Military Monday: Henry Horn and Hessian Resources

McMurray Family (Click for Family Tree)

Henry Horn (1758-1845) was a McMurray ancestor who came to this country as a Hessian soldier (or “German Auxiliary”) for the British in the Revolutionary War. Henry and about 1,000 other Hessians were captured in the December 26th, 1776 surprise attack at Trenton, New Jersey, by George Washington and his forces, after their famous crossing of the Delaware River. Henry became a Prisoner of War and was taken to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He later stated he enlisted into the American forces in Lancaster, and he served fourteen months in the War. (See Notes below for more posts about Henry.)

There are quite a lot of videos on YouTube about the Hessians, including the above. We are unsure how long Henry stayed in Lancaster as a POW (he is not well documented), so we don’t know if he actually helped build the Carlyle Barracks shown in the video, but it is a possibility since he was a strong young man- maybe only 16 or 18 years old.

Another good resource is the Journal of the American Revolution, a free online magazine that provides articles for scholars and ‘enthusiasts.’ The participants, places, economics, politics, culture, and of course, battles, of the American Revolution, are featured in pieces written by various authors who have extensively researched their topics. A recent article profiles “The Hessians: Johannes Schwalm Historial Association,” a journal that has been a leader in the American research efforts to document the “German Auxiliaries” in the Revolutionary War.

The Hessians: Journal of the Johannes Schwalm Historical Association

The editors of  “The Hessians…” are not as active as they once were, but the website is still a great resource. They do have a detailed listing of the contents of each journal issue. They told me that they are thinking about putting them online which would be great, but that it might be a while. I originally found this group through the RootsWeb Hessian board, so that too is a great website for looking for more information about a Hessian ancestor.

More to come about Henry Horn as we continue our research.

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

  1. How are we related? One of the sons of Henry HORN and Elizabeth (PRETZMAN) HORN was Frederick P. HORN (1796-1867). One of his daughters with Hepzibah (CLARK) HORN was Mary Ann HORN (1824-1891), who married Henderson McMURRAY (1819-1906). Their son Frederick Asbury McMURRAY (1850-1929) was the grandfather of Edward A. McMURRAY, SR. (1900-1992).
  2. “The Hessians: Johannes Schwalm Historial Association,” Journal of the American Revolution– https://allthingsliberty.com/2018/01/hessians-journal-johannes-schwalm-historical-association/
  3. Although we still need to finish the story of Henry Horn, you can read what we have written about his military career, starting here on the blog: “Henrich Horn: Military Career”– http://heritageramblings.net/series/henrich-horn-military-career/
  4. The RootsWeb Hessian board is currently offline due to technical problems, but hopefully Ancestry will bring it back soon. You can find it as AMREV-HESSIANS Mailing List– http://freepages.military.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~amrevhessians/c/cem-index.htm 

 

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Original content copyright 2013-2017 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted. 
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Tombstone Tuesday: Frederick P. Horn and Hepzibah (Clarke) Horn

Tombstone of Frederick P. Horn in Sandhill Cemetery, Cedar County, Iowa, after strong winds blew through the cemetery in March, 2016.
Tombstone of Frederick P. Horn in Sandhill Cemetery, Cedar County, Iowa, after strong winds blew through the cemetery in March, 2016.

McMurray Family, Horn Family (Click for Family Tree, and see Notes below.)

Sandhill Cemetery is a “Pioneer Cemetery” in Cedar County, Iowa, a place to which our family migrated in the 1850s. Pioneer Cemeteries are often neglected as farm families moved, and they become overgrown and the stones deteriorate even faster than they would normally since they are not cleaned. There is no “perpetual care” in a pioneer cemetery as there is in urban cemeteries, and they are often a place of vandalism, being away from scrutiny out in the country. So it is important that we help to maintain the final resting places of the ancestors who came before us- after all, we carry their genetic material that helps make us who we are!

So often today families live far from the gravesite of ancestors, and care of the cemetery falls to local historical or genealogical societies, or Scout troops who go in and clean up a cemetery for a service project or even an Eagle or Gold Project.

