"East Chicago Dunns" - A Family History: October 2010

10/22/10

Dr. William M Jones (1831- after 1895)

◄ Doctor William M Jones

The reverse side of this photo says it was taken June 5th, 1895, in Fairview, Ohio, as part of a group photo with his brothers. He'd have been 64 years old here.

This date conflicts with his reported death in 1892, but the specificity of the date on the photo causes me to think it's correct. The conflict in the dates has not yet been resolved. (Click photo to enlarge it.)

◄ 1860 Census for WIlliam M Jones
(Click to enlarge it.)

Elsewhere in this blog is information I’ve assembled about the earliest member of our Jones ancestral family I’ve been able to identify. He was Lewis Jones, who married Rebecca McPherson in 1817. Included in that story is a list of Lewis and Rebecca’s children, one of whom was William M Jones (1831- after 1895), who became my generation’s maternal GG grandfather.

In a report written about his family’s history, my generation’s uncle DeRand Jones said that William M Jones was a medical doctor. This has been confirmed in the 1860, 1870 and 1880 U.S. federal censuses. Interestingly, in a roster of deaths in Ohio he is also listed as the attending physician for his mother, Rebecca, at the time of her death.

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The Goodman and Frizzell Connection

The Goodman and Frizzell families lived in Kirkwood Township in Belmont County, Ohio, as did our Jones and McPherson families of that era. From DeRand's report about the family we learn the following.

“Nathan Frizzell is listed in the Ohio's Belmont County History as one of the early members of the Sewellsville Methodist Episcopal church that was organized in 1813-14. His daughters, Susanna, and her two sisters were raised in Sewellsville, Ohio. Susanna married John Fox on March 27, 1823. They had two children, Joanathan and Nancy Fox. [Susanna was subsequently widowed.]

Dr. John Goodman...son of William Goodman, came from Germany. He was an ‘animal doctor’ who occasionally treated people. He drove a herd of cattle over the mountains to southern Ohio and settled there.

On March 21, 1831 John Goodman married widow Susanna Frizzel Fox (1798 – 1871), daughter of Nathan Frizzel. Their children were:

■ Leander Goodman (1831 – 1914) a farmer, who married Malinda Evans Goodman;

■ Elizabeth Ann Goodman (1834 – 1908);

■ John Wesley Goodman (1839 – 1925) a farmer, who married Frances Dallas Goodman.”

[Editor's note: See the bottom of this page for info about the murder of a young girl by the name of Louisa Fox. Although she was not a member of our ancestral family, she may well have been related to Susanna Frizzell Fox Goodman.]

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William’s Marriage and Family

On September 23, 1856, in Belmont County, Ohio, Dr. William M Jones married Elizabeth Ann Goodman, who was also known as Betsy Ann. She was born in Egypt, Ohio, and as noted above, her parents were John Goodman, born in 1809 and Susanna Frizzell Fox, born in 1798.

The 1860 federal census at the top of this page shows the members of William and Elizabeth’s household. However, baby Mollie, recorded as being three months old in this census, apparently died as a child, for the 1870 and later censuses - and DeRand’s archive - record William and Elizabeth’s children as follows:

■ Fleetwood Churchill Jones born: 21 June 1857;

■ Adda Estelle Jones born: 21 April 1860;

■ Rosa Leona Jones born: 27 November 1863;

■ William Henry Jones born: 3 November 1865.

Note that these children were born in the period leading up to, during, and immediately after the U.S. Civil War (April, 1861 – April, 1865), which must have been a chaotic time in the life of our ancestral family. This was also the time during which Abraham Lincoln was president of the United States – and was assassinated (April, 1865).

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What Became of William and Elizabeth’s Children?

Fleet, who was a little boy during the Civil War, became my generation’s maternal great grandfather. His story and photos are/will be found elsewhere in this blog, as are photos and stories about Adda, Rosa and their families.

William H became an attorney, and Fleet’s 1937 obituary says this William was the mayor of Bethesda, Ohio, at that time. DeRand’s archive says William H married Sarah Beecher, and I have an undocumented note in my records saying he died in 1943. I have not discovered any other information about William’s life or family.

