Rufus Langdon’s Neighbor 1875 (Above)
Illustration is of Mr. Clark Walker’s house in 1875. View is looking south on County Hwy. X. Rufus and his family lived about 1/4 of a mile away to the right. He died 2 years after this book was published. In his obituary the family called for Mr. Clark Walker but a few rods distant.
• Here’s an image of his 1850 neighbor’s home, Lyman Austin.
Rufus Langdon Timeline •••••••••••••••••••••
1827 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
24 Feb 1827 Rufus is born in Pennsylvania.
The name of his mother is unknown.
SPECULATION:
His mother may have died giving birth. Almost two years later Gideon has a second child who was described as a half brother. It seems every time a wife dies, Gideon moves away and gets remarried as soon as possible. Also, place of birth might be more specific. Sugar Grove, Warren Co., PA. I have no documentation to back this up.
1828 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Family moves to Hartford Township, Trumbull, Ohio.
His father Gideon shows up in the 1828 and 1829 Ohio Tax Records, and is living there in the 1830 Census. In early 1828 he must have married a woman named Betsy (Betsey).
His half brother Abram G. is born Dec 1828 in Hartford Township, Trumbull, Ohio.
SPECULATION:
Confusing record. Gideon is listed as head of household, but is not included in the tally. Was he away from home traveling when the census taker came? There are four people listed in the household.
1 Male under 5 (Rufus Jr.)
1 Female under 5 (A sister?)
1 Female age 20 thru 29 (Wife?)
1 Female age 40 thru 49 (Maybe a visiting relative? Could the young girl belong to her?)
Gideon was age 35 at this time.
1831 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Family moves to Indiana.
Brother Ansel is born 26 Jul 1831 in LaGrange County, Indiana.
1832 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Father Gideon is the first settler of Stueben County, Indiana.
1836 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
They are living in Beloit, Wisconsin.
1840 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Age 13. He is living near the town of Darien, Wisconsin.
1840 US Federal Census.
LINK
Catherine Stickle's family moves to New York from Canada. They make their way to Wisconsin and settle next door to Gideon in Walworth Co.
1843 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Age 16. Rufus moves north to the Green Lake area and buys land. He is listed as the second settler of the area.
1848 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Age 21 he marries 20 year old Catherine STICKLE
1 May 1848 he buys 40 acres in Mackford, Marquette Co., Wisconsin.
1850 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Age 23 he is living in Mackford, Marquette Co., Wisconsin
1855 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Age 28 he is living in Mackford, Marquette Co., Wisconsin
1860 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Age 33 he is living in Mackford, Green Lake Co., Wisconsin
NOTE:
Counties were constantly being redrawn during this period in time. Green Lake County was newly formed.
1863 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
1 July 1863 age 36 he is registered for the Civil War draft.
1874 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
23 April 1874 daughter Esther passes away at the age of 9 at his home in Manchester. Obit says she died April 18, but her tombstone reads April 23. Aged 9 years, 2 months and 24 days.
1877 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
8 April 1877 he passes away at the age of 50 at his home in Manchester, Green Lake Co., Wisconsin
Princeton Republic paper - obit Rufus Langdon
Jesse Langdon Letter ••••••••••••••••••••••••
• 1974 letter from Jesse Langdon (son of Erwin) outlining his family history.
SPECULATION:
One of the interesting things in Jesse’s letter is that Rufus was a half brother to both Ansel and Abram G. This would mean that Gideon had at least 5 wives. I’ve assumed Rufus II was the son of the same mother as Ansel and Abram G., but Jesse - the son of Erwin - says different. Some of the facts are wrong, but I don’t see any reason to doubt the half brother remark. It seems to have been common knowledge.
Rufus Probate ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Link to show who was available for the Civil War if needed and his Probate record.
• Rufus (Younger) Civil War Draft (Document) LINK
• Rufus (Younger) Probate (36 pages) 7.6MB pdf file LINK
Who Was Mariah Langdon? •••••••••••••••
The land next to Rufus Younger was owned by Mariah Langdon. Simple enough right? No. Who was she? We have 3 candidates:
1. She could be the wife of John Langdon, who set up a Mill in what is now the town of Portage. She’s mentioned in the book below as living in the area. Was she a relative? If so it opens up a whole new slew of relatives.
