Milton Atherton page

Our Atherton Ancestry

Celebrating the lives and history of ancestors

Milton C. Atherton and Cordelia (Delia) Van Benschoten

Milton C. Atherton
( May 1820 to 1825^(A)- Unknown)^(B)

Parents: Unconfirmed^(C)

Siblings: Unknown

^(A)Three of five censuses from 1850 to 1900 give an approximate birth year of 1824/25
while the other two give a birth year of 1820. See notes below
^(B)Another Atherton family researcher has copy of marriage certificate for Milton and Elizabeth Holden. This or
other record confirms Milton's date of birth as 8 May 1824. Other records she has confirm death date of 1901
when will was probated. Likelihood is very high that this is the same Milton Atherton.
^(C)As in (B) above, marriage certificate shows parents of Milton as Cornelius and Mary. Research continues.

Married, first:
Cordelia (Delia) Van Benschoten
()

Parents: (Stay tuned for completion)

Siblings: (Stay tuned for completion)

Milton and Delia were married 22 Oct 1848⁽¹⁾

Children of Milton and Delia:

Franklin (aka Frank, aka Fred) M. Atherton

Not confirmed by source documents, but likelihood is very high that this is "our" Milton -
Milton married, second:

Elizabeth Holden^(A)
(b. 19 Jun 1833, d. unknown)

^(A)Another Atherton family researcher has copy of marriage certificate for Milton and Elizabeth Holden.

Children of Milton and Elizabeth:

Byron G. Atherton, b. 19 Feb 1864
Grant S. Atherton, b. 1869
Laura S. Atherton, b. 1872

What we know about Milton:

The only things we know for sure about Milton Atherton are those things tied to his son Franklin/Frank/Fred Atherton. Fred, as he preferred to be called in his adult years was first seen in Ohio on the 1850 census with father Milton and mother Delia (Cordelia Van Benschoten.) A published Van Benschoten genealogy⁽²⁾ gives a little bit more information about Milton in its summary of Van Benschoten descendent and wife of Milton, Cordelia (Delia) Van Benschoten, as follows:

            "708. III. CORDELIA V.B. m. 1st, in 1848, Milton Atherton, b. near Long Eddy, Pa., d. at Fetterman, W.Va., in 1885, where he had resided after the war. He had been wounded by Mosley's Guerrillas while bringing in a herd of cattle to the Union army in 1864. Divorced from him she m. 2nd, Aug. 28, 1854, James Wells. She m. 3rd, Jan. 22, 1871, Nathaniel Hine; no issue. She m. 4th, June 5, 1892, Adolphe Petersen; he is a hardware merchant and they live at Templeton, Cal.
            Atherton child:
                712. i. Fred M., b. Mar. 12, 1849
            Wells children:
                713. i. Curtis B., b. Apr. 1, 1855.
                714. ii. Mary, b. Mar. 28, 1860.
                715. iii. Anna, b. Dec.15, 1861.

            One writes me of Cordelia now in her old age: "She is fine looking, dignified, even stately; yet withal very genial and pleasant. For many years she has been a member of the Presbyterian church and active in the W.C.T.U. She is exceedingly charitable and no worthy appeal is ever made to her in vain". For many years she lived at Berlin, Ohio, but reasons of health finally took her to California. The writer goes on to say, "She is the greatest lover of flowers I ever knew; her garden in Berlin was a most beautiful sight, and people would drive out of their way to pass it. In California where flowers grow to perfection she seems to be perfectly happy; she lives in a garden filled with tropical plants."

The Van Benschoten genealogy says a fair bit about the various manifestations of the name over the hundreds of years since 1671 when documentation of the first immigrant ancestor is to be found. Indeed, his surname is recorded as Van Bunschoten, which was "lightened" over time to Van Benschoten. In looking for records of Milton's father-in-law, Curtis, when researching his son "Fred", I saw many derivations, including "Benschooter". And so it is that record of marriage is found referenced by the Mormon church website, FamilySearch.org, for Milton C. Atherton and Delia Benschoter on October 22, 1848 in Erie County, Ohio. (One of my next tasks in research is to locate copy of the microfilm referenced and secure copy of the record, to determine if other genealogically pertinent information is to be had.)

One other record⁽³⁾ for Milton's son Fred provided some clues as to where Milton went following divorce from Delia. A portion of that record is copied below, as follows:

           "FRED ATHERTON is the editor and proprietor of the "Clipper" of Waubay, Day county, and is a well-known
        newspaper man of that section. Mr. Atherton was born in Taylor county, West Virginia, March 12, 1855, and is a son
        of Milton and Delia (Benschoter) Atherton, natives respectively of Pennsylvania and Ohio. His father was a farmer
        by occupation, and during the war was a government contractor. He was wounded several times by the Confederates,
        but finally recovered."

A couple of notes of correction: It is more likely that Fred Atherton was born in Ohio, considering the first census in 1850 reflects his place of birth as Ohio. It is interesting to note his own perceived connection to West Virginia, however, where his father lived. Also, the Van Benschoten genealogy reflects Milton's death in Fetterman, West Virginia, in 1885. As delineated below, it would appear that this information is not correct.

Note that both of these records show Milton's place of birth as Pennsylvania. However, the 1850, 1870, 1880, and 1900 censuses report "New York." The 1860 census reported "CT" for Connecticut. The clue in the Van Benschoten genealogy "near Long Eddy, Pa." adds a little confusion. There IS a "hamlet" of Long Eddy, New York, but references to Long Eddy, PA are only on federal records for topographical maps showing the "Long Eddy, PA NY quadrangle." If indeed there was a tiny town of Long Eddy, PA, it was just across the river from Long Eddy, NY. And as other records seem to show a preference to New York, this is the information I have plugged into the genealogy software. (New York only.)

