Tag Archives: Missouri

Aaron Stout: New Jersey Stouts Scatter

Aaron Stout 1780-1864

Last time, I talked about a great uncle (Josiah Stout) of my great-great grandfather Isaiah Stout (1822). Another brother, Aaron Stout wound up closer geographically to the location of my great-great grandfather Isaiah, but Aaron traveled from New Jersey perhaps before Isaiah was born. Aaron Stout’s children scattered throughout the Midwest.

To keep the generations consistent, I am using the system of numbering starting with Richard Stout, the founder of this Stout family in North America. The generations are (1) Richard, the first to come to North America, (2) David, (3) Freegift, (4) my ancestor Isaac and his brother Obadiah (5) Isaac’s children including my ancestor Isaiah and his brothers Josiah and Aaron, (6) Josiah’s and Aaron’s children.

Generation FIVE: The Children of Isaac Stout (1740) – Aaron Stout

The birth of Josiah in 1780 and Aaron in 1781, might have come as a surprise to parents Isaac Stout (1740), and Mary Quimby Stout. The couple had reached the top edge of middle age, as reckoned in that period when the two were born. The two youngest boys turned out to be the restless ones in the family of six children. Their elder brother Isaiah(1740) (my ancestor) and their sisters all remained in New Jersey.

I have found it difficult to find official records of Aaron’s life. that no doubt at least partly stems from his migration to the still wild lands of Ohio about 1820.

The Historic and Genealogical Miscellany compiled by John Edwin Stillwell from the mid 1850s into the early 1900s provides most of the information I have about this family.

Stillwell tells us that Aaron, son of Isaac and Mary Qumby Stout, married a daughter of Nathaniel Hixson, Mary, but I have not found a record with the exact date. I believe the name of his wife is correct, because Nathanial Hixson’s will was administered by Aaron Stout, and the oldest son of the couple bore the name Nathaniel Hixson Stout. Nathaniel (the son of Aaron) born in 1806, leads me to assume that the couple married about 1805.

Aaron Goes to Ohio

Five of the children of Aaron Stout and Mary — Nathanial (1806-1867) Moses (1808-1887), Ebenezer (1810-1877), Isaac (1817-1891), and Theodore (1819-1907) list the birthplace of New Jersey on Census reports. A sixth child, Rachel Hixson (Biggs) (1824-1876) is recorded as born in Okeana, Butler County, Ohio. Stillwell (mentioned above) also says there was another daughter named Tacey and a daughter named Mary. I cannot verify either of these. Stillwell lists Mary and Rachel as the two youngest children, both born in Ohio. Logic says they would name a daughter Mary, but because there are so many Mary Stouts, I am not willing to spend the time it would take to verify her information.

The birthplaces of the children gives us a clue as to when the family moved to Ohio. It had to be between the birth of Theodore in 1819 and Rachel in 1824 (or earlier if Stillwell is correct and daughter Mary also first appears in Ohio.) Aaron’s biography in Find a Grave states that he migrated to Morgan County, Ohio in 1820, but I do not know their source.

Okeana in Butler County grew up on the Western side of Ohio, not far from Cincinnati.

Aaron Stout gravestone
Presumed gravestone of Aaron Stout in Butler County, Ohio

Whenever he specifically arrived, Aaron stayed put in Okeana, Butler County Ohio for the rest of his life. His children on the other hand, inherited his wandering gene. The two oldest sons wasted no time becoming independent.

Generation SIX: The Children of Aaron Stout

Missouri, Tenessee, Illinois, and Kansas

On this map, I have added the migration of Aaron and his children to that of his brother Josiah and his children. As we have seen, Aaron went to Ohio, from the Stout home base in New Jersey which is marked in red. If you follow the link to the map, you can click on each marker and see the name of the place, the name of the person who settled there and the year that I believe they first settled. I left out some locations where the stay was brief, and left out most of the stopping places of the rolling stone, Isaac Stout.

