More About the DeVine Side of the Family..

  Most of the history of the DeVine family I was given was actually  about the Hochwalt family.So I started to research the DeVines.

The following paragraphs contain some additional information about the Devine /DeVine family history.

Most of this info comes from Census abstracts that I have viewed and researched on Ancestry.com. What
must  be remembered are these facts;

-All information in the census was dependent upon the information given. Dates and marital status were
written as what you stated.

-Names were often times misspelled by a census taker.  Many times you will find a phonetic spelling of
names.

 Also some years a first name was used, and later a middle name .The most frustrating is the census taker
who used the first two initials and a last name only.

- Even when correct, ages could be off due to when their birthday was and when the census was actually
 taken. Also it seems many people either did not know their age or lied freely about it.

- Before the 1850 Census only the name of the head of household was recorded. All other occupants were

listed in age and gender groups .For example John Doe- 1 male age 5 and under, 2 males 5 to 10 and one
male 25 to 30 and one female aged 25 to 30. This makes it hard to find family unless you know where to
start the search.

The facts I found have brought up a few questions about the original history..Such as "Where did Edward
and Catherine McGarry really meet?" ( NY or OH?) If Catherine did receive a pension after his death, what
was it from, as I can find no proven records of his service. ( Although I did find something that MAY be
Edward in the Pioneer Corps. No proof though)

 We have been told that James Devine and Mary O Donohue immigrated from Ireland. We do not know if
they were married when they immigrated or were married in America. There is an immigration note for a
James Devine that arrived in Philadelphia in 1825. This could be our James Devine. (Passenger and
Immigration  List Index 1500’s – 1900’s. I need to do farther research on this not sure how to go about it.
Probably the Family History Center.)

I lean heavily toward the following census reports being our Devine family but the earliest (1830 and 1840)

cannot be proven at this time due to lack of names .The ages and locations do seem to match though.

   I have found a James Devine in the 1830 census living in Carbon County PA in what was then called 
Mauch Chunk. (it is now Jim Thorpe) The household lists:

Two males under five years (George and Laughlin)

One  male “of 30 and under 40” (James)

One  female ‘Of 20 and under 30” (Mary)

  In the 1840 census there is a James Davine living in Westly (sic- should be Wesley?) township Washington

County Ohio. This household has;

One male   “of 5 and under 10” (John)

Two males “of 10 and under 15” (George and Laughlin)

One male   “of 40 and under 50” (James)

One female  under 5 (Matilda)

One female “of 5 and under 10” (Jane)

One female “of 30 and under 40” (Mary)

  So between 1830 and 1840 is seems the Devines headed from PA to OH.

   In the 1850 Census James and Mary are living in Wesley Twp, Washington Co Ohio. James is the head of household, 46 years old and a farmer by trade. His real Estate is valued at $1,000.00 .His wife Mary is 36 .
Their children are listed as :

George, 22 ,born in PA

Laughlin, 21, born in PA

John 17, born in OH

Jane 15, born in OH

Martha M. (she is referred to as Matilda in some future records) 11, born in OH

Elizabeth 8, born in OH

William 6, born in OH

  From this we can deduce that the immigration from Ireland happened before 1828 when George was most

likely born, and the move from PA to OH took place between 1829 and 1833 by Laughlin’s and John’s

possible birthdates.

   By the 1860 census James and family had moved to Fairfield Township, but were still in Washington
County. Laughlin had married and moved out on his own, although he was also in Fairfield Twp.

Laughlin’s post office is listed as Dunbar. Their last name is spelled as Divine. He is listed as 30, married to

 Mary 19, with one daughter Esther J who is 5.Both Mary and Esther were born in OH. Laughlin’s real
estate is valued at $1312.00 and his personal estate at $130.00

The rest of the family’s post office is Layman. Their last name is spelled as Davine. James is a farmer, 65,
with real estate valued at $3000.00 and personal estate at $575.00.His wife Mary is 52. His children are
listed as follows; George 28, John 25, Jane 22, Matilda 19, Elizabeth 17, and William 16.

