Source:
Pioneer Period and Pioneer People of Fairfield Co., Ohio.
by C. M. L. Wiseman
Publ. F. J. Heer Printing Co., Columbus, O.  1901

Transcribed by Sharon Wick

REMINISCENCES
of Several Families Prominent in the Early
History of Fairfield County.
pg. 176 -

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"Old Friends are the best friends."
"Sing me a song of the early days." - Riley

     THE early settlers of Fairfield County, then including Perry and Licking Counties, were a hardy race of men and women.  People of large frame, strong and active.  Brainy men, and intelligent for their opportunities, and usually possession rare good common sense.
     In brief sketches it will not be possible to even name all worthy to be remembered; we can only select a representative type here and there of the long list of worthy men.  The great majority of the people of this county are better educated then the people of 60 years ago, and have read more books and light literature, but in strength of character and strong intellect, they are not superior, if, indeed, equal.  The men of the early days read the Bible, Milton's Paradise Lost, Homer's Illiad, and a few other books of like character, and they read them well - they thoroughly digested their contents.  A few such books are worth more than a whole library of the present day fiction.
     REV. FOSTER was the first Lutheran preacher to preach in Lancaster.   He lived in Thorn township, now in Perry County.  He settled there at a very early day with his six stalwart sons and gave each a farm.  His son Andrew married a sister of the late Thomas ANDERSON, of Pleasant township.  His son Samuel

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married a daughter of Jacob GRAYBILL, and lived all of his life near Lancaster.  He was a well known character to all old citizens.  He was the father of the late Col. Sam FOSTER, of Columbus, and Geo. W. FOSTER, of Cincinnati; also of the late Mrs. Alva PERRY.
     Rev. Geo. DeBOLT was the first Baptist preacher to preach in Lancaster.  He settled in Walnut township prior to 1806, being one of the first settlers.  He was a "hard shell" preacher of the most pronounced type.  A good speaker and an intelligent man.  But he could not deliver a discourse without severely berating other denominations.  Sixty years ago, yes, 50 years, a weed known as dogfennel was the curse of the country.  Every lane and byway and the public road was full of it, and every common white with its bloom in the season.  During the revival season at the Methodist church in New Salem DeBOLT preached to his congregation at Union Chapel.  He called their attention to the revival services and warned them that if not more faithful and active in their religious life the Methodists and dogfennel would take the country.
     He raised a large family, all of whom filled a respectable and useful position in life.  One of his sons, Reason DeBOLT, studied law, married a daughter of the late Wm. McCLEERY, of Greenfield township, and moved to Trenton, Missouri.  He rose to some eminence.  He was a captain in the civil war, and with Gen. PRENTISS, was captured at Shiloh and taken to Libby prison.  Returning to Missouri he was elected a member of congress from that state.  Reason was one of the first schoolmates of the writer.
     EDWARD TEAL was one of the early settlers of this county, and in many ways was a remarkable man.

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He came from Maryland, and first settled on Pleasant Run, near where Amos Webb now lives.  In his cabin, or near it, at this place, the first class of Methodists in this county was formed.
     Teal  afterwards moved to what has since been known as the Ashbrook farm, now owned by the heirs of H. G. Miller  On this farm he and his family are buried.  Bishop Asbury visited Teal in 1803, and records in his journal that Teal owned 1200 acres of as good land as could be found in the country.
     A daughter of Mr. Teal married Rev. James Quinn, the first man to preach in this county, in the year 1799.  The Teals were at one time very prominent people, but death has claimed most of them.  Perry Teal, a grandson, and Mrs. Townsend Reed, a granddaughter, are about the only ones left of the old stock.
     Of the many distinguished men who honored Greenfield township by their residence there, one of the most striking figures was WALTER McFARLAND.
     He came to the township as early as 1798, and entered at once upon a long, industrious and honorable life.  Walter McFarland was over six feet in height, well formed and well proportioned.  He was a man of great strength and activity, and renowned for his herculean feats.  No man could match him at the end of a hand-spike.  No man could carry a timber of the weight he could lift and walk off with, with ease.
     For sixty years he was one of the prominent men of his neighborhood and of the county.  His fine presence attracted the attention of strangers and commanded their respect.  His son John, now an old man, is a resident of Lancaster.  One of his daughters married David Keller, now a prominent banker of Shelby

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County, Illinois, and one married Capt. A. R. Keller, late of this city.  One daughter married the late Capt. Rigby.

JOHN LEITH.
pg. 179

     There are but few of this generation who ever heard of John Leith.  He was a farmer, and lived two miles from Pleasantville, in Walnut township.  His father emigrated from Leith, Scotland, to South Carolina.  His mother was a native of Virginia.  John was born on the Peedee river, Mar. 15, 1755, and was left an orphan at five years.  His uncle took charge of him and soon apprenticed him to a tailor, who took him to Charleston to live.  In three or four years he ran off and made his way to York, Pennsylvania, where he engaged himself to a farmer, with whom he remained four years.  He then made his way to Fort DuQuesne, afterwards Fort Pitt, now Pittsburg.  Here he engaged himself to an Indian trader, and they took a stock of goods to an Indian village on the Hockhocking, then called the "Standing Stone."  We find upon examination of some authorities that this was about the year 1772 or 1773.  His employer left him here at the age of 17 years in charge of the store and went to Fort Duquesne for more goods.  The Indians confiscated the goods and carried Leith off a prisoner.  He remained in captivity 16 years and had a varied experience.  A part of this time he clerked for British Indian agents in various localities - for three or four years at Upper Sandusky.  At the time he lived near Mt. Pleasant there was a white woman with the Indians, but he did not give her name.  This is the first white woman known to have lived on the spot where Lancaster stands.  In 1779, while still a prisoner, he was married to Sallie Lowry, also a prisoner.  This

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took place at Coshocton.  He was 24 and she was 18 years of age.  His wife had been a prisoner since a mere child.  They lived two yeas in Gnadenhutten.  Two children, boys, were born to them.  Samuel was born in 1780, and died in Fairfield County in 1820.  He was the second white child born in the Tuscarawas valley.  In 1786 he, with his wife and two children, escaped from the Indians, leaving near Sandusky, with a supply of parched corn, and made their way on foot through the wilderness, in winter time, a distance of 200 miles to Fort Pitt, where they arrived in safety, having subsisted on the parched corn.  He lived for a few years in Pennsylvania, for a time in Robbstown, and was for a time a partner of David Duncan a trader.  During these years he became religious.  In the year 1795 he built a boat and loaded his goods and family, and floated down the Ohio to Marietta.  Here they tried to push his boat up the Muskingum, but met with an accident, and boat and goods were lost.  For several years after this accident he had a sad and varied experience.  His wife died and left him alone.  In a year or two he married a Mrs. McKee, and with her moved to Guernsey County, and from there to Fairfield.  This was about the year 1816.  He died in the year 1832.  His first wife was a sister of Jane Lowry, who was also a prisoner among the Indians, and became the wife of John McNaghten, a pioneer of Walnut township.  His son, George W. Leith, lived for many years near Nevada, Wyandotte County, Ohio, and if we mistake not, was associate judge of the Common Pleas court.  Leith was a very enthusiastic member of the Methodist church, and related a wonderful conversion and experience in the pamphlet written for

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him by Ewel Jeffries and printed by the Lancaster Gazette, in 1831.   Rev. Samuel Hitt brought him into the church.

REV. DAVID JONES.
pg. 181

     Among the noted visitors to the spot where Lancaster now stands, the name of Mr. Jones cannot be omitted.  Rev. David Jones lived at Freehold, New Jersey, and so far as known, was the first preacher to visit the territory of Ohio.  He was a Welsh Baptist.  In 1722, he, with Gen. Geo. Rogers Clarke and several other adventurers, left Fort Pitt for the lower Ohio, Louisville being the destination of General Clarke.  On this trip Jones preached to Indians and scattered settlers wherever he found them.  Rev. Jones made the return trip in 1773, overland.  We give a passage from his journal: "February 9, 1773, came safe to Mr. McCormick's, at Standing Stone.  This town consists chiefly of Delaware Indians, and is located on the Hock-Hocking creek.  Though it is now wide, yet in admits large canoes and peltry is thus transmitted to Fort Pitt.  Overtook here Mr. David Duncan, a trader from Shippenstown, on his way to Fort Pitt."  Here was a trading post kept by a white man, a stopping place for others, and a wandering missionary 27years before Lancaster was thought of, and corroborative of Leith's story as to a trading post.  It is highly probable that Leith was there and that Jones saw him.  During the war of the revolution Rev. David Jones was a chaplain attached to the command of General Anthony Wayne, of the Pennsylvania line.
     He was a very eloquent man and did much to cheer up the soldiers and maintain discipline of Valley Forge.  He told the disheartened soldiers "that a shad would as

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soon he seen backing up a tree as a revolutionary soldier turning his back on the enemy or going to hell."
     Robert McClellend, the famous Indian scout, of General Wayne's army, visited Mt. Pleasant, or Standing Stone, a few years after the visit of Jones, but as a spy, and accidentally finding a white girl, heroically fought off the Indians for a day and night and rescued her from a horrible fate.
     He became a resident of Lancaster in 1800, and kept one of the first taverns.  His daughter married Thos. Hart.  They reared a large family.  J. B. Hart, Judge Samuel Hart, Mrs. Borland and Mrs. Stambaugh were children.  McClelland spent his old age on a farm in Perry County.  He was born in western Pennsylvania.  He has many relatives there and in Pittsburg; also near Steubenville, Ohio.  His uncle Robert was a pioneer of Jefferson County.  His family was a large and prominent one.  They were Scotch-Irish.