Nathaniel: Born in New Jersey, according to Find a Grave bio, he moved to St. Louis in 1828 when he was 22, and on to Memphis Tennessee in 1833. He died in Memphis Tennesee in 1867, and his wife is listed as a widow in the Memphis city director in 1883.

Moses: Born in New Jersey, Moses succeeded as a merchant in St. Louis. According to Find a Grave his move to St. Louis occurred in 1828 at the age of 20. In 1830 he married in St. Louis. One book says that Nathaniel and Moses went into business together in St. Louis, and in 1833, Moses bought out his brother Nathaniel. That is when Nathaniel supposedly moved to Memphis. Moses lived as a widow with a daughter’s family in St. Louis in 1880. He died in St. Louis in 1881.

Ebenezer: Born in New Jersey, he would have been about ten when his parents moved to Ohio. Like his brothers, his interests ran to commerce rather than farming. Records show that he married in Fayette Illinois in 1843. By 1850 when he was 40 years old, he and his family lived in Springfield, Illinois, where he worked as a store clerk. His brother Isaac and his mother-in-law live with his family. By 1855 he had moved to Bloomington Illinois. In the 1860 census, that job designation has changed to Merchant. He died in Bloomington in 1877 and his widow still lived in Bloomington when the 1889 city directory was published.

The Rolling Stone, Isaac Stout (1817)

Isaac: Born in New Jersey, Isaac Stout had more trouble finding himself than any of the other children of Aaron Stout, judging by the census record trail he left behind. We first see him aboard a ship sailing from Galveston Texas to New Orleans at the end of November 1839. The ship’s manifest lists the young adventurer (twenty-two years old) as a merchant. In 1850 we see him living with his brother Ebenezer and working as a clerk in Springfield, Illinois. In 1860, he has returned to Ohio, where he works as a merchant in Preble, Washington County, Ohio. He lives with his mother Mary, who is 76. His mother died at 78 years old, and Isaac, the rolling stone, returned to Illinois.

Before he showed up on the 1870 census, however, he married Matilda Montgomery, probably soon after his mother died, and they had three children. The family on the census includes a boy named Benjamin Stout, 13, but Matilda is too young to be Benjamin’s mother. Besides, at the time she was born, she was still living with her family. I have no idea who Benjamin belongs to. Isaac has reached the age of 53 before he has established a family with his much younger wife. Matilda is now 27. They live in McLean, Illinois and Isaac has fallen on bad times. He works as a laborer.

You might think things are looking up for Isaac, the rolling stone, when you see that in 1880, at 63 years old, he has found work as a school teacher. However, school teaching in that period was women’s work, and for men, teaching school probably came as a last resort to someone who couldn’t succeed at anything else. The family has grown by three–now six children. and they have moved to another town, Mt. Pulaski, Illinois.

St. Anthony Home for the Insane and the Aged, Dubuque, Iowa

The sad end for Isaac comes in 1900 when the census shows him listed as an “inmate” a Catholic Institution, St. Anthony Home, located in Dubuque Iowa. St. Anthony’s was Home for the Insane until 1897 when it was expanded to include a Home for the Aged. Those listed at the address include a lot of Sisters and then a list of inmates. Isaac died in 1901. Why Dubuque? I am puzzled because his wife proves hard to trace and I would have expected her to outlive him by many years. I cannot find her in the records after 1880, but perhaps she remarried when or even before Isaac died.

The Daughter, Rachel Stout

Rachel: Not to be outdone, the daughter in the family, Rachel Hixson Stout (Biggs), the only child of Aaron that I know for a fact to have been born in Ohio, ended life in Missouri. Rachel married Hamilton Biggs in 1842 in her family’s home county of Butler in Ohio. However, by 1850 she and her husband had moved a short distance away to Israel Ohio and then moved to Eaton Ohio. She lived in Fairview Kansas in 1870 and died at the age of 52 in Medoc Missouri, in 1876.

