Moses PACKER

1764 - 1830  (66 years)

• Name	Moses PACKER
  Born	1764	Uwchlan, Chester, Pennsylvania
  Gender	Male
  _UID	BCD955084FD3174A903CB2F11B0FC7481D3E
  Buried	Sep 1830	Middlebury, Logan, Ohio
  Died	10 Sep 1830	Middlebury, Logan, Ohio
  Person ID	I188	pember-crandall
  Last Modified	28 Jan 2017

  
  

  Father	Aaron PACKER,   b. Abt 1732, Uwchlan, Chester, Pennsylvania, USA ,   d. Aft 1790, , Centre, Pennsylvania, USA  (Age ~ 59 years)
  Mother	Mary Ann PHIPPS,   b. 1743, Of Uwchlan, Chester, PA ,   d. 1790, Centre, Pennsylvania, United States  (Age 47 years)
  Married	15 Jan 1765	Uwchlan, Chester, PA
  _UID	06E294AE46BAC048A6D20A46663132440735
  Family ID	F256	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Eve WILLIAMS,   b. 1768, , Fayette, Pennsylvania, USA ,   d. Abt 1830, Middlebury, logan, OH  (Age 62 years)
  Married	1791
  _UID	E88AF94664B11342B4DCA4AD4230E0D62428
  Children	1. Moses PACKER,   b. 1789, York, PA ,   d. 1875, Elysia, Lorain, Ohio  (Age 86 years)   2. Abraham PACKER,   b. 2 Mar 1795, Of Flushing Twp, Belmont, OH ,   d. 23 May 1857, Flushing, Belmont, Ohio  (Age 62 years)   3. Margaret PACKER,   b. 12 May 1798, , Richland, OH ,   d. 1875, , , Ohio, USA  (Age 76 years)   4. James Dalton PACKER,   b. 1799, Richland, Ohio, USA ,   d. Abt 1878  (Age 79 years)   5. Sarah PACKER,   b. 1801, , Richland, Ohio, USA   6. Hannah PACKER,   b. 7 Jul 1805, Smithfield, Jefferson, Ohio, United States ,   d. 31 Jan 1871  (Age 65 years)   7. Elizabeth PACKER,   b. Abt 1805, Belmont, Ohio, USA ,   d. Bef 1878  (Age ~ 72 years)   8. Mary Ann PACKER,   b. 1807, , Richland, Ohio, USA ,   d. Aug 1885, Richland, Belmont, Ohio, USA  (Age 78 years)   9. Nathan Williams PACKER,   b. 2 Jan 1811, , Jefferson, Ohio USA ,   d. 27 Oct 1875, Riverdale, Oneida, ID  (Age 64 years)   10. Jane PACKER,   b. 1812, Of Flushing Twp, Belmont, OH ,   d. 5 Jan 1890, Steubenville, Jffrsn, Ohio  (Age 78 years)   11. William Hamilton PACKER,   b. 27 Dec 1814, Smithfield, Jefferson, OH ,   d. 14 Feb 1875, Joseph, Sevier, UT  (Age 60 years)   12. Jonathan Taylor PACKER,   b. 26 Jul 1817, Perry Township, Richland, Ohio, United States ,   d. 26 Jan 1889, Safford, Graham, Arizona, United States  (Age 71 years)   13. Aaron PACKER,   b. 1793, , York, PA
  Last Modified	9 Nov 2017 17:05:48
  Family ID	F128	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

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• Notes

  Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy by William Wade Hinshaw Volume IV, Alum Creek Monthly Meeting Page 1178 Packer 1830, 9, 10. Moses d ae 66 bur Middlebury, O. "The Life and Times of Alonzo Hamilton Packer and Lydia Ann Packer" page 26 "His grandparents (Alonzo), Moses Packer and Eve Williams, had full exposure to the rigors and privations of pioneer life. having been born of parents who were pioneers in the early settlement of Pennsylvania. Moses was brought up as a member of the Quaker faith, which led to his experiencing religious persecution because of his beliefs." The Packer family first became identified with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints when the three sons of Moses and Eve accepted the message of the restored gospel and were baptised into the Church. These three sons included Alonzo's father, Jonathan Taylor Packer, and his brother Nathan William and William Hamilton. All three brothers were numbered among the early converts of the Church and remained true and faithful members throughout their mortal lives. All three moved West to assist in the establishment of Salt Lake City, as well as other colon i es in Utah and Arizona. __________________ ( Jonathan joined the Mormon Church and was baptized on the 10th of March 1836 by Elder Jacob Myers. Two of his brothers also joined the Church -- Nathan Williams in December 1833, and William Hamilton, November 1850. ) __________________ History of Moses Packer 1764 - 1830 by Edson S Packer, compiled November, 1975 Moses Packer 1764 – 1830 By Edson S. Packer Compiled November, 1975 Moses Packer’s ancestry in America begins a century before the adoptio n o f our country’s constitution, having its beginning with the establi shmen t of the colony of Pennsylvania by William Penn in 1681. Just two y ears l ater Moses/ great grandfather, Phillip Packer, arrived on the ship , Lio n of Liverpool, in Philadelphia harbor on the 14th of August, 1683 . Whe n he was a young man 19 years old he married Hannah Sessions on th e 9th o f October, 1685 in Philadelphia. As far as it is known they had o nly on e son, Phillip, before she died. Phillip Packer, Jr. was Moses†™ grandfath er. He married Ann Coates and they had five children. Moses†™ father was t heir fourth child, Aaron, born in 1732. Moses’ mother wa s Ann Phipps. Moses was born in 1764 in Uwchlan, Chester County, Pennsylvania. The year of Moses Packer’s birth is determined by an entry in the Alu m Cr eek Monthly Meeting (Quaker), Delaware County, Ohio, recording his d eat h on the 10th of September 1830, age 66. Not much is known of the ear ly l ife of Moses. In 1765 Aaron and Ann Packer, the parents of Moses, are recorded as owni n g 80 acres, 2 horses, and 5 sheep in the Uwchlan Township, Chester Coun t y Tax records. Aaron and Ann had moved from Pikeland, Chester County (o nl y four or five miles from Uwchlan) in 1762 according to the tax record s . They were still in Uwchlan when Moses was born. We have not found the birth of Moses on the Quaker records. His father h a d been disowned and his mother, Ann, doesn’t appear on the records ei the r at that time. In 1776 Moses’ father, Aaron Packer, and his older brother, Jesse, join e d the Colonial Army and fought in the Revolutionary War with the men o f P axtang Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Lancaster County bor dere d on Chester County to the west. This move of the Aaron Packer famil y int o Lancaster County was the beginning of a migration that was to en d in th e Rocky Mountains for some and the Pacific Coast for others. Whe n Moses ’ father and brother Jesse fought in the Revolutionary War, Mos es was onl y 12 years old. It is reasonable to believe that Moses and hi s older brot her, Eleaser, took care of the farm and their mother, Ann Pa cker, while h is father and older brother were gone. After Moses’ father was discharged from the Continental Army he moved h i s family up the Juniata River to Warrington, York County. York County b or ders Lancaster County on the west. This move probably took place abou t 17 83. At this time, Moses would have been 19 years of age. In 1786 Aar on an d Ann moved to Upper Paxtang in Dauphin County. Dauphin County bord ers Yo rk County on the north. From Dauphin county Aaron and Moses move d into Fa 6yette County, Pennsylvania. Aaron is found in the 1790 Censu s for Pennsy lvania, in German Township in Fayette County, which was in t he center o f the western boundary of the County. This move was made some time betwee n 1787 and 1790. It was in Fayette County that Moses met Eve Williams. They were marrie d i n Fayette County it is believed, in about 1791. In 1800 Moses is list ed i n the Pennsylvania Census as living in Saltlick, Fayette County. Thi s wa s in the northeastern part of the County and about 25 or 30 miles fr om Ge rman Townshi0p. At this time, Moses would have been about 27 year s old. While Moses lived in Saltlick he made a request to become a member of t h e Redstone Monthly Meeting and was received into the Meeting on the 30 t h of January 1801. Redstone had formerly belonged to the Westland Month l y Meeting at Centerville in Washington County. The Westland Monthly Mee ti ng was the first Monthly Meeting west of the Allegheney Mountains. Th e Sa ltlick Creek settlement was about 25 miles from Redstone. It is no t know n whether Moses’ parents were received into membership again b y the Quake rs. Moses apparently didn’t have membership again by the Qu akers. Moses a pparently didn’t have membership by birthright. There i s evidence, howeve r, that Moses was a Quaker when he married Eve William s. In the Memoria l and Biographical record of the counties of Delaware , Union and Morrow c ounties, Ohio 1895, we read, “The mother of our su bject, Margaret (Packer ) Hoffmire, was a Quaker by birth. Her parents lo cated in Richland County , Ohio in 1810. She was the daughter of Mose Pac ker, and one of her broth ers was a Quaker Minister (Abraham). She had th ree brothers who were Morm ons and participated in the Mormon Massacre a t Nauvoo, Illinois.” [This r ecord was received from Lynne L. Schnider , Methodist Historical Archives , Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio, 2 3 April 1973.] If Eve had married a non Quaker she would have been disowned the sam e a s with Moses; so if Margaret was a