Rachel Loretta Gant Barrier

Cousin Rachel found me via an ancestry research-related website. We both were "investigating" the same ancestors and family names. The lady sent me an email in which she introduced herself (it appeared Rachel was the daughter of our uncle Leffel) and asked questions regarding our family connections. I was glad to hear from Rachel indeed! Due to various, unimportant these days circumstances, the two sides of our family had lost contact decades ago.

Sometime after the email exchange, we met Rachel and her husband Ellis at their home in Gunter, TX. Our Cousin treated us to a great lunch. Then, we talked about our ancestry research and exchanged folders with various genealogy files.

Cousin Rachel showed us the family heirlooms - the furniture pieces our ancestors brought to Texas on an oxen-pulled wagon. We had a great time talking and visiting together. When we were leaving, we received a wonderful gift from Mr. Ellis. It was a Texas-shaped wall decoration created by him. It was made of wood & barbed wire.

Texas board made by Ellis

I also wrote down the recipe for chicken spaghetti* served by Cousin Rachel. The meal was delicious!

After the visit, Rachel and I kept in touch via FB. At the end of 2021, she informed us that her health had deteriorated. Sadly, following that, the lady contracted pneumonia. Rachel passed on 26 November 2021.

In the folder given to me by Rachel, among others, she included some notes regarding herself, her husband Ellis, and her siblings. I used them in the following note dedicated to our Cousins.

Rachel Loretta Gant was born on 9 November 1840 at St. Paul Hospital in Dallas, TX.

The 1950 census recorded the family members in their Dallas home on 7 April (1). The household dwellers were 46-year-old Leffel, his 50-year-old wife Ollie, and their children: 16-year-old Rodney R, 12-year-old Mary L, and 9-year-old Rachel L. Ollie's mother, 81-year-old Mary E Standley (born in Louisiana) also lived with the family.

Mrs. Ollie, Rachel's mom

 

Rachel lived with her parents Leffel and Ollie (Olivia) Standley in their home in Dallas for 17 years. Then, the family moved to 3626 Oak Grove in the same city. Rachel lived at the parents' home until she got married.
She studied at Crozier Tech High School, which she graduated from in 1959. Later, Rachel attended two-year El Centro Junior College and worked at Republic National Bank in Dallas.

23 December 1960 - First Baptist Dallas Church - 23-year-old Rachel Loretta became the wife of 27-year-old Ellis Knight Barrier, the son of Morris Weldon Barrier and Arden Knight Pool.
Rachel and Ellis had four children.

In 1977, they moved to Gunter, Wood, Texas, where Rachel worked part-time at First Baptist Church.

More about Rachel in the note on Findagrave.

Ellis Knight Barrier was born on 28 October 1936. His father, Mr. Morris Weldon, was a teacher (2). Ellis and his parents lived in Cookville, Titus, TX. By 1950, Mr. Morris W Barrier had been promoted to school superintendent and Ellis had two younger siblings Elizabeth and Franklin (3).

Ellis Knight Barrier served in the Air Force Reserves, he also studied at UTA for three and a half years.
Then, the man worked at General Motors Parts Division for thirty years. After his retirement, Ellis started his own company. He made and sold Texas barbed wire plaques. 

The card was attached to the board we were given by Ellis

 Ellis K Barrier passed on 10 September 2022, not even a year after Rachel's departure.

More about Ellis - here.

As for Rachel's siblings

Leffel Last Jr. died in infancy. He was born on 22 December 1931. The baby developed an intolerance to baby formulas at the age of 6 months. Little Leffel was admitted to Bradford's Baby Hospital on 18 June 1932, where he died due to dehydration.

Rodney Ray was born on 24 April 1933 in Dallas, TX.
The man was drafted into the Army and then was stationed in Germany. Rodney got married on 29 December 1956 in Dallas, TX.
He took aviation training and worked as a private plane instructor and pilot for many years. Rodney also worked at Rebuilders Supply Company managed by his uncle Collins Standley, was employed by the Dallas Fire Department, and then worked part-time for Central Freight Lines.
Rodney Ray lived in Plano, TX. He died of a heart attack on 16 November 1997.

Mary Louise was born on 12 August 1937. She left this world a few months after Rachel's passing, on 29 July 2022. Mary Louise lived 84 years.

Rachel, Rodney, and Louise

 PS

*I make the chicken spaghetti from time to time. We call the dish "Rachel's spaghetti".

Credits: the photos of Ollie Standley and Rachel with her siblings I attained during our genealogy exchange with Rachel.

