In 1920 we find Ezra L. Cadwallader in Greensfork, Randolph, Indiana, with Thomas B. and Gladys Cadwallader, as well as a brother Melvin H. and sister, Dorothy C., and Robert and Walter M. Derrickson, that are reported as uncles of the head of household Thomas B.
One of the first things I notice is that we're lucky to have some related men in the household that can help us construct the maiden names of women in the family, and also I note that it looks like they are not brothers, since their parents were born in different places.
As a starting point, I feel pretty confident that this is our Ezra. The middle initial is right on, the location in Indiana is good, he is the only Ezra or Lewis that is of the right age and place. I will continue on this path and determine if this is indeed our Ezra. A quick 1930s search isn't finding him, but I do find the Thomas and Gladys household on Potts Road, still in Greensfork, Randolph, Indiana.
They were also in Randolph County, Indiana in 1910 on South Harrison in Washington Twp.
At the family search.org site, I am able to find a marriage record for Thomas B. and Gladys in Randolph County, Indiana.
This is the record for an actual extracted marriage record and if you go to any Family History Library, you can order the microfilm and make a copy of the certificate.
Gladia is found with her father, John Derrickson, in 1900 in Greensfork, but he has only been married to his wife for ten years, so Gladia's mother may well have died at her birth or shortly thereafter. Or the ten years could be a mistake because Marry does say that she has one child, still living...although he/she could be out of the house since she is 36. I have not found a marriage record or maiden name for her yet. A quick glance at other census information indicates that John may have been married multiple times, and with extended members of the family living in the same households, the Derrickson family will need more extensive research time to deconstruct. This is another family genealogy that could really use that 1890 census!!
With the marriage certificate information, I will look for Jennie Cadwallader and see if I can find out what H.C.'s entire name is.
We also now know that the Derrickson's listed in the census in 1920 are uncles of Gladys, not Thomas. This is a very common occurrence in census records. If the wife gave the information, relationships are often listed in relation to her and not the head of household as they were supposed to be.
At first search, I don't find the family, but when I look for Thomas, born in Indiana in 1885, I find the family in Greensfork in 1900.
1930 US Federal Census Greensfork, Randolph, Indiana, ED 68-4, sheets 6A-B
Harvey Cadwallader, head, age 33, born about 1897 in Indiana, farmer
May Cadwallader, wife, age 29, born about 1901 in Indiana, age 19 at first marriage
Evelyne Cadwallader, age 2, born about 1927 in Indiana
Clark Cadwallader, father, age 79, born about 1851 in Indiana, age 30 at first marriage
Nancy E. Cadwallader, mother, age 66, born about 1864 in Indiana, age 15 at first marriage
So now we have Thomas' parents' names as Henry C. Cadwalader and Nancy Jennie Brown married in 1882 and living in Randolph County, Indiana. Consulting the Indiana Marriage Collection, we find that Henry Clarkson Cadwallader married Nancy Jane Brown 15 Jun 1882 in Randolph, Indiana by Min. J. B. Barnes. Of course, the 1890 census was lost, so we are unable to see the family in their early years, but maybe we can find Henry and Nancy with their birth families.
Henry C. is easy to find in 1870 in Greensfork, Randolph, Indiana, and we find that indeed, Ezra the younger is the namesake of his grandfather Ezra.
The family was a little harder to find in 1880, Ezra is gone, Henry is listed by a diminutive of his middle name, Clarkson, and Mariam is listed as Ella, also probably her middle name which began with an E. in the earlier census.
I wasn't sure if this was the correct family at first, but they are at the same location with the same neighbors and the middle names are matching the initials previously used. And it surely is not hard to find Henry Clarkson's future wife...she lived only households away.
The family was in Greensfork in 1870 as well.
In the 1880s, many county biographical histories were published throughout the country, and they are full of clues but they are also replete with a multitude of errors and omissions. The History of Randolph County, Indiana's biography for Marcellus N. Brown follows.
MARCELLUS N. BROWN, farmer P.O. Lynn: born in Preble County, Ohio, February 28, 1838; he is the son of Thomas M. and Nancy J. (Brandon) Brown, the former born in Pennsylvania, and the latter in Darke County, Ohio, March 12, 1820. Mr. Brown was educated at Spartansburg; he was married August 1860 to Celestina Ruby, who was born in Darke County, Ohio, November 1, 1840. She is the daughter of Samuel F. and Jane (Mculty) Ruby, the former born April 27, 1812, and the latter February 17, 1818. Mr. and Mrs. Brown have been blessed with three children viz, Samuel R., born October 14, 1861; Nancy J., March 6, 1864, and Willie S., October, 1869. Mr. Brown became a resident of this county in 1849; he owns a farm of 100 acres in Section 25, on which he has bee residing since 1875. He is a thorough gentleman, and he and his worthy lady are respected by all who know them. (p. 370)
The marriage record index for Ezra and Rebecca Hill indicates that they were married 16 Aug 1843 in Randolph County. This marriage should be found on FHL US/CAN Film 1654838 and can be ordered through any Family History Center in your area.
The Randolph history indicates that William Hill and Mary Hockett are Rebecca Hill's parents.
William Hill was born in North Carolina in 1785; married Mary Hockett in 1807. (She was born in 1784, and came to Ohio in 1807.) They came to Wayne County, Ind., (near Richmond), in 1810; moved to Highland County, Ohio in 1811 ( probably on account of the Indians); returned to Wayne County, Ind., in 1816; came to Randolph County in 1823; bought sixty acres of land at second hand; had nine children, all living to become grown and to be married, and five still survive.
