Regis Murphy: To begin with, how are you related to everyone insofar as the Goes and the Littles? You were absolutely right that Matthew's father is John and not his brother.
My sister, Loretta Fischer (Helen Carbonneau's mother, just recently told me that John Little (a/k/a Lyttle)had two wives. When I find out who Wife No. 2 was, I will let you know. The 1860 Census for Fayette County, PA lists Matthew Little (age 25) with his wife Rebecca, (age 24) and two children, Anna, age 2, and Henry (age 4 mos.). Yesterday, I pulled up on Ancestry World Tree, Matthew Little, with Rebecca Goe and their children, Annie Melissa Little, Henry Hunter Bell Little, John Solomon Little and Laura Little. The sheet lists siblings as Nancy Anne Little, William B. Little, Mary Ann Little, Harriet M. Little, David Porter Little, Daniel Aaron Little and Brien Little. John Little is listed as Matthew's father and William Batch and Nancy Bradley are listed as Ellen's mother (her name is listed here as Ellen). I pulled up Ellen Batch on Ancestry.com yesterday and her brothers and sisters were Elizabeth Batch, Ann Batch, William Batch and Stephen Batch. I live in Chamblee, Georgia (just outside of Atlanta, GA). I grew up in Connellsville, PA and graduated from Immaculate Conception High School in Connellsville, PA in 1962.
Mary Ellen, also known as Elinor, Ellenor Batch, Bach, etc. was colored. According to Jean Little, who lives in Minneapolis, Minn and who was married to Matthew Little's grandson, John Little's first wife's grandfather was Henry Bryan, who served with the Colored Infantry in the Revolutionary War. The 1850 Census for Fayette County, PA lists Henry Goe as a free colored man, with his wife, Nancy, and his children, Joseph (Age 23), Jackson (Age 21), James (Age 19), Rebecca (Matthew Little's wife - age 16), Jessica (Age 13) and Elizabeth (probably a granddaughter) as age 4.
The 1850 Census for Perry Twp, PA lists John Lyttle (Age 50)(his name was misspelled) as a laborer(with Mulatto) after the family name, his wife, Ellenor (Age 45), their children, Mary Ann, 17, Matthew, 14, Harriet, 12, David, 11, Daniel P., 9, Bryan A., 5, and Roxanna, 1. I have a picture of Henry B. Goe, and a write up about him from the Fayette County, PA history book.
My great-grandfather was Daniel Little, who was fair-complected. Matthew was supposed to have been a little dark complected and is listed as colored in PA records and his occupation was a hauler of coal. Matthew died on Sept 5, 1864 at Stevenson Depot, Virginia during the Civil War. He had voluntarily enlisted in the Civil War on February 13, 1864. A lot of his family lives in Minnesota. According to Jean Little, Rebecca Goe Little took off with her brother-in-law, James Simpson, while Matthew was fighting the Civil War and went to live in Ohio. It seems according to records, that Daniel Little took in Matthew's daughter, Annie, because the 1870 Census for Fayette County, PA lists Annie as living with his family. Daniel Little's daughter, Haddie May was my grandmother. Haddie May had two illegitimate children by a Michael Hennessey, whom I believe lived in Bradford, PA, one before she married James Casbar, and one to Hennessey, just before she divorced him. James Casbar was a Sicilian Italian (I am sure Casbar was not his real name.) At any rate, that accounts for the fact that even more of my side of the family is even fairer complected than some of the rest. I keloid. Keloids are scar tissue that forms with certain puncture wounds or perhaps a scratch. Also, I am recently being tested for sarcoidosis, which is prevalent when races are mixed up with both the black race and the Indians. My older sister, Mary Elizabeth Johnson, died in 1963. One of the causes on her death certificate stemmed from sarcoidosis, which can show up resembling Rheumatoid Arthritis. At any rate, my mother was Sarah Russek from Connellsville, PA. Sarah died on December 8, 1998 after a series of strokes. Sarah was married to Joseph Matthew Russek (f/k/a Urosek and f/k/a as Dzurosek). Sarah bore eight children, Mary, Loretta, JoAnne, Henry, Thomas, Joseph, Darlene, and John. Some of the genealogy studies I just quoted you above are recent stuff my sister brought back from Pennsylvania when she went up to Connellsville for her high school class reunion in August. She paid an historian at the Uniontown Library to help her collect these papers. Carolyn Wettgen (wife of George Wettgen, who is Aunt Mary Neth (Daniel's daugher's) illegitimate child. Carolyn sent me an obituary for a Vaughn Goe who died last October in Vanderbilt, PA (just outside of Connellsville). I have a recent Connellsville phone directory and may write to the Goe family still living there and there is a Goe listed for Perryopolis. Daniel Little's first wife was also a Goe. Daniel was her second husband. Her name was Sarah Lancaster Little. Sarah's mother was Lydia Goe, who married William Lancaster. We would particularly like to know where she is buried. I was sort of stunned when I found out the Goe connection recently. Daniel Little's 2nd wife was Sarah Ellen Firestone Adams. I knew there was either black or Indian, or both, in our family past since 1989, when I came across the 1850 Census at the Carnegie Free Library in Connellsville. Before that, every time we got back to John Little in trying to find out about the family, everybody went stone cold and clammed up. It infuriated my mother when I came back to her house and told her about it. Abraham Lincoln once said, "It is not what your grandparents were, it is what you are." I have a stack of ancestry papers in front of me. Also, I hope you don't hate me for telling you all of this information. Also, we are trying to find out how we are all related to the Pattersons and the Hays. Any clues? At any rate, I am married to Bill Hess (Delbert W.) for 33 years today, February 3. We have three children, Delbert W. Hess, III, Age 31, Daniel, Age 30 and Brian Hess, Age 28. If you wish to E-mail me again, please feel free. Where do you live? What do you do for a living? Hope to hear from you soon!
Darlene A. Hess