The family of John Simpson Aldridge Jr.

Well, I thought that the family of John Simpson Aldridge Jr was well documented.  As it turns out, only most of the children are well documented, or at least, the documents for the others haven't been located yet.  However, I've found enough to help us understand a little of the family, even if we can't understand all the dynamics or interactions that this family experienced.  

John Simpson Aldridge Jr is the son of John Simpson and Mary Lakin Aldridge.  He was born February 27, 1798 in Clermont County, Ohio and married Lucinda Wheeler, daughter of Jason Wheeler and his mysterious wife, who may be Patience or Palina, and who may be a Swan, Tracy, Hamblin, or someone else entirely.  There are records showing him as a soldier in the War of 1812 in Ohio, but he would have been pretty young (not yet 16 when the war ended) so I'm not sure we are talking about the same man.  Of course, he could simply have lied about his age, particularly if he had the appearance of a robust young man.  

John and Lucinda were married in 1819 in Clermont County, and stayed there for a few years.  Sometime in the 1820s, probably before 1823, they were in Rush County, Indiana, where they stayed the rest of their lives.  Lucinda died in 1836 and John in 1842.  In their not quite 17 years of marriage, this couple had 10 children, which may have been one reason Lucinda died at such an early age.  I am not absolutely positive about the birth order of some of the children, as there are at least two who likely died as infants or children, and no records have yet been located for them.  

The first child was Darlington Dart, born in 1821, likely in Clermont County, and died in 1859 in Tipton County, Indiana.  He married Leah Folsom, the daughter of Jeremiah and Sally Lock Folsom.  Their children are Mary, Lucinda, Francis, John, Jeremiah, James, Alonzo, Richard, and Harvey.  I will follow this family in my next blog post.  

Eliza, also seen as Elizabeth, was born in 1822.  She married Uriah Bozell, who may have been the son of Henry and either Catherine Ninon Bozell or Lucinda Brandon Bozell.  Their children are John, James, Henry, Eliza, Melinda, Leah, and Sarah.   She died in 1905. 

Joseph was born in 1824, probably in Clermont County, Ohio per his Find a Grave memorial.  He married Susan Stiers, who was the daughter of Andrew and Elizabeth Creviston Stiers.  If those names seem familiar, Joseph's uncle, Nathan Aldridge, also married a daughter of Andrew and Elizabeth, as mentioned in my last post about the family of John Simpson and Mary Lakin Aldridge.  Joseph and Susan's children are Marshall, Mary, Dailey, Patience, Ada, and Rhoda.  He died in Rush County in 1903 or 1909; there seems to be conflicting information on his grave stone.

Next born may have been Mary, who seems to have no further record.  It is not unusual for children who were both born and died between census years, to not have left a record in that time period.  All we can say is that she was likely named for her grandmother, Mary Lakin Aldridge.

Jason Lafayette Aldridge was born in 1825 and died in 1888.  He married Rebecca Sapp, the daughter of George and Sarah Canter Sapp.  He spent his adult life in Clermont County, Ohio, for reasons I have not yet determined (were the Sapps family friends from when his parents lived there?), and he was a Civil War veteran.  Jason and Rebecca had no children.  

Next born was Isam Philander, generally known as Philander, in 1829.  He married Nancy Borden, the daughter of William and Rachel Corn Borden.  Sally Lock Folsom, mother in law of Darlington, married a Stafford Borden after the death of her first husband, but I have not yet made a connection between the two Borden families.  Isam's children are Sarah, Lea, Mary, Melissa, James, Sandy, and Charles.  

Ruhamah was born about 1831.  There may or may not be a hint of scandal about her.  She first married, in 1848, Oliver Abernathy, the son of Randall and Rebecca Moore Abernathy.  They had two children, Isaac and Richard.  I have not yet found record of it, but there seems to have been a divorce because in 1868 she married James W. Toler.  The Abernathy boys are living with the Tolers in Illinois, along with Susan Toler, who is one year old in the 1870 census.  The interesting thing that makes me raise one eyebrow, just a little, is that Ruhamah is 10 years older than James.  Also, Oliver died in 1880.  It would be interesting to see the divorce records in the late 1860s, but Oliver seems to have moved frequently so we don't even know which county to search.

Next born, was John Simpson Aldridge III, about 1832.  He married Mary Toler or Toller, so far not further identified.  Their children are Mary, Frank, and Joseph.  John died in 1880 in Rush County, Indiana.

Here we come to another bit of confusion.  Apparently there was a son, Barr E., born in 1835 or 1836.  At least one tree gives his mother as Mary Henderson, and his father as John Simpson Aldridge, Jr, with no supporting documentation.  I could not find any record of Barr, so he may well have lived and died between the census years.  

To further confuse matters, the last known child was Marcellus, born in 1835 and died in 1882.  Some show his middle initial as E, and some say it was B, for Barr.  It's possible that Marcellus and Barr were one and the same person, but I tend to think there were two babies.  I have no idea whether the Mary Henderson idea is correct, but Marcellus is only shown as the son of John and Lucinda.  He married Hester Beaver, the daughter of Elisha and Mary Ann Walker Beaver.  Their children are Frank, Dailey, and Winfield Scott.  

By my count, this gives John and Lucinda 38 children, assuming Barr was real and was the child of John and Lucinda.  Most of the family stayed in central Indiana, so there are still a lot of Aldridge family members nearby.  

