Person:James Chatt (1)

James R. Chatt was born in 1837 in Allenheads, Northumberland, England, a small town whose economy revolved entirely around the local lead mines. He was the youngest of nine children (6 sons, 3 daughters).

In 1841, at age "5" (per census), he is living at White Rigg (Allendale parish in the "high forest")with his parents Joseph Chatt (40 lead ore smelter), Maria (45), and elder siblings Elizabeth (20), Thomas (20 scham??ter of lead), George (20 lead ore miner), John (15 dresser of lead ore), Joseph (14), Margaret (12), William (10), and Robert (7), as well as Ann Dargue (15 "F.S."? female servant?). Another household John Wilkinson and Jane also at White Rigg. Nearly all the men in this area are involved in the lead mines, with the occupations on the census being rather specific: lead ore miner (most common), lead ore smelter, dresser of lead ore (common for teen boys), line burner, cartman, etc. A few of the households have an "F.S." (female servant?).

In 1851, at age 13, James' father has died, and he is living at White Rigg with his mother Maria and her newly remarried husband Thomas Coulson (himself the widower of Elizabeth Dargue), a lead ore miner. James is a lead ore washer. Also in the household is his older brother Robert (16, unemployed), and his two younger step-siblings David (11) and Rosina (9) Coulson.

In 1861, at age 23, he is lodging with the widowed Elizabeth Rowell (his 20-years-elder sister), her two young sons Joseph (7) and Thomas (5), and a fellow lodger and lead miner John Lowery. They reside at Thorney Know in Allendale parish. (They live near Philipson, Short, Dixon, and Wilson families.)

In 1865, a girl Frances Chatt was christened at St Peter and Allenheads, daughter of James Chatt and Hannah Dargue. There are no other James Chatts in evidence at this place and time, so this James is near certainly the father of Frances. That the girl was given the father's surname suggests that her parents were married (in other cases, children were given the mother's surname even when a father was named), though a record has not been found for this marriage.

James Chatt is not found in 1871 UK nor 1870 US census indices. When does he come across?

In 1873, at age 36, he married "Lurana S. Rich" (who goes by Susan), 12 years his junior, in Parke County, Indiana.

In 1880, at age 42, he is farming in Wabash, Fountain Co, Indiana, living with his wife, two young children Joseph (4) and Martha (3), and a niece Magie Chatt (25, born in Wisconsin) and nephew Tom Roland (26, shoemaker, born in England).

In 1900, at age 62, he is farming in Cain Township, Fountain Co, Indiana, living with his wife, and six children: Martha (22), Maggie (19), Thomas (18), John (15), Dora (13), and Emma (10).

In 1910, he (age 73) is still farming in Cain Township, with his wife Susan (60), and five adult unmarried children living with him: Joseph (34 farmer), Martha (32 bookkeeper), Thomas (28 laborer at odd jobs), John (25 farm laborer), Elizabeth (20 no employment).

In 1916, at age 79, he died in Hillsboro, Fountain Co, Indiana, a year before his wife. He was predeceased by his daughter Margaret in 1907 and his son John in 1912. He was survived by three sons and three daughters, and lived to see four of them married, and four grandchildren (with many more to come after he passed away).

1880 census

1900 census

1.   IGI extract of Old Parish Registers
   St Peter and Allenheads Chapelries, Allendale, Northumberland, England, 30 Apr 1837.

   male christening James Chatt, father: Joseph Chatt, mother: Maria.

2.   UK Census 1851, Northumberland, Allendale, High Forest Grieveship.

   at White Rigg: Thomas Coulson (37 head, lead ore miner), Maria do (51 wife), Robert Chatt (16, "son in law", unmarried, unemployed), James do (13, "son in law", lead ore washer), David Coulson (11, son, scholar), Rosina do (9, daur). All are born in Allendale.

3.   UK Census 1861, Northumberland, Allendale,.

   at Thorney Know: Elizabeth Rowell (43, widow, charwoman), Joseph do (7), Thomas do (5), James Chatt (23, lodger, lead ore miner), John Lowery (19, lodger, lead ore miner). All born in Allendale. Philipson, Short, Dixon, and Wilson families are nearby.

4.   Indiana Deaths, County Health Office, Covington (Fountain Co)
   1 Jul 1916.

   James R. Chatt, age 79, Hillsboro.