Civil War Vet and Rural Mail Carrier in Mark Township - Curtis Sylvander Elder

 The Hicksville Tribune, January 2, 1908, p. 8:

"This post card was received by the R.F.D. News in Chicago, Illinois -

Mark Center: - We are in receipt of a souvenir post card, showing the portrait of C. S. Elder, the only carrier of Mark Center.  Mr. Elder is standing by his mail wagon and intelligent looking horse, and in the wagon stands his little daughter, Ruth, a charming child of five years of age.

Mr. Elder is a veteran of the civil war, enlisted in 1863 at 17 years of age and rode with Sherman to the sea in Kilpatrick's famous cavalry division.  Mr. Elder has been carrying mail since February 15, 1905."

This photo is a part of the Mary G. Smith Photo Collection and was provided by Dianne Grimm.

Curtis Elder's little girl, Ruth, was 5 at the time of photo, dating it to about 1913, and her father was 68.  She was the youngest of eleven children through two different wives.

Born in Pennsylvania on November 19, 1845, Curtis came to Ohio with his family and settled in Seneca County, Ohio.  In the Federal Census of 1860, he lived with his widowed mother, Eliza, and five siblings.  His mother, widow of Achor Elder, was only 39, and she was left with real estate worth $2150; Curtis was 15 at the time.  Just two years later he would enlist for the Union side.

Curtis enlisted on November 5, 1863 into the 9th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, Company K at the age of 17. He was all over the south with the Cavalry and often in some large battles, including the Battle for Atlanta.  He rode with Hugh Jackson Kirkpatrick who advanced to a brevet general by the end of the war.  However, Kirkpatrick was not always respected by his soldiers.  Kirkpatrick was a man who took risks with his soldiers, using battle tactics that put them in danger.  Discharged on July 25, 1865, Curtis made his way back to Seneca County, Ohio.

He married Tena (Dinah) Stahl on 23 September 1869 there and the couple had five children: Estella E., Ollie E., Charley, Earl and Lillian.  Tena died on the Elder homestead in Seneca County on March 10, 1881. (Another source gave the death date as 8 March 1882). She was buried in the Zion Lutheran Church Cemetery in Jackson Twp., Seneca County. In 1881 - 1882, some of the Elder family, including the widower, Curtis, and his children made their way to Mark Township, Defiance County, Ohio. 

A second marriage to Emma Jane Crawford occurred on January 21, 1883.  Emma was significantly younger than Curtis by about 15 - 16 years.  They added to their family: Carrie, Clyde, Glenn, Rodney, Levon, Thelma, and Ruth (born 1903). In 1888, Curtis purchased his own farm - 80 acres in Sections 14 and 15, Mark Township.  The Federal Census enumerator found him and his family there in 1900 - 1920. 

He was a farmer, but at some point he became the rural mail carrier, the one and only in Mark Township.  His brother, Clyde, known for his store in Mark Center, was his substitute, both having passed the civil service exam necessary. One newspaper described him as Mark Center's genial and obliging mail carrier,  a "jolly" man.

Photo is from the Mary G. Smith Photo Collection and was provided by Dianne Grimm.

Curtis Sylvander Elder died at his home in Mark Township on October 31, 1923. The Defiance Crescent-News reported on November 6, 1923 on page 5:

"Curtis S. Elder.  The funeral of Curtis S. Elder of Mark Center, who died suddenly Wednesday, was held Saturday afternoon at 1:30 at the house, and at 2 p.m. at the M.E. church in Mark Center with Dr. J. F. Olive officiating, assisted by Rev. Arthur, Rev. Colgan and Rev. Hurtig.

Pall bearers were the four sons: Clyde, Glen, Dale and Levon Elder and grandsons, Harry Brubaker and Noah Hull. 

Flower bearers were Class No. 8 of the Mark Center Sunday School which Mr. Elder taught for several years.  Interment was in Sherwood Cemetery."

Curtis' wife, Emma, lived twenty more years, passing away on October 11, 1943. 

"EMMA ELDER, 80, TAKEN BY DEATH.  

MARK CENTER WOMAN DIES AFTER SEVERAL MONTHS ILLLNESS.

Mark Center, Oct. 11 - Mrs. Emma Elder, 80, widow of Curtis Elder, who died in 1923, passed away this morning at her home here, following an illness of several months due to infirmities of age.

