The youngest child born to Hendrick Banta 3rd and his first wife, Rachel Brower, she was named Geertje after her paternal grandmother, Geertje/Geertruy Terhune Banta, but called Charity. Her mother died soon after she was born and her stepmother, Antie Demarest Banta, raised her. Antie was a cousin to Charity's mother.
Charity left her husband of 38 years and with her youngest daughter, Sarah, was among the first to join the Shakers when they formed the Kentucky Society in 1806. Two sons with their families and another daughter with her family followed her to the Shakers. The section of the Shaker Cemetery at the restored village of Pleasant Hill, near Harrodsburg, KY has only a handful of the original stones remaining but as the Shakers kept meticulous records, I was able to determine the stone marked with a C.M. was that placed over her resting place in 1828. The Shakers did not believe in putting any information on their limestone markers other than the persons initials...she was the only burial within the time frame of the remaining stones in the cemetery with the her initials. I used their journals to construct the list of those buried from 1813-1830 and knew from research, this is the one place they did not separate the sexes as they did in daily life, but rather buried in chronological order. That said, she is still the only one buried in that time frame, male or female, with the initials C.M.
-------------------------
Adding the rest of her children by husband, Francis Montfort Sr.....
Rachel* married to John Voris*
Catherine*married to Francis Voris
Charity married to Cornelius Luyster
Marya married to Stephen Terhune
Henry married to Catherine Montfort
John Calvin married to Nancy Agnes Mitchell and 2. Ruth Gess
Francis Jr* married to Marya/Polly Banta*
Jacob* married to Margaret/Peggy Banta* and 2. Nancy Lineback*
Sarah never married*
The asterisk indicates those that joined the Shakers with their children and spouse. Jacob divorced his first wife and was expelled from the Shakers with the girl that became his second wife....she was from a Shaker family at Pleasant Hill.
Francis Jr married his half first cousin. Polly Banta, daughter of John and Polly Riker Banta....John was a half brother to Geertje/Charity Banta Montfort
Jacob married first Margaret/Peggy Banta..his half first cousin and daughter of Cornelius and Mary Magdaline Shuck Durie Banta then after finding Nancy Lineback pregnant, they were both expelled from the Shakers. They moved into Harrodsburg, where Jacob filed for divorce from Peggy. A Kentucky law at the time granted a divorce if one member of the couple was a Shaker and refused to leave the society...shortly after the divorce was granted in 1837, Nancy became the wife of Jacob. Peggy remained with the Shakers till her death in 1874.
Henry married his first cousin, Catherine Montfort who was the daughter of Lawrence and Joanna Langstraat Montfort of Ohio.
Charity left her husband of 38 years and with her youngest daughter, Sarah, was among the first to join the Shakers when they formed the Kentucky Society in 1806. Two sons with their families and another daughter with her family followed her to the Shakers. The section of the Shaker Cemetery at the restored village of Pleasant Hill, near Harrodsburg, KY has only a handful of the original stones remaining but as the Shakers kept meticulous records, I was able to determine the stone marked with a C.M. was that placed over her resting place in 1828. The Shakers did not believe in putting any information on their limestone markers other than the persons initials...she was the only burial within the time frame of the remaining stones in the cemetery with the her initials. I used their journals to construct the list of those buried from 1813-1830 and knew from research, this is the one place they did not separate the sexes as they did in daily life, but rather buried in chronological order. That said, she is still the only one buried in that time frame, male or female, with the initials C.M.
-------------------------
Adding the rest of her children by husband, Francis Montfort Sr.....
Rachel* married to John Voris*
Catherine*married to Francis Voris
Charity married to Cornelius Luyster
Marya married to Stephen Terhune
Henry married to Catherine Montfort
John Calvin married to Nancy Agnes Mitchell and 2. Ruth Gess
Francis Jr* married to Marya/Polly Banta*
Jacob* married to Margaret/Peggy Banta* and 2. Nancy Lineback*
Sarah never married*
The asterisk indicates those that joined the Shakers with their children and spouse. Jacob divorced his first wife and was expelled from the Shakers with the girl that became his second wife....she was from a Shaker family at Pleasant Hill.
Francis Jr married his half first cousin. Polly Banta, daughter of John and Polly Riker Banta....John was a half brother to Geertje/Charity Banta Montfort
Jacob married first Margaret/Peggy Banta..his half first cousin and daughter of Cornelius and Mary Magdaline Shuck Durie Banta then after finding Nancy Lineback pregnant, they were both expelled from the Shakers. They moved into Harrodsburg, where Jacob filed for divorce from Peggy. A Kentucky law at the time granted a divorce if one member of the couple was a Shaker and refused to leave the society...shortly after the divorce was granted in 1837, Nancy became the wife of Jacob. Peggy remained with the Shakers till her death in 1874.
Henry married his first cousin, Catherine Montfort who was the daughter of Lawrence and Joanna Langstraat Montfort of Ohio.
