A Priddy Puzzle

My oldest (identified) Priddy photograph - Sofostris Allison Priddy, and his wife, Nancy Tomlinson Priddy -1870s?

In the early years of my genealogical research, I largely ignored my maternal grandmother’s family, the Priddys, largely because I naively believed them to be “researched.” My grandmother had inherited a copy of a 15-page or so history of the Priddys compiled in the mid-twentieth century by distant cousins, Mr. & Mrs. Harry Priddy of Van Wert, Ohio. This generally factual history carried the family’s story back to John Priddy (1758-1847). A bit later, I discovered the book The Priddy Family in America by Fred G. Butler (1981) in the collection of the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne. This book connected John Priddy to his ancestors in North Carolina and Virginia going back to the seventeenth century, at the same time demonstrating that the family had both northern and southern branches.

I have done very little research on the Priddy family before my branches settled in Ross and Fayette Counties, Ohio in the early nineteenth century, moving to Van Wert County in the 1830s.

While the Priddy men left a reasonable record of their lives, for three generations, their wives remain mostly a mystery, leaving three generations of “Priddy puzzles” that I have worked on from time to time for nearly twenty years.

Martha (Rowe) Priddy (1754-1833) is buried and memorialized beside her husband in the Cochran Cemetery near New Martinsburg in Fayette County, Ohio. Her marriage to John Priddy is recorded in Louisa County, Virginia, in 1790, with the license indicating that her mother, Lucy Rowe, gave permission. A similar license in 1791 reveals that her sister, Fanny, married Benjamin Alvinson in the same County. The Priddys associated closely with a number of Rowe families in Fayette County, Ohio, yet I have not yet been able to firmly tie Martha to any of these.  It is clear that there was some relationship to the family of Jesse Rowe, an early settler and Methodist of Fayette County.

The life of Eliza (Butler) Priddy, wife of John and Martha’s son, William, also raises more questions than answers. Several late-nineteenth century biographies of descendants (of T.D. Priddy in Van Wert County, Ohio and Jahial Parmeley in Lake County, Ohio) mention the figure of Benjamin Butler, supposed father of Eliza (Butler) Priddy who lived to be either 106 or 108 years old. While I’m sure that there is truth to this tale in some form, no trace of Benjamin has been found. One of the earliest contemporary mentions of the family was an obituary of Eliza (Butler) Priddy which appeared in the Western Christian Advocated in 1843. Besides the details of her death, it includes the following:

“Born 1791 in Delaware, the youngest daughter of Benjamin Butler, Esn.; was five years old when her mother died; grew up in the household of her eldest brother, Thomas Butler, Esq. who in 1807 moved to Chillicothe, Ohio and soon died, leaving a feeble widow and six small children; in 1817 married William Priddy and to them 8 children were born; in 1837 her husband moved his family to Putnam County, Ohio where their house became a preaching -place; last move was to Van Wert County.”

Much like her mother-in-law, Martha, Eliza’s life left numerous clues that have not yet coalesced into a coherent tale. I suspect that records of Ross and Fayette County would reveal considerably more about the Butler family.

Finally, we come to perhaps the most interesting story of all, the life of Sarah (Brown) Priddy (1814-1870). I had the opportunity in the 1990s to interview Truman Priddy, a son of Harry and Blanche Priddy, who wrote the history referenced above. His grandfather, Thomas Franklin “Frank” Priddy (1845-1938) was well remembered in my branch of the Priddy family and left a long reflection on life in early Van Wert which is preserved in archives in both Lima and Van Wert. Truman, who was born in 1913, remembered stories of his grandparents’ life in Ridge Township, Van Wert County in the mid-nineteenth century. He recalled that his grandparents were the first couple married in Ridge Township (which is also attested in several other sources, although their marriage record is recorded in Mercer County). He also recalled two pieces of data on his grandmother:  that she was an orphan and that she was in some way related to a “Sam Brown”.

One lesson I have learned is that I have frequently failed to read county histories closely enough. Although these volumes are prone to error, they also contain the occasional genealogical “golden nugget,” having recorded some detail forgotten in later times (as long as one doesn’t take these “nuggets” too much at face value). Such is the biography of Thomas Franklin Priddy included in Volume III of the History of Northwest Ohio (1917), which, besides a fascinating account of the Priddy family, indicates that Sarah (Brown) Priddy came to Van Wert County with the William Hill family.  William Hill was indeed a close neighbor of William Priddy and family and came himself from Fayette County about the same time. Like Priddy, he and his family were staunch Methodists. Fayette County marriage records reveal that William Hill married a Jane Brown in 1823. A rich history of William Hill’s family by Gold Collins Gnake, apparently written in 1948, is archived in Van Wert. This history states that William’s first wife was a Martha Brown and that his second wife, Jane, was her younger sister. It also confirms that “Sally Brown” who married A.T. Priddy, was “an orphan” taken in by William Hill, “a relative of his wives.”

