Dr. Samuel Austin Wroe was born on board his father's sailing ship as it traveled between Ireland and America. Virtually nothing is known of his mother. His son, Jim Wroe, when an old man himself, wrote that her surname was Mathews and she was from Belfast, Northern Ireland. That's the only clue we have about her.
There are no confirmed records of Samuel Austin Wroe until 1837, but it is assumed he was living in the Washington, DC area with his father's family, most likely his grandfather, Absalom Wroe, as a boy about Samuel's age appears on the census with Absalom in 1820. It is also likely he received his medical education either in Washington or in the Baltimore area.
Samuel's first documented appearance was in Kingwood, Preston County, VA (now WV) in April, 1837. He was working there as a physician and already married to Orpha Ann McCann. Family records show they married January 1, 1835, but the actual date may have been January 1, 1837.
About this time Samuel was becoming involved with the abolition movement in the Methodist Church. It is possible his anti-slavery views were galvanized by an incident in the early 1830s in Washington, DC, which involved his first cousin, Maria W. D. Orme, and a slave named Dorcus who was, by Methodist rules, supposed to have been freed but Maria decided to sell her instead and, in desperation, Dorcus murdered two of her children rather than be separated from them. Dorcus' trial, overseen by then attorney general Francis Scott Key, drew great public attention, including that of presidential hopeful John Quincy Adams who recorded the trial at length in his memoirs. Whatever the source, Samuel broke away from his family in Washington DC at this point and did not see them again until 1860.
In 1840 he was working as a physician in German, Fayette, PA with another known abolitionist, Dr. George Neff. Samuel then moved out to Greene County the following year and remained there on the Pennsylvania/Virgina (latterly West Virginia) state line through the Civil War.
When the war came, Samuel took his family to Washington, DC to see his dying father in 1860. He then returned to Greene County, PA in 1861 and joined the Civil War as a contract surgeon, working in a camp hospital. His three eldest sons enlisted in the 6th West Virginia Vol. Infantry. His eldest daughter, Rebecca, then aged 19, joined him in the hospital, working as his nurse.
Family lore says that when the war was over, the family moved west with a wagon train of freed slaves to Illyria, Fayette County, Iowa, a "free, colored area" where the Reverend David Watrous helped African and native Americans gain their own land. This has not been verified. However, Samuel and his family did settle in the free, colored area of Fayette County, IA where, for the rest of his life, he provided medical care to the residents.
Son of Capt. Samuel Wroe 1782-1861 of Washington, DC and unknown Mathews. Born on father's sailing ship while at sea.
Husband of Orpha Ann McCann 1818-1906
Father of:
George Neff Wroe 1839 – 1916
John Wesley Wroe 1841 – 1907
Rebecca Jane Wroe Kuhens/Kuhnes 1843 – 1944
William Jerome Wroe 1846 – 1934
Isabella Elizabeth Wroe
Joseph Ellsworth Wroe 1851 – 1905
Charles Alexander Wroe
Flora Hegia Wroe
James Leroy Wroe 1859 – 1937
There are no confirmed records of Samuel Austin Wroe until 1837, but it is assumed he was living in the Washington, DC area with his father's family, most likely his grandfather, Absalom Wroe, as a boy about Samuel's age appears on the census with Absalom in 1820. It is also likely he received his medical education either in Washington or in the Baltimore area.
Samuel's first documented appearance was in Kingwood, Preston County, VA (now WV) in April, 1837. He was working there as a physician and already married to Orpha Ann McCann. Family records show they married January 1, 1835, but the actual date may have been January 1, 1837.
About this time Samuel was becoming involved with the abolition movement in the Methodist Church. It is possible his anti-slavery views were galvanized by an incident in the early 1830s in Washington, DC, which involved his first cousin, Maria W. D. Orme, and a slave named Dorcus who was, by Methodist rules, supposed to have been freed but Maria decided to sell her instead and, in desperation, Dorcus murdered two of her children rather than be separated from them. Dorcus' trial, overseen by then attorney general Francis Scott Key, drew great public attention, including that of presidential hopeful John Quincy Adams who recorded the trial at length in his memoirs. Whatever the source, Samuel broke away from his family in Washington DC at this point and did not see them again until 1860.
In 1840 he was working as a physician in German, Fayette, PA with another known abolitionist, Dr. George Neff. Samuel then moved out to Greene County the following year and remained there on the Pennsylvania/Virgina (latterly West Virginia) state line through the Civil War.
When the war came, Samuel took his family to Washington, DC to see his dying father in 1860. He then returned to Greene County, PA in 1861 and joined the Civil War as a contract surgeon, working in a camp hospital. His three eldest sons enlisted in the 6th West Virginia Vol. Infantry. His eldest daughter, Rebecca, then aged 19, joined him in the hospital, working as his nurse.
Family lore says that when the war was over, the family moved west with a wagon train of freed slaves to Illyria, Fayette County, Iowa, a "free, colored area" where the Reverend David Watrous helped African and native Americans gain their own land. This has not been verified. However, Samuel and his family did settle in the free, colored area of Fayette County, IA where, for the rest of his life, he provided medical care to the residents.
Son of Capt. Samuel Wroe 1782-1861 of Washington, DC and unknown Mathews. Born on father's sailing ship while at sea.
Husband of Orpha Ann McCann 1818-1906
Father of:
George Neff Wroe 1839 – 1916
John Wesley Wroe 1841 – 1907
Rebecca Jane Wroe Kuhens/Kuhnes 1843 – 1944
William Jerome Wroe 1846 – 1934
Isabella Elizabeth Wroe
Joseph Ellsworth Wroe 1851 – 1905
Charles Alexander Wroe
Flora Hegia Wroe
James Leroy Wroe 1859 – 1937
Dr. Samuel Austin Wroe was born on board his father's sailing ship as it traveled between Ireland and America. Virtually nothing is known of his mother. His son, Jim Wroe, when an old man himself, wrote that her surname was Mathews and she was from Belfast, Northern Ireland. That's the only clue we have about her.
