The new line in my family history--The Burkes

Lovina Burke (abt 1792-aft 1870) was the wife of Chauncey Warner. They married about 1810 in what is now Lorain County, Ohio, but in 1810 was part of Cuyahoga County. Yesterday while surfing the web I found a index of marriages for Cuyahoga County covering years 1810-1998 and then I found the marriage record index for Chauncey Warner and Lovina Burke.

Lovina Burke Warner lived at least until 1870 as she is listed as still living in Fulton County, Ohio, on the 1870 census. She is listed as being 78 years old and her son, James, lives with her. She claims New York at the place of her birth.

I am not sure whether Lovina Burke was born in Vermont or New York. It seems that her father, Joseph Burke was from Massachusetts and her mother, Chloe Canfield was also from Massachusetts, but that her family may have first arrived in Connecticut before moving on to Massachusetts.

Joseph Burke was born about 1760 in Ware, Hampshire County, Massachusetts. He died in 1814 in what later became Lorain County, Ohio. I have found information on him in the following source:

From “Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War,” vol 2, page 848

"Burk, Joseph, Chesterfield. Return of men enlisted into Continental Army from Capt William White’s (1^st Chesterfield) co., Hampshire Co. regt., dated April 2, 1779; residence, Chesterfield; enlisted for town of Chesterfield; joined Capt. Luke Day’s co., Col. Ichabod Alden’s regt; enlistement, 3 years from March 1777, reported mustered by Ruggles Woodbridge, Esq.; also Drummer, Capt. Day’s co., Col. Brooks’s (late Alden’s) regt.; Continental Army pay accounts for service from March 4 1777 to Dec 31 1779; also Capt Day’s Co (late) Col. Alden’s (6^th) regt.; return of men in camp on or before Aug 15, 1777 certified to at Cherry Valley, Feb. 24, 1779, also same co. and regt; muster roll for March and April 1779, dated Cherry Valley; reported on command at Fort Harkimer; also Capt. Day’s co; Col. Brooks’s regt; Continental army pay accounts for service Jan 1 1780 to March 12, 1780; also descriptive list of men enlisted into Continental Army as returned by Noah Goodman, Supt. For Hampshire Co, dated Feb 20 1782, age 21, (also given 20) yrs; stature 5 ft. 10 in; complexion light (also given fresh); hair, light: occupation, farmer: birthplace, Ware, residence, Chesterfield, rank Drum Major, enlisted Jan 17 (also given Feb 9 and March 20) 1781; joined Capt. Luke Day’s C., Lt. Col John Brooks’s (7^th) regt; enlistment 3 years; also Drummer, Capt Asa Coburn’s co., Lt Col Brooks’s regt, muster roll for April 1781, dated West Point; also muster roll for June 1781, reported promoted to Drum Major July 1, 1781; also Drum Major; muster roll for Sept 1781; also (late) Capt Coburn co. commanded by Lt. Levi Parker, muster roll for Oct and Nov 1781, date York Hutts; reported transferred to Capt. Day’s co; also Capt Luke day’s Co., Lt. Col Brooks’s regt; muster rolls for Dec 1781, Jan and Feb 1782, dated York Huts."

I am not certain when Joseph Burke married Chloe Canfield, but it must have occurred after 1780 as this is when their children were born (information taken from Ancestry World Tree and unverified at this time:

Children

1. Elizabeth BURKE b: abt 1783 in Vermont
2. Gaius BURKE b: abt 1784 in Vermont
3. Aretus BURKE b: abt 1785
4. Silas BURKE b: 28 July 1786 in Vermont, USA
5. Ethan Allen BURKE b: abt 1792 in Vermont
6. Lovina BURKE b: abt 1792 in Vermont, (married Chauncey Warner, abt 1810)
7. John M BURKE b: abt 1795 in Massachusetts
8. Orin BURKE b: 14 July 1799 in Vermont
9. Chloe BURKE b: abt 1801 in Columbia, Lorain, Ohio, United States
10. Ira BURKE b: abt 1803 in Columbia, Lorain, Ohio, United States
11. Roxanna BURKE b: 1806 in Columbia, Lorain, Ohio, United States
12. Orpha BURKE b: abt 1807
13. Sophia BURKE b: 7 Aug 1809 in Columbia, Lorain, Ohio, United States

Joseph Burke moved his family to Euclid, Cuyahoga County, Ohio as early as 1798. I found a section written about him in:

From “History of Cuyahoga County, Ohio: in three parts…” 1879 by Crisfield Johnson,

page 452

“The first permanent settler in Euclid township was Joseph Burke, a native of Vermont and a drummer in the Revolutionary army. He was not one of the forty-one employees who made the contract with Gen. Cleaveland, in 1796, though he may have belonged to the survey-corps the next year. He settled in 1798 or ’99 on the east line of the township, north of and adjoining the land taken up by Morse. Burke’s cabin was on the main road, which had been opened from Cleveland to the Pennsylvania line, at the foot of the ridge, to the extent of girdling the trees on a space two rods wide, and cutting out what little underbrush there was. It could not be traveled in a wagon without an axe to remove obstructions.

