Spellchecking the John Berlin Mystery

When you sit down to solve a jigsaw puzzle, you already have a few advantages. Usually, you know that you have all of the pieces in your box. And usually, you have a picture on the box to show you what your solved puzzle should look like. Most importantly, though, you know that only the pieces that should fit together will fit together.

Solving a family history puzzle is the opposite of all of those things. You probably know you don't have all the pieces, and you probably never will. The picture on the box may not have been labeled properly, and when you do find clues, they may add up to give you three or four different answers - sometimes, even the right one!

If we're lucky, we can find enough evidence that matches the pieces we have to tell us where to look for the next several pieces. And that's the game. You will find a lot of information, and some of it is obviously wrong. But some of it is right — and how do you know what to hold onto, and what to let go?

Today, I'm taking a fresh look at the family of Elizabeth Berlin, rebuilding the case I made in a post from 2016.

The Pieces

The Callin Family History

According to the Callin Family History, Elizabeth Berlin is my 3rd-great-grandmother. Here's what we have to work with from the CFH:

Record of William Callin, 3rd son of John Callin, who was 2nd son of James 1st.
Born May 10, 1813, died Nov. 9, 1881, at Bowling Green, O.

Married to Elizabeth Barlene 1837 who died Nov. 14, 1903, at Bowling Green, O., aged 86 years.

The William Callin-Elizabeth Berlin marriage record

One guiding star in any kind of historical research is the rule that tells us to always look to original and primary sources. The CFH is not a primary source, but a marriage record would be. We can see the image of the original record here:

Detail from Ohio, County Marriage Records, 1774-1993

Despite the florid handwriting and odd line break, it is easy enough to see that "Mr. Wm. Cal-lin and Mifs Elizabeth Berlin" were married on the 29th day of Sept. in Richland County, Ohio, in 1836. (I had to crop the part of the image that showed the year, but if anyone needs to see that to believe it, I can send the whole page.)

Notice the way things add up, yet are different. The CFH says William married Elizabeth Barlene in 1837, and the marriage record says he married Elizabeth Berlin on 29 September 1836. It's easy enough to accept this record as proof that corroborates the CFH, but even though they aren't exactly the same. The year is definitely close enough, and the spelling of the surname suggests that a combination of pioneer illiteracy and varied pronunciation could complicate things for us.

Rosemary's Memoir

If you are a long-time reader of this blog, you may remember an early post, Silk or Satin, in which Elizabeth's granddaughter, Rosemary (the youngest daughter of George Callin, the writer of the Callin Family History) recorded her memories of Elizabeth after her death in 1903. Even Rosemary wasn't sure how to spell Elizabeth's maiden name, and she titled her memoir, "Things I Have Been Told About My Grandmother, Elizabeth Berlien (Barline) Callin."

That confusion in what, exactly, Elizabeth's maiden name was makes it difficult to find Elizabeth's family in the Census because there are many households with similar surnames in the 1830 and 1840 Census records for Ohio. Without more information, it would be impossible to track them down.

The Wood County history

Pages 923 and 924 of the Commemorative Historical and Biographical Record of Wood County, Ohio have a biographical sketch of my great-great-grandfather, John H. Callin, son of William and Elizabeth. In its description of William, it says: "In 1835, he married Elizabeth, daughter of John Barlin, of Ashland..."

The Wood County book is definitely not a primary source, but that statement may help us find one. At least we have two more crucial clues: a father's name, John, and a location to hunt in: Ashland. (Also, with that source, we are now up to five alternate spellings of the surname.)

Detail from the 1840 U.S. Census for
Mifflin, Richland County, Ohio

I assume that the location referred to as "of Ashland" is Ashland County, Ohio, where William's father and uncle settled when they arrived in Ohio from Pennsylvania. However, we have to note the fact that Ashland County, Ohio, did not exist in 1835, when the Wood County book says they were married. That book was published in 1895 or 1897 (depending on which edition you find), and it seems that it was referring to the counties as they existed in the 1890s. Ashland County was formed in 1846 from parts of Huron, Lorain, Richland and Wayne Counties. When the Wood County book says "Ashland," it could mean any one of those other counties.

The U.S. Federal Census

In the 1840 Census, we find a John Barlean listed as the head of a household in Mifflin, Richland County. Mifflin is near enough to Milton that the Barlean and Callin families likely knew each other. The 1840 Barlean household is enumerated as having one male between the ages of 50 and 59 (presumably John, putting his birthdate between 1781 and 1790), one female between 50 and 59, and one female between 15 and 19. This could be a younger sister of Elizabeth's, with a birthdate between 1821 and 1825.

Further searches failed to turn up records for 1850 or 1860, but in 1870 we can see an 83-year-old John Barlean listed with his wife, Mary A (age 79), living in the Young household in Vermillion, Ashland County, Ohio. The head of that household is listed as Catherine Young, 50 years old, and born in Pennsylvania. Not only do the estimated birthdates of John (1787, in Pennsylvania) and Mary A (1791, also in Pennsylvania) fit with their 1840 record, but Catherine Young (estimated birthdate of 1820) could be the younger female in that 1840 record, too.

