Tag: Indiana

Amos in Iowa?

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This is my sixth post in the Guild of One-Name Studies (GOONS) blog challenge 2020. The challenge is to post 10 blogs in the first 12 weeks of the year.

Amos Casbon is not a new character in my blog. He can be considered the patriarch of what may be the largest branch of Casbons living in America. He was the son of James and Mary (Jackson) Casbon and the brother (or half-brother?) of Margaret “Maggie” Casbon, about whom I wrote in the fourth post of the GOONS challenge. Amos was born 6 July 1869 at Cottenham, Cambridgeshire, England.[1] He was only a toddler when his family emigrated to Porter County, Indiana, USA, in late 1870. He was probably only 4 or 5 years old when his mother died. His father remarried in 1876.[2] James was murdered in an unprovoked attack in August 1884, when Amos was 15 years old.[3]

After his father’s death, there is little solid information about Amos until his marriage to Carrie Belle Aylesworth in 1900. He was probably forced to grow up fast, without the support of a close loving family. Family tradition has it that Amos and his stepmother did not get along and that he was estranged from his sister Margaret, who seemed to have strayed from the “straight path.” He might have lived with and worked for local farmers. He was said to have lived for some time with his older cousin, Jesse Casbon, who also lived in Porter County. My impression is that this was an unsettled time in Amos’s life.

Amos Casbon late teens
Portrait of a young Amos Casbon; undated, courtesy of Ron Casbon

We know that he worked as a grip for a Chicago streetcar company for four years in the late 1890s.[4]

Casbon Amos 1896 Chicago Directory
Amos’s entry in The Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago
(Chicago: The Chicago Directory Co., 1896), p. 391; Ancestry.com

In addition, a 25 January 1900 news announcement tells us that Amos, then living in Chicago, was job hunting in the Boone Grove (Porter County, Indiana) area.[5]

Last May, when I spent time at the Valparaiso Public Library, I discovered that Amos had also spent some time in his late teens and perhaps early twenties living and working in Iowa. The discovery was made when I found this news item on microfilm.

Amos in Iowa PCV 11Jul1889
Untitled Article, The Porter County Vidette, 11 July 1889

Why is this important? For one thing, it puts another data point on the timeline of Amos’s life, during a time about which we have little other information. The timeline is probably only important to me and to those descendants of Amos who share in interest in their family history (of whom there are several).

The second reason is that Amos’s presence in Iowa connects him to another branch of the family, specifically the branch living in Iowa that consisted Emma (Casbon) and Robert Rigg, and their nephew George Washington Casbon (see “Introducing the Iowa Casbons! Part 1”). Emma, although 22 years older, was Amos’s first cousin, the daughter of his uncle Thomas Casbon (1803–1888). George, who was five years younger than Amos, was his second cousin, the son of Emma’s brother Sylvester Casbon. Emma, Robert, and George lived on a farm in Tama County, Iowa, about six miles away from LaPorte City, where Amos was reported to be living in 1889.

It is unlikely to be a coincidence that that Amos was living and working so close to his Iowa relatives. It is a little surprising, though, since the Rigg family had moved to Iowa in 1876, when Amos was only 7 years old. Considering the difference in their ages, he was hardly old enough to have formed a close personal friendship with Emma, or with George, who was only 2 years old when he moved to Iowa.

We can infer from this that family ties between all the branches of the family—Amos, his stepmother and sisters, Emma’s family in Iowa, and her siblings in Indiana—were still very close. There had probably been occasional family visits between Iowa and Indiana, and letters were probably frequently exchanged. Even though Amos might not have had a close relationship to Emma and George, he was a member of the larger family. That bond was strong enough to bring him to Iowa as a young man.

