Frederick Wegley was my second great-granduncle and one of the sons of Joseph William Wegley and Eve Berkebile. He was born around 1843 or 1844 in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, when the Wegley family was still concentrated in the part of the state where earlier generations had lived for decades.

The 1850 United States census provides one of the earliest records of Frederick as a child. He was recorded as six years old and living in Shade Township with his parents, several brothers and sisters, and his maternal grandmother, Elizabeth Berkebile. The census evidence in my current family research supports at least nine children of Joseph and Eve, although earlier family histories and online family trees list more.

Parents

Frederick’s father, Joseph William Wegley, was born on October 14, 1802, in Brothers Valley Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania. His mother, Eve Berkebile, was born on December 20, 1811.

Joseph and Eve remained in Somerset County through at least 1860 before moving north to McKean County sometime between 1860 and 1864. Frederick, however, was already beginning his own adult life and remained associated with western Pennsylvania rather than following his parents permanently to the Kane area.

Marriage to Sarah Jane Shaffer

On September 16, 1861, Frederick married Sarah Jane Shaffer in White Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania. Frederick was only about seventeen or eighteen years old at the time.

Frederick and Sarah had five children presently identified in my family records:

• Elmer R. Wegley
• Clara Caroline Wegley
• William D. Wegley
• R. Bella Wegley
• Jonathan Wegley

Sarah appears to have died sometime around 1870, after the birth of their youngest child. I have not yet located sufficiently strong documentation establishing her exact date or circumstances of death, so that date should remain approximate.

We know that Fred’s son Elmer died on October 31, 1917 because we have his death certificate. But it also gives us other valuable information about the family.

A Second Marriage

After Sarah’s death, Frederick married again. On August 20, 1872, he married a woman identified in family records as Magdalene, sometimes called Maggie.

Frederick and Magdalene (Maggie) had at least three children:

• Jettie Wegley, born 1873
• Grace Wegley, born 1879
• Blaine Johnson Wegley, born 1881

Between his two marriages, Frederick therefore had at least eight children presently identified in my research. His large family continued another branch of the Wegley name in western Pennsylvania while his parents and younger brother John Wesley became associated with McKean County farther north.

I have a copy of Blaine Wegley’s death certificate, which shows Frederick Wegley as his father. This kind of government document is great for verifying data and family members.

This death certificate tells us more than the person’s name. It also shows that Fred’s son, Blaine, worked as a production manager at Duncan-Miller Glass Company in Washington. Since he died at age 69, it’s likely he retired from that job.

The interesting part is that my grandfather (Raymond Wegley), his wife Elsie, and even my mother worked at Barlet Collins Glass Company in Sapulpa, Oklahoma. Coincidence? Perhaps. But interesting nonetheless.

Another great legal document I found verifying Blaine was Fred’s child was Blaine’s marriage license. One more piece of the puzzle.

Death in 1889

Frederick Wegley died on June 27, 1889, in Indiana County, Pennsylvania. He was approximately forty-five or forty-six years old.

A probate proceeding dated July 1, 1889, only four days after his reported death, provides additional evidence that Frederick had died by that date. Probate was the legal process through which his estate could be administered, debts settled, property accounted for, and any remaining assets distributed to the people legally entitled to inherit them.

I previously had an automated analysis of this probate document that attempted to identify several possible heirs from the handwriting. I no longer consider those identifications reliable enough to present as fact, so I removed them until the original document can be carefully transcribed and the names independently verified.

Frederick’s Place in the Wegley Family

Frederick belonged to a generation in which the Wegley family was beginning to spread beyond its old Somerset County center. His father, Joseph, was born in Brothersvalley in 1802, but by the 1860s Joseph and Eve had moved north toward Kane, while Frederick established his own family in western Pennsylvania.

Frederick’s surviving records give us details that are easy to overlook in a traditional family tree. He married twice, became the father of a large family, appears in a federal tax assessment connected with a still, and died comparatively young in 1889. Together, those records provide a much fuller picture than simply listing his birth and death dates.

For me, one of the most interesting pieces of his story remains that 1866 tax assessment. It captures Frederick not merely as someone’s son, husband, or father, but as a young Pennsylvania man whose everyday economic activities became part of the federal record more than 150 years ago.

Frederick Wegley and the 1866 Federal Tax Assessment

One of the more unusual records connected with Frederick comes from a United States federal internal-revenue assessment made in 1866. The federal government had introduced a sweeping system of internal taxes during the Civil War to help finance the enormous cost of the conflict, and many of those taxes remained in effect after the war ended in 1865.

The 1866 assessment lists Frederick Wegley in connection with a 20-gallon still. The assessment amounted to $40, based on a rate of $2 per gallon.

This offers an interesting glimpse into Frederick’s economic life because it shows he owned or operated distilling equipment large enough to be subject to federal taxation. A still could produce whiskey or other distilled spirits from grain, an activity with a long history in rural Pennsylvania.

The record should not necessarily be interpreted to mean that Frederick operated a large commercial distillery. It does establish that federal authorities assessed him for a 20-gallon still and collected or charged the corresponding excise tax.

During this time, the U.S. government imposed excise taxes on various goods, occupations, and businesses to fund the war effort (this was during the Civil War era).

For Frederick Wegley, the record shows that:

• He was taxed for operating a still, which is a device used for distilling alcohol.
• His still was assessed at 20 gallons.
• The tax rate was $2 per gallon, meaning he owed $40 in excise tax.

What This Means:

1. Frederick Wegley was likely a distiller, producing alcohol or spirits, possibly for sale or personal use.
2. He had to pay federal excise tax on his still, which was common for alcohol producers at the time.
3. The tax was part of the government’s effort to raise revenue during the Civil War (1861-1865).
4. The government closely regulated distilleries since alcohol production was a major source of tax revenue.

This tax record confirms that Frederick Wegley was involved in distillation and was officially recognized by the government for taxation purposes.

I had AI analyze this image, which is a probate record related to Fred Wegley, dated July 1, 1889. Probate records typically document the legal process of settling a deceased person’s estate, including the distribution of assets and handling of debts.

• This document confirms that Fred Wegley passed away before July 1, 1889.
• His estate was going through probate, meaning that legal proceedings were underway to distribute his property, pay debts, and settle any claims.
• The probate process was likely handled in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, as the document mentions Indiana County.
• The record may contain details about his heirs, property, and executor (the person responsible for managing the estate).
• Witnesses or legal representatives were involved in the process, as seen in similar probate documents.

Key Details from Fred Wegley’s Probate Record (July 1, 1889):

1. Probate Location:

   • The probate proceedings took place in Indiana County, Pennsylvania.
   • This suggests Fred Wegley either lived in the county or owned property there.

2. Date of Probate:

   • The document is dated July 1, 1889, so Fred Wegley likely died before this date.
   • Probate usually begins shortly after a person’s death to settle their estate.

3. Executor and Legal Proceedings:

   • The document mentions an executor or administrator—the person responsible for handling Fred Wegley’s estate.
   • This person would have handled distributing assets, paying debts, and managing any legal matters related to his estate.

Possible Heirs Mentioned:

1. Sarah Wegley – This could be Fred Wegley’s widow or a daughter.
2. Joseph Wegley – Likely a son or another close relative.
3. John Wegley – Another possible son or heir.
4. Catherine Wegley – Possibly Fred Wegley’s wife or a daughter.
5. Henry Wegley – Could be another son or family member.

Growing Up in Ohio

Working His Way West

The Dream of Becoming a Cowboy

Learning the Cattle Business

A Caution About the Memoir’s Timeline

Marriage to Tena Olson

Their Children

If you have any children (aother than the 9 from above) listed for Joseph and Tena Wegley then you are mistaken and need to re-verify your information.

• Cloyd J. Wegley
• Joe A. Wegley
• Howard Joseph Wegley
• Edna Josephine Wegley
• Theodore J. Wegley
• Lester J. Wegley
• Charles Joe Wegley
• Dora V. Wegley
• Orville “Jack” Wegley, born October 26, 1920

Life in Williston

Williston’s First Mayor and a Scandal

Joseph Wegley Elected Mayor

• Joseph Wegley: 137 votes
• H. H. LaDue: 90 votes
• Joseph’s majority: 47 votes

Cleaning Up the “Blind Pigs”

When His Own Brother Was Accused

From Cowboy to Mayor

My Adventures in the West

The Wegley Farm

January 5, 1946

Joseph’s Place in the Wegley Story

Williston, N. D., Nov. 7 – A warrant has been issued for Fred Wegley, a brother of the mayor, the charge being the illegal sale of intoxicating liquors in what is commonly known as “Wegley’s Pig,” the joint in the lower regions of the concrete building on East Broadway.  The warrant was issued this morning and is now in the hands of the sheriff, who will serve it as soon as the defendant can be found, the understanding being that he has left the city temporarily. ‘Grand Forks Herald,’ Grand Forks, North Dakota.  10 June 1909 Williston, N. D., June 9 – Fred Wegley has been acquitted.  The jury in the case was out just three minutes this morning when it returned a verdict of not guilty.  This case has attracted attention for the last year and a half on account of the accused being a brother of Former Mayor Joseph Wegley, who has the reputation of being the man who cleared Williston of blind pigs, and it was asserted that the mayor was protecting his brother and allowing him an exclusive right to conduct a “pig.” The accused was tried three times before justices of the peace, and each time, he was found not guilty. He was then indicted by the grand jury, on which indictment he was just found not guilty. The outcome of the case convinces Wegley’s friends that the case was only a piece of spite work on the part of those opposed to Mayor Wegley to throw suspicion on the sincerity of his administration.