Detail from the 1870 U.S. Census for
Vermillion, Ashland County, Ohio

The Ashland County History

Catherine's eldest son, Samuel, is featured in a biographical sketch in A. J. Baughman's History of Ashland County, Ohio, which says (emphasis is mine):

He is a son of Michael and Katharine (Berlean) Young, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania as were the paternal grandparents, Mathias and Mary Young. ... The maternal grandparents of our subject were John and Mary Ann Berlean, who were likewise born in the Keystone state and died in Ashland county. ...John Berlean served his country in the war of 1812 and was at Baltimore during the hostilities there. The Berlean homestead, upon which the mother of our subject [the same Catherine we see in the 1870 Census] was born, was situated in Pennsylvania on the Maryland state line.
...Michael Young ...accompanied his parents on their removal to Mifflin township about 1829 and Katherine Berlean arrived about a year later. They were married here and became residents of Mifflin township, taking up their abode on a farm within its borders immediately after their marriage and remaining there until called to their final rest.

A War of 1812 Pension record

So, we now have another clue that tells us where to hunt for primary sources on John Berlean: his military service in the war of 1812. But this is also where I think I made a mistake; look at what I said in 2016, in the post "Great-great-great-grandpa William Callin," specifically this part:

"John Berlin turns up in the War of 1812 Pension Application Files Index, 1812-1815 and from that record we learn that he served from 21 April 1813 to 22 November 1814, in both Captain William Craig's and Captain Jonathan May's companies in the Pennsylvania Militia. The record also shows that he married his second wife (the widow claiming his pension) in 1830 in Columbiana county, Ohio. (Happily, his first wife, Anna Coy, is also named.) It also lists residence dates for Van Wert county, Ohio (1851-1856) and Canton, Stark county (1871); he died in Stark county in 1874."

When I wrote that previous post, I ignored some problems with that record that probably indicate it does not identify our John Berlin/Berlean. First, that pension record says nothing about Ashland County, or any of the neighboring counties that became Ashland later on. Second, the name of the widow given in the pension record was Catherine Landis; this means that even if we assume some scenario where the John Berlin in this record lived in Mifflin in 1840 and in Vermillion in 1870, the name of his wife in the 1870 Census does not match the name of his widow on the pension record.

I suppose it is possible that John and Mary Ann lived in Ashland in the 1840s, moved to Van Wert County during the 1850s, then back to Ashland in time for the 1870 Census, moving finally to Stark County by 1871. But there are problems with that theory. I find it unlikely that "Catherine" would use the name "Mary Ann" only when living in Ashland County. (Mary Ann is not Anna Coy, either, because Anna Coy died before 1830.)

The Ashland County History also specifically states that John and Mary Ann Berlean "died in Ashland county." Unfortunately, I have been unable to confirm this with records of any kind. They do not appear on the 1880 Census, and I can find no death records in Ashland county during the 1870s. I do see a Find-A-Grave memorial for John Berlin and Catherine, both of whom died and are buried in Stark County. It is possible that the writer of the Ashland history confused the location of their deaths, but that seems unlikely, as the two counties are about 60 miles apart.

When all is said and done, I don't think the John Berlin in this pension record is the same as the John Berlin who lived and died in Ashland County.

The Westmoreland County history

George Dallas Albert's History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania holds two more clues to the origin of our John Barlean (again, emphases mine):

pg. 611 -

"THE BERLIN FAMILY

"In 1794 one of the soldiers who came from Eastern Pennsylvania in the army to put down the "Whiskey Insurrection" was Jacob Berlin. He got a furlough in Pittsburgh to come out to that part of Franklin township now included in Penn, to visit his uncle, Jacob Berlin, who had settled there some twenty years before. He so liked the country that in the spring of 1795 he returned with his wife, formerly Miss Eve Carbaugh.
"He finally settled between the Fink and Lauffer farms. His children were four daughters and six sons, viz.: ...John, Frederick, Joseph, Samuel, Powell, and Elias, of whom Powell removed to Forest County, Frederick to Clarion, and John to State of Ohio. Col. Elias Berlin, the youngest son, was born in 1803...His brother John served in the war of 1812."

And there is this about John's likely bride:

pg. 668 (within the biographical sketch of Jacob Baughman)

"After his marriage Adam Baughman settled on a farm in Armstrong County, about seventy miles up the Allegheny River, and here four children, viz.: Catharine, Michael, Polly, and Jacob, were born. Upon the death of his brother Henry...he sold his place in Armstrong County and returned to Westmoreland, and became the owner of and occupied the homestead until his death. Here the following children were born, viz.: Elizabeth, Margaret, Peter, Anna, Henry, Christian, and Lydia...Anna, wife of John Berlin, six sons and three daughters..."

While none of the places associated with Jacob Berlin are places that I would describe as "situated in Pennsylvania on the Maryland state line," I'm inclined to think that the other details fit with our John Berlin; I'm even willing to think that because the biography of Samuel Young (which names his wife as "Mary Ann") might be more accurate than the biography of Jacob and Adam Baughman (which calls her merely "Anna") because the Samuel Young biography was written by a descendant of the Baughmans! (How's that for history rhyming?)

