Susanna Sterling was born May 24, 1813, per an entry in the family Bible. Although no documents have been found which provide her parents' names, through careful research of families in Central Pennsylvania as well as DNA matches, it appears that she was a daughter of James Sterling (ca. 1790-1828) and his wife, Mary Fredericks (ca. 1797-1855). Her younger siblings would have been Mary Jane, Temperance, George W., and Isabella -- several of whose descendants appear as DNA matches to her descendants. Susanna's father was taxed intermittently in Bald Eagle Township, Centre County (probably in what is now Beech Creek Township, Clinton County), in the 1810s, and also lived across the-then county line in Bald Eagle Township, Lycoming County (likely in the vicinity of what is now Mill Hall/Flemington). James Sterling was a son of John Sterling and a grandson of the immigrant John Sterling and Jane McDowell, who settled in the area of Bald Eagle Township in the late 1780s, before eventually moving on with some of their children to Crawford County, Pennsylvania. James Sterling remained behind, having already become established here. He never owned land of his own and his wife Mary was a daughter of prosperous Mill Hall landowner John Fredericks by an as-yet unknown first wife. It seems that John Fredericks's children by his second wife fared much better economically than those to his first wife; James and Mary (Fredericks) Sterling appear to have been quite poor. By 1820 the family lived in Lamar Township, where her grandfather Fredericks owned a farm. Her father never owned more than a cow, it seems. He died about 1828, and on October 26, 1831, his widow Mary remarried to William McGhee (or Magee), an Irish immigrant from County Antrim; they had no children. She died in 1855 and is buried in the Brown Cemetery near Mill Hall.
Susanna somehow met and married John D. McKean, who appears to have come into the area at some point in the 1830s from New Jersey. They were married on March 10, 1834, per the family Bible. Their first two children, Margaret Jane (Feb. 2, 1834) and Robert (Feb. 4, 1836) appear to have died by the time of the 1840 census. By 1836 John appears as a forgeman, a married man, on the 1836 tax assessment of Boggs Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania. From the Civil War pension file of their eldest son, we know that John D. and Susan lived and worked at Eagle Iron Works in Boggs Township. John also appears as John McCain in the forge records. They were there through at least 1838-39. Here her eldest son, John Boggs McKean, was born on Mar. 3, 1838. In 1840, John D. appears with his family on the census in Rush Township, where he is listed as engaging in "manufacturing and trades," probably still working in the iron industry, perhaps at the Cold Stream Forge which briefly operated in that area. Daughter Mary E. was born Oct. 3, 1840, and son James Sterling McKean was born Jan. 8, 1842.
By 1844, the McKean family had moved to Porter Township, Clinton County. Here they lived until 1856. The remaining children, William Lyle (May 9, 1845), Sarah P. (Sept. 12, 1847), Rio Grand (Jan. 9, 1850), and Anna Elizabeth (Jun. 3, 1854) were almost certainly born here. John worked rather consistently as a forgeman during this time period, probably at the Washington Iron Furnace, and the family probably lived close by.
In 1858 the family was taxed for the first time in Walker Township, and probably moved just up the road to the Nittany area. They resided in Walker Township through at least the 1870 census.
By the 1880 census, however, John and Susanna were living with their son, William, in Beech Creek Borough, Clinton County. John is listed as a forgeman. They are not listed after the 1880 census; the Neff Funeral Home records indicate that the father of John [Boggs] McKean was buried on Nov. 17, 1891, indicating that he had died a few days prior. The mother of John McKean, Susanna, was buried by Neff on Nov. 4, 1894.
Concrete documentation of their burial locations has not yet been found, but it appears that they are probably buried at Hays-Fearon, on the plot of their son William, with whom they lived in their later years and whose plot contains ample grave spaces, many of them unmarked.
