Jonas Carle

There's a man buried in a now defunct cemetery just north of Baton Rouge who was involved in cattle rustling, rampant looting and general skirmishing while ostensibly gathering military intelligence in and around New York City during the American Revolutionary War.  He served as a Lieutenant in a brigade famous for being especially adept at guerrilla warfare.  They roamed the countryside of New York wreaking havoc.  But we can't attribute his actions to American patriotic fervor.  This man was fighting for King and Country.  His service was in a British provincial unit.  He was a New York born Loyalist.  He is 5th great grandfather, Jonas Carle.

Jonas was born in 1761 in Dutchess County, New York.  The family referred to the area as the Fishkill mountains. The town of Fishkill is still there, but the mountains around there are generally known as the Hudson Highlands today.  Jonas was born and lived within those mountains somewhere near the town of Fishkill.

Jonas began his military service about 50 miles downriver, at Morrisania, New York.  He signed on with Colonel James DeLancey- known derisively by Patriot neighbors as the "Outlaw of the Bronx."  Jonas later wrote in a land petition that he served under DeLancey from 1777 "until the peace" (about 5 years service).   The brigade was known as DeLancey's Cowboys.  This is partly because many of the unit consisted of mounted dragoons but mainly because they spent a lot of time rounding up cattle for the victualing of the British army stationed in  New York City.  Cattle from Patriot farmers were outright stolen, while Loyalist farmers received what compensation was available. You can see what the cowboys of Jonas' unit probably looked like HERE.

Jonas' claims indicate he served as one of DeLancey's lieutenants.  Not much is known about his specific actions during the war but we know the brigade  generally remained in and around Westchester County which is where most of them were born.  The following is taken from James DeLancey's resignation letter and gives a good overview of what they were up to...

The Memorial of James DeLANCEY of West Chester County Esquire.

Most humbly showeth,

That your Memorialist has, from the very Commencement of the present Controversy between Great Britain & America, evinced the most zealous & unequivocal Attachment to his Sovereign & the British Constitution, & since the Year 1777, has commanded the Militia & loyal Refugees in the County to which he belongs- a Corps consisting of five hundred Men, who, as well as your Memorialist, have served without either Pay or Cloathing.

That by Means of their Service, the Enemy has been constantly kept at such a Distance from King’s-Bridge, as to render that Post perfectly secure, & to keep up a Communication with the Country People for the Supply of the Magazines & Markets at New York.

That the Enemy have been repelled in every Attempt to destroy the People under your Memorialist’s Command, & that in the many Engagements which he has had with them your Memorialist has been so fortunate as to capture a Number of Prisoners sufficient not only for the Exchange of his own Men, but also for the Release of above five hundred British Prisoners.

That your Memorialist has in the Course of his Services, repeatedly received the Thanks of the Commander in Chief & of those General Officers under whom he has had the Honor to serve.

That he has always endeavoured to maintain the strictest & most exemplary Discipline in his Corps, & has gone in that Respect much beyond what has ever been practised in other Bodies constituted in a similar manner.

That your Memorialist has at all Times exerted the most anxious & unwearied Attention to preserve the Property of the Inhabitants in the Country & afford them every Protection, by which means he is well convinced that he has acquired & maintained the firm & general Attachment at least of such of them as were loyally disposed-...

At the close of the war, like many Loyalists, Jonas sought refuge in Canada.  From New York City, it would appear he and his father traveled by boat to St. John, Nova Scotia (now New Brunswick) and remained there a couple years.  By that time he was about 24 years old. 

It's possible Jonas had married.  An article by Dr. Esther Clark Wright appearing in a New Brunswick newspaper sometime in the 1970's was titled "Pioneer Families of New Brunswick."  The article relates the following...

Among the Loyalists who came to New Brunswick in 1783 were three men of the name Carle, Jonas, Robert and Thomas...   ...Jonas and Robert may have been brothers of Thomas, but there is no record of their relationship.  

Jonas received a grant of Lot 827 in Parrtown, on Bulkeley Street, and also of lot 12 on the east side of the Long Reach.  Jonas Carle seems to have become involved in transactions connected with Lot 12; while the St. John River was still part of Sunbury County, Nova Scotia, he bound himself to Gershom Fairchild for £250 to convey Lot 12 to the latter; in May, 1785 he and his wife, Amey, conveyed half of Lot 12 to John and Jacob "Britney" for £18, 15s; in August, 1785, Amey Carle asked for Provisions stating that she had been two years here, that her husband has "Been gone from her near six months past and she was left destitute of Friends."  There is no further light on the fate of Jonas and Amey Carle.

This was the first I had heard of a possible first wife of Jonas Carle.  I also found it curious that there was no mention of James Carle, Jonas' father, in the article.  There were some 15,000 loyalists that evacuated the fledgling USA for New Brunswick between 1783 and 1785.  It is conceivable there were a couple "Jonas Carle's" among the Loyalist settlers.

The timeline is important here.  Amey's petition implies that she came to New Brunswick around August of 1783 and that her husband Jonas left New Brunswick in March or April of 1785 (been gone six months past).  Begs the question, how did Jonas bargain over Lot 12 in May of 1785 when he was "gone" two months prior?

But the land petitions of his father, James, seem to corroborate the newspaper article's claim about Jonas having a wife named Amey.  The following petition mentions the lots described in the article and the transactions with the Fairchild family...

RS108 Land Petitions James Carle 1785

To His Excellency Thomas Carleton Esquire Captain General and Governor in Chief of the Province of New Brunswick

yea yea yea

The Petition of James Carle

Humbly Showeth

That your Excellency's Petitioner having had a tract of land assigned him lying on the little Kennebecasis No. 56 it being at a great distance from water Carriage and having a large family made an exchange with his son Jonas Carle, for farm No. 33 on the Great Kennebecasis which farm is said to be within the limits of Sir Andrew Snape Hammond's grant, and which farm your petitioner's son Jonas Carle obtained from Alexander Fairchild by giving said Fairchild a farm which he drew on long ____ ____ ___ with Thirty Dollars for the same-

That your petitioner is in possession of the farm No.33 on the great Kennebecasis and  has built thereon and cleared ___ ____ ____ tract of land.  Your petitioner therefore humbly requests that your Excellency would be pleased to make a grant to your petitioner for said farm No.33, if it should be given up by Sir Andrew S. Hammond for the benefit of the ____, as your petitioner is the first Occupant and put all his little substance in building and _____ the land, on said farm, and as in Duty Bound petitioner will Ever Pray.

James Carol (signature)

City of St. John 1st June 1785

This petition spells out the father son relationship between James and Jonas. I have not found a land record that names both Jonas and Amey.  The sale mentioned in the article to John and Jacob Britney would be a good one to find.

We know Jonas did leave Nova Scotia after a couple years.  I suspect he chased Gershom Fairchild back into New York when he realized Gershom had swindled him.  When he made the return trip to his old home in New York, he found his old neighbors less than charitable.  He was promptly arrested and thrown in prison. This may explain why Amey was left destitute.  Jonas couldn't get back to her.  The ordeal is described in another of the land petitions he wrote after later (again) fleeing to Canada.  In Jonas' words...

I was taken up by the people in the State of New York and put into a dungeon and there close confined for nine months & afterwards stripped of every thing, being glad to escape with life to this place, owing to being thus plundered, being so reduced in circumstances, your Petitioner has been obliged to remain here.

"This place" was Upper Canada.  The Niagara region of Ontario.  I find it strange that there is no mention of his family or wife in Nova Scotia in the documents that are associated with his time in Upper Canada.  Why did he  go to Upper Canada instead of going back to Nova Scotia where his wife was waiting?  He says he was reduced in circumstances.  I think the charitable answer is he couldn't afford to get back to Nova Scotia.  Otherwise it sounds like he abandoned his first family.  It's possible Amey had passed away while Jonas was in jail.  I've found no other evidence for Amey and have no way of knowing for sure what happened to her.

With officer status Jonas qualified for a fair amount of property.  Now in Upper Canada, he filed again for land grants.  The land petitions give us the best evidence for his life and actions during and after the war.  The following petition confirms his officer status...

An image of one of Jonas' petitions for a land grant.

The text of the petition reads as follows...

To His Excellency John Graves Simcoe Esq.  Lieut. Governor of the Province of Upper Canada Commanding His Majestys Forces therin    In Council    The Petition of Jonas Carle Humbly Showeth    That your Petitioner is desirous of settling the lands allowed to him by His Majesty for his services as an officer in Col DeLancy's late Provincial Corps--  Therefore Prays that he may have two hundred acres-  and your Petitioner as in duty bound will ever Pray- Jonas Carl    

Newark 18 Oct 1794   

Granted__

The document indicates it originated in Newark.  This was the prior name of the town of Niagara On The Lake, Ontario.

