John Kesterson (1805 - 1857)

Born 7 Jul 1805 in Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Descendants

Died 30 Oct 1857 at age 52 in Alexandria, Virginia, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: M White [send private message]

Biography

John Kesterson, was a waterman by trade in 1835-36. In 1842, he’s a foundry-man living on Hamburg Street (South Baltimore/Locust Point where George & Winifred will later be seen). In the 1840 Baltimore Census, John is the only Kesterson enumerated. He’s living in the 8th Ward, which in 1840, is located in South Baltimore/Locust Point. He appears in the 30-40 age box (which is correct), and his wife appears in the 20-30 box. Enumerated with John are 3 sons; two are age 0-5, and one is 5-10. John does in fact have four sons at this stage; William A. Kesterson, Joseph H. Kesterson, John Jr, and George Washington Kesterson. GWK should be listed at about a year old, however, in the mid-1800s children under the age of 2-years were often not declared due to the high infant mortality rate.

John Kesterson is a familiar name at this point in history. Side research revealed three other John Kestersons living in Northumberland, Virginia. Many researchers overlap the data of each on to the other. This is simply lazy research. John Smith, John J. and John S. Kesterson, of Northumberland are related, but they are clearly not the same people, not to mention other John Kestersons in Kentucky, Ohio, and Illinois. For the first time, the Kesterson line is proven to be well established in Baltimore from the late 1700s.

An article appeared in the Baltimore Sun, September 5th, 1842, regarding William Kesterson and his father John. William was charged with assaulting John T. Oram at the behest of his father’s threat to either whip the lad, or he himself would get whipped. Apparently the two boys didn’t get along and John was weary of the bickering. The incident landed him in court where the boys were acquitted, but John was fined $1.00 and expenses. This article proves not only John’s residence in Baltimore, but his son William as an adolescent, which is true, William would have been 12 years old. Both John Thomas Oram and William A. Kesterson later fought side-by-side in the Civil War, and both died in 1916.

By 1845, John is an engineer, living at 50 Broadway and no other Kestersons are mentioned in either the Baltimore or D.C. directories. He is again seen in 1849, same occupation, same address, then in 1851 his location changes to Fort Road but same occupation. Because earlier Baltimore directories do not mention spouses, we don’t know to whom John is married. The 1850 census would normally have solved this, but he’s missing from the 1850 census altogether. This missing data is why researchers immediately jump to the John Kesterson who lives in Augusta County, Virginia, married to Nancy Haynie. The ages line up for birth years, but all the children are wrong along with his occupation and birthplace. Further, John in Baltimore shows up again in the 1851 directory. He would have no reason to uproot his whole family and move them 200 miles away to Augusta for one year. As a result, the John Kesterson who marries Nancy Smith-Haynie is the wrong Kesterson for our family lineage and connection to Baltimore, although the families are obviously related further back.

The 50 (South) Broadway address is a stone throw from the Water Street & Harford Run address. Fort Road is located in the Locust Point vicinity, where all the Kestersons start appearing later. The evidence is consistent for South, South-East Baltimore and lower Fells Point as the Kesterson turf for over 150 years. This area of town continued to be neighborhood of the family until 1960.

John Kesterson does move to Alexandria at some point around 1852-1853. Note: Alexandria & Augusta are nowhere near each other, and one cannot be substituted for the other. Two of John’s children die during the Scarlet Fever epidemic in 1853. Siblings Amos, and sister Ann, pass away at the ages of 11 and 6 respectively in the month of June as shown in the Alexandria death index. John’s wife is simply listed as “D Kesterson”, although John’s full name is spelled out as the father. John’s early death a few years later may have been the result of this catastrophic blow.

John Kesterson’s obituary appears in the Baltimore Sun, he passes away in Alexandria, Virginia at age 53 on October 26, 1857. This puts his birth year at approximately 1804-05. This is right on target with census data not only for John, but with his mother in the 1830 census. His move to Alexandria was no doubt tied to the scarlet fever epidemic, but why move to Alexandria; a much smaller city than Baltimore? The only plausible answer is family.

Sources

• 1840; Census Place: Baltimore Ward 8, Baltimore, Maryland; Page: 83
• 1842 Sept. 5th, Periodical, Baltimore Sun, William Kesterson beating John Oram. Father, John Kesterson charged.
• 1857 Oct 30, Baltimore Sun, Obituary, John Kesterson dies in Alexandria.
• 1853 Alexandria Death Index, Page 168, John's two children die from scarlet fever.