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Notes on Nathaniel Carey


Information on Nathaniel Carey comes mainly from early Venango County documents and material sent me 17 May 1997 by the late Ruth R. Heasley (died November 1998). Included in Ruth Heasley’s material was the brochure Breeches, Blankets and Bottles. A Story of an Oil Pioneer Nathaniel Cary, written by Ruth R. Heasley and published in 1983 by the Venango County Historical Society. Some information on the descendants of Nathaniel and Isabella Carey comes from a 14 May 1996 descendant chart by Stephen B. Seiple, Dublin, Ohio, and a GenServ report of William Holder,845 Gilmer, Texas, Name , both received in 1996.


Generation One


1. NATHANIEL1 CAREY; born 18 April 1758 in Mansfield, Toland, Connecticut;846 died May or June 1814847 in what is present–day Cornplanter Township, Venango County, Pennsylvania; married ISABELLA [—?—],848 born circa 1766–1774;849 died between 1814 and 1816 (see the Orphans Court document below). Nathaniel’s parents were Nathaniel and Dorcas Marcy Carey (see later). William Holder reports Nathaniel’s wife as Isabella McClintock; Stephen Seiple suggests Nathaniel’s wife as either Isabella Culbertson or Isabella McClintock. See discussion of this under Isabella McClintock (#24) of “McClintocks.”

Nathaniel Carey and family were enumerated in Venango County in 1800 and 1810.850 Nathaniel’s farm adjoined Hamilton McClintock’s land. The Carey farm eventually became known as the Clapp Farm.851 Hamilton was appointed guardian of one of Nathaniel and Isabella’s children (see below), something one might expect of kin.

From Eaton, J. M. (1876). Venango County, 48 pages, page 13:
The Valley of Oil Creek was settled from 1797 to 1802. Old Cornplanter, the Indian Chief, owned the first tract above the mouth of the Creek. Above him Nathaniel Cary settled in 1800. Next above him was Hamilton McClintock …
Nathaniel Carey, Sr., was a tailor by training.852 Bell (1890), page 349 and 350, comments on Nathaniel Carey collecting oil from oil springs on his property. And this from page 5 (no source given) of Pioneers of Crawford County, Pennsylvania, 1788–1800, edited by Robert D. Ilisevich. Heritage Books, 1985, 47 pages:
NATHANIEL CAREY ––– one of the first settlers in French Creek Valley to be identified with the petroleum industry. Sometime in the 1790’s he and his brother–in–law, Hamilton McClintock, settled near the oil springs at the mouth of Oil Creek, not far from the spot where Colonel E. L. Drake in 1859 made his famous “discovery” of oil. Allegedly Carey and McClintock delivered the oil to the Pittsburgh market. Just how extensive was this early traffic in what was popularly known as “Seneca Oil” is not known. The final inventory at William Wilson’s store in 1797 included several kegs of the substance. Though Carey purchased barrels from Wilson, there is no evidence that he delivered any of the oil to this merchant.
While Nathaniel Carey was among the first to make a commercial use of petroleum, he was preceded by a Pennsylvania German named Tobias Hirte who came from eastern Pennsylvania to gather “Seneca oil” and sell it in the Philadelphia area. His 1792 ad, printed in German, has testimonials as to the effects of the oil on various ailments and states that it is available at locations in Philadelphia, Germantown, Bethlehem, Easton, Reading, Baltimore and other places. Kipling refers to him in REWARDS AND FAIRIES as “Apothecary Tobias Hirte...the famous Seneca Oil man that lived half of every year among the Indians: and adds “He came north every year for the wonderful Seneca Oil the Seneca Indians made for him. They’d never sell to anyone else.”853

The statement “… he [Nathaniel Carey] and his brother–in–law, Hamilton McClintock . . .” would indicate a sister of Hamilton McClintock married Nathaniel Carey. However, as indicated in the McClintock section, Hamilton’s sister Isabella McClintock, assuming the 1814 Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, Orphan’s Court Docket854 is accurate, was not old enough to have been Nathaniel’s wife. Perhaps what was meant was that Hamilton’s wife, Mary (Culbertson) McClintock, had a sister who married Nathaniel Carey. Unfortunately, no Isabella Culbertson, sister of Mary Culbertson McClintock, is known. The records here come mainly from Lewis Culbertson (1923), and perhaps he missed a child of Patrick and Mary (McClintock) Culbertson. Assuming Patrick’s wife Mary Culbertson was deceased by 1790 (Mary apparently was deceased by 1787), and Patrick had not remarried, then one daughter could be missing from Culbertson’s (1923) list of children of Patrick Culbertson—see #3 of “Culbertsons.” The 1790 census for Patrick Culbertson of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, shows 2 males 16 and over, 3 males under 16, and 3 females.855 Note also that Patrick Culbertson was a surety for the estate of Nathaniel Carey. Nathaniel Carey died intestate; letters of administration were granted to Isabella Carey and Samuel Hays on 4 June 1814. Sureties were Patrick Culbertson and John Broadfoot.856

