1
Wilhelm (William) Bloom Sr.
(1752-1828)
Pioneer Settler of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania
By Richard Lee Gleason a Fourth Great-Grandson
Revision #5
January 2020
2
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-Non Commercial No Derivatives 4.0
International License.
This document may be copied and freely
distributed, but only in it's entirety.
Write what should not be forgotten. ~~ Isabelle Allandre
3
Table of Contents
William Bloom Biography ………………….………..…………..4
The Winter of 1801 ………………………………………………..11
Tradition, Fact or Fiction?………………….…………………….16
The Fate of the Two Brothers ……………….………………..24
The Headstones of William and Mary ………..…..……. 25
Parting Thoughts …………………………..………………….…….26
Lines/Gleason Lineage ………………………….………………..27
Bibliography ………………………………..…………………………..28
4
William Bloom (1752-1828)
Much has been written and passed along as family tradition from generation
to generation about Wilhelm Bloom Sr.
1
Listed among the earliest pioneer
settlers of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania his legacy now numbers in the
many thousands.
It’s been said, and likely inaccurately, William was born in Neuwied,
Germany on February 26, 1752. He was the first of sixteen children born to
his parents Johann Peter Bloom and Eva Ann Wagner. We are told, William
immigrated with his grandfather and parents, to the American Colonies, as a
seven-month old infant.
2
In those days members of the Bloom’s German
Reformed Church were driven out of Europe by French devastation from the
seven-year war and other related conflicts.
While we don’t know with any certainty why, what is fairly certain, William’s
father Johann began his voyage to the New World, by boarding a barge in
Neuwied, at the Rhine River, on June 20, 1752.
3
The Rhine branched into the
Waal River, and it’s likely, after docking at Dordrecht in the Netherlands,
Johann traveled the short distance overland to the Dutch seaport of
Rotterdam, about 220 miles from Neuwied.
1. Hereinafter referred to as the Americanized, “William.”
2. Most of this information, and some of what follows, may not be accurate, per research
provided by author LeRoy Bloom in his 2015 book, A Bloom By Any Name. See Tradition,
Fact or Fiction?, p. 16 in this biography.
3. Bloom, LeRoy. A Bloom by Any Name: Some Ancestors and Descendants of Johann Peter
Blum 1732-1814, (2016) p. 15. Kindle Edition.
5
Later, the names of J. Peter Blom and John Peter Blom “sen”
4
appear among
the more than one-hundred names of passengers on the sailing ship Two
Brothers. Contrary to popular belief, that these names are those of William’s
father and grandfather, author LeRoy Bloom (see footnotes) makes a good
case that only one of the Blom’s was directly related to William. Both names
are marked by an X, an entry made by a clerk, indicating they were illiterate
and could not sign their own name.
According to LeRoy Bloom, “The voyage to the New World was
uncomfortable at best and dangerous at worst. The ships were often
overloaded. A passenger could expect no more living space than a four by
six bunk, the food bare sustenance, and disease was rampant.”
5
Less than
three months after departing Neuwied, Johann arrived in Philadelphia on
September 15, 1752 aboard the Two Brothers,
6
after sailing from Rotterdam,
by way of Cowes, England. It’s likely, as with its previous voyages, the ship
docked at Mud Island Fort,
7
on the Delaware River, in sight of and just below
Philadelphia.
Sometime following his arrival to the colonies Johann settled in Hunterdon
County, New Jersey. Nineteen years would pass before church records show
our subject, his son, William was confirmed in the German Reformed Church
of Alexandria, New Jersey on May 19, 1771. Later that year there are
records showing William’s father was using the Americanized name Peter
Bloom and had dropped his first name altogether. His headstone at the
4. See LeRoy Bloom’s examination of “a notation … which many have deciphered as
“senior.”. Ibid p. 14.
5. Ibid p. 32.
6. See The Fate of the Two Brothers, p. 24 in this biography.
7. Now known as Fort Mifflin.
6
Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Alexandria Township reads in part, “Peter Bloom
Who departed this life May 7th in the Year 1814.”
On April 2, 1778, in Mt. Pleasant, New Jersey, William married 21 year old
Mary Ann Mettler. Family tradition suggests during the Revolutionary War
William served six years until the end of the conflict, mostly in General
Wagner’s Brigade from New Jersey. It is claimed William fought at the Battle
of Monmouth in June of 1778. Described as a large man with a full beard of
dark color, it’s been said there was a white spot on his cheek, the mark of a
bullet fired from a British musket sometime during his service for the
country’s independence. At least one history book of the early 20
th
century
reports in the archives of the State of New Jersey are recorded the names of
William and four of his brothers
8
who all served in Baxter's Brigade of New
Jersey volunteers. His 23-year old brother Isaac was reportedly killed in
action.
