Jonas Berkey
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Jonas Brenheiser Berkey (1808 - 1886)

Jonas Brenheiser Berkey
Born in Berlin, Somerset Co., PAmap
Ancestors ancestors
Husband of — married 9 Apr 1828 in Driftwood Twp., Jackson Co., INmap
[children unknown]
Died at age 78 in Salem. Washington Twp., Washington Co., INmap
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Profile last modified | Created 12 Jul 2017
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Biography

When Jonas was 3 months old he was brought by his parents from his birthplace at Berlin, Somerset Co., PA to Clark Co., Indiana Territory. He was only able to obtain 6 weeks of formal education growing up in rural areas of Clark, Washington & Jackson Counties of Indiana. He learned farming skills growing up and continued farming at least 2 years into married life. At age 18 Jonas worked for a period of time on the Louisville and Portland Canal to bypass the falls in the Ohio River, but was forced by his Christian raising to quit his job because of the profanity in use by the other workers. His days of flatboat selling along the area rivers and even taking produce from Jackson County all the way to New Orleans netted him a fair size nest egg which allowed him to first rent and then buy store quarters in Valonia and later on also into Salem as one of the largest general store businesses of that time. He eventually branched out into other businesses with partners at various locations throughout the area and became a large supporter of the Christian Church and donated land and contributed to building funds becoming one of the most prominent people in the area.

Sources

  • The Christian Berkey Family in America: The Salem, Indiana Lineage by Jonas Martin Berkey, Louisville, KY 1994. (signed copy obtained at Salem History Center)

Jonas AKA BK111a in G & K book.

Personal note: After attending a Robey/Robie/Roby Family Association reunion at Fort Wayne, IN (I am newsletter editor for the association) we headed south toward Milltown, IN where my #1 stepson, Dorsey Sines, lives with his family. As we were heading down I-65 I noticed the turn off for Vallonia. This rang a bell in my memory so I turned. When we got into town we found a reconstructed fort with a nearby history museum. When I inquired at the Post Office about museum hours I met the husband of the lady in charge of the museum. He told me she was acting as cashier at a yard sale just down the road into Washington, Co., He told me that if we stopped and talked to her we could arrange to get in. On the way we passed Driftwood Christian Church and Cemetery. This attracted my attention and I told my wife we needed to stop there on the way back. When we got to the yard sale and I found the museum lady I discovered the sale was for the benefit of the Driftwood Church. I told her I was researching the Berkey family and she said there were a lot buried in that cemetery and told me that if I left money for copies and postage she would go to the library and get me a copy of the burials. I gladly accepted. Further down we came to Salem and for some reason I rounded the square and headed east. When my wife asked why I told her I didn't know yet. About then I discovered the History Center. It was open and the lady told me to come in and she would show us more Berkey information than I could imagine. We ended our visit with the purchase of the Jonas Martin Berkey book. These are just some of the coincidences I have stumbled into over the years of searching. I have a very long list. FEB





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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Jonas by comparing test results with other carriers of his ancestors' Y-chromosome or mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Jonas:

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