THE PENCE [BENTZ] FAMILY
Generation
One
HANS BENTZ [B: 27 September 1631 in Germany – D: 21 August 1726 in
Germany] married Helene Margarethe Kern
[B: 1644 in Baden-Wuerttemburg, Germany – D: 14 January 1688 in Germany]
Generation
Two
JOHANNES BENTZ [B: 1675 in Bayern, Germany – D: 4 June 1746 in
Germany] married Susannah _____ [B:
1677 in Germany – D: 10 April 1748 in Germany]
Generation
Three
JOHANN GEORGE BENTZ [PENCE] [B: 16 May 1697 Bayern, Germany – D: 15
September 1749 in Frederick County, Virginia] married 29 August 1719 in Bayern,
Germany to Anna Barbara Bullinger [B: 27 April 1698 in Bayern, Germany – D: ?].
They arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the 15 September 1749 aboard the
vessel, Phoenix.
 |
| Gravestone of John Heinrich Pence [Bentz] |
Generation
Four
JOHN HEINRICH BENTZ [PENCE] was the son of Johann Georg Bentz [Pence] and his wife, Anna Barbara Bullinger. John
Heinrich Pence [B: 1740 in Iggleheim, Pfalz, Bayern, Germany – D: 1826 at Mad River, Champaign County, Ohio] married Mary Magdaline Blimly. Based upon the births of their children, Johann Heinrich Bentz [Pence] and Mary Magdaline Blimly were married in
1765 in Frederick County, Virginia. Mary Magdaline Blimly [B: 1746 in
Frederick Co., Virginia – D: 20 September 1829 at Champaign County, Ohio.] This
couple removed in 1805 to Mad River, Champaign County, Ohio.
Known children of John Heinrich and Mary Magdaline Blimly
Bentz [Pence] are as follows:
1.
George Pence
[B: 16 August 1766 in Frederick County, Virginia – D: 1810 Shenandoah County,
Virginia]
2.
Jacob Pence
[B: 15 September 1767 in Frederick County, Virginia – D: 12 June 1828 Champaign
County, Ohio]
3.
Henry Pence
[B: 4 September 1768 in Frederick County, Virginia – D: 11 August 1844
Champaign County, Ohio]
4.
Abraham Pence
[B: 7 September 1769 in Frederick County, Virginia – D. 1838 Mad River,
Champaign County, Ohio]
5.
Magadeline Pence
[B: 31 January 1771 in Frederick County, Virginia – D: 1820 Champaign County,
Ohio]
6.
Susannah Pence
[B: 4 July 1773 in Dunmore County, Virginia – D: 21 May 1853 Champaign County,
Ohio]
7.
John Pence
[B: 15 January 1774 in Dunmore County, Virginia – D: 20 September 1841
Henderson County, Illinois]
8.
Barbara Pence
[B: 2 November 1775 in Dunmore County, Virginia – D: 1820 Champaign County,
Ohio]
9.
David Pence [B:
4 February 1777 in Dunmore County, Virginia – D: 1852 Fairfield County, Ohio]
10. Joseph Pence [B: 26 September 1778 in
Shenandoah County, Virginia -D: 6 July 1855 Champaign County, Ohio]
11. Samuel Pence [B: 4 February 1780 in
Shenandoah County, Virginia – D: February 1815 in Champaign County, Ohio]
12. Anna Pence [B: 10 October 1781 in
Shenandoah County, Virginia – D: 5 March 1847 Montgomery County, Illinois]
13. Isaac Pence [B:23 July 1784 in
Shenandoah County, Virginia - D: 7 April 1854 Washington County, Iowa]
14. Elizabeth Pence [23 June 1784 in
Shenandoah County, Virginia – D: 14 April 1854 Champaign County, Ohio]
15. Benjamin Pence [25 April 1787 in
Shenandoah County, Virginia – D: 8 February 1875 Bartholomew County, Indiana]
16. Mary Pence [B: 9 June 1789 in
Shenandoah County, Virginia – D: 28 March 1869 McDonough County, Illinois]
17. Reuben Pence [B: 28 June 1791 in
Shenandoah County, Virginia – D: 1 October 1840 Monroe, Miami County, Ohio]
Generation
Five
GEORGE PENCE was the eldest son of Johann Heinrich Bentz [Pence] and his wife Mary Magdaline Blimly.
