Joseph and Ann (Nancy) Wallace Moody Kettlewell

Joseph Kettlewell's Naturalization Declaration

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The particulars of the life of Joseph Kettlewell , born in 1786 to a Richard and Mary Telove Kettlewell, are sketchy. By several accounts he was a British soldier taken prisoner during the War of 1812 and remained in the United States after the war. He married Nancy Ann Wallace Moody Kettlewell, March 15, 1814 in Washington County, Pennsylvania. Ann, as most of later sources refer to her, was born in Ireland to George Wallace. Apparently Moody was a name acquired from an earlier marriage, for which I cannot find a record. At the time of their marriage in 1813, Joseph was about 27, Ann 29 years old.

The 1820 U.S. census records the Kettlewell family's domicile in Finley, Washington County, Pennsylvania. Their son William, born 1815, daughter Mary Ellen, 1818, and Katherine, 1819 are included on this census. (note: only by age grouping, not by name) Their daughter Rachel, 1820, and sons George, 1821 and Joseph 1825 followed in the next few years, and were were all born in Pennsylvania.

Joseph Kettlewell appeared on the 1827 Enumeration of Belmont County, and was still present for the 1830 federal census for St. Clairsville, Belmont County, Ohio. It is difficult to exactly define the household because, again, like the 1820 census, everyone fell into an age category. Joseph made his naturalization declaration in the September Term 1829 Belmont County, Ohio, stating he was born in England but providing no other personal information for the record.

In 1904, in a Napa County, California history book, Joseph Kettlewell Jr., reported that his father, Joseph senior was a carpenter who moved his family from Pennsylvania to St. Clairsville in 1828 and to Wheeling, West Virginia around 1833. Joseph Sr. died in 1837. Though Joseph Sr.'s original burial place remains unknown, I discovered his name engraved on his daughter Mary Ellen Kettlewell Wiley's family maker in Stone Church Cemetery in Wheeling, West Virginia. This marker was erected close to 1900, much later than Joseph's original burial and indeed, after Mary Ellen's death. Despite Joseph Sr.'s proximity to my branch of the Kettlewell's, no oral or photographic history has survived.

Nancy Kittlewell (Kittlewell an oft repeated spelling error in the early records) and her daughters must have remained in Wheeling after the death of Joseph, for in 1839 the Wheeling City Directory listed them as seamstresses at 184 John Street. However, these ladies were no longer residents of Wheeling in 1840.

Joseph and Nancy Kettlewell's son William, aged 25, was living in St. Clairsville on the 1840 census with a household composition that would account for his mother Nancy, unmarried sisters Katherine and Rachel, and his brother Joseph.
His sister Mary Ellen married and moved back to Wheeling, (West) Virginia as wife of Joshua C. Wiley.
After 1840 began the western diaspra of the Kettlewell family.

Son William married Nancy Jane Linder in St. Clairsville, Ohio in 1841. This couple remained in St. Clairsville and raised 12 children. To this day there are many many descendants of William and Nancy Linder Kettlewell living in Belmont County, Ohio.

Joseph's widow, Nancy Kettlewell, and her daughter Katherine moved to Lebanon, Warren County, Ohio with son George Wallace Kettlewell. Several years later, George took his mother, unmarried sister Katherine, and newly acquired wife Hannah Jackson to Iowa City, Johnson County, Iowa to begin a blacksmith business. An extensive biography appeared in the 1893 volume of Portrait and Biographical Record of Johnson, Poweshiek, and Iowa Counties, Iowa about George W. Kettlewell, from which I have gathered quite a bit of information for this family sketch.
George lived and and worked in Iowa City until his death.

Nancy Kettlewell died, and was buried in Iowa City in 1857. Her death was recorded in the local paper back in Lebanon, Ohio, which suggested that she had made an impact in that community before moving on to Iowa with her son. There are still many mysteries surrounding the early life of Nancy Wallace Kettlewell.

Katherine Kettlewell must have been close to 40 years old when she married Philo Haynes in Iowa City, Iowa. Philo Haynes was a widower with at least 3 living children, almost 13 years Katherine's senior. Philo's first wife died in childbirth in the fall of 1858. Philo had long been a resident of Iowa City, and though I have not been able to locate their marriage certificate, the 1860 census recorded Philo and Katherine as a household. The 1860 census was taken in July, and on November 13, Ida and Philo had their first child, Ida K. (later called Kate) Katherine died November 30th. Despite the fact that Ida's father Philo Haynes was alive, the baby was taken in, and raised by her uncle, George W. Kettlewell in Iowa City. Kate would carry the last name Kettlewell until she died, and spent most of her adult life as an integral part of her cousin Eva Kettlewell Neff's household in Brooklyn, Iowa. Kate never married, and died in 1932.

Mary Ellen Kettlewell, my great-great-great-great grandmother, married Joshua Cooper Wiley in St. Clairsville, Ohio, July 1840. The Wiley's raised their 8 children in Wheeling, West Virginia. Their daughter Mary Ellen Kettlewell(Ella), born 1843, was my great-great-great grandmother. Ella married Theopolis W. Richardson, a civil war veteran, and lived in Sardis, Ohio. Mary Ellen Kettlewell Wiley's husband Joshua died suddenly in 1863, leaving quite a young family for Mary Ellen to raise. Mary Ellen continued to live in Wheeling with her children, but in the 1880's she also held residence in Mansfield, Ohio and by 1893, upon her death, lived with her son Calvin in Chicago. She was buried in Stone Church Cemetery in Wheeling.

Rachel Kettlewell married Hiram Davis in 1846 in Cincinnati, Ohio. I believe Rachel must have been living with her brother Joseph R. jr., who had left the Wheeling area to work in Cincinnati. Rachel and Hiram moved to Lexington, Kentucky and had several children, but Rachel died somewhere between 1852 and 1854. I cannot find a trace of Hiram Davis after the 1850 census, and the children of his marriage to Rachel do not reappear until the 1900 census, in Lexington, Kentucky. To date I have not found a living descendant of this family.

Joseph jr. for whom I have extensive information, moved to Cincinatti, Ohio, where he worked for 10 years and married Eliza Paul of that location in 1847. Joseph and Eliza joined his brother George Kettlewell in Iowa city in 1854, but by 1863 had set off for California, by way of Nevada. Joseph jr. and Eliza had 6 children, and eventually settled in St. Helena, California. This family has numerous descendants in California.

There are lots of gaps in this family history. Thus far my information has been from courthouse documents, local history books, census data, and bits and pieces from those of you who have contributed from your family hatbox. If you have anything to add, or spot errors, please let me know. This is a work in progress.