Submitted by: Maurice A, "Mac" A. Childears, July 30,1988
6108 NlSth Street
Arlington VA 22205
Joseph Childers was born about 1740, place and parents are unknown. He married probably between 1765 and 1770. The names of his wife and children are unknown. According to the Census records, they had three sons and three to five daughters; there were also two very probable daughters that married before the first US Census in 1790. This indicates between six to ten children, but there are no records.
The first known record of Joseph is a letter from the magistrate of the Cumberland County Court, Carlisle, Pennsylvania in 1768. He was listed as one of a group of men that evidently freed a man named Stump from jail in Carlisle. Stump had killed one or more Indian(s) and was being held for trial. This item is now commonly known as "The Stump Affair".
The next records for Joseph were during the Revolutionary War. He is listed in
Pennsylvania State Records as a private in the Fifth Battalion of the Cumberland County Militia in October 1777, and for the whole year during 1780,1 782,and 1783 (PA Archive Series 3, Vol. 23). Evidently this battalion was not called to actual war duty. However, they did perform guard duty and such around Carlisle while the British occupied Philadelphia. Carlisle was one of the main arsenals for General Washington's Army. Of note is that a number of Independent Loyalist Militia Battalions were active in Pennsylvania throughout the War.
Note: The portion of Cumberland County that Joseph lived in was made into Perry County in 1820. He was recorded in Tyrone Twp in 1790. In 1800 he was in the newly erected Toboyne Twp made from Tyrone Twp and has since been broken into four townships. The area of interest is now in Northeast Madison. How Joseph Childers happened to be in this hot bed of Scotch-Irish has not been determined. Present day most are of German descent. He may have been a Virginia Militiaman during the French and Indian Wars and elected to stay. Again, he may have been among the British Army Troops during the same wars. The Forbes Road was constructed during 1757 and 1758 for the final campaign, It extended the Philadelphia and Harrisburg road from Carlisle to Fort Duquesne. The fort was renamed Fort Pitt by the British and is now Pittsburgh. A William Childers was listed as one of four deserters from Fort Pitt in1763, but Joseph was not one of them. This William Childers is reported to have ended up in what is now West Virginia with a long line of descendants.
In the same area, there were two Childers marriages on 17 September 1789, in the Centre Presbyterian Church, in Shermans Valley, near Bixier and Loysville, Pennsylvania: This still active Church was near Fort Robinson, which no longer exists. Elizabeth Childers married William Nyland or Hyland; Mary Childers married William McGarvin.
Joseph and his family were recorded in the 1790 and 1800 Census of Pennsylvania, being the only Childers recorded in the US Census of the State through 1820, and also the only known Childers fiunily north of Virginia through 1820. In 1790, the family consisted of one male over 16 (Joseph), two males under 10, and four females; in 1880, males-one under 10, one 10-16 and one 48 and over; females- onelO-16, one 16-26 and one over 45. Only the head of household was listed by name in the first six US Censuses.
The 1800 census was the last record of this Joseph Childers. This census was taken shortly after the Tax of 1798, better known as the Glass Tax. The Glass Tax was very unpopular and abusive. Many property owners in the Cumberland Valley refused to pay and their property was taken by the government to be sold. The residents departed for the west over the Alleghenies. No doubt Joseph and his family went with them even though he was not a property owner.
Joseph died on an unknown date after the Pennsylvania 1800 US Census, probably in
western Pennsylvania or Ohio. He is not listed in the 1810 PA Census. The 1810 Ohio Census was burned in Washington City, District of Columbia, in 1812/13 by the British during the War of 1812. Joseph was not identified in the 1820 census.
A Catherine Childress, age over 45, was recorded in Washington County, PA in the 1810 Census. She had a daughter, age 16-26 that could have been the youngest female listed for Joseph in 1800. Thus, Catherine may have---may have been Joseph's wife. But was she? Who knows? This is Catherine's only known record.
In 1820, A James Childers is listed in the oldest existing US Census for Ohio. He is thought/presumed to be Joseph's middle son. James was born about 1785, which fits with Joseph's 1800 census record. What links James to Joseph? James "first known" child, Thomas Childers, later Childears, reported I the Illinois census of 1850, 60, and 70 that he was born in PA, November 1807. James' second child, Mary Childers, was born in August 1809, reported as in both PA and Ohio.
The above referenced records were viewed and copied at: 1) the National Archives, 2) the Library of Congress, and 3) the Daughters of the American Revolution Library, all in Washington D.C. Helpful records have not been located in historical and genealogical libraries or the Courthouses of either Cumberland or Perry Counties of Pennsylvania. Research in Washington County, Pennsylvania yielded no help. Research has not been undertaken in the State Archives or in the State Library in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