George Pence [B: 16 August 1766 in Frederick County, Virginia – D: 1810
Shenandoah County, Virginia] married Maria
Mary Mauck [B: 1770 – D: 1795], the daughter of Daniel and Barbara Harnsberger Mauck. Barbara Harnsberger Mauck was the daughter of John Stephen Harnsberger [B: 1714 in Evangelisch, Thurgan,
Switzerland – D: 19 March 1776 in Augusta County, Virginia] and his wife, Agnes Hofmann [B:25 November 1722 in
Germantown, Virginia – D: 9 February 1749 Germantown, Virginia]. John
Stephen Harnsberger was the son of John
Harnsberger [D: 20 May 1760 Culpeper County, Virginia]
Generation
Six
PETER
JONAS PENCE [Pense, Bentz, Benz, Bens], was the son of
George and Maria
Mary Mauck Pence.
Born: ca. 1795 -1797 [1840 Census shows that he was
older than forty and less than fifty
years of age], most probably in
Pennsylvania.
Died: ca.1848,
most probably in Page County, Virginia.
Married: 8 February 1823 in Shenandoah
County, Virginia
Sophia Aleshire
[Alshite], the daughter of Henry P. Aleshire
[Alshite] [B: 1754 – D:1845] and his wife, Mary Elizabeth Hahn [Haynes, Haines, Hehn, Hohn] [marriage record].
Mary Elizabeth Hahn was the daughter
of George and Maria Catherine ____ Hahn.
Born: October
1800 in Virginia. [1850-1880 Page County, Virginia Federal Census Records cite
her age as being forty-five, fifty-five, sixty-four and seventy-six years.]
Died: 30 January
1885 at Stoney Run in Page County, Virginia at the age of eighty-four years and
three months [death record - the published record states "Honey Run," but at the time, she lived at Stoney Run]. A newspaper obituary states that she died on
the 29th of January in 1885 at Alma, Page County, Virginia being eighty-four
years of age. The 1885 Atlas shows Sophia Pence as living just east of Alma on
the south side of Stoney Run in Shenandoah Ironworks District of Page County,
Virginia.
In 1878, Sophia sought a pension [No. WO – 19009]
based upon her husband's service either in a “Pennsylvania or Maryland Militia” unit during the War of 1812. In her deposition, she states that her
husband came "here [Page County] after the war from Pennsylvania."
However, the children who survived until the 1880 Page County, Virginia Federal
Census cite their father's birthplace as Virginia. Most probably the reason for
this discrepancy is the fact that the Pence family had settled originally in
the area which was claimed by Virginia but also by the Colonies of Maryland and
Pennsylvania which also believed that the area was within their boundaries.
Officially this issue, state boundaries, was not settled until after the
American Revolution.
Sophia stated in her petition application that
Peter Pence died on the 31st of January in 1854; however, he was not
cited as part of their family in the 1850 Federal Census. Sophia's petition was
denied because she could not provide any specifics about “her” Peter Pence's service.
With the aid of modern technology, it is easy to
determine that the Pence family came into the Colony of Pennsylvania prior to
the French and Indian War from an area that is now in Germany. This is the reason for many difficulties
which seemed to plague Sophia’s life in regard to her knowledge of her
husband’s family and the government.
It was customary for families of Germanic origins
to name the first son after the child’s paternal grandfather and the second son
after the maternal grandfather. This was also true for daughters, the eldest
was given the name of the paternal grandmother and the second was named for the
maternal grandmother. This custom
resulted in many children being named the exact same name.
 |
| Gravestone in Ohio for Peter Pence |
By the time of the War of 1812, there were men
named Peter Pence serving from Ohio, Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania because
some of the sons and grandsons of the original emigrant family had moved “west” to claim land grants which had
been awarded to their family for military service in the French and Indian War
as well as those awarded for service during the American Revolution. An example of this is Peter Jonas Pence who
married Maria Elizabeth Harshman in Rockingham County, Virginia in 1817. This
Peter Jonas Pence was also born in Rockingham County, Virginia on the 11th
of October 1797 and died on the 27th of August 1864 in Preble Co.,
Ohio where they were buried. Their known
children were: Delilah Pence, Rosabel E.Pence, Andrew J.Pence, and Peter Milton
Pence.
