♀Magdalena (surname unknown)

Magdalena, whose maiden name is not known, was the second wife of Michael Gingrich (1700–1785), a yeoman of Lebanon Township in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, who was the fourth great-grandfather of Ora Emogene Walrath (1925–2014). A will made in 1789 by a widow of her name in Lebanon Township, almost certainly hers, names only Sherick children and grandchildren, so she had earlier been the wife of a Sherick.

Life and family

No record of Magdalena’s birth, her parents or her death has been found. The records that name her as Michael Gingrich’s wife are his will of 1784 and, probably, her own will of 1789. The family record dates the births of Michael Gingrich’s children from about 1720 to 1749, and no record names her as the mother of any of them.

The will

Her husband’s will, signed on 27 July 1784, leaves “unto my wife Magdaleane her Bed and Bedstead and Chest and also whatsoever I have received with her at the time I was married unto my said wife”, so she was living when he signed. That wording may point to a later marriage, so the will does not show whether she was the mother of all his children. It gives her no surname: “Kingery” and “Gingery” are spellings of her husband’s name, not hers.

The money from all his lands and personal estate was to be divided equally among his children: John; Barbara, the wife of Christian Jorde; Annly (Anna), the wife of Jacob Jordy; Peter; Maria; Magdalane (Magdalena), the wife of John Allbright; and Michael the younger. The will does not say which of the seven, if any, were hers.

Lines of descent

Her husband’s line to Ora Emogene Walrath (1925–2014) runs through his sons Peter and John, and no record names her as the mother of either, so the line does not run through her. The descent is set out in his biography.

Notes

A transcription of the will, made from a collection of Pennsylvania wills and probate records and published in an online family tree, spells the name “Micheal Kingery (Gingery)” and gives 7 July 1784 as the day he signed and 14 May 1785 as the day the will was proved. The will itself reads 27 July, and the probate index gives 18 May.

The family record’s dates for his sons, 1720 for John and 1749 for Peter, put twenty-nine years between them, and John’s birth year is not stated by any record found.

A will made on 16 September 1789 by “Magdeleane Gingery of Lebanon Township”, a widow, and proved on 14 June 1796 (Dauphin County wills) names as her Sherick children and grandchildren Andrew, Wendle, Casper, Joseph, John, Abraham, Mary, the wife of David Peffley, and Magdaleane, the wife of Abraham Kauffman. The records here do not give the given name of her Sherick husband.

Earlier family trees, and the family record, make her the mother of John and Peter. The wills show otherwise: the will of 1784 may point to a late marriage, and the will of 1789 names none of Michael’s children, though John and Peter were both living then.

An online family tree calls her Magdalena Foulk, 1710–1796, but no record confirms it, and the same tree has her son Peter marrying at the age of seven.