D E D I C A T I O N
This
historical narrative which chronicles the history of the Stream family
from its origins in Germany, is respectfully dedicated to the memory of
my beloved father, Wendell W. Stream, without whose motivation,
perseverance, and passion for family history, this story would never
have been told. It is my sincere desire that this narrative be
added to the legacy that my father left me.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author wishes to express his sincere gratitude and indebtedness to
the following individuals, without whose gracious support this family
history could never have been written. Regrettably, the names of
so many who contributed to this endeavor have been forgotten, but I
would be remiss were I not to give credit to the following: Alice
Alden, Forrest Fuhrmeister, Ralph Sherman and Sherman Dean Stream, Rhea
(Stream) Rider, Craven Stream, Mr. and Mrs. Thornely Stream, Mr. And
Mrs. Amos Stream, Josie Preston, Marilyn Threlkeld, and the dedicated
volunteers at Archion.
INTRODUCTION
47 years have transpired since my father, the late Wendell W. Stream,
and I began researching our Stream family history. What must have
motivated and inspired my father to explore his ancestry was a
typewritten story that was extracted from the 1887 Biographical and
Historical Record of Greene County, Iowa. In my possession is the
tattered cover sheet - dated 13 February 1949 - which was given to my
father by his grandparents, Harvey and Alice Stream. But the
spark that ignited our marathon family history quest many years later
was the Roots television mini-series that was broadcast in January
1977. So infectious was my genealogy “bug” that I would graduate
from Brigham Young University with a degree in Family and Local History
Studies in December 1980! If we could have only known then just
how far this journey would take us….!
Our
initial efforts were primarily limited to personal letters and
telephone calls, augmented with trips to cemeteries and county
courthouses, as texting and online genealogy had not yet been conceived
back in 1977. After visiting several Iowa county courthouses and
cemeteries in the spring of 1978, Dad packed our family into our
Chevrolet Kingswood Estate station wagon to embark on a road trip
vacation across the eastern half of the United States. Our
objective was to re-trace (in reverse) the route that our family had
taken from Loudoun County, Virginia to Licking County, Ohio and
westward to Iowa in the mid-19th century. As you might imagine,
our knowledge of the family at this time was extremely limited, but we
did manage to learn early in our research that two of our ancestors had
emigrated to Philadelphia in 1754. As our research time was quite
limited on our road trip, we realized that we were only viewing the
“tip of the iceberg”, but our enthusiasm continued to increase as we
gained more knowledge and met long-lost cousins along the way.
After 1984, my role in furthering our Stream family history was
predominantly one of consultation, as I was pursuing a career in
Signals Intelligence with the Army and the National Security
Agency. Most of the hard work of collecting, processing,
and recording the reams of raw source data was tirelessly done by my
father, who had retired from the Iowa State Patrol in 1982. After
Dad purchased his first Apple personal computer later that year, he
began the tedious work of inputting data not only from our Stream
ancestry but dozens of other family lines as well. By the time he
finished with it in 2016, his Legacy Family Tree database included over
239,000 names. Most of his early years of computerized genealogy
was done with the Reunion program; he switched to Legacy Family Tree
shortly after it was introduced in 1997.
Better late than
never… it wasn’t until exactly one year ago in February 2024 that I
decided to sort through his rather disorganized archive of original
source documents and research notes. You simply cannot imagine
how herculean a task this turned out to be! But that effort
proved to generate just enough motivation for me to resume researching
my Stream family history. Moreover, it is noteworthy that what began in
2022 with a casual desire to obtain several family group sheets from
Dad’s Legacy Family tree archive, has blossomed into a full-scale
family research project! As so often happens in life when facing
defeat, hardship, or disappointment, that one last diligent effort can
sometimes make all the difference!
As the
list of German emigrants who had boarded the ship Edinburgh in the
spring of 1754 indicated that most originated from Wurttemberg or the
Palatinate, my father and I naturally assumed that this region was
where our emigrant forefather, Johann Henrich Strehm and his brother
Henrich Adam,must have originated. Despite these many years of
diligent research, we were perennially frustrated by our inability to
determine their birthplace or place of origin in Germany… until one
unforgettable day in March of 2024!
