Rambling Genealogy: July 2026

John Proctor

Early Settler of Kanawha County

I'm going to start with something controversial; John Proctor wasn't 105 years old when he died and he probably wasn't a Revolutionary War soldier.

Truthfully, I'm a little sad to actually put those words to print because just like everyone else who descends from him, I'm a little in love with the story. I mean, how fascinating it is to have an ancestor that lived to be 105 years old and bravely faced the hardships of emigrating to the untamed parts of the west all the while refusing to apply for his pension out of pride.

The records tell of different story.

John Proctor was actually born closer to 1764. This date is based on a court record in 1820 where he clearly stated in a deposition that he was 56 years old. Coincidentally, this deposition is part of the pension application of Thomas Hudnall, who he later claimed to have served with. In his deposition for Thomas Hudnall, he claims that he "saw" Thomas Hudnall in his uniform trying to recruit others to join. He makes no mention of having served alongside him in the war. Conveniently, after Thomas Hudnall (and everyone else) had died he filed his application and claimed that he served in the same regiment as Thomas Hudnall. Also, in his pension application, he refers to one Edward Riley as his stepfather, but they also say that Edward Riley was a fellow soldier (Edward Riley the soldier was younger than John Proctor, which would likely be a little too young to be his stepfather). I think it's important to note that even though we have accepted that John was a soldier in the American Revolution, he was not accepted as one at the time. His pension application was denied because he did not have enough evidence to support his claim. He had no discharge papers, no proof of his age and no firsthand accounts of his service. This certainly isn't proof that he didn't serve in the war because he could have joined up as a fifteen or a sixteen-year-old boy, that was also common, but why wouldn't he mention it in Thomas Hudnalls application? There is another contemporary source record to back up this theory. The 1830 census infers that his age is between 60 and 69, which clearly puts his birth between 1761 and 1770.

If we move John's timeline a little, it may make finding his parents a little easier and maybe it will make his relationship with Edward Riley make more sense.

The records below are some of the earliest I can find that are probably relating to our John Proctor.

*Fauquier County Court records, May Term 1780

"Ordered that the churchwardens of Leeds Parish bind John Proctor to John Lathey (Athey?) to learn the trade of a shoemaker"

*Fauquier County marriage records

"John Proctor and Elizabeth Hudnall Dec 21, 1786, by George King"

(makes more sense that he was 22 instead of 35 at the time of his first marriage)

*Fauquier County Court records March term 1790

"On the motion of John Athey to quash the execution sued out against him by John Proctor over-ruled"

*Fauquier County personal property tax record. He shows up in the digest in 1788 and is recorded until at least 1794 after which time he moved to Kanawha County.

There are a couple of different stories in John Proctor's pension application.

In his own words: He was born in Stafford Va on Feb 10, 1751/52.

In his son's words: He was an orphan stowaway from England, and he was apprenticed to a shoemaker in 'Norwalk' who agreed to pay his passage.

We know from the records posted above that he was bound to a shoemaker in Fauquier County but if he was "of age" then he would have bound himself, it would be unusual to be bound by churchwardens and not be a minor. Also, if he came here by himself without parents, how did Edward Riley become his stepfather? It makes it really hard to trace his family when his pension is obviously filled with so many untruths.

We are unlikely to find his parents if we don't start looking at the actual records instead of the glorious story we have been handed.

" La Jaguarina"

Another take on the story of Ella M. Hattan

Ella M. Hattan was born on Jan 8, 1859, in High Hill, Muskingum County, Ohio to William Hattan and Maria C. Hinman.

Contrary to some biographies, her mother was not Hispanic. That was just a fanciful story that Ella told to journalists to make her life appear more interesting. She gave several interviews over the years and most of the time the timeline of events was very much the same, but she occasionally embellished her story. I think her most honest interview was likely the one from "The Plain Dealer" on Sunday April 10, 1898, in Cleveland, Ohio at her brother's home. It would have been much harder to fib about her family with her brother nearby.

The Hattan's came to Ohio from Maryland and the Hinman's came to Ohio from Connecticut. Maria C. Hinman was probably born c1824 in either Washington, Gallia or Athens County Ohio. Her mother was named Betsy, and her father appears to have died before Jan 24, 1828, because that is the date Mrs. Betsy Hinman married William Hull in Athens County, Ohio. Years later, Emma and Effie Hattan used the stage name "The Hull Twin Sisiter's" and used Hull as a surname and Ella Hattan used Hull as her maiden name on her last marriage certificate. It does make a person wonder if the relationship between Mrs. Betsy Hinman and William Hull started earlier than the marriage.

Betsy had two children: Isaac N. Hinman bc1820 and Maria C. Hinman bc1824. This seems to be verified by both the 1830 and 1840 census of Athens County where two children of the appropriate sex and birth are listed in the household. Isaac N. Hinman married Emily Martin in 1841, and I have no further information on him. Both Isaac and Maria married the same year. William Hull divorced Betsy in 1846 and he died in 1849. I haven't found further info on Betsy.

I have a working theory that Maria C. Hinman was possibly a grandchild of Curtis Hinman and Cynthia Newton who married in Tolland Connecticut on Feb 15, 1797. Curtis Hinman filed for a divorce from Cynthia in 1813 on the grounds of adultery, but it was dismissed. Curtis Hinman died around 1819 in Washington County, Ohio and Cynthia probably moved in with her mother, Alice Stimson Newton in Gallia County, Ohio. There is a court record in 1822 giving guardianship of Cubbage Hinman age over 14 and John Hinman age 6 to John Newton. These are likely a couple of Curtis and Cynthia's children, but they must have had other children since they were married for at least 15 years before filing for divorce.

