52 Ancestors: Large Family

This week’s blog prompt doesn’t seem like it would be difficult but for someone with a VERY small immediate family (one uncle, one cousin, plus my two siblings), this was a bit challenging for me.  I’d always longed for a big family – in fact, when I was about 10 I even made up an older brother who, I told people, was away in the Army.  Ahhh, the imagination of a child.

I’ve written a lot about my Waller family so I decided I’d focus my attention there and see what I could find out.  When I first started on this journey I was ecstatic when I would find a shaking leaf and boy, those Wallers produced a lot of those!  But I’ve since learned that these aren’t always correct so I need to research and research and research some more.

I wrote about Phineas Waller, my 6x great grandfather, HERE when the unusual name prompt came up.  While Phineas seems like an unusual name, it actually is somewhat common in my tree. 

Phineas and his wife, Rhoda Taylor, were married 19 Apr 1749 in Cornwall, Connecticut and had 10 (or 11) children.  What I’ve learned today is that not only were women hard to find from 250 years ago, I still have A LOT of research to do here.  And here are the children of Phineas and Rhoda:

Rhoda, b. 21 Jul 1750, Cornwall, Connecticut.

Mercy, b. 9 Oct 1751, Cornwall, Connecticut.

Nathan, b 7 Mar 1753, Cornwall, Connecticut.  Married Elizabeth Weeks 4 May 1773.  Died 11 Jul 1831 Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne, Pennsylvania.

Lydia (per Starr copy of the Barbour Collection) or Gideon (per the Arnold copy of the Barbour Collection), b. 10 May 1756 in Cornwall, Connecticut.

Levi, b. 10 May 2758, Cornwall, Connecticut.  Or maybe 17 Mar 1758?  Died 1778, Princeton, New Jersey.  He was in the Revolutionary War – did he die in service?

Ashbel, my 5x great grandfather.  b. 18 Oct 1759, Cornwall, Connecticut.  Died 20 Sep 1848, Butler County, Ohio.  Married Sarah Abbott 1 Nove 1781, Cornwall, Connecticut.  Married Elizabeth Blackleach 5 Sep 1820, Butler County, Ohio.  Married Jane Turner, 12 Apr 1842, Hamilton, Butler County, Ohio.  MY TICKET TO DAR!  [get on it you big loafer].  I wrote about Ashbel's inclusion in the first United States census HERE. 

Hannah, b. 6 Jan 1762, Cornwall, Connecticut. 

Joseph, b. 4 Feb 1764, Cornwall, Connecticut.  Died 19 Mar 1849, Elba, Genesee, New York.  Married to Mary Polly McDaniel and Hannah Force.

Daniel, b 17 Mar 1760, Cornwall, Connecticut.  Died in Elba, New York? 

Esther, b. 21 Mar 1768, Cornwall, Connecticut.  Died 27 Feb 1822, Elba, Genesee, New York.  Married John Howe Jr., 21 Dec 1787.

Bonus child – Joseph.  This can’t be true.  Joseph born in 1764 didn’t die until 1849 so why would they have named their 11th child Joseph?  This has got to be an error in one of those Ancestry trees I was so happy to find.

Mercy (pun intended), that’s a lot of kids.  And two of whom were born on the same day (TODAY!) and, thus, share a birthday with my first grandchild who turned 17 years old today. 

And there’s the big family I always longed for!  Who knew?

52 Ancestors: Unusual Name

I have quite a few unusual names in my tree which made it difficult to pick just one.  But I decided to focus on my 6x great grandfather, Phineas Waller.  Not only is the name unusual but I've seen it spelled different ways - Phinneas, Phinehas and Phinias.  But the majority of the time it is Phineas so I'll go with that.

Per Connecticut Town Birth Records pre 1870 (the Barber Collection), Phineas Waller, the son of Abigail (Magoon) and Joseph Waller, was born in Woodbury, Litchfield County, Connecticut on 31 October 1717.  And the Connecticut Church Record Abstracts, Vol. 131, states that Phinehas, s. Joseph, was baptized on 3 November 1717.

Of course there weren't census records that far back so it's a bit difficult to trace him, but I have found quite a bit of information for him.  Years ago I contacted the Cornwall Historical Society and was provided with a lot of information that, sadly, went into a box until I pulled it out today.  Here's a sample:

Cornwall and its Antient [sic] Settlers by Timothy Stone

Wait - WHAT?  "on the hill bearing his name"?  Yep, that's right - Waller Hill is an actual 'place' in Cornwall, Connecticut and is named for MY Waller family.  It's a little hard to see below but in the shaded area is Waller Hill and Waller Hill Road.

I learned some interesting facts about Phineas from Cornwall and its Antient Settlers. 

In Table A, the List of the Polls and Rateable Property of the Town 1742, the listers were Jonathan Squire, Nathaniel Green, and Samuel Messenger - would that be the individuals who created the list?  No matter, Phineas was listed along with "1 head, 1 ox, 1 horse".  Huh?  And at the bottom it showed the totals: 1433 lbs, 45 persons, 52 polls, 41 oxen, 21 swine, 43 horses, 52 cows, 9 young cattle.  Okay, I think I've got it - 45 persons are listed on the List and 52 "heads" which could be the number of people?

Table B, The List of the Polls and Rateable Property of the Town, 1744 shows Phineas with 1 head and 1 horse.  What happened to his ox?

Table C, The List of the Polls and Rateable Property of the Town, 1745 shows no sign of Phineas.  But the footnote states:  "The omission of Benjamin Dibble and Phineas Waller from this list is unexplained, unless inadvertent.  They appear in earlier and later files.

