Mottice Family Documents

Dieringer church record

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Here is a document, dated November 17, 1872 and written in German that I cannot translate, in part because of the elaborate script.

It refers to "Andreas Dieringer" and his "fine wife" who was born "Maria Holzhey", then in large letters "_urde geboren" followed by the date in 1872 and the location in Waynesburg, OH. "Geboren" means "born" in German, but the first letter of "_urde" I cannot decipher and cannot translate.

Later in the document are the large letters "Getauft", which means "Baptised," followed by an unrecognizable name who -- and this is a guess -- is a witness or someone present to the event, although the words around the name do not translate into either.

Following this is another reference to Andreas and Maria, and the name of the pastor of the St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Waynesburg. Now we know that Maria Holzhey (Mary Holshoy) was baptized at birth, so if this is a baptismal certificate for her it may represent a Believer's Baptism, that is, baptism after a conscious commitment to the Lord. Or, it may be Andreas' (Andrew's) baptism. I do not have evidence of his prior baptism. Another possibility is that it documents his/her/their welcome into the communion of the Church.

I initially thought that it was the baptismal certificate of one of their children since they were married sometime prior to 1866. The only children born before November 1872 are Catherine, Elizabeth, William, and Lucy. None of these names appear on the certificate, however.

If anyone can translate this certificate and tell me what it is, I would appreciate it.

 Calvin Mottice was born in 1839 and died in 1857 at the age if 18.  He was the son of John B. Mottice and Elizabeth Cachel.

This notebook of his, which I call a "sketch book", appears to be a collection of handwriting practice exercises and a few other interesting revelations of his thoughts.  The date of 1857 appears on some pages, so this was evidently written during the last year of his life.  There is no indication in any family records why he died young or why this sketch book was kept by the family.  I have not looked carefully at every page, so there may be some new information contained here.

In 1935 (if I read the writing on this deed correctly), Grant Mottice purchased a cemetery lot in Sandy Valley Cemetery just outside of Waynesburg.  According to the deed, the lot was purchased for $16.  He died a short 3 years later in 1938.  He and he wife Frances Dieringer are both buried there, although she lived until 1967.

Soissonnais Regiment

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The following is the military service record for Jean-Marie Motice of the French Soissonnais Regiment fighting on the American side during the Revolutionary War.  

Jean-Marie Motice is believed by some family historians to be the father of Peter Mottice, who is the earliest definitive Mottice ancestor.  Jean-Marie Motice is listed as being discharged in 1783, however, which conflicts with some family history accounts that claim he was killed at the Battle of Trenton. 

A more likely explanation is given by Lynn Mottice who maintains that Jean-Marie is Peter's brother.

Jean-Marie Motice
No listed date of birth, no listed place of origin
Department listed as ??
Combat unit -- Soussonnais
Additional information:  Company of hunters of the captain of Baudre.  Congedie on September
    6, 1783.
Source of information:  CFG p244 (French Combatants of the American war 1778-1783, published
     by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1903)

Read his combat record in the original French

Read the history of the Soissonnais Regiment

Civil War Discharge -- front

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John Mottice was the father of Grant Mottice and served in the Civil War. This document is the actual discharge document from service as opposed to the certificate of service elsewhere on this website.

An interesting aspect of this document is that it provides some of his physical characteristics, including height, hair and eye color, and complexion.

The front of the document, shown here, reads:

"Know ye, That John Mottice, a Private of Captain John F. May Company, 162nd Regiment of Ohio National Guards Volunteers who was enrolled on the Second day of May one thousand eight hundred and Sixty four to serve 100 days years or during the war is hereby discharged from the service of the United States, this fourth day of September, 1864, at Camp Chase, Ohio by reason of his term of Service having Expired (No objection to his being re-enlisted is known to exist)."

"Said John Mottice was born in Stark County in the State of Ohio, is 24 years of age, 5 feet 11 inches high, dark complexion, Brown eyes, dark hair, and by occupation, when enrolled, a Farmer. Given at Camp Chase Ohio this Fourth Day of September 1864."

