Update - Possible Chenoweth Connection?

I've been perusing my grandmother's results at Ancestry lately, since they have the highest number of attached trees by far.  Through this and some appreciated help by several 23andme members, I realized my grandmother's rate of Chenoweth matches was higher than average.  Most people saw roughly 1 for every 10 pages of matches.  My grandmother on the other hand has 6 matches over just 17 pages.  Or roughly 5 times as many as could be expected by random association.

Three of these however are very closely related (a parent and two children).  If you take two of them out of consideration, that lowers it to 4 over 17 pages, still a rate higher than anticipated.

As luck or chance would have it, all of these are descended from the original Chenoweth settler, John Chenoweth.  Interestingly, each is descended through a different child.  Even more intriguing, John Chenoweth is only two doors down from William Parrish Sr. in the 1737 tax records in Back River Upper Hundred, Baltimore, MD.  They also had some interaction as is evidenced by a will record they were witnesses for.

With this I think there are only a few possible explanations,

(1) It is random.  The family immigrated to the midwestern states where they married into predominantly German families (guess).  This could explain my grandmother's higher match rate if she is instead related through the German lines (she is about 81% German/Alsace-French-German herself).

(2) This is a real connection, but it's through John Chenoweth's wife who was possibly a Parrish.  Their family lore could preclude this possibility (she's referred to as Mary Calvert) but from what I've seen so far there is no historical proof.

(3) Joshua is himself descended from John Chenoweth.  Possibly through John's daughter Mary Watson (untraceable).  Potentially, Mary could be his grandmother, or another one of John's granddaughter's could be Joshua's mother.

(4) Joshua is not a Chenoweth descendant himself, but rather descends from John Chenoweth's wife's family.  


I will say the majority of the Chenoweth's moved to Frederick Co, VA in the mid 1740s, precluding most of the family from being a potential mother.  Additionally among the known family there has been no Parrish mentioned to date in Baltimore as related to the Chenoweth's.  Also, no Chenoweth's ever moved to Huntingdon/Bedford/Cambria/Indiana Counties of PA.  Several Watson's were in the area, however given how common the name is, it cannot be said for certain whether there is any relation to Mary Chenoweth Watson.

Any and all theories and comments are welcome.

1773 Baltimore Tax Records (Parrish only plus a few others)

I recently reviewed the 1773 tax records for Baltimore County and found the following Parrishes listed.  You'll note that there are quite clearly two Joseph's.  Most likely, one is the Joseph Parrish born in 1724, son of William (1678-1771) & Susannah who married Cassandra Talbott.  My guess is the other is his nephew, and likely the man who married Charity Bosley in 1768.

It's worth noting Pipe Creek Hundred was located approximately in current day Carroll County and abutted Piney Creek Hundred (where Joshua's wife Barbara Timble lived). 

Middle River Upper Hundred
-Edward Parish (listed in a way that makes him seem like a single freeman)

Middlesex
-Amon Price (possible brother of Merryman?)

Mine Run Hundred
-Joseph Parish
-Edward Parish
-William Parrish
---Nicholas Parrish (under Will)
---Slave Dick North Hundred
-John Parish
-John Parish (same as above? different page)
----Mordecai Parish

Patapsco Lower Hundred
-Aberilah Merryman, widow

Pipecreek Hundred
-Joseph Parrish
-William Parrish
----William Ginkins (listed w/William Parrish)

2nd page, Pipecreek (different writing style)
-William Galbraith (any relation to Robert in Shirley twp, PA?)

John Parrish and Sarah Belt marriage

I'm attempting to find evidence of the supposed marriage between a John Parrish and a Sarah Belt circa 1800 in Huntingdon County, PA.  The Boyd book on the Parrish family has this nuptial listed, however they give no evidence as to how they know about it.  And although errors have been unearthed in the genealogy in the years since the book was written, it is still a well-researched book and I cannot believe a rather insignificant person would have a marriage record fabricated (please note I say insignificant not to diminish this John Parrish but in order to show that this John was so far removed from Boyd as to be insignificant to him in his ancestral research.

