This is a tricky one, Danae.

I’ve looked at archived messages on this board and on Ancestry and noone seems to know the answer. Do you think that John Callister b circa 1801 (birth date a guess), father of Wm Crellin Callister b 1827, might have gone overseas and only returned to the IOM shortly before the episode where he was ejected from the home of his daughter Maria ? This would account for the fact that he seems to be impossible to find in the censuses. Having looked up the census pages for all the John Callisters of the right sort of age in the 1851, 1861 and 1871 censuses (using Lawson’s census indexes ), the only one which might be a possibility (married, but not with wife) is the following:
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1851
Moaneymooar, Malew

John Callister married 50 visitor ag lab b Malew
in the household of a Halsall family of unmarried farmers.
Ancestry’s transcription:

Name Age
John Halsal 31
Ann Halsal 32
William Halsal 29
Thomas Halsal 27
Samuel Halsal 21
Elizabeth Halsal 18
John Callister 50

( but I doubt that this is the right John Callister.)

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There’s a John Callister in Ohio with a wife Jane:

1850
Name John Callister
Age 47
Birth Year abt 1803
Birthplace England
Home in 1850 Adams, Seneca, Ohio, USA
Gender Male
Family Number 1036
Household Members Name Age
John Callister 47
Jane Callister 45
Daniel Callister 14

notes:
John farmer
John and Jane b England
Daniel son b Ohio

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1860
Name John Callister
Age 57
Birth Year abt 1803
Gender Male
Birth Place Isle of Man
Home in 1860 Adams, Seneca, Ohio
Post Office Adams
Family Number 43
Household Members Name Age
John Callister 57
Jane Callister 56
Daniel Callister 24
Samuel Callister 14
Mary Callister 12

notes:
John farmer
John and Jane b Isle of Man
Daniel b Ohio
Samuel b Ireland
Mary b England

mystery:
Where were Samuel b 1846 and Mary b 1848 in 1850 ?

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There’s a US Civil War Pension Index entry for Daniel, naming him as “Daniel Callister alias Daniel Callow”. He married as Daniel Callow.

This one in Ohio is probably not your John Callister, but I’ve mentioned it because you might think it’s worth following up. The tree I’ve looked at doesn’t have a death date for John.

Please will you let us have a copy of the newspaper article from July 1871, in case there are any clues in it.

Jean C