"Signed, John F. May, Captain, Commanding the Reg't. Co."

The back of the document is the Oath of Identity, and reads:

"The said John Mottice of the town of Waynesburg, County of Stark in the Sate of Ohio.  On the ninth day of May, in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty did (sic?) personally appeared before me, the undersigned, a Justice of the Peace for the county and State above mentioned, and who, being duly sworn according to law, declares that he is the identical to this paper (?) who was a private in the company commanded by Captain John S. (?) May in the regiment 162nd commanded by J.S.(?) May that he enlisted on the fifth day of December for the term of 100 days and was discharged at Camp Chase on the 3rd day of May by reason of Abraham Lincoln president of the U.S."

"Sworn and subscribed to before me the day and year above written."

"I certify that John Mottice before whom the above affidavit purports to have been made, is a Justice of the Peace duly authorized to administer oaths, and that the above is his signature."

"In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my official seal, this fourth day of October in the year 1864 at Waynesburg in the State of Ohio.

John Thay(?), Clerk of the Courts"

Civil War Discharge -- Oath of Identity

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View family pages from the Bible here

The only Mottice Family Bible I know to be currently in existence is one originally owned by John Mottice and Catharine Gross, so it probably dates from around 1860.  It was in the possession of Robert N. Mottice (John's grandson), and before that, of his son Grant Mottice and his wife, Frances Dieringer.  

I only saw this Bible one time before my father (Robert Neil) passed away in 2003.  I speculate that it might have come into his possession after his sister, Ruth Mottice Garster, died.  Frances Dieringer lived with her for a number of years prior to her death, and family items like this Bible may well have been kept by Ruth.

I found the Bible as I went through my father's (Robert Neil Mottice) things after he died.  I found it stowed away in an unlikely corner of the basement in a box of unrelated items.  I had been looking for it for some time and was delighted to find it, although it wasn't quite the treasure trove of data I had hoped.

The Bible contains pertinent information on essentially 2 generations of Mottices -- 3 if you count John and Catharine.  Their children and grandchildren are identified here, but nothing of John and Catharine's siblings or parents.  There are, however, some death dates for John and Catharine's generation.

The information is written in several hands, but I have no indication as to whose.  The odds are, however, that the only contributors were John, Catharine, Grant, and Frances.

The Bible itself is in pretty bad shape, with the cover largely rotted off and a number of pages rotted or torn.  The written family information comes from the center section of the Bible, and there are only a handful of pages.  In addiion to family data there are a few other pages, including a photo which I do not recognize.  The signature underneath is undecipherable to me.

In 1981, the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society responded to a request by Bob Mottice for information on early Mottices in Pennsylvania. Subsequent research by him and others has failed to convincingly associate any of these names with Mottice ancestors. The LMHS researcher was looking for Peter, but we subsequently know that Peter went from Morris County, NJ to the area around Washington, PA as a member of the militia during the Whiskey Rebellion. So it is unlikely that any of the Peters she found were our Peter Mottice.

Nevertheless, if Peter had brothers it would not be surprising if they moved west from NJ into PA. The only hint of the existence of a brother to Peter comes from Lynn Mottice's letter where he describes Jean-Marie Motice as a brother who changed his name to John Motice after the Revolution.

In responding to Bob Mottice, the LMHS researcher enclosed a copy of a page of the 1790 PA census for Northumberland County that showed a "John Motes". The name "Motes" could be a derivative of "Motice" if the census taker were spelling phonetically. Northumberland County is about 40-50 miles north of Harrisburg and west of Morris County, NJ, so if we hypothesize the John Motes and Jean-Marie/John Motice are the same person, at least the geography is consistent. This will take a lot more research, however.