Here is
how this incredible miracle played out… a tale of what can happen when
sheer persistence intersects Lady Luck. As I was killing time on
my computer one day early that month, by sheer happen chance I happened
to discover an obscure Hessian archival website. Its URL
is: lagis-hessen.de. Lagis is an acronym for
Landesgeschichtliches Informations system. Never having done any
research previously in the German state of Hesse-Nassau, I had very
little confidence that I would find anything of value there. But
when I typed in the name of my fifth great-grandfather under the simple
search tab – lo and behold – what should suddenly appear on my screen
but his name and that of his brother! This obscure probate
reference that I found by happenstance was posted by a researcher in
April 2023, as I recall.
Dear reader - let me
tell you - this really got my attention. A little more
focused inquiry later that hour revealed that these two brothers’ names
had appeared in an old German probate record from 1785. At this
point, I didn’t know where this might lead, but common sense told me
that I had to find source document Number 223061 at the
Staatskirchlichearchiv Wiesbaden, no matter what. On 8 October
1785, Johann Christoph Strehm had filed an application requesting that
personal property belonging to his two half-brothers (Johann Henrich
and Henrich Adam) be transferred to him. Apparently the two brothers
had left some carpentry and glass-blowing tools behind when they
departed in 1754, and Christoph needed them to enhance his
glass-blowing business. The details of how this German probate case
played out is beyond the scope of this paper, so I shall continue with
the story hereby.
Several days later, I stumbled across
another incredible website. ARCHION brings original source-based
Kirchenbucher (church records) right into your home office. Linking 25
major German archival repositories, the dedicated workers at ARCHION
have already digitized over 175,000 church records – and the tedious
work of archival digitization goes on hour-by-hour, day-by-day.
Since it doesn’t cost anything to post a query on ARCHION, I lost no
time in preparing a well-worded query and then translated it into
German, just in case one of their volunteers couldn’t read
English. When I posted my query on Friday, March 8th, I had
so little confidence that it would bear any tangible results that I
didn’t bother to check for a response for another three days.
Can you imagine
how
I felt that glorious Monday when I received two separate responses to
my query, along with digital copies from the original church books
attached as proof?!? If anyone could have walked on water that
day, it was yours truly!!! From the Lorsbach, Hesse evangelical
Lutheran church records near the tiny village of Langenhain, the birth
and baptism of Johann Henrich Strehm was recorded. The first
historical references to this village occurred in 1309.
After
nearly 47 years of research, the elusive answer suddenly appeared
before my eyes, in faded German script!! A digital representation
extracted from the original church record is shown below. What
makes German research so challenging is the fact that old Fraktur
script must be transcribed into High German before it can be translated
into English. Much more work needs to be done in several other
adjacent Hessian villages via ARCHION before the last chapter of this
historical narrative is written. Inexplicably to this very day, I
still do not know how those two volunteer research angels knew which
church records to search? I can only speculate that whomever
provided the long-sought-after nugget of “genealogical gold” must
have been the same person who had posted a reference to that Hessian
probate file in April 2023 that I alluded to earlier.
 (click image to enlarge)
E A R L Y Y E A R S OF R E S E A R C H
While
I was stationed at Vint Hill Farms Station near Warrenton, Virginia, my
father and I began making plans to rendezvous in Pennsylvania for the
purpose of furthering our research. On the 1st day of April 1984,
my father and I met in Hershey, Pennsylvania for an unforgettable week
of intense Stream family research. After researching at the State
Library in Harrisburg, we spent a full day at the county courthouse and
Lancaster County Historical Society in Lancaster, before paying a call
to the Phillip Schaff Library. It was then over to Ephrata, where
we visited the historic Muddy Creek Union Church, which began in the
year 1732.
Unfortunately, the Cocalico Valley Historical
Society was not open that day, so we pressed onward toward
Philadelphia, where we scoured the records at the Genealogical and
Historical Society of Pennsylvania. It was here that I found the
following information from the Published Pennsylvania Archives (Volume
I, 5th Series, Pennsylvania Militia History): (John) Henry
Strehme, date of commission: 29 May 1757, three-year enlistment,
age 27, a joiner from Germany. The German word Schreiner (or
joiner in English) refers to a carpenter or cabinet-maker. Even
with the limited knowledge that we possessed regarding Stream family
ancestry at that time, my father and I knew harbored no doubt that this
was the same emigrant who had arrived in Penn’s British Colony in
September 1754. As we had hoped, this whirlwind week of research
proved highly successful, but many months would be required for us to
process and interpret all that we had discovered that week.