Quaker by birth it meant that bot h Mos es and Eve were Quakers no doubt when they were married. All of th e child ren born to Moses and Eve apparently had a Quaker birthright. Six months after becoming a friend at Redstone Monthly Meeting, Moses ma d e a request to be accepted at the Westland Monthly Meeting in Centervil le , Washington County. Centerville is in the southeastern part of the co unt y. By this time, Moses and Eve would have had four or five children . Al l the evidence available in the Quaker records and the Census of 180 0 fo r Pennsylvania, indicates that Moses was a constant resident of Faye tte c ounty, Pennsylvania from 1790 to at least 1801. Any children born t o Mose s and Eve during this period would have been born in Fayette Count y. Thi s would have included Aaron, Abraham, Margaret, James Dalton and p erhap s Sarah as she was born about 1801. Moses was 37 years old when Sarah was born. When the Ohio territory was opened up for settlement it was stipulated t h at the territory would remain forever free from slavery. The Quakers we r e strongly against slavery and were active in the underground road to h el p runaway slaves gain their freedom. We can well guess that many runaw a y slaves would head for the Quaker communities in Pennsylvania and Ohi o . Another thing that encouraged moving into Ohio was the availabilit y o f cheap land. These two conditions brought many Quakers into Ohio. Re cord s indicate that Moses moved into Ohio by 1810. Moses first went to the Concord Monthly Meeting at Colerain in Belmont C o unty. There were three Monthly Meetings in this area, the Concord, th e Sh ort Creek, nine miles from Colerain to the northwest and the Plymout h-Smi thfield Monthly Meeting, twelve miles to the north in Jefferson Cou nty. T his would indicate a heavy concentration of Quakers in that area. On 22 April 1813, Moses was granted a certificate from the Concord Month l y Meeting to the Short Creek Monthly Meeting. Instead of going to the S ho rt Creek Monthly Meeting he went to the Plymouth-Smithfield Monthly Me eti ng. He was accepted at this Meeting on the 15th of May 1813. Some eig ht m onths later Moses did move his family to the Short Creek settlemen t on 1 9 February 1814. The following is a brief description of the Short Creek settlement in 18 1 2. (Taken from the History of Jefferson County, Ohio, page 967) “In 1 81 2 my father was at Waterford, London County, Virginia, having made hi s wa y from Boston, when he mad the acquaintance of a Quaker, Joseph Stee r, wh o had a large flouring mill and water power on Short Creek, about e ightee n miles from Steubenville and four from Mount Pleasant. This wa s a Quake r settlement of considerable importance, and the wealth and inf luence o f that locality was chiefly in their hands, and they were not ex celled b y any in all useful enterprises that tended to improve the the n new and g rowing country. Along the little river of Short Creek they ha d built flou ring mills, salt works and paper mill of no mean capacity.† From this description of the Quakers at Short Creek we can understand th a t they were a very industrious and hard working people. This is just wh a t the country needed to extend it’s frontiers ever further West. Toda y, t he road maps of Ohio mark the spot where the old Quaker Church of th e Sho rt Creek Monthly Meeting still stands and is designated as a histor ical s ite. Moses did not stay very long in Short Creek, perhaps only a year whe n h e went into Richland County and settled on the Alum Creek in Perry To wnsh ip. This was a hundred miles from Short Creek. A move made basicall y on h orseback. This move of Moses Packer listed him among the early set tlers o f Perry Township. He is listed among those settlers coming betwee n 1815 a nd 1817. This move of Moses with his family into Perry was to have far reaching e f fects upon the lives of some of his children and grandsons and their de sc endants. Twelve miles to the northeast of Moses Packers farm in Perr y wa s the township of Newville. “Newville became the center of a stron g gospe l movement between 1825 and 1835. Prominent among the preachers i n the ar ea were Alexander Campbell, Sidney Rigdon and Thomas Rigdon; eac h preachi ng the gospel as he understood it, but all agreeing upon the do ctrine o f water baptism by immersion (something the Quakers did not beli eve in. ) The Rigdons