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Surnames: Christy, Christie, Ong, Latta
Classification: Query
Message Board URL:
http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/2kI.2ACIB/559
Message Board Post:
I'm seeking information on a Hugh Christy, whom I believe is my gggg-grandfather. He may have been born about 1780 and possibly in the Westmoreland County, PA area. Here is the information that I have gathered thus far:
My ggg-grandfather was Henry Christy, said to have been born in Steubenville, Jefferson County, Ohio in 1809. He married Sarah Ann Tonner (born about 1814 in Wheeling, (West) Virginia) on 3 October 1836, presumably in Jefferson County, Ohio. They had 12 children; the first three were born in Warren Township (in or near Smithfield), Jefferson County, Ohio. The family migrated to Louisa County, Iowa in 1843, where the remaining children were born in Wapello Township. They are:
1) Eliza Jane Christy, b. 15 Sep 1837 d. 12 Sep 1924. She married Finley M. Ong - more on the Ong family below.
2) Mary Catherine Christy, b. 12 April 1839 d. 24 Feb 1907. She married John M. Davis.
3) Hugh William Christy, b. 16 Feb 1842 d. 15 Dec 1905. The first male child born to Henry and Sarah, and I believe named for his grandfather. Hugh married Selphina "Fina" Converse.
4) George M. Christy, b. Aug 1843 in Iowa d. 16 March 1910. George never married.
5) Henry Roger Christy, b. 29 Sep 1845, d. 26 March 1926. He married Mary E. Sannon.
6) Thomas T. Christy, b. 25 Apr 1847 d. 12 Nov 1848.
7) Emily Francis Christy, b. 13 July 1851 d. 18 Oct 1934. She married William Mincher. These are my gg-grandparents.
8) Edward Christy, b. 11 Nov 1853 d. 24 Jan 1928. He married Anna Young - no children.
9) Ethan Allen Christy, b. 1855, d. 1870
10) Sarah V. Christy, b. abt 1858, d. aft 1930. She married and apparently divorced Augustus J. Meyer.
11) Amanda Christy, b. 20 Jan 1861, d. 8 May 1884. Never married.
12) Anna M. Christy, b. 12 July 1864, d. 30 Nov 1865
I believe Henry Christy's brother to be Thomas Christy, born 11 June 1811 in Jefferson County, Ohio. Thomas Christy married Rachel Truman, presumably in Jefferson County, Ohio. Rachel Truman was born 13 January 1812 in Sadsbury, Lancaster County, PA. They had 6 known children, the first three of which were born in Jefferson County, Ohio. The remainder of the children were born near Grandview, Louisa County, Iowa, as the family also moved from Ohio to Iowa in 1843. The children are:
1) Elizabeth Christy, b. 3 July 1831, d. 6 May 1906. She married William Gage Fryer (born England), and resettled with their family to Indian territory about 1870.
2) Adeline Christy, b. 3 Oct 1837, d. 30 Mar 1881. She married James B. Gibboney.
3) Thomas Benton Christy, b. 11 August 1842, d. 1924. He married Luticia Cocklin.
4) Mary J. Christy, b. 14 Sep 1845, d. 8 Jan 1913. She married Josiah S. Wilson.
5) George W. Christy, b. 1 Oct 1848, d. 13 July 1854.
6) Isadore Josephine Christy, b. 19 Jan 1853, d. KS?. She married Samuel M. McDaniel.
Both Thomas Christy and Henry Christy named children Eliza/Elizabeth, Thomas, and George - possibly naming traditions at work. Note that Henry employed the names Hugh, Roger, and Catherine as well. I have found two entries posted to the Internet that state Thomas Christy's parents were Hugh Christy and Catherine Rogers - one stating that they married in Frederick County, Virginia on 27 August 1804, and the other simply "About 1810". This leads me to believe the entries came from seperate sources. Both Henry and Thomas moved from Jefferson County, Ohio with their families to Louisa County, Iowa in 1843. Both settled near the Iowa River, only a few miles apart. Only Thomas lived until the 1880 census, where he listed that both of his parents were born in PA.
I believe this branch of the Christy family had strong ties to the family of Jacob Ong. Jacob Ong was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, hailing from Westmoreland County, PA. Jacob Ong built a mill on Short Creek, Jefferson County, Ohio in 1798. This was possibly in preparation for a new settlement there, as Jacob was enumerated in Westmoreland during the 1800 census. Jacob Ong was also noted as a carpenter and cabinet maker - it may be more than a coincidence that both Thomas and Henry Christy were cabinet makers. Jacob Ong denounced his involvement in the Revolution, and refused to accept his pension. He rejoined the Quakers, and is noted as having built the first meeting house in Ohio. I have not found the Christy's in the Quaker records that I have found, but I would not rule it out.
Henry Christy's daughter Eliza married the grandson of Jacob Ong, as noted above. Finley M. Ong was enumerated in Jefferson County, Ohio until 1850. He may have been apprenticed to taylor Absolem Kinsey (I believe I read they were related). In the 1860 census, Finley was listed as a taylor in Louisa County, Iowa, with his wife and two children. From the 1870 census on, he is listed as a druggist, with one child born in Ohio. It would seem that a relationship was maintained between the Christy and Ong families after the Christy's moved in 1843.
Road construction records indicate that a Robert Christie/Christy made a complaint regarding road construction near Jacob Ong's mill in September 1806. This mill was listed as being on Cross Creek, in Warren Township, Jefferson County, Ohio. I can only guess at the possible relationship between Robert and Hugh Christy, or Robert's affiliation with Jacob Ong. In a published tax list of Jefferson County, Ohio dated 1814, Robert Christy is they only Christy to appear on the list.
I have also read accounts that Hugh Christy was given the rank of Leutenant under Captain Thomas Latta during the War of 1812, with their company raised in Jefferson County, Ohio. I do not know what qualifications would have merited this rank. I have checked pension records for the War of 1812, but found neither Hugh Christy nor his wife listed. Pensions were not approved until 1871, and enhanced in 1878. Estimating that he was probably 20 years old or so when he married in 1804, he would have been in the neighborhood of 87 years old when pensions were approved. It seems likely that neither he nor his wife were living at that time.
It would seem likely that Hugh Christy, if living, remained in Jefferson County (or neighboring Harrison, formed from Jefferson) until at least the time when Henry and Thomas established their own families there in the 1830's. I have not found census information to support this, however. As Hugh and Catherine were married in 1804, it also seems likely that they had children before Henry's birth in 1809, and after Thomas's birth in 1811. I have a clue that suggests that they may have had a son named George (and not forgetting that both Thomas and Henry named sons George).
There may have been some existing family relationship between Hugh Christy and Captain Latta, whom he served under. There were four Ohio-born Latta families settled near Thomas Christy in Louisa County. Later generations of these families intermarried in Louisa County.
I have information on the descendants of Thomas and Henry that I would be glad to share. Census record spellings vary - Christy, Christey, Christie, Christa, Christe, etc. The spelling on family headstones varies generation to generation and sibling to sibling as Christy and Christie. Any additional information on Hugh Christy would be appreciated.