My ancestors, gggrandparents, John and Maria (Farner) Bowers arrived in Oregon in 1853 on the "Lost Wagon Train". When completing their Oregon emigration entry data John Bowers said he was born in Dauphin, PA and Maria Bowers said she was born in Franklin or Cumberland, PA. John later was quoted in a book entitled Illustrated History of Lane County, Oregon published in 1884 that he was born in Lebanon Co., PA. My great grandfather, Thomas Bowers, told his family he was born in 1848 in Lebanon Co., PA. He and his five other siblings were not listed on the Oregon Trail data (not unusual as there were 1,000 emigrants on that wagon train). My great uncle Jeremiah Bowers told family he himself was born in Cumberland Co., PA. in 1843. We plan to be in PA in June for a few days. Question: Where would be the best place to look for records of 1840-1848 in these counties to confirm marriage/births? Thank you. Darlene Griffith

Darlene, Pennsylvania did not have birth or marriage records during this time period. Church records might be an option though. The Cumberland County Historical Society's Hamilton Library has church records indexed on a database which you can use in the library. Other than that, Pennsylvania research depends on finding relationships mainly through probate records and deeds which are found in the county courthouses. That's not an easy look up however, and you may not find anything. Franklin County was formed from Cumberland county, and Lebanon was formed from Dauphin, so they may seem inconsistent and yet not really be. Search in the records for the county that it would have been at the time they lived there. I don't know the date of formation for Lebanon, but Franklin was formed from Cumberland about 1785 long before the dates you're talking about. Patti On Jan 16, 2011, at 2:09 PM, BDGriff430@aol.com wrote: > My ancestors, gggrandparents, John and Maria (Farner) Bowers arrived in > Oregon in 1853 on the "Lost Wagon Train". When completing their Oregon > emigration entry data John Bowers said he was born in Dauphin, PA and Maria > Bowers said she was born in Franklin or Cumberland, PA. John later was quoted > in a book entitled Illustrated History of Lane County, Oregon published in > 1884 that he was born in Lebanon Co., PA. > > My great grandfather, Thomas Bowers, told his family he was born in 1848 in > Lebanon Co., PA. > He and his five other siblings were not listed on the Oregon Trail data > (not unusual as there were 1,000 emigrants on that wagon train). > > My great uncle Jeremiah Bowers told family he himself was born in > Cumberland Co., PA. in 1843. > > We plan to be in PA in June for a few days. > Question: Where would be the best place to look for records of 1840-1848 > in these counties to confirm marriage/births? > > Thank you. > Darlene Griffith > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to PAFRANKL-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message