The Morgarts Of Colerain
By Mrs. Patricia Morgart
Published January 25, 1973, Bedford County Press. Reprinted with
permission.
Perhaps the greatest honor a man can bestow upon his son is to
give the child his own name.
Peter Morgart Sr. (1758 - 1846), prosperous landowner and
innkeeper in Providence Township, Bedford County, in the second half of the
18th century, and his wife, Christina, named their second son Peter Jr.
This youngster, one of nine children, grew up in Providence (now
West Providence) Township on the huge tract of land which now extends roughly
from the crest of the hill on which Clark`s Motel is built nearly to the
Juniata Crossings and has been split into many family tracts, including Dr.
Manspeaker`s, Arthur Woy`s, Bud Shuster`s and the homeplace where the Morgart
Family Cemetery remains, the Bernard Shaw property on the Graceville Road off
Route 30.
The drive from Providence Township to Colerain Township`s
southernmost point southwest of Rainsburg is little more than half an hour by
today`s horsepower, but in Peter Morgart`s time, it would have been a major
journey by horse.
How then did old Peter acquire a property so far removed from
his many eastern Bedford County holdings, including some properties in what is
now Morrison`s Cove, Hopewell and Fulton County?
Being an innkeeper, Peter Sr. naturally met many travelers
including gamblers, peddlers, and land speculators.
Perhaps, in passing, some such person told him tales of the
beautiful Friends Cove to the southwest and, seeing it for himself, Peter
purchased the plantation called "Nosegay" in 1814 from Edward and Druzilla
Rose.
The same year his eldest child, Peter Jr., married Elizabeth
Cessna, called Betty, daughter of John Cessna lV.
One can imagine the elder Peter setting the newlyweds up in
housekeeping at Nosegay where their firstborn arrived one year later. In 1830
Peter Jr. purchased Nosegay from his father and his descendants have lived
there ever since - the present owner being George Perry Morgart, dairy farmer
and father-in-law to this writer.
Piecing together history from the dates and descriptions on
wills, deeds, and other data, we figure Peter Sr. remained in Providence
Township at least until 1830 when he purchased four tracts of land to the north
of Nosegay Plantation on part of which the Naves and the Herman Alt families
now reside.
The four - tract area had an interesting history prior to Peter
Sr.`s purchase according to data gleaned from Bedford County Courthouse
records.
Peter (still a resident of Providence Township at the time)
purchased in 1830 from George and Margaret Waltman these four tracts totaling
552 acres and laying parallel to the mountain.
Two of the tracts were part of a tract called "Miley`s Fancy" on
which Abraham Miley had a sawmill in 1772 and contained 369 acres. It was
patented to him in 1785. That same tract was surveyed for two warrants, one of
which was to Garrett Pendergass (a famous name in Bedford County`s early days)
in 1762 and the other to Abraham Sharach in 1773.
It was 1830 when he sold Nosegay to Peter Jr.
In 1828 Peter Sr.`s daughter, Elizabeth, married Abraham McClellan,
a young man from the Everett area, and the McClellans were to figure
prominently in Peter Sr.`s retirement years. Perhaps he also set the McClellans
up in housekeeping because descendants recall the couple lived in a log house
on the farm until they could build the big brick house (presumably Mrs. John
Nave`s present residence): then after their family had grown up, their son,
George McClellan, who married Becky Greenland, did the farming and the old
folks moved back into the log cabin. George paid his parents for all the extra
furnishings they didn`t need so left in the brick house and thus a grandfather
clock has been handed down through the McClellan Family to the present day. The
other children lived on farms close by, including daughters married to Jameses.
Will Indicates Close Tie
An educated guess would tell us Peter Sr. moved in with the
McClellans (though actually it was his property all the time) either after
Christina`s death in 1839 or else in their twilight years they moved there
together.
It was not uncommon for the youngest daughter to take care of her
aging parents. When Peter wrote his will in 1846, the same year he died, it was
evident he lived with the McClellans and an excerpt indicates the close tie:
"I give and bequeath to my son-in-law, Abraham McClellan, in fee
simple, to him, his heirs and assigns forever the northern division of my
mansion place...I give to my son George W. Morgret during his natural life the
southern division. After the death of said George the division of my place is
to descend to my grandson Morgan McClellan. Should my grandson die before my
son George I wish that the said bequest be equally divided between the brothers
and sisters of said Morgan McClellan at the death of my son George."
"I desire and order that Abraham McClellan shall have and enjoy
the use of the spring adjoining house on the southern division of my mansion
place.
