STEELE, Christopher

Male Abt 1740 - 1782  (~ 42 years)


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  • Name STEELE, Christopher 
    Born Abt 1740 
    Gender Male 
    Died 16 Oct 1782  , Frederick, Maryland Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I1438  Hans Georg Spang
    Last Modified 2 Aug 2015 

    Father STIEHL, Johannes Abraham,   d. Bef 12 Dec 1751 
    Relationship Natural 
    Family ID F688  Group Sheet

    Family 1 SCHLEIFFER, Mary,   b. Abt 1740,   d. 1763  (Age ~ 23 years) 
    Children 
     1. STEELE, Barbara,   b. 03 Jun 1762, Upper Saucon Twp, Northampton Co, Pennsylvania Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 22 Sep 1850, Mifflin Township, Franklin County, Ohio Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 88 years)
    Last Modified 2 Aug 2015 
    Family ID F650  Group Sheet

    Family 2 WINE, Catharine,   b. Abt 1742,   d. Abt 1814, , Rockingham, Virginia Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 72 years) 
    Last Modified 2 Aug 2015 
    Family ID F687  Group Sheet

  • Notes 
    • 1985 Biographical Sketch: [491] "A second proof of Barbara Steele's ancestry was found in a document which George Baughman and his wife, Barbara Steele, made in 1785. In this document they gave power of attorney to George's brother, Jacob Bachman. The document, called a 'Letter of Money, George Bachman to Jacob Bachman,' was made in Northampton County. It is on file in the Courthouse in Easton. [492] Unfortunately the document had been filmed so that the available copy has white
      lettering on a black background. It was impossible to get a photocopy. Two of us who are interested in the Bachman family have tried to obtain the original book with the original copy. Both of us have been unsuccessful. The document reads as follows:

      "Know all men by these presents that George Bachman of Springfield Township in the County of Bucks in the state of Pennsylvania, Carpenter, and Barbara his wife late Barbara Stiehl being a daughter of Christopher Stiehl some time of the same place but late of Frederick County in the State of Maryland Farmer (or Tanner) deceased Have made and examined Constituted and appointed their trusty friend and brother, Jacob Bachman of the same county of Northampton in the state aforesaid Gentm. their true and lawful attorney for them and in their name and for their own proper use and benefit to ask demand recover and receive of and from the presenters of administrators of the said Christopher Stiehl deceased all such legacies, share, or shares divident or divident given or bequeathed unto them the said George Bachman and Barbara his wife of late Barbara Stiehl." Signed by George Bachman, X Barbara (her mark) 8 January 1785.

      Barbara's father, Christopher Stiehl, evidently had left her in Springfield Township with her grandparents. He died in Frederick County, Maryland, but when he went there I was unable to ascertain. Christopher Stiehl made a will 2 October 1782. It was recorded in Frederick County, Maryland, following his death on 16 October 1782. [488]

      From his will I learned the following about Christopher Stiehl. He was a farmer and a turner. A turner was a person who either worked in a sawmill, or in carpentry work - e.g. turning a lathe. He had married a second time to a woman named Catherine. By his second wife he had a son Abraham to whom he willed ' . . . all my Turning Tools and such other tools as am I obliged to make use of in my Turning Trade . . . ' He owned a Plantation on Spring Plains. His ten children, all by his second wife, were Elizabeth, Abraham, Catherine, Mary, Hannah, Susanna, Sarah, Eve, Solome, and Christopher.

      In his will he did not provide for Barbara Stiehl, the only child by his first wife. At the time of her father's death, Barbara was twenty years old and had been married for one year. Whether or not Jacob Bachman, Barbara's designated attorney, was ever able to acquire any money or property for her from Christopher Stiehl's estate is not known."

      1997 Biographical Sketch: [489] "Christopher Stahl / Steele, once a staunch Lutheran, married into Dunker families. . . . Christopher Steele who had purchased his land Spring Plains from Dunker minister, Jacob Danner, of the Beaver Dam Brethren settlement (Bk. K:811) in 1766, apparently became a member of the Brethren, for he was fined by the Committee of Observation as a 'non-associator' on Apr. 12, 1776, but was reduced from ?6.10 to ?4.10 on June 18, 1776, because of hardship. (See Maryland Historical Magazine, v. XI, no. 3, Sept. 1916, p. 257). He was deceased by 1782. His will, written Oct. 2, 1782 was probated in Frederick County on Oct. 16, 1782. (Bk. GM:275). Steele's second wife, Catharine Wine Steele, was one of three designated executors. Named children were: Elizabeth, Abraham, Catharine, Mary Hannah, Susanna, Sarah, Eva, Solome, Christopher. Several of the Steele children moved to Rockingham County, some descendants marrying into the Bowman family."