Using Directories for Genealogy

I've found some 19th century directories that the Lancaster Historical Society has made available (and most importantly, searchable) online to be useful in my genealogy. This is a recent discovery. I had found some relatives in a directory online for Winchester, Virginia but just not thought to look for more directories. These are fabulous because they give both home and work addresses in some cases, lists the occupation of the person and if they are a widow it states that and who their husband was. You can find people who were boarding in someone else's home and also, as these are not just every ten years like the censuses, you can figure out where folks were or went to this way. It's a great way to research your ancestors! And looking at some of the advertisements gives you a real feel for the life they lived. When I see that Louisa M. Dellett was one of 3 music teachers in her town of Columbia, PA and that another female Dellet listed was a milliner, I can imagine a little bit what their lives were like. When Joseph Dellett is a cigar box maker and another Dellett a chair ornamenter, I feel like I know more about who they were.

I've come across a Samuel H. Lockard listed in Boyd's Directory of Columbia (Pennsylvania) on page 317. He was the proprietor of the Riverside Hotel, 109 S Front (Street).

I have a few ideas about who he 'might' be. Since this directory is for the year 1874-75 he is too old to be the Samuel Lockhart brother to Robert and Josiah Lockhart (Robert is probably my Major Robert Volney Lockhart who married Margery Denny and moved to Virginia). He might be a son of that Samuel, however, as Samuel Lockhart, Revolutionary War veteran, lived in Lancaster in 1809 when his brother Josiah wrote his will (though he was living in Virginia in the 1820s this doesn't mean he didn't live in both places, as my ancestor Brigadier General Josiah Lockhart had homes in Adams County, Ohio and in Virginia at the same time. Another possibility is that he is the son of Josiah Lockhart who was named as the son of Josiah Lockhart in his will of 1809 (therefore Samuel H. Lockard would be the grandson of Josiah Lockhart, who was in business with his brother Robert during the Revolutionary War in Lancaster in the 1770s.) Another possibility is that Samuel is descended from a different brother or other relative who came to Lancaster. And of course, given the various Lockhart families in the vicinity he might not be related at all (but I'm crossing my fingers). It's at least a piece of information to go off of. I'll let you know when I figure out more.

So here are the theories.

Major Robert Volney Lockhart    - son Brigadier General Josiah E. Lockhart
Josiah Lockhart  - son Josiah Lockhart
Samuel Lockhart (Revolutionary War veteran)- daughters Sarah and Nancy Lockhart
possible 4th brother who either stayed in Ireland or had died by 1804  - son Thomas Lockhart (Thomas could be the son of Robert or Samuel, Robert seems more likely than Samuel) lived in Londonderry as of 1809 (and there is a candidate listed in the Tithe Applotments for County Tyrone, Ireland, townland of Killyberry in the Ballyscullion Parish in 1828, so he may NOT have come to America)

1. Samuel H. Lockard, hotel proprietor in 1874-75 is the son of Samuel Lockhart, Revolutionary War Veteran -  the older Samuel H. Lockard was in 1874 the more likely it is that this or #3 or 4 below is the correct theory

2. Samuel H. Lockhard, hotel proprietor in 1874-75 is the son of Josiah Lockhart, son of Josiah Lockhart (brother to Robert and Samuel)  - the younger he was in 1874 the more likely it is that this is the correct theory, as it seems likely that Josiah son of Josiah was very young in 1809 (based on the provisions made for him in the will) and it also seems likely that he was the same as the Josiah Lockhart who died in Puerto Rico in 1841, a representative of the U.S. government to the Virgin Islands and who was from Lancaster, PA and left a widow and a few children when he died in 1841 (or 1840, I need to check my notes).

 3. Samuel H. Lockhard, hotel proprietor in 1874-75 is the son of a possible 4th brother (possibly the father also of Thomas Lockhart, nephew to Josiah Lockhart mentioned in the will of 1809)

4.  Samuel H. Lockhard, hotel proprietor in 1874-75 is the son of a Lockhart I am not related to.