Anna – Our Casbon Journey

Musings on John

December 31, 2018April 15, 2020 admin5 Comments

This is a follow-on to an earlier post titled “Stuck on John,” in which I described how my research into the origins of the Meldreth branch of the Casbon family hit a “brick wall.” I had been able to trace the ancestry to a John Casborn who married Anne Chamberlain in 1742.^[1] The problem was that there were at least two men named John Casb—— living in or near Meldreth at the time, and there wasn’t enough information to know for certain which one was the husband of Anne. But now, I’ve discovered evidence that puts me on much firmer ground about who “my” John might be.

First, let’s review what I know about my ancestor John. After their marriage, John and Anne had five children, according to baptismal records: Thomas (my ancestor, baptized in 1743), James (1747, buried 1748), James (1748), Mary (1750), and Anna (1754).^[2] Anne, John’s wife, died in 1770.^[3] John was described as “parish clerk” when he was buried in 1796.^[4]

Detail of burial record, 1796, from Meldreth Parish registers. “John Casborn, Parish Clerk, aged 75. January 4.”
(Click on image to enlarge)

We can be reasonably sure that all of these records refer to the same man because there are no other men named John Casb—— recorded in the parish records of Meldreth and its vicinity during this time frame. Since the burial record gives his age as seventy-five, we can extrapolate a birth year of 1720 or 1721. This is very helpful.

The only person I have found who matches all of this information is John Casborn, the son of Thomas and Mary (Jeap), who was baptized in the village of Orwell, about two and one-half miles from Meldreth, in November 1721.^[5]

Detail of baptism record, 1721, Orwell Parish registers, 1560-1877. “Nov. 26 John y[e] Son of
Thomas & Mary Casborn.” (Click on image to enlarge)

Map of southwestern Cambridgeshire, showing villages of Orwell and Meldreth.
(Google Maps – zoom in for greater detail

Notably, aside from his baptism, John does not appear again in Orwell parish records. This suggests that he moved elsewhere before his marriage and/or burial. How can we know if he is the same man who moved to Meldreth and later married Anne?

Here’s where the new evidence comes in, in the form of registers of duties paid for apprentices’ indentures. When a master took on (i.e., indentured) a new apprentice, he was paid a fee, usually by the parents of the apprentice. The master was required to pay a tax, or duty, on this fee. Records of apprenticeships, fees and duties were created by the Board of Stamps, and are now maintained by The National Archives of the UK.^[6] These records can be searched at Ancestry.com.

I found this record in the collection (you’ll need to click to be able to read it).

Detail from Register of Duties Paid for Apprentices Indentures, 9–12 July 1736.^[7] (Click on image to enlarge)

This record shows that “Will. Casbill of Mildred in Cambridge Cordwr. [cordwainer]” received a fee of four pounds, eleven shillings for the indenture of “John Casbill of Orwell” for a duration of four years, nine months, beginning “24 June last.” William Casbill was required to pay a duty of two shillings, three and one-half pence, based on the indenture fee.

The record is important because it connects John of Orwell to the village of Meldreth. He would have been about fifteen years old in 1736, an appropriate age for an apprentice. It’s odd that the term of indenture is only four years, nine months, since the usual apprenticeship was for seven years. It makes me wonder if William had been training John “off the books” for a couple of years before he paid the tax.

Who was his master, William Casbill? I don’t know for certain. One candidate is William Casbel, who was born in Meldreth in 1703 and was orphaned when his mother died in 1718.^[8] Another candidate is John’s paternal uncle, William Casbolt, baptized 1695 in nearby Barrington. There are burial records for William Casbel in 1741 and William Carsburn in 1756.^[9] Unfortunately, neither of these provide information about the deceased’s ages or occupations.

Incidentally, cordwainer is the old term for a shoemaker. There seems to have been a succession of cordwainers from Meldreth named Casb——. I wrote previously about John Casball, cordwainer, who paid duties for an apprentice in 1718 and died in 1727 (“a poor shoemaker”). He was followed by William of the 1736 indenture, who was followed by John of Orwell. Given the surname, it’s hard to believe these men weren’t all related in some way. It seems likely that the earlier John trained William to be a cordwainer, although I haven’t found any such records.

