Daniel Defibaugh, Sr. was the father of the Bedford County gunsmiths William Defibaugh and Daniel L. Defibaugh. He has been reported as a gunsmith too, but I am not aware of any documentary evidence supporting this contention except some iron and a few tools that are mentioned in his estate inventory, and the fact that two sons grew up to be gunsmiths.
L. Dietle
Family relationships
1732-1799: According to Mary Lou Cook's August 3, 2013 Defibaugh working file, Caspar Defibaugh was Daniel Defibaugh's grandfather, was born in 1732, built the Defibaugh tavern with his son Gotlieb, died in 1799, and is buried in the Union Cemetery in the town of Somerset, Pennsylvania. This seems to be the Caspar Dieffenbacher who appears on the passenger list of the ship Edinburgh that was recorded on August 13, 1750 at Philadelphia. A transcript of the list appears on pages 429 to 431 of the 1934 book "Pennsylvania German Pioneers", Volume 1. (Thanks to Larry Smith for identifying the list.)
Herebelow, Casper appears in an undated Colerain Township tax list that (since John Doddridge is on the list) could be no later than early 1773:
1755-1816: According to Mary Lou Cook's August 3, 2013 Defibaugh working file, Daniel Defibaugh's father was Johann Gotlieb Defibaugh, who was born on March 26, 1755, died on December 16, 1816, and is buried in the Union Cemetery in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.
1785: Click here to see a listing for Casper Defibaugh in the 1785 tax list of Colerain Township.
1786: Click here to see a listing for Casper Defibaugh in the 1786 tax list of Colerain Township.
1787: Click here to see a listing for Casper Defibaugh in the 1787 tax list of Colerain Township.
Circa 1789-1790: Various secondary sources indicate that Daniel Defibaugh was born in the 1789 to 1790 timeframe.
1790: Looking for various surname spellings beginning with a D or a T, I did not find a Johann Defibaugh or a Gotlieb Defibaugh anywhere in the book "Heads of Families First Census of the United States: 1790 State of Pennsylvania" (46 MB). It may be worth someone else taking a look to see if they can find a listing.
1790: The following excerpt from the manuscript 1790 census records of Bedford County includes a listing for Casper Defibaugh:
1814: According to Mary Lou Cook's August 3, 2013 Defibaugh working file, Daniel Defibaugh and Mary Lysinger were married on January 5, 1814.
1814: According to Mary Lou Cook's August 3, 2013 Defibaugh working file, William Defibaugh was a son of Daniel and Mary (Lysinger) Defibaugh, was born on November 15, 1814, died June 19, 1891, and is buried at the Mount Pleasant Cemetery in East Providence Township of Bedford County, Pennsylvania.
1815: According to Mary Lou Cook's August 3, 2013 Defibaugh working file, Lucinda Defibaugh was a daughter of Daniel and Mary (Lysinger) Defibaugh and was born in 1815. Lucinda (Defibaugh) Chenoweth is buried at the Bedford Cemetery in Bedford County, Pennsylvania.
1816: According to Mary Lou Cook's August 3, 2013 Defibaugh working file, David Defibaugh was a son of Daniel and Mary (Lysinger) Defibaugh, was born in 1816, and is buried at the Fairview Cemetery in Blair County, Pennsylvania.
1819: According to a web page about Daniel Defibaugh, he had a son named Alexander L. Defibaugh who was born in 1819. According to Alexander Defibaugh's obituary, he died on August 18, 1878. Alexander Defibaugh is buried at the Bedford Cemetery in Bedford County, Pennsylvania.
1820: According to Mary Lou Cook's August 3, 2013 Defibaugh working file, Daniel Defibaugh, Sr. died on February 18, 1820 and is buried at the Defibaugh Farm Family Cemetery in Bedford County, Pennsylvania.
1820: According to Mary Lou Cook's August 3, 2013 Defibaugh working file, Daniel (Lysinger) Defibaugh was a son of Daniel and Mary (Lysinger) Defibaugh, was born on March 18, 1820, died on March 18, 1902. He is buried at the Brush Creek Cemetery in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.
In their 1991 book "Gunsmiths of Bedford, Somerset and Fulton Counties", the authors of the 1983 booklet mentioned below refers to William Defibaugh's father as Daniel Defibaugh I, indicates that he died intestate, and states that although it has been reported that Daniel Defibaugh I had been a gunsmith, the inventory of his estate suggests otherwise. In my mind, there is always the possibility that any gunsmithing tools he once owned may have been set aside for his son William, who grew up to become a gunsmith.
In an article in the August, 2006 issue of the "Muzzle Blasts" magazine, James B. Whisker states that according to Defibaugh family tradition, the gunsmith William Defibaugh's father Daniel Defibaugh had also been a gunsmith. A footnote credits William L. Defibaugh (an architect and a descendent of William Defibaugh), as the source of the tradition.
1820: The widow Mary Defibaugh appears in the Providence township portion of the 1820 census records of Bedford County, Pennsylvania. The census record shows the number of children living in the household. The following image is a composite comprising tabular information from one page and a table header from another page.
1833: The 1983 booklet "Gunsmiths and Gunmakers of Bedford and Somerset Counties Pennsylvania 1770-1900" includes William Defibaugh's father Daniel Defibaugh, Sr. in their list of Bedford County gunsmiths, and based on a reference to his widow living on the turnpike between Bloody Run and Bedford, states that Daniel Defibaugh, Sr. died before 1838. The advertisement that I know of that mentions the widow Defibaugh was published in the February 16, 1833 issue of the "Bedford Gazette" newspaper, and includes the statement, "...the residence of the Widow DEFIBAUGH on the Turnpike Road between Bedford and Bloody Run..." The widow's residence was the Defibaugh tavern. The original part of this log and frame tavern is said to have been built circa 1785, and is located at 40.026096, -78.452249. The following image of the Defibaugh tavern was taken by Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD and is included here under the following license: Creative Commons Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Click here to see additional photos of the Defibaugh tavern.
1840: The following excerpt from the West Providence portion of the 1840 census records of Bedford County, Pennsylvania shows the households of the widow Mary Defibaugh and her son William Defibaugh:
1842: According to Mary Lou Cook's August 3, 2013 Defibaugh working file, Mary Lysinger, wife of Daniel Defibaugh, was born circa 1796 and died on January 19, 1842. Mary (Lysinger) Defibaugh is buried at the Defibaugh Farm Family Cemetery in Bedford County, Pennsylvania. Her broken tombstone includes the inscription, "In Memory of Mary C. Consort of Daniel Defibaugh died Janu 19th AD 1842 aged 45 y. 9 m. & 1 d. "
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The following graphic shows how I currently understand the relationships among the Defibaugh gunsmiths. Red text is used to identify individuals who were known or have been said to be gunsmiths.
Chronology
