Who's Who in the Shanower Family

This photo was taken at a Shanower Family Reunion at the home of my great-great-grandparents Benjamin Franklin Shanower (1845-1928) and Louisa "Lucy" Leifer Shanower (1856-1916). The photo was labeled Shanower Family Reunion, without date or individual identifications. Before I scanned this copy of the photo, another family researcher had sent me a photocopy of it labeled 1899. So I had a date for it.

But could I identify the people? I figured I wouldn't recognize too many of them. I thought I might find Benjamin Shanower and his immediate family, since I have other photos of them. Recognizing the hosts, Benjamin and Lucy Shanower, wasn't hard. And I picked most of Benjamin's children out of the crowd. But the appearances of a couple of those children raised red flags about the date of this photo.

Charles Chalmers Shanower Hinman (1877-1965), son of Benjamin Shanower and Benjamin's first wife Sophia King Shanower (1841-1877), appears in this photo, fifth from the left in the second row (the first row of adults). But as I detailed in an earlier post here, Charles was given up for adoption as a child and wasn't rediscovered by his birth family until late in 1900. Or so newspaper stories reported. Was it possible that those stories were inaccurate? Had Charles been rediscovered earlier, so that he could appear in an 1899 family photo? Complicating this question was the appearance of Charles's wife, Nellie Maude Salsbury Hinman (1873-1955). In the photo, she's sitting next to him, fourth from the left in the second row. I supposed it was possible that they'd attended the Shanower reunion together in 1899, before their marriage on December 12, 1900. But it seemed odd.

I also noticed Ralph Leo Shanower, the youngest of Benjamin and Lucy Shanower's children, who was born April 12, 1895. If this photo was from 1899, then Ralph would be four years old. But Ralph, who's standing on the right end in the back row, is obviously years older than four.

Ralph's apparent age answered the question about Charles and Nellie Hinman's presence. The year was certainly post-1900, the year Charles was rediscovered by his birth family and he married Nellie. This photo could not be from 1899.

So when is the photo from?

That question was easy to answer. I had a record of another Shanower Family Reunion at Benjamin and Lucy Shanower's home—on August 26, 1909. This location and date fit. Benjamin and Lucy are at center in the second row, the logical position for the hosts of the reunion. Ralph Shanower would be fourteen years old in 1909, and he looks about that age in the photo. And Charles and Nellie Hinman had been married for nearly nine years, so their attendance together at the reunion is perfectly reasonable.

The Published Report

Further confirmation of a 1909 date was provided by a published account of the 1909 Shanower Family Reunion, as follows:

SHANOWER FAMILY REUNION

The eleventh annual reunion of the Shanower family was held at the pleasant home of B. F. Shanower and wife of Claridon, Ohio, on the 26th day of August, 1909. At quite an early hour the friends began to arrive and before noon about 105 relatives were present, representing seven different states: Washington, Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Alabama.

The one surprising feature of the occasion was that for the first time in thirty years the eleven sons and daughters of B. F. Shanower and wife were together.

The forenoon was spent in visiting and making new acquaintances. At noon the dinner was served on long tables under a large tent and consisted of every thing good that heart could wish. Immediately after dinner the guests gathered on the lawn in front of the house and a picture of the group was taken by Photographer Strong of Chardon. The assembly was then called to order by Pres. Simon Kandel, and the audience joined in singing “America” after which the Sec., Miss Nettie Shanower, gave a report of the previous reunion. The Historian, Mrs. Lucy Shanower, gave a very carefully prepared report. A very amusing reading was rendered by Miss Jennie Shanower, a quartette sang an appropriate song. Rev. Cooper gave an interesting address which was enjoyed by all present.

The following officers were elected for the ensuing year: Pres., B. F. Shanower, Burton; Vice Pres., Amos Shanower, Wolcottville, Ind.; Sec., Miss Nettie Shanower, Burton; Treas., N. E. Shanower, Burton; Historian, Mrs. Lucy Shanower, Tontogany, O.

It was decided to hold the next reunion at the home of A. B. Shanower and wife, Tontogany, O., the last Thursday in August. Before the crowd dispersed all joined in singing, “God Be With You till We Meet Again,” and then the pleasant occasion was one to look back upon instead of forward to.