Getting back to John of Orwell, another apprenticeship record shows us that he remained in Meldreth as a master cordwainer following completion of his own apprenticeship.

Detail from Register of Duties Paid for Apprentices Indentures, 24–28 January 1774.^[10] (Click on image to enlarge)

This record shows that on January 28, 1774 “John Casbon of Meldreth in Co. of Cambridge Cordwainer” paid the indenture duty for an apprentice named Thomas Wing.

Thus, we have several points that can be connected to describe John’s life from his baptism in Orwell to his burial in Meldreth. Using the available records we can create this chronology:

1721: John Casborn, son of Thomas and Mary (Jeap), is baptized in Orwell
1736: John Casbill of Orwell is indentured as an apprentice to William Casbill of Meldreth
1742: “John Casborn of the Parish of Meldreth and Ann Chamberlain of this Parish” are married in Wimpole, Cambridgeshire, 18 January 1742
1743–1754: five children are born to John & Ann, including Thomas (baptized 1743)
1770: “Anne Casbull Wife of John Casbill” is buried at Meldreth
1774: John Casbon, cordwainer, indentures Thomas Wing as apprentice
1796: “John Casborn, Parish Clerk, aged 75” is buried at Meldreth

You may notice an inconsistency in this chronology. The burial record of 1796 describes John as the parish clerk, but not as a cordwainer. Could he have been both parish clerk and cordwainer? I believe the answer is yes. I’ll address this in the next post.

Considering all the evidence, I’m confident that this “brick wall” is gone, i.e., I believe John Casborn, baptized 1721 in Orwell, is my direct ancestor and the common ancestor for all the Casbons, Casbans and Casbens who descended from his children. What do you think?

As an epilogue to John’s story, we find that in 1797, Thomas Wing, John’s former apprentice and now a master cordwainer himself in Meldreth, indentured an apprentice of his own.^[11] The torch was passed.

^[1] Church of England. Wimpole Parish (Cambridgeshire, England), Bishop’s transcripts for Wimpole, 1599-1857, Casborn–Chamberlain marriage (1742); digital images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89PH-H6G9?i=121&cat=1317069 : accessed 7 June 2016), image 122 of 799.
^[2] Church of England, Meldreth Parish registers; accessed as “Parish registers for Meldreth, 1681-1877, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/210742), images 109-111 of 699; citing FHL microfilm 1,040,542, item 2.
^[3] Ibid, image 61 of 699.
^[4] Ibid, image 129 of 699; citing FHL microfilm 1,040,542, item 3.
^[5] Church of England, Parish of Orwell (Cambridgeshire), Parish Registers; accessed as “Parish Registers, 1560-1877,” browsable images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/film/007567608?cat=210878 : accessed 26 December 2018), image 278 of 695; citing FHL microfilm 1,040,543, item 9.
^[6] “Board of Stamps: Apprenticeship Books,” The National Archives (http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C9339 : accessed 23 December 2018).
^[7] “UK, Register of Duties Paid for Apprentices’ Indentures, 1710-1811,” database with images, Ancestry (https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1851 : accessed 19 December 2018), 1735-1739 >image 339 of 909, 10 Jul 1736; citing The National Archives, IR-1/14, Kew.
^[8] Church of England, Meldreth Parish registers; accessed as “Parish registers for Meldreth, 1681-1877, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/210742), images 48 & 101 of 699; citing FHL microfilm 1,040,542, item 2.
^[9] Ibid., images 54 & 57 of 699.
^[10] “UK, Register of Duties Paid for Apprentices’ Indentures, 1710-1811,” Ancestry (https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1851 : accessed 10 May 2018), 1770-1774 >images 732-3 of 1930, 28 Jan 1774; citing The National Archives, IR1/28, Kew.
^[11] “UK, Register of Duties Paid for Apprentices’ Indentures, 1710-1811,” Ancestry (https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1851 : accessed 23 December 2018), 1794-1799 >imgs 424-5 of 1960, 20 Apr 1797; citing the National Archives, IR 1/ 68.

Report Cards

August 1, 2018April 15, 2020 admin2 Comments

Among the many treasures recently sent to me by John Casbon were photographs of these two report cards.

