Individual Details
Solomon Kessinger I
(2 Feb 1745 - Bef 1830)
Page 12 of the Warwick Congregation Church (now the Emanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brickerville, Elizabeth Township, Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania--- this comes from a Mrs. Flora Jean Kessinger Buckalew of Fleetwood, Pennsylvania-- I thought the church had a slightly different name in Patricia Ann Kessinger Rhodes' book) there is recorded the baptism of SOLOMON KESSINGER:
[Father: Andreas Kessinger] 3 February 1745, a son, Solomon, bap. 24 March 1745. Sponsors: Conrad Braun and wife; also Ursula Fischerin.
I believe I read somewhere that Conrad Braun had also been a passenger on board the William or Wilheim, along with Andreas Kessinger. I am not going to bother to look this up at the moment, but will make a note for later.
Solomon Kessinger (Sr.) would have been no more than 12 years of age when his father died, and only 15 when his mother Susanna (Fischer) Kessinger passed on; I wonder who took him and the other minor children into their homes. There could be other records in Lancaster Co that cover this.
As an adult, Solomon Sr. shows up in these Pennsylvania Tax records:
1768 Cumberland County, Pennsylvania
1771 Cumberland County, Pennsylvania
1773 Bedford County, Pennsylvania (formed out of Cumberland Co., it was all of western Pennsylvania
1850 census records for two of Solomon SR's sons show that they had been born in Pennsylvania-- Solomon Jr (b abt 1773) and Jacob (b abt 1775.)
Moved to Nelson County, Kentucky about 1784 along with James, Thomas & William Logsdon. Lived on the Nolynn Area in Phillip's Fort which was founded in 1781 in later Hardin County and present-day LaRue County, Kentucky.
Solomon Kessinger Sr. died before he was eligible to apply for a pension for Revolutionary War service. I have tried to get military records from the National Archives, but to no avail. [They are very persnickety, and spelling might be a problem. Kessinger is sometimes Geisinger or Kersinger or Cassiner or something else.) The 1776 militia rolls of Washington Co., Maryland (then, Washington Co was the entire western strip of Maryland running beneath western Pennsylvania and above the northern neck of Virginia) show a Simon Kesinger in one company. I have never found a "Simon Kessinger" anywhere, and wonder if Simon was really Slmon, a shortening of the name Solomon. In another Washington Co., Maryland, militia unit were William, Thomas and Joseph Logsdon, whom I suspect to be the sons of Thomas Logsdon and grandsons of William1 Logsdon and Honora O'Flynn. This would be the William3 Logsdon, then, whose daughters Ruth and Elizabeth married Solomon Kessinger Sr's two sons in Hardin Co., Kentucky IF my hunch about William3's parentage is correct.)
Historical Register of Virginians in the Revolution, 1775-1783 (by John H. Gwalthney, 1938) lists both William Logston and Solomon Kersinger, with the notation for the source as "the Illinois Papers: a collection of rolls of militia and regulars in the Illinois Department now the State Library, indexed in the State Archives." I wonder if Solomon Sr.'s service was likewise performed in Kentucky?
There is a lot to be researched here. I have William Logsdon on one militia roll under George Rogers Clark, who basically founded Louisville (Jefferson Co., Kentucky) as his base on the Ohio River to defend the Kentucky settlements from the predations of the British-led Indians from the then Northwest (Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, etc.) He had a heck of a time getting men. He recruited in the areas of western Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia (which territory was all in dispute about which state owned it.) Was this when the Logsdons and the Kessingers migrated to Kentucky?
Tradition has Solomon Kessinger SR's wife as Betsey Greenwalt (sometimes spelled "Grenawalt.") I have a note saying that Joseph Greenwalt is listed on Pennsylvania tax rolls along with Solomon Sr. The Greenwalts were neighbors in 1787 Kentucky:
A list of tithables taken in by Philip Philips, Esqr., this 23rd day of April 1787 (includes men 21-50)
Joseph Greenwalt SR.