The said McClellans to pay half the necessary repairs. The fruit on
the whole place to be equally divided and enjoyed between Abraham and George
except what is in the gardens belonging to the respective divisions of each.
The cider mill and corn crib to stand as they have heretofore and be equally
enjoyed between Abraham and George."
"To my son George I further give all my personal property except
that which is hereafter bequeathed.
All my household furniture....and family Bible for and during his
natural life and after his decease to be equally divided among his widow and my
grandson Morgan McClellan. In case my son George should die without lawful
issue. If the wife of said George should not survive him then at his death the
whole of said property to go to Morgan McClellan. My bedstead and bed clothes
now in my use I give to my grandson Morgan McClellan."
"I give to my son George and my son-in-law McClellan my
windmill, my thresher...."
The northern division of property left to Abraham McClellan
would be the John Nave property and the southern division the Alt property.
Mrs. Lavera Hollenbaugh who resides in Fostoria, Ohio. noted in a
bit of family memorabilia:
"A large mountain spring that furnished water in abundance was
to be held in common and used freely by all.
Friction arose between George W. and Abraham over use of the
spring. An old cousin of mine can remember her father telling how one night the
spring just disappeared. The next morning it just was not there. God Himself
dried it up because of the quarrel."
Excerpt From Family Bible
Mrs. Hollenbaugh has the original copy of a hymn found in the
McClellan Family Bible written by Joseph Correll for "Mrs. Morgart" and each
line begins "Sometimes...."
Her sister-in-law Montra McClellan has the Peter Morgart Sr. Family
Bible, which must have found its way into the McClellan family`s possession
when George W. Morgart died three years before Peter Morgart McClellan and the
grandson "Morgan" listed in old Peter`s will inherited George`s inheritance
from his father, as was stipulated in old Peter`s will.
Mrs. Hollenbaugh reports that when Abraham McClellan died his
son Thomas, (her grandfather) owed Abraham money and the debt was cancelled in
lieu of an inheritance, causing hard feelings and Thomas` removal to W. Va.
then to Ohio where the family still resides.
Montra McClellan is originally from Beans Cove, her grandparents
(George Gillum) lived in Cumberland Valley and she and her now-deceased husband
Chester (grandson of Abraham and Elizabeth McClelland) were married in
Rainsburg.
The exodus of McClellands left Friends Cove with the Morgarts of
Nosegay.
By this time, the family surname spelling had evolved from Morgert
to Morgart.
Peter Jr. and Elizabeth (Betsy) raised eleven children at
Nosegay.
In those days of developing the country, the population explosion
we are experiencing today was in complete reversal. The more children a man had
then, the more help he had in developing the vast wilderness and the less
awesome the elements of rural life which separated neighbors: woods, winter and
18 hour work days.
The Morgarts farmed Nosegay, raising all their family needs.
They also had a kiln where they burned lime and quarried stones for
building homes. The beautiful William Wilfong home in Rainsburg borough was
built by Peter Jr. for his daughter, Elizabeth, and it is believed he and Betsy
lived there with her in their latter years when blindness, which came upon
Peter in 1848, limited his ability to care for himselfand his wife. Peter Jr.
was born in Loudon Co., Va., in 1782 and died in Colerain Township in 1863. He
was buried at Woods Cemetery where Betsy joined him in 1875 at the age of 80
years. Like Peter Sr., eventually Peter Jr. stepped aside to make way for a new
generation. and how did that generation fare?
His son, John C. Morgart (1815 - 1897) was a school teacher,
who, it is believed, ran a slave stopover station for the Underground Railroad
during the Civil War era at his Cumberland Valley home near the dam.
The house now belongs to a Smith family who remembers there being a
secret room. John went west after the war, perhaps of necessity?
Peter Morgart`s Descendants
Mrs. Leslie Patton of Johnson City, Tenn., has provided me with
glimpses of several of Peter Morgart`s descendants and she indicates her family
records John having four wives, the first of which was Elizabeth Beegle of
Ottown.
They were married in 1837 and had 12 children. In 1864 they moved
to Henry Co., Ill., where Elizabeth died two weeks after their arrival. She was
buried in Morristown. John was divoced from his second wife and moved to
Missouri where he married a third time. Apparently John had a fourth wife
because Mrs. Patton has an old photo picturing "Mother`s Uncle John Morgart,
son of Peter and Elizabeth (Cessna) Morgart, with his fourth wife" to which
someone has added, "On the opposite side you will see the Lily of the Valley."
Might she have been named Lilly?