Photos courtesy of John N Casbon. (Click on images to enlarge)

These are obviously report cards for brothers Jesse (1898–1974) and Steven (1900–1979) Casbon. Jesse was John N Casbon’s father. Although the location and year of the report cards are not given, we can narrow these facts down through other sources of information. In addition, the report cards can give us some insight into Jesse and Steven’s education and the educational system of the time.

As to time and location, the name of Jesse and Steven’s teacher, Grace Hubbell, aids us greatly in pinning these down. The name looked familiar to me, and then I recalled an earlier post, “Bundy School, Porter County Indiana, 1907,” that mentioned Miss Hubbell and even included a photograph of her. In a 1912 biography of her uncle, Fletcher D White, we are told, that

Mr. and Mrs. White have reared in their home a niece, Grace Hubbell, an amiable, talented young lady, who is a graduate of Valparaiso University in the scientific and normal departments. She has taught for three years in the Bundy school near this city and has recently been engaged to teach in the schools of Gary.^[1]

Based on this information, we can guess that the report card is from Bundy school in Porter County, probably sometime between 1908–1912.

This matches well with what we know about the boys’ whereabouts based on census reports. In 1905, they were living with their mother Anna and aunt Lillie Casbon in Red Lake Falls, Minnesota.^[2] By 1910 they were living with their grandfather, Jesse Casbon Sr. in Porter County.^[3] Jesse and Steven were listed as ages 10 and 9, respectively. This was probably within a year or two of the time the report cards were written.

The Bundy school was a one-room schoolhouse with only one teacher, so the boys would have been in class with children of all ages and grade levels. The report cards don’t tell us what “grades” they were in, but evidently there was some way of distinguishing, since “Rank in Grade” (Jesse: 78 percent; Steven: 70 percent) was a category on the report cards. I find it interesting that the report cards were entirely hand-written. The only academic subjects receiving grades were Spelling ,Reading and Writing. Punctuality and Deportment (a word rarely used these days) were also graded. What a difference from today’s educational system!

Jesse and Steven weren’t at the top of their grade levels, but it looks like they were in the upper 50 percent (assuming Miss Hubbell was using a zero to 100 percent scale). Jesse seems to have been a slightly stronger student than Steven. In particular, he scored 96 percent on an examination in mathematics. We know from later life that Jesse was an astute businessman. Perhaps this was an early indication.

The 1912 History of Porter County has some interesting information about the county’s public schools. Outside of the city of Valparaiso, there were several high schools and one grammar school. Aside from these, each township was divided into a number of school districts, “and one teacher is employed in each district school.”^[4] The one-room schoolhouse was still the norm for education through the eighth grade. The average school term was 178 days.^[5] We’re also told that the average daily wage for teachers in Porter County was $3.38.^[6]

We know from the 1940 census that Jesse and Steven completed eight years of school education.^[7] I wonder how much of their education was completed in Porter County? Their early years must have been rough – parents separated, then divorced, relocation to Minnesota and then Indiana. These experiences probably helped to build a strong bond between them. The report cards were presumably saved by their mother, Anna. What significance did they hold for her?

^[1] History of Porter County Indiana: a Narrative Account of its Historical Progress, its People and its Principal Interests, vol. 2 (Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1912), p. 569 (entry for Fletcher White, pp. 564-9).
^[2] Fifth Decennial Census of Minnesota (1905), Red Lake County population schedule, Red Lake Falls, p. 344 (penned), enumeration nos. 1079–1082, Annie Kitchenn, Lillie Casbon, Jessie & Steven Kitchenn; imaged as “Minnesota State Census, 1905,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9Q97-YSB7-M72?i=7&owc=waypoints&cc=1503056 : accessed 1 August 2018), Red Lake > Red Lake Falls, Ward 02 > image 8 of 10; citing State Library and Records Service, St. Paul.
^[3] 1910 U.S. Census, Porter County, Indiana, Center Township, enumeration district 137, sheet 10A, dwelling 155, family 158, Jesse Casbon; imaged as “”United States Census, 1910,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GRJJ-CL9?i=18&cc=1727033 : accessed 1 Auguest 2018), Indiana > Porter > Center > ED 137 > image 19 of 26; citing NARA microfilm publication T624, roll 374.
^[4] History of Porter County Indiana: a Narrative Account, vol. 1, p. 87.
^[5] Ibid.
^[6] Ibid.
^[7] 1940 U.S. Census, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, population schedule, election district 5, p. 622 (stamped), enumeration district 2-29-B, sheet 4-A, household 79, Casbon, Jesse (age 41); imaged as “United States Census, 1940,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89M1-HKD9?i=6&cc=2000219 : accessed 6 July 2017); citing NARA digital publication T627, roll 1502. 1940 U.S. Census, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, population schedule, 4th Election District, District Training School, enumeration district 2-23, sheet 9A, p. 494 (stamped), line 16, Stephen Casbon (indexed as “Carbon”); imaged as “United States Census, 1940,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9M1-HVF6?i=16&cc=2000219 : accessed 28 June 2018); citing NARA digital publication T627, roll 1501.

