Evan Thomas Pension Application

Thanks to cousin Irl Towle for this copy of the Revolutionary War pension application of our ancestor Evan Thomas.

First the family connections:

Rhoda (Walton) Rowlison > Myrtle Amy (Rowlison) Long > Lois Mae (Long) Beam > Geraldine (Beam) Towle > Forrest Irl Towle

and

Evan Thomas > Rhoda (Thomas) Hall > Eliza Jane (Hall) Walton > Rhoda (Walton) Rowlison

Dig out your Revolutionary War history books and follow our (my fourth - adjust your own generation) great grandfather's remarkable path...

Pension Application Declaration of Evan Thomas

 

State of Indiana

Jennings County

 

On this seventh day of January one thousand eight hundred and thirty three personally appeared in open Court before the Honorable the Commissioners Court of the County of Jennings and State of Indiana composed of Robert Elliott President, Patrick M. Dixon & Sam Wagner Commissioners now sitting Evan Thomas aged seventy six years a resident of the said County of Jennings and State aforesaid who first being duly sworn deposeth and saith and upon his Oath makes the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the Act of Congress passed June 7, 1832. That in the summer of the year 1775 and to the best of his memory in the month of July in said year he enlisted as a private soldier in the service of the United States in a company of minute men under the command of Captain Phillip Lee in the Regiment commanded by Colonel Gresham at Prince William County State of Virginia and served as such soldier until February 1776. And then he enlisted and served as a private soldier two years next thereafter in the Rifle Company of Captain Charles West which became a part of the third Regiment of Virginia Regular troops commanded by Colonel Weeden [George Weedon] and Major Leach [Andrew Leitch?] and that he left the Army at Valley Forge State of Pennsylvania, and that he served as such enlisted soldier under his first enlistment six months agreeably to the best of his remembrance and belief and that he served under his last mentioned Enlistment two years amount in the whole to two years and six months of actual service agreeably to the above declaration, and that during the said services he fought in the battles of White Plains [28 Oct, 1776], Harla Plains on York Island [perhaps Harlem Heights 14 Sep, 1776], Germantown [4 Oct, 1777], Brandywine [11 Sep, 1777], Piscataway [10 May, 1777 ] and various other skirmishes and that his marches during the above periods of service was from Virginia to New York through Maryland and New Jersey crossed the Hudson River at New York and marched to the White Plains – . The particulars of his marches are as follows. 1^st to New York, thence to the White Plains where he had a battle with the Tories called Rogers Rangers and the Brittish and after the battle he retreated with the Army through New Jersey, where he was taken sick with the Camp Fever and was sent to Philadelphia where he had the smallpox & in March 1777 joined the Army at Morristown New Jersey and was in the battle of Piscataway against the Brittish and the Americans at that time drove the Enemy on board of their shipping at Amboy, and that he marched with the Army over the highlands of Saratoga New York thence he marched back to Brandywine battle on the 11^th September 1777 and thence to the battle of Germantown on the 4^th of October thereafter and that he then belonged to General Woodford's Brigade and Major General Stevens Division and went to winter quarters at the Valley Forge in Pennsylvania where he was discharged by General Woodford. And the documentary evidence which the said Thomas has of his said services are filed in the War Department where they were placed for the purpose of obtaining a pension under laws heretofore passed for the benefit of Revolutionary Soldiers, but owing to his not coming within the purview of the act on account of indigence his application failed and his papers and documents still remain on file. And he hereby relinquishes all and every claim whatever to a pension or annuity except the present and declares that his name is not on the pension roll of the agency of any State and in confirmation of the above declaration he forwards the affidavit of Phillip Conner of a part of the above mentioned services.

 

Sworn to and subscribed the day and year aforesaid in open Court.

[Signed here by] Evan Thomas]

 

Mr. John B. New a clergyman residing in the County of Jennings and the State of Indiana and Levi W. Todd residing in the same County and State do hereby certify that we are well acquainted with Evan Thomas who has subscribed and sworn to the above declaration, that we believe him to be seventy six years of age, that he is believed in the neighborhood where he resides to have been a Soldier of the Revolution and that we concur in that opinion.