Before proceeding with the story, we need to rewind the clock briefly
to November 1983. While researching at the Library of Congress in
Washington, D.C., I located an advertisement that Johann Henrich Strehm
had placed in Johann Christopher Sauers’ newspaper (“Der Hoch-Deutsch
Pennsylvanische Geschicht-Schreiber”), dated 6 June 1760. This
invaluable source was published in 1935 by Edward Hocker entitled,
“Genealogical Data Relating to the German Settlers of Pennsylvania…from
advertisements in German Newspapers published in Philadelphia and
Germantown, 1743-1800”. This is the advertisement as it appeared
in Hocker’s book:
Henrich Strehm, Lancaster County, on
Cocalico Creek, one-quarter mile from Ephrata, near Abraham Schonauer,
came to Amerika five years and six months ago, with his brother,
Henrich Adam, and he seeks information about the latter.
Just
one week or so after his discharge from militia duty, my paternal
fifth-great grandfather had placed an advertisement in an effort to
determine the whereabouts of his younger brother, Henrich Adam.
Did the two brothers ever re-connect? Well, there is no way to
know for sure, but this much I can tell you. In a statement that
Christoph Strehm made to the Hessian probate court alluded to earlier,
I learned that his half-brother Henrich Strehm had written a letter to
his parents in 1761. In that letter, he reported that he
had been separated from his brother (Henrich Adam), and knew nothing of
his whereabouts. In any event, after many years of
contemplation, I believe it is reasonable to assume that Henrich Adam
must have died from disease or been killed by belligerent Indians while
his older brother was serving in the Lancaster County militia.
When the two brothers arrived in the port of Philadelphia aboard the
Edinburgh on 30 September 1754, Lancaster County had only been in
existence for 25 years. It had been part of Penn’s original
charter created by King Charles II in 1681. The attached Scull
map (1770) which appears below shows the area in some detail.
 (click image to enlarge)
Before
continuing with the story, I would like to add a brief discussion
regarding the logistics of trans-Atlantic travel during the 18th
Century. More than likely, those two Strehm brothers would
probably have pulled a small wagon south to Florsheim sometime in the
month of May, where they would have boarded a small boat for the short
ride down the Main River to Mainz. After catching a boat there,
it would have taken them between 4-7 weeks to travel down the Rhine
River to the Dutch port of Rotterdam. This was so because there
were approximately 24 toll (custom) stations along the way, and each
duchy, kingdom, and province demanded a fee for passage.
The voyage from Rotterdam to the port of Cowes on the north coast of
the Isle of Wight would typically require another 10-20 days, depending
on how fickle the winds were. Since Penn’s British American
colony was administered by Britain, each ship had to clear English
customs there. Once the big sailing vessel set sail for America,
another 7-9 weeks would be required to cross the turbulent Atlantic
Ocean, depending on how contrary the winds may have been.
Altogether, the ordeal from place of origin in Germany to the port of
Philadelphia would take between five and six months. According to
a reliable source, it has been estimated that each adult passenger was
charged the equivalent of about $2000 for the trans-Atlantic voyage.
On the last day of May 1761, Johann Henrich Strehm and Maria Margaretha
Wolff were married at the Trinity Evangelical Lutheran church in New
Holland, Pennsylvania. At the time of their marriage, he was a
resident of Earl Township, near present-day Ephrata. Very little
is known about their early family in Lancaster County, but I did find
something of interest from the Cocalico Valley Historical Society that
adds substance to the story. According to a detailed “debt
book” journal that Michael Muller kept between 1748 and 1786 ,
two windows were sold to “Hennerich Stremm on the Middle Creek” in May
1762. Evidently, Henrich was installing new windows into his log
cabin.
Shortly thereafter, the baptism of two
sons was recorded at the Muddle Creek Union Church near Ephrata:
Henrich Adam in 1765 and Johann Friedrich in 1767. I speculate
that one or two daughters may have been born prior to 1765, as it would
not be unlikely that Henrich and Margareth would name their firstborn
son after the younger brother who had disappeared shortly after their
arrival in Pennsylvania.
