Caroline (Luther) Luton (abt. 1829 - abt. 1864)

Born about 15 Apr 1829 in New York, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Samuel Luton — married about 1846 in Pennsylvania, United States

Descendants

Died about 1864 at about age 34 in Illinois, United States

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Biography

This profile is part of the Luther Name Study.

Caroline Luther was born April 15, 1829 in New York, United States, daughter of Ebenezer Luther (1797–1867) and Aurilla Mariette Wait (1801–1880).

Caroline, the oldest daughter of Ebenezer and Aurilla, has been the most difficult child of Ebenezer and Aurilla to track down. The difficulty stemmed, in part, from small misdirections in the Luther family histories. Caroline married, the histories say, but the name of her husband—and only the last name is given—is not clear. It looks like “Lupor” in one handwritten version and is spelled “Luper” and “Lufer” in other typewritten versions of the history. Caroline, the histories go on to say, was born in 1824, “had two children” and “married and remained in the state of Illinois.”

Most of this is not true. The starting to place to find documentary evidence of what happened to Caroline is the 1860 census of Warren County, Illinois. The 1830 census entry for Ebenezer, if it existed—he appears to have been missed in the census—might have given some hint that Caroline had been born. The 1840 census, which did include him, tells us that Ebenezer and Aurilla’s oldest daughter was born in the 1826-1830 period. Caroline, like her parents, appears to be absent from the 1850 census. But in 1860 we strike genealogical paydirt. A Caroline and Samuel Luton and five of their children are recorded in the same township, Swan Township of Warren County, Illinois, where Caroline's parents and some of her siblings were living.^[1]

While no piece of documentation tells us explicitly that this Caroline Luton is Caroline Luther, the circumstantial evidence is compelling. Here are the lines of evidence:

(1) The family history, confused about the name of Caroline’s husband, agree that Caroline married a man with a two-syllable name that begins with “Lu-.” Luton fits.
(2) In the same household with Caroline and Samuel Luton in the 1860 census are Sarah A. Gales and Charles Gales. This would be Caroline’s sister, Sarah Ann Luther, and Caroline’s brother-in-law. Sarah had married Charles Gales in February of 1860.
(3) The Caroline Luton on the 1860 census is the right age (born in 1828-29) and from the right place (New York). The family histories say that she was born in 1824, but this appears to be an error. The 1840 census suggests a later birth date for the oldest daughter, and the family birth sequence (the next child was born in 1830) also hints at a later date. The handwritten numbers four and nine, we might note, are easily interchanged.
(4) Samuel Luton, says the census, is from Pennsylvania. Evidence suggests that he is from Mercer County, Pennsylvania, and from a place that less than a mile from the Crawford County farm where Ebenezer and Aurilla lived. This provides a plausible context for Samuel Luton meeting Caroline Luther. If Ebenezer arrived in Crawford County in 1845 with a sixteen-year-old daughter in tow, she and Samuel could have married in early 1846 and the first of their children born later that year.
(5) The Caroline and Samuel in the 1860 census have children. They have, however, more than Just two, as the histories say. The 1860 census knows of five children, and Luton family histories say there were seven. I suspect that the confusion lies in the two that were born in Illinois after the other Luthers left for Kansas. What the family histories perhaps meant to report was that Caroline “had two more children.” (6) The youngest child of Caroline on the census, David Ebenezer Luton, has been given the unusual name of Caroline’s father.
(7) A picture of David Ebenezer Luton shows a distinct resemblance to the pictures of his uncle, Henry Luther.
(8) Caroline, as we will see below, appears to have died about 1864, while the Luthers were still in Illinois. It is curious that the Luther family traditions did not record this explicitly, but it does explain why Caroline and Samuel, having followed the Luthers to Illinois, did not continue on to Kansas and Nebraska. And also why the Luther family failed to keep in touch with Caroline and her family.
(9) Ancestry autosomal DNA tests show that descendants of Ebenezer Luther are related to living descendants of Caroline Luton at 4th cousin level. There are no other shared ancestry lines that could account for the strength of this genetic connection with the Luton cousins except the Luther line.

Caroline married Samuel Luton (19) (born about 1826 in Pennsylvania, United States) in 1846 in Pennsylvania, United States. Their children were:

• Joseph W. Luton (1846– )
• Henry F. Luton (1848– )
• Rebecca A. Luton (1853– )
• John J. Luton (1855– )
• David Ebenezer Luton (1857–1929)
• James Ezra Luton (1860– )
• Eva Luton (1864– )

Samuel Luton's parentage is uncertain. On the 1850 census for Crawford County, Pennsylvania, the family of the 9-year-old Elizabeth Cline, who would later marry Caroline’s brother Henry Luther, was living next to a different Samuel Luton (b. 1822 in Pennsylvania, married an Agnes).^[2] Elizabeth’s father Abraham, listed as a “laborer,” may in fact have worked for this Luton. If this Luton is somehow related to Caroline’s husband Samuel Luton, this may explain how the Lutons, Luthers, and the Clines came to know each other.