 

Sworn and subscribed to the day and year aforesaid

[Signed here by John B. New Elder and Clergyman and Levi W. Todd]

 

And the said Court, to wit, the Commissioners Court in and for the County of Jennings, State of Indiana at the January Term of said Court 1833 do hereby declare their opinion after the investigation of the matter and after putting the interrogatories prescribed by the War Department that the above named applicant was a Revolutionary Soldier and served as he states.  And the Court further certifies that it appears to them that John B. New who has signed the preceding certificate is a clergyman resident in the County of Jennings and that Levi W. Todd who has also signed the same is a resident of the said County of Jennings and is a credible person and that this statement is entitled to credit.  And also that Phillip Conner whose testimony is herewith forwarded as evidence in part of this application is a person and a witness of credibility, and further it appears to said Court that the said Phillip Conner was in such a situation and of such an age as to have a personal Knowledge of the said Evan Thomas’s Services as his affidavit expresses in this behalf.  And the said Court further certifies that the following questions were put to said applicant and answered as follows and sworn to in open Court.

 

Qu 1. Where was you born?

Ans. In Frederick County Virginia February 22, 1757

 

Qu. 2. Have you any record of your age?

Ans. He has no record of his age but was born as above mentioned.

 

Qu. 3. Where were you living when called into service where have you lived since the Revolutionary war and where do you now live.

Answer. He was living in Prince William County State of Virginia when called into the service of the United States and that he has lived in Virginia until the year 1796 when he removed to Kentucky Shelby County until the year 1805 and has ever since resided in the County of Jennings State of Indiana.

 

Question 4th How were you called into service were you drafted, did you volunteer or were you a substitute, and if a substitute for whom

Answer. He was a volunteer soldier as stated in his declaration.

 

Question 5. State the names of some of the Regular Officers who were with the troops where you served, such Continental and Militia Regiments as you can recollect and the general circumstances of your service

Answer. He states as the names of the Regular Officers who were with the Troops where he served Colonel Gresham, Colonel Weeden, Captain Lee, General Woodford and Major General Stevens

 

Question 6. Did you ever receive a discharge from the service, and if so by whom was it given and what has become of it?

Answer. He says that he received a discharge in the month of February 1778 by General Woodford, which has for a long time been lost or destroyed

 

Question. State the names of persons to whom you are known in your present neighborhood & who can testify as to your character for veracity and their belief of your services as a Soldier of the Revolution.

Answer. He is known to as Ezra F Pabody and William C Bramwell of Jennings County who can testify as to his character for veracity and their belief of your services as a soldier of the revolution.

 

Signed by us in open Court this 7th of January 1833.

[Signed here by] Robert Elliott

[Signed here by] Pat W. Dixon

[Signed here by] Samuel Wagner

 

 

State of Indiana

Jennings County

 

I Phillip Conner resident of the County of Jennings and State of Indiana and after being duly sworn as a witness for Evan Thomas resident of Jennings County and State aforesaid in order to enable the said Evan Thomas to obtain the benefit of the provisions as made by the Act of Congress passed June 7, 1832 do solemnly swear that I have a knowledge that some time in the month of February 1776 the said Evan Thomas enlisted for two years in Captain Charles West's Rifle company third Virginia Regiment of Regular troops commanded at that time by Colonel Weedon and continued to serve in said Regiment until the term of his the said Thomas' enlistment expired under the command of Colonel Marshal, and that said Thomas was honorably discharged at Valley Forge and this deponent hath a knowledge that said Thomas served as a soldier and fought at the Battle of Brandywine & further saith not.

