Jonas BREON & Mary HAAS & Mary D. HARDING

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Diana, Goddess of the Hunt — for Ancestors!

Every-Name Index

Jonas BREON
Mary HAAS
Mary D. HARDING

Husband: Jonas BREON — same person as Jonathan B. BREON?
Birth: Sep 1832, Centre Co., PA
Death: 11/13 Mar 1906, Gering, Scotts Bluff Co., NE
Occupation: farmer
Military Service: Civil War: Pvt., Co. K, 16th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry
Father said to be: Johann George BREON
Mother said to be: Catharina WOLFLEY

Marriage-1: 25 Oct 1860, Green Co., WI

Wife-1: Mary HAAS / HASS
Birth: 5 Jun 1836, Perry [now West Perry] Twp., Union [now Snyder] Co., PA
Death: 18 Jan 1888, Gibbon, Buffalo Co., NE
Father: Solomon HAAS
Mother: Elizabeth GORDON

Jonas & Mary are said to have been married in Shuetville, Centre Co., PA, but county marriage records show they were married in Green Co., WI.

Marriage-2: 5 Dec 1894, Gering, Scotts Bluff Co., NE

Wife-2: Mary D. HARDING
Birth: 25 Feb 1850/51, New York, New York Co., NY
Death: 11 Nov 1938, Gering, Scotts Bluff Co., NE
Other Spouse: m1. Eli KELLER, b. 1838/9, PA; d. 1890/1, IL — was in 1880 Census of Oneco Twp., Stephenson Co., IL (p. 217B)
Other Child: Joseph E. KELLER, b. 8 Feb 1878, Stephenson Co., IL
Parents: born in NY

Children with Mary HAAS — born in Green Co., WI:

1. Sarah Elizabeth BREON, b. 20 Sep 1861
2. Willis H. BREON, b. 15 Nov 1866; m. Lucetta E. RUSH; lived in Juneau Co., WI
3. Charles Wesley BREON, b. 18 Jan 1868
4. Emma Jane BREON, b. 13 Apr 1874

Sarah is said to have been born in Shuetville, Centre Co., PA, but as Jonas & Mary were married in Green Co., WI, and as the censuses show Sarah's birthplace as WI, she was clearly not born in PA.

Children with Mary HARDING:

none

Keywords for search engines: genealogy; USA, US, United States, Illinois, Nebraska, New York, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin

Comments:

Some secondary sources call our subject, "Jonathan B. BREON," but he is Jonas BREON in his marriage record and Jonas BREON in the 1850, 1870, 1880, and 1900 censuses. He is also Jonas in the 1891 and 1893 military veterans' rosters of Scotts Bluff Co., NE. The only primary records I find calling him Jonathan is the "Jonathan BREON" in the Veterans Schedules of the 1890 Federal Census of Scotts Bluff Co., NE, and one roster of Co. K, 16th WVI, while two other rosters of this regiment call him "Jonas BREON." Is someone mis-reading Jonas as Jno? Do these records refer to one man or two?

Secondary sources also make our subject the son of these parents:
Father: (Johann/John) George⁴ BREON [Valentine³, Daniel², Jacob¹] (1804-1885)
Mother: Catherine WOLFLEY (1812-1883)

In the 1850 census of Gregg Twp., Center Co., PA (p. 56A), we do, indeed, find George & Catharine BREON with a son, Jonathan, 18 years old. [George is age 51, which raises the question whether his birthdate of 1804 is correct, but that's another issue.] The trouble is, there is also a Jonas BREON in the same census (p. 59A), who is age 17 — the age our subject should be — who is living with James & Susannah CLARK. Jonas is listed two households away from an Elizabeth BREON (15) and a John BREON (11), who are living with the John & Mary OSWALD family. On the face of it, I would suspect these three children: Jonas (17), Elizabeth (15), and John (11) were orphaned siblings. It's also possible for persons to get enumerated twice, especially if they are children working out of their home. In George & Catharine's household, there is, in addition to the 18-yr-old Jonathan, a 10-yr-old John, but there is no daughter age 15 and no daughter named Elizabeth, only daughters Susannah (12) and Amelia (4). So while one might argue that Jonathan and John were enumerated twice, that doesn't explain why he was Jonathan in one enumeration and Jonas in the other, and we are still left with Elizabeth unaccounted for — and surely she is John's sister, even if she's not Jonas's.