Conclusions

While I would prefer to have solid, primary sources to prove the relationships here, I think it's reasonable to say that I have enough evidence to assert that we know the key facts about Elizabeth Berlin:

1. William Callin married Elizabeth Berlin on 29 September 1836 in what was then Richland County, Ohio.

• Ohio marriage record (primary source)
• Callin Family History (secondary source; last name given as "Barlene" and date as 1837)
• Wood County History (secondary; last name given as "Barlin" and date as 1835)

2. Elizabeth's father was John Berlin, "of Ashland County" (Ohio)

• Wood County History (secondary; last name given as "Barlin")

3. Elizabeth's sister was Catherine (or Katherine) Young

• Ashland County History (secondary; last name given as "Berlean" and Elizabeth not named)
• 1870 U.S. Census (primary; shows Catherine Young and John & Mary Ann Barlean living in same household)

4. John Berlin's origins were in Westmoreland County

• Ashland County History (secondary; gives name as "Berlean," identifies Pennsylvania, mentions 1812 service)
• Westmoreland County History (secondary; gives name as "Berlin," identifies wife as "Anna," places him in Ohio)

That should give us some solid ground to build on.

A Crash Course in Colonial Geography

There is a lot to learn in pursuit of my most distant Callin ancestor, James Callin.

The Callin Family History places him in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, after the Revolutionary War, but I have been unable to locate the land records that might confirm this, or service records that contain any family information.

I have written before, in Lafayette on the Brandywine and A #HamiltonMusical Intermission, about the records showing a James Callin serving in the 4th Virginia Regiment of Foot. So, of course, that raises the question: if our guy lived in Pennsylvania, why did he serve in a Virginia Regiment?

There may be a good answer to that question.

Map of Ohio, Monongalia, & Yohogania Counties.
Yohogania County is in light blue.

Yohogania County was created by the new state of Virginia in 1776, in an area long disputed between Virginia and Pennsylvania. In 1773 the region had been designated Westmoreland County by Pennsylvania, and settlers were moving into the area from both directions. There were two men listed next to each other in the 1773 tax roles of Hempfield, in Bedford County, Pennsylvania: James Callen and Patrick Callen; Hempfield was located in the part of Bedford County that became part of Westmoreland County that year.

The disputed territories included the entire southwestern corner of what is now Pennsylvania, west of the Laurel Ridge (Allegheny Mountains) and south of the Kiskiminetas, Allegheny and Ohio rivers. The disputes over which colony had authority over the area led to overlapping land grants to settlers and battles between Virginians and Pennsylvanians in the period 1774–1775. In 1774, a Virginian militia group even attacked and captured the Westmoreland County seat at Hannastown and arrested three Westmoreland County justices who refused to acknowledge the jurisdiction of Virginia.

On December 27, 1779, a resolution by the Second Continental Congress recommended to the two now-states of Virginia and Pennsylvania that, rather than continue to quarrel with each other as well as fighting the British, they should reach an agreement on the border situation. This was done in theory by an agreement reached by commissioners from both states in Baltimore in 1779 and ratified by the legislatures of both states in 1780. From 1782 to 1786, surveys demarcating the borders of Pennsylvania were completed. The areas of Yohogania County ceded to Pennsylvania included all of present-day Westmoreland County and parts of the present counties of Allegheny, Beaver, Washington, and Fayette.

The take away from this is that the James Callen listed in Hempfield in 1773 would have found himself living on land that was considered to be both Pennsylvania AND Virginia for more than a dozen years.

(There is a rather extensive history of the conflict, including more neat maps, at http://www.virginiaplaces.org/boundaries/paboundary.html).

Prior to the Revolution, the Virginia Regiment had a history of recruiting from Pennsylvania.  The Virginia militia was established in 1607 and the main purpose of the Crown's militia was to repel invasions and insurrections and to enforce the laws of the colony. Militia service in Virginia was compulsory for all free males.

In 1754 the Virginia General Assembly voted to raise a regiment of 300 men and send it to the confluence of the Alleghany and Monongahela rivers to defend the area against encroachment from the French. Most of the recruits were characterized by the commander, a Colonel George Washington, as "loose, Idle Persons ... quite destitute of House, and Home." There were frequent desertions because of poor supplies, extremely low pay and hazardous duty, so Virginia Regiment recruiters went to Pennsylvania and Maryland for men.

In contrast, the Quakers who ran the government in Pennsylvania were pacifists, and were reluctant to support fighting in any way. According to one account, "a wagon load of scalped and mangled corpses was drawn past the State House" and a group of "...Presbyterian Scotch Irish, fortified by whiskey and prayers and armed with long greased rifles, descended with blackened faces and Indian costumes upon Philadelphia," to impress upon the Friends the desperate nature of their situation. "The Quaker utopia by the Delaware (River) finally opened its eyes, a bit, to the terrible glow of burning cabins on the frontier." (The Callen Chronicles*, quoting from Bedford Village, written by Harvey Allen).

If the James Callen who lived in Hempfield did enlist in a Virginia Regiment, that could be a reflection of his feelings about the Pennsylvanian government.

After the French and Indian War, the Virginia Regiment was disbanded in May 1763, but at the outset of the Revolutionary War, less than a decade later, a Congressional resolution passed on 14 June 1775 authorized ten companies of expert riflemen to be raised for one-year enlistments as Continental troops. Maryland and Virginia were to raise two companies each, and Pennsylvania six. Pennsylvania frontiersman, however, were so eager to participate that on June 22 Pennsylvania's quota was increased to eight.

