Notes
Note H547
Index
[Robert Ruhl and Mary Farrier 20081222.GED]
Sources:
Title: Conser Family Tree on www.rootsweb.com posted by Jim Bish
Repository:
Call Number:
Media: Book
[Scott A Haney.GED]
George Michael Jr. and Maria Catharina (Kaup) Conser
by
James Dean Bish
George Michael Conser Jr. (referred to as George for the rest of this article) was the last
child born to his parents, George Michael Sr. and Barbara (Fridley) Conser on March 2, 1792
at his parent's home in Middletown, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. George joined three
older brothers, John, Henry, and Jacob and three older sisters, Elizabeth, Rebecca, and
Anna.
George's father, George Sr., worked as a tanner, wheelwright, and farmer while living in
Middletown. Earlier, in the 1770's and 80's George Conser Sr. served the new nation in the
Revolutionary War as did four of his brothers. George Sr. enlisted in the Lancaster County
Militia, which was the county just across the Susquehanna River from where he then lived in
York County. Lancaster County was also the home of his wife's family, the Fridleys. Three of
George Senior's brother-in-laws also served in the Lancaster County Militia. George Conser
Sr. became part of the 4th and later the 10th Battalions, which had among their officers, h is
brother-in-law, Jacob Fridley. George Sr. served intermittently in the Lancaster County Mil itia
until the end of the war in 1783. After his war service, George Sr., Barbara, and family
moved to Middletown where their last five children were born including George in 1792.
In 1793, while George Washington began his second term as President, George Conser's
parents, George Sr. and Barbara (Fridley) Conser purchased a farm just north of Middletown
in Swartara Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania just a year after George's birth.
George spent the next eight years of his life on that Swartara Township farm, just north of
Middletown. In 1801, as George approached his ninth birthday, his parents' sold their farm
and purchased another farm, about 50 miles to the north in West Buffalo Township,
Northumberland (now Union County), Pennsylvania. By that time many of George's oldest
brothers and sisters were growing up and going off on their own. George's sister, Elizabeth ,
and his brother, John, each married by 1802 in Middletown, Pennsylvania.
George, along with his next oldest brothers and sisters, grew to adulthood on that farm In
West Buffalo Township, about fifteen miles west of Lewisburg and just a few miles north of
present day Mifflinsburg, Pennsylvania. While living at that farm, he became acquainted wit h
a neighbor girl, Maria Catharina Kaup. Catharina (she did not usually go by her first name
Maria) was the daughter of John "Christian" and Maria Anna (Bensinger) Kaup. Catharina
was born on September 2, 1803 in Brunswick Township, Berks County (now Schuylkill
County), Pennsylvania. Catharina moved with her parents to West Buffalo Township of
Union County, Pennsylvania probably not too many years before George and Catharina
were married. George Conser and Catharina Kaup were married in Union County,
Pennsylvania probably at the home of her parents in 1817. Catharina was a young bride of
only fourteen at their marriage while George Conser was ten years her senior at age
twenty-four.
After marriage, George and Catharina apparently remained living nearby their parents,
probably on a rented farmstead in West Buffalo Township north of Mifflinsburg. George and
Catharina's first child, a son named Jacob, was born at their farm home on February 20,
1818. Three years later, a daughter, Mary, was born on June 6, 1821. A third child, William ,
was born on October 12, 1822 and a fourth child, John, followed less than two years later
on July 12, 1824. A second daughter, Elizabeth, was born by 1826. It was about this time
that George's mother, Barbara, passed away at her home in West Buffalo Township.
Also at this time George Conser, probably taking advantage of a better opportunity, rented
a farm about 50 miles father west between Earlysville (now Tusseyville) and Potters Mill,
Centre County, Pennsylvania. George may had been familiar with the area as his uncle,
Henry Gonser (his line of the family continued using the Gonser surname), earlier lived i n the
Tusseyville area and some of their children were baptized at the Emanuel's Church in
Tusseyville between 1800 and 1810. George Conser and his growing family probably moved
to the Tusseyville area by Spring 1826 to be ready for spring farm work.
After the death of his wife Barbara, George Sr., whom at this time probably needed living
assistance, went to live with his son, Jacob Conser, then living about 35 miles west of Wes t
Buffalo Township in Miles Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania. This was a few miles
closer for George Sr. than moving in with his youngest son, George Conser, who was then
living farther away near Tusseyville. It appears that George Conser Sr., now 76 years old i n
1825, lived with his son Jacob during 1825-1826. In 1826, Jacob decided to move farther
west to Clarion County, Pennsylvania. This resulted in George Sr. making a move to live wit h
his youngest son, George at Tusseyville.
