The Dustman Family of Trumbull and Mahoning Counties, Ohio

By Roy C. Ritter III

Johan Martin Dostmann was born in 1730 in Nassig, Germany, and today his descendants can be found throughout the United States of America.

One of them is Roy C. Ritter III, and he traces his family’s origins in this detailed history.

Dostmann immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1752 with his sister and several friends and cousins, and so began the story of an enduring German-American family.

After some time in Frederick County, Maryland, and Washington County, Pennsylvania, the family, which became known as Dustman, took advantage of the settlement opportunities in the newly formed Connecticut Western Reserve of Ohio, joining the state’s earliest pioneers.

Johan Martin Dostmann died before that journey, but his surviving children and grandchildren made their mark in Ohio, particularly in Trumbull and Mahoning counties, where they prospered.

Covering the first four generations of the Dustman family, this book will be a valuable resource for the descendants of Johan Martin Dostmann.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Sep 19, 2018
• ISBN: 9781532055799

Roy C. Ritter III

Roy C. Ritter, III, is retired from a career in corporate finance. He was born in Ashtabula, Ohio, and currently resides in Napa, California, where he has been pursuing an interest in his family’s history. Roy has traced his lineage to William Bradford, governor of the Plymouth Plantation, and was selected for membership in the Society of Mayflower Descendants. He is also a direct descendant of Nicholas Knapp, which enabled him to claim membership in the Winthrop Society. Roy also belongs to the genealogical societies for the state of Ohio, as well as those for Ashtabula County and Mahoning County.

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Copyright © 2018 Roy C. Ritter Iii.

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ISBN: 978-1-5320-5580-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-5581-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-5579-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018910215

iUniverse rev. date: 09/18/2018

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1 Johan Martin Dostmann (Dustman)

Chapter 2 Jacob Dustman

Chapter 3 Daniel Dustman

Jacob Dustman

Henry Dustman

Christian Dustman

Chapter 4 Martin Dustman

Barbara Everhart and the Everhart Family

Jacob (Johan Jacob) Dustman

Elizabeth Dustman Ritter

Susanna Dustman Osborn

Sarah Sally Dustman Wannemaker

Mary Ann Polly Dustman Ritter

Joseph Dustman

William Dustman

Rebecca Dustman Burlien

Elias Dustman

Lydia Elizabeth Dustman Strock

Chapter 5 Henry Dustman

Mary Dustman Dice

Catherine Dustman Ohl

Susannah Dustman Foster

Elizabeth Dustman Kenreich

John Dustman

Solomon Dustman

Andrew Dustman

Sarah Dustman Hisey

Jonathan Dustman

Magdalena Dustman Kenreigh Shrontz

Notes

Biblography

About The Author

List of Exhibits

1. Wertheim Kirchenbuch, 1556-1962

2.Phoenix Passenger List, 1752

3. Chestnut Hill (Frederick, Maryland) Land Patent, 1762

4. Resurvey of Chestnut Hill, 1771

5. Dr. Arthur Tracey Index Card for Chestnut Hill

6. Frederick County Deed Record, 1779

7. Jacob Dustman Estate Record, 1788

8. Washington County, Pennsylvania, Tax List, 1789

9. Patent Survey of Warranted Land in Amwell Township to Daniel Dustman

10. Manuscript History of Canfield

11. Ritter Family German Bible

12. Map, Dorset and Lenox Townships, Ashtabula County, 1974

13. Trumbull County, Ohio, Estate Record, Administration Probate Record (PR) 2, 183

14. Trumbull County, Ohio, Deed Book #28, pp. 250-251

15. Henry Dustman Family Bible

Introduction

Who was Mary Ann Polly Dustman? She was my great-great-great-grandmother, but that is all anyone in my family knew. In fact, we did not even know the names of her parents. In 2011, I decided to see if I could find some answers and thus began researching the Dustman surname. Armed with my new Ancestry.com account, I set out to see what I could find. The good news was this: there was no shortage of family trees shared on Ancestry that included people named Dustman. I began diligently looking through these trees but soon discovered that while many Ancestry users posted trees, almost none of them had provided any sources or evidence to support these trees. I needed evidence – surely someone had it! I then sent out fifty messages to fifty Ancestry users who seemed to know a lot about the Dustman family, asking if they could share their sources. The results? About one half did not respond, and most of those who did respond told me that they had copied the Dustman family information from other trees shared on Ancestry and thus had no evidence to share. This was disappointing.

I did receive one answer that proved to be the jackpot. Researcher Diane Rogers answered me and said she had sources! She told me of a book named Civil War Diary of Jacob Dustman by Marilynn K. Cartwright that provided evidence for much of the family information that she had gathered. She graciously copied this book and mailed it to me. She also gave me a name: Reta Faye (Dustman) Bunderson, who had also done a lot of research and had shared it with Diane at some time in the past. Well, I called Mrs. Bunderson out of the blue and told her of my interest in this family. She was pleased to hear from me and could not have been nicer. She and her son Marvin went through her files and copied and mailed all that she had collected in years past. This was very generous and very illuminating!

