Our 3rd Generation- Henry Shedenhelm and Margaret Myers

      My 3x great-grandfather, George, was one of the Shedenhelms who made up the 2nd generation of our family in America. He married Catherine Lease in   , and together, they left Frederick County, Maryland and relocated to Seneca County, Ohio, where they farmed and reared a family. To my knowledge, George was not involved in civic and political life, so there isn't much in the public record- other than the land he owned 3 miles north of Tiffin, his will, and his apparent dislike for one of his sons-in-law. Catherine Lease came from a prominent family in Frederick County, MD, and among the Leases who stayed in Maryland, many of them married or were married by Sheetenhelms. I am attaching a few excerpts from local newspapers to show the relationship between the Sheetenhelms and the Leases because the latter family is a big part of our own family's story.
      However, our focus now is on our 3rd generation.. and Henry Shedenhelm in particular. Our last blog focused on Henry's brother, Levi Adam, who left Tiffin, Ohio and settled in Iowa county, Iowa.
   

 Like his brother, Levi, Henry bought land near Tiffin, Ohio. The record shows that, in 1834, Henry purchased 80 acres in township 3N, Sec. 13. We know that, on May 4, 1882, George J. and Charles Shedenhelm and Rufus Slaymaker, put down $4,000 for an Executor's bond for Henry's will and estate. We also know that Henry and his wife, Margaret Myers, who was born in West Virginia to David Myers and Elizabeth Shaull, left Ohio for Iowa and that they are buried there, in   cemetery.
      Henry Shedenhelm and his wife had six children: Mary Ellen (1846-1918), who married William Scott Slaymaker; George J. (1850-1925) who married Laura Sheets: Charles David,  who married Ida May; Catherine, who married Jacob Huber; Ann Rebecca, who married a man with the surname of "Young;" and Margaret Jane, who married Rufus H. Slaymaker.

      The record shows that Margaret Jane and Rufus Slaymaker lived and died in Ohio, where Rufus also served in our Civil War. In 1852 he enlisted in the infantry, and according to the 1860 census, he owned property valued at $500 at that time. By 1900, however, he noted that his occupation was "nothing," which meant that he must have quit farming. Catherine Shedenhelm and Jacob Huber made their way to Iowa, where Jacob died in Marengo, at the age of 30. Like many of our other relatives, he is buried in the Ladora Cemetery. As a widow, the 1870 census reveals that Catherine owned land worth $2000    


and had an additional $500 worth of assets. The record shows that she had three children under 9 years of age at that time- Marcena (8), Clarence (6), and Oliver (3).

      However, the record also shows that she remarried in September, 1873 and had two more children- Charles Henry Umbarger and Nellie Umbrage.
      Catherine's brother, George Jacob, remained in Ohio, where he farmed with his wife, Laura Sheets. According to the 1910 Federal Census, George was farming in Seneca County and owned his land. In the 1920 census, we see that George, age 69, is living with Laura, age 65, and that their son, Charles Herman, then 31, owned his own farm in the same vicinity.
      Most members of our family in the early days were farmers, which makes sense because America was an agricultural nation. However, Henry's son, Charles was an exception to the rule, showing up in the 1910 census as a real estate agent in Los Angeles, California. The same census shows that C.D. Shedenhelm was residing at #147, West 23rd Street with Ida, age 50; Mark N. age 24- who became an influential member of the Santa Monica community, Oakland, age 22- who became a railroad engineer; Velma, age 19; Charles Jr., age 17, and Lester T., who became a "braider."