As noted in previous posts, James and Edward Callin appeared in the muster rolls of the 4th Virginia Regiment, from 1777. The Regiment was raised on December 28, 1775, at Suffolk Court House, Virginia, for service with the Continental Army. The regiment saw action at the Battles of Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth and the Siege of Charleston. Most of the regiment was captured at Charlestown, South Carolina, on May 12, 1780, by the British and the regiment was formally disbanded on January 1, 1783. Edward was not seen on the muster rolls after 1778, and James had also likely completed his service in 1779, returning to his home in what would soon be undisputably Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.

Of course, pinning down exactly where he settled is still difficult, because there were many changes in the organization of Pennsylvania's counties both before and after the time we are searching in. What was called "Westmoreland County" depends on when you are asking. The records may simply not be available online, yet.

 - -- --- -- - 

*The 1773 Bedford County tax records for James and Patrick Callen and the muster rolls of James and Edward Callin, as well as a number of other miscellaneous records and the passage from Bedford Village are discussed in the Callen Chronicles, which is available in free/downloadable PDF format at www.callanfamily.net.

For a glimpse of how complicated the evolution of this area was, there are animated maps illustrating Pennsylvania county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Pennsylvania County Boundary Maps" (1673-1878) which may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Update: Located in Illinois

I'm excited to announce another breakthrough; let me refresh the details for you (borrowing from The Rise of the Fergusons):

The year is 1835, and the younger of the Brothers Callin of Ohio, John Callin, has just died of tuberculosis. While the farm where John's children and nephews grew up must have begun to feel crowded by the end of the 1820s, during the 1830s and 1840s these children began to grow up and set off on their own.
Indeed, at least the older of John's children would have been married by the time of his death. His son, George Callin, was married though he may not have moved out to Huron county, yet. His daughter, Ann Callin Campbell, had certainly struck out on her own with Henry Campbell. And we have discussed how his nephew Alec Callin will soon embark on his journey to Iowa, taking wife and children with him, as well as his widowed mother (John's sister-in-law).
The Callin Family History (or CFH) is not very elaborate when it comes to conveying all of this activity and motion. It tends to compact a great deal of an individual's history into very little text. For example, the book has two lines about John's next two eldest daughters which seem to say very similar things, but which have very different stories to tell:
Sarah, born 1808, married John Scott, moved to Ills. About 1840.
Eliza, born 1811, married Jas. Ferguson, moved to Ind. 1851.
This doesn't specify when Sarah and John were married, though it might be safe to guess that it was probably within a year or two of 1830; Sarah would have been in her early twenties, then. But the real tragedy is that we know nothing else about this couple - because none of their children are named in the CFH, and we have no idea where in Illinois they might have gone.

After years of periodically running the same searches without seeing any results, Ancestry has added at least one Ohio marriage database containing a record of John Scott and Sarah Callin, who married in 1823 in Richland county, Ohio. I've also been checking in with other sites when I don't see results in Ancestry, and when I looked for Sarah and John at FamilySearch.org, I got a death record for a James Callin (1832-1916) which listed his father's name and his mother's maiden name: Sarah Callion.

That's all I needed. I began to pull that thread, and we now have another populous branch to add to the revised Callin Family History!

Joseph Scott was born in Pennsylvania in 1765. He may be the Joseph Scott who appeared in Washington, Pennsylvania, on the 1790 U.S. Census, but according to other researchers, he moved with his wife, Elizabeth Mary (1778-1848), to Ohio where all of his children were born. His oldest child, John Scott, was born in Richland County, Ohio, on 6 October 1798.

John Scott married Sarah Callen in Richland County on 18 January 1823. Depending on which record you trust for her birth date, she would have been anywhere from 15 (using the Callin Family History date of 1808) to 22 (using the date on her Find-A-Grave memorial). John and Sarah had their first three children there in Richland county before the Scott family relocated to Winnebago county, Illinois in about 1836.

North Burritt Cemetery, Winnebago, IL

John and Sarah's fourth child, Rebecca, was apparently born en route, while they were in Michigan, putting them in that state in 1837. They settled in an unincorporated area called Harrison, near Rockford, Illinois. There, they had three more children. In the coming weeks, we'll look at these children and their descendants in more detail:

• George Scott (1827–1905)
• James Scott (1832–1916)
• Sarah E Scott (1836–1854)
• Rebecca Scott Sharp (1837–1928)
• Nancy A Scott (b. 1840)
• Cyrus H Scott (1843–1931)
• Lucina Scott (b. 1845)

Sarah and John lived out their lives in Harrison, and died just a few weeks apart from each other; he died on 20 January 1872, and she died on 6 February 1872. They are buried in North Burritt Cemetery

 - -- --- -- -

I have seen several other names of researchers who seem interested in this branch of the family, so I'll be reaching out to them to let them know about this blog and the Callin Family History project. As always, if you are related to anyone named in the blog, I'd like to hear from you.

I'm on FTDNA if you'd like to look for our genetic connection, we have the Callin Family History group on Facebook (be prepared to explain how you're related before I approve any join requests), you can reach me at my Gmail address (callintad), and, of course, you can drop a comment below.

I always appreciate corrections, clarifications, and even new mysteries!

Samuel Peterson: New Jersey shipwright

After spending two years focused on my paternal line, I've been eager to look at the other branches of my family. Since the Callin Family History started with my 5th great-grandfather on the paternal side, it seemed inevitable that I should re-start this blog project by going to the exact opposite end of the tree: my 5th great-grandfather through my maternal line. Records are still sparse online, but perhaps one of these days I'll get the chance to visit the places that have the records that might fill in the blanks. 

