During the War of 1812, Catherine Spring, a 23 year old widow, married her second husband, Daniel Dugan, a veteran of the earlier war waged against Britain to gain independence. Daniel was 40 years Catherine’s senior when, according to records, they married on August 19th 1813 after a Methodist meeting in Moreland Township, Lycoming County, PA. This was Daniel’s third marriage, having fathered seven children with his previous wives. Catherine had five young children with Mr. Spring, one of them a baby boy, named Peter, who had been born within the year, indicating her husband had recently died.
It is believed the Spring family was living in Lycoming County during the early 1800s, though information on Peter’s siblings and father is elusive. Unlike other PA counties that have records online, Lycoming County has kept its records available only at the actual courthouse. This leaves limited resources to search online with the census being the most accessible. Early census enumerations, however, offer only fragments that often don’t provide clear answers. In these early records only heads of households were named and nothing guaranteed an enumerator didn’t put a tic in the wrong column or that individuals even knew their age.
In 1810 Catherine was about 20 years old and had at least two children with her husband. The census from the first decades of the 19th century show a few miscellaneous Spring families scattered in Lycoming County, but none is a likely match to Catherine, although these families could be relatives to her husband. So where is Catherine and her family? Perhaps the Spring family settled in Lycoming County after 1810, or they were missed by the census taker, or maybe they were living with another family, such as Catherine’s parents who have not been identified.
If the Spring family was not in Lycoming County by 1810, they arrived in Moreland Township soon after. Mr. Spring died about 1812-1813 leaving his young widow Catherine to support their five children. It was difficult for a single mother, especially with young children, to support her family; often she would remarry for the financial security it brought her and her children. Before she was a widow Catherine probably was acquainted with Daniel Dugan, either from living nearby or attending the same church. Their courtship was short, and after Catherine and Daniel married they began a family, having two daughters Elinor and Mary, both born before 1820.
Daniel Dougan resided in Moreland Township in 1820 with the following household: 1 male 0-10, 1 male 45+, 4 females 0-10, 2 females 10-16, 1 female 26-45. Daniel’s step-son Peter Spring was about 7 years old, Daniel was 70 years old and Catherine was 30 years old. The females 10-16 most likely are Spring daughters. Of the four youngest females, two of them are definitely Daniel and Catherine’s daughters, and the other two probably are Catherine’s girls from her first marriage. It appears Peter was the only son from the Spring’s marriage perhaps explaining why he has been so easily identified.
Over the next ten years three more children were born to the Dugans. Several of Daniel’s older children were documented as living in Franklin Township in 1830, but a census search for Daniel Dugan in Lycoming County provided no results. After inspecting the pages of that township, a Daniel Logan, a few doors away from William Dugan was found. This could be Daniel Dugan as the numbers in the age categories correspond closely to what would be expected for his household: 1 male 5-9, 1 male 15-19, 1 male 80-90, 2 females 10-14, 2 females 15-19, 1 female 40-49. In 1830 Peter Spring was about 17 years old, Daniel was 80 years old, and Catherine was 40. Their children Samuel Perry was about 8 years old, Elinor was 15-16 years old, Mary was 13 and Rachel was about 9. They might have also had a daughter Sarah who would account for the 4th female, although it would seem that there should be a number in the 5-10 age group. The Spring daughters probably left the Dugan household by 1830, most likely getting married as they would have been adults. By 1840 Peter Spring, although unmarried, is finally a head of his own household which lists 1 male 20-29, Peter, 2 females 15-19, most likely his half-sisters, and 1 female 40-49, his mother Catherine, who was again widowed when Daniel died in 1836.
In January of 1877 Catherine was featured in a short article titled “A Veteran’s Widow–A Revolutionary Pensioner within the Limits of Lycoming County” that appeared in the Williamsport’s The Daily Gazette and Bulletin. It noted, “After his death the widow supposed the pension was at an end and so it rested for more than twenty years when it was again renewed and back installments paid, since which time it has been regularly forwarded to her at Lairdsville.” Although it speculates Catherine’s age as being near 100, her actual age was 87. Also related was that only three of the five Spring children were still living, including her son Peter with whom she dwelled.
Peter resided in Lycoming County with his family and was enumerated in decennial census records from 1850-1880, which now included the names of household members. In 1860, his mother Catherine Dugan, age 70, is clearly listed in his household. The other years are less certain. In 1850 Peter was beside his half-sister Rachel Starr and a few doors away from his Dugan step-brothers. Living with Peter in 1850 and 1870 is listed Catherine Spring who appears as the last household resident. It is possible in both cases this is Peter’s mother with incorrect ages recorded and the Spring surname used. Catherine’s age in 1850 is listed as 11—another Catherine age 10 is also listed as the first child. In 1870 her age is either 58 or 78 as the first number is not clearly written. Catherine Dugan is not listed in those census indexes, nor the one for 1880.
Peter married Susan Shaner and together they reared their family. He gave Catherine nine grandchildren: Catherine (1840-1910) m. Abia Phillips; Sarah (1843-1924) m. Sampson Miller; Charles Wesley (1845-1923) m. Mary Ellen Smith; Callinda (1848-1906) m. William Wallace/Wallis; Sylvester Perry (1850-1928) m. Nancy Houseknecht; John Simpson ( 1853-1900) m. Kate Hill; George Washington (1856-1937) m. Mina Catherine Starr; Franklin Pierce (1862-1936) m. Anna Eves; and Edward (1864-1949) m. Elizabeth Swisher. These children, at the beginning of the 20th century, had made their grandmother an ancestor of nearly 100 descendants.
In Daniel Dugan’s pension file, correspondence from family members seeking information about his service indicate that Catherine died in the late 1880s; but there is no proof to corroborate this. She was not listed in Peter’s household in the 1880 census. If she indeed lived till 1888 as some have suggested, Catherine would have been 98 years of age. A tombstone engraved with Catherine Dugan is erected In the Lairdsville cemetery, but with no dates. Catherine’s marker positioned by Peter Spring’s grave who died in 1889 suggests this is his mother. Most of Peter’s children and some of their families are buried here, as are Dugan descendants of Catherine. Since many of Catherine’s offspring selected this as their final resting place, perhaps among the rows another Spring from Catherine’s first marriage is yet to be discovered.
Relatively Speaking Blog 