The body was removed to the Perkins and Reeb funeral home in Hicksville, and will be returned to the residence at noon on Tuesday.  Burial will be made in Sherwood cemetery following services which will be arranged later.

Mrs. Elder was born and reared in Mark township and was a member of the Methodist Church.

She leaves six children: Mrs. Carrie Heater, South Ridge, Mass.; Clyde and Lavon Elder, both of Mark Center; Glen Elder, Hicksville; Mrs. Thelma Conley, Inglewood, Calif.; and Mrs Ruth Decker, Sherwood; three step daughters, Mrs. Lillian Hull, of Kendallville, Ind.; Mrs. Stella Brubaker, West Mill Grove, Ohio, and Mrs. Ollie Frazer, Paulding; a sister, Mrs. Ella Deardorf, Hicksville; 15 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

A son, Dale Elder of Defiance preceded her in death last January."

Note - For those researching the Elder family more in death, here are two sources:

1. In the archives of Bowling Green State University, a file on Sarah V. Elder, born 1840, sister to Curtis, letters, photocopies, transcripts from the Civil War and later, 1854 - 1896 archived.  Sarah married Joshua Dicken who served in the Civil War.

2. The Historical Record of the Elder Famiy by Lillian Elder Hull, daughter of Curtis. It can be found in its entirety online.

First Grade Students of Sherwood-Delaware School - 1948

 

From the Sherwood Chronicle, 1948

"This is the first of a series of twelve Sherwood-Delaware pictures to be published by the Chronicle - and when you do first things first, you start with the First Grade.

Miss Grayce Sigg, a member of the Sherwood-Delaware faculty for nine years, is the teacher, and this is , perhaps her most unusual class at least as it includes the largest proportion of boys - only three of the 23 pupils being girls.  Maybe this is a world's record: anyhow, it's interesting.

FIRST ROW, left to right: Lee Dickey, Mark Moats, Roger Hanna, Larry Thompson, Kenneth Theis, Virginia Bok, Shirley Boetz, Cyril Shininger, Denny Kroeckel, Billy Guyas, Peter Shininger

MIDDLE ROW, left to right: Jimmy Wasnich, Ronald Corwin, Derrell Swift, Clifford Mossoney, James Bok, Jerry Walk, LaVon Lambert, Darrell Luderman, Joe Speiser, John Miller

BACK ROW - Dennis Kauser, Miss Sigg, Johnny Campbell

Booze Boat

 "A BOOZE BOAT

MILFORD TOWNSHIP NOW HAS FLOATING SALOON ON ST. JOE

Jacob Larman has taken out Dow tax and has started a saloon on a bum boat anchored in the St. Joe River at the Clarksville bridge.

This is possible because this county is wet as is also Milford township.  The Williams county line and the Indiana state line are but a few hundred feet away from the boat.

The public will now watch Milford township with great curiosity, to see what, if anything, will be done in the matter.  The boat is there legally just now, and nothing short of a 'dry Milford' can root it out.

It is centrally located, having reference to several dry towns.  Among these are Edgerton, Hicksville, Newville, Butler, St. Joe, Auburn, Waterloo, etc."

Hicksville Tribune, May 27, 1909, p. 1

"FIRST JOLT

IS GIVEN BUM BOAT BY JUDGE KILLITS OF BRYAN

Property owners along the St. Joe river at Clarksville secured an injunction against the bum boat at Clarksville from Judge Killits court at Bryan last Saturday, and the same was served by a deputy sheriff of Williams county.  Judge Killits is common pleas judge and has full jurisiction.

The complaint says the boat, lights and unseemly noises made the bridge unsafe an damaged surrounding fences, etc.

The boat has been pulled up the river about a mile and has suspended business to date having dealt out wares last Saturday."

Hicksville Tribune, June 3 1909, p. 1

My Cameron Line Found Defiance County, Ohio - Part THREE

 We  will now back up to Mordecai (b. 1775), Simon's second son.  In about 1807, Mordecai married Nancy Isaacs from Maryland.  They would have eight children.  Their first two children were christened in the Donegal Presbyterian Church - John Eagan Cameron (b. 1807) and Harriet Cameron (b. 1810).  John's christening record shows his middle name as Eagan.

