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Archiver > LOWER-DELMARVA-ROOTS > 2000-09 > 0968094635


From: "Mike Hitch" <>
Subject: [LDR] Never Give UP!
Date: Mon, 4 Sep 2000 15:10:35 -0400
In-Reply-To: <5e.3b76b4.26e53954@aol.com>


Hi LDR Rooters!

I wanted to relate a story of fact-finding I recently had. As many of you
know, I am working a single-name study of the HITCH surname in the U.S. -
many descending from Adam Hitch (1658/59-1731) of Somerset Co., MD. This is
a story of one William Hitch, a great-great-grandson of Adam. William was
of a line of Hitches who ended up on the MD-DE line between Sussex Co., DE
(Northwest Fork Hundred) and Caroline Co., MD. William had a wife Nancy (?)
and they moved to Ross Co., OH (near Chillicothe) sometime between 1828 and
1830. Their off-spring expanded into Ross Co., OH and further west over the
years to McLean Co., IL, into NE and even CA.

My problem was that I found it extremely difficult to find out information
on this familial line. There was also a Garey HITCH living near William at
the time he was in DE and I surmised him to be his brother. Garey had
married (whom I first thought) an unknown wife (m. 1801/04), secondly Sally
ROSS (m. 1819) and thirdly a widow Ann R. GRAY (m. 1844). Garey had at
least 7 children by his first marriage, 2 by the 2nd and 3 by the 3rd.
Since Garey had married into the Ross family, I decided to check leads in
that line. In Sussex Co. Deed Book AH-31, folio 422, there is a deed to Job
Pride from Garey Hitch and Mary, his wife, which details familial
relationships of the Ross family and land Mary (Ross) Hitch had inherited
from her father Clement Ross. I had indeed now identified Garey HITCH's
first wife as Mary Ross. This deed also described daughters Sally C. Ross
and Nancy Ross. Hmmm..., now I had a candidate for Garey's second wife as
Sally C. Ross, d/o Clement Ross.

I next went to the wills and dug up the will of Clement Ross who died in
1808. Lo and behold it mentions daughters Mary and Sally C. as well as
daughter Nancy Ross. Could Nancy Ross be wife of William Hitch? I decided
to place this supposition in my records as a tentative "fact" needing
further proof. William would have married Nancy Ross c. 1810, prob. in
Sussex Co., DE. In land records of that early period we find:

"On July 9, 1819, William Hitch "of Sussex County" received a deed from
Garey Hitch "of Caroline County", Maryland. For $2,376, William Hitch
received a deed from Garey Hitch for 264 acres of land in Northwest Fork
Hundred. It was described as land formerly that of Clement Ross, deceased,
devised to his son Robert Ross including the dwelling plantation that
William Hitch now lives. It was near tract "Rosses Choice" and the State
Line. (Sussex Co., DE Land Records, Deed Book AL-34, Folio 296)

On January 1, 1820, William Hitch received a deed from William Bell and
Maria his wife. For $216, Hitch received a deed from Bell for 36 acres of
land. It was described as part of tracts "Rosses Choice" and "Rosses Good
Luck". (Sussex Co., DE Land Records, Deed Book AL-34, Folio 422)

On December 19, 1822, John Richards received a deed from William Hitch and
Nancy his wife "of Sussex County". For $92.85, Richards received deed to
land in Northwest Fork Hundred described as tracts "Rosses Choice" (71/2
acres surveyed to Clement Ross), "Rosses Crop" and "Black Levil". This
record includes a plat drawing. (Sussex Co., DE Land Records, Deed Book
AM-35, Folio 515).

On November 15, 1823, Joseph Vickers received a deed from William Hitch and
Nancy his wife. Vickers paid Hitch $1,500 for land in Northwest Fork Hundred
including tracts "Save All", "Rosses Fieto(?)", "Black Level", White Level",
Rosses Lott", "Rosses Crops", "Hoggs Range", "Poplar Level _____", "Rosses
Luck" and "Rosses Choice". (Ibid., Deed Book AN-36, Folio 143)

On April 29, 1828, William Hitch received a deed from Caleb Ross and Letitia
his wife. Hitch paid Ross $5,000 for 442 acres of land and property
including saw and grist mills, carding machine, mill dam, logways and all
other mill privileges formerly belonging to Benjamin Warren deceased.
(Ibid., Deed Book AQ-39, Folio 21)"

Note all the ROSS family connections - circumstantial evidence was very
strong in favor of Nancy Hitch being nee ROSS! Several of William and
Nancy's grandchildren were even given the given name ROSS! However, there
was still no conclusive proof. Well, this is where the long story gets
shorter.

In the final week of August, my family traditionally goes to Deep Creek Lake
in Garrett Co., MD for vacation. This year, there was a forecast of heavy
rain for the next day so I decided I did not choose to be cooped up in a
house full of people during a deluge. Instead, I mapped out a trip to Ross
Co., OH for the next day - a trip of a little over 200 miles. I awoke the
next morning at 4:30am and headed out west. I arrived in Chillicothe, Ross
Co., OH by 9:00am and attacked the courthouse and archives buildings. I
perused land records, marriage, death and birth records and got a boatload
of good info. - but nothing on proving Nancy Hitch's maiden name. I next
headed over to the old graveyard in the county where William (1788-1871) and
Nancy (1791-1861) are buried. (BTW, the sun was shining out in OH - unlike
in Garrett Co. so I got a bonus for my trip!). Still no clue on Nancy's
surname.

Well, I was about to give up and head back home at about 4:00pm and drove to
a little gas station in Frankfort, OH to fill up. The name of this little
town triggered in my memory that I had gotten some info. in the mail from a
Bill Hitch from there about 5 years ago. I asked the gas station attendant
for a phone book and found William F. Hitch living only about a mile from
where I was located so I headed over to his house. He and his wife Virgene
welcomed me quite graciously and shared much family information. We were
having a lively conversation when Bill went into a back room of their old
farmhouse and brought out a pile of papers he said were old Hitch "stuff."
In this "stuff" were two old Bibles - one of Clement R. Hitch published in
1852 (Bill's great grandfather) and one of William and Nancy Hitch published
in 1833 (Bill's 2x great grandfather). I opened the latter to the page on
"Marriages" and it stated, "William Hitch and Nancy Rofs was married May 9th
day in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eleven 1811." I
WAS ESCTATIC! Here was the proof I had looked for over 5 years - probably
written in either William or Nancy Hitch's own hand in the old style of the
early 19th century! The rest of the Bible and that of Clement R. Hitch
(who, BTW, I believe his middle name is Ross - named after his grandfather
Clement Ross of the will) provided a wealth of new information for me.

The moral of this story for us genealogists - pro or amateur - is to never
give up. There is still a lot of information out there to be uncovered.
Keep the faith and forge ahead! Good luck all.

Sincerely,
Mike Hitch

www.geocities.com/~mikehitch




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