Autobiography of Margaret Dixon Van Allen Cahoon.

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Name/Title

Autobiography of Margaret Dixon Van Allen Cahoon.

Entry/Object ID

2000.FIC.02.017

Scope and Content

Autobiography of Margaret Dixon Van Allen Cahoon, mother of Ida Cahoon. Autobiography of Margaret Van Allen Cahoon. Begins with information about her father, John Calhoun Dickson, coming from Ireland. She describes growing up in the Washington D.C. area and her relationship with some Chief Justices and political dignitaries. She would cross the Capitol Grounds on her way to school when young. She briefly discusses her first husband who died suddenly and then meeting Joel. Her writings include his business adventures, birth of their children and visiting Dover. She discusses Joel's involvement with building locks and aqueducts with his brother Daniel and the decision for Joel to return to Dover with his family after the death of Daniel and his parents. Their life in Dover is discussed and lives of family members, travel and those passing away. She quotes much poetry throughout and wrote at least some of it. Pages are numbered at the top, some numbers repeat. #27 is skipped, but the page is not. ********** Details by page... First Pages - Margaret details her family and birth and goes on to list her various experiences in different schools, some pleasant, and some not. Pages 8, 9 or H, I - Her recollections of the War of 1812 are discussed and it is fascinating. "Among the earliest recollections of the War of 1812 I remember distinctly my father coming into the house on the morning of August 24, 1812 and telling my mother that the British were coming up the Eastern Branch of the Potomac and could be in the city in a short time requesting her to use all possible haste to be ready as he had engaged a hack to take mother sister and me to Frederick City almost forty miles distant where Aunt Micheal lived." Margaret's father, John, was taken prisoner and made to march to the President's House. He was with his Bible which Margaret had since given to "Marshall." Margaret returned to the Capitol 10 days later and her father showed her the charred and vandalized Senate and House of Representative Chambers. She speaks of how life is different now with electric lights (page J or 11). Also on that page and 12,13, begins talk on famous statesmen and their families she met in D.C., including Dolly Madison and her husband President James Madison. Judges of the Supreme Court, including Chief Justice Marshall. She heard congressman Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, and Daniel Webster. Pages 15, 16 or O, P - Commodore Decatur and the duel in which he was killed is detailed. on Pages P,Q or 16, 17 - General La Fayette visit to D.C. is detailed. Pages 18,19 or R, S talk about how Margaret's parents came to attend the Methodist Church in 1812 and then name drops "celebrities" she knows who also are Methodists. Margaret joined the Methodist Church in Dover in 1854. Pages 23,24 or W, X - talk about the death of her father, the marriage to John Douglas Van Allen in 1827 and the death of her mother. Page 25, or Y - talks about how her husband, John died soon after they moved to Philadelphia for a job December 3, 1828, leaving her an "orphan." She then talks of living with family in various cities. Pages 27 and 28 - are misnumbered by Margaret? and should be reversed. AA, AB discuss how Margaret came to meet Joel B. Cahoon (November 1830?) and their wedding and what they wore on July 14, 1831 at her aunt Proctor's house in Frederick, MD. Margaret's wedding dress is detailed. No page 29? - Then goes on to talk about Joel B. and his work with the beginnings of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. Says the first passenger cars were drawn by horse and came to Frederick in 1831. On page 33 or AF - she begins talking about the birth of her first child, Thomas Havenner Cahoon July 7, 1832. Joel worked on canals. Page 34 or AG - Joel and his brother (Daniel) get a contract to work on the Winchester and Potomac Railroad. The Cahoons receive a letter stated mother Lydia Cahoon has died on August 13, 1834 after being left alone briefly and her son Joel B. was in much grief over her death. Page 35 or AH - Talks of Lydia Cahoon as a person and then mentions that John Joseph is born. Page 36 or AI - Joel, Margaret and their two sons went to Cleveland then Dover in May 1, 1835. They stayed with Leverett Johnson and his wife Abigail Cahoon Johnson. Joseph later met them there after hearing from cousin Asahel. Page 37 or AJ Joseph insisted on a "Maryland dinner" to be had at the home of a relative in Elyria. Page 37 or AK - took 10 days by horse and wagon (bought by Joel) for the Cahoon family to travel from Cleveland to Clear Spring, MD. which cost them $27 and was pleasant, according to another diary Margaret references. Page 39 or AL - August 16, Lydia Elisabeth Cahoon is born. Joel has two "heavy" contracts on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. Seems the family had many temporary lodgings early in their marriage, including hotels, because of Joel's work. Page 40 or AM - more about Joel's work. Birth of Daniel Kenyon Cahoon January 25, 1838. They then leave from Maryland to "the south," chartering a stage and then steamship or "steamer" to Cincinnati, Ohio. Page 41, 42 or AN, AO - talk of the trip and things that went wrong trying to get through Cincinnati and a brief stop in Indiana where she talks of it being "principally inhabited by men whose occupation was running flat boats down the river." She says they are the most degraded and ignorant people she's ever met but her heart relented when one woman took a fond interest in her children. Page 43 or AP - Daniel Cahoon, Joel's brother, visits their father Joseph and other family, in February 1839 for 4 weeks, after which, on the last day of Daniel's visit, Joseph became very ill and died on March 17. Page 44 or AQ - Margaret quotes a letter Joseph Cahoon had sent her after her marriage to Joel. Page 45 or AR - October 12, 1839, Charles Oscar Cahoon is born. The Cahoons go to Louisville, KY, then