Mr. Burke soon obtained a little whisky and opened a sort of tavern, not only the first in the township, but the first between Conneaut and Cleveland. He remained about ten years, when he removed to Columbia in the present county of Lorain. He afterwards volunteered in the war of 1812, and died in the service.”

More information can be found about Joseph Burke and his family in Euclid, Ohio in the following resources:

From “A history of the city of Cleveland : its settlement, rise and progress, 1796-1896”

page 109…

”Then we passed the log residence of Joseph Burke, one of the earliest settlers on the Reserve, who had a brother living in Newburg.”

page 141…

”Joseph Burke, of Euclid, held the mail-carrying contract to the eastward, the route running from Cleveland to Hudson, Ravenna, Deerfield, Warren, Mesopotamia, Windsor, Jefferson, Austinburg, Harpersfield, Painesville, and thence back to Cleveland. The two sons of the contractor alternated with each in covering the route, going on horseback in summer when the roads permitted, and on foot the rest of the time”

From “ History of the Western Reserve / by Harriet Taylor Upton History of the Western Reserve V.1” page 527…

”Euclid township, in the northeastern part of the county (Cuyahoga), was one of its earliest settled sections…the township was first settled by surveyors under General Cleaveland—Joseph Burke and family in 1798…”

Why Michigan?

I have always believed than my ancestor, LaFrancis Elmer Hackett (1839-1920) was the reason why I was born in Michigan. (Before I started Genealogy, I thought it was the auto industry as to why I was born in Michigan, when after 1910 the cars brought up my great grandfather, Orla Arthur Tellis, who was a pattern-maker and did things with Chrysler). I thought LaFrancis Hackett came to Michigan because of the Homestead Act of 1862, as Michigan was a heavily forrested State and had a very small population, and LaFrancis was poor after the Civil War and could make some money in rural Gratiot County, Michigan where he died in 1920.

LaFrancis Hackett came to Michigan following those family members who came before him! When you do genealogy you tend to find that families move together, very seldom moving away by themselves, no families moved somewhere else as they usually had family there before them, advising them what a great place it would be to move to and start over.

LaFrancis' grandparents Steven Sabin and Hannah Wood moved to Michigan in Hillsdale County between after late in the 1830s, they brought with them, Bethany Fuller Wood (1764-1848) Hannah's mother and wife of Revolutionary War soldier, Levi Wood. Steven Sabin and Hannah Wood have two burial grounds, one in Michigan at Churches Corner, in Hillsdale County (they died in the 1850s) and the second graveyard, now located in a golfcourse in Columbia Township, Lorain County, Ohio. Perhaps Stephen Sabin is buried in Churches Corner, Michigan and Hannah Wood Sabin is buried in Columbia Township, Lorain County, Ohio. Either way, there are duplicate headstones for each of them at each cemetery. Bethany Fuller Wood is buried in Churches Corner, Hillsdale County, Michigan.

So this could be one reason why LaFrancis moved here after the Civil War. I found him in the 1870 Michigan Census living in Van Buren County, Michigan. I couldn't find any family around him on the 1870 Michigan census, but his sister, Emily Hackett Osborn lived south of him in Berrien County in the 1870 Michigan Census. I've known this information for years, but recently I discovered that the family of LaFrancis' wife, Susannah Warner, were here in Michigan as early as 1870, living in Shiawassee County. Samuel Warner (1812-1905) and Amanda Reed (1818-1890) were left Ohio sometime between 1860 and then moved to Shiawassee County. Samuel Warner is supposed to be buried in the same cemetery where his brother, Lemuel Warner is buried in Elsie Village Cemetery. But I'm not certain where Amand Reed is buried. Is it somewhere in Shiawassee County. I have to find out. Shiawassee County is a mere 20 miles or less from where I live and I would like to find, very much so, where Samuel is buried and that of Amanda's grave. I can go to Gratiot County and see the graves of LaFrancis Hackett and Susannah Warner, but where are her parents? I must find out!

Who is Chauncey Warner?!!

