I thought I had discovered everything there was to know about John F. Capron. I was wrong.
I had not covered every resource in the hunt for this interesting and well-traveled gentleman.
In Stanly County, we are blessed to have had several cemetery surveys, some from maintained and existing church and community cemeteries, another from the abandoned and hard-to-find family cemeteries that dot the countryside. We amazingly have two books on a survey that was done in 1936, before my parents were born. I am grateful that individuals were interested in family history and preserving it at that time.
As oftentimes happens, while looking for one thing, I will find another. I did not think that I would be able to find the final resting place of the Caprons, with the exception of youngest son Edward O Capron, who is buried at Concord Methodist Church in Anson County. This is the final resting place of his grandparents, and his parents, too probably, I thought, among those ancient graves whose stones are either no longer legible or are missing entirely.
But my assumptions were wrong. While browsing through the 1936 book, I found the listing for John F Capron, his wife Julia Howell Capron and son John F Capron, Jr. I wondered about the third son, Peter Howell Capron, who died just a few years before his mother and brother, if his grave was here, but already illegible, or if he were buried somewhere else.
The family was interred at Bethel United Methodist Church near New London, Stanly County, North Carolina. The stone sign for the church, now encased in brick, says that it was established in 1790. I would love to discover more history on this church, as I am sure it must have an amazing one, with a birthday that old.
The church is still a vital and active congregation, and the church sits back off the highway between present day New London and Badin, which in their day would have been the road from Bilesville to the River road and the ferries along the Yadkin and probably to Ebenezer Baptist Church, which is now Badin Baptist, and existed long before the town of Badin came into existence.
I did not walk the cemetery in depth, but I checked out most of the older stones and could not find the graves of the Caprons. The yard had visibly unmarked graves, however, and others marked with fieldstones that are not decipherable with the naked eye. I did not spend a great deal of time there, however, so a trip back is in order.
In his agreement with his neighbor Miller, in 1887, to take care of him in a good manner and to have suitable, durable tombstones mounted for himself and his family, in exchange for his land, a contract surviving son, E. O Capron, would later challenge, John F. Capron described in great detail the structure and quality he required for his gravemarkers, so I hope they still stand and I don't imagine they would be of fieldstone, but more likely the old mildewed white marble kind.
The location of the church makes a good deal of sense when looking at land records from the final decades of the Caprons lives. They were in the Harris Community and neighbors to William Biles, Daniel Ritchey, Levi Parker, and others. He is listed as a Mechanic in 1870 and 1880, living next to brickmasons, miners and farmers.
John F. Capron always followed mining operations, although there is no record of him ever mining.
The families final resting place is not the only recent discovery, however. I also found this excerpt from The Southern Chrisitian Advocate, September 5, 1851 issue, concerning the first Mrs. John F. Capron:
"Died, in San Francisco, California, on the 19th of May, Mrs. Matilda Capron, wife of John F. Capron, formerly of Warsaw, Alabama. Reported by Jesse Boring. "
Somehow, I know there is more on this family to discover.
I'm still trying to discover more of the early life of John F. Capron. He was not John Foster Capron, who served in the Civil War and seemed to remain in New Hampshire. That much I have determined. In this quest, I have discovered a very interesting fact, that I believe, amazingly, is still our John F. Capron, simply because he disappears from one area and reappears in another, and the time frames work in sequence. There are no overlaps.
What I would really like to find out is where he was in 1830, or what household he may have been in. 1831 is the year of his first appearance in the court records of Davidson County, North Carolina. He is suing for debts owed against a William K Smith and a Timothy Chamberlain. The ad does mention that William K Smith does not or no longer lives in the county. Attempting to discover who these two men were have proven unfruitful. William K Smith is too common of a name to claim with any accuracy, but one does appear in Davidson County in the nearest census, which would have be the 1830 census. Two Timothy Chamberlains do show up in the 1830 census, but one is in Spotsylvania County, Virginia and the other in Camden, North Carolina.
There is a William Smith, no middle initial, in Davidson County in 1830, so that could possibly be the William K. Smith in debt to John F. Capron in 1831.
Name:
WilliamSmith
Home in 1830 (City, County, State):
Davidson, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 5:
2
Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29:
1
Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29:
1
Free White Persons - Under 20:
2
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49:
2
Total Free White Persons:
4
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored):
4
With no real luck there, I turned to the names of the men mentioned, whose property adjoined that of Mr. Smith. One of them was a Johnson, Clinton Johnson, a carriage maker, born about 1798. It could be of some consequence that John F. Capron's first wife was a Johnson or Johnston. Did he meet her in Alabama or did he travel with members of her family from NC to Alabama and marry her there?