By the early 1780’s, as many families did in those days following the end of
the Revolution, some began to move west. William’s brother Peter is said to
have remained in New Jersey, while three moved to Pennsylvania. Some
claim a brother Stephen
9
settled in the Shamokin Hills, in Northumberland
County, while an unknown second brother settled in a valley near Bellefonte,
in present-day Centre County.
Prior to 1783 William’s family first migrated by ox-team to the Nittany and
Penns Valley area in Potter Township, Cumberland County (now Centre
8. Brothers: Isaac, Adam, Peter & Abraham
9. There currently is no record listing a Stephen Bloom as a son of Johann "Peter" Bloom, or
a brother to William.
7
County), Pennsylvania. There the Blooms lived for the next eighteen years
where they are listed in the 1790 and 1800 U.S. Census, and on the tax
assessor’s list in 1801.
Depending on which history book you believe, sometime between 1796 and
1803,
10
with at least two sons John and Benjamin,
11
and a daughter
Elizabeth, William traveled by canoe down the West branch of the
Susquehanna River to what would soon become Clearfield County. William
made the journey, of around 60 miles, to join his former neighbors the Paul
Clover family from Hunterdon County, New Jersey. Clover was married to
William’s sister-in-law Nancy Mettler. Among the first settlers on a site, that
is now the community of Curwensville, Clover arrived there in about 1797
where he built a house and a blacksmith shop.
William and his children immediately began clearing a small tract of land at
what today is a recreational area along the Susquehanna River called Pee
Wee’s Nest, at Irvin Park in Curwensville. Sometime before 1911 Colonel E.
A. Irvin, descendant of another Clearfield County pioneer family, had the site
of the settlement marked by a sign, said to bear “a suitable inscription.” The
Clover family were the Bloom’s only neighbors and lived about three-fourths
of a mile away at the mouth of Anderson Creek at the Susquehanna.
Owing to some misunderstanding about the ownership of the land, William
waived his claim and moved the family. They settled on bottomland above
Anderson Creek, on what was once the Irvin farm, one mile up the west
10. According to the story beginning on p. 11 in this biography, this travel may have
occurred in 1801.
11. Older brothers, Isaac and William, may also have been with them.
8
branch of the Susquehanna River from Curwensville. Here he proceeded to
make a clearing, and succeeded in producing a five-acre field of wheat, and
a few turnips preparatory to returning in the fall to Penns Valley, for the rest
of his family.
12
William remained on this farm for the remainder of his life
and largely aided in opening the region to civilization.
Some of William’s family were grown and married, but all located and
established their own homes on or near the Susquehanna River, in what is
now Pike Township. Clearfield County had not yet been organized, and at the
time was a part of Lycoming and Huntington counties. A large part of the
county, and the young country, was a vast, heavily wooded wilderness, with
wild animals. Numerous Indians, many said to be hostile, roamed the area
at will. There were no roads, and these conditions prevailed that only men
and women of courage and endurance could have been content to make the
untamed region their home. It was this courage and strength-of-will which
William Bloom was said to possess “to a remarkable degree.”
In his day William’s community was small, with just over one-hundred
residents. He could not have imagined his family name was destined to
become the most common in what would develop into a rich and populous
county, with a population today of over eighty-one-thousand inhabitants.
William and his wife Mary were blessed with eleven children, seven boys and
four girls, with names rooted in the Bible. All lived to become adults and died
at the average age of 78 years.
13
Of the nine children, whose places of death
12. There is more about this period, when William left his children behind, in The Winter of
1801 beginning on p. 11 in this biography.
13. Anne (1779-1855); Isaac (1780-1859); William (1782-1871); Elizabeth (1784-1875);
John (1786-1872); Peter (1789-1840); Benjamin (1790-1877); Mary (1792-1877);
Abraham (1795-1874); Sarah (1796-1871); James (1798-1866).
9
and burial locations are known, all of them are located in Clearfield County.
14
Savages History of Clearfield County, makes several references to William
having 119 grandchildren. In my own database I currently have 115.
15
By 1887, more than eighty years after William’s arrival, it was written the
Blooms were almost all farmers and the largest family in Clearfield County.
