[Ed. Note: Jefferson Springsteen was the son of John Springsteen and Mary Logan.]
Anna Springsteen. Born February 20th 1824
County Mai Ireland
[Ed. Note: Anna (Conner) Springsteen was the wife of Jefferson. We have been unable to find her immigration information, the names of her parents or siblings, etc.- yet.]
John William Springsteen. Born Sat. Nov 26th1844 Brooklin. N.Y.
[Ed. Note: John William Springsteen was the oldest child of Jefferson Springsteen and Anna Conner.]
Mary Elizabeth Springsteen. ” Friday Oct 9th, 1846
Brooklin New York State.
[Ed. Note: Mary Elizabeth Springsteen was the second child of Jefferson Springsteen and Anna Conner.]
Jefferson Springsteen. Wednesday Sept 13th 1848.
[Ed. Note: Jefferson Springsteen was the third child of Jefferson Springsteen and Anna Conner. His full name was Thomas Jefferson Springsteen.]
Abram Springsteen. July 5th 1850
Brooklin New York State.
[Ed. Note: Abram Springsteen was the fourth child of Jefferson Springsteen and Anna Conner. He was considered to be the youngest drummer boy in the Civil War.]
Charles Springsteen. Sunday May 16th 1852
Brooklin New York State.
[Ed. Note: Charles Springsteen was the fifth child of Jefferson Springsteen and Anna Conner.]
Anna Missouri Springsteen. Tues May 16th 1854Indianapolis Ind.
[Ed. Note: Anna Missouri Springsteen was the sixth child of Jefferson Springsteen and Anna Conner. She was likely named after her paternal aunt, Missouri E. (Springsteen) Scotten (1834-1895).]
Robert Springsteen May 25th 1857 ” ” ” ”
[Ed. Note: Robert E. Springsteen was the seventh child of Jefferson Springsteen and Anna Conner.]
Joseph Springsteen. July 1st 1860 ” ” ” ”
[Ed. Note: Joseph Springsteen was the eighth child of Jefferson Springsteen and Anna Conner.]
Laura Grace Alien Springsteen. Mch 20th 73-359 E. Market St.
Indianapolis Ind.
[Ed. Note: Laura Grace Alien Springsteen was the only child of Abram Furman Springsteen and Laura May Longfellow, thus granddaughter to Jefferson and Anna Springsteen.]
More Springsteen Family Bible in upcoming posts!
Notes, Sources, and References:
“Amanuensis” means to transcribe.
Bible page from the family treasure chest.
Transcription by the author.
Please contact us if you would like higher resolution images. Click to enlarge images.
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.
Samuel T. Beerbower Bible- Unknown couple from the front of the Bible. Posted courtesy of the Marion County Historical Society. (Click to enlarge.)
➡ Beerbower Family
Tuesday’s Tip:Contact the local historical society where your ancestors lived. They may have a treasure trove of family information!
We were very lucky because the Marion County Historical Society (MCHS) found and contacted us through the blog. Our Beerbower family lived in Marion County, Ohio for a number of generations, and a Beerbower family bible was donated to the Society, along with photographs that were found inside. The MCHS is planning an exhibit and they would like to learn more about the Beerbower family.
Samuel T. Beerbower Bible- Unknown couple from the front of the Bible- reverse. Posted courtesy of the Marion County Historical Society. (Click to enlarge.)
Alas, like so many photos, there are no names nor dates on the majority of the images (though we are lucky with this one). We are putting these images up on the blog in hope that someone will recognize some of these folks, and let us know. The MCHS has kindly shared all the images of Beerbowers and Bible pages to help us piece together more of our family history.
This Bible is known as the Samuel T. Beerbower Bible. Samuel was the brother of our direct ancestor, Edgar Peter Beerbower, who married Anna Missouri Springsteen. He was thus an uncle to Anna May Beerbower, who married Gerard William Helbling. (If you are a grandchild of May and GW, Samuel would be your great-great uncle.) See the Beerbower Family Tree on the blog for more information.
So who are the people in this image?
Known Data:
Clue #1– The image was found in the front of the Bible.
Clue #2– The Bible the picture was found in is called the Samuel T. Beerbower Bible.
Clue #3– The reverse of the image notes the photographer as “Wm. H. Moore, Third Story, Bennett’s Block, Marion, Ohio.”
