Descendants
of John T. Skinner [1760-1824] and Patience Hanisey [1764-1840] -
Biographies, Stories and Images
relating to my branch of the family
LINKS:
Complete
Family Tree of the South Jersey Skinners
The Skinners of North and Central Jersey, 1665-1800 (Unrelated to the South Jersey Skinners)
SUMMARY:
John T.
Skinner and Patience Hanisey lived at Pitman Grove, Gloucester County, NJ. This
page contains links to a wealth of personal anecdotes, etc. dealing with my
line of the family - a line that begins with John and Patience and passes
through their son, Richard Skinner Sr. and grandson Richard Skinner Jr. The file on John T. Skinner includes information
on his father John Skinner (d. 1808) as well as the Haniseys and related
families of their time. All known family
images of later generations, including photos donated by the descendants of three
of the four children of William Harrison Skinner, are included in the files
linked below.
BIOGRAPHIES, STORIES & IMAGES:
LIST OF SURNAMES
The following
families, most with photographs, are included in this work:
|
NEW JERSEY: Batten – Camden and Gloucester County, NJ Corson – Gloucester County, NJ Dare – Cumberland County, NJ Garton – Cumberland County, NJ Henry – Camden and
Gloucester County, NJ and Philadelphia, PA Leap - Camden and Gloucester County, NJ Lloyd – Camden and Gloucester County, NJ Locke – Gloucester County, NJ Mills – Cumberland County, NJ Shreve - Gloucester County, NJ Shull – Cumberland
County, NJ and Philadelphia, PA Sparks - Camden and Gloucester County, NJ Thoman - Gloucester County, NJ Turner – Gloucester County, NJ Zimmerman – Gloucester County, NJ |
OTHER
STATES: Ackerman – Philadelphia, PA and Germany Bossert – Philadelphia, PA Brenner – Philadelphia, PA Brautigam – Philadelphia, PA Burkle – Philadelphia, PA Dodd – Marion County, WV Frederick – Telford and Philadelphia, PA Gossmann – Philadelphia, PA and Germany Hughlett – Delaware County, PA Kuhnle – Philadelphia, PA Lee – Philadelphia, PA Liebert– Philadelphia, PA Pirman –
Philadelphia, PA Shepherd – New Castle County, DE Showalter – Huntingdon County, PA Ungerbuehler – Philadelphia, PA and New Castle County,
DE Weppler – Philadelphia, PA and Germany Williman – Philadelphia, PA Yaecht – Philadelphia, PA |
CEMETERY BURIAL SUMMARY
Richard Skinner Jr. and Elizabeth
(Corson) Skinner
Granddaughters Mary and Mizeal Skinner
Manahath Cemetery, Glassboro –
Harry Skinner and
Elizabeth (Sparks) Skinner
Omar Skinner, son of Harry
Charles Locke and Ida (Skinner) Locke, sister to Harry
Louis Shreve and Rennie (Skinner) Shreve, sister to Harry
Blande Shreve, son of Louis
Bessie (Shreve), daughter of Louis
Horace Thoman and Ursula (Skinner) Thoman, daughter of Harry
Warren Skinner, son of Harry, and wife Viola May (Leap) Skinner
Mary Leap, foster mother of May Skinner
Earl Skinner and
Lillian (Showalter) Skinner
Frank Frederick and Elizabeth (Ackerman) Frederick
Dave and Annette (Frederick) Skinner – memorial plaque; buried at sea
I
don’t want to work the coal mines – I’ll spend enough time under the ground as
it is.
Joseph Showalter as retold by daughter
Lillian
“Best
time of life”
“They were so religious – the Skinners, that
they bought the Sunday paper on Saturday and read it on Monday”
Lillian Skinner commenting on
her in-laws – Warren & May Skinner
“So many family stories; So many
photographs.
I could not discard them so they are all here.”
Kevin Skinner
PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESSES
Photographs included
in this collection are of the following types:
Tintypes
Tintype photographs
were common from the Civil War into the 1900's.
Tintypes involved images on a thin sheet of iron. They were inexpensive, durable and popular,
bringing the ownership of photographs to the working class.
The key to the
success of the tintypes was the speed and ease of processing them. The negatives could easily be manufactured at
any location by painting chemicals onto iron sheets. Once the negatives were utilized to take
pictures and removed from the camera, little additional processing was
required. The normal process of
utilizing negatives in an elaborate lab process to transfer the images to photographic
paper was unnecessary. In the tintype
process, the negatives and the final photographs are one and the same. The exposed negatives
were simply coated with a protective varnish finish, dried and given to the
customer. In this
regards, they represented the first nearly "instant"
photography process.
