Find Your Dead

Whittle Family Tree

Well – I’m so far behind it’s insane, but I need to wrap this up in some way. There are a lot of loose ends when it comes to the Whittle line. It seems that there are no smoking guns and some names in the line are just not meant to be known. So lets recap!

This project started in Oct 2008 and the focus was looking for information on the Samuel Whittle Family interred in Govanstown Presbyterian Cemetery in Baltimore. It began simply enough with trying to confirm who might be in the Whittle plot. Never say a project is “simple” – you doom it from the very beginning! While the basic information for who was in the plot was not that difficult to locate – there was nothing simple about the Whittle line. Never have so many MEN remained so elusive!

Samuel N. Whittle died 7 Oct 1892 in Allegheny City (Pittsburg) PA when he fell from a window. Using news articles and census records, I was able to establish that he was a married to Georgeanne Higle, (c. 1846 – c. 1875), who died of tuberculosis, and he had two daughters, Clara May (1866-1946) and Maggie S. (c.1869-1897). He was the son of an Unknown Whittle and Eliza [Unknown] Whittle (c.1815-1896). Samuel had an older brother Charles Nicholas Whittle (1838-1916) and both brothers had served in the Civil War. Charles went by his middle name of Nicholas, which has often left me wondering if his father might not have been a Charles also.

While I have had no success in providing the name of Samuel’s father, I was more successful with the sibling lines of the Unknown Whittle. There were at least five children born to Jeremiah Whittle and Nancy Best between 1805 and 1815, three males and two females, all of whom remain unknown by name. Samuel’s father was the youngest of that group, born c. 1915. After the death of Nancy Best, Jeremiah married Elizabeth Eyle and four more children Thomas (c.1826 – c. 1863), Susan A. (1822 – 1916), Jeremiah Amos (1824 – 1902), and John R. (c. 1829 – unk). These lines were a great deal of fun to explore and provided lots of juicy information.

Sadly, with the Whittle men there are always more questions than answers. With help from family member Ruth I was able to establish a few more facts and chase a few more leads. I actually had more fun following up on the information about Thomas Whittle – uncle to Samuel N. Whittle. It was a great exercise in “debunking” family lore and published accounts concerning his Civil War service. While we will probably never know what happened to Thomas – we know that he could not have died at Shiloh.

I have provided links below to the previous posts on the Whittle family if you need to refresh and then we’ll move on to all the loose material that I have located, but can’t attach.

The Great Obituary Hunt 1 Oct 2008
The Lowest Branch of the Family Tree 5 Oct 2008
Trying to Tree Climb 6 Oct 2008
A Footnote to History 8 Oct 2008
Dangling from a Tree Limb 9 Oct 2008
Odds and Ends 14 Oct 2008
GOOGLING for Dead People 15 Oct 2008
The Family Comes Through19 Oct 2008
Clara May Whittle 20 Oct 2008
Elizabeth (am I an Eyle or a Hall) Whittle 9 Nov 2008
Wrapping up the Whittle Plot 10 Nov 2008
Barking up the Wrong Family Tree 20 Nov 2008
Oh Susannah! 1 Dec 2008
I’m a Doubting Thomas – About Thomas (Part 1) 12 Dec 2008
Doubting Thomas – Part 2 13 Dec 2008
Doubting Thomas – Part 3 16 Dec 2008
Thomas Whittle’s Service Record 29 Dec 2008
Playing Catch Up 5 Jun 2009
The Last Two Brothers with Names 10 Jun 2009

[top]

The Whittle Family Tree

So what’s next? I have two more sons in the Jeremiah Whittle & Elizabeth Eyle family group to research. When dealing with family groups that are not together after 1850 it is sometimes difficult to establish who belongs to whom. How do we know that Jeremiah A. and John R. are sons and not cousins or completely unrelated? With Susan we knew from a census record that had placed her with Elizabeth Whittle, and with Thomas, I was working from Ruth’s personal knowledge and documented research. With Jeremiah A. and John R., I also have Ruth’s research to work from.