Jonas settled near 20 Mile Creek in an area known as Caistor on the Niagara Peninsula, Upper Canada Province.  This settlement is about 28 miles west of Niagara Falls.  By 1788 (the actual date, I am not sure), he had married another American-born Loyalist, Rachel Johnson, whose father, Jeremiah, also served the crown in his majesty's loyalist forces.  Unfortunately, Jeremiah Johnson (a 6th great grandfather) did not survive the war.  A Heir and Devisee Report stated that he was "...killed by the Americans in the late war."  Jeremiah had married in the Dutch Reformed Church of New York to Phoebe Brown.  Rachel was their first child, born in 1766.

Rachel had several siblings. One younger brother named Henry married Dolly Merritt.  The Merritt family, before the war, were neighbors of Jonas Carle in the Fishkill mountains of Dutchess County, New York.  They would have likely known of Jonas' first wife, Amey.  This was a large family, some of whom, like Jonas, had served under DeLancey but most had served under John Butler in "Butler's Rangers."  After the war, the Merritt's settled near Jonas on 20 Mile Creek but in spite of Jonas being an early settler in the area and likely because they outnumbered him, the settlement became known as Merritt Settlement.  Rachel's mother, the widow Phoebe Brown Johnson, followed her daughter to the Merritt settlement and eventually married John Wrong of Barbados.  Phoebe's grave can be found at the Merritt Settlement Cemetery near Smithville at Grimsby Township, Lincoln County, Ontario.

One of the Merritt's left a diary of sorts that mentions Jonas Carle.  Special thanks to Gail Woodruff of the United Empire Loyalist Association of Canada for relaying this info to me.  The diary's author was a grandson of Henry Johnson and Dolly Merritt Johnson.  It quotes his mother, Eunice Johnson Sharp,  

Mother says her grandfather, Joseph Merritt, came from Fish Kill Mtns., NY, settled at 20 Mile Creek (later Merritt’s Settlement) because Uncle Jonas Carl (Carol) was settled in Caistor nearby.  Carrol had an illegitimate son living down about where Port Robinson is now.  Mother thinks his name was “Archie”.  Mother says Carrol was a fine looking man.

It's possible, Archie was born before Jonas' marriage to Rachel.  I have not found any evidence for Archie as of yet and do not know when he was born.  Illegitimate son aside, Jonas and Rachel had at least seven known children. They include Sarah, Eliza Ann, Phoebe, John, Judith, Eunice and Henry.  All of these children were born in Upper Canada Province on the Niagara Peninsula.

Jonas was successful with his land petitions.  He was awarded at least 2 grants.  One was located along the Niagara River about 8 miles upstream (south) of the falls.  I'm a little doubtful he ever lived there as the Merritt family identified his home as the old Josiah Nelson Farm.  It seems most of Jonas' activity was around the area of Caistor.

Another local diary records that Jonas was part owner of a sawmill on 20 Mile Creek. He had half ownership of the sawmill.  The agreement with his partner required Jonas to build the saw mill 42' x 26' with two saws, 2 water wheels, 2 carriages and a log way 25 feet long for 80 pounds New York currency, 1 barrel of 208 lbs pork and 3 cwt. flour.  Jonas was to haul all lumber, furnish all boards, planks, blacksmith's work and do all the digging.  The mill was to be completed by November 7, 1793.  With this we learn that Jonas' trade was likely builder/ craftsman.

1798 is the date of the last Canadian document we have for Jonas Carle but his youngest child, Henry, claims in his 1850 and 1860 US federal census listings that he was born in Canada in 1799.  So it follows that some time after 1799 Jonas left Canada as all subsequent documents show him south of the border.

In 1805, Jonas, Rachel and their children show up in the Louisiana Territory.  Jonas removed his family from their Canadian home, ventured down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers via flatboat and bought at least 3 properties in the newly acquired lands of the Louisiana Purchase.  He acquired 640 acres right on the north bank of the Missouri River about 5 miles east of what is Jefferson City, Missouri today.  The property is in Township 44 North, Range 10 West from the 5th principal meridian. 

As a point of reference, in May of 1805, when Jonas owned this property, Lewis and Clark and the Crew of Discovery passed right by in their keelboat and canoes working their way up the Missouri River on the first leg of their famous expedition to the Pacific and back. They would have certainly laid eyes on Jonas’ land adjacent the river and, who knows, maybe even Jonas himself. However, it is my suspicion that Jonas’ purchase of this particular property was purely speculative and he may not have spent much time there if at all. 

The other  two properties he is credited with in the upper Louisiana Territory were found on Lake St. Marie in the New Madrid district.  I have been unable to verify their exact location. That lake disappeared as a result of the massive earthquake of 1811.  The surveys for the properties indicate they were about 13 and 22 miles north of New Madrid, respectively and about 1,000 arpents in total.  I imagine this is where the family was living- if not in the settlement of New Madrid itself. 

Jonas' name appears among the signatures listed in an 1805 document known as the "Gov. Wilkinson Memorial."  This listing was taken from people living in and around St. Louis, St. Genevieve, New Madrid, St. Charles, St. Ferdinand and Cape Girardeau. This memorial Jonas signed was actually a collection of letters signed by residents in support of Governor James Wilkinson who in 1803 had been appointed Governor of the Louisiana Territory above the 33rd parallel.  Wilkinson had been amassing a fair amount of bad press.   In hindsight we know that bad press was not undeserved.  Meriwether Lewis would eventually replace Wilkinson as Governor when President Jefferson could no longer ignore the possible acts of treason that tarred Wilkinson and his government.

By February of 1810, The Carle family had moved again.  Jonas is found in the Spanish West Florida Records where one document indicates he purchased two parcels of land in the town of Baton Rouge.  Jonas bought lots 6 and 7 of block 19 from Barthelemy Beauregard for five hundred pesos.  Beauregard was administering the estate of his father, Elias Beauregard who had passed away the previous year.  

Elias is well known for having developed the grand Baroque urban plan designed to be the heart of the fledgling city of Baton Rouge.  Born in Louisiana of French origin, Elias rose to some prominence in the Spanish militia.  For a time he was Commandant of the fort at Walnut Hills, where Vicksburg is today.  His brother, Michael, was the grandfather of General P.G.T. Beauregard who is known for having served the Confederate States during the Civil War.  

Elias had the elaborate urban development designed by French born Architect, Arsene LaCarriere LaTour, in 1799.  LaTour would soon most notably become the architect of Andrew Jackson's defenses at the Battle of New Orleans. 

"Beauregard Town," though not fully implemented as originally drawn, is the second oldest neighborhood in Baton Rouge-- after Spanish Town.  Now, it's an historic district found on the National Historic Register. Most of the street names there today still reflect those of  LaTour's original plan.

This image shows about a quarter of the original plan drawn by LaTour.  I have highlighted various properties owned by Jonas Carle.

Jonas' various properties in "Beauregard Town," Baton Rouge ca. 1810-18

The lots on blocks 34 and 23 were sold to Jonas' son-in-law, Isaac Townsend in 1818 for six hundred dollars.

In 1811, another land sale document shows Jonas agreeing to build a house as payment for additional property.  This document is interesting to me because of the descriptive instructions for the construction of the home...

...The present sale and conveyance is made for and in consideration of the sum of one dollar in hand paid, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, and for the further consideration of the materials and workmanship of one house to be furnished and performed by the said Jonas Carl at the time & place & of the form and description following that is to say the house to be thirty six feet long, eighteen feet wide and of one story ten feet in height with a gallery back twelve feet wide the whole length of the house, and a convenient room on each end of the said gallery, the joist of both floors to be nine inches in width, the house to be weather-boarded on all sides with cypress plank of a proper thickness, and covered with cypress shingles eighteen inches long- the flooring plank, not to exceed eight inches in width.

The frame and all wooden materials to be furnished by said Carl, and to be sound and of good quality;  the openings to be not less than sixteen that is to say five windows of twenty four lights each, four of eighteen lights each, and seven doors the said openings to be made, by said Carl and also the sashes window shutters and doors - the whole work of said house to be done in a plain workmanlike manner, and completed on or before the fifteenth day of September next after the date hereof, and on such lot in the town of Baton Rouge as the said Edith & Richard or their agent or attorney may designate.  The said Carl not to be delayed for the foundation or any of the iron materials to be furnished by the said Edith and Richard.

The description sounds a lot like the typical planter's cabin going up all over the south at that time.  There are a number of examples still around.  The following photograph is one in Baton Rouge and it is about the same size as described, though the gallery, as is typical, appears on the "front" instead of the back...

I'm curious about the phrase, "one story ten feet."  I assume that means there is a first floor and then an upper floor extending another 10 feet.  The description goes on to say "the joists of both floors to be 9 inches in width."   It seems fairly evident that the house Jonas was contracted to build was two stories.  This document makes it appear that Jonas continued to make a living through construction in the Baton Rouge area not unlike his work on the Niagara peninsula.

As a side note, it is interesting that all of the documents referring to Jonas in Canada, include an "e" at the end of "Carle."  Sometimes the early documents spell it Carol or Carroll.  When he moves south and especially  after 1800 or so, the "e" is dropped.  It is also evident none of his children utilized the "e."