Here’s a crazy story about how he became mayor in the first place.

Fact: First North Dakota mayor accused of horse rustling

Olive Alta Wegley was my first cousin, three times removed, and the youngest known child of Jonathan George Wegley and Sarah A. Circle. She was born on February 2, 1884, in Washington Township, Shelby County, Ohio, into a branch of the Wegley family that had moved west from Pennsylvania into Ohio during the nineteenth century.

Her life can be followed through birth, marriage, census, and cemetery records. Those documents also raise an interesting question about her given names: the earliest record identifies her as Alta Olive Wegley, while she spent much of her life using Olive as her first name.

Alta Olive or Olive Alta?

An Ohio births and christenings index records her as Alta Olive Wegley, born February 2, 1884, in Washington Township, Shelby County, Ohio. The same record identifies her father as J. J. Wegley and her mother as Sarah Circle.

Later records reverse the emphasis. Her 1901 marriage application identifies her simply as Olive Wegley, while her gravestone records her as Olive A. Rasor.

Rather than assuming the birth index contains an error, the surviving records suggest that she may have been given the names Alta Olive but chose to use Olive as her everyday first name. It was not unusual for someone to use a middle name or reverse the order of given names in everyday life.

For this family history, I use Olive Alta Wegley, while preserving Alta Olive as it appears in the birth index.

The Youngest Child of Jonathan and Sarah

Olive’s father, Jonathan George Wegley, was born about 1836 in Pennsylvania and was the son of Joseph William Wegley and Eve Berkebile. Jonathan eventually moved to Ohio, where he married Sarah A. Circle and raised his family.

Olive was born relatively late in Jonathan and Sarah’s marriage and appears to have been their youngest child. Her birth in 1884 places her in a very different generation from some of the older members of the Wegley family, even though they shared the same parents.

Marriage to Pearl Cloyd Rasor

On December 25, 1901, Olive married Pearl Cloyd Rasor in Shelby County, Ohio. The marriage took place on Christmas Day.

The original marriage application provides considerably more information than a simple marriage index. Pearl was recorded as twenty-five years old and Olive as just seventeen.

Both were residents of Lockington, Shelby County, Ohio, and both had been born in Shelby County. Pearl worked in farming, and neither bride nor groom had been married before.

The record identifies Olive’s father as Jonathan Wegley and her mother as Sarah. Because Olive was still a minor, the application contains an especially valuable notation:

Consent of Sarah Wegley, mother of Olive Wegley, on file in this office.

That sentence provides unusually direct evidence connecting Olive to Sarah and also shows that her mother formally approved the marriage.

Pearl Cloyd Rasor

The marriage application gives Pearl’s age as twenty-five on September 6, 1901, which strongly suggests a birth date of September 6, 1876. His gravestone independently gives his birth year as 1876.

Pearl and Olive would remain married for nearly half a century. Their shared gravestone records:

• Pearl C. Rasor, 1876-1950
• Olive A. Rasor, 1884-1960

The monument preserves the name by which Olive appears to have been best known during her adult life: Olive A. Rasor.

Their Children

Olive and Pearl had at least two known children:

• Herman James Rasor, born March 21, 1905, died December 13, 1985
• Dorothy Miriam Rasor, born February 25, 1908, died September 8, 1996

Through Herman and Dorothy, Olive and Pearl’s branch of the family continued into later generations.

The surviving records presently support these two children. As with other branches of the family, add additional children only if contemporary records establish the relationship.

Working Beside Her Husband

The 1930 United States census provides a glimpse of Olive and Pearl’s working life. Pearl operated a grocery store, while Olive worked there as a saleswoman.

Olive was classified as an unpaid family worker, meaning she contributed to the business without being recorded as receiving a separate wage. That description gives us a much more useful picture of her life than simply labeling her a housewife.

The grocery store was evidently a family enterprise. Pearl ran the business while Olive worked alongside him, combining household and commercial responsibilities during a time when family-owned stores were common in small American communities.

Nearly Fifty Years of Marriage

Olive and Pearl married in December 1901, when she was only seventeen. Pearl died in 1950, ending a marriage that had lasted approximately forty-eight years.

Their shared gravestone reflects the length of that partnership. Pearl’s name appears beside Olive’s on the same family monument, preserving them together even after death.

Olive was about sixty-six years old when Pearl died. After spending most of her adult life married to him, she eventually began another chapter.

Marriage to Charles Trushel

Olive married Charles Trushel on November 9, 1951, approximately a year after Pearl’s death. She was sixty-seven years old.

Her remarriage shows her life did not simply stop after she became a widow. She continued building relationships and adapting to major changes well into her later years.

I would like to locate Olive and Charles’s original marriage record before expanding this part of her biography further. Such a record could confirm their residences, ages, previous marital status, and parents.

Her Final Years

Olive lived for another decade after Pearl’s death. She died on August 25, 1960, at the age of seventy-six.

Some family-tree information lists her death location as “Lima, Miami County, Ohio,” but that combination is geographically inconsistent because Lima is in Allen County. Unless a primary death record establishes another location, her death should therefore be recorded as Lima, Allen County, Ohio.

Her gravestone records simply Olive A. 1884-1960, beside Pearl C. Rasor. The stone further confirms the birth and death years established through other family records.

What the Marriage Record Adds to Her Story

Olive’s 1901 marriage record is one of the strongest documents connected with her because it does much more than confirm the wedding date. It establishes that she was seventeen, lived in Lockington, was born in Shelby County, and that her parents were Jonathan and Sarah Wegley.

The notation concerning Sarah’s consent is especially important. Rather than relying on a later family tree to identify Olive’s mother, we have a legal document created when Olive was seventeen showing Sarah Wegley personally consenting to her daughter’s marriage.

That kind of detail turns a genealogical relationship from an assumption into a documented family connection.

Olive’s Place in the Wegley Family

Olive belonged to the Ohio branch descended from Jonathan George Wegley, one of the sons of Joseph William Wegley and Eve Berkebile. While other descendants of Joseph and Eve remained in Pennsylvania or eventually moved elsewhere, Jonathan’s family established another part of the Wegley story in Ohio.

Olive spent most of her life outside the Wegley surname because she married Pearl Rasor as a teenager. Yet her records preserve her connection to the family exceptionally well through her birth record and marriage application.

Her story also shows how easily names can confuse genealogical research. Alta Olive Wegley, Olive Wegley, Olive Alta Wegley, and Olive A. Rasor all appear to refer to the same woman, not several different people.

Behind those variations was one life that stretched from a childhood in Shelby County in the 1880s through marriage on Christmas Day 1901, motherhood, work in the family grocery business, nearly fifty years with Pearl Rasor, widowhood, remarriage, and ultimately her death in 1960. The surviving documents allow us to see Olive not merely as Jonathan and Sarah’s youngest daughter, but as a woman whose own family story continued for more than seventy-six years.

Lewis Weighley was my first cousin, five times removed, and the son of John Weigley and Elizabeth W. Croft. He was born on February 16, 1810, in Brothersvalley Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, into a branch of the family that remained closely associated with Somerset County for generations.

Lewis is not part of my direct ancestral line, but his family has proved especially valuable to my research. Records created for his children identify Lewis and his wife by name, helping establish relationships and showing how the family surname appeared in different documents over time.

Lewis or Louis?

One question about this family is whether his given name was Lewis or Louis. The surviving evidence favors Lewis.

His gravestone is inscribed Lewis Weighley, and his son John’s 1918 death certificate identifies John’s father as Lewis Weighley. John’s 1898 marriage application also records his parents as Lewis and Eva Weighley.

However, one important variation remains. Lewis’s son Ezra J. Weighley’s 1913 death certificate identifies Ezra’s father as Louis Weighley.

Rather than treating one spelling as proof that the others are wrong, I consider Louis a documented variant of his given name. Because Lewis appears on his gravestone and in multiple records created by or for his children, I use Lewis as the principal form on this page.

His Birth Date Confirmed by His Gravestone

Lewis’s gravestone provides more than his year of death. It states that he died on December 25, 1885, at the age of 75 years, 10 months, and 9 days.

Counting backward from that age produces a birth date of February 16, 1810. That agrees with the birth date already associated with Lewis in my family research and provides a useful independent check.

The stone is inscribed:

Lewis Weighley
Died Dec. 25, 1885
Aged 75 Yrs. 10 Mos. 9 Ds.

Marriage to Eve Beeghly

Lewis married Eve Beeghly on October 2, 1831. Later records also give her name as Eva, so both Eve and Eva appear in documents connected with their children.

