Maria Barbara (Pence) Persinger (1740 - 1829)

Born 29 Oct 1740 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Wife of John Christopher Persinger — married 14 Nov 1763 in Botetourt, Virginia

Descendants

Died 17 Dec 1829 at age 89 in Johnson, Indiana, United States

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Biography

Maria Barbara Pence was born on October 29, 1740, in Pennsylvania, being baptized March 26, 1741 at Swatara in that county^[1]. Her father, Johann Jacob, was about 30 years old, her mother Mary of an unknown age.

Maria Barbara married John Christopher Persinger on November 14, 1763, in Botetourt County, Virginia. They were step-siblings^[2]. Christopher's dad and Barbara's mother married about 1762 after both had become widowed; the families likely became acquainted while living in Rockingham County, Virginia. Or, they may have known each other in the Lancaster County, Pennsylvania area, as they both were customers of a merchant Mr. Potts at Pottsgrove^[3].

Christopher and Barbara had 11 children during their marriage^[4]:

• Elizabeth (m. George Karnes)
• Mary (m. George Faught)
• Harriet (m. _____ Smith, moved to Alabama)
• Rebecca (m. John Dudding)
• Jacob (m. Margaret Reade, moved to Xenia, Ohio)
• John (moved to Roanoke, VA)
• Allen
• William (m. Barbary Dressler)
• David
• Catherine (m. John Wright)
• Moses (m. Lottie Rayhill)

Barbara died on December 17, 1829, in Rockingham County, Virginia, having lived a long life of 89 years.

Sources

1. ↑ Stoever Records, 1730–1779, p. 15.
2. ↑ Richard Pence's Pence genealogy, vol. 1, p. 5, p. 11, and p. 43 #15.
3. ↑ Pence's Pence genealogy, vol. 1, p. 8.
4. ↑ Humphries's Persingers of Alleghany County, p. 1 pedigree chart microfiche.

References

• Humphries, Howard V. The Persingers of Alleghany County, VA 1750–1965 (detailed pedigree chart, 3 microfiche pages). Self-published, as revised 1966. From the notes of: R.R. & L.L. Humphries and R.L. Persinger — 6th generation. Catalogued FamilySearch, here: https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/262789. (You may be able to get FamilySearch to email it to you through their remote request service here: https://www.familysearch.org/en/library/record-lookup-service.)

• Pence, Richard. A guide to the Pence families of America, 2 volumes. Fairfax, Virginia: self-published, 1982. Online at FamilySearch, Vol. 1 here: https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/viewer/137577

• Stoever, Johann Casper; & Schantz, F. J. F. Records of Rev. John Casper Stoever : baptismal and marriage, 1730-1779. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Harrisburg Publishing Co., 1896. Shows Maria Barbara and 2 brothers, baptized. Online at Archive.org, here: https://archive.org/details/recordsofrevjohn01stoe/page/14/mode/2up?q=bentz

• Find A Grave: Memorial #34596755 {Death date wrong on this Find-a-Grave memorial. Barbara did not live to 110 years old.}
• Source: S-1858679884 Repository: #R-1858943750 Title: Family Data Collection - Individual Records Author: Edmund West, comp. Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000. Note: APID: 1,4725::0
• Repository: R-1858943750 Name: Ancestry.com Address: http://www.Ancestry.com Note:
• This information comes from 1 or more individual Ancestry Family Tree files. This source citation points you to a current version of those files. Note: The owners of these tree files may have removed or changed information since this source citation was created.

Research Notes

Barbara's birthdate: Discrepancy in Maria Barbara's age between records: Pennsylvania baptism record shows her being born October 1740 (Stoever link, above), but her father's will settlement shows her being born about 1748 (age 12 in 1760), as follows:

"In 1768, Peter Miller, executor of Valentine's estate, settled Jacob's estate with his heirs. Besides Jacob and George, William and John Pence also received portions, as did Christian Persinger for his wife, Barbara (Pence). Meanwhile, the records show that Jacob's wife, Catherine, had married Jacob Persinger, and in 1760, Barbara Pence, age 12, and John Pence, 13, orphans of Jacob Pence, were bound to Jacob Persinger." (Richard Pence's Pence genealogy, p. 5.)

Barbara and Christopher's marriage date: Shown in many family trees as (1) 14 Nov 1760, (2) 14 Nov 1763, and (3) 14 Nov 1768. That #3 option, 14 Nov 1768, tracks back to the estate settlement of Barbara's father Jacob and Jacob's brother Valentine, shown here: Internet Archive: Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish settlement in Virginia, v. 3, p. 108: "14th November, 1768. Received of Peter Miller, executor Valentine Pence, who was executor of Jacob Pence ... receipt from Christian Parsinger for his wife Barbara's portion of her father's estate."

They were clearly married before that date in 1768, and too much of a coincidence of them being married on November 14th at all. No record has been found.