Ties between the Iowa and Indiana Casbons remained strong for a generation or two. We know this from photographs and other items documenting visits between the Iowa and Indiana families. There is even a news item from 1931 reporting that Amos and his family had returned “from a trip to points in Iowa visiting friends and relatives.”[6]

By my generation, the ties between the Iowa and Indiana clans were virtually forgotten. For that matter, the ties between my branch and the descendants of Amos were very weak. Even though their families continued to live in the same county in Indiana, I never met or knew any of these cousins until recent years. I don’t believe this was the result of any kind of hostility; it was just a natural process that happened as each generation grew in size and the degrees of separation increased. Thankfully, as a result of efforts by members of all three branches to reconnect with our common heritage, not to mention modern conveniences such as Facebook and email, we are communicating and sharing stories with each other again.

[1] England, birth registration (PDF copy) for Amos James Casburn, born 6 Jul 1869; registered September quarter 1869, Chesterton District 3b/452, Willingham Sub-district,  no 45; General Registry Office, Southport.
[2] “Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1410397 : accessed 24 October 2015) >Porter >1871-1875 Volume 4 > image 242 of 246; Indiana Commission on Public Records, Indianapolis.
[3] “Murder! That is About what is Made out of the Case of Old Man Casbon,” Porter County (Indiana) Vidette, 28 Aug 1884, p. 1, col. 2.
[4] “Boone Grove Couple Will Observe 50th Anniversary,” The (Valparaiso, Indiana) Vidette-Messenger, 21 Nov 1950, p. 1, col. 6.
[5] “Boone Grove Items,” The Porter County Vidette, 25 January 1900.
[6]“Aylesworth,” The Vidette-Messenger, 27 Nov 1931, p. 6, col. 1.

The Deaths of Thomas and Hannah Casbon

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

One of my favorite sources of information about the Casbons who left England and eventually settled in Porter County, Indiana, USA, is The (Valparaiso, Indiana) Vidette-Messenger, or The Vidette, for short. For most of the twentieth century The Vidette was the main newspaper for Porter County. Thanks to my local public library, I have free access from my home computer to the digital archives of The Vidette from 1927 to 1977. That’s because my library subscribes to the Newspaper Archive web service. (Hint: see if your local library subscribes to Newspaper Archive—it’s a great resource.). The Vidette archives are also available up to 1995 with a paid Newspapers.com subscription.

Although I love The Vidette archives, they fall short because they don’t cover the first six decades of the Casbon family’s presence in Porter County. Many of the earlier Porter County newspapers are available on microfilm at the Valparaiso, Indiana, Public Library. Unfortunately, I live almost a thousand miles from Valparaiso, so I don’t have ready access. Therefore, it was a real treat for me to spend several hours in Valparaiso planted in front of the microfilm reader last May. I collected many articles about my early Casbon relatives and plan to feature many of these in upcoming posts.

In this post, I am highlighting three articles printed about the death of my third great-grandfather Thomas Casbon and his second wife, Hannah.

The brief announcement of Thomas Casbon’s death appeared in The Valparaiso Messenger on 9 February 1888. Thomas died on 7 February.

Thomas death announcement Messenger 9Feb1888
“Local News,” The Valparaiso Messenger, 9 Feb 1888

I haven’t found other contemporary accounts that describe Thomas. The statement that he was “an old and highly respected citizens [sic]” tells us very little about him but reflects that he was regarded in a positive light.

The following article was printed in the 16 February 1888 Porter County Vidette. It includes a poem written by Thomas’s daughter, Emma.

Thomas C In Memorium B
“In Memorium,” The Porter County Vidette, 16 Feb 1888

Emma’s poem is sweet and sentimental. Her words, “Now our mother and brother, will lead you in a better land” refer to the deaths of Thomas’s first wife, Emma (Scruby), who died in in 1870, and their first son, Sell, who died in infancy while the family was still living in England. Emma—the daughter—was living in Iowa at the time of Thomas’s death, but it’s quite likely that she returned to Valparaiso during his final days or shortly after his death.

Hannah’s obituary appeared in The Porter County Vidette on 5 April 1888. She died in late March, six weeks after Thomas’s death.

