1800. James Carlin is a neighbor of James Cretin but his only son is age 10-15. William Santee is about 26 and is either not here or there is a typo. James had many sons, so there is no reason to believe it is William.

1810-1820. James continues to live in Harford County and he appears to have a married child and their children living in his household. I cannot find William Carlin in 1810 but since James disses William in his will, I doubt he was living with James.

As to James' adopted son William, a codicil says: "In consequence of William Carlin being disposed to waste my estate and rendering it less useful for his children, and frequently treating me personally in a very unbecoming manner, I will to him, said William Carlin, the sum of twenty dollars and no more."

I’ve included James Carlin and his wife Elizabeth Clendennan here as if they were our ancestors, but they were not. They were only the adoptive parents of the man who came to be called William Carlin.

However, interestingly, William was not in favor when James Carlin died, though his family still was. James’ will treated his daughter-in-law Elizabeth (Sparks) Carlin very well and mentioned her sons including William. But as to his adopted son William, James made several disparaging comments about his character and gave him $20 and no more.

This seemed a strange turn of events, to adopt someone, and then virtually disinherit them, and was one of the discordant notes that made we wonder if the adoption story were true. But it turned out it was indeed true.

The first firm proof of the adoption event that I found was in the pamphlet written by Rev Andrew Cross about Bethel Presbyterian Church in 1886. (This pamphlet was also important to my research into both the Creighton and McClung families.) The key thing Cross recounted is that in December 1769, when the first permanent minister was called, 91 subscribers pledged certain amounts to cover his annual salary. One of those subscribers was James Carlin. Andrew Cross wrote a little profile, as best he could, of each of these 91 pioneers. About James Carlin, he said:

• James Carlin came from Delaware, had no children, adopted Wm Senter as Wm Carlin died 1827 aged 99 years, buried at Bethel. Wife sister of J Clendinen. Large family of Carlins, most of them in the west.

And Rev Cross added [with a few explanatory notes of my own]:

• [Near Bethel] there were only one or two forts for the settlers as a retreat for defense when attacked by the Indians. The grandfather of the Carlins [meaning James] said that in one of the last conflicts with the Indians twelve or fourteen of the settlers were killed. The attachment of the Carlins and others to Bethel church is not [sic?] wonderful. I can well understand the feelings of Isaiah [Josiah] Carlin, a regular attendant and attentive hearer during all of my ministry there (nearly always walking to church), when I heard of him meeting someone and telling of selling his farm to go west, he said “I m sorry I sold -- I will see old Bethel no more.” He has since died in the west.

And this:

• Old James Carlin had to cut his way through the forest to the place on which he lived. In hauling tobacco, two men with axes preceded those hauling the hogsheads to clear the road.

I have found ancestral information on both James Carlin and Elizabeth Clendennan and documentation of their marriage but it is not included here, since they were NOT our direct ancestors (not blood).