   The 1870 Census finds the majority of the family still in the same location, Fairfield Township. James is
now 70, still a farmer and owning real estate listed at $2500.00, personal property $725.00. Mary is
listed as 60. Still living with their parents are John, 30, farm laborer; Jane 26, Matilda 24 and William 23
a journeyman blacksmith. It is also noted that Matilda is actually living at the Insane Asylum in Dayton
and listed as insane.

   George is still in Washington County but unlike the rest of the family is now in Union Township,
Watertown Post office. He is listed as 43, a farmer with real estate valued at $1000.00 and personal
estate at $300.00. He is married to Catherine, 43, who was born in Ireland. They have four children:
William James 7, Dan Emmett 5, Frances M 3, and Rosan M ,1

      Laughlin ,40, and his wife is Mary, 29 (Mary Elizabeth Row or Rowe- info from Bruce Taylor of
Atlanta GA, her Great Great Great Grandson) Laughlin is a farmer owning land worth $2800.00 and
personal property valued at $1286.00. The children are listed as Esther, 10, Ruth 8, James 3 and Ora 9/12
(9 months)

  A little side story about Laughlin’s wife Mary. The Devine History that Devie and Dot gave us states that

Mary divorced Laughlin and took the children to homestead in the west. I have been able to sketch out a few
more details on Mary Devine .Even though she is not a blood relative the story is interesting. Leaving a

husband and taking the children west must have been quite an eyebrow raiser in the 1870’s.I cannot find her
in census records until 1900 where she is listed as living by herself in the town of Valley, Canadian County, Oklahoma.

It says she was born April of 1841 and is widowed having given birth to three children with two still living.
1910 records show that she is in the 4^th Ward of El Reno, Canadian County, Oklahoma with a
grand-daughter, Rachel E Taylor, 7 years old. Rachael and both her parents are listed as being born in Ohio.
Mary is listed as having now borne 4 children with 2 still living and no occupation is listed. Rachel Taylor
is the child of Louella Devine and William Taylor.

Info supporting this comes from Bruce Taylor emails. He writes,
"The one who went out West was my GGGGrandmother, Mary Elizabeth Devine. She moved
to Oklahoma and sold horses to the Indians,among other jobs”.He also provides further info
on one of the children,who is I believe is listed as Ora in the 1870 census, Louella .She
married William Taylor.   
“William Z. died in 1905 and Louella died of TB in 1907. They both died early in life. One of
their children Elizabeth, (a.k.a. Rachel b: 1902) spent some time with Mary E. Devine. "

Mary would have left Ohio after the 1870 census and before1879 when there is record of Laughlin’s
second marriage. Found on Ancestry.com marriage records it shows that on  January 26^th 1879
Laughlin married  Adeline (also written as Adelaide) Crippen in Rome, Athens OH. The 1880 census
shows them living with Adeline’s father Artemus Crippen, 70, a farmer born in Wales. Laughlin is 50, and
Adeline 43 (although the marriage info listed her birth year as about 1841) Laughlin is a carpenter and
Adeline a teacher.

  It seems as if by 1880, our patriarch, James Devine has passed away. Mary, his wife is 73 and still living in

Fairfield Twp with her children John 47, farmer, Jane 39 and Martha 37.( The Devine women must have
found  the fountain of youth???)

   William, 38 is now married to Catherine McGarry (may actually be McGary) 28 and in Washington Co.
Ohio in Marietta, first ward. He is still working as a blacksmith and Catherine keeps house and is raising

two children at this point; Charles E. 8 and Mary E 4.  William’s sister, Elizabeth, 40, is also living with
them. She  is now listed as E.,O’Conner and there is a check under the widowed or divorced category.