A "statement of significance" concerning historical houses in Davidson County lists "The Shadrach Lambeth House", which is located "east of Thomasville in the northeast corner of Davidson County, where Randolph, Guilford and Davidson Counties intersect". This area near Thomasville is the same area of the county, known as "Imbley", where the Grimes family was settled, particularly Sally Grimes and her children, the mother of John F. Caprons oldest know child, Rosanna. The other "neighbor" of William K Smith was an Imbler, which I will delve into shortly.
From the nc.edu site, and excellent article on many of the founding families of this area of Davidson County. Mentioned is the Grimes family, along with Sheriff Kennedy, who is mentioned often in the same court dates of John F. Caprons appearances. A branch of this same Kennedy family had migrated prior to this date into Stanly County. Also mentioned are the Moffitts, who had connections with the Winfield family. Were either of these families known to or by John F. Capron at this time?
The Lambeth house is described as being built for "either Clinton Johnson, a local coachmaker or Shadrach Lambeth, a prosperous farmer and physcian." The 1850 census describes Johnson as a coachmaker, so we have our first "adjoiner" in the proper location.
The other 'adjoiner', John Imbler, came from a family I've not discovered a great deal on, except for the fact that they were Germans who immigrated from Pennsylvania by the mid to late 1700's to "Rowan" County, which may have in the part of Rowan, that became Davidson, in the area of Davidson County that by the mid 1800's, became known as "Imbley" for this family. The name of Imbler was also spelled Embler and probably evolved by 'country folk mispronounciation' into Imbley.
Grimes Mill
The community of Imbley was in and later became known as the township of Conrad Hill and was a mining area. As the family of John F. Capron's daughter and her mother Sarah "Sally" Grimes Sullivan, all settled and lived in this exact area, it is not a stretch to assume that most likely, this is the area of Davidson County, John F. Capron lived in while in Davidson County during the 1830's. It was located east of Lexington and just south of Thomasville and north of Denton and Silver Hill Township.
The Conrad Hill area was concerned with mining and John F. Capron himself seems concerned with mining himself as he was first in this area, then later followed the miners west to California during the 1849 Gold Rush, although he is listed in the San Francisco 1850 City Directory as a carpenter. His ending days after marrying Julia Howell was spent near Bilesville in Stanly County, which was also a mining district during the time he lived there. He held a noticeable interest in mining.
What bothers me is the fact that to have had someone indebted to him enough to have undertaken the time consuming task of suing for this individuals resources and to have had the time to develop a relationship with Sally Grimes long enough to have impregnated her and fathered a child born in 1831, he should have also been in the area by 1830. As he is not in the 1830 census of Rowan or Davidson County that I can find, he would have had to have been boarding within the household of a Head of Household.
Conrad Hill Mine Information
Did he arrive to the area with family or friends from New Hampshire? Who was John connected to in Davidson County? And then, why, apparently, did he remove to South Carolina (most likely) and then Alabama?
The last court entry for John F. Capron in Davidson County is shown as:
Friday morning February 1835 Clerk's office vs John F. Capron In this case on motion, it is ordered by the court that the sheriff have leave to make his return on said executions as last term.
He does not reappear until his marriage to Matilda C. Johnson in 1839 in Sumter County, Alabama. Did he leave Davidson in 1835 and join the military in South Carolina by 1836? I believe so. There is not another possible Capron who was lingering in South Carolina traceable in this time. The "F" corroborates it. Lt. John F. Capron must be our John F. Capron. So after 1835, he drifted south to South Carolina, possibly following another mining interest or growing town.
Fold3 contains his military record as a South Carolina Volunteer. He served in the Indian Wars under Andy Jackson. His service year being 1836 and this earned him a piece of property, in apparently, Sumter County, Alabama.
"Twenty Brave Men" By Jackson Walker Hampshire County, West Virginia, Spring 1756 National Guard Heritage Series
General D J Clinch mentions him in a report as a Leut. Capron:
After the war, was his settlement in Alabama singular or arbitrary or did he follow family, perhaps in-laws.
