Lenover Name Study

This is a One Name Study to collect together in one place everything about one surname and the variants of that name. The hope is that other researchers like you will join our study to help make it a valuable reference point for people studying lines that cross or intersect. Please contact the project leader, add categories to your profiles, add your questions to the bulletin board, add details of your name research, etc.

Contents 1 Surname Origins 2 Lenover Family Groups in Americas 3 Migration/Geographic Patterns 3.1 Early Lenovers in Pennsylvania 3.2 Ohio 3.3 Indiana 3.4 Illinois 3.4.1 Central Illinois 3.4.1.1 Decatur 3.4.2 Vermilion County and Danville 3.5 Schuyler County 4 Military service 4.1 American Revolution 4.2 Civil War 4.3 Fenian Raids (1866, 1870-1871) 4.4 World War I 4.5 World War II 4.6 Korean War 4.7 Vietnam War 5 Lenover name usage 5.1 Places 5.2 Businesses 6 Notable Lenovers 6.1 In the Arts 6.2 Sports 7 Research 7.1 False Leads 8 Sources

Surname Origins

The surname Lenover first appears in America in the late 1700s in Pennsylvania. The name appears to be German in origin and may be derived from Lendover or Lindover. Some Canadian Census records indicate the ethnic group is German. U.S. Census records indicate later arriving Lenovers came from Hesse or Germany.

Lenover Family Groups in Americas

• Richard Lenover - This Lenover has earliest existing records with a 1787 Tax records for Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Bristol is on the Delaware River upriver from Philadelphia.^[1] Besides a wife Nelly, no relationship has been discovered for Richard and the other Lenover lines that continue on to this day.

• Joseph Lenover (b. abt 1775) - Joseph was possibly born in Germany per census records. Joseph seem to be the patriarch of the largest group of Lenovers descendants in the Americas. All of the Canadian Lenovers appear to belong to this line.

• James Lenover - (born abt 1815) was born in Indiana. This line lived in the same area of Indiana as Joseph's line. Just to make it more confusing James' second daughter Sarah Malinda Lenover married John W Lenover. John W is the grandson of the above Joseph.

A relatively few number of Lenovers born outside the USA have been found, mainly in England. Their origins are unknown.

Migration/Geographic Patterns

The earliest known Lenovers came from eastern Pennsylvania. These Lenovers migrated from eastern Pennsylvania to Ohio, Eastern Indiana (Dearborn County), Western Indiana (Parke County) and Southern Ontario. From Indiana, Lenovers moved to Danville (Vermilion County), Decatur area (Macon County), Shelbyville (Moultrie County), and Schuyler County (Rushville).

Early Lenovers in Pennsylvania

Richard Lenover, the earliest known Lenover is found in Bucks County, Pennsylvania in 1787. By 1790 he has moved to Chester County and by 1802 he has sold land his land in Chester County.

Ohio

Early Lenovers appear to have been in Ohio, in Cincinati or Hamilton County for just a short time around the late 1820s on the their way to Dearborn County, Indiana and possibly on their way to Canada.

Indiana

More to be done here. Initially in Dearborn County, but made their way north and west to Illinois. The family, who had some prominent members, is well documented here for a few generations, but no longer live here.

Illinois

Central Illinois

Lenovers moved to Shelby County and later to Decatur, Illinois in nearby Macon County.

Decatur

The earliest record of Lenovers in Decatur were the 1919 Decatur City Directory.

Vermilion County and Danville

More to follow.

Schuyler County

More to follow on first to move here.

Military service

A number of Lenovers served in the United States and Canadian military in times of conflict.

American Revolution

No evidence has been found for any Lenovers serving in the American Revolution. Richard Lenover appeared may have been of an age to serve, but no evidence of his service has been uncovered.

Civil War

The migration pattern of Lenovers followed a largely western direction from Pennsylvania to Indiana to Illinois staying in the northern states. A large contingent also made its way to Canada. All the Lenover Civil War soldiers served on the Union side.

