I apologize if it double posts. Miracle will be if actual text appears. It
occurred to me to try plain text.
No wonder noone is answering my post; it took half a day to post and then
appeared as a blank post, even though I’m reposting from my sent mail
folder – with editing.
On the Castle list I saw that there are people with a lot of knowledge of
varied Castle families of Ashtabula County, Ohio.
I am trying to trace the ancestry of Franklin Castle, born 1875, Shreveport,
Caddo, Louisiana, was dead or gone by the 1920 census, when his widow and
two sons lived alone. He married Bertha Alpharetta "Bertha Alfa" Wright,
about 1900. She was born 1874 in Tuscumbia, Miller, Missouri, and died 25
Aug 1954 in St. Louis, Missouri.
The source on his name and where he was born is the 1910 census, and his son
Stanley's death certificate. These are the only documents I've seen where he
appears at all.
Franklin Castle only ever appears in the 1910 census, as "Charles", but it's
clearly the same family. They live in Little Rock, Arkansas. It says he was
born in Arkansas, alone of his family.
By 1920 he is dead or ran off. Bertha and her two sons, now painters, live
in St. Louis, Missouri.
Supposing it was Franklin, I can't find him in the 1880 census, nor any
other Castle in Caddo County, Louisiana. However, in 1870, there is a
Franklin Castle born about 1848 in Ohio, with a female, whose name cannot be
made out and was interpreted by Ancestry's indexers as Walter, 5 years
younger than Franklin and born in Tennessee. Maybe Waller, Hatter or Haller.
His occupation is listed as "U.S. Soldier", and the next person on the sheet
is also a "U.S. Soldier".
The military records at Ancestry show that one Franklin Castle from Ohio,
enlisted to fight in the Civil War in 1863, and then enlisted again about
1869.
Since he was 22 in 1870, he should have been 12 in 1860 and 2 in 1858. Here
is what I find for Franklin Castle born in Ohio in that time frame.
In 1860, there were two of them. One was born in the Kingdom of Saxony and
lives with his parents, and has a brother Frederick. The other was in
Geneva, Ashtabula, Ohio. It is necessary to read the census image itself
because the transcription at Ancestry is badly garbled. He lived in the
house of Joseph Bnitt, Smitt, Birth or Birtt, age 33, who had real estate
worth $4665 and $250, his wife Eliza, 21, and their son Hot, Cot or Hat, age
2; Frank Castle was 13. There is another family adjacent headed by Joseph
Birth age 33.
In 1850 3 year old Franklin Castle is found in Geneva, Ashtabula County,
with 25 year old Lydia P Bogrand, who was born in New York, and had real
estate worth $5000. It isn't clear if she's his mother or another relative,
though she appears to be a young widow with her husband's property.
This Franklin Castle born 1948 may have had a later family. someone with
that name lived in Police Jury Ward 4, Bossier, Louisiana, was a farmer,
married Alpha Delora Murphy, and had a large family.
Someone at Familysearch assumes that the second family DOES have the same
father, though the evidence they cite includes no direct evidence it was the
same person.
Specifically this theory rests on the notion that this is Frank N Castle,
who was born in 1843 and died 6 Aug 1927 at Plain Dealing, Bossier parish/
County, Louisiana. That person married Alpha Delora Murphy and had atleast
6 children. The only evidenc presented that that person was born in 1843
and had the middle initial N is the entry for him at Findagrave, which
includes a photo of his gravestone that gives his name as Franlin N Castle
and his full date of birth and date of death. Nothing specifically
associates him with his civil war record or any part of his earlier life.
I notice that the 1850 and 1860 census have him born in 1847/1848 with high
precision. He gave his age at 22 when he enlisted in the army in 1863, but
he was required to be atleast 18 and boys routinely lied to get around it.
He might have thought he had to be 21.
Can anyone shed light on any of this?
Thanks!
Yours,
Dora Smith