Sources:

1. "United States 1950 Census", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6XGG-K8B8 : Tue Jul 11 10:02:09 UTC 2023), Entry for Leffel Gant and Ollie O Gant, 7 April 1950.
2. "United States Census, 1940", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K435-H3Y : Thu Jul 13 06:33:34 UTC 2023), Entry for Morris W Barrier and Arden Barrier, 1940.
"United States 1950 Census", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6XG1-J91J : Thu Jul 27 09:38:37 UTC 2023), Entry for Morris Barrier and Arden Barrier, 1 April 1950.

Leffel - The Name And The Story Beyond It

Leffel was another mysterious first name that I found in our family tree branch. It was mysterious till I discovered who the Leffel people were and why was one of them so important that his surname became a first name.

So who were the Leffel people?

The original spelling of the surname was possibly Loeffel. Balthazar (also called Balzar) Loeffel/Leffel born on 2 February 1721 in Palatinate Region, Germany came to Pennsylvania where he married Sybilla (born on 1 March 1728). Both of them were regarded as the Pennsylvania Dutch. The term 'Dutch' referred to 'Deutsch' (meaning German of course), which was commonly pronounced 'Dutch' by Americans. Most of so-called the Pennsylvania Dutch people came to Pennsylvania from Germany and Switzerland. The versions of German which they spoke created a unique dialect of German spoken by the Pennsylvania Dutch only.

How are we related to the Leffel family?

Our ancestor (7 generations back), Benjamin Maugridge Boone Jr. married Eve Leffel, daughter of Balzar and Sybilla Leffel. Benjamin was born on 13 August 1741 in Exeter Township, Philadelphia County, PA. He is listed in DAR (Daughters of American Revolution) records: Patriotic Service in Pennsylvania as Private. Benjamin died on 25 September 1824 in Bloomsburg, Columbia County, PA. Eve was born on 5 January 1756 in Amity, Washington County, PA. She died on 22 June 1816 in Bloomsburg, PA too.

What was so significant about the Leffel people/or one of them that their surname survived in our family tree as a given name?

One possible explanation could be that Balzar Leffel was a Patriot. He is listed in the DAR (Daughters of American Revolution) Patriot Index (Oath of Allegiance,1778, BERKS Co.). On the other hand, there were more Patriots in the family than just Baltzar only. Therefore, I suppose, it was all about David Miller Leffel, grandson of Eve's brother John Leffel. During my genealogy quest, I learned something very interesting not only on that particular ancestor but on some history of the Land as well.

David Miller Leffel was born to Anthony and Mary Leffel on 20 January 1816 (in Botetourt County, Virginia). At the age of 21, David married 20-year-old Susan Evaline West. The marriage ceremony took place on 3 May 1837 in Springfield, Clark County, Ohio.
When Susan's mother died, her father Michael West, and her brothers moved to Texas where they got some land in Grayson County. In 1858, after Michael's death, Susan and her husband David Miller relocated to Texas as well - Susan inherited part of the land from her father. The couple settled in Cooke County, though where one of Susan's sisters lived. They had eight children: William Jefferson (1838), Sarah Ann (b.1840), Eliza Jane (b. 1843, died as an infant), Anthony Musgrove (1846), James Perry (b.1848), Charles Edgar (b.1851), John Wesley (b.1855), and George L. (b. 1857). David worked as a carpenter.

Father of David Miller Leffel (1791-1870)

During the Civil War (on 1 October 1862) Texas militia arrested many people who were suspected to be the Union sympathizers and were accused of plotting against the Confederacy.

David M. Leffel, supposedly encouraged by his brother-in-law William Boyles attended a 'Peace Party' meeting which was held at a private home. The meeting discussion was focused on freeing the people arrested by the Citizens Court. David, along with fourteen other persons who were present at the meeting, was caught and charged with disloyalty to the Confederacy and sentenced to death by hanging. David was executed on 19 October 1862. Forty other men were hanged as well. It all happened in October 1862 in Gainsville, Texas.

Not long ago, the monuments commemorating the victims of the Great Hanging at Gainsville were found in Cooke County, where the tragic events took place.

I need to say that I was quite moved when I found out the story beyond the Leffel name and about what happened to David Miller Leffel. It all must have been known to our grandparents who lived in Texas as well. No wonder they regarded the surname so meaningful that they decided to name their child with it. Now we probably know why.

Credits:

• Picture of Anthony Leffel:  Courtesy of clmroots.blogspot.com
• Pictures of the Gainsville Memorial Monuments: Courtesy of gainesvilletx1862.blogspot.com