I’m well off pace but I still hope to complete the challenge! These next few ancestor profiles will hook into my recent roadtrip.
I’m 99% certain that Philip Helsel is my 6th Great Grandfather and the father of John Helsel who brought his family to Michigan in in the 1840s. I believe—but have been unable to conclusively prove—that he is the son of Johan Tobias and Engela (Mohr) Heltzel. I do not know the name of his wife (some researchers have suggested Catherine) but their children included John (above), Jacob and Catherine (who married William McFall)—who brought their families to Michigan around the same time; Peter whose family thrived in Mahoning County, Ohio; and then I believe there were at least two other sons: Philip Jr. and Joseph. Philip was born in Pennsylvania in 1769 in York County, Pennsylvania. He is the Philip who lived in Fallowfield Township, Washington County in 1810. In 1820 and 1830 he is enumerated in Boardman Township, Mahoning County, Ohio. I believe that he died before 1840.
While I am fairly confident that my gut feeling that the connection between Philip and Johan Tobias is correct, I wasn’t able to make any progress in proving the connection on this trip. I found a tremendous amount of material on the Helsel/Heltzel/Hoetzel families including a fair amount of supporting material on collateral lines—particularly in Bedford and York Counties—but nothing concrete came to light. I’m hoping that backtracking and doing more research in Ohio will get me farther.
Happy hunting,
Jess
Genie Road Trip 
January 31, 2016 at 3:57 pm
I am descended from a Joseph Helsel who moved from Boardman Twp. in Ohio to Michigan. Various records have him as born in PA, OH or unknown. However, I’m pretty sure that this is the Joseph who is the son of this Philip Helsel. As for the connection to Johan Tobias, I am struggling to prove that. There is a Philip Helsel buried in a cemetery in Obetz, OH (near Columbus) who was born in Pennsylvania and is also linked to Johan Tobias (but not through any specific documentation I can find, although he was born in York County). It appears this might be a different Philip Helsel than the one in Boardman Twp. based on accounts of this Philip Helsel being integral to the formation and early days of the Zion Evangelic Lutheran Church in Obetz. It’s possible that he and his wife moved for a time to Boardman and then were buried back near the chuch they helped found, but I don’t know how likely this is. There are a lot of later Helsels also buried at the Obetz Cemetary. It’s a mystery I haven’t solved but I came across your post and wondered if you’d found out anything further or would like to swap some notes.
http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMAGYQ_Zions_Evangelical_Lutheran_Church_Obetz_OH
February 19, 2016 at 6:06 pm
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you! I’d love to swap info. I will freely admit I’m still not all the way through my notes from that trip for one reason or another. I still think the connection is real but yes, I am having the same issues proving it. If you’re still interested I’ll clean up what I have to share.
Cheers,
Jess