Michael Hyder (1740-1790), patriot

As we noted in an earlier post, Hans Michael and Katherine Chasteen Hyder immigrated from Germany to the American colonies in 1729. Their son Michael Hyder, Sr., fought in the American War for Independence, and his contributions to that and other skirmishes are memorialized on his headstone:

Erected by his Descendants to Michael Hyder Sr. Died 25 June 1790
Member of the Watauga Association in Watauga Fort, June 21, 1776. Took part in all the early Indian wars in Tennessee under Shelby, Sevier and Christian.
Was in the following battles of the Revolution, Thickety Fort, Cedar Springs and Musgrove's Mill in South Carolina. Was detailed from the King's Mountain, SC expedition to defend the Watauga Settlement from Indian invasion.

'Irish Andrew' Culbertson (1694-1746)

Another line intersects with the Wells line with David W Wells' mother Elizabeth Culbertson. It begins in Scotland in the 16th century. A major figure in the line is a certain Andrew ("Irish Andrew") Culbertson, who came to Pennsylvania in the early 18th century and was my generation's 8th great-grandfather.

• Thomas Cutbertsoun (c 1570?—unknown), married Bessie Hog
• Nicoll Culberstone (21 November 1590, Kelso, Roxburgh, Scotland—27 April 1650, West-mains Seatoun, Midlothia, Scotland), married Cicill Waddell (1590, Berwickshire, Scotland—c 1692, Mid-Calder, Midlothian, Scotland)
• Andrew Culbertson (Cuthbertson) (1612, Mid Calder, Midlothian—1654), married Elspeth Johnstone (1610-1661), daughter of Johnne Johnstoun (1580, Halifax, Yorkshire, England—14 October 1622, Midlothian, Scotland) and Margaret Hacketstoun (1580, Leith, Midlothianshire, Scotland—unknown, Leith)
• William Culbertson (c 1645, Scotland—after 1720), married Jean Breckenridge (1668-1742), daughter of Thomas J Breckenridge (1655, Ballyrichard, Antrim, Ireland—1700, Clogher, Tyrome, Ireland) and Jane Austin (21 March 1652, Elton, Huntingdonshire, England—2 January 1690, Antrim, Ireland)
• Andrew “Irish Andrew” Culbertson (1694, Derry, Londonderry, Ireland—1746, Shippensburg, Cumberland, Pennsylvania), married Janet Breckenridge (Caldwell) (Miller?) (1696-1742), daughter of Alexander Breckenridge (c 1665—unknown) and Elizabeth Jane Preston (c 1665—unknown)
• Andrew Culbertson, Jr. (c 1726, Culbertson's Row, Franklin County, Pennsylvania—1763), married Esther Arbuckle (1726, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania—unknown), daughter of Matthew Arbuckle (c 1700-unknown) and unknown
• Joseph C Culbertson (1744, Cumberland, Pennsylvania—5 December 1805, Russell County, Virginia), married Agnes Bailey Stacy (1 August 1745, Westmoreland County, Virginia, or Lancaster, Pennsylvania—3 April 1811, Russell County, Virginia)
• Joseph Culbertson (1766, Caswell County, North Carolina—1815, Scott County, Virginia), married Agnes Chittleton
• Elizabeth Culbertson ((1792-1859), married Dr. Jeremiah Wells (1792-1845), David Wells' father.
  

Map of origins

This map shows the regions of what is now the United States where some of our ancestors lived. Our earliest ancestors on the Howard and Wells side were from Maryland. Captain Cornelius Howard (1630/43-1680), our generation's 9th great-grandfather, represented Anne Arundel County in the Maryland General Assembly in St. Mary's City, the first capital of Maryland under the proprietorship of the Lords Baltimore, who founded the colony in 1634. Anne Arundel (1615/16-1649) was married to Cecil Calvert (1605-1675), the 2nd Lord Baltimore. They are my wife's 8th great-grandparents. During our honeymoon, we visited St. Mary's City, mostly because of her forebears' connection with the place, little realizing at the time that one of my own ancestors had spent time there as well. As mentioned in an earlier post, Howard County was named for our Howard ancestors.

Lucy Jane's reminiscences, 2

Later turned out to be today. Here's the second document that Lucy Jane recorded.

Lucy Jane's reminiscences, 1

I have devoted a page to my great-grandmother Lucy Jane Hyder's reminiscences which she had the foresight to record in 1940, when she was 65 years old. This is the first document that I will be posting. The second is from 1945 which I will post later.

Captain Cornelius Howard, Sr.

I have posted a permanent page devoted to Captain Cornelius Howard, who was born sometime between 1630 and '43 and died in 1680. He is my 9th great-grandfather through my great-grandmother Lucy Jane, as indicated below:

• Captain Cornelius Howard (1630/43-1680), m Elizabeth
  
• Captain Cornelius Howard, Jr. (c 1670-1717), m Mary Katherine Hammond (1689-1714)
  
• Captain John Howard (1698-1765), m Elizabeth Gassaway (1712-?)
  
• Hannah Howard (1735-?), m Caleb Osborne (1731-1781)
  
• Elizabeth Abigail Osborne (1757-1856), m Zachariah Wells (1745-1825)
  
• Dr. Jeremiah Wells (1792-1845), m Elizabeth Culbertson (1792/96-1859)
  
• David W. Wells (c 1815-1865), m Nancy Jane Elkins (1822-1887)
  
• Virginia Elizabeth Wells (1857-1917), m Squire Benjamin Bentley (1849-1903)
  
• Lucy Jane Bentley (1875-1948), m Nelson Hyder (1875-1959)

The page is an extended quotation from Anne Arundel gentry: a genealogical history of twenty-two pioneers of Anne Arundel county, Md., and their descendants, by Harry Wright Newman (Baltimore, Md.: The Lord Baltimore press, 1933), 261-262. More information on Cornelius Howard can be found at this site.

In a future post, I will write about Cornelius' mysterious father, Matthew, whose parentage is subject to dispute but who appears to be a descendant of the Dukes of Norfolk, the senior peerage of the realm in England.

From Germany to Appalachia

The origins of the Hyder family are in Germany, in the village of Glashütten, Oberfranken, in what is now northern Bavaria but what then may have been the Principality of Beyreuth in the Holy Roman Empire. On 17 August 1729 Hans Michael Hyder (6 June 1704, Glashütten—30 April 1776, Lincoln, North Carolina) and Katherine Chasteen Hyder (c 1708- c 1746) boarded a ship called the Mortonhouse for America, leaving Rotterdam in the Netherlands and arriving some time later in Philadelphia. From there they moved to North Carolina, with subsequent generations settling along the Appalachian frontier between North Carolina and what would later become Tennessee, especially Carter County in the latter state.

My grandmother, Frances Marie, was born a Hyder in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, in 1904. Her parents were Nelson Hyder (1875-1959) and Lucy Jane Bentley Hyder (1875-1948), of whom my mother has fond memories. Nelson is Hans Michael and Katherine's 3rd great-grandson. They lived in Big Stone Gap where ten children were born to them, two of whom died in infancy. In 1914 or 1915 they moved to a farm near Adrian, Lenawee County, Michigan, to be near Nelson's mother Mary Hyder Shepherd (1844-1925) and her husband David Shepherd (1849-after 1925). There two more children were born to them.

In future posts I will be exploring the genealogical roots of my great-grandparents, whom I never met but who left many descendants throughout North America. Stay tuned.