McNAGHTEN.
pg. 182

     The McNaghten family was for near 90 years quite prominent in Walnut township.  The ancestor of this family was Thomas McNaghten, a Scotchman, who came to America prior to the revolutionary war.  Like thousands of other good Scotchmen, he settled in Pennsylvania.  One writer, Fiske, states that more than 500,000 Schotch-Irish came to the United States and settled in the interior and western part of Pennsylvania and the valleys of Virginia and North Carolina.
     Another writer, Hunter, avers, and gives ample authority and names of public men, that they were the prominent Indian fighters who defended the frontier 40 years against the Indians.  And that they were the prominent leading men who settled in Kentucky

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and Ohio and left the impress of their genius and enterprise upon the institutions and laws of those states.  The Scotch-Irish were undoubtedly a great people and a great factor in western civilization.  More prominent and useful men of that race adorn the pages of Ohio history than of any other.  Whoever, therefore, has a trace of Scotch-Irish blood in his veins, has reasons to be proud of a noble ancestry.
     John, the son of Thomas McNaghten, married Jane Lowry, a sister of Sallie Lowry, who was the wife of John Leith, referred to above.  Like her sister, she had been a prisoner among the Indians, and after her escape or redemption, married John McNaghten in Western Pennsylvania, and moved to Ohio.  This was prior to 1806, but we cannot give the year.  He was a taxpayer here in 1806.  He settled two miles northeast of Pleasantville in what has been known a century as the Elm flats.  Here he purchased land enough to give each of his children a farm - the sons, John, Thomas, James, Neal, Alexander, 160 acres each; and the daughters, Mary, Jane and Elizabeth, 80 acres each - a 50 per cent, discrimination unworthy of his Scotch blood.  In a few years the sons and daughters, except Thomas, sold their lands and left the country; Neal going to Wheeling, and the others to the west.  Neal became quite a prominent citizen of Wheeling - was respected and esteemed for many good qualities of head and heart.  He was a gentleman of elegant manners and fine presence, and man who attracted attention on all occasions.  Thomas McNaghten was the representative man of this family and lived on a long and honorable life in this county.  He was always the noted and prominent man in his township, and distinguished for his integrity and other good qualities.  During all

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of his life he was a leading member of the old school Baptist church.  Every third Sunday found him in his seat in the northeast corner of the church at Pleasant Run, surrounded by the fine heads of Jonas Friend, Col. Ruffner, Christian Baker, Jonathan Peters, Tunis Ashbrook, John Ashbrook, and Jacob Kagy.  As goodly a company as any man ever worshipped with.  His first wife was Rebecca Young.  Their children were Jane, Mary, Araba, David, Noah, Owen, John S.  Children by his second and third wives were Hiram, Cyntha, Rebecca, Harrison, Thomas J., James M. and Tunis.
     David married Amelia Ashbrook and they spent their lives on a farm near their old home.  One of their favorite sons was killed in the charge upon Fort Wagner and was heard of no more.
     Noah McNaghten was for 30 years a very prominent farmer of Richland township.  His wife was a daughter of Tunis Ashbrook.  He has been dead a number of years.  His widow lives with a daughter near Boston, Massachusetts.  Owen McNaghten married a daughter of Christian Baker and became an excellent and prosperous farmer of Walnut township.  He reared a good family of children.  He has been dead a number of years.  Tunis McNaughton lives in Franklin county, Ohio.  He is a prosperous farmer.  Both he and his brother Thomas J. McNaghten is the present postmaster of Pleasantville.  He married the youngest daughter of Tunis Ashbrook.  Thomas J. is an exemplary citizen and follows in the footsteps of his Baptist father, he being one of the leading members of the Pleasant Run church.

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     The descendants of John McNaghten are very numerous in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa; also Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and an honor to the sturdy race from which they sprang.
     We have traced but one family, as that is the only one in a marked manner identified with Fairfield County.  We would be glad to give more information in regard to this branch, but it is difficult to obtain reliable and full information.  We fear that many people will, when too late, wake up to the fact that their family history is lost.  The writer is trying to preserve what is yet obtainable, and to stimulate other to do like wise.

THE WELL-KNOWN PETERS FAMILY
pg. 185

     It is not known in what year the ancestor of the Peters family came to America, or from what country.  He settled in Philadelphia as married man and two sons were born, Jacob and Henry.
     Henry was twice married but was not blessed with children.  Jacob was born in Philadelphia and married there.  He moved to Baltimore where he reared his family of three sons and one daughter.  We cannot give name of daughter, but can only state that she married a man named Burns.  The sons were John, Jacob and Samuel.  Samuel, the ancestor of the family, the subject of this sketch, was born in Philadelphia Sept. 27, 1772.  He died at his home in Amanda township, Fairfield County, O., Sept. 10, 1829.
     His wife was Mary Stevenson, daughter of Daniel Stevenson of Baltimore county, Md.  She was born Sept. 28, 1773, and died in Fairfield County Feb. 15, 1861, aged 87 years.  Their oldest son, Henry Peters, was born Oct. 1, 1796.  They came to Ohio

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April, 1812, and lived for five years on what is now the Frank Stevenson farm.
     Daniel Stevenson was born Sept. 21, 1737. and died Sept. 3, 1829.  Ruth, his wife, was born Jan. 24, 1743, and died Jan. 12, 1834.  They were the parents of ten children.  They came to Ohio several years earlier than Peters and his wife.  The wife of Samuel Peters was a model woman and mother.  She was a daughter of Daniel Stevenson, one of the early pioneers of Richland township, and on whose land the first Methodist church in the county was erected.  The old homestead now belongs to Edward Stevenson, a grandson of the pioneer.  There were several brothers and sisters of the Stevenson family, Daniel, Jesse, Mordecai, Edward, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hampson are those remembered; most of them were born in Maryland and came to Ohio with their father as early as 1803.  James Hampson, during life a very prominent farmer of Pleasant township, was a grandson of Daniel Stevenson.  Frank Stevenson, son of Mordecai, occupies the old homestead, one of the best farms in Fairfield County.  Mrs. John Greer is a granddaughter of Daniel Stevenson.  The children married and settled upon farms in the neighborhood, where most of the old stock lived and died.  Daniel Stevenson, the pioneer and father of this large family, was a very prominent man of the early days and much respected for his sterling character.  He was a Methodist and gave the ground for the first church in the county.  He entertained Bishop Asbury on one or two of his visits to this county, and it was on his land where Asbury conducted the first camp meeting held in the county.  The church referred to was of hewn logs.  A few of our readers will

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remember the big broad axes used to do this work, and with what skill a few of the pioneer workmen could use them, and with what skill the corner men could notch the logs perfectly, and carry up their corner, a perilous job, but performed by hundreds of men.  We have digressed and now return to the history, briefly, of the Peters family.
     Mr. Peters and wife came in the year 1812 to Fairfield County and settled two miles north of West Rushville, on Rushcreek, at the mouth of Snake run.  Here they remained for about the space of five years, when they purchased land south of Royalton, (now owned by Benjamin Haas) and opened up a farm and endured the hardships incident to pioneer life.  Here they spent their lives, living the quiet life of farmers and rearing a large family of children.   Mr. Peters was a man of sterling character and possessed good business qualifications.  He was prominent and beloved in his neighborhood, and exerted an influence in the community far above the average.  His success in rearing a large family to honorable and useful lives, is evidence of many good qualities and ability as a parent - the good wife and mother comes in here for a large share of credit.  His sons were Henry, Nathan, Robinson J., Ebenezer, Wesley, Gideon, Stevenson, Lewis and Andrew, most of whom lived to old age and all exceptionally fine business men.  Nine brothers, possessing better business ability, or more successful in business will be hard to find among the pioneers, or at any other period.  They were stalwart men, most of them of commanding presence.  Take this family, the Stevenson family, the Beery family - where can you find such large families of stalwart, robust long-lived men? 

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Where can we find such men, even in small families?  Are we degenerating?
     Henry Peters at an early day moved to Marion County and when the Wyandotte Indians sold out he moved to Wyandot County.  He was a good man, a sagacious man.  He prospered and made good investments.  He died a few years ago in Upper Sandusky, and left to his heirs quite an estate.  Upon the death of his brother Gideon in 1844 he took charge of his children and reared them as a father, and at his death they were well remembered.  Nathan Peters moved to Marion County at an early date.  He engaged in farming for a number of years and was successful.  His old age was spent in Marion where he owned a fine home.  His son Harvey was for many years a leading druggist of Marion.
     Ebenezer Peters moved at an early day to Marion County where he was a prosperous farmer and stock dealer.  Like all of his brothers he was a good business man and respected and honored by his neighbors.  He died some years since at an advanced age.  In middle age he resided in Marion where he took an active part in politics and assisted in electing our fellow citizen Samuel A. Griswold county auditor.  His son Irwin Peters is still living.
     The Peters name is one that is honored in Marion and Upper Sandusky.
     Stevenson and Lewis became farmers and located in Pickaway County, near Nebraska P. O.  Like their brothers they were successful in business, accumulated property and lived in good style.  They were among the prominent members of the Methodist Episcopal Church in that vicinity.  Lewis Peters was an unusually intelligent man, of good social qualities and a man

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of influence and very highly esteemed.  One of his sons married a daughter of Rev. John W. White, once well known in Lancaster, and resides in Upper Sandusky.  Both gentlemen and dead.  A son of Stevenson, a man of some parts, occupies the old home.  The second wife of Lewis Peters was a daughter of Wm. Coulson, a distinguished pioneer merchant of Rushville.
     A son of Lewis Peters, Hon. S. R. Peters, of Newton, Kan., is an old Pickaway County boy, born in Walnut township in 1842.  He is a graduate of Delaware University, and served through the war as a member of the Seventy-third regiment O. V. I., coming out of the service as captain.  He went to Kansas following the war, and in a little over a year after settling in that state his political career began.  He was a member of the State Senate, judge of the Ninth Judicial District, a very trying region to hold court.  He was three times elected to the difficult position without opposition.  In 1883 he was elected at large to the Forty-eighth Congress.  In 1890 he declined further congressional honors, preferring to practice his profession.  Judge Peters is now postmaster at Newton and editor of the Kansas Republican, published in that city.  He also practices law.  Judge Peters' wife was Amelia C. Doan, daughter of Rev. John Doan, and they were married in Circleville in April, 1867.  Mrs. Peters was a universal favorite in Washington society during their residence in that city.  Dr. W. L. Peters lives in Circleville.
     Gideon Peters learned the trade of a tanner and for some years conducted the business at the foot of Main street.  He was a prominent member of the Methodist church in the forties.  He died in the prime of life in 1844.  He married a Stevenson.

