Gen 1: Mary Jane Beal - Timeline

 What are the origins of Johann Nicholas Biehl?

 

Last week we continued our Biehl research project with the end goal of identifying the German origins of Johann Nicholas Biehl. I continued research on the first generation, which is Mary Jane Beal. You can find that post here. 

 

Researching a female requires researching her associated males, in this case, her husband, James Henry. We have not exhausted research on this couple. It is helpful to create tools to help analyze the sources that you find and to identify patterns. This week, I created a timeline, with sources, to show what has been found and what information is still missing. I have also included information on the jurisdictions because that can help identify where you need to search. Timelines can also help you identify life events that may produce records, such as church membership, etc. Women in the 1800s will likely have created less records, so this timeline will be broadened to include James Henry once we start focusing on him.

 

Timeline

 

Date	Event	Place	Source
Tennessee
15 Feb 1828	Birth of Mary Jane Henry	Tennessee	[1]
1830	U.S. Census	Tennessee?
1840	U.S. Census	Tennessee?
Washington County, Arkansas (Organized 17 October 1828 from Lovely)
11 Oct 1849	Marriage of James Henry & Jane Beal	Washington Co., AR	[2]
1 Jun 1850	U.S. Census James Henry Household	West Fork Twp.,  Washington Co., AR	[3]
16 Oct 1854	Sale to William Covington of NW ¼ of SW ¼ of S6 Twp 13N R29W, 40 acres	Washington Co., AR	[4]
Benton County, Arkansas (Organized 30 September 1836 from Washington)
1 Jun 1860	U.S. Census James Henry Household	Maysville PO, Beatie Twp.,  Benton Co., AR	[5]
Washington County, Arkansas (Organized 17 October 1828 from Lovely)
1 Jun 1870	U.S. Census James Henry	Fayetteville PO, Clear Creek Twp.,  Washington Co., AR	[6]
8 Nov 1876	Death of Jane M. Henry	Washington Co., AR	[7]

 

Future Research

 

Future research will include:

 

·      Continue search for all real estate, both local and Federal, that James Henry owned in Washington County, Arkansas. He owned $300 in 1850 and $1,000 in 1870. Start a table showing the land transactions, both in and out, to ensure all transactions are captured.

·      Determine if there are records for Friendship Baptist Church in Springdale, Arkansas.

·      Locate James Henry in the 1880, 1900, and 1910 Federal censuses.

·      Locate the extant applicable agricultural censuses for Arkansas.

·      Search for additional marriage records for James Henry.

·      Add Madison Painter/Panter to the “FAN Club” for James and Mary Jane (Beal) Henry to research further.

 

Next up: Continuing the research on Mary Jane Henry and her husband, James, as noted in “Future Research” above.

---

[1] Jane M. Henry tombstone, Original Cemetery Section, Friendship Cemetery, Springdale, Arkansas; photographed by Debra A. Hoffman on 26 August 2024. The 1850–1870 censuses state Tennessee for Jane’s birthplace, see the citations below.

[2] “Arkansas, U.S., Washington County Marriage Records, 1845–1941,” database & images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 9 November 2025), p. 168 (image 1009 of 15,007), James Henry-Jane Beal marriage, 11 October 1849; citing marriage records, Washington County Archives, Fayetteville, Arkansas.

[3] 1850 U.S. census, Washington County, Arkansas, population schedule, West Fork Township, p. 752 (penned), dwelling 30, family 30, James Henry; digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 October 2025).

[4] Washington County, Arkansas, Deeds, Liber I: 521, deed, James Henry et ux to William Covington, 15 January 1855; digital images, FamilySearch(https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 2025), image 289 of 635, DGS no. 8,197,821, item 1; FamilySearch Library, Salt Lake City.

[5] 1860 U.S. census, Benton County, Arkansas, population schedule, Beatie township, Maysville post office, p. 78 (penned), dwelling 491, family 489, James Henry; digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 20 October 2025).

[6] 1870 U.S. census, Washington County, Arkansas, population schedule, Clear Creek township, Fayetteville post office, p. 1 (penned), p. 102 (stamped), dwelling 4, family 4, James Henry; digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 20 October 2025).