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To get a bit of understanding about the period during which this family lived, consider the following:

■ Like Dr. William Jones, James Garfield was also born in Ohio in 1831. Garfield was the last of seven U.S. presidents born in a log cabin, and this link about Garfield’s life provides an interesting perspective on what life might have been for William Jones and our ancestral family during that era.

■ Also born in Ohio in that era was George Armstrong Custer. General Custer (1839 - 1876) had a stellar career in the U.S. Army, making a name for himself during the Civil War. After the war, he continued serving in the Army out west and made it his life's work. In 1876, at a place called The Little Bighorn, in a campaign that has become known as "Custer's Last Stand", he and his entire regiment were wiped out by what one of his men said was the, "most Indians I've ever seen in one place."

Although I have found no photos of Elizabeth Goodman Jones, the photo below of George Armstrong Custer and Elizabeth (Libbie) Bacon Custer in 1864 provides a glimpse of how a fashionable lady dressed in those days.
(Source)

More information about ladies' fashions in that era can be seen here.

Trivia: In a 1903 book titled, "History of Belmont County, Ohio" is a story under the heading of "The Only Execution in a Century", from which the following is excerpted:

"One of the most exciting incidents in the history of Kirkwood township was the murder of Louisa Fox, in 1869, by a notorious character named Thomas D. Carr, a coal miner in the employ of Alexander Hunter. Carr was a man of bad repute, who had become infatuated with the beauty of the girl - for she was but 14 years of age - and because she refused to marry him, he immediately took the innocent's life..."
(Source)

Although Louisa Fox was not part of our ancestral family, Kirkwood Township was small in both area and population in that era. Therefore it seems likely that Louisa was related to Susanna Frizzel Fox, who married Dr. John Goodman, who was part of our ancestral family.

Please refer to the disclaimer on the index page of this blog for a statement regarding the accuracy of - and documentation for - the information presented in this blog.

Last revised 12/1/2010

10/19/10

“1001 Things Everyone Should Know About Irish American History”

Regular readers of this blog know
that our paternal family originated primarily in Ireland. In fact, I’ve traced members of our family with the surnames Dunn, Grace, Nolan, Ring and Cavanaugh - each of which are part of our paternal ancestral family lines - back to those who risked everything to cross the ocean when they emigrated to the United States.

It’s been a very interesting process – one that is ongoing as I continue assembling our family history.

In the process of researching our family’s stories I came across a book called, “1001 Things Everyone Should Know About Irish American History” by Edward T. O’Donnell. The book is an amazing and interesting collection of short “stories” about all things Irish American, numbered for easy reference.

Following are a few excerpts from the book to give readers the flavor of it. The numbering is the same as that of the book itself.

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127. Sources of Early Immigration

The Irish were among the earliest settlers in the European colonies that formed along the Atlantic coast in the 1600s. The great majority came as impoverished persons displaced by war, land seizure, and economic change. Some elected to go voluntarily, boldly striking out in search of new opportunities in the New World. Unable to afford the cost of passage, many signed on as indentured servants. Others were involuntary migrants - generally convicts, subversives, or the victims of upheavals brought on by the likes of Cromwell and William of Orange - sold into servitude and transported to the Americas. As trade between England and Ireland and the New World increased in the eighteenth century, so, too, would the rate of emigration from Ireland.

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132. James Murray Writes Home

Like many an Irishman before him and since, James Murray of County Tyrone found America to his liking because of the combination of economic and political freedom it offered. In 1737, he took the time to write a letter home to his minister so that he might pass on the good word to his kin and friends:

“Read this letter, and look, and tell aw [all] the poor Folk of your Place, that god has opened a Door for their Deliverance; for here is ne [no] scant of Bread ... Ye may get Lan [land] here for 10 pund a Hundred Acres for ever, and Ten Years Tell ye get the Money before they wull ask ye for it; and it is within 40 miles of this York upon a River Side that this Lan lies, so that ye may carry aw [all] the Guds in Boat to this York to sell, if ony [any] of you comes here .... Desire my Fether and Mether too, and my Three Sisters to come here ... and I will pay their passage ... I bless the Lord for my safe Journey here ... this York is as big as twa [two] of Armagh .... There is servants comes here out of Ereland, and have served there [sic] time here, wha [who] are now Justices of the Piece.”

