It has been a long time since I've posted on this blog but I hope to do better in the future. The evidence for John George Heim and his five sons who migrated to Redbank Township in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania in the early 1800's is meager. It is sometimes difficult to place Heim/Himes individuals into the right family groups. Such is the case with Christian and Samuel Himes.
Christian Himes born about 1814 and Samuel Himes born about 1817 were brothers. Both of them appear in the 1840, 1850, and 1860 censuses in Redbank Township, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania.
All evidence suggests that their parents were John George Heim, Jr. and his wife Susanna. John George Heim Jr. (born 11 December 1776) was a son of John George Heim, Sr. and Rosina Miller. The Jr. and Sr. were added to differentiate them from one another. Both John George Heim Sr. and John George Heim Jr. appear in the 1820 census in Redbank Township, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. John George Heim Jr. has 2 males under the age of 10 in his household (Christian and Samuel).
Both John George Heim Sr. and John George Heim Jr. also appear as communicants on 12 December 1824 when the Lutheran pastor Gabriel Adam Reichert visits the Redbank area. Georg Heim (Sr.) and Georg Heim Jr. and Susanna take communion with others (see the Journal of Gabriel Adam Reichert by Paul Miller Ruff).
Probate records from 1829 to 1832 at the Armstrong County Courthouse in Kittanning, Pennsylvania for George Himes include letters of administration, a list of appraised property, a vendue list, and an account. William Orr was named administrator for the estate of George Himes. William Himes and Jacob Himes appraised his property. The vendue list and account names George Himes' relatives and neighbors. The estate papers do not indicate any relationships other than names.
The probate records are believed to be those for George Heim Jr. rather than George Heim, Sr. since George and his wife Susanna disappear as sponsors for any children after 1829 but were sponsors for three children prior to December 1829 at the Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church (Yeany's) in Shannondale, Redbank Township, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. (Susanna appears as a sponsor for a child by herself on18 January 1829).
Susanna later remarried Christian Shoffner. Her will dated 8 February 1868 was probated in Clarion County, Pennsylvania. It names her husband Christian Shoffner and her sons Christian Himes and Samuel Himes. (She leaves her estate to her husband Christian Shoffner and to Christian and Samuel Himes' heirs after her husband Christian dies since her sons had predeceased her).
