Civil War Frontiers: Niagara to Haiti

Joseph and Peter J. Watts were brothers to my second great-grandfather, John.

Joseph and Peter were the first WATTS (or should I say VAUTHRIN) family members born in the USA. Professionally, they were both brass finishers / machinists. Moreover, they both served in the US Civil War—which is what I will explore, a bit, today.

Peter J Watts was born in May 1838. By the outbreak of the civil war, he was a brass finisher, and Buffalo volunteer fireman.

In June of 1863, Peter was mobilized as a private in the New York State Militia’s 74th Regiment, Company G. This was a 30-day deployment. He participated in what is now known as the Gettysburg Campaign. He saw duty at Mt. Union, PA; and on 10 July was involved in a skirmish near Clear Springs, MD. On 14 July, the Regiment was ordered to New York City, to help suppress the draft riots. The Regiment mustered out on 3 August, but was then immediately reactivated and ordered to preserve the peace during Buffalo’s draft. The unit was relieved on August 22nd.

In November 1863, the 74th was remobilized for another thirty days, stationed in Buffalo, for “protection of the frontiers of the State.”

Older brother, Joseph Watts, was born in 1836. Before the war, he was a finisher for Colligon Brothers Eagle Brass Foundry. (It appears that owner, Frank Colligon, lived only a few doors away from the Watts family Ellicott Street home. Joseph’s and Peter’s brother-in-law was Frank COLLIGNON, and I wonder if this is the same family. However, that hypothesis can wait for another day.)

Joseph was in the Union Navy. On 9 July 1863, he began his commission as Acting Third Assistant Engineer. I do not know how he spent his initial months of service, but by spring 1864 Joseph was part of the North Atlantic Blocking Squadron, on board the steamer USS Southfield.

On 19 April of that year, on the Roanoke, near New Berne, NC, the Southfield was rammed by the Confederate ironclad CSS Albemarle. The Albemarle “tore a hole clear through to the boiler” of the Southfield—a result that could have been fatal to an Engineer! Luckily, Joseph survived the battle, and was picked-up by the USS Ceres.

On 21 October 1864, Joseph Watts was promoted to Acting Second Assistant Engineer. By January 1865, Joseph was serving on board U. S. Steamer Galatea, protecting merchant ships in the West India Squadron. He was based at Cap-Haitien, Haiti. (Given that Joseph’s parents were French, I assume he spoke French, which would be quite useful in Haiti.)

Joseph resigned his commission on 12 May 1865. He returned to Buffalo, but in 1870, Joseph moved to San Francisco. Around that same time, he married. Later he and wife, Margaret, had two children: Mary, and Joseph Adolphus. It appears that Joseph died in the 1920s.

Peter Watts married Catherine Blair, in 1866. They had three children: Joseph J.; Elizabeth; and Harry P. Watts. He appears to have been very active with the Buffalo Volunteer Fire Department and with politics in general. Peter died in 1901.

Monsieur Vauthrin?

The US Census records are consistent on the fact that my second great-grandparents were born in France. I am one-eighth French—12%.

I know that early Buffalo (my hometown) had French Churches. Due to a significant representation of Franco-Americans, the Buffalo volunteer fire department’s Engine 8 was know as “French 8.” There is a French and German Cemetery in nearby Cheektowaga. All this caused me to wonder about the community of French immigrants. Perhaps understanding more about their community, I could get some additional insights regarding my ancestors.

I posted a message on RootsWeb.com’s Erie County New York message board, mentioning some of my ancestors’ names, and indicating that I would be grateful for any insights about French immigrant society in mid-1800's Buffalo, NY.

Someone responded!

He provided some information about the small French community, and inquired about my ancestors’ religion. He also pointed out (the common reaction) that WATTS does not "look French." He wondered, “could it have been changed from something else?”

It turns out, that responder is professional genealogist, in Buffalo, specializing in Catholic families. His name is Glenn R. P. Atwell—and you would be amazed at the data he has compiled from Buffalo’s Catholic churches and cemeteries. Luckily, for me, Frenchmen with such an apparently non-French surname intrigued Mr. Atwell. I engaged Mr. Atwell for some brief but extremely insightful research, which proved a great investment.

