This is the story of how, we believe, the Tippery family came to America and spread from across this country. As in all historical stories, some guesswork is involved and sometimes we must choose between conflicting documentation in getting a story put together. Still Linda steadfastly tries to document her research and my trust in her abilities is why this page has been added to my website. As she documents below, the facts have come with the help of many individuals to whom we will attempt to give credit at the bottom of the page. The facts and stories are theirs - the typos and grammatical errors are usually mine. I hope you enjoy this and join our on-line family.
P.S. I am a bit of a busybody and will stick my nose into the story from time to time. Watch for the [...] for identification. I will try to keep it to a minimum as she really doesn't need my help!
- William Tippery
Jacob was born abt. 1756 and immigrated to the colonies--some say--from Alsace (I am still looking for proof, and I now believe it's at Annapolis. Most Tippery researchers believe Alsace was the port where he embarked, not his native land, but it is fairly safe to assume he was born in Europe.). He took the Oath of Fidelity in Frederick Co., Maryland, in 1778. He may have been there for a while, because something in the court records indicated he had failed to take the oath earlier and was given a second chance--but I could be wrong on that.
From Maryland, Jacob Tippery migrated to Sinking Valley (Tyrone Twp. census, sometimes spelled Teppery), PA, to work the lead mines during the Revolution. He mined lead to produce ammunition for the Continentals, and it was sorely needed because the French (our later source of ammo) had not yet allied with the colonies. It must have been a very dangerous job--mining and trying to fend off Indians and Redcoats all at once. Sometime during this era, Ft. Roberdeau was built to protect these miners.
Jacob's service was documented by the DAR, and his descendants are eligible for that organization if they can jump through all the hoops. Jacob died there, in Huntingdon Co., about 1849.
His wife is unknown and his children were Abraham, George, Henry, Jacob, Jr., and probably three daughters. I believe Isabel and Susan were two of them, but I have no proof.
George was a laborer and he married Catherine ?. Their children were Susan, William, John, Catherine, George H., Caroline, and Thomas. He is listed as Geo. Topper in the census of Bedford Co., and George Truby in Centre Co., and Tipery in the Mifflin Co. census.
Henry is listed in the 1830 Bedford Co. census. Jacob, Jr. is listed as "Topper" and "Thafer" (if I have in fact identified the right person) in the Huntingdon/Blair Co. census. His son, Peter, stayed in that county and married Sarah M. Burket, a Scot. Their children were Winfield Scott, William B., Laura, and an unknown daughter. At least two more generations of that line stayed in the Blair County area.
Abraham is the ancestor of most Tippery researchers, and his line is fairly well-documented. He was born on Mar. 26, 1788 in Maryland, just before moving to Sinking Valley. He served with honor in the War of 1812 and was discharged due to sickness. He married his first wife (possibly ? Copenhaver) and his sons, John W., William, and Jacob, were born between 1815 and 1819 in Huntingdon Co. His wife died between 1819 and 1826, because on Aug. 29, 1826, he married Catherine Harpst and their son Henry was born. In 1828 the family migrated to Clarion Co., PA, where the rest of their children were born: Susan, Anna Maria Sarah, Hannah, Elizabeth, Andrew, Catherine, and Samuel C..
From Abraham's first marriage, John W. stayed in Huntingdon/Blair Co. and married Sarah A. Barto(w). They had Sanford F., Margarete I., and Wesley M. Sanford served in the Union Army. The family later moved to Centre Co., according to the census.
I think all of you know William and Jacob's families were very close. When Jacob's wife, Mary Ann Thompson, died in childbirth, Jacob and family moved in with William's family (according to the census)--two large families living under one roof! His wife, Martha Bell, was taking care of four of Jacob's children (including the newborn baby, who died soon after), and three of her own, including the infant, Lovan. Jacob's 3-yr. old daughter, Henrietta, was left in the care of her mother's sister, Martha Shay and her husband, James. Also living in the household was Martha and Mary Ann's widowed mother, Rebecca Thompson, age 62. Little Henrietta later rejoined her own family.