Again, much like earlier generations, Sarah left a number of clues. It is clear from the above and the family’s close relationship with William Hill’s son, Smith Hill, that there was a close relationship between Sarah and the Hill family. While there is a “Sam Brown” family in Van Wert County, it appears that he may have had Pennsylvania roots and not further proof of his relationship to the Priddy family has been found. I wonder if perhaps Jane (Brown) Hill, second wife of William Hill, was perhaps not Martha (Brown) Hill’s sister, but rather her sister-in-law, and perhaps the mother of Sarah (Brown) Priddy. This is purely speculative.

Again, perhaps Fayette County records would shine a light. Perhaps Sarah’s father, a mysterious Mr. Brown, left some form of record at his death in the ‘teens or twenties of the nineteenth century. It is also possible that such records would be found in Ross County.

The Priddys and the families with whom they lived an intermarried present a compelling story of the early Northwest. They were early settlers in both Fayette County and Van Wert County, and left a strong record of their adherence to Methodism throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. They also left an above average number of biographies and memories that have passed down to us today, allowing in some ways the reconstruction of their lives. Undoubtedly, careful research would stitch together a fascinating, fuller narrative.

The Cores – Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio

My great-grandmother, Agnes Core Patton (1896-1963), was very proud of her heritage, or so I am told. Her family history was indeed an interesting mix. On her mother’s side, she was German and French, a granddaughter of Adam Gettman, who fled his native Hesse in the midst of the 1848-1849 uprisings and fought in the American Civil War. Her paternal grandmother, Viletta Norton Core, descended from an old New England family that settled in Cuyahoga County, Ohio in the first years of the nineteenth century. Her direct paternal line, the Cores, came from early pioneers of the parts of Virginia that would become West Virginia.

Grandma Agnes was born in or near Columbus Grove in the southeast corner of Putnam County, just north of the Allen County line. Agnes and her siblings grew up in town. In her youth, she worked in a milliner’s shop in Columbus Grove as well as helping with typesetting for the Columbus Grove Vidette, the local newspaper. It was likely during these activities that she met her husband, Cloyd Patton, who himself worked in the early ‘teens in a shop that developed photographs. They married in Columbus Grove in 1915.

Ed and Louise (Gettman) Core with children Agnes, Ralph, and Ethel - about 1910 

Agnes’ grandparents, John and Viletta (Norton) Core married in Putnam County, Ohio in 1868. John came to Putnam County with his older brother, David, and his sister-in-law, Rebecca Layton Core in 1866. David, John, and Rebecca were all born in Monongalia County in what is now West Virginia. Monongalia County sits along the Mongahela River about an hour south of Pittsburgh. They were born near the tiny community still known as Core in the western part of the county. David and John were two of the five children of Moses and Elizabeth (Piles) Core. Moses Core died unexpectedly in September 1845 at the age of thirty, leaving Elizabeth with five children ranging in age from eight years to one month. It is not clear how Moses died. It appears that Elizabeth was assisted in the raising of her children by her husband’s family, as she appears on the 1850 census dwelling near several in-laws. Elizabeth married again after her children were grown to David Henderson, whose son Alpheus had married Moses and Elizabeth’s eldest child, Druscilla, in the mid-1850s. Elizabeth remained near Core until after her second husband’s death in 1875 and after the 1880 census, when she relocated to Putnam County to join her two sons. She died there on 15 December 1889 and is buried in Truro Cemetery along Route 12. Besides John and David, who each raised large families in Putnam County, Elizabeth left two children, Druscilla Core Henderson and Christopher Core, in Monongalia County, where both died and left families. The other son, Barton Core, apparently never married and spent some time with his brothers in Ohio before disappearing in the West in the late nineteenth century.

The family of John and Viletta (Norton) Core - Christmas 1911

Moses Core’s parents, Christopher and Hannah (Snider) Core were both members of pioneer families in Monongalia County. The pioneer period of this community is chronicled like few others in The Chronicles of Core, written by Earl Lemley Core, a professor of biology and botany at the West Virginia University in Morgantown. Core collected stories and data regarding the community all of his life. While the Chronicles are not without errors, they are an invaluable human resource. I wish that all communities had such a collection of history.

The 1860 census tells us that both Christopher Core and Hannah Snider Core were born in Virginia. Christopher was born about 1770 (his tombstone and a death record disagree slightly on his age at death). He married Hannah Snider, daughter of Rudolph Snider, on 16 August 1797 in Monongalia County. He died at either 90 or 91 years on 20 May 1861 and is buried at Mt. Herman Cemetery in the hills above Core. Hannah Snider Core survived until 1868. Both the Chronicles of Core and later research by Brian Core give substantial details on Christopher and Hannah’s life and family.

Most, if not all, of the Core families of Monongalia County trace their roots to Christopher’s thirteen children. He was not, however, the only Core to settle in the area. A Michael Core settled on Dunkard Creek near Core in 1785 on land supposedly settled by a George Core as early as 1772. According to the Chronicles, Michael died in an accident in 1815, leaving a widow and a daughter. Earl Core stated that Michael and Christopher were brothers. They were also brothers of John and Henry Core who lived just across the Pennsylvania state line in German Township, Fayette County. This assumption appears to be born out by much circumstantial evidence. Brian Core later argued that all four were sons of the George Core mentioned in Michael Core’s land patent of 1785, for which he cites an earlier land record in Hampshire County, Virginia in 1775, which lists George’s sons as Henry, Michael, and John Core. This assumption is further supported by Henry Core’s claim in his Revolutionary War pension application that he was born in Hampshire County, Virginia in 1762 or 1763. The evidence is indeed strong that these four Cores – Henry, John, Michael, and Christopher – were sons of George Core who appears in the records of Hampshire County, Virginia in the 1770s.

