The Strange Case of Catherine Walker – A Genealogical Puzzle

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By Gary A. Bartlett

William-&-Catherine-WalkerMy Grandmother Bartlett’s maiden name was Ethel Walker (1895-1982). Her parents were Frank Walker (1869-1942) and Lilly Metcalf (1868-1926). Thus far, everything is well documented by Vital Records here in the Lenawee County, Michigan Courthouse, which I will not bother to cite, as they are not germane to the genealogical problem that I intend to review.

My ancestry starts to become problematic one generation further back – specifically in the case of the identity of Frank Walker’s mother, who is the subject of this particular genealogical investigation. To lay the foundation for this study, let us begin with Frank’s father – William Walker (24 Nov 1825 – 12 Apr 1908) – who died here in Lenawee County. All original source documents uniformly state that William Walker was born in Canada. Oral family history alleges that he was born in Port Hope, Ontario, which is located on the shore of Lake Ontario northeast of Toronto. I have not yet been able to document this, but there were Walkers living in Port Hope at the right time. While oral family histories can be inaccurate (and so can original source documents, for that matter), they can offer clues as to where to look for further information.

In the case of Frank’s mother, Catherine Walker (2 Apr 1834 – 18 Aug 1914), all original source documents uniformly state that she was born in Germany. Oral family history alleges that the vessel on which she came to America, set sail on her 12th birthday – i.e. on 2 Apr 1846 (consistent with the 1910 Federal Census for Lenawee County, which shows her year of immigration as 1846), which might provide a valuable clue to Catherine’s identity as the result of further research down the road. Original source records (almost) uniformly identify her maiden name as Catherine Cole, but Cole is not a German name, and therein begins the problem with her identity. There exists the German surname Köhl which can be written alternatively as Koehl. Here in America, it would be written Kohl and pronounced the same as Cole. Other similar German surnames exist such as Koll, for example, one of which was perhaps transliterated into the English surname Cole once the family arrived in the United States, but there are other problems with Catherine’s identity as well, which will now be reviewed.

Probably the best place to begin this investigation, is with Catherine Walker’s death record, on file in the Lenawee County Courthouse. Unfortunately, it tells us nothing. According to her death record, she was born in Germany, and her maiden surname and parents’ names were listed as “unknown”. Her son William Walker Jr. was the informant. I checked the death records for her five children who I know lived to adulthood, four of which are on file in the Lenawee County Courthouse, viz – Sarah (Walker) Stewart / Harris (1854-1933),  Kate (Walker) Camburn (1859-1939), William Walker Jr. (1861-1930),  and my ancestor Frank Walker (1869-1942 ) – which uniformly identify their mother’s maiden name as Catherine Cole. In the case of her other daughter, Mary (Walker) Frantz (1867-1936), who died in Wauseon, Fulton County, Ohio, however, her death record identifies her mother’s maiden name as – and who knows where this came from – Catherine Welch. So much for the veracity of original source records.

Now – proceeding onward – an article on William Walker in Volume II of the work Presidents, Soldiers, Statesmen, (Hiram H. Hardesty, Publisher, New York, Toledo, And Chicago, 1892), states on p. 650, that “On October 17, 1851, he was married in Monroe County, Michigan, to Catherine Cole, a native of Germany, born April 2, 1834.”  Original source records back this up. Their marriage record on file at the Monroe County Courthouse in Monroe, Michigan, identifies them as William Walker and Catherine Cole. The venue for their 17 Oct 1851 marriage was Bedford, Michigan and the marriage record shows the bride as age 18 and groom as age 25, both of whom were identified as residents of Toledo, (Lucas County) Ohio.   We know that the couple who married in Bedford were indeed my ancestors, since the names on the marriage record are correct, the ages are almost correct, and the 1900 Federal Census shows them married for 50 years at that time – consistent with the Hardesty article written during their lifetimes. As to their ages, William was still 25 in October of 1851, but Catherine was only 17 on the date of their marriage and would not turn 18 until the following April. In that era, however, an approximation was probably close enough. I checked the 1850 Federal Census, and there was a William Walker aged 25 – boatman – living in Lucas County, Ohio, married to a Sarah aged 22, but William’s place of birth is shown as Ohio, not Canada (bearing in mind that the census records are not always correct in respect to place of birth). The 1850 Census for Ohio shows no Catherine Cole in Toledo, however. I also checked Kohl, Koehl, Koll, Koelle and so forth – ditto.

Moving onward to the 1860 Federal Census, we can locate William & Catherine Walker living in Washington Township, Henry County, Ohio, which adjoins the southwest corner of Lucas County. (The death record for William Walker Jr. says he was born in 1861 in Colton, Ohio, which is located in northwestern Washington Township, the township itself being situated in the extreme northeast corner of Henry County). We have William Walker age 34 born Canada, Catherine Walker age 26 born Germany, Sarah Walker age 6 born Ohio, and Hannah C. Walker age 1 born Ohio (presumably her name was Hannah Catherine, my dad’s great aunt Kate Camburn). Also living in the household, were Catherine Hartman age 52 born Germany, and Frederick Hartman age 22 born Germany. Who were the Hartmans? At first glance, one would assume that they were Catherine Walker’s mother and brother, but Catherine Walker’s maiden surname was Cole – or was it?