I have to pause here and sing the praises of Mrs. Bunderson. First, she conducted her research in the 1970s, when communication meant typing letters and mailing them, then waiting for a response. This is hard to imagine in today’s world and required a lot of patience and diligence. In that time, Mrs. Bunderson was fortunate to have made contact with and enlisted the help of noted Mahoning County, Ohio, researcher, Margaret Miller Simon, which was a stroke of good luck. In addition, Mrs. Bunderson taught herself German and searched page by page through microfilmed German church records in Salt Lake City, Utah, to find the Dustman family history in Germany. All who research the surname Dustman, especially me, are forever in her debt.

Now that I was armed with a good amount of Dustman family research, was I now able to identify my ancestor Mary Ann Polly Dustman? Unfortunately, no. Although there were more than several family members named Mary, none seemed a match for my ancestor. I would have to do some digging on my own in Ohio to get my answer, but the information provided by Diane Rogers and Reta Faye (Dustman) Bunderson gave me a lot of leads to follow up, which eventually paid off. I was later able to prove that my great-great-great-grandmother was a daughter of Ohio pioneer, Martin Dustman, and a granddaughter of immigrant ancestor Johan Martin Dostmann.

In the course of my research, I came across a lot of inaccuracies and confusing family trees. It was easy to become confused when the family used the names Mary, Jacob, Henry, and others over and over again for naming their children. It was for this reason that I decided to take it upon myself to fully research this family (based on evidence) and publish the family’s history, which is this book. I hope to have created a lasting document that others can use with confidence since all evidence I have used is (hopefully) properly documented and thus can be verified. If I have been successful, this book is something on which future researchers will be able to rely and expand. However, despite my best efforts, there are no doubt errors in this work.

I have combed through many written records. I have identified every person with the surname Dustman or a variation in all U. S. Federal Censuses through 1930. As a matter of fact, every person in the country with the surname Dustman was a member of this family from the 1790 census through the 1830 census. It was only after that time that new immigrants came to this country, some from Germany named Dostmann and some from England named Dustman. I have scoured all of the marriage records for Trumbull and Mahoning Counties to ensure that I captured all of those marriages involving someone named Dustman. There were a few that I could not place in the family tree, but not many. In addition to online sources such as those found at Ancestry.com and Family Search, I obtained and reviewed estate records, primarily from Trumbull and Mahoning Counties, as well as all of the relevant deed records that I could find from these same counties. Newspaper articles, both off line and online, have been invaluable. Finally, with my mother and sister, I have visited and photographed countless grave markers in numerous cemeteries in northeast Ohio and other states, including Michigan, Oklahoma, and California. That was a lot of fun!

This book is, in a way, an homage to the old family history books that can be found sitting on the shelves of the wonderful genealogy-focused libraries in this country. Many people throughout the years took the time to document and write about the members of their families and their ancestors. Although not perfect, these books are invaluable to the researcher. Perhaps it was and is a uniquely American pursuit to chase our roots to those who immigrated from somewhere else. However, this book will be markedly different. The family histories of old included page upon page of genealogical reports providing a record of all of the generations that could be documented by the authors. I have chosen not to include reports of this type in this book. In today’s modern world, my family tree with all of its information and documentation is published in its entirety online, specifically on Ancestry.com. Anyone can create a free Ancestry account and view my tree once a few steps are completed. A prospective viewer must create this account and then email me the Ancestry username. I will then gladly invite this username to view the tree. Thus, there are a few hoops to jump through, but no one will need to create a paid account (given that current Ancestry rules remain unchanged), and any mistakes that might be identified can be corrected online by me, rather than remain in error, in a printed book, forever. My Dustman Tree and my Ritter tree are large trees; there are well in excess of ten thousand names attached. My email address is [e-mail] (and my Ancestry User ID is RoyRitter1), and I will welcome all inquiries.

The book is organized by first summarizing the life of immigrant ancestor Johan Martin Dostmann. Then the following sections provide biographies of his four sons and their children and grandchildren, four generations in total. Detailed footnotes, a bibliography, and an every-name index are also included.

Lastly, in addition to Diane Rogers and Reta Faye (Dustman) Bunderson named above, there are many others to whom I am indebted. First to researchers who have preceded me and/or helped me, including Marilynn K. Cartwright (named above), Margaret Miller Simon, whose published research is invaluable, Ruth Partridge, Raymond Martin Bell, Paul Miller Ruff, Barbara Layfield in Trumbull County, Ohio, and Bob Fout in Frederick, Maryland. I would also like to thank the Washington County (Pennsylvania) Historical Society, the Mahoning Valley Historical Society, the Mahoning County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society, the Ashtabula County Genealogical Society, the Western Reserve Historical Society, and the Trumbull County Archives.

I am also very thankful to these generous people: my sister, Denise Ritter McClanahan, my mother, Alice Ritter, and cousins, Beverly Watson Willis, Larry Bailey, Margie Gibbs Flock, Jean Ritter Smith, Richard Powell, Marvin Bunderson, Elaine Spickard Maxey, Rolf Cole Maris, Jenniffer McCall, and Norma McHardy, who all provided valuable information and assistance.

