CFH First Draft: James Callin (1855-1930)

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

James Callin is the 115th 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.

Looking Sharp

Hello again! The holidays have passed, and a new semester of music classes has begun. Time is still a scarce commodity, but while I've been silent for a couple of months, I have continued to work through the descendants of John and Sarah (Callin) Scott.

As you read about the Scotts and related families in Winnebago County, Illinois, keep in mind that the Rockford area is very near the Wisconsin state line and that records for many of the people we're studying appear in both Winnebago County and neighboring Rock County, Wisconsin. This has led to some confusion, as records will occasionally contradict each other as to the birthplace of an individual. If you're using Newspapers.com you will notice that the Janesville Daily Gazette frequently acts as the "local paper" for both areas. (Fun fact: Janesville, WI happens to be the birthplace of the current U.S. Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan.)

We're about a third of the way through the Scott children, so far, and today, we begin with John and Sarah's middle child and her three eldest children:

     Rebecca Scott (1839-1928)

Rebecca was born in April 1839, in Michigan where her family was en route from Ohio to their eventual home in Winnebago County, Illinois. The county was only a few years old, having been settled in 1834, formed in 1836, and then reduced to its present size in 1837. Rebecca grew up on her father's farm in Harrison township, near Rockford, Illinois. On 13 December 1856, at 17 years of age, she married Edward Sharp (1835–1887).

Edward was the son of Michael (1801–1881) and Mary "Polly" Sharp (1806–1886). He was one of eleven children; his eldest brother, John, was born in 1824. Edward was born on 22 October 1835 in St. Lawrence County, New York, and his family relocated briefly to Illinois, and then settled in Sauk County, Wisconsin. In 1847, they established themselves in West Point, Columbia County, Wisconsin, about 100 miles north of Rockford.

Four years after they married Rebecca and Edward appeared in the 1860 Census in a household near his parents and his brother John in West Point, but they soon moved to a farm in Burritt Township, Winnebago County, where they lived until Edward's death on 11 August 1887, not long after the birth of their sixth child, Jesse. Edward was only 51 years old. Rebecca remained on their farm to raise her family but eventually moved to Rockford where she lived with Jesse. She died on 28 August 1928.

     A. Alice Augusta Sharp (1859–1914)

Born in 1859, Alice appears with her parents in the 1860 Census living in West Point, Wisconsin; presumably, that's where she was born, though later records indicate (incorrectly) that she was born after 1860 and in Illinois. She married Duncan F Rogers (1860–1934) in April 1881.

Duncan was the son of Scottish immigrants, William Rodgers (1830–1920) and Helen (or Ellen) McGeachie (1837–1921). He was a vice-president in the Rogers Brothers Galvanizing plant. The couple lived in Rockford, where Alice died in 1914. Duncan eventually remarried, but as far as the records show, left no heirs behind when he died in 1934.

     B. William T Sharp (1860–1926)

William was born in October 1860, most likely in Wisconsin. Records disagree on his birthplace, as several census records indicate he was born in Illinois. He grew up on his parents' farm in Burritt Township and married Catherine Mary "Katie" Drain (1859–1933) on 7 March 1882.

Katie was born in Argyll, Scotland, on 27 February 1859, and came to America not long before her wedding, arriving in New York on 26 December 1879 aboard a ship called Ethiopia. Her parents were James Drain (1816–1859) and Margaret McGeachie (1819–1874) of Campbeltown, Argyll, Scotland. Margeret was an older sister of Helen McGeachie, Duncan Rogers's mother.

After William and Katie were married, they moved to State Center, Marshall County, Iowa, where they lived for at least a few years before relocating to Kansas. From at least 1900 on, they lived in Corinth, Osborne County, and both of them are buried in Corinth Cemetery. William died in 1926, and Katie survived until 14 November 1933.

     1. Edward James Sharp (1883–1957) was born in Marshall County, Iowa, on 11 May 1883. He was 12 when his younger brother was born; by then, the family lived in Kansas.

On 20 July 1910, Edward married Cecile Jefferies (1893–1971) in Saint Joseph, Missouri. Her parents were George Ervin Jeffries (1869–1947) and Grace A McGlothlin (1876–1924). Edward and Cecile lived in Osborne County, Kansas, and Edward farmed there for many years. In 1920, the family appeared in Saint Joseph in the household of Grace Jeffries, and Edward was listed as a conductor for a rail car company, but in 1915, 1925, and 1930 they were listed in either Alton or Downs.

Edward's mother, Katie, died in 1933, and by 1935, he and Cecile had moved back to Missouri; but according to the 1940 Census, Edward lived on a farm in Washington Township, Buchanan County, and Cecile lived in Saint Joseph, where she owned and operated a restaurant. They are each listed as the Head of their respective households, and both are listed as married. However, by 1945, Cecile seems to have sold her restaurant, and moved to Dixon, Illinois, to live near their son, Ivan.

Cecile was married to John K Bevis (1886–1948) of Columbus, Illinois, sometime between 1945 and John's death in 1948. Edward died in Missouri on 30 August 1957 and was buried near his parents in Downs Cemetery, Osborne County, Kansas. Cecile lived in Columbus until at least 1953 and then moved down to St. Augustine, Florida, where she died in 1971 at the age of 79.

     a. Ivan Wayne Sharp (1913–1993) was born on 3 September 1913 in Downs, Kansas, and grew up there on his father's farm. He married Lucille N Nusbaum (1915-2006) of Walnut Creek, Kansas, in 1935, and they lived for at least a brief time with his mother in Saint Joseph.

Lucille was the fourth of 13 children born to Harvey Edward Nusbaum (1885–1973) and Mabel Hendricks (1888–1974). The Nusbaums moved from Kansas to Dixon, Illinois, sometime between 1935 and 1940, and Ivan and Lucille joined them there according to the 1940 Census.

In 1956, the Sharp family moved down to Saint Augustine, Florida. Lucille worked as the manager of the Sears Service Department and retired in 1977 after 20 years with the company. Ivan died in 1993, and Lucille survived him by another thirteen years.

They had three sons and two daughters and they left behind seven grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, and six great-great-grandchildren at the time of Lucille's death in 2006.

     i. Gary Ivan Sharp (1938–1992) was the eldest son of Ivan and Lucille. He was born in Glen Elder, Mitchell County, Kansas, on 22 August 1938. Because Lucille's youngest sister was born in 1933, Gary was only five years younger than his aunt.

Gary grew up in Nelson, Lee County, Illinois, and after he graduated from Rock Falls High School, he found work on the U.S. Chicago & North Western Railroad until the Sharp family's move to Florida.

Gary married Carol Mae Roesch (1937–2001) in Saint Augustine in September 1959. Her parents, Joseph Roesch and Aagot Rolfson hailed from Ada, Minnesota. She and Gary moved to Montverde in 1971 from St. Augustine. She was president of a spring water company.

Gary was killed in a car crash in 1992, and Carol died in 2001. They are buried in Craig Memorial Park, Saint Augustine, St. Johns County, Florida.

     2. William Archie Sharp (1896–1996) was born on 18 March 1896 in Gove County, Kansas, and lived his whole life in Osborne County. He grew up on his father's farm, and enlisted in the U.S. Army near the end of World War I, serving in Field Artillery Replacement from 14 June to 17 December 1918.

 He married Millie May Irey (1898–1989) from a neighboring township in Osborne County around 1918, and they had three children over the following ten years. Her parents were Sherman Grant Irey (1865–1939) and Margaret Jane Cramer (1871–1954)

The couple was active in their local community, belonging to the Order of the Eastern Star, the American Legion, and the Downs United Methodist Church. Bill farmed and found work as a carpenter; Millie was a partner in the Downs Ready to Wear shop with her daughter, Donaldeen.

Millie died on 20 March 1989 at the age of 90, and Bill died at 100 years of age on 24 March 1996. They are buried in the Downs Cemetery.

     a. Duane Harold Sharp (1919–2007) was born 9 September 1919, in Downs, Osborne County, Kansas. He farmed all of his life in Osborne and Saline counties and owned and operated Sharp Auto Sales in Salina for 55 years. Duane married Margaret Sunshine Tucker (1925–2004) around 1940, and they had three daughters and one son before they divorced.

Margaret was born 27 August 1925 in Missouri and raised in Cawker City, Kansas, the daughter of Henry Lincoln "Harry" Tucker (1868–1933) Alta O Atkins (1869–1958). She married Everett Lee Gardinier (1922–2012) on 6 February 1953. They had another daughter and three sons and later moved to northern Arizona.

Duane married Gloria Jean Miller (1925–2010). She was born Oct. 9, 1925, in Salina, Kansas, the daughter of Charles E. Miller and Mary Hickey. Jean died at 84 years on 22 July 2010. Their survivors included 18 grandchildren, 26 great-grandchildren, and six great-great-grandchildren.

     i. William Duane "Bill" Sharp (1950–1997) was born in Salina, Saline County, Kansas, on 19 December 1950. He married Vicki Jean Fowler (1953–2002) and they raised two sons and a daughter. A third son died in infancy: Shannon David Sharp (24 November 1977).

Bill was shot during an incident at his father's car lot in 1984. He was living next door to Sharp Auto Sales that December, and when he went out to investigate a noise, he was shot by an intruder. It is not clear whether the rest of Bill's family was living there at the time. Bill and Vicki appear to have had a difficult relationship; the court notices in The Salina Journal reported several attempts by the couple to divorce, though they were still together when Bill died. On 12 October 1991, Bill became the first person arrested under a new domestic violence law after Vicki reported an altercation while they were separated.

