I was studying this census entry for Susan (Hatfield) Auville because I wondered who that Susan Kyser is - I found out and I will write in another post - but then I stumbled on a mystery - who was this Methias Auville?? Obviously he must be a grandson of Susan, but who were his parents and why is he living with her and what became of him?? So I entered his name in a search and nothing came up for a match to any Auville parents and he seems to just drop off the map. But there was ONE curious search result - In 1860 there is a young boy, Matth Oval, born in Virginia in about 1844, an inmate of the House of Refuge (jail or reformatory) in Pennsylvania for larceny!
Because I think that 90% of all Ovals and Anvils are really mis-spelled Auvils I think he may be our Methias Auville.
One clue I have searching the House of Refuge is that I found a message board post for the Edward Owen that is next in the census list after Matth. His descendant says that he was a soldier in the Civil War just the next year. Could our Methias be a soldier - under any odd spelling? We have to find out if there are any Ovals or Anvils in the Civil War. The post says that Edward enlisted in the 61st Pennsylvania Volunteers. Are there any Auvils studying the Civil War right now?
I came across this because my Henry Valentine lives a couple of doors down. His wife's maiden name is Toothman and I believe Henry's mother's name is Susan.
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