When Charles moved North, Mordecai decided to move farther west.  He had listed his work as a tanner in Maytown, PA in 1807 and 1810, but showed up on tax records n Monogala County, Virginia (now West Virginia) in 1813.  It seems odd that to move West from Pennsylvania, one would travel via Virginia to get to Ohio, but roads were few and travel by water was, perhaps, easier. He may have taken the great road south.  He had a son born in Virginia in 1815, Samuel P. Cameron.  In 1819 and 1820, Mordecai shows up in East Union Twp. of Wayne County, Ohio.  By 1830, he is in Salt Creek Township of Wayne County and by 1840, he is in Williams County, Ohio, mostly due to his son, John Eagan Cameron.

Mordecai's wife died in 1860, and Mordecai died in 1862 and they were buried on the farm of their daughter, Harriet Bostater (nee Cameron, b. 1810).  The grave yard was 500 feet north of Bostater Road, near Evansport, Ohio, but in 1944, it was declared abandoned and the stones moved.  No records exist where they were moved to.

Mordecai and Nancy's children were: John Eagan (1807), Harriet (1810), Samuel (1815), Mary Louisa (1820), Stanbery Looman (1820), Mathew Milton (1823), Ellen Jane (1825), and Lucretia Ann (1826).

Mordecai's son, John (1807) married Lydia Stenger in 1829, and they had nine children.  In 1834, John walked from Wooster in Wayne County, Ohio, up to Lake Erie and along the shore to the settlement of Toledo, where he painted a schooner to earn money for supplies.  He then traveled up the Maumee River to the Auglaize River to the Tiffin River to Lick Creek (near Evansport, Ohio).  He made several trips and then convinced his family to move there and homestead land.  

His wife, Lydia was 24 when they arrived.  In the 1860s, John heard of McKenzie relatives in Pennsylvania and that perhaps his family was entitled to some of the estate.  He traveled to Pennsylvania to talk to people there about it and kept a journal of his travels.  As mentioned earlier, John, the grandson of the Simon who had married three times, would talk to people with firsthand knowledge of the early Camerons who came to Lancaster County through Philadelphia.

The following are excerpts from his journal: 

(John E. Cameron first heard of Alexander McKenzie's estate by Elisa J. Karns, Nov. 15, 1867.

"Lewisburg, Pa, Dec. 8th, 1867 -

This is to certify that in the summer of 1865, I was employed to arrange the papers of William Cameron, Esq. of Lewisburg County of Union, Pa.  In examining the papers, I found a letter from a man in the western part of Pa, stating he was a relation of William Cameron and he and his brother was getting older and had no family and that said Wm. Cameron and his brother, Simon, were the only relations they had in the United States that they had any knowledge of.  And that they had considerable property.  I read the letter and asked Wm. Cameron what I should do with it, telling him what the contents was.  He said he cared nothing about the property as he had enough and told me to burn it which I did with many other papers.  

Paul Geddes"

*This referred to Sec. of War, Simon, and his brother, William.

Inscriptions on tombstones in Lacock Cemetery, East Rochester, Beaver County, Pa -

ALEXANDER MCKENZIE died June 21, 1864, aged 76y 8m  (Oct. 21 1787)

GEORGE MCKENZIE died August 24, 1862, aged 74 years, 10 m and 23 d (1787

(*Note - I think that these two men were twins and when George died, of course, his brother could give the exact age; but when Alexander died, only the year and month of his birth were known.)

This was entered into John E. Cameron's journal:

"...and that Mordecai Cameron was a son of his Grandfather Simon Cameron by the second wife, but her maiden name he has no recollection of.  Our Grandfather, Simon Cameron was married three times, his first wife's maiden name was Katharin Cameron of Glasco, Scotland.  The third wife was Katherin McCoy (widow)  The second wife's maiden name unknown but supposed to be McKenzie."

Quotation from Wm.Cameron, brother to Sec. of War, Simon Cameron.

William would only have known his grandfather's first wife by Katherine Cameron, but her maiden name was perhaps Catherine McKenzie  The third wife's name was clearly Catherine McCoy and if the second wife was a McKenzie, it is assumed by the author that it was Ann McKenzie.