Stuck on John

February 17, 2017April 15, 2020 admin8 Comments

Genealogists use the term brick wall to describe a situation where they cannot find the information needed to trace an ancestor. That’s where I’m at with John, the father of Thomas Casbon (1843—1799) of Meldreth. John is my sixth great grandfather.

Summary diagram, descendants of John Casbon (Click on image to enlarge)

I’ve used charts like this before to show the relationships of people I’ve discussed. You’ll notice that I don’t have birth or death information for John on the far left. That’s the brick wall I’m talking about. I don’t know when or where John was born, and I’m not sure when he died.

To demonstrate how I’ve tried to solve the problem, I’ll start with the known and work back to the unknown. Here’s what I know about John. The Meldreth parish registers have baptismal records for five children born to John and his wife Ann:

“Thomas Son of John & Ann Casbel was Baptiz’d Dec.r ye 11th” [1743][1]

“James Son of John & Anne Casbell was baptized Jan.9th” [1747][2]

“Nov: 6. James Son of John & Anne Casbull” [1748][3]

“M[ar]ch ye 10.th Mary Daughter of John & Ann Casball” [1751][4]

“Sept.23 … Anna daug.r of John & Ann Casburn” [1754][5]

The first son named James must have died in infancy, since the next son was given the same name. Thomas was the subject of an earlier post. His descendants have been the subjects of many posts.

The next step in is to find a marriage record between John Casb(*) and Ann (? surname) within a few years preceding Thomas’ baptism in 1743. There are no such records in Meldreth or Melbourne. However, I was eventually able to locate this record in the parish register of Wimpole, a tiny village 2.7 miles northwest of Meldreth.[6]

Detail of marriage record, 1742/3; Parish of Wimpole (Cambridgeshire), Bishop’s Transcripts. “John Casborn of the parish of Meldreth and Ann Chamberlain of this Parish were married by Banns January the 18.” (Click on image to enlarge)

This is almost certainly the right couple, given the proximity of the marriage date to the birth of their first child, and given the statement that John belongs to the parish of Meldreth. I could not find any marriage records that might contradict this evidence.

The next step is to try to find baptismal records for John and Ann. This turned out to be fairly easy for Ann. I could not find any records for Chamberlain in Wimpole, where John & Ann were married. On the other hand, there were many Chamberlain records in Meldreth, including this one.

Detail of baptismal record, 1717/18; Parish of Meldreth (Cambridgeshire). “Anne daughter of William & Elizabeth was Baptized March 9th – 1717.”[7] (Click on image to enlarge)

The date of birth would have made Ann about 24 years old when she was married, and about 36 when she had her first child, so this fits in well with the available data. By the way, you may have noticed in the baptismal record that the dates for 1717 begin and end in March. That’s because at that time in England the legal new year began on March 25th (Lady Day).[8] In addition, England was using the old Julian calendar, which calculated leap years incorrectly.[9] This was corrected by the Calendar Act of 1750, which came into effect in 1752.[10]

To be fair, I also found two baptismal records for Ann Chamberlain in the village of Wrestlingworth, Bedfordshire, in the years 1710 and 1713, respectively. Wrestlingworth is about 5.6 miles west of Wimpole and 7.2 miles west of Meldreth. It is possible that one of these could have married John instead of Ann of Meldreth, but the latter is more likely. Also, there are no burial or marriage records to suggest that Ann of Meldreth died or was married to anyone else.