The following is a transcript of the letter sent to Bob Mottice:

"Dear Mr. Mottice:

Thank you for your letter on the Mottice family. Mrs. Mast referred your letter to me because she is on vacation and because for the past several months we have been unexpectedly flooded with requests as more researchers are finding out about our facilities and services. We are attempting to revamp staff workloads and to develop a more efficient system to handle this backlog and to keep on top of it in the future. Thus I sincerely and regretfully apologize to you for this long delay in answering your letter, for this has not been typical of our service in the past. You have been most patient. Consequently, I have spent about twice as much time on your letter as we ordinarily would.

"You did not give an approximate time period for your Peter. I find one spelled Mots in the 1800 census in Northumberland County if that is the same name and a Peter Motz in District Township, Berks County, in 1810. In 1850 a Joseph Mottis is listed for Frederick Township in Montgomery County, and a John Mottes in Lausanne Township in Carbon County. (These did not photocopy well because of being too close to the spine.) You can see that there are various spellings that could be the same name such as Motts, Motz, and Motes.

Under Mattis/Mattes there was a Peter in Bucks County in 1790; one in Montgomery County in 1800; two in Montgomery County (one in Worcester Township and one in Plymouth Township) in 1810; one in Worcester Township of Montgomery County in 1820; two Peters in Plymouth Township of Montgomery County in 1830; and one in Buckingham Township of Bucks County in 1850.

There seems to be no trace of this name in our Lancaster County records such as our card file, books, archives, and will and deed abstracts. Strassburger's Pennsylvania German Pioneers lists Mattes as a variation of Matthaus but gives no Mottis/Mottice immigrant.

You may wish to write to the following sources for more detailed research:

Historical Society of Montgomery County 1654 DeKalb Street
Norristown, PA 19401

Northumberland County Historical Society 1019 Susquehanna Avenue
Sunbury, PA 17801

Historical Society of Berks County 940 Centre Avenue
Reading, PA 19601

Bucks County Historical Society Mercer Museum and Fonthill Museum Pine Street
Doylestown, PA 18981

If we can be of further service to you in the future, please let us know.

Sincerely,
Carolyn C. Wenger, Director
Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society"

I have heard the name of Jean-Marie Motice as an ancestor for many years, but have never been able to pin down who he is. I had thought he might be the father of Peter, but there is evidence that Jean-Marie was alive in 1783 which conflicts with other informal family histories about Peter's father.

But I have recently uncovered a letter sent to my father from Lynn G. Mottice of Mentor, OH in 1982 that fills in some blanks. Here are relevant excerpts from that letter:

"In the 1700s and early 1800s our name was spelled 'Motice', which you stated in your letter. Peter Mottice had a brother Jean-Marie Motice who fought with the Count de Rochambeau's compagnie de Chasseurs, de Baudre Capitaine. Jean Motice was born on the Anjou-Normandy border and lived in the canton of Isle de France, and left for America from Brest. Jean Motice later became John Mottice. The Mottices came to Ohio as French Protestants. I learned of the above while in France on business."

This story fits in with other "facts" we have about the early Mottices. The combat records we have for Jean-Marie indicate his discharge in 1783, and this makes him an older brother of Peter who was not born until 1772.

Another very tenuous thread that will need much more research is the presence of a John Motes in Northumberland County, PA in 1790. This John Motes was discovered during a genealogical search for Mottices in PA by the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society.

Baptismal Certificate

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Mary Holshoy was the mother of Frances Dieringer. The writing on this birth and baptismal certificate is old and faded, and very hard to read. Moreover, it is written in German.

The date, however, is clearly indicated as 1844, and that the event occurred in Ohio.

The first attached image is a photo of the entire certificate. The second is an enlarged scan of only the personal information that has been filled in on the certificate.

Baptism text

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Aunt Nora's Confirmation

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This certificate shows that Nora Dieringer, Grant Mottice's sister-in-law, was confirmed on May 25, 1890 at St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Waynesburg, OH.

