Tag: Adaline Aylesworth

Five Families, Eleven Weddings

Jon CasbonLeave a comment

Slocum … I’ve heard that name before; I wonder if she’s related?

Today’s post is an outgrowth of the two previous posts, in which I explored the connections between the Casbon and Aylesworth family trees. While conducting my Aylesworth research, I came upon the name of Martha Slocum, who married Philip Aylesworth, a member of the fourth generation of his family in America and a direct ancestor of many living Casbons.

The name Slocum was not new to me. William Wallace Slocum married Mary Casbon in Ohio, 1862.[1] After Mary died, he married Emma Payne in 1865 (see “From England to America, Part 8”).[2] Mary Casbon was the niece of Thomas Casbon, the original immigrant from England, and Emma Payne was the niece of Thomas’s wife, Emma Scruby. Emma Payne’s mother, Sarah Scruby, was married to James Payne of Meldreth, Cambridgeshire, England.

A little digging showed that Martha and William Wallace Slocum were distantly related. They were both descended from Giles Slocum ( ? –1682), who immigrated from England to Rhode Island before 1648.[3] Martha was descended from Giles’s son Samuel and William Wallace from Giles’s son Eleazar. Martha was in the fifth generation of descendants and William Wallace in the seventh.

So now I knew that the Slocum, Aylesworth, and Casbon families were all related to one another.

Furthermore, with William Wallace Slocum’s marriage to Emma Payne, the Slocums became connected to the Scruby family, who were already related to the Casbons through the marriage of Emma Scruby to Thomas Casbon and later through the marriage of Mary Payne (Emma Payne’s sister) to James Casbon.

Are you confused yet?

I decided to plot out all the ways that the Slocum, Aylesworth, Scruby (including Payne), and Casbon families were related. I added a fifth family, Priest, because I was aware of multiple connections on their part as well. Here is the result of my efforts.

5 family connections cropped
Diagram depicting interconnected family trees of the Slocum (green), Aylesworth (orange), Scruby (pink), Casbon (blue) and Priest (yellow) families. Superscript numbers denote generations, with “1” depicting either the original immigrant (Slocum and Aylesworth) or the common ancestor (Scruby, Casbon, and Priest); colored lines indicate parent-child relationships and arrows depict direct descent through multiple generations; marriages are connected by black lines (Click on image to enlarge)

You’ll need to enlarge the diagram to see details.

As the title suggests, these five families are connected to each other through eleven marriages. Here is a summary of the connections for each family:

  • Slocum:
    – Connected to Aylesworth through the marriage of Martha5 Slocum to Philip4 Aylesworth, 1762[4]
    – Connected to Casbon through the marriage of William Wallace7 Slocum to Mary3 Casbon, 1862
    – Connected to Scruby through the marriage of William Wallace7 Slocum to Emma3 Payne, 1865
  • Aylesworth:
    – Connected to Slocum through the marriage of Philip4 Aylesworth to Martha5 Slocum, as above
    – Connected to Casbon through the marriages of Mary Adaline7 Aylesworth to Sylvester3 Casbon, 1860,[5] and Carrie Belle9 Aylesworth to Amos3 Casbon, 1900[6]
    – Connected to Scruby through the marriage of Louisa8 Aylesworth to George3 Scruby, 1872[7]
    – Connected to Priest through the marriage of Elliot7 Aylesworth to Caroline2 Priest, 1848[8]
  • Scruby:
    – Connected to Slocum through the marriage of Emma3 Payne to William Wallace7 Slocum, as above
    – Connected to Aylesworth through the marriage of George3 Scruby to Louisa8 Aylesworth, as above
    – Connected to Casbon through the marriages of Emma2 Scruby to Thomas2 Casbon, 1830,[9] and Mary3 Payne to James2 Casbon, 1876[10]
    – Connected to Priest through the marriage of James2 Scruby to Phebe2 Priest, 1824[11]
  • Casbon:
    – Connected to Slocum through the marriage of Mary3 Casbon to William Wallace7 Slocum, as above
    – Connected to Aylesworth through the marriages of Sylvester3 Casbon to Mary Adaline7 Aylesworth and Amos3 Casbon to Carrie Belle9 Aylesworth, as above
    – Connected to Scruby through the marriages of Thomas2 Casbon to Emma2 Scruby and James2 Casbon to Mary3 Payne, as above
    – Connected to Priest through the marriage of Mary Ann3 Casbon to Elijah2 Priest, 1853[12]
  • Priest:
    – Connected to Aylesworth through the marriage of Caroline2 Priest to Elliot7 Aylesworth, as above
    – Connected to Scruby through the marriage of Phebe2 Priest to James2 Scruby
    – Connected to Casbon through the marriage of Elijah2 Priest to Mary Ann3 Casbon, as above

Three of the families—Aylesworth, Scruby, and Casbon—are connected by marriage to all four of the remaining families. The remaining two families—Slocum and Priest—are connected to three of the other four families. Of the marriages, one took place in England, one in Rhode Island, six in Ohio, and three in Indiana.

The chart shows how entangled family trees can become. I’m going to coin a new term for this. Instead of a family tree, this is a family hedge! It’s an accurate description of what we see, with branches from several families intermingling and creating complex relationships.

I suspect this occurs more often than we might realize, but we might not see it because we’re not looking for it. Have you discovered any hedges in your family history?

[1] Ohio, Huron County, Marriage Records, vol. 1 [1855–1866], p. 350; imaged as “Ohio, County Marriages, 1789–2013,” FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XZ65-99 : accessed 21 Jul 2016) >Huron >Marriage Records 1855–1866 vol 1 >image 220 of 306.
[2] Ohio, Huron County, Marriage Records, vol. 1 [1855–1866], p. 465, no. 2779; imaged as “Ohio, County Marriages, 1789–2013,” FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XZ65-99 : accessed 22 May 2018) >Huron >Marriage Records 1855–1866 vol 1 >image 277 of 306.
[3] “Giles Slocum (abt. 1623 – aft. 1683),” article, WikiTree (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Slocum-10 : accessed 9 Apr 2020).
[4] James Newell Arnold, Rhode Island Vital Extracts, 1636–1850, volume 1 (Providence, R.I.: Narragansett Historical Publishing Company, 1891), p. 4; imaged at Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/3897/ : accessed 2 Apr 2020) >Vol· 01: Kent County: Births, Marriages, Deaths >image 432 of 637.
[5] Indiana, Porter County, Marriage Record Book 2 [Dec. 1850–Jun. 186], p. 458; Valparaiso (Indiana) Public Library.
[6] Indiana, Porter County, Marriage Record, vol. 12 [Nov. 1898–Oct. 1901], p. 326; browsable images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/film/005014498?cat=608739 : accessed 8 Apr 2020) > Film # 005014497 >image 548 of 922.
[7] Ohio, Holmes County, Marriage Record, vol. 5 [1868–1877], p. 217; browsable images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/film/004024929?cat=229343 : accessed 8 Apr 2020) > Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2013 >Holmes >Marriage records 1868-1877 vol 5 >image 491 of 649.
[8] Ohio, Wayne County, Marriage Record, vol. 4B [1843–1851], p. 377; browsable images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/film/004260649?cat=335541 : accessed 26 Aug 2016) >Film # 004260649 >image 550 of 644.
[9] Church of England, Melbourn (Cambridgeshire), Marriages, 1813–1837, p. 59, no. 175; browsable images, ” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/film/007549343?cat=210722 : accessed 5 Feb. 2019) >image 318 of 710.
[10] Indiana, Porter County, Marriage Record, vol. 4 [Sep. 1871–Jan. 1875], p. 348; browsable images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/film/005014495?cat=608739 : accessed 8 Apr 2020) > Film # 005014494 >image 693 of 928.
[11] Ohio, Wayne County, Marriage Record, vol. 4A [1835–1843], p. 91; browsable images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/film/004260649?cat=335541 : accessed 8 Apr 2020) >Film # 004260649 >image 77 of 644.
[12] Ohio, Wayne County, Marriage Record, vol. 4 (1-2) [1844–1856], p. 140; FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/film/004260672?cat=335541 : accessed 8 Apr 2020) > Film # 004260672 >image 97 of 720.

Digging into the Aylesworth Story

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My last post introduced the Aylesworth family and described the two marriages that tied the Casbon and Aylesworth names together: Sylvester Casbon and Mary Adaline Aylesworth, married in 1860, and Amos Casbon and Carrie Belle Aylesworth, married in 1900. Today I delve more deeply into the history of the Aylesworth family and how their story converged with that of the Casbon family.

I refer once again to the diagram I introduced in the last post, showing how the Aylesworths of Porter County, Indiana, descended from Arthur1 Aylworth, the original immigrant from England. The superscript numbers in the chart (“Arthur1”) represent the respective generations of each person. In order to minimize confusion, I am using generation numbers corresponding to those in the diagram throughout the post.