From 1826 until his death in 1828 George Conser Sr. lived with his son George on their
rented farm between Tusseyville and Potters Mill, Potters Township, Centre County,
Pennsylvania. George Conser Sr. died at that farm near Tusseyville and was buried at "The
Loop" or "Emanuel's Reformed Lutheran Church Cemetery" at the north edge of Earlysville
(now Tusseyville), Potters Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania.
Between 1826 and 1832, four more children were born to George and Catharina (Kaup)
Conser. They included Sarah L. Conser on March 5, 1827, Amelia on June 28, 1828, George
Conser III on May 5, 1830, and Susanna Conser on August 31, 1831. While living on their
Potter Township farm, the Conser family attended Emanuel's Reformed Loop Church in
nearby Tusseyville, which is the church that the youngest Conser children were baptized.
Tragedy struck the Conser family on February 24, 1832 as George Conser died prematurely,
just weeks before his fortieth birthday and only six months after the birth of his youngest
child, Susanna. The cause of death it not known, but it certainly could have been the resul t
of many causes ranging from a farm accident to an acute medical affliction. Regardless of t he
cause, the death certainly struck a hard blow for his wife, Catharina, then age thirty-two , as
she was left alone with nine children between the ages of six months and fourteen years.
George Conser was buried beside his father at Emanuel's Reformed Loop Church Cemetery
in nearby Tusseyville.
During this time, Catharina probably received some assistance from her parents, Christian
and Maria (Bensinger) Kaup. It is unknown exactly where she lived between the time of her
husband's death in 1832 and 1835, but it appears that the family maintained close ties to
the Potters Mill and Tusseyville area in addition to the Mifflinsburg, Pennsylvania area wh ere
her parents lived.
At that time her son, Jacob, then fourteen years old, must have been difficult to control , and
family tradition maintains that he ran away from home on occasion. As a result of needing
more adult male guidance in the raising of Jacob, in 1834 when Jacob was sixteen years of
age, his mother petitioned the Centre County Court to have James Potter become a
guardian for him. Jacob became an apprentice to Mr. Potter in learning the carpentry trade.
James Potter was a very close neighbor to the Conser family as listed in the 1830 Census. I t
seems that the other Conser boys probably sought jobs later with Mr. Potter when they
reached the age of handling work. Under the guidance of Mr. Potter, Jacob Conser learned
about construction and carpentry. Jacob's younger brother, John, later followed his brother ,
Jacob, as an apprentice, probably to James Potter, in learning carpentry.
Three years after the death of her husband, Maria Catharina (Kaup) Conser married again,
this time to George Garrett. George Garrett lived near Catharina's parents in West Buffalo
Township, Union County, Pennsylvania. Catharina probably had known George for awhile,
maybe even before moving to Potters Township in Centre County. They were married on
May 12, 1835 in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, the county just south of Union and Centre
County. It seems that after marriage George and Catharina continued living in Union
County, but by 1840 had moved a few miles west to Penn's Township near the
Union-Centre County line. Four additional children resulted from this marriage between 1835
and 1842 adding to the nine Conser children. A daughter, Angeline Garrett, was born in
Union County on August 10, 1835, Benjamin, born on September 29, 1836 and Catharine,
born April 9, 1839 were both born in West Buffalo Township, Union County. Their youngest
child, Christian was born near Penn's Creek in Penn's Township near the Union and Centre
County border on May 7, 1842.
Always adventuresome and independent, it appears that young Jacob Conser was not
satisfied with his guardian and apprenticeship and fled to the frontier west in search of
opportunity. By 1838, he had made his way to the frontier area of Knox County, Illinois.
There he located near the boundary between Maquon and Haw Creek Township, just south
of the town of Maquon. The effects of the 1837 economic panic probably forced Jacob into
trying to find better opportunity on the Illinois frontier.
Jacob's move to Knox County opened the path for eventual movement by family members
between the two localities of Knox County, Illinois and Centre County, Pennsylvania
between 1840 and 1855. Family tradition also suggest that during this time period, that two
of the youngest Conser children, George and Susannah died from unknown causes,
probably the result of childhood diseases. Meanwhile, more of the elder Conser children
were leaving home to start their own independent lives.
Jacob's younger sisters, Mary, Elizabeth, and Amelia each married young men from the
Tusseyville and Potters Mill area. Mary married John From about 1845; Elizabeth married
Joseph Keller in 1842, and Amelia married David Henney about 1848. These three
sisters all remained a number of years in the Tusseyville area after their marriage. John
Conser became acquainted with a neighbor girl, Mary Magdalena Cronoble, from near Penn's
Creek in Centre County's Gregg Township and were married in 1844 before joining his
brother in Illinois.
During this time some of the Conser family members followed Jacob to Illinois. Brothers',
William and John Conser along with sister, Sarah, moved to Haw Creek Township in Knox
County between 1845 and 1848. While four of the Conser children were in Illinois by 1848,
their mother, Catharina Garrett continued living in Union County with her husband George
and their four younger Garrett children.