Cleves, Ohio (by North Bend, Ohio) in 1840. Describes how Joel built a log cabin on the Richard Hughes farm and how log cabins were fashionable then and during he Harrison Campaign. The family apparently lived in this two bedroom log cabin with dining room and sitting room and kitchen. Mentions the said slogan "Tippecanoe and Tyler too." In 1841 Joel and the boys attended President Harrison's funeral in North Bend. Harrison ref.: https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=167277 Page 46 or AS - talks about the death of Joel's brother Daniel Kenyon Cahoon after a sudden illness and during a business trip to Cincinnati. Begins to talk about the brothers' great working relationship. Page 47 or AT - After his brother's death, Joel decides to quit public works and go to his old farm in Dover. The children were "delighted" about it. Daughter Laura Ellen is born in December 12. In August 19, 1842 they leave the log cabin, buying a carriage to travel to Dover. Page 48 or AU - The family stays in Elyria with Joel's family members until Rose Hill could be made habitable having been neglected over the years and being occupied by renters for a time, including a Mr. Oviatt. The Cahoons moved in November 29, 1842. Page 49 or AV - Margaret says she hopes the home of Rose Hill will stay in the Cahoon family for many years to come, but if it does not, that a benevolent institution bearing the name of Cahoon be established. Page 50 or AW - Joel B. Cahoon in the fall of 1842 starts repairing the grist mill and saw mill. He sold the lumber he cut for a profitable cost. Martha Washington Cahoon is born February 22, 1844. Leverett Judson was born November 14, 1844, named after his Uncle Leverett Johnson, who married Joel's sister, Abigail. Judson is the name of a noted Baptist Missionary. Margaret's family and friends are worried she'll be lonely at Rose Hill in Dover but she tries to "suit herself" as she has through her entire marriage to their circumstances and has happy welcome visitors. Joel B. Cahoon has "experienced religion" and united with the Baptist Church of Dover and remained a member throughout the rest of his life. Margret's three youngest children are born: John Marshall Cahoon, July 20, 1847 (named after Chief Justice Marshall), Mary Emma Cahoon, August 20, 1849 and Ida Maria Cahoon, March 17, 1852. This made 11 children total. Page 52,53 or AY, AZ - Joel's favorite sister Mary dies. Margaret writes that she wanted to visit Maryland for many years but wasn't able to until March 2, 1853 on her first journey by rail. She gives an account of the journey which involved traveling first to Cleveland, then Pittsburgh, taking a stage across the Allegheny River then getting on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad at 4 am. They had to travel then from Baltimore to Washington D.C. The trip took about 2 days, which was considered quick time back then. Joel witnessed the inauguration of President Franklin Pierce. Page 54, 55 or BA, BB - Margaret visits some family, including her Aunt Michael and cousin Margaret Rice. The Cahoons remained gone from their children for six weeks, putting Lydia in charge of the children and house and Joseph the farm and mill. Margaret visited D.C. twice more, with Marshall then Leverett and Ida accompanying her. Page 56 or BC - Margaret says after the first trip to D.C. a series of "disappointments and losses" which were of a financial character, befell the family. Page 57 or BE - The death of child Charles Oscar Cahoon after a sudden illness on June 7, 1853. Page 58 or BF - Lydia Cahoon spend 18 months traveling to Washington D.C., Baltimore and Frederick. Margaret's Aunt Margaret Rice there dies during this time. Daughter Mary Emma dies after being ill for six weeks, attributed to rheumatism and disease of the heart. Page 59 or BG - Lists Thomas' marriage to Elizabeth Hughes of Cleves, Ohio, March 27, 1860. Margaret was worried about her son, Thomas, during the Civil War because he had moved to Memphis, TN. but visited the family in April 1865. Joel has become very ill, due to his advanced years. Page 60 or BH - Sons Leverett and Marshall take charge of the family business and farm. October 10, 1860 they celebrate the first celebration of the 50th anniversary of the settlement of Dover (Cahoon Pioneer Celebration). The annual celebration continued for 19 years until Joel was too ill to attend #20 and most of the original family had died. In 1885 they held another reunion with the 2nd generation of Cahoons taking charge. Page 61 or BI - Margaret lists men who have helped in the reunions and state that the first in 1860 was held using the site of the first Cahoon family log cabin and a fire was made on the old hearthstone and water boiled in the same tea kettle which was used by Lydia and Joseph Cahoon in 1810 for the first supper in Dover. Page 61 again or BJ - Rewrite of previous 61 or BI Page 62 or BK - August 18, 1886 is the day that Margaret's son Leverett died. She says he was the person upon whom she leaned and gave her comfort and tended to her every want. She appears very upset at his sudden passing and writes poetry about her sorrow. Page 63, 64 or BL, BM - July 14, 1881 celebration of Joel and Margaret's Golden Wedding Anniversary is celebrated at Rose Hill. Engraved rings were exchanged. Margaret doesn't want to go too much into detail as she is writing to her children and they remember the event well. Page 64, 65 or BN, BO - Leverett and Marshall carried their father not long after to the site of the new Nickel Plate Railroad tracks, which Joel was excited to see and predicted its completion. Joel becomes more ill and can't visit his daughters in Cleveland. At half past nine on the evening of September the 28, 1882, Joel B. Cahoon passes at home. Page 66, BP - Last Page, Margaret recalls her happy marriage and how she depended on her husband calling him "affectionate and considerate for my happiness." The grief of his passing has made her ill. Her children have been great in assuaging her loneliness and grief.

Collection

Early Family Papers: Cahoon

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