Bill worked for Federal Express as a courier for more than 10 years and farmed west of Salina. He was killed in an accident involving a tractor and a train on 18 October 1997. He was 46 years old. Vicki remarried in November 2000, but she died only a couple of years later, on 21 August 2002 at 48.

     b. Dan Richard Sharp (1923–2010) was born 29 May 1923 in Corinth Township, Osborne County, Kansas. He was a lifelong farmer in the Downs area, served in the U.S. Army during World War II, and he was a member of the Masonic Lodge and the Downs United Methodist Church.

Dan married Florence Elizabeth "Beth" Boultinghouse (1927-2009) in October 1946. She was the daughter of Louis Arthur Boultinghouse (1901–1973) and Dora Elizabeth Treadwell (1901–1978), and a twin sister of Robert Dean Boultinghouse (1927–1996). The twins were born on 24 March 1927.

Beth helped Dan for more than 62 years in farming, custom cutting, and auto trading, as a homemaker, bookkeeper, wife, and mother. Together they built two homes, raised three children and enjoyed square dancing, boating, bowling, playing bridge and supporting many community activities. Beth's hobby was family history research which resulted in a collection known as "The Boultinghouse Connection" She was a member of the Downs and Osborne County Historical Societies.

Beth died on Monday, 1 June 2009 at the age of 82; Dan died at Mitchel County Hospital on 13 November 2010 at the age of 87. Both are buried in the Downs Cemetery. They were survived by their three children and nine grandchildren.

     c. Donaldeen Sharp (1928–2011) was born 24 January 1928 in Downs, Kansas, attended the Downs schools and graduated from Downs High School. On 25 May 1946, she married the love of her life, Richard "Dick" Carl (1925–2008), in Beloit, Kansas. Dick was born 21 June 1925, on the family farm east of Cawker City, Kansas, the second of nine children born to Nicholas Peter Carl (1894–1972) and Irene L Slipke (1904–1990).

In their early years of marriage, Dick worked construction for Brown & Brown Construction Co., later farming until he retired in 1995. While Dick and Donaldeen lived on the farm, she had a ceramic shop. In 1968, she opened, owned and operated "Downs Ready To Wear" on the main street in Downs in partnership with her mother, Millie.

Although he struggled with rheumatoid arthritis from early in life, Dick always had a smile and a kind word to everyone he greeted. He died peacefully April 28, 2008, at the age of 82. Donaldeen died at 83 years on Monday, 2 May 2011 at the Golden Living Center in Downs, Kansas. They are buried in Downs Cemetery.

Dick and Donaldeen were survived by their daughter and two sons, 12 Grandchildren and 18 Great-grandchildren.

     C. Donna A Sharp (1865–1940)

Donna was born 19 February 1865, just before the end of the Civil War. She grew up on the family farm in Burritt Township, Winnebago County, Illinois, and married Joseph R Randerson (1860–1943) on 20 November 1884.

Joseph was the son of English immigrants Joseph Randerson (1819–1859) and Charlotte Milnes (1826–1915). They came to America in 1848 aboard the Patrick Henry just after their wedding in Yorkshire. Joseph was born on 13 February 1858, and he was not yet one year old when his father died on 2 February 1859. Charlotte married William Riley (1835–1923) in either 1860 or 1861 and Joseph appears with his siblings in the Riley household on the 1870 Census (though, for some reason, the enumerator listed him as "Josephine" and misgendered him).

Joseph and Donna moved to Rockford, where they raised three sons. Joseph worked as a teamster, chauffeur, and sometimes as a laborer. Donna died in Rockford on 16 February 1940, and Joseph died in Lyons, Nebraska, on 2 August 1943 while visiting their son, Harley. They were buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Rockford.

     1. Judson Edward Randerson (1887–1977) was born on 10 January 1887 and grew up in Rockford, Illinois, where he graduated from the business college. In 1911 he moved to Iowa and married Galeta Myrtle Gates (1889–1976) of Des Moines on 27 December. Galeta was the daughter of Charles Henry Gates Sr. (1862–1944) and Charlotte Grace "Lottie" Watson (1863–1905).


Judson and Galeta settled in Malvern, Mills County, Iowa, where Judson purchased a clothing shop from the Kneeland Bros. and ran the business for 42 years. (An example of his advertising from 1938 is shown at right.) They did not have any children of their own, but they adopted Galeta's niece when her brother's wife died less than a month after her birth. The little girl was born Flora Winifred Gates, but the Randerson family called her Flora Barbara, and she went by the nickname "Babs." Babs died on 20 November 2012.

After running his clothing store since 1918, Judson sold the business and retired in 1960. He stayed active running an antique auction through the 1970s. He died in Malvern in December 1977, just a year and a half after Galeta died in May 1976. They are buried in Malvern Cemetery.

     2. Harley Joseph Randerson (1889–1974) was born on 27 January 1889, in Rockford, Illinois. He began working in the local packing plant by 1905 when he was only 16, and he married Mary Jane Boyd (1889–1967) in about 1910.

Mary Jane was born on September 20, 1889, in Oakland, Nebraska, to John Boyd (1843–1905) and Margaret Ferguson (1856–1917). Margaret Ferguson's father, William Ferguson was born in Ireland in 1821 and emigrated to Canada, where Margaret was born, so it is unlikely that these Fergusons are related to the Ferguson families that married into the Callin family. However, John Boyd's mother was Catherine McGeachie, married to George Boyd in Southend, Argyll, Scotland - almost certainly related to the McGeachies who married Alice and William Sharp, above.

Harley and Mary Jane lived in Rockford for several years; their daughters were both born in Rockford, they were listed in several of the city directories, and Harley's World War I draft registration placed them there in 1917. But by 1930 they were back in Nebraska, living in Lyons, Burt County.

Records were hard to find, but a brief newspaper item tells us that Mary Jane died in Lyons on 28 September 1967. Harley died in May 1974 in Lyons at the age of 85, and they were buried in the Lyons Cemetery.

     a. Margaret Donna Randerson (b. 1911) was born in Rockford on 1 August 1911. She was the treasurer of her high school Biology club and became a school teacher. The most recent census record found for her places her in Fort Morgan, Colorado, where she was teaching in the public schools in 1940.

     b. Madeline M Randerson (1913–1999) was born on 15 June 1913 in Rockford, and grew up there. I estimate that her family moved to Lyons, Nebraska, around 1920, and that's where they were in 1930. Madeline married Vernon Samuel Gallup (1912–2006) of Lyons on 30 January 1934.

Vernon was born 8 March 1912 to parents George Gallup (1875–1954) and Clara Thompson (1886–1918). He spent most of his childhood on the farm southeast of town, except for six years, when his family moved into Lyons following the death of his mother in 1918. He graduated from Lyons High School in 1930 and then farmed for 43 years. He received numerous soil conservation awards for his farming. In 1977, Vernon and Madeline sold their farm and moved into a new home in Lyons. They were members of the United Methodist Church where Vernon had been a member since 1925. He held many offices in the church, served on the Viles School Board, and served on the Lyons Cemetery Board.

Madeline died on 1 May 1999, and Vernon on 3 December 2006; they were buried in Lyons cemetery. They were survived by two daughters, five grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.

     i. Mary Jane Gallup (1937–2015) was born in Lyons, Nebraska, on 5 May 1937. She grew up at the family farm near Lyons and attended Lyons Public School graduating in 1955. She attended Nebraska State Teachers College in Wayne, Nebraska and graduated in 1959 with a degree in elementary education.

Mary Jane married Kosoma K Skaggs (1931–2004) on August 26, 1960. He was the son of Elmer Alonza Scaggs (1897–1979) and Clara Elsie Beams (1896–1980). They moved to Lamar, Prowers County, Colorado, where they lived throughout their married lives. Mary Jane taught in the Lamar Colorado Public Schools systems for many years as an elementary teacher and then later as a substitute teacher.

Kosoma died on 1 February 2004, and Mary Jane lived in Lamar for another eleven years. She died on 31 August 2015 at the Lexington Medical Center in Lexington, South Carolina after a short illness. She was buried near her husband in Fairmount Cemetery in Lamar.

They were survived by her sister, a son and a daughter, five grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren

     3. Banner S Randerson (1890–1918) was born either on 25 February 1890, according to his World War I draft card. He grew up in Rockford and married Gertrude Stuart Blakesby (1891–1930) on 26 October 1915. Gertrude's parents were Joseph Havens Blakesley (1858–1929) and Anna Rebecca Stuart (1866–1940) and she was born on 21 July 1891 in Rockford.

Banner died unexpectedly at the age of 28 on 18 October 1918, not long after the birth of his son, Joseph, and Gertrude soon remarried. She and her new husband Clifford Dwight "Dick" Miller (1901–1972) had a son they named Henry Joseph before Gertrude's death on 7 July 1930. Dick remarried, and he and his new wife raised Joseph Randerson and Henry Joseph Miller along with their own children.

     a. Joseph Stuart Randerson (1917–1999) was born 22 May 1917 and was raised in Rockford by his step-parents. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on 20 June 1941 and was married in Chicago on 6 September 1941. He and his family lived in Highland Park, Lake County, Illinois.