The children’s death records particularly support the Beeghly surname. John’s 1918 death certificate identifies his mother as Eve Beeghly, while Ezra’s 1913 certificate records her as Eva Beeghley.

These spelling differences are typical of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century records. Beeghly and Beeghley appear to refer to the same family surname, while Eve and Eva were used interchangeably in records concerning the same woman.

Their Children

Lewis and Eve had at least seven known children:

1. Elizabeth Weighley, 1831-1909
2. John S. Weighley, 1835-1918
3. Mary Ann Weighley, 1838-1918
4. Joseph Weighley, 1840-1844
5. Sarah Weighley, born about 1844
6. Ezra J. Weighley, 1846-1913
7. William Lewis Weighley, 1849-1928

Their son Joseph died as a young child, which explains his absence from the family’s household by the time of the 1850 federal census.

The Family in 1850

The 1850 United States census provides an excellent snapshot of Lewis and Eve’s household. Lewis was recorded as thirty-nine years old and Eve as thirty-eight, with six children living at home.

The ages fit the reconstructed family remarkably well. Joseph, who had died in 1844 at approximately four years old, is the one known child missing from the household.

The census is also another example of surname variation. The family appears there as Weigley, while later records and Lewis’s gravestone use Weighley.

Son John S. Weighley

Lewis and Eve’s son John S. Weighley was born on August 1, 1835, in Pennsylvania. He lived into the twentieth century and died on January 4, 1918, at age eighty-two.

John’s death certificate is particularly valuable for identifying his parents. It names his father as Lewis Weighley, born in Pennsylvania, and his mother as Eve Beeghly, also born in Pennsylvania.

John spent his working life as a farmer and was described as a retired farmer at the time of his death. His cause of death was recorded as obstruction of the bowels, with old age listed as a contributory condition.

John’s Second Marriage Adds More Evidence

Another unusually helpful record comes from John’s later marriage. In 1898, at the age of sixty-two, John applied to marry a sixty-year-old widow.

The application explicitly identifies John’s parents as Lewis and Eva Weighley. This is valuable because John supplied this information during his lifetime, rather than someone else providing it after his death.

The record also shows that John’s previous wife had died on August 1, 1897. His bride had also been widowed, making the marriage a later-life union for both of them.

Son Ezra J. Weighley

Another son, Ezra J. Weighley, was born on October 9, 1846, in Pennsylvania. He died on May 8, 1913, in Somerset County at the age of 66 years, 6 months, and 28 days.

Ezra’s death certificate gives his occupation as a salesman. It identifies his father as Louis Weighley and his mother as Eva Beeghley, both born in Pennsylvania.

The informant was Hulda M. Weighley of Somerset, Pennsylvania, apparently a close family member who was in a position to provide information about his parents. Ezra died from paralysis, with Bright’s disease listed as a contributing condition.

Ezra’s certificate matters because it differs slightly from John’s. One child remembered or reported their father as Lewis, while another record gives Louis, showing how easily variations can develop even within one immediate family’s records.

The Weigley and Weighley Spellings

Lewis’s family is a useful example of why surname spelling alone cannot separate people into different family lines. The 1850 census uses Weigley, Lewis’s gravestone uses Weighley, and the later records of John and Ezra also primarily use Weighley.

I would therefore remove the earlier statement that Lewis’s children changed the family name from Weigley to Wegley. The records shown here do not support such a clean transition.

Instead, these documents show something much more typical of the Wegley family history. Weigley, Weighley, Wegley, and related forms could coexist across generations and even within the records of the same immediate family.

Death and Burial

Lewis Weighley died on December 25, 1885, at the age of seventy-five. He was buried in Pleasant Hill Brethren Cemetery in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.

His gravestone survives and provides direct evidence not only for his death but for his calculated birth date. The prominent Weighley spelling carved into the stone also gives us good reason to use that form as the principal spelling of his surname on this page.

Why Lewis Matters to My Research

Lewis is a good example of why I research people who are not my direct ancestors. Side branches often preserve documents that identify parents, maiden names, birthplaces, and relationships that may be missing from direct-line records.

In Lewis’s case, the records of his sons John and Ezra repeatedly connect him with Eve or Eva Beeghly. John’s marriage application is particularly strong evidence because John himself identified his parents as Lewis and Eva Weighley while both were still part of his own remembered family history.

The records also demonstrate why I try not to force historical names into a single standardized spelling. Lewis appears as Weigley in one source and Weighley in others, while even his given name shifts between Lewis and Louis.

For now, the strongest reconstruction is Lewis Weighley, born February 16, 1810, married to Eve “Eva” Beeghly, father of at least seven children, and buried in Somerset County after his death on Christmas Day 1885. His story may belong to a side branch of my family tree, but the records his family left help illuminate the larger Weigley, Weighley, and Wegley story.

We know that during the 1880 US Census he was 2 years old, so that means he was about about 1878. This makes him 4 years younger than William Alexander.

This record also says that he was born in Texas, not Tennessee like so many others list.

When I corrected that information on my bio is where I was able to find all my information about him.

John Henry Richardson was born on January 12, 1878 in Wise, Texas. We were able to get this information from his World War 1 Draft Registration Card.

John Henry Richardson married Lou Ella Fortner on May 4, 1897 in Smith, Texas.

He and his wife, Ella Lou (aka Lou Ella) Fortner, had quite a few number of children.  During the 1920 census we see that both he and his wife are 43. At the time they list off 7 children, however that’s not even half the story ….

• Claude
• Lizzie
• Hazel
• Lela
• Dora
• Fannie
• JD
• Dewie

In all they had at least 16 (maybe 17) children, several of which died young.

1. Claude T (1896)
2. Infant Son (possibly twins – Died – 1898)
3. Anna Richardson (1899)
4. Kendrick (1901)
5. James Clifton (1903)
6. Lizzie (1906)
7. Jessie Lena (1907)
8. Elsie (1908)
9. Hazel Martha (1908)
10. Infant Daughter (Died – 1910)
11. Lela Gertrude (1910)
12. Dora Carolina (1913)
13. Frances Mae (1915)
14. Fannie (1916)
15. Jake D (1918)
16. Dewie W (1919)

John Henry died at the age of 26 on January 17, 1924, in what today is Waurika, Oklahoma.

Minerva Pearl Wegley, sometimes remembered as Minnie Pearl, was my great-grandaunt and the eldest known daughter of John Wesley Wegley and Helen Elizabeth “Bessie” Swanson. She was born on March 20, 1888, in Pennsylvania and belonged to the generation of the Wegley family raised in and around Kane during the late nineteenth century.

Her father descended from the Pennsylvania Wegley line, which had been in the state for generations, while her mother was born in Sweden. Minerva therefore grew up at the intersection of two very different family histories, one rooted deeply in Pennsylvania and the other tied to more recent Scandinavian immigration. The current family reconstruction places Minerva among the children of John and Bessie alongside Frederick, Ruth Leona Victoria, Clarence John Leroy, Raymond Walter, and Howard.

Her Birth Date

Various websites and older family information have given Minerva’s birth year as 1885 or 1887, but her death certificate provides a much stronger internal match. It records her birth as March 20, 1888, and states that she was 50 years, 4 months, and 2 days old when she died on July 22, 1938. Those figures agree exactly. For that reason, I currently consider March 20, 1888 the date best supported by the surviving evidence.

Marriage to Gerald Winfred Foster

Minerva married Gerald Winfred Foster, whose name appears on her death certificate as Gerald W. Foster. At the time of Minerva’s death in 1938, the certificate records her as married, not widowed or divorced.

The 1950 marriage certificate of their daughter, Myrtle Gene Foster, independently supports the full middle name, Winfred. That record identifies Myrtle’s father as Gerald Winfred Foster and her mother as Minerva P. Wegley, providing especially strong evidence connecting the Foster and Wegley families.

Their Children

Surviving records directly document at least two children of Minerva and Gerald.

• Griffith Wayne Foster
• Myrtle Gene Foster

In 1950, Myrtle married Harold Eugene Boswell in Arlington, Virginia. Her marriage certificate records her as twenty-five years old, born in Kittanning, Pennsylvania, and working as a financial clerk for the federal government.

The certificate is particularly valuable for Minerva’s family history because Myrtle herself identified her parents as Gerald Winfred Foster and Minerva P. Wegley. It gives us another independent record confirming Minerva’s maiden surname and her marriage to Gerald.

I found the birth certificate for their son, which, of course, provides a long list of invaluable information about her.

Life in Kittanning

Minerva spent her adult years in Pennsylvania and eventually made her home in Kittanning, Armstrong County. By 1938, she and Gerald were living at:

127 Hazel Street
Kittanning, Pennsylvania

Her death certificate identifies this address not only as her residence but as the place where her life ended. The house therefore represents a direct physical connection to Minerva’s final years.

The residence still survives today. Family research identifies it as a house built in the early twentieth century, making it one of those rare locations where a place associated with an earlier generation of the family still stands.

