For those who may not know, “FAN” stands for “Friends, Associates, Neighbors” – and it is a research strategy that encourages genealogists to look beyond their direct ancestors and examine the broader community surrounding them. Aryn Youngless posted a great intro to the FAN method on her Substack last October: “The FAN Method: Breaking Through Brick Walls“
I have been on a quest to find the records I need to either confirm or refute the Theoretical Military Career of James Callin and to find out where in “Westmoreland County, PA” he raised his family. This quest has led me to pursue the FAN Method, starting with the Milton Township Diaspora. Looking at the Friends/Associates/Neighbors of the Callin family in Milton Township gave me a lot of information about James Callin’s children and grandchildren, but when it comes to the man I have been hunting, I have only found more questions, so far.
At least they have been very interesting questions…
Hints & Allegations
We have an alarmingly small pile of solid evidence to work from, and much of what we have only hangs together if we assume that the information recorded by George W. Callin in his 1911 Callin Family History (the “CFH”) is correct. Here is a table to show what I mean:
| Person from 1911 CFH: | Claim in CFH: | Record(s): |
| James “1st” Callin | “…emigrated from Ireland to America about the commencement of the Revolutionary War.” | – Muster rolls show James Callin (var. spellings) in 4th Virginia Regiment of Foot from 1777 to 17791. – 1773 tax roll in Hempfield, Bedford County, PA – same record shows Patrick Callen |
| “…settled on government land in Westmoreland Co. in Western Penn., where they remained the remainder of their lives…” | No records found in NARA or BLM-GLO databases; may be in Augusta County deeds, 1743-1800? | |
| James “2nd” Callin | “James 2nd, with his family moved from Penn. to Ashland Co. and located on a farm about the year 1810. He was killed in an altercation with a man named Fowler who struck him over the head with a rifle, this occurred about the year 1820. He was buried in Oliversburg2 Cemetery.” | – 1820 U.S. Census: places household in Milton Township, Richland County, OH; same page as a neighbor, Sutton Fowler. – Burial site never found. |
| Mary “2nd” | “Record of James 2nd…Married about 1800, name of wife Mary 2nd, name unknown.” | – No marriage record found yet; possibly hiding wherever the land records are hiding (ie, Augusta County, VA) |
| “Record of Alec Callin…2nd son of James 2nd…Married and moved with his family and mother to Iowa about the year of 1840. “The mother referred to was ‘Aunt Mary’, wife of James 2nd who was killed with a gun. She sold the farm and went with Alec to Iowa where she died some years later. Nothing has been heard from that branch of the family since 1845.” | – 1830 U.S. Census: Mary “Callon” is head of her household in Milton Township, Richland County, Ohio. – 1840 U.S. Census: Mary “Callen” household is in Milton Township. – Find-a-Grave memorial #62700832: Oak Grove Cemetery, Muscatine County, Iowa; died 26 April 1846. |
Finding Mary’s burial site in Muscatine County was a breakthrough, not just because a “Mary Callin” appeared in Iowa, but because of the other information on her headstone which might help answer the question:
“Who was Aunt Mary?”
The headstone over Mary Callin’s grave is an obelisk with four sides. One side has Mary’s information, but on another face of the same headstone you can see two more names:
- Callin Rayburn 1803-1874 and
- Mary Rayburn 1809-1882
A third face records the burial of their son, John N Rayburn (1831-1856). So, now I have a LOT of questions, and this feels like a job for the FAN Method.
“Who was Callin Rayburn?” – People don’t usually bury strangers in their family plot, so I would assume that “Aunt Mary” Callin is related to the Rayburn family in some way. If she wasn’t a relative, and the Rayburns were generously helping to bury an unfortunately destitute neighbor, I would expect her to have a separate marker, or no marker at all. And as it happens, Callin Rayburn is a son of Eleanor (Callen) Rayburn, the daughter of Patrick Callen, who we saw in the 1773 Hempfield tax rolls next to James “1st” up in the table above.
Callin Rayburn’s wife was the former Mary Brandon, which we only learn from the 1932 death certificate of their son, Hiram Rayburn, who was born in Muscatine in 1845 and died in Renton, Washington, where they recorded his mother’s maiden name. Interestingly, Hiram had an older brother, Madison, who was born around 1840 in either Pennsylvania (per the 1850 census) or Ohio (1860 Census and his 1862 Civil War Soldier Record). This suggests that the Callin Rayburn family lived in Armstrong County, PA, until about 1837, and moved west around 1840, ending up in Iowa by 1845. If Madison was born in Ohio, that makes me wonder if the family stopped in Milton Township on their way West, and if that is what prompted James 2nd’s sons to move, too?
Callin Rayburn’s sister was also named Mary, and her married name was Brandon; which means that our “Aunt Mary” was almost certainly not Callin Rayburn’s sister, but I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Aunt Mary Callin’s maiden name was Rayburn or Brandon, either.
“Who Was Elizabeth Simon?”
We’ve been focused on James 2nd and his wife, but we also have another name to provide a clue. James 2nd’s brother John married Elizabeth Simon in 1801, according to the CFH. The book also says she moved to Auburn, Indiana, with her daughter’s family, the Fergusons, and died there in November 1864. I have a single record, the 1860 U.S. Census, which places Elizabeth Collin in the home of James and Eliza (Callin) Ferguson in Jackson Township, DeKalb County, Indiana.
While I have gone looking for a “Simon” family in those places where I suspect the Callin family lived, I have come up empty, so far. I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that Aunt Mary’s maiden name could have been Simon (or a variant spelling, like “Simmons” or “Simons”). I have kept an eye out for the name in census pages and local histories, too.
What to Watch For
The most promising lead I have at the moment is the database of land records for Augusta County, Virginia3, where I hope to find James “1st” Callin’s land records.
If I do, I expect I might also find the Burget family (remember what I said about them in “Those Who Remained: Part I”?), and possibly some Rayburn, Brandon, or Simon families.
Even if I don’t find James “1st,” I know that if I find any of those surnames in land records, that might at least tell me where to look for some of the missing marriage records – for James “2nd” and Mary, for John and Elizabeth Simon, and possibly even for James “1st” and his unknown wife.
And if we find any of the above, we’ll be much closer to being able to “prove” our theories about this family!
- I think the muster rolls that show James on furlough in 1778 may indicate that is when he got married, which also matches the timing in the CFH account. ↩︎
- “Oliversburg” is a typo in the CFH; it should read “Olivesburg”. ↩︎
- Specifically, this source: Augusta County deeds, 1743-1800. ↩︎
Mightier Acorns 
Say hello, cousin!