Aylesworth tree Descendancy chart of the Aylesworth family, beginning with the original immigrant, Arthur1 Aylworth and ending with Carrie Belle9 and Mary Adaline7 Aylesworth in their respective branches (Click on image to enlarge)

First, let me say a few words about spelling. In the diagram, I’ve followed the spelling conventions used in the Aylesworth Family genealogy, using the Aylworth spelling for the first five generations and Aylesworth for later generations.[1] In fact, as was typical of the times, many different spellings are found in records, each spelling being determined arbitrarily by whomever made the entry in a given record. Thus, we see Aleworth, Aylsworth, Aulsworth, and Elsworth, among many others. Today’s Aylesworth spelling became fixed sometime in the 19th century. That said, the editors of History of Porter County spelled the name as Ellsworth when the book was published in 1912.[2]

It is unknown when Arthur1 Aylworth, the original immigrant from England, arrived in the New World. However, it must have been sometime before 29 July 1679, because on that date his name appears on a list of signatures in a petition from the inhabitants of Narragansett country [Rhode Island] to King Charles II of England.

narragansett petition 1679 p2
Arthur1 Aylesworth’s name, seen in this detail from “Copy of a Petition of the Inhabitants of Narragansett Country, King’s Province, to King Charles II,” 29 Jul 1679; Yale University Library, Digital Collections (http://findit.library.yale.edu/catalog/digcoll:1018481) (Click on image to enlarge)

Arthur1 settled in an area known as Quidnessett, now part of North Kingston Township in Washington County, Rhode Island.[3] His son Arthur2 lived in what is now West Greenwich Township.[4] Philip3, grandson of the first Arthur, moved to Coventry Township in about 1745.[5] His son, Philip4 Jr., left Coventry and lived in Pownal, Vermont, for several years before migrating to Milford, Otsego County, New York.[6] John5 Aylworth, the common ancestor of Mary Adaline7 and Carrie Belle9 Aylesworth, was born in Rhode Island. Like his father, he ended up in Milford, New York, where he died in about 1810.[7]

Elizabeth (Humphrey) Aylesworth, the widow of John5, and two of her adult sons, Ira6 and Philip6, moved from New York to Ohio, beginning in about 1815. We are told that Elizabeth, with her children, moved to “Ashland or Wayne Co., Ohio, or perhaps near the line dividing these two counties, where she died.”[8] Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find any trace of Elizabeth in Ohio records. She does not appear in census, marriage, or death records. However, both Ira6 and Philip6 can be found in the 1820 Ohio census of Wayne County, living in Pike and Mohican Townships, respectively. Giles6, the younger brother of Ira and Philip, does not appear in the census until 1840, when he was living in Prairie Township, Holmes County (immediately south of Wayne County).[9]

Giles6 was the first member of the family to move to Indiana. We are told that in the autumn of 1842 he “moved here [Porter County, Indiana] with his wife and 5 children. He brought 2 wagons, household goods, various tools, grub hoe, axe and musket. Sealed in a false bottom of a dinner bucket was $2,000 in gold with which he bought the farm.”[10] His daughter Mary Adaline7, having been born in April 1842, must have been only a few months old when the family made the move. Giles’s6 brother Philip6 bought a 160-acre tract of land in Porter County in 1842, but he never moved to Indiana. Instead, he sold the land to his son Ira B.7 Aylesworth, who came to Porter County in 1845.[11]

NE US detail map numbered
Detail from a map of the northeastern United States, showing the locations associated with the Aylesworth
family, beginning with Arthur1and ending with Giles’s6 and Ira B.7; approximate locations: 1. Quidnessett,
Rhode Island; 2. Pownal, Vermont; 3. Milford, New York; 4. Wayne County, Ohio; 5. Porter County, Indiana;
adapted from A.K. Johnston, “Map of part of North America to illustrate the naval and military
events of 1812-13-14,” (London: William Blackwood & Son, 1852); David Rumsey Map Collection (https://www.davidrumsey.com/)

Thomas Casbon arrived in Wayne County, Ohio, from England in 1846, and later moved to Holmes County. Presumably, Thomas and his family met members of the Aylesworth family who were still living in Ohio. After Thomas’s son Sylvester completed his education, he “taught one term at Mt. Ollie [sic. Olive], Ohio. Then acting under the persuasion of a friend Mr. Ellsworth [my emphasis], who had settled in Porter County, Indiana, and also from his own wish to locate further west, Mr. Casbon came to this [Porter] county in 1859 and began teaching in what was known as the Ellsworth school, which he conducted successfully for three terms.”

The identity of “Mr. Ellsworth” is unknown to me. It seems unlikely that he would have been either Giles6 or Ira B.7 Aylesworth, since they had already been living in Indiana for many years. It seems more likely that he would have been a contemporary who grew up with Sylvester in Ohio and then later moved to Porter County. Two likely candidates are the brothers Elias8 and Sylvenus8 Aylesworth, who were nephews of Ira B.7 Aylesworth. They were born in 1834 and 1836, respectively,[12] and moved to Porter County from Wayne County, Ohio, sometime between the 1850 and 1860 censuses.

The exact identity and location of the “Ellsworth school” is also unknown to me, but my best guess is that it was located near the north line of Section 9 in Boone Township, near what is now the intersection of S 225 W and W 700 S. An 1875 plat map of the township (the oldest available to me) shows a school at that location on land owned by Ira B.7 Aylesworth.

school map
Detail from a plat map of Boone Township, Porter County, Indiana, 1875, showing location of the district 1 school (circled) and outline of lands owned by Giles and Ira B. Aylesworth at the time; from “Boone Township Maps,” Porter County Indiana (GenWeb), http://www.inportercounty.org/Data/Maps/BooneTownshipMaps.html (Click on image to enlarge)

Sylvester Casbon would have been teaching at this school when he met his bride-to-be, Mary Adaline7Aylesworth. It is even possible that he was living in one of the Aylesworth households at the time.

Amos Casbon was only two years old when arrived in Porter County directly from England (via New York City) in early 1871. I don’t know how or when Amos and Carrie Belle9 Aylesworth met and began their courtship. Amos had a hard life in his early years, especially after his father, James, died in 1884. He probably worked on several farms during this time and might have met Carrie Belle in the course of his work.

How does all of this pertain to Our Casbon Journey? Well, I guess the point is that family history doesn’t occur in a vacuum. Even though the emphasis of this blog is on the history of the Casbon family, that history is affected at every point by the histories of other families. Perhaps, in knowing how we are connected through our ancestors, we can achieve a greater sense of connection with our living, but more distant, relatives. The fact that descendants of both Sylvester and Amos Casbon—now third, fourth, and fifth cousins, once removed—share a connection through the Aylesworth family gives us one more thing in common and hopefully binds us more closely together.

[1] Howard Aylesworth, Aylesworth Family, 2d ed., updated and reprinted by Joyce Knauff, et al. (Privately printed, 1984).
[2] History of Porter County, Indiana: A Narrative Account of its Historical Progress, its People and its Principal Interests (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company, 1912).
[3] Homer Elhanan Aylsworth, Arthur Aylsworth and His Descendents in America (Providence, R.I.: Narragansett Historical Publishing Co., 1887), p. 36; online image, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/arthuraylsworthh00ayls : accessed 1 January 2019).
[4] Arthur Aylsworth and His Descendants, p. 42.
[5] Arthur Aylsworth and His Descendants, p. 50.
[6] Arthur Aylsworth and His Descendants, p. 71.
[7] Arthur Aylsworth and His Descendants, p. 112.
[8] Arthur Aylsworth and His Descendants, p. 112.
[9] 1840 U.S. census. Holmes County, Ohio, Prairie Township, p. 228, line 10 (FamilySearch)
[10] “Transcribed Biography of Aylesworth,” Porter County, Indiana (GenWeb) (http://www.inportercounty.org/Data/Biographies/Aylesworth45.html : accessed 1 January 2018); citing Mrs. John C Aylesworth, “Aylesworth Family of Porter County,” in American Revolution Bicentennial Committee of Porter County, A Biographical History of Porter County, Indiana (Valparaiso, Indiana: American Revolution Bicentennial Committee of Porter County, Inc., 1976), p. 76.
[11] “Transcribed Biography of Aylesworth.”
[12] Arthur Aylsworth and His Descendants, p. 431.

Aylesworth Connections

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The Aylesworth name is well-known to many of the Casbons who trace their roots through Porter County, Indiana. One reason for this is that Carrie Belle Aylesworth (1873–1958) was the wife of Amos Casbon (1869–1956). Their wedding took place on 28 November 1900 at the home of Carrie’s parents (see “Wedding Bells”) in Boone Township. This loving couple had six sons and three daughters, all but one of whom lived into adulthood and had families of their own. Many of their grandchildren are living today and remember them well.

Before Amos or Carrie were even born, there had been another Casbon-Aylesworth wedding in Porter County. That was the marriage of my second great-grandfather Sylvester Casbon to Mary “Adaline” Aylesworth on 30 October 1860. Sylvester and Adaline had two surviving children—Cora Ann and Lawrence—before Adaline’s untimely death in 1868.

Because of these two marriages, the descendants of Amos, Carrie, Sylvester, and Adaline  are connected through both their Casbon and Aylesworth ancestries.

But what are those connections? How are the two branches related? The answer is fairly straightforward on the Casbon side. Their common ancestor was Isaac Casbon (~1773–1825) of Meldreth, Cambridgeshire, England, the grandfather of both Amos and Sylvester Casbon. Amos and Sylvester were first cousins, despite the fact that their ages were 37 years apart. Because of the age difference, their descendants of similar ages are mostly cousins “once-removed,” meaning their relationship to the common ancestor—Isaac Casbon—is one generation apart.

The connection on the Aylesworth side is more complicated. Carrie Aylesworth’s great-grandfather, Philip Aylesworth (~1793–1866) was the older brother of Adaline Aylesworth’s father, Giles (1807–1880). Their common ancestor was John Aylesworth (~1764–1810). Carrie was two generations farther away from John than Adaline; therefore, they were first cousins, twice removed.

The concept of cousins once or twice removed can be confusing, so I’ve created a diagram showing the lines of descent of the branches of the Aylesworth family to which Carrie and Adaline belonged.

Aylesworth tree Descendancy chart of the Aylesworth family, beginning with the original immigrant, Arthur1 Aylworth and ending with Carrie Belle9 and Mary Adaline7 Aylesworth in their respective branches; superscript numbers after names represent each generation, beginning with Arthur1 (Click on image to enlarge)

The diagram also demonstrates the places where the Aylesworth ancestors lived as they slowly migrated westward to Indiana. This is an interesting story in itself and will be the topic of the next post.

The Aylesworth genealogy has been well-documented. Many of today’s living descendants have a copy of the Aylesworth Family book, last published in 1984. This book traces the family back to Arthur (generation 1). Most of the information about the first seven generations comes from an earlier book, Arthur Aylesworth and His Descendants in America, written by Homer Elhanan Aylesworth and published in 1887.[1] A copy of this book has been scanned and can be viewed or downloaded at https://archive.org/details/arthuraylsworthh00ayls.

Because of the Casbon-Aylesworth connection, members of the Casbon family have always been invited to the Aylesworth family reunions, which still take place on a (mostly) annual basis.

Aylesworth reunion
Aylesworth family reunion ca. 1921; several Casbons are in the photo: Amos & Carrie and their children, Lawrence and Leslie Casbon; how many can you pick out? (Click on image to enlarge)

[1] (Providence, R.I.: Narragansett Historical Publishing Co., 1887).