Her Life at Home

Minerva’s death certificate records her occupation as housewife and gives her industry or place of work as “own home.” That wording reflects the way women’s domestic labor was commonly recorded in official documents during the period.

It is easy to overlook such an entry because it does not identify an employer or wage. In reality, maintaining a household and raising a family represented a substantial part of daily life, particularly before the widespread availability of modern household appliances and conveniences.

High Blood Pressure

The medical portion of Minerva’s death certificate reveals that she had suffered from high blood pressure since about 1934. That means the condition had been known for roughly four years before her death.

High blood pressure is listed as a contributory cause rather than the immediate cause of death. The certificate therefore gives us a clear medical sequence rather than simply stating that she died unexpectedly.

A Sudden Death at Home

On the morning of July 22, 1938, Minerva died suddenly at her home at 127 Hazel Street. Her death occurred at approximately 10:30 a.m. The principal cause of death was recorded as apoplexy.

“Apoplexy” was a historical medical term commonly used for a sudden stroke or cerebral hemorrhage. In Minerva’s case, the accompanying diagnosis of longstanding high blood pressure makes a stroke-related event a particularly understandable interpretation of the terminology used on the certificate.

No autopsy was performed. Because the death was sudden, the certificate was completed through the coroner rather than through a lengthy hospital treatment record.

Only Fifty Years Old

Minerva was only fifty years old when she died. Her death certificate records her precise age as fifty years, four months, and two days. The suddenness of her death makes the record particularly striking. She apparently began July 22 at home with her family and died there that morning, with no indication on the certificate of a prolonged final illness.

Her Parents Confirmed

Minerva’s death certificate also provides important genealogical evidence about the previous generation. It identifies her father as John W. Wegley, born in Pennsylvania, and her mother as Helen Elizabeth Swanson, born in Sweden.

That is especially useful because the certificate gives Bessie’s full name rather than merely “Bessie Wegley.” It independently confirms the Swedish birthplace that appears elsewhere in the family’s records.

A Family Connection Preserved Through Myrtle

More than a decade after Minerva’s death, her daughter Myrtle’s marriage record preserved Minerva’s identity once again. When Myrtle Gene Foster married Harold Eugene Boswell on August 5, 1950, the Virginia certificate listed her mother as Minerva P. Wegley.

Myrtle was twenty-five, single, and living in Washington, D.C., at the time. Her record lets us follow Minerva’s family into another generation, even though Minerva had died when Myrtle was still relatively young.

Minerva’s Place in the Wegley Family

Minerva belonged to a generation in which the Wegley family moved beyond Kane and spread through Pennsylvania, and eventually far beyond the state. Her siblings would follow very different paths, with later branches of the family reaching New York, Oklahoma, and other parts of the country.

Minerva’s own life remained centered in Pennsylvania. Her records connect Kane and the family of John and Bessie Wegley with Kittanning, Gerald Foster, and the next generation represented by Myrtle Gene Foster.

Her story also reminds us why original records matter. Family trees gave Minerva several different birth years, but her death certificate records a date and an age that agree precisely, allowing us to replace uncertain inherited information with a much stronger documented conclusion.

Minerva Pearl Wegley Foster died far too young, but the records she left behind provide a surprisingly clear picture of her family. We can identify her parents, husband, daughter, home address, health condition, exact time and place of death, and the medical event that ended her life, preserving much more than simply her name on a family tree.

This led me to Valentin Assel, the first member of his family line to come to America from Germany.

Valentin Assel was born on March 1, 1860 in Essen, Germany. Today it’s a huge city with a population of more than 500,000; making it the 9th largest city in Germany.

Valentin Assel came to America in 1887.

A few years after coming to America, at the age of 30, he met and married Arnstena Wilhelmina Good (Gote?). Together they had at least 7 children.

• William Paul
• Michael John
• Pauline
• Anna
• Hilda
• Emma Marie
• Emil

On October 01, 1910 Valentin Assel official became a US citizen.

Valentin Assel died on April 05, 1923 in Monessen, Pennsylvania. He was buried at Saint Paul’s Cemetery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (find a grave).

His father, originally from North Carolina, had moved to Tennesse during his time in the American Civil War. He was in Unit 9 Tennessee Cavalry Company E.

After the war was often he married William’s mother and they began having babies, 6 in all, which is nothing compared to William who would eventually have 10 of his own children.

A few years after William Alexander was born the entire family picked up and moved to Wise, Texas which is where William would spend the rest of his life.

William Alexander Richardson married Ada Mae Sheppard on October 11, 1896, in Wise County, Texas. Together they had at least 10 children who lived.

1. Rubin Nemon Richardson 1898–1960
2. Roy Lee Richardson 1900–1977
3. Bertha Mae Richardson 1902–1991
4. Henry E Richardson 1904–
5. Etta Lorene Richardson 1904–1954
6. Evelyn Nancy Richardson 1906–1954
7. George Elton Richardson 1908–1976
8. Sue Odett Richardson 1911–1987
9. William Dalton Richardson 1913–1971
10. Lawrence Durk Richardson 1916–1995

In 1918 he was 44 years old and he registered for the draft for WWI. That seemed rather old for me so I decided to do some research on why someone of his age would be required to register for the draft.

The US entered WWI on April 6, 1917. On May 18, 1917, Congress passed the Selective Service Act authorizing the draft. At first, it was just males from 21 to 30 that were required to register for military service. However later at the request of the War Department, Congress amended the law in August of 1918 to expand the age range to include all men from 18 to 45.

So basically that meant William Alexander fell within the age range for the draft of WWI, albeit just barely.

I don’t seem to find any records to show that he was actually drafted to fight in the war though.

William Alexander Richardson, a retired farmer, passed away on October 25, 1971. His death certificate from that time indicates that he was a retired farmer, and it was during this process that mortuary fridge installation took place.

You might also notice that on his death certificate it lists his name as William Alex instead of his full name of William Alexander. During his life, he has been known as William Richardson, William Alexander, William Alex,  W.A. Richardson, William A. Richardson, Alexander Richardson, Williams A. Richardson, and A.R. Richardson.

His WW1 voter registration card lists him as William Alexander Richardson, while his death certificate lists him as William Alex. The social security administration lists him as William A. (460-86-8458)

Obituary for William Alexander Richardson

Final rites were held Wednesday, Oct. 27, at 4 p.m. in the Chapel at Hawkins Funeral home for Mr. W.A. Richardson. Mr. Richardson was born Jan. 12, 1874, died Oct 25, 1971. Mr. Joe Dukin, Church of Christ Minister from Allison, Texas, officiated. Mr. Richardson is survived by four sons and two daughters. L. D. Richardson, Paradise, Texas, Pete Richardson, Paradise Texas, George Richardson, Bridgeport, W. D. Richardson, Waurika, Okla., Sue Bollinger, Burbank, California, Bertha Davidson, Brownsville, Texas, and a host of grandchildren and great-grandchildren are the survivors. Interment was in West Side Cemetery, Bridgeport.

Frederick Wegley was my great-grandfather and the son of John Wesley Wegley and Helen Elizabeth “Bessie” Swanson. He was born on August 20 in Kane, McKean County, Pennsylvania, although one of the most persistent mysteries in my family research is the exact year of his birth.

Frederick grew up in an era very different from that of his earlier Pennsylvania ancestors. By his generation, the Wegley family was no longer centered on the farms of Brothersvalley. Frederick’s world was one of lumber, oil, natural gas, manufacturing, railroads, and eventually the glass industry that would become closely associated with several generations of my family.

When Was Frederick Actually Born?

Frederick’s exact birth year remains unresolved. The surviving records agree remarkably well on August 20, but they disagree repeatedly about the year.

The evidence currently includes:

• 1900 census: August 1887
• World War I draft registration: August 20, 1887
• 1910 census: approximately 1889
• 1920 census: approximately 1890
• 1930 census: approximately 1890 or 1891 based on his reported age
• 1940 census: approximately 1890
• World War II Fourth Registration: August 20, 1889
• Gravestone: August 20, 1889

This is not simply a case of one census taker getting an age wrong. Two records on which Frederick himself apparently supplied information give exact dates two years apart: August 20, 1887 in 1917 and August 20, 1889 in 1942. His gravestone agrees with the later 1889 date, while the 1900 census supports 1887.

Until a birth, baptismal, church, family Bible, or another contemporary record resolves the conflict, I do not think it is responsible to pretend that we know the year with certainty. The safest statement is that Frederick was born on August 20, with surviving records placing the year between 1887 and about 1890.

Growing Up in Kane

Frederick grew up in Kane, Pennsylvania, where his parents John and Bessie raised their family. By this generation, the Wegleys were firmly established in Kane, and the family’s longtime association with 507 Biddle Street appears repeatedly in surviving records.

Frederick’s 1917 draft registration gives 507 Biddle Street, Kane, Pennsylvania, as his home address. This directly connects him to the same family residence documented for his parents and siblings.

Frederick in 1917

On June 5, 1917, Frederick registered for the World War I draft. He gave his age as twenty-nine and his birth date as August 20, 1887.