Prior to this date, at one Bloom family reunion, it was estimated there were
more than three-thousand descendants living within the county. More than a
hundred years after his first crops were planted there, the William Bloom
farm was still in the hands of the Bloom family, owned and occupied by his
great-grandson, Calvin Judson Bloom (1861-1941).
William’s son’s and their descendants would play major roles in local
government and the business affairs of the area. Pike Township, in the late
nineteenth century, was the stronghold of the family where probably two-
thirds of them were located. Today William’s posterity is numbered in the
tens of thousands and reach far beyond the bounds of Clearfield County, to
points at every corner of the country, and beyond. They are those who can
trace their lineage to this pioneer family.
Bloom Township (organized in 1860) and the village of Bloomington in
Clearfield County PA are both named after the family of William Bloom.
14. Anne’s and Sarah’s death and burial locations are not known by the author.
15. The Clearfield Descendants website (see bibliography), currently has records on more
than 1,600 individuals born with the Bloom surname, and many thousands more who are
William’s direct descendants.
10
William died on Sunday, May 4, 1828 at Pike Township, Clearfield County,
Pennsylvania and is buried next to his wife, and among many other family
members, in the McClure Cemetery at Curwensville. His headstone bears
this simple inscription:
Wm BLOOM Sen
Died
May 4 1828
Aged
76 years 2 mo
and 8 ds
11
The Winter of 1801-1802
As mentioned earlier, William Bloom began moving his family to what would
soon become Clearfield County.
16
With him he brought sons John and
Benjamin,
17
and his daughter Elizabeth (Betsy). Elizabeth was about sixteen,
John fifteen and Benjamin three years younger. Paul Clover who was an
uncle of the Bloom children, was the only neighbor, living less than a mile
away.
That summer, after their cabin was built, with no sawmills in the area, there
were no boards available to make a door. In it’s place to keep the wind out
hung a blanket. The family cleared a small patch of ground and planted
turnips giving them plenty for the coming winter, if not much else. Then, in
the fall, William went back to Nittany to bring back the rest of the family,
leaving the children, Elizabeth, John and Benjamin, to keep the cabin until
his return. But for some reason, he didn’t return until the following spring,
leaving the children to fend for themselves. John, who was fond of
adventure, and liked to live and hunt with the Indians, would often leave
Elizabeth and Benjamin to themselves.
Paul Clover’s two boys, Paul and Seth, were about Ben's age, and the three
spent a good deal of time wrestling. Ben could always throw the Clover boys,
16. Clearfield County was formed on March 26, 1804. The name for the county was most
likely derived from the many cleared fields of the valleys surrounding Clearfield Creek, and
the west branch of the Susquehanna River, thought to have been formed by bison herds and
old cornfields of prior Native American tribes.
17. Older sons Isaac and William may also have come, later returning to Penns Valley with
their father.
12
which they somewhat resented. Thinking they would have some fun with
Ben, they told him an old Indian, whose tribe was camped nearby,
18
was
going to kill him and his sister Elizabeth.
This band of Indians were friendly to the white settlers, and before going
away, William asked the old Indian to go to his cabin sometimes and see
how the children were getting along. The Indian promised he would. But
Ben, believing the story the Clover boys told him, found his father's old
musket and some powder, but could find no bullets. So he cut up a pewter
spoon for bullets and loaded up the weapon. Then Ben posted himself in the
cabin behind the blanket to wait for the old Indian. Sure enough, the Indian,
wanting to check on the children, walked up the path to the door.
When Ben saw the old Indian's outline through the blanket toward the light,
he pulled the trigger of the old musket expecting to shoot him, but the gun
failed to fire. Being a flint lock, it was likely not in the best of condition, and
probably not properly primed. The Indian, noting the considerable noise the
boy was making in the act of trying to fire the gun, could see around the
blanket, and what was happening, and started to run. Ben, with no intention
of allowing the Indian to escape, had a bull dog in the cabin with him, and
immediately released it to chase the Indian. The dog however was unable to
catch up until the old fellow was near the camp and the other Indians drove
the dog off with clubs.
After a while the old Indian went and complained to Paul Clover, and asked
him why the boy would try to shoot him, when he went over to see how the
18. The camp was located at what today is the southwest corner on Meadow at Filbert
Streets in Curwensville.
13
children were getting along. Clover didn't know, but agreed to go ask Ben
about it.
Ben, who told this story to a grandson years later, said he noticed his uncle,
whom he considered a rather stern man, seemed to be in an unusually good
humor when he came over that day. He said to Ben "I understand you tried
to shoot the old Indian?" "Yes,” Ben said. "The old fellow was planning to kill
me and Betsy, so I thought I would shoot him, but the gun wouldn't go off."