The children were Ruth, Aaron, Hiram, Martha, Sarah, Rebecca, Miriam, and Henry W., all born between 1808 and 1828.
William Hill died in 1840, aged fifty-five years; his wife died in 1865, aged eighty-one years.
W. H. was a sterling pioneer, active, discreet, zealous for the right, and he trained up his large family in the way in which they ought to go, and his descendants are to-day an active, estimable, worthy group of men and women. Many odd and quaint things are told of William Hill and of his boys, most of which are probably not true, and which, were they even true, will hardly pay to write down.
He was a farmer, a blacksmith, a plasterer, a brick-mason and what else we do not know. In religion, he was a Friend, in politics a Whig; and altogether an intelligent, reliable, citizen and worthy.
Since we have a nice, long, stable history of the family residing in Greensfork, Randolph County, Indiana, I think it is time to consult some of the local genealogical resources for mentions of the family names and some history about the area in which they lived,and look for more birth, death, and marriage records, as well as wills that will serve to substantiate the proposed family relationships.
In summary, the family, so far, looks to be thus:
Ezra Lewis Cadwallader, b. 1907 in Indiana
son of Thomas Martin Cadwallader, b.1885 in Indiana and Gladia Derrickson, b.1889 in Indiana
Gladia was the daughter of John Derrickson and unknown
Thomas Martin Cadwallader (1885) was the son of Henry Clarkson Cadwallader ,b.1852 in Indiana and Nancy Jane aka Jennie Brown, b.1864 in Indiana
Nancy Jennie Brown (1864) was the daughter of N. Marcelus Brown b.1841 in Ohio and Celestia b.1843 in Ohio
Henry Clarkson Cadwallader (1852) was the son of Ezra Cadwallader (1819-Ohio) and Rebecca Hill (1822-Ohio).
Rebecca Hill (1822) was the daughter of William Hill b. 1785 in North Carolina and Mary Hockett b. 1784.
Ezra Cadwallader (1819) was the son of Thomas Cadwallader b. 1795 in Virginia and Vashti b. 1797 in South Carolina.
The History of Randolph County indicates that Thomas Sr. Cadwallader (given as the father of Ezra, and buried at Arba Cemetery), husband of Vashti, was a Quaker, but that his son Ezra and his wife, Rebecca Hill, were early members of the United Brethren Bethel Church, as were other members of the Hill family. They are all buried at Arba Cemetery (I haven't found Rebecca, Ezra's widow, and do not know if she remarried or moved away), a cemetery began by the Quaker congregation. The history also indicates that the Cadwallader family of Greensfork arrived there in 1830 or1833. There is one mention of an Ira Cadwallader arriving to Greensfork in the same year as Abner and Thomas and in the listing of the oldest living settlers in 1882, there is mention of Amos Cadwallader. There are some indications that the family hails from Warren County, Ohio and before that, Virginia. Also note that Randolph County borders Darke County, Ohio.
From the Randolph County History:
Thomas Cadwallader was born in 1795, and came to Greensfork Township, Randolph Co., Ind., about 1830, in company with his brother Abner, settling in the woods. Abner died many years ago, but Thomas lived on, a steady, quiet, humble, thankful life, for fifty-two years, upon his little farm where first he pitched his tent under the "shadow of the beeches." He was all his life a member of the Society of Friends belonging at Arba. He departed this life at his residence, near Arba, Sunday, April 23, 1882, in his eighty-seventh year. The funeral services were held at the Arba Friends' Meeting-House on Tuesday following his death, being attended by a large concourse of neighbors, relatives, and friends. They were in the simple and impressive style common among the Quakers. His aged companion still survives him, being herself eighty-five years old. They had been married nearly or quite sixty-five years. He was born during the second term of Washington's administration, and was old enough to vote for James Monroe at his first election. His birth occurred the same year with Wayne's treaty with the Indians at Fort Greenville, Ohio, 1795, so that his life measures the whole interval since the power of the savage tribes over the great Western valley was broken by the master hand of Gen. Anthony Wayne. The change that has come over the world since Friend Thomas lay a babe in his cradle--how wondrous great!From the biography of Nathan Cadwallader we get some additional family information:
Mr. Cadwallader lived all that long earthly life in the fear and love of God, and his happy spirit rests, doubtless, in the heavenly mansions.His brother Abner, father of Hon. Nathan Cadwallader, came as stated above, with his brother Thomas, but did not very long survive, dying in middle life. Some account of his family may be found along with the biography of Hon. N. Cadwallader already mentioned.
Nathan Cadwallader, banker, was born in Warren County, Ohio, in 1826. His father moved to Greensfork, Randolph Co., Ind., in 1833. He was an active, thriving man, but he died in 1840. Nathan was the only boy, and but fourteen years old. By the "turn of times" and the worthlessness of "sale notes" the family became somewhat poor. Nathan's boyish management was none of the best. They had one old bay mare, and no way to get any more or to get much else. He "gouged along" after a "fashion," borrowed a horse sometimes, etc. He did most of the work that was done, though his sisters helped what they could in loading, cleaning grain, etc. They cleaned grain by "flapping" it on a sheet, and had to haul everything on a sled. A wagon was a luxury not to be thought of. Two brothers, Thomas and Abner (his father) came together, and settled west of Arba. Uncle Thomas is living yet, eighty-five years old, and his wife is over eighty. (He died a few months ago.)A. C. married Mary Thomas in about the year 1825. She died in 1868. They had five children-Nathan, Vashti (Williams), Janet Gray Heitzman (widow), Sarepta (Chenoweth), Rachel (Bowen)-all living.
On the 1840 Greenfork, Randolph, Indiana census we find:

