Looking back a few years

In reading this family history, don’t think of it as “John begat Mary begat Samuel…” Think of the individuals and their struggles, note the variety of names and places, the travels and the trades. Genealogy can be fascinating, and your history can tell you a lot about yourself… your disposition, your gifts, your dreams…

John Spencer was a tailor. Born in Yorkshire, England, he and his wife immigrated to the U.S. and raised a family. They both died in Bucks, Penn. in late 1683. There is evidence that they both perished when the Neshaminy River flooded. One of their sons, Samuel, married Elizabeth Whitton, whose family was also from Yorkshire, England. Samuel and Elizabeth had a son, Samuel Spencer Jr., who wed Mary Dawes in June 1723 at the meeting house of the Friends of Plymouth, Penn. (they were Quakers). Mary was the daughter of Abraham Dawes and Edith Whitton of Philadelphia. Samuel and Mary’s mothers might have been related, but I don’t know for sure.

Samuel and Mary Spencer had a son, Nathan, who married Hannah Lofborough, the daughter of Nathaniel Lofborough and Margaret Bissett of New Jersey. Nathaniel left New Jersey to become the first known keeper of the Crooked Billet Tavern, a well known landmark in Hatborough, Pa. Nathaniel’s father, John Loofbourrow, had come to the U.S. from Scotland, marrying Hannah Miles Bunn of Suffolk, Mass. They were both born in 1659. Hannah Lofborough Spencer gave birth to Nathan Jr., whose son, David, was born in Loudoun County, Va. David Spencer married Leah Pickering, who gave birth to yet another Nathan Spencer, who was born in Ohio in 1820. Nathan wed Louisa Hiatt (born 1822), whose family roots were in N.C., Virginia and Maryland.

Nathan and Louisa Spencer had a son, Joseph Henry Spencer, who was born in Kansas in 1845. Let’s stop here for the moment and follow another thread…

Melchior Ruch, born about 1615 in Duerrenroth, Switzerland, married Elsbeth Frauchiger about 1640. Their son, Melchoir, was born December 25, 1644. He lived in the Germanic area of the Northern Alsace now known as Bas-Rhin in Northeastern France. He made a living as a shepherd in Schillersdorf.
The earlier Ruchs probably originated in Emmental (now part of Switzerland), having moved to the northern Rhineland sometime during the 17th century.

The earliest record of Melchoir Ruch of Alsace was recorded in the year 1676 in the church register at Oberbronn, where he was mentioned as a shepherd from the Village of Schillersdorf, and also in a church register in 1679 as a citizen and a shepherd at Ingweiler. That same year, he married Anna Maria (unlisted last name), who gave him a son, Johannes Adamus Ruch, born in 1688. Johannes and his wife, Anna Margaretha, had a daughter, also named Anna Margaretha, who married Hans Michael Haudenschildt, a shepherd in Neiderbronn who was born in Alsace-Lorraine, France. Hans Michael was the son of Diebold Haudenschildt, who was born in Rhineland, Germany about 1680.

Hans and Anna Haudenschildt were wed at Langensoultzbach Lutheran Church on January 11, 1724. Their son, Johannes Diebold Haudenshildt, was born in France in 1745. The Haudenschildt family arrived at Philadelphia Oct. 17, 1749 on the ship “Dragon.” Johannes had a son, Jacob, who wed Mary Robinson of Virginia. Jacob and Mary’s daughter, Elinor, changed her name to Howdyshell. Elinor married John Van Dyne of New Jersey, whose grandfather, Matthew Van Duyn (1752-1837), was a veteran of the Revolutionary War. The Van Dynes had a daughter, Sarah Jane, born in 1844 in Kansas. Sarah married Joseph Henry Spencer (listed above).

Joseph and Sarah Spencer had a daughter named Louisa Ellen, who was born in Montgomery County, Kansas in 1872. Louisa married Edwin Burwick, who was born in Knox County, Missouri to Rev. William Burwick and Louisa Carter Creason. Edwin and Louisa had a son, Lloyd William Burwick, who was born in Galena, Kansas. Lloyd Burwick traveled to California, where he met Mary Magdalene Kozlowski of Pomona. Mary’s parents were Joseph John Kozlowski, who was a California Symphony Orchestra conductor, and Jennie Goldenbee. Both Joseph and Jennie were originally from Posen, Germany (which is now Poznan, a city in Poland).
Lloyd and Mary Burwick had a son, Lloyd Lee Burwick, who was born in Pomona, Calif. on March 23, 1931. He was my father.