Two brothers from Dillsboro, Indiana, served with the Union forces. One passed away in Dallas, Georgia on the march to Atlanta.

• George W Lenover (1842-1929), 37th Indiana Infantry Regiment, Company F
• Bengamin Lenover (c1824-1864), 37th Indiana Infantry Regiment, Company F
• George Lenover (c1841-1876), 115th Illinois Infantry Regiment, Company D
• Alexander Lenover (1818-1913), 115th Illinois Infantry Regiment, Company D
• John Wesley Lenover (1832-1911) 115th Illinois Infantry Regiment, Company G

Fenian Raids (1866, 1870-1871)

These raids on Canadian forts and facilities were undertaken by an Irish Republican organization to bring pressure on Great Britain to leave Ireland.

• Charles M Lenover
• Jacob Lenover

World War I

More to follow.

World War II

• Walter E Lenover enlisted at Peoria, Illinois.
• Jack Lenover enlisted in the Royal Canadian National Reserve in August 1944. He trained as a sailor. There is no record of any sea duty.

Korean War

• Lester Floyd Lenover - served stateside in California

Vietnam War

One Lenover died in the Vietnam conflict. William Joseph Lenover, died on March 28, 1967 in the Quang Nam province of South Viet Nam. He is honored on the Vietnam Memorial in Washington DC.

Lenover name usage

Places

• Lenover, Pennsylvania, no longer formal town, but a "populated place" in Chester County.
  • 1890 - In March, and English Conglomerate announces the purchase of lands with plans to build 2 cotton mills and dwellings to accommodate 2000 employees.^[2][3]
  • 1937 - On October 24 two work trains crashed into each other at Lenover. more than twenty workers were injured.^[4]
• Lenover Hill Road - near Lenover, Pennsylvania.
• Lenover Street, Dillsboro, Indiana
• Lenover Avenue, Danville, Illinois, a very short street southwest of town.
• Lenover Gardens in the England, a one block street in Britsol England. There is bus stop of the same name at hte end of the street.^[5]

Businesses

• Verlag Lenover - specialty publisher in the town of Neustrelitz in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. The publisher appears to have been active in the 1990s through about 2005.
• Lenover Meats - family owned business in Chatham, Ontario, Canada
• Lenover and Sons - California
• Lenover Sales and Services, Danville, Illinois - An engineering company run by Richard A Lenover

Notable Lenovers

In the Arts

• Mark Lenover - recording artist

Sports

• Roy Maxwell "Max" Lenover - middle distance runner and member of the 1940 Canadian Olympic Team. Those Olympics were cancelled due to World War II.

Research

False Leads

• Willis Lenover married Mary Shields in 1841 in Ripley, Indiana comes from a transcribed marriage index at http://www.loricase.com/RCHS/marry-lm.html. This appears to be a transcription error. The person appears to be Willis Lemon based on this well-sourced tree at Ancestry.com and his corresponding descendants: https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/50078464/person/13048164547/facts.

Sources

1. ↑ Pennsylvania Archives, p 717, https://books.google.com/books?id=LyQQAAAAYAAJ&lpg=PA718&vq=Lenover&pg=PA718#v=snippet&q=Lenover&f=false
2. ↑ "English Capitalists - Land bought in Pennsylvania for the Purposes of Cotton Mills", San Jose Mercury-news, p. 1, 8 March 1890, https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SJMN18900308.2.32
3. ↑ "General News", San Jose Mercury-news, p. 4, 15 March 1890, https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=CM18900315.2.36
4. ↑ "Score Injured in Train Wreck", San Bernardino Sun, p. 1, 25 October 1937, https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SBS19371025.1.1&srpos=11
5. ↑ https://www.google.com/maps/place/Lenover+Gardens,+Bristol,+UK/@51.4083521,-2.6086846,17z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x48718c0f23d90639:0xa16895a2ab650242!8m2!3d51.4083488!4d-2.6064959