The light and dark areas of
a tintype image are reversed, like any negative, but look like a normal
photograph because of the peculiar color of the chemical coating. In those portions of a tintype that have been
exposed to light, the silver metallic coating becomes dark as occurs with any
type of negative. However, when viewed
under light, the metallic coating acts as a mirror becoming a brilliant white
color, as is necessary for the lighter areas of a photograph. Similarly, in those portions of the negative
that have not seen light, the chemical coating remains in its original form –
light and translucent, which is normal for a negative. However, this translucent coating allows the
black iron sheet behind the chemicals to be visible. As a result, the translucent coating looks
dark, as is necessary for the darker areas of a photograph.
Despite their low
quality, tintypes seem very “alive” and appealing to the eye. The metallic, mirror-like surface of the
lighter areas of a tintype are simply brighter under light (reflect more light)
than the white paper of a traditional photograph.
Like any negative, tintype
images are reversed left-to-right. Everyone
parts his or her hair on the opposite side in a tintype image!
It was common to be
able to obtain tintype images from street photographers at fairs, carnivals and
beaches. They were a lower cost and
lower quality alternative to the photographs obtained in studios.
Often, a
"multiplying" camera lens was used to provide multiple, identical
images for sale to customers on a single metal negative. After the photos were taken, the plate was removed
from the camera and dipped into a chemical bath to stop further exposure. A coat of varnish provided protection
"Tinning"
shears were used to cut the iron sheets into the individual
images, giving tintypes their name. The
crude cutting process often resulted in odd-shaped photographs. In a few minutes, the photographs were
available to the waiting customers.
Studios would sometimes
offer small, one-inch square, high-quality tintypes called gem tintypes. These were glued onto decorative card stock. The fancy cards, about the size of a normal
photograph and each containing a tiny tintype, were designed to fit in
Victorian photograph albums.
B) Studio Prints (per www.edinphoto.org.uk/)
In the latter half
of the 1800's, high-quality photographs that people sat for in studios were
normally made on tissue-thin sheets of paper.
The thin photos were then glued to heavier card stock backing. The backing was typically pre-printed with the
name and address of the studio, either below the photo or on the back.
The studio
photographs were made in two sizes. Cabinet
Prints, the larger size, consisted of 4 by 5.5 inch
photographs mounted on 4.5 by 6.5 inch heavy,
decorative card stock. Cartes de visite, the smaller size, were 2.25 by 3.5 inch photographs mounted on 2.5 by 4
inch card stock.
The
majority of photos from
this era have a distinctive brown color tone due to the type of photographic
process that was employed.
C) Post Cards
At the turn of the
century, it became common practice to make photographs on thick photographic
paper, eliminating the need to glue tissue-thin photographs onto card stock
backgrounds as had been done in the past.
This type of presentation has continued to the present day. The earliest versions of this presentation
were in the form of postcards, in which the photographic paper was thick and in
the shape of a postcard. The photographs
contained an address area on the reverse side for easy mailing.
As time went on,
changing photographic processes replaced the brown tones of earlier photographs
with the grey-scale tones of today.
Photographs went from being brown-and-white to
black-and-white.
THE YEAR 1905 (from an unknown internet source)
The average life expectancy in the U.S. was 47 years.
Only 14 percent of the homes in the U.S. had a bathtub.
Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.
A three-minute call from Denver to New York City cost eleven dollars.
There were only 8,000 cars in the U.S., and only 144 miles of paved roads.
The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.
Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee were each more heavily populated than
California.
With a mere 1.4 million people, California was only the 21st most populous
state in the Union.
The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower!
The average wage in the U.S. was 22 cents per hour.
The average U.S. worker made between $200 and $400 per year.
A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, a dentist $2,500
per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical
engineer about $5,000 per year.
More than 95 percent of all births in the U.S. took place at home.
Ninety percent of all U.S. doctors had no college education. Instead, they
attended so-called medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press
and by the government as "substandard."
Sugar cost four cents a pound. Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen. Coffee was
fifteen cents a pound.
Most women washed their hair once a month, and used
borax or egg yolks for shampoo.
Five leading causes of death in the U.S. were:
1. Pneumonia and influenza
2. Tuberculosis
3. Diarrhea
4. Heart disease
5. Stroke
The American flag
had 45 stars. Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Alaska hadn't been
admitted to the Union yet.
The population of Las Vegas, Nevada, was only 30!!!
Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and ice tea hadn't been invented yet.
There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.
Two out of every 10 U.S. adults couldn't read or write.
Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.
Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the
local corner drugstores. Back then a pharmacist said, "Heroin clears the
complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels, and
is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health."
Eighteen percent of households in the U.S. had at least one full-time servant
or domestic help.
There were about 230 reported murders in the entire U.S.
FAMILY LORE, FICTION AND ALL
Virginia Elva Minotty
The descendants of John and
Patience Skinner were originally researched by cousin
Virginia Elva (Skinner) Minotty. Virginia
Minotty began her research on the South Jersey Skinners in the early
1960's. She initially collaborated with
another cousin - Norman Skinner of Philadelphia, who began his work in the
1950's.
The results of
Virginia's efforts are several hundred pages of information detailing the
descendants of John and Patience, including births, deaths and marriages, all
carefully sourced. Her husband, Paul
Minotty, donated her work to the Gloucester County, NJ Historical Society
following her death in the early 1980’s.
Virginia Minotty had
originally researched the South Jersey Skinners in order to
gain admittance into the D.A.R. (Daughters of the American Revolution). Virginia was not successful in finding proof
of military service of John Skinner, our Revolutionary War ancestor, and did
not achieve D.A.R. membership.
I published a summary of Virginia’s work on this web site which provides
a ‘big picture’ look at the hundreds of descendants of John and Patience
Skinner as of the 1970’s when Virginia was last active.
Franklin Skinner
Franklin Skinner, a prominent
Philadelphia area real estate professional at the turn of the century, wrote four
articles about the history of the Skinner family in a newspaper called the Glassboro
Enterprise in 1921. Franklin’s work
was flawed, but was widely disseminated over the
decades since then.
Franklin wrote that
John Skinner, the husband of Patience Hanisey, had been born in North Jersey,
part of a well-known Skinner family centered in Woodbridge, NJ. Franklin said that John, as a young man, had served
in North Jersey as a patriot in the Revolutionary War, later relocating to
South Jersey, marrying Patience Hanisey and beginning the South Jersey Skinner
clan of today.
Franklin’s linkage
between the North and South Jersey Skinners was not correct. And Franklin’s version of John’s military
service was also not accurate – it was a refernce to
the wrong John Skinner. No doubt, the
fact that the Skinners of North Jersey were well-documented, even in Franklin’s
time, made this family the logical starting point for Franklin’s genealogical work.
Who Is Franklin Skinner?
Franklin is a
grandson of John and Patience Skinner, though he was born many years after his
grandfather died. Franklin is a brother
of Richard Skinner Jr. of my line:
* John Skinner (1760-1824) - Patience Hanisey (1764-1840)
* * Richard Skinner Sr. (1797-1882) - Mary Swope (1799-1844)
* * * Franklin
Skinner (1842-1923) - Sarah Amanda Patten (1850-1933)
* * * Richard Skinner Jr. (1823-1908) - Elizabeth Ann
Corson (1828-1896)
Franklin Skinner, as
well as his brother Richard Skinner Jr., served in the Civil War. Both saw action in the final days of the war
a few miles from Appomattox, Virginia.
Franklin had previously fought at Gettysburg.
Franklin The Poet
Franklin was also an
amateur poet. He wrote several poems commemorating
the birthdays of his brother Richard Skinner Jr. The poems survive to this day and are
included in this work. Franklin noted
that his grandmother of the Revolutionary War time period,
Patience Skinner – the progenitor of the South Jersey Skinners, had also been a
poetess.
Franklin’s Fiction
Franklin’s flawed
version of the Skinner history is full of mistakes and
was called into question at the time by other genealogists.
Franklin Skinner
connected his grandfather, John Skinner, to a long line of well-documented
Skinners that had existed in northern New Jersey since the 1600’s. These Skinners of North Jersey have a very
interesting history worth mentioning here.
The North Jersey
Skinners began with the arrival of Richard Skinner, an indentured servant, from
England in 1665 on a boat with the first Governor of New Jersey. The group arrived shortly after the Dutch
surrendered their claim to the region without firing a shot. The arrival of the ship with Richard Skinner
on it began the rapid and large British/Scottish/French Huguenot influx into
the mid-Atlantic region that would ultimately result in the creation of this
country.
The Skinner family in
North Jersey eventually included Captain Richard Skinner. Captain Skinner served in the Middlesex
County (Woodbridge/Rahway) militia during the Revolutionary War and was killed
by British snipers. Captain Richard
Skinner, in turn, was probably the father of Private John Skinner, who also
served in the Middlesex County militia during the War.
