Peter C. Singley (1793 - 1852)

Born 1793 in Pennsylvania, USA

Ancestors

Husband of Catharine (Unknown) Singley — married about 1817 in Franklin, Pennsylvania, United States

Descendants

Died 12 Mar 1852 at about age 59 in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, USA

Biography

“Peter was probably the third son of George Singley. He was born in 1792 or 1793, probably in Northampton County before the family moved to Westmoreland County in western Pennsylvania.

“Peter served in the War of 1812, as did his brother Nicholas. He was taxed as a single man in 1814 and 1815 in Derry Township, Westmoreland County. By 1820 he was married and living in Indiana County near Blairsville, which was just across the Conemaugh River from where his parents had lived.”^[1]

There has been much confusion about the names and number of Peter’s wives, which has been perpetrated to some degree on the internet. Lorene Singley Heydecker’s 1979 A History of the Singley Family correctly suggests that Peter’s first wife had died by 1830, but mistakenly suggests that he had a second wife Margaret, daughter of John and Sarah (Crow) Leasure.^[2] Heydecker then correctly notes that Peter’s wife in 1850 was named Matilda.

Heydecker’s error comes from the fact that Margaret Leasure, daughter of John and Sarah (Crow) Leasure, was listed as “Margaret Singley” in her father’s 1844 will. She was the wife of Peter’s brother Nicholas, not the wife of Peter.

Land records (see below) show that Peter Singley was living in Franklin County, Pennsylvania in May 1819 and that his wife’s name in August 1821 was Catharine. This is the currently the only known record that shows Catharine’s name. As Peter’s eldest son George was born in February 1820, it seems likely that Peter married his first wife in Franklin County. The 1820 census also shows a girl under 10 in Peter’s household, presumably an eldest daughter who died young. If so, this would place Peter’s marriage around 1817.

Was Catharine the mother of all of Peter’s children who were born in the 1820s? This seems likely, but there is no proof. The 1880 census records for Peter’s daughter Mary Ann (born about 1821 or 1824 per census records) and Catharine (born about 1825) state that their mother was born in Wales. Peter’s son Rhees (born about 1829 according to the 1850 census, which seems a bit too young) was given a Welsh name.

On 10 May 1819 James Campbell of Franklin Co., Pennsylvania sold to Peter Single of Franklin Co., Pennsylvania lot #46 “in a Town lately laid out by the said James Campbell in the County of Indiana, Pennsylvania named and called Blairsville” for 82 dollars.^[3]

Peter Singley appears in the 1820 census in Blacklick Twp., Indiana Co., PA as follows: 1 male under 10 (George W.); 1 male 26-45 (Peter); 1 female under 10; 1 female 26-45 (Catharine).^[4]

On 28 Aug. 1821 “Peter Singley and Catharine his wife of Blacklick Township Indiana County” sold lot #46 in Blairsville (see above) to Samuel Crane of Pittsburgh for $100.^[5]

On 7 June 1825 (recorded 28 May 1828) Hugh Culbertson and wife Jane of Wayne Co., Ohio sold to Peter Singley of Indiana Co., PA lots 95 and 96 in Blairsville for $82.50 each.^[6]

It appears that Peter’s wife Catharine died before 28 Apr. 1828, when Peter sold the land he bought in 1825 without her co-signature: On 28 Apr. 1828 Peter Singley of Blacklick Twp., Indiana co., PA sold to Samuel McAnulty of Blacklick Twp. lots 95 and 96 in Blairsville for a total of $225.^[7]

Peter Singley appears in the 1830 census in Blacklick Twp., Indiana Co., PA as follows: 1 male under 5 (Rhees); 1 male 10-15 (George W.); 1 male 40-50 (Peter – age is inaccurate); 3 females under 5; 1 female 10-15.^[8] Note that there is no woman of age to be Peter’s wife in this household.

Peter married, probably around 1831^[9] , Matilda, the widow of a man named Lore (or Loar).^[10] Matilda's full maiden name, Caroline Matilda Alter, appears in the 1914 death record of her son Jacob Alter Singley.