 

The family of John Simpson Aldridge 1761-1842

At last, we are coming to an Aldridge with fewer mysteries to solve.  No, we don't have all the answers, but at least we have some, and I've solved, to my satisfaction at least, a confusing statement I've seen written about three Aldridges marrying three native American women.  It wasn't quite that way, so read on.

John Simpson Aldridge is the son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Soper?) Aldridge.  He served in the Revolutionary War for six months in 1776-1777, and enlisted again for three years in  1777, serving until 1780.  During his first enlistment, he was at the Battle of White Plains and possibly other battles.  At least one source (but not the on line muster rolls) says he was at Brandywine and at Valley Forge, and that he spent the last part of the war in Ohio at forts there, protecting against the British but mostly against the native American allies of the British.  He would certainly have some stories to tell!  

John's wife was Mary Lakin, the daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Fee Lakin.  They married in Frederick County, Maryland in 1783 and were in Clermont County, Ohio by 1802.  The 1820 census shows them still there, with 7 children.  At least two of the older ones had already left home, and there is a female under the age of 10 that I can't currently account for. John and Mary, and most of their children, moved on to Rush County, Indiana about 1825, and that is where they spent their remaining days. John and Mary's children are:

Joseph, born in 1784, and died in 1816 in Clermont County. He married Rachel Stiers, the daughter of Jacob and Ruhama Stiers.  Ruhama is said to have been a member of the Delaware tribe, but little more is known of her than that.  Joseph and Rachel had as many as seven children: Ruhama, John, Mahala, Henry, Mary, William, and John.  

Rachel, their first daughter, was born in 1786 and died in 1826 in Rush County, Indiana.  She married Samuel Stiers, who was the son of Jacob and Ruhama Stiers mentioned above.  They probably had more children than I have located, as the 1820 census shows them with 6 children under the age of 16.  (Or possibly one or both of them brought children to the marriage.  The children I have more or less located are John, Alva, Cyrus, and an unnamed daughter who was born in 1820.  

The next born was Erasmus, known as Raizy or Raisy, born in 1789 and died in 1844 in Rush County, Indiana. He married Sarah, possibly Sarah Holmes, but I could locate no further information about her.  Thier children are William, Mickley, Nackey, Joseph, John, Lucinda, Leroy, and Samuel, with a question in my mind about Leroy "Swampstead" Aldridge.  I will discuss this further when I write about Sarah.

Elizabeth was the next born, in 1791.  She married Ralph (Rafe) Stiers, who was also the son of Jacob and Ruhama Stiers.  They stayed in Clermont County, where Elizabeth died in 1868.  Their children are Malinda, Sarah, Mary, Joseph, Euseba, Martha, and John.  

Mary was born in 1793 and married William Smith in Clermont County in 1817.  She is one who has left more questions than answers.  I find just two children attributed to her, Anna and Mahala.  She apparently died in 1842, or 1844, in Rush County or elsewhere.  There is so far not much documentation about her life.

Sarah is another person with poor documentation.  She was born in 1795 and was living, apparently not married, in 1823, when she and a son "Leroy Swampstead" were listed as dependents in her father's pension application.  "Leroy Swampstead" is not a common name, and Erasmus had a son by the same name.  Were the two Leroy's one and the same, with Erasmus raising Leroy as his own?  Or were there two young men, each named for a possible friend/lover/husband of Sarah?  I've not found anything to prove or disprove any of this, nor have I found marriage or death records for Sarah.  She is a mystery.  

John Simpson Aldridge Jr is their next child.  He was born in 1798, and died in Rush County, Indiana in 1842, just a few months before his father's death.  He married Lucinda Wheeler, the daughter of Jason and Patience or Palina (maiden name unknown; Tracy and Hamblin have been suggested but neither is proven) Wheeler.  Their children are Ruhamah, Mary, Eliza, John Simpson III, Isam, Barr, Jason, Marcellus, Darlington, and Joseph. I will write more of this family in my next blog post.

Delila or Delilah was born in 1799.  She married Arthur Layton, not further identified.  He died in 1834.  Their children are Joseph, Arthur, Louisanna, and Missouri.  There are marriage records for Delila Layton in 1835 and again, later, but if she married again, it was a short marriage and she retained the name of Layton, for she is found in 1860 in Rush County, Indiana, living with her son, A. Layton.  It's possibly that there is a Delila Layton who was a daughter to this Delila, but if so, it is news to family historians.

The last known child was Nathan, born in 1803, probably in Clermont County, Ohio, and died in 1884 in Rush County, Indiana.  He married Nancy Kitchen, not further identified yet, and had at least two children with her, Mahala and Dulcina known as Sina.  Martha died in 1831 and Nathan then married-wait for it-Rachel Stiers.  This Rachel was not the daughter of Jacob and Ruhama, but was the daughter of Andrew and Elizabeth Creviston Stiers.  This Stiers family was from New Jersey and I have not found a connection to the Jacob Stiers family but that doesn't mean there isn't a connection.  The children of Nathan and Rachel are William, Leroy (there's that name again!) John, Nathan, and Charles.

This brings us back to the kernel of truth in the story that three Aldridge children married three native Americans.  The truth is that three Aldridge children married three children of one native American, woman, Ruhama, who had married Jacob Stiers.  Perhaps DNA testing could show whether she was truly a native American, or whether she may have been one of those who was captured and then adopted by members of the Delaware, or other, tribe.  Such things happened.  

John and Mary, by my count, had at least 50 grandchildren, and only one of the families is known to have stayed in Ohio.  They surely enjoyed their life as grandparents, and great grandparents, and we can appreciate the sacrifices made by John in serving his country, and by both John and Mary in raising a large family.