CHAPTER 3 HAND STORY MANUSCRIPT

THE HAND FAMILY STORY
____

CHAPTER 3

THE SINNARD CONNECTION

The SINNARD family were French Huguenots who were expelled from France in the 16th or17th centuries. The first SINNARD known about was JOHN SINNARD, born about 1720 and lived in York County, Pennsylvania. He also had a father living in the same area as a will by JOHN SINNARD, in 1764, requests that his father be taken care of. It is unknown whether JOHN SINNARD'S father was born in this country or was an immigrant. JOHN SINNARD and his wife ELINOR had five sons and six daughters. One son was named THOMAS SINNARD, born about 1755 and died about 1810. THOMAS SINNARD moved from York County, Pennsylvania to Washington County, Pennsylvania about 1781 and by 1790 to Bourbon County, Kentucky. THOMAS SINNARD married, although his wife's name is unknown, and had four sons, JOHN, THOMAS Jr., ABRAHAM and WILLIAM. ABRAHAM SINNARD and WILLIAM SINNARD are the two sons that will be of interest.

ABRAHAM SINNARD was born on June 21, 1791 in Bourbon county, Kentucky. In 1796, when ABRAHAM was 5, the family moved to Butler County, Ohio. ABRAHAM married MARY ANN LEWIS on September 2, 1810 in Clermont county, Ohio; ABRAHAM was 19 and MARY ANN was 18. The WAR of 1812 commenced and ABRAHAM enlisted in Capt. Means Company, Col. Sutter's Regiment, General Tuppers Brigade. He was discharged at Ft. Barber. In 1815, he built a log cabin on Lot 18, New Richmond, Ohio on the Ohio River. In 1819, he sold the property and with their four children along with MARY'S mother, ALICE JONES LEWIS CUMMINS, moved to Cartwright Township, Sangamon County, Illinois, 15 miles north- west of Springfield. They located on the east edge of Pleasant Plains in Sections 33 & 35. New Salem was about 7 miles N.E. of ABRAHAM'S HOME. He held many political positions. The first marriage to be performed after the organization of the county was done by him. April 20, 1821, for WILLIAM MOSS and PEGGY SIMS. HATTIE VICTORIA SINNARD PASHLEY, born 1868, granddaughter of ABRAHAM, had been told by her father, ABRAHAM, Jr., that ABRAHAM LINCOLN, when riding horseback as a judge, frequently stayed overnight at the SINNARD home and there were three ABRAHAMS in the house at one time. In 1845, ABRAHAM and many of his married children moved to Iowa. In 1842 there had been a treaty with the Indians that prevented settlers from going there, but on May 1, 1843 the land was thrown open. ABRAHAM and family settled in the N.W. corner of Wapello county, Richmond Township, near Eddyville and the Mahaska Line. ABRAHAM died July 7, 1871 and MARY ANN on January 9, 1858. Both are buried in the Kirkville, Iowa cemetery. ABRAHAM and MARY ANN SINNARD had twelve children, among them JOHN LEWIS SINNARD, born December 14, 1813 who would play an important roll in the family.

WILLIAM SINNARD, the brother of ABRAHAM SINNARD, was born February 20, 1785 in Pennsylvania. He later moved from Pennsylvania to Bourbon County, Kentucky with his family. In 1796 he moved to S.W. Ohio where he married MARY CHADBURN on December 24, 1809. He probably lived around the Lebanon, Warren county, Ohio area where all his children were born. In 1835 he moved to the Springfield, Illinois vicinity where his brother ABRAHAM had preceded him. WILLIAM died October 5, 1856 in either Sangamon or Christian County, Illinois. MARY died November 23, 1865 in either Sangamon of Christian County, Illinois. WILLIAM and MARY SINNARD had twelve children, among them, AMANDA MELVINA FITZALLEN SINNARD who will play an important roll in the family.

ABRAHAM'S son, JOHN LEWIS SINNARD, and WILLIAM'S daughter, AMANDA MELVINA FITZALLEN SINNARD, were cousins and they married on April 6, 1837 in Sangamon county, Illinois.

JOHN LEWIS SINNARD was born December 14, 1813, probably in Clermont County, Ohio. His middle name was given to him because his mother's father was JOHN LEWIS. He was six years old in 1819 when the family moved to Illinois. His boyhood was spent in Cartwright Township, Sangamon County, Illinois, just east of Pleasant Plains, Illinois. In 1836 he moved to New Lexington, Van Buren County, Iowa. The name of this community was changed to Bonaparte, January 19, 1842. Iowa was then a territory.

AMANDA MELVINA FITZALLEN SINNARD was born June 8, 1817, in Lebanon, Warren County, Ohio. She was the sixth child of WILLIAM SINNARD. AMANDA MELVINA FITZALLEN SINNARD and her family moved to Springfield, Sangamon County, Illinois in 1835.

JOHN LEWIS SINNARD and AMANDA MELVINA FITZALLEN SINNARD had a son, COURTLAND CHADBURN SINNARD, on July 7, 1838. COURTLAND was very likely born in Illinois. His middle name, CHADBURN, was his grandmother's maiden name [MARY CHADBURN]. JOHN LEWIS SINNARD and AMANDA MELVINA FITZALLEN SINNARD divorced and she returned to her family home in Illinois with her mother and father, WILLIAM and MARY SINNARD.

This diversion into the SINNARD lineage cleared a major problem in regards to AMANDA'S last name that BERTHA HAND was very unclear about in her notes. She noted that AMANDA'S parents were WILLIAM and SARAH SINNARD [her name may have been MARY SARAH] and that her first husband was a MR. SINNARD. Much time and effort was spent trying to resolve the problem of how her maiden and married names could both be the same. Only a chance discovery of two articles in two genealogical publications led to a Mr. MYRLE TAYLOR SINNARD, Schaumburg, Illinois, who provided the pieces to the puzzle. MYRLE TAYLOR SINNARD was born December 10, 1904 and sold cattle on the Chicago market all his life. His brother, HERBERT SINNARD, was born November 13, 1903 and headed the architecture department at Oregon State University for many years. Both graduated from Iowa State College [University], Ames. They are descendants of ABRAHAM SINNARD mentioned previously while the HAND lineage is descended from WILLIAM SINNARD, ABRAHAM'S brother.

orn22

PAGE GRAPHICS CREDIT