The Descendants of Joseph Kester and Sarah Hunsinger
This history has been compiled from public records, materials in the public domain and information provided by the Sullivan County Historical Society. We are also indebted to the Sullivan County Genealogical Web Page page coordinator, Bob Sweeney, for distinguishing the two branches of the Bartch family, to one of which Sarah Hunsinger was subsequently related by a second marriage. Please send suggestions, corrections or comments to Bob at Bob Sweeney.


Joseph Kester
First Husband of Sarah Hunsinger
In His Civil War Uniform
Photo Courtesy of Sullivan County Historical Society and Museum

SARAH HUNSINGER (Samuel, George, Bernard, George Hunsinger) Born June 8, 1841; Died June 28, 1889

Married 1st Joseph Kester on January 10, 1858. He was born in 1838 and died in 1913.

Married 2nd Gottlieb Bartch on November 19, 1886 in Texas County, MO. He left his first wife, Christiana Kisner, for Sarah who also left her first husband, Joseph Kester, about 1882. They subsequently married in Missouri in 1886 after Sarah divorced Joseph Kester on May 25, 1885. The divorce date is found in the June 5, 1885 issue of The Sullivan Republican of Laporte, PA. Note that there is a discrepancy in this date indicated below in the Civil War pension application of Joseph Kester. You can learn more about the Kisner relationship at The Descendants of Gotlieb Bartch and Christiana Kisner.

The Sullivan County Democrat
January 15, 1858

Married in Dushore on Tuesday 10th inst., by E. D. Richart, Esq., Mr. Joseph Kester, Jr. of Cherry to Miss Sarah Hunsinger of Forks.

Children of Sarah & Joseph Kester:

  1. Catherine Kester 1859-1936
  2. Emma Kester
  3. Anna Kester
  4. Levi Kester
  5. Thomas Kester

After being divorced by Sarah, Joseph Kester subsequently married Lydia C. Comstock on September 8, 1890 in Ypsilanti, Michigan. His Civil War pension application asserts that his divorce occurred on August 7, 1883 in Lexington, MO.

Children of Sarah & Gottlieb Bartch:

1. Herbert Bartch 1885-1956

Finally, after his second wife, Sarah, died on June 28, 1889, Gottlieb married a third time to Fanny Lee Sinks, born in March 1860. He married Fanny on May 5, 1890 in Texas County, MO. They eventually had four children:

  1. Sarah Elizabeth Bartch, born March 17, 1891
  2. Margaret Bartch, born March 31, 1893
  3. George Bartch, born August 24, 1895
  4. Charles Otis Bartch, born August 3, 1900, seven months after the death of his father Gottlieb (!!)


Gottlieb Bartch and Sarah (Hunsinger) Kester
Marriage License
Missouri 1886
Photo Courtesy of Josephine Bartch, Their Granddaughter


Sarah Hunsinger Kester Bartch (1841-1889)
Grave Marker
Texas County, MO
Photo Courtesy of Carol Novak Bevelin

Editor's Note: In October, 2006, we heard from Carol Novak Beverlin, who lives in Missouri, about a death certificate she had located for Jonah Bartch, born in 1850 in Pennsylvania, with a father named John Bartch. Carol was curious as to whether we could connect this individual up with the Sullivan County Bartch family. Here is how our dialogue went, which is revealing how these family connections can percolate through time and geography. On 12, June 2014, we heard from yet another Bartch descendant, Donna Galvan, responding to the dialogue from 2006. Her remarks are posted below as well. The Internet has greatly enhanced the ability of family historians far removed by geography to detect and use information that otherwise would have gone unnoticed. Here are the exchanges:

Carol: I've found a death certificate for Jonah Bartch (born April 7, 1850 in PA) in the state of MO archive records. His date of death was Jan 28. 1928. His father is listed as John Bartch, no place of birth. No info on Jonah's mother given.
Both Sarah Hunsinger Kester and Gotlieb Bartch left their respective spouses in Sullivan County, PA and eventually married in MO and died in Texas County, MO. Do you think Jonah Bartch is tied to Sarah and Gotlieb in some way?