About the time that other Conser family members were locating close to him in Illinois, Jac ob
Conser, since 1839 married to Nancy Gansaules and with three small children, decided to
join others in Oregon Territory in the early migration of pioneers west on the Oregon Trai l in
1848. Meanwhile, it was during this time (1849) that Jacob's brother, William Conser,
married a neighbor girl from Knox County, Illinois named Malinda Burnett. Sarah Conser late r
married Malinda's brother, George Burnett in Knox County, Illinois in 1855. Sarah was the
last of George Conser's children to marry.
It unknown for sure where and when, but it appears that sometime in the 1850s, George
Garrett passed away in Union County, Pennsylvania. This left Catharina, now in her
mid-fifties, a widow once more. Her younger Garrett children were between the ages of
fourteen and twenty years of age at their father's passing. After George Garrett's death,
Catharina, her daughter and son-in-law, Mary and John From and children, along with
Catharina's four Garrett children, Angeline, Benjamin, Catharine, and Christian decided to
relocate to Knox County, Illinois, joining three of Catharina's other children and her many
grandchildren.
By the beginning of the Civil War, Catharina (Kaup) [Conser] Garrett was living in Knox
County, Illinois. She probably split time living between her eldest daughters, Mary (Conser )
From and Sarah (Conser) Burnett, although two of her younger daughters, Angeline, and
Catherine Garrett were also living there. Her sons, William and John Conser and Benjamin
and Christian Garrett also lived nearby as all of her children were now on their own as her
younger Garrett children were marrying local neighbors. By 1857, Angeline Garrett married
Andrew S. Bailey, Benjamin Garrett married Elizabeth Evans, and Catherine Garrett married
John Burnett, the brother of Catherine's sister-in-law, Malinda (Burnett) Conser and her
brother-in-law, George Burnett. Only Christian was not then married, but he also married
into the Burnett family in 1862, marrying a younger sister Barbara Ellen Burnett.
Sorrow came to Catharina in 1859 as her son, William Conser, died prematurely at the age
of 36 on August 11th. He was buried at Maquon Cemetery. It is unknown when Catharina's
daughter, Elizabeth (Conser) Keller passed away, but it is thought that she died before
1850. Her only known surviving son, William Keller was born about 1844 and it is thought
that she probably died shortly thereafter, although as of yet no proof has surfaced to
document this.
By the end of the Civil Warin 1865, seven of Catharina's nine surviving children lived i n close
proximity to her in Knox County, Illinois. This must have given her great comfort to be nea r
so many of her children. Only her eldest son, Jacob, then living in Oregon, and her daughte r,
Amelia, living in Pennsylvania were not near her. In addition to being near so many of her
children, almost thirty of near fifty grandchildren also lived nearby in Knox County.
Catharina must have been very proud of her children. Although, it had probably been over
twenty years since she had seen her oldest son, Jacob, he was quite successful in Oregon.
He served for a time in the territorial legislature for Oregon in the 1850s and became very
successful in establishing the town of Jefferson, Oregon from its humble frontier beginning s.
Amelia and her husband, David M. Henney were respectable business owners in Potters Mill,
Pennsylvania and most of her children living in Knox County, Illinois were respected farmer s.
Catharina died on January 7, 1871 probably at the home of her daughter, Sarah (Conser)
Burnett. It is not known if she suffered from an extended illness as the cause of death i s not
known, but it one can speculate that the cold winter conditions of January contributed to h er
death. Catharina was 67 years of age at her death. Funeral services were probably held at
the home of her daughter, Sarah Burnett, followed by her burial in Maquon Cemetery.
Her mother, Maria (Bensinger) Kaup; two husbands, George Conser and George Garrett;
four children, William, Elizabeth, George, and Susanna Conser, and almost ten grandchildren
preceded Catharina in death. Including brothers and sisters, Catharina was survived by her
father, Christian Kaup of Mifflinsburg, Pennsylvania and her nine children, Jacob Conser of
Jefferson, Oregon, Amelia (Conser) Henney of Potters Mill, Pennsylvania, and John Conser,
Benjamin Garrett, Christian Garrett, Mary (Conser) From, Sarah (Conser) Burnett, Angeline
(Garrett) Bailey, and Catherine (Garrett) Burnett all from near Maquon, in Knox County,
Illinois. About 50 grandchildren also survived her. It seems that Catharina was the catalys t
that held much of her family together as within five years after her death, four of her
children, John Conser and family, Mary (Conser) From and family, Benjamin Garrett and
family, and Christian Garrett and family had relocated to Nebraska. Catharina's daughter,
Catherine (Garrett) Burnett and family also had moved to Oregon