Charles Rountree (1783-1867) Ireland to Indiana

Immigrated to USA in 1804 from Ulster, Ireland

Charles Rountree (24 December 1783 – 8 October 1867) was naturalized in Montgomery County, Indiana.   A summary of his 30 March 1844 naturalization record states that he was born on 24 December 1784(sic) in the “Province of Ulster” and that he arrived in the United States in 1804.1

His 1867 obituary states that he “was born in the North of Ireland, Dec. 24th 1783, and with his wife came to this country in 1804. He settled in North Carolina and remained there until the year 1821, from whence he removed to Butler County, Ohio. From Ohio, with his family, consisting of four sons and three daughters, he came to this county in the year 1827...”2. Oddly, the obituary did not mention the names of his wife or children.

His son Meredith’s 1881 biography states that “his parents Charles and Sarah (Hayes) were born, raised and married in Armaugh county. Ireland. They came to America in 1806(sic), landing at New Castle, Delaware, and thence went direct to North Carolina. There they farmed seventeen years, then six years in Butler county, Ohio, and in 1827 came to Montgomery county and settled in Ripley township, where the elder Rountree entered 160 acres of land…”3   The death certificate of their son Jones Rountree confirms his mother’s name as Sarah Hayes.4.  Finally, a biography of his son Wesley Rountree confirms his parents names.5 He was taxed on that acreage after 1811 — except for 1814, the year Meredith Rountree wrote that he was born in Orange County.  He sold 59 acres of that tract to Jesse Evans on 16 August 1814 as “Charles Rountree Junr.”6.  The 1815 and 1816 tax lists and at least one other record also referred to him as Charles Rountree “junr” to differentiate him from a second, older, Charles Rountree who appeared in the tax lists in those two years, but who died in late 1816.  (More on him elsewhere.)   From 1817 through the 1820 tax list he was the only Charles Rountree in the county, after which he disappears from Person County records. The Person County census of 1820 listed him with three sons and two daughters, matching later records.  I did not find a deed selling his 169½ acre tract.

Related to Orange County Rountrees?

Orange County was the home of the family of an Irishman named Thomas Rountree (c1732-1805) from Armagh County who had come to America with his wife in 1760 and settled there with his sons William, John, Charles, Andrew, and Thomas, and daughters Rachel and Lydia.  (See this page).   By 1804 his children were living in both northern Orange County and adjacent southern Person County.  It seems nearly certain that Charles Rountree moved to North Carolina because he was related in some way to these Rountrees.

Apart from proximity,  the evidence of a relationship is thin and entirely circumstantial.  The only interaction between Charles Rountree and the other Rountree family was when John Rountree, son of Thomas who lived in Person County, witnessed his purchase of land in 1811.  The two men were then taxed in the same district until John Rountree moved to Tennessee about 1817.  Only one other record connects him with another Rountree.  In the estate sale of the other Charles Rountree of Person County held on 20 February 1817, this Charles Rountree made a purchase and signed a promissory note for the sum.7

Curiously, records in Ohio and Indiana for this family invariably spell the name “Roundtree”.

Moved to Butler County, Ohio About 1821

Most of the Rountrees descended from Thomas Rountree had died or left North Carolina by 1820 and Charles Rountree left as  well, according to the referenced biographies.   He was in Butler County, Ohio by September 1822 when he was a purchaser at an estate sale.8  He is listed in Wayne Township’s personal property tax rolls in both 1826 and 1827.  In 1826 he was taxed on one horse and three cattle. In 1827 that had increased to two horses and four cattle.  He does not appear to have owned land in Ohio.

Final Settlement in Montgomery County, Indiana

On 26 June 1827, as Charles Roundtree of Butler County, Ohio, he was granted 160 acres in Montgomery County, Indiana in Section 24 of Township 18N and Range 6W.9  Four years later on 26 September 1831 he was granted another 80 acres in nearby Section 25.10  He lived there in Ripley Township for the next forty years.   An 1869  newspaper article mentioned that the early settlers of Ripley township in Montgomery County included “Charles Rountree and his sons — John, Meredith, Jonas and Wesley.”11

Charles and Sarah are both buried in the Alamo Cemetery along with several members of the family, according to a cemetery survey.12  According to those records, he died 8 October 1867 at the age of 84, and Sarah died 23 September 1871 at the age of 87.