P. S. If I were following this family for one more generation, I would have to add Oklahoma to the map. But I am not.

How I Am Related

  • Vera Marie Badertscher is the daughter of
  • Harriette Anderson Kaser, who is the daughter of
  • Vera Stout Anderson, who is the daughter of
  • William Cochran (Doc) Stout, who is the son of
  • Isaiah Stout (1822), who is the son of
  • Isaac Stout (1800), who is the son of
  • Isaiah Stout (1773) who is the son of
  • Isaac Stout (1740), who is also the father of
  • Aaron Stout (1780)

Notes on Research

U. S. Census 1830, 1840 Morgan, Butler County Ohio; 1850 Israel, Preble, Ohio; 1850 Bloomington, Sagamon, Illinois; 1860 Bloomington, McLean, Illinois; 1860 Eaton, Washington, Preble, Ohio; 1860 & 1870 & 1880, St. Louis Missouri; 1870, Bloomington, McLean, Illinois; 1870 West Township, McLean, Illinois; 1870, Fairview, Labette, Kansas; 1880, Mt. Pulaski, Logan, Illinois; 1900, Dubuque, Dubuque, Iowa;

New Orleans, Passenger Lists, 1813-1945 The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New Orleans, Louisiana, 1820-1902; NAI Number: 2824927; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service; Record Group Number: 85; Isaac Stout, Departure from Galveston Texas; 28 Nov 1839 . Accessed at Ancestry.com

New Jersey, Marriage Records, 1670-1965 ; Hunterdon County, New Jersey; Nathaniel Hixson Stout and Catherine Brewer, 25 Sep 1833 . Accessed at Ancestry.com

Ohio, County Marriages, 1774-1993; Butler County, Ohio; Rachel Stout and Hamilton Biggs; 29 Apr 1842 . Accessed at Ancestry.com

Illinois, Marriage Index, 1860-1920 ; Fayette, Illinois, Ebenezer Stout and Huldah Briggs, 18 Apr 1843. Accessed at Ancestry.com

Tennessee, Wills and Probate Records, 1779-2008 ; Probate Records (Shelby County, Tennessee); Author: Tennessee Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions (Shelby County); Probate Place: Shelby, Tennessee Nathaniel Hixson Stout, 11 Oct 1867 Accessed at Ancestry.com

Missouri, Wills and Probate Records, 1766-1988: Author: Missouri. Probate Court (St. Louis City); Probate Place: St Louis, Missouri : Moses Stout, 3 Feb 1881 , Case Number 13863. Accessed at Ancestry.com

Historic and Genealogical Miscellany : Data Relating to the Settlement and Settlers of New York and New Jersey, Vol. IV, John Stillwell M.D. , Self Published, New York: 1903 , Digital edition available at archive.org

Stout and Allied Families,Vol. I, Herald F. Stout, Capt. USN , Dover Ohio: Eagle Press:1951, Accessed on Ancestry.com

The history of the Stout family : first settling in Middletown, Monmouth County, New Jersey, Nathan Stout, 1823. Accessed at Ancestry.com

Find a Grave website Aaron Stout; Mary Hixson; Nathaniel Hixson Stout; Moses Stout; Ebenezer Stout; Isaac Stout; Rachel Stout.

Carlos Morgan – Mystery Photos and History Gaps

Carlos Morgan 1832 to before 1899

Carlos Morgan, the second son of Jesse Morgan has presented me with more questions than I can answer in a reasonable amount of time.  Carlos is the son of my 2nd great-grandfather, Jesse Morgan with Mary Pelton, Jesse’s first wife.  Since I am descended from Jesse’s 2nd wife, Carlos does not qualify as a close relative.

On the other hand, I would like to find some descendants of Jesse Morgan that trace back to his first wife because that might mean finding more information about Jesse. So I continue to plod through the records of Jesse’s four children. Last week I wrote about Charles Morgan, the oldest son. Charles (or Charley) had six grandchildren who lived in California, so I might some day find a connection through that family.

Meanwhile, Carlos’ history proves slipperier than that of Charles and includes mystery photos.

Carlos Morgan

Photo from St. Joseph MO that I believe is Carlos Morgan circa 1880

This photo comes from the photo album of Hattie Morgan Stout, Jesse Morgan’s child with his second wife. The name of the subject was not on the photo, so I originally included this handsome man in the “Unknown” file. As I wrote earlier, I had hoped it might be Jesse Morgan, but research proved that was impossible. For a look at what I learned earlier about this photograph, follow that link above.

