Week 3 #52Ancestors: Who is Peter Wolfe?

Who is Peter Wolfe? The one thing I know for sure is he isn’t related to the lead vocalist of the J. Geils Band – inside joke directed to my cousin, Greg Clark.  Besides having a cool name, he is one of the few east Tennessee ancestors that provided valuable documents that have helped in what I like to call the puzzle I am hoping to complete.  We aren’t talking a New York Times best seller but I will take what I can get -- a will dated February 20, 1867, an application for his service in the War of 1812 dated June 13, 1871, and probate records filed in Hancock county, court on December 7, 1872.

I love to dig into old documents as they paint a picture of our ancestors’ lives.  What can we glean from his documents?  In reading Peter’s pension application, we learn he married Margaret McDaniel and he was about 85 years old when he applied.  He served in Captain Joseph Rich’s company, 4^thRegiment of East Tennessee Militia, from November 13, 1814 to January 13, 1815.  Peter was awarded a pension of eight dollars per month. I wonder how much that would be equal to in this day and age? 

Tom Kanon of the Tennessee State Library and Archives created this summary on the regiment’s history:

This regiment, along with Colonel William Johnson's Third Regiment and Colonel Edwin Booth's Fifth Regiment, defended the lower section of the Mississippi Territory, particularly the vicinity of Mobile. They protected the region from possible Indian incursions and any British invasion. These regiments were under the command of Major General William Carroll. They manned the various forts that were located throughout the territory: Fort Claiborne, Fort Decatur, and Fort Montgomery, for example. Sickness was rampant in this regiment and the desertion rate was high. The regiment mustered in at Knoxville and was dismissed at Mobile.

Age seems to be a tough thing to nail down with some of the ancestors.  I say this because Peter’s census records indicate that he was born about 1786 in Virginia and that is 10 years younger than what is stated in his pension documents.  Another thing I learned from old tax documents is he was in Hawkins County, Tennessee as early as 1810 so I am leaning toward 1786 as being the correct birth year.  What else can we learn from the census records?  Well, Peter was a farmer that owned 50 acres of improved land and 150 acres of unimproved woodland.  I was thinking my one-acre is a lot to manage!  The farm had horses, oxen, milch cows, other cows, sheep and swine.  He raised Indian corn, oats, potatoes, and orchard products.  On the censuses from 1850 to 1870, Peter’s son named Philip is noted as “idiotic” by the enumerator.  You will learn more about Philip later.  The last census for Peter and Margaret is 1870. One thing about Margaret is she was only correctly identified on the 1870 census.  She is listed as Mary on 1850 and Martha on 1860.  Why would that be?  It could be that the enumerator for those years got his information from another source or a member of the household gave incorrect information.  Hopefully, Peter knew his wife’s name- ha! Yes, there are mistakes in these records. 

Onto an extract of Peter’s will:

“I direct that my funeral expenses and all my debts be paid as soon after my death as possible out of my moneys that I may die possessed of or may just come in to the hands of my executor.  Secondly, I give and bequeath to wife Margaret Wolfe and my son Philip Wolfe all the proceeds arising from all the lands that I die possessed of for their decent supports during the natural life of my wife.  Thirdly I bequeath to my son Philip Wolfe a decent support out of the proceeds arising from the lands that I may die possessed of after the death of my wife during his natural life.  Fourthly, I bequeath that at the death of my wife my son Philip have a good bed, and as bed clothing sufficient to make him comfortable.  Fifthly, I bequeath all my farming utensils my wagon, an ox cart, and all my personal property kept in the hands and out a doss be kept on the farm for the benefit of my wife during her natural life.  Sixly, I bequeath that Malissa Sutton and Barbary Caroline Jackson to have all equal parts with all of my lawful children.  Seventhly, my will and decree is that at the death of my wife, I want a reserve made of plenty of my land for the decent support of my son Philip and all the rest of my real estate and all my personal property sold and the moneys arising there from be equally divided between all my lawful children together with Malissa Sutton and Barbary Caroline Jackson.“ 

This was such a great discovery yet so frustrating to learn that Melissa was not Peter’s daughter. Another thing we learned is Philip Wolfe can’t possibly be the Phillip Wolfe who died in Ramona, California as some family trees indicate.  I’m still not quite sure who the parents of Barbary Caroline Jackson were but I believe she was a granddaughter to Peter and Margaret.

Moving forward to the probate documents that provide a wealth of information regarding Peter’s children:  Margaret Allen, a widow; Rosa Mills, a widow; Susan Haze, wife of William P. Haze; Nathaniel Wolfe; Elizabeth Mills, a widow; Mary Ann Mills, a widow; Catharine Jackson, wife of John Jackson; Jacob Wolfe; Philip Wolfe; Caroline Blake, wife of William Blake; Barbery Allen, wife of Thomas J. Allen; and Hannah Dalton, wife of C. C. Dalton.  The documents also indicate that Mary Mills and Jacob Wolfe are deceased so their proceeds will go to their heirs.  The legatees Malissa Sutton is widowed and Barbary Caroline Jackson is a minor without a general guardian.  

Some of the content in the depositions is entertaining.  There is mention of a horse to be given to Philip and whether they identified the correct horse.  It seemed to be a pretty serious focus for the court’s consideration.  Philip was also assigned a guardian since he was incapable of handling his business affairs.  A stepdaughter, Elizabeth Dalton, also asked to be reimbursed from the estate as she never received the sleigh she loaned to him for the benefit of her mother.  

Who was Elizabeth Dalton?  I believe she is the wife of Thomas Dalton.  They lived in Grainger County, Tennessee.  Despite having about 10 children, I can only find one death certificate for her daughter, Mary.  Mary’s death certificate lists her father as Thomas Dalton and mother as Bray.  Score!  This is a piece of the puzzle in proving my theory that Henry Bray, who died in 1827, is Melissa’s father.  Another takeaway from the probate documents is the mention of McHenry Bray.  He is heavily involved in the probate and eventually becomes Philip Wolfe’s guardian.   He may have been a part-time attorney but his occupation on the Hancock County, censuses is farmer.  I believe he is Melissa’s older brother so Elizabeth would be her sister.

That ends Peter’s story.  One thing I can say about this man is he had a generous heart.  He made sure to provide for the care of his intellectually disabled son and to provide something to his unlawful legatees who were entrusted to his care.