 

Sworn and subscribed to this 21^st August 1832

[Signed here by] Phillip Conner

 

State of Indiana

Jennings County

 

Personally came before me Ezra F. Pabody one of the Judges of the Jennings Circuit court, Phillip Conner and swore to & subscribes the foregoing affidavit.  Given under my hand this 21^st day of Aug, 1832

 

[Signed here by] E. F. Pabody Judge J. C. C.

 

State of Indiana

Jennings County

 

I John Walker Clerk of the Jennings circuit court, Certify that Ezra F. Pabody before whom the within affidavit of Phillip Conner was taken was at the time of taking the same one of the associate Judges of the Jennings Circuit Court duly Commissioned and qualified, and that full faith and credit is due to all his official acts as such.

 

In witness whereof I have here unto set my hand and seal of Office at ??? this 21^st day of August 1832.

[Signed here by] John Walker

 

 

State of Indiana

Jennings County

 

Personally appeared before me Chapman Denslow one of the Associate Judges of Jennings Circuit Court Evan Thomas who made oath that he enlisted in Captain Lee's Company of minute men in Prince William County Virginia sometime in the summer of one thousand seven hundred and seventy five and marched down to Hampton against Lord Dunmore and continued until the third day of February one thousand seven hundred and seventy six and then Enlisted in the Regular service in Captain Charles West Rifle Company said Company joined the third Regiment commanded by Colonel Weden [George Weedon] in which he remained two years and was discharged in the year one thousand seven hundred and seventy eight at Valey Forge in the State of Pennsylvania and returned home to Virginia and in the year 1781 was drafted in Hampshire County Virginia for eighteen months to go to the southward and served by a substitute one James McGraw and that he is now sixty-two years old and unable to do much labor and stands in need of the pension allowed by Congress to the superanuated and indigent Officers and Soldiers of Revolutionary War.

Signed here by Evan Thomas

Sworn to and subscribed to before me in the Month of December the 17th 1818

[Signed here by] Chapman Denslow, A. J. J. C.

 

 

Uncovering Family Secrets - John Milton Chivington

Col. John Milton Chivington

Genealogical research can lead to discovering important and well-known people back there on the distant branches of the family tree. But there should be some caution taken to prepare to find someone you might have just as well not wanted to know about.

Such was my discovery that the husband of my 2nd great grand aunt was John Milton Chivington.

Some of you Rowlison cousins have not heard of this fellow; others will think the name sounds somewhat familiar but can't quite place it; and others will have gasped a bit.

James Demetris Rowlison's aunt, the sister of the younger Aaron Rowlison was married to a one-time Methodist preacher who was commissioned by the Territory of Colorado and led a Colorado infantry unit in engagements against Confederate forces in the West. So far, so good.

Then in 1864, Colonel Chivington led a rag-tag army of Denver bar flies on a 100-day enlistment to fight Indians in southeast Colorado. Nearing the end of the 100 days of army life and with nothing to show for their efforts, the Colorado 3rd Infantry, early on the morning of November 29th attacked a peaceful village of mostly Northern Cheyenne Indians, mostly women, children and elderly killing a large and disputed number.

A consensus eventually developed that put the deaths in the village at about 140 of which 110 were women and children. The engagement was called the Battle of Sand Creek but that name became the Sand Creek Massacre or the Chivington Massacre.

The Park Service built a new visitor center on the site of the massacre in 2007. The web site for the site is:
http://www.nps.gov/sand/index.htm

Several books and web sites tell the story of this tragedy. You might as well start with wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_Creek_massacre

On a visit to the visitor center in 2011, I purchased a couple of books including a large-format, 300-page book titled The John Milton Chivington Record, June 2, 1813 - October 4, 1894.

The cover of the Chivington Record, a compilation of accounts and military records
concerning Chivington's military career

The Back page of the Chivington Record

Col. Chivington's particular brand of behavior didn't stop with massacres; he left a peculiar mark in his home life too. After James Rowlison's Aunt Martha died in 1867 and their son Thomas had died in 1866, John Chivington married his son's wife Sarah - his daughter-in-law.