"Who told you the Indian was going to kill you?" Clover asked. "Why your
boys, Paul and Seth," said Ben. "Well," said Clover, "let me see the gun,
maybe I can fix it so it will go off next time." Ben handed over the gun
thinking nothing of it.
Clover was lame and walked with a cane, and as he took the gun from Ben
and set it aside, he collared the boy and gave him a most thorough flogging
with the cane. "You little fool" he said, "didn't you know that if you were to
kill the old Indian, the other Indians would come over and kill us all?" Ben,
smarting after his flogging, was angry and resentful. Afterwards, putting a
turnip in his pocket, he slipped off through the woods and started for Nittany
where his father and mother were.
After a while Elizabeth found he had disappeared and went and told her
uncle that Ben had run off. So they got on horses and started after him,
catching up to with him near Philipsburg. Pretending they were going to
Nittany too, Clover induced Ben to get on the horse with him. When he was
once on, and within Clover's hold, they turned around and went back to
Anderson Creek, and by that time Ben's temper having cooled off, he agreed
to stay.
14
As winter arrived, described as unusually bitter, it became harder and harder
for Ben and Betsy to get along by themselves. They had only a crude
fireplace to cook their meals, and to keep warm. It took a lot of wood, while
much of the heat went up the chimney, and most of the remainder escaped
through the crevices between the log walls of the primitive cabin. Gathering
all their wood from the surrounding forest they would cut it up so it could be
burned in the fireplace. A laborious task, to say the least.
By February, their provisions were nearly depleted, and for two weeks John
was gone hunting. When he returned, Elizabeth instructed him to go over
the mountain to a mill to get some ground corn. He started off, but on the
way met again with his Indian friends, and not realizing the danger of
starvation, his siblings faced, proceeded to join his friends on yet another
hunting expedition.
During John’s absence, the snow fell to a depth greater than four feet and
Elizabeth with Benjamin "were reduced to the greatest straits for the want of
food." Left without bread the two survived by eating turnips "raw, cooked
and roasted." It was turnips for breakfast, dinner and supper until they
decided they could stand it no longer. Finally Elizabeth, "being a girl of
determined character and indomitable energy,” decided they should shovel a
path, through the snow, to their uncle Paul’s house, to get something to eat.
While it was only a distance of three-fourths of a mile, it took two days to
reach their neighbors.
Although the Clover family was not in much better shape, they gave the two
Bloom children all of the corn bread in the house. It was an Indian cake "not
15
much larger than a four-penny loaf.” This they “relished wonderfully,” and
returning home with it, made it last almost two weeks, when John finally
returned with fresh game. They passed the rest of the winter in the half-
completed cabin. So, by one means and another, these children made out to
help themselves and to get along until spring when their father returned
with the other members of the family.
19
19. See: Wall, Thomas Lincoln, Clearfield County Pennsylvania Present and Past, Clearfield,
PA., pp. 28-34. See also: Website: Genealogy.com - Bio Of William Blum/Bloom of PA
(d.1828)
16
Tradition, Fact or Fiction?
Did William Bloom emigrate to the Colonies?
When was he born, and did he serve in the Revolutionary War?
It’s highly recommended the serious genealogist, and family historian,
interested in William Bloom’s history and ancestry, read LeRoy Bloom’s book,
A Bloom by Any Name: Some Ancestors and Descendants of Johann Peter
Blum 1732-1814.
Its author is an experienced, meticulous, professional investigator, a retired
Marine, career police officer and later a fraud detective. With great personal
expense, in time, travel, and the purchase of research materials, he also
hired an equally qualified German investigator who, over many months,
conducted exhaustive research in Europe. Their examinations included many
pertinent records, regarding the identification of our Bloom family
progenitors, and details about their lives. No other extensive research has
ever been undertaken at this level. All we’ve known about William’s history,
and that of his ancestors, came from century old history books, and
undocumented information, passed from one generation to another.
In the Preface of his book Bloom writes: “I came to the conclusion that most
of the available ancestral information for Johann Peter Blum (1732-1814) …
was erroneous. This includes on line internet information and written
documents found in many historical societies and libraries.”
20
Respecting his efforts to separate fact from fiction, LeRoy Bloom wrote: “I
20. Bloom, LeRoy. A Bloom by Any Name: Some Ancestors and Descendants of Johann
Peter Blum 1732-1814, (2016) p. 1. Kindle Edition.