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     Wesley Peters lived most of his life in Hocking township.  He was a quiet citizen and unassuming in his manners.  A man to be liked and trusted upon first acquaintance.  In the late years of his life he lived on "Hallelujah Heights" near town.  His wife was an Ingman.
     For a year or two he was president of the Fairfield County Bank.  He died at an advanced age.  His son John W. Peters is a very prominent Methodist preacher of the Cincinnati Conference.  Henry Will Peters, Samuel Peters, Silas and James were his sons.  Sallie, his youngest daughter, resides in Champaign, Ill.  Mrs. Thomas Strode and Mrs. George Hoffman reside near Lancaster.  Mrs. Euens in the West; Dr. Wesley Peters, of this city, is a grandson, as is Mr. George Peters, of Hocking township.  A daughter of Silas Peters is the wife of George Lamb, of Hooker.
     Robinson J. Peters was one of the prosperous farmers of this county.  He married a Galligher of Amanda township and for some years was a farmer in that township.  About middle age he came to Hocking township, and was both a farmer and capitalist.  He was a money maker from the start and pursued his business with unflagging courage and industry.  He was a shrewd business man and seldom made a mistake in his investments or business ventures.  He was a judge of good land and owned fine and productive farms.  He died at a great age having passed, by two or three, his eightieth year.  Zebulon, his oldest son, passed three score and ten, inherited good business qualities, industry and integrity.  He has reared and educated an interesting family.  His oldest son Henry is the Vice President of the Fairfield County Bank.  Frank is a farmer of Greenfield township.  A daughter

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married George Cunningham.  Zebulon's wife was the daughter of Mr. Jacob Beck.  His son Will is a partner in the firm of N. R. Butler & Co.  Newton Peters, another son and now a gray-headed man, married a daughter of David Eversole.  They have reared quite a large family of children.  Two of the sons, Robinson and Charles are promising young farmers of Hocking township.  A daughter married James Claypool.
     One of R. J. Peters' daughters married Thos. Cochran and another Thos. Whiley.
     Andrew Peters married a daughter of Valentine Reber, a sister of one of the best of Fairfield County's men, Henry Reber.  Andrew Peters was a good and successful farmer and cattle man.  He made money and at one time owned 1,600 acres of very fine land.  He was prominent in Fairfield County, and was elected County Commissioner in 1854.  He lived beyond four score years.  His son Milton is one of the large farmers of this county, owns a fine home and lives in elegant style.  Frank lives upon a 300 acre farm in Pickaway County and John in the same county on a like farm.
     The only daughter married George Creed and lived and died upon a farm near her old home in Amanda township.  Her son, Frank Creed, is a promising young man.
     A daughter of Sam'l Peters married Wm. Brumfield,  one of the first brewers of Lancaster.  They lived for many years upon their farm near town.  Broad Cole married one of the daughters.  He was a well known farmer forty years ago and resided at the big spring, where Felix Swope now lives.  The Coles were early settlers and at the house of the pioneer, Bishop Asbury preached in 1803 the first sermon heard in the township.

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     Thos. Cole, son of Broad, is an old school Baptist preacher and a very worthy man.
     One of the daughters married Daniel Walters and they spent their lives upon a farm in Amanda township.  Judge Festus Walters of the Common Pleas Court of Circleville, is their son.  He has attained quite a prominent position at the bar.
     The venerable Elizabeth Williamson, widow of Isaac N. Williamson, is a daughter of Samuel Peters and the only one now living of this large family of sons and daughters.  She has lived beyond four score years and may be often met in town in fair weather.  This is a brief sketch of a very remarkable family and in all respects a very worthy one.  Prominent, influential and highly esteemed wherever known.

THE ASHBAUGH FAMILY
pg. 192

     The Ashbaugh family of Rushcreek left Huntington County, Pennsylvania, in the fall of 1799, for the Ohio country, and arrived safely at the cabin of Col. Samuel Carpenter, Dec. 31, 1799, where they remained over night.  That night a child was born to one of the families and was named David Ashbaugh.  The parents were John Jr. and Catharine Miller, his wife.  The family that left Pennsylvania consisted of John Ashbaugh, sr. and wife, and their sons, Jacob, Joseph, Frederick and Andrew and his two daughters Mary and Patsy, and John Ashbaugh, jr. and wife.  They came in company with Joseph Miller, wife and daughters Elizabeth and Rachel.  Rachel Miller, in about twelve months became the wife of Edward Young and reared a large family of children.  She was the mother of the late Mrs. Jacob Moyer.  The party floated down the Ohio from Pitts-

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burgh on flatboats, or family boats, landing at the mouth of the Hockhocking.  The men came up the valley on foot and on horseback, and the women, with the goods, in canoes, to the mouth of Rushcreek.  Here party made their way to Col. Carpenter's cabin on foot.  From Carpenter's they traveled through the woods to a spot since known as the Neely farm and now as the Weaver place, near Bremen.  Here a small plat of ground had been cleared the previous spring by Joseph Miller, John and Joseph Ashbaugh.
     Elizabeth, a daughter of John Ashbaugh, sr., was left in Pennsylvania.  She had previously married a Mr. Saxton of Huntington, and there she lived with her family until her death in 1822.
     Mr. Saxton was a mechanic.  He manufactured nails by hand, a slow process, but then the only method.  Four sons were born to them, viz: John, Joshua, Joseph and William.  John Saxton learned the trade of a printer and came west at an early day and commenced the publication of a weekly paper called the Repository, at Canton, Ohio.  John Saxton was a man of ability and of high character and was, all of his useful life, a distinguished citizen of Canton, Ohio.  He was the father of James Saxton, the banker, and the grandfather of Mrs. President McKinley.  We gather from this that Mrs. McKinley is the third cousin of the late John Ashbaugh.  Elizabeth Ashbaugh, Mrs. McKinley's great grandmother, was the aunt of John Ashbaugh, of Lancaster, Ohio.  Joshua Saxton learned the printer's trade and made his way to Canton, Ohio, when a young man and assisted his brother in the publican of his paper. 

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In 1838 he moved to Urbana and established a weekly paper called the Citizen.  He was always a prominent and useful citizen of Urbana, and like his brother John achieved much more than a local reputation.
     Many years ago the writer had the pleasure of meeting both brothers in their respective editorial rooms in Urbana and Canton.
     Joseph and William Saxton, sons also of Elizabeth Saxton, settled at an early day in Washington City.  Joseph was a fine scholar and a very brilliant mechanical genius.  He was a silversmith by trade.  Prof. Bache pronounced him the greatest mechanical genius the world has ever saw.  He was a member of the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia and of the Royal Society of London, England.  He made the city clock of Philadelphia, still to be seen and heard at Independence Hall.  He spent nine years in Paris and London and while there invented the first magnetic machine capable of producing a spark.  He exhibited his machine in the presence of thousands of people in London and was honored by the presence of forty scientists.  He was received with great honor while abroad.  He invented and made the machinery of the United States mint at Philadelphia.  He invented the electric clock in the department of weights and measures in Washington, D. C.  John Ashbaugh once visited this cousin and was very cordially received.
     Joseph and Jacob, sons of John Ashbaugh, sr., moved at an early day to Kentucky and the family lost all trace of him and their descendants.
     Patsy, the daughter of John Ashbaugh, sr. married Mr. A. Ray and died young.
     Mary, a daughter of John sr., married Samuel Ray.  They were the parents of two daughters, one

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of whom became the wife of Wright Larimer, and the other the wife of Isaac Larimer.
     Catharine, a daughter of John sr., married Asa Johnson.  They were the parents of the late Edward Johnson, of Rush Creek.
     Andrew Ashbaugh married Esther Ray, of Huntington county, Pennsylvania, and after coming to Rushcreek settled east of the Bremen on the farm now owned by A. Grafis.  Their children were John, William, Abraham, Samuel, James and Robert, Catharine, Jane, Margaret and Elizabeth, who married George Orndorff.  Their daughter, Margaret, married William Rowles, who now lies with a second wife near Pleasantville, Ohio.
     Andrew, at an early day, sold his farm to his brother Frederick and moved to Perry county, where he reared a large family.
     John, the oldest son, was born Oct. 24, 1808.  He worked on the farm until 21 years of age.  He worked for William B. Lewis, of Rushville and learned the carpenter trade.  While in Rushville he witnessed the great fight between Isaac Wilson and a man named Maxwell, who  came from the east on purpose to whip Wilson.  A large crowd of people formed a circle and the combatants fought to a finish.  Maxwell was at the close of the fight put to bed and was under the care of a doctor for several weeks.
     John Ashbaugh was for some time a partner of Jacob Moyer in the building business.
     In 1839 he married Mary Beery, daughter of George Beery, and engaged in the mercantile business in Bremen, and so continued until the year 1854.  He traded in horses, tobacco and packed pork. 

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In 1854 he sold out to Simon and Thomas E. Beery.  He then purchased the Lieb farm north of Bremen.
     In 1870 he purchased the Albert Claypool farm, east of Lancaster, where his son George now lives.  In 1874 he moved to Lancaster, where he died Nov. 10, 1895.  His children were George B., Josephine and Kate.  George married Mary A. McCandlish, of Bremen; Josephine married Dr. Rankin, of Bremen; Miss Kate resides with her mother in Lancaster.
     Kate Rankin married Samuel Porter, of Muskingum County; Viola married Jessie Rowles of Bremen; Nellie married Victor Coen, of New Mexico; Grace and Florence Rankin are with their parents.
     William Ashbaugh, brother of John, married Julia Cohagen and lived on a farm near Rushville.  His death occurred in 1892.
     John J., his son, married Jennie Davis, daughter of David Y. Davis, of Rushcreek.  He lives on the old Davis farm and is a highly esteemed citizen of this township and a veteran of the civil war.  George was accidentally killed in Indiana.  Robert married Miss Franks and lives in Rushville, Ohio.  James lives in Columbus, Ohio.  Hiram was a farmer and died in Indiana.  Mariah, daughter of William, married William Work and lives near Rushville.  Elizabeth married Charles Rowles, of Bremen.  Jane married William Stuart and now lives, a widow, in Bucyrus, Ohio.  Margaret married Isaac Mast - both are now dead.
     Abraham Ashbaugh, brother of William and John, married a Miss Linton, and moved to Tama county, Iowa, where they died.  Samuel and James lived and died in Perry County.  They were farmers.

