Descendants of Peter Himes. The 1820 census also include a George Himes and William Himes in Lawrence township, so in addition to Mary Himes Hamman, they are possible children of Peter Himes. Little is known of William other than he was aged 26-45 with a wife aged 16-26 and no children in 1820. He is not listed in Lawrence in 1830, but there is evidence that he was still alive in 1858 (see below). He may be the same William Himes who is in Elkhart Co., Indiana in 1830-1850 and in Kosciusko County in 1860. If so, it would appear that his wife was named Mary and they remained childless.
Much more is known of George Himes and his family. Many genealogists have listed George as Peter's son. A Mosser family history states "George Himes was a son of Peter Himes (?) one of the first residents of Lawrence Township," where the question mark may indicate some doubt. George married Catherine Mosser, daughter of Tuscarawas pioneer Samuel Mosser junior, on 30 Oct 1814 in Tuscarawas County, and named his first son Peter. George also became the owner of Peter's lot 11 land, although it is unclear if he inherited it or obtained it at a tax sale. The tax records state that George Himes acquired all of lot 11 at an auditor's sale in 1824, but in that year and the following years, Peter Himes and Jacob Howman continued to pay taxes on their halves. Later the west half is listed in George's name after Peter Himes death circa 1830. Interestingly,
George
also "sold" the east half of lot 11 to Jacob Hamman (in 1834) 16 years after Jacob had obtained the same land from Peter "Heimes" in 1818, suggesting the ownership of the land may have been contested and a second transfer was required. Although the likelihood that George was Peter's son is quite high, it cannot be ruled out that he may have been a nephew or some other kind of relative who also came to Tuscarawas with or soon after Peter.
Similarly in the case of Mary Himes Hamman: it seems quite likely that she was Peter Himes daughter since Peter was the only Himes known to be in Tuscarawas and old enough to have a daughter of marriageable age. Jacob Hamman and Mary also named their first son Peter. And the transfer of half of Peter Himes' lot 11 to Jacob Hamman in 1818 and the fact that Jacob Hamman was named one of the administrators of Peter Himes' estate also point to a relationship. But once again there remains a slight possibility that Mary might have been a niece or even much younger sister of Peter Himes. But as with George Himes, the most likely situation is that Mary was a child of Peter. Mary likely died in the mid 1820's as Jacob Hamman remarried to Elizabeth Mock in 1826 and had a large second family, about which much more is known. Peter Hamman, who became a Tunker Minister in Kosciusko County, Indiana was the oldest son of Jacob and Mary Himes, and he married Catherine Ritter in Tuscarawas in 1837. Other possible children of Mary Himes include Jacob Hamman who married Maria Pinkstock in 1836, Elizabeth Hamman who married John Ritter in 1839, Catharine Howman who married Benjamin Guning in 1826, and Sarah Hamman who married Jacob Ritter in 1839.
Finally there is a Peter Himes junior listed as the executor of Peter Himes senior's estate along with Jacob Howman [Hamman]. Peter senior died intestate about in 1828 or 1829 and the letter of administration was
issued 19 Feb 1829. Peter Himes junior shows up in the Tuscarawas tax records from 1826 to 1834 owning lot 24 and part of 25, plus a small part (7 acres) of Peter Himes senior's lot 13. This may be the male who was aged 16 to 26 in the Peter Himes' household in the 1820 census. This also is likely to be the same Peter Himes, age 20-30, who is listed in Wayne Township in the 1830 census, with a wife and two young daughters, and again in 1840 with 5 daughters and one son, but apparently no wife. In 1835, Peter Himes junior is dropped from the Lawrence tax lists, but a Peter Himes is subsequently listed in the Wayne tax lists. In the 1850 census, this Peter Himes is shown with 4 daughters (age 15 to 20) and two sons (ages 10 and 13) but again no wife. The 1850 census shows that the Wayne Peter Himes was born about 1800 in PA, which would make him the right age to be Peter Himes senior's son and about two years younger than George Himes. This is the same Peter Himes who died in Noble County, IN in 1858 and whose birth there was given as 1796, making him a year and a half older than George Himes. The Noble County Peter Himes' son Jacob is listed as having been born in Tuscarawas County 19 Jul 1835, which is off by about a year for the Jacob Himes listed as