12 March 1818 - 9 June 1875
Kentucky - Indiana
Hendrick Dewees, 1570 Holland - nothing known, but he is presumably the father of
Adriaen Hendricksz, 1595-1674 Holland - the bookstore owner, wife Hilegond
Govertsdr
Hendrick Adriaensz, 1615-1661 Holland - New Amsterdam - captured in a raid, died in
captivity
Gerrit Hendricksz, 1640-1770 Holland-Pennsylvania - farmer? - wife Zytian Lieuwes
Cornelius, 1678-1734 Holland - Pennsylvania - farmer - wife Margaret Kuster
Garrett, 1710-1769 Pennsylvania - occupation unknown - wife Mary Unknown
Henry, 1746-after 1830 Pennsylvania-Virginia-North
Carolina-Kentucky-Tennessee-North Carolina
- occupation unknown - wife Elizabeth Hughes
John, 1769-1843 Pennsylvania or Virginia - Kentucky - wife Elizabeth Sams
Henry, ~1796-~1840 North Carolina - Kentucky-Illinois - wife Amelia Hudson
Absalom Deweese, the second (or maybe the first) son of Henry Deweese and Amelia Hudson, was born 12 March 1818 in Butler County, Kentucky. Several genealogists have included an older brother, JW, born ~1816, but JW was not included on the family sheets sent to me by the "official" Deweese genealogist, Jack Vaughan. Henry and Amelia had other sons, among them one named John and one named William, so it is difficult to imagine what JW stands for, since at that time the Deweeses were still using common family names, to the great confusion of all of us later generations. On the other hand, JW fits better with Henry and Amelia - dates and locations - than with any of Henry's siblings, so.
Absalom was a name used by the Hudsons. There were Hudsons who were Quakers, and Quakers were particularly fond of the name Absalom, which seems strange to me, but autre temps . . . . I wish I could say Absalom was Amelia's father's name, but unfortunately, I don't know who Amelia's father was. The guess floating around the Internet (with no documentation) is that her father was William Hudson and her mother Susannah possibly-McDonald - there is some geographical support for this, but nothing has been proven. So, to get back to the name Absalom - it might have been Amelia's grandfather's name????
He appears with his parents on the 1820 Butler County census. At least one assumes that one of the males under 10 is him.
When he was about 7 years old, his parents (and many uncles, aunts, cousins) moved further west, to Hickman (part of which would later become Ballard) County, Kentucky. Ballard today is one of the most western counties in Kentucky - it lies on the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. I don't know exactly where they lived in the 1830s but later Deweeses seem to have been concentrated around Blandville, which is today on the southernmost border of Ballard County, on a river which is not given a name in my atlas, but which also flows into the Mississippi (duh).
Absalom is again presumably with his parents on the 1830 Hickman County census.
In 1833, when Absalom was 15 years old, his father sold some property to his father, which may mean that he was planning to leave soon - at any rate, Henry and Amelia did leave fairly soon, for Johnson County, Illinois, which is the 2nd county up from the Ohio River in Illinois. Henry had some Sams uncles living in the next county over, Union County - and also his uncle Henry Deweese went with him. It is not clear to me whether Absalom went with his parents on this migration or not. If he did, he soon returned to Hickman County, because in 1837 he got married to his - well I think it is 1st cousin once removed - his father's cousin - Elizabeth Sams. (Actually, no one is entirely sure who Elizabeth's father is, but the best guess is it is David Sams, brother to Absalom's grandmother Elizabeth. She was about the same age as he was, possibly one year older.)
The marriage took place on August 1, 1837. I do not have documentation for the date, but it does come from Jack Vaughan.
Absalom and Elizabeth are on the 1840 census for Hickman County, Kentucky:
1840 Kentucky Hickman 344 Absalom
1m, 1f 20-30 - Absalom & Elizabeth
They are living in the same general neighborhood as Absalom's grandfather John (Elizabeth
Sams), and his uncles and aunts Elizabeth (Elijah Masters), John (Mary Harper), Nancy
(John Garner) and William (Rachel Keith) - and a few other possible or soon-to-be
relatives. I wonder if it felt homey or claustrophobic?
Their first child, daughter Nancy, was born in 1841. Then came William (1845), Lavisa
Ann (1847?), Mary Polly (1848), and Frances L (~1854-56). Some of them are on the
1850 census for Ballard Co, Ky:
1850 - Kentucky, Ballard p. 297b - 669-669
Absalom Deweese 33 M Farmer Ky 1817
Elizabeth 34 F Ky 1816
Nancy 9 F Ky 1841
William 5 M Ky 1845
Ann 2 F Ky 1848
Tolbert 14 M Ky 1836 - brother?
Nancy 15 F Ky 1835 - sister?
Tolbert/Talburt and Nancy are probably Absalom's younger siblings - their parents died
sometime between 1840 and 1850, and the children were farmed out to various relatives.
Absalom took a couple, his aunt/sister-in-law Mary Polly Sams took a couple, and his
cousin/brother-in-law, Alison Fleenor Sams took one.