From the St.
James Reformed and New Jerusalem church records in Lovettsville,
Virginia, I learned that Henrich and Maria Margaretha Strehm were
blessed with the following children:
Barbara
Henrich Adam
Johann Friedrich
Margaretha Anna
Sarah
Anthony
Sally
Johann Henrich, Jr.
Elizabetha
Michael
Johannes.
Despite years of diligent research, very little is known about this
family, as absolutely nothing appears in print between 1769 and 1783
when the youngest child, Johannes was baptized at the evangelical
Lutheran church in Frederick City, Maryland. Perhaps more
research in the tax and church records will reveal additional
information in the future.
Before continuing
the narrative into Loudoun County, Virginia, I will share a story with
you regarding Henry Stream’s military service during the Revolutionary
War. Early in my research, I obtained a photocopy of a muster/payroll
document from the National Archives. It is imperative to realize
that TWO different men (Henry Stream and Henry Stroam) are
represented in this Revolutionary War document, but for over 40 years I
had falsely assumed that it pertained to only one!
For the record, Private Henry Stream enlisted for three years in June
1777 in Captain William Heyser’s company of the German Regiment.
This unit had been organized in Frederick County, Maryland in
1776. From a file recorded in early November 1779, I re-confirmed
that Private “Henry Straam “had been discharged on 17 July 1779.
Although neither of these two source documents referring to “Henry
Stream” have been digitized, the unique spelling of his surname
confirms the identity of this soldier as my fifth
great-grandfather. This important confirmation was found in a
article entitled “The German Regiment of the American
Revolution”, by Charles Francis Stein.
CROSSING THE POTOMAC INTO LOUDOUN COUNTY
| Between
1757 when Loudoun County, Virginia was created and 1786, all male
residents 16 years of age and older were assessed a tithe by the
Anglican parish where they resided. Prior to 1770, these tithes or
taxes were payable to Cameron Parish, and then to Shelburn Parish
thereafter. From the list of Loudoun County stables that Hiatt
and Scott published in 1995, Henry Strame appears in Farling Ball's
1784 list in Shelburne Parish. Don't be fooled by this unusual surname
spelling, as the following valid surname variants were commonly seen in
various sources: Stram, Strohm, Strahm, Stremm, Strehm, etc. In any
event, since no other references to the Stream family were in these
titable lists before 1784, I think it is safe to assume that they did
not cross the Potomac River to establish residency in the German | 
(The photo above is Milestone 17 on the old Baltimore-Frederick Pike, located about one mile east of West Friendship, MD)
|
Settlement
prior to that date. And this agrees with the early church records at
Lovettsville, too, as several members of the family begin to appear in
those records at Lovettsville, too, as several members of the family
begin to appear in those records as early as 1785.
My paternal
Stream lineage emanates from Michael Stream. Michael was born in June
1773, and married Maria Magdalena (Dorscheimer) on the 10th
| day
of October 1796, and settled on a 13 acre farm several miles west of
the German Settlement. Sometime after the road was extended from
Harpers Ferry, Virginia to Frederick, Maryland in about 1810, he
operated a trucking service with a six horse freight team between that
Harpers Ferry and Baltimore. By the year 1806, the Baltimore-Frederick
Pike would have reached Frederick and a branch road known as the
Harper's Ferry Ridge Road was soon extended to Knoxville. From his
estate inventory in 1827, it appears that Michael was a
prosperous member of the local community. This unforgettable
photograph of my father, Wendell Stream, was taken the day | 
(click on image to enlarge) |
we located Michael's grave at the St. James Reformed Church cemetery just outside Lovettsville, in August 1978.
(click image to enlarge)
old photo of Harpers Ferry, Virginia, showing the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers
At
this juncture, I will share with my readers vital statistics extracted
from the family group sheets for Michael Stream (my 4th GGF), Elias
Stream (my 3rd GGF), William C. Stream (my 2nd GGF), and George Stream.
FAMILY GROUP SHEETS
Michael Strehm (Stream) was born in June 1773, presumably in Lancaster
County, Pennsylvania, and died on 25 January 1827 in Loudoun County,
Virginia. He married Maria Magdalena Dorscheimer on 10 October
1796 in Leesburg, Virginia.