Many genealogists claim that these men were sons of John Christian Core and Catharine Noacre Core of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and Washington County, Maryland. Brian Core has done a fine job of demonstrating that this could not be true, as this family is well documented in records in both Pennsylvania and Maryland. John Christian Core (known generally as Christian) was in turn the son of Michael Kohr/Core of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, who immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1728 and died in 1749. Michael came from what is today southwest Germany with his second wife, Anna Maria Fitler Kohr. He left a family of children that is quite well documented in church and will records in Pennsylvania and Maryland. Michael’s youngest son, Christian Core, married Maria Barbara Hauck and died in 1781 in Washington County, Maryland. Christian and Maria Barbara Core's son, Christian, married Fanny Sparlin in Berkeley County, Virginia in 1789 and later lived in Fayette and Greene Counties, Pennsylvania. Christian appears on the 1800 census of German Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, alongside a “Marey” or “Morey” Core, aged over 45 years, who may have been Maria Barbara Hauck Core, his mother. This placement is interesting, as their neighbors also included Henry Core, son of George, discussed above, as well as members of the family of Henry’s wife, Sarah Barrickman Core.

This close association in 1800 as well as similar naming patterns in both the Monongalia County Core families and the families of the children of Michael Kohr/Core of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania suggest a link. Logic would say that perhaps the George Core of Hampshire County was a son of Michael Kohr/Core. This seems improbable, as the sons mentioned in Michael’s will are generally well documented in Pennsylvania and Maryland. One son, George Casper Core, left a solid document trail and a German-language tombstone in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. Like many Pennsylvania Germans, he went mainly by his middle name. It is possible that, somehow, Michael had another son named George that has for some reason not showed up in substantial research on Michael’s family. Perhaps DNA testing can demonstrate if the Cores of Monongalia are indeed descendants of Michael Kohr/Core.

If the families are indeed linked, they represent an important part of the trans-Appalachian migration of the late eighteenth century. Many German and non-German families with roots in eastern Pennsylvania headed south into western Maryland, the Shenandoah Valley, and the Monongahela Valley in the 1770s and 1780s. Many of these settled in the hilly terrain that is now Monongalia County, West Virginia and Fayette and Greene Counties of Pennsylvania. Others used this as a base for immigration across the Ohio into the Northwest Territory at the dawn of the nineteenth century. What exactly brought the much later immigration of David and John Core to Putnam County, Ohio in the years after the Civil War remains a mystery. It was there that their children and grandchildren intermarried with diverse families, many from New England, to leave a strong population of Cores that exists to this day. 

New Jersey roots, Indiana-to-Ohio migration, and Mormons – my Pickens ancestors

I continue to pay greater attention to the migration patterns of my ancestors. I’ve been especially interested lately in patterns that took families living in New Jersey in the second half of the 18^th century to southern New York or northern/central Pennsylvania in the late 18^th or early 19^th centuries and then onward to the Northwest Territory after 1800.

My great-grandmother, Violet Marie Weaver (1905-1973) was born out of wedlock to Catharine Jane Wolfe (1887-1967) and a Frank Weaver in the vicinity of Lima, Ohio. Both Catharine and Frank’s families had roots in Indiana and came to Ohio around the turn of the century. Frank’s family is rooted in Huntington County, Indiana, while Catharine’s roots are a bit further west in Fulton and Marshall Counties, Indiana.

Indiana Roots

Catharine Wolfe was the daughter of Beneville Wolfe (1858-1894) and Lillian Mae Pickens  Wolfe (1869-1934). “Lillie Mae” died in Van Wert, Ohio. Her parents, William Pickens (1847-1927) and Isidora “Dora” Burns Pickens (1850-1928) resided near the communities of Kewanna and Bruce Lake in Fulton County, Indiana, for most of their married lives, raising eight children, of whom Lillie Mae was the eldest.

Dora Burns Pickens was the daughter of Benjamin Burns (1820-1867), a Civil War veteran, and Cynthia Cordner Burns Overmyer (1826-1892). The Cordners settled in Cincinnati/northern Kentucky in the early nineteenth century, where Cynthia’s father, Andrew Cordner, worked in the Cincinnati textile mills before his death between 1830 and 1840. His wife, Hannah Andrews Cordner (1787-1861) is of Connecticut roots, and lived for a time in Dayton, Ohio before moving onward to Marshall County, Indiana, where she died. Benjamin Burns is likely tied to the large Brethren Burns family of Montgomery and Miami Counties, Ohio, many of whom also settled in Marshall County, Indiana.