The card records him as:

The card is particularly valuable because it shows that Frederick already had about one year of Pennsylvania National Guard infantry experience before registering for the World War I draft.

That does not, however, establish that he subsequently served in the United States Army during World War I. Unless an enlistment record, service record, veterans’ file, discharge document, or military roster is located, I would describe him as a World War I draft registrant with prior Pennsylvania National Guard service, rather than as a confirmed World War I veteran.

Working in Manufacturing

Frederick’s occupational records show a long connection with manufacturing. In 1917, he worked as a laborer in a woodworking plant for the Kane Manufacturing Company.

By 1920, census records placed him in the glass industry as a box maker associated with a window-glass operation. This occupational connection would continue through his family, with his sons John and Raymond later working in glass-related industries as well.

The glass industry eventually became one of the strongest occupational threads running through this branch of the Wegley family.

Marriage to Tillie Blanch Edwards

Frederick married Tillie Blanch Edwards on February 4, 1920, in Huntington, West Virginia. Tillie was born on August 20, 1899.

Their marriage has an unusually interesting story. A surviving newspaper clipping reports that Frederick and Tillie had originally considered an extraordinarily long-distance telephone wedding, with one of them in Pennsylvania and the other in West Virginia.

Officials apparently would not issue the necessary permits for such an arrangement, forcing the couple to abandon the telephone-wedding plan. Tillie traveled to Huntington, West Virginia, where the couple married in person.

That is exactly the kind of family detail that deserves to survive because it turns a simple marriage date into an actual story.

Frederick and Tillie’s Children

Frederick and Tillie had at least six known children:

• John Wesley Wegley, 1923-1982
• Betty Ann Wegley, 1924-2010
• Raymond Edward Wegley, 1925-1992
• Ruth Minerva Wegley, born 1928
• Dora Mae Wegley, 1930-1970
• Gretta Laura Wegley, born 1935

By the mid-1920s, Frederick and Tillie already had three young children. Three more children followed over the next decade, creating a household whose early years coincided with the economic turmoil of the Great Depression.

From Pennsylvania to Arkansas

Frederick and Tillie’s family did not remain entirely in Pennsylvania. By December 1925, they were living in Fort Smith, Arkansas, where their son Raymond Edward was born.

Raymond’s original birth certificate gives Frederick’s occupation as a glassblower. It also records Frederick as born in Kane, Pennsylvania, and places the family at 1106 North 33rd Street in Fort Smith.

The Arkansas record therefore provides especially useful evidence for both Frederick’s birthplace and his continuing connection to glass manufacturing.

Why Frederick and Tillie moved temporarily to Arkansas has not yet been established. Employment may have played a role, particularly given Frederick’s work as a glass blower, but until a directory, employment record, newspaper item, or family account is found, the reason should remain an open question.

The Fourth Registration of 1942

Frederick registered again with the Selective Service system on April 27, 1942, during World War II. He was living at 210 Wood Street in Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania, with Tillie listed as the person who would always know his address.

His employer was:

American Window Glass Company
Belle Vernon, Fayette County, Pennsylvania

The registration therefore provides another direct connection between Frederick and the glass industry.

This was not an ordinary draft registration for young combat-age men. Frederick was part of the Fourth Registration, which covered older men born between April 28, 1877, and February 16, 1897. Its primary purpose was to identify the skills, occupations, and manpower resources of older American men rather than to prepare them for routine military induction.

What Frederick Looked Like

The reverse of the 1942 registration card gives us an unusually detailed physical description:

These details agree surprisingly well with his 1917 description. Twenty-five years earlier, Frederick had been described as having light-gray eyes and light-brown hair, so the two records provide a remarkably consistent picture of him across much of his adult life.

Why Does the 1942 Card Say 1889?

The 1942 card gives Frederick’s birth date as August 20, 1889, making him fifty-two according to the information written on the card. If the 1887 date from his earlier records was correct, he was actually fifty-four.

An older version of this family history interpreted this as Frederick deliberately making himself younger so he could fight in World War II. The registration system itself makes that explanation less certain.

Frederick did not need to be fifty-two rather than fifty-four to complete the card. Both ages placed him squarely within the group legally required to register.

There may have been another explanation. Frederick may have genuinely believed he was born in 1889, the earlier record may contain an error, or the discrepancy may simply reflect a birth year the family never consistently remembered.

The Story Passed Down in My Family

A family story is still worth preserving. Frederick was remembered as wanting to serve his country during World War II and as making himself younger because he hoped there might be a way for him to serve again.

Government records cannot prove that motivation. At the same time, family history consists of more than government forms, and I do not want to erase a story remembered by the people who knew him.

The responsible approach is to preserve both pieces of evidence. The record tells us Frederick gave 1889 as his birth year in 1942. Family tradition says later generations believed he wanted to appear younger because he hoped to serve.

Two Sons Go to War

Whatever Frederick’s own hopes may have been, two of his sons soon entered active military service.

His son John Wesley Wegley entered the United States Army in February 1943. Later that year, his younger son Raymond Edward Wegley entered the United States Navy on November 29, 1943.

Raymond was still only seventeen years old, just sixteen days short of his eighteenth birthday.

By the end of 1943, Frederick and Tillie therefore had two sons serving during World War II. Frederick belonged to the older generation registered in the national manpower inventory, while his sons belonged to the generation sent into wartime service.

Oklahoma

During the final years of Frederick’s life, the family became increasingly connected with Oklahoma. By 1950, Frederick was in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, the state that would become particularly important to later generations of his descendants.

The surviving evidence does not yet establish exactly when Frederick moved to Oklahoma or why. His son Raymond was already developing his own connection with Oklahoma, and the family’s geographic center was shifting away from Pennsylvania.

This movement continued a pattern visible throughout Frederick’s life. His records connect him with Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Arkansas, and Oklahoma.

Death in 1950

Frederick Wegley died on November 28, 1950, in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. His gravestone records his birth as August 20, 1889, and his death as November 28, 1950.

The 1889 inscription is important evidence in the birth-year question because it matches the date on his 1942 registration exactly. It does not necessarily outweigh the 1900 census and 1917 draft card, but it means that 1889 cannot simply be dismissed as a one-time mistake.

Frederick was buried in Okmulgee. Tillie lived for more than three additional decades, dying on May 3, 1984, and was buried nearby.

A Birth-Year Mystery That Remains Unsolved

Frederick left behind far more documentation than most earlier family members, yet those records still cannot answer one of the simplest genealogical questions with certainty.

• Was he born in 1887, as the 1900 census and his 1917 draft registration indicate?
• Was he born in 1889, as his 1942 registration and gravestone state?
• Or was he born around 1890, as several census records suggest?

For now, I consider the year unresolved. August 20 appears secure, but the year should remain qualified until stronger evidence emerges. Your newest family research likewise treats the conflicting years as a genuine unresolved problem rather than forcing the records into agreement.

Frederick’s Place in My Family

Frederick’s life connects several major chapters of my family’s twentieth-century history. He grew up in Kane, worked in manufacturing and glass, served early in the Pennsylvania National Guard, registered during World War I, married Tillie in West Virginia, became the father of six known children, lived for a time in Arkansas, and later watched two sons enter military service during World War II.

His life also took the family farther geographically than many earlier generations had traveled. The Wegleys, once concentrated in Pennsylvania, became a family spread across several states.

Most importantly for me, Frederick was my great-grandfather. Through his son Raymond Edward Wegley, the family line continued into Oklahoma and ultimately into the generations that followed.

John Wesley Wegley was my second great-grandfather. He was born on June 29, 1858, in Pennsylvania, the son of Joseph William Wegley and Eve Berkebile, and he belonged to the generation of the Wegley family that moved away from the family’s older Somerset County roots and established itself in northern Pennsylvania.

John eventually made his home in Kane, McKean County, where he and his family lived for decades. His surviving records reveal a working life connected with the oil and gas industry, a later period as a grocer, a large family with his Swedish-born wife Bessie, and a home on Biddle Street that became closely associated with several generations of the family.

The Son of Joseph William Wegley and Eve Berkebile

John was a son of Joseph William Wegley, born October 14, 1802, and Eve Berkebile. Joseph died on June 23, 1879, in Wetmore Township, McKean County, Pennsylvania, while Eve survived until 1888.

John’s own 1927 death certificate provides direct evidence for this relationship. It identifies his father as Joseph Wegley and gives his mother’s maiden name as Eva Berkible, an obvious spelling variation of Eve Berkebile.

This is particularly valuable because other men named John Wegley lived in Pennsylvania during the same general period. The combination of John’s parents, wife, residence, children, and death information allows us to distinguish this John Wesley Wegley from similarly named men.

When Was John Born?

John’s death certificate records his birth date as June 29, 1858. It also states that he was 69 years, 5 months, and 16 days old when he died on December 15, 1927.

Those two pieces of information agree exactly. The internal consistency makes June 29, 1858 a particularly strong date for John’s birth.

The certificate gives his birthplace only as the United States, rather than naming a particular county. Other family records have associated his birth with Indiana County, Pennsylvania, but I would keep that more specific location qualified unless we have a contemporary birth, church, or census record that establishes it.