The weather-man was kind, Mr. and Mrs. Shanower did all in their power to make the day enjoyable, and one and all agreed that the day was well spent.

Ben's Kids

Confirmation that this photo is specifically from the 1909 reunion is the reference to the eleven children of Benjamin Shanower being together for the first time in thirty years. All except one of them, the eldest, William Benton Shanower, are in the reunion photo. Not all the "about 105" people at the reunion made it into the photo, which has 89 people.

Although William doesn't appear, I firmly believe he was present that day. Not only does the published account say all eleven of B. F. Shanower's children were there, but I have another photograph of all those children—including William—with Benjamin and Lucy. And most everyone in that other photo is wearing clothing that looks exactly the same as what they're wearing in the big reunion photo. Among the clothing differences are: a couple of the women wearing dark skirts in the reunion photo are wearing white skirts in the other, son Frank has donned a coat for the other photo, and Benjamin Shanower seems to have put on a dark tie in the other photo. But I believe both photos were taken about the same time, possibly the same day.

Here's the "other" photo:

The Benjamin Franklin Shanower family. Seated from left to right: Charles C. Shanower Hinman, Mary E. Shanower Hostetler, Benjamin F. Shanower, Lucy Leifer Shanower, Ralph L. Shanower, Bertha A. Shanower Pollock; standing from left to right: Jennie M. Shanower, David E. Shanower, Katherine O. Shanower Phillips, William B. Shanower, Ella M. Shanower Bower, George E. Shanower, and Benjamin F. Shanower, Jr.

Why isn't William in the reunion photo? I don't know. Maybe he arrived at the reunion too late to be in it.

The report mentions several other reunion attendees that I can't identify in the big reunion photo.

John Amos "Amos" Shanower (1855-1934) of Wolcottville, LaGrange County, Indiana, and Nathaniel E. Shanower (1853-1936) of Burton, Geauga County, Ohio, brother of Benjamin Shanower, and Nathaniel's daughter, Nettie Oleva Shanower (1881-1977), are referenced in the report, but I can't confidently identify them in the reunion photo, although I've made guesses about Nathaniel and Nettie.

The Lucy Shanower, Historian, of Tontogany, Ohio, referenced several times in the reunion report, isn't Lucy Shanower, wife of Benjamin, but instead Lucy Anne Whiteleather Shanower (1860-1942), wife of Ananias Benton Shanower (1857-1920). It's their home where the next Shanower Reunion, in 1910, was to be held. Their identities in the photo are firmly established, thanks to their granddaughter Velma Shanower Kirchner.

I don't think the Reverend Cooper mentioned in the report was a member of the family.

Locations Mentioned

Seven states of the USA are supposed to be represented by the people in the reunion photo: Washington, Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, and Alabama.

Naturally, many of the attendees were from Ohio, where the photo was taken.

A number of people at the reunion were from Indiana, among them Jennie M. Shanower (1875-1942) from Elkhart, daughter of Benjamin and first wife Sophia Shanower, and Amos Shanower from Wolcottville, mentioned in the report.

Mary Elizabeth Shanower Hostetler (1873-1951), daughter of Benjamin and first wife Sophia Shanower attended the reunion from her home in Birmingham, Alabama. She had three daughters by 1909, but I don't think they're in the photo. I think Mary's husband, Christian K. Hostetler (1865-1935), didn't attend the reunion either.

Charles and Nellie Hinman were the attendees from Saint Paul, Minnesota.

William Benton Shanower, eldest child of Benjamin and first wife Sophia Shanower, was the foreman of a stave mill on War Creek in Kentucky in 1913. He might have lived in Kentucky as early as 1909 and thus was the reunion attendee from Kentucky. A trip from Kentucky might have made him late to the reunion and that could be why he's not in the reunion photo. I can't find any other candidate to represent Kentucky.

I don't know who came from Michigan—maybe members of the Tyler branch descended from Zacharias T. Shanower, although I can't identify any of them in the photo. There are probably other candidates from Michigan.

I have no idea who came from Washington.

So Who's in the Reunion Photo?