The area around Thomasville, in North Carolina, was heavily settled with Johnsons, along with Emblers, Becks, Hedricks, Grimes and Burkharts. Could John F. Capron have migrated south along with the family of his future wife Matilda, who he would marry in Alabama and who would sadly pass away in San Francisco?
Obviously, I have much more to discover about this interesting gent.
When John F. Capron first shows up in the 1860 census of Anson County, newly married to wife Julia Howell, my ggggg-Aunt, and living next to his father-in-law and mother-in-law, Peter and Betsy Floyd Howell, he was not a young man. In his 54th year of life and a skilled mechanic and carriage maker, I knew there had to be a story, or at least a trace of him concerning the first 50 years of his life.
I started with a hint I found in the Western Carolinian from 1833, a newspaper of Salisbury, North Carolina.
This placed John F Capron in Davidson County, North Carolina, prior to his arrival in Anson, by a few decades. Capron being a rare name, and extremely rare in North Carolina, the assurance that this was our John F. Capron is pretty certain and complete.
It also appears that he was having goods shipped in to Wilmington and bringing them up through Fayetteville, where he may have encounter the Howell brothers.
So I went to Davidson County to look for traces of this much traveled gentleman from New Hampshire who had married into the family.
He was there but for a brief time, but he had made his mark.
I have not yet had the opportunity to scour through the land records of Davidson County, yet, but I will, as I feel there is more to discover concerning Mr. John F. Capron, but this is what I uncovered in the Circuit Court records:
First appearance: Date: Feb. 19, 1831
John F. Capron vs. William K. Smith No. 11 Original attachment levied on land. In this case, on motion, it is ordered by the court that publication be made for 3 weeks successively in the Greensboro Patriot published in Greensborough (their spelling, not mine), for the defendant to appear at the next term of this court and plead or replevy (again, their word, not mine), otherwise an order for the sale of said lands will be made in favor of the plaintiff in this action.
As this case was dated 1831 and the above ad was dated 1833, Mr. Capron was in pursuit of Mr. Smith, who had left the county, for some time.
By the next year, John F. Capron had apparently established himself in the trusts of the powers that were in Davidson County.
Second mention: "Constables appointed for 1832"
John F. Capron was appointed Constable for the ensuing year. He gave bond with Charles Hoover, William Sullivan and David Huffman, his securities, in $4000. He was approved and he qualified according to the law.
Of important mention in the this same list was also this entry:
Allen Newsome was appointed Constable for the ensuing year. He gave bond with Wm Varner, Wm Cox, John W. Thomas, James Adderton, Mathew Varner and William Ward.
Allen Newsome married Charlotte Howell, daughter of Jordan Howell and a first cousin of John F. Capron's future wife Julia. It seems that the two daughters of Jordan Howell, Charlotte and Clarrissa, had came to live with their grandmother, Sarah Winfield Howell Davis, after the death of their father, in Fayetteville, because they both married men from this part of North Carolina, Charlotte marrying Allen Newsome, of Southern Davidson County and Clarrissa marrying Jeremiah Broadaway whose family was Rocky River neighbor of Sarah and Job. Their brother remained in Fayetteville, an apprentice of his fathers business partner, Paris Tillinghast, and removed later with the Tillinghast family to Columbus County, Georgia.
The next entry was a total shock, a young man, John F. Capron had apparently fullfilled his passions.
Thursday morning, November the 15th. 1832 State vs John F. Capron No. 6 Bastardy Sally Grimes, prosecutor. In this case on motion, judgement nisi for $24 was awarded against the defendant. The first year's allowance for the maintenance of a baseborn child begotten upon the body of the prosecutor, Sally Grimes of which said child the said John F. Capron stands charged as the reputed father. Thursday morning, February 14, 1833 Gotlieb Grimes vs John F. Capron Pleas general issue, accord and satisfaction....finds all issues in favor of the defendant.
These two clues led to research on Gotlieb Grimes and Sarah or Sally Grimes. I found them and curious as to whether this child lived or died, discovered she lived, her name being Rosanna E. Grimes and she grew up, married and had her own family. More on her later.
Later in 1833:
John F. Capron vs Benjamin Saunders 3 casas. Jonas Myers, who was bail for the defendant Benjamin Saunders, came into open court and surrendered the said Saunders in discharge of himself from bail. Saunders ordered into the hands of the sheriff.