Based on the news article posted in Doubting Thomas 2 on 13 Dec 2008 , we know that Thomas had a brother Jeremiah that lived in Long Green in 1890. I had no trouble locating Jeremiah on the 1850¹ , 1860², 1870³, 1880⁴, and 1900 Federal Censuses⁵. His occupations are Post & Railer (fence builder), an exterminator, and a farm laborer.

Throughout this period we find him with his wife Ellen L. and they have many, many children. There is an IGI reference for a marriage 9 Jan 1849 in Baltimore, but I have not found a separate document for this yet.

The 1900 Federal Census is, of course, one of my favorites. The family is still in Jarrettsville and states that he and his wife Ellen L. have been married 50 years. I’d bet that this was an “about” number as the 1850 census lists a child age 1. Ellen’s birth date of Mar 1827 is about a year off from other records.

One of the more important things here are the columns with “Mother of how many children” and “Number of these children living.” Ellen lists 13 children with six living – as I said, many children. The census records account for 12: Edith Whittle abt 1849, Elizabeth Whittle abt 1850, Barbara Whittle abt 1852, Thomas Whittle abt 1856, Silas Whittle abt 1858, Charles Whittle abt 1861, Joseph Whittle abt 1863, Harry Whittle abt 1865, Rachel Whittle abt 1867, John Whittle abt 1869, Margaret A. Whittle abt 1874

We know someone is missing – a child that was born and died within the census gap. While women may use an “about” for how long they have been married, they are very precise about the number of children they had, even if they died at birth. I have seen the name Armeco in connection with this family, but I have found no documents that list that name. I looked at each census record and read the names to make sure all 12 were properly indexed and they appear to be.

With Jeremiah A. Whittle there is a Certificate of Death in the Maryland State Archives⁶. His death date is listed as 1902 June 14 with an age of 78 years, 4 months, and 15 days caused by Paralysis. Using the Tombstone Birthday Calculator we determined his date of birth is 30 Jun 1824. That record clearly states that he is the husband of Ellen L. Monroe, his father’s name is Jeremiah and his mother’s maiden name is Elizabeth Hall. As we all know, the names are all suspect as it is not Jeremiah providing the information, but someone else. If his wife is the person providing the information would she remember his mother’s maiden name under the pressure of the situation? We all know this is how mistakes are easily made and easily perpetuated.

According to Ruth’s documentation Jeremiah A. Whittle is buried in William Watters United Methodist Cemetery in Cooptown, Harford, Maryland. I have requested a photo of the stone (if there is one) on FindAGrave.com.

The final named brother is John R. Whittle. This name was supplied by Ruth along with the information that he married Priscilla Francis. She listed two daughters Mary Whittle b. 1855 and Sarah Whittle b. 1858. Ruth was able to find Priscilla in the 1860 census with her two daughters in District 11 (the Post Office is Little Gundpowder) but she is living with her brother Charles Francis and his family. Unlike his very well documented brother Jeremiah, John is no where to be found. John R. Whittle is a classic poorly documented Whittle male, except that he has a name!

There are several family trees on line that give some additional information such as middle names, but I have been unable to locate any documentation to support most of the information.

1. 1850 Federal Census of United States, Maryland, Baltimore County, p. 127, dwelling 336, family 341, Household of R. L. Munroe; digital images, The Generations Network, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 Dec 2008).
2. 1860 U.S. census, Baltimore, Maryland population schedule, District 11, p. 178, dwelling 1213, family 1203, Household of Jeremiah Whittle; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 Dec 2008); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M653, roll 469
3. 1870 U.S. census, Baltimore County, Maryland population schedule, District 4, p. 169, dwelling 94, family 95, Household of Jeremiah Whittle; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.Ancestry.com : accessed 15 Dec 2008); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M593, roll 588.
4. 1880 U.S. census, Baltimore County, Maryland population schedule, Jarrattsville, enumeration district (ED) 42, p. 181, Household of Jeremiah Whittle; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.Ancestry.com : accessed 15 Dec 2008); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T9, roll 511.
5. 1900 U.S. census, Baltimore City, Maryland population schedule, Marshall, p. 24B, dwelling 336, family 341, Household of Jeremiah Whittle; digital images, Ancestry.com (http//:www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 Dec 2008); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T623, roll 624.
6. Harford County, Maryland, death record no. MSA # S1178 (1902), Jeremiah A. Whittle; Maryland State Archives, Annapolis.