Tombstone of Hepzibah (Clark) Horn in Sandhill Cemetery, Cedar County, Iowa, after strong winds blew through the cemetery in March, 2016.
Tombstone of Hepzibah (Clark) Horn in Sandhill Cemetery, Cedar County, Iowa, after strong winds blew through the cemetery in March, 2016. Note the hole/chipped base of the third pedestal- it is surprising that this stone did not fall over.

Cedar County, Iowa, has a Pioneer Cemetery Committee that is working to restore Sandhill Cemetery and others to what they respectfully should be. Sandhill had three very large evergreens in the center of the cemetery that were getting too old and needed to be removed. These trees and others have been removed so they cannot fall on headstones (or living people in the cemetery!), and the grounds are being weeded and cleaned up. Also, there are many stones like those of Frederick, AKA “F.P.,” and Hepzibah, that need attention- in fact, there are 10 Horn family members buried in Sandhill, and some of their stones need repair as well.  Some funds are provided by the county, but most of what is done is volunteer and through donations.

Headstone of Frederick P. Horn in Sandhill Cemetery, near Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa, prior to restoration.
Headstone of Frederick P. Horn in Sandhill Cemetery, near Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa, prior to restoration about 2007.

The Pioneer Cemetery Committee is trying to prioritize their expenditures to the headstones that need the most help right now.

Tombstone of Frederick P. Horn in Sandhill Cemetery, Cedar County, Iowa, in August of 2015. Note deterioration of stone.
Tombstone of Frederick P. Horn in Sandhill Cemetery, Cedar County, Iowa, in August of 2015. Note deterioration of stone.

Currently, for 3 of our Horn family stones- Hepzibah’s, F. P.’s, and a stone for “Henry” which is next to Hepzibah’s (he may be their son)- the Committee has found a gentleman who will repair them all for $400-425 and will clean them. He will also put new 4′ foundations under them, to help preserve them (hopefully) for another 100+ years. (Hepzibah died in 1882, Henry in 1885, and F.P. in 1887.)

Headstone of Hepzibah (Clark) Horn in sandhill Cemetery, near Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa, prior to restoration, about 2007.
Headstone of Hepzibah (Clark) Horn in sandhill Cemetery, near Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa, prior to restoration, about 2007, with inscription chalked.

It would be very helpful for our family to donate to the group as they care for the memorials to our ancestors, since the county does not provide enough to totally restore this cemetery.

Tombstone of Hepzibah (Clark) Horn in Sandhill Cemetery, Cedar County, Iowa, in September of 2015 after some restoration.
Tombstone of Hepzibah (Clark) Horn in Sandhill Cemetery, Cedar County, Iowa, in September of 2015 after some restoration.

All donations are tax-deductible, and checks can be sent to:

Cedar County Pioneer Cemetery Commission

c/o Cedar County Historical Museum

Attention: Sandy Harmel

1094 Hwy 38

Tipton, IA 52772

Thank you for honoring the memory of our ancestors!

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

  1. How are the McMurrays related to the Horn family?  

    Edw. A., Maude Lynette “Midge”, and Herbert C. McMurray =>
    William Elmer McMurray =>Frederick Asbury McMurray =>
    Henderson McMURRAY + Mary Ann HORN (married 1845) [daughter of Frederick P. Horn and Hepzibah (Clark) Horn]

  2. See our previous post, “Headstones of Frederick P. Horn and Hepzibah (Clark) Horn- Sandhill Cemetery, Cedar Co., Iowa” at http://heritageramblings.net/2013/11/16/headstones-of-frederick-p-horn-and-hepzibah-clark-horn-sandhill-cemetery-cedar-co-iowa/
  3. Daisy Wingert has taken the wonderful pictures for Find A Grave for the Horn family, given us permission to use them, and has communicated with us about the need for headstone repair. Daisy has also done some searching in local records to help us learn more about F.P. and Hepzibah- more to come on them later. Thanks, Daisy, who isn’t even related to us!!
  4. The images from ~2007 were paid for by the author so many years ago, and permission given to use.
  5. Please contact us through the blog if you have questions about donating, and we will forward them on to Daisy or Sandy.