From Venango County Orphans Court, page 14, number 2, 1816:857
The petition of James Carey eldest son [of] Nathaniel Carey.
Sugar Creek Township in said country.
Respectfully showeth
That your Petitioner late further, the said Nathaniel Carey died intestate, seised in his demesne as of fee of and in a certain plantation or tract of lands situated and being in the township aforesaid containing 400 acres be the same more or less adjoining lands of Hamilton McClintock on the North East, by lands on the South West of Seneca Indians that the said Nathaniel Carey at the time of his Death left a widow named Isabella since deceased and six children to wit James your petitioner, Dorcas a minor of age 19 years, Nathaniel a minor of the age of 16 years. John a minor of the age of 14 years, Isabella a minor of the age of 12 and Mary a minor of the age of 5 years.
Your petitioner therefore prays the Court to award an Inquest to divide the said tract of land with appurtenances to and among the children of the said ___? [Intestate ?] of the ____ be done without injury to and spoiling the whole, but if the same cannot be done without injury to and spoiling the whole that a just and considerable apportionment and valuation to be made thereof agreeable to the Acts of Assemble in such case made and provided. and your Petitioner will Pray Etc.
Nov. 7 1816 Inquest answered by the Court. James Carey Writ of Partition or Valuation Issued 18 August 1817. Inquisition held at the house of James Carey in Sugar Creek township, Venango County 23 October AD 1817. Upon their solemn Oaths of affirmation do say that they find the same could not be divided and parted to and among the parties in the said ____ named without prejudice to and spoiling the whole thereof and therefore value and ____ the same at $2.58 %cent [= dollars] per acre amounting to the whole to One thousand thirty–three Dollars.
Two other Venango County Orphans Court documents pertain to Nathaniel Carey’s children:
February 5 1816. In the Petition of Nathaniel Carey a minor above the age of fourteen years. The Court appoints Hamilton McClintock guardian over his person and estate. (See Petition filed).

May 8th 1817. On the Petition of John Carey a minor above the age of fourteen years. The Court appoints John McFate guardian over his person and estate (See Petition Filed).

The John McFate appointed guardian of John Carey was John McFate, born 1768 in Ireland; died 1842. He apparently did not marry. When in Venango County, he lived north of Franklin. John was a son of Joseph and Jane (Culbertson (relation to our Culbertsons yet to be established) McFate and brother of Robert McFate who married Jane Culbertson, daughter of John and Mary (McClintock) Culbertson—see #4 of “Culbertsons” and #12 of “Notes on McFates.” section of The Oil Creek Flemings of Venango County, Pennsylvania, with related families, Volume 2.

Two 1828 quit claims858 in the name of Nathaniel’s estate (to sell land to a Stephen Sutton, with specific mention of Nathaniel’s oil spring) mention five of Nathaniel and Isabella’s six children. Daughters mentioned were “Dorcas Cary now intermarried with Daniel Patterson,” and “Isabella Cary of Sugar Creek, Spinster.” On 31 May 1833, Mary Carey, the sixth child, of Sugarcreek Township, sold her undivided one–sixth part (of) “Nathaniel Carey, deceased, my father” to Stephen Sutton.859

If Nathaniel Carey’s birth year, 1758, is correct, he would have been about 37 when Nathaniel and Isabella’s first known child was born in 1795. There was a Nathaniel Carey enumerated in the 1790 census for Luzerne County, Pennsylvania860—at that time encompassing present–day Luzerne, Susquehanna, Wyoming, and Lackawana Counties. The household’s age structure (1 male 16 or over, 4 males under 16, and 3 females) would rule him out as the Nathaniel of our concern, unless he had two families. It is known that Nathaniel Carey’s parents were Nathaniel and Dorcas Marcy Carey (daughter of Samuel Marcy of Woodstock, Connecticut) of the Mansfield, Connecticut area.861