Joe died on 1 December 1999 in Los Gatos, Santa Clara, California. As near as I can tell, he was survived by his wife and daughter.

 - -- --- -- - 

That's probably enough for one post! Next time, we'll talk about the three younger children of Rebecca Scott and Edward Sharp.

Almira's Daughters

Joseph and Laura (Phillips) Low, c. 1880s
portrait shared with permission of David Smith

Joseph A. Low was born in Springfield, Erie County, Pennsylvania on 6 April 1826. He was a son of Joseph and Catherine (Battles) Low.

His father was a native of England, but he drowned before our subject was born. His mother, Catherine, became house-keeper for a gentleman who adopted Joseph, and provided for his education; but when Joseph was fourteen years of age his foster-father died, leaving no will.

Joseph's first employment was as a farm laborer, for which he received $7 per month, and he would work at almost anything by which he could earn an honest living. Later he rented a farm for a time, after which he purchased land in Pennsylvania. After that, he sold out and came to Ohio, locating in Plain township, Wood county, where he purchased forty acres, the nucleus of his farm.

In Pennsylvania, on 14 February 1850, Joseph married Laura Phillips, of Trumbull county, Ohio, and they had ten children. Laura died on 1 October 1887, at the age of fifty-five years. Joseph's second wife was Eliza Miller, widow of Albert H. Perry, a farmer of Middleton township. They were married at Harkins, in Wood county, on 17 February 1889. She was a daughter of George G. Miller, and was born in the Empire State, 12 August 1827.

Over the years, Joseph had added to his holdings, as his resources permitted, until he had a tract of 220 acres, which he cleared and developed with the help of his sons and hired hands. By the time he was done, he had one of the largest orchards in the township, with 5,000 peach trees, 3,000 apple trees, and 1,000 trees of other varieties of fruits.

Joseph was considered "Among the well-to-do and successful farmers of Wood county who have accumulated a competency through their own exertions and economy, and who are carrying on the business of farming and fruit growing in a manner which draws forth praise from every one," according to the biographical sketch in the History of Wood county from which much of this information was taken. He was a member of the Sons of Temperance, and cast his ballot with the Prohibition party. He served his township as supervisor for five years, and for several years served as school director.

He died in 1901, and was buried in the Plain Township Cemetery. Eliza survived until September of 1910, and was buried in the Union Hill Cemetery in Bowling Green.

Cora May Callin (1881–1936) was the first of three daughters born to James Monroe Callin and Almira Weirick. Her parents lived for a brief time in Deerfield, Michigan, where her younger sister, Aurilla, was born, but her mother died in Bowling Green when Cora was 8 years old. In 1900, she was living with her grandparents, Jason and Matilda Weirick, in Harrison, Ohio.

Cora married Joseph Able Low (1881–1965) on 22 December 1902 in Bowling Green. He was the eldest child of Sanford P Low (1858–1929) and Mertie J Woodruff (1862–1890), and a grandson of Joseph and Laura Phillips Low. They were married for 23 years, and raised two daughters, before they divorced in 1925. Joseph remained single, and divided his time between Dayton, Ohio, and Flint, Michigan. He died in Grand Traverse, Michigan, on 27 May 1965.

Cora remarried Harry Squire (1873-1955), a coal dealer from Lorain county, Ohio, on 26 November 1929. (His birth name is "Henry Isaac Squire," but on several documents - including the record of his marriage to Cora - he gives his name as "Harry.") She died in 1936, and was buried in Bowling Green.

     I. Oneita Ione Low (1904–1981) was born in Plain township, Wood county, Ohio, and grew up in Harrison, Henry county, Ohio, where her parents had married. The family was in Chippewa, Michigan, in 1920, and she met and married Dale Ebsen Morton (1903–1995) in nearby Flint, Michigan, on 19 March 1925.

Dale was the son of Sidney Victor Morton (1882–1960) and Violet Pearl Stewart (1884–1904). His mother died when he was a baby, and he spent a lot of time growing up in the homes of his grandparents. The Mortons and Stewarts were numerous in the Mount Pleasant area of Isabella county, Michigan.

Dale and Onieta had an infant daughter, Marian L Morton, who died in 1925, but then they had four sons, all of whom are still living. Oneita and Dale raised their family in the Flint area, and in the late 1940s, relocated to California. They were in Alhambra, Los Angeles county, in 1949.

They must have divorced at some point, as the U.S. Social Security Death Index lists Onieta under the name "Onieta McNamara" - but records have proven elusive. When she died, she was taken back to Michigan and was buried in the Flushing City Cemetery; her headstone reads "Onieta I. Morton," but there appears to be a plaque that reads "McNamara" added to it.

     II. Alma Eve Low (1909–1998) was born in Henry county, Ohio, until her family moved to Chippewa, Isabella county, Michigan. Allen Edward Storey (1903–1991) lived in nearby Deerfield in 1920, and they married in Billings, Montana, on 28 May 1925. Billings seems to be where Allen's widowed father, David, was living then.

Alma and Allen had two sons and a daughter, still living. They lived in Lansing, Michigan, for the rest of the 1920s, before moving to Dallas in 1931, and then to Los Angeles county, California, where they lived for nearly twenty years. Some time later, probably in the 1980s, they moved to Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo county, where they lived out their days.

Carrie Elizabeth Callin (1883–1960) the second daughter of Almira and Jim Callin, was born 22 January 1883 in Bloom township, Wood county, Ohio. In April 1900, she married Edward George Low (1870–1949), the youngest son of Joseph and Laura Phillips Low. There is some room for debate over whether his name was "Edward George" or "George Edward," but most records refer to him as "Edward" or "Edward G. Low" - the 1870 Census lists him as "Eddy." County marriage records seem to lean towards "George E."

Edward was a farmer and laborer, and the family lived in Plain City, Wood county, until his death in 1949. They raised two sons and four daughters, and when Carrie died in 1960, she was buried beside Edward in the Plain Church Cemetery.

     I. Alva C Low (1901–1973) was born on the 4th of July in 1901, in Bowling Green, Ohio. He married Ruth Gertrude Moore (1902–1995) on 4 December 1921. Alva was a farmer in Plain Township, Wood County before moving to Gallia County and then to Jackson County. In Jackson County,he worked as a polisher in an automobile plant. He retired as an employee of the Midwest Stamping and Manufacturing Co., Bowling Green.

In addition to three sons and two daughters, one of whom is still living , Alva and Ruth had a son, Marvin Keith, who died in infancy in 1942.

       A. George Low (1922–2011) was born on November 17th 1922 in Bowling Green, Ohio. He served in the Army Air Corp as a Second Lieutenant during World War II. He met the love of his life, Mildred (Mickey) Rouse (1920-2001) in Tampa, Florida, and they married soon after on July 14, 1945. Mickey died in 2001, and George died in 2011 after a 2 year battle with leukemia. They left behind two daughters, seven grandchildren, and ten great-grandchildren.

       B. Ralph Lester Low (1925–1999) was born 8 March 1925 in Vinton, Gallia county, Ohio, and he served in the U.S. Army from 30 June 1943 to 4 January 1946. He married Patricia Jean Young (1928–1978) on 1 May 1948 in Lucas county, Ohio. She was a stenographer.

       C. Walter L Low (1934–1956) met an early end when he fell through the ice while skating on the Maumee river with his sister, Mary on 8 January 1956. Walter drowned, but Mary was pulled out and sent to the hospital. Walter had married on 17 April 1954, and his wife was eight months pregnant with their son, Richard. The newspaper said she witnessed the accident, but I don't imagine there was much she could do about it.

       i. Richard Edwin Fox (1956-2003) was born less than a month after his father's fatal accident. It is unclear whether his mother remarried, or if he was adopted; but his life ended in tragedy, too. Richard married Kimberly Marie Swinehart (1959–1983), and they had a daughter shortly before Kim's untimely death. Then in 1989, Richard kidnapped and murdered Leslie Keckler, an 18 year old freshman at Owens Technical College. He was sentenced to death in 1990, and executed 13 years later, in 2003.

       D. Mary Eileen Low (Baumgardner) (1936–2013) was a 1954 graduate of Grand Rapids High School where she was co-valedictorian. She worked at the Wood County Auditors Office and previous to that was a secretary for attorney Clarence Hock. She was an avid crocheter who won state fair awards for her beautiful afghans, and was a member of Trinity United Methodist Church in Bowling Green. Her husband, son, daughter, and three grandchildren survived her.

     II. Ralph E. Low (1906–1986) was born in Plain City, Wood county, and spent his first thirty years there. His occupation on the census records was "carpenter." He married Illah L Burditt (1911–1989) in Bowling Green on 18 October 1937, and they had four children over the following decade. One, a daughter they named Lois, was stillborn in 1945; one son and one daughter are still living,

       A. Delbert Ralph Low (1941–2007) was the son of Ralph and Illah Low. He worked at Brush Beryllium for 10 years and later a Supervisor at Dupont in Danville, Ohio. He also was a self employed carpenter. He married, but later divorced. His former wife, a daughter, two sons, and eight grandchildren survived him.

     III. Laura E. Low (1909–1992) worked for the former Coffee Cup Restaurant in Perrysburg for over 21 years, retiring in 1980 and then for the former C & F Variety Store. She married LaVern W Kopp (1910–1964) on 20 December 1928, and they had two children; a son and a daughter. Their daughter is still living.