John was known to some by his military title "Captain John"
though his military record is not available.
His son, William, on the other hand, is forever etched in history
as his name appears on the Pennsylvania Monument at Gettysburg as having fought
there with the 184th Calvary. He died at Andersonville and John C. claimed
William`s pension before his own death in Missouri in 1897.
The second child of Peter Jr. named Baltzer (1817 - 1890) moved
to Iowa.
He was married first to Edna Robey then to Mrs. Keziah Coffee Logan
Mead. He had three children, one named Peter, to Edna and 11 to Keziah. A
passing note indicated he and his family visited often with the family of his
sister, Mary, traveling there in a lumber wagon. Presumably he was a lumberman.
The third, William Perry (1818 - 1901), a confirmed bachelor,
and the 10th offspring, Benjamin Franklin (1836 - 1909) remained at Nosegay and
shared the inheritance of the homeplace from Peter Jr.
They nearly lost it in 1890 through an overdue debt but W. Perry,
the more ambitious of the two, managed to buy it back from the sheriff and in
1901 he willed it to his nephew, Benjamin`s son, George Edmonson Morgart, with
the stipulation George would make a home there for his parents, Benjamin and
Anna (Yeager) until their death, which he did.
George E. (1870 - 1934) married Anna Filler on Thanksgiving Day
in 1897 and they had six children.
Anna`s father Benton Filler (from the well - known designer
carpenter family of this area) was a Civil War veteran. George had a huckster
route in the Cumberland, Md., area besides his dairy farming. George had five
daughters and the youngest, a son, was born in 1916, inherited Nosegay. That
son, George Perry Morgart, raised three sons of his own there and still dairy
farms.
What became of the rest of Peter Jr.`s clan?
Why are Morgarts so scarce?
Morgart Descendants Dwindling
The fourth child, Ellen C. Morgart (1821 - 1901) married Robert
Hafer and moved to Henry Co., Illinois, and then to Geneva, Nebraska.
Her obituary indicated after Robert died in 1891 she resided with a
daughter, Ellen. The Hafers had 13 children. The surviving 11 were at her
bedside when the much loved "Grandma Hafer" died.
Eliza Ann (1823 - 1897) married James Fitzsimmons.
His parents came from Ireland to Philadelphia where they died of
typhoid and James was raised by a Mrs. Fyan in Bedford according to family
records. James is supposedly buried in the old Catholic cemetery in Bedford and
Eliza in the Woods Cemetery with two daughters, but no markers were erected
either place. The only known descendant is Miss Maude Fitzsimmons of
Schellsburg, daughter of John T. Fitzsimmons.
Mary (1825 - 1903) married Horace Buchanan and moved to
Grinnell, Iowa.
They had five sons and a daughter. The daughter, Ellen, was Mrs.
Leslie Patton`s mother (mentioned earlier in this article). Ellen married her
second cousin, Theodore Charles Cessna, son of William and Rachael Morgart. (To
further complicate family lines, this Wm. Cessna and Peter Jr.`s wife Betsy
were brother and sister.) Mary Margaret Buchanan was apparently the only
daughter of Peter Jr. to be married at home...the others all eloped. Mrs.
Patton tells a family story of how her grandfather and mother came to Rainsburg
for a visit. The grandfather wrote ahead to the Peter Morgart`s that he had a
surprise for them but not telling them he had brought their little
granddaughter along to visit. They met him in Bedford with a riding horse and
little Ellie, who had never ridden before, was obliged to ride behind her
father all the way to Rainsburg! They got there and discovered instead of a
happy visit, they would attend the grandmother Betsy`s funeral.
Two of Mary`s children, according to Mrs. Patton, were reknowned
in their own right.
Ellen (mentioned above) was famous for her Hickory Nut Cake, the
recipe for which came from Bedford County; and Ben who was much in demand for
his ability with a divining rod.
Francis Cessna Morgart (1839 - 1857) married Margaret ann Boor
(1836 - 1914) of Cumberland Valley.
It was this branch of the Morgart Family which established the
branch that exists in the northwestern section of Bedford County around
Schellsburg and New Paris. Francis` obituary indicated of his 13 youngsters, 3
located in Ohio and 2 in Johnstown. Traveling from Pleasantville to New Paris
near Ryot, one comes upon a bright red barn proclaiming the name "Morgart."
This is the home of the Stanford Morgarts, descendants of Francis`s son,
William (1860 - 1943). William was born in a log house on the Boor estate in
Cumberland Valley about four miles north of Centerville. He married Mandilla
Wolf, daughter of John and Mary Russell Wolf (1861 - 1907), and raised 13
children on the farm near Ryot.