Caroline’s husband served in the Civil War. He was registered in the 8th Illinois Cavalry, the same outfit that James Luther was with. Samuel served from 4 Nov 1861 to 18 Sep 1862 and was discharged with a disability.^[3]

Samuel married Mary Carter (born Mary Lane, daughter of Eliphalet Gilman Lane and Betsey Berry), a widow in her early thirties, on 18 December 1865, in Vinton, Iowa, a town about 150 miles from where he and Caroline had lived in Warren County, Illinois.^[4] Mary had two children under six at the time of this marriage: Sarah Carter (born 1859) and Rufus Carter (born 1860). Samuel and Mary had one child together, Lettie/Lily Mae (born 1871). The Lutons were in Lawrence, Kansas, in 1868^[5] and in Ottawa, Kansas, for the 1880 census.^[6]

No record tells us exactly what happened to Caroline after the 1860 census. The most likely scenario is that she died, possibly in 1864, at or around the birth of her last child. Samuel’s second wife assumed a mothering role for at least the two youngest children. The 1870 census for Osage County, Kansas, shows a blended family, with [James] Ezra (age 10) and Eva (age 6) living with Samuel and Mary and Mary’s daughter Sarah.^[7]

Sources

1. ↑ 1860 Census: "United States Census, 1860"
   citing Page: 55; Affiliate Name: The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Affiliate Publication Number: M653; Digital film/folder number: 005165804; FHL microfilm: 803234; Image number: 244; Packet letter: A; Indexing batch: N01707-7
   FamilySearch Record: MXHB-PV6 (accessed 11 February 2024)
   FamilySearch Image: 33SQ-GYBT-3N9
2. ↑ 1850 Census: "United States Census, 1850"
   citing Affiliate Name: The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Affiliate Publication Number: M432; Line: 38; Digital film/folder number: 004204713; FHL microfilm: 444739; Image number: 468; Packet letter: A; Indexing batch: N01041-9
   FamilySearch Record: M4HW-LLJ (accessed 11 February 2024)
   FamilySearch Image: S3HT-6SX1-JQ
3. ↑ See Samuel Luton discharge papers.

   Samuel Luton discharge papers from the army

   
   Robert Eales provides this summary of a passage from the papers: “While in service and in line of duty at Camp California near Alexandria, Virginia, in December 1861, from severe hardships and exposures to which he was subjected diarrhea was super induced and brought on and continued and became chronic. Also, near Washington D.C. on or about November 1861 while on drill, his horse slipped in a hole and fell and in fallings badly crippled him in the shoulders, arms, and legs, and otherwise badly injuring him.”
4. ↑ Marriage: "Iowa, County Marriages, 1838-1934"
   citing Digital film/folder number: 004322402; FHL microfilm: 001871430; Packet letter: A; Indexing batch: M02723-4
   FamilySearch Record: XJJV-QLQ (accessed 11 February 2024)
5. ↑ 1868 Directory: "U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995"
   Original data: Original sources vary according to directory. The title of the specific directory being viewed is listed at the top of the image viewer page. Check the directory title page image for full title and publication information
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry ca Record 2469 #1386409386 (accessed 11 February 2024)
   Name: Samuel Luton; Residence Year: 1868; Street Address: w s Rhode Island bet Leo and Adams; Residence Place: Lawrence, Kansas, USA; Occupation: Teamster; Publication Title: Holland´s Lawrence City Directory for 1868-69.
6. ↑ 1880 Census: "United States Census, 1880"
   citing Volume: 2; Affiliate Name: The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Affiliate Publication Number: T9; Affiliate Line Number: 00018; Digital film/folder number: 005160642; FHL microfilm: 1254381; Image number: 634; Sheet number: 92; Sheet letter: A
   FamilySearch Record: MFP1-4XF (accessed 11 February 2024)
   FamilySearch Image: 33S7-9YB3-9615
7. ↑ 1870 Census: "United States Census, 1870"
   citing Page: 46; Affiliate Name: The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Affiliate Publication Number: M593; Line: 29; Digital film/folder number: 004259251_004_M9CX-68P; FHL microfilm: 000545939; Image number: 46; Packet letter: A; Indexing batch: N01440-0
   FamilySearch Record: MCJT-Y93 (accessed 11 February 2024)
   FamilySearch Image: S3HY-6QFS-M3W

• Some data has been adapted from the research summary by Kem Luther entitled "Descendants of Ebenezer Luther (1797-1867) and Aurilla Mariette Wait (1801?-1880)." It is available on the web. Most of the personal data in the summary is derived from the Luther family history kept for 50 years by Bertha Elizabeth (Luther) Calhoon and Helen Moody. Their data was collected directly from the people in the history or their children or parents and carries the same authority as a family Bible. Some records for the descendants of Caroline (Luther) Luton and Samuel Luton have been added to WikiTree from this summary.