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September 30, 2013

Emillus - Son of Caleb and Sophia Camp Case

The Children of Caleb and Sophia Camp Case

Dexter Rival - 1835 - 1912
Emillus - 1837 - 1924
Martha - c. 1853 - 1933

Of all the Case children, we have the most information on Emillus because Mary Lucetta's son-in-law, Edward Pflaumer (husband's grandfather) was the executor of Emillus's estate.  And he saved every single paper involved!  Emillus also never married and remained on the Case homestead his whole life, except for when he was elderly and he moved into nearby Spencerville, IN.  

His obituary contains many important facts about his life.
St. Joe News, Dekalb County, Indiana, November 6, 1924, front page:

"BANK PRESIDENT E. CASE DIES
Emillas Case was born in Oswego county, N. Y., December 2, 1837, and died at the Lutheran hospital in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and was immediately moved to his home in Spencerville, Indiana, October 29, 1924, aged 86 years, 10 months and 27 days.

His parents were Caleb and Sylvia Case and he was one of ten children.  He came with his parents to Indiana when a young boy and spent the remainder of his life here.  All of the brothers and sisters are now deceased except one, Mrs. Martha Dilley of Cliffton, Colo.  He is survived by quite a number of nephews and nieces and also grand-nephews and grand-nieces.

He joined the Lutheran church at Spencerville in early life and became a useful and honored member and remained faithful to his vows until death.  He was an officer of long standing, the last survivor of the building committee of the present church, and had been superintendent of the Sunday School for many years.  He was also a very successful teacher.  He was a close student of the scriptures and had many pronounced views on all religious subjects and he had an especially high regard for the Sunday.  He was a liberal supporter of the church with his means and a very loyal member indeed.  He attended the services as long as he was able which was only a short time before his death.  

He was a good business man.  Frugal in all dealings and expenditures, he accumulated a competency of this world's goods.  Besides his large farming interests, he was President of the St. Joe Valley Bank for many years and was also interested in other banking interests.

He was exact and positive in his conversation and loyal to his friends.  He died after a long life during which his body was worn out by the weight of years.  May his body rest in peace.
Funeral service was held in the Lutheran church at Spencerville, Tuesday afternoon, Rev. Steffey officiating.  Buried in White City Cemetery.  E. R. Kinsey, director."

Emillus took on the role as head of the household early after his father died, as his brothers, Isum and Mahlon died in 1861, and his brothers, Dexter and Maynard, headed out west in the late 1850's, early 1860's.  We know from Maynard's probate record that in 1867 already, Emillus had handled Maynard's estate from afar, conducting all the communication with the administrator in California.  And even as early as 1862, Emillus was handling the payment of taxes on the land.


 
 In the 1870 census, Emillus, 32, was listed as head of household, a farmer with real estate valued at $8000 and personal effects worth $2500. I would guess that Emillus may have "bought out" his brothers' shares of what their father, Caleb, had left them in land.  This would have given Maynard and Dexter seed money to make it out west.  In 1870, mother Sophia, 62, was living in the homestead, along with Lydia, 39, and Martha, 21, and sister, Mary Case Hollabaugh and her husband, William Levi, who was listed as a farm laborer.

In 1880, Emillus was still living in the same place with his mother, 72, and his sister, Lydia, 50.  Soon, he and Mort Olds went into business together, starting the St. Joe News in 1884, according to the History of Spencerville by Dr. Willis Cary.  Just a few years later, a brother of Mort's bought out Emillus.  At some point, he became involved in the banking business, but on every census, he names himself as a farmer.
His land holdings may be seen on this 1880 plat map of Concord Township.
By the 1900 census, both his mother and sister, Lydia, were deceased, so Emillus was alone on the farm at age 62.  The farm was owned free and clear.  By 1910, at the age of 72, he had living with him Samuel and Mirtle Malone.  Samuel was listed as farm laborer and Mirtle was a servant.  They were in their 30's and had no children.  

Sometime before the census taker arrived in 1920, Emillus had moved into the town of Spencerville and was living alone at age 82.  He still listed his occupation as farming and I'm sure he had help, but none were living with him.  He wrote his will in May of 1922, directing his executor, Edward Pflaumer, to sell his property, pay his debts and distribute the residue of the estate as follows:
"...to my sister Martha R. Dilley, or to her heirs should she not survive me, a one-sixth (1/6) share of all the residue of my estate after the payment of my debts...
...to Berton Case, I. B. Case, and Frank Case, sons of my deceased brother Dexter Case, each a one-twelfth share of my estate.
...To Ernest Hollabaugh, Hattie Fairfield, Bertha Bridges, Eva Pflaumer, Sylvia Ginther, Stanley Hollabaugh and Esther Hollabaugh, children of my deceased sister Mary L. Hollabaugh or to their heirs should they not survive me, a one-twelfth share of my estate."

