Edward's Trail
Teasing meaning from the absence of evidence (part 2)
Last week, we were Still Finding James Callin - laying out records that may confirm that he was a Continental soldier in the Revolutionary War. We lack firm proof that the records show the same James Callin recorded in the Callin Family History in 1911, but pay and muster rolls show that men named James and Edward Callin enlisted on 19 Sep 1777 in the 4th Virginia Regiment of Foot.
Edward Callin enlisted as a private for a 3-year term on 19 Sep 1777 and after two months in Capt. John Stith’s company was reorganized into Capt. James Lucas’s company. There, he served with James until another company claimed him during another reorganization in May 1778.
The only other military record for Edward I have found (so far) consists of two pages in the US, Pennsylvania Veterans Card Files, 1775-1916 database, stating that he was a member of the 6th Regt. and that he was paid a final settlement of 33 dollars for “Pay and subsistence to 1 Jan 1781. Interest from 1 Jan 1781.”
It would be nice if we had the kind of detailed muster and pay records for the 6th Pennsylvania Regt. as we had for the 4th Virginia, but it makes sense that Edward might move from the 4th VA to the 6th PA in May 1778. Both units were at Camp Valley Forge1 at that time and the fact that Edward’s 6th Regt. record shows him being paid through 1 Jan 1781 may be significant, too.
On 1 January 1781, 1,500 soldiers from the Pennsylvania Line, the 11 regiments under General Anthony Wayne’s command, protested that their three-year enlistments had expired and complained that they had not been paid.2
We know Edward enlisted in Sep 1777 for 3 years, which would have expired in Sep 1780. The mutineers were very lucky that they were allowed to negotiate with General Wayne and Congressional President Joseph Reed, and they came to an agreement on 7 January. “Half the men accepted discharges, while the other half took furloughs coupled with bonuses for reenlistment. Those who reenlisted formed the Pennsylvania Battalion, which went on to participate in the southern campaign.”
The absence of additional records for Edward after 1 Jan 1781 may suggest he took the discharge, but this account also seems to indicate that all of the men who enlisted when Edward did took the discharge:
On January 4th, the soldiers entered Princeton and delivered their official propositions to Wayne. These asked for immediate discharges for men enlisted in 1776 and 1777 at $20 bounty…[a]lso, they asked for pay and clothing for those who remained enlisted, and that there be no punishment for mutiny after the issue was settled.
…Finally, negotiations for terms began – only one proposal remained: that the 1776 and 1777 “twenty dollar men” be given their pay and clothing and be discharged. The sergeants insisted that officers had tricked and punished soldiers to extend enlistments and Reed concluded that the issue was legitimate.3
In the aftermath of the mutiny, the Pennsylvania Line underwent a reorganization. … the 6th [Regiment] under Colonel Richard Humpton went to Lancaster. The rank and file, though not the sergeants and musicians, were all furloughed until 15 March. On that date the regiments reassembled at their respective towns. In May, Wayne led the 2nd, 5th, and 6th Pennsylvania south to join operations against the British in Virginia.
Since other members of the 6th Regt. have records in the same database that prove their service after 1781 and Edward does not, I would conclude that he took the discharge. So, where did Edward go after 1781?
There are a handful of records that name an Edward Callin in Pennsylvania:
1785: Pennsylvania, U.S., Tax and Exoneration, 1768-1801 lists him in Lower Dublin Township, Philadelphia County.
1798: Pennsylvania, U.S., U.S. Direct Tax Lists, 1798 lists him in Lurgan Township, Franklin County.
1800: 1800 United States Federal Census lists him in Lurgan Township, Franklin County.
1801: Pennsylvania, U.S., Septennial Census, 1779-1863 lists him as a “Labourer” in Lurgan Township, Franklin County.
The 1798 records list Edward as a tenant of Charles Maclay, renting an “old cabbin” on Maclay’s property. The 1800 Census lists Edward as the head of a household of 5 people:
1 male, 45 or over (presumably Edward, born before 1755)
1 female, 45 of over
2 males, 10 to 15 (so, born between 1785 and 1790)
1 female under 10 (born after 1790)
There is an Edward Callin (various spellings) who appears in Charlton, Saratoga County, New York, in the 1820 Census; the same man is also listed there in 1830, 1840, and 1850. That 1850 record is the “non-population schedule” which does not include birth information, but if that were our Edward, he would be in his mid-80s by then.
Conclusion
I don’t know what happened to Edward after he left the service. I think it’s plausible that he lived near Philadelphia (the Lower Dublin records) and then moved west to Lurgan Township. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find more evidence of his family in later records, and have not been able to trace the sons evident in the 1800 Census.
If anyone out there has traced their family back to an Edward Callin in Pennsylvania, let me know and we’ll compare notes!
Next week, I’ll go back to James, and see if I can trace his movements post-Revolution.
See the Valley Forge Muster Roll project: https://valleyforgemusterroll.org/continental-army/regiments/
“Mutiny of the Pennsylvania Line” - History.com
The Pennsylvania Line Mutiny, its Origins and Patriotism, By: Charles S. Yordy, III (Penn State University Libraries)