Peter Singley appears in the 1840 census in Derry Twp., Westmoreland Co., PA as follows: 1 male under 5; 1 male 5-10; 1 male 15-20; 1 male 30-40 (Peter – age is inaccurate); 2 females under 5; 3 females 5-10; 1 female 15-20; 1 female 30-40 (Matilda).^[11]

On 21 March 1843, "Peter C. Singley" (as he signed his name) appeared before Indiana County magistrate R. Craig and testified on behalf of Jacob Liebengood (his mother's brother), declaring "that he is well acquainted with Jacob Liebengood the applicant for a Revolutionary pension, that he has been acquainted with him for forty years past," and that he had "the most satisfactory evidence" (mentioning "family Bible information") that Jacob Liebengood "must be at least eighty six years of age," and that Jacob "is also reputed and believed by his neighbors to have been a revolutionary soldier, and that no doubts exist on that subject."^[12]

“Sometime during the 1840s Peter moved to Ligonier Township, which joins Derry Township on the southeast, and his father George (after returning from Ohio) was living with him when he died in 1846.”^[13]

Peter C. Singley appears in the 1850 census in Ligonier Twp., Westmoreland Co., PA as follows: Peter C., 57, farmer, real estate $3000; Matilda, 45; Hannah, 18; Caroline, 14; William, 10; Nicollas, 5; Morris, 3; Harriet Loar, 26; Sarah A. Loar, 23.^[14]

“Peter died March 12, 1853 at the age of 61. Also a nine year old daughter, Julia A. Emely Singley, had died December 6, 1847. Both are buried in the Old Ligonier Cemetery which is one block north of the Diamond on Market Street in Ligonier, Pennsylvania.”^[15]

On 21 Feb. 1853, George W. Singley petitioned the Westmoreland County Orphans’ Court for the settlement of the estate of his deceased father Peter C. Singley, which included 108 acres of land in Ligonier Township, bounded by land belonging to Francis Lyttle, Robert Robb, the heirs of George McCurdy, and the heirs of William Brady. George declared that Peter left a widow Matilda and children “George W. Singley, Mary Anne Singley, Elizabeth married to James Blackstock said Blackstock is now decd. and Elizabeth his widow survives, Catherine married to Frederick Spronkle, Rhees R. Singley, Hannah Jane Singley Jacob Singley a minor residing in Iowa, Caroline Singley a minor of whom John Hill is Guardian, William J. Singley a minor of whom John Hill is Guardian, Nicolas Leasure Singley a minor of whom John Hill is Guardian, Morris Singley of whom John Hill is Guardian.”^[16]

The residences of the heirs were given as follows: “George W. Singley resides in Derry Township, Mary Anne resides in Blairsville, Elizabeth [resides in Blairsville] Reese resides in California, Jacob resides in Iowa, Hannah Jane, Caroline, William, Nicolas Leasure and Morris reside in Ligonier Township Westmoreland County, Catherine in Indiana County,” and appointed “Crist Libengood” to be the guardian “ad litum” of Jacob Singley.^[17]

On 4 May 1853, an inquest of twelve men valued Peter’s land at $20.06 [this has to be a mistake]. On 27 August 1853, none of the heirs of Peter Singley approached the court to accept or refuse the land at the valuation given, the court directed that the land be sold to the highest bidder, which was done on 1 Dec. 1853 to Thomas Clifford, who paid $3,522.16.^[18]

By the terms of the sale, one third of the purchase money was to remain in the hands of Clifford who was to pay annual interest on it to Peter’s widow, and divided among the remaining heirs after her death. The balance of the purchase price was to be paid in two parts: half immediately and the rest (with interest) after one year.^[19]

On 25 Aug. 1856, George W. Singley and Rhees R. Singley were granted an advance of $200 on the money due to them upon the death of their step-mother.^[20]