Sunday School

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This is my eighth post in the Guild of One-Name Studies blog challenge 2020.

Many genealogy researchers have learned that old books can be a valuable source of information about their ancestors. Many books that are no longer protected by copyright have been digitized and are available online. The three book sources that I use most often are Internet Archive, Hathi Trust Digital Library, and Google Books. You can go to any of these sites and type in a search term, such as a surname, and then get a list of books containing that search term. A regular Google search will also find these references, although they may be scattered throughout the search results.

A recent search turned up a source, titled The Sunday Schools of Lake: An Account of the Commencement and Growth of the Sunday Schools of Lake County, Indiana, from about 1840 to 1890.[1] The book was written to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Lake County Sunday-school Convention, an interdenominational annual meeting of many of the county’s churches, as well as “the 50th Anniversary of Sunday-school work in Lake County.”[2]

In addition to giving a detailed history of Sunday schools in the county, the book provides a listing of students enrolled in the Convention’s Sunday schools in 1890. A few Casbon names turned up in this list.

combined pages Sunday School book Detail from pages 161-2 of The Sunday Schools of Lake, showing students enrolled at the Deep River Union School in 1890; (note: “1888” next to the name of the school is the year the school was organized)
(Click on image to enlarge)

The three names on page 161, Charles, Lawrence and T. (Thomas) Casbon, are all known to me. They are the sons of my second great-grandfather, Sylvester Casbon. Sylvester had moved to Deep River from Porter County in about 1865. Lawrence was born in 1865 to Sylvester’s first wife, Mary Adaline (Aylesworth), who died in 1868. Thomas and Charles were born in 1870 and 1872, respectively, to Sylvester’s second wife, Emilene Harriet (Perry), who died in 1874. In 1890, Lawrence, Thomas, and Charles would have been about 25, 20, and 18 years old, respectively. All three were still unmarried.

I must admit that I am completely baffled by the name on page 162—Stella Casbon. There is no other record of a child with that name. She does not appear in vital records, census reports, family histories, newspaper articles, or photographs. The fact that she was enrolled in the Boys’ and Girls’ class tells us that she would have been younger than the three Casbon sons. But there are no records of a younger daughter being born to Sylvester. Nor was a child of that name born to any of Sylvester’s siblings. There is no record that Sylvester’s third wife, Mary (Mereness) had any children. There were no other Casbon families living in Lake County at the time. So, who was Stella? I just don’t know.

The fact that the Casbon name appears in this book led me to reflect upon the religious beliefs and practices of the early Indiana Casbons. I’ll say at the outset that there is insufficient information to draw any firm conclusions. The Indiana Casbons are all descended from Isaac Casbon of Meldreth, Cambridgeshire, England, who lived from about 1773 to 1825. The baptisms, marriages, and burials of Isaac’s family were recorded in the parish registers (i.e., Church of England) of Meldreth and nearby parishes. Since this was the near universal practice of the time, it tells us nothing about the family’s religious beliefs or practices. The baptisms of two of Isaac’s children, Joseph and James, were not recorded, which suggests that the sacrament was not a high priority. As a poor agricultural laborer, Isaac was at the lower end of the social order. Putting bread on the table was probably a higher priority than religious practices.

Of Isaac’s son Thomas, my third great-grandfather, nothing is written about his religious beliefs. The few biographical references I have seen do not mention religion. If he is mentioned in church records in the U.S., I am not aware of them.

However, I do have a little information about Thomas’s sons. An 1882 biographical sketch of Sylvester Casbon, the father of the three sons mentioned above, states that “he is liberal in politics, attends church, and is much esteemed by his neighbors.”[3] The 1912 History of Porter County Indiana includes sketches about Sylvester and his brother Charles. Of Sylvester, the book says “he and his wife are members and liberal supporters of the Christian church [of Valparaiso, Indiana], with Rev. Hill as their pastor.”[4] Charles and his wife, Mary (Marrell) were also said to be liberal supporters of the same church.[5] Sylvester’s obituary also mentions his membership in the Christian church.[6] The fact that Sylvester and his brother were members of this church tells us that they considered themselves to be Christians, like the majority of Americans at the time. However, it tells us nothing about how important their Christian beliefs were to them.

The Christian church referred to above is now known as First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and was founded at Valparaiso, Indiana, in 1837.[7] A modern source describes the denomination in these terms: “the Disciples of Christ, also known as the Christian Church, has no creed and gives its congregations complete autonomy in their doctrine. As a result, beliefs vary widely from individual church to church, and even among members of a church.”[8] Thus, it is hard to tell exactly what the members of The Christian Church in Valparaiso believed.

1st christian church 1950
First Christian Church, Valparaiso, Indiana, 1950 (https://www.fccvalpo.org/our-building-over-time)

Going back to the Sunday school roster of 1890, The Sunday Schools of Lake tells us that the Deep River Union School was organized “in August, 1888, by the evangelist ‘Christian’ minister of this district, Rev. Ellis B. Cross.”[9] I haven’t been able to find out anything more about the school or its founder. Were the three Casbon sons there because of their Christian beliefs or was it more of an acceptable social outlet—something young men in Deep River were expected to do (especially since there was also a young ladies’ class!)?  How was their Sunday school experience reflected in their later lives?

I was always under the impression from conversations with my father that his family in Indiana wasn’t very religious. His grandfather was Lawrence Casbon—the one listed on the Sunday school roster above. Lawrence’s obituary mentions his membership in the local Masonic Lodge but says nothing about church membership.[10] Likewise, the obituaries of his three sons, Leslie, Loring, and Lynnet, mention their memberships in the Masons, Scottish Rite, American Legion, and similar organizations, but say nothing about church membership. Perhaps these social organizations became their surrogates for participation in an organized church. [Update: see comment from Dave Casbon, below.]

Of Lawrence’s two brothers, Thomas’s obituary describes him as a member of the same Christian church as his father.[11] Charles’s obituary says that he belonged to the Elks lodge but does not mention a church affiliation.[12]

As I said earlier, there isn’t enough information to draw firm conclusions. The Indiana Casbons described above were all respected members of their communities. They fit in with the norms and expectations of their fellow citizens. Church membership and Sunday school attendance was probably one of those expectations in the late 1800s.

I will be eager to hear from any of their descendants whether they have different recollections or opinions.

[1] T.H. Ball (Crown Point, Indiana: T.H. Ball, 1891); Google Books (https://books.google.com/books?id=g5A_1QM4wVAC : accessed 21 Jan 2020)
[2] The Sunday Schools of Lake, p. 5.
[3] Weston A. Goodspeed, Charles Blanchard, Counties of Porter and Lake Indiana: Historical and Biographical, Illustrated (Chicago: F.A. Battey & Co., 1882), p. 707; Hathi Trust Digital Library.
[4] History of Porter County Indiana: A Narrative Account of its Historical Progress, its People and its Principal Interests (Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1912), p. 484; Hathi Trust Digital Library.
[5] History of Porter County Indiana, p. 461.
[6] “Death Calls S.V. Casbon; Reached 90,” The (Valparaiso, Indiana) Vidette-Messenger, 10 Dec 1927, p. 1, col. 1; Newspaper Archive (accessed through participating libraries).
[7] “Our Story,” First Christian Church (https://www.fccvalpo.org/our-story).
[8] Jack Zavada, “Disciples of Christ Beliefs and Practices,” Learn Religions (https://www.learnreligions.com/disciples-of-christ-beliefs-and-practices-700019).
[9] The Sunday Schools of Lake, p. 86.
[10] “85-Year-Old Resident of County Dies.” The Vidette-Messenger, 16 Jun 1950, p. 1, col. 5; Newspaper Archive.
[11] “Deaths … Thomas S. Casbon,” The Vidette-Messenger, 16 Mar 1955, p. 6, col. 3; Newspaper Archive.
[12] “Death Takes C.P. Casbon,” The Vidette-Messenger, 1 Feb 1949, p. 1, col. 1; Newspaper Archive.

“Wedding Bells”

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This is my seventh post in the Guild of One-Name Studies blog challenge.

My last post was about the period in Amos Casbon’s life before his marriage. Today we read about his wedding to Carrie Belle Aylesworth on 28 November 1900. This is another newspaper discovery from my visit to the Valparaiso (Porter County, Indiana) public library in May 2019.

Here is the article from The Porter County Vidette of 6 December 1900.[1]

Wedding Bells 2
(Click on image to enlarge)

Wedding Bells
The Marriage of Amos J. Casbon
and Miss Carrie Aylesworth

Mr. Amos J. Casbon and Miss Carrie B. Aylesworth were united in marriage Wednesday evening, Nov. 28, at the bride’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Aylesworth, of Boone Grove. The bride was very tastefully attired in a beautiful cream cashmere, richly trimmed in silk lace.
The young couple were attended by Mr. Clyde Aylesworth, a brother of the bride, and Miss Sadie Breyfogle.
About seventy-five of their friends and relatives were present to witness the ceremony which was performed at 8 o’clock by Rev. Miller, of Indianapolis. After congratulations were extended a bountiful repast was served.
Mr. and Mrs. Casbon expect to go to housekeeping in about six weeks and will reside on Mr. Casbon’s farm, two miles west of Boone Grove.
They were the recipients of many useful and valuable presents, viz: Dinner set, Mr. and Mrs. John Aylesworth; clock, Clyde Aylesworth and Sadie Breyfogle; coffemill [sic], Mr. and Mrs. Edgar Aylesworth and family; butter knife and sugar shell, Glenn Aylesworth; set silver teaspoons, Wm. Sawyer and family; silver cracker jar, Misses Sina, Lillian and Maud Casbon; salad dish, Floyd Aylesworth and Jettty [sic] Carson; silver sugar shell, Mr. and Mrs. Clinton Aylesworth and family; silver gravy ladle, Mr. and Mrs. L.H. Coplin; glass salt and pepper box, Bessie Shreve; half dozen napkins and bed spread, Emery Wickham; one pair linen towels, Mrs. J.W. Aylesworth; rug, Mr. and Mrs. [i.e., Cora Casbon] John Sams and Elmer Stulz; bed spread, Mr. and Mrs. Jerome Massey; silver gravy ladle, Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Skinkle; silver jelly spoon, Mr. and Mrs. L.L. Casbon and family; set silver teaspoons, Jesse Casbon; silver berry spoon, Mrs. Belle Aylesworth and daughter; bed spread, Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Shreve; broom, Mr. and Mrs. Guy Aylesworth; pair linen towels, Mr. and Mrs. [i.e., Lodema Casbon] Hiram Church; glass salt and pepper boxes, Anna Aylesworth; glass vase, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Massey; silver gravy ladle, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Casbon; one dozen water glasses, Mr. and Mrs. H.B. Kenney; silver pickle castor, Mr. and Mrs. S.V. Casbon; glass tea set, Giles Aylesworth and family; cream ladle, Mr. and Mrs. W.E. Black and daughter; chamber set, Mr. and Mrs. Wallace, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Leeka, Mr. and Mrs. Guy Aylesworth and Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Aylesworth; pair white leghorn chickens, Mr. C. Wallace. The house was a piece of Mr. Wallace’s own work and showed his skill as a workman.