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     Robert, son of Andrew, was a carpenter.  He was a soldier in the Union Army and lost his health in the service.  He died a few years since in Columbus, Ohio.  His widow and son, George, live in Columbus.
     Another son lives in Wheeling, W. Va. (Hart).
     Catharine, daughter of Andrew Ashbaugh, married Washington Adcock.  They lived in Perry County, Ohio, and reared a large family.
     Adcock gave each of his children a farm and has several hundred acres left.
     Jane married John Cohagen and both are now dead.  Children of this couple live, or did live, near Pickerington, Ohio.  Margaret married Anderson Crooks.
     Fred Ashbaugh, brother of Andrew, married Mary Musser, of Rushcreek.  Three of their children moved to new homes in the north and west.
     One of the daughters married George Spangler.  Their daughter, Miriam married Joseph Stukey, son of Judge Stukey, who in time moved to Jasper County, Missouri.  Their son, W. W. Stukey lives in Lancaster, Ohio, also a daughter, Clara Good.
     Eliza, married Robert Shugart of Lancaster, and died there.
     John Jr., brother of Andrew, married Catherine Miller of Pennsylvania.  They settled on a farm near Jerusalem church, east of Bremen.  They reared a family of ten children.
     Joseph married Elizabeth Musser and moved to Perry County, Ohio.
     David was born Jan. 1, 1800, in the cabin of Col. Samuel Carpenter, if tradition is correct, where the parents were over night before going to Rushcreek.  He lived and died in Rushcreek, below Geneva.

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     Andrew, son of John, Jr., married Elizabeth, daughter of Amos Davis, a very prominent Rushcreek man.
     Seymour married Catherine Leckrone and moved to Effingham, Ill.
     Margaret married Geo. McCandish.  They lived a few years on a farm and then moved to Bremen, where McCandish, for some years, was a merchant.
     They were the parents of Mrs. Geo. Beery Ashbaugh.
     Elizabeth, daughter of John Jr., married Absalom McCormick of Perry County.
     The Ashbaughs have been prominent people in the Rushcreek township for 100 years.
     They were all good business men in their line and maintained throughout their long career an honorable record.

THE BEERY FAMILY
pg. 198

     The Beery family has been for more than 130 years one of the largest and most prominent in the valley of Virginia.  They were, originally, from Berks county, Pennsylvania.
     A branch of this family, or rather two branches, came, or began to come, to Fairfield County as early as 1800, and settled in Rushcreek township.
     Nicholas Beery of Rockingham County, Virginia, was the founder, or ancestor of the Fairfield family we propose to sketch in this paper.
     He was born in Rockingham County, Virginia, was twice married, and reared a family of sixteen children.  His first wife was a Miss Keller, an aunt of the late Hon. Daniel Keller, of Fairfield County.
      Their sons were John, Jacob, Abraham, Isaac, Henry, George and Nicholas. The daughters were

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Barbara, Elizabeth, Martha, Mary and Susan.  The second wife of Nicholas Beery was a woman of Rockingham whose name we cannot give.  Their children were Joseph and Christopher, Margaret and Fanny.  All of the children except Barbara, who married Mr. Blosser, came early to Fairfield County.
     John, son of Nicholas, married Margaret Shaeffer and settled just east of where Berne Station is now located.  Their sons were Noah, David, Abraham and Nicholas.  Noah married, for his wife, Miss Rader, who was a daughter of John Rader, of Rockingham County, Virginia, and for his second wife, a Mrs. Smith and moved to N. W> Missouri where he prospered and was a respected and influential citizen.  A daughter of his married Andrew J. Snider, at this time a wealthy stock dealer of Kansas City, and president of the First National Bank of that city.  A son, Chester A. Snider, of Mr. and Mrs. Snider, married a daughter of ex-Governor Oglesby, of Illinois.  Another son, a very promising young man, died in California.
      David married a Hufford and moved to Missouri.  Abraham married a daughter of Frederick Friesner.  He moved to Logan, Hocking County, and lived and died there.  Nicholas married a sister of Frederick Sites.  He moved to Missouri.  John, the son of Nicholas, Jr., married a sister of Jacob Huber and moved to Auglaize county, Ohio.  Delilah married John Beatty.  Their son, J. H. Beatty, is United States District Judge of Idaho.  Elijah Beery of Sugar Grove, was a son of Nicholas.
     The only daughter of John Beery, Elizabeth, married John Coffman, near Carroll, the father of the late Samuel Coffman and grandfather of Benjamin.

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     Jacob Beery married Nancy Geil, in Virginia.  Upon their arrival in Fairfield, they settled on a farm on Upper Raccoon, now owned by Frank, a son of Lewis Beery.  Later in life they moved to Wyandot County, Ohio, where they died.
     Abraham Beery married Catharine Fast and they settled on the bluff, north side of Raccoon and one mile east of Berne.  Their son, Abraham, married a Miss Elizabeth Weldy and moved to Decatur, Indiana, where he still lives.  Their son, Joel, married Sarah Huddle and moved to Darke county, Ohio.  Their daughter, Elizabeth married Abraham Geil and they lived and died in Rushcreek.  Their daughter, Catharine, married Joseph Swart, and lived near Mount Tabor church.  They were the parents of Joel and Rev. Andrew Swartz and Mrs. Sheldon.
     Sarah, daughter of Abraham, married Henry Swartz, of North Berne.  Later in life Mr. Swartz moved to Illinois.  One of his sons married a daughter of Samuel Jackson  He enlisted in the Union army and died in the service.  Ex-Mayor Swartz, of Columbus, is their son.
     Rebecca, daughter of Abraham, married John Turner.  Turner died leaving his widow with a family of small children.  Jacob B. Turner of Bremen, all of his life a reputable and influential citizen of this county, is one of the sons of this couple.  A brother resides in Bremen and Peter in Lancaster, Ohio.  Their son Emanuel, now deceased, was a minister in the Evangelical church.  Mr. Turner's widow married John Shoemaker.  Mrs. Shoemaker is still living near Bremen, Ohio.  Their son Eli is a Methodist preacher.  Fanny, daughter of Abraham, married Emanuel Sites, who became one of the highly es-

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teemed citizens of Pleasant township.  George Sites and attorney J. S. Sites, of Lancaster, are sons of Emanuel.  Mrs. John E. Miller and Mrs. Frank Beery are daughters, and Drs. H. C. and E. F. Sites, of Ft. Wayne, Ind., are sons.  Delilah, daughter of Abraham, married a Mr. Samuel Bear and they moved to Darke County, Ohio, where Bear died.  Late in life she became the wife of Emanuel Sites.  Mary married George Swartz and moved to Hancock County, Ohio.  Another daughter Barbara, married a Mr. Daniel Huddle.  Samuel, one of their sons, is a minister.  They reared a good family.
     The oldest of Abram's girls married Joel Shaeffer, a long time county commissioner.
     Isaac Beery, son of Nicolas, came to Fairfield County, a single man.  He married Mary Cradlebaugh, a daughter of the first German Reformed preacher in this county, Rev. Cradlebaugh.  Her brother, Andrew Cradlebaugh, of Circleville, was the father of Col. John Cradlebaugh, an attorney of some prominence.
     Isaac Beery was a Dunker preacher of considerable prominence and of high character.  He lived on the original section purchased by his father, south of Hartzler's mill on Raccoon.  George, son of Isaac was a dentist and lived and died in Royalton and was buried there.  Andrew died a single man.  Levi married a Miss Short and moved to Iowa, where both died.  Jesse married Rebecca Larimer, moved west and died there.  Elijah Berry, son of Isaac, married, but we can not give the name of his wife.  They moved to Miami county, Ohio.  Enoch, son of Isaac Beery, Sr., married lady of Perry County,

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Ohio.  They moved to Miami County, Ohio, where he still lives.  The horse trainer, named Beery, who occasionally visits Lancaster, is a son of Enoch Beery.
     Delilah, daughter of old Isaac, married a Mr. Ward, of Miami county, where they lived and died.  Catharine, daughter of Isaac, married Daniel Sites or Seitz, and they lived about one mile south of North Berne.  Enoch Berry Seitz, one of the famous mathematicians of the world, was their son, and was born on the farm in Berne.  He was a brilliant scholar when a boy and always in advance of his teacher.
     The mother of Prof. Sites is still living in Greenville, aged 92 years. Noah Sites or Seitz was killed in the Civil War.
     Elizabeth Beery, daughter of old Isaac, married James Stuart of Rush  Creek.  Charles Stuart of this city, is their son.
     Maria Beery married a Mr. Fristo and moved to Miami County, Ohio.
     Priscilla married a man named Hillis and they moved to Missouri, where they died.
     Henry Beery, son of Nicholas, settled near Sugar Grove.  We can not give the name of his wife.  His son-in-law and Henry, his son, live near Sugar Grove.
     Elijah was a prominent citizen of that vicinity for sixty years.
     George Beery, son of Nicholas Beery, Sr., was born in 1783.  He married Catharine Cradlebaugh in 1809, a sister of his brother Isaac's wife.  They were prominent and influential people and they reared a large and interesting family.  George Beery was a well-known man - a farmer and merchant by terms.  He was the original proprietor of the village of Bremen and the first merchant there.  He died on his farm six

