James Dean. No, not the cool one.

In Deans in a Nutshell, I summarized the straight patronymic line of Deans from central Pennsylvania in the mid-1700s down to my great-grandfather. The post was a bit misleading, though, in the tone of certainty with which I discussed James Dean, the founder of our line in the Americas.

The truth is, while we have lots of documentary evidence tracing the Dean line from the present day back to Abraham Dean (1763-1806), our knowledge of his father is sketchy. I was inspired by the impressive genealogical work of Larry Dean (probably not a relation, but who knows!) to combine his knowledge of 18th century Pennsylvania Deans - laid out in this on-line essay - with the few bits of information I have gleaned from other sources, to try and clarify our relationship to the various Deans who were running around the Appalachians at the time.

I started my search with one assumption: while the name James is frustratingly common, the name Abraham is more unique. Therefore, any Abraham Dean on record in central Pennsylvania in the late 18th century was - in all likelihood - "our" Abraham Dean. I then worked back from known records of Abraham to try and identify his father and other relatives.

First, some facts about Abraham Dean:

Abraham Dean's Tombstone
In the Dean Cemetery in South Salem, Ross County, Ohio

Abraham Dean was born around 1763; his tombstone says he was 43 in 1806. We know this tombstone belongs to "our" Abraham Dean because he was buried next to Hannah Baird Dean (his daughter-in-law) and James Harvey Dean (his grandson).

Abraham died in South Salem, Ross County, Ohio. However, there are multiple secondary sources that tell us Abraham originally came from Pennsylvania. For example, a book on the history of Polk County, Iowa, published in 1890, wrote of Abraham's son, "John Stuart Dean, deceased, was born in Lancaster County, Pa, August 9, 1797, and closed a busy and useful life, December 21, 1872." (1)

Today Lancaster County, PA, is southeast of Harrisburg. However, in 1797, it was a much larger area. Primary documents suggest Abraham settled near modern-day Alexandria, PA, which is in Huntingdon County. Huntingdon County was created from Bedford County in 1787. Bedford County was created from Cumberland County in 1771. And Cumberland County was created out of Lancaster County in 1750. Either John was born farther east than his father later settled, or the shifting county lines hadn't been remembered twenty years and two states after his death.

Primary documentation confirms the family lived in Pennsylvania before moving to Ohio around 1800. These documents include:

1. Abraham's children's birthplaces, listed in their census records. In 1850, for example, James Stewart Dean, John's older brother, stated he was born in Pennsylvania(2).
2. The name Abraham Dean is found only twice in the 1790 census. One of those Abraham Deans is in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. The other is in Maine. (3) 
3. An Abraham Dean was issued a land warrant on September 2, 1784, for an area in Franklin Township, north of the Little Juniata River (near modern-day Alexandria, PA). This purchase would have been made when he was 21, just as he was coming of age (4)
4. In 1788, Huntingdon County's tax records show Abraham Dean paid  £10 on 2 horses and 1 head of cattle (5). 
5. In June of 1789, Abraham Dean served as a juror at a Court of General Quarter Sessions of the Peace held at Huntingdon(6). 
6.  In 1798, the United States Direct Tax in Huntingdon County listed Abraham Dean as the owner of 395 acres at the headwaters of Shavers and Standing Stone Creeks (about 10-15 miles NE of Alexandria, PA). Two other Deans are listed as living at those same headwaters, and there are no other families there. Those Deans are James and Robert.

Secondary sources back up the primary sources. In a history of central Pennsylvania, I found this quote: "Continuing down the creek [Spruce Creek, which is north of Alexandria] we find next Abraham Dean's tract at the Great Falls, called Mexico, the warrant for which was issued Sept. 2, 1784. From this tract to near the mouth of the creek, which was then called the East Branch of the Little Juniata, the best land had been taken up by speculators in 1766."(8)

So Abraham Dean was in central Pennsylvania, near modern-day Alexandria, in the late 1700s. But who was his father? Who were his other family members? There were a number of Deans living in that area, were they all kin?

Abraham's name is directly linked in the primary sources to only two individuals: James Dean and William Dean.


The Connection Between Abraham and James Dean

Abraham and James Dean were listed next to each other in the 1790 census (3), suggesting they were neighbors. Unfortunately, that first census only listed the name of the head of household and ages/sexes of other household members. So, all we know about James Dean is that his household consisted of 3 boys younger than 16, 1 man older than 16 (himself) and 4 women/girls. Abraham's household, at the same time, consisted of one boy younger than 16, two men older than 16, and two women/girls. Abraham's surviving children were all born after 1790 - he may not have been married yet in 1790 - so it is not clear who the other members of his household were.