       A. James E Kopp (1933–1987) was a 1951 graduate of Perrysburg High School. He earned a bachelor's degree in education from Defiance College in 1955, where he was captain of the only undefeated and untied football team in Defiance history. He was also a student at the University of Michigan and Indiana University, and received a master's degree in educational administration from Bowling Green State University.

He taught mathematics and coached football and tennis at Sylvania High School, then was superintendent for two years of Auglaize-Brown Local Schools, Paulding County. A former principal of Oakwood schools, he retired as assistant superintendent of Huron City Schools, and he retired in 1986 because of illness.

He died in Firelands Community Hospital, Sandusky, Ohio. He left behind a wife and two sons.

     IV. Pearl Low (1910) is only listed in the Callin Family History, where her birthday is given as 7 August 1910. Her family appeared in the 1910 Census, but it was enumerated in May, so she was not included there; and she does not appear on the 1920. I have also looked for birth or death records, but with no success.

     V. Leona R Low (1911–1964) grew up on her father's farm, and had her daughter, Marie, at age 15. Ten years later, she married Bert Wheeler (1880–1961) on 5 October 1936. They lived in Woodville, Sandusky county, Ohio.

       A. Ruth Marie Low (1926–1993) appeared on the 1930 Census listed as "Ruth M Low," the daughter of Edward Low, but in 1940, she was listed as "Marie Wheeler," daughter of Bert Wheeler.

Marie had two sons; one of them is still living, and the other was adopted by a family named Juday, and raised in Elkhart, Indiana. Marie later married Hubert "Jep" Snyder (1920–1983) on 28 May 1960. He ran a furniture store near New London, Ohio. They are buried together in Metzgar Cemetery in Helena, Sandusky County, Ohio.

       1. Ronald E. Juday (1949–2011) was born April 13, 1949, in Sandusky, Ohio. He was raised a son of Marion L. and Rosemary (Grover) Juday. He served in Vietnam in the U.S. Air Force and was a supervisor most of his life at Ace Hardware of Elkhart, Indiana. He also worked for Atwood Mobile Products, in the RV industry and at Lindahl Specialties of Elkhart. He was a member of Fairhaven Fellowship of Constantine.

When he died, he had lived in Mottville, Michigan for 35 years. He left behind a wife, his son, two daughters, two grandchildren, and an adopted daughter and her two children.

     VI. Ethel Marie Low (1914–2001) married Wilbert Franklin Riggleman (1905–1973) in 1940, and while they were in Tucson, Arizona, in 1948, they spent most of their lives in the Norwalk area in Huron county, Ohio.

Aurilla M Callin (1885–1969) was the youngest daughter of James and Almira Callin, born in Deerfield, Michigan, on 3 September 1885. She was four years old when her mother died, and she was only eight when her father remarried to Emma Bradt. Aurilla, or "Rilla" to her father, probably spent a great deal of her childhood in the homes of her grandparents and other Callin and Weirick relatives, but she was also sent to boarding school, which is where she appeared on the 1900 Census.

Rilla married Edward Jacob Pletcher (1872–1957) on 10 January 1903. Ed was an oil pumper, and this was his second marriage. He and Rilla had three daughters before 1910, but divorced in about 1921, and he headed out to Los Angeles, California. Rilla remarried on 7 October 1922 to William Charles Bogart (b. 1889), and they settled in Lorain, Ohio. Her last residence was the Ammers Manor Nursing Home in Amherst, Lorain county.

     I. Edna Lucille Pletcher (1904–1955) grew up in Bowling Green. She married one J. Lewis Marzen (b. 1903) in 1924, but was listed as divorced and living back in her mother's home by 1930. Next, she married Charles Joseph Amato (1910–1982) on 15 May 1930, and they lived out their days in Lorain, where they raised two sons and two daughters. One son and one daughter are still living.

       A. Patricia Gail (Amato) Burns (1931–2010) was born on 13 February 1931 and raised in Lorain, Ohio. She graduated from Irving Middle School and later from Lorain High School class of 1949. Pat and her husband raised four children at home and she worked for Dr. Kenneth McMahon D.D.S. for twelve years as a receptionist/assistant. She returned to school at St. Joseph Nursing School and graduated in 1981 as an LPN. She worked at St. Joseph Hospital until her retirement in 1993. She left behind her husband, daughter, three sons, 8 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

       B. Frank Edward Amato (1933–1974) served in the U.S. Army from May 1953 to May 1956. After leaving the army, he married and settled in Memphis, Tennessee, where he worked as an electrician. He died in 1974 at only 40 years of age, and was buried in Calvary Cemetery in Memphis.

     II. Hazel I Pletcher (1906–1991) married Sigmond W Noble (1903–1964) of Toledo, Ohio, about 1927, and they had  a son and a daughter before they divorced in the 1930s. Hazel remained single, living under her married name, and working as a paint machine operator in a factory in Elyria, Ohio. She died on 20 February 1991, and is survived by her daughter and grandchildren.

       A. Robert Joseph Noble (1928–1985) was a veteran of the Korean War, serving in the U.S. Marine Corps from 16 August 1950 to 15 March 1952. He married Beulah May "Bea" Onstead (1931–2012) on 12 May 1973. Bob became step-father to her three children, and they had a son and a daughter together, too.

Bob was a supervisor in the overhead lines department of the Toledo Edison Co. for 37 years. He served as secretary and treasurer of the Maumee Valley Model Boat Club, and was the club's past commodore.

     III. Bessie Lorraine Pletcher (1907–1968) was born 1 September 1907 and grew up in Bowling Green, Ohio. Lorraine married twice; first to Merlin Morgan Stewart (1906–1986) on 8 January 1924, when she was 16. They had a son together in Toledo, but were separated before 1930. She married her second husband, Otis Wiburn Sinclair (1901–1977), and was living with him and her son, Merlin, in Lorain county in 1930. Otis ran the Sinclair Cycling Agency in Lorain.

They had two sons and a daughter in the 1930s, and divorced after 1940. When she died, her name was listed as Lorraine Glass, so she presumably married a third time. Her daughter is still living.

       A. Merlin E. Stewart (1924–1981)  was a veteran of the U.S. Army during World War II and was a salesman for 25 years. He married Mildred Marie Ottney (1926–2013), and they had a son and a daughter together. She was born in Toledo, Ohio, on 27 November 1926 to George and Stella Ottney.
Mildred was a graduate of Waite H.S. and retired with G.M. Power train with over 30 years of service. She was preceded in death by her first husband, Stephen A. Nicholas, in 1967, and by Merlin in 1981.

       B. James W "Red" Sinclair (1930–2012) was raised in Elyria Township, Lorain county, ohio. James graduated Markley Grade School and Clearview High School, Class of 1949. He worked at W.C. McConnel Buick, Gargus Garage, Llewelyn Pontiac, Gerbick Pontiac, Wagner Abersol and he retired from Jakmas Plumbing and Heating Inc. in 1991 as an Operating Engineer/Mechanic. He was an avid fisherman and kept parakeets. He also raced stock cars at Lorain County Speedway and he enjoyed Nascar racing.

He is survived by his two sons and two daughters, 8 grandchildren, and 2 great-grandchildren.

       C. Richard Allen Sinclair (1932–2010) grew up in Lorain and South Amherst and graduated from South Amherst High School in the class of 1950. He lived in Sheffield Lake prior to moving to South Amherst, where he lived for thirty-three years.

Richard served in the United States Air Force with the first Radio Relay Squadron. He met and married his wife while stationed in Germany and France. He was employed with the BF Goodrich Co. for thirty-five years, retiring as a color lab technician. He coached both Peewee and Little League baseball in Sheffield Lake. He was survived by his wife, son, two daughters, and 8 grandchildren.

 - -- --- -- - 

And now you know as much as I know about the line of James Monroe Callin. It feels like we packed a lot into a little space, but at the same time, there are huge gaps in what I can know without help from those of you who are more closely related. I always appreciate a little extra guidance, especially corrections, and even more especially, permission to print what you tell me!

But, I always aim to respect privacy first; so if you're not comfortable sharing family info in the comments block below, you can email me at my Gmail address, callintad at gmail dot com, or you can knock on the door of the Callin Family History Facebook group. I'll ask how you're related, and you can meet more cousins there.

We'll take a short break of one week, and then we'll be back to look at the family of the man who started all of this for me by compiling the original Callin Family History: George W. Callin!

Welles and Ray

The two youngest sons of John H and Amanda (Walker) Callin were born about a year apart - and what a difference a year makes.

Their eldest brother, Byron, got his teaching certificate when Welles and Ray were infants; they would have been young men when Byron left his wife and headed west to the "Badlands" to teach in South Dakota. Their war hero father surely influenced them to pursue their educations; their brothers enticed them to seek adventure; their mother sought to keep them safe. And each chose to go their own way - for the most part.

Welles Monroe Callin (1889–1921) was born on April 19, 1889 in Bowling Green, Ohio. He grew up there until 1902, when the family moved to Fostoria. Welles attended Fostoria High School where he was the captain of the Ohio State Championship football team in 1907.

After his high school graduation on November 10, 1908, Welles married Florence, daughter of a local Fostoria city councilman, George B. Stone. They eloped to Windsor, Ontario, Canada and moved to Detroit. Welles’ brother Prentice was living there also, and they may have moved in with him. This marriage didn't work out and they were divorced shortly thereafter; they had no children.