Maria Magdalena was born on 2 Aug
1774 in Frederick City, Maryland, and died on 16 February 1856 near St.
Louisville, Licking County, Ohio. Her parents were Jacob and
Elizabeth (Ullam) Dorscheimer.
A. Michael and Magdalena were the parents of the following children:
1.
Jacob Strehm Born:
14 February 1797; Died: 25 October 1856
Married: Susanna Fawley on 28 March 1824 in Lovettsville, Virginia
2.
Wilhelm (William) Born: 24 July
1798 Died: 3 January 1889,
Orient, IA
1st Marriage: Jemima Hirl on 29 June 1820
2nd Marriage: Pleasant Garwick on 6 March 1828
3. Nancy Stream Born: 21 March 1800 in German Settlement
Married: Jonathan Householder on 4 May 1820
4.
Elias Stream Born: 18 March
1802 Died: 18 Feb 1864, Linn Co., Iowa
Married: Mary Ann Waters on 24 September 1831,Lovettsville, Virginia
5.
George Stream Born: 20 May
1805 Died: 11 March 1881,
Johnson Co. IA
Married: Jane Bonar Beard on 25 August 1836, Licking County, Ohio
6.
Lydia Stream Born: 17 December
1808 Died: 5 Nov 1861, Chatham,OH
Married: Augustine Muse Sanford on 7 October 1824 in Loudoun Co. Virginia
7. Israel Stream Born: 18 Oct 1809 Died: 4 May 1853, Petersville, MD
Married: Catherine M. Rhodes on 3 October 1832 in Frederick, Maryland
8.
Mahala Stream
Born: 30 May 1811 Died: 13 July
1854, Licking Co. OH
Married: George Fahley on 24 December 1828 in Loudoun County, VA
9.
Maria Anna Stream Born: 26
September 1813 Died: Unknown
Married: Adam Potterfield on 28 April 1827 in Loudoun County, Virginia
10. Elisa Ann Stream Born: 14 January 1817 Died: 28 April 1905
Married: John Marple on 18 June 1839 in Licking County, Ohio
11. Perry Stream Born: 18 March 1820 Died: About 1832
B. William and Jemima Hirl were the parents of three daughters:
1.
Mary Ann Stream Born: 30 April
1821 Died: 30 Nov 1880, Ely, IA
Married: Samuel W. Martin on 15 March 1860 in Linn County, Iowa
2. Lydia Ann Stream Born: 28 February 1825 Died: Unknown
3. Eliza Jane Stream Born: 11 March 1823 Died: 15 March1856
Married George W. Bruerd on 23 January 1841
After
Jemima Hirl passed away on 2 April 1827, William re-married a widow
named Pleasant Garwick, and they were the parents of the following:
1. Grafton Caywood Stream Born: 22 Oct 1829 Died: 24 Feb 1905, Tryan, OK
Married: Sarah Electa Bishop on 15 August 1854
2.
Samuel Addison Stream Born: 4 Oct
1831 Died: 25 Mar 1919
Married: Elizabeth Miller Nesbitt on 16 December 1860
3. Charles William Stream Born: 27 June 1835 Died: 13 Sept 1910
Married: Alice Ann (“Allie”) Thompson on 18 December 1858
C. Elias and Mary Ann Waters were the parents of the following children:
1.
Virginia Stream Born: 20 March
1833 Died: 22 August 1910
Married: Samuel Rigdon Preston on 30 August 1855
2.
William C. Stream Born: 14 Apr
1834 Died: 29 Jan 1912
Married: Mary Mathews on 24 Dec 1868
Married: Rebecca (Cairns) DeLong on 30 Oct 1881
3.
Sarah Stream Born: April
1836 Died: 2 Feb 1845
4.
Perry C. Stream Born: 27 May
1837 Died: 17 Jan 1900
Married: Angenora G. Langdon on 13 December 1866
5.
Fenton S. Stream Born: 22 June
1838 Died: 2 June 1911
6.
Girl (Child) Born:
1839 Died: 1845
7.
