Harriet, Daughter of Moses and Chloe Camp

The children of Moses and Chloe Camp were:

Chloe - (1803 - 1873)

Julia - (1804 - 1872)

Electa - 1806 - 1887)

Sarah - (1813 - 1892)

Lydia - (1814 - c 1830)

Platt - (1815 - 1876)

Harriet - (1817 - 1891)

Sophia - (1817 - 1898)

   Caroline - (1820 - 1889) 

Harriet Camp was the unmarried sister of great-great grandmother, Sophia Camp Case.  One obituary gave her birthdate as December 26, 1817 which would be in conflict with Sophia's age, also obtained in an obituary.  One may be incorrect.  A document concerning Harriet was what really led me on the Camp family research path.  Among the things belonging to Emillus Case, her nephew and Sophia's son, in Indiana, was the document below regarding the estate of Harriet. 

With its many names and locations, it was extremely helpful in making connections and locating the relatives of Harriet, which would also have been the family of great-great grandmother, Sophia.  In this way, nieces and nephews were discovered, and at this point, there is only Minnie Tobias that I have not been connected into the family.

Harriet Camp lived almost all of her life on the family homestead with her brother, Platt.  Later, she moved into a house her brother had built in Waterville.  It seemed that various nieces and nephews stayed temporarily with her, according to their needs and hers. From her will, we know that her niece, Ellen Buckley, was staying with her in her last days.

On April 25, 1891, Harriet wrote her will, naming Francis F. Gorton as her Executor.  Dr. Francis Gorton "was a successful physician and an ornament to his community", according to his obituary.  Her will was found among the New York Probate Records, Oneida County Wills 1890-1894, on www.familysearch.org.  (Image 187, pp. 282+)

"In the name of God, Amen.
Know all that I, Harriet Camp, of the village of Waterville, Oneida County and State of New York of the age of seventy three years, and being of sound and disposing mind and memory, do make, publish, and declare this my last will and testament in the words and language following, that is:

First, I truly desire and direct the payment of all my just debts and liabilities and the payment of all my funeral and testamentary expenses. 

Second, I hereby give and devise and bequeath until my dear niece, Ellen R. Buckley, now of my residence, the sum of fifteen hundred dollars, the sum to go to her at my decease, her heirs and assigns forever, and in case there should be a deficiency of personal assets out of which to pay her the said legacy of fifteen hundred dollars, then in that case, I hereby expressly charge all of the real estate of which I may (be seized?) with the full payment thereof and make the full payment thereof a first lien and charge upon such real estate.

Third, I hereby give, devise and bequeath upon my dear niece, Alida Burhyte of North Brookfield, Madison County, New York,the sum of one hundred dollars, the sum to go to her, her heirs and assigns forever at my decease, and if necessary to secure the payment thereof to her, I hereby make the payment thereof of a lien and charge upon said estate, but to be secondary to the lien thereon of the legacy to the said Ellen R. Buckley above mentioned.

Fourth, I hereby give, devise and bequeath all of the rest and residue and remainder of my estate, both real and personal, equally share and share alike between my dear nieces - Emma E. Beebe of Brookfield, Madison County, New York; Hattie A. Washburn, Madison County, aforesaid; and Sarah E. Cook of Sangerfield, Oneida County, New York, the same to go to them equally share and share alike at my decease, their heirs and assigns forever.

Fifth, I hereby constitute and appoint my friend, F. T. Gorton, M. D., of Waterville, aforesaid, sole Executor of this, my last will and testament, to sell and convey any and all real estate of which I may be seized and out of the avails, pay the first two legacies herein mentioned, in the order mentioned, and divide the remainder equally, share and share alike, among the residuary legaties mentioned and execute all necessary  papers and conveyances for that purpose and thereby further authorize and empower him to settle, comfound, and compromise any and all claims that be in favor or that may be presented against my said estate, doing all that may be necessary and with a view to the best interest of those concerned and hereby revoking all former wills by me made."

The will was signed April 25, 1891; Harriet died on September 29th of that same year.  Her obituaries  give us some insight into her life and condition.

Utica Weekly Herald , Tuesday, September 29, 1891
"Miss Harriet Camp, who has been sick for some time, died at her home on Putnam avenue, Sunday night.  She was 74 years old.  The funeral will occur at the house at two o'clock today. Rev. L. J. Silcox will officiate."

Waterville Times, September 31, 1891
"On Wednesday afternoon, at her late residence, No. 12 Putnam avenue, were held the funeral services of Harriet Camp, the Rev. L. J. Silcox officiating.  She was born December 26, 1817, of a family of eight children, of which but one, Mrs. Sarah Worden of North Brookfield survive.  Miss Camp came to Waterville in 1874.  The house in which she died was built by her brother, Platt, as a house for himself and sister.  February 5, 1891, Miss Camp fell and dislocated her hip.  She was not out of the house again.  By her close confinement, chronic ailments were aggravated that resulted in her death." 

 

Is this Harriet Camp?  In 1865, she would have been about 48.

In other documents related to the will, the final disbursement indicated the following:
Ellen R. Buckley received 1341.15. 
Ella Beebe - $590.82
Hattie Washburn - 578.66
Sarah E. Cook - 568.57

Alida's hundred dollars is not mentioned, nor are the other heirs named on the earlier delivered notice regarding the estate.