Hannah Wilsey Casbon death announcement
“Mrs. Hannah Casbon,” The Porter County Vidette, 5 April 1888

It’s interesting that Hannah’s obituary contains so much more information than the brief paragraphs announcing Thomas’s death. It includes a rather nice biography as well as a testimony to her Christian faith.

Thomas and Hannah died before death registration was required in Indiana. Consequently, we don’t know anything about the circumstances or causes of their deaths. Thomas was buried in Merriman Cemetery with his first wife, Emma. As far as I know, he died intestate, and I haven’t located any probate papers.

I haven’t been able to locate Hannah’s grave. It is not listed on FindAGrave.com under any of her surnames and does not appear with her first husband’s FindAGrave entry. Her will was signed 3 August 1887 and was probated in the Porter County Circuit Court on 4 April 1888. She bequeathed ten dollars each to a granddaughter and grandson and the rest of her estate to her two daughters by her first marriage. It isn’t surprising that Thomas’s four children were not mentioned, as they were all adults when Thomas married Hannah, and she was not involved in raising them.

As I was writing this post I realized that I have not written a single post summarizing Thomas’s life. However, many details of his life are described in the following posts: “A Christmas Baptism”; “From England to Indiana” Parts 2, 3, and 4; “Why Indiana?”; “From Labourer to Landowner”; “Pursuing the Parkfield”; “Was my Third Great Grandfather a Convicted Thief?”; “A Practical Guide for Emigrants”; and “The Appeal.” I guess there is too much information to contain in a single post!

More About Maggie

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

I have written two previous posts about Margaret—“Maggie”—Casbon (1864–1903), who was born out of wedlock as Margaret Jackson, the daughter of Mary Jackson (abt. 1833–abt. 1875). Mary Jackson married James Casbon (abt. 1813–1884) at Stretham, Cambridgeshire in 1866, when Maggie was two-and-a-half years old. James might have been Maggie’s father, but that is unknown. My first post about Maggie, written in December 2017, summarized everything I knew about her life at that time and the second post, from February 2019, presented her obituary. Today’s post is an update, with a correction and clarification about information I discussed in the 2017 post. It is also a cautionary tale about how incorrect conclusions can be drawn from derivative sources.

In my December 2017 post, I quoted the source “Genealogical Notes from the Porter Vidette, April 7, 1881 – Sept. 14, 1882,”[1] This was a typewritten extract of items of interest printed in an early Porter County, Indiana, newspaper. The entry dated 9 February 1882 listed a few marriages and deaths and then this statement: “Maggie Casbum living with Ben Woodard.”

Vidette extractExcerpt from “Genealogical Notes from the Porter Vidette, April 7, 1881 – Sept. 14, 1882”

I interpreted the phrase “living with” from my modern perspective as meaning that Maggie was in a relationship, i.e., “living in sin” with Ben Woodard. This seemed like an odd thing to print in the newspaper, but then again, newspapers from that era tended to be more gossipy about local matters than they are today. I couldn’t view the microfilm of the original article at the time because it was at the Porter County Library, almost a thousand miles away from me. It wasn’t until early 2019 during a short visit to Indiana that I was able to view the microfilm. That was when I realized that my interpretation completely missed the mark. Here is the article.

Maggie Casbon article PCV 9Feb1882Untitled article, The Porter County (Indiana) Vidette, 9 Feb 1882, p. 5, col. 1.

As you can clearly see, the phrase “living with” in the extract simply meant that Maggie had been living in the home of Ben Woodard and his family. There is no suggestion of an inappropriate relationship with Mr. Woodard. The article tells us that Maggie was suspected of stealing clothing from the Woodard family and was now missing. It also says that she has been suspected of similar activities in the past.

My mistake was that I had misinterpreted the limited information contained in the extract. This shows how a derivative source can sometimes lead us astray in our genealogical research. Elizabeth Shown Mills defines a derivative source as “material produced by copying an original or manipulating its content; e.g., abstracts, compilations, databases, extracts, transcripts, translations, and authored works such as historical monographs or family histories.”[2] She goes on to say: “Derivative sources also span the entire spectrum of reliability—depending upon the form they take; the circumstances of their creation; and the skill, bias, or aim of their creators.”[3] In this case, the extract failed to convey the true meaning of the original article.