Children of Nathaniel and Isabella Carey:862

+   2 i. James2 Carey; born 7 January 1795; died 29 November 1862; buried in the old Plumer burial grounds, Cornplanter Township, Venango County; married Ann [—?—].
  3 ii. Dorcas Carey; born circa 1797; married before 1821 Daniel Patterson.
+   4 iii. Nathaniel Carey; born circa 1800; died 25 June 1864; buried in the Franklin Cemetery, Paul McKenzie plot; married Mary (Maryann) Shupe.
+   5 iv. John Carey; born 1 March 1803 in present–day Cornplanter Township, Venango County; died 16 May 1877 in Deer Creek Township Mercer County, Pennsylvania; married Elizabeth Jane Miller.
+   6 v. Isabelle Carey; born circa 1804; married William (Billy) McKissick, born circa 1804.
  7 vi. Mary Carey; born 28 February 1811; died 24 May 1895 in Willis, Washtenaw County, Michigan; married (first) circa 1835 Robert Culbertson, born circa 1812; died 1852.
Their children were
(a) Isabella Culbertson (Mason).
(b) James R. Culbertson
(c) Mary Elizabeth Culbertson (Snodgrass).
(d) Louisa Jane (Willings).
(e) Maria Culbertson (Schoeffler). See #27 of “Culbertsons” for details and sources. After Robert died, Mary married Robert’s brother Samuel Culbertson, born circa 1815; died 1866. Apparently Samuel and Mary did not have children (see #28 of “Culbertsons” for sources).


Generation Two


2. JAMES2 CAREY (Nathaniel1); born 7 January 1795; died 29 November 1862,863 buried in the old Plumer burial grounds, Cornplanter Township, Venango County;864 married ANN [—?—],865 born circa 1788; alive in 1864, re land deed, see under son Hugh.

Children of James and Ann Carey:866

  8 i. Hugh6 Carey; born circa 1823. There was a Clarissa “wife of Hugh Cary; died December 26 1860, age 25y 11m” buried in Plumer Cemetery.867 In 1851, James and Ann Carey sold at least some of their land to son Hugh, with the provision that James and Ann could live in the household for life.868 An 1864 land deed has a Hugh Cary and wife Ester C. (a second wife?) of Cornplanter Township selling land for $18,000 to an oil company.869 Another 1864 deed has Hugh H. Carey of Cornplanter Township leasing land for one dollar to “my mother Ann.”870
  9 ii. Sarah Carey; born circa 1828, “d. ___ 27, 1843, age 14yrs 10m,” buried in Plumer Cemetery.
  10 iii. John Carey; born circa 1829.
  11 iv. Mary Ann Carey; born circa 1831.
  12 v. Eve Carey; born circa 1834.


4. NATHANIEL2 CAREY [JR.] (Nathaniel1). born circa 1800; died 25 June 1864;871 buried in the Franklin Cemetery, Paul McKenzie plot;872 married MARY (MARYANN) SHUPE.873 Nathaniel Carey [Jr.], was active as an administrator and listed as a witness in several early wills and intestate documents for people with apparently no relationship to him.874
 
Child of Nathaniel and Mary (Shupe) Carey:

+   13 i. George3 Carey; born 17 April 1824; died 1898 in Venango County; married Mary Shugert.


5. JOHN2 CAREY (Nathaniel1); born 1 March 1803 in present–day Cornplanter Township, Venango County; died 16 May 1877 in Deer Creek Township Mercer County, Pennsylvania; married ELIZABETH JANE MILLER, born 4 March 1812 in Venango County; died 25 February 1882 in Frenchcreek Township, Venango County Pennsylvania. Both John and Elizabeth are buried in Fairfield Cemetery, Sandy Creek Township, Mercer County, Pennsylvania.875 A John Crary (sic?), age 20, was reported as a member of Venango Guards in the 1823 Muster Roll.876

Children of John and Elizabeth Jane (Miller) Carey:877 :

  14 i. Louisa3 Jane Carey; born 1830; married 28 September 1859 James [—?—].
+   15 ii. Ebenezer Miller Carey; born 1830; married 28 September 1859 James [—?—].
+   16 iii. Nathaniel Culbertson Carey; born 31 March 1835; died 1 January 1921; married 5 January 1859 Mary Elizabeth Uber.
  17 iv. William Carey; born 1836.
  18 v. Joseph Carey; born 1841.
  19 vi. Susanna Matilda Carey; born 1843
  20 vii. John Harvey Carey; born 11 February 1849; married Harriet Ross.
  21 viii. Martha Ellen Carey; born 1851; died 29 March 1903; married 25 March 1869 G. A. Barnes.
  22 ix. Elias Carey; born 1854.


