A Way Better Idea!

I live in San Diego... think I'll take my questions about Nehemiah Newans to the local Family History Center. Here's the link below. See, they even state they can help with ancestors in the UK! Maybe I can find out about his military record with General Braddock and maybe even his birth or whatever. Cool.

https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/San_Diego_California_Large_Multi-Stake_Family_History_Center

See right here's why I love genealogy so much!
This old polaroid (in bad shape) of aunts and uncles having a
great time at Grandma Kelly's house
one Christmas long ago.

A real treasure of the heart!

Thanks, Randy of Gena-Musings for the comment and hints, especially the UK SIG at SDGS, of which I am a member but did not remember about:) Randy, you are so knowledgeable!!!

What Next?

Have been working on Nehemiah Newan(s) or Newin(s). See recent postings for the full story. Feel like I'm at a brick wall. I want to know more about his life. The big questions remaining for me are these.
Was he born in Darbyshire, UK?
Is there record of his family there?
Did he serve with General Braddock and was he part of the two regiments that came to the colonies with Braddock?
What happened to him between the years 1783 and 1796? Where was he and what was he doing?
Where exactly is the land in Canandaigue, Ontario County, New York that he was granted after the Revolutionary War?
Did he have a second family there?

I love blogging about these and other issues because the process sharpens my thinking. If I can organize my thoughts such that you might understand then maybe I'll reread it and have a better understanding as well.

So thanks for listening, I mean reading! And if you have any ideas on where I should look for answers please let me know. This newbie will really appreciate it!!

Next: The Making of Nehemiah Newan(s) or Maybe Newin(s)

Oh, my aching back. When I sit here at the computer too long I get stiff... ever happen to you? I'm a newbie at this so I need to remember to move around more and not keep glued to the next record coming up on my computer screen!

Had the thought to make a timeline of my ancestor who fought in the Revolutionary War so that I could get a feel for the trajectory of his life. Here's what I have so far.

1740-50: Born possibly in Darbyshire UK.

1755: Came to America with General Braddock as a field officer.

1764: Braddock killed.

After Braddock's Defeat: resigns commission and settles in York, PA.

1775: Revolutionary War: serves as captain in the Pennsylvania Line for 4 years, 5 months, 25 days:
General Wayne's Brigade
Captain Finly's Company
Colonel Hartly's Regiment
First regiment commanded by Colonel Butler

1779: Marries Catherine Kepplinger in York PA. Perhaps he got hitched while on recruiting duty in York? Miss K. must have been quite a catch because her father was partners in a good business;)

1780: Son Thomas born.

1781: July. Wounded left knee at battle of Green Springs near the James River VA under General Wayne
Recovered at two hospitals one of which was at Williamsburgh

After recovery from wound ordered to a recruiting post in York PA
After that ordered to rejoin his company then in Lancaster PA.

1783: Discharged September. Received an Honorable Discharge.
After war, receives a Land grant. (Remember that Catherine, his wife, stated that he did not return from the war and was presumed to have been killed at the Battle of Yorktown at the close of the war.)

1796: "removes" to upstate New York at Canandaigue, Ontario County, New York.

1810: in census at Canandaigue.

1818: Applies for pension, papers filed on his behalf by Moses Atwater Esq. in Canandaigue, Ontario County, New York.

1820: in census at Canandaigue.

OK, so my main observation here, based on the face value of the information above, is that this guy is a professional soldier. He's a soldier for Braddock and then Washington. He joins the Revolutionary War at the get-go, seldom returns home, slips the wife and kid after the war and settles far, far away in a territory on the frontier amongst other veterans.

Did he marry again? Did he have another family? How much of the book "Ancestors of Thomas F. Myers" is true? How much of the above is fact and how much is fiction? Perhaps I'll never know. But it sure has been a blast and a half  trying to find out:)

Meanwhile if I have a moment I could check military records in the UK for a list of General Braddocks men. Could also find out more about the war history of the units Nehemiah Newan(s) served in. If you have any other ideas, please help this newbie out and leave a comment! I'd love it if you did:)

Part Four: He Is Alive in Upstate New York!

So I'm on Footnote trying to sort this all out ... and if you're lost and haven't read this saga from the get-go, maybe slide on down to Part One:) It'll just be a tad easier on your own self.

So what the heck happened to Nehemiah Newan(s) after the Revolutionary War? Looks like he slipped the wife and kid and just high tailed it out of Pennsylvania to claim his land grant up in New York state.

I read just yesterday on Ancestry that some of the land grants for Pennsylvania were mistakenly for lands that turned out to be in New York and when they got it all sorted out they offered the veterans a swap of sorts. Some took other land also in New York.

The records (and which records I'd have to go dig out of the file but you can find them on the DAR web site and I think I remember that it's from the Pennsylvania Archive) show that he was awarded 250 acres for service. That jives with the table I just found on Ancestry that says a sergeant was given 250 acres. Note that it does not line up with the claim made in the "Ancestors of Thomas F. Myer" book that claims "previous to his death he was promoted to major." Majors were a bigger deal and got 600 acres. Sweet.

