Jane Coltrain Williams?

A follow-up to my previous post on Finding Heman Williams: I still can't trace Heman's father, John, due to the preponderance of John Williamses in early 19th century America. However, I connected with another researcher, Linda Coltrin, who makes a good case for his mother's maiden name being "Coltrin" or "Coltrain", and that she was a daughter of Elisha Coltrain of New York. If so, that ties Heman's maternal line into a well-documented New England family that goes back to the Great Puritan Migration, including descent from the Mayflower's William Brewster. (I, too, am descended from William Brewster. If this information is correct, then my husband and I are 13th cousins once removed).

The evidence for Jane Williams, mother of Heman, being Jane Coltrain, daughter of Elisha Coltrain:

1. Her daughter Mary Jane's death certificate lists her mother's maiden name as "Coulton" (names were frequently spelled in a variety of phonetic ways at the time) (1)
2. In census records where she is listed, Jane Williams gives her birth state as New York and her birth year as around 1803. Her children also list their mothers' birth state as New York in later census records (2)
3. In The History of Lorain County, published in 1879, the author states that John D. and Jane Williams came to Ohio from the Cuyoga Lake region of New York (3). Elisha Coltrain, who was born in Massachusetts, was living in Milton, Cuyoga County, New York, by 1799 (4) and lived there until 1840 (5). There is at least one John Williams family in Cuyoga County, New York, in the 1830 census that fits the ages of John and James Williams (6), but this is not conclusive since they may have moved to Ohio by then. Census records from 1800-1840 show numberous Williams families living in Cuyoga County, including at least two separate "William Williams" families in Genoa, New York, in 1820, which is around the time and place when John and Jane Williams would have married (7).
4. John and Jane Williams moved to Ohio by at least 1836 (the date given in The History of Lorain County), but more likely by 1828 (when their son Albert may have been born in Ohio). Elisha Coltrain Jr., the son of Elisha Coltrain of New York, also moved to Ohio.  Extended families often moved together at that time. He was in Lorain County, the same county as John and Jane, in 1850 (8). Unfortunately, it's unclear where either family was in 1840.
5. John and Jane Williams named their eldest son Elisha C. Williams. John D. Williams applied for a marriage license for his son, Elisha C., in Lorain County, Ohio, in 1848 (9)

It's not a slam-dunk case, but the circumstantial evidence is quite strong. Some day, perhaps, someone will find a will or family bible or marriage certificate that pulls the whole thing together, but for now I'm considering this a probable but uncertain connection.

_____

References:

1)  "Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X6SJ-JB8 : 8 December 2014), Mary Jane Williams, 31 May 1925; citing Camden Twp., Lorain Co., Ohio, reference fn 29901; FHL microfilm 1,992,672.

2) "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXQ2-364 : 9 November 2014), Jane Williams in household of John Williams, Camden, Lorain, Ohio, United States; citing family 567, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

3) From History of Lorain County, Ohio, published in Philadelphia by the Williams Brothers, 1879https://archive.org/stream/historyoflorainc00phil#page/n5/mode/2up/search/Williams

4) New York, Tax Assessment Rolls of Real and Personal Estates, 1799-1804. On Ancestry.com 2014 

5) "United States Census, 1840," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHY4-46N : 24 August 2015), Elisha Colston, Genoa, Cayuga, New York, United States; citing p. 110, NARA microfilm publication M704, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 269; FHL microfilm 17,181.

6) "United States Census, 1830," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHP3-WYX : 18 August 2015), John Williams, Sterling, Cayuga, New York, United States; citing 418, NARA microfilm publication M19, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 88; FHL microfilm 17,148.

7) https://familysearch.org/search/collection/results?count=20&query=%2Bsurname%3AWililams~%20%2Bresidence_place%3A%22Genoa%2C%20Cayuga%2C%20New%20York%22~&collection_id=1803955

8) Year: 1850; Census Place: Pittsfield, Lorain, Ohio; Roll: M432_705; Page: 280B; Image: 83

9) "Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2013," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X8PS-QBM : 8 December 2014), Elisha Williams and Harriett Holcomb, 01 Nov 1848; citing Lorain, Ohio, United States, reference p 282; county courthouses, Ohio; FHL microfilm 447,523.