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miles east of Lancaster, in 1856.  He was the best known of his numerous brothers and numbered among his friends many prominent men of Lancaster.  He came to Fairfield County in 1800.
     The numerous sons of George Beery were all good business men and they made a success of life.  Samuel married Catharine Hull and was a farmer all of his life.  He built the fine brick residence just east of Lancaster.  He died in the prime of old age.  His widow married Samuel Black.  John married Mary Black and lived and died upon his farm near Bremen.  Joseph died while yet a young man.  Isaac was for a few years a merchant in Bremen, but moved to Upper Sandusky, where he married a daughter of Dr. Fowler, a wealthy farmer near Little Sandusky.  He was, in connection with his brother Anthony, a prosperous merchant in his new home.  Anthony married a Miss Sherman.  George studied law and settled in Upper Sandusky.  He married Ann McDonald, of Lancaster.  In the last few years of his life he was president of the First National Bank of Upper Sandusky.  Simon was for several years a prominent and successful business man of Bremen.  He married Melvina Grove, and late in life moved to Urbana, Ohio.  He owned a fine farm on Mad River.  Noal died young.  Solomon was a farmer of this county and is now a prosperous one near Upper Sandusky.  He married Louisa Hammack, of this city.  Thomas married Louisa Hammack. of this city.  Thomas Ewing Beery married a college mate, a Miss Witt, of Indiana.  He married the second time a Miss Osborne.  He has been for many years a successful business man and a highly esteemed and influential citizen of Wyandot County, Ohio.  Christena, daughter of George Beery, married Charles Stuart and lived near

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Bremen.  Mary married John Ashbaugh and lived many years near to and in Bremen.  She is a well preserved woman, on the shady side of eighty, and after a long and useful life she enjoys the peace and comfort that comes to those who fairly earn it.
     Barbara, the oldest daughter of old Nicholas Beery, married a Mr. Blosser and lived and died in Virginia.  Elizabeth married Rev. Jacob Geil and settled on lower Rush Creek.  He was a Mennonite.  Martha married a Comer and lived on what is now the George Clover farm.  They were the parents of Isaac Comer, an old-time tailor of Lancaster, Ohio.
     Mary, daughter of Nicholas, married Rev. Henry Stemen.  They came to Rush Creek, southeast of what is now Bremen, where they reared a large family.  Rev. Stemen was an earnest, zealous Mennonite preacher, and always spoke in the German language.  The Beerys were of Pennsylvania German descent and all understood the language.  Susan married Abraham Beery, a distant relative of her father.  They settled in lower Rush Creek.
     Joseph and Christopher , sons by the second marriage of Nicholas Beery, married sisters by the name of Miller, came to Fairfield and settled on lower Rush Creek.  Margaret married a Mr. Kechler and lived on Raccoon in Rush Creek township.  Fanny married Mr. Joseph Hite, of Walnut township.  His old farm is now owned by Kemp Brothers, at Thurston. 
     This completes such record as we are above as we are able to give of the Nicholas Beery family, one of the largest families ever known in the county, and second to none in sterling worth and good citizenship.  Their descendants still fill a large space in this county and are numbered by hundreds, and in every western State Beerys

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are to be found or some of their collateral relatives.  Daniel, Frederick, Lewis and George Beery, Berne township people, and Samuel, Abraham and Christian Beery family and highly respected people.  Abraham was Mayor of Lancaster and father of Dr. George Beery.

THE ASHBROOK FAMILY

     The valley of Virginia gave to Fairfield County many distinguished and honored citizens; but that valley was not alone in furnishing emigrants to Ohio and Fairfield County in particular.  Hampshire County, in the valley of the south branch of Potomac, gave us the Ashbrook, Peters and Claypool families, as distinguished and as highly respected as any that adorn the annals of our county.  The first Peters of which we have record, was born Oct. 27, 1749.  His wife was born Oct. 27, 1759.  They were the parents of Mrs. Aaron Ashbrook and the late Jonathan Peters.  They lived to a great age.  Jonathan and Gershom were their sons, both highly respected and intelligent men.  They spent the latter years of their life in this county.  Jonathan lived on the old David Pence farm, in Richland township.  One of his daughters is the wife of William Friend.  A son. Edward, lives in the same vicinity.  Gershom reared a large family, living at one time in sight of Columbus, where Orrin Peters was born.  One son is an attorney at Princeton, Illinois.  Moore and Orrin are wealthy manufacturers of Cincinnati.  Orrin married Miss Eckert, of this city.  Both are well known.  A sister of these gentlemen. Deborah, was the mother of an esteemed citizen of Amanda township.  John Quincy Adams Blue.  J. Q. A. Blue married a Galligher, a connection of the Robinson Pe-

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ters family, but in no way related to his mother.  His son, George, married a daughter of Henry Reber.  Her mother was an Allen, daughter of Howard Allen, who married a Leist.  Abigail Peters married Aaron Ashbrook.  The Ashbrook family has been traced to England and back into the misty past.  There is a legend that long ago a gentleman walking upon the banks of a brook noticed a small boy standing near an ash tree.  He inquired his name but the little fellow did not know it.  He had compassion upon him, giving the name of Ashbrook, certainly beautiful, appropriate and well chosen, and as such it has come down the centuries.  Aaron Ashbrook was born in Hampshire county, Virginia, Jan. 7, 1780.  Abigail Peters, his wife, was born in the same county Jan. 7, 1782.  They were married Dec. 22, 1800.  Two children were born to them in Virginia.  About the year 1805 they came to Ohio, by wagon and settled in Pleasant township.  Their old home stood on the bluff between the residence of James Hampson and John M. Ashbrook.  There they lived a quiet life rearing a large family of children and died at a good old age.  They lived to see their children well established in life, honored and respectd by their neighbors and fellow citizens.  They were distinguished members of the old school Baptist church at Pleasant Run and Aaron Ashbrook was always a conspicuous figure in that congregation.  As were his sons John and Tunis after him.  Aaron Ashbrook was at the time of the death 85 years of age and his wife Abigail died at the great age of 94 years.
     Aaron Ashbrook had three brothers, Rev. Eli who lived in Licking county, and one of whose sons is a prominent business man of Newark, and a son-in-law of Rev. George DeBolt, the pioneer Baptist

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preacher.  Thomas and William were the names of his other brothers.  Thomas lived in Pickaway county until about 44 years of age, when he moved to Illinois.  He was a fine man and a favorite with his relatives.
     William Ashbrook lived first in Pleasant township, but moved later to Amanda township where he died.  His wife was Amelia Peters, sister of Mrs. Aaron Ashbrook and Mrs. Blue.  Both lived to a good old age.  Their sons were Absalom, Mahlon, Edward and William.
     Absolom is dead.  He was a farmer in Amanda township.  Edward is still living in Amanda township at the age of 82 years.  Mahlon lives in St. Joseph, Mo., at the age of 86 years.  William lives in Ashville, Pickaway County, Ohio.*
     Ira and William, sons of William, are farmers near Cedar Hill, this county, Samuel, their brother, is a grain dealer of Circleville, Ohio.
     George A., son of Absolom, is a farmer in Pickaway County.  Frank, another son is a farmer in Bloom township.  Monroe and John, sons of Absalom, reside in Kansas.
     James, a son of Edward Ashbrook, is a popular merchant at Newark, Ohio.  Thomas M., a brother, is an implement man of Somerset, Ohio.
     E. L. Ashbrook, the popular young Republican of Amanda township, resides on the old homestead with his father.  Mrs. L. D. Cole, daughter of Edward, lives in Columbus.
     There were three sisters in this family.  Minerva, Ivy and Cecelia.
     Benjamin T. Dunnick, of Pickaway Comity, married Minerva.  She is living with a daughter Ivy at

---------------
*The three brothers died recently at their respective homes.

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East Ringgold.  Their daughter, Amelia, is the wife of James M. Steward, a farmer and breeder of Marcy, Ohio.
     Daniel R. Kellerman, at one time a prominent farmer of Amanda township, married Ivy.  They reared a large family of children and gave them a good education.  Prof. Kellerman. of the Ohio University, is their son.  One son is a Universalist preacher.  Some years since D. R. Kellerman and some of his sons moved to near Humboldt. Kansas, where Kellerman recently died.  Their youngest daughter. Dory, married a Williamson, and lives in Bluffton. Indiana.
     Benjamin Bowman married Cecilia, and moved to the state of Illinois.
     Of the Peters family there were several sons, viz.:  Jonathan, Gershom, Rev. Mahlon, John, Tunis, Rev. James and Absolom and four sisters, Katy, Abigail,
Deborah and Amelia.  Most of them lived to a great age, filling out honorable and useful positions in life.  Their descendants are scattered far and wide, and but few of them are known to each other.  Gershom was for some years Associate Judge of Franklin County.  During at least a part of their lives the Peters brothers lived in Pickaway and Franklin Counties.
     Aaron Asbbrook's children were: Tunis P., Fannie, John M., James A., Katherine, Eli P., Deborah, Amelia. Adaline, who died young.
     Tunis Peters Ashbrook was born Dec. 19, 1801, in Hampshire County,Virginia.  He received such education as the new Ohio country afforded.  He married Anna, daughter of David Pence and granddaughter of Emanuel Ruffner.  Their children are Aaron P. Ashbrook, of Kansas; Mrs. Noah McNaughten, of Massachusetts; Mrs. John Hill, of

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Pleasantville; Mrs. Emanuel Kraner, of Pleasantville; Mrs. Sain, now of Parsons, Kansas; and Mrs. Thomas McNaughton, of Pleasantville.
     Tunis P. Ashbrook was a fine farmer, an intelligent and upright citizen, respected and honored by all who knew him.  He divided a handsome estate among his children.  He belonged to a lovely and affectionate family.  It used to be said that the Ashbrooks shook hands if they met twice in the same day.  Tunis died Mar. 6, 1866, aged 64 years.  A finer looking gentleman than T. P. Ashbrook seldom visited Lancaster.  His face was an index to his character.  John M. Ashbrook was born Jan. 2, 1809.  He married Katharine Armstrong, of Lancaster.  She is living at Geneva, Nebraska, in her 81st year.
     John M., was a live, competent business man and a good farmer.  He ran a whiskey distillery for a good many years with some success.  He owned and tilled for years large tracts of land.  His wealth at one time was estimated at $125,000.  He was a liberal man, hospitable and kind, and his money was freely spent.  His house was the home of Baptist preachers for forty years and Baptist people, and the latch string was out to all comers.  His house was a free hotel, always full.  His hospitality was unbounded.  The writer can say what he was too generous to admit, he was greatly imposed upon.  He was a public spirited citizen in the best sense of the word.  He, with David Huber, projected the Pleasantville Academy, and carried it to completion.  In this he took great interest, for he was the friend of education and had a local pride in securing the Academy.  The meeting of citizens in Pleasantville, which gave the project endorsement and insured suc-

