1835 Daniel, Gabriel, and John Meals were on the Committee of vigilance for candidate George Wolf in Menallen Twp, Adams County.
The People's Press, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, September 18, 1835. [5]
From a biosketch of grandson Theodore S Meals: "Gabriel Meals, grandfather of Theodore S. Meals, was also born in Adams county, was a stonecutter, and had a large marble yard. He had a family of twelve children, four of whom are living." This biosketch names Gabriel Meals as the great-grandfather, not Jacob Meals, as we show here. [1]
1820 Gabriel Meals founded the Gettysburg Monument Works. [2]
1830 Gabriel Meals lived in Menallen Twp, Adams County, Pennsylvania in a household with males: 1 (under 5), 3 (5 thru 9), 1 (20 thru 29), and 1 (30 thru 39); and females: 1 (under 5), 1 (10 thru 14), and 1 (30 thru 39). John Meals was listed adjacent. [3]
1831 Gabriel Meals sold 23 acres of land to [sister] Margaret Meals in Menallen Twp, Adams County. [4]
1840 Gabriel Meals lived in Menallen Twp, Adams County, Pennsylvania in a household with males: 2 (under 5), 1 (5 thru 9), 1 (10 thru 14), 2 (15 thru 19), and 1 (40 thru 49); and females: 1 (10 thru 14) and 1 (40 thru 49). [6]
1850 Gabriel Meals (age 56), Nancy (age 53), Henry (age 26, stone cutter), William (age 24), Frederick (age 16), Joseph (age 15), George (age 10), Lydia (age 7) Meals and Elizabeth Baughman (age 84, born Germany) lived in Gettysburg, Adams County, Pennsylvania. [9]
1854 Gabriel Meals died 9/9/1854 in Huntingdon County. Last Residence: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Gabriel was buried at Millercreek Methodist Church in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. [10] Gabriel died in 1854 in Huntingdon and is buried there. [Is this Huntingdon County or is it Huntington Twp, Adams County?]
1860 Nancy A Meals (age 63) lived in Gettysburg, Adams County, Pennsylvania with Henry Meals (age 37), Joseph Meals (age 23), George W Meals (age 19), and Lydia A Meals (age 17). No spouse was listed. Elizabeth Baughman (age 98) lived with them. This census entry suggests that Gabriel had already died. [12]
1864 Mrs Nancy A Meals died, at age 65 in Gettysburg, Adams County, Pennsylvania. Mrs Nancy A Meals was buried on May 22, 1864, in Gettysburg, Adams County, Pennsylvania. [13] [14]
1864 Nancy Ann Baughman Meals died on May 22, 1864, at age 67, and was buried at Evergreen Cemetery, Gettysburg, Adams County, Pennsylvania. [15]
A biosketch of son William reports [16]
William B. Meals, marble cutter and proprietor of the Gettysburg Marble Works, was born in Adams County, Penn., September 27, 1822 or 1823, a descendant of the fourth generation of those his ancestors, who first settled in this country, some time prior to 1732, of German and Scotch descent. He is a son of Gabriel Meals and Nancy A. (Banghman) Meals, of whose ten children (seven boys and three girls), he is the third. He received part of his schooling in the common schools of Adams County, and his higher branches under private tutors. He is a man of culture, and is considered a ready speaker. With his attention to reading, he is generally posted in the current news of the day. He has prosecuted his business since a young man, and succeeded. In 1860 he was married to Miss Maria Schaeffer, daughter of D. S. Schaeffer (veterinary surgeon), of German descent, and a native of Pennsylvania, and to them children were born, viz.: Louis Henry, the eldest, also a marble cutter, of superior skill, a partner with his father in the Gettysburg Marble Works; Nannie E.; William Washington Grant (a telegrapher), and Gabriel Franklin (the latter being young has not yet Chosen a Profession): Mr. and Mrs. Meals and family are members of the Lutheran Church, and Mr. Meals has been an office bearer in the same for thirty odd years. In politics he is a Republican: he has served as assessor, school director, as a member of the town council, burgess and justice of the peace in the borough of Gettysburg, where he lives, and was at home during the battle in 1863. September 4, 1864, he enlisted in the army of the Union, was attached to Company G, Two Hundred and Ninth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, and was discharged at the close of the war as commissary sergeant, May 9, 1865, he having participated in two battles: Fort Steadman and in front of Petersburg, Va., when Gen. Lee surrendered to Gen. Grant.
A biosketch of great-grandson Theodore S Meals reports [17]:
Meals, Theodore S., was born in Adams county, Pa., January 1, 1859. He is a son of the late Michael and Catherine (Shorb) Meals. His great-grandfather, Gabriel Meals, was a native of Adams county, and among its earliest inhabitants. He was a stone cutter. Gabriel Meals, grandfather of Theodore S. Meals, was also born in Adams county, was a stone cutter, and had a large marble yard. He had a family of twelve children, four of whom are living. Michael Meals, father of Theodore S., was born in Adams county, and was a carriage maker. He was married to Miss Catherine Shorb, a native of Adams county. They had six children, four of whom are living: Wesley, William, Gabriel and Theodore S. Their deceased children are Susan and Elizabeth. The father was a member of several societies, and in politics was a Republican. He belonged to the Lutheran church. He died in September, 1859, aged thirtv-six years; his wife died December 23, 1872. Theodore S. Meals was about nine months old when his father died. …
[1] William Henry Egle, R. H. Schively, Harry I. Huber, A. S. Dudley, Commemorative Biographical Encyclopedia of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania (1896), 646, [HathiTrust], [InternetArchive].
[2] H. C. Bradsby, Aaron Sheely, M. A. Leeson, History of Cumberland and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania [Adams] (Warner, Beers:1886), 366, [GoogleBooks].
[3] United States Federal Census, 1830, [AncestryImage], [AncestryRecord].
[4] Adams County, Pennsylvania Tax List, [FamilySearchImage].
[5] The People's Press, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, September 18, 1835, page 3, [NewspapersClip].
[6] United States Federal Census, 1840, [AncestryImage], [AncestryRecord].
[7] Gettysburg Compiler, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, July 12, 1841, page 3, [NewspapersClip].
[8] Gettysburg Compiler, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, March 13, 1843, page 4, [NewspapersClip].
[9] United States Federal Census, 1850, [AncestryImage], [AncestryRecord].
[10] Newspaper, The Adams Sentinel, 09/18/1854.
[11] The Gettysburg Times, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, November 18, 1939, page 6, [NewspapersClip].
[12] United States Federal Census, 1860, [AncestryImage], [AncestryRecord].
[13] Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Church and Town Records, 1708-1985, PA, Adams, Gettysburg, Lutheran, St James Evangelical Lutheran, [AncestryRecord], [AncestryImage].
[14] USGenWeb Archives, May 31, 1864, [USGenWeb].
[15] Find A Grave Memorial 17073760, [FindAGrave].
[16] Samuel P. Bates, P. A. Durant, and J. Fraise Richard, History of Cumberland and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania, Part III Adams (Warner, Beers:1886), 366, [HathiTrust], [GoogleBooks].
[17] William Henry Egle, R. H. Schively, Harry I. Huber, A. S. Dudley, Commemorative Biographical Encyclopedia of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania (1896), 646, [HathiTrust], [InternetArchive].