Many of the uncertainties and issues about the McCarl family relate to this Joshua McCarl. Therefore I have included information about many others in the family in this biographical sketch of Joshua:

SUMMARY:
Joshua was born in about 1830-1832 (different census reports suggest different birth years) in Pennsylvania. He was the father of James Monroe (Roe) McCarl, who was born in 1852. (Roe is the grandfather of my brother-in-law Clifford McCarl.)

In the notes that follow I will show that Joshua's parents were Samuel D. McCarl and Mahala Huffman. His first wife, and the mother of Roe, was "Eliza", but it remains unclear whether her full name was Mary Elizabeth McGinnes, or Eliza Huffman. Joshua was married a second time, and had more children.

I will take the following events related to Joshua's life in chronological order, and discuss the significance of each. At the end I will also summarize what I know about the families of his siblings, for background information.

DEATH OF HIS FATHER:
See notes with his father. It is clear from the estate papers discussed there, that his father died in 1839 in Greene County, PA, leaving his mother Mahala a widow.

1840 CENSUS, PA, GREENE CO, WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP:
The census taker thought her name was "Mahala M Carle", and since females are almost never listed as head of household unless they are widows, this is almost certainly the right "Widow McCarl". No family members are named in any census before 1850, so we have to make sense of it just by the head count.

She is listed as age 20-30, which would be right for her presumed 1814 birth. She is listed as having 3 sons under age 5 (that would be Freeman, George and Peter). She is shown with a daughter age 5-10 (I believe that would be Julia Ann, whom I can't find in the 1850 census, but who is listed with Mahala in the 1860 census.).

Two sons, Joshua and Samuel, are missing from this count. Samuel should have been in the 5-10 range. Joshua, if born in 1832, should have been in the age 5-10 age range; if born in 1830 he could have been in the 10-15 age range. However I'm not too concerned. Mahala would have had a tough time as a widow dealing just with the babies of her family. The older boys, Joshua and Freeman, could well be out of the way and more useful if they simply lived with grandparents, or one of their uncles? And Mahala is surrounded by "Huffman" families, including several brothers.

1850 CENSUS, PENNSYLVANIA, GREENE COUNTY:
Joshua is married now. He is listed as "Joshua McCarrol" age 20, living with his wife Eliza, in Washington Township. His brother "Samuel McCarrol", age 16, is living in the same township with George Huffman. And brother "Freman McCarrel", age 14, is working for the family of Daniel Boner in Franklin Township.

"Mahale McCarrol", age 36, is still head of household in Washington Township. At home are George (13), Peter (11), and Thomas (4). (Note that Widow Mahala's husband died 11 years earlier, and Thomas is only age 4, suggesting that Mahala has had an affair?)

Except for Freeman, all the above live VERY close together. In order of families visited, the census taker counted them as families #89, #91, and #93. And he misspelled all their names the same way.

1860 CENSUS, GREENE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA:
Trying to figure out the reporting in this census drove me up the wall, but I finally figured out what had happened:

Now, when the census taker came around, Joshua probably said his name was "Jos", or "Josh", but the census taker wrote him down as "Joseph McCarl". But with the other names, there is no room for doubt. He is in Morris Township, is recorded as age 29, a farmer, with $1800 worth of real estate and $500 worth of personal estate. His wife is Eliza (29), and the children are James (8), Samuel (6), Wm. M (4), and Julia Anne (2).

And right next door is his brother Samuel (26), with his wife Elizabeth (22). Samuel's children are Lucinda J (2) and Eliza K (7 months). Interestingly, Samuel has no real estate. One wonders if they were actually farming the same land together, and perhaps it was technically owned by Joshua?

Brother George is nearby in Springfield Township. He is 23, and his wife Rebecca J is 21. Their children are Martha J (3) and Jacob (1).

Now comes the PROBLEM: Mother Mahala is still in Washington Township, but you need to understand that there was a mistake made when the census taker came around. Maybe Mahala misunderstood the questions, or maybe her sons Joshua, Samuel and George actually just happened to be visiting her when the census man came by on 24 Aug 1860. In any event, Mahala didn't just report the kids she had living with her at the time, she reported ALL of her children. So, Joshua, Samuel and George (and maybe others?) got DOUBLE COUNTED.

