GEORGE W. KENAN. Among the hardy sons of toil who have subdued the towering forests, drained the malarious swamps and developed the vast agricultural resources of the region of northern Ohio known as the Black Swamp, the subject of this sketch deserves honorable mention. Beginning at the very foot of the ladder, at the age of ten, he patiently worked his way up the rounds, step by step, until he reached the height of competence.
     George W. Kenan was born July 31, 1824, a native of Perry county, Ohio. His paternal grandfather, James Kenan, was born about 1778, in Ireland, and died, in 1858, in Jackson township, Sandusky Co., Ohio. The grandmother was born in 1780. They reared a family of eleven children, three of whom are yet living. The father of our subject, Silas Kenan, was born February 3, 1807, near Wheeling, W. Va., and migrated thence to Perry county, Ohio, where he remained until 1835, the year of his removal to Jackson township, Sandusky county, where he resided till his death in 1875. He married Barbara, daughter of Jacob and Mary Overmyer, of Harrisburg, Dauphin Co., Penn., the father born in Pennsylvania about 1784, the mother about the same time. They reared a family of nine children, only one of whom survives, Peter, now aged eighty-five years, and a brief record of them is as follows: Barbara, Mrs. Kenan, was born February 20, 1802. Hugh, a farmer in Jackson township, married Miss Nellie Yost, and has eight children— Henry, Harrison, Mary, John I., Frank Mitchell, France, Martha and Hiram— three of whom are living; he is a Democrat, and a member of the Baptist Church. Margaret married Hugh Mitchell, a farmer, and has four children; Mr. Mitchell is a Democrat and a Baptist. Lewis, a farmer of Jackson township, like his brothers, is a Democrat and a Baptist, is married and has five children—Susan, Ellen, Ben, Catharine and Hugh. Eva married Rev. Mr. Dahouf. Catharine married Emanuel Roberts, and had two children, both now deceased. Polly, who married Benjamin Hammit, a farmer of Iowa, has eight children; he is a Democrat and a Baptist. Peter, also a farmer in Iowa, married Elizabeth Hill, and had five children; he is also a Democrat and Baptist. The name of the ninth child is Betsy.
     The children of Silas and Barbara Kenan, parents of our subject, were: Hugh, who died in childhood; George W.; Thomas J., born in 1826, who married Jemima Housman, and was killed in a runaway at Fremont, Ohio, December 31, 1864, being preceded to the grave by his wife, who died August 23, 1864; Peter, born November 22, 1829, who was married March 4, 1856, to Sarah A. Hodgson and has had one child; William Manville, who, in 1878, married Miss Sylvia A. Powell (he has a fine collection of Indian relics); Minerva, born December 6, 1830, who married William Jackson, of Fremont, Ohio, and has two children— Thomas G. and Charles B. (Mr. Jackson is a Republican); Mahala, born April 24, 1832, who married Thomas J. Eldridge, a farmer of Indiana, who was a soldier in the Civil war (he is a Republican and a member of the U. B. Church); Francis, a blacksmith of Green Spring, Ohio, who married Eliza Strouse, and has four children—Ellen, Minerva, William O. and Birchard (he served in the Civil war in Company I, Seventy-second O. V. I.); Mary Ann, who married Charles Robinson, a farmer of Michigan, and has six children—Francis, Milo, Charles, Clifford, Howard and Minnie (Mr. Robinson is a Republican and a member of the M. E. Church; he was a soldier in the Civil war); Oscar, who is a farmer near Galesburg, Ill., married Margaret Ickes, and has five children (he is a Republican and a member of the M. E. Church); and Caroline, born July 10, 1847, who married Daniel Condon, a carpenter and school teacher, and died July 25, 1871 (they had a child that died in infancy; Mr. Condon is a Republican).
