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The “Dunkards” of Bremen, Ohio Area

The first European settlement of what is now Fairfield County, Ohio happened in the final years of the eighteenth century, as a few families made their way into the region from Pennsylvania and Virginia. Among the earliest settlers were a number who adhered to the Brethren Church, an Anabaptist grouping with roots going back to 1708 that established itself in eastern Pennsylvania and spread in influence through the eighteenth century west into other portions of Pennsylvania and south into Maryland and the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Some of these families came from Mennonite backgrounds, whereas others came from German Reformed or Lutheran backgrounds prior to their association with the Brethren. The group was known to many as “Dunkards” or Tunkers, referring to their mode of immersion Baptism.

Hervey Scott’s 1877 Complete History of Fairfield County, Ohio gives a lengthy history of the “Dunkard” community of Rush Creek and surrounding areas. This history was obtained by the writer primarily from a John Hunsaker (1), who served as a preacher from about 1848 until 1871 (he was ordained bishop in 1857). The Rush Creek community was established in 1809 with 25 members. Elijah Schofield (2) and Jacob Staley (3) were the first preachers. Later, George Bright and Isaac Beery, who were among the “principal” members, (for both, see below) later preached. Daniel Snider (4) frequently came from Perry County to preach and serve the community.

This snippets of early history draw strong ties to another Brethren community about 20 miles northeast of Bremen, the Jonathan Creek community. Elijah Schofield, Jacob Staley, and Daniel Snider were all active members of this community, and all appear to have served as itinerant leaders serving other Brethren communities. Although Brethren worship was probably held in Perry County before 1810, the Jonathan Creek community was officially organized in 1817. This community drew many Brethren families from Frederick County, Maryland and other western parts of the state. The two communities were intertwined by strong community relationships and intermarriage, in some cases stretching back to German-speaking Europe.

Philip Stoneburner (5) became the leader of the community in 1838 and served for approximately ten years, when John Hunsaker (above) became preacher, and from 1857, bishop. He served for a long term, until 1871. Other preachers included in mid-century Daniel Hartsough (6); Joseph Henricks (7), Michael Moore (8), Abraham Stemen (9), and John Hufford (10).

In 1877, this congregation had three meeting points:  one a mile and a quarter south of Bremen (likely on or near the Mericle farm, known in some sources as the Mericle Church), one 8 miles southwest of Bremen, and another 5 miles southwest of Bremen on Durbin Run. The latter two are almost certainly located in Marion Township, Hocking County, Ohio.

The Durbin Run church probably corresponds to the original Christian Beery (1792-1859) settlement in or near section 6 of Marion Township that is mentioned in the History of the Hocking Valley (1883). The other may refer to the “Slabshed Church” in section 24, located near Bowland-Derr Road, although this is 8 miles southeast, rather than southwest.

The 1877 history indicates that the Brethren church had declined from over 100 members to about 70, due mainly to emigration. A church building was built on the Mericle farm in 1856-1857. A brick Brethren church was built in Bremen in 1909, but services continued in some form at the Mericle church until 1914, when it was abandoned. Services continued at the Bremen church until 1925. (11)

The “principal members” of the church, according to the 1877 article, included the following families. In the heading, names are spelled as they are in the article, although ongoing references use commonly accepted spellings.

Casper Hufford and wife

Casper Hufford (1762-1825), was born in Frederick County, Maryland, son of Christian Hufford and Elizabeth (Keim) Hufford. His father was born in 1716 in Schwaigern, Württemberg and came to Philadelphia in 1729, where he married Miss Keim of Berks County and later settled in Frederick County, Maryland. Casper Hufford was born there and married, in 1786, Catharine Steel/Stihl/Stihli at Rocky Hill Lutheran Church in Woodsboro, Maryland. Catharine (1767-1840) was born in Frederick County, daughter of Christopher Stihl and Catharina (Wine) Stihl. She was a granddaughter of Johan Georg Wine (1715-1797), whose descendants were prominent in the Brethren movement in Maryland, Virginia, Ohio, Tennessee, and elsewhere. Although Casper and Catharine were married in a Lutheran church and baptized their first four children there, they were committed Brethren by 1800 (12). They settled for a short time in the late 1790s in Rockingham County, Virginia before moving to Fairfield County around 1807, settling in Rush Creek. Thirteen children lived to adulthood, spreading out from Fairfield to many points. In terms of direct relationships to other principal members, Catharine Hufford was a sister of Saloma (Stihl) Mericle, wife of John Mericle. She was also a half-sister of Frances (Bowman) Bright, wife of George Bright. Casper and Catherine were the parents of both Solomon Hufford and Abraham Hufford. Their children intermarried with the Friesners, Weltys, Henricks, and Beery families.

