Hi Steph,
I am very interested in the William B. Carscadden you mentioned, of Durham
County, Ontario. I would especially like to learn more about his return to
Durham County in 1902. You probably noticed some previous discussion about
him in the archives of this mail list. My interest in him is because he has
been confused with William B. Cascadden, son of Alexander Cascadden of Elgin
County, in the American Civil War pension records. To make it easier to
follow this information, I will call these two, William of Durham and
William of Elgin. When I first viewed copies of the pension records, it
appeared it was William of Durham whom served during the Civil War.
However, upon further investigation of the military records for this man,
and his later homestead application, it became apparent the man whom served
in the 5th Michigan was instead William of Elgin. Information from these
files is given below.
In the Military Records for the Civil War, it is shown that William B.
Cascadden enlisted in Company B of the 5th Michigan Infantry on 14 January
1864 in Huron City, Huron County, Michigan. At the time of enlistment
William B. was age 44, a farmer and born in Canada. He signed his name as
William B. Cascaddan. The military records have the typical information on
illnesses, pay and muster rolls, etc. The main piece of information proving
this is William of Elgin, is a hospital card where he gives his age as 55,
and his wife's name as Nancy Ann Cascaddan of Huron City, Huron County,
Michigan. Since either age of 44 or 55 is much too old for William of
Durham and given that William of Elgin was married to Nancy Ann Garrett,
this must be William of Elgin.
The Selected Pension Papers for the veteran William B. Cascadden are a bit
more confusing. I currently only have the Selected Papers (the ones you
receive for $10.00). I have the Non-Selected Papers on order ($55.00) and
perhaps they will reveal more. The applicant for this pension was Maranda
Cascadden, widow, of the Village of Orono, Durham County, Ontario. She
applied for this pension in 1896, stating that William had not been heard
from in 30 years, so it was supposed he was dead. Her application for a
pension was rejected because his death could not be proved.
It appears Maranda, and the rest of his family, believed William joined the
Union Army. Since there apparently was no other Cascadden/Carscadden whom
served in the Civil War from Michigan, they assumed he was the one in the
5th Michigan. I don't know if William of Durham did ever join the Army or
not, but this pension file still provides a great deal of information on his
family. I won't know if Nancy Ann, widow of William of Elgin, applied for a
pension or not until I receive the rest of the pension papers.
Information found within the file of genealogical value:
1. Maranda was age 55 in 1896
2. Maranda Giffon or Giffard or Gifford was married to William B. Carscadden
on 20 July 1860 at Boumanville, Canada by Rev. W. W. McFadden.
3. William B. Carscadden was in the State of Michigan in the fall of 1863,
at which time he told a friend he planned to enlist in the Northern Army.
4. On 22 October 1890, Mary Robbins, age 69, a resident of Durham County,
Ontario gave an affidavit stating that she was the mother of William B.
Carscadden, by her first husband Thomas Carscadden. She had one or more
letters from him, which were read to her by her son George Carscadden, and
in one of them he wrote that he was wounded in the back by a splinter off a
shell. Also she received a tin type photo from him in his military clothes.
She had not heard from him since the time he was in the army.
5. William and Mary had a son named Benson Gifford Cascadden, born 4 October
1863 in the Township of Clark, County of Durham, Canada West.
Here is some more information on William of Elgin, he was a brother to my
ancestor Elizabeth Cascadden:
1. WILLIAM B.1 CASCADDEN, son of Alexander Cascadden and Nancy
Bale/Bayles/Beal, was born circa 1810 in Upper Canada. William Caskadden was
married to Nancy Ann Garrett, daughter of Benjamin Garrett and Frances
(--?--), on 30 January 1834 in the London District, Upper Canada, after
publication of Banns, by Rev. John Flanigan, minister of the Canadian
Wesleyan Methodist Church. He died on 25 January 1879 in McGregor, Essex
County, Ontario.
William B. Cascadden enlisted on 14 January 1864 in Huron City, Huron
County, Michigan, for the period of three years, to serve as a soldier in
the Army of the United States of America, unless sooner discharged. He was
described as having blue eyes, brown hair (although later called black), a
light complexion and was 5 feet 8 inches. He was mustered into service with
Company B of the 5th Michigan Infantry on 18 January 1864 in Corunna,
Shiawasse County, Michigan, as a private.
William B. Cascaddan was admitted to Emory General Hospital on 7 May
1865 with chronic rheumatism. He had been absent - sick from his company
since May 1st, apparently at City Point Hospital. He was transferred to
Chester General Hospital in Pennsylvania on 13 May 1865. He was mustered
out of service on 21 June 1865 while in Chester General Hospital in
pursuance to telegraph orders from the War Department. The rest of the
regiment was mustered out in Jeffersonville, Indiana. William was last paid
to 31 December 1864, and thus had almost six months of pay due to him. He
was also due $8.24 for clothing. Only $140 of his bounty had been paid,
with $160 remaining.