This isn’t necessarily an error on the part of the librarian who prepared the extract, since she probably only intended to note the fact that both Maggie Casbon and Ben Woodard were mentioned in an article. The purpose of the “Genealogical Notes” is to save readers hours of time they would have spent scrolling through microfilm reels and reading the fine print of newspapers in search of their persons of interest. Instead, a library patron, upon reading the extract, would know which microfilm reel to pull and which newspaper edition contained the information they wished to find.

The “real” story about Maggie as told in the article fills in another blank in what we know about her and portrays her in a negative light. The article also raises new questions. It was written in 1882, when Maggie was 17 years old. This was two years before her father (or stepfather?), James, was murdered. Yet, she was said to claim that she was “an orphan, and destitute of a home.” Why would she make such a claim? We can only speculate, as there are several possible reasons: 1) After her mother’s death, perhaps she truly was an orphan (i.e., without a living parent) if James was not her biological father; 2) Perhaps for reasons unknown to us, she was estranged from James and her new stepmother and had been turned out of their home; 3) Perhaps she left her home of her own volition and was posing as an orphan in order to take advantage of the good will of others. We will probably never know the whole story.

One danger of genealogical research is the risk of drawing broad conclusions from limited information. It would be easy to dismiss Maggie as a “black sheep,” but this would be an oversimplification. I prefer to look at this episode in the context of what else is known about her.

Maggie did not have an easy life. Born out of wedlock, she was taken to a strange land (Indiana, USA) when she was only six years old. She lost her mother when she was probably no more than ten and then raised by a man who might not have been her biological father and a new stepmother. We know nothing about her home life in Indiana except that her father or stepfather was a poor laborer. This man (James Casbon) was murdered when she was 20 years old. Maggie had an unsuccessful marriage about seven months after the Vidette article was printed. Then there is a huge gap in information between 1882 and her second marriage in 1899. This marriage was ended four years later by her untimely death at the age of 39 due to uterine cancer. She never had children. The 1882 news article is the only piece of information portraying her in a negative light. It would be wrong to draw a general conclusion about her character based on this episode that took place in her teenage years.

Unless new information turns up, this is probably the last thing I’ll have to say about Maggie. Why do I write about her at all? Part of the reason is that I am especially interested in those family members who made the difficult journey to America in the mid- to late 1800s. Part of the reason is that there is no one else to tell her story, and I think it is worth telling. And finally, I have to admit that I have the genealogists’ disease of being unable to resist the desire to go down rabbit holes in search of just about anything.

[1] Kaye Griffiths, compiler (typescript, 1983), no. G977.298; Genealogy Department, Porter County Public Library, Valparaiso.
[2] Elizabeth Shown Mills, Evidence Explained, 3d ed. (for Kindle) (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2015), p. 24.
[3] Shown Mills, Evidence Explained, p. 24.

Michael J. Casbon, 1965–2019

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My universe was shaken earlier this week when I learned that Michael “Mike” Casbon had passed away suddenly and without warning on Sunday morning, 17 March. He was fifty-three years young, and lived in Hebron, Porter County, Indiana.

891c14d0-bba7-4529-864d-5ba26cecdc42
Photo courtesy of Geisen Funeral Home

I’ve been corresponding with Mike’s father, Ron for a number of years because of our common interest in Casbon family history. Ron introduced me to Mike, who was also interested in genealogy, via email in 2016. Mike and Ron both come from the “James/Amos” branch of the family, while I come from the “Thomas” branch. Thomas and James were brothers who migrated to the U.S. and settled in Porter County. Mike and I have shared a lot of information about our respective families.

Mike started the Casbon Family Facebook group in 2008. This has grown to more than 140 members, and has become a place to swap stories, photos, and news. The group was also the place to learn about upcoming reunions, which Mike hosted at his home every couple of years.