6. ISABELLE2 CAREY (Nathaniel1); born circa 1804; married WILLIAM MCKISSICK, born circa 1804.878

William (Billy) McKissick was a son of John and Isabelle (McFate) McKissick,879 #49 of “Notes on McFates” section of The Oil Creek Flemings of Venango County, Pennsylvania, with related families, Volume 2. Isabelle was a sister–in–law to Jane Culbertson who married Robert McFate, see #12 of “Notes on McFates.” Isabella Carey McKissick “joined the Plumer U. P. Church on June 28, 1861, coming from the Fairfield congregation in Crawford County.”880 In 1850 the family was living in Mercer County, Pennsylvania.881

Children of William and Isabelle (Carey) McKissick:

+   23 i. Mary3 J McKissick; born 10 February 1833; died 28 February 1862; married George Frederick Mallard.
+   24 ii. Belle McKissick; born 1835; died 1911; buried in New Lebanon, Pennsylvania; married 7 April 1859 Abraham Blatt.
  25 iii. John Mckissick; born circa 1837.
  26 iv. Nathaiel McKissick; born circa 1838; died May 1850 in Mill Creek Township, Mercer County.
  27 v. Elizabeth McKissick(; born circa 1840 in Cornplanter Township, Venango County; died 23 May 1896; buried in Plumer Cemetery, Cornplanter Township.
  28 vi. Sarah McKissick; born circa 1842
  29 vii. Susan McKissick; born circa 1846
  30 viii. James McKissick; born circa 1848.


Generation Three


13. GEORGE3 W. CAREY (Nathaniel2, Nathaniel1),882; born 17 April 1824;883 died 1898 in Venango County;884 married MARY SHUGERT,885 born circa 1827.886

George was a physician. This from Bell (1890), page 200:
G. W. Cary, of East Sandy [Cranberry Township, Venango County], was born Franklin 17 April 1824, son of Nathaniel Cary, a pioneer of this county. His professional training was obtained at Cleveland Medical College, graduating in 1847. He located in East Sandy in 1849 and has enjoyed an extensive practice. Mrs. Cary is a daughter of John W. Shugert.

In 1870 and 1880, the family was enumerated in Cranberry Township, Venango County, where George W. was listed as a physician.887

Children of George W. and Mary (Shugert) Carey:888

+   31 i. Eva4 J. Carey; born circa 1851; married Robert Stewart.
  32 ii. Catherine F. Carey; born circa 1853.
  33 iii. John W. S. Carey; born circa 1855.
  34 iv. Zelia H. Carey; born circa 1857.
  35 v. George S. Carey; born circa 1858.
  36 vi. Annetta Carey; born circa 1860.
  37 vii. Mary E. Carey; born circa 1861.
  38 viii. Elizabeth Carey; born circa 1864.
  39 ix. Sarah J. Carey; born circa 1865.
  40 x. William E. (or C.) Carey; born circa 1867.


15. EBENEZER3 CAREY.(John2, Nathaniel1). born circa 1800; died 25 June 1864;871; born 1832; married MARGARET BROWN.889

Child of Ebenezer and Margaret (Brown) Carey:

  41 i. Clarence3 Carey; born 28 March 1858; died 25 January 1932; married 16 November 1891 Myrtle May Deemer.


16. NATHANIEL3 CULBERTSON CAREY (Nathaniel1) (John2, Nathaniel1); born 31 March 1835; died 1 January 1921; married 5 January 1859 MARY ELIZABETH UBER, born 16 February 1836; died 26 January 1913.890

Children of Nathaniel and Mary (Uber) Carey: :

  42 i. Frances4 Clementine Carey; born 5 April 1860; died circa 1940; married 10 June 1890 James (Will) Dickson, born 1863.
  43 ii. John Alexander Carey; born 21 March 1862; died 27 April 1918 in Deer Creek Township, Mercer County; married 3 June 1891 Mary Isabella McKissick Mallard (#48), born 4 October 1860; died 11 March 1938.
  44 iii. James Hutchinson Carey; born 18 June 1863; died 14 May 1935; married 21 January 1891 Stella Albert Caldwell of Mercer, Pennsylvania, born 8 August 1868; died 22 April 1930. One of their sons was Oliver Glenn (O. G.) Carey, born 19 August 1905; died 28 February 1988; married 6 August 1928 Grace Maree (Sally) Partridge, born 8 December 1906; died 29 September 1990; one of the daughters of O. G. and Grace (Partridge) Carey was Gail Carey; married Aldelbert Henry (Del) Seiple, and one of their children was Stephen Bradley Seiple; married 18 June 1983 Lyn Jessica Downing. Stephen Seiple of Dublin, Ohio, was a major source for the Carey information.
  45 iv. Charles Nathaniel Carey; born 15 October 1870; died 30 November 1949; married 20 November 1895 Carrie Effie Neyman, born 8 October 1870; died 27 December 1943.
  46 v. Mary Ann "Maude" Carey; born 29 January 1876; died 1958; married 1 September 1897 Lewis M. Coleman, born 1876; died 1950.891


