Schoonover ancestor

Question

My name is Joe Morgan.  My dad, James Kenneth Morgan (1909-1969) talked about a Great Grandfather Schoonover (spelling?) who "came over on the boat."   Since he and all of his siblings are gone now I nave no source to verify if I have an ancestor named Schoonover.  I believe Schoonover is Dutch and my Ancestry DNA says I'm 62% British Isles, 30% Scotch/Irish and about 7% Sweden.  Perhaps Schoonover is Swedish and that's where my 7% comes in.  How can a search on this forum to see if I have an ancestor named Schoonover or not?  Thanking you in advance.  Joe Morgan - Piedmont, OK (Oklahoma City)

Comments

Do you have a first name for Great Grandfather Schoonover and a clue as to which grandparent he traces back beyond?

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Please don't take those percentages as hard facts. They should be seen as indications.

https://www.wiewaswie.nl/en/ gives 2 hits for Schoonover, so I would not bet on the Netherlands.

Note that Schoener/Schooner is a type of ship (the sound of Schoonover made me think of this word).

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Michele, unfortunately, the only thing I remember growing up was my dad briefly talking about a Great Grandfather or Great, Great Grandfather Schoonover who "came over on the boat."  That's just the way he talked about it and that's all I remevber.  If this person exists i guess it would be my 3rd Great Grandfather and I assume a Morgan female may have married him and he would not be a blood relative of mine.  Sorry, that's all I know.  I just didn't know where to start looking to see if I had an ancestor named Schoonover.  Joe Morgan - Piedmont, OK  (Oklahoma City)

Answer 1

This book  has Creightons and Morgans in Oklahoma City - May have some clues.

[https://www.google.com/books/edition/Creighton/WIFFAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%20%20Morgan%20]

Comments

Thank you.

Joe Morgan - Piedmont, OK

Answer 2

I am familiar with the name Schoonover as an American name that started out in New Netherland as the Dutch name van Schoonhoven. The first settler in the van Schoonhoven family was Hendrijcksen-1 of the place that is now Albany, New York.

Comments

Yeah, that is a nice start. Must be 'of Schoonhoven' related https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schoonhoven

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This is not idle speculation on my part. The descendant lists of the immigrant Claes Hendrijcksen and his grandson Niclaas Schoonhoven (born on the wrong side of the sheets and therefore not connected as a grandchild) include numerous people named Schoonover.

Answer 3

Based on information you have provided in your family tree, as well as information obtained from ancestry.com and familysearch.org, it appears the great-grandfathers of your father are:

(1) James Morgan, born in Virginia abt. 1802 (see previous G2G)

(2) the unknown father of Mary Lane (married to William F. Morgan), born in Virginia according to Mary's 1880 and 1910 censuses

(3) William McCluney Creighton, born abt. 1817 in Virginia

(4) the unknown father of Sarah P. Bunt/Burt/Bent (who herself was born in Ohio abt. 1841 but has not been traced before her marriage in 1865 to Alexander Creighton), born in Germany according to Sarah's 1880, 1900, and 1910 censuses.

Of these, the fourth is an obvious candidate for someone who "came over on the boat", though it seems hard to reconcile "Schoonover" with "Bunt/Burt/Bent"

Answer 4

Hello Joe,

familysearch.org has some Schoonover's in Oklahoma.

Martin Schoonover, father in law for 11 Jan 1897 marriage between John J Sober and Jessie A Schoonover, in Blaine, Oklahoma Territory. Groom born in Ohio, bride born in NY.

Answer 5

Joe, I think there is a decent chance that your ancestry could include a New Netherland Schoonhoven/Schoonover who migrated south to [West] Virginia.

I suggest that you double down on detailed documentation for the ancestors of James Christian Morgan. Write down all the tidbits that you get out of each record (I like to put my notes in WikiTree profiles), such as the ages, birthplaces, parent birthplaces, and sibling names that were recorded in the census lists.

I think I may have found James Christian Morgan in the 1880 census, living in Kansas: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFP5-9TB . I searched in FamilySearch for James Christian Morgan born in Indiana between 1870 and 1872, with father named Robert Morgan. That 1880 census record has James and his father born in Indiana, and Mary Morgan (wife of Robert) is born in Tennessee, so it matches your other info. James and his older siblings are shown having a mother born in Virginia. Maybe the census taker entered the info wrong (this happens!) or maybe Mary was a second wife (and not the birth mother of the children). There is an older brother named Goodlet; his uncommon name (Goodlet Morgan) would be a good name to search for in the 1870 census (if he was born in time to be recorded that year). Sister Martha K. Morgan, born about 1868, definitely should be in the 1870 census.

Comments

Here is the same family in 1870: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MX65-4DJ (with the same wife Mary)

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Ellen, thank you so much for all of this information.  Ancestry.com sent me updated results of my DNA test with them yesterday and it's changed somewhat.  It shows I'm 4% Swedish now.  Could Schoonover be Swedish?

Also, I'm curious where you got my grandfather's middle name.  My dad always said it was Christopher and he didn't like it so he always sent by James.  Out of curiosity, I clicked on his name (link) in your post and it took me to the page I set up for James Christopher Morgan and showed that name instead of Christian.  Am I not finding the right page?

Thank you for your input.  I would like to find out who James Morgan's parents were (he was my great, great grandfather, I think.  I didn't find any further information for him.

Joe Morgan - Oklahoma