Clue #4– “1878” is handwritten on the reverse of the photo.
Clue #5– The image shows a man and a woman.
Analysis:
Clue #1– The image was probably of two people very important and/or closely related, to the family, since it was in the front of the Bible. That would often be parents.
Clue #2– Although the bible is called the Samuel T. Beerbower Bible, the notations inside suggest it may have been the Bible of Nathan Peters, Samuel’s father-in-law, and passed down to Irene L. Peters, Samuel’s wife. There are mostly Peters family member listed, and just a few Beerbowers. Instead, it may have been Irene’s Bible into which she copied the names from her father’s Bible.
Clue #3– Research on this photographer indicates he was a daguerreotypist 1857-60 and had studios in Cinncinnati 1857-97 and Marion 1859-97. There was also a “Moore’s Photographic Gallery” on Bennet’s Block in Marion, but no date noted. The History of Marion County, Ohio, 1883, notes that his Bennet Block studio was established in 1855, and at the time of the writing of the county history, published in 1883, he had moved to Main Street. If a photographer had a large stock of backings, this one may have been still used after moving to the new location, but for now, we will use 1855-1883 as the time range for the Bennet location.
Checking for W. H. Moore in Marion city directories will help to narrow the time frame a bit.
Clue #4– It is unknown who added the date to the photo. The date does fit with the known dates of the photographer’s location. The photo appears to be a ‘cabinet card’ which was introduced in the early 1870s, so the date of 1878 still is very plausible. Analyzing the style of clothing and hairstyles may help to narrow the date range of the image.
Clue #5– The man and woman in the image are posed as married persons are often posed. They appear to be in their 30s-50s.
Nathan Peters- Portrait and signature from “History of Marion Co OH,” 1883, p226. Drawn from a picture of him, per his bio in the above. (Click to enlarge.)
My hypothesis (which remains to be proven) is that the first image is Nathan Peters with his wife, probably his second wife, Mary Ballantine Peters. They married on 02 Jan 1842, and Irene L. Peters, their daughter, was the Bible owner at one point.
Mary B. Peters died on 18 Dec 1850, however, so could not have been in a photo taken by WH Moore, since his business started in 1855. I am wondering if this could be a copy of an earlier photo, possibly a daguerrotype; this appears to be the case with another photo in the collection. Nathan would have been 79 in 1878, so that would be older than the man in this picture, thus reinforcing the idea this is a copy of an older image.
We have no evidence that Nathan remarried after the death of his second wife. Censuses show some of his children living with him on the farm in his later years, plus a servant for the household and a farm laborer, but no wife is listed. (We have been unable to find him in the 1850 census, although his 1850 Agriculture Schedule is available.)
Note the cheekbones and jawline of the man in the couple picture, and his ears- they look somewhat similar to the drawn portrait of Nathan that was in the county history, which might vary somewhat as it was an artist’s conception of a photo. The hairline and brow seem similar, too.
The Bible has mostly Peters information, and very little on the Beerbowers, so that is another clue that suggests this first image in the Bible might be Nathan Peters and wife.
What do you think?
It is so wonderful that Historical Societies and scholars are finally working with family historians- that is the only way to tell the whole story of history.
And please, if you know anything about the couple in this image, contact us!
Notes, Sources, and References:
1) Image courtesy of the Marion County Historical Society.
Please contact us if you would like higher resolution images. Click to enlarge images.
We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see Contact Us form), 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 2013-2015 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 of our blog material.
[Daughter of Anna Missouri and Edgar P. Beerbower, on Nov 24- 1904.]
Edgar S. Beerbower to
Rosabel K. Hoppe Oct. 19- 1905
St. Louis, Mo. Thursday
[Edgar Springsteen Beerbower, son of Anna Missouri and Edgar P. Beerbower.]
Robert W. Beerbower
Josephine Ruffle Aug-23,
Indianapolis Ind.
[Robert Warson Beerbower, son of Anna Missouri and Edgar P. Beerbower.]
Notes, Sources, and References:
1) Beerbower family bible.
2)Springsteen and Beerbower Family Group Records compiled over many years using bibles, census, and other data.
