Still Finding James Callin

Teasing meaning from the absence of evidence (part 1)

I owe a ton of thanks to two cousins for their part in getting my Callin Family History published:

Joan C Foster

and John K. Callin. Joan is my 3rd cousin, 1x removed; John is my 2nd cousin, 1x removed. Our nearest common ancestors are William Callin and Elizabeth Berlin. John and I are descended from their son, John H. Callin; Joan is descended from John’s younger brother, James M. Callin.

John K. was the one who had a copy of the original 1911 Callin Family History and gave it to my grandfather, Bob Callin. That book was compiled by a third brother of John H. and James M., named George W. Callin. The cover photo I chose for my 2022 Callin Family History shows George’s family in recognition that I was carrying forward the work of a lot of people who came before me.

If you’re descended from the man at the center of today’s post, you should subscribe for future updates, and say hello in the comments!

James “1st” - but not THAT one

The ancestor at the very beginning of the Callin Family History was named James Callin - this was William Callin’s grandfather. George referred to this James Callin as “James 1st” in order to keep his readers from confusing him with all of the other men in the book who would carry the name “James” - and there are a lot of them. But George’s choice has confused some readers who thought that George meant his great-grandfather was James I, the Scottish and English King who united the crown in 1567 and sponsored the King James translation (or “KJV”) of the Bible.

He was not.

We know precious little for certain about James “1st” Callin - George set out his knowledge on the opening page of his manuscript:

As far as we know the Callins in this country all descended from one man, James Callin, who with his brother John (who never married), emigrated from Ireland to America about the commencement of the Revolutionary War.

Our fathers tell us that these two brothers enlisted in the Continental Army and fought under Lafayette at the battle of Brandywine and remained in this army till the close of the war. These brothers settled on government land in Westmoreland Co. in Western Penn., where they remained the remainder of their lives, John sharing the home of James, who married about the year 1778.

Despite more than twenty years of effort to find documents to support George’s claims, we have found very little proof. There are no documents that support the assertion that James came from Ireland, or when he arrived in the colonies. However, we have found evidence that supports other details in George’s version of events.

In 2016, Cousin Joan shared her analysis of muster and pay rolls that record James Callin as a private in the 4th Virginia Regiment of Foot. We have been assuming this is the same man as “James 1st” - but until we learn more, it is only an assumption. In the years since, I have gone over the same ground several times, hoping that new records will be digitized and released on Ancestry or Fold3. Here is a distillation of what we know:

The Facts

James Callin¹ and a man named Edward Callin both enlisted for 3-year terms in the Virginia 4th on 19 September 1777 - eight days after the Battle of Brandywine, which took place on 11 September. Edward enlisted in the company commanded by Capt. John Stith in September and October, and then both men appeared in Capt. James Lucas’s company after that. Edward could be the brother “John” referred to above, or a different person from John.

The muster rolls put James and Edward in the 4th VA Regt. until May 1778, when Edward is “Claimed by another company” - and there are a couple of records in the US, Pennsylvania Veterans Card Files, 1775-1916 that show Edward Callin served in the 6th Pennsylvania Regiment in 1781.

That timeline puts both men in the Battle of Germantown on 4 October 1777 - and you can see the order of battle that shows their unit, commanded by Col. Robert Lawson, under the 4th Virginia Brigade, commanded by Brigadier General Charles Scott. The Virginia Regiments were in the left wing of the attack; the 6th Pennsylvania Regiment under Lt. Colonel Josiah Harmar was in the right wing. Both Regiments spent the winter of 1777-1778 in Camp Valley Forge, and James and Edward were both recorded in the muster rolls as being present with the 4th VA there in Mar 1778.

After Edward left the 4th Virginia, James was recorded as “sick Prest.” in June 1778, but otherwise present through November. He was almost certainly involved in the Battle of Monmouth on 28 June 1778 - which gives me an excuse to post this clip from Hamilton:

In December 1778, James was listed as “On furlough” - a formal leave from military service granted by a commanding officer. What I find interesting is that he is just “On furlough” from December through March 1779. Staring in April he is listed as “On furlough in Virginia” followed by two months that say “on furlough 15 April” and finally, in July, “on furlough Virga; supposed to be on commd to the southward.”

From August 1779 through the last record I have, dated 9 December 1779, James is listed as being “with Genl. Scott” or “supposed to be with Genl. Scott.”

Interpretations

We may be assuming that James Callin, private in the 4th Virginia, is the same person as James “1st” Callin in the 1911 Callin Family History, but there are many clues that can be drawn from these records to support that assumption. They are also clues that suggest where I can look for more facts and records, and they can help me put my ancestor’s service into context with the history of more notable figures. However, until I find conclusive records, everything I am about to say is pure speculation.

Let’s compare what we know from the records to what George gives us in his history:

Fact Check: Lafayette at the Battle of Brandywine

Lafayette was not in a command role at the Battle of Brandywine, and the brothers did not enlist until a week after that battle. This contradicts George’s statement that the brothers “fought under Lafayette at the battle of Brandywine,” but the records do place James and Edward in Camp Valley Forge in 1778 - and by that time, General Washington had given the impressive Frenchman a command that included their unit.

The old Valley Forge Legacy website shows that Major General Lafayette’s Division included General Scott’s 4th VA Brigade (which included the 4th VA Regiment) and this map from that website shows their proximity to Lafayette’s quarters in the lower left corner:

An Encampment map from the old Valley Forge Legacy website

Fact Check: The Marriage of James Callin

The other major fact that George asserts in his paragraph about James 1st is that James married “about the year 1778.” Coincidentally, James began a three-month furlough in December 1778. Did he get married during those three months? It’s hard to say without a marriage record, but it seems likely. I just need to find a marriage record. (There was nothing in Westmoreland County, PA.)

Fact Check: Westmoreland County, PA

George stated: “These brothers settled on government land in Westmoreland Co. in Western Penn., where they remained the remainder of their lives, John sharing the home of James…” I have learned over the years that this is less informative than it appears at first glance. Joan and I have reached out separately to the National Archives, local genealogical societies, and county records repositories requesting records to support this without finding anything conclusive. There are no land grants for men named Callin in Westmoreland County - at least not the Westmoreland County that exists today.

Much of the territory of what was called Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, before the Revolutionary War was also claimed by Virginia. I believe James may have lived in the “lost county” of Yohogania. There is a tax record from 1773 that lists James Callin in Hempfield Township, Bedford County, PA, and that territory was within the boundaries claimed by Yohogania County in 1776. Since James enlisted in a Virginia regiment, he may have considered himself a Virginian rather than a Pennsylvanian and registered any major life events at the Yohogania County courthouse near modern-day Jefferson Hills, Pennsylvania.

Virginia and Pennsylvania resolved their dispute in 1779. Their agreement was ratified by the legislatures of both states in 1780. It stands to reason that the records I need might have been filed in one of the counties that no longer exist - and until we find them, we are stuck drawing conclusions from the outlines of missing information.

What Next?

Since I try to keep these posts focused and under 1,500 words, this topic has turned into a series. Next week, I’ll talk about Edward and the evidence that hints at his likely career, and then we’ll come back to James the week after and sketch out a few of my theories on where to look next.

1. The names are spelled in various ways from month to month - Callan, Callen, and Callin are all used at least a few times each, for both men.