The article is full of interesting details, from the description of Carrie’s dress to the itemized list of wedding gifts.

Amos C and Carrie wedding photo
Wedding portrait of Amos and Carrie (Aylesworth) Casbon;
courtesy of Ron Casbon (click on image to enlarge)

I suspect this wedding was a bigger affair than many in the local community. Carrie’s father, John Aylesworth, was a prominent farmer. Members of the Aylesworth family first settled in Porter County in 1842. Their descendants owned several hundred acres of land in Boone Township.

Carrie Belle was not the first Aylesworth to marry a Casbon. Sylvester (“S.V.” in the article) Casbon’s  first wife was Mary Adaline Aylesworth, who died in 1868. Consequently, the Aylesworth and Casbon families have always had close ties, and Casbons have been invited to the annual Aylesworth family reunions up to the present day.

I think it’s very interesting that the minister, Rev. Miller, was said to be from Indianapolis, which is about 140 miles away from Boone Grove. A search on FamilySearch.org shows that Rev. Melnotte Miller was the officiating minister for many weddings in various Indiana locales, although Indianapolis is not among them. He officiated at many Porter County weddings in 1899 and 1900, so perhaps he was temporarily assigned to the county at that time.

The list of gifts reveals a mix of practical items and valuable silverware. Have you ever heard of a pickle castor? I had not. This was apparently an ornate container for serving pickled condiments.

pickle castors
Pickle castors (www.carolsantiqueshop.com)

I especially like the gift of two leghorn chickens, apparently with their own henhouse, custom built by Mr. Wallace.

I wonder if any of these gifts have been handed down in the family?

From the standpoint of my one-name study, the guest list is chock full of Casbons, indicated in bold font in the transcript. This is not surprising, given that Porter County was ground zero for all the Casbons of English descent. Notably absent, however are any of Amos’s immediate family, which then consisted of his stepmother, Mary, and his sisters Margaret “Maggie,” and Alice. He was said to have been estranged from Mary and Maggie, but I don’t know why Alice wasn’t there. Or, perhaps they were in attendance, but just not listed as the givers of gifts.

There is one other item of interest in the article: the statement that the couple would “go to housekeeping in about six weeks and will reside on Mr. Casbon’s farm, two miles west of Boone Grove.” The location doesn’t make sense to me. In the previous post, I mentioned a January 1900 news item stating that Amos, then living in Chicago, was job hunting in the Boone Grove area.[2] He apparently found a job, since we find him in the 1900 U.S. census, residing in Porter Township.

Amos C 1900 census porter county
Detail from the 1900 U.S. census, Porter Township, Porter County, Indiana
(FamilySearch.org) (click on image to enlarge)

Amos is listed as a boarder on the farm of William Shreves. (Note that Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Shreve and their daughter Bessie were present at the wedding). Amos’s occupation is not given in the census listing, but presumably he was engaged in farming. The Shreve farm was located about 1 ½ miles west of Boone Grove, so perhaps that is the location referred to in the article. However, if that is the case, it could not be rightfully described as “Mr. Casbon’s farm.” Also, I doubt that Amos’s lodgings on the Shreve farm would have been suitable for a young newlywed couple.

The statement that Amos and Carrie would start housekeeping “in about six weeks” brings another explanation to mind. I have reviewed the Porter County deed records and note that Amos’s first land purchase closed on 14 January 1901, almost six weeks exactly after the wedding. On that date, Amos purchased 65 acres from Hattie Dye for the price of $3,250.[3] That land is located about one-half mile southwest of Boone Grove. Although the location does not match what is written in the article, the timing and the description as “Mr. Casbon’s farm” make this the likely place.

Boone porter combined 1895
Detail of 1895 plat maps of Porter and Boone Townships, Porter County, Indiana, showing John Aylesworth’s farm, Amos’s residence in the 1900 U.S. census, and Amos’s first land purchase in 1901. (Porter County Indiana: A Part of the InGenWeb Project, http://www.inportercounty.org/)(Click on image to enlarge)

At any rate, this is where Amos and Carrie spent their lives together. Over many subsequent years, Amos bought adjoining plots of land to increase his holdings and the value of his property. This land remains in the family today.

[1]“Wedding Bells,” The Porter County (Indiana) Vidette, 6 December 1900.
[2]“Boone Grove Items,” The Porter County Vidette, 25 January 1900.
[3]Indiana, Porter County, Deed Records, vol. 59, 1899–1901.

Cora Ann (Casbon) Sams (1861–1940)

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Cora Ann was the first child born to Sylvester V (1837–1927) and Adaline (Aylesworth, 1842–1868) Casbon. She was born September 1, 1861 in Porter Township, near Hebron, in Porter County, Indiana.[1] Her parents may well have been living with Adaline’s family at the time, as they had just recently been married, and Sylvester did not make his first land purchase until a few months after Cora’s birth.[2]

Cora’s mother, Adaline, died in 1868, before Cora was seven years old.[3] She was thirteen when her “second mother,” Harriet (Perry) Casbon died in 1874.[4] She was sixteen when Sylvester married for the third time, to Mary Mereness.[5] The loss of two mothers must have been very difficult for her. I suspect she had to “grow up fast” and take on many of the household and child care duties.

She was eighteen when she married John Sams, a labourer working on a farm in nearby Boone Township.[6] John seems to have come from an itinerant family. He was born in Tennessee, but moved to Kentucky before he was six years old and then came to Porter County while still “in his youth.”[7] Eventually, John became “one of Porter county’s most Influential and progressive farmers.”[8]

John and Cora had four children at widely spaced intervals. The first, a daughter named Vina Mae, was born in June 1881.[9] The next child was a son who died shortly after birth in 1892.[10] Goldie was born in 1898 and Lester in 1904.[11] Cora became a widow in 1916 when the automobile John was in was struck by a train.[12] She continued to live in the Hebron area until her death on March 16, 1940.[13]

I received this photograph a number of years ago from the wife of one of Cora’s grandsons.

John Sams family 1892
Portrait of Cora, Mae and John Sams, 1892; back of the photo is on the right. Courtesy of Rosemary Sams.
(Click on image to enlarge)

I hope you will take the time to study the photograph. It is lovely by itself, but is even more remarkable because of the written description in Cora’s own hand.

Mae was 11 years old and could not walk. Taken 1892
My dress was dark green water-wave silk (soft) with plain green silk
ribbon was pale pink – 2 piece dress know then as a basque with croquette ball buttons
Mae dress green navy and orange wool plaid with navy blue plush white collar, green bow, gold chain with gold purse as a charm
Dads suit black and high top black boot which were very stylish those days also wore a vest
                                                                                                                   Cora Sams

That’s an amazing dress! The description really brings it to life and highlights how important written communications were in the days before telephones and color photography. Given that Mae was eleven years old, the photo must have been taken in the latter half of 1892, within a few months of the birth and death of their son. From their clothing it seems that John must have already been well on his way to becoming a prosperous farmer.

It seems that Cora’s words were written several years after the photo was taken, since she talks about “those days.” Was she writing to someone in particular, or just recording her memories for posterity? Whatever the answer, we are lucky today to be able to share this link to the past.

[1] “South County Woman Dies,” The (Valparaiso, Indiana) Vidette-Messenger, 16 Mar 1940, p. 1, col. 5; online image, Newspaper Archive (accessed through participating libraries: 11 July 2016).
[2] Porter County, Indiana, Deed Record Book N, p. 12, Giles Aylesworth to Sylvester Casbon, 19 Dec 1881; imaged as “Deed records, 1836-1901,” FamilySearch(https://www.familysearch.org/search/film/008070782?cat=609009 : accessed 19 Sep 2017), image 378 of 880; citing FHL microfilm 1,703,772, item 2.
[3] Weston A. Goodspeed and Charles Blanchard, Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana: Historical and Biographical: Illustrated (Chicago: F.A. Battey & Co., 1882), p. 706: online image, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/stream/countiesofporter00good#page/706/mode/2up : accessed 22 Aug 2016).
[4] Ibid.
[5] Lake County, Indiana, Marriage Record D, 5-10-1877 to 8-19-1885, p. 31 (stamped), 2d entry, Sylvester Casbon and Mary Mereness, 13 Dec 1877; imaged as “Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9PXK-VZ?i=53&cc=1410397 : accessed 15 April 2018), Lake > 1877-1885 Volume D4 > image 54 of 329; citing FHL microfilm 2,414,589.
[6] 1880 U.S. Census, Porter County, Indiana, population schedule, Boone Township, p. 10 (penned) B, family 98, John Sames in household of A.W. Smith; imaged as “United States Census, 1880,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYYY-92WS?i=9&cc=1417683 : accessed 19 April 2018), Indiana > Porter > Boone > ED 145 > image 10 of 17; citing NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 305.
[7] “More About Accident That Shocked City, The Porter County (Indiana) Vidette, 23 Feb 1916. p.3; online image, Newspaper Archive (accessed through participating libraries: 10 Jul 2016).
[8] Ibid.
[9] “United States Social Security Death Index,” database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J2B8-24X : accessed 11 Jul 2016), Mae Felty, Mar 1973 (b. 9 Jun 1881); citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File.
[10] Find A Grave, database with images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/183415597/sams : accessed 25 May 2018), memorial for “infant son” Sams, b. 22 May 1892, Find A Grave memorial no. 183415597, created by “Jim”; citing Cornell Cemetery, Hebron, Porter, Indiana.
[11] Indiana, State Board of Health, death certificate no. 190 (stamped), Porter County, Boone Township, Goldie M.A. Sams, b. 5 Feb 1898, d. 1 Mar 1913; imaged as “Indiana, Death Certificates, 1899-2011,” Ancestry (https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=60716 : accessed 25 May 2018), Certificate >17 >1913 >image 238 of 1793; citing Indiana Archives and Records Administration; Indianapolis. “United States Social Security Death Index,” FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JP9L-M28 : accessed 11 Jul 2016), Lester Sams, Sep 1984 (b. 9 May 1904).
[12] Indiana, State Board of Health, death certificate no. 134 (stamped), La Porte County, La Porte Township, John Sams, 17 Feb 1916; Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/60716/44494_350789-01795?pid=4748495 : accessed 19 April 2018), Certificate >1916 >09, image 1796 of 2137.
[13] “South County Woman Dies,” The (Valparaiso, Indiana) Vidette-Messenger, 16 Mar 1940.