The following excerpts from this collection of historical records entitled, "Ohio County and Family Histories, 1780-1910, all mention Peter Mottice: 1. Page 470, while discussing early roads in Sandy Twp. shortly after 1806:

"[Bezaleel] Wells opened the first road or trail from the Ohio River to Canton, which trail or road, as it soon because, passed through the whole length of Sandy Township, and this was the first "white man's trail" from the Ohio river that crossed the old Indian or Tuscarawas trail, which at this point, ran in a westerly course along the valley of the Sandy. As the means were not at hand for making roads along the sids of the hills, they went straight over them, and as the hill at the place where Waynesburg now stands was too steep for safe descent, the party retuned to what is known as the old Fox farm, now the property of Mr. Gustavus Dieringer, and turned west, through the old Beatty, Beery, and Elsass farms, and passed through the plains on the east line of Capt. James Downing's farm, and then passed on to the old Mottice farm, now owned by Creighton Rodgers, Esq. on the present road from Waynesburg to Canton. . . " " . . . A man named Joseph Handlon, who entered the land now oned by James Boyd, laid out a town in the plains, near whre Mr. James Boyd's house now stands. He called the town Hamburg, but he seems to have been mistaken as to the needs of the times, for the town is no more. In 1814, Handlon had the "Bethlehem road", as this first road was called, straightened from the old Fox farm through to Peter Mottice's land."

A little further down the page mentions the arrival of Peter Mottice to the area. Capt. James Downing, a Revolutionary War veteran and Indian scout, made the first settlement in the Sandy Valley in 1805:

"Early after Capt. Downing and his friends came Peter Mottice, Beatty, Hibbits, Reeves, William Knotts, Van Meters, Handlon, Brown, Creightons, etc."

2. These excerpts are from pages 475 and 476, and describe the circumstances surrounding the tavern that Peter Mottice owned and operated:

"Peter Mottice kept the earliest regular tavern in the township on his farm, now the property of J. Creighton Rogers, Esq., two miles north of Waynesburgh (sic). Mr. Mottice kept this tavern as early as 1813, and perhaps a year before, but Capt. John Beatty, now of Carrollton, was sent to Mottice's tavern in 1813 with a sack of oats to sell, and he says the house was crowded with travelers. Mr. Mottice kept this place until 1829, when he sold it and a quarter section of land to Robert Hamilton, who moved from New York City in 1830, and kept the tavern for several years, and then moved to Waynesburgh (sic), where he continued in the business, and was one of the most popular landlords in Ohio, as well as one of the most widely known. . . . The Hamilton house is still the property of Mr. Hamilton's children."

3. Page 477, political offices held by Peter Mottice:

"Sandy Township has not been lacking in political preferment, and as the years have rolled away, several of her citizens have been chosen to fill positions of honor and trust. Of the first grand jury ever called in the county, Peter Mottice was an honored member . . . Peter Mottice, [County] Commissioner, 1825 to 1829 . . . Amongst those who served as Justices of the Peace in Sandy Township are the following: (When known, the number of years of service is given.) James Hewitt, first in office; Peter Mottice, at least 24 years . . ."

4. Page 480, religion:

"The honor of the first preaching is claimed by both the Lutheran and Presbyterian people, but it is likely that Lyman Potter, a missionary of the Presbyterian Church, preached the first sermon to a white congregation, although Elisha McCurdy was a missionary among the Wyandot and Shawnee Indians some years before white settlement. Lyman Potter baptized James Hewitt, of Waynesburg, at the house of Peter Mottice, while he was yet an infant, about 1810."

{Note: I'm not clear on the identity of this James Hewitt. He almost certainly cannot be the Justice of the Peace who preceded Peter Mottice if born around 1810. According to John Hewitt's will in 1817 (of which Peter Mottice was an executor), John had a brother James but surely he would not have been an infant a mere 7 years prior. In the will, there is no mention of another James Hewitt.}

Peter Mottice purchased two plots of land in Stark County -- one described as in Osnaburg in 1806 and another described as in Sandy in 1812. One of these -- presumably the latter -- became the homestead where several generations of Mottices were born. Access was probably via the road now know as "Mottice Dr." just north of Waynesburg and west of Rt. 43.