Finally, I am grateful to those from whom I am descended for living such remarkable lives. The people in this book were truly pioneering and courageous! They were among the first to populate what was then known as the Connecticut Western Reserve, roughly the northeastern part of Ohio. They came to true wilderness to create new farms and towns from nothing but the land, in order to make better lives for themselves. And this is also a story representative of German pioneers, who left Europe to discover that in America they could own their own property and find prosperity, a quality of life, which was not readily available in the old country. In addition to the surname Dustman, this book also features the German surnames Ritter, Strock, Corll, Goodman, Ohl, Kenreich, Dice, among others. These German immigrants and Ohio pioneers are to be much admired and revered! What our ancestors accomplished should not be forgotten.

Roy C. Ritter III

Napa, California

[e-mail]

CHAPTER 1

Johan Martin Dostmann (Dustman)

SUMMARY

J ohan Martin Dostmann was born on 1 December 1730 in Nassig, Germany. ¹ Nassig is a small town southwest of the larger town of Wertheim, which is in the current German state of Baden-Wurttemberg. ² Nassig is also about sixty to seventy miles southeast of the larger city of Frankfurt. Johan Martin was the son of Hanss Michel Dostmann (a son of Ernst Dostmann) and Gertraud Scheurig (a daughter of Heinrich Scheurig). ³ In 1752, Johan Martin, at age twenty-one, along with his sister, Anna Barbara, age twenty-four, and other family members immigrated to the United States. Their ship, the Phoenix, arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 22 November 1752. It had sailed from Rotterdam via Cowes on the Isle of Wight, England. ⁴

No records have been found for Johan Martin or his sister for the period of several years after their arrival. This could be because they may have been indentured servants after their arrival in the New World. It was not uncommon for early German immigrants with few or no resources to have received their passage to America in exchange for a period of indentured servitude.

In 1762, Johan Martin received a land patent in Frederick County, Maryland, for a twenty-five-acre parcel named Chestnut Hill.⁵ In 1771, a second land patent was recorded for a resurvey of Chestnut Hill, now totaling ninety-four acres.⁶ Johan Martin also served as a trustee for the Apple Church, a Lutheran church, in nearby Thurmont, Maryland, in 1768.⁷ He and his wife, Susanna, were recorded as sponsors at a christening in 1775 at the Apple Church.⁸

Johan Martin sold his property at Chestnut Hill on 5 April 1779. His wife, Susanna, was also named in the indenture.⁹

No records have been found to record the marriage of Johan Martin and his wife, Susanna. Nor have any records been found to record the births or christenings of their children. All of their children were likely born prior to the establishment of the Apple Church in 1768.

Johan Martin likely died shortly after selling his property in Frederick County, Maryland, since no further record of him has been found. He likely died in Washington County, Pennsylvania. His death likely occurred prior to 1781, as older sons, Jacob¹⁰ and Daniel,¹¹ were recorded as residents of Washington County in the tax list prepared in that year. Johan Martin was not on the tax list. In 1780, he would have been fifty years old.

The recording of Johan Martin’s name varies from Johan Martin Dostmann, or Dostman, in immigration records to the Apple church records which name him Martin Dustmain, or Deichman, or Dostmann, or to the Frederick County land records, which all name him as Martin Dustman. There cannot be one hundred percent certainty that these records all pertain to the same person. However, given that this is an unusual name and that no other immigration records in this time period report another person with a similar name, it seems highly likely that these records are for one person, Johan Martin Dostmann. The reporting of this name through later generations would commonly include the variations Dosman, Dusman, Dussman, Dussmann, or even Tusman. However, by the early 1800s, all family members seemed to have coalesced around one way of spelling the name, which was Dustman.

Also note that the German spelling of Dostmann has an umlaut (or two dots) over the o.

DETAILS

Detailed information on Johan Martin Dostmann (Dustman) follows:

Birth

Records for the Dostmann family in Germany are located in the Parish Register of the Evangelische Kirche Wertheim.¹² In this church book were recorded the following:

• Marriage of Hanss Michel Dostmann, son of Ernst Dostmann and Anna Maria Adelman, to Gertraud Scheurig, daughter of Heinrich Scheurig and Margaretha Dosch, on 22 February 1724 in Nassig, Germany,

• Christening of daughter, Gertraud, on 16 December 1724 in Nassig,

• Christening of daughter, Anna Barbara, on 31 August 1727 in Nassig, and

• Christening of son, Johann [sic] Martin, on 2 December 1730, born 1 December 1730. See Exhibit 1 on page eighteen to view this actual page as printed from the microfilm.