This marriage was not looked on kindly by Sarah's family. Her parents had the following published in The New York Times on January 11, 1868: 

We, the undersigned, take this method to inform the public that the criminal act of John M. Chivington, in marrying our daughter, Mrs. Sarah A. Chivington, the widow of Thomas M. Chivington, was unknown to us, and a thing we very much regret.  Had the facts been made known to us of the intentions some measures would have been taken to prevent the consummation of so vile an outrage, even if violent measures were necessary.  Hoping that this may be a sufficient explanation, we remain,        JOHN B. LULL & ALMIRA LULL

The dating of these events is tight between the deaths of Martha and Thomas, the marriage between John and Sarah and the public notice by Sarah's parents.

The colonel remained true to form by soon abandoning Sarah.

A real Peach of a Guy.

The Nebraska Historical Society has a reprint of an article that tells the story of our fellow:  http://www.nebraskahistory.org/publish/publicat/history/full-text/NH2007Chivington.pdf

My initial look at the piece convinced me that I need to revisit it for further study. There were two interesting notes though. One described a meeting between John Chivington and his brother Lewis in Oregon, Missouri after twenty-five years. John recognized his brother; Lewis did not. Turns out Lewis was a solid sympathizer of the Confederacy and the institution of slavery and that's what they talked about. After Lewis caught on that he was talking to his brother, a solid Union man he warned John to get out of Missouri as his crowd.intended, "...to hang all of your class of preachers."

The other note indicates that a grandson of John M. Chivington named Thomas McKnight Chivington was the President of the American Association. I found this reference among others:  http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=266&dat=19110211&id=oPJEAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Q7cMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5030,2604113

Of further interest, that middle name of McKnight comes from this fellow's great grandmother, Elizabeth McKnight who was also James D. Rowlison's grandmother.

The following is posted here as a note a few people who appear in a "DNA Circle" on ancestry.com as having DNA connections to John Chivington's granddaughter Jessie Fremont Pollock, and in some cases, with DNA connections to our Rowlison family.

I discovered a new DNA Circle on ancestry.com which includes five of us connected to Jessie Fremont Pollock (1861-1904). She is my second cousin twice removed with common ancestors of Aaron Rowlison (1762-1837) and Elizabeth McKnight (1776-1837).

Jessie’s line to Aaron and Elizabeth is: Mother Sarah Ann Chivington (1844-1900),  her mother Martha L. Rowlison (who was married to likely the foulest individual in your tree also, John Milton Chivington – the lowlife responsible for the Sand Creek Massacre in southeast Colorado in 1864), Martha’s parents were Aaron and Elizabeth (McKnight) Rowlison mentioned above.

My line to our common ancestor is: myself, Jerrell R. (Jerry) Johnson, my mother Mildred L. Cassell, her mother Maggie A Rowlison, her father James Demetris Rowlison, his father Aaron Rowlison (1809-1875) brother of (Martha L. Rowlison) Chivington and their parents Aaron (1762-1837) and Elizabeth.

Our Rowlison immigrant Aaron Charles Rowlison (1680?-1745) likely came from England to New Jersey. There is shakey evidence that his parents may have been Anthony Rowlison and Anna Buntinge. Aaron and “Katarina” had at least four sons, Charles, Stephen, John and Nathaniel. John (1725-1776)  and Mary were the elder Aaron’s parents.

The elder Aaron Rowlison and the McKnights were in Rockbridge County, Virginia when the younger Aaron and Martha and their older brother George McKnight Rowlison were born.

This was the second marriage for both Aaron and Elizabeth; Aaron’s first wife was Margaret McConkey (d. 1807); Elizabeth’s first husband was John Chambers. Aaron had two sons and two daughters by the first marriage, Elizabeth had one daughter. Elizabeth’s daughter Jane Chambers later married one of Aaron’s sons, Nathaniel (have fun drawing those lines.)