Marriage to Helen Elizabeth “Bessie” Swanson

John married Helen Elizabeth Swanson, who was commonly known as Bessie. Bessie had been born in Sweden, bringing a recent Scandinavian immigrant line into a Wegley family whose American roots extended back generations.

Later records sometimes identify her simply as Bessie or Betty Swanson. For example, the 1937 death certificate of their son Howard names his mother as Betty Swanson, while other records preserve the fuller name, Helen Elizabeth Swanson.

John and Bessie remained together until her death in 1923. When John died four years later, his death certificate correctly described him as widowed.

Their Children

John and Bessie had six known children:

• Minerva Pearl Wegley Foster, born March 20, 1888
• Frederick Wegley, born August 20, with the year still disputed between 1887 and 1889
• Ruth Leona Victoria Wegley
• Clarence John Leroy Wegley
• Raymond Walter Wegley, born June 1, 1901
• Howard J. Wegley, born April 26, 1903

Through Frederick, John became my direct ancestor. Frederick’s son Raymond Edward Wegley was my grandfather.

The children’s records have also proved extremely valuable for reconstructing John and Bessie’s family. Death certificates, military records, and other documents repeatedly identify the parents and connect the children with the family’s longtime Kane residence.

507 Biddle Street

One of the most important locations in this branch of the family is 507 Biddle Street, Kane, Pennsylvania. John and Bessie were living there by the time of the 1910 census, and the household remained associated with the address for many years. John’s 1927 death certificate still gives 507 Biddle Street, Kane, as his usual residence.

The address also appears in their children’s records. Frederick gave 507 Biddle Street as his home when he registered for the World War I draft in 1917, and Howard later gave the same address in military records. This makes 507 Biddle Street more than simply one address on a census page. It was a genuine family home for John, Bessie, and several of their children for a substantial period.

The home at 507 Biddle Street, built in 1890, remains standing today. It is a two-story, 2,258-square-foot single-family home, notable for its six bedrooms and history as a converted two-apartment property. In 2013, it sold at a public auction for $19,000, despite an average home value in the area of about $150,000. The house retains its historic charm but reflects the challenges of maintaining older properties.

Sixty Years in the Area

John’s death certificate contains another intriguing detail. It records a length of residence of approximately 60 years in the community associated with his death.

If that figure was accurate, John had been living in the McKean County area since roughly the late 1860s, when he was still a child. The exact meaning of the residence entry should be treated cautiously because it depended on the informant’s knowledge, but it supports the idea that John’s connection to the Kane and McKean County area began long before the 1910 census.

Working in Pennsylvania’s Oil Country

John’s occupations changed over the years, but the oil and gas industry was an important part of his working life. In the 1910 federal census, he was recorded as a pumper at oil wells.

A pumper maintained and monitored producing oil wells and their equipment. The occupation was especially relevant in northwestern Pennsylvania, a region closely associated with the development of America’s petroleum industry.

John’s death certificate reinforces this connection. His usual occupation was recorded as: Oil & Gas Producer. That description suggests the family member who provided the information at his death regarded the oil and gas business as his principal long-term occupation.

A Grocer by 1920

By the 1920 United States census, John’s occupation was recorded as grocer. He was still living with his family at 507 Biddle Street in Kane.

The difference between the 1910 and 1920 occupations does not necessarily indicate that he permanently left the oil business. People frequently changed occupations or operated more than one enterprise during their lives, and his death certificate later listed him as an oil and gas producer as his usual occupation.

Together, the records portray a man who adapted his work over time. He spent many years connected with Pennsylvania’s oil industry but also participated in Kane’s commercial life.

The Family in Kane

John and Bessie’s household appears in the federal censuses. Their children grew up as Kane developed industries such as lumber, oil, natural gas, and manufacturing.

The records occasionally contain errors common in census work. Their daughter Ruth, for example, appears under a mistranscribed name in one census, while the ages reported for John do not always line up perfectly from decade to decade.

Those inconsistencies remind us that census ages should not automatically override stronger evidence. In John’s case, his death certificate provides an exact birth date and exact age at death that agree with one another.

Losing Bessie

Bessie died in 1923, leaving John a widower. They had spent decades together and raised six children, several of whom were already adults with lives of their own by that time. John remained at the Biddle Street residence after her death. His own death followed only four years later.

December 15, 1927

John Wesley Wegley died on December 15, 1927, at the age of sixty-nine. Contrary to older information on this page, his Pennsylvania death certificate places his death in Hamilton Township, McKean County, not in Shade, Somerset County.

This distinction matters because it keeps John’s final years geographically consistent with the rest of his documented life. He had been associated with Kane and McKean County for decades, and his usual residence at death was still recorded as 507 Biddle Street in Kane.

A Sudden Cerebral Hemorrhage

John’s death was sudden. The coroner recorded the principal cause as: Cerebral hemorrhage, apoplexy. In modern terminology, this describes a hemorrhagic stroke, in which bleeding occurs in or around the brain. The certificate further states that John died suddenly without the attendance of a doctor.

The contributing condition was high blood pressure, which the certificate indicates had been present for approximately two years. No operation preceded his death, and no autopsy was performed. According to the certificate, the diagnosis was based on a witness statement. Because John died suddenly without a physician present, the death was handled by the coroner.

A Family Pattern of High Blood Pressure and Stroke

John’s cause of death becomes especially noteworthy when compared with the later death of his daughter Minerva Pearl Wegley Foster. Minerva died suddenly in 1938 at only fifty years old, with her death certificate recording apoplexy and longstanding high blood pressure.

That does not allow us to diagnose a hereditary medical condition across generations. It does, however, document a striking similarity in the recorded causes of death of father and daughter.

Both John and Minerva experienced sudden fatal cerebral events in which high blood pressure was specifically noted in their death records.

Fred Wegley Was the Informant

The informant on John’s death certificate was Fred Wegley of Kane, Pennsylvania. This was John’s son Frederick, my great-grandfather. That makes the document particularly important genealogically. His own son supplied much of the personal information on the certificate, including the identification of John’s parents. Frederick identified his grandfather as Joseph Wegley and his grandmother as Eva Berkible. Even with the spelling variation, the record directly ties three generations of the family together.

Burial at Forest Lawn Cemetery

John was buried on December 19, 1927, four days after his death. The certificate identifies his burial place as Forest Lawn Cemetery. His burial returned him to the Kane community with which he had been associated for most of his life. Bessie had died before him, and the cemetery became part of the physical record of this branch of the family in northern Pennsylvania.

John’s Place in My Family

John Wesley Wegley’s life represents an important geographic turning point in my direct family line. His father, Joseph William Wegley, was born into the older Somerset County branch of the family, while John established his adult life far to the north in McKean County.

From John and Bessie came Frederick, and through Frederick came my grandfather Raymond Edward Wegley. Later generations would travel much farther, eventually establishing themselves in Arkansas and Oklahoma, but Kane remained an important family center during John’s generation.

The records now give us a much clearer picture of John than the old page did. He was not simply a name between Joseph William and Frederick on the family tree, but a longtime Kane resident, husband and father of six, oil and gas worker, grocer, homeowner at 507 Biddle Street, and the beginning of a branch whose descendants would eventually spread across several states.

Most importantly, his death certificate corrects a longstanding error in the family record. John Wesley Wegley died in Hamilton Township, McKean County, Pennsylvania, on December 15, 1927, while his home remained at 507 Biddle Street in Kane.

Jonathan George Wegley was my second great-granduncle and a son of Joseph William Wegley and Eve Berkebile. He was born on September 3, 1836, in Pennsylvania and eventually left the Somerset County area, where he spent his childhood, to establish a large family of his own in Ohio.

Jonathan’s life matters to the larger Wegley family story because two of his sons eventually traveled much farther west. One, Joseph “Joe” Wegley, became mayor of Williston, North Dakota, while another, Frederick Wegley, became caught up in a highly publicized dispute over illegal liquor sales in the same city.

Born in Pennsylvania

Jonathan’s gravestone provides unusually precise evidence for his birth date. It states that he died on March 1, 1892, aged 55 years, 5 months, and 28 days, which calculates back to September 3, 1836.

The exact birthplace is less certain. Some family-tree information has listed Piqua, Miami County, Ohio, but the evidence currently available points more strongly toward Pennsylvania.

Jonathan appears as a fourteen-year-old in the 1850 household of Joseph and Eve Wegley in Shade Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania. The household included Jonathan, his parents, several siblings, and his maternal grandmother, Elizabeth Berkebile.

Jonathan’s son Joseph later reported on his own death certificate that his father had been born in Pennsylvania. Taken together, the evidence supports Pennsylvania as Jonathan’s birthplace, although I would describe Somerset County as probable rather than proven until a birth, baptismal, or other contemporary record is located.

Growing Up in the Joseph Wegley Household

The 1850 United States census provides the first detailed snapshot of Jonathan’s childhood household. Joseph and Eve were living in Shade Township with seven of their children and Eve’s mother, Elizabeth Berkebile.

