NJHUNTER-L Archives

From: Mary Stewart Kyritsis <>
Subject: [NJHUNTER] Quilt names: PICKEL, HOLCOMBE
Date: Thu, 06 Mar 2003 19:56:46 +0200

How wonderful to have a quilt surface in Australia. I suppose someone
from the Hunterdon Co. area emigrated there.

Some of these names I have in my database: Dr Henry HOLCOMBE and
Catherine HOLCOMBE were the parents of Elizabeth (Holcombe) Pickel, wife
of Baltis. I have Holcombes in Connecticut (Windsor and Simsbury) but
have yet to connect the two lines -- and of course they may not connect
at all, though I know of only one early Holcomb(e), Thomas, who came in
1633. I am not related to the Holcombes in NJ but have kept an eye on
them because of the name. I am however, a gr-gr-grand-niece of Baltis
Pickel's mother, Hannah (Besson) Pickel.

To follow up the census information, Baltis ("Battis") was living in
Everettstown, Alexandria township in the census for 1860 (p. 843), age
36, gentleman, with wife Elizabeth 34 and three daughters. Baltis
Pickel and his wife Elizabeth are also on the 1870 census for Trenton,
Mercer Co. NJ, Baltis 46, coal and lumber dealer, and Elizabeth H. 44,
with four daughters. In the 1880 census for Trenton NJ (p. 182D):
Baltis (spelled Biltes Pickle) was 56, agent for the Eastern & Amboy RR,
his wife Elizabeth K. was 52. Three daughters still lived with them.
Baltis is also to be found several times in the newspaper collection
online -- he was given as one of the children of Hannah Pickel who
helped celebrate her 81st birthday on 2 December 1882. (Hunterdon Co.
Democrat Dec. 12, 1882, Forty-Fifty Volume, #17)

The fact that Charles and Matilda Thatcher were living between Catherine
and her parents in 1850 may well indicate another Holcombe link. I have
no Thatchers in my database.

What a wonderful find!
Mary

Mary Kyritsis
Kifissia, Greece


> How very interesting that this quilt made its way to the other side
> of the world!
>
> I am not descended from Baltis PICKEL, but I know someone who was
> researching him in the 1980s -- my Alexandria Township School
> physical education teacher, Lewis COMPTON. I did some census lookups
> for him at the National Archives at the time, so I remember this name
> well. (How could I forget such a name?!)
>
> In 1850, Baltis PICKEL, aged 25, a merchant, and Elizabeth PICKEL,
> aged 24, were living in Alexandria Twp., Hunterdon Co., New Jersey,
> USA. I've just checked Ancestry.com US federal census records again
> to be sure, and they're there on p. 171B, dated 10 Oct 1850 (image
> #31 of 94).
>
> Two houses away were his neighbours Henry HOLCOMBE, a doctor, aged
> 58, and Catharine HOLCOMBE, aged 51.
>
> In between was Charles THATCHER, aged 58, a millard [sic.], and
> Matilda THATCHER, aged 50.

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• [NJHUNTER] Quilt names: PICKEL, HOLCOMBE by Mary Stewart Kyritsis <>