Name Changes - from Kettenring to Catron

A tale of two generations

There are many stories of families changing names when immigrating, sometimes in multiple ways over a few generations. One such story is William Elijah Cattron, who was born in 1804 in Tennessee to Peter Kettenring, whose parents had immigrated from Germany. William married Catherine Smith (b. 1807, Virginia) and had several children, including Samuel Perry Catron (b. June 14, 1836) and Elijah Asbury Catron (b. June 14, 1849).

Despite other lines taking on different spellings of the last name (Cattron being one example), these two brothers’ children shared the Catron name and passed it down to descendents today.

Samuel Perry Catron enlisted in the Union during the Civil War, fighting in the 13^th Tennessee Cavalry. He married (1^st) Caroline (sometimes given as Johana Caroline) Bowen around 1858. They had:

• William/Jesse Catron (b. 1858, 1860 and 1870 censuses differ in names)

• Elijah Henderson Catron (1859-1905)

• Ellis Patton Catron (1861-1925)

• Brownlow Catron (b. ~1863)

• John Henry Catron (1865-1926, though I question this ‘family remembrance’ as his death certificate list his parents as Perry Catron and Sarah Bowen, and he does not appear in the 1870 census with his siblings; his half-sister’s death certificate also lists the father as Perry so it may simply be bad reporting)

• Tillman Monroe Catron (1868-1899)

• Rosa Garber (1872-1908, m. Gilliam)

Caroline died of exposure in 1872 and was buried somewhere in “the Rounds” of the Clinch River. Samuel married (2^nd) Eliza Jane (Maness) Brotherton and had:

• Mattie (1883-1970, m. Chandler)

• Sterling Perry Catron (1885-1964)

Samuel died May 17, 1892, in Virginia.

Elijah Asbury Catron is said to have also fought in the Civil War, but I couldn’t confirm this. He often went by the initials “E.A.” so it may affect how he was listed in the pension index or enlistment records. He married Elitha Jane Eden in 1872 and had:

• George Riley Catron (1873-1955)

• Martha Jane (1875-1967, m. Fields)

• Flora Dora (1877-1955, m. Erwin)

• Laura Cora (1877-1946, though her birth year is a point of contention and often given as 1879 to avoid overlapping her sister, they were apparently twins m. Laney)

• Ella (1882-1962, m. Kelleher)

• James Elbert Catron (1883-1958)

• William Isham Catron (1886-1960)

• Andrew Jefferson Catron (1890-1931)

• Worley Jackson Catron (1893-1981)

• Lula Eythel (1896-1995, m. 1st HasHagen, 2nd Cress)

Elijah owned a grist mill in Hancock, Tennessee, and his children were born on his small farm. Eventually the family moved to Missouri after 1900, and then to Oregon after Elitha died in 1904. Elijah died December 17, 1927, and is buried in Odd Fellows Cemetery, The Dalles, Oregon.

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References:

Kettenring Family in America by Henry Hardy Catron. 1956.

Virginia, U.S., Death Registers (online database)

Oregon, U.S., State Deaths (online database)

U.S. Federal Census

U.S. Civil War Pension Index (online database)

Images of gravestones on FindAGrave