MASSACRE HAFNER
Wilhelm Alexandri Hafner
Wilhelm Alexandri Hafner was born in 1680 in Zell, Rhineland, Prussia. He married Anna Catharine Kramer in 1721 in Rhineland-Palatinate. Along with Catharine, he was killed in the Fort Seybert Massacre. During the French and Indian War on April 28, 1758, Shawnee and Delaware warriors led by Killbuck attacked Fort Seybert in present-day Pendleton County, West Virginia, killing 17 adults and capturing 24 women and children. Wilhelm died 28 April 1758 in Augusta, Virginia.
Anna Catharine Kramer
Anna Catherine Kramer was born in 1680 in Germany. She died 28 April 1758 at Fort Seybert in Pendleton County, West Virginia. She is buried at the Fort Seybert Massacre Gravesite.
PALANTINE HEVENER
Joannes Nicolaus Hevener (Hafner)
Joannes Nicolaus Hevener was Born 17 April 1707 in Rheinland, Prussia. His family was from Palatine, an area that lies along the Rhine, the Neckar, and the Main Rivers. He was Christened 17 April 1707. Listed as Nickel Heffner, he was on the ship Davy in 1738 from Amsterdam to Philadelphia. Anna Elizabeth Seibert and her mother were on the same ship. The two met and married. He died 20 June 1769 in Pennsylvania.
Ann Elizabeth Seibert
Anna Elizabeth was born in 1720 in Saarland, Germany. She died in 1786 in Berks County, Pennsylvania. Anna and her mother were on the same ship as her future husband Joannes Nicolaus (Nicolas) Hevener (Hafner).
CAPTIVE HEVENER
Frederick Hevener Sr
Frederick Hevener Senior was born in 1747 in Germany and died 16 September 1817 in Pendleton, Virginia. He "furnished supplies" during the Revolutionary War (SAR #P-331952 and DAR #A065886)
Maria Elizabeth Maus
Maria Elizabeth Maus was born in 1745. During the Ft. Seybert Massacre on 28 April 1758, she was taken hostage by Shawnee Chieftain Killbuck. Later returned against her will, she was given to John Dunkle as her guardian. Dunkle lived next door to Frederick Hevener Sr. She died 16 November 1741 in Tulpehokin, Pennsylvania.
REVOLUTIONARY HEVENER
Frederick Hevener (Hefner)
Frederick Hevener was born on 24 May 1779, in Brandywine, Pendleton County, West Virginia. In 1802, he married Rachel Anna Peck. He registered for military service in 1813.. He died on 22 September 1854, in Huntington County, Indiana, at the age of 75, and was buried in Warren, Salamonie Township, Huntington County, Indiana.
Rachel Anna Peck
Rachel Anna Peck (DAR # A218279) was born in 1781 in Pendleton County Virginia. She died in 1837 in Ohio. Her father was Garrett Peck Senior who, during the Revolutionary War, served in Capt. McCay's Company. In Virginia, he furnished supplies to the Augusta County Militia in May 1782 and paid a supply tax in 1783. (SAR # P-333743)). Rachel Peck's mother's name was Margaret. Her parents lived on 273 acres of land on Strait Creek, a branch of the South Fork of the Potomac, August County, Virginia. They had thirteen children.
ELOCUTIONIST HEFNER
William M Hefner
William M Hefner was born on 25 November 1817 in Pendleton, Virginia. His brother owned a dairy, next door to Ward's Slaughterhouse at the corner of Oak Avenue and Quincy Road, about two miles East of Oroville. In 1906, a formal complaint was made to the city by neighbors of the dairy describing it as "an unbearable nuisance existing at the very doors of our homes, to wit." Also, there were numerous requests for Mr. Hefner to remove the bells from his cows "when brought from pasture that we might have peace and quiet and a chance to sleep at night." Mr. Hefner was instructed to remove the bells each night. His nephew, Floyd Hefner, spotted a Native American eating with the dogs. Floyd ran to William M Hefner at the dairy next door where he was "hanging out." Floyd and William are credited with finding Ishi in Oroville, California.