Isaac Beery and wife

Isaac Beery (1777-1851), was born in York County, Pennsylvania, son of Nicholas Beery and Mary (Keller) Beery. Nicholas was a younger brother of Magdalena (Beery) Hunsaker, grandmother of another principal member, Jacob Hunsaker. The Beerys married York County and lived there until they moved to Rockingham County, Virginia about 1786. Mary (Keller) Beery died there and Nicholas took as a second wife a Mrs. Mary Good. They came to Fairfield around 1805. Nicholas died there in 1811. His second wife survived until 1840. Isaac Beery came with his father and step-mother as a single man and married Mary Cradlebaugh, a recent immigrant from Germany, in 1806. She was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, a daughter of John Cradlebaugh/Kreidelbach and Dorothea Mundscheiner of Bremen, northern Germany. Isaac and his wife were Brethren all their lives. In terms of direct relationships, Isaac was a brother of John, Abraham, and Henry Beery and a cousin, as noted above, of Jacob Hunsaker.

John Beery and wife

John Beery (1765-1850) was the oldest son of Nicholas Beery and Mary (Keller) Beery. He married in Rockingham County, Virginia to Margaret Shaver (1765-1845), a daughter of Nicholas Shaver of Rockingham. They spent their lives in the vicinity of Bremen, Ohio and raised nine children, six of whom survived to adulthood. In terms of direct relationships, John was the eldest brother of Isaac, Henry, and Abraham Beery. His son, Abraham Washington Beery, married the eldest daughter of John and Saloma Mericle. His son, David, married Susan, a daughter of Casper and Catharine Hufford.

Henry Beery and wife

Henry Beery (1781-1860), was among the younger sons of Nicholas Beery and Mary (Keller) Beery, his first wife. He came as a single man with his parents and married in Fairfield Elizabeth Rhodes (1784-1858), daughter of John Rhodes and Anna Maria (Miller) Rhodes of Berks County, Pennsylvania and Fairfield. They lived their entire lives in Fairfield. In terms of direct relationships, Henry was a brother of the other Beerys mentioned, and his daughter, Sarah, married a son of Casper Hufford.

Solomon Hufford and wife

Solomon Hufford (1786-1876), was born in Frederick County, Maryland, son of Casper and Catharine, above. He came with his parents as a young man to Fairfield County around 1805 and married Margaret Henricks (1789-1861). She was born in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, the daughter of John Henricks and Elizabeth (Snider) Henricks, who later settled in the Jonathan Creek Brethren settlement in Perry County. A number of her siblings also married into the Hufford family. They raised 10 children. In terms of direct relationships, Solomon was a son of Casper and Catharine, above. Their children married into the Hunsaker, Friesner, and Stoneburner families. Margaret (Henricks) Hufford’s family has more distant connections to the Hartsough and Stoner families in Maryland.

Daniel Hartsough and wife

Daniel Hartsough (about 1759-1834), was born in Frederick County, Maryland, son of Peter Hartsough/Hartsock and his wife, Sara of Raritan, New Jersey and later moved to Frederick County, Maryland. Daniel married there Elizabeth Fundenberg (1754-1813), daughter of Walter Fundenberg and Catharine (Stuhl or Stihl) Fundenberg. Walter Fundenberg died around 1797 in Frederick County. After his wife’s death in 1813, he took as his second wife the mother of his daughter-in-law, Mrs. Susan Fulcairth, who accompanied him and many of his family to Ohio around 1805. He died in 1834 in Fairfield County. His second wife survived long enough to be enumerated on the 1850 census. In terms of direct relationships, his daughter, Susanna, married Jacob Stoner, another principal member. It is possible that Catharine (Stihl) Fundenberg may have been an aunt to Christopher Stihl, father of Catharine Hufford. There are a number of other connections with the Stoner, Henricks, and allied families in Maryland.

George Bright and wife

George Bright (1784-1864), born in Rockingham County, Virginia, son of Peter and Susannah Bright. His father came from Pennsylvania to Rockingham County, where he died about 1802. The Peter Bright family had a close connection to the Jacob Bowman family – at least three of his sons married sons and daughters of Jacob Bowman, including George, who married Frances Bowman (1787-1876), daughter of Jacob Bowman and his final wife, Catharine (Wine) Stihl. George and Fanny were Dunkards in Virginia and remained so through their lives in Hocking County, Ohio. In terms of direct relationships, Frances Bright was a younger half-sister of Catharine Hufford and Saloma Mericle. Their children married into the Hufford family.

Frederick Friezner and wife

Frederick Friesner, (1775-1857), was born in Pennsylvania, son of Johannes/John Friesner and Susanna (Grimm) Friesner. They married in 1773 in First Reformed Church of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. They later settled in Rockingham County, where John died in 1801. Frederick married Magdalena Earhardt (1775-1843) in Rockingham and came with his brothers, Henry and John, to Fairfield before 1810. In terms of direct relationships, the Friesners’ son, John, married Casper Hufford’s daughter, Catharine.