She is recorded as "Malinda McCaul", age 46. At home (oops!) are Joshua (28), Julia A (24), Samuel (23), George (21), Freeman (22), Peter (19), and Thomas D (13). Also in the house are Freeman's wife Elizabeth (21), and their children Samuel (2) and Mary F (6 months).

THE MOVE WEST:
In about 1865 or 1866, many of these families started packing up and moving west. The families of Joshua, George, Freeman and Thomas all moved. (Mahala possibly moved at the same time, but I can't actually find her in an Iowa census until 1880. Census info on the birth of George's children suggests he may have come later, perhaps in 1869-70)

Thomas and his family settled briefly in Hancock County, Illinois, and then moved on to Adams County, Iowa. George and his family settled in Benton County, Iowa, spent some time in Jasper County, and then after his death his widow is again found back in Benton County. Joshua and Freeman both initially took their families to Clinton County, Iowa. By 1880 Joshua had moved his family on to Clarke County. Freeman and his family remained in Clinton County, where mother Mahala is found living with them in 1880 and 1885.

THE 1870 CENSUS, WASHINGTON TWP., CLINTON COUNTY, IOWA
Joshua McCarl, age 38, is found with his wife Eliza (38). Joshua is a farmer, with $6000 worth of real estate and $1000 other property. At home are James M (16), Samuel (14), William (11), Elizabeth (8), Isabella (6), George (4), and Huffman (1). Only the two youngest children were born in Iowa, everybody else is from Pennsylvania.

A NEW WIFE FOR JOSHUA:
There are multiple theories as to who was "Eliza", the first wife of Joshua, and when she died. I will defer discussion until later, after more evidence is introduced.

In any event, by no later than about 1874, Joshua had moved to Decatur County and had remarried. His new wife is reported as "Theraby Fairy Agnes Barr", born about 1855 in Pennsylvania. (My impression is that "Theraby" meant "Fairy", which was used as her nickname?)

They had 2 children born in Decatur County, then 1 in Clarke County, then 2 or 3 more born in Decatur County.

1880 CENSUS, IOWA, CLARKE CO., KNOX TWP.
Joshua McCarl age 45 found with wife “Theraby”. At home are children George 13, Zula 6, Agnes 4, Thomas 1. (Curiously, Joshua says his father was born in Scotland?)

1885 CENSUS, IOWA, DECATUR, LONG CREEK:
Joshua, age 52, is found with second wife (unreadable, indexed as “Pheroby” age 27). Children are Lulu 10, Agnes 8, Thomas 6.

1895 CENSUS, IOWA, DECATUR, LONG CREEK:
McCarl, Joshua age 62, born PA, Fairy age 37, born PA, Zula age 20, born Decatur Co., IA, Agrass age 17, born Decatur Co., IA, Thomas age 14, born Clarke Co., IA, Loyola age 9, born Decatur Co., IA, Rhubon (Reuben?) age 6, born Decatur Co., IA

1900 CENSUS, KANSAS, CHASE COUNTY, COTTONWOOD TWP:
Joshua is thought by other researchers to have died in Kansas in about 1900. That is plausible, since we find his family, without him, in the census taken 15 June 1900. Listed are: Phero McCaul age 49, Thomas P McCaul age 20, Loysba McCaul age 15, Ruben McCaul age 12 and Walton E McCaul age 6. (NOTE: I read the last child's name as "Walter", born in Iowa, and he is a NEPHEW, not a son! Also "Phero" has had 6 children, 4 still living.)

CEMETERY INSCRIPTION, CHASE COUNTY, KS, HOMESTEAD CEMETERY:
There is a cemetery inscription (recorded by a Chase County genealogy group) that seems to be an excellent fit. It reads "McCarl, J.D., died March 14, 1899, age 63 years". This almost has to be the right person. His real age was probably 67-69, but the all the prior census reports suggest he was pretty casual about reporting a consistent age – I'm pretty sure he didn't really know his birth date. I would definitely believe the death date.

