Research Goals for the family of John & Tabitha (McCall) Wheeler
A great deal of research has been done; here is what we need next:
- Locate all census records for John & Tabitha Wheeler (we have only the 1850 to begin with)
- Learn where Tabitha died and buried.
- Find burial and obit for their son Lewis, who died in 1901 in Starke Co., Indiana
- Confirm that daughters Elizabeth and Charlotte were born in Ohio. If so, where was the family living in Ohio?
- Find out what happened to the daughters Elizabeth and Charlotte after 1850… but after setting forth this goal the researcher now believes that Charlotte married Calvin McCay and Elizabeth married James O’Conner.
- NOTE: This is important because by following Elizabeth and Charlotte we might be able to find out where they were born in Ohio. So this was the first step to meeting the goal of locating where they were in Ohio.
CHRONOLOGYas of April 11, 2013. Updated April 13, 2013, Updated
John & Tabitha (McCall) Wheeler
Ca. 1790 John Wheeler born
(How do we know when John was born?)
Ca 1803 Tabitha McCall b. Virginia – based on her age in 1850
1800 John would be about 10, Tabitha not yet born.
1810 John would be about 20, Tabitha 7
1820John would be about 30, Tabitha 17
10 (01?) Oct. 1824John Wheeler marries Tabitha McCall in Harrison Co. [West] Virginia (It would have been Virginia in 1824; W. Virginia was formed at the time of the Civil War. ) He would be about 34, she 21.
I wanted to see this certificate and the copy was blurry, so I want online to review it. (link from familysearch.org) Here is what it says:
John Wheeler and John McCally are held and firmly bound under James Pleasants, Jr., Governon… $150… [that no just impediment to the marriage] … 1 Oct 1824 the above named John Wheeler and Tabitha McCall of full age… signed by John X Wheeler [his mark] and John McCauley.
John McCauley made oath before me this 1st day of Oct. 1824 that the within named Tabitha is upwards of 21 years of age.
Almost certainly John McCauley is Tabitha’s father, uncle or brother… and if the father is s till alive, probably it is he who posted the bond. John Wheeler who posted the bond is specified as the John Wheeler getting married.
August 1824or 1825 birth of son Lewis Wheeler, Virginia.
Probably this date taken from the 1900 census, which lists month born as well as year; the years are often off by one or more years. He could easily have been born 1825.
Because Virginia never recognized common law marriage it is unlikely that he was born prior to the marriage. I’m going to rearrange this on the timeline.
06 Dec. 1826 birth of son Nathan Wheeler in West Virginia.
His exact date of birth is on his death certificate, which is available at SeekingMichigan.org
May 1830 dau Catherine born in Virginia.
1830 census
I thought he might be the John Wheeler?/Weaver? Of this record
Name: / John Weaver[John Wheeler]
Home in 1830 (City, County, State): / Eastern District, Harrison, Virginia
Free White Persons - Males - Under 5: / 3
Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29: / 1
Free White Persons - Females - Under 5: / 1
Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29: / 1
Free White Persons - Under 20: / 4
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49: / 2
Total Free White Persons: / 6
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored): / 6
But when I look at that page, I find this entry clearly written as John Weaver. On that same page, however, I did find what I believe might be a John Wheeler. What do you think?
In this household there are two boys <5 (Nathan and Lewis?) and 1 girl under 5 (a baby Catherine?). But there is also a male 5-10, a male 15-20, 3 males 2-30 and a male 60-70, who might be John. No match for a John b. ca 1790. The only adult woman in the household is 30-40, and not a match for Tabitha. I want to hold off on early Virginia research at this time. Let’s continue to work backwards from Indiana before we wade into this swamp.
Ca1836 birth of daughter Elizabeth in Ohio – we want to know where in Ohio.
Ca1838 birth of daughter Charlotte in Ohio – we want to know where in Ohio
In 1838 Tabitha is 35 years old. She appears to have no more children.
1840
Is the family in Ohio in 1840? We know that Tabitha purchased the land in Jasper Co., Indiana in 1850, so this seems a good possibility.