3) Edgar Peter Beerbower was called, “Ed” and I have seen him listed as “Edward.” Being that Edgar became a family name, I lean toward his name being “Edgar.”
Please contact us if you would like higher resolution images.
Copyright 2013-2015 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.
We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post, 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.
The year 1866 must have been a year of a big collective sigh in what was again a United States of America. The strife of the Civil War was behind the country, although the personal, physical, financial, and emotional wounds still festered; they would heal some with time. The Beerbower family bible was printed that year, but we have no information on its whereabouts prior to its presentation in 1873.
The bible is inscribed,
“Presented to Anna M. Beerbower by her Father.
Dec 31st 73″.
Unfortunately that page seems to be missing in my scans, but one of the scans has some of the information below:
Beerbower Bible-
The date is listed in my transcription from long ago, but I do not know why there is no scan with that page. Another item to investigate in my spare time…
Anna Missouri Springsteen was married 12 Feb 1873 to Edgar Peter Beerbower. The bible was a gift from her father, Jefferson Springsteen (1820-1909), at the end of that year, as her married name was inscribed in the first pages.
Upon Anna Missouri’s death, the bible was passed on to her daughter Anna May, and then to her daughter, Mary Theresa Helbling McMurray. Names included are BEERBOWER, SPRINGSTEEN, HELBLING, HOPPE, RUFFLE,and CROZIER; the majority of the family lived in Indianapolis, Indiana. The bible was copied and transcribed in 1995, then the transcription was revised and annotated in 2008, all by Anna Missouri Springsteen Beerbower’s great-granddaughter (yours truly).
I do not believe the above is the handwriting of Anna Missouri Springsteen Beerbower- in upcoming posts you may note the different style of “M” and “B” on this page as compared to early entries in subsequent pages. I am not a handwriting expert, but this looks like the writing of a little girl. I am wondering if this is the handwriting of her daughter when young- Anna May Beerbower Helbling. The second style of handwriting in later pages also differs from this, and does look like other examples we have of Anna May’s handwriting.
Sometimes it is hard to remain objective as a family historian, as my mind wanders to what might have taken place between people, daydreaming about the circumstances: the who, what, where, why, when, and how of an event. Looking at this information as I write it, I wonder why the bible was a gift at the end of the year, and not a wedding gift or Christmas gift. Christmas was much less lavish back in the 1870s, and the Panic of 1873 set off a six year depression so money was probably tight. Thin budgets might explain it being an older bible- maybe used or a clearance sale item? Since the family record pages were not written in, even if it was a used bible, it was very gently used over those seven years before it came into Anna M.’s possession. It may even have been an extra family bible owned by Jefferson and his wife Anna Connor, as we also have their Springsteen family bible pages. (Those will be posted soon.)
I do find it curious that it was given to her by her father, and her mother, still living, was not mentioned. But that would have been consistent with the times, a wife/mother being on the sidelines with all owned and given by the male head of the family.
Back to the circumstances- why was the bible given on Dec. 31, 1873?
Trolling through records of both families, mind open to seeing new connections, the flash of understanding occurred- Robert Warson Beerbower, the first child/son of Anna M. and Ed Beerbower’s, was born 16 Jun 1874. That was six and a half months after the bible was presented. My mind leapt to the idea that Anna had announced her pregnancy about the end of December, when signs of her pregnancy became evident and she knew she might carry to term in the days of pregnancy being a dangerous condition. (Pregnancy still is dangerous- the US has an embarrassingly high infant and maternal mortality and morbidity rate.) Delving further into the information known about her siblings, I realized that two others were married prior to the bible presentation date in 1873, but none yet had children.
So we can’t say for sure, but I surmise that the bible was a gift from a father to his daughter, on the occasion of his first grandchild preparing to come into the world. How touching, and how wonderful to have an idea about the possible circumstances of the bible presentation.
Pages from the bible will be presented with their transcriptions in upcoming posts.
Notes, Sources, and References:
1) Beerbower family bible.
2) Springsteen and Beerbower Family Group Records compiled over many years using bibles, census, and other data.
3) Edgar Peter Beerbower was called, “Ed” and I have seen him listed as “Edward.” Being that Edgar became a family name, I lean toward his name being “Edgar.”
Please contact us if you would like higher resolution images.
Copyright 2013-2015 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.
We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post, 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.