I don’t know why Ann was living in Wimpole at the time, but it was probably for employment. There was a very large estate at Wimpole (think Downton Abbey!) at the time, now part of the National Trust.[11] Such a large household would have required many servants – a good reason for Ann to be there.

Finding a baptismal record for John is where the brick wall comes into play. The problem is that there are too many candidates. Assuming that John was a bachelor when he was married in 1742/3 (likely but not certain), he was probably born sometime between 1700 and 1725. Meldreth parish registers list two baptisms for John Casb(*) in this time frame:

“June the 8th [1707] the two children of William Cassbell deceased and of Anne his wife were Baptized the eldest born October 1701 was Baptized John the youngest born March 6th 1702 was Bap. William”[12]

“John the Son of John Cassbell and of Anne his wife was Baptized May the 26th [1714]”[13]

To complicate matters further, in the nearby village of Orwell (2.5 miles north of Meldreth), the baptism of John Casborn, son of Thomas and Mary, was recorded on November 26, 1721.[14] If I extend the distance or age range a little bit, the list of candidates grows considerably. However, I think we can limit the list to these three.

How can we tell which one married Ann Chamberlain? I don’t have an answer, but there is information that might help us to narrow it down a bit.

The first John, born in October 1701 and baptized in 1707, became an orphan when his widowed mother died In 1718.[15] John would have needed to become self-sufficient pretty quickly if he wasn’t already. He seems a less likely candidate for Ann’s husband because of his age – 41 would have been pretty old to be getting married for the first time. It’s also possible he died at an early age. One of these two burials might have been him.

“John Cassbell Servant at Bassingbourn was buried in Woolen December the 3d [1724]”[16]

“John Cassbell, a poor shoemaker was buried in Woolen March the 26th 1727”[17]

Unfortunately, I just don’t have enough information to draw any firm conclusions.

Based on his date of birth, the second John, baptized in 1714, could be the one who married Ann. I think he would have been too young to be the servant who died in 1724 or the shoemaker in 1727. However, I’ve searched far and wide for any other records that might be related to him and have come up blank.

At first, John Casborn of Orwell might not seem a likely candidate because he was not baptized (or presumably born) in Meldreth. In addition, there is evidence that his parents continued to live in Orwell for the rest of their lives – well after John and Ann were married.

But there is even stronger evidence in favor of this being the right John. The first is this death record from 1796.[18]

Detail of burial record, 1796, Meldreth Parish registers 1681-1877. “John Casborn, Parish Clerk, Aged 75 _____ Jan.y 4.” (Click on image to enlarge)

If you calculate the birth year from this record, John Casborn was born about 1721 – the same year as John Casborn of Orwell. There are no other baptisms recorded for John Casb(*) around this time in the local area, so this provides strong evidence that John, born in Orwell, became the parish clerk and lived in Meldreth. There is no indication of when he was appointed or how long he served in this capacity.

Another piece of evidence is the fact that he named his first-born son Thomas. It was common practice at the time to name first-born sons after their paternal grandfather.[19] John of Orwell’s father was named Thomas, while the fathers of John born 1701 and 1707 were named William and John, respectively. These naming conventions were not required, nor were they consistently followed. So while suggestive, the fact that John and Ann’s first son was named Thomas doesn’t prove anything. The fact that their first daughter was named Mary (John of Orwell’s mother’s name) is also suggestive, although the naming convention would have given her the name of Elizabeth (Ann’s mother).

Another piece of evidence, though weak, is geography. Orwell is less than 1 mile away from Wimpole. If John was living in Orwell at the time Ann came to Wimpole, they could have easily met. On the other hand, if John became the parish clerk of Meldreth at an early age, he could have met Ann while she was still living in Meldreth.