William Hattan married Maria C. Hinman on May 13, 1841, in Athens County, Ohio. William Hattan was born on May 23, 1818, in Maryland and died on Sept 7, 1863, in Cumberland, Maryland. He was in the process of being sent home from the war due to illness and died of heart failure at the depot. Maria C. Hinman was born c1824 and died on December 23, 1900, in Licking County, Ohio.

They had ten children that are known to us (according to one of the offsprings obituaries there were 11):

1. Isaac W. Hattan (May 4, 1842 - January 29, 1919) he married Mary Ann Ward on May 4, 1868 and remained in Muskingum Ohio. He worked as a Boilermaker

2. Curney G. Hattan (May 2, 1844 - April 20,1929) she married William A, Hill on July 23, 1867, in Muskingum Ohio.

3. Aurilla S. Hattan (December 26, 1847 - January 4, 1921) she married Charles Miles on October 25, 1867, in Muskingum Ohio.

4. Annette Hattan (July 28, 1850 - July 25, 1934) she married Jacob Mentzer on August 27, 1868 and Charles Barker on March 27, 1908.

5. Ida E. Hattan (June 8, 1852 - December 16, 1872) worked in wool factory. She had applied for a marriage license and was going to marry Henry Mars in Washington County, Ohio but she died of heart disease before the marriage could take place.

6. Earl E. Hattan (March 20, 1854 - 1875) died unmarried and buried in the family plot

7. Perry E. Hattan (November 8, 1856 - December 22, 1921) he married Theresa Rose Snell on February 10,1892 in Cleveland, Ohio.

8. Ella M. Hattan (January 8, 1859 - June 15, 1924) she married Joseph E. Nagle on December 1, 1880, and Wilbur Melville Bates on June 19, 1895, and Edward G. Beavan on October 19, 1920.

More on her below:

9. Effie W. Hattan (March 25,1863 - December 3, 1940) she married Thomas Cox Leary on July 15, 1883. He was a fellow performer whom she met because he was in the same troupe. She died in Yorkshire, England.

10. Emma W. Hattan (March 25, 1863 - May 12, 1929) she was married c1882 in Richmond, Virginia to Richard Maurettus who operated a Vaudeville Troupe called "The Maurettus Pantomime Troupe" in which she was a member. She was killed in a Greyhound bus accident in Detroit Michigan.

(Effie and Emma were twins and performed as the "Hull Twin Sister's" and were a singing act)

William Hattan died leaving his widow with nine children under the age of majority. What happened next? The family moved to Cleveland Ohio and all of the kids except the three youngest went to work in factories. The three youngest: Ella, Effie and Emma began performing in the local Vaudeville scene.

Ella M. Hattan

Ella Hattan may have started working as young as eight years old if you believe some of her later interviews, but records point to her starting closer to 1874 or 1875 so she would have been closer to sixteen. In the 1870 census, she and her sisters are merely listed as "student" without occupation. What is certain is that she and her sister's started working in the local Vaudeville scene to help support their widowed mother. She had a career in acting and fencing that spanned thirty years and she seems to have settled into a quiet life after 1907. Ella died on June 15, 1924, from a cerebral hemorrhage. If you look at her various records and interviews, she had consistently made herself younger as time went by. At the time of her death, she had shaved off nearly ten years from her age. Ella M. Beavan is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in New York.

*1870's Joined a local stock company run by "Uncle" John Ellsler

*1875 Stand-in for Mrs. Frayne in the play "Si Slocum"

*1878 Joined a traveling troupe that was performing "Alvin Joslin". She met her first husband, who was also a member of the same Troupe.

*1880 She joined Minnie Palmer's tour performing "Our Boarding School"

*1880 She married a fellow actor from her troupe named Joseph E. Nagle in Boston Massachusetts on December 1.

*1880 Took up fencing for her health, an old actor gave her, her first lessons and then took lessons from Col. Thomas H. Monstery in Chicago. He had several schools around the country.

*1881 Joined Hawley's "Pins and Needles Company"

*1882 Joined Smith and Mestayer performing "Tourists"

*1883 Began professional career as Swordswoman

*1885 Performed in a show in St Louis, Missouri, that included Emma, Effie and their spouses.

*1885 Went on tour of the country meeting all greatest swordsman on foot and horseback

*1886 Moved to San Francisco, California

*1886 Her husband, Joseph E. Nagle, dropped dead on stage while she was touring San Francisco on November 19

*1886 Olympic Athletic Club of San Francisco opened its doors to women for the first time and invited her to compete where she beat Capt. E. J. Jennings on foot and on horseback and received a medal and letter of commendation. Defeated Capt. J. H. Marshall.

*1887 Defeated Serg. Owen Davis

*1888 Defeated Capt. Conrad Wiedermann

*1889 Defeated Lieut. Baron Von Fredlitzsch

*1889 Performed as "The Fairy Queen" in "Humpty Dumpty"

*1890 Started teaching ladies fencing and riding

*1891 Temporary move to Portland, Oregon

*1895 She married Wilbur Melville Bates on June 19th.