[top]

The Whittle Family Tree

Sorry I have been gone so long – sometimes you don’t get to do all the fun things you like to do in life. If I am lucky, I’m following a hot lead on another family line, but usually it is just the mundane events in life that proves to be the big distraction. Arwen has been much more faithful in keeping up with her posting then I am, so I will need to catch up.

Since I have been away so long I think it might be wise to recap – for my benefit as well as yours. I began the research on the family of Samuel N. Whittle (1842-1892) of Baltimore, Maryland. We quickly established his family group and we know that Samuel, his wife Georgeanne, and two daughters, Clara and Maggie, are all in the family plot at Govanstown Cemetery in Baltimore. His line ended with his two daughters as neither married or had children. The family consisted of:

Samuel N. Whittle (1842-1892) son of Unknown 1 Whittle & Eliza Unknown
Georgeanne Higle (1842- ) dau. of Joseph Higle & Leah Shealey
Clara May Whittle (1866–1946) dau. of Samuel N. Whittle & Georgeanne Higle
Maggie S. Whittle (1869-1897) dau. of Samuel N. Whittle & Georgeanne Higle

We were able to establish that Samuel had been a Lt. in F Company, 7th Maryland during the Civil War. This of course led to research on his brother Charles Nicholas Whittle and his Civil War service. Much of this was done in hopes of figuring out the name of the father of Samuel and Charles and their mother’s maiden name. There was no such luck, although we were able to discover the names of our Unknown Whittle’s parents.

Unknown 1 Whittle (died before 1850) son of Jeremiah Whittle & Nancy Best
Eliza Unknown (abt 1815-1896) dau. of unknown parents
Samuel N. Whittle (1842-1892)
Charles Nicholas Whittle (1838-1916)

The most recent work was in Jeremiah Whittle’s family group. The family group based on all the currently documented research is:

Jeremiah Whittle (abt 1775- ) son of unknown parents
Nancy Best (abt 1775-abt 1817) dau. of unknown parents – married 16 Jun 1804
Male Unknown 2 Whittle (bef. 1810- )
Male Unknown 3 Whittle (bef 1810- )
Female Unknown 1 Whittle (bef. 1815- )
Female Unknown 2 Whittle (bef. 1820- )
Unknown 1 Whittle (bef. 1820-bef. 1850) – father of Samuel

Jeremiah then married Elizabeth Eyle (1785-1877) on 5 Dec 1818 in Baltimore
Thomas Whittle (abt 1820- )
Susan Ann Whittle (1822-1916)
Jeremiah Amos Whittle (1824-1902)
John R. Whittle (1829- )
With the lack of information for my Unknown 1 Whittle, I began research on the known children in hopes of finding something more. I began with Susan Ann Whittle aka Susannah and was able to establish her marriage to Benjamin Barber 28 Nov 1839 in Baltimore. This family group detailed in the 1 Dec 2008 post Oh Susannah! is:

Susan Ann Whittle Barber (1822-1916) buried in Govanstown near her mother Elizabeth.
Benjamin Barber/Barbour ( – bef 1850)
Lucretia Barber (1841- ) m. William I. Thompson
Amanda E. Barber (1845-1920) m. Charles T. Abell

My next child to research was Thomas (abt. 1820 – ). As you may recall Thomas was the subject of a series of posts due to his unique story. Was he killed in the Civil War or did he simply desert as suggested? The family is well covered due to extensive research by Ruth Brooks. Thomas Whittle married Sarah Flayhart on 30 Oct 1842 in Baltimore, Maryland. The family group is:

Thomas Whittle (abt 1820- ) assumed dead Civil War
Sarah Flayhart (1822-1890) dau. of John Flayhart & Mary Unknown
Andrew Jameson (1844-1852)
Edward Dorsey (1847-1937) m. Alice Ellen McDonald
Sarah Rebecca (1849-1880) m. William H. Greenfield
Ann Ellen (1852-1933) m. William W. Hoffman
Joshua Talbott (1856-1909) m. Mary Elizabeth Schoal
Robert Spencer Vinton (1860-1864)

Phew – we are now caught up!! So the next couple of posts will deal with the other known children of Jeremiah and Elizabeth to wrap up that family group. After that is complete we’ll decide where to go next.