In addition, the family history can be traced back three generations to ancestor, Hans Sebastian Adelman, and his wife, Anna Maria Adelman, great-grandparents to Johan Martin Dustman. Marilynn K. Cartwright in her book, Civil War Diary of Jacob Dustman, summarized the church records as follows:

"Johan Ersnt Dostmann [grandfather to Johan Martin] and his wife Anna Maria Adelmann had several children, most of whom died at an early age. A son, Hanss Michael, christened 20 August 1699, was 22 and not yet married when his father died on the 20 Dec. 1721. Michel’s mother ‘died of coughing’ on the 30 Dec. 1732, the same night as her mother, Anna Barbara, widow of Hanss Sebastian Adelmann, died.

Hanss Michel Dostmann married (1) Gertraud Scheurig, the daughter of Heinrich Scheurig and Margaretha Dosch, in Nassig 22 February 1724. After the death of Gertraud on 13 Oct. 1749, Michel married (2) 3 Feb. 1750 Eva Maria Klein. They had one son, Johann Jorg Dostmann. Michel died of dysentery 2 Sept. 1772. He had been a shepherd in Nassig for 44 years.¹³

Immigration

There are several records found that support the immigration of Johan Martin Dostmann. From the book Pennsylvania German Immigrants, 1709-1786, it was written:

"Dostmann, [––], –- Nassig (1752)

May 24, 1752: Hans Michel Dostmann’s children, all poor as beggars, want to go to Pennsylvania with some people from Sonderrieth [a town near to Nassig]. In the Village Mayor’s Report for Nassig (1752): ‘Johann Michel Dostmann’s son and daughter, both single, have taken nothing along; nor can they expect anything from their parents.’"¹⁴

The book, Pennsylvania German Pioneers, reports on the arrival of the ship, the Phoenix, in Philadelphia on 22 November 1752.¹⁵ Recorded passengers included Johan Martin Dostman [sic] and others who could be family members, such as Valentin Scheurich, Jacob Scheurich, Christoph Dosch, Johan Matheis Scheurich, Hans Martin Scheurich, and Hans Michael Adelman. One or all of these could very well have been family members or the so-called people from Sonderrieth, referenced above. Sister, Anna Barbara, was also likely on the ship Phoenix, but at that time it was more likely that only male passengers were recorded on the passenger lists by the ships’ captains.¹⁶ See Exhibit 2 on page nineteen for the actual page of passenger signatures from this list. This passenger list is also recorded in the book, A Collection of Upwards of Thirty Thousand Names of German, Swiss, Dutch, French and Other Immigrants in Pennsylvania from 1727-1776.¹⁷

As was also the law, all aboard the ship, at least the males, were required to swear an oath of allegiance to the province and state of Pennsylvania. This practice, as well as the requirement for a passenger list, was begun in 1727, as there was a concern over the perceived loyalty of German nationals to what was then an English Colony.¹⁸ Johan Martin swore this oath as was reported in the book, Names of Foreigners who took the Oath of Allegiance to the Province and State of Pennsylvania, 1727- 1775.¹⁹

Johan Martin also appeared in an early Pennsylvania census, dated 1752, as a resident of Philadelphia Township, Philadelphia County.²⁰

The immigration of Johan Martin and his fellow travelers was not an uncommon occurrence for Germans in 1752. German immigration to Pennsylvania had accelerated in the early 1700s, and there may have well been roughly one hundred thousand people of German origin living in Pennsylvania at the time of Johan Martin’s immigration.²¹ According to the book, The German immigration to America:

"The first Germans to come to America, as colonists in Pennsylvania, were, as a rule, well to do. Nearly all of them in the beginning of that mighty exodus had sufficient means to pay all the charges incurred in going down the Rhine to the sea, and enough besides to meet the expenses for carrying them across the ocean, and yet have some left when they arrived to pay for part of all of the lands they took up…

The poorer classes had not been unobservant of what was going on. If America was a place where the rich could become richer still, surely it must be a place where the poor also might better themselves. At all events, nothing could be lost by going, because they had the merest pittance to begin with. Besides, all the accounts were favorable. Those already in Pennsylvania sent back glowing descriptions of the ease with which land could be acquired, the productiveness of the soil, the abundance of good, the freedom from taxation and the equality of all men before the law to their natural rights and their religious creeds.²²

Those without resources, such as Johan Martin and his sister, were able to immigrate to Pennsylvania if they agreed to sell themselves as indentured servants. These people would have had to endure a difficult passage with an uncertain future to say the least. German, Gottlieb Mittelberger, wrote an account of this immigration experience. He travelled from Germany to Pennsylvania in 1750 (not as a potential indentured servant) and then returned to Germany in 1754, where he recorded his story. He wrote:

"This journey from the Palatinate to Pennsylvania lasts from the beginning of May until the end of October, fully half a year, amid such hardships as no one is able to describe adequately. The cause is because the Rhine boats from Heilbronn to Holland have to pass by 36 custom houses, at all of which the ships are examined, which is done when it suits the convenience of the custom-house officials. In the meantime, the ships with the people are detained long so that the passengers have to spend much money. The trip down the Rhine alone lasts four, five and even six weeks.

