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Fairfield County, Ohio
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.BIOGRAPHIES

Source:
 A Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Ohio
Illustrated - Published: New York and Chicago:
The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company.
1902

A B C D E F G H I J K L M
N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
  JOSEPH CHRSITY

Source: A Biographical Record of Fairfield and Perry Counties, Ohio - Published: New York and Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company - 1902 - Page 179

  ISAAC CLAYPOOL

Source: A Biographical Record of Fairfield and Perry Counties, Ohio - Published: New York and Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company - 1902 - Page 363

  JACOB CLAYPOOL

Source: A Biographical Record of Fairfield and Perry Counties, Ohio - Published: New York and Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company - 1902 - Page 18

  JAMES B. CLAYPOOL

Source: A Biographical Record of Fairfield and Perry Counties, Ohio - Published: New York and Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company - 1902 - Page 198

  CHRISTOPHER CLAMP

Source: A Biographical Record of Fairfield and Perry Counties, Ohio - Published: New York and Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company - 1902 - Page 247

  S. P. COFMAN.   When the arrival of the white man led to the making of history in Ohio, but when the greater part of the state was still unimproved and progress and development was yet a thing of the future, the Cofman family was established in Fairfield county.  The first of the name of whom we have record was David Cofman, who lived and died in Virginia.  His son John was the great grandfather of our subject.  He became a resident of Lancaster in 1809.  There he followed the carpenter's trade, but in 1811 he removed to Bloom township and was one of the most prominent and influential men of that early day, being the advisor of the entire neighborhood.  He was a hard-working, energetic man, possessed sound common sense, was reliable in all life's relations and trustworthy in friendship.  In early life he had been a slave owner in Virginia, but liberated his bondsmen and came to Ohio.  His political support was given to the Whig party.
     Samuel Cotman, the grandfather of our subject, was the only son of John Cofman, and he, too, was identified with the pioneer development of Fairfield county.  He was born in Rockingham county, Virginia, and in 1809 became a resident of Lancaster, Ohio.  He learned the carpenter's trade and in connection with his building interests also carried on agricultural pursuits.  He like wise taught school and later was engaged in the nursery business.  When a boy he had been bound out to a man by the name of Carpenter and under his direction had learned the carpenter's trade.  He was very energetic and industrious and his knowledge of the building industry enabled him to bring his talents to advantage on his own account and keep everything about the place in excellent condition.  He too voted the Whig ticket. In early manhood he wedded Mary Allen, who died in 1841 at the age of thirty-two years.   Seven children were born unto them, but Henry Cofman, the father of our sujbect, is the only one now living.  Samuel Cofman was commissioned second lieutenant in the Mexican war and was an excellent military officer.  He was identified with the Methodist Episcopal church on the circuit of Lockville, Jefferson and Rock Mill, and after ward became a member of the Methodist Episcopal church at Carroll.  In politics he took quite an active part as a supporter of the Republican party and was elected as township trustee for several years and as justice of the peace.  He was born in 1811, and died in 1883, having spent the greater part of his life in Bloom township.  In his boyhood he had been bound out to a man by the name of Lancaster.  