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134. Indentured Servants

Some Irish immigrants in this period arrived as skilled artisans. But for every skilled artisan or aspiring farmer, there were countless Irish who arrived in American as poor unskilled laborers. Unable to pay their passage, many signed contracts of indenture with ship captains, who in turn auctioned them off upon arrival in America. The contract bound the indentured servant to a term of service for four to seven years at the completion of which he or she received some land, money, or both. Some, like Daniel Dulany, were fortunate. He arrived in 1703, survived his indenture, studied law, rose to become a judge, Attorney General, and a member of the colonial legislature and Governor's Council. Far too many others died before their term expired (especially, if they landed in disease-prone the South), or survived to face a life of low paid manual labor.

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222. The Myth of Mrs. O'Leary's Cow and the Great Chicago Fire

Some have argued that anti-Irish sentiment explains the story of Mrs. O'Leary and the Great Chicago Fire. According to popular legend, thirty-five-year-old Catherine O'Leary left a lantern burning in her barn in 1871. When it was kicked over by one of the cows, it started the fire that would engulf Chicago for a day and a half. Flames towered at five hundred feet, trees full of sap exploded, metal structures melted, seventeen thousand buildings disappeared, and more than three hundred people died.

Today, however, research indicates that Daniel Sullivan went to feed his cow in O'Leary's barn and dropped a match or lantern in the straw. In fact, in 1891, two reporters admitted to exaggerating, even fabricating, the story about Mrs. O'Leary. Unfortunately, the damage was done; she had been driven away and lived out her life as a recluse.

The extent of the fire can really be blamed on factors such as an inadequate fire brigade, non-enforced building codes, little rain, and powerful winds. In 1997, Chicago officially absolved Mrs. O'Leary of all blame.

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339. Bugs Moran

A notorious Chicago gangster, George "Bugs" Moran's (1893-1957) parents were Irish and Polish immigrants. Moran became the second in command of Dion O'Banion's North Siders gang, and ended up on the wrong side of Al Capone, who ordered the famed mass rubout known as the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Moran may have relied on the "luck of the Irish" that day, as he missed being killed because he showed up late. Moran's gang gradually lost power and prestige, and Moran moved to Ohio, where he began robbing banks. He was caught by the FBI in 1946, and died in Leavenworth Prison in 1957.

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340. Dion O'Banion

Charles "Dion" O'Banion (1892-1924) grew up the Little Hell district on Chicago's North Side. He walked with a limp, and sang in the Holy Name Cathedral choir. Later, he became a singing waiter who crooned sentimental Irish ballads while picking his patrons' pockets. Gradually, he became the infamous leader of the North Siders gang. He learned early how to bribe officials and silence witnesses. Bootleg liquor and gambling were his big money makers. He covered up his activities by operating a flower shop. It amused him to provide funeral flowers for some of his gangster cronies who'd met their Maker. Eventually he ran afoul of John Torrio, one of Chicago's major crime bosses, and was gunned down in his flower shop.

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588. The Irish in the Civil War

The Civil War provided the Irish in America with a superb, if grim, opportunity to disprove the nativist claim that they would never make loyal, patriotic citizens. More than 144,000 Irish-born served in the Union Army. In addition, tens of thousands of American-born Irish also served. Thousands ended up giving their lives for the Union and eighty-nine Irish-born soldiers would earn Congressional Medals of Honor.

One of the reasons so many Irish served in the Civil War was their relative poverty. Many Irish immigrants stepped off ships in America and were immediately confronted by Union Army recruiters offering two-to three-hundred-dollar cash bonuses for enlistment. For penniless immigrants with no specialized skills, this offer - equal to a year's pay at the beginning of the war - was too good to refuse.

Another inducement to enlistment was an appeal to nationalism. Many regiments were formed under ethnic names like Mulligan's Brigade and Corcoran's Legion. The recruiting posters often made clear that England, Ireland's historic oppressor, was sympathetic to the Confederacy. Some hoped to gain military experience that they could later use in an uprising in Ireland against British rule. Indeed, many of the most ardent Fenians of the late 1860s were veterans of the Union Army.

