Person Page 17

Joseph Billiter was born about 1770. He and Sarah Seward were married. He died after February 1826 in Belle Vernon, Fayette Co, Pennsylvania. He was buried in Gould Hill Cemetery, Belle Vernon, Fayette Co, Pennsylvania.

Joseph Billiter built river boats on the Monongahela River at Belle Vernon around 1810. I knickname him 'JoeBB', short for Joe the Boat Builder. -- JHB

His marriage to Sarah Seward is attested by a deed from Bracken Co, KY in 1824. Courtesy Karen Romick and Dave Gerth. (Deed book G, p 100). Joseph and Sarah then sold her 1/9th part of 92 acres inherited from her father, Samuel Seward.

From: 'History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania', p. 52: "The village [Belle Vernon - ed.] grew slowly, and during 1816 there were added three families,-- those of ... and Joseph Billeter, a boat builder. Before the year 1816, Billeter was living along the river below the town and building flat-boats." On page 814 there is a reference to Joseph Billeter as the first ferryman after the town of Belle Vernon was laid out [1812 or 1813 - ed.]. Courtesy Ralph Billiter.

DEATH:
THE OLD AND NEW MONONGAHELA (1893) by John S Van Voorhis
Bellevernon.
Death Of Mrs. Mary Finley.
page 315
'The Fryes, Speers and Coopers were intimately connected, both by marriage and association, in their early life, and at death their remains occupied the same burial grounds, the four graveyards being in sight, one from the other. The first burial ground intended for Bellevernon was on the well-known Gould Hill, situated now in the village of "Seldom Seen." During Wylie's ownership of the land, permission for burial was granted and J. B. Gould, who succeeded Wylie, gave the same privilege. The remains of Louis Cisly were the first to be interred in this ground, but in what year we cannot ascertain. Then followed the burial of Casper Ebner, Joseph Billiter and his two sons, James and Lewis.'

Gould Hill Cem was probably destroyed by developers in the early 1900's. Courtesy Ralph Billiter.

Additionally, Louis Cisly (Lewis Sisley) was buried at Gould Hill in Feb, 1826, and 'later moved to Rehoboth' where his grave marker is visible Sept, 2001. Courtesy Margaret Sisley Bullock, gggg-granddaughter of Lewis Sisley.

Ellen, Lucy Ann, and Jim Billiter walked Rehoboth Cem on 24 Nov 2001 looking for a marker for Joseph Billiter (or any Billiter) in the remote chance that some trace of Joseph's grave survived the destruction at Gould Hill, like Lewis Sisley's memorial stone. We did find the memorial marker for Lewis Sisley, erected by his descendants, but nothing involving Billiters. Rehoboth Cem is located in North Belle Vernon, at the southern edge of Westmoreland Co, PA, several miles east of Interstate 70's crossing of the Monongahela River. Courtesy Ellen, Lucy Ann, and Jim Billiter.

FAMILY GROUP (Courtesy Jim Billiter)
Reconstructing Joe the Boat Builder's family group in Fayette County is not a trivial exercise because of the lack of vital statistics at that time in Pennsylvania. Joe's will has never been discovered, and any church records confirming births, marriages, etc. remain elusive. Lewis, James, Sallie, and Fannie are mentioned in local histories.

[ Specifically:
- James and Lewis as above in Van Voorhis' book.
- Fannie - ibid. p 365. "The first persons married in the town (Belle Vernon) were Miss Fannie Billiter and John Thompson, the ceremony being performed by William D. Millin, Esq., in 1824."
- Sallie - ibid. p 461. in a lengthy discussion of the Springer family. In part it states that John Springer married Sallie Billiter (no date). John's father, Daniel, married Rachel Higgins in 1790, and had 8 children: Michael, Mathias, John, Joseph, James H., Nancy, Daniel, and Martha. John was killed by a limb from a tree he was felling in 1833. The location is Rostraver township, Westmorland Co., PA.]

My brother, Ralph, and I tried to find ggg-grandpa Joe's grave in 1990 at Belle Vernon, but we only discovered that it and many others had been destroyed by developers.

By explicit statements in the local histories, James and Lewis are his sons. By proximity, rarity of the Billiter name, and timing, Sallie and Fannie are his daughters. Later census data, timing, proximity, and rarity of 'Billiter' in Pennsylvania argue that sons Noah C and Joseph Jr are certainly in Joe's family group in Belle Vernon in the very early 1800's.

Son John's inclusion in Joe's family group is a bit less certain, but nevertheless still very convincing. From later census data (1850, 1860) John was born PA in 1816. The PA census of 1820 shows two Billiter families in Fayette Co (and none in other PA counties): those of Joseph Billiter and Joseph Billiter. The second Joseph Billiter of Fayette Co is very poorly indexed and can be found only by examining the census detail, as did Ellen Kaiser Billiter some years ago. This second Joseph Billiter family is very young in 1820 Fayette Co, but it has two males who could have been born in 1816. The other, older Joseph Billiter family in the 1820 census is certainly the one continuing from the 1800 and 1810 census enumerations. And that family also has a male child who could have been b 1816 in the right place to be John Billiter.