Without the aid of today’s technology [phones, copy
machines, computers, photographs and easy methods of travel], it was extremely
difficult to determine who served from a regiment in any geographic area. Personally, I have nineteen proven ancestors
who served in the War of 1812 just on mother’s Shenandoah Valley side of my
family. Many of these exact same men
served in regiments which saw duty on the coastal regions as well as in the
Ohio Country. Also, many of these exact same
men served in the American Revolution and then later, alongside their own sons
during the War of 1812.
If we add all of this together and then, throw in
the horrible diseases which wiped out many members of the same family, fires
which burned down homes, the scarcity of paper upon which to write down family
events as they occurred, all make it easier to understand that government agents
of the period had a difficult time in deciding which claim to allow or to deny
for lack of proof. This is why many
original family bible records were torn or cut out of Bibles and submitted with
the applications, thus became part of many of these men’s pension records.
 |
| 1885 Atlas Page County, Virginia |
The 1885 Page County, Virginia Atlas shows Sophia Pence
as living just east of Alma on the south side of Stoney Run in the Shenandoah
Ironworks District of Page County, Virginia. Marriage Records and Page County,
Virginia Federal Census Records identify the following known children of Peter and Sophia (Aleshire) Pence:
Generation Seven
1. HENRY PENCE was born in 1825 in Virginia and
appears to have died in the War Between the States, but no record has yet been found
to document this fact. He married Susan
R. Croft on the 3rd of May 1852 in Page County, Virginia. Susan R.
Croft was born in January 1832 in Virginia, the daughter of Jacob Croft. Susan
A. Pence was living alone in Page County in 1900. She most probably was the "Mrs. Pence" who was living
across from Sophia Aleshire Pence near Stoney Run in Marksville District as is shown
on the 1885 Atlas.
2. MARY (POLLY) PENCE was born in 1827 in
Virginia. She married Abraham Aleshire
[Aleshite] on the 21st of May 1844 in Page County, Virginia. Abraham
Aleshire [Aleshite] was born in Virginia in 1827, the son of Jacob Aleshire[Aleshite]. They are cited on the Page County Federal
Census in 1850.
 | ||
| A.J. Rinehart Gravestone |
3. ELIZABETH PENCE was born the 26th
of November 1827 in Virginia. She died on
the 5th of February 1891 and is buried in the Rinehart [Rhinehart]
Family Cemetery at Battle Creek, Page County, Virginia. Elizabeth married
Andrew Jackson Rinehart [Rhinehart] on the 8th of November 1849 in
Page County, Virginia. Andrew Jackson Rinehart [Rhinehart] was the
son of Adam and Mary Price Rinehart [Rhinehart]. Andrew Jackson Rinehart [Rhinehart] was born on the 6th
of November 1828 in Shenandoah County, Virginia, and died on the 6th
of November 1862. He is also buried in
the Rinehart [Rhinehart] Family Cemetery at Battle Creek, Page County,
Virginia. He is not cited on the 1850 Page
County, Virginia Federal Census, but is shown on the Page County, Virginia Federal
Census in 1860.
4. HARRISON PENCE was born in 1829 in
Virginia and died of disease [diarrhea] on the 12th of August 1864
while serving in the Confederate Army as a “Prisoner
of War” at Elmira Prison in Chemung County, New York. He is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, Gravesite
44, at Elmira. Harrison Pence enlisted on
the 16th of April 1862 at Rude's Hill, Virginia. As a private, he was mustered into F Co., 2nd
Virginia Infantry. He was captured and
taken as a “Prisoner of War” on the 12th
of May 1864 at Spotsylvania Court House, Spotsylvania County, Virginia. He was confined in Elmire Prison on the 2nd
of August 1864.