I've cleared my soul and abandoned my ancestral connection to Chauncey Warner and Annah Warner of Litchfield Connecticut. I've returned to Chauncey Warner, born 1785, and came to Columbia Township, Lorain County, Ohio in 1807. Based on an inaccurate death certificate of his son, Samuel Warner (1812-1905), Chauncey Warner married Lovina Burke, and just who is Lovina Burke?

Lovina Burke (1792-?) was born in either Vermont or New York. Her parents are Joseph Burke and Chloe Canfield or Camfield. But before I move into her parents let me finish up with Chauncy Warner her husband.

As mentioned, Chauncey was one of the first settlers of Columbia Twp, in Lorain County. He married Lovina Burke about 1810. According to several ancestral charts on Ancestry World Tree they had the following children:

Lemuel Warner, b.1811

Samuel Warner, b 1812

Elizabeth Warner, b. 1815

Levi B. Warner, b. 1818

Orrin B. Warner, b. about 1820

John Dexter Warner, b. about 1820

James Warner, b. 1823

Elmer, or Elmore, Warner, b. 1824

Caroline Adelia Warner, b. 1827

Rhoda Warner, b. 1830

Roxanna Warner, b. 1833

Of the above 11 children, two have been verified, that of Lemuel Warner, who died in 1868 and is buried in Elsie, Clinton County, Michigan and Samuel Warner, my ggg great grandfather, who died in 1905 and is supposed to buried in the same cemetery as his brother Lemuel Warner.

Chauncey Warner moved from Lorain County to Fulton County in Ohio sometime before 1850. He is listed as living in Fulton County in both the 1850 and 1860 census. My great grandfather, Samuel Hayes Hackett listed his date of death in September 1860. Below you will find Chauncey Warner listed with his family in the 1850 and 1860 censuses.

1850 Fulton County Ohio Census

1860 Fulton County Ohio Census

Below is a work-in-progress family tree of Chauncey Warner back to his immigrant ancestor, John Warner:

Descendants of John Warner

Generation No. 1

1. JOHN¹ WARNER was born 1615 in England, and died Bef. 04 December 1679. He married MARGARET. She died Aft. 01 March 1678/79.

Child of JOHN WARNER and MARGARET is:

2. i. JOHN² WARNER, b. Abt. 1641, Farmington, CT; d. Bef. December 1706.

Generation No. 2

2. JOHN² WARNER (JOHN¹) was born Abt. 1641 in Farmington, CT, and died Bef. December 1706.

Child of JOHN WARNER is:

3. i. EPHRAIM³ WARNER, b. 1669, Waterbury, CT; d. 01 August 1753, Waterbury, CT.

Generation No. 3

3. EPHRAIM³ WARNER (JOHN², JOHN¹) was born 1669 in Waterbury, CT, and died 01 August 1753 in Waterbury, CT. He married ESTHER RICHARDS 16 August 1692 in Waterbury, CT, daughter of OBADIAH RICHARDS and HANNAH ANDREWS. She was born June 1673 in Waterbury, CT.

Children of EPHRAIM WARNER and ESTHER RICHARDS are:

4. ii. BENJAMIN WARNER, b. 1698, Waterbury, CT; d. 1772.

Generation No. 4

5. BENJAMIN⁴ WARNER (EPHRAIM³, JOHN², JOHN¹) was born 1698 in Waterbury, CT, and died 1772. He married JOHANNA STRONG 17 March 1719/20 in Waterbury, CT, daughter of JOSIAH STRONG and JOANNA GILLETT. She was born 12 October 1699 in Windsor, Connecticut, and died 08 April 1785 in Waterbury, Connecticut.

Child of BENJAMIN WARNER and JOHANNA STRONG is:

7. Ard Warner

Generation No. 5

Ard Warner

Generation No. 6

8. CHAUNCEY⁶ WARNER (Ard⁵, Benjamin⁴, EPHRAIM³, JOHN², JOHN¹) was born 1785 in Waterbury, CT, and died 10 September 1860 in Fulton County, Ohio. He married Lovina Burke about 1810 in what was then Cuyahoga County (Lorain County organized in 1822), daughter of Joseph Burke and Chloe Canfield or Camfield. She was born about 1792 in Vermont or New York and died in Fulton County, Ohio.

Child of CHAUNCEY WARNER and Lovina Burke is:

10. i. SAMUEL⁷ WARNER, b. 02 December 1812, Lorain Cty, Ohio; d. 23 September 1905, Lorain Cty, Ohio.

