Thursday, October 30, 2014

When and Where Did Elizabeth (King) Spangler (1796-1863) Die or Be Buried?

I've been working on my 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks biography for Friday - this week it is #51 Elizabeth (King) Spangler (1796-1863), wife of Daniel Spangler (1781-1851).

The Spangler surname book (Edward W. Spangler, The Annals of the Families of Caspar, Henry, Baltzer and George Spengler Who Settled in York County Respectively in 1729, 1732, 1732 and 1751, with Biographical and Historical Sketches, and Memorabilia of Contemporaneous Local Events (York, Penn. : n.p., 1896), page 191) says this about Elizabeth:

"Elizabeth, his wife, was born March 5, 1796, died March 18, 1863, in Conneautville, Pa."

There's a clue!  It gives me a death date and place.  But it's a surname book based on information collected over time and is, generally, without sources.

I've looked in online databases, and historical newspaper websites, and have not found an actual record that defines the death and/or burial of Elizabeth (King) Spangler.

I Googled "Conneautville Cemetery" and found a set of burial records at http://cvahs.org/cem/conn/. The page for "Snyder to Spencer" is:


Hmmm.  That shows an "Elizabeth Spaigler" not Spangler, with a death date of 18 March 1883.  Not 1863. The death date (18 March) matches, but the death year is 20 years different. That's quite a coincidence - similar name, same location, same day of the year.  It also says she was age 56, so the age at death is 11 years different.

Is that "my" Elizabeth (King) Spangler?  I don't know.

I looked at Find A Grave and found essentially the same information for "Elizabeth Spangler:"



However, there is no gravestone photograph.  Where did this information come from?  Did someone walk the cemetery and note the inscriptions, or did they use a cemetery index compiled by someone many years ago.

Is the gravestone still standing, and is it readable?  I don't know.  I requested a gravestone photograph of the Elizabeth Spangler stone to see if this is my third great-grandmother.  I'll report back if and when I get a response!

I asked myself why was Elizabeth buried in Conneautville in Crawford County, Pennsylvania when her husband, Daniel Spangler, died in 1851 in Mercer County, Pennsylvania.   The answer to my question is, I think this:  Two of her daughters, Louisa (Spangler) Power (1839-1883) and Helen (Spangler) Brown (1831-1905) resided in Conneautville from the 1850s until their deaths.  After Daniel died, Elizabeth probably went to live with one of her daughters.

Daniel Spangler (1781-1851) is reported to be buried in Sheakleyville Cemetery in Sandy Creek, Mercer County, Pennsylvania.  However, that cemetery on Find A Grave is reported to be 88% photographed, but there is no listing for Daniel Spangler.  I made a photograph request there also, hoping that there is a gravestone and/or a cemetery record.  I'll report back if and when I receive a response.

So I've struck out on both of these 3rd great-grandparents for now!  But there's a mystery, a significant coincidence, and therefore hope...

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/10/when-and-where-did-elizabeth-king.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver


3 comments:

Charlie Purvis said...

Have you contated the creator of the Memorial to see what he/she knows?

bgwiehle said...

Both of the daughters you mentioned in the post also have Find-a-grave memorials at Conneautville Cemetery (Louise Spangler Power, Memorial# 123648309, and Elizabeth Spangler Brown, Memorial# 129846948). It is an additional corroboration, that Elizabeth Sr.'s grave was in the same sect/row as Elisabeth Brown's, per the cemetery index (both A27, Louise's is A23).

It's too late to edit the information attached to your photo request, but including any location clues is really helpful to photo volunteers.

Kay said...

If Elizabeth died in 1863 and it is the original stone on her grave, it might well be somewhat "illegible", hence the variations you found in the Conneautville index. I know sometimes when I've been in cemeteries, it really is a "best guess" situation involving sight and feel to determine letters and numbers.