A NOTE ABOUT THE WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA BISH FAMILY

July 7, 2009

Once in awhile I go searching on Ancestry and Rootsweb just to see who is out there researching the Bish family of western Pennsylvania.

It is rather disheartening to see so many people hooking Adam Bish, Sr. up with and Elizabeth Catherine LOHR, and giving him Sebastion Bish as a parent with absolutely NO documentation to back it up. Equally disheartening is finding Catherine HETRICK married to John Bish. Again-- no proof.

To set the record straight, the names LOHR, Catherine Hetrick, and Sebastian Bish were given to me by a scheister genealogist doing shoddy genealogical work many years ago. He even went so far as to cite records that were allegedly found on an LDS microfilm. When another Bish family member who was helping with research at the time ordered the film from the LDS library, the records that were cited were NOT found on this cited microfilm. I don't know if this person made them up or simply cited another microfilm to throw us off the track. I do know that quite a bit of what he has put out there is just plain WRONG.

Sadly, I was very excited at the time and shared much of this info through the Bish mailing list and through snail mail for discussion among a core group of Bish researchers. After taking a good hard look at the information, we decided that it was unsubstantiated by any real documentation and SHOULD NOT be included in anyone's database. But, by this time, the information had gotten out and it has been impossible to put the genie back in the bottle. Thus we have people out there just adding the info to their databases and assuming it's correct without checking it.

Please-- if you are going to do your family tree, do not simply go around the internet downloading whatever you find, repackaging it, and putting it out there as fact. Downloading other people's gedcoms is not research. If you do not have solid evidence and documentation, or KNOW where this information comes from, it should be considered suspect until you have proven otherwise. Also, just because you find it on the LDS website in their archives does not mean that it's correct. This info is mostly submitted by people like you and me, and much of what they have on the Bish family is wrong.

Anyway, based on Orphan's Court Records out of York County, PA, we do know that the Bish family spoke German, so are obviously of German descent. But, that's about ALL we know for sure right now. This is the Orphan's Court document that I got from York County, PA in March of 1999:

From: "Gordon & Sherry" >
Subject: [BISH-L] Orphans Court Docket
Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 18:46:09 -0500


Here are some of the highlights from the Orphans court record that I got on
the Adam Bish, Sr. family.

Adam Bish, Sr. had 100 acres of land in Germany Twp., York Co., PA.

Adam Bish, Jr is to recieve this 100 acres as his eldest son and heir at
law.

Adam Bish, Sr's wife is listed as both Elizabeth and Catherine in this
document, which is dated March 30, 1792.

Adam Bish is to pay sums of money to his siblings as follows:

"That he pay unto John Bish in one year from this date the sum of six
pounds, sixteen shillings, and one penny three farthings, and after the
death of the widdow the further sum of three pounds eight shilling and ten
pence in full for his share of the said valuation as on of the sons of the
said intestate."

The same paragraph as above is listed for Peter Bish, Jacob Bish, Catharine
Bish, Philip Bish, Mary Bish, George Bish, and Ludwich Bish.

"Came into court John Bish and Peter Bish aged about eighteen years and
aged sixteen year and upwards, children of Adam Bish, late of York Co,
deceased and prayed to be permitted to chose a guardian and being asked by
the court name Elizabeth Bish their mother, whereupon court appointed the
said Elizabeth to be guardian of the persons and estates of the said
minors."

"Came into court Adam Bish and prayed that a guardian my be appointed for
Catherine Bish aged twelve years, Philip Bish aged 10 years, Mary Bish aged
8 yrs, George Bish aged 6 yrs and upwards and Ludwich Bish aged five years-
all children of Adam Bish late of York County Deceased. Whereupon the
court appoint Elizabeth Bish their to be guardian of the persons and
estates of the said minors."

Interesting, Jacob Bish is not mentioned when the court is appointing a
guardian. I wonder if they just missed him?

I would encourage anyone with more than a passing interest in this family to read the Bish mailing list archives, especially the month of March 1999 continuing into 2000 with the discussion about the fraudulent Bish church records from Germany with Jeff Bish of Texas ordering and scanning the LDS microfilms.

http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index/BISH

I welcome any input on the Bish family from anyone who is researching them. I have worked on this family for well over 15 years, and it is my favorite family to research. If you have new, documented information, I know a whole group of people who will be excited to see it!

Go back to the Main Page and click on Contact me to send me an email. .