On 6 November 1868 in Port Austin, Huron County, Michigan, William B.
Cascadden filed an affidavit with his homestead application stating he had
"declared my intention to become a citizen, and am the head of a family,
that I was a Soldier in the Federal army during the late rebellion." He
also declared the homestead was for actual settlement and cultivation and
was not for the use of any other person, and that he had not had the benefit
of this Act previously. William B. Cascaddan filed a homestead application
for the East 1/2 of the South West 1/4 and the West 1/2 of the South East
1/4 of Section 28 in Township 17 North of Range 14 East, containing 160
acres in Huron County, Michigan, on 10 November 1868. He settled on his
homestead in Huron County, Michigan, on 6 November 1869 and built a house
thereon measuring 18 feet by 22 feet, 1 1/2 stories high, with two doors,
four windows, a board floor and a shingle roof. He had lived exclusively in
this house from the date of settlement and had plowed, fenced and cultivated
about 12 acres of land. He also had three acres ready for logging, built a
hay barn of 26 feet by 20 feet, set out about 25 fruit trees and dug a well.
William B. Cascadden did not appear on the 1870 U.S. Census in Huron
County, Michigan, although based upon his homestead papers, he should have
been living there. He filed his final affidavit for the homestead on 21
September 1874 in which he stated he was a citizen of the United States and
had resided upon the land since 10 November 1868 (a year earlier that stated
by his witnesses).
On 14 January 1875, William B. Cascaddan of the Township of Bloomfield
in the County of Huron and State of Michigan, sold a parcel of land in
Bloomfield Township, Huron County, Michigan, containing 80 acres, to Rollin
B. Hubbard, Watson Hubbard and Langdon Hubbard, for the consideration of one
dollar. The land consisted of the North East quarter of the South West
quarter and the North West quarter of the South East quarter of Section
Number 28 in Township Number 17 North of Range Number 14 East. This was one
half of the land William was to receive the patent for on 5 February 1875,
still two weeks away from the time of this sale. Of course he had filed the
final papers the previous September, so he was apparently just waiting for
the patent to arrive.
On 5 February 1875, William B. Cascaddan obtained a patent for 160
acres of land, in Huron County, Michigan, after obtaining a certificate from
the Land Office at Detroit, Michigan. The land was the east half of the
south-west quarter, and the west half of the south-east quarter of section
28, in Township 17 North of Range 14 East, and part of Bloomfield Township.
On 21 April 1875, William B. Cascaddan of Bloomfield, Huron County,
Michigan, sold a parcel of land in Bloomfield Township, Huron County,
Michigan, containing eighty acres, to Benjamin Cascaddan of Bayham, Ontario,
for the consideration of $200. The land was described as the South East
quarter of the South West quarter and the South West quarter of the South
East quarter of Section 28, Township 17 North of Range 14 East. This was one
half of the land William had patented in February.
W. B. Cascaddan witnessed, in Oxford County Ontario, the land sale of
his son, Benjamin Cascadden on 6 August 1875, for land located in Bloomfield
Township, Huron County, Michigan. This was one half of the land William had
patented in February, and had sold to Benjamin in April.
Langdon Hubbard, whom purchased William's 160 acres for a total of
$2.00, was a very wealthy lumber manufacturer in Huron County. In the 1870
census he was shown with $300,000 of real estate and $200,000 of personal
estate. Certainly the 160 acres was worth much more than $2.00, so we must
wonder what else the Cascaddens received in compensation for this land. Did
Mr. Hubbard pay off a debt or mortgage of theirs, did he pay them money
"under the table"? Unfortunately the deeds do not give us any clues, but we
must question why son Benjamin would pay William $200 for 80 acres, but then
sell this same 80 acres to Mr. Hubbard for only $1.00 a few months later.
It is of some interest that the Hubbards were living in the Township of
Huron for the 1870 census, the same town as William and Maria McClintock,
sister and brother-in-law of William Cascadden. Although this probably had
no effect on these land sales.
His obituary appeared on 7 February 1879, CASCADDEN - At McGregor
village on Saturday, January 25th, Wm. Cascadden, formerly of Malahide, aged
71 years. The deceased was a first cousin of the late David and Alex.
Cascadden, Gosfield, and at the time of his death was on a visit to his son,
who resides at McGregor. The son he was visiting was most likely Martin,
whom was still in Colchester Township for the 1881 census.
