The paper trail : all over the map!

I have lived all over the map.

I have made my home in a number of Canadian cities across the country. On the map you will see Hamilton, Edmonton, Mississauga, Calgary, Vancouver, Ottawa, and London. I have not lived in the Maritimes but have been lucky enough to visit on several occasions.

Other folks remain steadfastly in one place. For example, my 4xGreat Grandfather, William Renner's farm was occupied by Renner family members from 1805 until the 1970s, when it was subsequently sold.

Below is an early deed of sale. William Renner of Frederick County, Maryland purchased this lot in the Township of Louth in 1805 from Christian Price.

Also, David Pickel (1805-1885), who married William Renner's daughter, Catherine, farmed near St Marys all his life. There are still Pickels farming in the same area today, who are decendants of David and Catherine. With maps and a little bit of detective work, I was able to locate these farms, which enabled me to introduce my dad to his cousin. They share great-great grandparents, Catherine Renner and David Pickel.

Some of the documents are really hard to decipher. It is a matter of getting used to the language used, sometimes boilerplate laywer-ese. and as well sometimes you figure out the patterns in the handwriting. Is the blotchy bit "bond to county"? Still other times, understanding the context, the people, and the history of what is written gives you clues as to what it actually says. Here I present a letter and my transcription. Is it "Matthew" as some have thought? I'm not so sure. I believe that it is Matthias.

David and Catherine settled in West Nissouri, on land purchased from Loyalist and war of 1812 veteran, Emdund Hodges. There, they raised several children, William, Hugh, Susannah, Adam. . .Wait, where is their son David? He remained with his grandparents William And Susan Renner, at their farm. Why? I can only guess. Below I have added a video, a screen capture of a timeline created in knightlab timeline. Very recently Esri added a timeline feature to StoryMaps. I can't wait to try it out. In the meantime, here is some information about the David, Jr.

David Pickel (1833-1913)

Mapping out all the information gleaned for the paucity of documents about Marsh.

His son David Marshall Pickel never really managed to remain in one place. He too was all over the map. Marsh was a farmer and also a teamster driving goods between cities and provinces, never really staying in one place for long. This story map will focus on Marsh (DMP) and the paper trail that I have recovered, that tell us something of his life.