“Hey Chris, Are We Really Related to the Shroyers?”
This was a question I recently asked myself as I was reviewing all of my information in preparations to track down the elusive Shaney John. And the answer, in short, is we really don’t know that with 100% accuracy.
“But I thought you said Henry McGinnis was married to an Elizabeth Shroyer?”
I did in fact, and he was in fact. But was Elizabeth the mother of Henry’s children? The probable answer is “yes”, but in all reality, we can only show that she was the mother of the children that were born between the first date money was received by Elizabeth from the estate of Jacob Shroyer until the last date it was received. According to Jacob’s estate, those dates are 18 Mar 1828 to 10 Jun 1831. However, there is an interesting note in this estate, claiming that Elizabeth had already received various goods before the death of Jacob – in fact many years before. The date of the note is 1818, but it does not explicitly state that she was married to Henry at that time. However – it could be assumed that if she received these items (bed and bedstead, chest and spinning wheel, table, 2 chairs 1 iron pot iron ladles and pan, brewing tub, 1 cow and 3 sheep), she was no longer living at home. There is no mention of any other husband – she is only referred to as “Elizabeth McGinnis, formerly Elizabeth Shroyer”.
With the date of 1818, assuming that she did not live at home, and had no prior husband: She is very likely the mother of James, Jesse, and Elizabeth McGinnis. Given the estate distribution dates between 1828 and 1831, she is definitely the mother of William. That leaves the three youngest children: Christian, Catherine, and Henry. Given that there is no evidence yet to the contrary, I will continue to assume that these three youngest children are also Elizabeth’s, In fact, since she dies sometime between Jun 1831 and the 1840 census, it is entirely possible that she may have died during the birth of Henry, or complications thereafter.
“Don’t you have anything that just says that she is the mom, Henry is the dad??”
In a word, no. Unfortunately, conclusions have to be drawn from the information available. If new info comes to light, then those conclusions might be cast into doubt, or shown to be entirely wrong. That is why it’s so important to verify and document where these pieces all come from – not so much that you can “prove” stuff, but so that you will be able to remember your reasoning as you review your well-written, thorough proof argument. I will be attending a lecture later this month about the “Dreaded Report”, as I hope to get some help getting these sorts of conclusions explained in detail, in writing, in narrative form.
But for now – back to chasing an Indian!
