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1830 United States Federal Census about Alexander Linn
Name: Alexander Linn
Home in 1830 (City, County, State): Orange, Shelby, Ohio
Free White Persons - Males - 5 thru 9: 1 [David Linn]
Free White Persons - Males - 10 thru 14: 1 [Aaron Hankinson Linn]
Free White Persons - Males - 40 thru 49: 1 [Alexander Robert Linn]
Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 14: 1 [Martha Linn]
Free White Persons - Females - 15 thru 19: 2 [Sarah Linn, Nancy Linn]
Free White Persons - Females - 30 thru 39: 1 [Elizabeth Blue]
White Persons - Deaf and Dumb - 25 and over: 1 [Alexander Robert Linn]
Free White Persons - Under 20: 5
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49: 2
Total Free White Persons: 7
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored): 7
1840 United States Federal Census about Alexander Stephard
Name: Alexander Stephard
[Alexander Shepherd]
Home in 1840 (City, County, State): Elizabeth, Miami, Ohio
Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29: 1 [Alexander Shepherd]
Free White Persons - Females - 5 thru 9: 2 [Martha Shepherd, NN Shepherd]
Persons Employed in Agriculture: 1 [Alexander Shepherd]
Free White Persons - Under 20: 2
Free White Persons (females) - 20 thru 49: 1 [Nancy Linn]
Total Free White Persons: 3
Total All Persons - Free White, Free Colored, Slaves: 3
1850 in Wabash, Jay County, Indiana
Alexander Lynn, 54, farming, b Virginia, deaf
Elizabeth, 50, b Virginia
1850 in Wabash, Jay County, Indiana
Alexander Sheppard, 39, farming, b Ohio
Nancy, 37, b Ohio
Martha, 18, b Ohio, deaf & dumb
Cinderella, 10, b Ohio
Mercy, 8, b Ohio
John, 3, b Indiana
Solomon, 3, b Indiana
1860 in Wabash, Jay County, Indiana
Alexander Shephard, 49, farmer, b Ohio
Nancy Shephard, 47, b Ohio
Martha A Shephard, 26, b Ohio
Cinderilla Shephard, 18, b Ohio
Mercy R Shephard, 16, b Ohio
John W Shephard, 14, b Indiana
Francis M Shephard, 9, b Indiana
David Shephard, 7, b Indiana
Alexander Linn, 74, farm laborer, b New Jersey
1870 in Wabash, Jay, Indiana
Alexander Sheapherd, 59, farmer, b Ohio
Nancy, 57, keeping house, b Ohio
Martha, 37, b Ohio, deaf & dumb
Mercy, 26, b Ohio
John W, 23, b Indiana, deaf & dumb
David, 16, farm labourer, b Indiana
Mary A, 10, b Indiana, deaf & dumb [Mary A Linn]
Warren E Nickolas, 7, b Indiana [Warren E Shepherd]
............
My Linn family more or less ran into road blocks when trying to trace itself further back than the 1800’s. David Linn was the first one to come to Northern Indiana in the 1850’s from Ohio, and family stories said he had a brother named Aaron who stayed in Ohio, and that their father’s name was Robert. Later on both David’s and Arron’s family’s passed down the same story of this Robert Linn marrying Elizabeth Blue, who was from Jay County Indiana. Were the problem came in was that census records do not support a sound connection with a Robert Linn from this time period. Most of them out there can be traced to other families, not ours. From census records it says David’s father comes from NJ or Virginia, not much help there.
But even with all the computerized records that are now available and DNA matching, this “Robert” left us I think the ultimate bridge to connect us back to his family. He named his first son Aaron Hankinson Linn. There is an Aaron Hankinson from NJ whose daughter Sarah married a David Linn also from NJ, and the two of them had a son named Alexander who moved to Ohio in the early 1800’s along with two sisters (both married men with the last name of Shepherd). It appears from the NJ family records these three more or less lost contact with their family after that. Alexander Linn does show up in the 1830 Ohio US census and again with his wife Elizabeth in the 1850 Indiana US Census, now living in Jay County, although the birth dates for each appear to be off by 10 years. In the 1860 Indiana US Census Alexander shows up for last time living with his Daughter Nancy’s family. She married an Alexander Shepherd (probably her first cousin).
Thin treads of connectivity to say the least, but let me add one more funny tread. My Grandfather’s dad (John C Linn) had died by the time he was 2, so there are very few family stories that got passed down other than John C had served in the civil war and was very proud of that. But there was one that we call the fart story, where there were two parents in the family who were both deaf, and they used to freely pass gas in front of their kids, who all heard perfectly well and also thought it was very funny. Apparently enough so to pass this story down for generations, assuming Alexander Linn who was documented as being deaf in the 1860 (and probably 1830) census, is in fact this “Robert” Linn our family is reputed to come from. Aaron Hankinson Linn’s son Robert A Linn said in a written account that his grandfather’s name was Robert, and in fact if Robert A’s middle name was Alexander, that might help explain how it got messed up. He may have been told he was named after his grandfather and it was just assumed the Grandfather’s name was Robert. Also Alexander’s middle name may have been Robert, and he just preferred seeing it on other people’s lips rather than his first name which shows a lot of teeth (look in the mirror and see what you think).
A lot of speculation in saying that this Alexander Linn (there were a bunch of them from his family) was the father of our David Linn, but when the documented facts leave you short as in this case, a leap of faith is all that is left. I am currently waiting for my DNA analysis with great hopes that it may offer the sound connection to our NJ roots that the documented records could not. We shall see.
Patrick G Henck
Son of Joyce O Linn
Grandson of Theodore R Linn
(ancestry.com, 24 Dec) 2013
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... a year or so ago I went to the small farm field cemetery in Jay County Indiana where Alexander and Nancy (Linn) Shepard are buried, and while there are no grave markers for Alexander Robert Linn or his wife Elizabeth, there are two spaces between the Shephards and their children that could be our two missing ancestors. There is a small bush growing there now which sometimes means the plots has been taken, so maybe their markers were originally wooden. I had a strong feeling when I was there it was where Alexander R Linn was laid to rest, but that was probably more wishful thinking ...
(pjhenck)
Karl
Held