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cess, was called by Eli P. Ashbrook.  This meeting was addressed by Dr. A. P. Miller, Col. J. M. Connell, Hon. C. D. Martin, J. C. Hite, and Judge G. Peters.  A good brick building was soon built and Prof. Freed and others have distinguished themselves there and educated many young men.  P. S. Wiseman was chairman.
     Having succeeded so well in securing an Academy for Pleasantville, he became intoxicated with success and local pride.  We must have a railroad, he said, and he and David Huber went to work.  He headed the subscription by thousands, and became responsible for rights of way and other matters and took contracts and involved himself in many ways for many thousands of dollars, all of which, he eventually paid with his hard earned dollars.  No man ever worked with greater enthusiasm than did John M. Ashbrook for this railroad.  He believed that it would be a paying investment.  Besides the loss of thousands of dollars, he gave two years of his time to this road, for which he did not receive a penny.  It was sad to see a noble, generous, unselfish, enthusiastic, hopeful, energetic man like John M. Ashbrook go down.  He did not survive the disaster more than three or four years.  He closed up his railroad matters, paid his debts, gathered his family together and turned his face toward the West, and resolutely sought a new home among strangers.  The place he loved, to which he had given his time and fortune, he was to see no more.  Home, the graves of his father, friends and neighbors were henceforth to be but a memory.  He died Aug. 17, 1885, aged 76 years.  He has a son in Hebron, Nebraska, O. A. Ashbrook, who married a daughter of Thomas Duncan.  He is now postmaster of Hebron, Nebraska. John, a brother,

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is a citizen of Geneva, Nebraska.  He is now a soldier at Manilla in the First Nebraska Regiment.  James and Levi live in Denver, Colorado.  Wm. Stewart married Blanche and lives in Geneva, Nebraska.  He is assistant cashier of a bank.
     Rev. Wesley Brandt married Jennie, one of the daughters, and lives in the West. Anna lives with her mother in Geneva, Nebraska.
     Mrs. Jacob Ulrick, of this city, was the wife and widow of Tunis, a son of J. M. Ashbrook.  He died of disease contracted in the army.
     John and Tunis Ashbrook were lovable men, kind, considerate, generous, courteous and Christian gentlemen.
     James A. Ashbrook was born Aug. 16, 1811.  His wife was Rebecca Kagy.  James was a farmer for years in Pleasant township, but in later life moved to Coles County, Illinois.  He died Jan. 24, 1879, aged 76 years.
     Eli P. Ashbrook was born in Pleasant township, Dec. 10, 1816.  He was well educated for the times in which he lived, and during his young years was a successful school teacher.  His first wife was Adaline Shaw, daughter of John Shaw, a much respected farmer of Rushcreek.  His wife's brothers were O. P. Shaw, J. W. Shaw and Andrew Shaw, all well known to your readers.  His second wife, Mary, was a daughter of Andrew Shaw, a number one citizen of Rushcreek township, and a brother of John Shaw.  Joseph Shaw, near West Rushville, is his brother-in-law.
     E. P. has had a checkered career.  He farmed for some years and finally invested money in the distillery business.  Fire came and swept away most of his in

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vestment.  He then moved West and settled in Mattoon, Illinois, where he was for some time engaged in the woolen mill business.  He now lives a retired life at Windsor, Illinois, being now nearly 83 years of age.  Eli P. was always an elegant gentleman, industrious, energetic and honest, and left a host of friends behind, when he left old Fairfield.
     His oldest daughter, Laura, lives in Ada, Ohio, and one of his sons is a druggist at Mansfield, Ohio. 
     Another is a prosperous man in Washington State.  Two other daughters are happily married and live, one in Mattoon and one in Chicago, Illinois.
     Fanny Ashbrook was born in Hampshire county, Virginia, Jan. 3, 1804.  She married Lewis Kagy, long a good farmer of Walnut township.  They reared three beautiful daughters, and intelligent girls they were.  Aaron Kagy, for years the great stock buyer of this county, was Lewis Kagy's son.  Mary married Jacob Walters and lives at Webster City, Iowa.  They had the misfortune to lose an only daughter by fire, her clothing having taken fire.  Laura married James Church.  Rebecca married first, Ben. Walters.  She married again, this time to a wealthy farmer near Ottawa. Illinois.  Mrs. Kagy died, aged 93 years.
     Deborah Ashbrook was born May 26, 1819.  She married David McNaughten. a farmer of Walnut township.
     The great sorrow of their lives was the loss of a dear boy, Aaron, at the assault upon Ft. Wagner.  He sleeps in an unknown grave, no one in this county saw him fall or is able to tell anything about his death.  David died, aged 65 years.  Deborah died December, 1897.

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     Katherine Ashbrook was born Mar. 26, 1814.  She married Samuel Walters, a farmer of Walnut.  She died October, 1891.  Her children live in the West.
     Amelia Ashbrook was born Aug. 19, 1825.  She married William Cherry, a farmer of Walnut.  They were the parents of twelve children.  She died Nov.  2, 1877.  The Cherry children are married, three or four live near the old home, the others in the West.
     It is surprising to learn how the old families are locked together by marriage.  The two Peters families, the Stevensons, Rebers, Ruffners, Leists, Aliens, Ashbrooks, Claypools and Shaws are bound together like an endless chain.  The writer is indebted to Eli P. Ashbrook for information furnished.
     The Ashbrooks were well posted politicians.  When parties divided during President Jackson's term, they espoused the cause of the Whig party.  They were ardent supporters of Gen. Harrison and Henry Clay.  In 1848, the writer was present at a township Whig meeting held in Keller's school house.  Tunis P. Ashbrook was president.  At this meeting Uriah C. Rutter, then a young school teacher, was a speaker, and devoted his time to a defense of the tariff.  He acquitted himself so well that the president requested him to prepare a speech for the next meeting.
     In 1856 they became Republicans, and for the remainder of their lives gave their time, their means and influence to that party, conscientiously believing, that in that way, they were but serving their country.  Their families were represented in the Union army by active, brave and intelligent young men— and while they were fighting the foe with undaunted courage, their fathers were active, patriotic supporters of the Government at home.

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     Captain Aaron P. Ashbrook returned in safety from the war, and was for many years a popular citizen and an active leading Republican of this county.
     Reason Ashbrook, a prominent citizen of Coles County, Illinois, formerly lived in this county and belonged to one branch of this family.

     THE PETERS FAMILY (TUNIS, REV.)
pg. 214

     Jonathan and Martha (Thompson) Peters, came from Hampshire County, Virginia, in 1816, first stopping at the home of William Ashbrook, about a mile from the old homestead.
     Jonathan Peters was a son of Tunis Peters, who lived in Hampshire County, Virginia, in 1816, first stopping at the home of William Ashbrook, about a mile from the old homestead.
     Jonathan Peters was the son of Tunis Peters, who lived in Hampshire County, Virginia.  Tunis Peters' father and mother emigrated from Holland to the Shenandoah Valley, and raised a family there in the first half of the eighteenth century.  Tunis' wife's maiden name being Francina Adams.
     Tunis and Francina Peters reared a family of thirteen children in Virginia and emigrated to Pickaway County, Ohio, following their children after they had married.
     Jonathan Peters married Martha Thompson in Virginia and came to Pickaway County and afterwards removed to Fairfield County.
     Jonathan was one of the pioneer school teachers, living at the time - Apr. 30, 1822 - near Millersport on what is now known as the Martha Henderson farm.
     Jonathan's stay here was short, he having said that he would not give a dollar an acre for such land as was about him.  The experience of having to pen his cows in an enclosure to prevent them becoming mired in the swaley lands of the community, was such that

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he was very willing to remove, which he did in 1823, to the vicinity of Logan, Ohio.
     A few years after living there, his father, Tunis Peters came from East Ringgold, Pickaway County, to visit him, and died Sept. 24, 1826, at his home.
     On the prevailment of his mother he removed and lived with her in Pickaway County, Ohio.
     The ancestor of Mrs. Peters was John Thompson, who came from Ireland at the age of sixteen, as a stowaway, and upon his arrival at Baltimore he was sold for his transportation to the highest bidder.  He afterward became a wealthy and respected farmer of Hampshire County, Virginia.
     In 1844 Mrs. Peters died, leaving a large family of children.  Jonathan again married, this time a widow Harmon, aunt of Dr. G. A. Harmon, of Lancaster, and mother of Amos T. Harmon, of Columbus, whom Peters reared to manhood.
     In 1848, Jonathan again moved to the place upon which he died, it being three miles east of Pleasantville, Ohio, and the place is yet known as the Jonathan Peters farm.

PHILIP PETERS

     Philip Peters married Mary Ashbrook and settled at a very early day in Walnut township, Fairfield County.  He died and was buried in that township in 1817, near what is now Millersport.  Their daughter, Mary, was born Jan. 10, 1812.  Left an orphan at five years, she was taken into the family of her uncle, Peter McGee.  In February, 1834, she was married to John Pittsford, of Granville.  They settled in Baltimore, where Pittsford was a merchant.  Their daughter, Martha, who married Isaac Frickbone, was born in the brick house now owned by S. S. Weist in

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Baltimore.  In 1843, Pittsford exchanged his goods for a farm near Kirkersville, to which they moved, Pittsford died in March, 1847.
     In 1847 Mrs. Pittsford married Myron Merchant, who died in June, 1866.  In October, 1868, she married Alfred Hatch, of Delaware, Ohio, who died in May 1871, leaving her a widow for the third time.  Mrs. Hatch is still living, 89 years of age.  The Peters stock were long-lived people.

