Louisa Allen Wiseman - Bride Number 5

Beverly Mathis Robinson wrote the following comment to the February Blog on Bill Butcher, asking about her great-great grandmother, Louisa Allen Wiseman which is reprinted below.

Hi Pete:

Fascinating as usual. A question. Are the Wisemans mentioned in this installment related is some way to my great-great grandmother Louisa Allen Wiseman's second husband, Jacob Wiseman? I cannot find out anything about him except (I think) his son's name is John.

Thanks,

Beverly Mathis Robinson

The following photo shows the relationship of Beverly Mathis Robinson to Louisa Allen Wiseman which is uncovered when we know who the relationships of the people in the photo.

Eugene "Booter" Mathis, Beverly Robinson's grandfather, with his mother, Ida E. Mathis French (center), and grandmother, Louisa Allen Wiseman. Ida E. was married to Booter's father, John Oliphant Mathis, and later married Swarrow French after John's death. Ida would be Beverly's great grandmother. Louisa was Ida's mother which would make her Beverly's great-great grandmother. Hope you all got that. Who's on first? (Photo courtesy of Jean Mathis McGee, Booter's daughter.)

Our Blog buddy, Don Maxwell, now on winter vacation down in warm Key Largo, sent me an email about his memories of Louisa Allen. He's been writing in a lot lately which I am grateful for. I may have to think about putting him on the Blog payroll.

Pete,

I will attempt to answer Beverly Robinson's question if her great great grandmother Louisa Allen was related to the Wiseman family mentioned in the blog about Bill Butcher. Yes she was, as there was only one Wiseman family in New Gretna, unlike the different branches of the Allens, Mathises and Cramers. I remember Louisa well. She lived in a little house attached to Elizabeth and Earl Cramer's house, as she was Elizabeth and her brother, Eugene (boot) Mathis's grandmother. She was a little old, bent over lady, always dressed in black with high buttoned shoe, and a long dress that swept the ground, just like the ones you see on tv on the old westerns. She never quite adapted to the 20th century. One day, Norman Cramer said to me lets rack up grandmother Wiseman's wood in her woodshed, as she isn't home., Most everyone was burning wood in those days in the 1930's, When she comes home, she will have a nice surprise. So, we did. We worked like beaver's, as we were small boys. We got it all done, figuring she would be tickled pink. When she came home, she was so mad at us, claiming we stacked it all wrong She made us take it all out. I went home and Norman and his dad, Earl, had to restack it. Those old people were pretty well set in their ways in those days.

Don Maxwell

One of the reasons Beverly has been having trouble finding information is that Louisa Allen's second husband was Joshua Wiseman, not Jacob Wiseman as she states in her comment above. While Joshua was Louisa's second husband, Louisa was Joshua's fifth, and last, wife. All that remarrying sure makes tracing one's genealogy quite a challenge.

Following are some genealogy notes and photos regarding Louisa Allen and Joshua Wiseman that may be helpful to Beverly and anyone else interested in Louisa Allen and/or Joshua Wiseman.

Here is family information related to Louisa's parents, Caleb and Mary Eliza Allen:

CALEB W. ALLEN (THOMAS JEFFERSON, JOSEPH, PETER, ROBERT, RALPH?) was born 15 Dec 1823, and died 08 Jul 1909. He married MARY ELIZA LEAK 1846, daughter of JOHN LEAK and ROSEANNA. She was born 12 Jan 1823, and died 04 Apr 1900. Caleb and Mary are buried in Miller Cemetery in New Gretna.

Children of CALEB ALLEN and MARY LEAK:

i. THOMAS A.7 ALLEN, b. Feb 1847; d. 16 Feb 1930, New Gretna, NJ.

ii. SARAH ANN ALLEN, b. 06 Dec 1848.

iii. MARIAH J. ALLEN, b. 12 Dec 1850.

iv. LOUISA M. ALLEN, b. Abt. 1851; d. 19 Feb 1938 in Margate, NJ. at the home of her niece, Mrs. Ferdinand Loveland. m. (1) JOHN ALLEN; m. (2) JOSHUA WISEMAN, Bef. 1925; b. 1851; d. 12 Aug 1925, Atlantic City, NJ.

The 1880 census shows a 9 year old Louisa M. Allen living with her parents, Caleb W. and Mary E, along with two brothers and a sister.

Louisa's first husband was John P. Allen. They were married about 1873. Following is their Family information. John P's roots can be traced back to Robert Allen, the first Allen to settle in the Bass River Township area.

JOHN P. ALLEN (URIAH J., THOMAS JEFFERSON, JOSEPH, PETER, ROBERT, RALPH?) was born 21 Dec 1856. He married LOUISA M. ALLEN Abt. 1873, daughter of CALEB ALLEN.

