PART TWO -
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' 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
No comments:
Post a Comment