Welles and Prentice then seem to have left for Edmunds County, South Dakota where their brother Byron was living.  He held a number of degrees, including at least one in theology, and had been a traveling preacher for a time in South Dakota, as well as teaching school at nearly every level.

It was around this time that Byron began calling himself “Herbert”, his middle name. Welles evidently thought this was quite elegant and is listed in the 1910 census as “Monroe Callin”, though nobody ever seemed to call him that. In Baker, Montana, he met Marion Elizabeth Silvernale (1892–1972), the daughter of Baker's blacksmith, Charles Silvernale. The couple eloped in 1911. It was quite a scandal, and there was even an article in the local paper.

Her family was not exactly smitten with the idea of their little girl seeing a divorced man, but after having a son in Fostoria, the young couple settled in Whitefish, Montana where Welles went to work for The Great Northern Railroad.

On September 21, 1921, one year and one day after the birth of his youngest son, Welles was on a short run from Troy to Libby, Montana. He was standing on the platform between the locomotive and the tender when a heavy coal rake, that was sticking out beyond the side of the locomotive, struck a trestle and knocked him off of the train and into the riverbed. He landed on his head and died instantly. He was 32 years old. He is buried in the Missoula Cemetery in Missoula, Montana.

Marion remarried on 6 October 1922. She married Roger Q Smyth (1892–1961), and they had three children together: Marion Ruth Smyth (1924–2012), Roger Q Smyth (1926–2014), and Faus Argo Smyth (1930–2009). (Since they are not descendants of James Callin, I won't lay out their details here, but if you're interested in learning more about their families, let me know.) This extended family ended up in Washington state around 1924, and later, Marion and Roger relocated to Hemet, California, where they lived out their days.

     I. Cameron Welles Callin Sr. (1912–1968) was born in Fostoria, Ohio, and arrived with his parents in Seattle around 1924. He graduated from Franklin High School in 1933 and was an all-city football half-back two years. He played three years with the West Seattle Yellowjackets, a semi-pro football team. He was with The Boeing Company for 28 years, rising to become a senior supervisor for the Airplane Division. He died of a heart ailment in a Seattle hospital at 58 years of age.

Cameron married twice, and had a child with each wife. He married Theresa L Taylor (1914–1996) on 14 April 1934 in Seattle. They were together at least through 1940, but Cameron remarried in 1944, and Theresa remarried in 1949. Cameron's second wife was Alyce Annetta Risdon (1921–2000).

       A. Cameron Welles Callin Jr (1936–1990) was a native of Seattle, and he moved to Salem, Oregon, in 1975 from Vancouver, Washington. He owned and operated The Ranch restaurant in Salem for many years, and owned the Tom-Tom and Cameron's restaurants in Albany, Oregon. He married his first wife in 1958; she and their two sons and two daughters survive him.

In 1981, Cam divorced his first wife and married Pamela Rae Dillon (1957–2004) in 1982. Cam and Pam owned and operated the Ranch Restaurant and Bar for seven years, but he died in 1990, just after they bought the Tom-Tom Restaurant and Westbrooks in Albany. Pam continued to own and operate the Tom-Tom Restaurant for about 15 years. She died at only 46 years of age.

       B. Linda Callin (1945–2013) was Cam, Jr.'s half-sister. She married David O Monton (1948–2013) on 11 November 1972, and they died only a few months apart in 2013.

     II. Charles Silvernale Callin (1913–1976) enlisted in the U.S. Army from 2 July 1943 to 18 March 1946, and after the war he married Golda Hrederig Thomsen (1910–2001) on 3 May 1948. Golda was an army nurse he met during the war. They had two sons, one biological and one adopted, both still living.

Chuck was a school teacher, and like his brothers, he died far too early from heart ailments.

     III. John Kenneth Callin Sr. (1920–1976) joined the Army in July 1943, and married Mary Ellen M Jacobsen (1925–1995) that December. Because he couldn't get the hang of  Morse Code, he washed out of radio school and was assigned to the Air Corps as a tail gunner. He never saw action, though, because he was hospitalized with pneumonia which turned into pleurisy. He needed tubes inserted into his back, to the pleural cavity to drain the fluids. After that, he had his wings clipped and was no longer able to fly. So he spent the remainder of the war in England, guarding POWs. He received disabled veterans benefits for the rest of his life due to the pleurisy and the surgery. (Not a large amount - about 28 bucks a month.) John worked as a mail carrier until his death in 1976.

They had three sons, two of whom are still living.

       A. John Kenneth Callin Jr. is a traveler, a maker, and a family historian. He and his wife raised a daughter and a son, and have four grandchildren. I credit him with providing the details about this branch of the family - of course, I'll claim any errors you find in the writing!

     i. Thomas John (Tom) Callin (1973-2002) was born in Sun Valley, California, and struggled with bipolar disorder. He lost that struggle in 2002, and died in Overland Park, Kansas, where he left behind a wife and young daughter.

In Memory of a Bluesman

       B. Jeffry Steven Callin (1951–2012) was born in Burbank, California. He was a true child of the 60s. When the Beatles hit the music charts, Jeff picked up a guitar and never put it down. He worked as a merchant, a candy maker and a miner, but his true calling was the blues. At the time of his passing, he was divesting himself of all but the necessities so that he would be free to roam the US in his RV and seek out the old bluesmen and learn their riffs.

He was predeceased by his beloved Dotti,
Dorothy Kay (Chamberlain) Delaney (1946–1994), and survived by their daughter. Jeff was cremated and his remains were placed inside of a guitar that his brother, John, built for him. They will be kept at home with Jeff's daughter.


Ray Callin (1890-1965) was born 26 August 1890, and unlike his brothers, he seems to have remained in Ohio and attended school rather than exploring the northwest of the country. Not to say he didn't have any adventures; he's one of our few ancestors who actually saw action during World War I.

Ray enlisted in the National Army from Sandusky, Ohio, on 1 October 1917, when he was 27. He served as an engineer, and was assigned to three units which were part of the American Expeditionary Forces from 4 March 1918 to 4 August 1919. He served in Company A, 308 Engineers until 20 May 1918; 116 Engineers until 21 June 1918; and in Company B, 2 Engineers until his Discharge. He was promoted to Corporal on 18 October 1917. He was involved in several major offensive campaigns: Aisne-Marne; St Mihiel; and Meuse-Argonne. He received his honorable discharge on 14 August 1919.

After the war, Ray lived with his widowed mother in Vermillion, and worked as a carpenter and woodworker. He did not marry until 11 September 1928, when he wed Mary Delcamp (1893–1974). Mary was the middle daughter of Emanuel J Delcamp (1862–1900) and Mary Ann Griffiths (1868–1939), of Shenandoah, Pennsylvania. Mary's father died abruptly at 37, and her mother remarried John Wanner. After John's death in 1915, the twice widowed Mary Wanner moved with her daughters to Cleveland.

Ray and Mary were both in their mid-to-late thirties when they married, and while had a son soon after their marriage, they also took in a few children over the years. One of these was Jack Hopkins, whose son came down with polio in 1950, when he was only four years old. Ray and Mary were reported in the paper as visiting their grandson, Jerry Hopkins, in the hospital, which shows how close they were to their foster children.

Another of these foster children remembered Ray's mother, Amanda, very well. He said she loved ice cream and would send him to the store to buy it for her. He recalled that she was a kindly lady, but stingy with her ice cream. (We researchers seem to share that ice cream gene.)

Ray farmed in the Sandusky area for many years, eventually selling the family farm in the early 1950s and buying a winter home in Florida, as his brothers Byron and John had done. Ray and Mary both died in Florida, and were survived by their son and four grandchildren - all of whom are still living.

 - -- --- -- -

That's going to do it for "my" branch of the family - we've finished our swing through the John H. Callin solar system, and when we pick things up again, we will start with his brother, James Monroe Callin. We've still got a long way to go before we have covered all of James Callin's descendants, so I hope you're in this for the long haul!

As I write this last post-script, it is Thanksgiving Day, 2016, and I've decided to give myself a holiday break for the month of December. I have some non-Callin research to catch up on, and may post some non-regular information between now and the end of the year, but I want to give the rest of the family my full energy in the New Year.

I'm getting better about reaching out to the surviving family members as I go, so hopefully more of them will start finding their way to the blog and to the Facebook group. If you're a member of this, or any of the families I've written about, and you have corrections to suggest, I'm happy to include them. I'm also happy to include your stories and memories, though I won't do so without your permission.

I hope you're all well, and I hope to hear from you in the comments below, at my "callintad" gmail address, or on the Callin Family History Facebook group.

You Just Can't Matcham

This week, we will look at the descendants of the only daughter of John H. and Amanda Walker Callin to survive infancy, Emma Beatrice Callin (1885-1951). Born nearly six years after her brother, John, Emma would be quickly followed by three younger brothers born in the five years between 1885 and 1890.

George & Emma; 1907

George Delorain Matcham (1844–1923) was born in Pittsfield, Lorain county, Ohio, to Edward and Abigail (Tinker) Matcham, both of whom had come to Ohio from Massachusetts. Edward was born in Pittsfield, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, in 1812, and he arrived in what would be called Pittsfield in Ohio in 1830. He and Abigail were school teachers in neighboring townships. Abigail was descended from the Mayflower Tinkers.

According to a 1951 article in Elyria's "The Chronicle Telegram" on the history of schools in Lorain county:

"Pittsfield's first school was taught by Miss Minerva Loveland in a small cabin erected for educational purposes. In 1831 or 1832 Edward Matcham began his period of teaching which lasted 10 years. Miss Abagail Tinker was the first teacher in Rochester Township. She conducted her school in a log cabin during the Winter of 1833-1834."