Mary Rose Whittingham Sealey
Mary Rose Willingham was born on 24 December 1832 in Missouri. On 06 October 1868, she married William M Hefner in La Port Indiana. After William died, she remarried to William Sealy. They had one daughter, Ida Sealy. Mary Sealy died 22 July 1910 in Oroville, California.
ALMARIN HEFNER
Philip Newton Hefner Sr.
Philip Newton Hefner Sr.
Philip Newton Hefner Sr.
Born 09 November 1857 in Pennsylvania. He was brought to California when he was 9 years old. He lived in Cherokee and then Oroville. He was considered "one of the best known and oldest pioneer families." He also served in the Navy. He married Cora Munsil 01 January 1887 in Chico. "Phil slipped off to Chico and pb15 June 1888, he advertised a "Lost Strayed or Stolen From the Hefner Ranch on 25 May a black horse and suckling colt." They spent their honeymoon in Sacramento. He died of a stroke 21 December 1936 in Gridley, California.
Cora Munsil
Philip Newton Hefner Sr.
Philip Newton Hefner Sr.
Cora Munsil was born 07 August 1859 in Cherokee Flats, California and was a native of Pentz, Butte County. Her parents were John Almarin Munsil (born in 1828 from San Franciso) and Taphena Thodosia "Dora" Friend (born 17 Jun 1836 in Van Buren Co, Iowa). Dora Friend was named a "pioneer matron." He belonged to Northern Star Lodge IOGT. John Munsil was Poundmaster of Oroville who also owned the Railroad House near the depot. It was a hotel, but he closed it to "open a laundry in it where the washing and ironing will be done with white labor. He lived on the corner of Robinson and Myers streets. The Munsil ranch was about six miles from town. On 29 September two Districts had attachments to arrest the same man. So, out on Munsil's ranch, the Sheriff of one district raced the Constable from the other district to see "which would get service upon the defendant first." He is reported on 21 October 1887 that he "fired a rock at a stray dog" and it went through a large plate glass window in Green & Hecker's new building. "If he had killed the dog he probably wouldn't mind paying for the glass." Almarison, the female form of Almarin, was given in namesake to Laura Almarison Hefner Ott and Karina Almarison Ott Camacho. Frank Munsil was a judge for the Thompson Flat Precinct, District No. 4, Hamilton Township. On 12 January 1877, he ran an ad in the newspaper: "FREEDOM NOTICE: Notice is hereby given that from and after this date I shall neither claim any wages due to my son, Frank Munsil, nor pay any debts of his contracting. He is hereafter given his freedom." In 1887, he was appointed pound master for Oroville "and is determined to see that no hogs and cattle shall disturb the midnight slumber of the honest citizen." In 1877, he "completed a fine express wagon" and proposed "an express business in carrying packages to any part of Oroville. John was in the "butchering business, Duensing & Munsil." He left that partnership and became a contractor. 17 January 1879, he was awarded "the contract for erecting a fence around the Infirmary grounds at 20 cents per rod." On 27 September 1878, he advertised, "J.A. Munsil has started a laundry at the Depot house, and those who have an antipathy to the Mongolian race, and wish to discourage them in this country have a splendid opportunity to do so. Mr. Munsil, however, has all the facilities for doing work cheap and well. Give him a trial." In 1887, John opened a restaurant on Myers street. Cora Hefner died 15 March 1929 in Thermalito, California and is buried in Oroville Cemetery. She had been an invalid for years. The funeral announcements were made by Hamilton and Rileys.