What the Photo Can Tell Me

The photo is what was called a “carte de visite”  A paper photo is pasted on a cardboard backing that is roughly 2 1/2 x 4 inches. Carte de visites did not show up in the U. S. until 1859, and usage died out be 1889. Furthermore, the curved corners and fact that it shows most of the body instead of just the head, narrows it to 1874-1880.

Back of photo

Back of Carlos Morgan’s photo. St. Joseph MO

Photographers advertised their services on the back of the photos, and in this case the photographer was W. J. Rea’s Grand Central Gallery, Cor. Fourth & Edmond Streets, St. Joseph, Mo.  Records I found about the photographer W. J. Rea showed that he moved from Canada to Michigan to St. Joseph and on to California.  It looks like this portrait had to have been taken in 1880, probably the only year he was in St. Joseph. The only problem I have is that if the photo was taken in 1880, Carlos was 48 years old.  Does he look 48 in that picture?

Could Carlos Morgan have had his photo taken in 1880 in St. Joseph Missouri?  It is time to look at a timetable of his life.

The Pattern of Carlos Morgan’s Life

Born in Chautauqua New York on June 2, 1832, Carlos was about five years old when his mother and father moved to Killbuck, Ohio. A year later, his mother died. The four children were parceled out to relatives, and I did locate his older brother with their maternal grandparents back in New York. However, Carlos is not living with that family in 1840 and since Jesse Morgan and his widow both had  very large families, I have not tracked down a family where Carlos might be living. (It does not help that the 1840 census lists only the head of household by name–so Carlos would be a tick mark in the 5-9 year old category.)

I assumed he had gone back to Pennsylvania or New York with family, but he might have lived with some extended family in Ohio, because in 1850, at the age of eighteen, his is living with a family in Hardy Township, Holmes County, Ohio. That is near Killbuck where his parents previously lived, and where my great-great-grandmother Mary Bassett Morgan was living that year.

So at 18, Carlos is living with a man identified as a “tinner” and Carlos is working as a “tinner”. His education had ended with eighth grade, so he has been working for some time.

A tinner can mean a person who mines for tin or a tinsmith.  As far as I know there were no tin mines in Hardy Township, so the latter definition is the one for Carlos.  My grandfather on the other side of my family, Cliff Kaser, worked with tin a generation later in Holmes County.

While living with another family, Carlos learns of the death of his father in far off California. While I had no knowledge of his relationship with my great-great grandmother, the fact that his half sister, my great-grandmother kept his picture and his wife’s indicates to me that the family might have been closer than I realized.

Carlos Morgan’s Beautiful Wife

Apparently Carlos started west to find his fortune. He meets Jane Anne Warfield of Dubuque Iowa and they are married in St. Louis on October 22, 1857. The marriage certificate indicates that he, too, is a resident of Dubuque, Iowa. Why did they go to St. Louis to marry? His bride is only 19. Did they have to run away? Perhaps marriage regulations were less stringent in Missouri and they did not need her parent’s authorization. (If you know, please leave a comment with the explanation.) Or perhaps they are merely following the migration of Jane’s brother Charles Warfield to Missouri.

Learning Jane’s name was a surprise.  In Hattie Morgan Stout’s photo album, I had found a picture of a beautiful woman, in fact, the most beautiful woman in all my antique photos.

Wife of Carlos Morgan

In 1860 they are living in Plattsburg Missouri with Jane’s brother’s family. Carlos and Jane have a one-year-old daughter, Minerva. I find no further mention of Minerva Morgan, so must assume that she died in childhood. Jane’s brother is a tinner like Carlos.  Jane’s father also lives with them.  So my insatiable search for story senses some connections.  Perhaps Carlos was working as a tinner and met Jane’s brother in Iowa and that led to the marriage. But since Jane’s father is living with them just three years after the marriage, perhaps he did not object, after all.