My great grandparents, James Demetris Rowlison (Indiana 82^nd Infantry) and his bride Rhoda Walton made a multi-stop 20 year migration from Indiana through Missouri, Iowa, multiple Nebraska stops to Hoxie, Kansas. My grandmother Maggie stopped in Nebraska and married a Scot, David Cassell and some of are still in Clay County, Nebraska.

Our Connection to the Unpleasantries of 1692 in Salem Village, Massachusetts

Salem Village (now Danvers) Massachusetts underwent several months of ugly times in 1692 when several young girls began acting strangely in a manner interpreted by their elders as being possessed by the devil. Under questioning and perhaps prompting, the girls singled out a couple of dozen of their neighbors, nineteen of whom were executed, mostly by hanging but one "pressing."

A central figure in the episode was Ann Putnam, 12-year old daughter of Thomas and Ann Putnam. The episode was has been related in a number of books plus the Arthur Miller play, "The Crucible" and the ensuing movie. Ann Putnam, Jr.'s name was changed to Ruth in the movie to avoid confusion with her mother, also Ann.

We have a genealogical connection to Ann Putnam:

Our lines back to the Putnam immigrants, John and Priscilla and to their great, granddaugher Ann Putnam who
figured prominently in the accusations which led to the Salem Witch Trials in 1692.

Ann accused nineteen people, eleven of whom were hanged.

A brief biography of Ann Putnam, Jr. appears at   http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/asa_put.htm

Another decent synopsis of young Ann's role:  http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schooladventures/salemwitchtrials/people/putnam.html

Click the "+" sign on this one for the expanded essay about Ann.

http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/people?group.num=G07&mbio.num=mb32

Ashley Peldon, Hollywood's Ann Putnam,  Jr.,
called Ruth in the movie.

Theories abound about the circumstances of the entire episode and possible "causes" of the actions of the girls.

A somewhat far-out explanation which I especially enjoy concerns the storage of barley over the winter in Colonial Massachusetts. It seems that damp barley in reduced temperatures may, on occasion, spoil in a particular manner which produce small amounts of lysergic acid diethylamide, or as it became more commonly known in the recent past, LSD. This theory holds that the girls were on LSD trips.

Probably a better theory involves some in-fighting among the Putnam family. Thomas Putnam was the brother of our ancestor Nathaniel and the father of Thomas Putnam (Jr.) who was the husband of Ann Putnam and father of Ann Putnam (Jr.)  (don't worry about it, they weren't imaginative naming children.) Thomas the senior had several children by his first wife, yet another Ann, who died in 1666 and he soon remarried Mary Veren. Thomas and Mary had one son, Joseph born in 1669 who became something of favorite with Dad.

Old Thomas was one of the richest men in the countryside and chose to make his youngest son Joseph is main heir. This was not a popular move with the offspring from the first marriage.

Analysis of the accusers and the accused in the Salem Village witch episode finds that accusers tended to be family members and friends of the members of the first family of old Thomas Putnam and the accused were often somewhat affiliated with, neighbors of and friends of Joseph Putnam. The evidence isn't overwhelming but has provided sufficient material and credibility to generate a couple of books for authors.

Spoiler Alert: Another Genealogy Pitch: Would I have an interest in the Salem Witch Trials if I did not know about our genealogical connection? I may have had an interest but I doubt I'd have about 12 or 15 inches of a bookshelf devoted to material on the topic without the visceral feeling that comes with this special connection.

Similarly, I would not have been likely to give a biography of Robert the Bruce to a grandson if I had not been able to tell him at the same time that the first King of Scotland was his 32nd great, grandfather. It just adds to the story.

The Thomas Family

Our Thomas family connection is Rhoda Thomas (1781-1863). Rhoda was married to Isaac Hall (1781-1870) the younger of the two Isaac Hall's in our Hall Line. Rhoda and Isaac are buried in the Hall-Walton cemetery in a grove of trees in the interior of Section 14 of Montgomery Township, Jennings County, Indiana.

