Michael A. O’Neill
Copyright 02 July 2016
Redmond, King, Washington, USA
In a 1996 family history entitled “A Singer-Wooster Family History,” Eugene Singer noted that “There are now substantial clues which suggest that the originating family was that of Philip Schlauch and Margaret Hertzel of Pennsylvania.”[1]
Singer does not explicitly list those clues, but there appear to be two:
- The name, George Slough.
- The age is about right.
There are at least ten men with that name born between 1730 and 1743: three born in Pennsylvania, and seven (maybe more) born in Germany.
Singer’s “substantial clues” come from an article by Hannah Roach first published in Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine in 1982, which summarizes in one sentence what little we know about Philip and Margaret Slough’s son, George [B]:
“George Schlauch, b. before 1738, was of age in 1759 when his mother petitioned the Orphans Court for guardians for her younger children; d. unmarried before 1769 when his next younger brother Jacob petitioned the court for division of the estate.”[2]
Roach repeats these facts later in the article, noting that “Margaret’s eldest son, George Schlauch, died unmarried and without issue.
Singer’s interpretation of these two statements is that “the genealogy cited… states that George had ‘probably died’ since there was no further record.” At best, Singer didn’t read the article carefully. At worst, he consciously disregarded the stated facts to find the connection he wanted. Either way, the originals are easily obtainable via the Family History Library and Ancestry.com(critical excerpt is below).
Singer’s erroneous conclusion that Philip and Margaret’s son moved to Canada, rather than died as documented, has misled dozens of family historians over the past two decades.
End Notes
[1] Singer, Eugene. A. A Singer Family of Colonial Vermont and Canada. Self-Published. 1996. Lahaina, Hawaii. p. 84. (accessed via https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE71047&from=fhd on 29 January 2016).
[2] Roach, Hannah Benner. “Hans Georg Hertzel, Pioneer of Northampton County, and His Family.” Genealogies of Pennsylvania Families from the Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine. Volume 1: Arnold-Hertzel. Genealogical Publishing Company. Baltimore. 1982. (Originally published in Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine, Vol. XXIV:3, 1966, 151-184.)