5. WILLIAM PENCE was born in 1830 in Shenandoah
County, Virginia and died on the 27th of February 1863 at Richmond,
Virginia. He married Rebecca Short on
the 14th of February 1856 in Page County, Virginia. Rebecca Short was born in Virginia in1824. After William’s death she married William
Fleming on the 2nd of Aug 1866 in Page County, Virginia. During the
War Between the States, William Pence was among several soldiers in his unit
who were charged with desertion. It was
decided that one of these men must be executed as an example. The victim was to be determined by drawing
straws. William drew the short straw and on the 28th of February
1863 he was shot by a firing squad at Camp Winder near Richmond, Virginia.
William Pence enlisted on the 4th of April 1862 as a private. He gave his residence as Leakesville, Page
County, Virginia. He was mustered into H Co., 33rd Virginia Infantry
known as "the Page Grays." He
was listed as "Deserted" on the 20th of April 1862 at Elk
Run “Elkton,” Virginia, only two weeks after his enlistment. He was reported as "Returned" on the
21st of December 1862, place not stated.
6. ABRAHAM PENSE was born on the 27th
of November 1832 in Page County, Virginia. The 1900 Federal Census of Keya Paha
County, Nebraska cites his birth year as 1834.
He was a twin to CATHARINE PENCE [No.7 below]. Abraham Pence died on the 24th of November
1912 in Keya Paha County, Nebraska. He
is buried in the Springview Cemetery, Keya Paha County, Nebraska. Abraham Pence
married Sarah Eliza Humphrey on the 15th of August 1862 in Cedar
County, Iowa. Sarah Eliza Humphrey was
born the daughter of the Rev. Aaron Humphrey and Betsey Starr on the 25th
of February 1846 at Tipton, Cedar County, Iowa.
She died on the 1st of February 1923 in Keya Paha County, Nebraska
and is buried in Springview Cemetery, Keya Paha County, Nebraska. Abraham Pence removed to Cedar County, Iowa in
1857. He enlisted in the Union Army on the
15th of August 1862 as a private. On the 29th of August
he was mustered into Co. B of the 24th Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He was transferred out of this company on the
20th of November 1863 and into the Veteran Reserve Corps from which
he was discharged on the 29th of June 1865 at Davenport, Scott
County, Iowa. In 1880, they were in
Story County, Iowa and 1884 they removed to Keya Paha County, Nebraska. The story is that as his name was spelled
Pense on his army record, he chose to maintain that same spelling for his
family.
7. CATHARINE PENCE was born on the 27th
of November 1832 in Page County, Virginia.
She was a twin to Abraham Pense [No. 6 above]. Catharine Pence married
John Nauman [Newman] on the 22nd of August 1867 in Page County,
Virginia. John Nauman was born in 1815
in Page County, Virginia, the son of David and Catherine Nauman. In the 1860
Page County, Virginia Federal Census, Catharine Pence is living in John
Nauman’s household at Alma under the name, Catherine Pence with the child,
Charles Pence. John Nauman was apparently
a widower with some eight children. In the 1870 Page County Federal Census, the
child Charles is shown as Charles Nauman, age ten years. In the 1870 Page County, Virginia Federal
Census there are several older Nauman children and one named Mary J. Nauman,
age four years and also an unnamed Nauman child, one month old. In the Page
County, Virginia 1880 Federal Census, the household consists of John Nawman,
age sixty-four, Catherine, age forty-seven, Charles P. age twenty-one, Mary S., age fourteen, and Ada
Lee Nawman, age ten years.
8. ISAAC NEWTON PENCE was born in 1836 in
Page County, Virginia. He died on the 30th
of July 1864 in Petersburg, Virginia.
During the War Between the States he was killed at a battle at Ream's
Station. He is buried "in a fence row at Alma" in
Page County, Virginia. Isaac Newton
Pence married Harriet F. Short, the daughter of Richard and Mary Short, on the 17th
of June 1858 at her father's home in Page County, Virginia. Harriet F. Short was born in 1840 in Page
County. She lived in Marksville and died
in 1923 and is buried in Seventh Day Adventist Church Cemetery, Stanley, Page
County, Virginia.
9. JOHN WESLEY PENCE who was known as Wesley
Pence was born in May 1838 in Virginia.
