Catherine Lanning

I now believe that Catherine Lanning was a daughter of James B. Lanning and Sarah Raplee. Evidence at this point is circumstantial but read through what is here and make your own determination.

• In 1830, James and Sarah Lanning have four daughters: Martha is 16 years old; Huldah is 8 years old and Sarah is 3 years old. On the census it shows an additional daughter age 10-15 years, which would fit with Catherine as she was 10 years old in 1830.
• In a Yates County newspaper article dated 1870, it's mentioned that James B. Lanning and Sarah Raplee had 10 children, namely: Amos, Uriah, John, Richard, James, Martha, Jane, Huldah and Sarah. (The article only mentions 9 of the children and doesn't say anything about the 10th child.) I haven't found anything about a Jane Lanning but Catherine's middle name was Jane and I have to wonder if "Jane" was a reference to Catherine Jane. Or, Catherine was the 10th child that wasn't listed in the article; but then why wasn't she mentioned? Sarah doesn't have any children born after James in 1830, something that census records seem to verify, so that means James and Sarah only had 4 daughters. On the 1840 census for Starkey, Yates County, New York, James is shown with three daughters, one 20-30 years old (would fit Catherine); one 15-20 years old (Huldah) and one 10-15 years old (Sarah). Martha was married to Henry Titsworth and living in her own home in 1840. The only other Lanning in Yates County in 1840 with a daughter 20 years old was Isaac and we know his daughter's name was Eliza.
• In 1850, Bonus, Boone County, Illinois, Catherine and her husband, James C. Miller, are living next door to James and Sarah Lanning, who are next to John Lanning, who is next to Richard Lanning. Catherine also has children named Richard, Huldah, Martha and Sarah, obviously Lanning family names.
• The Bremer County Independent newspaper in Waverly, Iowa ran Catherine's obit on July 23, 1903.
  

  DIED Mrs. Catherine J. Miller died at her home in Horton at 5 a.m. July 22, aged 83 years and 25 days. Catherine Jane Lanning was born near Seneca Lake, New York on June 27, 1820, and she grew to womanhood in that place. She was married to James Miller, and soon afterwards they moved to Illinois. In 1862 Mr. Miller enlisted in the 95th Ill. Inft. He died in the army. Mrs. Miller came to Bremer County in April, 1865, and she has lived here ever since. The cause of death was old age. The funeral is today, July 23, from the Horton Baptist church. Rev. J.W. Graves, pastor of the Waverly Baptist Church, will conduct the religious services. The remains were buried in Harlington cemetery, Waverly. Mrs. Miller leaves children as follows: Mrs. (Huldah) G.W. Cox, of Polk township; Richard Miller, of Chicago; Mrs. (Martha) Wm. Gallagher, of Polk township; Mrs. (Sarah) Burt Woodruff, of Waverly; Chas. A. Miller, Polk township, and Mrs. (Ella) Ira Hurlbut, of Raymond, S.D.

  The obit states that Catherine grew up near Seneca Lake, New York and if you click here, you can see how the region looked in 1822. This map shows Reading on the western shore of Seneca Lake in Steuben County. And, James and Sarah Lanning's children were born in Reading, Steuben County, New York.
• James and Catherine Miller's daughter, Martha, is born in New York about 1844 and their next daughter, Sarah, is born in Illinois about 1848, which means they arrived in Illinois between 1844-1848. Huldah Lanning Carmichael, a daughter of James and Sarah Lanning, has a daughter named Hannah who was born about 1847 in Illinois, which fits with the 1844-1848 span. (Huldah would be a younger sister of Catherine.) James and Sarah Lanning are living in New York in 1840 and in Illinois in 1850, which again fits with the 1844-1848 span.

Again, this is circumstantial evidence that Catherine was a daughter of James and Sarah but I'm going to take a leap of faith and list her as a daughter of James B. Lanning. Linda Holm mentioned she was going to get a copy of Catherine's death certificate to see if Catherine's parents are listed. I'm hoping they are listed and this little mystery can be solved.

Photo courtesy of Linda Holm