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612. Irish American Opposition to the U.S. Entry into the War

When World War I broke out in the summer of 1914, Irish Americans joined the rest of America in opposing U.S. involvement. For most Americans, this was simply an expression of traditional American isolationism. For Irish Americans, however, there were additional reasons, most especially the long-standing belief that whatever was bad for England had to be good for Ireland. At the very least they balked at the idea of American soldiers - no doubt many of them Irish-American - being sent to die on behalf of His Majesty's empire. They rejected John Redmond's decision to pledge Irish support to the British war effort as a means to gain home rule after the war. Irish American opposition reached its apex in the months following the 1916 Easter Rising and summary executions of the leaders. Still, when the U.S. declared war on Germany in April 1917, Irish Americans set aside their nationalist ideals and cast their support to the American cause.

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905. Railroad Builders

Like the grim experience of canal digging, a popular saying in the era of railroad building had it that there was "an Irishman buried under every [railroad] tie." Irishmen built most of the railroads in the east before the Civil War, and many of those constructed afterward. The greatest road of all, the transcontinental railroad (completed in 1867), was built by a combination of Irish, Mexican, Chinese, and German workers. The work was arduous and very dangerous, especially when sending a road through mountainous areas, and countless Irish workers perished in cave-ins and explosions; still more died of diseases that raged in the camps. Wages in the 1840s were as low as seventy cents per day and stayed low for decades to come.

As with canal digging, there were numerous incidents of gang violence, often between different groups of Irish immigrants. In one incident on the Erie Railroad in 1847, Corkonians were attacked and driven off by a gang of Far Downers. There was more at stake here than old county rivalries. In many cases, groups of workers were attacked and driven off so as to provide work for the victors. As if to emphasize this point, not long after driving off the Corkonians, the Far Downers battled a German work crew. Similar incidents occurred wherever the railroad went west, where the Irish clashed with Chinese and Mexican workers.

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Here’s a link to info about the book.

Here’s a link to a site where you can buy a copy of the book. I highly recommend it!
Last revised 10/19/2010

10/15/10

Origin and History of the Surname McPherson

Source # 1

The name McPherson or MacPherson... comes from the Gaelic Mac a' Phearsain and means 'Son of the Parson'. The Parson in question was Muriach, a 12th century parson, or lay preacher, of Kingussie in Badenoch.

Historically, the term 'parson' (in the Gaelic, pearsain or pears-eaglais literally 'person of the church') had a different meaning. Before the Reformation in Highland Scotland, the religious leader of a parish was the priest and the parson was the steward of church property, responsible for the collection of tithes.

The history of Clan Macpherson has been called "The Posterity of the Three Brethren" as the three grandsons of Muriach are the antecedents of the three main clan families, Cluny, Pitmain and Invereshie. For many centuries, the Macphersons have been a leading clan in the Clan Chattan Confederation along with Clan MacKintosh, Clan Shaw and others. Although the Macphersons have a strong claim to the Chattan lineage, they have been unsuccessful in wresting control of the Clan Chattan from the MacKintosh.

Today, the clans cooperate closely in the Clan Chattan Association, where John MacKintosh, chief of Clan MacKintosh, is president and Sir William Macpherson, chief of Clan Macpherson, is vice president of the association along with allied clan chiefs.

Source # 2

This interesting surname is of Scottish origin, and is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic "Mac an Phearsain", the prefix "mac" denoting son of, plus "pearsan" parson, hence "son of the parson".

Early recordings include Bean Makimpersone who witnessed a bond between William of Rose and Duncan Makintosche, captain of Clancattane (1490); payment was made to David Makfassane "for twa gunnis of matel" in 1538, and Donald Makphersone, prior of Strathphillane, appears as witness in 1585, and is recorded in the "Black Book of Taymouth".

