has been difficult to sort out. I still have to fight online records that have the two switched to this day, 30 year later! But I was glad that I sorted them out in time to share the records with a fellow researcher, Irene Van Eman Marshall, with whom I had become friends. We never met but we wrote back and forth for a couple of years until her death. She put her findings into a book about her ancestors, and included a nice note concerning my research, stating that it had been the key to finally giving her peace about that line and being able to complete her book. Her son was kind enough to send me a copy of her manuscript after her death.
Another side note- this was before cell phone cameras were available. The church secretary let me sit at a table and copy the information from the church register but would not make a copy for me on their copier. I have made multiple requests since then, in person and by mail, and the church refuses to allow me to see the register or photograph it. They also are one of the few churches whose records are not online.
Donna E. Mohney
January 11, 2022
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