The Arguments for Catherine Roberts as the birth mother
of Matilda Benner Myers


It has long been the opinion that Margaret Snider listed in the Benner family Bible was the wife of Daniel Benner and the mother of Matilda Benner Myers, wife of Elias Myers. Until recently, I too believed the family tradition as true. However, while building the Myers family tree along with the Benner family tree, I began to see some considerable inconsistencies. These conflicting bits of information began to annoy me. Those inconsistencies can be seen below.

Argument One
A Catherine Benner is listed twice in the Benner family Bible:
Catherine Benner b. 11 APR 1798
Catherine Benner b. 10 JUL 1831
One is presumably Daniel Benner?s wife and the other their daughter. The Benner Bible also lists a death date for Catherine Benner of 2 JUL 1862. I believe this date reflects the death of the wife of Daniel Benner. That would place the age of Catherine at 64, a reasonable age for a woman of that era. Another argument may provide some reason behind this conclusion.

Argument Two
Historical documents - Source: obituary card file for 1880-1997 at the Licking County Genealogical Society, Newark, Ohio, film no. 2051467, is an obituary for Jacob Benner, Daniel Benner?s oldest son. The book is titled The Memorial Record of Licking County Ohio: Containing Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens of the County

To view the cover of the book, follow the link below
http://openlibrary.org/books/OL23365350M

To see the pages about Jacob Benner follow the link below
http://www.archive.org/stream/memorialrecordof00reco#page/209/mode/1up

A special thanks to Laurie Jensen for sending this link to me.

The text of the obituary of Jacob Benner states that his father, Daniel Benner was born near Hagerstown, Maryland 22 DEC 1783 and was removed to Huntington County, Pennsylvania by his parents. His first wife, Sarah Rowe, a native of Virginia, was about two years his junior. Sarah died after becoming the mother of two children, Susanna 29 MAR 1817 and Jacob 28 OCT 1818. Jacob was an infant when his mother Sarah died.

For his second wife, Daniel Benner chose Catherine Roberts, born 11 APR 1798 from Virginia. Their marriage can be verified at
Ohio County Marriages, 1790-1950.
Name: Daniel Benner
Event date: 11 FEB 1819
Event place: Licking County
Spouse: Catherine Roberts
Reference Number: v1, p.82
Film Number: 384300
Digital Folder Number: 4257844
Image Number: 438

The obituary continues to say that six children were born of this marriage as follows:
John 25 MAR 1820
Eliza 26 DEC 1821
Margaret 4 DEC 1824
Mary 18 FEB 1827
Matilda 9 JUL 1829
Catherine 10 JUL 1831
The obit continues by saying that Jacob Benner married Margaret Payne, Susanna married James Disney, Matilda married Elias Myers, and Catherine married P.J. (Philip J. in the Benner Bible) Neibarger. The Benner Bible corroborates each of these marriages and provides a date for each.

Argument Three
Census data from 1860 Bennington Twp. Licking County, Ohio lists
Daniel Benner ? age 75
Catherine ? age 62
Matilda ? age 30
Eliza ? age 14

Note: No date for Matilda Benner?s marriage is recorded in the Benner Bible, however, Elias and Matilda did not have their first child Daniel Hobart Myers until 11 SEPT 1865. Matilda would have been 35 at the time. It is probable for her to have lived at home at the age of 30 in 1860. I have a photo copy of Matilda and Elias?s marriage certificate showing the couple married 24 DEC 1864.

Argument Four
Margaret Snider appears only the Benner Bible. She was born 11 NOV 1793 and died 28 OCT 1847. However, she does not appear in any Census let alone appear in the family of Daniel Benner. Her appearance in the Benner Bible remains a mystery. She was outlived by Catherine Roberts who lived until at least 1860 where she appeared in the 1860 Census with Daniel, Matlida, and Eliza. One possibility remains, Margaret may be a widow sister of Daniel Benner.



If you can find evidence that the above arguments are not valid, please send them to
Daniel A. Myers
dan.myers2229@gmail.com

We are still hoping to find the Myers family bible that may hold valuable information about Elias and his parents.