Aaron Howard (1795 - 1882) of Geneva (a.k.a. Sulphur Hill), Shelby County, Indiana

While working on a recent project, I came across an 1883 pension roll in which a man by the name of Aaron Howard was enumerated as a survivor of the War of 1812. I immediately wondered how old Aaron was when he fought in the war, considering it had already been 71 years since the war began. I was also curious as to how long he survived after this 1883 enumeration in which I’d found his name. So, I dug into the records to find out more about this Historic Hoosier.

This image displays, from left to right: Aaron’s pension certificate number, name, Post Office of residence in 1883, reason for pension qualification, monthly pension stipend, and the date his pension commenced.

From the pension roll abstract of 1883 pictured above, we can see that Aaron’s pension claim was approved in September of 1871, that he received $8.00 per month, and that his Post Office was “Sulpur Hill.” This pension roll was from Shelby County, Indiana. I suspected that the “Sulpur Hill” listed was actually a typo of “Sulphur Hill",” though I wasn’t familiar with this community, despite being from Shelby County myself.

The 1880 Federal Census

So, we begin our search by looking for an Aaron Howard, in Sulphur Hill, Shelby County, Indiana in the 1880 U.S. Federal Census. What we find is a possibility for Aaron, living in the township of Noble in Shelby County in that census year. Further research shows that Noble Township is the home of the unincorporated town of Geneva, and Geneva, like so many communities throughout the U.S., was known by several names, including, in this case, Sulphur Hill.

From the 1880 census, we learn several things. Aaron was 84-years-old, so his approximate birth year was 1796. He was born in Kentucky, and his wife’s name was Martha. She was born in Pennsylvania. We also see a Stephen Howard, 37-years-old, enumerated just prior to Aaron. Stephen was born in Indiana, but his father was born in Kentucky, and his mother was born in Pennsylvania. From this, we can assume that Stephen Howard was Aaron and Martha’s son.

If Aaron’s age is recorded correctly in this census, then that would mean he was around 16-years-old when he entered military service. Our next step then is to confirm his age by surveying as many census and other records as we can.

Earlier U.S. Census Records

Tracing Aaron back through time, we find him living in the area of Greensburg, Indiana from the 1840s through the 1870s. Aaron’s age in census enumerations is consistent, so it does appear he was born in about 1796. We also find Stephen in these same census records, and confirm that Stephen is Aaron’s son.

Aaron’s Son Stephen Howard

A quick search for Stephen turns up some very interesting and telling details, not just about Stephen’s life, but the lives of his parents, and to a lesser extent, his siblings, too. The biographical sketch below appeared in a volume called Chadwick’s History of Shelby County, Indiana, which was published in 1909.

This biography contains almost as much detail about Aaron as it does Stephen. Interestingly though, one piece of information isn’t there: Aaron’s War of 1812 military service. This had me wondering if “survivor of 1812” means something different, or if it was just that Aaron didn’t talk about his military service and therefore his family, friends, and ultimately, his biographer, didn’t know that he had served. These new questions lead me to seek military or pension records, to determine if, when, and where Aaron may have served.

Aaron’s Service in the War of 1812

The first record I find is a Pension Index card, which provides brief details regarding his military service.

During the War of 1812, Aaron was a Private in the Ohio Militia, under the leadership of Captain S. Aston.

There are two numbers that appear on this record, listed on the upper left of the card. The second number, “S.C. 3956,” is Aaron’s pension certificate number and matches that which appears on the enumeration of Indiana military pension recipients in 1883. The first number, “S.O. 7102,” turns out to be the number assigned to Aaron’s pension application, which he filed in April of 1871. In February of that same year, the U.S. Congress had passed acts that finally gave veterans of the War of 1812 (and their widows) access to military pensions.

Aaron’s Military Pension File

Reading through Aaron’s pension file brought up even more questions for me though. From these documents, I discovered that he had served in the War of 1812 in the place of another man, a common practice during the Civil War, and apparently, not all that uncommon during the War of 1812 either.

The above pictured excerpt is from Aaron’s statement in his application for a “land warrant” in 1850. That same year, Congress passed an act entitling certain military veterans to land grants or bounty-land warrants for their military service. Many early Hoosiers, particularly those in southern Indiana, obtained land in this way after having served in the Revolutionary War, the Indian Wars, the Mexican-American War, and the War of 1812. Aaron submitted his pension application in 1850 for land warrants amounting to 80 acres.