Jacob Hunsaker and wife

Jacob Hunsaker (1784-1854), was born in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, son of John Hunsaker (1752-1792) and Elizabeth (Huber) Hunsaker (d. 1792), who were early pioneers of western Pennsylvania and were killed by Indians. He married Elizabeth Huffman (1778-1855). They came to Fairfield about 1805. Their family almost all were Brethren in Fairfield County, many eventually associating the Slab Shed congregation in Marion Township, Hocking County. In terms of direct relationships, Jacob Hunsaker was a cousin of the Beery brothers of Rush Creek Township.

Abraham Beery and wife

Abraham Beery, (1773-1845), was born in York County, Pennsylvania, son of Nicholas Beery and Mary (Keller) Beery, later of Rockingham County, Virginia and (Nicholas) later of Fairfield. He married Catharine Fast (1786-1870) in Rockingham County in 1802 and came to Fairfield County around 1804. She was born in Pennsylvania, daughter of Christian Fast and Anna Barbara (Mason) Fast of Greene County, Pennsylvania and, later, of Ashland County, Ohio. Abraham was a brother of the other Beerys listed above. His family, however, seemed to associate more with some of the Primitive Baptist families of Fairfield in later years. None of his children intermarried with the other principal families.

Jacob Stoner and wife

Jacob Stoner (1780-1858), was born in Frederick County, Maryland, son of John Stoner and Elizabeth (Landes) Stoner. Jacob married Susanna Hartsough (1784-1878), daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth (Fundenberg) Hartsough, above. They came to Fairfield relatively late, around 1818. Their family remained in Fairfield and Perry Counties, Ohio. In terms of direct relationships, Susanna’s parents were also principal members. Susanna’s brother, David, married Jacob’s sister, Rebecca. The Stoners also appear to have links with the Hufford, Stihl, and other families of Frederick County, Maryland.

John Miricle and wife

John Mericle, (1774-1846), was probably born in either Virginia or Pennsylvania. His parentage is unknown. He married Saloma Stihl (1781-1840) in 1801 in Rockingham County. Saloma was the sister of Catharine (Stihl) Hufford and a younger daughter of Christopher and Catharine (Wine) Stihl of Frederick County, Maryland and, later, of Rockingham. They settled in Fairfield about 1804. Saloma was a sister of two other principal members, Catharine Hufford and Frances Bowman. She may have been a more distant relative of the Stoners and Hartsough families. Their eldest daughter married a daughter of John Beery, while a younger daughter married a son of Frederick Friesner.

Abraham Hufford and wife

Abraham Hufford, (1788-1859), was born in Frederick County, Maryland and came with his parents to Rockingham before coming to Fairfield around 1805. He married Elizabeth Plank, daughter of Adam Plank, a Brethren family of Perry County, Ohio with roots in Maryland and Pennsylvania. The Planks associated closely with the Scofield family of Perry County. Abraham and Elizabeth moved in 1833 to Carroll County, Indiana, where they remained associated with the Brethren church and where both died. Abraham was a son of Casper Hufford and brother of Solomon Hufford.

Sally Hartsough

It is not immediately clear who this is. It may be a reference to Mrs. Susan Fulcairth, who in her widowhood married Daniel Hartsough, above, or perhaps a sister-in-law or sister of Daniel. A Sally Hartsough appears on the 1820 census of Bloom Township, Fairfield County, Ohio.

(1) John Hunsaker (1811-1883), born in Fairfield County in 1811, son of Jacob Hunsaker (1784-1854) and Elizabeth (Huffman) Hunsaker (1778-1855). Jacob came to Fairfield County in the first years of the nineteenth century. He later lived in Marion Township, Hocking County, and associated with the Mericle Church there. He and his wife are both buried at the Ruff Cemetery in Hocking County. John Hunsaker married Catharine Hufford (1814-1873), daughter of Solomon and Margaret (Henricks) Hufford. In later life, John Hunsaker moved to be closer to his children in Allen and Paulding Counties of northwest Ohio. At least some of his children joined the conservative Old German Baptist church in the 1880s. Jacob Hunsaker was a first cousin of Isaac, John, and Henry Beery; his grandmother was Magdalena (Beery) Hunsaker, sister of Nicholas Beery.

(2) Elijah Scofield (1776-1836) was an early settler in Perry County, Ohio, where he helped to found the Jonathan Creek Brethren congregation. He came to the area around 1800 from near Flintstone Gap, Maryland, and remained an itinerant preacher, traveling regularly back and forth and serving a number of Brethren congregations in southwest Ohio. He apparently served at an early day as a preacher for the Rush Creek congregation as well. His family appears to be tied closely with the Eversole, Plank, Snider, and Henricks families of Perry County.