His father established the first nursery business in central Ohio, beginning operations along that line in 1844.  He carried on the nursery business until 1873 and was then succeeded by Benjamin Cofman, a half brother of Henry Cofman, who, however, had been practically the manager since 1864.  At the age of seventeen years Benjamin Cofman enlisted on the 15th of August, 1861, for a three years' service in the Civil war, becoming a member of Company A, First Ohio Infantry.  He participated in many important battles and at the expiration of his term of service received an honorable discharge, on the 15th of August, 1864, at Chattanooga, Tennessee.   Although he was in so many engagements he was never wounded and always escaped capture.  He then took up the nursery business in connection with his father, continuing it until the fall of 1874, when he purchased a farm and for some years was identified with agricultural pursuits in Bloom township.  He was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and of the Methodist Episcopal church.  He was married Dec. 31, 1869, to Rebecca H. Holderman, of Fairfield county, and to them were born three children: Arthur A., Ralph W. and Zadi Dee Blanche.
     Henry Cofman, the father of our subject, was born in Jefferson, Bloom township, in 1832, and for many years was identified with merchandising, carrying on business in Carroll from 1869 until 1884, during which time he enjoyed a very extensive patronage.  On retiring from commercial pursuits he took up his abode in Bloom, his present farm in Bloom township adjoining the home of our subject.  He was married on the 2d of August, 1857, to Miss Mary J. Lamb.  Both were natives of this county and the marriage was here celebrated.  They became the parents of nine children, six of whom are yet living: William R., Samuel P., George, John, Kate and Cora.  Those who have passed away are as follows: Laura, the wife of John C. Fellows; Noah; and Rachel.
     Mr. Cofman attended the public schools and was reared upon the home farm of his father in Bloom township.  It was there that his birth occurred on the 19th of October, 1862.  At the usual age he entered school, continuing his studies until, he had gained a good knowledge of the branches of English learning, and upon his father's farm he received ample training in the work of field and meadow, this however, equip ping him for the duties of farm life.  On the 23d of March 1884, Mr. Cofman was united in marriage to Miss Chloe M. Zaayer. a daughter of William and Isabella Zaayer, of Bloom township.  Her father was a leading farmer of this county.  The family is of German descent and Mr. Zaayer possesses many of the sterling characteristics of his German ancestry.  He is still living in Bloom township, at the advanced age of seventy-eight years.  His wife died at the age of seventy years.  Unto Mr. and Mrs. Cofman have been born seven children: Dora E., Nellie B., Frank M., Mary I., Clara S. and Ruthie Fay, all of whom are at home, and Helen M., who died at the age of one year and six months, October 16, 1900.
     Mr. Cofman located upon his present farm in the spring of 1887.  Here he has one hundred and eighteen acres of good land, upon which is a new residence, also barns and substantial outbuildings. He has placed three hundred and fifty rods of tiling on his land and planted an orchard containing five hundred fruit trees.  Everything about the place is neat and thrifty in appearance, indicating the careful supervision of the owner.  He is most energetic and progressive in his work, is thoroughly familiar with the most modern methods of farming and is quick to utilize any new idea advanced that will prove of practical value.
Source: A Biographical Record of Fairfield and Perry Counties, Ohio - Published: New York and Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company - 1902 - Page 49
  THOMAS COLE