PLANTATION HEFNER
John Leverne D Hefner
John Laverne Hefner was born 08 October 1902 in Ophir Township. He enlisted in the Naval Reserve at the recruiting office, 742 Market Street. He married Wilhelmina "Mina" Medeiros Lowry on 13 March 1920 in Sacramento, California. When his wife died in January 1922, John L. Hefner was a printer in the mechanical department at the Oroville Register. 09 December 1929, he was arrested for "failure to provide." 19 June 1923, he remarried to Juanita Nichols in Sacramento. In 1930, he was arrested on liquor possession charges at Jerry's Place, Oroville, and fined $50. He was later charged and examined by the United States Commissioner J.E. Ebert who fined him $1500. 13 January 1936, he wrote a letter to the editor in the Sacramento Bee complaining about hunters who won't stay off the land of farmers. He married again to Ann, but it was annulled for fraud 29 February 1944. In February 1944, he visited family in OBanion Corner and suffered "an attack of the appendicitis." He married Bernice at some point. John Hefner served as a combat medic in World War 1 and 2 and was a member of San Francisco AFL Local 41 of the Bartenders Union. He was employed as a bartender at Rickey's Stone Chimney in San Francisco. He died suddenly on 18 June 1956 at his home, 627 Brewster Ave. in Redwood City, San Mateo, California. He is buried in Golden Gate Memorial Park.
Wilhelmina "Mina" Lowry was born on 23 March 1904. She moved to Oroville in 1900 where she married John Hefner at a "pretty wedding performed at the home of Mr. and Mrs. J.H. Dungan on Montgomery Street. She died 14 January 1921 from childbirth. Laura Almarison Hefner, the newborn, and her 1 1/2 year old sister Doris Marjorie Hefner were raised by their grandfather, Bert Lowry in Stockton and Modesto and their uncle Philip Newton Hefner Junior on 1306 Pomona Avenue in Oroville, California.
John Leverne D Hefner's 2nd Wife
John Leverne D Hefner's 2nd Wife
Juanita Nichols was John Laverne D. Hefner's 2nd wife. She was very well known in Oroville. They had a son, Robert Kenneth "Bud" Hefner, born 14 December 1924 in Sacramento, California and died 19 August 2013 in Roseville, California.
The Parents of Wilhelmina "Mina" Lowry
Bert Lowry
Bert Lowry was editor of the Oroville Mercury when it was owned by Mrs. Edith Dungan of Pacific Grove. He was a former San Francisco newspaperman who was on the staff of the Modesto Herald.
Belmira "Belle" Judy Medeiros Gusmao
Belmira Judy Medeiros Shepard Baddaky was born on 01 May 1897 in the Azores, Portugal. Her father was Manuel de Medeiros Gusmao (Feb 1849-02 Dec 1926), and her mother was Maria Julia Caetano (1856-1916) Gusmao (pictured above). On February 1913, she was granted an Interlocutory decree. Belmira and John were divorced on the grounds he had deserted the marriage. John and Belmira were in Cuba when John gave Belmira $250 to return to Hawaii. John later refused to leave Cuba and abandoned Belmira. Belimira's second husband, Herbert Lowry died in 1944. She married Herbert V Shepherd.
UNCLE HEFNER
Philip Newton Hefner Junior
Laura Almarison Hefner Ott and Doris Marjorie Hefner Peters were raised by Philip Newton Junior when their mother died from the complications of childbirth. He was born 06 January 1896. He began work as a "Printer's Devil" at the Oroville Register when he was 14 years old and retired as a Shop Manager. He is registered as a member of the Old Pioneer Family. He was a member of the Oroville Elks Lodge, 1484 and in the Typographical Union. He married Winifred "Winnie" Marie Eicher on 15 January 1915 in Oroville. She was a member of Gold of Ophir Parlor 190, Native Daughters of the Golden West, W.T. Sherman Woman's Relief Corps, and Orange Grove Rebekah Lodge 84. He lived at 1306 Pomona Avenue, Oroville, California. He had daughters, Phyllis (married Claire Elweyn Paxton) and Gloria Hefner and one son, Ronald Hefner. In 1913, the Hefner property in Butte County "described as follows, to wit: Being Lots Numbers Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, and Ten of the Sealey Tract according to a map showing Subdivision of W. Sealy Estate and partition to heirs, surveyed December 4-15, 1900 by O.W. Jasper, Licensed Land Surveyor filed 12 February 1901." Philip and his wife celebrated their golden wedding anniversary 09 January 1965.
