Hannah Read and Jacob L. Coursen had 5 children born betweeen 1831 and 1846. They had 15 grandchildren who were born between 1857 and 1896. And, at least 36 great-grandchildren who were born between 1891 and 1922 and 32 second great-grandchildern. Total identified descendants equals 88.

(ii.) NANCY COURSEN, was born unknown; died as an infant.

Hannah Read was the fifth daughter and eighth child of the nine children of John Read and Elizabeth Ogden. She may have been named after her father's older sister, Hannah Read Ogden Vaughn. According to Hannah's gravestone, she was 85 years old on 31 December 1891. This would place her birth in 1806. As her brother David was born 24 October 1806, an 1806 birth date for Hannah would make them twins (Kern 1938; Marksboro Presbyterian Church Cemetery). She was probably born in Hardwick Township, her father's farm was supposed to have been there (Sussex County Surrogate Court Records, hereinafter SCSCR, File 8032).

Hannah's father, John Read, died on 20 April 1814 when Hannah was 7 years old. Her father died intestate and was deeply in debt at the time of this death. The family was forced to sell much of his personal estate to cover the debts. Some of his farm in Hardwick was also sold (SCSCR, File 8032; SCSCR Inventories Book B, page 264). Elizabeth Read was left with seven minor children to raise: Mary (age 20), John Ogden (about 18 years of age), Isaac (who was almost 16), Lydia (who was almost 13), Rachael (age 10), David (age 7) and Hannah (age 7). Elizabeth remaried shortly after John's death. Her second husband was William Wintersteen, a widower with five children (Armstrong 1979:211). However, it was several years before John Read's estate was completely settled.

In mid-1819, Hannah's brother Isaac Read, III submitted a petition to the Orphan's Court of Sussex County. The petition asked the court to divide the remaining real estate of John Read, which was owned jointly by his survivng children. Only Mary Read Konkle, John Ogden Read and Isaac Read III were of age (over 21 years of age) in 1819, all the other children were minors, they were: Lydia, Rachael, David and Hannah Read. The petition was dated 19 August 1819 (SCSCR File 8032). Isaac had just married Catherine Matthews on 31 July 1819, and the couple were expecting their first child (Kern 1938; Lorenz n.d.). The court divided the land and each child received a portion of it.

When Elizabeth Ogden married William Wintersteen, none of her seven surviving children were married. Over the next several years Hannah's's older siblings married: Mary in 1816 to John B. Konkle and Isaac in 1819 to Catherine Matthews. Her sister Lydia was married to Jonathan Martin in 1819 or 1820. Rachael married their first cousin Jacob Lanterman on 17 April 1824. And, her brother David married Mary Hawk in late 1830 or early 1831. Hannah's marriage appears to have been rather hasty. She married Jacob L. Coursen, on 13 March 1831. Their son Andrew Jackson Coursen was born eight and a half weeks later on 21 April.

Jacob Coursen was one of the ten children of Isaac Coursen and his first wife, Ann Case. Jacob was born in 1778. His mother died sometime in the 1790s and his father remarried on 12 February 1799. His new wife was Mary Gobel Kerr, she was known as "Polly" Kerr. A short word of caution for researchers is in order here. One frequently sees Isaac Coursen as having three wives, whose names were: "Ann Case," "Mary Gobel Kerr" and "Polly Kerr." Mary Gobel Kerr and Polly Kerr are the same person. Many researchers do not realize that Polly was an eighteenth century diminutive (or nickname) for Mary and further, that marriage records sometimes used the diminutive name (or nickname), not the formal baptismal name. In 1799, Mary (or "Polly") Gobel was a widow. Her first husband had been William Hampton Kerr. He died sometime between 1794 and 1799. When Polly married Isaac Coursen she had a son who was almost five years old. His name was Ira Kerr (Murcko 1996-1998). Ira would marry Phebe Read³ in 1816. Phebe was Hannah Read's first cousin, the daughter of Hannah's uncle Isaac Read, Sr.².