Mary (Mereness) Casbon (1850–1932)

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I’ve been writing about the wives of my second great-grandfather, Sylvester V Casbon (~1837–1927). The deaths of Adaline (Aylesworth, 1842–1868) and Harriet (Perry, ~1840-1874) must have been very hard on him and his children. Sylvester was 37 years old when Harriet died. Once again, the children needed a mother and he needed a wife. He was prospering as a farmer and, from that standpoint, would have made a good match for many a daughter or young widow. However, in the eyes of the local women, the outcome of his first two marriages might have diminished his prospects as an eligible bachelor. It would be another three years after Harriet’s death until he remarried. Her name was Mary Mereness. and they were married in Lake County, Indiana, on December 13, 1877.[1]

Sylvester C Mary M marriage record
Marriage record of Sylvester Casbon and Mary Mereness, Lake County, Indiana. (Click on image to enlarge)

Mary was the daughter of John I and Eva (Zea) Mereness. Her birth date is recorded in several sources (including her grave stone) as April 15, 1851, but this can’t be correct, since she is listed as being four months old on the 1850 census, which was enumerated on August 16, 1850.[2] So, I think the correct birth date is actually April 15, 1850. The records do agree that she was born in Schoharie County, New York.[3] Sylvester’s biography in the History of Porter County tells us that John and Eva Mereness

were natives of New York, and emigrated to Indiana when their daughter Mary was six years old, becoming farmers in this county. The other children in the family were Abram, Harrison, Peter, Catherine, Ann and Margaret. Their schooling was obtained in New York and Indiana, and some attended the school at Blachley’s Corners and others at the Deep River school.[4]

Sylvester didn’t have to look far to find Mary. On the 1870 census, we find Sylvester and Mary, then nineteen and living with her parents, on the same page, just a few entries away from each other.[5]

Mereness John 1870 census Lake Co INDetail from 1870 Census, Ross Township, Porter County, Indiana. (Click on image to enlarge)

In fact, they were neighbors. An 1891 plat map shows land that formerly belonged to John Mereness abutting against Sylvester land. The two families must have known each other for quite some time, probably well before Harriet Casbon died in 1874.

Upon their marriage, Mary instantly became “mother” to four children: Cora Ann, age sixteen; Lawrence, twelve; Thomas Sylvester, seven; and Charles Parkfield, five. Sylvester’s youngest son, George, had presumably already moved to Iowa with Sylvester’s sister, Emma, and her husband, Robert Newell Rigg. Henrietta Chester, the daughter of Sylvester’s deceased wife, was probably already married by that time.[6] Although having a wife and mother in the household must have greatly eased the burden on Sylvester, it could easily have been a difficult adjustment for the children. However, the History of Porter County reassures us that “Mrs. Casbon became a loyal mother to her husband’s children, and to her they owe much of the training which helped them attain worthy positions in life.”[7]

Although only 27 when she married, Mary never had children of her own. Given what had happened to Adaline and Harriet, perhaps this was a good thing.

This photograph, from about 1889, shows Sylvester, then about 52 years old, and Mary, about 39.

Sylvester & Mary Mereness Casbon 1889
This is the earliest photograph I have of either Sylvester or Mary. Is that a bustle?
(They were still in fashion, though declining in size by then.) (Photo courtesy of Ilaine Church)

This photo, taken about 1905, shows Sylvester and Mary with their children and grandchildren.

Sylvester C family portrait abt 1905 Sylvester Casbon and extended family, about 1905, Valparaiso, Indiana.
(Jon Casbon private collection; click on image to enlarge)

Mary and Sylvester moved to Valparaiso when Sylvester retired from farming in 1892.[8] They certainly had a long (50 year), and hopefully happy, marriage, which ended with Sylvester’s death in December, 1927.[9] Mary survived him by a little more than four years, passing way on February 28, 1932, age 81.[10]

Mary Mereness Casbon death Vidette Messenger 1932
Mary’s obituary from the Valparaiso Vidette Messenger.[11] . (Click on image to enlarge)

Mary is the only one of Sylvester’s wives to have been buried alongside him, in Graceland Cemetery, Valparaiso.[12]

[1] Lake County, Indiana, “Marriage Record D, 5-10-1877 to 8-19-1885,” p. 31 (stamped), 2d entry, Sylvester Casbon and Mary Mereness, 13 Dec 1877; image, “Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9PXK-VZ?i=53&cc=1410397 : accessed 15 April 2018), Lake > 1877-1885 Volume D4 > image 54 of 329; citing FHL microfilm 2,414,589, item 1 (image 61 of 919).
[2] 1850 U.S. Census, Schoharie County, New York, population schedule, Sharon Town, n.p., dwelling 392, family 393, Mary Mereness in the household of John J. Mereness; imaged as “1850 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/8054/4203565_00357?pid=8418705 : accessed 11 April 2018), New York >Schoharie >Sharon, image 54 of 63; citing NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 596, p. 376B.
[3] 1855 census of New York State, Schoharie County, Sharon district, , n.p., dwelling 427, family 454, John I. Mereness; imaged as “New York, State Census, 1855,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9BLJ-654?i=30&cc=1937366 : accessed 15 April 2018) >Schoharie >Sharon >All, image 31 of 50; citing FHL microfilm  868,878.
[4] History of Porter County Indiana: A Narrative Account of its Historical Progress, its People and its Principal Interests, vol. 2 (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1912), p. 484; online image, Hathi Trust Digital Library (https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89067919191;view=1up;seq=140;size=150 : accessed 15 April 2018).
[5] 1870 U.S. Census, Lake County, Indiana, population schedule, p. 431 (stamped), dwelling 68, family 69, John Marinus; imaged as “United States Census, 1870,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-64PS-5W7?i=10&cc=1438024 : accessed 11 April 2018), Indiana > LaGrange > Ross > image 11 of 44; citing NARA microfilm publication M593, roll 333.
[6] Personal communication, Jon Casbon with Linda Pearson, 13 September 2016.
[7] History of Porter County Indiana, p. 484.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Indiana, State Board of Health, Certificate of Death, no. 36661 (stamped), Valparaiso, Porter County, Sylvester Casbon, 10 Dec 1927; imaged as “Indiana, Death Certificates, 1899-2011,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/60716/44494_350059-01166?pid=4786046 : accessed 15 April 2018), Certificate >1927-1927 >15, image 2675 of 4752; citing Indiana Archives and Records Administration; Indianapolis, Death Certificates, 1926–1927, roll 15.
[10] Indiana, State Board of Health, Certificate of Death, no. 5742, Valparaiso, Mary Casbon, 28 Feb 1932; “Indiana, Death Certificates, 1899-2011,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/60716/44494_351221-02752 : accessed 15 April 2018), Certificate >1932 >02, image 2753 of 3010; citing Indiana Archives and Records Administration; Death Certificates, 1932, roll 2.
[11] “Death Claims Mary Casbon.” The (Valparaiso, Indiana) Vidette Messenger, 29 Feb 1932, p. 3, col. 8; online image, Newspaper Archive (accessed through participating libraries: 16 Jun 2016).
[12] Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/116217328/mary-casbon : accessed 15 April 2018), memorial for Mary Casbon (15 Apr 1851–23 Feb 1932), Memorial ID 116217328, created by “Kathy”; citing Graceland Memorial Park, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana.

Emeline Harriet (Perry) Casbon (~1840–74)

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When Mary Adaline (Aylesworth) Casbon died in March 1868, she left behind her husband, Sylvester V. Casbon, 30 years old, and two children: Cora Ann, seven, and Lawrence Leslie, almost three. He would have needed help caring for the children and maintaining the household. I’m sure family and friends would have stepped in to help, but what he really needed was a wife. It was another year and a half before he found one. Her name was Emeline “Harriet” Perry. They were wedded on October 11, 1869 in Porter County, Indiana.[1]

marriage record 1869 Detail from Porter County marriage records, 1869. (Click on image to enlarge)

As was the case with Adaline, there are very few records of Harriet’s life, so her story must be told from those few records and whatever else can be inferred from the lives of those around her.

The exact year of Harriet’s birth cannot be determined because of conflicting information in the available records. The earliest record I know of is the 1850 U.S. Census of Center Township, Porter County, Indiana.[2]

Perry Ezekial 1850 census Center Porter IN
Detail of 1850 U.S. Census, Porter County, Indiana. (Click on image to enlarge)

This census shows Harriet, age 10, with the rest of her family. If the age is correct, Harriet’s birth date would be between late October 1839 and early October 1840. However, the 1860 and 1870 censuses give her age as 19 and 27, respectively. Her grave marker lists her year of birth as 1842. Since the 1850 census was recorded closer to her actual birth date than the other records, I’ll go with “about 1840” for her birth year. All the censuses agree that she was born in Canada.