NANCY ANN GARRETT was born circa 1815 in Lower Canada (now Quebec). As
of 7 May 1865, the address of Nancy Ann Cascaddan, wife of Private William
B. Cascaddan, was given as Huron City, Huron County, Michigan. Nancy A.
Cascaddan appeared in the 1871 Canadian Census with her son, Alexander
Cascadden, as the head of household, in Bayham Township, Elgin County,
Ontario, on 17 April 1871. She is listed as married, but William is not in
the household. Nancy A. Cascadden appeared in the 1881 Canadian Census with
her son, Alexander Cascadden, as the head of household, in Bayham Township,
Elgin County, Ontario, on 11 April 1881. Nancy A. Caskadin appeared in the
1891 Canadian Census with her son, Alexander Cascadden, as the head of
household, in Bayham Township, Elgin County, Ontario, on 27 May 1891. She
died on 22 January 1899 in Richmond, Elgin County, Ontario, of old age, she
had been failing for some years. She was buried on 24 January 1899 in the
Richmond (West) Cemetery, Bayham Township, Elgin County, Ontario. She shares
a stone with her children, Alexander Cascadden and Elizabeth M. Garner. Her
obituary appeared on 26 January 1899, RICHMOND; The death of Mrs. Nancy
Cascadden, wife of the late Wm. Cascadden, occurred at her residence here on
Sunday morning last after a prolonged illness. The remains were interred in
the Richmond cemetery on Tuesday afternoon. Her gravestone in the Richmond
(West) Cemetery reads, Nancy A. / Wife of / William B. / Cascaddan / Died /
Jan. 22, 1899 / In Her 84th Year.
Children of William B.1 Cascadden and Nancy Ann Garrett were as
follows:
i. BENJAMIN2 CASCADDEN was born in 1834 in Upper Canada (now
Ontario). He was married to Elizabeth Jane McKenney, daughter of Daniel
McKenney and Jerusha Holmes, say 1860. He died in 1912. He was buried in the
Firby Cemetery, Bayham Township, Elgin County, Ontario.
ii. FRANCES CASCADDEN was born circa 1836 in Upper Canada (now
Ontario). She was married by license to Christopher Fickle on 14 March 1857
in Elgin County, Canada West (now Ontario), by Samuel Baker, minister of
Regular Baptist Church in South Dorchester.
iii. ALEXANDER CASCADDEN was born circa 1838 in Middlesex (now Elgin)
County, Upper Canada (now Ontario). He died on 9 February 1903 in Bayham
Township, Elgin County, Ontario, of phthisis (tuberculosis) pulmonalis that
he had for years. He was buried in the Richmond (West) Cemetery, Bayham
Township, Elgin County, Ontario.
iv. MARY ANN CASCADDEN was born circa 1840 in Canada. She was married
by license to David Clow on 10 October 1857 at the residence of her sister,
Richmond, Elgin County, Canada West (now Ontario), by Rev. Brinton P. Brown,
Wesleyan minister. Witnesses were Thomas Clow and Jane Cascadden. They were
most likely married at the home of Christopher and Frances (Cascadden)
Fickle.
v. WILLIAM EDWARD CASCADDEN was born circa 1843 in Canada West (now
Ontario). He was married by license to Sarah Jane Crane, daughter of Samuel
Crane and Elizabeth Pearson, on 2 July 1871 in Malahide Township, Elgin
County, Ontario, by William Ames. He was married secondly to Jane Colbeck
circa 1884. He died on 28 June 1917. He was buried in the St. Thomas West
Avenue Cemetery, St. Thomas, Elgin County, Ontario.
vi. NANCY MARIA CASCADDEN was born circa 1845 in Malahide Township,
Elgin County, Canada West (now Ontario). She died on 17 December 1905 in
London Township, Middlesex County, Ontario, of phthisis (tuberculosis).
vii. JANE CASCADDEN was born circa 1848 in Bayham Township, Middlesex
(now Elgin) County, Canada West (now Ontario). She was married to Frederick
A. Best, son of Frederick Best and Elizabeth Strawbridge, on 28 June 1868 in
Elgin County, Ontario, by Ransom Dexter of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Witnesses were Jane's cousin and her husband, Nancy Ann (Mann) Hendershot
and Lorenzo Hendershot, of Malahide.
viii. MARTIN CASCADDEN was born circa 1850 in Canada West (now Ontario)
(age 21 in the 1871 census, and age 30 in the 1881 census). He was married
to Mary Quick say 1871.
ix. ELIZABETH M. CASCADDEN was born circa 1852 in Canada West (now
Ontario). She was married to E. Garner after 2 April 1871. She died on 8
August 1891 in Fort Erie, Welland County, Ontario, from heart disease. She
was buried in the Richmond (West) Cemetery, Bayham Township, Elgin County,
Ontario.
x. RUTH ANN CASCADDEN was born circa 1856 in Canada West (now Ontario).