23. MARY2 J. MCKISSICK (Isabelle2, Nathaniel1); born 10 February 1833; died 28 February 1862; married GEORGE FREDERICK MALLARD, born 8 March 1822 in France; died 2 February 1891 in Meadville, Pennsylvania.892

Children of George and Mary (McKissick) Mallard: :

  47 i. Joseph3 Mallard; born 1855; died 20 October 1932 in Wayne Township, Crawford County; married Sarah Jane Ducray, born 1854; died 7 April 1935 in Meadville..
  48 ii. Alexander Mallard; born 1858; died 3 February 1942 in Randolph Township, Crawford County.
  49 iii. Mary Isabelle Mallard; born 4 October 1860; died 11 March 1938 in Deer Creek Township, Mercer County; married (first) [—?—] Mallard; married (second) 3 June 1891 John Alexander Carey, born 21 March 1862; died 27 April 1918 in Deer Creek Township, Mercer County. John was a son of Nathaniel and Mary (Uber) Carey, see #43. No information on children.

NOTE: The 1860 federal census for Wayne Township, Crawford County, Pennsylvania (page 1175), differs significantly from McFate et al. (1982) and leads to a alternate interpretation of the Mallard family: The census reports G. Mallard, age 60 (born circa 1800 in France) and wife Mary, age 61 (born 1799). They would be too old to be the George Frederick Mallard who married Mary J. McKissick. Instead they would be the parents of George Frederick Mallard, born 1833, who married Mary McKissick, born 1836. The census report was written as follows:
Mallard, G., age 60 [born circa 1800], born in France, Farmer.
Mary, age 61 [circa 1799], born in France.
Tr_??, age 36 (male) [born circa 1824], born in France.
Mallard, G., age 27 [born 1833], born in France, Farmer.
Mary, age 24 [born 1836], born in Pennsylvania.
Joseph, age 5, [born 1855], born in Pennsylvania.

The interpretation is that 1800 George and Mary Mallard had a son George Mallard who married our Mary McKissick and had son Joseph. The confusion is due to the census taker not indicating relationships of those listed.



24. BELLE3 MCKISSICK (Isabelle2, Nathaniel1); born 1835; died 1911; buried in New Lebanon, Pennsylvania; married 7 April 1859 ABRAHAM BLATT, born 14 July 1833; died 22 December 1917; buried in New Lebanon, Mill Creek Township, Mercer County, Pennsylvania. Abraham was an undertaker in New Lebanon.893

Children of Abraham and Belle (McKissick) Blatt: :

  50 i. Eva3 A. Blatt; born 1860; died 1921; buried in New Lebanon; married L. D. Wheeler.
  51 ii. Austra O. Blatt; born August 1861; married Jacob H. Grove, born January 1850. In 1900, Austa and Jacob were living in Duluth, Minnesota.894
  52 iii. William B. Blatt; born May 1868 in Pennsylvania; married Julia [—?—], born October 1869 in Pennsylvania.
Their children in 1900, when they were living in Duluth, Minnesota (all born in Minnesota):895
(a) Beatrice Blatt.
(b) Kirk Blatt, born September 1894.
(c) Bernice Blatt, born May 1896.
  53 iv. Clyde Blatt.


Generation Four


31. EVA4 J. CAREY (George3, Nathaniel3 Nathaniel1), born circa 1851; married ROBERT STEWART,896 born circa 1851; reported as a laborer in 1880, when the family was living in Cranberry Township, Venango County (census page 27D).

Children of Robert and Eva Carey (Stewart) known from the 1880 federal census: :

  54 i. George5 Stewart; born circa 1878.
  NN ii. Laura Stewart; born circa 1879.
  NN iii. Elizabeth Stewart; Another child of Robert and Eva (birth order not known) was Elizabeth Stewart; married G. Lloyd Rumberger. One child of Lloyd and Elizabeth (Stewart) Rumberger was Ruth Rumberger; married Wayne M. Heasley. Ruth Heasley, Director of the Venango County Historical Society, provided valuable information on the Carey family of Venango County. Ruth died in November 1998.


Contents
Acknowledgments
Maps and Venango County Townships
Photographs
Introduction
Generation One
Generation Two
Generation Three
Generation Four
Generation Five
Generation Six
Two other McClintock families
Notes on Nathanial Carey
The Culbertsons
References
End Notes

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Copyright © Canada, by Hugh F. Clifford
2005

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