Family Lore, as
published by Franklin Skinner, indicated that Private John Skinner migrated to
South Jersey after the War as John T. Skinner beginning
the well-documented South Jersey Skinner clan of today.
Dissemination of the Family Lore – George
Stevens
The mistaken
migration of Private John Skinner to South Jersey, published by Franklin
Skinner in 1921, was further disseminated by a 1957 letter by George Stevens that
was copied to numerous Skinners, including my own family, over the course of
several decades. Much of George's letter
was taken verbatim from Franklin Skinner's earlier newspaper articles.
Early on, I tried to locate
George Stevens. My cousin, Marion Smith,
remembers him from decades ago. He would
be of the same generation as my father, Dave Skinner:
* John Skinner (1760-1824) - Patience Hanisey (1764-1840)
* * Richard Skinner Sr. (1797-1882) - Mary Swope (1799-1844)
* * * Richard Skinner Jr. (1823-1908) Elizabeth Ann Corson (1828-1896)
* * * * Anna Frances Skinner (1849-1937) - Arthur Henry (1846-1899)
* * * * * Elizabeth Skinner Henry (1881-1964) - Howard Walton (1881-1969)
* * * * * * Irma Elizabeth Walton (1905 - ) - h1 Walter Wilson Stevens ( )
* * * * * * * George Richard Stevens ( )
-
* * * * Harry Skinner
(1846-1937)- Lizzie Sparks (1851-1926)
* * * * * Warren Skinner (1877-1970) - Viola May Leap (1875-1963)
* * * * * * Earl Skinner (1901-1990) - Lillian Showalter (1903-1998)
* * * * * * * David Skinner (1929-2023) – Annette Frederick (1930-2022)
End Of A Myth
Laurel Damon Steffes
and William H. ‘Bill’ Skinner began researching the Skinners in the 1990’s and found
that John T, Skinner, husband of Patience Hanisey and progenitor of the South
Jersey Skinners, was part of a small cluster of Skinners who began appearing in
Gloucester County records in the latter half of the 1700's. These Skinners of South Jersey lived
simultaneously with the North Jersey Skinners and did not descend from
them. Laurel and Bill found that John T.
Skinner served in the Revolutionary War, but not in the patriotic manner imagined
by Franklin Skinner and George Stevens.
Instead, John Skinner served as a Loyalist as did many of his neighbors
from Gloucester County.
Finale
Cousin Laurel
Steffes and I attempted to locate the notes of Franklin Skinner as he had much
information of interest to us, including the birth date of John T. Skinner.
Ultimately, we found a
letter buried in the files of Virginia Minotty that explained where Franklin's
genealogical notes had gone. Norman
Skinner, who had been researching the Skinner family in the 1950's prior to the
efforts of Virginia Minotty, had sent a letter to a granddaughter of Franklin
Skinner asking for her assistance. Franklin’s
granddaughter responded to Norman saying that she had disposed of her
grandfather's trunk of notes, not knowing what to do with them.
SOURCE PERSONS
Credit is given to
those persons who developed information presented in
these web pages. Their names are abbreviated within brackets [
], following the presentation of the facts or information that they
developed.
The names of
contributing persons are abbreviated as follows:
[VEM] - denotes information from the files of Virginia Minotty.
(Virginia6 descends from Dwight5, Jacob4,
Nathan3, Richard Sr.2, John1)
[NES] - denotes information from the files of Virginia Minotty, which
she attributed to Norman Skinner, with whom she collaborated.
(Norman6 descends from George5, George4,
Sedgwick3, William2, John1)
[HES] - denotes information provided to me by my grandfather, H. Earl
Skinner.
(Earl6 descends from Warren5, Harry4, Richard
Jr.3, Richard Sr.2, John1)
[AES] -denotes information from the files of my mother, Annette
Skinner.
(Annette, wife of David7, Earl6, Warren5,
Harry4, Richard Jr.3, Richard Sr.2, John1)
[KDS] - me.
(Kevin8 descends from David7, Earl6, Warren5,
Harry4, Richard Jr.3, Richard Sr.2, John1)
In addition,
information provided by the following persons is
discussed:
Franklin Skinner - (Franklin3 descends from Richard Sr.2,
John1)
George Stevens - (George7 descends from Irma6,
Elizabeth5, Anna4, Richard Jr. 3, Richard Sr.2,
John1)
Marion Smith - (Marion6 descends from Ursula5,
Harry4, Richard Jr.3, Richard Sr.2, John1)
Lillian Skinner - (Lillian, wife of Earl6, Warren5,
Harry4, Richard Jr.3, Richard Sr.2, John1)
end