LONGWELL-L Archives

From: "Charles Dimsha" <>
Subject: [LONGWELL] Elinor Burnett's work, parts four, five, six, and seven
Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2000 17:49:07 -0700

(Page Sixteen)


MATTHEW and ELIZABETH (ORR) LONGWELL




Matthew Longwell was born 23 November 1782 in Cumberland
County, Pennsylvania. He was the oldest child of WILLIAM and
RACHEL LONGWELL. He had nine brothers and three sisters.

His father, WILLIAM LONGWELL was a Revolutionary War soldier and had
fought in the battles at Germantown, Monmouth and Stony Point.

MATTHEW LONGWELL, like his father, was a farmer.

ELIZABETH ORR was born 4 March 1785. She was the daughter of
JOHN and CATHERINE ORR. Her parents entered this country at
Philadelphia and settled in Paoli, Chester County,
Pennsylvania around 1780. They later moved to Mifflin County
around 1790 and lived in Armagh Township.

ELIZABETH ORR is known to have had four brothers, however, there has
been no research done on her parents, so it is. possible that there
were other children in the family.

The following chronological list starts with the year MATTHEW LONGWELL
and ELIZABETH ORR were married.

1803 MATTHEW and ELIZABETH LONGWELL were united in
marriage 5 July 1803 in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania.

1804 Their first child, Catherine Longwell, was born on
4 April 1804.

1806 On 3 June 1806, their second child, Thomas Longwell, was born.

1808 On 16 April 1808, their third child, Jane Eliza Longwell, was
born.

1810 On 20 May 1810, their fourth child, John Longwell, was born.

The Federal census for 1810 shows that MATTHEW and
ELIZABETH LONGWELL were living in Armagh Township in
Miff lin County, Pennsylvania and that they had two
sons and two daughters under the age of 10.

The census shows they possess the following goods:

10 yards woolen cloth
20 pounds flaxen



(Page Seventeen)


1 spinning wheel
5 common sheep
2 cows

1813 On 4 March 1813, their fifth child, Rachel Longwell, was born.

1815 On 3 April 1815, their sixth child, Mary Longwell, was born.

1817 On 11 February 1817, their seventh child, ROBERT HAMILTON
LONGWELL, was born.

ROBERT HAMILTON LONGWELL is our direct line of descent.

1818 On 14 December 1818, their eighth child, Sarah
Elizabeth Longwell, was born.

1820 On 3 January 1820, their ninth child, James Ebenezer Longwell,
was born.

The census for that year list two sons under the age of 10, one son
between the ages of 10-16, four daughters under the age of 10 and one
daughter between the age of 10-16.

The census also stated that there are two males engaged in
agriculture, which would be MATTHEW and his oldest son, Thomas. The
census shows that MATTHEW LONGWELL's parents, WILLIAM and RACHEL
LONGWELL, lived on one side of them and that ELIZABETH's parents, JOHN
and CATHERINE ORR, lived on the other side of them.

1822 On 7 December 1822, their tenth child, Ellen Lavina Longwell, was
born.

1824 On 21 December 1824, their eleventh child, Matthew Alexander
Longwell, was born.

1825 Matthew Alexander Longwell died on 10 June 1825. He was six
months old when he died.

1827 On 21 August 1827, their twelfth child, Matthew
Valentine Walker Longwell, was born. (In later years
he uses Walker as his first name.)

1830 The census for this year shows MATTHEW and ELIZABETH still living
in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. They list five children at home. One
son was between the ages of 5-10, one son was between the ages of
10-16, one son between the ages of 15-20, one daughter

(Page Eighteen)


between the ages of 5-10, one daughter between ages of 15-20. MATTHEW
and ELIZABETH LONGWELL both state that they were between the ages of
40-50.

1836 to 1838 Sometime between 1836 and 1838, MATTHEW LONGWELL
moved his family to Perry Township in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania.

ROBERT HAMILTON LONGWELL, married his first wife
Sarah A -------- during these years, either in
Mifflin County or Armstrong County. The exact date
is not known as no record has been found.

1839 MATTHEW and ELIZABETH LONGWELL's daughter-in-law,
SARAH A. LONGWELL, died. Her date of death was 30
October 1839. She was the wife of their son ROBERT
HAMILTON LONGWELL.

1840 The Federal census of 1840 listed MATTHEW and ELIZABETH LONGWELL
as having four children still at home. One son between 10-15 years of
age, one son and one daughter between 15-20 and another daughter
between 20-30. MATTHEW and ELIZABETH give their age as being between
50-60.

Around this time, the part of Armstrong County where MATTHEW LONGWELL
and his family lived was taken in to create a new County called
Clarion. From this point on, the family was listed as living in
Clarion County, Pennsylvania.