So, in the 1820 census there are three Billiter children who could be my ancestor, John Billiter. The second Joseph Billiter in PA in 1820 proved to be Joe the Boat Builder's son, Joseph Jr (b c 1796 PA) from later census data, and he 'went down the river' to Brown Co, Ohio shortly after 1820. His family group has two sons who might be John b 1816, but they are proved to be Hugh Ford Billiter and Solomon Billiter by later census entries. By elimination, John Billiter (m Lucy Ann Crow) is a son of the older Billiter family in Fayette Co, PA: that of Joseph Billiter m Sarah Seward.

Additionally, if John (b1816) had belonged to Joseph Jr's family, we would expect him to have traveled 'down the river' with the family in 1821 or 1822 to Brown Co, Ohio when John was about five or six years old. That was not the case. John surfaces next in his 1835 marriage to Lucy Ann Crow in Marshall Co, VA (now WV), far upriver from Brown Co, OH, and much closer to the PA Billiter homeland in Fayette Co, PA. And proximate to his supposed brother, Noah C Billiter, surely a son of Joe the Boat Builder. Such is the rationale for including John Billiter among Joe the Boat Builder's sons.

This family group of JoeBB is probably lacking mention of one daughter: from census data (1800, 1810, 1820) there were three young females in Joe and Sarah's household. We know of two, Sallie and Fannie. Who is the third daughter?

5/2004 - the third daughter is Sarah Jane, courtesy Marguerite Howard. See Sarah Jane's entry. [JHB]

INCLUSION of JoeBB as a son in Edward Billiter's family group in NC in 1790: (Discussion courtesy Jim Billiter)

A Joseph Billiter 'witnessed deed between Samuel Seward and Nathan Craft 2 Feb 1795, Stokes County, NC'. Courtesy Dave Gerth. Implying that this Joe Billiter was at least born in 1774 or earlier, and notably making him at least 16 during the 1790 census. Save that thought; I will use it later. This assertion, of course, partly assumes that a person in 1790's NC had to be at least 21 to perform legally as 'witness' to a deed there.

Census entries for 'Joseph Billiter' (or variant spellings) from 1790-1830 show one, possibly two, in Maryland (Caroline Co on the Eastern Shore). The only other ones known from 1800-1820 are JoeBB and his son JoeJr in Fayette Co, PA.

The Joseph Billiters then in Maryland are eliminated from identity with JoeBB by considering their ages, one was about 15 years older than JoeBB. Another would be too young. Comparing the census data for Joseph Billiter in MD and PA in 1800: Joseph Billiter, Caroline Co, MD, 1 male over 45 is the only person in the household; Joseph Billiter (JoeBB), Fayette Co, PA no males over 45, but otherwise a young family of six.

So, let's examine the NC timing. No Joseph Billiter appears in the 1790 NC census, and we know some of the Billiter family moved there after the Revolution, and certainly before the 1790 census. So we might reasonably expect that Joseph Billiter, the deed witness in 1795 Stokes Co, to have been there prior to 1790. The NC Billiters are linked to the early Delmarva Billiters by Zebediah, one of three Stokes Co Billiter householders enumerated in the first census. 'Zebediah served with Captain Joseph Richardson in a Caroline County, Maryland company during the American Revolution.' [Quoting Dave Gerth.]

But, no Joseph Billiter is enumerated in that NC census, and the most likely reason is that he was part of another Billiter household there in 1790. So, that Joe must have been fairly young in 1790, but over 21 in 1795. That makes our NC Joseph the only, and perfect candidate by age to be JoeBB, who appears first in the 1800 PA census, which enumerates a Joseph Billiter at least 26 years old and under 45 in Fayette County, PA.

We also know Joseph Billiter married Sarah Seward somewhere. And that Zebediah Billiter married Anna Seward in Stokes Co, NC. Phyllis Solter's fine research (see http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~solter/Seward/samsr.htm) places Sarah and Anna in the family group of Samuel Seward in Stokes Co, NC. Which dovetails neatly with Sarah's father's name, Samuel Seward, in the 1824 Bracken Co, KY deed, which has Joseph Billiter of Fayette Co, PA (JoeBB) as Sarah's husband.

So, it's almost certain that JoeBB came to Fayette Co, PA from Stokes Co, NC in 1795 or 1796 (JoeJr was b PA c 1796), but how shall we assign JoeBB to a family group in Stokes Co at the right time?

