I have decided, I think, to write about Rachel Baxter who married Andrew McKenrick This might prove too difficult and I may change my mind, but here goes...
We really know next to nothing about Rachel Baxter-we do not know who her parents were, where she was from, when she was born nor where; nor do we know when she died nor where....That's it. End of story-
Actually what I kind of plan to do, is to write about what we do know from the records; then what we think we might know, what has been conjectured and try to discover the truth or fallacies in those conjectures. I want to try to figure out why one theory or another might work and might not.
One thing that we do know, because we have the Record of it... is that Rachel married Andrew McKenrick in the Conewago Chapel in Hanover, Conewago Township, Adams County, PA. They married on 27 May 1817.
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| "May 21 1817 Andrew McKenrick married together with Rachel Baxter Witnesses John Dillon and Nelly Timmons"
We next see her in the Church Records when they had their 1st child Charles baptized at the same Chapel where they married. There apparently was a group Ceremony that day as there were several babies baptized. Andrew and Rachel were Godparents to the child of George Starner and Magdalene Noel. John Dillon and his wife were Godparents to the McKenrick's son. (Do you remember my proposed connections between Andrew and the Starners, Noels and Dillons? If not read my Blogpost "A Mother and Child Reunion" https://wrightmckenrick.blogspot.com/search?q=mother+and+child )
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(Birthdate) May 1 1818 (Bapt. date) Nov 15 1818 (Child) Charles (Parents) Andrew McKenrick and Rachel Baxter Sponsers John and Polly Dillon"
Their next child Margaret was also baptized at Conawago-in October 1820. The surname here is spelled McKarnick and Andrew and Elizabeth Noel were Godparents.
Son John, also Baptized at Conawago...name on this one is McHenry (which is what McKenrick means) but they got Baxter right this time. John's Godparents were John Unknown (maybe Walter?) and Anna Noel.
Son, Andrew, who was the 1st McKenrick to come West and settle in Camanche, Clinton Co, Iowa, was Baptized at Conawago in Feb 1829. The surname now is spelled McHenricks; Godparents were Andrew Noels and Maria Dillon.
So, we have the 1st, 2nd, 5th and 6th children baptized at the Conewago Chapel. the other 4 we have no Baptism Records for. Most likely they received this Sacrament at St Ignatius Church in Ortanna. Most of their records have been lost due to fire.
We do show Rachel listed on some Death records as the Mother of her children. We have Death certificates for Andrew, Theresa, Mary and Samuel Baxter-each listing Rachel Baxter or just Baxter.
Now we will look into some of the theories about Rachel. Many of our cousins have Rachel listed as the daughter of Samuel Baxter and Sarah Chenoweth of Maryland. That her father's name was probably Samuel (because her son was named Samuel Baxter) is a good place to start. There is no Samuel Baxter living in Adams County listed on the 1800 (supposedly when Rachel was born) Census for Adams and surrounding Pennsylvanian Counties. The only Baxters listed for Adams County in 1800, are a Phillip and a David. Phillip is 26-44 with a female 16-25, David is a male 16-25 with a female of the same age and a female 10-15.
Could this be our Rachel?? She is a bit older than what we have listed for Rachel-she would have had to be born in 1790 at the latest. But this family lived in Menallen!! This is where Andrew and his family lived for a good part of his life. Just based on proximity alone-this last, David would be our most likely candidate to be Rachel's father!
There are several Baxter families living in York County (this is the County that was further divided in 1800, to form Adams County. We have a George Baxter-single male over 16. a Jonathon with 3 males under 16, one over and 4 females. There is a Joseph, 1 male over 16 and 2 females. Then there are 2 Williams, also in York-one with 2 males over 16 and 3 females and the other with 2 males over 16 and 2 females. Our Baxter family could be any or none of these!!
There is a Samuel Baxter however, on the 1790 Census. He does not live in Adams County, but in Washington County, which is in the far Southwest of Pennsylvania. There are 3 Free White males 16 and older living in this household and 6 free, White females, (no ages given for the females-not even an age range, just Females). This could be the right family, but there is no way to know without more information.
On the 1810, however, when Rachel would have been about 10 years old, there is still a Samuel living in Washington County. He is over 45 as is his wife, there are 2 females age 16-25 and 1 male under 10 years of age. If Rachel were born by 1794-she would be 16. The usual birth date given for her is 1800. I do not know if this is documented somewhere that I have not located or if it a rough guesstimate-given Andrew, her husband was born in 1794 and she may have been a bit younger than he. This could possibly be her family but how did she meet Andrew way over in Adams County? People were not as mobile back then, most never left their township let alone travel several counties over. And, if we guess that the family moved to Adams-this would be a west-east migration which would be against the normal migratory patterns. Most families leaving Washington County would travel east to west and end up somewhere is Ohio or Indiana. That is not to say that it was never done but it is not the Norm. Samuel and his wife, both now over 45 are both still living in Fallowfield, Washington County, PA. There are also a couple of other families of Baxters living in Washington County so we can now guess that the family did not migrate to Adams. This means Rachel would have traveled to Adams without her family. This would have been highly unlikely.
Samuel Baxter and his wife Sarah Chenoweth of Maryland, did have a daughter named Rachel...I do not believe that she is the same Rachel as our Grandmother. This family is pretty well documented...one of the Daughters of the 3rd Lord Baltimore (from whence the name of the City) married into the Chenoweth family.
Samuel and Sarah with their daughter Rachel and son Samuel and other children moved west sometime before Samuel Jr's wedding in 1823 in Muskigum, Ohio. Perhaps they left, according to one respected McKenrick Genealogist, as early as 1803. Rachel would have been about 3 years old. I cannot find them on a census earlier than 1840. Both parents Samuel and Sarah had died and so Samuel is the Head of the Household. he is listed as being age 40-49. There are 2 females listed at 30-39. One of these would be his wife-the other, most likely his sister Rachel. On the 1850 (Yay!! Finally women and children have names and ages!) Samuel is again Head of Household-his wife Actus is listed as is his sister Rachel-their ages are a bit screwy but it is they. She is missing from the 1860 Census but in 1870, her brother Samuel has died-she and Samuel's wife Actus are living with Actus' and Samuel's son, Charles, now in Henderson, Knox Co, IL.
This Rachel died in 1880 of Pneumonia and was buried in Galesburg, Knox County, Illinois. I believe our Rachel died before 1840 (her last child James was born in 1833 and she does not appear on the 1840 Census.) I do not believe she left Andrew and her 8 children and resumed her Maiden name(!!!???) and traveled west.
This is the most recent information that I have come across regarding Rachel and the Baxters...this was in the October 6, 1945 Gettysburg Compiler...
This may account for the family rumor that Rachel was connected somehow to the Dillons and Noels. These families were intermarried for several generations and we see above in the Baptismal records that many Dillons and Noels and Starners served as godparents to the children of Andrew and Rachel.
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