Whenever my family would visit relatives in Waynesburg when I was a kid, we would pass Mottice Dr. -- which I thought was really cool to have a road named after my family -- and my father would tell me that our ancestor Peter ran the Stark County's first tavern somewhere down that road. But he didn't know any of the details nor did he know where along that road the tavern used to be, since it had long since ceased to exist.

Later on I verified this story from early Stark County historical records that indicated Peter was indeed an early tavern owner. See excerpts from those records on this post. These records seem to indicate that his house and tavern were on the same piece of property, if not the very same building.

E.T. Heald, author of the "Stark County Story", an early history of Stark County, corroborates the tavern story on page 45 -- "The first tavern was kept by Peter Mottice on his farm which later became the property of J. Creighton Rogers." And later -- "Peter Mottice, one time county commissioner, moved into Waynesburg from his farm tavern, and became the proprietor of Schaeffer's Tavern."

What adds an interesting twist to this story is a record in the Stark County Court of Common Pleas in 1815 where Peter is indicted for selling one gill of whiskey without a license. The text of the indictment is as follows:

"Be it remembered that at the October term, 1815 of the Court the Grand Jury returned into Court an indictment of which the following is a copy:

"The State of Ohio, Stark County, SS:

"At a Court of Common Please, begun and held at Canton, within and for said County of Stark on Tuesday the 10th day of October in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred fifteen the Grand Jurors for the body of said County upon their respective oaths and affirmations do present and find that Peter Mottice of said County on the 25th day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred fifteen at the County aforesaid, and within the jurisdiction of this Court did unlawfully sell, barter, deliver and retail for money to one, Thomas Alexander then and there being for money one gill of whiskey the same being a less quantity than one quart, he the said Peter Mottice not having first obtained a license from the Court of Common Pleas of said County nor a permit from the Clerk of Said Court during the recess of the said Court for that purpose at the time continuing in force contrary to the statute of such cases made and provided and against the peace and dignity of the State of Ohio.

"J.H. Hallock, Atty for Pros. Endorsed a true bill, James Duncan, Foreman

"It is ordered by the Court that said Peter Mottice give security in the sum of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) for his appearance at next term of this Court to answer said indictment and this case was continued.

"The record shows the issuance of a writ on the second day of November 1815, as follows:

"The State of Ohio, to the Sheriff of Stark County, Greeting:

"We command you to take Peter Mottice if he be found within your County and him safely keep so that you have his body beforfe the Court of Common Please of said County at Canton, on the 1st day of next term of said Court to answer to an indictment found in the October term of said Court last against him and have you then and there this writ of witness, The Hon. George Tod, Esq., President of said Court.

"The Record shows this writ was duly returned by said Seriff "Cepi Corpus" [that is, returned with Peter] and thereupon, to-wit: now at the February term 1816, comes said Peter Mottice into Court and being arraigned on said indictment for plea, answers and says "Guilty," whereupon ordered by the Court that said Peter Mottice pay a fine of $3.50 and the costs of this prosecution and be in mercy, etc.

"Willam Reynolds, Clerk "Prosecutor on behalf of the state entered a "Nolle Prosequi" on payment of costs."

So what can we conclude from this? [By the way, "Nolle Prosequi" means unwilling to pursue -- prosecutor drops indictment.] Did Peter offer room and board to passing travelers prior to this, make the mistake of serving whiskey to one of them, and decide that if the risks were this great he might as well get the necessary license and open a tavern? Or did he previously operate an illegal tavern and finally get caught? Or was it simply a mistake and he let his license expire? We may never know, although the fact that he was County Commissioner at one point, Justice of the Peace, and founding elder of the Presbyterian Church suggests a benign explanation.