Bob Sweeney: I would be very confident that they are related. Let me suggest how. Then, I would recommend you closely examine the Federal census records from 1880, 1900, 1910 and 1920 for all persons of this surname or close analogs of this surname in Missouri. Also, where did Jonah die?
I am guessing he is the son or perhaps grandson of John G. Bartch and Magdalena Steiner, who settled in Sullivan County about 1824. John was a brother of Fredrick and Mary E. Bartch, the emigrant settlers. We [or at least, I] don’t know the lineage exactly.
This is just a proposal, but I think it would not be hard to imagine John G. Bartch having a son named Jonah. A birth date of 1850 would be very reasonable, given the ages of the parents.
Anyway, Gotlib, great-nephew of John G. Bartch, is the one who abandoned Sullivan county for Missouri in the 1880s with Sarah (Hunsinger) Kester. So, if John G., his great uncle, had a son or grandson named Jonah, born about 1850, then it would not be strange for Jonah to have relocated to where his nephew or cousin Gotlib was living.

Carol: I had suspected he might be related in the fashion you suggest. I live in MO and have visited Lexington, MO and searched the county records there for any divorce/marriage records for Sarah and Gotlib. None on record. I'm not sure there ever were divorce proceedings or a marriage that actually took place. Wonder why they ended up in MO? I have visited Sarah's grave site and photographed her tombstone in Texas County. I'll keep checking MO records for information and will keep you updated.
Jonah died in Richmond, Wayne County, MO. That's north and a little west, I believe, of Texas County, MO. I'll take a look at the marriage certificate that's online [shown above]. The courthouse employees in Lexington were very helpful. We viewed original record books. Maybe we missed something. I have always wanted to take a second look. Hopefully I can get that done in the near future. I've got some photocopies of Joseph Kester/Lydia Comstock records - marriage info, pension papers, etc. I'll dig those out and review them again. If I remember right, dates of events never matched up. I 'll scan and send the grave photo and whatever else I think would be of interest tomorrow.
When I saw the Bartch/Kester marriage certificate you referred me to, it looked very familiar. I checked my files and found a copy with my note that I obtained it on Aug 23, 1991 at the Texas County Courthouse in Houston, MO. I won't trust my memory anymore! Are there any descendants from the son of Bartch/Kester living in MO that you know of?

Bob Sweeney: I am aware only of Josephine Bartch who sent us the pictures of her grandchildren that are posted on the same page that the marriage license is on. I will stay in touch and let you know if and when we can pin down Jonah Bartch.

Donna Galvan: I see that several years ago you posted the death certificate for Jonah Bartch and had not identified him. In case you still have not, he is the same as Jonas Bartch, first child of John F Barge (Bartch) and Catharine ( Karolina) Meier. Jonas was an infant with his parents on the 1850 census in Cherry Twp, Sullivan County, Pennsylvania [pg 351A, property #246] and neighbors of the Godlip Barge family (not the same Godlip/Gottleib who went to Missouri in 1880, but they are all related.)
In 1880, John F. Barge/Bartch took his family to Piedmont Twp, Wayne County, Missouri around the same time Gottlieb Barge (son of John G.) left Cherry Twp, Sullivan County, PA and went to Missouri. Some people think John F. is the son of Frederick Barge, but I think he is son of Frederick's brother, John G, which would make him brother of Gottlieb (the younger) who went to Missouri in 1880. Regardless, whether they are cousins or brothers, they went to Missouri about the same time.
One of Jonas' brothers is Chris, born about 1866, my great-grandfather. I have been trying to untangle the Barge (Bartch) connections regarding which of the four John Barges in Cherry Twp, Sullivan County, PA on the 1850 census are Frederick Barge's sons, which are his brothers, and which are sons of his brothers.

Bob Sweeney: Great to hear from you, Donna. It might be valuable for you and Carol Beverlin to continue the dialogue in respect of unraveling these relationships. Please let me know if you uncover any further details.

Here are the front and back of the death certificate of Jonah Bartch, as reported above:



Jonah Bartch 1850-1928
Death Certificate
Wayne County, MO
Photo Courtesy of Carol Novak Bevelin

The Sullivan Review
October 9, 1913

Joseph Kester a veteran of the Civil War and for many years a resident of Sullivan County died last Saturday at his home in Colley Township at the age of 75 years 7 months and 5 days. Funeral services were held this Wednesday, Rev. W.H. Fehr officiating. Interment was made in the Germany cemetery. Deceased is survived by his widow, two daughters and one son.

