There were four men by the name of Solomon Himes living in the counties of Armstrong, Clarion, and Jefferson County, Pennsylvania that were born within a few years of each other from 1836 to 1840. Many people that have a Solomon Himes from one of these counties as an ancestor associate them with the wrong parents. I will attempt to look at each of the four men by the name of Solomon Himes and explain why I have placed them with a particular Himes family.
1) Solomon Himes who was born 1 April 1836 and died 13 July 1909 was a son of Peter Himes and Eva Shaffner/Shoffner. The original baptismal record from the "Yeany" Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church near Shannondale in Clarion County, Pennsylvania gives his parents' names as Petrus and Eva Heims. He was married to Lucina Smith and was in Company I, 62nd Pennsylvania Volunteers during the Civil War. He is buried at St. John's (Windy Hill) Cemetery in Rose Township, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania. Photographs of Solomon and Lucina's tombstones are on the Find A Grave website.
2) Solomon Himes who was born 12 August 1838 and died 16 December 1889 was a son of Henry Himes and Salome Moser. The original baptismal record from the "Yeany" Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church near Shannondae in Clarion County, Pennsylvania gives his parents' names as Heinrich Heim and Salome. He was married to Rebecca Best. He is buried at Saint Jacobs Union Cemetery in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania. Photographs of Solomon and Rebecca's tombstones are on the Find A Grave website.
3) Solomon Himes who was born 8 January 1840 and died 6 June 1911 was a son of William Himes and Caroline Wonderling. A transcribed baptismal record of the Trinity Reformed Church record by Cornelius Koppenheffer gives his birthdate as 6 January 1840 and his parents' names as William and Caroline Heim. His tombstone gives his birthdate as 8 January 1840. He was married to Lucetta. He is buried at Shannondale Union Cemetery in Shannondale, Clarion County, Pennsylvania. A photograph of Solomon and Lucetta's tombstone is on the Find A Grave website.
4) Solomon Himes who was born 18 September 1837 and died 31 August 1897 was a son of Christian Himes and Ann Mary Rettinger. A Solomon aged 14 appears in the 1850 census with Christian Himes and a Solomon aged 23 appears in the 1860 census with Christian Himes in Redbank Township, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. He was married to Elizabeth and was in Company A of the 78th Pennsylvania Infantry during the Civil War. He is buried at the North Freedom United Methodist Church Cemetery in North Freedom, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania. A photograph of Solomon and Elizabeth's tombstone is on the Find A Grave website.
If anyone wants to verify the birthdates for the first two Solomon Himes listed above, the original "Yeany" Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church records should be consulted rather than the transcribed records by Cornelius Koppenheffer for this church since the transcribed records are incorrect. It should also be noted that all four Solomon Himes are great-grandsons of the original John George Heim who settled in Armstong county, Pennsylvania in the early 1800's (see my earlier blog post regarding him). Other records for the above men and their spouses such as obituaries and military records are available. All I have attempted to do here is to connect each Solomon Himes with his parents and to give a reason for doing so.