It was at the most recent reunion, in August 2017, that I finally met Mike face-to-face. I believe this was the first (at least since the early twentieth century) reunion attended by members of both the “Thomas” and “James/Amos” branches of the family. Mike invited my father and me into his home to share a meal the day before the reunion. We were able to chat and get better acquainted. It was immediately obvious that he was a loving father, husband and grandfather. The house was filled with his children and young grandchildren. He took pride in his family. They were clearly the center of his world. The entire family made us feel welcome and we enjoyed our brief stay there.

Casbon reunion Aug 2017 Hebron IN
Casbon family reunion, August 2017, Hebron, Indiana. (Photo courtesy of Amy Casbon)

When I asked Mike what he did for a living, he told me he blew up buildings. That sounded like fun! He also told me that he traveled extensively for his job, often to interesting international locations. In fact, he worked for a global company known as ERM (Environmental Resources Management), where he was the Technical Director at the Indianapolis office. According to ERM’s website, “When organizations decommission or demolish sites, they need to recover the latent value in the retired assets, and also address environmental and safety risks that can come from expired materials or residues and facility deterioration.”[1] That’s where blowing up buildings comes in. I don’t know the details, but Mike was an expert in Occupational Safety and Health, so I believe he was responsible for protecting the health and safety of both workers and local residents at demolition sites. He was an also instructor for courses sponsored by the National Demolition Association (NDA). His bio on their website says this:

[Mike} is a Subject Matter Expert for the OSHA Training Institute and specializes in the field of demolition, decontamination, and construction. He has trained over 1,000 Compliance Officers on field inspection principals. Mike has served on the National Demolition Association Safety Committee for 20 years, six as Chairman, and led the most recent rewrite of the Association’s Safety Manual. He has extensive experience in project managing large scale facility decommissioning projects, brownfield remediation, CERCLA and Superfund projects, and selective demolition.[2]

This weekend, Mike was going to be inducted into the inaugural class of the NDA Hall of Fame at the association’s annual convention in Denver, Colorado. He was to be honored “for his efforts to lead and significantly contribute to our Foundations of Demolition Certificate Program, his work on our Safety Manual, and his expertise on Safety on the jobsite.”[3] He would have received the award at the annual banquet on Monday night. Sadly, the award will now be given posthumously.

I will miss him as a friend, family member, and fellow genealogist. Mike’s obituary is posted on Legacy.com. Please keep his family: Anne, Kiera, Kylee, Kate, Kristen, Alexianna, Simeon, Grayson, Ron, Becky, Amy and Matthew in your thoughts and prayers.

FOOTNOTES

[1] “Decommissioning, Decontamination & Demolition,” ERM (https://www.erm.com/en/service/all-services/decommissioning-decontamination-demolition/ : accessed 21 March 2019).
[2] “Course Instructors,” National Demolition Association (https://www.demolitionassociation.com/courseinstructors : accessed 21 March 2019).
[3] email, Natalie DeHart to Matthew Casbon, 20 Mar 2019; supplied by Ron Casbon.

Croydon

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“You never get away from that thing in your hometown that it has over you. You don’t outgrow where you come from.” – Brian Fallon

As a child of a military family, I never had a hometown. We moved every few years to a variety of locations in and out of the United States. The closest things to hometowns were the cities my parents came from: Racine, Wisconsin, and Valparaiso, Indiana. I’ve mentioned Valparaiso before, because it is the seat of Porter County, where my Casbon ancestors settled in the 1860s. It’s where my father grew up. We visited Valparaiso from time to time to see grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. It was the only place in the world that I knew where other Casbons existed. I’ve only gone there a couple of times as an adult, but when I go, it still has a special place in my heart.

I’m pretty sure the same feeling applies to many of the Casbans in England, except they would say their home town* is Croydon, Greater London. A couple of the Casbans from Croydon have been kind enough to correspond with me and share some of their stories.

