Walter Houser Brattain

Another of my occasional posts on famous (distant) relatives. Walter Houser Brattain won the Noble Prize in Physics in 1956 for his work on transistors.

Walter Brattain would be my fourth cousin, three times removed. His 3xgreat-grandfather, Robert Brattain, was my 6xgreat-grandfather. Robert's great-great-great granddaughter, Sarah Brattain, married into the Dean line. She was the wife of David Philip Dean.

The Genealogy Gene

OK, I don't actually believe there is such a thing as a Genealogy Gene. However, while going through some of the records my mother brought to me this Spring, I found the earliest evidence (so far) of an interest in genealogy. It's a letter, dating to 1861, from Philip Welsheimer III (my 4xgreat-grandfather) to his daughter, Anna Welsheimer Dean (my 3xgreat-grandmother), giving her a list of all of his children and their birthdates. I don't know why she wanted it (perhaps to add to a family bible?), but the interest was there many generations ago.

On the Importance of Lost Moments Found

Puritan men drinking (from https://seventreesfarm.wordpress.com, but I couldn't find
the artist). OK, so my ancestors (or at least these ancestors) weren't Puritans, but it's
surprisingly hard to find a picture of colonial men drinking.

While researching the family of Margary Dean Canan, the daughter of my 6xgreat-grandfather, James Dean, I came across a book, The History of Centre and Clinton Counties (Pennsylvania), by J.B. Linn (1975).  The book re-prints the journal of James Harris, who surveyed the area in 1784 (p.21-22). James Harris appears to have worked with, and possibly boarded with, John Canan, Margary Dean's husband. I was intrigued by the following journal entry:

"27th [of November], Mr. Brown goes for his horse to the Warrior Marks and returns to Mr. Canan's. I drink cyder with Mr. Canan at Mr. Mitchell's and Mr. Dean's his father-in-law."

A simple sentence, "I drink cyder with...Mr. Dean...", but so evocative. I imagine the men huddled close to the light and warmth of a hearth, the crude plank house dark around them. I can almost smell the wood smoke, tangy apples, and wet wool of homespun clothes. Perhaps they could hear Margary and her mother in the kitchen, or were the ladies sitting with them near the fire, working by it's light? The Revolutionary War had ended earlier that year. Did they talk about the new government, or old conflicts with their neighbors?

There is something visceral about this sentence. It captures the imagination and the senses in a way that no historical overview of colonial Pennsylvania ever could. It brings the dead to life in a way that no tombstone, no formal portrait could match.

Here, then, is the link between ethnohistory and archaeology. These records affect me much as I am affected by holding a the remains of an ancient pot, or tool, or meal. A person (not a number, not a label, but a person) once created or shaped the object, and now a person holds it again and wonders, remembers. A physical connection is made to the past. We are cultural creatures, and that cultural connection binds us to the people of the past just as strongly as the flimsy strands of DNA.

Revolutionary War Soldiers

As I work through the genealogies, I'm keeping lists, so I can easily find information about people who, for example, were all Scotch-Irish, or lived in North Carolina. Most of these lists are not share-worthy, but I think this one is interesting: a list of family members who fought in the Revolutionary War.

(Note: I'll keep updating this as I get more information)

James Baird, Captain under Col. William Graham, Tryon County Regiment, 1776-1779. From 1779-1780 served in the Lincoln County Regiment (note: this is the same county, it just changed it's name). Fought in the battle of King's Mountain, South Carolina, and in the Cherokee Expedition.(1) See also my post on his life. James Baird is my 6xgreat-grandfather. His grand-daughter, Hannah Baird, married into the Dean line.

William Hill, Colonel in the militia (which one? I don't know!). Served in the battle at Rocky Mount and wounded at Hanging Rock, August 6, 1780. Also fought in King's Mountain and Cowpens.(2) Perhaps a more important contribution would be his Ironworks. William Hill is my 6xgreat-grandfather. His daughter, Jane, was the mother of Hannah Baird, who married into the Dean line. [Update, Feb 14, 2016: Oops! Turns out Jane Hill wasn't the daughter of William, she was the daughter of John and Jane Hill of Lincoln County, North Carolina. More on this as I figure it out]

Abraham Dean, Private 3rd Class, 7th Company, 1st Battalion, Cumberland County Militia, 1780-1781, under Captain John Woods.(3) Abraham Dean is my 5xgreat-grandfather, in the direct Dean line.

