Caroline Carson: A Contented Old Woman

Posted on October 6, 2018 by Dawn Bingaman

A 1914 newspaper account of the life of 84-year-old Mrs. Caroline Carson, a resident of Chambersburg, New Jersey for fifty years

As genealogists, we search tirelessly for records for our ancestors that we then piece together in an attempt to create a narrative about their lives.

No matter how deftly woven, we know their stories are more than just a composite of various facts culled from easily obtainable records: birth, marriage, census, death and burial records. Lacking oral interviews, diaries or letters written in their own hand, how are we to truly get to know the individual as a person, when they lived and died long before we walked on this earth? Since time travel isn’t really a thing yet, I would argue that one way to pick up traces of our ancestor’s lives is to immerse ourselves in their world by reading the newspaper from their hometown. Beginning in the mid-1800s, often even small towns had at least one newspaper that reported on hyperlocal news items. Even seemingly mundane events or activities may have been reported, such as who was visiting whom, who was conducting business in the county seat, who was ailing or admitted to the hospital, who bought or sold real estate, who got an increase in their pension and such. The smallest bit of information can be the one clue that breaks open your research. All of these news items can either be plotted as data points in your genealogy software of choice or on a timeline. The information from these news items can also be used as pointers for research in other record groups.

Sometimes diligent newspaper research will be rewarded with something more than a snippet; you may get lucky and find a longer piece published about an ancestor. I was delighted to have found this 1914 article in an online historical newspaper archive about my 3rd great-grandmother, Mrs. Caroline Carson, of Chambersburg, New Jersey, in south Trenton. Certainly, she was interviewed by the reporter, so this is a first-hand account of her life in her own words, with additional observations made by someone who was in direct contact with her. It was fortuitous that she was interviewed and her story published when it was, as she died the following year.

I shared this news item years ago with several close cousins who are also direct descendants of Mrs. Caroline Carson. Today, I share it with you here as well.

[transcription begins]

MRS. CARSON, AT 84, IS UP DAILY AT 5

“One of the most contented old women in Trenton today is Mrs. Caroline Carson, a widow, who is in her eighty-fifth year and who resides with her daughter, Mrs. Amanda Hart, at 100 William Street, in the Eleventh Ward.

Mrs. Carson is a helpless invalid and has been such for the past five years. Her husband, Charles Carson, who was a sawyer at the old Hutchinson Bow Factory, was killed in 1866, when he fell on the large circular saw and his body was nearly cut in half.

The old lady was born on a farm near Allentown January 17, 1830. She says that she worked on a farm in her younger days and, from force of habit, she cannot sleep after 5 o’clock in the morning and she invariably retires at 8 o’clock. She has lived in the old borough for the past fifty years and says that when she first became a resident the borough was a vast commons, corn fields and apple and peach orchards. She has never ridden in an automobile, nor has she ever been inside of a moving picture theatre. She passes her time in sewing and in reading the Bible.

Her eyesight is remarkably good and her hearing is still acute. She says that since the old borough has grown into a city the noise is somewhat disturbing to her. She says that although she had her residence in the old borough for the past fifty years, yet during the most of that time she practically lived in the country, walking home every day after work and leaving early for work the next day.”¹

[transcription ends]

The article is chock full of details one would never normally learn, and that I would not know without having read her newspaper. I am curious whether she ever did get to see a movie or ride in an automobile before she died.

A summary of facts stated or suggested in the newspaper article, in timeline format:

Notes:

This birth date conflicts with other sources, and it is unclear which is likeliest to be correct. Other dates given for her birth are 02 Jan 1829 (family record, plus her age in at least three Federal census entries suggest a birth year of 1829), 01 Jan 1830 (death certificate). A May 1835 date of birth from her 1900 census entry is an outlier and probably was not supplied by her.
The place of birth stated in this article is new information. From prior research it was clear she married in Monmouth County, New Jersey, thus my inference is that she likely lived in Monmouth County at least for a time prior to her marriage. First marriages often occur in the brides’ hometown in this era.
Residence of Chambersburg tracks with other records.
The year of her husband’s death is incorrect in this account. Charles Carson actually died three years earlier, in 1863. Other blog posts that I have written on the subject of his death are here and here. The circumstances of his death as described are likely to be accurate and align with information discovered previously in other news articles.

¹“Mrs. Carson, at 84, Is Up Daily at 5,” Trenton (New Jersey) Evening Times, 08 April 1914, p. 5., col. 3; digital image, NewspaperArchive (https://newspaperarchive.com : last accessed 15 Sep 2018).