What makes a place a hometown? In the simplest sense, it’s the place where you grew up or come from. But in a broader sense it implies something more than just a place. It embodies the ideas of permanence, relationships, and familiarity. When people talk about their hometowns, they might also be talking about their families, childhood friends, favorite foods or familiar places. For many, a hometown is a place they feel comfortable and secure. For some, it is a place they can’t wait to get away from.

So, how did Croydon become the home town for the Casbans? It all started with Samuel Clark Casban (1851–1922). Samuel was the third son of William (~1805–1877) and Ann (Clark, ~1812–1869) Casbon, and grew up in Meldreth, Cambridgeshire. Like his father and brothers, he went to work at an early age, being listed as a labourer in the 1861 census.[1] Samuel (with surname spelled Casban) married Lydia Harrup in 1872,[2] and the couple had four children while still living in Meldreth: Anne, 1872;[3] Samuel Clark, 1874;[4] Margaret Alice, 1875;[5] and Elizabeth Emma, 1879.[6]

Elizabeth died in 1879, within months of her birth,[7] and sometime within the next several months, Samuel and his family moved to Croydon. His move was probably influenced by the fact that his sister Mary Ann, and two brothers, John and Reuben, had lived in the environs of London since the 1860s. More importantly, his brother-in-law, John Harrup, had been working for the Brighton and South Coast Railroad since 1874, and was presumably able to help Samuel secure employment there in January, 1880.[8]

Samuel C employment record 1880 Detail from London, Brighton & South Coast Railway employee records, 1880, showing entries for John Harrup and Samuel Casban. This is the earliest record showing Samuel in Croydon. (Click on image to enlarge)

Croydon was originally a town in Surrey, about ten miles south of London.[9] Due to its position between London and the South Coast of England, and the arrival of the railroads, Croydon became an important transportation hub, and experienced a 23-fold increase in population between 1801 and 1901.[10] When Samuel arrived in 1879–80, Croydon was still an independent entity from London. As London expanded, Croydon soon became a part of the London metropolitan area, and in 1965 became a borough of London and no longer part of Surrey.[11] Croydon is now the most populated borough in London, with a population of 363,378 in 2011.[12] It is a city within a city.

Outer London map 1901
Detail from 1901 map of Outer London (pink shading).[13] Numerous rail lines converge or pass through the vicinity of Croydon, which is located near the bottom, center. (Click on image to enlarge)


Contemporary map showing the Borough of Croydon (shaded). (Google Maps)

Samuel and Lydia’s family continued to grow in Croydon. William was born in 1880; Elizabeth Emma (“Lizzie”), 1881; Florence Edith (“Florie”), 1884; Albert Edward (“Bertie”), 1885; Leonard, 1887; Ernest Charles, 1890.[14] Anne, Samuel, Alice, Lizzie, and Bertie married and raised their families in or near Croydon. William never married, but remained in Croydon. Florie died in 1904.[15] Leonard and Ernest were killed in the first World War.[16] (Ernest had married in 1913 and had a daughter, who died in 1915.[17]) Some of Samuel and Lydia’s great-great-grandchildren and at least one third-great-grandchild have been born in Croydon. Thus, six generations of Casbans lived or were born in Croydon, establishing a strong sense of permanence and identity with the place.

Lorna Thomas (neé Casban) shared these interesting facts about Croydon with me. The London Croydon airport was the first major international airport in England and remained so until Heathrow was developed in the late 1940s. Amy Johnson departed from there on a historic solo flight to Brisbane, Australia in 1930.[18] The international “Mayday! call was invented there.

Croydon airport
Photo of ‘Hengist’ plane flying over Croydon Airport. Courtesy of Local Studies Library & Archive and the Museum of Croydon, http://www.museumofcroydon.com.

A quick search on 192.com shows that only a handful of Casbans live in Croydon today. This is not surprising, given the ease of transportation and mobility within our society. However, I’m sure that many still consider Croydon to be their home town. Are you a “Croydon Casban”? I would love to hear from you, either in the “Leave a Reply” section or through the “Contact” link!