The youngest child born to Hendrick Banta 3rd and his first wife, Rachel Brower, she was named Geertje after her paternal grandmother, Geertje/Geertruy Terhune Banta, but called Charity. Her mother died soon after she was born and her stepmother, Antie Demarest Banta, raised her. Antie was a cousin to Charity's mother.
Charity left her husband of 38 years and with her youngest daughter, Sarah, was among the first to join the Shakers when they formed the Kentucky Society in 1806. Two sons with their families and another daughter with her family followed her to the Shakers. The section of the Shaker Cemetery at the restored village of Pleasant Hill, near Harrodsburg, KY has only a handful of the original stones remaining but as the Shakers kept meticulous records, I was able to determine the stone marked with a C.M. was that placed over her resting place in 1828. The Shakers did not believe in putting any information on their limestone markers other than the persons initials...she was the only burial within the time frame of the remaining stones in the cemetery with the her initials. I used their journals to construct the list of those buried from 1813-1830 and knew from research, this is the one place they did not separate the sexes as they did in daily life, but rather buried in chronological order. That said, she is still the only one buried in that time frame, male or female, with the initials C.M.
-------------------------
Adding the rest of her children by husband, Francis Montfort Sr.....
Rachel* married to John Voris*
Catherine*married to Francis Voris
Charity married to Cornelius Luyster
Marya married to Stephen Terhune
Henry married to Catherine Montfort
John Calvin married to Nancy Agnes Mitchell and 2. Ruth Gess
Francis Jr* married to Marya/Polly Banta*
Jacob* married to Margaret/Peggy Banta* and 2. Nancy Lineback*
Sarah never married*
The asterisk indicates those that joined the Shakers with their children and spouse. Jacob divorced his first wife and was expelled from the Shakers with the girl that became his second wife....she was from a Shaker family at Pleasant Hill.
Francis Jr married his half first cousin. Polly Banta, daughter of John and Polly Riker Banta....John was a half brother to Geertje/Charity Banta Montfort
Jacob married first Margaret/Peggy Banta..his half first cousin and daughter of Cornelius and Mary Magdaline Shuck Durie Banta then after finding Nancy Lineback pregnant, they were both expelled from the Shakers. They moved into Harrodsburg, where Jacob filed for divorce from Peggy. A Kentucky law at the time granted a divorce if one member of the couple was a Shaker and refused to leave the society...shortly after the divorce was granted in 1837, Nancy became the wife of Jacob. Peggy remained with the Shakers till her death in 1874.
Henry married his first cousin, Catherine Montfort who was the daughter of Lawrence and Joanna Langstraat Montfort of Ohio.
Charity left her husband of 38 years and with her youngest daughter, Sarah, was among the first to join the Shakers when they formed the Kentucky Society in 1806. Two sons with their families and another daughter with her family followed her to the Shakers. The section of the Shaker Cemetery at the restored village of Pleasant Hill, near Harrodsburg, KY has only a handful of the original stones remaining but as the Shakers kept meticulous records, I was able to determine the stone marked with a C.M. was that placed over her resting place in 1828. The Shakers did not believe in putting any information on their limestone markers other than the persons initials...she was the only burial within the time frame of the remaining stones in the cemetery with the her initials. I used their journals to construct the list of those buried from 1813-1830 and knew from research, this is the one place they did not separate the sexes as they did in daily life, but rather buried in chronological order. That said, she is still the only one buried in that time frame, male or female, with the initials C.M.
-------------------------
Adding the rest of her children by husband, Francis Montfort Sr.....
Rachel* married to John Voris*
Catherine*married to Francis Voris
Charity married to Cornelius Luyster
Marya married to Stephen Terhune
Henry married to Catherine Montfort
John Calvin married to Nancy Agnes Mitchell and 2. Ruth Gess
Francis Jr* married to Marya/Polly Banta*
Jacob* married to Margaret/Peggy Banta* and 2. Nancy Lineback*
Sarah never married*
The asterisk indicates those that joined the Shakers with their children and spouse. Jacob divorced his first wife and was expelled from the Shakers with the girl that became his second wife....she was from a Shaker family at Pleasant Hill.
Francis Jr married his half first cousin. Polly Banta, daughter of John and Polly Riker Banta....John was a half brother to Geertje/Charity Banta Montfort
Jacob married first Margaret/Peggy Banta..his half first cousin and daughter of Cornelius and Mary Magdaline Shuck Durie Banta then after finding Nancy Lineback pregnant, they were both expelled from the Shakers. They moved into Harrodsburg, where Jacob filed for divorce from Peggy. A Kentucky law at the time granted a divorce if one member of the couple was a Shaker and refused to leave the society...shortly after the divorce was granted in 1837, Nancy became the wife of Jacob. Peggy remained with the Shakers till her death in 1874.
Henry married his first cousin, Catherine Montfort who was the daughter of Lawrence and Joanna Langstraat Montfort of Ohio.
Gravesite Details
Charity died in 1828 so there is the natural wearing down of the field limestone but a nearby factory is also adding to the problem and changes have taken place in two years time to the appearance of the marker.
Family Members
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Records on Ancestry
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