EBENEZER CASE

The Search for a Lost Ancestor

Robert O. Case, Jr.

June 14, 1993

My grandfather, Henry Oscar Case was born in 1862 at St. Mary's. Ontario, near the town of Ingersoll. This is where our Canadian roots reach back to. Certainly Ingersoll was where his father, my great-grandfather, Wilmot Harrison Case was born in 1836. And presumably, that was where his father, Harrison (or, in some versions of family tradition, also named Wilmot Harrison) Case was born in 1812. The father of Harrison was, according to tradition, named Ebenezer Case, who was, or, more probably, whose father was, a Tory, or United Empire Loyalist, coming to Ontario after the American Revolution and settling in or near Ingersoll on a land grant provided by the Crown for Loyalists and their families.

But where did Ebenezer come from? And where were the European roots of the family? All we have to go on is family tradition as recounted by my grandfather, Henry Oscar Case to his son James, my uncle; and to his granddaughter Ruth, my cousin; and also told by Henry's half-brother Robert. Recollections of these stories have been preserved in the form of letters written by Ruth, Jim and Robert. Presumably they all derive from one source: Wilmot Harrison Case. Ebenezer would have been his grandfather. Perhaps Wilmot, as a child, knew him.

Ruth at one point corresponded with a lady who had been doing some genealogical research on the Case family in North America. It turned out that her studies had uncovered no less than 13 branches of the Case family involving an Ebenezer. Which Ebenezer do you want, she wanted to know. Ruth didn't know, and the press of family duties at the time prevented following up. Indded, who was Ebenezer, our ancestor? I determined to try to find out.

The various versions of family tradition are reasonably consistent, and the story goes like this: The family originated in the province of Normandy, France. The name was probably Casse then, and possibly the ancestral village had the same name. They were tradesmen, skilled in the arts of cabinet-making and furniture making. They belonged to the Protestant Huguenot sect. Due to Catholic persecution, they had their lands confiscated, and they were forced to leave France. This would have been sometime after 1562, when the Huguenot persecutions began.

The family ended up in Southern England (some versions say with an interim stay in Holland) where the religious climate was termporarily more tolerant. Then, however, they ran into more problems when they were forced to join the Church of England, which again grated on their Calvinistic nerves. So some of them emigrated once more, this time to New England (one version says with an interim stay in Ireland). Two (or possibly four) brothers went to Massachusets with their families, and then eventually to New York State (or, in one version, Western Pennsylvania). They were Tories, and when the Revolutionary War started, they remained loyal to the Crown. After the war, they (Ebenezer? or his father?) fled to Ontario with the other United Empire Loyalists and settled at Ingersoll.

I spent an afternoon at the Genealogical Library in Huntington Beach on the trail of Ebenezer. It's not a large library, but with a little digging, I came up with some interesting leads.

First I find in very early Massachusets Colony a John Casse, or Cass, or Case as his name was variously spelled, most commonly Cass. He was apparently an immigrant, as I find no record of his parents there. His marriage was recorded in 1648 in Watertown, Middlesex County, Massachusets to 15-year old Martha, (born 1633), daughter of Thomas and Anna (Knapp) Philbrick of Watertown. John and Martha then moved to Hampton, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, where they lived until he died on April 7, 1675. They had eight children, all but one of which spelled their name Cass. The one exception was the sixth, named Ebenezer, born July 17, 1671 in Hampton. He spelled his name Case.

This Ebenezer moved to Woodstock, Windham County, Connecticut about 1686. He next shows up in the records of Roxbury, Suffolk County, Massachusets, where he married Patience, daughter of James and Miriam (Stanfield) Draper of that town on March 13, 1690. Back in Woodstock, they had four, or possibly six children. The second of these was named Jonathan, born September 1, 1693.

On February 9, 1708, Ebenezer and Patience sold their property in Woodstock and moved to Lebanon, New London County, Connecticut, where, in 1714, he is shown as constable. By 1720 he is shown as a resident of nearby Franklin (Norwich), still in New London County. His date of death was not available.

Son Jonathan at the age of 25 shows up in Lebanon records as marrying Bathseba, daughter of Park and Priscilla (Payson) Williams of Lebanon on November 13, 1718. They continued to reside there, and produced seven children, all born in Lebanon. Their fourth child, and first son, born November 18, 1726, was also named Jonathan. Their fifth child, born February 27, 1730, was named Ebenezer, after his grandfather. Jonathan died at the age of 94 on January 16, 1788 in Lebanon, Connecticut.