[googlemaps https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=11AQDptPhSEw5F-jk5Ea–CWMA9o&w=640&h=480]
Map showing locations of Meldreth, Orwell, Wimpole, and Wimpole Estate (Google Maps)

So, to summarize, there are at least three candidates for John Casb(*), who married Ann Chamberlain in 1642. Of these, John born in 1701 seems the least likely. Of the remaining two, my money is on John, baptized in Orwell 1721. But without better evidence, I just can’t say for sure. So for now, this is where my family tree for the Meldreth Casbons comes to a dead end.

[1] Church of England, Meldreth Parish (Cambridgeshire, England), Parish registers for Meldreth, 1681-1877, Thomas Casbel baptism (1743); FHL Film #1040542.
[2] Church of England, Meldreth Parish, James Casbell baptism (1746).
[3] Church of England, Meldreth Parish, James Casbull baptism (1748).
[4] Church of England, Meldreth Parish, Mary Casball baptism (1751).
[5] Church of England, Meldreth Parish, Anna Casburn baptism (1754).
[6] Church of England. Wimpole Parish (Cambridgeshire, England), Bishop’s transcripts for Wimpole, 1599-1857, Casborn–Chamberlain marriage (1742); digital images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89PH-H6G9?i=121&cat=1317069 : accessed 7 June 2016), image 122 of 799.
[7] Church of England, Meldreth Parish (Cambridgeshire, England), Bishop’s transcripts for Meldreth, 1599-1862, Anne Chamberlain baptism (1717/18); digital images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9T9-NFVL?mode=g&i=173&cc=1465708&cat=1108704 : accessed 16 February 2017), image 174 of 899.
[8] Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org), “Calendar (New Style) Act 1750,” rev. 13:33, 22 January 2017.
[9] FamilySearch Wiki (https://familysearch.org/wiki), “England Calendar Changes,” rev. 20:49, 25 December 2015.
[10] Wikipedia, “Calendar (New Style) Act 1750,” rev. 13:33, 22 January 2017.
[11] Caroline Norton, “Wimpole Hall—Upstairs and Downstairs,” The (Cambridge Family History Society) Journal 19 (April 2013): 12–16; PDF image, Cambridge Family History Society (https://cfhs.org.uk/journals/Volume%2019%20Number%202%20April%202013.pdf : accessed 16 February 2016).
[12] Church of England, Meldreth Parish (Cambridgeshire, England), Parish registers for Meldreth, 1681-1877, John & William Cassbell baptism (1707); FHL Film #1040542.
[13] Church of England, Meldreth Parish, John Cassbell baptism (1714).
[14] “England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975,” John Casborn, 26 Nov 1721, database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N821-Z31 : accessed 6 November 2015); citing Orwell, Cambridge, England, reference items 9-10; FHL microfilm 1,040,543.
[15] Church of England, Meldreth Parish, Ann Cassbell burial (1718); FHL Film #1040542.
[16] Church of England, Meldreth Parish, John Cassbell burial (1724).
[17] Church of England, Meldreth Parish, John Cassbell burial (1727).
[18] Church of England, Meldreth Parish (Cambridgeshire, England), Bishop’s transcripts for Meldreth, 1599-1862, John Casborn burial (1796); digital images, FamilySearch. (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9T9-NF6Z?mode=g&cc=1465708 : accessed 16 Feb 2017), image 257 of 899.
[19] FamilySearch Wiki (https://familysearch.org/wiki), “British Naming Conventions,” rev. 06:29, 3 February 2016.

From England to Indiana, Part 5

November 4, 2016 admin4 Comments

This the fifth in a series of posts examining a handwritten family history of Isaac Casbon and his descendants. The date and authorship of the manuscript is unknown. So far we’ve looked at Isaac Casbon’s family in Meldreth, England; his son Thomas’ marriage, family, and emigration first to Ohio and later to Porter County, Indiana; and Thomas’ death in Indiana. We continue with…

Silvester Casbon Lives at the present time at Deep River Lake Co Ind has married 3 times having lost the two first wives He had two children by the first wife Adeline Aylsworth a daughter and son by the last Harriett Perry three sons no heirs by the last
Charles Lives near Valparaiso had born to him four children first born died in infancy two more daughters wer born to them Lodema and Sina Jo Casbon then one son Lawrence
Lodema married Highram Church
Jesse Married Emily M. Price of Koutts to them wer born four daudhters and one son who died in infancy

This section provides a more detailed look at the third generation of Casbons in the manuscript, with Isaac being the first and Thomas the second generation. The events mentioned in this section provide valuable clues about when the manuscript was written.