John never found any inheritance in Pennsylvania as he had hoped and some reported Mary Wilson burned most of his papers and many church records and other papers.  In a book entitled Colin McFarquhar (1729-1822), Pastor of Donegal Springs Presbyterian Church, written by Alexander Preston Reed, the following is stated:

"That we have so little valuable information about Colin McFarquhar is due to Aunt Mary Wilson.  After her mother's death, she was left in Grandfather McFarguhar's care and went with him to the Cookes at Hagerstown.  On his death, Aunt Mary seized all his papers and burned them, all the letters, all information to Grandfather's business affairs.  On hearing of grandfather's death, cousin Colin Reed of Washington, Pennsylvania, hastened to Hagerstown, but the mischief was done.  After destroying her grandfather's papers, she proceeded to destroy the church papers and so lost to the Camerons an estate in Scotland, as no proof of a marriage could be found.  When I was at Lochin, Mr Cameron (Simon Cameron) asked me, 'How is that woman, I always call her that, since she burned all the proofs of a marriage by which I have lost an estate in Scotland.'"

John and his wife, Lydia, are buried in Evansport Cemetery just south of Evansport.  John and Lydia's family consisted of Nancy Jane (1831), Harriett Bostater (1833),  John Stenger (1835), Lucretia Ann (1838), Simon Mordecai (1841), William Wallace (1843), Robert Bruce (the author's great grandfather) 1845, Edward Ruthvin (1848) and John Porter (1851).

From this point on, the records are rather modern and easily verified.  The difficult part of the document was researching the 1700s and very early 1800s.

If you have an comments, corrections or additions, please leave a comment on this post or message the genealogy society and they will get the message to me.

Virgil Cameron.

A Story of My Cameron Line from Beauly, Scotland to Defiance County, Ohio - PART TWO

 PART TWO -

Charles Cameron (b. 1770), eldest son of Simon (b. 1740) and half brother to Mordecai (the author's third G-Grandfather) came on the CLEMENTINA as a five year old.

He started as a farmer, then apprenticed as a tailor but, as he got older, he would fail in several business ventures.

Charles was married in 1794 and owned a hotel (left) in Maytown for a short time where his first son, William, was born in 1795. His half-brother, Mordecai (b. 1775) worked with him and stayed close for a time. According to family lore, Mordecai would settle arguments at the inn owned by Charles by saying, "The answer is...and I KNOW because I'm a year older than this country!"

Charles moved his family to a nearby house (right) and this is where John, Simon, James and Catherine were born.

Charles' son, John (b. 1797) would come to be an important member of the family, as he married Mary Shulze, the sister of the Pennsylvania governor, John Andrew Shulze.  He would help funnel many lucrative contracts to his brothers, William and Simon.

In 1808, Charles lost everything to a "Sheriff Sale" and moved the family to Northumberland.  Charles was hard put to support the family and he had to put his children into foster homes.  Charles died in 1814.  He had listed his occupation as "tailor" in the 1810 census.  

Charles' son, James (b. 1800) would be killed at the Battle of Bull Run.  

(Note: Having served in the Mexican-American War, he had retired to his estate in Pennsylvania when the Civil War started.  Feeling he had to serve, he went to Washington, D.C. where he was asked to serve as Colonel for the 79th Cameronian Highland Regiment, at first made up of mostly men of Scottish blood.  Valiantly, he lost his life on July 21, 1861, at the age of 61 years and 4 months.)

Charles would have a son, also named Simon (b. 1799), who would become Secretary of War for Abe Lincoln and an extremely powerful politician.  He also had a grandson who would serve as a Senator.

But back to Simon (b. 1746)...In 1778, he was a widower with four small children, but he didn't stay that way long.  He married a widow named Catherine McCoy, who had a son of her own named John.  With this third wife, Simon had three more children: Daniel (b. 1779), Colin (b. 1780) and Rachael (b. 1782).  Daniel, Colin and half-brother, John McCoy are listed as serving in the "Danville Blues"

Daniel stayed close to home around Mt. Joy.  Daniel Cameron, a worthy Scot, was the great pedestrian who walked from Harrisburg to Danville in a day without deeming it any great exploit.  He was also a skillful carpenter and builder. 