17
think that proof should be demanded for events and personalities. I do not
always have to have documented proof, if there is enough good
circumstantial evidence to support an event or personality I’ll accept it, but I
feel in absence of documents, the circumstantial must be very strong.”
21
With these standards in mind, and after careful evaluation of his research, I
think there is compelling reasons to believe some key elements, and data
about William and his parents, once widely accepted as trustworthy, are
questionable and not supported by documentation, logic or facts.
Among just some of the discrepancies the Bloom book suggests, is the
birthplace and home of William’s father Johann. Tradition points to several
locations, all of them factually inaccurate. Author Bloom, after thorough
examination of the subject detailed in his book, writes, “those who cite these
localities were looking at maps depicting Germany at later times than when
Johann emigrated in 1752.”
22
Bloom further states, “Johann Peter Blum
came from the village of Puderbach in what we would call the county of
Dierdorf, within the Principality of Wied-Runkel.” According to the website,
The Bloom Family History Project, created by the same LeRoy Bloom, ”When
asked where he came from, Johann Blum, said, "Aus dem Dierdorfischen",
an area of Germany bordering on the Rhine River… This area of Germany
produced many of the German immigrants that came to the colonies in the
mid 18th century.”
23
21. Email: LeRoy William Bloom, to Richard Lee Gleason, 16 February 2011.
22. Bloom, LeRoy. A Bloom by Any Name: Some Ancestors and Descendants of Johann
Peter Blum 1732-1814, (2016) p. 12. Kindle Edition.
23. The Bloom Family History Project, LeRoy William Bloom. See the Notes on Family
History page.
18
The author makes another strong argument to conclude Johann was not
married when he emigrated to Colonial America. Accordingly, he did not
bring with him his infant son William, as we’ve been told. He also completely
dispels the assertion, made by some genealogists, Johann was married to a
Patricia Ayers. Again, this is history, long passed on by many as fact. Mr.
Bloom writes he was unable to locate any German documents establishing a
marriage for Johann Peter Blum, or the birth and christening of his son
William.
The records for marriages and baptisms existed in Puderbach Parish
from 1701... none of these records are missing.... there is no citation
in the parish records for the marriage of Johann Peter Blum, or a
baptism for a son… So it is my opinion, that barring any further
evidence, we cannot say yet who Johann Peter’s wife was other than
she was Eva Blum. What her maiden name was or where she came
from at this point would not even equal sensible speculation.
24
Another item of debate, based in sound reasoning, is LeRoy Bloom’s
conclusion, regarding the birthplace and birthdate of William. Bloom writes,
“I developed some determination that [William] was not born in Germany,
but in America, and a later date than generally proposed by many others
who have written about him.”
25
Consider, both William and his father were
illiterate, as evidenced by them signing documents with a mark. Add to the
fact there were no birth records in those days, and with a dependance on
human memory, it is conceivable the date, as it appears on William’s
headstone could be wrong.
The one and only source that exists, shedding some light on his date of
24. Bloom, LeRoy. A Bloom by Any Name: Some Ancestors and Descendants of Johann
Peter Blum 1732-1814, (2016) pp. 24, 34. Kindle Edition.
25. Ibid p. 90.
19
birth, are the records of the German Reformed Church in Alexandria, New
Jersey. You’ll recall William was baptized there on May 19, 1771. Bloom in
his book, writes, “The church protocol for the age at which a member should
be confirmed, and therefore partake in communion, was generally accepted
as age eighteen.” This leads one to conclude William’s birth occurred
sometime in 1753, creating “a workable idea that William could well have
been born in the new world.”
26
Finally, described by LeRoy Bloom as:
A contentious and unproven facet of [William’s] life…. would be his
service, or lack of it, in The American War of Independence. Stories
and myths abound about this, none of them well documented, and
most are not even supported by very good circumstantial evidence.
If I will encounter criticism for what I write in this book, I would expect
any condemnation to be the most vociferous regarding this issue.
27
Indeed, inquiries are common today from Bloom descendants asking for
information and documentation in reference to William Bloom’s
Revolutionary War service. There have been claims for generations of
William's service, "not laying down his arms until independence had been
achieved,” but unfortunately, if documentation once existed validating those
claims, they have been lost to today’s researchers.
In 1904 Clearfield County celebrated its centennial, where a number of items
pertaining to the early history of the county were apparently on exhibit.