  1. Margaret Rountree (30 June 1804 – 6 February 1883).  She was born in North Carolina according to censuses.  She married William Gilkey on 3 July 1828 by license dated 30 June 1838.13. They remained in the county and raised several children.. She is buried in the Alamo Cemetery in Ripley with her birth and death dates recorded as above.
  2. John Rountree (17 November 1811 – 14 May 1863) He was born in North Carolina according to the 1850 and 1860 censuses, and married Sarah Kercheval according to the death certificate of his youngest child.  He and Sarah headed a household in 1850 with the three oldest children below.  Sarah died on 4 December 1850 according to her stone in the Alamo Cemetery, just a week after giving birth.  (She was the first person buried in that cemetery.).   John remarried to Susanna Snyder, the widow of Daniel Snyder, by license dated 15 May 1852.14.  The second marriage produced no children, though John Rountree was guardian to Elizabeth Snyder, Susanna’s youngest child.15  The 1860 census listed the couple with the four children by his first wife.According to a newspaper article, his gravestone, discovered in 1909, read “John Rountree, consort of Susannah Rountree, died May 14 1863 aged 51 years 5 months and 27 days.”16.  Note that a photo of a gravestone in the Alamo Cemetery, posted at Find-a-Grave, may not be the same stone.His death date is confirmed by a document in his probate file by Alonzo Standford, stating that John Rountree “departed this life…intestate…on the 14th day of May 1863“.17   Alonzo Stanford was appointed administrator of the estate.   Items in the file include a debit of $10 to Dr. I. L. Brown for “consultation… in last illness“. and an inventory of the estate taken in August 1863 followed by the  estate sale in September 1863.His brother Jones Rountree was guardian to all four of his children, who were enumerated in their grandmothe’r’s household in 1870.  The birth dates of the four children were included in their petition selecting Jones Rountree as their guardian on 26 December 1864 and again in Jones Rountree’s application for guardianship two days later.18
    1. Mary Rountree (19 August 1844 – 11 May 1926)  She married David G. Stanford on 16 January 1871.19. They remained in Ripley, where she died in 1926.  Her death certificate lists her parents as John Rountree and Sarah Kercheval.
    2. Charles Rountree (12 November 1846  – 1926). He married Florence (Brown) Rountree, the widow of his uncle Wesley Rountree, on 27 June 1892.20. They had no children.
    3. Ann K,  Rountree (12 September 1848 – 18 March 1931) Sometimes rendered as “Anna”, she married James Warfield in October 1872.21.  Her death Certificate in Indianapolis confirms her parents as John Rountree and Sallie Kercheval,22
    4. Lewis Rountree (25 November 1850 – 1926). He remained in Ripley and never married. His gravestone simply reads “1850-1926”.  The gravestone spells his name “louis” although it was “Lewis” in several other records.
  3. Meredith Rountree (13 May 1814 – 9 September 1891).  His biography, mentioned above, also states that he “was born May 13,1814, in Orange county, North Carolina… Mr. Rountree was married September 6, 1840, to Melinda Mann, of Mercer county, Illinois. They had four children : Rhoda A., Henry Clay, Sarah E. and Daniel Webster. All are deceased except the last named. Mrs. Rountree died March 27, 1871. Mr. Rountree was next married to Mrs. Mary A. McClellan, of Crawfordsville, January 1, 1872. His eldest son, Henry C., served his time in the civil war, and died at Jeffersonville, Indiana, on his way home.” 23.Meredith Rountree’s obituary merely states that he was born in North Carolina in 1814.24   A modern gravestone in the Alamo Cemetery records his  birth year (evidently incorrectly) as 1813.  Marriage records confirm the marriage to Melinda Hamm on 12 September 1840.25  After her death he remarried to the widow Mary Ann McClelland (ne Gilkey) (1814-1893) on 1 January 1872.26Meredith Rountree died intestate, leaving the widow Mary and Daniel W. Rountree as his only heirs.27