Source: A Biographical Record of Fairfield and Perry Counties, Ohio - Published: New York and Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company - 1902 - Page 372

  HENRY CONRAD, one of the highly respected citizens of Fairfield county, was born in Clear Creek township on the 10th of July, 1841, his parents being Henry and Sarah (Walters) Conrad.  At the usual age he entered the public schools and through the periods of vacation assisted in work on the home farm, where he remained until he was twenty-one years of age.  Upon the breaking out of the Civil War he enlisted in Company I, Ninetieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, joining the army on the 13th of August, 1862.  He was wounded at the battle of Stone River on the 31st of December of the same year, and was sent to the hospital at Nashville and afterward to Cincinnati and thence to Camp Chase, Ohio, where, on account of his injury, he was honorably discharged on the 4th of April, 1863.  He then returned to his home and farm, but when he had recovered his health he could not content himself to remain in Ohio while his country was endangered, and re-enlisted as a member of the One Hundred and Fifty-ninth Regiment of National Guards, with which he went to the front, serving for one hundred days.  He was then mustered out in August, 1 864, at Zanesville, Ohio, having spent the one hundred days' service at Baltimore.  During this time he held the rank of second sergeant in his company.
     Taking up his abode in Fairfield county, Mr. Conrad resumed farming.  In 1870 he purchased his present place in Clear Creek township, comprising eighty-five acres of rich land, on which he erected a large and attractive frame residence and has made many excellent improvements, having a well kept farm supplied with all modern accessories and conveniences.  In appearance it is neat and thrifty, and everything about the place indicates the careful supervision of the progressive and practical owner.  The home is presided over by a most estimable lady, who in her maidenhood was Miss Sophia Peters, daughter of George Peters, one of the early settlers of Fairfield county, who owned the farm upon which Mr. and Mrs. Conrad are now living.  He died forty years ago.  The marriage of our subject and his wife was celebrated in November, 1864, and has been blessed with three children, all of whom are yet living.  Adelle is the wife of W. W. Doner, by whom she has three children: Harry W., Arthur H,, and Ralph C.  Minnie is the wife of V. V. Cuckler, of Lancaster, Ohio, an employe in a shoe factory there.  George S. is employed at Cincinnati, Ohio, and married Miss Stella Theiring, by whom he has one child, Mildred.  All of the children were born upon the old home place in Clear Creek township, and attended the district schools, while George was a student in the college of Delaware, Ohio, and likewise pursued a commercial course in different business colleges.
     Mr. Conrad is now serving as school director, which position he has filled for three years.  He has been a judge of elections for the past six years and in politics is a stanch Republican, but while he has held some offices, he has never been a politician in the sense of office seeking, preferring to give his undivided attention to his business affairs.  Socially he was connected with the Grand Army post at Amanda during its existence.  For forty-two years he has been a member of the Methodist church, taking a most helpful part and being very much interested in its work.  He has served as trustee, steward and class-leader, filling all of those offices at the present time, together with that of Sunday school superintendent.  He puts forth every effort in his power to advance the cause of Christianity and his labors have not been without effect.  So honorable and upright is his life that he commands in a high degree the respect and confidence of all with whom he has been associated, and well does he deserve mention in this volume, devoted as it is to the lives of representative citizens.
Source: A Biographical Record of Fairfield and Perry Counties, Ohio - Published: New York and Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company - 1902 - Page 193
  JONAS CONRAD.   A fine farm comprising one hundred and sixty-four acres of land in the township of Clear creek is the property of Jonas Conrad, who is numbered among the substantial agriculturists of this portion of the state.  He was born on the 14th March, 1831, in the township which is still his home, and represents one of the old families of this county.  His paternal grandfather, Daniel Conrad, married Esther Root.  He was born in Maryland of German parentage and resided in that state until September, 1805, when he came with his family to Ohio and rented a tract of land in Clear Creek township.  Fairfield county.  Throughout his remaining days he carried on farming and stock-raising here, purchasing a farm which as the years passed returned to him a golden tribute for his care and labor bestowed upon the fields.  He died when he was seventy-five years of age, respected and honored by all who knew him.