1846 On 8 January 1846, MATTHEW and ELIZABETH LONGWELL's daughter,
Mary Longwell Bell, died.

1848 ELIZABETH ORR LONGWELL died on 1 June 1848. She was
63 years, 2 months, and 27 days old at the time of her death. She was
buried at the Concord Cemetery, in Clarion County, Perry Township,
Pennsylvania. (See Reference # 21, pages 137-138.)

MATTHEW LONGWELL was 66 years old when his wife, ELIZABETH, died.

Walker Longwell, the youngest son of MATTHEW and ELIZABETH, was still
living at home at the time of his mothers death.

1850 Walker Longwell married around 1850-51 and MATTHEW
LONGWELL lived with Walker and his family in Clarion
County.


(Page Nineteen)



1855 MATTHEW LONGWELL's son, ROBERT H. LONGWELL, (our
direct line) moved from Clarion County to Wells
County, Indiana where several Longwell relatives had
located.

1869 MATTHEW LONGWELL's daughter, Sarah Elizabeth Miller died.

1871 MATTHEW LONGWELL's daughter, Jane Elizabeth Orr
died.

1875 MATTHEW LONGWELL's daughter, Rachel Close, died 30 December 1875.

1880 The Federal census for Clarion County, Pennsylvania listed
MATTHEW LONGWELL as living with his son Walker and his family.

MATTHEW LONGWELL stated that he was 97 years old and was born in
Pennsylvania. He also states that his father and mother were also born
in Pennsylvania. His father, WILLIAM LONGWELL, was actually born in
Cecil County, Maryland, but the part of Cecil County where his father
was born had become part of Chester County in Pennsylvania after the
land disputes were settled. Therefore, it would have been considered
Pennsylvania.

MATTHEW LONGWELL also stated on the census that he
was a retired farmer.

1881 MATTHEW LONGWELL's son, Thomas Longwell, died.

1883 MATTHEW LONGWELL died 29 September 1883. He was 100 years, 9
months, and 6 days old at the time of his death. The only mention of
his death in the local newspaper is as follows:

Clarion Democrat
Thursday - October 4, 1883

'Penny Notes'

Matthew Longwell, the oldest resident of this township, was buried
last Sunday. He was one hundred years and about ten months old.


He was buried in the Concord Cemetery in Perry Township, Clarion
County, Pennsylvania beside his wife ELIZABETH.

He lived 35 years after the death of his wife and outlived six of his
children and numerous grandchildren.


(Page Twenty)



Children and Descendants
of

MATTHEW LONGWELL
and
ELIZABETH ORR




1. Catherine Longwell married Adam Close. Their known children were:

1. Harriet Close
2. James Close

2. Thomas Longwell married Sarah Beamer. Their known children were:

1. Elizabeth J. Longwell
2. Christian B. Longwell
3. John S. Longwell married Sarah Henderson
4. Rachel S. Longwell married Rev. Mathias Shirley
5. Sarah E. Longwell
6. Cordelia Longwell


23. Jane Eliza Longwell married John Orr. Their known children were:

1. Sarah Orr
2. Eleanor Orr
3. Alice Orr
4. Margaret Orr
5 -------- Orr (son)

4. John Longwell - martial status is not known.

5. Rachel Longwell married -------- Close. Their children are
unknown.


6. Mary Longwell married William Bell. Their known children were:

1. Martha Bell
2. John Bell


7. ROBERT HAMILTON LONGWELL married MARY DAVIS. They had eight
children. They were:

1. John Longwell died in infancy.


(Page 21)


2. Elizabeth Longwell died at age 22 years.
3. Joseph W. Longwell married Martha ----------
4. Sarah A. Longwell married Charles Clifton
5. Matthew Longwell died in infancy.
6. Wesley K. Longwell died at age 3 years.
7. Robert Hamilton Longwell married Ella Taylor
8. ELMER OLIVER DAVIS LONGWELL married NANCY CATHERINE MUNN


8. Sarah Elizabeth Longwell married Benjamin Miller. Their known
children were:

1. Margaret Miller
2. Mary Miller
3. William Miller
4. Rachel Miller


9. James Ebenezer Longwell married Ellen ---------- Their known
children were:

1. Robert Longwell
2. Matthew Longwell
3. James E. Longwell
4. Elza Jane Longwell


10. Ellen Lavina Longwell married James Gibbs. Their children are
unknown.


11. Matthew Alexander Longwell died at 6 months of age.

12. Matthew Valentine Walker Longwell married Samatha Aikman McKibben.
They had 12 children. They were:

1. Winfield Scott Longwell married Mary Elizabeth Elliott
2. Minerva Jane Longwell died at 8 years of age.
3. James McKibben Longwell died at 10 months of age
4. William Mifflin Longwell died at 3 years of age.
5. Son, name unknown, died at 1 month of age.
6. Thomas McKibben Longwell died at 1 year of age.
7. John Valentine Longwell died at 13 years of age.
8. Elmer Elsworth Longwell married Jenny V. Fair
9. Louella Longwell married Peter Smile Snyder
10. Samuel Kinkade Longwell died at 6 years of age.
11. Mary Emma Longwell died at 1 year of age.
12. .Emery Leason Longwell died at 1 year of age.