Tracing back from my maternal grandmother's mother, Edna Lyle (Frey) Tuttle, here's what I can tell you about her great-great grandfather:

Samuel Peterson (1783-1862) - my 5x-great grandfather

Sam Peterson was a New Jersey shipwright who was born in 1783 in  Cape May, New Jersey. He had three sons and three daughters with his wife Mary between 1814 and 1830. He died on July 9, 1862, in Middlesex county, New Jersey, having lived a long life of 80 years.

Edna Lyle Frey (1895-1985) pedigree chart
click for full size version

There is a great deal that I don't know, and even some of the facts I have may be wrong. I had to make some educated guesses from the available records, but here's a breakdown of the evidence I have.

U.S. Federal Census records for 1830, 1840, 1850, and 1860 show a Samuel Peterson residing in Middlesex county, New Jersey. The first three place him in North Brunswick, presumably in his home with his wife and children; the 1860 places him in the town of Washington (the borough of South River, today), where he is living with the Palmer family.

I believe that James and Martha Palmer are Sam's daughter and son-in-law. There are also two children with the surname Peterson in the household that year: Samuel (14) and Annie (12); other records for Martha and James identify them as a niece and nephew, which I'll talk about in more detail later.

In addition to the four census records, I have an index record from the New Jersey, Deaths and Burials Index, 1798-1971. That record identifies Samuel Peterson, born about 1782 in Cape May, New Jersey; died 9 July 1862 in Washington, Middlesex, New Jersey at 80 years of age. Occupation: Shipwright; marital status: Widowed.

I have not found any records, local histories or old genealogy texts with any information about Sam's parents, but several Peterson families were listed in the New Jersey Tax Lists in Upper Township, Cape May county, during the 1780s and 1790s. (I found records for Aaron, Isaac, Hance, Joseph, Thomas, and a Samuel Peterson - any of whom might be Sam's father.)

Mary Peterson (1782-1852) - my 5x-great grandmother

Mary was born in 1786 in New Jersey. Other researchers give her maiden name as Hoffman, but I have not been able to confirm that with the available records. I only have two records that name her: the 1850 Census, where she is listed in Sam's household in North Brunswick, and the record of her death in the New Jersey, Deaths and Burials Index, 1798-1971. She died on February 17, 1852, in South River, New Jersey, at the age of 66.

Their Children

This section should be considered a work in progress. I had to piece together clues from a lot of different records, some of which contradict each other. There are several common names used across several generations, and children who seem to have lived with aunts and uncles while their parents were still alive, but I'll do my best to piece things together.

Assuming that the children living in their household in 1830 and 1840 were their sons and daughters, I expect to someday find all six of them. There were three boys and three girls in 1830; one girl and two boys in 1840; and one of each in the household in 1850 (the first year that named all household members). Here is the current list of Sam and Mary's descendants, as best as I can prove:

I. Thomas Peterson (1814–1880) - since none of the records I have found online identify Thomas as the son of Sam and Mary, there was a son listed in the "age 15-19" block of the 1830 Census. Also, the 1860 Census shows the Thomas Peterson family living next door to the James C. Palmer family, where Sam Peterson was also living. This is probably the strongest evidence I have to suggest that Thomas is related to our Sam Peterson. So, while I offer the caveat that he may not be a member of this family, the facts that follow are supported by five Census records (1840 through 1880), which place him in the area of East Brunswick, as well as his death record in the New Jersey, Deaths and Burials Index, 1798-1971, and memorials in the U.S. Find-a-Grave database.

Thomas Peterson was born on August 8, 1814, in New Jersey. He had two sons with his wife, Sarah Eliza, between 1838 and 1843. He was listed as a "waterman," "boatman," and "master sloop" in the various census records. Thomas died on October 26, 1880, in East Brunswick, New Jersey, at the age of 66, and Sarah Eliza died January 31, 1906, at age 88. They are both buried in the Washington Monumental Cemetery in South River, New Jersey.

On the 1870 Census, two young men, Perry (age 22) and Isaac (21) are listed as "farm servants" - their race is listed as "black" and their birthplace as "Virginia." They are indexed as Perry Peterson and Isaac Peterson, but the original census does not actually indicate a surname for them, so I'm not sure whether they used the name or not. 

     A. William H Peterson (b. 1838) married Mary F Reid (b. 1839) in 1858. They had one child during their marriage, Martha R Peterson (b. 1860). In addition to six U.S. Census records (1850-1910) that place him in East Brunswick and South River, William is recorded in U.S., Civil War Draft Registrations Records, 1863-1865. 

     B. Theadore F Peterson (1843–1877) was born in 1843 in East Brunswick, New Jersey. He his wife, Louisa, had one daughter, whom they named Carrie, in 1869. He died at age 35 on April 1, 1877. All we know about Louisa and Carrie comes from the three Census records that feature Theadore.

II. Unknown sister - born between 1816-1820, she only appeared on the 1830 Census in the "Females aged 10 thru 14" block.

III. Martha Peterson (1815–1882) - is my 4x-great grandmother; we will go over this family in more detail in a later post. She married James C. Palmer in 1836, and they had four daughters. This family took in Martha's nephew Samuel and niece Annie when Martha's sister-in-law died; and Martha's father, Samuel, lived with them after Mary died in 1852. In 1860, Samuel was listed in the Palmer household with the occupation constable.

