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Richard Cornelius Wrenn (abt. 1792 - abt. 1867)

Richard Cornelius Wrenn
Born about in Fairfax, Virginia, USAmap
Son of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
Husband of — married [date unknown] [location unknown]
Descendants descendants
Died about at about age 75 in Corvallis, Benton, Oregon, United Statesmap [uncertain]
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Profile last modified | Created 3 Dec 2018
This page has been accessed 220 times.

Biography

Richard Cornelius Wrenn was born in Virginia about 1792, according to the 1850 census record.[1] The identity of his parents is unknown. There were many Wrenns in Virginia at the time, and there is no documented connection between this person and any of those possible parents. The parents suggested most frequently are John Wren (1737-) and Elizabeth Gunnell (-1801). Evidence of this connection would be welcomed.

Based on census records, Richard Cornelius Wrenn and Martha H. Peake were married sometime before 1820. Family records give a marriage year of 1810 in Fairfax, Virginia.[2] He would have been 18 at that time, and she would have been about the same age, or possibly younger. Their oldest child was born in 1811.

All the census records that have been found for Richard Wrenn in Virginia do not appear to match the persons in his family. Perhaps he and his young family were living in a household of which he was not the head.

According to an obituary for his son, John Allen Wrenn, Richard and Martha moved their family in 1827 to Columbiana County, Ohio.[3] His eldest son, Alfred, said in 1885 that they had moved in about 1829 from Virginia to near Salem, Ohio.[4] So, they seem to have arrived in Ohio sometime around 1828.

By 1840, Richard C Wrenn and his family had settled in Morrow County, Ohio, where he worked in agriculture. They had four children living in the household with them. It appears that their eldest, Alfred, 29, no longer lived with them.[5]

In 1850, Richard Wrenn listed his occupation as Teamster. He was 58, and his wife, Martha, was the same age or perhaps younger. No one else lived in household.[6]

Three months after the 1850 census information was given, his wife, Martha, died.[7] There is little evidence of what happened in his life after that. No death record has been found.

Only three sources have been found for this part of his life, and they leave the story unclear.

  1. There is evidence that a federal census in 1860 included a Richard Wren still living in Morrow County, Ohio.[8] This is from an index, and the image is not available. This could have been for his son, Richard Wrenn, Jr., though that younger Richard had moved to Missouri by October of that year, if not earlier.
  2. There is a grave marker in Corvallis, Oregon for R Wrenn, aged 76 years in 1867.[9] Two of his sons had moved to Corvallis by the 1850s, and it is possible that Richard, in his 60s but a teamster who knew how to handle a wagon, might have gone over the trail to Oregon to join them after his wife died. Family recognizes this as Richard's grave, as evidenced by testimonials in Find a Grave memorials for both him and his wife. If he made this trip after the 1860 census, he would have been nearly 70 years old.
  3. An unsourced family tree gives a death date of about 1851 in Ohio. [10]

Family

Children of Richard Cornelius Wrenn and Martha H. Peake Wrenn included:

  1. Alfred Harrison Wrenn Sr. (1811-1885)
  2. Amanda (Wrenn) St. John (1812-1900)
  3. Richard Cornelius Wrenn (1816-1894)
  4. John Allen Wrenn (1824-1881)
  5. George Peake Wrenn (1825-1882)