We want to find a John (or Tabitha) Wheeler in Ohio in 1840 with this makeup
Male age 40-50
Female age 30-40
Male age 15-20
Male age 10-15
at least one Female age 5-10 or 10-15
at least 2 females under 5
There may be other children in the household that we don’t know about and there are almost always discrepancies, but this will give us a basic structure to look for. Do we want to start doing that? Not really. Even if we find a likely candidate family, we have no evidence to link it. Again, let’s continue working from Indiana records and get everything we possibly can from those before we go into Ohio.
John Wheeler dies before around or before 1850.
11 Nov. 1849 dau Catherine marries John Lenam in Sugar Creek, Montgomery Co., Indiana. Catherine would be 19.
Montgomery Co. is not that near Pulaski or Jasper Co, which makes me want to know more about the connection between the families.
1850
District 55, Gillam Twp. , Jasper Co., Indiana
Tabitha Wheeler 47 b. Va value of real estate owned: $50
Lewis Wheeler 23 farmer b. Va
Nathan Wheeler 22 farmer b. Va
Elizabeth Wheeler 14 b. Ohio
Charlotte Wheeler 12 b. Ohio
TO DO: Because we now know she owned land, we want tolook for the land transaction to see when it occurred. It turns out it was a purchase of federal land, i.e. the first land purchased from the government made 31 December 1850. 40 acres. Those can be found at the Bureau of Land Management site, but in this case I found it indexed in Ancestry.com when I searched for Tabitha Wheeler. She purchased the land on a cash sale from the Winamac Land Office. With the land description, we can order the land entry file from the National Archives. I’m not sure it will contain useful information – there tended to be less information in the earlier records – but it needs to be part of the research.
See my page on Land and Property Records -- go to the “public” land section on that page for information on finding and obtaining these records. You can get the patent (first deed) from the site, but you want to also order the case files.
See also the family search wiki (familysearch.org LEARN -- WIKI –“Indiana land” will bring it up. This may be a more direct explanation since it is specific to Indiana.
27 May 1855 son Lewis Wheeler marries in Pulaski Co., Indiana to Catherine McKinney. Lewis would have been about 31.
02 Sept 1856 Charlotte marries Calvin McCay in Pulaski Co., Indiana
Find A Grave identifies them as husband and wife.
14 Jan 1858 Elizabeth marries James O’Conner in Pulaski Col, Indiana. She is 22.
5 August 1858 son Nathan Wheeler marries in Pulaski Co., Indiana to Eliza Jane Johnson. Nathan is about 32.
1860
- Calvin and Charlotte (Wheeler) McCay are in New Durham, LaPorte Co. Indiana.
- Nathan and his family are in White Post, Pulaski Co.
- Lewis and his family are in White Post, Pulaski Co.
- Elizabeth (Wheeler) O’Conner and her family are in White Post, Pulaski Co.
- Catherine (Wheeler) Lanam and her family are in White Post, Pulaski Co.
Tabitha is not living with any of her children. Nor can I find her elsewhere in the area. Did she die? remarry? leave the area? get hidden by bad handwriting, spelling or indexing?
Because so many subsequent records show the family in Pulaski and other nearby counties, we have to think that at some point all or most of the family left Jasper County.
Let’s look more closely at this area. We see that Pulaski and Jasper county are contiguous.
linked to under the MAPS section of --it is at beginning of list.
And we know they were in Gilliam Twp. in Jasper Co. in 1850 and White Post Twp. in Pulaski Co. in 1860. Let’s look at that more closely…
This one is at the end of the list at
They didn’t go far, but let’s look at land records to see WHEN they went and perhaps we can also find under what circumstances.
Let’s Search FamilySearch.org CATALOG for Indiana, Jasper – then look at LAND & PROPERTY. We want to find out when the land there was sold. Remember, it was a first purchase, so that might not show up (counties vary). Because we are looking for Wheeler as the seller, we look at the grantor index.
We discover, to our horror, that the land records have not been filmed.
