Magdalena Van Etten Ennes, 1751 - 1819

Over the course of the years exploring the genealogy of the Ennes family the problems encountered have included a seemingly endless stream of rumors, one purposeful misdirection, legends, third hand translations, lost records, a mysterious bible, faulty 19th century newspaper reports of a vast inheritance and conflated battles fought in one place or another with an ever growing number of nameless casualties, and finally a host of Minisink young folk heading off  to settle a new town in the late 18th century just as one is getting comfortable with the old guard left behind.

All in all it ends up with people crossing rivers in search of a livelihood, burying a neighbor, attending a wedding, growing old or giving birth. Sometimes the mist lays heavy across the water obscuring the view and sometimes the sun rises and burns through the fog.

The tale of  the "Widow Ennes," Magdalena Van Etten, who married and buried Lt. Benjamin Ennes, and long rumored to have followed their children up the tributaries of the Susquehanna River into New York State has proved out.  

Last Will & Testament of Magdalena Ennis, of Spencer, Tioga County, N. Y.

"...I give and bequeath to my Eldest son Alexander Ennis whom I likewise Choose, and constitute, make and ordain my only and sole executor, of this last will and testament One Sixth part of my property also to have full power to ___ the money due from the State of Pennsylvania and to be allowed a fair and reasonable compensation for all his trouble and expenses as executor for all business..." 

Magdalena further wills portions of her property to "my second Son Johones Ennis,"  "my two daughters Elizabeth Decker and Mary Ennis," "my third son Emanuel Ennis," "my fourth son Benjamin," "my son in Law Abraham Decker,"  and lastly, "my son in Law Wilhelmus Ennis" (husband of daughter Mary).


The Witnesses to Magdalena's Last Will and Testament of February 9, 1819 were Isaac Swartwood, Hannah Vangorden and Aiusy (?) Ennis.  Magdalena left her mark, whether out of illness or illiteracy is unknown, beside the signature "Magdalanah Ennis" of this record made by Robert Lawrence, Esq.  Within months, by the 17th of November of that year, Magdalena would be dead.

May she rest in peace.

~~~~~

Sources:

"New York, Probate Records, 1629-1971," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1951-24591-15644-25?cc=1920234&wc=Q7PJ-HZ3:213301801,213928801 : accessed 22 September 2015), Tioga > Will and Proceeding index 1800-1936 vol A > image 49 of 196; county courthouses, New York.

"New York, Probate Records, 1629-1971," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1951-24597-10914-34?cc=1920234&wc=Q7PG-MNP:213301801,213948601 : accessed 22 September 2015), Tioga > Wills 1818-1840 vol C-D, 4, 8 > image 34 of 478; county courthouses, New York.

"New York, Probate Records, 1629-1971," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1951-24597-11195-29?cc=1920234&wc=Q7PG-MNP:213301801,213948601 : accessed 22 September 2015), Tioga > Wills 1818-1840 vol C-D, 4, 8 > image 35 of 478; county courthouses, New York.

Related MVG articles:

The "Widow Ennes," Magdalena Van Etten, of Delaware Township, 1798

The 1780 Account of the Battle of Conashaugh 

The Battle of Conashaugh Affidavits

1922 Photo Essay: The Bluestone Industry of Pike and Wayne Counties PA

The dense, hard, and fine-grained sandstone of the Catskill Formation once known as "Delaware Flags" and sold as "Blue Stone" during the heyday of the 19th century bluestone industry in northeastern Pennsylvania, was extensively documented by Ralph W. Stone of the Pennsylvania Geological Survey in August of 1922. He traveled with an assistant and frequently camped out along the way. Stone’s subsequent article, The Flagstone Industry of Northeast Pennsylvania, Penn. Geo. Survey Bulletin 72, would appear in 1923.  A selection of his 1922 photos from the Pennsylvania Geological Survey Historical Photograph Collection follows.  Click the photos to enlarge.


Delaware River bluff, State highway near Dingmans Ferry

Hand painted lettering on the rear of the cab and doors identified the vehicle as officially "Penna Geological Survey". 


Flagstone quarry, J. V. Hood, Dingmans Ferry, Pike County

John Van Sant Hood, teacher and Justice of the Peace in Dingmans Ferry in 1917.

 

Delaware River bluff and Milford Knob

The Devonian era mapped bedrock unit, Mahantango Formation, Hamilton Group.

School house, built of Catskill sandstone, Milford

Note "stone from Dwarf Kill, five miles west of Milford," Pike County.  Building contractor Edwin Stanton Wolfe, 1903. 


Flagstone quarry (Point quarry), Lackawaxen, Pike County


Sandstone (Catskill) curbing, Lackawaxen, Pike County


Sandstone (Catskill) from Kilgour quarry, Lackawaxen Station



Sandstone quarry (Catskill), A. H. Woodward & Son, Kimbles, Pike County


Sandstone quarry (Catskill), Standard Blue Stone Company, Kimbles, Pike County
The consortium of the Standard Blue Stone Company, based in New Jersey, included Frank Kilgour, son of the "Bluestone King" John Fletcher Kilgour (1841-1904). John F. Kilgour established the bluestone industry in Pennsylvania, gaining and losing two fortunes over the course of his life.  In the early spring of 1922, the Standard Blue Stone Company, under court ordered Partition, auctioned off 7500 acres in twenty nine tracts located in Milford, Lackawaxen, Shohola, and Westfall Townships.  Frank Kilgour, with Arthur W. Clapp of the Erie Railroad, would assume control of the company.     

Sandstone (Catskill) in canal aqueduct (abandoned), Lackawaxen, Pike Co.
Note "Building Stone. Shows chisel marks..." The Roebling Aqueduct, Delaware & Hudson Canal, opened in 1849. 


Flagstone quarry, John H. Bowen, Aldenville, Wayne County


Flagstone at 514 Church Street, Honesdale, Wayne County

"Quarried at White Mills, six mile out. Measures 7' 11" x 22' 3". Home of Mrs. Anna O'Connell"


Sly Lake (near Lake Como), Preston Township, Wayne County



Geologic Map of Pike County, Pennsylvania, 1978, Topographic & Geologic Survey
For the article, “Bluestone in Pike County,” Pennsylvania Geology, June 1978, ninety-two inactive quarries were examined in Pike County.  As noted by the author, W. D. Sevon, the 19th century quarries were located on steep sided slopes by the river within convenient reach of railroad transportation. Bluestone slabs were used for flagstones, veneer,  tread, coping, sill, wallstone, slab stock, hearthstones and mantles. Peter Becker, Managing editor of the News Eagle, in his recent article,  A Legacy of Stone: Bluestone Quarries, profiles the last of the bluestone men, "Wayne Holbert, of Lackawaxen, still quarries and sells bluestone, a business that started with his great grandfather in the late 19th Century."


Works of the Kilgour Blue Stone Co., Ltd. Parkers Glen, Pike Co PA. 1886. 


Cornerstone of the Pike County Courthouse, Milford PA.