Susanna somehow met and married John D. McKean, who appears to have come into the area at some point in the 1830s from New Jersey. They were married on March 10, 1834, per the family Bible. Their first two children, Margaret Jane (Feb. 2, 1834) and Robert (Feb. 4, 1836) appear to have died by the time of the 1840 census. By 1836 John appears as a forgeman, a married man, on the 1836 tax assessment of Boggs Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania. From the Civil War pension file of their eldest son, we know that John D. and Susan lived and worked at Eagle Iron Works in Boggs Township. John also appears as John McCain in the forge records. They were there through at least 1838-39. Here her eldest son, John Boggs McKean, was born on Mar. 3, 1838. In 1840, John D. appears with his family on the census in Rush Township, where he is listed as engaging in "manufacturing and trades," probably still working in the iron industry, perhaps at the Cold Stream Forge which briefly operated in that area. Daughter Mary E. was born Oct. 3, 1840, and son James Sterling McKean was born Jan. 8, 1842.
By 1844, the McKean family had moved to Porter Township, Clinton County. Here they lived until 1856. The remaining children, William Lyle (May 9, 1845), Sarah P. (Sept. 12, 1847), Rio Grand (Jan. 9, 1850), and Anna Elizabeth (Jun. 3, 1854) were almost certainly born here. John worked rather consistently as a forgeman during this time period, probably at the Washington Iron Furnace, and the family probably lived close by.
In 1858 the family was taxed for the first time in Walker Township, and probably moved just up the road to the Nittany area. They resided in Walker Township through at least the 1870 census.
By the 1880 census, however, John and Susanna were living with their son, William, in Beech Creek Borough, Clinton County. John is listed as a forgeman. They are not listed after the 1880 census; the Neff Funeral Home records indicate that the father of John [Boggs] McKean was buried on Nov. 17, 1891, indicating that he had died a few days prior. The mother of John McKean, Susanna, was buried by Neff on Nov. 4, 1894.
Concrete documentation of their burial locations has not yet been found, but it appears that they are probably buried at Hays-Fearon, on the plot of their son William, with whom they lived in their later years and whose plot contains ample grave spaces, many of them unmarked.
Susanna Sterling was born May 24, 1813, per an entry in the family Bible. Although no documents have been found which provide her parents' names, through careful research of families in Central Pennsylvania as well as DNA matches, it appears that she was a daughter of James Sterling (ca. 1790-1828) and his wife, Mary Fredericks (ca. 1797-1855). Her younger siblings would have been Mary Jane, Temperance, George W., and Isabella -- several of whose descendants appear as DNA matches to her descendants. Susanna's father was taxed intermittently in Bald Eagle Township, Centre County (probably in what is now Beech Creek Township, Clinton County), in the 1810s, and also lived across the-then county line in Bald Eagle Township, Lycoming County (likely in the vicinity of what is now Mill Hall/Flemington). James Sterling was a son of John Sterling and a grandson of the immigrant John Sterling and Jane McDowell, who settled in the area of Bald Eagle Township in the late 1780s, before eventually moving on with some of their children to Crawford County, Pennsylvania. James Sterling remained behind, having already become established here. He never owned land of his own and his wife Mary was a daughter of prosperous Mill Hall landowner John Fredericks by an as-yet unknown first wife. It seems that John Fredericks's children by his second wife fared much better economically than those to his first wife; James and Mary (Fredericks) Sterling appear to have been quite poor. By 1820 the family lived in Lamar Township, where her grandfather Fredericks owned a farm. Her father never owned more than a cow, it seems. He died about 1828, and on October 26, 1831, his widow Mary remarried to William McGhee (or Magee), an Irish immigrant from County Antrim; they had no children. She died in 1855 and is buried in the Brown Cemetery near Mill Hall.