A traveling 1840's minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church travels across central Wisconsin and stops in with the Langdons. He stays with Maria Langdon of Lake Maria, and then later stops by their new home in Portage, where thy have set up a lumber mill.
Click Image for link.
2. Gideon’s third wife Maria is identified as Mariah in 1844, but the land purchase takes place in Walworth County.
• 10 June 1844 Gideon and his wife “Mariah” buy land in
Walworth County. Here’s an image of the top. LINK
NOTE:
Even taking into account the creation of new counties in Wisconsin at the time, Gideon and Maria never lived in Dodge County.
3. Mary Louisa Andrews (Wife of neighbor Almon Andrews). She is probably a sister of Gideon, but evidence is only circumstantial.
SPECULATION:
I’m sure Gideon had at least one sister, but the problem I have with this is that she would have been referred to as Mrs. Andrews.
So Who Was She? ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
No clue. But....
• She was from Dodge County
• She made a cash payment for the land.
• She bought it 14 August 1845. (It wasn’t recorded until May 1848)
• Here are the original documents. LINK
SPECULATION:
My speculation is that the first woman listed is our best candidate. BUT. There seems to be a lot of information about this line of people, and NONE of it seems to tie into our line. If they were relatives it seems like there would be interaction or mention of them somewhere.
Added July 2013 • Langdons in Indiana •••••
July 1920 in LaPorte County, Indiana. Interesting Lawsuit that names most of the Langdons we are looking at. Could Rufus and Sarah Langdon be Rufus “Elder” and his wife? Gideon’s brothers Abraham and Hiram both owned land in LaPorte county. Rufus Elder lived with Hiram for awhile in this area. The lawsuit involves Section 13 of the township “Cool Springs”. Abram (Abraham), Gideon’s brother, was the first person to purchase this property. He’s listed in the Government’s Land Bureau records. Abraham’s wife in this lawsuit is listed as Marie. Could she be the Maria that lived next to Rufus younger? Need to look at the court records and find out where they got these names.
This is a screenshot of a Bing Bird’s Eye View map. It shows where Rufus died, where he was buried and where Catherine’s parents are buried. There’s a great PDF with photos of most of these locations on the Rufus Elder page. LINK
Langdon Children c. 1872 •••••
Alice, Erwin, Esther, Herbert and baby Oscar. Oscar was born 21 Jun 1871, so the photo may date to late 1871. Mary was married to Newton Dodge Clark Feb. 22, 1872. I wonder if all of these photos were taken at that time?
Click Image for a larger view
Rufus Langdon (Younger) Obits 1877 ••••
April 14, 1877 edition of the “Princeton” Green Lake County, WI
Transcription of text in document
N.D. Clark and Geo. Barter, of Markesan were in Princeton, on Thursday and called at the Republic office. We were sorry to learn of Mr. Clark the death, on last Saturday night, of his father-in-law, Mr. Rufus Langdon, of Manchester. Mr. Langdon was as well as usual 'til Saturday, just at night, when he complained of being ill. He laid down and soon fell asleep, waking at about 9 in the evening, feeling better. Still he felt that he was not quite well, and drank a cup of ginger tea, after which he felt better for a short time and again slept. At about 12, midnight, he was taken worse, and, at the solicitation of his wife, concluded to have the doctor sent for. He got up and sat in a chair and concluded to try some more of the tea, but when his wife came with it, she found him with arms fallen loosely by his side and his head thrown back and beyond the power of speech. The various members of the family were summoned, and one sent for Mr. Clark Walker, but a few rods distant, but he failed to rally again and was dead in a few minutes. Mr. Langdon was aged 50 years, 1 month, and 12 days, and had lived many years in the neighborhood, esteemed by all. He leaves a wife and family and many friends to mourn his sudden and unexpected demise. The family and friends have the sympathy of the community.
• Son Erwin Langdon later writes that his father died of a “Burst Appendix”.
April 13, 1877 edition of the “Lively Times” Randolph, WI
Click Image for a larger view
Rufus (Jr.) Probate Notice
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Small error. Year for probate is 1876, but the notice is April 1877. It ran 3 times, but was never corrected.
Langdon Barn Burns Down 1878 •••••••••
There are several articles in the previous week's paper as well as this one about lightning causing several fires in the area and even killing a young boy as he sat next to his father.