Maggie and Mom (Mildred (Cassell) Johnson) claimed that the Rowlisons were English, Irish and Welsh. Actually, they were mainly Massachusetts (ers?), Virginians, Marylanders, New Jerseyians, and certainly Indianans for the most part. There are a couple of Irish immigrants not too far back, Kinnear and McKnight/Alford but the Thomas line is the only Welsh line I've found (I think.)

Our Thomas immigrant appears to be a fellow named Ellis Thomas (1680-1763), Wales to Frederick County, Virginia, though I have some skepticism about some dates and details in that this line is fraught with guys named Ellis, Elias and Evan. Several online family trees list this Ellis has being the son of an Evan who was born in 1685. Fathers who are younger than their sons tend to call into question someone's research. And both Ellis Thomas fellows are listed as dying in 1763. We have lots of stories about the death of the younger Ellis in 1763 and the story of the two Indian raids experienced by his family including seven-year old Evan in 1764 in which his mother, Elizabeth escaped but his sisters were killed or captured.

Story about Ellis Thomas (1710-1763) and his family near Winchester in Frederick County, Virginia.
 Ellis Thomas was a farmer. His will was probated in Winchester, Frederick County Virginia on October 4, 1763.
 In July, 1763 information was received by the late Maj. Robert White (who had a small fort around his house as an asylum for the people in the neighborhood), that the Indians had been seen on that or the preceding day on Capon. He immediately went to the several families living near the base of the North Mountains, as far as Ellis Thomas’, five or six miles from the fort, told them of the report and advised them to go into the fort until the danger should be over. It being harvest time, Ellis Thomas was unwilling to leave home, and mounted a horse to go to his neighbor, Jacob Kackley’s, who had several sons grown, to propose to arm themselves and work together in their respective grain fields; but on his way to Mr. Kackley’s he was shot dead and scalped, the Indians having concealed themselves behind two logs that lay across the other end of the road.
 In June 1764, similar information of Indians being seen was received at the fort. Maj. White, as on the former occasion, went in the afternoon to warn the people of the danger, when the widow Thomas, Mr. Jones and Mr. Clouser, set off with their families for the fort; but night coming on when they reached Mr. Lloyd’s (about two miles from the fort), they concluded to stay there all night. In the morning, as soon as day appeared, they resumed their journey; but before they were out of sight of the house, the Indians attacked them, and killed, wounded, or took prisoners twenty-two or twenty-three persons. Evan Thomas, a son of the man killed the preceding summer, a boy of seven years old, ran back into the house, and hid himself behind some puncheons that he placed across a corner of the room, and remained concealed, and notwithstanding the Indians brought the prisoners into the house, among whom were his mother and sister, both tied, and kept them there till they fried bacon and ate their breakfast; they then set fire to the house in two places, and went away. Evan said he continued in the house as long as he could, on account of the fire; that he saw through a chink in the wall the direction of the Indians went; and not knowing which way to go, he concluded to take the contrary course from the one taken by them. He rambled about all that day and the most of the next before he found any person, the houses which he passed having been abandoned by their owners going to the fort. The Indians encamped the first night at a spring on the Romney road, between the North River and the Little Capon; and on the next day they stopped on the bank of the south Branch, near where Romney now stands, to eat their dinner. While thus engaged, a party who were stationed in a fort a mile or two lower down the river and who had just returned from a scout, discharged their guns in order to clean them, which alarmed the Indians, and they hurried across the river, assisting all their female prisoners except Mrs. Thomas, who being a large, fat woman, it was supposed would perish, as the water was rapid and deep. She floated down the stream, however until almost exhausted, when she had the good fortune to get on a rock, and save herself from drowning. She had put a piece of bread in her bosom the morning she was taken, and lost it in the water; but it happened to float so near her while on the rock that she caught it and ate it; which, as she said, so revived and strengthened her that she plunged into the water again, and providentially got out on the east side of the river. She reached Williams Fort, two mile below the Hanging Rock, on the same day. It was often remarked by Mrs. Thomas’ acquaintances that after her return she would minutely relate the circumstances attending the murder of her husband and children, and her own sufferings, without shedding a tear. Either five or seven of the persons wounded by the Indians, were taken to the fort of Maj. Robert White’s, and attended by Dr. McDonald though but one recovered, Hester Lloyd, who had two scalps taken from her. Mrs. Thomas’ daughter, and Mrs. Clouser and her three small daughters, were taken to the Indian towns, and after an absence of about six months, were released from captivity, and all returned home safely.
  