Among them, it is said, was the discharge paper of William Bloom from the
Revolutionary Army. Unfortunately efforts to locate this documentation have
26. Ibid p. 34. Note: The author of this biography will continue to use the commonly accepted
birth year of 1752 in its title.
27. Ibid, p. 90.
20
been unsuccessful.
Another common narrative we’ve been told is the New Jersey State Archives
has a record of William and his four brothers serving in Baxter's Brigade with
one of the brothers Isaac was killed in battle. Nonetheless LeRoy Bloom
found, in reply to his inquiry about this claim, there was no such record of
William’s service, and no information about the brother who was killed in
action.
28
Queries to the State of New Jersey Archives were sent expressly
asking these questions. Their answer was that they had no records on
the Brigade, all they showed was Johann Peter and one son serving in
the local militia. The interesting thing was that the militia company
was commanded by Philip Mettler, the brother of Mary Ann, who was
William’s wife.
29
In my own research I’m unable to find any unit, known as Baxter’s Brigade,
from New Jersey during the Revolution. A Baxter’s Brigade however did exist
during the Civil War. There have been other claims of William having served
in another unit Wagner's Brigade, but again, no such Revolutionary War unit
can be found, while there was one that fought in the Civil War.
Regarding this question of William’s war service, Bloom was unable to find a
single muster roll,
30
or any other document, with evidence of William’s
service. He writes:
The many conflicting stories about his service are not supported by
any documented facts, and I have been unable to gather enough
circumstantial evidence to substantiate some of these stories either as
true or false. So, unless, I am able to obtain better evidence I shall
28. Williams, first-born son was named Isaac. Likely named for his deceased uncle.
29. Email, LeRoy William Bloom to Richard Lee Gleason, 20 March 2011. (Emphasis added).
30. An official list, usually prepared bimonthly, of the names of persons in a military unit.
21
refer to his purported service as family legend.
31
For many years, William Bloom’s female descendants were able to join the
Daughters of the American Revolution, using published history books,
32
older
D.A.R. applications, and other records to validate his service. However today
that is no longer the case, and the organization now labels the claim as
Service based on tradition only. A DAR applicant, in November of 2011,
shared with the author of this biography, the following statement she
received from that organization with respect to William.
Future Applicants Must Prove Correct Service
The proof of service used to establish this person as a patriot is no longer
valid. Subsequent evaluation of the proof of service may have determined
that the proof is not acceptable under today’s standards (examples:
tombstone, obituary, undocumented genealogy or county history, family
tradition)… Future applicants must provide proof of service (and possibly
residence) that meets current standards.
Ancestor Comments:
1) PROOF SCANTY.
2) SERVICE BASED ON TRADITION ONLY.
Despite what has been passed down through the generations by word of
mouth, handwritten notes, genealogical records, and even history books;
until something definitive can be found proving this claim of service, our
family history is better served by following the DAR’s example.
33
All
31. Bloom, LeRoy. A Bloom by Any Name: Some Ancestors and Descendants of Johann
Peter Blum 1732-1814, (2016) p. 2. Kindle Edition.
32. Including Beers’ Commemorative Biographical Record; Swoope’s Twentieth Century
History; and Aldrich’s History of Clearfield County.
33. I am not aware of the Sons of the American Revolution’s policy regarding William’s
service.
22
references to William’s Revolutionary War service should be referred to as
“unproven,” "family tradition,” "legend,” “myth,” or whatever description one
deems appropriate.
Any information that could shed additional light on these subjects are
welcomed and encouraged. It would be a great discovery, if one could point
to some original documentation proving William Bloom served in the War of
Independence, and he is given appropriate, unfettered credit for that
service.
Everyone has heard the term “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt.” It’s the burden
of proof required in our judicial system to convict someone in a criminal case
in the United States. There is no proof if there is any doubt that is
reasonable. “Preponderance of the Evidence” is required in most civil cases,
such as personal injury. It refers to a level of proof that is more probable
than not. Finally, another level of proof is used in Administrative hearings.
This is where an Administrative Law Judge reviews the decision of a
government agency when a citizen challenges it. Judges in these cases often
use the “Substantial Evidence” standard. Falling between the higher
standard and preponderance of the evidence, this one requires more than a
mere scintilla of evidence. Substantial evidence is relevant evidence a
reasonable and prudent person might accept as adequate to support a
conclusion.