We’ll have to go to the courthouse. What is the address? And what office?
The FamllySearch Wiki fails to give us this information. My site is not up to snuff on this topic either. Let’s try this one:
Ancestry Redbook Wiki for Indiana –LAND
And success … it tells us to find the County Recorders Office (last paragraph on the page)
Google Jasper County Indiana recorder and here you have it:
TO DO:Write and request that the clerk check the GRANTOR index for sale of land owned by Tabitha , Nathan or Lewis Wheeler or John or Catherine Lanam (Lanham) and advise you of the cost to obtain copies of those deeds. Ideally you will do the same with the Grantee index, but you may want to do that as a separate, later transaction.
Now let’s see when they came into Pulaski Co. Since they are buying land, we will first check the grantee indexes.
But ditto above (not filmed) , so you will write the Pulaski Co. Indiana Recorder, asking her to check the Grantee indexes for the for the same.
Next: Let’s ask ourselves if she may have died in Jasper Co. between 1850 and 1860 and if so might there be a probate of her estate, a newspaper notice of some kind or a grave record.
We’ve learned that Indiana death records do not begin until 1882, so we won’t find an official death record.
When we check familysearch.org CATALOG for Indiana, Jasper -- probate, we find that they begin 1864. That’s odd…
The family search Wiki (search Indiana Jasper ) tells us this
“Jasper County; 115 W Washington; Rensselaer, IN 47978; Ph. 219.866.4927 Details: (Courthouse burned in 1862; all rec destroyed) (Co HlthDept has b & d rec; Co Clk has m & div rec from 1865, pro & ct rec from 1864)”
Oh Oh… those land records might be gone too. Nope! A little googling tells us that the deed records and indexes escaped.
What about marriage or burial for Tabitha Wheeler, most likely in either Gillam Twp., Jasper Co. or White Post Twp. in Pulaski Co.
- Marriage – A quick search of familysearch did not find anything. I’m going to start by looking for a burial record, because I have an ace up my sleeve that makes it easier. (See below)
- Burial – Here is my ace: many earlier cemetery records were recorded by the D.A.R. Records Committtee. There is an online index to those records at the D.A. R website. Looking for an easy answer, I went there. And look what I found
We can order photocopies of those records from the D.A.R. and we will want to do that,($15 per request. I believe that two pages in the same volume will count as one request, but I’m not sure)
but also see note at bottom of this report, which gives us a little more information.
1865
- An online family tree says that Charlotte died 4 Jun 1865.
- There is a FindAGrave entry for Charlotte (Wheeler) McCay that gives a death date of Jan. 11, 1905 ; burial in Westville Cemetery, New Durham Twp., LaPorte Co.
- (Her husband, Calvin married a second time in 1866, died later and is buried in Pulaski Co.)
Ancestry.com McCoy Family Tree and FindAGrave
We want to find her death record, obituary to see if either tell us where in Ohio she was born. Which date did she die?
Absent a divorce, the 1865 one has to be correct. Perhaps the date was difficult to read and it is June not January and 1865, not 1905. Perhaps a typo.The index of Indiana deaths at Ancestry.com does not find a 1905 death for Charlotte McCoy. I find no census records for her past 1860. For now, let’s assume she died 1865. That’s too bad because Indiana did not keep death records in 1865 and a newspaper notice, if there is one, is unlikely to contain much information.
At this point, let’s concentrate on Elizabeth to identify where in Ohio the two youngest daughters were born, hoping that she died later, when records were more complete.
9 Nov 1865 daughter Catherine marries 2nd Hamilton McCay in Pulaski Co. Indiana.
1870 census
I didn’t get these, but we do want to find everyone in the family in this and all subsequent census records.
04 August 1872 son Nathan Wheeler marries 2d in Pulaski Co., Indiana to Sarah Angeline Deterick.
1880 census
I didn’t get these, but we do want to find everyone in the family in this and all subsequent census records.
[1890]
1900 census
I didn’t get these, but we do want to find everyone in the family in this and all subsequent census records.
