Eight is Enough; The McWilliam' Children
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| Hannah McWilliams Davis circa 1880s |
The
McWilliams began to raise a family soon after they were wed and eventually were
blessed with a family of five girls and three boys. John was probably thrilled
when his first son was born after having four girls in the first decade of his
marriage. The births of two more boys were surely welcomed, as they would
lighten his workload on the farm when they grew old enough to be of help in
caring for the livestock and raising crops.
Large
families were common in the nineteenth century because children provided
valuable labor for farm and household chores and usually supported their aging
parents during the infirmities of their old age. Also, rates of infant and
child mortality were high and many offspring did not live to adulthood. Most
families from this time period suffered the loss of children from illness or
accident. The McWilliams were no exception. Their second daughter died just a
few weeks after her seventh birthday. Polly bore the first seven children two
or three years apart, but eleven years passed between the births of the final
two additions to the family. She died at an estimated age of 52, five days after her last son
arrived. Her age at his birth was probably a contributing factor to her death.
Their children were:
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| Sarah N. McWilliams' Headstone |
Sarah
N. – born February 27, 1811; died October 10, 1852, at age 41. Sarah did not
marry. She was 27 years old when her youngest brother, James, was born, and
seemed to have assumed her mother’s role in the family after Polly died and
later after their father passed away. Siblings Sarah, John C., Hannah and James
continued to live together immediately after their father’s death and were
listed adjacent to their brother William and his family in the 1850 census.[i]
Sadly, Sarah died less than three years after her father’s death. Sarah, Jane,
Maria and Hannah are buried in the same section of Chillisquaque Cemetery in
Montour County on the old Chillisquaque Church grounds. They share an obelisk
with their grandfather John Cruisen.
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| Jane G. & Maria McWilliams' Shared Headstone |
Jane G. – born July 18, 1813; died August 24, 1820, at the tender age of 7.
Maria – born January 1, 1816; died October 20, 1848, at age 32. Maria did not marry. She died nine months before her father passed away.
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| Eleanor McWilliams Follmer's Headstone |
Eleanor – born October 24, 1818; died December 27, 1876, at age 57. Eleanor married into the affluent Follmer family who were neighbors to the McWilliams. Her husband William was a justice of the peace, state legislator, and businessman with interest in several successful ventures in the community.[ii] William Follmer’s father was easily a millionaire by today’s standards and was the wealthiest man in Chillisquaque Township in 1850. Eleanor’s nephews Benjamin Cruiser and Francis Marion McWilliams were documented in census records and in Benjamin’s diary as hired hands on the William Follmer farm. Eleanor and William had twelve children, including two sets of twins. She is buried in Follmer Cemetery on the grounds surrounding the Follmer Lutheran Church, funded and established by her father-in-law.
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| William Henry McWilliams, date unknown |
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| William Henry McWilliams' Headstone |
William Henry – born
March 17, 1821; died February 28, 1883, at age 61. (William was my great-great-grandfather.) He married Fannie Knauss of Montour Township, located east of the
McWilliams home, in 1843.[iii]
Her father, Benjamin, purchased a hotel in Trevorton, Pennsylvania, in 1853, that he operated
for many years as an inn and tavern. Her mother, Margaret, was a member of the
locally prominent and prosperous Billmeyer family.[iv]
William was a farmer and laborer in the Enterprise Colliery near Shamokin. They
also had twelve children, including my great-grandfather Francis Marion
McWilliams. William and Fannie moved to Barton County, Missouri, at the end of
their lives and are buried in Barton City Cemetery.
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| John Cruiser McWilliams' Headstone |
John Cruiser –
born March 24, 1824; died January 29, 1884, at age 59. John married Susannah
Rissel, the daughter of another prominent neighboring family. He followed the
family tradition of farming as his occupation and raised a family of eight
children.[v]
He and Susan are buried in Harmony Cemetery in Milton.
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| Hannah McWilliams Davis' Headstone |
Hannah – born
August 5, 1827; died January 20, 1896, at age 68. Hannah married millwright
William Davis of nearby Liberty Township in Montour County after 1850. She and
William moved to the frontier wilds of Delaware County, Iowa, as homesteaders
in 1856.[vi]
They traveled by wagon with a two-year-old, a four-year-old and a baby on the
way. Hardships followed their arrival.[vii]
The baby died, Hannah had a fourth child in 1858, and William was imprisoned
for forgery in 1859.[viii]
Hannah left Iowa and William, returned to her family in Pennsylvania by 1860,
did not remarry, and lived a long, successful life.[ix]
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| James K. McWilliams' Headstone |
James K. – born
September 24, 1838; died September 6, 1923, at age 84. Despite James’ difficult
childhood—mother Polly died five days
after he was born and father, John, left him orphaned at age 10—he managed to
thrive and live the longest life of all of John and Polly’s children. Daniel Follmer, his uncle
and family friend, became his guardian, and his siblings cared for him until he
attained adulthood.[x]
He moved to Iowa and married Susan Savilla Garhart in Dubuque in 1861.[xi]
He and Susan were married 55 years and reared three children. John was employed
as a farmer in Iowa, in Ft. Scott, Kansas, and in Liberal and Bronaugh,
Missouri. He and Susan are buried in
Barton City Cemetery near Liberal in Barton County, Missouri.
(Note – The birth
and death dates for the McWilliams children were taken from their headstones.)