(3) It is clear that a Brethren minister named Jacob Staley was active in early southwestern Ohio. He most probably descends from the Jacob Staley family of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. He may be connected to Brethren Jacob Staleys of Montgomery, Preble, and Allen Counties, Ohio. The variations of “Staley” often look remarkably like the variations of “Stihl” or “Stihli” family. Might there be some sort of connection?

      (4) Daniel Snider (1772-1866), probably born in Berkeley County, Virginia (WV), son of Jacob Snider and Margaret Studebaker Snider. He married Mary Hershberger Snider, who died in Perry County in 1825. He was a close associate of Elijah Scofield and their families intermarried. He was active as a Brethren preacher in the early nineteenth century. He was also closely tied to the Helser family of Perry County, Ohio, which was closely tied to the Hartsough family. Daniel’s elder sister, Elizabeth, married John Henricks (see Solomon Hufford family).

      (5) Philip Stoneburner (1786-1847), born in Virginia, son of John Stoneburner/Steinbrenner. Philip and his wife, Christina Souters Stoneburner, came from Rockingham County to Fairfield around 1815. Several of their children married into the Hufford family and one son, Cornelius, married a granddaughter of Christian Stehman.

   

      (6) Daniel Hartsough (1826-1891), born in Fairfield County, Ohio, son of Daniel Hartsough and Catharine (Fulcarth) Hartsough. He ministered in the Fairfield County area before pioneering a community at Salimony in Huntington County, Indiana. He later relocated to New Paris in Elkhart County, where he died. His wife, Susanna (Henricks) Hartsough (1823-1907), was born in Perry County to George Henricks and Elizabeth (Fink) Henricks and was a granddaughter of John Henricks and Elizabeth (Snider) Henricks, an early Brethren family of Perry County.  

6    

      (7) Joseph Henricks (1818-1881), was born in Perry County, son of George Henricks and Elizabeth Fink Henricks. He followed his brother-in-law, Daniel Hartsough. Joseph later ministered in Illinois, where he died. He was chosen preacher in 1851 and ordained in 1857.

      (8) Michael Moore (1819-1892), husband of Martha Good Moore, daughter of David Good and Barbara Neiswander of Rockingham County and later of Fairfield.   

  

8    (9) Abraham Stemen (1828-1875), son of John Stemen and Catharine (Mericle) Stemen, and grandson of Henry Stemen and John Mericle, all of Rush Creek. He wife, Leah (Mericle) Stemen, was the granddaughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Huffman) Stemen.

      (10) I suspect from the writing that this John Hufford served in the community at or near the time of writing in 1877. He was almost certainly part of the Casper Hufford family.

      

      (11) H. H. Helman. The Church of the Brethren in Southern Ohio. (Elgin, IL: Brethren Publishing, 1955), p. 249.

      

      (12) Exactly how or, more importantly, why, is a fascinating question. The late 18^th century in general was a time of very porous religious boundaries in the American colonies and the early United States. A host of new religious movements emerged in Pennsylvania and surrounding areas. The Brethren and the Primitive Baptists were two groups that seem to have success in converting German-speaking Mennonites, Reformed, and Lutheran in Maryland and the Shenandoah Valley in the late 1700s.

A Sea of Pattons

John Patton of Rush Creek Township, Fairfield County, Ohio feels a bit like my nemesis. This maddeningly elusive ancestor (I really must say supposed ancestor) left just enough of a trail of data in the first third of the nineteenth century to confuse, without seemingly leaving enough to connect definitively to the sea of Pattons in eighteenth century Pennsylvania.

I have written about “Rush Creek John Patton” elsewhere.

Although Pattons were not prevalent in early Fairfield County, there were a number of Patton connections just below the surface in the southeast part of the county.

William Thompson (~1744-1811), an early Scotch-Irish Presbyterian settler of Rush Creek, came to Ohio with his wife, Hannah (Wallace) Thompson. William’s first wife, who died in Pennsylvania, was Mary Patton, daughter of John and Mary (Anderson) Patton of Middleton Township, Cumberland County. William Thompson was a brother-in-law of John Kerr, as mentioned in his will in Fairfield County. Exactly how William Thompson and John Kerr were brothers-in-law is unknown. Was it through William’s first wife (Mary Patton) or his second (Hannah Wallace)? The maiden name of John Kerr’s wife, Rachel, remains unknown, but it is known that he entered land with John Patton in Rush Creek Township in the earliest years of the nineteenth century.