The aforementioned children of Jonas and Rachel Carl all made the trip to Baton Rouge.  The connection from Jonas to myself is as follows...  Jonas and Rachel's daughter,  Phoebe married Isaac Townsend in 1813.  Their daughter, Eliza Ann Townsend married David Young.  Their daughter, Patience Elizabeth Young married Charles Brashear Sherburne.  Their daughter, Eliza Ann Sherburne married Nathaniel William Sentell and they became the parents of my paternal grandmother, Annie Lou Sentell.  

The United Empire Loyalist Association of Canada (UELAC) offers a certificate for those that can prove lineage from one of the original Loyalist settlers.  I am working on that certificate for Jonas.  Somewhat similar to the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), the UELAC consists of chapters.  These chapters are scattered all over Canada.  I chose to join the Colonel John Butler (Niagara) Branch because that's the area where Jonas' grant lands were situated and where he started his family.  As already mentioned, Jonas had friends and in-laws who were members of Butler's Rangers.  

Also like SAR, there is an application process.  At SAR, I had the work of my mom to piggyback on.  Here, I'm starting from scratch.  As far as I can tell, no one has ever attempted a UELAC certificate for Jonas Carle.  That plus the unbroken line of female ancestors between my father and my Loyalist 5th great grandfather has made proving the lineal descent from him very difficult. Female ancestors, require proof of their birth parents, but also their change of name (marriage).  I'm told by the extremely helpful, Wendy Broda (Col. Butler branch genealogist), each application must survive the scrutiny of the Dominion Genealogists who examine the facts and every bit of evidence presented while holding fast to a rigid set of genealogical guidelines.  This makes the process difficult but, I hope, ultimately rewarding. 

The most difficult part, in my case, has been finding documentation for the early generations.  I need to prove Phoebe Carl was Jonas' daughter. Phoebe was most likely born in Upper Canada (Niagara region of Ontario today) in 1796.  Only the church was keeping records at that time in Upper Canada.  I enlisted a librarian at Niagara on the Lake Public Library to access a microfiche of the records of St. Marks Anglican Church.  St. Mark's is a beautiful old church situated in the town of Niagara on the Lake.  By 1792, the Minister of St. Mark's began recording baptisms, marriages, and burials.  I understand he would have been the only record keeper for most of Upper Canada when Phoebe was born.  I was hopeful to find a record of Phoebe's baptism. 

Among the inscriptions found in Rev. Robert Addison's records is the burial notice of Rebecca Haines Johnson Field.  Rebecca is my 7th great grandmother and grandmother to Jonas' wife, Rachel Johnson Carl.  Rebecca was buried in St. Mark's Cemetery at Niagara on the Lake in 1798, two years after Phoebe's birth.  It was Rebecca's son, Jeremiah Johnson, who was noted as "killed by the Americans" during the Revolution.  Rebecca's first husband was Jeremiah Johnson Sr.  He passed and Rebecca then married another Loyalist named George Field. George, being one of Butler’s Rangers, moved to the Niagara District post war to claim grant land. George and Rebecca are buried in the picturesque cemetery at St. Mark's.  I understand there is no surviving grave marker for them.  All the same, any future visit to Niagara will now include a visit to the graveyard at St. Mark's.

Unfortunately, none of the Carle family were found in Rev. Addison's records.  By 1805, the Carle family had moved south, so it looks like I will have to rely on whatever records I can find in Missouri and Louisiana.

Not long after the move to the Baton Rouge area, war broke out again between England and the United States. I wonder what was Jonas' mindset during the war of 1812?  Was he still loyal to the crown?  Had he settled in Spanish West Florida like many other Loyalists to avoid confrontation with Patriots only to find it quickly overrun by American immigrants?  He would have been very aware of the actions occurring in nearby New Orleans during the early days of 1815.  His new son-in-law fought for the Louisiana Militia under Andrew Jackson.  Was that a problem or just part of his new life in the United States?  Not sure I'll ever know.

The 1820 US census places Jonas and family still in the Parish of East Baton Rouge.  This is the last document I have for Jonas.  He passed away in 1829.  Several researchers at Ancestry.com show that Jonas is buried at Netterville Cemetery in Zachary, Louisiana but so far, I have found no documentation for that. 

Rachel, lived another 13 years.  She is listed among the Charter members of the first Protestant Church in Baton Rouge.  Virginia Lobdell Jennings in her book, "The Plains and the People" writes, 

On May 27, 1827, the first Protestant church in the town of Baton Rouge was organized with fifteen members. Mrs. Rachel Carle, Mr. Albert G. Penny, Mrs. Elizabeth Stannard and Mrs. Elizabeth Lilley from Buhler's Plains were among the charter members.

 This was First Presbyterian Church, Baton Rouge.  The Church would eventually spin off a satellite "Plains Presbyterian Church" where many of Rachel's descendants would attend (including her daughter Phoebe).

UPDATE:  On a recent trip through the Plains, I found Jonas' gravestone.  It is located in a wood behind the Annison House in Zachary.  The Annision house was reportedly built in 1811-- the oldest structure in Zachary.  I wonder if Jonas may have built it?  I found his headstone somewhat by accident.  I was told the woods contained the "fallen over" grave stone of Gen. Isaac Townsend, Jonas' son-in-law.  The woods provided zero evidence of a grave yard. The whole area was absolutely inundated with wickedly thorny underbrush. Finally, the smallest corner of a stone appeared up through the leaves. Brushing away the debris, I read the initials J C.  It didn’t occur to me that it was a foot stone until additional probing around the area revealed the obvious headstone.  I found Jonas.  There were other pieces of markers nearby some with bits of text but none were discernible.  I never found Isaac.  

The headstone reads, "Sacred to the Memory of Mr. Jonas Carl.  Died May 1829 Aged 68.  Amen"  It was under about 5" of leaves and 2" of dirt.  The foot stone that originally caught my eye reads, "JC. S-Johns. Ps-Amen."  There is also a graphic on the footstone that looks like a caterpillar.  Very curious.  I can only speculate as to what these things mean (other than Jonas' obvious initials).

The month of Jonas' death is really the only new information I gleaned from the discovery of these stones.  The years of his birth and death are corroborated but were already public knowledge.  I have a suspicion that "S-Johns"  written on the foot stone may actually be "St. Johns" and could possibly refer to St. John, New Brunswick as a birthplace.  If so, it could be an attempt to disguise the fact that he was a New York born Tory during the war.  Jonas did spend a couple years in St. John while starting a new life after the Revolution.  Someone living in the Baton Rouge area in the 1820's who was a Canadian by birth may be more palatable to his neighbors than an American-born Tory.  ...but that's entirely my own speculation.

Headstone

Detail

Footstone

The Annison House was written up in a couple news outlets in 2010 when it was opened for the public after a round of renovation.  A July 23, 2010 story from WAFB Baton Rouge said the following about the structure:

The Annison Plantation home in Zachary has stood on this 1799 Spanish land grant for 199 years. Benjamin Hook, second owner of the property, built the home in 1811. It went through a succession of families until E.D. Annison bought it in 1891. That family lived here until Ethel Annison donated the home to the city in 2002. Since then the Zachary Historic Village has been restoring it.

The article mentions Benjamin Hook as the builder of the house and second owner of the property.  His name appears on the original land plat for the property that contains the house and the cemetery where Jonas is buried.  It seems likely that Jonas was the original owner of the property--  especially since he is buried there and Benjamin Hook was his son-in-law.  

Benjamin Hook's 1822 will names Eunice Carl Hook as his beloved wife and total beneficiary along with any unborn child.  Eunice was a daughter of Jonas and Rachel, born in Upper Canada.  After Eunice's subsequent marriage to Joseph Young and the issue of additional heirs, the settlement of Hook's estate went to the Louisiana Supreme Court where it was finally settled many years later.  Eunice outlived Young as well and married thirdly, George P. Lilley.  She had children by all three husbands and her grave can be found in the Young Family Cemetery at the Plains.

A quick glance underneath the Annison house on my recent visit, revealed mostly modern milled lumber and flooring, but closer inspection showed that some older heavy primary structural members remain.  Those solid members have a hand-hewn finish and are of the size you would expect of an antebellum structure.  This house may indeed date from 1811.  I read that the intent of the Zachary Historic District is to eventually remove the non-original dormer from the front of the house.  I would love to see that happen as well as the reintroduction of a wood shake roof.  I find it likely that Jonas built this house either for himself or for his son-in-law, Benjamin Hook.

The search continues for proof of Jonas' daughters and grand daughters and great-grand daughters births and marriages.  I hope to one day achieve that certificate to commemorate his Loyalist service during the Revolution.

The Sherburnes of Baton Rouge

Samuel and Rose Sherburne left France and arrived in Baton Rouge with their children some time around 1816.  The United State's war with England was just over and the celebrations were likely still reverberating out from the plains of Chalmette where the victory at New Orleans still hung very fresh.  The Baton Rouge district, where the family landed, had only been out from under Spanish hands a short five years.  The town of Baton Rouge would not become the capital of Louisiana for another 30 years and just up the river, Mississippi was still a territory.  Samuel's idea for settling in the area after many years of diplomatic service overseas was, no doubt, to commence the genteel planter's life in an environment that would be receptive of his French wife and French speaking children.  It was a curious choice though, as he was no experienced planter.

