Belle Mary Kline Family History

[For clarity, the appended family tree chart is given first, followed by the letter. In her chart, generations are listed vertically from oldest to youngest; siblings are on same line, separated by /backslash. Some parts of the letter not applicable to the family history have been omitted. Where Belle uses the terms "father", "his grandfather", etc., names have been inserted in parentheses.] E. W. Williams

Darius Walker (Note: Per Janet Gritzner, this name should be Dyer Walker)
Polly Walker Twichell
Mary Belden Twichell Vorse/Henry Twichell
Franc Vorse Kline
Paul/*Belle/Opal/Lois (*Belle is author of this chart & letter)

Henry Twichell (brother of Mary Belden Twichell above)
Andrew/Nell
Dale/Lorna

Carolyn Mathilda Pinkney Pollock vorse
thomas Vorse
Franc Vorse Kline/Henry Roland Vorse
Paul/*Belle/Opal/Lois

John Kline
Reuben Kline/many brothers & sisters
Andrew Curtin Kline/3 brothers, 3 sisters
Paul/*Belle/Opal/Lois

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Feb.3, 1973
Dear Janet,
Was so glad to receive your letter and while my knowledge of the family history is spotty I am interested. Mary Bee was gathering information for a while...About all I know of Fathers (Andrew Curtin Kline) family is that his grandparents moved from Berks Co., Penna to Clarion Co. and were farmers. They must have been born in Germany and Scotland for he told me they both spoke such broken English he could not understand how they understood each other.(Maternal Heasley grandparents perhaps? His paternal grandparents were John Kline & Anna Fenstermacher, both from German heritage, from Lehigh Co. PA). His (Andrew Curtin's) grandfathers name was John (John Klein? Heasley grandfather's first name not known), his fathers Ruben (Reuben Kline), and his Mother was Eliza Heasley Kline. I know where they are all buried. Father (Andrew Curtin Kline) was fifth in a family of seven and was born in a log house down in the woods. After the War Between the States Grandfather (Reuben Kline) built a new house and a huge barn on Route 322 which was the road between the county seats, Franklin and Clarion and is still in fine shape. You probably know the first roads in Penna connected the County seats, and were stage coach routes. What is now Rt. 322 was one of the first roads connecting Phila to the west.
As to Carolyn Mathilda Pollock Vorse am not sure from which state she came. She must have been hopelessly in love to leave a home equiped with servants to live in the wilds of western Penna. David W. Vorse whom she married was born near Rochester, N.Y. at a place no longer in existence. Maryland sticks in my mind as Carolyn's home base as Mother spoke of it but it could be any Southern state. how David, in those days of stagecoach and horseback connected with Carolyn M. is a mystery. I think the only Methodist university to train ministers at that time was Emery near Atlanta. Too, the Pinkneys and Pollocks (Pres. Polk's father had the name changed from Pollock to Polk, see encyclopedia) came from the Carolinas or Georgia. ... Carolyn's son had red hair and his name was Thomas.
The little white chair (which fell apart) and the table Frannie has were among the things Carolyn M. brought to Penna. The two slaves a man and a woman worth about 42,000 each were freed when they reached Penna. They were given her as a wedding gift. With a load of furniture and two slaves they must have come to Penna overland and by wagon. That must have been in the 1820s. Rev. David vorse was a circuit rider preacher whose travels ranged from Edinboro to Youngsville, Pa. He kept record of his marriages in a little pocket note book which I gave to the Erie Co. Historical Society. After the Civil War it was sent to Washington as proof of marriage for widows of the U. S. Army Veterans for there were no certificates.
Mother's (Franc Vorse) father (Thomas Vorse) was a farmer and a clerk in the Penna Senate or House, am not sure which. He died of a stroke in Harrisburg while attending a session. He had one son, Henry, who died without children so the name Vorse ended. The only other one of that name of whom I ever heard was the author Mary Heaton Vorse, of Phila. who was accused of being a communist.
the only soldier I knew of on the family tree was Darius (correction: Dyer) Walker who gets a flag on Memorial Day for fighting in the War of 1812. Darius (Dyer) was Mothers (Franc Vorse's) great grandfather. I cannot think what his wife's name was. They lived in Edinboro and when he was quite well he weighed 90 lbs. There were no patterns then so when his wife made him a pair of trousers, he laid on the floor and she cut around him. They got about in a two wheeled -solid wooden wheels- cart propelled by a pair of oxen. They were on the road one day when the oxen became separated from the cart and he was so busy gee-ing and haw-ing he did not miss his passenger. She was a constant knitter, so she just sat in the cart, purled until he got back. According to Mother (Franc Vorse) she even knit while walking.
Their daughter Polly (Polly Walker, dau. of Dyer Walker & wife) married Evi (corrected to Edwin) Twichell; could stand under her husband's outstretched arm. Evi (Edwin Twichell) had a general store and a shoe store in Edinboro (PA) built buildings and was a cabinet maker. Sort of doubled (dabbled?) in brass. There was some sort of academy in Edinboro and Evi (Edwin Twichell) helped promote it into a Penna State Normal School, now Edinboro State University, and he built the first building. I was in it just once and it was then the Music Department. He was quite prosperous for his day, made at least one buying trip to New York and his daughter-in-law spent her vacations at Chatauqua Lake, N.Y. taken there by a matched team and driver. During the Civil War he went about making speeches to encourage enlistment and came home to find his son Henry, fifteen, had enlisted. His son (Henry Twichell) was Mothers (Franc Vorse's) Uncle. Henry was wounded and captured and was in Libby Prison. Mother told me her grandfather (David Vorse or Ed Twichell?)