Below, I've numbered the 89 people in the photo and divided them into five sections. A numbered list for each section of photo follows that section. I've assigned names to as many faces as I can.  The names without question marks are firm identifications. The names with question marks are guesses. Numbers without names are unidentified.

As usual, each image in this blog can be seen larger in a new window. Simply click on the image.

1.
2. Jane M. “Jennie” Shanower
3. Mary Elizabeth Shanower Hostetler
4. Nellie Maude Salsbury Hinman
5. Charles Chalmers Shanower Hinman

20.
21.
22.
23.
24.

39.
40. Harvey Allen Shanower?
41. Lester Butler?
42.

59.
60.
61. Karl William Shanower?
62. Ruth Alma Shanower Wallace?
62.
63.

81.
82.
83.
84.

6. Melissa Agnes Gerber Shanower
7. Ananias Benton Shanower (identified by Vel Shanower Kirchner)
8. Lucy Whiteleather Shanower (identified by Vel Shanower Kirchner)
9. Rebecca “Peggy” Shanower Kroehle (identified by Linda Davis Kress)

25. Mary Daisy Cecil Rueckert?
26. Simon Kandel (identified by Linda Davis Kress)
27. Amelia Kroehle Kandel (identified by Linda Davis Kress)

43. Ellen Shanower Smith?
44. John E. Smith?
45.
46.
47. Mary Ann Shanower Cecil? or Clara Shanower Butler?

64. George Edward Shanower
65. Lulu Hensinger Shanower?
66.
67. Bertha Shanower Pollock
68.

85.
86.
87.

10. Benjamin Franklin Shanower
11. William Henry Phillips?
12. Lucy Leifer Shanower
13. Reuben Shanower?

28. Floyd Allen Phillips, Sr.?
29. Katherine Olephia “Katie” Shanower Phillips
30. Ruth Shanower Simpson?
31. Nathaniel E. Shanower
32. Anamary “Mary” Dahlem Shanower

48. Wilmer Curtis "Curt" Shanower?
49. David Elmer Shanower
50.

69.
70. Nettie Mae Dutton Shanower?
71. Benjamin Franklin “Frank” Shanower, Jr.
72. Burleigh J. "B.J." Shanower?

88.
89.

14. Lydia Karrer Shanower?
15. Nettie Oleva Shanower?
16.
17.

33.
34.
35.

51.
52.
53.
54.

73. Ella M. Shanower Bower
74. Harry Edward "Ed" Shanower?
75.
76.
77. Lena May Shanower Town

18.
19.

36.
37.
38.

55.
56.
57.
58. Clarence David Shanower, Sr. (identified by Brian D. Shanower)

78.
79.
80. Ralph Leo Shanower

I believe the eldest person in the photo is #9, Rebecca "Peggy" Shanower Kroehle (1826-1912). She's the aunt of Benjamin F. Shanower and is seated next to him. In August 1909 great-great-great-great-Aunt Peggy was eighty-three years old and the only remaining member of the Shanower family from her generation. Thank you, cousin Linda Kress, for confirming her identity.

Insecure Identifications

I recognized Melissa A. Gerber Shanower, #6. Her great-grandson Brian Shanower recognized Melissa's son, his grandfather, Clarence D. Shanower, Sr., #58. So I assumed that Melissa's three other children also were in attendance. I assigned her eldest son, Harvey A. Shanower, as #40. You can read about Harvey's post-1909 adventures and compare a bad newspaper photo in a previous post here. Melissa's two youngest children, Karl and Ruth, I assigned as #61 and #62. Those are merely guesses.

I recognized Lena M. Shanower Town (1891-1996), #77. The written report mentions her father Nathaniel E. Shanower, as well as her sister Nettie Oleva Shanower twice. So I figured the rest of Lena's immediate family ought to be in the photo, too. Standing beside Lena, #76 looked like her brother Burleigh J. "B.J." Shanower (1889-1985) to me, except for those widespread ears. More recent photos of B.J. show ears flat against his head. So I guessed that #76 was a different brother of Lena, Harry Edward Shanower (1883-1969). On Lena's other side are two young men who look as though they could be twins. I figured they're Lena's remaining brothers Wilmer Curtis Shanower (1886-1977) and B.J. Identifying Lena's parents Nathaniel and Anna M. Dahlem Shanower (1857-1929) and sister Nettie is much more precarious. But I'm proposing tentatively that they're #13, #14, and #15. I could easily be wrong about all of Lena's immediate family. [UPDATE December 14, 2015: Except for Lena (whose identity I'm sure of) and Nettie, I've changed the identifications on these family members. Nathaniel and Anamary are now securely identified.]