     Henry Conrad, the father of our subject, was born in Washington county, Maryland, on the 8th of August, 1801, and in 1805 was brought by his parents to Ohio, settling in Clear Creek township, Fairfield county.  He remained upon the home place for some years after his marriage and then removed to a farm which his father owned in the neighborhood.  There Henry Conrad carried on agricultural pursuits, and the well tilled fields brought to him golden harvests.  He put all the improvements upon the place and under his supervision the work of the farm was carried on until his death, which occurred when he was almost ninety years of age.  He was a Democrat in his political views in early life, but afterward became identified with the Republican party.  His religious belief was in harmony with teachings of the English Lutheran church.  A house of worship belonging to that denomination was built upon a part of his farm, he giving the land to the church association.  In the years of his early man hood he was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Walters, who died April 18, two years prior to the death of her husband.  She was born in Pennsylvania and was brought to Ohio when eleven years of age by her father, Frederick Walters, who for many years resided in this county and was one of its substantial and respected citizens.  Mr. and Mrs. Conrad became the parents of ten children, six of whom are yet living: Ezra, a resident of Clear Creek township; Priscilla. the wife of Eli Conrad, whose home is in Stoutsville, Ohio; Jonas, of this review; Wesley, who is living in Kansas; Henry and Martin, who are residents of Clear Creek township.  Those who have passed away are Caroline, Sarah and Cornelius.
     Jonas Conrad remained upon the old home farm until he was twenty-one years of age.  During that time he gained broad and practical experience concerning the best methods of cultivating the soil and caring for stock.  When he had arrived at man's estate he started out on his own account, removing to another farm which his father owned and which he operated for about two years.  He then took up his abode upon a farm owned by his uncle and made it his home for two years, after which he removed to the farm upon which he now resides.  The most of the improvements upon this place are the work of Mr. Conrad and the buildings stand as an evidence of his life of industry, his progressive spirit and enterprise.  He has placed all of his land under the highest state of cultivation and in addition to the home farm he has a fifty-acre tract of timber land.
     At the time of the Civil war Mr. Conrad joined the Union army for one hundred days service as a member of Company I, One Hundred and Fifty-ninth Regiment of Ohio Volunteers.  He was stationed in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, and at the close of his term was discharged at Zanesville, Ohio.  He belonged to the Grand Army of the Republic until the post was abandoned in Amanda.  In politics he is a Republican, but has never sought or desired office, although in the character of a private citizen he withholds his support from no movement or measure tending to contribute to the general good.
     In 1852 Mr. Conrad was united in marriage to Miss Susana Campbell, who was born in Madison township.  Fairfield county, a daughter of Christopher and Mary (Defenbaugh ) Campbell.  Her father was a shingle maker and died in Hocking town ship, while her mother's death occurred in Madison township.  Mr. Campbell was about sixty years of age at the time of his demise, while his wife reached the allotted span of three score years and ten.  Unto Mr. and Mrs. Conrad have been born twelve children, nine of whom are still living: Malinda Elizabeth is the wife of William H. Moore, of Clear Creek township.  They had thirteen children—Frances, Laura E., Elmer, Lillie, now deceased, Sallie, Grace, Denver, Walter, Cora, also deceased, Chauncey, Orion, Carrie and RaymondLouisa Jane, the wife of Daniel Spangler, a resident farmer of Amanda township, has four children—Harley, Leslie, Harry and Raymond Martin Luther, who is a carpet weaver of Amanda, Ohio, married Laura Clark, and unto them have been born five children—Russell, Rupert, Denver, who is deceased, Gladys, also deceased, and Marie.  William Henry is a resident of Pickaway county and follows farming in Walnut township.  He married Nancy Waites, and they had one child who died in infancy un named.  Sallie Ann is the wife of John Waites, of Madison county, Ohio, and their children are Bessie, Myrtie. Scott, Mona and Clarence; and Winfield Scott, who died at the age of twenty years, eight months and ten days.  Clara Belle died when about two years old.  Perry Elsworth, a farmer, died about six years ago, at the age of thirty-two.  Cornelia Ellen is the wife of William Eveland, of Amanda township.  Charles U., who is now thirty-two years of age, resides at home and assists his father in the operation of the farm.  Stella M. is the wife of Charles Spangler and they reside upon their father's farm.  They have one child, Nellie EdithLillie May is the wife of Homer Eveland, a resident farmer of Madison county, Ohio, and their children are Harold and Verlo.  All of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Conrad were born in Fairfield county.  He has reached the age of seventy-one years but is still actively concerned in business affairs, and is a worthy and respected citizen who co-operates in all movements and measures calculated to advance the general good.  His life has been quietly passed upon the farm, but his record is well worthy of emulation, for he has been loyal in citizenship, honorable in business and faithful to the ties of friendship and home.
Source: A Biographical Record of Fairfield and Perry Counties, Ohio - Published: New York and Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company - 1902 - Page 79