It turns out that our family name was VAUTHRIN. How that became WATTS is still a mystery.

In later posts, I go into some details.

Passing of "Clarence" Siener

Clarence F. Siener, 42, assistant accountant in the Station Accounting bureau of the Auditor of Revenues department at Cleveland, died in hospital there on July 14. He was born at Buffalo and joined the Erie July 7, 1914 as messenger at Black Rock, NY. He was employed at Buffalo until Feb. 1, 1933, when he was transferred to Cleveland. He was a member of the Erie Railroad Veterans Association and lived at 1858 Allendale Avenue, East Cleveland.

Thanks to Google Books, I discovered the above notice, which appeared in a 1942 issue of Erie Railroad Magazine. The above photograph is Clarence (circa 1937) holding his son Richard, with wife Harriet in the background.

Clarence was my maternal grandfather. Officially, his name was Francis Xavier Siener, but I am told that his sisters (for reasons that are lost to time) nicknamed him “Clarence,” and it stuck.

He was born in December of 1899, which means he was fourteen years old when he joined the railroad.

Update on Calden surname

On March 9th, I wrote about my second great-grandfather “John Callinan, otherwise known as John Calden and John Callanan.”

Still a bit confused by the name variants, I was poking around the Web and stumbled upon the below comment.

“People who were accounted for by scribes and church officials often had their name recorded many different ways because pronunciation was the only guide those scribes and church officials had to go by. This resulted in the problem of one person’s name being recorded under several different variations, creating the illusion of more than on person. Among the many spelling variations of the surname Calden that are preserved in archival documents are Callan, Callanan, Caillan, Calan, Calanan, Callen, Callin, Callon, Callinan, Callinon and many more.” (www.Houseofnames.com)

So, I guess Calden, Callanan, and Callinan were not “aliases,” in the clandestine sense.

Yes, spelling variations make sense, but…to me that implies that the pronunciations of the variations would be similar, and the above list seems like a stretch. Of course, the written records would be based on one person speaking the name and another person hearing, interpreting, and spelling the name, so I guess a lot of interpretation is involved—which does not make my research any easier. Interesting though.

American Legion Francis O'Laughlin post No. 614 (Part 1)

On February 17th, I wrote about my maternal grandmother’s eldest brother—Frank O’Laughlin, who died while serving in World War I. He was a Private, in Company D, 307th Infantry, 77th Infantry Division.

Recently, through the Fulton Post Cards web site, I came across a fascinating news article. The following was in the Buffalo Express, Saturday morning, November 8th, 1919:

FIREMEN’S LEGION POST
~
War veterans of department form a branch of organization.
~
Members of the Buffalo fire department who served during the war have formed the Francis A. O'Laughlin post No. 614 of the American Legion. The post is named after the only member of the fire department who lost his life in battle. Francis O'Laughlin was attached to engine No. 10. The charter of post No. 614 was delivered yesterday afternoon by Acting Vice Commander Edward J. Lenahan of hook and ladder No. 8. A committee has been appointed to attend a meeting to be held this evening at the 65th regiment armory.
It is also planned to hold a local meeting of the Francis O'Laughlin post very soon, when it is expected that a big campaign will finally get all the service man of the department in this branch of the legion.

A Legion post named after my great-uncle?!? Fascinating! Odd that I had never heard this via the family grapevine though.

I scoured the Internet for more information; but I found nothing. I suppose the plans may have fallen through. Still, I am surprised that I could not find anything. My curiosity piqued, I have reached out to the Buffalo Fire Historical Society and the Legion's NY Historian.

Stay tuned for further details…

By any other name

I had difficulty finding much information on my second great-grandfather John CALDEN.

I suspected it would be difficult because I was not confident in how to spell his surname. Was it “Calden,” or “Caldon?” What other variations are possible? Moreover, I did not have neighborhood or occupation information to corroborate.

In addition to approximate surname spelling, what I did have was:

• John had a daughter named Mary (my great-grandmother);
• Mary’s married name was O’LAUGHLIN; and,
• they eventually lived in Buffalo.

