Welcome
to the
Pennsylvania Edelmann Timeline
Author:
Trudi Edelman
Email: EdelmanT@earthlink.net
Surnames: EDELMANN, EDELMAN, EDDLEMAN, ADELMANN, ADELMAN, ADDLEMAN
Page Menu
Edelman's
Crossroads: Location
Edelman Family: Ancestry, Relationship
with Palmer Township and more.
Edelman Hard Vein Slate Quarry:
History
Edelman Hill: History
Edelman (Pine Grove),
Northampton County: History
Edelman's Woods: History
Help:
We need your help to complete the PA Timeline
Introduction: Trudi's
Story
Searching:
John Edelman
Time Line:
17XX (John Edelman) to 1944 (Jackson
Raymond Edelman)
Trudi's Story:
Introduction
Village of
Edelman: History
Trudi's Story
I was born and raised in Altoona, Blair County, Pennsylvania, moving to Florida in 1968. I didn't begin searching for my ancestors until a few years ago. By then my known Edelman ancestors - parents and grandparents - had passed on.
I had been told by my grandfather Samuel Ross Edelman that he was an orphan. He said he did not know his father's name and that his mother, Sarah, and his sister Adaline died when he was a child. He told me he was raised by his uncle Samuel, his father's brother.
After my mother's death, I found my grandfather's baptismal certificate, with only his mother's name on it, and an old cemetery deed. My mother had mentioned them when I was younger, but I wasn't interested. Luckily, she kept them for me after my grandfather's death.
I finally visited the cemetery, across town from where I grew up, and found graves of five Edelmans that I knew nothing about.
Eventually, by obtaining death certificates, copies of obituaries, church records, etc., I pieced together a story about my grandfather's family that was quite different from the one I had been told.
From an obit, I learned my grandfather's dad, Andrew, died when my grandfather was 10 years old. And in the next census, I found my grandfather did, indeed, live with his uncle. However, in the same census, I found my grandfather's mother and his sister living in another part of town.
Upon obtaining my great grandmother's death certificate, I saw my grandfather's signature on it and learned that she died when my grandfather was 38 years old, not when he was a child as he said.
When my great grandmother died in 1928, my grandfather was married and my father was 15. However, to my knowledge, neither my grandmother nor my father ever knew my great grandmother was alive on the other side of town.
And, through church records, I learned my grandfather's sister married and moved out of Pennsylvania before their mother's death.
Why did my grandfather take this secret to his grave? I can only think of one explanation. When his father died in 1897 his mother probably could not support two young children.
My grandfather probably was sent to live with his uncle and his cousin Luther, who was about his age, because everyone thought it would be best for him. Under the circumstances of the time, it seems logical to me that my great grandmother would keep the girl with her.
I believe that my grandfather, at the age of 10, could not understand the economics of the situation and thought his mother did not want him when he was sent to live with his uncle. He probably believed his mother loved his sister more than she loved him, so he disowned them both and never told his wife and children that their grandmother and aunt were alive.
Of course, I'll never know if my version is the real story. I wish I would have known about the cemetery deed and found the other Edelmans' graves before my grandfather died. I loved my grandfather, but I would like to ask him why he robbed me of part of my family.
What a terrible secret to take to the grave with you, not allowing your wife, children and grandchildren to know your mother. It's hard for me to believe that she did not try to seek her son's family. But, perhaps she did, and was driven away by my grandfather. I wish I knew what really happened.
Uncovering this family mystery sparked the interest in finding my roots. But I hit a wall with my GGG grandfather in Berks County, PA. At that point, I decided to work the other way. I started with the ships' lists and recorded by date every Edelman I could find that came to the U.S. through the Port of Philadelphia.
I combed through every PA book I could find in our libraries and began adding births, baptisms, marriages, deaths, etc. I hoped that by recording every Edelman name I could find I would make a connection to my earliest known ancestor.
When I began using the internet, I found the Eddleman Genealogy Library and a group of Edelman researchers online. When I asked them for help, I learned they were from ancestors that had left PA for other states. They encouraged me to publish my PA Timeline on the internet. Perhaps this timeline will help others find their PA connection as I search for my immigrant ancestor.
I have made no attempt to connect families, the PA Timeline is merely a list of Edelman with all the spelling variations that I found. See Origin of Eddleman Surname.
The PA Timeline will be updated as I find new names and dates. In the beginning, I was not so concerned with documentation, but I will attempt to update my documentation on earlier finds.
Sources are indicated in brackets [ ] at end of each dated event. However, except for my own line, I have not traced any of these names and dates back to original documents. A note on Census items: Items with names only are from an index, I have not looked them all up on microfilm.
In the interest of space, I ended this published timeline with 1849. If you have questions after that date, Email me by clicking below as I do have later information, but mostly my direct line. You are welcome to copy from my page any information that will help you.
