Possibility

 

Library of Congress. Louisville, KY. 1879.

One of my toughest brick walls has been the identity of my 3rd-great-grandfather on my Mom's side of the tree. I covered him previously back in 2015, after finding a new lead in the Civil War pension file of Pleasant Morgan, husband of Nancy Jane Flatt. The pension file lists Nancy's first spouse as Robert Kain, although I have found nothing to indicate they ever married anywhere near Metcalfe or Barren County, Kentucky. In my prior research, Nancy was pregnant in the Metcalfe County Poor House in January 1878, where she delivered my 2nd-great-grandmother, Mary Alice Cain Read. It isn't clear if her son Harl Cain was also delivered in the Poor House in June 1879.

I've looked through the census entries for the surrounding counties, and there's no Robert Cain/Kain. The closest possibility is a liquor dealer in Louisville, 87 miles to the north of Glasgow, Kentucky. I don't know for certain this Robert is the correct one, but I'm writing this up in the hopes that this might uncover an AncestryDNA connection to the Cain family.

In 1872, Robert Cain had a saloon on the corner of Lafayette and Preston. On the map above (dated 1879), this is within the Fifth Ward, just south of the Ohio River. I found Robert and a brother, James Cain, in the US City Directories for Louisville.

In 1874 and 1875, Nancy Jane was 18 years old, avoiding service of process on her following the death of her father Pleasant Flatt, who died in the Metcalfe County Poor House in late 1873. Maybe she ran away to Louisville but I don't know for certain.

About Robert

Robert Cain was born in Indiana about 1842, just across the Ohio River from Louisville. He was born in either Floyd or Clark County, Indiana. In the 1850 US Census, Robert appears in the household of his widowed mother, Lydia Cain, and his five siblings in Jeffersonville, Clark County, Indiana.

1850 US Census. Clark County, Indiana.

After the Civil War, Robert appears again in the records across the river in Louisville. In 1866, he was a saloon keeper at the Mount Vernon Hotel. He would have been twenty-four then. In 1869, he appears again as a saloon and restaurant operator at the corner of Lafayette and Preston. Robert's younger brother James joined him as a bartender in 1871, where they appear in the City Directory living at 126 Lafayette. By 1873, Robert had expanded into more than one saloon, at 236 Main and 126 Lafayette. James married Sallie Pusey in February 1872, and he continued to assist Robert with the saloon business. They were joined in Louisville by another brother, William H. Cain, who appears in 1873 as a barkeeper for Robert at 126 Lafayette.

Ancestry. US City Directory, 1873.

Ancestry. US City Directory, 1873.

In 1875, Robert had two saloons, one at 115 Lafayette and another at 236 Main. By 1876, Robert appears in the directory as a merchant, at 2 Chestnut. He's in the City Directory in 1877 and 1878, but not 1879.

According to the 1870 US Census, Robert Cain appears as a liquor dealer, age 25, with his brother James, age 27. There's a bit of discrepancy between Robert's age in the 1870 and 1850 US Census records. I haven't found him in the 1860 Census, which would be useful.

1870 US Census, 5th Ward, Louisville, Kentucky.

In 1880, Robert Cain appears as a patient in the the Central Kentucky Lunatic Asylum in Anchorage, Jefferson County, Kentucky. He died on 4 July 1881. An obituary in the Louisville Courier-Journal from 5 July 1881 confirms this Robert is the same one related to James.

Robert's brother James died of consumption on 29 January 1884, leaving behind his widow Sallie and two small children. Younger brother William H. Cain, as administrator of Robert's estate, sued Sallie as administrator of James' estate in May 1884. William alleged Robert had loaned James $3,000 in 1875, probably to open his own saloon, and that Sallie had misappropriated the funds among other holdings she had disposed of.

Louisville Courier-Journal, 28 May 1884.

A jury issued a verdict in favor of Sallie Cain in 1885, finding that the debt between James and Robert had been repaid. The jury awarded her $1,200 on her counterclaim. She later took the funds inherited from the estate and moved to Fresno, California with her children. It would be interesting to get a copy of the case file from the Jefferson County Probate Court to see what details might be there.

Louisville Courier-Journal, 17 June 1885.

About Robert and Nancy

There admittedly isn't much else to connect Nancy Jane Flatt to Robert Cain in Louisville between 1874-1879. Nancy's children went by the last name Cain while living in Barren County.

I am hoping DNA may help connect them, through descendants of Robert's brothers James and William. If any of those descendants have taken an AncestryDNA test, they should appear as a match to either me, my sister, Mom or her sisters. For now I'll park this information here.