were gifted men as was also Mr. Campbell. Sidney Ri gdon ha s been described as a most charming and convincing speaker. He wa s then a bout 35 years of age and his personality drew a following. Afte r the Rigd ons had preached successfully in Newville for several years, S idney Rigdo n went to Palmyra, New York and became associated with Josep h Smith. In l ooking about for a headquarters for the church, Kirkland an d Newville wer e considered, the Prophet Joseph favored Kirkland and Sidn ey Rigdon favor ed Newville. It was, however, established at Kirkland. I n 1838 a number o f families from the Newville area joined the Mormon exo dus to the West.” Nathan Packer was the first of Moses’ sons to join the Mormons. (Histo r y of Richland County, Baughman, Vol. I.) He was baptized the 12th of De ce mber 1833, he was followed by Jonathan Taylor on the 19th of March 183 6 , and later by William Hamilton, and three of his grandsons, sons of h i s daughter Margaret Packer Huffmire. Nathan was 22 years old at that ti m e and Jonathan only 18. According to Paul L. Crandall’s history of Jo nath an, he left Perry and went to Kirkland where he lived among the Morm ons . It was through the descendants of Jonathan that one of the Packer s wa s chosen to be an apostle of the Mormon Church, or The Church of Jes us Ch rist of Later Day Saints as it is properly known. This is Boyd K. P acke r who was called to this high position of leadership in April 1970. After Moses moved to Perry Township in Richland County, we lose trac k o f him in the Quaker records until his death and is records in the Alu m Cr eek Monthly Meeting on the 10th of September 1830. There is not an y doub t but that he remained a Quaker until his death as he was buried i n the o ld Quaker Cemetery at Middlebury. Sometime before 1819, Moses and Eve purchased land at the Wooster Govern m ent Land Office. This land was described as in the S.W. ¼ of Section 3 6 , Township 19, Range 19. This location was in the southwest corner of P er ry and Perry was in the southwest corner of Richland County. It border e d the Township of Middlebury in Knox County, on the south. Moses, no doubt, bought the full quarter section of 160 acres. That wa s t he usual block of land sold at the land office. An entry shows that s om e of this land was sold, on the 27th of March 1819, to Daniel Morriso n b y Moses and Eve Packer. Moses was then 55 years old and Jonathan Tayl or , his youngest child, 2 years old. Let us pause at this point and really take a closer look at the environm e nt in which Moses and his family lived. In the first place he and Eve s pe nt most of their lives on the rugged frontier, when one are was settle d f or long they would push farther west again. Moses was a rugged frontiersman, a stalwart, courageous father and worke r . He lived close to nature and to God. He just had to be a strong indiv id ual, and he raised a large family. He had to be adventurous as was hi s fa ther, grandfather and great grandfather before him. His great grandf athe r left Ireland to seek a new world, his grandfather pushed back in t he ar ea around Philadelphia, and his father pushed out into the surround ing co unties of the Philadelphia area and into western Pennsylvania. Whe n Aaro n moved with his family toward the West, it started a movement tha t was e ventually in the next hundred years, to cover 2,500 miles. They w ere expo sed to the hazards of frontier life, Indians, sickness, hunger , wild anim als and severe weather. The areas, over which Moses traveled and settled, were thickly foreste d ; roads were few and rough and in bad weather impassable. Most all th e mo ves of any distance at all were made in the good weather, and in th e fal l or early Spring, so that land could be cleared sufficiently to bu il d a cabin. Everywhere was a dense forest consisting of hickory, oak, e l m and beech trees, many of them giant trees. Sometimes there was tim e t o build a regular log cabin, other times they built only emergency po le c abins. This was a cabin made of small poles and sticks and covered w ith b rush and bark. These could be erected by the head of the family wit hout a ssistance in twenty-four or forty-eight hours. Hundreds of these b rush ca bins were erected in Richland County. Most of the settlers arrived in the Spring and the first consideration w a s to put in a crop of corn, or wheat and establish