Benjamin Franklin Shanower has a child on his lap, #11. I assume without foundation that it's a grandchild. His only grandchild about that age in 1909 was William Henry Phillips (1909-1929), so that's my tentative identification.

William Henry Phillips's mother, Katherine O. "Katie" Shanower Phillips (1886-1957), #29, is seated behind her father Benjamin. Beside her is #28, a man I've guessed to be her husband, Floyd A. Phillips, Sr. (1885-1960). There's a child, #30, on Katie's lap, but my guess that it's her niece Ruth Shanower Simpson (1905-1980), daughter of Benjamin F. "Frank" Shanower, Jr. (1881-1943), #71, and Nettie Mae Dutton Shanower (1883-1960), is tentative. So is my assignment of #70, the woman standing next to Frank, as Nettie Mae.

George Edward Shanower (1879-1955), #64, wasn't married yet in 1909 to Louise B. "Lulu" Hensinger Shanower (1888-1980), but I've guessed that #65, beside him, might be Lulu. There's a photo of a much older Lulu in this recent blog post, so compare for yourself.

As for assigning the name David C. Shanower (1852-1926) to #41, that's sort of a wild guess. David was a brother of Ananias B. Shanower, who's firmly identified. I thought maybe Ananias's siblings attended the reunion, too. But I can't be certain #41 is brother David.

All Help Appreciated

Several current family members identified people in the photo, as noted. I thank them for their help.

If anyone reading this can identify anyone else in the photo, please either leave a comment below or contact me. Sorry for the dirt on the image, but that's the condition the photo was in when I scanned it and I'm no professional photo-cleaner.

[UPDATE December 14, 2015: I've changed some identifications and added a few others.]

[UPDATE March 16, 2017: I've changed some identifications and added a couple.]

[UPDATE January 1, 2018: I've changed identifications of figures 13 and 14.]

Little Boy Lost

Charles Chalmers "Charlie" Shanower Hinman.

Sometimes family stories preserve only a hint of truth while shedding pertinent details as the years pass. That was the case with the story of Charles Chalmers "Charlie" Shanower Hinman, my great-great-uncle.

My great-great-grandfather Benjamin Franklin Shanower (1845-1928) married his first wife Sophia King Shanower (1841-1877) in 1870. I wrote an earlier post here about Sophia’s family, and how although I’m not her direct descendant, she and I are connected through other members of her family. Sophia died young, but not before she and her husband Benjamin had four children: William Benton Shanower (1871-aft 1930), Mary Elizabeth “Mollie” Shanower (1873-1951), Jennie M. “Jane” Shanower (1875-1942), and Charles Chalmers Shanower (1877-1965).

The story as it has come down to me was that when Sophia died, some of her children were adopted by other families. There were so many children and the family was so poor that childless neighbors took in some of them. Although the dispersed children took the last names of their foster parents, there was no indication that their Shanower origin was forgotten. Photographs of Benjamin Franklin Shanower’s adult children include those that were adopted by others—none of the children went missing.

But those photos are misleading. That’s not quite the real story.

It’s true that Benjamin Franklin Shanower had a lot of children, eleven in all—not unusual in families of the late nineteenth century. But eleven is still a lot of mouths to feed. It might seem sensible to farm out a few of the kids. However, there were only four children when Sophia, their mother, died. So the idea that the family was overcrowded doesn’t stand up.

Still, four motherless kids on an Ohio farm with a father who probably had to work from dawn till dusk was probably a strain on resources. So at least two of the children went elsewhere.