  WILLIAM L. CONRAD.   William L. Conrad, one of the old and respected citizens of Fairfield county, now residing in Clear Creek township, was born on the 15th of May, 1826, in the township which is still his home.  His paternal grand father, Daniel Conrad, married Esther Ruth.  He was born in Maryland and came to Ohio in 1804, locating in Clear Creek township when the work of progress and improvement had scarcely been begun in this county.  He secured a large tract of government land, which he cleared of the forest trees, there making a home for himself and family.  Throughout his remaining days he carried on agricultural pursuits and at the age of seventy-eight years his life's labors ended in death.  He was a very prosperous and progressive man and his energy and industry enabled him to overcome all difficulties in his path, to endure the hardships of a pioneer life and to steadily work his way up ward to success.
     John D. Conrad, the father of our subject, was also born in Maryland, and during the early days of his boyhood he was brought by his parents to Ohio, his youth being passed upon the farm his father had entered from the government.  He too became a hard working and enterprising man and ac cumulated considerable property.  He held some of the minor offices of his township and gave his political support to the Republican party, believing thoroughly in its principles.  He held membership in the Luther an church and his life was in consistent harmony with its teachings.  When he had arrived at years of maturity he wedded Elizabeth Lape.  They became the parents of five children: Hester, who died at the age of thirty years; Angeline, the wife of Ezra Valentine, of Madison township; John, who died in 1867, at the age of thirty-five; Daniel, who resides in Clear Creek township; and William L., of this review.  The father of this family died on the old homestead at the age of seventy-six years, while his wife passed away in 1864 at the age of sixty-eight.  They were respected by alI who knew them and in a large measure enjoyed the friendship of those with whom they came in contact.
     William L. Conrad, the eldest of their family, remained upon the home farm until 1849.  He has engaged in general farming and stock-raising throughout the years of his manhood.  His education was acquired in the public schools, his lessons being pur sued in an old log school house, which he attended only through the winter months, for his labors were needed upon the home farm during the summer season.  He early became familiar with the work of plowing, planting and harvesting, and after he had attained to man's estate he engaged in the operation of one hundred sixty-eight acres of land, his thorough understanding of farm work enabling him to annually secure a good return for his labors.
     During the Civil war, however, Mr. Conrad put aside the duties of field and meadow in order that he might aid his country, and on the 1st of May, 1864, he enlisted in Company I, One Hundred Fifty-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry for three months' service.  He was stationed at Baltimore, Maryland and at the expiration of his term was discharged at Washington.  He then returned to his home and family in Ohio.
     Mr. Conrad had been married in 1849 to Miss Lucinda Conrad, whose birth occurred in Clear Creek township, Fairfield county, a daughter of Daniel D. Conrad, who came to Ohio from Maryland when he was four years of age and spent his remaining day in Clear Creek township.   Thirteen years ago our subject was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who died at the age of sixty years.  She was a faithful member of the Presbyterian church and was most devoted to her family, putting forth every effort in her power to enhance the welfare and promote the happiness of her husband and children.  Unto Mr. and Mrs. Conrad were born three sons and a daughter.  Simon, the eldest, resides upon the home farm, where our subject is now living.  He wedded Mary Brown, who died in March, 1901, leaving two children: Murray and OrrinNelson, a resident of Clear Creek township, married Emma GoodWilson, who also carries on agricultural pursuits in Clear Creek township, married Catherine Oberderfer, by whom he has had two children: Alberta and Ross.  Frances E., the only daughter of the family, is the wife of Thomas Roberts, a farmer and brick-mason of Clear Creek township, and they have five children : Carl, James, Mamie, Lotta and Ralph.
     Mr. Conrad, since the organization of the party, has been a stanch Republican, firmly believing in the principles of the platform.  He belongs to the Presbyterian church of Amanda and is identified with the Grand Army of the Republic.  For seventy-five years he has been a witness of the growth and development of the state and has been particularly interested in the progress of the county of his nativity.  He was at one time connected for twenty-two months with the Soldiers' Home at Sandusky, Ohio, filling the position of turnkey and having charge of the main dining room, but with the exception of this period he has always lived in Fairfield county and at present makes his home with his children in Clear Creek town ship, now residing with his eldest son, Simon.  His memory forms a connecting link between the primitive past and the progressive present.  He can remember when the greater part of the surface of this county was covered with a growth of wild timber, he has seen it developed to its present high state of cultivation and has ever borne his part in transforming it into one of the richest farming districts in the state.  His life has ever been an active and useful one and he has that true worth of character, which in every land and clime commands respect and confidence.  Well does he deserve mention in this history, and with pleasure we present his record to our readers.
Source: A Biographical Record of Fairfield and Perry Counties, Ohio - Published: New York and Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company - 1902 - Page 257