a “truck patch” ; there fore, putting off building a cabin until fall. A building spot had to be literally carved out of the forest. It was n o s mall job to clear the trees away for the cabin and then clearing som e gro und for planting. For years the beech routs fought them for possess ion o f the soil. Some cabins had an attic, some chimneys and fireplace s were b uilt inside the cabin, some on the outside. The chimneys were ma de of mu d shutting out the cold. The floors were sometimes dirt and mor e often ma de out of puncheon (a plank three inches thick.) Most of the f urniture wa s hand made, as it was too difficult to haul furniture over t he bad roads . Most stools were three legged. The windows were covered wi th greased pa per and would shut out the winds and at the same time let s ome light thro ugh. Much of the cooking was done over the fireplace. One settler in Belmont County writes, “The monotony of the time for sev er al of the first years was broken and enlivened by the howl of wild bea sts . The wolves howling around us seemed to moan their inability to driv e u s from their long and undisputed domain. The bears, panthers and dee r see mingly go miffed at our approach. One bag of meal would make a whole family rejoicingly happy. We stoo d i n great need of such things as bureaus, stands, wardrobes or even bar rels . There were not to be had. For reading materials most families had the Bible, George Fox’s Journa l , Barkley’s Apology and Pilgrims’ Progress. One account of the lif e of th e early settlers in Belmont says of these books, “They are al l better tha n much of the fashionable reading of the present day – fro m which after r eading, the reader has gained nothing, while his understa nding has been m ade the dupe of the writer’s fancy.” In The Richland County History by Baughman, he wrote of these early sett l ers of which Moses and his family were included. Into the depths of th e v ast forest came the Richland County Pioneers. These hardy pioneers co uple d virtue with courage, humanity and love of country with the stern d utie s and hard battles of frontier life, and the example of their live s not o nly interests, but strengthens our faith and admiration in huma n courag e and unselfish purpose. No matter where they came from, they we re a supe rior class of men who first traversed our hills and valleys b y dimly mark ed paths. “None can now correctly imagine nor portray the features of this wild c ou ntry at the time the first cabins were built. There were dangers to b e en countered and numerous difficulties to overcome. The gigantic fores t ha d to be cleared, and the work was so enormous that only the stronges t, th e bravest, and the most courageous dared attempt to accomplish it. “It required men of thought, enterprise, resolution and strong purpose , t o break up old associations of life and brave hardships and privation s. “In their homes or cabins they had no clocks; they guessed the time o f da y by the mark over the door. Cooking utensils were a teakettle, an i ron p ot and a skillet brought from the other side of the mountain on hor seback . They grew gourds and hard-shelled squash from which they made bo wls an d dippers. They often were without salt. Johnny cake was the princ ipal fo rm of bread for breakfast, and pone for dinner with wild game, ho miny an d honey. The standard dish for supper was mush and milk. For ligh ting pur poses they used a “lard lamp” and tallowdip.” Moses Packer, like Moses of old, spent his “forty years” in the wilde rnes s. This life was a great training ground for his three sons and tre e gran dsons that joined the Mormons and participated in the long sever e trek in to Utah. On April 1824, Moses and Eve sold another 40 acres of their land, this t i me to Richard Evans, and 20 April 1825 they sold Amos Hartley anothe r 1 0 acres. At this time, Moses was 61 years old and Eve somewhere in he r la te fifties. The children still at home were probably Nathan 14, Jan e 13 , William 10 and Jonathan 8 years old. According to the records of the Alum Creek Monthly Meeting, Moses die d 1 0 September 1830 and was buried in Middlebury. There has been some sp ecul ation as to where Middlebury was situated as it doesn’t exist toda y. Bu t a map of that area around Perry Township show Alum Creek runnin g throug h both Middlebury and the southern farm. During the October term of