Daniel Oliver’s Ancestry

The Oliver name is Scotch-Irish and the earliest of our ancestors in America were likely from Scotland through Ireland (Ulster Scots) who came to America in the early to late 18th Century.

Daniel’s parents, John and Rachel Oliver (nee Blankney), grew up in the southern region of Pennsylvania in the area known as the Cumberland Valley, part of an area now called Franklin County which borders Maryland and into which many 18th century settlers flowed from the more populace states of Virginia and Delaware. The great migration of the Scotch-Irish into the area began as early as 1730 when Indian claims  to the land were extinguished. Within a few years, there were almost 400 families dotted across the Valley as communities were established. Presbyterian churches were first built by the settlers, but soon other religious congregations were formed.

In 1756, the village of Chambersburg was laid out, a town which would become the County Seat when Franklin County was created by being splintered off from the large Cumberland County. 

The father of John Oliver is unknown because the county courthouse was burned down during the Civil War. However, the census of 1850 indicates that John’s parents were also born in Pennsylvania, indicating that the Olivers were in Pennsylvania in the 18th century.

The father of Rachel was William Blankney and his family was part of the early settlement in Franklin County and, undoubtedly, so was Rachel’s mother, Elizabeth Tower, and her family. Elizabeth and William were both native born Pennsylvanians. They were married in Carlisle, the Cumberland County Seat on March 11, 1811 by Rev. Frederic Sunno.

The name Blankney is particularly associated with the State of Pennsylvania, having more people of the name living there in the 19th century than in any other state.

On March 14, 1839 Rachel Blankney married her next door neighbor, John Oliver. John and Rachel lived all of their lives in Franklin County and raised seven children, five sons) and two daughters. 

John Oliver was listed in the census in 1840 as a weaver. In the 1850s he advertised his wares in a local newspaper and had a shop in Smoketown, a small community near Chambersburg. He also weaved tow cloth, a coarse linen which was used for making clothing for inhabitants of the poor house of Franklin County.

The village of Smoketown where John and Rachel settled in the 1840s no longer exists (though the road through the area is called Smoketown Road) but at that time consisted of a few businesses, including the fabric and notions shop that John ran out of their house and occasionally advertised in the local paper.

An ad appeared in the Valley Spirit (Chambersburg newspaper) on May 3, 1851 that follows:

 _______________________________________________________________________

   HO!  This Way!

The subscriber begs leave to inform the public,

That he still keeps for sale at his shop in Smoke-

Town, on Main Street, nearly opposite McCliniticks

Cooper shop, and next door to J. Leonard’s sad-

dler shop, all kinds of notions, such as Thread,

Buttons, pins, Matches, Tapes, Thimbles, Toy

Glass, Hooks and Eyes, Darners. Also—a Lot

Of Hammers; Candies, licorice and Medicines.

Weaving done in all its branches, such as Cloths,

Flannels, Baggings, Table Linen, Lindsay’s, Car-

Pets and Coverlets; DYING, and coloring,

Black, Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, Scarlet, Pink,

Orange, Crimson and Purple, and warranted to

Keep their color. Also Shoe Cobbling,

                               John Oliver

_______________________________________________________________________

Another ad in the Franklin Repository (competing newspaper) on April 7, 1858 ran as follows:

 _______________________________________________________________________

  DR. H. JAMES’ EXTRACT OF CAN-

NABIS INDICA (Alcoholic preparation from the

Leaves imported from Calcutta.) for the permanent cure

Of CONSUMPTION, BRONCHITIS, ASTHMA, COUGHS

COLDS, NERVOUS DEBILITY, etc. Price, $2 per

Bottle.

None genuine without “Dr. H. James, 19 Grand

Street, Jersey City,” blown in the bottle. For sale by,

            John Oliver

          Sole Agent

                                                  Near Scotland, Franklin County PA

_______________________________________________________________________

There are also newspaper notices in 1840 from the “Poor House of Franklin County” recording payments to John Oliver for the sewing of “tow cloth,” a rough fabric for use in making clothing, presumably for the occupants of the poor house.

John Oliver died on September 5, 1863. He was 48 years old. Rachel Oliver died ________ 1879. She was 64 years old.

In Green Village there remains an aged and small Methodist Church cemetery This is where Rachel and John Oliver are buried along with some of their children and grandchildren. Rachel’s parents are also buried there. The faded and slightly eroded tombstone for Rachel simply States “Our Mother”: and for John Oliver “Our Father” with their full names, dates of birth and death also engraved on their markers. It is a pretty place, quite secluded and very green.