Anna "Eliza" States married twice, as did her second husband Benjamin Heffner. But it was out of necessity, as they both had unfortunately lost their first spouse. Today, we would call their united families a blended family.
Eliza was twenty years old when she married John Simpson on February 24th, 1853, and with him had
four children. They had been married 7 years when John died on December 4,
1860, one month before the birth of their daughter, Jennie. Wow!!! It must have been very difficult for Eliza to loose her husband when she had three small children to care for and another on the way. The 1860
Census Record for John and Eliza Simpson shows that he was a foreman on
the railroad. They had three children at the time of the 1860 census; Abraham, 6, George, 4 and Cate
Simpson, age 2. They were living in Walker township, Huntingdon
Co., Pennsylvania.
A widow with 4 young children in 1860 needed to have a husband to help her support her family, but it was six years before Eliza married a second time to Benjamin Heffner on August 14, 1866. Ben Heffner's first wife was Eliza Lichenthaler with whom he had nine children; Samuel, John, Joseph, Allison, James, William, Franklin, Marshall and Jennie before she died in 1865. His children were still young when their mother died. Ben needed a wife to help him care for his large brood.
Benjamin Heffner was said to be a very progressive farmer, cultivating over 200 acres. He built an impressive brick house and barn on his property to provide for his large family.
 | |
| Picture Copyright 1978 by Lewis E. Heifner from his book The Heifners 1764 - 1976. |
Eliza had three more children with Ben Heffner. They were Anne, born 1867, Ella Mae, born 1869 and Mary, born in 1871 when Eliza was 39 years old. Eliza was the mother of seven children.
Ben was the father of a total of twelve children. Eliza's daughters are in the front; Ella Mae, Annie and Mary. Altogether
there were nineteen off spring in this huge blended family. They were truly a Yours,
Mine and Ours family!! Both Ben and Eliza had daughters named Jennie. It must have been interesting for my Great Grandmother, Ella Mae Heffner Long to have two sisters with the same name. I remember my grandmother, Eliza Long McEwen, talking about her Aunt Jennie, but now I don't know which Aunt Jennie she meant.
The Benjamin Heffner Monument in the McConnellstown Cemetery in Huntingdon Co., Pennsylvania is engraved with the names of both of Ben's wives.
Eliza Heffner 5/25/1820 - 12/20/1865 on the left face of the monument.
Benjamin Heffner 12/6/1820 - 2/2/1894 on the center face
Anna Eliza 5/28/1832 - 2/12/1896 on the right face
Anna Eliza States was the daughter of Abraham States (1807 -1875) and Catherine Mumper States (1808 - 1888). Anna Eliza States Simpson Heffner was my Great, Great Grandmother.
This page and all contents © 2012 Cynthia H. Smith
Email to chsmith47@yahoo.com
-
Email address--- chsmith47@yahoo.com
No comments:
Post a Comment