in search of robert kerlin

This would be the parking area going through your Lot No. 5

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Lot No. 4

West Amherst Street: top of picture

Corner North Washington and West Amherst Streets:  Red roof buildings on southeast corner

Lot No. 5

One third of the way down/south

North Washington Street: on left/west

North Braddock Street: on right/east

White/light colored roofs across from street to street, alley in middle.

Lot No. 6.

Just under/south of the parking area line.

North Washington: on left/west

North Braddock Street: on right/east

West Boscawen Street: bottom/south

Green roofs on the northwest corner of North Washington and West Boscawen Street.

Look at the figure that goes around the circle of North Washington (old St. Martin’s Lane), West Amherst Street, North Braddock Street to West Boscawen Street.

Take that figure and divide it into three equal parts moving down from top to bottom.

Then draw a line down the center from Amherst co Boscawen Streets (looks like there is an alley there in the picuture).

The middle lots are both Lot 5s. One Lot 5 on each side of the alley. This is your property.

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Hi C.,

Hannah Brooks is about the only way that I can connect Robert Kerlin to anyone. I started from that marriage announcement, in 1799. Really, Robert was not a common Kerlin name then. She had at least three sons and two daughters. I think that Westley was her son as well, she became a Methodist ( and a fervent one) very early in the history of the Methodist church in America..

I do have a website where I store my notes ( which I have done nothing about for the last 2 years- too many brick walls), Hannah’s info is here : http://robertkerlin.com/wp/?cat=30. She goes by the name of Hannah Stephens Kerlin ( again, misspelled at times as *Kerline*). I know that she is Hannah Brooks, because William, born 1801 is a brother of at least two of her other sons. True, Hannah Brooks could have died after a few months of marriage, Robert may have married another Hannah, but that is unlikely. Not impossible, but unlikely.

And throughout the descendants ( male) the letter *b* ( at times *Brooks*) is very often a middle initial. More often than not.

Here is a copy of her will :

Hannah’s Will

Hannah S. Kerline Will
Will Book, page 414 Document #469

In the name of the Benevolent Father of all. I Hannah Stephens Kerlin of Mountpleasant in the County of Jefferson and the State of Ohio do make and publish my last will and testament.

Item First. It is my will that all my just debts and funeral expenses be fully paid.

Item Second, I give devise and bequeath to my son Robert A. Kerlin One hundred dollars to be paid when a sufficient quantity of my property is disposed of after complying with the first item ( above).

Item Third. I give devise bequeath the residue of my estate real and personal to my son Henry T. Kerlin and to his heirs forever.

Item Fourth. I do hereby nominate and appoint my son Henry T. Kerlin executor of this my last Will and testament hereby authorising and empowering him to compromise adjust release and discharge in such manner as he may deem proper the debts and claims due me.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this thirteenth day of March In the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty three.

Signed and acknowledged
by said Hannah S. Kerlin

Hannah S

her
X
mark

Kerlin

Seal

as her last Will and Testament
in our presence and signed by
us in her presence and at her
request.

Wm Hamilton
Jos Kithcart

And here, a copy of her obit :

Hannah’s Obit

Newspaper Index, Steubenville Ohio, 1806- 1852

Kerlin, Hannah S., Mrs.

DE, Jul 29, 1843, p.3, A10

Obituary

DIED- At her residence in Mount Pleasant, on the 21st inst., Mrs. HANNAH S.KERLIN, in the seventieth year of her age.

The deceased was a member of the Methodist Protestant Church. She embraced the religion of her Lord and Master in her youthful days, and so continued through all the vicisitudes ( sic) of life. Although severely afflicted for many months previous to her death, yet she bore up under it with Christian fortitude, and died with a full hope of a blessed immortality beyond the grave.

‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.’

[COMMUNICATED]

Was she Hannah Brooks ? I think so. Her oldest surviving son was William Brooks Kerlin. She was married  to Robert Kerlin, she was born in VA. Right time, right place.

The same year that I looked terribly stupid at that cemetery in Ohio ( somewhere I have photos of the tombstones…) we also stopped at Winchester. But it was a disaster.  We did not have a map, we were running out of gas and really had to move on, as my father was very ill at the time. I shall look up those street names for Robert’s property in Winchester. I wonder where it was, for Winchester did not strike me as a big metropolis-

best regards-

sue

Sue,

Do you have any information on Hannah BROOK/BROOKS?

It is not uncommon for estate matters to last for years. This happens much of the time in this area. Also, most everyone could be labeled a farmer aka planter even when they had other trades, professions, and business.

If interest was kept in a business, prior to death and/or owned property that was producing income the Estate Accounts went until those interests had been sold and the fund distributed to the heirs. In many instances those business’ continued for a long time.

Land speculation was an activity that many indulged in both for profit and for land for their heirs. What was going on in history in 1815 is the transformation from colonel times.

I highly recommend the book “What Hath God Wrought; The Transformation of America, 1815-1848″ by Daniel Walker HOWE. While containing just under 1000 pages that includes original document notes, it is well worth the read which will help you in your research as you travel through time different layers of history with your ancestors.

