Garrett Ream

Find a grave memorial ResearcherOfSingingMasters (49068926):

"At the moment there is no evidence relating to Garrett's parentage. Some un-sourced pedigrees make his parents Andrew Ream & Susanna Fiesser, Andrew being a late-life son of Eberhard Ream of Lancaster County. On Andrew and his descendants see pp.677- in "Six American Colonists and their descendants" by Eunice Newbold Clark. No known evidence supports Garrett being a child of Andrew & Susanna, and Clark makes no such identification. Garrett Ream is said to have been born in Bedford County in 1777, but Andrew & Susanna Ream idn't move there until 1785. In fact, Andrew & Susanna are continuously fund in the baptismal records (their own children and as sponsors to others) of Muddy Creek Church near Adamstown to Lancaster County from 1768 through 1782. On present evidence it seems unlikely that Garrett could have been their child.  Contributor: ResearcherOfSingingMasters (49068926)

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HERE IS A MORE DETAILED EXPLAINED OF THE EVIDENTIARY STATUS OF GARRETT'S PARENTAGE & ANCESTRY TO REPLACE MY EARLIER ONE:

"Garrett's adult life and his children are well documented, but his parentage and ancestry aren’t documented at all. All that is verifiable about his youth is that he was in the Bloody Run area of Bedford Co., PA during the 1790s, and that an Andrew Ream old enough to have been his father was living there too. THERE IS NO DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE that Garrett was born in Bedford Co., and if he was (as people claim) a son of this Andrew Ream who lived there during the 1790s then Garrett must have been born in Lancaster Co. in or near Cocalico Twp. for this Andrew Ream (memorial #25305263, son of Eberhard) was continuously documented in Muddy Creek records from 1760 through at least 1782. (Clark “Six American Colonists” gives 1785 as the date of his removal to Bedford County; see Andrew's memorial for a list of his children's births and the documentation for them.) Garrett’s descendants probably weren’t aware of where he was born and merely assumed that he was born at Bloody Run, since that is where he grew up; this kind of error arises from family reminiscences reported in county books.

The problem is these books have also reported that Garrett’s father arrived in Bedford Co. during the 1750s or 1760s. (This seems to go back to a county book published in 1884.) Some report further that his grandfather lived in Philadelphia, and even that he emigrated during the 17th Century. Although these claims have been forced upon Eberhard and his son Andrew, they cannot pertain to those two people. Eberhard (a wealthy, powerful and influential man) is well documented in Lancaster Co. records from 1720 until death. His son Andrew was born in Lancaster Co. in 1737 and is well attested in the records of Muddy Creek church from 1760 through 1782. Thus, any belief that Garrett’s father was a native of Bedford Co. or that his grandfather lived in Philadelphia must be mutually exclusive with a belief that his father was Andrew Ream son of Eberhard. Both sets of beliefs can’t be true, despite the claims in books and on un-sourced pedigrees that they are.

Once it is conceded that no documentation verifies Garrett’s birth in Bedford Co., the simplest solution would be that Andrew son of Eberhard was indeed his father but that his birth actually took place in Lancaster Co. (One would then add Adam Ream of Bedford Co. as another undocumented son of this same Andrew.) Still, there is no actual proof which of the two mutually-exclusive alternatives is correct: that Garrett’s father was native to Bedford Co., or that Garrett’s father was Andrew Ream son of Eberhard who only arrived there in 1785. Both possibilities remain open at this time. " Contributor: ResearcherOfSingingMasters (49068926)

GEDCOM Source

@R403487308@ Pennsylvania, Wills and Probate Records, 1683-1993 Ancestry.com Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 1,8802::0 Record of Wills, 1795-1916; Author: Somerset County (Pennsylvania). Register of Wills; Probate Place: Somerset, Pennsylvania 1,8802::2049611

GEDCOM Source

@R403487308@ 1810 United States Federal Census Ancestry.com Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 1,7613::0 Year: 1810; Census Place: Cambria, Cambria, Pennsylvania; Roll: 46; Page: 19; Image: 00226; Family History Library Film: 0193672 1,7613::429087

GEDCOM Source

@R403487308@ Pennsylvania, Wills and Probate Records, 1683-1993 Ancestry.com Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 1,8802::0 Record of Wills, 1795-1916; Author: Somerset County (Pennsylvania). Register of Wills; Probate Place: Somerset, Pennsylvania 1,8802::2049611