Sources

  1. 1850 United States Federal Census, Ohio, Morrow, Mt. Gilead, Record Group Number: 29; Series Number: M432; Residence Date: 1850; Home in 1850: Mount Gilead, Morrow, Ohio; Roll: 716; Page: 509a, found in Ancestry.com, [1], accessed 26 Jul 2023. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, 1009 rolls); Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
  2. "Martha H Wrenn," Find a Grave, Memorial ID: 121861088, [2], accessed 26 Jul 2023.
  3. Obituary for John Allen Wrenn, Corvallis Gazette-Times, Corvallis, Oregon, 26 Aug 1881, p. 3, found in Newspapers.com, [3], accessed 26 Jul 2023.
  4. "Farmers Get Double the Old Prices," The summit County Beacon," Akron, Ohio, p. 5, found in Newspapers.com, [4], accessed 26 Jul 2023.
  5. 1840 United States Federal Census, Ohio, Marion, Scott, Roll: 411; Page: 117; Family History Library Film: 0020171, found in Ancestry.com, [5], accessed 26 Jul 2023. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Sixth Census of the United States, 1840. (NARA microfilm publication M704, 580 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
  6. 1850 United States Federal Census, Ohio, Morrow, Mt. Gilead, Record Group Number: 29; Series Number: M432; Residence Date: 1850; Home in 1850: Mount Gilead, Morrow, Ohio; Roll: 716; Page: 509a, found in Ancestry.com, [6], accessed 26 Jul 2023. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, 1009 rolls); Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
  7. "Martha H Wrenn," Find a Grave, Memorial ID: 121861088, [7], accessed 26 Jul 2023.
  8. Ohio, U.S., Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1790-1890, Ohio 1860 Census Index, Morrow County, Franklin Township, p. 158, found in Ancestry.com, [8], accessed 26 Jul 2023. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999. Original data: Jackson, Ronald V., Accelerated Indexing Systems, comp.. Ohio Census, 1790-1890. Compiled and digitized by Mr. Jackson and AIS from microfilmed schedules of the U.S. Federal Decennial Census, territorial/state censuses, and/or census substitutes.
  9. "R Wrenn," Find a Grave, Memorial ID: 26766174, [9], accessed 26 Jul 2023.
  10. Unsourced family tree handed down to Nancy Diener.
  • Unsourced family tree handed down to Nancy Diener.
  • 1840 United States Federal Census, Ohio, Marion, Scott, Roll: 411; Page: 117; Family History Library Film: 0020171, found in Ancestry.com, [10], accessed 26 Jul 2023. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Sixth Census of the United States, 1840. (NARA microfilm publication M704, 580 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
  • 1850 United States Federal Census, Ohio, Morrow, Mt. Gilead, Record Group Number: 29; Series Number: M432; Residence Date: 1850; Home in 1850: Mount Gilead, Morrow, Ohio; Roll: 716; Page: 509a, found in Ancestry.com, [11], accessed 26 Jul 2023. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, 1009 rolls); Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
  • Ohio, U.S., Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1790-1890, Ohio 1860 Census Index, Morrow County, Franklin Township, p. 158, found in Ancestry.com, [12], accessed 26 Jul 2023. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999. Original data: Jackson, Ronald V., Accelerated Indexing Systems, comp.. Ohio Census, 1790-1890. Compiled and digitized by Mr. Jackson and AIS from microfilmed schedules of the U.S. Federal Decennial Census, territorial/state censuses, and/or census substitutes.
  • "R Wrenn," Find a Grave, Memorial ID: 26766174, [13], accessed 26 Jul 2023.
  • Obituary for John Allen Wrenn, Corvallis Gazette-Times, Corvallis, Oregon, 26 Aug 1881, p. 3, found in Newspapers.com, [14], accessed 26 Jul 2023.
  • "Farmers Get Double the Old Prices," The summit County Beacon," Akron, Ohio, p. 5, found in Newspapers.com, [15], accessed 26 Jul 2023.
  • "Martha H Wrenn," Find a Grave, Memorial ID: 121861088, [16], accessed 26 Jul 2023.




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Comments: 2

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I am curious about his place and date of death. Have you found a source for it? His son and others went on the Oregon Trail, and there is an 1867 grave marker for "R Wrenn" aged 76 in Corvallis, Oregon.[1] He may have come with his son, the wagonmaster George Wrenn, who arrived in Corvallis in 1851. Or he may have stayed in Ohio and died there. Is this grave marker the only possible record of his death?

Thanks!

posted by Cindy Knight
The 1867 grave marker: very intriguing! He was my 4th ggf; I have his son Alfred's family Bible. (Alfred was my 3rd ggf). Alas, there is no mention of Richard's death in it.
posted by Nancy (Diener) Regan

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