Joseph Greenwalt Jr.
John Greenwalt
Luddowich Greenwalt
Solomon Kessinger
William Logsdon
Thomas Logsdon
Abstracts of Hardin Co., Kentucky, Wills-- Will Book A, p 75-- has the will of Joseph Grenewell (probated 7 November 1795). Daughters: Magdaline, Catherine, Susannah. Sons: Ludweek, Joseph, John. Other children not mentioned. Wife Nelly.
I suppose that the above is the will of Joseph Greenwalt Sr. I have read only the above abstract. It would be my guess that Joseph Sr. would be Solomon Kessinger's brother-in-law rather than father-in-law, but-- again-- more research could be done on this matter.
1800 Hardin Co., Kentucky, Tax List: Solomon Kessinger, Andrew Kessinger, Joseph Kessinger, Solomon Kessinger
1810 Hardin Co Census:
Solomon Kessinger
1 male over 45, 1 female over 45, 2 males 16-26, 2 females 10-16,
1 female under 10
1820 Hart Co., Kentucky, Census:
Solomon Kessinger
1 male over 45
By 1820, then, Solomon Kessinger Sr. is apparently a widower and living alone. Oren Kessinger has it that he died around/before 1830, near Millerstown, Grayson Co., Kentucky.
The above history written by Billye Higdon.
[Father: Andreas Kessinger] 3 February 1745, a son, Solomon, bap. 24 March 1745. Sponsors: Conrad Braun and wife; also Ursula Fischerin.
I believe I read somewhere that Conrad Braun had also been a passenger on board the William or Wilheim, along with Andreas Kessinger. I am not going to bother to look this up at the moment, but will make a note for later.
Solomon Kessinger (Sr.) would have been no more than 12 years of age when his father died, and only 15 when his mother Susanna (Fischer) Kessinger passed on; I wonder who took him and the other minor children into their homes. There could be other records in Lancaster Co that cover this.
As an adult, Solomon Sr. shows up in these Pennsylvania Tax records:
1768 Cumberland County, Pennsylvania
1771 Cumberland County, Pennsylvania
1773 Bedford County, Pennsylvania (formed out of Cumberland Co., it was all of western Pennsylvania
1850 census records for two of Solomon SR's sons show that they had been born in Pennsylvania-- Solomon Jr (b abt 1773) and Jacob (b abt 1775.)
Moved to Nelson County, Kentucky about 1784 along with James, Thomas & William Logsdon. Lived on the Nolynn Area in Phillip's Fort which was founded in 1781 in later Hardin County and present-day LaRue County, Kentucky.
Solomon Kessinger Sr. died before he was eligible to apply for a pension for Revolutionary War service. I have tried to get military records from the National Archives, but to no avail. [They are very persnickety, and spelling might be a problem. Kessinger is sometimes Geisinger or Kersinger or Cassiner or something else.) The 1776 militia rolls of Washington Co., Maryland (then, Washington Co was the entire western strip of Maryland running beneath western Pennsylvania and above the northern neck of Virginia) show a Simon Kesinger in one company. I have never found a "Simon Kessinger" anywhere, and wonder if Simon was really Slmon, a shortening of the name Solomon. In another Washington Co., Maryland, militia unit were William, Thomas and Joseph Logsdon, whom I suspect to be the sons of Thomas Logsdon and grandsons of William1 Logsdon and Honora O'Flynn. This would be the William3 Logsdon, then, whose daughters Ruth and Elizabeth married Solomon Kessinger Sr's two sons in Hardin Co., Kentucky IF my hunch about William3's parentage is correct.)
Historical Register of Virginians in the Revolution, 1775-1783 (by John H. Gwalthney, 1938) lists both William Logston and Solomon Kersinger, with the notation for the source as "the Illinois Papers: a collection of rolls of militia and regulars in the Illinois Department now the State Library, indexed in the State Archives." I wonder if Solomon Sr.'s service was likewise performed in Kentucky?