Girl (Child) Born:
1841 Died: 1845
8. Jonathan H. Stream Born: 2 August 1842 Died: 9 March 1845
9. Mary Ann Stream Born: 4 January 1844 Died: 10 June 1936
Married: David Moore Langdon on 29 January 1868
10. Willis Calvin Stream Born: 2 September 1845 Died: 23 March 1912
Married: Caroline M. Andrew on 29 February 1876
11.
Wilson Lemuel Stream Born: 10 April
1848 Died: 18 Dec 1927
Married: Ophelia West on 1 January 1878
D. George and Jane Bonar Beard were the parents of the following children:
1.
Lucinda Stream Born: 2
February 1838 Died: 23 Oct 1913
Married: Andrew Jackson Fuhrmeister on 7 May 1857
2.
Emeline Stream Born: 23
October 1839 Died: 10 Jan 1901
Married: Charles George Fuhrmeister on 4 February 1858
3. Mahlon B. Stream Born: 27 Mach 1841 Died: 16 May 1863
4.
Minerva Stream Born: 17 Sept
1842 Died: 8 May 1897
Married: William H. LeGore on 1 March 1866
5.
Craven Stream Born: 19 June
1844 Died: 15 January 1908
Married: Harriet Jane Brown on 27 January 1870
6.
Clinton Stream Born: 18 June
1846 Died: 9 August 1907
Married: Rosemond Sarah Nicholson on 5 February 1871
7.
Grafton Stream Born: 25 April
1849 Died: 2 May 1863
8.
Fulton L. Stream Born: 5 May
1851 Died: 17 May 1937
Married: Ruth Josephine Richmond on 28 October 1875
9.
Jane Stream Born: 5 February
1854 Died: 6 June 1867
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Although the first Palatine
emigrants settled into what was later to become Virginia in 1714, it
wasn’t until 1732 that an organized colony of German families migrated
into Virginia Territory from Penn’s British Colony. According to
historian Briscoe Goodhart, who published a newspaper article entitled
The German Settlement, in 1900, between 65-70 families established
residency in this area between 1732 and 1734. Included in his
list was the surname Stream. However, as we have already seen,
Henrich and Margaretha did not bring their family across the Potomac
River until 1784. Around the year 1730, members of the German
Reformed church settled in this area, and English “outsiders” began
referring to this fledgling settlement as the German Settlement.
No one knows what name the German residents gave to their
community. Another significant wave of German Lutherans arrived
in 1765. Much of what we know about the Strehm/Stream family was
gleaned from the church records of these two churches: St.
James Reformed and New Jerusalem Lutheran.
The early history of Saint James German Reformed Church and that of the
German Settlement are virtually inseparable. Although the
earliest records of the Reformed congregation at Lovettsville were
destroyed, it is generally understood that this church was organized no
later than 1730 or so; it is believed that the first log cabin church
was erected somewhere on the grounds of the graveyard just east of
Lovettsville.. Reverend Henrich Giesy’s record book is dated 17
September 1789. It is noteworthy that one of the four original
deacons, Jacob Dorscheimer, was the father of Michael Strehm’s future
bride, Maria Magdalena.
All church record
entries were in the German language until May of 1811. So
pervasive was the old language that it was not entirely superseded by
English until August 1823, and church services were conducted in both
languages throughout the 1820s. In the transition years after the
turn of the century, records are found to alternate between the two
languages. Surname spellings in the baptismal and confirmation
records were not anglicized from Strehm to Stream until 1815 or so.
 Wendell Stream at the New Jerusalem Lutheran Church cemetery, Lovettsville, Virginia. August 1978
A surveyor by the name of Yardley Taylor published a remarkably
detailed map of Loudoun County, Virginia in 1853. Though you
cannot read the names of the landowners from this digital copy, this
historic map identifies the location of Henry Stream’s small farm
located about three miles due west of Lovettsville on the east side of
Short Hill Mountain. Two men named Henry Stream could have been
living when this map was created, but I believe the “H. Stream” on
Taylor’s map was Henrich Strehm, Jr. He was born in about 1770,
and was living with his daughter, Barbara when the 1850 Census was
taken. Interestingly, I found a hard copy of this map at Asa
Janney’s general store in Middleburg, Virginia in July 1983. For
greater resolution and clarity, you can access this map from the map
collection at the National Archives.