the son of Peter in Wayne in 1850 (age 13 instead of 14). Jacob married Elizabeth Strieby, another Tuscarawas descendant, in Kosciuko County, Indiana in 1860. There were no other Peter Himes listed in Tuscarawas in 1830 (another Peter Himes arrived from York County, Pennsylvania about 1836 or '37 and settled in New Philadelphia where he remained, but his children were younger and he could not be the father of the Jacob Himes who married in Kosciusko County). In addition, several World Family Trees show that the Noble Peter Himes was the same Peter Himes who married Katherine Krichbaum in Stark County (just north of Lawrence township in Tuscarawas) on 12 Aug 1827. Abraham Himes, the second son of Peter junior listed in the 1850 census married Jane Taylor in Noble Co., IN on 5 Sep 1861. Finally the Noble Co., IN death records for both Jacob and Abraham record their parents as Peter Himes and Katarine or Anna Krichbaum, confirming that this is the same family as the Peter Himes who married in Stark in 1827. Peter Himes (junior)'s death record in Nobel County records that he had a brother William living when he died in 1858, which would support the idea that the William Himes listed in Lawrence in 1820 were another son of Peter Himes senior. We have not proven that the Wayne Peter Himes is the son of Peter Himes senior, although the likelihood appears quite high.
Other possible children of Peter Himes senior include Elizabeth Himes who married Gabriel Stanert in 1832 and Catherine Himes who married Samuel How in 1837.
Where did Peter Himes Come From?
From the Tuscarawas History we only know that Peter came from Pennsylvania. The 1790 census shows a number of Himes in PA, including a Charles Heims and a Christian Heims in Paradise Township each with 3 sons aged 16 and younger. There were also three Himes/Hymes families in Philadelphia with sons. If Peter were born about 1774 or 1775, he would have been 15 or 16 at the time of the 1790 census and 45 or older in 1820. If he were born before 1774, he would be over 16 in 1790 and perhaps not listed. There do not appear to be any Peter Himes (Hymes or Heims) heads of household in 1790, but as a young man he might have been living in a household headed by someone else. In 1800 there is a Peter Himes listed in Northumberland Co., PA, aged 26-45 and with two sons [but we should expect at least three if there were William, George and Peter junior] and five daughters. There are no Peter Himes listed in PA in the 1810 census, suggesting that the Northumberland Peter had died or moved on. A World Connect (Rootsweb) database lists a John Peter Himes born 1763 with death date unknown as living in Northumberland County in the late 1780's, so this is possibly the same Peter listed in the 1790 census. Further research in the Northumberland records might be worth pursuing.
The Himes of York County also offer a possible origin for our Peter Himes. Charles Himes of Paradise Township is said to have had a son Peter, about which little is known (information courtesy of Eric Zurcher and said to originate in Charles Himes' will, which has not been located). Charles Himes was married to Mary Dierdorff/Deardorff, the daughter of Peter Dierdorff and Mary Ahardt. Peter Dierdorff is said to be the son of Anthony Dierdorff, a well-known Brethren (aka Tunkers or German Baptists) preacher who came from Germany with the church founder Alexander Mack. The Dierdorff's and Charles Himes of York County were evidently Brethren also, as evidenced by their affirming rather than taking an oath at the proving of Peter Dierdorff's will. Many of the German descendants in Lawrence township were Brethren, and Peter Hamman (the likely grandson of Peter Himes) became a Brethren minister. Thus the possibility that the Peter Himes who came to Tuscarawas was the same Peter Himes who was the grandson of Peter Dierdorff should be further investigated. It is also worth noting that among the early settlers of Tuscarawas was a Christian Deardorff from York County, who was a grandson of Heinrich, the brother of Peter Dierdorff. A bit later (about 1837) a Peter W. Himes immigrated from York County and settled in New Philadelphia. None of this proves our Peter Himes also came from York, but there is nothing to contradict that possibility.
Perhaps an investigation of the land records will yield some clues. Sometimes a transfer of land, as when Peter Himes purchased section 13 in Lawrence from Michael Nourse, will state the origin of the purchasers. For now the origin of Peter Himes remains open to speculation.
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