Edinburgh Church Records list the marriages of Aeneas McPherson to Margaret Scrimgeor on April 19th 1677, and of Alex McPherson to Anna Robertson on March 29th 1683. John McPherson was born in Edinburgh in 1784. He was a merchant who emigrated to North East Canada.

A Coat of Arms granted to the family is per fesse gold and blue a lymphad, sails furled, gold oars in action, in the dexter chief a hand fessways couped, grasping a red dagger erect, in the sinister chief a red cross crosslet fitcheee.

The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Alexander Makfersan, which was dated 1447, bailie to the bishop of Aberdeen, during the reign of King James II of Scotland, 1437 - 1460.

Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

10/14/10

Our McPherson/Jones Family Connection

In researching our ancestral maternal family, the furthest back I've been able to get in the Jones line is Lewis Jones (1791-1871). He married Rebecca McPherson (1795-1880), and I've been able to assemble the following information about our ancestral McPherson line.

◄ On the reverse of this photo from my generation's uncle DeRand Jones' family archive is written: "Merry Christmas, 1907" and "Carleton Jones, age 12 years, 6 months, weight 100" and "Mary Elizabeth Jones, age 6 months, weight 21 lbs".

They were the GG grandchildren of John Wesley McPherson - and Carleton became my generation's grandfather. Mary was our great aunt. (Click to enlarge photo.)

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My research indicates that in the 1700s Murdock (Mordaic) McPherson (1740-1789) married a Miss (unknown first name) Sebastian. This information comes from a family tree posted by someone on Ancestry.com, but I have not been able to document it from official sources.

The clues I’ve seen suggest that Murdock was probably an immigrant from Scotland, possibly via Ireland, who settled in Virginia and became a farmer. (Here’s a link to information about the Scottish McPherson clan.)

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They were reportedly the parents of John Wesley McPherson (1768 -1856), who was born in Virginia and became a Methodist Episcopal minister. He married Ann Smallwood Acton (1767-1832), who was born in Maryland, and they moved to Kirkwood Township in Belmont County, Ohio. An 1880 book, “History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio", says, “…Jacob Barnett settled in the township in 1813, Rev. John McPherson in 1816, Lewis Jones in 1816, and Patrick Hamilton in 1819.”
Source

An undocumented comment on Ancestry.com says, "Note: John served in Capt. William Gunnel Jr's Battalion, 57th Regiment in 1792. Buried in Sewellsville Cemetery, Belmont County, OH." Although it's an interesting comment, I have been unable to find any information about either Capt. William Gunnel, Jr. or his battallion, so it's not clear if this is valid.
Source

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According to the family tree mentioned above, John and Ann's children were:
Eleanor McPherson, 1785–1829
John McPherson, 1791–1852
James McPherson, 1792–1832
Margaret McPherson, 1793–1851
Rebecca McPherson, 1795–1880 (from whom we descend)
Mordock Fletcher McPherson, 1796–1862
Nancy Ann McPherson, 1802–1845
Lorenzo Dow McPherson, 1810–1859
George Washington McPherson, 1811–1862

If the info above is accurate, it's likely that we have many living relatives in the McPherson line who are descended from Rebecca's siblings.

Following Ann’s death in 1832, John married a widow by the name of Mary Copp McCully in 1833. She reportedly left him (see the bottom of this page for details), and the 1850 census reports that at that time John lived with his daughter and son-in-law, Rebecca and Lewis Jones. It’s reported that he spent his final days with them.

1850 Census for Kirkwood Township, Belmont County, Ohio
Household Members:
Name, Age
Lewis Jones [John’s son-in-law], 60
Rebecca [McPherson] Jones [John’s daughter], 55
Lorenzo Jones, 3
William Jones, 16
Samuel Jones, 16
James Jones, 14
Mavin Peggott, 26
John McPherson [Rebecca’s father], 82

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John McPherson lived during the time of the U.S. Revolutionary War, and my generation’s uncle DeRand Jones wrote a report about his family’s history in which he said the family’s oral tradition was that John served as a chaplain during that war. However, since he is recorded as being 82 in 1850, that would mean he was born about 1768 – making him ages 7 to 15 during the Revolutionary War (1775-1783). Perhaps he served during the War of 1812 (1812-1915) and the family was confused. In any event, Rev. John’s Revolutionary War service appears to be a fable.