In the Name of God, Amen

Posted on August 12, 2018 by Dawn Bingaman

The 1807 will of Henry Bingaman of Garrard County, Kentucky

My brother has been following up on a theory about the wives of Henry Bingaman and his son, also named Henry Bingaman. He thought, perhaps, that the wills of one or both of them may clear up the possible misattribution. He sent me an early draft of his research, laying out his argument. In it, he had an index reference to the will of the elder Henry, of Garrad County, Kentucky. Since I had the clerk’s copy of the will of Henry Bingman that he was seeking, I decided to transcribe it and post it here. Spelling and punctuation are retained and shown as it appeared in the original. The only alteration is one of formatting (i.e. the line length) so it reads better in a blog format.

In the name of God Amen
I Henry Bingaman of Garrard County and Com.^th of Kentucky Being Sick and weak in Body but of Sound mind and mem^ry Do make and ordain this my last will and testament that is to say first of all I give & recommend Soul in to the hands of God who gave it and my Body to the earth be Buried in a Christian like and Decent ^manner at the discretion of my Executors, Imprimises it is my will and I do order that in the first place all my Just Debts and funeral Expences be paid and Satisfied – – – – – – –

Item I give and bequeath unto Maryann Bingamin my dearly beloved wife the use of the plantation that I now live on – together with all the household furniture including all the wool and flax during her natural life also one Cow & Calf two head of sheep (ewes) and two head of hogs and the use of ten apple trees During her life Item I give and bequeath unto my two sons John and Christian bingaman the plantation where on I now live to be equally divided Between them to them and their heirs forever I is my will that my two sons John and Christian Bingamin pay to all the rest of my heirs the just and full Sum of ten pounds current money of Kentucky on or before the expiration of eight years beginning at the Eldest paying ten pounds anually it is my will that all the rest of my property be sold and desposed of at the direction of my Executors I hereby revoke and disanul all former wills bequeaths, or deeds of this and no other to be my last will and testament nominating and appointing my two sons, John and Christian Bingamin my Executors

In witness whereof I have hereunto Set my hand and affixed my seal this 21st of November 1807 Signed Sealed and acknowledged in the presents of –

Robt Brank Henry Bingamin {seal}
Isaiah Nickols
Robert Henry¹

Preliminary analysis

This transcribed will directly states that on 21 Nov 1807 (the day the will was drawn), Henry Bingaman’s wife was named Maryann. Undoubtedly she was living on that date, as he left her valuable personal property.
He named two of his sons as executors, John and Christian Bingaman. We can make no assumptions about the ages of the sons since Kentucky law seemingly did allow for executors under the age of twenty-one.²
Since Bingaman discussed the payment of ten pounds “current money of Kentucky” to unnamed heirs over the course of eight years, beginning with the eldest heir, it can be concluded that there were at least ten heirs – the two named children, plus the eight unnamed heirs. The oldest unnamed heir would have received their cash legacy first, followed by the second eldest receiving their legacy the following year, and so on. Presumably, these heirs were his children, but more research is needed to establish exactly who the heirs could have been.

Suggestions for further research

All that we have here is the transcribed will of Henry Bingaman of Garrard County, Kentucky. Since the will would have been only one document recorded as part of the probate process, we should look for either the probate packet itself or further evidence of other court proceedings in extant county books or registers. Finding the loose papers, particularly receipts for legacies, would allow us to learn the names of the heirs.
The will does not indicate when it was proved, or by whom, which would allow us to bracket a death date for Henry Bingaman. All we know for sure at this point is that he died sometime after he wrote the will, therefore after 21 Nov 1807.
A closer look at Kentucky law is warranted, to learn who would have been considered an heir. Would it just be children, or were others entitled to inherit say, for example, the children of deceased children?

Sources:

¹ Garrard County, Kentucky, Book of Wills, Volume C (1805-1809), p. 199, Will of Henry Bingaman; digital images, “Kentucky, Wills and Probate Records, 1774-1989,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 4 Jan 2017), FHL microfilm 764,6424.

² As a starting point, see the discussion at 333 regarding infant executors in C.A. Wickliffe, S. Turner and S.S. Nicholas, compilers, The Revised Statutes of Kentucky (Frankfort, Ky. : State Printer, 1852); digital images, Google Books (http://books.google.com : accessed 12 Aug 2018).

