Rev. Freeman Ankrum, and his 1943 work, Alexander Mack the Tunker and Descendants, is
the subject of this page.
life
Rev. Freeman Ankrum was a pastor and genealogist. His book on some of the descendants of Alexander Mack reflects
the pastorates he had and his own family branch of descendants. Freeman Ankrum was born 18 April 1890, the oldest of ten children
[Earl, Virgil, Ivan, Ferol (Mrs. Carl Fisher), Harold, Lulu (Mrs. Harry Simms),
Marling, Ralph, and Denzel], in Glenford, Perry County, Ohio
to Armstrong Laird Ankrum [born in Guernsey County OH and lived on dairy farm in Muskingum County OH] and Lucinda Mack Ankrum
[born in Perry County OH, attended Ashland College]. He was able to claim seventh generation descendancy from Alexander
Mack Sr. through his mother's line. He graduated in 1914 from Ashland College with a B.A. in Classical Divinity.
Also, in 1914, he married Viola Myers (1879 Shenandoah County VA - 16 May 1922, buried
Flat Rock Cemetery, Forestville, VA), daughter of J.W. and Barbara (Wine) Myers,
in Washington DC on June 16th. They had three children: Paul Denzel,
Laird Vernon, and Genevieve.
Then on 15 June 1925 at Fayetteville WV, he married Esther McAvoy (18 Oct 1897-1994),
daughter of James W. and Alice (Sanger) McAvoy. She like his first wife was a
school teacher.
Ankrum died 19 May 1972.
ministry
Rev. Freeman Ankrum pastored several Brethren churches. He started as a student pastor while attending Ashland College.
He received his ordination as an elder in December 1912 in Ashland. His first pastorate was at the Brethren Church
in Hamlin Kansas for three years until 1917.
He then pastored at Carlton Brethren Church (FGBC) near Garwin Iowa for four
years (1917-1921), Washington Court House, Ohio (1921-1923),
(Mount Zion Brethren Church near Bremen, Hocking County, Ohio) Oak Hill West Virginia (1923- ), Linwood Maryland (1937- ).
After retiring from the pastorate in 1960, he filled in as an interim pastor at Waynesboro Pennsylvania and Hagerstown Maryland.
He had positions of Vice-President of the Home Mission Board of the Brethren
Church in America, as a member of the National Executive Committee of the
Brethren Church, and as a member of the Maryland-Virginia District of the
Brethren Church.
book
The book has varying amounts of biographical information on the descendants he was able to record. However,
his book did not have an index.
A name index created
by this compiler has been placed in a couple of repositories: this site and the
Brethren Historical Library and Archives
of the Church of the Brethren. The latest version is an alphabetical name index with birth and death dates as recorded by Ankrum and
the page references in his book. Names of ministers of weddings and funerals, other land owners, and neighbors mentioned in the book
are not included. Parents of spouses are included.
Some errors in publication are not apparent in the name index. For example, birth dates on one page conflict with dates on later
pages:
John Mack
b. 08 Oct 1800 Ankrum, p. 259
b. 09 Oct 1800 Ankrum, p. 295
Mary/Polly Mack
b. 20 Nov 1812 Ankrum, p. 259
b. 02 Oct 1812 Ankrum, p. 345
Anna Mack
b. 01 Jun 1815 Ankrum, p. 259
b. 30 Dec 1815 Ankrum, p. 350
The index does not indicate which is correct.
Other publications by Ankrum include:
"Alexander Mack, the Tunker, and Some of His Descendants." Schwarzenau, 2 (July, 1940): 3-15.
Maryland and Pennsylvania Historical Sketches, Masontown, PA: for the author by the Times-Sun, 1947, 16, 282pp., illus.
Sidelights on Brethren History, Elgin, IL: Brethren Press, 1962. 174pp., illus.
and several articles for The Brethren Evangelist.
An index of the family and descendants of Alexander Mack is
here.
analysis
Alexander Mack the Tunker and Descendants
In 1943, Rev. Freeman Ankrum published his compilation on the descendants of
Alexander Mack (1679-1735). He recorded 3640 descendants and 1542 spouses
in eleven generations. The branches on which he obtained the most
information is reflected in the count of each surname. The top ten
surnames are:
Holsinger
Mack
Benedict
Oller
Stover
Brumbaugh
Secrest
Leckrone
Miller
Longenecker
The Ankrum surname ranks 16th with just 41 names.
See also, the MOCK
FAMILY HISTORIAN HOME PAGE for a comprehensive view of genealogical studies
on Mack, Mock, and other spelling variations. Many other links for other
families are accessible from this site.
Back to the "I do genealogy.*" homepage