Edward and Abigail were married 8 April 1835. They had a daughter, Mary, in 1841; their only son, George, followed in 1844. George was never a very healthy boy, and he had to drop out of his studies at the college at Oberlin because of his health problems. Still, he was a bright young man, and after he managed to complete a course at the business school at Oberlin, he took out patents on improvements he made in farm equipment, which helped establish him as a business man.

In 1871, George married his first wife, Marion Worcester (1840–1906). George served on the school board for a time, and kept up his patents for income. The couple continued to live in Pittsfield until 1895, when they moved to Oberlin. Soon after coming to Oberlin Mr. Matcham invested in land at Linwood park on Lake Erie and helped to develop the resort. He built several cottages there and had spent his summers there for several years. Marion helped run the 19 room inn they built there, until her death in 1906.

George D. Matcham II
with John H. and Amanda Callin

Emma Beatrice Callin (1885–1951) married George the following year. Emma was the fourth child of John H and Amanda (Walker) Callin. She grew up in a house with a Civil War hero father, a pioneer mother, five brothers and her grandmother, who died in 1903. They married when Emma was 22 years old and George was 63 - just two years younger than Emma's father, John H. Callin. (I suspect the two men were at least friends, if not business partners.)

In the 15 or 16 years they were married, George and Emma had five children. They continued to live off of their inn, and Emma hosted social life in the resort on Lake Erie. Sadly, George died in 1923, when their youngest daughter was only four years old; but Emma's mother, Amanda, had been living with the family for several years by then, and surely helped with the children.

After five years, Emma remarried, wedding Gustav Heimsath (1888–1963) on 10 December 1928. Gus was an engineer whose family hailed from Germantown, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. After Amanda died in 1933, and the children began to leave home, Gus and Emma moved to the Cleveland area, where Emma died in 1951.

     I. George Delorain Matcham II (1908–1994) may have been their third grandchild, but he had the distinction of being John and Amanda's first grandson. He worked as a mechanic as a young man, and at one point owned a TV repair shop. Over the course of his life, he worked at the Ridge Tool Co., General Motors Fisher Guide Plant and Bendix-Westinghouse, all in Elyria, and the Fruehauf Trailer Co. in Avon Lake.


On 7 August 1930, George married Emma Narelle Knepper (1910–1985). Emma was the daughter of Giles Allen Knepper (1878–1962) and Addie Kaiser (1884–1961). The couple had a daughter and three sons; their three eldest children are still living. They raised their family in Lorain county, and lived in Elyria until they moved to Punta Gorda, Florida, in 1965. Emma suffered from an unspecified long illness, and spent the last few months of her life in Elyria with her daughter. George died in 1994 in Punta Gorda, also after a long illness.

       D. James Allen Matcham (1943–1946) was the youngest child of George and Emma Narelle Matcham. He was struck by a car and killed at age three.

Eddie Matcham with mom
Emma Heimsath

     II. John Edward "Eddie" Matcham (1912–1965) served as a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army during World War II, and married Opal Estelle Hindman (1907–2001) in Peoria, Illinois in November 1945. They lived in Peoria and ran a restaurant near Bradley University. Eddie was severely wounded during the war, and was a member of Disabled American Veterans. He died at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Haywood, Illinois. He was buried on Christmas Eve Day in 1965.

     III. Marjorie Matcham (1914–1999) was 6 years old when her father died, and she was about 11 when her mother remarried. She would have grown up knowing her grandmother, Amanda.

Marjorie married Robert William Young (1913–1992) on 23 December 1934. His parents were Edward D Young (1874–1953) and Mary Elizabeth Barnes (1876–1940). Edward was not related to the Young family we talked about in the post A Sly, Young Girl; they were descended from a different Young family which had been in America since the 1700s. Edward was born in England in 1874 and came to the United States in 1881.

Robert and Marjorie had three sons, though only two survived to adulthood. She was the owner of Grange Mutual Insurance Agency in Youngstown, Ohio, until 1962, when the couple moved to Punta Gorda, Florida. She was a member of Peace River Shores Property Owners Association, Charlotte County Art Guild and the Arthritis Foundation. They left behind six grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.


       A. Lawrence William Young (1938–1948) drowned while trying to rescue his younger brother while they were rafting in an abandoned strip mine. Chester was pulled out of the water by two Boy Scouts, Richard Griffen (15) and Ronald Reese (15), but they were not able to rescue Larry.

       B. Chester Edward Young Sr (1939–1996) grew up and married in 1960. His wife, son, and two daughters survived him.

       C. John W. Young (1941–2007) was a graduate of Youngstown State University and in 1999 he retired from General Motors Powertrain of Defiance, Ohio. He left behind a wife, son, two daughters, and five grandchildren.

     IV. Truman Wallace Matcham (1916–2005) served in the United States Navy during WWII and graduated from Ohio State University in 1948. He married Martha Lee Rosencrance (1923–2003) on 19 June 1943, then served in the war from 22 April 1944 through 24 January 1946. They raised two daughters and a son, all still living.

Truman retired from General Electric Co. in 1980 after working 41 years as an industrial engineer and manager. He was a member of the Lawrence Park United Methodist Church, where he was a trustee and held other leadership positions. He served as a Lawrence Park Commissioner and Judge of Elections in Lawrence Park for many years. He also served on the board of the Erie chapter of Meals on Wheels.

     V. Ruth Ellen Matcham Heimsath (1919–2009) was so small when her father died, she only really knew her step-father, Gus Heimsath. She grew up and married Richard R "Zimmy" Zimmerman (1924–2009) in February 1946, and they had two children: a son, still living, and a daughter. Zimmy remarried in 1969, and judging from the dates of the records, his divorce from Ruth, his second marriage, and his younger daughter did not arrive in that order. Regardless of the situation, Ruth began using her step-father's name, and was known as Ruth Heimsath until her death in 2009.

     A. Sarah J "Sally" Zimmerman Pence (1947–2012) died suddenly on Sunday, March 11, 2012 in Chapala, Mexico. She left behind her husband of almost 30 years, six daughters, 13 grandchildren, and 4 great-grandchildren.

 - -- --- -- - 

That seems like a lot of tragedy for one small post, but there are also a lot of folks who are still with us... and a lot of children and grandchildren! That motivates me to keep going, and finish this project - not just so you'll all buy the eventual book, but so we have something that ties us all together.

An even better way to tie us together is to drop a note; you can comment here on the blog, email my Gmail address - I'm "callintad" - or click on the link to visit the private Callin Family History group on Facebook. (Relatives of James Callin only, please; I will ask how you're related before I click "approve"!)

As always, if you spot any mistakes or omissions, or if you want to share a story about one of these Callin family descendants (whatever their surname) I hope you'll let me know.

My Place in the Queue

After the 1874 birth of their first son, Byron Herbert Callin, John H. and Amanda Walker Callin had a baby daughter on 11 August 1875. They named her Leota.

Leota died on 7 April 1876; we don't know what caused her death, but we can imagine how devastating the loss must have been to the young family. They must have remembered this little girl fondly, because Byron named his first child Opal Leota, even though he would have been too little to remember much about his little sister.

They would not have another child for three years after Leota, but when they did, another son was born.

Bowling Green High School

John Quincy Callin was born 11 July 1879 in Bowling Green, Ohio. In comparison to his scholastically precocious elder brother, John was more physical. He played football, a game that wasn't much older than he was; and he enlisted in the Army to support the American effort in the Great War.

That physicality didn't prevent John from following the family vocation, and like his father and elder brother, he became a teacher. Looking at the family and correspondence he left behind, he also seemed to have a wry sense of humor, and the "Callin luck" that my family jokes about to this day.

Bertha May Greenlee was born 5 December 1885 in Arcadia, Hancock county, Ohio to Allen and Ava Alice (Hales) Greenlee. Her father, Allen, died very soon after she was born, in 1887, and her mother remarried in 1889. Alice's new husband, George Cramer, adopted Bertha.

Bertha May Cramer
c. 1900

I wrote about the Greenlee family's origins in The Unknown and the Unknowable. Since writing that piece, I've learned a few new details - such as the date of Allen's death, and where he and his father, Robert, were buried. I've also learned more about Allen's mother's family, the Bollmans; but I'll save that for after the Callin Family History is done!

John and Bertha married in 1906, which may explain why he did not head west to South Dakota and Montana with his brothers. Instead, the young couple had their daughter, Yvonne, the following year, and in 1910, John was teaching in Fostoria. Their son, Norman, was born in 1912, followed by the death of John's father, John Henry Callin, the following year.

John (left) and Prentice Callin
c. 1918

The mid-1910s saw John and Bertha move to Lorain, near Oberlin, where John's widowed mother was living with his sister, Emma Matcham. John worked as an insurance agent for Prudential for several years. That's where they were in 1917 when John and his brother Prentice enlisted in an Ohio army unit.

From the scant documents I found, I don't believe the brothers were in the army for very long before the war ended; I don't think John went away, other than to complete basic training. He returned to insurance in the Fostoria area. John and Bertha had their third child, my grandfather, in Findlay, Ohio in 1920, and little Bobby was about a year old when John's brother, Byron, persuaded him to take a teaching job in Otsego county, New York.

