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Jane,
I wonder if you can help me with a little problem. It concerns the Edmundsons who left York County (Warrington Monthly Meeting) and moved to Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. It is pretty clear that Joseph and Rebecca (Kennedy) Edmundson moved there, possibly about 1802 (many of the Kennedys had already moved there, between about 1773 and 1803). The issue is whether any descendants of either Thomas or John Edmundson, brothers of Joseph (and sons of Caleb and Esther (Underhill) Edmundson, who had moved to South Carolina circa 1771), also moved to Allegheny.
The problem is Caleb Edmundson of Allegheny. In the 1850 census, he is listed as age 75, with wife Rebecca (presumably Phillips), age 77. Some researchers report that they were married in 1799, possibly in York County but possibly in Allegheny County area. Assuming the ages in 1850 are reasonably accurate, then Caleb would have been born about 1775 (and many on-line reports suggest a birth circa 1777). In the 1850 census, it also says he was born in PA.
Based on information you and Viki have been developing and sharing on this forum, Joseph had originally accompanied his parents to South Carolina circa 1771 but the Bush River Monthly Meeting gave him a certificate of removal to transfer back to Warrington MM in early 1780. It is pretty likely that he met and married Rebecca Kennedy about 1781-82 (her father Hugh is on the tax list for Warrington Township in York County in 1779 and had not yet moved to his land in Allegheny County (still Westmoreland then) as of 1783, when the tax list shows no inhabitants on his land). Joseph's and Rebecca's son William was reportedly born about October 1783 (in York County) but no one has identified any children born to this couple before that date (except, supposedly, Caleb, in 1775/'77).
I see two possible explanations. First, if Caleb (b. ca. 1775) was indeed the son of Joseph, then he must have been born in SC and Joseph must have had a first wife there (before marrying Rebecca Kennedy in PA). This would mean that his first wife died and he brought a young son (age 4 or so) from SC to PA during the Revolution. Alternatively, Caleb could be the son of Thomas and Mary (Penrose) Edmundson of York. They were supposedly married about 1763 but all the reports of their children end with the son born about 1773. Mary would only have been a little over 30, however, and I have not found anything to suggest she died that early (and Thomas supposedly did not die until 1809 or '10). This couple has not been listed with any other son named Caleb, so there is no problem of possible name duplication. Thomas, being a son of Caleb and Esther, would have had as much motive to name a son Caleb as his brother Joseph would have had (and, indeed, their brother John named a son Caleb about 1783, although it is not clear to me if John died in 1782, 1783 or 1784).
I believe I have seen some report that an "Eli" Edmundson moved to Allegheny and was a grandson of either John or Thomas of York. Was Eli any connection to Caleb, born ca. 1775?
I have seen reports that suggest Caleb and Rebecca (Phillips) Edmundson named sons Joseph and Thomas, so it is as plausible that Caleb was the son of Thomas as it is that he was the son of Joseph. Maybe Caleb simply left York and moved to Allegheny about the same time as his uncle Joseph and descendants later "assigned" him to Joseph based on location, without checking dates of marriage and birth.
I would welcome your thoughts on this problem. Basically, I am proposing to detach Caleb and his descendants from the tree of Joseph and Rebecca and to attach them to the tree of Joseph's brother, Thomas (and his wife Mary).
Because Joseph married a Presbyterian and is pretty widely accepted as having left the Quaker faith, there are no Quaker records that I know of that give the names and births of his children. Nor am I aware of the contents of Joseph's will (if any) from about the 1820-22 time frame. Thomas, however, remained a Quaker (I believe) and so there might be a record of his children through Warrington MM. Do those records list any children for Thomas and Mary? Or has anyone seen any will that Thomas might have left? Does it mention a son Caleb?
If anyone can shed light on this issue, please contact me at duaneaboggs@hotmail.com. Thanks for your attention.
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