Rebecca (POLK) Tusing (1822 - 1907)

Born Dec 1822 in Virginia

Wife of John R Hansberger — married 7 Apr 1851 in Cabin Hill, Shenandoah Co.,Virginia [uncertain]

Wife of Nicholas Tusing — married 17 Aug 1863 in Shenandoah Co., Virginia

Descendants

Died 17 Oct 1907 at age 84 in Barb's Mill, Shenandoah Co., VA

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Ronald Moomaw [send private message] and Heather Malcewicz [send private message]

Biography

Rebecca Polk is apparently the mother of John M Polk, who was born 20 April 1847. John's father is currently not known. John subsequently married Barbara Weatherholtz. Barbara is the half-sister of Jacob Weatherholtz, Jr. mentioned in the next paragraph. ^[1]

Rebecca Polk first married John Harshberger (Hansberger) 7 April 1851. ^[2] This wedding record showed that Jacob Weatherholtz, Jr. signed an affadivit. This raises the question what was in the affadivit and why Jacob Weatherholtz, Jr signed it.

She and John Hansberger had 3 children. She was widowed in 1860.

On 17 August she married the recently widowed Nicholaus Tusing.^[3]. She brought 3 young children into this blended family; in 1860 Nicholaus and Catherine had 7 children in their household.

By 1870, Nicholaus and Rebecca had had two children.

Nicholaus died in 1890, leaving Rebecca a widow again. In 1900, Rebecca was living with her son-in-law, David Moomaw and her daughter Cass (Mary Catherine) Tusing and 6 grandchildren on Nicholaus's home place. ^[4] Rebecca died in 1907 and was buried at what was known as the Biller, Estep, Tusing Cemetery (aka Tomahawk Pond Cemetery) with her second husband Nicholaus.^[5]

Research Notes

Having searched the Census records and Ancestry.com, only Polk family stands out as the one that Rebecca belongs to. In 1850 Levi Polk ^[6] is living close to Simon Polk, his brother; Levi's household includes Catherine Funkhouser Polk, his mother, and his siblings Elizabeth, Rosannah, and Gideon. Their father John had died in 1841, according to tradition. ^[7]Simon's household is close to the households of Jacob and Jacob Jr. Weatherholtz. Rebecca Polk and her son John Polk were surely in the area, but not included in the Census. The circumstantial evidence suggests that Rebecca is a sibling of these Polks.

Rebecca is sometimes incorrectly said to be Rebecca Helsley. This confusion is understandable. Rebecca Helsley did marry this same John Hansberger on 15 August 1833.^[8] Rebecca Helsley died 17 July 1849 in childbirth. The infant survived. A brief presentation of John Hansberger 3 marriages and his children from each marriage is in this Ancestry Family Tree.^[9] Although this is not well documented, it would be a great place to start for someone who wanted to add John Hansberger's family to Wikitree.

• Fact: Residence (1870) Lee, Shenandoah, Virginia, United States
• Fact: Residence (1880) Lee, Shenandoah, Virginia, United States
• Fact: Residence (1900) Lee, Shenandoah, Virginia, USA
• Fact: Residence Edinburg, Shenandoah, Virginia

Rebecca was born in 1822. She passed away in 1907.

Sources

1. ↑ http://lechpowell.com/getperson.php?personID=I682&tree=tree1
2. ↑ http://www.vagenweb.org/shenandoah/marriage-record/marrh1.html
3. ↑ https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:8GXZ-4PW2
4. ↑ https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MMJW-VH2
5. ↑ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/52218287/rebecca-tusing
6. ↑ https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/15543142:8054?tid=15537557&pid=19301167129&queryId=809038e8a1ee772a024b7b42ed464a5c&_phsrc=gio10742&_phstart=successSource
7. ↑ https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/77189678/person/46359809804/facts
8. ↑ https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XR7D-4YX
9. ↑ https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/154406350/person/182038037618/facts

• "Public Member Trees", database, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/34972927/person/20468354382/facts : accessed 21 December 2020), profile for Rebecca POLK.
• Corbin, Heather. Personal recollection, 13 Feb 2019.