    1. Rhoda A. Rountree (16 April 1842 – 13 January 1862)   She was unmarried, and was buried in the Alamo Cemetery in Ripley.28
    2. Henry Clay Rountree (6 December 1844 – 21 September 1864.)   He served in the Union’s 135th Indiana Infantry, enlisting on 23 May 1864 and mustering out on 29(sic) September 1864.29  He died in New Albany, apparently on his way home.30 The Alamo Cemetery record in Ripoley gives his death date as 22 September.
    3. Sarah Ellen Rountree (24 August 1847 – 27 May 1867)  According to her obituary she died of consumption at the age of 19 years and eight months.31 She is also buried the Alamo Cemetery in Ripley.
    4. Daniel Webster Rountree (28 October 1853 – 14 August 1931)   His death certificate in Montgomery County provided his date of death and confirmed his parents.  His death certificate gives his father’s birthplace simply as “N. Carolina.”  He was the sole heir of his father according to probate files.
  4. Jones Rounntree  (26 February 1817 – 21 November 1902)  His death certificatee, for which his widow was informant, lists his birthplace as Person County, North Carolina.   Although he appears as “jonas” in the 1850 census and in a few newspaper references, his name was “Jones” in scores of court and other records, including more than a dozen of his own signatures.)   He was still in his parent’s household in 1850.  He married at the age of 60 to a single woman named Sophrona Ann Ensminger (1841-1909) on 19 March 1877.32. The 1880 census listed one child, Nellie. The 1900 census listed her as “Ellen” together with Joseph E. Rountree.  Sophrona, apparently known as “Phrona” died on 17 March 1909.at Nellie’s home in Montgomery County.33
    1. Nellie Louise Rountree (12 July 1878 – 6 April 1974). She married Benjamin W. Wilhite.   1844 – 1926)
    2. Joseph E. Rountree (24 March 1884 – 12 February 1970) He married Rebecca E. Hastaday in 1904, worked for railroads and died in Newark, Ohio.
  5.  Anna M.  Rounntree (5 June 1820 – 7 February 1888)   She married James C. Kercheval on 11 March 1841 by license dated two days earlier.34 They moved to Will County, Illinois and had several children.  Ann (sometimes “Anna” ) listed North Carolina as her birthplace in censuses.
  6. Elizabeth Rountree (January 1822 – 16 July 1913). She was enumerateed in her parents household in 1850.  She married James Henry Stephens on 14 October 1854 by license dated the same day.35   According to the 1900 census of Vermillion County, Illinois she was born in January 1822 in Ohio.
  7. Wesley W. Rountree (3 October 1825 – 2 June 1891 )   His 1891 obituary gives his birth on 3 October 1823 in Butler County, Ohio.   That is repeated in an 1893 biography which calls him “the youngest of seven children, was born October 3, 1825 in Butler County, Ohio….”  36  The same source lists his marriage in 1872 to Florence Brown (1849 – 1902), eldest daughter of Dr. Iral L. Brown, and Wesley’s death in 1891.   Montgomery County marriage records confirm the marriage on 2 February 1872.  37.38  They were childless.  Wesley left a will dated 29 August 1876 and probated on 8 June 1891 leaving his entire estate to Florence.39  A year later Florence remarried to Charles Rountree, son of Wesley’s brother John Rountree,  on 27 June 1892.   She died on 12 February 1902 according to her death certificate.40.