*In preparing this post I learned that the single word hometown is more common in American English and home town – two words – more common in British English.

[1] 1861 England Census, Cambridgeshire, Meldreth, p. 24, schedule 133, William Carston; imaged on findmypast (http://search.findmypast.com/record?id=gbc%2f1861%2f0005027198 : accessed 23 March 2017); citing [The National Archives], RG 09, piece 815, folio 64, p. 24.
[2] “England Marriages, 1538–1973 ,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NVCX-8N1 : accessed 2 August 2016), Samuel Casban and Lydia Harrup, 02 Nov 1872; FHL microfilm 1,040,541.
[3] General Register Office (GRO), “Search the  GRO Online Index,” database, HM Passport Office (https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/indexes_search.asp : accessed 7 November 2017), search on births, “Harrup,” 1872, Annie Harrup, J[un] qtr, 1872, Royston, vol. 3A/325.
[4] Ibid., search on birth, “Casban,” 1874, Samuel Casban, M[ar] qtr, 1874, Royston, vol. 3A/316.
[5] Ibid., search on birth, “Casban,” 1875, Margaret Casban, D[ec] qtr, 1875, Royston, vol. 3A/320.
[6] Ibid., search on births, “Casban,” 1879, Elizabeth Emma Casban, M[ar] qtr, 1879, Royston, vol. 3A/369.
[7] Ibid., search on deaths, “Casban,” 1879, LIzzie Casban, J[un] qtr, 1879, Royston, vol. 3A/220.
[8] London, Brighton & South Coast Railway: General Manager’s Register of Staff Commencing 1880, p. 87, Croydon Goods Station, John Harrup, Feb 1874, and Samuel Casbon, Jan 1880; imaged as “UK, Railway Employment Records, 1833-1956,” Ancestry (https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1728 : accessed 20 September 2018), London, Brighton and South Coast >1838-1884 Traffic Appointments >image 119 of 452.
[9] “Croydon,” British History Online (https://www.british-history.ac.uk/london-environs/vol1/pp170-201 : accessed 2 December 2018).
[10] “Croydon,” Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croydon : accessed 2 December 2018), rev. 28 Nov 18, 16:19, paras. 20-21.
[11] “London Borough of Croydon,” Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Borough_of_Croydon : accessed 2 December 2018), rev. 24 Nov 18, 18:33, para. 2.
[12] “London Borough of Croydon,” Wikipedia, para. 48.
[13] Edward Stanford, “Outer London,” map, Stanford’s London Atlas of Universal Geography Exhibiting the Physical and Political Divisions of the Various Countries of the World (London: Edward Stanford, Ltd., 1901); online image, David Rumsey Map Collection (https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~34248~1171163:Outer-London- : accessed 1 December 2018).
[14] General Register Office (GRO), “Search the  GRO Online Index,” database, HM Passport Office (https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/indexes_search.asp : accessed 2 December 2018), search on births, “Casban,” 1880–90), Croydon, vol. 2A, pp. 209, 213, 228, 238, 260, 264.
[15] Ibid., search on deaths, “Casban,” 1904, Florence Edith Casban, Croydon, vol 2A/153.
[16] “Every One Remembered”, database, Royal British Legion (https://www.everyoneremembered.org), search on “Casban,” Ernest, 25 Sep 1914, Leonard, 1 Apr 1917; citing Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
[17] Ibid., search on deaths, “Casban,” 1915, Nellie Rhoda Casban, M[ar] qtr, 1915, Croydon, vol 2A/153.
[18] “American Experience: Fly Girls, Amy Johnson,” PBS.org (https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/flygirls-amy-johnson/ : accessed 2 December 2018).

From England to Indiana, Part 1

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Sometimes solutions to problems turn up in unexpected places. That’s what happened when I told my uncle in Indiana that I would be stopping by his place (first time in over 35 years) for a visit during a recent road trip. I let him know I was working on the family history and was eager to find out what he could tell me.