IV. James H. Peterson (1821–1900) - was born in January 1821 in New Jersey. He had one son and two daughters with his wife, Sarah A, between 1847 and 1848. He died in 1900 having lived a long life of 79 years. You will notice a significant gap there, as I only have two Census records for James - one from 1850 that shows him, Sarah, and two of their children living in North Brunswick, and then 1900, living with his niece (Martha's daughter), Sarah Decker, and his brother-in-law, James Palmer.

While I have not been able to find James in the Census between 1850 and 1900, two of his children appear in the records consistently. I haven't been able to find records that would explain what happened, but I suspect that Sarah and one of their daughters, Martha, died during the 1850s. That said, there could be any number of explanations for these patterns.

     A. Martha L Peterson (b. 1847) was three years old in 1850, according to the 1850 Census; after that, I have not found records to indicate her fate.

     B. Samuel H. Peterson (b. 1847) was five years old on the 1850 Census, but later records peg his birth date closer to Martha's. On the 1860 Census, Samuel and his other sister, Annie, appear listed in the same James Palmer household as their grandfather, Sam Peterson (the same Sam we started with). According to a newspaper obituary for his wife, he married Amelia J. Opp in 1873, and they moved to New York state.

Samuel and Amelia were in Deerpark, New York, according to the 1875 New York State Census, and they were in North Dansville with their daughter and three sons in 1880. When Amelia shows up in 1900, she is listed in North Dansville as a widow, but I have not been able to find Samuel's death records. Amelia lived in North Dansville until her death in 1922, and she was buried near two of her sons in Green Mount Cemetery.

Because Amelia Opp is the sister of my 3x-great grandfather, Jacob Edward Opp, I plan to explore this family in a future post - there are a lot of Peterson descendants in this branch!

     C. Annie E. Peterson (1848–1880) presents a few tragic puzzles. She does not appear on the 1850 Census, but she and her brother Samuel appear on the 1860 in the home of the Palmer family. Annie apparently married a man named Eugene Morter, and they both appear in the Palmer household on the 1870.

According to the New Jersey, Marriage Records, 1670-1965, she married John A. Darlington on 11 December 1871, and they lived in Brooklyn, New York, according to the 1875 New York State Census. That marriage record names her parents as "James H. Peterson and Sarah Peterson." In 1880, John and Annie lived in Brooklyn with their three sons: James (b. 1872), John (b. 1877), and Orrin (b. 1879).

Tragically, Annie died on 17 June 1880 - there is a record that attributes her death to "consumption," but it also gives her race as "mulatto" (all other records that list race describe her as "white") and the date of death as June 1879, so that may be a different Anna Darlington. Whatever the cause of Annie's death, little Orrin also died a few weeks later on 14 July 1880.

Her husband and two surviving sons remained in Brooklyn, none married or left any children as far as I have been able to determine. The younger John died in 1902 at age 25; his brother James died in 1924. Their father traveled to England, and returned to New York in July 1886. The most recent record I see for him is the 1900 Census.

V. Larisa Peterson (b. 1826) - appeared in her parent's home in 1850.

VI. Samuel Peterson (b. 1830) - like his sister, appeared at home with his parents in 1850.

 - -- --- -- - 

As always, I would be eager to hear from anyone who might be related to any of the families mentioned here. It is a real challenge to research a surname as common as "Peterson," especially when everyone marries someone named either "Sarah" or "Mary" and then names their sons Samuel, James, or John!

But that is the challenge, I suppose, and I wouldn't really have any fun without the challenge.

I can be reached through my Gmail address, which is "callintad" and I will be notified if you comment below. My DNA is in the FTDNA.com database, if you are looking for genetic connections.

And happy hunting!

Who Was Great Grandma Callin?

Elizabeth Simon was born in Pennsylvania in November of 1780. The colonies were three years away from winning independence from Great Britain. It was a leap year.

When she was 21, in 1801, Elizabeth married John Callin, a son of a Revolutionary War solider named James Callin. Thomas Jefferson won election as the third U.S. President and succeeded John Adams.

15 years later, in 1816, John moved the family from Pennsylvania to Ohio, where he "settled on 60 acres of his brother James' farm who gave him a life lease of it." John and Elizabeth had 7 children by this point, and one on the way - a boy they would name Hugh, possibly to honor the Hugh Callen who later founded Callensburg, Pennsylvania in what is now Clarion county. James Monroe won election as the 5th President of the United States that year; it was also a leap year.

After 19 years on the farm in Milton township, Ohio, John died of tuberculosis in 1835. In January, the first assassination attempt against a U.S. President failed, and Andrew Jackson remained the 7th U.S. President. Mark Twain was born on 30 November of that year.

In 1860 a widowed and elderly Elizabeth lived with her daughter, Eliza Ferguson, in Auburn, Indiana. It was another leap year. Abraham Lincoln won the Presidency that November, and the following April saw the beginnings of a War that threatened to end a country that was three years younger than Elizabeth herself. She watched many grandsons and grandnephews leave to fight that War, and she died before it was over.

Elizabeth Callin died in Auburn, Indiana in November of 1864. The Union was half a year away from winning surrender from the Confederate states. Would you believe it was a leap year, too?

