Saturday, June 25, 2011

Part 3: He Had a Wife and Son

If you haven't been following along you might want to pop on down below and pick up this tale from the get-go. I'm trying to follow the life and times of a Revolutionary War ancestor, Nehemiah Newan(s).

OK, let's leave the book aside except that it mention that Nehemiah married: " During the War in 1779 he married Miss Kepplinger and had one son Thomas." It goes on to say that her family were Lutherns and amongst the first settlers of New York having come from Amsterdam. I have yet to chase that rabbit and will save it till a later time cause I'm about all tuckered out on this trail.

So what we have so far is that Nehemiah Newan died in the Battle of Yorktown. and that battle happened September 28 – October 19, 1781. His son Thomas was born in 1780. His wife, Catharine, if you believe the little book, says that he went off to fight and she never saw him again.

What we find is that Catharine Newan of York County, PA is granted a widow's pension as the widdow of Nehemiah Newan of $80 per year paid out as $40 every six months in 1828, effective 1 Jan 1829.

Additionally no Catharine Newan(s) appears on either the 1810 or 1820 census (unless I'm mistaken and that's always possible because I'm new to all of this.) However a Catharine Keplinger does appear on the 1810 census for Newbury Township in York County, PA. Is it possible that she went back to her maiden name? Why would she do that? Maybe she wouldn't. Maybe that's not her at all.

Let's sum up. He went off to war. She says he never came back. She collects a widows pension and raises their son. OK so far, right?

So if he's dead why does a Nehemiah Newan claim a land grant in upstate New York and is living there in 1810 and 1820? Hmmmm?

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