Joseph Warnick was son of Joseph Warnick and Sarah. The younger Joseph obtained a license to marry Elizabeth Fazenbaker on 10/10/1815. While no direct information has been found concerning the year that Joseph was born, his brothers and sisters were born between the mid-1780s and 1800, and Joseph was probably also born in this time period. His wife Elizabeth was born about 1793. She was a daughter of the Hessian soldier George Fazenbaker who served in the Revolutionary War for the British side. Elizabeth was a sister of Catharine Fazenbaker who married Joseph's brother William Warnick.

Elizabeth's father was a settler on Military Lot 3869 when Francis Deakins conducted his survey for the state of Maryland in 1787. The Fazenbaker farm was about two miles north of land owned by the pioneer Joseph Warnick. By 1799, George came to own two other Military Lots, 3858 and 3859, which were less than 1/2 mile northeast of some of the pioneer Joseph's property.

Hoye and Turner wrote about Joseph Warnick in 1938: Joseph Warnick, Jr., settled on "Warnick's New Settlement" of 400 acres, which was surveyed for Samuel Warnick, 7th June 1824, and patented to him 19th January 1831. It is described as "lying at the head of a run called Bear Pen Run." This settlement was west of Savage River and about three miles south of the present village of New Germany. There was evidently a considerable settlement on this tract at the time of the survey in 1824; the survey notes "2 cabins, 2 small cabins, a flax house, threshing floor (no roof), 1 covered pen (the bear pen) 5886 rails." Samuel appears to have sold his settlement to his brother Joseph. the "New settlement" is now included in the Meadow Mountain State Forest.

We know that Joseph's widow owned five Military Lots in this same area of Garrett County (i.e., 3882, 3883, 3884, 3885, and 3886). These lots are located around the upper reaches of the impoundment behind Savage River Dam, which was built in the early 1940s.

Joseph died 2/17/1867. Living with his widow Elizabeth in 1870 were her son Joseph Warnick, age 36, and two of her grandchildren. In 1876 Elizabeth willed her five Military Lots to Ashford "Warnack," Joseph "Warnack," Silas "Warnack," and Jane "Broadwaters." The census records showing son Joseph living with Elizabeth, the pension application of Ashford naming Joseph and his other brothers, and other information show that the three men were some of Elizabeth's sons. The evidence that Jane was a daughter of Elizabeth is circumstantial. Jane's Civil War pension file confirmed that her maiden name was Warnick, and her inclusion in the 1876 deed suggests that she was Elizabeth's daughter. At least one of the Elizabeth's other children, Mary, who was not named in the deed, had previously moved away from the area.

The children of Joseph and Elizabeth included: 4.1 Jane Warnick (born about 1817), 4.2 Mary "Polly" Warnick (born about 1820), 4.3 Emily Warnick (born 5/17/1824), 4.4 Ashford Warnick (born 2/12/1827), 4.5 Silas Warnick (born 12/12/1830), and 4.6 Joseph "Blind Joe" Warnick, Jr. (born in the mid-1830s).

The historical record of this family is sparse. While an Allegany County marriage license shows that Mary Warnick married Thomas Wilt, and subsequent records of this couple have been found, it is only family tradition, as recorded by Fazenbaker cousin, the late Mary Rowe, that places Mary Warnick in the family of Joseph Warnick. Since the births of Joseph's six children are spaced so far apart, it is possible that Joseph and Elizabeth had other children missing from this list. Indeed, the 1820 census listed three young girls in Joseph Warnick's household. Two of these were probably 4.1 Jane Warnick and 4.2 Mary "Polly" Warnick. Perhaps another of these daughters was Mandana Warnick, who was living with 4.6 Joseph "Blind Joe" Warnick, Jr. at the time of the 1880 census. It has been reported to the author that Mandana was another of the children of 4 Elizabeth (Fazenbaker) Warnick, and that she married Tom Clark. Nothing more is known. Mary Rowe's record of family tradition also records a daughter Nancy who married a Gilpin, but no public record of such a person has yet been found.

Elizabeth died 4/24/1868.

I have compiled information about hundreds of descendants of Joseph Warnick and Elizabeth (Fazenbaker). The second edition of my book, Warnick Families of Western Maryland (535 pages, 1995) is available at the Genealogical Society of Allegany County, the library of Allegany College, and the Library of Congress. My collection of information about the western Maryland Warnick family is in a constant state of refinement. Inquiries about western Maryland Warnick families are welcome.

This page was revised January 13, 1999.Walt Warnick's Western Maryland Family History Home Page