     Our subject started out to work on a farm by the month when he was only ten years of age, saved his money and made prudent investments, and is now enjoying the fruits of his early economy and industry. At the age of twenty-seven, October 13, 1851, he married Miss Elizabeth Posey, who was born August 30, 1832, and they had seven children, of whom, Orin married Angeline King, and has two children—Frank and Lulu (he is a Democrat and a member of the U. B. Church); Charles, who is a farmer, married Mary Cookson (he is a Democrat and a member of the Evangelical Association); Lodemie married Michael Mowery, and has three children—Charles, Lewis and Webb; Marshall, a farmer, married Miss Carrie Smith (he is a Democrat); Lorema married Elijah Voorhies, a farmer of Seneca county (he is a Republican and a member of the U. B. Church); Frank, a farmer, of Jackson township, married Miss Clara Havens (he is a Democrat); the name of the seventh child is Barbara A. Mrs. Kenan is the daughter of Isaac and Sabra (Preston) Posey, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania, the former born in 1804 near Philadelphia, the latter in 1810 in Mercer county. They had a family of children as follows: Sarah, Elizabeth (Mrs. Kenan), Sabra, Luther, Rachel and Hannah (twins), Harriet, Bell, Susanna, Martha, Mary, John, David, Esther and William, ten of whom are living. Mr. and Mrs. Posey migrated to the Black Swamp, Ohio, when Mrs. Kenan was but two years of age, and the father died in 1858, the mother September 20, 1888. Grandmother Elizabeth Preston was born in England, about 1777, and had six children, four of whom are living. Mrs. Kenan's paternal grandfather, Micaga Posey, was a major in the Revolutionary war.
     The first land Mr. Kenan bought was 180 acres in Jackson township; he next purchased 122 in Scott township, then about 200 of his neighbor's land, making in all 327 acres. He has retired from farming, his son, G. F. Kenan, operating the farm; but during his active life he cleared many acres of heavily timbered land which he now owns. He has leased his land in Scott township to the Standard Oil Co., receiving a snug income from this source. In politics he is a stanch Democrat, and in religious faith a member of the Baptist Church, to which he contributes liberally.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of SANDUSKY & OTTAWA, OHIO - Publ. J. B. Beers & Co. 1896 - Page 174

GEORGE W. KING, a well-to-do farmer of Ballville township, Sandusky county, was born in Pickaway county, Ohio, March 20, 1849.
     His father, John King, was born March 2, 1819, in Fairfield county, Ohio, and married Miss Mary Mowry. Their children were: (1) Catharine, wife of Valentine Moshier; she died at the age of twenty-one years, leaving one son, John, living in Allen county, Ohio. (2) Mary is the wife of Valentine Moshier, a farmer, residing in Allen county, Ohio. (3) Elizabeth is the wife of David Roberts, of Scott township; she died at the age of forty-four years, and is buried in Oakwood Cemetery. (4) Lydia is the wife of William Reichelderfer, by whom she had four children—Hattie, George, Frank and Lettie—and after his death she married, in 1890, William Slates, a farmer of Tipton county, Ind. (5) George W. is our subject. (6) Sarah, born in 1851, in Pickaway county, is the wife of Jacob Mowery, a farmer of Michigan. (7) John, born 1854, married Miss Carrie Hunlock, and has one son, John Clarence. (8) Jacob, born November 20, 1856, is a farmer in Ballville township, married to Miss Fredie Crites, and has two children—Omer and De Witt. (9) Elmira, born in 1859, is the wife of John Searfoss, a farmer of Scott township, and has two children—Bessie and Stella. (10) Perry, a farmer of Scott township, born in 1861, married Sadie Hunlock, and has four children—Pearl, Iva, Hazel and Carrie.
     Our subject started out in life for himself at the age of twenty-two with the health, pluck and perseverance which ensures success. He worked three years in the oil fields of Warren county, Penn., then returned and worked at his trade as a carpenter until December 9, 1875, when he married Miss Mary J. Ludwig, daughter of Jacob and Louisa (DeLong) Ludwig, farmers of Allen county, Ohio. He next farmed in Jackson township one year, then five years in Allen county, and on his return to Sandusky county, bought eighty acres of Jacob Ludwig for $4,500. On January 30, 1882, he moved upon the farm where he now lives, remained nine years, then located near Fremont, where he remained three years, finally moving back on the farm of 133 acres, which cost him $ 10, 000. Here he follows mixed farming, raising grain, grass, fruit and live stock, with good success. He is a man of enterprise and public spirit, and has held various public offices. The children of George W. and Mary King are: M. Louisa, born April 7, 1880; Ada M., September 19, 1883; Charles L., July 9, 1885; and Evan M., September 11, 1889. The brothers and sisters of Mrs. King are Isaac, John, Charles, Obed and Jacob.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of SANDUSKY & OTTAWA, OHIO - Publ. J. B. Beers & Co. 1896 - Page 194