John & Bertha in FL
with their dogs

John and Bertha weren't in New York for more than a couple of years, and they returned to Fostoria around 1925. But, once again, they seem to follow in Byron's footsteps and between 1931 and 1935, they moved to Orlando, Florida, with their two sons.

John & Bertha Callin

Over the course of the late 1930s and 1940s, John built several cottages, which he intended to sell as part of the real estate boom going on around Orlando. We have a number of letters to their son, Bob, during his enlistment in the Army, and almost all of them include an update on the troubles John was having with getting work done by contractors, or problems with tenants and prospective buyers. It's hard to read those letters and not think about how much more successful John might have been in Florida real estate if he had only waited twenty more years for Walt Disney to come along!

Of course, John would not live to see that day. He died in 1956, at 76 years of age; Bertha survived until 1971, though - and she died on September 20th, less than two weeks before Disney World opened. I'm sure by then she was well accustomed to the old "Callin luck."

Yvonne, Ginny, and Ed Weimar

     I. Yvonne W. Callin (1907–1974) was born in Fostoria, Ohio, on 9 May 1907. She was 15 or 16 when her father took the family to New York state, and she was attending Fostoria High School at the time, so she stayed behind, living in the home of her grandparents, George and Alice Cramer. About 1931, when her parents were preparing to move to Florida, Yvonne married Thomas Nathan Wirebaugh (1908–1971).

Yvonne and Thomas had a daughter in 1932, but soon divorced, and Yvonne moved down to the Orlando area so she and little Virginia could be closer to her parents. In 1939, Yvonne remarried Edwin John Weimar (1890–1958), a Purple Heart veteran of the First World War. Ed had survived the war with some lingering health problems, and spent his final days in the Soldier's Home in Brevard, Georgia.

       A. Virginia Ann Wirebaugh (1932–2004) was born in Fostoria, Ohio, but grew up in Winter Park, Florida. After her mother died in 1974, Ginny remained in Florida the rest of her life, occasionally visiting family in Ohio and Arizona. She never married, and never had children, but she loved her cousins.

I remember she always sent birthday and Christmas cards to my sister and me when we were growing up, and in the 1990s, after long distance phone calls became less expensive, she liked to call periodically and chat. After I started researching family history, I asked her about her grandparents, but if she talked about them much, I failed to save any notes. She didn't like to talk about her mother, who she missed, and I never asked about her father. She had a dry, dark sense of humor, and I was sad I never got a chance to take my kids down to Florida to meet her.

Norman Callin

     II. John Norman Callin (1912–1964) was born on 8 September 1912 in Fostoria, and when his family returned from New York, he attended Fostoria High School, as Yvonne had. Norman was the humor editor for the school paper, which doesn't surprise me in the least to discover. After he finished high school, his parents and younger brother moved to Orlando, and it appears Norman went with them.

Norman married in 1933, and by 1940, he and his wife had a son and a daughter. Their family remained in the Orlando area at least until some time after the end of the Second World War, and they had their second son there in 1946. But at some point, Norman moved them to Baltimore. He suffered from congestive heart failure, and died there in 1964, at only 52 years of age. His daughter is still living.

       A. John Richard "Dick" Callin (1933–1993) was born and raised in Florida, and moved with his family to Maryland in the late 1940s or early 1950s. He married Edna Mae Barkley (1938–2013) around 1961, and they had five children - a son and four daughters. One daughter, Barbara Ann, died in infancy in 1971.

       B. Michael Norman Callin (1946–1976) was born in Florida, and would have been very small when the family moved to Maryland. I don't know much about him, other than he appears in the Florida Death Index; my dad remembers his cousin Mike, as they would have been about the same age when the two families visited each other in the 1960s. Dad said after Norman died, the families lost track of each other, and he was sad to hear that Mike had died so young.

Bobby Callin
c. 1921

     III. Robert T Callin (1920–2007) entered the world in Findlay, Ohio, on 16 December 1920. One of my first posts on this blog, You Shoulda Seen the Other Guy, related a few anecdotes about him; he was my Grandpa Bob.

Bobby was the baby of the family, as Yvonne was 13 and Norman was 8 when he joined them. He was very small when John took his teaching job in Schenevus, New York, and he actually very nearly died there:

Schenevus, Nov 21--Little Bobbie Callin, the 23 month old son of Mr. and Mrs. John Q. Callin was severely scalded Sunday evening at his home on Main street.  Mrs. Callin, the contralto soloist at the Baptist church, was attending an evening service, Mr. Callin remaining home with the two children, Norman, a lad of 8 years and little Bobbie.  In some unexplainable manner the little fellow got under his father's feet when the latter was carrying a large basin of hot water, and the child was badly scalded on the right side of his body.  There are  two very severe burns on the torso and while the right side of head and face is also affected, it is hoped there will be no scar or disfigurement on face or head.  Dr. E. C. Winsor was quickly summoned and did everything possible to relieve the little sufferer.
The Callins moved to Schenevus from Ohio about 18 months ago and Mr. Callin is one of the teachers in the high school here.  Sympathy is expressed by a wide circle of friends and sincere wishes for the little one's speedy recovery.

Obviously, Bob survived - and lived a long life. If you read You Shoulda Seen the Other Guy, you will begin to understand what we mean when we talk about the "Callin luck" - but as bad as things may have gotten, he always seemed to bear it and bounce back with a joke.

A World War II romance

In 1939, Bob graduated high school, and enlisted in the U.S. Army. He started out at Camp Blanding, not far from home; but soon, he was assigned training out west, in Yuma, Arizona, where he learned how to be a mechanic on aircraft for the new Army Air Corps. When he transferred to Luke Field, near the little farm town of Glendale, Arizona, he met my grandmother, Nancy Gay Witter (1925–2004). I've written about that, too, in When Things Got Serious.

After the war, Bob decided to leave the military and attended seminary. He completed degrees at Arizona State University and at Grand Canyon College, and began a career teaching math in the Glendale Union High School District. They bought a home on Gardenia Lane, and stayed there for nearly 50 years. Nancy eventually got her degree at Grand Canyon, as well, and taught art in the Glendale schools until she retired.

Bob & Nancy, about 1985
in their house on Gardenia
with Sam (the cat) and Charlie (the dog)

Bob and Nancy raised two children, my dad and my aunt; they left behind five of us grandchildren, and we've managed to produce a crop of of eleven amazing great-grandchildren.

In her last few years, Nancy developed a condition that left her unable to form memories properly. We explained it to the kids by comparing it to Dory, the fish with short-term memory loss played by Ellen Degeneres in Finding Nemo - but the effects were nowhere near as harmless or amusing as simply forgetting things and repeating herself. If Bob left her sight for any length of time - to shower or make coffee, for example - Nancy would quickly panic, and try to leave, not remembering that she was in her own home and thinking that she was in a stranger's house.

They moved into a house two doors down from the house where their daughter ran a bed and breakfast in Peoria, and Bob patiently took care of her for several years until she died in 2004.

After that, Bob seemed determine to enjoy himself while he could. He made some new friends (Hi, Ruby!), found work officiating weddings at the bed and breakfast, and began taking long drives around the state - probably reliving the many camping trips and adventures he and Nancy had enjoyed over the years with their RV and motorcycles. Dad and the family worried about him, an 85 year old man out on the road by himself, but he seemed happy. He always came home safe.

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That's as up-to-date as I can bring this branch of the family without talking about living people - unless you want to read about me, in which case, I have a book for you on Amazon!

I hope you enjoyed it, especially if you're one of my cousins, however distant! Or nearby. I've lived within 10 miles or so of Norman's grandchildren for almost 12 years, now, but haven't managed to make contact with them.

If you're one of them - or if your family is related in any way to James Callin - drop me a note. You can use the comment section below, email my Gmail address (callintad at Gmail.com), or follow the link to the Callin Family History group on Facebook.

Prof's Progeny

In our earlier post, 20th Century Callin Clan, we recounted the colorful lives of the children of Civil War veteran John Henry Callin and his wife, Amanda Walker. This week, we will take a look at the descendants of their eldest son:

Byron Herbert "Prof" Callin (1874-1933) was a complex character. Studying his life, and tracing the records he left behind, it is clear that he was driven by ambitions and desires that conflicted with each other. His choices drove him to abandon his family - more than once - and led to his untimely death. There are a lot of questions we won't be able to answer, and I will try to stick to the facts; but know that there are some parts of this story that are still contentious, and the implications of what we know happened may provoke some strong opinions among his survivors.

Byron Herbert "Prof" Callin
(1874-1933)

Byron was a precocious student, and a well known teacher from the time he received his teaching certificate at age 16. His nickname, "Prof," came from his identity as a teacher, and it seems clear that he inherited his love of learning from his father. Prof seemed to have ideas about how the family name should be pronounced ("Collin," with the round "ah" sound instead of the flatter "a" of "Callin"), and later in his life, he seems to have preferred to be called "Herbert" instead of Byron, feeling that Herbert was more refined.

He married his first wife, Frances Edith "Fanny" Muir (1873–1946), on 18 July 1896, when he was 21 years old. She was the daughter of one of the Scottish settlers that gave Scotch Ridge its name. John D. Muir (1841–1920) was the son of James Muir, and served as a commissioned officer in the Civil War.