(click image to enlarge)
LOUDOUN COUNTY MILITARY SERVICE
.
Michael Stream’s eldest son, Jacob, served as a private in the 56th
Regiment (Taylor’s) of the Virginia Militia from 1812 to 1815 during
the war with Britain. Subsequently, he appears as “delinquent”
from the 57th Regiment in 1816.
In the Loudoun County Militia Book of 1793-1809, the following Stream references are found as delinquents:
1805, 1808 Henry Stream,
Jr. 57th Regiment
1805 John
Stream 57th
Regiment
Undated
Michael Stream
CPT James White’s company
1822, 1824 Elias
Stream 57th
Regiment
1824
George Stream
57th Regiment
1816, 1824,
1827 Henry Stream
57th Regiment
1811-1824 John
Stream 57th
Regiment
1822, 1825
William Stream
57th Regiment
1855-1859
William Henry Stream
57th Regiment
1855-1859 Charles H.
Stream 56th Reg / 1st District
1854-1859 George W.
Stream 56th Reg / 1st District
1854-1859 Jacob Henry
Stream 56th Reg / 1st District
1854-1859 John
Stream 56th Reg
/ 1st District
1855, 1859
Oliver W. Stream
56th Reg / 1st District
1854-1855 Thomas A.
Stream 56th Reg / 1st District
As
far as I know, no members of this family served in the Civil War from
the Commonwealth of Virginia. Despite being south of the
Mason-Dixon Line, Loudoun County was predominantly pro-Union with two
companies of cavalry serving in the celebrated Loudoun Rangers
unit. From the state of Iowa, the following members of our family
served in the American Civil War: William C., Fenton S., Maylon
B., Grafton C., and Samuel A. From the state of Ohio, the
following three Stream soldiers served: Charles H., George S.,
and William M.
WESTWARD TO LICKING COUNTY, OHIO
Two weeks after my third great-grandfather, Elias Stream married Mary
Ann Waters in Lovettsville, Virginia, George, Elias, and his widowed
mother, Magdalena loaded their household goods into a wagon and headed
west down the Old National Pike from Frederick, Maryland, bound for
central Ohio. From an old land deed record, they apparently spent
their first year in Perry County, just south of Licking County. George
and Elias proceeded to raise large families in this county.
Another brother, William, rejoined the family in Licking County later
in 1848.
Another branch of the Stream family
made its way to Licking County one generation later. Jacob, the
eldest son of Michael and Magdalena, was the father of three
sons: Charles Hamilton, Thomas Addison, and Oliver Walcott.
Two of Elias’ nephews, Thomas and Charles were found in the 1860 Census
for Newton Township. Evidently, they must have departed the Old
Dominion for Ohio shortly after Jacob passed away in 1856. The
third son, Oliver, left Virginia around 1885 with his elderly mother,
Susanna (Fawley), who died in 1889 and is buried at Wilson Cemetery
in Newark. According to an indenture filed in Licking
County on 12 March 1850, Jacob and Susanna Stream sold 11 acres of
their 110 acre parcel to their nephew, Elias Stream.
Elias and Mary Ann’s eldest child, Virginia, married Samuel R. Preston
on 30 1854. Three of Elias’s young children perished in a scarlet
fever outbreak in 1845, and are buried at Marple Cemetery near St.
Louisville, Ohio..
The following
map from circa 1854 shows where the old Preston homestead property was
located from an original copy at the National Archives.
(click on image to enlarge)
(click on image to enlarge)
The image which appears above
(from an original etching) was the homestead of Samuel R. and Virginia
(Stream) Preston. This extensive property was located just north
and a little west of Chatham, in Newton Township. This is where
Virginia and Samuel Preston raised their six children. Back in
the 1980s, my father made several trips to Licking County to further
his knowledge of the Stream family from descendants of Charles, Oliver,
Thomas, and Virginia Stream.
From the early
1830s until about the start of the American Civil War, hundreds of
families living in Ohio contracted a bad case of “Iowa fever”, as
reports of pristine affordable farmland were eagerly received.
For the continuation of this narrative after the three Stream brothers
migrated westward to Iowa, the reader is directed to the second part of
this historical narrative.
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