Isaac Coursen's estate was divided among his children in September 1812. By that time, several of his children by Ann Case were married. Jacob L. Coursen was married to Elizabeth Moot. They were married 20 October 1810 and had at least two daughters—Elsy "Maria" and Nancy—before Elizabeth died. Nancy Coursen died as a baby (Murcko 1996-1998). Other children listed in the settlement of Isaac Coursen's estate include John Coursen, Daniel Coursen, Peggy Coursen Kunkel, Mary Coursen Lanning, Isaac Coursen, Benjamin Coursen, Elenor Coursen Hazen, Elizabeth Coursen Emmons (children by Ann Case) and Henry and Rebecca Coursen (children by Mary "Polly" Gobel, the widow Kerr). Isaac's son Richard, by Ann Case was not listed in the division (Alleman 1978:78-79). Jacob's brother Daniel was married to Elsy Kerr. Their son William Hampton Coursen eventually married Sarah Maria Read³ another of Hannah Read's first cousins (Murcko 1996-1998). Sarah Maria was the daughter of Hannah's uncle Aaron Read².

By the time Jacob Coursen married Hannah Read, he was close to 53 years old. He was also 26 to 27 years her senior. When Jacob and Hannah were married in 1831, he had one surviving daughter from his marriage to Elizabeth Moot. Elsy Maria Coursen was about 11 years old when Hannah became her step-mother. Three children were born between their marriage in 1831 and the 1840 census. These children were Andrew Jackson Coursen, known as A.J. (1831), Isaac "Marshall" Coursen (1834) and Nancy Coursen (1837). Elsy Maria still lived with Hannah and Jacob in 1840 when the census was enumerated. The family lived in Hardwick Township in Warren County. Jacob and Hannah were listed five dwellings away from Hannah's first cousin, Richard Read—his sister Phebe was married to Jacob's step-brother Ira Kerr. According to the census there were eight people in the Coursen household. These individuals wer probably Jacob and Hannah, Jacob's daughter .Maria, three of Jacob and Hannah's children—Andrew, Marshall and Nancy—and a teenage boy and girl, who may have been hired help. The census states that two of the individuals in the household were engaged in agriculture, this was probably Jacob and his hired farm hand. The census incorrectly gives Jacob's age as between 50 and 69 years of age, he was 62 in 1840. Table 1 presents the composition of the Coursen household in 1840:

Table 1: Household of Jacob L. and Hannah (Read) Coursen in 1840
1840 United States Federal Census
Hardwick Township, Warren County, New Jersey, page 382, 26 June 1840

Hannah hired her cousin Samuel H. Read to work the farm for her. Samuel was the son of Hannah's first cousin, Richard Read. He was 30 years old in 1850 and still single. He and Hannah's two oldest sons, Andrew and Marshall (who were Samuel's second cousins), worked the farm together. The three were listed as "labourer" on the census. Andrew and Marshall were still in school in 1850. The census for that year lists Hannah's household adjacent to that of her step-daughter Maria Coursen Van Camp. Hannah was in dwelling 112 and the Van Camps were in dwelling 11. Hannah's real estate was valued at $5,460 in the census. Table 2 contains a list of the indiviuals living in the Coursen and Van Camp households in 1850.

Table 2: Households of Hannah (Read) Coursen
and James V. and Elsy Maria (Coursen) Van Camp in 1850
1850 United States Federal Census
Frelinghuysen Township, Warren County, New Jersey, page 484, 27 & 29 July 1850

By the time of the 1860 census, two of Hannah's children had married and left home. Andrew had married his second cousin once removed, Sarah Elizabeth Howell⁵, the daughter of Levi Howell and (124) Sarah Margaret Luse ⁴ (Elizabeth Luse nee Read³, Isaac Read, Sr.², Joseph Read¹). They settled in Dallas Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania (1860 United States Census, Dallas Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, page 115, 12 July 1860). Their first son, Isaac Harvey Coursen was born there on 16 November 1859. Hannah's daughter Nancy had married William C. Sharp. William was Nancy's second cousin once removed, he was the son of Isaac Sharp and Martha Maria Luse⁴ (Elizabeth Luse nee Read³, Isaac Read, Sr.², Joseph Read¹). William was a first cousin of Andrew's wife Sarah Elizabeth Howell. Nancy had two children by 1860, Jacob Elwood (or Jack) and Elizabeth A. (or Lizzie) Sharp. Nancy and William Sharp lived in dwelling number 183 and were family number 192 on the census. Hannah Coursen was in dwelling number 190. Her step-daughter Elsy Maria Coursen Van Camp lived in dwelling 192. Hannah lived with her sons Isaac Marshll and Jacob Harvey and her daughter Emma. Jacob Harvey and Emma were still in school. Isaac Marshall, who was 26 years old was listed as a farmer, as was 15 year old Jacob Harvey (1860 United States Federal Census, Frelinghuysen Township, Warren County, New Jersey, page 207, 18 July 1860, post office Johnsonburg). Table 3 lists the members of Hannah's household in 1860.

