Monday Is for Mothers: Susan Hanon (1805 - 1884)

Michael Hening (later Hanon), the father of this maternal great great great grandmother, was most likely born in Northern Ireland and as a young man emigrated to South Carolina, landing in Charlestown in about 1767/68. A dozen years later his name appears as a private on payrolls for the Loyalist South Carolina Militia along with a James Hening.*

Unlike some other British sympathizers he didn't leave the colony after the end of the war, remaining in South Carolina until about 1796 when he, his wife Sarah** and his young family moved to Tennessee and then after a few years on to Butler County, Kentucky, where his daughter Susan was born in about 1805. She appears as one of the two "Free White Persons - Females - Under 10" in the 1810 U.S. Census.

[Kentucky. Drawn by S. Lewis & eng'd. by W. Harrison, Junr. (Published by John Conrad & Co., Philadelphia. 1804) David Rumsey Historical Map Collection]

[Ancestry.com. 1810 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Third Census of the United States, 1810. (NARA microfilm publication M252, 71 rolls). Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

But the Henings left Kentucky in 1812, moving to the Illinois Territory where Michael died in 1817 in Gallatin County when Susan was about 12 years old.

The following year her 19-year old brother Martin, having assumed responsibility for his mother and siblings, moved everybody to land in what is now Christian County, Illinois, becoming the first white settlers there, according to local history.*** It's about this time that we find the surname Hanon replacing Hening in records.

[Ancestry.com. Illinois sesquicentennial edition of Christian County history [database on-line]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. Original data: Illinois sesquicentennial edition of Christian County history. Jacksonville, Ill.,: Printed by Production Press, 1968.]

In an 1818 Illinois Territorial Census of Bond County,**** Sarah Hanon's household had no white males 21 or older and five other white inhabitants. It's likely that their neighbor Jesse Hanon was Michael's brother.

[Illinois census returns, 1810, 1818 by Margaret Cross Norton, b. 1891

Source: Internet Archive, contributed by the Family History Library]

By the 1820 U.S. Census, Sarah "Hinnon" was the head of a household consisting of herself and her two youngest children, 15-year old Susan and 12-year old Elijah. They were living in Fork Prairie, Madison County, later to be part of Sangamon County, Illinois. (And Clibon Mathes (i.e., Claiborn Matthews) is nearby.

[Ancestry.com. 1820 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.Original data: Fourth Census of the United States, 1820. (NARA microfilm publication M33, 142 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

Three years later, Susan Hanon married Eli Matthews on September 21, 1823, in the first wedding in Southfork Township, Christian County, Illinois.

In the 1830 U.S. Census, Eli, Susan and their two oldest children, sons Aaron and Martin were living among relatives in Sangamon County. Susan's brother Martin was living nearby and Eli's parents were too. Susan's mother and brothers James and Elijah were not far away either.

[Ancestry.com. 1830 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Fifth Census of the United States, 1830. (NARA microfilm publication M19, 201 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

By the 1840 U.S. Census (and probably as early of 1835) the Matthews had moved back to Christian County and more children had been added to the family, including their oldest daughter Sarah, my great great grandmother, born in 1832. Probably the older male living with them is Eli's widowed father Claiborn.

[Ancestry.com. 1840 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Sixth Census of the United States, 1840. (NARA microfilm publication M704, 580 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

And the 1850 U.S. Census found them still in Christian County where Susan finally got a record in her own name, although for some reason her place of birth is listed as Ohio. All but one of the children are still living at home. Jesse Hanon (at the bottom of the page) is almost certainly Susan's brother, born about 1795 in South Carolina.

[Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, 1009 rolls); Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

At the end of the next decade, the household had shrunk to Eli, Susan and 19 year old Thomas and 12 year old William.***** Another son, Elijah and his family are living nearby.

[Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: 1860 U.S. census, population schedule. NARA microfilm publication M653, 1,438 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.]

The Civil War must have been an anxious time for Susan because at least two of her sons served in Illinois regiments, Aaron in the 10th Cavalry Regiment and Martin in the 123rd Infantry, and Elijah may have also been a soldier. Happily all survived the war but Eli died sometime before 1865, as there's no record of him in the Illinois State Census of that year. The exact death date and place of his burial are not known.

So the 1870 U.S. Census found Susan living in the same household as her son William B. and his family in Campbell Township, Douglas County, Missouri. The head of the household was a blacksmith named Ballard Wilson, with no know connection to the Matthews.******

[Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: 1870 U.S. census, population schedules. NARA microfilm publication M593, 1,761 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.Minnesota census schedules for 1870. NARA microfilm publication T132, 13 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.]

The last record we have of Susan Hanon Matthews is in the 1880 U.S. Census which shows her back in Christian County, Illinois, living with her son Thomas and his family in Buckhart Township.

[Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. 1880 U.S. Census Index provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints  Original data: Tenth Census of the United States, 1880. (NARA microfilm publication T9, 1,454 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

Unverified sources give Susan's death year as 1884 in Illinois but so far no record has been found to support this.

 *Probably a relative, perhaps a brother. There is also a James Hening in the same part of Kentucky in the 1810 census but as this enumeration was recorded in alphabetical order we can't tell how close together their residences were.
**Sarah's surname is unknown, although we can speculate.
***Note the mention of their neighbors, the Matthews family.
****Bond County was formed out of Madison County in 1817.
*****The son who was born between Thomas and William, James H.P. Matthews, had died in 1854 at age 10.
******In this census the surname is spelled Mathias. For a discussion of the various ways the name was spelled before the 20th century, see this at the excellent Southern Matthews website.

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