Let’s look first at Sylvester, Thomas Casbon’s oldest son. Sylvester married Adaline Aylesworth on October 30^th, 1860, in Porter County. [1] Sylvester and Adaline actually had three children, not two. The first was a daughter named Bertha, who was born in December 1860 but died when she was six months old. [2] The other two children were Cora Ann, born June 1861, [3] and Lawrence Leslie (my great grandfather), born March 1865. [4] There are anecdotal reports of a fourth child, Deete, but for various reasons, I’m certain she was not their child. She’ll be the topic of a later post. Sylvester’s wife Adaline died March 1868 in Deep River, Lake County, Indiana. [5]

Sylvester married Emmeline Harriet Perry in October 1869. [6] They had three children: Thomas Sylvester, born July 1870; [7] Charles Parkfield, born October 1872; [8] and George Washington, born August 1874. [9] Harriet died just a few months after George’s birth, in November 1874. [10]

Sylvester’s third wife was Mary M Mereness. They were married in December 1877 and had no children. [11]

Sylvester and Mary (Mereness) Casbon, about
1905. Photo from author’s collection (Click on
image to enlarge)

Shortly after his first marriage, Sylvester bought a small farm in Boone Township, Porter County, [12] but later moved to Deep River in adjacent Lake County, Indiana. [13] In 1892, Sylvester and his third wife left the farm and moved to Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana. [14] When this family history was written, Sylvester was still living in Deep River. Therefore, the latest date it could have been written would be in 1892, before he moved to Valparaiso.

After telling of Sylvester’s marriages and children, the manuscript turns to his brother Charles. Charles returned to Holmes County, Ohio to marry Mary Evelyn Marrell in December 1868. [15] It’s interesting that the author fails to mention the name of Charles’ wife or that of Sylvester’s third wife. I suspect this was just an oversight, or it didn’t seem important to the author of the document.

Charles and Mary had four children. The first daughter, Lillie May, was buried in September 1871, when less than a year old. [16] Lodema Evaline was born October 1871. [17] Their third child was also a daughter, Sina Jane, born March 1874. [18] Lawrence John, their only son, was born August 1875. [19]

Charles Thomas Casbon in front of his home at 203 Monroe St., Valparaiso, Indiana, about 1912. The two women are probably his wife Mary and daughter Sina. Photo from History of Porter County, Indiana: A Narrative Account of its Historical Progress, its People and its Principal Interests. Lewis Publishing Company (1912) p. 458 (Click on image to enlarge)

The statement “Lodema married Highram Church” is the other piece of the puzzle for dating the manuscript. Lodema Casbon married Hiram Church in February 1890 in Porter County. [20] This gives the earliest date that the family tree could have been written. Combined with the fact that Sylvester was still living in Deep River, the manuscript must have been written sometime between 1890 and 1892.

The last of Thomas Casbon’s children to be summarized in this document is his youngest son Jesse. Jesse married Emma Price in April 1872, in Valparaiso. [21] Jesse and Emma had four daughters, Maude, born March 1873; [22] Anna Mae, born December 1876; [23] Lillian E, born in February 1880; [24] and Edna, born December 1885. [25] A son, Ivan, died in infancy. [26] I haven’t been able to locate any records pertaining to him.

With Jesse Casbon and his children, the family history concludes its discussion of Isaac and Thomas Casbon’s descendants. One noteworthy omission from this document is the marriage of Thomas and Emma Casbon’s youngest daughter, Emma. Emma’s birth was mentioned earlier in the document, and that was the last we heard of her. She married Robert Noel Rigg of Porter County in 1869. [27] In 1876 Robert and Emma moved to Tama County, Iowa. [28] I wonder why Emma was left out of this document?