In 1852, Jacob Tippery married Lucinda Willis Foster Spangler, who had been doing housework for them. About 1854 or 1855, both William and Jacob and families moved to Winnebago Twp., Houston Co., MN, by wagon. Later, Jacob moved to Redwood County.
In 1863, his Jacob's son, William, was captured at Missionary Ridge, Tennessee, during the Civil War. He was taken to Libby Prison and later to Andersonville Prison, Georgia, where he died of pneumonia (grave # 1981) on June 15, 1864. When the news of his death reached home, his brother Miles and his first cousin, Amos, enlisted just one day apart (August 26-27, 1864) in the same company (11th Minnesota). They both survived the war, but not without injury.
Then more tragedy struck, as Jacob's father Abraham passed away in Clarion Co., PA, in March of 1869. It must have been difficult for Jacob to make the decision to leave brother William and his married daughters (Harriet and Henrietta) behind in Minnesota and homestead in the Northwest.
In 1869, the family traveled by covered wagon and ox team to Omaha, Nebraska (according to the Miles Tippery history and Minnie Tippery Carnine interview). There they sold their outfit and took one of the first trains to San Francisco. Upon arrival they boarded the sternwheeler Ajax to Portland, Oregon. Eight months later, Jacob moved his family down the Columbia River by steamboat and up the Cowlitz River by row boat to Castle Rock. Soon Jacob and son Miles built a home overlooking Silver Lake, Cowlitz Co., and had planted 100 fruit trees and acquired a herd of cattle. Jacob's daughter, Harriet, and her husband William Morrill, came west and settled about a mile away. Then another tragic event occurred. Jacob was mortally injured while chasing cattle on the homestead, and he died three months later on August 15, 1872.
This left Lucinda to care for a large family alone in the wilderness. Three of Jacob and Lucinda's children married Carnine siblings (however, there were no twins involved)[A popular story states that twin Tippery boys had married twin sisters -Bill's note]: Jacob Tippery, Jr. married Emma Leora Carnine; Ella "May" Tippery married Charles Porter Carnine; and Minerva "Minnie" Tippery married Thomas Allen Carnine.
May and Minnie were married in a double ceremony, and they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary together at Silver Lake. My grandfather said when the distant relatives heard of the anniversaries, they were surprised, because they had been told the Tippery family had been eaten by bears in the wilderness not long after they homesteaded.
William Tippery married a woman, name unknown, and had David and Amos. David married LaVera Cavenee, and several of his line married into the Darling family. Some moved to New Albin, Iowa, and others moved to LaCrosse and Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. William's son, Amos, moved to New Albin, Iowa, leaving some of his children in Minnesota.
Later, William married Martha Bell Taylor, and they stayed in Minnesota until between 1870 and 1880, when they migrated to Decatur, Burt Co., Nebraska (according to the census). There William died on November 12, 1889. Most of their children stayed in Nebraska, but I believe the youngest son, Charles Augustus, and his line moved to Iowa, S. Dakota, and Colorado.
There may be a few mistakes in this history, but most of it is documented. I don't think the Tipperys moved altogether to a string of states, but they branched off and migrated as families. Some of the early Tipperys may have different spellings that are unrecognizable now, since the census and other documents indicates many different spellings in the early 1800s.
Here is another interesting fact: there are families that married into the Tipperys again and again.[See my Family Names page -Bill] Those surnames are Beaird/Baird, Spangler, Carnine, and Darling.
I don't believe the Tipperys were "clannish," but I think some branches were close-knit. Their decisions to migrate had more to do with economics and opportunity and perhaps a spirit of adventure than anything else. For some, it was a chance to leave the tragedies of death and war behind and start anew.
Linda Smith is a teacher in Washington State and welcomes both comments and additions to the story via e-mail at linsmith@toledotel.com
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