 

  1. Naturalization Applications for Montgomery County, Indiana (Reprinted 1986 from “Who’s Your Ancestor”, Selpy Publishers, Kokomo), p64.  This contains an obvious typo in that his birthdate is written as 24 December 1884.  Whether this was meant as 1784 — a year after the obituary states — or not is not at all clear.  Earlier naturalization records are in the Mongomery County Circuit Court records Volume 2, pages 184 and 461 — which are not accessible online.  Additionally, the Indiana State Archives is in the process of digitizing naturalization records, which may yield more detail if and when Charles Rountree’s records are included. [↩]
  2. Crawfordsville Weekly Journal, Issue of 17 October 1867, page 2 [↩]
  3. H. W. Beckwith, History of Montgomery County…. (Hill & Iddings, Chicago, 1881), p175-6. [↩]
  4. Indiana Death Certificate, MOntgomery County No. 296. [↩]

  5. Initial Settlement in Orange and Person Counties, North Carolina

    Charles must have traveled directly to North Carolina after his arrival.  His daughter Margaret was born there in 1804 and son John in 1811.  Charles Rountree’s first appearance in public records is in the 1806 tax list of Person County, as a single poll.  He is missing from tax records for the next few years, apparently having moved across the line into Orange County where he appears in the 1810 with his wife and oldest child Margaret in the household.   Meredith Rountree’s biography (see below) states that he was born in Orange County, North Carolina in 1814 and Jones Rountree’s death certificate gives his 1817 birthplace as adjacent Person County, North Carolina.

    On 11 February 1811 as Charles Rountree of Orange County he bought 221½ acres across the county line in Person County on the Flat River from joshua Cates Jr. with John Rountree a witness. ((Person County Deed Book D, p312. [↩]

  6. Person County Deed Book E, p411. [↩]
  7. Person County Wills, Inventories & taxables 1815-1817,  p300. [↩]
  8. Butler County Probate Estate Files No. 0308 (Estate of Joseph Green) [↩]
  9. Certificate No. 5139. [↩]
  10. Certificate No. 13659. [↩]
  11. Crawfordsville Weekly Journal, Issue of 16 December 1869. [↩]
  12. “Cemeteries of Montgomery County, Indiana, Vol 1 (Dorothy Q Chapter, D.A.R., 1962), p22. [↩]
  13. Montgomery County Loose Records and Database: “All Indiana U.S., Compiled Marriages 1802-1892″, accessed at ancestry.com.  Also Database” Indiana Marriages 1780-1992″ accessed at familysearh.org. [↩]
  14. Montgomery County Loose Records, accessed at Crawfordsville Public Library website. [↩]
  15. Montgomery County Probate Records Box 47, item 360 and others.  See also Box 25a “Daniel; Snyder” folder for John Rountree’s bond as guardian.” [↩]
  16. Crawfordsville Journal and Courier issue of 10 June 1909, oage 1, kindly posted at Find-a-Grave by an anonymous donor. [↩]
  17. Montgomery County Probate Records Box 48c, beginning with teh first item. [↩]
  18. Montgomery County Probate Records Box 67, item 198 and item 181. [↩]
  19. Montgomery County Marriage Book 7, p414. [↩]
  20. Montgomery County Marriage Book 12, p357. [↩]
  21. Montgomery County Marriage Book 7, p613. [↩]
  22. Indiana Death Certificatge, Marion County No. 9523. [↩]
  23. Beckwith, p175-6. [↩]
  24. Crawfordsville Daily Journal Issue of 10 September 1891. [↩]
  25. Montgomery County Marriage Book 1, p44 and Book 2, p9. [↩]
  26. Montgomery County Marriage Book 7, p531. [↩]
  27. Montgomery County Will Book 1, pp35. [↩]
  28. Find-a-Grave and also see Dorothy Q Chapter, D.A.R., “Cemeteries of Montgomery County, Indiana, Vol 1, p22. [↩]
  29. Beckwith, p93. [↩]
  30. (Beckwith, p109.  Quoted at https://genealogytrails.com/ind/montgomery/men-killed-in-civilwar.htm [↩]
  31. Crawfordsville Weekly Journal issue od 30 May 1867, p2. [↩]
  32. Montgomery County Marriage Book 8, p539. [↩]
  33. Obituary in The Indianapolis News issue of 18 March 1909, p8. [↩]
  34. Montgomery County Marriage Book 1, p46 and Book 2, p24. Also see Database: All Indiana U.S., Compiled Marriages 1802-1892, accessed at ancestry.com [↩]
  35. Montgomery County Marriage Book 1, p246. [↩]
  36. Portrait and Biographical Record, Montgomery, Parke and Fountain Counties, Indiana, (Chapman Bros. Chicago, 1893) p356. [↩]
  37. Montgomery County Marriage Book 7, p542. [↩]
  38. See also Beckwith, p572. [↩]
  39. Montgomery County Will Book 3, p428. [↩]
  40. Indiana Death Certificate, Montgomery County No. 256. [↩]