There is a lot to be researched here. I have William Logsdon on one militia roll under George Rogers Clark, who basically founded Louisville (Jefferson Co., Kentucky) as his base on the Ohio River to defend the Kentucky settlements from the predations of the British-led Indians from the then Northwest (Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, etc.) He had a heck of a time getting men. He recruited in the areas of western Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia (which territory was all in dispute about which state owned it.) Was this when the Logsdons and the Kessingers migrated to Kentucky?
Tradition has Solomon Kessinger SR's wife as Betsey Greenwalt (sometimes spelled "Grenawalt.") I have a note saying that Joseph Greenwalt is listed on Pennsylvania tax rolls along with Solomon Sr. The Greenwalts were neighbors in 1787 Kentucky:
A list of tithables taken in by Philip Philips, Esqr., this 23rd day of April 1787 (includes men 21-50)
Joseph Greenwalt SR.
Joseph Greenwalt Jr.
John Greenwalt
Luddowich Greenwalt
Solomon Kessinger
William Logsdon
Thomas Logsdon
Abstracts of Hardin Co., Kentucky, Wills-- Will Book A, p 75-- has the will of Joseph Grenewell (probated 7 November 1795). Daughters: Magdaline, Catherine, Susannah. Sons: Ludweek, Joseph, John. Other children not mentioned. Wife Nelly.
I suppose that the above is the will of Joseph Greenwalt Sr. I have read only the above abstract. It would be my guess that Joseph Sr. would be Solomon Kessinger's brother-in-law rather than father-in-law, but-- again-- more research could be done on this matter.
1800 Hardin Co., Kentucky, Tax List: Solomon Kessinger, Andrew Kessinger, Joseph Kessinger, Solomon Kessinger
1810 Hardin Co Census:
Solomon Kessinger
1 male over 45, 1 female over 45, 2 males 16-26, 2 females 10-16,
1 female under 10
1820 Hart Co., Kentucky, Census:
Solomon Kessinger
1 male over 45
By 1820, then, Solomon Kessinger Sr. is apparently a widower and living alone. Oren Kessinger has it that he died around/before 1830, near Millerstown, Grayson Co., Kentucky.
The above history written by Billye Higdon.
Events
| Birth | 2 Feb 1745 | Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania | |||
| Marriage | 1766 | Lancaster or Cumberland Co., Pennsylvania - Elizabeth Greenwalt |  | ||
| Property | 10 Aug 1791 | 207 1/2 acres in Nelson Co. (Bk.2, p. 511) | |||
| Death | Bef 1830 | Millerstown, Grayson Co., Kentucky |
Families
| Spouse | Elizabeth Greenwalt (1745 - 1810) |
| Child | Andrew Kessinger (1769 - ) |
| Child | Joseph Wood Kessinger (1770 - 1840) |
| Child | Susanna Kessinger (1772 - ) |
| Child | Solomon Kessinger II (1773 - 1857) |
| Child | Jacob Kessinger (1776 - ) |
| Child | John Rock Kessinger ( - 1805) |
| Child | Matthias Isaac Kessinger (1783 - ) |
| Child | William Kessinger (1785 - ) |
| Child | Peter Kessinger (1788 - ) |
| Child | Mary Kessinger (1791 - ) |
| Child | Nancy Kessinger (1795 - ) |
| Father | Andreas Kessinger (1707 - 1757) |
| Mother | Susannah Fisher (1710 - 1760) |
| Sibling | George Michael Kessinger (1728 - ) |
| Sibling | Mathias Kessinger (1731 - 1795) |
| Sibling | Andreas Kessinger (1734 - ) |
| Sibling | Catherine Barbara Kessinger (1735 - ) |
| Sibling | Dorothy Kessinger (1740 - ) |
| Sibling | John Jacob Kessinger (1742 - 1806) |
| Sibling | Joseph Kessinger (1747 - ) |
| Sibling | Susannah Elizabeth Kessinger (1748 - ) |
Endnotes
1. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 on Ancestry.com.