William Thompson's grave at Thompson Cemetery - from Find-a-Grave

This seemed a fairly simple connection. Was “Rush Creek John Patton” a brother of Mary Patton Thompson and, perhaps, John Kerr’s wife, Rachel? Although this seemed a neat solution, exploration in Pennsylvania unraveled this theory rather quickly. Primary and secondary sources seemed reasonably clear that John and Mary (Anderson) Patton were the parents of only three children:  William, a Revolutionary War veteran who lived in what is now Spruce Hill Township, Juniata County, Pennsylvania; Robert, who remained in Middleton Township, Cumberland County (but apparently died in Lewistown, Mifflin County); and Mary (Patton) Thompson.

The quest widened to the broader Patton families of Cumberland, Mifflin, Juniata, and Perry Counties – a maddeningly large and complex web of people, most with roots back to even larger networks in Lancaster and Chester Counties and all part of the larger phenomenon of eighteenth-century Scotch-Irish Presbyterian immigration to Pennsylvania.

Map of Area of Central Pennsylvania - from History of That Part of the Susquehanna and Juniata Valleys, Embraced in the Counties of Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, Union and Snyder, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

I’ve not yet solved the puzzle of “Rush Creek John Patton,” although I’m relatively confident that he has a place in the tangled Patton branches in Mifflin and Cumberland Counties. These branches become increasingly entangled with other early Fairfield families the further back I go:  Sanderson, Robison, Sellers, Martin, Larimer, McClung, Black, etc.

The following posts will try to look at this thorny issue from two perspectives:  the first looking “back” from Ohio, the second looking from the perspective of central Pennsylvania.

Glimpses from the life of Margaret Mericle Miller

There are a few of my three-times great grandparents who lived long lives bridging the second half of the nineteenth century and the first quarter or so of the twentieth. They were born in what can still be called “pioneer times” in the lower Midwest, and died in the heady days of modernization following World War I.

Margaret Mericle Miller (1839-1929) is one of these remarkable figures who saw the world change in many ways.

Margaret was born on 6 November 1839 in the hilly and wooded areas south of Bremen, Ohio in what is now Marion Township, Hocking County, Ohio. Her parents, Solomon Mericle and Catherine (Blosser) Mericle, were both born in the earliest pioneer days in Fairfield County, Ohio and married in Fairfield County in 1829. They were the parents of fourteen children, ten of whom survived to adulthood. Margaret was their seventh, following three older brothers and three older sisters.

A photo of Margaret developed by her grandson, Cloyd Patton. Probably circa 1910. Companion scene unknown. 

Margaret was likely born and raised on her father’s farm in section 24 of Marion Township.¹ This farm is located on lands that today are on the far eastern side of Marion Township, east of Ohio State Route 664, off of Bowland-Derr Road. The area was populated by a number of other Brethren and Mennonite families, many of whom were related to one another with tangled roots of intermarriage in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and eastern Pennsylvania in the eighteenth century. Solomon appears to have been a relatively prosperous farmer, with his land valued at US$2,000 in 1850, higher than that of many of his neighbors, but lower than the average valuation than the flatter, more fertile lands closer to Bremen a few miles north. Margaret’s paternal grandparents, John and Saloma (Stihl) Mericle lived on a farm closer to Bremen, about five miles north, although both died in Margaret’s early childhood. Her maternal grandparents, George and Rebecca (Garrison) Blosser, were near neighbors, living on an adjacent farm. Several aunts and uncles were also near neighbors.

The Mericles, like most of their neighbors, were members of the Brethren church. Many of these families had been a part of the Anabaptist tradition since its rise in Switzerland in the sixteenth century and had emigrated to Penn’s Pennsylvania colony in large part due to the religious freedom offered there in the early eighteenth century. Many of these families were already tightly connected by marriage when they arrived in Pennsylvania and continued to intermarry as they moved from eastern Pennsylvania to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, and then western Pennsylvania and Ohio. The locally-oriented governance of these religious groups led to many splits and often porous boundaries. It was not uncommon in the area to have some who were Mennonite while others belonged to varying Brethren communities or even Lutheran or Presbyterian churches.

The Slabshed Church in Hocking County (no longer standing). From www.findagrave.com listing for Dunkard Cemetery. Uploaded by Dean Bright. 

The Solomon Mericle family appears to have been quite devoted to the Dunkard Brethren community. Solomon’s parents and (at least) his maternal grandparents were all attached to this community. The family was part of the Slabshed Brethren Church community located very close to the Mericle farm, just south of Bowland-Derr Road. Many members of the Bright family (cousins to Solomon) were also part of this community, as was the family of his sister, Saloma (Mericle) Blosser. It was closely tied to the Dunkard Brethren congregation that existed near the old Mericle farm, just south of Bremen in Fairfield County, which began around 1809.