Also note that both Delia's genealogical record and the biography of son Fred place Milton in West Virginia after divorce from Delia. Further research into "Mosley's Guerrillas" (sic) also would confirm placing him in West Virginia. And so our research turns us toward that state. Genealogy internet based organizations have transcribed most census records available to the public and researching these files reflect only one Milton Atherton in West Virginia in the time period interesting us. One other Milton Atherton born within the same time frame lived and raised his family in Illinois so, following that person's census record, it was easy to eliminate him as my ancestor. Also, another researcher related to "our" Milton through his second family has provided some links and some possible glimpses into Milton's parentage. Let's have a look at what we can find:

The 1860 census for Barbour County, Virginia reflect M. C. Atherton, age 35, and Elizabeth Atherton, age 28. Per connection with the other Atherton family researcher mentioned above, this is likely Elizabeth Holden. This is the census mentioned earlier on which Milton's place of birth was listed as Connecticut. It appears that a ditto mark indicates that Elizabeth was also born in Connecticut. Other census records for Milton and Elizabeth consistently reflect New York and Virginia, respectively, as their birth places.

On June 20, 1863, West Virginia officially became the 35th state to be admitted to the Union. County lines continued to be adjusted as the population grew and new counties were formed. While it may be possible that only the county lines moved, it does appear that the Atherton's actually did move their family into what is now Tucker County, West Virginia. In 1870, they lived in Hannahsville township, and the 1880 and 1900 censuses show that they were living in "Licking District" or "Licking Magesterial District." The census reports alternate between reporting "Milton" and "M. C." Atherton as the head of household. We can know that these are referring to the same person as Milton and Elizabeth began their family between 1860 and 1870 and we watch as first Byron and Grant, and then Laura are added to the family. By 1900, Milton and Elizabeth are once again listed without other household members.

An online reference from a book called History of Tucker County...⁽⁴⁾reported election results for various city offices in the county. It looks as though "M. C. Atherton" was elected as a road surveyor in 1867 for Hannahsville. In 1869 he was elected as the Township Clerk as well as the Township Treasurer for Hannahsville, but was soundly defeated for the post of "Supervisor of Election." Interestingly, the Hannahsville township drops off of the election reporting results, while the Licking district gets added, along with other township names. I know that towns sometimes changed their names and tried to research this, without success. There is still apparently a Hannahsville, WV today, though off the maps, while there is no town named Licking, only a "Licking district" which also does not show up on mapping softwares. So, again, it is unclear whether the family moved their residence during this time, or the townships/districts were getting renamed or boundaries redefined.

The Van Benschoten report referenced Milton being wounded by "Mosley's Guerrillas." In researching this, I learned that the name was likely mistranscribed, as a renowned personality of the Civil War who otherwise fits the description is John Singleton Mosby. Online research noted that Mosby "formed a partisan unit which was very effective in tying down Federal forces behind Union lines in Northern Virginia in the last two years of the war." Reports about Mosby continue, relating that, "Federal attempts to defeat Mosby's partisan rangers fell short of success due to Mosby's use of very small units (10 - 15 men) operating in areas considered friendly to the rebel cause." Another source reports that Mosby "managed to wreak havoc among the Union supply lines" and that this "disruption of supply lines" frustrated army commanders to the extent that they would execute guerrillas when they found them out. The History of Tucker County... book previously mentioned stated that "John Mosby was penetrating the country, and it was thought that he was aiming to pick up detached squads of men wherever he could find them." Needless to say, it is reported that our Milton was wounded in his attempt to deliver some of those "supplies" in the form of some cattle for the army. There is no record of Milton being in active military service, and census records only show him as a "farmer." But he may well have had necessary connections to be positioned as a "contractor" for the government, as son Fred's biography stated, in providing the needed cattle. Indeed, Civil War records for West Virginia counties report their population's division between Union and Confederate supporters. This was not a very pastoral or pleasant place to be in the 1860's!

One last point of interest to share about John Singleton Mosby: In my research I noted that a John Singleton Mosby Museum is scheduled to open in 2007 in Warrenton, Virginia.⁽⁵⁾

⁽¹⁾Mormon church website, familysearch.org, record for Milton C. Atherton shows spouse Delia Benschoter and marriage data as 22 Oct 1848, Erie, Ohio. Source information is as follows - "Batch No.: M513961, Dates: 1838 - 1864, Source Call No.: 0954128 V. 1-3, Type: Film, Printout Call No.: None, Type: [blank]"

⁽²⁾Concerning the Van Bunschoten or Van Benschoten Family in America, A Genealogy and Brief History by William Henry Van Benschoten, 1907

⁽³⁾Memorial and biographical record; an illustrated compendium of biography, containing a compendium of local biography, including biographical sketches
    of ...prominent old settlers and representative citizens of South Dakota with a review of their life work...Also a compendium of national biography.         Publisher: Chicago, G. A. Ogle, 1898. (Find Fred's record at: http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/sd/day/bios/atherton155gbs.txt)

⁽⁴⁾History of Tucker County, West Virginia, From the Earliest Explorations and Settlements to the Present Time; With Biographical Sketches of More Than Two Hundred and Fifty of the Leading Men, and a Full Appendix of Official and Electional History; Also, An Account of the Rivers, Forests and Caves of the County. by Hu Maxwell, Published by the Preston Publishing Company, Kingwood, W. Va, 1884.

⁽⁵⁾ http://www.mosbymuseum.org/