The subject of this sketch was a brother to Lewis Outten and he was probably born at "Outten's Landing" about the year 1799. He was a ship carpenter by trade, and in his early life he made his home at Concord, Delaware. The only incident that the writer has seen recorded concerning the career of Samual Outten, occurred on the Delaware River. It is stated that he was acting as the Captain of a barge, when the British invaded that section, and a company of British soldiers captured him. They intended to take him to Dover jail, but he broke away from the censor and escaped.
Samuel Outten married Mary Coulbourne, daughter of John and Sarah Coulbourne, and they were the parents of five children. Mary Jane Outten, daughter of Samuel and Mary, was born in 1821. She Married John Cubbage, and they were the parents of six children. Samual Cubbage died in childhood. Mary C. Cubbage married Samuel Gambril, and they were the parents of one child named William Gambril. Emma Smithers Cubbage married Duton Peters. Her mother died when he was a child, and she was raised in Norfold, Virginia. She is the mother of five children: Alfred Wood, George Cyrus, Louis Atwood, Hattie Emma, and Harriet Peters. The family lived in Wilminton, and the writer called to see them, but she did not know much about her ancestors.
Of Alfred Moore Cubbage the writer has no information. Sarah Catharine Cubbage married Linton A. Powell, but they had no children. John Cubbage married and there were two children, Mabel and Arthur Cubbage. Mary Jane Outten Cubbage died in 1866, when she was 45 years old.
Sarah Outten, daughter of Samuel, was born February 2, 1824. She married Daniel Metten, and were the parents of four children. John Metten was an undertaker, and lived in Nanticoke City, a suburb of Seaford, Delaware. He married Minnie Towers, adopted daughter of John Towers, and they were the parents of a son named Towers Metten, who married Nelley Keeley.
Harry T. Metten was also an undertaker, and lived in Federica, Delaware, and he kept a furniture store in that town. He married Laura Conner, and they have two children, Harry and Dorothy. Harry T. was an official member of the Methodist church. Amanda Metten married John Wesley Bennett, and they have five children, Harry M., John W., Fred F., Rosaline, who married a Draper, and Urma who married a Carey. They lived in Milford Neck.
Miss Alice Metten never married. She lived with her mother in Frederica, Delaware. The following statement was published in the Milford Chronicle February 2, 1917. The many friends of Mrs. Sarah Metten remembered here with a postal shower last Saturday, the occasion being her ninety-third birthday. To see and converse with her, one would say she is ninety-three years young. She enjoys good health, is happy and cheerful, and it is a pleasure to know her. She has lived wisely and well, serene in the beautiful faith of another life to come. "May many more years of health and happiness be hers". She died in 1919 at the age of ninety-five years.
The Outtens have not been noted for longevity, and only a few of them have become octogenarians, but Mrs. Sarah Outten Metten, probably inherited her longevity from her distinguished father, who passed far beyond his hundredth mile-stone, and therefore must have been a recipient of the Divine promise, "With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation."
Catherine Outten, another daughter of Samuel, married William Fowler of Milford, Delaware. Mrs. Metten informed the writer that Fowler "was a man of affairs and well posted in law". He moved to Dover and held the office of Prothonatory for several years. He then moved to Philadelphia, and finally back to Milford where he was a Justice of the Peace. They were the parents of five children. Emma married Clement Biddle. Josephine married Samuel H. Lewis. Percival married Sadie Trego. William married Laura (maiden name unknown), and Frank married Virginia Dickerson. The father of these children died in Milford but the writer does not know the date of his death. The mother died in 1912, about eighty five years of age.
The two sons of Samuel and Mary Outten were James and John. James was a sailor who was buried at sea in 1860. James never married and subsequently, no additional information about James Outten is known. John went to California when he was a young man, about the time of the Gold Rush. He became interested in gold mines and remained there for some years. Later he came east, and while in Philadelphia he met a young lady named Lucy (maiden name unknown) and they were married. John took his young wife with him back to California, and they made their home there. John died a young man in 1867, leaving two children.
The children of John Outten Jr. were also named John and Lucy. John (the son of John jr.) also died a young man, and Lucy married Attorney General Post of California. Nothing more is known of John and Lucy.
The writer always finds it difficult to write about members of our family who have spent their lives in some other section of the country. Those who have lived in Delaware, Virginia, or the Eastern Shore of Maryland, we can find out fairly well, especially if they did anything that would cause their names to be recorded in some of the many records that are still extant. But some of the older records have been made dim by use, and many destroyed by fire. So, the family historian is at a great disadvantage in finding the important facts about the members of his family that he desires to record.