Jonathan was recorded as fourteen years old. His siblings in the household included Theresa, Josiah, Susanna, Frederick, Adeline, and Amanda, while Elizabeth Berkebile was sixty-one.

This record is important because it independently places Jonathan within the family of Joseph William Wegley and Eve Berkebile. Later family research also follows this same Jonathan into Ohio, where he married Sarah Circle and established his own branch of the family.

Here is a copy of the actual 1880 US Federal Census, which gives us more invaluable information about Joseph and his family.

Marriage to Sarah Circle

Jonathan married Sarah A. Circle in Ohio in 1857. The original marriage record corrects two details that have appeared incorrectly in older versions of this page.

The marriage did not take place on November 21, and the surviving record is from Muskingum County, not Mercer County. The license was issued on November 11, 1857, and the marriage ceremony took place the following day, November 12, 1857.

The record states that Zephaniah Shinpuff solemnized the marriage of “Mr. Jonathan Megley and Miss Sarah Circle.” The marriage was subsequently filed on December 24, 1857. Jonathan was about twenty-one years old at the time.

The records also indicate that Sarah’s father, James Circle, consented to the marriage. That detail provides another useful connection between Sarah and her Circle family and suggests that she was still legally young enough for parental consent to be required.

The Wegley Name Appears as “Megley”

One small but interesting detail in the marriage record is the spelling of Jonathan’s surname. The officiant recorded him as Jonathan Megley, rather than Wegley.

This is not unusual within this family. Wegley, Weigley, Weighley, Weagley, and other forms appear repeatedly across nineteenth-century records, and handwriting or clerical interpretation could introduce still more variations. The “Megley” spelling should therefore be treated as another documentary variation rather than evidence of a different family.

Jonathan and Sarah’s Children

Jonathan and Sarah had a large family. Current research supports at least eleven children:

1. George Wegley, 1859-1862
2. James E. Wegley, 1860-1937
3. Mary C. Wegley, 1863-1932
4. Emanuel Wegley, 1864-1936
5. Frederick Wegley, born about 1866, died 1951
6. Joseph Wegley, born in the 1860s, died 1946
7. Eva Jane Wegley, 1869-1939
8. Infant Wegley, 1870-1870
9. Adeline “Sarah” Wegley, 1871-1948
10. Daisy May Wegley, 1876-1940
11. Olive Alta Wegley, 1884-1960

Surviving records strongly support Jonathan and Sarah as this family’s parents. For example, their son Frederick’s Texas death certificate names his father as Jonathan Wegley and his mother as Sarah Circle.

A Birth-Date Problem With Frederick and Joseph

One family-history problem should remain openly unresolved. The death certificates of Jonathan’s sons Frederick and Joseph give birth dates that cannot both be correct. Frederick’s 1951 Texas death certificate records his birth as:

• February 28, 1866, Piqua, Ohio
• Joseph’s 1946 North Dakota death certificate records his birth as:
• March 29, 1866, Mercer County, Ohio

Those dates are only twenty-nine days apart. If both men were biological children of Jonathan and Sarah, they obviously could not both have been born to Sarah in 1866. Both records are internally persuasive because each man’s stated age at death agrees closely with the birth date recorded on his certificate. Nevertheless, one birth date or birth year must be incorrect.

Frederick Wegley’s Death Certificate Confirms the Family

Jonathan’s son Frederick Wegley died in San Antonio, Texas, on March 2, 1951. His death certificate identifies his father as Jonathan Wegley and his mother as Sarah Circle.

That is especially valuable because it provides twentieth-century vital-record evidence connecting Frederick back to Jonathan and Sarah. Frederick was recorded as a retired produce man who had operated his own business.

The certificate also places Frederick’s birth in Piqua, Ohio. That fact may explain why Piqua later became attached to Jonathan in some family trees, even though current evidence indicates Jonathan was born in Pennsylvania.

A Family That Moved West

Jonathan’s own migration from Pennsylvania into Ohio was only the beginning of the family’s westward movement. Several of his children eventually went much farther. His son Joseph Wegley settled in Williston, North Dakota. Joseph became a farmer and rancher and eventually entered local politics, becoming one of Williston’s early mayors.

Joseph’s death certificate provides another valuable link to Jonathan. It names his father as Jonathan Wegley and states that Jonathan was born in Pennsylvania, further supporting the conclusion that Jonathan himself was not born in Piqua.

Joseph Wegley Becomes Mayor

Joseph’s life eventually became one of the more colorful stories among Jonathan’s descendants. He was elected mayor of Williston and developed a reputation for attempting to eliminate illegal drinking establishments known as “blind pigs.”

A surviving newspaper report records Joseph winning another term as mayor by 137 votes to 90. His entire political ticket was reported elected along with him. Joseph’s political career became even more interesting because another of Jonathan’s sons soon found himself on the opposite side of Williston’s liquor controversy.

“Wegley’s Pig”

Jonathan’s son Fred Wegley was accused in 1907 of illegally selling intoxicating liquor in Williston. A newspaper described the alleged establishment as “Wegley’s Pig,” located in the lower portion of a concrete building on East Broadway.

The accusation was politically explosive because Fred’s brother Joseph had developed a reputation as the mayor who cleared Williston of blind pigs. Opponents accused Joseph of enforcing the law against others while allowing his brother to operate his own establishment.

Fred denied the allegations.

He was tried repeatedly. According to a 1909 report, Fred had been tried three times before justices of the peace and found not guilty each time, after which he was indicted by a grand jury.

That case also ended in acquittal. The jury reportedly deliberated for only three minutes before returning a verdict of not guilty.

Supporters of the Wegley brothers argued that the prosecutions had been politically motivated and designed to damage Joseph’s administration. Whether that interpretation was correct cannot be proven merely from the newspaper account, but Fred’s repeated acquittals are part of the documented record.

The Mayor Who Came Before Joseph

Joseph “Joe” Wegley entered Williston politics during a turbulent period. The city’s first mayor, William H. Denny, became embroiled in accusations involving stolen horses and was ultimately convicted in 1906 of selling stolen horses.

The conviction was later overturned, and a retrial did not occur after important evidence disappeared. Denny eventually left the mayor’s office, creating the political circumstances in which Joseph Wegley emerged as one of Williston’s early mayors.

This story belongs primarily on Joseph’s own page rather than Jonathan’s. On Jonathan’s biography, I would keep it brief because its importance here is what it tells us about the remarkable lives of two of Jonathan’s sons.

Jonathan’s Death

Jonathan George Wegley died on March 1, 1892, in Lockington, Shelby County, Ohio. He was fifty-five years old. His gravestone preserves both his death date and his exact age, allowing us to reconstruct his September 3, 1836 birth date with unusual precision. For a man born before Pennsylvania routinely issued civil birth certificates, that inscription is particularly valuable.

The original image is hard to read, but basically what it tells us is that he died on March 1, 1892, when he was exactly 55 years, 5 months, and 28 days old, and that his wife Sarah died on November 3, 1911, when she was 70 years, 7 months, and 19 days old.

I tried to clean up the image so you can see the information more clearly. Please keep in mind the image below has been digitally manipulated to clarify the text in the original image above.

We also happen to have additional documents about his death. In this case, his probate records. It gives us something his gravestone cannot: his legal residence immediately before his death, which was Cynthian Township in Shelby County. It also shows that his widow, Sarah, handled his estate within eight days of his death.

Jonathan’s Place in the Wegley Family

Jonathan represents an important transitional generation in this branch of the Wegley family. He was born into the large Pennsylvania household of Joseph William Wegley and Eve Berkebile, but as a young man he moved into Ohio, married Sarah Circle, and established an entirely new branch of the family.

His descendants spread still farther. One son became a North Dakota mayor, another became involved in one of that mayor’s most controversial political episodes, and other children established families across the country.

Jonathan himself may never have lived the sort of public life that brought his sons into newspaper headlines, but his place in the family is significant. Jonathan George Wegley helped carry the Wegley family from its Pennsylvania roots into Ohio, and his children helped carry it from there into the American West.

Joseph William Wegley was my third great-grandfather. He was born on October 14, 1802, in Brothersvalley Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, the son of Johan Frederik Weigley and his wife Catharine, whose maiden name has not yet been established.

Joseph occupies an especially important place in my family’s history because his generation marks the period when the surname used by my direct ancestors begins to look like the name we use today. Earlier generations appear in records as Wegerlin, Wegerline, Wagerline, Weigley, and other variations, while Joseph increasingly appears as Wegley.

That does not mean Joseph personally changed the family name or that he was the first person anywhere in the family to use the spelling. His own surname still varied in surviving records, including the form Weagley in 1860, but Joseph is the earliest ancestor in my direct line for whom the Wegley spelling is firmly documented.

Born in Brothersvalley

Joseph was born into a family already established in Pennsylvania for several generations. His grandfather, Philip Wagerline, had been born in Lancaster County in 1739 before eventually settling in Brothersvalley, while Joseph’s father, Johan Frederik Weigley, was born there in 1773.

