Brian, We will be glad to help direct you if we can. Where was he living in the 1820 and 1830 censuses? Tax records may help. We can direct you to the appropriate resources if you can give us a few more details. Justin On Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 12:17 PM, Brian <rhinehartroots@yahoo.com> wrote: > Hello. I am new to this list, and I am hoping that someone here may be > able to help. I am researching who I believe to be one of my ancestors who > lived in Pennsylvania. > > His name was Absalom Timms, and he was born about 1760. After serving in > the Revolutionary War, he moved to Pennsylvania. I don't know exactly when > he died, but I'm guessing it was sometime around 1830. I know it was after > 1820, because he filed a pension application then. I didn't find him in the > 1840 census, so it was sometime in that 20 year time period. > > What I am hoping to find is a will or estate record that lists his > children. The problem is, I don't know where he died either. He bounced > around a lot between several different counties in PA. > > I would like to be able to order the LDS film that might have his papers, > but I don't know when or where they were filed. Is there an index available > that might have him listed? If so, could someone tell me if he shows up (or > anyone with that last name) in the index? I'm not looking for someone to > necessarily track down his will, but I am hoping for some clue as to when > and where to look. An index would help with that. > > Could someone help me out? > > Thanks so much! > > Brian > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > PACENTRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

Brian - I'm not sure if you have access to the pension file you referenced, but it is on Footnote.com (subscription required to view the documents). I took a quick read through the papers: on 29 Nov 1820, at age 61, he resided in Bradford Twp, Clearfield County, PA. At that time he had (get this) a "wife aged 27 years, nine children, of whom but three reside with me, aged eleven, seven and two years respectively." The filings were handled through Centre County, which according to the file, handled the judicial matters of Clearfield County at that time. The initial claim in 1818 was filed in Armaugh Twp, Mifflin County. Absalom also shows up on the list of 1835 PA Pensioners, so assuming this to be the same Absalom Timms, he would have died sometime after 1835, although it doesn't list a county, so I don't know if he was still in Clearfield county at that time or not. This is all I had time to check - hopefully it helps focus your search some. Chris Staats