When you have so little information about a person, it helps to look at what went on around them. To see events that they saw, and think about how they might have felt about those events. We see wars that must have seemed endless and hopeless end; we see Presidents run for election; we are shocked by attempted assassinations, and dismayed by the brutality of politics. We see things built and things torn down. We see people die and people born.

We know as much as we do about Elizabeth because her name is recorded in the Callin Family History, and because she appears in that 1860 Census. Those two documents told us or confirmed every fact about Elizabeth that you see here - but there is so much we don't know.

We don't know where in Pennsylvania she was born, or who her parents were. We don't know where she went after John died in 1835; I haven't found her in the 1840 or 1850 Census records, so I don't know: was she in Ohio when her daughter Margret returned from Iowa, widowed and with two small sons? Did she follow her daughter Eliza when she and her husband, John Ferguson, moved to Indiana?

We do know that she and John were married in 1801, and that their son John was born in 1802. They had a child every even numbered year that they lived in Pennsylvania - John (1802), George (1804), Ann (1806), and Sarah (1808). We know from the stories about the Brothers Callin that this group moved to Milton township, Ohio, in 1816, following John's brother who moved in 1810. After 1810, the couple had a child in each odd-numbered year: Eliza (1811), William (1813), James (1815), Hugh (1817), and Margret (1819). (Margret's story was posted last week.)

We know that they lost their son, John, in 1825, but we don't know what caused his death.

There is a great deal I would love to learn about Elizabeth Simon Callin. I hold out some hope that somewhere in America, there is a box full of old papers that has letters to or from her children in Ohio and Illinois, or to her family back in Pennsylvania.

But until something like that surfaces, this is the best we can understand from two documents.

The Perils of Polly (or Margaret)

Long ago, when I started trying to trace my roots back beyond the familiar realm of my grandparents, my grandfather gave me a copy of a Callin Family History that was compiled by George W. Callin in 1911. Since then, I have put a lot of effort into finding sources that could confirm or correct great-uncle George's version of events - but despite his lack of source citations or other evidence in his genealogy, much of his work has been substantiated by census records, local historical books, and other records I've been able to track down.

That said, I've only been able to verify his version of events back to the brothers, James and John, who settled in Richland county, Ohio, around the early- to mid-1810s. I have not been able to find anything to verify the origin or location of the man that George names as their father, "James 1st". It doesn't help that in George's version of the history, James 1st immigrated with his brother, John, and allegedly served under General Lafayette at the Battle of Brandywine. The common names, and the lack of evidence to support that claim have made it hard to connect the James and John that I do have documents for with a likely family in western Pennsylvania.

But there is a story that George relates in his history that has a tantalizing similarity to another family history.  Here's George's version:

Record of Polly, Daughter of James 1st.

Born about 1782. Grew to womanhood in her Pennsylvania home. Was

captured by the Indians, and started for the Indian country. Her father James 1st

gathered some neighbors and militia and followed the trail, they were guided by

bits of clothing Polly had from time to time stuck on bushes. After several days

pursuit, the Indians with their captive were overtaken. In the skirmish that

followed Polly attempted to escape by running. An Indian fired at her just as she

fell over a log and he supposing her killed did not further molest her, there her

father found her after the fight, and the men made a litter and carried her home.

She was shot through the knee, and for the want of proper surgical attendance,

became a cripple for life. She never married, lived to be middleaged, and noted

for the exemplary life she lived. The date of her death is unknown but

somewhere about 1825.

- from page 2 of The Callin Family History, compiled by George W. Callin, c.1911

Somewhere along the line, I was contacted by someone who shared a copy of The Callen Chronicles, hoping to help me connect the dots. That book contains what might be another version of the same story. My theory, initially, was that the Patrick Callen mentioned here might be related to George's "James 1st":

It may be about this same time [the spring and summer of 1778, when Patrick Callen was enlisted with Capt. John McCleland's company escorting provisions to Fort Hand in Westmoreland county] that the story has been told about Patrick's and Sarah's identical twin daughters, their names uncertain. (35D) "During the Revolutionary War when there was much Indian activity in Westmoreland Co., the two little girls were kidnapped in an Indian raid when Patrick was away from home. The little girls were about five or six at the time, and both were taken. About 10 or 12 years later (after the Revolutionary War was over) a fur trader went into a remote Indian village, in far western Pennsylvania or Ohio, to trade with the Indians. While he was in the village he saw two young white women, about 18 years old, living with the tribe. One was the wife of a young indian brave and had a tiny baby; the other was unattached, but under the "protection" of a family in the tribe. During his visit he had no opportunity to talk with either of the women; however, after he had traded with the indians and left the village, he found one of the young women under the supplies in his canoe. She told him that she wanted to return to her white family; she said that she had talked with her sister before leaving and that her sister had wanted to remain behind with her indian family."  She was returned to Patrick and Sarah Callen - apparently just a short time before they moved to Armstrong Co. The story continued, "the returned daughter had not been injured or mistreated, the family that had taken her in in the tribe had treated her as a daughter. Though she never regretted returning to her natural family, she was often restless.  She was a private person, enjoying her time alone and in the woods, and she was described by her nephew, Watson, as 'special and different'.  She had a way with wild animals that no one, not even her family understood.  She was slender, tall, and very blonde but she spent every day in the sun and the wind and she was as brown as an indian.  Watson said that his grandparents just let her be herself, and did not attempt to change her, but cherished her for who she was."

