Family Background for Richard Petersen
Surnames:
Hawk, Harmon.
Byers, Zimmerman, McNall
If you would like more information on
any of these families,
or if you have something to add, please email me.
Petersens and Nielsens were Danish immigrants. They settled in Akron, Ohio in the late 1800's. Wielands were probably German. They married into the Nielsen family. They had a resort in Sawyerwood, near Akron, on Springfield Lake. I know most of the Petersens, but there are some cousins I have lost touch with. There may be Nielsens who are related. I don't have much information on the Wielands.
Henry
Harmon was born in 1826. He was married to Elizabeth Glass. Their son Isaac
married Almira Byer in Mahoning Co. (Youngstown) Ohio.
Almira’s
father Joseph was born in 1821 in Canada. He married Jane Clangston in Portage
Co., Ohio. Byer seems to have been spelled both with and without the “s”. Byers
used to have a big reunion near Youngstown, Ohio, in the small town of
Braceville. I was there a few times in the 60’s and 70’s.
The
first Hawk I know about is Rhuben. He was married in 1835 to Mary Rhoads. One
of their sons, James Matthias, Sr., married Almira McNall in Auburn, Ind. in
1868. They later moved to Akron, Ohio.
Almira
McNall’s mother was part of the Zimmerman family, from Spencerville and Auburn,
Ind. They were originally from Fayette Co., Pennsylvania.
These
folks are all from Kentucky, generally around the Louisville-Jefferson County area.
There is a family graveyard in Avoca. These families have all been in Kentucky since very early days. The Wilcoxes
are related to the pioneer Boone family.
The Clores were originally Germans, immigrants to the Germanna colony in
Virginia.
My
knowledge of these families begins in Lincoln Co., NC. Alexander Mathewson and
his family migrated to Daviess and Martin counties in Indiana, around 1816.
They went by way of Tennessee. James W Mathewson was born in Elnora, Ind., in
1860. His wife is listed as Mattie or Martha J Wood. Her mother was Sarah Cole.
Sarah's mother was Margaret Carnahan. They
are Irish, and before that, Scots. I have little or no information on the Wood
or Cole men, at least as far as proving any connections.
J.W.
Mathewson moved his family to Vanceburg, Kentucky. Some of them are still
living there, some moved to Covington, Ky. and Cincinatti, Ohio. Others went
farther. I know who some of these cousins are, but not all.
Last modified 2-10-05