Barbara, I have John Wierman Cook (1804-1855) who married Catherine Hewitt in my tree, I never thought about this Hewitt line... I didn't have the parents of Catherine. I show Catherine Hewitt was born Oct. 18, 1808, but I don't have a death date or location, do you? Do you have dates for her parent's John Hewitt and his wife's name? John W. Cook (1804-1855) was the son of Isaac & Sydney (Evans) Cook, and he was born near Dillsburg in York Co., Pa., about 20-25 miles north of Gettysburg. John W. Cook worked on the railroad and he suffered a horrible death, he was cut in two by a railroad car. A resident of Bendersville, William B. Wilson (1801-1873) kept a diary and on Mar. 28, 1855, his entry reads: "John W. Cook killed in Hanover by being run over by a car about 5 o'clock. He died immediately. Spoke these words: 'My God I am killed.' And then died." There are several newspaper articles about this as well. The Jesse Cook in Latimore twp., is another Jesse Cook, he was b. Aug. 5, 1796, York Co., Pa., and d. Feb. 10, 1880, Latimore twp., and is buried at Huntington Friends Mtg., Latimore twp., Adams Co. This Jesse was the older brother of John W. Cook. According to tax records this Jesse lived "next to Huntington Mtg." for over 50 years from 1829 till his death in 1880. For many years he was the sole member of Huntington Mtg. The Jesse Cook (1801-1855) who owned "Cook's Mill' north of Bendersville was the son of Henry & Mary (Way) Cook and according to the diary of Wm. B. Wilson, dated Nov. 8, 1838: "Jesse bought Hewitt's Mill." (John Hewitt) This Cook line were members of Menallen Friends Mtg., in Menallen twp., Adams Co., a mile or two south of Bendersville. I have a friend who knows about Basil Biggs and I will ask her about your Biggs' to see if there is a connection. I hope this isn't too confusing for everyone, it sure was for me straightening everyone out. Great stuff! Thanks, Bob Cooke In a message dated 8/22/2009 7:40:39 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, barbtpalmer@yahoo.com writes: Hi, Bob: John Hewitt (1780-1864) was the husband of Elizabeth Bender, the daughter of John Bender (1760-1816) and Katrina Schnerr. John Bender's will was purchased from Adams County Register of Wills in Gettysburg,. The will is 3 pages long and very hard to read. It was signed May 29, 1816 and proved June 24, 1816. John Bender gave bequests to his wife Catherine and his daughters, and after giving his sons John and Jacob Bender "the land he lives on, two other tracts of land in Menallen Township, and the wind mill…“, John Bender states in his will: “I order and direct my executors hereafter named to sell my share of the mill and property held in partnership with John Hewitt for the best price…and it is my will that my son-in-law John Hewitt have the first chance of purchasing the above property." This is all I know about the mill and property. I don't know the location of this property or if John Hewitt ever purchased it. In the 1850 census, John Hewitt, age 70, owned real property worth $2000 and in the 1860 census his real property value was worth $3000. In the 1870 census, John Hewitt's son Samuel, was living next door to him with only $100 in real property value, but in the 1880 census, Samuel Hewitt's real property value was $5000. So Samuel Hewitt apparently obtained John Hewitt's land after he died. But this is past the 1838 date you gave for the land sale to Jesse Cook. In looking over John Hewitt's children, I note that his daughter Catherine Hewitt married John W. Cook on 25 May 1830, and I also note that there was a Jesse Cook on the 1860 census for Latimore Township, Adams County. Was Jesse Cook the father of John Cook. John Hewitt was born in 1780 and apparently Jesse Cook was born ca. 1797, so John Hewitt and Jesse Cook were contemporaries. If John Hewitt's daughter Catherine married Jesse Cook's son John W. Cook, then the families are related by marriage. However, you would have to check Adams Co. land records for 1838 to pin down who sold the land to Jesse Cook. Regarding Biggs, I can't get that line back past Oscar Biggs, a steel worker, who died in Baltimore in 1918. He was born at the end of the year in 1880 and thus too late to be included in the 1880 census, so and I haven't been able to trace his parents. Oscar was born in Nashville, TN but that's as far as I can get with Biggs. Barbara Palmer San Diego --- On Sat, 8/22/09, CookeRL3@aol.com <CookeRL3@aol.com> wrote: From: CookeRL3@aol.com <CookeRL3@aol.com> Subject: re: George HAMBURG, early 1800s To: paadams@rootsweb.com Cc: barbtpalmer@yahoo.com Date: Saturday, August 22, 2009, 12:57 AM Hello Barbara, I'm sorry I don't have the info you are searching for, however I wonder if you can tell me if some of these people are connected to my research. Do you know if the John Hewitt who married Elizabeth Bender sold a farm known as "Hewitt's Mill" to Jesse Cook in Nov. 1838, that was located one mile north of the town of Bendersville in northern Adams Co., thereafter known as "Cook's Mill"? The several people with the Biggs name, are they connected to Basil Biggs, a "conductor" on the Underground Railroad in the area of Gettysburg and who was contracted to bury the dead after the battle there in July 1863? Thanks, Bob Cooke Simi Valley, Ca. --------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2009 22:39:56 -0000 From: "gc-gateway@rootsweb.com" <gc-gateway@rootsweb.com> Subject: Re: [PAADAMS] George HAMBURG, early 1800s To: <PAADAMS-L@rootsweb.com> Message-ID: <1250894397.748821@rootsweb.com> Content-Type: text/plain; Hi, Sheridan: I'm doing research for Patricia Biggs Kelly who wishes to join the DAR under Jacob Bender of Adams Co, PA. She descends from Jacob Bender as follows: Jacob Bender m. Catherine Schneider John Bender m. Katrina Schnerr, d. of Casper/Magdalena Elizabeth Bender m. John Hewitt Deborah Hewitt m. Frederick Hamburg and moved just across the border to Carroll Co, MD Margaret Hamberg m. Rev. Calvin Amy, late lives in Baltimore Grace Amy m. Andrew Townsend, Baltimore Robert J. Townsend m. Emma Kutschel Gwen Townsend m. Jose Leroy Biggs Patricia Biggs Kelly Barbara Palmer San Diego ____________________________________