[top]

The Whittle Family Tree

I can’t let those darn Whittles go – so I’m going to see what I can figure out in collaboration with Ruth. While Samuel N. Whittle’s father remains a mystery, we know who some of his siblings are, and I’ll explore the family group to see if we can find anything that will assist us with our search for the name of Samuel’s father. Between Ruth and me, we had compiled the following family group:¹

Jeremiah Whittle born about 1775, location unknown, married Elizabeth Eyle on 5 Dec 1818², in Baltimore County, Maryland. Elizabeth was born 12 Oct 1785, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, died 19 Jun 1877, Towson, Baltimore, Maryland, and is buried in Govans Presbyterian Cemetery, Baltimore, Maryland. Their children as we had them:

Unknown 1 – This is the father of our Samuel Whittle
Thomas – born 1820, Baltimore, Maryland
Susan Ann – born about 1821, Baltimore Maryland
Jeremiah A. – Whittle, born about 1824, Baltimore, Maryland
John Whittle – born about 1829, Baltimore, Maryland

It’s a great family group, but it has a potential glaring error staring me in the face. I have been operating under the assumption (yeah, yeah, yeah – it’s a bad thing to do, but it looked good at the time) that Elizabeth, because she lived with Eliza and Samuel is Samuel’s grandmother. She probably is, but she may not be his biological grandmother. My stunning revelation hit me while working back in the 1820 and 1830 census records and trying to apply what we knew of this family group to the people listed on them.

The first clue came when I did a search on Ancestry for Jeremiah Whittle, born about 1775. The 1820 Census for District 2, Baltimore, Maryland³ was my first stop.

2 males under 10 years of age (probably Thomas and Unknown 1)
2 males between 10 and 16 years of age (Unknowns)
1 male 45 years or more (probably Jeremiah)
2 females under 10 years of age (Unknowns)
1 female 45 years or more (probably Elizabeth)

What a mess! Jeremiah would have been 45, Elizabeth would have only been 35, but that could have just been an error. Who are all these kids? Jeremiah and Elizabeth were married Dec 1818 and it is probable that Thomas (born about 1820) is one of the males under 10. Then I remembered the information that Ruth had provided earlier. Jeremiah had a previous marriage to Nancy Best 16 Jun 1804⁴(Ancestry has her indexed as Pest). If they followed the usual cycle of children, and the children survived there would have been 6 or 7 children in that time period. 2-3 between 10 and 16 and 3-4 under 10. All these other children are probably the children of Jeremiah and Nancy.

The 1830 Census for District 2, Baltimore, Maryland⁵ shows:

1 male under 5 years of age (probably John)
1 male between 5 and 9 (probably Jeremiah A.)
1 male between 10 and 14 (probably Thomas)
1 male between 15 and 19 (possibly Unknown 1)
2 males between 20 and 30 (Unknowns)
1 male between 50 and 60 (probably Jeremiah)
1 female between 5 and 9 (probably Susan born 1822)
1 female between 10 and 14 (Unknown)
1 female between 40 and 50 (probably Elizabeth)

This was where the “Er-Duh Moment” occurred. IF Samuel’s father, Unknown 1, is the same age or older than his wife, he would have been born about 1815 or prior. Jeremiah did not marry Elizabeth until 1818. Unknown 1 could have (and probably was) the son of Nancy Best who apparently died about 1817. Elizabeth would have raised him and for all intents and purposes was his mother as she was the only one he would have known.

