FAN Club: Larimer, Work, Short Families Go to Church

Once again, keeping the FAN club (Friends, Associates, and Neighbors) in mind when doing #Genealogy research has reinforced close connections in my husband's family tree. True, some of these connections are more than 200 years old, and that's a real plus--it shows how the Larimer, Work, and Short families were intertwined for many generations.

They lived near each other, worshipped with each other, and some married each other. A few clues (such as obits) suggest these families were related as cousins in Northern Ireland, and naturally decided to settle in America near each other. One group began in Pennsylvania and then moved westward to Ohio. Some relatives and descendants continued west to Elkhart county, Indiana. Along the way, church records in particular (plus census records) helped me document their close connections. (I viewed the new Presbyterian records posted on Ancestry, reading every original page rather than relying on the index/transcription--which allowed me to note "creative" spellings and spot instances of all the surnames I'm researching!)

Isaac M. Larimer (1771?-1823) and his wife, Elizabeth Woods Larimer (1773-1851) were my hubby's 4th great-grandparents. They had 10 children that I can account for. Many were baptized in the Rush Creek Presbyterian congregation in Fairfield county, Ohio, during the early 1800s. At top, the church record showing two Larimer children (James and Moses) baptized in June and July of 1806.

The youngest of Isaac and Elizabeth's children, Cynthia Hanley Larimer, was baptized in this church in 1815. She married Abel Everett Work there in 1836. Abel was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, while his father, Aaron Work, was married in Mifflin, PA, the town where hubby's Larimer ancestors lived before the move to Ohio.

Also in 1815, the year that Cynthia was baptized, a few Larimer and Work family members were admitted to that Rush Creek Congregation. Shown above, Aaron Work (Abel Work's father) was admitted "on certificate." John Larimer was admitted "on certificate" in 1816. And the list goes on. Who moved first, encouraging which family to join later? I'm going to find out, because they appear in groups, this FAN club of extended family members.

A granddaughter of Isaac and Elizabeth, Margaret Larimer, married Thomas Short in Middlebury, Elkhart county, Indiana, in 1842. Not long after Thomas's birth, his parents (James Short and Frances Gilbert Short) were admitted to the Rush Creek Congregation "on certificate" in 1822. (Interestingly, Thomas's later bio mentions that his parents were born in Ireland, but no indication of where.) Lots of Short relatives eventually settled in the Elkhart area, as did some Larimer and Work relatives, all members of the FAN club.

PS - Reader Janet asked how I keep track of FAN club names that may be important to my research. First, I have my Ancestry family tree open in one browser window (can do same for a Family Search tree) while I read any online records. Second, I have an alphabetized list of surnames I printed from my RootsMagic software. Then I can compare a name and date in, say, the handwritten church records with the names/dates in my tree or software. I also have notes in my software regarding suspected cousinship relations. Of course so many times the same name is used in multiple generations, which means I have to check closely to avoid making assumptions about the wrong Samuel Work or John Larimer.

52 Ancestors #21: 1812 War Veterans Isaac, John, and Robert Larimer

Isaac M. Larimer (1771?-1823), hubby's 4th g-granddaddy, was a pioneer of the Northwest Territory in Ohio--and a captain who served in the 1812 war, along with his sons, Robert Larimer (1792-1850) and John Larimer (1794-1843).

Descendant Aaron Work (who did much of the important genealogy research on the Larimer family), wrote to a Middlebury, Indiana newspaper in 1921 about the Larimers' service during the 1812 war. The article is shown at left. (Aaron was hubby's 1st cousin 4x removed.)

Work noted that Isaac and Robert were in Hull's division of the US Army at Detroit, Michigan and were part of Hull's surrender to the British. Isaac returned to the family farm but Robert kept up the fight with another US Army division. Robert's brother John enlisted at age 18 and served in Northern Ohio.

Isaac Larimer (who married Elizabeth Woods) died in 1823 and was buried in Bremen, Fairfield cty, Ohio.

Robert Larimer (who married Mary La Masters) used his land bounty in Perry, Ohio, but later moved to Elkhart county, Indiana, where he died.

John Larimer apparently earned no land bounty. After marrying Rachel Smith in Fairfield cty, Ohio, John moved his family west to pioneer in Elkhart, Indiana. John and his brother Robert are both buried in the Eldridge Cemetery.