The Cedar Creek area is not in Winchester; but that doesn’t mean your Robert didn’t carry on business there and in many of the other towns in the Shenandoah Valley area.

I am familiar with the streets of Winchester in that time frame, so if you give me the names I could tell you where they are located and then you could take a triip there via Google Earth.

C.

Thank you, C.,

I find your information very interesting, especially the listing about Robert Kerlin in Will Book. No. 12, page 77. I find this interesting for 2 reasons : why did it take 11 years to record the list of buyers and the fact that mason tools were sold.

I have no idea what Robert Kerlin did for a living, except that I am pretty sure that he was not a farmer. I don’t know why he had land in Winchester and Cedar Creek . The street names have changed in Winchester over time so I cannot track down the location of his property there. And at least his oldest surviving son was- according to a family bible- born in Cedar Creek. Sounds like a long commute to me, given the time ( early 1800′s) and place.

But many of Robert Kerlin’s  descendents were masons, in both senses of the the word, you know, bricks and secret handshakes.

I can place his family in VA in 1817 ( his youngest- surviving- son was born there), by the 1820 census, he is in Ohio. And in 1823, he is dead leaving a mass of debts.

I have been to the family plot in Mount Pleasant, Ohio. Two of his daughters are buried there, his wife ( Hannah Brooks ) and a grand daughter. And yet, even though Robert Kerlin died the same year as one of his daughters ( the first to die), he is not there. I spent so long at that cemetery looking confused and stupid that the grounds keeper actually came up to me and chatted for a very long time.

How I wish that I could know what happened to him, that Kerlin who all say never existed.

Thank you, once more,

Sue

Sue,

Yes, he was one of the living!

Robert KERLIN married Hannah BROOKS; 23 Sep 1799, Rev. James WALLS, minister; Frederick County, Virginia

The “1815 Frederick County, Virginia Landowners” have him listed:

Robert KESLIN, located on the drains of Cedar Creek, 10 miles southwest of the county courthouse at Winchester.

Robert KERLIN appears in Will Book No. 12, page 77 on a list of buyers for the Estate Sale of Thomas FAWCETT, held 5 Mar 1813 and recorded 31 May 1824 in Frederick County, Virginia . Items available for sale were farming utensils, food stuff, hourse, househild items, furniture, livery items, mason tools and stock. No merchandise was assigned any particular buyer.

Happy Hunting,

C.

Hello Ms. B,

an ancestor of mine is on this list. His name was Robert Kerlin, and it seems to be misspelled in numerous ways. On this list, he appears as Robert Kerfin. He had a number of plots of land, in both Winchester and Cedar Creek. ( His name also appears as Robert Keslin).

He is such a mystery. Most *Kerlin* people say that he never existed. But he did, I have copies of his land deeds.

He sold off all of his property in VA and moved to Ohio. Mount Pleasant,  in the late1810′s. And died, deeply in debt about 10 years later. I know very little about him. He married Hannah Brooks in the late 1790′s ( VA), had three or 4 sons ( I still cannot determine if that one boy was a son or..relative), and two daughters who died at a young age. He is never listed as a farmer but as a manufacturer.

I am so curious as to what his trade was. Living as I do, in The Netherlands, this is very difficult to determine.

Do you have access to any further information ?

Would you share it ?

If not, that is fine. I just loathe that the world says that this man never existed. I know that he did.

Best regards,

sue

Not a very DAR comment to make, is it ? I was feeling all nice and comfy about Wesley Kerlin- no big secret that he intrigues me most. So, I have him in H.T.”s family plot and the bells are just ringing : of course, as I always suspected, Wesley is the second of the four brothers.

A few weeks ago, during those odd moments between being awake and entering Neverland, I realized that none of the Kerlin boys had named any of their children after Wesley. Now, we are talking about a family ( with the exception of William’s wife, Cassoline, who indeed proves the rule ) which has a string of Roberts, Williams, Henrys and here and there a John. Not one Wesley in sight.

Who was Wesley Kerlin . Was he the the black sheep of the family ( I sortof cling to that ) . He was related by marriage to the Giltner family, read ,fugitive slave act, Crosswhite. He was charming enough, and I rather suppose handsome enough, to charm Sally Giltner, a notoriously pious Methodist woman who owned slaves. While this strikes me as an oxymoron, I shall let this sucker slide by…Is that putting it kindly enough.

Who indeed was Wesley Kerlin. H.T. put a gravestone up for him, may have even been pushed to buy that lovely plot when Wesley died.Perhaps to consolidate matters.

Are they brothers. I haven´t a clue. I only suspect that if they were, Wesley was definitely the black sheep of the family.

Why, amidst all of the Henrys, Roberts and Williams is there not one single Wesley .

