Family Group Sheet
NameJohn House
Birthabt 1818, Hopewell, Greenup Co., Kentucky
Deathabt 1843, Liberty, Greenup Co., Kentucky
Marriage19 Feb 1838, Greenup Co., Kentucky
SpouseSusannah Pettit, 2C4R
Birth1 Mar 1818, Greenup Co., Kentucky
Death23 Dec 1902, Smith Lake, Wright Co., Minnesota
FatherSamuel Pettit (1790-1870)
MotherSarah Gallagher (~1795-1876)
Other spousesCornelius C. Culp
Notes for Susannah Pettit
A Brief Biography of Susannah Pettit, by Bruce Burke
Until now, little was known of Susannah Pettit, daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Gallagher) Pettit (1). Her marriage to John House had been noted, but her parents were believed to be Samuel and Rachel Pettit. Most of what follows has been pieced together from the voluminous Civil War pension files of Cornelius C. Culp, Susannah Pettit's second husband.
Susannah Pettit was born to Samuel and Sarah (Gallagher) Pettit around the year 1818 in Kentucky. The county of her birth was not revealed in the pension file, but the file did reveal that she grew to adulthood in Greenup County.
At the age of twenty, in 1838, she married John House in a ceremony performed by a local Methodist preacher, James Warren, on White Oak Creek about ten miles southwest of Greenupsburg, Greenup, Kentucky. Her marriage to John House only lasted about five years or so. Around 1843, in Liberty, Greenup, Kentucky, (about 10 miles southwest of the county seat) John House got into a drunken argument with a man and threatened to shoot him. The man struck him with a spud (a narrow pointed spade used for weeding) and killed him. A trial was held in Greenup County and the killer was acquitted.
About this time, 1843-1844, Samuel and Sarah Pettit, and many of their extended family, picked up and moved to Adams County, Illinois. Susannah also went to Illinois, and on 15 September 1844, she married a childhood friend from Greenup County, Cornelius C. Culp (2). They were married in Adams County by a Justice of the Peace, Benjamin Gould. Evidently, they settled in Pulaski or Pulaska, Hancock or Adams, Illinois to live and raise a family (3).
From the 1860 Census (4), we learn that Cornelius and Susannah Culp had the following children: Isaac (male, 16), John (male, 14), Hannah (female, 11), Tilman (male, 10), Eliza (female, 8), Loucina(5) (female, 6) and Elizabeth (female, 4), all born in Illinois.
In May 1866, shortly after Cornelius returned from the Civil War, the Culp family moved to Victor Township, Wright County, Minnesota. By May 1880, when Cornelius submitted his first declaration for an Invalid Army Pension, they were living in Smith Lake (Middleville Township), Wright, Minnesota. Cornelius suffered increasingly from what apparently were the effects of sunstroke which had fallen him in July or August 1864, while he was serving guard duty in the Veterans Reserve Corps, just outside of Washington, D.C. He succumbed on April 16, 1892 in Smith Lake.
Susannah survived him by several years and died December 23, 1902 in Smith Lake. Cornelius C. and Susannah Culp were reportedly both buried near Smith Lake, Wright, Minnesota.
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(1) In the pension files there is no direct reference to Susannah Pettit's parents. However, there are several references to her brothers, Cyrus Pettit and William G. Pettit; to her sisters-in-law, Mary E. Pettit, wife of William and Mary Pettit, wife of Cyrus; to her son-in-law, Jonas Pettit, Loucina Culp's husband; and to her nephew Sam Pettit, son of Cyrus.
(2) Cornelius Culp was born probably about 1817 in Greenup County, Kentucky. He was never married before marrying Susannah (Pettit) House and he moved around as a young man. About 1838, he worked in an iron foundry in Greenup County, then he moved to another county in Kentucky. Probably around 1840, he returned to Greenup County and he reportedly "began waiting on" Susannah House. He remained in Greenup County until 1843, when he left Kentucky and probably went to Illinois.
(3) The precise location of Cornelius Culp's residence in Illinois is difficult to determine from the hazy recollections given by various witnesses, some fifty years after the fact. It is virtually certain that it was in northeastern Adams County or southeastern Hancock County, as many of the witnesses claimed to be near neighbors and probably all of them lived in northeastern Adams County. It is very doubtful that Pulaski, Pulaski, Illinois, at the far southern end of the state, is the Pulaski referred to.