Other accounts are at:
 http://people.virginia.edu/~mgf2j/english.html http://books.google.com/books?id=_08VAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA212&lpg=PA212&dq=ellis+thomas+killed+by+indians&source=bl&ots=YlsANsKLY9&sig=jLonJDtuJESYbTXLXOz1s-Bx0C4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=7P-1UfGqGKPSyAG45IHQAQ&ved=0CDsQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=ellis%20thomas%20killed%20by%20indians&f=false   Family references from Tenmile Country to the west in West Virginia are at:
 http://books.google.com/books?id=UM7gBFLDzvkC&pg=PA238&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q&f=false

The seven-year old Evan Thomas (1757-1840) went on to be one of our Revolutionary War ancestors. His page at the website of the Sons of the American Revolution is at http://graves.inssar.org/T/thomevan.html

Evan Thomas is buried in Hopewell Cemetery on the east side of State Highway 3 north of Commiskey,

Evan Thomas' verbose tombstone in Hopewell Cemetery, Jennings County,
Indiana, from a time when one could actually read the text.

Indiana. He is buried next to his third wife, Mary Everton with old matching stones, likely from the time of their deaths in the early 1840's. Evan's old stone names him "The Old Revolutioner." It also has a cryptic reference to the Indian raid AND lists his three wives and the dates of the marriages. The text is badly weathered today. Luckily, there is a photo from its legible days. A modern small stone likely placed by a veterans group is behind the old stone listing Evan Thomas as a PVT in Col Gresham's VA Regt. Don't miss this if you're passing through the southeast part of Indiana.

Evan Thomas first married Hannah Nixon (1759-1788) on December 10, 1778. Hannah had five children: Elizabeth, Rhoda (our ancestor) Elias, George and Evan. Child #5 was an Evan Jr. born June 2, 1788. Our ancestor, Hannah Rhoda Walton's great grandmother) died June 6, 1788. Having children was a life-threatening proposition for our grandmothers.

Evan married his second wife Sarah Booth (1770-1806) on January 20, 1789. Evan and Sarah had ten children between 1790 and 1805: Amos, Booth, John, James, Hannah (Evan & Sarah named their first daughter after his first wife - I like these people), Freeman, Bathsheba, Mede, Anderson and Patience. (Evan named his 15th baby "Patience." There's got to be a joke there, or something.)

Patience was born September 22, 1805 and Sarah, her mother died on Christmas Day, 1806 with at least nine kids under the age of 15 (I don't know when Amos was born.). Kids from the first marriage were age 17 to 26 - our Rhoda was 24 and would not marry until 1807. Do you suppose she had a hand in raising those 1/2 siblings?

Evan married Mary Everton, his third wife in 1810, on Christmas Day (enter your own comment here - the man had a thing for Order and Form.)

Evan and Mary had almost 30 years together before he died on March 15, 1840. Here is a note about his will:

Jennings County, Indiana Probate Book C page 270Evan Thomas Willwife Mary, dated September, 1838 recorded April 6, 1840, Children: Bethsheba Brandon, Elizabeth McClellan, Rhoda Hall, Elias, George, Evan he gets the big bible, Booth,John, Hannah Blankenship, James, Freeman, Amos, Joseph, Anderson, Nancy Parker's four childrem and a sum left them by their grandmother. Their relationship to Evan not state, Evan mentions his house an a lot in Paris deeded to him by Mr. Goodhue. He states that he has left a certain lot ot ground for a meeting house and burying ground contrary to the law of Indiana so now he leaves it to John Ballard, William McClellan and Abram Ridely elected Trustees of said meetinghouse and the burying ground for the use of the Methodist Protestant Church. Executor Mary, his wife.Witnesses: Emond Terrell and John Denslow 