Census Comparison Worksheet Revisited

Posted on March 22, 2018 by Dawn Bingaman

Some time ago, I revised an Excel census comparison worksheet created by another genealogy blogger and provided an example of its use on this site. I have had enough requests for a blank copy of my census comparison workbook that I am making it available for download for those who would like their own copy.

Download blank census comparison Excel workbook
[Revised 20 Jan 2020 to correct date formatting]

Technically what I have created is called a “workbook” rather than a “worksheet” since I added additional tabs to the original sample worksheet for census images and citations. I will use the terms worksheet and workbook interchangeably though to refer to the download.

The main form allows for the input of five different census enumerations for a single family and can be printed out on a standard 8.5 x11 inch sheet of paper if desired. In my 2016 example, I tracked the Charles and Caroline Carson family of New Jersey through the censuses of 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880 and 1900 and extracted that information onto my form. Note that much of the 1890 U.S. census is unavailable and therefore not included in my example. Doing this type of work forces one to analyze each individual census to pull out the relevant facts. Combining multiple census entries into a single form allows for correlation of the data and enables one to make determinations as to whether the correct family has been identified each and every census year.

I thought in addition to providing the Excel download that it may be useful for some to learn how I use the workbook. If you are in that camp, read on. I upgraded from Excel 2010 to Excel 2016 since the original post so the screenshots may look slightly different than before.

How to use the workbook

If a couple has more than nine children, additional rows can revealed. This form actually includes spaces for a total of 14 children. This couple had fewer children, so I simply hid the rows. To unhide, select rows 34 & 45, right-click and choose Unhide from the context menu that pops up.

Unhide rows to reveal the spaces to track additional children

If a child was not yet born, or if someone died and would not have been included in the census for that year, then I shade the cell in the column so I know that they should not have been counted and I do not have to keep looking for them. Select cells under the appropriate column, right-click, and choose the paint bucket icon. Click the down arrow to the right of Fill color and select any color. I use a light gray.

Shade cells of unborn children or deceased persons for easier tracking

If you want to add another sheet to the workbook to include an image for another enumeration, click the plus (+) sign near the bottom of the workbook.

Add another sheet to the workbook

To rename your new sheet, right-click and select Rename. Type in a new name, ideally something short, but descriptive, like the census year.

Rename worksheet to “1900”

To move your new worksheet to another location in the same workbook, hold down the left mouse button and drag it so it appears in chronological order.

Move the new 1900 sheet to the right, after 1880

Change the entire sheet background to white to remove the grid lines for individual cells by going up to the area to the left of column A and above row 1 and clicking there. Your entire sheet should turn gray to indicate that it is selected. Then click the paint bucket and choose white for the sheet color. The columns and rows remain on the worksheet, they just are not visible.

To add a census image, click on the worksheet corresponding to the year of the census. Click in cell B3, then choose Insert > Pictures from your toolbar and navigate to the folder you stored the image. If you just downloaded it, the image is probably in your Downloads folder.

Insert census image at cell B3, just below the census citation

Change it up

This is your workbook, so feel free to edit it accordingly. In the above example, the main form was designed to show a single family across five census enumerations. If using that approach, you would need a separate workbook in the event of a second marriage, especially if there were additional children. If you want to focus on an individual and include all marriages and children from all of those marriages, make those changes.

Here is an example of another workbook I created to show one woman, her two husbands and children by both marriages.

This census comparison worksheet shows extracted information for Jane Amanda Carson and husbands Joseph Kuhn and George E. Hart in five Federal census enumerations (1880-1930).

Final thoughts

Remember that you can revise the workbook to include any census listings of your choice, but I would recommend only including those from 1850 and later where each person in the household is listed. Better forms are available to track censuses between 1790-1840 that only list the head of household, with everyone else represented by a tick mark in broad age groupings. An example by Bill Dollarhide is featured here.

Make sure that you download a copy of each census that your family appears in and attach it to the appropriate tab in the workbook. In genealogy, there is no guarantee that the record you find today will be available tomorrow, or that you will be able to locate it again. Unfortunately, websites do go offline, and sometimes genealogy records are later restricted, so download them as soon as you find them. Keeping everything together in one workbook will make your genealogy research easy to find and easy to review at a later date.

Have fun census tracking! Hopefully the effort will yield new insights in your genealogy reasearch.