(4) Census enumeration for the State of Illinois, Adams County, North East Township, Pitman post office, page 921, dwelling number 2714, family number 2732.
(5) Spelled "Lucina" in the census enumeration, but she clearly spelled her name "Loucina" when she signed official documents, as in the pension files. Susannah is buried in Howard Lake Cemetery, Howard Lake, Minnesota.
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Until now, little was known of Susannah Pettit, daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Gallagher) Pettit (1). Her marriage to John House had been noted, but her parents were believed to be Samuel and Rachel Pettit. Most of what follows has been pieced together from the voluminous Civil War pension files of Cornelius C. Culp, Susannah Pettit's second husband.
Susannah Pettit was born to Samuel and Sarah (Gallagher) Pettit around the year 1818 in Kentucky. The county of her birth was not revealed in the pension file, but the file did reveal that she grew to adulthood in Greenup County.
At the age of twenty, in 1838, she married John House in a ceremony performed by a local Methodist preacher, James Warren, on White Oak Creek about ten miles southwest of Greenupsburg, Greenup, Kentucky. Her marriage to John House only lasted about five years or so. Around 1843, in Liberty, Greenup, Kentucky, (about 10 miles southwest of the county seat) John House got into a drunken argument with a man and threatened to shoot him. The man struck him with a spud (a narrow pointed spade used for weeding) and killed him. A trial was held in Greenup County and the killer was acquitted.
About this time, 1843-1844, Samuel and Sarah Pettit, and many of their extended family, picked up and moved to Adams County, Illinois. Susannah also went to Illinois, and on 15 September 1844, she married a childhood friend from Greenup County, Cornelius C. Culp (2). They were married in Adams County by a Justice of the Peace, Benjamin Gould. Evidently, they settled in Pulaski or Pulaska, Hancock or Adams, Illinois to live and raise a family (3).
From the 1860 Census (4), we learn that Cornelius and Susannah Culp had the following children: Isaac (male, 16), John (male, 14), Hannah (female, 11), Tilman (male, 10), Eliza (female, 8), Loucina(5) (female, 6) and Elizabeth (female, 4), all born in Illinois.
In May 1866, shortly after Cornelius returned from the Civil War, the Culp family moved to Victor Township, Wright County, Minnesota. By May 1880, when Cornelius submitted his first declaration for an Invalid Army Pension, they were living in Smith Lake (Middleville Township), Wright, Minnesota. Cornelius suffered increasingly from what apparently were the effects of sunstroke which had fallen him in July or August 1864, while he was serving guard duty in the Veterans Reserve Corps, just outside of Washington, D.C. He succumbed on April 16, 1892 in Smith Lake.
Susannah survived him by several years and died December 23, 1902 in Smith Lake. Cornelius C. and Susannah Culp were reportedly both buried near Smith Lake, Wright, Minnesota.
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(1) In the pension files there is no direct reference to Susannah Pettit's parents. However, there are several references to her brothers, Cyrus Pettit and William G. Pettit; to her sisters-in-law, Mary E. Pettit, wife of William and Mary Pettit, wife of Cyrus; to her son-in-law, Jonas Pettit, Loucina Culp's husband; and to her nephew Sam Pettit, son of Cyrus.
(2) Cornelius Culp was born probably about 1817 in Greenup County, Kentucky. He was never married before marrying Susannah (Pettit) House and he moved around as a young man. About 1838, he worked in an iron foundry in Greenup County, then he moved to another county in Kentucky. Probably around 1840, he returned to Greenup County and he reportedly "began waiting on" Susannah House. He remained in Greenup County until 1843, when he left Kentucky and probably went to Illinois.
(3) The precise location of Cornelius Culp's residence in Illinois is difficult to determine from the hazy recollections given by various witnesses, some fifty years after the fact. It is virtually certain that it was in northeastern Adams County or southeastern Hancock County, as many of the witnesses claimed to be near neighbors and probably all of them lived in northeastern Adams County. It is very doubtful that Pulaski, Pulaski, Illinois, at the far southern end of the state, is the Pulaski referred to.
(4) Census enumeration for the State of Illinois, Adams County, North East Township, Pitman post office, page 921, dwelling number 2714, family number 2732.
(5) Spelled "Lucina" in the census enumeration, but she clearly spelled her name "Loucina" when she signed official documents, as in the pension files. Susannah is buried in Howard Lake Cemetery, Howard Lake, Minnesota.
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