JOSHUA'S WIFE: ELIZA HUFFMAN? PER THE 1925 IOWA CENSUS?
We're not quite finished with census information about Joshua. Even though he had been dead for 26 years, he made it into the 1925 Iowa Census:

I only recently became aware that there was a 1925 Iowa Census. It can be found on ancestry.com, and it is part of a database called "Iowa State Census Collection, 1836-1925". The most interesting thing is that Iowa decided that in 1925 they needed to know the names of the parents of every person in Iowa. A genealogist's bonanza!

Joshua's son George is found in Clarke County. I read his age as 57 or 58, and he has a 5th grade education. He reports his father to be Joshua McCarl (whom he thinks was born in Iowa), but he leaves the line on his mother BLANK. That probably makes some sense, since George's mother died when George was too young to remember her. After all, he would have been mostly raised by Joshua's second wife, his stepmother.

Now we turn to Joshua's son Roe (James Monroe), who was much older than George, and who certainly would have better memories of his (their) mother. Roe is also found in 1925 in Clarke County, is age 75, and also has a 5th grade education. Roe says his father is Joshua McCarl, born in PA. But for his mother he says "Eliza Hoofman, born in PA, married in PA". (From other evidence, I'm sure he meant the name to be "Huffman".)

Now, we've seen above that Joshua's mother was MAHALA HUFFMAN. So, if Joshua's first wife was indeed ELIZA HUFFMAN, born in Pennsylvania, then there is a very high probability that he married a cousin, because Greene County was overrun with Mahala's family, and some of Joshua's siblings were actually living with Huffman families in this time period. Marriage of cousins was not all that uncommon, and it's no big deal.

JOSHUA'S WIFE: MARY ELIZABETH MCGINNES? PER "FAMILY STORIES"?
But there is another theory out there. Other researchers say that Joshua's wife was "MARY ELIZABETH MCGINNES", known as "Eliza". She was supposedly born about 1831, clearly (per census) in Pennsylvania. The "Story" is that she died 22 Mar 1866, while giving birth to son George Washington McCarl.

However this story has several puzzling weaknesses: First, it seems to originate with the family of George Washington McCarl, and George is the one who in the 1925 census could not name his mother.

Second, this Eliza supposedly died in 1866, but there is another son "Huffman" born in 1869, and George still has a wife named Eliza in the 1870 census. (I see at least one researcher got around this by postulating that George married a second wife, also named Eliza, who in turn died shortly after 1870.)

Third, if it's truly Eliza McGinnes, then Roe made a mistake by saying "Eliza Huffman" in his report to the 1925 Iowa census. (Such a mistake is plausible, if Roe's failing memory mixed up the names of Joshua's wife Eliza McGinnes and Joshua's mother Mahala Huffman, to come up with "Eliza Huffman"?)

Fourth, the name "McGinnes" was relatively rare in Greene County, PA, and also in neighboring Washington County (although I did find one such family in roughly the right time period). There were a LOT more "Huffman" families about, and in that time period people tended to marry women who lived near them.

AND MY VOTE IS: "ELIZA HUFFMAN":
I've gone back and forth on this, but at the moment I favor taking Roe McCarl at his word. He ought to know, and in 1925 he said it was "Eliza Huffman"!

(In the 1870 census Roe is reported to be age 16, and his mother "Eliza" is 38. There is a new baby in the house, age 1, named "Huffman McCarl". By no later than 1874, Eliza and Huffman are gone, and Joshua has remarried. These years would have made a real impression on a 16-20 year old boy, and I would think Roe would have very solid memories of the names and events. One might speculate that the baby "Huffman" was named as a memorial to his dying mother, and that both were in poor health in the 1870 census?)