William Stewart. Private 4th Class?, Cumberland County Militia. It is unclear when he served, but he is listed as part of the militia in 1778 and 1780. There is an existing pass from Captain Philip Mathias, saying "Permit the Bearer William Stewart to pass unmolested to Cumberland County as he hath served 2 months honestly and faithfully in the 4 class of Cumberland Militia. Given under my hand this 4th Day of January 1778" (4) My great aunt Lillian Dean Huffstetler has records that list him as "Captain of a troop of Dragoon", or "second lieutenant in the Cumberland County, PA militia", but it is not clear if either of these are true.

James Addair. He is mentioned as a Revolutionary War soldier in several genealogies, but the source isn't clear. He did serve in the Virginia militia before the war, and he also took the oath of loyalty in 1777. (7) 

Philip Welsheimer, Sr. Rank and File in the 3rd Battalion of the York County Militia. Listed in the roster of April 15, 1778, under Captain Michael Kohn.(5)

Johannes Philip Welsheimer. in Captain Andrew Graff's company from Pennsylvania, mustered in Philadelphia in July 16, 1776, with the remark "appointed gunsmith."(5)

"Colonel" Samuel Hancock. He served as a sergeant and private for more than two years during the Revolutionary War. The description of his service, which he gave as part of his pension application, can be found here. He seems to have spent much of the war marching around and being deathly ill. His brother Simon died in 1776 in Chester, PA, during military service. Samuel was not actually a Colonel, but like Colonel Sanders, he was a southern gentlemen of means and military background, so he was given the courtesy title. His brother, Edward, was similarly called "Captain" after serving three terms during the Revolution. Their eldest brother, William, also served. (10)

These were all the men from the Dean lineage who fought in the war. The other major branch off this side of the tree was the Brattains, who married into the Dean line when Sarah Jane Brattain married David P. Dean (my great-great-grandfather). The Brattains were Quakers, and did not fight in the war, although Sarah Brattain's great-grandfather, William Milliken, was burned out by Loyalists who objected to their support for independence.(6)

It appears that some of her non-Quaker ancestors did fight in the war, however:

Johann Georg Kissling. He served in Pennsylvania under Captain Kemp, in the Berk's County Militia, along with sons George Jr. and Conrad (8)

Jean (John) Chastain - he was too old to serve, but he is considered a "patriot" by the DAR for supplying the Bedford County, Virginia, militia with pounds of beef(9)

John Hewitt - there is a John Hewitt, of the right age and place, who was in the Revolutionary War, although it is not clear that this is the same John Hewitt as our ancestor.

The other line, that of the Kinneys, moved to Nova Scotia before the war, although it is possible some of them were loyalists and moved there afterward. I'm still looking into that possibility. 

References:
(1). Information from "The American Revolution in North Carolina" http://www.carolana.com/NC/Revolution/nc_patriot_military_captains.html, accessed April 18, 2015

(2). Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution, Volume 1, A-J. By Bobby Gilmer Moss. 2009

(3). "AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERS OF FRANKLIN COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA", compiled by Virginia Shannon Fendrick, p.59 (Available online:http://lcweb2.loc.gov/master/gdc/scdser01/200401/World_Almanacs_1903_1923/american%20rev%20sold%20frank

(4).  "History of that part of the Susquehanna and Juniata valleys, embraced in the counties of Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, Union and Snyder, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania..."Edited by F. Ellis and A. N. Hungerford. Published in Philadelphia by Everts, Peck & Richards, 1886, Pages 865-874.

(5) "A History of the Welsheimer Family", by Edith Welsheimer, Bronson Printing, Las Cruces, New Mexico, 1969.https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE97573

(6) "Notes on the Milliken Family", by Millard F. Hudson, California Genealogy Society, Issues 1-3, 1900, p.55 https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=oW8wzD32obkC&rdid=book-oW8wzD32obkC&rdot=1

(7) Blog by Kenny Adair: http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/adair/2999

(8) http://mcclure.freeservers.com/geokeas.htm

(9) Pierre Chastain and Descendants, Vol. 1, p.24

(10) Dorman, John Frederick. 2004. Adventurers of Purse and Person: Virginia 1607-1624. Genealogical Publishing Company, p. 287.