Offspring #8 was named Samuel (1831 - 1901).
He married twice. His first wife, Sarah A. Beard, presented him
with ten youngsters before she died in 1892. Three years later he married Mrs.
T. R. (Jane) McClellan. He was a farmer who, with the exception of a few years`
residence in Cumberland Valley, lived his life in Friends Cove and, at the time
of his death, his "mansion farm" was the present Luther Simmons property.
Curtis and William Morgart, brothers, reside northeast of Rainsburg and are
descendants of Samuel through his son, Dennis (1870 - 1936). Their mother was
Sarah H. Friend (1873 - 1956), daughter of Wm. C. and Amanda Rawlings Friend (a
Friend of Friends Cove!). They had seven children, some of whom located in the
Uniontown area.
Peter Jr.`s daughter Racher (presumed to be Rachael) and Rebecca
are the mystery members of the family.
Rachael married Upton Perrin from the Black Valley/Flintstone area.
All that is recorded on Rebecca is her married name "Evans" and the fact she
lived in Chicago.
So be it for the Morgarts of Colerain then.
By coincidence, the Clair Morgart family of Rainsburg live in a
house built by and for the Benton Filler family but they are not of Peter Jr.`s
line. Their ancester Philip was Peter Jr.`s brother.
Family Traits
The Bedford County phone directory lists 18 Morgarts and 4
Morgrets.
Of these, six constitute the Morgarts of Colerain and five the line
of Peter Jr. Nosegay Plantation (which, by the way it is not called by its
present owner) remains the sole Peter Morgart Sr. property to remain in the
Morgart family. The present owner has three sons, only one of whom lives in
Colerain, and of his nine grandchildren, three are boys and retain the Morgart
name. Two of these grandchildren are adopted, which is not an uncommon trait in
the Morgart Family.
Family research brings out interesting family traits.
The Morgarts number many teachers and nurses among their family
members. Adoption is a common occurance in the line. And not only the men, but
the women as well, tend to use their middle names instead of their first given
names. The name "Peter" is repeated in nearly every generation.
The Morgart blood line spreads far and wide but, like the
Morgarts of Colerain, the surname becomes less common as the years go by.
There are several Morgart descendants residing in the Cove,
sporting various surnames, thanks to the five sisters of George Perry Morgart.
(1) Hazel (now deceased) married Harmon Simons and their son,
George Simons, M.D., is a Medical director of Cumberland Memorial Hospital, and
lives on a farm just northeast of Rainsburg.
He has a sister in Connecticut and one in Michigan.
(2) Mary Jane married John Harclerode and they farmed in
Colerain Township before moving to a farm in Bedford Township.
Three of their four offspring live in the Bedford area and a
daughter, Anna Janet, lives in Chambersburg. This daughter repeated family
history when she (a Morgart descendant) married a descendant of John Cessna lV
as did her great-great-grandfather (Peter Jr. and Elizabeth Cessna).
(3) Gladys married Dennis Koontz and they too farmed in Colerain
before moving to Orchard Heights.
Two of their sons reside very near to the former McClellan home on
the Centennial Road in Colerain Township. G. E. Clyde Koontz farms and H.
Eugene Koontz is a milk transporter. Clyde has two daughters and two
grandchildren residing in Colerain Township nearby. Enter family names Hite and
Callihan into the Morgart Family History, Colerain Chapter. A third son,
Normand Edward, farms in cumberland Valley, Maryland.
(4) Julia Helen (now deceased) wed Jack Beachley, M.D., and they
had two daughters who reside in New Jersey and Maryland.
(5) Margaret (now deceased) wed Howard Schaeffer and two of
their offspring, William and Mary Diehl, reside in Colerain Township.
Until recently the eldest brother, Gerald, farmed the Schaeffer
homeplace very near the original Morgart Colerain tract. He now lives in
Stoystown and two sisters live in Maryland.
These descendants of George E. hold a reunion in Colerain each
summer near the fourth of July.
Each year new babies and new in-laws are introduced and records are
kept to keep the Morgart line up-to-date. After wading through this admittedly
complicated family line article, Press readers can, no doubt, understand the
importance of such records for generations to come.
Why? Because in this computer/number age, it is still reassuring
to know from whence...
(The facts in this article have been carefully researched and
the author invites corrections and additions to any of the material.
It is meant only as an addition to the history of Bedford County
and the Morgart family name.)
MORGART, MORGRET, & MORGRETTE FAMILY GENEALOGY