Peter’s widow Matilda, of Blairsville, Indiana Co., PA, signed her will on 16 Feb. 1874, and it was proved 25 May 1877, “the said Matilda Singley having died on the 29th day of March A.D. 1877.” In this will Matilda Singley, “being in my usual health of sound and disposing mind and memory” bequeathed “to my affectionate daughter Catharine Harriet Lore all my household furniture and Real Estate situate on Market Street Blairsville and all money that I now have or may have at my death”; with provision being made for just debts and funeral expenses, and the further provision that the sum of one dollar be paid “to each of my surviving children namely Leasure N. Singley, Jacob Singley, Caroline Singley now Bronson and Sarah Ann McKilvey and Hannah Guler and James A. Lore.”^[21]

Children of Peter Singley (presumably by wife Catharine):

1. daughter, born presumably about 1818; appears in the 1820 census in Peter’s household. Perhaps this is the same as Mary Ann, who could have trimmed a few years off her age.

2. George Washington, born 28 Feb. 1820; married Susan Jellison; died 1894 in Sullivan County, Missouri.

3. Mary Ann, born about 1821; appears in the 1850 census in Blairsville, Indiana County, Pennsylvania as Mary A. Singley, age 26, in the household of Dennis and Rebecca Wilkinson. She married Samuel Patterson before 1853, when she is listed as Mary Ann Patterson, living in Blairsville.^[22] Apparently she had no children. She appears in the 1860 census in Blairsville as follows: Mary A. Singley [not Patterson], 39, milliner, real estate $1500, personal $1000; Eliza Blackstock [sister of Mary Ann Singley], 37; Ella Blackstock, 6. She appears with her husband and niece in the 1880 census in Blairsville: Saml. Patterson, 64; Mary Ann Patterson, 59, b. PA, father b. PA, mother b. Wales; Ella Blackstock, 23.

4. Elizabeth, born about 1823; married James Blackstock. She appears with her husband in the 1850 census in Pine Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania as follows: James Blackstock, 33; Eliza, 28; David, 6. Her residence in her father’s 1853 estate settlement was given as Blairsville, Indiana County.^[23] She appears in the 1860 census in Blairsville with daughter Ella in the household of her sister Mary Ann (see above). Elizabeth Jane Blackstock of Faun twp., Allegheny County, Pennsylvania made her will on 11 Feb. 1873; it was probated 3 May 1873. In her will she left to her husband James M. Blackstock "all my right and title to my property situated in the township of Faun... being a house and lot and blacksmith shop in the village of Millerstown."^[24]

5. Catharine R., m. Frederick Sprankle (Spronkle).^[25] She was living in Indiana County, Pennsylvania in 1853.^[26] She appears in the 1860 census in North Mahoning Twp., Indiana County with her husband as follows: Fredrick Sprankle, 37, wagonmaker, $6000 real estate, $350 personal; Catharine B., 35; Edw. G. Meany, 18, wagonmaker. Apparently they had no children. Catharine appears with Frederick in the 1880 census in Davidsville, Indiana County, Pennsylvania as C.B. Sprankle, age 55, born Pennsylvania; father b. Pennsylvania, mother b. Wales. There were several other Sprankles on the same census page. Catharine Sprankle appears in the 1900 census, living alone, in North Mahoning Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania, widow, age 75, b. May 1825, married 50 years, b. Pennsylvania, father b. Pennsylvania, mother b. Wales; listed adjacent to another Sprankle family.

6. Rhees R. “It has been said that the above Reese Singley went to California during the gold rush days….there is a record in the Probate Court of Westmoreland County, Pa. that he died November 1, 1875 and his estate was settled by L.N. Singley, Administrator.^[27] He appears in the 1860 census in Ukiah, Mendocino County, California; and his 1 July 1863 draft registration card lists his residence as Geyserville, California.

Children of Peter and Matilda Singley:

7. Hannah Jane, born 1832; married Andrew Guler 1855 as his second wife. She appears in the 1860 census as follows: Andrew Guyler, 34; Hannah, 27; Mary, 14; Caleb, 11; James C., 5; William, 2; Aurala, 2/12. She appears in the 1870, 1880, and 1900 census in Belle Vernon, Fayette County, Pennsylvania.