TUNIS PETERS, SR.

     Tunis Peters, sr., married Francina Adams, and they reared a family of 13 children in Hampshire county, Virginia.  We have written briefly of Jonathan and Philip and will now mention others of the family.
     James Peters married his cousin, Nancy Peters, Samuel Peters married his cousin, Amelin Peters, Abigail Peters married Aaron Ashbrook, Deborah Peters married Michael Blue, Katie Peters married Reverend Eli Ashbrook, who moved to Licking County, Ohio; Tunis Peters, Jr., married Eve Glaze and settled in Franklin County.  The Peters Dash Company was owned by his sons, of Columbus, Ohio; Gersham Peters married Susan Glaze and settled in Franklin County; Permelia Peters married William Ashbrook and they settled in Amanda township, Fairfield County, Ohio; John Peters married Cynthia Biddle and settled in Pickaway County, Ohio; Absalom Peters married Phama Sarsher and settled near E. Ringgold, Pickaway County, Ohio. 

THE KAGYS OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY

     The Shenndoah Valley, of Virginia, was settled largely by Pennsylvania People, both English and German speaking people.  They emigrated from

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Berks, Lancaster and York Counties, Pennsylvania.  There were Mennonites, Dunkers and Primitive Baptists among them.  From the year 1806 to 1840, in almost every year many families came from that valley to Fairfield County.  Samuel and Reverend John Wiseman, Abraham Winters, the Millers, Murphys, Ashbrooks, Beerys, Freeds  and hundreds of other families all came from that splendid valley.
     Of the many families referred to, none were larger or more highly respected than the Kagys.  They were a hardy race, descended from hardy Swiss Ancestors.  But few of this large family now reside in Fairfield, for as the children grew to years of maturity, they married and either moved north to Seneca and Hancock Counties or to Marion, Cumberland and Effingham Counties, Illinois.  This family produced many men of considerable prominence and ability, farmers, lawyers, doctors, ministers, teachers and merchants.
     Honorable John Seitz, of Seneca County, was the son of Lewis Seitz, whose wife was a Kagy.
     Rudolph Kagy, a native of Switzerland, came first to Pennsylvania.  From there he moved to the valley of Virginia, and he was the founder of the family that came to the county, 1844, and settled in Rushcreek.

CHRISTIAN KAGY

     Son of Rudolph,  the second, was born Sept. 14, 1771, in Pennsylvania, and went to Virginia in 1781.  He was married to Mary Bibler in 1796; they were the parents of ten children.  He moved to Fairfield County in 1818 and died Sep. 3, 1831.
     Lewis B. Kagy once lived on the Goldthwait farm in Walnut township, and was the oldest son.  He was born Jan. 15, 1798.  Oct. 9 1823, he married

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Francina Ashbrook.  He died May 12, 1872, in Illinois, Apr. 27, 1897.  They were the parents of seven children.
     Abigail died in infancy.
     Aaron was born Apr. 2, 1826.  He married Eliza Mauk, of Walnut township; they now reside at McCool Junction, Nebraska.  For five years, beginning in 1850, Aaron Kagy was the largest and busiest stock buyer in Ohio; he drove his cattle in lots of 100 to Baltimore, Maryland.  He failed in 1854 and involved many of his friends.  His father and father-in-law endorsed for him and their farms were sold to pay his debts.
     Mary Kagy, the oldest daughter, was born May 11, 1828.  She married Jacob M. Walters and with him moved to the West; she now lives, a widow, in Webster City, Iowa.
     Laura C. was born Mar. 19, 1832; she married Mary P. Beckwith.  He has lived in many parts of the West and now resides at Boseman, Montana.
     Tunis A. was born Apr. 26, 1830; he was drowned July 3, 1853, in the Emberras river, Illinois, where he was visiting.
     Rebecca Kagy was born Mar. 4, 1836.  Her first husband was Benjamin Walters, brother of Jacob M., husband of Mary.  Her second husband is Moab P. Trumbo, to whom she was married Feb. 26, 1856.  They reside on a fine farm near Ottawa, Ill.  The three daughters of Lewis B. Kagy are good women and exceptionally good looking.  They were belles of Walnut Township.

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     Francis Kagy, daughter of Christian, was born July 20, 1800, in Virginia.  She married David Bretz, May 19, 1822, by Reverend Snellson.  David Bretz was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, July 24, 1798.  He was a son of Valentine and Elizabeth Bretz.  They lived near the old home and reared ten children.
     Lewis K. Bretz, a son of David, married Elizabeth Seitz, Feb. 7, 1849, in Seneca County, Ohio.
     Eliza E. married G. W. Harshbarger, February 20, 1878.  W. J. Bretz is a single man, of Wyandot, Ohio.
     Francis A. Bretz married W. J. Stinemetz, Nov. 15, 1887.  The two last named were daughters of Lewis K., who died Aug. 11, 1771.
     Abraham K. Bretz married Mary Ann Perkey, of Seneca County, Ohio, Aug. 27, 1854.
     Elizabeth Bretz married Ziba E. Meyers, Oct. 20, 1844, of Seneca County, Ohio.
     Samuel Bretz, son of David, was born Sept. 13, 1828.  Apr. 14, 1853, he married Anna Seitz, daughter of Lewis Seitz.
     One of them, Mr. George A. Bretz, is a Baptist preacher, of Albion, Indiana.
     Valentine Bretz, married Sarah A. Telford, Sept. 27, 1855.  He died Jun. 11, 1886, from the effects of a wound, received at the battle of Stone River.  One of his sons, residing in Michigan, married a Stinchcomb.
     Mary Bretz married Noah Einsel, of Seneca County, Ohio, Mar. 11, 1852.
     Barbara Bretz married Daniel Seitz, of Seneca County, Ohio, Feb. 4, 1862.  She is now a widow and resides in Cleveland, Ohio.

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     Christena Bretz married W. A. Watson, Sept. 1, 1860.  They reside at Van Buren, Ohio.
     George W. Bretz, son of David Bretz, starved to death in Libby Prison, June 26, 1864.
     Abraham B. Kagy, son of Christion, was born Sep. 17, 1802.  He married Sarah Hall, daughter of Daniel Hall, Aug. 11, 1826.  A. B. Kagy became a distinguished citizen of Findlay, Ohio, and later of Ewington, Effingham county, Illinois.
     Daniel Hall, son of A. B. Kagy.  May 16, 1827, was the date of his birth.  He enlisted in the Thirty-fifth Illinois in 1861, and died in the service of his country.
     Benjamin F., son of A. B. Kagy, was born Feb. 27, 1831.  He married Martha J. Stams, Feb. 6, 1853.  He filled important position of honor and trust in Effingham County, Illinois.
     Barbara Kagy, daughter of Christian Kagy, was born in 1804.  She married John Bretz in 1820.  They were the parents of eleven children.  Their son Christian was a soldier in the Mexican Was.  He served as a clerk in the State Department at Columbus, Ohio.  Their son, Simon Peter, was a Union soldier.
     Elizabeth Kagy, daughter of Christian, was born Nov. 16, 1811.  She was married to James A. Ashbrook, Nov. 10, 1836.  They were the parents of nine children, viz:  Lewis K., John Monroe, Abigail Ann, Mary Catharine, Marie Amelia, Aaron Tunis, Francina Deborah, James Scott and Samuel Clinton.

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     Lewis K. married Cyntha Chism.  John Monroe married Margaret Fuller.  They reside near Humbolt, Illinois.  Abigail Ann married Robert Groves.  They are the parents of thirteen children.  Mary Catharine married Joseph Vance Hill, June 16, 1861.  They reside at Seward, Nebraska.  Mary Amelia married Isaac Bower, of Kansas.
     Frances Deborah, was born Apr. 6, 1849, in Fairfield County, was married to Lafayette Green, March 26, 1867.  They now reside near Ottawa, Kansas.
     James Scott married Almira Gray.
     Samuel Clinton was born June 17, 1854, in Fairfield County, Ohio.  He married Sallie C. Brown Dec. 23, 1875.  He is now the postmaster at Humbolt, Illinois.
     Christian Kagy, jr. son of Christian, was born in 1817, married Nancy Delancy in 1839, and moved to Effingham county, Illinois.
     Samuel Kagy, son of Christian, was born Jan. 1, 1819, in Ohio.  He married Hannah Baker, of Perry County, Ohio, Feb. 6, 1840, and moved to Hancock Co., Ohio.
     Susan, daughter of Christian, never married.
     Rudolph Kagy, brother of Christian and Jacob, was born Nov. 5, 1773, in Berks county, Pennsylvania, and moved with parents to Virginia, in 1781.  He married Hannah Siple in 1796.  From Rockingham County, Virginia, he moved to Fairfield County, Ohio, in 1819.  They were the parents of twelve children, viz: John, Jacob, Christian, Abraham, Catharine, Barbara, Hannah, Elizabeth, Mary, Rudolph, Henry and Doctor Martin Kagy.  Rudolph, sr., died Aug. 5, 1829.  His wife died Nov. 21, 1871.