Back tracking to the 1850 Federal Census, living in Toledo were Fredrick Hertman (Hartman?) age 43 born Germany, Catherine Hertman age 42 born Germany, Fredrick Hertman age 12 born Germany, and Ann Hartman age 10 born Germany. (It is fitting to note that the first three individuals are at the bottom of one page with the surname which appears to be spelled Hertman, and Ann is at the top of the next page, with the name definitely spelled Hartman). There is no 16 year old named Catherine living with the family, however. Quite possibly, the Catherine Hartman born Germany 1808 and Fredrick Hartman born Germany 1838 living in Toledo in the 1850 Federal Census, were the same individuals who were living with William and Catherine Walker in Henry County, Ohio ten years later. This opens the door to all sorts of wild speculation. For instance, did William Walker leave his wife and run off with a 16 year old (in 1850) Toledo girl named Catherine Hartman, who got married a year later across the state line in Bedford, Michigan under an assumed name? Or perhaps his wife had died during the year between 1850 and 1851, a possibility of course in those days.

Well – setting aside wild speculation – we will now move onward to what can be documented. In the 1870 Federal Census, we now find the Walker family living in Seneca Township, Lenawee County, Michigan. We now have William Walker age 44 born Canada, Catherine Walker age 36 born Germany, Sarah Walker age 16 born Ohio, Catherine Walker age 11 born Ohio, William Walker age 8 born Ohio, Mary Walker age 3 born Michigan, Frank Walker age 7/12 born Michigan – and once more, Catherine Hartman age 64 born Germany. Again – since Catherine Hartman was living with William & Catherine Walker during the 10 year period from the 1860 Census when they were living in Henry County, Ohio and the 1870 Census when they were living in Lenawee County, Michigan, the logical assumption would be that Catherine Hartman was Catherine Walker’s mother. Moreover, it would appear that Catherine Hartman was living in Toledo, Ohio in 1850 and Catherine (Cole?) Walker was living in Toledo in 1851 when she got married in Bedford, Michigan across the state line. That the two women appear to have been living in Toledo at about the same time may perhaps be too much to be coincidence, but it does not solve the mystery of Catherine Walker’s identity.

Moving onward to the 1880 Federal Census, we have William Walker born in Ontario – parents born in England, Catherine Walker born in Wuerttemberg (the German state situated in southwestern Germany, where the city of Stuttgart is located) – parents born in Wuerttemberg, and three children still at home – William, Jr., Mary, and my great grandfather Frank. Catherine Hartman is presumably now dead, and the older girls are married, and out of the household.

To further cloud the picture, we have the marriage record for Frank Walker & Lilly Metcalf in the Lenawee County Courthouse, who got married in Lenawee County 12 Sept of 1888. Lilly’s parents are shown as Josiah Metcalf & Mary Seeley – correct – and Frank’s parents are shown as William Walker & Catherine Hartman. So was Frank’s mother a Cole or a Hartman?

And finally –The index “New York Passenger Lists 1820-1891” under the time frame 1 Apr 1846 to 30 May 1846, shows the following family arriving from Germany aboard the vessel Java: Frederick Hartman age 38, Catherine Hartman age 27 (should this have read 37, since the eldest child was 18?), Anne Hartman age 18, Christina Hartman age 14, Elizabeth Hartman age 12, Catherine Hartman age 12, Frederick Hartman age 9, and Ernestine Hartman age 5. (Admittedly, some of the names are a bit difficult to read, and they were presumably anglicized from the original German names by the immigration official who processed their entry). If the oral family history is correct – and the ship on which Catherine Walker came to America did indeed set sail on her 12th birthday on 2 Apr 1846 – then this arrival could well be her family – assuming her surname was Hartman, not Cole. Again – if Catherine Walker was born Catherine Hartman, where did the Cole surname come from? Revisiting the Toledo Hartmans listed in the 1850 Federal Census, if they are indeed the same family as the Hartmans who arrived on the Java, some children are missing.  It is possible that the two eldest girls who would have been 22 and 18 respectively in 1850, were married and out of the household, which in those days could even have been the case for the 16 year old twins.  Moreover, 10 year old Ann in Toledo is not found on the immigration list, unless she is Ernestine shown as age 5 when the ship arrived. Of course – admittedly – the 1850 Toledo Hartmans may have been an entirely different family than the Hartmans who arrived in New York City in 1846. What we can at least document as inconclusive as it may be, is that Catherine Walker had some connection with a Hartman family – that Catherine Walker immigrated into the USA from Germany in 1846 at age 12 – and that a Catherine Hartman emigrated from Germany into the country that same year at that same age.

With regard to the origin of the Cole surname, there is one other possibility that probably should be mentioned, as unlikely as it might be – that my ancestor Catherine Walker was born Catherine Hartman – married a Cole who died shortly after their marriage – then married my ancestor William Walker. This is highly doubtful, since Catherine was only 17 ½ when she married William, in Bedford in Monroe County. Their first child (at least of whom we are aware from the census records) – Sarah (Walker) Stewart / Harris – was born in 1854 when Catherine Walker was 20.

And finally – to throw a bit more confusion into this genealogical maelstrom – the Hardesty article on William Walker cited earlier, identifies Catherine Walker’s mother as “Catherine (Staniger)”. Can we assume that Staniger was her maiden name, since they put it in parenthesis in the article? Was Staniger anglicized from Steineger? Mystery abounds. What the article does tell us, is that Catherine Walker’s mother was also Catherine, lending more credence to the suggestion that the Catherine Hartman who lived with the Walker family in between the Federal of 1860 and the Federal Census of 1870, was in actual fact Catherine Walker’s mother, who may in fact have been Catherine (Staniger) Hartman.

Who was Catherine Walker – really? She certainly was not Catherine Cole coming from Germany. Moreover, there seems to be some confusion on the part of her family as to her maiden name. Whoever she was, she took her secret to the grave, and from the scant and contradictory documentation available, there seems to be no way to make a positive identification.

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