As mentioned, John fathered Mary. In turn, Mary’s daughter Harriet O’LAUGHLIN gave birth to my mother. So, as I said, John Calden is one of my second great-grandfathers.

For Buffalo, the 1880 Census included John CALDON, living at 370 Catherine [sic] Street, with four children—including a daughter named Mary (age 18) , who would be about the right age to be my great-grandmother. The other children were: Jeremiah (22), Henry (16), and James (14). Currently, I do not believe that 370 Catherine Street is a Buffalo address, but 370 Katherine Street is only about one mile from the home of my great-grandfather Patrick O’LAUGHLIN, Mary’s future husband. So, this neighborhood would make sense! This John CALDON is a fifty-one year-old widower, born in Ireland. John reported his occupation as dock laborer.

Working backwards from this lead, in 1870, I found John CALDEN in Buffalo’s First Ward. That last vowel had changed, but the children’s names (James, John, and Jeremiah) indicated this might be my man. He is forty years old, and born in Ireland. Margaret CALDEN is reported as John’s wife. A decade earlier, the 1860 Census had a similar entry for John, Margaret, James, John, and Jeremiah CALDON. [The only oddity across these Census records is the son James. It appears that there may have been two James—one born about 1854, and another born around 1865. For the moment, I am inferring that the older James passed away in the early 1860s, and the next son became his namesake.]

Buffalo City directories also had several apparent relevant entries. In both 1881 and 1897, John CALDON is listed at 370 Katherine. An earlier, 1874, entry has the same name at 129 Catherine [sic] Street. Under the CALDEN spelling, there is a John at 140 Elk St., and 242 Elk St., in 1867 and 1869, respectively. Unfortunately, in each case, the occupation is stated as laborer, which is not very unique, and no family information is available. Although there is not sufficient evident to prove that these entries are all for my ancestor, these Elk and Katherine street addresses certainly could fit the pattern of a family moving through the first ward.

All together, the above is not a poor research showing, but some of the data is inconclusive, and the trail went cold.

One day I was pursuing the Fulton Post Cards web site, and entered the CALDEN name. I got a hit! Unfortunately, the PDF was difficult to read, but my mother [thanks, Mom!] acquired a clear copy from the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library. On page 11 of The Buffalo Express, Thursday morning, June, 22, 1905, we found:

Citation for Judicial Settlement

The people of the state of New York, to Catherine Callinan, Mary O’Loughlin, Margaret Callinan, Anna Callinan, John Callinan, William Callinan, Mary Wallace Callinan, James Callinan, if he be living, and if dead his widow, heirs-at-law and next of kin, executors, administrators, assignees, devisees and grantees, if any there be, all of whose names, ages and places of residence are unknown and cannot after due diligence be ascertained, and all persons claiming to be such persons or corporations interested in the estate of John Callinan, otherwise known as John Calden and John Callanan, late of the City of Buffalo in the county of Erie, state of New York, deceased, as creditors, legatees, next of kin, widow.
You, and each of you, are herby cited, notified, and required to be and appear before the Surrogate of said County of Erie, at the Surrogate’s office, on the 31st day of July, 1905, at ten o’clock in the forenoon of that day, then and there to attend the judicial settlement of the account of John Major as executor of the will of said deceased. And that if any of the above named persons are infants, that they then and there show cause why a Special Guardian should not be appointed to appear, represent and act for them in the proceeding for such judicial settlement.
In testimony whereof, we have caused the seal of our Surrogates Court to be hereunto affixed.
(L.S.)
Witness Hon. Louis W. Marcus, Surrogate of our said County of Erie, at Buffalo,
N.Y. this 9th day of June, 1905 LOUIS B. HART
Clerk of the Surrogate Court
The account to which this proceeding relates is now on file in the office of the Surrogate and may be examined by any person or corporation interested.

John Callinan, otherwise known as John Calden and John Callanan? This might be the missing link.

The Mary O’Loughlin [sic] mentioned could well be my great-grandmother. As noted earlier, Mary defiantly had bothers named John and James.