In late October 1924, Emillus entered the Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne, Indiana. His death certificate listed his cause of death as pneumonia and influenza. At 85 years old, that was a deadly combination.  His hospital bill states that he was there from October 22 to October 29 when he died.  (Look at the total of that bill for an 8 day stay.)

The St. Joe News of November 13, 1924, ran the story on the front page that Emillus's estate was worth $50,000. (And it listed all the heirs and where they were living - great for the genealogist!)  But, after looking at the distribution, there must have been debts to pay, as well.

A large sale was held on November 25, 1924, to sell his personal effects, but the advertisement appeared in the St. Joe News on November 20..

 


 The one keepsake kept in the family for us was this pocket watch that belonged to Emillus, which came down through his niece, Geneva Pflaumer, daughter of Emillus's sister, Mary Lucetta Case Hollabaugh.



Sadly, I have no identified photo of Emillus Case.  He was the head of the family at an early age, an entrepreneur, a hard worker, and a spiritual man who loved his farm. He worked to support his mother and sister, and sometimes other siblings, for over 25 years.







September 26, 2013

Interruption to the Case Family Saga: Special Additions to Ammasa Gunter Posts

Thanks to Jim Ritz, grandson of Ammasa Gunter (Am) for sending several items to add to the story of his grandfather, beginning with this wonderful photo from World War I.

 The first post is here and part 2 is here, while his enlistment record and Honorable Discharge appear here with his final letters written from the war home to his family members.

These documents are full of great information about his service in the Rainbow Division of the American Expeditionary Forces and the specific battles in which he participated.  A good description of a World War I soldier's life also may be found here.

 I'm not sure of the wound he received on July 15, 1918 that is abbreviated as 
F. C. R....I haven't been able to find good information on that acronym, but somehow I think it has to do with being overcome with gas.  Anyone know? 

These items really enrich the story of a country boy turned soldier in the European theater 1917-1919.

 

September 20, 2013

Isum, Harriet, and Mahlon, Children of Caleb Case and Sophia Camp Case

The Children of Caleb and Sophia Camp Case

Isum W. - c. 1834 - 1861
Dexter Rival - 1835 - 1912
Emillus - 1837 - 1924
Mahlon - 1840 - 1861
Harriet - 1842 - 1861
Martha - c. 1853 - 1933

Sophia Case, a widow by 1854, had much more sorrow in her future.  In 1861, she lost three children within a span of three months.  

Isum died first on New Year's Day - January 1, 1861 at the age of 28.
I know he was a teacher for a number of years, as some original documents exist to support this.

One of the earliest documents saved by the family, dated 1848.
 The first is a math problem found together with a teaching license.  Whether this is a problem he had to solve to pass a teacher examination or whether it is a problem he wrote for his students can not be determined.  Could you solve this?

"A and B dig a ditch, 100 Rods in length for $100.  Each one earns and received $50.  But A, haveing the hardest part of the digging, has $0.50 more per rod than B.  How much in length does Each one dig; and at how much per rod?"

An exciting find for me was the original of Isum's teaching license, issued on January 31st, 1857.
I wonder if this is the oldest one in existence in the county.
"County of Dekalb
Jan. 31st 1857
This certifies that the bearer Isum Case on examination by me this day is considered qualified to teach Orthography, Reading, Writing, Geography, Arithmetic, English Grammar and Algebra and is hereby licensed to teach a common school for the period of two years.
James N Chamberlain"

(Orthography is spelling.)


Tax Receipt from 1860, for 1859 Taxes
 Isum also owned some land, as the above tax receipt indicated.  He paid his poll tax and then made payment for two pieces of land, 80 acres in Section 28 and 80 acres in Section 21 which were in Dekalb County, Indiana. However, I think this is the family farm owned as the "Heirs of Caleb Case."

Isum never married, living at home with his family his whole life, teaching and farming.  He is buried with other members of the family at White Cemetery, Spencerville, Indiana.

As the family mourned the loss of Isum, they also had to deal with the sickness of Harriet.  She was born on August 16, 1842 and died January 28, 1861 at the age of 18 years, 5 months and 12 days.


And then came Mahlon...
Born on May 24, 1840, he died just a few months after Isum and Harriet, on March 3, 1861 at the age of 20 years, 9 months, and 9 days.  
 
