Monday, May 24, 2021

CFH First Draft: Dr. Frederick B Callin

 This post is part of an ongoing series, sharing the first draft of my Revised Callin Family History

Frederick Blecker Callin is the 62nd person in a descendant report beginning with the earliest known ancestor of our Callin family, (1.) James Callin. This descendant report uses the Register Style of the New England Historic and Genealogical Society. 

Please use the Contact Form (at right) to send questions or corrections.

Fourth Generation

62. Frederick Blecker Callin (Hugh-3, John-2, James "1st"-1) was born in 1854 in Ohio.  After the death of his father, his mother, Barbary, and aunt Mary Mathews (Barbara’s sister) raised him and his siblings in Milton Township, Ashland County. They later moved to Vermillion before 1870, and Fred lived in the home of his mother and step-father in Vermillion in 1880.

Barbary loaned Fred the money he needed to attend medical school, and she forgave his debt as her bequest to him when she died in 1886. As part of his education, he studied medicine in Germany, and upon his return, he graduated from Ohio Medical University, Columbus, in 1893, and established a medical practice in Akron, Ohio.

Dr. Frederick B Callin and Rosanna Harriet "Hattie" Crippen were married on 25 Mar 1883 in Ashland, Ohio. Hattie was the daughter of George B Crippen (1828–1893) and Catharine Phillips (b. 1839), born in July 1859. Her father was a harness maker who came from England and raised his family in Steubenville, Jefferson County, and in Troy, Ashland County. He lived out his days in Akron.

Fred and Hattie lived in Akron, Summit County, Ohio, from at least 1899  through 1920. They were prominent in their community, though it was usually Dr. Callin who appeared in the newspapers. His practice weathered an early malpractice lawsuit in 1894, and in 1901, Fred was arrested and charged with assault after an argument over the sale of some oats with a man known as “Uncle Dry” Huddleston.

He was charged with assault again in 1912:  

"It wasn't an iceberg that struck M.L. Atwater, author of the poem, "The Titanic Struck an Iceberg." but the fist of Dr. Fred B. Callin, Akron physician, according to the story the poet told the police today.

"Atwater asked Callin to buy a copy of the poem, and Callin asked to read it. Atwater held the paper up, but with the blank side toward Callin. Callin's blank stare turned to wrath, and he is alleged to have slapped Atwater, first on one cheek and then on the other. The doctor was arrested on the charge of assault and battery."


Fred traveled to Ireland to visit relatives in 1907, suggesting that he may have been a fellow family historian. The newspaper account of his trip said only “his principal object being to visit relatives in County South [sic – probably “Louth”], Ireland, where his ancestors came from.”

Fred died unexpectedly on 28 Mar 1920 at the age of 66 while visiting his son, Moreland, in St Augustine, St Johns County, Florida. His body was brought back from Florida to Akron, and he was buried in the Stow Cemetery.

His widow was appointed executor of his estate, and despite facing rising property taxes, she remained in Akron for several years before retiring to live with her family in Florida. She appears to have divided her time between St Augustine, St Johns County and Jacksonville, Duval County, while still appearing on the Census in Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio in 1940. Her main address was Jacksonville, though, and she died in Jacksonville in 1944.


Frederick B Callin and Harriet Rosanna "Hattie" Crippen had two children:


i. Sampsell Callin was born on 12 May 1884 and died on 27 Jan 1887 in Montgomery, Ashland, Ohio.

213 ii. Moreland Guy Callin, born 20 Oct 1887, Newville, Richland, Ohio; married Maude Lovina Morgan, 6 Jul 1914, Wayne County, Ohio; died 9 Oct 1964, Jacksonville, Duval, Florida.


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