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Strange, it's like pursuing phantoms here, but to the best of my knowledge, Elias Wallen and Mary Kerby Wallen had only the two children, Alexander Joseph and Jane. Elias and Mary Kerby Wallen married in 1798. She was sixteen and her family was from Grosse Point, Michigan (although a couple of her brothers moved to Kent County, Ontario.) Alexander Joseph Wallen was born in 1801 in Detroit. Elias Wallen was then the Sheriff of Wayne County. The family later moved to Hamilton, Ohio. After his father's death in 1805, Alexander lived in Hamilton, Ohio until he was twelve (1813) before heading to Fort Erie, Ontario to live with his uncle, James Kerby, a Colonel in the Canadian Militia. At 19, he moved to Florence, Ontario where his uncle George Kerby owned sveral enterprises.
At the age of 25, Alexander married Margaret Boyle, 15, the daughter of a neighbouring farmer and they settled in Florence. As I wrote before, they had eleven children, four of whom died in early childhood, including a son named Elias. Elias would have been born around 1828 or so. This is according to information that has been passed onto me. There were no other children named Elias.
I'm sorry, we don't seem to quite match up, but there is another possibility. Elias Wallen, who emigrated from Letterkenny in County Donegal, Ireland to the States in about 1789, had three brothers; Joseph, Alexander and John. Alexander was a family name as Elias' father was named Alexander and his grandfather was also named Elias. What if the Alexander you are seeking in Ohio was the brother of Elias and followed him to Ohio at some point? And it might then make sense that he, in turn, might name a son Elias? I do have in my possession a photocopy of a letter written by Elias Wallen's brother, Joseph, written in 1793, adminishing him for not writing home more often. At the time, it would seem that Elias' brother, Alexander, was still living in Ireland, but throughout the late 1700's and early 1800's Irish immigration to the States and Canada was massive. This is pure speculation of course, but Elias Wallen does seem like such an unusual name that it is hard to imagine that two people of that name in that day and age and reasonably close in region were not connected in some way.
Hope this helps.
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