Ohio Roots

The Pickens family also has strong roots in the Miami Valley of Ohio. William Pickens was the son of Jacob Pickens (1809-1888) and Mary Wimmer Pickens (about 1817-early 1860s). According to his obituary in the Argos Reflector, published 2 February 1888, Jacob was born in Ohio but spent most of his life in Indiana. He was likely born in Colerain Township, Hamilton County, Ohio on 28 December 1809, one of the younger children of William and Sarah Pickens, whose other children included Elias Pickens (1800-1888, who married Jemima Wimmer and lived in Henry County, Indiana); Clarissa Pickens (about 1802-after 1850, who married John Featherling and died in Henry County, Indiana); William Pickens (who married Parmelia Johnson and died in Hamilton County, Ohio); and probably George Pickens (1803-1834), who died in Hamilton County, Ohio. The father, William Pickens, was a native of New Jersey, born about 1777, according to the 1850 census. He likely settled in Hamilton County, Ohio about 1808. His wife, Sarah, is buried at the Bevis Cedar Grove Cemetery in Colerain Township. She died on 6 June 1843 at the age of 71 years.

With the exception of the William and Parmelia Pickens family, which remained in Colerain Township, the Pickens family of Hamilton County largely migrated to Liberty Township, Henry County, Indiana between 1830 and 1840. The 1884 History of Henry County, Indiana indicates that Elias Pickens, son of William, settled in Liberty Township of Henry County in 1833. His younger brother Jacob apparently accompanied him, as he married Mary Wimmer in Henry County on 15 August 1833. The John and Clarissa Pickens Featherling family settled in Henry County after 1850. It is possible that their father, William Pickens, died there sometime after 1850, since there is no stone for him in the Bevis Cedar Grove Cemetery, where Sarah Pickens is buried.

The Wimmer and LaBoyteaux Connection

The movement of the Pickens family from Ohio to Indiana is closely tied to the movements of two other families with their roots in New Jersey, the Jacob Wimmer family and the Peter LaBoyteaux family. Mary Wimmer Pickens, wife of Jacob Pickens, was a daughter of Peter Wimmer and Elizabeth Shirley Wimmer. Peter and Elizabeth probably married in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania around 1800, where Peter’s father, Jacob Wimmer, was living in 1800. It appears that Jacob Wimmer’s family moved there from Somerset County, New Jersey after 1794, when Jacob appears on the tax list of Hillsborough Township, Somerset County. Jacob had married Jemima LaBoyteaux in New Jersey. She was the daughter of Peter LaBoyteaux and Keziah Sebring LaBoyteaux of New Jersey, who were later pioneers of Hamilton County, Ohio. Peter LaBoyteaux died in Hamilton County in 1813 and Keziah died in 1814. Both are buried in the LaBoyteaux-Cary Cemetery there. Elias Pickens also married into the Wimmer family. His wife, Jemima Wimmer Pickens, was an aunt to her sister-in-law, Mary Wimmer Pickens. Jemima was the youngest child of Jacob and Jemima LaBoyteaux Wimmer.

The Wimmer and LaBoyteaux families migrated to southeastern Ohio by the middle part of the first decade of the 19^th century. Jacob and Jemima Wimmer sold property in Hamilton County as early as 1810. They may have also lived for a time in nearby Butler County, Ohio. It seems likely that they migrated together with the LaBoyteaux family. They may have also come together with several other New Jersey families into which they intermarried, including the Pickens, Runyans, Stouts, Mullens, etc.

Several of Peter and Keziah Sebring LaBoyteaux’s children and grandchildren migrated to Henry County, Indiana. This included Jacob and Jemima Wimmer, who purchased property in Liberty Township, Henry County in 1826.

Jacob Pickens and his wife, Mary Wimmer Pickens, lived in Henry County until the mid 1850s, when they moved north and west to near Argos, in Marshall County, Indiana. They had a total of nine children before Mary’s death in the mid-1860s, eight of whom survived into the 20^th century. After Mary’s death, Jacob married Sarah (Rogers) Brockus and had three more children, two of whom lived to adulthood. Sarah died in 1877. Most of the Pickens children remained in Marshall, Fulton, or St. Joseph County, Indiana.

Mormon Connections

Mormonism arose in the 1820s and 1830s in New York State and began to spread in the Midwest in the 1830s. Several secondary sources indicate that Elizabeth Shirley Wimmer joined the Latter Day Saints in 1832 in Henry County, Indiana, with Peter joining in the 1840s. They later moved west with other Mormons to Adams County, Illinois. In 1850, they trekked with other Mormons from Iowa to Salt Lake, where they settled in Springville, Utah County, Utah. Peter and Elizabeth died there. The majority of their children also affiliated to the Latter Day Saints and settled in Utah (with some passing onward to central California). Several members of the family appear not to have affiliated with the Mormons and remained in Illinois, Iowa, and Indiana.

Although Mary Wimmer Pickens’ relationship to Peter and Elizabeth Shirley Wimmer is attested by several secondary sources, including some dating to the 19^th century, I remain somewhat skeptical. It is clear from Jacob and Mary’s marriage license in Henry County as well as later marriage records of several of their children that Mary was indeed a Wimmer. I remain surprised that neither Peter nor Elizabeth appear among the names of the Pickens children (although some two are known to have died young, names unknown). Further proof of this relationship is needed.

