What is Mary V. Axid / Kinzinger / Roberts' real identity?

 

Mary V. Axid / Kinzinger was born on February 25, 1822 and died on November 18, 1891 at the age of 69. She is listed as Mary V. Axid (or possibly Ascid) in her own family bible owned by George W. Streeper and Mary V. Axid Streeper. This bible is now in the collection of Frank and Meredith Logue. The entry is almost certainly in Mary's own hand. This handwriting matches that of the author of a page on George and Mary's children, and a page listing George's death along with the deaths of two of their children. Compare handwriting styles here. Note that the page on George and Mary's children also has an entry in Mary's own hand, concerning her parentage and birth. Note: this information confirms what appears elsewhere. (see below)

Another page in the same family bible lists her as, "Mary V. Streeper, daughter of Christopher and Mary Axid, and widow of the late George Streeper, was born on the 25th day of February, 1822." This is written in an entirely different style and is almost certainly not penned by Mary herself. See comparison of handwriting styles from entries above and this one.

After George W. died on August 05, 1848, Mary married S. A. Roberts (second marriage for both) on May 27, 1849. She had one child with S. A. Roberts. That child, Virginia Josephine Roberts, was born on February 10, 1850.

So where does the Kinsinger / Kinzinger name come in? Nyolee Addis Mason left a hand-written family history which listed George W. Streeper's wife as Mary Kinsinger. Nyolee Addis Mason was the daughter of Myrtle Florence Streeper, the grand-daughter of William H. Streeper, the great grand-daughter of Joseph George Streeper, Sr., and the great, great grand-daughter of George and Mary V. Streeper. I have no docummentation of where she got the name Kinsinger, but she did grow up quite close to her grandfather William H. Streeper who, in turn,was the grandson of George and Mary. William was in a position to know his grandmother's name. Nyolee was in a great position to learn this information from William.

The name Kinzinger does appear twice in George and Mary's family bible. The first appearance shows a badly-faded notation about the deaths of Mary and Frederick Kinzinger. The second contains the same information, but adds information about the death of Louisa Schweppenheiser, a daughter of Mary and Frederick Kinzinger. Both entries are written in pencil and have no information about who the Kinzingers were.

Who were Mary and Frederick Kinzinger? Was Mary Kinzinger, in fact, the same person as Mary V. Axid Streeper? This seems impossible since Mary V. was married to George Streeper, and later, S. A. Roberts, not Frederick Kinzinger. Also, Mary Kinzinger died on December 12, 1861 at the age of 68. This places her birth in 1793. Mary V. Axid is listed as being born on February 25, 1822 and dying on November 18, 1891 at the age of 69. The ages and dates do not align, but they do seem to be one generation apart.

Were Mary and Frederick Kinzinger the parents of Mary V. Axid? Mary Kinzinger was about 29 years old when Mary V. Axid was born. Frederick Kinzinger would have been about 26 years old. These dates are posssible. Could Louisa Kinzinger Schweppenheiser have been Mary V.'s sister? Louisa Kinzinger Schweppenheiser was born about 1827...five years after Mary V. Axid's birth. This, too, is possible. But, Mary V.'s family bible lists, in two places, her parents as Christopher and Mary Axid. Joan Higgins wonders if Mary V. never learned the proper spelling of "Axid" and therefore spelled it phonetically. Her research turns up alternate last names that might sound like "Axid." She has also postulated that Mary V. lost her parents when she was young and was subsequently raised, and/or adopted by Frederick and Mary Kinzinger.

The "Axid" name seems more than a little suspect. Frank Logue's research indicates that it does not appear, using that spelling, in any genealogy sources he has encountered. Also, Mary V. lists both her father's, and her husband's father's, name as Christopher. Although it is possible, this seems unlikely. Since one of the notations regarding Mary's parents in the George and Mary Streeper family bible appears to be written by Mary V., it is unwise to dismiss her direct observation that her parents were Christopher and Mary Axid. Perhaps she wrote this in the throes of advanced senility, but we simply can't assume that. Much of the other information she wrote is confirmed by other sources. For lack of a better explanation, the working hypothesis seems to be that Mary V. may have been raised by the Kinzingers after becoming separated in some way from her birth parents, whose last name sounds something like "Axid."