Family of Albert Calhoun and Susan Amelia Griffing

We have previously written a short history for Susan Amelia Griffing/Griffin Calhoun the daughter of Harry Allen Griffin and his 2nd wife Ursula Dickinson Wright. Susan’s only connection to her parents if found in her death record found in the Madison town records. She is listed as being age 68 on her death on April 8, 1893. The record lists her father as Harry Griffing. While the extended Griffin family uses the, Griffin, spelling, the Griffing, spelling was used in Madison. Most references to Susan use the, Griffing, spelling. As we have pursued other research projects in Connecticut we have gradually accumulated a collection of documents relating to her children. The documents shed light on family names and marriages. We have also documented the existence of another child born in the family. The marriage of Susan Amelia Griffing, of Madison, to Albert Calhoun, of Killingworth, is recorded in the Madison town records dated February 1, 1846. The defining document for the family is the 1860 census taken in Clinton, Connecticut. It lists as head of the house Albert Calhoun age 36. Susan is listed as age 37. Also listed are their children Catherine age 13, Jane age 10, Elisha age 9, Alfred age 6, Fanny age 4 and Franklin age 2. _________ A word about the Hale Collection. The collection represents the lifetime work of Charles R. Hale. Mr. Hale started his collection in 1916. To honor his father he started to document the cemetery records for Civil War Veterans. His work attracted the attention of the Connecticut State Library. With their sponsorship he devoted much of his life to collecting cemetery inscription and obituary notices. The Hale collection is a corner stone for anyone researching Connecticut history. Its true value is that it contains information found in no other sources. Many of his lists of cemetery inscriptions represent the only remaining sources for that information. The originals have been lost. As with many transcriptions the Hale Collection is troubled with errors. _____________ As part of the Civil War Collection for Clinton the Hale Collection lists the death of Alfred Calhoun “Albert Calhoun, d. Jan __ 1863, ae 38, in the Army”. The nature of the collection would indicate that somewhere in Clinton is a Civil War headstone for Albert however its actual location has been lost to us. The US, Registry of Deaths of Volunteers records his death on January 9, 1863 in Falmouth, Virginia. The cause of death is listed as chronic diarrhea. Albert joined Company G of the 15 Infantry regiment July 21, 1862. The history of the regiment lists the compensation given to the enlistees. They were to be paid $12.00 per month. In addition they were paid a state bounty of $50.00 and a US bounty of $27.00 on enlistment. For married men such as Albert their wife received an additional $72.00 per year. If a soldier had more than 2 children at home he received an additional $48.00 per year. Albert had left 7 children at home. The unit spent the first part of their enlistment as part of the defenses of Washington. In December of 1862 they were part of the command of General Burnside at the Battle of Fredericksburg. At Fredericksburg they under the units commanded by Col. Harland. Numbered in this same command were Ellis and Emerson Stevens, Susan’s cousins. We previously wrote of their involvement at the battle of Antietam. By the next January Albert was dead. In the Civil War Pension Records under the name of Albert Calhoun we find a claim filed by S. A. Bradley on December 22, 1869. By 1869 Susan Amelia Calhoun had married William J. Bradley. ____________ The 1870 census finds the family living in Essex, Connecticut. The census lists Bradley William J. age 34 and Susan A. age 42. It then lists under the last name of Calhoun, Alfred age 13, Fanny age 12, Frank age 11 and Albert age 9. It also lists Bradley Susan age 2. Gone from the list are Catherine, Jane and Elisha. Added to the family list is Albert born after the 1860 census. The inconsistency in the census dates has raised some questions. In the 1880 census, taken in Guilford, in the household of William Bradley Susan is listed as age 55. The birth record for her daughter Fanny in 1856 lists Susan Griffing Calhoun’s age at 32. Albert is listed as age 31. The date on the 1870 census was obviously recorded incorrectly. _____________We have not been able to identify Albert Calhoun’s parents. What we