Originally from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Samuel's American lineage extends back to his great great grandfather, Henry Sherburne, who arrived in the new world in 1631.  The Sherburne family is recognized as one of the pioneer families of Portsmouth.  The men of the family preceding Samuel on this side of the pond include Judges, Governors, Commissioners, Selectmen, Magistrates and Ship Captains.  More ancient Sherburne's include influential landowner's back in England.  The well established family purports to trace a direct lineage to Charlemagne.

The Sherburne family legacy is still evidenced around Portsmouth.  Samuel's great grandfather's house, The John Sherburne house, still stands today and can be visited at the Strawbery Banke Museum.  It's an impressive structure-- especially for having been built in 1695!

https://www.strawberybanke.org/houses/sherburne.cfm

Samuel was born in 1770 and schooled in New England through the 1780's.   He was a bit too young to serve during the American Revolutionary War, though he was certainly an eyewitness.  We know his father served in the New Hampshire Light Horse Volunteers and signed the Portsmouth Association Test.  The Sherburne's were Patriots.

By the time Samuel was 22 (in 1792) he acquired the position of American Consul at the important inland port city of Nantes, France.  The French Revolution was in its third year and ongoing. After four years as consul in France, Samuel married a local-- the young Ursule Rose Dubois de Corbières.  I wrote a bit about Rose and her French background here.  The two were married the third of August, 1796 at Saint-Servan-sur-Mer, Ille-et Vilaine, Bretagne, France.  She was from a well-to-do family. Her father, by then deceased, had been a wealthy ship builder and public official in St. Malo.  Her eldest brother was also a ship builder and arguably more successful than the father.

Benjamin Dubois, the brother, made a significant fortune building and outfitting war ships for King Louis XVI during the American Revolution.  Some of his ships saw action off the US east coast.  The ships Benjamin built were not large "ships of the line."  They were smaller privateer ships commonly known as Corsairs.  St. Malo is famous for having been home to a major hub of Corsair activity.  Corsair captains would hold a "lettre de marque" which was license from the King to seize merchant vessels of enemy nations and carry them and their cargo back for profit to be split between the crown, the shipowner and the captain and crew.  The majority of Benjamin's wealth came from prizes taken on the open seas by the Privateers that manned his ships.

When the French Revolution rolled around, Benjamin was perceived as a bit too close to the monarchy. Benjamin was dealt the wrath of the "general committee of security."  He was arrested and held in Parisian jails throughout 1793 and '94.  Two men arrested alongside him lost their heads, but Benjamin was spared, eventually cleared and released.  Benjamin was back home in St. Malo in time to likely attend the wedding of his little sister, Rose and the American, Samuel Sherburne.

Benjamin's home, coincidentally, is also still around and apparently worth a visit...

http://www.domaine-du-montmarin.com/

Ursule Rose Dubois de Corbières was the youngest of her siblings and her brother Benjamin was the oldest.  The gap was great enough that Benjamin's daughter married about the same time as Rose.  Rose's niece married Antoine René Thévenard a sea captain in Napoleon's French navy.  Within a year of their marriage, Thévenard commanded the French 74-gun "Aquilon" at the famous battle of the Nile. He is credited with performing a risky unorthodox tactic involving the spring on his anchor cable to quickly bring about his broadside against the bow of Admiral Horatio Nelson's flagship, HMS Vanguard. The damage wreaked on the Vanguard was intense resulting in over 100 casualties, including Nelson who suffered a gruesome open wound to his forehead.  The severity of the bleeding induced Nelson to fire off a letter to his wife for fear the wound was mortal.  It was not, and he soon returned to the battle.

The Aquilon was captured and Thévenard would not survive the day, making Rose's niece a very young widow.

By 1814, the young Sherburne family, residing in Nantes, consisted of  Rose, her American husband and 8 children between the ages of 4 and 17.  The records show the first five were born in Lorient, France.  Lorient, Nantes, St. Malo and St. Servan are all in the region of France on the northwest coast called Brittany by English speakers and Bretagne by the French.  Lorient was the home of Rose's sister, Elizabeth, who five years previous  had also married an American Consul.  Elizabeth and Rose were very close.  Birth records imply that Rose's first five children were born in Elizabeth's home with Elizabeth's children serving as witnesses for their cousins' births.  Both families eventually moved to America.  Elizabeth and her family moved to Washington DC about the same time, Rose and Samuel moved to Baton Rouge.

The move to Louisiana must have been a significant turn of events for the Sherburne children.  They were accustomed to a certain amount of refinement in France that would be lacking on the banks of the Mississippi River in 1816.  Samuel settled on a plantation about 18 miles upriver of Baton Rouge.  The lots there were generally long and skinny radiating out from the river affording each landowner water access and plenty of land inland for planting.  It was a characteristic of the geography of the Mississippi river in the lower deltas that the highest ground in the area was found right up against the river.  Over centuries the river's meandering and annual flooding tendencies caused sediment to be deposited most concentrated nearest the river bank in effect creating natural levees.  This high ground is where the planters located their homes.  They would generally orient the homes facing the river as that was considered the primary public view and where most traffic occurred.  This was the case with the Sherburne plantation home.  On September 7th of 1819, the Baton Rouge paper published a harrowing story regarding Samuel and Rose's home.  I found a typewritten copy of it at the website of the Louisiana Digital Library here.  The text of the story is as follows:

Louisiana Gazette,

9-7-1819 P-2 C-1

Baton Rouge, September 4

We have been informed that a distressing circumstance occurred a few days since on the plantation of Mr. Sherburne, late American Consul in France, now a resident of the Parish of West Baton Rouge, about eighteen miles above this place.  It is reported, that whilst that gentleman and family were setting in the house, the bank suddenly gave way and the house was precipitated into the river, and it was with the greatest difficulty the family escaped from the jeopardy to which they were exposed - no lives, however, we are happy to learn, have been lost.

One of the children of that gentleman was thrown into a chasm of the ground from which he was happily rescued by means of a rope let down to him, when the cavity was immediately filled by other ground falling in;  another young man also one of the family, was taken into a boat from a piece of ground in which he stood in the middle of the water.  All the furniture is said to be lost.

There is no way to know for sure which of the boys were cast into the chasm or stranded in the river, but surely, the experience was harrowing for all of them.  Homeless in a matter of seconds.  I can imagine whatever personal treasures they brought from France were lost that day.  

The family took refuge in Baton Rouge but hardly a month later Samuel passed away.  He was 49 years old.  It is tempting to speculate that his death was the result of some lingering injury sustained in the recent catastrophe.  Newspapers, as far away as the Northeast, recorded his death occurring on October 6, 1819 near Baton Rouge but none gave cause.  The Sherburne family of Baton Rouge had lost their patriarch.  Rose, now 50 years old and mother to 8 (5 who were likely still at home), was faced with some decisions.

Rose promptly advertised the opening of Madame Sherburne's Academy for Young Ladies in Baton Rouge where students were taught the three "R's" as well as English, French, Geography and "all kinds of Needlework."   But this was not to last long as Rose passed away in 1824.  Her burial date, June 9, 1824, is registered in the Diocese of Baton Rouge Catholic Records, though no location is given for the burial.

Two of Rose's sons had predeceased her but the remaining children ultimately stayed in Louisiana, married and raised families of their own.  The following is a condensed version of what I have found to date regarding the 8 interesting children of Samuel and Rose Sherburne:

1.  Samuel Aaron Sherburne (1797-1821)  Samuel, the oldest child, was likely named "Samuel" for his father and "Aaron" for his uncle, Aaron Vail, the American Consul who married Rose's sister, Elizabeth.  As mentioned, it is evident he was born in Aaron Vail's home in Lorient.  Sadly, Samuel Aaron's life ended too soon.  An announcement of his death appears in the July 7, 1821 edition of "The Evening Post," of New York.  He died on the 4th of July, 1821 in Baltimore, Maryland.

Samuel Aaron was 24.  He doesn't appear to have married.  I believe he was likely at school or in the early stages of an occupation related to trade and commerce and died of sickness.  That's just conjecture on my part.  Baltimore was a significant port at that time and was only 40 miles or so from Washington DC where his Vail cousins were living.  The Vail's were a civic minded family.  At least one cousin worked for the State Department.  Another was serving in the US Navy while a third was just finishing up West Point.

Samuel Aaron's burial location is not known.

2.  Felix Benjamin Sherburne (1798-1857)  We have Felix's birth record.  He was born to Samuel and Rose on October 2, 1798 in Lorient, France.  He probably went to the east coast for school like his brother and cousins did before him.  I imagine that is why I can't find him in the census records with his mother and siblings.  He is listed among the baptisms enumerated in the St. Francis Catholic Church records 1817-1840 in Natchitoches, Louisiana.  He is also found in the 1850 Louisiana census record from Natchitoches Parish showing him as F. B. Sherbourne.  This is highly likely him at 52 years of age.  It was a slave schedule indicating he had (2) 40 year old slaves.  Felix was a lawyer and notary practicing in Natchitoches Parish.  One evidence of this is a case abstract from the year 1851 out of said Parish...