Table 3: Household of Hannah (Read) Coursen in 1860
1860 United States Federal Census
Frelinghuysen Township, Warren County, New Jersey, page 207, 18 July 1860

By 1870, three of Hannah's children were married, A.J., Nancy and Marshall. Marshall had married Margaret Maria Cook on 9 March 1861 in Warren County (Warren County Marriages, Vol. 2). A.J. was in Pennsylvania. The whereabouts of Nancy's family is unknown. Marshall lived close to Hannah. They both lived in the vicinity of Kerr's corner in 1870. Many of the households in and around Kerr's corner were occupied by Hannah's kin. Table 4 lists the heads-of-household of 20 families living near Hannah in 1870:

Table 4: Residents of Kerr's Corner in 1870,
Frelinghuysen Township, Warren County, New Jersey

No property value is given with Hannah's name in the 1870 census. However, her son Jacob Harvey and her daughter Emma both held property valued at $1,600 and a personal estate valued at $800. Jacob Harvey was listed as a "farmer," Emma as "at home" and Hannah as "Keeping House" (1870 United States Federal Census, Frelinghuysen Township, Warren County, New Jersey, pages 73B-74A, 30 July 1870, Post Office Vienna). Table 5 lists the residents of Hannah's household in 1870.

Table 5: Household of Hannah (Read) Coursen in 1870
1870 United States Federal Census
Frelinghuysen Township, Warren County, New Jersey, pages 73B-74A, 30 July 1870

Hannah's youngest son, Jacob Harvey married Anna Hoagland in the late 1870s. Their first son was born in March 1880. Hannah moved in with her son Jacob and his new wife Anna. In 1880, Hannah, Jacob, Anna and their three month old son Frank all lived on a farm in Frelinghuysen Township. Jacob was employed as a farmer and Anna and Hannah were keeping house (1880 United States Federal Census, Enumeration District 193, Frelinghuysen Township, Warren County, New Jersey, page 319B, 4 June 1880). Hannah probably remained with Jacob and Anna for the remainder of her life. She died on 31 December 1891 at the age of 85. Her death came 11 months after the death of her son A.J. on 31 January 1891 in Luzerne County. A.J. was 59 years old when he died.

Hannah was buried in Marksboro Presbyterian Church Yard with her husband Jacob. Jacob Harvey and his wife Anna, and Emily Elizabeth and her husband the Rev. Robert Burtt were also buried in the cemetery (although not in the same plot). Hannah and JAcob's grave was visited on 14 April 2005. Their grave marker is an obelesk. It is inscribed on three sides as follows:

Side Two
FATHER
AND
MOTHER

Side Three
HANNAH
WIFE OF
JACOB COURSEN
DIED DEC. 31, 1891
AGED 85 YEARS

When Hannah died, 14 of her 15 grandchildren had been born. Her youngest grandchild, Mae Coursen (daughter of her son J. Harvey) was born in August 1896, five and a half years after Hannah died. Hannah also had two great-grandchildren when she died: William Sharp (son of Jack Sharp) who was born in 1883 and Albert Jarrell (son of Dora Coursen Jarrell) who was born in August of 1891. A third great-grandchild, George V. Crisman (son of her granddaughter Emily Coursen Crisman), was born on April Fool's day 1892, four months after her death. Unlike her sisters Mary Read Konkle and Lydia Read Martin, none of Hannah's grandchildren had predeceased her. Table 6 lists those grandchildren who had been born at the time of Hannah's death.

Table 6: Granchildren of Hannah Read Coursen in 1891

Go to Top of Page

REFERENCES:

PRIMARY SOURCES

Cemeteries

Census

Directories

Maps

Marriage Records

Newspapers

Probate Records

SECONDARY SOURCES

WEB SITES

Go to Top of Page
Return to Main