Our next ancestor, Mary Polly Deweese, is not on this census. Sigh. And there is no other documentation to link her to Absalom. Sigh. (Grandpa Rufus, age 4, was also left off a census listing, but fortunately he was included in his father's Civil War records. Absalom's Civil War records - the ones that I've seen - do not list any children. Sigh.) Absalom's son William told an early genealogical researcher that he had a sister Mary Polly, and that is all - besides geography and names and feelings - we have to link her to this family. I'm very sorry, but there was that courthouse fire.
Elizabeth Sams Deweese died sometime between 1854/6 (after daughter Frances was born) and 1860. Absalom was, according to Jack Vaughan, on the tax lists for Ballard County right up through 1859, so shortly after that he moved to Warrick County, Indiana, 100-150 miles up the Ohio River. Warrick County was, for some reason, a popular destination for people who were in the area of Butler County, Kentucky in the early 1800s. The next county to Butler is Ohio County, and I swear, half the population of Ohio County - including a lot of Hudsons and Shrodes - moved to Warrick between 1820-1840. Absalom's probable aunt, Rebecca Merit Hudson Shrode, moved there before the 1820 census - and it was to his Hudson relatives that Absalom turned for help when his wife died and he was left with all those little girls.
Absalom wasn't the only Deweese to migrate to Warrick County in those years. His brothers William, Isaac, Elijah and Talbert also moved there (although Isaac seemed to alternate between Warrick and Ballard), as well as his cousin Lemuel. I have no idea why they all decided to move at this time - but the Civil War was looming.
In 1860, Absalom and most of his children are on the census for Warrick County. Lavisa
Ann and Frances are with a William F. Miller and his wife Nancy. I have no idea how they
are related, if at all. Nancy Miller is 32 - too old (probably) to be Absalom's sister Nancy,
although it is a vague possibility (sister Nancy was born in 1835-40, so she should be only
20-25 at this time.) Mary Polly is with Frances Shrodes, the son of Rebecca Merit
Hudson Shrode - Absalom's probable-cousin, in other words. I don't know where
William, who would have been 15 and fairly self-reliant, was. Daughter Nancy, 19, could
have been married. Absalom himself is listed in two places, once with Foster Ketcham,
whose son Milan married a Harper - I'm not sure what the relationship is exactly - and
once with his new wife, Mary Ann.
1860 Warrick Campbell Twp - between 1024 and 1032
William F Miller 36 m farmer NC/ Nancy J 32 f KY/ John F 9 m Ind
John Truall 16 m Ind
Ann Deweese 16 f/ Frances Deweese 6 f
1860 Indiana Warrick Greer 94
Francis Schrodes 28 m carriage maker 100 800 Ind/ Mary 22 f/Theodore J 2 m
Mary Deweese 10 f KY
1860 Indiana Warrick Campbell Twp (1023)
Foster Ketchum 62 m farmer NY/ Miriam 60 f NY
Catherine 28 NY/ Milan 23 m farm laborer OH/ Helen J 14 f Ind
Absalom Deweese 43 m carpenter 350 KY
And
1860 Indiana Warrick Boon 101 - 743 Boon Twp
Absalom Deweese 43 m 400 Ky/Mary A Duese? 29 F Ind/ Sarah E 9 f Ind
Absalom married Mary Ann Armer, the widow of William Sharp, on August 14, 1860. She and William had one daughter, Sarah, born about 1850. I would imagine that once Absalom was settled in with his new wife he would bring the rest of his children to live with him - but all of them except Frances were grown up and on their own by the time of the next census. (Frances is with him then.)
Absalom and Mary Ann had three children of their own, all girls: Sina D, born June 1862; Alice E, born 1864, and Phoebe (or Phoeba) born 1867.
Absalom is listed on the various censuses as a farmer and as a carpenter. I think "farmer" was the default occupation of anyone who had - or hoped to have - a little land of their own. Absalom was listed as a carpenter when first found in Warrick County, but once he had settled in, he became a farmer again. (The Stantons began as farmers, and progressed downward socially to coal miners and day laborers.)
Absalom served in the Civil War. (see Pension File) He enlisted in Company E, 120th Indiana Infantry on 25 January 1864. He was not one of the gung-ho people who ran out and signed up as soon as they could - like the Stantons. This may have been another class distinction: there were a few idealists, but mostly the Civil War, like all wars, was fought by poor people, for whom army pay was a distinct benefit. By 1864, the Union Army was desperate for more men - and the will of local politicians to continue to supply them was flagging. A delegation from the midwest - the hotbed of pro-war sentiment - suggested Lincoln should end the war, that they could not spare any more men. Lincoln told them that the war had been their baby, and they had darn well better find him some more men - so they did. It was probably this flurry of recruiting activity that Absalom responded to - along with his son, and many others in Warrick County, who had sat out the war until this time. Absalom was 46. His son William was 19.