EMMA KESTER (Sarah, Samuel, George, Bernard, George Hunsinger) born

Married George Yanney on November 14, 1887; divorced in 1899.

Children of Emma & George Yanney:

  1. Frank Yanney 1882-1938
  2. Marvin Yanney
  3. Emma Yanney 1886-

The Sullivan Review
November 3, 1937

Mrs. Emma Yanney, of Cherry Township, died Saturday afternoon in the Packer hospital at Sayre, following a short illness at the age of 56 years.

Mrs. Yanney was a daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Kester, of Cherry Township, and for a number of years has made her home in the Huffmaster household in Cherry Township.

She is survived by one daughter, Mrs. E.J. Smith, of Syracuse; and two sons, Frank Yanney of Cleveland, Ohio, and Marvin Yanney of the Veterans Camp, Lancaster; and four grandchildren, also two brothers, Lee Kester of Forkston and Thomas Kester of Detroit, Mich.

Funeral service was held from the home of E.W. Huffmaster, Monday morning, with mass in St. Basil’s Church.  Interment in the adjoining cemetery.

Among those from a distance who attended the funeral were:  Mrs. Frank Yanney and friends of Cleveland, Ohio; Mr. and Mrs. E.J. Smith, daughter Helen and son Edward, of Syracuse; and Mr. and Mrs. Lee Kester and family of Forkston.  The funeral was very largely attended.

Frank Yanney (Emma, Sarah, Samuel, George, Bernard, George Hunsinger) born 1882; died 1938

Married Gertrude (nee') Reese, the foster daughter of Henry Stahl, in December 1904.  She was born July 18, 1878 in PA, and died November 9, 1966. She had previsouly been married to Samuel Epler, who was killed as the result of a gunfight with her second husband in August 1904. You can read more about the Epler family and the record of this altercation at The Descendants of Daniel Epler and Mary Hartman. After Frank Yanney died, Gertrude remarried once again and died under the name of Gertrude Smith.


Gertrude Reese Yanney (1878-1966)
Wife of Frank Yanney
Twice Married Previously to Samuel Epler
Taken at Christmas in 1955
Photo Courtesy of Richard McCarthy, Her Great-grandson

Children of Frank and Gertrude Yanney:

  1. Harry Francis Yanney
  2. Ruth LaFrances Yanney

Harry Francis Yanney (Frank, Emma, Sarah, Samuel, George, Bernard, George Hunsinger)

Married Edna Schwind on April 7, 1928 in Cleveland, Ohio, daughter of John Schwind and Nellie Karn.  She was born September 5, 1909 in Cleveland, Ohio, and died May 29, 1998 in Stuart, Fla.


L to r: Ruth LaFrancis (Yanney) Nudleman, daughter of Frank and Gertrude Yanney; Edna (Schwind) Yanney, daughter-in-law of Frank and Gertrude; and Marie Epler, daughter of Samuel Epler and Gertrude Yanney (from her previous marriage)
Taken Before 1953
Photo Courtesy of Richard McCarthy
Son of Ruth and Great-grandson of Frank and Gertrude

Children of Harry Yanney and Edna Schwind are:

  1. Joan Yanney born July 6, 1932, Cleveland, OH.
  2. Ruth Lucille Yanney  born September 5, 1934, Cleveland, Ohio.

Joan Yanney (Harry, Frank, Emma, Sarah, Samuel, George, Bernard, George Hunsinger) was born July 6, 1932 in Cleveland, OH.  She married Robert Moore.  He was born November 9, 1928 in Mystic, CT, and died December 25, 1971 in Cleveland, OH

Children of Joan and Robert Moore:

  1. Gary Moore 1951-
  2. Robert Moore 1955-

Ruth Lucille Yanney (Harry, Frank, Emma, Sarah, Samuel, George, Bernard, George Hunsinger) was born September 5, 1934 in Cleveland, Ohio.   Married Richard Matthew McCarthy in Cleveland, OH, son of Matthew McCarthy and Gertrude Cusack.  He was born May 5, 1930 in Cleveland, Ohio, and died December 14, 1997 in Denver, Co.