This census is also the best record we have showing Harriet’s immediate family, so it’s worth spending a little more time with it. We can see that her father’s name was Ezekial Perry, 51 years old and born in New York. Her mother’s name was Olive (probably Briggs), 49 years old. Harriet’s siblings, in birth order, were Alfred B (27), Allen (24), Electa (14), (Mary) Adaline (11), James (7), and Dwight (2). There is evidence on an Ancestry family tree that Ezekial had been previously married, and that Alfred and Allen were products of that marriage.[3]

Ezekial Perry, Harriet’s father, was probably born in Cayuga County, New York, in 1799.[4] This is supported by a handwritten family tree.[5] We can see from the 1850 census, that Ezekial moved his family to Canada sometime between about 1836 and 1839 (Electa’s and Adaline’s birth years, respectively). Then he moved back to New York sometime between 1840 and 1843 (James’ birth year). Then he moved to Indiana sometime before 1848 (Dwight’s birth year).

Given the obvious fact that Ezekial and his family moved around a lot, it would be nice to know how and why he ended up in Porter County. I don’t know the answer, other than saying that moves like this usually came down to finances, friends, or family. The 1850 census gives us a clue. In it is an entry for Ambrose Perry, age 29, born in New York and living in Center Township with his wife and daughter.[6] Ambrose was apparently Ezekial’s son from his earlier marriage.[7] Ambrose’s three-year-old daughter was born in Missouri, so he must not have arrived in Porter County any earlier than 1847. It’s possible that Ambrose arrived first and Ezekial followed; or vice-versa. It’s also possible that they arrived together. There were a number of families with origins in New York living in Porter County at that time, so it’s also possible that the Perrys were acquainted with one or more of these families.

The next record we have of Harriet is in 1856, when she was married to Henry Chester, son of a Lake County, Indiana farmer.[8] Depending on which birth year is correct, Harriet would have been somewhere between fourteen and sixteen years old at the time. It turns out that Harriet’s older half-brother, Allen, married a woman named Roxanna Chester about a month and a half after Harriet’s marriage to Henry.[9] Roxanna was almost certainly Henry’s younger sister, who appears in the 1850 census as “Joxanna”[10] Apparently the two families were acquainted!

Henry and Harriet Chester appear in the 1860 census with two daughters, Mary and Olive, living in Ross Township, Lake County, just across the county line from Porter County.[11] We don’t know exactly what happened, but Harriet and Henry were divorced, sometime before 1866, when Henry remarried.[12] I first learned of the divorce in an interesting blog post a couple of years ago.

The next recorded event in Harriet’s life is her marriage to Sylvester Casbon in 1869. With the marriage she became the stepmother to Sylvester’s two children: Cora Ann, now approaching eight years old; and Lawrence Leslie, age four. Harriet also brought a daughter, Henrietta, to the marriage, as seen in the 1870 census.[13]

Sylvester Casbon 1870 census(1) Detail from 1870 U.S. Census, Ross Township, Lake County, Indiana. (Click on image to enlarge)

We can see in this census that Sylvester and Harriet were now living in Lake County, having moved there from Porter County sometime in the late 1860s. We can also see a small detail in column 17: Harriet “cannot write.”

In fairly short order, Harriet bore Sylvester three sons: Thomas Sylvester, born 1870; Charles Parkfield, 1872, and George Washington Casbon, 1874.[14] With the latter birth, what should have been a happy occasion soon turned to tragedy. Harried died on November 14, 1874, not quite two months after George’s birth.[15] Records do not tell us the cause of her death. Sylvester was once again a widower with five children of his own, ranging in age from thirteen to two months old, and possibly Harriet’s daughter Henrietta as well. The children had no mother. This must have been one of the hardest aspects of life in those times.

grave marker
Harriet’s grave marker, Mosier Cemetery, Porter County, Indiana (photo taken by Jon Casbon, 2017). This appears to be a more recent stone, apparently erected by one or more of her sons. (Click on image to enlarge)

As was true of Adaline (Aylesworth) Casbon, Harriet’s legacy continues through her descendants. I don’t have an accurate accounting of her descendants, but I know there are many. Notably, Harriet is the matriarch of the Iowa Casbons through her son George, who was raised by Sylvester’s sister, Emma, and her husband, Robert Newell Rigg.[16]

Harriet’s memory is tied to Iowa in more ways than her Casbon descendants. Thanks to Claudia Vokoun for pointing out to me that several members of the Perry family moved to Black Hawk County, Iowa, right next to Tama County, where George was raised and eventually settled. Harriet’s half-brother, Alfred B Perry, moved to that area in about 1857.[17] He was followed by his brothers Ambrose and Allen sometime before 1870.[18] This seems like more than just a coincidence to me. Whether or not George Casbon’s adoptive parents knew the Perry’s is unknown, but there was probably some common factor that drew these Porter County families to the same part of Iowa.

[1] “Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KDH3-PGM  : accessed 21 January 2016) > Porter > 1863-1871 Volume 3 > image 295 of 352, Syvester Casborn and Emiline H Perry, 21 Oct 1869; citing Porter County Clerk; FHL microfilm 1,686,156.
[2] 1850 U.S. Census, Porter County, Indiana, Center Township, p. 107 (stamped), dwelling 139, family 139, Ezekial Perry; imaged as “United States Census, 1850,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-D1K9-NMX?i=20&cc=1401638 : accessed 10 April 2018) > Indiana > Porter > Centre > image 21 of 26; citing NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 165.
[3] “Public Member Trees,” database, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/56271556/person/42015269794/facts : accessed 10 Apr 2018), “Curtis Vorthmann” family tree by “Cheri_Vorthmann,” profile for Ezekial Perry (1799–1880).
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] 1850 U.S. Census, Porter County, Indiana, population schedule, Center Township, p. 108 (stamped), dwelling 162, family 162, Ambrose Perry; imaged as “United States Census, 1850,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-D1K9-XPG?i=22&cc=1401638 : accessed 10 April 2018) > Indiana > Porter > Centre > image 23 of 26; citing NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 165.
[7] Public Member Trees, Ancestry; “Curtis Vorthmann” family tree, profile for Ezekial Perry (1799–1880).
[8] “Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KDH3-P6Y accessed 10 April 2018), Porter County, p. 240, record 2, Henry Chester and Harriet Perry, 3 Jul 1856; citing Porter County Clerk.
[9] County Clerk, Lake, Indiana, “Marriage Record 1849 B (1849–1866),” p. 188 (penned), 2d entry, Allen Perry and Roxanna Chester, 5 Mar 1866; imaged as “Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9PX5-D82?i=121&cc=1410397 : accessed 10 April 2018) >Lake > 1849-1866 Volume B1849 > image 122 of 311.
[10] 1850 U.S. Census, Lake County, Indiana, population schedule, Ross Township, p. 141 (stamped), dwelling 27, family 27; Charles Chester; imaged as “United States Census, 1850,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-XCMQ-BY?i=3&cc=1401638 : accessed 10 April 2018) >Indiana > Lake > Ross > image 4 of 18; citing NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 157.
[11] 1860 U.S. Census, Lake County, Indiana, population schedule, Ross Township, p. 20 (penned), dwelling 138, family 138, Henry Chester; imaged as “United States Census, 1860,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYBY-9MY5?i=19&cc=1473181 : accessed 10 April 2018) >Indiana > Lake > Ross Township > image 20 of 38; citing NARA microfilm publication M653, Roll 274.
[12] County Clerk, Lake, Indiana, “Marriage Record 1849 B (1849–1866),” p. 563 (penned), 2d entry, Henry Chester and Harriet L. Hanks, 5 Mar 1866; browsable images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9PX5-D3N?cc=1410397 : accessed 10 April 2018), image 437 of 827; citing Family History Library microfilm  2,413,488, item 2.
[13] 1870 U.S. Census, Lake County, Indiana, population schedule, Ross Township, p. 431 (stamped), dwelling 70, family 71, Casbon Sylvester; imaged as “United States Census, 1870,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-64PS-5W7?i=10&cc=1438024 : accessed 10 April 2018) >Indiana > LaGrange > Ross > image 11 of 44; citing NARA microfilm publication M593, roll 333.
[14] Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/116217116 : accessed 10 April 2018), memorial page for Thomas S Casbon (1870–1955), memorial ID 116217116, created by “Kathy”; citing Graceland Memorial Park, Valparaiso, Porter, Indiana. “United States, World War One (WWI) Draft Registration Cards,1917-1918,” images and transcriptions, findmypast (https://search.findmypast.com/record?id=usm%2fww1dr%2f005250509%2f02362&parentid=usm%2fwwidr%2f1669325093 : accessed 9 November 2017), card for Charles Parkfield Casbon, serial no. 537, local draft board, Valparaiso, Porter, Indiana; citing National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), series M1509. Registration card for George Washington Casbon, Tama County, Iowa, 1918; imaged as “United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-81HC-9MQ?i=656&cc=1968530 : accessed 10 April 2018) > Iowa > Tama County; A-Z > image 657 of 5002; citing NARA microfilm publication M1509.
[15] Weston A Goodspeed, Charles Blanchard, Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana: Historical and Biographical, Illustrated (Chicago: F.A. Battey & Co., 1882), p. 707; online image, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/stream/countiesofporter00good#page/706/ : accessed 10 April 2018).
[16] Jon Casbon, “Introducing the Iowa Casbons! Part 1. 5 Oct 2-17, Our Casbon Journey (https://casbonjourney.wordpress.com/2017/10/05/introducing-the-iowa-casbons-part-1/ : accessed 10 April 2018).
[17] 1860 U.S. Census, Black Hawk County, Iowa, population schedule, Lester Township. p. 136 (penned), dwelling 82, family 79, Alfred B. Perry; imaged as “United States Census, 1860,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GB9N-91KT?i=10&cc=1473181 : accessed 10 April 2018) < Iowa > Black Hawk > Lester Township > image 11 of 14; citing NARA microfilm publication M653, Roll 312.
[18] 1870 U.S. Census, Black Hawk County, Iowa, population schedule, Lester Township, p. 451 (stamped), dwelling 108, family 107, Perry Ambrose; imaged as “United States Census, 1870,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-624W-G16?i=14&cc=1438024 : accessed 10 April 2018) >Iowa > Black Hawk > lester > image 15 of 22; citing NARA microfilm publication M593, roll 377. 1870 U.S. Census, Black Hawk County, Iowa; FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-624W-PV7?i=18&cc=1438024 : accessed 10 April 2018) >Iowa > Black Hawk > lester > image 19 of 22.