He married Harriet A. Stephens about 1871, most probably in Iowa. Harriet
A. Stephens was born in September 1848 in Pennsylvania. Wesley Pence was cited as living alone in the
1860 Page County, Virginia Federal Census at Grove Hill, Page County,
Virginia. Reportedly he served in the
Confederate States Army [possibly he was one of the two John Pence’s who served
in the 33rd Virginia Infantry]. Following the War Between the States, Wesley
Pence removed to Iowa, and from there to Nebraska, following his older brother,
Abraham. In the 1870 Cedar County, Iowa
Federal Census he was cited as living with his brother, Abraham Pence [age 34,
born Virginia] and his family in Center Twp. This census cited Wesley Pence [age
38, born Virginia]. Wesley and Harriet A.
Stephens were in Grant Twp, Lyon County, Iowa, in the1880 Federal Census and in
Boyd County, Nebraska, as cited in the 1900 Federal Census. This
son of Peter and Sophia Aleshire Pence was cited as Wesley Pence in the 1850,
1860 and 1870 Federal Census while in the 1880 Federal Census he was called
John and then in 1900 and 1920 he was cited as John W. Pence.
10. MARY ANN PENCE was born in 1840 in Page
County, Virginia. She married Albert
Doffelmoyer [Dofflemyer, Dofflemier], the son of Jacob and Nancy Dofflemoyer on
the 8th of December 1867 in Page County, Virginia. This daughter of
Peter and Sophia Aleshire Pence is cited as being age eleven in the 1850 Page
County, Virginia Federal Census, as age eighteen years in the 1860 Page County,
Virginia Federal Census, as twenty-five in the Page County, Virginia Federal
Census, and as age twenty-three years on her marriage record dated the 8th
of December 1867 in Page County, Virginia.
Albert Doffelmoyer was born in 1844 in Page County, Virginia. Mary Ann Pence was living in Page County with
her mother in the 1850 Page County, Virginia Federal Census. In the 1860 Page County, Virginia Federal
Census she was cited as living in the home of Harrison C. and Minerva J. Dovel
at Leaksville, Page County, Virginia. Albert and Mary Ann Pence Doffelmoyer
lived in Shenandoah, Page County as he is cited as being a teamster in the 1870
Page County, Virginia Federal Census.
Mary Ann Pence Doffelmoyer was apparently dead by the 4th of
November 1873, when Albert Doffelmoyer married Adeline Douglas as his second
wife. As the 1880 Page County, Virginia Federal Census names only children of
Albert and Adeline Douglas Doffelmoyer, it most probable that Mary Ann Pence
Doffelmoyer died during childbirth as she apparently left no living children.
11. CHRISTINA PENCE was born in 1842 in
Virginia. She married Joseph S. Nauman [Newman]
on the 25th of April 1867 in Page County, Virginia. The 1870 Page
County, Virginia Federal Census of Page County cites Joseph S. Nauman, age
twenty-five, wife Mary A., age eighteen, and William Pence, age eleven living in
their household. This William Pence is most probably the oldest child of Isaac
Newton Pence who had been killed a few years earlier during the War Between the
States.
12. SUSANNAH PENCE was born in 1846 in
Virginia. She married Henry T. Pettit,
the son of Elijah and Mary C. Pettit on the 21st of December 1874 in
Page County, Virginia. Henry T. Pettit was
born in 1854.
13. HENRIETTA PENCE was born in 1847 in
Virginia. She was the mother of one son even though she remained unmarried.
14. AMBROSE MARTIN [A. M. or MARTIN A.] PENCE
was born on the 18th of September 1848 in Virginia. He died on the 5th of July 1925 at
the age of seventy-four years, nine months and seventeen days. He is supposedly buried in Nauman [Newman] Family
Cemetery, Stanley, Page County, Virgina, although there is a gravestone for him
in Leake's Chapel Cemetery at Stanley with the preceding date of death and age. This gravestone also states, "erected by a daughter." Ambrose Martin Pence married Virenda Love
Nauman about 1882 in Maryland. Virenda Love Nauman was born on the 5th
of January 1852 and died on the 8th of March 1902. She is buried in the Nauman Cemetery in Page
County, Virginia.
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