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As shown above, John and Ann McPherson had a daughter named Rebecca McPherson, who was born in Virginia and married Lewis Jones (1791-1871). Lewis was born in Virginia and was a farmer. As mentioned above, he also moved to Kirkwood Township in 1816, shortly after Ohio became a state. This is where he met and married Rebecca in 1817.

This family would have been pioneers – settlers – in what was, at the time, the western frontier of the U.S. and lived somewhat primitive lives. They would have lived in log cabins, raised, fished or hunted for their meat, either grew or traded for their other food, built their own furniture, made their own clothes, had no electricity or running water - and were in an area in which numerous battles with Indians took place.

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Lewis’ background is a mystery

This subject is discussed elsewhere in this blog, but bears repeating in the context of this recap of our McPherson/Jones connection. According to DeRand, Lewis’ history is a mystery, for he apparently never discussed it.

In the report he wrote, DeRand said, of Lewis, “…He never spoke of the past nor explained himself. All that is known is that neighbors saw him swim ashore on the Ohio River across from Virginia [part of which later became West Virginia] near Wheeling. Speculation was that he either swam across the river, or his boat sank, or maybe he fell off or was thrown off a boat. No one was sure that Jones was his real name.

His [Lewis’] great granddaughter, Mary Jones Anderson, said that in family conversations when she was a child the family seemed sure he came from Pittsburg and was one of two Zane brothers who left the Fort [Fort Pitt] when it was attacked by Indians.”

Regarding Lewis’ origins, “History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties…” includes this brief biographical sketch:

“Lewis Jones born Loudon Co[unty], VA, 10 Sep 1791, came to Belmont County, OH, in 1816 and married Rebecca McPherson in 1817. They settled in Kirkwood Twp., where he farmed. Lewis d[ied] 21 Apr[il] 1871. Rebecca still alive in 1880 (83 years old). Nine children, all alive in 1880 except Amos T. and Delila [sic); others were Allison, John Mc[Pherson, named after his grandfather], Josiah, Lorenzo D., William M., Samuel L., and James.”

Based upon clues I’ve seen, I suspect that Lewis’ forebears may have emigrated from Wales at some point, but have not been able to document his ancestry. If DeRand’s telling of family lore is accurate, Lewis apparently swam from the Ohio River into Belmont County without leaving a trail about his prior life or ancestral family.

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One of Lewis and Rebecca’s sons, William M Jones (1831-1892), was born in Ohio and became a doctor, even serving as the attending physician at his mother’s death. He married Elizabeth Ann Goodman (1834-1908), born in Ohio. Her family reportedly emigrated to the U.S. from Germany, although the name is of English origin.

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They were the parents of Fleetwood Churchill Jones (1857-1937), born in Ohio. In one census he was listed as a farmer and in a later census as a “general merchant”, for he operated an old-time general store. He married Leona Cash Jones (1873-1957), who was born in Ohio. They had two children, Carleton Duane and Mary Elizabeth Jones, who married J. Willis Anderson.

Fleet and Leona lived through World War I (1914-1918) and the Great Depression (1929-1940). The 1930 census records that at that time Fleet and Leona had their son Carleton and his wife Nelle, along with all four of their children, living in their household. Another census records that later, Elizabeth Goodman Jones (“Ma Jones”) lived with Fleet and Leona.

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Their son, Carleton Duane Jones (1895-1967), was born in Ohio. He became a Methodist Episcopal (ME) minister, later changing to the Nazarene denomination and then operating a Christian bookstore after retirement from the ministry. He married Nelle Virginia Field (1899-1976), born in North Carolina. Her ancestors reportedly once owned a large plantation - including slaves - in the Old South. Nelle, too, was originally a ME minister and also changed to the Nazarene denomination.

They also lived through World War I, during which Carleton was a private in the army, assigned as a machine-gunner in France. They also lived through the Depression and World War II.

