Mappy Monday - The Many Moves Of The Flock Family

Matthias Flock is my 4th great grandfather.  (me->my mom->Roberta Mitchell->Opal Strickler->Effie Flock->John Flock->Matthias Flock).  He was born about 1813 in New Jersey.  He died between 1860-1870 in either Appanoose County, Iowa or York County, Nebraska.  He married Margaret Fankboner in 1835 in Tuscarawas, Ohio.  I have documented 11 children born between 1835 and 1860.

One of the things that really sticks out to me about this family is how much they moved during their lifetime.  I created a timeline in excel to get a better idea of when and where the family lived.  As they moved from place to place, they seemed to leave a couple of kids behind in each location. (Not Literally! The kids would stay in a town after they married.)

Using the information I had gathered in the excel sheet, I created a google map to get a better visual idea of how the Flock family moved around the United States.  First they moved west, then South.

The excel sheet was pretty long so here is a quick snap shot of the family's moves:

about 1813 - Matthias Flock is born in New Jersey
about 1815 - Margaret Fankboner is born in Pennsylvania
1835 - Matthias and Margaret marry in Tuscarawas County, Ohio
1835-1850 - The Flock's live in Tuscarawas, Ohio as seven of their children are born
1850-1854 - The Flock's live in Coles County, Ohio and have 2 more children
1855-1865? - The Flock's live in Appanoose County, Iowa and have their last child
1865?- 1878? - Margaret now a widow, lives in York County, Nebraska.  One of her son's remainded behind in Iowa and did not make this move.
1878-1884?  - Margaret moves in with son John and his family in Washington County, Kansas.  She has left another couple of sons in York, Iowa.
1884- 1904 - Margaret is no longer living with John.  She is found again in 1904 in the Cemetery in Ringwood, Oklahoma.  One of her sons, Charles, is also buried there with his family.  It is possible that she lived her last years in Oklahoma with him. An interesting note is that another son, John, died in Enid, Oklahoma.  Enid and Ringwood are only 21 miles apart.  For this family, that is a small distance.

When my ancestors moved in the mid and late 1800's, they were definitely part of America's great Western Expansion.  I took a look at the BLM website to search for any land patents.  I was amazed to see that most of Matthias and Margaret's sons applied for patents in Iowa, Nebraska, and Oklahoma.  I will have to spend some time learning more about the Homestead Act of 1862 and my ancestors roll in populating the west.