I believe the children in these three photographs from the Shanower Family Bible are the four children of Sophia King Shanower. I'm fairly certain the two children above are Mary Elizabeth "Mollie" Shanower Benner Hostetler (1873-1951) and William Benton Shanower (1871-aft 1930). I'm guessing that the child below left is Charles Chalmers "Charlie" Shanower Hinman (1877-1965) and that the child below right is Jennie M. "Jane" Shanower (1875-1942), but those two identifications are tentative. These photographs are circa mid-to-late 1870s.

I have no indication that William, the first child, and Jennie, the third child, left their Shanower home as youngsters. But the second child, Mary, who was four years old when her mother died, was adopted by Samuel Benner (unknown-1906) and his wife Lydia Wenger Benner (1842-1916). The Benners lived near Smithville in Wayne County, Ohio, immediately west of Stark County where the Shanower family lived. There Mary Shanower was known as Mollie Benner.

The Benners were Mennonites and Mollie became a Mennonite, too, a religious sect her earlier Schonauer ancestors from Switzerland had belonged to. In 1894 she married another Mennonite, Christian K. Hostetler (1865-1935), in Orrville, Wayne County, Ohio. About 1895 they moved to Elkhart, Elkhart County, Indiana, where they had the first three of their four daughters. Christian was employed at the Elkhart Institute, a Mennonite institution and forerunner of Goshen College.

The younger brother of Mary “Mollie” Shanower Benner Hostetler, Charles Chalmers Shanower, was three months old when their mother Sophia died. Little Charles was placed into an orphans’ home in Massillon, Stark County, Ohio. Before long he was adopted by Methodist minister Rev. Chester W. Hinman (1825-abt 1904) and his wife Louisa Whittle Hinman (abt 1825-bef 1900), and taken to live in Black Brook, Polk County, Wisconsin, with the rest of the Hinman family. Rev. Hinman was minister of the Congregational Church in nearby Clear Lake, Wisconsin.

The Hinmans worried that young Charlie might be taken away from them by his birth family, so they insisted that the matron of the Massillon orphans’ home keep their identities secret. They concealed from Charles that they’d adopted him and claimed he’d been born in Michigan instead of Ohio. For a dozen years Charles believed the Hinmans were his biological parents.

Charles was three when the 1880 US Federal Census taker noted his adoption, so clearly the secret wasn’t kept all that well. When Charles turned thirteen he somehow accidentally learned that the Hinmans were not his biological parents. Maybe he overheard someone admitting the adoption to the 1890 US Census taker, as someone obviously did ten years before in 1880. In any case, Charles now knew that Chester and Louisa Hinman weren’t his real parents. But they wouldn’t tell him who his real parents were.

Mary E. "Mollie" Shanower Benner Hostetler and Jennie M. "Jane" Shanower.

Meanwhile back in Ohio, Charles’s birth father, Benjamin Franklin Shanower, had remarried and had a slew of younger children. At some point, possibly in the late 1890s, Benjamin learned that a minister and his wife in Wisconsin had been the ones to adopt Charles. Benjamin informed his daughters Mary Shanower Hostetler and Jennie “Jane” Shanower, Charles’s sisters. They were both living in Elkhart, Indiana.

I imagine that Mary especially would have wanted to seek out her brother, since she had experienced adoption, too. In late 1900 Mary’s husband Christian Hostetler took a trip to Wisconsin in connection with his job at the Elkhart Institute. I expect that Mary urged her husband to make inquiries in Wisconsin about her missing brother Charles. Christian did and learned that a certain Charles C. Hinman, a young man who clearly fit the particulars, lived near Clear Lake, Wisconsin.

Christian Hostetler must have had some specific information—maybe the name "Hinman" or a geographic location or both—to be able to narrow his search for Charlie so successfully. But the newspaper accounts I've gotten most of this story's details from don't supply that information.

However Christian did it, he put the pieces together and went to Charlie’s home, but Charlie wasn’t there. Christian couldn’t wait around for Charlie, but he was sure he’d discovered the right man. So afterward he wrote Charlie a letter, explaining that the Shanowers were looking for their son and brother.

Before Christian could return home to Elkhart, Indiana, from his Wisconsin trip, Charles received Christian’s letter and mailed a joyful reply to Mary and Jane, his sisters in Elkhart. They read Charlie’s letter in late November or early December of 1900, devouring the news of Charlie’s life. Finally, after twenty-three years, the long lost brother had been found!