"When the ships and the people reach Holland, they are detained there likewise five or six weeks. Because things are very dear there, the poor people have to spend nearly all they have during that time… Both in Rotterdam and Amsterdam the people are packed densely, like herrings, so to say, in the large sea vessels. One person receives a place scarcely two feet wide and six feet long in the bedstead, while the ship carries four to six hundred souls; not to mention the innumerable implements, tools, provisions, water barrels and other things which likewise occupy much space.

"On account of contrary winds it sometimes takes the ships two, three and four weeks to make the trip from Holland to Cowes (on the isle of Weight, on the South coast of England). But when the wind is good they get there in eight days or sooner. Everything is examined at the custom house and the duties paid, and ships are sometimes detained eight, ten and fourteen days before their cargoes are completed. During this delay everyone is compelled to spend his last money and to consume the little stock of provisions which had been reserved for the ocean voyage; so that most passengers, finding themselves on the ocean where they are in still greater need of them, suffer greatly from hunger and want.

"When the ships have for the last time weighed their anchors at Cowes, the real misery begins. For from there the ships, unless they have good winds must often sail eight, nine, ten or twelve weeks before they reach Philadelphia. But with the best wind the voyage lasts seven weeks.

"During the voyage there is on board these ships terrible misery, stench, fumes, horror, vomiting, many kinds of sicknesses, fever, dysentery, headache, heat, constipation, boils, scurvy cancer mouth-rot and the like, all of which come from old and sharply salted food and meat, also from very bad and foul water so that many die miserably…

"When the ships have landed at Philadelphia after their long voyage no one is permitted to leave them except those who pay for their passage or can give good security; the others who cannot pay must remain on board the ships till they are purchased, and are released from the ships by their purchasers…

The sale of human beings in the market on board the ship is carried on thus: Every day Englishmen, Dutchmen, and high German people come from the city of Philadelphia and other places, some from a great distance, say sixty, ninety, and one hundred and twenty miles away, and go on board the newly arrived ship that has brought and offers for sale passengers from Europe, and select among the healthy persons such as they deem suitable for their business, and bargain with them how long they will serve for their passage money, for which most of them are still in debt. When they have come to an agreement, it happens that adult persons bind themselves in writing to serve three, four, five or six years for the amount due by them, according to their age and strength…²³

Frank Reid Differderffer, author of The German Immigration into Pennsylvania, previously cited, commented on Gottlieb Mittelberger’s account, It must not be supposed that the scenes and events described in the foregoing quotations from Mittelberger were everyday occurrences at least so far as the sufferings, sickness and deaths at sea are concerned. They did occur, but he [Mittelberger] takes especial pains to represent everything at its worst. Many a ship came over in good condition, with no unusual sickness on board, and under the charge of humane captains.²⁴

While the fortitude of the immigrant to America is well and often lauded, it still bears remarking that Johan Martin and his sister, Anna Barbara, were indeed courageous in their choice to migrate, knowing that their choice could likely not be reversed and that they would never see their parents again. After arriving, if indeed Johan Martin and his sister became indentured servants, it is likely beyond our abilities to know what their experiences would have been. The circumstances of indentured servitude likely consisted of a variety of both good and bad. However, at a minimum, it would have had a set date of completion.

Land Records

Ten years after arriving in Philadelphia, Johan Martin can be found in Frederick County, Maryland. He received a land patent on 30 September 1762 for twenty-five acres, a property called Chestnut Hill.²⁵ See Exhibit 3 on page twenty to view this document. In 1771, Johan Martin received another land patent, this time for ninety-four acres, entitled Resurvey of Chestnut Hill.²⁶ Resurveys were common, as landowners would request them to add adjacent, vacant land to their original patent.²⁷ See Exhibit 4 on page twenty-one to view this document. These patents are also documented in the book, Settlers of Maryland, 1751-1765.²⁸

Where is Chestnut Hill? Thankfully, this question can be answered today thanks to the efforts of a researcher named Dr. Arthur G. Tracey. The book, Pioneers of the Old Monocacy, written by Dr. Tracey’s daughter and co-researcher, describes Dr. Tracey’s research:

"In the early 1930s Dr. Arthur G. Tracey of Hampstead, Maryland turned his avocational interests to the subject of early land grants in the western portion of his state. Maryland’s Land Office, which had been formed in Colonial days long before, was still in existence. But its function of governing and regulating initial grants of land to first-time owners had become almost a thing of the past…

"To retrieve anything of historical importance involved therefore a process of digging one’s own way through much unorganized material. This Dr. Tracey did by directing his attention to the time land was first granted. Each survey included a drawing accompanied by a description of the metes and bounds of the parcel or lot. By tracing onto tissue paper what these surveyors had drafted, Dr. Tracey was able to accumulate from out of countless envelopes and folders a huge file of material showing in one series and in one place a picture of what Maryland’s initial individual land grants had actually been.