 

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We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see form below), and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.
 

Original content copyright 2013-2016 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted. 
Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly.
 Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright or use of our blog material.



Headstones of Frederick P. Horn and Hepzibah (Clark) Horn- Sandhill Cemetery, Cedar Co., Iowa

Headstone of Frederick P. Horn in Sandhill Cemetery, near Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa, prior to restoration.
Headstone of Frederick P. Horn in Sandhill Cemetery, near Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa, prior to restoration.

We think of today’s society as being so much more mobile than in “the old days,” but Americans have been on the move for generations. Americans moved west after those first steps on the east coast in the 1600s, and continued that westward movement through the 1890s. Exhausted land, crowded conditions, large families with many to inherit and divide the land, cheap land on the frontier, and the freedom of wide open spaces called to our ancestors and enticed them away from the family homestead.

For families, cemeteries had been places of quiet contemplation, a place to go to honor ancestors and stroll on a Sunday. Some cemeteries were like parks with beautiful monuments, and people would stroll the lanes on an afternoon with family and friends, even if they did not have family buried there. In earlier times, people paid for a plot only, not ‘perpetual care’ as is done now. Families were expected to care for the gravesite themselves. Americans on the move, however, caused less family to be nearby to maintain the cemeteries and ancestor headstones, and many fell into disrepair.  The small cemeteries on family land or out in the country were the hardest hit- as family moved away, land was sold, or descendants aged, there was no one around who was able to, or who cared about, maintaining the cemetery. Headstones fell over as graves subsided, stones weathered until they could not be read, or broke into pieces with the freeze-thaw cycles of many winters. Vandalism occurred too- whether during a war or a boring afternoon, stones were broken, thrown around, and defaced by those who had no respect for ancestors “quietly resting.”

People finally began to feel the need to improve our aging cemeteries, in hopes of preserving a part of the past. Headstones were sometimes righted, and even collected and placed along a cemetery wall, such as the cemetery that was a Civil War encampment and ancestor-of-the-enemy headstones were thrown about to allow spaces for tents.

The genealogy resurgence in this country, along with people involved in “Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness” (RAOGK- no longer in existence) and websites like “Find A Grave” have increased interest in, and searching of, old cemeteries for lost ancestors. Our ‘digital age’ has also allowed cemeteries and historical societies to post an index online so that those far away can find where their ancestors are spending their final repose. Cemeteries are now being cared for, often by ‘perfect strangers’, i.e. people not related to anyone in the cemetery.

Headstone of Frederick P. Horn in Sandhil Cemetery, near Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa, after being repaired.
Headstone of Frederick P. Horn in Sandhil Cemetery, near Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa, after being repaired.

In some places, it is not known where some of the persons are buried, or which headstone belongs to which gravesite. Some of the old county cemetery listings done by historical societies note a grave in a specific cemetery, but the grave cannot be found- it may be covered by many inches of soil, have eroded away, or may have only been a rock or wooden cross to mark the spot. (We have ancestors that have headstones that cannot be found, but a cemetery listing includes their name.)

When cemeteries are restored, it cannot always be done just the way it was previously, especially if there are no records. The following headstone, for the above Frederick P. Horn’s wife Hepzibah Clark, was repaired and placed facing east, with Frederick’s facing west! (We do not have an image of her completely repaired stone.)

Headstone of Hepzibah (Clark) Horn in Sandhill Cemetery, near Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa, prior to restoration.
Headstone of Hepzibah (Clark) Horn in Sandhill Cemetery, near Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa, prior to restoration.

Thank you to all who help families find the final resting place of their loved ones, and to all those who care for those places of quiet repose.

 

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) Photos used with permission of photographer, who was paid to take the photos.

2) Find A Grave: findagrave.com.

Please note that not all the information posted on FAG is correct- just like with any other website, one needs additional sources of verification.

3) These photos and family information will be added to the FAG memorials for Frederick P. Horn (Memorial# 52049381) and Hepzibah (Clark) Horn (Memorial# 52049366).

 

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Copyright 2013 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.