Plattsburg, during the Civil War was split between northern and southern sympathizers, but I am inclined to think the Morgan/Warfield family group did not stay until the war started.

Most importantly, Plattsburg is just 30 miles from St. Joseph’s Missouri.  Since Plattsburg was a railroad center, transportation to St. Joseph–where the young man’s photo was taken– would have been easy.  This creates some pretty good evidence that Carlos might have gotten his portrait photograph taken in the larger town.

Since I have not found an 1870 census listing Carlos, I do not know for sure when he left Plattsburg, Missouri, but by 1880 he was living in Bozeman Montana and still working as a tinner.

I find no Civil War military record for either Carlos or his brother-in-law Charles Warfield. They might have lit out for the unnamed territory that became Montana at the outset of the Civil War to avoid military service. Or they might have migrated along with the hundreds that joined the mid-1860s gold rush to the area. At any rate,Bozeman, founded in 1864, would have been the typical fast-growing, rough-and-tumble town of the country’s wild west. Both men are listed as unemployed for half the year, so perhaps Jane, who is listed as a milliner, was supporting the family.

Although I have found no information on Carlos’ death, his wife Jane is living as a widow and working as a seamstress in Butte City, Montana by 1899. That indicates that Carlos died in his sixties. The City Directories there continue to list her as late as 1914, but, like Carlos, I can find no evidence of her death.

Jane’s Photograph

You can tell by the light tone of her eyes, that they were an icy blue.  This photo is also paper on cardboard, but is a larger format that came along a little later than the carte de visite of Carlos. These are called Cabinet Photos.

Back of photograph

Back of Carlos Morgan’s wife’s portrait. Elliott Photographers in Butte MT.

The pencil notation, which looks like the handwriting of my Grandmother, led me to believe that Carlos’ wife was named “Hattie”. However, since I know that he married Jane Anne–unlikely called Hattie–the note must mean the photo belonged to Hattie (Stout).

Here the photographer advertises himself on both the front and the back of the photo. Brothers John A. Elliott and George E. Elliott were working together in Butte Montana in 1890 and 1891, and John alone has existing photos dated as late as 1909. Since the back of this photo has a logo including both their initials, I have to believe the photo was made about 1890.

The couple were living in Bozeman in 1880, but by 1889, the year that Montana became a state, Jane was living alone in Butte.  As I mentioned above, she is listed in City Directories as a widow and a seamstress, so it seems appropriate that she may have had a photograph made as a kind of advertisement. However, just as in the case of Carlos’ assumed photograph, she looks a bit young for the date. Jane would have been 54 in 1890.  Butte and Bozeman are not that far apart, so she might have gone to Butte earlier for a photo when she lived in Bozeman. However, if the date is earlier than 1890, then the histories of the Elliott brothers that I have read must be wrong.  Its a dilemma.

So, with some gaps, I have traced  Carlos Morgan’s moves from his birthplace in New York to Ohio, Iowa, Missouri and finally Montana. Ever Westward.

Next up: Carlos sister Malvina led two lives. After a settled married life in the midwest and East, she ventured west as a widow. Another of Jesse Morgan’s childfren following in his wandering footsteps.

How I am Related

  • Vera Marie Kaser Badertscher is the daughter of
  • Harriette Anderson Kaser, who is the daughter of
  • Vera Stout Anderson, who is the daughter of
  • Harriette (Hattie) Morgan Stout, who is the daughter of
  • Jessie Morgan and Mary Bassett Morgan.
  • Jessie Morgan with his first wife Mary Pelton is the father of
  • Carlos Morgan

Notes on Research

Federal Census Reports: 1850, Hardy Township, Holmes, Ohio; 1860, Plattsburg, Clinton, Missouri; 1880, Bozeman, Gallatin, Montana.

Missouri, Marriage Records, 1805-2002, Ancestry.com, Carlos Morgan and Jane Warfield, 1857.

James Morgan and his Descendants, North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000, Ancestry.com, on line.

Butte Montana City Directory, 1899, Jane A. Morgan, widow, U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989, Ancestry.com (on line).