There are three Billiter families in the 1790 Stokes Co, NC census:
Alexander (2 - 4 - - 6),
Edward (3 1 3 - - 7), and
Zebdiah (1 2 1 - - 4).
(The first entry is for males 16 or over, the second for males under 16.)

Recalling that JoeBB is at least 16 in 1790, the only possibles are Alex's and Edward's family groups, which have a total of three ([2-1]+[3-1]) male children 16 or older. Courtesy Dave Gerth: "I have since recieved Alexanders will, which has no Joseph mentioned."

By elimination Joseph Billiter then belonged to Edward Billter's family group. It would be nice to find Edward's will for confirmation.

James Billiter was born about 1802 in Pennsylvania. He and Susan ("Susanna") were married. He died about 1834 in Belle Vernon, Fayette Co, Pennsylvania. He was buried in Gould Hill Cem, Belle Vernon, Fayette Co, Pennsylvania.

Reconstructing the James Billiter Family of PA 7/2000

(James is s/o Joe the Boat Builder.) by Jim Billiter

As of January, 2000 we knew that Joseph Billiter (b where?
1765-1774, fl 1796-1826 Belle Vernon, PA) had five sons, Joseph
Jr, Noah C, James, Lewis, and John. We call Joseph Sr 'Joe the Boat
Builder', and abbreviate that as 'JoeBB'. (My apologies to
ggg-grandpa Joe.)

Three sons propagated the Billiter name 'down the river'. First
Joe Jr in the early 1820's went to Brown Co, OH with a young
family. By the 1830's Noah C and his much younger brother, John,
landed in Marshall Co, VA, somewhat south of Wheeling. We have a
fair amount of detail about many of their descendants, which
include myself.

We knew nothing of the other two sons, James and Lewis, except
that they were buried with JoeBB in the Gould Hill Cemetery in
Belle Vernon from the following source.

"The Old and New Monongahela" written in 1893 by John S. Van
Voorhis. (Gen Pub Co) Courtesy RPB, JHB p. 315. "The first
burial ground intended for Bellevernon was on the well-known
Gould hill, situated now in the village of 'Seldom Seen.'
During Wylie's ownership of the land, permission for burial
was granted and J. B. Gould, who succeeded Wylie, gave the
same privilege. The remains of Louis Cisly were the first
to be interred in this ground, but in what year we connot
ascertain. Then followed the burial of Casper Ebner, Joseph
Billiter and his two sons, James and Lewis."

Indeed, this burial information has been the only reason to add
James and Lewis to JoeBB's family group, until now. Bill Moyer
of Garden Grove, CA recently sent the family group of James H
Billiter, b PA 4/17/1833, Bill's gg-grandfather. Bill thought
that James H was probably a grandson of JoeBB.

In PA's genealogical wasteland from the period, we have only a
few scattered land and census records. I will use these to make
a case for a Billiter line in PA descended from James Billiter,
s/o JoeBB. Note that I will rely heavily on the rarity of the
Billiter name, proximity to Belle Vernon, and the dangerous
assumption that 'absence of evidence is evidence of absence' in
census data. The last is usually a fallacy, but census data are
intended to be exhaustive, so it might be admitted by exception,
especially during the period of PA's genealogical dark age. For
example: I conclude that JoeBB died before 1830 because he does
*not* appear in the 1830 census; there is no death certificate
for JoeBB, simply because PA didn't make death certificates at
the time. And of course, we have never found JoeBB's will, and
his grave was destroyed in the early 1900's.

Now to the argument. There were Billiter progeny in PA,
proximate to Belle Vernon, in the 1800's after Joe Jr, Noah C,
and John went 'down the river'. Those Billiters (Priscilla,
James H, Henry, etc.) remaining near Belle Vernon are almost
certainly descended from JoeBB's sons, Lewis and James, who were
buried at Gould Hill with their father. James and Lewis stayed
and died in PA.

From Voorhis' wording in his history (above) it appears that
James and Lewis died not long after JoeBB, at least from Voorhis'
remote standpoint in 1893.

A James Billiter appears in the 1830 PA census, but Lewis does
not. James is the right age and in the right place, a few miles
from Belle Vernon, to be JoeBB's son, and our only candidate.

Billetor, James, Westmoreland Co., (130) Rostrave (sp?)
district, PA. Courtesy JHB 2 males under 5, 1
male between 20 and 30, 1* female under 5, 1* female between
5 and 10, 1* female between 10 and 15, 1 female between 20
and 30, 1 female between 50 and 60. (*: the count looks
like a cross between a one and a zero. There are no zeros
elsewhere on the page, blanks indicate zero, so it must be a
one.)

John Blitter is listed in the index for Philadelphia
mupg. 286. Joseph Billiter does not appear in the index or
in the Fayette Co. Detail. Courtesy EKB

( Ralph Billiter has noted that the eldest female in James'
household could well be JoeBB's widow, Sarah Seward Billiter. )

If Lewis died before 1830, then he was perhaps without issue.
And that leaves James, who survived in 1830, but is absent in
1840. Assume that James died between 1830 and 1840, the only
possible Billiter patriarch at that time. So, where is his
family?