Carleton and Nelle ultimately divorced, and DeRand reported that Nelle was defrocked by her denomination, which provides a clue as to why they divorced. Carleton later married Rhoda Schurman, who was affectionately called Ranee. She was a Nazarene missionary to China until just before World War II began. She later served as pastor of a Nazarene church in Canada, where she came from, until she and Carleton married.

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Carleton and Nelle were the parents of Fleeta Claire, known as Claire, born in 1921 in Oregon, Paul Wesley, (1922-1990), born in Oregon, DeRand (1927-2002), born in Oregon, and Virginia Lee, known as Ginger (1928-1988), born in Washington. They, too, lived through the Depression and World War II.

During World War II Paul served with the Amy Air Corps and was in the ordnance crew of what was called the 509th Composite Group. The 509th was a unit created during World War II and was tasked with operational deployment of nuclear weapons. It was an elite top-secret, hand-picked team that conducted the controversial bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in August 1945 - which brought about the surrender of Japan and the end of the war.

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Claire, Paul and Ginger were the parents of my generation; DeRand was twice married, but had no children. Their stories are/will be elsewhere in this blog.

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John McPherson and Mary Copp McCully

Jones cousin Autumn Lovejoy, who is Paul Jones’ granddaughter, provided info that led me to connect with a researcher by the name of Sandy Wilbur. Sandy’s extensive work on his wife’s genealogy intersects with our family, and his research on his wife’s family led him to gather information about John McPherson. The reason is that his wife is related to the McCully family John connected with when he married the widowed Mary Copp McCully after the death of his first wife. In an exchange of emails about the family, Sandy provided the following information.

“I’ve gathered bits and pieces on the McPhersons and Joneses as I’ve studied other families related to them, but haven’t yet done the putting together.

What I know for sure on John McPherson, Rebecca’s father, is that he was born circa 1768, probably in Virginia. I suspect the Hugh McPherson living near him and the Joneses in 1850 [as shown in the census] is a brother. If Hugh was really born in Ireland [as shown in the census] and John really born in Virginia (censuses can be notoriously incorrect on place of birth!) – and if they were brothers – it may mean the family came to Virginia from Ireland in the mid 1760s. He may have been Scotch, but likely “Scotch-Irish” as were many of the settlers in that area. (Many Scots moved to Northern Ireland, when King James was expelling the Catholics and giving their land to good Protestant settlers.)

John reportedly came to Belmont County in 1816, and since Rebecca appears to have been born in Virginia circa 1795, John probably married Ann [Smallwood Acton] between, say, 1788 and 1794 in Virginia.

Three notes:

(1) I was wrong when I said Ann S. was possibly Anne White because she and John named a child Ann White McPherson. From the dates, that was clearly a different John McPherson.

(2) Ann McPherson’s gravestone is very weathered and hard to read. I guessed at 1822 for her death date, but [an]other reference says 1832, which seems more likely. As you note, that would put her within a couple years of John’s age.

(3) “Virginia” included West Virginia in the 1700s and early 1800s, so John (and his children) could have come from anywhere from the Atlantic Coast to Wheeling, West Virginia.]

I suspect that any McPhersons in Hendrysburg, or elsewhere in Kirkwood Township, were related to John, either siblings (e.g. Hugh) or children (like James, who married Keziah and is buried at Hendrysburg).

John was a Methodist minister, probably Methodist Episcopalian, as most of the churches in eastern Ohio were “ME” at that time. There is one reference in the stuff I sent Autumn [Lovejoy], a letter from the Methodists, replying to my inquiry about John’s service. They didn’t have many records of him.

John’s first wife Ann (Rebecca’s mother) died, probably 1832, and he married Mary (Copp) McCully. They had one son, Marion, who died in a fire. After that, Mary moved to Iowa with her kids [from her first marriage], and John went to live with his daughter and son-in-law.

I thought I had the cemetery records for John, Rebecca, Lewis Jones, etc., but I can’t find them. I suspect they are all buried at Hendrysburg. When Sally and I return to Oregon next month (we’re in New Hampshire, now), we may make a detour down to Hendrysburg, and re-check the cemetery again. However, all that country was strip-mined and some cemeteries were lost completely or relocated (and some are very badly vandalized), so they may not be findable, anymore.

