George Topper-my 4x Great Grandfather that lived right up the road!

Never would I have thought I was "Close to Home" in Maryland. I was raised in Indiana, my grandparents and great grandparents lived there.

I wrote about Michael Easterday who lived in Boonsboro, MD. I even went up to the historical society in Hagerstown, MD to do a little research.

George Topper is my 4x Great Grandfather that lived right up the road!

George was born in 1790 in Frederick, MD but possibly Adam County, PA (they are right next to each other). He was the son of American Patriot, Captain Andrew Topper.

George married Sabina Adam on April 16, 1813 in Goshenhoppen (St. Paul's Mission, Church of the Blessed Sacrament in Berks County Pennsylvania. (www.berks.pa-roots.com)

They lived in Taneytown, MD moving to Bedford County, PA and settling in Ashland County, Ohio.

George and Sabina had at least 7 children:
Peter Andrew
Mary Magdalina
Simon Topper
(son) Topper
William Henry Topper
Catharine Sabina Topper

Somewhere around 1854, George married Mary Ann Hoover, she was 34 years his junior. I am not sure what happened to Sabina.

Now I am not entirely sure, but Abigail Aquilla could be the daughter of Sabina or Mary Ann...I am leaning more towards Mary Ann.

Mary Ann went on to have at least 3 (maybe 4) more children with George:
Abigail Aquilla-this is my 3x great grandmother on my Dad's side
George L
Unknown
Isadora

George died in 1858, while Mary Ann was pregnant with Isadora. He is buried in Ashland County, Ohio:

George Topper's grave, in the valley of the Wilson run, is the grave by the roadside of which a lady in Wooster recently wrote L.C. Mengert to inquire about the descendants of the man buried there. Topper selected that spot for his burial place. Some years after the interment, a road was located there, and the grave seems to be strangely out of place in such close proximity to a public road. 

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ohrichla/Hist-Butler1903.htm

Now I do have the guardianship and probate records from when George died. Abigail and her brother George were sent to live with Mary Ann's father, John Gilbert Hoover and her brother Lucas Gilbert Lafayette Hoover. More information to follow!

Mary Ann went on to marry Erestus Zimmerman and took Isadora with her but died shortly after that in 1861. 

John Michael Easterday (Ostertag)-Hessian Soldier turned American Patriot

I always thought that my ancestors were the group of immigrant that flowed through Ellis Island in search of a better life in America.

What I have found is that the majority of my ancestors have been in America for hundreds of years!

One ancestor in particular came to America, not of his own free will was John Michael Easterday/Ostertag.


He is thought to have been born in Guenzertsreuth, Germany around 1754, as many documents point to a Michael Ostertag being born in that town around that same date but many of the dates don't match up to the American dates.

He was brought to this country to fight for the British in the American Revolution.

Page 4 of Descendants of Michael Easterday of Washington County, Maryland by Dr. Howard G. Lanham Edition 1 for Ostertag/Easterday Family Association International Reunion Included with family history In possession of Anne Smittle

In America, Michael fought against George Washington for Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown. Sometime during this siege, Michael decided to leave his position and fight with George Washington. It is not sure if he was captured along with the rest of his regiment and imprisoned in the "Hessian Barracks" in Frederick, Maryland or if he was drawn to the area as this is where most of his comrades were. But we do know he did not leave America. He opted to settle in Frederick County, Maryland and start a family.

He married twice, had eighteen children, became a naturalized citizen, owned and operated a flour mill and bought and sold many tracts of land in the Frederick/Washington Counties located in Maryland. He died in 1837 and is buried in a cemetery in Boonsboro, Maryland.

John Michael Easterday is my 4th Great Grandfather on my Father's side. He had a daughter, Tracy Easterday who married William Henry Topper. They had a child, Letitia Topper who married John Wesley Palmerton. They had a child, Harley Palmerton who married Vida Bell Cabana.