NOTE: Many of the grandchildren of MATTHEW and ELIZABETH LONGWELL died
either in infancy or early childhood.


(Page 22)



Research would indicate these deaths were probably due to cholera or
scarlet fever epidemics since three of their grandchildren died within
days of each other in 1862 and two died within a two month period in
1875.

Since the family mentioned above is a collateral line and not our
direct line research is incomplete at this time.


(Page 23)


ROBERT HAMILTON and MARY (DAVIS) LONGWELL



ROBERT HAMILTON ·LONGWELL was born 11 February 1817, in
Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. He was the seventh child of
MATTHEW and ELIZABETH LONGWELL. He had five brothers and six
sisters.

ROBERT HAMILTON LONGWELL was married twice. His first wife was Sarah
A ------ Her last name is unknown. They were marriei around
1837-38. As far as can be ascertained there were no children born to
this union. Sarah Longwell died 30 October 1839. Details of her death
are not known.


MARY DAVIS was born 17 February 1818. Her parents and her place of
birth are not known as yet.

MARY DAVIS was the second wife of ROBERT HAMILTON LONGWELL.
They were married around 1840-41.The exact date is unknown,
There is speculation that MARY was the sister of ROBERT's
first wife, Sarah, but there is no definite proof of this
There has not been any research done on the DAVIS family.

ROBERT HAMILTON LONGWELL was a 'cooper' by trade. A cooper
being one who makes barrels and casks.

The following chronological list is what little is known of ROBERT and
MARY LONGWELL.

1836 Around 1836 ROBERT H. LONGWELL's parents MATTHEW and ELIZABETH
LONGWELL moved to Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. ROBERT H. LONGWELL
was about 19 or 20 years old. It is believed that ROBERT married both
his first wife, Sarah, as well as his second wife,

(Page 24)


MARY DAVIS, in Armstrong County. However, by 1840, the part of
Armstrong County where the LONGWELLS lived was taken in to create a
new county, Clarion, so it has been difficult to locate marriage
records for that time period.

1840 ROBERT HAMILTON LONGWELL cannot be found in the 1840 Federal
census. Have reason to believe that he is probably counted as being a
member of the DAVIS household and would not be listed as head of a
household.

1841 ROBERT HAMILTON LONGWELL and MARY DAVIS were married either the
latter part of 1840 or the first part of
1841.

1842 On 6 December 1842, their first child, John Longwell, was born.

1843 On 11 January 1843, their first child, John, died at the age of
one month.

On 29 October 1843, their second child, Elizabeth Longwell, was born.

1846 On 31 January 1846, their third child, Joseph W. Longwell, was
born.

1848 On 5 August 1848, their fourth child, Sarah Longwell, was born.

1850 The Federal Census for Clarion County, Pennsylvania in 1850 shows
ROBERT H. LONGWELL and his wife, MARY LONGWELL as living in Perry
Township. The children were listed as Elizabeth, age 6, Joseph, age 4,
and Sarah, age 1.

1851 On 2 February 1851, their fifth child, Matthew
Longwell, was born. This child died 9 March 1851 at the age of one
month.

1852 On January 11, 1852, their sixth child, Wesley K. Longwell, was
born.

1853 to 1854 ROBERTHAMILTON LONGWELL moved his family from Clarion
County, Pennsylvania, to Bluffton, Wells County, Indiana, sometime
between the years 1853-54.

1855 On 4 January 1855, MARY LONGWELL gave birth to their seventh
child, Robert Hamilton Longwell. Thirteen days after the birth of this
child, ROBERT and MARY's son, Wesley K. Longwell, died at the age of
3.

(Page 25)


1858 On 11 March 1858, their eighth child, ELMER OLIVER DAVIS
LONGWELL, was born. (Our direct line.)


1860 In the 1860 Federal census for Bluffton, Wells County, Indiana,
it lists ROBERT and MARY LONGWELL.He was listed as being 43 years of
age and she was listed as being 42 years of age. They stated that they
were both born in Pennsylvania.

Their children were listed as:
Elizabeth - age 16
Joseph - age 14
Sarah Ann - age 11
Robert H. - age 4
Elmer Oliver - age 2

They stated that their children Elizabeth, Joseph and Sarah Ann were
born in Pennsylvania and that their other two children, Robert H., and
ELMER OLIVER, were born in Indiana.

