The South Carolina Connection

In the first post, I mentioned the difficulty in cementing the exact connection between our Sloans of Indiana and the Sloans of Newberry, South Carolina. This problem was solved to some extent by an obituary for Frances (Sloan) Tousey that mentions she originally came from Newberry and--even better--this mysterious, low-quality page scan I came across that brings together the McQuerns and Sloans of Indiana and Newberry.

I have since managed to get copies of the probate files referred to in that page for Archibald Sloan (1756-1826) and Frances (Drenan) Sloan (1767-1831), the parents of John II's wife/cousin, Margaret Sloan. Not only do they conclusively prove the IN/SC connection, but help in timing John II's move to Indiana.

(You can see Archibald and Fanny on the top-right of this tree.)

Archibald Sloan's Probate

Here is an excerpt from the Archibald probate:

Which reads, in part:

1828 ...
Paid John Sloan and Wife Margaret    161.21
Paid David Boyer[?], Samuel McQuern and wife Martha ...    56.71

So at that time in 1828, John, Margaret, Samuel, and Martha were there to receive their inheritance in 1828. And we know that John Sloan is on the 1830 census in Indiana. So it seems he moved sometime in 1828-1830. Samuel McQuern/McQuerns purchased land in Indiana in 1828, so if they went together (which seems overwhelmingly likely) that would mean we have it nailed down. Of course, it's possible Samuel went sooner and John followed.

Fanny Sloan's Probate

For Fanny's probate, we have:

Which reads, in part:

Paid Isaac Keller [Miller?] agent for Samuel McQuern & wife & John Sloan and wife their share in full on [??] 4th Nov 1833    68.18

Here, an agent is listed because John and the others are in Indiana. (Also of note that this is the inheritance Samuel is wanting in the letter to the court I transcribed in the first post of this blog.)

In Summary

All of this put together makes it seem almost certain that in the wake of Archibald's death, John, Margaret, Samuel, and Martha decided to take advantage of their inheritance and set up new lives for themselves in Indiana.

Two Tantalizing Hints For More Info

I am haunted by two things I've come across that seem to indicate there is a detailed account of the Sloan/McQuerns move to Indiana floating around somewhere, if I could but find it.

The Ancestry Story

The first is a simple story posted by someone on Ancestry.com with no sources listed that just says:

In 1828 Samuel and Martha moved from South Carolina to Indiana.  It took them 6 weeks.  They settled on a farm south and west of Hamilton which was later know as the Fred Ellison farm.

Such simple confidence in that date and that number of six weeks! Of course, people can post absolutely anything (and often do), but there must be something backing it up. I can feel it in my bones. Unfortunately, the person who posted it never responded to my request for more information.

Charlie Senn's Account

In South Carolina's Genealogy Trails is this account written by Charlie Senn, called "A Sojourn in Pioneer Illinois." Charlie Senn, it seems, was an old soldier turned writer, and also my 4th cousin 2x removed. He was a resident of Newberry, South Carolina, and wrote about his (our) ancestors in a great deal of detail.

His wonderful account, linked above, tells of how Samuel Sloan (1774-1852), my 5th great-uncle and John II's brother-in-law/cousin, took his family and some friends on a trip to see Illinois, passing through Ohio, Kentucky, and (not mentioned, but logically necessary to get to Illinois) Indiana. In fact, ambiguous as the account is geographically, much of it seems likely to have taken place in Indiana. It is only dated as taking place in the "early 1800s," but at one point Sam's daughter Mary (1815-1867) is referred to as being eight years old, so that places it at roughly 1823.

Could this be the trip on which John II and Samuel McQuern, liking what they saw, decided to move? Or could it be, dates shifted somewhat with time, an account of the trip on which they actually moved? Either way, the level of detail in this story, even accounting for a natural storyteller's flair for embellishment, seems to indicate a definite textual source of some sort that Mr. Senn was working from. My guess is he had some sort of family papers passed down with some form of recorded anecdotes.

I would LOVE to track down those sources, but Charlie Senn passed away in 2004, so I can't ask him what they were. My one hope is that he passed them down to his children, or to some local historical institution. I googled a bit, discovered he was a member of the Newberry Historical Society, and contacted them in July to ask about it. They very kindly said they forwarded my question to the local historian and I should hear from him, but I have not yet. Here's hoping!

Meanwhile, I hope to get more textual evidence on John II's parentage. More later.