[7] Jane M. Henry tombstone, Original Cemetery Section, Friendship Cemetery, Springdale, Arkansas; photographed by Debra A. Hoffman on 26 August 2024.

Update on the Historic Rhineland Area, Part 2

From German Girls Genealogy (Teresa Steinkamp McMillin & Debra A. Hoffman):

In my last post, I talked about the northern part of the historic Rhineland area that is currently in North Rhine Westphalia. In this post, I’ll talk about the southern part of this region in today’s Rhineland-Palatinate [Rheinland-Pfalz in German] and Saarland. 

 

Many Germans who arrived in Colonial America came from the Palatinate region, which is why they were known as Palatines. Bavaria controlled part of this region for a time and that area was known as the Bavarian Pfalz. To read more about the histories of these specific regions, see my prior blog post.

 

Because a lot of this area was under French control in the late 1700s, there are often civil records from 1798. This was the area west of the Rhine River, also referred to as the west bank of the Rhine. If you are researching in one of these areas, you want to be sure you check both the church records [Kirchenbücher] and the civil records [Zivil- und Personenstandsurkunden]. They may each contain unique information.

 

The Verein für Computergenealogie recently posted about locations of civil registration and church books for the region. 

 

The Rhineland-Palatinate state archive is divided between the Speyer and Koblenz branches. They have the civil records and church books from 1876 and after. Be mindful that German privacy laws restrict birth records less than 110 years, death records less than thirty years, and marriage records less than eighty years.[1]

 

The duplicate civil registers and marriage announcements are housed at the Rhineland-Palatinate Civil Registry Archive in Koblenz. Now you know where these records may be found. The disappointing part is they are not online. But knowing where records are housed is the first step to determining how to access them.

 

Finally, the Saarland State Archives in Saarbrücken hold the duplicate copies of civil records for their area. Fortunately, these are digitized and available on Ancestry.

 

For church books, the Catholic records for the Diocese of Speyer as well as the records of the Lutheran Central Archive and the State Archive in Speyer are digitized (not searchable) on Archion. 

 

To find records for your specific town, check the above resources. Also check the FamilySearch Catalog, using place name and keyword searches. In my last post, I mentioned the FamilySearch Research Wiki article about the Rhineland area, but it bears repeating.

 

Ancestry has selected databases for Germany. It also has databases specific to the Rhineland-Palatinate and for Saarland.

 

I hope you found this helpful. Let me know what questions you have!

---

[1] “German Empire Civil Registration,” article, FamilySearch Research Wiki(https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/German_Empire_Civil_Registration : accessed 19 November 2025).

Gen 1: Mary Jane Beal - 1854 Deed

 What are the origins of Johann Nicholas Biehl?

 

Last week we continued our Biehl research project with the end goal of identifying the German origins of Johann Nicholas Biehl. I continued research on the first generation, which is Mary Jane Beal. You can find that post here. 

 

Researching a female requires researching her associated males, in this case, her husband, James Henry. We have not exhausted research on this couple. From the census enumerations, we know that James Henry owned real estate. This week we begin searching for land records for James Henry. We want to how when he acquired the land and when he disposed of it.

 

1854 Deed

 

FamilySearch has Washington County, Arkansas, deed records online. Below is the abstract of the deed and I included the image in this post.

 

James Henry et ux to William Covington

Washington County, Arkansas

Deed Book I: 521

Written 16 October 1854, Recorded 15 January 1855[1]

 

[Transcription] “We James Henry and Mary Jane his wife of the county of Washington and State of Arkansas have this day bargained and Sold and do hereby transfer and convey unto William Covington of the County of Crawford & State of aforesaid for and in consideration of the sum of fifty Dollars lawful money of the United States to us in hand paid the receipt of which we hereby acknowledge and their hiers [sic] forever the following described parcels or tracts of Land, towit, the North West frl [fractional] quarter of the South West frl [fractional] quarter of Section N^o Six in township No thirteen N of Range N^o twenty nine West containing forty acres & hundredths all of which said tracts of land or parcels are Situated lying and being in the county of Washington in the State of Arkansas in the district of land subject to sale at Fayetteville in said State we the said James Henry and Mary Jane Henry his wife covenant to and with the said William Covington & his heirs and assigns that we are lawfully possessed of said tract or parcel of land & have a good right to convey the same and that it is unincumbered and further we warrant the title to the above described tract or parcel of land to the said William Covington his heirs and assigns forever against the lawful claims of all persons whatsoever. In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands and seals this 16th day of October AD 1854. [Signed] James Henry {seal} Mary Jane Henry {seal}