Felix B. Sherburne and John B. Smith, attorneys at law, seek to recover $5,000 in legal services rendered to Melite Auty, wife of Auguste Metoyer and a free woman of color. Sherburne and Smith contend that, throughout 1843 and 1844, they provided Mrs. Metoyer with legal services in an ongoing suit between her and one Baptiste Adlé. They defended her interest before both the District and Supreme Courts and won the fight on her behalf. Not only did she recover her property but she was also awarded damages for its unlawful seizure and detention. Sherburne and Smith affirm that their professional efforts in this case are well worth the sum of $5,000 charged to Mrs. Metoyer. They therefore pray for an order directing Mrs. Metoyer, assisted by her husband, to stand in judgment and pay the debt.

I found a more interesting reference for him in the Louisiana Historical Quarterly Vol. 17,  No. 1.  The passage describes a notable duel fought between General Francois Gaiennie and General Pierre A. Bossier (namesake of the Parish of Bossier). The two gentlemen lived along Cane River not far from Natchitoches.  They were bitter political rivals whose feud boiled over in September of 1839.  F. B. Sherburne is listed as a second to General Gaiennie, a Whig, who was killed in the duel with the Democrat, Bossier.  

A "Second" was chosen by each primary duelist from among his closest friends.  The second's job was to ensure that all aspects of the duel were carried out fairly.  He assured the weapons of both parties were equally prepared and serviceable.  

It is recorded this duel was fought with rifles. Gaiennie fired first and missed.  Bossier then fired instantly killing Gaiennie.  The passage further reads...  "Before leaving home Gen. Gaiennie promised his wife that if he survived, a messenger would bring her the news riding a white horse, but if he did not survive, a black horse would bear the messenger, that, watching across the level stretch of the Cane River country, she might thus know the news ere it was announced by voice."

I show a death date of 1857 for Felix but that date came from someone else and was not sourced.  I can only really say he died some time after 1850.

3.  Achilles René Sherburne (1800-1836) Achilles, the third son, is enumerated in the 1820 census in his mother's household in Baton Rouge.  That census shows Rose D Sherburne as head of house.  Samuel Sr had passed away the previous year.  Just numbers indicate the rest of those living there-- 8 people total including one slave.  Achilles' column reads "white males 16-25 years."  His two older brothers were already out of the home.

There is an 1826 marriage record for Achilles found in the Louisiana Compiled Marriage Index.  It was a Catholic wedding at St Joseph Catholic Church in Baton Rouge.  His bride was the widow, Gertrude Vahamonde Duralde.  She was ten years older than Achilles and she had six children by her first husband who passed in 1817.  We find Achilles' new family enumerated in the 1830 census living in West Baton Rouge Parish.  The census shows 4 people in his household and 30 slaves. Achilles had married into a planter family.  Newspapers of the day record him acting as Clerk of Court for the Parish District Court by 1833.

On November 6, 1835 Achilles took oath and gave bond in West Baton Rouge as curator of the estate of his cousin, the late Capt. Thomas Jefferson Vail of the Army of the United States.  Jefferson was another son of Aaron Vail and Rose's sister, Elizabeth Dubois Vail.  An 1821 graduate of the US Military Academy at West Point, Jefferson served for a time at New Orleans under Base Commander and future President Zachary Taylor. There he would have had the opportunity to frequently call on his aunt and cousins in nearby Baton Rouge. In 1833 he was assigned to the remote Fort Snelling, Minnesota.  Interestingly, Dr. John Emerson, a fellow officer at the Fort, was owner of the slave Dred Scott.  Scott and his wife, Harriet,  lived at the fort with Emerson. It's quite likely Jefferson was familiar with the Scotts whose later court battles would make such an impression on the political climate leading to the Civil War.  Of course Jefferson Vail would miss all that.  By late 1835, Jefferson was back in Louisiana where he died of illness.  Achilles curated his estate and died himself the following year at 36 years of age.  I believe he left no children of his own.

4.  Eugène Amédée Sherburne (1802-1860)  Eugène is my own connection to the Sherburne family.  He is a 3rd great grandfather-- a maternal great-grandfather to my father's mother, Annie Lou Sentell McBride.  She was very proud of her Sherburne family.  I'm sure she never heard the story of his house falling in the river when he was 18 years old, or I would have heard it from her years ago.  Of course he died 43 years before her birth.  It's understandable that story would get lost. Eugène is almost always referred to as E A Sherburne in documents from the period.  He is the best documented of his siblings among available Louisiana records.  I have found a string of accomplishments--  Sheriff of Iberville Parish, distinguished planter and businessman, Vice President of the State Whig Party, school board member, election commissioner, and founder in his Church.

Eugène was born in Lorient on the 19th of November, 1802.  His birth record names his parents and lists witnesses including a couple Vail cousins.  At 14 he came with his family to Louisiana.  He is listed among those residing in his mother, Rose's household in Baton Rouge in 1820.  I can't find him in the 1830 census.  He was 28 at the time.  A couple years later he married a young lady from Port Gibson, Mississippi.  I have not turned up a marriage record for their union, but later court records show the relationship.  The bride was 17 year old Margaret Newton Lindsay, a Protestant whose father had been a Parish Judge in Louisiana across the river from Walnut Hills (Vicksburg) before taking residence in Indian lands near the Choctaw Agency in what is now central Mississippi.  Margaret was born at the Agency.  

Margaret and Eugène settled on farmland in Iberville Parish.  By 1848 they had 4 boys and one girl. Eugène raised sugar cane and was in partnership with a number of large sugar producers in the area.  One of Eugène's partners was Charles Henry Dickinson Jr. who had a large plantation near Rosedale, Louisiana.  The home called Live Oaks is still there and can be seen while driving along Bayou Grosse Tete.  Charles' father, Charles Henry Dickinson Sr. was killed in a duel with Andrew Jackson but not before he lodged a ball in Jackson’s chest an inch from his heart.  Jackson carried Dickinson’s lead and the painful complications it caused for the rest of his life.  Charles Jr was 2 months old at the time of his father’s death.

The 1850 census shows the E A Sherburne family and the family of a Presbyterian Pastor living on the Iberville Parish property.  J E C Doremus, the Pastor, was likely tutoring the Sherburne Children.  The youngest Sherburne child was named Edward Doremus Sherburne at his birth in 1848, so there must have been a meaningful relationship between the two families.  JEC Doremus pastored at First Presbyterian Church at Baton Rouge among other places.

Margaret died in July of 1852 and the family relocated to a plot of prime land on the Mississippi River just south of Port Hudson in East Baton Rouge Parish.  This property was called "Fontania."  Eugène married a second time to Miss Patience Young.  They had no children.

Eugène appears to be the only Sherburne to have left the Catholic Church although it is unclear if his father was ever really Catholic.  A sister of Eugène's second wife (and coincidentally my 3rd great grandmother) wrote a history of the Plains Presbyterian Church.  That church is located at Buhler's Plains, Louisiana near Zachary.  She mentions EA Sherburne and two of his children being converted in 1855.  They were members of the Church for the rest of their lives.  One child, a daughter, married a Presbyterian missionary to China.  I wrote about their story HERE.  There is a cemetery near the Plains church where a number of Eugène's descendants and extended family are buried.

Eugène died in 1860.  His obituary states he was "a most estimable man and citizen, esteemed and respected by all."  It is believed he was originally buried at his Plantation, Fontania, next to the river.  His first wife, Margaret, died when they were still in Iberville Parish, so it is possible he buried her there and was buried there himself later on.  The Fontainia property is now mostly covered up by a Georgia Pacific Paper Mill.

The property where Eugène may have been buried looks like this today-- in the red lines...

The northeast corner contains about a quarter of the National Cemetery at Port Hudson. The east half is mostly paper mill and the west boundary is the old Mississippi River bank location.  I suspect the house would have been in the wooded area near the river on the west.  If there were burials on the site they were likely in the wooded area on the west side where the high ground and house would have been although there is a curious square of wooded area between the parking lots toward the east that may have remained wooded for a reason.

Virginia Lobdell Jennings wrote in "The Plains and the People" that she believed Eugène's grave was moved from the Port Hudson property to the Young Cemetery near the Plains Church because of encroaching erosion but there is no source for this info and I have found no marker for him at the Young Cemetery.  The official plot map and burial ledger for Young Cemetery is in the possession of Mr. John Troth of Zachary.  I met with him in October of 2022 and looked at the documents.  They confirm that Margaret and Eugène Amedee are interred unmarked next to his first wife, Patience Young Sherburne (1800-1870), inside a cast iron fence in section EC B.

