THE BAXTER FAMILY

    Roseanne Baxter  was the daughter of George and Elinor Beatty Baxter.  These 2 were married by the Rev. Robert Cathcart in his Hopewell congregation, in Hopewell Twp, York Co.  However, their children were baptized in his  York congregation.  Rev. Cathcart ministered to both congretaions;

1. Roseanne Baxter baptized 12-28-1794 married Joseph Smith (more on the Smiths on their page. (named for her maternal aunt, Roseanne McCowen Hoge.
2. Jno McDonald Baxter baptized 3-21-1795 (there is a Jno McDonald in the congregation of Hopewell, indicating another tie to the church.)
3. Margaret Baxter bapt. 4-10-1796 (named for her aunt, Margaret McCown, her mother's sister
4. Susannah Baxter bapt. 4-22-1798
5. Andrew Finley bapt. 6-29-1800 (Member of the congregation of Hopewell and uncle of Eleanor Beatty Baxter.....I have included Andrew Finley the elder's will, listing Eleanor and Roseanne)
6. Jane Baxter bapt. 8-22-1802
7. Mary Laird  Baxter bap. 11-25-1804 (named for a cousin)

    After 1804 I could find nothing further on George.  I felt he might have died, but there was no will of record.  However, I sent to York County for a copy of the administration papers of a George Baxter who had died intestate in 1805.........and there, on the last page, was the signature of Elliner Baxter.  So, my hunch had paid off and this was our  George.  He must have died accidentally, or at least very quickly, without time to make a will.  Thus, Eleanor was left a widow  with 7 children under the age of 11, a pretty difficult situation for any woman.  His administration papers didn't indicate a great amount of worth, so we don't know how Eleanor managed until 1805, when her Uncle, Andrew Finley, left her 200 lbs and the use of his home for 5 years, including the livestock.  He also left 400 lbs to Eleanor's daughter Roseanne, with her to draw 6 lb. yearly interest.  Andrew Finley was a wealthy man, with much written of him in the York Co area, and he died childless, so his nieces, nephews, and grand nieces and nephews are his heirs.   (I always wondered why, of all "Elliner"s children, only Roseanne was left a specific bequeath.)  So, thanks to Eleanor's uncle, she had money and a home not long after the death of her husband, George Baxter.

    I have never been able to find anything about George before his marriage to Eleanor in 1794, and nothing of his parents or where he was from.......hopefully I will be able to "do better' after a trip to the area.  I know so little of Eleanor and her life, not even where she is buried.  But she certainly was remembered by her eldest child, Roseanne, for she has a namesake, Eleanor Beatty Smith.

    Eleanor was the daughter of  Finlay McEwen (McOwen, McCown) and I have included a page of this line.

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