While some of these challenges, to widely accepted and long disseminated
“facts” about William Bloom and his ancestors, may be controversial, and will
likely remain a mystery, I hope the reader will give thoughtful, reasonable
consideration to all the possibilities. I’d suggest we rely on the
23
preponderance of the evidence, and look for reasonable and relevant
evidence in deciding for ourselves where truth or the lack of it exists.
Whatever standard you choose, no future history of these Bloom ancestors,
should be written or shared, without including these recent revelations of
LeRoy Bloom’s for consideration, and weighing their value by these
evidentiary standards.
24
The Fate of the Two Brothers
The vessel that brought William’s father Johann “Peter” Bloom to America
was a 250 ton, 14 gun, sailing ship of unknown national origin. Two
Brothers
34
sailed under the command of Captain Thomas Arnot carrying
Germans to Philadelphia seven times from 1747-1753. It was the most
passages of any captain who brought Pennsylvania Germans to Philadelphia.
The following year after Johann’s journey, on its passage once again to
America in August 1754, Two Brothers struck a sandbar and sank with the
loss of hundreds of its German passengers. The Second Mate drowned as
well, but Captain Arnot survived the sinking of his ship and continued to
bring Germans to Philadelphia until 1771.
35
What follows is a notice
from The Pennsylvania Journal, dated September 25, 1754 copied from an
earlier article of a London newspaper, dated August 5, 1754.
A few days hence captain Arnot bound from Rotterdam to Philadelphia
upward of 300 palatine passengers on board in passage struck a
sandbar beat off her rutter. Somewhere between 220 and 300
Palentine passengers drowned when the ship went down in sight of the
Dutch ship which just left them to drown. Insensible to their distress
thought proper to continue his course and left. Deserting upwards of 80
souls out of the above number. Captain Henderson bound for the coast
of New Guinea took them on board and landed them on Thursday seven
PM on the coast near Rotterdam, then proceeded on his voyage.
36
34. Not to be confused with the Nantucket whaleship Two Brothers that sank on the night of
February 11, 1823. There were also other ships with the same name.
35. US Immigration Ship (Vessel) Arrival Records, Ships of Unknown National Origin. -
Family Search Wiki.
36. Ship Two Brothers, Peter Bloom, Ancestry.com Bloom Message Board - wletto, posted 9
Jan 2007
25
The Headstones of
William Bloom and His Wife Mary
McClure Cemetery, Curwensville, PA
Click the link below for a video about the McClure Cemetery.
Written and produced by this author, it includes a history
of the cemetery as well as information
about the Blooms and other prominent
families buried there.
https://youtu.be/yvM4bThjcSU
26
Parting Thoughts
I’ve tried, to the the best of my ability, to interpret the many sources of
information (see the bibliography), some of them complicated, contradictory,
and controversial on the life of William Bloom. From that information, I’ve
attempted to organize this biography into an easily readable, and accurate
narrative. I hope I’ve accomplished that. Any failure to do so, along with
inaccuracies or misinterpretations, if they exist, come with my regrets.
Please direct any comments, questions, or observations to me at:
ricksgenealogy@gmail.com
Check for future revised versions of this biography at the following link:
http://www.archive.org/details/WilhelmwilliamBloomSr.1752-1828
See My Family Tree, where much more information on
William Bloom and his family, and his extended
family can be found. Posted at:
http://bit.ly/ClearfieldDescendants
A Bloom Family Reunion is planned for the summer of 2020
in Clearfield County, PA. Contact Chrissie Van Tol for more information at:
chrissievantol@yahoo.com
____________________________
A special thanks to cousin Lee Bloom who’s interest, research and foresight
will go a long way to preserving and validating the Bloom family history.
His work and dedication to the facts will be a valuable resource for
family historians and untold generations yet to come.
To ensure accurate information is disseminated, earlier
versions of this biography should be destroyed.