The files online at WorldConnect show Jonathan B. BREON as born 23 Aug 1832. Trouble is, Jonas BREON's 1900 census record has him born in Sep 1832. People sometimes forget or fib about the year they were born, but they (and their immediate family) are rarely wrong about the month they were born — because the birthday is celebrated annually in the family. Yet it is possible the census is wrong, depending as it does on the reliability of the informant and the enumerator. But the question is whether this birthdate is from the tombstone of the man who died in Gering, NE, or is this birthdate from a baptism in Centre Co., PA? If the former, the birthdate of George & Catharine's son, Jonathan, may not be 23 Aug 1832.

In the 1870 census, Jonas BREON (æ 28) is living next door to a Benjamin BREON (æ 24). Secondary sources say they are brothers, both being sons of George & Catharine. The fact that the are living next door to one another is very strong evidence that they are brothers. But the question then becomes, has Benjamin been attached to George & Catharine because he is living next to Jonas? Which would mean the reasoning is circular. Checking the 1860 census, George & Catharine do have a son, Benjamin, age 16. Given the sloppiness of census-enumerators, this isn't enough of a discrepancy in age (i.e., 16 v. 24) to rule out that these two Benjamins are the same person. But given the fact that Benjamin is living next door to a Jason, not a Jonathan, it isn't proof that the two Benjamins are the same person, either. These families reused the same given names, so we can't rule out that some sibling of George was giving his children the same first names that George was.

None of the secondary sources give the primary sources of their data — what sources they do give are also secondary — so beyond what I have gathered, it's impossible to tell how reliable the conflicting data are. I do not assert that I have found the answers, but there are enough conflicting data here to cause a re-examination of whether our subject, Jonas BREON, also has the given name, Jonathan, and, more importantly, whether he really is the son of George & Catharine (WOLFLEY) BREON. Just because people have made that assumption for years, and just because it's been printed in books and published on the web for years, doesn't mean it isn't wrong. These same secondary sources made other, more obvious errors, ones that were easy to spot and correct — like the marriage location and treating Mary D. KELLER as if KELLER had been her maiden name — which does not inspire one with confidence. I have deliberately not named any of these secondary sources because it is not my wish to embarrass anyone, beyond spurring them to fix their files and to work on clearing up this confusion. I am not descended from BREON or HASS; I am merely interested in HAAS in Snyder Co., PA, because they intermarried with my STRAUBs, so I have gotten rather far afield here. But I don't like mysteries, so I'm hoping this one can be cleared up.

And if anyone has found the 1860 census record of either Jonas BREON or his father-in-law, Solomon HAAS, I will be very grateful to know where!

Sources (n.b., Green Co., WI, is just across the state line from Stephenson Co., IL, which is adjacent to Jo Daviess Co., IL):

1a. Wisconsin Marriages, pre-1907 (online at Ancestry.com):

Name Marriage Date County Volume Page

Jonas Breon 25 Oct 1860 Green 2 373

Mary Hafs 25 Oct 1860 Green 2 373

1b. Green County Wisconsin, Marriages, Pre 1907 (online at Rob Forrest's web site):

Grooms Brides Marriage Date County Volume Page

Jonas Breon Mary Hass 25 Oct 1860 25 Oct 1860 2 373

1c. Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763–1900: marriage of Eli KELLER & Mary HARDING not found.