The Stark County Library in Canton, OH has a land sale record on microfilm of Peter Mottice's sale of property in 1812 to a Henry Funk. There are a few interesting aspects about this document:

1. The document mentions his wife, Phebe, which I was not expecting. This is the earliest record I have of her name so far. Here, her name ends with an "e" rather than a "y" as it does in the Presbyterian Church records. Interestingly, "Mottice" is spelled with 2 t's rather than 1 t, and I didn't think the double t spelling emerged until later.
2. The document specifies that Phebe was interviewed by the Justice of the Peace separately from Peter. The genealogist at the Stark library tells me that land could not be sold by a husband without the wife's consent so as to not have property "sold out from under her." So the JP states that he spoke with Phebe alone to ascertain that she was not under duress to sell the property.
3. The location of this property is Osnaburg Township, range 7, section 30 which is the same location early land records show Peter purchasing on April 8, 1806 while a resident of Jefferson County, OH. (Jefferson County is east of Stark on a logical migration path from Washington County, PA.)
4. The document below, however, states that he received this land by way of Patent signed by the President of the U.S. What is the source of this Patent? It is doubtful that it is military service. Peter served in the New Jersey militia during the Whiskey Rebellion, but I'm not aware of any land patents given for service in this campaign. Some family histories have Peter serving in the War of 1812, but this patent was granted in 1811.

Here is the transcript of the land sale document:

Know all then by these presents, that Peter Mottice and Phebe his wife of the County of Stark in the State of Ohio for and in consideration of the sum of Eight Hundred and eighty dollars and eight cents to them in hand paid by Henry Funk of Stark County and State of Ohio the receipt whereof they do surely acknowledge, and themselves therewith fully paid and satisfied, have granted, bargained and sold, and by these Presents do grant, bargain and sell to the said Henry Funk his Heirs and assigns, all the following tract or parcel of land, with its Privileges and appurtenances, that lying and being in the County of Stark and State of Ohio -- Known by the North West quarter of Section Number thirty of Township Number Eighteen in Range number Seven the same being granted to Peter Mottice by a Patent from the President of the United States bearing date the ninth day of November in the year of our Lord one thousand Eight hundred and Eleven as preference being here (?) well more fully appear.

To have and to hold, the above described tract or parcel of land and Premises, with its Privileges and Appurtenances to the said Henry Funk, his heirs and Assigns, to the only proper use and Behalf of the said Henry Funk and his heirs and assigns forever, and the said Peter Mottice & Phebe his wife for themselves and their heirs, doth hereby covenant with the said Henry Funk, his heirs and assigns, that the said Peter Mottice & Phebe his wife the above described tract or Parcel of Land, with its Privileges and Appurtenances, to the said Henry Funk his Heirs and Assigns, shall and will warrant and forever defend against all Persons and Claims whatsoever.

In Testimony of which the undersaid Peter Mottice & Phebe his wife have hereunto set their Hands and Seals the third day of June Anni Domini one thousand eight hundred and twelve.

Sealed and delivered in the presence of us, Peter Mottice Phebe Mottice John Patton James Drennan The State of Ohio County of Stark-- On the third day of June in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twelve personally appearing before me on of the justice of the Peace for said County Peter Mottice and Phebe his wife who acknowledge the written Instrument of writing to be their act and Deed for the purposes therein contained and the said Phebe being examined separate and apart from her said Husband did declare that she did voluntarily of her own free will and accord Seal and as her act and deed deliver the written Instrument of writing without any coercion or confusion from her said husband.

Given under my hand and seal the date above written. James Drennan, Justice of the Peace Recorded July 15, 1812 George(?) Reynolds

Philip Mottice, Berlin PA

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This cemetery record is for the Blaugh Cemetery in southwestern Pennsylvania, about 10 miles from Somerset and just outside of Berlin, PA.  The cemetery is located in a wooded area just in back of a private home.  I happened to be there during the winter with lots of snow on the ground, and the owners of the property were not around so I did not linger long since I did not have permission.  The stones were very old and nearly impossible to read without using a charcoal rubbing.  While I was in Berlin I phoned an elderly gentleman who happened to be affiliated with the local historical society, but he had no information about Philip Mottice.

The links below are to 2 related documents:

1)  The Blaugh cemetery list surveyed by the WPA in 1934, and currently listed in the RootsWeb database.
2)  Another internet document containing the same list, although in somewhat abbreviated form.