ROBERT HAMILTON LONGWELL stated that his occupation was that of a
cooper. He owned no real estate and his personal property value was
listed as $251.00.

1865 On 29 August 1865, ROBERT and MARY'S daughter, Elizabeth
Longwell, died in Bluffton, Indiana. She
was 22 years old at the time of her death.

ROBERT HAMILTON and MARY LONGWELL resided in Bluff ton, Indiana until
around 1869-70.

Between 1869 - 1871 the family moved to Illinois, probably in 1870 as
they do not appear either on the 1870 Indiana Federal census or the
Illinois Federal census. The only documentation that is available to
prove where they settled when moving to Illinois comes from the
following article found in the 'History of the State of California &
Biographical Record of the Sierras" by Guinn, published in 1906, which
states the following biographical record of persons living in Modoc
County, California.

This article concerns ROBERT H. and MARY LONGWELL's son, also named
Robert Hamilton Longwell, who is the brother of our direct line ELMER
OLIVER LONGWELL.

Robert Hamilton Longwell stated that he has been a resident of Goose
Lake Valley in Modoc County, California, since 1879. He said that he
was born 17 January 1855 in Wells County, Indiana, where he obtained a
limited common-school education. That at age sixteen, his family moved
to Macon County, Illinois where he worked as a farm laborer until


(Page 26)


1879, when he moved to Goose Lake Valley. He stated that he was a
straight forward Republican.

Since the family cannot be found on the census records, the above is
the only indication of where they first settled in Illinois.

1875 On 20 April 1875 MARY (DAVIS) LONGWELL died. It is assumed that
she died in Macon County even through a death record is not on file.

MARY (DAVIS) LONGWELL was 57 years, 2 months, and 3 days old at the
time of her death. It is not known where she is buried.

1880 The Illinois Federal census for 1880 lists ROBERT H. LONGWELL as
residing in Dalton City, Moultrie County, Illinois.

He listed his age as 63. his occupation was listed
as a cooper.

ROBERT HAMILTON LONGWELL and his son, ELMER OLIVER Longwell, age 23
years old, were living with ROBERT'S daughter and her husband, whose
names were Charles and Sarah Clifton.

1882 ROBERT HAMILTON LONGWELL's youngest son, ELMER OLIVER DAVIS
LONGWELL, married NANCY CATHERINE MUNN on the 6th of April 1882.


Charles and Sarah Clifton moved to Mount Zion, Macon County, Illinois
and it is believed that ROBERT H. LONGWELL made his home with them
until his death. The 1890 census records for the country were
destroyed by fire, and there is no record to be certain of this fact.


1896 On 1 April 1896, ROBERT HAMILTON LONGWELL died. He was 79 years,
1 month, and 20 days old at the time of his death. His burial site is
unknown.


(Page 27)



Children and Descendants
of

ROBERT HAMILTON LONGWELL
and
MARY DAVIS



1. John Longwell died in infancy.

2. Elizabeth Longwell died at the age of 22. She is buried in Wells
County, Indiana.

3. Joseph W. Longwell married Martha A. ---------. Their known
children were:

1. William Longwell
2. George Longwell
3. Minnie Longwell
4. Troy Longwell

4. Sarah Ann Longwell married Charles Clifton. Their known children
were:

1. Ada/Eda B. Clifton
2. Orval M. Clifton
3. Francis E. Clifton
4. Benona Clifton
5. Nettie Clifton
6. Stella Clifton
7. Kitty Clifton


5. Matthew Longwell died in infancy

6. Wesley K. Longwell died at age of 3.


7. Robert Hamilton Longwell married Ella Taylor. Their known children
were:

1. Adelbert Longwell
2. Mary Eleanor Longwell
3. Percy Gilbert Longwell

8. ELMER OLIVER DAVIS LONGWELL married NANCY CATHERINE
MUNN. They had 5 children. They were:


(Page 28)



1. Clarence Arthur Longwell died at age 21 by drowning.
2. Beulah May Longwell. married Wesley K. Philbee
3. Guy Hamilton Longwell married Emma Mankel
4. Carl Munn Longwell married Lillian Mallioux
5. BLANCHE IRENE LONGWELL married WILLIAM BURNETT, JR.


------------------

This is the end of Elinor Burnett's narrative about her Longwell
ancestors. The book she sent me also includes many pages of reference
materials. There are a couple good items in there that are not
readily available to the average researcher. Unfortunately, they were
typed in a script font, and my OCR software doesn't read that with
much accuracy. I will go through the material and transcribe the few
items that are out of the ordinary.

Charlie Dimsha

This thread:

• [LONGWELL] Elinor Burnett's work, part 3 by "Charles Dimsha" <>

  • [LONGWELL] Elinor Burnett's work, parts four, five, six, and seven by "Charles Dimsha" <>