And sure enough, Table D, The List of the Polls and Rateable Property of the Town, 1748 now includes Phineas with the numbers beside his name 31-0-0.  I have no idea what that means.

Another fun fact about Phineas is that he, along with Jonathan Harris, were the first deacons of Cornwall Church/First Church of Christ.  

I was also provided with the Town Meeting Minutes, 1740-1875, transcription and notes by Michael R. Gannett.  Here I found several references to Phineas.

October 12, 1743:  That Israel Moss should be Surveyor of Highways for the year ensuing, that Phineas Waller should be another, that John Griffis should be a third, that Jonathan Squier should be a fourth.

December 11, 1749:  That Phineas Waller and Isaac Moss should be Tithingmen for the year ensuing.  I found the definition of Tithingmen to be an elected local official having the functions of  a peace officer in various American Colonies (as in New England and Maryland).  

December 12, 1747:  Item, that Capt. Amos Johnson, Deac. Phineas Waller, Samuel Abbott should be a committee to take care of ye Parsonage & School Money belonging to ye Town of Cornwall for ye year ensuing.

September 18, 1759:  Voted that the pews in the Meeting House should be seated, & that at the discretion of the following person chosen a committee for sd purpose, viz., Deac. Phineas Waller, Reuben Squir, Lieut. Joshua Pierce, Capt. John Jeffery, Deac. Samuel Abbit, Sergt. John Dibble Esq., John Patterson.

December 11, 1759:  Voted School Committee for ye northwest women's school Reuben Squire, Phineas Waller, Phineas Spaulding.

June 12, 1780:  At a Special Town Meeting legally warned and holden at the Meeting House in the Town of Cornwall on the 12th day of June A.D. 1780, Mr. Phineas Waller was chosen Moderator of said meeting.

So I know that Phineas stayed in Cornwall until his death on 25 June 1787 in Cornwall.  One day I hope to find his burial site.

Thanks to the Cornwall Historical Society for providing so much information about my 6x great grandfather, Phineas Waller.

Here’s my ticket!

Revolutionary War Flag photo by Nink Allsbrook

Memorial Day is a day to reflect on my ancestors who served in the military in an effort to form our country and to keep it free for generations to come.  And while there have been many who fit the bill, I can’t think of anyone who has piqued my interest more than my 5th great grandfather, Ashbel Waller, who is my ticket to join the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).  The process of gaining admittance into DAR is a bit overwhelming but at some point I’ll make it happen.  Until then, I’ll continue to research Ashbel and prepare for the upcoming project.

Ashbel (Ashbell, Ashabel, Asahel) Waller was the son of Phineas Waller (1717-1787) and Rhoda (Phebe) Taylor (1717-?) and from what I have learned, was the sixth of eleven children.  He was born 18 Oct 1759 in Cornwall, Connecticut, and baptized 11 Nov 1759.

Not much is known about Ashbel’s early life until 1 Aug 1779 when he enlisted in Webb’s 2nd Continental or 2nd Connecticut Line and served until he was discharged on 15 Jan 1780.  At the age of 20, Ashbel was in the throes of war and while he served for just a short period of time, his name will forever be in history books as a Revolutionary War patriot.  MY Revolutionary War patriot.

Ashbel returned from war and per the Barbour Collection, Ashbel of Cornwall was married to Sarah Abbott of Sharon on 1 Nov 1781 by Judge Kellogg, JP.  Sarah gave birth to Solomon (Salmon) Waller, my 4th great grandfather, in 1788 in Pennsylvania.  The family shows in later years in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, where Ashbel owned 50 acres of land valued at $240.

More children, Hannah, Ruth, Sena and Alvin, joined the family, although I can’t confirm they were Sarah’s children or if another woman had entered Ashbel’s life.  Somewhere between 1800-1810, the family moved to Butler County, Ohio, and on 5 Sep 1820, Ashbel and Elizabeth Blackleach were married by Rev. James Hugh.  What had happened to Sarah? 

In the 1840 census Ashbel is listed as “under 90” and was living with an “under 80” female (Elizabeth) in Union Township, Butler County, Ohio.    But Ashbel had an important neighbor by the name of Jane Turner, a woman living alone.  And on 12 Apr 1842 at the spry age of 83, Ashbel and Jane Turner were married in Butler County, Ohio by Rev. David Laymon.  Which means that sometime between the 1840 census and this marriage, Elizabeth most likely died.

There is so much information about Ashbel’s life – war records, pension records, marriage ceremonies performed, death on 20 Sep 1848, and his will – but I’ve yet to be 100% sure of his final resting place.  A few years ago a researcher from the Butler Country Historical Society located some items for me, one of which was 1985 correspondence to the Butler County Commissioner regarding a gravestone with the partial name Elizabeth Walle_ and, potentially, the grave of Ashbel Waller in Liberty Township, Ohio.  This graveyard is located on property that was owned by Ashbel in 1830 and is described as about 101 acres in the northeast corner of Section 6 on the 1830 cadastral map.  It is described today as about 0.4 mile eastward from Route 747 along Hamilton-Mason Road thence about 0.2 mile southward parallel to the meridional section line.  I wish I knew more about land deeds so I could figure out exactly what that means.

The point of the 1985 correspondence was to help the establishment of the graveyard’s historical significance in light of Ashbel’s participation in the Revolutionary War.  And now nearly 30 years later, I would somehow like to learn even more about this graveyard and to, hopefully, stand in front of the grave of MY Revolutionary War patriot and 5th great grandfather, Ashbel Waller.

It’s time to step it up and get back to researching so I can punch my ticket into DAR!