 

Sophia Camp Case - Great-Great Grandmother

After her husband, Caleb, died in 1854, Sophia Case was left to raise her large family alone.

On July 13, 1860, the census enumerator found the Case family at the same location in Concord Township, Dekalb County, Indiana.  Isum, 26, was named as head of household.  The value of the land had increased to $4000, probably because more land had been improved and used for farming.  Isum's personal worth was $1000; he was teaching, too.

Sophia, at 52, was keeping house and raising the younger children, Mary, 12, and Martha, 9.  Maynard had left the house and was listed in the 1860 census in California.  At home were Emillus, 22; Mahlon, 19; Lydia, 19 (error in age); Harriet, 17 and the two younger girls.  Also joining the family were Dexter Case, 24, and his wife, Mary Jane, 24.  
No will was found for Caleb Case in the courthouse at Auburn, Dekalb County, Indiana.  In the early 1860's, at least, documents show that the property taxes were paid by "the heirs of Caleb Case" and then later on in the names of several different sons until each left the area or died. 

In January, 1861, Sophia's children, Isum and Harriet, died, quickly followed by Mahlon in March of that year.  Dexter and wife, Mary Jane, moved to Kansas, so the heirs at home would have been Emillus and Lydia and the two youngest girls, Mary and Martha.  Sophia was not done grieving because in 1867, she learned of her son, Maynard's, death in California.

This photo was found in the satchel of Emillus Case and it is unidentified.  I always wondered if it were his mother, Sophia, as she looked like someone who had weathered many storms.  But we will never know the identity of this woman, for sure.

 So on July 25, 1870, the Case family was much smaller when the census enumerator stopped by.  Emillus was named as head of the household with real estate worth $8000 and personal wealth of $2500.  He was listed as a farmer.  His mother, Sophia, 62; sister, Lydia, 39; and sisters Martha, 21, and Mary and her husband, William Hollabaugh, completed the household.  

In 1880, Emillus, 42, a farmer and head of the household, had only Lydia, 50 and Sophia, 72, at home.  (This one time the census taker listed her birthplace as CT, but, of course, we don't know who reported that.  The birthplace had always been New York prior to this.)  Mary and her husband, William Hollabaugh, had moved just down the road, and Martha and her husband, William H. Dilley had settled in Iowa.

Sophia died on February 15, 1888.  She had written a will dated January 14, 1882, which was located in Auburn, Dekalb County, Indiana courthouse.

Sophia Camp Case's will:
"I, Sophia Case, of Concord Township, County of DeKalb and State of Indiana, being of sound mind, but in feeble health and in view of the certainty of death and the uncertainty of life, do make and publish this, my last will and testament:

Item 1st: I will, bequeath to son Emillus Case the undivided four-fifths of all the real estate I may be possessed of at my decease and on the condition that the said Emillus Case is to pay my daughter, Martha Dilley, the sum of Two Hundred and Fifty Dollars.

Item 2: I will and bequeath to my daughter, Lydia Case, the undivided one-fifth part of the real estate I may be possessed of at my decease unconditionally.

Item 3: I will and bequeath to Mary Hollabaugh, my daughter, the sum of Three Hundred Dollars out of my personal estate.

Item 4: I will and bequeath to my daughter, Martha Dilley, in addition to the above legacy, the sum of Three Hundred Dollars out of my personal estate.

Item 5: I will that all of my personal estate not hereinbefore bequeath shall be equally divided between my daughter, Lydia Case and my son, Emillus Case, after the payment of all my just debts and charges.

Item 6: I hereby nominate and appoint my son Emillus Case, my Executor to carry out the provisions of this my last will and testament according to the true intent and meaning thereof.
In witness whereof, the said Sophia Case has hereunto set her hand and seal this 14th day of January, 1882."

I have but one item that has been passed down from Sophia Camp Case, probably through her granddaughter, Geneva Hollabaugh Pflaumer (daughter of Mary Case Hollabaugh), as Geneva's (aka Eva's) husband was the executor of Sophia's son, Emillus's, will.

Coin silver spoons owned by Sophia Camp Case

According to my research, coin silver spoons were made from colonial times to about 1868 when a silver standard was set for silversmiths.  The spoons were made from melted silver coins that no longer had worth in society or from worthless European coins.  Sterling silver was introduced in 1850.  In the 19th century, makers began to stamp their names on what they produced. Two different makers made these particular coins - I. Avery and L. S. Porter - and I could not find information on either person.  The spoons were obviously well used and ten of them exist. (In Mary Case Hollabaugh's obituary, it said there were ten in her family, but I have never been able to find the tenth person.)  The spoons were all engraved with what looks like a C in very elegant script.

Years of black grime covered the handles of the spoons, but baking soda helped clean away most of it.  In the above photo, you can almost see the teeth marks in the bowl of the spoons!

Sophia is buried beside Caleb in the White City Cemetery, Spencerville, Indiana, just down the road from their homestead. This brief obituary appeared in an unidentified New York paper from Oneida County:

"Died.  CASE - In Spencerville, In., Feb. 15, 1898, Mrs. Sophia Camp Case, a sister of the late Platt Camp, of this place, in the 81st year of her age."