They learned that Charles was a photographer by training, but at that time he was employed on the farm of his soon-to-be father-in-law, David W. Salsbury (abt 1839-1904). David Salsbury's wife, Ellen Louisa Goodwin Salsbury (1842-1893), was dead, but their daughter, Nellie Maude Salsbury (1873-1955), would be marrying Charlie Hinman in just a few days, on December 12, 1900.

Adopted Shanowers reunited with their father. Charles and Mary with Benjamin Franklin Shanower, circa 1910.

After his wedding Charles C. Shanower Hinman reunited with his siblings and father. He met his father’s second wife, my great-great-grandmother Louisa “Lucy” Leifer Shanower, and her seven children, who were Charlie’s half-brothers and half-sisters.  Afterward he made sure to stay in touch with the Shanowers through letters and visits.

Charles and Nellie Hinman, circa 1945.

Charlie and Nellie Hinman seem to have had a child in 1909, but I have no name for it and I don’t know how long it lived. They moved to Saint Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota, before 1910, and lived there for the rest of their lives. Charles was a car clerk and he and Nellie took in lodgers. Nellie died in 1955. Charles followed ten years later. They are both buried in Clear Lake Cemetery in Polk County, Wisconsin, where Charles had spent most of his Hinman childhood, unaware of his Shanower origin.

Just as Charles was missing from his birth family for many years, the story of what happened to him has also been missing, only for a much longer time. I can’t actually bring Charles back into the family fold like he was brought in 1900. But at least I can bring his story back again.

Three-fer

One thing that fascinates me in the genealogical research of my family is how often family lines intertwine. In times when people didn’t often travel far from the places of their births, in rural areas where people were tied to their land, and in migrations when a group of families crossed national boundaries together it’s not unusual to find multiple connections between families. A common example of this is when several children of one family marry several children of a second family. These multi-sibling marriages are relatively common in my family. When I also add in connections that cross generations and connections that join family branches, instances of intertwining lines occur surprisingly often.

Some of my past blog posts mention incidents of family lines connecting in more than one place. A few months ago I wrote about the unsettlingly intertwined Grant and Hubbard families.  Earlier this month I discussed connections among the Arneth, Startzman, and Reitenauer families. And in the footnote to the Hirvi post last week I described how June Megley’s two marriages connected the Hirvi and Hietanen lines of my family.

Today I’m going to outline the interconnections among the Shanower, King, and Gerber families. Pay attention. This gets complicated.

Possible photo of Sophia King Shanower (1841-1877).

My discovery of these interconnections began with my great-great-grandfather Benjamin Franklin Shanower (1845-1928) and his first wife Sophia King Shanower (1841-1877), who lived during their seven-year marriage in Stark County, Ohio. Information on Sophia King was lacking. I had made an attempt to find her family of origin, but the information that surfaced wasn’t conclusive. It can be hard to prove things with such a common surname as King. And since I’m descended from Benjamin Franklin’s second wife Louisa “Lucy” Leifer (1856-1916), I had no direct blood connection to his first wife Sophia King Shanower as far as I knew. So she wasn’t my highest research priority.

I found another King—Emeline King (1839-1914)—on another branch of the family tree. Emeline also lived in Stark County, Ohio. Her husband was David E. Gerber (1834-1921), a Stark County native descended from Swiss immigrants to Pennsylvania, some via Alsace, France. Emeline and David were the parents of Melissa Agnes Gerber (1861-1942), who married my great-great-great-uncle William Zachary Shanower (1855-1903). (You can read about Melissa and William’s son Harvey Allen Shanower’s first marriage here.) William Zachary was a brother of Benjamin Franklin Shanower. That made William Zachary’s wife Melissa a sister-in-law to Benjamin Franklin’s wife Sophia King Shanower. This family relationship, as well as geographic proximity, made me wonder whether Sophia King Shanower and Emeline King Gerber might be from the same King family. Their births were two years apart. Maybe they were sisters.