By the time Joseph was born in 1802, Somerset County itself was relatively new. It had been created in 1795 from part of Bedford County, so unlike some earlier family events, Joseph’s birthplace can properly be described as Somerset County.

Joseph belonged to the third American-born generation of my direct family line. His grandfather Philip was born in Pennsylvania in 1739, his father Johan Frederik followed in 1773, and Joseph was born in 1802.

The Son of Johan Frederik Weigley

Joseph’s father, Johan Frederik Weigley, spent his life in the Brothersvalley area. Johan’s surviving records use several spellings of the family surname, including Wegerlein, Wagerline, and Weigley.

Joseph was one of at least five known children of Johan Frederik and Catharine:

• Anna Maria Weigley, born 1801
• Joseph William Wegley, born 1802
• Henrietta Weigley, born 1804
• Lydia Weigley, born 1807
• Theresa Weigley, born 1809

Johan Frederik died in 1836, when Joseph was 33. Joseph would survive his father by more than forty years.

Marriage to Eve Berkebile

Around 1831 or 1832, Joseph married Eve Berkebile. Joseph was approximately twenty-nine or thirty years old, while Eve, born in 1811, was about nine years younger.

Her surname also appears in variant forms, including Berkebile and Berkeybile. As with the Wegley surname, such spelling variations were common in nineteenth-century records and should not automatically be interpreted as different families.

Joseph and Eve remained together for the rest of his life. Their marriage produced a large family whose descendants eventually spread far beyond Somerset County.

Joseph and Eve’s Children

Older family trees have attributed as many as eleven children to Joseph and Eve, including several different sons named Jonathan. However, after comparing the federal censuses with later records, the strongest evidence currently supports at least nine children.

They were:

• Theresa Wegley, born about 1831
• Jonathan George Wegley, born about 1836
• Josiah Wegley, born about 1838
• Susanna Eva Wegley, born about 1840-1841
• Frederick Wegley, born about 1843-1844
• Adeline Wegley, born about 1845
• Mary Amanda Wegley, born July 30, 1847
• Austin Wegley, born July 4, 1851
• John Wesley Wegley, born June 29, 1858

The approximate years should remain approximate where they are based primarily on census ages. Nineteenth-century census records frequently differ by a year or more from later vital records.

The 1850 Census

The 1850 United States census gives us the first detailed look at Joseph and Eve’s household because it was the first federal census to name every free person living in a household. Joseph and Eve were living in Shade Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Joseph was recorded as forty-eight years old, which is compatible with an October 1802 birth date.

The household consisted of:

The last person in the household, Elizabeth Berkebile, was Eve’s mother. Her presence is an especially useful genealogical clue because it independently connects Eve to the Berkebile family. Austin and John Wesley do not appear because neither had been born yet. Joseph’s occupation was not recorded on this census.

Mary Amanda Provides Another Family Connection

Joseph and Eve’s daughter Mary Amanda Wegley, later Mary Amanda Repine, provides additional documentation of her parents. Her Pennsylvania death certificate records her birth as July 30, 1847, in Somerset County and identifies her father as Joseph Wegley and her mother as Eva Berkebile.

Mary Amanda died on February 18, 1928, at the age of eighty. Her record was created decades after Joseph’s death, but it provides another independent link between Joseph Wegley and Eve Berkebile.

The Family in 1860

Joseph and Eve were still living in Shade Township, Somerset County, when the 1860 federal census was taken. By then, several of their older children had left the household and begun their own lives. Joseph was recorded as Joseph Weagley, showing that the surname spelling had not yet become completely fixed. He was fifty-eight years old and working as a day laborer.

The household included:

• Joseph Weagley, 58
• Eve Weagley, 49
• Adeline Weagley, about 14
• Amanda Weagley, about 12
• Austin Weagley, about 10
• John W. Weagley, about 2

Joseph’s reported ages progress remarkably consistently. He was forty-eight in 1850 and fifty-eight in 1860.

Leaving Somerset County

Sometime between the 1860 and 1870 censuses, Joseph and Eve made one of the most important moves in this branch of the family’s history. They left Somerset County and traveled north to McKean County, Pennsylvania.

By 1870, they were living in Wetmore Township. Their household had become much smaller because almost all of their children were now adults. Only their youngest son, John Wesley Wegley, remained at home.

Nearly Seventy and Still Working

The 1870 census recorded Joseph as sixty-eight years old. Even at that age, he was still performing physically demanding labor and was listed as a wood chopper. That occupation makes sense in the environment he lived in. McKean County was heavily forested, and timber had become an important part of the regional economy.

We cannot prove that lumber employment was the reason Joseph and Eve moved north. Still, the fact that a Somerset County day laborer later appears in McKean County working as a wood chopper during the region’s lumber expansion is significant.

A Changing McKean County

Joseph arrived in McKean County at a particularly interesting moment in its history. Timber was already economically important, while the discovery and development of oil around Bradford in the 1870s began to transform the region.

The population grew rapidly as workers, merchants, speculators, and businesses entered the area. Joseph spent his final years in a county changing from a heavily forested rural region into one increasingly shaped by timber and petroleum development.

His occupation placed him directly within that changing economy. The farmer’s world of old Brothersvalley had given way to a very different environment by the final decade of his life.

When Did Joseph Actually Die?

For years, I listed Joseph’s death as June 1880 because he appears in the mortality schedule associated with the 1880 United States census. Further research revealed an important problem with that interpretation.

The 1880 mortality schedule did not record deaths occurring only during the calendar year 1880. It covered the twelve-month census year running from June 1, 1879 through May 31, 1880.

Joseph’s entry gives his month of death as June. Because June 1880 was outside the reporting period, the entry refers to June 1879, not June 1880.

A separate genealogical report published by the Minnesota Genealogical Society and later extracted by the Indiana Historical Society identifies him as William Joseph Wegley, born October 14, 1802, and states that he died on June 23, 1879, in Wetmore Township, McKean County, Pennsylvania.

The mortality schedule itself does not give the day of death. Therefore, June 23, 1879 remains the best-supported specific date currently available rather than a date independently established by the federal mortality schedule.

His Age at Death

Joseph’s known census ages form a remarkably consistent progression:

• 1850: age 48
• 1860: age 58
• 1870: age 68

Those ages are entirely compatible with an October 14, 1802 birth date.

The mortality schedule, however, reportedly gives Joseph’s age as seventy-nine. If the October 1802 birth date is correct, Joseph was actually seventy-six years old when he died in June 1879.

A discrepancy of several years in a nineteenth-century mortality schedule is not unusual. The consistency of the earlier census records strongly supports the 1802 birth year.

Cause of Death: “Old Age”

Joseph’s mortality record gives his cause of death simply as “Old Age.” To modern readers, that may sound unusually vague, but nineteenth-century death records frequently used broad descriptions rather than precise medical diagnoses.

Because the surviving record provides no specific illness, I would leave the historical wording intact rather than attempt to assign Joseph a modern medical cause of death. “Old Age” is what the source actually records.

Eve After Joseph’s Death

The regular 1880 federal population census, taken after Joseph had died, provides another important piece of evidence. Eve remained in the McKean County area and was recorded as a widow.

Eve survived Joseph by almost nine years. She died on March 8, 1888, in the Kane area of McKean County.

From Brothersvalley to McKean County

Joseph’s life marks an important geographic transition in my direct family line. His grandfather Philip Wagerline had helped establish the family in Brothersvalley, and his father Johan Frederik spent his life there.

Joseph was born there as well, but he did not remain there.

By moving north to McKean County, Joseph and Eve broke the direct family’s long attachment to one part of Pennsylvania. Their children and grandchildren would continue that pattern, eventually establishing branches in Ohio, Minnesota, North Dakota, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and elsewhere.

The Wegley Name

Joseph’s life also marks an important transition in the family surname. During earlier generations, the name had appeared in many forms: Wegerlin. Wegerline. Wagerline. Weigley. Weagley. Wegley.

Joseph’s own documents still demonstrate that instability, but during his generation the spelling Wegley became firmly established in my direct ancestral line.

His youngest son, John Wesley Wegley, carried that spelling into the next generation. From John came Frederick Wegley, then my grandfather Raymond Edward Wegley, and eventually the family generations that followed.

Joseph’s Place in My Family

Joseph William Wegley left behind no famous political career, great fortune, or lengthy autobiography. What survives instead is something much more typical of nineteenth-century family history: census entries, family relationships, occupational details, later vital records, and the descendants who carried his name forward.

Those records allow us to watch his family change over nearly thirty years. In 1850, Joseph and Eve lived in a crowded Somerset County household filled with children and Eve’s mother. By 1860, several children had left home. By 1870, Joseph and Eve had moved hundreds of miles north, and only their youngest son remained with them.

Joseph began life in the old German-American communities of Brothersvalley and ended it among the forests of McKean County. Along the way, the family name settled into the form his descendants still recognize today.

Joseph William Wegley died on June 23, 1879, in Wetmore Township, McKean County, Pennsylvania. He was seventy-six years old, and through his large family, he became the ancestor of Wegley descendants who would eventually spread across much of the United States.