- pages 17 & 19 of The Callen Chronicles, coordinated and typed by Edna M Callen McNellis, 1990.

There is a lot more that is known about Patrick Callen and his family than is known about "James 1st", but still nothing that conclusively ties them together - not even this story!

The nephew, Watson, mentioned at the end was the son of Hugh Callen, who founded Callensburg, PA, in 1825. It's hard to know which of the known sisters of Hugh might have been carried off, but he did have a sister named Mary who was known as "Polly" (a common nickname for Mary). This Polly married a James Galbraith in 1815 and died in Kentucky in 1839, though, so she is not a serious contender for lead in this story.

But despite the glaring differences between the two versions, I can't help thinking that this story should be included in the short list of clues to where James and John came from before they showed up in Ohio. George W.'s history pins their origins in Westmoreland county, which is a couple of counties south from Armstrong and Clarion counties - and once in Ohio, Callin families seemed to favor the name "Hugh" (though not as much as they liked "James," "John," and "George").

Whatever the truth might be - and whether it will ever be provable - it's definitely worth continuing the hunt. If you've got any clues, or would like to join the posse on the trail of these ancestors, there is plenty of work to be done!

Me No Go; Me Can Die First

In 1776, the American revolutionary colonists built several forts to defend the western banks of the Hudson river, one of which was located at Paulus Hook. After suffering defeats in New York City, the rebels abandoned Paulus Hook and the British occupied it. The fort was a naturally defensible position that guarded the gateway to New Jersey.

In mid-summer 1779, a flamboyant 23-year-old Princeton University graduate, Major Henry Lee, recommended to General George Washington a daring plan to attack the fort, in what became known as the Battle of Paulus Hook. The assault was planned to begin shortly after midnight on August 19, 1779. Lee led a force of about 300 men, some of whom got lost during the march, through the swampy, marshy land. The attack was late in getting started but the main contingent of the force was able to reach the fort's gate without being challenged.

Frederick II
(from Wikipedia)

They surprised the British, taking 158 prisoners, and withdrew with the approach of daylight. Despite retaining the fort and its cannons, the British lost much of their control over New Jersey. Lee was rewarded by the Second Continental Congress with a gold medal, the only non-general to receive such an award during the war.

Among the prisoners were a number of German soldiers, known as Hessians. Like other German princes were doing, Frederick II of Hesse-Kassel (a small independent country in northern Hesse) had leased 22,000 Hessian troops to his nephew George III of Great Britain to fight against the rebels in the American revolution - for about £3,191,000. They came not as individuals but in entire units with their usual uniforms, flags, weapons and officers.

General Washington needed to find some place to board a growing number of these prisoners, so he paid a visit to John Jacob Faesch of Mount Hope, New Jersey. Faesch, originally from Holland, came to the colonies around 1766 and in 1772 had built the Mt. Hope furnace. He took sides with the colonists on the breaking out of the Revolutionary war, and large quantities of cannon balls for the American army were cast at his furnace.

Erbprinz Regimental colors

While Faesch had the honor of entertaining him at his house, General Washington arranged for Faesch to take 250 Hessian prisoners to board in exchange for their work in chopping wood in Faesch's coaling job. (Making charcoal for the furnace, in other words.) Faesch erected five log houses for them, and for the four years from summer 1779 to the close of the war in April 1783, they lived and worked for him, assisting in the American war effort.

At the close of the war the British had a certain number of days to gather up these hired soldiers, and they were required to pay for every one they did not return to the old country. Among the 250 men was Leopold Zindle, who had been captured in Lee's attack on Paulus Hook.

Leopold was almost certainly a private with the Erbprinz Regiment, born in Essingen. According to writings from other Hessian soldiers, back in Europe they were told they were needed to defend the American Colonies against Indian incursions. Only after they arrived, did they discover they had been hired to fight against the American colonists, rather than the Indians. Some may have taken that deception more seriously than others; some might have gone so far as to adopt the now-independent colonists' side as their own, rather than return to serve the whims of a monarch who would sell their services under such pretexts. Around 5,000 of the 30,000 soldiers sent to fight the colonists elected to stay in the newly independent country after the war.

William F. Wiggins, who knew Leopold very well, and was at his funeral, related this incident¹:

When the British officer visited Mt. Hope for the purpose of getting these men he commanded Zindle to go with him. Zindle replied, "Me no go; me can die first." This so aroused the officer that he drew his sword and struck Zindle in the breast, breaking the weapon in three pieces -- one remaining in Zindle's body, one in the officers hand and one falling to the ground.  Zindle still persisted in saying "Me no go, me die first." This occurred in the presence of a large crowd, and seeing the resistance which Zindle made, and the many friends he had, the officer was obliged to retreat to save his own life.

Just a few years later, Leopold married Anna Margareta Schaak in the Zion Lutheran Church of Oldwick at Mount Hope. Their son Charles eventually had a daughter named Mary Elizabeth who married a bloomer foreman (iron worker) named Samuel L. Tuttle. Mary and Samuel were the grandparents of John Jackson Tuttle, one of "My Sixteen," which makes Leopold my 6th great-grandfather.

Leopold died in 1820, an old man who was respected in his community. Presumably, he never returned to Germany.