It is unclear what happened to John McCoy, but Colin Cameron would have quite a future in the West, as his descendants were cattle barons.  Without too much detail, Colin had a son named Simon who, in turn, had a son named Colin, the cattle baron and owner of the San Rafael Cattle Ranch in Arizona, with his brother, Brewster, who was killed in 1908 when he fell into the Niagara River and went over the falls!  

Rachael Cameron would marry William Carter whose will specified that he was to be buried in Dr. Petrikin's burial ground.  Petrikin Cemetery was abandoned and any graves moved., although there is a stone in Chilisquage Cemetery, Montour County, PA, that may be his.  His wife, Rachael, moved to California with her daughter and is buried there.

There have been no records found that state definitely when Donald (b. 1710) or his son, Simon (b. 1746) died, but the obituary for Secretary of War, Simon Cameron, states that "the elder Simon died in 1789 at harvest time from overwork and exposure." Simon and his father, Donald, are probably both buried near the Donegal Church, but the graves are unmarked. Simon's third wife, Catherine, was listed as "The Widow Cameron" on tax rolls and lived to be 92, and is buried next to Daniel's wife, Mary.

Moving on to Defiance County, Ohio - Part III

A Story of My Cameron Line - From Beauly, Scotland to Defiance County, Ohio - PART 1

 Welcome to our guest blogger, Virgil Cameon, who has done extensive research on his Cameron line from Scotland to Defiance County, Ohio - the Camerons, Bostaters and Stengers.  He kindly gave his permission to publish the results of his work on our blog.

Virgil: "For the past forty years, I have been trying to trace my Cameron ancestors back into Scotland.  Frustration sets in when researching and finding so many family trees with obvious errors and no documentation.  Perhaps the most glaring errors are those that list the father of Donald Cameron (b. 1710) being the Rev. Richard Cameron who was killed in 1680!  With the naming conventions used in Scotland, certain names are used over and over again which can prove confusing!   After all this research, I am confident that I have WELL DOCUMENTED EVIDENCE of my specific Cameron line, although I have been unable to find documentation of THAT line prior to 1710.  I'm pictured below with my GG Grandparents John and Lydia Cameron, the earliest images I have.

In July of 1775, Donald Cameron (b. 1710) who was a farmer in Beuly, Scotland, perhaps on the Teanroit farm of the Lovat Estate , came to Philadelphia on a ship named CLEMENTINA that was captained by a man named Patrick Brown.  The ship left from Stornaway, Scotland.  According to the October 25, 1775 issue of the Pennsylvania Gazette, the ship arrived in Philadelphia on October 9, 1775, being docked at the Bird-in-Hand Wharf.

There is some thought that the ship was hired by Aberdeen merchants, and if that was the port of registration, then likely what happened is that the vessel sailed up the east coast of Scotland, picking up passengers at various ports of call, such as Inverness or Cromarty, and sailed on through the Pentland Firth before sailing on to the Island of Lewis with Stornaway as its last port of call.

(Note: The ship Clementina was later renamed to the Henrietta, according to a May 4th, 1778 letter found in Naval Documents of the American Revolution, Volume 12, page 260.)

According to Viola Root Cameron in her book: The Emigrants from Scotland to America, 1774 - 1775, published 1930, aboard the CLEMENTINA were listed the following:

Donald Cameron, age 65, passenger and a farmer from Builie*

John Cameron, age 34, passenger and a farmer from Builie

Simon Cameron, age 29, passenger and a farmer from Builie

Jean Fraser, age 25, passenger from Builie

Anne McKenzie, age 25, passenger from Builie

Charles Cameron, age 5 passenger from Builie

Mary Cameron, age 3, passenger from Builie

Catherine Cameron, age 6 months, passenger from Builie

Catherine McKenzie, age 29, passenger from Builie

(*Builie refers to Beauly, Scotland, a small village in the Highlands, five miles west of Inverness and on the Beauly River.  Beauly Priory, pictured right.)

This family grouping appears to be traveling together with Donald as the father and his two sons with their wives and children.John's marriage is recorded in the Kilmorack parish register as follows: 

1764/1765 - John Cameron, son of Donald of Buie in Teanroit marries Jean Fraser, daughter to Alister Miller  in Kilmorack.

