What happened to Charles McFadden

 The McFadden family is giving me plenty of mysteries to look into. My great grandfather, Dennis McFadden (1842-1924) came from Ireland as best I can estimate sometime in the 1850s and settled in Ohio.

The 1860 US census for Clinton Township, Vinton County, Ohio shows him in the likely home of his parents Edward and Alice McFadden. Also in the home is his brother John and two boarders.

In the 1870 US census Edward and Alice are still in Vinton County with a boarder listed on the following page. John was killed in the Civil War at the battle of Mission Ridge in Tennessee on Nov 25, 1863.

Dennis has not been located in the 1870 census. 

John's parents applied for his Civil War pension. In her statement, Margaret Ferry states that she is the daughter of Edward and Alice McFadden and is the wife of Manus Ferry. 

She says that she is the their only daughter and that she has three brothers. 

   Charles, John & Dennis

 – Charles went to Utah

before the war of 1861, not-heard from

 him for over 12 years & we suppose he

is dead. Dennis is living but away

from home since before the war of 1861.

and did not since contribute any

support to Father and Mother –John

was a good boy & man to provide for

and help Father and Mother, he contributed 

to their support by his labor

and earnings before the war. and lived

with them until he enlisted into the 

service in which he was killed 

Alice McFadden also made a statement, and it is virtually the same as Margaret's except she added regarding Charles that she has not heard from him since he left when he was with army going to Utah. 

It sounds like Charles may have either just left  or he enlisted in the army and his unit headed off to Utah in 1861.  

So far, I have not found a good candidate for either option.

______________________________

Compiled service record, John McFadden, Pvt., Co. K, 36th Reg, Ohio 2; Carded Records, Volunteer Organizations, Civil War; Records of the adjutant General’s Office, 1780s-1917, Record Group 94; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Edward Mcfadden & Alice Collum

Working on my maternal great great grandparents Edward McFadden (1805-1887) and Alice Collum (1805-1886)[1].  They first appear in the US on the 1860 census in Clinton, Vinton County, Ohio[2]. According to this they were both born about 1804 or 1805. In the household are their sons John, age 18 and Dennis, age 16. There are also two other men who are likely boarders, Peter McCandre, 30 and William Ocallaghan, 38.

They next appear in the 1870 US census[3]. They still reside in Clinton, Ohio and are both listed as being 65 and there is no one else in the household.

On November 25^th 1863 John was killed in the Battle of Mission Ridge in Chattanooga, Tennessee. In 1875 Edward and Alice applied for John’s pension[4]. The pension file for John has a lot of good information about the McFadden family.

One bit of information it provided were death dates for Edward and Alice. 

According to information provided to the pension board, Alice died on 17 January 1886.

I hereby report that the name of Alice McFadden, who was a pensioner...was last
paid $8.00 to Dec. 4, 1885, has been dropped because of information that pensioner
died January 17, 1886.

 On December 4, 1887 Edward last received the pension. The notice that Edward was dropped from the role for failure to claim the pension was dated February 12, 1891. It is very likely that he died sometime between 1887 and 1891.

I hereby report that the name of Edward McFadden, who was a pensioner...
and who was last paid at $12.00 to Dec 4, 1887 has been dropped because of
failure to claim pension.

So far I have been unable to locate any additional information on where they are buried or if there was a will or probate file for them. 

I contacted the Catholic Diocese of Columbus and they searched the parish records in Vinton County-Wilkesville St. Mary, Minerton St. Mary, Zeleski St. Sylvester and Jackson Holy Trinity in Jackson County, Ohio since Vinton residents occassionally attended during that time period.

Next steps:

Check area newspapers between 1886 and 1891

Pay a visit or hire someone local to visit the courthouse

Manually search the Vinton County census for 1880

Check any tax records for that period

---

 [1] Allegheny Co., PA, death certificate no. 11973 (1924), Dennis C. McFadden.

[2] 1860 U.S. census, Vinton County, Ohio, population schedule, Clinton Township, p. 63 (penned), dwelling 453, family 441, Dennis McFadden; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 5 February 2013); citing National Archives Microfilm publication M635 roll 1046.

[3] 1870 U.S. census, Vinton County, Ohio, population schedule, Clinton Township, p. 12 (penned), dwelling 89, family 89, Edward McFadden; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com) : accessed 5 February 2013); citing National Archives Microfilm publication M593, roll 1276.