do know is that he met and married Susan Amelia Griffing in Madison. Clinton and Madison are on opposite banks of the Hammonasset River. The ancestral family home for the Griffin’s was in Clinton and there was still a large Griffin presence there. From our collection of family records the indications are that most of the children were born in Clinton. The first child, Catherine was born in 1847. It is hard to understand why Albert would leave behind a wife and 7 children to join the war effort. From our collection of letters from the Stevens family ( Mercy Griffin) we know that collecting bonus money for enlisting or reenlisting was important to family finances. Ellis and Emerson Stevens helped support their father by reenlisting. But off to the war he went only to die unceremoniously in a regimental hospital of diarrhea. By probably 1867 Susan had married the much younger William Bradley. The 1870 census finds the family in nearby Essex. William Bradley is listed as a member of the 1st Congregational Society of Essex in 1868. Susan joined the congregation on her, Profession of Faith, May 7, 1871. By the time of the 1880 census the family has moved to Guilford. The Guilford records contain baptismal records for children belonging to Jane, Elisha, Alfred and Franklin. Subsequent to 1880 the family spread out among the surrounding towns of New Haven and Madison. Susan and William Bradley are buried in Hammonasset Cemetery in Madison. “Susan A. Bradley_ wife of W.J. Apr 8, 1893, age 68 yrs”. William J. Bradley (CoF., 12th C.V.I.) died Aug 28, 1916. The 1900 census lists his date of birth in February of 1834. In 1895 he remarried taking a lady named Mary as his wife. ______________ The only record we have for Catherine is the 1860 census were she is listed as age 13. Her parent’s married in February of 1846 she was apparently born in 1847. By the time of the 1870 census she had left the household. Her sister Jane married in Essex but there are no records for Catherine in either Clinton or Essex. ______________ Jane E. Calhoun, named after her mother’s sister, was listed as age 10 in the 1860 census. In the Essex town records we find a record of her marriage. “ October 23, 1868, Alexander Ingraham to Jane E. Calhoun, ages 25/18. There residence listed as Ottawa County, Ohio and Essex, Connecticut. Their current residence, Middle Haddam, Congregationalist”. Alexander and Jane were very active in the Congregational congregations in each town they lived in. Jane and Alexander lived for a short time in East Hampton and Bristol Connecticut. Their first child Stanley was born in Bristol. Their second child, Lester, was born in Ohio near his Ingraham grandparents. Samuel, as noted in the 1880 census, was born in Indiana. There are some indications that Alexander worked for the railroads, which must have taken him there. By the 1880’s they were living near her parents and siblings in Guilford. The 1880 census lists them as living next door to her parents. The 1900 census lists her date of birth as February 1850. The census also notes that she was the mother of eight children. Jane and Alexander are buried in the Alderbrook Cemetery in Guilford. The Hale collection included the dates 1850 to 1910. The Hale collection for Alexander lists his date of birth as 1843 noting that he was a Civil War veteran. In the 1920’s we find him living in a veterans home in California. His nearest relative listed as his son Samuel then living in Oregon. _____________ Elisha A. Calhoun the 1900 census lists a date of birth March 1851. The 1930 census, the last record of him, has him living as a border age 78 in Madison. In 1870 while the rest of the family is living in Essex the census lists the 18-year-old Elisha living as a border in Madison working as a farm laborer. In the Guilford town records we find a record for his marriage dated January 4, 1881, “Elisha A Calhoun and Almira Stephens, 28/21. Clinton, Conn. / Guilford, Conn.” In other town and church records Almira is referred to as Almira “Stevens”. A stillborn daughter was born September 11, 1881. The couple later adopted a son listed as Albert P Calhoun in the census records baptized as Albert Griffin Calhoun in the Guilford 1st Congregational Society. From 1910 onward Elisha and Almira seem to be living separate lives. We do not have a death date or burial record for Elisha. Almira died December 14, 1917. ____________ George Alfred Calhoun, in the 1860 Clinton census he is