The following article is from page 226 in Chapter 22 (Jackson Township) of the 1883 book "History of Butler County, Pennsylvania", by Waterman, Watkins & Co. A copy of this book is available in the library of the Mercer County, Pennsylvania Historical Society. According to the 1940 book "Pastors and People of Somerset Classis," Francis A. Edmonds served at the Berlin Reformed Church in the 1860 to 1863 timeframe.
The following clipping is from the August 23, 1860 issue of the "Civilian & Telegraph" newspaper of Cumberland, Maryland.
The following portrait is also from the 1883 book "History of Butler County, Pennsylvania", by Waterman, Watkins & Co.
The following extract is from a chapter titled “Biographical Sketches of Ministers, Now Deceased” in the 1920 book “The history of the Pittsburgh Synod of the Reformed Church in the United States”. It provides the first and middle names of Rev. F. A. Edmonds.
Click here to see 18-year-old cigar maker Francis Edmonds listed in the household of his 55-year-old gunsmith father John Edmonds in the 1850 census of Northampton County, Pennsylvania.
The 1884 book "History of Bedford, Somerset and Fulton Counties, Pennsylvania" states, "St. Paul's Reformed church, in Brothers Valley township, was organized in January, 1860, by Rev. F. A. Edmonds. A house of worship was built in 1860 at a cost of $600. The first to serve as officers were Jacob Hauger and Nicholas Smith, elders; F. R. Knepper and William Hauger, deacons."
Page 587 of the 1884 book "History of Bedford, Somerset and Fulton Counties, Pennsylvania" states, "St. Luke’s Reformed church, situated in Deeter’s Gap, on the top of Allegheny mountain, was organized January 15, 1861, by Rev. F. A. Edmonds."
Rev. Francis Edmonds is buried in the Union Cemetery In Livingston County, Illinois. His tombstone includes the inscription, "Rev. Francis Edmonds Capt. Co. F 142D Regt. PA. Vols. Born in Nazareth, PA. Dec. 2, 1832, Died Jan. 31, 190_." (1906 or 1908)
When I looked for Matilda Korns in the portion of the 1860 census of Allegany County, Maryland that pertains to households with a Cumberland Post Office address, I found the following June 26, 1860 record. I can't tell if the record is for a Korns family or Kerns family, but the family includes a 16-year-old daughter named Matilda. Although the surname is difficult to read, the record may show a 16-year-old Matilda Korns living in the home of a 48-year-old Pennsylvania-born lumber merchant named John Korns who would have been born circa 1812. When I looked through the manuscript 1850 census records of Allegany County, I could not find the same family.
Go to the Korns family genealogy home page