The Picklesimer Family

Biographies:

• Henry Picklesimer

Family Group Sheets:

• Henry Picklesimer (1765 - ca 1826)
  • Abraham Picklesimer (1787 - 1861)

I have seen many web sites that have information on the ancestors of Henry Picklesimer, but none have sources attached to them. And so, I will repeat them only to add a note of caution to other reseachers, and to remind amateur genealogists like myself that any information given or found must be confirmed or backed up with hard data before becoming a fact in one's database.

Several web sites give Jacob Picklesimer and Catherine Kingery (sometimes Kingary) as the parents of Henry Picklesimer, and have Henry as being born in 1765 in Montgomery Co., VA. Additionally, I have seen Jacob given as the son of an Abraham Picklesimer, and this Abraham as a son of Isaac Picklesimer, who was a German immigrant to Montgomery Co., VA in the early 18th century. I personally believe that the person who had this information online smushed one family with another, as there is another web site delineating the family of Isaac Picklesimer, the German immigrant, which states that the Jacob Picklesimer, who was the grandson of Isaac and the son of Abraham, married another woman, and had no children named Henry.

I cannot say for certain one way or another, as I have researched no further back than Henry. As I said, I am only re-stating what I have seen elsewhere on the Internet as a caution to Picklesimer researchers: please remember to confirm information that you see on the web, or that is given to you, with independent research before passing it around as fact.

Now, on to Henry. What I do know about him and wife Elizabeth is that they were in Pendleton Co., SC and enumerated on the Federal Census there in 1790. At that time, Pendleton Co. was a part of the old 96 District of South Carolina. In 1795, Henry bought land in Pendleton Dist., where they remained until at least 1806, when Henry sold this land. The family moved sometime between 1806 and 1810 to Buncombe Co., NC, where Henry was enumerated on the 1810 Federal Census of Buncombe Co., NC. Henry bought land in Buncombe County in 1810 and 1812, where the family remained until Henry died, circa 1826.

We are able to determine the name of Henry's wife by the deeds made after the death of Henry, in which Elizabeth sold the land Henry had bought several years earlier; she sold this land in 1826 and 1829. In the 1830 Federal Census of Buncombe Co., NC, an elderly woman was living with John Picklesimer, who is believed to be a son of Henry and Elizabeth. This elderly woman could possibly have been Elizabeth.

Unfortunately, I am unable at this time to answer many of the questions remaining about this family. For instance, where were Henry and Elizabeth living before the 1790 Census was taken? When did they move into the area? Who were their daughters? What happened to the children after Henry and Elizabeth died?

Also, who was Elizabeth, wife of Henry Picklesimer? Where was she born, and who were her parents? Did Henry truly emmigrate from Montgomery Co., VA? Were any of their children born there, or were they all born in South Carolina?

Some questions we may never be able to answer, but perhaps with diligence and careful research, more information may eventually be forthcoming.