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     John was born Jan. 17, 1797.  Dec. 3, 1820, he married Catharine Hite.  They first moved to Seneca County, Ohio, in 1827, and from there to Marion County, Illinois, where both died at an advanced age.  John Kagy was a man of ability and high character.  He reared a family of ten children.  His son, Dr. John Kagy, was a distinguished citizen of Seneca County, Ohio.
     John Benjamin, son of John, was born Jan. 9, 1830.  In 1860 he moved to Salem, Illinois.  He studied law with Judge Silas L. Bryan, father of William J. Bryan, and became his partner.  He married Marietta Black, a native of New York state.  They were parents of eleven children.
     Levi M. Kagy, son of David Kagy and grandson of John, is a lawyer of ability at Salem, Illinois.  Levi D. Kagy, son of John, was born Oct. 24, 1838.  He was at one time elected auditor of Seneca County.  He married Frances Ann Lamberton, and they now reside in Fostoria, Ohio.
     Jacob Kagy, son of Rudolph, never married.
     Christian Kagy, son of Rudolph, married Ann Hite, daughter of John Hite, and moved to Marion County, Illinois.  They were the parents of twelve children. 
     Elizabeth, their eldest child, was born Nov. 19, 1826.  She married Samuel E. Stevenson, May 18, 1848, and they moved to Marion County, Illinois, where Stevenson became a wealthy and prominent farmer.
     John Hite Kagy, son of Christian and Anna Hite Kagy, married Hannah J. Furry, Oct. 9, 1859.  Lewis Hite Kagy was a farmer of Marion County, Illinois.

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     Hannah, daughter of Christian and Anna Kagy, was born May 24, 1838.  She married Noah R. Stevenson, son of Mordecai.  The writer remembers Noah as one of his pupils at the Snake Run schoolhouse in 1849.
     Abraham Kagy, son of Rudolph, brother of Christian and Jacob, was born Dec. 23, 1803; he married Barbara Pugh, Dec. 27, 1823.  They were the parents of fifteen children.  They moved at an early day to Seneca County, Ohio.
     Catherine Kagy, daughter of Rudolph, was born in 1805; she married Andrew Hite in 1826.  They were the parents of thirteen children; this large family moved at an early day to Marion County, Illinois.
     Barbara Kagy, daughter of Rudolph, was born Nov. 10, 1807; she married Lewis Seitz, Aug. 24, 1823, and moved to Seneca County, Ohio.  They were the parents of fourteen children.
     The Honorable John Seitz was one of their children; he was born in Seneca County, Ohio; he married Cecelia J. Hite, of Marion County, Ohio.
     John Seitz was a reader and a man of ability; he served in both branches of the Ohio Legislature and was in 1880 the Greenback candidate for Governor of Ohio.  He obtained notoriety and was well known to all Ohio politicians.  Two daughters of Lewis Seitz married into the Bretz family of Seneca County.
     Lewis Seitz died July 12, 1890.
     Hannah Kagy, daughter of Rudolph, was born in 1812, in Virginia.  She married John Crooks, of Berne township, this county; they were the parents of nine children.  Hannah died at the age of 42 years and John Crooks in 1895 at the age of 92 years.

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     Mrs. Henry Bumgardner, of Berne, is one of the daughters.
     Elizabeth, daughter of Rudolph Kagy, was born in 1813.  She married John Beaver.  One of their daughters married Edward Turner, of Richland township, and they were the parents of eleven children.
     Mary Kagy, daughter of Rudolph, was born Jan. 8, 1814; she married Hesekiah Kanode, Dec. 12, 1833.
     Rudolph Kagy, son of Rudolph, was born Feb. 18, 1818; he married Anna Seitz, Dec. 16, 1838.  They moved to Seneca County, Ohio.
     Their son Abraham was a capable man, a Union soldier, and filled several positions of honor and trust.
     Henry Kagy, son of Rudolph Kagy; he was born Mar. 10, 1821, and moved to Seneca county, Ohio, in 1837; he married Phoebe Miller.
     Doctor Martin Kagy was the seventh son and youngest child of Rudolph Kagy  he was born
 Aug. 20, 1825; he married Christena Walters.  He was a teacher and studied medicine; he practiced medicine a year or two, and was then elected clerk of the Common Pleas Court, Fairfield County.  This ended his career as a physician and politics spoiled what might otherwise have been a useful and profitable career.  He died Aug. 24, 1898.  With this we close the sketch of Rudolph and Hannah Siple Kagy.
     Jacob Kagy, son of Rudolph second, of Virginia, and brother of Christian and Rudolph, was born Nov. 3, 1776, in Shenandoah County, Virginia; he married Rebecca Bibler, a sister of Christian's wife, April, 1810; he came with his family to Fairfield County, and settled in Walnut township in the year

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1818.  They were the parents of five children, Barbara, John, Isaac, Jerretha and Lewis.
     Barbara was born Aug. 23, 1812; she married Daniel Rinehart, of Walnut, in January, 1837.  They were the parents of six children.  Daniel Rinehart moved about 1840 to Effingham County, Illinois, where he became a prominent merchant and a popular and useful citizen.  Three of his sons are men of prominence and two of them lawyers.
     John Kagy was born Sept. 15, 1844; his first wife was Isabelle Stevenson; his second wife was Mary Jane Camp.  Late in life he moved to Marion County, Illinois, where he died Nov. 22, 1878.  He left seven children.
     Isaac Kagy, son of Jacob, died unmarried in 1852, in the state of Illinois
     Jerretha Kagy was born July 1, 1824, and married David Grove, Sept. 2, 1851.  They were the parents of eight children.  She died Nov. 5, 1895.
    Lewis Kagy, son of Jacob, was born Aug. 18, 1831; in 1851 he married Julia Spitler; he died Mar. 1886.
    Jacob Kagy was all of his life one of the best men of Walnut township; he was one of the pillars of the Primitive Baptist church.  His memory is precious to all who knew him.  There are but few of the names of Kagy, Bretz, Spitler and Ashbrook remaining in this county, but Seneca County, Hancock County, Ohio, Effingham County, Illinois, and Marion County, Illinois, gained what Fairfield lost, viz., hundreds of good citizens, men of character and ability.
     Christian R. Kagy, son of Rudolph Kagy and grandson of Henry Kagy of Shenandoah county, Vir-

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ginia, came to Fairfield County, in 1833, and settled in Rushcreek township.  He was born Dec. 13, 1795, and in 1824 he married Barbara Blosser.  By this marriage he had one daughter, Barbara.  His first wife died soon after their marriage and in 1827 he was again married to Barbara Hoffman.  By this marriage six children were born to him, viz.:  Rudolph, Frederick, Franklin, David, John and Christian C.
     His daughter, Barbara, married Rachael Wilson and resides west of Bremen, Ohio.
     Mary Brandt married Enos Young, Feb. 9, 1869.
     Christopher Brandt married Maria E. Westenberger, Oct. 5, 1875.  They are the parents of twelve children.
     Lewis M. married Arminda J. Page, Feb. 25, 1875. 
     Rudolph Kagy, the eldest son of Christian R. Kagy was born Oct. 27, 1828, in Page County, Virginia, and married Annie Alexander, May 19, 1857, a sister of Mrs. Robert J. Black.  Two children were born to this couple.  Nettie T. Kagy, born Feb. 21, 1861.  She was educated at the Pleasantville Academy and at the Female Seminary, Oxford, Ohio.  She was married to John A. Gravett, of Lancaster, Ohio, Dec. 5, 1888.  They reside at Salida, Colorado.
     James Josiah Kagy was born July 9, 1863.  He was educated at the Pleasantville Academy and at Dayton, Ohio, May 17, 1893, he was married to Ida M. Fisher.  They reside on a farm near Pleasantville.
     Rudolph Kagy died July 28, 1889.  He had lived the life of a farmer in Fairfield County for 59 years. 

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At the time of his death he was a member of the Fairfield County Agricultural Board.  He was a good citizen and highly esteemed by all who knew him.
     Frederick Kagy, son of Christian R., was born Feb. 8, 1830.  He lived with his brother, Rudolph, and died at his home, Apr. 3, 1890.
     Franklin Kagy, son of Christian K., was born July 24, 1831, and Jan. 20, 1853, married Ellen Jane Alexander.  They were the parents of eleven children.  They were active and prominent members of Bethel Presbyterian church in Rushcreek township.
     Their son, Harrison B., lives west of Bremen, Ohio.  Their daughter Maggie Ann, married Thomas A. Pugh, one of the clear headed educated farmers of Greenfield township.
     John Williams, their son, was born Nov. 28, 1859.  He was educated at the Ohio Normal School, Ada, Ohio.  After teaching acceptably for many years, he engaged in farming.  In the year 1885, he married Jennie Stuart, of hear Bremen.
     Ella Dora, their daughter, married George McCandish, of Rushcreek.
     Hattie Florence, another daughter, married Mr. Bert Stuart, of Rushcreek.
     Melnotte Kagy, ninth child of Franklin Kagy, made her home with her uncle, Rudolph, until her marriage with Banner E. Friend, Dec. 27, 1893.
     John Kagy, son of Christian R., was born near Bremen, Feb. 3, 1835, and lived all of his life a respected citizen on the old home farm.  He married Tennie Stuart, Nov. 21, 1861.
     They reared and educated eleven children.  They were not only pupils of the common schools, but several

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of them at the Pleasantville Academy and the Normal School, of Ada, Ohio.  This is an educated cultured Christian family, an honor to Rushcreek and the name they bear.
     Christian C. Kagy, son of Christian R., was born Mar. 10, 1837; he was a veteran Union soldier.  He married Maria J. Stuart, sister of his brother's wife.  He was a soldier of the Sixty-second Ohio, and, broken in health, he died July, 1897.
     Virginia, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Kansas were enriched by the blood of the Kagy family.  There were and are many able and distinguished men in the connection.  The best known and ablest man with Kagy blood in his veins, was the late Thomas F. Bayard, of Delaware, whose mother was a descendant of Kagy.  Of this large and extraordinary family, fully three-fourths were members of the Primitive Baptist church.  There are however, Methodists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Reforms, Dunkers and Mennonites among them.
     The writer of this sketch knew many of them and had access to an exhaustive history of the Kagy family by Franklin Kagy, of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.
     Anna Hite, daughter of Squire John Hite, who resided just west of the old school Baptist church in Pleasant township, married Christian Kagy.
     Catherine Hite, a sister of Squire John Hite, married John Kagy, a son of Rudolph Kagy.
     Squire John Hite, was a first cousin of Reverend John Hite, the father of Samuel and Jacob Hite, of Lancaster, Ohio.  John Henry Kagy of one branch of this family, died with "old John Brown."