The Children
Laura Almarison Hefner Ott
Doris Marjorie Hefner Peters
Doris Marjorie Hefner Peters
Laura Almarison Hefner was born 12 February 1921 in Oroville, California. Married to Charles Samuel Ott 11 March 1938 in Oroville, California. Laura and Doris Hefner joined, in 1932, the first Girl Scouts Troop 2 in Oroville In 1935, Laura Hefner was a member of Pioneer Girls, Native Daughters of the Golden West , the General Sutter Grange and served as club reporter to the Oroville Mercury News. Her sister, Doris Hefner, served as treasurer. In 1936, for Halloween, Miss Willeta Swinney threw a party at her home, 916 Myers Street, for Laura and her sister. "Games and a social time whiled away the evening hours." She died 08 January 1962 in Marysville, California.
Doris Marjorie Hefner Peters
Doris Marjorie Hefner Peters
Doris Marjorie Hefner Peters
Doris Marjorie Hefner was born 27 December 1921 in Oroville, California. In March, 1944, she enlisted as a Yeoman 2nd class of WAVES and soon became 3rd class. She attended Golden Empire College of Commerce and joined the Delta Nu chapter of Sigma Phi Gamma. She was engaged to Robert Field (father was Samuel B. Morris), a graduate of Stanford University Engineering. She started working at Butte County Title Company and later worked at California Water Service. Married to Ralph Douglas Peters in 1945. Died 06 January 2006 in Riverside, California. She married Ralph Douglas Peters 16 December 1945 in Oakland, California.
LOST HEFNER
Charles Samuel Ott
Born 14 May 1917 in Marysville. Charles Samuel Ott was married twice. He married his first wife Laura Almarison Hefner in Oroville, California. He died 06 August 1977 in Yuba City, California. On 10 October 1963, he filed a lawsuit against the third husband of Belmira "Belle" Judy Medeiros Gusmao Sheperd Baddaky.
Laura Almarison Hefner
Born 21 February 1921 in Oroville, California. Died on 08 January 1962 in Marysville, California. In 1935, Laura Hefner was a member of Pioneer Girls and served as club reporter while her sister, Doris Hefner, served as treasurer. For Halloween, Miss Willeta Swinney threw a party at her home, 916 Myers Street, for Laura and her sister. "Games and a social time whiled away the evening hours." In June, 1937, a "Weenie Bake" was given and the Hefner sisters attended at the sandbar up the river. Enjoying a full social life, the girls were members of the Junior Monday Club. They threw a "Backwards Party" where "guests wore at least one article of clothing backward and had to arrive walking backwards through the back door." There was also a puppet show by Bud Lane. At a party on 12 February 1945, Laura honored Mr. Harold Seufert. The rooms were decorated in pink and white and Bingo and a memory contest were the diversions.
Lauretta Jean Ott Pankey
Lauretta Jean Ott Pankey was born 13 October 1938 and weighed eight and a half pounds. She married to Phyllis G Pankey. They had two sons, Michael Pankey and Gregory Pankey.The marriage ended in divorce on 29 September 1977 in Carson City. Lauretta was remarried to Theodore Glenn Thomas 29 September 1977 in Carson City.
Charles Garrett Ott
Charles Garret Ott was born 16 January 1940. On 25 July 1957, he joined the Marine Corps. He married to Phyllis Geraldine Thornsberry Geddis on 03 December 1961 in Sutter County. The marriage ended in divorce in May 1970. Charles remarried on 22 November 1984 to Janett P. Damon. He currently owns Allstate insurance offices in the Oroville area and lives in Oroville.
Cynthia Faye Ott
Cynthia Faye Ott was born to Charles Samuel Ott and his second wife, Bonnie Faye Ott. At the time of Charles Samuel Ott's death, she was living in Esparto, California.
The Grandchildren
Michael Pankey
Unknown
Karina Almarison Ott Camacho
Karina Almarison Ott Camacho was born 14 April 1963 in Yuba City, California to Charles Garret Ott and Phyllis Geraldine Geddis. She currently lives in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma with her daughter River, a cow dog, Blue, a Shihtzu name Loki, 2 Sugar Gliders, Winston and Rosie and a snake named Avi.
Gregory Pankey
Gregory Pankey
Biking is another activity we enjoy as a family. We love to ride on bike trails, through parks, and even explore new cities on two wheels.