Samuel Tomlinson

Minerva, wife of James Hardy, father was Samuel Tomlinson. Samuel was the son of John and Hannah Tomlinson, and was born about 1790 in Allegany County, Maryland. Samuel was the last of eight children born to this family. There is not much recorded on Samuel - only the usual land deeds, census and a marriage record. He is listed in the household of his father, John Tomlinson Sr, in the 1800 and 1810 census of the 5^th District of Allegany County, Maryland.

Samuel, at about age 21, married Margaret (Polly) Matthews on July 5, 1811, in the 5^th District of Allegany County. Margaret was the daughter of Chidley Matthews and Margaret Park of Allegany County.

Their first child, Joseph was born about 1814, leaving 3 years from Samuel and Margaret’s marriage and Joseph’s birth. They could have had another child in that time that died as a baby, that we do not know about. Joseph, son of Samuel and Margaret, moved to Ohio and married Mary Thompson. Joseph and Mary had at least three children.

Their next child born was our great grandmother, Minerva Tomlinson. She was born April 6, 1816, in the 5^th District of Allegany County, Maryland. Minerva married our great grandfather, James Hardy, in Pennsylvania, most likely in Bedford County.

Four months after our grandmother Minerva’s birth, a land deed was produced and recorded from John Tomlinson to Samuel. This deed is the first part of proof that establishes Samuel’s relationship to his father and mother, John and Hannah, as their son. The deed reads “ So well for and in consideration of the natural love and affection which he the said John Tomlinson hath and betray unto the said Samuel as also for the better maintenance, support, lively hood and procurement, of him the said Samuel Tomlinson, and also for the consideration of six hundred dollars for a part of a tract or parcel of land in Allegany County Maryland known by the name “Nothing Left” containing 300 acres.” This tract of land borders with the original tract called “Horribly Bottom Resurveyed,” “Wills Town” and the Pennsylvania border. This puts Samuel and Margaret on the border of Maryland and Pennsylvania. Samuel’s land on the map on the first page would be somewhere near Wills Creek and the Pennsylvania border. Samuel is named; Samuel, son of John Tomlinson on another land deed following this first deed from his father.

Their third child was Margaret M. Tomlinson in September of 1818. She was given the name of her grandmother and her mother. She married James P Devore in Pennsylvania and moved to Indiana and they had at least nine children.

By 1820 Samuel was about 30 years old, still living in the 5^th District of Allegany County Maryland. Their forth child was born , George Tomlinson, on the 11^th of March, 1821. George moved to Ohio shortly after his brother Joseph and married Mary Green. They had three known children.

The fifth and last child, Samuel Tomlinson Jr. was born in February in 1823. He also went to Ohio, most likely with his brother, George. Samuel married Sarah A Kemmel; they had no children.

In 1830, Samuel and his family are still living on their land on the Pennsylvania and Maryland border. All of their children were born by this time. In his father’s probate we have found that Samuel likes to drink and often gets drunk. It seems sometime after John sold “Nothing Left” to Samuel their relationship went bad, possibly because his father disapproved of him getting drunk. The probate gives witness to a incident that happened in 1830 or 1831. Samuel went to the town store proprietor, John Buchanon, and bought a butcher knife from him. I assume Samuel and his father John had a disagreement ether before or after he bought the knife. Samuel cut his fathers arm with the knife he bought from Mr. Buchanon. I do not know if he bought the knife to hurt his father. But John, because of this event and Samuel’s drinking, wished to leave Samuel nothing from his estate and sold land so Samuel could not get his hands on it after his death.

About the last time Samuel shows up in records in Allegany Co. Maryland is in February of 1832. A deed was drawn up and Samuel sold the 300 areas of “Nothing Left” he bought from his father for $600.00, to John M Buchanon for $3,000.00. That is a profit of $2,400.00 for Samuel.

John Tomlinson died about June 1833. Samuel is not on the list of people who bought items from the sale of his father personal estate in September of 1833. Maybe he had already left town.

I can only find his children in records from this point on. His two daughters Minerva and Margaret married in Pennsylvania between 1833 and 1835. Margaret and James Devore moved on to Richland County Ohio and were there in 1836. Their oldest son, Joseph, married in Richland Co. Ohio, in year 1837.

By 1839 his father’s probate was finalized and does not mention Samuel or anyone else other then Hannah, Jacob and Jesse and “10 remaining heirs, names unknown”. Soon after, Hannah died

and left her whole estate to Samuel’s brother Jacob Tomlinson. This could be a clue that Samuel was

not in the area at the time the probate was finalized.

In 1847 Samuel’s son, George, was in Richland County and married; Samuel Jr. followed and married in 1854. Both owned land by 1853 in Richland County Ohio. I can only image that Samuel Sr. packed his family in a covered wagon and headed west and that would explain how all their children ended up in Richland County Ohio at one time or another.

Another mystery to me is a picture that was taken of all of Samuel’s children. They were all together and it looks like they were in black. The picture would have to be dated before brother Joseph’s death in 1889 and at that time they were all living in different states, namely Ohio, Indiana and Iowa. What happened that would bring the siblings together again? Remember traveling was not easy in those days and they would have had to leave their farms for days to participate in this picture.