Signed in presence of us Jonathan Stout[,] Madison Panter”

State of Arkansas[,] County of Washington } Be it remembered that on this 16th day of October AD 1854 personally appeared before me Jonathan Stout an acting and duly commissioned Justice of the Peace in and for the county aforesaid the before named James Henry and Mary Jane Henry his wife to me personally well known and being by me made acquainted with the contents of the foregoing Deed acknowledged that they assigned the same for the purposes and consideration therein set forth and expressed, the within named Mary Jane Henry being by me examined without the hearing of her husband acknowledged that she assigned the same voluntarily without compulsion of her said husband and desired the same to be certified. [Signed] Jonathan Stout J. P.

The foregoing Deed was filed in my office for record on the 15th day of January 1855, and was duly recorded on the same day with the words ,twenty fourteen, ,each, ,grantors, Eraced, [sic] [Signed] Presly R. Smith clerk & Exofficio Recorder”

 

Analysis

 

The above is a grantor deed for James and Mary Jane Henry written on 16 October 1854. Analyzing this record provides the following:

 

·      As this is the deed where James Henry sold the land, we need to determine how he acquired the property. The 1850 census noted that James Henry owned $300 in real estate. This property was sold for $50, so it is likely James may own additional property.

·      The legal land description is NW ¼ of the SW ¼ of Section 6 in Township 13N of Range 29W containing 40 acres. Should locate the land on a map.

·      This is the first source found so far that provides Mary Jane’s full name. The tombstone noted her name as “Jane M.” and the census records recorded her as Mary. The previous posts contain the citations for those sources.

·      Mary Jane Henry released her dower rights on 16 October 1854. 

·      The witnesses were Jonathan Stout and Madison Panter. Jonathan Stout was noted as the Justice of the Peace. Madison Panter is likely the same as Madison Painter, who was a neighbor of James Henry, who we noted  enumerated near James Henry in the 1850 census. He is notable as Mary Jane (Beal) Henry’s mother’s maiden name is alleged to be Painter. Researching him may lead to confirming her maiden name and identifying her parents.

 

Future Research

 

Future research will include:

 

·      Create a timeline for James and Mary Jane (Beal) Henry. This tool helps guide research.

·      Continue search for all real estate that James Henry owned in Washington County, Arkansas. He owned $300 in 1850 and $1,000 in 1870. Start a table showing the land transactions, both in and out, to ensure all transactions are captured.

·      Determine if there are records for Friendship Baptist Church in Springdale, Arkansas.

·      Locate James Henry in the 1880, 1900, and 1910 Federal censuses.

·      Locate the extant applicable agricultural censuses for Arkansas.

·      Add Madison Painter/Panter to the “FAN Club” for James and Mary Jane (Beal) Henry to research further.

 

Next up: Continuing the research on Mary Jane Henry and her husband, James, as noted in “Future Research” above.

---

[1] Washington County, Arkansas, Deeds, Liber I: 521, deed, James Henry et ux to William Covington, 15 January 1855; digital images, FamilySearch(https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 2025), image 289 of 635, DGS no. 8,197,821, item 1; FamilySearch Library, Salt Lake City.

Records Update for the Historic Rhineland Area

From German Girls Genealogy (Teresa Steinkamp McMillin & Debra A. Hoffman):

 

The northern part of the historic Rhineland area is in today’s North-Rhine Westphalia. 

To read more about the histories of these specific regions, see my prior blog post: https://lindstreet.blog/2020/05/21/german-states-and-provinces-as-of-1912-and-their-current-locations/.

 

The great part about this area is that portions were under French control in the late 1700s. So many of these areas have civil registration documents beginning in 1798. This is in addition to church records.