JOSHUA'S BROTHER: SAMUEL MCCARL:
In the process of looking for information on Joshua McCarl, I chased several of his brothers through various census reports, and any other information I could find. This approach was in the end very helpful in understanding the weird 1860 census. While I am not interested in researching these collateral lines in detail, I offer here a few quick summary details on each. Another researcher would have little difficulty in picking up the research based on these following clues:

SAMUEL, born about 1834, is the second son of Mahala (after Joshua), and is mentioned in the above discussion for the 1850 and 1860 census. A genealogy on Samuel can be found at

http://awtc.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=:a42848&id=I025

Per that genealogy, his wife was Elizabeth FONNER. Their children were: Lucinda Jane MCCARL b: 5 JUN 1858 in PA; James Allison MCCARL b: 1 DEC 1861; Eliza Ann MCCARL b: 30 DEC 1859; George B. MCCARL b: 28 APR 1864; Mary MCCARL b: 31 JAN 1868; Isabell MCCARL b: 6 OCT 1866 in Greene Co., PA; Elizabeth Elen MCCARL b: 27 MAR 1870; Eva MCCARL b: 23 AUG 1873; Cristeny MCCARL b: 26 JUN 1876.

SAMUEL was the brother who stayed in Pennsylvania, while most of the others in the family moved west. He can be found in the 1870 census for Morris Twp., Greene Co., PA. He can be found in the 1880 census in Richhill Twp., Greene Co. His death was 14 Jan 1898 in Houston, PA (that's near Pittsburg).

JOSHUA'S BROTHER: FREEMAN MCCARL
FREEMAN, born about 1836, is the third brother. He is found in the above census notes for 1840, 1850, and 1860.

Joshua, George, Freeman, Thomas, and probably Mahala, ALL left Pennsylvania in years around 1865-70, and moved west. Joshua and Freeman both initially took their families to Clinton County, Iowa. Joshua later moved, but Freeman and his family remained in Clinton County, and their mother Mahala is found living with them in 1880 and 1885. Freeman is still there in the 1895 Iowa census. His wife was Elizabeth Knight, born in Pennsylvania. Their children seem to have been Samuel, Mary, Jacob and Thomas. There is an online photo of his gravestone: It reads "Freeman McCarl – 1836-1899", and he is buried in Elmwood Cemetery, Clinton County, Iowa.

Freeman McCarl and Elizabeth Knight are named in the 1925 Iowa Census for Clinton County as the parents of Tom McCarl.

JOSHUA'S BROTHER: GEORGE MCCARL
GEORGE, born about 1837, is found in the above census for 1840, 1850, and 1860. George and his family moved west after some of the others, in about 1869-70. George and his family first settled in Benton County, Iowa, (1870 census), then spent some time in Jasper County (1880 and 1885 census), and then after his death his widow is again found back in Benton County (1900 census). His wife was Rebecca J. – I think her name was "Meeks" (looks like "Mek" in the 1925 Iowa Census). Children appear to have been Martha J, Jacob H, Frank, George and Katie.

George McCarl and Rebecca Mek (Meeks?) are named in the 1925 Iowa Census for Jasper County, as the parents of Frank McCarl.

I've just started corresponding with another McCarl researcher, and Eleanor Robb writes "Geo was in the 6th Regiment, WV Infantry, and was injured. George and Rebecca (Meeks) are buried in Hickory Grove cemetery, near Newburg, Iowa".

JOSHUA'S BROTHER: THOMAS MCCARL
THOMAS was born in about 1848, well after the death of Samuel McCarl, the father of the other brothers. Therefore he has to be a half-brother? He married Susan Philips, and the Philips family has done some research. Therefore we know that Thomas died 16 Mar 1903. Wife Susan was born 22 Mar 1854, and they were married 12 Sep 1872 in Hancock County, Illinois.

When Thomas and the other McCarl families moved west, Thomas and his family first settled in Hancock County, IL. They then moved to Adams County, Iowa.

Thomas is found in the above discussion in the 1850 and 1860 census for Greene County, PA. They can then be found in Adams County, Iowa, in 1885, 1895, and 1900. Wife Susan can also be found in the 1905 and 1915 Iowa Census, for Adams County. Finally, T. B. McCarl and Susan Phillips are named in the 1925 Iowa census for Sac County as the parents of A. E. McCarl, and also for Jay J McCarl.

Their children appear to have been Roger, Cloah, Emmitt, Judd, Ada Belle, Albert and Jay J.