[4] Compiled service record, John McFadden, Pvt., Co. K, 36^th Ohio Volunteer Infantry; Carded Records, Volunteer Organizations, Civil War; Records of the adjutant General’s Office, 1780s-1917, Record Group 94; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

New McFadden mystery: Charles McFadden

Margaret McFadden (abt 1840-1905) listed the family members in her statement to her parents (Edward (abt 1804-1887) and Alice Collum  (abt 1804-1886) McFadden) application for John McFadden’s (abt 1842-1863) Civil War pension application that they had another brother, Charles (?-?), that I was unaware of. 

Margaret McFadden applicant, sister of John McFadden, late (?) Co. K, 36^th Reg, Ohio 2. Deceased. That she has lived near her father since I was married over 12 years. I am his only daughter (applicants). There was three of my brothers, Charles, John & Dennis (abt. 1847-1924). Charles went to Utah before the war of 1861 – not heard from him for over 12 years & we suppose he is dead. Dennis is living but away from home since before the war of 1861 and did not since contribute any support to father and mother. John was a good boy & man to provide for and help father and mother, he contributed to their support by his labor and earnings before the war and lived with them until he enlisted into the service which he was killed.

Alice Collum McFadden, John’s mother stated essentially the same thing. The one thing she added was that Charles was in the army when he left.

…Dennis, John and Margaret; (?) Charles left before the late rebellion, went to Utah, I have not heard from him since he left when he was with army going to Utah. I suppose him dead…

 So far I have not found anything to indicate if Charles enlisted or if any Ohio units went to Utah before 1861. I have also not found any leads on a Charles McFadden in Utah during and after the Civil War. Right now, this is the only mention of him I have found and I am not sure of the best way to proceed. Unfortunately, this pension file also mentions that the McFadden’s house burned and with it pictures and letters from John and likely information on the rest of the family.

Compiled service record, John McFadden, Pvt., Co. K, 36th Reg, Ohio 2; Carded Records, Volunteer Organizations, Civil War; Records of the adjutant General’s Office, 1780s-1917, Record Group 94; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Dennis Mcfadden 1865-1886: The Missing Years

About three or four years ago I submitted a request to the NARA for my great grandfather Dennis Cornelius McFadden’s (1847-1924) Civil War pension application file. A couple of months later I received a reply stating that they did not have the file.

Next I submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the Veterans Administration for the pension file. A little later I received a reply that they did not have it at their location and would forward the request to another office. A while after that I received another letter saying the same thing, and then again.

I had given up hope of getting the file but then one day almost three years later it showed up in my mailbox. I was thrilled to finally have it and it has helped fill in a few gaps

Shortly after turning 18 Dennis enlisted in the United States Army in Portsmouth, Ohio on 18 July 1863.[1]  He was paid $25.00 out of a promised total of $100.00 for joining the army. He served as a private in the First Ohio Heavy Artillery, Company E.[2]  Between 14 December 1863 until February 1864 Dennis was absent with leave.[3]  His military pension file does not address this absence so it’s still a mystery[4].

Dennis mustered out of the army on 25 July 1865 at Knoxville, Tennessee.  It is currently unknown where he went and what he did immediately after the war.  According to the Declaration for Pension[5] after his service he moved to Vinton County, Ohio. Then in 1867 he moved to Washington County, Pennsylvania and remained there up to 1900.

The next time Dennis appears in the public record is 1 February 1886 in his Application and Statement of Marriage to Lizzie (Elizabeth) Neuland.  At this time both are residents of Coal Center, Washington County, Pennsylvania.[6]

So far I have been unable to locate Dennis after leaving the service and up to his marriage in 1886. I have sent a research request for the Catholic diocese for the area and am hoping they will have something in their files concerning Dennis. After that, I hopefully will be able to visit Vinton County, Ohio and Washington County, Pennsylvania and do some research there.

---

[1] Compiled service record, Dennis McFadden, Pvt., Co. E, Ohio First Heavy Artillery; Carded Records, Volunteer Organizations, Civil War; Records of the adjutant General’s Office, 1780s-1917, Record Group 94; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Dennis C. McFadden (Pvt., Co. E, 1^st Ohio Heavy Artillery., Civil War) pension no. X.C. 956,627, certificate no. 1095,474; service of Dennis McFadden; Case Files of Pension Applications…, 1905-1949; Civil War Pension Files; Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

[5] Dennis C. McFadden Civil War Pension no. X.C. 956,627, NA-Washington.

[6] “Pennsylvania, County Marriages, 1885-1950” index and images, Family Search (https://familysearch.org/pal/MM9.1.1/VF34-RCD : accessed 8 February 2013), Dennis McFadden and Lizzie Newland, 1886.