The Gerber family about 1900. Back, left to right: Mary E. "Mellie" Gerber Miller, John Calhoun Gerber, George W. Gerber, Edson (Edward) D. Gerber, David H. S. Gerber (of whom more below), Elva Gerber Riley. Front, left to right: Kathryn E. "Kate" Gerber Yutze, David E. Gerber (husand and father), Jennie L. Gerber, Emeline King Gerber (wife and mother), Melissa Agnes Gerber Shanower (wife of William Zachary Shanower).

I re-doubled my efforts to identify Sophia's King family. It turned out I was right—Emeline and Sophia were sisters, daughters of Abraham King (1804-1888) and Phoebe Reichenbach King (1807-1885). Abraham and Phoebe King were parents to a large brood, all born in Berks County, Pennsylvania. The last name King had been Americanized from Koenig, and both Abraham's and Phoebe's ancestors had come from Switzerland, as several of my family lines did.

The King family moved to Canton, Stark County, Ohio, about 1856. Their farm was next door to the Gerber farm, so it surely wasn't long before Emeline King met her neighbor David E. Gerber. In 1858 they married. Like Emeline's parents, she and David also gave birth to a large brood.

The Gerber farmhouse about five miles south of Canton, Stark County, Ohio, circa 1910. Emeline King Gerber is the seated woman on the right. Her husband David E. Gerber is the seated man. They are surrounded by some of their children and their children's families. The King family, who were Emeline's parents and siblings, lived on the farm next door from about 1856 to 1866. The farm of Aaron King, brother of Emeline and Sophia, was another two doors down during the same period.

David and Emeline Gerber's eldest daughter Clara Ellen Gerber (1859-1881), like her sister Melissa and her aunt Sophia, married a Shanower. Clara married John A. Shanower (1851-1923), another of my great-great-great-uncles. John was a brother of both William Zachary, Melissa’s husband, and Benjamin Franklin, Sophia’s husband. Clara and John's marriage made Clara’s Aunt Sophia also her sister-in-law. (Although this double relationship was academic, since Sophia was dead by the time Clara married John in 1880.)

David Shanower Gerber's adoption certificate.

On July 30, 1881, John and Clara Ellen Gerber Shanower had their first and only child, David Henry Shanower (1881-1972). Clara died four days later from delivery complications. Her death certificate lists cause of death as “Childbed.” By the time David was four years old, his father John evidently wasn't up to the task of single fatherhood, so it was decided that David’s maternal grandparents, David E. Gerber and Emeline King Gerber, would adopt him. The adoption went through on November 23, 1885.

David Henry Shanower took the last name Gerber. His descendants are all my cousins twice over—through both the Shanower line and the adopted Gerber line. They’re one generation closer to me through the Shanower line.

My first cousin three times removed David Henry Shanower Gerber is related to Sophia King Shanower in three ways. He’s her nephew through her marriage to his uncle Benjamin Franklin. He’s her grand-nephew through her sister Emeline, his grandmother. He’s her nephew again through his adoption by Emeline. So Sophia King Shanower, who I thought was only connected to me by her marriage to my great-great-grandfather Benjamin Franklin Shanower, turns out to be connected also through David Henry, our common blood relative, as well as through his birth parents. That makes Sophia my great-great-great-aunt-in-law and my great-great-great-great-aunt-in-law, as well as my great-great-step-grandmother. Three relatives in one.

The Gerber family, circa 1884. When I first saw this photo I'd read of David Henry Shanower's adoption by his maternal grandparents, but I didn't put two-and-two together and realize that the boy on the front right, who was identified as David Gerber, is actually my Shanower cousin. Obviously I realize that now. Back, left to right: George W. Gerber, Kathryn E. "Kate" Gerber Yutze, John Calhoun Gerber, Edward D. Gerber. Middle, left to right: Melissa Agnes Gerber Shanower (wife of William Zachary Shanower), Elva Gerber Riley, David E. Gerber (husband and father), Emeline King Gerber (wife, mother, and Sophia King Shanower's sister), Mary E. "Mellie" Gerber Miller. Front, left to right: Jennie L. Gerber and David Henry Shanower Gerber (son of John A. Shanower and Clara Ellen Gerber Shanower, adopted by David and Emeline Gerber).