August sessions 1833
John F Capron vs Benjamin Saunders, principal John W. Thomas, Jonas Myers bail. Again a surrender of bail and Saunders posting his own bond.
February 13, 1834 John F. Capron vs William K Smith and Timothy Chamberlain Original attachment levied on land. It was acknowledged that the advertisement, one of which is seen above, was made. The land was ordered to be sold by the sheriff after the advertisement and sheriff fees paid, the balance to go to John F. Capron.
May 1834 John F Capron vs Smith and Chamberlain again.
Friday morning February 1835 Clerk's office vs John F. Capron In this case on motion, it is ordered by the court that the sheriff have leave to make his return on said executions as last term.
And this is the last court case involving John F. Capron in Davidson County.
By fall of 1839, John F. Capron is in Sumter, Alabama, perhaps traveling with other Davidson County residents, perhaps alone on business. Here he meets his first wife, Matilda C. Johnston, who I believe was the daughter of a William Johnston.
Oddly though, John shows up alone in the 1840 census. Perhaps his wife was still at home.
Name:
John F Capron
Home in 1840 (City, County, State):
Sumter, Alabama
Free White Persons - Males - 30 thru 39:
1
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49:
1
Total Free White Persons:
1
Total All Persons - Free White, Free Colored, Slaves:
1
In the land records, there are listed 2 transactions involving him. I have not yet recieved these documents. One involves him and a company called Johnson & Tubb. Perhaps this was his father-in-laws business. Another was between him and William Jennings.
Warsaw, Sumter, Alabama
45
Capron
John
Johnson & Tubb
H
629
45
Capron
John F.
Jennings
William et al
H
700
He must have acquired a piece of land in Alabama, as his name, misspelled, shows up in the 1850 tax list. But he was not there.
Name of Parties Assessed, page in volume party appears on CAPSON, John F., 23:
Assessment of Taxes on Real Estate in the County of Sumter for the year 1850
He does not appear in the 1850 census of Sumter County, Alabama. John has been on the move again. He has became a miner 49er'.
He shows up in a list of "Miners" in 1850 Yuba, California.
The message boards from genealogy.com are now read only. No more information can be added. However, I found an otherwise anonymous gentleman by the name of "Rick" had posed this question about our John F. Capron that added a little more information about him while in Califorinia. In a City Directory, he was listed as a Carpenter, although the census has him as a miner. "Can anyone give me some information on this John F Capron, I found him in the 1850 San Francisco, California City directory he was listed as a Carpenter, he could have lived at Green and Stockton, or worked for a Green and Stockton." Posted by "Rick". The above is the page from the 1850 San Francisco City Directory. Green and Stockton appeared to be a company that invested in the building of the quickly growing town, rather than in the direct pursuit of gold.
The death of Matilda Capron cements the fact that John F. Capron in Alabama was the same one in California, despite the fact that Matilda was not listed in the 1850 census with him and that the middle initial was improperly transcribed, that miner John "S" Capron was actually John "F" Capron. Not only is her spouse listed, also that fact that she was born in Alabama. This is our Matilda C. Johnston Capron. The Sad History of the Yerba Buena Cemetery in San Francisco
Yerba Buena Cemetery was one of the oldest in the city, established during the Gold Rush boom in 1850 and closed in 1871. It was the first city-sanctioned cemetery in SF, and many bodies from unofficial cemeteries in Russian Hill, North Beach, and Telegraph Hill were moved here after neighbors complained of the unsanitary situation. Located below the original SF Public Library building, all of the bodies were supposedly moved to other cemeteries when it was closed. But when construction began to remodel the library into the Asian Art Museum in 2001, there were some unexpected discoveries - 18 skeletons, 25 feet in from the sidewalk and 13 feet below ground, all dating from the mid to late 1800s. from "http://www.7x7.com/arts-culture/dark-history-san-franciscos-cemeteries#/0" Not Frisco...Yerba Buena Cemetery
Perhaps it was the death of his wife that brough John F. Capron back to North Carolina. Perhaps he wanted to reconnect with his daughter, Rosanna Grimes Burkhart. Perhaps he had a business opportunity. Or perhaps it was something to do with the death of John W. Howell, an old business partner. For whatever reason, he arrived in North Carolina in time to join his second bride, Julia Howell in the 1860 census. And with her and in North Carolina, he remained.
Next, to explore the families of his children who survived long enough to have their own families: Rosanna E. Grimes Burkhart and Edward O. Capron.