Mary Adaline (Aylesworth) Casbon (1842–1868)

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I’ve spent a lot of time describing different branches of families with the Casbon surname. For the most part, I’ve tried to work my way forward from the earliest ancestors in a given branch. Today I’m picking up where I’ve left off in my own branch.

Mary Adaline, or just “Adaline,” (Aylesworth) Casbon, my second great grandmother, has been mentioned in other posts, but today she gets the starring role. She was the first wife of Sylvester Casbon (1837–1927), Thomas Casbon’s (~1803–1888) oldest son. Very little information about Adaline’s life has been documented, and sources are limited, so her life story must be filled in from the stories of those around her.

Adaline’s birth date is recorded as May 22, 1842 in the Aylesworth Family genealogy.[1] She was the sixth of seven children born to Giles and Mary (Jones) Aylesworth.[2] Of Giles, we are told that he was “born in Milford, Otswego County, New York, May 28, 1807; moved to Ohio in 1815 with his mother and acquired some education there.”[3] Specifically, Giles and his mother, moved to Wayne County, Ohio, along with two of his brothers, Ira and Phillip.[4] The location is important, because Thomas Casbon arrived in the same county in 1846, and it is here that the Casbon and Aylesworth families first became acquainted.[5]

Giles and Mary Jones were married in 1831.[6] They moved to Porter County, Indiana in late 1842.[7] Adaline would have been only a few months old when they left for Indiana. We are told that:

years of hard labor against great odds appears to have been the chief factor in this decision to move westward. Ohio had been entirely solvent before she contracted for a system of canals which became out-moded before they were finished by the new railroads. “Pet Banks” of Andrew Jackson’s time encouraged speculation and all greenbacks became worthless. Then came the panic of 1837. Giles migrated west with two wagons, household goods, tools, grubbing how, axe and musket, five children and Mary, his wife. With $2,000.00 in gold which had been sealed in a false bottom of a dinner bucket he bought the farm which is the present family home.[8]

Giles settled in Boone Township, in the southern part of Porter County. An early county history says that he “taught school (in Boone Township) in the winters of 1842 and 1843.”[9] This is an interesting detail that I will come back to later. Over the course of years, he, and other family members who followed him from Ohio, acquired large tracts of land in Boone Township. At one point, there was even a village, or at least a railroad stop, known as Aylesworth, about four miles east of Hebron.[10]

Adaline appears in the 1850 and 1860 censuses, living with her parents.[11]

Aylesworth Giles 1850 census Aylesworth Giles 1860
Details from 1850 and 1860 censuses, Boone Township, Porter County, Indiana. (Click on images to enlarge)

We can see that Adaline was enrolled in school in 1850 (but not in 1860). This tells us that she could probably read and write. We can also see that her father’s real estate increased in value from $1,200 to $10,000 between the two censuses. This places him among the wealthiest farmers in the township.

The 1860 census also shows an entry for Deretta Ailsworth, age 4. I wrote a separate post about Deretta in February 2017, explaining why I believe she is Adaline’s illegitimate daughter.[12]

1860 is also the year that Adaline married Sylvester Casbon.[13] To tell that story, we need to backtrack just a little bit. The 1912 History of Porter County tells us that Sylvester, after completing his education, taught school for one term at Mt. Ollie, Ohio.

“Then acting under the persuasion of a friend Mr. Ellsworth, who had settled in Porter county, Indiana, and also from his own wish to locate further west, Mr. Casbon came to this county in 1859 and began teaching in what was then known as the Ellsworth school (my emphasis).”[14]

I should explain that in the above reference, Ellsworth is a variant spelling of Aylesworth. So, we can assume that Sylvester’s friend, “Mr. Ellsworth,” was a member of the Ohio Aylesworth clan. Most likely, he was either Elias (b. 1834) or Sylvenus (b. 1836) Aylesworth, both sons of Giles’ nephew, John (b. 1813).[15] The two brothers grew up in Clinton Township, Wayne County, Ohio, the same township where Sylvester Casbon lived after arriving from England. Sylvester and the Aylesworth boys are recorded within ten pages of each other in the 1850 census.[16] They probably weren’t next-door neighbors, but it’s likely they were school chums—particularly Sylvenus, who was just one year older than Sylvester. Both Elias and Sylvenus moved to Porter County, Indiana sometime before 1860, when they appear in the same household (Elias now married, with two small children) on that year’s census.[17]

Sylvester taught in the Ellsworth school (also known as the Ellsworth District).[18] The name of the school suggests that it was on Aylesworth property. An 1876 map shows two schools located on Aylesworth (not Giles’) land, but there is not enough detail in historical accounts to know whether either of these was the school referred to in Sylvester’s biography. Although an interesting coincidence, it seems unlikely to me that Sylvester taught in the same school house as his father-in-law, Giles, because many of those early schools had burned down or relocated by the time Sylvester arrived.[19]

However, it is very likely that Sylvester taught one or more Aylesworth children. Giles’ son, Irvin, was attending school in 1860, according to the census.[20] Giles’ nephew, Ira, who occupied an adjacent farm, had five children in school in 1860.[21] Also, I think it’s quite possible that Sylvester lived in one of the Aylesworth households during this time. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to locate Sylvester in the 1860 census.

Whatever the circumstances, Adaline and Sylvester’s paths soon crossed, as described in this rosy account.

In 1860, Mr. Casbon established his own home by his marriage to Miss Mary A. Ellsworth, a daughter of Giles Ellsworth, of Boone township. Their wedded life was begun on a farm of eighty acres in Boone township, which he had purchased. There was a small house, but few other improvements, and on this place their youthful enthusiasm and industry soon were rewarded with substantial prosperity.[22]

Here’s a photo of their marriage registration in the Porter County archives.

Casbon Sylvester Adaline Aylesworth m 1860 Porter Co IN Detail from Porter County marriage records.[23]

It’s a minor detail, but ten days passed from the date the license was granted (October 20, 1860) to the day they were married (October 30). It would have been an all-day affair to get the license, with a roughly thirteen-mile buggy or wagon ride to and from the county courthouse in Valparaiso. The officiating minister, “J.N. Buckharmer,” must be James N. Buchanan, who was the pastor of the United Presbyterian Church at Hebron, about four miles west of the Aylesworth farm.[24]

Adaline and Sylvester’s first child, a daughter named Bertha, died June 22, 1861, aged six months and six days.[25] This works out to an approximate birth date of December 16, 1860, only six weeks after the couple was married. Even if Bertha wasn’t born at term, Adaline’s pregnancy must have been quite advanced at the time of the wedding.

Adaline and Sylvester had two more children: Cora Ann, born in 1861, and Lawrence Leslie (my great grandfather), born in 1865.[26] Then, tragically, on March 5, 1868, Adaline died, a month shy of her twenty-sixth birthday. We don’t know how or why she died. Early death was all too common then, especially for women of child-bearing age. All we have today is a broken and worn grave marker.

grave marker
Adaline’s grave marker, Cornell Cemetery, Porter County, Indiana.[27]

There are so many questions left unanswered. Was she happy in her life and marriage?

Her surviving children (except maybe Deretta—“Deete”) would only have had the dimmest memories, if any, of her. And yet, she leaves a legacy through her descendants. I know of 50 living descendants just through her son Lawrence. The number must be considerably greater when you consider her daughters, Deretta and Cora.

I would not be here without her—and for that I’m grateful!

