Mary

Family/Spouse: Richard Whitaker. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 1734

Notes:

Sometimes spelled Whitacar.

Mildred Boddy Reed's memoir of her grandmother Lucinda Biggs Sarvis says that he was a son of Nathaniel Whitaker, son of Richard Whitaker, but the New Jersey record of his birth pretty unambiguously names Ambrose's parents as Richard and Mary Whitaker.

The abstract of his will in New Jersey records calls him "of Upper Alloways Creek Township, Salem County."

Ambrose married Rachel Leake on 3 Oct 1772 in Salem, Salem, New Jersey. Rachel (daughter of Recompence Leek) was born on 3 Oct 1743; died on 30 Jan 1823; was buried on 30 Jan 1823 in Old Pittsgrove Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Daretown, Salem, New Jersey. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 9 Sep 1775, Cumberland County, New Jersey
• Alternate death: 11 Dec 1854, Clinton County, Ohio

Notes:

New Jersey Deaths and Burials, 1720-1988, has him dying 11 Dec 1831 in Gloucester County, New Jersey. His Find a Grave page has him dying 11 Dec 1854 in Clinton County, Ohio, and shows a photograph of a headstone, allegedly his but illegible, at Vernon Baptist Cemetery in Vernon, Clinton, Ohio.

His Find a Grave page also, while giving the correct date for his marriage to Mary Summeral, incorrectly places the marriage in Clinton County, Ohio.

Frustratingly, Mildred Boddy Reed's memoir of her grandmother Lucinda Biggs Sarvis partially substantiates both of these. It says that Oliver died in 1831, but it also says that "Sumeral's parents" -- who were Oliver Whitaker and Mary Sumeral -- "had moved to Ohio where he was raised." It also says that Mary Sumeral came from Germany (evidently not so), and that when Mary died, Oliver married Elizabeth Kilby. Perhaps it was Oliver and Elizabeth that relocated to Ohio.

Oliver married Mary Summeral on 2 Feb 1799. Mary (daughter of William Summeral and Rhoda Biggs) was born in 1782 in Alloway, Salem, New Jersey; died on 18 Nov 1806 in Clinton County, Ohio; was buried in Vernon Baptist Cemetery, Vernon, Clinton, Ohio. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Oliver married Elizabeth Kibby on 16 Sep 1807 in Warren County, Ohio. Elizabeth was born on 12 Feb 1784 in New Jersey; died on 5 Jul 1865 in Clinton County, Ohio; was buried in Vernon Baptist Cemetery, Vernon, Clinton, Ohio. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Spelled "Summerill" on his New Jersey birth record.

Posted to familysearch.org, "Excerpt from Lucinda, a book of Lucinda Sarvis' memories as told to her granddaughter Mildred (Boddy) Reed":

A wave of excitement swept over the country with the discovery of gold in California. Sumeral Whitaker was caught up in it and left for the gold fields in May 1840. It took him 5 months to go from Iowa to California. A young neighbor, Ephraim Bowles, was anxious to make the trip. His father finally gave his permission to go under the supervision of Father Whitaker. The Indians made considerable trouble for the caravan. One night when Ephraim was on guard, the cattle were stampeded by Indians. Ephraim was killed and scalped. It nearly broke Sumeral’s heart to send this sad news back to neighbor Bowles. [...]

Sumeral kept a diary of his experiences, but it was stolen. Wouldn’t we treasure it if we had it now? He hunted gold with two men from Pennsylvania. They struck a find—a gold vein—and they staked their claim. I don’t know if anyone knows what he was worth when he came back in 1852 by the way of Panama and New York, but Lucinda said he was considered wealthy. He told of living on jerked steer and black coffee for weeks.

Sumeral married Sarah Brown on 28 Nov 1822 in Clinton County, Ohio. Sarah died in 1823. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Sumeral married Mary Bloom in 1824. Mary was born about 1801 in New Jersey; died in 1856. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Sumeral married Eliza Lyons about 1858. Eliza died in 1864. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]