Afternoon Vashenan Listmates, We found this obit for Martin Hite. He is the son of David Hite and Susannah Spitler. His linage begins in Chester County, Pennsylvania then down to Shenandoah County and then he went over to Page County. He married Isabelle Yowell. The Yowell family married in to the Rothgeb family. Emma Belle Rothgeb, whose parents were John W. Rothgeb and Pamela V. Yowell, married Jacob Edgar Bushong, son of Jacob Bushong and Sarah Strickler of the New Market Battlefield family. See my BOSCHONG Archives for December 2009, April 2010, September 2009, and December 2004 for more mentions of Yowell and July 2010, August 2009, October 2009 and April 2007 for mention of Hite. ------------------- The Shenandoah Herald Friday, 20 January 1905 Page 3, Column 3 MARTIN HITE IS DEAD IN PAGE COUNTY Martin Hite, one of the oldest farmers of Page County, died suddenly at his home, one mile east of Luray, last Thursday morning, aged 87 years. Mr. Hite had been in feeble health for several years though his death was very unexpected. He was the owner to the celebrated Hite Lithia Spring of that county, and his home was visited each year by many summer boarders. Mr. Hite was the father of Mr. George Hite who lived about one mile west of Woodstock. ---------------------- Now I don't know if this Martin Hite is related to Josh Hite or the Yowell family married in to the Bushongs, but we have a story to tell about Josh Hite that you might find interesting. Oral history of a family is not always 100 per cent correct. Some time ago, I attended a Genealogical Seminar over in Largo, Florida with the well known Hank Jones of California who is an expert on Palatine research, who told the story about Josh Hite and how oral history becomes corrupted. Hank explained it like this. Remember the old gossip game we used to play as kids, where you sit in a circle and whisper something to the person on the left of you, it goes around the circle, whispered in the next ear and eventually comes out at the person on your right as something totally different then what you whispered in that first ear. That's how family stories evolve. Hank said that while researching Josh Hite he was told, according to the Virginia descendants, Josh Hite was a Alsatian Baron who came here as a wealthy man on his own ships filled with money. Well, Hank Jones found out in person, through in depth research in the village in Europe that Josh Hite came from, that Josh Hite did come here as an immigrant, but he was the son of a butcher and chicken plucker in a little village, and after he reached these shores in New York, went to Pennsylvania. Then Jost Hite did receive a land grant in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Because of the large amount of land he received, he would have been considered a land baron to some and two generations later, that heir owned several ships, the Friendship and Swift.. So you can see how family stories get twisted around and the generations get messed up. 99.99 per cent of the Palatine immigrants came here as peasants with no money because they were taxed to death in their journey as they hit the various ports. By the time they reached this country, they had very little money. Hank Jones is very knowledgeable about genealogy and well respected in the genealogical field worldwide. He has done a lot of Palatine research in Europe and published books about it so check him out. I have been to many seminar's where I have learned very little, but did learn a few new things at this one, OR had some of my own genealogical thoughts reinforced. One thought is that the German naming system that old genealogist are clinging to so strongly is definitely not true in many instances. It is just a place to start if you know nothing about your family but may prove incorrect, and you should be willing to be open to it not proving true. As you all well know, I have taken this stance for many years, criticized highly for it, but this is the first time that a highly respected researcher and speaker in the genealogical field has expressed my same thoughts. Yeah! ----------------------- Will Records of Shenandoah County, Virginia 1771-1791 Will Records of Shenandoah County, Virginia Book A OSPage: 467 Name: Abraham. Hendrick My wife, Barbary My sons: Jacob, Abraham, Benjamin, and Christopher My daughter, Catharine, Alex. Hite and Philip Huffman, Exe. Written: 15 November 1799 Witnesses: John Cordel, Alex. White, Phillip Burk, Isaac Sittler, and John Bushong Probated: 27 December 1782 Ellsberry Collection - Wills of Shenandoah County, Virginia 1771 - 1791, published 2001 ---------------------- Researched and Submitted by Gloria Bushong