ROOTS & BRANCHES

I met Mike Staab at a recent genealogy conference in York County and an e-mail conversation developed about his ancestor George Badders of Fawn Township in that county.

“George died intestate, and his son Levi was his eventual heir,” Staab wrote.

He sent along the few documents from George’s estate and asked: “Does Levi’s signature or the house inventory suggest in any way that George was German?  Levi would most likely have learned to write from his parents rather than in a school.,” Staab wrote. “There are some researchers that believe he is German, but I am leaning toward English.”

In those estate documents, I noted that Levi’s signature showed no hint of German cursive script handwriting. Likewise, the inventory was written in an English cursive.

One of the appraisers of the estate, on the other hand, was a Johannes Bordner, who clearly wrote his signature in German script.

As for Levi, I didn’t consider his “English” handwriting to definitive since the rate at which Germans began to “make English letters” varies greatly from one area to another – even one township to another.

I told Staab that one thing he should do is play with the name Badders, thinking in terms of German phonetics. Spelling variations such as Batters, Paders or Batdertz should all be considered.

I also wrote that Staab should see if he could find a sample of George’s signature. While he died without a will (one of the most common signature examples), there could be another York County document or documents with his signature – such as an original deed, a witness to someone else’s will or as a sheriff’s juror to value land. Even on the versions of deeds copied into deed books, the clerk would usually try to imitate German script if that’s what the original document contained.

As the conversation continued, Staab noted that George’s son Levi is buried in the Zion Methodist Episcopal Church Cemetery in Draco, York County, and asked if this was a strong clue for British Isles ethnicity.

To me, it was definitely “a” club but not necessarily a “strong” one since being could cross denominational lines if they were in the minority in an area.

To that end, I wanted to get a little history on Fawn Township and its 18^th century ethnic makeup.

The Alexander M. McCandless Homestead’s website shows a 1786 tax list it copied from John Gibson’s 1886 History of York County, Pennsylvania.

Looking down the list – filled with Alexanders, Buchanans, Robinsons – it is obvious that people from the British Isles in general and Scots Irish in specific were the overwhelming majority in Fawn Township at the time (There is also a Jesse Bathers who is listed as a single freeman on this list).

Based on this, it’s almost a sure bet that George Badders is also a British Isles ethnic.

The key word, however, is “almost.” Staab should still look for a signature sample.