James Dean appears on the tax records of what is now Huntingdon County much earlier than Abraham Dean. Abraham bought his land in 1784, but James is first listed as paying taxes in Barree Township in 1774, as well as in 1775, 1776, and 1779 (5). Barree Township in Huntingdon County is about 10 miles NE of Alexandria, PA. James, then, is older than Abraham. We can assume there is some family relationship, since they owned land close together, but is James Abraham's father? An older brother? We cannot tell for certain on the basis of the primary sources alone, but secondary sources and family naming patterns suggest that James was Abraham's father.

First, a note about naming conventions: Scotch-Irish families frequently followed a standard naming tradition, in which the first-born son was named for his paternal grandfather, the second-born for his maternal grandfather, and the third for his father. The next sons, if there were any, were often named for a paternal uncle, then a maternal uncle, etc., etc. Daughters followed a similar convention: the first-born daughter was named for her maternal grandmother, the next for her paternal grandmother, and the third for her mother. Maternal and paternal aunts' names could follow (9).

Not everyone followed these rules to the letter, but Abraham's first-born son was named James, and therefore that was likely Abraham's father's name, as well.

We also have significant evidence that James Dean was the father of Margery Dean Canan. Margery Dean Canan married Col. John Canan, who later became a prominent Pennsylvanian businessman and politician. Because Canan was well-known, his life was somewhat better documented than other citizens of that time and place. Therefore, we know that he was married in 1775, meaning Margery had to have been born at or before 1760, at the latest.  Since Abraham was born in 1763, this makes Margery the correct age to be his sister.

The James Dean who was Margery Dean Canan's father was clearly the same James Dean who lived in Huntingdon County in the last quarter of the 1700s. The primary evidence connecting John Canan and James Dean is as follows:

1. As I mentioned in a previous blog post, the 1784 journal of James Harris, surveyor, mentions drinking cider "with Mr. Canan at Mr. Mitchell's and Mr. Dean's his father-in-law." In the same journal entry, he mentions his assistant taking a horse to Warrior's Mark that evening. Warrior's Mark is less than ten miles NE of Alexandria, PA. A William Mitchell, possibly the Mr. Mitchell of the journal entry, is listed in the 1790 census on the page before James and Abraham Dean (3).

2. Larry Dean records a Canan family bible that listed a number of deaths, including those of John and Margery Canan. Only one Dean was mentioned in that bible: James Dean, who died in November of 1795. 

Secondary sources and naming conventions support the contention that James Dean was the father of Margery Dean Canan. A biography of their grandson, S. Dean Canan, published in 1907 stated that  "He [John Canan] married, in 1775, Margery Dean, born 1760, died 1815, daughter of James and Catherine Dean, both natives of Ireland, and married after their arrival in America." (10). John and Margery named their second son James (as would be expected for a second son who was named after his maternal grandfather), and their first daughter Catherine (again, as expected, if that was the name of Margery's mother.)

If James Dean is Margery Dean Canan's father, then the ages of James, Margery, and Abraham suggest that James was the father of Margery and Abraham. There is some support for this in the names Abraham gave his children. His two oldest children are James and Catherine, and his third daughter was named Margery.

I mentioned before that Abraham's name is linked in primary documents with a man named William Dean. There were a number of Dean men documented in Central Pennsylvania in the late 1700s, but there's so much material to cover, those relationships will have to wait for another post.

References:

(1) "Portrait and Biographical Album of Polk County, Iowa", 1890, p. 428, (https://archive.org/stream/portraitbiograph08chic#page/428/mode/2up)] 

(2). United States Census, 1850," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MX7S-R6B : accessed 1 June 2015), James Dean, Buckskin, Ross, Ohio, United States; citing family 2812, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

(3) "United States Census, 1790," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHKJ-8MR : accessed 17 July 2015), James Dean, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, United States; citing p. , NARA microfilm publication , (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll ; FHL microfilm .

(4) History of the Early Settlement of the Juniata Valley by U. J. Jones, published by Floyd G. Hoenstine, Holidaysburg, Pennsylvania

(5) The Pennsylvania Archives Third Series, Vol. 22

(6) Source: Extracts from Court Quarter Sessions, 1789-1795, Huntingdon County, PA,http://files.usgwarchives.net/pa/huntingdon/othcourt/1789-1795-court.txt

(8) "History of Huntingdon and Blair Counties, Pennsylvania", by J. Simpson Africa, p. 329, 

(9) http://www.johnbrobb.com/Content/TheScottishOnomasticPattern.pdf

(10) "History of Cambria County Pennsylvania, volume 3", by Henry Wilson Storey, p.64

(11) Allegheny Co., PA will book #1, page 10, FHL #0858898