1820 Cranberry, New Jersey Census Substitute

Posted on November 25, 2017 by Dawn Bingaman

There are no extant United States Federal census population schedules for the state of New Jersey prior to 1830.¹ Therefore, any surviving list of inhabitants before that time will be a welcome addition to the scholarship for genealogists and historians researching in the Garden State who are trying to pinpoint residents of a particular community. I recently discovered one such list for Middlesex County.

While reviewing early newspapers for any mention of my New Jersey Carson family, I ran across an entry for one General Charles Carson of Cranberry, New Jersey, nominated as a Representative to the 17th U.S. Congress.² Despite the fact that my ancestor shares a name with this man, I am unaware of any relationship to him at this time. It is possible my ancestor was simply named for this officer in the War of 1812.³ The mention piqued my curiosity nonetheless because of the sheer number of names included in the article. It appears to be a comprehensive listing of adult male residents of the town of Cranberry, Middlesex County, New Jersey and can stand in as a census substitute.

Responding to an article dated 19 Sep 1820 in which Carson’s character had been allegedly impugned, sixty male petitioners of the town affixed their name to a letter sent to Messrs. Tuttle & Co., presumably the editors or printers of the newspaper. I have transcribed the complete article below.

From The Centinel of Freedom, published in Newark, New Jersey, dated 25 Sep 1820, p. 1, col. 4. Courtesy New Jersey State Archives.

ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS.
Messrs. Tuttle &. Co.

A publication has appeared in your paper of the 19th inst., wrote no doubt with an intent to injure me in public estimation. In justice to the feeling of my friends, my family and myself [illegible] following a place in your paper.

CHARLES CARSON.

We the undersigned, inhabitants of the village of Cranberry, in the county of Middlesex, state of New Jersey, understanding that a publication has appeared in the Newark Centinel derogatory to the character of Gen. Charles Carson of this place, wherein the writer makes the following remark — “I trust his standing at home will be inquired into by the gentlemen who compose the Convention.” In justice to the individual whose character is thus publicly assailed, we have no hesitation in saying that we believe him to be a man of the strictest veracity, in whose honesty and integrity we have the fullest confidence.

Cranberry, 25th Sept. 1820.

Nathaniel Hunt, Samuel Disbrow, George Barclay, Amos Shaw, Cajah Voorhies, John W. Perrine, William Jordan, Aaron Disbrow, John N. Lewis, Aaron D. Shaw, James Clarke, Elias Bayles, Joshua Edwards, Rescarrick Ayres, William H. Mershon, Cornelius Voorhies, Timothy Horner, Reuben Vanderbeak, Clement Hooper, Peter Sutphin, John Voorhies, Joseph M’Chesney, Charles R. Brindly, Andrew G. Vankirk, Henry Silcox, Daniel Ervin, Joseph Conover, Aaron Dewitt, jr., William Newton, jr., Lewis Carman, John Jordon, Ralph P. Lott, John Van Dyke, Matthew Gilland, William Logan, James Debow, William Newton, Aaron Lane, John Clark, Jacob Brown, Ezekiel Ervin, Joseph M’Chesney, jr., James Vanhart, Randolph Hunt, John Vankirk, Horatia Sansbury, Syrennes C. Henry, Aaron Dewitt, David Conover, Peter Conover, Joseph Mount, John Voorhies, jr., Amos Coriell, Geo. Naphey, Okey H. Vankirk, Anthony Appleget, George Shaw, Henry Perrine, James Stephenson, George Davis.

We do hereby certify, that Gen. Charles Carson, was born in the village of Cranberry, and has resided therein ever since, and that his recommendation is signed by all the free white male inhabitants of said place above the age of twenty one, with the exception of one young man who is from home at the time. [Emphasis mine.]

NATHANIEL HUNT,
JOSEPH M’CHESNEY.

Sources:

¹ Alice Eicholz, ed., Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources, 3rd. ed. (Salt Lake City: Ancestry, Inc., 1992): 448.

² “A List,” Centinel of Freedom (Newark, New Jersey), 19 Sep 1820, p. [2?], col. 4.

³ Although called a General in this article, he was a Captain of the 15th U.S. Infantry in the War of 1812, a rank he held from March 1812-April 1813. It is unclear when or whether he may have attained the rank of General. See Francis B. Heitman, Historical Record and Dictionary of the United States Army, 1789-1903 (Washington, D.C. : Government Printing Office, 1903), 1: 286; digital image, HathiTrust Digital Library (http://www.hathitrust.org/ : accessed 25 Nov 2017).

Ancestor Roundup

Reining in my American Ancestors

Author Archives: Dawn Bingaman