Margaret came of age in the late 1850s and married Abraham Miller in Hocking County on 21 March 1858. They were married by John Hunsaker, Brethren minister. John Hunsaker (1811-1883) was married to Catharine Hufford (1814-1879), whose father was Solomon Mericle’s cousin. John and Catharine Hunsaker’s son, Jacob, would later marry Margaret’s younger sister. Abraham was born in 1837 in Hocking County, son of Christian and Susannah (Stemen) Miller, both of whom came from deep Anabaptist roots. Abraham and Margaret were second cousins, as Abraham’s great-grandfather, Nicholas Beery, was a brother of Margaret’s great-grandmother, Catharine (Beery) Blosser. Abraham and Margaret took up residence in Hocking County near the Mericles, Hunsakers, and other related Dunkard families. Their eldest daughter, Sarah, was born on 6 October 1858, followed by a second daughter, Catharine, on 29 August 1860.

A small photo of Margaret with six children - probably Effie, John, Noah, Rella, Amos, and Mary

Beginning in the 1840s, as the population of southeastern Ohio continued to grow both naturally and through continued immigration from the east, population pressure built. While the river and creek valleys of the area around Bremen and Logan were rich, agriculture was harder in the hillier areas. In the late 1830s and 1840s, a significant migration of families from the Bremen area began to a variety of points, including Tama and Warren Counties in Iowa, Branch County in Michigan, and Seneca County in northern Ohio. One of the greatest points of migration was the western part of Allen County, just north of the village of Elida. The Salem Mennonite community was formed here, led by Abraham Miller’s grandfather, Mennonite Bishop Henry Stemen (1775-1855).

Between 1860 and 1865, nearly all of the Solomon Mericle family, as well as many of their neighbors and extended family, left Hocking County for Allen County. By 1865, all of Solomon’s children were living in northwestern Ohio and Solomon himself moved there following the death of Catherine Blosser Mericle in May 1865. Abraham Miller’s mother and siblings also joined many of their Stemen relatives in the Elida area in the 1860s as well. Only one of Abraham’s brothers remained in Hocking County.

Margaret with family at the Miller farm - 1911 - with children Sarah, Nora, Catherine, James, Mary, John, and Amos

It is not clear exactly when Abraham and Margaret moved. All documents state that their third daughter, Cinderella, was born in Allen County in January 1862.³ It is likely that they lived for a time near relatives in Sugar Creek Township before settling in Marion Township around 1867.⁴ Abraham and Margaret settled on a farm between Delphos and Elida, just east of Scott’s Crossing. This farm was located on the north side of what is now SR309 (formerly “30 south”) about half a mile east of where State Road crosses the highway. A modest white home stood there into the mid-twentieth century, as seen in several photos from the early twentieth century. Abraham and Margaret raised ten children on this farm. Their children grew up amidst their Miller and Mericle cousins and these families remained closely tied for several generations.

Abraham Miller died suddenly at the age of 62 at his home on 4 March 1900. Margaret survived him by nearly 30 years and continued to live on the family farm until she moved to live with her son, Amos, near Allentown shortly before her death. She died at Amos’ home just shy of 90 years of age on 15 February 1929. Both Abraham’s and Margaret’s funerals were held at the Salem Mennonite (aka Dutch Hollow) Church and both are buried in the cemetery there.

Few biographical details are known about Margaret’s life. Several of Margaret’s grandchildren remembered her as a “spry” and "slight" and as a hard-worker and a woman of strong faith. There were many gatherings of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren at the Miller farm over the years, and many of the Miller cousins remained close throughout their lives, with reunions taking place into the 1970s.

A Mericle family reunion - 1916 - at the Miller farm - Margaret with several Mericle sisters and brothers

Several members of the family seemed to suggest, obliquely, that Abraham and Margaret, and perhaps some broader part of their families, were seen as “black sheep” by other relatives. This could be because of some church conflict that took place among the Dunkard Brethren of Hocking County in the 1860s. Such conflicts were common at the time, fed by the rise of a number of Brethren periodicals in the 1850s and 1860s, as well as conflict over fighting in the Civil War. It is clear that the Millers and Mericles kept distance from the Mennonite Church where some of their Stemen cousins were members. Although Abraham’s funeral was held at the Salem Church where his grandfather had preached, he was not remembered as a “church going man.” Margaret’s obituary states that she had been a member of the Christian Church for 65 years at the time of her death, dating to about 1864, or about the time of their move to Allen County. At least in later years, this corresponded to the Middle River Christian Church, a congregation that still functions near Delphos. None of their children or grandchildren appear to have been associated with the Mennonite church. By contrast, a number of the descendants of the John Hunsaker family, their neighbors in Hocking County, remain members of the Dunkard Brethren churches today.

Margaret and her daughter Mary - 1920s - courtesy of Ron Reynolds

Margaret was the matriarch of a large family. She gave birth to at least eleven children, with only the youngest, Walter, dying in infancy. Three others predeceased her as adults. She was grandmother to at least 53, of which 44 survived to adulthood. At the time of her death, she was also great grandmother to 53 and great-great grandmother to 10. The last of her children, Nora (Miller) Butler died in 1963. Only two grandchildren are still living today, both in their 90s.

