"Swamp" James McCandless
From MouserAncestry
Immigrant 1819
| Date | Location | Notes | Sources | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birth | County Down, Ireland | |||
| Marriage | To Jane "Jennie" McCandless | |||
| Death | < 1850 |
Ancestry chart segment
Generation 5 Generation 6 Generation 7
+-- Unknown McCandless II
| (????-????)
+-- "Swamp" James McCandless --+
| (????-????) |
Mary Jane McCandless --+ +-- [unknown]
(1832-1882) | (????-????)
+-- Jane "Jennie" McCandless
(1810-1881)
Sources:
Children
(all children with Jane "Jennie" McCandless)
| Name | Gender | Date of Birth | Birthplace | Spouse | Notes | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joshua McCandless | M | Lucinda McCandless | ||||
| John A. McCandless | M | 23 Feb 1831 | Hannah Stoughton | |||
| Mary Jane McCandless | F | 10 Sep 1832 | John C. Stoughton | Direct line | ||
| Julia Ann McCandless | F | Albert Ralston |
Sources
| Ref. Num. | Description | Image of original |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1830 United States Federal Census, Muddy Creek Twp, Butler Co, PA, page 15. Census is not dated. James McCandless family: 1 male 5-10,1 male 20-30, 1 female 15-20. In two adjacent lines: John McCandless: 1 male 10-15, 2 males 15-20, 1 male 20-30, 1 male 40-50, 1 female 5-10, 1 female 10-15, 1 female 15-20, 1 female 50-60. Age for child is a little out of range, but the census fits otherwise for"Swamp" James McCandless |  |
| 3 | 1840 United States Federal Census for Butler Co. PA showing families headed by James McCandless. There are eight families, five of which have daughters in the 5-10 age range. The Muddy Creek and Centre Twp. families seem most likely based on location. Similarly, several possible James McCandless families are in the 1830 census. Based on the above location, the best fit would appear to be the Muddy Creek family on pg 3: 2 males <5, 1 male 10-15, 1 male 30-40, 1 female 5-10, 1 female 20-30. |      |
| 2 | 1850 United States Federal Census, Franklin Twp., Butler Co., PA, Page 254, lines 10-14 lists widow Jane McCandless, 40, living with four children: son John McCandless, 19 (farmer); daughter Mary J. McCandless, 17; son Moses McCandless, 14; and son Joshua McCandless, 10. Everyone was born in PA. Moses attended school within the census year. This census is dated 16 Aug 1850. Since the last child was born in 1840, it is reasonable that Swamp James McCandless died in the early 1840's. The names of the children do not quite match theose found in the "McCandless and Related Families" volume cited below. Specifically, Moses is not in the book list and a Julia Ann is present. Thisa discrepancy can not be explained with current data. A family headed by James M. McCandless lives next door. |
 |
| 2 | McCandless and Related Families, Pioneers of Butler County Pennsylvania , 1977, self published by Joseph A. Ferree. Natrona Hgts. PA, p. 69 James McCandless, and p. 68 The Second Group of three Brothers (immigrants): "James McCandless, the second of the second group of three brothers, was born in county down, Ireland ..." lists 4 children. |
(complete text James McCandless, The McCandless and Related Families) |
| 3 | Pennsylvania Atlas & Gazetteer, 3rd Ed., DeLorme Mapping Company, Freeport MA, 1990, p. 57. Map includes portions of Butler County. One of the tributaries of Muddy Creek and present day Lake Arthur is Swamp Run. It flows through the northwest corner of Centre Twp. into Franklin Twp. (See The McCandless and Realted Families, p. 68, re. the "Swamp McCandlesses. | |
| 4 | Reproduction Map of Butler County Pennsylvania 1858, Violet M. Covert 2005, p.25 Centre Twp. Map shows the farms of various owners in 1858. In northwestern Centre Twp., along Swamp Run, are various McCandless farms including those listed as belonging to R. McCandless, Geo. McCandless, J. McCandless, McCandless, (and a variety of other McCandlesses). These likely indicate the farms of the three brothers Robert, George, and James McCandless (or James' son Joshua). | |
| 5 | Butler Co. Cemetery Inventory Vol. II, p.6 Mt. Zion Cemetery. Joshua J. McCandless b. 1859, d. 1918, "husband". Sarah Etta , "wife of Joshua J.", b. 1862, d. 1946. (Joshua J. McCandless is the son of John A. McCandless and Hannah Stoughton; grandson of "Swamp" James McCandless. Also a nephew of John C. Stoughton)
| |
| 6 | Personal correspondence from Elizabeth Wilson Williams. | N/A
|
Source notes
The James McCandless we are following with census data here seems to be too young to be the immigrant in 1794. If he immigrated as a young man with his brothers, he would be perhaps 20 in 1800 and around 60 by 1840. Jane was born in 1810. She would have been perhaps a second wife, and therefore not the mother of some or all of the children. There is no Jane as head-of-household in the 1840 census, so if we assume that James was still alive then, he would have been at minimum 50 years old. The Connquenessing James is the only one that fits, and there is no female in that household young enough to be Jane "Jennie" McCandless we have for Mary Jane's mother. The number of McCandless families in the area suggests that there might be another generation between the immigrant brothers and our James and Jane.
While the "second group of three brothers" were said to be cousins of the first McCandless immigrants to Butler County PA, it is likely they were one generation younger, and so not likely first cousins as we use the term today. They married children or grandchildren of the first group of immigrant McCandlesses.