2. 1850 Census Index/Images (online at Ancestry.com; Image #14 of 36 — mis-indexed "Jonas Breen"): Gregg Twp., Centre Co., PA, Roll 763, p. 59A, 708/723, enumerated 25 Sep 1850, official enumeration date 1 Jun 1850 (extracted by Diana Gale Matthiesen):¤•

Jonas Breon 17 M Laborer Pa

Living with the James & Susannah CLARK family. Listed two households from Elizabeth BREON (æ 15, b. PA) and John BREON (æ 11, b. PA), who are living with the John & Mary OSWALD family. Looks like we have some orphaned siblings here.

3. 1860 Census Index/Images (online at Genealogy.com): can't find, and I checked every BREON household in PA, OH, IN, MI, WI, and IL. I also did page-by-page checks of four townships in Green Co., WI, namely: Jefferson, Monroe, Clarno, and Spring Grove. I can't find Solomon HAAS, either.

4. 1870 Census Index/Images (online at Genealogy.com, Image #6 of 14): Willow P.O., Berryman Twp., Jo Daviess Co., IL, Roll 234 (Book 1), p. 17B, PN 6, 42/42, enumerated 2 Sep 1870, official enumeration date 1 Jun 1870 (extracted by Diana Gale Matthiesen):¤•

42 42 Breon Jonas 38 M Farmer 2000 850 Penn

"   Mary 36 F Keeps House "

"   Sarah E 8 F Wis

"   Willis 3 M "

"   Charles 2 M "

43 43 Breon Benj 24 M Farmer 700 Penn

"   Annie 24 F Keeps House Switzerland

"   Alice 2 F Ill

Benjamin BREON is said to be Jonas's brother.

5. 1880 Census Images (online at Ancestry.com, Image #4 of 21): Winslow Twp., Stephenson Co., IL, NARA Film #T9-0253, p. 337D, PN 4, SD 2, ED 190, enumerated 4/5 Jun 1880, official enumeration date 1 Jun 1880 (extracted by Diana Gale Matthiesen):¤•

1880: for an explanation of the column headings, please see
What the Numbers in the Federal Census Mean (missing columns contained no data).

1 2 3 4 5 6 8 9 10 13 16 21 24 25 26

29 29 Breon Jonas W M 46 / Farmer PA PA PA

_____ Mary W F 44 Wife / Housekeeper PA PA PA

_____ Elizabeth W F 18 Daughter / Helps in house WI PA PA

_____ Willis W M 13 Son / Works on farm / WI PA PA

_____ Charles W W M 12 Son attending School / WI PA PA

_____ Emma J W F 6 Daughter WI PA PA

Haas Solomon W M 79 Father in law / Retired farmer PA PA MD

____ Elizabeth W F 79 Mother in law / / PA PA PA

Solomon & Elizabeth (GORDON) HAAS are Mary's parents. They were in Illinois in the 1870 census, so was Emma really born in Wisconsin?

6a. 1890 Census: the 1890 Census Population Schedules were destroyed.

6b. Veterans Schedules: U.S. Selected States, 1890 (Broderbund CD-131):

1890 Breon, Jonathan Nebraska Scotts Bluff Co. Rose Kiawa and Roubadeau Microfilm p. 2

7. 1900 Census Index/Images (online at Genealogy.com, Image #7 of 15 — indexed "James Brean"): Gering, Scotts Bluff Co., NE, p. 244B, SN 7, SD 6, ED 167, enumerated 23 Jun 1900, official enumeration date 1 Jun 1900 (extracted by Diana Gale Matthiesen):

1900: for an explanation of the column headings, please see What the Numbers in the Federal Census Mean (missing columns contained no data).

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 19 22 23 24 25 26 27

120 121 Breaon? Jonas Head W M Sep 1832 67 M 5 PA PA PA Carpenter Y Y Y O F H

_______ Mary Wife W F Feb 1850 50 M 5 1 1 NY NY NY Y Y Y

This enumerator's handwriting was horrible; it's a credit to the indexer that they came as close as they did.