Next came the process of discovering from reference clues in the surveys themselves where the land had lain and how the location of the various individual parcels related to such natural features as mountains, streams and roads, and how they all fitted together one parcel in relation to the others…²⁹

In order to organize his research, Dr. Tracey created an index card for each tract of land. See Exhibit 5 on page twenty-two to view Dr. Tracey’s index card for Chestnut Hill. All of Dr. Tracey’s original research can be found today as the Tracey Collection located at the Historical Society of Carroll County, Westminster, Maryland.³⁰

Thanks to the research efforts of Dr. Tracey and his daughter, one can place the location of Chestnut Hill at roughly this address: 7800 Roddy Creek Road in Thurmont, Maryland, across the road from the Roddy Creek Park and just to the west of the Roddy Covered Bridge. Thurmont, Maryland, is about fifteen miles north of Frederick, Maryland.

The indenture to record the sale of Chestnut Hill is dated 5 April 1779. The property was sold for three hundred pounds to Nicholas Mullen. See Exhibit 6 on pages twenty-three through twenty-five to view this document. As noted above, wife, Susanna, was named in the indenture.

On the same day and year came also before us Susanna the wife of the said Martin Dustman and she … apart from and out of the hearing of her said husband did release and relinquish all her right title interest and claim of dower … to the said land and appurtenances and she acknowledges she did the same voluntarily and without being induced thereto by fears or threats of ill usage from her said husband or through fear of his displeasure…³¹

Although the language cited above seems somewhat severe, it was not uncommon to phrase a living spouse’s consent in this way.

Church Records

While in Maryland, church records survive which provide some information about Johan Martin. Peter Apple, who was one of the large landholders in the area, gave a deed in 1760 for one acre of land for use as a schoolhouse.³² A log church was built on this land, and on December 26, 1768, the trustees of the school gave a Deed of Trust for the lawful use of the church to Martin Dustmain (Deichmann) and Henry Feurure (Firor) trustees of the Lutheran and Reformed congregations, respectively.³³ Most German immigrants professed an affiliation with either the Lutheran church or the Reformed church. It was a common custom of the German immigrant communities to erect one building, which was called a union church, and share it between the two denominations.³⁴ That was the case here in Thurmont, Maryland. In the records of this church, known as Apple’s Church, Martin Dostmann [sic] and his wife, Susanna, are named in one instance, as sponsors for the child Nanny Chedeckl [sic], born on 9 July 1772 and baptized on 5 February 1775.³⁵ Martin’s role as trustee for the church is also mentioned in two other books, Pioneers of Old Monocacy³⁶ and Gateway to the Mountains.³⁷

Oath of Fidelity

An oath of fidelity was also recorded in Frederick County for Martin Dustman, occurring in 1778.³⁸

Children of Johan Martin and Susanna Dostmann

As noted above, no birth or christening records have been found for any of the children of Johan Martin and Susanna. However, their children likely include the following:

• Jacob, date of birth unknown.

The best clue to the year of his birth is found in his service as a Ranger on the Frontier, 1778 – 1783. He was a soldier who served in the Pennsylvania Militia for Washington County in Sergeant Leatherman’s party, which operated between the years 1782 and 1785.³⁹ This would be consistent with a year of birth sometime around 1760.

• Daniel, also date of birth unknown.

Daniel’s children were born between 1786 (Jacob)⁴⁰ and 1793 (Christian).⁴¹ That would indicate a likely year of birth sometime in the early to mid 1760’s.

• Catherine, daughter, unknown birth date, perhaps 1764 or 1767.

One clue, which may be implausible, to Catherine’s year of birth is an 1850 U. S. Federal Census record for an individual named Catharine Dusthman [sic], aged eighty-three, found in the household of Abm [sic] and Margaret Courtwright, Keene Township, Coshocton County, Ohio.⁴² Not likely that this would be a valid record, but not impossible, either. A second record for this person is found in the 1860 U. S. census mortality schedules for Tuscarawas Township, Coshocton County, Ohio, which lists her year of birth as 1764, dying in 1860 at age ninety-six. The record does not state whether she was married or widowed, but interestingly, it states her place of birth as Maryland.⁴³ Note that the 1850 census record provides her place of birth as Ohio, which was clearly incorrect as there were no non-Native American settlements in Ohio in the 1760s.

• Heinrich or Henry, born 1768 (based on grave marker).⁴⁴

• Martin, twin of Henry, born 1768 (also based on grave marker).⁴⁵

No evidence has been found which would link any of these children with father, Johan Martin, but there are records that provide some linkage of them to their mother, Susanna, and to each other. Of the several pieces of evidence that have been found to attempt to document the history of this family, the best is the estate record for son, Jacob Dustman, in Washington County, Pennsylvania.⁴⁶ Jacob died in 1787. The final settlement of his estate is dated 5 August 1788 (see Exhibit 7 for selected document images from the estate record, pages twenty-six through twenty-eight).⁴⁷ In it, administrator, Jacob Hook, provided the accounting. Various amounts were paid out and included:

• One pound, three shillings to Catherine Dussman,

• Six pounds, five shillings to Daniel Dussman,

• Thirty pounds to Daniel Dussman (recorded in separate line from above), and

• Two pounds, sixteen shillings to Susanah Dussman.⁴⁸

The payments were likely some type of debt owed by the deceased to family members. As noted above, this record does not link Jacob to father, Johan Martin, but does provide evidence that he is the son of Susanna Dustman, since she is named as such in the record. Her claim to the estate is written, The mother Susana Tusman [sic] came before me the … [unreadable] and was sworn … [unreadable].