IF all the members of the household are actually the children of Jeremiah – there’s that dangerous “IF” word – then the family group based on the 1820 and 1830 Census records would now look like this:

Jeremiah Whittle b. abt 1775
Nancy Best b. abt 1775 m. 1804 d. bef Dec 1818
Unknown Male 2 b. bef 1810
Unknown Male 3 b. bef 1810
Unknown Female 1 b. bef 1815
Unknown 1 (Samuel’s father) b. abt 1815
Unknown Female 2 b. bef 1820

Elizabeth Eyle b. 1785 m. 1818 d. 1877
Thomas b. abt 1820
Susan b. 1822
Jeremiah A. b. abt 1824
John b. abt 1829

Have I been barking up the wrong family tree?

1. See post dated 19 Oct 2008.
2. Dodd, Jordan, Liahona Research, “Maryland Marriages, 1655-1850,” database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 Nov 2008), Marriage of Jeremiah Whittle and Elizabeth Eyle.
3. 1820 U.S. census, Baltimore County, Maryland, population schedule, District 2, p. 215, Jerrimiah Whittle; digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 Nov 2008); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M33, roll 41.
4. Dodd, Jordan, Liahona Research, “Maryland Marriages, 1655-1850,” database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 Nov 2008), Jeremiah Whittle and Nancy Pest.
5. 1830 U.S. census, Baltimore County, Maryland, District 2, p. 72, Jeremiah Whittle; digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 Nov 2008); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M29, roll 55.

[top]

Govanstown Cemetery Project

The Whittle Plot

I have left Elizabeth Whittle, grandmother of Samuel N., alone until now. Women born prior to 1850 are usually the most difficult to research. We are going to work back from the known and see if we can discover anything about Elizabeth Whittle that will help us resolve her identity.

Our first mention of Elizabeth was in my 6 Oct 2008 post when she appears living with Samuel and family on the 1870 census. We found her again with Eliza on the 1860 census and followed her back to the 1850 census. I found her obituary from 21 Jun 1877:¹

WHITTLE – At her residence, Towsontown, Md. June 19th, 1877, MRS. ELIZABETH WHITTLE, aged 91 years, 8 months and 9 days. She was a native of Lancaster county Pennsylvania, but for the last 73 years a resident of Towsontown.

Her funeral will take place from her late residence, today, Thursday 21st at 2 o’clock P.M. – Remains interred at Govanstown Presbyterian Church Cemetery. Her friends are respectfully invited to attend.

The best part of this obituary is the information concerning her age – 91 years, 8 month and 9 days. I bounced over to the Tombstone Birthday Calculator and entered the information and out popped a birth date of 12 Oct 1785. We’ll go with this date in the absence of any other information at this time. However, you should remember that the age at death was provided by someone that wasn’t there when she was born. The age would have come from a family member and could be in error. How many times when upset by a situation have you confused your own date of birth, much less that of another family member?

The other important piece of information is the Lancaster County birth location. How did she wind up in Baltimore? Did her family move to Baltimore with her? A good piece of information always leads to more questions!

When Ruth contacted me she supplied the information that Elizabeth’s husband was Jeremiah Whittle and they were married in 1818 in Baltimore by Minister Nathan Greenfield. Her name is listed in that record as Eyle, however, on her son’s death certificate her name is listed as Hall. I went to Ancestry and found her marriage to Jeremiah from 5 Dec 1818. If we use the birth date determined by her death date then she would have been 33 years old at the time of her marriage – not exactly a young bride. Is it possible that she was married before? Perhaps her maiden name is Hall and her widowed name is Eyle? It’s also possible that the information on the death certificate of Hall was supplied by someone that couldn’t remember her name and thought it might be Hall. Every piece of information raises more questions!

A search of the census records from 1790, 1800, and 1810 shows no one with the name of Eyles, Iles, or Ayles in Pennsylvania or Maryland. There are multiple candidates for the name of Hall with females of the right age in the household for 1790 and 1800, but no way to narrow it down. It’s terribly unfair that you just can’t click on a great name like Eyle and have it all laid out for you. I would like, just once, to have a theory and be able to with one click find a convenient marriage record, death record, or a nice obituary. At this point I have a theory and nothing to go with it.

1. “Mortuary Notices,” The Sun, 21 Jun 1877, p. 2; digital images, GenealogyBank (http://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 27 Sep 2008), Historic Newspapers.

[top]