 What a tragic loss for this family, especially when we now know that the loss of Maynard would come just six years later in California.  I have not been able to find a cause of death for these three Case siblings.

 

September 15, 2013

Maynard D. - Son of Caleb and Sophia Camp Case

The Children of Caleb and Sophia Camp Case

Maynard D.- c. 1832 - 1867
Isum W. - c. 1834 - 1861
Dexter Rival - 1835 - 1912
Emillus - 1837 - 1924
Mahlon - 1840 - 1861
Harriet - 1842 - 1861
Martha - c. 1853 - 1933

Maynard D. Case

Until just this week, I really didn't know much about Maynard, but a little persistence paid off, and I can now write his story.  
The oldest son of Caleb and Sophia Case was born about 1832 in New York, according to census records.  In both 1840 and 1850, he was enumerated with his parents in the Federal Census.  However, in 1860, an M. D. Case, 27 and born in New York, was living in Ophir Township, Butte County, California, with the nearest post office being Oroville.
A miner with $200 of personal goods, he was boarding with a widow and her daughter and three other miners.  So he likely had not married.  Was this Maynard D.?

As it turned out, it was.  Once I found this tombstone in the Old Oroville Cemetery, I knew Maynard Case had been located.


This stone was obviously erected by a loving family back home in Indiana.  With the emphasis on his hometown of Spencerville, Indiana and the verse indicating that he would never be forgotten, I could imagine a grieving family thousands of miles away when they heard of this adventurous son's death, alone in California.

But what was the rest of the story?  The next document discovered was a mention in the Sacramento Daily Union on March 21, 1859.  
"Butte County.  We notice in The Record of March 19, the annexed intelligence: 
A Chinaman was shot lately by M. D. Case, a miner, while robbing sluices."
Wow.  Hope it was just a wounding, but apparently Maynard had a mining claim to protect by this time.

A military land warrant dated October 25, 1861 was another clue, even though it was not originally made out to Maynard.
Abner Randall was awarded 160 acres for his military service in Captain Grayham's Company of California Volunteers.  This group fought against different Indian raids in California and also helped protect the overland mail routes.  This land patent noted that the land was assigned then to Maynard D. Case and then he passed it to Isaac Newton Webbin who currently had it.  So we know that Maynard was interested in acquiring land in Butte County.

By pure luck while browsing through a large file of unindexed probate records for Butte County 1866-1867 on www.familysearch.com (begin p. 974), I came upon fifty pages of estate files for Maynard D. Case, first filed on January 28, 1867, a week after his death.  The county administrator asked the court if he could be named administrator of Maynard's estate because
"...Maynard D. Case for many years a resident in this county (died) on or about the 22nd day of January A.D. 1867, making no will...and leaving no relations nor heirs in the state..and, at his death owned real estate to the probable value of about Five Hundred Dollars, located in the county."

A missing piece of this story is how Maynard's family was discovered back in Indiana.  It must have taken awhile because the first correspondence included in the file occurred in the fall of 1868 in response to a letter from the county administrator.  First, Maynard's brother, Emillus wrote:

" Spencerville, September 26, 1868
L. Van Orden, Esq.
I received your kind letter a short time since.  Enclosed you will find the affidavits of three disinterested persons signed and sworn in the presence of the clerk of the circuit court of Dekalb conty.  You will please write and let me know if these affidavits will be considered sufficient proof of the heirship of Sophia Case, the mother, Lydia Case, Dexter Case, Mary Case, Martha Case, and Emillus Case, the sisters and brothers of Maynard D. Case who died in California, and entitle them to the estate.
The power of attorney we shall send to Isham Case, Brooklyn, California.  Will you please also write to him and tell him whether he can draw the estate on presentation of power of attorney and tell him when to come?
If any further evidence is necessary, please state what and give any other advice necessary to be followed.
If it is necessary to have an att'y appointed by the court then to take depositions here, please have Wm. H. Dils appointed.
Thanking you for the kindness you have manifested thus far and hoping that the proof will be accepted and satisfactory.
I remain yours,
Emillus Case
Spencerville, Ind."

(I believe Isham Case was the son of Caleb's brother, Hiram.  So he would be a cousin to Maynard and his siblings.)

The family also submitted another letter, notarized, stating that they were the heirs of Maynard and this was sealed on October 30, 1868.  The great thing about that particular letter was that everyone in the family signed it.