Simon was married to Catherine McKenzie and the 3 young children were theirs.  Ann McKenzie was a sister to Catherine.  Much of this will be verified later in this account by a grandson of Simon's who did extensive research of the family in the mid-1800s.

There is no record of Donald's wife who many claim to be Ann McLaurin, coming on the ship, and further there is no good evidence that Ann McLaurin was Donald's wife.  While there are records in Scotland of a Donald Cameron and Ann McLaurin being married about the correct time and of the correct ages. The records also show that in August of 1751, a daughter named Ann was born to this couple, but the birth record states, "born to the DECEASED Donald Cameron and Ann McLauren."  Research shows the death of a Donald Cameron in July of 1751.

Donald and his two sons farmed the church land around Donegal Presbyterian Church near Mt. Joy in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  It is said they were friends in Scotland with the new Donegal Presbyterian minister, Colin McFarquhar.  Rev. Colin McFarquhar was, prior to his emigration, minister of the combined parishes of Applecross and Gairloh.  

His entry in Fasti Elesiae Scoticane, Vol. 7, page 144, reads:

"Presbytery of Gairloch - Applecross, 1749 -53; licen.by Presb. of Chanonry in 1756; ord to Fort Augustus in 1759; called 25th Dec. 1760; adm. 1st April 1761.  He petitioned the Presby, 6th April 1774, for leave to go to America to fix a settlement there for himself and others who wished to emigrate.  The Presby. agreed to his request "commending his public spirit and enterprising turn."  They further put in the record that "since inoculation from smallpox had been introduced, the country had become far more populous than it was before and yet no trade, manufacture, or branch of industry had opened to employ the supernumery hands. They stated that the land rents all over the Highlands had been raised so high that to all appearance, farming would become a distressful occupation and poverty was likely to be considered to be on the increase.  Having settled in Pennsylvania, dem. his charge here 17th May 1775..."

Simon (b. 1746) brought three children with him: Charles (b. 1770), Mary (b. 1772) and Catherine (aged 6 months)  Simon was a really interesting fellow.  His first wife's name is a little sketchy, but it is thought that it was Katherine McKenzie.  Within a year after their ship arrived, they had another son and named him Mordecai.  It seems that his second wife was Ann McKenzie, sister to his first wife.  Simon would soon marry again for the third time.  

In 1777, Simon is listed in the Pennsylvania Militia, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Company, under the command of a man named Work).  Also in 1778, Simon was taken to court on the appeals docket and was to be fined for "Failure to March When Called," as was his brother, John.

"16th Decm., 1778

Simon Cameron (a Highlander) 2d Work who cannot speake English apeals by James Bayly Esqr. for the fines of nonattendance by Reason of his wife's languishing condition."

More confusion exists with Donald's (b. 1710) son, John, (b. 1741).  Many researchers list him as John Canady Cameron who fought in the Virginia Militia during the Revolution, was wounded at Brandywine, was married to Margaret Jones and was given 200 acres of land in Virginia.  Evidence I have found refutes this as the John Cameron who came to Philadelphia on the Clementina was in the Lancaster County Militia at that time and married to Jean Fraser.  It would seem strange that if John were in the Virginia militia that he would be taken to a Lancaster County court. Further, if John were indeed wounded at Brandywine in 1777, why would he use the other weak excuse in 1778 that he was poor.

"John Cameron, 8th do., that he is a very poor man leatly came into the contry, and had not his passage paid, and a small family to maintain, willing to march when it comes to be demanded of his --- judgt.  March when ordered or pay the substitution money."

Muster cards can be located for both John Camerons, one from Virginia and one from Pennsylvania.  Pennsylvania John and his brother, Simon, appeared in court for failure to march. Simon's second court appearance lists his reasons as he spoke no English, only Gaelic, and his wife had been sick and recently died leaving him four small children (Charles, Mary, Catherine and now Mordecai). John gave his reason as he was poor, not having paid his passage and with a small family to support.

"Simon Cameron 2d Work says that his wife lay several Months and Died leaving him four small children Just before he was called & in that situation could not go... Judgmt - March when ordered or pay the substitution money.

The originals for these transcribed clippings can be found in the State Archives in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

In June of 1778, Simon and  his brother, John, swore the oath of allegiance for Lancaster County in front of James Bayle, J. P., along with many others.

To be continued ...