Margaret was born into a tight-knit rural religious community that likely had little interaction with the outside world. By the time of her death, 90 years later, she and most of her family had left this Brethren community, moved to a new area, seen a generation fight in the Civil War (and another generation fight in the “Great War”), as well as witnessed technology advances like the advent of the automobile, the first airplanes, electricity, and (comparatively) rapid spread of information. What a fascinating conversation partner she would have been!

Source Notes:

1.  Her father, Solomon Mericle, entered this land (North Half of Northeast Quarter of Section 24, Township 15-N, Range 17-W, consisting of approximately 83 acres, on 5 March 1834.

2.  There were several (related) George Blossers living in Marion Township, so it is not simple to sort out which land patents belong to which George. However, as George and Rebecca appear on the 1850 census adjacent to the Mericles, it is safe to assume that they were very near neighbors.

3.  Cinderella’s death certificate and her obituary in the Delphos newspaper both state this. Her family has also said that she was born on the Miller farm near Scott’s Crossing. Many of these stories date back to Rella’s lifetime. It is clear from Civil War registration records that Abraham Miller was living in Allen County by June 1863.

4.  Abraham Miller’s obituary suggests that he had resided in Marion Township for 33 years at his death in 1900.

John Patton of Rush Creek

John Patton, one of the earlier settlers of Rush Creek, has always intrigued me. I frequently saw his name on census and other historical records while exploring Mericle, Blosser, and Miller families in the area. Yet I doubted a connection to my own Patton lines in western Ohio.

The Pattons, my mother’s line, sparked an interest in family history in the early 1990s. It was not difficult to trace my mother’s ancestry definitively to John and Rachel (Clawson) Patton, who settled in the western parts of Allen County, Ohio in the late 1820s and raised a large family near Delphos. As such, they were quite typical of the significant migration into this part of the state by way of the Upper Miami River Valley from areas nearer to Dayton. Although John and Rachel married in Clark County, Ohio in 1823,¹ no further record of John’s family was clear. He did not appear to be connected to the well-documented Thomas and Jane (Maxwell) Patton family of Clark County. ² This mystery would remain for many years and many questions linger still.

John Patton of Rush Creek appears to have been born between 1750 and 1760,³ and  was already over 50 years old by the time when he is first documented living in Rush Creek. The first documentation of John in Rush Creek was a property purchase executed along with a J. Carr in 1804.⁴ That same year, John appears on a list of voters taking part in the first election in the newly formed Rush Creek Township.⁵ From 1806-1808, John Patton appears on the tax rolls of Fairfield County.⁶  In 1809, John patented additional land along with George Bright.⁷ John appears on the 1820 census of Rush Creek as a male over 45 years old, together with a male 16-25 and a female over 45 years of age. On the non-alphabetized list, he appears between Christian Stemen and William McGinnis. In 1830, John again appears on the census of Rush Creek as a man aged 70-79, along with three females, one aged 10-14, one aged 20-29, and one aged 50-59. On the un-alphabetized list, he appears between William Carpenter and Margaret Alexander.

Early Fairfield County, Ohio wills shed a bit more light on John Patton. These confirm that John's wife's name was Ann. John bought and sold property with William McGinnis (1815), Henry Stemen (1815), John Welty/Weldy (1815), and Elisha Lacey (1832). All of this was in section 17, township 16, range 17 in Rush Creek Township.

John and Ann Patton's final property transcaction together was the sale of a small piece of property to Elisha Lacey (son-in-law of John Kerr) in 1832. By 1836, John was deceased. Ann Patton, together with William and Nancy (Patton) Smith, sold the remaining property to James Meteer.

These deeds confirm that John and Ann had a daughter, Nancy, who married William Smith. Nancy lived from 1802-1850 and married William Smith (1794-1847) in 1832. Both William and Nancy are buried with members of William's family in the Driver Cemetery in Rush Creek Township.

There are strong suggestions, however, of linkages between John Patton and other early Pattons in Fairfield County. The clearest linkage is to the Pattons who appear with him on very early tax lists:  William and Robert Patton.

Another possible child is Mary Patton, who married John Shellenberger in February 1807.⁸

A further very early mention of the Patton name in Fairfield County occurs in two guardianships recorded in 1808.⁹ This shows a further connection between the family of William and Nancy Patton and John and Mary Shellenberger. I make the assumption that the William Patton who appears on the 1807 tax list is the same William whose children were left under guardianship in 1808.

