Finding George in the 1860 US Federal Census

Using George Solifelt's Military Service records(aliases included) I made a timeline of his military service and locations. (See Image below) I did this because it makes it easier to see the big picture and to get a better idea of where he might be around the time of the 1860 Census.   In addition to the information that he enrolled in St. Thomas(Franklin Co.) PA, information in his pension file in a statement from John P Wyant is also helpful.  Wyant says that he has known George since 1850 and that George's father(Ferdinand Solifelt) was in the Mexican-American War with Capt. Charles T Campbell.  After the elder Solifelt's death,  Capt. Campbell adopted George. George was led to believe his name was Sullivan and used that surname up until learning from his Mom his true surname of Solifelt.  

Armed with this information I went searching for a George Sullivan in 1860 Franklin Co PA in the St. Thomas area expanding the area of search outside of St. Thomas as needed.  I first searched for Capt Charles T. Campbell and found him enumerated in St. Thomas but George nor any of his aliases was listed in the household with Capt. Campbell. At this point, George would be around 16 years of age so that is likely not all that uncommon.  I tried searching for people with the given name of George and looking in the results for a surname somewhat close to Sullivan or Solifelt.  Nothing that fit so I did a search for persons with the given name of Theodore and found a Theodore Sallifat age 16.  This is likely George given the information known.  He is living with the Charles and Jane Gillian family as a farm hand and the listing is just 14 entries away from that of Capt. Campbell.

This makes me question what Wyant said about George's surname. However, if you pronounce the two surnames, Sullivan and Solifelt they really aren't that different sounding especially if accents come into play.

I haven't found him in the 1870 census yet but I did find the woman who I believe was his 1st wife with a school age male in her household--both bearing a creative spelling of George's surname.  George should be in the same area and may well be in jail as he had a hearing and was sentenced to a year and 6 months in Eastern State Penitentiary for highway robbery in 1870.  I have a copy of  some of the court documents that were at FamilySearch. .Ancestry has the Eastern State Penitentiary Convict Reception Registers.  The Eastern State inmate registry lists this as his first conviction and under marital status lists him as married with one child.  As complicated as George's story is, that of the first wife and her life is even more complicated and needs a good bit more research.  Her story is one for another day.

When I find his remaining census entries I'll post about them and how they were found. I've also been reading what I can find about Eastern State Penitentiary and Captain Charles Thomas Campbell.

Sources:

George Solifelt(Pvt., Co. E, 20th PA Cav., Civil War), pension application no. 580,089,

certificate no. 950,395, Case Files of Approved Pension Applications, 1861-1934; Civil

War and Later Pension Files; Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National

Archives, Washington, D.C. [John P Wyant's statement to Hon. H Clay Evans Com. of Pensions is dated 15 Sep 1897 p 123 &124 in the PDF scans of the 359 page document  Wyant mentions that he has known George since 1850 and lived in the same neighborhood near Capt Campbell and is currently living in Ft Smith Arkansas.]

"United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MX5D-VFT : accessed 22 Dec 2022), St. Thomas Twp., Franklin Co., Pennsylvania, p. 57 family #407  line 1, Theodore Sallifat in entry for Chas Gillan, 1860. [Theodore is listed as a Farm Hand.  The Gillian family's entry begins at the bottom of p 56]
 

"United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MX5D-V6V : accessed 22 Dec 2022), St. Thomas Twp., Franklin Co., Pennsylvania, p. 55 family #393  line 13, C T Campbell, 1860.

Compiled service record, George H. Solifelt, Pvt, Co. C 1 PA Prov'l Cavalry; Carded Records, Volunteer Organizations, Civil War; Record Group 94; Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1780s-1917, National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Compiled service record, George H. Solifelt, Pvt, Co. E 20 PA Cavalry; Carded Records, Volunteer Organizations, Civil War; Record Group 94; Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1780s-1917, National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Compiled service record, George Sullivan, Pvt, Co. C 2 PA Infantry; Carded Records, Volunteer Organizations, Civil War; Record Group 94; Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1780s-1917, National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Compiled service record, Theodore Sullivan, Pvt, Co. N 126 PA Infantry; Carded Records, Volunteer Organizations, Civil War; Record Group 94; Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1780s-1917, National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Compiled service record, George Sullivan, Bookmark 1387-C-1885, Box No. 3190; Carded Records, Volunteer Organizations, Civil War; Record Group 94; Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1780s-1917, National Archives, Washington, D.C.

"Pennsylvania, U.S., Prison, Reformatory, and Workhouse Records, 1829-1971" database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61173/ : accessed 22 Dec 2022) Eastern State Penitentiary > Convict Reception Registers > 1842 - 1929 > Image 918 of 4522, prisoner #6718, George Solifelt.