Detail of a photo taken at a Casbon family reunion about 1901. This is the only photo I’m aware of showing all four of Thomas’ children. Photo from author’s personal collection (Click on image to enlarge)

It’s also interesting that the author mentions the marriage of Charles’ daughter Lodema, but not that of Sylvester’s daughter Cora Ann, who was married to John Sams in 1880. [29] Perhaps Lodema’s marriage was fresh in the author’s mind, or perhaps the author was closer to that side of the family.

[1] “Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007. FamilySearch. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KDH3-L4L [accessed 21 January 2016]
[2] Shook, S. “Cornell Cemetery, Boone Township”, database, Porter County, Indiana http://www.inportercounty.org/Data/Cemeteries/CornellCemetery.html [accessed 22 Aug 2016]
[3] “Cora Ann Casbon Sams”, Find A Grave, http://findagrave.com), http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=143588545 accessed 22 Aug 2016
[4] “85-Year-Old Resident of County Dies.” Vidette-Messenger, 16 Jun 1950. Valparaiso, Indiana. Newspaper Archive Academic Library Edition http://ezproxy.ppld.org:2083/us/indiana/valparaiso/valparaiso-vidette-messenger/1950/06-16 [accessed 29 Oct 2015]
[5] Shook, S. “Cornell Cemetery, Boone Township” [accessed 22 Aug 2016]
[6] “Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007,”, FamilySearch https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KDH3-PGM [accessed 21 January 2016]
[7] “Thomas S Casbon.” Find A Grave http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=116217116 [accessed 22 Aug 2016]
[8] “World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards”, FamilySearch https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KZ25-59G [accessed 22 Aug 2016]
[9] “World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards”, FamilySearch https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KZ2K-WY9 [accessed 22 Aug 2016]
[10] Goodspeed, W.A. “Sylvester Casbon.” Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana : Historical and Biographical Illustrated 1882. Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/countiesofporter00good [accessed 22 Aug 2016]
[11] “Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007,”, FamilySearch https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VNTD-TQS [accessed 4 Jul 2016]
[12] “Sylvester V. Casbon” History of Porter County, Indiana: A Narrative Account of its Historical Progress, its People and its Principal Interests. Lewis Publishing Company (1912), Pages 482-484. Hathi Trust Digital Library: https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/011679885 [accessed 20 Aug 2016]
[13] “Sylvester V. Casbon” History of Porter County, Indiana…
[14] “Sylvester V. Casbon” History of Porter County, Indiana…
[15] “Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2013.”, FamilySearch https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XZN8-G9Z [accessed 8 December 2014]
[16] “Lillie May Casbon.” Find A Grave http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=19252732 [accessed 22 Aug 2016]
[17] “Lodema E Church. Find A Grave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=92361867 [accessed 22 Aug 2016]
[18] “California Death Index”, FamilySearch https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VG51-BB5 [accessed 22 Aug 2017]
[19] “World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards”, FamilySearch https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KZ2T-BTH [accessed 22 Aug 2016]
[20] “Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007.” FamilySearch https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KDHQ-WJ5 [accessed 22 Aug 2016]
[21] “Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007.” FamilySearch https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KDH3-54P [accessed 20 Jul 2016]
[22] “United States Census, 1900.” FamilySearch https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M9MG-LNV [accessed 4 November 2016]
[23] “United States Census, 1900.” FamilySearch https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MMKK-WJX [accessed 4 November 2016]
[24] “United States Census, 1900.” FamilySearch https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M9MG-LNV [accessed 4 November 2016]
[25] “United States Census, 1900.” FamilySearch https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M9MG-LNV [accessed 4 November 2016]
[26] “Jesse Casbon, War Vet, Dies at Age of 90.” Vidette Messenger, 25 January 1934. http://ezproxy.ppld.org:2083/us/indiana/valparaiso/valparaiso-vidette-messenger/1934/01-25 [accessed 22 August 2016]
[27] “Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007.” FamilySearch https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KDH3-Y6X [accessed 20 July 2016]
[28] “Robert N. Rigg.” History of Tama County, Iowa, together with sketches of their towns, villages and townships, educational, civil, military and political history., (1883), Page 739. Internet Archive https://archive.org/stream/historyoftamacou00unio#page/738/mode/2up [accessed 13 Aug 2016]
[29] “Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007.” FamilySearch https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KDH3-B2X [accessed 11 July 2016]