Children of Ruth and Richard McCarthy:

  1. Richard Michael McCarthy 1952-
  2. Thomas Mitchel McCarthy  1956-

Catherine Yanney (Sarah, Samuel, George, Bernard, George Hunsinger); died March 4, 1936.

Married Robert McMahon

The Sullivan Review
March 11, 1936

Mrs. Robert McMahon of Ulster died in the Packer hospital at Sayre, Wednesday, March 4th, of pneumonia.  The body was brought to the home of E.W. Huffmaster of Cherry Township from whose home the funeral was held Monday, March 9th.

She is survived by her husband, one sister, Mrs. Emma Yanney of Cherry Township and two brothers Levi Kester of Forkston and Thomas Kester of Cleveland, Ohio.

Rev. C.B. Meyers, pastor of the Reformed church officiated.  Burial was in Peace Cemetery.

Levi Kester (Sarah, Samuel, George, Bernard, George Hunsinger)

Married Jennie Hobbs

Children of Levi & Jennie Hobbs:

  1. Clyde Kester 1906-1974

Clyde Kester (Levi, Sarah, Samuel, George, Bernard, George Hunsinger) born January 15, 1906; died September 28, 1974.

Married Henrietta Kofink.  She was born September 6, 1907; died November 22, 1993

No children

The Sullivan Review
October 3, 1974

Clyde D. Kester, 68, Forkston, Mehoopany, R.D. died September 28, 1974.

Mr. Kester was born in Mehoopany Twp. On January 15, 1906, the son of the late Levi and Jessie Hobbs Kester.

He is survived by his widow, Henrietta Kofink Kester.

Mr. Kester was a member of the National Rifle Association and Treasurer of the Dutch Mountain Landowners Association.

Mr. and Mrs. Kester spent their winters in Forkston and summers in Dutch Mountain.

The funeral was held at Sheldons Funeral Home, Tunkhannock, with Rev. Edwin Simmons of Forkston United Methodist Church officiating.

Interment was in Union Cemetery, Mehoopany.

The Sullivan Review
November 24, 1993

Henrietta Kester, 86, of Forkston, Wyoming County, died November 22, 1993, in Tyler Memorial Hospital, Tunkhannock.
She was born in Scranton September 6, 1907, a daughter of Gottlieb and Amelia Linder Kofink. She was the widow of Clyde Kester who died in 1974.
Mrs. Kester was a graduate of Falls-Overfield Vocational School, Class of 1925, and the Scranton-Lackawanna Business College in 1927.
For several years she worked at the Hartman Insurance Agency in Williamsport, and for an import-export company in New York City. She served as secretary for the Forkston Township Auditors and was treasurer for the Dutch Mountain Landowners Association for 12 years.
She was a former member of the Hickory Street Baptist Church in Scranton and a past member of the Ground Observation Corps. She was a member of the historical societies of both Wyoming and Sullivan Counties.
Surviving are cousins.
Funeral services will be held today, November 24, at 2 p.m. at the Sheldon-Kukuchka Funeral Home in Tunkhannock, with Rev. Kenneth Bitler officiating. Burial will be in Union Hill Cemetery, Mehoopany.

Editor's Note: These links will take you to more information about Henrietta Kester, and her History of Bella Sylva.

Herbert Bartch (Sarah, Samuel, George, Bernard, George Hunsinger) born December 7, 1885; died March 1956.

Married, then divorced

 


Herbert Bartch
Son of Gottlieb and Sarah (Hunsinger) Bartch
Photo Courtesy of Josephine Bartch, His Daughter

Children of Herbert &

1.      Josephine Bartch 1923-

2.      Herbert Bartch, Jr. 1928-

Josephine Bartch (Herbert, Sarah, Samuel, George, Bernard, George Hunsinger) born October 23, 1923

Herbert Bartch, Jr. (Herbert, Sarah, Samuel, George, Bernard, George Hunsinger) born January 19, 1928; died


Josephine Bartch
With Two Grandchldren
Photo Courtesy of Josephine Bartch

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