Bleimes Family History

Chapter 12. Two Archibald's.

A word about the name Conn: It is a sept of Clan Donald which had members in Scotland and Ireland. The best bet is that ours were Irish Protestants. A couple of famous ones are: The guy who did brass horns, and Billy the boxer. Ours were farmers.

The elder Archibald Conn first appears in New Garden Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania in the first (1790) US census. This is the earliest Conn record we have found, so all of our Conn lore stems from it. There was a family bible, with entries apparently made mostly by the next generation, which was held at one time by cousin Ferne Bridge. I made copies of the pages containing these entries. They are not altogether legible, but nearly so. They told us a great deal; however as with most bible notes, they do not mention any locations of the events.

Arch Sr.’s birth year was likely around 1768. He married Elizabeth “Betty” Lowry 16 October 1787. Her origins are unknown. The first public record we have on her is the 1810 Brooke County, Virginia census. Brooke County is in the panhandle area of what is now West Virginia.

Arch and Betty had ten children, of which the first two died as infants. [Archibald Conn's Family Chart] The last one, Robert, was born in 1806 and that may have been the last straw. For whatever reason, Arch took his own life. He hung himself 5 January 1807 – “-on a sassafras bush.”. There was a Brooke County “Inquisition” (which must equate to today’s inquest proceeding) that produced a findings document of which I have a copy. They “found” that Arch was most likely influenced by the Devil to have committed such an un-Christian act.

Being widowed is the reason Betty appeared in the 1810 census – she was then head-of-household. In not too many years most of the balance of that Conn family moved west to Steubenville and other locations in Jefferson County, Ohio. But not Archibald Jr., who seems to have had the middle initial D. We can refer to him as;

Arch D.

There is a strange gap between the time and place of Arch Sr.’s death and the next appearance of Arch D. We find him about 300 miles south in Harrison County, Kentucky, with no sign of others of his immediate family. This is very odd and I can only surmise that he was shipped out to a relative or friend down there because of the sudden financial load on his mother. Whatever the reason, he worked as a farm hand and at 27 married Susan Douglas, 22, in Cynthiana on 22 September 1830.

Digression: Arch D. had an older brother George L. who must have migrated to Perry County going westward from the Steubenville area. It would seem to be no coincidence that the brothers wound up, to an extent, in the same township. George L. and a number of his descendants populated Perry and adjacent counties. I met one of these descendants, from Arizona, who computes to be a fifth cousin to me.

Clan expansion continued: Alexander, George L (II)., William Joseph, Hannah Jane and Mary Ellen were the next names to be applied. Alexander died at age three; Mary Ellen at five. [Archibald D. Conn's Family Chart] They now had enough family help to work a farm, but apparently weren't making it. The land was sold and the move was made to Green County, Wisconsin some time in the mid 1850's. They must have had some success there, for they lived out their lives and reared the remaining seven children in that locale. Most of them and their spouses are buried at Mt. Vernon Cemetery, just outside of Juda.

A note or two should be made on some others in this Conn bunch who found something to do besides till turf: Robert Lowry Conn was a woolen mill manager. George Lowry Conn had a foundry. John Christopher Conn had a distinguished tour of duty as a sergeant in the Civil War and afterwards was an iron molder. Alexander Conn became prominent in Steubenville as county auditor, church elder and other positions. His wife Harriet (Campbell) kept up a correspondence with Arch D's wife Susan.

Chapter 13.

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