Ancestry
Time Line - 17XX (John) to 1944 (Jackson)
Parents: Jackson Raymond Edelman, b May 15, 1913, Altoona, Blair Co. d Apr. 1, 1944, Altoona, Blair Co. Wife, Ida May Miller.
Grandfather: Samuel Ross Edelman, b Oct. 1, 1889, Altoona, Blair Co. d Sept. 24, 1965, Altoona, Blair Co. Wife, Bertha Virginia Davis.
Great grandfather: Andrew Jackson Edelman, b Apr. 7, 1851, near Hollidaysburg, Blair Co. d Aug. 20, 1897, Altoona, Blair Co. Wife, Sarah M. Myers.
Great, great grandfather: Raymond Edelman (sometimes as Eddleman) b July 5, 1816, Berks Co., d Oct. 14, 1907, Blair Co. Wife, Adaline F. Oliver.
Great, great, great grandfather: John Edelman, b unknown, place unknown, d unknown. Wife, unknown.
Searching for John Edelman
The only information I have on my earliest Edelman - my GGG. grandfather - is on his son Raymond Edelman's death certificate. It says that John is Raymond's father and that he was born on July 5, 1816, in Berks Co. Raymond's mother's name is not listed.
A Rehman Edelmann, s/o Jacob and Elisabeth Edelmann, was bap May 10, 1817 in Jonestown, Lebanon Co. at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church.
I can't help but wonder if this Rehman could be my Raymond. Perhaps his father was John Jacob or Jacob John.
From "Place Names in Northampton County," by James and Linda Wright. Published in 1988. Submitted by Adele Hartman, ahart@enter.net
Edelman is a small village in south central Plainfield Township, Northampton County, PA along Rt. 191 on the Little Bushkill Creek. It is north of Easton, PA. In all probability, it is named after the Edelman family.
At one time the village was called Pine Grove. In 1874 the settlement had 10 dwellings and a wheelshop. The Pine Grove Slate Quarry, Seems Slate Quarry and Edelman Hard Vein Slate Quarry are some of the quarries that operated there.
In the 1870s the Bower and Woodring families were prominent in the area. A line of the Erie Lackawanna Railroad passed through the village.
A post office called Edelman was created here on Feb. 21, 1883. J. Edelman was the first postmaster. This post office was in existence until Nov. 15, 1934. But the village is still in existence.
From "Place Names in Northampton County," by James and Linda Wright. Published in 1988. Submitted by Adele Hartman, ahart@enter.net
Edelman Hill is in northwest Allen Township, west of Kreidersville, Northampton County. Edelman's grist mill operated there in the 1870s.
Edelman (Pine Grove), Northampton Co.
From the “History of Palmer Township, Northampton Co., PA” by James A Wright. Published by the Palmer Township Historical Society.
Abraham L. Bowman was the owner a store he opened at Edelman on Oct. 1, 1893. He handled dry goods, groceries, boots and shoes, crockery, hardware, glassware, ready-made clothing and coal. His sales averaged $10,000 each year.
On the same day he opened the store, he received the appointment of postmaster together with that of station agent for the Bangor and Portland Railroad.
The Edelman Family is inseparable from the history of Palmer Township. John Peter Edelman, the immigrant ancestor, arrived in Philadelphia in 1740. He came to the Forks of the Delaware and joined the Lutheran congregation in Williams Township. The congregation worshiped in an old church at the base of Morgan’s Hill.
The wife of John Peter Edelman was Maria Toomer. She was born Jan. 20, 1722, and died Sept. 23, 1805. She is buried in the Easton Cemetery.
At one time, the Edelman Family had large land holdings in Palmer Township running from approximately 20th Street in Wilson Borough west to Greenwood Avenue in Palmer, and from Butler Street north to Northampton. In 1860, Joseph, Jacob, Joseph, John and R. Edelman all had farms in this vicinity.
Edelman’s Woods was a famous picnic site in the township and ran from where the Wilson Borough Municipal Hall is today all the way to Greenwood Avenue.
Edelman’s Crossroads was the intersection of Butler and 25th streets.
Edelman Hard Vein Slate Quarry
Edelman Hard Vein Slate Quarry and others, such as Whitesell and Company, were the main working industries of this little village.
Wages were about 25 cents per hour (William Kolb,) 9 cents per hour for hoist man (Marlyn Laub,) and 15 cents per hour for a boy to motion when to lift or lower objects and men from the hole.
Blickeys (lunch pails) carried the food of the day (summer bologna sandwiches, cake and pie. Some Mondays had chicken, pork or sausage left over from Sunday dinner. In the winter, coffee in the top container nearly always froze and had to be thawed out on top of the little stoves in the shanties.
Meek and eager were the slate quarry men of the Slate Belt region; hard workers, jolly and religious. The working hours were long, but there was time for get-to-gathers, square dancing, baseball, football, cider swigging and, perhaps, a trip to the local fair.