This is Revision #5 - January 2020
27
The author Richard Lee Gleason is a descendant
of William Bloom through the following lineage:
William Bloom (1752-1828) father of
James Bloom (1798-1866) father of
Mary Ann (Lines) Bloom (1836-1932) mother of
Eli Monroe Lines (1859-1930) father of
Harry Wilbur Lines (1880-1974) father of
Richard Delmont Lines (1924-1955) father of
Richard Lee Gleason (later adopted)
(b 1952)
28
Bibliography
All links were confirmed live as of December 2019
Aldrich, Lewis Cass, Editor, History of Clearfield County Pennsylvania,
Syracuse, NY, D. Mason & Co., 1887, See a fully transcribed and illustrated
version at: http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/clearfield/1picts/aldrich/aldrich-
history.htm
Ancestry Message Boards, Ship Two Brothers, Peter Bloom, Ancestry.com
Bloom Surname Message Board - wletto, posted 9 Jan 2007, https://
www.ancestry.com.au/boards/surnames.bloom/611.2.1/mb.ashx
Apgar Family Association - http://www.apgarfamily.org
Beers, Commemorative Biographical Record of Central Pennsylvania:
Including the Counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion,
Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative
Citizens…, Chicago, J.H. Beers & Company, 1898. Published on the Internet
at: https://archive.org/details/commemorativebio04jhbe
Bell, Herbert C., Editor, A History of Northumberland County PA, Chicago, IL,
Brown, Runk & Co., Publishers, 1891, Published on the Internet at: http://
www.usgwarchives.net/pa/northumberp/bellcont.html
The Bloom Family History Project, LeRoy William Bloom. Family History
page. https://lbloom618.wixsite.com/bloomfamilyhistory
Bloom, LeRoy. A Bloom by Any Name: Some Ancestors and Descendants of
Johann Peter Blum 1732-1814 - http://bit.ly/ABloomByAnyName-Amazon
Caldwell, J. A., Caldwell, Atlas of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, J. A.
Caldwell, Condit, Ohio, 1878, transcribed at: http://www.usgwarchives.net/
pa/clearfield/1picts/caldwells-atlas/index.htm
Commemorative Biographical Record of Central Pennsylvania: Including the
Counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Containing Biographical
Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens ..., Chicago, J.H. Beers &
Company, 1898, Published on the Internet at https://archive.org/details/
commemorativebio04jhbe/page/n6
29
Country Chatter, A Family Story: Death on the High Seas, 6 February 2018 -
https://phertzler.com/tag/thomas-arnott-captain-of-two-brothers-ship
Curwensville, PA 150th Anniversary (1799-1949), Published for the
Curwensville Sesqui-Centennial, July 3rd to 8th, 1949. Scanned version at:
http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/clearfield/1picts/curwensville-150/
curwensville-150.htm
Genealogy.com - Bio Of William Blum/Bloom of PA (d.1828) by
Genealogy.com User, 9 June 1999 - Genealogy.com/Home > Forum >
Surnames > Bloom - https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/
bloom/143/
Genealogical and Biographical Annals of Northumberland County
Pennsylvania, Chicago, J. L. Floyd & Co., 1911, Published on the Internet at
http://www.archive.org/details/genealogicalbiog00floy
Gleason, Richard Lee, Clearfield Descendants, Some of the Individuals and
Families of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania - http://bit.ly/
ClearfieldDescendants
Parish Register of the German Reformed Church of Alexandria, Hunterdon
Co., New Jersey 1763-1802 - https://archive.org/details/
parishregisterof00alex/page/2
Pennsylvania Genealogy Trails, Northumberland County Pennsylvania,
http://genealogytrails.com/penn/northumberland/
Rupp, I. Daniel, Thirty Thousand Names: Immigrants in Pennsylvania From
1727 to 1776, Reprint, Baltimore, MD, Genealogical Publishing Company,
1965.
Savage, Matt, History of Clearfield County, From It’s Incorporation to the
Present Time 1897.
Snyder, Frank J., Clearfield County-Pennsylvania One Hundred Years' Growth
1804 - March 26, 1904, Clearfield, Pa., Raftsman’s Journal, 1904, Published
in celebration of Clearfield County’s Centennial - July 26-29, 1904, http://
files.usgwarchives.net/pa/clearfield/history/clearfield-centennial.txt
Straw, Albert Y., Some Genealogies and Family Records, Clearfield, PA, Press
of Clearfield Republican, 1931, Reprinted by Clearfield Historical Society.
30
Swoope, Roland D., Twentieth Century History of Clearfield County,
Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens, Chicago, IL, Richmond-Arnold
Pub. Co., 1911. https://archive.org/details/twentiethcentury00swoo/page/n6
Wall, Thomas Lincoln, Clearfield County Pennsylvania Present and Past,
Clearfield, PA, Published by the Author, 1925, http://www.pa-roots.com/
clearfield/clearfieldpastandpresent
U.S. Census Bureau - State & County QuickFacts, United States
Government, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, 2008 estimate.
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/
clearfieldcountypennsylvania,US/PST045218
US Immigration Ship (Vessel) Arrival Records, Ships of Unknown National
Origin. - Family Search Wiki. - https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/
US_Immigration_Ship_(Vessel)_Arrival_Records#cite_note-4
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