5.  Elizabeth Charlotte Sherburne (1804-1884) Eliza was born in Lorient on May 19th of 1804.  She was named for her maternal grandmother, Elizabeth Charlotte LeMortellec.  Like those of her brothers, her early French records are dated using the French Republican calendar.  Her birthday is listed as "29 florial in the year XII."  That makes her about 12 years old when she and her family relocated to Louisiana.

Nine years later, she married another French born resident of West Baton Rouge Parish, Paul Choppin.  She had lost both parents in the intervening years, her mother-- the prior year (1824).  Paul was likely from the Burgandy region of France as described in a biographical book published in 1917,  (Vol. 3, Makers of Amercia: Biographies of Leading Men...).  He was 6 years her senior.  His Choppin family was what we would today say are quintessentially "Creole".  They were urbane, sophisticated, French speaking and had been in Louisiana at least as early as 1803 when we find an older brother married in St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans.  The name Choppin is pronounced the same way you hear the composer, Frédéric Chopin's name pronounced.  As  Frédéric was born in Poland in 1810 and his name only had one "p," It seems unlikely there was a recent family connection.  Subsequent generations of Paul and Eliza's family, interestingly, eventually dropped the extra "p" in the spelling of their name.

There is a US Citizenship Affidavit dated March 28 of 1815 in which a 17 year old Paul Choppin claims US citizenship at the port of New Orleans.  These affidavits were carried by US seamen in the early 1800's in an attempt to avoid being pressed into his majesty's service by the Royal Navy.  I suspect Paul anticipated some business travel between France and Louisiana and wanted to avoid the apparent risk.

One account of Paul Choppin states that he and a brother were pioneer sugar planters and are credited with the production of the first white loaf sugar in the State.  Paul was certainly a planter.  The 1830 census shows 34 slaves on his property.

The 1830, 1840 and 1850 US Census records show Paul and Eliza and family living in West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana.  The 1850 Census shows all three of their sons living at home.  The oldest is listed as a 21 year old physician.  Samuel Paul Choppin MD (1828-1880) is a colorful figure in the history of Louisiana.

The eldest son of Elizabeth Sherburne and Paul Choppin, Samuel made a name in the medical profession.  He studied medicine in Louisiana and did some graduate work in France and Italy.  Back home in New Orleans, he became resident Surgeon at Charity Hospital.  He taught anatomy at the New Orleans School of Medicine.  He edited the local medical journal and became well known throughout the State as President of the Board of Health.  When the civil war rolled around, he was Staff Surgeon under General P.G.T. Beauregard.  One of his obituaries claims that "his career in the army was marked by capacity of the highest order and elicited eulogiums from Lee, Beauregard and other leaders of the Confederacy..."

But what he will probably most be remembered for is an impromptu duel that occurred in front of Charity Hospital on August 28, 1859.  An altercation with a fellow physician escalated to the point of garnering newspaper headlines.  The affray involved derringers, six shooters and Bowie knives!  I found the story not only in New Orleans papers but also Vicksburg, Nashville, and Charleston. The story even surfaced in the London Observer.  An exhaustive article on the incident can be read in the New Orleans Crescent here...

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/24992852/the-new-orleans-crescent/?xid=637&_ga=2.224978138.1525615779.1588595091-1409360912.1587759655

I had an email exchange with a distant cousin recently who descends from Samuel Paul Choppin's daughter, Rosa Eliza Choppin.  Rosa was Elizabeth Charlotte Sherburne's grand daughter. I learned that Rosa took the family back into the diplomatic world of her great grandparents.  Rosa married Miguel Covarrubias (1860-1924).  He was the Mexican envoy or Charges d'Affaires in London off and on from May of 1907 to April 1921.  They had 3 daughters who were well known in the social circles of Washington DC of the 1920's and 30's.  One daughter married the Brazilian ambassador to the United States.  Another married the Charges d'Affaires of the Romanian Legation to the United States and another became a Baroness when she married the English Baron Henry Roland Casimir D'Erlanger.  Elizabeth and Paul Choppin's descendants bumped elbows with the muckety mucks!

Elizabeth Charlotte Sherburne Choppin died on February 22, 1884 in New Orleans, Louisiana.  She was 79 years old and outlived her husband and two of her three sons.  The remaining son died that same year.  She outlived all of her siblings by nearly 20 years.  She spent her last years living with the family of a niece in New Orleans.

6.  Henri Claude Sherburne (1805-1859)  Henri is one of the Sherburnes that I have already covered to some degree.  I wrote about his dramatic death in a post here.  Henry is the first of the Sherburne children not born in Lorient.  His birth record is found in Nantes, France.  Actually, the last three Sherburne children were born in Nantes.  Nantes is the French port city where Henri's father served as American Consul.  Henri was only 10 when the  family arrived in Louisiana.  At 26, he married Mary Adine Guesnon.  Mary was active in the Catholic Church at Baton Rouge.  She and Henry's two sisters are found to be committee members of the Ladies Charity Society associated with St. Joseph, the Catholic Church in Baton Rouge.  In 1842 they organized a fair to help raise funds for the repair of the Catholic cemetery there.  This led me to speculate that Rose and Samuel may be buried in one of the early Catholic cemeteries in Baton Rouge.

Henri and Mary had no natural children but adopted a young girl in 1852.  Anna, who was 7 at the time of Henry's death, lived 35 years, married twice and left 6 children.  One of Anna's children, a daughter also named Anna, lived until 1975.

Henry practiced law in Baton Rouge. He traveled the river frequently between there and New Orleans.  On February 27, 1859 he became one of 70 or so who perished in the dramatic Steamboat "Princess" explosion.  Unfortunately, he was standing too near the boilers on that tragic day.  The story was all over the papers.  One account suggests that Henry certainly must have died instantly and mercifully was spared the terrible lingering burns that others endured.

In October of 1859, Mary advertised an estate sale in which 80 acres of land in East Baton Rouge Parish acquired by Henry W Sherburne and also the Library of the deceased consisting of "valuable Law and other books" were offered for public sale.  Mary died 6 years after the Princess disaster.

7.  Charles Guillaume Sherburne (1807-1823)  Charles' birth record shows him born in 1807 at Nantes, France.  The next record I can find for him is his burial listed in the Diocese of Baton Rouge Catholic Church Records.  He was buried on July 27th 1823. That would make him 16 years old.  He died a year before his mother.  It could be they both were buried in the old Spanish Catholic cemetery in Baton Rouge.  In 1825, the year after Rose's burial, St Joseph Catholic Church of Baton Rouge bought property to house a new cemetery.  Signage at the 1825 cemetery indicates the burials from the old Spanish cemetery (The Cemetery of Our Lady of Sorrows) including "some of Baton Rouge's first settlers" were disinterred and moved to the new property.  However, the Diocese record does not specify burial locations for Charles and his mother, Rose.  Also, there is no Diocese record for Samuel Sherburne's 1819 burial.  He may not have been a practicing Catholic and therefore not buried in the Catholic cemetery.  Samuel's baptism in New Hampshire was not in the Catholic Church.  If he was not buried in the Catholic cemetery, it is possible Rose and Charles were not buried there either.  If Samuel, Rose and Charles were buried at the Old Spanish Catholic Cemetery and their remains moved to St. Joseph in 1825, their graves may not be marked.  As of today, there is no indication they have marked graves at St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery.

8.  Henrietta Rose Sherburne (1808-1865) Henrietta was the youngest of Rose and Samuel Sherburne's children.  She would have been 5 or 6 years old when they made the move to the United States. Henrietta married Claude Antoine Choppin, a brother of her sister's husband, Paul.  Claude was 18 years her senior.  They had one daughter.  The 1850 census locates this family in the heart of the city of Baton Rouge.  Claude Antoine or "Anthony" is listed with an occupation of baker.  Their neighbors include clerks, tailors, and grocers.

Claude and Henrietta's daughter, Cecelia, was born in 1838-- a Louisiana native. At 27 years old Cecelia married Maximilian Augustus Dauphin.  Dauphin was the same age as Cecelia but came to New Orleans from Strasbourg, Alsace, France when he was 16 years old.  He had completed classical studies in France and attempted to make a living through painting and sculpture but eventually ended up at the New Orleans School of  Medicine where he came under the influence and lifelong friendship of Dr. Samuel Paul Choppin, Cecelia's 1st cousin.  Maximilian practiced medicine for a while but made his fortune as the head of the Louisiana Lottery Company.

Later in life, Max had an elaborate family tomb constructed at the Cemetery in Metarie.  He arranged to have the remains of his Choppin friends and family re-interred in this tomb.  Dr. Samuel Paul Choppin's remains, and those of his wife were moved there.  When Max's wife, Cecelia, passed she was placed there as well.  Max remarried and passed away a few short years later.  The second wife and now widow, Cecile Rose LaBranche Dauphin, then became involved in a dispute with the Choppin descendants  over the inheritance.  Ultimately, the case went all the way to the Louisiana Supreme Court after LaBranche filed an injunction to have the Choppin family remains removed from the Dauphin Tomb.  She lost.  The Choppin's are still in the tomb.

