The Shemwell Family

Jonas Clark Family Birth-Marriage-Death Dates Note: This research applies to changes to the FamilySearch tree that I made that are directly relatable to dates noted in the Shemwell Site. "Upon reviewing the family tree of Jonas Clark (my 4th Great Grandfather), I found there were several issues with the names and dates on the tree. It appears that most of the dates (sans the ones found on FamilySearch) were directly imported from other genealogy sites via GEDCOM. The GEDCOM files did not have any sources attached to them to support the dates. I reviewed several sites (Ancestry, MyHeritage, Wiki, etc) and also found very minimal sourcing for dates, if at all. For example, in the case of Peter Clark, there were over 170 family trees that listed his birth date of 1780 (and marriage date of his mother – Phoebe Lyon) with no source backup. Moreover, this date is not consistent with the fact his mother, Phoebe Lyon, was born in 1771 as per documented First Presbyterian Church Records (see the attached source under Phoebe’s profile). I also found several sites stating her birth year was 1756 to 1766; again, with no source to back it up. Upon further research, I was able to locate actual sources that provide some of the information we need for birth-marriage-death. Key documents include the actual church birth record for Phoebe Lyon and the Will/Probate documents for her husband Jonas Clark Sr. Please note that the documents do give us a range of dates when family members were born (ie, After 1797, etc). If there were no overriding specific sources, then I used the appropriate range until we can find a specific source. Phoebe Lyon Documents: * “New Jersey Birth and Christenings, 1660-1980)” o New Providence (Formerly Turkey Church), New Providence, Union, New Jersey lists her father, Peter Lyon, and the fact she was Christened on June 16, 1771. The source also shows two of her sibling’s Christening records which lend credence to her’s. Further, in 1785 she was still a minor (14yrs) and requested guardianship from the court. Jonas Clark Sr Documents: * Family members listed in the January 6, 1816 Will o Single daughters noted as still < 21yrs old: Joanna, Meriam, Harriette, and Elisabeth o Married daughters with no age mention: Mary Crane (nee) Clark o Sons with no age mentioned: Jeremiah, Peter o Sons noted as still < 21 yrs old: Reuben, Jonas Jr * Family Members listed in the June 28, 1824 Division of Land: o Single daughters noted as >= 21yrs old: Joanna o Single daughters noted as < 21yrs old: Meriam, Harriette, and Elisabeth * Family members not specifically mentioned in the Will or Division of Land: Benjamin and Abraham * Based on these two documents we can conclude that: o Jeremiah and Peter were born before 1795 o Reuben and Jonas Jr were born after 1795 o Joanna was born between 1795 and 1803 o Meriam, Harriette, and Elizabeth were born after 1795 o Mary Crane (nee Clark) had to be at the age of consent to marry. The 1850 Census shows her as being born in 1804. o Benjamin and Abraham died before 1816.