We have found no Billiters in PA's 1840 census. Because Lewis
and JoeBB died before 1830, and James in the 1830's.

Census data from 1850:
CNS PA 1850: Fayette Co., Cookstown Borough: Courtesy RPB, EKB
Billiter, Susan 49 b. PA PE=1200
Henry 21 b. PA Glassblower
James 17 b. PA Glassblower
Sarah P 19 b. PA
Green Co. , Monongahela Twp.:
Belliter, Lewis 22 b. PA Glassblower
Nancy 20 b. PA
James Henry 1/12 b. PA

Cookstown Borough became Fayette City in 1854. Note that Susan,
b 1801, is likely a widow. Whose? Not Lewis', dead by 1830,
after which Susan is still having children in 1831 and 1833. By
age, proximity, and elimination, Susan is then James' widow.
Also, the Lewis Billiter in nearby Green Co, is probably the
second of the two males under 5 years in the 1830 census for
James' household.

Conclusions --

- James died abt 1834, at age 32 (approx): from his widow's
household in 1850 they had been robustly building a family (of
glassblowers), but halted suddenly after young James's birth in
1833.

- James' family comprised at least 1) wife Susan b 1801, 2) son
Lewis b 1828, 3) son Henry b 1829, 4) daughter Sarah P b 1831,
and 5) son James b 1833.

- By name, proximity, and DOB, James (s/o James m Susan) is Bill
Moyer's gg-grandfather, James H. The family group (James H m
Margaret Guinn) is courtesy Bill.

The family groups for Lewis and Henry (the other sons of James
and Susan) can be at least partially completed from the 1880 PA
census data and several IGI entries. (But not discussed here.)

This line is viewable at http://www.billiter.com/oldjoe/.
Author: Jim Billiter, Jim@Billiter.com.

Lewis Billiter was born about 1804 in Pennsylvania. He died before 1830 in Pennsylvania. He was buried in Gould Hill Cem, Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania.

Joseph Billiter was born about 1796 in Fayette Co, Pennsylvania. He and Elizabeth Schaffer were married about 1815 in Pennsylvania. He died in 1859 in Lancaster Twp, Huntington Co, Indiana. He was buried in 1859 in Mt Etna Cem, Huntington Co, Indiana.

Joseph (JoeJr) went "down the river" from Belle Vernon, PA to Brown Co, OH after the 1820 census was taken. A history of Brown County says the family's arrival was when Hugh was 2-3 years old, and mentions Joseph's wife, Elizabeth. Since Hugh was b c 1819, that puts the arrival in Brown Co, OH in 1821-1822. Courtesy Karen Romick.

The family group appears in the 1850 census of Huntington Co, IN. Courtesy JHB

Many details of Joseph's family group are courtesy John Curry, as well as many new descendants of JoeJr m Elizabeth Schaffer. John's genealogical biography of his gg-grandmother, Sarah Jane Billiter Bowman, may be found at http://www.billiter.com/oldjoe/sarahj.htm. Sarah Jane is a daughter of Joeeph Billiter and Elizabeth Schaffer.

John Curry also wrote (May 2003) about burials in Huntington Co, Indiana:
"Old Cemetery at Mt Etna - about a mile south between old and new highway, easr side of new highway, in woods, completely overgrown.
Billiter Lot
1. (Joseph Billiter?)
2. (Elizabeth Shaffer Billiter?)
3. (Nathan Billiter?)
4. Cyrena J Billiter, dau of J and R Billiter, died June 3, 1855 aged 4 months 23 days
5. Mary R Wiles, wife of John G Wiles
6. Minerva Logan (on Billiter plot)
7. Lyda E Billiter, dau of N and N Billiter, dies Sept 21, 1867 aged 4 years 6 months 12 days."

Sallie Billiter and John Springer were married.

Euphemia ("Fannie") Billiter and John Thompson were married in 1824 in Belle Vernon, Washington Co, Pennsylvania.

"Mrs. Elizabeth Enix, born 7 Apr 1822 PA - died 30 Mar 1912, Paris Twp. Union, Ohio (parents John Thompson & Euphemia Billiter)." This death record courtesy Karen Romick 2009.

John Thompson and Euphemia ("Fannie") Billiter were married in 1824 in Belle Vernon, Washington Co, Pennsylvania.

John Springer and Sallie Billiter were married. He died in 1833 in Pennsylvania.

Elizabeth Schaffer was born about 1795 in Pennsylvania. She and Joseph Billiter were married about 1815 in Pennsylvania. She died in 1869 in Huntington Co, Indiana. She was buried in 1869 in Mt Etna Cem, Huntington Co, Indiana.