Henrietta Rose Sherburne and her sister Elizabeth were the only Sherburne children to see the Civil War.  Henrietta passed away only months after Appomattox.  Elizabeth lived another 20 years.  Henrietta's husband Claude Antoine died in 1853 and was one of the Choppin's re-interred in Dauphin's tomb.  Henrietta is likely in there too, but I have yet to find that record for her burial.

Mississippi's 155th

There are only 24 active Army National Guard units with campaign credits for the War of 1812.  Mississippi's 155th is one of them.  It was formed when Mississippi was only a territory-- almost 20 years before statehood.


Andrew Jackson used Hind's Mississippi dragoons as his eyes and ears during the battle of New Orleans.


Family connections to the 155th of the War of 1812...

Pvt. Michael Alexander Dickson (1798-1865) - He was a 16 year old Private in John G Richardson's Company of Dragoons, Hinds' Battalion, Mississippi Militia during the War of 1812.  He later married a first cousin, Elizabeth Hannah Parsons Palmer.  Her grandparents are 6th great grandparents (Hannah and Archibald David Palmer Sr).

Cornet Parsons Carter (1776-1839) - 6th Great Uncle -   Cornet, in Capt. Jedediah Smith's Company of Dragoons, Hinds' Battalion, Mississippi Militia.  Muster rolls show him sick in camp in the vicinity of New Orleans during the Battle of New Orleans.  Parsons was born in what became Wilkinson County, Mississippi.  His father was Nehemiah Carter, a 6th great-grandfather and well known member of Mississippi's "Jersey Settlers."

Capt. Jedediah Smith - 1st cousin 6x removed - Jedediah's mother was the sister of 5th great grandfather, Tobias Brashear.  Jedediah was a Captain commanding his own Dragoon Company under Lt. Col. Thomas Hinds during the Battle of New Orleans.  Jedediah's grandfather was the first Presbyterian minister in Natchez although he died only 10 days after arriving.

Pvt. William Noland and Pvt Jeremiah Noland - 5th great Uncles -  Sons of Pierce Noland, a 5th great grandfather.  They grew up on a Spanish Land Grant at Thompson Creek on the Mississippi side of the Ellicott line (31st Parallel) not far from Fort Adams.  William and Jeremiah served alongside Michael Dickson in John G Richardson's Company of Dragoons in Hind's Battalion during the Battle of New Orleans.


Unit Insignia:

The yellow element on the left side is a cactus- representing the Unit's participation in the War with Mexico.  The Fleur De Lis represents the Battle of New Orleans.  Wiki says "Stand Fast" became the motto after Jefferson Davis used those words commanding the unit during the War with Mexico.

I married a triple cousin!

First let me say, it's not as bad as it sounds.  We don't share a grandparent or great grandparent or even great great great grandparent!

I have written before about several of my ancestors that married cousins.  I understand it's not terribly uncommon for most people to find married cousins among their ancestors-- especially those marriages of the early colonial era.  Some cultures, even today, encourage marriage among cousins.  Wiki says 10 percent of the world's married people are married to a 1st or 2nd cousin.

I'm not sure where I would draw a line, but it would definitely not include 1st or 2nd cousins.  I'm thinking I'm ok with 5th, 6th or 7th cousin marriage relationships.  I'm reminded of the "Finding Your Roots" episode where Kyra Sedgwick found out she was 9th cousins once removed with her husband Kevin Bacon.  That just doesn't sound like a problem at all.  I remember thinking there must be hundreds of thousands of couples related more closely than that who have no idea about their kinship.  9th cousin means you share an 8th great grandparent.  That's 10 generations back and around 300 years.  There's no way you could have even known any of that grandparent's great great great great grandchildren.  The connection is just way back there.  Additionally, the odds of sharing DNA with a 9th cousin is incredibly small.  Not a problem.

My wife, Karen, and I do not share DNA.  I know this because both of her parents have tested at Ancestry as I have.  I loaded all of us into GEDmatch.  No match between us.  But interestingly, I did find a match between her father and my father.  A snippet of the report at GEDmatch looks like this...

Portion of Gedmatch result

In this report, GEDmatch shows a little blue area on Chromosome 2.  It's 10.4cM long and indicates a match.  GEDmatch further estimates the number of generations to the most recent common ancestor between Karen's father and my father is 5.2 generations back.  This is very strong evidence that Karen and I are cousins but I have yet to find the connection between the two families in my tree.  I don't know what ancestor we share.  I have more work to do on Bobby Cochran's ancestors.

Karen and I are a generation removed from this match.  If the connection for our fathers is an estimated 5.2 generations back, then my connection with Karen is one generation beyond that at 6.2 generations back.  That's closer than 9th cousins!  Let's assume Karen and I share an ancestor 6 generations back.  That would make us 5th cousins.  I think it is more likely the connection is another generation or two back (7 or 8 generations back) just because I know the vast majority of the ancestors at the 5th and 6th generation and none of them match up.  So, I'm estimating that we are 6th cousins at the very closest!

I'm fairly confident I will one day know which ancestor our fathers share.  It will just take more time and effort searching the records and extending Karen's paternal branches.

Karen's maternal branches in our tree are a bit further along.  Many of them are better documented and have fallen right into place.  Her Willis line, for instance, was already thoroughly researched.  Some of her cousins have carried that line right into the Middle Ages.  Instead of searching for each piece of evidence, I only had to verify what was already out there.

Early on, I stumbled on a connection between Karen's mother's tree and my own.  Karen has a great great grandmother who was a Fountain.  Annie A. Fountain was born in Georgia in 1862 to an Augustus J. Fountain and Louisiana "Lou" Stephens.  Augustus died during the Civil War but most interesting to me is that he had a great great grandfather named Francis Fontaine Sr. from County Cork, Ireland who died in Virginia in 1749.  Francis is in my tree.  He is a son of a relatively famous Huguenot, Jacques Fontaine, my 8th great grandfather.  Consequently, he is also Karen's 8th great grandfather.  Karen and I share Francis Fountaine Sr., making us straight up 8th cousins.  Jacques wrote a memoir for his children, some of whom immigrated to America.  His descendants, it is said, are extrememly numerous and cover the globe.  My connection to Jacques comes through my mother's Kuykendall and Goza lines. My mother and Karen's mother are therefore, 7th cousins, though they do not share DNA.

But wait!  That's not all.  Karen's great great grandfather, Augustus J. Fountain, had a great grandmother named Mary Hardin from Virginia.  When I found that she passed away in North Carolina in 1796, I began to suspect she belonged to my Hardin's of the same area and time.  Well, yes.  Yes she did.  Digging a bit deeper, I found that Mary's grandfather, Marcus, was the brother of my 7th great grandfather Benjamin B. Hardin whose children would migrate through Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee making names for themselves during the American Revolution and beyond.  Karen and I share Martin Hardewyn of Rouen, France.  Martin, like Jacques Fontaine, was a French Protestant, a Huguenot.  He is my 10th great grandfather and Karen's 11th great grandfather making us cousins, yet again, at 9th cousins once removed just like Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon.

Martin died in Prince William County, Virginia in 1709 making him a very early colonist in the Americas.  There are some early histories written of the Hardin family.  They tend to vaguely describe the "Hardewyn's" moving from Rouen, France to Holland and then to New York.  There in the 1670's they joined the Dutch Church and eventually moved to Staten Island.  Most of the family is then found moving south to Virginia by way of New Jersey.

So, Karen and I are cousins three times over.  I find it interesting that both of our known common ancestors are Huguenots.  I only know of one other Huguenot besides Hardewyn and Fontaine in my tree.  He is Benois Brashear.

Brashear is on my father's side.  If Brashear turns out to be the progenitor of the common DNA my father and Karen's father share, we will have a story indeed!

Merging Branches

Every so often I will go to add a new-found parent for someone in my tree and will think, "that name sounds familiar."  So, I search and find that person is already in my tree on a wholly different and unexpected branch.  I guess that scenario is to be expected to some degree but it catches me by surprise each time.

It happened last night.  I was researching the family of Olympia Muse Melton, born about 1805. She married my third great grandfather, John McBride, after the death of his wife (my third great grandmother), Louisa Street in 1857.  My goal is to find the burial place of John and Louisa and possibly Olympia.  I assume they are buried at their Holmes County farm as that is the last place they are indicated to be living but I'd like to be sure.  After exhausting records on John and Louisa, I'm now focusing on Olympia.

I haven't found a record of Olympia's marriage to John but we know about her because she is mentioned in John's will probated in 1868 and she is found living with him in the 1860 census in Holmes County, Mississippi along with a Sidney McRaney age 11.  From this census we also learn she was born in Georgia around 1805.

I believe I found Olympia in the 1850 census in Jackson Parish, Louisiana.  She is listed as head of household, born in Georgia about 1805.  Her last name is listed as Walton but the clincher is we also find little Sidney McRanie age 2 living with her.  There is also an Elizabeth Walton in the house- age 17.  This census offers a couple plausible assumptions about Olympia.  She is the widow of a man named Walton.  Elizabeth is their daughter.  At seventeen in 1850, Elizabeth Walton's birth puts Olympia's marriage with Elizabeth's father sometime before 1833 and after 1819 when Olympia came of marrying age.