Summary

The Pickens, Wimmer, and LaBoyteaux families all have their roots in New Jersey. The Wimmers and LaBoyteaux are rooted in Middlesex and Somerset Counties, and it seems reasonable to assume that the Pickens likely originated from there as well and may have been linked to these other families in the 17^th or 18^th centuries. These families clearly intertwined further as they passed through the Miami Valley of Ohio and into Indiana. Although my own line, the family of Jacob Pickens, remained largely in Indiana, a significant part of the Wimmer family became well known Mormon pioneers of Utah. More research is needed to untangle the roots of these various families in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

The Culver family of Delaware County, Ohio

The Culvers


Just the Facts

The main source documenting the Culver family of Porter Township, Delaware County, Ohio is found in the History of Delaware County, Ohio (1880) in a biography of B. Culver of Condit, Delaware County. While such biographies do not constitute a primary source and are prone to significant misstatements, this entry has generally been the starting point for information on this family.

This biography states that B. Culver (Bazel or Bazeliel in other sources) was born 28 March 1811 in Berkshire Township (Sunbury Township by 1880), son of John and Catharine (Johnson) Culver. John Culver was reportedly born about 1770 in New Jersey and Catharine was born about 1779 in Pennsylvania. John Culver died in 1823. After his death, Catharine married a Mr. Beard and moved to Missouri. John and Catharine were parents of 12 children, including Bazel, 3 of whom were living in 1880. Elsewhere in the same volume, John Culver is said to have settled north of Culver’s Creek in Porter Township in 1809, together with Michael Ely.

John Culver is listed on the 1820 Census of Sunbury, Delaware County, Ohio as follows:

Free White Persons - Males - Under 10: 3
Free White Persons - Males - 10 thru 15: 2
Free White Persons - Males - 16 thru 25: 2
Free White Persons - Males - 26 thru 44: 1
Free White Persons - Males - 45 and over: 2
Free White Persons - Females - Under 10: 3
Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 15: 2
Free White Persons - Females - 16 thru 25: 1
Free White Persons - Females - 45 and over : 1

This suggests that the family was composed of between 12-14 children. The only proven child is Bazel, who is tied to the family via the 1880 biography.

Speculation based on records

The 1830 Census records a number of Culver families in Delaware County, Ohio, including John and William Culver in Porter Township and Edward in Burlingame. William is immediately adjacent to Timothy and James Meeker (likely his father-in-law and brother-in-law). Many members of the Point and Place families are also found on the same page.

By 1840, a number of Delaware County, Ohio Culvers were resident in Amanda Township, Allen County, Ohio. They appear in close order on the census, including John Culver, William Culver, Orange Culver, and Victor Beard (who is assumed to be the Mr. Beard who married Catherine Johnson Culver after 1823).

It appears that William Culver and his family moved to Daviess County, Missouri, probably with Victor and Catharine Beard, in 1840-1841. Susan Culver married James Place in Daviess County, Missouri in 1841, although the family later returned to Amanda Township, Allen County, Ohio. Court records in Daviess County suggest that a Victor Beard was alive and associated with a Culver in an 1851 court case.

This data suggests a sibling relationship between several additional Culvers, namely:

1. William Culver (1796-1888) of Allen County, Ohio and later Daviess County, Missouri. His first wife was Sally Meeker, likely a daughter of Timothy Meeker; his second wife was Savannah Place, daughter of Peleg Place and Ann Bensley Place
2. John Culver (1800-1872) of Allen County, Ohio. He married Phoebe Place, daughter of Isaac Place and Clarinda Loveman Place.  
3. Orange Culver (1805-before 1850) of Allen County, Ohio. He probably married Esther Point, daughter of Daniel Point and Esther Meeker Point
4. Susan Culver (1817-1891) of Allen County, Ohio. She married James Place, son of Isaac Place and Clarinda Loveman Place.

Together with

5. Bazel Culver (1811-1891), of Delaware County, Ohio, who married Elizabeth Thomas, referenced above. this tentatively ties together five children.

The death certificate of Mary (Meeker) Williamson (1832-1913) of Porter Township, Delaware County, Ohio, lists her parents as James Meeker and Sarah Elizabeth Culver. James Meeker was an early pioneer of this township. His family intermarried with the Place, Point, and Culver families both in Delaware County, Ohio and in Allen County, Ohio, where they became neighbors in the 1850s-1860s. James’ wife was deceased by 1850, but it is assumed that she was another daughter of John and Catharine Culver.

Speculations

Although no definitive listing of the children of John and Catharine Culver has been found to date, several online trees give consistent names and birthdates for children as well as birth and death dates for John and Catherine. It seems reasonable to suspect that this data is drawn in some form from a family Bible record. Where able to be verified, the data has generally proven reliable. The record lists the following:

John Culver (11 Jun 1767-8 Sep 1823)

Catherine Johnson Culver (20 May 1774-4 Mar 1848), married 17 Mar 1791.