8a. 16th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment: Roster. See site for military history of the regiment. [link died]

First Name Last Name Company Rank In Rank Out

Jonathan Brean K Private Private

Jonathan Breon K Private Private

8b. Patricia Sewell, comp. 1892. Nebraska Resident Military Roster on June 1, 1891. U.S. State Department, Lincoln, NE (online at Ancestry.com):

Surname Given Name Rank Company City State

Breon Jonas Private K, 16 Infantry Gering [Scotts Bluff Co., NE] Wisconsin

8c. 1893 Roster of Nebraska Veterans, Wisconsin Enlistees A - M (online at the American Local History Network at USGenNet.org):

Name Rank Unit 1893 Residence State Enlisted

Breon, Jonas Private K, 16 Infantry Wisconsin

9. Grant L. Shumway, ed. 1921. History of Western Nebraska and Its People. Western Publ. & Engr. Co., Lincoln, NE (at the NEGenWeb Project Resource Center On-Line Library online at RootsWeb.com). On pp. 280-281 is a biographical sketch of Joseph E. KELLER, only child of Mary (HARDING) KELLER BREON:

p. 280 JOSEPH R. (sic) KELLER, the efficient superintendent of the Central irrigating canal in the Gering district of Scottsbluff county, has been closely identified with the development of this and other irrigating ditches in the county and has been the incumbent of his present executive position since 1910. He has been known also for his activities as an agriculturist and has won no little prominence in the raising and exploiting of standard-bred horses.
Mr. Keller was born in Stephenson county, Illinois, on the 8th of February, 1878, and is a son of Eli and Mary (Harding) Keller, who were born and reared in the state of Pennsylvania. Eli Keller was nineteen,

p. 281 years of age when he left the old Keystone state and established his residence in Illinois, where he became a prosperous farmer and where he died at the age of fifty-two years. His widow, who was born in the city of Philadelphia, now resides in the home of her son Joseph E., at Gering, and as he is a bachelor he is favored in having his loved and gracious mother as the supervisor of the domestic economics of their pleasant home.
Joseph E. Keller is indebted to the public schools of Illinois for his early educational discipline and after the death of his father he continued to attend school until he was sixteen years of age, having been assigned a place in the Evangelical Orphans' Home at Flat Rock, Ohio. In initiating his independent career he was identified with farming for one year and thereafter, in 1893, he came to Scottsbluff county, Nebraska, where he has since maintained his home and where pioneer distinction is due him. Here he has contributed his quota to the advancement of farm enterprise, has given attention to the breaking and training of horses, and has given efficient aid in connection with the construction of the various irrigating ditches in the vicinity of Gering. He is an enthusiast in regard to this section of the state and is a citizen who is well known and highly esteemed. In politics he gives his support to men and measures meeting the approval of his judgment and is independent of strict partisan lines. He is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America as a member of the camp in his home city.

Eli KELLER was born in Pennsylvania and may have been raised there, but Mary HARDING was born in New York.

10. Anon. 1901. Commemorative Biographical Record of the Counties of Rock, Green, Grant, Iowa, and Lafayette, Wisconsin. J.H. Beers & Co., Chicago. On pp. 576-577 is a biographical sketch of Henry RUSH, which has been posted to the Green County, Wisconsin, Message Board (online at Ancestry.com/RootsWeb.com). The sketch contains a mention of our subjects' son, Willis BREON:

...In 1847 Mr. RUSH was united in marriage with Miss Nancy H. WARREN, who died in 1857, leaving five children: Roderick and Mary J., who died young; Lucetta E., wife of Willis BREON, of Juneau county, Wis...

11. WorldConnect / Ancestry World Trees (online at RootsWeb.com/Ancestry.com). Several files have our subject as "Jonathan B. BREON."

12. Messages on the Breon Surname Board (online at RootsWeb.com/Ancestry.com).

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