Now I don't know if Nehemiah Newan(s) was one of the men who traded land in New York but bottom line is that he ended up in Canandaigua, Ontario County, New York. From the descriptions of the place circa 1796 when he arrived, it sure sounds nice. Hard and frontier-like but nice and peaceful. I wish to believe that he was happy there:) But that's just me. Here's a link to the old town history:
http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ny/county/ontario/Canantownhist.htm

He appears there on the 1810 and 1820 census then falls off the radar screen.

His main appearance in records between 1810 and 1820 is a pension request filed on his behalf by Moses Atwater Esq. in 1818. Found it in Mom's files and also on Footnote. It's lengthy and difficult to read but worth the effort of transcription to get his history.

Next episode: the history of Nehemiah Newan(s) as best I can fit it all together. Remember I'm a newbie at this genealogy stuff so take that into consideration of all that I write:) I'm trying... but.

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?

Part Two: The Little Book

See Part One below to get up to speed on this matter that's occupying so much of my time and making me chase my tail.

Physically, the small book aunt Edith entrusted to Mom was bound in soft tan colored calfskin. Printed by letterpress without illustrations. It fits in the hand nicely and has a warm intimate feeling about it. The binding was a simple sewn style with three holes to hold the papers in place by threads. I saw no evidence of the thread in place but there were acid marks at the punched holes where threads made contact with paper for many years. Most likely they were not of fine linen which would leave no trace of acid. The paper on the other hand appeared to be acid free but had some foxing here and there. Minimal, really. My best guess is that it was published sometime in the 1800s, perhaps the later part when newer non-linen threads, the product of the Industrial Revolution, were sometimes used.

The book is missing the title page and title and author are not on the cover or small spine. The inditia states: The Hambright Printery, Cumberkand, MD. The first text page bears the title, "Ancestral History of Thomas F, Myers."

Here's some of the text:

His Great-Great Grandfather Thomas Newan was a surgeon in the British army in Darbyshire England. He had three sons viz James, Thomas and Nehemiah, one a lawyer one a Doctor and Nehemiah, whose ambition was to become a stone cutter but his parents thought it beneath the dignity of a member of the family to learn a trade compromised the matter and bought him a commission in the British Army. In 1755 Nehemiah Newan came to America with General Braddock as a Field Officer landing at Bell Haven now Alexandria, VA. and served through the French and Indian War.

After Braddock's defeat he resigned his commission in the British Army and settled in York PA.

In the beginning of the Revolution he enlisted as a private soldier, as he was afraid the people would not think him a patriot or friend if he enlisted as an officer for he was a British subject. During the War he volunteered to capture the British at Morristown, N. J. but was cautioned by Washington that if captured he would be executed as a spy. He with forty men dressed as British soldiers and himself as a British officer decoyed the British and captured them at Princeton N. J. While the Army was enroute through York Pa. he had been granted a furlough to visit home, of which he was within two miles, but in order to encourage the men who were very much disheartened he continued on to Yorktown Va. and was killed in the last struggle for America's Independence.

"Having gone from Bunker Hill to Yorktown and was one of the twenty-three killed October 19th 1781, previous to his death he was promoted to major of the 1st Pa. Infantry.

Really? That's a whole lot of Hero for one guy who starts out as the runt of the litter, don't you think?

Woah! What Was Going On? Part One

Sit a spell, because this is going to take a while explaining and I'm going to need a couple of swipes at it. I'm working on the fall issue of our family history newsletter and thought to tell the story of our ancestor, Nehemiah Newan(s) who was born in England and fought in the Revolutionary War.

Mom received a small book from Dad's Aunt Edith many years ago telling the life story of Nehemiah Newan and other ancestors. Aunt Edith, dear sweet lady that she was, entrusted the small volume to Mom saying that it "was the story of her (meaning Mom's) family" because Aunt Edith always considered Mom as good as any blood relative. Mom has kept that treasure now almost 50 years.

I copied the little book when I was recently in to see Mom and read it for the first time just last weekend. It tells a cinematic tale of the adventures and nobility of our ancestor. It's a really good story... maybe too good, I thought. Mom agreed. Was it the florid verbiage of the era in which it was written or was it more fabrication than fact? I'm hooked on the trail!

The book states that he died in the Revolutionary War. However, Mom had evidence that Nehemiah Newan removed to upstate New York and settled there on land granted to him for war service. I needed to go on Footnote.com and verify what I could.

After an hour or so I smelled something rotten. The book was dead wrong about his death in the war. What else was it wrong about?

So here's our mystery: the sweet little book says he died at York in the war. The NARA documents show him in upstate New York appearing before proper authorities at 70 years of age applying for a pension in 1818. Witnesses swear that he was known to them. Doesn't sound at all dead to me.

Where's the truth of the matter? And what about the book? More later... I need to go back on Footnote and double check a thing or two.

Aunt Edith Condry and her son Father John Condry, 1958