The children involved in these guardianships – Samuel, John, Margaret, and Mary Patton – align well with what is known about John Patton who married Rachel Clawson, and his known brother, Samuel, who lived in Fairfield, Auglaize, and Miami Counties, Ohio. Women by the name of Margaret and Mary Patton also married in Clark County, Ohio in the 1820s. Margaret Patton married George Kiblinger with the permission of Samuel Shellabarger.¹⁰

Because of the significant age difference between William and Mary Patton on one hand and Nancy (Patton) Smith on the other, I am making a loose assumption that Ann Patton was a second wife of John Patton and not the mother of these earlier children.

There do not appear to be other significant Patton records in Rush Creek.¹¹ No tombstones stood in local cemeteries during the period when tombstones were recorded in the region in the second half of the twentieth century.

No record of John Patton of Rush Creek has been found prior to 1804, although there are several interesting clues. John's entry of land together with "J. Carr" may indicate a relationship to John Kerr (who was frequently listed in early records as "Carr") of Rush Creek Township (1773-1858). John Kerr was known to be a brother-in-law of William Thompson, another early Rush Creek settler (1744-1811). William's first wife was a Mary Patton. These families all share roots in Mifflin and ultimately Cumberland Counties of Pennsylvania, as do many other early Rush Creek Scotch-Irish families. It is likely that John Patton of Rush Creek also came from central Pennsylvania. Hopefully, further research will shed further light on this elusive figure. 

1.  John and Rachel were married in Clark County, Ohio on 8 January 1823 by David Wilson. Her father, Thomas Clawson, gave permission for their marriage in writing.

2.  Thomas Patton married Jane Maxwell in 1791 in Bourbon County, Kentucky and settled in Greene County by 1815 (when his eldest son, William, married Elizabeth Gowdy there) and in Clark County by 1820. Thomas left a will in Clark County at his death in 1825. His children included William (married Elizabeth Gowdy and later Catharine Dudley); Maxwell (married Mary Ramsay); Joseph (married Isabella Marshall); Roseanna (married James Johnston); Jane Eliza (married John Humphreys); and Anne (married John Garlough).  At least one of his children, Roseanna, is buried at Mud Run Cemetery in Mad River township, Clark County. This is a small cemetery with most burials dating to the middle third of the nineteenth century. Other burials here include numerous members of the Shellabarger family and a Robert and Sarah Patton and to of their children, who appear to have died fairly young in the 1830s, although dates are unclear. The Thomas and Jane (Maxwell) Patton family has its roots in late 18th century Cumberland County, Pennsylvania.

3.  Based on his age in the 1830 and 1840 census records.

4.  Original land entries of Fairfield County, Ohio.

5.  History of Fairfield and Perry Counties, Their Past and Present. (Chicago:  W.H. Beers & Company, 1883), p. 250.

6.  Ancestry.com. Ohio, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1790-1890[database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999. In 1807, John is joined on the list by William Patton and in 1807-1808 by Robert Patton.

7.  Federal Land Series:  A guide to Archival Materials, p. 54.  George Bright (1784-1864) was another early settler, along with several of his brothers, in the region. He came to Fairfield County from Rockingham County, Virginia (a very common route) and was married in Rockingham County to Frances Bowman (1787-1876), the daughter of Jacob Bowman (died 1803, Rockingham) and Catharina Wine Stihl Bowman Fry (died 1814, Fairfield). George and Freny Bowman eventually settled in Falls Township, Hocking County, where they raised a large family. Frances Bowman Bright was a half-sister of Saloma (Stihl) Mericle.

8.  I am unable to locate a license for this marriage in Fairfield County marriage records. It is recorded in Ye Ancient Swains, an index of notices of marriages that appeared in the Lancaster Gazette.

9.  Fairfield County Will and Estate Abstracts, Cases 1001-2000, page 7:  Case #1072, in 1808, the guardian of Samuel and John Patten, children of William and Nancy Patten, was John Shillenberger/Shallenberger;  Case #1074, in 1808, the guardian of Margaret and Mary Patten, daughters of William Patten was Henry Shillenberger, Sr. 

10.  Permission was given by Samuel Shellenberger. This detail at once ties these Pattons to the Shellenbergers, yet the large family of Shellabargers living in Mad River Township of Clark County, Ohio (brothers Samuel, Ephriam and Jacob Shellabarger) does not appear to connect directly with the John Shellenberger named in the guardianship. The Patton family did share close connections with the Henry and Sarah (Roby) Shellenberger family of Allen County, Ohio. It is possible that Nancy, wife of William Patton (possibly also known as Ann – as was common at this time in the area) was born a Shellenberger, perhaps a sister of Henry of Allen County and John who married Mary Patton. This is purely speculative.

11.  A James Patton appears on the 1840 census of Rush Creek. This is most likely James Patton (1795-1854) who married Nancy Anne Settle. James was the son of Elizabeth Patton (1755-1835).