The estate can be further explored by an additional two claims in the estate record, dated 1787, by Daniel Dustman. In it, some explanation of the payments to Daniel Dustman can be found:

Jacob Tusman in acct with Daniel Tusman. To my part of my father’s plantation as agreed on between him and me. 6, 0, 0.⁴⁹

Jacob Tusman in acct with Daniel Tusman. To thirty pound coming to me out of the plantation being the part coming to my two brothers Martin and Henry which I was to pay them when my brother Jacob took the plantation in his hand. He was to pay me which is not yet paid to me.⁵⁰

What does this mean? I can only surmise that after the family left Frederick, Maryland, they proceeded to Washington County, Pennsylvania. Shortly after selling Chestnut Hill and relocating to Washington County, the father, Johan Martin, likely died; although it is possible he never relocated to Washington County and died in Maryland. When he died, the family must have tried to settle affairs equitably amongst themselves and probably did this outside the purview of a court, since there are no probate or estate records for Johan Martin Dostmann in Washington County or Frederick County for that matter. Moreover, the services of a court at that time in Washington County may not have even been readily available. Thus the memo refers to Jacob taking my father’s plantation in the claim for six pounds and the plantation in the claim for thirty pounds. So it would seem as if the father did relocate to Washington County and did possess a plantation, of which the oldest son Jacob took possession, upon the father’s death, in exchange for agreed upon payments to his three brothers. The claim for thirty pounds was for Jacob to pay to brother, Daniel, which Daniel in turn was to pay to his brothers. Why would an amount of money need to be transferred to Daniel rather than directly to Martin and Henry? It is likely because Martin and Henry, who were born in 1768, were likely still minors at the time of their father’s death, and Daniel may have assumed some sort of guardianship or other responsibility for his brothers. The wording of the claim is highly significant, however, as it establishes the fact that Jacob, Daniel, Martin, and Henry are brothers.

As a side question, where was this plantation? It was either in Bethlehem Township or Amwell Township. Jacob Tusman [sic] was located in Bethlehem in the tax lists for 1781, 1783, 1785, and 1786. ⁵¹ If he indeed took the plantation, when father Johan Martin died, then it was likely this property. Why is there no land record? There is no record, because it was likely never recorded. The early settlers would physically mark out their land claims, but in order to get title to the land, a survey was needed in order to apply for the land patent. This could take years; surveyors were likely not readily available, plus what was the hurry? In all likelihood, there were no competing claims for these properties. Both father, Johan Martin, and son, Jacob, probably died before being able to apply for a patent. Oddly, the tax list for 1787 recorded Jacob in Amwell Township.⁵²

This leaves as the unresolved question, who was Catherine Dussman [sic], as named in the estate record of Jacob Dustman? She was not the widow of Jacob. Her name is cited as Margaret in a Washington County land transaction dated 6 November 1820 whereas Joseph Williamson and his wife late Margaret Dustman who was the widow of the said Jacob Dustman… are named.⁵³ Therefore, Catherine was likely a sister.

Two other records exist in Washington County, Pennsylvania, for a person named Susanna Dustman. Susannah Dostman [sic] is cited in the Washington County Tax List for 1789 in West Bethlehem Township. Her name is on the list shortly after that of her son, Danl. Dostman [sic].⁵⁴ See Exhibit 8 on page twenty-nine for this list. Susanna was also listed in a communion record at the Horn Church in Washington County dated 13 November 1791.⁵⁵ The record included the following names, Daniel Dussmann, wife Elizabeth, Martin Dussmann, Heinerich Dussmann, and Susanna Dussmann [sic].

Finally, Raymond Martin Bell, who was a prolific publisher of family history and genealogical information regarding Washington County, Pennsylvania, among other interests, published notes on the Hewitt family, entitled, Hewitt-Huyett-Hujet and Related Familys of Washington County. In part four of this publication, he included a few notes on the Dustman family. His notes follow, as written.

"DUSSMAN (Dustman)

Jacob Dussman d.l787 Washington Co - taxed 1782

1. Martin bef 1759 m Barbara – 1810 now Mahoning Co, Ohio

2. Henry c1761-1815 m Elizabeth (dau of Balser and Mary) FRANK to now Mahoning Co, Ohio

3. Jacob b c1763 - 1810 now Mahoning Co

4. Susanna b c1765

5. Daniel 1767-1794 m Elizabeth – - Washington Co

6. Catharine"⁵⁶

Mr. Bell provided no sources for these names or dates, which differ from this research in that he listed an additional daughter, named Susanna, and provided estimated birth years for all children. His comment regarding Jacob living in Mahoning County is incorrect in that he died in 1787. Also, he may have mistakenly taken the death of Jacob Dussman in 1787 as representing the father of the children, which he was not. A search through Mr. Bell’s many other published works did not yield any other information regarding the surname Dussman/Dustman.