   In 1880 we also catch up with George again.We find him and his family in Boyer Twp, Harrison County,
Iowa, which is on the far west border. George is 52 and living with his wife Catherine A. 43, and five
children. William J 17, Daniel E 15, Francis M, 13, Rosanna M 11, and Catherine E 4. All the children are
listed as having been born in OH .Since the youngest Catherine, was born about 1876, George had not been
in Iowa very long. (I speculate, but have no proof that Mary, Laughlin’s first wife, started traveling west
with George and his family) Further research done on a web site for Harrison county Iowa

 http://www.rootsweb.com/~iaharris/  brought some interesting info to light. In the 1930’s there was a
WPA Graves Registration Project. These records show that by the middle of 1881 three members of this
family were no longer living.The records are written as such;

“George Devine born July 2, 1827 died December 31^st 1880 Husband of Catherine”

“Catherine Devine born March 17 1837 died July 23 1881 Wife of George”

“Willie Devine born June 2^nd 1863 died November 1^st 1881”

   In the span of eleven months four Devine children lost both their parents and one brother.

   The majority of the 1890 Census was destroyed by fire so there are few records except Civil War
Veteran’s Pension Survey done in 1890. No one shows up in those records.

  The 1900 census is a valuable resource of information as it lists the month and year of birth, marital
status and  if married for how many years. It also lists the total number of children that a woman gave
birth too and how many of those are still among the living.

In 1900 Laughlin, listed as 70 and born October 1829, is back in Marietta Ohio, now married to a third
wife. He has been married for 15 years to Frances, 66, born August 1833 in Ireland. Her parents are
listed as having been from Scotland.

From Bruce Taylor:

His second wife’s name was Fannie IRVINE. (Bruce didn’t know of Addie Crippen,so Fannie is

actually his 3^rd wife). She was b: Aug., 1833 in Ireland and d: 26 July, 1902 in Marietta,

Washington Co., OH. Laughlin died in Chillicothe, Ross Co., and OH on 28

March, 1908. They did have an adopted girl) do not  have her name though”

   In the census it says Frances has no children of her own. But the children listed are Oen(Owen) C Devine,

18 born October 1881.There is also a Hatta R Irvin  24, born October 1875 listed as an adopted daughter.

It is possible she was a relative of Francis’ as the name is the same as her maiden name (Irvin) Hatta and
both her parents were born in Ohio.

   By 1900, our matriarch Mary Devine (wife of James, mother of William) has also passed away and now
her sons and daughters are living together in Fairfield Twp.
John is 65 born November 1834 and still farming. Jane 49, born April 1851 and Matilda M, born
October 1853 are also there. Elizabeth O’Conner has left William’s household and is also living with them.
She is listed as 40, widowed, born December 1859, no children living or dead. It also lists her as married
20 years. This many mean she was widowed almost as soon as she was married as in the 1880 census she
was listed as widowed or divorced.

    By 1910 we find Elizabeth O’Conner, 50, widowed and farming listed as her occupation. It also lists her
as the owner of the ‘business’ Martha M is listed as 60 with no occupation.

   William and Catherine have now been married 40 years. Charles, 39 and his sister Mary E (a.k.a. Aunt
May)  34 are living with them in the Third Ward of Dayton, Ohio. Their other son Daniel Clifford is living
in Dayton  with his wife of two years Helen E (Hochwalt ) and their first daughter Catherine E (Aunt Devie).
This is the first  year that any of our DeVine ancestors in any census abstracts I have seen spell their name differently  ..with a capital  V.. as  DeVine. Daniel Clifford and Owen ,Daniel’s Cousin are the only two
to do this although it is impossible to say if it was the census takers choice or if the DeVine family made
sure it was spelled that way.

 It is interesting  in that Daniel had lived with Owen for a few years prior to this. Makes one wonder what

brought about the change. Family legend has it that an aunt ( I believe it was Laughlin’s daughter Esther)
had gone to Ireland and upon doing a little research on the Devine family returned and told the family that
from now on the capital “V” should be used.

Could it  be that she found out our family may not have been of the highest character??

More to come...