Generation No. 7

10. SAMUEL⁷ WARNER (CHAUNCEY⁶, Ard⁵, Benjamin⁴, EPHRAIM³, JOHN², JOHN¹) was born 02 December 1812 in Lorain Cty, Ohio, and died 23 September 1905 in Lorain Cty, Ohio. He married AMANDA REED 01 September 1838 in Lorain Cty, Ohio, daughter of STEPHEN REED and SUSAN. She was born 01 December 1818 in Lorain Cty, Ohio, and died 25 March 1890 in Lorain Cty, Ohio.

Child of SAMUEL WARNER and AMANDA REED is:

11. i. SUSANNAH⁸ WARNER, b. 13 January 1842, Lorain County, Ohio; d. 06 March 1912, Wheeler, Gratiot County, Michigan.

Generation No. 8

11. SUSANNAH⁸ WARNER (SAMUEL⁷, CHAUCY⁶, ELIJAH⁵, JOHN⁴, EPHRAIM³, JOHN², JOHN¹) was born 13 January 1842 in Lorain County, Ohio, and died 06 March 1912 in Wheeler, Gratiot County, Michigan. She married LAFRANCIS ELMER HACKETT 12 April 1860 in Elyria, Lorain County, Ohio, son of GAIN HACKETT and ELECTA SABIN. He was born 22 June 1839 in Lorain County, Ohio, and died 19 June 1920 in Wheeler, Gratiot County, Michigan.

The sad, mixed-up Warner Family Fiasco...

What a mess the Warmer family history is...This photo has been mislabeled by someone in the Hackett family (i.e. descendants of LaFrancis Hackett and Susannah Warner). The photo is not a Hackett Five Generation photo, but a Warner Five Generation photo. The man in the middle is Samuel Warner and the lady to his left is his daughter, Susannah Warner Hackett, my great great grandmother. He is holding her great granddaughter. One of her seven daughters stands behind Samuel's right shoulder and Susannah's granddaughter stands Susannah Warner Hackett and her father, Samuel Warner.

Now why do I call the Warner family line in my ancestry a fiasco? Because it comes from Samuel Warner above. Look at his death certificate below:

The information listed for his parents is inconsistent to what I have known and researched. Who is this Samuel Warner and Lovina Burk listed here? My research has shown me that Samuel Warner (1812-1905)'s parents were Chauncey Warner and Annah Warner of Waterbury, Connecticut. (The Samuel Warner listed as father of Samual Warner my ggg great grandfather is a mistake of memory by the person completing on Samuel Warner's death certificate above).

My source of information to begin research is from my great grandfather, Samual Hayes Hackett:

(l-r: Lolo Pomeroy Hackett (1880-1917), Theo Fay Hackett (1902-1993), Samuel Hayes Hackett (1876-1965)

Samual Hayes Hackett had written down, or told my mother, Judith Leola Hackett Brooks, that his great grandfather was Chauncey Warner, the father of Samuel Warner above in the Five Generation photo. Twenty one years ago I found this Chauncey Warner as a early settler to Lorain County from Waterbury, Connecticut in 1807. He was with the first group of settlers to Columbia Township, Lorain County. This information can be found in the book: "History of Lorain County, Ohio, with illustrations & biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers." published in 1879 on page 147 which reads: "In September, 1807, a company numbering thirty-three persons, left Waterbury, Connecticut, for this township. They were...Chauncey Warner."

In doing research of Waterbury, CT, records I found this Chauncey Warner to be the son of Ard Warner and the line goes back to the immigrant John Warner from England in the early 1640s. What I didn't realize at the time was that there were two Chauncey Warners from Waterbury, CT!

Based on my great grandfather, Sam Hackett's written family history, I accepted Chauncey Warner son of Ard Warner as my ancestor. Sam Hackett had written down Chauncey Warner's date of birth as 1787 and actually Chauncey Warner was born in 1785, so it was pretty convincing to me that I'd found the right Chauncey Warner. This was in 1988 when I made my second trip to the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana (this is the second largest genealogical library in the US (the largest being the Latter Day Saints Genealogy Collection in Salt Lake City, Utah).

Please bear with my in this discourse on this mixed-up family line of the Warners...