[1] Aylesworth Family, 2d ed. (Porter County, Indiana: Privately printed, 1984), p. 13.
[2] Aylesworth Family, pp. 8-9.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid, p. 7.
[5] Jon Casbon, “From England to Indiana, Part 3,” 21 Oct 2016, Our Casbon Journey (https://casbonjourney.wordpress.com/2016/10/21/from-england-to-indiana-part-3/ : accessed 31 March 2018).
[6] Ibid. p. 8.
[7] Mrs. John C. Aylesworth, “Aylesworth, Biography: Porter County biographical sketches …,” Porter County, Indiana (http://www.inportercounty.org/Data/Biographies/Aylesworth45.html : accessed 31 March 2018).
[8] Aylesworth Family, p. 9.
[9] Weston A. Goodspeed, Charles Blanchard, Counties of Porter and Lake Indiana: Historical and Biographical; Illustrated (Chicago: F.A. Battey & Co., 1882), p. 314; online image, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/stream/countiesofporter00good#page/314/mode/2up/search/aylsworth : accessed 31 March 2018).
[10] History of Porter County, Indiana: A Narrative Account of its Historical Progress, its People and its Principal Interests, vol. 1 (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1912), p. 136; online image, Hathi Trust Digital Library (https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89067919183;view=1up;seq=170 : accessed 31 March 2018).
[11] 1850 U.S. Census, Porter County, Indiana, population schedule, Boone Township, p. 142 (stamped), dwelling 573, family 573, Giles Aylesworth; imaged as “ United States Census, 1850,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-D1K9-NW6?cc=1401638 : accessed 31 March 2018) >Indiana >Porter >Boone, image 11 of 14; citing NARA microfilm publication M432, Roll 165. 1860 U.S. Census, Porter County, Indiana, population schedule, Boone Township, p. 150 (written), dwelling 1129, family 1096, Giles Ailsworth; imaged as “United States Census, 1860,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GB9J-SZPK?i=3&cc=1473181 : accessed 31 March 2018) >Indiana >Porter >Boone Township, image 4 of 24; citing NARA microfilm publication M653, Roll 289.
[12] Jon Casbon, “Deete Casbon—a mystery,” 27 Feb 17, Our Casbon Journey (https://casbonjourney.wordpress.com/2017/02/27/deette-casbon-a-mystery/ : accessed 31 March 2018).
[13] Indiana, Porter County, “Marriage Record Book 2, Dec 1850–June 1863,” p. 458, 2d entry, Sylvester Casbon & Adeline Ellsworth, 30 Oct 1860; Valparaiso Public Library, Larry J. Clark Genealogy Center.
[14] History of Porter County, Indiana, vol 2, p. 483.
[15] Aylesworth Family, pp. 10, 15.
[16] 1850 U.S. census, Wayne County, Ohio, population schedule, Clinton Township, folio. 1 (verso), dwelling 8, family 8, Sylvester in household of Thomas Casbon; imaged as “United States Census, 1850,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-XHRS-K7M?i=1&cc=1401638 : accessed 31 March 2018) >Ohio >Wayne >Clinton image 2 of 28; citing NARA microfiom publication M432, Roll 739. 1850 U.S. census, Wayne County, Clinton Township, folio 6 (recto & verso), dwelling 88, family 88, Elias & Sylvenus in household of John Aylesworth; FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-XHRS-VDS?i=11&cc=1401638 : accessed 31 March 2018) >Ohio >Wayne >Clinton image 12 of 28.; ibid.
[17] 1860 U.S. census, Porter County, Indiana, population schedule, Boone Township, p. 149 (written), dwelling 1118, family 1086, Elias Ailsworth; imaged as “United States Census, 1860,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GB9J-SZ6V?i=2&cc=1473181 : accessed 31 March 2018) >Indiana >Porter >Boone Township, image 3 of 24; previously cited.
[18] Goodspeed & Blanchard, Counties of Porter and Lake Indiana, p. 707.
[19] Ibid, pp. 169-70.
[20] 1860 U.S. census, entry for Giles Ailsworth; previously cited.
[21] 1860 U.S. census, Porter County, Indiana, Boone Township, entry for Ira Ailsworth; FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9B9J-SH1R?cc=1473181 : accessed 31 March 2018), image 2 of 24; previously cited.
[22] History of Porter County, Indiana, vol 2, p. 483.
[23] Indiana, Porter County, “Marriage Record Book 2, Dec 1850–June 1863,” p. 458; previously cited.
[24] “James N. Buchanan, Biography: Porter County Biographical Sketches,” Porter County, Indiana (http://www.inportercounty.org/Data/Biographies/Buchanan198.html : accessed 31 March 2018).
[25] Northwest Indiana Genealogical Society, Boone Township Cemeteries, Porter County Indiana, leaflet (Valparaiso, Indiana, 1997), p. 6. (photocopy obtained in email from Steve Shook [e-address for private use], 2 Mar 2018).
[26] “South County Woman Dies,” The (Valparaiso, Indiana) Vidette-Messenger, 16 Mar 1940, p. 1, col. 5; online image, Newspaper Archive (accessed through participating libraries: 11 July 2016). “85-Year-Old Resident of County Dies,” The Vidette-Messenger, 16 Jun 1950, p. 1, col. 5; Newspaper Archive (29 October 2015).
[27] “Mary Adaline Casbon,” Find A Grave (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/183537552/mary-adaline-casbon : accessed 31 March 2018), d. 5 Mar 1868, memorial # 183537552, created by “Jim”; citing Cornell Cemetery, Hebron, Indiana.

Leslie Casbon, Valparaiso High School Class of 1914

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Getting distracted by “bright shiny objects” or BSOs is generally considered a bad habit in genealogy research. Such distractions can interrupt an organized plan of research, wasting valuable time and resulting in a disorganized mess of unrelated facts. While I generally agree with this view, I think a case can be made that pursuing BSOs can occasionally lead to serendipitous (there’s that word again!) discoveries and open up new lines of inquiry.

At least that’s my justification for today’s post. While looking through my archives for an unrelated item, I came upon my paternal grandfather’s high school yearbook, the Valparaiso (Indiana) High School Annual of 1914, the year he graduated.

Valpo HS 1914 yearbook cover
Grandpa’s yearbook. (Click on image to enlarge)

Browsing through his yearbook gave me a glimpse of life in Valparaiso at the time and a few tantalizing hints into my grandfather’s life as he was emerging into adulthood.

I haven’t really written about my grandfather or his generation, so I’ll briefly put him into context. Leslie Christy Casbon was born December 24, 1894 in Porter County, Indiana.[1] He was the eldest son of Lawrence (1865–1950) and Kate (Marquardt, 1868–1959) Casbon. Lawrence was the eldest son of Sylvester V (1837–1927) and Mary Adaline (Aylesworth, 1842–1868) Casbon; and Sylvester was the eldest son of Thomas (1803–1888) and Emma (Scruby, 1811–1870) Casbon, who emigrated from England first to Ohio in 1846, and then to Indiana in the 1860s. Thus, Leslie was in the fourth generation of Casbons living in Indiana.

Here is his class photograph and entry in the 1914 yearbook.[2]

Casbon Les 1914 yearbook entry
(Click on image to enlarge)

Of the 30 graduating seniors, his written entry was among the shortest (the shortest was for a girl: “She had her troubles but she kept them to herself and was a ray of sunshine to all”). From this description I’m led to believe that he wasn’t the most outgoing member of the class, but neither was he considered an outsider, and he seems to have been appreciated by his classmates.

The yearbook has a section called “Class Will,” in which members of the class make humorous bequests to underclassman. Here is the section containing Grandpa Les’ bequest.[3]

Class will

I had to puzzle out what this meant. I finally figured out that he’s saying he is able to walk down the stairs without engaging in conversation with Gail, and he’s bequeathing that ability to Howard. Does this mean that everyone else does talk to Gail Fehrman? Or is he making a jab at Howard, who perhaps can’t resist talking to Gail? I couldn’t find out anything more about Gail other than she had notable dimples. Howard seems to have been a class cutup. At any rate, it reinforces my thought that young Les took pride in his self-control.

The only other mention of Les in the yearbook is in a section titled “Calendar,” in which daily events throughout the school year are described.[4]

March calendar

Overall, Grandpa Les comes across as good-natured and generous, at least with his father’s horses and maybe a wagon too. It seems like there was a good sense of camaraderie among his classmates – a good thing with only 30 students in the class.

Unlike modern school yearbooks, this one seems to have been produced solely by the graduating class, with only a few contributions from underclassmen. The lower classes each have a page or two and a group photo, but class members are not listed by name. Many of the graduating seniors wrote sections of the yearbook. Les’ contribution was a description of the Manual Training Department. His concluding paragraph reads:

The Manual Training Department is a very important part of a school and should be installed in all high schools, for it not only affords a change in work during the day for the regular day pupil, but it gives him a training with tools. Since most men work with some kind of tools, it is a great advantage for a pupil to get his training while young.

The high school he attended was built in about 1904, so it was still a fairly new structure when Les attended.[5]

ValparaisoIndiana-CentralSchoolBuilding01-Interurban-1914-SSValparaisoIndiana-CentralSchoolBuilding-1913-SS
Postcards showing the Valparaiso High School (also known as Central School) in 1913. The building was located at 305 Franklin Street. This building burned down in 1938, but a new school was built, on the same foundation (as seen on Google Street View), and now houses the Central Elementary School.[6] I like the street car going down Franklin Street. (Click on images to enlarge)

As I was leafing through the yearbook I had another surprise. From out of the pages slipped a program for the commencement ceremony, held on May 19, 1914, in the Opera House.

Casbon Les 1914 HS graduation program
Cover and insert for 1914 Valparaiso High School commencement ceremony. Private collection of Jon Casbon. (Click on image to enlarge)

From this program, we learn that students could be enrolled in either a “Latin” or a “Scientific” course of study. Grandpa Les was enrolled in the latter. Although not described in detail in the yearbook, the Latin course, as the name implies, included in-depth study of the Latin language, grammar and literature throughout all four years of high school. The Scientific Course included a variety of science topics and allowed for Agriculture to be substituted for these classes in the second term of each year. The description also includes this interesting statement:

The boys in the scientific course are no longer compelled to take Manual Training and the girls are not compelled to take Domestic Art or Domestic Science, but any student, even in the Latin course, wishing to take this work may do so.… The girls are interested in Manual Training and the boy as well as the girls are learning how to cook.”[7]

What progressive thinking for the times!

As I mentioned, there were 30 students in the graduating class. The yearbook also listed 46 “ex-members of the class of 1914.” Compulsory education was only required up to age fourteen in Indiana at that time.[8] My grandfather was among the roughly 40 percent of his original classmates who completed their high school education.

It’s pretty impressive to me that he (and his two younger brothers, by the way) completed high school. He might have been the first Casbon to do so. The family was living on their farm in Morgan Township, about four miles from the school by road. How did he get there every day? How did he manage schoolwork in addition to the farm chores? I imagine most of his classmates were “city kids” who didn’t need to travel as far and could participate in extracurricular activities more easily.

For those interested, a nearly complete set of the Valparaiso High School yearbooks (known as The Valenian since 1917) from 1904–2012 has been digitized and is available for viewing on the Internet Archive at https://archive.org/details/valparaisohighschoolyearbooks&tab=collection.

[1] Indiana, delayed birth certificate no. 113-94-504260 (1954), Leslie Christy Casbon; Indiana State Board of Health, Division of Vital Records, Indianapolis.
[2] Valparaiso (Indiana) High School, Class of 1914, Annual (Privately printed, 1914), unnumbered p. 11 (beginning with title page).
[3] Valparaiso High School, Class of 1914, Annual, unnumbered p. 34.
[4] Valparaiso High School, Class of 1914, Annual, unnumbered p. 58.
[5] Steven Shook, “Historical Images of Porter County: High School Building Valparaiso, Indiana,” Porter County, Indiana (http://www.inportercounty.org/PhotoPages/Valparaiso/Schools/Valparaiso-Schools003.html : accessed 23 January 2018).
[6] Shook, “Historical Images of Porter County: High School Building Valparaiso, Indiana.”
[7] Valparaiso High School, Class of 1914, Annual, unnumbered p. 19.
[8] Frank A Horner, compiler, The Revised Statutes of the State of Indiana: Embracing All General Laws in Force October 1, 1901, with Digested Notes of Judicial Decisions Construing Or Illustrating Their Provisions, Vol. 1 (Rochester, N.Y.: The Lawyers Cooperative Publishing Company, 1901), chapter 52, “Education,” section 4541a; online image, Google Books (https://books.google.com/books?id=aUkwAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false : accessed 23 January 2018).