8. Jacob Alter, born 1834. In 1853 he was “living in the state of Iowa with Christian Libengood, who was his guardian.”^[28] This is incorrect; Jacob was living in Iowa, but Christian Leibengood was in Westmoreland County, appointed as a guardian “ad litum” – temporarily for one particular case – to represent Jacob in the settlement of his father’s estate. Jacob married Adeline ---- in 1855. He appears in the 1860 census in Washington, Fayette County, Pennsylvania. He appears (along with his sister Hannah) in Belle Vernon, Fayette County in the 1880, 1900, and 1910 census. He died in 1914; his death record shows his mother's full maiden name as Caroline Matilda Alter.

9. Caroline, born March 1836; m. – Bronson. She was listed in her mother’s household in the 1860 census. She appears in the 1900 census as Caroline Brunson, b. March 1836 Penn., in the household of her son B. L. Brunson.

10. Julia, born Nov. 1838; died 6 Dec. 1847; buried near her father in Ligonier Cemetery.

11. William Jackson, born 1840; not mentioned in his mother's 1874 will.

12. Nicholas Leasure, born 1843; married Elizabeth D. ---- in 1868; had a son John D. born in 1869. Census records show that Nicholas was living in Derry, Westmoreland County, in 1870; living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1900 and 1910; living in Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1930.

13. Morris Peter, born 1847; died 1854 in Fayette County, Pennsylvania.

Footnotes

1. ↑ A History of the Singley Family (1979 edition), by Lorene Singley Heydecker (PDF file), p. 14.
2. ↑ Heydecker (1979), p. 14.
3. ↑ Indiana County, Pennsylvania Deed Book #6, p. 293.
4. ↑ Heydecker (1979), p. 24.
5. ↑ Indiana County, Pennsylvania Deed Book #6, pp. 508-511.
6. ↑ Indiana County, Pennsylvania Deed Book #6, pp. 508-511.
7. ↑ Indiana County, Pennsylvania Deed Book #6, pp. 509-512.
8. ↑ Heydecker (1979), p. 24.
9. ↑ Peter’s eldest child by this marriage was born around 1832.
10. ↑ Matilda had three children – James, Harriet and Sarah – who were surnamed Lore (Loar), as is shown by the 1850 census and Matilda’s will (see text).
11. ↑ Heydecker (1979), p. 24.
12. ↑ Deposition of Peter Singley in the Revolutionary pension file of Jacob Liebengood.
13. ↑ Heydecker (1979), p. 24.
14. ↑ Heydecker (1979), p. 24.
15. ↑ Heydecker (1979), pp. 24-5.
16. ↑ Wilbur J. Singley, Jr., The Story of One Family in America: Descendants of Martin Singley, revision 2 (2005, PDF file), p. 201, apparently reproducing the entire court file (but without giving book and page numbers).
17. ↑ Singley, p. 201.
18. ↑ Singley, p. 202.
19. ↑ Singley, p. 202.
20. ↑ Singley, p. 203.
21. ↑ Indiana County, Pennsylvania Will Book #4, pp. 407-8.
22. ↑ Shown in the 1853 settlement of Peter Singley’s estate. See Heydecker (1979), p. 25.
23. ↑ Shown in the 1853 settlement of Peter Singley’s estate. See Heydecker (1979), p. 25.
24. ↑ Allegheny County Will Book 16, pp. 456-57, online at ancestry.com
25. ↑ 1745-1880 History of Indiana County, Pennsylvania (Newark, Ohio: J.A. Caldwell, 1880), p. 467.
26. ↑ Shown in the 1853 settlement of Peter Singley’s estate. See Heydecker (1979), p. 25.
27. ↑ Heydecker (1979), p. 25.
28. ↑ Shown in the 1853 settlement of Peter Singley’s estate. See Heydecker (1979), p. 25.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to John Schmeeckle for creating WikiTree profile Singley-55 through the import of Stickler ged.ged on Dec 8, 2013. Click to the Changes page for the details of edits by John and others.