In an effort to find out more about Olympia, I searched for her first husband.  I found a marriage record for "Olympia Muse Melton" and George Walton in Dallas County, Alabama dated 30 November, 1818.  John McBride's will calls her Olympha M McBride.  Maybe the "M" is for Muse or Melton?  She would have been a little young at this 1818 wedding in Alabama, but I think it is her because this George Walton, I discovered, had a sister named Mary, who married a man named Malcom McCranie in 1837.  Mary and Malcom had two sons named Sidney and George William McCranie.  Sound familiar?  Sidney is our little buddy found in the 1850 and 1860 census living with Olympia.  His parents were both dead by 1850.  Sidney spent his youngest years on the McBride farm in Holmes County, Mississippi being raised by his Aunt Olympia.  His brother, GW became a leading newspaper man in Monroe, Louisiana.  Here is a write up regarding Sidney's death...

The Weekly Shreveport Times, 6 Feb 1890

Another reason I believe George Walton is likely Olympia's first husband falls again in the circumstantial but compelling category.  John McBride, in his will where I first found Olympia, nominates his friend "HS Boatright" as his executor.  Through land records of Holmes County, I found that this is Hickerson Stinson "Deck" Boatright, a next-door neighbor of the John McBride family on Black Creek.  In 1845, the year of George Walton's death, Deck named a son "George Walton Boatright."  This intimates a connection between John McBride's next door neighbor and a George Walton.  

Coincidentally, Deck's mother was a Stinson (hence his middle name). This is the same Stinson family that marries into the McGinty line at the 1858 marriage of Mary Catherine Stinson and Elisha King McGinty, the parents of Medora McGinty who married John Sherwood McBride, a grandson of John and Louisa McBride who started out this blog post!  Sometimes all the connections hurt my brain.

Getting back to the merging branches alluded to in the beginning of this post...  It turns out George Walton, who technically should be no relation to me at all (in that he is the first husband of my third great grandfather's second wife) is, in fact, related to me.  He and his sister Mary (Sidney's mom) had a mother named Elizabeth Cleveland born in 1744.  The Cleveland name being familiar-- I searched my tree for Elizabeth Cleveland born in 1744.  There she was; a daughter of Larkin Cleveland, the brother of my Reverend John Cleveland, the patriot I used to join the Sons of the American Revolution. She is a 1st cousin 6 times removed.  She was already in my tree, as was her husband, William Walker Walton and his son, George Walton!  All I had to do was join by marriage George Walton to Olympia Muse Melton who was also already in my tree.

You just shake your head and keep going.

George Walton is my 2nd cousin 5 times removed on my mother's side of the family.  After his death, his widow married my third great grandfather on my father's side.  Pretty near useless information, but interesting to me nonetheless.

Interesting Family Facts

For my siblings:

• Our most recent foreign-born Ancestor is third great grandfather, Eugene Amedee Sherburne (1802, L'Orient, France).  Born to a French mother and an American diplomat father (who was originally from New Hampshire).  He came to the US (Baton Rouge area) some time between 1811 and 1818. 

• Our next closest foreign born Ancestor is fourth great grandmother, Phoebe Carle (b. 1796, Ontario, Canada).  Born to loyalist parents from New York and Pennsylvania who escaped America after the Revolutionary War.  The family is first listed in the US in the St. Louis District of Missouri (New Madrid) in the 1810 Census.  They later settled in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana.

• Our most recent “traditional immigrant” ancestor is fourth great grandfather, William Dickson Sr. born 1762 in County Down, Northern Ireland.  He arrived in South Carolina at age 5 (1767) with his parents, Margaret and Nicholas Dickson.

• Of 64 fourth great grandparents, 26 were born in Virginia, 12 in North Carolina, 8 in South Carolina, 2 each in Georgia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Maryland, 1 each in Tennessee, Louisiana, New Hampshire, Mississippi, Illinois and Delaware.  Four are foreign born... one each from England, France, Ireland and Canada.

• The first direct ancestor born in Louisiana is 4^th great grandmother, Nancy Palmer, born 1790 in St. Francisville.  Her granddaughter, Mary Elizabeth Doles, married Nathan Wesley Sentell, a great great grandfather.

• Our McBride family first bought property in Louisiana in 1858.  2nd Great Grandfather, Rev. William McBride and his brother James Louis McBride moved from their father's home near Lexington, Mississippi after buying adjoining properties between Jonesboro and Weston, Louisiana. 

• Daniel Boone is a first cousin.  Technically, he is a first cousin 7 times removed.  His mother, Sarah Morgan Boone, was the sister of our 6th great grandfather, John Morgan (1697-1747).  Daniel Boone's grandfather and our 7th great grandfather was Edward Morgan a Welsh immigrant.  Edward's home can be visited today at Lansdale, PA.  This family line comes down to us through the Keller family.

• At least 2 grandfathers fought at the Battle of New Orleans.  Isaac Townsend was a Captain with the Louisiana Militia.  Joseph Street was a Tennessee Militia member who passed away of illness on the return trip from the battle.  He is buried near Natchez, Mississippi.

• At least 3 direct ancestors were killed by Indians.  Fifth great grandfather, Thomas Jackson, was murdered in his field outside the Quaker settlement of Wrightsboro, Georgia in August of 1770.  Eighth great grandmother, Phebe Littlefield Heard was famously killed at Ambush Rock in Maine in 1697.  And finally, William Coleman, a fifth great grandfather, was killed near Natchez in the territory of Mississippi in 1781.

• Speaking of Wrightsboro, President Jimmy Carter wrote an historic novel, The Hornet's Nest, about some of his ancestors who were part of that settlement.  Making an appearance in the novel is the founder of that southernmost Quaker settlement, Joseph Maddock (1720-1794) who is our 6th great grandfather.  As far as I can tell we are not related to President Jimmy Carter.

• 10th great grandfather Dr. James Beall (1603-1646) is buried at St. Andrews Cemetery in Fife, Scotland within a half mile of the famous golf course of the same name.  

• Beall's son, 9th great grandfather Ninian Beall (pronounced "Bell") an ardent Presbyterian, fought alongside his fellow Scots against Cromwell's forces at the Battle of Dunbar.  The Scots were defeated and Ninian consequently served 5 years servitude in Barbados, West Indies.  After his release, Beall was granted 50 acres in the colony of Maryland.  He eventually amassed about 4,000 acres encompassing much of what we know as Georgetown today.  The following is inscribed on a stone in front of St. John's Episcopal Church in Georgetown...

"Colonel Ninian Beall, born Scotland, 1625, died Maryland 1717, patentee of the Rock of Dumbarton; Member of the House of Burgesses; Commander in Chief of the Provincial Forces of Maryland. In grateful recognition of his services "upon all Incursions and Disturbances of Neighboring Indians" the Maryland Assembly of 1699 passed an "Act of Gratitude." This memorial erected by the Society of Colonial Wars in the District of Columbia, 1910.

• We have a cousin, (John Henry Sherburne Jr 1815-1849), in our tree who shot and killed the oldest son of Frances Scott Key in an 1836 duel at Bladensburg, Maryland.  Our cousin, purportedly, was not the aggressor.  

• The duelist cousin's father (another cousin) attempted twice to locate and repatriate the body of John Paul Jones who he knew to be buried somewhere in Paris.  He was unsuccessful both times, but he did write several books on Jones.  A signed copy of one was sent to James Madison and now sits in the Madison Collection, Rare Book and Special Collections Division in the Library of Congress.

• We are direct descendants of 4 people who came over on the Mayflower- Edward Doty, Samuel Fuller and his parents Ann and Edward Fuller.  This line comes down to us through Ann Amelia Scarborough who married 2x great grandfather Rev. William McBride.

• We have 14 relatives who fought at the Battle of Kings Mountain, a pivotal battle of the Revolutionary War, including 4 great-grandfathers.  Read about them at this blog post...  https://onelongtwoshort.blogspot.com/2019/10/

• Third great uncle, Joseph Townsend was shot dead at a Sunday School meeting in Ascension Parish, Louisiana in July of 1880.  He was one of two people killed in the desperate fight of which he was not a party.

• The only full Asian currently in our tree is Shoji Tabuchi, the famous Japanese violinist who had his own theater in Branson, Missouri.  Tabuchi's second wife, Dorothy Bailey Lingo was once married to 2nd Cousin once removed, Michael Lingo, a great grandson of Willis Claud Keller (the brother of grandfather William Harrison Keller).  Dorothy and Michael's daughter, Christina (2nd cousin twice removed) often appeared on stage with Shoji during his shows.

• John Wesley Hardin, the notorious Western outlaw, is a second cousin four times removed. His great grandfather, and our 4th great grandfather was Joseph Hardin (1734-1801) a statesman and Revolutionary War veteran.
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