 The three "disinterested persons" who submitted affidavits to the court in Butte County were William H. Dils, an attorney, George Barney who was the notary public, and William Henderson.  All of them had known the family since 1845 which must have been the year Caleb and Sophia came to Dekalb County, Indiana.  William Dils wrote the most detailed account which in part said:

"William H. Dils, being duly sworn upon his oath, says that he is thirty four years of age and has been a resident of Dekalb County since August 1844, that from about the year 1845 until about 1856, he was personally acquainted with one Maynard D. Case, who was about said 1845, a minor living in the family of one Caleb Case, who was the father of said Maynard.  That the affidant resided within one-half mile of the residence of Caleb Case from 1846 to 1856.  That said Caleb Case died in the year 1854, leaving his widow, Sophia Case who is still alive and unmarried, and as his heirs and children the following: said Maynard D. Case, Isum Case who died in the year 1861, Dexter Case who is still alive, Lydia Case who is still alive, Emillus Case who is still alive, Maylon Case who died in the year 1861, Harriet Case who died in the year 1861, Mary Case who is still alive and Martha Case who is still alive..."

Dils goes on to say that those siblings who died named above, died without issue and that Maynard left for the state of California in 1856, unmarried and without children.  

In the meantime, the California courts were taking inventory, appraising and selling part of Maynard's estate.  
On the positive side, Maynard had -
Money found on his person at the time of his death       $ 93.50
Sold mining claim to Chinaman                                     $160.00
Sold his interest in the Spring Valley & Eureka
     Mining Company                                                       $900.00
Sold Cabin                                                                     $  25.00
Total Assets   = $1178.50

His debts and fees added up to $236.14, giving a final settlement of
$942.36.  Nowhere in the file could I find any reference to the land that he held, unless that is part either the mining claim or Spring Valley interest above.  The inventory was dated January 14, 1869.
 
I think several of his bills indicated that Maynard must have taken sick.  
 T. J. Jenkins was apparently the doctor and by his bill, we can see that he made several visits, one in the night to tend to Maynard.
 And the bill from the druggist indicated that he had several prescriptions.  Was he suffering from influenza, consumption, or something else?  That we will never know.
 
On March 10, 1869, Isham Case traveled to Butte County from his home in Brooklyn, California to receive the sum of $942.36 "in United States gold coin" to distribute to Maynard's heirs.
 
We know that Maynard had a very simple funeral - no procession of carriages or flowers and probably not many mourners.  His funeral bill charges only for a simple coffin costing $45.00.
 
A monument to a son who was not forgotten...


 

September 11, 2013

Lydia - Child of Caleb and Sophia Camp Case

Although in Mary Lucetta Case's obituary, it mentioned that she was one of ten children, I have only been able to identify nine.  Perhaps a child died in childbirth, in infancy or as a small child, but I haven't found a record of that as yet.  We can surmise, from census records, that all of the children were born in New York, except Mary Lucetta and her younger sister, Martha, who were born in Indiana.  

I wish I had photos of these siblings to share, but with so many photos unidentified in the boxes, it would only be a guess if I were to post them.  Maybe a reader will come forth with photos; it's happened many times!

The Children of Caleb and Sophia Camp Case

Lydia - 1830 - 1893
Maynard - c. 1832 - 1867
Isum W. - c. 1834 - 1861
Dexter Rival - 1835 - 1912
Emillus - 1837 - 1924
Mahlon - 1840 - 1861
Harriet - 1842 - 1861
Martha - c. 1853 - 1933

LYDIA

Lydia Case was born on January 26, 1830 in upstate New York (birthdate calculated from tombstone).  President Andrew Jackson was in charge of the country, the Oregon trail would soon open for pioneers west, and the government was busily trying to move the Indians westward, too.  
So little is known of the life of Lydia, as she stayed at home with her parents, and later her mother and brother, throughout her life, never marrying.
Tragically, about five years after her mother died in 1888, Lydia suffered a tragic accident at home when she was about 62.

The Courier, Auburn, Dekalb County, Indiana:

August 3, 1893, p. 3:
"Concord - Miss Case, who was so severely burned a few days ago by her clothes igniting, is lying in critical condition."

August 17, 1893, p. 8
"Miss Lydia Case's funeral was held in the Lutheran church Saturday afternoon, Rev. Thomas officiating, and the remains were interred in the Spencerville Cemetery.  It will be remembered that Miss Case was so frightfully burned a few weeks ago."

One other small account (with an incorrect date) may be found in the History of Spencerville by Willis Carey, 1952, p. 74: 
"Miss Lydia Case in 1892 burned and died from blood poisoning due to burns."
She is buried at the White City Cemetery, Spencerville, IN.

Lydia Case, Dau. of C & S. Case, Died Aug. 11, 1893, 62y 7m 15d