Children:

1. David Culver (b. 22 May 1793)
2. Betsey Culver (b. 23 Jan 1795)
3. William Culver (b. 8 May 1797)
4. John Culver (b. 3 Jun 1800)
5. Phoebe Culver (b. 17 Sep 1802)
6. Orange Culver (b. 22 Jan 1805)
7. Sallie Culver (b. 10 Mar 1807)
8. Katherine Culver (b. 11 Jan 1809)
9. Bazeleel Culver (b. 28 Mar 1811)
10. Caroline Culver (b. 1813)
11. Mary Culver (b. 22 Feb 1815)
12. Susan Culver (b. 4 Jul 1817)

Six of these children (David, Phoebe, Sallie, Katherine, Caroline, and Mary) remain unknown beyond this record. Most likely married in Delaware County, Ohio prior to the loss of all marriage records there in 1835. The biography of Bazel Culver (1880) states that only three of John Culver's 12 children were alive in 1880. Since Bazel (d. 1891), William (d. 1888), and Susan (d. 1891) were alive, it is assumed that the others were deceased by 1880.

There is little on which to base assumptions about the background of John Culver and Catharine Johnson Culver beyond the meager data cited above. The fact that the family was living very near Edward Culver in 1820 suggests a relationship, but none has been proven. Edward was the son of Jonathan and Sarah (Hinman) Culver of Litchfield, CT and later Canaan, Columbia County, NY. He had no brother John. The naming patterns of this extended family also do not match well those of John and Catharine’s family. However, it is likely that John fits somehow into the broader Edward Culver/Colver family of New England. Various lines of this extended family did follow a migration pattern from Connecticut to the Hudson River Valley of New York State to Luzerne County, Pennsylvania and Ohio.

There are two families in Luzerne County, PennsyIvania that hold promise. The first is the Daniel Culver family of Connecticut and later of Huntington Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. Daniel appears on the 1796 tax list of Huntington Township. It is likely that he had sons Aaron, Reuben, and Samuel and a daughter, Phoebe, who married Miles Sutliff. The naming patterns of these families were similar to the Culver family of Delaware. The Daniel Culver family also associated closely with the John Johnson family of Huntington Township. This is likely the John Johnson who married Eunice Meeker, sister of Timothy Meeker of Delaware County. Several other Johnsons lived nearby. It is possible that John Johnson and David Johnson who married Eunice and Johanna, daughters of Amos Meeker, were brothers of Catharine Johnson Culver. This is purely speculation.

The other possibility is the family of David Culver of Exeter Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania (located on the opposite side of Luzerne County from Huntington). David Culver was a son of Robert Culver of Schooley’s Mountain, New Jersey. David and his son, David O. Culver (born about 1769) settled in Luzerne County, Pennslyvania about 1797. The younger David O. died in Luzerne in 1831 and is buried there. The elder David apparently moved back to New Jersey where he died. There does not appear to be a close relationship between the Daniel Culver family of Huntington and the David Culver family of Exeter. The naming patterns of both families resemble those of the John and Catharine (Johnson) Culver family to some degree.

Note: Footnotes are not included in this post due to technical limitations. They are available on request.

The Point family of Delaware and Allen Counties, Ohio

The Point Family


Daniel Point was born around 1780, reportedly in New York. His wife, Esther, was born around 1785, also reportedly in New York. Daniel and Esther were living in Marion Township, Allen County, Ohio in the summer of 1850 near their likely son, William G. Point and his family, the children of John and Rachel (Clawson) Patton, and a number of members of various Clawson families. Esther’s maiden name was Meeker. They were living in Jennings Township, Putnam County, Ohio in 1840, again near members of the Clawson and Patton families.

Daniel and Esther appear to have moved to west central Ohio sometime between their (likely) daughter Eliza’s marriage in Delaware County in 1838 and the marriage of their son, Aaron, in Allen County in 1839. They are listed on the 1830 census of Porter Township, Delaware County, Ohio, amidst many members of the Place, Culver, and Meeker families, among others. They also appear in Delaware County, in an area listed as Kingston, in 1820, again near members of the Meeker, Culver, and Place families. Quite a number of families from Luzerne County, Pennsylvania appear to have settled in eastern Delaware County, Ohio.

“Daniel Pint” is listed as one of the earliest settlers of Porter Township, Delaware County, Ohio. Although two mentions of him as an early settler do not list a date, it suggests around 1810 or shortly thereafter. One mention, however, erroneously states that Daniel lived and died in Delaware County.

Daniel and Esther appear to be resident in Peters Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania in 1810. Their neighbor is Jonathan Coleman, who was their neighbor a decade earlier in Luzerne County, eastern Pennsylvania. It is probable that this location near Pittsburgh was a relatively short-term stop for the family before settlement in Ohio.

In 1800, Daniel and Esther appear as a relatively young family with one child on the census of Plymouth Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, with neighbors Jonathan Coleman and Richard Closson. Richard Closson would later go on to settle in Delaware County, Ohio. At this point, the Meeker family was resident in Huntington Township of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.