When I arrived, he had a number of items set aside for me. One of them was a photocopy of a handwritten family history on 3 legal-size pages. It begins with Isaac Casbon, my 4th great grandfather, and then focuses on his son Thomas (my 3rd great grandfather), who was the first member of the family to emigrate to the United States. My uncle did not know where the manuscript came from or how the copy came into his possession. It is not signed nor dated. The handwriting style looks earlier than 20th century. There is almost no punctuation in the entire document. Spelling errors are common.

Isaac C married Jayne MillerFirst paragraph of my mystery manuscript: Isaac Casbon Married Jayne Miller of Meldreth, Near Royston Cambridge shire Englan both were raised and born in this place.  (Click on image to enlarge)

When I started to read, I quickly realized the manuscript contained information about my family tree that I had never been able to verify with existing records. For example, I knew from parish records that Isaac had two sons, Thomas (my third great grandfather) and William (who remained in England). I also knew from word of mouth and circumstantial evidence that Isaac had a third son, James, who emigrated to Porter County, Indiana many years after Thomas. Despite intensive searching, I’ve never been able to find definitive proof that James was Isaac’s offspring.

The biggest surprise however, was that Isaac had a fourth son, Joseph. From my research, I knew of a Joseph Casbon who lived in the Meldreth area in the early 1800s. But I’ve never been able to find a record of his birth or baptism, nor any other clues about his ancestry.

Names of four sonsThe four sons of Isaac Casbon: Thomas, William, Joseph, and James. (Click on image to enlarge)

While this was the biggest surprise, it was not the only one. I will save those for later posts.

From the standpoint of genealogical proof, a manuscript such as this doesn’t carry the same weight as a primary source such as a birth or death certificate. Memories can become distorted over time, and facts passed down by word of mouth may become confused or altered. Even so, the author seems to have had first-hand knowledge about many of the people and events. It isn’t entirely free of errors (e.g., Isaac Casbon was married to Susannah Howse or Howes[1], not Jayne Willams), but most of the information can be substantiated by other sources.

I’m posting my verbatim transcript of the manuscript below. If you would like to read the the entire document look in the new Documents link in the menu at the top of this page. I’ve placed a link to a PDF file there. Future posts will review it in depth, paragraph by paragraph.

I can’t begin to tell you how excited I was to read this. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. I just wish I knew where it came from!

 Isaac Casbon Married Jayne Miller of Meldreth Near Royston Cambridge shire Englan both were raised and born in this place
There were born to them Thomas William, Joseph, one dead he left no heirs James
Isaac Casbon was one of Six brothers their record of birth can be found at Meldreth or Melborn church
Thomas Casbon emigrated to United States in the year of (“1865” crossed out) 1846
He was Married to Emma Scruby at Meldrith or Melborn Church Cambridgeshire England where the record may be found
Thomas and Emma Casbon had born to them 4 son’s and 2 daughters the firs born son died in infancy the name being the same as the secon born boy
Mary Ann Silvester Charles Jesse and Emma the last Daughter beng born in the state of Ohio Wayne Co
They concluded to go to the State of Ind
Silvester went arrived in Indiana
Thomas Casbon mooved his family soon after and settled at Boon Grove lived ther some years and mooved to the County seat where he died in the 84 year of his age Feb 7 1888. his second wife Hannah Edwards survived him six week
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
Record of Emma Scruby her father was Sylvester Scruby his father’s name was Joseph Scruby
Syveste Scruby scruby married Elizabeth Robison There was born to them 4 girls and three boys. one girl died in childhood
James Scruby came to United States of America settled in Wayne Co Ohio Married Pheobe Priest to them was born seven children
Joab William Charles Sam George are all dead excep two first named
no heirs left but George’s two boys Bennett and Olen
Mary Payne & Rachell or Emma Payne came to America & They were the daughters of Sarah Scruby sister to Emma wife of Thomas Casbon

[1] “England Marriages, 1538–1973”, FamilySearch https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N63P-B9H [accessed 4 November 2015]