listed as Alfred age 6. George referred to himself as Alfred as a younger man and George A. as he got older. In the Madison town records we find his marriage to Lucy M. Bailey. The record is dated September 28, 1883, George A. Calhoun and Lucy M Bailey ages 28/20 he from Clinton her from Madison. In the birth records for his children he is listed in some as Alfred in others as Geo. A. or George. The 1900 census lists his date of birth as October of 1855 Lucy’s as September 1863. The census also notes they were the parents of 3 children. The couple is buried in the Hammonasset Cemetery next to his mother. The inscriptions read, “Calhoun George A., born 1855, died 1933. Calhoun Lucy M., born 1863, died 1933. ______________ Fanny M. Calhoun listed as age 4 in the 1860 Clinton census. Her birth is recorded in the Madison town records on May 17, 1856, “Fanny M. Calhoun / F / Albert Calhoun 31, Laborer, Susan Griffing Calhoun 32 / temporary Madison”. Fanny is part of the household of William J. Bradley in the 1870 Essex census. We have not discovered any other records for Fanny. _______________ Franklin Pierce Calhoun is listed as Franklin age 2 in the 1860 census. In the 1870 Essex census he is listed as Frank age 11. Franklin’s posterity has been very active in recording his family history. From their collection we find his date of birth March 9, 1859. We find a marriage record in the Madison town records dated October 11, 1882 for Franklin P. Calhoun and Alice R. Spencer. The record lists their ages as 22/18. It lists his place of birth as Clinton and hers as Madison. The reverend W. J. Marwick records their marriage “Married at my residence”. The date is October 11, 1882 Franklin P. Calhoun and Alice R. Spencer of Clinton and Madison respectively. In the birth record for their son Albert Franklin, recorded in Wallingford, we find listed his full name, Franklin Pierce Calhoun of Clinton Ct. age 40. The 1900 census notes that he was the father of 4 children 3 still living, Florence Estella, Ether M, and Albert Franklin. The 3rd child born into the family was an unnamed son born January 8, 1893. The records would seem to indicate a stillborn child. Franklin is buried in the Alderbrook cemetery in Guilford near his sister Jane Ingraham. The Hale Collection records, Frank P., born 1859, died 1919 and Calhoun, Alice R., wife of Frank, born 1863, died 1930. ____________ Albert Calhoun. We have documented a number of times on the Blog the practice of naming a child after another child who had died at a young age. In the Calhoun family we have two sons named Albert. In the Clinton town records we find a birth notice under the year 1860, “Feb 25 / the name was left blank / Male / Albert and Susan A. Cahoon”. The Clinton town clerks misspelled Calhoun as Cahoon. In the death records for the year 1860, “March 18 / son of Albert Cahoon / M / age 28 da”. In the Hale collection of cemetery inscriptions listed after his father Albert we find “Cahoon, Albert, his child, d. Feb 12, 1860 ae 2”. While the Hale transcription has the dates wrong it gives us the name of the child Albert. _______________ William Albert Calhoun is the Albert Calhoun listed in the 1870 Essex census under the household of William J. Bradley and his mother Susan, age 9. In the Clinton town record for the year 1861 we find the record for his birth. Born March 7 a male child to Albert and Susan A. Cahoon ages 26 and 27. In the Clinton death records for the year 1877 we find the record of his death. The date was September 15. William A. (Albert) Calhoun a 15-year-old male. The record notes that he was born in Clinton but was living in Madison working as a farmer. It notes the cause of death as typhoid fever. His parents are listed as W. J. and Susan Bradley. The Hale Collection lists him next to his father and older brother of the same name, “Cahoon Albert, his s., Sep 15, 1877, ae 15”. It is my guess that his death was registered in Clinton because he was to be buried there next to his fathers Civil War marker. _______________ Susan Bradley was born in Essex February 4, 1868. The record notes the birth of a female child last name Bradley. The parents are listed as William J. Bradley and Susan A. Bradley. She is in the 1870 Essex census Susan Bradley age 2. The last record we have of Susan is the 1880 Guilford census, which lists her as age 12.______Susan Amelia Griffing / Harry Allen Griffin / Edward / James / Samuel Griffin Killingworth, Connecticut