Census records suggest that Daniel and Esther had one male child born before 1800, 2 sons and 3 daughters born between 1800-1810, 3 more sons and 1 more daughter born between 1810-1820, and possibly 1 more son and 2 more daughters born between 1820-1830. The counts of children are relatively stable across the decades.

The only firmly documented child of Daniel and Esther Meeker Point is

1. Charles (1821-1910), whose parentage is attested by his death certificate.

Family information based in secondary sources

Several unsourced on-line family trees provide a list of children of Daniel and Esther Point. Most trees have significant consistency. They also largely align with census data of known ages of children and other circumstantial evidence.

Supposed Children of Daniel and Esther (Meeker) Point

1. John Point – born about 1798 in Pennsylvania (likely Luzerne County), he married Rachel Bensley, who was born about 22 August 1804 in Pennsylvania, daughter of John Bensley and Mary Wilson. They lived in Porter Township until after 1850, when it appears that John died. Rachel was living with her daughter, Elizabeth Cramer, in 1860 in Marion Township, Allen County, Ohio, near the Patton and Clawson families. Several of their children lived near Spencerville in Allen County, Ohio.

2. Stephen Point – born about 1800. Unsourced family trees suggest he married Katie Meeker, probably a daughter of Timothy Meeker of Porter Township, Delaware County, Ohio. They may have been resident in Granger Twp, Medina County, Ohio in 1830 near the family of a David Point. Of all of the listed children, there is the least evidence to support Stephen.

3. Jemima Point – born 1 Nov 1802 in Pennsylvania (probably Luzerne County). She married Reuben Place, a son of Peleg Place and Ann Bensley Place of Porter Township, Delaware County, Ohio on 14 March 1820, probably in Delaware County, Ohio. Jemima died in Boone County, Indiana in 1862. Reuben and Jemima were living near members of the Culver family in Amanda Township, Allen County, Ohio in 1840.

4. Johanna or Joanna Point – born about 1804 in Pennsylvania (probably Luzerne County). She married William Place, probably in Delaware County. They were living in Delaware County near Daniel Point in 1830 and by 1840 had relocated to Daviess County, Missouri. They appear to be one of the earliest of the Delaware County families to settle in Daviess County. They would later be joined by numerous members of the Culver and Place families.

5. Esther Point – born about 1805 in Pennsylvania (probably Luzerne County). She married Orange Culver, son of John and Catharine (Johnson) Culver, probably in Delaware County, Ohio. They were living in Amanda Township, Allen County, Ohio in 1840. It appears that both Orange and Esther died prior to 1850. Their daughter, Priscilla, was living with her grandparents in 1850.

6. Aaron Point – born around 1810 in either Pennsylvania or Delaware County, Ohio. Aaron moved with his parents to Allen County, Ohio prior to his marriage to Mary Clawson, likely daughter of Thomas Clawson and Hannah Rawlings Clawson, on 27 Jun 1839. Aaron was living near his brother, Squire, in 1840 in Blanchard Township, Putnam County, Ohio and in Marion Township, Allen County, Ohio in 1850. Aaron died in a fight in September 1852. His obituary said that he had “been drunk and querulous most of his life.”

7. Squire Point – born around 1811, probably in Delaware County, Ohio. He married Mary Peterson and was living with her family in 1850 in Amanda Township, Allen County, Ohio. He died prior to his wife’s remarriage to Samuel Walker in April 1851. No known children.

8. Eliza Point – born around 1815 in Delaware County, Ohio. She married Andrew Miller on 1 February 1838 in Delaware County, Ohio.

9. William G. Point – Born between 1818 and 1822 in Delaware County, Ohio. He married Anne Patton, daughter of John and Rachel (Clawson) Patton, on 26 Mar 1846 in Putnam County, Ohio. They were living next to Daniel and Esther Point in 1850. Anne died between 1852 and 1858 and William married Eliza (Bryan) Fulk, daughter of David and Nancy (Stevens) Bryan. He died after 1870.

10. Charles Point – Born 8 Nov 1821 in Delaware County, Ohio. He married Euphemia Clawson on 14 Sep 1843 in Putnam County, Ohio. She was probably the daughter of Frederick Clawson and Barbara Smith Clawson. She appears to have died by 1850, as at least Charles’ oldest son, Stephen, was living with his grandparents in 1850. Charles married Hannah Patton Manning, daughter of John and Rachel (Clawson) Patton, on 7 September 1854 in Allen County, Ohio. Hannah died shortly after, apparently without children. Charles married Adeline Drew Wright Clawson, widow of Thomas Clawson (brother of Euphemia, cousin of Hannah) on 13 Sep 1858 in Van Wert County, Ohio. He moved with his family to near Shell Rock, Jackson County, Iowa, after 1870. He died there in 1910.

Some presumptions based on available data

Although no definitive proof of the children of Daniel and Esther (Meeker) Point has been found to date, the above outline appears to hold together based on circumstantial evidence. Some researchers have suggested a son Henry as well.

