Author: Kris Hocker

I’m recently back from a trip to Pennsylvania—well, okay, not recently, but close enough—and I thought I’d share some of what I learned.

I spent some time at the Pennsylvania State Archives in Harrisburg. Mostly, I looked up and copied Hoover Family deeds from Fayette, Armstrong, Westmoreland, Washington and Greene counties, but I also looked for Wills, Estate Records, and tax records.

I’ve had some luck getting useful information from tax records in my Hocker family research. I already had some tax information from the Pennsylvania Archives, Series III before the trip, as follows:

Union Township

• Andrew Hoover (1785—1788)
• Henry Hoover (1785—1789)
• George Hoover (1787—1789)
• Jacob Hoover (1787—1788)
• John Hoover (1787—1789)

German Township

• Jacob Hoover (1785—1797)
• George Hoover (1785, 1790)
• Joseph Hoover (1799)
• John Shoemaker (1789)

Springhill Township

• John Hoover (1785—1786)

Wharton Township

• Andrew Hover (1789)

Dunbar Township

• Emanuel Hoover, blacksmith (1799)

Bullskin Township

• George Hoover (1785—1786)
• Philip Hoover (1789)
• William Kerns (1789)

Salt Lick Township (originally Bullskin)

• George Hoover (1787—1800)
• Christian Hoover (1789, 1799—1800)

New Tax Information

Since I’m trying to learn more about my ancestor George Hoover’s (Bullskin & Saltlick Townships) brothers, I focused my search on Union and German Townships where there was a preponderance of Hoovers.

German Township

• Jacob Hoover (1785—1801)
• George Hoover (1785, 1791)
• Andrew Hover (late 1790s, 1818-1819)
• Joseph Hoover (1800—1816)
• Mary Hoover (1802—1809)
• Henry Hoover (1813—1820)
• Samuel Hoover (1813—1817, 1819)
• Jacob Hoover (1812)

In German Township tax records, I found Jacob Hoover from 1785 through 1801 as expected. Jacob Hoover and his wife Mary owned a tract of land there called “Hoover’s Valley” on Brown’s Run.¹ The tax records show Jacob owned 130-150 acres of land; the warrant shows approximately 184 acres. Jacob Hoover died in 1800, sometime before 8 Sep 1800 when his Will was probated.² I’ve sometimes found a person listed in tax records for the year after their death; I assume it’s listed that way until the probate has cleared.

Mary Hoover is listed in the tax records from 1802 through 1809. The tax records show the same property as Jacob: 150 acres, 3 horses, 2 cattle, and 3 sheep. Mary Hoover died sometime between 2 and 20 Dec 1808, when her Will was written and then probated.³ Mary Hoover’s Will mentions the German Township land, deeding 75 acres of it to her daughter Hannah Hoover, wife of Joseph (one of her executors), and approximately 30 acres to her daughter Rachel Gray, where James Gray resided (Rachel’s husband?).

A George Hoover appeared in the German Township tax records, too. In 1785 he is listed as a freeman. This means he was of age, but did not own property. In 1791, he is also listed, but this time as owning 1 horse and 1 cattle. He does not appear in subsequent records. This most likely was Jacob’s son George who was born ca 1860, most likely in old Frederic County, Maryland near Hagerstown where his grandfather owned property. Geroge and his wife, Elizabeth Garrison, moved to Ohio County, Kentucky sometime between 1792 and 1794.

In 1800 Joseph Hoover appears in the records and is listed through 1816. He appears beside Mary Hoover (Jacob’s widow) from 1801 through 1809 when he is listed as “Executor of Mary Hoover deceased.” In 1813, he is listed as owning 75 acres of land, instead of the 150 acres as Mary’s executor. His occupation is listed as Farmer in 1813 and 1814, but as “Taylor” in 1815 and 1816.

An Andrew “Hover” appears in the records, too, sometime in the late 1790s, but doesn’t appear again in following years.⁴ However, an Andrew Hoover appears in the tax records for 1818 and 1820, with his occupation listed as clerk[?], then laborer. This later Andrew is possibly the son of Henry² Hoover (Andrew¹), who died in German Township 20 Apr 1821 and was buried in the Harrison graveyard.

Henry Hoover first appears in the German Township tax records in 1813. His occupation is listed as farmer, but he own only 1 horse and 1 cattle. He is listed in these tax records from 1813 through 1820, when I stopped my research. His occupation is noted as alternately a farmer, carpenter or “sawer”, while his property remains only a cattle and/or a horse. This Henry is likely Henry³ (Henry², Andrew¹). Henry² was, I believe, in Whitely Township, Greene County at the time of the 1810 census and in Johnstown Township, Licking County, Ohio at the time of the 1820 census.

And finally, a Samuel Hoover appears in the township tax records in 1813 and is still there in 1820, except for 1818. His occupation is listed as farmer, carpenter, and laborer in the various records. In 1816 I believe he owned 30 acres of land and there was a notation “from Redstone,” but I don’t know what the note means.

I don’t have a record of a Samuel Hoover as a member of the family of Andrew¹ Hoover as either a grandson or great-grandson. However, it is entirely possible that he could be. I don’t know anything about the eldest son John² Hoover, but it is likely that he had children. I do not know all the grandchilden of Henry². I know Andrew² had children, but do not know all their names. And there are several son of George² Hoover that I know relatively little to nothing about.

That’s all I have time for. I’ll write up the information for the Union Township tax records in my next post.

Footnotes

1. Fayette County Warrant Book C-082: 382, dated 26 Jan 1785
2. Fayette County Will Book, Vol 1: 50
3. Fayette County Will Book, Vol 1: 124
4. I couldn’t make out the year in the records