Susan McCain's memo

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: [unknown]

August 7, 2020

The Ancestry.com family trees of the descendants of John Allomong (28 June 1796-16 March 1872), who is designated as "John Allomong II," identify his father as "John Allomong I", born 1747 in Eastern Pennsylvania. This John Allomong I was himself supposedly a son of Johann Jacob Alleman (1701-1763) and Anna Maria Balliet (1708-1763), immigrants from France who were both killed in the Whitehall Township Indian Massacre on 8 October 1763, near present day Allentown, Pennsylvania.

I believe this genealogy is incorrect. Instead I believe that John Allomong II descended from a different son of Jacob Alleman and Anna Maria Balliet, specifically Johann Nicholas Allemong (1743-1803) and his son Jacob Allemong (1773-1823) of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. This Jacob Allemong was John Allomong II’s father.

Although there was a John Jacob Allemong who was a son of Jacob Alleman and Anna Maria Balliet, he was born in 1730 in France and died in 1790 in Virgina (now West Virginia). This John Jacob Allemong had 4 sons Daniel (1750-1785), Jacob (1754-1808), John (1760-1811), and Christian 1766-1835). These sons and their families are documented in “The Allaman Heritage: The Descendants of Jacob Allemong and Anna Maria Balliet, and His Brother, Christian” by Durward B. Allaman, edited by Richard J. Henry, copyright 1997. None of these families are the forebears of John Allomong II.

Nicholas Allemong married Magdalena Schneider, whose parents were also killed in the 1763 Whitehall Township Massacre that claimed Nicholas’ parents. They had 5 daughters (Margaret, Magdalena, Barbara, Susanna and Elizabeth) and one son, Jacob. Nicholas and his family had moved first to Westmoreland County, Pa. about 1770, and then to Armstrong County, Pa. about 1796. Nicholas was one of the earliest settlers of the area of Armstrong County west of the Allegheny River. Nicholas died in 1803 and his son Jacob inherited a portion of Nicholas’ land. Nicholas’ land was first located in Buffalo Township (1800 census) but after a subdivision of townships was later assigned to Sugarcreek Township (1810 and 1820 census for Jacob). "The Allaman Heritage" genealogy for the Nicholas Allemong branch of the tree ends with Jacob Allemong (1883-1823).

In Jacob's 1800 census (Jacob Aliman), there is one male under age 10. In Jacob’s 1810 census (Jacob Aleman) there are 2 males between 10 and 15. In Jacob’s 1820 census (Jacob Alleman), there is one male between 16 and 25.

There is also an 1820 census record for John Alleman, with one male 16-25, one female 16-25, and 3 females under age 10 in the household, and no males under age 10. (1800 census record is in Buffalo Township; 1810 and 1820 census records are in Sugarcreek Township, Armstrong County.)

In Jacob’s 1823 will, he mentions only one son, John Allemong, and John’s children—John, Elizabeth, Margaret and Susanna. Pairing this information with John Allemong’s 1820 Census record, it would appear that Elizabeth, Margaret, and Susanna are the 3 females under age 10 in 1820, and that John Jr. would have to have been born later than the 1820 census. (If Jacob had another son, as suggested by the 1810 and 1820 census records, he must have died or otherwise separated from Jacob before 1823. Or perhaps the male enumerated in the census was not a son. The young female counted in the 1820 census may have been Fanny Sanderson (1813-1842) who is mentioned in Jacob's' will.) John Allemong was to inherit Jacob’s land after the death of his mother, Jacob’s widow Margareth. There are no census records after 1820 for John Allemong or his mother Margareth in Armstrong Co. It would appear that John and his family moved away shortly after 1823.

This John Allemong family appears to match the family of John Allomong II in names and ages. John’s 1796 birth fits the ages in the 1810 and 1820 census records of Jacob and John Allemong. His daughters Elizabeth, Margaret and Susanna were all under 10 in 1820, and his son John was born in 1821, after the 1820 census but before his mention in the 1823 will of Jacob. The Ancestry records state that Elizabeth was born in 1816, Margaret about 1818, Susannah about 1819, and John in 1821. The Ohio census records predominantly state that John Allomong’s family were born in Pennsylvania (except Julianna in 1826).

The History of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Chapter XXIV, Sugarcreek, page 534, in discussing Jacob Allemong's will, states that "He [Jacob] directed his real estate to be sold after her death[i.e., his widow] for the best price that could be obtained, and the money arising from its sale to be divided among his son John and the latter's four children, 151 acres of which Jacob Allimong's grandchildren conveyed to James E. Brown, November 5, 1852 . . ." A search of the online land records for Armstrong County identified three separate transactions, which document the sale of Jacob's land:

• 24 July 1840 - John Allomong of Knox Township, Columbiana County Ohio sold 58 acres to James E. Brown • 5 November 1842 - Jacob and Margaret Allomong Miller and Susannah Allomong of Columbiana County Ohio, and John Allemong Jr, and his wife Margaret of Stark County Ohio sold 150 acres to James E. Brown. • 2 August 1844 - John Simpkinson and his wife Elizabeth Allomong Simpkinson sold 15 acres to James E. Brown.

The individuals in these transactions are clearly Joseph Allomong II, and his children. Thus it is clear that Joseph Allomong II is the son of Jacob Allemong of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania.

Additionally, the biography of Joseph Allomong (1824-1889, second son of John Allomong II) in the "History of Steuben County, Indiana (1885)" attached to Joseph's record, states that he (Joseph) was born in Armstrong County, Pa. on April 11, 1824. Since Joseph was still alive in 1885, he was most likely the source of the information about his own birth, which would have taken place about a year after the 1823 will of Jacob Allemong. In addition, the Indiana death certificate of his daughter, Sarah Elizabeth (Allomong) Anspaugh, states that her father Joseph Allomong was born in Pennsylvania. And the Michigan death certificate of Joseph's son Joseph Allomong, also states that his father Joseph Allomong was born in Pennsylvania. (However, it must be admitted that the 1860, 1870 and 1880 census records all show Ohio as Joseph's place of birth.)

In addition, the Find-A-Grave record for Susannah Allomong says that she was born in Sugarcreek Township, Armstrong Co., Pennsylvania, although there is no source provided for this information. Perhaps it was in Cemetery records. Susannah died in 1893 and is buried in the Leggett Cemetery in Enon, Williams County, Ohio, as is her father John Allomong II and her brother John Allomong III. Her brother John III was still alive at the time Susannah died. Could he be the source of the information about her place of birth (if it is indeed in cemetery records)?

The Allomong family trees identify John’s wife as Elizabeth Julianna Rearick or Rarick. There is no information in the census or in Jacob’s will to confirm or refute this. Rearick does not appear to be a common name among the settlers of Sugarcreek Township. As of August 2020, I have one DNA match (allomong89) who is a descendant of John Allomong II. We match at the 5th-8th cousin level, and share DNA matches with 4 other descendants of Nicholas Allemong.

The census records for Jacob and John Allemong, and Jacob Allemong’s will, can be located in their profiles in my Ancestry tree: “McClain/McCollough and Karns City Neighbors” The Armstrong County History citation is attached to John Nicholas Allemong in my tree. A summary of the land transactions related to Jacob Allemong and his estate are attached to Jacob, his son John and his grandchildren in my tree, as well as copies of the deeds from the Armstrong County Deed books.