George S. Courtright
GEORGE S. COURTRIGHT
George S. Courtright has devoted his life to labors wherein wealth and influence availeth little or naught, the measure of success depending upon mentality, the ability—both natural and acquired—and the broad culture of the individual possessing all the requisite qualities of an able physician. Dr. Courtright has advanced to a position prominent in the medical fraternity of Ohio, and is now successfully practicing in Lithopolis.  The Doctor was born Apr. 27, 1840, in Pickaway county, Ohio, a son of Jesse D. and Sally (Stout) Courtright, the former a native of Fairfield county, Ohio, and the latter of Pennsylvania.  He was educated in the common schools and in South Salem Academy, Ross county, Ohio, and after completing his literary course took up the study of medicine, intending to make its practice his life work.  He pursued his studies in Cincinnati and was graduated in the Medical College of Ohio in 1862.
     For some years thereafter he was a well known educator in the line of his profession. He was resident surgeon of St. John's. Hospital in 1861, and of the Cincinnati Hospital in 1862, continuing in that capacity until he went into the army in the month of November, 1862, entering the service as contract surgeon, remaining in that capacity until August, 1863.  At that time he became assistant surgeon of the: United States Volunteers, appointed by President Lincoln. He was sent to Burnside's army in the Department of the Ohio and in October he received orders from the war department to report to Santa Fe, New Mexico, to the general then commanding that division.  He made a trip from Kansas City to Fort Leavenworth and thence by stage, a distance of one thou­sand miles, to Santa Fe.  The troops in that locality captured nine thousand Indians and held California and Utah.  He was appointed major by brevet for gallant and meritorious service during the war.  In December, 1865, the Doctor returned from Fort Craig, New Mexico, to Cincinnati, and in 1866 he became demonstrator of anatomy in the Miami Medical College, where he remained for two years. In 1868 he came to Lithopolis, where he has since resided.
     In May of that year he was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Cornelia Stevens, of Lebanon, Warren county, and they now have one son, Jesse Stevens, who is a resident of Pickaway county.  The Doctor is a member of the Grand Army post and of the Loyal Legion.  He is also a member of the soldiers' relief commission of Bloom township.  He is a Knight Templar Mason and has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite.  He is also identified with the Presbyterian church, is its treasurer, and for thirty-five years has been one of its faithful members.  He was also president of the board of pension examiners for nearly four years.  He has served as the president of the school board of Lithopolis and takes a deep interest in everything that pertains to the public welfare.  In politics he has always supported the Democratic party.  In the line of his profession he is connected with the Hocking Valley Medical Association and is a life member of the State Medical Society of Ohio.  He also belongs to the American Medical Association.  He is an extremely busy and successful practitioner, constantly overburdened by demands for his services, both professionally and socially.  He is a man of the highest and purest character, an industrious and ambitious student and was a gifted teacher.  Genial in disposition, unobtrusive and unassuming, he is patient under adverse criticism, and in his ex­pressions concerning brother practitioners is friendly and indulgent.
     The genealogy of the Courtright family is traced by Riker, the historian-genealogist, to the fourteenth century.
     The name was originally van Kortryk, and as family names were the exception and not the rule among our early forefathers, some difficulty has been experienced by genealogists in tracing the family history of many of the old families.  During the time of John Calvin the van Kortryks, like many other of the old and wealthier families, became Protestants (or followers of Calvin).  They builded churches and the Protestants became very strong numerically as well as financially, but the church of Rome was very powerful, and by superior forces drove the members of the new religious sect from their native country.  The van Kortryks inhabited the country along the borders of Spain and France, but the religious persecution drove them to Flanders and thence to Leerdom—central of the district stood the city of Leerdom, giving name to a county in which it was situated,—a level grazing country, otherwise called the Prince's Land, because inherited by a son of William of Orange from his mother, Anne of Egmont.  In the language of the historian, "To Leerdom had retired from the religious troubles in Flanders the family of Sebastien or Bastiaen van Kortryk—about all we know of this Kortryk progenitor with his royal Spanish name.  During the humane rule of Philip the Fourth the condition of the Protestants became much improved, but later witnessed cruel persecutions.  On the river Lys was builded a city named after the family. Riker says: "Kortryk was a Flemish town yet farther down the Lys, which within the previous century had wit­nessed cruel persecutions, and during the existing war (how great its calamities!) had changed hands four times in five years.  But one of its families had escaped these last troubles by leaving some years before; we refer to the ancestors of the Kortrright or Courtright family, in its day one of the most wealthy in landed possessions in Harlem."