The "big bible" reference is to Evan Thomas's big bible which is widely known. Those three wives and fifteen children are documented on a page in the bible illustrated here. This photo and the photo of Evan's tombstone come from the web site at:
http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/h/u/t/Roy-W-Hutchinson/index.html

The owner of that website describes how the bible of Evan Thomas came into the possession of the Hutchinson family and finally to him. He has several photos of the bible and various pages in it.

Mr. Hutchinson's primary interest is in the Hutchinson family line and we connect to that family as well. Rhoda Walton's two grandmothers were Rhoda Thomas who we've been talking about and Mary Hutchinson of this family. I'll get that family's information up soon. We can go back a loooong ways with those folks.

So thanks to Roy Hutchinson for his work on our Hutchinson line and on preserving Evan Thomas' bible for all to see.

Famous Relatives: FDR

see below for a note...

Note that FDR is a HALF 6th COUSIN of Maggie (and all her siblings.) We and the Roosevelts share Jacomyntje Cornelisdocter Sleght as, in my case, 7th great grandmother. This chart shows Jans Barentsen Kunst, her first husband who was the father of her first three kids including the gal leading to the Roosevelts. Jacomyntje then matched up with a Foecken fellow for three more kids and finally she married Jan Roelofszen Eltinge in 1672 in Kingston in Ulster County, New York. Jan and Jacomyntje had five more kids, the fourth was Geertje Janse Elting, our ancestor.

Geertje left the Dutch folks to marry Thomas Hall, an Englishman (that did not go over well with her family - I'll speak to that somewhere else.) 

Famous Relatives - Betty Davis???

The power of exponential numbers comes into play on these things. You have two parents, four grandparents, eight ggrandparents, 16 2nd great grandparents, 32 3rd, 64 4th, 128 5th, 256 6th and 512 seventh great grandparents, the level at which Betty Davis and myself live on this chart (putting me two below Maggie where I belong.)

So with 512 people out there for both parties, there is a decent chance for a connection. The eight great grandparents level (10 generations) has 1024 people at that level, between three and four centuries ago. Go back another ten generations (20 total) or at about 1300 and you have over a million ancestors. Another ten generations (30) is about the year 900 or 1000 and you have a BILLION ancestors or about the same magnitude as the population of the planet. This gets trimmed a bit as cousins no matter how distant encounter each other a become a couple.

But still, everybody is related.

Our Cousin: Marine Sgt. Merritt C. Walton, b. 18 Dec 1916, KIA 7 Aug 1942 in the Solomon Islands

A Walton Story

Marine Sgt. Merritt C. Walton was the grandson of Merritt Walton (1841-1913), Rhoda's brother. The younger Merritt Walton was killed on Gavutu Island in the Solomon Islands on August 7, 1942 in the first year of World War II.

Marine Sgt. Merritt C. Walton (1916-1942)

I was writing biographies of WWII casualties for our Sutton Historical Society when I discovered a local newspaper account that claimed Sgt. Walton as Sutton's first casualty of the war. I'd not associated this cousin with Sutton although I knew his grandfather had a farm several miles southwest of Sutton in the Edgar area. This farm was one of the four where James D. & Rhoda Rowlison lived during their stay in the area around 1880.

My article on this Walton cousin can be found at:  http://suttonhistoricalsociety.blogspot.com/2011/11/suttons-first-wwii-casualty-marine-sgt.html




Here is where Merritt C. Walton fits in our family tree - Rhoda's grand nephew.

This entry appeared in the Nebraska section of the book "World War II Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard Casualties, 1941-1945."  Merritt's mother was Clara Olive Haugen (1888-1980). She divorced Cecil Cullen Walton and was remarried to Severt S. Olson probably not long after Merritt was born.