the Court of Common Pleas for Richland Count y , Ohio, James Packer and Jesse Huffmire appeared in open court and pres en ted the Will of Moses Packer, late of Perry Township, Richland county . Tw o of the witnesses to the Will were also present and testified as t o th e accuracy of the instrument. The court appointed Benjamin Combs, Jo hn Pa inter, and Robert Chambers to appraise the estate and to take inven tory o f it. The date of probating the Will of Moses Packer was the 11t h of Octo ber 1830. It states that the total inventory of the estate of M oses Packe r was $161.63, including four cows, one calf, hogs, and one ma re. (This d id not include the land.) This is the Will of Moses Packer recorded in Volume I, page 424, Richla n d County, Ohio: I Moses Packer, of County of Richland Township of Perry, and state of Oh i o, being weak of body, but sound and perfect in memory and mind, do ma k e and publish this my Last Will and Testament in manner and form follow in g to wit: First it is my will that all my just depts. And funeral charges be paid. Item 2nd: I give and bequeath all the residue of my property to my wif e , Eve Packer for her living (with her prudent care of same) while she r em ains my relict widow. 3rd: It is my will that after my widow should remarry that the propert y b e sold and money equally divided between her and all my children: Aar on P acker, Abraham Packer, Margaret Huffmire, James D. Packer, Sarah Bro wn, H annah Packer, Eliza Temple, Mary Ann Coon, Nathan W. Packer, Jane P acker , William H. Packer, Jonathan T. Packer, share alike. 4th: And if she remain my widow until death that the property then be so l d and divided equally amongst all my children or heirs by their own bo d y begotten. And lastly I nominate, constitute, and appoint my beloved son Abraham Pa c ker, my beloved son James packer, and my beloved son-in-law Isaac Huffm ir e to be the Executors of this my Will declaring this and this only t o b e my Last Will and Testament. Signed and sealed in the presence of: Robert Murphy John Painters John Lewis Moses Packer At the time of Moses Packer’s death the only children at home were Jan e 1 6, William 14 and Jonathan 12 years old. Hannah was 27 years old an d didn ’t marry until after 1837, but it is doubtful whether or not sh e was livi ng at home at the time of the death of her father. Eve remained a widow until 9 July 1837, on which date she was marrie d t o James Skinner. No record has been found of them after that date. Ev e ap parently remained a widow until her children were all grown up and o n the ir own. Her youngest child, Jonathan was then 19 years old, and ha d alrea dy left home for the Kirtland area. As the marriage of Eve Packe r and Jam es Skinner approached, some of the children signed deeds to th e 72 acre s of land Moses still owned at the time of his death. On 14 Ma y 1837, th e heirs who lived in Richland County sighed a deed to Robert C hambers. Th ese were John E. and Sarah Brown, George and Mary Coon, and N athan and El izabeth Packer. On 24 May 1837, William and Jane Packer and his sister Hannah Packer, a l l living in Jefferson County, Ohio, signed a deed in favor of Robert Ch am bers. Abraham and Sarah packer of Flushing, Belmont County, Ohio signed thei r d eed on 27 May 1837. But Isaac and Margaret Huffmire, of Knox County , Ohio , did not sign a deed to Robert until 27 November 1838. James D. and Eleanor Packer of Hardin County, Ohio, on 1 May 1837 had de e ded land to Henry Gaddis, a total of 19 acres. Henry and Mary Gaddis , o f Richland County, later deeded this land to Robert Chambers, sayin g tha t it had been purchased from heirs of Moses Packer. It hasn’t been possible so far to find the deed form the other childre n o f Moses to Robert Chambers that were recorded in Richland County, bu t o n 4 July 1841, Aaron Packer of Franklin county, Arkansas, gave powe r of a ttorney to his brother Abraham Packer of Flushing, Belmont county , to col lect money due from Robert Chambers. Mr. Chambers evidently ha d not kep t up his payments for the Packer land, for as early as 21 No em ber 1837 , he was delinquent in his account with the Packer heirs named i n a recor d found in Deed Book 23, page 184, Richland County, Ohio. (Warr en Packer) It is believed that Moses Packer named his children in his Will in the o r der of their births. _UID65B9146246CCD511B70D0020E0C2BF411268