In doing more research on the Warners coming to Lorain County from Connecticut, I located a resource (name forgotten) that listed Chauncey Warner came to Ohio with his cousin, Justus Warner (who lated settled in Medina County, Ohio) and that they had married sisters, Urania and Annah Warner, daughters of David Warner who was descended from the same immigrant John Warner line in Connecticut. Here's where I found that there were TWO Chauncey Warners from Waterbury Connecticut (discovered about in 1993) and that when going back to a resource I had on marriages and births for Waterbury, CT, I found that yes, Chauncey Warner was married to Annah Warner (cousins marrying, shocking!!) and I redid my Warner genealogy to drop Chauncey Warner, son of Ard Warner, Chauncey's wife unknown, and linked my line to Chauncey Warner and Annah Warner. This Chauncey Warner, married to Annah Warner, was born in 1770 and is the son of Elijah Warner, another descendant of the immigrant John Warner.

I found a record that Chauncey Warner married Annah Warner in 1793, in a small town close to Waterbury, CT. , and thus I linked my family to these two persons for nearly 20 years. If it hadn't been for the death certificate of Samuel Warner (1812-1905) above, I'd still be certain of my Warner antecedents. And it is has been in the last six weeks that I have been trying to correct the mistakes based on my faulty genealogy research from the above death certificate. In doing this new research on the my Warner genealogy, I located a resource over the internet, titled, "Litchfield and Morris Inscriptions" by Charles Thomas Payne, about the towns of Litchfield and Morris, Connecticut and on page 173, I found the following information:

"p. 173

Annah Warner / relict of Chauncey Warner, Esq. / died July 12, 1857 / aged 84

and also,

In memory of Chauncey Warner who died Feb. 1st 1849, age 79"

Based on this information Chauncey Warner and his wife, Annah Warner never came to Ohio, but remained in Connecticut all their lives! With this discovery I must take out the family lines from the Chauncey Warner and Annah Warner families and some of these family lines include: Harrison, Fenn, Hikcox, Sutliffe, Plumpton/Plympton, Brocketts, and Upson. It grieves me woefully when I realize I am losing these lines full of very historical characters.

I'm going to close this post on the wrecked Warner line with another photo of my ggg grandfather, Samuel Warner, (1812-1905) and his wife, Amanda Reed, (1818-1890).

Where this photo was taken, I cannot tell. Amanda is wearing a dress that seems to be from the 1880s. Her daughter, Susannah Warner Hackett, at the top of this post in the Five Generation Photo, looks very much like Amanda Reed Warner. There is a wall tent behind Samuel and Amanda Warner, and they're wearing some type of ribbons, perhaps they attended a religious revival, very popular in the 19th century.

Cancer in the Minter Family

The Minter line from which I descend is oft-filled with cancer as a leading cause of death, or many members are touched by it. It begins, as near as I can tell with my great grandfather, Berrien Constantine Minter (1862-1943). He died of a stomach cancer. Of his nine children below:

1 Vesta Adel MINTER b: 14 NOV 1886 in Jakin, Early Cty, Georgia
2 Bertha Constance MINTER b: 7 NOV 1888 in Jakin, Early Cty, Georgia
3 John Milton MINTER b: 24 NOV 1890 in Jakin, Early Cty, Georgia
4 Hattie Maud MINTER b: 25 JUN 1892 in Jakin, Early Cty, Georgia
5 Othni Berrien MINTER b: 8 AUG 1895 in Jakin, Early Cty, Georgia
6 Eva Ruth MINTER b: 15 MAR 1898 in Early County, Georgia c: in Baptist Church, Jakin, Georgia
7 Lee Angus MINTER b: 17 DEC 1900 in Jakin, Early Cty, Georgia
8 Thomas Lauriston MINTER b: 1 JUL 1904 in Jakin, Early Cty, Georgia
9 Branson Cyril MINTER b: 19 JUL 1908 in Jakin, Early Cty, Georgia

Six of the nine children above had cancer of one form or another and Ruth died of ovarian cancer in 1984, Laurie of throat cancer in 1961, and Branson in 1994 of rectal or anal cancer. Vesta, Maud and Kitty all had breast cancer but they all died in their late 90s.

Ruth's two sons, Roy Minter Brooks (1928-1993) and James Warren Brooks (1931-) have each been stricken with cancer. Roy died after a long bout with prostate cancer in 1993, and my father, James W. Brooks had a benign brain tumor in 1997 which has disabled him to this day. In December 2007 Dad was found that he had prostate cancer. He underwent seven weeks of radiation and the tumor shrunk away to nothing. A possibility exists as of this writing that he has pancreatic cancer and now we are in the waiting period. How cruel life can be to be visited by 2 if not 3 cancers. As for myself I was found to have a rare form of Uterine Sarcoma in 2008 and have had 5 weeks of radiation and now am watched over by several amazing doctors.

Genealogy isn't only about counting the branches on the family tree, it also includes the family genetics, which sometimes don't skip a single generation.