     Sebastien cr Bastiaen von, or van, Kortryk was the head of the Courtright family as far as can be traced by genealogists.  He lived in the fourteenth century from all that can be learned of him. He was the father of two boys., Jan. and Michiel. They were born at Leerdom.  While they both married, we know nothing of the progeny of the former, but Michiel, or 'Chiel, Kortryk seemed to prosper.  In twentieth century parlance he became "rich," and lived with his family for some time in a pretty village called "Schoonre-woerd," two miles northerly from Leerdom, his birthplace.
     In and about Leerdom and Schoonrewoerd these people and descendants lived for about one hundred years.  Selling out their estates, which the historian says were "large," they went to the city of Amsterdam, where they and their descendants lived for about another century.
     On Apr. 16, 1663, two of the van or von Kortryks, by name Jan and Michiel—lineal descendants of the original Michiel or 'Chiel—with their families embarked on a vessel called the "Brindled Cow' Jan Bergen, master, for New Amsterdam (New York).  They arrived in New York and lo­cated in what is now the upper portion of the city and in the division of the county.  The township (in which they lived was named after the family—Kortright, for the name had then been Anglicized to that extent.
     The great-great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, Lawrence Kortright, was the eldest son of his father, Cornelius Kortright.  He was a merchant and became wealthy and prominent.  In the old French war he was part owner of several privateers fitted out at New York against the enemy.  He was one of the founders of the Chamber of Commerce.  He had large interests in Tyro county lands. Before his death he conveyed his lands to his only son, John, the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch.  He died in 1794.  By his wife, who was Hannah Aspinwall, besides his son John, who was a captain and afterwards colonel during the Revolutionary war, but better known as "Captain John," he had four daughters—Sarah, who married Colonel John Heylinger, of Santa Cruz; Hester, who married Nicholas Gouverneur, Esquire; Elizabeth, who married Hon. James Monroe, who afterwards became twice governor of Virginia and twice president of the United States, and author of the famous "Monroe Doctrine;" and Mary, who married Thomas Knox, Esquire.
Captain John married Catharine,, daughter of Edmund Seaman, Esquire.  He died in 1810, leaving a widow, who afterward married Henry B. Livingston, Esquire.  His son John, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, emigrated from Pennsylvania about the beginning of the last century and located in Bloom township in 1802, where he lived continuously until his death, in 1863.  His youngest son, Jesse D., married Sally Stout, to whom were born nine children, four daughters and five sons: Mary Jane, who married Thomas Cole, now deceased; Sarah, who married E. Westenhaver, now deceased; Elizabeth, now the widow of the late E. F. Berry; John, a prominent farmer of Walnut township, Pickaway county; Judge Samuel W., of Circleville; Dr. Alva P., now deceased; and Edson B., who died just as he had attained his manhood; and the youngest girl, who died in infancy; also George S., the subject of above sketch.
     Before the Revolution the prefix van or von was dropped, but the name was never completely Anglicized until the latter part of the eighteenth century, when by common consent the first syllable was changed to "Court" instead of "Kort."  The name became changed about that time in other respects, one of the family writing his name "Cartwright" Peter Cartwright, the world famous Methodist preacher, was a cousin of grandfather Courtright.  Another member of the family removed to Maryland and his name was changed or corrupted to "Outright," and we have in southern Ohio a large family or families by that name, descendants of the Marylander.
     But the family as a family dropped the prefix "van" or "von," later Anglicized the second and later the first, so that the name has been for more than a century Courtright.
     It would require a volume to give in detail the complete history of this family, the foregoing being but a brief synopsis.
Source: A Biographical Record of Fairfield and Perry Counties, Ohio - Published: New York and Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company - 1902 - Page 146
  THOMAS B. COX

Source: A Biographical Record of Fairfield and Perry Counties, Ohio - Published: New York and Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company - 1902 - Page 391

  ACOB CROUSE

Source: A Biographical Record of Fairfield and Perry Counties, Ohio - Published: New York and Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company - 1902 - Page 209

  WILLIAM CRUIT

Source: A Biographical Record of Fairfield and Perry Counties, Ohio - Published: New York and Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company - 1902 - Page 184

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