If we find out anything new, I’ll let you know.

Cheers,

Sandy

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John’s second wife left him

Sandy also provided a report about the McCully family, most of which appears to have been prepared professionally by a genealogist, although parts of it appear to be comments made by Sandy. Here’s an excerpt from that report. It describes the circumstances surrounding John and Mary McCully McPherson’s separation.

“On 21 March 1833, Mary married John McPherson a recently widowed Methodist minister. John was born in Virginia circa 1768. He had married 1st Ann S[mallwood Acton], and with their family the McPhersons arrived in Kirkwood Township, Belmont County, Ohio in 1816, where John was still living in 1833.

His [first] wife, Ann, died 18 January 1832, and was buried in the Sewellsville, Ohio, Methodist Episcopal Church Cemetery. Mary lived on the McPherson land in Kirkwood Township, at first probably taking the younger McCully children with her, and leaving the older sons at the Londonderry farm [which she had purchased previously]. By 1840, Mary and John McPherson were alone at Kirkwood, and all the McCully children were at Londonderry.

In February 1844, Mary sold the Londonderry property to her sons David and Asa McCully. In April 1844, they sold the property, and the entire McCully family moved to Iowa. Mary went with them, leaving John McPherson in Ohio. Apparently there was no divorce. Family tradition is that Mary was never happy in the second marriage, perhaps partly because John McPherson was twenty years her senior. The death of their two year old son Marion Benson McPherson in a brush fire in 1837 may have further strained the relationship.

In any event, she left. John McPherson lived his final years in Kirkwood with his son-in-law and daughter Lewis and Rebecca (McPherson) Jones, dying there in 1850 [actually it was 1856].”

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This somewhat odd bit of this family’s story was also provided by Sandy

“The third son of John [Mary’s first husband] and Mary (Copp) McCully, Asa Alfred McCully (my wife's great great grandfather), married as his first wife, Delilah Frances Jones, daughter of Lewis Jones and Rebecca/Rebekah McPherson.”

[Editor’s comment: This took me a few minutes to understand; Here’s a summary.

1) John W McPherson (JWM) and his first wife, Ann, were the parents of Rebecca McPherson, who married Lewis Jones;

2) One of Lewis and Rebecca’s children was Delila - who was, therefore, JWM’s granddaughter;

3) Mary McCully and her first husband were the parents of Asa McCully;

4) Mary’s son, Asa married JWM’s granddaughter, Delila. There was no blood relationship between them, however.]

Back to Sandy’s info: “Delilah (sic) and their only child died not long after their marriage, and both are buried with the McPhersons and Joneses at Sewellsville, Ohio. Delilah (sic) Frances (Jones) McCully was the sister of Dr. William Jones.”

Dr. William Jones was my generation’s GG grandfather – and his story is/will be covered elsewhere in this blog.

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[Editor's comment: After writing this page I later discovered that Sandy Wilbur has an extensive website in which he covers McCully family genealogy and history. It includes references to John McPherson, et al, and can be found here.]

In later correspondence with Sandy he provided photos of some gravestones and this information about them.

"Pat, attached are…photos I took at the Sewellsville [Ohio] Cemetery in Sept. 2009… The [poor] condition of [one undechipherable] stone [not pictured on this blog] is what many of them in the cemetery look like, some completely illegible.
The two McCully stones are still pretty good. On Delila's [Jones McCully’s] stone you can make out that her parents were Lewis and Rebecca Jones. The Samuel [McCully] stone is Asa and Delila's son, who died when she did [at age 19]."
(Click the photos to enlarge 'em.)

Although it could be that the cause was an accident of some kind, her youth and the fact that they died at the same time suggests the possibility that both died during Samuel's birth. This was not uncommon in those days.

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Please refer to the disclaimer on the index page of this blog for a statement regarding the accuracy of - and documentation for - the information presented in this blog.

Last updated 10/1/2011

Index and Links as of October, 2011

"East Chicago Dunns"

A blog where we explore our ancestral family's history, photos and stories...

Compiled by Patrick William Dunn
In Irish / Gaelic:
Pádraig Uilliam Ó Duinn; also Doinn