Anyway, so if anyone has any knowledge as to where this couple's proof of marriage is located, I'd sincerely appreciate it! :)

Parrish & McGinity Families of Indiana Co, PA

This is an update on these lines.

I went to the Court House in Indiana, PA on Friday, in an attempt to find out more about Abarilla Parrish McGinity, her husband James McGinity, and their son-in-law, Joseph Parrish.  In the end I walked away with tax records spanning approximately 1808 - 1834.

It's worth noting Joseph Parrish does not appear in the records until 1826 in Blacklick, Indiana, PA.  Where was he before this?  He would have been roughly 33 at this point, and should have been well established on his own.  Little is known however of his life prior to this time.  The only other records are the 1800 census where he is likely in the household of a John Parrish in Alleghany Twp, Huntingdon, PA (aged 0-10), and then in the household of a J. Parish in Springfield, Huntingdon, PA in the 1810 census (aged 16-25).

It's also possible he was one of the Joseph Parrish's near Joshua in the tax records.  Though that is highly uncertain and contentious.

Essentially what we have here is that James and Abarilla Parrish McGinity lived in Centre Twp, Indiana, PA from at least 1808-1815 at which point they moved to Blacklick, Indiana, PA.  This is approximately 15 miles from Loretto, where Prince Gallitzin was practicing and Joshua Parrish worshiping.

A rather interesting piece came from this research.  It was discovered that from 1816 - 1822, James McGinity's children were listed as "poor children of the township".  What I've learned is that this means they were aged between 5 and 12 who were unable to pay for school, so the township paid for their schooling.

From family lore we know at least one daughter had worked for a family in the area.  Now it seems likely it was certainly for economic reasons.  Is it possible another daughter, Margaret, was placed with family due to her family's economic conditions?  If so it could well explain why Margaret McGinity was baptized by Prince Gallitzin in 1823 at the age of 17 and why her godfather was John Parrish, son of Joshua Parrish.

Of course this is just another piece to the puzzle, however I think we're getting very close to the point where we can say with some certainty that Joshua and Abarilla were indeed related, and closely.  The question still remains however, how were they related?

Based on their birth years, Joshua in 1770, Abarilla sometime between 1772 - 1780, siblings seems highly likely.  However it is certainly possible they are related in another way.  Possibly uncle/niece or cousins.

Finally I felt I should wrap up who Joseph Parrish is in case it was missed elsewhere.  Joseph Parrish married Elizabeth McGinity, daughter of Abarilla Parrish and James McGinity.  Supposedly he was Elizabeth's uncle.  If so that would mean Abarilla's father was likely John Parrish.

Taxes Updated

Please note the taxes have been updated to reflect 1801-1852 (the year Barbara died).

Theories...

The more I look at this, the more I am beginning to believe the Joseph Parrish of Shirley Twp is likely Joshua's father.  I went to Fort Roberdeau this past weekend and spoke with a woman there who informed me that it was very common to move back and forth between the frontier and York, PA.  Prior to this I could not figure a reason for Joshua moving back east if his family was already in the Huntingdon/Bedford area.

I still have no proof as to this (besides the one random baptismal record noting Joshua's son John as the godfather of Abarilla Parrish McGinnity's daughter, a woman whom history says was raised in Huntingdon Co, PA, again a likely daughter of Joseph).

In the meantime, here's a photo of the plaque on the wall at Fort Roberdeau,

Updates

Please note, I have updated Joshua's tax records to include those from 1812-1828 in Cambria county.  The Bedford tax records from 1800 to about 1812 will follow shortly.

Finally I have made some small fixes to his list of children.  I have placed John Parrish as the eldest and George as second eldest.  The reasoning behind this move is due to the tax records combined with all the circumstantial evidence held previously.