In 1860 and 1870, we saw that John wife was named Margaret. Could that be the Margaret mentioned in the notice? From the 1880 Census, I was sure that Margaret, the wife, died before 1880, but perhaps John remarried. However, if this is my man, why was Jeremiah not listed?

The names Catherine, Anna, William are new to me though. Given that hers was the first name listed, my guess was that Catherine might have been John's second wife. Just a guess though.

Armed with these aliases, I took another pass at some of my sources. John CALLANAN was there!

The 1890 Buffalo City Directory shows John CALLANAN residing at 370 Katherine Street, and employed at the King Iron Works. Additionally, the 1900 Census lists John and Katherine CALLANAN at the same Katherine street address. (Apparently reinforcing my earlier guess regarding the “Catherine” mentioned in the above legal notice.) Katherine’s birth date appears to be July 1854; compared to John’s June 1827. The Census records that the couple has been married for sixteen years, which implies they were married around 1884. It appears consistent with a second marriage

The 1900 CALLANAN records also give new insights regarding immigration. John’s entry indicates he arrived in the USA in 1848 (at approximately age 21), and Katherine arrived in 1867.

I still do not know: what became of Katherine/Catherine, Jeremiah, James, or John’s namesake son. Nor have I identified Anna, William or Mary Wallace Callanan. The above legal noticed helped fill in some of the blanks. Still, I am not sure why a judicial settlement would be required. From what I can tell, John was a laborer, who could not read or write, and rented his home. Why would it be difficult to settle his estate? Moreover, the biggest question—why the aliases?

Very interesting, I think.

Black Rock to LA with Great-Uncle John Siener

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about my mother’s, mother’s brother. Today, I introduce my mother’s, father’s brother—John George SIENER.

Similar to the previously mentioned great-uncle, John was an eldest son, who died far from his childhood home, without any offspring. Uncle John’s story, though, is very different from Uncle Frank.

John Siener was born 3 Jun 1884—the first born of George A. SIENER and Mary Ann POTTS.

My great-grandfather George was a Carpenter and Builder. John followed in the family business. The 1900 US Census lists sixteen year-old John G. Siener as “architect apprentice.” Ten years later, the Census describes John as a house architect, working on his own accord. At his 1918 draft registration, Uncle John reports himself employed by the Siener Building Company, of 76 Thompson St. Buffalo, NY.

An interesting artifact of John’s professional history is the above Buffalo Morning Express advertisement. Through the Old Fulton Post Cards cite, I found these ads in several Express 1905 and 1906 issues.

Upon seeing the above advert, my own brother posed an interesting question. Noting the telephone number, he questioned the prevalence of telephones in 1905. Was this common? Is it a sign of prosperity?

The 1918 draft card indicated that John was not married. However, by January 1920, the Census shows that thirty-five year-old John has wed. That same document lists Ida M. Seiner [sic] as John’s wife.

The 1920 Census indicates that Ida was born in New York; as was her mother. Her father was born in Germany. The California Death Index, indicates that Ida Seiner [sic] was born Ida Kaiser, on 29 July 1881. (The 1920 Census indicates that Ida was six years younger than John, but in fact it appears that she was actually three years older than John.) The California Death index also reveals her mother's maiden name—Miller.

The 1920 Census indicated another change too—John had left the Buffalo’s Black Rock neighborhood, and moved “Downtown.” Ida and John were boarders at 1200 Main Street, Buffalo. Although only a few miles from Black Rock, I am convinced that this was a significant move.

Well, I do not know what caused the migration, but (implied by the above California Death Index citation) the move downtown was only the first, minor step. By 1928, John and Ida had moved across the country, to Los Angeles, California.

Interestingly, after moving to California, John does not indicate his profession as “architect.” In the 1930 Census, John is recorded as a contractor. Over the years, in the California voter registration publications, he is variously listed as: contractor; builder; and carpenter. The 1930 Census indicates that John and Ida owned their home, so I guess they were doing OK.

John died 6 May, 1941. Ida passed away 16 March, 1946.

I cannot help but be curious though; I wonder what enticed them to go west.