Son Jonathan Jr., born November 18, 1726 shows up in the records of Herbron, Tolland County, Connecticut on October 4, 1744 where, at the age of 18 he married Emma Porter. There seems to be no further records of this Jonathan in Connecticut after that date.

However, now there appears in the town of Hoosick, Rensselar County, New York, one "Nathan" or "Jonathan" (variously spelled) Case who came from Connecticut, according to handwritten notes in the genealogical file by one of his descendents. I could find no record of his wife's name, but they had two sons. Their first son, born "about 1742" according to the family recollection, was named Jonathan. The second was named Joseph, birth date unrecorded.

I suspect that this "Nathan" Case who appeared in New York State from Connecticut is the same Jonathan Case who disappeared from Connecticut after his marriage in 1744. If so, the naming of the first son Jonathan after its father followed family tradition. There is one discrepancy, however. With a marriage date of 1744, their first child would not have been born in 1742. "Premature" but seemingly full-term first babies were permitted by the morality of the times, but not births which actually predated the marriage. The date of 1744 comes from a public record, whereas the date "about 1742" comes from imprecise family tradition. My guess is that the actual date of birth of Jonathan (III?) was more like 1745.

This young Jonathan shows up in the records of Hoosick as marrying Johanna daughter of George Mosher, by whom he had three children, and then marrying Alohee, daughter of Jacob and Anna Cronkhite of Hoosick, by who he had fourteen more. His occupation in New York was listed as a farmer. Jonathan was a Tory, but on the road to Canada after the War, according to family tradition, he left the Loyalist group and returned home. He died in Hoosick, New York, in 1808.

Jonathan's younger brother Joseph in not heard from again in the records of Hoosick. There is no indication in the available records that he ever married there, that he claimed or bought property or that he died there. Presumably, like his older brother, Joseph also was a Tory. Indeed, there does appear on the 1783 roster of the King's Royal Regiment of New York, listing those settling in Ontario with their dependants, on Corp'l Joseph Case. His Company was listed as Jessup's Rangers. No dependents listed for him, so presumably he was unmarried at that time. The only other Cases on the roster of resettled Loyalists were three Josiah's and two Eilsha's; none of these appear to have any connection with our family or with the other family I have been tracking. There were no Ebenezers listed among the Loyalists.

And now for the great leap of faith. If indeed, this Joseph Case, Loyalist, of Ontario is the son of Jonathan Case (b1726) of New York State, the nephew of Ebenezer Case (b1730), the grandson of Jonathan Case (b1693), the great-grandson of Ebenezer Case 
(b1671) and the great-great grandson of John Casse, immigrant, of Massachusets, it would not be surprising if, upon getting married in Canada, he would name one of his sons Ebenezer after his uncle and/or his great-grandfather. And if so, that Ebenezer's ancestral family name and subsequent lineage and chronology would then generally be consistent with our own family tradition. He would, in all probability, be our own long lost Ebenezer, father of Harrison Case (b1812), grandfather of Wilmot Harrison Case (b1836), great-gradfather of my grandfather, Henry Oscar Case (b1862).

These fascinating footprints on the Sands of Time--are they really connected to each other? Are they connected to us? It seems plausible. It's also clear that more work is needed in order to say for sure. My one afternoon at the library has certainly whetted my appetite for more.

Robert Ormand Case, Jr. was, born October 23, 1926, died March 13, 1996.

The Ebenezer Case ancestor has recently been given more credence by the finding of Roberta Case in the booklet "Old Oxford is Wide Awake"--Pioneer Settlers & Politicians in Oxford County 1793--1853 notation of one Ebenezer Case as "Pound Keeper" and the vote that Hogs and Horses shall not run at large,  in the minutes of the Oxford town meeting of March, 1817.  Ebenezer does not appear in the Ontario census of 1851, although Harrison and his sons do.  So, this Ebenezer must have died between 1817 and 1851, and if his burial site could be found (perhaps Port Huron, Michigan???) and it includes any tombstone inscriptions, it might be the missing link between Harrison and Ebenezer. GEC