Esther Meeker Point is probably the daughter of Amos and Johanna (Force) Meeker of New Jersey and later of Huntington Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. The 1790 Census of Luzerne County appears to show that the family had at least four daughters. Daniel and Esther’s residence in Luzerne County in 1800 seems to confirm the tie to this area. The repetition of relatively uncommon names in the Meeker and Point families (Aaron, Johanna, Squire) further strengthens the likelihood of relationship. Esther was probably a younger sister of Timothy Meeker, the progenitor of the various Meeker families with whom the Points intermarried in Delaware and Allen Counties, Ohio.

Daniel Point was likely a son of the Mary (?) Point enumerated on the 1790 census of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. Daniel Point was likely a brother of Barbara Point who married Jacob Closson of Delaware County, Ohio. Jacob was a son of Richard Closson who was resident near the Points in 1800 in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. There may be a distant link between the Richard Closson family of Delaware County, Ohio and the Clawsons of Allen County, Ohio, into whom the Point family intermarried. Daniel was also likely a brother of Jemima Point, who married James Roberts, son of Hezekiah Roberts, and settled in Delaware County, Ohio at an early date. Daniel is almost certainly related in some way to Jonathan Coleman as well.

I was unable to place footnotes in this blog format. However, I am happy to provide the footnotes upon request.

The enigmas of Delaware County, Ohio

As a native Buckeye, I grew up knowing the Delaware area as a prosperous northern suburb of Columbus. It was only in beginning to explore my family history in the 1990s that I started to know something of the history of the area.

Nearly all of my family lines (excepting some East European immigrants) came to the areas around Allen County, Ohio through one of four "clusters." The first is a cluster around Lancaster, Fairfield County, Ohio. These families tended to be Mennonite or Brethren (at least in their distant roots), and came to Ohio from Pennsylvania or, in many cases, from Pennsylvania via a several-decades-long sojourn in or around Rockingham County, Virginia. These lines intermarried frequently from the early 1700s to the early 1900s. The Blosser family has been my main line of inquiry in this area, along with Mericles, Stemens, Beerys, Millers, and Moyers.

A second "cluster" seems to have come up the Miami Valley from Cincinnati to the Dayton and Troy areas before coming further up the valley to West Central Ohio. Many of these families settled at Fort Amanda in the late 1820s. The Clawsons have been my main anchor family on this line, although I've done less work on the interlinkages. There are some clear points of overlap with the Fairfield cluster as well, most especially the Patton, Moyer, and Rinehart families. The Youngs are another part of this migration.

A third "cluster" that is less represented in my lines than some other natives of Allen County area centers around Ross County, Ohio. A number of my Van Wert County, Ohio families have their early Ohio roots in Ross and nearby counties, including the Priddys and the Tomlinsons. These families seem to have diverse roots in Virginia/North Carolina as well as Maryland and Pennsylvania.

Recently, I have been working more on what is potentially a fourth cluster, centering around Delaware County. I first stumbled onto this family through my paternal grandmother's line, the Meekers. "My" Meekers came to Amanda Township in southwest Allen County in the 1850s. For many years, I did not realize that they joined a number of relatives and relatives-by-marriage who had settled there as early as the 1830s (Culvers, Points, Places). These families then intermarried deeply with many of those who came via the Miami Valley route - the Clawsons, Sunderlands, Youngs, Pattons, etc. This "Delaware cluster" also has links to Fairfield County.

Further probing into these families has surfaced what I would call one of the most interesting multi-generational migration patterns that I've found in my research. Many of these families seem to have their roots in Connecticut before late 19th century migration to northeastern Pennsylvania (especially Luzerne County). Some families seem to have migrated in the mid-18th century from Connecticut to New Jersey, just across the border from NE PA. From Luzerne County, many of these families made their way to Delaware County, Ohio, some seemingly via northeastern Ohio's Western Reserve lands (with their own connections to Connecticut!). From there, many Delaware families migrated to Allen County, Ohio and some westward further to Illinois and Missouri.

What is becoming very interesting is the beginnings of connections between some of these clusters going as far back as 18th century New England. Perhaps more than ever before, I am seeing that people migrated with purpose. Although one branch of a family may have migrated toward New Jersey at an early date and another to Pennsylvania, this doesn't mean that their descendants will not mix again in Ohio a couple of generations later. The interweaving of various Clawson families is especially fascinating to me these days. But, as always, the more I know, the more questions I surface. And the more aware I am of how much bad information is out there...

Delaware County is proving to be one of the most challenging in my research in terms of records. The complete destruction of marriage records prior to 1835 makes it feel more like working in 18th century Pennsylvania. The fact that the entire Meeker family (those who remained in Delaware) seems to have disappeared without a trace from Delaware County cemeteries and most other records (besides census) between 1840-1880 is another puzzle. Was there at some point a family cemetery that was destroyed? Why does there seem to be a glaring absence of land and estate records, since it appears from the census that my ancestors had some property? These and many other questions remain, including intriguing naming patterns (Phoebe and Esther, anyone?). All of this is a good reminder that genealogy is, in the end, micro-history, or the surfacing of some greater story through the unraveling of our ancestors' lives.

More to come, or so I hope, on these various families.