Harrison County OhArchives Wills.....Carothers, John October 24, 1832
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.

http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/copyright.htm

http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/oh/ohfiles.htm

************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Lynn Beatty klbeatty@npgcable.com January 6, 2007, 12:05 pm

Source: Josiah V. Thompson Journals
Written: October 24, 1832

Will Book A Page 309
Will of John Carothers of Harrison Co, O.        I, John Crothers directs:
1st  that debts be paid
2d Gives to beloved wife, Elizabeth Crothers in lieu of dower, the use of both
my farm in Harrison Co during life & all personal property including all
bonds, notes & cash.
3d Gives Martha Rea, daughter of Joseph Rea of Harrison Co $100.
5th Gives Mary & Elizabeth Rea, daughter of Joseph Rea of Harrison Co $100.
6th Gives Robert & Wm McConnel, sons of John McConnel $5.

7th gives to Margaret Jane & Mary McConnel, daus of John McConnel $5 each
8th gives to Robert Henderson, son of James Henderson $25
9th gives to Johnson Dilworth, son of Caleb Dilworth Junr $25
10th gives the farm on which I now live (after the death of my wife) to John
Crothers, son of Samuel Crothers of Jefferson Co O & to his heirs & assigns
forever.
11th gives to Robert Kirk, son of Eli Kirk, of Jeff Co, O, a small tract of 80
A. I purchased from Isaac Brokaw.
Lastly appoints friend Joseph Rea of Harrison Co & Eli Kirk of Jeff Co Exrs.
Dated Oct 24, 1832  John Caruthers (seal)
Witnesses Bezzaleel Slemmons, Joseph Harris, J. Watson.  Proven Apr 9, 1833
before same judges named above.  Wm Tingley, clerk.

File at: http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/oh/harrison/wills/carother19gwl.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/ohfiles/

File size: 1.8 Kb

The last few weeks, I have been going over the photos and info that I gathered a few years ago when we spent about 1 hour at Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville.

The Kentucky Death Records are very informative, that is how I could find the address of the last house that Henry lived in.

As I went through the records, the ties that bound the various people buried in the Kerlin plot became somewhat clearer:

Part Lot No. 2 Section A

Name Henry T. Kerlin SQ. Feet 540

Care

Sept. 28, 1876

—————————————————————————————–

Burial No. /Name Of Deceased /Date Of Burial

1. Henry T. Kerlin 10/25/1888

2. Mrs. Mary S. Kerlin 3/14/1880

3. Mary Eliza Kerlin…………../187-

4. Lizzie H. Kerlin………………/187-

5. Child Of Henry T. Kerlin./187-

6. William R. Kerlin…………../187-

7. Robert Kerlin 2/12/1877

8. Westley B. Kerlin 12/3/1876

9. James H. Kerlin 3/24/1895

10. Mrs. Della Macquaid Livingston 12/3/1897

11. Miss Irene Riddle 12/2/1902

12. Mrs.Mary Riddle Kerlin 7/5/1933

Now, if you look at the information, you can see that Henry bought the plot shortly before Westley died. I cannot find Westley’s death in the Kentucky records, perhaps he died elsewhere.

There is a lovely monument on the plot ( one of the first plots as one enters the cemetery). Henry and Mary, his first wife, obviously had buried four babies ( burials 3, 4, 5and 6) in another cemetery and at this time had them moved to Cave Hill. Next to the babies, lies their Mother, the first Mary( burial 2). Next to this Mary, lies Henry ( burial 1). On his other side, lies his second wife, another Mary ( burial 12). And then two people I have yet to identify.

Across the plot lies Westley ( burial 8 ) . Perhaps Henry bought the plot to provide a more attractive place for his poor dead babies, but Westley was the first *fresh * burial made at the plot. Next to him, lies a certain Robert Kerlin ( burial 7) and next to Robert, Henry’s only surviving child ( ok, obviously at least for a while), James ( burial 9) .

Uh, wait a moment, Robert Kerlin ? Died 1877 ?

Uh, which Robert Kerlin is this ?

Well, it does not seem to be one of O.B.’s children, he had two Robert’s, but for the one listed in the Death Records, no match. Plus, while there was contact with Uncle Henry, I suspect that most of O.B.’s family was buried at Eastern, read : give up all hope of finding them, and that the family at this point was not close enough to be buried together.

Who is the Robert Kerlin buried next to Westley ? It’s not a child of Henry’s. Well….

Dead a year after Westley, buried next to Westley, across the plot from Henry’s wives and children and Henry himself, I have to wonder if this Robert Kerlin is Robert A. Kerlin, my great great great grandfather, a tailor, the older brother of Henry, the younger brother of Westley.

Could be, makes sense, is logical if one looks at the plot.

But what happened to Jane T. Carothers , his wife?

What happened to John W. Kerlin and William O. Kerlin , the sons left after little Henry ran off to St.Louis and married Maggie Carbis ?

Do you know, there is one of those Family history centers just about a 15 minute bus ride and a 20 minute walk away from here . I wonder if I could get US microfilms to view here.

I only have to wait a few more years and then Meggie will be old enough for me to look into this.

Pins and needles.