Charles Howell Confusion

Because of conflicting names and dates on various records and references there has been some confusion by others concerning the history of my Great Grandfather, Charles Wesley Howell, but because of information given by Charles himself, there can be no question that he is the son of Abraham and Nancy (Robinson) Howell of Wyoming County, New York.

Charles Wesley Howell apparently changed his name from Wesley Howell, as was listed on the 1850 Federal Census for NYS, or from Samuel W. Howell, as listed on the 1860 Federal census for NYS. Or perhaps his full name had always been Charles Samuel Wesley Howell and just incorrectly listed in the early census, as was often the case. No other early records in NYS have been found that would verify his name one way or another. The name Charles W. Howell first appears in Michigan at the time of his marriage to Cora Smith, although here too the name was incorrectly spelled Howe on their marriage certificate, but in all census, following the marriage, it is correctly spelled as Howell. His connection, as Charles, to the Abram Howell family, is firmly confirmed when he (Chas) is referred to as a brother, living in Bay City, MI; in Frank Howell's obit. Also, Mrs. Albert Robbins, is listed as a sister on Charles' own obituary in 1922.

Federal census records for Michigan (1900, 1910 & 1920) list Charles birth dates as different, both to each other and to early NYS census records. Even his death certificate and his newspaper obituary had his date of birth wrong. It is interesting to note that the incorrect dates are all different and vary considerably, by as much as 12 years. However all records and references always point to New York state as his place of birth and where more specific to Wyoming county and/or Portageville itself.

Furthermore, my grandfather (Donald Frank Howell) would tell that he got his love and ability in the carpentry world from both his grandfather Smith and his grandfather Howell, who had been a master carpenter. He himself was told that he had been named after his Uncle Francis (Frank) Howell, who had been his Dad's younger brother. His father was proud of the fact that his father served in the War Between the States. When first beginning the genealogy research, Grandpa Howell provided the information that according to his father, his (Donald's) grandfather was named Abram A. Howell and had been born in Morris County, New Jersey in the early 1800ís and that his grandmother was named Nancy Robinson and she had been born in Pennsylvania. He also gave Wyoming County New York as his birthplace. He gave his mother's death date as 1891, and at one time had an obit about the death of his mother.

So with this first hand knowledge, in spite of all the variety of ages given for Charles, and the name difference one can accurately state that Samuel and Charles are one-and-the-same. Grandpa Howell was also told two other bits of information. 1) His father correctly listed Wyoming County New York, as his birth place, on his marriage certificate. and had family members still living there, 2) But did not give his correct age at the time of his marriage. According to his mother, Grandpa Howell's father did not admit to his real age and birth date until years after their marriage, for fear she would not have married him if she had known how much older he was than she. So we can only go by his word, and that of his parents, that his true birth date was July 18, 1849.

Sherry Bertelsmeyer Nabring [S17] (2006)