Aaron’s Role as Militia Substitute for James Jenkins

According to this statement, Aaron served in the Ohio Militia during the War of 1812 as substitute for a man named James Jenkins, who had been conscripted into military service. Although there was no federal military draft until the American Civil War, conscription into state militias began with the American Revolution. Those that were drafted could arrange for someone else to serve in their stead. While there are many historical tales of wealthy men paying poor men to fulfill their terms of military service, there are other instances in which a substitute served in order to prevent or assuage hardship for poor and working class families, as well. In other words, when a family couldn’t do without an able-bodied man for a six-month, twelve-month, or longer stint, bargains were sometimes struck with relatives, friends, neighbors, or strangers. I wondered which situation applied to James Jenkins and Aaron Howard.

A quick search for James in Butler County, Ohio turns up a few possibilities, but none of the available documents tell us about James’ life, his circumstances, or the reason he may have arranged for a militia substitute in 1814. I located an index record that assigns James’ time in service to Aaron Howard.

I also located a bounty-land warrant application index record, where James tried to apply for land. His application was rejected, presumably because the pension office realized Aaron Howard was actually the one entitled to the bounty-land warrant instead.

Aaron’s Bounty-Land

Within Aaron’s pension file, there are two petitions he filed for bounty-land warrants. The first, of which an excerpt is pictured above, was filed in 1850 in response to an act of Congress that same year granting land to eligible veterans. The second was filed in 1855, following a similar act of Congress passed that year.

The excerpt from the 1855 petition, pictured above, tells us that Aaron received his first grant of land under the Act of 1850, but he sold that land between 1850 and 1855.

When Congress passed another bounty-land act in 1855, Aaron once again applied for and received a bounty-land warrant.

We find the card pictured at right included in Aaron’s pension file. It shows his bounty-land warrants.

In total, Aaron received 160 acres of land for his service in the War of 1812.

Aaron’s Date of Death

Though my investigation has taken some interesting twists and turns, I began this Historic Hoosier Profile piece on Aaron Howard with two big questions: (1) how old was he when he served in the War of 1812, and (2) how long did he live after appearing in the enumeration of pension recipients in the State of Indiana?

To answer the first question, Aaron was born in 1795 or 1796 according to various records. He entered the Ohio Militia in 1814, so he would have been 18- or 19-years-old when he served in the War of 1812.

The biographical Sketch of Stephen Howard, Aaron’s son, which I shared earlier in this post, lists Aaron’s date of death as January 19, 1881. The headstone for Aaron and Martha (Baldridge) Howard’s grave at Pleasant Grove Cemetery in Greensburg, Indiana shows Aaron’s date of death as January 19, 1882 instead. Either way, Aaron lived to be 86- or 87-years-old.

If you recall, the list of pensioners on the roll that peaked my interest in Aaron Howard in the first place was completed in 1883. Interestingly enough, this pension roll record was published after Aaron’s death, whether he died in January of 1881 or 1882.

Sources:

“Shelby County, Indiana,” retrieved from http://www.newhorizonsgenealogicalservices.com/1883-pensioners-on-the-roll/1883-pensioners-on-the-roll-in-shelby.htm, on Feb. 23, 2022.

“Geneva, Shelby County, Indiana,” retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva,_Shelby_County,_Indiana, on Feb. 23, 2022.

Howard, Aaron, 1840 - 1880 U.S. Federal Census records, retrieved from Ancestry.com, on Feb. 23, 2022.

Chadwick’s History of Shelby County, Indiana. Chadwick, Edward H. (Indianapolis, Indiana, 1909), retrieved from https://archive.org/details/chadwickshistory02chad/page/n539/mode/2up?q=sephen, on Feb. 23, 2022.

Howard, Aaron, Pension File, retrieved from Fold3.com, on Feb. 23, 2022.

Jenkins, James, Pension File, retrieved from Fold3.com, on Feb. 23, 2022.

"1850, September 28 - 09 Stat. 520 - Bounty Land" (2016). US Government Legislation and Statutes. 5.
https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/hornbeck_usa_2_d/5, retrieved on Feb. 24, 2022.

"1855, March 3 - 10 Stat. 701, Bounty Lands for Officers and Soldiers" (2016). US Government Legislation and Statutes. 11.
https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/hornbeck_usa_2_d/11, retrieved on Feb. 24, 2022.

Aaron Howard online memory page, retrieved from https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/90282149/aaron-howard, on Feb. 24, 2022.