Byron and his father-in-law both featured in the local history of Wood county published in the late 1890s, each receiving their own hagiographic sketch. The impression this gives me is that Byron, as the son of one Civil War hero, felt some societal pressure to marry the daughter of another such war hero. The couple's fathers may have put them together; and the connections between the Callin and Muir families through the United Brethren Church may have also added to that pressure.

Byron and Fannie moved to Dayton, where Byron was teaching in 1900; but not long after that, Byron took a teaching job in South Dakota, and left Fannie in Ohio. They had no children, and it seems to me that either Byron felt the Pull of the West (and Fannie did not), or the couple thought that after some time apart, he would return to her. Regardless of their intentions, Byron was living in Aberdeen, South Dakota in 1905; and by 1910, Fannie Muir was divorced, and living in her father's home in Webster township.

Ruby Mary Cole Callin
(1885-1973)

Byron soon remarried. His second wife was Ruby Mary Cole (1885–1973), and it was during their courtship that Byron was injured by his shotgun during a hunting trip. As the story goes, he and Ruby were riding in a buggy, when the horse became spooked. In the subsequent furor, the gun that he had in the front of the buggy discharged and struck him in the right side of his jaw. He carried a terrible scar on his face for the rest of his life - and in the portrait above, you will note that he keeps his right side turned away from the camera. According to Truman Matcham, Byron's nephew, the family was always suspicious of the story and felt there was more to it than Byron would admit.

Ruby was born in Shabbona, De Kalb county, Illinois, where her parents met. Her father, Elijah Cole, moved the family to South Dakota when she was in her teens. While it isn't clear how long Byron was in South Dakota before he divorced Fannie, he and Ruby were married in 1906 - and they had three daughters in their household by 1910.

Byron was very much on the move during these years. His children were each born in a different state - Opal in Minnesota, Elda in South Dakota, and Pearl in Montana. In 1915, the family was settled in Middlefield, Otsego county, New York - known today as the site of Cooperstown - and they remained there for several years.

Byron stayed put until 1923, when he moved the family to Reading, Pennsylvania; after that, it isn't clear where they went, but probably by 1925, Ruby and the children were living back in Ipswich, South Dakota, and Byron stopped appearing in the records.

     I. Opal Leota Callin (1907–1978) was born in Solway, Beltrami county, Minnesota. Her mother and siblings had moved back to South Dakota, where she married Nicholas Clarence Blanksma (1895–1988) on 8 December 1926. They had five children, two of whom are still living; two sons and three daughters. They also took in their niece, the daughter of Nick's brother, Jacob P Blanksma (1897–1988), after her mother died.

Violet Lucile Blanksma (1923-2011) was less than two years old when her mother, Francis Marie Gibbons Blanksma (1904–1925), died at 21 years of age. Violet would marry twice: first, to Herman Lester Mills (1912–1991) on 12 November 1941, with whom she had a son and a daughter, still living; then Willard Fredrick "Bud" Eppler (1924–1992) in 1967. Violet loved living on the farm, and raised her family there.

       A. Ruby Agnes Blanksma (1930–2009) married Otis Jess Jacobsen (1925–1994) - twice, if I read the records correctly! The Blanksma family moved to Washington state between 1935 and 1940, and Ruby and Otis were married on 2 April 1947, and again on 11 October 1986 - both records appearing in different Washington marriage record databases. I don't believe they had children of their own.

       B. Dean Herbert Blanksma (1931–1983) married three times; he had no children of his own but he helped raise 5 step-children.

       C. Bonnie Jean Blanksma (1934–1992) married Elvin R Fetch (1927–1993) in Coos Bay, Oregon, on 26 August 1952. As far as I know, they have two sons, still living.

     II. Elda Geraldine Callin (1908–1969) was born in Ipswich, South Dakota, and returned there in her early teens after growing up in Otsego county, New York. She married Delbert Clyde Triplett (1904–1954) in September 1928, and returned with him to his native Kansas. They raised two daughters, who are still living.

     III. Pearl Neoma Callin (1910–1974) was born in Plevna, Montana, where her father was teaching and served as the post master for a short time. She married Emerson Wertz (1907–1999) on 28 November 1928 in Edmunds county, South Dakota. They had one son, still living, but Pearl and Emerson divorced in 1934. She remarried in 1935, this time wedding Jacob P Blanksma (1897–1988), her sister Opal's widowed brother-in-law.

     IV. Perda J Callin (1917–1920) was born in Middlefield, New York, and died there after suffering for several weeks from scarlet fever.
Found on Newspapers.com

     V. Elsie Permelia Callin (1921–1970) was born in New York, after the death of Perda. She was still very young when her mother and siblings moved back to South Dakota. She married Carl Jacob Weber (1907–1975) on 16 May 1935, and they remained in the Edmunds county area the remainder of their lives.

       A. Mary Elizabeth Weber (1935–2010) was born in Ipswich. She attended Northern State Teachers College at Aberdeen, graduating with a first grade certificate. She taught two years in rural Edmunds County. She married Fred H. Zantow (1923–1985) on 12 August 1955, and they moved to Lead, South Dakota, in September 1956. They moved to Spearfish in 1982 after Fred retired. The couple did not have any children of their own, but helped raise their nieces and nephews.

       B. Joyce Jean Weber (1940–2000) married James Alvin Wescott (1931–2005) on 6 August 1955. They had three children: two sons, and a daughter, still living. They divorced at some point, and Joyce married Rudolph Carl Zantow (1926–1995) on 25 November 1961. They had at least two sons, one of whom is still living. Joyce has two other daughters, still living, but I was not able to tell which daughter came from which marriage. Joyce was survived by her third husband.

     1. David James Wescott (1956–1994) served in the U.S. Coast Guard for six years, from 1975 to 1981. He resided in Puyallup, Washington.

     2. James Alvin Wescott (1958–1999) as born 2 July 1958 in Faulkton, South Dakota. Jim worked as a longshoreman in Puyallup, and was survived by his wife and two children.

     3. Rudolph Julius "R.J." Zantow (1963–2003) was born in Tucson, Arizona, and died at age 40 in Springfield, Illinois.

       C. Dale Emerson Weber (1942–1992) served in the U.S. Air Force from 1959 to 1963. He married Yvonne Isabel Childress (1935–1992) on 10 July 1964, and they lived in Washington state.

       D. Diana Elsie (Weber) Geist (1946–2008) was survived by her ex-husband, and two of their three children. Her son Kevin Dean Geist (1966–1984) died at only 17 years of age.

     VI. John Elijah Callin (1923–2008) was the youngest child, and only son, of Byron and Ruby Callin. He was born in Tannersville, New York, but was still very small when the family moved to South Dakota. He married Alice Yoshiko Shimona (1929–1969) on 23 December 1954 in Los Angeles, California. Alice's parents had come to the United States from Hiroshima, Japan, around the time of the First World War, and settled in Colorado, where Alice was born. The family was interred at the Poston War Relocation Center during the Second World War.

After losing his wife and his son, John married Vivian Lucille Cook (1912–1999) in Los Angeles on 28 November 1974.

       A. Michael E Callin (1958–1973) was 15 years old on 25 December 1973, when he was accidentally shot to death by a neighbor boy while playing with a rifle that was a Christmas gift.

Those were the descendants of  Byron and Ruby, but there are still a few descendants through his third wife who are living today.

There is no nice way to say that Prof abandoned his family, but I am told that this is how they felt about it. Around 1930, he divorced Ruby. He married a girl 36 years his junior in Florida: Georgia I. Hancock (1910–1996). They had two daughters, both of whom are still living.

On 29 November 1933, there was an altercation involving members of the Hancock family and Prof. According to reports in the Palm Beach Post on 30 November:

Alva Hancock, 23, was In the Jackson county jail Wednesday night charged with the slaying of her brother-in-law, H. B. Collins, about 62, in a family quarrel at Alford. "I won't be here long," she told officers after calmly reciting details of the killing. Officers quoted her as saying she shot Collins only after he had shot and wounded his wife, who Is Alva's sister, and had also fired at her father, R. D. Hancock. A charge of buckshot struck Collins, and he died almost instantly, Coroner Douglas H. Oswald reported.

A few months later, in May 1934, the same paper reported that Alva had not been indicted by the Grand Jury, but she was under investigation for firing a shot at her sister, Georgia. In the absence of other records, it's hard to say what actually happened that night.

Georgia raised her daughters on her own, until 1942, when she married Abner Mondell Peacock (1889–1973). Georgia and Abner remained together until his death in 1973. Both of her daughters married career military men, one an Air Force technical sergeant, and the other an Air Force colonel. I hope some day to be able to add their children and grand-children to this history.

 - -- --- -- - 

And there you have the tragic story of Byron H. "Prof" Callin. If you are new to the blog, I'm working my way through the descendants of James Callin, and we started this journey in July 2015 with a post about James's sons in The Brothers Callin of Ohio.

If you're a descendant of any of the people mentioned in this post, then your story belongs here, too. I hope you'll reach out to me through the comments section below, through my "callintad" Gmail address, or through the Callin Family History Facebook group. (That group is for family only, so please be prepared to tell me how we're related!)

I hope you'll help me fill in gaps and correct the inevitable mistakes I'm bound to have made!

You can buy a re-printed replica of the original Callin Family History published by Byron's uncle George W. Callin in 1911 (in hard cover or paperback) from Lulu.com. And if you give me permission, I'd be happy to include you and your family's story, and any photos you would like to provide, in the revised Callin Family History - which I will be editing for publication as soon as we get through the last of James's descendants.