GEORGE W. TEEGARDEN.   The rich agricultural resources of Darke county have afforded to George W. Teegarden, the opportunities for success in life, and for the past forty-five years he has been engaged in cultivating the Teegarden farm, a tract of one hundred acres of fine land in Brown township, on the Fort Recovery road, about three miles west of Annsonia and about nine miles north of Greenville.  He was born on this property, January 23, 1849, and is a son of Abraham and Elizabeth (Stephenson) Teegarden.
     In 1688, in Prussia, was born Abraham Teegarden, Sr., and to him was born a son who was also named Abraham Teegarden, Jr.  He was born in 1718.  These two came to the United Sates in 1736 and located in Philadelphia, Pa., where they "qualified,' or, as we would now say, became naturalized citizens.  Later in life both did military duty and it has been said in Revolutionary war, but it would seem that Abraham Teegarden, Sr., would have been almost too old to have seen active service at that time.
     In that State was born Moses Teegarden in 1762, a son of Abraham, Jr.  As his father and grandfather had been the founders of the family in America so he became the founder of the family in Butler County, Ohio.  He settled near Oxford.  He was grandfather of our subject, George W. Teegarden and to him was born a son Abraham in Butler county, Sept. 5, 1797.  His mother's maiden name was Mary Huston.  This was the father of George W. and was reared in Butler county and in young manhood moved to Darke county in 1819 being about twenty-two yeas of age.  On October 4, 1827, he was married to Elizabeth K. Stephenson, who was born in Boone county, Kentucky Mar. 4, 1808.  She came to Darke county, Ohio, with her parents in 1816.  These two spent the remainder of their lives in agricultural pursuits in Brown township.  They were both members in the Presbyterian church and as followers of the meek and lowly Jesus they were always ready to help the poor and needy and to lend a helping hand to those who were sick.  They became the owners of nine hundred and twenty acres of land in Brown and Jackson townships.  They were the parents of the following children:  David H., born Dec. 7, 1828, now deceased; Mary Ellen, deceased; James M., who served as a Union soldier, in Company K, Ninety-fourth regiment Ohio volunteer infantry during the war and died in the service; Moses, born Apr. 9, 1836, and died Jan. 22, 1914; Andrew P., born Sept. 13, 1838, served in the Civil War and is now deceased; Matilda, born Mar. 11, 1841, now deceased; John W., born Jan. 5, 1844, served as a Union soldier during the war and died Aug. 9, 1904; Elizabeth Ellen, born Sep. 7, 1846, now deceased; George W., of this review, and Jasper, born Mar. 23, 1852, now deceased.
     George Teegarden received his education in Brown township school district No. 3 in winter and on the home farm during the summer months, where the lessons he learned while assisting the father and brothers in cultivating the farm were of no less importance than the ones he learned at school.  When about nineteen years of age he spent a year in the west in the two States of Illinois and Iowa.  He then returned to the home farm and has since then made his home and has met with a fair degree of success cultivating the farm where he now lives.
     On Mar. 19, 1885, he was married to Miss Rhoda Rants, daughter of Isaac and Sarah (Knapp) Rants.  Her father was born Apr. 30, 1815.  He served in Union army and died June 12, 1895.  Her mother was born Jan. 23, 1820, and died Nov. 25, 1878.  Mr. Rants was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and when a youth of eighteen years came to Fort Recovery, Ohio, and there learned the trade of tailor.  At the time of his death he was one of the honored citizens and successful business business men of Collett, Indiana.  He and his wife were the parents of nine children: Marietta, Babe and John, all deceased; Emeline married James Macy; David married Margaret Cunningham; Sarah married Rev. Thomas Beaber; Rhoda married George W. Teegarden; Lorinda married Jackson Adkins, and Susan married Joel Pickard.  Mr and Mrs. George W. Teegarden have one daughter, Zona, born on home farm on Aug. 11, 1887.  She first attended the school where her father had attended in his boyhood days after she took the Patterson examination she received a diploma June 10, 1905.  Later she took a one-year course at the Ansonia, Ohio, high school.  On Aug. 10, 1912, she was married to George H. Jenkinson, a farmer, who is managing the Teegarden farm.  Mr. and Mrs. Jenkinson have one son, Abraham Teegarden Jenkinson, born Jun. 26, 1913, on the Teegarden farm, which his great grandfather, Abraham Teegarden, entered from United States government in 1819.  In politics Mr. Teegarden is a Republican and in all of life's relations he stands for those things which work for upright manhood, for loyalty in citizenship and for fidelity in friendship.
History of Darke County, Ohio - From its earliest Settlement to the Present Time - Vols. I & II - Milford, Ohio - The Hobart Publ. Co. - 1914 - Page 484