Absalom did not have a pleasant time of it. He was mustered in on March 8, and on the muster rolls for May, June, July, August 1864 was listed as "sick at Nashville since April 4." On the muster rolls for March, April, May, June 1865, he was listed as "sick at Jeffersonville since November 24, 1864." Other returns have him absent/sick since Aug 28 or Oct 14, 1864. His description of his military life, taken from various affidavits (for a pension) explains it thus:
first taken with winter fever - Nashville TN 5 Apr 1864 - treated at a general hospital there, then transferred to Jeffersonville hospital and then furloughed home. Then returned to hospital ~August - Dr. wanted him to be invalided out, but he rejoined his regiment just about 5 days before reg. left Atlanta to chase Hood - about which time he contracted the disease with which he is now - neuralgia in left jaw -> unfit for duty - treated in field hospital, moved with regiment for about a month. Disease proved to be Necrosis of the lower jawbone -> Joe Hold Hospital at Jeffersonville, Indiana - treated ~4 mos. then to general hospital at Jeffersonville until day of discharge (~2weeks). Never recovered - bone had to be taken out by Dr. JW Wertz of Jasper, Duboys County, Ind. He followed his regiment, sometimes marching, sometimes in an ambulance until he reached Nashville just before the fight with Hood. About 10 days after the fight with Hood he was sent back to Jeffersonville hospital.
Mary Ann, applying for a widow's pension, said he died of "the effects of the disease called army scurvy contracted while in the army."
He was discharged at the end of the war, 22 July 1865, in Louisville.
His personal description, by the way, at the time of his first affidavit was:
age 52, height 5'11 ½ ", hair dark, eyes blue, complexion dark.
After the war, he returned to Warrick County, and in the 1870 census, described himself
as a farmer:
1870 Indiana Warrick p. 454b l 38 ---496
Dewees Abraham 53 m w farmer 150 Ky
Mary A 37 KH 600 Ind
Frances 14 f Ky
Sina 8
Alice 5
Rheba 3 all Ind
Fay, Sarah 20, Emma 3
Frances was the daughter of Absalom and his first wife, Elizabeth Sams. Sarah Fay
was the daughter of Mary Ann and her first husband William Sharp.
Absalom died in 1875 (June 9), and was buried in Mt. Gilead Cemetery, Boonville, Warrick, Indiana.
Mary Ann lived until 1896 (although I haven't found her in the 1880 census) and is buried next to Absalom AND next to her first husband William Sharp.
From an Internet cousin:
I just came back from Warrick Co IN after spending 4days researching. Went to several cemeteries. I took a picture of Absalom's tombstone which is about 8 feet high. On one side all I could read is Sharp. So evidently he is buried with his 2nd wife Mary Ann Sharp Armer.
There is no obit (that I could find) for Absalom, but there were obits for Mary Ann, one of which mentions Absalom:
Boonville Weekly Enquirer, Boonville, Indiana - Saturday June 20, 1896
Obituary
Mrs. Mary A. Deweese died at her home in Boonville, on Wednesday, June 17, 1896. Funeral services were held at the Main Street M.E. Church, at nine o'clock a.m. Friday, June 19, 1896, Rev. R. R. Bryan officiating. Interment at Mt. Gilead cemetery.
The deceased was born near Boonville on May 15, 1831. Her maiden name was Mary A. Armer. She was first married to William Sharp, after his death, she married Absalom Deweese, who departed this life on June 9, 1875.
Mother Deweese has resided in Boonville and vicinity all her life.
She joined the M.E. church when a young girl and remained a faithful member until death. She was a good neighbor, a kind and affectionate mother.
She left surviving her four daughters as follows: Mrs. Sarah Fay and Phoeba Deweese of Boonville; Mrs. Sina Lopp of Owensboro, Ky., and Mrs. Alice Ray of English, Indiana.
The bereaved family have the sympathy of a large circle of friends and acquaintances in their loss of a good and kind mother.Dearest mother thou hast left us,
And thy loss we deeply feel;
But ‘tis God that has bereft us,
He can all our sorrows heal.Yet again we hope to meet thee,
When the day of life has fled;
When in heaven with joy to greet thee,
Where no farewell tears are shed.Boonville Standard, Boonville, Indiana - Friday, June 20, 1896 - p. 4, col 2
Mrs. Mary A. Deweese, of this place, died Wednesday after a long illness. The deceased was 65 years of age. The funeral services were held today at 9 a.m. at the M.E. church, Rev. Bran officiating. The funeral took place at Mt. Gilead cemetery. The bereaved family has the sympathy of many friends.
There is no notice made of Absalom's other family. Mary Ann left a will, which also does not mention any but her own children. For what that's worth. (It may be why we know so little about the connection between Absalom and his children.)
Back to Deweese Home Page
Back to Home
To Elizabeth Sams (2)
To Sams Home Page
Forward to Children of Absalom and Elizabeth
Forward to Children of Absalom and Mary Ann
Forward to next ancestor, Mary Polly Deweese
Questions, comments, additions, corrections? Contact me at: lee@leesgenes.com
Page last updated 15 Dec 2010