Military

There have been found no records to support a role in the American Revolution for Johan Martin. Having been born in 1730, he was probably considered too old to fight. However, there is some confusion between Johan Martin and a person named John Dousman of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who did serve in the revolution as a private in Captain Duncan’s company in the Pennsylvania Volunteers. Understandably, the confusion arises due to the similarity of their names. However, per the application by descendent, Genevieve Ann Wright Goodman, to join the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), we learn that John Dousman was born in 1750 and died in 1789 and was in fact not the same person as Johan Martin Dustman.⁵⁷

Death

Johan Martin likely died shortly after 1779. He would have been fifty years old in 1780. He had probably relocated to Washington County, Pennsylvania, at the time of his death. The move to Washington County would have likely been the reason for selling his property in Frederick County, Maryland, in 1779, although no record has been found that he purchased property in Washington County. When the Frederick County property known as Chestnut Hill was sold, it is likely the entire family (father, wife, four sons, and perhaps one daughter) relocated to what would become Washington County, Pennsylvania. In a biography of son, Martin Dustman, it is stated that he was born in Maryland in 1770 and went to live in Washington County, Pa. when he was 12 years old.⁵⁸ The date of birth cited, 1770, is incorrect (Martin was born in 1768), but if the age of twelve is correct, that would date the move to Washington County as 1780.

However, it is also possible that one or more of the sons may have ventured to this part of Pennsylvania earlier than that. As a point of background, the lands west of the Monongahela River were quite wild in 1770.⁵⁹ In fact, English settlement was forbidden until 1768, when the treaty of Fort Stanwix was concluded with the Native Americans, which secured ownership of the lands for settlers.⁶⁰ At that point, settlement began in earnest. However, even after the treaty, the decade of the 1770’s still included significant danger for settlers posed by Native Americans. Thus, it may have been prudent for the older sons to explore this area before the family made its commitment to relocate. As an additional point of interest, in the early days of settlement, there was also disagreement between Virginia and Pennsylvania as to the rightful possession of the area that would become Washington County, which was later resolved in Pennsylvania’s favor.⁶¹

If in fact Johan Martin had completed the family’s relocation to Washington County, he himself left no record there. As noted in the summary, he was not listed on any of the tax lists for Washington County, which began in 1781, the year that the county was established, and also as noted above, there is no record of his purchasing any property. So it is likely that he died prior to the date of the first tax list, 1781. Unfortunately, no records have been found for his death or his burial.

Susanna died at some point after 1791, the year of the record of her communion in the Horn Church cited above. In the 1790 Federal Census, there is a female in the household of son, Henry Dustman, which was likely mother, Susanna.⁶² However, the 1800 census for the household of Henry Dustman does not include a female in the age category that would indicate the presence of Susanna.⁶³ This would lead to the conclusion that she likely died prior to 1800. Neither a death nor burial record has been found for her either. Since her date of birth is unknown, her age at time of death is also not known.

Anna Barbara Dostmann

Regarding Johan Martin’s sister, Anna Barbara, her marriage can be found in the book, Trinity Lutheran Church Records, Lancaster, PA. As Anna Barbara Dostmannin, she married Abraham Mockeberger, a widower, on 30 March 1760.⁶⁴ It should be noted that many of the surnames in this book appear to be appended with the letters, in. The births and christenings of their children, Michael, who was born 12 August 1761,⁶⁵ and Susanna, who was born on 4 May 1763,⁶⁶ were also recorded. Note that her marriage is over seven years after her arrival, which again might indicate a period of indentured servitude.

Prior to her marriage, Anna Barbara also served as a sponsor to two likely relatives. On 24 March 1758, she served as a sponsor to the child, Johan Nicolaus Schaeurich, son of Matthaeus and Catharina Schaeurich.⁶⁷ Note the similarity of the father’s name to that of the passenger, Johan Matheis Scheurich, of the Phoenix in 1752, noted above. This is almost certainly the same person, likely a maternal relative, since her mother’s maiden name was Scheurig. On 28 May 1758, Anna Barbara served as a sponsor to Anna Barbara Dosch, a daughter of Christoph and Elisabet Dosch.⁶⁸ Christoph Dosch, another likely maternal relative, was another fellow passenger on the Phoenix in 1752.

Exhibit 1⁶⁹

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Exhibit 2⁷⁰

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Exhibit 3⁷¹

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Exhibit 4⁷²

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Exhibit 5⁷³

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Exhibit 6⁷⁴

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Exhibit 6, continued

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Exhibit 6, continued

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Exhibit 7⁷⁵

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Exhibit 7, continued

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Exhibit 7, continued

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Exhibit 8⁷⁶

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CHAPTER 2

Jacob Dustman

O ldest son, Jacob Dustman, was likely born sometime around 1760 as noted on pages ten and eleven. It seems