I hope I can present this so that it makes sense. I am starting with Samuel Kunkle's family. Samuel's parents were John Sebastian and Anna Catharina WALTHOUR KUNKLE.


1) Person Sheet

Name: Samuel KUNKLE
—————————————————————————————————————————————
Birth: 5 Mar 1813 Westmoreland County, PA
Death: 1 Apr 1892 Wesley Twp., Washington Co., Ohio
Burial: Bartlett Cemetery, Wesley Twp., Washington Co., Ohio
Occupation: Farmer
Religion: Lutheran
Father: John Sebastian KUNKLE (1775-1865)
Mother: (Anna) Maria Catharina WALTHOUR (~1777-<1840)

Spouses
—————————————————————————————————————————————
1: Mary Ann UNKNOWN
Birth: Oct 1824
Death: 18 Feb 1910 Bartlett Cemetery, Wesley Twp., Washington Co., Ohio
Occupation: Housekeeper
Religion: Lutheran
Father: UNKNOWN
Mother: UNKNOWN
Marriage: bef 1850
Children: Elizabeth Rachel (1851-1928)
John Boston (1854-)
Alice Ann Catherine (1856-)
Sarah Martha (1859-1935)
Israel J. (1863-1942)
Frances "Fanny" Margaret (1865-)
Stephen Joseph (1869-)
Rebecca Malenza (1872-1895)


2) I requested Elizabeth KUNKLE's death certificate to see if I could learn her mother's maiden name.

The death certificate listed the maiden name as BAIR. (This was reported by Elizabeth's husband, Adam Altman.)

3) I found a listing on the LDS site listing the maiden name as CROOK.

4) I decided to request another death certificate to see if I could verify one of these names.
Fortunately, I learned of Mary Ann's death date so I requested her certificate.
It listed John CROCK as the father and Elizabeth WALTHOUR as the mother. (This was reported by Stephen KUNKLE, her son.)

5) This presented the question of why wouldn't Adam Altman know his wife's maiden name? He listed it as BAIR so there has to be some truth somewhere!

6) I checked the 1850 census North Huntington Twp., Westmoreland County, PA for Mary Ann CROCK. I found Mary Ann CROCK age 23 living with Mary BAIR age 53.

7) I checked the baptismal records. I found Anna Maria CROCK b. 1826 with Samuel ALEXANDER and Elisabeth KRACK, wid. listed as parents. I am certain that Samuel was just "filling" in.

8) I found a message on a Westmoreland Bulletin Board that said a John and Conrad CROCK lived in the area (during this time) and that John had died in 1826.

9) The above would support the fact that Elizabeth was a widow when Mary Ann was born.

At first glance, my thought was that Elizabeth died and Mary Ann CROCK went to live with an aunt, Mary BAIR, whom I thought might be a WALTHOUR, possibly a sister to Elizabeth.

Or, maybe Elizabeth is an Elizabeth Mary or Maria Elizabeth and she remarried....and became BAIR.

Any thoughts on this puzzle would be appreciated!

Kathy