A Motherless Child
Polly’s death, only days after James was born, left 54-year-old John with the nearly impossible job of raising an infant at a time when the use of sterile bottle-feeding and supplemental formula was unknown. Most motherless newborns failed to thrive or died from digestive ailments when fed with cow’s or goat’s milk. It is possible that James was fostered by a relative or neighbor who served as a wet nurse while he was an infant. The three oldest girls were now adults and probably were a great help to John and baby James. The younger children William, John Cruiser and Hannah were 17, 14, and 11 when their mother passed away. Their home was surely filled with sorrow over Polly’s death, even though little James must have brightened their days with the joy that a new life brings to every household.
Polly
was buried in Chillisquaque Cemetery.[xii] Neither
Polly’s year of birth nor her age at death can be positively confirmed from her
headstone. The faded inscription reads “Mariah Wife of John McWilliams DIED
Sept. 29, 1838 aged ? Years ? Months ? Days.” A verse or
scripture on the lower portion of the stone is likewise too eroded to decipher.
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| John & Mariah Cruiser McWilliams' Headstones |
Together for Eternity
John died intestate on Monday, July 30, 1849. He was ill for four days before his death at age 65, as a result of diarrhea.[xiii] “Diarrhea” was often actually dysentery, caused by consumption of contaminated food or water. John’s age, combined with the heat of summer, could have resulted in severe dehydration and may have contributed to his demise. He must have received medical attention before he died because Drs. McCleary and Waldron were paid $64.91 for services rendered to John.[xiv] Both doctors had offices on Front Street between Broadway and Walnut in Milton.[xv] The medical bill was equivalent to $2148.00 in today’s currency. ($1.00 in 1850 would be worth about $33.09 today.)[xvi]
John was buried beside Polly near the north
wall in Chillisquaque Cemetery.[xvii]
Four of his daughters rest a few feet away and his parents are buried in the
center area of the same graveyard. His headstone is inscribed “IN Memory of
JOHN McWILLIAMS who was born June 28, 1784. Died July 30, 1849. Aged 65 Years 1
Month & 2 Days.”
[i] 1850 U.S. census, Northumberland County,
Pennsylvania, population schedule, Chillisquaque Township, p. 220, dwelling
207, family 207, Sarah McWilliams; NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 804;
accessed www.ancestry.com, image 19
1850 U.S. census, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, Chillisquaque Township, mortality schedule, p. 833, line 25, John McWilliams, NARA microfilm publication M1838, roll 3; accessed www.ancestry.com, image 30
[ii] Bell, Herbert C., History of Northumberland County.., Chicago, IL., Brown, Runk & Co., Chicago, 1891, page 1107, William Follmer; accessed https://play.google.com/books
[iii] Sunbury and Shamokin Journal, Sunbury, Northumberland County, PA, 7 January 1843, page 3, column 2, McWilliams/Knauss Marriage; accessed https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov
[iv] Bell, page 1221, Benjamin Knauss
[v] 1870 U.S. census, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Chillisquaque Township, PO Milton, p. 2, dwelling 16, family 17, John McWilliams; NARA microfilm publication M593, roll 1384 accessed www.ancestry.com, image 2
[vi] Beers, J.H., Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties Pennsylvania Volume II, Chicago, IL, J.H. Beers & Co. 1915, page 582-583, Hannah McWilliams; accessed https://archive.org
[vii] 1856 Iowa state census, Delaware County, South Fork, p. 1020, dwelling 101, 1 family, W.H. Davis, State Historical Society of Iowa via Heritage Quest; www.ancestry.com, image 17
[viii] 1860 U.S. census, Lee County, Iowa, population schedule, Fort Madison, p.73, dwelling 361, family 594 (Penitentiary), W.H. Davis, NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 330; accessed www.ancestry.com, image 71
[ix] 1860 U.S. census, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Chillisquaque Township, Milton PO, p.164 (58 penned), dwelling 413, family 403, Hannah Davis; NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 1149; accessed www.ancestry.com, image 32
[x] Pennsylvania Orphan’s Court, Northumberland County, Courthouse, Sunbury, Orphan’s Court Docket, volume 10, p. 55, John McWilliams (1849), Appointment of Guardian, 6 November 1849; Orphan’s Court Docket, 1772-1868, Dockets, vol. 9-10, 1843-1853, filmstrip 961034, DGS 8510296; accessed www.familysearch.org, image 293
[xi] 1885 Iowa state census, Dubuque County, Iowa, Dodge Township, p. 153, dwelling 95, family 95, James McWilliams, State Historical Society of Iowa via Heritage Quest; accessed www.ancestry.com, image 20
[xii] Finney, Rev. William Gardner, The History of the Chillisquaque Church, 1926, Pennsylvania, Church and Town Records, 1708-1985, p. 79, Historical Society of Pennsylvania; Historic Pennsylvania Church and Town Records; Reel: 236; accessed www.ancestry.com
[xiii] 1850 U.S. census, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, Chillisquaque Township, mortality schedule, p. 807, line 25, John McWilliams, NARA microfilm publication M1838, roll 3; accessed www.ancestry.com, image 6
[xiv] Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, Orphan’s Court Docket, Administrators Accounts, Volume 1, p. 184-185, John McWilliams (1852), Account, 3 August 1852, Register and Recorder’s Office, Northumberland County Courthouse, Sunbury, PA
[xv] Hopkins, G.M., and Cleaver, Kimber, Map of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, Chillisquaque, Pennsylvania, published by J.A. Cummings, 1858; accessed https://ancestortracks.com
[xvii] Finney, p. 79
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