Pence Family History

Welcome to the Pence Family History Home Page

Hosted by Richard A. Pence © Copyright 1997-2008

Richard Pence died on Wendesday, November 25th, 2009 following a lengthy illness. His research is now located at the Allen County Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

This webpage will remain active as a source for continuing research.

This site is dedicated to the collection and dissemination of information about the Pence Families of America. What is posted on this web site represents only a portion of the information I have.

• Genealogies
• Databases
• Wills, Deeds, Biographies, Obits, Bible Records
• Background Information
• Miscellaneous and Personal
• Other Sites

Pence Mailing List Click for information on subscribing.

Genealogies

The Hawksbill Pence Families A brief look at the families of Lewis, Jacob, Adam and Henry Pence, who settled before 1760 on the Hawksbill Creek near Stanley in what is now Page County, Va. Most of these families went to Champaign County, Oh. Includes documentation.

Shenandoah Valley Pence Family Group Sheets A summary of the families of 10 early Shenandoah Valley Pence progenitors and those of some of their male descendants. A brief guide to the earliest Pences in Virginia.

Miscellaneous Pence Family Group Sheets: Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania.

Are you related to these two brothers who were noted outlaws? They were Confederate guerrillas with Quantrill's Raiders in the Civil War. After the war they were paroled and returned home to Clay County, Mo., where they helped pull off the first daylight bank robbery in U.S. history. Frank and Jesse James? Well, yes. But we're talking about Bud and Donnie Pence, neighbors, comrades and life-long friends of the James boys. Click on The Outlaws icon above to learn more about them.

Databases

Pence Marriage Records A finding aid for 3,500 U.S. and Canadian Pence, Pense, Pentz and Bentz marriages.

Pences In the War of 1812 A list of some of those with the surname who served.

Games and Names Who among the Pence family has played major league baseball? Served in Congress? A mere handful, but you can click HERE to learn more about them - and the remarkable coincidence that ties three of them together.

Wills, Deeds, Biographies, Obituaries, Bible Records

Pence Land Grants on the Hawksbill Creek Map showing grants, plus Shenandoah County deeds relating to them.

Pence Deeds From Shenandoah County, Virginia Abstracts from Amelia C. Gilreath's 9-volume collection, used with the author's permission.

Pence Family Biographies Mostly extracted from early county histories.

Shenandoah Valley Pence Obituaries A collection of obituaries of Pences or those closely related, principally from Shenandoah Valley newspapers, including a few old ones.

Miscellaneous Pence Obituaries A collection of obituaries of Pences or those closely related, principally from Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, including a few old ones.

Jackson County, Oregon, Pence Obituaries More than one Pence family settled here.

Bible Records for Pence and Allied Families A modest beginning for what will be a much larger collection.

York County, Pennsylvania, Bentz/Pentz Records Before 1850 A collection of wills, bonds, deeds and vital records compiled in 1935 by the York Historical Society.

Background Information

Publications Containing Pence Family Information A list of books with extensive information on the Pence family.

The Pences In America An overview of the Pence surname in the U.S., with a look at the major groups and the principal places they lived.

Pence Families of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia Background on three groups of Shenandoah Valley Pences who are the ancestors of a great many of the Pences in the U.S. today. A companion to Shenandoah Valley Group Sheets (above). Click on the button above for all three, or choose one of the following:

• Jacob and Valentine Pence Augusta/Rocingham County
• Lewis, Jacob, Adam and Henry Pence Shenandoah/Page County
• Michael, Conrad, George Philip and Nicholas Pence Shenandoah County

Early Days in Bartholomew County, Indiana Two early newspaper clippings and a letter.

By the Number The U.S. Census Bureau calculated after the 1990 census that the surname Pence ranked 2,882 on the list of surname frequency. This total includes the variations Pense and Pentz. Those with those names comprised some .004 percent of the total population. The 2,881 surnames which occur more frequently comprise 56.544 percent of the population. The name Bentz ranks 5,461 and Benz ranks 6,933. Each of those comprises .002 percent of the populaiton. By contrast, those with the surname Smith comprise 1.006 percent of the population. Those with the name Pence, however, are approximately equal to the number with the names Smyth and Smythe!

Pence Surname Distribution in the U.S. Maps showing distribution of Pences by state in 1850, 1880, 1920 and 1990.

Miscellaneous and Personal

Two Longs and a Short and Other Tales of the Old West My latest book: A nostalgic collection of stories about growing up in a small town in the Midwest. Read the title story (as featured in Missing Links in July of 1999. Commercial: Ordering nformation follows the story.