 

Records for this area are at the Rhineland branch of the North-Rhine Westphalia state archives (NRW) in Duisburg. This branch has been busy digitizing its civil records. Deaths spanning 1874–1938 and marriages spanning 1874–1899 are included. These records have been digitized with the help of FamilySearch and the images are on the archive’s website: https://www.archive.nrw.de/landesarchiv-nrw/geschichte-erfahren/familienforschung/familienforschung-digital.

 

MyHeritage has indexed these records. The deaths may be found here https://www.myheritage.com/research/collection-10864/germany-north-rhine-westphalia-deaths-1874-1938. The marriages may be found here: https://www.myheritage.com/research/collection-20726/germany-north-rhine-westphalia-marriages-1874-1899

 

Many other church and civil records have been digitized. They are also available at the NRW-Rheinland branch. Visit their website here: https://www.archive.nrw.de/archivsuche. From this page, on the left choose Archiv = “LandesarchivNRW Abteilung Rheinland” and also check the box “nur mit Digitalisat” [only with digitization].

 

Once the many results appear on the right, look on the left side. At the bottom left under “Alle,” click “Landesarchiv NRW Abteilung Rheinland.” The information below will expand. Click on  “6. Personenstandarchiv Rheinland (10991).” Item 6.1 has church books. Item 6.2 has civil registration records for the area. At any time, you may enter a town name in the search field near the top. That will show you results for a specific village.

 

To Read more about available records in this general region, read the FamilySearch Wiki here: https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Rhineland_(Rheinland),_German_Empire_Civil_Registration

 

I will add more information about the Rhineland-Palatinate in a later post, which includes the southern part of the historic Rhineland area. 

1849 Marriage Record for James Henry & Jane Beal

What are the origins of Johann Nicholas Biehl?

Last week we continued our Biehl research project with the end goal of identifying the German origins of Johann Nicholas Biehl. I continued research on the first generation, which is Mary Jane Beal. You can find that post here. 

 

This week we searched for a marriage record for James Henry and Mary Beal prior to 1 June 1850 in Washington County, Arkansas.

 

1849 Marriage

 

Ancestry has Washington County, Arkansas, marriage records online for the time. Below is the transcription of the marriage record and I included the image in this post.

 

[Transcription]

 

“State of Arkansas                  }

County of Washington           }

I Daniel S. Corley an acting and July commissioned Justice of the Peace in and for the County aforesaid so hereby certify that at the County aforesaid on the 11 day of October AD 1849 I solemnized the rights of matrimony between James Henry aged 27 years, and Jane Beal aged 21 years, both residents of the County of Washington and State of Arkansas[.] Given under my hand this 24^th October 1849[.] [Signed] D. S. Corley J.P.

The foregoing certificate was filed and Recorded October 24^th AD 1849. [Signed] TR Smith clerk”[1]

 

Analysis

 

Based on the 1850 census enumeration, I was expecting that James Henry and Mary [Jane] Beal would have married prior to 1 June 1849, since the enumeration did not note that they married within the year; however, that may just have been an oversight. In the marriage record, James’ age was given as 27 years, which calculates to a birth year of 1822, which is consistent with his tombstone and 1850 and 1860 census enumerations. Jane’s age was given as 21 years, which calculates to a birth year of 1828, which is consistent with her tombstone and the 1850 through 1870 censuses. Unfortunately, the marriage record did not name the parents for either the bride nor groom.

 

Future Research

 

Future research will include:

 

·      Search for the $300 in real estate that James Henry owned in 1850 probably in Washington County, Arkansas.

·      Search for the $1,000 in real estate that James Henry owned in 1870 probably in Washington County, Arkansas.

·      Determine if there are records for Friendship Baptist Church in Springdale, Arkansas.

 

Next up: Continuing the research on Mary Jane Henry and her husband, James, as noted in “Future Research” above.

---

[1] “Arkansas, U.S., Washington County Marriage Records, 1845–1941,” database & images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 9 November 2025), p. 168 (image 1009 of 15,007), James Henry-Jane Beal marriage, 11 October 1849; citing marriage records, Washington County Archives, Fayetteville, Arkansas.