There are no confirmed records of Samuel Austin Wroe until 1837, but it is assumed he was living in the Washington, DC area with his father's family, most likely his grandfather, Absalom Wroe, as a boy about Samuel's age appears on the census with Absalom in 1820. It is also likely he received his medical education either in Washington or in the Baltimore area.
Samuel's first documented appearance was in Kingwood, Preston County, VA (now WV) in April, 1837. He was working there as a physician and already married to Orpha Ann McCann. Family records show they married January 1, 1835, but the actual date may have been January 1, 1837.
About this time Samuel was becoming involved with the abolition movement in the Methodist Church. It is possible his anti-slavery views were galvanized by an incident in the early 1830s in Washington, DC, which involved his first cousin, Maria W. D. Orme, and a slave named Dorcus who was, by Methodist rules, supposed to have been freed but Maria decided to sell her instead and, in desperation, Dorcus murdered two of her children rather than be separated from them. Dorcus' trial, overseen by then attorney general Francis Scott Key, drew great public attention, including that of presidential hopeful John Quincy Adams who recorded the trial at length in his memoirs. Whatever the source, Samuel broke away from his family in Washington DC at this point and did not see them again until 1860.
In 1840 he was working as a physician in German, Fayette, PA with another known abolitionist, Dr. George Neff. Samuel then moved out to Greene County the following year and remained there on the Pennsylvania/Virgina (latterly West Virginia) state line through the Civil War.
When the war came, Samuel took his family to Washington, DC to see his dying father in 1860. He then returned to Greene County, PA in 1861 and joined the Civil War as a contract surgeon, working in a camp hospital. His three eldest sons enlisted in the 6th West Virginia Vol. Infantry. His eldest daughter, Rebecca, then aged 19, joined him in the hospital, working as his nurse.
Family lore says that when the war was over, the family moved west with a wagon train of freed slaves to Illyria, Fayette County, Iowa, a "free, colored area" where the Reverend David Watrous helped African and native Americans gain their own land. This has not been verified. However, Samuel and his family did settle in the free, colored area of Fayette County, IA where, for the rest of his life, he provided medical care to the residents.
Son of Capt. Samuel Wroe 1782-1861 of Washington, DC and unknown Mathews. Born on father's sailing ship while at sea.
Husband of Orpha Ann McCann 1818-1906
Father of:
George Neff Wroe 1839 – 1916
John Wesley Wroe 1841 – 1907
Rebecca Jane Wroe Kuhens/Kuhnes 1843 – 1944
William Jerome Wroe 1846 – 1934
Isabella Elizabeth Wroe
Joseph Ellsworth Wroe 1851 – 1905
Charles Alexander Wroe
Flora Hegia Wroe
James Leroy Wroe 1859 – 1937
There are no confirmed records of Samuel Austin Wroe until 1837, but it is assumed he was living in the Washington, DC area with his father's family, most likely his grandfather, Absalom Wroe, as a boy about Samuel's age appears on the census with Absalom in 1820. It is also likely he received his medical education either in Washington or in the Baltimore area.
Samuel's first documented appearance was in Kingwood, Preston County, VA (now WV) in April, 1837. He was working there as a physician and already married to Orpha Ann McCann. Family records show they married January 1, 1835, but the actual date may have been January 1, 1837.
About this time Samuel was becoming involved with the abolition movement in the Methodist Church. It is possible his anti-slavery views were galvanized by an incident in the early 1830s in Washington, DC, which involved his first cousin, Maria W. D. Orme, and a slave named Dorcus who was, by Methodist rules, supposed to have been freed but Maria decided to sell her instead and, in desperation, Dorcus murdered two of her children rather than be separated from them. Dorcus' trial, overseen by then attorney general Francis Scott Key, drew great public attention, including that of presidential hopeful John Quincy Adams who recorded the trial at length in his memoirs. Whatever the source, Samuel broke away from his family in Washington DC at this point and did not see them again until 1860.
In 1840 he was working as a physician in German, Fayette, PA with another known abolitionist, Dr. George Neff. Samuel then moved out to Greene County the following year and remained there on the Pennsylvania/Virgina (latterly West Virginia) state line through the Civil War.
When the war came, Samuel took his family to Washington, DC to see his dying father in 1860. He then returned to Greene County, PA in 1861 and joined the Civil War as a contract surgeon, working in a camp hospital. His three eldest sons enlisted in the 6th West Virginia Vol. Infantry. His eldest daughter, Rebecca, then aged 19, joined him in the hospital, working as his nurse.
Family lore says that when the war was over, the family moved west with a wagon train of freed slaves to Illyria, Fayette County, Iowa, a "free, colored area" where the Reverend David Watrous helped African and native Americans gain their own land. This has not been verified. However, Samuel and his family did settle in the free, colored area of Fayette County, IA where, for the rest of his life, he provided medical care to the residents.
Son of Capt. Samuel Wroe 1782-1861 of Washington, DC and unknown Mathews. Born on father's sailing ship while at sea.
Husband of Orpha Ann McCann 1818-1906
Father of:
George Neff Wroe 1839 – 1916
John Wesley Wroe 1841 – 1907
Rebecca Jane Wroe Kuhens/Kuhnes 1843 – 1944
William Jerome Wroe 1846 – 1934
Isabella Elizabeth Wroe
Joseph Ellsworth Wroe 1851 – 1905
Charles Alexander Wroe
Flora Hegia Wroe
James Leroy Wroe 1859 – 1937
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