Susanna somehow met and married John D. McKean, who appears to have come into the area at some point in the 1830s from New Jersey. They were married on March 10, 1834, per the family Bible. Their first two children, Margaret Jane (Feb. 2, 1834) and Robert (Feb. 4, 1836) appear to have died by the time of the 1840 census. By 1836 John appears as a forgeman, a married man, on the 1836 tax assessment of Boggs Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania. From the Civil War pension file of their eldest son, we know that John D. and Susan lived and worked at Eagle Iron Works in Boggs Township. John also appears as John McCain in the forge records. They were there through at least 1838-39. Here her eldest son, John Boggs McKean, was born on Mar. 3, 1838. In 1840, John D. appears with his family on the census in Rush Township, where he is listed as engaging in "manufacturing and trades," probably still working in the iron industry, perhaps at the Cold Stream Forge which briefly operated in that area. Daughter Mary E. was born Oct. 3, 1840, and son James Sterling McKean was born Jan. 8, 1842.
By 1844, the McKean family had moved to Porter Township, Clinton County. Here they lived until 1856. The remaining children, William Lyle (May 9, 1845), Sarah P. (Sept. 12, 1847), Rio Grand (Jan. 9, 1850), and Anna Elizabeth (Jun. 3, 1854) were almost certainly born here. John worked rather consistently as a forgeman during this time period, probably at the Washington Iron Furnace, and the family probably lived close by.
In 1858 the family was taxed for the first time in Walker Township, and probably moved just up the road to the Nittany area. They resided in Walker Township through at least the 1870 census.
By the 1880 census, however, John and Susanna were living with their son, William, in Beech Creek Borough, Clinton County. John is listed as a forgeman. They are not listed after the 1880 census; the Neff Funeral Home records indicate that the father of John [Boggs] McKean was buried on Nov. 17, 1891, indicating that he had died a few days prior. The mother of John McKean, Susanna, was buried by Neff on Nov. 4, 1894.
Concrete documentation of their burial locations has not yet been found, but it appears that they are probably buried at Hays-Fearon, on the plot of their son William, with whom they lived in their later years and whose plot contains ample grave spaces, many of them unmarked.
Susanna somehow met and married John D. McKean, who appears to have come into the area at some point in the 1830s from New Jersey. They were married on March 10, 1834, per the family Bible. Their first two children, Margaret Jane (Feb. 2, 1834) and Robert (Feb. 4, 1836) appear to have died by the time of the 1840 census. By 1836 John appears as a forgeman, a married man, on the 1836 tax assessment of Boggs Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania. From the Civil War pension file of their eldest son, we know that John D. and Susan lived and worked at Eagle Iron Works in Boggs Township. John also appears as John McCain in the forge records. They were there through at least 1838-39. Here her eldest son, John Boggs McKean, was born on Mar. 3, 1838. In 1840, John D. appears with his family on the census in Rush Township, where he is listed as engaging in "manufacturing and trades," probably still working in the iron industry, perhaps at the Cold Stream Forge which briefly operated in that area. Daughter Mary E. was born Oct. 3, 1840, and son James Sterling McKean was born Jan. 8, 1842.
By 1844, the McKean family had moved to Porter Township, Clinton County. Here they lived until 1856. The remaining children, William Lyle (May 9, 1845), Sarah P. (Sept. 12, 1847), Rio Grand (Jan. 9, 1850), and Anna Elizabeth (Jun. 3, 1854) were almost certainly born here. John worked rather consistently as a forgeman during this time period, probably at the Washington Iron Furnace, and the family probably lived close by.
In 1858 the family was taxed for the first time in Walker Township, and probably moved just up the road to the Nittany area. They resided in Walker Township through at least the 1870 census.
By the 1880 census, however, John and Susanna were living with their son, William, in Beech Creek Borough, Clinton County. John is listed as a forgeman. They are not listed after the 1880 census; the Neff Funeral Home records indicate that the father of John [Boggs] McKean was buried on Nov. 17, 1891, indicating that he had died a few days prior. The mother of John McKean, Susanna, was buried by Neff on Nov. 4, 1894.
Concrete documentation of their burial locations has not yet been found, but it appears that they are probably buried at Hays-Fearon, on the plot of their son William, with whom they lived in their later years and whose plot contains ample grave spaces, many of them unmarked.
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