My 4x Great Grandfather Had a Pet Bear!!!

As a child, I loved to watch Grizzly Adams on television along with his pet bear, Ben. I had no idea that my own ancestor, Robert Stewart, also had a pet bear! His bear's name was "Bruin" (which means "bear") and they lived in Pennsylvania in the mid-1800's. While doing research, I uncovered an article titled "Mike Swartz and the Black Bear" in "History of Centre and Clinton Counties, Pennsylvania" which was published in 1883. The "black bear" in this story was Bruin, and I'm assuming things turned out alright. Robert died about 30 years before this book was published, but I can imagine the stories of him & Bruin being told at gatherings throughout the county. I'm thankful this story was preserved in print.

Grizzly Adams & his pet bear, from Wikipedia

Mike Swartz and the Black Bear

A tame bear belonging to the family of Robert Stewart was missing one morning, whereupon a man by the name of Mike Swartz and Mr. Stewart went in pursuit of him. After a while he was discovered in a tree a short distance from the house. One of the men, who had a gun, fired at the bear, and succeeded in bringing him to the ground, but slightly wounded. In order to prevent Bruin from escaping Mike ran up and caught hold of the bear, which in turn Bruin caught Mike by the hand with his mouth, at the same time giving him a hug such only as bears can give; at which Mike called out to his companion, who was at a safe distance, to come to his assistance, but Stewart, who no doubt thought "self-preservation the first law of nature," coolly replied, "Mike, if you were my own born dear brother I could do nothing for you under the circumstances."

For Sale, Public Ledger, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 10 Sep 1845, page 2, column 5;
digital image, newspapers.com (http://www.newspapers.com: accessed 18 Sep 2014)

As I looked for any newspaper article about my ancestor and his bear, I came across a lot of pet bear stories even into the 1900's. As could be expected, many of them did not have happy endings. Above is one clipping from Pennsylvania in 1845 offering a pet bear for sale. I wonder if Robert bought his bear or found an orphaned cub and raised it.

Do we share common ancestors? I'd love to talk! Please leave a comment or email me at drleeds@sbcglobal.net

Brick Wall: Busted

I have tried to identify the father of Andrew McClintock (1804-abt 1864 in PA) for several years. The key to busting this brick wall was in the newly released Pennsylvania certificates of death.

Andrew and his wife, Mary Jane, had eight children that I know of. Three of those children died between 1906 and 1922, the years for which these death records have been released and are available at ancestry.com.

(image from ancestry.com)

Two of these records, those for Samuel & Adam, list the maiden name of their mother as "unknown." But the third child, their daughter Sarah Elizabeth (McClintock) Furst who died in 1922, lists the mother's maiden name as Jane Decker who was born in Pennsylvania. The informant was I. Torrence Shearer. Torrence Shearer was a grandson of Andrew & Mary Jane. Mary Jane didn't die until 1892 when Torrence was in his mid-30's, so it is likely that he knew her maiden name. He gave his grandmother's name as Jane Decker.

1830 Census, Gregg, Centre Co, PA (Andrew McClintick last in image) (image from ancestry.com)

Andrew & Mary Jane McClintock were living with three young sons in Gregg, Centre County, Pennsylvania in 1830. From the birth date of their oldest son, William, in February of 1823, I am guessing that they probably married in that county in 1821 or 1822. But, we couldn't find a marriage record.

In 1830 in Gregg, Centre County, there weren't any other McClintock's. I decided to look in Gregg in 1820 to see if I could find a McClintock family & a Decker family with children the right ages for Andrew & Mary Jane since they would have married just a couple of years later.

I discovered that the township of Gregg didn't form until 1826. It was taken from three other townships: Potter, Miles, and Haines. In the 1820 census, there weren't any McClintock's or Decker's in Miles or Haines. But, there were some in Potter! In fact, there were 5 Decker's or Deckard's listed as heads of household and two McClintock's.

1810 Potter census pg 4 - Sarah Decker (top name); Jno McClintick (10 from bottom); Jno Decker (bottom name)

1810 Potter census pg 5 - Jno McClintick

I next went back to the 1810 census. At this time, Andrew would have been about 6 years old and Mary Jane about 7. I only found two McClintock/McClintick famlies and two Decker families.These were all found on pages 4 & 5 of the 6 page census

1800 Potter, Centre Co, PA census - showing John Decker & Sarah Deckert (from ancestry)

A possibility for Mary Jane Decker was the easy to pick out. There were two Decker head of households: Sarah (age 45+) & Jno (also age 45+). (Note: As they were both in the 26-44 category in 1800, that makes them now between the ages of 45-54. I'm guessing they are probably siblings.) But, only one of these households had a female living there who was less than 10 years old. That household is Sarah Decker's house. By also looking at the 1800 census, I discovered that Sarah was already listed as a head of household at age 26-44. Since she was probably already widowed, it doesn't make a lot of sense that she has a daughter under the age of 10 in the census taken 10 years later. At this point, I'm hypothesizing that Sarah is actually Mary Jane's grandmother and the female aged 16-26 in the household is Mary Jane's mother.

1820 Potter, Centre Co, PA census - showing Michael Deckad's family (from ancestry)

In the 1820 census, Sarah is no longer a head of household. But, there is a Michael Deckard listed as head of household at the young age of 16-18. There are only two other people in the household: a female under the age of 10 (possibly a younger sister?) and a female over the age of 45 (which is possibly Sarah). I have contacted a family member who is related to the Decker family of Potter. She's on vacation this weekend, but I hope to hear from her next week and either solidify these suppositions or gain some new insight.

Going back to the 1810 census and looking for Andrew McClintock's father (see earlier images). There were only two McClintock families found in 1810, both of them listed as Jno McClintick. Remember, Andrew should have been about 6 years old at this time. The second Jno only had one young female listed as a possible child. But, the other Jno had two sons under the age of 10. So, this Jno is probably the father of Andrew McClintock.

But, then came further evidence. I had hired a professional researcher to look up some records in Pennsylvania. While she didn't find a marriage record for Andrew McClintock & Mary Jane Decker, she did find a baptism record for Andrew!

A few years ago, she put the records of the Sinking Creek Presbyterian Church into alphabetical order. And, there was a match for my Andrew! She is looking to see if she can find the original record, but so far I have what she has in her database. It lists Andrew McClintock, son of John McClintock, baptized Aug 26, 1804! I will continue to gather proof, but I believe I have now found the father of my Andrew!

One last issue: she actually gave me a list of 6 children for John McClintock, with baptisms between 1804 - 1822. In 1820, John only had 3 children listed, when there 'should have' been 5. (One was baptized after 1820.) But, it is possible that two of these children died.

Lastly, she told me she didn't find any records for the Decker's in Sinking Creek Presbyterian Church, but she had other church records she would search.

This is one of the most complex genealogical puzzles I have solved. It took a lot of work and creativity to piece this family together. But, it paid off by busting through a brick wall!

Do we share common ancestors? I'd love to talk! Please write me at drleeds@sbcglobal.net