Children of JOHN ALLEN and LOUISA ALLEN are:

i. IDA E. ALLEN, b. Abt. 1869.

ii. MARTHA ALLEN, b. Abt. 1872.

iii. JOHN FRANKLIN "FLICK" ALLEN, b. 23 Nov 1874, Woodbury, NY; d. 09 Apr 1942.

iv. DORA M. ALLEN, b. Oct 1881.

The 1880 Bass River Township census records show the family of John and Louisa M. Allen. Louisa is 37 years old, and her daughter, Ida E., is 11.

As I mentioned earlier, Louisa married Joshua Wiseman after the death of her first husband, John Allen. Following is family information pertaining to Joshua Wiseman who married Louisa rather late in life. I got a particular chuckle out of Myrtle Wiseman Falkinburg's comment regarding Joshua, John Bowers, and John Bowers' daughters. Myrtle is Joshua Wiseman's granddaughter.

Joshua Wiseman

Tintype courtesy of Myrtle Wiseman Falkinburg

JOSHUA WISEMAN (JOHN A.) was born 1851, and died 12 Aug 1925 in Atlantic City, NJ. He married (1) SARAH MITILDA BOWERS Jul 1875, daughter of JOHN BOWERS and CATHERINE WILDERMUTH. She was born Abt. 1860, and died Bef. 1884. He married (2) HARRIET BOWERS 07 Oct 1888, daughter of JOHN BOWERS and CATHERINE WILDERMUTH. She was born Abt. 1865, and died 1895. He married (3) ELNORA V. KELLY 1896, daughter of WILLIAM KELLY and SARAH SPRAGG. She was born 24 Jun 1865, and died 1905. He married (4) MARY THERESA CAULEY 10 Jan 1907 in Manahawkin, NJ. She was born 24 Jun 1865, and died 16 Apr 1910. He married (5) LOUISA ALLEN Bef. 1925, daughter of CALEB ALLEN and MARY LEAK. She was born 1855, and died 19 Feb 1938 in Margate, NJ. at the home of her niece, Mrs. Ferdinand Loveland. Funeral services were held at Pursells and Son in Pleasantville, NJ. She was buried with her husband, Joshua Allen, in her parent's (Caleb and Mary Eliza Allen) plot on the south side of the hill in Miller Cemetery, New Gretna, NJ. Both of their graves are unmarked.

Notes for JOSHUA WISEMAN:

Myrtle Wiseman Falkinburg tells that Joshua first married Sarah Bowers. After Sarah's death, he then married Sarah's sister, Harriet. After Harriet's death, Joshua went back to John Bowers looking for his third wife, as there were five more girls in the family, and was quickly chased away.

Notes for LOUISA ALLEN:

Louisa died at the home of her niece, Mrs. Ferdinand Loveland. Funeral services were held at Pursells and Son in Pleasantville, NJ. Louisa was buried in her parent's (Caleb and Mary Eliza Allen) plot on the south side of the hill in Miller Cemetery, New Gretna, NJ. with her husband, Joshua Wiseman. Both graves are unmarked.

Joshua and Louisa Wiseman

Photo courtesy of Myrtle Wiseman Falkinburg

It is important to take note that Louisa and John Wiseman were burried in Miller Cemetery in the plot of Louisa's parents, Caleb and Mary Eliza Allen, as there is no written record of that fact that I am aware of. That information came from Myrtle Wiseman Falkinburg, who attended her grandfather Joshua's home wake as a five year old.

Myrtle Wiseman Falkinburg remembers attending the wake of her grandfather, Joshua Wiseman, in August, 1925, when she was five years old. Joshua's home stills stands on North Maple Avenue, just across the street from the intersection with Mink Path. (March 6, 2007 photo by Pete Stemmer.)

The Joshua Wiseman homestead was located on Allentown Road, now North Maple Avenue, across from the the Mink Path intersection. (Map courtesy of Bing Maps.)

While Myrtle didn't attend Louisa's funeral, she remembers hearing from her parents that both Joshua and Louisa were buried in Louisa's parents' plot on the hill in Miller Cemetery. Louisa's 1938 obituary below confirms her burial in Miller Cemetery but does not identify the burial plot location as Myrtle was able to do.

I hope the above information answers some of the questions Beverly may have had regarding her great grandmother, Louisa Allen Wiseman. Hopefully, it will also help anyone who might be interested in or working on a genealogy of the Allen or Wiseman families.

Pete S

PS- A big Blog thank you to Myrtle Wiseman Falkinburg and Shirley Whealton who helped me with the Wiseman genealogy.