4 January 1901 son Lewis dies in Knox ,Stark Co. Indiana.
We’d like to get his obituary and learn where he is buried. (Do we have his death record? That usually lists place of burial)
To find the obituary, we will use the website Chronicling America to find what newspapers were published in Knox in 1901. Then we’ll know which newspapers we need to find and check.
We search the Directory
Here is what the search looks like:
3 were publishing between 1890-1910—Here they are
Let’s see if the Starke Co. Library in Knox will check these for us and provide a photocopy of the obituary if they can find it.
There website doesn’t tell us, but it does give us a form to ask a question, so let’s use that. Ask if they will provide the service and if not, could they advise us on how to obtain a copy. There is a local genealogical society, a local historical society and a county historian, so I’ll bet there is a way to get it! The library is the quickest and easiest way to find out.
If it doesn’t work out to get the obituary through the library, we will see if we can get the microfilms of these three newspapers on interlibrary loan and check for the obituary ourselves.
END NOTE
As often happens, a serendipitous find gives us the answer we want.
Remember that Catherine, who married in 1849 in Montgomery Co. to John Lanam/Lanham, was widowed and then married in Pulaski Co. Hamilton McCay.
It bothered me that she married in a county so far away, so I wanted to find out if I could figure out why she (or the family) was in Montgomery Co. or how they knew the Lanam/Lanham family that was there. In other words, before going back to Ohio and Virginia, I wanted to go back to the nearest last known place.
I was doing some googling for her, thinking I might find something helpful. I was encouraged to use Google by the unusual combination of Hamilton McCay Pulaski
I found this on a family tree posed on line and the compiler includes a nice summary of her research steps.
I have however had a little more luck in finding Catherine's parents. Deciding to work backwards, I went back to Pulaski County for clues. I checked a book of Medaryville Town Cemetery records .This book written by the Daughters of the American Revolution lists people buried in the town cemetery as well as genealogical notes if known. I searched in it for Catherine McCay, instead I found HameltonMc Cay and many other McCays including his son Calvin. Under Calvin's entry it said that he was married first toCharlotte WHEELER daughter of John and Tabitha Wheeler! Was Charlotte related to Catherine? I didn't have to wait long to find out. The next entry was for Calvin's second wife Mary (Lanum) McCay, daughter of John and Catherine (Wheeler) Lanumand niece of Calvin's 1st wife Charlotte!!!!!!So Catherine and Charlotte Wheeler are sisters and their parents names are John and Tabitha Wheeler!!!! Looking further I found some Wheelers buried in this same cemetery and among them was Tabitha (McCall) McBride wife of Daniel McBride who was previously married to John Wheeler. So now I know her maiden name is McCall. In this same cemetery I also found children and grandchildren of John and Tabitha Wheeler. In a similar book for Sutton Cemetery I found John andCatherine Lanam (Catherine was listed with the last name Lanam) as well a thier children Adda, David and an infant who was born and died in1862. (Underlining mine)
We discovered these records earlier on the DAR site, but it is nice to get a heads up on what we will learn. We will still want to order the records, of course!
And we will also go back to the DAR site and search for the Sutton cemetery records (i.e. search for the name Catherine Lanam) and order that record. Then we will have Catherine’s death date and can set about trying to find a death record and obituary for her to see if we can get her place of birth in Ohio. more information on her
Whoops… It is ELIZABETH that was born in Ohio! We still need to follow up on her. ONE MORE TO DO!
We last saw Elizabeth in 1860, when she and her husband. Remember: they married in 1858, so probably James had been married before.
James Oconner35farmer 800/50 b. Ireland
Elizabeth Oconner23 b. Ohio
John Oconner8 b. Va
Catharine Oconner6 b. Ohio
Margret Oconner1 b. Ind
James owns land. We will start to trace James & Elizabeth by using census and checking the land records to see when the land was sold. We will also see when John came into Pulaski Co., find out where he lived etc. because we can’t trace Elizabeth without tracing James.
This ends round 1 of the search.
1