• Oct 24, 1878 edition of the "Princeton Republic" blames the fire on “carelessness of boys who were smoking around and in it.”
Click Image for a larger view
• Oct 31, 1878 edition of the "Princeton Republic" blames the fire on “spontaneous combustion.”
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• Dec 26, 1878 edition of the "Princeton Republic" shows the community helping Catherine raise a new barn.
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From the Diary and ledger of Owen Prichard, a Welsh farmer in the Town of Manchester. On Page 3, Dec 19, 1878 he writes:
• Raising Mrs. Langdon’s Barn.
They must have raised it just in time. His next two entries are:
• Coldest day to date 10 above zero
• Coldest day to date 15 below zero
LINK to image of upper half of pages 2 and 3.
Wisconsin Historical Society; Author/Creator: Prichard, Owen, 1844-1930.
Title: Papers, 1878-1926.; Summary: Diary and ledger of Owen, a Welsh farmer in the Town of Manchester, Green Lake County, Wisconsin, including comments on the weather, crops, and social activities, a list of deaths in the area, and records of accounts payable and receivable.; Location: Oshkosh Area Research Center; Call Number: Oshkosh SC 31
Ferdinand ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
1880 Census
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The image above shows Catherine 3 years after Rufus’ death living in Wisconsin with sons Oscar, Herbert and daughter Alice. They also have a 15 year old male living with them who is listed as Farm Laborer. His name is Ferdinand Haas.
Ferdinand Haas Buried in Markesan
This looks like him. According to the above census he would have been born abt 1865. He named one of his sons Erwin. Here’s a link to him in Find-A-Grave:
Here’s his obit in the “Markesan Herald”.
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Here’s his obit in the “Waupun Leader-News”.
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His two sons died in 1906. The first died in January and the second died almost a year later in December. Scarlett fever and diptheria were raging in the area.
Here’s a link to an aticle from 4 Jan, 1912. LINK
His first wife passed in 1918. It looks like he married again after her death.
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Catherine Langdon’s Horrible Year
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• Her son Oscar Langdon falls off a horse. Article is from the July 28, 1881 "Green Lake Democrat".
Later in life he is described as loving horses.
Click Image for a larger view
• Same date as the above article, the "Princeton Republic" claims son Erwin Langdon was kicked by a horse and provides gruesome new details. “As we hear, his forehead was so fractured that the brain oozed out.”
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• Quit Claim deed from Feb. 10, 1882. It shows Catherine selling land to daughter Mary E. Clark (residence Green Lake, Wisconsin).
• Here’s Catherine in the Clear Lake, Deuel CO., SD - 1888 Methodist Church Records. LINK
Relatives? Don’t know ••••••••••••••••••••••••
Langdons January 30 1851
Not sure who these people are, but they seem to show up next door a lot. This is the Langdons mentioned in the links below who founded Cambria and ran a Mill. When I was looking for Rufus (Elder) death I ran across this in the January 30, 1851 edition of “The River Times” from Portage, Wisconsin. The interesting thing is that some of the property being sold is in Randolph. Abraham and Rufus lived there at the same time. Are these relatives?
Gideon was married to a Maria COOK Langdon (Sarah Jane’s mother), but she died young so she’s not the Maria Langdon living next to Rufus in the land plat at the top of the page. The book below “Thirty years in the Itinerancy”, states that the Maria Langdon he visited had moved to Portage and started a Mill. Samuel Langdon would be her husband. We have several records of Rufus (Elder and Younger) owning and selling Maria’s sections of land. It seems to be family.
There is an extensive history of this group in the Wisconsin Historical Society, but it doesn’t mention any of the Langdons we’re looking at. I’ll have take a closer look at it on my next trip.
“Early settlers of Columbia County, Wis. : Roberts, Barker, Langdon, McElroy” by Monna Dalton Aldrich.
The pamphlet is only available at the Wisconsin Historical Society. LINK
A traveling 1840's minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church travels across central Wisconsin and stops in with the Langdons. Not sure if these are related. He stays with Maria Langdon of Lake Maria, and then later stops by their new home in Portage, where thy have set up a lumber mill.
Click Image for link.
You can read more about them here:
LINK • The history of Columbia County, Wisconsin
